Chapter 1



"Boss, I just got the strangest message for you," Harmony's shrill voice set everyone's nerves on edge. The loss of Fred had hit the AI team squarely between the eyes, especially Wesley and Spike. They had just spent the last 30 minutes listening to Angel rant and rave about Giles not allowing Willow to come to help with Fred. Spike had listened in on the conversation though, and knew exactly why Giles hadn't let Willow come to L.A. Once again, Angel was too sparse on the details causing the wary Watcher to distrust the vampire.







"Well, tell us, Harmony," growled Angel. He rubbed his forehead asking himself why he put up with such a ditzy secretary.







"Don't need to growl at me, I was gonna tell you. It says 'To Randy, Horny, Desperate for a shag, from Joan Umad,' " Spike's head jerked up, "'The heavenly winged one caused the red tree to turn black. Joan Umad must unlock the lopsided-assed one's door and flee before the tree tries to unmake the key again. Be at the corner of 10th and Main, downtown LA tonight at dark.'"







Spike leapt to his feet and tore the message out of Harmony's hands. This got a disgruntled whine from her and a raised eyebrow from the others in the room. Spike studied the message carefully. He understood it perfectly. Buffy wasn't as good at her riddles as Dru had been, but to the other people in the room it was all a mystery. Spike spun around and blasted Angel.







"So, Angelus, what the bleedin' fuck did you do?" growled Spike.







"Why are you asking Angel that?" asked Wesley. He was confused by Spike's reaction to the message. It sounded like gobbledy-gook to him.







"Because the message is for me, Percy. I understand it perfectly," stated Spike still watching Angel's reactions.







"Can you explain it to the rest of us?" muttered Gunn. Spike threw him a glancing look.







"Fine, Randy is me and Joan Umad is the Slayer and the Nibblet. Heavenly winged one would be Peaches over there. Red tree would be Willow.."







"Red Willow is Black Willow? What on earth does that mean?" asked Wes, confusion coloring his voice.







"Red turned black when a nerd killed her bird. Tried to end the world. Message means that Angelus over there did something stupid and unleashed Black Willow. Lopsided assed one is that hellbitch Glory. Her door is the portal to another dimension. When Willow was black she threatened to undo the Key...Dawn...guess she's going to try again. And I would hazard a guess that the Slayer, Nibblet and I are going dimension hopping."







When Spike finished his explanation, all eyes in the room turned to fall on Angel. Angel tried putting his pouting, put upon look across his face, but Spike just snorted.







"Ya did bad, Peaches. Gotta say, though, at least I have never tried to end the world. Looks like you are on your second attempt," Spike growled before he stormed out of the room. He had things to do before he met his Slayer and his Nibblet.







"What did you do, Angel?" asked Wesley, to which Angel shrugged his shoulders. He couldn't figure out why what he had done was so wrong. It had been just a little spell to persuade Giles and Willow to see things his way. He figured Buffy was over exaggerating as always. He waved his hand in dismissal; his ego so great now that he was sure he could handle a little girl like Willow very easily.







As soon as Wesley and the others were out of Angel's office, Wes asked if they wanted to go get some calamari. This was the group's code for meeting at the Hyperion hotel. The group all nodded in agreement and left the building. When Wes, Gunn and Lorne arrived at the hotel, they were all more than a little surprised to find Spike already there. Spike sat on the staircase smoking a cigarette. He looked up when they entered.







"Figured you lot would hoof it over here. Gotta tell ya guys, if there is one thing in this world that scares me, it's the power that Red can wield," Spike sighed, his hands trembling as he took the last puff of his cigarette. He dropped the butt on the floor between his legs and squashed it with his boot.







"What do you mean, Spike? What power?" asked Wesley. He was concerned now that he saw how nervous the vampire was.







"First big spell the witch did was resouling gramps. I kidnapped her to do me a love spell. 20/20 hindsight, glad I didn't have her do it. Girl's fabulous for the big spells, but the little ones go very wonky for the gal," Spike suddenly realized he used a Buffyism, which caused a small smile to grace his lips, "First spell I got caught up in was just after I was chipped. She did a 'my will be done' spell, caused the Watcher to go blind, Harris to be a demon magnet and the Slayer and I to get engaged."







"And Willow did that just by will alone?" asked Wesley. He hadn't realized the young woman had that much power within her, "Why didn't Giles get her to a coven right then and there?"







"Don't know, Percy. You will have to ask him yourself. Red did a spell to link the Scoobies to Buffy to defeat Adam," he paused when he saw questioning looks from the others in the room, "Didn't Peaches tell you lot anything?"







Spike rolled his eyes when they all shook their heads. Well, Spike wasn't expecting much since Angel had failed to inform them of his soul as well. Spike closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, he swore if he wasn't undead he would have a headache.







"Did he at least tell you that Willow was the one that resurrected Buffy?" he nodded slightly when they all nodded at him, "Well that was the thing that really caused Willow to go power mad. She did a spell to make her bird forget they were fighting and Buffy to forget heaven, only she made us all forget."







"Forget what?" asked Gunn.







"Everything," Spike croaked out a bitter laugh, "I thought my name was Randy Giles. And Buffy named herself Joan. Thought I was a noble vampire with a soul at the time. Not sure what broke the spell as the Slayer and I were fighting a loan shark I owed kittens to."







“Kittens?” asked Lorne, who had stayed silent up to that point.







“Ya, kitten poker debt,” Spike answered in a flat, humorless voice, “Then Red got involved with a bad man called Rack.”







“Rack, I have heard of him,” sputtered Wesley.







“Don’t have to worry about him, Watcher, Red got him and got him good. That’s when she threatened to unmake Dawn. I only heard about this after the fact, as I had left town by that time in search of the soul. The whelp did some speech about a broken yellow crayon. Saved the world, he did.”







“Magic has consequences,” replied Wes.







“Yep, that’s what I tried to tell them, but no one ever listened to the stupid, chipped vamp. Willow’s also why the world is full of Slayers. She did some spell that last day in Sunnydale,” Spike glanced up at the window, “Almost dark. It’s been great knowin’ you all, but I got a Slayer to meet in a few.”







Wes, Lorne and Gunn watched as Spike gracefully flowed upwards from the step he was sitting on. They were stunned when he actually stuck his hand out to shake each of their hands. Spike sauntered off towards the basement where there was a sewer entrance, leaving the other men behind, each caught in their own thoughts, wondering what else their boss was keeping from them.







~~~~~~







At dusk, Spike moved out to the sidewalk at the corner of 10th and Main. He extended his senses till he discovered his own tinglies that told him that the Slayer was nearby. And he knew the distinction; this Slayer was his Slayer, his Buffy. Spike moved hurriedly down the street towards the direction the tinglies were coming from. A whooshing sound behind him made him look over his shoulder where he observed a green swirling vortex. His name being shouted caught his attention and he saw his two girls rushing towards him as fast as Dawn could run. Spike surged forward to grab Dawn in one arm and Buffy in the other. He fell backwards into the vortex and prayed that where ever they ended up wasn’t Hell.







~~~~~~~







Giles noticed a strange green light brightly flash as he watched the church go up in flames. Once he knew the children were all safely on their way home, he circled back around to check what was going on. What he found was a very strange conversation between what appeared to be his Slayer and... Spike.







“Where do you think we are, Spike?”







“Best guess is good ole Sunnyhell, pet,” the vampire replied, his eyes glued to the burning church.







“Okay, when are we?” asked Buffy, glancing from the church to the vampire beside her.







“Don’t you recognize the burning building, luv? It’s where I did that ritual to heal Dru. If things are on course, I am now stuck in there with an organ on top of me,” Spike glanced back at Buffy, who for some reason looked ashamed. Giles wondered why, but got his answer immediately from the vampire in question.







“Slayer, mortal enemies, remember? No hard feelings.” Giles watched as Buffy looked down at the church.







“I meant what I said, Spike,” Buffy whispered. Giles almost didn’t hear her words they were so soft.







“I know you did, Buffy. Never doubted you, but I told you before you have to go on living, so one of us is living,” Spike sang the last little bit. This got a small smile out of the Slayer.







“Why didn’t you tell me you were back?” Buffy asked as she rolled on her side to face Spike. Giles thought, ‘Back from where?’







“Was a ghostie in Peaches’ office for several bloody months, luv, couldn’t touch anything. Then when I got solid again, I don’t know. I was ready to come to you, but I let... Angel convince me that you had moved on,” Giles was actually amazed that the vampire appeared to be ashamed of himself.







“No, Spike, never. Andrew let it slip you were in LA with Angel right before...” Giles watched Buffy shake her head before continuing, “I was on my way, Spike. Dawn and I were on our way to you already, that’s how we got to you so fast for the jump.”







Spike rolled onto his side as Buffy scooted even closer to him. Giles felt embarrassed and a bit voyeuristic as he watched the two intertwine their limbs gracefully. He watched as their lips met in what could only be called a meeting of the souls. Giles pondered what circumstances would cause his Slayer to align with the Slayer of Slayers. Spike’s voice broke Giles from his inner pondering.







“God, luv, you know what that does to me,” Spike groaned. Buffy had moved from Spike’s lips to his neck, planting little kisses along the way. However neither Giles nor Spike saw the evil little smirk on Buffy’s lips. Buffy struck without warning, her blunt teeth ripping the skin of Spike’s throat. After she took a small sip of his borrowed blood, she pulled away and growled, “Mine.”







“Bloody hell, woman. Yours, always yours,” growled Spike as he slipped into game face. Giles was surprised at how gentle and reverent Spike was when he claimed the Slayer in return. Spike pulled away from Buffy’s neck letting his vampface fade away.







“Mine,” Spike whispered. Buffy rolled them both over before perching atop of Spike. She reached down to stroke his face before answering his claim.







“Yours, Spike, always yours,” she said as she leaned down to give him a kiss. Giles was startled when a voice sounded out of the darkness.







“Took you two long enough,” snarked the voice. Giles observed a young woman about 18 melt out of the night. She was tall, slender, had long brown hair and blue eyes. Her posture oozed confidence that she knew exactly who she was and what her place was in the world.







“Dawn, where have you been?” asked Buffy, hopping up off of Spike. She put her hand out to help him up. Once he was up he put his arm around the Slayer as she leaned into him.







“Stupid portal dumped me into Spike’s crypt. Dang, that place was nasty before you cleaned it up,” replied Dawn. She approached the couple to hold out a bag towards the vampire, “The all night butcher was on the way so I picked you up some blood, Spike.”







“Thanks, Nibblet,” Spike said as he took the bag from the girl, “We need to get inside, luvs. The mansion or that fleabag hotel across town?”







“Mansion’s closer, but I doubt it has running water right now. Guess it’s the fleabag,” decided Buffy. It was then that Giles decided to make himself known to the trio. When he stepped out of the shadows, both girls gasped his name.







“Watcher,” the vampire declared, slightly nodding his head.







“Would anyone care to tell me what’s going on here?” asked Giles. His eyes darted from one face to another, taking in all three expressions. Spike just glanced down at Buffy and tilted his head towards the Watcher as Buffy and Dawn took on looks of concentration. Giles was most surprised at how the master vampire in front of him acquiesced to the Slayer.







"Giles, um, we're from another dimension," Buffy informed the confused Watcher as she glanced at the burning church, "about six and half years ahead of this one."







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~







THE NEXT AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING







The library was filled with sound as people filtered in for Giles's meeting. Oz, Willow, Cordelia and Xander sat at the table gossiping about the school day, while Giles and Jenny Calendar stood behind the library counter quietly chatting. Buffy came in helping a limping Angel, who heavily fell into one of the wooden chairs. He apparently still wasn't recovered from the ritual performed on him the night before.







Giles moved out from behind the counter, gesturing for Jenny and Buffy to be seated. He seemed deep in thought for a few minutes before speaking.







"Last night, during the incident at the church, I observed a strange green light and went to investigate it. What I found was quite astonishing. We have some visitors," announced the Watcher gesturing towards the stacks on the upper level of the library.







All the heads in the library turned to look to the top of the stairs. Out of the shadows stepped a young woman, a few years older than the Scoobies. She flipped her long, dark brown hair over her shoulder as she gave the assembled group a little wave. Her blue eyes sparkled with mirth as if she had the biggest secret in the world and couldn't wait to tell it. She looked back over her shoulder to the shadows.







The room was filled with gasps when a petite blonde woman moved out of the shadows next. Heads jerked back and forth between the blonde on the upper level and the blonde sitting next to the dark vampire. The group watched as the younger of the two women, the one they didn't recognize, elegantly settled herself on the top step.







"Buffy?" asked Xander, breaking the silence.







"Might want to call me Anne to keep the confusion down," stated the blonde woman. The Buffy now known as Anne moved forward. It was then that the group noticed that she was holding the hand of yet another person.







The hand was pale with black polished fingernails attached to a black leather clad arm. And as the pale platinum hair above dark eyebrows appeared reluctantly out of the shadows the shockwaves in the room were palpable. Crossbows and stakes instantly appeared in hands around the room. Anne rolled her eyes before placing her body in front of the man's.







"Told you this would go over worse than the Buffy bot," huffed Spike, "And I don't have Glory's grotesque toadies to save me from their wrath."







"We'll protect you, Spike."







"Oh scary, Dawn. Protection from the Big Bad Teenager," snarked Spike as he and the older version of the Slayer settled on the stairs; the vampire between the two females. Spike lounged back on his elbows with his long legs stretched out in front of him, Anne's hand resting on his knee.







"What's going on here, Giles?" asked Buffy, her expression showing the shock she was feeling as she watched her counterpart deal with Spike in such a pleasant manner, "I dropped an organ on Spike just last night. How can he be healed already from that?"







"That was six and half years ago, pet. 'll give ya high marks on the damage, but Hell-gods and uber-vamps have you outranked on the pain," replied the vampire in question.







Anne peered over her shoulder at Spike who lifted an eyebrow at her. When she appeared to be about to pull her hand away from his knee, Spike surged forward draping his arm around her shoulders and started to whisper in her ear. Anne's eyes filled with tears as she chewed on her lip.







Angel hadn't said a word yet as it was taking all his energy to stay upright in his chair. He studied the three people sitting on the stairs and he didn't like what he saw or what he was hearing.







"Been over this before, Slayer," Spike whispered, "Several times, in fact. 'm not holding your sins against you and you returned the favor. Now answer these wankers soddin' questions so we can figure out what the hell is going on."







"Well, I for one would like to know what this other Buffy is doing with the evil, soulless, bloodsucking fiend," shouted Xander as he jumped up, knocking over his chair.







"Sit down and shut up, Xander. You will find everything in due time," said Giles as he came up behind the boy and forced him to sit down in his chair, "Um, Anne... you have the floor."







"Thanks, Giles. Well, we are from a different dimension that is approximately six and half years ahead of yours," Anne had to pause to wait for the chatter to die down, "We are the Key, the Champion and the Slayer."







"What did you call yourselves?" Giles gasped out.

Giles leapt from his chair and grabbed his key ring before he hurried into his office. In a few seconds he came back out carrying a big book that he flipped the pages of back and forth, searching for some tidbit of information.

“I recognize that book, Giles, it’s the one that predicted my death the first time,” stated Anne with a little apprehension in her voice.

Heads around the room swiveled from the Watcher to the older Slayer. She just shrugged as the vampire beside her huffed and looked down. Anne turned to look at him before ghosting the back of her hand against one cheekbone. Spike looked up at her, his blue eyes tender and full of love. Dawn leaned in to whisper something in Spike’s ear which caused him to huff again and roll his eyes.

