Evolution
by  Demonica

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Takes place right after Entropy. For this story, we are
going to assume that Connor is still a baby. Special thanks to Shady76 and
Kari Mouke for letting me bounce ideas off them, and extra thanks to Addie
Logan for brainstorming and betaing.

Chapter 1

The image was there. Every time she closed her eyes, it was there. Burning
its brand into her mind like acid on skin.

Spike and Anya on the table in the magic shop.

Even though she had told him that he was nothing, had meant nothing, it
still hurt.

Anya's legs spread wide open.

Another man gone, left her for something different, something possibly
better.

Spike buried inside her.

Even though, in the back of her mind, she knew it was her own fault. Knew
that she had pushed him away, when he would have stayed if she'd wanted him
too.

The table's legs wobbling under their combined weight and movement.

What was it about her that made people want to leave? Why wasn't she good
enough?

Their faces awash in painted on ecstasy, the moans coming through the
cheap computer speakers.

And Spike was buried inside her.

He had promised to love her until he was dust, promised to save the world
with her if she would treat him like a man. She had taken and taken and
taken until he had nothing left to give, nothing left to offer. And then she
had tossed him on his ass, better to be the dumper than the dumpee. He would
have left her at some point anyway, they all did.

And Anya's legs were spread wide open. And Spike was buried inside
her.

Buffy took off for the bus station, not even waiting to see if Xander would
stake Spike. She tried to tell herself that she didn't care if Xander dusted
Spike, but the truth was...well, what was the truth?

She was a Slayer, a girl with short expiration date. She wasn't supposed to
fall in love. Slayers didn't get the house, the fence, the two point five
kids, and a dog. If they were lucky, maybe-just maybe-they might live long
enough to experience their first kiss before succumbing to their fate. Buffy
knew she should consider herself lucky. Not only had she survived to have
her first kiss, but she had three separate men profess love to her. What did
it matter if they all left in the end? After all, in the end, the Slayer is
always alone.

xxx

The bus station was almost empty when Buffy bought her ticket. It was stupid
to run to L.A., but she had nowhere else to go. Giles was in London, and
there was no way she had enough money to get there, her father was M.I.A.,
her only friends were sitting at her house, and that just left one person
for her to go to.

Tapping the ticket on the palm of her hand, Buffy contemplated briefly what
she was doing. She was running away...again. Why did it seem so much easier
to leave then to deal with the problems at hand?

"Because you shouldn't have these problems. You shouldn't be here." A
little voice inside her head said, "You should be in Heaven. You should
be happy and safe, not here."

"ALL PASSENGERS BOARDING BUS 16A NONSTOP TO LOS ANGELES, PLEASE TAKE YOUR
SEATS!"

The announcement was loud and harsh against her ears. Everything was loud
and harsh and bright and sharp...except Spike. When Spike was around
everything was just...simple, and pleasurable and she was beautiful.

And Anya's legs were spread wide open on the table in the Magic Box. And
Spike was buried inside her.

Buffy clapped her hands over her ears. No! She was strong. She was the
Slayer, and she would not give in to this.

"This doesn't hurt me. He can't hurt me. He is a soulless vampire,
incapable of love, and it doesn't hurt." And the thought didn't make her
feel any better.

With a small sob, Buffy threw herself into a seat by the window, and pressed
her face against the cool glass. She withdrew just as quickly when she
realized that the coolness reminded her of the exact thing she was trying to
forget.

"Yes, he is a thing. He is not a person. He does not have soul. He CANNOT
hurt me...but it does hurt. It hurts so bad. Not good enough for
anyone."

Buffy pulled her knees up to her chest, and leaned back into the seat. With
a sigh, she closed her eyes.

And Anya's legs were spread wide open. And Spike was buried inside
her.

Nope, that wasn't going to work. Buffy opened her eyes again, and dropped
her feet back to the floor. She tapped them impatiently. Would this bus ever
get moving? Two hours. Two hours and counting. Two hours of that image in
her mind. NO! She would not think about it, would not let it bother her. She
wasn't dating Spike. They were...fuck buddies...but without the buddies
part. More like...fucking mortal enemies. Yeah, that was it. They hated each
other. Spike and Anya? Didn't bother her. Not one bit. Nope, she was all not
bothered girl...sitting on a bus...heading for L.A...

xxx

Three agonizing hours later found Buffy standing at the bus depot in L.A.
She stretched her arms over her head, arching her back as she did so, and
ignoring the catcalls of the homeless guy on the bench.

The distance to Angel's hotel was about three miles from the bus station,
and she didn't really feel like walking there in the dark, but after
checking her pocket and finding only twenty more dollars to her name, Buffy
decided that walking was the way to go. She didn't have a stake on her, and
that was slightly bothersome, but she could always improvise if need be.
That's what the Slayer did. The Slayer did what she could to kill vamps and
stay alive and protect humanity from all that was evil and what not. The
Slayer was not bothered by vampire lovers-no, enemies- sleeping with
ex-vengeance demons.

And Anya's legs were spread wide open. And Spike was buried inside
her.

GAH! No more image! Bad Buffy! This does not bother you. No with the
bothering.

She began to walk faster, wishing that she had brought a jacket with her. It
was starting to get chilly.

"Well, aren't you a cute little thing? You here all by your lonesome?"

Buffy stopped walking and sighed before turning around, hands on her hips.

"You know, I am so not in the mood to deal with you tonight. Do yourself a
favor, and just toddle off, okay?"

The vampire was still in human form, and he slowly began to walk toward her.

"Wassa matter little girl? Afwaid of the big, bad man?"

Buffy's right hook smashed into his jaw.

"I. AM. NOT. AFRAID.OF.YOU.AND.YOU.ARE.NOT.THE.BIG.BAD" she said in between
punches to his face.

The vampire fell backwards into the alley, blood pouring out of his face. He
tried to scramble backwards away from her lowering foot.

"YOU.THINK.THAT.YOU.CAN.JUST.WANDER.OVER.AND.TALK.ABOUT.
FEELINGS.THAT.YOU.DON'T.HAVE.BECAUSE.YOU.HAVE.NO.SOUL." Buffy's
non-relenting foot had almost obliterated the vampire's face, and he was
whimpering on the ground.

Buffy looked at him a second before grabbing a wooden chopstick that was
lying in a pile of garbage at her feet.

"God. You are the most pathetic excuse for a vampire that I've ever seen,"
she spit out as she turned him to dust.

Buffy brushed off her hands, and realized that she was almost at the
Hyperion. She wondered how Angel was going to react to her showing up. They
hadn't seen each other since the little visit when he'd found out she'd been
brought back, and that hadn't really gone so well. He'd been happy enough to
see her, but...

She'd been walking as she thought, and the Hyperion was looming before her.
This was it. All she had to do was walk inside and say, "Hi, Angel...I
caught Spike fucking Anya and I'm upset." Yeah, that would go over real
well. How about, "So, Angel, remember how you thought I was in Hell? Well, I
wasn't, and I hate my life and want to die again?" Hmm, again...maybe not. 
Maybe she'd just walk up to the door. That was a good starting point. Okay,
just gonna walk up to the door and look in the window.

Buffy slowly made her way to the glass door of the hotel. The light in the
lobby was on, and by pressing her face to the window she could see inside.
There was a green skinned demon walking around holding a baby, and singing
"Come On, Get Happy." She didn't know which was stranger, the fact that the
demon was singing Judy Garland, the fact that he was bouncing a human baby,
or the fact that he was standing in the lobby of Angel's hotel.

Cordelia entered the lobby then, and took the baby from the demon. She spun
the baby around, and blew a raspberry on it's stomach.

"Hello, Connor. Was Uncle Lorne singing to you? Was he singing to you?"
Cordelia cooed. "Ah! Somebody's got an icky diaper. Yes, he does. Yes, he
does."

Buffy watched as Cordelia laid the baby out on the counter, and proceeded to
change the dirty diaper. Was that Cordelia's baby? She hadn't heard about
anyone up at Angel Investigations having a baby, but then...well, she'd been
dead for a while, and then not so much with the caring of anything else.

"Cordy, have you seen my broadsword? I can't find it."

Buffy tensed as Angel walked into the lobby, buttoning his shirtsleeves as
he entered.

"You left in leaning against the wall in the office," she answered.

"I checked there already. It's not there."

Cordelia finished changing the baby, and lifted him up into the air.

"Come on, Connor. Let's go show Daddy that his broadsword is exactly where I
said it was."

Buffy's mouth dropped open. Daddy? Did she just say that Angel was
a...Daddy? No. Nonononononono. Vampires can't have babies, Giles had told
her that. She had misheard.

"Hey, Connor! You want to come to Daddy? You wanna help the old man find his
sword. That's gonna be your sword someday. Yes, it is."

xxx

Angel scooped his son out of Cordelia's arms. He tossed him lightly in the
arm, and caught him.

"You are so gonna make him puke if you do that," Cordelia chided.

"No, I'm not," he answered. "I'm not, am I, Connor? You're not gonna puke,
are you? You like when Daddy does this."

BAM!

Two heads simultaneously turned toward the front door. There was a handprint
on the glass.

"Take him, and get downstairs." Angel instructed as he thrust his son toward
Cordelia.

Angel grabbed his broadsword, which was lying against the wall in the
office, and headed toward the door. He sniffed as he approached, and made a
small noise in the back of his throat as he shoved the doors open.

"Buffy?" he asked, looking around. "BUFFY!!"
 

Chapter 2

Spike clutched the bottle of Jack Daniels tightly in his hand. He kicked the
wall of his crypt, and took a swig. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Could he
be anymore stupid?

He ran his fingers through his hair, and took another swig of his bottle.
With a feral yell, he smashed the bottle against the wall before dropping to
the floor. Spike pulled his knees to his chest, and dropped his head in his
heads.

What had he been thinking? He'd hurt her, and not in a good way. Not in a
violent leading to pleasure sort of way. He'd actually done the one thing
that he'd sworn never to do; he had hurt her feelings. Stupid, stupid ponce.

Spike's foot lashed out at the chair in front of him. The chair didn't move,
and that just pissed him off more. He kicked at it again, then again, then
again, and then he got up and threw it across the room.

The soft knock at the crypt door stopped him dead in his tracks from
throwing the next available object at hand. Who would be coming to visit
him? Probably the whelp coming to try and stake him. Well, let him try.

Spike stormed across the room, and ripped the door open with a snarl.

"WHAT?!" he screamed into the face of a startled Dawn. "Oh, sorry.
Thought...sorry."

Dawn recovered from her shock.

"Spike? What did you do?" she asked softly.

Spike backed away from her. Oh, no! Not his Bit. She shouldn't know that.

"Spike?" she asked again. "Spike, what did you do?"

"WHAT YOU PEOPLE EXPECTED ME TO DO!" he cried out through a stifled sob.
"You expect me to be evil, and do evil things."

"No!" Dawn ground out through her tears. "I expected more from you. Buffy
expected more from you, and you ended up like all the rest. You promised her
love, and then you left her."

"She left me, Bit." Spike objected. "She told me to leave."

"Then why is she gone, Spike? Why can't we find her?"

Spike's head snapped up.

"What?"

Dawn sniffed.

"Buffy's gone. She, we can't find her. We've looked everywhere, a-and Tara
did a locator spell, and she's not in Sunnydale anymore."

Spike grabbed Dawn's arms.

"What do you mean, 'she's gone?'"

"Gone, Spike! Gone, as in not here anymore." Dawn cried, knocking his hands
off her. "Gone, as in left me all alone."

Dawn's fists flew weakly at Spike's chest, and he let her hit him without
trying to stop her.

"This is all your fault! You need to fix it! You need to fix it!" she
finally fell against him sobbing.

His arms closed around her.

" 'M gonna fix it, Bit. I am. I'll find a way."

xxx

"Angel! What is it?" Cordelia shouted through the lobby.

Angel stood at the top of the steps, and rubbed the back of his head before
shooting Cordelia a confused look.

"It was Buffy."

"Buffy? Why would Buffy be here?" Cordelia walked toward Angel, clutching
Connor close to her chest.

"I don't know," Angel answered. "She took off before I saw her."

"Maybe we should call Sunnydale?"

"Yeah..." Angel trailed off as he headed toward the phone.

xxx

Willow wrung her hands together, and paced the living room. Tara sat on the
couch, biting her lip, watching her worriedly.

"Sweetie, you're wearing a hole in the rug," Tara said softly.

Willow ran a hand through her hair.

"Buffy...gone. Dawn...gone. Xander...gone. Tara! Take a look around here. We
have some serious missing persons going on here. Buffy and Dawn are goddess
knows where, and Xander is either off trying to stake Spike or getting
vengeanced by Anya. Things are not of the good here."

Willow plopped down on the couch next to Tara.

"Should I call Giles? I should, shouldn't I? He would know what to do. Oh,
no, maybe he'll be all mad, like 'I left you in charge Willow, how did you
lose three people?' Ooohhh!"

Willow wrung her hands together harder. Tara just looked at her. She had
never met anyone who could say so much in one sentence without breathing.

The phone rang right as Willow was opening her mouth to speak again. She
jumped off the couch, and ran into the hallway, skidding on the floor as she
did so.

"Hello?" Willow asked breathlessly. "Angel...um, no Dawn's not here...no,
Buffy is, well, um, I'm not sure...Oh, really?...uh-huh...okay...we'll be on
our way shortly...okay...uh-huh...bye."

Tara looked at Willow hopefully.

"That was Angel. He thinks he scented Buffy outside his hotel, but she ran
off before he could be sure. We should find Dawn, and go to L.A."

"I-I think that we should try Spike's crypt. I bet that Dawn is there," Tara
said.

Willow nodded, and grabbed her coat.

xxx

Anya and Xander sat at the kitchen table, both staring at the wood rather
then each other.

"Ahn...how could you?" Xander asked, breaking the silence.

"How could I what? Sleep with Spike? Recover after you left me at the alter
on OUR wedding day? Become a vengeance demon again? Be a little more
specific Xander."

Xander looked at her with tears in his eyes.

"I am so sorry for that Anya. Please believe me. Hurting you is the last
thing that I ever wanted to do."

"Oh, and yet you did just that, so excuse me for not believing you. God, you
are such a man, all making with the love and the foreverness, and then
dumping the woman when it gets to be too much. And people wonder why I was
such a popular vengeance demon."

"Anya, please, I tried to tell you...I just...you were so excited about
everything...and then I...I was afraid...I don't want to end up like my
parents, I don't want to end up hating you."

"So you decided to make me hate you instead. Brilliant Xander, simply
brilliant. Mission accomplished, now get out of my life."

"Ahn..."

"No! I have nothing more to discuss with you. Good-bye Alexander Harris.
Have a nice life."

Anya stood up and, with a wave of her arms, vanished. Xander got up from the
table, and wandered into the bedroom. He picked up the pillow that Anya
always used, and crushed it to his face as his tears began to fall.

xxx

Buffy stopped running when her chest began to burn. She had no idea where
she was, and she really didn't care.

 "Angel has a baby...Angel has a baby with Cordelia...his normal
life...his white picket fence...his two point five kids and a dog...Not me,
never me...not good enough"  

The tears ran freely down her face, and Buffy just ignored them.

 "Not loved by anyone...not Dad, not Angel, not Riley, and not
Spike..."

The though of Spike hurt more then any of the others and caused her to
remember why she had left in the first place.

 And Anya's legs were spread wide open. And Spike was buried inside
her.

"NO!"

Buffy jumped a little at the sound of her own voice breaking her thoughts.
She would not give in to this. She was the Slayer. She was strong. She
was...

Buffy felt something hit the back of her head.

 "Funny, I didn't sense anyone near me..."  Her last thoughts echoed in
her head as she slid into blackness.
xxx

Drusilla sat up in her bed with a start, and looked toward the doll on the
nightstand.

"The sunshine is in trouble, Miss Edith. It is time for a change, the pixies
told me so. I am to be a mommy again, but no little vampire sunshine for me.
Something new we will create."

