A/N: Chapter sixty six of the series. Received some emails and reviews regarding the events in last chapter. Fortunately enough, there were no flames or any sort of name calling attached to it. I have to say I didn't pull it off magically or was a plot twist or a lame attempt at playing with the small but faithful audience. It is all part of the plot, which has been in my mind and in paper for two or three years now.

Anyways, thank you all for reading. I hope you keep enjoying the story.

Disclaimer: All belongs to Joss Whedon and the parties involved in airing the shows.

Feedback: Sure, as you wish. Looks like the begging worked, we're now at 32 reviews on Again, thanks a lot.

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Outskirts of London, England

December 2017

Angelus smiled as he saw the wind carried away the dust of what once had been his apprentice.

Savage joy rose through his body and he laughed out loud.

"Finally!" He growled. "Finally got rid of him! I knew I'd get my chance one day. One good day!"

Buffy stared at the place where Spike had been. All the warnings, all the cryptic references, all the anxiousness regarding the vampire, and he was killed by Angelus in a treacherous way.

"You..., you attacked him from behind." Buffy muttered. "He was one of your own, and..."

"Oh please, he was never one of us!" Angelus hissed. "He was always taking care of Drusilla and trying to prove something. He tried too much, too hard, you know?"

Buffy still couldn't grasp what she'd seen. All the lost years were again lost, and she wouldn't get the chance to know what had happened to him.

She hadn't realized it until know, but she had really wanted him to meet Annie.

Angelus knew an opportunity when he saw one, so he struck against her, trying to catch her off guard. The instincts of the slayer took over and she dodged the strike, hitting Angelus' legs, causing him to fall hard on his back.

Buffy looked at him, and felt bile rise and the need to retch assaulted her. She had been unable to do a thing when she first saw Spike die, and she had spent countless nights wondering what she could have done to avoid his fate.

Now she had been standing in front of him, talking to him, when he'd been taken away from her once more.

For the first time in her life, she truly, completely hated Angelus.

"Aw, the little slayer is mad at me?" Angelus said. "Did I break her toy?"

Buffy didn't reply, and in a display of pure slayer speed and strength, she punched Angelus' face, sending him flying backwards. He land crashed against several unearthed rocks, feeling bones and ribs shatter on impact.

Buffy slowly walked towards him, feeling her rage grow with every step. She didn't bother about picking another weapon, she would teach him a lesson with her bare hands.

Angelus moaned and groaned on the floor, feeling the shattered ribs bury in his inner organs. He chocked blood and rolled around, trying to ease the pressure inside.

He felt more pain as Buffy's boot impacted on his nose, sending more blood flying, and his neck snapping to the side. Much like the slayer before, he felt half of his body go numb and he wondered if she had broken his neck or some important vertebrae on his spine.

"Buffy, honey, please." Angelus drawled, feeling his mouth filling with blood.

"Don't." Buffy coldly replied. "Don't try to stop me."

Angelus laughed, and more blood fell off his mouth and nose, causing a coughing fit.

"We played with fate, and this is the result." Buffy said, finally coming to terms with what they'd done. "You had your place by my side, but you didn't want it. Seems Spike was wrong, you have never been man enough to stand by my side."

"Spike?"

"He's the reason you became human." Buffy revealed. "I can tell you know. I don't care about your feelings or your pride. You're not the man I married. I was too blinded by hopes and by a need to respect Spike's sacrifice."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"He gave his life so you would have a chance next to me." Buffy growled. "He thought you were the man I needed. He was wrong, and I feel so bad about it. He was by far a better man than you."

"We're not men, stupid cow." Angelus drawled. "We're something else."

"No, Angelus. You are a monster. He was a man. A good man."

"Since we're on that, seems he's become quite the killer, wouldn't you think?"

"He's doing what we've done for so long." Buffy replied. "We have blindly followed the higher powers, and look were that has taken us."

Angelus spat more blood away. "Don't pin on me those mistakes. That wasn't me, remember?"

