Oz was at home with Willow since it was the full moon and the older set of twins tended to make things hairy for their mom during the full moon. Spike was the only one left to patrol. Dawn had told him that she'd be all right by herself and he had gone out. She curled up on the couch to watch a sappy romantic movie.

"Bit, time to go up to bed." She just rolled over on the couch. "All right then. I guess I can carry you as long as you don't mind the slime all over me." Dawn sat up on the couch.

"Ok. Ok. I'll walk up." She looked at him. There was no slime anywhere on him. "You creep! That was a dirty trick!" She got up and ran upstairs. "Just for that you can sleep down here tonight and not upstairs."

"That's fine." He decided to camp out on the couch tonight just in case Dawn needed him. He was too tired to argue with her. At least, if she was slightly upset with him, he would get some sleep tonight. Instead of trying to keep up with her aerobics all night long.

He lay down on the couch after making sure the curtains were drawn tight. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

That's why, when Dawn started screaming, Spike heard and responded. He sat up on the couch and, as soon as he knew where the screams were coming from he ran up the stairs to Dawn's room. There, sitting on her chest, was a creature the likes of which he had never seen before. He didn't care. He charged in for a kill. He only knew that he had to protect Dawn. And she was scared. She couldn't move. She could barely breathe. She thought this thing was going to kill her.

Suddenly, the creature went flying off her chest and across the room as Spike knocked it clear of her. "Run, Bit!" he yelled as he started punching the thing. She was so scared that all she could do is crawl into a corner and shake. He didn't see her sitting there watching him pummel this thing that had invaded her house.

She couldn't just sit there and let Spike get hurt. She thought about her lessons. She realized what she had to do. She gathered her thoughts and threw them at the creature. The thing's head exploded, sending bits of goo everywhere. She then collapsed to the floor with a nosebleed.

Spike sat back on his heels and pulled some of the goo from his hair. "Bloody hell! Why do I even bother?" He looked around for what could have caused the thing to blow like that. The sight which greeted him would have stopped a beating heart. Dawn was laying on the floor. Her hair covered her face but the blood on the floor told him that she was hurt. He had to know how badly. He crawled across the floor and rolled her into his arms, brushing the hair out of her face. The fact that the blood seemed to be coming from her nose and nowhere else did little to comfort him. He carried her down the hall to what had been her mother's room and laid her on the bed. He went and got a washcloth and wiped her face.

"Come on, pet. Wake up. Let me know you're all right." He was more scared right then than he had ever been before. "Dawn, wake up. Just open your eyes for me, luv."

She moaned and stirred. He relaxed a little. Just knowing she was alive was a major relief. At least Buffy wouldn't be dusting him for letting Dawn die. "Come on now, pet. Look at me." She opened her eyes just a little bit. "Good girl. Now why didn't you run when I told you to?"

"Scared. Too scared to run. Too afraid to lose you."

"Lose me? The big bad?"

She cracked a smile. "Not even the kind of naughty."

"Cute, Bit. Very cute." Spike chuckled, greatly relieved.

Suddenly, she started shivering violently and her tears started falling. Spike pulled a blanket over her and lay down next to her, holding her close. "Don't go! Don't leave me, Spike! Stay with me! Please!"

"Forever, pet. Forever." Spike knew that he could never leave Dawn. She was too fragile, emotionally, to survive that. He also didn't think she'd survive very long on her own without some kind of protection.

The next morning came with no further incidents. Dawn got up and ready for school. Spike had gone down to her room and came back with an outfit for her to wear. She liked the one he chose. She gladly put it on while he worked on cleaning up her room. Of course that task would take him all day.

He didn't mind though. She had slept only fitfully all night after he brought her out of that mess and mayhem. He couldn't leave her side for even a moment but what she woke up. She was so shook up by the whole demon thing last night that he almost kept her home for the day. It was better though that she went to school so she wouldn't see him carrying what was left of the demon's body out of the bedroom.

"Angel, Dawn was attacked last night." Spike figured he was safer calling Angel first. Besides, the poof might actually know what the demon that attacked Dawn was.

"By what, Spike?"

