Chad was in Allen's office. They were looking at astronomical maps when their conversation was interrupted. Dawn had knocked on the door. «Dad, did you call me?» she asked, looking inside. «Oh Chad, I didn’t know you were here.» she said as she walked in and closed the door behind her. The boy waved to her and she waved back before turning back to her father. «What did you want to tell me?»

Allen showed her some papers. There were some notes that she didn't understand. «Chad told you that he's studying astronomy, right?», he waited for his daughter to nod, then he continued. «He managed to calculate an approximate date for convergence. It seems like there's no much time left.» he said it smiling but Dawn's face didn't look happy. All her life she had waited for that moment. The day she was supposed to go home, her real home. Yet now that she was getting closer to that day, she no longer felt so ready, she was almost afraid. She would have to say goodbye to her father, not just Earth. Even if, at least, knowing a date would have given her the opportunity to say goodbye, and not just suddenly disappear, it still wouldn't have been easy.

«You don't seem enthusiastic about the idea.» Allen said as he walked around the desk to reach his daughter. He stroked her arm and tried to console her. «We knew it would happen. You must be happy, you will be safe there. You will never have to hide again.»

Dawn nodded. «I know. But still it's difficult.»

«We still have a few weeks before that happens. Let's treasure the time we have left, okay?», he hugged her and she held tightly onto the man who had raised her. «Now, go to the others. I have to make a phone call.», he released her. «There is someone I need to introduce you to.»

«Alright.»

Allen also dismissed Chad and waited for them both to leave his office before going back to his desk.

Chad walked Dawn to the Council room. «Not even time to meet again, we already have to separate again.» he moaned as they walked. «I wish you could stay.»

«We can't prevent the Ascension. The Oracle predicted it.»

«It's just a scrap of cloth, maybe it's wrong.»

Dawn shook her head. «If the nine Nerys risked everything to take it with them, it must be truly precious.»

Chad stopped walking and pulled her towards him. Surprised by that sudden embrace, Dawn remained still but the lights in the corridor came on and then went off again. It was imperceptible, fortunately, thanks to the light coming from the glass windows.

«I missed you so much. I don't want to lose you again.» Chad whispered in her ear. «I'm so grateful to your father for finding me, at least I got to see you one last time. But I won't be able to keep my promise.»

Dawn remembered the day he had disappeared from her life, leaving her only the hat, she loved to wear, and a letter with the promise that he would return to her and would never let her go again. She tried to push him away and he held her even tighter. «You couldn't keep it anyway... » she said.

Chad finally let her go. «Because you moved on? With Nathan, am I right?»

Dawn looked into his eyes and nodded. She had to set the record straight, she didn't want him to get his hopes up, she didn't want to hurt him.

«I'm not stupid, I noticed it immediately.», Chad smiled at her. «I still wanted to give it a try. I was hoping there was still some remnants of your crush on me.» he joked to liven up the tone of that conversation.

Dawn laughed. «You were the one who had a crush on me.» she retorted.

«You wish!», he returned her smile and they started walking again, this time without saying anything to each other. And, when they reached the open door of the Council room, Chad preferred not to hug her but he simply greeted her with his hand.

«See you later.» Dawn told him. She had promised she would spend some time with him in the afternoon.

«Okay.», Chad let her in and then left.

Dawn sat on the couch next to Ellen, who was scrolling through her phone to read some online comics.

Nathan was playing at the console. He had let himself be convinced by Jeyson and Oswald, even though he was incapable of it at all. He had accepted because he thought it was a good way to integrate better. He was forcing himself to do things he wouldn't usually do, and he was happy, more than he wanted to admit. Having friends wasn't that bad.

Dawn cleared her throat and attracted the attention of her companions. As soon as they turned to her, she reported what her father had told her in the office.

«So it's about time now… We will finally be able to rest and stop running around to help people.» Jeb said as he lay down on the carpet where he was sitting playing on his cell phone.

«Hey! It's about our kind you're talking about.» Chelsea scolded him, sitting a short distance away from him.

«But they almost always put themselves in danger, and it's up to us to save the day.» Jeb complained again. «We risk every day because of their recklessness. The other night, if Dawn hadn't helped us, we would have all been doomed.»

«You're not entirely wrong.» said Richard. «If Darren had been more careful, we wouldn't have had to intervene and we wouldn't have found ourselves surrounded. It's also his fault Oswald was shot.»

«Guys, you know well that not everyone realizes the risk they run.» Dawn interjected. «Many are orphans, all by themselves, without a guide, we can't blame them.»

Jeb and Richard hung their heads in mortification.

«Okay, that's enough. Let's not argue.» Ellen said. «Be ready to intervene.»

Strangely, those hours were pretty quiet. They didn't have to move even once, which was very strange indeed. Perhaps the Hunters also needed a break, after the intense and frenetic previous days.

They realized it was lunch time only when Samantha's stomach growled in a moment of absolute silence. Megan laughed, but actually she was hungry too. «I think it's time to go to the kitchen.» she said, standing up and putting her cell phone, which she had been playing with, in her pocket.

Sam stood up too. «Everything is pretty calm, we better take advantage of it.» she said.

Jeyson paused the game. «Yes, I didn't find anything strange either.»

They all prepared to leave the room. It was preferable for them to move in a group, in case they had to rush somewhere suddenly. Before Nathan could get out, Dawn grabbed his arm and stopped him. The other members of the Council sensed that perhaps they wanted to talk, so they left them alone. Dawn waited until they were gone, even though she knew that, with Megan and Oswald's hearing, they would never truly have any privacy.

«What's up?» Nathan asked her.

«I just wanted to tell you I talked to Chad. You have nothing to fear, he got it.»

Nathan sighed. He went and sat on the sofa. «I'm sorry if I gave you the impression of being jealous.» he said, putting a hand to the back of his head. «I'm sorry if I forced you to do this, just to reassure me. It almost seems like I don't trust you, but that's not the case. It's just… you two have a past, and I feel like I can't compete with all the time you spent together, all the memories you share.» he confessed out loud everything that had been plaguing him since Chad had returned. The truth was he almost envied him, for having met her before him.

Dawn sat down next to him. «I didn't do it for you.» she told him, stroking his arm. «I didn't want to deceive him and have him think there might still be something between us. He kept caressing me, hugging me and it made me really uncomfortable.»

«So there was something… » Nathan whispered, looking down.

Dawn snorted and cracked a smile. «It was just a crush. There was never anything more than a friendship, as neither of us made the first move. And even if there had been, things have changed by now.», she ruffled his hair. «Come on, let's go. I am hungry.»

Nathan curved his lips into a slight smile. «Alright.»