904 years old, numerous assistants and I've seen entire civilisations absolutely destroyed but yet I have this sense of emptiness. I could say I've always felt this way but then I would be lying. There was a time when I knew where home was, who my family and friends were, until one of my friends got me thinking.

“You're not the same as the rest of us,” he said

At first I took no notice and slowly I noticed people were whispering behind my back. Naturally one would start to wonder, however I was never the type of person who listened to idle chit chat but something just didn't feel right in my gut. Questioning my parents, little that it did. They just shared this look and told me I was being silly. You see all of my people had bright coloured auras and mine, well mine was, correction is midnight blue. The time has come for me to tell you my story. We all end up alone, no matter what we do.

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A thick cloud of smoke surrounded her. So thick that she wasn't able to see where she was. Buffy frantically looked around. Nothing.

“Where the hell am I?” Buffy spoke to herself

The slayer sighed in annoyance, pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes. As she slowly opened them a hole appeared in the cloud. She frowned at the very familiar pack porch. Hesitating for a moment, she took small steps towards it. The grass was so green and a slight breeze blew through the trees. It was all so bright and hot it caused Buffy to smile slightly. The smile turned into a quizzical look as she spotted something out of place. A sandbox. A big, red sandbox in the middle of the garden. Bright yellow spade, pink bucket and a half collapsed sand castle with a toy troll sitting on top of it. Since when did they have a sandbox in the garden?

“What the-” she started

Buffy walked around and spotted other unusual objects around the place. A swing, slide and a Wendy house right at the end of the path. Why would I be dreaming of someone else living in my house? Buffy thought.

What would make her leave Sunnydale? Unless she didn't leave on her own accord. Maybe she died. The porch door opened and out came a slightly older looking Buffy. Golden hair resting gently on her shoulders. She carried a washing basket full of clothes. Pausing as something caught her attention but then carried on towards the line. Buffy watched herself hang out little dresses and tops. One thing that caught her eye was a black t-shirt. Just a plain, black

t-shirt. The woman smiled as she hung it to dry and headed back inside. There was only one person that wore those.

“Spike?” she whispered, anger and confusion both evident in her voice.

Not a cloud in the sky. Just a beautiful blue sky, almost like a blanket. The vampire almost screamed when he realised that he was out in the daylight. Instead he raised his hand to the sun and revelled in its warmth, quickly his brows etched into a frown.

“Where the bloody hell am I?” Spike muttered

He walked down the street, noting how familiar the houses were. This was Revello drive, no doubt about it. This. Dreaming of this street, her house was normal for him but never in the day. Never. He came to a halt at the front of Buffy's house and he could not believe the sight before him. There sat in front of him was the most beautiful, tiny little girl he had ever seen. She had golden blonde hair which stood out even more when the sun danced on it. Little legs crossed as she played with a white, fluffy rabbit. The girl looked so much like Buffy it scared him. She let out a little giggle and he found himself smiling. Buffy had started making her way round to the front of the house and her concerns were confirmed. She had a daughter. She watched the little girl play with fascination. Little cheeks red from the heat but this didn't seem to bother her in the slightest. As Buffy got closer to her she raised her head and seemed to be looking straight ahead. Buffy looked to where she was looking but nobody was there. Or so she thought. The child squinted for a moment. She sprung to her feet and ran towards Spike with a huge grin spread across her face.

“Daddy, daddy!” she squealed

Spike's eyes grew wide. Buffy could now see him. Her eyes now wide with horror.

“Oh, oh no,” she whispered loud enough that the vampire could hear.

But before he could turn around the little girl had ran right through him. He froze on the spot as she started screaming. Buffy ran out the house and her daughter ran towards her. She knelt down in front of her and all she could hear was her daughter babbling.

“Baby, slow down and tell mommy what happened,” she said

The girl took a deep breath and started over.

“Daddy is a ghost!” she said with panic in her little voice.

The young mother sighed.

“Daddy isn't a ghost, Chlo, he can't come out in the sun, remember?”

Chlo turned to face Spike and pointed at him.

“But he's right over there...mommy see?”

