~*~ Chapter 11 - Pleasure ~*~

Spike was still not there when Buffy came back that night. She supposed he was out patrolling, although he always told her before he went. She took a shower and decided to sprawl out in front of the TV.

She dozed off for a while, then suddenly woke up, realizing it was now very late and Spike was still not there. Where the hell is he now? She thought, worried and angry he didn’t take the time to call her.

She finally heard the key in the lock.

“Hey,” he said, like everything was normal. “You still up?”

She opened her mouth, shocked by his casualness.

“Of course I’m still up! What do you think? I was sick with worry!”

He looked at her, his face showing genuine surprise.

“Why? I was just out, like I always do. Needed to clear up my head, a little bit…I don’t see what the fuss is all about.”

“Why didn’t you let me know?”

“I just didn’t think you would be worried. And you have no reason to. I lived 120 years without you watching my back, you know. I’m a big boy,” he said, kind of offended she thought he could be hurt if she wasn’t there to protect him. Sometimes he almost missed the time when she would see him as the Big Bad.

“I know,” she admitted, calming down and relieved he was home. “It’s stupid. I know you don’t need me.”

“Wrong,” he said, walking to her and taking her in his arms. “I always need you. I just needed some time alone, is all. To think about all this. I’m sorry, I should have called you.”

They held on to each other for a moment.

“Are you scared?” she finally asked.

“A little bit,” he confessed. “But mostly because I don’t know what’s going on.”

“I called Giles. He said he would do some research.”

Spike smiled.

“That sounds like Giles. Will he tell the Council of Wankers?”

“I asked him not to.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“I suppose he’s not too keen on letting them know his Slayer is living in sin with a vampire.”

“I’m not living in sin!”

“Well, I can think of at least one sin being committed every night in that room,” he said with a wicked smile.

She gave him a slight tap on the arm.

“Whatever. Don’t ever disappear like that again without warning, or I might have to take drastic measures.”

He encircled her waist with his arms and purred in her ear,

“It turns me on when you threaten me like that, Summers.”

His hand sneaked under her nightgown and reached its goal. She gasped.

She felt his fingers caressing and stroking the right spot, and let her head fall back. He nuzzled her neck at the same time, licking it, performing the same movements with his fingers. She climaxed violently, right in the middle of her living room. He legs gave away and he held her, taking her in his arms. He carried her into the bedroom.

She smiled dreamily to him.

“Did I tell you how much I love you?” she asked, watching him in the eyes.

He had trouble focusing when she was watching him like that. He had never hoped she would look at him with anything else than disdain, and now she had all that love to offer him - and God was his witness, he would make the better use of it.

“Not today, it seems,” he said, smiling back and laying her on the bed.

“Well, I do.”

“You do what?” he asked playfully, kissing her cheek and jaw line.

“Love you, silly,” she giggled.

“Please show me how much,” he whispered, echoing her words of the previous night.

And she was more than willing to.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Honey, I’m home!” said Dawn playfully, walking into the apartment.

“Ok!” said Connor from the shower.

Dawn had worked the late shift today. One of the girls had called sick and she had volunteered to do the double shift since she wasn’t working the day after. And they always could use the extra money.

Connor had gone to have dinner at her restaurant then had left, making sure she would take a cab instead of walking in the dark.

He walked out of the bathroom a few minutes later with a towel around his waist. Smiling, he went to Dawn, took her face in his hands and kissed her tenderly and deeply.

“Welcome home, chali,” he said.

“Thank you,” she said, happy and a little intrigued by his gentleness. “What did you do after you left the restaurant?”

“I came back directly, read a little. Waited for you.”

Dawn sighed, contented to be with him after that long day of work.

“I’m going to take a shower too. Will you wait for me?”

“Well, I’m not going anywhere,” he answered huskily.

Connor walked to the bed and laid on it, discarding the towel he was wearing. Tonight, he wanted to practice some of the things he had read. He wanted to make Dawn feel happy and loved. He just wished his nervousness would go away.

In the bathroom, Dawn turned off the shower and wrapped her body in a towel. Stepping out of the bathtub, she put her hands on the counter and looked at herself in the mirror. She was nervous, almost scared. She knew Connor was waiting for her and that he wanted her. Everything in his body language since he had walked out of the bathroom had said so. But she could not shake the distressful feeling of dissatisfaction she had from the first and only time they had made love.

