A/N Thanks for all the reviews and votes. I really appreciate it.

To Marcus, It's about time I got you to review one of my stories, lol. I must be getting better at story telling. The creeper chapter was a last minute thing that I just came up with. I saw that there were no Batman vs. the creeper stories and I always wanted to see one, so I couldn't pass up the oppurtunity to write it into the story somehow. Plus I wanted Jesse and Willow to have a spot in the sunshine sort to speak. And no Angel won't have a part in this story nor the girl he was sent to watch over. But her identity and the appearance of Angel will happen in another story I have planned.

And I guess it's time to tell you guys, that I'm planning on doing a spinoff to this fic. It will take place in the Wishverse DCverse, but it will later tie into both stories and rap up the plot with the mystery character Cloak.

To Anthony1, part of what Xander put his family through and what they feel will be revealed in this chapter.

Also a special thanks to baggo, screaminheathen and everyone else who reviewed. There are officially two chapters left.

Chapter 23

Ashes To Ashes pt.2

The Next Night

Normally Xander would have drove his car at night, but something almost told him to walk. He never noticed how truely creepy Sunnydale looked at night. It seemed that every noise he would hear made it seem like someone was following him. Feeling like an idiot, at the last noise he heard, he turned to make sure no one was following him. Not seeing anyone, he turned back and his eyes widened and breath caught at who he saw in front of him.

"'ello kitten." Dru said with a warm smile. "It's been so long since we've seen one another. You've grown to be very handsome."

"Um...thanks." Xander said as he took a step back. He had read up on Drusilla and found that she was one of the most craziest vampires in existance.

"Don't be afraid." Dru said as she reached out to him with a delicate hand. There was something about her eyes that were almost hypnotic that made him instinctively take her hand in his. Even though her hands were cold, the same cold as that of a dead woman's, there was still something that felt warm there. Almost like a mother's touch.

"Why are you here?" Xander asked as Dru leaned in and took in his scent. She was a bit surprised that she didn't smell fear from him.

"We're 'ere for you silly. I knew this day would come. I saw it years ago, when me and Spike first saw you. You are to be our son."

'She's even crazier then I thought.' Xander realized as Dru pulled him into a hug.

"Now we've come to you, so you can fully be claimed by the darkness." she said as she slipped into her vampiric visage and looked up at him. "Do you have anything left to say before you leave this world to be born again?"

"Yeah." Xander said as he pushed the stake he had hidden under his sleeve into her unbeating heart. "I'm sorry."

"Oh dear." were Dru's final words as she crumbled into dust.

Xander stood there for a couple of moments, watching as Drusilla's dust started to float in the wind, and he thought about what he had just said to her and he was sorry. Not for slaying her, but for what another vampire had done to her. He had found some information about her before she was turned into a vampire and what he found startled him.

She was said to have the gift of sight and upon seeing that a vampire stalked her and killed her family and later turned her. Before that she was just an innocent and beautiful woman that wanted to do good, but a vampire named Angelus turned her into something viscious and unholy. Silently sending a prayer up to Edith Crowley, hoping that in some way he had helped her spirit make it to heaven, and a vow to slay the monster that made her, Xander grimly walked away to make it to Giles' important meeting.

Giles Apartment

Minutes Later

"Sorry I'm late." Xander said as Giles let him into the apartment. Looking at his friends solemn faces he quickly frowned. "What's the what?"

"Just please have a seat." Giles said as walked back into his living room. Seeing a seat on the couch next to Buffy, he quickly sat down beside her. "I've already explained this to the rest of the group, but you must see this for yourself."

"See what?" Xander asked as Wesley handed him the translated version of the prophesy from the Codex. As he read over it, his eyes widened as he both realized that it was talking about him and that he had already fulfilled part of the prophecy.

"The prophecy makes reference to a Slayer of Slayer's." Giles started as he paced around the room. "It's the same nickname that William the Bloody goes by and he does have a seer."