"I don't know. Thought maybe you would." He described the thing to him and Angel was silent for a moment.

"It was a Losharin Demon. They aren't easy to kill."

"Well, the bit made quick work of him. She made his head explode. Just by thinking about it. Made a bit of a mess too."

"She made his head explode?"

"Yeah. Even though it knocked her for a loop. She passed out from the effort. It even gave her a nosebleed. I don't think that she was quite ready for that much force to go through her."

"Is she ok now?"

"She's still really shook up but I think she'll be fine." Spike took a deep breath. "I won't be leaving her side much for the next few days. Except when she's at school."

"Is she there now?"

"Yes. Why? What's wrong, Angel?"

"I'll have to go get her. It seems that she's stirred up a hornet's nest with her little experiments. Losharin demons never attack alone and they have no qualms with attacking in broad daylight. She's in danger at school."

"Take Buffy along. If Bit decides to do another head explosion, you'll need someone to watch your back while you carry her out of there."

"No wonder you and I made such a good team in the old days. We sometimes think alike." Angel hung up the phone and called Buffy to warn her as to what was going on. She told him to meet her at Willow's. She would be home all day and would agree to watch Tirri.

Buffy walked into the school office and made the request that Dawn be brought to the office and allowed to go home early. She used the family emergency excuse. It may have been an old stand by but it worked. They never questioned it.

They called Dawn's classroom and got a surprise. Something was there. It was ugly and apparently after Dawn. Angel and Buffy ran for the classroom. When they got there, they looked through the window in the door and saw four Losharin demons encircling Dawn. Buffy didn't even think; she just charged through the door and attacked the one nearest the door. Another one swatted at one of the kids sitting near Dawn, knocking her out of the way.

Suddenly, there was a brilliant flash of light and Angel, Dawn, Buffy and the demons weren't in the classroom anymore. They were in the gym where there were no other students and they had plenty of room to fight.

Before they knew it, there were a dozen demons and Buffy and Angel got down to some serious slayage. Dawn backed into a corner and was content just holding them off. She knew that to kill them would mean weakening herself and right now Buffy and Angel couldn't slay the demons and protect her at the same time.

Four demons were closing on her. She was just shooting each one with small lightning bolts. Each one was taking a little damage at a time. She knew that to kill one she would have to focus all of her energy on that one and that would leave her vulnerable to the others. For just a moment, she wished Spike were there.

One of the demons went flying through the air as a blond streak flew through the air and slammed into it. Spike was there. He landed on his feet and flashed a rakish smile her way. "I've wanted to try that ever since I saw the first Tarzan movie." He turned and sliced off a demon's head as it charged him. He flashed back to Dawn. "I just never could get the yell just right." He smiled at Dawn and then rushed to meet one of the demons head on.

With a flash of white light, another demon made his appearance. All the other demons seemed to be in awe of him and even Angel was rather stunned which allowed one of the demons to attack him and knock him across the room.

The demons surrounding Dawn made way for this new demon as he approached. "You are very powerful. You will make a good queen." The thought ran through Dawn's mind and terrified her.

"SPIKE!!!" she screamed. Spike finished off the demon he was fighting and turned to see this new demon advancing on his Dawn. He sprinted across the room before Buffy could react from where she was trying to revive Angel.

The demon touched Dawn's shoulder, the one where Spike had marked her. "You are tainted!" This thought rocked Dawn with its intensity. The anger and revulsion that accompanied it were almost nauseating. She collapsed back against the wall.

The demon spun on Spike. "I will kill him! Then I will kill you and all who protect you!"

Dawn knew at that moment what she had to do. She had to protect Spike in order to protect the rest of the gang. She gathered her thoughts and stood up straight. She had an idea but she didn't know if it would work. She summoned all of the power she could into her. She touched the demon next to her and felt its power drain into her. She turned to the next one and the one after that.

Draining three demons had more power flowing through Dawn than she had ever felt before. She thrust her hands out toward the demon and with it every ounce of power and emotion that she could muster. The demon exploded as did all of the others in the gym. She felt herself falling and then everything went black.

