Title: The Next Mission

Feedback: Please! It drives the story forward.

Notes: Chapter has not been proofread; I decided to give Hieiko a bit of a holiday break.

Chapter Five: Brand-new beginning. (Two weeks after the end of D VS. H… So a month after Oz passed out.)

An L.A. Cemetery…

The usually quiet L.A. cemetery is filled with sounds of grunts, yells, and fighting. Two girls are fighting off what appears to be a gang of monsters. One is wearing a pair of low rider blue jeans, a pair of heels, and a sleeveless cornflower blue turtleneck. She has light blue eyes, and long chestnut brown hair tied back into a ponytail, and at the moment she's rapidly firing arrows from her crossbow into the demons. The other girl is fighting the demons hand to hand, with skill and strength no normal person could possess. She has neon green hair combed straight down and cupping her face, her hair falls down just above her shoulders. Her eyes are a chocolate brown and her skins pale white. She's wearing green eye shadow, green lipstick, and her left eyebrow has one piercing. She's wearing a pair of doc martin boots, a dark blue plaid skirt going down to just above her knees, being held together by a bullet belt with a skull buckle. To finish off her ensemble, she's wearing a black tank top with the logo for NOFX (it's a punk band) plastered across her chest, a pair of fingerless leather gloves, and a tattoo of a snake wrapped around her upper left arm. She kicked one of the demons in the stomach then back handed it to the ground.

She turned to the other girl and yelled, "Hey watcher, got any idea what these things are?" The Slayers British accent rang through the air. She turned back and punched another in its jaw, "And how the hell do I kill em?"

The other girl reloaded her crossbow and shot an arrow into one of the creature's chest. The arrow pierced it's flesh, but as soon as it went further then that, it shattered. "I have no clue what they are." The watchers American accent rang back. Her faced scrunched up in confusion as she reloaded her crossbow. "They look like vampires, just wrong." The watcher yelled to her slayer. The watcher was right; they do look like vampires, just wrong. First off they have vamp face, golden eyes, and vamp teeth. The things that make them diff? Well their bald, completely and utterly bald all over their bodies. Not a trace of hair next is there ears, their elongated and pointed. Their fingernails, and toenails are a couple inches long and sharp as claws. Their fingers themselves are longer then a normal persons fingers. The next and last thing is their absolutely naked. Which in a way didn't matter, because there is nothing there. None of them have reproductive organs or an anus, it's just smooth skin (Imagine a human size bald Ken doll with fangs.)

The green haired slayer gave one of the creatures a left hook, and then she spun in a circle and moved to the creatures right at the same time. She then pulled out a stake with her right hand and staked the vampire like creature. The only problem, much like what happened to the watchers arrow. The stake shattered open impact of what ever is beneath the flesh of its chest. The slayer's trying her best but too many are coming out of nowhere now. Soon the green haired punk slayer is over powered and knocked unconsciousness, before everything fades to black she sees the vampire-monsters capturing and taking away her watcher.

Two Hours later at the Hyperion Hotel…

Spike, Oz, and Conner are all sitting comfortably on the leather couch in the middle of the Hyperion lobby, watching Desperado on the t.v.

Spike points to the screen and says, "See that's what life should be about, Gun fights and Salma Hayek." Conner and Oz just nod their head in agreement.

After the Cerberus incident Spike, Oz, and Connor have been training together in most of their spare time. When they're not training they hanging out learning how the other moves and reacts, and Spike's enjoying the hell out of it. There were only two times in his life when he was truly happy, when he was with Drusilla, Darla, and Angelus cutting a swath across Europe. And the other time was when it was just he and Drusilla, before Sunnydale.

After Sunneydale everything went down the tubes in Spike's mind; Losing Drusilla, getting chipped, his traumatic relationship with Buffy, losing his self-respect were apart of his downfall from any sort of happiness. Although it wasn't all gloom and doom, even Spike will admit that. There were good things about his stay in Sunnyhell. Dawn and Joyce being two of them. They always made him feel like a man instead of a monster. They never shunned him and made him feel like a freak, Spike mentally kicks himself now for not telling Joyce that when he had the chance. Not telling her that her warm welcomes and kind words were the beginning of him regaining his humanity, the beginning of the search for his soul. Spike remembered the night when Buffy died and he gave her that speech about how he knew she couldn't love him and how she treated him like a man. Spike remembered when he said the last part of the speech he was picturing Joyce, hoping she could hear him.

