Dangerous

Dangerous

Buffy / Spike Fan Fic Prompt

"Spike Helps Out Dawn"

The night had fallen into chaos, but that was nothing new as of late. It swirled around his brain and made him anxious in addition to putting him in a right royal bad mood. If he were completely honest with himself he knew that he shouldn't even be here, but he couldn't stay away. She had made it perfectly clear that she didn't want or need him hanging around anymore. Buffy just hadn't been herself since her run in with that demon witch and her tarot cards. With a final drag that caused his already abused ribs to ache, Spike flipped the cigarette to the ground and pushed through the glass doors. He hated this place and with the recent flood of demons and vampires swarming Sunnydale he had seen more of it than he cared to. Was she getting careless or just tired? Maybe it was a little of both, but he intended to remind her that she wasn't the only one wearing battle scars this time. Spike ignored the glare from the old woman behind the front desk as he stormed past into the Emergency Room. "Spike?" He froze at the sound of her voice, his eyes roaming over the cuts and bruises on her face and arms as she stared at him. She did sound tired and she had been crying, her arms were wrapped around herself and just like that his anger vanished.

"Not here to start nothin', Slayer." Spike said as he looked away from her face. Her tears had always been his undoing. "Just wanted to make sure the Lil' Bit was ok."

"How did you know?" Buffy sighed as she took a step closer to him not daring to meet the questioning glance he shot her way.

"Demon told the tale as it was making me its bitch. Used me for a punching bag right good and proper for most of the night not that it matters." Spike didn't miss the way her eyes went wide as they swept over his battered face or the way she took another step toward him and stopped. "Don't bloody well look at me like that. Might get to thinkin' all that bollocks about you caring again."

"I wish I had never…" Buffy bit her lip searching for the right words she needed but the tears came again and she just sighed as she covered her face with her hands. "I was so stupid, Spike."

Against his better judgment Spike pulled her into a loose embrace resting his chin on her head. Why was it always so hard? "Ain't your fault, Pet." He sighed as he rubbed her back. "The Bit's gonna be fine, right?"

"Not about that." Buffy sniffed as she balled her fist in the front of his shirt and tried to stop her tears.

"'Bout what then?" He asked as he held her a little tighter afraid she was going to vanish and leave him standing there.

"Kicking you out." She sighed so softly he would have missed it if he were human. He went still against her, his mind racing around in a circle that led to nowhere. He wanted to say something but he could find no words so he just held her for what seemed like forever.

"Spike?" They jerked apart at the sound of her voice and Spike managed to keep the shock off his face as turned to find her staring at him a million questions in her eyes. "It's you! You're back!" Before he could brace himself she ran to him wrapping her arms around him as she cried and babbled into his chest. Everything else forgotten he just held her catching a smile from Buffy out of the corner of his eye.

"You're hurt." Dawn said quietly as she heard his sharp intake of breath at her tight embrace. Her eyes flew to a shocked Buffy but Spike drew her eyes back to him.

"Not her fault, Niblet." Spike said with a shake of his head as she opened her mouth to speak. "Had a bad go with a few demons this week. Seems they been comin' out of the bloody shed. Had few personal things to suss out with a couple of 'em." The gashes on her face had been glued and stitched up, her lip was split open, the bandage on her neck matched the one on her wrist and a purple bruise had started forming under one eye. "Tell me the bloody wanker that sank his fangs in you is dust." Spike tried but couldn't keep the growl out of his voice and Dawn buried her face in his chest again.

"Buffy got one of them when he was trying to….when he had me pinned to the ground." Dawn shuddered and refused to look at him. The impact of her words struck him where no demon could reach. She didn't have to explain it to him. He knew what the vampire was doing…the demon had told him as much. "I was so scared, Spike! I thought I could handle it on my own but I was wrong. Giles said…he tried to teach me some things but…and Buffy tried to show me how…I messed up big time."

