Cause and Effect

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Chapter Eleven
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Dawn and Willow made their way into Willie's place; Dawn, with a single-minded determination that allowed her to ignore the demons staring at the two of them. It *also* scared Willow Witless. If Dawn continued this way a fledgling would be able to take her. Willow wished Tara was here with them. She was definitely regretting the fact that she hadn't thought to wake Tara before they'd left the house. Having her lover there would have certainly made *her* mind rest easier. When Tara was at her side, Willow was always ready to take on the world -- let alone one bar full of vampires and other demons.

Shaking her head, Willow simply followed Dawn, having long since given up trying to get the young girl to see reason, deciding, instead, to just do her best to keep her out of trouble. She'd also made another decision -- this time with certainty. She was *never* having children. It was way too scary -- knowing all the things that could happen to them.

"Willie!" Dawn exclaimed, rushing the bar.

Willie rolled his eyes. "Oh," he said loudly, "it's the Slayer's sister, and the witch. What? You didn't harrass me enough last time?"

Dawn stumbled to a stop, her expression going pale. "What?"

Willie frowned, tossing a look Willow's way.

"No, Willie, we didn't!" Willow shot back. "You didn't tell us what we wanted to know." Willow then turned around to the bar at large, wearing her most resolved face. She just hoped it worked as well here as it did on Xander. "And any demons still here when we're done with Willie, will get the same."

Furious whispers were cast back and forth in the darkness, with several -- supposedly -- covert glances cast Dawn's way, and the bar cleared out. It felt -- awesome.

"Dawn?" Willow ask as the last vampire passed into the back. "What was *that* all about? They looked at you like they used to look at Buffy."

Dawn grinned, casting a quick glance her way. "Oh, I dusted a vamp the last time I was here," she replied breezily.

"What?" Willow exclaimed. "You didn't tell me *t."
."

Dawn frowned at her, rolling *her* eyes. "Would we be here now had had?"

"Of course not!" Willow replied hotly.

"See."

"Um, do you think you two could quit fighting long enough to get this over with? I'd really like to get back what's left of my business."

"Oh, we're done," Dawn replied instantly, returning her attention to the snitch. "Whatchya got?"

Willie's eyes widened. "You sounded just like her, just then."

"I did?" Dawn asked, grinning widely.

"Yeah, that was one of her catch phrases." Willie leaned toward them, resting both arms on the bar as he continued. "Between you and me, kid, I liked her. She had style -- most of the time."

Willow frowned, about to protest that Willie obviously knew nothing about Spike when Dawn beat her to it.

"Do you know anything or not?" she demanded petulantly, "Or are you just trying to butter me up?"

"Hey, you know me."

"Yeah, that's what we're worried about," Willow snapped. "Now get to it." Willow's eyes narrowed, and she grinned suddenly. "Or maybe we need to make good on our threats?"

"You're not the slayer," Willie shot back.

"No, we're not," Willow agreed, "but like you said earlier I *am* a witch." Muttering under her breath, Willow held her hand out, palm up, and a small fireball suddenly appeared floating above it. "Where should I put this?"

"Alright, alright, Witch, you've made your point," Willie placated, immediately turning toward D " "You said triple."

"Yes, I did."

"Well?"

Dawn snorted. "I *so* don't think so. I wasn't born yesterday -- quite. You get it *after* I-- we --hear what you have to say."

Willie shook his head, shrugging. "Turns out, he was being held out at the Weisenburg place. Word on the street is that Dr. Weisenburg is out after vamps. Apparently, his family was killed by 'em." Willie lowered his voice, leaning closer. "Some people say it was Angelus that killed 'em, and that the Doc's been looking for revenge ever since."

"So he's there, at the farm house?" Dawn asked eagerly, at the same time as Willow demanded, "How'd you find out about it?"

"No," he replied to Dawn, then turned to face Willow. "Some vamps saw him dumped in East Sunnydale Cemetery by the doctor's goons. They said he looked bad -- real bad. They seemed to think he was a goner," Willie continued, hesitating briefly before going on to describe exactly what the vampires had told him about Spike's condition.

Dawn squeal, much to both Willie and Willow's regret. She jumped up and darted toward the door.

"Dawn!"

Dawn ignored her.

"Hey! What about my money," Willie shouted after them.

Willow stopped, and turned slowly, her eyes dark and simmering. "We'll talk about *that* later. She's a minor, you know," she said, before quickly chasing after the minor in question. She barely heard Willie's parting comment.

"I shoulda known, damn it."

**

Willow stared at Dawn, at the blood splattered spot on the ground, and back to Dawn. She swallowed down the lump in her throat; she couldn't breath past it.

"If he was dead, there'd be less blood -- more . . . dust," Dawn whispered, her eyes turning hopefully toward Willow. "Right?"

"Goddess, Dawn, I just don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Dawn demanded angrily.

Willow frowned, ignoring Dawns anger for the moment. She stepped forward, closely examining the ground around the blood stain, shaped frighteningly in the form of a body.

"Nothing," she said eventually.

"What?"

"He didn't crawl away, Dawn."

