Chapter Twelve: Revelations

"Different" didn't go very well after all. After one round of pure, romantic lovemaking, they were back to practicing their marathon sex matches of days gone by.

"Well, I never really liked that lamp anyway. I broke the matching one last week," Buffy said as she laid her head back against Spike's chest, her breath coming in short, heavy bursts.

"I know you said Red was out for the night at her mum's, but you gonna tell me again how lil' bit couldn't hear that?"

Buffy turned her head slightly, trying to look up at him. "Dawn sleeps like the dead. Really. Wouldn't know a broken lamp from--"

"Buffy are you okay?" The doorknob jiggled a little as Dawn twisted it from the other side. "Hey, it's locked. Is everything okay in there?"

Spike leaned down close to her ear. "You were saying?" he whispered.

"Everything's fine Dawn. Hold on." Buffy pushed herself out of bed and grabbed the robe she had left on a chair the previous night.

Spike turned on his side, watching her, the thin bedsheet draped provocatively over his hips.

Buffy's mouth suddenly felt very dry. "Coming Dawn," she said, as she tied the sash firmly about her waist.

"That's the plan luv," he said, with a sly smile.

Buffy inhaled a steadying breath. Dawn was at the door. There would be no thoughts about naked Spike. No thoughts about wicked, naked Spike. No, no, no, she told herself. She had to be good. At least for two minutes.

Buffy unlocked the door and opened it just enough so that she could squeeze through, using her body to shield Dawn's view of the bedroom. Once she was out in the hall, Buffy closed the door firmly behind her and looked at her sister. "Is there something wrong?" she asked.

"Um? No? I came here to ask you the same thing. I heard some loud noises and a huge crash. Buffy, what's going on in there?" Dawn tried to push past her sister and reach the doorknob, but Buffy stopped her.

"Nothing! Just . . . having another nightmare. That's all. Nothing I can't handle."

"Right," Dawn countered cynically, obviously not buying it. "Do you mind if I see what this little nightmare looks like?"

"Yes. Yes I do," Buffy said, trying to sound appalled and protective at the same time. "I just, kind of, made a mess of my room, that's all. You know, thought I was battling demons in my sleep. Wouldn't be the first time."

"So you're totally okay?"

"Me? Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing to worry about." Buffy pretended to yawn. "But you know, battling imaginary demons can be so, so tiring. I think I'll go back to sleep now."

Her hand already on the knob, Buffy waited for Dawn to leave. She didn't.

"You have a guy in there don't you?"

"What ?" Buffy squeaked. "No. No guy. There is no guy. Please Dawn. Grieving left-behind here? Spike's been cold, what? Two weeks? Do you really think--?"

"Thirteen days," Dawn said coldly. "Spike's been gone thirteen days. God Buffy, what is wrong with you?" Dawn asked, obviously not caring to hide her disgust. "I thought you were supposed to love him."

Buffy instantly sobered. "I do." She let go of the door handle and reached out for her sister. "Dawn, it's not what you think."

"Oh really? So you don't have a guy in there you've been banging all night? Please Buffy, I'm not a child. I know what you were doing. And it makes me sick." Dawn pulled away and stormed back toward her room. When she reached the doorway, she stopped and turned around abruptly. "Do you think Spike would have forgotten you so fast? Do you think he'd be out jumping the first warm body that came his way?"

"It's not like that."

"I wish Spike were here to see this," she said, her voice trembling with a vicious undercurrent. "He thought the world of you. What would he think of his precious Buffy now?"

"That she's carrying the drama just a little too far," Spike said, as he finished opening the door to the bedroom and stepped out into the hallway. He had put his dark jeans back on, but he was still shirtless.

"Spike?" The color instantly drained from Dawn's face and she looked about two seconds away from fainting.

"Nibblet," he mumbled softly, the word tripping deliciously off his tongue.

"How? What? How?" Dawn looked from Spike to Buffy, and then back to Spike again. "You're dead."

"Was. Yeah."

"How?" She turned and stared at Buffy.

"We don't know how."

"The First." Dawn's eyes widened as she pointed an accusatory finger at Spike. "It's The First. It's taken Spike's form."

"No, not really," Buffy said. She lifted a finger and poked him in the chest. "See? Corporeal form. Can't really bang an apparition, can you? Uh, never mind," she said, blushing slightly. "Forget I said that."

"You're really here? Oh my gosh, Spike!" Dawn ran to him and wrapped her arms about him.

Spike pulled her close and hugged her tightly. "Yeah it's me lil' bit. It seems I'm here for good."

Dawn pulled back and stared at him for a long moment, her mind sorting though a wellspring of information. Finally, she seemed to snap out of her daze. She took a step back, pulled back her fist, and punched him. "You jerk!"

Far from just being knocked to the floor, the punch sent Spike flying down the hall. He hit the wall above the stairs, and came to land in a heap on the floor.

"Spike!" Buffy rushed over to him, kneeling on the floor beside him, trying to offer him comfort. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," he said, as he looked up at Dawn with murder in his eyes. He touched his nose tentatively, feeling for broken cartilage. "But if you didn't break my nose earlier tonight, I think little sis just did. What? You've been eating your Wheeties lil' bit?" he asked, watching her curiously.