"But...but why would this be important now?" Xander asked as he put the translation down.

"Because, the prophecy also makes reference to a dark knight which is a name that's also associated with Batman. If my guess is correct then they are here to fulfill the events that the prophecy speaks of."

"You've been talking like we want survive this." Jesse spoke up for the first time. "We are going to survive this right?" he asked as he looked around the room at his friends.

"From what this intels, Mr. McNally this might very well be the biggest battle since mankind drove the last of the pure demons out of this dimension." Wesley told him.

"But what does it mean by, the Slayer of Slayer's will choose a road?" Xander asked.

"That's still unclear." Giles answered. "All we know at the moment is that whatever is going on seems to involve Spike and the Batman. Also that if something happen's to Drusilla at the hands of the dark knight then an armmageddon will start."

"Is that all?" Xander asked abruptly as he stood to his feet.

"Yes...yes quite. Now all of you go home and get some rest." Giles told them all. "We'll inform you if anything else occurs."

"Faith can you wait for me outside, I have something to tell you?" Xander asked as she walked to the door. Giving him a nod and a frown she walked out of the door.

"Buffy, I wanted to talk to you about us and our relationship." Xander said seriously, as he grabbed Buffy by the hand and led her away from the group, who were still in the middle of leaving. "I've dated a lot of girls..."

"This talk is already going so well." Buffy said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. She didn't want to hear about other girls.

"Buffy, I'm trying to be serious." and for the first time Buffy looked into his eyes and saw that he was being serious.

"I'm sorry. Go ahead." she said getting serious herself.

"Okay." he said trying to build up his nerve. "Like I was saying, I've dated a lot of girls before but...I think that you're the only one I've ever started falling in love with." before she could open her mouth he continued. "I know we just started dating but I've been feeling this way about you for awhile now."

"Why...why haven't you told me any sooner?"

"I was scared." he admitted. "And if the prophecy is true then I might not get any other chance to tell you how I felt."

"Can, I be honest with you?" at his nod she continued. "I think I love you too. I can't explain it, but when we first met I felt something between us. It was like some kind of connection."

"I felt it too." Xander said with a warm smile, that faded as he thought about something. "But there is something that I've been keeping from you. Before we can go any further with our relationship you have to know the truth about me."

"Shhhh." Buffy said as she put a finger to his lips to silence him. "You don't have to tell me anything about it."

"But..."

"No but's we're gonna get through this thing with Spike and this apocalypse if it comes."

"Alright." Xander said swallowing nervously. "Will, I see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah and maybe you want be late this time." Buffy said giving him a kiss on the cheek, before walking out of the door. Following her lead, he walked out of the door and went to his sister who was leaning up against a tree.

"Faith, I know you're still mad at me but hear me out."

"Just spit it out, Xand." Faith said meeting his gaze. "I'm ready to get home."

"It's started."

"What's started?" she asked, her brow furrowing with confusion.

"You read the prophecy. It was about me Faith..."

"You're so vain." Faith said with a shake of her head. "Dad's parents died the same way and..."

"Faith before I got here, I dusted Drusilla." Xander said cutting her off.

"We're so boned."

Wayne Manor

As soon as Xander went into the living room of his house, he almost walked straight into Diana.

"Sorry."

"You sure are." she mumbled as she walked around him.

"You seem to be doing better." Xander commented, out of a lack of something better to say.

"Yeah. No thanks to you."

"Diana you can't stay mad at me forever." Xander said as he grabbed her arm and whirled her around.

"And why the hell not?" Diana asked as she jerked her arm out of his grasp. "What you did was..."

"I didn't want to see any of you get hurt!" Xander yelled out in frustration. "Don't you understand that I love you and Selina by now?"

"So me being Batwoman wouldn't have ever gotten me hurt?" she questioned. "Xander you're full of it. You just have some kind of a macho death wish and you want let any of us help you with your problem."

