All the Graces of the Dawn

By enigmaticblue <enigmaticblue@yahoo.com>

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't own them. Don't sue.

Spoilers: I suppose through BtVS S5, but I'm doing some rearranging.

Summary: This is a sequel to "The Great Advantage of Being Alive." If you haven't read it, this one really won't make any sense. In any case, Spike's trying to find out what it means to be a man, and to fight at Buffy's side. Buffy's struggling with what it means to be the Slayer. Dawn wants to know if she's real, and Glory just really wants her Key back.

Feedback: Yes, please.

Archiving: The Sandlot, The Crypt, and anywhere else that already has my stuff.Otherwise, ask and it shall be given to you.

A/N: The title comes from a Pablo Neruda poem. The line actually goes "all the graces of the daybreak" but I liked my pun.
 

A/N: I'm messing with the timeline of Angel S2 a bit, as you can probably tell. Oh, and before you ask where Lorne's at, they dropped him off at home before heading back to the hotel. Just so you know.
 

Chapter 21: Here Without You
 

"...Everything I know, and anywhere I go/It gets hard but it won't take away my love/And when the last one falls, when it's all said and done/It gets hard but it won't take away my love/I'm here without you baby/But you're still on my lonely mind/I think about you baby and I dream about you all the time...And tonight, girl, there's only you and me." ~3 Doors Down, "Here Without You"

"I miss you."

"It's only been a few hours, luv," Spike said, adding quickly, "an' I miss you too."

Buffy lay back on her bed, hanging onto the cell phone as tightly as she wished she could hang onto him. "So you don't know when Angel's going to come back?"

"Dunno, luv. Don't even really know where he went, 'cept that it's not here. Some other dimension seems to have swallowed up the Cheerleader," Spike sighed. "Right now 's just about getting ready for whatever comes. Think we'll stay at the hotel for a while. Angel doesn't come back in a few days, we'll reconsider."

"So where are you now?" Buffy asked.

"Now?" There was some surprise in Spike's voice. "'m in Angel's office."

"And what are you wearing?"

Spike was beginning to catch on. "What you saw me leave in. What about you?"

"Well, since you weren't here, I decided on the flannel pj's tonight," Buffy replied. "But that could be changed."

