Chapter 7: Close Calls

A/N. (Well, what do you know? It's been a heck of a long time since I updated this fic. I've written another one-shot in that time, I've had the most stressful and fulfilling year in my entire existence (ending high school is bliss and here we are now.

I'd like to mention once again a special thanks for the people who have reviewed my writing, and for those who have encouraged me to continue with this series. I do like finishing things and I do think now that this series will be finished, but that's only because of all of your encouragement and reviewing. It helps me go on, especially in those nasty dark times when I'm staring at a blank page and wondering what the point of it all is.

So this is for you, and all the other people who are still reading me after such a huge break. This is my Christmas present to you. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart, and I hope you enjoy this chapter, and the chapters to come.

I hope you all have a Merry, Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

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Spike was acutely aware of his right arm. Or more precisely, acutely aware of the bone, and the way it was a breath away from shattering.

He was also rather aware of the fact that the Slayer didn't look any better.

It wasn't by chance that Spike had killed two Slayers and had been one quarter of the Scourge of Europe. The peroxided blonde knew when to run from a fight. He also knew that he really, really didn't want to run from this one. But as he took another lunge at the Barbie only to have her shake him so hard he could swear his undead heart was almost shocked into beating, he grudgingly realised he didn't really have a choice.

"Buffy!" he cried, through a cracked and bleeding lip.

The look that passed between them defied communication. In a flash, Spike was on their adversary, beating and kicking the fas

hion victim for all he was worth. Buffy, limping, ran to untie the monk.

Gotta keep her distracted… gotta keep her distracted…

"Who the hell are you, anyway…" He paused, and then his lips curled into a smirk. "Bitch?"

"Hey!" he instantly regretted it when she hit him back with such force it took all of his strength to stay standing. "Watch the bloody coat, woman!"

"How dare you!" she stomped her foot on his, causing him to howl. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to like… hm… not pick on someone who's not only better than you, but who could kick your ass into next Sunday?"

His eyes flashed even more intensely. "My mother taught me to recognise stupid bints like you. Besides… you might be able to kick my incredibly hot butt… but… uh…"

He didn't want to spare a look behind him. He knew the Slayer would do her job. He just also wanted to know whether he'd get out of this undead.

He cracked his head against the pillar when she kicked him again and saw stars. "But I'm cuter than you!"

Oh yeah, Spike, great tactic…

"Oh Goddess…" Cassandra whimpered.

The vampires took their time. They had no reason not to. There were four of them, after all. Even with just one of them, the odds wouldn't have looked good.

Fear wet the air like rain as the four idly circled around the three. It was noiseless… unreal. They could have been normal people; three were in baggy jeans, the other in army slacks. Their faces were clean shaven, their jackets sharp and bright. But there were flashes. A hint of a fang there… the darkening of the eyes… Cass, Daniel and Dawn found themselves pressed back to back, teeth gritted against taut lips.

Carlos inhaled deeply and grinned ferally, canines elongating slightly before he pushed them back. "What are three little kids doing out so late at night?" he asked, his voice oddly honeyed. "Are you new to Sunnydale?"

He stopped in front of Cassandra, his eyes kind and gentle as she shrunk back from him. Without warning, he leapt forwards in full gameface.

"Boo!"

With a shriek, she half-toppled backwards.

He'd barely had time to luxuriate in the adrenaline rushing through his body and trying to fend off the intense pain before she was hoisting him up brutally by his collar. As he drew face to face with her, hauled up like a rag doll, Spike instantly regretted his tactics. They'd worked far too well.

"You little…"

"Spike!" Buffy's cry came from across the room. Glory instantly turned, one hand sending Spike catapulting through the air again as she saw what had happened.

"Hey! Get your hands off of my holy man!"

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, since she'd changed her focus so abruptly to focus on Buffy with the monk in her arms, she'd forgotten where the windows were. The shatter of glass and the vampire's pained howl sent Buffy into action. Ignoring the biting pain of her broken ribs, she secured her hold on the monk, prayed, and jumped out after Spike.

…

Impact was harsh and brutal. To the left of her, she heard Spike groan, but when the dust cleared and her eyes stopped blinking, she could see that he was at least upright. She let the wave of relief wash over her and hauled the monk up by his arms.

"Come on… we can make it now…"

He shook his head as more blood dribbled out of his mouth. "Stop… please…"

Buffy carried him towards the gate, knowing that Spike was just behind her. "No, we have to keep going!"

She saw with terror that his eyes were beginning to roll back. "My journey is done, I think."

