mhalachai | Dawning Light 10: Man in the Moon (AB/BtVS) PG

Dawning Light
A Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Anita Blake crossover
Chapter Ten: Man in the Moon
by Mhalachai

Summary: Dawn fell from Glory's tower and into the portal. Now she's all alone and scared... but sometimes family comes from the strangest places.
Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Anita Blake belongs to Laurell K. Hamilton. No profit has been made from this fic, and the only benefit to me is personal satisfaction and the creative process. I hope you enjoy.
Rating: PG
Words: 8,800
Spoilers: So post-Danse Macabre it hurts.
Note: This chapter spans three different days, so we're moving at a fast pace now. This chapter was supposed to be done a while ago, but Dawn wouldn't shut up.

~~~~~

Micah knocked on the bedroom door. Dawn barely had time to wonder why he didn't just go into the room, his own room, when Nathaniel opened the door.

"I need to talk to Anita," Micah said.

"We need to talk to Anita," Dawn corrected him, stepping around Nathaniel and going into the room.

Anita stood by the window, back to everyone. Dawn headed straight over to the woman. Up close like this, Anita's emotions were tangled and unhappy. All Dawn wanted to do was to make everything better, but even she knew that there was no way she could fix this quickly. This wasn't like a scraped knee that only needed a bandage.

"Anita?" Dawn tugged on Anita's jeans' pocket. "Are you okay?"

Taking a deep breath, Anita glanced down. "Of course I'm okay," she said with fake cheer. "I have a lot to do, so why don't you go back upstairs, okay?"

Dawn shook her head. "You're not fine. Micah didn't mean to make you angry, really!"

"Dawn--"

"No, everything has to be okay!" Dawn exclaimed. "We have to make it okay! You're all a family and families have to get along, they can fight and make up but they still get along!"

Anita pried Dawn's hands off her pocket. "Dawn, it doesn't work that way."

"It has to!" Dawn grabbed Anita's hand and held on tight. "Micah did what he thought was right and you did what you thought was right, and it was right! So we can all get over it and be happy!"

"Dawn, that's enough." Micah knelt beside Dawn. "I need to talk to Anita about this alone."

"But she's not listening!" Dawn protested.

"I am listening!" Anita exclaimed. "Dawn, some things can't be fixed with a few words and an apology."

"I wasn't apologizing," Micah said, looking intently at Anita. "I'm not going to apologize for making those phone calls."

"Then what the hell are you doing in here?"

Micah gathered Dawn up in his arms and stood. "Nathaniel, can you please take Dawn into the kitchen?" Without waiting for an answer, he dumped Dawn into Nathaniel's arms and essentially pushed them out of the bedroom before closing the door with a bang.

Raised voices followed Dawn and Nathaniel down the hall to the kitchen. Once in the shiny room, Dawn squirmed around until Nathaniel set her on the ground. Once down, she straightened her shirt and gave Nathaniel the glare that all the adults deserved. "You're all being dumb!"

Nathaniel switched on the radio, covering the sounds of the faint argument in the bedroom. "They need to work things out," was all he said.

Dawn angrily pulled herself into a chair at the table and crossed her arms over her chest. "Why is Anita being so dumb?"

Nathaniel sat in the chair next to Dawn. "Anita isn't being dumb," he said quietly. "She's still trying to figure out how to deal with things."

That was such an odd thing to say, especially about someone who was an adult, that Dawn forgot to be upset for a minute. "What do you mean?"

"She's..." Nathaniel seemed to search for the words. "I don't know if you know this, but I've only known Anita for a year and a half. She met Micah for the first time last July."

Dawn got to her knees on the chair. "What about before that? What about Jean-Claude?"

Nathaniel's smile didn't reach his eyes. "Anita never lived with Jean-Claude. She never lived with anyone before Micah and me moved in here."

"But what about friends?" Dawn pressed. "She has to have friends."

"She had Ronnie."

"What do you mean, had?" Dawn demanded. "Why doesn't she have more friends?"

"Anita doesn't make friends easily."

Dawn tapped her fingers on the tabletop, thinking. "Was Anita lonely?" she finally asked.

Nathaniel stood up and went to the fridge. "She'd probably say that she wasn't."

"What would you say?"

"I don't think it's my place to say," Nathaniel said, which was answer enough for Dawn. Anita was lonely.

Dawn folded her arms on the table, watching Nathaniel move around the kitchen. "Do you think that Anita and Micah are going to stop fighting and make up?"

Nathaniel nodded as he returned to the table, a plate of cut fruit in his hand. "They'll be fine."

"Then can we go get them?" Dawn asked, ready to jump down from the table. Nathaniel caught her arm before she could move.

"Why don't we let them talk?" Nathaniel said in a hurry. "You need to eat something, you didn't have any lunch, did you?"

Dawn narrowed her eyes. If Nathaniel didn't want her going to find Anita and Micah, and if they weren't fighting any more... Dawn made a face. Adults were so gross!

"Fine, I'll eat this piece of apple," she said grudgingly. She jammed the fruit slice in her mouth and chomped down.

"Good," Nathaniel said with a smile. "How about we look at something while you eat?"

"Look at what?" Dawn asked with her mouth full of apple bits.

Nathaniel pulled a thick magazine off of the pile on the table. "This."

Dawn read the title upside down. "Furniture? Why do you need to buy furniture?"

"For your room."

Dawn swallowed her apple with a gulp, and started coughing. Nathaniel patted her on the back until she could speak. "You're going to buy stuff for my room?" she squeaked. She scrambled down from her chair and climbed up onto Nathaniel's lap to give him a hug. "Thanks!"

He gave her a tentative hug back, then settled her on his knee. "We can start with a bed, if you want," he suggested.

Dawn nodded. "You have yourself a deal!"

~~~

The doorbell rang as Dawn was putting the last cookie on the plate.

Nathaniel closed the fridge with a thump. "She's early," he said.

"Not that early," Dawn said, giving her cookie plate one final look.

