Chapter 13:
That was it. The woman he loved was now dead...again. He knew that it wouldn't last for very long, but for now she was dead. He was still holding her in his arms when there was a gentle knock on the door, but he ignored it. Moments later Angel entered the room. He knew Dawn was gone the moment he entered, since there was no heartbeat. Angel walked over to Spike and slowly and crouched down next to him. The first thing he noticed was that there was a fresh bite mark on the right side of her neck, reopening the same marks that she had worn there before. He knew that it was from Spike because he didn't recall them being there earlier. The next thing he saw was the smeared blood on her lips.
"What the hell did you do, Spike?" he asked quietly. Spike didn't answer, it was like he hadn't even realized that Angel was even is the same room with him, he was still just holding her and crying silently. Angel jerked him to his feet by the collar of his leather duster, letting Dawn's body fall to the ground, "What he hell did you do??" he asked him again. Spike had a distant look on his face as he answered, "I did what I had to do." Angel growled at him and shook him, snapping Spike out of his trance, "You shouldn't have done that! Now I am going to have to kill her." he yelled. Spike was filled with even more anger and threw Angel to the other side of the room. "You will not bloody touch her. You try and I'll kill you." Both vampires were in game face now and at each others throats. Spike landed the first blow to the side of Angel's jaw, then another to his stomach.
Everyone else that was waiting in the living room had come in by this point. And Gunn and Wesley were trying to seperate the two, but got knocked down in the process. "Stop fighting, both of you!" Cordelia shouted, then grabbed Angel's arm. "What is wrong with the two of you?" she asked. Angel shook his head and stepped back, "Spike. That is what is wrong! He turned her." he revealed, "How could you do that to her?" he asked him. Spike walked back over to Dawn and gently lifted her into his arms, "How could I not? I had a chance to save her this time, and I wasn't going to pass that up." he said as he walked out of the room. Spike carried Dawn into another bedroom and laid her down carefully in the middle of the king sized bed. The gang had all followed him into the room. "You didn't save her, you damned her. Do you not understand that?" Angel asked. Spike shook his head, "She told me that she didn't want to die, and I promised her she wouldn't, not this time." Angel looked up, "She wouldn't want this, Spike. She won't be the same, her soul will be gone." he tried to convince. "So I'll get it back for her, either way I will still love her. Soul or no soul." "How do you plan on getting it back, huh? Do you really think that Willow will help after everything you told me?" Angel questioned. Spike thought for a moment. Of course Red wouldn't help, even if she agreed, he wouldn't trust her with something that important. He also knew that he had to get her soul back for her, before she awakened, knew she would hate him if he allowed her to go around killing innocents. "Get Glenda here. She'll help." he whispered. Angel looked confused, "Who?" Spike sighed, "Tara, Willow's ex girlfriend. She is also a witch. And I can trust her with this." Angel now remembered who he was talking about, he had met her at Buffy's funeral. Spike told him where she lived, and Cordelia and Wesley had left to find her.
Angel hated what Spike had done to her, but he also didn't want to kill her if there was a chance for her soul to remain intact. Spike was still watching Dawn, he had barley taken his eyes off of her. He then realized that her clothes were torn to pieces and she still had blood everywhere. He didn't want her to wake like that, so he decided to clean her up. "Will you get me some wet washcloths and a bowl of water?" he asked Angel. Angel nodded, then made his way to get the items Spike desired. Fred came over to where Spike was sitting on the side of the bed. "I know Angel doesn't think so, but I think what you did for her was very sweet. It shows how much you love her." she told him quietly. Spike gave her a soft smile, "I hope she sees it that way and doesn't hate me for it." he confided to her. Fred just glanced away, not knowing what to say. "Can you do something for me?" he wondered. Fred looked up, "Sure, anything. What can I do?" she asked eager to help. "Go look in my car, I think there is still a bag in there of Dawn's clothes, can you bring me something for her to wear? I don't want her to stay in these." She nodded her head and headed out to Spike's car, as Angel entered. He sat the bowl of water down on the small table beside the bed and handed Spike the wet washcloth. Spike started to gently wipe the dried blood from her face and neck. Fred came back hold a black spaghetti strap shirt and a pair of maroon shorts, that she wore around the house, "I hope these are ok, there wasn't many clothes in there." she said as she laid them across the iron barred footboard frame. Spike nodded his thanks, and continued to clean her up. Dawn's hair was matted to her head and some of the strands were stuck together. There was no way he could get that out with only a washcloth. Spike stood up and scooped Dawn into his arms, "Fred, will you help me bathe her?" he asked as he made his way to the bathroom. Fred grabbed the clothes she had brought in and followed Spike into the bathroom, leaving Gunn and Angel sitting in the room alone.