Buffy watched as Angel flew across the room and hit the wall. He slumped to the floor unconscious. *God, no!* The thought voiced what the voice could not. Then, as she knelt beside her husband on the floor, she heard Dawn's scream. She turned to go to her but Spike was already there. The next thing Buffy knew, all of the demons had exploded and Dawn was falling in slow motion to the floor. Spike caught her and carried her over to where Buffy and Angel were.

"Spike, is she alive?"

He touched her throat. "Yeah." He couldn't say anymore. The lump in his throat wouldn't allow for any real speech. His tears started falling and he just pulled Dawn closer as they streamed down his cheeks.

Buffy stared in shock as the vampire who had always been the tough guy around her melted away to be replaced by this tender, caring creature who obviously was relieved that Dawn was still alive. She turned back to Angel, somewhat embarrassed by Spike's show of affection for her sister. She brushed Angel's face and touched his neck. The pulse was strong. He was only unconscious. Buffy started crying with relief. They had taken a beating but none of them had died this time. She bowed her head and sobbed into her hands.

After a few minutes, she felt two strong arms grasp her hands and pull them away from her face. "Buffy?"

Angel's eyes met hers as she looked up at the voice of the man she would give her life for. She collapsed into Angel's arms sobbing uncontrollably. Angel looked at Spike who was still sobbing into Dawn's shoulder. "Spike?" Spike looked up at Angel.

"She was protecting all of us. She destroyed them all. She's so weak now. We need to get her home." He wanted to get her away from this carnage. All this mess would scare her. *If she ever opened her eyes again.* He shook his head to clear that image from his mind.

Angel stood up. "How did you get here, Spike?"

"I don't know. I was at the house and then I was here. She must've brought me here." He looked down at the pale weakened form in his arms. How was he going to get home?

"Buffy, I'm going to go bring the car around to the back of the school and open the trunk. When I do, Spike will get in the trunk and Buffy will put Dawn in the back seat." He wrapped his arms around Buffy. "We'll take them home. Then, we'll get the gang together and figure out what to do about all this."

Angel and Buffy rode in silence all the way back to the house. Once they were inside the garage, Spike got out and took Dawn from Buffy. He carried her up to her room and tucked her into bed. In determined silence, he went and got a cool damp washcloth and again started wiping her face. "Come back to me, pet. Just like last night. Come on, Dawn. Come on, baby. Open your eyes. Look at me." He started crying again. "Bloody hell! You idiot mob! Why? You remember what it did last night and that was nothing compared to what you did today. Don't do this to me again, Dawn! Please! I can't handle this! Not again!"

Buffy stood outside Dawn's closed bedroom door listening to Spike pleading with Dawn to wake up and look at him. Angel walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Let's leave them alone." They walked downstairs and turned on the T. V.

"Spike?" Dawn's voice was little more than a whisper but it echoed in Spike's ears. He lifted his head from the side of the bed where he had basically cried himself to sleep.

"Dawn!" He looked at her with tears in his eyes all over again. "How do you feel, pet?"

"Sore. Tired. Weak."

"After the show you put on, I'm not surprised. The whole gang's downstairs. They've been waiting for you to wake up and be ok. I wouldn't let anyone but Buffy and Angel in here."

She chuckled a little at that and then groaned. "How long have I been out?"

"About fourteen hours. I was afraid I was going to lose you."

"Lose me? You couldn't do that if you tried."

"Bit, if you ever pull anything like that again . . . ."

"Not to worry. I'll warn you first. It was just the thoughts that that thing was sending out to me . . . ."

"Thoughts?"

"It wanted to make me it's queen. Then it was repulsed when it realized that you had marked me. It said that I was tainted. It wanted to kill you because of that. I had to protect you."

"Baby, it's not your job to protect me."

"I don't want to live without you."

"Dawn, . . . ." His voice broke and he just swept her into his arms and held her tight.

"Breath. Breath would be nice here."

"Sorry. I just needed to do that. I needed to feel your heartbeat again." He seemed much relieved. "Can you walk? The others will want to see that you're ok."

She threw back the covers only to realize that she was in a nightgown. "Did you . . . ?"

