Chapter 2: It's a New Dawn


So I've decided to post this and one more follow up chapter to this fic as I feel nothing was really explained in the first chap, it's just when they met again. So please read and review, but bear with me. THANKS!

Disclaimer: Alas…. Since I last updated, Joss has not given me the Buffyverse…. Everything belongs to him…. *Sigh. Again…*

Grr…. Arrg!


Dawn was different. Of course, she was different from other vampires; she was Dawn Summers for Christ's sake! But she was also different from herself. Not in an un-sounded vampire way, not even in an older, more scared, traumatized way. Dawn was simply at her worst.

Spike had seen her at her best too.

Thing was, she wasn't like other vampires. And honestly that scared him a little bit. See, vampires he could deal with; vampires he could handle. But whatever Dawn was, he couldn't let her down. And that's what scared him the most.

"Sleep alright, love?"

Dawn nodded and then smiled softly. "I'm sorry for taking your bed." He rolled over on the couch to face her, holding up his bottle so not to spill the liquor.

"S'alright," The bed wasn't much, anyway. Just a mattress on the ground, but it did. Dawn looked helpless in the doorway. Spike supposed he should get up, make her something to eat or offer her clean clothes. He settled for sitting up and shifting across the couch to make way for the girl. She took the seat next to him.

Spike hit the remote and the late night TV flashed on. The volume was quiet but it didn't bother them; neither one was really watching. Spike glanced at Dawn a few time, she looked nervous.

"Are y'okay, Dawn?" She replied quickly but didn't really answer him.

"Do you have to work today?" She asked shakily, running a hand through her long, messy hair.

Spike scoffed. Of course he had work today. Dawn looked down, sadly.

"Do you have to go?" She re-emphasised the question; hoping he said no. A small flicker of hope lit up her eyes.

Spike scoffed again. "I've blown it off for smaller things than this before, Bit."

She bit down on her bottom lip. "No." Spike confirmed. "I won't go." The girl smiled.

There was something Spike had been thinking about last night. Something he didn't want to bring up with Dawn, but he had to tell her. After all, she had every right to know. But, then, he couldn't predict how she'd handle it. Spike looked at Dawn; she looked so fragile; she was practically shaking. He opted for no; not yet.

"Do you err... want to get clean clothes today?"

Dawn shook her head. Spike wasn't going to force it. He'd have one of the staff from Wolfram and Hart bring something over; they'd just assume it was for a bird. She couldn't very well stay in his old shirt all day.

"You want me to start something?" She asked and she replied with smile.

The air began to feel awkward; Spike wasn't sure what to say. "So the weather, eh?" He felt like an idiot as soon as he'd said it. Of all the things he could have asked…

"Mnn." Dawn mumbled absent-mindedly.

Spike stood up; he made his way into the kitchen He flicked the switch on the kettle and poured the reaming half of the open sachet of instant coffee into a mug. He turned to Dawn, all the while she'd been watching him.

"Fancy one?" He nodded towards the kettle and adjacent mugs.

"No thanks." She replied. Spike saw how shaken she was. He couldn't bear the thought she'd been out all alone like this.

"Hungry?" He suggested.

"Uh-huh." Spike smiled solemnly and opened the fridge, He took out another mug of blood. The smell felt rich and bitter at the same time at the back of his throat and a burning sensation rose from the pit of his stomach. It must have had the same effect on Dawn.

"No." She said hastily. "I mean… can we eat something."

"Haven't got much in, Pet." He laughed and then began rummaging through tatty cupboards. "Wasn't really expectin' company."

"Oh," Dawn sighed.

"I've got little marshmallows." He offered, pouting cheekily. He pulled a sealed packet filled with tiny pink and white pillows out from the cupboard and tossed it over his shoulder to Dawn. She caught it with both hands. She looked down fondly.

"My mom… used to…" Dawn couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence; it hurt too much.

"I know." Spike stated, sadly. Joyce had always bought them. Spike remembered that she used to make hot chocolate with them it. It was delicious.

It was quiet for a moment as he poured himself the coffee. Despite her earlier protests, he warmed the girl a mug in the microwave. The smell of warm pigs blood filled the apartment. The mug was hot so Spike was careful not to spill. He handed it to her though Dawn shook her head. Spike was the first to break the silence; at some point Dawn had switched off his television.

"I know you don't want to but you're gonna need the strength." Reluctantly, she took it and set the marshmallows on the side. Spike smiled. "Drink up, love." He encouraged.

She didn't drink it straight away this time. Dawn just sat their staring into the crimson abyss. Spike saw that she wasn't just looking into a mug of red liquid; she was seeing into a thousand souls all at once, she was looking into the cave of blackness that surrounded them and the hollow emptiness inside of her. Dawn saw no reflection. And spike could see how much that killed her.

Spike took a long slurp out of his coffee breaking Dawn's concentration. She followed his lead and sipped from the mug but kept her face perfectly human. Spike re-took his seat.

Dawn drank for a while, perfectly silent. Spike couldn't help watching her; she looked so shattered, so broken. He looked at her eyes; her eyes that had once looked so innocent, so full of hope, were now filled with hate and anger and pure destruction. The destruction of her and the destruction of everything around her. Because she was a vampire; and she needed that destruction.

"I'm just gonna go to the bathroom. Is that alright," Dawn asked, pulling Spike out of his inner-monologue. He hadn't noticed but she'd already finished her drink.

"You don't have to ask, Little Bit." He replied absent-mindedly.

