| Name: The Dragon 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. Rating: PG Feedback: Yes please!! Thanks to everyone for all their kind feedback throughout this fic :) Distribution: if ya want just let me know. 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 Author�s Note: I know, there�s something verging on the not right about Spike/Dawn ships, but I was always loved stuff like the Ghost and Mrs Muir, Beetlegueuse etc, where the little girl is friends with the supernatural creature. I wanted a grown up Dawn to come back and find her magic dragon. Thanks to everyone for their feedback and encouragement - hope it didn't end up disappointing anyone- it certainly wasn't the way I imagined it at first� but then I'm not sure WHAT I imagined <g> Anyway, its finished. ****************************************************** Chapter 8: They Dawn woke to find herself still tangled in naked blonde vampire. She smiled with pleasure and shifted comfortably against him. Spike stirred slightly as she moved and sleepily sought more kisses. Dawn bit back a giggle. Who knew he'd be so cuddly? After a moment she slipped out of bed and left him to sleep. It was late and she had a class. Quietly she showered and dressed. Then, shutting the door silently, she left the apartment. Dawn did have a class, but that wasn't the real reason she had left a nice warm bed with a nice naked Spike. She had a lot to think about. Spike slept late. He was disappointed to find the bed empty beside him when he awoke. Dawn had a class today, he knew. He lay in bed a while, breathing in the lingering traces of her scent. His Dawn. Just thinking about the night before made him hard. He traced an idle pattern on the place where she had been lying. He'd said he loved her. During. Dawn found herself walking in completely the opposite direction to her class. As she walked through the streets four thoughts kept tumbling together through her mind. Spike. Her life. Buffy. Spike. Her life had changed so much in just a few weeks. And suddenly it was so much better and so much more confusing. And mostly it was due to Spike. Last night had been wonderful. Dawn had had very little previous sexual experience and most of it involved trying to be normal. Trying to be normal included the back seat of her prom date's car. And one foolish night with a performance art major that one too many vodka and orange's had made her believe she was in love with. Dawn spent the next month going to see unbearably dull art house films and listening to him drone on about his 'talent'. She spent the next three months avoiding his calls. With Spike she didn't have to try to be normal. Being with Spike was, in itself, as far from normal as you could get. It had made her feel free. As if she had nothing to hide. She grew warm as she remembered how he'd traced the pale thin scars left on her body from Doc's ritual. How he'd ran soft kisses along each one. As if he could kiss each better. She hadn�t had to explain them. Spike knew he was being selfish. Very selfish. Dawn shouldn't be with him. She should be having dates with silly blokes in turtle-neck sweaters and sticks up their arses. And then she should meet some doctor or something or a scientist. A physicist. At least a Noble Prize winner. And Dawn would write her novels, and her and the physicist would get married and dedicate textbooks to each other. Spike warmed to this fantasy. And they'd get a swish house near that park in New York and have walls lined with book cases. And they'd have dinner parties. And Dawn would never ever have to think about demons and stupid vampires with stupid bloody cool hair. That's what should happen. She shouldn't be spilling her long dark hair over his chest as she kissed her way down his stomach. Dawn walked through a park. Leaves were turning brown and yellow as winter approached. She was the Key. She would never be normal. She didn't even know what the Key did, what it was meant for, what it could do, what she could do�besides opening the door to hellish dimensions that is. Besides causing unspeakable chaos and despair. Her father had been calling. Her therapist had contacted him. Dawn hadn't been back. There was no point really. The therapist had made the guilt go away by making her believe none of it had happened. And when she had finally found out the truth again, the guilt had been awful. And only when she had gone to see Spike, who alone knew what she felt, who alone understood exactly how she felt, had the awful pain dulled. She had talked with Willow for a long time too, and that had helped as well. Willow had explained that Buffy would not have been able to bear it if Dawn had died. That, in a way, she had been