| TITLE: Growing Up on the Hellmouth AUTHOR: Faery FEEDBACK: Glowing responses and * Constructive* criticism will be cherished like chocolate. Flames will be fed to Angelus to tear up. DISTRIBUTION: I would be honoured, just let me know first. SPOILERS: Blood Ties PAIRING: Spike/Dawn RATING: PG-13 for this part, R overall DISCLAIMER: Joss owns all. Joss rules all. But if he ever wants to give up Spike I'd be more than happy to play with him for a while. AUTHOR'S NOTE: I haven't written fanfic in a long time, and I've never done a Dawn fic before. So be kind, and let me know how I'm doing with the characters' voices. Also, this has not been beta'd, so all mistakes are mine. SUMMARY: What if Dawn had run back into the night after finding out that she is the key? Spike leaned against the tree outside the Summers' house, his words from earlier in the evening echoing through his head: "They sent the key to her ... in human form. In the form of a sister." To him the statement in the Watcher's journal had been an amusing revelation�so the little kitten was more than she seemed. Good for her. But to Dawn it was the end of her world. Suddenly reality made no sense. Spike had to hand it to her though. She had looked like she was going to collapse into a ball and sob her eyes out, but instead she slowly got to her feet and said quietly, "take me home Spike." "Since when did I become a soddin' babysitter for the Slayer's kid sister?" were the words on the tip of his tongue, but after glancing at the haunted look in Dawn's eyes, he kept his mouth shut. Instead of shooting his mouth off, Spike walked her home in awkward silence while she trudged along in a zombie-like state. Once they arrived at her home, Dawn walked inside without so much as a "thank you Spike." Now the blonde vampire leaned against his customary tree and watched the house. He tried to convince himself he was there for purely selfish reasons. There were bound to be fireworks when everyone found out that Dawn had snuck out, and he always did enjoy a spot of violence. He crushed his cigarette into the ground. Yeah, he was just there to watch the fireworks. Not because he cared sod all for either of the Summers girls. Spike was snapped out of his internal debate by the sound of screaming. A chorus of "Oh my God's" bounced through the house. "What do you know, I get to see a touch of violence after all." With preternatural hearing, Spike listened to the sound of several pairs of feet running up the stairs. Inside, Dawn was roughly shoving her mother and sister out of her room. "Get out, get out, get out!" she screamed. Spike then heard the door slam and the sound of the bolt sliding in the lock. Inside it seemed like all the women were crying. "I didn't think the little nibblet could cause such a fuss," Spike muttered. "I wonder what she did to get their knickers in such a twist." As he listened to the commotion, his head was filled with thoughts of the Slayer, warm and pliable, crying against his chest. He would just love to kiss it better. But again he was torn away from his thoughts. Spike cocked his head as he heard the sound of a window being opened. Dawn was sneaking out for the second time that night. When Buffy had gone to college, Dawn had immediately snatched up her sister's old room, claiming she liked the view. Buffy had made no protests. "What do you know, a baby Buffy," Spike said with a hint of annoyance. "You think Joyce would have had brains enough to not give the kid Buffy's old room. That tree is just the perfect escape route." The tree was also perfect for observing, as he recalled. Angelus had spent hours there, watching Buffy until the first rays of dawn peaked over the horizon. He would sketch and sketch away with plans to torment her. Spike had tried to follow in his grandsire's footsteps, perching in the tree to observe Buffy once his obsession had started, only to be rudely shocked to find the younger of the Summers girls asleep in bed. But with memories of Angelus, he couldn't blame the Slayer for giving up her old room. Dawn climbed slowly down the tree, her progress hampered because she was only using one arm. With a thud she landed on the ground. A wild look was in her eye, and she began running without care for direction or what might meet her on her way to nowhere. She just needed to run. Spike left his visions of Buffy behind and began a steady, loping run after the distraught girl. If she got hurt out there, he knew that the Slayer would somehow manage to blame it on him�she always did. Spike kept himself a moderate distance behind Dawn. "Best to let the kitten spend all her energy before I play `Daddy Spike' and take her home." Dawn's meanderings took her to the middle of the cemetery, not too far from Spike's own crypt. Suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks. She collapsed into a ball of tears, gasping and sobbing at the same time. Spike also stopped abruptly. The wind had changed and suddenly he could smell it all around him. Blood. Innocent and intoxicating. "Bloody hell! Stupid chit must have hurt herself in that damned tree." Spike inched closer with a cat-like grace. Unconsciously he had taken on the role of the hunter stalking its wounded prey. With a jolt he was thrown to the ground. "She's mine! I saw her first!" a newly risen vampire cried. With a roar, Spike rammed his fist into the fledgling's chest and ripped out his heart, not even bothering with a stake. As the dust cleared, Spike leapt to his feet. A circle of vampires was slowly forming around Dawn, and she was oblivious to it all. Like