TITLE: All Grown Up

AUTHOR: Ragna

writinggoddess@aol.com

RATING: PG

CLASSIFICATION: Spike/Dawn.

SUMMARY: Spike helps Dawn celebrate a special birthday with a special gift.

SPOILERS: Set after "The Girl In Question," about two years or so.

DISTRIBUTION: Any sites with my fic up; you all have unspoken permission. I write it, you can post it. Everyone else just keep my name on it and let me know.

DISCLAIMER: If you don't recognize it, chances are it's my own creation. If you do, I don't own it. Joss Whedon, Kazui Sandollar, The WB, UPN, et. al. most likely do.

FEEDBACK: Please send it offlist and let me know it's feedback; I do rapid delete on my account due to a lot of spam.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I found three delightful challenges for this fic. The first is one of six Dawn-centric challenges that Aaronlisa sent to btvs_and_ats_fanfiction. I chose #5: "A future fic: what happens to Dawn when she tries to have a normal life, after Sunnydale. Her sister is now one Slayer amongst many, the remaining Hellmouths do not have to be dealt with by Buffy or even the Scoobies. So Dawn tries to have a normal life, but how would being mystical energy and having slayer blood actually affect her in this?"

The second challenge I'm using is the first official "The Key and the Champion" challenge from TKATC. The challenge is: "Spike helps Dawn celebrate her birthday. He gives her some obscure artifact that she 'remembers' from her childhood, but never actually had, since the memories aren't real." There was also a list of required things and lines that had to be used.

The third challenge is Challenge # 1 from NightVision, When Worlds Collide. It is as follows: "Write a fic in which one of the Angel characters has to deal with/come in contact with someone doing your job (the job you do in real life). That someone could be you or not, doesn't matter. If you are a student and unemployed, have them come to your college/university. If you are unemployed and not a student, have them go to somewhere you frequent. Type of story, rating and pairing (if any) is up to you within the confines of the list description. There are no length or time requirements." Since Spike is a member of A:tS for season five, and the fic takes place afterwards, I'm pretty sure it's eligible.


All Grown Up
by Ragna
***

Dawn looked up from her e-mail account. She was in college now, something she never thought she'd be able to do with what had been abysmal grades when she was in Sunnydale. Funny what happened when the principal of the school helped you and your sister save the world...

Thanks to a recommendation from Robin and some discreet grade changes in her transcripts, plus the fact her father was still a California resident, Dawn had managed to be one of the few to get into California State University at San Marcos despite the new laws and budget cuts affecting the universities. But, surprisingly, Dawn had found big campus life to be too hectic, too draining. So when a friend suggested she take two years and go to a local community college a few cities north, she went for it.

Mira Costa College was a nice little school in a small northern San Diego County city near the ocean. There were students from all over, and Dawn found the slower pace was a relief. She felt normal, for once.

And then the bad news had come flooding in, and today was no exception.

First she was told that Faith had skipped out to Los Angeles to help Angel and the others take down Wolfram & Hart once and for all, but she died when the building caved in on her. She managed to get Wesley and some of the others out, but another woman named Illyria had been killed, and so had someone named Gunn.

Dawn was the only Scoobie to attend Faith's funeral, though Angel, Spike, Lorne and Wesley were there. So was a young man named Connor...turned out he was Angel's son with Darla. He seemed decent enough, though, and when he asked Dawn out, she said yes. They dated for about six months, but the distance between them took it's toll, and the breakup left Dawn brokenhearted.

Then she heard about Riley Finn, her sister's ex, dying in Iraq. He was fighting some of the demons there so they wouldn't attack the military in the dead of night, but one night they overtook his group. All that was left of him was his dogtags.

Buffy had been inconsolable, but of course she had The Immortal there to comfort her. Dawn never really did like the demon that much; he seemed a bit pompous to her. But if Buffy was happy, then fine. Dawn could deal with that.

Then there was Dawn's surprising discovery: she had started to develop Slayer powers. She found this out her first night on the CSUSM campus. Two men had tried to attack her. She was sure they may have tried to rape her if she hadn't been quick to remember all the things she learned from her sister regarding personal defense.