"I'll talk to you later." Xander said before he could get worked up.

"Oh no." she said grabbing his arm. "You wanted to talk, so we'll talk. You've been doing this crap since the beginning and that's part of the reason why I'm leaving."

"What?" Xander asked taken aback. He knew she was upset, but he wasn't expecting this. "You're, you're leaving me?"

"It all depends on what Selina wants." Diana replied calming down herself. "Xander you don't understand fully what you've done here. Selina remembers everything and she feels betrayed by you."

"I only wanted to keep you all safe."

"And by not trusting us you ended up doing the opposite." she said taking his hand in hers.

"I don't want you to go."

"I can't live in a place where Selina doesn't feel safe." Diana told him sternly. "I've done that in the past and I won't do it again."

"Can I see her?" Xander suddenly asked. "If you truly want to leave then I have to see her at least one more time."

"Yeah go ahead. She's been asking for you anyway."

"Diana." Xander called out as he went to the door and turned around. "I really am sorry."

"I know." she said to herself as he slipped out of the room.

"Your mom said you wanted to see me?" Xander asked as he knocked on Selina's door and peeked his head in.

"So you're the Batman?" Selina asked as her uncle walked into the room.

"Yeah." Xander said as he sat down on the bed beside her. "You remember that huh?" he asked as she slapped him hard on the face.

"Then where were you the night my daddy needed you?" she asked as she broke into a fit of tears. Taking his hand off of his stinging cheek, he tried to comfort her but she flinched away from his touch. "Don't touch me!"

"Babe...I was there remember? I...I tried to help."

"I know you were there. I saw you walking across the street before that man made us go down that alley." she said as she looked up at him with hateful eyes. "But why didn't you get there in time? You...you could have saved my daddy."

"I..."

"I hate you!" she yelled cutting off his explaination as she started to hit his chest with her tiny fists. "I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! I hate..." she stopped as she collasped into his arms, finally breaking down. "Uncle Xander, I'm sorry." she apologized as her tears started to soak through his shirt.

"Shhh..." Xander said rocking her in his arms. "Don't apologize for anything. Just let it out."

From the door, Diana looked in the room with a tear in her own eye. Finally her daughter had let go of some of the pain she was going through about her fathers death and her distrust of her uncle. Wiping the tear from her eye Diana walked away.

An Hour Later

Batcave

Walking down to his base of operations, Xander let out a heavy sigh. Even if Diana and Selina were gonna leave, his niece seemed as though she had forgiven him. And by her forgiveness, he forgave himself for what happened to her father. He didn't pull the trigger but he still felt responsible for his death, because he wasn't fast enough.

"You always seem to get me into trouble." Xander said as he walked up to the glass display case, that held his bat suit and put his hand on it. Hearing a whistling sound in the air, he was just able to avoid a batarang that embedded itself harmlessly in the display case where his head was.

"Talking to yourself mate?"

"Spike?" Xander asked with wide eyes as he turned around, just in time to see Spike step out of the shadows. "How..."

"How did I get in?" he finished the question for him as he ran his hand down a table as he approached. "You know since you don't actually own this dark damp cave, any bloke can just walk in. You might want to get some magical wards for that." he said as he pointed at the waterfall entrance. And for the first time Xander saw Spike dripping wet with water.

"So..."

"It's wierd that a little punk like you get's to 'ave all these things." Spike said as he looked around the caves. "But I wonder if your whore of a mother had of lived, would you 'ave had all of these things." seeing Xander's eye start to twitch he continued. "Oh, yeah I still remember your mum. She was sweet going up, but even better goin' down."

"I should say the same thing about Dru." this time it was Spike's turn to flinch. "I wonder if I should go back and use a dustbuster on her." to Xander's surprise Spike smiled, then laughed at that.

"I already know that Dru is gone. You know because of the whole Sire, Childe thing." Spike informed him. "And I also know, that you know about the prophecy and that's why, I'm not going to kill you yet. I'm just gonna hurt you!" he yelled as he flipped a table over, breaking weapons and equipment as they hit the floor.

