Fanfiction

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Previously on Grey Lines:

Spike finds Dawn as she tries to leave the house in the middle of the night to see him. They talk. During a research party Anya gets zombied out but Xander shakes her out of it. It's agreed she must be under 24 hour surveillance so she moves into Buffy's house. The vengeance demon turns out to be the resident evil. Spike comes to see Dawn as he promised the night before but accidentally gets **** on his pants. Thinking everyone's asleep Dawn and Spike go into the kitchen to get him cleaned up, but suddenly Buffy shows up...

Chapter 4 - While You Were Sleeping

Instinctively, Dawn pulled Spike’s arm, pushing him down to the floor.

"Stay there!" was the last thing Dawn was able to say before she saw her sister come in.

"Dawn? Who were you talking too?" Buffy asked noting her sister’s jittery state.

"Me? No one. Why?" Dawn tried hard not to stutter as she spoke and at the same time tried to make sure her sister didn’t come any closer.

From where she was standing, Buffy couldn’t see the vampire who was now kneeling on the tilled floor behind the counter. She came to sit on a chair near the counter and Dawn immediately moved on the other side of it, coming closer to lean on the marble surface and in the process blocking Buffy’s view.

"I thought I heard some- What *is* that smell?" Buffy suddenly noticed the horrible stench in the kitchen.

"What smell?"

"The something old and decrepit just crawled in here and died smell."

Dawn choked back a laugh as she saw Spike’s angry face from the corner of her eyes.

"It’s probably just a sewer pipe of something." Dawn spoke still a little nervous.

"Well, we better get someone in here to fix that. I’ll call Xander in the morning." Buffy paused and then added: "Are you ok? You seem kinda jumpy."

"Me? Jumpy? Why do you think that?" Dawn tried hard to control her breathing as she spoke.

"Well, for one you keep repeating the end of my sentences and your breathing is shallow." Buffy’s left eyebrow coked up as she explained her suspicions.

"Oh! That’s cause I just came from outside. It’s kinda chilly."

"Huh…" Buffy wasn’t very convinced, but she decided to let it slide. She was too tired to try to get anything out of Dawn. "Do you want some tea?"

The Slayer stood up and prepared to move around to the other side of the counter when a very nervous Dawn offered:

"I’ll make you some. You just sit there." And she pointed to the chair Buffy had just left behind.

"Ok…" she replied confused and took her seat once more.

"Camomile or Lemon?"

"Lemon." Buffy chose.

"So…"

"So…" Buffy repeated.

"What do you think about Anya moving in?" Dawn asked taking her place back near the counter as she waited for the water to boil.

"A very, very bad idea." Buffy sighed.

"Did you see what she did in the bathroom?"

"Did you listen to her sign?" Buffy replied.

"I’m really sorry for Willow! I don’t envy her at all." Dawn said sympathetically.

"Speak of the devil." Buffy said as she saw a very tired Willow enter the kitchen. "Not sleepy either?"

"No. Very sleepy actually. Very, very sleepy. But I can’t sleep." Willow dragged her feet as she came to seat next to Buffy.

"Why not?" Dawn asked.

"Anya, our all time favourite vengeance demon." Willow forced a weak smile on her lips, which crumbled just as she started her next sentence: "She snores louder than a bear."

"Bears snore?" Buffy frowned.

"That’s not the point. The point is I can’t sleep." Willow pouted.

"Tea?" Dawn offered as she took the kettle from the fire.

"Yes, please." Willow yawned.

"Lemon or camomile?"

"Lemon."

In the meantime, Buffy was still very uncomfortable with the smell as she picked up a napkin and breathed into it.

"Whatcha doing?" Willow asked giving her friend a glance.

"Can’t you smell it?"

"Smell what?" Willow inquired confused.

"The stench."

"I’m too sleepy to smell anything." Willow explained resting her head in her hands as she leaned into the counter.

Dawn quickly prepared three mugs of lemon tea and she nearly had a heart attack when she turned around to set them on the counter. For a second, she had almost forgotten about Spike. He was all curled up into a tiny ball, leaning against the counter. As she moved and gave him a glance, she saw him make all sorts of excruciating faces and she had to choke back a laugh.

"What?" Willow asked sipping from her tea.

"Oh, nothing. Just remembered Anya’s singing and I didn’t know if I should laugh of cried. I chose the former." Dawn lied.

"That was probably one of the most agonizing experiences of my life." Buffy whined tracing the counters of her mug with her index finger.

"I hope we solve this zombie thing soon. I don’t know how much longer I can take this." Willow protested.

"Giles is working on it." Buffy reassured her friend lightly running her hand over Willow’s back.

"He better hurry!" Willow pouted with her eyes closed.

"Willow…" Buffy whispered to the already half asleep girl.

"Hum…" she moaned.

"You better go to bed." Buffy advised.

"I can’t. The resident snoring evil is my roommate, remember?" Willow murmured never opening her eyes.

"You can sleep on my bed. I’ll take the couch."

"No, I’ll take the couch." Willow tried to argue but was too tired and soon she was on her way up.

"And you, young lady, have classes tomorrow, so off to bed." Buffy commanded as she stood up.

