Seven years later...
 

“Did you honestly think I wouldn’t find out about her?!” Candy’s voice screamed, shattering the quiet of the otherwise peaceful office.

“Sweetness—” Spike’s rough British accent began.

“I don’t even want to hear it!”

There was a loud thump and a crash from the inner office.

Dawn merely sighed and rolled her eyes, as if this were an everyday occurrence. “Check,” she announced, advancing her bishop.

Her opponent practically bounced in her seat, her blond locks flouncing gracefully and her rather ample chest jiggling in that way that turned so many men’s eyes. Her perfectly manicured hand reached out, plucked her rook off of the board, and placed it down right in between Dawn’s bishop and the king.

Dawn frowned. The move seemed quite thoroughly random – the sacrifice of a powerful piece while simultaneously leaving the left flank open – but, then, that was so typically Siggy. Dawn snatched up the rook sacrifice offered. “Check,” she repeated.

Another crash sounded from the back room, followed by an outraged roar.

“You crazy bint!” Spike exclaimed loud enough that all of Manhattan probably heard him.

Siggy winced. “What is it that you think that he has broken this time around?” she asked in a heavy Swedish accent. As always, her grammar was perfect, if a little silted and formal.

Dawn grimaced. “Let’s just hope it’s not another window,” she decided, watching in complete bafflement as Siggy’s knight seemed to be making the same pointless sacrifice as he rook had. Dawn’s own rook slid over to take it.

The other employee at Summers Supernatural Investigations seemed completely unconcerned by this chain of events. Siggy had first encountered Spike in a pub about two years ago, only hours after she’d gotten off of the plane from Stockholm. Given her extreme...assets, going into a pub in a bad neighborhood at one in the morning really hadn’t been a good idea, but then Siggy hadn’t known the area.

The requisite brawl had ensued, resulting in Spike’s victory – as always – and he had promptly decided that his ‘rescuee’ needed a close up and personal tour of the Big Apple.

Dawn could still remember the way her eyes had rolled when Spike first brought the buxom blond back to their apartment. Thoughts like, Oh no, not another Harmony! had popped to mind. Fortunately, Spike spoke German, a language Siggy had been much more skilled in at the time, so they were at least speaking the same language. Dawn had known Spike to choose much shadier mistresses in the past four years.

However, it wasn’t until after a somewhat awkward dinner that Dawn’s opinion of the woman had changed. They had been gathered in the living room, sipping wine, when Siggy had abruptly said to Spike out of the blue, “You are very kind for a vampire.”

The requisite spit takes had followed with a round of Telephone Translations as an encore, while Siggy explained her situation to Spike in German, so that he could tell Dawn, in turn, in English. It turned out that a truce had existed between the demon and human populations in Stockholm ever since the previous Master of the city had been rousted and a more ‘unconventional’ one took his place. The situation apparently wasn’t too rare in Europe where Masters retained entire cities in their territory for centuries and so kept their number of minions low in order to reduce the risk of a revolt – both from the human populations and from their ambitious underlings.

Having fully awed the pair of demon hunters, Siggy had even had the commonsense not to sleep with the guy – the vampire guy – she’d just met that night. Instead, she’d left, giving Spike a quick kiss on the lips and a giggled “My hero!”

Dawn had liked the woman from that moment on, even though the subsequent sex after Siggy and Spike’s third date had been loud enough to keep her up for weeks. Plus, it was hard to pick up employees in the demon hunting industry, especially ones that made such great bait...

“That’s it!” Candy’s voice screeched from the back room. “I have had it with you!” The door flew open, and the small blond stalked out furiously, Spike right on her heels.

“Pet...” he pleaded, catching her by the arm.

She turned on him furiously then and slapped him in the face. Of course, the human blow couldn’t hurt him, but he made a show of wincing nonetheless. “You...asshole!” Candy exclaimed in a white-hot fury. “You think I’m just going to forgive you?!”

“C’mon now, luv,” Spike cooed softly, looking up at her from under long, dark lashes. “It was just a one-time thing, honest. Just a li’l slip-up...”

