Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox,
etc... except of course the ones I make up.
Summary: Spike and Buffy are going to have a baby together!!! I know, I know, it's been done about a million times but I promise that this one is different. Anyway, it also deals with all different types of families that could exist in the Buffyverse.
Spoilers: None really
Continuity: It's the sequel to "Apocalypse now... Again". However, you don't really need to read it to understand this fic. It picks up a few weeks after where "Apocalypse Now... Again" leaves off. Also, I just thought I'd point out that Tara is alive and with Willow, both witches are living with Buffy. Also, Xander and Anya are married and Anya is pregnant.
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FAMILY
Chapter 12: Problematic
"I can't believe she hit you," Buffy said as she wiped the blood from Spike's bloody nose and upper lip.
"I can't believe she hit me," Spike moaned. "OW! Bloody hell, woman."
"Oh, sorry," Buffy winced, practically feeling Spike's pain as if it were her own. "I'll try to be gentle."
"Thanks," Spike groaned angrily.
Buffy pressed the ice pack softly on Spike's swollen face and he flinched. "I can't believe her. She broke your nose. How could she do that?"
"Don't worry about it, love, I've had much worse. Hell gods, Angelus, Drusilla, bloody initiative... you."
Buffy took the cold compress away from his face and placed her hands on her hips. "Oh don't you even start with me because you're mad at her."
Spike rolled his eyes at Buffy and she put the ice pack back on his face. They sat there for a few minutes in silence with Hank merely staring at them. He was pale, much paler than when he had come into their home. Spike wondered why but Buffy knew exactly what was the matter.
"Honey, are you sure?"
"Yes, Dad, I'm positive."
"You're not making sense, Buffy. I thought, I thought that when we sent you to that institution, it helped. That you had moved on, realized that all of that wasn't real."
Buffy groaned with frustration. "Ugh, I don't have time for this." She looked to Spike and begged with her eyes for him to give her father the proof that he needed. He agreed with a nod and Buffy moved the ice pack from his face.
Spike changed from his normal appearance to his vampire guise. Hank let out a shocked and frightened gasp. He backed slowly away from Spike and pointed an accusatory finger.
"YOU! What are you? You aren't human!"
"No shit, Dad."
"I'm a vampire."
Hank merely stared. "What?"
"Dad, could I explain another time, just, he's not... bad, alright?"
Spike shifted back to his human visage with a painful groan. Buffy pouted sympathetically for him as she handed him the ice pack so that he could reapply it. He nodded at her and she wiped her damp hands on her jeans.
"Alright, well, I'm gonna go out, find Dawn, and have a little talk about how we don't hit my boyfriends. What is wrong with her?"
"Don't worry about it, love. It'll be better in a day or two. You know, super vampire healing and the like."
"I don't care about that!" Spike cocked an eyebrow and Buffy rephrased, "I mean, I do care that she hurt you, of course I care. But what concerns me more is that fact that she thinks it's okay to just kind of randomly punch people in the face."
"Uh. Buffy? It wasn't exactly random."
"What? What do you mean? Did you... did you hit her?"
"NO! Of course not. But why she hit me, she had a reason. Not a good reason at all, I might add, but just, we should talk about this later."
"Fine, whatever. I'm going to find her and have a little talk with her about how we do not use hitting as a mode of communication. God, didn't anyone go over this with her in like, kindergarten?"
Buffy grabbed her coat and walked into the living room so that she could rummage through her weapons chest. Her father followed anxiously, not wanting to be alone in a room with a seemingly dangerous vampire. He looked into the chest and his jaw dropped. He couldn't believe what his daughters were keeping in their house. Axes, swords, wooden stakes, garlic?
"Buffy, I am not staying along in the house with HIM," Hank demanded as he once again pointed a quivering finger at Spike.
"Well, I sure as hell am not taking you into the graveyard with me while I look for Dawn," Buffy sighed as she put a stake up each sleeve and a few bottles of holy water into the pockets of her light brown leather coat. "Also, don't you ever refer to Spike with such malice again in my house. Are we clear?"
