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Disclaimer: The usual, I own nothing, ME & WB everything..

Thanks to Oracleholly and Alwaysjbj for their amazing job at betaing!

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Starts during crush, but Dru arrives at the crypt just after sunset, so the disastrous "date" with Buffy never happens.
Let's pretend in LA Darla and Dru's campaign to free Angelus is still looking promising, Angels already gone pretty dark (firing his co-workers and letting Darla and Dru eat the lawyers) but he didn't set them on fire yet.

Dru finds Spike at his crypt and tries to convince him to join her and Darla in LA, in the hope to assemble the scourge again. She's quite excited about the prospect, which leads to her telling Spike exactly what is happening in LA.

In the darkened candlelit upper chamber of her dear boy's crypt, Drusilla is too caught up in painting out how life will be like once her family is complete once again that she misses the flickers of distaste clear on Spike's face. The first thought on his mind at the idea of Angelus return, is how his Grand-Sire will probably be hell bent on revenge. His Slayer and Red lined up as his preferred targets.

Furthermore Spike is certain that his own welcome will be less than friendly after his betrayal during the Alcaltha-incident. He can somehow find a way to stay clear of the older vampire, but the others will not, at least not without some form of warning. Otherwise Angelus will be able to walk right up to them as long as he manages to pretend to still have his soul.

His pondering leads the blonde vampire to exactly one conclusion; he has to find a way to warn them.

The idea of simply telling them what he has learned is quickly abandoned, as Spike is well aware just how much the Scoobies mistrust him. They'll probably believe any warning he gives them as being a part of some evil scheme of his.

Perhaps there is a chance he can convince them if he agrees to let Red put him under a truth-spell before surrendering his information. But Red has a habit of her spells not going the way she plans, his engagement to the Slayer for example. Plus, a truth spell might potentially lead to revealing his feelings for the Slayer, and he's pretty sure she is not in a state of mind where she will react kindly to that.

The only other available solution he can think of is to have Dru tell the Slayer the news herself with the help of some spell of course. They will never believe a word Dru says otherwise, not to mention Dru won't be too keen on revealing her plans to the enemy. But there's still the fact that his last plan will most surely lead to his Dark Princess ending up as a pile of dust. And that is something he is not quite prepared to lend a hand in, despite the fact that he no longer loves her the way he once did.

While Spike is contemplating other ways to warn the Slayer and her friends about the return of their worst nightmare, Dru's is still dreamily describing what he suspects will be a happy future - in her eyes.

Finally Spike realizes he has no other options than to sell Dru out to the Slayer if he doesn't want to risk Angelus killing the people with whom he wishes so desperately to be friends. He reaches behind the sarcophagus he's sitting on for the cattle prod he keeps there, in case of emergencies, ever since Finn pulled his stunt with the plastic-stake. His hope being that the device might enable him to render an attacking human unconscious fast enough that he at least has a chance to get away despite the chip.

Now though here he is preparing to use it on his sire. Bugger.

Lost in her happy dream of her reunited family, Drusilla does not realize what is happening until she hears a softly spoken "Sorry, princess," directly behind her just as she feels an electric shock which renders her unconscious.

Spike stares at her prone form for a few seconds. Sighing he picks her up and proceeds to chain her up in the lower level of his crypt. He finds himself taking great care not to hurt her unnecessarily during all this, which only adds to his frustration as he is well aware of the stupidity of being so tender with the same person he is about to sacrifice for the lives of people who hate him. But she had been his salvation from mediocrity…his bloody revelation. How could he not be tender with her?

Angered by his inability to think of a way to keep all of them safe, he takes his frustration out on the wall next to Dru's chained form; he stops only once his hands are dripping blood all over the floor. He fears the smell might wake the unconscious vampiress. Not feeling any better after his tantrum than he did before, he slowly makes his way out of the crypt.

After a quick detour to the magic shop to collect everything the witches might need for a truth-spell, he soon finds himself standing in front of the Slayers door, once again debating the consequences of his plan. Everything is decided for him by Dawn's enthusiastic "Hi Spike, what are you doing here? Doesn't matter, come on in - come in!"