“How many times have you died, Anne?” Willow asked.

“Just twice,” answered Anne.

“So I was around to resuscitate you a second time?” Xander crowed.

“Not exactly. I mean, you were around; it just wasn’t the resuscitation type of death. More like the resurrection type of death.” replied Anne.

"How did you die?"

"When did this happen?"

"Who resurrected you?"

The questions bounced around the room until Anne put a stop to it with the lift of a hand. Even Giles stopped thumbing through his book as the older Slayer began to speak.

"It's kind of a long story, so bear with me. In about three years the Key becomes my sister and there is a Hell-god called Glorificus after her. We protect her the best we can, but in the end she was cut. Her blood opened the portal between all of the dimensions. And since she is made of my blood, I refused to kill her and sacrificed myself. I was gone 147 days and then Willow and the rest of the Scoobies yanked me out of heaven by resurrecting me," Anne informed the group and answering all the questions in one statement.

The room was silent except for the flipping of pages in the book that Giles had gone back to searching. Anne appeared to get a bit more nervous with each passing second until finally she pulled something silver out of one of her coat pockets and began playing with whatever the object was.

Spike reached out to grab the item and when he saw it a look of wonder crossed his face quickly followed by a smirk. He handed the object back to Anne who blushed hotly.

"Should have known you had it, you little thief," snarked the vampire.

"Just a memento. Like last time," Anne smiled brightly at Spike as she scooted as close to him as she could. There was no way she was going to allow anyone anywhere come between her and her vampire ever again, "Besides smoking will kill you."

"Already dead, pet."

"Ah-ha, found it," Giles blurted out, placing everyone's attention on him, "'The Key, accompanied by the Dark Champion and his Slayer, will travel between the realms restoring order to the chaos.' That's why what you said sounded so familiar," Giles's face took on a puzzled look, "How does William the Bloody, a highwayman and ruffian before he was turned, become a Champion?"

"What can I say, Watcher, I have always been bad," Spike chuckled.

"Not again," groaned Anne, putting her hand on her head, "Don't encourage him, Giles. Spike wasn't a highwayman; he was just a really bad..." Anne mumbled whatever the rest of her sentence was behind the pale hand of the vampire sitting next of her.

"No spilling secrets, Slayer."

Anne rolled her eyes at the vampire before turning her attention back to Giles. She removed the hand from her mouth but didn't relinquish her grip on it. She didn't care what any of these people thought; she let their counterparts rule her life before, but never again.

"So, what does all that mean exactly, Giles, 'Restoring order to the chaos'?" Anne questioned.

"I don't know, but we will start researching it, Anne," Giles replied, "Can you please tell us the exact circumstances that led you to travel to our dimension?"

"Um, well, someone in this room did a spell that made someone else in this room go all power mad, again, and we had to leave before Dawn was unmade," Anne declared vaguely.

"Could you be any more vague?" Dawn grumbled, "It's not like you owe any loyalty to any of these people. All they have done is mess with your life from day one. Here's the sitch, people..." Dawn waved off Anne and Spike as she stood up and got into her speech.

"Angel over there, with his evil law firm, did a spell that made Willow go all black and power hungry. AGAIN!" Dawn ignored the glares from her fellow travelers and the confused, incredulous looks from everyone else. "And if the coven in England hadn't shown me how to use my Keyness she would have killed us all. It's not like she hasn't tried before and I don't think Xander and his broken yellow crayon speech is going to work a second time."

"Dawn," Anne hissed, "I wanted to break it to them gently."

"We don't have time for gentle, sis. It's only a matter of time before Willow figures out how to find us."

"I know, Dawnie, but now not only are we running from Willow, we just found out we are part of prophecy. Giles? Uh-oh..." Anne trailed off as she saw the expressions on the faces of the others.

"I would n-n-never do anything l-l-like that," Willow stammered, "I don't have that kind of power." Her eyes filled with tears at the thought that she could ever do anything as evil as the girl, Dawn, had proclaimed she did.

"No, not right now you wouldn't, but you do have the power. When you had to resoul Angelus, that is when you realized what you could do," Anne replied.

"Resoul Angelus," Jenny squeaked out. What she was here for had come to pass in the other dimension? Sudden fear enveloped the gypsy's heart.

"Yes, Ms Calendar, and we all paid for it dearly. You most of all," Anne gritted out between clenched teeth. It was then that she realized that she still held animosity against the computer teacher for not informing them of her purpose in Sunnydale, "And Giles when he lost you, me when I had to send Angel to hell, Spike when he lost... I could go on, but what's the purpose of that?"

"Can you tell us what caused Angel to lose his soul?" Giles asked quietly. The pain etched on the visitors' faces told a story that while vital hurt beyond imagining.

"Perfect happiness, Giles. One moment of perfect happiness and the soul flies away leaving an insane asshole in its place," Anne replied.

"I love Buffy. I would never do anything to hurt her. I don't know who you all are, but you are all a bunch of liars," Angel shouted. Adrenaline surged through his undead body as he leapt to his feet.

The entire room heard the other vampire snort and chock back laughter. The look on Spike's face showed the disbelief he had in the words flowing from Angel's mouth.

"You got something to say, boy?" Angel snarled. Something about this Spike was calling to his demon.

"Got plenty to say, Peaches, just not sure you are ready to hear it," Spike snarled back. He had just spent the last few months having Angel tell him that Buffy wasn't interested, but he now knew that wasn't the case. The surprise mating last night warmed the cockles of Spike's undead heart like nothing else ever had.

"Well, I would love to hear what you have to say, William," Angel said Spike's given name with enough contempt in his voice to make Cordelia seem like the poster child for the compassion of others.

"Fine, I will. The girl declares her undying love for you, but being the poncy git you are, you prance off to LA, but not before informing her she needs to find a normal boyfriend. But you can't be happy with that. Oh no, not for the mighty Angelus. You stalk her, pick the rogue over her, beat up her normal boyfriend and on top of telling her you could never be with her physically because of the curse you shagged Darla six ways from Sunday after Dru revamped the bitch." Angel's jaw hung open at the words coming out of Spike's mouth.

"Angel had sex with Darla?" Anne whispered, "When was that?"

"Dru told me when she came to town," Spike muttered. Spike looked down shamefaced. He now knew that the wooing of a Slayer didn't involve chains; well, unless she specifically requested chains. He peered up at Anne through his lashes and was thrilled to see that she had a faint smile on her face as if remembering something special.

"Angel dusted Darla a about six months ago. How would he have sex with her?" asked Buffy. Her inner Buffy was saying, 'Ewwww'.

"The evil law firm that Peaches now runs brought her back to try and make Angelus reappear. Lucky for us they were unsuccessful," replied Spike.

"Why would I beat up Buffy's boyfriend if I told her to move on?" Angel asked

"Not sure, Peaches, probably why you tried to beat up her last boyfriend, too. What you say and what you really mean are two different things," Spike shrugged indifferently.

"Who was her last boyfriend?" Buffy asked. This was information overload for the sixteen year old. She had a sneaking hunch whose name was going to be said, but something made her ask anyway.

"Spike's been my boyfriend for the last 2 1/2 years. He did go to Africa for a few months and then burned up in the Hellmouth, but other than that..." replied Anne, chuckling.

"Oh great, Deadboy here wasn't good enough for you. You had to boink Deadboy Jr, too? What was wrong with that normal boyfriend that was mentioned?" Xander scoffed. This was going from bad to worse with every passing minute, in Xander's estimation.

"Normal wasn't totally normal, Xander. He was part of a government organization called the Initiative that was hunting down demons for experimentation That's what brought Spike into our orbit as more than an enemy. He was captured and chipped. When he escaped he came to us for protection and help. We had a few setbacks but after awhile he was more of a help than a hindrance," Anne smiled sweetly at the vampire she was talking about, "Riley quit the Initiative, but he never got over his jealousy of Angel... and Spike. I wasn't paying enough attention to him because I was fighting a Hell-god and mom was sick, so he felt justified in getting suck jobs from vamp hos."

"Chipped? What does that mean?" Willow asked.

"They put a microchip in my noggin that zapped me with a migraine if I tried to hurt anything living. Thought it was everything at first, but while we were trying to keep some idiot demons from opening the Hellmouth I found out that it was only humans that I couldn't hurt," the vampire smiled at the memory.

"Do you still have the chip?" Willow just had to ask. She watched Spike glanced at Anne for approval on how to answer the question. And when Anne nodded assent he answered.

"No, chip was a prototype so it went haywire last year. Slayer here opted to get it out," Spike answered.

"My God, What were you thinking, girl? Spike is dangerous. He will kill us all now," Angel sputtered loudly.

"No, he won't. He loves my sister and me with everything in his being. Killing others would hurt us and he wouldn't do that. Besides, he has his... " This time it was Dawn's mouth that the vampire covered.

"What did I say about spilling secrets, Nibblet? Ouch, damnit, are you sure you don't have some vampire in you?" Spike grabbed his hand away from the teenager to inspect the wound she had inflicted.

"Oh stop it, ya big baby. It's not like that really hurt you," Dawn said as she rolled her eyes at him, "Okay, research. I can do research. I have been working with Giles since he needed the help. The First blowing up the Council made even my meager knowledge important. Heck, if you had any knowledge you were recruited to into being a Watcher, even Andrew."

Giles's head jerked up when he heard the news of the demise of the Council. Did this mean he became the Head of the Council by default? This was yet another unsettling bit of news that he really wished he had never heard; or maybe he did. He just wasn't sure at the moment.

Dawn moved towards Giles and took the book of prophecies away from the Watcher. She closed the cover, placed her hand on it and concentrated. Soon she began to glow a slight green color and when the glow receded she handed the book back to Giles. Dawn went to the counter to grab a piece of paper and a pen so she could begin writing down the information she had gleaned from the book.

"What was that, Nibblet?"

"Just something the coven taught me about my Keyness," replied Dawn as she handed the paper to Giles, "Comes in handy for the researching. The last one tells of my origins, Giles."

As Giles began to read the list of prophecies that Dawn had written down, a big greenish demon with horns burst through the library doors. It growled at everyone before falling to its knees, weeping. The crossbows that 30 minutes before had pointed at Spike, now pointed towards the newest demon in their midst. Spike surged to his feet.

"No, don't hurt him. It's Giles," Spike stated matter of factly.

Chapter 3

"How do you know it's Giles?"

"Because I speak Fyarl, among other things," Spike scoffed, "Besides, Demonic Giles is what Buffy got for her 19th birthday thanks to the Buffy Birthday Curse."

Demonic Giles began to growl out his story to the only person in the room who understood him. Spike nodded as he asked pertinent questions at all the right spots.

"Well, this isn't our Giles," replied the vampire indicating himself and his female companions. "He and his Spike got captured by the Initiative which didn't happen in our dimension. As he was makin' his escape he turned a corner and fell into a vortex before he could stop himself. Then he wandered around until he noticed the high school wasn't blown up. He came in hopin' to find help."

Demonic Giles plopped down on the floor knowing he was too large for the chairs. He spoke something else in Fyarl which caused Spike to raise his eyebrow.

"Tut, tut, Rupes, watch your language," Spike chuckled.

"You all seem to take the wackiness in stride, though," Giles commented. It was weird seeing himself as a demon.

"All the wackiness in the world is attracted to Sunnydale, Giles. You should know this," Anne replied, "And to us, specifically. You would think after the Halloween spell and the band candy you would know better than to go out for a drink with Ethan."

Demonic Giles growled from his seat on the floor. Buffy and Dawn both reached down and patted a shoulder. The two Summers girls felt sorry for the Watcher. His transformation had only lasted just under 24 hours in their dimension. Dawn studied Demonic Giles carefully before whispering in his ear causing him to give her a thankful whimper.

"I can get you home."

"Well, I want to know more about how Angel lost his soul," Jenny quietly demanded.

"Well you would, wouldn't you, gypsy girl? Buffy Birthday Curse strikes again!" Spike replied as he settled down next to Anne, "Your turn, luv, it's your story, not mine."

"We were in love and when we consummated it Angel got really, really happy and Angelus came out to play with our doilies," Anne panned.

"Oi, Slayer, I'm the only one who played with the doilies. Angelus played with the gypsy, the fish and the big rock," Spike interjected.

"You have a pet rock, Deadboy?" Xander deadpanned. He loved to watch the souled vampire squirm. A snarl from Spike caused Xander to gulp and turn his direction.

"Don't go mocking things, Whelp. Ole Angelus didn't have just any pet rock. He had Acathla," Spike informed the teenager.

"Acathla? I thought that was just a legend," replied Giles. He glanced at the faces of the visitors and decided that maybe it wasn't a legend after all.

"It's not a legend. It will be here in Sunnydale at the museum in a few months. It makes the newspaper and everything," Spike asserted.

A voice from the hallway outside the library caused the older Slayer and Demonic Giles to scramble for the cover of the upper stacks. Anne stood in the darkness, her hand over her mouth as she watched her mother enter the library. When Demonic Giles laid his hand on her shoulder, she pulled her hand off her mouth long enough to whisper.

"She dies next year, your time. She has a brain tumor and after the surgery, she had an aneuryrism. It burst and she died. I found her."

Demonic Giles made a sound of sympathy as he pulled her into a close embrace. He wondered if he would be able to save Joyce when he made it home. Demonic Giles watched the older Slayer dry her tears and begin to focus her attention on Spike and Dawn. They didn't appear to be taking it any better than she was.

"Buffy, what's going on here?" Joyce asked as she pushed open the library doors. She saw the entire room turn 'deer in the headlights' looks towards her until the young man on the staircase stood and introduced himself.

"Hello, Mrs. Summers. My name is William Jamison. My assistant and I are here in an attempt to interest the young people in starting a poetry club," Spike's voice smoothed out to cultured English tones reminiscent of Giles's.

"Mr. Jamison, that sounds so cultural. I am so pleased Buffy is showing an interest in such things," Joyce replied, "Do you write your own poetry."

"Yes, I do, but it's bloody awful. And please call me William," Spike continued in his cultured voice ignoring the stunned looks from the other occupants of the room. Only Dawn, Anne and Angel knew that William the Bloody wasn't what he pretended to be.

"Only if you call me Joyce, William. And please do recite me an original poem," Joyce smiled up at the young man. He was so polite... and so familiar, but she just couldn't place her finger on it.

"Be delighted, Joyce."

Buffy watched as a debonair Spike charmed her mother with his dashing, cultured ways. This was not the brash, rude, 'in your face' vampire she was use to dealing with. Is this what the other Buffy saw in the vampire? Buffy looked up at the upper level of the library hoping to catch a glimpse of Anne's face but her eyes couldn't pierce the darkness.

"She walks in the sunlight,
My golden goddess,
Where I cannot follow.
Her secret tears at me,
Cutting me with its sharp edges.
And all I can do is wait in the shadows,
Hoping she comes to me, again."

The room was totally silent after William recited his poem. He knew it was an awful poem because that was all he ever wrote, but he didn't think it was that bad. What William didn't realize was that it wasn't the words that affected everyone, but the feelings conveyed behind it.

"You wrote that when she told you," Dawn stated, "How can you remember a poem you wrote two years ago?"

"Photographic memory, Nibblet. Joyce, we still have some things to go over. I am sure Mr. Giles would be happy to escort Buffy home," William suggested.

"That would be fine, William. I just stopped in to let Buffy know that shipment of art I have been waiting for came in and I have to go to the gallery to check on it," Joyce informed William before turning to her daughter, "You know the rules, Buffy. See you at home."

