A/N: Chapter sixty nine of the series.

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

Buffy sighed and shook her head. She knew it was too much of a stretch of imagination thinking they might have been able to get closer to them. Dawn and Annie felt nervousness on the bottom of their stomachs and gripped the hilts of their swords harder. They knew they were about to face three of the four worst vampires in written history.

"And you're not alone." Spike said. "You brought the sweet pea with you. Not very clever, you know?"

Buffy walked into the moonlight, her sword ahead of hers.

"Ah, there you are. Why the weapon, luv? Came to see if I had returned from the dead?"

"You're already dead, Spike." Buffy replied. Spike smiled. Annie walked right behind into the light and Spike sighed. "What the hell are you doing here, bit?"

"Had to come."

"Too bad. And who's the third lady? Don't recognize the scent."

Dawn appeared and Spike closed his mouth. The fuzzy memories were those of a fifteen year old girl, not the beautiful woman standing there.

"Hi Spike." Dawn said, feeling as nervous as a girl.

"Dawn." Spike softly said. "You grew up."

"That's what happens when time passes." The woman replied.

Tense moments of silence appeared and Buffy couldn't take her eyes off Angelus.

"What's with the eyes, honey?" Angelus asked, maliciously grinning. "Can't take them off me?"

"I wonder what kind of sick impulses fuel you." Buffy replied. "Striking from the back? You poor, poor frightened creature."

Angelus chuckled and drank some more brandy.

"I did kill him, didn't I?"

"And he came back." Buffy replied. "Even though I don't know if that's a good thing."

"Oi, I'm here. There's no need to talk about me as if I wasn't here." Spike said. "Why are you here?"

"To see if you were back." Dawn said. "And to know if you do intend to carry out your threats."

"My, my, this is the most accurate dimension I've found." Spike said. "Seems the Spike in this dimension died as well, huh?"

"What?" Everyone but Drusilla asked.

"I mean, I haven't had to kill myself this time." Spike continued. "That sure messes up with my head."

"What..., what do you mean?" Buffy asked.

"Nothing, ignore me. Now, I don't think it's too convenient for you three to be here."

"Oh, I think it's very convenient." Angelus said before leaping at the distracted females. Annie and Buffy reacted in time, but Dawn was still too distracted by Spike's presence that she did not manage to move in time.

Angelus tackled her and both rolled on the ground. Buffy muttered a curse and leapt after her sister and husband, trying to avoid more deaths or any more tragedies. Annie didn't move, her eyes fixed on the two vampires not moving. She stared at Spike, whose blue eyes seemed to be fixed on her as well.

"You may want to go and help your aunt, kid." Spike said. "Angelus is a mad dog."

"I'm more concerned about you." Annie replied. "It's three against three, and I think you have the advantage."

"True, but we're not in the mood for murder right now." Spike dragged his feet as he reached over for the discarded bottle of brandy and took a swig off it.

"Bleargh. The cheap kind." He offered the bottle to Drusilla, who accepted and took a small sip, making a face when she swallowed the liquid.

"Agh. I never enjoyed this specific beverage."

"You preferred wine, if I recall correctly." Spike nodded.

"Red?" Annie asked, not knowing why she felt somehow comfortable with those two sociopaths.

"White." Drusilla replied. "Don't like red beverages."

The sheer insanity of the statement brought laughter and Annie forgot for an instant about the problems around and felt some peace.

However, the moment was short lived and she turned around, wondering what happened with her parents and aunt.

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Angelus and Dawn rolled on the ground.

His bigger size and weight helped him overpower Dawn momentarily, but the girl's own height and training helped and she kept them rolling, hoping to keep his mouth away from her.

To make things worst, she had dropped her weapon when her brother in law had tackled her, so now she only had the ever present stake held in her pants' waistband and her wits.

Feeling their momentum stopping, Dawn head butted Angelus and kicked him on the groin, eliciting a growl of pain and a sharp elbow to her face.

The blue eyed girl felt some teeth loosen and she tasted blood. She figured she had cut her mouth with her own teeth, and tried to refocus on the situation. Fortunately, her earlier assault had caused Angelus to let her go and assess the damage done to his tender parts. Dawn rolled once more and in a fluid motion stood up. She quickly sought Angelus' position and noticed how he was struggling to stand up.

Dawn wondered if she'd have to fight, but the choice was taken out of her control when Buffy appeared.

"Dawn! You ok?"

"Yeah, managed to get him off me."

"He didn't hurt you?"

"I'll be fine. What are we going to do?"

"Get him and put a soul back on him." Buffy said and cautiously walked towards Angelus. He was still doubled over on the ground and Buffy lifted her sword, not wanting to be caught off guard.

"Bitches." He hissed. "You'll suffer before dying, cow!"

"Wow, so charming." Dawn said. "Hurt the family jewels?"

Angelus snarled and faked a strike at Buffy. The slayer leapt back and kept her sword ahead of her.

"Come on, honey, don't be so cold." Angelus hissed. "Give me a kiss, ok?"

"Keep dreaming." Buffy grimaced. "Now, we're doing this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice."

