canon au } { post-318: riddled

[ooglyboogleys]

[Dawn is very adamant about the fact that Derek should not get himself electrocuted. In fact, she will be extremely unhappy if he did. Especially given the current situation he’s in with being attacked by a flying live wire.]

Derek: We didn't know Evil Stiles had done that.

Dawn: That is not the point. I told you to be careful.

Derek: I was being careful! I'm even being a team player and finally told Scott that he's been helping me see how I was wrong. I mean, give me some credit here.

Dawn: As proud of you as I am for your growth as a person, it all kind of goes to waste if you die.

Derek: [eye roll] Not dying today, I promise.

Dawn: Good. [sorry, she just ... has a lot of people die on her. And has watched a lot of people lose their significant others in terrible ways right when things are getting good. She's paranoid and she's worried and Derek is dealing with something she's never seen before]

Derek: [sighs and pulls her into a hug] I'm not as reckless as I used to be, I promise.

Dawn: [curls into him and lets her head rest against his shoulder] It's not always about being reckless.

Derek: Yeah, but it does help keep the odds down.

Dawn: [nods a bit, though she doesn't really move, so it's more like her head his nuzzling his shoulder] I just ... Willow lost Tara and Xander lost Anya and Renee and Angel with Cordelia and Wes and Fred and ... we don't exactly have the best track record for old married coupledom.

Derek: [kisses the top of her head] I don't plan on leaving you, Dawn. I waited too long to get you in the first place.

Dawn: [she closes her eyes as she leans into him, remembering, briefly, the day Tara died. It had started off so happy, that they were working things out and things may be better again, but in an instant she was gone and everything got so much worse. But this isn't the same situation and she knows that, but it's not going to stop her from worrying all the same.] I know. [never mind that's the reason why she's worried in the first place]

Derek: [reaches down to tilt her chin to look at him] I'm being safer and smarter because of you. I promise.

Dawn: [looks up at him for a moment before nodding. She gets it.] And I worry twice as much because of you, so we're even. [she exhales, tipping her head forward so that her forehead is resting against his] I can't ... turn it off. Sorry.

Derek: Don't be sorry. You have reason to be worried. But trust me to know how to keep myself safe?

Dawn: I do. I do. It's just the things I can't predict that worry me. [and she feels like the minute she stops worrying is the minute she's going to lose him]

Derek: If neither of us can predict them, then Dawn... you can't let your life be run by things you can't control.

Dawn: [she laughs, but it's slightly bitter] Tell me something I don't know. But ... when we get complacent we lose. And we lose big. So if it means I have to worry myself into an ulcer not to lose anyone else then I don't know how else to do it, which is ... actually kind of pathetic, but there it is. The Powers that Be don't really cut us breaks.

Derek: And if you try and put me in a bubble, you know I will claw my way out and it won't be pretty.

Dawn: I know. I know, and I'm not trying to. I've just been to fifteen funerals since I was ... made or whatever. Fifteen. In twelve years. And there were some that we didn't even have funerals for because we couldn't get them out of the Hellmouth. I get that people die doing what we do but ... it doesn't really stop me from being needy. Or clingy. Or ... irrationally upset when dangerous things happen, even if you're fine. I don't want you to be number sixteen.

Derek: [he just closes his eyes because he can count on one hand how many funerals he has been to, but number of deaths way exceed that number] I know.

Dawn: [she doesn't think he ever realized that she knows what it's like to bury her whole family, mostly because Buffy's didn't really stick. She got that so much more when they were kids than she ever let on but it wasn't her grief to share, it was his he needed to deal with] So just ... put up with me being a little neurotic, okay?

Derek: I will.

Dawn: Thank you. You're a good boyfriend.

Derek: I try. And you're a good girlfriend. Especially if you aren't planning on using me to murder my pack.

Dawn: Definitely not. [and back to business] Now tell me about this thing that's possessing Stiles. Maybe I can call Sam and Dean, they might have run into it before.

Derek: We aren't sure yet. But, Dawn, there's more than just the possession wrong with him. [relates what he knows about Stiles' mom from various conversations]

Dawn: [her face falls a bit at that] ... That's awful. And there's nothing that can be done?

Derek: Nothing human medicine can do. [which leaves non-human means]

Dawn: I have some stones I can overturn. [specifically, she thinking she's got an angel to poke]

Derek: Okay. But we need to work fast. Maybe work with Deaton and see what he knows if this creature may be making his condition worse.

Dawn: [she nods] I'll call Giles too. He might have something in the old Watcher records.

Derek: We need to get it out of him, and then hope we're not too late to battle the dementia.

Dawn: I ... there's someone I can call. But I'm not sure how willing he'll be to help. He's ... kind of got a lot going on right now, but I know he can at least get here soon.

Derek: Good, because I don't think it's a thing I can help with like I did Cora, if I even have the juice left to do it. And Scott... well, he's the only alpha and if it doesn't take...

Dawn: [shakes her head] No, my guy is pretty much a guaranteed fix. I just have to get him here. And convince him that it's worth doing, which is ... slightly more complicated, but still doable.

Derek: Would the fact his death would remove the one very human tie that a teenage alpha learning his powers has to keep him from losing his own grip on humanity do it?

Dawn: [wrinkles her nose] Probably not. He's a bit of a big picture guy.

Derek: Wow.

Dawn: [her shoulders pop in a bit of a shrug] Angels are kind of weird that way. Though he is better than most. He just doesn't know Scott so convincing him to do it for Scott's well-being would take, well, convincing. But I'm pretty sure he owes Buffy one so ... maybe I can cash in on that.

Derek: Buffy liked Scott and Stiles when they stopped in at Thanksgiving, right?

Dawn: [she nods] Like in terms of Stiles may be a bit of a stretch, but she didn't want to punch him in the face by the end of it, so it could have been worse. But even if she didn't, she would make Cas help.