Watching her enthusiastic welcome, Spike thinks regretfully that the Nibblet would suffer as well from Angelus wrath. While the others might not even think to thank him for what he is about to do, the little one trusts him and he is surprised to find that he won't be able to live with himself if he allows anything to happen to her.

Now that his final decision had been made, Spike's patience is nil. He needs this to be over now. The consequences weigh heavily in his mind, and he knows they have to act quickly. So he refuses to enter, biting back a growl of impatience, and asks Dawn to send her sister out to him.

Buffy is more than slightly unsure how to react to the vampire's presence. Still remembering vividly what Dawn had revealed to her the night before about his supposed feelings for her, she is not sure if she should go outside. Caught up in her disgust that Spike could entertain romantic thought about her, she's about to give him the brush off; when she remembers he doesn't know she knows, so there is no reason for him to behave any different than he did yesterday. And the thing is, if he showed up at her door offering information about some demon yesterday, she wouldn't have thought twice about going with him. So what if he is telling the truth and in refusing to follow up on this she causes some innocent to die. It made her head hurt.

After she ponders this conflict a few moments Spike gets impatient and practically orders her to hurry up, they still have to get the witches before they can continue. The mention of her friends' involvement causes the Slayer to stop her stalling and follow the vampire out in to the street; after all he can barely plan any embracing romantic gesture or such if he plans to take Willow and Tara along.

On the way to her friends place he is strangely silent and seems to almost completely ignore her presence, leading the Slayer to wonder whether her sister was even right with her assessment of his feelings. At least now she's happy she didn't refuse to come with him, she really could have caused someone's death tonight, for no other reason than her worry that she might possibly be getting into an uncomfortable position, some Slayer she was.

They collect the witches at their place, and it doesn't take the four of them long to arrive at back at Spike's crypt. To the girls' surprise the vampire doesn't enter. He stops outside, shoving a letter into Buffy's hands and asks them to be gone before sunrise then he leaves.

The Slayer is already moving to intercept him, but Willow holds her back. She points out how troubled he had looked the whole way, and maybe they should read what he's written first. If it doesn't explain his unusual behavior satisfyingly they'll probably be able to find him at Willy's for further questioning.

Buffy agrees and finally opens the letter, only to gasp in astonishment after reading the first few lines.

"Slayer,

You're probably wondering what's going on here and you'll know soon enough. But I just couldn't tell you and then listen to you making fun of me, especially with you being the one person who should be able to understand how hard this is for me.

In the lower level of my crypt you'll find Drusilla. Don't worry, she's chained up.

She showed up earlier tonight trying to get me to return to LA with her, so I could join her and Darla in their quest to turn Angel into Angelus again.

Yes, Darla. I know she should be dust, don't worry it will get explained once you talk to Dru.

What's more important is that from what she told me they are well on their way to success.

Now you might remember just what my opinion of the ponce is and why I sure as hell wouldn't want to aid anyone in bringing him back. Should they succeed, you and yours will be on top of his list of people to kill. I'd guess you and Red would be the first to go, and despite what you might want to believe about me, I don't wish to see any of you dead. Well, not anymore.

I don't know if you can do anything about what's going on in LA what with the hell-bitch on the loose in Sunnyhell, but with some warning you'll at least know not to let him in if he shows up in front of your door.

Now I know you well enough to realize you didn't believe one word of what I just told you. That's why there are indigents for a truth-spell on the sarcophagus; the witches might want to try casting it over Dru, so she'll tell you herself.

If you have any understanding of how hard it is for me to give the woman I spent a century with over to you, you'll make sure there'll be nothing left behind after you leave. That way, I can at least pretend I don't know you dusted her.

Spike"

"Son of a bitch, how can he dump these shitty lies on me when he knows I've got Glory to worry about?"

Buffy knows she is being unreasonable, really she does. But she just can't stop herself from automatically searching for a way to deny what she has just read. She has enough troubles to worry about at the moment without having to give up her illusions that Angel's soul always prevented him from doing wrong. She needs to cling to her beliefs especially since having so recently realized her mom will not always be here.

Luckily for her Willow is there to be her voice of reason.