Hank nodded. "I still don't want to be alone with... did you call him Spike?"
Buffy simply rolled her eyes and headed for the door. "Fine. Dad, you stay here, I'll check the cemetery and Spike, you check the Bronze for her."
"Right, then," Spike agreed as he stood and grabbed his infamous duster from the coat rack, "I'll just head in there and... show off my brand new black eyes."
"Spike..." Buffy warned.
"Bronze it is, then. Not that I even argued in the first place," he pointed out as he held the door open for Buffy.
"You're too good for me," she mumbled in a half-sarcastic tone.
"Oh don't I know it," Spike quipped, as he closed the door behind them.
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Dawn swung back and forth lazily. The swing made a loud and echoing "squeak" as it went back and forth. But she didn't care. Any vamp that would come along and try to take a bite out of her would end up a pile of dust. She knew she was stronger. She knew she could take them. Besides, the prospect of beating up on someone she didn't actually care about didn't seem so bad.
What was wrong with Spike, anyway? She wondered. Why couldn't he just be happy for the fact that she was happy? Her father would never intentionally hurt her or Buffy. And the only reason her never contacted them was because he had... stuff. Yeah, that's it, really important stuff that he had to do.
"Dawn?"
The familiar British voice startled Dawn and she jumped up instinctively. Immediately she recognized who he was, however, and sat back on her swing.
"Giles, what are you doing here?"
"Patrolling. I heard the swing squeaking and I thought I would come see what it was. Now, why are you here exactly?"
Dawn shrugged. "No reason," she lied.
Giles sighed and sat down quietly in the swing next to Dawn. "Now, I find that very hard to believe being as how you're sitting here all alone and pouting on a Saturday night. I'll ask again: are you all right?"
Dawn shook her head in response.
"Do you want to talk about whatever it is that's bothering you?"
Dawn shrugged but chose to speak up. "My dad's back in town?"
"Really?" Giles asked, not expecting that at all. "When did this happen?"
"About an hour ago."
"And you're upset that he's back."
"Sort of. Mostly I just wanted to be out of the house."
"Because of your father?"
"No," Dawn sighed. "Because of Spike."
"What did Spike do now?"
"Nothing really. It's more what I did to him."
"Which would be..."
"I punched him."
"You punched him?"
"In the face, across the room. I kinda ran because I'm assuming that Buffy is not all that pleased with me right now. But I don't want to talk to her. I don't want to talk to either of them."
"What did Spike say then that got you so upset?"
"He said that I should be careful, that I shouldn't open myself up to my dad. But he's my father, how can I not open up to him? Then Spike called him the 'epitome of dead-beat dads' and I kind of lost it."
Giles wiped his glasses on his shirt and took a moment to take all of this in. He placed them back on and looked at Dawn sympathetically.
"Now Dawn, I completely understand why you are upset and Spike had no right to say such a thing, but as much as I hate to say this, he is right. You know very well that your father hasn't been the most reliable man in the past few years. Deep down, you must understand that this is true."
Dawn looked at her feet so as to avoid Giles's eyes. "I know," she muttered softly.
"Then there must be something else bothering you about the whole situation."
"There is," Dawn admitted, "but it's kind of stupid."
Giles placed a comforting hand on her knee. "Dawn, if it's making you this upset, then it's obviously not stupid. Besides, I promise, whatever it is, I won't laugh."
"Okay. It's just, seeing my dad again makes me feel... I'm not really sure how to put this... realer?"
"How do you mean."
"He's not from Sunnydale, right? He's like the only thing not from this insano life that I'm living that remembers me. Tonight was the first time I've ever even really met Dad. So having him just remember me makes me feel like I was here all along. And then to have Spike tell me not to trust him, it's like saying I might as well throw it all away. The realness, I mean. It's like it would just be gone."
