Father of the Brat

Disclaimer: I don't own anything affiliated with Buffy. It all belongs to Joss Whedon. I just borrow it. I'm not making any money from this, it's purely for fun.


“What do you want?” Spike groaned, pulling the pillow over his head. If he just ignored the person, they would go away. He frowned as a realization came over him and he pulled his head out from under the pillow. There was only one person who would be knocking on his bedroom door. “Dawn?” he called.

The door opened and Dawn stepped through. She leaned against the doorjamb and crossed her arms over her chest.

“I thought you were going to be at your friend’s house…what’s her name…Janice?”

Dawn shrugged. “We finished our homework early. Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“Came home early. Had a long day, Nibblet, so I left.” Dawn stared hard at him.

“What did you call me?” she asked. Spike started and looked back at her, a bit sheepish.

“Nibblet.” He paused. “It just seemed to fit you. Sorry, won’t do it again.” Dawn shook her head, quickly.

“No, it’s okay…I, uh…I kind of like it.” she replied. Spike smiled.

“Right then. What’s on your mind?”

“I was wondering if I could invite Buffy over for dinner.” Dawn said. Spike looked a bit startled.

“What?”

“Look I know it sounds weird, but the last time I saw her, I asked if she would mind if I ever called to invite her to dinner and she said she wouldn’t but only if it was okay with you.” She looked at him, a little hopeful. “So, is it?”

Spike stared at Dawn, still shocked. “Well…yeah, that’s alright with me, if that’s what you want.”

“Cool. I’ll go call her right now.” Dawn turned towards the door, but stopped, and glanced back at Spike who was still sitting on the bed. “You know, she’s pretty cool for a social worker.” Before he could respond, she walked back out, shutting the door behind her. Spike nodded.

“Yeah, she is, isn’t she?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Buffy frantically turned the key as she heard her phone begin to ring. “I’m coming, hold on, don’t hang up, I’m coming!” she exclaimed as if the person wouldn’t hang up merely because she said so. She ran into her house and made a dash for the kitchen, dropping her briefcase on the floor on the way, and snatched up the phone.

“Hello?” she asked, breathlessly.

“Um…Buffy? It’s Dawn.” There was a pause. “Dawn Giles.” she added, just in case Buffy needed reminding.

As if Buffy needed to be reminded of the name of the person who had brought Spike Giles back into her life. Right.

“Hi, Dawn. What’s up?” Buffy asked, leaning against the wall and kicking her shoes off. She paused and a frown appeared on her face. “Nothing’s wrong, is there?”

“Oh, no, no nothing’s wrong or anything like that.” Dawn said in a rush. “I was just wondering if you wanted to come over to dinner. I already asked Spike. It’s cool.”

Buffy didn’t speak. Spike had said that it was okay for her to come over to dinner. What did that mean? And why was she reading anything into it anyway? They’d only seen each other a couple of times recently and just because she was still an idiot who still had a crush on him didn’t mean anything. Finally, she managed to say one syllable. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” Dawn agreed. “And I’m cooking. Which Spike hasn’t said is cool but he’ll give in eventually because, let’s face it, the guy can’t win. Teenage girl here.” Clearly Dawn was one of those girls who already knew her power.

Spike didn’t stand a chance.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Spike stared at Dawn, mystified. He didn't think he'd heard right. He couldn't have heard right.

Could he? He shook his head. No, he may not be the youngest guy in the world but he still had his hearing. So that meant that he had heard right. Which meant he was going to die. Great. He didn't want to die yet. Still had a lot of things he wanted to do.

"You want to want?"

Dawn stared at him as if it was obvious. What was the guy? Deaf? "I said that I want to cook dinner tonight." Spike raised an eyebrow. "Don't get me wrong. This isn't going to be an every day type of thing. Nope. This is a one time deal. So take it or leave it right now."

Spike was very tempted to leave it. But he could see that this was important to Dawn and really, how often did she offer to do work around the place? Especially cook. So, Spike smiled.

"Well then, looks like I'm taking it."

Dawn smiled back. "Cool." She headed towards the kitchen before stopping and glancing back at Spike. "By the way...how do you feel about radishes and stuff like that?" she asked. Spike stared at her as she grinned and went into the kitchen.

Spike almost groaned and dropped backwards. He was doomed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Buffy frowned at herself in the mirror. No. She couldn't wear that. It looked like she was trying too hard to look like a social worker. She reached for another dress and then frowned and paused. And she couldn't wear that either. It looked like she was trying too hard, period. Could you say, hussy?

She sighed. This was hopeless. She was doomed. Not only was she going to have to spend the night with Spike, eating dinner, trying to act as if she'd never had a crush on him, as if she still didn't, and trying to hold a conversation with him and Dawn.

Buffy groaned and dropped onto the bed and then flopping backwards. She was doomed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Dawn opened the door only moments after Buffy had knocked. She smiled and motioned for her to come in.

"Hey, Buffy. Dinner's just about ready, so it won't be long now." she assured her. She started back towards the kitchen. "I'm going to check on it right now as a matter of fact. Want to come with?" Buffy nodded.

"Sure." she said.

"You can sit at the table." Dawn told her. Buffy nodded once more and turned towards the table, faltering briefly when she saw Spike sitting there. He gave her a smile.

"Hello, love."

Buffy gave him a small smile and sat down across from him. "Hey." she said, forcing herself not to stare. Did he know what effect he had on women when he wore all black? To be more specific, a black silk button up shirt and black slacks. But really. Did he know the effect he had?

Of course he did. How could he not?

Damn him.

As if he could hear her thoughts, Spike smirked. It was fairly obvious that she was cursing him for one reason or another. Why, he didn't know. But he recognized the look on her face. He'd seen it enough in high school.

She looked good. As a matter of fact, despite the fact that she obviously wasn't trying to flaunt herself in black slacks and a light blue tank top, he was having the kind of thoughts about her that he really shouldn't be having with his daughter standing only a few feet away.

He grinned as Buffy's eyes widened briefly before she glanced away. If he wasn't mistaken, she could tell exactly what he was thinking and it was making her nervous.

At the thought, his grin widened. He had sure missed teasing Buffy. Maybe he'd make up for it tonight...