Author: Kristen
Title: Blood Ties 4?
Website: http:magical-worlds.us/scribblings/
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters on Buffy. I also don't own any of the characters from Roswell. No infringement is intended and no profit is being made. This is purely for my own entertainment. Only this plot is mine.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Up to Season 5 for Buffy including the episode The Gift and Season 1 for Roswell.
Pairings: Dawn/Michael
Summary: After the events of The Gift, Hank interferes and sends Dawn to relatives in Roswell. Spike follows, and soon secrets are exposed and lives are changed. Because even though Glory is gone, Dawn still isn't out of danger and neither are the people around her.
AN: I've counted all the votes and it was very close. There was even a tie at one point between Alex and Kyle but in the end Michael had the most votes. So the pairing for this fic will now be Dawn/Michael. I may write a Dawn/Alex fic in the future since I like the idea so much. I also debated on whether to post this part as it is. Part of this will be familiar to those who are on my fanfic list since I posted a sneak peek there. However, I got quite a bit of nice feedback from people who weren't on the list and unaware of that wishing to see a new chapter soon. I had intended to write a longer chapter but too many reviews convinced me that people would be a lot happier to see something sooner, even if it was shorter than I would have liked it to be. After many setbacks due to laptop battery problems and my health, finally, here is part 4.
Part 4
Dawn rode with Spike back to the Evans home. The whole way there she felt like a mass of feelings ready to explode. There was relief and exultation that someone had come for her, that Spike had come for her. She wanted to go home and she couldn't wait to leave.
There was also fear. What if the Evans wouldn't let her leave? Phillip was a lawyer… What if he could prevent her from going back to Sunnydale until she was an adult? What if Hank found out and sided with Phillip? What would they do then? Was there a way to fix this?
And surprisingly, there was even a twinge of regret at the thought of leaving Roswell. It was nice being around people her age. People who genuinely liked her and didn't think of her as the weird kid. People who didn't actually have memories they could point to to back that opinion up. And, she felt a twinge of guilt for thinking this, but it was nice to be out of the specter of Buffy's shadow for a little while. To be Dawn Summers and not Buffy's little sister.
The kids here were nice. Well, most of them anyway. Michael seemed to have a case of the unfriendlies towards her. But, even that she might miss a little. Matching wits briefly with Michael had made her feel alive.
She hadn't met all of Max and Isabel's friends yet. However, she had enjoyed meeting the ones she had so far. It had been a bit like being in a Scooby Gang of her own and she could see the slight resemblance between the two. Max and Liz had that soulmate sort of love like Buffy and Angel had had. Isabel reminded her a little of Cordelia. Alex was a bit like Xander. And Michael? Well she wasn't exactly sure where he fit in. Maybe he was the Spike of that group. Besides Dawn wasn't exactly like Willow, or even Anya, and Tara. So the comparison only stretched so far. And without Buffy… well there really wasn't a Scooby Gang without her.
It was going to be good to get back to Sunnydale was her last thought before they pulled up in front of the house.
Michael looked in disgust at the car Spike parked in the street in front of the house instead of pulling into the driveway. "What kind of crazy person drives with the windows blacked out? And what could make a person willingly get into a car like that?" He turned to Max with a somber look. "I hate to be the one to tell you this Max but your cousin sprouted off the nutty branch of the family tree."
Max rolled his eyes.
"Give it a rest, Michael," Isabel ordered. "You've done nothing but talk about Dawn since we left the Crashdown." She turned to him with a calculating look. "One might start to think you were interested in her."
Michael snorted and hopped out of the jeep with an irritated grunt. "Yeah. Right. That's exactly it." He leaned forward and spoke in an angry whisper. "Maxwell may have forgotten that we promised we wouldn't get involved, but I haven't."
"Okay, Michael. You're not interested," Isabel said placatingly.
Michael nodded, satisfied he'd made his point. He wasn't interested in Dawn, no matter how pretty she was.
Isabel opened the door and shoved it the few inches between them into Michael's stomach. He grunted with the impact. "Now move," Isabel said. "I don't want to sit here all day."
Max just chuckled slightly at the two of them as he rounded the hood of the jeep and passed them. It was nice to see Isabel drive someone else nuts for a change.
"No. Absolutely not! Dawn is staying here. I'm not going to let her leave on the say so of some hoodlum like you," Phillip said loudly in Spike's direction.
It was not going well. Oh, things had started out well. Until Uncle Phillip and Aunt Diane found out she was going to be leaving with Spike. Then Spike had gone from the interesting friend of Buffy Diane viewed him as to the disrespectful criminal Phillip saw.