"Miss Wendell said she was coming by at eleven, it's nine now," Nathaniel pointed out.

"So?" Dawn jumped down from her chair. "I'll get it!"

She raced down the hall, dimly aware that Nathaniel was right behind her. He scooped her up just before she hit the door. "You shouldn't answer the door all on your own," Nathaniel said.

"Why not?"

"Because it might be a stranger." Nathaniel looked out the peephole on the door, and relaxed. He unlocked the deadbolt and swung the door open. "Hello, Detective Zerbrowski."

Dawn grinned. "Hi!"

The detective was just as rumpled as the last time Dawn had seen him, hair a mess and a wrinkled tie. He gave Dawn and Nathaniel a tired smile. "Hey there," he said. "Is Anita around?"

"She's upstairs," Nathaniel said, standing aside to let Zerbrowski in the house. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nope." Zerbrowski shrugged out of his overcoat as Nathaniel closed the door. "I've got something to run past Anita and Callahan."

"I'll get them," Dawn offered. As soon as Nathaniel set her on the ground, she shouted up the stairs, "Anita! Micah! Someone to see you!"

Nathaniel winced, but for some reason, Zerbrowski's smile grew wider. "So, kid, you're doing good here?"

"Uh huh!" Dawn bounced in place. Maybe she'd had too many cookies as she was setting up the plate. "Do you want some coffee? We have cookies!"

"You sure do," Zerbrowski said. He glanced up as Anita and Micah came down the stairs.

"What's wrong?" Anita demanded. She put her hand on Dawn's head, and Dawn stopped jumping around.

"Nothing's wrong," Zerbrowski said. "I just wanted to drop in, see how you were all doing." He stuck his hands in his pockets. "Dawn, can I take you up on that offer of coffee?"

"I'll help," Nathaniel said quickly.

Dawn rolled her eyes. She knew when they were getting her out of the way. She also knew she could probably worm whatever it was out of Anita later on. "Do you want sugar in your coffee?"

"No, thanks, but I'll take one of those cookies," Zerbrowski said.

Heaving a mighty sigh, Dawn headed back to the kitchen, hopping every other step. Nathaniel followed her. "Did you know Zerbrowski was coming over?" Dawn asked him.

Nathaniel shook his head. "The only person I thought we'd see today was Miss Wendell, to get a start on all that paperwork," he said as he pulled three mugs out of the cupboard. "How about you get cookies for Anita and Micah too?"

"We made these for the visit," Dawn reminded him. "How is giving Miss Wendell a plate of crumbs a good idea?"

Nathaniel carefully poured coffee into the mugs. "Not everyone eats cookies by the handful," he reminded her. "I think we'll have enough."

"All right, but if we don't, then I'm pointing the finger of blame right at you," Dawn said. She lifted the cookie plate with both hands and, balancing carefully, started towards the living room.

"Do you need help?" Nathaniel asked hurriedly.

"Nope," Dawn said, concentrating. Lifting a simple plate never used to be this hard!

With creative maneuvering around the doorframe, Dawn carried the cookies into the living room in time to hear Zerbrowski say, "Then it's all settled."

"As soon as we clear it with Dawn," Anita cautioned. "She-- Oh, geeze, Dawn!"

"I've got it!" Dawn exclaimed, feeling the cookies start to slide on the plate. Gravity was so unfair!

Anita jumped up and helped Dawn put the plate on the table, only losing a few cookies in the process. "How about next time you don't load the plate so high?" she suggested. "We need to talk to you."

Dawn put the cookies back in place, then hopped up on the sofa beside Micah. "Why?"

Anita waited until Nathaniel had handed out the coffee mugs before sitting down. "Zerbrowski had an idea," she began. "The full moon is coming up in a few days, and we need to find a place for you to stay that night. That was one of the things that we were going to talk with Miss Wendell about."

"I can stay here," Dawn said. A tiny hint of worry began to worm its way through her stomach. "Why can't I stay here?"

Pressing her hands together, Anita seemed to struggle for an answer. Micah spoke up. "Because there isn't going to be anyone here that night," he said. "Nathaniel and I aren't going to be around, and Anita needs to be on call in case there's an emergency."

"But why won't you be here?" Dawn pressed.

Micah and Anita shared a look. "Dawn, do you remember that Nathaniel and Micah are wereleopards?" Anita said.

Dawn made an impatient snort. "Of course I remember!"

"That means that on the night of a full moon, they're going to be in their animal forms."

"So?" Dawn began to fidget. "I can stay here by myself, I won't make a mess. I'll stay in my room all night, I promise!"

Anita passed her hand over her face. "You're a little girl, there's no way we're leaving you all alone."

"So why can't you stay with me?" Dawn pressed.

"Because I can't!"

"Anita has to be on call in case there's an emergency," Micah said again.

Dawn frowned. She knew Anita was the Slayer in this world, but what did that have to do with the full moon? Of course, she remembered, Buffy sometimes had to deal with Oz and other werewolves on the full moon night. Maybe Anita had to do something similar.

Still a little annoyed, Dawn looked over at Zerbrowski. "What's the idea?" she asked.

Zerbrowski leaned forward. "Well, I've got a couple of kids of my own, one's about your age," he said. "How about you come over to our place on Thursday for a sleep-over?"

Dawn stared at him.

"My wife, Katie, she's looking forward to meeting you," Zerbrowski continued. "She's heard a lot about you. And I think you'll like meeting Sarah and Kyle."

Not sure what they wanted her to say, Dawn looked up at Micah. "Why can't I go with you guys?" she whispered.

Micah let out a breath. "We're not going to be able to watch you," he said slowly. "At Zerbrowski's house, you'll be safe and Mrs. Zerbrowski will be there to keep an eye on you. Plus you get to meet some kids your own age, won't that be fun?"

Not unless they were fifteen too, Dawn thought, but didn't speak.

"Dawn," Anita said, touching Dawn's hand. "It'll be fun. And you can come home the next morning and tell us all about it."

