A/N: Chapter sixty eight of the series. One hundred and eighty eight pages, single spaced and counting. Thank you all who are still reading this. There's still some questions needing answers and answers needing explanations. Bear with me.

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

"What is it, honey?" Dawn Summers asked as she noted her niece a bit paler than usual. The young girl sighed and slowly stepped closer to her aunt until she found herself surrounded by her arms.

"Aunt? If I told you something, would you believe me?"

"You know I would." Dawn said, patting the girl's back. "What is it?"

"I saw a vampire."

Dawn frowned and noticed the remaining turok han patrolling the nearby area.

"Uh, care to be specific?"

"A strange one." Annie tested the waters, not wanting to blurt out the name and have her aunt freak. "He talked to me."

"What?" Dawn took Annie's head and softly pushed her away so they could stare into each other's eyes. "He didn't try to kill you right away?"

"No." Annie shook her head. "He just came to talk."

"Wow. Did you kill him?"

"Didn't have any weapons with me." Annie shrugged. "Didn't think I'd need them."

The girl pointed at the turok han and Dawn nodded, letting her heart beat return to its normal pace.

"From now on, I want you to be carrying a weapon all the time." Dawn said. "And if a vampire managed to pass through your own vampires, we should ring the alarm."

"No! I mean, no I don't think we'll have to. He, uh, he didn't come here to murder us in our sleep."

"Really?" Dawn asked, sensing something was amiss and her niece wasn't telling her everything. "Strange. What did he look like?"

"Oh, you know, like a vampire."

"Annie, almost all the vampires you have seen are those patrolling and Drusilla, who I must say doesn't look like a monster herself."

"He looked normal." Annie said, hoping she could at least buy some time before blurting out what she'd seen.

"Uh huh." Dawn said, and her brain raced and hope flared. "A vampire who came to talk to you and managed to get past your vampires. Honey, come on, if your father came to talk to you it's ok."

"No! It wasn't dad, I swear!" Annie said, not wanting to get things out of control. "I swear to you it wasn't him! He was, uh, someone else!"

"Annie, the only vampires who could get past those turok han are Drusilla, your father and..., and that's it. I know you wouldn't be so calm if it had been Drusilla, and you wouldn't be so talkative and so, well, so alive. I wonder what Angelus wanted. Maybe only wanted to mess with your head."

"It wasn't Angelus." Annie whispered. "It was that other vampire. The one with the bleached hair."

Dawn thought she'd heard Annie say 'bleached hair', but she knew she had imagined it. She'd heard Buffy and she knew her sister wouldn't joke about Spike or lie about him. Not anymore.

"Honey, Spike was killed by your father." Dawn cringed. "God knows I'd want him back more than anyone else, but he's gone. Poof."

"Well, someone who said his name is Spike, has a national accent, has bleached hair, two scars on his face and is wicked strong came here tonight."

Dawn felt her knees weak but she had to stay strong and cool headed to assess the situation.
"Ok. Did he have blue eyes?"

"Yup."

"Very short temper?"

"Yup."

"Did he manage to get under your skin, disturb you and yet find true and hurtful aspects of your life?"

"Oh yeah."

"Shit." Dawn muttered and she had to sit down on the floor. Annie knelt besides her and waited patiently until her aunt recovered.
"You ok, auntie?"

"Yes, sweet pea, I'm allright."

Annie frowned and Dawn looked at her questioningly.

"He called me that." Annie said. "Sweet pea."

"Really?" Dawn asked. "He used to call me that. And nibblet."

"You called me nibblet when I was a baby." Annie said. "That and bit, bite size and other ridiculous nicknames I don't want to remember anymore."

"He used to call me all those names." Dawn sighed. "He took care of me."

"That vampire?" Annie asked, her eyes as large as plates. "You've got to be bloody kidding me."

"Till the end of the world." Dawn repeated. "Even if that happens tonight."

"You also told me that."

"He said that to my sister." Dawn said. "When she asked him to protect me."

"Mum trusted him?"

"Sometimes." Dawn honestly replied. "I know I trusted him. I felt safe with him. He was my friend."

"No one talked to me about him." Annie said.

"His name is taboo." Dawn chuckled. "Your..., Angelus hates him. Xander and Giles hated him. Willow feared him. Tara..., Tara was the only one who didn't judge him."