"No, luv. Buffy did it on one of her many trips to check on you." Dawn swung her feet over the side of the bed and tried to pull herself off the bed. She swayed as her head spun and a wave of dizziness swept over her. She reached out her hand for Spike's help. He wrapped one arm around her waist and held her up until the dizziness passed. Then, he lifted her gently into his arms and carried her downstairs.

"Dawn! You're awake!" Buffy was the first to run to her. Everyone else took their turn coming up to her.

"Why are you carrying her, Spike?"

"She's still weak and almost passed out on me upstairs. I figured that I should at least bring her down here. She's conscious. She's alive. She needs more rest though."

"Go ahead and take her back upstairs. Let her rest."

"Of course. I'll keep an eye on her to make sure that she's still ok." Spike turned around and started back up the stairs to tuck his precious Dawn back into bed.

Two days later, Dawn was finally back at full strength. She was finally up to going back to school and there had been no further demon visits. She was nervous though.

She walked into school and felt, rather than heard, the whispers around her. She tried to ignore it and go on with her day but it continued and she could only ignore so much. It all broke when Kirstie walked up to Dawn and said, "So, freak, you and your freak friends made quite the mess of the gym. Slime and guts everywhere. And then you take two days off of school while the rest of us tried to figure out what the hell was going on. Jessica won't even talk to anyone anymore. She has this huge bruise on her face from where that thing hit her. I don't even know what those things were."

"Shut up, Kirstie. You don't know anything. Just back off." Dawn spun and tried to walk away. Kirstie ran up to her and shoved her to the floor. Dawn jumped up and shoved Kirstie. Kirstie flew backwards and landed against the wall. Dawn walked over to her and bent over. "If you touch me again, I'll break you in half. That's not a threat. It's a promise. Don't forget that."

Then, Dawn ran from the school and home before anyone could react.

He heard the door slam and feet running up the stairs. He figured it could only be Dawn. She seemed to be early. He rolled over and looked at the clock. She was early. It wasn't even noon yet. He had to check on her. Something was obviously wrong.

He ran up from the basement and upstairs to her room. She had thrown herself on the bed, sobbing uncontrollably. "I HATE THAT BITCH!"

"Who, luv?"

"Kirstie. She called me a freak and told me that I made a big mess of things. She knocked me down. I think I may have hurt her. I shoved her back and she landed against a wall. She landed hard too. Spike, I may have broken her back." She sat up on the bed. Spike sat down next to her. "Oh God! I may have broken her back."

"No, sweetheart. I doubt that. I doubt that you could have done that unless you truly focused your power on her." He patted her back and rocked her quietly. "Just rest, pet. Everything will be all right." He laid her down on the bed and sat down beside her. He pulled the covers up over her still shaking form. He kissed her on the forehead. "It's ok. I'll take care of you. You know that."

"I know. After all, if you didn't want to, you wouldn't have marked me." She was starting to wind down from the adrenalin rush of defending herself against Kirstie. She was yawning and had her eyes closed. She was asleep five minutes later.

He went downstairs and picked up the phone. He called the school to see if a report had been filed. He was informed that there had been a report filed but that Dawn was obviously not at fault. Everyone questioned had said that Kirstie started the whole incident. Kirstie was suspended for at least two weeks and possibly longer. It depended on the response they received when they held the readmittance interview. Dawn was not suspended but it would be prudent to keep her home for a few more days. Spike wasn't too worried about that.

"Now, Buffy, focus. You need to sharpen your focus. Concentrate all of your being into one comforting thought and stretch it out toward Tirri. Try to comfort your daughter just with your thoughts." Giles was really pushing Buffy today. She was sitting in a hard chair and focusing all of her thoughts on what she was supposed to do.

She thought about her daughter and comforting her. She watched as Tirri calmed down. Then, gurgling happily, she fell asleep just as if she were laying in her mother's arms.

"Good job. Very good job." Buffy relaxed just a little bit. "You did well. That was the first time you've done that but you performed as if you've done it before."

"Giles, I have a headache. Can I rest for a moment?" Buffy seemed a little worn out. She put her hands to her temples and bowed her head. Giles knelt in front of her.

"Are you all right, Buffy?"

