| Follow Me Part Five by Jess Spoiler for the Gift Authors notes: Thank you so much for all the excellent feedback I have gotten so far. And to those who have mentioned that Spike doesn't sound like all that much like Spike �..Well�..Its bloody hard to write him and I'm doing my best, k? Ok. :) I'm hoping this part will be more him. And nods to One_Good_Day list. I'm enjoying the chocolate covered Spikes. ::grin:: I know nothing about British football or the teams, so forgive the mistakes. :) Other Parts: E-mail me. :) Distribution: If you want it, just drop me a line and tell me where it's going to live, and we're groovy. (Please excuse the use of the word groovy) -- Spike listened for the sound of water running before he picked up the extension in the kitchen. Figuring he had a good ten minutes before Dawn finished her shower, Spike wanted to get this phone call over with. He looked at the speed dial list and punched the button for the Magic Box, hoping to catch Giles before he hopped in a cab headed to LAX. The phone rang twice before a cheery voice came over the line. "Magic Box, We're in mourning, but still open for your Magic needs." "Giles there?" "Willow and him are running around, messing up my shelves and taking things without paying." Anya punched the last two words, obviously not directing them to Spike. "Gang's all there then. Be a love and put us on speaker?" He cradled the phone against his shoulder, flipping through the stacks of mail on the counter. "Sure, hold on." The static on the phone got louder and the sounds of people walking echoed more then usual. "Can you all hear me?" A tired voice cut through the static. "What is it, Spike? I'm in quite a hurry." "Yeah, I know, gotta catch a plane and all that. Is Willow near?" "I'm here Spike. Everything Ok?" She sounded vaguely worried and it set the vampire back a bit. He smiled into the phone and sat on the counter. "Lovely ducks, thanks for asking. I just wanted to let you know that Bit isn't going to LA, she doesn't fancy the life of a white knight in tarnished armour. So no need to bother the poof, he wouldn't have time to put out the fancy soaps anyway. Have a good trip back to dreary London Watcher." Spike disconnected, a smirk forming on his lips as he sorted the mail into boring and interesting. Victoria Secret Catalogue�interesting. Electric Bill�.boring. Statement of final Grades: Summers, Buffy...interesting. The phone chirped at him and he nestled it back into his shoulder, "Summers household, resident evil speaking." "Listen hear you arrogant prat. Dawn * is* going to LA. She * will* stay with Angel until I return from England. This has been decided and you have less then no say in the matter." Giles spoke in an even tone, hushing his voice. Spike wasn't impressed. "Nibblet doesn't want to leave. I promised to stay. What does it matter which vampire watches over her as long as the job gets done." "Her name is Dawn and she agreed to go. Willow is going to make the arrangements while she's acquiring a few artefacts for the store and none of this is any of your sodding business." "Fine, couple quick questions though. Got a school lined up for her? Moving van for her bits and bobs? Selling her childhood home or just putting everything in storage? I'm sure your think tank has already come up with these, but I'm the curious type." Dear air hung for a full minute after Spike finished speaking. Giles could be heard sputtering and Spike was sure he could hear Willow gearing up for quite the ramble in the background. Giles recovered his tone. "Its what is best for Dawn right now, until more permanent arrangements can be made." Spike rolled his eyes and hopped off the counter, strolling around the kitchen looking in the odd cupboard. "No its not what best for Dawn, its what's best for you lot. Bit's got memories here, ghosts that make her feel loved, and you want to cart her off to live with a souled vampire that has no idea what she went through? Convince yourself you're doing all this for her it you need, but don't try and sell me on it. She needs to be here, she wants to be here and her is where she will stay as long as my body stays unashed, got me Watcher? If the Scoobies can't deal with a little girl's grief without shipping her off, maybe its best you don't come round for a bit. Tell the Watcher Council she's the Key, remind them it would be in there best interests if she was kept safe and sound and happy or she might start to develop the more unpleasant aspects