"Buffy, you might want to wait with the accusations. If we go in there and really find Drusilla in the lower level, and how is it that we never even knew there is a lower level to Spike's crypt anyway. Oh well, if she is really there we'll do the spell, but I doubt this is some joke. It would be too easy to call him on it; he couldn't even deny it, what with the letter and all. So I say we go in there and check his story, and if he is telling the truth, then we'll figure out what to do."

Buffy opens her mouth to say more, but seeing her friend's famous resolve-face she decides to just lead the way into the crypt. To the Slayer's disappointment they do discover all the components needed for a very effective truth-spell on the sarcophagus and the blonde vampire's former lover chained up in the lower level. She really had hoped for this to be nothing more than a particularly cruel joke. Not that she had really believed that, since she knew deep down that this wasn't really Spike's type of joke, but she hoped none the less.

Realizing that the vampiress is about to wake up, the witches instantly start casting the spell so the questioning can begin as soon as Drusilla is fully conscious.

Their timing seems to be perfect, as they have only a few seconds to wait after finishing the spell for their captive to open her eyes. Instantly they begin to ask Drusilla to repeat exactly what she had told Spike earlier. After getting the confirmation they needed that what the chipped vampire had written in his note was the truth, they decide to find out if there is more to her story than that which she had told Spike.

By now Willow and Tara are doing all the questioning, as Buffy had gone strangely silent after Dru retold the part about the lawyers. But once all valid information is revealed the Slayer speaks up again.

"You're psychic Dru so explain to me why Angel would do something like that! I mean, he obviously still has his soul, or you wouldn't be searching for a ways to rid him of it. Is he under some sort of spell? What is going on?"

"You really don't understand dearie, do you? He behaves no differently than he always did. His first concern is always himself. Doing something that offers no reward is not in his nature."

"Because he's a vampire? But his soul…"

"No! The nature of who he is, not what. Did you think he was someone else before he met Mommy? Didn't that delightful watcher of yours tell you what Liam was like? Didn't they teach you how the human that was decides who the vampire becomes? You think we're so different now from the way we were before, you know nothing little girl."

"I…that's, ok I'll think about that later, but tell me does that mean there is no chance for Angel to ever be able to stay on his path?"

"Oh there is, if we fail now we won't ever get another chance to get Daddy back. He's going to discover what was foretold to be the reward for the souled one who fights on the side of light, but he won't ever understand, and thus never receive."

"Huh?"

"Silly little girl, no one gets rewarded for doing something if they're only doing it for the reward itself, not in your line of work. I could tell him that, but then why would I."

At Drusilla's last sentence Buffy suddenly turns excitedly to Willow.

"Wills, I've just had the best idea! When she said she could help him but she wouldn't, that's only because she's evil, right, so if she was good she could help. Do you think you could change Angel's curse to work on her? And maybe without the actual curse part? 'Cause what with her being nuts one never knows what'll make her happy..."

To Buffy's disappointment Willow isn't as excited about her idea as she had hoped. The witch fears that dumping the entire guilt that comes with the soul on Drusilla's already broken mind might damage the vampiress too much for her to be of any use; besides Willow is certain that she would feel bad about being responsible for completely destroying someone's sanity - even if that someone is an evil being.

Tara stops them before the two friends can get into an argument over whether doing something bad to an evil being automatically makes the bad deed good, or not.

"I'd have to do some reading to double-check it, but I believe that she'd feel a lot less guilt than Angel about her time as a vampire. A damaged mind often takes unconscious actions to protect itself against further harm. The overwhelming part of her guilt would be blocked from her consciousness, allowing her only to recognize the loss of any desires to continue as she had before, but not forcing her into atoning for her past to relieve the pain. She would effectively be like any human, not forced to take any sides in the whole good/evil thing. If she is as attached to Angel as she seems to be she will probably want to help him though."

After realizing that the blonde witch appears to knows what she's talking about, the three girls agree that Tara should check her information, and if it is confirmed they will leave it until the next evening so they will be able to perform the spell at night.

While the witches put Drusilla to sleep so that they can take her to the magic box without alerting anyone who might see them - people in Sunnydale might live in denial about demons and vampires, but dragging a young woman in chains through town would probably shock even them. Buffy decides to look for Spike, thinking it might be helpful if he's with them when they perform the soul-curse, since he does know the vampiress best.