"How," her voice broke, and she cleared her throat, beginning again. "How do you know?"

Slowly Willow turned to face Dawn. "Do you really want to do this?" she asked doubtfully. "Everything points to him being dead."

Dawn straightened suddenly, her grief stricken eyes hardening. "Yes, I'm sure. I--" She faltered then. "I need to know."

Willow nodded. She would too -- in Dawn's position. She quickly, quietly, and with as little emotion as was possible outlined what she saw. While the ground around 'the stain' was trampled in two separate directions, the was little to no blood spread across the broken down blades of grass. Regular drops of blood along one path, but not the other.

The two of them surveyed the area looking for *anything* to make the horror go away, to give them hope that Spike *wasn't* dust.

"What are we looking for?" Dawn asked suddenly.

Willow shrugged, not looking up from her search. "Anything out of the ordinary, anything that doesn't add up, anything . . . wrong."

Dawn nodded slowly, and looked back down, seconds after she did a sob worked its way out her throat.

"What?" Willow asked instantly, dropping down beside the young girl.

"Its just so . . . dusty. There shouldn't be this much dust, should there?"

The grass bare of blood within the macabre outline was covered in a fine layer of dust. "No, Dawnie," Willow replied quietly, wishing to the goddess that she could answer differently.

"We should go," Willow urged quietly, gently pulling Dawn up.

"No."

"He's dead, Dawn," she said, her voice dropping to barely a whisper. "I'm sorry."

Dawn stood, tears streaming down her face. "I kno- Wait,"

"What?"

"Ummm, you said anything weird, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Should the blood be two different colors?"

Willow frowned. "It darkens as it gets older -- as it dies. He was probably laying here for a long time."

Dawn looked up at her, disbelief warring with despair on her face. "Long enough that some of it's practically black, while some of it looks fresh?"

"Fresh?" Willow asked, wondering how she missed the fact that some of it was fresh. From what they'd been told about his condition -- Willow shuddered -- there shouldn't have been much fresh blood *in* Spike.

She took a closer look at the trail of blood, and the longer she looked the more certain she became that the trail of blood led *away* from the site instead of to it -- like she'd originally assumed.

"He fed," she muttered.

"Or was fed," Dawn countered.

"Why would they do that?"

"Not *they*."

Willow felt her eyes widen. "You think someone else fed him?"

Dawn nodded slowly as a single tear slid down her cheek.

"So," Willow began slowly, thoughtfully, "the question is, why?"

"No," Dawn replied, "I don't care why; I just want to know who."

"But, if we--"

"No. Can you-- Is there some spell to find out?"

Willow frowned as a memory teased her thoughts. There *was* something -- if only she could remember.

"Ye-es," she replied absently.

Dawn bounced toward her. "What do we need."

Willow blinked coming out of the frantic search of her memory. "First off, some of the blood."

Dawn nodded crisply, immediately bending down.

"The fresh blood," Willow amended. "And don't touch it," she continued when Dawn reached out.

Dawn glanced up at her, irritation flaring in her eyes. "And just how am I supposed to get it, if I don't *touch* it?"

Willow's mouth twitched upward, an almost laugh trickling up through her throat. Now they had some evidence that Spike might actually be alive -- though as much evidence pointed the other direction as well -- Willow's heart felt lighter. Carefully?" she suggested.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Now you sound like Xander."

Willow blinked, totally unsure whether to feel complimented or insulted. She loved Xander completely, but that fact didn't blind her to Xander's less than stellar sense of humor -- or timing.

The two worked quickly, and between them managed to come up with the appropriate tools to gather blood specimens. It was handy, once in a while, being a woman Willow observed as the two of them raced back to the house.

**

Dawn stomped her way into the house, slamming the door open on her way through.

Willow sighed and quietly closed the door behind them, watching as Dawn ran up the stairs and disappeared around the bend in the staircase. She winced as the bedroom door slammed shut hard enough to shake the house.

She sympathized with Dawn completely. She, too, wanted to slam things. The spell she'd remembered hadn't turned out quite the way they'd hoped. It was supposed to have led them to blood's owner -- Willow still wasn't absolutely certain, had it worked, whether it would have led to Spike, or to the person who's blood he'd consumed. Yes, it had been human, they'd figured that much out. It hadn't, however; it had gone nowhere. Willow could only assume that meant Spike was dead, and she wanted to throw a temper tantrum the likes of which the hellmouth had never seen. They'd been too late -- as far as she could tell by mere minutes. Spike was gone.

Willie's news of Spike had shocked Willow to her core. She'd been certain Spike was either dead or out of the country. South America would have been her guess if asked, not held in a converted farm house less than 3 hours from Sunnydale.

Now she knew better, and it was too late. Dawn's heart was broken. Spike was dust, and there was nothing she could do to make it better. Goddess knew she really wished there was. Dawn had felt enough heartbreak for a lifetime, let alone for one young teenager.

Resolutely turning away from the stairs, Willow crossed to her books. She just wanted to make a quick check. Something nagged her about the spell, and she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep until she'd figured it out.

TBC
Kiristeen
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