Dawn was out on the porch swing, legs tucked under her. Half her face was curtained by her hair as she hunched over her journal, writing slowly, stopping to chew on her pen cap every so often. Spike leaned against the counter, watching from the kitchen window. It was barely dusk, just enough light to see by. He had often wondered what she wrote in the journal she'd kept since Buffy had died, but she'd never shown it to him or even spoken about the kinds of things she wrote in it. Spike backed away from the window slowly, mentally chiding himself for staring at her. He poked his head out the door.

"Pet? I'm on my way to patrol. Want to come?"

Dawn looked up, shutting her journal and tucking the pen in the spiral side. She nodded, "Yeah, let me go change."

Spike watched her go, then sagged against the door frame once she was out of sight. He had to get a hold of himself. This teenage nervousness he got every time he so much as spoke to her was getting ridiculous. But, it was hard not to get dizzy from just looking at her, ever since he'd discovered the little crush he was developing. *A crush that you will NOT even THINK about pursuing. EV-ER* He told himself, going to get his duster from the closet.

**

Dawn drove the stake straight through the vamp's heart, and grinned as he faded to dust. "Oh yeah, I'm good."

"Excellent." Spike praised her, "Your form is improving."

"I know," She said with a nod, "The new wrist thingy you showed me is working wonders. It's easier to stake them now."

Spike shoved his hands in his pockets as they continued through Restfield Cemetery in silence. He had been training Dawn for two years now and she was fighting like a pro. Almost as well as he sister, without the super strength. Tonight alone the 17-year old had dusted two vamps on her own.

"Hey, do you mind if the band practices an extra day for a few weeks?" Dawn asked suddenly, swinging her stake at her side and twirling it in her fingers.

"I don't mind. Why?"

"Big talent thing at the Bronze in a few weeks. Like a battle of the bands."

Spike raised an eyebrow, "Why didn't you tell me about it?"

Dawn shrugged, "I dunno. I wasn't sure if we'd do it till a day or so ago. We really should think up a band name before then."

"So, what's the competition for? D'you win anything?"

Dawn smiled and rubbed her hands together, rolling the stake between them, "Yeah. Two grand."

Spike's other eyebrow rose, "What're you gonna do with two thousand bucks?"

"Split it up between us. $400 each. It'll help me pay for books for college. Which reminds me, I should be getting acceptance letters soon."

Spike nodded, trying not to think about college, which meant Dawn would be leaving. Instead he pushed Dawn behind him as he noticed the large shadow up ahead.

"That's not a vamp." He said, "Stay behind me."

Dawn nodded as he slipped into game face, following close behind. As they drew closer, the shadow took shape. It was at least six feet tall, greenish yellow, three eyes and no mouth they could really see, and of course, horns.

"What the hell is that?" Dawn whispered, her hand tightening around Spike's forearm.

"Don't go anywhere near it."

"Spike, what IS it?"

"A L'acido. Acid spewing demon. They can't see out of those eyes, they use heat sensors. Which means you need to stay away from it." He said, gently prying her hand off his arm. He walked up to the demon until he was as close as he was willing to get, his eyes focusing on the hulking monster's victim; a young girl, no older than twelve. The poor thing was cowering by a heart-shaped grave marker as the L'acido advanced on her. Spike glanced at Dawn, then scooped up the little girl. The demon made a roaring noise as it sensed it's victim being moved. Spike set the girl down and told her to run.

"Just go," He growled, "and don't look back. Run as fast as you can."

The girl looked up at him, terrified by his vampire visage, and fled. The demon swung it's arm blindly, just barely missing spike with his sharp claws.

"SPIKE!" Dawn screamed, tossing him a crossbow from the weapons bag.

He caught it and backed away from the demon slightly, "Thanks, pet. Stay back."

The demon swung again, Spike ducked. He shot at it, but missed by a few inches. He reloaded quickly, trying to distract the demon from picking up on Dawn' presence. As he reloaded again after another narrow miss, the demon lost interest, it's sensors feeling the heat radiating from the human nearby. Spike looked down to load the stake into the crossbow when he heard Dawn scream.

"Bugger." He muttered. The demon had her by the shoulders. Spike dropped the crossbow and ran at it, knocking the L'acido just as it spit a stream of blue acid that would have gotten Dawn in the face, probably blinding her. Instead, it soaked through Spike's t-shirt and hit his neck with a sizzle, the acid burning his skin as he and the demon tumbled over. Spike bit his tongue to keep from screaming in agony, and was about to toss the demon off when the thing just stilled, dead weight resting over Spike's acid-covered body.

Dawn stood over them panting, a dagger covered in green blood in hand.

"Are you OK?" She asked. Spike tried to speak but his mouth had gone dry. He let his head drop back, and everything went black.