"Hush now, Bit." Spike soothed as he held her a little tighter and stroked her hair. "No reason to keep going back there."

"I just wanted to find out where you were. I thought if I found you and…Oh my God…I thought he was going to kill me." She rambled on as her hands balled into fists at his back. "I just kept thinking if you were there…You'd save me."

"Took care of him before he could do anything more than bite her." Buffy said quickly as the guilt and the pain played out on his face. She knew what he was thinking better than anyone else. "The other two ran off before I could dust them." She watched the way Dawn clung to Spike and the gentle way he held her and whispered to her. She knew then it had been a mistake to shut him out of their lives like she did. Maybe if she had trusted Spike enough to talk to him about what had been bothering her he would have still been around and Dawn wouldn't have snuck out of the house to find him. "Why don't you take Dawn on home, Spike. Home…home not crypt home. I can't leave her alone and I still need to patrol before I can call it a night."

"You mean it?!" Dawn smiled as she raised her face from Spike's chest and in that instant Buffy knew her course of action. "Spike can come back over."

"Absolutely not!" Giles' voice echoed through the room as he barged in followed by Willow who absently waived at the vampire and Xander who just glared.

"Don't you think she's been around enough fists and fangs tonight as it is?" Xander snapped as he glared at Buffy.

"Xander!" Buffy snapped surprised and shocked at the outburst of her Watcher and her friend. Only Willow stood in silence not daring to express any part in the conversation. "Are you questioning my ability to take care of Dawn?"

"As it is she was attacked by three vampires tonight all of them looking for him." Giles pointed out as he waived an accusing finger at Spike. "One of which beat her, bit her and tried to…"

"Enough of that bollocks you soddin' pratt!" Spike blurted as Dawn buried her face in his shirt her body shaking with each sob as she clung to his duster. "Can't you see you're upsetting her? Or is it that you don't bloody well care so long as you can paint me in a bad light again?"

"Dawn can stay with me until your patrol is finished, Buffy." Giles continued as if Spike had never said a word.

"I'm not leaving with anyone but Spike." Dawn snapped as she tightened her grip on his duster.

"Bugger this." Spike sighed as he touched her face making her look up at him as he pulled a step away from her. "Niblet, go home with your Sis and get some sleep. I bloody well know when I'm not wanted and you don't need the bleedin' aggravation after what you've been through tonight." He shook his head as she opened her mouth to object. With a sigh he turned to Buffy who was staring at him with a mix of emotions in her eyes the most of which was guilt. "I'll take patrol tonight so you don't have to leave her. If I find the other two bloody vermin that did this to her I'll dust them myself."

"How will you know who they are?" Willow spoke for the first time as he brushed past her toward the door his face a mask of rage and pain.

"Bloody well left their scent all over her." Spike growled as he slammed out the door and stormed into the night with a renewed passion for pain and death he hadn't felt in a long time.

Spike woke to the sound of someone calling his name and he forced his eyes open as he rolled onto his back throwing an arm over his face. "Spike!" She called again and this time he knew it wasn't a dream. "Spike, are you down there?!"

"Where the bloody hell else would I be in the middle of the soddin' day, Slayer?" He called back as he threw back the sheet and stood.

"I'm coming down!" Buffy warned as he heard her first step on the ladder.

"I'm naked!" He called back smirking as her steps stopped and then started back again.

"Got a minute?" Buffy asked as she stepped off the ladder and turned to see him zipping up his jeans and searching for his shirt.

"Long as the bloody ball of fire is shinin' I'm all ears for you." Spike answered as he plucked his shirt off the corner of the bed and shrugged into it. "What's on your mind, Pet?" He asked as he noticed her staring at him longer than usual.

"You didn't come by last night…or any other night this week." She mumbled as he reached for a half bottle of scotch on the bedside table.

"Correct me if I'm wrong here, Luv." Spike said as she grabbed the bottle and poured a drink. "Last time I put one bloody boot inside your place I was so much as told to sod off with threats of sharp pointy wooden objects. Not that I don't appreciate the gesture at the hospital but I know that was for the Bit's benefit and not because you wanted me there."