"Ah, ah, ah." Spike said as a black snake materialized out of his hand and snapped at the spot where Xander was reaching for a stake. "No weapons. This is just against you and me." he said as he slipped into his vampiric mask and as the snake went back into the palm of his hand. "Spikey boy has some new tricks."

"Oh fuck!" Xander said as the vampire charged him.

Spike then punched Xander immensely hard, sending him through the display case. As it shattered a torrent of glass fell over the both of them and for the batsuit to fall on Xander. With a wince Xander stood to his feet, glad that he wasn't cut and punched Spike hard in the stomach, but didn't make a dent.

"Did that hurt at all?" Xander asked as he let out a sigh.

"Little bit." Spike replied with a shrug as he grabbed him by the windpipe; Xander winced as he's lifted off the ground.

"Do you 'ave any idea how long me and her were together?" Spike asked as he threw Xander the length of the room so hard that Xander shattered a support post, going right through it. "Our love was to be eternal." he said as he picked him up off the floor; holding him by the lapels. As Xander dazzingly looked at him, blood started to pour out of his mouth. "I thought you would be a better challange then this?"

Spike asked as he threw Xander across the room again, where he crashed on top of the hood of the Tumbler. Coughing up more blood, Xander managed to roll off the car and stand to his feet.

"Invensarae!" Spike yelled as fire gathered in his hand. Seeing the projectile coming Xander jumped out of the way and the fireball hit the Tumbler with enough force to push it out of the entrance of the cave, where it exploded in a ball of fire.

Before Xander knew what was going on Spike was punching him repeatedly in the face. Leaving the whelp writhing on the floor, Xander groaned as he saw Spike picking up a curved blade off of his work bench. With a growl Spike walked over to him, kneeled to pick him up by the lapel as he reared back ready to plunge the blade into his chest. But before he could do it, someone punched him in the face, sending him flying across the room away from Xander. The force of which, sent him through a glass table, shattering it.

"Get the hell away from my, bro!" Faith said as she got into a fighting stance.

"Oooo, sending your little sis to do the fighting for you." Spike said with a grunt as he stood to his feet and walked towards the entrance of the cave. The fire from the Tumbler could still be heard from behind him. "Tomorrow night at 8pm on Hamilton street. Be there and we'll finish this." Spike said as he jumped through the waterfall, his duster bellowing behind him as he went.

"Xand. Xand are you okay?" Faith asked as she squatted down beside her brother and looked over his wounds. He was in pretty bad shape and looked like he was about to fall unconcious. And as she looked around the nearly destroyed batcave she saw why. "Diana!" she yelled into a tiny phone, she got out of the back of her jeans pocket.

Thirty Minutes Later

"So how is he?" Faith asked as she stopped pacing outside of her brothers door.

"He'll be fine." Diana replied grimly. "In about another week or two."

"Another week or two?" Faith asked increduously. "But Spike said..."

"Xander already told me." the older woman cut her off. "He's asking for you now."

As Faith walked into the room, she saw Xander trying to sit up.

"Here let me help." she said as she fluffed a pillow behind his head and helped him sit all the way up.

"Thanks." he said as he took a shallow breath.

"Diana said you're gonna be out for about two weeks."

"I can't do that Faith." he said as he let out another wince. "You read the prophecy. You know I have to be there."

"Not necessarily. The prophecy only said that the Dark Knight would be there. So why don't I just call dad and..."

"No." Xander cut her off. "It has to be me and besides dad want get here in time."

"Then what do you have planned?"

"Do you still have a little of that drug left that Slade gave you?"

"Yeah but..." she stopped as she realized what he was asking her to do. "No, absolutely not."

"Faith you have too. Just think of it like this, if we all die tomorrow then known of this stuff will matter."