Dawn slipped off the couch and walked over to Nathaniel. "What do you think I should do?" she asked.

Nathaniel hesitated for a long moment. "You know how you like to know where we all are ?" he finally asked. Dawn nodded. "If we know you're going to be safe on the full moon night, we'll all feel a lot better."

"Oh." Dawn looked down at her tiny hands. She was getting used being this size, and that was the weirdest thing of all. Giving her head a shake, she marched across the room to Zerbrowski. "I'd like to come to your house for the full moon, please," she said.

Zerbrowski smiled, his eyes laughing at her from behind his glasses. "You're on." He stood up. "See you in a few days, then."

Dawn smiled back, suddenly feeling a whole lot better. The emotion belonged to someone else in the room, but Dawn didn't really feel like sorting out whose mind she was reading. "And please tell Mrs. Zerbrowski that I look forward to meeting her," she added. Mom had taught Dawn manners, and Dawn was going to be polite to Zerbrowski and Mrs. Zerbrowski if it killed her.

"Of course," Zerbrowski said. He gave Anita and Micah a nod. "See you guys in a few days, then."

"I'll walk you out," Micah said. He gave Dawn's shoulder a squeeze on the way past.

With Micah and Zerbrowski talking quietly in the hallway, Dawn went over to Anita and hopped up on the woman's lap. "Is that all he wanted?" Dawn asked, craning her head back to look at Anita.

"It was," Anita said. She ran a hand over Dawn's hair. "How about we do something different with your hair today?"

"Braids, please," Dawn ordered. "What's Mrs. Zerbrowski like?"

"She's very nice," Anita said as she parted Dawn's hair. "She's the children's program co-ordinator at a community center near where they live, so she'll have a lot for you to do."

"Is she loud like Zerbrowski?" Dawn looked at Nathaniel, and stuck out her tongue. He smiled, and stuck out his tongue at her.

"No, she's quiet." Anita continued to braid Dawn's hair. "I haven't seen her in a while."

"You can see her in a few days." Dawn used her fingers to pull her face into weird shapes, making Nathaniel laugh. "When is Miss Wendell going to be here this morning?"

"At eleven," Nathaniel reminded her. "What do you want to do until then?"

Dawn shrugged. "I dunno."

"How about we look though the catalogue again?" Nathaniel suggested.

"Catalogue?" Anita asked.

"We're looking at the catalogue to see what kind of furniture we're going to get for my room," Dawn explained. "Because Nathaniel said that having my socks in a box isn't good." She giggled. "Socks in a box."

"I'll go get it," Nathaniel offered, standing.

"Can you get some hair elastics?" Anita called after him. The living room fell into a comfortable silence as Anita continued to braid Dawn's hair.

Looking around the room, Dawn let out a sigh. She missed the living room in her Sunnydale home. No, she corrected herself, she missed the way the room had been before Mom died. Nothing had been the same since Mom died.

Anita probably knew what that was like, but Dawn didn't know how to ask. Thinking about her mother always made Anita sad, and Dawn didn't want Anita sad.

Nathaniel came back into the room, followed by Micah. Dawn held out her hands for the catalogue. "Can we look at lamps now?" she asked.

"How about we show Anita and Micah what we've picked out so far?" Nathaniel suggested. "They might have something to say."

"Okay." Dawn opened the catalogue on her lap to the first dog-eared page as Micah sat down on the couch beside them.

Anita took the elastics from Nathaniel's hand, and quickly tied off Dawn's hair. She pulled Dawn into a hug and looked over her shoulder at the catalogue. "All right, let's see this."

Dawn pointed at the bed on the page, the one with the pine headboard. "I like that one," she said. "But I want a blue quilt, not red."

"Blue quilt, check."

