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 6

“Just sit down, Luv,” Spike murmured, helping her to one of the stools at the marble topped island. “I’ll get you some juice, and maybe you can tell me where you lot keep the cookies? I know you must have cookies, but I couldn’t find them when I looked for some for Xander earlier.” He shot her a wink before moving straight to the cabinet where they kept their glasses, and then grabbed the carton of orange juice from the fridge. After pouring her a glassful, he returned to the island and sat down beside her. “Drink up, luv. I think he took a bit too much, yeah?” He asked worriedly, holding the glass in front of her mouth.

With shaking fingers, Dawn reached up and covered his hand with her own to help guide the glass to her lips. After downing the entire glass, she watched him move to refill it. This time, he placed the glass on the counter in front of her and put his arm around her as he sat beside her. “Any better yet?” He asked softly, rubbing her back.

“Y-yeah,” Dawn murmured, refusing to look at him. She couldn’t believe he was being so cool after she made such a fool of herself. How the hell could she get horny from having a poor wounded vamp, who looked like a burnt steak, feed from her?

“It’s normal, you know,” Spike said suddenly, apparently reading her mind. “Um, when we’re not going for the kill, vampire bites can make the ‘bitee’ a little, uh…well, you know. It’s not your fault. Nothing for you to be embarrassed about.” He reached up and ran his fingers through her hair, brushing it away from her face. “It was really good of you to give him some of your blood like that. He hasn’t had any human blood since…since he got hurt. I’m sure it will help him.”

“You’re not mad at me?” Dawn asked in shock.

“Why would I be mad at you?” He asked, looking completely floored.

“Well, you were all…” She gestured absently toward his face and scrunched up her own to indicate bumpiness. “And with the growling…”

“Oh!” Spike smiled sheepishly, then looked down at his feet, tracing an abstract pattern on the marble floor. “Uh, no, I wasn’t mad at you. Maybe just a little jealous.” He peeked up at her shyly through his eyelashes, and Dawn’s heart skipped a beat.

Her heart beating wildly, Dawn quickly changed the subject. “W-what about the dragon poison? Can it really kill y-vampires?” She asked quietly.

Spike sighed. “I don’t know, Dawn.” He rubbed his forehead tiredly, and then laid his head down on the counter in front of him. “I-I think maybe it can; I can feel it burning…” His voice trailed off, and when he spoke again, it was so quietly that Dawn could barely hear him. “No matter how much blood I drink, I still feel it.” He whimpered softly, and Dawn reached out to rub his back. “It hurts.” he moaned pitifully, and his shoulders began to shake. Dawn immediately realized that the only thing that had been holding him together since he was attacked was his determination to get help for Angel. She was afraid that now that they had made it to relative safety, he was going to fall apart.

“We can call Willow and Giles. They’ll find a way to help you!” She promised him.

“Xander already called them, luv. But I don’t know if they can help,” He sighed again and turned his head to look up at her, his eyes shining with tears. “I think Angel will be alright, though. He didn’t get bitten. Just a little cut on the arm from one of its claws, before it tried to toast him.”

“A-and you?” Dawn was almost afraid to ask.

Spike pushed himself upright and looked her in the eye before he grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and slowly pulled it up, revealing an ugly red lesion in the middle of his torso, near his solar plexus. Thick tendrils of dark red radiated from the wound, a few smaller ones reaching toward his chest, but mostly spreading down across his stomach. “It…it bit me, it was shaking me. Angel skewered its eye with his sword to make it let go, and that’s when it roasted him.” His expression grew dark as he remembered his role in his Sire’s injuries. “I thought for sure we were both dead right there, but Illyria came out of nowhere and snapped the thing’s neck. I passed out, and when I finally came to, the demon army was gone and she was dead.”

Dawn raised her horrified gaze from his wounded chest to his haggard face. “You shouldn’t have worn yourself out…bringing him over here like that. You should have called us; we would have come to get you!” She scolded him softly, even though there was nothing to be done about it now.

“Haven’t exactly been thinking clearly,” He shrugged, pulling his shirt back down.

“When was the last time you ate?” She asked, reaching out to feel his forehead and flinching when she realized he was slightly warm.

“Last night. We caught a ride into Rome on a cattle truck that was headed to the butcher. I did one of the cows a favor and put her down before we got there,” He smiled slightly. “I don’t think she appreciated it much though…ungrateful wretch.”

Dawn rolled her eyes. “I’m gonna go get Buffy. You need to feed again.” She took it as a bad sign when he didn’t bother to protest and just laid his head back down on the counter when she left the room.

This time as she walked to her sister’s room, Dawn felt guilty, knowing that she was about to disturb Buffy and Xander’s evening again. Knocking softly on the door, she waited for an answer and then eased the door open a crack, muttering her thanks to whoever was listening that the couple hadn’t locked it earlier. “Buffy?” She whispered, blinking in the darkened room as she tried to make out which lump on the bed was her sister. As her eyes adjusted, she realized the larger lump lying closest to her was Xander, so she tiptoed around the foot of the bed and knelt beside her sister. “Buffy?” She whispered again, gently shaking the blonde’s shoulder.

“Gon’ kill you,” Buffy muttered, still mostly asleep.

“I know, you can kill me later. But I need your help, first,” Dawn whispered urgently. When Buffy opened one eye and looked at her questioningly, she said, “It’s Spike. He’s pretty sick, and he needs blood.”

“Butcher,” Buffy mumbled, her eyelid dropping closed immediately.

“No, Buffy…he’s hurt really bad. I think he might be dying, Buffy,” Dawn whimpered slightly.

“This is not funny, Dawn,” Xander grumbled from the other side of the bed.

“No, it’s not,” Dawn agreed. “Look, I’m sorry I bugged you guys earlier, but I just found out what’s going on with them. He tried to hide it before, but they’re both hurt really bad, and Spike needs human blood, now.”

“So, give him some of yours,” Buffy muttered sleepily, turning her head to burrow into Xander’s chest. Luckily, Xander was a lot more awake than his new girlfriend.

“You already did, didn’t you?” He asked, pointing at her wrist.

“Angel,” She confirmed, nodding her head. “And you hurt yourself earlier…bled a lot, right?” She asked him, making a mental note to find out what had happened to him later on.

“Yeah,” He sighed ruefully and rubbed his forehead, not even noticing his missing eye patch.

“That leaves Buffy,” Dawn pointed out. “I wouldn’t ask, but he’s in a lot of pain. I think he made it here on pure adrenaline, but it’s wearing off, and he looks like shit.”

“Do vamps even have adrenaline?” Xander wondered out loud. Seeing Dawn’s answering glare, he shook his head slightly to clear his thoughts. Leaning over, he shook Buffy gently. “Buffy? Hon, I think you need to get up and go feed Spike so we can sleep.” Looking up at Dawn he said, “If she does this we can go back to sleep, right?” He grinned to let her know he was mostly kidding.

“Sure, you can do whatever you want to,” Dawn promised.

“Okay, okay,” Buffy muttered. “We’re up! We’ll be right out.” She sat up, and Dawn blushed and turned away.

“Put some clothes on!” She laughed, shielding her eyes with her hand as she made her way around the bed and back to the door. “And hurry, no time for nookie!”

“Party pooper!” Xander called out as she closed the door behind her.

---------------------
Author's note: If you want the juicy details of what Buffy and Xander have been up to, you'll have to read Reditum ad se...I should get the chapters up soon. ;-)

12/11/05-Chapter edited to change the description of Spike's wound a bit. :-p