"Don't get all metaphory on me!" Buffy cried. Turning to Spike behind her, she held out the monk. "Quick, we've got to take him to Giles."

The blonde vampire's face was a mask of pain, but he cradled the man in his arms without a question. "What are you going to do?"

"Protect our backs. She might come after us at any moment."

The monk coughed up blood, and Spike was filled with a sudden, overwhelming hunger. He shut his eyes against it and fought down his demon and every instinct howling within him to take the tiniest of licks…

"Please…" the cowled man choked. "You have to save the Key…"

Spike shifted him in his arms, trying vainly to lessen the smell of blood. Sweet, human blood…

He gritted his teeth to stifle the yelp of pain threatening to escape his lips. Bloody… whatever the soddin' hell she was. "Fine. We can protect the bloody Key together, okay? Just far, bloody far, away from here.

The monk didn't seem to listen. "Please… many more die if you don't keep it safe."

Buffy's head snapped up at that, from where she'd been worriedly surveying the building they'd just rapidly exited. "How? What is it?"

"The Key is energy. It's a portal. It opens the door..."

The flash of a golden orb sounded in both their memories simultaneously. "The Dagon Sphere?" Buffy demanded.

The monk shook his head weakly. "No. For centuries it had no form at all. My brethren… its only keepers. Then the… abomination found us."

He paused, gulping breath into his abused lungs, and Spike heard the fluttering heartbeat in his arms. "Come on, peoples, we can play story time later. We have to get you healed up."

"No," the monk sighed. "I… must… finish…"

"We can't take him to the hospital like this," Buffy's face was white. "We'll have to take him to Giles, or Willow and Tara. They might be able to help him."

"Yeah, the birds might…"

"Please! I don't have much time left…" the monk coughed again. "We… we had to hide the Key, gave it form, moulded it flesh... made it human…"

He looked at Buffy, who was staring at him with a dawning horror on her face.

"And sent it to you…"

Time stretched, and Spike saw realisation flare up on the Slayer's face. The monk was looking intently, sadly, even as his life seeped away through his wounds and the vampire supported him. Growling under his breath with the pain, the bleached blonde was aware of the fact they were still half-walking, half-dragging themselves away from that cursed building when…

"Oh God! Dawn!"

Spike stopped short, the monk still in his arms. "What?"

Buffy's eyes widened. "I… I kicked them all out of the house. And locked the door."

His heart would have stopped. Obviously, it didn't. Or rather, it just kept on… as being… stopped.

"You soddin' went and did what?!"

"No time!" she said frantically. "I've got to get back! Anything could have gotten them…"

His eyes turned icy. Shoving the dazed monk at her, he snarled.

"You take priest-boy to Giles. I rescue the Juniors."

Buffy had no time to protest. He was off, gliding in his vampiric speed, and if she hadn't been so disconcerted about the monk in her arms and getting him to Giles and everything that had gone down… she could have sworn that it looked like he were flying.

That night was hell.

've been through hell quite a few times. 've caused it quite a few times myself. The mayhem, chaos… that bloody wonderful feelin' of having the freedom to wreak havoc. Bein' on the receiving side is never a nice thing, though.

And now…

I couldn't get to Revello quickly enough. And when I did, I almost, for a raw second, regretted it. The scent of fear was so strong it burned itself into my brain. Normally, I wouldn't have minded. But this time, I could taste the Juniors in the air, and it seared my gut. I stopped, leaning against the wall of the house to steady myself and my aching body, and sniffed the air, trying to follow their tracks. The scent swam up at me through the sea of fear and panic that swamped the place, the tiniest trace that nevertheless got me pushing off the wall immediately to follow it.

I looked in the direction it went, scanning the surroundings, and swore.

They were going to Giles' place. Giles' place… with a soddin' cemetery in the way?!

I didn't think before I started running, and running hard, praying to someone I didn't believe in and who had never liked me anyway that I wasn't too late. Fear was coursing through me now, and I hated the feeling. It was unnatural, it had no responsibility being there, and it was just plain annoying.

And what the hell had the Slayer been doing, throwing those three out anyway? I tried to quell the anger. Had she gone insane, just like that watchman? But then, I'd known something had been off about her, that cold determination and grace radiating from her skin was a glory to behold, but its intensity had been putting her off her game. But then, even if she and I had been at our best, whoever that Barbie bitch was probably could have still kicked our arses. I couldn't believe it. I still couldn't believe it.

