Chapter 9

“So, you want me to baby-sit even longer?”

Buffy glared at the stubborn vampire. “Can you not call it that? I don’t want Dawn to hear you. It’s not baby-sitting; I just don’t trust myself enough for her to stay with us right now. I’m afraid of going off the deep end, but you’ve had control of your demon for a long time. I know she’ll be safe with you.”

Charles gave that some thought. “I was finally looking forward to having the place to myself again. Dawn’s a great girl, don’t get me wrong, but it might not be the best idea that she stays here.”

“Please, it’s only temporary. I promise she’ll stay out of your way. You won’t even know she’s here,” Buffy explained.

He nodded after a moment. “All right, for some reason, I can’t seem to say no to you.”

She smiled, pecking him on the cheek. “Thanks, I already talked it over with Dawn. She knows to be on her best behavior. You can continue to spar with her; I think she really enjoys it. I would do that myself, but I’m afraid of hurting her.”

Charles shook his head. “She’s a Slayer, Buffy, able to handle more than a regular teenager. It’s best not to forget that, but you are the strangest vampire. How have you resisted so much? Alona would have ripped that girl to shreds if she was anywhere near her, sister or not.”

Buffy shrugged. “I don’t want to be a killer. Ethan was all I could handle, and I may not regret what I did to him, but I don’t want a repeat performance.”

“You’re a good one, love. William and I, we never really wanted to kill, either. Being around Liam, we couldn’t get out of it. He wanted us to be monsters like him, but the wanker didn’t count on us keeping so much of our humanity. I didn’t even know I could feel anything other than hatred, until I met Emily. She saw something in me that no one else did. I blame myself every day for her death. If it wasn’t for me, Liam wouldn’t have even known about her. He didn’t give Slayers much of a thought before that, and now they’ve become a bloody obsession of his. I guess the real reason of why I worry about Dawn being here is that if Liam is after her, I won’t be able to protect her. I failed with Emily, but with Dawn there would be so much more at stake. She has you, and I fear that if anything happened to her, you would hate me for it. I couldn’t bear the thought of causing you pain, and I know Will would have my head if I did.”

Buffy wiped the tears from her eyes, wrapping her arms around Charles. “I could never hate you, and whatever happens, I know you would have tried your best. I believe that you’ll protect Dawn with your life, and it has nothing to do with me.”

He glanced away, pulling out of her embrace. “Yeah, well, you’re still a big part of it.”

She smiled. “Sure, you keep telling yourself that.”


* * * * *


Dawn poked her head out of her room, hoping to not catch Charles with another one of his bimbos. She was surprised that Buffy would let her stay there, but wasn’t about to complain. When it appeared that the hallway was empty, she headed to the kitchen, surprised to find actual food in his refrigerator. Then again, it made sense since he had humans over a lot. She decided to prepare herself a sandwich, stopping when she heard a door open and immediately hiding behind the counter. Dawn remained quiet, about to get up when she didn’t hear anything else, but a voice startled her.

“Did you lose something, love?”

Dawn banged her head against the counter top, rubbing the sore spot as she stood to stare at him, only to see that he was shirtless. Suddenly, speech seemed to be very difficult, but she shook herself out of her daze. “No, uh, I was just making a snack. Sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you.”

Charles graced her with a smile. “No bother at all, whenever you want something, you can just feel free to get it. I wouldn’t want you starving on my watch; your sis would stake me right and proper.”

She glanced away from his intense gaze, nodding and going back to what she was doing.

Charles raised his eyebrows, not liking how shy she suddenly seemed to be in his presence. He tilted her chin up, so she was looking back at him. “You don’t have to be scared around me, pet. I know how Rayne treated you. He kept you locked up, away from the world as if there was something wrong with you. But in reality, he only wanted you all to himself. He wanted to break you, make you so dependent on him that you would never trust another person as long as he lived. He may have succeeded on some level, but you’re free of him now. You can do whatever you wish, and for as long as you are here; I want you to feel at home. I promise with everything that I am, you will be safe here. Do you trust me?”

Dawn nodded again, feeling tears form in her eyes.

Charles gave her another smile, wiping one of her fallen tears away. “That’s a good girl. See? He didn’t break you. If he did, you probably never would have had the guts to leave your room, let alone actually trusted me. Baby steps,” he claimed.

She returned his smile, not sure how to respond, but knowing that it wasn’t necessary.

He traced her lips with a trembling finger, confused about these newfound feelings that seemed to engulf him whenever he was close to her. “Beautiful, you should do that more often.”

Dawn let out a breath when he walked away, wondering how she would possibly be getting any sleep that night.


* * * * *


“God, you have to love this vampire stamina.”

Spike chuckled, wore out after they’ve fucked nearly five hours straight. His girl was bloody insatiable, and he loved every second of it. “I’m ready to go again. It’s not like we really need to catch our breath.”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “Maybe not, but we still need to walk and I can’t feel my legs at the moment.”

He laughed, nuzzling her shoulder. “Mission accomplished, then.”

She slapped at his arm, resting her head against his chest. “I’m just worried about Dawn. Do you think she’ll be okay?”

Spike nodded, running his fingers through her hair. “She’s a fighter, and I don’t just mean in the physical sense. She’ll be fine; Charles will keep a close eye on her. I told him to back off with bringing various women to his place at all hours of the night. I didn’t think you would appreciate that around Dawn.”

