TITLE: The Key to Her Heart
CATEGORY: Romance/Drama
DISCLAIMER: Joss's characters & main storyline
RATED: R
MAIN CHARACTERS: Spike, Dawn, Buffy
-----------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER 1-The Kidnapping
Spike was alone in his crypt, pacing and thinking aloud. "How can I win over the slayer?" he wondered. "Riley's gone but unfortunately not forgotten. How can I remedy that?"
Just then, Harmony burst into the crypt, practically bouncing off the walls. "Oh, Spikey!" she exclaimed, "I just heard the greatest news! It's so exciting!"
"Let me guess," Spike replied, "Hoffman's is having a shoe sale?"
"No, silly, even better! Although I could use some new shoes. I don't have any to match that cute blue outfit I picked up last week. And the heel on one of my black pumps is starting to come off . . ."
"Harm!" Spike interrupted. His patience was wearing thinner than usual, these days. Especially with Harmony. She was a good lay, but his heart was never in it. He missed actually caring about the person he was shagging. "What's your news?" he said, pausing between each word.
"Oh!" Harmony continued, "These three demons stopped me outside of Willy's and asked me if I know Dawn Summers. I asked if they're sure they don't mean Buffy Summers 'cause I know where she lives and I could maybe help them, you know, kill her or something."
She was killing him! He begged her to get to the point. Finally, she explained that these psykema demons were released from their dimension for 24 hours in order to do a favor for some evil woman. They have to kidnap Dawn, because they think she knows something about a key that this evil woman wants. And they can read her mind, if she's less than forthcoming about it all. "So they have until dawn to kidnap Dawn!" Harmony explained, "Get it?" She found the irony of that unbearably hysterical.
"What's this key for?" Spike asked, now clearly intrigued.
"How should I know?" Harmony answered. "All's I know is Buffy is gonna be sooo upset about this. She'll be all boo-hooey and maybe won't be watching her back so much and you and I could . . ."
"Celebrate!" Spike interrupted. He had a plan. He convinced Harmony to go out and get herself something he could "tear off of you later;" something suitable for celebrating. There would be plenty of time to take advantage of the slayer later.
Once Harmony was gone, Spike quickly calculated his plan. He would get to Dawn before these psykemas did, even though that meant kidnapping her himself. Then return her to an eternally grateful Buffy tomorrow after dawn. That part would be tricky. He'd have to figure that out later. "Buffy is rather attached to that brat," he thought. "If I save her, then I'd be her bloody hero, wouldn't I? Buffy would have to like me, then." He realized that the only bad part of his plan was that he couldn't tell Buffy ahead of time what he was doing. She truly couldn't know where Dawn was because, no doubt, the psykemas would try to read her mind in order to accomplish their mission. They were non-violent demons, however, and when Buffy revealed nothing, they would simply look elsewhere. She'd know in the morning, though, and Spike could wait. He'd waited this long, what was one more night?
Meanwhile, Joyce was saying goodbye to her two daughters. She was flying to San Francisco for a prestigious art show. She assured Buffy and Dawn that she was okay to travel; she was feeling fine these days, and had completely recovered from her operation. Buffy assured her that she didn't mind staying home that night to be home with Dawn. She had major studying to do, anyway, and the gang promised her they'd do a sweep. "Anything else will just have to wait until tomorrow for me to kick its ass," she said. "Protecting Dawn is my most important job, now."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That night, as Buffy slept on her bed surrounded by books and notes, Spike appeared in Dawn's room. He hurriedly picked out a change of clothes for her--it wouldn't do to send Dawn back to Buffy in her nightie; that might not look so good. His desire to find as conservative an outfit as possible led him to choose a long skirt, a turtleneck sweater, knee-hi socks and tennis shoes--they would be walking all the way to his crypt, after all.
Then he covered Dawn's mouth with his hand and whispered, "No need to shout. I'm here to help you."
Naturally, Dawn was terrified. She'd only met Spike a couple of times, but she knew he was a vampire. She also knew Buffy didn't stake him because, for some reason, he couldn't hurt people anymore. But what if he got that fixed? She tried to bite his hand, but his grip only tightened. "Look, I can't hurt you," he tried to assure her, but her eyes were growing wider and wider. Part of him was terribly excited by that, and it became increasingly more difficult for him to perform the task at hand. Quickly, he dragged her close enough to the bag he had thrown her clothes into so that he could grab it. Lucky she was light, because he had to half drag, half carry her through her window, and jump with her off the roof of her front porch, all while covering her mouth with his hand.