"And mum?"

"There are things you'll learn when you're older, bit." Dawn said. "The world will stop looking black and white, and you'll see splotches of all colors you can imagine."

"Right or wrong." Annie muttered. "He said he knew you very well. All of you."

"He does." Dawn nodded. "He might be so dangerous to us because he knows us. He spent time with us. And we hurt him, more than anyone deserves to be hurt."

"What happened?"

Dawn thought about answering, when another thing flashed on her mind.

"Honey, you are absolutely and positively sure he said he was Spike, right?"

Annie nodded.

"We have to warn your mother." Dawn hopped and quickly stood up. "Spike will head directly against Angelus."

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Twelve minutes and forty four seconds later, the slayer, her sister and niece ran outside base camp, not knowing what was happening around them but wanting to receive some answers.

"Are you sure about this?" Dawn asked. Buffy nodded as she ran at a normal pace.

"From what you told me, seems Spike is here to stay. I saw him turn to dust, and if he's again on the battle field, he must have more answers and explanations."

"And, uh, not to be mean but why are we bringing Annie with us?"

"Spike won't kill him. Drusilla had her chance once and didn't kill her as well. I can deal with Angelus."

"I can take care of myself." Annie said. "And I now have weapons with me."

"And what if we don't get there in time?" Dawn asked, hating how she always seemed to be the one to think about everything. "What if...?"

"I don't think we'll be late." Buffy replied. "We know Spike has a tendency of not being very patient, but if he goes after Angelus I don't think it would be quick. Or pretty."

"What I really want to know is how the hell he got back." Dawn said. "You saw him turn to dust."

"It's the second time." Buffy sighed.

"Second time?" Annie asked. "There seems to be some history between the two of you. He referred to you by name."

"Wait a minute, did you two talk?" Buffy asked, now stopping dead in her tracks.

"Uh, yeah."

"God, that vampire really is unpredictable." Buffy frowned. "What did he say?"

"Like most of you, he wanted me out of this. Don't know what the fuss it's all about."

"Because you're fourteen years old, young lady."
"I'm a few months shy of fifteen." Annie scowled. "Some of the slayers are that age."

"Some, but it's their calling, Annie. You're a schoolgirl."

"What calling? There were like a million of you guys, until that vamp started killing you."

Buffy flinched and soon her mind processed what she was doing. She knew Spike had killed Kennedy, had maimed Vi and was respected and feared by an army of thousands.

That, and he had been killed twice and had returned that many times.

"What is it mum?"

"I'm beginning to think this isn't such a good idea." The slayer replied. "We can't act out on impulses."

"Mum, from what I can see, this Spike guy is going to go for dad, or you or someone in my family. If there's a chance we can stop this without going all Lord of the Rings, then I'm all for it."

"You weren't even born when the first movie was done, why do you like them so much?"

"Duh. Violence, swords and handsome fellas?"

"You got a point. Anyhow, we may have to think what we're doing."

"Stopping a war without more bloodshed?" Dawn provided.

"That could be it."

"Or walking straight into the lion's den with steaks wrapped around our necks?"

"There's also that." Buffy chewed on her nails. "I played kick the Angelus a while, but he must have healed properly by now the worst injuries. Drusilla seems to be eerily sane, and Spike..., well, he's one of the best fighters I've met."

"We have the element of surprise."

"I don't think so." Buffy shook her head. "Spike has never been an idiot. If he talked to Annie he must have figured out we'd try to stop him from doing whatever stupid thing there's on his brain."

"Dad is tough. I don't think he'd be taken out by Spike."

"The last time those two fought Spike jammed red hot iron bars into your dad's chest." Dawn deadpanned. Buffy glared at her sister but didn't chastise her for telling Annie the truth.
"That's true?" Annie asked.

"Oh dear, your father and Spike have some very disturbed history. They're the poster children for very dysfunctional families."

"They take that thing seriously? The family thing?"

"They did stick together for, what? Twenty years?"

"The records are murky but yeah." Dawn nodded. "Until Angelus was souled."

"Looks like we're wasting time." Annie said. "We should either continue with our original idea or go back."

"Dawn?"

"I'd say go." Dawn replied. "But that's me."

"Annie?"

"Green light."

"Fine, let's go."

