Back at the party…

"Ah!" Joyce flinched when Annie opened the back door.

"Thank you for taking that trash out," said Annie in a theatrically loud voice as she opened it up for her.

"Sorry," said Joyce with a wince. "Guess I'm still surprised by your new look sometimes…"

"No big," said Annie with a shrug.

When Fred told her a few years back that new body would look different, Annie pretty much freaked.

None of her San Fran friends knew who she was anymore and she couldn't even bear going back to school there. One good thing about moving to Sunnydale was that she didn't have to see them and get that wiggly sad feeling in her stomach.

"At least you won't look like my mom when you're older," Joyce continued, adding a disgusted shiver while flopping into a kitchen stool. "I mean, if you looked more like my mom than me that would be so weird."

"That happens in families," said Annie, who went to the fridge and grabbed a can of Tab. She mostly did it to avoid Joyce's gaze.

"Aren't you uncomfortable to hear everyone talk about it out there?" Joyce continued while Annie analyzed the contents of the fridge in an attempt to ignore her: eggs, old pizza box, a random peach, orange juice, the sad remnants of a Starbucks iced coffee, kung pao chicken leftovers, the case of Tab. They really needed to get groceries. "I would be so wigged. All the DNA mixing and cloning and body swapping and that week when you were a robot."

Joyce wrinkled her nose.

"No, I'm not uncomfortable," Annie said, shutting the door and popping open a can. "It's just a thing that happens. Weird stuff has happened to most of us. I mean, my mom died twice. That's weirder than being a clone-ish thing. Or almost as weird," she sighed. "Whatever."

"I know, it just…"

Another not so fun part of getting a new body was how weird everyone else was about it at first. Well, not everyone...

xxxxxxxxxxx

Three years before

Annie let out an exasperated sigh as she looked in the mirror. She poked again at her nose and turned to the side.

Of course, she was happy to still exist. And that she wasn't a robot. But it was weird, having a totally different body. She kept smacking into things and missing steps on the stairs and all types of weird things since she wasn't used to her new limbs. Awkward.

"Pet," Spike called from the other side of the door. "Breakfast is ready!"

"Coming!" she yelled back, and sighed again. Her voice sounded different now too.

Annie dragged herself out of the bathroom and into the kitchen, where Spike was piling bacon and waffles on a plate for her.

"Morning sunshine," he said, his chipper smile contrasting her gloomy demeanor.

Ever since they pulled off the switch, Spike had been especially happy, almost giddy. After years of constant dread, they had pulled it off. Annie had survived and everything was right in the world.

Except that his daughter was now looking at him like she was on the verge of tears.

"What's wrong, ducks?" Spike dropped the skillet back down on the stove.

"Isn't it scary?" asked Annie in a small voice.

"Scary?" Spike was genuinely confused.

"Me," she said. It was getting harder to hold back tears. "That I don't look right. That I'm not me."

"Oh, Annie," he sat down next to her. "O'course you're you. And frankly, I'm a bit offended that you think someone who's hardly five feet tall could scare a Big Bad."

She rolled her eyes, causing a tear to leak out.

"You don't think it's weird? It's like I'm a stranger."

"You are you," said Spike, his voice stern. "And no, love, it's not weird. It's perfect, you're perfect. You look exactly the way you should."

"What about before?"

Spike smiled.

"You were perfect then too. You would be perfect even if you were a chaos demon. And you know, they are all…" he put his hands up by his head.

"Slime and antlers," Annie finished with a sniffle-laugh.

"I think this suits you better, though," he said.

Annie could tell he meant it. That he wasn't scared. So she wasn't either.

"Thanks, Dad."

"Just being honest," he said with a shrug. "Now, we have a whole mess of schoolwork that your mum picked up from the principal."

Annie groaned.

"Oh, come on, it will be fun," Spike said. "Just like old times."

"Can we watch Passions?"

Spike scoffed, "well of course, niblet."

And Annie could hardly remember what she was so worried about.

xxxxxxxxxxx

And, back to the party...

Now pretty much everyone was used to her new body except Joyce.

"It creeps you out, I know," Annie cut Joyce off, leaning across the counter. "Let's change the subject. How was Cole? Snog-tastic?"

"Oh," Joyce looked a little embarrassed. "Not really any of that tonight. He was kind of… I don't know. Different?"

Joyce looked like she wanted to add more but they were cut off by Giles and Willow, who carried a large volume with her into the kitchen.

"So, I think we found the right spell to send old-timey Spike back," she said, squinting at the faded typeface.

"It looks like he'll need to be in precisely the same place he was when he crossed into this timeline," Giles added.

He looked at Annie expectantly. "You were here when he appeared?"

"Sort of," she said. "He showed up… in the kitchen I think, because I heard him before I saw him. We'll have to ask... Spike."

It felt weird calling him that.

