DISCLAIMER: All Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters belong to Joss W. Sorry for warping them so. – Saff)

Blood and Velvet

Part Five: Good bye sister / Hello Crazy

Dawn hugs her sister tightly, relishing the affection. "Don't worry about me so much ok? I'm safe here."

"I hope so." Buffy replies. "But you're going to do all the things you promised right?"

Dawn winkles her nose at her but smiles as she answers. "Yes. I'll ask Spike about the girl, I'll ask Angel about a better security system, I'll keep a can of pepper spray, a stake, and my cell on me always and I'll call you twice weekly to check in. And you, you remember what you promised me?"

"Don't die?"

"Good. Remember that, I don't want to go to another one of your funerals." She pecks her on the cheek. "Be safe ok?"

Buffy nods. "I'll come and visit again for more than a night when Faith comes back to handle patrol."

"Good. Give me a bit more notice though okay? I'd like to have time to shop and clean and all that good house keeping stuff I'm working my way up to."

Buffy laughs. "A slow and painful process I'm sure."

They manage to separate themselves and Buffy climbs in the car giving Dawn and Xander a chance to say their good byes.

"I'm proud of you Dawnie." Xander tells her, getting all-big brotherly on her. "I didn't leave home until I was- " He smirks "Well quite a bit older than you. Take care of yourself all right?"

"Absolutely. I'm a big kid now remember? I can even pour my own milk." Dawn smiles, and hugs him. He hugs her back, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead before pulling away. "Take care all right? And give my love to the rest of the scoobies. Tell Giles I expect that tea set he promised me to arrive any day now."

"Sure thing. Take care."

"You too. Call me when you get there ok?"

They leave. Dawn stands on the front step until they fade from view before returning to the house. Once inside she heads directly to the cordless phone and dial's spike's number. She had figured a few things out with Buffy or rather because of Buffy. The most important being she either needed to deal with the drama taking hold of her life head on or quit spending time with him all together. The first was what she was going with because not seeing him at all was a distressing possibility.

She paces her living room, anxiously awaiting a reply. After the fifth ring some one picks up but does not answer.

"Hello? Spike? . . . it's dawn."

"Oh thank god!" a female voice exclaims. "I don't know what to do you have to help!"

"Dru?" Dawn asks, unable to place the voice.

"No. This is Mickey; I'm a friend of Spikes. He's never mentioned me before?"

"I don-"

"It doesn't matter. He's mentioned you. He's really hurt, these big hairy demon dudes attacked us and one almost cut his fucking arm off. He's lost so much blood and I tried to feed him some of mine but he just convulses and gets all bug eyed - I don't know what to do." The girl's voice is shrill and panic stricken.

Panicked Dawn rushes about the house gathering things she thought she might need. Including a first aid kit, her safety stuff, and the remaining bottles of blood from her fridge. "I'll be right over. Can he speak?"

"He's unconscious."

"right then. I need you to do something for me. Across the street there is a meat shop. Inside is a man named Ben, and if you ask for some blood, and say it's for Dawn Summers, he'll give you some. Tell him you're my project partner Candace. Got that?"

"Guy named Ben, blood, project, Candace, got it.  Bring Blankets and sheets. He's only got a few and they're filthy."

Dawn remembers something. He had indeed mentioned her a few times in the past. She was a  see-er, called him sweet for killing some one for her.  She was a *Vampire*

"Hold on" Dawn commands. "Mickey who?"

"Not Mickey. Nicky. My name's Nicole David. My dad does his papers. Pass ports and what not."

"Oh right." Dawn answers. She had heard of her. Had a crush on Spike and he flirted with her to piss off her dad.

"Go get some blood. He'll need more than what I have and we don't need him being all tempted to eat us."

"right. Thank you, I'm freaking out here. If I called my Dad he'd only kill him."

"I'm leaving now and I'll be there in forty minutes at the most Get the blood and try to get him to drink. If that doesn't work just try to pour some down his throat."

Dawn hangs up and with no thought of anything else leaves the house, her backpack of supplies in hand.

Deep beneath the ground, in a cozy candlelit room, Spike and Mickey are sleeping lightly, between little bursts of conversation. They are lying on a sofa, his hands playing with her hair affectionately. "Hey Mick?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you hate me?"

"Sometimes." She answers honestly. "But I can count the number of people I care for on one hand. Ironically enough you are my middle finger."

He chuckles. "Well at least that means I'm third in your heart whatever way you go."

"I would still kill you."

"and I you."

"No you wouldn't."

"C'mon now. Remember what we agreed upon regarding my ego?"

"Oh right. I know you would Mr. big bad vampire; I'm shaking in your arms with the fear your absolute power inspires. I'll be good - I swear to it on my soul."

"You don't have a soul. That's why I can still kill you."

Her eyes open and she smiles up at him. "No you wouldn't. " She snuggles closer to him, a show of power and affection. "Not when I can help you out with this problem of yours.  At sunset you need to go from whence you came. They've lost track of Charlotte and she's after your girl."