"Dawn, that's not stupid at all," Giles assured his Slayer. "I know this must be very, very difficult for you, but Spike is trying to do what's best for you."
"Really? Because it feels more like he's trying to do what's best for himself."
"I see how you must feel that way, and I know that no matter what I say I won't change your mind so, I'm just not going to say anything."
"What? What do you mean you're not gonna say anything? You always have something to say!"
"True, but how often does anyone really listen to me?"
"I listen! I listen all the-"
"Dawn!"
The Slayer and her watcher jumped at the sudden sound of her name. They recognized who it was, and while Giles was relieved, Dawn was extremely apprehensive of the explosion that was likely about to happen between her and her sister.
"Oh great," she mumbled.
"Dawn?"
"Hey, Buffy."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Spike stepped into the crowded Bronze and took a look around. It was a Saturday night, and it would have been impossible for him to find Dawn if he couldn't already sense that she wasn't there. Just like he could sense Buffy or Dru from a mile away, he could sense Dawn. Being as how she used to be this great big ball of energy, her presence was stronger than the normal teenage girl's.
The vampire was about to just turn around and go when he figured since he was there, he might as well grab a beer before he left. He walked slowly over to the bar and rummaged through his pockets for a few dollars. He pulled out a five and nodded at the bartender.
"Gimme a-"
"Spike?"
He turned to see Janice standing behind him with an inquisitive look on her face.
"I thought it was you. What's-" she stopped when she noticed his swollen nose and black eyes. "Oh my god! What happened? Are you all right? I mean, is something up? Do we need to- uh- assemble?"
"No, it's nothing like that. Dawn and I just got into a little fight."
"Dawn beat you up?"
"Pfft... no!" Spike insisted as Janice stifled her giggles. "I just... she just hit me is all! Not like I was expecting it!"
"Oh no," Janice said in a patronizing tone. "Of course not."
"Fine, have your fun."
"Oh I am. By the way, do you know what time is?"
Spike stood on his toes so he could see the clock on the wall opposite him. "It's one thirty."
Janice sighed, "great."
"What's wrong?"
"Oh nothing. Just, I'm supposed to be home in half an hour and my ride is totally wasted. Hey, do you think you could give me a ride?"
"Don't have the car, love, but I could walk you home if you'd like."
"Really?"
"Of course."
"Thank you so much! I'll just grab my coat."
"S'no problem, wouldn't want some beastie takin' a bite outta you, now would we?"
"Well I sure as hell know that I don't."
"Right, then."
Janice and Spike left the hot club and entered into the cool December air. Spike felt Janice shiver beside him. He couldn't tell exactly if it was more from the cold or if it was from fear.
"You all right?"
"Yeah, just, you know, it's dark, and the Hellmouth."
Spike put his hand on her shoulder and smiled. "No worries love, I'm looking over your shoulder."
"That better be the only thing you're looking at," a voice threatened from behind them.
Spike and Janice turned around to see a man in his late teens half standing half staggering behind them. He was maybe an inch or two shorter than Spike, and he had short brown hair and dark eyes.
"You making the moves on my girl?"
"Who's this?"
"That would be my ride."
"Known him long?"
"Define long..."
"Have you known him long enough to notice that he's a vampire?"
Janice jaw dropped and she stared at Spike with disbelief. "Oh no. Oh no no no no no. You have got to be kidding me."
"Sorry."
"Ugh! Why me?"
"Well, you are rather bitable."
"Shut up!" Janice and Spike both shouted at the drunken vampire.
"Look, I don't got all night, all right? Why don't you just give me the girl and go on your way."
"What? No!" Spike defended her. "Janice, stand back."
"You wanna fight me, blondie? Then bring it."
Spike sighed at the apparent fledgling, knowing that this wouldn't take long. "Here we go."
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"Dawn, what the hell do you think you were- Giles?"
"Hello."
"Uh, hi. Are you patrolling?"
"Yes."
"Alone?"
"There's no one else. And why do you ask like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like I'm incompetent."