She got out of bed, and pulled out a worn suitcase from the closet.

"All golden and glowy when the sun and the moon combine. All strength and
grace. No more broken dolly."

Drusilla paused in her packing and cocked her head to the side, listening.

"Yes," she answered out loud. "We will have to be careful, Miss Edith. Daddy
and Spike will not understand. We must make them understand."

She picked up the doll, and lovingly caressed it's hair.

"Time to go Miss Edith. I hope you have packed your tea set."



Chapter 3

Dawn had cried herself to sleep, all curled up in Spike's arms. Spike was
still absent-mindedly stroking her hair as her words ran through his mind.

"Buffy ran away because of me. I made Buffy abandon her sister. I hurt
Buffy. I hurt Dawn. I have to find a way to fix this."

Spike looked down at the girl in his arms, her tears still wet on her
cheeks, and a thought struck him suddenly.

Dawn trusts me.

He thought about that for a moment, and wondered why it had never really
struck him before. In all the times that Dawn had snuck over to his crypt,
or asked for help on her homework, or watched t.v. on the couch with him, he
had never really thought about the fact that she did all those things
because she trusted him. In his mind, he had always figured that she, like
everyone else, just assumed him to be harmless because of the chip. But now,
with her sleeping in his arms, he realized that she really trusted him. She
had come to him to ask for his help. Granted it was to fix his own mistake,
but...no one had ever trusted him...not since the one time that Buffy had
made him promise to protect her sister.

Spike set his jaw. He would fix this. He would find a way to beg Buffy's
forgiveness, and she and Dawn could be a family again. And he wouldn't let
Buffy return to that horrid job of hers. Her pride be damned. And he would
make her see that he really loved her, and that they didn't need to be
destructive in their relationship. He could love her. He could prove himself
to her. For once in his entire existence, he was going to attempt to do the
right thing. He was going to attempt to be the hero.

xxx

Angel put the phone back in the cradle and looked at Cordelia.

"Willow said that Buffy is missing. So is Dawn."

"So, that was Buffy outside out window?"

"It would appear so."

"Why is she here? And why did she run away like that?"

"I don't know. Willow didn't say what was wrong, but she's on her way here.
I think we should start a search for Buffy in the meantime."

Cordelia nodded her agreement.

"Should I call in the others or do you want to go alone?"

"Why don't you stay here with Connor and wait for Willow. I'll go look for
her myself."

Cordelia nodded again, and watched as Angel walked out the door.

xxx

Buffy opened her eyes slowly. Her head really hurt. She sat up and looked
around her. She was lying on a bed in a small room of sorts. The room had a
toilet, a sink, a shower, and the bed, but the strangest part was the front
wall was completely see through.

Throwing her legs over the bed, Buffy started to stand up when a wave of
dizziness overtook her. She sat back down, and put a hand to the back of her
head. There was crust where the pain was, and Buffy scrapped a bit off it
off for inspection. Her nails were underlined with dried blood when she
brought them in front of her eyes. Whatever had hit her had packed quite a
punch.

Buffy slowly tried to stand up again. She made her way over to the sink, and
ran some water onto a towel that she found lying nearby. Gingerly, she
dabbed the wet cloth over the bump on her head, wincing as she did so.

"Ah, Miss Summers. Glad to see that you are awake. I do apologize for the
bump on the head, my associate was a little over zealous."

Buffy turned around, and found a man standing in front of the plastic
window. He was fairly thin with bushy brown hair, and a matching bushy
moustache. His eyes were a light blue, and he was wearing a brown suit with
dark patches on the elbows. A ruby ring on his left hand was the only
jewelry to be seen.

"Who are you, and where am I?" Buffy asked, approaching the plastic.

"My name is Alphoneous Brownstone. You may call me Mr. Brownstone, and you
are the newest attraction in my zoo for exotic demons."

Buffy stared at him.

"Excuse me? Newsflash buddy. One, I'm human. Two, I'm the Slayer, and three,
I'm going to kick your ass."

Ignoring the pain in her head, Buffy lifted her foot and did a quick snap
kick at the plastic. She gasped as the plastic wavered, but didn't break.
Instead, she felt a small zap through her body.

"Yes, did I mention that this is magically encoded plastic? I'm a warlock,
you see. Each of my attractions is housed in a specially enchanted area,
specifically designed to keep them and my public safe."

"I am NOT an attraction."

Mr. Brownstone stepped closer to the plastic.

"But you are my dear, you are. You are the Slayer who returned from death
twice, the most widely know Slayer in the demon universe. You tamed half of
the Scourge of Europe. You defeated Glorificus. You are the crowning
achievement to my zoo, and you are going to make me a lot of money."

"You do realize that people are going to come looking for me? When I get out
of here, I am going to kick your ass from here to Kingdom Come."

Mr. Brownstone laughed at her.

"Miss Summers, no one will be able to find you. My wards are nearly
impenetrable. The only people who can enter are paying customers, and I
sincerely doubt that you know anyone who can afford the $50,000 price tag
that it costs to even enter this place, let alone the extra $10,000 to get
into this room. You see, you are not part of the normal attractions. Oh no,
you are part of my 'special collection.' Seeing you costs extra, and," he
paused to chuckle. "Partaking of your blood will be available for another
$30,000. You are going to make me a lot of money, Miss Summers."

Buffy gasped at him.

"I see that you are surprised. Don't be. I own the largest collection of
demons in three dimensions. If you'll look around for a moment, you'll
notice that you are unable to see any other the other exhibits. These cages
are specifically designed to keep the, er, attractions from attempting to
set up a mutiny. I own you Miss Summers, please get used to it."

xxx

"I don't want to knock," Willow told Tara as they stood outside of Spike's
crypt. "I just-I don't think that I can look at him right now."

"I know sweetie, but if Dawn's in there, then we need to get her and go to
L.A. Buffy needs us right now."

Willow took a deep breath, and knocked tentatively on the door. There was
silence for a moment before a red eyed Spike appeared in front of them.

"You two here to put a hex on me or something?" he asked wearily.

"N-no, we don't do that kind of thing. Um, we were wondering if, uh, Dawn
was here?" Tara said, keeping her eyes on the ground.

Spike turned and walked back into the crypt, leaving Tara and Willow to
wonder if they were supposed to follow or wait outside. They chose to walk
inside, and found Spike crouching down in front of his couch where Dawn lay
sleeping.

"Wake up, bit. Red and Glinda are looking for ya," he said softly, nudging
the sleeping girl with his hand.

Dawn murmured something sleepily before pushing herself into a half sitting
position. She yawned, and turned to face the two Wiccans.

"Did you find Buffy?"

Tara shook her head.

"Angel thinks he saw her in L.A." Willow said. "We're heading there now."

Spike stood up sharply, and ran a hand through his hair.

"I want-I want to go with you," he said, closing his eyes and gritting his
teeth.

"I-I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Tara said looking at Willow.

"Yeah, I don't think Buffy really wants to see you right now, Spike," Willow
said.

"Please," he said, swallowing his pride even further.

"Is Xander going with us?" Dawn asked.

"Um, I don't think so. We hadn't really thought about asking him..."Willow
said.

"Then I think that Spike should go with us. Let him fix his mistake."

Everyone turned to stare at Dawn.

"What?" she asked.

No one answered, but Tara gave Willow a shrug before giving Spike a small
smile as an invitation.

"Good," he answered briskly. "I'll drive."

xxx

Xander lay in bed hugging the Anya scented pillow for a long time. He was
the screw up of screw ups, he had decided. Somehow, he just had to get Anya
to forgive him. And, ew, how could she touch that vile vampire? Didn't she
realize that he was a soulless creature?

Suddenly Xander sat up as a thought occurred to him. Anya was a vengeance
demon again. Did that mean that she no longer had a soul? Was that why she
didn't love him anymore?

He needed to talk to Willow. This was a best friend type of conversation.
Xander picked up the phone and dialed the house number. He let it ring until
the machine picked up.

Okay, that was weird. Where could everyone be?

xxx

Anya was barely listening to Hallie's chatter. All she wanted was to go
home, and take a shower, but Hallie had insisted on celebrating her renewed
"sanity" as she called it.

"Uch! It's about time you dumped that idiotic human. I really don't know
what you saw in him, Anyanka. You could do so much better, you know. Do you
remember that Licinda demon that we met at the last mixer? Well, he was
asking about you, and I think that it's a good idea for you to go out with
him. Won't that be nice?"

Anya didn't answer.

"Anyanka! Anyanka! Are you even listening to me?"

"Hmm, were you talking?"

"Yes, I was talking. You need to start paying attention. Honestly, all that
time spent with humans has softened you. I hope this doesn't affect your
work, or you'll be in big trouble."

Anya slurped the last of her chilled coffee, and followed Hallie out the
door.




Chapter 4
*"A U" is by Cocksparrer*

Buffy spent most of the day trying to find weak spots in the plastic, but everytime she touched it, she received a little zap. Finally, she decided to take a shower and rest a bit before trying again.

Luckily the shower and toilet were located behind a small opaque screen that allowed her minimum privacy. It covered her from below her neck to just below her knees- not enough to hide behind. The shower had been pre-stocked with a bottle of flowery smelling shampoo/conditioner combo and a bar of soap. She turned the water as hot as she could stand and stood under the spray, wincing a bit as it hit the sore spot on her head.

Quickly, Buffy shampooed her hair, and stepped out of the shower. She wished that she had some fresh clothes to put on. No sooner was the thought through her head, than did a fresh pair of clothes appeared on the bed.

"Hmm," she thought, " I wonder if that works with food."

Once again, a tray appeared as soon as the thought went through her head. It was loaded down with grilled cheese sandwiches, two salads, and three bottles of water.

Buffy quickly tried thinking of different weapons that she wished she had, but THAT thought met with another little zap. She sighed, dressed herself, and began to pick at the salad on the tray. There had to be a way out of here.

"And here we have the latest addition to our attractions, Miss Buffy Summers-Slayer extraordinaire."

Buffy looked at to see what appeared to be a tour guide leading a small group of people in front of her cage.

"Excuse me?" A small, prunish woman tapped on the glass. "Are you really Buffy Summers?"

Buffy stared at her, fork of lettuce halfway to her mouth.

The woman turned to the tour guide.

"Can she hear me or is she an idiot? For the kind of money I paid to get in here, I expect her to answer me."

"Of course, ma'am." The tour guide turned to the glass, and Buffy felt a different kind of zap hit her. This one really hurt.

She gritted her teeth.

"I am Buffy Summers."

"Hmm, I expected you to be a lot bigger. You killed my brother-in-law, you know. I find that quite unacceptable. Good to see you finally in a cage where you belong."

The group turned and walked away, leaving Buffy to glare daggers at the backs of their heads. She really needed to find a way out of here.

xxx

Angel was running through the streets of L.A as fast as he could without losing Buffy's scent. He was pretty sure that she hadn't been paying attention to where she had been going because the more he ran, the seedier the neighborhoods got.

Suddenly, Angel froze. The scent had changed. He sniffed again. Blood. Buffy's blood. Slowing down, Angel tried to figure out where the scent was strongest, and he soon found a small dribble of blood on the street. He knelt down and touched it, bringing it to his nose. It was definitely Buffy's.

He stood up, and began to follow the blood scent through a back alley. It was now mixed with another scent, one that he couldn't identify. This didn't look good. Where ever Buffy was, she was injured.

Without warning, the scent disappeared. Angel backtracked a bit to see if the scent had gone off in a different direction, but it hadn't. Next he searched the street, trying to see if she had been taken underground. Nothing. Buffy's scent had completely vanished.

xxx

The occupants of the DeSoto were completely silent. Dawn fiddled aimlessly with the radio before Spike popped in a tape, giving Dawn a dirty look to the techno station she had tried to leave on. He started to sing along as Colin McFaull's voice filled the car. This song always made him thing of Angel, and that made him laugh. Laughter was good, it was better then what he felt at this moment.

A U You look like a poof
How loud do I shout it ?
Tell me what you're gonna do about it ?
A U You and me outside
You're a bloke who's heading for one
A real fist magnet if ever I saw one
A U You and me outside
Someone's gonna get a slap tonight
Someone's gonna get whacked tonight
Someone's gonna get a smack tonight
From me
And it's gonna be you

"Uh, Spike? What is this crap?" Dawn asked.

" Oi, this is good stuff. None of that trendy poppy punk you kids listen to. This is the real thing. Working boys from England."

It was Dawn's turn to throw him a dirty look, and Spike sulkily flipped the radio off.

They rode in silence again until the Hyperion loomed into view. With a sigh, Spike pulled the car up in front of the hotel and stared at it as the girls piled out of the car, and walked up the steps. He sighed again and exited the car. He might as well get this over with.

xxx

Cordelia watched as the black DeSoto parked in front of the hotel, and the occupants got out. The sight of the bleached vampire though, sent her into a frenzy.

"SOMEBODY GET DOWN HERE! NOOWWW!" She screamed up the stairs as she quickly hid Connor in a cradle behind the counter.

As fast as possible, Cordelia ran to the weapons cabinet and grabbed a crossbow. She loaded it the best she could, and poised herself toward the door just as Gunn, Lorne, and Fred came running down the stairs.

"What's with the armory, pumpkin?" Lorne asked.

"Evil vampire headed our way," Cordelia answered.

"Not on my watch," Gunn said, grabbing a sword from the open cabinet.

Tara had the unfortunate luck of being the first person through the door.

"Don't move," Cordelia said, her voice pure ice.

Tara stopped moving, which caused both Willow and Dawn to walk right into her.

"Ow! Tara, what," Willow's eyes grew large as she took in the sight of an armed Cordelia. "Cordelia, what are you doing?"

"When were you turned?" she asked.

"What? We weren't turned. What are you talking about?" Willow asked.

"I think she means, why are you traveling with me? That is the problem, isn't it cheerleader?" Spike had finally made it to the front door.

"That is exactly my question, you bad bleached surfer boy."

"Oh, oh, Spike. Spike's not dangerous anymore. He has this chip in his head, and he can't hurt people. Everytime he tries, it's all ZAP! and OW! and pain," Willow rambled.

Spike cringed.

"Thanks Red."

"So, let me get this straight. He's got a soul?" Gunn asked.

"I DO not have a stinking soul, thank you very much," Spike retorted.

"Oh, then give me a reason why I shouldn't stake your undead ass," Gun replied.

"You can't stake Spike!" Dawn cried out. "You-you just can't."

"Fine, but I'm keeping this crossbow on him until Angel gets back. Fred, grab a cross and make the rest of them touch it before we let them in," Cordelia barked out the orders.

Fred grabbed a cross and smiled shyly at each of the girls as she handed it to them. Spike rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long night.

Chapter 5
* "Every fallen in love with someone (you shouldn't've fallen in love with)" is by the Buzzcocks.*

It was the fifth tour group of the day. At least she thought it was the same day, but Buffy couldn't be sure. There were no clocks around for her to tell. Either way, this group was different because it consisted of two people. A young man helping the oldest, wrinkliest person she had ever seen in her life. Buffy couldn't even tell if it was a man or a woman because the skin was almost completely burned off, and the body was so hunched over that the face was in the knees.

"Are...you...sure...this...will...help?" the hunched over thing asked.

"Yes, this will heal you," the young man answered.

"It...had...better...for...the...price...we...are...paying."

"You understand, of course, that we will be placing an automatic stop on her blood flow once the prepaid amount has been reached. This will also ensure the safety of our attraction," the tour guide said smoothly.

"What...about...my...safety...from...the...Slayer?"

"Oh, she will be placed under a spell that will render her unconscious. She won't be a problem at all."

Buffy's eyes grew wider as she figured out what was going on. That THING was an injured vampire, and it was paying to drink her blood...and they were going to let it. She watched in horror as the tour guide muttered a few words at her, and her entire body went limp. Buffy fell back against the bed, and watched as the plastic disappeared, and the young man escorted the old vampire toward her. She tried to will herself to move, but it was as if she was suddenly paralyzed. None of her limbs would respond.