Dawn pulled one of her braids over her shoulder, as she got down to the serious business of shopping.

~~~

"Maybe this was a bad idea," Dawn said, holding Anita's hand in a death grip as they stood side by side on the Zerbrowski's front step.

"It's a little late for that," Anita said. "Sunset is in half an hour."

Dawn made a noise in her throat. "Full moon, baboon. We still have enough time for me to go home."

Anita sighed. "Are you being serious or are you joking around?"

Dawn kicked at the walkway with the toe of her boot. "I guess I'm joking," she mumbled unhappily.

"Thank God," Anita muttered, ringing the doorbell. Dawn glared up at the woman, but her snarky retort was interrupted by the opening door.

"Anita, hello," said the woman in the doorway. She smiled down at Dawn. "This must be Dawn. Please, come in."

Anita guided a reluctant Dawn into the house. The whole place smelled yummy, like pot roast and mashed potatoes, and Dawn's stomach rumbled.

Belatedly, she remembered that she had forgotten her manners. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Zerbrowski," she said, letting Anita pull off her jacket. "Is Detective Zerbrowski here?"

"It's nice to meet you." Mrs. Zerbrowski had a nice smile, pretty and warm. "Mr. Zerbrowski is at work tonight, actually. Why don't we get you out of those boots and I can show you around?"

Dawn nodded, uncertainty starting to build in her stomach. This was going to be the first time she was away from Anita or Micah or Nathaniel since she'd fallen into St. Louis, and for a whole night. She wasn't exactly sure she could do this.

Stop it! Dawn told herself. Buffy could do this no problem, and so can you! Just because you've only ever been on two sleep-overs across the street from home doesn't mean you can't do this.

Having let Anita help her out of her boots, Dawn slipped her hand into Anita's, and stood very close to the woman. She wasn't scared, she was just making sure... Okay, she was scared.

Mrs. Zerbrowski smiled again. "How about I show you the house?" she said. Dawn gave a tiny nod.

Anita touched Dawn's hair. "Do you want me to carry you?" she asked.

It was just the right blow to Dawn's ego. She shook her head, hard. "I'm not a baby!" she exclaimed quietly. Still holding Anita's hand tight, she followed Mrs. Zerbrowski into the house.

"This is the living room," Mrs. Zerbrowski said. "The kitchen is through there, and the bedrooms up those stairs."

"What's that noise?" Dawn asked.

"That's the television in the downstairs rec room. Kyle's playing a video game before dinner."

"Oh." Dawn was suddenly apprehensive about meeting another kid. What was he like? Was he childish? Would he be mean?

"And Sarah is upstairs. Why don't I go get her so you two can meet?" With that, Mrs. Zerbrowski vanished up the stairs.

Dawn looked up at Anita. "How about I go with you and I can stay in the car?" she suggested.

Anita sighed and sat down on the nearest couch. She pulled Dawn over to stand right in front of her. "We talked about this," she reminded Dawn, straightening her collar. "I might have to do some dangerous work tonight and I have to know that you're safe. Hiding in the back of my car is the opposite of safe."

"I won't make any noise."

Anita tweaked the end of Dawn's nose, making her sneeze. "Who knows, this may be lots of fun," she said. "You've got everything?"

Dawn nodded. "I've got Sigmund and my journal and my pen that I got back from Nathaniel and a book and my toothbrush," she said, patting the small black backpack at her side.

"Good." Anita fiddled with Dawn's sweater sleeves. "And when this is all over, we're going to get you a proper bag."

Dawn made a face. "Kids' knapsacks all have stupid things on them! Like superheroes or dolls."

"Then we'll have to find you a proper backpack," Anita said, as Mrs. Zerbrowski and a little girl came into the room. The girl was taller than Dawn, but she was a kid.

"Hi!" the girl said. Was Dawn's voice that high-pitched? "I'm Sarah."

Dawn ruthlessly shoved her insecurity down. She was fifteen, for heaven's sake. She wasn't going to be scared of a six-year-old. "I'm Dawn."

Sarah grinned. "Want to see my room?"

Dawn quickly looked at Anita. "Promise you won't leave without saying goodbye?" she demanded.

"I promise. I need to talk to Katie for a few minutes, but I'll come up and say goodbye," Anita said.

"Okay." Dawn picked up her bag and followed Sarah up the carpeted stairs. Unlike the stairs at Anita's house, which went straight up, these ones had a bend and a little landing.

"You're going to stay in the guest room," Sarah was saying. "It's like for grown-ups, but it's okay. Grandma and Grandpa stay there when they come to visit." They reached the top of the stairs. "It's in there," Sarah said, pointing at a half-closed door.

"Okay." Dawn put her bag just inside the door. The room smelled of lavender, which made Dawn's nose tickle. "Where's the bathroom?"

"Down there," Sarah said. "Me and Kyle share. Mommy and Daddy have a bathroom in their room." She waited for Dawn to nod. "Come see my room, I've got lots of toys."

"Sure," Dawn said slowly. She trailed after the girl through a door on the other side of the hall, and was almost blinded by an explosion of purple.

Sarah took a running leap and jumped onto her bed. "Do you like dolls?" the girl said happily. "I like dolls. Mommy and Daddy got me a Princess Penelope backpack for school, and I have all the Princess Penelope dolls, except for Princess Stephanie. I asked Santa for her for Christmas!"

The entire room was filled with pink and purple dolls, with shimmering dresses and sparkly hair, and it was on the tip of Dawn's tongue to ask who in their right mind was that into dolls, but looking at Sarah's excited face, Dawn suddenly felt the weight of all her fifteen years. She remembered being six, and really into horses, and how happy she'd been when Buffy had played My Little Pony with her for hours. She also remembered how crushed she'd been when Buffy had told her dolls were stupid and childish.

Dawn was old enough to know better. "Can you show me one?" she said, quietly resigning herself to a night of deep purple. "I don't know anything about Princess Penelope."

Sarah's eyes grew wide. "Nothing?" she demanded. "She's the best thing ever!" She proceeded to tell Dawn, at a fast babble, exactly how cool Princess Penelope was, and how the dolls all lived in a land called Happily Ever After Land, and how neat it all was.

Dawn had never been so glad to see Anita when, fifteen minutes and seven doll introductions later, Anita and Mrs. Zerbrowski appeared in the doorway. "Dawn, I have to go," Anita said.

"I'll be right back," Dawn said to Sarah, extricating herself from a pile of doll clothes. She raced to give Anita a hug. "Bye!"

"Bye yourself," Anita said. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, okay?"

Dawn nodded. "Be careful," she said.

"I will." Anita kissed Dawn's forehead. "You have fun."

"I'll be here, in the valley of the dolls," Dawn said. Anita choked on a laugh. "Bye."

"See you soon." Anita gave Dawn another kiss on the head before letting her go.

Dawn turned around, steeling herself before heading back into Sarah's room. She wasn't sure how much more time she could spend around dolls before she went crazy.

~~~

Luck was with Dawn. After an hour of playing with dolls, Mrs. Zerbrowski called Sarah downstairs to do homework. Dawn retrieved her bag from the guest room and trailed along after Sarah to the kitchen. There was already a boy at the table, bent over his books and ignoring everyone.

"Mommy, we weren't done playing," Sarah whined, climbing into a chair.

"You know the rules," Mrs. Zerbrowski reminded her. "Homework before dinner." She put a workbook in front of Sarah.

"You have homework?" Dawn asked, eyes wide. Wasn't grade one too early for homework? All she'd ever had to do in the first grade was learn addition and practice words for reading.

"Just reading and stuff," Sarah said. She opened the workbook and held it up. "See? Boring stuff."

"Oh."

"Don't you have homework?" Sarah asked, setting her book down.

Dawn shook her head. "I don't go to school."

Mrs. Zerbrowski saved Dawn from further interrogation. "How about you join us for a little while?" the woman asked, pulling a chair out from the table for Dawn. "Do you want to color?"

Dawn bit her lip. "No, thank you, ma'am. I have a book to read." She bent over to unzip her bag, and pulled out the book she'd taken from Anita's shelf earlier that day. It was rather heavy, and she had to heave it up onto the table. She climbed up on the chair, and only belatedly realized that everyone was staring at her. "What?"