"Mmmm..." Spike purred, leaning back in the chair. "How quickly?"

~~~~~

Dawn shoved her hair behind her ear as she munched another slice of pizza. "Okay, so we're going to booby-trap down here first."

They had spent the day exploring the hotel, gathering the necessary supplies, and exploring their options for defense. Even though it seemed that they had a workable plan, both Spike and Dawn were on edge. "No, first we're goin' to work out an escape plan," Spike replied. "In case somethin' happens to me, you—"

"I'm not going anywhere without you," Dawn stated bluntly. "I don't care what you say."

"Dawn—"

"No." Dawn glared at him. "Besides, you're still hurt. What the hell do you think you could do?"

"Language, Dawn," he warned her. "And you'll do what I say."

"You're not the boss of me."

"You wanna bet?"

The battle was averted when the door swung open, causing both of them to startle. "I want to say it," Angel's voice broke in. "There's no place like...home," he finished uncertainly when he spotted his unexpected guests. "Spike? Are you okay? What—Is Buffy—"

Angel—as well as his entire gang—looked hard-used, with the possible exception of Cordelia, who was wearing some sort of strange get-up that left nothing to the imagination.

"She's fine," Spike assured him. "At least, she was last night when I talked to her. 's just—we have a bit of a problem. I was hopin' you'd be able to help."

"Yeah, sure," Angel replied quickly. "Whatever you need." The tall, thin man behind Angel cleared his throat. "Uh, if that's okay with Wes."

Spike recognized the name, but not the face. "Thought you were the boss here," he said cautiously.

"Yeah," Angel replied, looking a little sheepish. "That changed. It's sort of a long story."

Spike and Dawn exchanged doubtful looks. The rules were changing so rapidly, Spike wasn't quite sure what to think. If Angel wasn't in charge, and he didn't know any of the others, should they stay?

"Oh, don't be stupid, Angel," Wesley said irritably. "It's not like I would refuse aid to the Slayer or her friends and family." The ex-Watcher looked over at Spike. "But do you mind terribly if we get cleaned up before hearing your story?" He eyed the pizza. "And maybe a bite to eat."

Dawn shrugged when Spike looked over at her. "I could eat more pizza."

"Or tacos?" Suggested a timid little voice. "I've been cravin' tacos somethin' fierce."

Cordelia rolled her eyes with barely restrained annoyance. "I'm not sure we can find a taco place that will deliver, Fred."

Spike, ignoring Cordelia, gave that request careful consideration. "Your kitchen work, Peaches?"

The tall, black man snickered. "Peaches?"

Angel gave Spike a dirty look, not caring for his using that particular nickname in front of the others. "Yeah, why?"

"Because if someone'll go to the store, I can whip up some tacos."

Angel's eyebrows looked as though they were going to be permanently attached to his hairline. "You can cook?"

"I have to eat," Spike replied reasonably. "An' out of all of you lot, I'm freshest."

The vampire gave him a look. "You don't look very fresh," he observed. "In fact, you look like you got run over by a truck. Are you sure you shouldn't be lying down?"

Ignoring that inane comment, Spike looked over those assembled. "Anybody want to go to the store?"

"I'll go," Wesley volunteered. "I was planning on going back to my place for some clean clothing anyway. It won't take me long."

"I can help cook," the dark-haired girl behind Cordelia offered. "At least, I think I can. If I remember how. It's been a while."

"We'll ease you back in," Spike promised. "An' your name would be...?"

She giggled. "Fred."

"Well, Fred, we'll leave the rest of this lot to get cleaned up an' see what awaits us in back." With the kind of studied gallantry that had won Tara over, Spike held out his arm, causing Fred to giggle like mad. But she clutched his arm, and Dawn strolled on her other side, and for some reason the young woman was relaxing rapidly in their company.

Angel watched Spike take over with an airy manner he found irritating. The younger vampire had always been able to do that—walk into a room, look over the occupants, and have everyone eating out of his hand in moments. It just wasn't fair. What had happened to the eager young vampire who had been willing to sit at the feet of the master?

Angel sighed, rubbing his eyes. That's right. He'd only been willing until Angelus had tried to break him, and Spike would not be broken. It was the kind of vampire he had been, the kind of man he was now. Cordy's hand touched his arm, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"I'm just going to go get some clothes for me and Fred, okay? You mind if I borrow your car?"

"Why not?" Angel asked. "I guess I'll just—clean up," he finished, looking around. It seemed he'd been deserted after the warm camaraderie over the last few days.

Cordelia rolled her eyes at him, catching his glum look. "Give me a break, Angel. All of us need a chance to catch our breath before heading into the next emergency. Don't be such a dope."

Angel paused, watching her leave, then hearing the mad giggles from the kitchen. Whatever Spike was doing back there, Fred sounded happy. He had to give the man credit for that. He grunted. It seemed he had to give the man credit for a lot of things these days.

~~~~~

Spike had picked up a few things earlier when he and Dawn went to get the pizza. They'd needed a few supplies for the traps he was planning to set, and he'd wanted something other than leftover pizza to eat the next few days.

There weren't enough ingredients for tacos, though, and Fred was waxing poetic about what she wanted in hers. "My mom used to make 'em really spicy, with lots of cheese, and lettuce, and maybe tomotoes. I don't remember." She frowned, as though remembering hurt.

"I don't much remember what my mom cooked," Spike said gently. "We all forget bits an' pieces like that."

The woman thought about that. "Maybe, but I was gone such a long time." For a moment, she looked as though she would bolt, and Dawn slid an arm around her.

"All my memories are fake," she said helpfully.

That statement sufficiently distracted Fred. "Fake memories?" she asked, perking right up. "How does that work? I mean, laws of physics, an' all—"

She was soon babbling in what seemed to be another language, but Spike caught enough of it to realize that Fred was a science nerd of the first water. He needed to remember to introduce the girl to Willow. They'd probably get along just swimmingly.

Angel came strolling into the kitchen a few moments later, raising an eyebrow at Spike. "Did you pick up anything to drink?"

"Can you eat pizza and not have beer?" Spike returned, tossing him a bottle from the counter.

"It's warm," the vampire complained.

Spike stared at him as though he'd grown a second head. "Are you daft? Have you completely forgotten your roots? Beer is supposed to be warm. Bloody Yanks messin' it up," he grumbled.

"I would second that," Wesley commented, entering the kitchen, wearing fresh clothing and carrying a bag of groceries, closely followed by Gunn, who had his own bag. "I wasn't quite sure what you'd need—"

Spike peeked in both the bags and gave a satisfied grunt. "'s fine. Brilliant. Now we can get started, an' you lot can tell me what Angel did to get himself demoted."

Angel scowled. "I did not get demoted."

"No, he just fired all of us, and then asked us to rehire him 'cause he couldn't get a job anywhere else," Gunn joked, accepting one of the beers, but grimacing at its temperature.