"I never said incompetent!"
"You didn't have to..."
"Giles, I don't have time."
"All right, all right, I'll leave you two alone. Finish my patrol. Maybe I won't get killed."
Buffy smiled sweetly at him. "Thank you."
He smiled back, nodded at Dawn, and went on his way. Buffy then took the opportunity to finish what she had tried to start before.
"So why are you hitting Spike again?"
"I didn't hit him that hard..."
"Dawn, you broke his nose!"
"Oops..."
"Stop it, Dawn. You're not a little kid. You know what you did. What I don't understand is why."
"And you never will."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It just means that you couldn't possibly understand why I'm so upset with him."
"Try me."
"I don't want to."
"Try me."
"NO!" Dawn shrieked angrily as her cheeks turned a bright red. "What can't you just take no for an answer?"
"Because it's my job to pry."
"Oh right, I forgot, it's your JOB."
"And I'm worried about you, Dawnie. You're not acting like yourself."
"No. You're just pissed that I punched the guy that gives you a happy whenever you blow the dog whistle."
"How dare you speak to me like that?"
"Sorry," Dawn grumbled under her breath.
"As well you should be. But you're not completely wrong. I am pissed that you hit Spike and you can't give me a reason not to be. We don't hit people that we care about. End of story."
"I know, I don't need this lecture."
"Fine, I'll put it on your shoulders and expect this not to happen ever, ever again. But I meant what I said before, you're not acting at all like yourself."
"How would you know?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're always with him these days, how would you know if this is what I'm like or not?"
Buffy took a moment to consider what Dawn had just said and choked a laugh when she realized her little sister's implication.
"Are you jealous?"
"What? No."
"I'm serious, Dawn. Are you jealous of all the time I've been spending with Spike?"
Dawn shuffled her feet and looked down. "Maybe just a teeny bit," she muttered softly.
"Dawnie," Buffy cooed softly as she walked over to her sister and wrapped her arms around her, "you are the most important thing in the world to me. If you want to spend time, we'll spend time."
Dawn shook away from her sister and crossed her arms. "That's what you say now. But I know what will happen, we'll hang a couple of times and then you'll just go back to spending every second with Spike. And then once the baby comes I will never see you. Please don't take this the wrong way, I love Spike, and I will love this baby just as much but, I need your love too."
"Dawn, listen to me," Buffy said as she took her sister's hands, "you will never have to compete with ANYBODY for my love. You're my sister, Dawn. You're me. I love you more than words can say and the return of that feeling means the world to me."
"Then..."
"What?"
"Then why didn't you ask me first before you asked Spike to move in with us?"
"I- I didn't think you would mind."
"Of course I don't mind! But it's still my house too, Buffy. I have to live there too and you don't even ask me how I feel about something. You may not think it would but it really hurts my feeling that you wouldn't ask my opinion about OUR living situation."
"Dawn, I just, I really didn't think it would bother you."
"But it does, Buffy. Did you even ask Willow and Tara what they thought?"
"Uh..."
"That's exactly what I mean. It's not just you and Spike in this."
"Okay, I'll make change where change is needed. From now on you are looking at a whole new Buffy. This Buffy listens to all opinions of all people involved before a final decision is made. Happy?"
Dawn smiled. "Very, very."
"Alright then. I'm gad we've had the chance to work this out. Now, I really could go for some pickles."
Dawn laughed but stopped when she saw the expression on Buffy's face. "Oh my god, you're totally serious."
"Color me pregnant."
Dawn grinned and put her arm and around her sister as Buffy returned the gesture. They walked back through the graveyard toward their house.
"I'm still mad at Spike though," Dawn mumbled as they reached the steps.
"Hey! We've had our sisterly bondage talk for tonight. You can work out whatever problems you have with Spike tomorrow."
Dawn nodded and grimaced at her shoes. "Easier said..."
TBC...