"What's in that?" Sarah asked, looking quite stunned.

"It's a book about animals," Dawn explained. "It's Anita's."

Mrs. Zerbrowski bent over the chair to look at the book. "Dawn, this is a college-level textbook," she said.

"I know that," Dawn said.

"Does Anita know you have this?" Mrs. Zerbrowski asked.

"Yes," Dawn said. "She said it would keep me busy."

"Okay," Mrs. Zerbrowski said reluctantly. "But you let me know if you start to get bored."

Dawn nodded. She opened the book at random, flipping pages until she came to a photograph of a baby elephant. "See?" she said to Sarah. "It's neat."

Sarah didn't appear convinced, but she bent back over her own book. Dawn held in a sigh and went back to the table of contents. The whole reason she'd asked for this book was she wanted to know about leopards, like Nathaniel and Micah.

After a few minutes of reading, Dawn felt an itchy sensation on the top of her head. She looked up to see Kyle staring at her. "What?"

"Why are you pretending to read?" he demanded.

Dawn narrowed her eyes. For a third-grader, he was rather presumptuous. "I'm not pretending."

"Are too."

Dawn sat back in her chair. She refused to be sucked into verbal sparring with a little boy. "If you don't mind, I'd like to go back to my reading."

"Kyle," Mrs. Zerbrowski said, and it shut the boy up. Dawn concentrated on reading about leopard evolution, wishing the angry feeling in her stomach would go away.

~~~

The evening didn't improve. Kyle started kicking Dawn's chair during dinner, refusing to apologize when his mother told him to. Dawn ignored him, telling herself that she wasn't going to get into a fight with a child, no matter how ill-mannered that child was.

The pot roast was really good, but Dawn could only eat a few bites of meat. She missed Anita, was worried about Nathaniel and Micah, and didn't know how she was going to survive being in a strange house until morning.

Sarah chattered happily at her mother during the meal, talking about first grade and her friends and an upcoming field trip at school. Mrs. Zerbrowski tried to engage Kyle in the conversation, but other than kicking Dawn's chair a little harder, he was unresponsive.

After dinner, Kyle jumped up from his place and was about to run downstairs when Mrs. Zerbrowski stopped him. "No more television for you tonight."

"Mom!" Kyle exclaimed, horrified. "My favorite show is on!"

"You're going to help me with the dishes, and you're going to help me with dishes every night this week until you learn better manners when we have guests."

Kyle swung around, glaring at Dawn. She could hear him thinking how much he hated stupid little girls, especially ones that made him miss his television shows. Intellectually, she knew he was wrong, but her stomach cramped up with scary emotions, and she just wanted to run away as fast as she could.

"Sarah, why don't you and Dawn go watch a movie downstairs until bedtime?" Mrs. Zerbrowski suggested.

Sarah nodded and quickly scampered out of the room. Dawn was only too glad to follow the girl out of the kitchen and down into the rec room.

"You sit there, I'll get the movie!" Sarah ordered officiously. Dawn slumped against the sofa, thankful that she hadn't eaten much. Her stomach felt like someone had punched her in the gut. She wanted to go back to Anita's house, to her own bed and her own box of socks on the ground and her toothbrush in the upstairs bathroom and her own strawberry bubble-bath by the tub.

Was everyone always like Kyle? Full of hate and anger that they never let show? If that was the case, then how was Dawn going to live with being able to read minds? She'd been sheltered at Anita's house, where Anita and Micah and Nathaniel knew what she could do, knew they had to mask their emotions for her. They liked her, at least.

Dawn wanted to go home.

"Movie's on!" Sarah said, bouncing onto the couch.

"Okay," Dawn said, pushing down her homesickness. There was no way she could leave now. Anita wasn't home, and all she would succeed at doing is making Mrs. Zerbrowski and everybody mad. And Sarah was a little kid. She didn't need to see how unhappy Dawn was. That wasn't fair to Sarah. "What's the movie about?"

Sarah grinned. "It's the Princess Penelope Seaside Vacation!"

Dawn watched as the credits began to roll on the brightly colored animated film. "Great."

~~~

Kyle was waiting in the hallway when Dawn had finished brushing her teeth. "My dad said you have a monster for a foster father."

"Shut up!" Dawn snapped. "Micah's a wereleopard, not a monster."

The boy made a rude noise. "He's an animal! If he's not an animal, why are they making you stay here tonight? He changes into an animal every month and goes around eating children!"

Dawn gripped her toothbrush so hard her hand hurt. "Stop talking about Micah! You don't know anything!"

"Do too," Kyle taunted. "Billy at school said that Miss Blake used to kill lycanthropes before she moved in with them!"

"Anita wouldn't ever kill Micah!"

"Why not? She kills vampires all the time!"

Dawn was so angry she wanted to hit Kyle. Instead, she whirled around and marched into the guest bedroom, closing the door behind her. Her hands were shaking as she put her toothbrush back in her bag.

Why was Kyle so stupid? Micah would never eat her, just like Anita would never hurt Micah. And so what if Anita killed vampires? She was just like with Buffy. Buffy killed vampires, bad vampires. Anita did all that stuff to protect people, exactly like Buffy.

Dawn pulled her journal out of her bag. Underneath lay Sigmund, squished a little from the journey. Dawn set the journal on the bed and picked up Sigmund. The stuffed bird smelled like Anita's house, familiar and safe, and Dawn hugged him as hard as she could.

Micah and Nathaniel weren't animals. They'd never hurt her.

Dawn's musings were interrupted by a knock at the door. Mrs. Zerbrowski poked her head into the room. "How are you doing?" the woman asked.

"Fine," Dawn lied. "I was just going to put my pajamas on."

Mrs. Zerbrowski smiled. "I'll come back in a few minutes to say good night, okay?"

Dawn nodded. "What time is it?" she asked as Mrs. Zerbrowski withdrew.

"Quarter to nine."

