| Dawnty's Inferno Part 1: Blackmail, It's Not Just For Creatures of the Night Author: Jerri Cocke Summary: Dawn wants something that Spike has. She has something that he wants. Wanna Make a Deal! Disclaimer: Joss owns all, I own none. If you have, take. If not, ask. Dedication: To Dawnty for the use of her name. And to Jack for great beta work. Dawn had a scowl on her pretty face. She hated having a big sister. Just because Dawn had told Buffy about Spike's feelings, The Great and Powerful Slayer had gone and had Tara and Willow uninvite him from the house. As if that wasn't bad enough, she had forbidden her to go anywhere near the bleached blonde vampire. Now, that just sucked. Spike was way cool. He told her stories, he listened to her. When everyone else had lied to her, he had been straight with her. He understood Buffy was just so...so...well she didn't know just what to call her right then, but she'd think of something. And if Her Highness, Queen Buffy thought that she was going to stay away from Spike, she had another think coming. Carefully, the 14 year old packed a stake and cross into her jacket's pockets. She would show Buffy, she'd show them all. Quietly, she locked her door, turned off the light, and climbed out the window. Dawn made her way carefully down the trellis and set off for one of Sunnydale's numerous cemeteries. Dawn picked her way through the tombstones, flinching when she heard a noise behind her. She spun around to see...Spike, leaning on a tree, cigarette in hand, and a quizzical look on his chiseled face. "So, Pet, snuck out again, have you? And what is big sister, slayer, gonna say?" "Don't know, don't care." "What are you doing here anyway?" "I just want to hang with you. I...you treat me like a real person. Not like I'm some mystical thing. You seem to understand me, what I'm dealing with. I want to patrol with you." "Now, Pet, if the slayer finds you with me, you know that she'll try to put a stake in me. I don't fancy fitting in a dust buster." "She won't find out from me. I promise Spike. Please, please, let me hang with you?" The tiny brunette pouted at him with all the talent he'd seen the Slayer use from time to time. "Now, Kitten, there's lots of bad things loose in Sunnydale after dark. I might protect you from some of them, but that's not true for the bloody humans who are bad. I can't even protect myself from them." "But, Spike," she whined in her best 'I'm gonna get what I want voice.' "Sorry Luv, but I don't see any upside for me in this. Besides Buffy'll slay me for my troubles." He flashed a killer grin at the teenager. "'Sides, Pet, where I plan on going, you can't follow." "Why not?" "Cause, Willy's don't let you in without an I.D. Or a set of fangs. You don't qualify on either count. Now be a good girl and let me take you home." "Spike, you want something out of it to make it worth your while to take me with you, right?" "Pet, I hate to break it to you, but you don't have anything I want." "Yes I do," she said in a sing-songy voice. "And what would that be, little girl?" he asked with a sigh. She smirked at the vampire. "An invitation." Spike stiffened as he felt something. He stepped in front of Dawn as four minions rushed at them. He felt a rush of unmitigated joy as he blocked the first punch and kicked the second in the stomach. He threw himself into the brawl, being careful to keep the mortal between him and a tombstone. He let all his frustration go as he snapped first one, then two, then the third neck. The fourth he pulled against his body, grabbing his hair with one muscled hand, exposing his throat. With a growl, he sank his teeth into the minion's jugular, draining him and throwing away the dry husk. He turned back to the frightened teenager and found her standing with a stake in one hand and a cross in the other. "Hells below, Kitten, put that bloody cross away!" Dawn slowly put the cross back into her pocket, still clutching the stake, "Spike," she said with a shiver, "You're still all 'grrr.'" Her fingers made quotation marks in the dead night air. "Sorry, Pet." He concentrated on smoothing his features, resuming his handsome mask. "Are you all right?" She nodded. "Okay, it's time for me to take you home." "But, Spike--" tbc |