Title: Scourge in the City

Author: Kate R.

abelard950@aol.com

Fandoms: Buffy/The Real ghostbusters

Disclaimer: Real Ghostbusters belongs to I think Warner, Buffy belongs to Joss. No profit is being made here.

Rating: PG-15 to R?

Pairings: none yet but maybe Giles/Ethan, Spike/Tara

Summary: Dawn runs away to her uncle Egon Spengler who gets hurt helping and then she calls the family in.


Scourge in the City
by Kate R.

"Egon!" Peter Venkman called as he kicked in the door of the warehouse. Behind him, the rest of the Ghostbusters, minus one physicist, were fanning out to search this place. Even Janine had come. Just over a week missing and they'd finally gotten a lead on this place. Over a week since he'd gone to the bus station at three in the morning to pick up his niece (and who knew Spengs had a niece anyway?) And they had been looking for him and the girl ever since. How could he and a teenaged girl have just vanished like that?

Egon was a pretty known guy. It didn't matter, they'd been told to search this place for the girl and her Uncle and Peter, at this point desperately hoping for a lead, had jumped on it. Everyone had come, including Slimer.

"Spengs?!" Peter shouted as they moved through the filthy warehouse. "Spengs, where are you?!"

Peter noticed Slimer was looking into rooms with locked doors for them. The Spud had been worried about Egon as well. They had been looking non-stop for a week and this is where all the leads pointed so here they were.

Slimer came back then, pulling on Peter's arm with a panicked look on his little green, ectoplasmic face.

"Did you find them, Spud?" he asked. The little green ghost nodded and yanked on Peter's arm.

"GUYS!" He called. Everyone followed as Slimer lead them to a door and pointed at it franticly. Peter nodded and kicked it open. He froze as he processed what he saw in the room: Egon was lying on his back with his head in a dark haired girl's lap. He'd been beaten pretty badly and the girl was stroking his hair. Peter stared down at his friend's pale face and heard the shallow breathing as h knelt by them. Something was wrong with Spengs, he could tell. Something bad.

"It'll be okay, Uncle Spengs," Peter heard her saying after she looked up and saw them. "Your team is here. They'll help us. We'll get you help. They'll find out what they injected you with and make you better."

The girl looked up and there was such an anger in her eyes as she looked at what had been done to her uncle. Peter realized he did not want to cross this girl. Not at all.

"I'm Dawn," she said. "Could you guys help him? The brute who grabbed us has injected him with three things as well as beating the crap out of him for protecting me."

"Sure sweetie," Winston said as he lifted Egon carefully and carried him out of the room. The girl got up and followed them. She knew her uncle needed a doctor so she sat as they drove to the hospital, still with her hand in his hair. She'd stopped being scared the other day. Now, she was pissed off.

"I'll make them pay, Uncle Spengs," Peter heard the angry girl whisper. "I promise. What they've done to you will not go unpunished. Even if I have to call Spike."

Peter wasn't sure who Spike was but he had a cold chill seeing the look on the girl's face. Not that he wasn't furious himself. Egon was hurt, really hurt, and him getting hurt made them all angry.

They arrived at the hospital and the staff immediately took over.

Dawn was checked out but found to be relatively unhurt. She said it was thanks to her Uncle taking beatings to keep her safe. Now, she was standing looking out the window in the waiting room. They were all waiting. Hoping he'd be okay. Now, Dawn was angry. Now, she was going to lay a beating on the people who'd hurt him. She was beloved of Aureli, Dammit! No one, absolutely No One dared to harm those beloved of Line Aureli.

Dawn stalked out of the waiting room to a phone. Or, she started to before the doctor came in. Maybe she should hear about her uncle's injures before she called Sire.

"Dr. Spengler has several broken ribs," the doctor said. "Bruising is extensive and he's been drugged repeatedly. It seems to be a mixture of speed, cocaine and something we're not sure of yet. He's in a coma at the moment. It was the last beating though, not the drug, that put him there."

"Okay," Dawn said to herself. "That's it. Excuse me; Dr.'s, lady and gent. I have a phone call to make."