saving herself from grief. Oddly, the attack by the minions had also helped. Dawn had faced the grim past again and this time everything had been all right. Spike had saved her. Spike had not died. No one had jumped off a tower. And Dawn knew it had assuaged Spike's guilt a little as well. This time he had saved her. This time he had kept his promise to Buffy. There was still a lot to understand and comprehend but no longer was Dawn faced with disjointed and confused memories. Faced with trying to find out what "really" happened. Now what she remembered was the truth. It was amazing how important this was. Spike got up and showered. He washed the scent of Dawn and sex from his body. He dressed and went into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and saw blood next to low fat milk. He nuked the blood in the microwave and sat silently drinking it, still thinking. Dawn would grow old. Probably. Who knew, maybe keys were immortal. Even so, so far she seemed to do all the normal human stuff. For a moment Spike even entertained the thought of turning Dawn. She'd never grow old and they could be together forever. Spike knew he could never do that. He liked Dawn how she was, he didn't want an undead, not quite the same version of her. Besides, who knew what happened when you made Keys into vampires? Anyway he'd promised to protect her. Turning her into a vampire didn't exactly fall under the normal definition of "protection". Spike chuckled to himself, Buffy'd really haunt him then. Probably with a stake. Then there was Buffy, thought Dawn. Somehow Dawn felt she was living in her dead sister's shadow. Everyone loved Buffy. Spike loved Buffy. Dawn winced, this was not a good train of thought to be travelling on. It was pointless being jealous over Spike's love for Buffy. He wouldn't even be with her if he hadn't loved Buffy. She probably wouldn't even know him. Things were complicated, and still were, despite the fantastic sex last night. Despite the "I love you" he breathed in her ear. Dawn knew that it didn't count if he said it during sex. But somehow she knew it was the truth. She understood what Spike had said. He belonged to her. They belonged to each other. For the moment anyway. Now things were good. Dawn didn't want to think about the future. The future when she became old and ugly or die, or worse something could happen to Spike. She didn't even know what would happen to herself. She was the key. Maybe she'd evaporate tomorrow. Spike dwelt on the being selfish thing again. Probably ought to leave her alone, he thought. Let her marry the physicist. Spike suddenly groaned. Bloody hell, he was channeling bleeding Angel. This was just kind of thinking the big poof would do. Spike smirked to himself, bloody ought to stay around just on principle now. He thought about Dawn. There were things out there that wanted to harm his Little Bit. This knowledge gnawed at him. The terrible sick feeling he'd had when he knew she was in danger wasn't just because he hadn't kept his promise to Buffy. It had been more. He couldn't lose Dawn. He knew with sudden clarity that he would die if anything happened to her. And he knew now that he would stay, as long as she wanted him to, he would stay. He would protect her and love her. He belonged to her and would take whatever she would give to him. Things might go badly in the future. He might have to mourn her, but it would be worth it, just to have what Dawn had given to him now. Spike drew the picture of Buffy from his pocket where he always carried it. He gazed at the face in the photograph. So strong, so proud. He still loved her. He'd always love her. Spike suddenly realised that he'd finally forgiven Buffy for dying. And with that realisation, he suddenly felt forgiven too. Because of Dawn. Dawn smiled to herself as she thought about Spike. He made her happy. He made her feel like what she was didn't matter. He made her feel that things were ok. He made her feel safe. Dawn thought about the night before. Ok, he made her feel a lot more than safe. Dawn's stomach flip flopped as she thought of Spike. He was so tender and gentle. He'd made her laugh, had teased her and loved her all at once. Dawn did a sudden about turn. She needed to go home. Dawn opened the door to the apartment and was suddenly accosted by a blur of blonde vampire. Spike swept her into his arms and they tumbled onto the couch together. Dawn looked up at him, eyes shining. "Hullo sweet bit," he purred. "Hello Spike," said Dawn. They looked at each other for a long while. "Love you Dawn," said Spike finally, in a low voice. Dawn nodded. Then grinned. "Love you more." And that was the end of that. Tickles and kisses could only follow. The end. |