"My choice?" Angelus said and pretended to give it a thought. "I know. Neither. Let's do it my way."

Angelus threw a punch at Buffy, which she didn't understand as he was out of hitting range, but then he opened his closed fist, and a bunch of dirt flew directly at Buffy's face.

"Gotcha."

Buffy felt the dirt enter her eyes and they closed instinctively. She tried to focus on Angelus' whereabouts and hoped not to be caught unprepared.

She had expected him to get closer to attack, but his tactics surprised her even more. Her enemy picked up rocks and threw them at her. One of such projectiles hit her in the head and she didn't know where was up and where was down. She fell and she let go of her sword. The pain in her eyes and in her head left her in an open for attack position, so she tucked and remembered her sister.

"Dawn! Get the hell out of here!"

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"Are those cheeseburgers?" Annie asked, feeling her stomach grumble at the mention of food.

"Yeah." Spike picked one up and tossed it at the girl. Annie caught it and quickly ate it.

"That's my kind of girl." Spike chuckled. "Not eating like a prissy lady."

"Hey, I'm hungry. Usually I'm much more reserved."

"It's ok. I'm hungry too." Spike said. Annie heard the words and a chill ran down her spine. Spike noticed and sighed.

"I told you I won't kill you. Dru here won't kill you as well."

"Yet." Dru offered.

"Yet?" Spike asked. "What?"

"She's my enemy." Dru said. "Yours is Angelus and the slayers. She is mine."

"She's just a girl, luv." Spike said.

"I know. That's why I waited."

"Huh?"

"We've met before." Annie said as she swallowed the last mouthful of cheeseburger. "She kidnapped me when I was nine."

"You kidnapped a girl?" Spike asked. "You didn't put her to play with Miss Edith, did you?"

"Miss Edith has been lost for years." Dru replied. "Had to see her."

"See her? What for?"

"She was supposed to be mine." Dru answered. "Ours. Now she is my enemy. She is my test."

"Whatever." Spike shook his head. "I don't care. I'll go see what the hell is happening down there."

Spike began walking and Annie lifted her sword and pointed at him.

"Sorry, can't let you go." She said.

"You can't stop me girl." He replied. "Plus, I think your real enemy is sitting back there."

Annie let her eyes look at Dru, and in that split second, Spike moved fast again and was gone before Annie turned her eyes back to him.

"Bloody hell! How does he do that?"

"He's had practice." Dru said, still sitting on the ground. "And he's always been fast."

Annie turned her sword towards the vampire, feeling an uneasiness creeping up her stomach.

"It's the burgers." Dru said, sensing her discomfort. "Too much grease."

"What?"

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Dawn had been running as her sister had told her, but entirely for different reasons. She knew Angelus was a sick freak who enjoyed the thrill of a hunt, and Buffy was a sitting duck and would be easy prey for their enemy.

The woman stopped and turned around, thanking God for the full moon, giving her a clear view of the grounds around. She had ran almost inside the city again, some buildings still smoking and small fires dying out.

The city itself was a ghost town, no people running or talking, only alarms still going off in the vicinity.

Looking around, she wanted to keep an open path or an escape route, knowing Angelus was much more experienced in such events, but she had a plan.

If Buffy wanted the soul back in Angelus, so be it, and she would help.

"You should have kept running." Angelus said, making Dawn shiver. The woman turned and stared at him, searching for weapons or anything on his hands.

"No more dirt, see?" Angelus opened his hands and held them in front of him. "Don't have any other weapon with me. My bare hands will suffice."

Dawn pulled out the stake she had on and twirled it on her hands.

"Ohh, look at that. Slayer junior. Your sister taught you that?"

"Saw her do it enough times. It's not that hard." Dawn replied, then tossed the piece of wood as far as she could. Angelus frowned.

"We don't want you dead, you sick fuck." Dawn said. "We want to put that lovely soul back into you and watch you disappear into the darkest recesses of Angel's mind."

"Wouldn't count on that, bitch." Angelus hissed. "You know? I always had a soft spot for you. You seem like a great fuck, you know. Those long legs and that hair. Wanted to do you when you were young. Take the virginity of another Summers' woman, you know?"

"You pedophilic bastard." Dawn hissed back. "I wouldn't have come near you."

"Oh but you and your sister are very much alike." Angelus sneered. "It would have been so easy. Use the tortured and dark persona and you would have fallen for me. You would have spread your legs faster than Buffy did."

"One thing? You're so not my type. The brooding losers don't appeal to me."

Angelus growled.

"As much fun as this has been, I guess it's time to end this."

Angelus leapt at Dawn, hoping to get her and have some time with her alone before her sister arrived.

In slow motion, as Angelus was still on the air, Buffy appeared, her eyes still full of tears but clear now.

The slayer saw her husband on the air, heading directly towards her immobile sister.

Her mind cried out for her, wanting the woman to move out of the way.

What happened next shocked both Angelus and Buffy.

Dawn swatted Angelus aside with her hand, almost as if he were a fly, sending him flying against a battered building.

Dawn smirked.

"Surprised?"