Yeah those were the good things in Sunnyhell, but eventually he lost Joyce to nature, and he lost Dawn to his own stupid mistakes. But now he was making a new family, a brother funny enough with his nephew Connor, a common wandering soul with Oz, and Drusilla. No matter all the bad things that came between them, Spike would move the world for his dark princess. He may no longer be in love with Drusilla, but he still loves her, once Spike loves, it's forever even if he's not in love. And with Buffy, well he is trying to figure that one out. Was he still in love with her? Could she love him? Could he honestly touch her in an intimate way without her screaming in his mind to stop? Or the big question, the one that silently plagued Spike since he proclaimed his love for Buffy. Was she second best? He had no doubt that he eventually did fall in love with her, but the beginning is always hazy. Was she just an excuse to be somewhat close with the one he really wanted, the one he really loved. Was Spike just with Buffy because he was too afraid to say "I Love You" to-

Spike's line of thinking was interrupted when the front door of the Hyperion was slammed opened, revealing a bruised and battered punk girl with neon green hair. Spike got a familiar tingle, you chase enough slayers not to mention get intimate with one, and the tingle is recognizable fast. Spike got up quickly and smoothly; his stance was half defensive, half relaxed. His gaze was cool and curious, "What's a slayer doing here?" He says aloud.

The girl looks a little stunned at the fact that he knows she's a slayer, but quickly gets over it. "I need help, and I was told if I needed help I should come here."

Spike crossed his arms, "Look girlie I don't know what you heard but we're not private eyes, you're looking for Angel Investigations. Go to them and get out." His words carried venom that surprised Connor and Oz. For Spike his anger at Giles and his refusal to help Fred made him hate the man, and distrust the new council.

The green haired slayer is getting quite annoyed, "Look here Billy, I know damn well who and where Angel's investigation is. But my problem is a little above their heads if ya know what I mean. Now my watchers superior said to come here if we were in big trouble. Ya know the kind of trouble where we can't wait for a plane of slayers to cross the Atlantic kind of trouble. Now will you freaking help me?!"

Spike's brow burrowed in concentration, 'Her watchers superior told her to come here?'

"Pet, who exactly is your watchers superior."

"Andrew"

A look of annoyance crossed Spikes face. The neon slayer let a slight smile cross her lips as she recognized the face she wore so often in Andrew's presence.

"I see you met the little worm, huh?"

Spike nodded and gave a mumbled yea. 'Well I guess he knows where I am. Does he know that Angel's dead? Does the whole council know I'm here? Why does she look so familiar?' Spike quickly shook his thoughts. And rubbed his temples.

"Ok luv, what exactly is your problem."

'I can't believe he's alive.' "Some weirdo demons kidnapped my watcher."

'Dear god it's her! After all this time. Princess…' Spike wore a slight smile and shook his head and headed over to the little refrigerator behind the lobby desk. He pulled out a beer and asked, "So what's your watchers name, slayer?"

'Yes! He recognizes me! Maybe it can go back to the way it was.' The green haired slayer replied, "Dawn Summers."

Silence engulfed the room; the only thing that could be heard was the shattering glass as Spike's beer hit the floor.

Laboratory, somewhere in L.A…

A fully clothed Dawn Summers was strapped down to a steel table. She just recently woke up and has been pulling and pulling at her restraints, but sadly to no avail. Dawns eyes searched the room frantically, 'Come on Sydney! Get your butt in here and rescue me!'

The laboratory door had opened and a man that used to haunt Dawn's dreams entered. Dawn's eye's widened in shock and surprise when she saw Doc enter the room with a man wearing a white lab coat following close behind. Doc moved to the side of the table and gave Dawn a deceptively warm smile.

"Well, well haven't we come a long way." Doc said as his eyes roamed over Dawns body, not in a sexual way more like he was studying her. To Dawn it's creepier being looked at like an experiment. "The vampire told me that you decided not to finish the spell. Knew that you wouldn't do it, I can smell these things." Doc signaled something with his hands to the other man. The man in the lab coat went over to a bag on a counter and pulled out surgical utensils.

Dawn started to panic, "No! What are you going to do!?'