All three looked down the hall into the living room, where Dawn and Xander were enthusiastically telling a still very confused Spike about the battle against the First Evil. Xander seemed to be re-creating the moment when he lost his eye.

"I think they're enjoying this a bit too much," said Giles, crossing his arms.

"Well," said Willow. "It is a good story, and we don't get to tell it much."

It was true, they didn't talk much about that time. Before now, it usually seemed sort of painful for everyone. Annie's gaze lingered on Spike, who appeared to be listening intently to the along with Frankie.

"What time do we have to do it?" Annie asked, snapping to attention. "To send him back?"

Giles looked down at his watch. "Around 20 minutes."

"We might be able to pull it off before mom and dad get back," Annie said, biting her lip as she thought about her parents. "Where are they anyway?"

"Still on patrol," said Willow. "Buffy told Dawn they ran into a nest."

xxxxxxxxxxx

On the other side of town…

Buffy tucked into a roll underneath the legs of a particularly beefy looking vampire. She then sprung up and let it lunge for her as she swung behind a towering crucifix gravestone.

A few paces away, Spike pummeled another vamp in the face repeatedly.

"Honey, you have to relax," said Buffy as she swiftly looped around the headstone and staked her vampire. "Annie is 16 — of course she snuck out to the Bronze. Heck I did it all the time when I was her age."

"You," Spike growled as he punched his vamp in the nose, "dated two vicious serial killers before you turned 25."

"Hey, not fair," said Buffy, as she walked over to him, though she reluctantly nodded in agreement when she was out of his eyeline.

"Anyway, Annie is smarter than I was back then," she said, letting Spike get a final punch before she staked the vamp. "And will hopefully have less daddy issues, as long as you pull yourself together."

Spike breathed heavily for a moment and slid down a nearby gravestone.

"You're right," he said, pulling up a clump of grass. "About the last bit. You were always smart."

"I know," she said, sitting down next to him. "Fishing for compliments," she added with a smile.

Spike cocked his head and looked at her with a smirk.

"Love you, Slayer."

"Love you too," said Buffy, grabbing his hand.

In general, Buffy didn't mind that Spike was so protective of Annie. Considering the loser that was Hank Summers, it was pretty relieving to know her daughter had a father who cared so much.

When she was raising Dawn, Buffy always had to be the authority figure and Spike was the cool guy her sister got to bond with over scary stories. Now, she got to be the fun, boy gossip and frappuccinos at the mall mom. It was nice.

Until they got to Sunnydale. It seemed to trigger something in Spike. His protectiveness turned up from 10 to 100. Annie seemed different too. For the first time, the father and daughter had started fighting.

Which sucked. Even with the whole clone project and the key and the monks and time travel their family had always been a happy one.

Sometimes Buffy wondered if it was some remnant of the Hellmouth.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Three days ago

Spike gently knocked on Annie's bedroom door, a fresh cup of tea in his hand. When he didn't hear any response, he knocked again a bit louder.

"Annie?"

Again, no response.

He knew she was probably sleeping after her first day back at school since the demon attack in her gym class. Spike gulped thinking of the huge gash it left in her chest. The first time he saw it, he thought she was dead.

Annie could have been dead. She knew better than to try to fight that type of demon. He had no idea what she had been thinking.

It must be stupid Sunnydale, he thought. Everyone here acts off their bloody bird.

Having Annie home for a few days had been a relief, though she seemed eager to get back to that blasted high school.

"Annie?" Spike called again, prodding the door open slightly.

What he saw was an empty bed and an open window. Emotion — a cocktail of fear and rage — filled his mind and body as he took it in.

"Buffy!" he yelled. "She's gone…"

Spike decided he was too angry to cry.

"Huh," said his wife as she bounded up the stairs.

"Annie, she's," Spike's mind spun until he realized where she was and he chuckled darkly. "I told her not to go, she's too weak."

"Told her not to go where?" asked Buffy.

"The Bronze," said Spike flatly.

"Too weak for The Bronze? It's just sitting on velvet couches and bad dancing…"

"I'll go get her," said Spike, not listening.

"Maybe that's not the best…"

Before Buffy could finish, Spike was gone in a swirl of leather. She shrugged and headed back to the basement to get back to training. The past few weeks had taught her not to get in the middle of Spike and Annie fights.

Meanwhile, Spike was careening down Sunnydale's streets in his DeSoto — another thing that had reappeared along with Sunnydale. He still knew the streets so well that he hardly had to look through its spray painted windows to find the club.

Sour memories of his past floated around him when Spike slammed to a stop in the familiar dank alleyway. He bounded past the line to get inside, using his scent to find Annie sitting with a group of boys near the stage.

Spike could see his daughter's eyes widen as he approached.

"What are you doing?" he roared.

"I'm at a show," she said, trying to sound confident though her face had paled.

"It isn't safe," Spike said through gritted teeth.

"Annie, who is this guy?" asked one of the boys, who Spike noticed had shaggy dark hair and eyeliner.