"That right?" Spike asked, interested. "An' why on earth would you fire such fine folks as these?"

Seeing the grins that both Wesley and Gunn wore, Angel's scowl deepened. He was beginning to remember exactly why he'd found Spike so irritating in the first place. "I was—going through a rough period."

"If that's code for midlife crisis, you should have passed that a long time ago," Cordy said acerbically as she walked into the kitchen. "Hey, Fred, do you want to get into some decent clothing?"

When the young woman hesitated, Dawn stood. "Come on. If Cordelia's stuff doesn't fit, maybe I have something that will." She shot Spike a look. "We'll be down in a few minutes. Do not start eating without us."

"So? You're not in charge because...?" Spike asked the vampire, starting to prep the food.

Wesley smiled. "Yes, Angel. You should be the one to explain. After all, we weren't really privvy to what was going through your head at the time." That little comment was in part payback for Angel embarrassing him by buying Cordy all those clothes.

Angel sighed, resigned to telling his sordid tale. Dawn, Cordelia, and Fred all came at about the time Angel was explaining about setting Drusilla and Darla on fire. When Dawn caught that part of the conversation, she asked, "You could have dusted Drusilla and you didn't?"

The entire group looked surprised at her sharp tone, and Spike shot her a look. "Dawn—"

"I want to know," she said stubbornly. "Spike—"

"It's fine."

"Did you have trouble with Drusilla in Sunnydale?" Wesley asked.

Dawn glared at Angel. "You could say that. She almost managed to turn Spike. It's a miracle he's not a vampire right now."

There was a long silence in which all eyes were on the vampire. "Spike, I'm sorry. I didn't—"

"It's done," Spike said. "Drusilla's the least of our concerns at the moment." He started setting the food out on the industrial counter. "You lot dish up, an' I'll fill you in."

It was around about the time Fred consumed her fifth taco that Angel started to feel really sulky. Not only did he feel left out because he was the only one not eating, but because everyone was listening to Spike talk about Glory.

And he was good at it.

Even though there was serious danger from a Hellgod, and Dawn was some mystical Key, and Buffy could very shortly be fighting for her life, Spike told the story in such a way as to make it sound almost funny. All of them—except for Angel—were laughing at points, especially when he described Olaf the Troll. Angel had had the people of Pylea eating out of his hand too, but he had to admit that Spike was the better storyteller.

Spike was also the better cook, he was getting a book published, and he and Buffy were engaged. (Angel could tell the first for himself, but the second two pieces of information came from a helpful Dawn. He wasn't sure why the girl didn't like him, but Angel was definitely beginning to get that vibe.)

"You'll help?" Spike asked. "Don't expect anyone to come chasin' us down here, but you never know."