Sighing, she looked around for clean clothes but couldn’t find any. She had forgotten to take it before her shower again. She tightened the towel around her and opened the door.

The room was plunged in darkness and she waited a few seconds for her eyes to adjust, time during which Connor stood up and walked to her. The gesture made Dawn increasingly nervous and she couldn’t stop herself from taking a step back.

“Dawn…are you ok?” he asked, concerned.

“I…I’m scared,” she admitted reluctantly.

“That’s fine, chali,” he said, putting his hand on her shoulders. “We’re not going to do anything that you don’t want to.”

Dawn took refuge against his chest and he brought his arms around her, hugging her tenderly, kissing the top of her head. Dawn looked up at him and smiled,

“I love you.”

“I love you too,” he said, pulling her to the bed.

They laid down on the bed, one next to the other, and before pulling Dawn to his chest, he gently took away the towel still hiding her body. Dawn felt somewhat exposed, but the non-sexual way he pulled her to him put her mind at ease.

She laid there, wide awake, her naked body pressed against his, her hand on his shoulder and the other on his muscled chest. She suddenly felt an incredible urge to kiss him.

She raised her head from his shoulder and brought her lips to his, initiating a tender kiss that soon became a lot more passionate. Their tongues dueled for a few minutes, and they both rolled to their side, facing each other.

Short of breath, Dawn stopped the kiss and looked at Connor. He looked back, desire expressed all over his face. She kissed him again, all her fears forgotten, feeling only desire in her womb. The kiss was long, deep and highly sensual.

Timidly, Dawn’s hand slid along Connor’s body, from his chest to his hip and reveled in its softness. Slowly, she brought her hand to his manhood and wrapped her fingers around it. Connor took a deep breath, closing his eyes. His lips found Dawn’s again, and he delicately grabbed her lower lip between his teeth and sucked on it. He wet her lips with his tongue and they parted, giving him access to her mouth. When he felt he couldn’t stand the feeling of her hand on him more longer, he took it and brought it to his lips, kissing everyone of her fingers tenderly. Then he gently pushed her so she was lying on her back.

Dawn was electrified, she couldn’t wait to see what he would do next. She felt shivers down her spine. He took position over her and she felt his lips on her neck, his hands on her breasts, caressing them softly. A moan of pleasure escaped her lips. His touch was so gently, so sensual. She wanted more and she got it. She gasped in surprise when she felt his mouth close around her hard nipple and he began to suck gently. When he got her other nipple, her desire had built so strong that the need was becoming painful. She wanted him inside of her, now.

She brought her legs around his waist and pulled him towards her. He was the one who hesitated for a moment, but she finally prevailed with her insistence.

When their eyes finally met, she could feel his sex against her wet entrance, throbbing. He entered her tight channel, causing her to shiver violently and catch her breath in her throat. The sensation was incredible. A little painful at first, then incredibly relieving.

“Are you ok?” Connor asked, kissing her forehead.

As an answer, she only pushed him deeper into her with her thighs. The pleasure was incredible, nothing to do with the first time. He began to move into her, slowly, kissing her face, giving time for her climax to build in her. She felt the tension increase to an incredible height. Connor accelerated and she felt her climax coming. Strongly she grabbed Connor by the shoulders and held him tight to her, feeling a wave of pure pleasure wash over her. She moaned Connor’s name in ecstasy.

The contractions of Dawn’s inner walls also brought Connor over the edge and he came into her, thanking the Powers that Be for allowing him to know a blissful moment like this with such an amazing person like Dawn.

Dawn’s pleasure had been earth shattering and so did his. She was still trembling and he looked at her with wonder.

“I love you,” he said in a deep voice. “Wherever you are, I feel like I’m home.”

Dawn smiled back, touched.

“I love you too,” she said.

He was still inside her and he felt her inner muscles squeezing him.

“Do you want more?” he asked with a lop-sided grin.

Dawn knew he was referring to one of the articles and laughed.

“I would love too. But I’m not sure if I can.”

As if to punctuate her sentence, she yawned like a sleepy satisfied cat, and so did Connor.

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” he said.

Slowly, he slipped out of her refuge and she groaned in protest. She liked to feel his solid warmth inside of her and loosing that contact made her feel empty.

He rolled on his side and pulled Dawn to him, bringing her back against his chest, laying her hand on his extended arm. He softly caressed her belly and her breasts. Dawn sighed in satisfaction under his touch.