There were too many things going on in my head. In gameface, I scanned the surroundings around me as I ran, searching desperately for any sight of them as I followed the traces of their scent. Giles' place was not far now, but neither was the cemetery, and…

I heard them, just before everything went to hell.

Daniel's face was drained white against the moonbeams that trickled through the cloud covered sky. Carlos moved closer, threateningly, even as the boy stood his ground. Dawn and Cassandra stood behind him at his shoulder, the former carefully beginning to inch the hand holding the stake under her coat to hide it, the latter grasping her thin wooden pencil in readiness.

"Oh just hurry up, Carlos," one of the vamps spat. Daniel blinked his eyes. The spell was broken, and his fingers begin to shake. The vampire who'd been looming over him just a second ago turned and scowled.

"Don't you order me around, Shank. You seem to have forgotten who's the master around here."

The smaller vampire bared his teeth. "Just get on with it, won't you? I'm getting hungry."

"They always taste better with fear," the tallest one murmured, lanky strands of hair covering his dead face. "Carlos is just seasoning them up for us."

"As if they need more seasoning! The air is drenched with their pathetic-ness. Now let's get on with it!"

Dawn didn't wait for whatever was going to happen next. She gathered her breath and then leapt at the nearest vamp with a jump fuelled purely by adrenaline, swinging her stake wildly. Whether it was by a miracle or by some inner instinct born within her blood, the wood contacted with his heart and she only saw his eyes contract for a second in surprise before he burst into dust.

There was a frenzied growl from behind her, and suddenly she was knocked off her feet as the fist of the vampire next to her contacted. She stumbled backwards into the pole of a streetlight, dazed. Cassandra moved to go after her, but her path was blocked suddenly by Carlos, and she screamed as he lunged towards her neck. Daniel's cry of pain echoed behind her in her ears as she ducked under Carlos' outreached hands and drove her pencil into his chest. Thick ropey blood spewed out as the vampire bellowed in pain, but nothing happened. Panicking, she withdrew the pencil and tried to stab again, but he backhanded her across the face before she could move.

Pain blinded her eyes, so she didn't see Dawn get seized by the third vampire, her head wrenched back by a violent hand, her neck exposed. She didn't see Daniel cop a blow to his stomach, doubling him over and leaving him helpless to the second vampire closing in. She only felt dirty nails dig into her shoulder and draw blood, raising her up and tilting back her head…

None of them, human or demon, saw the Master vampire arrive in their midst with a preternatural speed. With a rumbled growl that rippled through his chest, Spike seized the vampire about to bite Dawn and ripped his head clean off his shoulders. As Dawn stumbled and fell amongst the dust, he spun around and kicked the one drinking from Daniel with the momentum from his spin, before lashing out an elbow to knock Carlos off his feet and Cassandra with him.

The air split with the growls of the two vampires left. Spike seized the dazed demon still licking Daniel's blood off his lips and pounded him savagely against the pole of the streetlight, before staking him cleanly through the heart. Then he turned to Carlos, who by now had scrambled to his feet, hauling Cassandra with him.

"Move one foot closer, traitor, and I snap her neck," he growled.

Spike paused, and lifted his glittering eyes up to pin the other vampire with a deadly gaze. "You've got five seconds to run."

There was a brief flash of indecision across Carlos' face, and then he threw Cassandra from him and ran. She sprawled in the grass as a bleach blonde streak raced past her. There was a five second pause of silence, and then the three heard a vampire howl.

Spike had about a second of reprieve as the dust settled around him, before two teenagers were hurtling themselves towards him to bury themselves in the soft folds of his duster. Cursing, he staggered back in surprise and pain. Daniel stepped closer, his arm raised to steady the vampire. Gruffly, Spike nodded in acknowledgement, and then winced as the pressure from Dawn's hug radiated through his shoulder.

Dawn pulled back at that, sudden worry in her face as she took in his injuries. "Spike? You're hurt… what happened?"

The vampire froze, and thought quickly. "Just a little something your sis and I had to clean up," he shrugged lightly. "Nothing that the both of us couldn't beat."

"Really?" Cassandra said slowly, things clicking into place in her mind as she calmed down enough to think. "Spike, you look… bad."

A small smirk twisted at the corner of his lips as Spike raised his eyebrow. "Well, I still managed to save your sorry arses, didn't I? Come on. Let's get back to the house."

They nodded, mutely, exhaustedly, the thought of safety so tempting they didn't notice the unreadable expression on his face as his eyes settled on Dawn.

"Yes, let's get back. Big sis has a lot of questions."