As soon as the door closed, Dawn let her head fall forward. Over twelve hours until Anita would be there to pick her up. That was like forever.

Dawn was in bed when Mrs. Zerbrowski came back. "I see you're all ready," the woman said. She sat on the end of the mattress. "Did you and Sarah enjoy the movie?"

Dawn made herself nod. "Dinner was really nice too. Thanks for letting me stay here tonight."

"You're quite welcome." Mrs. Zerbrowski gave Dawn's blanket-covered foot a tiny shake. "I'll see you in the morning."

Dawn waited until Mrs. Zerbrowski had turned out the lights and closed the door, before pushing back the covers. She retrieved her journal and the tiny flashlight she'd snagged from Anita's kitchen. Dawn hadn't gone to bed at nine o'clock since she was three, and she wasn't about to start now.

Buffy,

Oz was cool, right? He never tried to eat anyone when it wasn't a full moon, right? Willow would have mentioned it if he got all gnawy on her.

A kid I met here said that Micah changes into a monster that ate little girls. But he's totally not. He's always really nice, and he never gets mad at me, and he's always patient, even when my stupid little hands won't work like they're supposed to. Same with Nathaniel. (Helping me, not having tiny hands.)

Dawn stopped writing. Something was scratching at the back of her mind, something about someone changing and hurting little girls, but she was too tired to find the connection.

Things are strange here. The magic is different than at home. I told you about the social worker who let me stay with Anita. They know all about magic and vampires here, but I haven't told anyone I can read minds. Anita knows, and Micah and Nathaniel, but no one else. I don't like it any more. Remember how you went crazy when you could hear everyone's thoughts? And Angel made you drink that icky demony blood? I'm not that crazy. But sometimes I hear things I don't want to.

It's no fun when you know what people think of you.

I don't know why I'm like this. Or why I look this young. Or where you are.

I don't think I'll ever see you again. I don't know where to look for you.