“Chali, I…I wanted to tell you how sorry I am,” he whispered in her ear.

“Why?”

“For causing you so much distress.”

“Don’t worry, it’s already forgotten.”

“But I can’t forget,” he said.

Dawn turned in the circle of his arms to face him.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, caressing his face.

“I…I’ve got something to tell you,” he said.

“What is it?”

He hesitated for a few seconds.

“It’s about where I grew up,” he finally started.

Dawn patiently waited for him to say more.

“I didn’t grow up on earth. Not really. I grew up in another dimension.”

Dawn knew about other dimensions. The Scoobies had talked about it frequently enough, and she remembered that one time they had to deal with a vamped Willow. But she wondered how he got to travel to one.

“I grew up in Quortoth. When I was six months old, a man who wanted to extract vengeance against my father kidnapped me, and he jumped through a portal a demon had opened, taking me with him. It was a Hell dimension, where we were the only two humans. Holtz taught me a lot of things, but they were all related to fighting and violence. There are a lot of thing he forgot to mention. Love is one of them.”

“Is he the one who killed your chali?” asked Dawn.

“Yes, he did,” answered Connor sadly.

“So when did you come back?”

“Sometime in May. I was full of anger at that time, because I had been told all my life that my real father had abandoned me, and that he was a vicious killer. And Holtz had been killed as well, but he had done it so I would think it was my father who had done it. I finally discovered the truth and went to live with my father.”

“And why did you leave?” asked Dawn, caressing his chest and moved by his story.

“Because I heard my father tell his girlfriend he would rather not have me back, or something like that.”

They stayed silent for a moment. Then he asked,

“What about you?”

“Same thing. I heard my sister say she was tired of having to take care of me.”

“You don’t have parents?”

“No. My mother died two years ago, and my father abandoned us when I was little.”

“I’m sorry,” said Connor.

“Don’t be. All those things happening to us, it led us to each other. And meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

She kissed him again, more passionately this time.

“I love you,» she said, feeling him getting hard against her abdomen.

He brought his fingers to her wet center. She gasped and moaned every time he touched the sensitive bulb of nerves. He finally found her right spot and rubbed her gently.

“Oh, Connor, please don’t stop,” she begged, feeling her climax building. When he brought two fingers inside of her, she couldn’t take it anymore, moaning loudly.

“I thought we were supposed to sleep,” she said, short of breath.

Connor took position over her again.

“I know, but suddenly I don’t feel like it anymore,” he said, lowering himself inside of her.

They both moaned, looked at each other and laughed. He moved inside of her and she moaned again. He kissed her playfully.

“I feel like playing,” he told her. “I was never allowed to play when I was a child. But now, with you…I really would like to play.”

“Oh really?” she asked with a mischievous smile. “Then we play,” she said, suddenly pushing him off of her and on his back.

To say Connor was surprised was an understatement. Before he had time to move, Dawn straddled him. Connor had always been in control, all his life, and suddenly he wasn’t anymore. It was a weird feeling. But very interesting too, considering his current position.

Dawn rose to her knees and lowered herself on him, accepting him inside her. She began to move up and down on him, and he loved that. He could look at her like he wanted, touch her like he wanted.

They both came together.

Exhausted, they just rested in each other’s arms, listening to their heartbeats.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Buffy woke up and watched the alarm clock. It was only seven am, and it was Sunday, she remembered. Absolutely no reason to get up. Absolutely every reason to stay in bed with Spike.

Which was currently missing in action.

She heard some noise coming from the bathroom. Since she had to answer and urgent call of nature, she got up and opened the bathroom door.

She froze.

Spike was there, indeed.

And he was…

“Spike! Oh my God!”

He jumped and turned back.

“What are you doing?” she stupidly asked.

He gave her a ‘duh’ look.

“What does it look like? And can’t a bloke have some privacy?”

Still shocked, Buffy closed the door and waited outside. A few seconds later she heard the toilet flush and an even more flushed Spike got out.

She looked at him questioningly.

“Ok…another mystery added to ‘Spike’s little adventures towards humanity’. Although it seems more and more obvious.”

He went back to the bedroom and sat on the bed.

“I woke up with that strange feeling in little spike. At first I thought it was just a morning…you know. Then I realized I had to pee!”

She sat besides him, caressing his forehead.

“I hope Giles will find something soon.”

Suddenly his previous words sunk in and she burst out laughing. He shot her a furious glance.

“It’s bloody not funny, you know!”