The interruption stopped the momentum the meeting had previously had, causing everyone to break off into smaller groups. The two Gileses were consulting with Spike as the interpreter. Dawn was speaking quietly with the teenage Scoobies. Angel just sat in his chair glowering at everyone.

"I need a soda. Do you have any change, William?" Anne asked as she walked over and put her hand on his sleeve. William absentmindedly dug around in his pockets till he found some change to hand to Anne. "You want a soda, Dawnie?"

"Sure, get me a Coke. A regular one. Not that diet crap you drink," Dawn replied, before turning her attention back to the conversation she was participating in.

Anne left the library to find the soda machine she knew was in the student's lounge. She was sure that Buffy would follow her. Anne knew her younger counterpart was just dying to ask a whole bunch of questions about William. She knew it must be hard for Buffy to understand how things could have changed so drastically that her life no longer intertwined with Angel's and hadn't for a long time even though she herself had been in denial for most of it. Only Spike's sacrifice had brought realization to the seasoned Slayer. Anne just hoped that this Buffy could learn from the mistakes she had made... or was going to make.

"Why Spike?" Buffy's voice startled Anne even though she was expecting it.

"Why Spike what?" Anne asked in pretended astonishment.

"Why are you with Spike? You know he's just going to turn on you," Buffy replied with total conviction in her voice.

"William has fought by my side for the past four years. I think he's proved his trust for me many times over. Besides he doesn't take off when the going gets rough, and he's taken numerous beatings for the sake of keeping me and mine safe," Anne announced as she popped the top of her Diet Coke and took a sip.

"Four years? Where was Angel during all of that, 'cause I have to say not seeing the team spirit between those two," Buffy muttered the last little bit under her breath. She had seen the utter contempt that Spike had towards Angel; as if Angel was beneath him instead of the other way around.

"And you probably won't, besides didn't you hear William? Angel trotted off to LA and went on with his life without you. Unless of course he stopped by for a visit in Sunnydale. Then he expected you to drop everything and be with him regardless of anyone else," Anne announced.

"You're lying. He wouldn't do that, he cares about me," Buffy cried. She couldn't believe the words coming out of Anne's mouth. What had happened in her dimension couldn't possibly be what would happen here. Buffy, in her youthful innocence totally convinced herself of this fact.

"Yes, he cares, but not enough to stay. Not enough to work things out. Not enough to get the soul anchored," Anne spit out as she watched Buffy convince herself that Angel would never leave her.

"I thought we'd always be together. And you're with Spike, how did that even happen?" Buffy asked

"Honestly? I thought we would be, too. Until I realized I wanted to be loved for all of me, not just the girl. And Spike loves all of me; the girl and the slayer. He isn't scared by my strengths or my weaknesses. He's seen me at my best and my worst and he tells me I'm the one." Anne smiled a sweet little grin as she played the private moment over in her mind.

"Angel loves me! He- He's seen me with leaves in my hair a-a-and wet like a drowned rat! And he isn't scared of me! He loves me! He does! And at least HE has a soul!" Buffy cried. This conversation wasn't going the way she had planned. Instead of finding out this was some sick game Spike was playing she was discovering things about herself and Angel she didn't want to hear.

"Things aren't always the way they appear, Buffy. Besides, I didn't mean physically worst or best. I meant here and here," Anne said as she touched her head and her heart.

"How? How did he change so much that he loves his mortal enemy? What changed?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know. You will have to ask him that. It's not like I went out of my way to make him fall in love with me. I was just as disgusted as you are now when I found out. Of course I did say once that hitting Spike was like making it to third base with him. And I did hit him. A lot," Anne replied as she finished her soda and threw the can into the recycling bin.

"But he is an evil, soulless creature. How could you?" Buffy grimaced as her voice filled with utter disgust.

"Spike has his soul. He got his soul for me, to be a better man. He sought it out, fought for it and won it. He won me. Too bad I was too broken to let him know he never needed it. He's not like Angel. There's no curse on the soul and he won't turn on me- on us. He doesn't help me to save his soul. I'm not his salvation. I'm just his. And he's exactly what I need," Anne's voice dropped to a whisper when she saw William, Dawn and Demonic Giles exit the library and come towards the two Slayers, "Besides, you should see him naked. I mean, really."

With that she walked away from Buffy to join her true companions. Anne handed Dawn her soda and linked arms with Spike. She looked up at Demonic Giles and grinned.

"So Giles, didn't you learn your lesson about Ethan after the Halloween spell and me catching you and mom humping on the police car? By the way, you still haven't told me what a stevedore is." Anne's snarky tone of voice caused William to hoot with laughter at the embarrassed Watcher.

Chapter 4

Buffy walked back into the library in a daze. What Anne had told her about Spike ... no, Anne was calling him William now, was hard for the young Slayer to swallow. Giles and Angel had always assured her that a vampire couldn't love because they were soulless, but if Anne was telling the truth they had both lied to her. Buffy was unsure about what to do with this knowledge. Her thoughts drifted back over her encounters with the blond vampire. His devotion to Drusilla was apparent when Buffy had held a stake to her heart a few months before, and his total dedication to healing said vampiress was pretty telling, too.

"Buffy! Buffy!" Giles called her name several times before he got her attention, "You talked to Anne. Did you find out anything interesting?"

"He has his soul," Buffy told Giles. She felt like she was trying to speak to him from the bottom of a well. "Spike ... William." She inhaled very deeply. "He loves her so much he went and sought it out for her."

"Do you think she's lying?" Willow asked.

"No, I don't think she's lying. I also think she would be with him even if he didn't have it," Buffy said blandly as she plopped down in a chair.

"I bet it's all a lie, and they are all evil," Xander sputtered, "They're just here to lull us into trusting them. Then, they'll strike and kill us all." He pointedly ignored the dirty looks he received from the others.

