Dawn had been behaving herself. This was so not what she had in mind when she lobbied to accompany Giles to the new Hellmouth - she'd thought there would be adventure and an opportunity to learn, maybe some fun and danger. Well, there was danger, alright. She should have known better than to romanticize what they did. It just set up unreasonable expectations.
With Giles out of the hospital, she stuck to his side as often as she could. She couldn't help but worry - this town had already tried to kill him once - but once he began cleaning his glasses every three minutes she knew it was her cue to get out. "You didn't come here to be cooped up in a hotel room," he'd say, and Dawn knew he was right.
Still, she played it safe. She tried to do research on her computer, hanging out in coffee shops, but without much information from Giles and no contact with the Watcher's Council she kept hitting dead ends. In a fit of desperation, she went to the library on the college campus. At least they might have some interesting intel on the town's history.
Laden with books, she was crossing the quad when her phone buzzed and she fished it out of her pocket, trying to check the screen and balance her load at the same time. Clearly, the monks hadn't thought to include Slayer-like balancing abilities, because within seconds she ran into someone and almost literally bounced off, her books spilling all over the walkway.
"Shit!" she exclaimed, trying to get her feet back under her. "Um, crap, sorry."