"Guess I owe you an explanation for all that, huh." Buffy sighed as she sat on the crypt floor and wrapped her arms around her knees.

"You don't owe me nothin', Slayer." He answered as he downed the drink and sat the glass aside waiting for her make up her mind.

"The demon witch showed me things in her visions." Buffy picked at a loose thread in her pants as she avoided his stare. "Things I…I'm not sure of and things I'm not ready to face up to yet."

"They were just bloody pictures in a fog, Luv." Spike sighted as he shook his head. "Given she was a demon after all they were probably just parlor tricks."

"You died and it was because of me." Buffy almost stopped herself because of the way he was looking at her then. "Really dead, Spike. No digging yourself back up and coming back. I tried but I just couldn't stop it from happening. Every time I tried something else you pushed me away from you. I tried to talk you out of it but you told me to take Dawn and run for it. Said you wanted to see how it all ended…see what it felt like to save the world for once. I thought if I pushed you away now I could stop all that from happening but I was wrong. I just created a big mess and now Dawn's the one having to pay for it."

"Got you all bloody tore up didn't they?" He sighed as he crossed the room to kneel at her side. "Haven't you learned anything from being the Slayer, Pet? Prophecy, destiny the theory of right and wrong…everybody has one. It's all bollocks, Luv. Who knows where each step is going to bloody well take us? Life is what you bloody well make of it. It ain't wrote down in chapters in some soddin' book shoved in a library somewhere. We make our own decision, write our own destiny and create our own chapters and then finally when the book is done, only then will we know how it ends. Who's to say I won't save the world one day? Go out in a blaze of glory." Spike shrugged as he shot him a look. "Not in my bloody game plan mind you, but neither was bein' woken up in the middle of the day to have a heart to heart with you on the floor of my crypt."

"I guess you're right." Buffy sighed instantly regretting her choice of words as he smirked at her.

"I like the sound of that." He laughed as he offered her a hand up.

"Don't get used to it." Buffy warned as she fidgeted with her hands. "Now that that's out of the way…I need your help with Dawn. I don't know if it's just her being a rebellious teenager and trying to drive me insane or if it has something to do with what happened the other night but she is a terror to live with, Spike. She was scared out of her mind that first night but after that she started sneaking out of the house at all hours of the night, she won't listen to a thing I say and the other day I caught her telling Giles to "sod off." If I didn't know better I would think she was turning into you."

"I'll talk to her." Spike agreed as she tried to hide his smirk at the thought of Dawn telling the old Watcher to sod off not that the old bloke didn't deserve it. "Call your Watcher off first. I've lost count of how many times he's tried to have me dusted just this week." He said as she turned to leave.

"Giles tried to stake you." Buffy gasped as she paused with one foot on the ladder.

"Not what I said." Spike rolled his eyes as he reached for the scotch again. "Paid off a bunch of bloody demons to do it for him. Put a bloody hit out on me at Willy's and those blokes take money business serious down in that district. Been fightin' the soddin' things for a week. Got half the bar lookin' for me every night except the ones whos to scared to come after me."

"You don't think those vampires that got Dawn…"

"Afraid so, Pet." Spike sighed as she bit her lip. "Found them that night hiding out by the old boathouses at the lake. "Said old Willy told 'em to sod off when they came around askin' bout the money. Let it slip that I was hangin' with the Slayer now and they had best be on their way. Guess they found out about the Niblet from some other demons and decided it was the quickest way to get under my fangs. All it got 'em was dusted."

"I'll take care of Giles." Buffy assured him as she started to climb the ladder stopping again to stare down at him. "See you at dinner? You can talk to Dawn then." Before he could answer she was gone leaving him trying to figure out which side of the world was up and which side was down.