"Shut up, Xander," Giles admonished the boy, "Take my advice, and leave them alone. Please don't meddle in things that aren't any of your business."

~~~~~~~~

A week later, all of the Scoobies except the Watcher hadn't seen much of the other Buffy, her vampire, her sister or the demonic Giles. The four of them kept to themselves most of the time. Willow and Oz had caught a glimpse Anne and William at the Bronze as the couple stood on the upper level watching the crowd. Willow was amazed at how comfortable the pair appeared together.

That's why they were all surprised when a bored Dawn waltzed into the school library and plopped herself into a chair at the table. She groaned a heaving sigh.

"God, I'm glad they kept their affair a secret." The girl widened her eyes and shook her head gently. "I've gotta tell you, it wasn't being ripped from heaven, the double shifts at the Doublemeat Palace, or the patrolling that made her such a zombie. It was the 8 hour shag sessions and the nightmares that did it."

"Shag?" Willow asked timidly.

"Nightmares?" Buffy asked at the same time.

Dawn looked back and forth at the now younger girls. "Shag means sex, Wills, in English speak. Didn't you guys go see Austin Powers? Of course Spike says Austin Powers is a 'bloody poofter'." Dawn rolled her eyes.

"The nightmares?" Buffy urged Dawn now that she had answered Willow's question.

"You remember last year when your biggest nightmare came true, and you had to dig yourself out of your grave?" Dawn questioned the young Slayer.

"Of course, I had nightmares about being buried for months," Buffy replied. She shuddered as she remembered the dreams of dirt falling down on her and filling her mouth.

Dawn's eyes darted back and forth between Buffy and Willow. "When Willow resurrected Anne, she and the gang left her in her coffin. She had to dig her way out."

The room sat in stunned silence for a few moments. Suddenly Willow pushed her chair back, and she rushed from the room in tears. Oz and Buffy jumped up to follow her. Xander trailed behind them He threw dirty looks over his shoulder at Dawn, for upsetting the others.

"I didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings." Dawn sighed heavily. "It's just that we danced around so many subjects then. Buffy came back from heaven, and the only person she was comfortable with was a chipped vampire who was desperately in love with her. Everyone wanted her to be 'normal' again, but she wasn't. She was broken, and the only one that noticed was Spike." Dawn's voice trailed off into a whisper.

"So what can you tell me about the fashions in the future?"

Dawn's head jerked up, and she stared at Cordelia for a few moments. Then, she began to chuckle. Soon, it was a full belly laugh.

"What? What's so funny?" Cordelia asked in a confused voice. She looked at Giles, then back at Dawn.

"You're a higher being, Cordy," Dawn continued to chuckle, "You don't really care about clothes."

"I seriously doubt that," Cordelia said haughtily, "I'm sure I'm teaching all the other higher beings how to accessorize." She went back to filing her nails.

"How does this come about, Dawn?" Giles asked. He grabbed his journal and pen, and he jotted down notes as she spoke.

"Hmm. I know Cordy goes to L.A. after graduation where she hooks up with Angel." Dawn chewed on her lip as she tried to remember what news filtered in from Los Angeles from that time period. "It's not like tall, dark and forehead communicated with us much, you know."

"Please, Dawn," Giles muttered.

"Okay, okay, Giles. Geez." The teenager rolled her eyes. "Cordy became a Seer, then a demon and then a higher being. William said that she died a few months ago in our dimension. Sorry, Cordy."

"I'm dead?"

"Well, that kind of goes hand in hand with being a higher being, you know," Dawn replied. Before she could continue, Buffy, Willow and Oz returned from where ever they had disappeared to. Dawn jumped to her feet. "Anne told me to be nice. Please don't tell on me."

"You're over 18," Cordelia said, "Don't tell me you're afraid of your 'little' sister?"

"True, but she's stronger than me," Dawn affirmed, "Not to mention, William told me he would 'rip my head off one-handed and drink from my brainstem', but he's been saying that to me since I met him." Dawn huffed prettily, and she plopped down in her chair.

"When did you meet him?" Buffy asked. Her eyes drifted up to the upper stacks, and she smiled.

Dawn turned to see that Angel had entered the library, and she turned back to the young Slayer. "Well, the monk-made memories say that William saved me from Angelus after he had Dru kidnap Giles and me."

"Why would he do that?" Angel growled, "The Spike I know would be just as likely to drain you as he would be to look at you."

"What is it with you?" Dawn cried, and she leapt to her feet, "Why do you insist that Spike is stupid because he's impulsive?" In her anger, Dawn forgot that she was calling her Spike William now. "He knew damned well that Buffy would never accept his help if I was dead."

Dawn's tirade was interrupted by a scream followed by an anguished howl from the hallway. William burst through the door carrying a bleeding Anne in his arms. She had a metal bar stuck through one of her shoulders, and she had tears tumbling down her cheeks. William rushed over to the research table and gently sat Anne down. He reached down into his boot and grabbed a pocketknife he had there. William flipped the knife open, and he carefully cut Anne's jacket away from her body.

Anne circled William's waist with the arm from her uninjured side. She shivered in pain as he grasped the end of the rod sticking out the front of her shoulder. Her scream echoed off the library walls when he applied light pressure against her flesh. "It's stuck. It's stuck," she screamed.

"Bloody hell," William grumbled. He rubbed his hand over his face as he concentrated. The bang of the library doors caught the vampire's attention. He turned his glare at Xander, who looked a little green around the gills. Spike spoke to the younger Slayer, "Keep that pillock away from us, or I'll forget he's your friend."

"Spike," Anne whimpered.

"I know, luv. It's the only way," William reassured his mate. He picked the knife up off the table from where he had thrown it down before. William cut the back of Anne's shirt open to expose her back. He placed one hand around the rod, and he pushed against the flesh.

The others gasped in astonishment as they watched a beautiful snow white wing being unfolded from the elder Slayer's uninjured shoulder blade. It was almost as tall as the petite Slayer was herself, and it flexed out as it visibly shook from pain.

"Carefully start to let the other one out, luv," William whispered. He kept his hand around the metal bar. William snapped his fingers at Dawn when he noticed the front of the rod easing into Anne's flesh. He didn't even look at whatever Dawn put into his hands. He just pushed it up against the bleeding hole in the Slayer's shoulder.

Anne's second wing slowly unfolded itself, and it brought the metal rod through her shoulder with it. She smiled wearily at Dawn when the young girl took over wound-pressing duties from William, and the vampire moved behind her. "Dawnie," she whispered.

"Shhh, the rod's out and it's already healing," Dawn whispered back. She tenderly peeled back the cloth to expose the totally healed wound.

Behind Anne, William tended to the injured wing. He had removed the rod carefully, and he was flexing the wing to make sure it hadn't been injured too badly. If we had been alone, I would have licked your wounds clean for you, luv, William projected with a smirk and a naughty picture of exactly what all else he would have licked for her.

"William, how did you know about the wings?" Dawn asked suspiciously. She eyeballed her 'brother-in-law', and she thoughtfully watched his reactions.

"Slayer showed 'em to me before," the vampire admitted. He refused to look at Dawn, and he turned a pleading look at Anne.

"Before when?" Dawn asked. She couldn't seem to help herself. Her intuition told her something more was going on here. Dawn stared hard at the vampire. "You're jealous of her wings, aren't you?"

"Why would he be jealous?" Anne questioned Dawn, "He's got his own."

"What?" Several voices filled the air, but Dawn's was the loudest. All eyes turned on the clearly embarrassed vampire. His eyes shot daggers at the Slayer.

"Can I see? Please," Dawn nagged, "Please? Please?" The girl wasn't above using the Summers pout on William.

"I'll get you back for this one, Slayer," William growled. He whipped off his shirt, and he smirked when he heard the gasps of appreciation from the teenage girls, including the younger Slayer.

"Good Lord," Giles exclaimed. He whipped off his glasses, and he polished them on his shirt tail.

Everyone, except Anne, stared at the handsome jet black wings that unfolded from the vampire's shoulder blades. The vampire spread the wings wide, and he flapped them just enough to cause a small breeze. Then, William folded the wings in so that they disappeared from where they came from. He grabbed his shirt, and he roughly pulled it back on.

"Wouldn't have had to show you wankers if the Whelp hadn't tried to kill me." William scowled at Xander. "Slayer jumped in the way, and the stupid git stabbed her." He went back to Anne where he rechecked her wounds to make sure they were healed up. William watched her solemnly as she folded up her wings and hid them away.

"Can you please explain to me what exactly we are seeing here?" Giles demanded. He grabbed his journal and pen again. He had a feeling that he better keep both within close reach while the transdimensional visitors were around. "And then I think Xander had better explain his actions."

"Look here, Watcher," William drawled, "We came by to find out what you lot had found out about the prophecy. We also came to tell the little Slayer about the robot her mum's dating when your boy over there attacked us. We didn't come to tell you all our secrets."

"As true at that may be," Giles acknowledged, "This secret was inadvertantly revealed, and I think it's of great importance."

Anne laid her hand on William's arm. "We can't tell you much about it, Giles, because we don't know ourselves. We accidently discovered mine when William revealed his soul to me by hanging himself on a cross. They just kinda popped out on me."

"Bloody scared her half to death, it did." William chuckled with the memory.

"You hanging yourself on a cross or her sprouting wings?" Dawn asked, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"About the cross or the wings?" Anne questioned back, "It wasn't like you cared about William at the time, and I wasn't sure what to say about the wings." Her eyes locked with William's. "It explains the cellular sunburn and the chip's non-reaction though."

"I did care," Dawn cried, "I was just too young and stupid to understand things." She noticed the rapt audience. Dawn quickly changed the subject, and she rounded her attentions on someone else. "What is your problem, Alexander Lavelle Harris? Can't you keep your prejudices to your own dimension?"

"I was just trying to protect us from them. They're evil," Xander argued, "I was shown the true path of things." He rushed out of the library leaving an entire group of flabbergasted friends behind.

"Bloody Hell. I think the Whelp's someone's bug eating butt monkey, again," William muttered. He led Anne over to the stairs where he sat down and, he pulled her down on his lap. He didn't care what any of the others thought.

"That was new," Anne said from her position on William's lap. "The only things we had to worry about until Drusilla put the Judge together were Ted the robot and the Bazor demon with its eggs. Well, and the Gorch brothers showed up thinking they could take me."

"Crap, and we needed Xander to get the bazooka," Dawn sputtered.

"Won't need it if we can get one piece of the Judge before it gets to Dru," William said, "Shouldn't be a problem if the parts are all in the same place they were in our dimension."

Chapter 5

Anne and William stepped off the boat onto the Sunnydale dock. They had successfully taken the arm of the Judge out to sea, and they had dumped it overboard. William was pretty confident that Drusilla's minions wouldn't be able to find it. It was then that they noticed Xander skulking around as if he was looking for something. By silent agreement, Anne and William decided to follow the teenager when he decided he couldn't find what he was looking for. The mated pair followed Xander at a distance. Either the boy didn't know they were there or he was ignoring them.

Anne and William were both surprised when Xander entered the factory that housed Drusilla and this dimension's Spike. They snuck up to spy through the window.

Did this with Angel last time, Anne chuckled silently. She peeked through the window. Anne gasped at what she saw.

What, luv? William asked when he heard the gasp.

This is worse than seeing you with Anya, Anne answered. She made her alcohol 'ick' face.

What? William moved up so he could look in the window, too. The vampire actually blanched at the sight. Below in the main room of the factory, a disgusted Spike watched as a naked Drusilla pressed Xander's face between her legs. Bloody Hell. I thought catching her with Angelus was bad. This was revolting

Look at Spike. He's thinking the same way. Anne chewed her bottom lip. You think he'd talk to me?

Worth a try, luv. I can sneak you in the back way. William leapt down off of the boxes, and he landed quietly on the pavement. He smiled when his mate landed next to him, and he brushed her cheek with the back of his hand.

Anne and William snuck quietly into the factory. They had no idea that the vampires in the main part of the factory were partaking in an orgy and were unaware of anything going on around them.

Anne slipped up behind the wheelchair, and she caught Spike's shoulders. "When did Xander start shagging the ho, Spike?"

Spike started in his chair, but he was unable to break away from the Slayer. He idlly wondered why she hadn't staked him yet since she had the perfect opportunity. "The night you threw the organ on me, bitch. Let me tell you, that boy isn't the same one Peaches offered to me at your school, Slayer." A growling filled the room at his first words, and Spike turned his head just enough to catch a glimpse of ... himself keeping watch out the door behind him.

"Crap," the Slayer muttered. She moved away from Spike, and she paced the floor. "That means he showed up the same time Demonic Giles and we did."

Spike whirled his wheelchair around to confront the Slayer and the imposter. "The git smells like Drac and his brides," he growled. Spike was more than a little surprised by the non-shocked looks on faces the Slayer and the other vampire. He knew he couldn't fight both of them, not from the wheelchair. So, he knew he had to go along with them until he could figure something out.

"Well, guess the Whelp's not a bug eating butt monkey for someone new," William snarked.

"Why would he hook up with Dru?" Anne asked.

"Dru liked Drac," Spike and William spoke at the same time. They each eyed the other carefully. William spoke softly, "Do you think a thralled Harris would off himself?"

"I don't know." Anne pressed her hand to her forehead, and she plopped down on Spike's bed. "Where could Xander hide ... well, Xander, that no one would know about." Anne looked back and forth between the two vampires. "Your crypt! No one from now would know about it."

"True. With all the sub basements there's lots of places to hide things." William smirked at Anne, and then leapt out of her way when she flew at him. "Hey, luv, no fair beating up your mate this way."

"It's your turn to be in the chains anyway," Anne remarked. She turned her back on the vampire, and she playfully stuck her nose up in the air. Anne had completely forgotten about their audience of one.

"Mate? Chains? What the bloody hell is going on with you two?" Spike demanded. This was just way, way too weird. He sniffed the air, and he realized that the pair in front of him smelled different. Their two scents had combined into one scent that clung to both of them.

Before anything else could be said, there was a commotion in the main area of the factory. William put one finger to his lips. He quietly snuck out the door and down to see what was going on. He was back in just a few minutes.

"Angelus is here, and he's none too happy with the Whelp at the moment," William muttered, "Guess she shagged him even after we warned her."

"Are you sure? Maybe it's just a ploy," Anne said, "He pretended with Faith when she was siding with the Mayor."

"The Rogue Slayer isn't Dru, luv. Last time she knew the second he stepped into the factory." William grabbed Anne's hand, and he dragged her towards the door. He turned toward the wheelchair bound Spike. "Be careful, mate. Angelus knows about us, and our claim."

"Probably knows about the other thing, too. I kinda let it slip when Buffy was talking to me," Anne said softly.

William chuckled. "I know, pet. Vamp hearing. I also heard you say I didn't need it." William looked over Anne's shoulder at the perplexed vampire. "I went to see a demon about a girl. Told him I wanted to give her what she deserved, and he gave me my bloody soul."

"Bugger," Spike muttered. He studied the pair as they stared into each other's eyes. Spike was stunned to see the sparks that flew between his counterpart and the Slayer. He studied both of them carefully. The Slayer was still petite, sleek and powerful, but she had lost the roundness that she had as a teenager. Spike could tell this Slayer had seen her share of tragedy. The other Spike didn't appear any different than him, except around the eyes: a little more life-worn, a bit more tired, but wholly in love with the woman in his arms.

Dalton burst into the room, and he mumbled, "Angelus is coming for you, Master Spike. He plans on dusting you."

"Ponce," William growled, "I think you and Dalton here need to find some new lodgings. Better grab what you need."

Spike wheeled over to a large chest in the corner. He opened the lid, and he pulled out a small suitcase and a strongbox. Spike was surprised when the Slayer hurried over and took the suitcase from him. He kept the strongbox on his lap, and he motioned for Dalton to push him.

The four unlikely companions slipped out of the back of the factory. They kept themselves on alert as they went to the garage where Spike stored his DeSoto. As they were loading everything into the trunk, Anne smoothed one hand down one of the fenders.

"Look, so nice and smooth," Anne murmured. She turned innocent eyes on William who smirked at her.

"Mate, never ever let the Slayer drive your car," William snarked to Spike, "There are two things she can not do even under the threat of an apocalypse." He ignored Anne when she let out an indignant gasp. "One is driving, and the other is cooking."

"I can too cook." Anne stomped her foot and pouted prettily. She waved a forefinger in the air. "I can dial Dominos and the chicken place with the best of them, I'll have you know."

"That you can, luv." William held the front passenger side door open for Anne. "Where to, mate?"

"Hell if I know," Spike grimaced, "It's not like I planned on stayin' anywhere else in this soddin' town." He watched how the two maes had a silent conversation in the front seat.

Finally Anne spoke up, "You can stay with us as long as you both keep your fangs to yourselves. You have to drink pig's blood though." She giggled when she saw the two vampires in the back seat grimace. "Don't worry, Spikey. You'll get use to it if the government stuffs a microchip in your head that gives you pain when you try to kill any humans."

"Don't grimace too much there, Dalton," William snarked, "In our dimension, the Judge burned you up by this time. He said we had too much humanity."

Silence descended on the two vampires in the back as they both became lost in their own thoughts. Spike haphazardly listened to the conversation occurring in the front seat, while Dalton just wondered what he got himself into. One volatile master vampire was bad enough, but two? He hoped he wouldn't live to regret this decision.

The car pulled up to a two story house in a decent enough neighborhood. The Slayer got Spike's suitcase and strongbox out of the trunk, while William got the wheelchair situated so Spike could maneuver into the offending object. William wheeled Spike into the house, and he placed the vampire in the living room.

"Come in, Dalton," Anne said at the doorway. She walked into the foyer, and she put the things she was carrying to the side. "Dee, Giles, we have guests."

"Anne! William!" Footsteps clomped down the staircase. "Non-demonic Giles and Willow came by looking for Buffy. She's been out with Angel." The girl stopped at the entrance of the living room. "Oh, you brought Spike with you."

"We've got lots to tell, Dee. Let's wait for Giles," Anne said. She puttered around the living room, and she poured drinks for William and Spike. When she offered one to Dalton, the bookish vampire politely refused.

Spike was surprised when a Fyral demon slipped into the room from the kitchen, and it must have showed on his face. He took a deep gulp of his whiskey when Anne launched into her explanation of things.

"We're from different dimensions, Spike. William, Dee and I are from one about 6 and half years ahead of this one." She indicated the three of them, and then she pointed to Giles. "Giles here is from two years ahead, and the Xander that was at the factory is from about 2 and a half years ahead."

"How the bloody hell did all this happen?" Spike asked. His eyes slid from one person to another.

"Not sure about the others, but the Nibblet here brought us here," William informed Spike. He suddenly looked at Anne with a certain amount of terror in his eyes. "Luv, what if Red was successful in some dimension and she unmade Dee?"

Chapter 6

"Dimensions will pour into one another with no barriers to stop them. Reality as we know it will be destroyed, and chaos will reign on earth," Anne whispered.

"What was that, luv?" William asked.

Anne shot a quick glance at Giles before she spoke again. "That's what Giles said when he told me if Glory opened the portal I would have to kill Dee."

William growled low in his chest, then he said apologetically, "Sorry, I still have issues with our Giles."

"Could this be the chaos that the Codex mentioned?" Dee asked, "Portals opening all willy-nilly?" She looked back and forth from William to Anne.

"I expect so, Nibblet," William answered, "Giles here showin' up the same night we did would be a coincidence, but a Xander showin' up, too? Somehow I don't think so." He got up to pace around the room a little. "Might be time for us to take a closer look at those prophecies that Nibblet found."

"I hate prophecies." Anne pouted. She pushed her lower lip out, but she smiled brightly at William when he came over to stand in front of her.

"I know you do, luv," William replied. He helped Anne to her feet. "Giles, you and Dee check out my crypt. Dee knows all the secret hidin' spots. The Slayer and I are goin' to the library to let the Scoobs know what's happenin'."

"What about us, mate?" Spike asked. He found it strange that these four beings trusted him enough to leave him in their house. Of course, they seemed to have a close relationship, and one of them was him.

"Dee, show Dalton the room he and Spike can share," Anne replied. She turned to the bookish vampire. "Remember what I said!" She wagged the pointy end of a stake in his direction to show that she was serious.

Dalton quaked under the fierce gaze of the Slayer until William spoke up, " Buck up, Dalton. Her bark's worse than her bite." William just smirked when Anne's gaze turned from Dalton to himself.

While Dee showed Dalton the bedroom, and where the pig's blood was stored, William helped Anne put on her coat. As soon as Dee and Dalton returned to the living room, the four dimension travelers departed. The two vampires left behind just stared at each other. They had no idea what the heck was going on with their unlives or what they should be doing next.

At the end of the front walk, Dee and Demonic Giles went one way while Anne and William went the other. The cemetery that housed the crypt that William had spent 2 1/2 years calling home was just a few short blocks from the house that the group had rented for their stay in this dimension.

Demonic Giles and Dee entered the crypt cautiously. Dee pointed to where something had been disturbed. She showed Demonic Giles how to move the sarcophagus to expose the trapdoor down to the lower levels. The pair silently searched each level until they came to an almost hidden cove. There they found a disheveled Xander with duct taped hands, feet and mouth. Dee ripped the tape off of the boy's mouth.

"Thank God you found me, guys," Xander gasped, "After that meeting at the library I went home only to find myself waiting for me. Talk about wacky." He smiled gratefully at Dee who was cutting the tape off of his wrists and ankles.

"Anne and William saw him at the factory with Drusilla," Dee announced, "Then Angelus showed up threatening to stake Spike because of William. So, they rescued him." She moved away from Xander, and she gestured for him and Demonic Giles to follow her.

Xander followed for a few seconds until it dawned on him exactly what Dawn said. "What? They rescued Spike? Why would they do that?"

Dee whirled on the teenage boy. "Could you kill your other self? Or let someone else kill him?" Her eyes flashed in anger, and Xander took an involuntary step back while he shook his head. "Thought not."

"She's scary," Xander whispered to Demonic Giles out of the side of his mouth.