"I think it's just the exercises." But she felt a small twitch at the base of her skull. This could be more than that. She just didn't want to think about that.

"By all means. Go lay down." She stood up to go to the bedroom and almost fell back to the couch.

"I think I'll just stay right here." She stretched out on the couch and was asleep almost immediately. Giles covered her with a blanket and sat down to watch over Tirri until either Buffy woke up or Angel came home.

"Buffy?" It was Angel's voice that called her back from the land of dreams. She stirred and turned to his voice. She opened her eyes to look into the deep chocolate of her husband's eyes. "Giles told me you had gotten a headache from the exercises. I thought I'd better check on you. Besides, I brought supper home tonight." At her puzzled look, he explained. "Pizza!" His face lit up with a big smile. She sleepily smiled back at him.

Sitting up, she still felt a little groggy. "I think I'll be going to bed early tonight. I still have a ghost of a headache."

Angel helped her up and walked with her to the table. Once they sat down and started eating, Buffy started to feel a little better. Maybe her headache was caused by the fact that she hadn't eaten anything yet that day. Of course, she wasn't about to tell Angel that. He would have a fit. He would scold her for not eating.

She ate until she was full and then realized that she had eaten almost twice as much as Angel had. "You haven't eaten at all today, have you?"

"I guess I just forgot. I got wrapped up in the new exercises Giles had for me. I just forgot."

"I don't know how you can forget to eat. You never forget to take care of Tirri or to feed me."

"And yet you love me anyway." He leaned over and kissed Buffy's nose. "I love you too."

"Of course I love you. That's why I try to take care of you." He walked around behind her and slid his arms down over her chest. "I don't want to lose you. I need you."

"I know, Angel. I need you too. Sometimes, I just find myself wishing that I wasn't the longest living Slayer in history. I just want us to have a normal life. I hate patrol sometimes and I hate the creatures that make us have to do this. I hate the prophecies that made me the Slayer. The only part about being the Slayer that I don't hate is that it brought me you. You and Tirri are the only good things that really came out of me being the Slayer."

"What about your friends? Willow? Xander? All the rest? Giles, who's more like a father to you than your own father?"

"They're fine. But you and our daughter are the best of what has come out of being a Slayer." She leaned back against him. "I just don't want to do this anymore. I want to walk away and let someone else do it."

"But that's not an option."

"Why not? There are two Slayers now. Faith can take over. At least she can when she gets out of jail next month."

"But you are the 'twice dead Slayer'. All the prophecies point to you being the last Slayer. Faith will die before you die for good. And all prophecies point to you dying at a very old age surrounded by people who love you."

"I'm just tired of having to help everyone else and leaving my needs and wants to last. I want to think of me and my family first for a change. I want to be selfish just once or twice."

"You're just tired. Maybe after a good night's sleep you'll feel more like yourself." He stepped back as she got up to go check on Tirri.

"I don't know. I just don't know anymore."

She made sure that Tirri was ok. Then she went into the bathroom and took her shower. She stood under the shower for a few minutes. Angel walked in and stripped down to join her in the shower. He didn't even try anything sexual. He just washed her hair and body making her feel pampered. She just stood there and let him do what he wanted with her. When he was done, he washed up quickly and then they got out. He dried both of them off and walked her in to bed. He tucked her in and then lay down beside her. She snuggled close to him.

It wasn't until morning that he realized that she had quietly cried herself to sleep. He left her sleeping soundly on the bed and took Tirri over to Dawn's house to spend some time with her Uncle Spike. He was more than happy to look after Tirri while Angel was at work so that Buffy could rest.

"Buffy, are you awake?" Angel whispered, opening the door to their bedroom just enough to see the bed. Buffy wasn't there. He did hear the shower in their bathroom running though. He walked into the room and headed for the bathroom when he heard the water turn off.

He smiled and stripped off his clothes and opened the bathroom door. Buffy felt his arms wrap around her and suddenly decided that she needed another shower.

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A/N: I can't finish this scene the way I want to because of the no more NC- 17 ruling but I'm sure you all get the picture.

Working on next chapter now. It's coming along a little slower than most of them but it's working out.

Thanks for all the reviews.