of her talents." Spike heard the water shut off. "Got to run, have a safe trip." He disconnected the phone and took a few quick steps into the family room. He didn't want the girl to know he had been on the phone, so he made himself comfortable on the sofa. Throwing one arm over the back and sprawling this legs over the length of the seat, a thought hit him as he glimpsed the Dawn coming down the stairs. Her wet hair was sticking to her face, making her look thinner then her remembered her as. "When did you last eat, pet?" Dawn motioned for him to move his legs, and the vampire did so begrudgingly. She ran a hand through her hair, sending flecks of water onto the upholstery as she flopped on the sofa. "Yesterday, day before." She shrugged her shoulders in a defeated gesture. "I'm not really hungry anymore." "Still like pizza?" "Huh?" "Flat bread with bits of cheese and such on top. Very big in this country." A memory flashed in Dawn's brain and she smiled. "Xander said that once, before all this started." She bit the inside of her lip again. Shaking his head and lightly closing his eyes, his cheekbones seemed to harden. "Stupid git has me speaking like one of you." He opened his eyes. "I really have to find some English blokes to have a pint with." "You order the pizza, I'll set up the tape. You want to watch Dawson's Creek or Roswell?" "Such the choice. Surprise me." He stretched behind him to reach the telephone and heard his still mending bones crackle. Dawn gave him a questioning stare, which he ignored. "What kind you want?" "Hot peppers and pepperoni, please." "Americans." "We can get a second one with crumpet bits and curry sauce if you want." "The Summers wit didn't skip a generation, the world shakes in sorrow." "Blah blah. Order the pizza." He let a low growl but ordered the pizza and then made a quick call to Willys. Dawn wrinkled her nose at him as she fast forwarded through a particularly sappy episode. "You ordering blood?" He gazed at her with a `what do you think?' look. "Tell its not human." "No, I'm playing a tenner for heifers blood." "Ew. Do you ever think about how they get it?" "Imagine they pull it as the body is dying, its not fresh enough to be milked�Oh you want me to feel bad? Not going to happen pet." "You could be drinking Anya or Xander or Willow." He smiled. "Warms your heart, don't it?" Dawn pulled on leg underneath her and got into a comfortable position, her back against the armrest, only barely facing the television. Her legs arranged contentedly across the sofa, forcing Spike up from his position to something less familiar then lying with the young girl, both their legs across the seat. They sat and watched the video, and Spike planted his feet firmly on the floor during most of it. Neither one spoke for a while, until Pacey started to wax poetic over Joey. At the first sign of the characters romantic inclinations, Spike had started to shift uncomfortably as if his skin had suddenly shrunken a size. Dawn found this increasingly more entertaining then the show itself, and she contented herself with predicting the vampire's reactions to each scene. Finally, when the dark haired secondary character turned lead pulled to the side of the road to confess his undying till next season love, Spike growled loudly at the television. Bounding up from his seat, he stalked off to the kitchen muttering British epitaphs that the young girl assumed were directed at the fictional girl of Pacey's affections. Dawn followed him into the kitchen and found him outside the threshold, a lit cigarette burning at his lips. The chipped black nail varnish he wore glinted when he took the cylinder out of his mouth to exhale. "Enjoying a post DC smoke?" "Chit has no idea the pain her cute smile is going to cause." He stared absently into the backyard. Dawn raised an eyebrow but reserved comment on his romantic inclinations. She leaned against the opposite door jam. "You think she's in heaven?" The vampire was pulled back from the conversation in this head and looked surprised at her question. "Course she is. She's sitting somewhere with your mum, having coffee discussing which rock star to date first." "You believe in heaven and hell?" "Most demons do, luv." "Where is your soul then? Heaven or Hell." "Sticky question, that. William was a git at best and a horrid poet but he never did a single un-pleasant thing in all his days." Spike's mind recalled the memories of the day when he needed air and rest. "So I imagine he would be in