She and Spike had followed Max, Isabel, and Michael through the front door. Dawn had softly whispered an invitation to Spike as she drew him inside with her. They had all silently filed into the living room as if in agreement that Dawn and Spike were to do all the speaking.
Phillip and Diane had been watching tv. The flickering lights of the commercial played across the walls. They both looked over and Diane turned on the lamp.
"Hey kids," Phillip had said. His gaze then traveled to Dawn who was standing close to Spike. "Who's this?"
Dawn had taken a deep breath then said, "This is Spike. He was a friend of Buffy."
Diane looked at Spike, surprised at this news. What was he doing here? She studied him speculatively. How close a friend of Buffy's was he? Was he a boyfriend? Which led her right back to her original question. What was he doing here?
"Hello," Diane said hesitantly. She didn't know quite what to think of him at first. He was dressed like the typical bad boy with tight black jeans; a black t-shirt covered by a long sleeved red one, and a leather duster, all topped off with bleached blond hair. Yet, there was something about him that said there was more to him than that. Maybe it was the way he confidently met their gazes without flinching or any signs of the nervousness someone his age might have at meeting anyone's parents. Or maybe, it was the weight of years in his eyes that spoke of having lived through more than she could imagine. Those eyes were also filled with the evidence that he was someone who was grieving and grieving deeply. She recognized those very same shadows of grief in Dawn's eyes. It was because of that that Diane wasn't put off by his appearance or his attitude. Instead, she wanted to mother him as much as he would allow her to.
Because Diane had never been able to have children of her own she had always looked to fill in the void by unofficially adopting the friends of her children as her own. It was why she never minded how often Michael would sleep over. She only wished there was more she could do for him, but until he actually admitted there was a problem and confirmed her suspicions there was nothing she could do.
Overall, Diane was quite disposed to like Spike. She fleetingly wondered if the reason he seemed to be grieving deeply was because he and Buffy had been in love. The idea only encouraged her mother's heart.
"Spike?" Philip questioned. He hesitated before continuing with the slightest hint of distaste. "That's an unusual name." Whereas Diane saw this new arrival with her mother's heart Philip viewed him with his lawyer's mind. He looked every inch the sort of trouble he didn't want his kids getting into. Like Diane he viewed Michael as one of their own and since Dawn came to live with them he included her in that category as well. What was Joyce thinking letting her daughters associate with someone like this? It was no wonder Buffy had gone wild and burned down the Hemry high school gym. He wasn't too sure that Buffy hadn't been involved with blowing up the Sunnydale high school gym either. The stories he had heard of that occurrence had always sounded a bit suspicious to him.
Ranged along the wall behind Dawn and Spike the three hybrids could easily read the signs of Philips thoughts trailing over his face. The trio exchanged glances that seemed to say batten down the hatches; the storm is going to be a doozy!
Dawn's nervous demeanor and Spike's tight face said they were well aware of what Philip was thinking too.
Diane immediately tried to ease the situation. She rose from the couch and greeted Spike warmly. "It's so nice to meet a friend of Buffy's and Dawn's as well," she said taking in how tightly Dawn was gripping his hand. "I'm Diane and this is my husband Philip," she said as she motioned to her husband who had followed her.
"It's nice to meet you." Spike said as politely as he could manage after Dawn nudged him pointedly.
Philip extended his hand in a handshake after a pointed glance from his wife. "Likewise."
Dawn was thankful when Spike followed suit. Granted, he did it with a heavy sigh, which was rude. However, he didn't crush her uncle's hand and that was the best you could expect of an extraordinary vampire like Spike. This whole situation had her as tense as a long tailed cat in a roomful of rockers. If they could just get out of here without any big blow-ups or violent confrontations she'd count herself lucky.
"So what brings you to Roswell?" Philip asked as soon as the formalities had been gotten out of the way.
"I'm here to take Dawn home to Sunnydale where she belongs," Spike stated bluntly, impatient with the façade of pleasantness. He wasn't a demon interested in playing games. That was Angelus's preference. He believed in simply doing whatever he'd decided to do. Being a demon he generally did it full gusto and with fists and fangs. However, fate had conspired against him with first the chip being implanted then the growth of his love for the Slayer and her sister. Being restrained and having to do this the human way for Dawn irritated him. It left him with an impatience to get this over with as soon as possible. And if the way he did that happened to annoy her relatives, well so much the better. He was a demon after all.
Dawn rolled her eyes. Well, he had behaved longer than she thought he would. She supposed there wasn't really a way to handle this nicely anyway. The whole situation sucked and sucked mightily.
