Might Have Been
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By HW
Jac@blackplumes.freeserve.co.uk
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I own nothing, I merely borrow.
Summary: Continuing the series Might Have Been. Set during ‘The Harsh Light of Day’. What might have happened if Dawn had been around at the time.
“And my sister’s dating this total loser,” Dawn told Michelle unenthusiastically as they sat together in Dawn’s room, carefully applying nail polish to their fingers and toes.
Michelle frowned. “Is he worse than Angel?”
Dawn rolled her eyes. “Well yeah, cause she loved Angel. I mean she used to talk to me about him. Now she’s suddenly a grown up and we can’t have conversations. Anyway, even though I didn’t like Angel, I got why she was with him. This Parker guy is just…”
“What?”
“Weird.”
Michelle grimaced. “You say that about every guy who isn’t Spike. Face it Dawn. He’s not coming back.”
Dawn ignored the last comment and concentrated on the first. “This isn’t about Spike. It’s about Parker. He’s got scary eyebrows. And he looks really shifty all the time. And he ignores me.”
“Dawn, Buffy can only have been going out with him for a week. When have you had time to…?”
“I met him ok. Once. Last week, when I went to see Buffy. He ignored me. And his shifty eyes were focused right on my sister’s a…”
A frantic knocking at the window abruptly interrupted her sentence. Looking up she let out an excited shriek and jumped up off the bed, pulling frantically at the window.
“Ow, ow, ow. Bloody hell Dawn, let me in first. There’s still quite enough sunshine around to…”
He stopped suddenly when he caught sight of Michelle. “Um…”
“It’s alright,” she told him shrewdly, her youthful eyes appraising him, comparing him to her friend’s description. “I know about vampires and demons, and Buffy being the Slayer and you being the evil vampire who loves her.”
Spike spared her his own assessing glance before turning to Dawn. “You’re not still on that are you Nibblet? I’ve told you before, I am not in love with…”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” She wrapped her arms around him tightly, grinning happily up at him, while he gingerly patted her back, gazing down at her with a mixture of annoyance and affection. “I knew you’d come back.”
“Yeah? ‘S more than knew.”
“Have you seen Buffy?”
“Uh, yeah I’ve seen her,” Spike said casually, looking away from her around the room. The lilac walls were filled with posters of various bands he didn’t recognise but knew instinctively he hated with a passion. “I just wanted to drop by. Before I left.”
“You’re leaving? But you only just got here.”
“Well actually I’ve been here a few days…”
“And you didn’t stop by?”
“I didn’t want your sister to know I was here.”
“I wouldn’t have told her. It’s not like she lives here any more. She barely remembers I exist,” Dawn told him bitterly.
“That’s not true,” Spike told her automatically, somehow feeling the need to comfort her. He frowned at himself as the words left his mouth. “She loves you. She’s just finding her feet right now what with college and everything and…”
He stopped when he noticed Michelle smirking at him. “What?”
“Vampire defending the Slayer?” She snorted in amusement.
Spike rubbed his hand over his face. “Oh God. You people are going to drive me insane. What am I doing here?”
Dawn looked up at him wide-eyed, a pout forming on her lips. “You promised you’d come to see me.”
They stared at each other for a moment and Michelle fidgeted uncomfortably. “Well I better be going,” she said eventually, slipping her feet into her shoes and grabbing her coat. “Dawn I’ll call you later.”
Once she had gone Dawn collapsed back against Spike’s chest and for once the vampire gave in and held her tightly against him. “What’s wrong Nibblet?”
“Besides the fact I haven’t seen you in a year?”
Spike grinned and eased her away from him. “Yeah apart from that.” They perched on the edge of the bed and Dawn began to play with the edge of her comforter.
“She’s dating this guy.”
Spike frowned. “Um, Dawn…”
“This Parker guy. He’s a jerk. He’s probably only interested in having sex with her. And then he’ll dump her and all of a sudden I’ll be worth talking to again.”
“Uh Dawn, that’s exactly what he did.”
“What?”
“That just happened. This afternoon. Right in the middle of the campus.”
“That bastard,” Dawn shouted indignantly and Spike’s eyebrows rose in surprise at her language, but he didn’t comment. “How dare he do that to my sister? How dare he…? Wait. How do you know what happened? It’s daylight. Remember, vampires, daylight? Not mixy things.”
“There’s a ring. The Gem of Amara, that protects vampires from all those little foibles that usually cause us to burn or die, like crosses, stakes and sunlight.”
“And you found it?” Dawn asked excitedly.
“I did.”
“So where is it now?”
“You’re sister took it.”
Dawn gazed at him shrewdly. “You pissed her off didn’t you?”
“We had a fight, yes.”
“What did you do?”
“Nothing I…”
“Spike!”
“I uh, I said a few things about that guy she was dating. And how she always manages to end up dating complete morons. I mean he just dumped her right there in front of me. Well I was behind a tree but… She looked like she was going to break down crying so…”
“So you pissed her off?” Dawn asked, hitting him frustratedly on the arm.
“Well it stopped her being upset, didn’t it?” Spike shot back defensively.
They both looked down at the bed, wrapped up in their own thoughts. “You’re going away again.” It wasn’t a question.
Spike looked up suddenly, the lost look in her eyes making him want to deny it. “Yes.”
“Where are you going?”
“She’s going to send the ring to Angel,” he stated. “Slayer’s nothing if not predictable.”
“If she’s so predictable why haven’t you been able to beat her?
“Well I’m supposed to be in love with her aren’t I?” he asked, immediately wishing he hadn’t. Dawn chose, for once, to let it go.
“Are you coming back?”
“I don’t know I… It’s complicated pigeon.”
“You’ll come and see me won’t you?”
“Of course.”
“I won’t tell her you were here.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m glad you came. I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” he confessed, smiling gently at her.
The phone rang and they both jumped. Spike stood and looked out of the window. Darkness had fallen and he’d be able to get back to his car with little difficulty. “That’ll be Buffy. I should be going.”
Dawn glared balefully at the phone, cursing it and her sister for driving her friend away again. “She’s an idiot,” she said suddenly, and Spike turned back to her confused. “Buffy, she’s an idiot. She doesn’t see you, but I do.”
“Thank you Dawn.”
She hugged him once again as they stood by the window. “You’re an idiot too of course. That’s why you’re perfect for each other.”
“I’ll see you soon pet.”
“How soon?”
“Soon enough,” he told her, grinning as he climbed out of the window and disappeared down the street.
Dawn watched him go, wishing he was there again almost immediately. The shrill ringing of the phone dragged her back from the window eventually and she ran to answer it. “Hello? Hi Buffy. No nothing much. What’s been going on with you?”