heaven." "You think he'll run into Buffy? Maybe met up at the celestial coffee bar?" Spike held back a laugh. "I bleeding well hope not! He'd be running about, trying to find an appropriate rhyme for Buffy." Dawn looked thoughtful and tucked a still drying strand of hair behind her ear. "So if your soul is in heaven, when Angel got cursed, they pulled his soul back from eternal rest?" She scrunched up her nose. "That seems mean." "Nah, I imagine Liam never made it to the game. Whoring, drinking, stealing, gambling, never goes over well up there. Besides, Angelus wasn't given his own soul back, what good would that do? Human soul in an empty case, it would have gone mad. The gypsies, they just called it a soul. He was given a conscience, much worse." Dawn looked confused and crossed her arms over her chest, feeling cold seep into her bones. "What's the difference?" "You can be evil and have a soul. Not hard, just look at some of your more colourful humans they killed and maimed without even feeling a twinge of that pesky guilt. If they did know what they were doing was wrong by your species standards they simply didn't give a rat's ass. That's the difference, luv. With a conscience, Angel knew and cared." He shrugged his shoulders and flicked the butt of his cigarette to the ground. "Without one, we know and don't." The doorbell rang and made Dawn jump slightly. Spike smirked at her and motioned towards his duster lying over the banister. "There's a bit of dosh in the inner pocket, be a good girl and get the pizza?" "And if I don't want to?" "Then off to LA you go and good riddens." Dawn didn't question the sincerity in his words. A short time after the pizza came, a shallow knock at the back door announced the arrival of Spike dinner. He opened the door and saw the paper bag simply sitting there, a note stapled to the folded top like a child's lunch. Puzzled, Spike picked it up and tore the note off. Heard about the Slayer. She was too cute to go like that. W. Spike looked at the note for several seconds before bunching it up in his fist and tossing it for a perfect three pointer. He did so without sadness at the reminder of Buffy. Days of alcohol and random violence had cleared most of his self-pity and his renewed promise to care for Dawn had gotten the rest. If he wanted her to get over it, he would have to as well. The faint smell of blood urged his eyes yellow and he opened the paper bag to see what Willy had sent him. Pleased to see five bags of AB positive and one of O negative, Spike tore into the AB, drinking some cold and pouring the rest into a mug for heating. The O was more of a breakfast blood and the vampire looked forward to a nice bowl of Wheetabix in the morning. His eyes flashed over the micro-wave clock and saw it was approaching 11 pm. "Dawn, get your skinny ass in here." "You looking at my ass could be construed as dirty old man behaviour. What am I, like 50x your junior?" "No soul, no conscience, no bother. Now what time do you have class in the morning?" "I have class all the time. I have school at 9am." "One more hour then off to sleep." Again, Dawn just shut her mouth and nodded. -- By 1:00am, Spike heard Dawn's breathing slow to a measured rhythm and he picked her off the sofa. The girl snuggled into his shoulder and he looked down at her sleeping form with something the resembled affection. Her bed was rumpled, as if she had just slept in it moments ago. Slowly he laid her down on top of the covers and set her alarm for 8 o'clock, Dawn stirred briefly and Spike wondered what dreams she was having, if they were of Buffy. After pulling the blinds tightly closed, he left the room but kept the door open a crack in case the dreams turned angry. In the hallway, Spike was faced with three doors. One to Buffy's room, automatically veto-ed for sleeping quarters. Another to Joyce's room, again omitted. The third lead to a small bathroom and Spike had spent enough nights in the tub, thank you never much. The main floor held better options. Family room: big picture window, light drapes, high risk of a dusty future. Kitchen: easy access to the rest of the home, nowhere to bed down. Spike decided on the virtually sun proof dining room and grabbed his duster from the banister. He folded the soft leather over on itself, forming a crude pillow. It wasn't the Ritz, but it wasn't a south facing atrium either. Spike crawled on top of the table and laid down for an early rest. Eight came to soon for Dawn and she reached out to hit