“ ‘Little’?” Candy repeated. “Here’s ‘little’ for you! We’re over! Done! Goodbye, Spike!” she said angrily before storming out of the office, slamming the door behind her for good measure.

“Oops,” Spike grimaced, sending an apologetic smile Dawn and Siggy’s way. “Sorry you had to hear that, luvs.”

“Trust me,” Dawn snorted. “We’re used to it.” She watched Siggy’s pawn advance and frowned. “Check,” she repeated, moving her knight once more.

“You should not lie to her like that,” Siggy commented. “If you wish to take another woman to your bed—”

“Yeah, yeah,” Spike grumbled, picking up an opened bottle of JD from the top of the mini-fridge, “’eard it a million times before, poodle.” He downed half the bottle in one gulp.

Dawn didn’t comment. It was best just to leave Spike alone when he was in one of these moods. Frankly, she had preferred watching Spike and Siggy’s break-up. Now, that had been priceless.

After several weeks of non-stop shagging, Siggy had calmly sat across from Spike on the couch one day and delivered the most brilliant speech Dawn had ever heard. In fact, she’d memorized it and quoted it often:

“You are a very attractive blood-sucking demon, and I very much appreciate that when you stare at my chest you do not seem to be thinking ‘fuck big tits now’ so much as ‘must erase pain of the past’. I also fully appreciate your many talents in bed and will miss the excellent sexual intercourse very much. However, I feel the need to be something more than a sexual safety-blanket at the moment. Therefore, I feel that we should just be friends and co-workers for now.” Then, she had given his hand a quick squeeze, brushed a kiss across his forehead, and that had been it.

Dawn had done much interrogating in the next few days after that and had gotten a “How the bloody ‘ell was I s-posed to argue with that?” from Spike and a “It seems futile to try to win his heart, therefore I mean to analyze it instead” from Siggy. Apparently, she took her given name’s etymology – Sigrid: ‘victorious counselor’ – very seriously.

And it seemed to have been the smart track to take since Siggy was now the only other person Spike opened up to, although she was still nowhere as close to the vampire as Dawn was...

“Checkmate.”

Dawn was pulled out of her reverie and stared down at the chessboard in confusion. “Huh?” she said in disbelief.

“That is, I believe, checkmate?” Siggy repeated.

Dawn blinked, cocked her head to one side, stared at the board...blinked again, looked closer...

“She’s got you, Platelet,” Spike agreed with a chuckle.

“But...” Dawn began in protest, “...damn,” she conceded her defeat.

Oh yeah, had she forgotten to mention that? In addition to being gorgeous, demon-savvy, and a brilliant analyst of both the human and vampire psyche, Siggy was also a certified genius. If Dawn hadn’t liked the other woman so much, she would have been decidedly jealous.

Having observed this streak in her, Spike had sat her down one day while Siggy was out on assignment and had matter-of-factly informed her, “You’re smart, street-wise, a brilliant pickpocket, the best friend ‘ve ever had, and unbelievably beautiful, Bit. If you weren’t like my li’l sis, ‘d shag you in a heartbeat. So, no need to feel jealous, huh?”

They jury had been out for a while on whether that speech was sweet or creepy, but the first had finally won out. After all, this was Spike.

And, at the moment, her bizarrely sweet vampiric surrogate big bother was staring into the bottom of the empty beer bottle, frowning at the dead roach inside. “Uh...how long was this thing left out?” he asked warily.

Dawn and Siggy both wrinkled their noses in disgust.

“Don’t ask me,” Dawn retorted. “I refuse to keep track of your messes.”

Spike gave her a mock-scowl at that and tossed the empty bottle into the trash...despite the fact that the recycling was only five feet further to the right. “’m goin’ out,” he announced, snatching his duster from the coat-rack, “get me some roach-free stuff.”

“And you are expecting to find the roach-free liquor at Jimmy’s?” Siggy couldn’t help but tease.

He rolled his eyes heavenwards, muttered something about “bloody women” under his breath, and headed for the door.

“Wait!” Dawn’s voice halted him. “Don’t you want to hear about our new case?”

“Do I hafta kill anythin’ tonight?” he inquired, scarred eyebrow raised.

“No...” Dawn conceded.

