Two vamps, a girl, and a prophecy

Summary: What happens to Spike (and Angel) after ‘Not Fade Away.’
Rating: NC-17 Explicit sexual descriptions (later on), some language.
Pairings: Dawn/Spike, with a small side of Buffy/Xander.
Feedback: Yes, please. This is my first time posting a fic, so be gentle!
Archive? : Ask me first.
Beta: I need one!
Disclaimer: I don’t own ‘em. I’m just borrowing them for a while since Joss isn’t using them anymore. If I was making any money off of this, I would own a much better laptop!!!

Chapter 12

As soon as she stepped into the hall, she saw Giles and Willow were already walking towards her, and stiffened guiltily, sure they could tell exactly what had just taken place from the look on her face. Hell, she was more than a little surprised her feet were still in contact with the ground.

“Ah, Dawn, there you are!” Giles smiled warmly at her. “We were just looking for you, to see if you would be willing to try…”

“Of course I’ll help you try to heal Spike, too,” Dawn interrupted him. “I was just looking for you two.”

Willow eagerly pushed past her and bounced into the room, so Dawn spun on her heel and went back as well. “Spike!” Willow greeted the blond enthusiastically. Leaning over, she gave him a gentle hug. “I can’t believe this. It’s so good to see you again! I missed you.” She put her hand on his cheek affectionately, and Dawn had to bite back a jealous growl.

“Thanks Red,” Spike smiled, looking embarrassed by the warmth of her greeting. “It’s good to see you, too.” Looking up when Giles entered the room at a far more dignified pace, he added, “You too, Rupert.”

“Spike,” Giles smiled fondly at him and shook his hand a bit longer than he normally would. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I picked a fight with the wrong dragon,” Spike answered sarcastically. “You?”

Annoyed that he was still trying to act as though nothing was wrong, Dawn slammed the door loudly, leaning against it and avoiding Willow’s and Giles’ questioning looks. “Show them.” She said, looking sternly at Spike, who childishly made a face at her. “They need to see it if they want to help you!”

“Fine,” Spike grumbled. Wincing painfully, he sat up a little and pulled his t-shirt up over his chest.

“Oh Goddess!” Willow gasped, her eyes filling with tears at the sight of the large, now slightly blackened looking wound. “Spike…” With shaking hands she reached out and gently touched the skin on either side of the wound. The flesh for several inches around the bite was hard, swollen and red, and Dawn thought the red tendrils running away from it looked thicker and longer than they had just a few hours before. Closing her eyes, Willow sat quietly for a few moments, her face frozen in concentration. “I can feel the poison.” She shuddered. “It’s spreading…eating away at the tissue around the bite.” She opened her eyes and looked up at Giles helplessly. “I don’t know what to do about this. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. We have to find an antidote.”

“I-I can’t heal him?” Dawn asked quietly. “I mean…the Key…”

“Well, you might be able to help close the wound, but we need something to counteract the venom, somehow. Closing up the wound will probably give him more time, but he’ll feel sick until we find a way to neutralize the poison.”

“How sick?” Dawn asked, reaching out to take Spike’s hand. He held on tightly, and she squeezed it reassuringly.

“Eventually, it will affect his ability to feed…” Giles began sadly.

“He threw up after Buffy tried to feed him this morning,” Dawn said quickly, and Spike shot her a dirty look.

“Only because she smells like Harris,” He grumbled. Dawn glared at him until he rolled his eyes and mumbled, “I felt like I was going to be sick the last few times I fed. Today, I just couldn’t keep it down.”

“We have to do something quickly,” Giles pointed out, needlessly. Both young women and the injured vampire shot him scornful, disbelieving looks, causing him to roll his eyes with a slight, self-deprecating smile.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Spike snorted. “None of us could have figured that out without you.”

“Spike,” Dawn scolded him softly.

“I think the first thing we need to do is try to close the wound. Then he can try to eat again. Angel should be able to feed him now. Sire’s blood is the best thing for a sick vamp, right?” Willow looked questioningly at Spike, obviously more dubious that he’d be willing to drink from Angel than about the healing properties of Sire’s blood.

“Yeah,” Spike whispered, so softly they all had to strain to hear. “Are you sure he’s okay?”

