| The Dragon Chapter 5 Author: Juliatheyounger Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and all the talented people at Mutant Enemy etc own these characters. I am just playing with them. Spoilers: Season 5. The Gift. Distribution: Yes please, but let me know so I can be flattered :) Feedback: Yes please again!! Rating: PG so far. Summary: Dawn has been living with her father ever since the Gift. Seven years later she returns to Sunnydale and finds that things and people she no longer believes in are still very real. D/S *************************** Chapter 5: Bad Things "All right, Slayer, when are you going to go fuck this up for me?" Spike was sitting next to Buffy's grave. He took a final drag on his cigarette and threw the butt away. "I like having her around. She makes me happy." He gave the grave a crooked smile. "How much longer before everything gets bollockest up and I can go back to feeling like crap again?" He gently wiped some dust off Buffy's headstone. "Hey, Slayer?" **************** Dawn had a small portable radio blaring loudly. The drop sheet on the ground was covered in blue paint, she was covered in blue paint and the walls were very slowly getting covered in blue paint. She was getting painters in to do the house exterior and to do repairs but she'd decided to do the interior decorating herself. It had turned out that there was quite a bit of money in her trust fund. It had seemed too awful when she had turned twenty-one to look into her inheritance but now she had a reason for it. She was going to make the house a home again. Dawn didn't hear the knock on the door. She didn't hear the second knock either, after a polite pause. She did however hear the deep voice purr just near her ear. "Hullo Lil' Bit." Dawn jumped. "Spike!" She glared at him, trying not to laugh, trying not to notice too much the delicious shivers his low tone had sent through her. Spike smirked. "Far be it for me to tell you to turn decent music down pet, but you probably ought to lock the front door first." Dawn gasped. She had forgotten to lock it. Now she thought about it, it probably was a pretty stupid thing to do. She went and locked the door then came back into the living room to where Spike was now perching on the back of a sheet covered lounge. He had to smile to himself as he looked at her. She was covered in paint. Dawn was wearing denim overalls with a faded blue t-shirt underneath. Blue paint was spattered liberally over overalls, shirt and skin alike. Her hair was tucked up under a baseball cap but a few strands had escaped and had been liberally spotted in blue too. She looked bloody cute, if Spike cared to admit it. "Pizza right?" Dawn said. Spike had been over most nights, ostensibly to help paint, rip up carpet and remove wallpaper, but in reality to watch tv, eat takeout and tease her unmercifully. Spike gave her a sour look. "In the absence of blood or spicy buffalo wings, I suppose pizza will have to do." Dawn rolled her eyes. "Well you could just eat the pizza delivery boy I suppose." "That�s a fair compromise Nibblet," agreed Spike. "But it would lead to all sorts of irritating questions, so let's not oh Big Bad." Spike grinned. He stripped off his duster and flung it over the couch. "You make the call Lil' Bit, I'll finish this up." He took the roller out of her hand. Dawn got the phone and leant against the doorframe while it rang, watching Spike work. Muscles rippled under his tight black t-shirt as he painted the wall. Nice arms, Dawn thought. Spike bent down to reapply paint to the roller. Ok, nice ass as well. God, Dawn thought, I'm perving on Spike. Get a grip girl. She tilted her head and watched him from that angle. Still had a nice ass. Luckily the pizza place had put her on hold. **************** "Honey, I'm home," Willow called jokingly as she walked in the door. She hated night lectures but it did mean Tara spoiled her with dinner when she got home. "Ooh look at you Miss Kitty Fantastico, you poor old thing." Willow picked up the cat and carried her into the kitchen. "Hi sweetie," Tara said. "Dinner's nearly ready." Willow put down Miss Kitty and gave her partner a kiss before taking some silverware into the dining room. "I called Anya today about dinner. She and Xander can come," Willow called from the dining room. "Are you sure you don't want to invite Julie and Aaron?" Willow shook her head. "Dawn doesn't know them, I think this should be just like a Scooby gang get together." Tara smiled. "It will be nice." She had finished serving out the food and carried two plates into the dining room. Willow followed with the salad. "How's Dawn coping anyway?" Tara asked. "She seems much better, I think she's starting to accept everything." Willow sat down. "Mmmm smells delicious Tara." "Thanks honey, I used that new seasoning you bought." Tara helped herself to some salad, then poured a glass of wine for both Willow and herself. "Its funny," said Willow. "But we've all been a bit like Dawn to a degree, acting as if all that demony stuff doesn�t exist. I mean Xander�s been trying so hard to be Mr Normal it gets embarrassing." "I know," said Tara. "The last time I offered to babysit he made me promise to remove all wiccan imagery before the girls got here." "You didn�t tell me that." "I didn�t want to upset you." "Oh. You don�t have to worry about that sweetie," said Willow looking at Tara fondly. Her partner was so thoughtful. Tara gave her a wink. "Anyway," Willow continued. "Even you and I ignore the dark side of the supernatural. The only difference between us and Dawn is she truly believed it never happened, we accepted that it happened we�ve just been acting as if it hadn�t." "You�re right," said Tara. "I guess we