"Excuse me?" Philip asked very carefully.
Isabel and Max's eyes widened. They knew that tone of voice.
Michael smirked. And the shit hits the fan. He couldn't help but be pleased that this new guy was about to be hit with the brunt of Mr. Evans's anger. There was something about Spike that just irritated the heck out of him.
"You heard me," Spike said coldly.
Things quickly deteriorated from there.
"Listen here punk," Philip yelled. "I don't know what made you think that you could come here and I'd just allow you to take my niece with you but you're gravely mistaken. Especially not with someone like you." He looked Spike's appearance over with a glance filled with contempt. "How many times have you been in jail?" He angrily asked.
"No, you listen to me," Spike said in a voice that dripped with steel and menace. It fairly promised death. A chill went down the spines of Max, Michael, and Isabel at the sound. The quiet tones he had spoken in only made it that much more intimidating. They looked with new and alarmed eyes at the person who could make their voice sound like that.
Philip was intimidated as well but damned if he would let some rebel without a clue see it.
"I made a promise to Buffy," Spike continued. "A promise that I would always look out for Dawn and take care of her. That may not mean much to the likes of you," and here he raked Philip with a scornful glance of his own. "But it means everything to me. Buffy was this world's saving grace. She was everything good you will never be." Spike's eyes glistened and though his voice roughened it still held force. "Dawn is all I have left, she's been through more than she should have to, and I will not let another day go by without me there to watch over her and protect her. So you get this into your head, you pillock. Dawn will be coming home with me and you aren't going to do a bloody thing to stop me."
Spike turned around, gently grasped Dawn's hand once again and led her out of the room leaving a stunned and shaken group behind him. "Come on, nibblet," he said in a tender voice. "Let's go get your things."
Diane turned to Philip in alarm. "We can't let them leave."
Phillip shook off his fear. What was he thinking letting someone like that scare him? His face hardened and his eyes turned grim. "Oh I won't. I'll have him arrested on charges of attempted kidnapping before I let that happen."
Isabel gasped at this news. "Dad you can't! He cares about her, honestly cares, I could tell that and I only met him today."
She turned appealing eyes to her mom for help. She had seen the look in her mom's eyes when she met Spike.
Diane laid a gentle hand on her husband's arm. "Don't you think that might be going too far? We'll alienate Dawn completely if we throw her friend in prison."
Philip looked incredulously at his wife. "Surely you aren't suggesting we just let them walk out of here to who knows where, to do who knows what, and let them get away with it? How could he possibly take care of her?"
"Good grief, Philip," Diane said exasperated. "Of course not. I'm simply saying we try to resolve things peacefully."
Their conversation was interrupted by the return of Spike and Dawn. Dawn had one bag and Spike was carrying the other.
Philip wasted no time stating his intentions. "If you take one step outside this house with my niece I'll have you arrested for kidnapping. I'm a lawyer, I'll make sure the charges stick so well that by the time you get out your friend's grandchildren will be having babies."
Dawn immediately paled. "No!"
Spike growled and his eyes flashed dangerously. Dawn knew what he was thinking and she frantically dropped her bag and framed Spike's face with her hands. "No Spike, you can't." She whispered her next words. "The chip. Remember?"
"You're insane if you think I'm going to let that stop me," Spike answered. "You're all I have left," he said in a broken voice.
Dawn stared into his eyes. "I don't want to see you hurt. You've been hurt too much for me already," she said, thinking of when Glory had tortured him for information on the Key. Spike hadn't said a word but the consequences had been…awful. She had snuck out to his crypt to see him and had been horrified at the damage that had been done. She had been the cause of so much suffering so far. She didn't want to be the cause of any more.
"It's not forever. I'll see you again in two years. Go," she said as she put on her resolve face and took her other bag from Spike. Tears welled in her eyes and she fought them back.
"Dawn, no," Spike protested. "I've failed you once before. I won't fail you again. I'm not leaving unless you're coming with me."
"You don't have any say in the matter," Philip informed Spike icily, unwilling to be moved by the display of emotion between his niece and that British punk.
Diane however was. "Of course you won't."
"What?" Dawn and Philip cried out at the same time.
"She's agreed to stay Philip, be satisfied with that. I won't let her be cut off from her friends completely. Friends who obviously care for her so deeply." She turned to Spike with a warm smile. "As long as Dawn stays here, you will always be welcome in our home." She then addressed Dawn, "That goes for any of your other friends too. Anytime they want to visit they're more than welcome to."
