A/N: Chapter sixty seven of the series. Anyone surprised?

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

Feedback: Sure, as you wish.

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Outskirts of London, England

December 2017

Annie frowned and stared at the man standing in the moonlight. Had she heard correctly? Had he said his name was Spike?

"Uh, not to be rude or anything, but shouldn't you be dead or something?" Annie asked, connecting the dots and recognizing the vampire from hours earlier.

"I am dead, pet." Spike smirked. "Well, more like undead, but you catch my drift."

"Mum said da..., she said Angelus killed you." Annie's frown deepened.

"That he did." Spike shrugged. "Tricky bastard. Chopped off me own head from behind. A cheap shot."

"Right. See, that's were I get confused." Annie smirked. "From what I've read and seen, a vampire with no head equals a poof vampire, ergo a big pile of dust. You're not a big pile of dust, so, uh, what the hell?"

"One of the perks of playing with the big boys." Spike replied. "I'm notoriously hard to kill."

"Didn't he actually kill you?"

"It's all in the semantics." Spike shrugged. "I don't quite get it myself."

"And to what do I owe this talk?"

"You're an innocent in this conflict." Spike replied. "I may have to do things I didn't agree to, but murdering young children doesn't appeal to me anymore."

"Anymore?"

"Vampire, pet. Did kill many like you in my time. Maybe will have to again. You'll have to ask your mother about that one."

"What's my mum got to do with this?"

"From what I heard? She caused all this mess."

"Why?"

"For starters? Like me, she just won't stay dead."

"Comforting."

"Oh yeah. This world was shot to hell from some fuck ups caused by your parents."

"Both of them?"

"They like to do it right when they're screwing up."

"Wow, the daughter of champions." Annie smirked. "Not that I believe you, of course."

"Then don't. Just stay away from it all. I may very well be forced to slaughter all of you."

"My mum will stop you."

"Your father beheaded me, and yet here I stand." Spike said as he fished out a cigarette and lit it.

"That's disgusting." Annie frowned.

"Hey, it's not like I'm forcing you to light up one." Spike chuckled.

"Still, it's a disgusting habit."

"You sound so much like a girl I once knew." Spike frowned. "Or thought I did. Anyways, consider yourself warned. What will happen won't be pretty."

"Oh, and this past few hours have been what? A walk in the park?"

"Compared to what I'm going to do? Yup."

"You may have spooked everyone, but you don't seem so threatening to me." Annie crossed her arms.

"What, didn't you see what I did to Harris?"

"Who?"

"The bricklayer. That idiot Xander."

"That was you?" Annie's jaw almost fell. "You sodding idiot! You almost killed him!"

"Uh, not likely. The one I almost killed was a redhead. Don't remember her name."

"Vi."

"Something like that."

"How can you be so cold?" Annie asked. "I mean, I have never met a vampire before, but how can you be so... empty about it all?"

"Have my reasons."

"And you're standing there, the one who is supposed to kill us all, and you expect to have a civilized conversation with me?"

Annie let her instincts take over and she let go. She threw punches at Spike's face, and the surprised vampire smiled as he dodged every attack.

Spike blocked punch after punch as he analyzed her fighting style, recognizing some of Angelus' style, some of Buffy's and an unknown style, probably taught by someone else.

The vampire followed the dance for some time, until he grew bored and caught Annie's hands in his own.

"Now, now, pet, relax." Spike said, his grip tightening until it was painful. "I'm not here to hurt you."

"No, you're just here to kill every one I love."

"I'll do what I have to." Spike said as he let her go. "And I wonder, why are those turok han following you?"

"Like I'd really tell you." Annie said and spat on Spike's face. The vampire smirked and spat back. Annie squealed and made a face.

"Don't do to others what you wouldn't want them to do to you." Spike chuckled. "Now, why are you in command of vampires I released from hell?"

"I don't know." Annie growled. "You're hurting me."

"Oh. Sorry." Spike shrugged and let her go. Annie rubbed her wrists and shot Spike a dirty look.

"What are you doing here, anyways?" She asked.
"Like to keep track of my enemy." Spike replied.