“Thanks ever so, I just don’t want her to get hurt.”

“You’ve noticed it as well, have you?” he wondered. “When he looks at her, it’s not something I’ve seen since Emily. I think he’s terrified of what it means, and losing himself in nameless bints is usually how he deals with things.”

Buffy sat up to stare at him better. “Wait, are you telling me that Charles likes Dawn? I know she has a crush on him, but I didn’t think it was actually reciprocated. I’ve had my suspicions, but figured it was just all in my head.”

Spike shrugged. “I don’t know for sure, it’s just a vibe I get around them.”

She lowered her head back on his chest, not knowing what to think about this new information.


* * * * *


“So, how are things going with Charles?”

Dawn shrugged, kicking a pebble with her foot. “Good, I guess. It’s nice being around someone who doesn’t treat me like a kid all the time, even though he’s way older than me. I know you mean well, but I am a Slayer now. I’ve had to grow up a lot since you’ve been gone. I can take care of myself.”

Buffy nodded. “That may be so, but you’re still my sister. I’m always going to worry about you, no matter what.”

“True, but in a few years, I’ll start to look like the older sister. It might seem weird to people if you keep telling me what to do.”

“Yes, but that’s not today,” Buffy told her.

Dawn let out a sigh. “Who am I kidding? I’ll be lucky enough if I even make it to my next birthday. I know Slayers die young; Charles told me that Emily was only eighteen. And apparently, that’s old in Slayer years.”

Buffy put her arm around Dawn’s shoulders, giving her sister a squeeze. “You’re going to surpass that, I’ll see to it. I’m really sorry about this, Dawny. I had so much hope for you. To get married, have a family of your own, leave our crazy mother. This was not the life I had in mind.”

She shrugged again. “It could always be worse. I don’t blame you for any of this, Buffy, it’s not like you chose me. I have to admit that when I first found out about my calling, I was really shocked, but also excited. I’ve lived in your shadow for so long. Everyone always just knew me as Buffy’s little sister, I never really felt that I was important. For the first time in my life, I feel that I have a real purpose.”

Buffy brushed the hair out of her face. “I’m sorry you felt that way, but for what it’s worth, you’ve always been important to me.”

Dawn smiled, stopping when they came across a dead body in the cemetery where they were currently patrolling. She knew it was way too quiet.

Buffy kneeled down to feel for a pulse, but it was no use. She turned the man’s head, eyes widening at the sight of a letter ‘A’ that was carved in his cheek. She quickly grabbed Dawn’s hand, pulling her away from the corpse. “We have to go. Now!” she yelled, not waiting for a response as she yanked her sister out of the cemetery. The remains were warm, which meant it hadn’t been that long since he was murdered and the killer was likely still close by. Buffy slammed into another body that seemed to come out of nowhere, too busy looking behind her to notice him there.

“What’s the rush? I was hoping we could have ourselves a little chat.”

Buffy stood in front of Dawn, staring Liam down. “Get out of my way, asshole.”

He laughed. “Oh, I do like you, but that’s not really an option. While I’ve been looking for the Slayer, you’ve had her with you all this time. I’m actually ashamed at myself for not figuring it out sooner. I was even more surprised to find out that she’s your sister. At first I just thought you were keeping her hidden to spite me, but now it all makes sense.” Liam looked over at Dawn, licking his lips. “She’s a pretty little thing; I’m going to enjoy eating her.”

Buffy growled, her hand tightening around Dawn’s. “You won’t be touching her.”

“Now, I don’t think you really have a choice. In case you forgot our last confrontation, I can rip you apart in mere seconds. You’re an amateur, sweetheart. Spike hasn’t been feeding you enough human blood to get your strength up. If you try and fight me, there’s no way you can win, but I’ll give you an alternative. You hand the girl over to me, and you can go free. I’ll never bother you or your precious boy toys again. I mean, did you really think you could protect her forever? She’s a Slayer; her mission in this world is to die. Why tempt the fates?”

Buffy glared at him, wanting nothing more than to rid the world of this monster. “If you think I would just willingly give my sister up to a psychotic like you, then you don’t know anything about me.”

He nodded. “Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Before she knew it, they were surrounded by a group of fledgling vampires. Buffy could probably take on two or three, but this was a bit over her limit and with the way Dawn was shaking, she didn’t think either of them could put up much of a fight.

A slow grin formed on Liam’s face. “I guess we’ll be doing this the hard way.”


* * * * *


“Where the fuck are they?”

Charles grasped his friend’s arm to stop his pacing. “You need to calm down, Will. Maybe they just wanted to spend more time together, I’m sure Dawn is tired of always being cooped up inside with just myself for company. After living with that Ethan bloke, I can’t really blame her.”

Spike gave him a look. “Do you really believe that? It’s almost sunrise, Buffy wouldn’t risk being out this late. Especially not if she had Dawn with her, something isn’t right.”

A knock sounded at the front door, which had Spike rushing over to answer it. There was no one there, but he noticed a white envelope on the floor. He took it inside, closing the door behind him. Once he got the envelope open, he spilled the contents out on the kitchen table, his face filling with rage. Inside was a golden strand of hair that clearly belonged to Buffy, along with the necklace Dawn always wore. Spike unfolded the note that he found with the items, but he didn’t need to read it to know who had the girls. He crumbled up the paper, turning to face Charles, who had the same look of malice on his features.

Liam was going to pay for this.