"You're one hell of a motivational speaker." Faith said as she stood to her feet and walked to the door. "But, I'll do what you want."

"And Spike the next time we see each other you're gonna be dust." Xander said as he picked up a small batarang on his nightstand and threw it at the wall. "Ow." he yelped as the pain from his earlier beating kicked in.

Spike's Lair

Shrugging off his duster, Spike sat down heavily in a chair and started to drink himself stupid. He and Dru had been together for over a hundred years and...just the thought of her being dusted made him crush the whiskey bottle he had in his hands.

"You know that's not going to help bring her back." Cloak said as she entered the room and stood behind him.

"What do you want?" Spike asked with a hint of a slur in his voice.

"The same thing you do. You know you almost killed that boy back there and..."

"Isn't that the point of this whole game?" Spike asked. "And after what he did to Dru..."

"You'll see her again. You follow my plan and you can have her back and anybody else for that matter."

"Tomorrow then." Spike said leaning back into the chair. "Now give me the juice."

"As you wish." ? said as a mist formed around her. As she extended her hands black and dark purple energy flowed out and went into Spike making him scream. After a few minutes, after the power dissapated, he slumped over in the chair exhausted. As ? left the room, Spike's eyes popped open but instead of the customary blue they were yellow and where they should have been white were now red like some kind of reptile.

As he leaned forward, two black snakes seemed to burrow out of his back. Slithering out, but still connected to his back, they both turned to look at their master. Letting out an otherworldly laugh, the two snakes hissed in response.

The Next Day

"Mr. Giles."

"Ah!" Giles screamed out as he turned around and saw Batman. "I do wish you would stop doing that."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Giles." Batman apologized. "I wanted to see if you were aware of the Abjadom prophecy."

"Um... yes the one about you and Spike." Giles said with a quick clean of his glasses. "I've been meaning to warn you about that. Don't slay..."

"I've already slayed his seer, Drusilla. It was before I saw the prophecy."

"Good lord." Giles bellowed. "Do you have any idea what's going to happen?"

"Yes. Spike has named the time and the place and that's why I came to you for help. According to the prophecy I'm not meant to walk alone."

"Yes the young heroes." Giles said reading the prophecy over again. "And you think that's us?"

"Yes, I can't make any of you help me, so I would like for you to arrange a meeting with your Scooby Gang and we'll decide as a team."

Even Later That Night

Giles Apartment

"Has anybody seen Xander?" Buffy asked as she walked through Giles' front door. "I've been trying to call him all day but I haven't gotten an answer."

"He was attacked by Spike last night, along side myself." Batman answered. "Don't worry he'll be alright."

"I want to see for myself." she said heading back towards the door.

"We don't have time for personal feelings, Miss Summers." Batman said as he grabbed her by the shoulder. "We only have... an hour before we have to engage Spike." he said glancing back at Giles' wall clock.

"He's right, Buffy." Wesley said as he walked up to her carrying two nine millimeters. "It'll be best if you check on him after this altercation."

"Whatever you say, Wes." Buffy said taking a step back.

Sensing her discomfort with the guns, he quickly loaded them and put them into his jacket holsters. "Sorry."

"Why do you have those anyway?"

"To be honest, they seem strangely appropriate." he said as he went back to gathering other weapons, that were sitting on Giles table.

"I wanted to make sure again that we're all in agreement." Giles voiced, making everyone stop what they were doing. "Me and Batman talked about this and we're in agreement that we can't make..."

"Giles the way I see it, it's like this." Jesse started as he sheathed the Shadow Sabre. "If Batman and Buffy go alone and fail, then it's just a matter of time before the rest of the world goes."

"He's right." Catwoman said as she slinked into the room. "We're gonna need our best soldiers out there. Just in case things get hairy." she said as she gave Jesse a wink. One that didn't go unnoticed by Willow.

"If that's settled." Wesley started as he walked to the door, with a twelve gauge shotgun over his shoulder. "Let's be off then."

