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 7

Dawn raced back to the kitchen and found Spike lying on the floor beside the island. “Spike!” She rushed to his side and shook him gently. To her relief, he moaned quietly and opened his eyes.

“Wha-” He asked blearily. “What happened?” He frowned, looking around the kitchen as he tried to sit up.

“I think you fell asleep and slid out of your chair,” Dawn sat down beside him with her back against the island, and tugged gently on his shoulders until he laid back down with his head pillowed on her lap. “Buffy’s going to come give you some of her blood. She didn’t realize you were hurt.” She stroked his hair tenderly as she spoke, and his eyes drifted shut again. “Oops, don’t go back to sleep yet.” She lightly tapped his forehead until he opened them again. “Sorry, as soon as you eat you can sleep, okay?”

“Mm’kay,” He mumbled, but soon closed his eyes again. Dawn sighed, and leaned over to kiss his forehead.

“You can’t die on me, I love you,” She whispered, but he was already asleep again.

Just then, Buffy entered the kitchen with Xander, who was wearing only a sheet wrapped around his waist. Dawn looked at him with amusement, and decided they really should get the guy out of Rome before he lost whatever tiny bit of fashion sense he’d had in Sunnydale. “God, what’s wrong with him?” Buffy knelt on the floor next to Dawn, then reached up to the knife rack on the side of the island and grabbed a small paring knife. She quickly cut into her wrist, saying, “Spike, come on. Open up and drink.” She held the wound to his lips, and he morphed into game face without opening his eyes. Her sharp intake of breath signaled his fangs penetrating her skin, and Dawn sighed with relief.

As Spike fed, Dawn watched her sister curiously, wondering if his bite would affect Buffy the same way Angel’s had affected her, but Buffy seemed to barely notice as the blond vampire continued to feed. She sat with her arm held casually over his face, all of her attention on Xander, who was leaning against the island and absently stroking her hair as they waited for Spike to drink his fill.

After a few minutes, Buffy frowned thoughtfully at Spike and pulled her wrist away from his mouth. He lay there with his mouth open, just as she left him. “He fell asleep.” Her nose wrinkled in confusion, and she frowned at her arm as if it could explain how a vampire could possibly fall asleep with Slayer blood in his mouth.

“He looks like he really needs the rest,” Xander observed. “Do you think he drank enough, or should we wake him up?”

“He got quite a bit,” Buffy shrugged. “We should carry him somewhere more comfortable though.” She stood up, wobbled slightly, and grabbed Dawn’s untouched second glass of orange juice. “If we keep this up, we’re going to have to buy stock in Tropicana.” She muttered before downing the glass.

“O-okay, so, who’s gonna carry him?” Dawn laughed. “We can put him in my bed. I’ll take the sofa.” She offered, trying to ignore the slight shiver she got at the mental image of Spike in her bed.

“I’ll carry him,” Xander spoke up. “My traumatic, dizzifying blood loss was longer ago than yours.” He chuckled lightly, and Dawn grinned at Buffy, glad to see him so happy for once. He slid his arms under Spike’s back and knees and then easily rose to his feet. “Whoa…has he been starving himself? He used to be a lot heavier.” He frowned, shifting the limp form in his arms to a more comfortable position.

“I don’t think he’s been eating enough. He was bitten by a dragon, and its venom is still in his system,” Dawn explained as they walked to her bedroom. After Xander carefully deposited the unconscious vampire on her bed, the three returned to the living room to talk.

“Is that what’s wrong with Angel, too?” Buffy asked quietly. “Dragon venom? I didn’t know they were real…can they kill vampires?” She looked back and forth between them, her concern clearly displayed in her tight, pinched expression.

“Um, Angel’s worse. Or maybe better,” Dawn shrugged. “The dragon tried to barbeque him. His burns are really bad, and all over. I have no idea why he didn’t dust. Spike said he hasn’t been able to feed himself. He can barely move, and he doesn’t want to drink much from Spike because of the poison in his blood.” Dawn moaned helplessly. “I got him to drink from me a bit, though. Maybe it will help.”

“Spike didn’t tell me any of this!” Buffy exclaimed angrily. Turning to Xander she said, “Why didn’t he tell me? We could have given them both blood hours ago!”

“I don’t know, honey,” He pulled her closer to him on the sofa and wrapped his arms around her. “You know how he is, he doesn’t like to admit when he needs help.”