"Of course we'll help," Wesley assured him. "It's our pleasure."

~~~~~

Things were a little more hectic in Sunnydale. There was barely twenty-four hours in between Spike and Dawn's departure and Glory showing up at the Magic Box, hell-bent on getting her Key.

Willow was intent on trying to find a cure for Tara, and had been up all night looking through books and taking care of her girlfriend. There was a pile of tomes at her elbow, and she was busily looking through another, searching for any clue at all as to how to help Tara and hurt Glory at the same time.

"How's it coming?" Buffy asked, sitting down next to her friend.

Willow gave the Slayer a weak grin. "It's coming. I mean, I think I've got some ideas, but nothing's for sure. I don't think anyone's ever tried this before."

"That's Willow—going where no man has ever gone before," Xander said, smiling. Then, at the looks from the girls, he quickly added, "Or woman, you know, because I'm all about being gender inclusive." His eyes strayed to Tara, who was sitting on a chair, huddled in her pajamas, and muttering about the dark. As much as he wanted to help, Xander was pretty much at a loss. He had no clue how to deal with crazy people, or how to help Willow find the right spell, or how to help Buffy defeat Glory.

At least Spike got to play an important role by getting Dawn away. Xander had no idea what he was going to contribute.

Buffy shook her head and sighed. "I don't know what we're going to do," she admitted. "I mean, Dawn's safe enough for right now. I doubt there's any way Glory could get her hands on the Key at this point, but that just means we have to find some way to defeat her. How the hell am I supposed to kill a god?"

Giles came out of the back room, rubbing his eyes. "I'm not sure you have to kill her, Buffy."

"Say again?" the Slayer asked. "Because I don't know of any other way to stop her from destroying the world."

"I was just on the phone with Wesley," Giles said. "Apparently, I need to revise my opinion of him."

Buffy's eyebrows went straight up. "Really?"

"He has access to texts that I don't," Giles said. "He's managed to build up quite a collection in L.A., and has a rather good memory for locating information, amazingly enough. What he's been able to discover is that the Key is only efficacious for a very small window of time. Given the opportunity, Glory would need to shed Dawn's blood at a specific place and time to open the portal back to her own world."

"So what you're saying is that Glory just wants to go home," Xander commented. "That's not so bad."

Giles shook his head. "It would also break down all the barriers between other dimensions and ours, causing chaos. And the only way to close the portal would be to stop the blood flow—to kill Dawn."

"Not going to happen," Buffy said coldly. "Even if she did get her hands on Dawn."

The Watcher sighed, more thankful than ever that Dawn was safe in L.A. with Spike. Convincing the Slayer that the best way to save the world was to kill her little sister was one thing. Convincing Joyce, or even broaching the subject was another matter altogether. "Well, I doubt Glory will manage to locate her in time. And, once that window of opportunity has passed, Dawn continues on as human, and Glory is permanently tied to her human host. She essentially becomes mortal."

Willow looked excited. "So we just have to keep her occupied until the window passes."

"Essentially," Giles agreed. "Of course, we don't really know when that point is." He was interrupted when the door to the shop crashed open.

"I'm tired of playing games," Glory announced. "I want my Key, and I want it now. And if you don't give it to me, I'm going to rip your guts out one by one." At the long pause that followed that announcement, she said impatiently, "Come on, people. I'm on a schedule here, and it's not nice to keep a god waiting."

Buffy grabbed the first weapon that came to hand: Olaf's hammer, which lay on a shelf. "You guys get out of here," she ordered. "I'll keep the bitch busy."

"Bitch?" Glory demanded. "Oh, you're going to pay for that!" Before she could say anything more, Buffy cut her off with a swing of the troll-hammer, sending her flying through the door.

Willow scooped up a couple of books she thought might be helpful, and tried to soothe a whimpering Tara. Anya emerged from the basement of the shop. "What's going on?"

"Glory," Giles explained shortly. "We need to get out of here."

Anya viewed the damage to the front door with dismay and then held up the dimly glowing sphere. "Dagon Sphere," she said. "If it was created to repel Hellgods, it might be helpful."

"Brilliant," Giles commended her. "But not now."

Xander grabbed her arm and started to hustle her out the back. "Yeah. It's definitely time to go, An."

Outside, in front of the shop, Buffy was doing battle with Glory and wasn't doing too badly. The Hellgod, on the other hand, was royally pissed off. Time was running out for her to get her Key, and she made a decision. "You know," she said, in between blows from the hammer, and getting in her own shots, "I'm really getting tired of this. I think it might be time for me to kill you. Then, I can just torture your little friends until one of them gives me the information I want."

"You can try," Buffy retorted. "But it doesn't look like you're doing so hot right now."

Glory gave her an uppercut that sent the Slayer flying. "Oh yeah? How's that, bitch?"

"That tickled," Buffy replied, a fire in her eyes as she fought her way to a standing position. "Of course, if you want to kill me, you're going to have to catch me first." With that, the Slayer took off at a run, not bothering to look over her shoulder to see if Glory was following. She knew the Hellgod wouldn't be able to resist the chase.

Buffy just had to hope she could last long enough for the others to get somewhere safe. And that Giles made certain that her mom did the same.

~~~~~

Spike and Wesley were both bent over a book, though not the same one. After Spike's tale, the ex-Watcher had immediately gone into research-mode, muttering about seeing something about Glory and the Knights of Byzantium in one of his texts. When he'd started pulling volumes down off the shelves, Spike had volunteered to help.

Dawn was off somewhere in the hotel, entertaining Fred, Cordelia was on the computer, looking up information on the 'net, and Angel and Gunn were preparing the defenses—just in case.

Spike wished he could have been putting his plans for booby traps to good use, but his broken ribs made that a difficult task at best. He would have managed had Angel and the gang not returned, but as the vampire had pointed out, Spike needed to be as fresh as possible.

Which had him on book-duty.

"Here's something," Wesley said. "It seems that Glory needs to use this Key at a particular time and place, otherwise it won't be of any use to her." The other man's eyes were alive with hope behind his glasses. "Judging from your report of the agitation Glory was showing, I doubt that she has much time left."

"Which just makes it that much more dangerous for Buffy as she gets frustrated," Spike muttered, pulling off his glasses and pinching his nose. "Bloody hell. Well, might as well call Rupert an' let him know. 's somethin' anyway."

