And here we go.. part 4. I was wrong. There's gonna be loooots of parts to this, but it's on it's way. Please review. Joss is God of the Buffyverse. *cries* To the wonderful people who review, all the time. I love you.

Tequila Sunrise

Dawn padded downstairs, opened the door, pushing her disheveled hair out of her eyes.

"Oh my God." True terror clawed up her throat, but she contained it, and unknowingly plastered a very Spike-like sneer on her face.

"May we come in?" Angel asked respectfully, gesturing to the dark- haired woman beside him.

"Hell no." She produced a stake from the waistband of her Hello! Kitty pajama pants.

"I can just walk in, Dawn. I'm trying to be polite."

She swung the door open. "I invite you... to try."

Angel sighed and walked forward, almost knocked on his butt by the invisible force by the door, pushing him back.

"It's an uninvite spell, asshole. And this is a stake. I am Dawn, the Key, and you are Druscilla, the big, big bitch who hurt Spike. Oh, did I mention that I'm sick? So I'm in a reallllly really pissy mood. Quickly. You have two minutes to convince me why I shouldn't make you a dusty present for Spike's ashtray."

"I've had a vision," Druscilla started slowly, "about her baby..."

"You stay the fuck away from my baby, you demented undead whore!" She was careful to stay with in the safety of the house. She raised her hand with the stake defensively.

She started and turned, bringing the stake down sharply as someone's hand closed around her wrist, stopping the stake's flight to his unbeating heart.

"Easy, Niblet. Unholy shit. And watch your bleedin' mouth. You mother would kill you. Hello, Peaches. Dru."

"Can we come in now, Spike?" Angel was getting exasperated.

"Not for your soul." Buffy's voice came, her hands protectively on Dawn's shoulders. "Leave."

"I have news... About your baby," said Dru in her wispy voice.

"You leave our baby alone, or I'll drip holy water through your unbeating heart."

Dru appealed to Spike. "You always trusted my visions... How else would I know about it?"

"Kinda cold, guys." Angel whined pointedly.

"Yeah. Since Spike is staying here now, you can stay at his crypt."

"Dawn. A minute. Spike... still uninvited."

Stepping aside to the kitchen with Dawn, Buffy ran her hands over Dawn's arms, checking for injuries.

"Did they touch you?"

"No. Stayed in the house. Are... Are you all right?"

"Yeah.... Yeah.... I just... needed a minute. Oh man... Angel and Dru. Ex's abound, Dawnie. I can't handle this. What am I gonna do?"

Dawn was shocked. Buffy never confided in her. "We're... Gonna let them stay here. In the house. Where we can keep an eye on them. It'll be ok, ok?"

"Yeah... Good idea, Dawnie. Ok... Ok."

After a moment, Dawn said quietly, "I was reading one of Willow's spell books."

"What!?" Buffy did NOT have time for this. "You're kidding me?"

"No... I found a spell. It's an uninvite spell, but not for a house. It's a smaller one. We could use it in one or two rooms we don't want them in."

Mulling it over, Buffy nodded slowly. "Good idea... Do you have the book still?"

"Yeah... and.... I don't know why, but I took candles and all the stuff you need for it, too. I just... I had to."

Nodding understandingly, she ran her fingers through Dawn's hair. "You did well. Let's go."

Walking out, hand in hand, Buffy reached in front of Spike, and shut the door in Angel and Dru's faces.

"Just a minute!" She called. Grabbing Spike's hand, the three trooped their way up the staircase.

Pulling his hand loose, Spike stood his ground. "Look luv, I was talking there, and-"

"Do you love me?"

"What kind of bleedin' STUPID question is THAT?"

"Do you love me? Or at least, do you love Dawn?"

"I love you both more than anything else. But that doesn't have anything to do with your manners-"

"We're making sure Dawn is safe. Just sit and shut up." She dragged him into Dawn's room, as her little sister gathered the necessities.

"Hey!" He yelped. "That's Red's magic stuff."

"Yup," Dawn said, giving him a hug. "I love you, too."

"I don't know if you two should be playing with this... You know there are consequences."

"It's ok," Dawn reassured him. "I know this spell. It's safe."