Doc smiled as he pulled out a syringe and stuck it in Dawn's arm.

"Well, we're going to take out your ovaries." Doc said nonchalantly.

"What?" Dawn said groggily as the drugs started to kick in. A few seconds later what Doc said had registered and she barely protested with a whispered, "No."

Doc replied with a mumbled, "Sorry." Which seemed sincere, and then finished with, "Bosses orders."

After she heard that, Dawn's world went black.

Back at the Hyperion…

"Nibblet's a watcher?" Spike wondered aloud, he meant to say it to himself but he just blurted it out.

'Lets see if those acting classes worked.' The Slayers brow furrowed, "Why did you call her…Oh my God, your Spike!" She said in excitement, as if she was first to figured out a clue everyone's been working on.

"Well give a cookie to the slayer."

The slayer ignored Spike's comment and continued on. "You're dead!"

Spike put a finger on his wrist and his eyes bulged in panic, "Oh my God! I'm dead!"

Connor and Oz started to snicker at Spike's antics.

"Look here, Frosted Flake. I want some answers and then I want you to help me save my watcher!"

"I died, I came back. People who die in Sunnydale tend to do that. Just not the good ones." Spike said the last part thinking of Tara and Joyce. He then cocked his head to the side, "So, Nibblet mention me then?"

The slayer nodded, "Yeah she said a lot of things about you."

"Good or bad?" He asked, honestly curious.

"Both."

Spike gave a short nod and mumbled to himself, "At least it's an improvement."

"Spike…" Connor's voiced broke the slayer and vampire's conversation. "So what are we going to do? Are we going to go get this Dawn girl?"

Spike looked at Connor and nodded, "Yeah, get Dru, she might be able to see where she is."

Connor nodded and bolted up stairs to find Drusilla. Spike turned back to the green haired slayer.

"So luv, what's your name?"

"Sydney."

"Ok Syd, go over to the weapons chest and get your favorite weapon, and while you're at it tell me about these demon blokes." Spike said all of this while lighting up a cigarette.

She opened up the chest and started going through the various weapons, picking them up, testing their weight and sharpness. While doing that she explained what they looked liked to Spike. During her explanation the back door of the Hyperion was smashed opened as three of the mutant-vampires came through the door. The three mutants started to charge Syd, Spike, and Oz but suddenly stopped when they heard laughter coming from Spike.

"They don't have any bit's or pieces!" Spike whaled while grabbing his sides, and laughing. The three creatures kind of growled self-consciously before charging again. Oz, Syd, and Spike started to fight the creatures and soon figured out why Syd lost to them. In the middle of the insanity between the six fighters, Oz picked up a sword and cut off one of the creature's heads. The action caused everyone to stop. The creature didn't turn to dust no matter it's similarities to a vampire, instead the creature started to melt. After a mere four seconds the creature was nothing but a puddle on the ground.

Spike began to grin wickedly, "Decapitation, kills everything."

"What about a Hydra?" Syd asked while blocking a punch from one of the mutants.

"'Cept that I suppose." Spike said as he ripped the head off of one of the mutants.

Spike dropped the melting head and began to watch Syd fight the last Mu-pire. Her technique was rough much like his used to be, before his mission. Her style was more brawler then artfully defined. She finally pulled out a stake, instead of repeating her first mistake she drove the stake through the Mu-pire's throat. The stake pierced the top of the creature's spine and went out through the other side. Sydney then proceeded to grab both sides of the stake and lifted up, pulling the Mu-pire's head off.

Syd looked up and into Spike's eyes, to Oz it seemed as though she was searching for something. Soon Spike gave a small smile and nodded his approval. Oz really wanted to know what was going on but then Drusilla's voice came from upstairs.

Liam's Apartment. City, state, country, dimension? Unknown…

Doc walked into Liam's living room with a jar in his hands. Liam was sitting on his couch reading the Bible, shaking his head as he read.

"You know they have it all wrong." Liam's voice penetrated the silence.

"Have what wrong, sir?"

Liam closed the book sharply.

"More things then you could imagine. Is that a present for me?" Liam said the last part as he nodded towards the jar.

"Um yes, it's the Key's ovaries . Um what did you need them for exactly?" Doc questioned. Liam got off of the couch and took the jar in his hand, he then opened the jar and took one out and bit into it. A few seconds later he spit it out the chunk of the ovary and began to laugh.