Buffy looked away.

"You look the same." She softly said. "I look at you and I see my husband. I see the man who helped me all those years ago. But I also see the demon who tried to end the world. Who killed Giles' true love. Who has just killed..."

"And the father of your child." Angelus sneered. "That's why you can't kill me? Because I fathered that little bitch?"

Buffy kicked him hard on the stomach.

"Don't talk about her!" She shouted. "That girl loves you, and you have been an asshole to her!"

"Can't help it." Angelus struggled to stand up. "Can barely stand her."

Buffy picked up her enemy by the lapels of his leather jacket, and shook him, causing Angelus to gasp and his face became a grimace of pain.

"You won't get out of this so easily." Buffy said. "I won't kill you, but punish you in the worst way. I will find a way to get that soul back into you, seeing how much you hate being Angel."

Angelus laughed and Buffy frowned.

"Go ahead, do whatever you want to do!"

Buffy's face hardened and she slammed him against the floor, hating how he could always make her lose her temper.

Growls behind her forced the slayer to turn around, and gasped when she saw the dark beauty approach her.

"Drusilla."

"Slayer."

Buffy frowned. She had never been acknowledged by Drusilla.

"There's no point in you killing him." Drusilla said. "This army has its orders. They will follow through."

"Your army is falling to pieces." Buffy replied. "We're gaining ground."

"Slayers are dying, which was the main point." Drusilla countered. "And even you won't be able to save them all."

"We'll keep fighting."

"The game changed."

"This was never a game."

"It is, slayer. The board is set, and both sides have played their cards. The last card appeared and we have the upper hand."

"No you don't!" Buffy shouted. "Angelus killed Spike!"

"A minor setback." Drusilla replied. "The events have been set in motion. Nothing can stop them now."

"How can you be so cold?"

"I have lost William before." Drusilla answered, her eyes surprisingly honest. "To you."

Buffy shut her mouth and for once felt sympathy for the not so crazy vampire in front of her.

"This battle has gone for too long." Drusilla said. "We've reached a point of no return. My warriors can't do anything else."

"What are you saying?"

"Take your slayers. Get them away. I'll remove my demons."

"Huh?"

"Don't misunderstand this." Drusilla growled. "You and your slayers will still die, but this battle has served its purpose. Nothing else will come out of it."

Buffy didn't know what to reply and stared in silence at the two demons who picked the mangled Angelus and walked away.

"Wait! I can't let you take him."

"What would you do with him?" Drusilla asked.

"Take a soul and jam it into him."

Drusilla smiled again.

"That wouldn't help at all."

The vampire turned around and walked away. Around her, Buffy saw the remaining demons begin to back away and lower their weapons, confusing the slayers, watchers and other soldiers. They looked at each other with frowns and didn't know what was happening. Buffy felt her resolve give and she fell to the ground, feeling the exhaustion get to her and the emotional roller coaster began to take its toll. She only wanted to curl around and cry until she fell asleep, but she knew there were several things to do.

She'd have to tell them about Spike, even though she knew they'd take it as a good sign, knowing how no one else but her and probably Dawn would care that he'd been removed from the battle field.

She guessed most of them would take it as a morale booster, seeing how one third of the problem was no longer an issue.

Then she thought about Annie, and her mind swirled around, trying to come up with answers to questions she hadn't even formed in her head. She knew she would do anything to erase Angelus, and get Annie's father back.

Almost as if calling them with her heart and soul, Dawn and Annie appeared by her side. Bruised and blood drenched, the two other girls knelt down besides the slayer and held her.

"What happened?" Dawn asked, seeing the look of pure defeat on her sister.

"Found the three of them." Buffy sighed and turned her attention to her daughter. "What about you, dear, how are you?"

"Bloody great, mum." Annie replied, a tired smile on her face. "You never told me fighting would be so exhilarating."

"A true slayer's daughter." Dawn chuckled.

"You were right about the coat, mum." Annie said. "It makes me feel secure."