Dee had already started walking away from the pair, but her voice floated back to them. "I heard that, Xander. Besides, gotta live up the rep of my biological parents, now don't I?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spike slouched in his wheelchair while he watched television. He hadn't been all that surprised to find a videotape of Passions set up in the VCR. It seemed that his dimension traveling counterpart enjoyed the soap as much as he did. A sudden pounding on the door caused the master vampire to sit up straight in his chair.

"Please, open up," called a weak voice. Spike recognized it as the Slayer's voice. Somehow he had a feeling it was his Slayer. His Slayer? Yeah, his Slayer. Obviously there was a whole lot more than hate between him and the petite teenage girl.
Spike wheeled to the door, and he leaned forward to open the door. He let out a gasp of surprise when he saw Buffy crumpled on the doorstep. Spike's nostrils flared as he drank in her scent. All he could smell on her was her bath products and her very inticing aroma of her Slayer blood.

Buffy gasped when she saw who answered the door at the older Slayer's house. She surely hadn't been expecting to find Spike in his wheelchair there. Buffy avoided looking at the vampire's face and the healed burn marks she knew she caused.

Spike scanned the street the best he could from his position, but there wasn't anything out there to worry about. He put a hand out to the Slayer who looked at it like it was a snake. "Promised the other Slayer and her mate I would keep my fangs ta m'self. That includes you, Slayer. Now come on in the house before you attract company." Spike rolled backwards to give Buffy room to enter the house. "Dalton, find a first aid kit."

While Dalton searched the kitchen for the first aid kit, Spike led Buffy into the living room. He got her settled into one of the hardbacked chairs so he could evaluate her wounds. Spike surprised himself when he was glad none of the wounds were too deep or would scar her beautiful skin. When Dalton handed him the first aid kit, Spike gently cleansed all of the Slayer's scratches.

"What happened, Slayer?" Spike asked, "You don't smell enough like the great brooding poofter to have shagged the soul out of him." He sat back in his wheelchair, and he studied the play of emotions on Buffy's face.

"No, we were just talking," Buffy whispered, "I told him I really did love him and that the other Buffy and her Spike showing up didn't change my feelings for him. I told him that we would find a way to get his soul anchored." She paused as she thought about the events of the evening. "The next thing I knew he was telling me how pathetic, young, and stupid I was." Buffy covered her face with her hands.

Spike was at a loss to know what to do. His experience with females was limited to mainly Dru who was easy to get out of a pensive mood. So, he did the only thing he could do. He ordered Dalton to get the Slayer a Diet Coke out of the fridge while he patted the girl awkwardly on the knee.

"They said it was sex that would make him happy," Buffy whispered, "How was I suppose to know..." She broke off and sobbed quietly. Then, she continued on, "I've been watching them, the other Slayer and her Spike. I've always wanted someone to look at me like he looks at her."

"How's that, Slayer?" Spike found himself asking.
"Like how you looked at Dru that night with the vampire groupies," Buffy whispered. She looked up at him with tear filled green eyes. "Like there's no one else in the world, but me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

William and Anne arrived at the library to find Giles and Miss Calender discussing the anchoring of Angel's soul with the Scoobies. They looked up when the older Slayer and her vampire entered the library.

"Just stopped in b'fore we go out on our date," William announced, "Gonna hit all the places we shagged in before our Sunnyhell turned into a big huge crater."

Willow blushed bright red since she now knew what shagging meant. She glanced at Giles who appeared to be a little red around the ears himself. Willow heard the words come out of her mouth before she could stop them, "Did you guys shag in a lot of places?"

William smirked at the red-headed teenager while he winked at her. "The Slayer's a minx, alright. Can't keep her hands off my tight bod." He danced out of the way when Anne turned her attention towards him.

"Oh yeah?" Anne countered, "Who was it that was all 'you belong in the darkness, with me'?"

"A bloke can be wrong on one or two things in his unlife, luv," William purred, "Now you loved every minute of it, even if you wouldn't admit it to yourself. You know you did."

"Wasn't my idea to have sex on the balcony of the Bronze." Anne's indignant voice filled the library.

"Wasn't my idea to shag all night long and demolish a buildin'." William snarked back.

"You demolished a building?" Willow asked shyly. She blushed redder and redder as the conversation progressed.

"Yep," William replied smugly, "Demolished the upper section of my crypt and the neighbor's rose bush, too."

Anne blushed. "You know the next day she asked me how two cats in heat could destroy such a large bush."

William burst out laughing. "I would have paid money to see the look on your face, Slayer."

"Shut up, Spike." The comeback was so automatic that she forgot to call him William. She watched Xander carefully as she spoke her next words. "There's one place that we never tried out, sweetie."

William took on a look of concentration. "There can't be, luv." He held up his hand, and he began to fold down fingers as he spoke. "Abandoned house, check. Crypt, check. Bronze, check. Neighbor's yard, check. Training room of the Magic Box, check. The basement, check. The alley behind the Doublemeat Palace, check. No, luv, I think we christened every place in Sunnyhell."

"Anya told me about this one. Actually she told all us girls about it while the guys were off buying hot dogs at the beach," Anne announced, "It was right before Dracula came to town."

"Dracula's real?" Cordelia asked. She noticed that both Anne and William were watching Xander carefully.

"Of course the great mast... Dracula's real," Xander sputtered, "Why else would that dude write a book about him?"

"Anyway, Anya was telling me about this great little alcove in the mall that's perfect for a guy to..." Anne broke off when Xander interrupted her again.

"Dracula's so handsome and powerful." Xander was interrupted when Dee, Demonic Giles and well, Xander burst into the library.

"You! You life stealer," Xander spluttered at the older Xander, "What's the meaning of hitting me over the head and tying me up in some nasty old crypt?"

The older Xander took one look at the group and bolted, but William easily caught him. Anne indicated the cage at the side of the library where the more expensive and racy books of the collection were kept under lock and key.

"One problem solved as long as he doesn't escape," Anne announced, "On to the next one. Angelus is on the loose, and Spike's at our house now."

"Spike's at your house?" One Xander yelped, while the other one muttered, "Why is Captain Peroxide at your house? Are you looking to get eaten or something?"

Anne whirled on the caged Xander, and she spat out between gritted teeth, "You're one to talk. We saw you with your head between that ho Drusilla's thighs. Anyanka is going to have a field day with you when you get back to your dimension."

"Someone called my name?" A strikingly beautiful young woman appeared in a poof of smoke. She glanced around the room, and her eyes lit on Anne and William. "Buffy, Spike. Is that you?" She didn't wait for them to answer before she rushed to fling her arms around the duo. "Hoffy rescued me from the high school. He said I had some old friends to help. I didn't know he meant you two."

"Hello, demon-girl," William replied uncomfortably. His eyes kept sliding sideways to the blond woman beside him, but much to his amazement the Slayer didn't even blink an eye at the other woman hugging him.

"Anya, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I've missed you," Anne whispered while she hugged the other woman.

"Oh my God, you two are mated," Anya gasped. She stood back from the couple with her hands on her hips. "It took you two long enough. Are the orgasms better now then they were before?"

"Anya!" Anne spluttered. She noticed that the others were looking at them in shock and expectation. "This is Anyanka or Anya Christina Emmauelle Jenkins. She was a vengeance demon, then a human, then a vengeance demon, and then a human." Buffy ticked off the changes back and forth for Anya on her fingertips. "Are you a vengeance demon again, Anya?"

"Not so much. Hoffy said I would be needed in another capacity," Anya replied, "I no longer exact vengeance. I exact justice in the name of the Dark Champion and His Slayer." She said proudly. "Guess that's you guys."

"Anya, darling, is that really you?" the caged Xander asked. He put his fingers through the cage wire, and he rattled the door. "Won't you let your Viking sex god out?"

"Xander, you haven't been my Viking sex god since you left me at the altar and without orgasms." Anya went to stand in front of the cage. "Those were just the-world's-about-to-end orgasms we had when were fighting the First. So, get over yourself."

"Is it safe to assume that this young lady is from your dimension, too?" Giles asked. He wasn't sure what he thought about the young lady. She was quite attractive but strangely forthright.

"Rupert!" Anya gushed. She rushed to the Watcher, and much to his embarrassment she pulled him into an affectionate embrace.

"Look, Joan. My Da is smooching on the tarty stepmom, again," William said snarkily. He quickly stepped behind the Slayer when Anya whirled around to stare at him.

"Careful, nancyboy or I'll make you very desperate for a shag," Anya snarked back. "I'll put a hex on you."

"You guys are weird," Cordelia grumbled. She was getting bored with the proceedings, and she wanted to go home.

Everyone jumped when the library telephone rang in the office.
While Giles answered the phone, the others got comfortable. William and Anne sat down on the stairs with Anya and Dee. Demonic Giles hovered nearby. Xander went to sit by an irate Cordelia who just realized that she had been talking to the wrong Xander for weeks. By the time Giles was off the phone, the dark haired cheerleader had decided to ignore both versions of Xander.

"That was," Giles paused dramatically, "Spike. He says that the younger Slayer is at your house. Apparently she was telling Angel that she loved him and about the soul anchoring when he turned into Angelus on her. He hurt her a little bit before she got away."

"Spike," Willow eeped, "Won't he try and hurt her?" She glanced quickly at Anne and William and then away again.

"Hardly," Anne replied. She caressed William's hand. "We have Spike's word he'll keep his fangs to himself, and he always keeps his promises."

"Buffy's is going to wait at your house," Giles announced, "She said her mother is out of town. So, there's no one at her house and she doesn't want to be alone in a house where Angel has an invite." He crossed the room to stand beside Miss Calendar. "Looks like we need to do more than anchor Angel's soul."

"Tell them your chaos theory, William," Dee piped up, "We need to study the prophecies some more." She went to where she knew Giles had been keeping the paper she had written out before. Dee took the paper out, and then she returned to her seat.

"Captain Peroxide can think for himself?" The thralled Xander asked. He continued to grumble and be insulting even though the rest of the room actively ignored him.

Anne glanced at William, and she decided to start since she had been the one to actually witness the event he was thinking about. She bit her lip for a second, and then she started to speak. "Two and half years ago our Willow was under the influence of black magic. One of the things she threatened to do was to put the Key back into its mystical form, to unmake Dee. William thinks that maybe in some dimension that happened, and that's the reason for the unexpected portals bleeding through."

"Hey, hold on," Dee declared. She rustled the paper as she looked over the lines of prophecy. Dee's finger traced the words as she quickly skimmed the page. "Bleed, bleed. Here it is, 'The Key will bleed until the One joins the journey and seals the wound'." She finished speaking, and she showed the passage to Giles.

Giles restudied the prophecies once again, and this time something clicked when he read a particular one. "Listen to this. 'Within the Codex lies the word that can only be accessed by the Key to heal the rift caused by the angry tree. Find all the words spread out among the tomes ... so mote it be.' Bloody Hell, that wasn't there before."

"Yes, it was, Giles," Dee replied, "I remember writing it. This is my handwriting." She took the paper from Giles, and she showed it to Anne and William who both agreed it was indeed her handwriting.

"Well the other two prophecies found read 'Red becomes black; black becomes red, but not before the Shade is discovered', and 'The blood that burns within the Key burns within the sister-mother and the demon paladin'," Giles recited the other prophecies out loud.

"Have I mentioned lately how much I hate prophecies?" Anne grumbled. She edged closer to William for comfort.

"The prophecy that I first remembered is straight forward. The three of you are to restore order to the dimensions," Giles replied informatively, "Although at this moment in time we are unsure of what the chaos is exactly."

"The next one talks about me bleeding until the One, with a capital O, joins the journey and seals the wound." Dawn scrunched her brows as she studied the words. "Since I'm not physically bleeding, maybe that's metaphysical? But, who is the One?"

"Another Slayer, maybe?" Willow asked rhetorically. "And if what you guys said is true about me, then the red turning to black and back again, would be about my counterpart, maybe? That doesn't explain the Shade part though."

"So, three mysteries so far." Giles jotted some words down in his notebook. "Chaos, the One, and the Shade. The next prophecy, Dee?"

"Codex ... rift ... spread out." Dawn skimmed over the sentence. "I don't think these are all the prophecies. There's not enough information in just these five." She nibbled on her lower lip. "I get the feeling that with each new dimension we'll have to find a copy of the Codex."

"Thank God, Giles packed up his collection before we blew up the high school then, wasn't it?" Anne muttered.

"You blew up the high school?" Oz asked. He was pulled out of his usual silence by that little tidbit of information.

"I tend to do that a lot," Anne answered, "I need to go on a twelve-step program for making things go boom." She grimaced at William before she ducked and pressed her face against his upper arm.

Dee grinned when she reread the last of the prophecies that they had uncovered. "The last one is about who's blood the monks made me out of."

"The sister-mother and the demon paladin," Anya replied, "That's pretty obvious. Buffy is the sister-mother and Spike is the demon paladin."

"That could easily mean Angel," Miss Calendar replied, "He is here to help Buffy after all."

"Hoffy showed me some things," Anya said in an informative manner. She just loved when she knew something the others didn't. "Angel was never meant to be with Buffy. He was sent to help her until her true champion arrived. He was meant to teach her acceptance and tolerance for vampires, not his bigotry and hate."

"But Spike and Buffy hated each other as soon as they met," Willow remarked.

"Did they?" Anya asked, "How can you be so sure? Having spent over 1,000 years as a vengeance demon, I can tell you there is fine line between love and hate."

"Acceptance and tolerance?" Giles started to jot things down again. "What exactly do you mean, um, Anya?"

"Angel was sent to show Buffy that there was more than the black and white Council rhetoric to the demon world," Anya answered quietly, "He was supposed to show her how to fight with a partner and to make her a better fighter. He wasn't meant to end up damaging her so much that she couldn't trust her own heart."

"He wasn't the only one," William growled.

"No, he wasn't. Damn near every person in this room has had their hand in hurting her," Anya said, "I think the only possible exception has been Oz."

"Go Oz," Willow declared. She gave her boyfriend a light punch in the arm.

"But that's because he turns into a werewolf and leaves Sunnydale in about a year and a half," Anya continued as if Willow hadn't spoken. "For the life of me, I don't know why she keeps forgiving all of us. I guess it's because Buffy was never meant to be alone. It's why she continues to surround herself with others." Anya paced the floor while she imparted her knowledge to her rapt audience. "Once Buffy died at the hands of the Master, her potential changed."

"She's an S.I.T.?" Dee asked.

"No," Anya answered with a chuckle. "She's more than a Slayer now. Her soul is stronger, and her Slayer is stronger. I expect she's mentioned that she feels different now, maybe more powerful?" Anya pointed at Willow when the red headed girl nodded. "That is the start of the process."

"What process?" Giles asked. He looked up from his notebook to watch while Anya moved to stand beside Anne.

"The process to fulfill her true destiny," Anya stated, "It's just a matter of what events occur that will help her achieve this."

"Destiny? What destiny? You mean all the Spikes and Buffys have the potential to become like Anne and William?" Dee asked. She stared at her sister and her brother-in-law with fascination.

"Maybe not this exact destiny, but yes, they do. All of the Spikes and Buffys have the potential to become the immortal champions of their dimension," Anya answered.

Chapter 7

"Maybe not this exact destiny, but yes, they do. All of the Spikes and Buffys have the potential to become the immortal champions of their dimension," Anyanka answered.

"Spike with Buffy?" Bug-eating Xander screamed. "Anya, don't lie like that." He gripped the cage door, and he shook it hard.

"Do shut up, Xander," Giles grumbled. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Please continue, Miss Jenkins." He flipped his notebook to a new page. Somehow he knew this was going to be a long explanation.

"Thank you, Rupert." Anyanka smiled at the Watcher happily. "You can be quite the gentleman when you're not conspiring to kill one of us." She ignored the shocked looks from her statement. "The first scenario doesn't really apply in this case since neither Buffys are vampires."

"How would Buffy becoming a vampire make her an immortal guardian?" Willow asked with her hand in the air. "Wouldn't she be evil and soulless?"

"Absolutely not," Anyanka said. "She'd be more than an average vampire." She decided to skip anymore questions. So, she moved right along in her explanation. "The second scenario, which is the one that would involve this dimension's Spike and Buffy, would be the Slayer Sultana. However, if Buffy doesn't mate with Spike, she could die a horrible and painful death around her 21st birthday."

"Hold on a minute, demon-girl," William interrupted, "How come that didn't happen to my Slayer?" He tightened his arms around Anne.

"That's simple. Our Slayer died. If she had been a vampire or the Sultana she would have had the power to stop Glory. Her death negated the Sultana scenario, which moves us along to our third one." Anyanka smiled brightly at Rupert who was busy jotting down notes. "If Spike and Buffy had mated at any time between her resurrection and his death in the Hellmouth, the First Evil would have lost its foothold in our dimension."

"How the bloody hell would that have happened?" William growled. He was just as shocked as Anne and Dee appeared to be. The whole thing with the First could have been avoided, and no one had told them? Bloody pillocks.

"It's okay, William," Anne whispered soothingly. She was surprised when Dee and Anyanka moved to help her soothe the upset vampire.

"How would that have helped, Anya?" Dee asked. She realized that she had missed the outspoken woman in her life, and she was glad that Anyanka was back with them.

"If Spike and Buffy had mated during that time, all the Slayer power would have reverted to Faith." She paused briefly when she saw the shocked expressions on Anne and William's faces. "You would have still been just as powerful, 'cause, hey, angel-like and mate to a powerful master vamp."

"How would the Slayer power reverting to Faith helped against the First Evil?" William translated for Demonic Giles.

"The First appeared in our dimension because Willow called forth massive amounts power to resurrect a Slayer. If she had become something more or less than that the apocalypse could have been avoided. Mating with Spike before or after the soul would have made her more than just a normal Slayer." Anya stopped while she appeared to search her memory for the word she wanted. "She'd be a Seraph. Her soul would have cleansed Spike of all his wrong before the soul or all of his guilt after the soul." She plopped down on the steps next to William and Anne.

"Wish someone would have told us," William grumbled. "Could have saved us a bunch of trouble." He dug some change out of his pocket before he directed Dee to go get some sodas. The others followed his example, and soon everyone had a soda in hand.

Anyanka and Giles stood at the counter as they talked quietly, but in a few minutes Anyanka begin to address the room again. "Now, if Buffy had not accepted Spike's argument in the Hellmouth, and had in fact refused to leave him there, they would have been sent back in our own dimension to Willow's 'Thy Will be Done' spell with full knowledge of future events but without the wings that Buffy acquired while in Heaven."

"Why would I do such a spell?" Willow asked. She watched as several sets of eyes flashed towards Oz and then back to her. "Oh." Willow slumped down in her chair. Maybe Giles was right and she did need a mentor.

"Bloody Hell," William muttered, "Just when I thought things couldn't get weirder on the Hellmouth. Wonkiest soddin' town 've ever lived in." He sighed when Anne patted his cheek.

"Well, that's Sunnydale for you," Anne sighed. "Principal eating mayors, out of control government experiments, hell-gods, singing and dancing, burning and dying, nerds, dimension hopping. What's a little time travel?"

"Can we get back to the discussion on hand, please?" Cordelia asked. "I need my beauty sleep."

"Yes, please do. I'd love to know about William's wings," Giles informed Anyanka. He looked up from his notebook to smile at the young woman.

"Ah yes, Spike's wings," Anya cooed. "I bet they're very pretty." She grinned at the others when they nodded. "Well that's simple. He's a Seraph, too."

"That doesn't explain why his wings are black," Dawn said.

"They're black because even though he has his soul, and he sacrificed himself for the dimension, he is still a demon."
"Would that have happened to Angel if he had worn the amulet?" Anne asked. I have to ask, Spike. Just in case we need to know Anne thought to her mate in soothing tones.

"William's soul is his own. Angel's is borrowed, as Ms. Calendar can tell you," Anyanka answered. She glanced at the gypsy woman for verification. "So, no, Angel wouldn't have become a Seraph. He simply would have returned from the amulet as he was before, a vampire with a cursed soul."

"You're so special, William," Dee sing-songed to the embarrassed vampire. She tried to run her fingers thorough his hair. When that didn't work she resorted to tickling him until he growled playfully at her.

"Don't you forget it, sweet bit," William snarked at her. He turned his attention to Anyanka. "So, are we gonna run into more dimension hoppin' vamps and Slayers, demon-girl?"

"Highly doubtful," Anyanka answered. "Since the three of you became the prophesized ones, the PTB will do everything in their powers to ensure that no other dimensional Spikes and Buffys will fit the bill."

"What happens to those Spikes and Buffys?" Ms. Calendar asked. "How do they become the immortal champions of their dimensions? And who is watching Anne and William's dimension?"

"Good questions, Ms. Calender," Willow said. She gave the woman a thumbs up.

"Well, after awhile the Buffys are going to notice that they've stopped aging." Anyanka smiled sadly at Buffy. "Hopefully for those Buffys, they will eventually seek out Spike. Technically I suppose they're already the immortal guardians, just not as partners." She paused for a second as she thought about something. "At least not until after Angel becomes human and starts to age. That's gonna piss him off."

"Our dimension has plenty of Slayers," Anne announced. "Willow did a spell that made all the potentials into Slayers. So, everything's hunky dory."

"Angel becomes human?" Giles asked. "How the bloody hell does that happen?"

"Prophecy," William muttered. "Shanshu or some damned thing. It's one of the many, many reasons why Angel's jealous of my soul. Did you know the stupid sod didn't even tell his bunch about me? Wanker."

"What do you know about this prophecy?" Giles questioned. He shook his cramping hand out before returning it to the page of his journal.

"All I know is that a vamp with a soul, once he fulfills his destiny, will become human as his reward," William informed the Watcher. "Hey, I won the fight over the cup and drank the Mountain Dew. Maybe it didn't work 'cause 've already fulfilled my destiny. But, fuck, it felt good to put the poofter in his place."

"You beat Angel?" Anne cooed. "Was there oil?"

I'll give you oil, luv. Just you wait till we get someplace a bit more private, William smirked to his mate before he filled her mind with all the naughty things he would be doing with said oil.