When they were far enough away from her house that Buffy couldn't hear Dawn if she started yelling, Spike stopped, removed his hand from her mouth and grabbed her arm. "Now listen, you little brat," he hissed. "I'm doing this as a favor for your sister. But she can't know about it yet. So just . . ."
Just then, Spike caught sight of the three psykema demons going around to the back of Dawn's and Buffy's house. With only their brief mission on their minds, they didn't notice Spike and Dawn just beyond the trees in the front yard. Dawn saw what Spike was looking at. She was suddenly scared again.
"But Buffy!" she panicked.
"They're not after Buffy," he said calmly, "They're after you."
Back at Spike's crypt, Spike watched TV while Dawn changed into the clothes he'd packed. "This is what you picked for me to wear?" she asked in amazement. "These are my funeral clothes. When I get down to the turtlenecks in my drawer I know it's laundry day," she continued to complain, "And my grandmother sent me this skirt for Christmas. I was going to take it back but Mom said she'd shorten it a little so I agreed to keep it!"
"Well, gee, I suppose I was too busy figuring out how to save you to consider whether or not I'd be insulting your fashion sense," Spike remarked sarcastically.
"Tennis shoes with a skirt?" she mumbled. Spike shot her a look and she quickly shut up.
"You know, I put up with that sort of thing from your sister because she can possibly kill me. Having no such fancy ideas yourself, you may want to consider treating me with a little respect!" Dawn crossed her arms in front of her, determined not to let him see her cry.
"The demons who are after you will be gone at sunrise, and you will be reunited with your big sister then," Spike said. "Until then, you may as well settle in. You can try to sleep on my bed, if you like." As he gestured towards his bed he was suddenly panicked. "Bugger!" he shouted, "Harmony!"
"What about Harmony?" Dawn asked, "Is she here?"
"Not yet, but soon, I'd wager. We have to get out of here!" he said, jumping up and pulling his boots back on quickly. "Hurry up, will you?"
"Where are we going to go?" she asked.
"I've got an idea," he replied.
As they rushed out the door, Dawn's cross necklace fell off and landed about three feet inside the doorway. Neither one noticed.
While Spike and Dawn were sneaking away from his crypt, the psykema demons had just discovered Dawn's absence from her home. They searched the house until they ended up in Buffy's room. As she dreamed about them, they put their hands on her head and tried to read her mind. When they asked her where Dawn was, she answered, "In her room." When they told her Dawn wasn't even in the house, she said she had no idea where Dawn was.
Realizing Buffy was telling the truth, they left to look for Dawn. As soon as they left, Buffy bolted upright in bed and said, "Dawn."
Spike was used to sneaking around unseen. So staying hidden with Dawn was relatively easy. But returning her to Buffy after sunrise, for him, was, quite simply, out of the question. He couldn't enjoy being the slayer's hero if he got himself burned up, now, could he? And so he had a plan.
"So, you're a vampire, right?" Dawn asked as they walked.
"Bright girl," Spike answered.
"So, you've, like, killed a lot of people, huh?" she asked.
"Yeah," he answered.
"How many?"
"None of your business."
"I bet it's a lot," she pressed, "or my sister wouldn't hate you so much."
"Did she say that?" The words were out of his mouth before he could think.
"Well, she doesn't talk to me about vampires and slaying and stuff. But I can tell," Dawn answered. They continued walking in silence.
After a bit, Spike told Dawn his plan. "Since I can't deliver you safely to Buffy, myself, "Im taking you to Xander's, where you will stay until after sunrise," he explained.
When Xander answered the persistent knocking at his door and saw Spike and Dawn standing there, he said, "So Spike, down to stealing candy from kids, now?"
"Sod off," Spike said. Then he quickly explained about the psykema demons and his inability to see Dawn safely home. Then he asked Xander and Dawn to tell Buffy that Dawn was at Xander's all night. Something about protecting his reputation as an evil vampire. "Can't have the slayer thinking I've gotten all soft, you know," he said. As he turned to go, he thought, "I want to tell her myself. I've got to see her reaction to my part in all this."
Buffy called Giles and told him about her 'dream' and that Dawn was missing. He said he'd call Willow and Xander and they'd find out about the demons. Buffy said she'd be over as soon as she stopped at Spike's, because, "I'll bet he has something to do with this," she spat.