“Leave it to you Spike,” Giles began, and Dawn looked at him worriedly, afraid he was about to tell the vampire that it was his tainted blood that had kept Angel from healing for so long. She let out a sigh of relief when the Watcher continued, “You always worry about everyone else before yourself, even at risk to your own…life, as it were. I’m sorry I never gave you credit for it before.” As he spoke, he reached out and clapped his hand on Spike’s shoulder affectionately.

If Spike could have blushed, he would have. Looking down, he occupied himself with pulling down his shirt and mumbled, “No big deal.”

“It was a big deal for me,” Angel spoke up suddenly from the doorway. He entered the room, wearing a pair of Xander’s sweatpants and a white tank top. Dawn smiled shyly at him, then looked away quickly when she noticed Willow smirking at her.

“Angel!” Spike greeted his Sire with a huge, sincere smile. “Get in here! You look good, mate!”

Angel pushed away from the doorframe and spun around, playfully modeling for the younger vampire. “Thanks to Dawn and Willow.” He said, bowing gallantly to the two women before sitting on the foot of the bed. “If you don’t mind me saying, you don’t look so good.” he frowned anxiously at Spike. “You shouldn’t have had to take care of me alone for so long, Spike. I’m so sorry. If I knew you were this sick, I would have…I don’t know…I would have tried to do something…”

“There was nothing you could do,” Spike shrugged casually. “I just did what I had to do. I’m glad you’re okay now.”

“Thanks to you, too,” Angel smiled, patting Spike’ leg. Dawn noted anxiously that he frowned thoughtfully at the thin limb hidden beneath the blankets. Looking immediately at Willow, he asked, “Are you going to try…” Tuning him out, Dawn smiled at Spike, slightly amused by the caring interaction between the two vampires, who usually couldn’t be in the same room together without one, or both, of them ending up bloody.

“Right now, I think…” Willow answered. She looked questioningly at Giles, who nodded. “Okay, we’ll do this the same way we did with Angel,” Willow gestured for Dawn to sit on the other side of the bed, forming a triangle between the two of them and Spike. “Either close your eyes and concentrate on the energy, or you can try focusing on Spike, if you think that will help. It seemed like it did with Angel.” She directed Dawn with a wink.

Dawn rolled her eyes, grabbing Spike’s and Willow’s hands. Catching Spike’s gaze, she stared into his brilliant blue eyes, and concentrated on trying to draw energy up from her center and channel it into Willow’s hand. He smiled nervously, and she was instantly rewarded by the tingling, energized sensation, which began moving up from her stomach, into her chest, and down her arms. She glanced over and saw Willow smile encouragingly when she felt the energy entering her own arm. Glancing to her right, she saw Angel sitting on the foot of the bed, staring at Spike with an odd, intense expression. She quickly turned her attention back to Spike, who was now looking at Angel, a slight frown on his face.

Suddenly, Spike gasped, and then groaned loudly. Willow and Dawn both frowned in confusion. Instead of the relaxed, peaceful expression on Angel’s face when he had felt the energy flowing into him, Spike’s face quickly contorted into one filled with pain as he whimpered loudly. “S-stop!” He gasped, weakly jerking his hands away from them.

Dawn immediately let go of him, and stared in horror as he thrashed violently on the bed. When he began to scream in agony, she noticed that Willow hadn’t released his hand. Instead, the redhead was staring confusedly at Giles, seemingly unaware that the energy was still flowing into the injured vampire through her. “Will!” Dawn snapped angrily, yanking her hand free of Willow’s and pushing the other woman away from Spike. “It’s hurting him, you idiot!” She immediately turned her attention from the startled witch, and moved to check on Spike, who had rolled onto his side and curled up in a ball, clutching his stomach. “Spike? Are you okay?” She reached out and gently stroked his hair, leaning over him. “Spike? Answer me!”

Spike startled everyone by turning on her in full game face. “Don’t touch me!” He snarled fiercely. He growled menacingly until she lowered her hand, completely stunned, and then shrank away from her fearfully. After scooting all the way to the other side of the bed, he curled up again, this time wrapping one arm around his head protectively. “Don’t touch me. Just leave me alone.” He muttered quietly, rocking back and forth slightly.

----------------
You didn't think I could make it that easy, did you? ;-) My muse is a meanie.