Are you even looking for me anymore?

~~~

The next morning, Dawn woke from a horrible nightmare, about being chased and falling and dying, and everything felt different and exactly the same.

Mrs. Zerbrowski was in her room, opening the curtains. "Good morning, sleepyhead," she said brightly. "It's almost seven o'clock."

Dawn blinked, more tired than she had been when she finally stopped writing in her journal. "In the morning?"

Mrs. Zerbrowski smiled. "Why don't you get changed and come down to breakfast? Anita should be here to get you in a couple of hours."

Right. Anita. Dawn rubbed her eyes as she slipped out of the big bed, knocking Sigmund to the ground in the process.

"Here you go." Mrs. Zerbrowski picked Sigmund up and put him on the bed next to Dawn's backpack. "We'll see you downstairs in a few minutes."

Dawn dug around in her backpack for her change of clothes. Nathaniel had been extra nice and had packed her stripy socks in with her clothes. Dawn pulled her clothes on, admiring the way her feet were a rainbow of color, before shoving all her belongings into the bag, including the journal and flashlight she'd hidden under the pillow.

Some half-remembered piece of advice from Mom came back to Dawn, and she tried to pull the sheets and blanket into place. Making an adult-sized bed was nearly impossible for Dawn's little hands, but she managed to make the bed a little less messy.

The whole Zerbrowski family was around the kitchen table when Dawn made it downstairs. She stopped in the doorway, gripping the strap of her backpack tightly. She wasn't a part of this. This wasn't her family.

Zerbrowski broke off talking with Kyle when he spotted Dawn in the doorway. "Dawn, come get something to eat before it's all gone," he said.

Kyle shot Dawn a look filled with such loathing that she wanted to run away. But she wasn't going to let some stupid little kid push her around. Lifting her chin high, Dawn matched into the kitchen and climbed up on the empty chair. She reached for the cereal box closest to her, only to have it snatched out of her hand by Kyle.

Just as quickly, Zerbrowski took the box away from Kyle. "Guests have first call," Zerbrowski told his son. "Here, Dawn." He poured cereal into a bowl and placed it in front of Dawn, adding some milk.

Kyle's dislike pressed down on Dawn, suffocating. "Thank you," she whispered. She managed to swallow a mouthful of the cereal, sugary and sweet, but it tasted like cotton balls. She stirred the cereal with her spoon, watching as the cereal began to break down into crumbs in the milk.

"All right, time for school," Mrs. Zerbrowski said, clapping her hands. Kyle and Sarah clattered down from the table. Kyle ran out of the room immediately, but Sarah paused.

"Thanks for staying over, Dawn!" the girl chirruped. "I had fun."

Dawn managed to smile at the child's sincerity. "Thanks for having me," she said. Mrs. Zerbrowski took Sarah by the hand and guided the girl out of the kitchen.

"Mommy, why is Dawn sad?" Sarah's voice drifted down the hall.

"Maybe she's homesick," Mrs. Zerbrowski said. "Remember how you missed us when you went over to Carrie's house? Dawn is younger than you were then."

"But she can read!" Sarah exclaimed, as if that explained everything.

Dawn looked around the quiet kitchen. Zerbrowski was still sitting in his chair, nursing a cup of coffee. "Hey," he said. "You want me to get you something else for breakfast?"

Dawn shook her head.

"How about a cup of coffee?"

Dawn set her spoon down. "Really?"

Zerbrowski cracked a grin. "Sort of. Micah told me how to make your favorite drink." The detective got to his feet and headed over to the coffee pot. "Anita said she'd be here by nine."

Dawn looked at the clock on the microwave. Another hour to go. "I can go sit in the living room to not bother you."

"You don't bother me," Zerbrowski said. He poured milk into a mug and put it in the microwave. "Do you want to help me with the dishes?"

"Sure," Dawn said reluctantly. She slipped off her chair and carried her bowl over to the counter. "Don't you have to sleep? Weren't you at work all night?"

"I'll sleep after Anita comes to pick you up." Zerbrowski took the bowl from Dawn's hands. "Katie tells me that you and Sarah had fun last night."

"Uh huh," Dawn replied automatically. "She wants a Princess Stephanie doll from Santa for Christmas. In case you didn't know."

"What would you like when Santa visits for Christmas?" Zerbrowski asked.

"To keep my intestines!" Dawn exclaimed without thinking.

Zerbrowski set down the coffee pot with a clatter. "What?"

Flustered, Dawn backed up. "Anya said that Santa Claus isn't a myth, that he's a demon that climbs down chimneys and disembowels little children."

"Who's Anya?"

"A friend of Buffy."

Zerbrowski crouched down so he was on eye-level with Dawn. "Dawn, Santa Claus isn't a demon," he said, very serious. "Nothing about Christmas is going to hurt you."

Dawn looked down at her toes. Suddenly her colorful socks looked childish and stupid. Everything about her was childish and stupid.

"Why don't you sit down and I'll do the dishes," Zerbrowski said. He helped Dawn sit on a chair, and placed a cup in front of her. "One latte, as requested."

Dawn took a tentative sip. The milk was just warm enough, and sweet. "Thank you."

Zerbrowski quietly did the dishes while Dawn sipped at her cup. "So," Zerbrowski said after a while. "Did your sister's friend talk about any other kinds of bad creatures?"

Dawn raised her eyebrows. That wasn't really the sort of thing she'd have thought a grown-up would talk about with a five-year-old. "Some things."

"Like what?" Zerbrowski dried his hands and came back over to the table.

Dawn bit her lip. What sorts of things could she talk to Zerbrowski about? Maybe only the things she'd seen in this world. Otherwise he'd think she was crazy. "Well, like vampires and werewolves and stuff," she said. "Anya worked in Giles' magic shop."

"Did you go into this shop?" Zerbrowski asked. "What kinds of things did they have there?"

Dawn shrugged. "The usual. Crystal balls and incense and salamander eyes and tarot cards and monkey brains. But Willow said that selling tarot cards was useless. If you wanted to tell the future, you'd be better off casting the bones."

Zerbrowski stirred his coffee. "Did she ever do that? Willow, I mean."

"Not that I know of." Dawn took a long drink from her cup. She was down the syrupy goodness at the bottom of the cup. "Reading the future never works, anyway."

"I bet," Zerbrowski said. "These friends of your sister's, at the magic shop, did they ever cast spells?"

Dawn lowered her cup. How dumb could she be? Zerbrowski didn't want to know about her friends, he wanted to pump her for information. She was so stupid! "I'm going to wait for Anita by the door," she said. She slipped off her chair, not looking at Zerbrowski, and headed straight for her backpack.

She knew better than this! Buffy had told Dawn so many times to not talk about anything to the police. And here Dawn was, spilling her guts to someone just because he gave her a cup of hot milk flavored with coffee. Stupid, that was what Dawn was. Stupid and useless.

Dropping her bag by the front door, Dawn stepped into her boots and pulled on her jacket, then settled down to wait.

"Dawn, why don't you come wait in the living room?" Zerbrowski said. He must have followed her from the kitchen.

"No, thank you," Dawn said stiffly. "I'll wait here."

And wait she did. She waited and waited and waited some more. She pulled Sigmund out of her backpack and held him on her lap, and together they waited for what felt like forever.

Finally, the doorbell rang. Dawn sprang to her feet, jumping impatiently while waiting for Zerbrowski to come and open the door.

"Hey, Zerbrowski," Anita said. She barely made it one step into the house before Dawn dropped Sigmund and jumped on her, hugging the woman around the waist as hard as she could. "Dawn? What's wrong?" Anita asked, picking the girl up. Dawn wrapped her arms around Anita's neck and her legs around Anita's waist and clung to the woman like a limpet. "Zerbrowski, what happened?"

"She missed you," Zerbrowski said.

"I can see that!" Anita rubbed Dawn's back with her free hand. "What happened? She was fine last night!"

"Can we go home?" Dawn asked, voice muffled in Anita's jacket. "Right now?"