As the wrinkled face bent down toward her, Buffy squeezed her eyes shut and stifled a scream as fangs ripped into her neck, and blackness over took her.

xxx

Why Anya was knocking on Xander's door at this time of night was beyond her. She just knew that she couldn't sleep, and it was his fault.

"ALEXANDER HARRIS, OPEN THIS DOOR!"

Anya pounded on the door with her palm. Other doors along the hallway began to open.

"Mind your own business, and go back to bed," she snapped at the curious neighbors before turning back to her pounding.

The door finally opened, and Anya's last pound smacked Xander in the forehead.

"OW! AHN!"

"Oh, well you know you deserve that so...good," she said with a nod of her head as she pushed her way into the apartment.

Xander sighed as he closed the door and turned around to face her. Anya stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed, looking at the floor.

"I can't sleep, and it's your fault," she said.

"Oookay."

"Why didn't you want to marry me?" Anya's arms dropped to her side. "Was it me? Was it something I did? Was I not good enough?"

Xander crossed the room and tried to take her in his arms, but she took a step back putting one hand up between them.

"No, Ahn, it wasn't you. You were-are perfect. It was all me. I-I love everything about you. I love the way you just bluntly speak your mind, and the way you do the money dance at the Magic Shop, and the-the way you never talk down about me...If anyone's not good enough, then it's me. I'm not good enough for you."

"But if you're not good enough, then I should have left you. I spent a thousand years putting vengeance on scorned women, and I thought that I had actually found a good man...I guess I was wrong. You-you're closed minded and-and spiteful and...and I can't sleep because you're not in bed with me and I miss you and I hate you for that. I hate you for making me fall in love with you."

They stood there, facing off in the living room, tears running down both their faces, but there was nothing left to say.

xxx

By the time that Angel made it back to the hotel, he was beyond worried. There was no way that Buffy's scent should have disappeared like that, and with the scent of her blood and the scent of that other being...none of it seemed good to him.

He was in such a daze that he walked right past Spike and Cordelia, and straight toward the fridge behind the desk.

"Uh, Angel, you do see me standing here with a cross bow pointed at Spike, right?" Cordelia asked.

"Mmm-hmm," Angel acknowledged as he sipped on a pint of blood. Absentmindedly, he picked up Connor and began to rock him gently, still running thoughts through his head.

"Oi! Peaches, stop being a poofter and tell the cheerleader to put down the bloody wooden object...and why does that baby smell like you and Darla?"

Angel's head snapped up, and he bundled Connor closer to his chest.

"Spike! What are you doing here?"

"Hello, that's what we want to know," Cordelia snapped. Her arm was getting tired.

"He came with us," Dawn said.

"And why is Spike with you?" Angel asked.

"Um, cause-cause he's good now, and cause-cause he's helping us look for Buffy," Dawn muttered.

"H-h-he c-c-cant h-hurt anybody, if t-that's what your w-worried about," Tara stuttered. For some reason, she was feeling particularly nervous, and she wasn't sure why.

"Yeah, the government put a chip in his head so he can't bite anyone," Willow added.

"Yep, he has an electronic device inside his cortex," Fred said putting away the device she was holding. "I can detect the electric waves being sent through his brain. It's all right Cordelia, they're right. He can't hurt us without being assaulted by a few hundred volts of electricity."

"Man, that ain't right," Gunn muttered.

"I agree with tall, dark, and bald here. That's a major ouch on the eating factor," Lorne added. "You have my sympathies, apple buns."

Spike rolled his eyes, and gave Cordelia a pointed stare as he waited for her to put down the crossbow.

"I'm still watching you," she warned.

"I'm so afraid," he retorted. "Now, again, why does that baby smell like you and Darla?"

"Because," Angel said and left it at that. "We have more important things to worry about. I tracked Buffy for about ten miles before her scent changed and became mixed with the scent of her blood. I was able to track her, and another being for two more miles before it completely disappeared. Where ever she is, she's injured and she's not alone."

"Well, Tara can do a locator spell. We should be able to get her approximate location that way, and then you can track her from there, right? I'd do it, but I am a non-using magic girl Willow. No magic for me." Willow looked between Spike and Angel.

"Do it," Angel and Spike spoke at the same time.

xxx

Buffy rolled over, and laid her head on the bare chest next to her. She gave a content sigh, and snuggled her face into his neck. He gave a deep, rumbly laugh.

"Comfortable there, Slayer?"

She opened her eyes to find Spike looking down at her, amused.

"Yes, very," she answered, tilting her head up for a kiss.

He complied, and then let her nuzzle her face back in his neck.

"What are you going to do today?" Spike asked, running his hand up and down her back.

"I thought I'd stay here with you. I like it here. I'm safe here." Buffy rubbed her cheek against his shoulder.

Spike sighed.

"You know you can't."

"I know," she said softly, closing her eyes as he kissed the top of her head.

"I love you, you do know that, right?"

"Yes." Buffy sniffled a bit.

"Hey, hey now. No tears, Slayer." Spike cupped her chin, and forced her to meet his eyes.

"I don't want to go, Spike. Please don't make me go."

"I'm not in charge of these things, Slayer."

He kissed her again, and then lowered her head back to his chest.

"Spike?"

"Yeah?"

"Will-will you sing to me...until I fall asleep?"

"Sure."

Spike absentmindedly stroked her hair as Buffy closed her eyes and concentrated on his voice.

"You spurn my natural emotions
You make me feel like dirt
And I'm hurt
And if I start a commotion
I run the risk of losing you
And that's worse

Ever fallen in love with someone
Ever fallen in love
In love with someone
Ever fallen in love
In love with someone
You shouldn't've fallen in love with"

"...how many this week?"

The voices were pulling her back, and Buffy struggled to say with Spike.

"About five this week. Last week, she took eight, but this week, she isn't doing so well. I think she's stopped eating."

"Well, this is no good. We can't be losing our biggest moneymaker. Find a way to get some sugar into her or something. The boss'll have our dicks if something happens to her."

"Can't he just magic some sugar into her bloodstream?"

"Stop being a wuss and just force the damn orange juice down her throat."

Buffy felt a hand slide under her neck, and then a bittery, tangy taste hit her mouth. She sputtered a moment, but tried to swallow it down.

"Come on, Slayer. Be a big girl and drink the damn juice without getting it all over the place."

Buffy opened her eyes and tried to get them to focus, but the images were blurry.

"Aight, she's up. Let's leave some food for her and get the fuck out of here. She creeps me out."

Buffy tried to sit up, but she was too weak. Tears began to leak from the corners of her eyes. She couldn't remember how long it had been since she'd been fully functional and awake. She just remembered all the bites. They came with their money and their fangs, and they ripped into her again and again, and she couldn't stop it. The only time she was safe was when Spike came to her in her dreams. The idea made her snort. Once again, Spike was there for her, comforting her in her pain, making her feel better.

Sometimes, she dreamed that the thing between Spike and Anya never happened. She dreamed that she had accepted his love, and they were happy together. Other times, she dreamed that she had dusted him when she dropped the piano on him, thereby negating everything that had happened afterward. And still other times, she dreamed of their dance. Around and around they would go, and neither of them would ever win. Yeah, she dreamed of Spike a lot. Mostly, she dreamed of him rescuing her. That somehow he would find a way through the wards, and he would come flying in, fangs barred, and rip the throats out of all the employees in the damn zoo.

"Hey, girl. You ever gonna getch your ass up or what?"

The voice in the room startled her, and Buffy forced her eyes open again. Standing next to her bed was a tall African American girl sporting an afro and vaguely familiar leather duster, arms crossed and frowning at her.

"Yo! You alive in there or what, cause you looking all kinds of freaky."

Buffy swallowed hard, trying to find her voice.

"W-w-w-hoo...you?"

"I think you mean 'who are you,' am I right? Name's Nikki Wood, vampire slayer extraordinaire."

"F-Fa-f"

"Damn girl, save it. Faith's cool. She's sitting in jail right now, but other then that, she's cool."

"F-F-First."

"Okay, blondie. You need to get yoself some liquid in that throat 'cause the stuttering and the one word sentences aren't jiving here, and I ain't the First. So get yoself moving, 'cause we got a whole lot of shit to discuss."


Chapter 6

Spike kicked aside the map with a snarl, causing Tara to jump slightly.

"Two and a half weeks, and we can't find her. She can't have bloody disappeared. You're doing the spell wrong."

"Stop blaming Tara. She's done the spell fourteen different times with fourteen different types of maps. Something must be blocking her, or..." Willow trailed off from the defense of her girlfriend as the thought of another reason why they might not be able to find Buffy.

"Don't think like that! Don't ever think like that!" Dawn cried out. "She's not dead. She can't be dead again. Spike's right, you need to do the spell again."

"I will Dawnie, I will. But I'm too tired tonight. I-I need to rest a bit. W-we can try again later," Tara said, rubbing her face with her hands. She was completely drained, and as loathed as she was to admit it, she needed Willow's help if she was to try again. She just wasn't a strong enough witch for this intense use of magic.

Willow helped Tara to her feet, and the two walked into the Hyperion lobby where they were immediately rushed.

"Did it work? Did you find her?" Angel asked anxiously.

Tara shook her head.

"I'm sorry. I tried."

"I think it's time we called Giles, don't you?" Wesley asked, looking up from the books that he and Fred were pouring over.

Willow sighed.

"I suppose you're right. I'll call him later, after I call Xander."

Angel waited until the two witches were out of sight. Keeping one eye on the door where Spike and Dawn had yet to emerge, he moved swiftly over to where his group was sitting.

"I don't like this," Angel muttered. He turned to Gunn. "How are we coming with the word on the street?"

"Man, I went up and down my side of town. Didn't get nothing," Gunn admitted.

"Lorne hasn't checked in yet. He said he'd stop by later," Cordelia added.

"Wes, Fred anything?"

"Well, it would kinda help if we knew what we were looking for. I mean, you have us looking for something with a distinct smell, and in the demon world, that's a lot of things," Fred replied looking at Wesley for support.

"But what about the fact that it disappeared? Wouldn't the demon have to have some sort of disappearing smell power?" Angel protested, and quickly ignored the looks of perplexity that were thrown his way by giving his resolve face.

"Right," Wesley muttered, looking back into the book in front of him. "A disappearing smell demon."

xxx

Spike banged his fists against the wall in frustration. He leaned his head against his hands and fought the urge to race after Tara and force her to try again. Deep down, he really liked Tara, and he knew that she was doing her best, but the other part of him said that he should tie her up with chains and threaten to rip Red's head off unless she found Buffy.

Dawn came up behind him, and leaned against his back. Her tears dampened his shirt, and after a moment, Spike turned around to pull her into his arms.

"Not again, Spike. I can't lose her again. I just got her back."

" 'M sorry, Bit. 'T's all my fault."

Dawn surprised him by shaking her head against his chest.

"Not all your fault. A lot, yeah, but not all. Some is her fault, and some is Xander's, and some is Anya's. A giant chain reaction."

Spike looked down at her in surprise.

"Nib, when did you get so smart?"

She laughed a bit.

"Well, I have been around for, like, a million years. Must've picked up a few things here and there."

"Yeah," Spike said, smiling softy. "Must've."

xxx

It was nighttime, and Xander sat in his living room waiting for the two constants that had been present in his life for the past two and a half weeks. The first was his nightly update from Willow. She called him at precisely eight o'clock to tell him how the newest locator spell had progressed...or not progressed as had been the case. He really wanted to tell her that she should do the spell, and not Tara, but he knew that Willow would refuse. She was really trying to stick to her guns, and he was proud of her...but at the same time...Buffy was still missing.

That brought him to constant number two, Anya. Every night, just before midnight, she would come banging on his door. She would scream at him, he would scream at her, she would cry, he would cry, and they'd fall asleep together. They hadn't had sex yet, but just having Anya around him made him happy for now.

It was strange. In some ways, he and Anya were closer then they had ever been before. During the screaming matches they had discussed everything from his parents and his demon racism to her vengeance and whether or not demons had souls and could love.

Interestingly enough, Xander learned that most demons DID have a soul, just not a soul in the sense that humans considered a soul. Each different type of demon had a unique soul to match its own breed. Well...except vampires. They really were soulless, but Xander had done a little research, into the books that Giles had "hidden" away, and discovered that there were a few recorded cases in which a vampire retained a bit of its humanity. Not enough to have a soul, but enough to understand right and wrong, and to make a choice. Most of these vampires had very short life spans, being seen as abnormalities, and were killed by either the sire or the Council. The books alluded to the idea that some of these vampires had probably adapted, and it was noted that some of the most bloodthirsty vampires were probably trying to overcompensate for the humanity left in them.

And somehow, in the two weeks when no one was around to notice, Xander became something that he never knew he could. He was becoming knowledgeable. Actually, he was quickly becoming the foremost authority on the history of vampires. He just didn't know it yet.

xxx

"'Lo, luv."

"Hello, Spike."

Buffy smiled as she watched him lean against the doorway. He was wearing only his black jeans, zipped up but with the top button undone. His hair was a mess of curls, and he smirked at her as he sauntered over to wear she was sitting.

"We have got to stop meeting like this, Slayer."

He kept his voice low as he crawled his way up the bed and slowly pressed his lips into hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned backwards, pulling him down with her. Spike broke the kiss first and gently rubbed his nose against hers.

"Spike?"

"Yeah, luv?"

"You-you're not going to save me, are you?" Buffy closed her eyes as the waver in her voice betrayed her feelings.

Spike pulled away from her and sat back on his haunches.

"Buffy."

She opened her eyes, and turned her head away from him.

"Look at me." He reached out and grabbed her chin, forcing her head to turn back toward him.

"I will never stop looking for you. NEVER."

"Looking and saving are two different things."

Spike cocked his head at her.

"That they are, luv. That they are."

"So, Spike, are you going to save me?"

He looked down sadly at her.

"No, I'm not..."

"Are you ever going to get yor arse out of dat bed, girl?"

The voice brought Buffy out of sleep with a shock.

"Well, don't just sit there looking all wild eyed. Ask me why A've come 'round." Kendra crossed her arms over her chest, and glared at Buffy.

Buffy remained silent, staring at the girl she'd failed to save.

Kendra threw her arms in the air.

"Da first Slayer that a've appeared in front 'f in da longest time, and she's starin at me like a've got a t'ird head."

"You are the First, aren't you? You've come to try and get me to kill myself, like you did to Angel." Buffy gave a bitter laugh. "I hate to break it to you, but I'm already as good as dead, and if I had a means, I'd be long dead already."

Buffy watched in amazement as Kendra's ponytail slowly shifted into a loose, dark mane, and the girl stretched a few inches in height and added some curves.

"Damn B! Why you gotta be so negative? Can't you just listen for two damn minutes?" Faith asked her.

Buffy scooted as far back into the wall as she could, and wrapped her arms around her knees.

"Look, I'm not the First, 'kay? And I'm not here to hurt you or make you hurt yourself, so you can just get that thought right out of your head."

"What are you?"

"I'm...complicated. In a way I'm Faith, and I'm Kendra, and I'm Nikki...and I'm you. I'm that little thing inside you that screams 'Slayer' into your brain. I'm your strength, I'm your senses, I'm your skill...I'm your demon."

"You are the essence of the Slayer."

Faith touched her finger to her nose.

"Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner. You get a cookie."

"Why are you here?"

Faith shifted back into Nikki.

"I'm here because you need a wake up call, and the Powers That Be are going to use you as a little experiment."

Buffy narrowed her eyes.

"I am done being a play toy for the damn Powers That Fuck Me Over. Just let me die."

Buffy lay back down on the bed, her back toward the girl, and closed her eyes.

"So, what you gonna do, little girl? Shut me out? Go back to your little dreams of your vampire lover?"

Buffy sat up and glared at her.

"What do you know about my dreams?"

"You forget," Nikki slowly began walking toward Buffy, her image shrinking as she did so. "I know your thoughts, your hopes, your dreams..."