“I’m sorry. It’s just…I can’t believe you gave it a name! I mean…little spike?

Spike realized what he had unfortunately let slip.

“Oh. Forget I said that.”

“Absolutely no chance about that, mister!”

She got more serious when she saw his face. There was a mix of anger, embarrassment, but mostly fear.

“Don’t worry,” she said gently. “I’m more and more convinced this is good. Somehow, they decided to reward you for all the goods you’ve made…for getting a soul out of love…”

“Who ‘they’?”

“That I don’t know…I remembered Cordelia mentioning the Powers That Be once, when I was in LA…maybe they are watching over us too.”

He nodded, not totally convinced.

“So, it was the first time you had to pee, for…what?”

“About 127 years.”

“Wow. That must have hurt a little, huh?”

“Bloody well it did. It looks like everything starts to function again inside. After all those years, I don’t expect it to be a joyride. That’s just bloody brilliant,” he muttered to himself.

They went back to bed, since it was still early, and Spike needed some comfort. Or at least he was playing the poor puppy that needed comfort, and Buffy couldn’t resist him.

“You know,” she suddenly said, “You’re going to have to face an even bigger challenge now.”

“What?”

“Learning to put the toilet seat down.”

TBC...

~*~Chapter 12 - Helpless ~*~

It was with a bright smile that Dawn brought Miss Annigan’s coffee that morning.

“You’re awfully cheery this morning, my dear. I would take it that my little advice worked.”

Dawn turned crimson red, but didn’t lose her smile.

“Yes, it did,” she said. “I can never thank you enough.”

Miss Annigan made a dismissive gesture.

“Listen, child, Thanksgiving is next week and I would love if you and your young man would come to my house for dinner.

Dawn beamed at the invitation.

“I would love it too,” she answered, excited. “I’ll ask Connor and let you know.”

“You do that. I would love to have your company.”

“Well, I would love to come.”

Somebody from another table called Dawn.

“Go child. Don’t get fired over me.”

Dawn walked away, happy at the idea of spending Thanksgiving with Miss Annigan. With her and Connor, it would feel like family again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Buffy?”

“Mmmm?”

“It’s happening again.”

Spike took her hand and put it on his chest. Buffy’s eyes shot wide open when she felt the obvious beating under it. The silence in the room was complete, even Buffy had stopped breathing. Then, the beating suddenly stopped. She felt like screaming. No!

“It lasted longer this time,” Spike simply said.

“Did it hurt?” she asked.

“Yeah. The first time I was too surprised and didn’t really realize. It’s like…I don’t know, like everything is burning inside, and someone is squeezing very hard. It’s hard to explain.”

“The burning might be the air in your lungs. You didn’t need to breathe for a century either.”

“Right. Hope I’m not gonna catch any allergies, then,” he said, joking.

But Buffy didn’t smile. She rested her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest, hoping vainly she could make it start again. Spike tenderly kissed her forehead and they stayed silent for a moment, lost in their own thoughts.

“Do you realize what it could mean for us?” Buffy suddenly asked in a whisper.

“Of course I do. If I’m human again, it opens a world of possibilities. Like a nice stroll in the park hand in hand in the middle of the afternoon.”

She had to smile at that.

“You will have to get an identity. An ID card, a social security number…”

“I know someone who can help me with that.”

“I’m sure you do, honey,” she said teasingly.

He kissed her, and it was slow and gentle.

“We could get married,” he said matter-of-factly.

She tensed, feeling her heart skip a beat. The simple idea filled her with a happiness she didn’t even know was possible.

“Is that a proposal?”

It was his turn to smile.

“Yes and no. I don’t want to make big plans as long as we don’t know exactly what’s going on. But if it does turn out like we hope…then you’d better be prepared for that question, yes.”

“I’m more than prepared,” she whispered. “And you already know my answer.”

He put a finger on her mouth.

“Let’s keep all that for later, luv. When we’re sure, we’ll do it good and proper.”

She agreed. Another thought crossed her mind and her breath caught in her throat, her heart started to beat faster. She kept it to herself, though.

“What?” he asked her, feeling something was going on.

Of course she should have know he would feel it.

“If you’re human,” she said cautiously, “we could…we could have a baby.”

Spike felt a rush of emotions running through him. A baby…that…that would be the real thing that would make the whole humanity thing worth it. He didn’t really care about all the rest. He had lived like that for more than a century, he could go on for another one. Of course, that meant that Buffy would age and that at some point she would die. But he knew already that when that day came he would go with her. There was no way he would be able to go on without her after that.