She looked over at where Chlo had pointed but saw no one. Buffy couldn't believe what was going on and neither could Spike. She tapped Chlo on the tip of her nose and smiled.

“I think someone has been out in the sun a little too long (Chlo frowns) lets go and make some brownie, hey,” Buffy suggested

“Yeah!” Chlo shouted in excitement

She ran into the house, shortly followed by her mother. The instant they left, Buffy marched her way over to Spike.

“What the hell are you doing in my dream?” she demanded an answer, arms crossed, foot tapping the ground.

“Your dream? This is my dream...wait, what are you doing dreaming of me? Is there something you should be telling me, slayer?” he narrowed his eyes on her

Buffy scoffed and rolled her eyes in disgust.

“As if that would ever happen,”

“Well it obviously has,”

“I wouldn't go ten feet near you,” she spat

He sucked his cheeks into a grin.

“You're only five inches away from me,”

Buffy groaned.

“Get out of my dream!” she exasperated

“This is my dream as well so no,”

“I mean it, get out of here or I'll-,”

“You'll what? Stake me? Sing me a new tune sometime, yeah?” Spike interrupted her

Buffy through her hands up in frustration.

“Fine, I'll go,”

she walked as he continued to talk.

“Don't let your brain hit you on the way out,”

They both shot up out of bed, not sure that what they had seen was real.

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It was a good job she got to Willow when she did, otherwise her friend would've been god mush. Buffy had spent most of the day trying to forget about the dream but nothing worked. Then Glory fed on Tara's brain so she had no choice but to take Dawn to Spike, something the slayer dreaded. Buffy entered the cave to see Dawn asleep on some rocks and Spike looking over her. He lifted his bruised eyes to meet hers and his broken body limped towards her. Damage that was done by the hell god.

“Did you stop Red?” he queried

“Yeah,” came her quiet reply

“Good,”

Buffy was awestruck when she had discovered that Spike, the one person that you could least trust and you could guarantee that would sell you down the river for his un-life hadn't uttered a solitary word of the identity of the key, even though he was near death. That made her realise that he deserved to be trusted and that was the main reason he was there now. Watching over her sister like a guard dog. She looked down at her and ran her hand through her hair.

“Buffy,” Spike started

“What?”

“Tell me if I'm wrong but last night did you...did you have a weird dream?”

Her head shot up to look at him. She just stared at him.

“Now is not the time to discuss this,” she hushed and indicated her sister

Whom had just woken up. Dawn rubbed her eyes and yawned.

“Discuss what?” she slurred

“Nothing,”

Dawn snorted.

“You wouldn't be in such a mood if it was-” she started

The cave shook and bits of rock started to fall off the walls. Spike and Buffy ran for the exit. Dawn screamed as one of the rocks miss her head by an inch.

“BUFFY!”

The slayer, grabbing hold of her sister's hand carried on but before they got to the opening of the cave a bright, yellow light came through the top of the cave, sucking them up with it.

The trio landed with an almighty thump, clashing on a hard metal floor. As they got up they took in the surroundings. A massive, heptagon shaped computer in the middle of this room with a tube that looked like one of those bubble tubes. Scaffolding everywhere and the walls looked like someone had stuck balls in them. All of a sudden. A trap door in the floor opened and a brown haired man popped his head up, causing them to jump. They stared at him and he simply stared back at them, bemusement all over his face.

“What? What? (looks straight at them) What?”

That was all they did. Stare. Here they were in a strange place and some complete stranger had just popped up from underneath them? If it wasn't for the fact that they were in Sunnydale they would've thought they were going crazy. Where was this place and who was this man? The man ran his hand through his hair and then ruffled it. He blinked once and realised what he had gone under the floor for.

“One moment,” he said before going back underneath

Banging and clashing of metal could be heard throughout the room. Dawn looked scared. Buffy and Spike just looked at each other. In one swift moment this stranger had come back up with a weird looking pen thing and he waved it about.

“Knew I'd find it somewhere...”

“And what exactly is 'IT'?” Dawn asked pointing her finger at the object.

The man smiled like a Cheshire cat, threw it in the air and caught it.

