Evolution

Evolution

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.