Buffy found herself staring at her own image. The other Buffy leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"I know what you hide from your friends, your family, and even yourself. I am buried in your soul. I am the voice that screams in your head, the blood that makes your heart pump, the tendons that move your muscles, the moans that rip from your vocals chords when your lover is buried inside you."

The other Buffy straightened up, and morphed back into her Nikki costume.

"You got a lot to learn girl, and I am going to play teacher."

xxx

Drusilla set her suitcase down on the bed of her newly vacated house.

"Look Miss Edith," she breathed. "That nice lady left us such thick curtains to keep the nasty sun out. Our little sunshine will be the only light we let in."

Drusilla spun the doll around in a circle, laughing as she did so.

"Oh, I know. The apple is not yet ripe. We must visit Daddy and Spikey first, pave the way for the sunshine to come. But, no letting out the invitations just yet. Daddy and Spike aren't invited to the birth."

She sat back and smiled at the doll as she stroked its hair.

"Soon," Drusilla sang. "Soon, soon, soon, soon, soon."

Chapter 7
*“Metal Heart” is by Garbage

The bass from the music pounded through out the club in time with the light show. Spike watched the people on the dance floor below him writhe and grind with the beat.

I wish I had a metal heart
I could cross the line
I wish that I was half as good
As you think I am

His eyes searched the crowd. He was looking for…someone, but he couldn’t remember who. He placed a hand over his chest. The bass was reverberating through it, and it felt like his heart was beating.

Thin, pale arms snaked around his waist and pulled him back against a body. Spike closed his eyes as he felt cool breath against his ear, whispering along with the music.

Now that we know for sure
They’re telling lies when they say
No one gets hurt and therefore nobody dies

“They lie, my prince,” Drusilla whispered in his ear. “They said no one would be hurt, but everyone was hurt, and everyone dies. You died, I died, she died.”

Spike let his body sway along with Drusilla’s to the music. She ran one hand up and down his arm, wrapping it around his wrist and lifting it so that their hands pointed onto the dance floor. Spike watched in awe as the crowd broke away to form a circle around one girl.

The girl was gorgeous, sex in motion as she moved her body with the music. Her blond hair swinging around her face, her hands drifting over her body as she gyrated in her own world. Suddenly, she turned and looked up, meeting Spike’s eyes. He gasped. It was Buffy standing below him, dancing for his pleasure. Her eyes never leaving his, hips still moving with the beat, she began to mouth the words to him

I want to be dependable
I want to be courageous and good
I want to be faithful so that I can be heroic and true
I want to understand so I can forgive
And be willing to love

Behind him, Drusilla began to move their bodies in time with Buffy’s. He felt Drusilla’s face shift behind him, and looking down he watched in shock as Buffy’s features began to change as well. Twin fangs elongated from her teeth, eyes shifted into an unnatural glowing green, and nails grew into graceful, curving claws that lightly raked down her body.

Now that we know for sure
They’re telling lies when they say
No one gets hurt and therefore nobody dies

The beat pulsed harder, and Spike found himself standing on the dance floor opposite Buffy. He looked up and saw Drusilla standing on the catwalk by herself, still swaying in time with the music. Buffy was looking at him, almost waiting for him.

“Are you going to dance with me?” she asked.

“Of course,” he answered. “It’s all we ever do.”

Spike sat up in bed, gasping for unneeded breath hard and fast. He ran one hand through his sweat-slicked hair. This was the third time he had the dream where Drusilla showed him the demon Buffy. He wasn’t sure what it meant or if it meant anything at all. The odd part was that when the demon Buffy came toward him, she didn’t feel any different. He didn’t sense anything evil or whatnot about her. Maybe it was just the dream. Maybe he just missed her. Yeah that was it, he just missed her and felt guilty about her leaving.

xxx

Buffy watched the latest tour group walk out of her line of vision. She sighed and sat down on the bed, her back against the wall. This group had some little demon child that had insisted on taunting her, pressing silly faces against the plastic. On the bright side, no one had tried to steal her blood in two days so, yay for the small things.

The essence thingy hadn’t been around either, and that didn’t bother her because she wasn’t sure what the damn Powers That Meddle were up to, but it was never anything good. Especially if they wanted to play lab rat with her. Buffy had enough of being a damn rat in a cage.

“Good, they’re gone.”

Buffy looked up with a sigh to see Nikki standing in front of her.

“Oh, darn. I though you had gone away.”

“And I thought I told you that isn’t possible.”

Buffy smirked.

“Can’t fault a girl for hoping.”

“You ready for your first lesson?”

“Oh, boy, am I!” Buffy clapped her hands together with fake glee.

Nikki threw back her head and laughed.

“Man, I gotta tell you. I ain’t never had so much fun until this generation of Slayers. The girls in the past where all prissy and boring, listening to that damn Watcher’s Council and shit. The girls in this century got spunk.”

“Well, glad to amuse,” Buffy muttered.

“So, lesson the first girl. The beginning of Slayers-”

“I already know about the Primitive or whatnot, so we can skip it.”

“Oh, you think you know? You think you so smart? You don’t know nothing, so sit down and listen, it’s story time.

“When humanity was first getting on its feet and all, demons were still walking the earth killing off the humans and such. A group of elder warlocks got together and decided to create a warrior for the side of good to protect humanity and fight demons. They thought that if they combined the essences of a human and a demon that they could create a hybrid.

“Being men, their first choice was obviously a man as well. They took the body of a recently deceased guy, and drained out all his blood. To be honest, I have no clue why they would do that. I think they thought that if he was already dead, that he wouldn’t die as easily as a normal human, but who knows. Anyway, they drain the dude, hold their little ceremony, insert essence of demon, and voila, they made the first vampire. So, go them.

“The thing is, they didn’t realize what they had created at first because in the beginning the vampire did go out and fight the demons, but the down side was that he needed large amounts of blood to keep going. The warlocks got the villagers to make sacrifices to the vampire in repayment to keeping their village safe. But after a while, the vampire got not only bored but lonely and demanded that the warlocks create another ‘warrior of good’ to help him and be his life mate.

“So, the elders hold this big town meeting and the villagers agree that he should have a mate. They get all the virgin girls in the town square, and let him pick one out. But before the warlocks can work their little magic, the vampire drains her and forces her to drink his blood. Needless to say, the warlocks were shocked that this created a new vampire, but thinking they now had two warriors of good on their side, didn’t really care. It wasn’t until the two massacred the town that the warlocks thought anything was wrong, but by then it was too late. They had turned the entire town, except the warlocks, and the line of Aurelius was born. The other lines wouldn’t be created until much later, after the vampire wars right around 1 BC. They aren’t really recorded because the Watcher’s Council, with all of their bookkeeping, wasn’t started until the time of Christ

“ Anyway, in punishment for their betrayal, the warlocks placed a curse on them. They could no longer call themselves warriors of light, and the sun was made their enemy. Since their hearts were blackened, the warlocks made their heart the weakness, and wood could destroy them. And since, they hadn’t had the brains to stay with the side of good, separating their head from the body was the last way to kill them. The spell was set using the sign of two sticks of wood in the shape of the cross, which meant something different then but is the reason why vampires are so afraid of them now.

“Here ends lesson number one. Why don’t you think on that a bit?” Nikki glanced out the window at the approaching group. “Gotta feeling you about to be put out for awhile.”

And she vanished, leaving Buffy to face the newest group of Fountain of Buffy purveyors alone.

“God, where are all these vamps getting the money for this?” was the last thought in Buffy’s head as she sunk into the familiar blackness.

xxx

Angel felt her approach before she made herself know. He was sitting in the garden mulling over the few tidbits of information they had managed to gather.

“Hello Daddy,” Drusilla whispered, half hidden in the shadows.

“What do you want Drusilla?” he asked wearily.

“It’s not what I want. It’s what you want. It’s what Spike wants.”

“I’m not in the mood to play games, Dru.”

“You’ve lost your sunshine. She’s been eclipsed by the darkness. All lost. All alone.”

Angel whirled around, and had Drusilla pinned against a tree in seconds.

“What do you know about Buffy?” he asked through clenched teeth.

Drusilla laughed.

“She dreams of her knight coming to save her, but he won’t come. She’s been visited by the spirits. The spirits sing pretty tunes in her head. They are readying her for what is to come.”

“And what is coming?”

Drusilla laughed again.

“The future is coming. You must be ready for it.”

Spike walked into the garden at the moment, interrupting them.

“Hey-Dru?!”

Drusilla used the distraction to slip out of Angel’s grip.

“The sunshine and I will be back soon. It will be like a surprise party.”

She smiled brightly at them, and disappeared into the shadows.

“What was that about?” Spike asked.

“I’m not sure, but it can’t be good,” Angel answered.

xxx

Lorne was sitting in the lobby when the two vampires came in.

“Lorne,” Angel greeted him. “What have you got?”

“Not much Angelcakes, but it’s not good. My sources say that Brownstone is in town.”

“Who’s Brownstone?” Wesley asked.

“Brownstone is this warlock who has an over inflated ego about his power, although he is pretty strong. He runs a zoo for the elite demon class, a sort of traveling exotic demon circus, if you will.”

“And you think this…Brownstone has Buffy as part of his zoo?” Angel asked.

Spike growled.

“How do we kill him, and get her out?”

Lorne sighed.

“We don’t. You have to be invited to his zoo, AND even then it costs more money then any of us have even if we put together every cent we own.”

Spike ground his teeth together.

“Not what I asked, mate. Didn’t asked how much it cost to get in, asked how we get her out?”

“I know what you meant blondie, but he’s got wards up to keep unwanted visitors away, and by unwanted visitors, I mean us. I have no idea how we can find where he’s keeping her.”

“We have Willow,” Dawn threw a glance at the red witch. “She’s pretty powerful. Couldn’t she fight a way through the wards.”

Willow’s eyes widened in fear.

“Oh, Dawnie. I couldn’t. I’m not even all that strong, and he’s a big warlock, and what if I can’t control it and I go all bad again, or-or I hurt someone again…”
Tara wrapped her arm around Willow’s shoulders.

“What if I help?” she asked softly.

Willow looked at her.

“Do you think it will work?” she asked worriedly.

“It can’t hurt to try,” Tara answered back.

“O-okay, I’ll do it.” Willow put her resolve face on, hoping that it wouldn’t betray how nervous she really was.

xxx

Xander was staring at the book in front of him. It didn’t make any sense. He heard the pounding on the door and moved away from the book, marking his spot.

“Xander,” Anya said briskly as she walked past him and into the living room.

“Anya,” he answered back, and closed the door behind her.

“What are you doing?” she asked, staring at the open books on the table.

Xander inwardly cursed. He’d been hiding the books from Anya’s sight. He didn’t want her to know.

“Are you studying demons?”

“Uh, well, um, yeah.”

Anya surprised him by throwing her arms around his neck.

“I’m so proud of you,” she squealed. “But why are you using the Council’s biased view?”

“Uh, cause it’s all I had?” Xander replied in shock.

“Oh, sweetie! If you want I can get you real books, and you can read them.” Anya was practically jumping up and down.

“You-you would do that?”

“Uh-huh. I’ll do it right now.”

She grabbed Xander’s face in her hands, and pressed a hard kiss on his lips.

“Be right back.”

And she disappeared in front of him.



Chapter 8

“Wake up, a petite.”

The soft voice filtered through Buffy’s head.

“Ssshh, open your eyes. Michelle with take care of you.”

The girl pronounced her name Mechelle, and her voice was low and soothing in Buffy’s ear. She struggled to open her eyes.

“Zat’s it. Nice and slow. Open for me, ma cherie.”

Buffy finally succeeded in forcing her eyes open, and took in the girl crouching in front of her. She was slightly smaller then Buffy, and very thin. She had long, dirty blond hair swept back in a bun, and was wearing a light blue dress that reached her ankles and matched her eyes.

“Oh, zere you are. All awake now, oui?”

“Not…Nikki…today?”

“Non. I thought you might not be feeling so good, so I pick someone with a softer personality for you. I can change if you don’t like it.”

“It’s…all…good…drained…again…”

“Oui, three vampyres while you were unconscious. You must have some food, get back your strength.”

Buffy nodded weakly, and tried to sit up. There was a plate of steak and potatoes on the floor. Not something she would normally eat, but…Michelle waited until she was almost finished with the food before speaking again.

“Are you ready for more of the story?”

“Sure, not like I have a choice anyway.”

“Zis is your history. How can you not want to know?”

“I know my history, chosen, fight, die. See? All history knowledge girl.”

Michelle sighed.

“Mon dieu, ze girls of dis generation. Please pay attention now.”

Michelle waited while Buffy made herself comfortable on the bed, then began speaking again.

“After ze turning of ze village, the warlocks realized that they would need a new warrior of good, one that they could control better. Dis time they decided that they would use a live girl in their attempt, which had them forgo the draining of her blood. And when she arose, she was magnificent. The essence of ze demon had increased her strength, her senses, and her grace. She believed in her calling, her duty to protect all humans from demons. In a sense, she was perfect for their cause.

“But one night, she came across ze first vampyre. It was a fight to end all fights. their battle went on for hours, both equally skilled they were. But in ze end, thee vampyre won, and the warlocks found themselves with no warrior of good once again.

“Zey realized that they must find a way to have ze essence of ze demon pass from warrior to warrior without need a ritual. After much research, ze warlocks found a way for ze essence to pass from one girl to another at ze moment that death overtook them. Ze only problem was that they could not control where ze essence chose to go.

“Regardless of that issue, ze warlocks chose their final girl. She was ze daughter of ze fiercest warrior chief in ze area, but they did not get her permission first. When they added the essence of demon, she surprised them by taking more then they wanted to give. She broke through their chains, and destroyed their ceremonial area so that no others could ever be made. It didn’t matter though, for she was ze final attempt. She was ze Primitive dat you have come in contact with. She fought for good, and when she died another was chosen. As it has been ever since. And vampyres and Slayers have always fought and hated and loved because the same essence of demon lies in them both.”

Michelle leaned back, and eyed Buffy, waiting for a response.

“So…you’re saying that Slayers and vampires are, like, family?”

“In a way, we are created from ze same demon essence. Our demons have evolved so much in ze past several thousand years though, and we are more like distant cousins now.”

“Why are you telling me all this? Has any other Slayer ever heard this before?”

Michelle shook her head.

“No Slayer has ever head zis story before. And you are hearing it because the Powers That Be have decided that you are going to be ze Slayer to take ze next step.”

“What do you mean, next step?”

Michelle smiled at her.

“It is time for ze Slayer line to take the next step in evolution, and you, have been Chosen.”
xxx

Xander slid the book he was looking at over to Anya.

“I don’t understand this. How is it that the Council has kept this hidden all these years?”

Anya glanced over from the magazine she was reading.

“Because the Council wants to be able to control the Slayer. It wouldn’t do to have a Slayer openly defying the Council. It’s much easier to train them to accept all demons as bad, then have to teach each Slayer the different types of demons. I mean, with their life spans, it just wouldn’t make financial sense to waste time and money on something like that.”

“But-but, this book clearly states that Slayers and vampires were created from the same demon! Call me stupid, but that’s something that you would think a Slayer would want to know.”

“Yes, but then they might feel guilty about killing something that is essential related to them.”

Xander stood up, and walked over to the phone.

“This is something that the others should know.”

xxx

Drusilla stood outside the entrance to the infamous zoo. She couldn’t go in, not yet, but soon. She amused herself by dancing around the lot. Since she didn’t know the exact time she would be able to make her move, Drusilla had resigned herself to waiting in the spot that would be the easiest for her to access the Slayer.

“Sunrise, Sunset, Sunrise, Sunset, Sunrise, Sunset,” Drusilla sang to herself as she twirled.

xxx

“Are these all the supplies that you will need?” Wesley asked nervously.

“Um,” Tara mentally clicked off the list in her head. “Looks like.”

“I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. I can do this. I control my magic. It doesn’t control me. I can do this.” Willow repeated her mantra softly to herself.

“You okay there, Red?” Spike asked.

“Yes, I can do this,” Willow affirmed as she sat down opposite Tara in the circle they had drawn.

