Chapter One


"Hey, you know, if you are gonna fucking live here, you may as well clean my room," the girl glared at the robot as she leaned against the peeling, floral wallpaper.

The petite robot cocked her head and smiled happily at the girl.

"Dawn, please do not use that word. It's rude."

"Fuck off."

The light brown eyebrows knitted together, but the smile never left the robot's plastic face.

"Dawn, please do not use that word. It's rude."

"Uckfay offay," Dawn rolled her eyes as she went into the kitchen. The robot, the pink lips curved up into a huge smile, followed the girl in, almost reminciscent of a loving puppy.

"Please restate your comment, Dawn. I was unable to understand it."

The girl groaned as she picked a browning apple up from the fruit bowl. With a roll of her eyes, she glared at the robot.

"Just clean all the rooms, okay? Make beds. Wash windows. If you are gonna live here, you can at least make yourself useful."

"Yes, Dawn. I live here. This is my home," the robot smiled, her hazel eyes seemingly to almost look proudly at her human charge.

The girl sighed and shook her head.

"Um. Doh? You are so stupid. You don't even talk like her."

"Talk like whom, Dawn?" the robot smiled blankly, a lower lip extending as she considered the young girl she had been programmed to love like a sister.

"Buffy."

The robot cocked her blonde head faintly as she reached a hand out towards the girl.

"I am Buffy."

"No. Don't *say* that," Dawn spit out in disgust as her eyes roamed over the figure. "You are *not* Buffy."

"I am Buffy. I am a vampire slayer."

The girl shook her head quickly, unable to look at the creature any more. Her hands trembled as she ran her fingers through her hair, unable to bear hearing that voice say those words.

"Anne," Dawn said suddenly as she felt the tremours resound throughout her body. "Not Buffy. You are Anne."

"Anne is my middle name," the robot stated happily.

Dawn pushed the rebellious tears from her eyes as she nodded. "Yeah. Anne. Please? Just call yourself Anne?"

The robot smiled happily as she took a step closer to the teenager.

"Yes, Dawn. I am Buffy but I am Anne."

The girl shook her head wildly as she stepped out of the robot's reach. "No. It's just Anne."

Anne the robot, almost seemed to frown at the girl's insistence, but eventually, the smile came back as the desire to please Dawn overruled everything else. Slowly, the creature nodded as her crimson lips parted to speak.

"Yes. I am Anne."



***



"Anne? Where are you?" Dawn called as she stepped into the house, her arms barely able to support the overflowing bag of groceries that she carried.

The robot had been there for several days, washing and cleaning and smiling at every opportunity. Dawn had thought the intense pain of seeing her dead sister's face and hearing her voice would at least fade with time, but every night when Anne would wake her from her nightmares and every morning when the robot would make her breakfast and wish her a good day, the hurt would stab through her body and soul with a paralyzing vengeance.

Not even a week, Dawn thought as she looked around the room. Just a week ago, her sister had stood in this very room, pale and skinny from months of stress and worry. Dark shadows had been smudged beneath those limpid hazel eyes, each hollow a testament to the love she felt for her sister and her friends. All of this, just a week ago.

"And here I've replaced her," the teenager whispered in disgust as she threw the bag upon the kitchen counter.

"Anne!" she called out impatiently, only to frown as she heard the hurried footsteps as they rushed down the stairs.

"Dawn," the robot smiled brightly as she came into the room, her golden hair matted and as disgustingly dusty as her clothing.

"Where have you been? I've been calling you," Dawn complained, her hands shaking slightly as she tried not to look at the creature.

That was always the hard part, she reflected. Every single time the robot stepped into the room, Dawn thought her heart would break because each time, if only for a second, she'd wonder if Buffy had come back... if perhaps everything was a big, giant mistake and her older sister really wasn't dead. The pain of it, Dawn thought as she touched the robot on the shoulder for the first time since they had awoken her from her electronic slumber, was too much to take.

"I cleaned the attic... Dawn?" Anne asked quietly, her face seeming to light up with the contact as the rule to never touch the young girl had been firmly embedded in her head during the last few days.

"I've got a surprise for you, Anne. I hope you like it."

The robot beamed as the dirty head nodded enthusiastically. "I love it. I love you, Dawn."

The girl closed her eyes and shuddered, unable to stop the tears from welling up as she heard the words which would never come from her true sister again.

"I...I am glad," Dawn said hesitantly, trying to retain control as she thrust a small box into Anne's white hands.