the snooze button in an automatic gesture. When her hand came down where the alarm used to be, she was greeted with a squeaking sound. Her eyes flew open and she saw a rubber duckie with red marker fangs staring back at her, the duck had a note in angular handwriting attached to it. Bit, No Snoozing. Get your arse up and down the steps for school. S. "He's obsessed with my butt." Dawn mumbled to herself and pushed her legs off the bed. She hadn't been to school in several days and she wondered what excuse she would come up with to please the principal. Shrugging it off till after, Dawn dressed quickly and went through her morning routine. Spike heard the duck squeak and suppressed a grin. His rest the night before had been a brief few hours and he awoke restless and hyper, hence the duck. He finished pouring the cheerios into a bowl and then grabbed the morning paper from the porch, happy to see the slight overhang in the eaves gave him a shadow to stay in. Dawn clamoured down the stairs a few minutes later and saw him sitting at the breakfast table, paper spread out and a bowl of cereal in front of him. She was about to comment on how human he looked when the vampire reached for his mug and poured a generous helping of blood over the cereal. Stirring it absently, Spike growled at the paper, reading that Man U. had lost another game to Britsol. "Morning Sunshine, you want some?" Spike continued to read the paper, but held up a spoonful of cheerios to the girl. "Um, no. I'll stick with the plasma free breakfast." Spike shrugged and chomped down on his meal, enjoying the crunchy sound they made. After fetching herself a bowl of highly sugared puffed rice, Dawn pulled the chair opposite Spike out and mad herself comfy. "Spike?" "Hmm?" The vampire was still absorbed in the article detailing the new Striker Man U. had picked up. "I haven't been to school in, like two weeks, and the last time I missed that much class they threatened Buffy with putting me in foster care�" She trailed off. The vampire waved his hand at the Dawn. "Rang them already. They think you've been visiting your Da so you're off the hook for this week." He put the paper down. "But remember our deal." Dawn nodded ate her breakfast, still trying to ignore the other bowl on the table. The sounds of chewing and the occasional grunt of displeasure at what ever Spike disapproved of in the world filled the house until Dawn had finished. She gathered her coat from the hall closet and yelled to Spike. "I'm off, I'll see ya at 3:00!" "Wait a sec, Bit." He sidestepped out of the kitchen to avoid a patch of sun streaming from the family room. "You've got no bookbag, and your school lets out at 3:30." Dawn rolled her eyes. "When did you learn my school timetable." "When I was going to kill you for sport to torture the Slayer." "Oh. 3:30 then." Spike watched her collect her bag from the living room and walk down the driveway. Satisfied she was heading the right way, he returned to the kitchen and called the middle school. As soon as the phone was picked up, her adopted an accent remarkably similar to Giles' and put on his best smile. "Allo, this is William Avery, I'm looking after Dawn Summers for the time being." He sorted through the next pile of mail. "Yes, terrible business with her sister, so soon after her mum." Cable bill, overdue, interesting. Learn to be Vet though the mail, boring. "No, I'm a family friend. I was wondering, could you inform me if Dawn doesn't make it to her classes? I realise it's a bother, but I'm afraid she might�thank you so much." Gallery fliers, boring. 50 CD's for a penny. Addressed to Dawfy Somer, interesting. "Yes, I'm staying at the Summers residence." Spike hung up the telephone and wandered down to the basement, happy to see a makeshift workout area. He smiles, seeing a dummy with a well drawn, bleach blonde vampires face tacked on to it. The dummy had so many wounds to the heart, the stuffing was falling out. Blowing the dust from the various nick-knacks, Spike surveys the room, wondering how many years it would take to clear out the place and realising it didn't matter, he had decades. He found a blot of heavy red material and a pattern for a Little Red Riding Hood outfit under the steps. The material would keep the sun out nicely, and looked to be enough to cover the family room windows. Spike nodded to himself and trudged back upstairs, prepared to watch Passions, just as soon as the windows were covered. -- Part Six coming soon. ::Grin:: Jess |