"What the hell are you doing to my sister?"
The Slayer's voice rang out jarringly in the stone crypt. Dawn's heart actually did stop. So did her breath. She turned slowly, fearfully. "B-buffy?"
"Dawn, get over here. Now." The Slayer's voice was as hard as steel; as cutting and precise as the weaponry she so often wielded; and Dawn quickly did what she was told, buttoning her pants as she did so.
"Buffy," she ventured. "We weren't...Spike was..." She trailed off miserably.
"Spike was what?" she asked, turning her icy glare on the still kneeling vampire. Dawn clenched her fists, staring across the room at him, hoping his explanation fared better than her own. He gave her a nervous glance as he stood, and she felt a hopeless dread sink into the pit of her stomach...
* * *
"Now, Slayer," he started, knowing that if he wanted to live, this had better be good. He stuffed his hands into his coat pockets, looking first to the floor, then to the ceiling for inspiration. "See," he began again, "it's like this..." Damn bitch, he thought, "the girl was here..we were...watching the telly," he saw her gaze flicker to the blank screen, "and she asked me to...tie her shoe."
He felt Dawn wince all the way across the room, and felt the same sinking dread that had seized her a moment earlier. Bloody hell! A hundred years of lying, cheating, stealing, covering up for all sorts of...predicaments, and tying her shoe?! Sodding git, he chastised himself.
He was yanked out of his mental reproach when the Slayer's fist crashed against his face. He stumbled back. Bloody- another blow to his nose. "Slayer, what the-" a kick to his side that sent him crashing into the wall.
He blocked the next several attacks sent his way, cursing the chip for not allowing him to fight back. He heard Dawn's voice pleading with Buffy in the background, but it was no use. The Slayer continued to hit, punch, kick..pummeling him till they tumbled out of the crypt and into the night.
With each blow she landed, thought he blocked the majority of them, his suppressed rage bubbled closer and closer to the surface. When she flipped him over a gravestone and straddled him, pounding him mercilessly, he cracked. With a roar, the beast in him unleashed itself and he flipped her off of him. He jumped to his feet, wiping the blood from his nose and lip. With yellowed eyes, he watched Buffy mirror his actions, landing on her feet with catlike grace. When she saw him vamped out, she smirked, one that closely imitated his own, and placed a hand on her hip, taunting, "What? Gonna hurt me, Spikey?"
With a roar, he lunged at her, not caring about the chip as long as he could hit her, just once. A resounding thud echoed through the night as he punched her in the face for all he was worth. She clearly hadn't expected the blow and flew back against the side of the crypt, then crumpled to the floor. Spike clutched at his head, expecting searing pain, and was shocked when he felt...nothing.
Smiling, though still baffled, his cocky swagger returned as he sauntered over to her. "Ooh, Slayer," he mocked in a sensually dangerous voice, "the pain...the pain..." he clutched at his head in mock agony, "is gone." He released his head and leered down at her, "Whatcha gonna do now, baby?"
She climbed to her feet and dusted herself off, glaring at him, "What I should've done a long time ago..." Her voice was low and threatening and he thought of last year, outside the Bronze, when he told her they would dance... He recalled her saying, 'Not with you, never with you, Spike...'
But dance they would. She lunged at him, tackling him to the ground, but he just as easily threw her off, a feral growl rumbling in his throat, blood screaming in his veins to kill. Kill the Slayer.
The whirled, kicked, fought; locked in fatal battle, instincts telling them not to stop until one of them was gone; whether it be she, lying in a pool of her own blood, or he, turned to ashes, dusted by the stake that had somehow appeared in her hand. To pause meant to die.
And so they fought. And time stood still. Stood still for these two mortal enemies, fighting to the death to protect the one they both loved, neither admitting they were tired nor in pain as they landed blow after blow, flipping over headstones, whirling through the darkness, dodging one another, each trying to evade death, knowing one false move could mean their demise. Bruised and battered, they continued to struggle. But for one, time was not standing still...
* * *
Dawn screamed, tears streaming down her face as she watched her sister and the man she loved fighting to the death; torn between her emotions for the two. She loved Spike, and hated Buffy for doing this...but despite her rage, knew she could never hurt her sister. At first, she'd wanted to kill Buffy, seeing her hurt Spike when he couldn't defend himself. But somehow, he was hurting her right back, and suddenly she couldn't. Couldn't gang up on her sister, no matter how much she hated her at the moment. Buffy had died for her. She couldn't...
Finally, the pain, the fear of seeing one of them die, took over, and without realizing she was doing it, raised her arms, calling out to the ancient powers, using the strength she now knew she possessed. Her eyes turned white and rolled back, and she gathered every bit of strength she ever had, then thought with all her heart and mind, Save them.
A jet of blue light erupted from the sky, then hit her in the chest. She threw her head back and gasped as she felt both immense pain and power as this, this energy, channeled itself through her. She watched as it hit them, Slayer and Vampire, throwing them from each other with startling force. The two bodies soared through the air, then hit the ground, knocking them both unconscious.
Satisfied that they were out of harm's way, exhaustion swept through Dawn's body, and she collapsed.
* * *
Buffy sat up, confused. Fighting Spike...he can hurt me... she jerked in fear, looking around as pain coursed through her, blue light...Dawnie? She stood up quickly and cried out as the full reality of her injuries hit her, then glanced around. She could see Spike at least fifty feet away, also unconscious. She looked towards the crypt door, light spilling out to reveal a body...Dawn?
She convulsed in fear, Oh, god, Dawn... and ran over, despite her injuries. Each step was agonizing, but the fear for her sister was worse. After what seemed like forever, she reached her.
Dawn's eyes were closed and her breathing shallow, but she didn't appear to be physically hurt. Not sure what had happened, she glanced back at Spike's form lying amidst graves and headstones. Not wanting to be there when he woke, she hastily scooped up her sister and little by little, made her way home.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Yeah, I'm not sure, but I think this chapter kinda sucked. Fight scenes are SO not my thing...ah, well, I tried. Thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter! Please review this one, too. I NEED feedback! And yeah, 'the pain, the pain, is gone,' was from Smashed, so please Joss, don't sue. It's not like you need the money.
PS: Sorry it took me so long to update, my internet was malfunctioning and I couldn't get on for a whole month!! Pity me…Damn computer.