Uh.light.ow. head.mumph.Random thoughts and images floated giddily through Dawn's mind as she blinked slowly. As her eyes focused in the too-bright light, she saw Willow sponging her forehead with a damp cloth. Moaning, she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to adjust to the harshly glaring light of the room and stop the insane pounding in her skull.
Little mice chewing on my brain...a nonexistent voice singsonged. Huh? she wondered. After a moment, she opened her lids once again and looked at the worried redhead.
"Willow.? Stop. Where am I?"
With a jolt everything flooded back to her. She gave a small gasp and attempted to sit up; but in her weakened state, only succeeded in falling back on the pillows.
"Its ok, Dawnie. Rest now. Buffy told me everything. Just sleep."
"Everything, huh?" Though in her drained and half-dead stupor, it didn't sound nearly as cynical as she'd intended it.
"Yeah. Spike trying to.and that wonky spell in the cemetery. Poor Dawnie." Willow patted her head sympathetically.
"Spike trying to what? I- "
"Ya know, I really should go check on Buffy. She was really beat up. She thinks the spell had something to do with Spike being able to hurt her.either that or the chip malfunctioning. You're really lucky he didn't hurt you."
"But-" Dawn started. Willow ran off before she could continue, a deer-in-the-headlights look in her eyes as she quickly disappeared into the hallway.
No sooner had the door clicked shut than it reopened and Buffy entered, faint purple bruises already beginning to mar her features. As she crossed the threshold, Dawn noticed a slight limp intervening with her usually lithe movements.
"Dawn, we need to talk."
Dawn attempted to reply, but the bile rose in her throat as she gazed at her sister. Her eyes narrowed and she clenched her hands. After she choked the burning fluid back down, she managed to murmur, "Geez, you don't look so great."
Buffy ignored her.
"Dawn, what exactly was going on," she sat on the edge of the bed, "in the-," she looked away, "with Spike? Did he threaten you? I can't believe he-"
Dawn burst out laughing, but was quickly overcome with pain and stopped. She swallowed, her throat burning fiercely. "Why don't you tell me? 'cause obviously you know so much about the whole situation."
Buffy's voice grew hard. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Well, let's see," Dawn looked down to conceal the tears that threatened to spill over. "You burst in, don't let us explain, then start beating the crap out of him. I figure you must know exactly what was going on." She paused, then added the punch, "Either that or you're just an unreasonable bitch."
Buffy jerked as if she had been slapped. "Dawn! I just wanted to- Spike is evil. The only reason he hasn't killed us all is the chip. I'm just trying to protect you."
"Funny, last time I checked, I didn't need protection. You did. Maybe I should've just let Spike kill you."
"Dawn, we all could've died. Who know where that spell came from, or what it did? I.don't even remember. And what do you mean, let him kill me? Do you think you have a say in all this? Spike was trying to hurt you. I'm the Slayer and I need to do what's right."
"Don't you get it? That was me. Me. The magic was me. I'm a lot more useful than you seem to think. I mean, none of you even noticed. That's where Spike's different. He cares about me. But you're too busy being all 'Ooh, I'm the Slayer!' to notice anything."
"Cares about you? Have you been, oh my god, have you been seeing Spike? Are you involved with him?"
Dawn was silent.
"Can't you see he was using you? Dawn, he's a soulless thing. He doesn't care about anything. I don't want you near him. At all. Oh, god, Dawn, he's dangerous and you're a- you're not old enough to handle people like him. You can't see him. No more hanging around Spike.From now on, after school, you come straight home; if I see you near him, talking to him, anything, I'll kill him. And I mean it."
A shocked silence filled the room, as this information hit the younger of the two Summer's women. Then,
"I hate you." Dawn felt like she was going to throw up, and she said the words with enough venom to kill. "Get out."
"Dawn, I just-" Buffy attempted to touch Dawn's hair, but Dawn jerked away. "Just, get out. Out of my life. Away from me. Just go."
"Dawn-"
"Leave me alone!"
Buffy sighed and walked out, pausing to say, "I'm gonna have Will check on that spell, and if it was you, and I need her to help keep you under control, don't think I won't. You can't see Spike. And if you think that I can't stop you; she can." The door shut softly behind her, leaving Dawn to the comfort of her room. But the comfort was gone, stripped away by the harsh words of a sister. Instead, she lay down and wept.
* * *
Spike woke and lifted his head slowly. He recalled the blast and for a moment entertained the thought that the chip had fired exceptionally hard, suddenly deciding to work while he was kicking Buffy's ass; but then he remembered that the blast had struck her as well.
Plus, he never recalled his chip emitting blue lightning or shooting off like a jet propelled rocket launcher.The dazed vampire concluded that it must've been a spell of some sort and quickly discarded any ideas of malfunctioning chips and funny colored lightning.
He stood slowly and then remembered Dawn. He attempted to run over to his crypt, but his body had other ideas, and he lurched forward in an ungainly stumble. Resigning himself to his encumbered state, he limped over and realized that, of course, the Slayer had already left and had taken her sis with her. The fact that she hadn't staked him while he was unconscious was a bloody miracle.
"Bitch," he muttered. He felt the anger building in his chest again and punched into the door with all his weight. When the doorframe made a resoundingly satisfying crack!, he stepped into the crypt and began hurling objects around attempting to vent his frustration. Quickly spent due to the fact that he was hurt, he roared with anger, gave the sofa one last kick, and went downstairs. He painstakingly stripped off his clothes and laid down to rest, worrying about Dawn and wondering how in hell they were going to get through this...
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Hey, I hope you all like this one. My fic is taking an angsty turn..something I'm not too good at; but for you all, I'll try. Well, review! I didn't get as many as usual for my last chapter and it made me quite sad.let me know what you think!!