"Okay," She said softly as she stood and walked towards the bathroom. When the door clicked shut Spike reached over to the small black phone and punched in the number for his office. He put the mug of coffee down. It rang for a while.

"Hello, Wolfram and Hart, Attorneys at Law. How may I direct your call?" A woman asked perkily. Spike was already driven insane by her piercing voice.

"Yeah, err… It's Spike." He said awkwardly. Spike wasn't sure where to take this. "I need clothes."

"I'm sorry?" The woman asked, he voice dropped in confusion.

"For a girl." Spike tried not to snigger at how he knew the woman would hear that. "Bring them to my apartment."

"Oh! Of course." She laughed. "What size is she?"

Spike was taken slightly aback by the question. It was the simplest, plainest of questions and yet he had no idea what to say. Of course, being Spike, he attempted to stay cool. "How should I know? Small…. I guess?" He really did know nothing about her; nothing real.

Spike could have sworn he heard the receptionist giggle. Before he could consider it the phone rang off.

He picked up his coffee and shifted his body back into the couch.

Dawn stepped out of the bathroom, looking down.

"Alright, Dawn?" She nodded and walked back over to the couch. Slowly she slipped next to spike and curved her body around his. Spike felt awkward at first but decided to ignore it. He flipped the TV on. Dawn wrapped her and around his arm and they sat, comfortable like that, for… well, neither of them cared to notice how long.

The shock of the doorbell made them both jump. They looked from one another and laughed slightly. It buzzed again, for longer this time, but Spike made no effort to answer it. When it buzzed for a third time he sighed and undid the lock. He opened it a crack to see who was there.

A petite blonde woman, with a strange resemblance to Harmony stood in the doorway. Spike presumed she was a receptionist or something, being sent out on errands with no connection to the job. But Spike didn't care about this one; it wasn't his place.

So when the woman handed to black rucksack over, containing her change of clothes, he instinctively snatched it. He tore the bag open and inspected what he gave her. It looked fine, there were at least three changes, it seemed. It was only a while later he realised how irascible he must have seemed. Evidently, he didn't care; there was only one thing he cared about now.

"This'll do." He snapped and attempted to slam the door. The woman shoved her foot in the way and flinched when they collided. She had to be a vampire, though Spike wasn't sure what time of day it was. A human would have probably cried or wailed or just acted like a ponce if it was their foot being crushed.

"Mr Spike," she started politely.

"What?" He demanded as she withdrew her foot.

"Angel wanted me to-" He never caught the last part of her sentence as the door was already being slammed. She didn't try to stop him this time; but it wasn't like she could. He shut it so hard that it nearly tore itself from the hinges. He was in no frame of mind to talk about Angel and what that poof wanted!

Dawn let out a small whimper when the door shut, though. He quickly slid across the chain and then dived over the couch to make sure she was okay.

He handed her the bag. She took it and smiled gently in understanding.

"Thank you."

"Don't worry about it, love." He said she turned to the bathroom holding close the rucksack. After a few minutes she returned wearing a pair of black, cotton leggings and a cream t-shirt with lacy straps; they fit perfectly. There was clean underwear in the bag, too, Spike had noticed before, so he'd assumed she'd changed into them. Dawn handed him his neatly folded shirt. She'd brought the rucksack back into the lounge which she hung over the arm of the chair, before she adjusted the zip, she looked through the bag one last time and pulled out a green checked cardigan, slightly larger than the rest, and then had slipped it across her shoulders.

Spike could see she hated to be alone; or maybe it was just apart from him. She sat back on the couch but didn't attempt to attach herself to him.

"Better?" He asked nonchalantly, just for something to say, really.

"Yeah, your shirt was comfy though." He'd already tossed it on the floor.

"You can keep it." It was quiet for a second.

"Don't you ever wonder, Dawn?" Spike couldn't keep himself from asking. He'd been holding it in too long. The question had been burning his mind for hours and he just had to know. The though was tearing him apart! Why? Why was she like this?

"What?" She asked as her body suddenly became very stiff.

"Well, you're not like other vampires are you?" A wave of shock washed over the girl. Dawn thought of herself as nothing, not one of them but not one of the good guys either. She'd done things; horrific, unthinkable things and if she wasn't something so low, something so disgusting; a vampire, then how could she?

The two of them sat, unmoving on the couch. Dawn tugged at her sleeve.

"You have a conscience. I know you do, Dawn." He whispered.

Dawn looked up. Spike could see the realisation hit her hard. He wasn't sure how she'd react; one hand he could see the understanding that she was not a monster. And the other part of her was realising she was. She'd had free will and she'd chosen to do what she did.

Spike knew this wasn't the case. He knew that something had been done to her; taken from her. He knew that she was something new; something different. She was in there, a part of her, at least. But she was trapped.

Dawn's soul wasn't made for this. Her body, her form had been built around her humanity, like pieces of a puzzle designed to stay together, that could never be broken, had been shattered. A part of her was left and it was burning up inside of her, it was tarnished; tainted.

Spike looked into those big brown eyes and he knew he'd worked it out.

Her soul was tainted with the blood of the innocent and that was destroying her.

Spike pulled Dawn into his arms. He knew then and there that he would never let her go. He whispered into her ear. Dawn wept, her tears staining his shirt. He could feel her body lurch with every sob; he only held her tighter. "I love you, Dawn Summers."


Oooh! Revelations! Betcha weren't expecting that! Or maybe you were… I don't know. Weather you were expecting it or not, please review. As always; thanks for reading! Last chap soon!