“Sonic screwdriver, neat little thing (whispers) I invented it you know,”

The teen smiled slightly and her elder sister rolled her eyes.

“Cool...what-”

“Dawn! Don't even go there, okay? We've been sucked into something that looks like a kiddies play room by some weird Martian and you're asking about his toy?” she exclaimed

“What? Martian? Do I look green? And toy? This is...ok it may not be state of the art but it can do pretty much anything I'll have you know,”

Spike snorted and looked around the room. The man carried on.

“And where you are right now, this isn't some kiddies play room as you called it, this is a time travelling spaceship called the Tardis, aren't you?” he spoke to the ship and stroked it lovingly.

This action deeply concerned Buffy and Dawn, Spike however just looked at him and went walking around the Tardis. Firstly they were sucked up by some weird light, then some weird Martian came out from the floor and now he was trying to say he wasn't who he was.

“Are you insane?!? Stroking and talking to something that isn't even alive?”

“She is alive,”

“IT's a machine and what sort of name is Tardis?”

“Time And Relative Dimensions In Space,” he said in a matter of factly way

Dawn laughed and laughed and laughed until she was red in the face. Suddenly turning to a serious expression when she realised everyone was looking at her.

“Oh my god, we've been abducted...”

The slayer glared at Dawn. As Buffy attempted to get her sister to stop laughing, the man pulled out a pair of thick rimmed, black glasses, fiddled with something on the computer, causing a flap on it to open. He reached into the compartment and pulled out a notepad like object and began scanning them one by one. His look becoming even more quizzical as he went on. It was Spike's turn and the vampire grew more and more impatient as he went on.

“I don't get it, nothing, absolutely nothing, no particles, atoms, nothing, zip, zero, zilch...then why were you sucked up?” he questioned, looking at Spike strangely.

“I don't know but you got us here, you're going to get us out whoever the hell you are,” Buffy ordered

The man seemingly ignored her and walked back towards the vampire with yet another frown on his face. Now her temper was wearing thin.

“Don't just ignore me when...”

His frown turned into a smile and he looked like a child who had found their lost toy.

“You have got to be kidding me!”

Spike turned to him and watched the man smile even more and then did something really embarrassing.

“Well I never...it's Willy! Oooh (pinches Spike's cheeks and flicks his ear) little Willy Harkness,”

Spike glared at him and the girls fought to keep the giggles in.

“Get your soddin' hands off me you twit! And don't call me THAT” he growled

He gave Spike an offended look.

“What are you?...wait don't tell me...vampire! Yes! When did that happen?” he narrowed his eyes

Spike continued to glare. Nostrils flared, fist clenched.

“I don't even know you,”

“None of us do,” Buffy corrected

“You don't remember me?”

Agitated huff.

“Course I don't!”

The man nodded.

“Friend of your mother's...timelord, lord of time, I'm the doctor, please don't tell me you've forgotten me?”

Spike's blue eyes roamed the doctor as if he was trying to work something out.

“Doctor who? And of what?” Dawn enquired

“Just the doctor and of nothing, just a name I picked out like Rambo or Superman...what happened to her by the way?”

The vampire stepped up to the doctor and snorted.

“That was a long time ago and she died like people do,”

Another nod. Doctor ruffled Spike's hair. Another growl.

“Why did you go and spoil your hair like that?”

This was just a step too far.

“Do I have to make it perfectly clear? Get your timelord, martiany hands off my hair before I turn you into a Yorkshire pudding!”

Buffy turned to Dawn and mouthed 'Yorkshire pudding?'.

He threw his hands up in defeat but still carried on with his rant. How innocent and lovely Spike was as a child. Tip of the iceberg. When he asked him what happened after he left all he got in respond was 'I don't remember much and it's none of your business'.

The arguing continued and they swapped English insults and the girls had no idea what they were saying. Jibberish was all it sounded like. One look. That one look told Buffy that he was up to something. One movement and he gave the Tardis a hard kick. The doctor looked gob smacked. How could he do that?

“What are you doing!” he squeaked

“Teaching you a bloody lesson is what,”

The doctor stepped toe to toe with Spike.