"You go on ahead, I’ll clean up." Dawn said.

Buffy was about to protest, but for some reason decided it was best not too.

"I’ll go and make up the couch and in two minutes, if you’re not in bed, I’ll come here to get you." She warned.

"Yes, mummy." Dawn mocked as she saw her sister leave the room.

Spike waited until he heard a door on the upper level being closed before standing up and shaking his legs.

"Finally! I thought you guys would never shut up."

"Sorry. You better hurry. She’ll be back down any min…" Dawn trailed off as she heard loud footsteps coming down the stairs. "Down!"

And Spike was forced to take his place back behind the counter. In the meantime, Dawn leaned on the sink washing the three mugs.

"What now?" Spike whispered.

"I don’t know. You’ll have to sneak out when she falls asleep." Dawn offered shaking her shoulders.

"So. You ready?" she heard Buffy’s voice coming from the hall and into the kitchen.

"Almost." Dawn tried to delay the inevitable.

"Dawn, your two minutes are up. Let’s go. Don’t make me go there and drag you." Buffy said with a smile.

Seeing she had no choice, the younger Summers’ girl made her way out of kitchen but not before giving a quick glance towards the skulking vampire.

Buffy followed her and when they reached the bottom of the stairs she gave Dawn a quick peck on the cheek and wished her goodnight. Sighing deeply as she saw the young girl walk up stairs, Buffy turned on her heels and continued to the living room. She took her place on the couch and curled up between the sheets.

In the meantime, Spike refused to move; afraid any sound would alert the Slayer in her. He waited a long time before he stood up and walked around the counter. He was about to open the back door when he heard a soft moan coming from the living room. That was all it took. In a blink of an eye he was in the room with her, he had tried so hard to resist the urge and just leave, but the sound of her lament triggered something inside him he wasn’t able to control.

Against common sense he came closer to her, walking around the couch. He figured if she woke up he would be able to hide behind it. He gazed down on her; she looked so peaceful in her sleep. She lay on her back, her head tilted toward the coffee table. Soon he found himself drifting around the couch once more and now he hovered over her head, part of his body still behind the divan.

Her breathing was calm and slow as her chest rose and fell in front of him. A strand of hair came to rest over her face causing her nose to twitch. Without thinking, he took the lock and moved it behind her hear. His fingers lingered between her blond threads as he fought the urge to run his hand over her wild locks.

Then she moaned once more and he jumped up as her hand came to rest over his, bringing it down over her cheek and she pressed her face against his cool palm. Spike took in a sharp breath. He tried to move his hand away, but the more he did the tighter her grip became around it.

He attempted to pull away once more and she moaned in protest.

"No." she mumbled in her slumber.

He decided it was best not to oppose her and he relaxed, eventually moving his thumb in small circles over her cheek. A content murmur escaped her parted lips as she moved her hand over his, encouraging him and he obliged her.

"Hum..."

Spike was lost in the moment and the sounds that she was making only worsened the scenario.

"What are you doing, you wanker? She’s going to wake up any minute. Bloody Hell!" he cursed to himself as his hand hovered over her cheek and down her neck.

"Hum… Spike."

The vampire froze at the sound of his name on her lips. Did she know he was there or was it just a dream? And if it was just a dream why was he in it?

As he watched her he saw a faint smirk grow into a soft smile and she mumbled something unintelligible. Without realising he was doing it, his face drifted to hers as if enthralled and eventually his mouth connected with hers in a chaste kiss. He brushed his cold lips over her warm ones and his heart threatened to beat for the first time in a century. A tingling feeling began in every inch of skin that touched hers and spread through his entire body. He had dreamed about this for so long.

Suddenly, a loud noise coming from the stairs startled them both and soon he was hiding behind the coach once more as she began to drift into consciousness. Another loud crash was heard and this time Buffy jumped up and looked frenetically around.

"What? What?" she said with a hoarse voice.

In front of her, in the hall she saw a confused vengeance demon helplessly sprawled on the floor. Buffy was kneeling next to her in a second.

"What happen?" she asked concerned.

"I don’t know. I think I feel down the stairs." She protested stumbling to her feet and rubbing her lower back.

"You must have zombied out again." Buffy offered.

"Why does this have to happen to me?" Anya asked herself out loud.

"I don’t know. Go back to sleep and we’ll stop by the Magic Box tomorrow and ask Giles if he has any news." Buffy said helping her up the stairs.

Soon, the Slayer was back in the living room. She scanned her surroundings. She was still startled from the loud noise that had woken her, but she remembered it distinctly. It was such a vivid dream; she could swear she had felt his lips brush over hers. Instinctively, her hand came to rest over her mouth as she sat down on the couch.

Sitting on the floor a couple of feet behind her sat Spike, nervously trying to get his breathing under control as he remember the kiss he and the Slayer had just shared. "What the bloody hell were you thinking about?" he mentally kicked himself. "And stop breathing. You’re a vampire, you don’t breathe!"

Buffy ran her hand between her tousled hair as she tried to shake away the strange feeling in her chest.

