Spike watched Connor's face as Dawn slammed the apartment door, that look of desire on his face, he knew it well, Connor's gaze focused on him and he snapped
"What?" the fists clenched, the furrowed forehead, he really was his father's son
"Just wondering when you finally get it on with the girl who will kill you first, Captain Forehead here or the big sister, my money's on the sis" He stretched back placing both hands behind his head rather pleased with himself, he tuned out as Angel went on a tirade about how much better it was when he was a pile of ash or a ghost. He flipped him two fingers and glanced over to the now deserted table
"Looks like went after the little bit" Angel continued to glare at him ignoring the door opening and Gunn walking in with donuts humming what sounded suspiciously like The Mikado, stopping when he realized the apartment was silent, letting out a grunt of annoyance he placed the donuts on the table and shrugged off his jacket flopping into the chair recently vacated by Connor
"You guys can bitch it out for however long you like but no one will ever now who will win, I mean cave men are primal but idiotic-"
"Gunn that's not what we were arguing about, Spike here thinks that there is something going on between my son and Dawn" His tone erred to the side of condescension which was accompanied by his patented crossing of the arms
"What like it's a secret?" Gunn's said through a mouthful of donut, Angel's face fell even gloomier, if possible and at once his stance was tense glaring at his friend
"No one felt the need to tell; oh I don't know me this?"
"We thought you knew; it was kind of obvious. Kind of like back in the day when you and" He paused taking notice of what could only be described as broody look on his boss' face "Nobody around here I would care to mention, were we even speaking" Gunn picked up a glazed donut and crammed it whole into his mouth the only effective way it seemed of shutting him up.
"Cordelia, you and she would banter as a show of affection, of course at times, most of the time her banter was out of annoyance for you"
"Did Papa Smurf ever work out how to kill the talking thing she insists on doing?" Angel asked as he sank into the last vacant chair his head landing in his hands
"What is this smurf you people refer to?" Illyria asked her eyes never leaving the game flashing on the screen.
"Spike, Illyria go to the mission" Angel said ignoring the God's question "I want a clean kill this time" Spike grunted
"You let a former hell god paint a city block with demon blood and guts and suddenly you're messy. You used to be fun mate" Leaving the apartment with Illyria Angel looked down to wear he had lain his sword and growled at its disappearance
"He better polish it this time" Turning back to Gunn he watched as the bald again twenty something rested his boots on the old table.
"Donut?" He offered and Angel shook his head feeling his fists tighten
"Gunn I have a special assignment for you" He said expertly kicking back the legs of the chair leaving Gunn in a heap on the floor much to his chagrin "You're in charge, I'm going on a little trip"
"Demon monk kind of trip or Vegas?"
"Neither, I need to see an old friend" Gunn nodded not bothering to ask any more questions, Angel was already half way out the door.
Dawn had returned to her room sometime after one dumping the books on the ground. She slowly wound her arms stretching out her tired and cramped muscles. She quickly peeled off her jumper and crawled into her bed groaning at the thought of rising less than five hours later. Angel insisted on six am weights and weapons training with both Connor and Dawn every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Her eyes which had been inching closed snapped open at the mere thought of his name. She had laughed off Kayleigh's remarks but they had whirled through her mind with every Latin word she translated and now here in the darkened room she was alone with nothing but her thoughts which were filled with Connor. His scowl, his smirk, his annoying floppy hair that fell in his blue eyes; Dawn liked his eyes, they were so bright for someone so dark. Reaching for her phone she paused, she hadn't exactly told Buffy about Angel or Spike so a phone call asking her to help her figure out whether or not she had a thing for Angel's son would probably be a bit much. Falling back onto the bed she chewed on her thumb nail remembering her failed attempts at romance; an older man crush on Xander, dating a vampire and oh yeah falling under the spell of a letterman jacket for a guy who tried to sleep with her sister. Great track record; she hated Connor, he drove her up the wall, kind of like the way Xander annoyed Cordelia. Dawn stopped chewing and let out a loud groan knowing now why she had felt as though her relationship with Connor was so damn familiar, she had witnessed in fine detail the love-hate tug of war between Xander and Cordelia and that turned out great, if you really like being impaled on a rebar. Sitting back up Dawn grabbed her phone with determination and dialed rolling her eyes as the answering machine clicked on
"Hey it's Dawn, I miss you! College is great, I'm kicking butt in Latin it's weird how much you can remember, anyway I just thought I'd give you a call, did I mention that I ran into Angel out here? I met his son, I think I like him. The weather's great and I got the best shoes the other day, anyway give me a call back. Love you!" She hung up shaking slightly waiting patiently for her phone to light up.
She never got to sleep before midnight, never. I guess that's the benefit of staying at the training house, she didn't have to go out on the hunt every night and survive on three hours sleep. This is why in spite of her cat-like reflexes she had failed to grab the phone in time as she listened to her sister's voice chirp to life on the answering machine next to the bed. The phone had awoken her but nothing short of yet another apocalypse would get her out of the heavy blankets she had wrapped around herself. At the mention of Angel she had sat up, jumping for the phone before she had finished the sentence, her feet twisted in the blankets at she struggled for the phone ending up in a tangled piled of sheets, blankets and a long phone cord on the stone floor. The beeping signaling that Dawn had hung up. Pulling herself up as Giles peered into the room concern blossoming on his face.
"I need to get back, Dawn's in trouble"
"Well it is a Tuesday, I'll call for Willow"
Buffy sat back down on her bed and shook her head, she should have known better than to think she would actually get some sleep for once.