But now, there was the probability that he would grow old as well…and yes, the incredible and marvelous idea of having a baby…and maybe two or three…and form a family.

“That would be neat,” he said, but she could feel in his voice that he was as moved by the thought as she was.

She sighed.

“We have to stop doing this,” she said in a sadder tone. “Because if we’re wrong…it will be too cruel. And I’m not sure I could handle this on top of everything else.”

“You’re right. Let’s forget about this conversation for the moment.”

“Yes, we’ll do that. Good night, honey.”

“ ’Night, bab…sweetheart.”

She settled comfortably against him and they both went back to sleep. Their dreams were filled with walks in sunlit parks and baby laughter.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dawn was happy. Thanksgiving dinner had gone so well. After having dinner at Miss Annigan’s on Thursday, they had to celebrate it again on Saturday at Nick’s apartment with other friends, and on Sunday they had gone back to Miss Annigan. The weekend had been busy and wonderful, and Dawn was glad that she didn’t have time to think about Buffy too much. Even though Thanksgiving in Sunnydale had always been…peculiar. This year, there hadn’t been any desperate saving-the-world type of situation. So Dawn had had a lot of fun…but to be honest, she had missed Buffy and the Scoobies dearly. She often wondered how Buffy was doing since she left three months ago. A part of her wanted more and more to call. Only she didn’t have any number to call, since Buffy had probably moved by now.

On an impulse, she picked up the phone and dialed the number for information. She asked for Sunnydale and gave them her sister’s name. The next minute, she had her new address and phone number. She hesitated for a moment, watching the telephone and finally made a quick decision. She picked up the receiver again.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Spike had just stepped into a hot bath when the phone rang.

“Of course,” he muttered, then decided to ignore it. The answering machine had not been invented for nothing. He heard the familiar beep and Dawn’s voice filled the room.

“Buffy? It’s me…Dawn. You remember me, right?” There was a little nervous laugh. “I just wanted to say I’m fine…”

“Bloody Hell!”

Spike jumped up and almost fell out of the bath, slipping on the wet floor as he ran in the living room.

“…You don’t need to worry, and I’m sorry I didn’t call…”

“Dawn?”

There was a sudden silence.

“Spike?”

He closed his eyes. God it was good to hear her voice again.

“Yeah, Bit, it’s me. Where the hell are you?”

“Buffy’s not there?” she asked, not answering his question.

“No, she’s working. Dawn, she’s been worrying sick about you. And I bloody well have too. Are you ok?”

“I’m fine. I’m sorry I didn’t call earlier. It was very selfish. I just needed some time to sort things out.”

“Buffy told me what happened. It was a soddin’ misunderstanding, Nibblet. Buffy wasn’t talking about you. She was talking about Willow.”

“What?”

“You were never a burden to her. She was devastated when you left. This is so stupid, Dawn. You have to call her back tonight, she will be so happy to hear you.”

“I…Can you tell her I’m ok? You don’t have to worry about me.”

“How can you expect us not to…”

“I have to go. I love you. Bye.”

“Dawn, wait!”

The dial tone answered him. The door opened and Buffy came in. She smiled at the scene. Spike was naked in the living room, holding the phone and drenching the carpet.

“Had to make an urgent call?” she asked him.

He put the receiver back.

“It was Dawn.”

The smile on her face vanished.

“What?”

“It was Dawn,” he repeated, although he knew she had perfectly understood the first time. “She’s ok, Buffy. She’s ok.”

Buffy let her bag drop, staring blankly at him.

“Buffy?”

He came to her, waved his hand in front of her face.

“I’m still here,” she said, catching his hand. “Oh God, if I had been here five minutes earlier…what did she say?”

“That she was fine. She asked us not to worry, the stupid bint. She said she was sorry she didn’t call earlier.”

“That’s all? Did you ask her where she was?”

“What do you think? I got no answer, of course.”

Buffy was torn between relief and anger. Relieved because her sister was fine, anger because she had waited three months to let her know. The relief finally won.

“Thank God,” she whispered, closing her eyes.

“At least we know she’s alive. And she seemed to be really good. I told her it was a big misunderstanding. I also asked her to call back.”

“Thank you.”

She pressed herself against him, not bothering he was all wet. He kissed her forehead.