"Stop thinking about it!" she ordered herself. "Go to sleep and forget about it! Just forget." She curled up between the sheets once more, but it was only a little before dawn that she finally fell asleep.

**************************************

When she had woken up, she had searched the house for the lurking vampire, but there was no sign of him, so she figured he had managed to weasel his way out. Dawn sighed loudly when she entered the kitchen.

"Why the long face?" Buffy asked as she flipped the omelette in the frying pan.

"Just sleepy I guess. Anya snored the entire night." Dawn complained as she took a seat next to the counter. "I really don’t know how long I can take this."

"Good morning, everyone!" a very cheerful Anya greeted as she walked in the room.

"Hey, An!" Dawn grumbled.

"How’s the back?" Buffy asked, when she saw Dawn’s curious look she explained: "Anya got… called last night, she was drifting out of the house but stumbled on the stairs and fell."

"I’m better. But I couldn’t sleep a thing. It hurt so much." Anya protested suddenly developing a strange limp as she walked towards the counter.

"You didn’t sleep? What are you talking about? Anyone within a 5 mile radius could testify in court that you slept like a baby." Dawn grumbled once more as she propped her head up on her arm.

"I did not!" Anya said in an outraged tone.

"You do know you snore louder than a… a…" Dawn searched her mind for an example but it escaped her. "Well, louder than something that snores very very loud!"

"I don’t snore!" Anya protested.

"Do too."

"Do not!"

"Do too."

"Do not!"

"Do-"

"Hey! Give it a rest, will ya?" a sleepy Willow shouted from the hall as she, made her way toward the kitchen.

"Hey, Will. Didn’t get much sleep either, huh?" Dawn asked sympathetically.

"What’da think?" Willow whinged.

"Omelettes anyone?" Buffy tried to change the subject as she noticed Anya about to say something and by the look on the demon’s face it wasn’t going to be pretty.

**********************************************************

In the Magic Box, Giles paced around as he read the book he held in his hands.

"G-man will give it a rest with the digging a whole in the ground routine?" Xander begged as he was already getting a bit nauseous from seeing the librarian walk around in circles.

"Xander, I’ve repeatedly asked you not to call me… Ah you’re here!" Giles sighed as he saw the four girls enter the shop.

"Hey, Giles! What’s new?" Buffy said as she closed the door behind her.

"Not much, I’m afraid. I’ve been up all night and I still haven’t got any tangible lead on this… thing." Giles exhale noisily in frustration.

"Well, Anya got called last night." Willow eagerly offered. All she wanted right now was to help Giles solve this problem. She figured the sooner it was deciphered the sooner Anya would move out of the house and she would be able to sleep.

"What happen? Why didn’t you guys call? Are you ok?" a worried Xander asked.

"I’m fine!" Anya groaned rubbing her lower back.

"Well, she fell on her way out of the house and she woke up." Buffy explained.

"This means the… callings are happening more often." Giles thought to himself.

"Why do you think it took longer for Anya to be… called?" Dawn asked curious, as she sat on one of the chairs around the table.

"I think it might have to do with the thrall of whatever is pulling them. Its power has probably been growing." Giles theorized. "First, it only attracted those which have a really powerful demon side and that’s why we had that one night where there were no demons out on the town. As the intensity of the pull grew, it started calling even the weaker elements."

"So all demons are now being called?" Buffy questioned.

"Oh my God! Sp…" Dawn stopped herself as she realised what she was about to say. If it was calling all demons, it might call Spike too. She had to do something. "Clem! Clem might be called again!" she finally said.

"You’re right." Buffy agreed. "We have to help him." She continued as she got up and started putting her jacket on. "You guys wait here. I’m going over to Spi… Clem’s, to see if he’s alright."

"I’m coming with you!" Dawn immediately said, standing up.

"No! you’re staying here. We don’t know how many demons are going to be out there." Buffy ordered.

"But…"

"No buts." Buffy snapped, but when she saw her sister’s hurt expression she added in a softer tone: "Please, Dawn, I don’t want to have to worry whether or not you’re safe.

Dawn looked up at her sister and realised she was right. She nodded as Buffy leaned in and kissed her on the forehead and turned to leave. "I really hope she doesn’t freak out when she sees Spike is back." The young girl thought to herself as she saw the Slayer disappear behind the closing door.

*********************************************************

"Clem!" Buffy yelled as she entered the crypt, not bothering to close the door behind her. Seeing the upper compartment was empty she quickly made her way down the stairs. There was no one there. "I really hope nothing has happen to him." She said to herself as she moved through the room.

Flashes of the last time she’d been there assaulted her. It had been when she’d broken up with… him. She felt a pang in her chest as she remembered her words and his chiselled face staring in disbelief at her.

She paused for a while as the memories sunk in and only after a few minutes did she notice her surroundings. He had rebuild the entire floor and it looked exactly the same way it did before it had been blown up.

She was snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of a familiar voice.

**********************************************************

Spike sighed in frustration as he saw the door to his crypt wide open.

"Clem! How many times do I have to tell you? Close the bloody door behind you!" he yelled off the top of his lungs as he stomped into his place.

In the lower compartment, Buffy felt her heart jump to her throat.

"Spike?" she whispered to herself.

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