"You were going to attack while they were asleep?"

"Not my style." Spike replied. "I may have killed slayers but they all died while fighting. I never killed anyone on their sleep. I think."

"You think?"

"I have killed a gazillion people, pet." Spike shrugged. "I don't keep track of them all."

Annie looked away.

"That disturbs you?"

"I have never met someone like you." Annie replied. "You talk about what you've done without remorse or some sort of decency."

"So, my honesty offends you?"

"No." Annie shook her head. "I have read several volumes regarding vampires. I heard stories. I heard rumors. But it's never the same. It can't get you prepared. I never believed..."

"What? That we were practically animals? That we kill without remorse?"

"No. The soul thing." Annie stared defiantly into Spike's eyes. "I never gave too much importance to it. Seemed like a myth, like it made no difference. I stared into the eyes of animals and saw nobility there I thought had nothing to do with a bloody soul. But looking at you now?"

"Aw, I shattered your beliefs?" Spike mocked her. "Did I just ruin your views of morality? Does my very existence repulse you?"

"You're a monster."

"Well, duh. I am a vampire. It's what I'm supposed to be."

"But you retain the intellect of a man. You must know the difference between right and wrong."

"I do. As do you. But once you learn how things work, you realize there's no difference between what's right and what's wrong."
"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Let me give you an example. A young boy is taught by his parents that beating other kids is wrong. That same kid is taught by his parents that every man must be a gentleman. In a controlled environment, the kid follows the rules and is a good boy. But outside this perfect reality, the kid interacts with other kids, who have different beliefs and points of view. One day, another kid hits a girl. The boy comes to a confusing dilemma. His morality tells him hitting a girl is wrong, and he wants to do something about it, but he can't stand for the girl without breaking the rule of beating other boys. What's right and what's wrong in there?"

"The kid could always talk." Annie spoke, believing she had seen right through the analogy.

"If it were so easy." Spike chuckled. "The boy has two options here. To let the other kids hit and bully a girl and follow what he was told, or break the rules, follow what he believes in and fight back. What's the right thing to do?"

"You're twisting things." Annie muttered, but she clearly remembered what she had done days ago, when she'd been in a very similar situation.

"So? Tell me. What is right and what is wrong?"

"There's a severe difference between standing up for someone and killing half a planet."

"See? That's where your biases appear. I must admit, there is a difference, a rather large one, but the concept is the same. What's right and wrong depends. Like beauty, it's all in the eye of the beholder."

"That's a pretty sick way of seeing things." Annie scowled.

"When you see the things I've seen, your view of the world changes." Spike said. "For instance, you took lives today, didn't you?"

"They were demons."
"But demons are alive." Spike explained. "They are as alive as you and I, as the ant that walks or the flea that bites the dog. A life is a life. You took them because of this war."
"It's..."

"It's not different, kid. Or what? The demons you killed walked, ate and breathed. They dream and fear like you and I do."

"I don't think you have much feelings."

"You are Buffy's daughter, aren't you? Brought up in the narrow views of the Council and their racist ways."

"Racist?"

"You practically told me you didn't consider murder what you did. That it didn't matter because they were demons. Let's see, ok? There are over two thousand bodies of demons out there rotting in the field. They kill to eat, but so do most of you humans. Those demons? They fought to fix something caused by humans, by your fucking needs and beliefs to be above it all. To feel better than nature and bend it to your benefit. Because you have the definition of right and wrong completely messed up!"

"Oh, and you have come to teach us? To guide us?"

"Of course not! I may have been human once, but nothing of that remains. I know how the world works. I know how the universe works, and I learnt the really bad way not to mess with it, just deal with it."

"That's not what heroes do." Annie defiantly said.

"Really? How many soddin' heroes do you know, kid?"

"My mum. My entire family."

"You'd be amazed at what your family has done and is capable of doing."

"You wouldn't know what they can do." Annie passionately said. "You could never even begin to understand what they are. You're just...beneath them."

Spike laughed out loud, the sound offensive to Annie's ears.