"Well certainly not for a gourmet meal!" Liam said while chuckling.

"Was this just to torture her, sir?"

"Yes and no. There's this spell that calls for the use of one ovary, with it you can make a woman pregnant. Even if the girl is infertile, demons use the spell to impregnate woman with their seed." Liam tuned and looked Doc directly in the eyes, his voice low and soft. "I want you to find a married couple, who for years have been searching and trying to get a baby. I want you to find people who are living in a bleak, sunless world and the only thing that can bring sun into it is a child from her womb. When you find these people when they except the offer, impregnate her with a Li'airen demon."

"Don't they burst out of the mothers stomach when their done…baking, sir??"

Liam gave an eerily cheery smile and said, "Yes, but at least she'll die knowing that the thing she wanted more then anything in her life just ripped her apart."

Doc returned his smile, all the while thinking, 'Oh God help me.'

Back at the Hyperion…

"Well, hello, Princess." Drusilla's voice rang through the lobby. Everyone looked up to see Drusilla wearing a warm smile directed towards Sydney. "She's a Princess you know." She continues. "Her mother's a dark wicked Queen, and her father walks on worlds."

"Dru" Spike's voice interrupts Drusilla. "I need your help. Do you see Dawn at all? Are the stars telling you anything right now? Can you…can you ask the stars?" Spike's voice hesitantly asks. He's always wondered if she could see things of her own will.

Drusilla gave Spike a funny smile, "I don't see sunshine, silly. I'm a vampire" At this Spike's face fell. "Only a key, a green little key." Spike's eyes bulged a little, no one else reacted, nobody else got the reference. Spike instantly went by Drusilla's side.

"Dru, do you know where the little green key is?" Spike said in a soft voice. Drusilla only nodded.

"Can you lead us there, pet? Can you take us to the key?"

"Oh yes, we need to hurry. Morning cries won't be heard, no burrowing into that right spot that's most comfortable for the soft pink flesh. More bad things to come, it'd be so delightful if it wouldn't make mummy's little prince so sad." She looked around the room, at all the people in her presence, "Follow me." Her voice slightly commanding.

She began to walk down the steps and out the door, while the others following behind with their favorite weapons in hand. Conner carried an ax, while Spike carried a sword along with various concealed weapons ranging from handguns to stakes. Sydney carried a morning star in one hand and a dagger in the other. Oz carried a short sword.

Outside an abandon looking warehouse…

Spike and his crew plus Sydney stood out side of a run down warehouse. Spike looked over at Drusilla.

"Dru, are you sure this is it? Doesn't look like much. I mean at least our warehouse was clean and had windows."

Drusilla smiled a knowing smile, "Looks can deceive, like nasty daddy's with an Angel's face."

Spike nodded, "Right." He looked at the others, "'M not one for giving speeches, I just tell it how it is. Girl in their means a lot more to me then just her being Buffy's sister. So were gonna bring her back no matter what. What ever gets in your way, kill it, even it's a human. Were not playing bloody favorites, whatever's behind this thing, well they do bad things to little girls. So they get in the way, they die. We're demons, at least in one-way or another, but their monsters. You got a problem taking a human life? Go to church tomorrow, tonight, any means necessary. Understand?" The others hesitantly nod. "Good, lets go."

They all charge through the front door just to find an empty warehouse. The warehouse was empty, nothing but dust and old machines that didn't work anymore. Spike was about to rant and yell when all of sudden a door on the ground opened up and a mu-pire's head peeked out. It growled and jumped out of the ground, followed by a swarm of mu-pire's. The room was filled with mu-pire's out numbering the hero's three to one.

Spike took a step ahead of his group and grinned, "Let's dance." Spike and Dru vamped and Oz went into full transformation. Then the two groups charged each other. Oz was attacking with a feral rage; Spike and Sydney's eyes were filled with a manic glee as both of their natural thirsts for violence were being filled. Connor was like a machine, but oddly enough a machine filled with a sort of passion at doing what he's doing. Drusilla was the only one not taking on more then one at a time. She was playing with her opponents, slashing and cutting them with her razor sharp nails. She was faster then the mu-pire's too, dodging and zig zaging faster then their eyes allow.

