Chapter 34

Dawn was subdued as she sat at the kitchen table watching Elaina prepare breakfast. Elaina traded a worried glance with Rob when he entered the kitchen after taking his shower. Dawn's hair was still wet from her shower, taken alone when she demurred at Rob's offer to join her. Not sure how to act, Rob hesitated, then he kissed her on the cheek when she didn't look up to see him standing there. She did turn to him then, and she gave him a wan smile, which only caused Rob to worry more. Elaina could only shrug when he looked to her for help, her own expression worried and sad.

Although he had no appetite, Rob made himself eat, hoping that Dawn would follow his example when she only prodded and poked at the steaming bowl of oatmeal Elaina had set before her. She did finally manage to take a couple of desultory spoonfuls of her meal, but it was obvious her heart wasn't in it.

Looking up at Elaina, he saw that she had reached the same conclusion he had: they had to get it out in the open before it festered and poisoned their relationship. Elaina briskly removed the bowls from the table and stuck them in the sink to be dealt with later.

"Dawn," Rob said, "We need to talk about this." He frowned when she shrugged a shoulder and looked around forlornly. Taking her hand, he pulled her to her feet and led her to the couch, pressing her firmly to the seat when they got there. Elaina sat beside her and took her hand, but Rob stayed on his feet, pacing in front of the coffee table.

Elaina saw that Rob was at a loss as to where to start, so she turned to Dawn.

"Sweeting, you need to tell us what you're thinking, what you're feeling," she pled quietly. "We can see you're hurting. Please, tell us how we can help?"

A lone tear escaped to trail down Dawn's cheek, and seeing that, Rob sat down on the coffee table facing her and put his hands on her cheeks.

"Please," Rob begged softly, "Sweetheart, you have to tell us what's wrong."

Dawn sobbed and turned into Elaina, reaching out to circle her neck with her arms. Rob dropped his hands, then he reached out with one hand to rub her back in small circles as she continued sobbing, placing his other hand on her knee. Elaina stroked her hair with one hand while holding her shoulder with the other, soothing her with soft words and caresses.

It took some time, but Dawn finally calmed down enough to speak.

"When I kicked that man, and his ... his leg broke like that," Dawn said stammering, "It just ... I felt ... sick inside. I hurt somebody, some stranger I didn't even know."

"But, Dawn," Elaina said with hushed words, "If you hadn't stopped him, what would he have done?"

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked with a puzzled frown.

"What was he doing before you hit him, sweetheart?" Rob asked from the other side. Dawn twisted to look at him. She dropped her eyes in thought for a moment, then she looked back up with comprehension in her eyes.

"He was going to hit Elaina," she husked.

"Sweeting," Elaina said softly, "I may be strong and fast, but I can still be killed. I was distracted, and if that man had managed to hit me in the head..."

Dawn gasped and put her hands over her mouth. "No..."

"Yes," Elaina returned. "You saved my life, sweeting."

"Oh my God, Elaina!" Dawn exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her lover and squeezing for all she was worth. Rob moved to the couch and enfolded them both in his arms, shaken because he himself hadn't realized how close it had been, nor how vulnerable Elaina truly was.

More time passed before they broke apart. Dawn had obviously accepted that she had done what needed to be done, but it still seemed to bother her that she was capable of such violence.

Rob stood up and went to the kitchen and started cleaning up the hardening oatmeal. Shortly after that, Elaina and Dawn came in, Dawn still somewhat subdued but smiling faintly all the same. They shooed him out of the kitchen with Elaina joking it was her job to clean up after. Dawn started helping by wiping down the table and generally tidying up to keep herself busy.

Rob shrugged and turned away, saying that he was going to get his Sunday paper. Elaina asked him to pick up some things she needed for dinner, and after perusing the short list she handed him decided it was all stuff he could get at the bodega where he got his paper.

After putting on his dad's old bomber jacket, he went back to give Dawn a hug and a kiss. He kept it light out of consideration for her feelings, but she took it to the next level to let him know she'd be all right. He smiled down at her precious face and kissed the end of her nose, causing her to wrinkle it cutely at him. He turned to Elaina and got a gentle kiss, worry still creasing her brow. He bumped foreheads with her, looking into her eyes, and she managed a weak smile for his concern. With a wave, he left the apartment.

With a sense of déjà vu, he met up with Stefan when he reached the main foyer.

"Have you seen this morning's paper yet?" Stefan asked.

"I was just on my way out to get it," he replied with a frown. "Why?"

Instead of answering, Stefan held out the paper he had in his hand. Rob took the paper and shook it out, scanning the front page. The headline of the newspaper was about Saturday's Saint Patrick's Day celebration, but the bottom half of page was all about the massacre of eight members of a notorious street gang.