But as she was fending them off, she felt this surge of strength. She was suddenly able to throw one of the men into a wall ten feet away. The other...in her nightmares she still heard the sound of his arm breaking as she grabbed it to pull it away from her throat. Three sickening cracks. She hadn't forgotten that sound, especially when she called her sister and told her what had happened.

After some research and a few phone calls, Giles discovered that Dawn had gained Slayer powers just like the Potentials, thanks to her sister's blood coursing through her veins. From that point on, any thoughts she'd had of being 100% normal had been shattered.

But before this latest bit of bad news, there had been something good: both Spike and Angel had Shanshued. Not only that, but Spike had finally decided to move on, knowing Buffy would never take him back. Luckily for Dawn, Spike moved on to her.

She could have looked at it as if she was getting her sister's hand-me-downs, but truth be told, she'd had as big a thing for Spike as she'd had for Xander. And if her sister couldn't see that Spike was ten times better than The Immortal, if not more than that, then she was an idiot and Dawn was the lucky one.

And now this. Tears threatened to sting her eyes, and she quickly logged off her e-mail and closed Internet Explorer, then ran out of the computer lab at the college, running towards the parking lot by the Student Center, wanting to get home before this day got any worse.

Because, even though it was her birthday, she no longer felt like celebrating.

***

"Willow!"

Spike barely had enough time to get to the door before Dawn hurled into him, almost knocking him over.

"Love, in case you forgot, the name's Spike."

Dawn sobbed into his black T-shirt. "No, Spike. Willow...she's dead."

Spike wrapped his arms around her immediately, holding her close. "Shh. Love, when did you find out?"

"A few minutes ago. I...I got an e-mail...from Kennedy. She died yes...yesterday. Spell gone wrong. Oh, Spike!" Dawn said, breaking into a fresh round of sobs.

Spike held her for a few more moments before quietly asking, "When is the funeral?"

"Next week. Kennedy said Xander would call when everything gets settled. They're burying her in Los Angeles, near where her parents live, but I doubt they'll be at the funeral," Dawn said, a tinge of anger entering her voice.

One of the few things she held a grudge about was the way Willow's parent's suddenly decided that something their daughter did, after years of practically ignoring her entire existence, was unforgivable: dating Tara. Dawn would never forgive them for that, and Spike knew it, so he said nothing about it.

She cried for a few more minutes. It helped wash some of the grief away. "I'll...I'll be okay now," she said after she puled away. She plastered an entirely fake smile on her face. "See?"

Spike shook his head. "Have you eaten yet?"

"No," she said.

"How about I make lunch?"

"Anything but tomato soup. It looks like blood."

"Blood soup. I had that once. Mixed in with...never mind," Spike said.

Dawn shook her head. We could always adopt a local vampire and give him a soul and blood soup."

"Yeah, cause that's always a giant ball of fun." Spike grinned. "Go take a shower. I'll make you a chicken salad."

Dawn nodded and headed to the bathroom.

***

An hour later, she and Spike emerged from the bathroom. She started sobbing again in the shower, and Spike had heard her when he came by to ask which kind of dressing she wanted. He told her to sit down and take a bath. He even offered to wash her hair.

She sat with her back to him and let him pour the water over her long, brown-blonde hair. He tried not to wince as he saw the scars left over from the final battle in Sunnydale. He'd died, but there wasn't a scratch on him; she'd lived and her lower back was covered with thin, pale white scars.

He'd taken his favorite Herbal Essences shampoo and squeezed some onto his palm, then spreading it around until his hand were covered. Then he worked it through Dawn's hair, massaging her scalp and keeping up a steady stream of a one-sided conversation. Dawn was smiling when he was done, at least, and he sat on the toilet and talked to her as she laid back and relaxed and the conversation became two-sided.

Even now he could smell the shampoo he'd used lightly in the air. It was a sweet scent; Dawn had always made fun of the fact he used it, but it had reminded him of her. When he told her that, she stopped teasing him about it as often.

He sat across from her as she ate her salad. He still disliked certain foods, like Ranch dressing and the Halloween candy that came in foil wrappers. For some reason, both items, and a few others as well, reminded him of blood. Something about their taste left a tang in his mouth that seemed to take forever.

"You realize I'm not going to kiss you until you brush your teeth," Spike said, leaning back and lacing his fingers together behind his head as he watched Dawn spear a piece of chicken.