“Then you can tell me tomorrow,” he decided, leaving the office in a flurry of black leather.

“I swear, sometimes...” Dawn clutched her hands in a strangling gesture.

“You are searching for the word ‘pig’, perhaps?” Siggy joked lightly.

Dawn smiled at the blond. “It looks like it’s up to us to do all the work,” she sighed, getting up, pulling the roach-infested bottle from the trash, and placing it in the recycling with a grimace of disgust. “As always.”

“Will you be wanting me to research this...” Siggy glanced down at her notepad, “Cascade Mountain Lodge at the library?”

Dawn nodded. “Pull up all the death records from the nearby town as well,” she instructed. “Whatever this is, it might not just be localized at the inn.”

Siggy nodded. “It is time to change into my skimpy ‘surely, you do not really need me to fill out all that paperwork to read this file?’ dress,” she said with a wink before exiting the office as well.

“Which leaves me,” Dawn sighed, “to clean up the mess ‘Spike break-up number fifty-three’ left behind...”

Dawn had been furious when she’d gone to bed. Spike hadn’t reported in that entire day, and – while it had been cloudy and snowy during the daylight hours – it still made her nervous when the sun was up and he was out. As a result, she’d been trapped in the office all day, taking care of routine business because Spike wasn’t there to do his bloody job. Siggy, at least, had come in later that evening, files and folders all clearly labeled and a summary of her findings written in a concise, neatly-typed report.

It had been closing time then, and Dawn had locked up the office, Siggy’s research in hand, and gone up to the apartment she and Spike shared above the office space. She’d set out the files on her desk and read while she waited for him to come home...and waited...and waited...

By two am, she’d practically memorized all the police reports she’d gone over them so many times, and Spike still hadn’t come home. So she was pissed. Add to that the fact that he had been acting like an ass that afternoon, and she was practically searching for some sharp pointy wood by the time she turned in.

However, one look at his gaunt, haunted features as he stood in the doorway, shivering convulsively, evaporated her anger immediately.

“C’mere,” she whispered softly, holding up the corner of the blanket for him.

Gratefully, he slipped under the covers beside her, teeth chattering as he wrapped himself around her body. “’m so cold, Dawn,” he whispered against her throat.

“Shh,” she agreed, stroking his hair, “I know.”

He let out a sound halfway between a laugh and a sob. “I feel so ridiculous,” he complained. “’m a vampire. I don’t feel the cold!”

“I like to think of you more as a big, cuddly stuffed animal,” Dawn teased, wrapping her arms around him, “with fangs.”

He chuckled slightly at that, his shivers passing as her body warmed his up. “Damn,” he sighed, “I know the cold’s just in my head...so why can’t I just make it stop?”

Dawn shrugged. “Doesn’t work that way,” she said simply. “I was worried about you,” she added more softly.

He smiled against the curve of her throat at that. “’ll always come back to you, Nibblet,” he promised her. “You know that.”

“Yeah,” she agreed softly, gently stroking his peroxide locks, “what would you do without me?”

“Wither and die.” He said it as a jest, but something in his tone indicated that it was the honest truth.

“Don’t say that,” she admonished, placing an affectionate kiss of the top of his head. “You’re the only family I’ve got now. I can’t lose you, too...”

“You won’t, Bit,” he swore. “As long as you need me...”

“That’ll be forever,” she informed him matter-of-factly.

A deep vibration rose in his chest at that, and she snuggled against him further. If she had to have a needy vampire roommate who needed to be held at night, at least she had one that purred. It was very nice, very relaxing.

She wondered for a minute whether he had ever purred for Buffy and then banished the thought to the back of her mind. Her sister was a part of her past she had long since abandoned, and she refused to let such thoughts interfere with the treat that was Spike purring.

“Can I?” he requested shyly.

She nodded and tilted her head to one side, hissing as she felt the bones in his face shift and the sharp points of his fangs graze her throat.

“Would never hurt you,” he purred.

“I know,” she held his head to her neck, breathing heavily. Maybe it was because she was a Slayer’s sister, but a warning tingle always ran down her spine when a vampire’s fangs got this close to her.