They had decided to attempt to locate Buffy by having Willow enter her mind. If Willow could get a bearing on Buffy’s thoughts, they might have a way to backtrack where she was being held.

Willow exhaled loudly and looked at Tara. At her nod, both girls closed their eyes and began chanting softly. At first it looked like it wasn’t going to work, but then Willow began to rock slowly, letting low moans escape her throat. The moans soon became whimpers and then outright screams. Willow’s eyes popped open, revealing the pure blackness that had been hidden behind the lids.

“IT HURTS! IT HURTS! OH GOD! LET ME DIE! LET ME DIE! PLEASE!” Willow’s screams bounced off the walls and caused both vampires to clap their hands over their ears.

Tara’s eyes were still closed, and she reached out to touch Willow’s hands.

“SPIKE! SAVE ME, SPIKE, PLEASE! LET ME DIE! LET IT END!”

The moment that Tara touched Willow’s hand, the screaming hit reached its crescendo, shattering the lights around the lobby and plunging them into darkness. A single glow sparked from the glass ball sitting between the girls. Tara’s eyes opened to reveal glowing silver orbs at the same time Willow’s screams ceased. Tara’s voiced boomed out clear and strong and not her own.

“And their fangs rip into her again and again. And she thinks she is going to die, and she prays for death while she dreams of salvation. And she has been chosen. The Slayer to die and be reborn not once but twice shall be the one to lead the Slayer line to its new destiny. And the line of the original vampire and the line of the Slayer shall once again be united in blood and in death, in life. So mote it be.”

The occupants of the room felt a final surge of power before they heard the thump of two bodies falling over.

“Candles! Now!” Angel ordered, and there was fumbling for a moment before Fred struck a match and held it up.

Willow and Tara were both unconscious on the floor. Nobody even heard the ringing of the telephone.

xxx

For a brief moment, Buffy had felt Willow’s presence with her. It was comforting. Her friends were looking for her, they would find her, and then the pain hit and blackness encased her. Somewhere in the distance, she heard screams. Loud screams. Terrified screams. That made her happy.

xxx

Drusilla had tensed when she felt the magic in the air.

“Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Just like New Year’s Eve, final countdown time.”

She giggled as she felt the whoosh of power fly past her and ran into through the non-existent wards into the building. She was going to be a mommy again! Wouldn’t Miss Edith be pleased.
Chapter 9

When the machine at Angel Investigations answered instead of a person, Xander began to get a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He tried the phone again. The machine picked up. The feeling got worse. He tried the phone a third time. The machine picked up. Xander felt nauseous.

"Ahn, get in the car. We're going to L.A." Xander's voice came out eerily calm as he placed the phone back in the cradle.

Anya picked up the pile of books they had been reading, and headed out the door.

xxx

Drusilla was delighted at the way the warlock's minions had screamed. She tore each of their throats out with gusto, giggling to herself as she felt the Slayer's satisfaction over what was being done.

"Naughty, naughty little minions, caging up the sunshine. Look at their pretty red blood. Sunshine would like to see it, but she is behind the moon right now. Naughty minions hiding the sunshine behind the moon."

"Excuse me, what do you think you are doing?"

Drusilla smiled at the sound of the voice behind her. She turned slowly to face him.

"I believe I asked you what you were doing?" Brownstone repeated.

Drusilla slowly stalked her way over to him, each foot crossing over the other one in a wide arcing pattern.

"You!" she hissed as she circled around him. "Stupid warlock stole something that doesn't belong to him. Stole two things that don't belong to him."

Brownstone watched her circle him, warily. He could sense her power, but it didn't match up to his, so he wasn't worried. He gently rubbed the ring on his finger.

"I'm going to ask you one last time what you think you are doing, and them I'm going to get angry. You don't wish to see me angry." He put on a bit of a glamour, making himself appear much larger.

Drusilla laughed at him, much to his dismay. Laughed right to his face. He held up the hand wearing the ring, and began to chant. Drusilla laughed a bit harder for a moment before biting his finger clean off.

"Pretty red ring," she cooed, taking the finger out of her mouth. "Not your pretty red ring. Naughty, naughty man. Shouldn't take things that don't belong to you."

Brownstone had let out a single gasp at the loss of his finger. The ring! She had taken his ring!

"No more power for you, silly man." Drusilla lunged at him, and drained him within seconds.

She dropped him carelessly when she felt his heart stop, and rubbed her belly. She was very full. Full was good.

Suddenly, there was a lot of commotion as the wards began to fall away, and the caged demons came out. Each of them gave Drusilla a wide berth as they made their escape from their prison. This didn't bother Drusilla at all. She only had eyes for the small blonde hanging haphazardly off a cot, unconscious as a vampire sunk his fangs into her neck.

The fledgling never knew what hit him. One minute he was tasting the most exquisite blood on earth, the next he heard a cry, felt a slight pressure on his neck, and then...

Drusilla leaned over the Slayer, giving her a quick once over with her eyes.

"Poor Slayer, not much use as a pin cushion," Drusilla said placing a kiss over the closest fang mark. "Mommy will make it all better."

In one quick motion, Drusilla had placed the ruby ring on her finger, picked the Slayer up, and headed out the door.

xxx

The lobby of the Hyperion was lit by candles as Gunn tried to fix the shattered lights. Willow had woken up, only to start sobbing uncontrollably and muttering things like, "pain, so much pain. Fangs, drinking, money, Slayer." Tara had pulled Willow's head into her lap, and was softly stroking her hair.

"Willow?" Angel crouched down in front of her. "We need you to tell us what you saw. Please. We need to find Buffy."

Spike was leaning one foot against the wall, head ducked down, deep in thought. Willow had cried out his name. That meant Buffy had been thinking of him. She had been hoping for him to save her. He had failed her again.

Fred brought over a glass of water and handed it to the red head. Willow drank loudly.

"I-it was s-so awful. She hurts. She hurts so, so bad." Fresh tears began to run down Willow's face, and sobs broke up her words. "Th-they charge people to-to drink her blood, and they hurt her. She wants to know what she did wrong, why she was ta-taken f-from Heaven. She thinks she's bad." Willow let out a wail, rocking herself back and forth as she continued. "They sent the Slayer to her. T-they want to change her, but she doesn't want to. She wants to sleep, and not wake up. She likes her dreams." Willow paused and gave Spike a small smile through her tears.

Tara took over the narrative.

"I-I s-sensed a c-change in power. Like someone stole the essence of something." She spoke like it was a question. "I saw-er-felt the shift. Long, dark hair. Vampire, maybe. Some power. Red ring."

"Drusilla," Angel ground out.

"Guess we know why she was here," Spike answered.

"Is Buffy with Drusilla?" Angel asked.

"I-I'm not sure. P-possibly. The connection was severed rather abruptly," Tara finished meekly.

"What do you mean 'severed'?" Fred asked.

"It just ended. It was there, and then it wasn't. It was like-like a wall came down be-between us and Buffy."

Angel and Spike looked at each other.

"Can we track her?" Angel asked.

"I can track Drusilla's scent anywhere," Spike answered, and then added. "Buffy's too."

"Good, me too. Sewers or streets?"

"You like rats better then me, so you take the sewers."

Angel glared at him for a moment, but turned on his heel and headed downstairs. Spike was out the door before Angel's foot hit the first stair. He had to find his girl.

xxx

Angel hated the sewers. They reminded him of the Before time. The time when he lived off of rats, a dirty pathetic excuse for a vampire. No friends, no family, no purpose. Nothing mattered until Buffy had entered his life. She was his light, his redemption, his reason for existing. And so here he was, sifting through the sewers looking for her scent.

Everything happened in the gutter. In the gutter he died, in the gutter he was born, in the gutter he lost her, and in the gutter he found new life, only to lose it again in the gutter. Yeah, Angel hated the sewers.

Buffy's scent suddenly filled the sewers. Angel stopped, and let his senses out. The scent was strongest right above him. He charged toward the nearest manhole, and flew up the ladder to find himself standing in a lot. An empty lot facing a building. The scent was coming from inside the building.

xxx

Spike could feel Angel approaching him from behind, but he didn't move. He couldn't move. He was standing in front of the cell that had been Buffy's. Tears flowed down his face, but he didn't bother to wipe them away.

He heard Angel's sharp intake of breath when he saw what Spike was looking at. The small room that had held Buffy captive now equally held the two vampires captive. They stared at everything from the small shower to the bloodstained bed.

"Didn't even change her sheets. Let her sleep in her own blood." Spike muttered creeping closer into the room. He eyed the shower with the see through plastic wall, and tried to imagine Buffy wanting to shower in the open like that. She wouldn't do it, he knew she'd go dirty first. She was modest like that.

"If he isn't dead, I'm going to kill him," Angel ground out. He had walked into the room after Spike and was now standing in the shower area.

"I'm with you, mate," Spike agreed.

Angel shook his head.

"Come here," he demanded.

Spike gave him a weird look before joining him in the shower stall. He looked in front of him, and saw red. If you were inside the room it appeared to you as if the shower had an opaque covering in front of it, but if you were outside the room you could see everything. Buffy had been showering away all this time, and never known that she was giving the whole world a bleeding peep show.

"Bloody bastard!" he yelled, inhaling deeply as he did so. It was then that he noticed the smell of blood coming from the next room. He'd been so intent on Buffy's scent that he hadn't bothered to notice anything else.

Spike took off at a sprint, sliding on the bloody floor when he entered the next room.

"Dru's work," he muttered.

Only Drusilla would paint pictures on the wall in blood. He walked around the room, stepping over piles of dust and random bodies while glancing at the pictures, trying to decipher them. Most of them were mere smears, but one held his attention. It was the Buffy from his dream. The Buffy with fangs.

"Drusilla's got her. Her scent is near the bed," Angel announced walking into the room.

He walked up behind Spike, and looked at the picture.

"Oh, Hell," Angel muttered.


Chapter 10

Drusilla was excited. The moment was almost upon them. The moment when she would be a mommy again. She leaned over to stroke the golden hair in front of her. Such pretty hair, how it glowed...like sunshine.

She stifled a giggle as the Slayer let out a low moan, and waited until the girl opened her eyes.

"Hello little sunshine. Are you excited? I am. I have sent out all the party invitations. Everyone will be here for your first birthday. I wanted them to be here for the birth, but the fairies said no. You would not be ready for a party just them."

Buffy said nothing, just blinked at her. Her head was fuzzy, and she wasn't sure what was happening, and was that Drusilla leaning over her?

Drusilla smiled brightly, and shifted her face.

"Time to be Chosen, sunshine."

Buffy closed her eyes as fangs entered her neck again. She felt her heartbeat slow, and let her thoughts drift. How ironic that she was going to die at the hands of Drusilla, mistress of the insane? Great. She'd be stuck having her body all trussed up like some stupid doll.

Suddenly Buffy felt something thrust against her mouth. NO! OH NO! Buffy tried to turn her head away, but strong hands forced her mouth open. Fluid flowed down her throat, and Buffy tried to resist swallowing, but in the end she did. She swallowed the offered blood just like every other dying person did. It burned its way down her throat, and settled in her stomach.

Pain swept through her abdomen like nothing she had felt before. Instantly, she curled up into a ball, sobbing as she did so. The burning sensation spread through her veins, heating her insides until she thought she was on fire. Her skin felt like nails were being driven through it, and she felt a scream start in the back of her throat. It pushed its way out of her mouth, and shook the foundations of the house. Then Buffy blacked out.

xxx

Xander brought the car to a halt outside of the hotel. He waited while Anya grabbed the books, and the two hurried inside.

"Xan, wait," Anya called out as Xander went to grab the door for her.

"What?"

"Well, it's all dark in there, and there's candles, and I smell magic in the air. I think we should be careful."

Xander nodded at her, and the cautiously opened the door. He went in first, bravely trying to keep Anya behind him, but she shook her head and shoved him back.

"Demon," she mouthed at him and pointed to herself. "Immortal."

They entered the lobby just as Gunn was turning the power back on.

Both let out a yelp and jumped back as the lobby flooded with light.

"Xander? Anya?" Dawn looked at them from her seat on the red, circular couch. "What are you doing here?"

"We come bearing books and research materials," Anya explained holding out the books.

Wesley took the books from her, and examined them.

"Where on Earth did you get these?" he asked.

"Demon connections. They aren't tainted by the Council. Just pure demon truth."

"Y-You have demon connections?" Fred asked.

"Yes," Anya said, carefully neglecting to mention her current demon status.

"Well, we shall have to have a look at these," Wesley said.

"No need. I ,er, I read them already," Xander muttered.

"You read them?" Willow walked into the lobby, her arm around Tara's waist. "Xander Harris, you have never read anything that didn't come in comic book form in your life."

Xander blushed.

"Well, I read these. I found out some interesting stuff too, like, did you know that the Slayer is made up of a demon? And not just any demon, but the same demon that resides in a vampire? AND, that the first vampire ever made was a botched attempt to create the Slayer, and that the first vampire was an Aurelian?" Xander threw out all the important information he could think of in one rambled sentence.

The room was silent.

"I'm sorry...could you repeat that? Slower?" Wesley was blinking very quickly in Xander's direction, trying to discern what he had just heard.

Xander took a seat on the couch next to Dawn, and proceeded to tell everyone exactly what he had read.

xxx

Angel and Spike managed to track Drusilla and Buffy's scent to a neighborhood of cookie cutout houses. That's where the scent disappeared.

"This is the same thing that happened last time. The scent just vanished," Angel raked his fingers through his hair in frustration.

Spike raised an eyebrow as Angel's ministrations caused his gel-caked hair to stand up in all different directions.

"What?" Angel asked angrily.

"Nothing...Scents can't just disappear, you know. They have to be here somewhere. We just need to look a bit harder."

Spike scanned the street.

"There," he said pointing a finger.

"What are you looking at?"

"See those two houses by the corner? Notice something a bit strange about them?"

Angel looked.

"There's a space between them."

"A space big enough to put a whole 'nother house there, mate."

The two vampires quickly made their way down the street, only to be met by an invisible wall in front of the empty space where the house should have been.

"DRUSILLA!" Spike screamed as he angrily kicked at the invisible shield. "DRUSILLA LET US IN, DAMNIT!"

"Oh, that's good Spike. Yell and kick at the invisible shield. You're going to wake the neighbors."

"I DON'T BLOODY CARE ABOUT THE NEIGHBORS!" Spike roared. "AND I WILL YELL AND KICK AT THE BLOODY HOUSE ALL I BLOODY WANT!"

"STOP WITH THE YELLING. SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO SLEEP." An angry voice called out from one of the neighboring houses.

Angel gave Spike an'I told you so' look.

"Sorry," Angel called up. "You haven't seen two women around here lately? One is tall, thin, dark hair, really, really pale. The other is short and blonde, probably sick."

"I have no idea what you are talking about. That house belongs to old Mrs. Durwisky, and she lives alone. Now go away before I call the police, and have you arrested for public drunkenness."

The window slammed shut, ending the conversation.

"We're going to need Willow's help to get past this ward."

"Go get her. 'M gonna wait here."

"Spike, it's going to be daylight soon. We have to go."

"Drusilla will let me in before I dust," Spike said confidently.

"No, I don't think she will," Angel said softly.

"She will, Buffy will make her."

"Spike, I...We have to accept the possibility that-"

Angel was cut off by Spike's left fist.

"Do not ever talk like that. She's not dead. 'D feel it." Spike turned back to face the house giving Angel the opportunity to knock him out.

"I used to think that too," he said softly, throwing Spike over his shoulder.

xxx

Drusilla watched them through the window. She giggled at Spike kicking the little field she'd set up. Her new ring was so handy with things like that. How she wished she could hear what they were saying to each other.

It made her even happier when Spike had hit Angel. Stupid Angel beast trapping her daddy. She had not been happy when the Angel beast had knocked Spike out. He had better not be injured. Spike was going to be a present for her new little girl.