The three women continued walking, set on trying to find a way to stop the madness.

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Angelus sat down on the floor, the demons having brought several cheeseburgers to appease the hunger he was feeling, and downed it all with the cheap brandy brought along.

"Man, this feels good." Angelus burped and liked the burn left on his throat by the liquor.

"The night changed." Drusilla said as she appeared by his side and sat down on the floor next to him. She confused him more when she reached out and began taking small bites out of a cheeseburger as well.

"Now that's new." Angelus said, grimacing when he sat up straighter. "I don't think I've ever seen you eat anything at all."

"I like cheese." Drusilla said as she wiped her mouth. "And strangely enough, the smell is quite appealing."

"You continue to freak me out. Can't you go back to the insane blabbering?"

"Probably sooner or later." Drusilla replied as she finished her hamburger. "The events soon shall come to a boiling point."

"You seem to know more than you let on." Angelus said. "You saw it in a vision or what?"

"Or what. This endless night will soon fulfill its purpose."

"I like it. This night thing is actually cool."

"It has it's advantages." Drusilla smiled. "But it will soon end."

"There's no rush, is there? I mean, I never understood the gist of it all. What's the big deal, anyways? I mean, dead slayers is a plus, but all that balance rot?"

"It's beyond us." Drusilla said. "We're part of something larger now. Everything has its purpose and there have been reasons for all that's happened."

"And I finally killed Spike." Angelus said, smiling. "Been waiting ages to do that. Seemed he had died sometime ago, but he was brought back and I got my chance. That felt good."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, mate."

Angelus gasped and jumped, feeling his bruised ribs protest. He stared at Spike and couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"What the fuck?"

"Hello to you too, Angel." Spike smirked. "Dru."

"Glad to have you back, William." Drusilla said. "Want a cheeseburger?"

"Sure thing, had me one, please."

Angelus felt he had been tricked and approached Spike, a murderous intent in his eyes. Spike's smirk turned into a smile and he quickly punched Angelus' face, effectively cutting whatever intention he might have had.

Angelus growled and rubbed his cheek, still too weak and hurt from Buffy's attack. He was breathing like an enraged bull but knew he was too surprised to think correctly.

"What the hell happened?"

"I have a job to do." Spike replied between taking bites off his cheeseburger. "Can't let anything as trivial as losing me head stop me."

"But, what the fuck!" Angelus repeated. "I took your goddamn head off! I saw you explode into dust! I killed you! I already killed you!"

"That you did. You killed me real good, Angel. Good one. Now, could you please shut up?"

"I won't shut up!" Angelus growled again, but common sense suddenly made him realize he had managed to get him whilst distracted and the opportunity could present itself again. "Right. Sucks to be me. Did you know Drusilla likes cheese?"

"Yeah." Spike nodded. "She loves fondue. She also likes chocolate and hates strawberries."

"The little seeds get stuck between my fangs." Drusilla offered.

"Seriously, that's so fucking weird." Angelus said. "Something is wrong with you two."

"More than you will ever know." Spike replied. "Now, I don't like it when someone strikes at me from behind. If you want to fight, go ahead and do it. Don't think I won't return if you kill me again."

"Come on, Spikey ol' boy, do you think I'd try again?"

"Of course. You're just biding your time." Spike said. "You know it. I know it. Dru knows it. Even the demons in the army know it. But be careful, Angelus. They may not be very bright but are loyal as hell. I bet they didn't take it too kindly when you killed me."

"Had to stop an uprising." Drusilla said, still sitting on the floor.

Angelus felt his blood boiling again but forced it down. He felt so humiliated that the demons followed orders from Drusilla and Spike instead of him. He had been a powerful vampire once and now was merely a pawn in a game he didn't understand.

"So, any crazy ideas you may have right now? Shove them back up that thick skull of yours and let me work, ok?"

"You should respect me, boy." Angelus growled. "You may be in charge of this army, but I am the elder one."

Spike laughed. "Elder? You do know where I went the first time I died, right? You spent some time there yourself."

"So?"

"Stayed there for thousands of years, Angelus. I am now older than you."

Angelus was about to reply when Spike sharply turned around and focused on a dark patch behind them. The vampire sighed and Drusilla stood up and growled.

"What?" Angelus asked.

"Should have known." Spike sighed. "Come out and play, slayer."