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Well that was fun!!! Okay guys... please review!!!!!!!!!!! :-D
Summary: Spike and Buffy are going to have a baby together!!! I know, I know, it's been done about a million times but I promise that this one is different. Anyway, it also deals with all different types of families that could exist in the Buffyverse.
Spoilers: None really
Continuity: It's the sequel to "Apocalypse now... Again". However, you don't really need to read it to understand this fic. It picks up a few weeks after where "Apocalypse Now... Again" leaves off. Also, I just thought I'd point out that Tara is alive and with Willow, both witches are living with Buffy. Also, Xander and Anya are married and Anya is pregnant.
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FAMILY
Chapter 12: Problematic
"I can't believe she hit you," Buffy said as she wiped the blood from Spike's bloody nose and upper lip.
"I can't believe she hit me," Spike moaned. "OW! Bloody hell, woman."
"Oh, sorry," Buffy winced, practically feeling Spike's pain as if it were her own. "I'll try to be gentle."
"Thanks," Spike groaned angrily.
Buffy pressed the ice pack softly on Spike's swollen face and he flinched. "I can't believe her. She broke your nose. How could she do that?"
"Don't worry about it, love, I've had much worse. Hell gods, Angelus, Drusilla, bloody initiative... you."
Buffy took the cold compress away from his face and placed her hands on her hips. "Oh don't you even start with me because you're mad at her."
Spike rolled his eyes at Buffy and she put the ice pack back on his face. They sat there for a few minutes in silence with Hank merely staring at them. He was pale, much paler than when he had come into their home. Spike wondered why but Buffy knew exactly what was the matter.
"Honey, are you sure?"
"Yes, Dad, I'm positive."
"You're not making sense, Buffy. I thought, I thought that when we sent you to that institution, it helped. That you had moved on, realized that all of that wasn't real."
Buffy groaned with frustration. "Ugh, I don't have time for this." She looked to Spike and begged with her eyes for him to give her father the proof that he needed. He agreed with a nod and Buffy moved the ice pack from his face.
Spike changed from his normal appearance to his vampire guise. Hank let out a shocked and frightened gasp. He backed slowly away from Spike and pointed an accusatory finger.
"YOU! What are you? You aren't human!"
"No shit, Dad."
"I'm a vampire."
Hank merely stared. "What?"
"Dad, could I explain another time, just, he's not... bad, alright?"
Spike shifted back to his human visage with a painful groan. Buffy pouted sympathetically for him as she handed him the ice pack so that he could reapply it. He nodded at her and she wiped her damp hands on her jeans.
"Alright, well, I'm gonna go out, find Dawn, and have a little talk about how we don't hit my boyfriends. What is wrong with her?"
"Don't worry about it, love. It'll be better in a day or two. You know, super vampire healing and the like."
"I don't care about that!" Spike cocked an eyebrow and Buffy rephrased, "I mean, I do care that she hurt you, of course I care. But what concerns me more is that fact that she thinks it's okay to just kind of randomly punch people in the face."
"Uh. Buffy? It wasn't exactly random."
"What? What do you mean? Did you... did you hit her?"
"NO! Of course not. But why she hit me, she had a reason. Not a good reason at all, I might add, but just, we should talk about this later."
"Fine, whatever. I'm going to find her and have a little talk with her about how we do not use hitting as a mode of communication. God, didn't anyone go over this with her in like, kindergarten?"
Buffy grabbed her coat and walked into the living room so that she could rummage through her weapons chest. Her father followed anxiously, not wanting to be alone in a room with a seemingly dangerous vampire. He looked into the chest and his jaw dropped. He couldn't believe what his daughters were keeping in their house. Axes, swords, wooden stakes, garlic?
"Buffy, I am not staying along in the house with HIM," Hank demanded as he once again pointed a quivering finger at Spike.
"Well, I sure as hell am not taking you into the graveyard with me while I look for Dawn," Buffy sighed as she put a stake up each sleeve and a few bottles of holy water into the pockets of her light brown leather coat. "Also, don't you ever refer to Spike with such malice again in my house. Are we clear?"
