Did I Ever Tell You?
by Oracleholly


Pairing: Spike/Dawn (friendship)
Rating: PG
Warning: Some language
Spoilers: Set in that summer between S5's "The Gift" and S6's "Bargaining".
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, Spike & Dawn and the rest of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are owned by Joss Whedon. But if he allowed Marti Noxon to play with them for two seasons, then why can't I take them out every once in a while? Only profit I receive is any reviews thrown my way.
Distribution: This was written for the Summer of Spike, if any site owner wishes to add this to their archives, please contact me.

A/N: Thank you to Blacknblue2 for betaing; Bloodytearsoflife and Slinkypsychokit for their read throughs.

Summary: Spike and Dawn have some bonding time in the summer while Buffy is in 'Hea-ven'.
*************

"Nib?" Spike's voice filled the silent air of the house on Revello Drive. A month had passed since he had failed his Slayer, but he vowed that his promise to take care of her sister would never be broken. So despite how hollow his demon felt at entering the 'house where she once lived,' he came every day - well sometimes day, mostly night - to check on his Nibblet.

Spike reached out with his senses and detected only one heartbeat in the house. His smell confirmed for him that it was Dawn, but he also sensed tears - and that couldn't be anything good. Nibblet had held strong for about three days after big sis' passing, but when their 'father' failed to show up to help with arranging the services, Dawn broke.

"Why? Well, he never was my father, but still. He couldn't be here for her? He never loved us." Those words haunted him, not as heavily as his failure on the tower, but it followed as a close second. Dawn had been doing somewhat better this past week; Buffy would have been proud. Though a quiet Summers likened to the calm before a storm. So, he had kept an eye out to make sure she didn't try to bring back Buffy like she had Joyce.

Tonight though, she was alone in the house and crying. Where in the bleeding hell was Willow and Tara? They usually phoned him - yeah, he'd broken down and gotten that infernal piece of technology - when they needed someone to watch Dawn. Tonight, he hadn't heard from anyone, so after a light patrol, he had made his way over to the house.

He raced up the stairs and found Dawn in Buffy's room, curled into a fetal position on her big sis' bed, clutching Mr. Gordo. For the briefest of moments, memories assaulted him of his last visit to this room - the night he'd come to take Buffy to see Cardboard getting his biting fix. Now wasn't the time to fantasize about the radiance of his Slayer's skin or the smell of her soap. Now, his Nibblet was in distress.

In three long strides, Spike was beside Dawn. "Nib? What's wrong?" he asked, his fingers - without thinking - crept forward and touched her shoulder. Heartbroken, tear-filled blue eyes looked up at him, questioning his appearance. Quickly his retrieved his wayward hand. She surprised him with her speed, as she pounced on him, hugging him tightly. "Spike… you won't believe what they did."

Spike asked, "Who, pet?" He moved with her, so that he was sitting on the bed. Dawn mumbled incoherently into his jacket. "What's that, Nib?"

Dawn picked her head up, sniffled and wiped the tears out of her eyes with her left hand, her right still clinging to his duster. "Willow… Willow and Giles." She spat out venomously.

Her anger redirected her previous mourning, and his mind whirled at the mood swing - so like his Slayer. Rubbing a slow circle on her back, he asked, "What did Red and the Watcher do, pidge?"

"They… promise not to hurt them…well, too much?" He nodded - thinking that how could he hurt them with the blasted chip in his brain. Semantics later. "Well, remember the Buffy bot?"

The coldest feeling of dread raced through his body. "Yeah?" was all he permitted himself to say.

"They…umm… Willow reprogrammed her and Giles wants it to take Buffy's place and do patrols on the Hellmouth." Dawn's anger had been replaced by apprehension.

Spike immediately stood up and began to pace. "Bloody Hell! Those …" Casting a look at Dawn stopped whatever word or words were about to come out of his mouth. "How could they? They think no one will tell the difference? Right. They dare to think that they could replace my Slayer?"

"Spike?"

"Where's Red and Glinda, Nib?" Spike took in the expression on Dawn's face and realized that he'd gone into game face. Bugger. Seeking a calm he didn't feel, he shook off his demon and went back to his human guise. He didn't want to frighten his Nibblet.

A smile broke out on Dawn's face, lighting her up, despite her puffy eyes and the dried trail of tears. "Oh, I threw a fit, pushed Willow into the wall and told her to get out of my house." More somber, she continued, "Tara left after her to calm her down - Willow's eyes actually turned almost black after I pushed her."

Spike was proud of his girl - 'cause that's what she was - his - for standing up for herself, but the news about Willow's temper didn't sit well with him. The fact that Willow could have, in anger, used magic on his Dawn scared him a little. He'd have to pay more attention to what Red was doing and how she was using her magic. Her spells tended to go wonky, but lately she seemed over confident in her abilities. He thought that maybe Glinda was also concerned.