~~~~~~~~~

Buffy was astonished to find herself laughing at Spike's little witty comments as they watched Monty Python. He didn't act like she was an idiot when she didn't understand one of the jokes. It was no wonder she enjoyed fighting with him so much. Buffy was infused with guilt about putting him into the wheelchair.

Spike glanced at the Slayer when she suddenly stopped laughing. He glanced at her and caught her looking at his wheelchair guiltily. Spike knew he should be feeling animosity towards the young girl for her part in his accident, but he was startled to find that he was falling under her spell. Maybe it was because he had seen earlier how their counterparts had interacted.

"This is fun, Spike," Buffy said softly. "Angel took me to a movie earlier, and I didn't understand half the references. When I asked he made me feel kinda dumb."

"Knowing Peaches, it was one of those artsy fartsy flicks, wasn't it?" Spike chuckled when Buffy nodded. "There's nothing wrong with not understandin' something, even less in askin'. Actually I don't think the people who made those kinda movies understand 'em half the time."

"Well, it was a pretty movie," Buffy laughed. "Filmed in places I'm sure I'll never get to see, since I'm gonna be stuck in Sunnydale till I die."

"That's a long ways off, pet." Spike smiled at the girl. "The other Slayer is in her twenties. So, it's obvious to me you're one of the best Slayers ever." He winked at Buffy.

Buffy blushed, and she wondered how come she had never before noticed how handsome and charming Spike was. Oh yeah, because we were trying to kill each other. "Oh, um, Thanks. So... um ... uh, written any poetry lately?"

"How did you know about that?" Spike narrowed his eyes while he stared at the Slayer.

"William recited one before. It was quite good. I thought so anyway, but I don't know much about writing poetry. I just like listening to it." Buffy blushed again under the vampire's scrutiny. She twisted her hands in her lap while she stared at the television.

Spike turned back to the television which he watched almost absentmindedly as he turned over the conversation with Buffy over and over in his mind. She'd said she told the poof that she loved him no matter what, but she wanted someone to look upon her with devotion. Spike glanced at Buffy out of the corner of his eye when she began to speak softly.

"Angelus doesn't love me. I didn't get that before, not like I do now." A single tear trickled down her cheek.

"Ah, pet. Don't cry. Blokes don't stand a chance when their girl cries." Spike didn't even notice the slip of his tongue, but Buffy did.

Buffy smiled shakily at the blond vampire. "Thanks, Spike." She suddenly sat up straight, and her eyes searched the room. They fell on what appeared to be a weapons trunk. Buffy leapt to her feet, and she hissed, "Angelus."

Spike went on high alert as soon as she uttered his grandsire's name. Between the two of them, they concealed several stakes from the weapons cache upon their bodies. Spike wheeled behind Buffy while she marched to the door. He wasn't surprised to find Angelus hovering outside like a giant vampire bat.

"What the hell do you want, Angelus?" Buffy spit out. "You're not wanted here." A stake appeared in her hand like magic.

"Come back to the factory, Spike." Angelus ignored the Slayer for now. "Dru misses her little boy so much." He flicked a piece of invisible lint off his lapel.

"Nah, mate. Pretty happy right where I am," Spike announced. He tightened his jaw when he saw Angelus finally look at Buffy.

"Come on, boy. You can't believe the Slayers and the other Spike are going to treat you like anything except a prized pet, do you?" Angelus smirked at his grandchilde. "He's drinking the premium stuff, and you're stuck with the pig."

"Pig's better than rat, I always say," Spike said snarkily. He felt Dalton come up and stand behind him and the Slayer. "Why don't you toddle back to Dru and let her know I don't feel like playing right now?"

"Buff'll get tired of you before long. Everybody does." Angelus looked derisively at Spike. "Then where will you go?"

"Spike's ten times the vampire you are, Angelus," Buffy growled. She really didn't like this unsouled version of Angel, even though at the same time she was hard pressed to see the difference between Spike and William.

"I don't see you offering him blood like the other Slayer offers her pet vampire," Angelus countered. His eyebrows shot up in amazement as the Buffy, who professed to be in love with his souled counterpart, offered her wrist to his grandchilde.
Buffy wasn't sure what exactly caused her to offer her blood to Spike. She knew it was probably the combination of Angelus pissing her off and remembering that Spike unwittingly called her 'his' girl. She smiled down at the blond vampire while she silently urged him to take the gift she was giving him. Buffy bit her lip when he shifted into game face. She realized that she had never noticed how interesting his face was while vamped out.

Spike cupped the offered arm in his hands. He was amazed at how warm the Slayer's flesh felt against his cold skin. Spike was pleased with Buffy's gasp of pleasure when he bit through the soft skin on her wrist. His eyes stayed on Angelus as the perfume of Buffy's arousal filled the air. Spike could see his grandsire's ire rise when the Slayer leaned against the wheelchair to tentatively trace his bumpies. The blond vampire started to purr deep in his chest, much to the chagrin of his grandsire.

Buffy hummed a counterpart to Spike's purring. She couldn't help herself because she felt so good. His lips and fangs worked their magic on her wrist, and his face felt so right under her fingertips. Buffy heard the brunette vampire's angry roar, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Her entire focus was on Spike. He had extracted his fangs by now, and he was licking her wrist which made her shiver with desire.

Spike stared up into the dazed face of the Slayer. No one had ever offered him such a precious gift before. What had started out as a way to piss off Angelus turned into something much more special. Spike glanced out into the yard, pleased that Angelus had taken the hint. The blond vampire pulled Buffy down into his lap, and he wheeled back into the living room. He heard Dalton close the door behind them.

"There's orange juice in the fridge, Master Spike," Dalton informed the blond vampire. He knew that when humans were drained of some blood they needed to replenish their fluids. When Spike nodded in agreement, Dalton went into the kitchen to pour the Slayer a glass. He returned to the living room to find Spike and Buffy slumped together on the couch. Dalton handed the glass to the Slayer before making his hasty retreat to the bedroom.

Buffy emptied the glass of juice in one long swallow, and she put the glass on the side table. She turned to study Spike's face. "Wow, your burns are all gone." Buffy reached out to touch the now smooth skin. "And you stood up."

"Yeah, I did, luv," Spike whispered huskily. He leaned in to cover her lips with his own. "So has something else."

Chapter 8
The younger Scoobies left the library reluctantly, but they had school in the morning. Xander was just happy to be going home to shower and sleep in a warm bed again. He had covertly watched Anyanka, and he had decided she was a very beautiful woman. He saw how condescending his future counterpart was towards her. Xander didn't like that at all. He decided if he got a chance to meet the version of her here that he wouldn't be such an ass.

Giles and Jenny did a truth spell on the dimension traveling Xander to find out the exact location he had entered this dimension. Dee and Demonic Giles left to check out not only that location, but the one where that particular Watcher had entered, too. They came back within thirty minutes to report that Xander's portal was still open, but D.G's, as they were starting to call him, was closed and opening it was impossible. The gang made plans for Anyanka to wipe Xander's memory of his visit, filling it instead with memories of Drac's brides. They would return him to him home and seal the portal on the way back to Anne and William's house.

Those that remained gathered around the table where the dimension travelers outlined the events that could happen in Sunnydale in the foreseeable future. From the detailed accounts of Angelus' actions in Anne and William's dimension, Giles knew they had to work swiftly to get the spell to reensoul Angel working. Safeguarding the gypsy was of the highest priority. Giles decided that telling Snyder there was a 'symposium' that both he and Jenny wanted to attend was the best bet. They both could travel out of Sunnydale, and out of Angelus' reach, to work on the spell.

"I want to know why they picked William to be half my DNA," Dee said. She glanced over that the blond vampire. He had let the hair grow out, so that only the tips of his hair were blond now. Dee decided she liked the look much better than the total peroxide look. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, because I'm happy it's you."

"He is the Dark Paladin, isn't he?" Anyanka announced. "The monks must have taken that into account. Otherwise, we fall back on convenience. No one else in the Slayer's circle was as powerful as Spike."

"Convenient. Where have I heard that before?" William muttered.

William, do I have to bite you, again? Anne whispered into the blond vampire's mind.

Please do, Slayer. William shivered in anticipation.

"Somehow I don't think that you were a random pick of chance, William," Giles said. "What brought you to Sunnydale in the first place?"

"Dru was sick." William shrugged his shoulders. "The mob in Prague almost killed her. I thought the Hellmouth might heal her." He acted as if nothing affected him.

"There are other Hellmouths in the world. Why Sunnydale?" Giles tapped the table to emphasize his words.

William glanced at Anne before answering Giles, "The Slayer was in Sunnydale. Figured I'd kill two birds with one stone."

"My point exactly." Giles sat back in his chair. "As Anyanka has said, your destiny is to be with Buffy. I think even if you hadn't come to Sunnydale when you did, that eventually you would have found each other."

"But would it be the same? Our 'dance', as William likes to call it, was slow and at times immensely painful," Anne said. She took William's hand in her own. "If our counterparts are as stubborn, or in as much denial, how will we be able to help them?"

"You must do your best, just as you always do, Anne." Giles smiled gently at the older version of his Slayer. "I have confidence in you, my dear. Now, Jenny and I are going to leave town while we work on the curse."

"I'll go to Buffy's house tomorrow and perform a disinvite," Anyanka said.

"No, it's better if I wish that all of Angelus' invites be revoked," Anne muttered. "Willow invited him when Ford was in town and he'll kill her fish if we don't do something about it."

"Wish granted."

"Good, one thing out of the way," Dee said in the middle of yawn. "So how many more do we have to deal with? I'm pooped. Can we send butt monkey back to his own dimension and go home?" She was happy when the others agreed with her.

The dimensional travelers made sure that Giles and Jenny got into the Watcher's car and on their way out of town with no problems. Then, William and D.G. made sure that Xander was secured between them. The group made their way to the spot where he had entered the dimension. William got great satisfaction in knocking Xander out and Anyanka in messing with his memories. After the vampire and the Fyarl demon pushed Xander through the rip, Dee used a droplet of her blood to seal the hole.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Whose car is that in the driveway?" Dee asked as the group approached the house.

"No clue," Anne answered. "One way to find out."

Anne and William entered the house first, on the alert for any threats. What they found astonished them, though; Buffy sat on the couch cuddled between Spike and ... Dawn, an eleven year old Dawn. On the armchair opposite the vampire, Slayer, and little sister was perched a petite woman wearing a business suit. She stood when she saw the other vampire/Slayer couple enter the house.

"Immortal Guardians." She stuck her hand out to Anne and William. "My name is RoseSeri Hassib. I have been hired by the Sultana to ensure that you have a place to stay during your travels."

"How'd she know to do that?" Anyanka asked, her voice tinged with suspicion.

"The Conduit advised her and her mate to do this," RoseSeri answered. She took no offense to the question. "She and her mate have made it so that this house belongs to the Immortal Guardians in every dimension. They are each keyed to your blood."

"So, what you're saying is that this house belongs to Spike and Buffy everywhere?" Dee asked.

"This house, your mother's house, the Jamison house in London, a penthouse in New York City, and a hotel called the Hyperion in Los Angeles," RoseSeri replied.

"Oh, Peaches is gonna be brassed off for that one," William chortled. "He bought it several years ago where we come from."

"Be that as it may, it now belongs to you." RoseSeri turned to Spike and Buffy. "This also means that these buildings belong to you."

"Us?" Buffy squeaked. "I'm not sure if mom's gonna be too happy about that."

"It'll be fine, luv," Spike assured the girl beside him. He put his arm around her shoulders, and he pulled her close to him. Spike was so busy with Buffy, he failed to notice the look that passed between Anne and William. "Now what's all this Immortal Guardian stuff?"

"And how do I remember everything about Dawnie, but I know she wasn't here when you guys showed up?" Buffy asked.

"Here are copies of the paperwork for both ... sets of you." RoseSeri handed each of the blond vampires. "I also added a box of business cards for you to give to others so that they can contact me if they so desire. Now, I really must be going, it's late, even for us lawyers."