With a twirl of her hair, Drusilla wandered back to the bed that held the sleeping girl. Drusilla smiled as she pulled a hairbrush through the golden locks. Blonde hair had always fascinated her. The pretty yellow colors reminded her of sunlight and gold and pretty fairy tale heroines. It was why Spike had eventually bleached his hair. She had wanted her knight to be pure.

There was a small gurgling sound from the bed, and Drusilla was glad that she had gorged herself before coming home. Luckily the pixies had warned her about this as this turning was taking quite a lot of blood to complete. It seemed that the little Slayer needed blood every half hour, and yet she still hadn't bothered to wake up yet.

With an unneeded sigh, Drusilla slit her wrist again and held it over the Slayers mouth. This time though, the Slayer didn't convulse as much. She must be getting used to the blood. Drusilla wished that she would wake up though. It would be nice to have someone to talk to, and Drusilla couldn't wait to play dress up with her new Childe either. The pixies had promised her a world of fun, and she was impatient for it to begin.

Chapter 11

Spike was just regaining consciousness when Angel dumped him unceremoniously onto the floor of the lobby.

“OI! What the bloody hell did you do that for you big ponce?” Spike jumped to his feet, and shoved Angel back into the wall.

“Why did I do what? I just saved you from dusting so would a little gratitude be too much to ask for?”

“I was NOT in any way in harm of being dusted. I TOLD you that.”

“Oh cause see, I thought that vampires and sunlight don’t mix, and seeing as how the sun was about to come up…”

“If we are unable to save Buffy because of you, I’ll-”

“Don’t you ever, ever accuse me of not trying to save Buffy,” Angel pushed Spike backwards.

“Oh, that’s right. Cause you were so instrumental against that Glory bint. How could I forget you fighting right by her side? Oh, wait. No, that was me. You were too busy shagging Darla, as usual, to think about anyone but your bloody self.”

“ENOUGH!” Cordelia’s voice rang trough the lobby. “God, you two are like kids. Stop screaming before you wake up Connor.”

Angel broke eye contact first, walking over to take his sleeping son from Cordelia’s arms.

“No,” she said, moving away. “No holding of the baby when you have anger vibes coming off of you.”

“Cordelia, give me my son,” Angel said tersely.

“Not until you calm down. There’s blood in the fridge. Go eat.”

“Yes, we have quite a lot of information to go over.” Wesley was furiously wiping his glasses on his sweater. “Er, Xander and Anya were kind enough to bring over some books that explained, well, you’ll have to see them.”

Spike suddenly became aware of Xander and Anya’s presence in the lobby. Xander was half standing in front of Anya, trying to block her from the vampire’s sight. He smirked as he walked past them to help himself to some of the afore-mentioned blood.

“So, the whelp is going to enlighten us on a few things, is he? What valuable information did he find lurking in old comic books?”

“Spike, shut up.”

Spike turned in shock to stare at Dawn, standing in the middle of the room, hand on hip looking so much like her sister that he wanted to cry.

“Look I know that there’s all this angsty, anger stuff going on here, but Xander actually found some really interesting information. And I think that you should listen to him before you start going off with all your cockiness just to hide the fact that you’re really scared about not being able to find Buffy right now, okay?”

He swallowed hard.

“Whatever you say, bit.” He leered, trying to keep some semblance of his image going. “Whatever you say.”

xxx

Buffy groaned as she struggled to open her eyes. Everything hurt, even her hair hurt. Was it possible for hair to hurt?

She turned her head to the side at the sound of clapping.

“Oh! Oh, you’re waking up.” There was a giggle.

God, who could be giggling like that? Didn’t they know how much pain she was in?

“Wakey wakey little sunshine.”

Cool hands pressed down on her forehead, and Buffy let out a moan. Her skin felt like it was on fire.

“All hot, like the sun.”

The hands disappeared, and in the distance Buffy could hear the running of water. Water. God, she was so thirsty. She couldn’t remember ever being this thirsty before.

Arms slipped under her arms and knees to lift her off the bed. Buffy knew that she should open her eyes, but the light was so bright. She felt her clothes being removed, and then was gently placed in a tub of cold water. The hands were cool, gentle. They reminded her of Spike.

“S-spike?” she asked weakly.

There was no answer, but the hands continued to gently wash her. Suddenly, Buffy was assaulted by memories of the last two days. The slayer telling her that she was to be Chosen, the presence of Willow in her head, Drusilla rescuing her, and, oh God, Drusilla’s blood. She had drunk Drusilla’s blood. She was a vampire.

Buffy felt the tears pool in her eyes, and make their way down her cheeks. She was dead. She was a vampire. She was going to have to be staked, or cursed with a soul.

“Shh, don’t cry. Mummy’s here.”

“W-What did you do to me?”

“What the pixies told me to.”

“I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m dead,” the words didn’t stop tumbling out of her mouth.

“Shh, pretty baby. Don’t cry,” Drusilla pressed a kiss on the girl’s forehead before picking up Buffy’s hand to lie on her chest. “Not dead. See. Heart still going pitty pitty pat.”

Buffy stilled as she felt her heart beating underneath her hand. How was that possible? Drusilla had drained her blood, then forced Buffy to drink, so shouldn’t she now be a vampire? She really wished she could open her eyes and look, but the light was so bright. Why was the light bright?

“Light hurts,” she mumbled.

“When darkness meets light there are strange side effects I’m sure,” Drusilla answered as she slit her wrist again. “Drink.”

Buffy felt the liquid hit her lips, and grasped on with ferociousness she had never felt before. It poured down her throat, cooling the fever that enveloped her. It was ice cream sundaes and pizza and cheeseburgers with French fries and chocolate malts, and oh so good. Buffy didn’t hesitate when she felt her front teeth elongate and sink into the flesh in front of her. More blood poured down her throat, and god help her it tasted so good.

She felt a moan of need build up when Drusilla pulled her wrist away.

“No more for now little Slayer. Mummy must eat something herself before feeding the little one. Open your eyes now.”
To Buffy’s surprise, she found that her eyes opened quite easily. She was sitting in a claw foot bathtub in an old fashioned bathroom. Drusilla was kneeling next to the tub, her hands on the side, head resting on top of them. She cocked her head to one side when Buffy opened her eyes.

“Yes,” Drusilla said.

“Yes, what?”

“The light. It doesn’t hurt now.”

“No, it doesn’t. Why is that?”

“Cause your face shifted and the pretty demon went to sleep. The light hurts the demon’s eyes. Made for the dark, it was. Made to hunt. Made to kill. Made to make dust fly all over until the maids have to sweep it up with the vroom vroom machine.”

“Can you speak English for just a second, and explain that again.”

“You,” Drusilla pointed one finger at Buffy. “Are a vampire slayer. You kill demons, not that I like that but a good mummy does not judge.”

“Yeah, I know that. I’ve been doing it for years,” Buffy sighed in exasperation.

“Yes, BUT, Slayers and vampires are one and the same. Distant relatives once removed only to get together at reunions. But now not so distant, more the same. They drink blood, you drink blood, but you drink THEIR blood. See?”

Drusilla looked quite pleased with her explanation, but Buffy was still confused. Okay, so she still had a heartbeat but she now had fangs, and she needed…demon blood. Well that was gross, and still need much more explaining. However, the bath water was getting cold and she wanted to get dried off and put on a sweater.

Buffy started to stand up, and Drusilla jumped to her feet and grabbed a towel. She watched in awe as Buffy dried herself off.

“Oh, baby’s all grown up. I’m so proud.”

“Right, er, Drusilla, do you have any clothes for me?”

Drusilla nodded.

“Oh, yes. Lots and lots of clothes all ready for you.”

She grabbed Buffy’s hand and dragged her back into the bedroom where she had heaped piles of clothes on the floor.
“Look,” she said proudly. “I picked them out just for you, and if you are a good child, then I will show you the lovely things I picked out for your party.”

“Oh, joy,” Buffy muttered staring at the piles of ruffles, lace, and…leather? Well that all went together well.

Drusilla was already picking out clothes that she wanted Buffy to wear and holding them up against her.

“Yes, yes this will do. Put it on, and let’s have a look.”

Buffy doubtfully put on the white empire waist dress that Drusilla held out to her. As soon as she got her bearings, she was going to have to find a way to call Willow. The fact that she had felt Willow inside her head right before her “rescuing” was something that keep spinning around in her head. Were they looking for her? Were they worried?

“Come look.”

Drusilla pulled Buffy in front of the mirror, and she gasped. First off, she had a reflection, so yay on that part. Second, she was beautiful. Drusilla had pulled the front part of her hair back and clasped it behind her head in a pin with curled little tendrils to frame her face. Between the white dress and her blonde hair, she looked like a princess. She almost glowed.

“Pretty, glowing princess,” Drusilla said, echoing her thoughts. “All ready for her prince to sweep her off her feet.”

“I-I look…pretty,” Buffy gasped.

“Look at your pretty demon now. Let her come out and see.”

“H-how?”

“Just relax and think about it.”

Drusilla turned off the lights, and Buffy closed her eyes and concentrated. She felt a slight shift, and heard Drusilla clapping. Opening her eyes, Buffy gasped again. She still looked the same, except her eyes now glowed green and she had two fangs.

“Now shift back,” Drusilla commanded.

Buffy did as she was told, and Drusilla turned the lights back on.

“I don’t understand…” Buffy trailed off.

“There will be time for stories later,” Drusilla said coming to stand behind Buffy. She wrapped one arm around her waist, and they other over the girl’s shoulder. “Now is time for baby to laugh.”

And sure enough, Buffy began to giggle when Drusilla began making objects “fly” in the mirror while making ghostly “ooohhh” noises.

Chapter 12

Buffy carefully slid out from under the blankets, trying hard not to disturb Drusilla. She could sense that it was not quite nightfall yet, and she was determined to find a way out of the house. She only hoped that she could withstand sunlight.

Quietly, Buffy made her way down to the kitchen and was startled to discover that she was hungry for real food, not blood.

Okay, so if I crave food, I wonder how much of a change I have undergone.

She walked over to the window and started to open the curtains before chickening out and moving to the side of the window. Tentatively she stuck out her hand. Nothing. No burning, no pain. Good. She could go in sunlight.

Buffy stuffed a sandwich down her throat, and then started to leave the house. Wait. What about Drusilla? Should I stake her? She is evil...but she did save my life...even if she then turned me into something else...

As Buffy internally debated, she didn't notice the figure that had appeared next to her.

"What are you doing?" Nikki asked.

Buffy jumped.

"What have you done to me?" Buffy hissed spinning around to face Nikki.

"Me? I didn't do nothing."

"I have fangs! I drink blood!" Buffy flashed some fang to prove her point. "This is NOT normal." She pointed two fingers at her teeth.

"Relax girl. You drink demon blood. It's not the same as killing humans or nothing. Think of yourself as Slayer Version 3.0 or something."

"Version 3 point-I AM NOT A COMPUTER THINGY! There are no versions of me-just me. All Buffy. All Slayer. No versions."

"Correction. NOW you are all Slayer, before you were only part Slayer but mostly human. Look, we don't have time to argue. Get the ring from Drusilla and get out of here."

"Ring? What ring?"

Nikki rolled her eyes. "The red ring with all the power flowing in it."

"I don't want the ring."

"Well you need the ring. Now go get it. You are pissing me off."

"Oh! I'm pissing you off?! I'm pretty pissed off here myself."

"Get the ring."

Buffy muttered to herself as she climbed up the stairs. This was going to wake the crazy vampire for sure.

The ring was sitting on the nightstand, and Buffy was sure that it had not been there when she had left the room. Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, Buffy snatched the ring and ran back down the stairs and out of the house. She missed the small smile that formed on Drusilla's lips when she had run out of the room. She also missed the soft "fly away little bird" that accompanied the smile.

XXX

Spike had long since retired from the group in the lobby of the Hyperion. They were all flighty and jabbering about prophecies, and vampire/Slayer history and all that rot...And how in bloody hell had the whelp suddenly become a bleeding historian? Spike snorted into the bottle of beer he raised to his lips.

"Are you having fun drowning your thoughts in alcohol?"

"Loads of fun. It's almost as good as the last massacre I went to. You know there was a bint there that reminded me of you. Would you like to hear what I did to her?" Spike turned to leer at Cordelia, who ignored him and came to stand directly in front of him.

"You might have everyone else in there fooled with the 'ooh I'm an evil vampire' guise, but not me mister," Cordelia narrowed her eyes at him. "I've been watching you and let me tell you that you are...obviously very concerned about Buffy," her voice softened. "And you obviously care very much about Dawn and that's-that's important."

"Should we hug and be best friends now?" Spike asked sarcastically.

"Touch me, and I'll stake you."

"Good to see you've grown balls, cheerleader."

Cordelia sat down next to him.

"I've been learning how to sword fight too," she said.

"Vampires of the world beware."

"Spike, can I ask you a question?"

"If I say no will it stop you?"

"What happened between you and Buffy?"

Spike paused, his beer halfway to his lips. "Who says somethin' happened?"

"Something made her run away."

"So that's gotta make it me?"

Cordelia clapped her hands together. "Okay, so once upon a time there was a Slayer named Buffy who fell in love with a vampire named Angel. Angel was a vampire with a soul, but then he lost his soul and tried to end the world. Buffy saved the world by sending Angel to hell, and then felt so bad that she ran away from all her friends. A few years go by and Buffy meets some military guy named...well, I think that Angel referred to him as 'that military guy that Buffy is seeing.' Anyway, they have a big fight yada yada yada, he leaves, big apocalypse happens and Buffy saves the world by killing herself. But does our heroine stay away? No she comes back and something happens that makes her run away again. I'd say that in Buffy's life there is a pattern here. Guy hurts Buffy, Buffy runs away. So, the question is...who hurt Buffy? And why is it that when Willow did the little spell thing to enter Buffy's mind, it was your name that she was screaming out for?"

Spike shook his head, "When did all you birds start getting so bloody smart? First the bit, now you, next thing you know Drusilla will regain her sanity."

"So you hurt Buffy?"

"More like we hurt each other, but you know what they say. You always hurt the ones you love, only in our case 't's more of a physical sense."

"Well, if you ever want to talk...I promise not to be to bias about the whole locking me in a closet in high school thing." Cordelia got up and started to leave. "Sometimes it helps to talk, you know?"

Spike closed his eyes. "I know."

XXX

Without thinking, Buffy slipped the red ring on her finger as she headed outside the house.

"What are you doing?" Nikki snapped.

"What? I don't have pockets."

"Take that off. That ring isn't meant for you."

Buffy whirled to face her. "I don't care who it's meant for. Who do you think you are? Some damn projection of my 'inner demon?' Well newsflash, the inner demon isn't so inner now thanks to your friends above."

Nikki started laughing. Low, taunting laughing. Laughter that made Buffy's insides turn ice cold, and caused her heart to skip a beat.

"You dumb little girl. Your 'inner demon' has never been inner. Everytime you fight, every punch you've ever thrown, every cruel insult you've tossed, every demon you've killed has been your own demon showin' its head. Think back to every time you've lost yer temper, what's your first thought? 'What can I hurt? What can I kill?' You think that normal girls think like that? You've always craved the battle, craved the hunt, craved the kill, and craved the blood. Now you listen up and you listen good. There are things at work here, forces that you can not even begin to comprehend. Everything that has happened to you was ordained. Everything has led up to your becoming, your evolving. You were tested, and you took on everything and then some. You killed those you love, you love those you hate, you sacrificed yourself and everyone around you, but never once did you stop. You ARE the Slayer. There will be no others. You are eternal. You have been Chosen."

Buffy stood in stunned silence as the words and their meaning slowly sunk in. "No," she whispered, shaking her head. "Nononononononono." The thought of being the Slayer forever, no rest, no death, no peace, watching everyone die around her and knowing that she never would...she would be alone for all time. She was damned. Eternally damned. She took off running down the street, the ring still stuck on her finger, and the apparition of Nikki Wood smiled slowly.
 