"Do you think she'll be alright?" Gunn asked Angel. He shrugged, "I don't know. I still can't believe he did this to her. She might even hate him for it if she gets her soul back." Gunn took a deep breath, "Do you think that this Tara girl can do it?" Angel closed his eyes and looked down, "I hope so, if not I don't know if I should kill her or just let Spike take her away from here. I don't even know if I could kill her, I loved her like a sister. I just keep wondering what Buffy would do if she were here, how she would handle it. I don't think she would be able to kill her either." Gunn shook his head, "I had to kill my sister, and it was hard, but I know that she would have wanted it that way." Angel stared at him for a few seconds, then agreed. "Maybe you should go to a butcher shop and get some blood for when she wakes up. I know she'll be hungry." Gunn stood up to leave then said, "Cordy and Wes took your car." "Take Spike's. Keys are in there already, I'm sure he won't mind." Angel said, then Gunn walked out.
Fred had just filled up the bathtub for Dawn, and was about to help Spike undress her. They had laid her on the floor and started to peel off her blood stained clothes. Fred gasped when she saw the extent of her injuries, "My God, what did she do to her?" she asked in shock. Spike felt so horrible about what Dawn suffered through. She had been tortured because of him. Thank God she would heal fast. He thought. Spike gently eased her naked body into the water, "Careful with her head, don't let her go under the water." he mumbled even though he knew it wouldn't have mattered anyways since she was dead and no longer breathed, but yet he still treated her just as precious as when she was alive. He delicately held her neck, to keep her face above water, as he washed her hair. The water had quickly turned a light red color as he rinsed her body clean. Once he was done, he lifted her out of the water and quickly dried her off, and wrung out her hair. He then dressed her in her clean clothes and made his way back to the room with her in his arms.
When he entered the bedroom, he found Angel sitting in a chair, seemingly in deep thought. Spike set Dawn on the bed and lovingly placed his duster over her cold body, as he caressed her face and kissed her lightly on the lips. He could still taste the barest hint of his own blood on her mouth. "I did what I had to do, and I would do it again." he said to Angel softly. Angel looked at him with understanding, "I know. I don't think it was the right thing to do but, I understand it. Several years ago, when I drank from Buffy, I took to much. I had to take her to the hospital for a transfusion, and I thought to myself that if they couldn't help her, then I would," Angel looked down at his hands, "I never told anyone that, but I know I would have done the same thing as you, even thought I know she would have hated me for it." Spike's jaw clenched and he closed his eyes tight, "Do you think she'll hate me for this?" Spike asked, dreading the answer. Angel studied Dawn for a moment, "I don't know." Spike could feel the tears welling up in his eyes, "I had to. She said she didn't want to die, when not long ago she wanted nothing more than to kill herself again. God, Angel, I held her in my arms as she died last time, I was the one that found her, bleeding to death on the bathroom floor. I knew it was too late to get her help then, and I wasn't going to turn her because I knew she wouldn't want that. She wanted to die then. It hurt me more than anything to let that happen, but I did. This time she told me she didn't want to. I had the ability to save her and I did. I just hope she sees it that way too, and doesn't hate me." Angel had never seen Spike this devastated before, he could clearly see how much he loved this girl now. He couldn't believe how he didn't see it before. Maybe he did, but he just didn't want to. He wanted better for her, but now he knew that no one could ever love her as much as he did. If he was in his place before, he wouldn't have had the strength to let her die like Spike did, even if it was what she would have wanted. He would have been selfish. He supposed Spike's reasons for saving her this time were out of selfishness, but also, out of love. "Dawn is different from Buffy. Buffy was the slayer, and would have never wanted this, because of her nature as a slayer, but Dawn...she might. It will probably take her time to get used to it, but I don't think she will hate you for it. She is going to need you to help her adjust. I know how hard it can be with a soul, fighting against the demon inside of you all the time. Especially in the begining, and I'll help you if you want me to." Spike was actually grateful for what Angel had said. He could tell he meant it. "Thank you." he said seriously.