Hank nodded. "I still don't want to be alone with... did you call him Spike?"
Buffy simply rolled her eyes and headed for the door. "Fine. Dad, you stay here, I'll check the cemetery and Spike, you check the Bronze for her."
"Right, then," Spike agreed as he stood and grabbed his infamous duster from the coat rack, "I'll just head in there and... show off my brand new black eyes."
"Spike..." Buffy warned.
"Bronze it is, then. Not that I even argued in the first place," he pointed out as he held the door open for Buffy.
"You're too good for me," she mumbled in a half-sarcastic tone.
"Oh don't I know it," Spike quipped, as he closed the door behind them.
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Dawn swung back and forth lazily. The swing made a loud and echoing "squeak" as it went back and forth. But she didn't care. Any vamp that would come along and try to take a bite out of her would end up a pile of dust. She knew she was stronger. She knew she could take them. Besides, the prospect of beating up on someone she didn't actually care about didn't seem so bad.
What was wrong with Spike, anyway? She wondered. Why couldn't he just be happy for the fact that she was happy? Her father would never intentionally hurt her or Buffy. And the only reason her never contacted them was because he had... stuff. Yeah, that's it, really important stuff that he had to do.
"Dawn?"
The familiar British voice startled Dawn and she jumped up instinctively. Immediately she recognized who he was, however, and sat back on her swing.
"Giles, what are you doing here?"
"Patrolling. I heard the swing squeaking and I thought I would come see what it was. Now, why are you here exactly?"
Dawn shrugged. "No reason," she lied.
Giles sighed and sat down quietly in the swing next to Dawn. "Now, I find that very hard to believe being as how you're sitting here all alone and pouting on a Saturday night. I'll ask again: are you all right?"
Dawn shook her head in response.
"Do you want to talk about whatever it is that's bothering you?"
Dawn shrugged but chose to speak up. "My dad's back in town?"
"Really?" Giles asked, not expecting that at all. "When did this happen?"
"About an hour ago."
"And you're upset that he's back."
"Sort of. Mostly I just wanted to be out of the house."
"Because of your father?"
"No," Dawn sighed. "Because of Spike."
"What did Spike do now?"
"Nothing really. It's more what I did to him."
"Which would be..."
"I punched him."
"You punched him?"
"In the face, across the room. I kinda ran because I'm assuming that Buffy is not all that pleased with me right now. But I don't want to talk to her. I don't want to talk to either of them."
"What did Spike say then that got you so upset?"
"He said that I should be careful, that I shouldn't open myself up to my dad. But he's my father, how can I not open up to him? Then Spike called him the 'epitome of dead-beat dads' and I kind of lost it."
Giles wiped his glasses on his shirt and took a moment to take all of this in. He placed them back on and looked at Dawn sympathetically.
"Now Dawn, I completely understand why you are upset and Spike had no right to say such a thing, but as much as I hate to say this, he is right. You know very well that your father hasn't been the most reliable man in the past few years. Deep down, you must understand that this is true."
Dawn looked at her feet so as to avoid Giles's eyes. "I know," she muttered softly.
"Then there must be something else bothering you about the whole situation."
"There is," Dawn admitted, "but it's kind of stupid."
Giles placed a comforting hand on her knee. "Dawn, if it's making you this upset, then it's obviously not stupid. Besides, I promise, whatever it is, I won't laugh."
"Okay. It's just, seeing my dad again makes me feel... I'm not really sure how to put this... realer?"
"How do you mean."
"He's not from Sunnydale, right? He's like the only thing not from this insano life that I'm living that remembers me. Tonight was the first time I've ever even really met Dad. So having him just remember me makes me feel like I was here all along. And then to have Spike tell me not to trust him, it's like saying I might as well throw it all away. The realness, I mean. It's like it would just be gone."