"They'll be back won't they, Spike? I mean… I can't live here on my own. And I am not going to live with dad." Dawn's voice sounded so small.

Sitting back on the bed beside Dawn, Spike assured, "Yeah, the witches will be back. Glinda will see to Red. Don't like what they've done, pet. Everything's so bollixed. They can't make the bot be Buffy, Nib - take it from me. No comparison." He placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently. "You and me make a deal, right? We'll see how it goes and take it one day at a time. You are all that matters to me - don't care a piss about the others. So, you don't like something … say the word, and we'll leave dear ol' Sunnyhell." He never planned on telling her the promise he'd made to Buffy; didn't want her to think that the promise was the only reason he stayed near her.

Dawn hugged him tightly again for a couple of moments, then without letting him go, she turned her eyes back into his own - she was getting taller. "Thanks, Spike, you're the best vampire ever."

"Better believe it, luv." Spike's lips drew into a half-smile, half-smirk. "Bout time someone noticed."

"Buffy noticed… Spike." Dawn replied gently. At the utter disbelief marring his beautiful features, she quickly assured, "She did. Why else would she have taken mom and me to you for protection? Why not call Angel? Why? Cause she knew that you were the better vamp, and you would never let anyone or anything harm us."

Tears welled up in Spike's eyes, his emotions overwhelming him. Dawn watched silently as the 'soulless' 'evil' vampire shed tears in front of her. Knowing how he'd comforted her, she now was the one to do the comforting; patting his knee and waiting out his tears. She checked out his hands, as he began to compose himself.

Shrugging off the last of emotional break, Spike ventured a look at Dawn, expecting to see derision in her gaze. Instead, he found a smiling, understanding Dawn - almost glimpsing at the woman she would eventually become. Her tiny hand grabbed a hold of his left one, and her eyebrow quirked in a way almost reminiscent of his own expression, mischief dancing in her eyes. He'd seen that expression before, when she would purposefully do something and get Buffy into trouble. 'Uh-oh'.

"Wot?" Spike began.

"Spike…" Dawn drew out the 'i'.

"Yes, Nib?"

"Can I do your nails?" She asked, turning his fingers so that he could see the chipped polish.

Retrieving his hand suddenly, Spike answered, "No!"

Now, Dawn began the patented Summers' pout. He couldn't resist that pout. Not from Buffy and neither from his Nibblet. "Pidge, that's not fair." His resolve began to weaken. And like a shark can smell blood in the water, he knew that Dawn knew that his resolve had shattered.

Reluctantly and with a 'put-upon' expression on his face, Spike reassessed his nail covering, seeing more chip than polish, and then handed them over to Dawn, who squealed with glee.

"Oooo, project!!! This is will be way cool." Dawn jumped off the bed, hurrying off to the bathroom. With a grin any evil demon could be proud of, she sauntered back into the room with a bucket of 'supplies'. As she rummaged through the bottles, she frowned slightly, "Ummm, we don't have black or that old color 'vamp', so you'll have to go with another color. Hey, how about this?"

Examining the bottle she proudly held up in the air, he vamped. "No bloody way in hell, pidge." Leaping up from the bed, he fled to the safety of downstairs. His pursuer following close on his heels - she had speed for a human.

"Awww, come on Spikey. Afraid of an itty, bitty color? Who's the Big Bad?" Dawn taunted as she raced to follow him, waving the offending color in the air. She didn't think it was that bad of a choice; he was making far too big a deal about it.

"Oi, I am the Big Bad, and don't you forget it, missy. 'M not wearing that!"

****

Twenty minutes later….

Spike's hair was mussed into his unruly curls, dark eyeliner rimmed his eyes - looking for all the world like some punk rocker - except for the palest shade of lavender nail polish adorning his fingers and now his toes. Dawn's hair was pure 80's Jersey - complete with the straight bangs and teased top. Harsh makeup covered her face, making her appear five years older.

Both were exhausted from the fighting and then the 'makeovers' and were now watching the Slayer's copy of "Beaches." Well Spike was watching because he lost that bet with the Nib last week, plus it reminded him of that albeit too brief time last year when another of Red's spells went wacky and he and the Slayer thought they were engaged. The main song was to be their first dance.

Dawn glanced over at Spike, "Spike…."

Without looking over, Spike answered, "Yeah?"

"Did I ever tell you, you're my hero?" Dawn really tried to keep a straight face, failing miserably. "You're everything I wish I could be."

"Right, pet. You're the wind beneath my wings." Spike laughed in response.


The End

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