Chapter 13

Buffy found herself standing in front of Hemery High School. It had been a long time since she’d thought about the place, and an even longer time since she’d been there. The beginning of it all. Her mother had always told her that when everything seemed to overwhelm, “it was always best to go back to the beginning and work your way out from there.” So here she was, the beginning.

She crossed up the front stairs, the stairs where she had first learned about Slayers and watchers and vampires. The main doors were open and she let herself into the hallway. It was mostly quiet, although she could her sounds from the school’s rebuilt gym…basketball practice and…cheerleading practice. Smiling, Buffy made her way over to the gym and watched.

“DRIBBLE. DRIBBLE. SHOOT. SHOOT. TAKE THAT BALL TO THE HOOP. HOOP. GO HOGS!”

The cheerleaders cart wheeled, clapped, and bounced in time to the cheer, and Buffy remembered how carefree she’d felt when that was her life. When there was no such thing as demons or vampires, and when a Hellmouth meant someone with bad breath. When all her boyfriends had a pulse, and her sister’s blood didn’t activate portals to hell…okay so she hadn’t had a sister either.

When the most important thing was what to wear out on Friday night, and how to talk her parents into buying her the new shoes she’d seen at Neiman Marcus. When her only hopes and dreams were to graduate high school and become a famous actress married to Leonardo DiCaprio or Johnny Depp…she wasn’t too picky on that part.

She sat down on the bleachers and turned her attention to the basketball players. Vaguely she remembered dating one of them…Kevin…Ken…something like that, and another guy who made her stakes…sounds like (spike) rode a motorcycle (spike) something like a fish (spike) Pike. Wonder whatever happened to him…When Buffy had moved to Sunnydale, it was like her entire other life ceased to exist. Even the summer she had visited her father, all Buffy could remember was endless shopping. Shopping to make her feel like a normal girl, a normal girl who was spending the summer visiting her father, and wisely using his guilt at the divorce to buy things…not a girl who died at the hands of a vampire…not a girl who dated a vampire with a soul…and certainly not a girl who blew up high school gyms.

A giggle interrupted Buffy’s musings, and she looked up to see a few of the cheerleaders huddled together and laughing as they sneaked peaks at her. With a start, Buffy looked down and realized she was still wearing the frilly thing that Drusilla had dressed her up in. Great. Not only was she a super freak, but a badly dressed one at that. She was up and out of the gym in a shot.

XXX

The sun was barely set in the horizon when Angel found Spike impatiently waiting outside the hotel.

“Gonna try again. Gonna get in this time, talk to Dru, get Buffy out,” he muttered by way of greeting.

Angel nodded, and the two took off in the direction of the house. Something was different though. Angel could feel it in the air, but he couldn’t describe what it was. “You feel that?”

“Yeah, almost like something…’M not sure but I feel it.” Spike took off running, and Angel was left to follow him.

The house was there. The house was visible.

Spike ran straight through the door, not even stopping as the wood shattered around his feet. He stood, panting needlessly and took in the scene around him. There was a round table covered in a white lace tablecloth and set with a delicate china tea set. Someone had taken strips of silk and muslin and daintily hung them about the room, and there were several wrapped boxes on the table…next to three bound and gagged vampires.

“You came to the party! I knew you would,” Drusilla stood behind them and clapped her hands. “Broke the door you naughty men, and brought no presents for the baby either. She shall be so sad when she comes home.”

“Dru…pet…” Spike closed his eyes and struggled not to strangle the woman in front of him. “Where…where.is.Buffy?”

“Baby ran away.”

“Where did she go?”

Drusilla giggled. “Away. She’ll be back though. Thinks she has no where else to go, but it’s time for all little birdies to leave the nest, so you’ll have to take her with you when you leave.”

“When will she be back?”

Drusilla ignored his question. She was too busy trying to drag Angel over to the tea table.

Spike ground his teeth together. He couldn’t get a scent on her, and Drusilla would be no help. With kick to the broken door, he flung himself down on the couch and tapped his foot in time with the ticking of the clock on the wall.

XXX

Buffy leaned her head on the metal of the swing she was sitting on. She gave the ground a small shove, and closed her eyes as she swung lazily back and forth. The thoughts in her head wouldn’t go away. They swirled around and around. She wasn’t human, but she wasn’t a vampire. She could go in sunlight, but her demon demanded darkness. She could eat food, but she needed blood. So where did she fit in?

Nowhere. She fit nowhere. But, come to think of it, she had never fit in anywhere before. Oh, she had pretended. Pretended with the circle of friends, the boyfriend, the attending of college, but what normal person comes back from the dead? What normal person fights demons night after night? What normal person sleeps with the undead?

So where could she go? Back to her friends? Would they accept her? Did she accept herself? Well for now she could always go back to Drusilla. After all, the insane vampire technically was her sire…

XXX

Willow rubbed the back of her neck and rolled her head about. She felt funny. Actually, she had felt funny ever since her little venture into Buffy’s head.

“You okay?” Tara slid her arms around the red head.

“I feel kinda ooky,” Willow admitted.

“Me too…Since-since the spell right?” Tara asked and waited for Willow’s nod. “I think that maybe we had some sort of power exchange. Like some of my power went into you, and some of your power went into me…cause, well, I think, I mean, I kind of feel you? Almost inside of me, you know?”

Willow thought for a minute before answering. “So, if I can feel you and you can feel me…does that mean that I should have more control over my magic?”

Tara nodded. “I think that some of my control went into you.”

“Wow….That’s kinda…”

“Weird, I know.”

“I was gonna go with oddly sexy,” Willow said as she turned in Tara’s arms to capture the girl’s lips with her own.

“Oooh, s-sexy is good.”

“Think I’ll show you what I mean.”

XXX

Xander had spread out several books with key passages on the main table in the lobby. He was pointing out various notations to Wesley and Fred regarding demons and their various types of souls.

“So you’re telling me that a Sasimion demon, which eats children by the way, consists of a-what did you call it?” Wesley took his glasses off his face.

“It’s called a sliver soul, and no I didn’t make that up. Demons with sliver souls are considered a class three demon, meaning that their souls don’t act as a conscious of right and wrong, but more of a climatic point for feelings. It feels good therefore they do it. They are, however, extremely protective of anything they deem as family.”

“And how many classes of demons did you say there are?” Fred asked.

“Um, at my last count,” Xander paused and flipped through a notebook. “383.”

“Oh,” Fred said and plopped down into a chair. “That’s a lot.”

“Yeah, and I think there’s more too.”

“Oh,” she repeated.

“Xander, my boy, you would have been a great addition to the Watcher’s Academy,” Wesley muttered as he slapped him on the back.

“Thanks,” Xander said with a big grin. He glanced up from the table and caught Anya looking at him. She smiled, and, if possible, his grin got bigger.

XXX
Chapter 14

The sun had completely set in the horizon when Buffy finally stood up from the swing set. There was this ache in her stomach, hunger like she had never known. She doubled over, clutching herself.

“Are you okay? You don’t look so good.”

Buffy felt an intense tingling spread through her body. Normally when a vampire was near, the tingling stayed in the back of her neck, but this…She felt her face shift beneath the covering of her hair.

“I think that you should let me get you some help.”

“What kind of help did you think that I needed from a vampire?” she asked raising her head to look at him.

The fledgling was in game face already, but he backed away and shifted to his human face when he caught sight of her. “W-what are you?”

“I’m the Slayer,” she said as she leapt at him.

Buffy knocked the fledgling on his back and had her fangs in his throat before he could even respond. She drank him dry before pushing herself away from him. He was so close to dust that a kick from her boot would probably take care of him. She decided to try that theory and ground her heel into his chest. Her foot hit the pavement and she shook the dust off of it. Well that was…effective.

XXX

Dawn watched Cordelia rocking Connor to sleep.

“Is-is it true that his mother was also a vampire?”

Cordelia stopped rocking. “Yes, she was.”

“I thought that vampires couldn’t have babies?”

Cordelia started rocking again. “They can’t. It was a prophecy.”

“Oh. What’s the prophecy?”

“That he would be born.”

“Oh. What else?”

Cordelia frowned. “What do you mean ‘what else’?”

Dawn shrugged, “Well, I mean, why would the Powers That Be waste a prophecy on a kid being born to two vampires for no reason. There’s got to be more then that, don’t you think?”

“I guess I hadn’t really thought about it. I suppose that we’ll deal with that when the time comes…Wanna hold him?”

“Really? Yeah!” Dawn grinned as Cordelia placed the baby in her arms. “You know, you’re different then I remember you.”

Cordelia smiled. “People change. Life does funny things to you, but I like to believe that everything has a purpose, you know?”

“Do you love Angel?” Dawn asked bluntly.

“Why would you ask me that?”

Dawn shrugged. “I see the way you look at him sometimes…and the way he looks at you. He used to look at Buffy that way.”

“What way?”

“Like…like you’re his world.”

Cordelia laughed. “I am not Angel’s world. Connor is.”

“But you are too,” Dawn insisted. “I mean, he actually listens to you and respects your opinion. He never listened to Buffy, and…he never bought her presents. I mean, okay, he got her stuff on her birthday, but he never just went out and bought her something. I have seen the clothes you’ve been wearing. They are all new and there is no way he is paying you enough to buy them.”

“Okay, well he bought me some of them…but I’m a great bargain shopper. I can haggle with the best of them.”

“Uh-huh, he loves you. You love him too, I can tell. It’s not a bad thing. Look at all the beautiful things you have together.” Dawn smiled as she handed Connor back to Cordelia.

Cordelia smiled back, “Yeah, we do have some beautiful things together.”

XXX

Xander joined Anya in the courtyard. “Hey,” he muttered.

“Hi,” she responded. “I’m very proud of you, Alexander Harris.”

“You are?” he asked, sitting down beside her.

“Yes, you have proven to be less shallow then I thought you would.”

He laughed. “Um…thanks?”

“You’re welcome. I think your intelligence makes you even more sexy then when I watch you lift heavy bricks with no shirt on.”

They sat in silence for a while. “Have you thought about what you are going to do with your new found information?” Anya finally asked.

“Well, I thought about trying to take it to the Council, but I don’t think they’d listen to me,” he admitted.

“No, they wouldn’t. Maybe you could talk to Giles. I bet he could help you find something.”

“I could do that,” Xander said slowly. “But…well, I was kinda hoping that whatever happened…that you would be there with me.”

Anya turned and regarded him silently. “What do you mean?”

“Anya…I still love you. I think I maybe love you even more, and I don’t know if you can forgive me, but I forgive you and I still want to be with you…if you want to be with me.”

“Oh, Xander!” Anya threw her arms around him. “I don’t forgive you, but I can accept it and move on.”

Xander tightened his arms around her waist. “I can live with that.”

“Good because I already talked to Hoffy about finding you a job.”

He pulled back to look at her. “What?”

“Oh, don’t worry. It will be strictly in the research department. See Hoffy also sits on the board of directors for this historical demon society thing, and they have an opening for a historian, and I talked to him about you, and you have an interview.”

“But-but don’t I have to be a demon for that?”

“No. You’ll be made immortal though for as long as you hold the position, and…and we can be together.”

Xander captured Anya’s lips with his. “I accept.”

XXX


Drusilla put down her teacup and stood up. “I’m leaving.”

“What? Where are you going?” Angel demanded.

“Baby’s discovered her powers. Probably not best for mummy to stick around.”

“And just what are ‘Baby’s powers’?” Spike sneered, but Drusilla was already making her way to the door. He jumped up to block her way.

“She’s on her way here. You’ll see soon enough.”

“How ‘bout you fill us in a bit, pet? Little sneak preview before the show, eh?”

Drusilla regard him slightly. “Tell her that the presents are from her mummy. I really must be going now. It is not my time to be part of the family yet.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Angel asked, coming to stand next to them.

“Ssshh,” Drusilla placed her finger on his lips. “I can’t come home until Daddy does, but it’s not his time yet. Baby’s not ready. William’s not ready. And the Angel beast’s soul hasn’t done its duty yet.”

“Drusilla,” Angel said, keeping his voice low and steady. “I’m sorry, but your daddy will never return to you.”

She laughed. “That’s what you think, but we are forever and forever is a very long time.” She lowered her voice to a whisper so that both men had to lean forward to hear her. “When the years have passed by, the numbers reaching three digits, when redemption has come and gone and the mortals we know have faded, when the baby that couldn’t be has grown and defeated the evil men with briefcases, then daddy will return to me and he will bring back my Spike and his bride, and family will rule again.” With another laugh, she bolted passed them and disappeared down the street.

Angel ran out after her, leaving Spike alone in the house. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his cigarettes. He placed one in his mouth and walked back to the couch as he contemplated what Drusilla had said. Spike was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice the creature that had crept into the house behind him.

“Spike?” her voice was so low that for a moment he thought that he’d imagined it.

He turned around. She was standing in the destroyed doorway wearing a strange frilly dress, but just as beautiful as ever.

“Buffy.”
XXX
Chapter 15

Buffy had left the playground after dusting the vampire. She could feel his blood drifting through her body, and it felt amazing. That scared her, the thought that she couldn’t control her bloodlust. It wasn’t that she was worried about hurting vampires, although she didn’t want to hurt Angel or Spike…and maybe not Drusilla but the jury was still out on that one. No, she was worried that she might get the taste for human blood, and if she did, would she be able to control it? Was she now a danger to everyone around her?

She wandered down the street in a daze, staying to the side streets. Her demon kept pushing its way to the surface, and she was struggling to keep it at bay. It was hunger. No, that was wrong. She was hungry. Oh, God. She broke into a run. If she could just make it back to the house, everything would be better. There was no doubt in her mind that Drusilla would take care of her, but she was afraid that the woman might try to pawn her off on Angel or Spike. She really didn’t want to see either of them. She didn’t want to them to see her like this. She didn’t want anyone to see her like this.

Buffy was so immersed in her thoughts that the tingling inside her didn’t even register. On a sub-level, she just thought it was Drusilla. It wasn’t until she saw the back of his duster that she realized it was Spike she was sensing.

“Spike.” She hadn’t meant to speak her thoughts out loud, but she had and he was moving toward her before she could react. “No!” Buffy started to back away. “Get away from me.”

“Buffy, luv, ‘m not gonna hurt you. Please…been goin’ out of my mind lookin’ for you.”

“Please,” she implored. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You sendin’ me away when I want to help you is goin’ to hurt me,” Spike replied as he continued to walk closer to her.

Buffy whimpered slightly, and backed herself against the wall. He smelled so good, and she was so hungry. “NO! Don’t come near me. I mean it, Spike.” She started to edge herself toward the doorway.

Spike saw her move, and moved faster so that when she turned to run, she ran directly into his arms. He wrapped himself around her and pulled her close.

“See, luv. Not gonna hurt you. ‘M gonna help you, okay? Whatever it is, I’ll help you.”

Buffy had her face buried in his neck. He could feel her tears against his skin. She had stopped struggling, but was still repeating the little mantra of “no” out loud. Suddenly Spike felt a shift against him. He knew that feeling, the feeling of someone slipping into game face. Two fangs entered his neck, and Spike held Buffy tighter as she fed off of him.

XXX

Angel chased Drusilla for blocks before realizing that he wasn’t going to catch her. He knew that he could track her, but Dru was clever. She would double back and forth to cover her scent. After all, she had been trained by the best…himself.
He finally turned and headed back to the house. He could sense a presence that hadn’t been there before. Buffy. It had to be. But the sight that met his eyes wasn’t quite what he expected.

Spike was lying unconscious on the floor, and Buffy was curled up in a ball against the wall, sobbing quietly to herself.

“Buffy?” Angel asked.

She looked up at him. “I-I didn’t mean to. I told him not, not to come near me, but he did and then…I didn’t mean to. I-I was hungry and-and I couldn’t stop. I tried, but I couldn’t stop.” She broke down into hysterical sobs.

Angel bent down and inspected Spike. He was almost completely drained. There were twin puncture marks on his neck and they weren’t healing. Angel looked closer. The marks were that of a claim.

“Buffy, I need you to tell me what happened here.” Angel cautiously began to make his way closer to her. Something wasn’t right here.