“And what do you hope to achieve with that?”

Spike chuckled.

“And your hair? HA! Don't get me started on that!” he exclaimed

The Doctor ran his hand through his hair and scrunched his nose up.

“My hair? There's nothing wrong with it,”

“It bigger than peaches and his hair is big,”

He raised a brow and grabbed the vampire's precious leather coat. Who did this guy think he was? So what if he can travel in time. The platinum blonde growled and pulled his hair causing him to scream. Anger written across his face. The Doctor turned his face to the slayer and smiled.

“Easy to wind up isn't he?” he conversed

As if touching his hair and then his coat wasn't enough now he was flirting with Buffy?

“OI! Eyes off my slayer you poof,”

Now it was Buffy's turn to do the glaring.

“I am not your anything,” she corrected

“Oh yes you are and you know it,”

Before Dawn knew it they were all fighting like cat and dog and they were meant to be the adults? Yeah the biggest bunch of immature kids she had ever seen. They made Xander look mature and that was saying something.

The teen crossed her arms as the arguing continued. She tried to drown out the noise but it was no good so she decided to take a better look around the Tardis. It was so beautiful really it got her thinking that maybe just maybe it really was alive.

Running her fingers round the rim of the computer she traced the shape of it and stop at a bunch of brightly coloured buttons. Temptation won and all of a sudden a loud bang bounced off the walls. Dawn jumped but at least one good thing came out of it. They stopped arguing. All looking at her. Dawn gave Doctor a sheepish look.

“Sorry...I didn't do any damage, did I?” she apologised, rushing back to her sister's side

Spike looked hacked off and Buffy scowled at the vampire while the timelord went and checked everything else was working.

“Luckily,”

The slayer turned her attention back to him.

“Can you take us back or not?” she pushed

He nodded in the positive and sighs of relief could be heard.

“Place and year,”

“Huh?”

“He wants to know what year we came from and what place,”

Roll of the eyes.

“Oh that's 2001 and Sunnydale,” Dawn chirped

Turn of a dial and the name was typed in. they were off. Flying through time and space.

A whooshing noise sounded as the Tardis landed in a back alley. Creak. The door was held open by the doctor as they all stepped out and when they did they couldn't believe what they saw. Surely it wasn't that small? Dawn gasped in amazement. Spike seemed less amused and Buffy just stared. The teen looked like she had ants in her pants and then she ran the whole way round the little blue box. The doctor smiled and opened the door again.

“Go on, go look,”

She ran back inside and the ran back out a few moments later, stunned to silence.

“Oh my god! That has got to be impossible! How did you get it to do that?” she questioned eager to know everything she could about this machine.

While he went into a detailed description the slayer noticed something disturbing. There was a burnt out trash can and she went to have a look at the street and noticed something else.

Half of the shop were completely trashed. This wasn't right. On seeing her do this, Spike decided to see what she was up to, frowning as he looked. Avoiding eye contact, they spoke quietly.

“Something isn't right here,”

“Definitely not, we should check it out...maybe this is to do with Glory,” Buffy offered

What happened here? Did Glory ruin this town and kill the closest people to her? Fear and worry ran through her mind as the scenarios played.

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1663 Revello drive. The living room had changed a bit. The odd sofa, chair, table had been removed and it made it look bigger.

The sound of running water could be heard as it gushed into the bath. The dining room hadn't changed except for the computer stuff, which was obviously Willow's. Up the stairs and the water had now stopped.

Ever since the tragic events Willow and her girlfriend Tara had moved in the Summers residence. Because they were the only adults there it was only fit that they took the biggest room. Joyce's room.

At first it was strange being there but after a while they got use to it. Pictures of the Summers girls still mounted on the wall of the hallway. Happier times.

The bathroom was still, like the dead had just come and swept away all the life left in the room. The water began to overflow over the side of the bath and what was there was sickening.

Buffy's still body just floating in the water. What drove her to something like this? It wasn't like she didn't have anyone to talk to because she did. All of a sudden her eyes flicked open. Wide and looking up out of the water.

TBC...