"Dawn, that's not stupid at all," Giles assured his Slayer. "I know this must be very, very difficult for you, but Spike is trying to do what's best for you."
"Really? Because it feels more like he's trying to do what's best for himself."
"I see how you must feel that way, and I know that no matter what I say I won't change your mind so, I'm just not going to say anything."
"What? What do you mean you're not gonna say anything? You always have something to say!"
"True, but how often does anyone really listen to me?"
"I listen! I listen all the-"
"Dawn!"
The Slayer and her watcher jumped at the sudden sound of her name. They recognized who it was, and while Giles was relieved, Dawn was extremely apprehensive of the explosion that was likely about to happen between her and her sister.
"Oh great," she mumbled.
"Dawn?"
"Hey, Buffy."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Spike stepped into the crowded Bronze and took a look around. It was a Saturday night, and it would have been impossible for him to find Dawn if he couldn't already sense that she wasn't there. Just like he could sense Buffy or Dru from a mile away, he could sense Dawn. Being as how she used to be this great big ball of energy, her presence was stronger than the normal teenage girl's.
The vampire was about to just turn around and go when he figured since he was there, he might as well grab a beer before he left. He walked slowly over to the bar and rummaged through his pockets for a few dollars. He pulled out a five and nodded at the bartender.
"Gimme a-"
"Spike?"
He turned to see Janice standing behind him with an inquisitive look on her face.
"I thought it was you. What's-" she stopped when she noticed his swollen nose and black eyes. "Oh my god! What happened? Are you all right? I mean, is something up? Do we need to- uh- assemble?"
"No, it's nothing like that. Dawn and I just got into a little fight."
"Dawn beat you up?"
"Pfft... no!" Spike insisted as Janice stifled her giggles. "I just... she just hit me is all! Not like I was expecting it!"
"Oh no," Janice said in a patronizing tone. "Of course not."
"Fine, have your fun."
"Oh I am. By the way, do you know what time is?"
Spike stood on his toes so he could see the clock on the wall opposite him. "It's one thirty."
Janice sighed, "great."
"What's wrong?"
"Oh nothing. Just, I'm supposed to be home in half an hour and my ride is totally wasted. Hey, do you think you could give me a ride?"
"Don't have the car, love, but I could walk you home if you'd like."
"Really?"
"Of course."
"Thank you so much! I'll just grab my coat."
"S'no problem, wouldn't want some beastie takin' a bite outta you, now would we?"
"Well I sure as hell know that I don't."
"Right, then."
Janice and Spike left the hot club and entered into the cool December air. Spike felt Janice shiver beside him. He couldn't tell exactly if it was more from the cold or if it was from fear.
"You all right?"
"Yeah, just, you know, it's dark, and the Hellmouth."
Spike put his hand on her shoulder and smiled. "No worries love, I'm looking over your shoulder."
"That better be the only thing you're looking at," a voice threatened from behind them.
Spike and Janice turned around to see a man in his late teens half standing half staggering behind them. He was maybe an inch or two shorter than Spike, and he had short brown hair and dark eyes.
"You making the moves on my girl?"
"Who's this?"
"That would be my ride."
"Known him long?"
"Define long..."
"Have you known him long enough to notice that he's a vampire?"
Janice jaw dropped and she stared at Spike with disbelief. "Oh no. Oh no no no no no. You have got to be kidding me."
"Sorry."
"Ugh! Why me?"
"Well, you are rather bitable."
"Shut up!" Janice and Spike both shouted at the drunken vampire.
"Look, I don't got all night, all right? Why don't you just give me the girl and go on your way."
"What? No!" Spike defended her. "Janice, stand back."
"You wanna fight me, blondie? Then bring it."
Spike sighed at the apparent fledgling, knowing that this wouldn't take long. "Here we go."
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"Dawn, what the hell do you think you were- Giles?"
"Hello."
"Uh, hi. Are you patrolling?"
"Yes."
"Alone?"
"There's no one else. And why do you ask like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like I'm incompetent."
