Last fic card, for tinpanalley

Health warning: And yet more schmoop :-)

Title: You Shouldn't Have
Author: Flurblewig
Pairing: Spike/Dawn
Rating/Warnings: G
Timeline/Spoilers: Post-Chosen
Genre: Schmoop
Length: 1,000 words
Disclaimer: Not mine. We all know that.
Written for: tinpanalley. Happy holidays, sweetie!



So, what did you get the girl who had everything?

Yeah, he knew it was a cliché - but in this case, it also happened to be a reality. With Dawn's circle of gift-givers including most of the new Slayer's Council and the CEO of Wolfram & Hart, there really wasn't much, mystical or otherwise, that she didn't already have. And what little there was, she'd be getting this year.

A car from Angel, the flash git. A priceless K'hrashak battle-axe from Buffy. A rare inter-dimensional edition of the Latkarain Scrolls from Willow. Tickets for just about any show in any universe from Lorne. The list just went on and on.

So what the hell did that leave for Spike to get her? He'd even consider a pony, if he didn't think Giles and his bloody stud farm wouldn't already have that one covered.

He thought about clothes, but he was the first to admit that he hadn't exactly bothered keeping up to date with current fashions. He could try sending Harmony out to get something, but - nah. Somehow he had trouble seeing Dawn in a pair of five-inch hot pink stilettos.

"You had a girlfriend for a hundred years, Spike," said Fred. "Didn't you ever get Drusilla a present?"

He wandered round the lab, running his hands over Fred's collection of gizmos and wondering what they were. And whether Dawn would like them. "Well, yeah. Of course I did. Used to get her stuff all the time."

Fred beamed. "There you go, then. You must have some ideas. "

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Yeah, right. Because Dawn's sure to like the kind of things I used to give Dru. I'll just be over here ripping the heart and lungs out of your lab assistant's chest then, shall I?"

The guy backed away from him nervously, and Fred's smile dropped a notch or two. "Oh. I see your point. Well, maybe I'll just keep thinking about it."

He tried the internet, but that didn't really improve his prospects or his mood. There were plenty of gift sites, but they all seemed to be full of things like fart machines, pet robots and three-foot-high remote-controlled daleks. If he'd been shopping for Andrew he would have been spoiled for choice, but for Dawn? It really wasn't helping.

Flowers? Too predictable. Perfume, chocolates? Too boring. Books, cds? Too cheap. Jewellery? Mmm, a nice solid gold cross with bits of his sizzling flesh attached to it would be nice.

He sighed, and slammed the lid of the laptop down. This just wasn't getting him anywhere.

Time for Plan B.

*

He roared up in front of the Summers's apartment and laid on the horn for a couple of minutes. He could see the blinds twitching, and a variety of faces jostling to see what all the noise was about. Then the front door flew open and Dawn came running down to the street.

"Spike!" she yelled. "You're here!"

"Course I am, pet. Wouldn't miss this party for the world, would I?"

She slowed down as she approached the car. "Oh. Yeah, of course, the party. You're here for the party."

He grinned. "Well, that and to give you your Christmas present, of course. "

She squealed, and jumped up and down on the spot. "You got me a present? What is it? What did you get me? What is it, Spike?"

He leant back in the seat, stretching his arm out over the top. "You're looking at it, love."

She stared at him, her mouth opening slightly and her eyes widening. "You mean - you mean - "

"Yep, I sure do." He nodded, then reached down and patted the side of the convertible's shiny blue door. "A BMW Z8, all yours. Do you like it?"

Her smile seemed to freeze. "Oh. The car," she said eventually. She swallowed, and ran her hands through her hair. "I mean, you got me a car. Wow. That's wonderful. It's gorgeous, it really is. You shouldn't have, Spike."

"Damn right he shouldn't have," growled a deep voice behind them.

Dawn spun round. "Hey, Angel. What do you mean?"

"Fuck," said Spike, slinking down in the seat. According to Harmony, Angel's diary said he wasn't supposed to have been flying down until the day after tomorrow. Spike had planned to be in and out by then. Bollocks.

Angel stared at both of them, his hands on his hips. "Spike? Why don't you tell Dawn what I mean?"

Spike looked down, realising he'd run out of slinking room.

"Um. Well. You see, Dawn, the thing is. Um. The car. The present. It was, um, kind of - " he stopped, looking up at her helplessly. "Angel's. I mean, it was Angel's present. To you."

Her face was expressionless. "You mean you stole it? You stole a car from Angel to give to me?"

He was cringing, he could feel it. "It was just - I wanted to get you something really nice, and the whole shopping thing was impossible and - "

"You stole a car for me," she said again, and then clapped her hands together. "That is so sweet."

Both Spike and Angel stared at her.

She stared back defiantly. "Well, it is."

She turned to Angel. "I do love the car, Angel. Honestly. Thank you."

She stood on tiptoe to give him a quick hug, then she ran around to the passenger's side and climbed in beside Spike. She sat sideways, tucking one leg gracefully underneath her.

"Spike, you know you really don't have to buy me anything to give me a wonderful present. You could give me the one thing I've always wanted, the one thing that no-one else has got." She put her head on one side, thinking. "Well, almost no-one."

Spike shifted in the seat to face her, confused. "What's that, pet?"

She leaned forward and took his face in her hands, smiling. "A vampire," she said, and kissed him.

-end-