For the hundredth time he prayed to anyone that would listen for an apocalypse to pop up so he could end the torture of listening to Buffy lecture the Watcher who countered with excuses and reasons for doing what he had done. Once he even prayed to spontaneously combust but that didn't happen either. "Clearly your feeling for him are clouding your better judgment." Giles snapped as he pointed a finger in Spike's direction. Buffy was staring down the table at him as he tried to ignore the conversation and went back to dipping his cooking in a mug of warm blood.

"He's not the one that sent an army of demons and vampires into the city and nearly got Dawn killed!" Buffy growled as she glared at Giles who fumbled with his mug of tea. "What were you thinking?"

"Bloody hell are you to going to go on about that all night?" Dawn growled as she stabbed the ice cream in her bowl. "I said I was fine. Next time I'll stake them before they can get me."

"There won't be a next time." Giles snapped as he cleaned his glasses before putting them back on. "And stop talking like that."

"Why?" Dawn argued as she finally looked up from the table. "Because you say so? Think vampires won't bother me anymore because Buffy's the Slayer? News flash, Giles…she can't be everywhere at once. I can take care of myself. I don't need a babysitter."

"That so." Spike said as he met her eyes. It wasn't his Niblet that glared back at him from behind the black eyeliner and the dark polished nails but he knew she was in there somewhere he just had to get her back. "Get Red to help you out with that little bravery spell you're rockin' over there or did you do it all on your own, Niblet?" Silence fell over the room as Buffy sat back in her chair.

"Magic!" Buffy groaned as she rubbed her eyes. "Dawn we talked about this. You can't be using magic spells. Especially if you get them from Willow."

"Seen this one before and it rarely ends well." Spike sighed as he pushed away from the table. "Only one way to break it. Not gonna be the highlight of my night I can tell you that right off."

"What are you going to do?" Buffy asked as she followed them out the back door. "Spike."

"I'm gonna fix her." Spike sighed as he glanced back at her over his shoulder. "Lil' Bit wants to fight vampires she can fight this Big Bad. Come on, Niblet. I'll toss you around the backyard until sunrise if that's what you want."

"Absolutely not!" Giles objected as he stared at the uncertainty on Spike's face and the joy on Dawn's.

"Oh come off it you poncy git." Spike rolled his eyes. "She needs to learn. She may not be the Slayer or even in line to be the Slayer but that doesn't mean she has to be a victim again."

"I hardly believe you have any right…"

Suddenly, Spike had him pinned against the back door, a growl edging out around his fangs and he glared at the Watcher from behind yellow eyes. With a sigh he shook off the demon and took a step back. "Sod off you pissy pansy wanker." Spike bit out as he glanced over his shoulder. "You're fault in the first place. Did you think the demons at Willy's wouldn't make the connection between me and the Slayer? Only way to break it is for her to face what brought her here and beat it. Face it Watcher…I trained your Slayer better than you could have ever hoped to. Taught her how to dance with the devil I did and it's the bloody reason she's still breathin'."

He stood against the tree shaking his head as he finished a smoke. Buffy was still trying to reason with a headstrong Dawn who was having none of it. Her last two battles with Spike hadn't broken the spell and she laughed saying he was losing his touch. If she only knew he wasn't even trying. Sighing he tossed the cigarette to the ground and pushed away from the tree crossing the yard. Catching them off guard he grabbed Dawn by the arm and jerked her around to face him. "If you want to dance you bloody well better listen because I won't repeat myself, got it?" He hated the look in her eyes. She was enjoying this and it made his stomach turn. Buffy moved away quickly as she saw Spike pull the stake from his duster and wrap Dawn's fingers around it. The game just got more serious than she had ever thought it would.

"Be careful, Spike." Buffy whispered as she saw Dawn's eyes focus on the stake as he took a step away from her.

"Lesson the first," Spike heard Buffy gap at the familiar words as she watched him circle her little sister. "You must always reach for your weapon." He let out his demon as she turned to face him. "I already have mine and they're all I need to tear out your throat."