He didn’t bite, though, just gently nicked the skin enough to get one drop of blood. “Mine,” he whispered.

“Yours,” she agreed for the umpteenth time since he had first marked her. It was a sign of possession, she knew, but that wasn’t what it meant for them. It was a mark of protection, affection, love – the only love he allowed himself to admit anymore.

“I love you,” Dawn whispered, rolling with him as he moved to lie on his back, her head pillowing on his bare chest.

She often thought that was grossly unfair to all the men she dated that she’d grown up thinking of Spike’s body as the ‘typical’ male build. But, hey, it wasn’t her fault her male role model had a body that would put a vast majority of professional male models to shame. At least he always had the decency to put on a pair of sweatpants before he joined her, or she was sure all her potential beaus would have yet another standard they couldn’t match up to. Not to mention, it would be way kinky.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered then, stroking her hair.

“Don’t be,” she insisted. “You know I’ll always be there for you.”

He nodded slightly, and the two of them just lay there together for a while, savoring the other’s presence.

“We’ve got an assignment,” Dawn finally commented, breaking the comfortable silence between them.

“Yeah, I dimly recall that,” he agreed with a sheepish smile, “before my stalkin’ off to get drunk, that is...”

Dawn sniffed the air. “You don’t smell like you’ve been drinking,” she observed.

“Showered,” he admitted guiltily.

Dawn sighed. “Did you even know this one’s name?” she inquired.

“’Course, I did!” Spike insisted. “It was Sara...or Kara...maybe Karen...”

“Spike...”

“Yeah, I know, ‘if you weren’t dead, I’d give you a lecture about STDs’,” he did a terrible imitation of her voice.

Dawn couldn’t help but smile at that. “Just make sure you take care of yourself,” she insisted. “I don’t want some crazed, jealous bimbo staking you.”

“Won’t happen,” he assured her.

“You’re sure?”

“Sure.”

“You’re careful?”

“Completely.” Spike was lying through his teeth, and they both knew it. “Now, what’s this new assignment of yours?” he not-so-subtly changed the subject.

Dawn let him get away with it for the moment. “How would you like,” she began, taking his hand, “to go on a vacation with me? Ski resort up in the mountains, cozy lodge—”

“Annoyin’ ski-bunny tourists for lunch?” he teased.

Dawn whapped him in the arm. “You might get to kill something mean and nasty...” she sing-songed, holding that tantalizing morsel out for him.

“Mmm, can hardly wait,” he agreed. “What’s the deal?”

“Fifty thousand.”

“Dollars?!” Spike exclaimed, eyes wide. “’d kill the entire place for that. What’s the nasty?”

Dawn sighed. “There’ve been five deaths at the lodge this season alone, all attributed to ‘accidents’.”

“An’ this calls for a supernatural detective agency, how?” Spike inquired.

Dawn bit her lip. “There’ve been a series of paranormal events,” she explained, “poltergeist activity, disturbed psychics – real, Witch’s Guild psychics, possessions...”

“Sounds like some soft ‘f ghost,” Spike pouted. “Can’t kill somethin’ that’s already dead, luv...at least, not that’s non-corporeal and dead,” he amended.

Dawn nodded in agreement. “That’s what I thought, too, at first,” she admitted.

“ ‘At first’,” he repeated, one eyebrow raised curiously.

“Before I looked through the historical records,” she clarified. “Spike, this happened before, fifty years ago.”

“So, the spook’s back for an encore,” he shrugged.

“At the end,” Dawn began, “several of the corpses were found mangled beyond recognition. And,” she paused for emphasis, “they weren’t murdered within the inn itself. Some of them made it halfway across the country. Whatever this is, it tracked those people down and killed them.”

“Which means it couldn’t’ve been confined to the inn,” Spike frowned.

“Which means no ghost,” Dawn agreed.

“Not ‘f the conventional sort at least,” Spike added thoughtfully.

Dawn nodded.

“But what stopped it before?” Spike asked. “And why would it return to it’s old huntin’ grounds?”

“That’s what we’ve got to find out,” Dawn agreed before burying her head in his chest and closing her eyes. “Tomorrow...”

And, now, the flip-side of the coin...