"Niblet!" Spike was at the end of his rope. "What are you doing with magic shit!?"

"It was... an impulse. But a good idea. It's an uninvite for a room. I'll be safe." She gave him a doe-eyed look. "So will the baby."

That was the clincher, and everyone in the room knew it.

She and Buffy sat on the floor, a bowl and lit candle between them. Spike stood the the side cautiously.

Dawn poured water from a small flask into the bowl and took a small piece of wood from a velvet pouch.

Holding the wood over the candle till the flame caught, she threw it in the bowl, where oddly, it stayed lit. Holding hands with Buffy over the bowl, Dawn began to speak softly.

"With flame and water, thought to conceal

This room under our care to seal

From undead and evil let this place now be free.

As we will, so mote it be."

Blue flames shot up from the bowl, singing their clasped hands. The girls eyes were closed in concentration, neither seemed the notice when Dawn's string friendship bracelet caught, engulfing her wrist in flames.

Spike watched, wanting desperately to tear their hands from the flames, but waited, knowing that messing with magic before a spell was complete could unleash some very big nasties. So, he stood, helpless, every muscle tense.

Finally, both girls cried out, their hands flying apart. Spike knelt between them, a hand on each of their faces.

"Are you all right? Nib, Buffy... Let me see your wrists. Now." The fear was something he wasn't accustomed to, creeping up his spine like the warning of an unwelcome visitor. He examined Dawn's wrist first, turning it over, seeing no burns, the same went for Buffy.

He picked up the bowl, examining its contents. Buffy slapped it out of his hands, saying sharply, "Don't touch it! It's holy water!"

He recoiled slowly, showing no signs of panic. But he felt a burning on his legs, arms and torso. The room was attacking him, and they didn't even know it.

"Invite me in," he gasped, as a pain gripped his stomach, doubling him over.

"What? We thought if you were in here when we did the spell then-"

"It *burns*, Slayer," he ground out, panting.

"Wel-welcome to this room. Always."

He slumped against the wall, his hands shaking badly. "Cor. Allright. All right."

Buffy was feeling his arms and torso for injuries, but her hurried search seemed fruitless.

"Go. Invite them in now, pet," he said softly. "I need to talk to Dawn."

"But, I-"

"Go." His authority jarred her and she moved for once to do as he said.

"Come here, Dawn," he said as soon as her sister left.

She crept slowly towards him, where he lay propped against the wall; knelt in front of him.

"Touch me."

"What?" She recoiled slightly, her hands behind her back.

"Touch me here." He pulled up his shirt, revealing a cut over his left side that had escaped Buffy's searching hands.

"Vampire's heal quickly, Spike," she mumbled.

"Touch. It. Niblet." He looked at her sternly.

She placed a shaking hand on the cut, feeling it seal under her palm. Jerking her hand back, she sat down quickly, rocking back and forth, crying.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. What happened? Spike.... I'm sorry."

He laid a hand on her cheek comfortingly. "It's all right, Niblet. It'll be fine. When an innocent uses strong white magic, their touch has a healing property for a few minutes after the spell. It just hurt so badly, and white magic wounds take weeks to heal. I didn't mean to scare you. By the time we wash up and go downstairs, it'll be gone."

She raised a tear-streaked face to look him in the eye. "Promise?"

"I promise." A sudden thought gripped him, and he all but barked, "Pull up your shirt. Show me your side."

She pulled up the right side of her shirt, getting goosebumps from Spike's cold fingers brushing back an forth over her skin. "What?"

His relief was so great that he missed her deception. "Sometimes, to heal, an innocent takes on the wound."

She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "That's silly. But go down and take care of her. I gotta pee."

He rolled his eyes. "Take out a billboard, pet... I'm sure the rest of the world wants to hear that, too."

"Go," she laughed.

As he walked downstairs, she locked the bathroom door carefully behind her. She winced as she slowly peeled her tank top off, grimaced as she stretched.

"Sorry, Spike,"she muttered, looking at the seeping cut on her left side. She found the medical supplies, and two gauze pads, neosporin, medical tape, and a new tank top later, she was tramping down the stairs.

More tomorrow. Hahaha. What next, what next? Do you all like it yet? Tell me, pwease.

Always.

Tequila Sunrise