"God help them," Peter whispered as he saw the girl walk away.

"Why?" Winston asked.

"Because I have a feeling God is the only one who Can help them," Peter said. "You didn't see her face in Ecto. She's angry, very angry, about what was done to Spengs."

"What's she going to do?" Ray asked.

"She said something about calling some guy named Spike," Peter said. "And her fac...whomever he is, I don't want to meet this man angry."

Winston nodded, still not sure what was going on. He just knew he was worried about Egon being sick in the hospital and hurt like he had been.

They were all worried. And now there was worry about the girl's anger.

Dawn her name was. Egon had told them that before he went to get her. Winston had decided that if they never let Egon go anywhere like the bus station alone at three in the morning again, it would be too soon. That had been monumentally stupid o all of them. But, they'd been so tired after that bust and he'd said it was a family thing. Dammit, they were family! That's why they looked out for each other.

"We really fell down on the job this time, didn't we?" he muttered. Looking he saw Janine and Ray with the same expressions he knew he was wearing. One of them should have gone with him. It didn't matter that Egon was 6'4" and had serious muscle from carrying the packs all these years; they should not have let him go alone to that place. Ever.

"We'll do better next time," Ray said. Although, Winston could see his guilt too. "I don't know how but we'll do better next time.

"Yeah," Winston said. "Next time. Wonder where the girl went?"

"To call Spike, I think," Peter said. "To call Spike."

Down the hall, at the bank of pay phones, Dawn was indeed calling someone. Not Spike, not yet, but someone she knew would call Spike and tell him where she was. And maybe, when she explained what had happened, The Ripper would come to play too. She hoped. Oh, Dawn as in a truly vindictive mood but her uncle had been hurt. She was entitled.

"Hallo," A rough voice said on the other end of the phone. Giles she knew and his accent was harsh. Cool.

"Giles?" she asked timidly.

"Dawn?" Giles asked shocked. "Where are you? Spike and I have been worried sick! I have Ethan here working on a scry for you!"

"Sorry," she said. "I just couldn't take how Buffy and the others treated me anymore. I...I need your help."

"Dawn?" Giles asked. "What's wrong?"

"I left Buffy a note telling her I was going to our Uncle Spengs, uhm, Egon Spengler. He's a paranormalist, right up my alley. Knows everything about me. He and mom were twins...anyway, he got hurt. I called him from the bus Depot when I got here and he came to get me. This pimp was trying to grab me and Uncle Spengs got in the way. We were held someplace for a little over a week according to Uncle Spengs' team and he got beaten pretty much hourly. He's in a coma. Giles, I passed scared the other day. Now I'm angry. I don't know what to do though. No one cares about one man getting beaten by a pimp. Probably think I was asking for it. The only ones who don't are his team."

"We'll see about that when Angelus gets there," Giles said coldly. "Where are you? Ethan and I will teleport as soon as I've called Spike."

"Mercy Hospital," Dawn said. Uncle Spengs is pretty badly hurt so..."

"I'll be there. With Ethan the healer. Spike will be on his way. Drucilla is in new York."

"Okay," Dawn said. "Thanks Giles, see you soon."

He hung up and went back to the waiting room. She could see looks of regret on all Uncle Spengs' teammates' faces. She didn't know why though. She'd find out eventually though, if she waited.

Ten minutes later, Giles and Ethan walked into the waiting room.

"GILES!" Dawn cried and ran to him.

He hugged her tightly. He knew the little machine the red head boy/man had was picking up readings on him and Ethan but at this moment he did not care.

"Giles," he said to them. "Order Mage, first class. This is Ethan, Chaos Mage, first class. Dawn, Spike will be here soon. Angelus is flying in on the jet with Wesley. We'll make this right, little one. We'll make them pay for the hurt they caused your uncle."

"Thanks, Giles." Dawn whispered against his chest.

Giles nodded and looked at Ethan who went to check on Egon. Ethan was a healer. If anyone could fix the damage, it was he.

"Now what?" Winston asked.