After escorting the others back, the Slayer makes her way to Willy's where she finds the blonde vampire at the bar just as Willow had predicted.

Spike is more than slightly shocked to see her and becomes instantly defensive; believing she is there to make what happened somehow his fault once again. Thus he's pleasantly surprised when she takes a place next to him and orders a drink before turning to him and actually thanking him for his help.

He manages little more than a slight nod, which she then takes as an invitation to tell him about her plan. Soon it's Buffy's turn to be surprised when instead of getting angry at her for wanting to give Drusilla a soul, as she had expected, he voices the same concerns as Willow earlier.

Once she repeats Tara's theory he doesn't seem to have any objections and she is unable to contain her curiosity any longer.

"Why are you so calm about this? Here I was all prepared for you to go 'you crazy bitch' on me but you seem to like the idea?"

"Bloody hell Slayer, of course I don't like you shoving a stupid soul down Dru's throat, but I was prepared to see her dusted tonight and knowing that it would be mostly my fault. And now you're offering an alternative, how could I be angry with that? If what the blonde witch says rings true Dru won't be too bad off, and she finally gets to be with her precious Daddy without any of us having to endure the git's evil version. So instead of becoming dust she gets to be happy. It's a hell of a lot more than I ever expected."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Oh. So how are you coping Slayer? Couldn't have been easy to hear what your former got up to?"

"How dare you…"

"No wait, you're taking this all wrong again. Didn't say that to make fun of you! 'Twas a serious question."

"Ugh, ok, but I don't think I can talk about it right now, Drusilla said some things, and I have to sort them out for myself first."

"Alright, you do that Slayer, but don't ignore whatever she told because it doesn't fit into your worldview. Don't forget she's a seer. If you ignore it now it might bite you in the arse later on."

Answering him with a curt nod Buffy briefly debates staying and using alcohol as a means to forget everything that's bothering her for just one night. Then remembering Glory and the threat the god still poses to her family she realizes she can't afford to get drunk right now! So she decides to return home, and with that, to the unpleasant task of making sense of the things Drusilla told her.

Too upset with her recent discoveries about Angel, Buffy decides to skip patrol for the night. She is relieved to find that her mother and sister are already asleep when she arrives at home.

After spending most of the night twisting and turning while trying to figure out when she had started seeing what she wanted instead what was really there, Buffy finally decides that she will try talking to the vampiress again after the spell is finished in the hope of getting more information.

The next day she arrives at the magic box in the mid afternoon, sleep deprived but determined to find out the results the research.

To her immense relief there seems to be no problems and when she wonders how they managed to remove the happiness clause from the curse so fast, Willow and Giles state guiltily that they have been working on it for quite some time.

The watcher grudgingly explains, when she questions why they had never told her, that it is his fault. He couldn't decide whether he really wanted to grant Angel this ability to feel perfect happiness. Buffy is shocked at the resentment her watcher still harbors towards her ex, but wisely decides not to call him on it at the moment.

Instead she uses the remaining time to ask how Tara knows so much about psychology. Shyly the other girl explains how she started to read up on what causes people to behave the way they do after her family's return. She just wanted to understand how they could have tried to make her believe she was a demon just so that she would stay at home.

When Spike arrives later in the evening, Giles and the witches are already starting with the spell - Willow had found, that with her new skills, changing the curse to remove the loophole had been no problem at all.

Despite their request for silence, Xander can't resist the urge to comment about how only a demon could possibly sell out his ex to her enemies. Regretting his words instantly when it causes Anya to contradict him by describing - in great detail - some of her most famous cases where she had punished human men for just that. Even Buffy is unable to feel sorry for him, realizing how immensely stupid it is to insult the vampire for essentially saving them from having to confront Angelus again, with absolutely no warning or preparation.

Anya is still talking when the three spell casters finish, although Xander is looking decidedly green around the gills by now. She stops when Giles announces they are now going to lift the sleep-spell they had left intact in order to spare the vampiress from potential pain during the re-souling.





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