"Stay out of this Tommy Lee," Spike spat.

"Sorry Jackson," said Annie, quickly getting up from her seat and pulling nervously at her shiny red pleather miniskirt. "This is my dad, and we're leaving."

"Sweet jacket, Annie's dad!" said another of the boys. "Stay for the show, man."

"Nope, we have to go," said Annie, pushing Spike away from her friends.

"We haven't even played our set yet," said Jackson.

Annie smiled apologetically over her shoulder.

"I'll catch the next one, I promise!" she said.

Once they were in the alley, Spike opened his mouth to scold her, but Annie beat him to it.

"How could you do that to me?" she screamed.

"Do what? Care about you? You were seriously hurt…"

"That doesn't mean you can embarrass me in front of my friends!"

"Those wankers? You hardly know 'em!"

"Well I lost all of my other friends," said Annie, tears streaming down her face. "How am I supposed to make new ones?"

"When you're better…"

"No," Annie cut him off. "It's always some excuse with you. I'm not going to live forever. I can't just sit at home and watch T.V. with you all the time. I need to have my own life."

Spike looked like she had slapped him in the face and Annie immediately regretted her words. But pride and anger seemed to prevent her from saying anything else.

They stood staring at each other for what felt like forever, tears glistening in both their eyes.

"Get in the car," Spike eventually said.

"Fine," said Annie, who slumped into the front passenger seat.

xxxxxxxxxxx

Back at the cemetery

"It looks like we got the last of them," Buffy said aloud, looking around at the now quiet cemetery.

"Yeah, it does," Spike said quietly.

"Annie's been through a lot these past years," said Buffy. She couldn't read his mind but she could come close. "I think she's just trying to figure herself out."

Spike grunted. "She doesn't have to put herself in danger to do that."

"The Bronze isn't dangerous," said Buffy, who stopped as Spike arched an eyebrow at her.

"Vampires, trolls, werewolves, witches, drummers," he rattled off, counting on his fingers.

"Okay, maybe it's a little dangerous. But, half of those were us or our friends," she laughed, "Maybe I should train her more…"

"No!" he blurted out. Now it was Buffy's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Sorry love," he said. "We want her to have a normal life, right? A safe life. Not a demon fighting one."

A sick feeling knotted his stomach as he thought of Annie's words.

"I'm not going to live forever."

"I need to have my own life."

Buffy squeezed his hand.

"We do want her to have a normal life. Having us as parents makes that hard though."

Spike snorted at that.

"You two will make up," she promised. "She'll promise to be more careful…"

Spike sighed. "And I'll promise not to embarrass her in front of her wanker friends," he said. "Honestly, they had the guyliner all wrong."

Buffy rolled her eyes — which led to her seeing something at the far corner of the cemetery.

"Being back in Sunnydale doesn't help," Buffy added. "We do have some good memories here though."

She got to her feet and held her hands out to Spike, who was grimacing at her words.

As she pulled him up, Buffy said, "follow me."

Soon, they were in front of the Hawley mausoleum.

"Yeah, lots of memories here," said Spike surveying the vine-covered crypt and sliding an arm around Buffy's waist. "Good and bad. And naughty," he added with a halfhearted smirk.

"It seems smaller," said Buff as his hand gripped her tightly. "We won't be here forever, you know," she said as she looked up at him. "In Sunnydale."

"Bloody hope not," he said. After a moment of admiring her face in the moonlight, he pulled her in for a kiss.

"Happy anniversary Buffy," he said when they finally pulled apart.

"Happy anniversary William," said Buffy as she stared into his blue eyes and pulled him closer.

"We've done a pretty smashing job of this happily married bit so far, Slayer," he said, kissing her neck.

"Definitely smashing," she said with a smirk. Buffy was surprised when he kept looking at her softly instead of returning it.

"Got you something," Spike said, almost a whisper. He pulled a box out of his duster.

"Spike! Your gift is at home, let's just wait…"

"Shh," he said. "I want to see you in it now. In the moonlight."

Spike's heart soared as she gave him that glowy smile he loved so much. He watched her open the box and a grin broke out over his own face when she gasped.

"How did you…" Buffy pulled the delicate gold choker out of the box to look at it. It had one small charm in the shape of a scythe — the Slayer's scythe. "I love it, Spike," she finished, eyes welling with emotion.

"I'm glad," he said. Buffy caught her breath and let him fasten it around her neck.

"Thank you," she breathed before they kissed again. "Now for yours," she added, pulling away and sticking her chin in the air.

"Can't be better than what I got you," Spike said with a giggle.

"Don't be so sure of that mister," she said, giggling back. "Oh, and Annie is spending the night at Xander and Dawn's so…"

"Mhm," he purred. "Time to get back to the manse then…"

As Buffy and Spike started walking back to Revello arm-in-arm, a pair of shocked eyes followed them, and fingers curled around a stake.