The group sat down as soon as the lawyer had left, and Anyanka once again launched into her explanation of the Immortal Guardians again. By the end, Buffy had a better understanding of what her life was supposed to be like. For the first time since she was called she felt good about things. Okay, sure, the thought of a painful death because she was bitten by the Master or a painful death because she leaped from a tower to save the world didn't sound all that wonderful, but still at least now there were other options. Not to mention, Dee and Anyanka were both sure that her Dawnie wasn't the key anymore.

"So, what you're saying is that what makes Dawn the Key is going to slowly leave all the other Dawns and pour into you?" Buffy asked. "How's that gonna affect that hell-god thing that suppose to happen in the future?"

"If and when Glory shows up, you just tell her that her Key is in a different dimension," Dee replied. "This isn't an exact science you know. Paradoxes are bound to happen. It's the nature of things."

"Yes, and because of my status as Justice demon to Anne and William, my counterparts will start emerging in the dimensions, too," Anya said. "Although, their powers will only be retained if they are claimed by the Immortal Guardians."

"You seem awfully calm about all this, Buffy." Anne eyed her younger counterpart. "What..."

"That's cuz she was busy playing kissy face with Spike," Dawn interrupted. "I saw them after Angelus was here." The young girl scrunched up her nose in disgust.

"Angelus was here?" William growled. He got out of his seat, and he went to the window to look outside. "Not sure I like that. At least his invites are revoked. Dawn and Buffy should stay here tonight."

"Of course," Anne said. "It'll be like having the potentials again. Dee, take Dawn up to your room. Anyanka and Buffy can bed down here in the living room. Giles and Miss Calendar will call us as soon as they get the spell to recurse Angelus done."

"How come you don't just dust tall, dark and forehead?" Spike asked.

"In our dimension, Willow gave him back his soul, but he already opened the portal to Hell. So, I stuck a sword through him and closed it," Anne sighed. "The Powers brought him back a few months later. That allowed the First Evil to get its first toehold in our dimension. What guarantee do we have that they wouldn't bring him back if we dusted him? I think bringing him back from dust would be worse than dropping him naked through a portal."

"Ewwww." Dee grimaced in disgust. "You just had to go with the nasty mental images, didn't you? Gah." She herded Dawn out of the room in front of her.

"Point taken," Spike said. He turned to Buffy, and he placed a light kiss on her lips before he stood. "I'll see you in the morning, luv."

"How'd that happen?" Anne asked. She watched the blond vampire proudly walk down the hallway to the first floor bedroom. "He wasn't walking at all earlier. Anyanka, the extra bedding is in the same place it was at home." She directed the justice demon to the linen closet.

"Oh, we kinda got pissed off at Angel," Buffy said softly. "He was harassing Spike about you two, and I just kinda offered him some blood. He was more mobile after that."

"Biting during sex can be quite pleasurable," Anyanka said as she entered the room. "Not that Xander liked the biting, he was much more into playing naughty nurse and the pervie patient."

"TMI, Anyanka," William muttered. "You two have a good night." He caught Anne's arm. Before she could protest, he had her upside down over his shoulder, and he was half way up the stairs.

Buffy and Anyanka looked at each other for a moment. Then, Buffy took half of the blankets from the other female, and she spread them out on one of the two couches. Anya laid her blankets out on the other couch, and she turned out the lights. The house quieted down as the occupants, but one, fell asleep.

Spike padded to the front room to stare at the petite blond Slayer sleeping on the couch. He knew he would do anything for her, even be her willing slave. Her capacity to love and forgive flowed from her heart, and he was going to make sure that nothing ever changed that. Spike wanted to make her path easier, rather than harder from that moment forward. That meant making sure that no one snuck up on the house while the others were sleeping. The blond vampire continued his solitary sentry duty until the sun rose in the east.

"You're already in love with her."

Spike whirled to see William coming down the stairs. The other vampire was shirtless, and Spike could see the scratches and bite marks on his shoulders. He followed William into the kitchen where he sat at the bar while William went to the fridge.

"Dru told me that, in about 6 months, but of course I scoffed at her." William pulled two packets of blood out of the fridge. "Wish I had listened. I could still be walkin' in the sun if I had."

"Walkin' in the sun? Are you as barmy as Dru?"

"Let me give you a little clue, mate." William opened the packets, and he put the blood in mugs. "The Gem of Amara is real and it's here in good ole Sunnyhell."

"What?" Spike stared at his counterpart. "You're kiddin', right?"

"Would never kid about something that important, mate." William put the mugs in the microwave, and he set it for just the right amount of time. "Get used to this, too. Slayer won't like you munchin' on the natives."

"Figured as much when I threw in with you lot," Spike muttered. "So, how'd you lose the gem?"

"Slayer kicked my ass, of course." William smirked. "She's pretty good at that. Only time I ever got close was that first time. Can't tell you how glad I am that Joyce whacked me with that bloody axe."

"You like the Slayer's mum, don't you?"

"First time I really met Joyce, I was making the deal with the Slayer to help take down Angelus." The microwave dinged, and William took the mugs out. He handed one to Spike. "We sat in her living room and made awkward small talk while Anne called the hospital to check on Red. The next time, she let me cry about Dru and made me hot chocolate. She was a grand lady."

"Tell me what I need to know about what's to come."

Chapter 9

Several days later, Anne picked up the ringing telephone to find Giles on the other end. The reensouling spell had been translated, and they were ready to cast it over the dark-haired vampire. Thankfully they didn't need to be in Sunnydale to perform the spell. So, they were casting it from their location in Los Angeles.

Angel's welcome back into the fold was less than pleasant. He laid the blame at Anne and William's feet, unable to take responsibility for his own actions. He was so focused on bad mouthing Spike to the Scoobies and Buffy, he didn't realize that Anne was studying his every move. She finally got tired of his shit and staged an intervention. William and Spike escorted the older vamp to the edge of Sunnydale and left him with the parting message of 'don't call us, we'll call you'.

Anne and William had one more thing to discuss with Buffy, and that was the onset of Joyce's headaches and subsequent brain tumor. The warning hit the younger Slayer hard enough that she talked Joyce into having a full exam the following week. Anne and William were surprised that the tumor was already in its starting phase. They both decided to make sure they used this information in the other dimensions by contacting RoseSeri and having the angelic lawyer pass it along to the other Guardians when she talked to them.

Anne, William, and their companions prepared for their next jump much better than their last one. This time they had backpacks filled with gear to take with them. They all said good-bye to their counterparts and new friends before making the leap through the swirling green vortex.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anne landed with a loud grunt, and she realized that she was alone. Dang it, I got separated from the others. She got to her feet, dusted off her behind, and looked around while she tried to get her bearings. She realized that she was in the middle of Wilkins Park in Sunnydale. Gee where else would I be? Anne realized the sun was setting. She whirled around when she heard someone coming up behind her.

"I'm sorry, Miss." The police officer looked the petite woman over carefully. It was still sunny enough for him to feel safe around her. "You need to get inside. There is a dusk curfew, you know."

"I'm new in town," Anne said politely. "No one said anything to me about a curfew." She scrunched her face. "I don't have a place to stay yet." She found the early curfew very odd. She didn't remember there ever being one enforced at dusk before.

"If you go over to the high school, there is a shelter there for anyone caught out after dark," the policeman informed her while he pointed in the direction of the school building. "Just ask for Mr. Giles."

"Um, okay." Anne worried her lip with her teeth. "Could I ask why the curfew is in place?"

"There's a gang of PCP druggies terrorizing the town." The officer looked around warily. "They only come out at night. In fact, I need to get home now. You better get to the high school right now!" With that last little warning, he hurried off in the direction of the housing area next to the park.

William, where are you guys? Anne called out with her mind. Sunnydale is in bad shape here.

The rest of us are in Vegas, luv. William's voice echoed in the Slayer's head. Anyanka says that we can't transport there, because you have to take care of somethin' on your own there.

Oh peachie Anne huffed. There's a dusk curfew and a 'gang of PCP druggies' terrorizing the town. The quotes were apparent in her tone of voice. When William didn't answer right away, Anne realized that he was talking to Anyanka, Dee and D.G.

Anyanka says that in the Wishverse that she created for the Cheerleader that there was a curfew, William said informatively. She's sure we're not in that dimension, but something may of happened to make it similar.

What was Cordy's wish? Anne asked. She had to wait a few seconds for William to return her answer.

She wished you had never came to Sunnydale. This allowed old bat face to emerge unimpeded.

Gotcha. This should be fun, Anne muttered sarcastically. She started out at a brisk walk towards the high school.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mr. Giles?" A crisp female voice echoed off the walls.

"Yes?" Giles looked up to see the door guard, Miranda Silver, standing in the library doorway. "What can I do for you, Miranda?" The dark-haired woman had arrived several weeks before with the witches from the coven. She had proved to be a good fighter shortly there after.

"There's a young woman at the front door," Miranda said. "She passed the tests to prove she's not a vamp, but she caused Serina's detector to go all haywire." She heaved a sigh. "She said that she really needed to talk to you, Mr. Giles."

"I'll be along in a moment, Miranda." Giles waited for the woman to leave before he carefully put the notebook he was writing in away in its drawer. While he walked down the empty hallway towards the front of the school, he again wondered why God and the Council had abandoned them.

"Hi, Giles." A perky voice greeted him. "Care to tell me what's the what?"

"B-B-Buffy," Giles stuttered. "B-But you're dead." He blinked in surprise before he carefully studied the girl in front of him. No, this was no girl. This was a woman, a seasoned warrior, by the look of her. There were fine lines at the corner of her eyes, and she had lost the baby fat that his Slayer had still carried at the time of her death. However, some intuitive part of him told him that she was indeed a version of Buffy Summers.

"Well, I do get the dead part. Been there, done that," Anne said cheerily. "Used to have the gravestone to prove it."

"You're not my Buffy," Giles finally announced. "Maybe we can compare timelines to see where they became different." He ushered Anne inside, and together they walked down the hall towards the library. Behind them, Miranda went back to guarding the door.

"Well, you can start by telling me the date and calling me Anne." The Slayer eyed her surroundings. "Since we're in this particular high school, I'd have to say the Mayor hasn't tried to ascend?"

Giles looked startled for a moment before he said, "No, the Mayor hasn't shown any sign of trying to ascend. He's been too busy trying to hold back the Master from taking over Sunnydale."

"So, Buffy died and the Master is free? The Council didn't send Kendra or Faith to try and take him down?" Anne paused at the library door, and she waited for Giles to open it for her.

"Yes, Kendra was here, but she died at the hands of the Master's minions." Giles shook his head sadly. "Travers refused to send the following Slayer here."

"Well, Travers always was an idiot," Anne muttered.

Wanker, chimed in her eavesdropper.

Anne giggled at William's assessment of the Head Watcher. She was glad they hadn't been involved when she'd turned eighteen. Anne was sure that William would have made all those involved with the disaster sorry for ever messing with her. She noticed the odd look on Giles' face and decided to tell him about her companions. "I'm not traveling alone. With me are my mate, my sister Dawn, Anyanka, and a future version of you that will really teach you a lesson about drinking with old mates from your Ripper days." She moved to the library table where she sat down.

Giles was stumped by her information. His Buffy didn't have a sister, and he wondered who Anyanka was. He certainly hoped that the mate that she mentioned wasn't Angel. There was something about the ensouled vampire that just rubbed him the wrong way these days. "Your mate?"

"Don't worry, Giles, it's not Angel." Anne reassured the Watcher.

"Tell me about your fight with the Master." Giles grabbed some paper and a pen from the counter. "My Buffy hit myself and Jenny over the head and presumably went after the Master by herself. Several hours later, Angel came to us. He said that she had been turned by the Master, and that he had to stake her."

"Well, unless something changed drastically here, the Master never turned me." Anne wrinkled her forehead in thought. "He thralled me, bit me, and threw me in a puddle. I drowned. Angel lead Xander into the lair, and Xander revived me."

"Really? Quite interesting. Since you know who Kendra is, this was obviously enough to call forth a new Slayer." Giles jotted some thoughts down on paper.

"Yeah." Anne shrugged her shoulders. "After Xander revived me, I went to the high school and killed the Master. I met Kendra about eight months later when she came to Sunnydale. Drusilla killed her and that called Faith, who wasn't exactly the poster child for goodness." Anne rolled her eyes at the thought of her sister Slayer when she was first called. It had only been in the past year that the two females had actually come to see eye to eye on things.

"You've met Drusilla and Spike, then?" Giles asked. He looked up in time to see a flash of jealousy cross Anne's face.

"Yeah, I've met Spike and the ho," Anne grumbled. "They rolled into Sunnydale about four months after I killed the Master. I have no clue where she is, but William's with me."

"He's with you?" Giles' jaw dropped in astonishment. "You mean William the Bloody's your mate?"

"Yep!" Anne smiled broadly. "The dance was long and painful, but in the end he's all mine."

"Hello, Watcher." A familiar voice echoed through the library. "You really need to keep the back way guarded, you know." A pale, bleached blond figure swaggered out of the back bookshelves. He stopped when he saw the blond woman sitting with Giles. "Who is this pretty young thing?"

Giles looked from Anne to Spike in confusion. Then, it dawned on him that this was his Spike. He shuddered at the implication of that thought. Giles realized that the two blonds were speculatively studying each other. He wondered how this was going to go over with Spike. He waited while Anne rose to her feet.

"My name's Buffy Summers, but I go by Anne," the Slayer said politely. She didn't want to alienate her mate's counterpart. Something told her that he was going to be very important in this dimension very soon.

"Heard of you," Spike said. "Heard you were a really good Slayer." He leered at the woman, and he inhaled sharply. He stepped forward to sniff again. "I know your smell. I've never met you, but I know your smell."

"May I again mention that the sniffy thing is kinda gross?" Anne wrinkled her nose. To tell the truth, she was actually getting used to the sniffing thing that William and his counterparts seemed to enjoy doing.

"Spike?" Giles looked at the vampire questioningly. "Why are you back in Sunnydale and what do you mean you know her smell?"

Spike sneered at the Watcher before he answered, "I'm back in good ole Sunnyhell because Dru said I needed to come back and take care of her little sister. Angelus smells just like this bint here."

Giles closed his eyes in sadness. "Spike, the Buffy from this dimension died before you came to Sunnydale. There is no way that Angel would smell like her."

"But, I didn't die at the hands of the Master in my dimension." Anne pointed out. "And, do you have any proof that the Master turned my counterpart? Angel and his soul aren't goodie-goodie, you know."

Chapter 10

"But, I didn't die at the hands of the Master in my dimension." Anne pointed out. "Do you have any proof that the Master turned my counterpart? Angel and his soul aren't goodie-goodie, you know."

"What did he do in your dimension?" Giles asked with trepidation.

"Well, he let Dru and Darla munch on some lawyers," Anne replied. "I only found that out in the past couple of months, though." It was something she had discovered after she mated with William.

"Darla's dead," Giles and Spike said at the same time.

"Yeah, I know, but there's an evil law firm in Los Angeles that was trying to recreate what happened between me and Angel." Anne shrugged. "Guess they thought Darla would do it."

"What's this about the poofter?" Spike was curious. The Slayer seemed to know something that they didn't.

"That soul of his is cursed. One moment of happiness and it goes away." Anne gave a short, mirthless laugh. "Apparently, I'm really good at that, or at least I was. I wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole now." She heaved a sigh as she thought about her Angel's willingness to let Dru and Darla eat the WRH lawyers, and how he unleashed Black Willow in her original dimension. It hurt to know that he held her relationship with William against her when he wasn't the wonderful paragon of virtue he always seemed try to be in front of her.