'We're certainly doomed.' Giles thought to himself as he fell into step with his fellow Watcher.

"The weatherman said it was going to rain tonight." Jesse loosely commented as he and the others gathered their weapons and headed to the door.

"Yeah, it's been raining for the last three days." Willow told him solemnly.

"Kinda a doom and gloom message don't you think?"

"If you go into a war thinking you're gonna lose, then you will Mr. McNally." Giles said as he turned around and looked at him. "And that's what I want all of you to realize tonight. This is a war so I want all of you to watch your backs."

"Shouldn't we take our cars?" Wesley asked as they went to the parking lot and passed them.

"No. It's best to keep our blood pumping." Giles said as he once again turned to look at his children. "Now come along, we have a world to save."

"Catwoman." Kendra suddenly said as she grabbed her arm. Turning around, she saw that the Jamaican Slayer had a pensive look on her face. "I...I want you to tell Bruce someting for me, just in case I don't make it through dis."

"Hey, we're all gonna..."

"I want you to tell him dat, I agree to his terms." Kendra said talking over her, in a whisper. Catwoman looked at her for a long moment, as they fell out of step with the group, and she finally realized what Kendra was talking about.

"Alright sis." she said looping an arm around Kendra's neck. "Let's go kick some ass."

"Mr. Giles, do you really think we're gonna win this?" Wesley whispered as he and Giles took the lead of the group. Waiting until they got a little further from the group, Giles looked over at his fellow Watcher and finally responded.

"I don't know."

"The good guys always win." Batwoman said as she dropped down in front of them off of a high building.

"I thought you were leaving town?" Batman asked as he pulled her away from the group.

"And leave you to get your ass kicked?" she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't think so. And besides family sticks together."

"But what about Selina?"

"I left her with Joyce."

"So you forgive me partner?"

"We'll talk about that later." she replied with a grin as they walked over to catch up with the others.

Downtown Sunnydale Street

The rain quickly pelted and beat down heavily over downtown Sunnydale, as if it were washing the dirty city. Dark shadows casted, on every wall as a loud demonic clammering was heard further down the road.

As Batman and the others slowly walked to where Spike said to meet him, they saw that the city streets were lined with hundreds if not thousands of different kinds of demons. Some of them they knew or had already killed before. Nervously walking past them, as it rained, some of them growled and jumped at them.

"Why aren't they attacking?" Willow asked as she hid behind Giles.

"According to prophecy, they are mystically bound to where they are." Wesley informed the group. "But if we fail..."

"Hell will be released on earth." Catwoman realized.

Looking up, towards where someone whispered her name, Buffy saw Lothos and Drusilla standing beside the Master deep in the crowd. Both men were watching her with hate in their eyes and a sneer on their lips. Drusilla just had her arms around the Master's shoulders and seemed to whisper something into his ear and giggle. Just seeing them there and all of the demons growling and whispering sent a shiver down her spine as she and the others marched on.

As they got to the end of the road, they saw a figure sitting in a black throne like chair with his eyes closed. As the group got closer to the demon king, they saw two big black demonic snakes slithering all around his body. Sensing their presence, the figure snapped his eyes open and stared at them all with creul contempt before finally settling on looking at Batman.

"I've been expecting you." Spike said as his blood red gaze lingered on the group. Standing to his feet, his snakes finally decided to settle into his back. And with a mere snap of his fingers, part of the invisible barrier that the demons were behind broke and fifty of snarling beasts spilled out and headed for the gang. "Now it's time to die."

A/N Oooo another cliffhanger. Now to answer a few questions people might have. Lothos is the first big bad that Buffy took down before she came to Sunnydale and Kendra was telling Catwoman that she was agreeing to become a Wayne. Also Edith Crowley is a made up name I gave to be Drusilla's. The way I saw it, whenever she was talking about her doll Miss Edith on the show, I took it as if she were talking about the doll as if it were herself or rather who she used to be.

TBC...

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