“No! Not you too. I told Spike no, but he came over anyway and look what happened. I can’t control it. I tried, but I can’t. No one showed me…Why is this happening to me?” Buffy tried to scoot farther along the wall.

Angel paused and looked around the room. His eyes fell on the bound vampires that Drusilla had left in the corner. He strode across the room and grabbed the nearest vampire. Angel dragged the thing back over to Buffy and threw it at her feet. She looked up at him tearfully for a moment, and he watched in awe as her face shifted and she lunged at the vampire, sucking him dry before Angel had even realized she moved.

Angel squatted down in front of her as her face shifted back.

“Are you still hungry or are you okay now?”

Buffy backed into the corner and curled into herself.

“Is-is h-he gonna be okay?”

“You mean Spike?”

Buffy nodded.

Angel sighed and moved back over to Spike. He vamped out and bit his own wrist before holding it up to Spike’s mouth. Spike instantly clamped on, sucking as much of the blood as he could. Within a few minutes, he was able to open his eyes.

“How do you feel?” Angel asked.

“How do you think I bloody well feel?” Spike asked as he rubbed his head. His hands traveled down to the marks on his neck, and his eyes opened wide as he felt the bumps. He turned to look reverently at Buffy, but she had her head buried in her arms again. “Peaches, need you to leave us alone.”

“I’m not leaving you alone with her, Spike, so you can get that out of your head.”

Spike turned to face Angel, gathering as much strength as he could. “I’m not asking. I’m telling. I need you to leave us alone.”

Angel stared at him for a moment; his eyes flickered to the marks on Spike’s neck. “Fine…Fine…She doesn’t know what she did, just so you know…and I’m waiting right outside.”

“Angel.”

Angel blanched at Spike’s use of his actual name.

“I’m asking you to go back to the hotel and leave us alone.”

He looked at Spike another moment, then let his eyes move to Buffy’s still sobbing figure before giving a slight nod and walking out the doorway.

Spike watched Angel disappear down the street before turning his attention to the blonde on the floor.

“’T’s just you and me, luv.”

XXX

Cordelia was half asleep with Connor cradled in her arms, when she felt the bed dip down beside her. She opened her eyes and turned her head, letting a lazy smile grace her face.

“Hey,” she said softly.

“Hey,” Angel answered back, leaning over to run a finger down his son’s cheek.

“Did you find her?”

Angel nodded.

“Well?”

He pulled back a moment and stared at her. “Cordy, do you see me as a monster or a man?”

Cordelia cocked her head and looked at him thoughtfully. “Every man has a monster inside them. Yours is just more visible.”

“You’re avoiding the question.”

“No, I’m answering what you asked. I see you as someone who has overcome tremendous adversity. I watch you try to overcome your monster. Sometimes you fail, but mostly you succeed…”She paused as Angel brushed a stray hair that had become tangled in her mouth. “I see you as a champion,” she said in a breathy voice as he gently kissed her.

“Cordelia,” he began, framing her face in his hands. “I want you to know how much I…appreciate you and…” Angel closed his eyes. “How much Connor appreciates you…You’re like a mother to him….” He trailed off, opening his eyes as he did so.

“That’s it?” Cordelia asked. “There better be more to that sentence, buster.”

“We found Buffy.”

“Oookay, that’s not the sentence I was looking for.”

“She’s…been…she’s not human anymore.”

Cordelia stared in shock. “Oh, God. Angel I’m so sorry. Is…Was she a vampire?”

“No, she’s something else. I’m not sure. She drank Spike.” Angel continued staring off somewhere behind Cordelia’s head.

“Wait, she drank Spike? Shouldn’t she want human blood?”

“She appears to drink demon blood, and she moved so fast…I couldn’t even see her. One minute I had put the vampire in front of her and the next, it was dust…I never even saw her move.”

Cordelia frowned. “You fed her?”

“She was so frightened. Cordy, I didn’t-I didn’t know what to do. She was so afraid…I’ve never seen her afraid.”

“She’s very strong,” Cordelia said.

Angel turned to look at her again. “So are you. Don’t ever forget that. It’s one of the reasons that…I love you, Cordelia. I know that I shouldn’t, but I do-“ He was cut off by her lips.

XXX

Dawn couldn’t sleep. Everytime she closed her eyes, she heard Willow echoing Buffy’s screams in her head. Spike and Angel had been gone a long time. She hoped that meant something good. She wandered out into the courtyard, humming softly to herself.

“That’s a lovely tune,” Lorne said, turning to face her.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize anyone was out here,” Dawn said.

“It’s okay, sweetie. Why don’t you come here and sing old Lorne a tune or two.”

“No, I couldn’t. I don’t really sing,” Dawn said, blushing slightly.

“Eh, most people that do really shouldn’t but they do anyway. Besides, you’ve got some burning questions in that mind of yours.”

“How did you know?”

Lorne smiled, “Empath demon. You feel like you don’t belong here, don’t you cupcake? Sing for me?”

Dawn stared at him in shock. That was too creepy. Okay, well most teenagers felt that way, so maybe it was just a guess. Or…maybe it couldn’t hurt to try. “Okay,” she said finally. “But no laughing.”

“Cross my heart hope to die,” Lorne answered, drawing an x mark on his butt. He caught her looking at him funny. “Don’t ask. Just trust me, that’s where my heart is.”

Dawn shrugged, took a deep breath, and began to sing. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy,” she winced as her voice cracked. “When skies are gray. You’ll never know dear how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

Lorne patted the seat next to him, and waited for Dawn to sit before he began.

“You’re not supposed to be here. After the whole jumping to the death incident, you were supposed to revert back into your beautiful green existence. Something happened and you didn’t. But now, what’s to become of you? See your sister, well she’s got her own destiny that she needs to live out. And I hate to break it to you sweetie, but you are not in that destiny.”

“But-but what’s supposed to happen to me?” Dawn cried out.

“That I can’t tell you. You have to find your own path, but…if I were you, I’d stick near the Wiccans. Powerful magic in those two…in you as well.” Lorne stood up and started to leave. He paused, briefly. “Don’t worry, blueberry, you’ll be happy.”


Chapter 16

Spike watched Angel disappear down the street. He took an un-needed breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. Slowly, his hand moved from his nose to his neck and back to the new bite marks. He rubbed the tips of his fingers over them in awe. Regardless of what Angel had said, some primal part of Buffy had to have known what she was doing. If that was true…what had they done to each other?

Buffy was stilled curled up on herself in the corner. Well, first thing first. If he was going to be of any help, Spike needed to eat something. He hoped that Dru had left some blood around somewhere.

“Be right back, luv. Don’t move,” Spike said, softly.

He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. There were a few packets of blood stacked inside. Spike reached in, pulled one out, and sank his fangs right into the plastic. Human. Well, that was Dru for ya.

Spike drained the rest of the packets before heading back into the living room. Buffy was still sitting in the corner, but the tied up vampires were gone. Only piles of dust remained on their chairs. He’d never heard her move.

“Buffy?” Spike approached her slowly. “Luv? Gonna sit like that all night?”

Buffy slowly lifted her head. Her eyes were blood red and puffy from her tears.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly, her voice thick with emotion. “I know that you probably hate me now. Please go.”

“Don’t hate you. Don’t have a right to,” he murmured, squatting down in front of her.

“I almost killed you.”

Spike shrugged, “’T’s not like ‘ve never tried to do the same to you or your mates. Call it even.”

“I’m not human anymore…I’m a m-monster.”

“So am I, but I think we can overcome that, yeah? I still,” Spike paused and ran his fingers over the bite marks again. “I still love you.”

Buffy looked at him in awe. “How can you love me? I have fangs and I drink blood and-and I’ll never, never be normal.”

Spike hesitantly reached out and ran a finger down her cheek. “I have fangs. I drink blood. And you have always been special, normal is for everyone else, and I love you.”

“But I can’t control it.”

“The bloodlust?”

Buffy nodded.

“It’ll get easier. Being a fledgling is the worst and that’s what you are, in a way. I can help you, teach you…please, pet, don’t shut me out.” Spike was kneeling in front of her now.

“You just saying that,” she whispered and buried her head in her hands again. “I claimed you.”

Spike was silent for a moment. “I know.”

“I didn’t give you a choice.”

“No, but it would have been my choice anyway. Buffy, look at me. All I want is you. I want you in any way that I can have you, and I want you forever. When I look at you…everything becomes clear, and you make me want to be a better man. Everything that I have done has led up to me meeting you, even becoming a vampire. And now…please say that you knew what you were doing, luv. Don’t put me out in the cold.” Spike’s eyes widened as he suddenly contemplated the thought that her claim really was an accident.

Buffy ended his thoughts by throwing herself in his arms and burying her face in his neck. “When I was…in that place…all I could think about was you and how I always felt safe with you. I thought that I would never see you again and you would never know…”

Spike tightened his grip on her. “Oh, I knew. I always knew, just didn’t know if you knew yourself.”

Buffy nuzzled her marks on his neck. “I don’t feel the need to…you know.”

He resisted the urge to moan. “That’s because you probably recognize me as a mate now. Won’t be tempted to feed off me.”

“Oh…so are we, like, married now?” She pulled back to look at him.

“In the demon community, yeah.”

“Well…where’s my ring?” Buffy grinned at him.

Spike looked at her. He was past shock by now. “Buffy, if I claim you it’s forever. I won’t give you up or let you go, and if you die, I see sunlight the next morning.”

Buffy’s return smile was sad. “I’m the last Slayer…the immortal Slayer,” she whispered.

Spike pressed his lips against hers desperately, hungrily. She was offering to be his forever. He stood up, pulling her with him. Then he swept her off her feet and carried her upstairs.

XXX

The Hyperion Hotel found its lobby full. It was almost sunrise, and the rag-tag group stared aimlessly at the door. When it finally opened to reveal the blonde couple, no one moved.

“Buffy!” Dawn cried, breaking the silence and running up to her sister.

Buffy caught the girl in a hug, breathing her sister’s scent in. “Oh, Dawnie. I thought I wouldn’t see you again.”

“We all worked together to find you…Tara and Willow and Xander…and everyone.”

“Yes, Xander even read books that weren’t comic books,” Anya added.

Buffy glanced up and Anya, and her eyes shifted color for a moment. Spike put a hand on her shoulder.

“Sshh, ‘t’s alright, luv.”

Xander walked up and hugged her next. “It’s good to have you back, Buffster.”

Buffy couldn’t help but sniff him as he hugged her. She could tell Anya’s scent…and something else. “You’ve been meeting with demons?”

He blushed. “Uh, yeah. How’d you know?”

“I-I smelled them on you…sorry, I’m not use to this yet.”

Xander shuffled his feet a bit. “I’ve been offered a job…working as a demon historian of sorts. While you were gone I sorta, um, discovered some inner potential. I mean, hey, I can still bring donuts to Scooby meetings, if you need me to.”

Buffy smiled and shook her head. “No, I’m…happy for you. I was gonna say this later but…there won’t be anymore Scooby meetings. I’m leaving.”

She paused and waited for the uproar, but none came. “Okay, not as protesting as I thought you’d be.”

“Well, um, I sorta sang for Lorne, and he can read people’s futures through song, and he said that you had this destiny that you had to follow, so…we kinda knew,” Dawn said, weakly.

“Oh,” Buffy said. “Well…good. Wait, where are you going?”

“With us,” Willow said, clasping Tara’s hand tightly. “There’s this coven in England that Giles told us about…They’ve agreed to take us on…all three of us.”

“What about the Hellmouth?” Spike asked.

“Looks like we’re heading back to Sunnyhell,” Cordelia said. “You know, it’s such an ideal place to raise a family.” She nodded toward the baby in her arms.

“But what about you business here, Peaches? You just gonna walk away?”

Angel shrugged. “LA was doing fine before I was here, and it will still be close enough that one of us can run back if need be. Besides, I have Wesley, Fred, and Gunn to look after the place.”

“Oh, don’t forget the facing of your demons and all that,” Cordelia added.

“Er, yeah, I need to return to the Hellmouth to face my inner demons and overcome my fears,” Angel recited, then gave Cordelia a goofy grin that was very much out of character for him.

“Oh,” was all Buffy said. She had envisioned this much differently. Quietly, she squeezed Spike’s hand before turning around and walking back out the door. As her hair swung over her shoulders, Angel noticed a bite mark on the side of her neck. He said nothing.

XXX

“What’s wrong?”

Buffy felt a smile tug at her mouth at the sound of the now familiar voice.

“Looks like things are looking up for you and you out here being all sad. What’s up with that?” Nikki asked.

“Everything’s changing.”

“Well, yeah. Things change. Life goes on. You didn’t expect it to be the same forever, did you?”

“But everyone’s leaving, going their separate ways.”

Nikki stepped up along side her. “Yeah, but that’s what happens in life. We travel down a path with someone, but sometimes the road forks and we have to go our separate ways. Don’t mean we don’t love that person anymore or that we don’t care, just that our time with them has ended.”

Buffy stopped walking and turned to face her. “But, where do I go from here?”

“That’s up to you. You done what you needed to do. These people, you have put them on the paths they needed to be on, and a lot of good will come from that. Now, you got a man that loves you, a world to see, evil to fight, and forever to do it. You got a power in you that makes you unique, makes people love you and trust you and follow you. It’s why the Powers chose you. You have the strength needed for what they have bestowed on you. You will do great things Buffy Summers.”

“BUFFY!”

Buffy turned to see Dawn running after her. When she turned back, Nikki was gone.

“Who are you talking to?” Dawn asked.

Buffy smiled. “My inner voice,” she responded as she slid the ring off her finger.

“What’s this?” Dawn asked as Buffy slipped the ring on her.

“It’s something special. I think the coven in England will be able to help you with it…just, promise me that you’ll never take it off.”

“I promise,” Dawn swore as she hugged Buffy tightly.

They linked arms and walked back to the hotel.

“So…you and Spike, huh?” Dawn asked, aimlessly.

Buffy smiled. “Yeah, me and Spike.”

“I’m glad.”

Buffy looked up to see Spike standing in a shadow by the door, waiting for her. He smiled as she came into view, and Buffy suddenly knew that it would always be this way. No matter what happened, Spike would always be waiting for her, always be helping her, and always have a smile for her.

“Me too,” she answered, smiling back at him. “Me too.”

XXX

Drusilla lay in bed staring at the ceiling, an odd smile on her face. She rolled over and picked up the doll on the dresser next to her.

“All the pieces fell into place, Miss Edith. Someday, we will all be a family again. Me and Daddy and William and Baby, the pixies told me so. But we must wait, Miss Edith, wait, wait, wait for such a long time.”

She grew quiet for a moment, listening intently to the sounds around her before rolling onto her back again. She held the doll in the air above her head.

“Now Miss Edith! Don’t say such things. We shall be very patient, like good girls…very patient.” Drusilla trailed off softly. After a moment, she got up and walked over to a calendar. She drew a big, black X over the current date and smiled. “Only 72,999 more marks until the family party. Won’t they be surprised, Miss Edith? We shall bake a lovely cake.”

Drusilla made her way back to the bed, humming to herself. Only 72,999 days until her Daddy came back. Until her William came back. Until her baby came back. She could wait. She had all the time in the world.



*A/N: 72,999 days is equivalent to 200 years…
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Diabola	05/12/2005 @ 11:58 am
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Great update Dem! God, Willow pissed me off with this: I just-I don't think that I can look at him right now! Why not? Cos his romp with Anya hurt her precisious friend? At least he only did it after she dumped him. No cheating was done there - unlike other people. But that's something Willow should know everything about, isn't it? Arg, I just hate if those who yell the loudest are those who shouldn't have the right to even open their mouth! Sorry.... Cool idea with Buffy in the zoo. *snicker* She thinks the situation is bad now? Just wait until you are so bored with sitting in a cage all day, that you welcome if some sick bastard comes by to stare at you. Animals don't get mad by living in cages for nothing... Ok, she didn't actually deserve the . I'm just in that mood today Looking forward to the next part...