"Why? Oh," she said as she realized the salad had Ranch dressing on it. "Next time I'll have Thousand Island or something." She waved the piece of chicken over her salad, searching for something else to spear. "When'd you become a foodie?"

"When I could eat food again." Spike shrugged and reached over for the glass of lemonade he'd been drinking. Gone was all the alcohol he'd drank before; now he subsisted on lemonade, mint tea, lemon-flavored water, coffee and cola. Anything that had a strong ate to it, whether it was sweet, sour or in between.

Dawn grinned a little, then went back to her food. "Hey, you know the plans we had tonight?"

"Yeah?"

"Could we just stay in?"

"Sure, Nibblet."

Dawn smiled a little wider at the lesser said nickname; "Sweetie" as the one she head most often. "Thanks."

***

"Tiddlywinks and gummy worms." Spike sat down the bag of worms on the coffee table and the set of tiddlywinks Xander had given her as a birthday present the year before.

Dawn looked at the bag of worms. She shook her head, remembering the last time she'd played the game. The tiddlywink was still stuck in the ceiling. It wasn't Dawn's fault, really; she still underestimated how strong she was. It could make life interesting at times, especially when she got angry like she had the last time she and Spike played tiddlywinks. "No tiddlywinks. How about Go Fish?"

"Never played."

"And yet you played kitten poker."

"It got you Tara, didn't it?" Spike said, referring to the calico who at the moment was nuzzling Dawn's bare ankle, since all the was wearing was a pair of underwear and one of Spike's button down shirts.

"Yeah," Dawn said, taking a worm out of the bag. "And I love Tara, honestly. She's such a sweetheart."

"I also rummaged around the movie collection. Your choice of comfort movies include Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Bambi and your favorite action movie, Die Hard With A Vengeance."

"Bambi."

Spike nodded and popped the DVD into the DVD player, and then returned to the couch, urging Dawn to sit up so he could slide behind her. "Go ahead and use me as a human pillow, love."

"Thanks."

***

After about an hour and a half, Spike realized Dawn had fallen asleep. It was late, and she had classes in the morning. It would be best if she got some sleep. But first...

"Nibblet?"

Dawn woke up with a start, pushing her hips into Spike's as she sat upright. He cringed a little. "Did Bambi's mother die?"

"A little while ago. You went to sleep just after Bambi was born."

Dawn nodded and shifted so she wasn't hurting Spike. "What time is it?"

"Late. Your birthday's almost over."

"Oh." She raised her arms over her head and stretched a little, yawning at the same time. "I guess I'll go to bed."

"Don't you want your presents?"

"I can open them in the morning."

Spike shook his head. "At least open this one." He handed he a small gift. "I hunted around for a while for it, ever since you told me you remembered it. I guess you didn't really ever have it, but...I felt you should, all the same."

She unwrapped the paper and held a jewelry box, roughly big enough to hold a necklace on a loose chain. She opened up the box and stared at the necklace sitting inside.

"It's the necklace you said your sister's first Watcher gave to her to protect her from the vampire in Los Angeles, to keep her nightmares at bay." He gently lifted the necklace out and unclasped it. "I found it when I asked your father for some of your old things."

"I was starting to think it didn't exist," Dawn whispered, reaching to her neck to touch the smooth piece of amethyst carved with symbols as Spike placed it around her neck. "The thing with having all these memories...there's times I wonder if things and places and people I remember actually existed, or if..."

Spike clasped the necklace around her neck and put his arms on her shoulders, leaning close to her and hugging her. "This existed. Its real, I promise you."

"Buffy doesn't mind?" Dawn shook her head. "I guess she really gave it to me, then, just like I remember."

"More or less."

"Thanks, Spike."

"Any time." He yawned slightly. "I think it's time for us to get some sleep. You have class and I have to go call Angel in the morning. He's got a good idea about how to get rid of all those demons lurking around the cliffs in Carlsbad."

Dawn nodded. "Sounds good. And I can't believe you said something nice about Angel."

"Consider it a birthday miracle..."


"We like to talk big, vampires do. 'I'm going to destroy the world.' It's just tough-guy talk. Struttin' 'round with your friends over a pint of blood. Truth is, I LIKE this world. You've got dog racing, Manchester United. And then there's people. Billions of people walkin' around like Happy Meals with legs."



end