Giles smiled a cold, Ripper smile as he answered: "Now we wait. For the Scourge of Europe."


Part 2

Following Giles' comment, the Ghostbusters not in a coma had stared as Dawn went to Egon's room and sat by his bed. She was thinking and remembering how all this had started. Thinking and remembering...

A little more than a week ago, she'd gotten off the bus in New York City. The bus had gotten here later than she thought it would and she really had no idea how to get to Uncle Spengs' place of work anyway. So, she took the card written in her mother's neat handwriting: Egon (twin) New York City.Ghostbusters Central, phone number, No Ghost.

Dawn dialed it and waited. Thinking if she died, Xander wouldn't care, if she weren't there, Xander wouldn't care. She, after all, didn't have Buffy's tits and ass. And neither would Willow nor Anya care. God, Anya and Xander deserved each other. Since they no longer had Giles as a whipping boy they turned on her and Spike. So, she'd left them a note, saying she was going to her Uncle Spengs to get those three square meals a day she was supposed to have, and she'd gotten on a bus. Now she was in New York, at three in the morning, calling an uncle she'd only met three times.

"Ghostbusters," a Brooklyn accented voice said.

"Egon Spengler please," Dawn said.

"May I ask whose calling?" The woman asked.

"His niece, Dawn," Dawn told her.

"Just a moment," she said. Then there was a shout: "EGON! PHONE! IT'S YOUR NIECE!"

It was barely an instant later before the phone was picked up and Dawn heard her Uncle's voice.

"Dawnie?" he asked. His deep bass voice gentle as he spoke to her.

"Hi Uncle Spengs," Dawn said. "I know it's late but is there any way you could come get me? I kind of don't have enough for cab fare."

"Sure sweetheart," her uncle had said. "Where are you?"

"Uhm, at the Bus Depot," Dawn began. She was cut off by a shout of: "You're WHERE?!" from her uncle.

It wasn't an "I'm going to kill you" kind of yell. It was the "I'm worried about you being there, protective adult figure" yell that she'd missed since Buffy died. Giles had to go take care of Ethan, he'd thought the others would take care of her but sadly that hadn't happened. They'd ignored her, yelled at Spike, treated them both like non-entities and Dawn had finally not been able to take it any more. If she weren't there, Spike would leave and be safe so she'd gone to the other paranormalist in her family: her uncle, Egon Spengler.

Uncle Spengs would take care of her, he'd been her mom's twin and he knew everything. They had a real twin bond, him and mom. He'd known when Joyce died but he'd been in the hospital and unable to get to Sunnydale for anything.

She'd heard that he was better now, which is why she'd come to him.

"Dawn," his voice dragged her back from the memories. "Stay there and wait for me. I will be right there, do you understand?"

"Yes Uncle Spengs," Dawn said. She'd hung up and sat down to wait for him, telling at least five people she was waiting for her Uncle and to please leave her alone, she wasn't interested.

He'd come and they'd left the bus depot. Halfway down the street though, they'd been chloroformed. Dawn remembered waking up in the room they'd been found in with her uncle hugging her protectively. He'd protected her all that week, getting the crap beaten out of him and drugged to the gills. But he'd managed to fight them for her when he was stoned as well as when he wasn't. It was the last time he'd been injected, right before they were found, that he hadn't woken up from. Dawn remembered holding him as his body thrashed and he screamed in agony from whatever it was. He hadn't woken up.

And Dawn had gotten very, very angry.

She was feeling guilty now though. She thought that if she hadn't called him, he wouldn't have come and they wouldn't have been grabbed.

She hadn't left his side since they'd been brought in. Ethan couldn't purge the drug. He'd fixed everything else but the drug couldn't be purged. It was working its way through Egon's system now and he was hurting because of it.

"God, I'm sorry, Uncle Spengs. I'm so, so sorry."

"It wasn't your fault, nibs," a voice Dawn had needed for so long said. She turned and saw Spike and Tara in the doorway. She was up and running to them in a matter of seconds and Spike hugged her. He kissed her forehead and Dawn held on tight. "It was NOT your fault, Dawn."

