Ok, here is the long awaited update. I'm sorry about the wait. Remember to please review. Also, sorry in advance, but my spell check isn't working for some reason and I can't figure out how to fix it, so if my spelling is off, that's why. Also...the page breaks were not working...I don't think, so when i seems like it should be a new scene...yea...you get the idea, lol.

Chapter 15:

Once Spike had settled into the backseat of Angel's Plymouth, with Dawn laid across his lap, Buffy slid in beside him. As Angel pulled onto the main road, headed toward Buffy's house, Xander turned to look Dawn over, "Shouldn't we get her to the hospital?"

Spike felt Dawn instantly tense in his arms as her head shot forward in Xander's direction, "No! I'm not going to the hospital." she breathed out shakily.

Xander looked towards Buffy to back him up, but she was being oddly quiet and appeared to be lost in her own thoughts. "Dawn, you look pretty bad, you should really see a doctor." he stated slowly.

"No."

"Dawn..."

"Xander, just drop it! I said, I'm not going. Please, just...stop." she sighed frustrated, as tears leaked from her eyes. Spike lightly brushed his thumb over her arm in a comforting gesture as she buried her head back into his chest.

Xander nodded reluctantly and turned back towards the front.

As soon as they pulled into the driveway of the Summer's residence, Dawn remembered that there was a house full of girls she barely knew, "I don't want to go in there." Angel gave her a questioning glance as he lifted his seat forward to make room for them to be able to get out. "There is too many people in there, I just...I don't want..."

Angel seemed to understand her hesitation, "I have a room at the Sunnydale Inn, it's yours if you want it. You and Buffy," Angel raised his eyes to meet Spike's, "or whoever you want to stay with you."

Dawn tried for a slight smile, instead, coming out as a grimace as she shifted to sit up, and shook her head in acceptance, "Thank you."

Spike looked over to Buffy, who still seemed oblivious to what was going on, "Slayer, you stayin' here, or are you comin' to the motel with us?"

When she didn't answer for a few seconds, Spike nudged her in the arm with his elbow, "Huh? Oh, umm, yeah, I'm coming."

Spike looked at her skeptically, briefly wondering if she would be alright, before turning his gaze to Angel, who seemed concerned for her as well. "Right, well why don't you go grab some of the Bit's clothes, and maybe a first aid kit, yeah?" Buffy nodded and exited the car with Xander following behind.

Spike kept his eyes on Dawn as they made their way to the motel. He wasn't sure if she had just fallen asleep or passed out from the pain. Either way he was partly grateful as he took this time to observe her injuries on her head, being as careful as he could as not to wake her. He didn't get a very thorough look since blood stained her skin around the wounds, but as far as he could tell they didn't seem too bad...the ones on her head, anyway.

Once they arrived and pulled into the parking lot, Buffy started to open the door to get out, when Angel stopped her, "Can we talk for a minute?" When she agreed, Angel handed Spike the motel key and told him the room number and asked if he could take her by himself for a few minutes.

Spike lifted Dawn easily and hurried to the room without waking her, and once he had gotten inside he gently laid her down on the bed.

He cautiously opened his duster to get a better look at the extent of her injuries, and had to blink back tears as he again saw the blood coating her inner thighs. If only I had killed that bastard before, this wouldn't have happened to her. She wouldn't have had to go through this, that son of a bitch never would have been able to touch her, never been able to... Spike let out a low growl as he envisaged exactly what had happened to her. He shook the image from his head as he slowly closed the duster and covered her back up.

"Buffy, are you alright?" Angel asked as he sat in the parking lot with Buffy.

She shook her head as she answered, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just worried about Dawn."

Angel considered her for a moment, he didn't understand what had happened. He could piece together what had happened to Dawn by the condition she was in when they found her, not to mention, he could smell what happened to her, but the reason why was still a mystery. Angel didn't know much about this guy, but from what he had been told over the phone by Buffy, he was one of the good guys, son of a slayer, granted, Spike was the one who killed his mother, and no doubt he had issues with Spike, but what did that have to do with Buffy and Dawn? Why had he tried to hurt them?

"What is going on, what happened back there, Buffy?"

Buffy closed her eyes as the tears she had been holding in, spilt down her face. "I don't know. He just snapped, I guess. He hurt her, Angel! I tried, I did, I tried to stop him, but I couldn't! God...how could I have let this happen to her?" she cried hysterically.

Angel reached out and put his arms around her, "Hey, Buffy, listen to me, this isn't your fault. I know if you could have stopped it, you would have. Dawn knows that too."

As Buffy started to quiet down, Angel's cell phone rang, "Here, you take it, it's Willow, I'm gonna go and get another room."

Spike was tenderly caressing the side of Dawn's face as he watched her sleep, when he heard the light rapping at the door. Spike opened the door and motioned for Buffy to step inside.

Buffy set a medium sized duffel bag down on the table, "These are her clothes and a toothbrush, along with some first aid stuff...bandages and antiseptic." Spike nodded his thanks and unzipped the bag and pulled out the medical supplies. "Umm, Angel is in the next room over, he is going to stay in there...it has two beds, you can stay in there if you want to."

Spike looked at her sharply, "I'm not leavin' 'er side, Slayer." Just look at what happened the last time I did that.

Buffy sighed, "Okay. Should I...um, should I wake her up to...clean her?" she asked gesturing to the medical supplies.

Spike shook his head, "No, I'll do it...after she wakes up. Just let her sleep for a while. Look, why don't you go and stay in Angel's room? There is only one bed here and you should probably get some rest."

Buffy narrowed her eyes and studied his face for a long moment, "Can I trust you?"

Spike threw his hands up, "Bloody hell, Slayer, we're back to that? Thought we had this conversation earlier. Told you I would never hurt her."

Buffy steeled her gaze at him, "You did, but that was before."

"B'fore what? B'fore that son of a bitch ra-...before he hurt her?" he asked incredulously.

She squeezed her eyes shut for a brief second as she tried to push the events of what had transpired tonight out of her mind. "No. Before you lost your soul again."

Spike stood dumbfounded for an instant, How did she know about my soul bein' gone? Unless...ahh, apparently he had somethin' to do with that, as well. "Nothin's changed, Slayer."

"How do I know that? You don't have a soul or a chip anymore, how do I know that-"

"Listen, Slayer," he interrupted, "Told you I would never hurt her, and I meant it, me not havin' a soul doesn't change that. I'm not like 'Peaches', who instantly goes insane and starts murdering the people he claims to care about." Spike could see that she still wasn't convinced, "Look, even when I had that soddin' chip and before the soul, I never hurt her...and I could have. The chip didn't work on her, guessin' 'cause she's not entirely human...found that out by accident. She knows that, too, she also knows I would never harm her." he added quietly.

Buffy gaped at Spike, she couldn't believe that he had been able to hurt her sister the entire. Well, maybe I should trust him, he did, after all, save her life numerous times, and he took care of her and watched out for her the summer I was gone, knowing the whole time that he could harm her if he chose to. But he didn't, not once. He even let a hell god torture him nearly to death, and still never gave her up. "Okay, just please, don't give me any reason to regret my decision of trusting you with her."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Slayer." he said as she exited the room.

Again, please review. It really inspires me and it also just makes my day. Thank you to all of you who are reading and patiently waiting for my updates. Anyways, tell me what you think and please be honest...not brutal, lol. And, if you have any ideas or anything you would like to see happen, please feel free to let me know.