I'd been looking at screencaps and noticed that when Buffy drops Dawn and Joyce off at Spike's crypt, his mannequin is out in plain sight. Which spawned this little ficlet. Thanks to gingerwall at LJ for looking it over and the ladies in the TSR cbox for their help with word choice.
Cross My Heart
"Spike?" Dawn's voice broke through the relative silence of the crypt. She glanced across to where her mother was dozing in front of the TV, and then looked back to Spike.
"Yeah?"
"What's that?" she nodded her head towards the blonde-wigged mannequin lying on its side in one corner of the crypt.
"It's, er—" He froze, eyes darting around the room as he fumbled for words.
"Well?" Dawn jumped down off the sarcophagus, where she'd been doing her homework, and put her hands on her hips.
He glared at her. "It's a practice dummy, yeah?"
Dawn raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "Practice dummy? Practice what, how to be lame?" She fixed him with a triumphant stare. "It's wearing Buffy's shirt."
Spike sputtered for a moment. "Well, yeah. Practice killin'-the-Slayer dummy. For when I get this damn chip out my brain. Yeah, that's it. Got me that to practice killing her."
"I'm fourteen, not stupid." Dawn rolled her eyes. "It's okay, I won't tell."
"Tell what? There's nothing to tell!"
"Come on, Spike. It's all right if you like Buffy. Like like her, I mean." She frowned. "Okay, so it is kinda ooky considering how many times you've tried to kill her. But I guess you can't help who you have a crush on." She shrugged, before glancing to Spike and seeing the barely-repressed panic on his face. She patted his arm reassuringly. "Spike, I swear I can keep a secret. Cross my heart."
"There's no bloody secret that needs keeping!"
His raised voice awoke the sleeping Joyce, who sat up with a start. "Dawn?"
"I'm here, Mom. You fell asleep."
"Oh." Joyce frowned, before speaking again. "Spike, I don't suppose I could trouble you for a glass of water?"
Spike nodded and moved towards the fridge, turning his face towards Dawn as he did so, fangs bared and eyes flashing yellow. "You tell no one. Understand?"
She nodded, smile on her face and two fingers crossed behind her back.