"B-but I called him," she sobbed. "If I hadn't called him...if I'd just taken a cab.."

"Don't," Spike growled. "You called family because you needed family. You needed security. He came because he cared. Don't blame yourself for this. Blame the Master who wasn't paying attention. You are the Beloved of Aureli. When Sire gets here, whoever is supposed to be in charge here is going to be in deep shit."

"Okay," Dawn sniffled. "But he got hurt and he's sick and I don't know what the drug is doing to him and I'm scared, Spike. I'm so scared."

"He's a tough man, nibs," Spike said. "He'll pull through this. I don't get a feeling of death on him so you just have faith. He'll be fine."

Dawn nodded and hugged Spike again.

"Sire will b here soon," Spike crooned gently. "He'll fix this mess. I promise.

And Dawn...was comforted.



Part 3

Across the city from the hospital, Nicholas Kah, the Master of New York was scrambling. He was pissed off with his people. The Beloved of Lord Aurelius and her uncle had been hurt. Worse, he hadn't even known she was in the City. That was bad. He should have been able to feel her presence but he hadn't.

Sometimes he thought New York must be as big a hotbed as The Hellmouth was because he missed things. He'd missed Gozer and he'd missed Vigo and he shouldn't have. If it hadn't been for the Ghostbusters, one of whom was the uncle in question, the council'd have skinned him. Now, Nicholas was pissed off. And afraid. Lord Aurelius himself was coming. Angelus, the one with many appellations added to his name. Some of which were Butcher, Unholy, Cruel, and the one that had sent the terror rocketing through Nicholas: The Scourge. And it was as The Scourge that he was coming to New York, on the plane that had just landed and Nicholas swallowed as he stood to await his judgment.

From off the plane stepped Angelus himself, followed by his human mate, a man known for being as cold and ruthless as The Scourge himself was.

And he was armed. Anyone could see the weapons the man carried.

"Nicholas Kah," Angelus said as he faced him. "We will speak after I have seen to the well being of those who are beloved of Mine. If you would stay my wrath...I would suggest you find those who hurt The Beloved of my Clan and her Uncle. I will see you at sunset tomorrow."

Nicholas nodded and watched as The Scourge and his human mate got into the car that was waiting for them. Once the car was out of sight, Nicholas turned to his entourage.

"Find them," he hissed at the fools who had not informed him that The Beloved of Aurelius was in the City. "Find those who dared harm the beloved of one of our brother clans. Bring them to me so we might gift them to Angelus and save our own lives."

His minions bowed and scarped and ran to do his bidding. All through the city, those of Clan Kah were searching for the ones who had touched the Beloved of Aurelius and her uncle.

"Hear me," Nicholas said. "Let it be known that Dawn Summers and Egon Spengler are untouchable."

He did not often use Master's Rights to mark anyone but he knew the folly of angering Angelus, as did all of the Clan leaders. To anger Lord Aurelius was to ask to die. Slowly.

At the hospital, three hours later, Angelus was watching over Dawn while Drucilla and Spike conducted their own search for the human men who had done this to Dawn and her uncle. Angelus laid a hand on her shoulder, offering the grieving child his strength and comfort and then he went to find out what if anything the Ghostbusters knew. Dawn held her uncle's hand tightly.

"Don't leave me, Uncle Spengs," she whispered. "I need you."

She started to put his hand down when it suddenly gripped hers.

Dawn looked at his face and saw his eyes were partially open as he looked at her.

"Not going anywhere," he said. And his voice was very weak. "Promise Dawnie, not going anywhere."

Dawn nodded tearfully as she hugged him then. His hand weakly brushed her back and then released her.

"Get...rest," he said looking at her. "Tired...you."

Dawn nodded, understanding what he was saying. She kissed his forehead and then left the room to tell the others. Someone would stay with him, she knew. But he was right. She was tired and she needed rest. Uncle Spengs always knew when she needed to go to bed. Always.

"Goodnight, Uncle Spengs," she whispered as she left. "See you in the morning."



end part 3