They both sat there in silence, until Cordelia and Wes arrived with Tara a couple of hours later. Spike looked up to the doorway to see Tara standing there, "Glenda," he greeted her. Tara came the rest of the way into the room and her eyes immediately settled on Dawn, "How are you holding up." she asked sadly. "I'm a'right, can you do it?" he questioned getting right to the point. Tara gently nodded her head, "Yeah, I think so," she answered, "there is a ritual used to anchor one's soul to thoses thought to be possessed, and I'm fairly certain I can use the same one for her." she disclosed. Spike thought for a moment, "Good. So, none of that happiness clause curse, right? She won't lose her soul like Angel?" he questioned. Tara shook her head, "No, this isn't the same thing. It is not a curse, it's more like a blessing." she assured. Spike nodded, "Ok, how soon can you do it?" "Right away, I already picked up the ingredients at the magic shop. It is pretty simple, and only takes a few minutes." Tara started setting everything up for the spell, she placed a circle of white candles around the bed Dawn was lying on, then she sprinkled some sort of powder over Dawn's body and sat beside her on the bed. She took both of her hands into her own, then closed her eyes and started speaking in Latin. After a few minutes of chanting, there was a bright glowing light that lit up Dawn's entire form, then slowly dimmed out. Tara carefully blew out each candle, "It's done." she informed. Spike made his way back over to Dawn and again, sat next to her and placed another soft kiss to her lips. "I appreciate it, thank you. And please don't mention this to anyone else." he requested, reffering to the rest of the scoobies. He didn't want them knowing anything about Dawn, unless she wanted them to know, and he was pretty certain that she didn't. Tara understood who he was talking about, "I won't, I promise. I haven't spoken to any of them in a while, not since I moved out that day. I have class, I have to go, but tell Dawn later that I love her and miss her. And I hope she'll be ok." she said with a small smile. "I'll tell her." Spike felt bad about not saying much to her since he always liked her, but all his attention was focused on Dawn right now. Tara understood that as she came over and gave a quick kiss to Dawn's cheek, and hugged Spike on her way out. She had caught Spike off guard by the hug, but he hugged her back anyways, "Take care of yourself, Glenda." She gave him a quick smile and told everyone bye before she left.
It had been several hours since the spell had been performed. He was thankful that Gunn had gone to the butcher shop to get blood, and ended up bringing several bags back. Enough for him and Angel, and for Dawn when she woke up. The sun had already set, not long ago, and he was the only one in the room with her. Angel had figured that he would want to be alone with her when she rose, so he graciously waited in the living room. Cordelia, Fred, Wes, Gunn and Lorne had all taken his car back to L.A. He had told them that he would stay there with Spike, and make sure that everything went alright, and would call them later to check in. Spike and Angel both had figured it would probably be a good idea for them not to be there when she awoke because the bloodlust would be overwhelming for her at first. In all honesty, neither knew how she would react to the change.
Spike was watching Dawn intently, he knew it wouldn't be much longer until she came to. Her cuts and bruises were already starting to fade. About half an hour later, her face had changed to that of it's new vampiric form and her eyes shot open.
AN: I hope you liked this chapter. Please review. Thanks for reading.