The robot smiled vacuously as she lifted the box up.

"It's beautiful. Thank you, Dawn," Anne breathed in excitement as she cradled the box close to her heart.

"No, no," the teenager nearly smiled as she looked at the creature. "It's not that kind of surprise. It's time you got your own look, Anne... your own identity. We are going to colour your hair brown."

Dawn wrinkled her nose in confusion as she watched the robot's smile seem to fade for a second as a slender finger curled itself in the loose, blonde mass.

"We'll cut it, too," Dawn hurried on, a part of her heart falling as she wondered if this was really such a good idea after all. It is, she told herself firmly as she looked at the disturbing visage. This can't go on. "You are going to look so beautiful, Anne!" the girl gushed with false enthusiasm as she clapped her hands together. "I can't wait!"

Anne smiled brilliantly as she looked at the human girl. "I cannot wait!"

Dawn shook her head as the look of happiness on the robot's plasticene face made her feel dirty inside, as if she were about to commit an unspeakable crime. Sighing to herself, she pulled the scissors from a nearby drawer.

"You are going to be beautiful, Anne," Dawn promised truthfully as she slowly lead the robot to the upstairs bathroom. "But you are really going to be Anne now, and no one else."



***



He sat quietly on the edge of her bed, his hands stroking the long strands of brown affectionately as he watched the young girl sleep. Each night for the last two weeks, he had listened to her frantic screams as she cried out for the sister who would never come home. And each time he did, he felt as though someone reached into his chest and twisted his heart until all that was left in his life was the unbearable pain.

"No, that's not true. I always have you, huh, Nibblet," the vampire whispered as he stroked her forehead. Suddenly, his head perked up as he heard the movement in the hallway beyond the wall. Noiselessly, he fell to the floor and rolled under the girl's bed just as the door creaked open. Light sparkled from out behind the shadow as It came into the room, its soft steps slowing as the creature hovered over the bed. He watched the slender ankles as the figure presumably bent over and placed a kiss upon the girl's forehead, just as it had done once a night, every night, since they had awoken the thing.

"I love you, Dawn," the robot's voice whispered, its tone perfectly measured as it stood straight up. "I will go kill vampires now so you will be safe. Do not have bad dreams."

As quickly as it had come, the robot left, closing the door quietly behind it.

Spike sighed as he raised himself back up and regained his seat upon the bed, his undead heart churning in disgust as the creature's footfalls slowly faded. He could barely force himself to look at it and the memory of what it had been to him before She left, made the revulsion mutate and grow until self-hate surged through every pore of his being.

He couldn't bear to look at the eyes, so much like Hers, but hollow and gross in their emptiness. At least the long golden hair had been cut and dyed, until all that remained was a short, innocuous brown pageboy which swung over those thin shoulders. In all honesty, it didn't take away the pain of seeing the abhorration, but at least, he stopped wondering if She had come back each time he accidentally caught view of her.

"Don't," the girl whispered in her sleep as her head thrashed suddenly from side to side. "Buffy. Don't."

"Shh, Nibblet," he murmured softly into her ear. "Dream about pretty things, flowers and unicorns and all that rot. Dream about the good stuff."

The girl grimaced, the tears already streaking from her closed eyes.

"Buffy, I said NO! It should have been me! It needs to be me!" she screamed as she shot up in the bed, completely oblivious to vampire who sat next to her, his pale hands shaking as he stroked her back comfortingly.

"Dawn, listen to me. Everything is okay. Everything is fine," Spike choked, his throat seemingly unable to clear itself.

"Buffy," the girl whispered as she slowly reclined back onto the bed, the tears dripping down her chin and down her neck. "Oh, god. Buffy."

He lowered his head into his hands as he willed for strength to return, his entire body shaking with repressed emotion. Inhaling unnecessarily but deeply, the vampire reluctantly opened his eyes to look at the girl lying before him, damp with her own tears. His hand moved to his back pocket, only to extract an old lace handkerchief, carefully folded and yellowed with advanced age. He closed his eyes as he brought the handkerchief to his nose and inhaled the faint, lilac scent until the aroma filled his long-dead lungs with its soft odour. He smiled slightly as images of his mother flashed through his head, each memory more dear than the next. In a hundred years, Spike thought as he lovingly mopped up the young girl's tears with the old lace, I will be able to remember Her like that, too.

His lips twisted into a wry smile as he realised his thoughts for the lies they were.