"You forget your place, little one." Spike said after the laughter died. "You forget I've been alive far longer than you have and you'll ever be. You forget I know your family more than you know, and have seen them in a way no one else will. You see what they want you to see. You've learnt what they want you to learn. Bet they didn't want you here at all, did they?"

"They are protecting me."

"From what I've seen, you don't need protection, sweet pea. It's my monsters the ones in need of protection from you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Your family knows what you are. They probably fear you as much as they love you. You can't expect normal humans to understand. They fear what they don't know."

"They love me."

"You tell yourself that." Spike smirked. "They don't know what you are, do they? You're not human and you're not a slayer, are you?"

"I'm as human as..."

"As who? As the Scooby gang? You've survived when slayers have died. There are vampires following you around. That's not quite human in my book, luv."

"Stop calling me that!"

"Struck a nerve? Hit on your insecurities?"
"I'm beginning to understand why everyone hated you."

"Because I tell the truth?"
"Because you manipulate it." Annie hissed. "Because you take something and twist it to your advantage."

That's right, kid. I'm very good at it, but you know I'm telling the truth."

"Your version of it."

"Maybe."

Annie didn't open her mouth anymore as she stared into cold eyes. After tense seconds, a deeper frown appeared on her face.

"Why haven't you tried to kill me?"

"I told you, I don't need to."

"What tells you I won't try to?"

"Because someone must have told you to stay away from me. Because I bet everyone who knew me warned you about me. And I guess that's confusing the hell out of you."

"No. I, I mean, yes, but..."

"You wonder how you managed to have a discussion with someone who's bent on killing your mum."

"No!"

"Listen, kid. For a strange reason, I seem to be attracted to you by some unknown force. Not in that way, you know, you are like a baby to me, but I may have seen you before somewhere. Don't know. I just wouldn't like to have to kill you."
"Trust me, you won't."

"Trust me, if you get in my way, I will." Spike seriously said. "You saw what I did. You know what I can do. You heard what happened to me, and still I am here unnerving you."

"Who says you're unnerving me?"

Spike moved faster than Annie's eyes could see, and she found herself gripped by her neck and lifted clean off the floor.

"I can hear your heartbeat, sweet pea. I can hear your blood rushing through your body. I can see your pupils dilating and smell the sweat running down your body. I am a predator, kid. I know my prey. I know I scare you because you don't understand me and because you don't know what I can do. I scare you because I remind you of the way your family looked at you when they saw what you could do. I scare you because we're so damn alike."

"I am nothing like you."

"The only difference between you and me? You breathe."

Spike put her down carefully and let her go. Annie rubbed her throat and rolled her neck.

"Stay away from this fight, kid." Spike said. "Anyone who walks into it will be killed. I have to kill all slayers but one, and I have already chosen who will be the one slayer to be left walking around. I have an army to back me up, and I swear to you, no one will be safe once I choose to."

"We have an army as well."

"Let me tell you a secret." Spike smiled. "We have dragons."
"Someone is taking care of them as we speak."

"Oh no, sweet pea. No one is taking care of them. They are laying low. They are waiting for my command."

"You're lying."

"Think what you want." Spike bowed down and began walking away. He hadn't taken more than five steps when he turned around.

"Do you like to read?" He asked. Annie frowned but nodded.

"You may want to bother the tight assed Giles about the Nibelungenlied."

"The what?"

"The Nibelungenlied. The ring of the Nibelung. Ask him about Sigfried."

Annie was confused, but she dared not to speak another word. The vampire had confused her completely, not because he had been killed hours ago, but because many things he'd said had hit home.

And what the hell did he mean with the Nibelwhatever?

"Annie?"

The girl turned around, and saw the one person in the entire world she felt could understand her.

"Aunt Dawn." Annie sighed. "I really need to talk to you."

A/N2: The Nibelungenlied is an epic poem in Middle High Germany. Saw a TV miniseries about it once, quite an interesting production and had the benefits of Kristanna Loken in it. Who is Ms. Loken, you say? You may have seen her in Terminator 3. Hot babe. Hard to miss.