"It states here that the police are saying it was a war between rival gangs," Rob commented.

"Yes," Stefan replied, "But the police are curious about some things. It doesn't say it in the paper exactly, but I noticed that they only found bodies for one of the gangs. Who was the other gang?"

Rob gave him a stony-eyed stare, and Stefan returned it with a thoughtful frown. "Did you go hunting after all?" he asked.

"We didn't go looking for them," Rob answered reluctantly, realizing that Stefan would figure it out anyway. "They found us."

Rob wore a puzzled frown as he continued scanning the article. "It says here that eight members of the gang were found dead. We only accounted for five of them."

"The police aren't releasing any details, only confirming what everybody already knows," Stefan replied with a shrug. "There seems to be some concern over the fact that the leader's head was removed. The reporters are speculating that it may have been an execution."

"As long as they don't start looking for supernatural explanations," Rob muttered.

"The police don't like supernatural anything," Stefan scoffed. "But I was wondering, do you think this may attract that slayer you were worried about?"

"I don't know," Rob answered worriedly. "Let's hope not. There were too many bodies to try and hide them, and we had to take care of Dawn."

"How is the princess doing?" Stefan asked with concern. "Will she be all right?"

"She's having some trouble dealing with the violence," Rob said consideringly. "She's a gentle soul and it hurt her to have to hurt another. It's going to take time for her to accept that part of herself that she'd never had to face before."

"It is always like that," Stefan remarked sagely. "Except for those that are born to be warriors, the first time is always hard to face. Give her time. She may never willingly do violence, but she will accept that sometimes it is necessary."

"Thank you, Stefan," Rob said gratefully. "That's good to hear. Now, if I could just convince her of that..." he finished, chuckling ruefully.

Smiling sympathetically, Stefan said his good-byes and let Rob get on his way. Rob stepped out of the door into a bright, blustery spring day. Rob turned his head to face the sun and closed his eyes, his nose flaring as he took in the freshening breeze that told of the end of winter. A quiet voice interrupted his reverie and called his attention to the young girl standing on the stoop beside him.

"Will she be okay?" she asked quietly. "The lady you brought home last night, will she be okay?"

Rob leaned back against the wall with his arms crossed and looked at the frightened young girl.

"She's going to be fine," Rob said, nodding his head. He watched as her shoulders slumped in relief, and he tipped his head questioningly.

"I was afraid they'd got to you," she replied shyly. "I was afraid they'd hurt her."

Rob shook his head but remained silent, waiting for her to open up on her own. When it became apparent she wasn't going to say more, he spoke.

"Are you watching me?" he asked softly. She looked up with fear in her eyes and then relaxed when his expression told her he wasn't angry.

"Slip thought we should watch out for you, maybe warn you if things looked bad," she answered. "Those guys, they were bad. They liked to hurt people."

"Were?" Rob asked with a raised eyebrow. "What's that mean?"

"Something happened last night," the young girl replied. "There was a fight or something. The guys that were after you got killed..." she pointed downtown, " ... behind a bar down that way. Slip said they were off their turf, so another gang musta done it."

She looked down at her toes and twisted her fingers in front of her. She looked up from under her cap and asked, "What happened, anyway? To your ... um ... girlfriend?"

Rob smiled at her, and for the first time noted her pale blue eyes. She could hide a lot of secrets behind those eyes, he thought.

"She kind of overdid it last night and I had to carry her home," he said in answer. She frowned, maybe in recognition that he wasn't telling her the whole truth, but he saw it when she decided to accept his answer by nodding her head. Taking the chance that she wasn't paying attention, he asked, "What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Trinity," she answered, then she clapped her hands over her mouth as she realized that she'd spoken without thinking. She put her hands on her hips and glared at him when she saw his eyes laughing at her. Rob fought hard to keep the smile from his lips, not wanting to aggravate her anymore than he had.

"Thank you, Trinity," he said, finally letting his smile out. "Do you think you'll be watching me anymore?"

"Probably not," she answered dismissively. "Now that the fuckwad is dead, there's no reason." She kept her eyes on him, waiting for his response to her deliberate profanity. Rob fought hard to keep his features impassive in the face of her belligerence. She nodded briskly once, then she turned and stepped quickly down the stairway to the street and blended in with the Sunday morning crowd. Laughing quietly to himself, Rob followed to the street and headed off to complete his morning chores.

Rob was distracted with rereading the article about the massacre behind Hazelwood Pub and didn't see Elaina standing in the living room entry with a scowl on her face and her fists planted on her hips. She cleared her throat loudly, startling him and causing him to look up.