"If you're trying to scare me it isn't going to work you know." Dawn smiled as she followed his movements, her step in sync with his and her eyes never leaving him. She had toyed with the spell to give her more than just the bravery she was looking for. She also gained a new strength and a taste for danger that wasn't normally in the spell. He would have been proud of her if it were different circumstances.

"You should be." Spike let himself chuckle at the look in her eyes. It had been so long since he had entertained the thoughts that were now racing through his mind. "I killed two Slayers in my time and came here with full bloody intentions to do the same to your Big Sis the very day I saw her." Spike could see something flicker in her eyes. It wasn't fear, it was anger. Suddenly, he lunged for her and she moved letting him slip past her. She punched and he ducked grabbed her arm and flung her to the ground. Ignoring the pain that blasted through his brain as the chip fired. He grabbed her by the throat and pulled her to her feet again. Now they were getting somewhere. "Death is art, Niblet. You make it with your hands and your moves. Each punch a brush stroke, every kick another step in the bloody dance."

"You call this dancing?" Dawn squeaked as he held her against the tree.

"I call it living." He growled as he leaned in closer to her. "When you stop dancin' you stop breathin'. I could rip your throat out right now if I really wanted to. Drain you dry before anyone showed up to help you. Take out your Sis and that soddin' Watcher on my way out and no one would be the wiser to it." A kick caught him in the stomach sending him rolling on the ground and Dawn lunged at him with the stake finding only dirt when he rolled out of the way. Shedding his duster and tossing it to the ground Spike allowed himself a laugh. "Now you're getting it, Niblet." She was fast but he was just a strike faster as he punched her reeling back as the pain in his head exploded from the chip again. Again she came at him and he lunged taking her down to the ground. In all the punching and the rolling Dawn ended up on her back, Spike's body pinning her to the ground as he grabbed her by the arms. He could feel the pounding of her heart and the rush of her blood as he leaned in closer to her face. "Stop me…Stop me before I do something I will stake myself for later." Spike growled as his fangs gazed her neck, drawing only the tiniest lines of blood. The tatste was enough to shock him into the reality of what he was doing. Before he could brace himself she moved, working her hands free she punched him in the face and he let her. It was as sobering for him as it was for her as he watched her touch the spot where he had cut her.

Spike relaxed as he saw her eyes flicker again as she met his eyes. He sighed as he reached for her but she backed away. "It's over now, Niblet." Spike turned away from her but he had no more than got to his feet when Dawn lunged at him burying the stake in his back. "Oh Bloody Hell!"

"Spike!" He heard Buffy scream from the back porch where her and Giles had been watching the entire show.

"You're all the same." She huffed as he hit the ground spitting blood and curses into the ground. "You only care about the blood and the…"

"You think for one second I would even taste your blood, stalk you or hurt you unless it was the only way to free you from this bloody spell you've wrapped yourself into because you're afraid to leave your soddin' house after dark." Spike growled as he tried to reach her. "You're my Lil Bit…my Niblet. You don't need that spell anymore. Staked yourself a right good vampire you have and if I don't wake up dust once this is over I'll be the one protecting you from now on, right. Don't need that spell anymore."

"Oh my God." He heard Dawn mumble as she fell to her knees beside him. "Spike…Did I…Spike…"

"It's ok, Bit." Spike ground out between clenched teeth. "Just pull the bloody stake out and I'll heal right up."

"I….I can't." He glanced up to see her kneeling on the ground her head in her hands, the black eyeliner running in rivers down her face as she looked at him. "I don't wanna hurt you anymore than…Oh my God...Spike, I'm so sorry….I can't believe I did that….What was I…Oh My God!"

"Wasn't you, Niblet." Spike growled as he tried to push himself off the ground. "Was the spell. Wanted to get even with those vamps that roughed you up on patrol you did and it wouldn't settle for anythin' less than that."

"Spike!" Buffy grabbed his shoulders as he tried to stand. "Stay down."