"Huh?"

"I know, dear, I know." Buffy nodded. "Wore it to battle some times. You can see some holes in it, and, uh, the previous owner would have been horrified to see all the blood splattered on it."

"I know! I hated that, but it's hard to avoid getting blood stains if it was practically raining."

"All this clothes won't be useful ever again." Dawn chuckled. "And not that I'm complaining, but what's with the demons running away?"

"An unlikely truce." Buffy replied. "Drusilla called the attack off."

"What?"

Buffy ran her hands through her hair, ignoring the blood in it and other liquids mixed in it.

"Angelus killed Spike."

All the blood ran from Dawn's face.

The once and former key lost her balance and almost fell face first on the ground. Buffy slowly placed her hand on her sister's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Dawn." Buffy said, her voice breaking. "I couldn't do a thing. We were all fighting and..."

"How?" Dawn whispered.

"No." Buffy whispered back. "No, honey, no. You don't want to know."

Some tears fell and Dawn quickly wiped them away. She forced her control back and she sat straight.

"Very well. What are you going to do about that bastard?"

"I'm going to put his soul back." Buffy said. "That's the worst punishment I can think of. Angelus will be trapped forever again inside Angel's body."

"But..."

"I know." Buffy looked away. "We'll have to devise a way to keep the soul inside for ever."

"So you don't want him dead?" Annie asked, biting her lip.

"Honey, I hate Angelus, but Angel is..., he is your father. If I can find a way to get him back to you, we'll find it."

"I don't want him gone." Annie said. "I may not like him much now, but I don't want to lose him."

"Looks like the Summers girls don't have much luck in the fathers department." Dawn sighed. "Makes me al the more glad we have Giles."

"Right." Buffy said. "Look, we may have a few hours of rest. We'll have to make the best of them. Help me get up."

The three women stood and walked away, trying not to step on the thousands of bodies of both demons and humans on the field. The slayer counted every fallen comrade until she reached the alarming number of 422 fallen, counting slayers, watchers and soldiers. She said a prayer for each and every one of them, and swore she'd find a way to end the conflict without more lives lost.

Hours later, Commander Finn had regained consciousness and had gathered his forces and ordered them to take a break. The slayer and her people also improvised a base camp and most of them were resting, using Annie's remaining turok han to keep guard. Out of the several hundred vampires, only 72 of them had survived the conflicts, but they remained loyal to Annie.

Feeling safe enough, Annie took a small walk outside their camp. The light but constant rain had extinguished most of the flames in London, and some helicopters dared to circle the city's air space, not seeing or hearing a sound from the dragons circling.

Annie frowned. Her mother had told her about Wesley's plan, but she was deeply concerned about her brother. She knew Connor knew how to take care of himself, but she itched to find him and help him. She also knew Wesley and Illyria were practically indestructible, but that didn't stop her from worrying.

Standing on her own, she didn't feel the presence standing a few yards away from her until he spoke.

"Isn't it dangerous to be on your own out here?"

Annie leapt back and quickly sought a weapon, frowning when remembering she had left her sword behind.

'Stupid.' She thought. 'And careless.'

"Who is it?"

"Nice coat." The stranger said before walking towards a spot of moon light. "Had one just like that ages ago."

Annie frowned, and stared at the stranger standing in front of her.

"My mum gave it to me." Annie replied, her eyes glued to him. "Said it was hers."

"Who's your mum? The slayer?"

"Buffy."

"Ahh, so you're the poof's daughter."

"Huh?"

"Angel is your dad, right?"

"It's what mum says."

"Funny, you don't look anything like him."

"Mum says I'm still too young."

"How old are you?"

"Fourteen."

"Young. Very young. You look kinda older."

"It's what everybody says." Annie chuckled. "Now, I shouldn't be talking to strangers. Who the bleeding hell are you?"

"And you have your mother's spunk." The stranger looked at her and blue eyes sparkled in the night.

"The name's Spike."