Spike decapitated two of the mu-pire's instantly and dove into the hole in the ground. The underground of the warehouse was a far cry from the cobwebs and dust of the upstairs. Everything was sterile and clean like a hospital, but it reminded Spike more of the initiative. That only made him madder. The underground far surpassed the size of the top, filled with corridors leading to God knows what.

Now Spike's never been a great tracker, that's really more of Connor's thing, but Spike's made it a priority to know the smell of Summer's blood. At first it was because he wanted to kill Buffy so he memorized her scent and the way her blood smells. Soon he did it so he could protect her and bit, which isn't hard because their blood smells the same, just different scents.

'There it is' Spike thinks to himself as he picks up the smell of her blood. Spike raced down the hallway, knocking out scientist and decapitating mu-pire's when needed. When Spike finally got to the room he saw Dawn laying on a table unconscious, her shirt's been pulled up to reveal her stomach. There was a surgical cut sowed up underneath her bellybutton. Spike saw the same scientist we saw with Doc, cleaning his instruments. In a speed that defied sight, Spike whirled the scientist around and lifted him into the air by his throat.

"What did you do to her?" Spiked grounded out.

The scientist made some interesting noises and gasps that sounded like "Can't breath." "Can't Talk."

"Well, try harder."

"We..re..re…removed her ovaries." The scientist gasped out.

Spike ambers became darker then normal, almost black upon hearing these words. The doctor's seen lots of looks within someone's eyes, he's seen an angry glint, hunger for blood, glee for destruction, but never in his life has he looked into someone's eyes and seen his own death.

"Who is your boss? Who told you to do this?" Once upon a time, Spike would of just killed him and gotten it over with, but you spend a few years with Buffy and Angel, you learn the major player is usually never this easy to find. There's always someone behind the curtain.

"His name's Doc." He gasped out, "But he's working for someone else."

Spike squinted his eyes, "Gave me a bit more of an answer then I thought you would."

"Yeah…well you give the good guy information, and they let you go, right? Or put you in jail." The doctor said struggling with the words.

Spike nodded, "Right." Then snapped the doctor's neck with one hand.

Spike turned around to see Dawn still lying unconscious on the metal table. Spike went by her side and pulled down her shirt so it was covering her again. He brushed some of her hair out of her closed eyes. He closed his eyes briefly, he feels like he failed again, till the end of the world and he failed again. He shakes his head of those thoughts and lifts her into his arms.

"Alright, Nibblet lets go home."

Sometime later at a bedroom in the Hyperion…

Dawn's lying in a nice plush queen sized bed, stirring from a long sleep. When she opens her eyes she sees Sydney sitting next to her bed holding her hand. Dawn's eyes were glassy and filled with tears, with a shaky hand and a trembling voice she started to talk in soft whispers.

"It was real wasn't it? They did something to me. Something bad."

"Yes, Luv they did." Sydney replied in a soothing tone.

"How did you save me? There were a lot of those things."

"I had some help. Old friends of yours I believe."

"Hey Dawn." A familiar emotionless voice said from the doorway. Dawn turned in the direction of the doorway to see Oz. Dawn's eyes widened in surprise, she and Oz were never close like she and Tara were, but Oz was always nice to her. Or at least that's what her memories tell her.

"Hey Oz. So you saved me huh?"

Oz shook his head with a small smile on his face, "No, only helped out a bit with the fighting. I fight now, got control of the wolf even while I am the wolf. It's pretty cool."

"Sounds cool." 'This is nice.' Dawn thinks 'Normal conversations make the bad things go away, even if it's only temporarily.'

"Yeah, if you want to meet the guy that lead us into battle and carried you back here in his arms, look back to the doorway." Dawn did just that, and when she saw who was in the doorway she gasped. Because there stood Spike, looking just like he always did, just…just with older eyes. Dead Spike, you don't come back from ashes, but there he was.

" Hello, Luv." Spike said softly and a bit hesitantly, unsure how this would go. The last time they talked to each other, she threatened to set him on fire. The other's quietly exited the room, Dawn and Spike didn't even notice as their eyes stayed locked with each other's. Spike slowly made his way to the chair next to Dawn's bed, never breaking eye contact. When Spike sat down, Dawn finally asked the big question.

"How long?"

"A year." He said softly.

"What?!"