"WHAT?" He asks, his body stiffening.

"Just came in." She answers. "News flash from Alicia's unguarded mind. She says Come and Play - the game has begun." Mickey's face contorts as something intrudes into her mind. "My mistake. It's Charlotte thinking really loudly. How Strange . . . "

"Tell me what else you see." Spike demands/begs, not daring to move in fear of misplacing the images in her head.

"There's blood, not a lot but . . . It's dark, music is playing, someone is scared, someone else is unconscious."

"Long brown hair?" He asks. "Is it her?"

"I can't see it, Charlotte is . . . she's hurt."

Involuntarily spike feels a wave of concern for his fledgling. "Is the slayer there?" He asks momentarily furious that some one would dare hurt her.

Mickey opens her eyes and shakes her head in annoyance as she rises; sleep having been rendered a pointless quest. "I think it's her own doing. Attract masochists don't you Spike? There's nothing you can do until sunset. But don't fret. She wants to torture now and kill later. You have time."

"Bloody hell. Don't you have a phone?" The only response he gets is a laugh. "Fine then. Can you contact people? Like a witch for instance."

She hesitates, her expression unreadable. "Not unless I know the person very well. In the I've tasted your blood sense. I imagine the only way I heard your childe is because she has your blood and a bit of Odessa and Mayangelique's blood inside her. Add to that her power and the fact that she isn't all that aware of it yet it's like an open line between us anytime she's feeling anything extreme."

Spike stands and looks down to the small vampire who looked up at him, a smile pulling at her lips. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" He demands, sounding furious.

She laughs whole-heartedly. "Only a little sweetness." He softens at her rarely used nickname for him. "But cut me some slack will you? You show up after ten years of no contact and expect me to fix your life that *you* fucked up so royally?" She glares, her anger melting his heart and steeling his hope. "And it's not just a small matter of killing a few of the wrong demons. noooo you have to be involved with humans. You know I hate humans."

"But she's my human. Can't you help her for me?" He pleads with her, taking her hands in his, kissing them lightly in the old fashioned manner that always made her smile.

"NO!" He drops her hands and looks up, her eyes are shut tightly and she emits a low growl of pain.

"mickey?!" She falls back down; he catches her and sets her back down on the sofa.

"ohhh." She holds her heads and sobs quietly. "Leave. Leave me!"

"No! What's wrong?"

"LEAVE!" She roars her demon face showing. He steps back in shock but does not leave.

"No."

She leans back into the sofa, her tears still falling. "I can't see." She breathes, and indeed, he realizes her eyes stared into nothing while looking in his general direction. He sits next to her and takes her face in his hands as he stares at her intently.

"What's wrong?" He demands

"*humans*" She growls. "They're all in my head. All of them. I can't stop them anymore, they won't stop."

"Stop what?"

"Charlotte." She says suddenly. Her human features returning. Her eyes clear. "Spike. You have to stop her. She doesn't know."

"Know what?"

"Dawn's voice, it will be in her head for the rest of her life, it will drive her mad. Her power is to much."

Spike takes a moment to take it all in. He had know idea what she was rambling on about, all he knew was it didn't sounds good for either of his girls. "Huh?"

"If she takes her blood. It will be the ruin of her."

Mickey stands, nearly falls back but steadies herself. "I won't stand for it. She can't turn her; it has to be some one he can't see as well as she. Mayangelique!"

"Hold on a minute. No one is going to turn her."

"Some one has too.  It's what you want."

"No it's not."

"She'll die. Humans die."

"So do we."

"She's so bright! I've never seen such light. Do you know that saying 'keep thy friends close and thy enemies closer?"

"Yeah."

"We can protect her. The slayer will die soon she'll be on her own and some demon will take her.  It will upset the balance and I won't stand for it. I've worked to hard for this life. If we turn her she'll have a better chance to stay alive long enough for whatever it is she was sent here to do get's done."

"Mickey no. She was meant to be human

. We have to leave her that way."

"But she'll die!"

Spike feels as though he has been slapped. He knew what it meant. She was mortal and she would die. But he couldn't change her, couldn't disrupt the plans of whatever good powers had sent her.

"She deserves a chance at her own life. She'll die vampire or not eventually. Mind as well let her do her own thing for a while, no?"

"NO!" Spike takes a hold of her shoulders, clenching her tiny arms tightly. "Mickey. I don't know what's going on in that head of yours but no one can turn something as pure as her into a demon. THAT will upset the balance."

"Let me go!" She pulls away and stalks out of the room. Disappearing into a labyrinth of hallways and rooms. He tries to follow but the whole place smelled of her and he quickly lost the trail.

He roars in frustration and sets about finding his way to the surface. Sunset was just hours away and he needed to get back to Dawn as soon as vampirically possible. Seemed he attracted the mentally skewed. He wondered what it was about him that screamed 'weirdoes come hither." Was it his hair?