"Just get the bloody toothpick out of my spine before I end up in that soddin' wheelchair again!" Spike growled as he let her push him back to the ground. He bit his tongue to keep the scream from tearing out of his throat as Buffy jerked the stake free. "God that bloody well hurt!"

"You'll heal." Giles huffed as he stared down at Spike. "Shouldn't we be more concerned with the confused teenager who just ran inside?"

"If it wasn't for Spike we would never have broken that spell on her." Buffy said as she glared up at him. "He risked his life to do it, Giles. The least you can do is act like you appreciate it even if you don't."

Two hours and several pints of blood later Spike trudged up the stairs and eased open the door to Dawn's room. She was sitting on the bed scrubbing at her nails but wouldn't even look up when he closed the door behind him and sat in the floor by her bed. "Know I'm probably the last bloody person you wanna see right now. Hell I'm not sure I'm even a person after what I was about to do to you out there earlier." He mumbled as he toyed with the chipping polish on his nails.

"I tried to stake you." Dawn sighed as she finally looked at him.

"Not try, Niblet." Spike chuckled as he stared at her. "Did. You had right good aim to. Slayer aim as a matter of fact. If I hadn't moved when I did you would be out there scraping what was left of me into sandwich bag."

"Don't talk like that." Dawn snuffed as she shook her head and grabbed something off her nightstand. "I stole that outta your duster one night. Never thought I would wear it but…you know…it was yours and, well I thought it was really cool at the time." She shrugged as she handed him a bottle of black polish.

"This ain't about some kleptomania obsession with black nail polish, Niblet." Spike sighed as he turned the bottle over in his hand. "Wait you thought it was cool? Never mind that. Why did you do that spell?"

"Because I was tired of being scared and alone." Dawn sighed as she wrapped her arms around her knees. "After those vampires attacked me I was so scared I couldn't even stay in my room without being afraid of every shadow and every noise. When Buffy was out patrolling I was sitting here with Giles and let's face it, Spike…if vampires were to attack the house Giles would be the last person that I would expect to protect me. You weren't around…even though you said you would be."

"That's my fault entirely, Bit." Spike sighed as she moved to sit by her on the bed forcing her to look at him. "Your Sis and I…we had some issues we needed to deal with and I shouldn't have let that get in the way of making sure you were alright. I broke that promise to you I did but I bloody well won't be making that mistake again you hear me. Even if it means taking another stake to the back."

"You knew I was going to stake you out there but you turned your back on me anyway." Dawn said with a horrified look on her face as Spike nodded.

"Figured that's what it would take to get you back." Spike smiled as he watched her rake her fingers through her hair. "No more spells alright, Niblet. I don't think your Sis could handle another bloody week with a black nail polish punk rocker for a little sister. Had her knickers in a twist you did. She came bargin' into my crypt all arses over elbows."

"What does that mean anyway?" Dawn asked with a smile as Spike ruffled her hair.

"Means you do something like that again and I just might be inclined to lock you up in bloody room full of poofy pink tutus and teddy bears until it wears off." Spike laughed as she rolled her eyes tossing a pillow at him. "Are we alright then?"

"Yeah," Dawn smiled as she hugged him. "We're good. No more spells for any reason. I won't even be in the same room when Willow comes over. I promise… and no more black nail polish. How do you get this junk off anyway?" Spike laughed as he took the bottle of nail polish remover and cotton balls she had been fighting with and began scrubbing on her fingers.

Buffy sighed in relief as she heard the laughter mixed with a few grumbled curses flying out of Dawn's room. She stared down at the stake in her hands stained with Spike's blood and without giving it a second thought she broke it in half and hurried down the stairs to toss it in the trash can. No matter what their issues may be in the future she resolved to remind herself that Dawn needed him around for whatever reasons and she would have to deal with that and for a second Buffy allowed herself to admit that in some ways she needed Spike around to.

13


End file.