"In a minute," Anita said. "Zerbrowski?"

Dawn heard the man sigh. "Katie said that Dawn and Kyle didn't get along very well."

"Dawn?" Anita stroked Dawn's hair until the girl turned her head. "Was that it?"

Mindful of how rude it would be to criticize Kyle in front of his father, Dawn shook her head. "I didn't get much sleep."

"Is anything wrong?"

Dawn shook her head, then buried her face in the crook of Anita's neck.

"I'll call you later," Zerbrowski said. "You take that kid home."

"Sure," Anita said, more confused than anything. "Thanks for watching Dawn."

"It was easy," Zerbrowski said. "Goodbye Dawn."

Dawn managed to let go of Anita long enough to wave at Zerbrowski. Then she clung tight all the way out of the house, down the driveway and into Anita's car.

"You want to tell me what that was about?" Anita asked as she strapped Dawn into the backseat.

Dawn shook her head, staring at her feet.

Anita sighed. "How about we get you home, okay?" She put Sigmund on the seat next to Dawn, then closed the car door.

They were driving down the road before Dawn spoke. "Are Nathaniel and Micah okay?"

"Of course they are," Anita said. "Just a normal full moon. As normal as they get, anyway."

"Can I come with you next time, then?" Dawn asked quickly. "Please?"

"Dawn, that can't happen."

Dawn turned her head to stare out the window at the passing traffic. Her tummy rumbled and her head felt funny, like she was falling, but she kept her mouth shut. Anita didn't need to hear her complain. She apparently didn't want to listen to Dawn at all.
The rest of the drive to Anita's house was in silence.

After pulling into the driveway, Anita helped Dawn out of the car and up the front walk. Part of Dawn wanted to pull her hand away from Anita, but everything was so confused and her head felt so weird that she let Anita guide her up the walk.

Dawn had just finished setting her boots on the mat by the front door, when she heard Micah say, "How was it?"

"We had a few problems," Anita said. She dropped Dawn's bag on the floor by the shoes. "Dawn said she didn't get much sleep."

Micah sat on the bottom step of the stairs, watching Dawn. He was dressed more casually than normal, in sweatpants and a t-shirt. He looked a little tired, but not nearly as tired as Anita. "Were you homesick?" he asked Dawn.

Dawn shrugged. "Maybe." She didn't understand what she was feeling. Was she scared of Micah? She couldn't be, he was always so nice! He would never try to eat her!

"Do you want to go have a nap?" Micah continued.

Dawn shook her head. She wasn't that tired, and she wasn't scared of Micah, she told herself. As if to prove the point, she went and sat on the step next to him. See? Not scared.

"Did you have enough to eat?" Micah asked.

"They had pot roast last night for dinner," Dawn said, avoiding the question. "And cereal for breakfast."

"Sounds good." Micah looked at Anita. "You've been up all night, why don't you go get some sleep?"

Anita hesitated. "You were up all night, too."

"I had some sleep. Dawn and I can work on figuring out where we're going to put the Christmas tree."

"You should go sleep," Dawn added, pulling her knees up to her chest. "You can take Sigmund if you like."

Anita smiled. "I'm fine." She kicked off her shoes. "I'll see you guys in a few hours, okay?"

Dawn watched Anita walk down the hall, then turned to Micah. "You can go sleep too if you want. I won't make a mess."

Micah rested his chin on his hand. "I'm fine." He let out a sigh. "Can I ask you a question?"

"I guess."

"How do you feel?"

Dawn looked at her feet. "Fine, I guess," she said as she pulled off her striped socks. Her toes were so tiny, and in a fleeting thought, Dawn wondered if a wereleopard could eat her up, toes and all.

"Really?"

Dawn leaned forward and squeezed her big toe. "Uh huh."

"I see." Micah shifted around on the step. "Because if you're not feeling good, you should tell us, so we can help you feel better."

Dawn squeezed her other toes, one by one. "What if you can't make it better?"

"We won't know until we try."

Dawn sat up. Now her tummy felt as bad as her head. "Did you ever eat a little girl?" she blurted out.

Micah's face went blank. "What-- No, Dawn, never. Why on earth made you ask that?"

Dawn hunched her shoulders. Now Micah was going to be mad at her, what if he changed into a leopard and got mad at her? "I don't know," she said quickly.

"What happened last night?" Micah asked, slipping off the step and kneeling on the ground in front of Dawn. "Who was talking about this?"

Confused tears gathered in Dawn's eyes. "Kyle said that you're a wereleopard and they eat little girls and that's why I was at their house, so you wouldn't eat me and Anita wouldn't shoot you."

"That's never going to happen!" Micah said. He touched Dawn's cheek, and she started to cry. "Dawn, you're safe around me and Nathaniel, we will never let anything happen to you, I promise."

"You're not going to change and hurt me?" Dawn sniffled.

"Never." Micah picked Dawn up and stood. "We will never let anything hurt you."

"Oh." Dawn wiped her tears on the shoulder of Micah's t-shirt. "What are we doing?"

"Getting you something to eat." Micah shifted Dawn to his hip as he entered the kitchen.

"But I didn't say I was hungry," Dawn protested. "They really did have lots of food!"

"There's a difference between there being a lot of food and you eating any of it." Micah set Dawn down on the counter. "Grilled cheese or peanut butter sandwich?"

Dawn hugged her arms to her chest. She wished her headache would go away, and take the dream memories of running and falling with it. "Grilled cheese," she whispered.

The sandwich helped calm Dawn's stomach, as did the glass of milk and the few bites of banana. Micah sat at the table, watching her eat. When she was done, he said, "Do you want to talk about it now?"

Dawn toyed with the sandwich crust. "Not really."

"Did any of what happened with you being able to hear what people are thinking sometimes?"

Reluctantly, Dawn nodded. "Kyle doesn't like me."

"Did he tell you that?"

"No." Dawn dragged the bread crust through the ketchup. "I kinda heard him thinking it."

"I see." Micah was quiet for a minute. "How would you feel about meeting a friend of Anita's?"

"Ronnie?" Dawn asked. "Nathaniel told me about Ronnie."

"No, not Ronnie. Her name is Marianne. She helped Anita."

"What does she do?" Dawn asked, interested in hearing all about Anita's friends.

"She's a witch," Micah explained. "She helped Anita be able to shield her powers. Maybe she can help you do the same thing with your powers."

Dawn dropped the crust. "But Anita helped me do that," Dawn protested. "At the zoo, all I have to concentrate and I can make everything go away."

"Maybe we can find a better way," Micah said.

Dawn was quiet, staring at her plate. "Do you think she can make it go away?"

The fleeting hope in Dawn's chest that she wouldn't have to read minds anymore was crushed by Micah's downcast expression. "I don't know if we'll be able to do that, Dawn."

"Oh."

"I have an idea," Micah said quickly. "How about we go move the living room furniture around for the Christmas tree?"

"But we haven't got a Christmas tree yet," Dawn said automatically.

"Once Nathaniel and Anita wake up, we can go buy one," Micah said. "What do you say?"

Dawn turned the suggestion over in her mind. "Can we also hang stockings on the fireplace?"

"Of course."

Dawn jumped out of her chair and rounded the table. "I'm sorry I thought you would eat me," she blurted out.

"It's okay," Micah said.

"No, it isn't!" Dawn tried to look adult. "It's not okay!"

"Dawn." Micah leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "As long as you understand that no one in this house will ever hurt you, then is is okay. We'll put that behind us and move on."

"If you say so," Dawn said.

"I do." Micah stood up. "Come on, Nathaniel should be up soon and we need to get a move-on for that tree."

Dawn took Micah's hand and together they walked into the living room. "All right," Dawn said. "Christmas, here we come."

and with that -- to be continued

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From:

morgie.livejournal.com

Everyone should keep their intestines for Christmas.

It's less messy.

From:

mhalachai was here

Dawning Light 10: Man in the Moon (AB/BtVS) PG

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