"I never said incompetent!"
"You didn't have to..."
"Giles, I don't have time."
"All right, all right, I'll leave you two alone. Finish my patrol. Maybe I won't get killed."
Buffy smiled sweetly at him. "Thank you."
He smiled back, nodded at Dawn, and went on his way. Buffy then took the opportunity to finish what she had tried to start before.
"So why are you hitting Spike again?"
"I didn't hit him that hard..."
"Dawn, you broke his nose!"
"Oops..."
"Stop it, Dawn. You're not a little kid. You know what you did. What I don't understand is why."
"And you never will."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It just means that you couldn't possibly understand why I'm so upset with him."
"Try me."
"I don't want to."
"Try me."
"NO!" Dawn shrieked angrily as her cheeks turned a bright red. "What can't you just take no for an answer?"
"Because it's my job to pry."
"Oh right, I forgot, it's your JOB."
"And I'm worried about you, Dawnie. You're not acting like yourself."
"No. You're just pissed that I punched the guy that gives you a happy whenever you blow the dog whistle."
"How dare you speak to me like that?"
"Sorry," Dawn grumbled under her breath.
"As well you should be. But you're not completely wrong. I am pissed that you hit Spike and you can't give me a reason not to be. We don't hit people that we care about. End of story."
"I know, I don't need this lecture."
"Fine, I'll put it on your shoulders and expect this not to happen ever, ever again. But I meant what I said before, you're not acting at all like yourself."
"How would you know?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're always with him these days, how would you know if this is what I'm like or not?"
Buffy took a moment to consider what Dawn had just said and choked a laugh when she realized her little sister's implication.
"Are you jealous?"
"What? No."
"I'm serious, Dawn. Are you jealous of all the time I've been spending with Spike?"
Dawn shuffled her feet and looked down. "Maybe just a teeny bit," she muttered softly.
"Dawnie," Buffy cooed softly as she walked over to her sister and wrapped her arms around her, "you are the most important thing in the world to me. If you want to spend time, we'll spend time."
Dawn shook away from her sister and crossed her arms. "That's what you say now. But I know what will happen, we'll hang a couple of times and then you'll just go back to spending every second with Spike. And then once the baby comes I will never see you. Please don't take this the wrong way, I love Spike, and I will love this baby just as much but, I need your love too."
"Dawn, listen to me," Buffy said as she took her sister's hands, "you will never have to compete with ANYBODY for my love. You're my sister, Dawn. You're me. I love you more than words can say and the return of that feeling means the world to me."
"Then..."
"What?"
"Then why didn't you ask me first before you asked Spike to move in with us?"
"I- I didn't think you would mind."
"Of course I don't mind! But it's still my house too, Buffy. I have to live there too and you don't even ask me how I feel about something. You may not think it would but it really hurts my feeling that you wouldn't ask my opinion about OUR living situation."
"Dawn, I just, I really didn't think it would bother you."
"But it does, Buffy. Did you even ask Willow and Tara what they thought?"
"Uh..."
"That's exactly what I mean. It's not just you and Spike in this."
"Okay, I'll make change where change is needed. From now on you are looking at a whole new Buffy. This Buffy listens to all opinions of all people involved before a final decision is made. Happy?"
Dawn smiled. "Very, very."
"Alright then. I'm gad we've had the chance to work this out. Now, I really could go for some pickles."
Dawn laughed but stopped when she saw the expression on Buffy's face. "Oh my god, you're totally serious."
"Color me pregnant."
Dawn grinned and put her arm and around her sister as Buffy returned the gesture. They walked back through the graveyard toward their house.
"I'm still mad at Spike though," Dawn mumbled as they reached the steps.
"Hey! We've had our sisterly bondage talk for tonight. You can work out whatever problems you have with Spike tomorrow."
Dawn nodded and grimaced at her shoes. "Easier said..."
TBC...
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Well that was fun!!! Okay guys... please review!!!!!!!!!!! :-D