“Uh, he said he could tell he was interrupting something when he first got here, and he didn’t want to bother you,” Dawn admitted quietly.

“Oh,” Buffy murmured miserably, turning toward Xander and burying her face in his chest, “I feel so horrible. Didn’t he know we would help him if he just asked?” Xander tightened his hold on her and kissed her on the forehead before looking up at Dawn, tears trailing down his cheek.

She shrugged helplessly. After several minutes of heavy silence, she said, “You two should go back to sleep. Willow and Giles are coming, right?” She realized she hadn’t asked earlier, but she assumed they would come as soon as possible after hearing that the vampires were there.

Xander nodded. “They were catching the first available flight. They should be here by late morning,” he told her distractedly, resting his head on Buffy’s.

“Okay, so we should all sleep, right?” Dawn asked. When neither of them moved, she stated more decisively, “We should all go to sleep now. We’ll probably need to give them more blood later.” She suddenly realized her sister had already fallen back asleep, snuggled into Xander’s arms, and she smiled warmly at them,

“You’re right,” Xander seemed to come out of his daze slightly, and scooped Buffy up in his arms. “You sure you’ll be alright on the sofa? I can sleep out here, and you can sleep with Buffy.” He offered as he stood up.

“Like I’m getting within ten feet of that bed,” Dawn snorted scornfully. “No thanks, you guys can go stew in your own juices. It’s safer out here.” Glancing at the sofa she grimaced, “It is safe out here, right? You didn’t-”

“It’s fine, Dawn,” Xander chuckled. “No…er…God, I’m so not saying ‘juices.’ Crap! Whatever! I’m shutting up now and going to bed. You know where we are if you need anything.” With that he carefully carried Buffy back to bed.

Dawn yawned, and decided to check on the vampires before going to sleep herself. Heading first for Xander’s room, she turned on a small lamp beside the bed and gasped quietly. “Whoa!”

“I feel a little better,” Angel smiled at her, opening his eyes a tiny bit.

“You look better,” Dawn grinned, sitting beside him on the bed and taking his hand. His burns were already starting to close over, and the few small areas of undamaged skin seemed larger than before.

“Thank you,” He said, squeezing her hand weakly. “I didn’t want to worry Spike more than he already was, but his blood was making me feel worse. If I could have fed any other way, I swear I would have. I don’t think he realizes how serious this is.” He frowned slightly. “Having to take care of me was making him feel even worse, I think.”

“I think it gave him a reason to hold on,” Dawn told him reassuringly. “He just fell asleep in the kitchen, and then he let Buffy feed him some of her blood.” She sighed. “I promise, we’re going to do everything we can to help him, okay?”

“’Kay,” Angel mumbled sleepily, clearly worn out just from the effort to have a simple conversation.

“Go to sleep, Angel,” Dawn leaned over and kissed him on the forehead, feeling the need to mother him in his pathetic state. “I’ll take care of him.”

Leaving the light on and the door open slightly, just in case he woke up again and needed to call for anything, she walked quietly to her own bedroom to check on Spike. She found him lying on his side, hugging one of her pillows to his chest. Tiptoeing to the side of the bed, she carefully laid her hand on his forehead again, frowning when she felt that he was still warm. “Don’t leave me,” he murmured when she pulled her hand away.

“Spike!” She gasped, startled. “I thought you were asleep.”

“I was, but my stomach hurts,” He whimpered, and without a second thought she crawled onto the bed and curled herself around him.

“I’ll stay,” She whispered. “I’m right here. I’ll take care of you.” She promised, leaning forward to kiss his cheek before resting her head on the pillow behind him.

“Gotta take care of Angel,” He mumbled suddenly, moving weakly to try to sit up.

Dawn quickly threw her leg over his and wrapped her arm around his upper body to hold him still. She frowned when it didn’t take much effort on her part to pin the vampire down. “Shh, he’s fine. I just checked on him. I think he’s feeling better, already. He’s worried about you.” She chuckled slightly. “And here I thought you two hated each other?”

“He’s my Sire,” Spike shrugged slightly, as if that explained it all.

Dawn felt him relax against her, and smiled. After a few minutes, she realized he had fallen back asleep. “Vampires.” She muttered, rolling her eyes affectionately. Closing her eyes, she snuggled closer to Spike’s back and inhaled deeply, breathing in his familiar scent. Within a few minutes, she drifted off to sleep as well.