"Yeah well…"

"Why didn't you tell us? I missed you! I cried, I mourned I shed so many tears I thought I'd dry up!" She was verging hysterical; the loss of her ovaries was causing her hormones to act radically.

"I didn't know you wanted me around. I thought you hated me." He murmured quietly.

Dawn's eyes widened a bit, 'of course he thought I hated him, I never told him different, I never acted different.'

"You're right." She said softly, "I did hate you. Hated you for leaving, for not telling me, for what you did. I never told you that I stopped did I? Never told you that I forgave you. I thought I'd say it when the whole first mess was over, but it was too late and…" Dawn broke down into quiet sobs. Spike quickly gathered her into his arms.

Dawn clung to Spike as she wept, "I can't have babies, Spike. Before I even made the decision of having them they took away my choice." She wept into his shoulder. For the next few minutes, Spike whispered disconnected words in a soothing tone. It was the kind of tone where it doesn't matter what words are being spoken, it's the comfort the need of something familiar and calming to be there.

Clinging on to him, being comforted by his words, it feels like the summer when Buffy died, and he'd sneak in her room and make the nightmares go away, with words, with his presences it's self.

"Can we go back? Back to the way we were?" Dawn asked in a tiny child like voice.

Spike was silent for a little bit, not quite sure how to answer. "You can never go back, Nibblet. But…maybe we start over. A brand new beginning, yeah?"

Dawn smiled, "Yeah, a new beginning. Just promise to keep calling me Nibblet, ok?"

"Till the end of the world."

A few hours later. Different room in the Hyperion…

Sydney was sitting on the bed in her new room at the Hyperion. She made a decision for her and her watcher; this would be their new home. When she heard the reunion between Spike and Dawn, she knew she made the right choice. Right now she was cleaning her favorite knife, it had a moon and some stars engraved on the handle, and the blade it self was curvy like a snake when it's moving. Her father gave her the knife for her 12th birthday.

She heard the door to the room open and close quietly, but didn't turn she knew who it was. Spike walked halfway into the room and just stopped. Sydney turned around to face him.

"You died." She accused.

"Yeah." He said nodding while looking at the floor.

"You came back and didn't tell me." Her voice was filled with emotion.

"I tired, Princess. I really did. I called their house after I came back, all they told me was you left to go to a special school of some sort. Never wanted to give me the details, they never did like me."

Sydney nodded, "I know they did. I hated them you know that, they kept trying to brainwash me, tell me I was theirs. I wish I didn't have to go to them."

"I know, Princess, I know. The Angelus situation was too dangerous and Dru and me didn't want to lose you. I know the cards and phone calls weren't enough. I just…can we continue on? Start where we left off?" The nineteen-year-old slayer didn't have to think about it. She knew he was telling the truth, she knew her departure hurt him just as much as it hurt her. She also knew when he tried to come back and get her, but the wards those people put up kept him away. She nodded furiously to his question and jumped off her bed and into Spike's waiting arms.

Spike kissed the top of her head and said, "We going to tell them?"

"Tomorrow."

Spike nodded, "Yeah, ok. You know I missed you, Syd."

Sydney nodded into Spike's shoulder, "I missed you too, Dad."

After a bit of silence, both of them soaking in the others presences, Spike pulled back and looked Sydney in the eye.

"You got a bloody tattoo!"

Sydney looked a bit nervous, "Oops?" she said with a shrug.

TBC………

Ah this story is just filled with weird little twist and turns ain't it? Would you believe if I told these chapters and revelations and drama come spur of the moment and aren't planed in any shape or form? Because let me tell you, I knew how this story would begin, and I knew how it would end, but the middle is up in the air. I would to thank all of my reviewers you guys are great! I hope you like my character Sydney who is one of my originals, like the woman who said "my empire" in D VS H is also an original. Tell me what you think of them! The next chapter will be shorter and called "Sydney's Tale." Which will basically be her origin story.

Aeetos: I'm glad I inspire you to write your own fic. As for the history of the Order a Aurelius, well I'm going to give my own spin on it, since the t.v. show isn't sure it's self, who's to say mine isn't right? The "true" history of The Order Of Aurelius will be revealed in my Immortal trilogy of chapters.

Devilus: I don't know if of the characters in story are going to die, that is to be foreseen. But I do promise untimely deaths for characters within the Jossverse, popular ones too.

Hope you all liked it!

Please Review!