sharks, they were drawn to the scent of her blood. Punch. Kick. Stake. That was all Spike could think. He fought ferociously. Outwardly he was thinking, she's important to the Slayer, perhaps even to all of bloody human kind, but inwardly his demon had scented the power in her blood, and was screaming " MINE!" One by one the young vampires fell, all of them too foolish to even think of working together. With a rough yank, Spike pulled Dawn to her feet. "What the hell do you think you are doing you stupid bint? Do you want to get us both killed? "I'm not important. I'm not even real. It doesn't matter." Spike gave her a shake. "We'll have none of that talk, you hear? Get inside� now!" Spike dragged the near-limp girl inside. He slammed the door and piled several large slabs of stone in front of it. "That should keep most of the nasties out for a bit." Flinging his duster over one of the coffins, Spike went to sit on the couch next to where the forlorn girl had collapsed. He was overcome by a wave of hunger as the smell of her blood overwhelmed him again. Spike gasped as he took a look at her arm, the source of the smell. There was one long cut down the middle and several horizontal slashes that looked a bit fresher. All of them were rather deep and still seeping blood. Gently, he turned her head towards him. "Hell, luv. What did ya go and do this for?" Dawn flung her good arm around Spike's neck and cried into his shoulder. "I wanted to know if I was real. Not some mystical ball of energy. Is it really blood coming out of me or something else?" "It's real enough for me," Spike whispered. "What do you mean?" "I mean that I could care sod all whether you are some mystical ball of energy or just the Slayer's kid sister. That doesn't mean anything to the likes of me. Or to your family I'd gather. You are you no matter how you came about." Dawn tightened her hold around his neck. "Thank you Spike! You're sweet." Spike groaned. Both at being called sweet and because the smell of her blood was getting to be too much. So close yet so far away. Without realizing it, he growled and began to nuzzle her neck, trying to keep his gold-flecked eyes away from her arm. "Spike, what are you doing? Are you ok?" Eyes flashing back and forth between blue and gold stared into her own. Fear and excitement rolled off her as she forgot about being the key for a second. "No I'm not ok. What do you expect? I'm a vampire, luv. And your arm is all open and bleeding. It's like putting a starving man in front of a gourmet meal and telling him not to eat. Your blood is like innocence and power rolled into one. I feel like I could drink from you and never be thirsty again." Dawn barely noticed as Spike began to wax poetical. "Spike thinks I'm a gourmet mean!" were the only words in her head right now. With a daring she didn't know she possessed, she turned Spike's face away from her neck and towards her face. Slowly she dipped her finger into the blood pooled in her other hand and tentatively ran it over Spike's lips. The gesture was both intimate and pure at the same time. A thrill went through him. Moaning, Spike suckled her finger like it was his last meal, pressing closer and closer every second. As he was leaning into her, Dawn abruptly broke the mood. "Do you like me Spike?" "What?!" "Do you like me?" What was it with women always wanting to talk when things were getting good? Through the fog of his blood-lust, Spike managed a coherent reply. "Well yeah, I like you. You're not bad for a kid I guess." "I'm not a kid you know. I'm almost 15. That's old enough to get married in some places." "Well luv, I'm not really the marrying sort. I'm more the bachelor type, being a vampire and all. Churches and priests tend to rub me the wrong way, if ya catch my drift. But I think you are a remarkable young *lady*. Too clever for your own good, and quite fetching. Any bloke would be lucky to have ya." "Am I prettier than Buffy?" Damn her and her infernal questions. Is there even a right answer to this? "You are different than Buffy, kitten. She is steel and fire. You are innocence and light. Pure ambrosia. I fancy ya both in different ways, I suppose. Although you do have the added bonus of lacking that guaranteed punch to the face every time I touch ya." "Ok� Go ahead." "Ok? I'm not a bloody mind reader, luv. What are you getting at?" "Ok, you can feed from me." Shock registered on Spike's face. With a hint of admiration, Spike thought "this kid's got nerves of steel." Grabbing her chin roughly, he let his demon come to the front. "Look at me nibblet. Do you see this? I am a vampire. I have no problem taking advantage of a 14 year old girl. As a matter of fact, I've tasted younger. Even with this chip I could drain you dry�you're already all opened up. Is that what you want?" Dawn ran her fingernail over her cut, tearing away the slight protective layer that had stopped most of the blood flow. Fresh blood oozed to the surface. "I trust you Spike� Please? I�I want this." He couldn't take it any more. The chit was literally begging for it. With deliberate slowness, Spike pushed Dawn back on the couch until she was lying flat on her back. Crawling over her, he took her arm and lifted it to his mouth. Dawn gasped as she felt a cold tongue lapping at her wounds. A slight tingle began to creep all over her skin. Her thoughts were ecstatic. "I can't believe this is happening! I've never even been kissed, and now I have a sexy vampire feeding from me. This has to be the most erotic experience of my life. Growing up on the Hellmouth sure can be weird." Faery |