“It’s just a matter of time,” he told her. “She will call back, I’m sure.”

She nodded, her throat too constricted to answer.

After a while, he said,

“Uh, Buffy…Do you mind if I go back to the bathroom? The living room is turning into a swimming pool. Also, I’m cold.”

She took a step back and noticed he was slightly shivering.

“Sorry.”

She frowned.

“What do you mean you’re cold?”

“I’m starting to feel differences in temperature.”

“Oh. I see. Of course, go, honey.”

She went to sit on the couch, staring blankly in front of her.

Spike emptied the bath and took a quick shower instead, not wanting to leave her alone too long in that state. He got dressed and came back in the living room. He sat down beside her, pulled her against him.

“Are you ok?” he asked.

She nodded, feeling grateful to have him beside her.

“I’m sorry you couldn’t talk to her,” he said.

“Me too. But I’m glad she had you to talk to.”

He stroked her arm comfortingly, also relieved that his Nibblet had finally given them a sign.

“You know,” she said, watching him, “If I called the phone company they could probably track the number down.”

“Buffy, no. Don’t. First she was probably calling from a public phone. And second…she made the first step. She called once, she will probably call back. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but she will. Just give her time.”

“She sounded ok?”

“Yeah, really. Try not to worry.”

She smiled.

“You worry as much as I do.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dawn put the receiver back and burst into tears. She didn’t know what Spike was doing there, but apparently he and Buffy were ok. She was so relieved to know that. And to be honest, she was glad she talked to Spike. She missed Buffy, but she wasn’t sure how her sister would react to the fact she had fled like that and stayed silent for three months. And the worst was that it was apparently based on some stupid misunderstanding…

Then again, Dawn didn’t regret for one second her decision. If she had not taken that bus to Seattle well, she would have never met Connor. If only for that, she would do it all over again. Thinking of Connor, she didn’t want him to come back and find her with a flushed face and eyes full of tears. And she wouldn’t tell him she called Buffy either. She didn’t want him to think she was unhappy with him.

She went to the bathroom, put some cold water on her face, then came back to the living room and to her books. Over a month ago, when she had gone to the library to get something new to read, she had come across schoolbooks. She hadn’t gone back to school yet, considering she had needed to work, but she had every intention to get her high school diploma one day so she started to study. From the library, she had gone on the Internet and had printed out the program she would have followed if she had been to school. Then she had tried some self-teaching. It was hard, especially after her day at work, she wasn’t very motivated. More than once she had thought about giving up. Then she had thought about Buffy and how miserable her life had been since she hadn’t finished school. Besides, Buffy would be proud of her. So Dawn had decided to persevere and succeed.

Now that she had been at it for over a month, it had become quite easy and Dawn had discovered that she could learn a lot by herself. She enjoyed the challenge. In some topics, she was even getting ahead of the program.

She was trying to understand a mathematic problem when somebody knocked on the door.

“Who is it?” she asked.

“Roland” said a deep male voice.

Dawn frowned. The landlord? What did he want?

She opened the door.

“What’s the matter?” she asked. He was visibly drunk.

“I need the rent. You’re late and I want it now.”

“I don’t have the money here,” she said, hoping to get him to leave. “Connor should be back in about an hour. He’ll bring it to you then.”

He had grabbed the doorframe, trying to hold himself straight. He looked at her and grinned.

“You know,” he said taking an unsteady step in her direction, “I think I could find a way to diminish the rent if you’re very nice with me.”

“No,” said Dawn firmly, her voice not betraying how scared she really was. “And I think you overstayed your welcome. If you don’t mind, I have work to do.”

There was no other way out from the apartment than the door and he was totally blocking the way. He walked in and closed the door behind him.

“Come on, I know you want some. Don’t tell me you’re satisfied with that little boy.”

“I said no. Get out of my apartment!” she said, backing away.

“Tsk, tsk. Don’t think so, sweetie,” he said, approaching her greedily.

When Dawn stepped back at the head of the bed, her back almost touching the wall, she took her chance. Rapidly, she jumped over the bed and dashed for the door. She was about to open it when she felt a mass violently crash her into the door and knocking her off her feet. The landlord then pinned her to the floor and held her. He might be drunk but his strength was the same.

“No!” she yelled at the top of her lungs,” Let me go! Help!”

And suddenly he was not on her anymore. She looked up to see Connor bring the man’s arm behind his back and knock him against the wall. The man grunted in pain.