"Diane!" Philip yelled, outraged.
Michael silently agreed with him. There was something off about this Spike. He was sure he had seen Spike's eyes change color for a minute there before when he was yelling at Mr. Evans.
Dawn's eyes welled up this time with tears of relief. She may be forced to stay in Roswell for the time being but she wouldn't have to stay here forever. And having Spike here would make things so much easier. "Thanks, Aunt Diane."
Diane smiled. "You're welcome sweetie." She turned to her husband and forestalled the coming argument with a raised hand. "Enough. This is my house too and I will open it to whomever I wish. Deal with it." She swept across the room and put her arm around Dawn. "Come on, let's get you settled in again." Two steps out of the room she paused and looked back at Spike who was standing there rather stunned. "Would you mind bringing the bags?"
"Uh, yeah sure, Mrs. Evans." He easily swept them up off the floor. His voice carried back to the living room. "Say, you wouldn't happen to have any hot chocolate with those little marshmallows would you?"
End Part 4
I've just realized I've never responded to any reviews here. Probably because doesn't offer a reply to reviews option like other places do. I'll tryto remeber to do so in the future but if you want to be guaranteed a reply you can do one of three things.
1.) leave your email address in your review.
2.) join my yahoo group for updates and discussion off all my fanfic
3.) leave a review at my website for me by using the form there. I never give out email addresses and you're always guaranteed a reply.
And now, I'll answer the previous reviews.
Megan Elizabeth : Thanks so much for leaving 3 reviews! I never really planned to have Dawn with Spike though I have nothing against the ship, having read a few fics with that pairing myself. Since I did open this up to voting I went with whoever was the clear winner at the end. I love the idea of a Dawn/Alex pairing so I will write afic with that pairing eventually, I just need a good idea first.
PomegranateQueen: Thank you! I'm glad you decided to give my crossover a try. And thanks for leaving two reviews in all.
MystiStar1: I did count your vote and when there was a tie between Alex and Kyle I asked for votes to break it. Michael had the most in the end but I hope you'll keep reading anyway. Thanks for the review!
Love Angel 1705: Thanks so much for the wonderful review. I admit the thought of a catfight between Dawn and Maria makes me want to laugh too, mostly because I detest Maria's character.
Rogue212: Fear not! This fic hasn't been abandoned. I've been dealing with real life issues but this story will be finished.
Matt: Thanks for the review. I never really intended to put Dawn with Spike even though I like the ship. I guess my leanings are a bit obvious since I've had a lot of requests for it. I'm also a big Buffy/Spike shipper so that'll show up in this fic too. Frankly, I enjoy a lot of different ships. I don't have any plans for any big identity revelations soon but the will be coming. As for visitations by any other Buffy characters, well I haven't really decided if that will happen or not.
Enjael1: Thanks so much for your wonderful review. I've never seen a crossover written quite like this before and since I wanted to read one I decided to write it. Now, I'm having way too much fun with it to stop. I've had a lot of requests for Dawn/Alex though in the end Michael fans swung the vote in his favor. I will write a Dawn/Alex fic in the future though as soon as my muse comes up with a great idea.
Diana: Here I am surprised again by another Dawn/Spike request. I never really expected that. I'm sorry but in this fic I have them written as more brother/sister and best friends than any shippy feelings between the two. All the other emails and reviews requesting the ship makes me wonder though if I'd be any good at writing a Dawn/Spike fic if I tried. You'll be pleased to see that this will be a Dawn/Michael pairing at least. And thanks so much for telling me you added it to your favorites. Compliments like that still make me feel like I'm floating ten feet off the ground.
Kat: I can't remember if I emailed you before or not in response to your review. If I haven't well here it is. I took your suggestion and have since moved this story to the Buffy Crossover section.
I've never seen a fic like this either which is what compelled me to write it after reading other crossovers that didn't quite satisfy my cravings completely.
For some reason I find Spike very easy to write unlike other characters. He's always seemed very clear to me. I don't know why some characters are like that, but I'm not complaining!
I did note your vote and you'll be pleased that Michael was the one who had the most votes.
What really kept me from posting for so long was my battery died on me completely and it was quite awhile until I could afford a new one. Then after I did get it, my health has interfered and I had trouble getting this part done to my satisfaction. I do have some basic ideas for what I want to do in this fic but I may take you up on your offer to help. You know what? I'll email you tomorrow about this. Any suggestions are welcome. I might not be able to use them all but I'd love to hear what you have to say.
CommaSplice: Thanks for leaving a review and I hope you liked the update.