Dawn looked down at her hand, which was still clutched in a tight first. "I . . . I don't know what happened. I didn't mean to send you flying across the room. One minute I'm Dawn, weak-as-a-kitten girl, the next I'm--"

"The Slayer?" Buffy asked.

"What?" Dawn looked at her sister, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"The Slayer," Buffy said, pushing herself up from the floor and offering Spike her hand.

He struggled to push himself off the floor, needing both Buffy and the wall behind him for support. Finally, he stood beside her.

"No," Dawn said slowly. "There is no Slayer. The line is dead."

"Apparently not," said Buffy.

"Wait," Spike interjected. "The line is dead? Why didn't you tell me that?"

"Because it wasn't important. There were other things that were more . . . pressing, that's all."

"You think I'm the Slayer?" Dawn interrupted. "Are you completely and totally insane? That is so not happening."

"It is."

"No, it's not!" Dawn yelled. "Buffy, you remember that locating spell we told you about? The one to find the Potential Slayer in Sunnydale? It didn't choose me. It chose Amanda. Went through me to get to her."

"Went through you," Buffy said succinctly.

"To . . . get . . . to . . . her," Dawn said slowly, as if Buffy were dimwitted and couldn't understand her.

"Dawn, it didn't go around you, or under you, or above you. It went through you. Who's to say it didn't know something? Something we didn't? Dawn," Buffy walked the few feet to where her sister was standing and put her hands on both of her arms, steadying her. "It's possible Dawn. In fact, it's even more than possible. It is. You're the Slayer. It's okay. There's nothing to be afraid of. I'll take care of you. It'll all be fine."

"It won't be fine," Dawn said, her tone turning harsh. "Because it means I'm gonna die. There's two Slayers now. Remember? That never means anything good. The power is out of balance again, which, of course, means The First could come back, and kill us all. A whole new Apocalypse just waiting to commence."

"It doesn't work that way," Buffy reassured her. "Dawn, I coexisted for years with Faith, and nothing, nothing, ever went wrong like that. It's because they brought me back from the dead. Manipulated forces that were supposed to be beyond our control, that the power was out of balance. It wasn't that there were two Slayers. It was that one of us . . . came back wrong."

"You didn't." Spike's voice broke through the silence.

Buffy paused for a moment, feeling his words hanging heavily in her chest. "Dawn, there's nothing to be afraid of. Everything has been made right. The First got what it wanted. It screwed with us, and got to taste the blood of a Slayer. That's all it wanted. It won't bother us again."

Dawn broke her eyes from Buffy's gaze and stared down the hall at Spike. "Speaking of being back from the dead. Exactly how is it that Spike is standing there, watching us? He got dusted. I saw it with my own eyes."

"We don't know."

Dawn turned accusatory eyes on Buffy. "Did you do a spell?"

"What? No. I didn't do anything." Buffy let go of Dawn. "We don't know what happened. Two days ago Spike woke up in the school basement, naked and apparently human."

"Human?!" Dawn asked, her mouth gaping open like a suffocating guppy.

"Go figure." Spike shrugged. "Wouldn't really have been my first choice, but hey? Not really complaining. The change doesn't seem to bother Buffy that much."

"I'll bet," Dawn said. She narrowed her eyes and took a few tentative steps toward him. "You're really human?"

"Yeah pet. Really."

She stopped a foot in front of him. "Prove it."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Bleedin' hell, you bloody Summers women," he cursed. "All right." He pushed past her and disappeared into Buffy's room. A moment later, he returned holding a small hand mirror. "See." He held it up at an odd angle, so that he and Dawn could both see themselves in it together, at the same time.

"Doesn't prove anything," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and giving him a distinctly "Buffy" look.

"Fine." He put the mirror down on a nearby table and grabbed Dawn's hand.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, trying to pull away.

"Just humor me, okay?"

He brought her hand up to his chest and pushed her palm down flat, right over his heart. Standing perfectly still, he waited for Dawn to feel the faint thump of his heartbeat.

For a moment she didn't react. Then her eyes widened, and she stared up at Spike in shock. Her mouth moved feebly, but no words came out.

"Proof enough?" he asked, releasing his grip on her hand.

Dawn just continued to stand there, her hand against his chest. She couldn't believe it. Spike was human? It was too much for her to comprehend.

Finally, something in her brain clicked, and she was actually able to move. She withdrew her hand from Spike's very naked flesh, and took a step back toward Buffy.

"I think there's been enough excitement for one night," Buffy said. "Maybe we should all try and get some sleep."

Dawn turned to look at her sister, a glazed look clouding her eyes. "I don't know if I can. How am I supposed to take all this in?'

Buffy came up and hugged her sister close. "It'll be all right." Buffy pulled back slightly and looked at her kid sister. Lovingly, she swept a lock of brown hair behind her ear. "I'll stay with you if you need me to. Whatever you need Dawn."

"Uh, don't you think Spike's gonna mind?" she asked, turning slightly to look at him.

Buffy looked across to Spike.

"It's fine, luv," he said. "Stay with her. I could use the sleep anyway." He brought his hand up to support his back where he had hit the wall. "I think I've had enough of the Summers girls for one night. I'm not a superhero anymore. I could use some recovery time." He walked back to Buffy's bedroom. "Night Nibblet."

"Night Spike."

"Buffy," he said.

She smiled. "Goodnight Spike. See you in the morning."