“You bastard! What do you think you were doing?” hissed Connor, still holding the guy firmly.

The large man was now whining. Dawn stood up and came next to Connor. She was still terrified but also immensely relieved.

“Nothing!” said the man. “She wanted it!”

“Did you want it, chali?” asked Connor, calmly.

“Of course not,” she answered, angry.

Connor twisted the man’s arm.

“Listen carefully,” he whispered in his ear. “If you ever come near * my * woman again, I will cut every part of your body that touched her. Is that clear?”

“Yes, yes,” whimpered the landlord pathetically.

Connor let go of him, pushing him back in the hallway.

“Here,” said Connor, throwing a sum of money to him. “That’s for the rent.”

He closed the door, locking it, then turned to Dawn who was staring at the door in anger.

“Are you ok?” he asked gently.

She continued staring at the door without answering.

“Chali? Dawn?” he asked again, putting his hands on her shoulders.

At the contact, Dawn jumped as if she had suddenly come out of a trance.

“Are you ok?” he repeated.

“Oh God! Connor…oh God!” she exclaimed, falling into his arms and suddenly starting to cry. “He wanted to rape me!”

She was shaking in fear when the realization of what had just happened had sunk in.

“It’s all right, now, chali,” he said, caressing her back and her hair soothingly. “I’m here.”

Dawn let herself cry in his arms while he held on to her as if her life depended on his support. Once she calmed a little, he looked at her, brushing her tears away.

“I guess I’ll have to add some locks on that door,” he said, trying to lighten the mood. “Or do you want us to move?”

“More locks would be ok…and I won’t opened the door anymore when you’re not there. But we can’t afford to move, not for the moment.”

“Baby, if it makes you feel safer, we can afford it.”

“No. I don’t think he’ll try again anyway. And I’ll be more careful. We’ll be fine.”

For the second time that day, she went to the bathroom and freshened herself up. In her pocket, she took the paper with Buffy’s phone number. Knowing that she was there somewhere - and that Spike was there, too - comforted her a little. She knew that in the same situation Buffy would be strong.

So Dawn would be too.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Spike was sitting in the couch, clutching his chest in pain. Buffy was kneeled in front of him, feeling helpless. His heart started to beat more and more often, and for longer periods of time. Which was supposedly a good thing, only it was hurting like hell. He could feel the blood rushing back into his veins, and was extremely warm one minute and freezing cold the next. And there was nothing they could do about it. Just wait. The phone rang.

“Go get it, I’ll be fine,” Spike said in a hoarse voice, seeing she was torn between staying with him and answering, in case it was Dawn.

She picked it up.

“Hello?”

“Buffy? It’s Giles.”

“Giles! Oh, thank God! Did you find something?”

“Not really yet, I’m afraid. Is everything alright?” he asked, hearing the anguish in her voice.

“Not really. It hurts him. And we don’t know what to do.”

“Listen, Buffy, I didn’t find anything concrete but I might have a lead. Someone told me about a certain prophecy involving a vampire with a soul, that had been kept so far by a law firm in Los Angeles. It was stolen two years ago.”

“In Los Angeles? Do you think Angel might know about this?”

“There could be a possibility, yes. Wesley told me once about the law firm they were fighting. I’m going to call him. Maybe they’ll be able to help us.”

“Ok. Giles…if you get to talk to Angel…please don’t tell him about Spike and me. I’d rather do it myself…someday.”

“Of course. I’ll let you know as soon as possible.”

“Thank you. Bye, Giles.”

She came back to Spike. The pain was momentarily gone. But his heart was still beating. Buffy put her head on his chest and listened to the rhythmic sound.

“Giles told me about a prophecy involving a vampire with a soul. He’s going to call Wesley.”

“Well, if there’s a prophecy about a souled vampire, it’s more likely to concern my dear grand-daddy. He was there before me.”

“Still, it can give us some clues. I hate to be in the dark, seeing you suffer like that.”

“Well, as long as I don’t drop dead - or rather dust - I guess it’s for the best.”

“Don’t joke about that.”

“Sorry, pet. But what’s happening is obvious now. I just would like to know why. What did I do to deserve it.”

“I can answer that one. You changed. You helped us, several times. You fought your nature and you won. For all those reasons. The same reasons that made me fall in love with you.”

She raised her eyes to meet his, drowning in their blue depths.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“Then it’s all that matters, my love.”

TBC...