Wesley gave him a sympathetic look. "It's difficult being here, knowing Buffy could be in danger."

"'Difficult' is one word for it," Spike replied with a pained smile. "Torture would prob'ly be more accurate."

"I'll call Rupert, unless you want to," Wesley offered.

"You go ahead," Spike replied. "You found the information. You should get the credit."

They kept researching, taking only a quick break for lunch, which Cordelia and Gunn had gone out to get. Fred was actually relaxed enough to eat with the rest of them, possibly because Dawn was animatedly explaining the latest Tom Cruise movie.

Spike threw himself back into research, trying to distract himself from thoughts of Buffy facing Glory on her own.

Between he and Wesley, they'd managed to discover that the Knights were a fanatical religious sect, the complete opposite of the monks who had created Dawn in the first place. Though both orders were pledged to keep the Key from Glory, the Knights were a militant order, while the monks were dedicated to peace.

That was it, though. There wasn't any information on how to kill Glory, or if it was even possible. Spike shut his book with a bang. "Bloody hell, there's nothing in here that's helpful."

Wesley leaned back in his own chair. "Perhaps you're right. We could go see how Angel and Gunn are coming with the defenses."

"Done," Gunn announced as he came through the door. "Anything shows up, they'll get a nice big surprise." As if to underscore his words, there was a howl of pain from outside. "What the hell—"

"Spike!" Dawn's voice was coming from upstairs, and Spike moved as quickly as he could through the lobby to see what was going on. "There are a bunch of guys in armor outside! I think they have the same tattoos on their heads as that guy in the hospital."

Spike didn't have to ask her what she was talking about, knowing immediately which "guy in the hospital" she was referring to. It meant the Knights knew that Dawn was the Key. Angel came pounding up from the basement, sword in hand just a few moments later. "Looks like they've got the hotel surrounded," he announced without preamble.

"Can we get out through the sewers?" Spike asked.

"Maybe," Angel said. "Probably. But they'll just find you again. For right now, we're safer making a stand here at the hotel where we can watch each other's backs."

"Angel's right," Wesley stated. "If we can manage to hold them off for a few hours until it gets dark, that would be best. After that, we can reconsider."

Spike looked up. Dawn was standing on the stairs only a few feet away from him. She was his responsibility, his to care for. Joyce had entrusted her youngest into his hands—and now he was going to place his own life and hers into the hands of virtual strangers. "Right then. Let's just hope that we in no way resemble Custer."

Gunn raised an eyebrow. "Don't know 'bout you, but I ain't got the right color skin for that. I think we're playin' the role of the natives in this one."

Spike frowned, and then a gradual smile broke over his face. "Right. Natives. I think we can sew this up right quick."

~~~~~

Buffy made it back to the house on Revello Drive in one piece, more or less. She was out of breath, and she'd gotten a few nasty bruises, but that was about it. The damage could have been a lot worse. "Where's Glory?" Giles asked, getting to his feet as Buffy came through the front door.

"I don't know," Buffy confessed. "I led her on a wild goose chase, and then she got hit by a bus. I don't think she got up, at least not soon enough to catch me."

Giles shook his head. "We cannot keep this up indefinitely, Buffy."

"We don't need to keep it up indefinitely," the Slayer replied. "Just long enough to keep Glory busy. Long enough to make sure Dawn is safe."

Giles took his glasses off and started polishing the lenses. "Then what do you think we ought to do now?"

Buffy sighed. "I think we should hide for a while. I don't know where, but—"

"What about that old mansion Spike took us to a few weeks ago?" Joyce suggested, coming in from the kitchen. She was still using a cane to walk, but her mobility was much improved.

Giles looked vaguely hopeful. "That's not a bad idea, Buffy. It's out of the way, and there's little chance Glory will know to look there if we can make our way over without being spotted. Plus, there's the fact that it's rather far removed from innocents. Should we need to make a stand, that's as good a place as any."

Xander appeared behind Joyce. "Why can't we plan for maximum distraction?" he suggested. "Angel won't care if we blow up the mansion, right?"

Buffy hesitated and then grinned broadly. "I doubt it. It's not like he ever uses the place. Okay, Xander, you get together what you're going to need. Major explosives aren't going stop Glory, but it will definitely be a distraction. And if we can lure her somewhere else, that's even better. We just need to build a better mouse trap." The Slayer hefted the troll hammer she'd stopped to pick up on her way back home. "Maybe we'll manage to hit a home run this time."