all have been trying hard to be normal." "Except what�s normal?" "Not having to worry about the next apocalypse?" Tara suggested. ***************** Dawn and Spike were eating pizza, drinking beer and watching bad reality TV. Contestants were locked inside a luxury house together for a period of three months. In tonight�s exciting episode they were baking cookies. And one of the contestants was reading a book. "They�re just not trying anymore," Spike complained. Dawn laughed. She took another piece of pizza. "I won�t be home til later tomorrow night," she said. "Why�s that Nibblet?" "Willow�s having a dinner thing." Spike smirked. "Won�t that be fun," he said sarcastically. "Yes it will," said Dawn punching him in the arm playfully. She looked at him sweetly. "You�re not the only one who wants to spend time with me you know." "Oh yeah, bloody great time this is, peeling wallpaper off the wall. Wish I could do it all the time." "Spike, Willow would�ve asked you but it's just that Xander and Anya are coming-" "Who said I wanted to go to sodding dinner?" Spike demanded. "For your information Nibblet, I happen to have very important things I need to do tomorrow night." Spike took the last piece of pizza. Then he smirked at her. "Horrible nasty things that are not for child�s eyes." Dawn laughed remembering the last time he�d said something like that. She studied the blonde man beside her. It was hard to believe he was who he was sometimes. Sometimes, it was because Dawn forgot he was a vampire, Spike was just Spike to her. Other times it was because he acted so human. She decided to broach a subject she�d been curious about for a while now. "Spike," Dawn said. "Can I ask you a personal question?" "A personal question hey Lil� Bit?" He smirked at her. "All right fire away pet." Spike took a swig of beer and waited. Anything prefaced with �can I ask you a personal question� was pretty much guaranteed to be difficult to answer. "Since the chip stopped working, have you killed anyone?" Spike considered her. It was a fair enough question. And he knew it had nothing to do with issues of trust. Spike had told Buffy once that she had made him feel like a man. Dawn however, made him feel that what he was or wasn�t was irrelevant. Dawn accepted him more than anyone ever had. She also seemed to find it physically impossible to be afraid of him. He could scare her, he could make her afraid, but she was never afraid of him. Part of Spike, the demon/self esteem part, felt that he ought to do something about that situation. Another part of him however, would kill to keep his Nibblet�s trust in him safe. "Why do you ask Lil� Bit?" "I was just wondering. Everyone used to always go on about what you�d do when you got the chip out." She shrugged. "I was just wondering." Spike looked at her steadily for a moment, then morphed into his vampire face. "This is my weapon pet and I�ll use it if I have to." He shook the demon visage off. Spike looked at Dawn seriously. "But I haven�t drained a person dry or attacked an innocent. I just can�t." He looked away suddenly, not elaborating on his reasons. "Because Buffy wouldn�t like it?" Dawn added softly. Spike nodded. "Yeah." He was glad she understood. Suddenly there was a loud rumble and the entire house began to shake. Dawn and Spike both grabbed for their open bottles of beer. A photo frame fell to the ground. Then it was over. *************** The two witches hands were clasped and they looked at each other with horrified eyes. Something outside of nature had just occurred and they had both felt it. "Willow?" Tara whispered finally. "What do you think that could mean?" "I don�t know Tara," the red-haired woman replied. "But it felt evil." **************** Deep underneath Sunnydale, in the bowels of tunnels constructed by a certain former mayor, something moved. "Praise to Glorificus!" it cried. "It worked. I have opened the Hellmouth!" There were some mumblings and what could have been a chant. Then, "Brothers arise!" **************** "Everything all right then pet?" Dawn had done a quick reconnaisance of the house. Luckily there wasn�t much in the house of a fragile nature. "Nothing�s broken, I don�t remember earthquakes being a regular occurrence in Sunnydale." "No," said Spike carefully. "They�re not." He thought he might go for a quick look around town, make sure nothing�strange was out and about. "We don�t get them much at all back east," Dawn was saying. Spike noticed her eyes were a little bright and heart was beating a touch too fast. She�d been shaken by the small quake but was trying not to show it. "Here pet, have a seat," Spike said. "Can I get you another beer?" "No, I saved this one," Dawn said proudly holding her bottle aloft. She grinned at Spike, the quake had been a bit exciting. Spike returned her grin and sat down again beside her. He took her hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly. "Here look," he said, indicating the television. "Now they�re knitting cunning sweater sets." ***************** In a certain mansion in a certain part of Sunnydale some individuals who appeared to be suffering from a severe case of crusty had gathered. They wore monks robes and were suitably obsequious, even though there was no longer anyone around to be obsequious to. "The Key has returned," said one of the minions. "Magnificient Glorificus can be restored, her reign on this dimension can begin anew." "First we must gain control of the Key." "The Slayer is gone, this should pose no difficulty." The minions nodded in approval. "We shall bring about the Second Coming of Her Perfectly Featuredness." "And we shall get a thesaurus and look up some more adjectives before we do." End of part 5. To be continued. |