Giles watched the less than happy Slayer for a few minutes as he thought about what tortures his Slayer could be enduring at that very moment. He found himself feeling very guilty that he took Angel's word that Buffy was indeed dead. He just hoped she would forgive him if she was still alive. He knew it would be a long, long time before he forgave himself. "I don't think you or Spike should allow yourselves be seen here until we know for sure if what we suspect to be true really is," Giles announced.

Spike didn't know what to think. He had come back to Sunnydale on his Sire's whim, and he had not expected for her words to be anything but a bunch of shite. With the new information that his Grandsire wasn't all that good even with the soul, and how attractive this particular Slayer appeared to be, the blond vampire wondered if Drusilla was hoping that he'd be distracted enough not to notice she was attempting to have her 'Daddy' back in her bed. He tried to shake that thought of his head, but the Slayer's next words brought his brain to a halt.

"She'll have her soul, you know?" Anne said quietly and sadly. She remembered how it felt to be broken, and she could feel William reaching out to comfort her. "Buffy, I mean. She might be broken, but I guess Angel likes us that way, doesn't he?"

Spike nodded his head in agreement at Anne's statement. His own Sire was as broken as they come. As much as he adored his wicked ripe plum, there were times when her dependence on him was tiring. He just hoped that if the Slayer was turned, she wouldn't be as broken as Drusilla.

"Do you have somewhere to stay, Anne?" Giles asked. He wasn't sure he had the extra cash to get the woman a hotel room, and he knew that Spike could hang out just about anywhere. The Watcher didn't want to think about the people that the vampire was going to eat.

"Yeah, that's all covered. Just let me use the phone, okay?" Anne pulled RoseSeri's card out of her pocket. When Giles waved her towards the library phone, she made a quick call to the lawyer. With a few well chosen words, the Guardian's house was ready to be occupied. Anne turned around to smile at Giles and Spike. "All done. Now, I think I'd rather have a ride rather than walk. No need for anyone to see us and have the word get back to Angel."

"I have just the person," Giles replied. He went to the hallway, and he waved to someone.

"Oz," Anne cried happily. She knew he didn't know her since he hadn't joined the Scoobies until after her first brush with death, but she was happy to see him anyway. He had always been a good friend to her.

"Careful, Slayer." Spike sniffed the air as he put a hand on Anne's arm. "He's not human." He wasn't sure why he warned the Slayer, or held her back, but he seemed to instinctually want to protect her.

"Oh, I know." Anne nodded her head. "He's a werewolf, but I don't think there's a full moon tonight. So, it's all good." She gave Oz another smile.

"Could you please give Spike and Anne a lift, Oz?" Giles asked. "I must warn you now that Angel is not to know anything about them. We will have a Scooby meeting tomorrow at Anne's place."

"I understand," Oz replied. "I'll pick up the others and bring them along for the meeting." He wasn't too sure about the two blonds; one he only knew by her reputation from before he was a Scooby, and the other he had meet briefly while the Scoobies had been running for their lives from him. However, he trusted Giles, and if Giles was okay with it, then it was good enough for him.

Anne said good-bye to Giles, and she herded Spike out of the library. She wasn't all that worried about him. It wasn't like she couldn't beat him up if he got out of line. Anne smiled in memory when she saw Oz's van. It'd been a long time since she had seen the stoic werewolf, and she realized that she had missed him more than she had realized. After Anne gave Oz the address to the Guardian's house on Hadley Drive, she asked him about the other Scoobies. She was quite pleased to find out that all her friends were alive and well in this dimension.

Spike followed the Slayer and the werewolf out of the high school. As much as he wanted to spit and snarl about the turn his life had just taken, he found himself oddly compelled to do what Anne told him. He had heard her tell the Watcher that he, or rather his counterpart, was her mate. It was a fact that he hadn't let his mind dwell on until this very moment. Spike hoped his counterpart hadn't turned into some kind of wimp. He knew he was Love's Bitch but a bloody Slayer?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Angel stood behind the two-way mirror watching his prized pet pace around her room. When he had turned the Slayer almost two years prior, he had been able to control her using his Sire's voice. At first, he had been able to make her as enthusiastic for sex as he was, but in the past few months she had been able to overcome the power of his voice. Angel didn't know what to think about that. She clearly shouldn't be old enough, or powerful enough, to overpower him. He had proved just the year before when Spike and Drusilla drifted through town that even after 140 years he still had power to make Drusilla succumb to his every demand.

Buffy seethed with an almost uncontrollable rage as she circled her cell. It had been a long, painful struggle to accept the different sides of her personality since being turned. The acts of debauchery she had performed with Angel had prolonged the experience of acceptance. Now though, she was sure that her soul, her demon, and her Slayer sides were all working in tandem.

Not debauchery, Buffy growled to herself. It was rape. He thought he could break me! I will not be broken. I will not be controlled by him anymore. In her anger, she didn't realized that she had shifted into a visage similar to her vampire one. Buffy hadn't dealt with her Slayer side much as of yet, and so, she gasped when she saw herself in the mirror for the first time since she had been vamped.

Angel stepped back in fear when he felt Buffy's power change. He was sure she couldn't get past the wards that kept her in her room, but maybe it was time to find a new way to control her. Angel decided to go back to the witch who had set up the wards. Maybe she had a way to magically control the turned Slayer. If that didn't work, there was always drugs, the dark-haired vampire thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Now I remember why I hate Vegas," William grumbled. He threw himself into one of the hotel room chairs. "Too many bloody demons."

"Are you sure there isn't a Hellmouth here?" Dee asked. She was busy going over the hotel's room service menu.

"Nah, the demons are just attracted to all the corruption and other sins," Anyanka replied in a knowing voice. "I remember one time just before Giles made me human, a man cheated on his wife with the entire chorus line of the Milagio."

"Is this gonna be one of those gory stories?" Dee interrupted. She was hungry, and she didn't want her appetite ruined by one of Anyanka's stories.

"Oh, yes!" Anyanka nodded with enthusiasm, her reddish curls bobbing around her face. "She made him wear high heels every day, get pinched on the bottom by strangers, and he never experienced another orgasm."

William chuckled. The demon-girl's story was less bloody than her usual ones but funnier than most. Only Anyanka would find the thought of no orgasms worse than blood and gore.

"The car rental place will call us when they get an RV in." Dee decided to ignore Anyanka's story and get the conversation back on track.

"When will that be?" Anyanka asked. "I sure hope we have a better trip this time." She shuddered as she remembered the last time the gang took an RV trip.

Dee shrugged, her attention back on the menu again. She picked up the phone to put an order into room service. All this dimension travel made her very hungry.

"I miss Anne," William muttered. Even though they were mentally linked, he knew he was going to miss her warm body next to his in bed.

D.G. grunted at the mopey vampire. Maybe they could pass the time going on a patrol.

"Excellent plan, Rupes." William perked up. "Some gratuitous violence sounds bloody good." He hopped to his feet, grabbed his duster, and the two male demons were out the door before Dee or Anyanka could protest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With unusual silence on his part, Spike watched and listened as Anne interacted with the werewolf. For the most part, she seemed happy, but every so often something in her demeanor showed him that she hadn't always been that way. Several times she tried to get him in on the conversation as if he was an old friend instead of a vampire who had killed two Slayers in the past.

Spike wasn't that surprised when the werewolf let them off in front of a typical Sunnydale house. What did surprise him was the fact that the house was keyed to his blood too, and he needed no invite. The Slayer didn't even act worried that he had an invite. In fact she didn't seem scared of him at all.

Once the vampire and the Slayer were settled, Spike demanded that Anne tell him everything. Hours later, as the sun started to rise, he stared at the petite woman in disbelief. He would have gleefully denied that she was telling the truth except for the claim mark on her neck and the look in her eye.

Spike spent the morning in silent contemplation. He had no desire to change his ways, but he had to wonder what it would be like to be loved like Anne loved William.

Chapter 11

"Whose house is this?" Willow asked Oz and Xander.

"It's a surprise," Oz said. He hadn't been under an oath to keep Anne a secret, but he wasn't in the mood to answer all of his friend's questions either. Not to mention there was the added complication of Spike.

Oz pulled up in front of Anne's house. He saw that Giles' old clunker was parked in the driveway behind a black clunker with painted windows. Oz smirked to himself, knowing that neither Brit would be happy about his assessment of their cars.

"Whose house is this?" Xander repeated Willow's question as he stared up at the structure.

"Let's go see." Willow hopped out of Oz's van. "Maybe Giles has found some new allies. We can use anyone he finds."

"Even me, Red?" Spike's voice came from the dark shadows on the porch.

"Spike!" Willow squeaked. She stepped closer to Oz.

"Nice seein' you again, Dogboy." Spike nodded to the werewolf. "Watcher's inside with the others."

"You coming inside?" Oz asked.

"Just as soon as I finish this." Spike held up a lit cigarette. "Her ladyship says no smokin' in the house."

"Since when do you listen to anyone, Captain Peroxide?" Xander muttered.

Spike sneered at the teenage boy. "Since I finally met a woman who can flatten me with a fist."

"I gotta meet this woman." Xander rubbed his hands together. "Maybe she can flatten Deadboy too."

"Count on it," Spike replied darkly. He went back to his cigarette, ignoring the Scoobies as he stared off into the gloomy twilight."

"Better get inside." Oz ushered Willow and Xander to the door which he opened. He called out to announce their arrival. "Giles. Serina. Anne. We're here."

"I'm in the living room," Serina answered. She smiled at the three young people when they found their way to her. "Giles and Anne will be out in a moment."

"That must have been a difficult situation," Giles said over his shoulder as he entered the living room. "How did you manage?"

"We let Kennedy go first. She was all gung-ho, but Faith and I knew better." The blond Slayer giggled at the memory of the stuck up Slayerette being slimed by an exploding demon.

"Buffy!" Willow gasped.

"Be gone, foul creature." Xander stuck a cross in Buffy's face.

"Nice to see you're predictable in any dimension, Xander." The Slayer pushed the cross out of her face. "I'm Anne, not the Buffy from here."

"What? How? What?" Xander's jaw dropped.

"All good questions." Giles turned to Anne. "Call Spike inside, and we'll answer them."

Anne put her tray of snacks down on the coffee table. "Sure thing. Uh, isn't Cordelia supposed to be here?" She glanced around for the dark-haired cheerleader.

"Cordelia moved away last year," Willow answered. "The other Cordettes were vamped, and her parents freaked."

Anne nodded. "Might be for the best. Being around Angel wasn't good for her health." She smiled sadly as she left the room. Then, she returned with Spike in tow. "I forgot what a jerk you are!" She rolled her eyes at Giles and Serina.

"I'm sure he's still a jerk, pet." Spike crossed the room to get a glass of whiskey. "You're just busy makin' cow eyes at him to notice."

Anne stuck out her tongue at the unsoulled version of her mate.

"How do you know Spike, Buffy?" Willow asked. She was confused by the almost flirty banter between the two blonds.

"This Spike or my Spike?" Anne gestured to the chairs and sofa before she plopped down in an armchair.

"Either. Both," Willow said. She joined Oz and Xander on the couch.

"I met this Spike at the school while I was talking to Giles." Anne glanced at the Watcher. "Met my Spike in the alley behind the Bronze when he promised to kill me for St. Vigorous Day."

"St. Vigeous." St Vigeous, pet

"Whatever." Whatever, Mr. Echo.

"That's the ritual the Anointed One did last year," Willow gasped. "We were lucky to make it through that one alive."

"Really?" Anne tilted her head in thought. "Guess it's a good thing my Spike tossed the munchkin into the sun, then."

"He what?" Giles looked interested.

"When?" Spike asked. His counterpart sounded like he might be an okay guy after all.

"Let's see, he says after we fought at the high school." Anne closed her eyes. She seemed to be concentrating. "Yeah, it was a few days before the ritual was supposed to happen. William always has been impatient."

"What the bleedin' hell is he sending you?" Spike's nostrils flared as Anne's sudden arousal grew stronger.

"That's for me to know and you to figure out when we rescue Buffy," Anne teased.

"What did you say?" Xander leaned forward.

Anne turned to the young man. "When the Master killed me, I drowned. I wasn't turned."

"So, the three of you think Deadboy lied." Xander jumped to his feet. "Well, what are we going to do about it?"

"First, we need to determine if your Buffy is indeed... not totally dead." Anne glanced at Spike. She gave the vampire a pointed look.

Spike sighed. "Dru sent me here with talk of a little sister needing my help." The blond vampire shrugged. "She's been acting stranger than usual, more fits and tantrums. I igured it would be a good to get a break away from her for awhile."

"What makes you think it's Buffy?" Willow asked.

"Recognized Anne's scent when I shouldn't have." Spike took a drink of whiskey. "Angelus smelled like her when we were here before."

"They kissed and stuff before she died. Maybe you smell that," Willow offered.

"It wasn't a faded scent, Red," Spike replied with a shake of his head.

"I've been to his apartment," Xander said. "No way he could have her there."

"Explains why he avoids me and wears strong cologne when he can't. I didn't meet Buffy, but Will here has some of her things that Joyce gave her," Oz muttered. "He knew I would be able to make the connection. He just never counted on Spike."

"Or me." Anne grimaced. "The mansion on Crawford Street certainly qualifies as a place to check out."

"What mansion?" Giles asked.

"My Giles burned down the factory after Angelus killed Ms. Calendar. Then, Angelus moved the whole kit and kaboodle to the mansion."

"We need the layout," Giles said. His analytical mind was already making plans.

"Here." Anne grabbed a pencil and a sheet of paper. "William and I can at leastdraw the first floor's plans. We've never really been on any of the others."

"Why didn't he go on any of the other floors?" Spike went to look over Anne's shoulder.

"I put him in a wheelchair." Anne shrugged. She continued to draw without looking at the others. "Then, he left when he could walk again. When he came back the mansion wasn't in our lives anymore."

"Angel was dusted?" Xander asked with glee. He really did hate the big brooding vampire.

"No, he ran off to the big city to play with the big boys." Anne handed Giles the paper. "William has a vague recollection of the upstairs, and there are lower levels too."

"Someone needs to distract Angelus while the Slayer and I explore the mansion." Spike returned to his seat, having memorized the floor plans already.

"Easier said than done," Willow murmured.

Anne suddenly tilted her head. She seemed to be listening to something only she could hear. "Hm, William says that he and Dee can handle Angel if we can let it slip that he's in Vegas with a young girl. We just have to make it sound urgent enough. Angel can't go blowing his cover as Champion by ignoring someone in need."

"How?" Willow looked concerned. "I mean, how do we get him to leave without taking Buffy with him?"

"If you and Oz go with him, it should be fine," Serina finally joined in on the conversation. "I will make a compulsion talisman for you to wear when you talk to him. Nothing that'll coerce him, just make him more willing to believe you."

"What about the Master? Without Angel here to patrol, will it be okay?" Willow questioned.

"Spike and I can handle it." Anne glanced at Spike who nodded his consent. "While we're doing the search, I think that Giles, Serina, and Xander should get our allies together. That way, we can go ahead and eliminate the Master."

"Good idea," Giles said with approval.

"Wonder if Riley and the Initiative are at U.C. Sunnydale yet?" Anne rubbed her chin as she thought out loud. "I could take a look at that. See if Lowell house is active."

"The Initiative?" Spike drawled. "I don't like the sound of that."

"You shouldn't. They put a chip in William's head that made it so he couldn't hurt humans," Anne replied. "It's obvious we can't rely on the Council for help. Although, Clem might be of some help if we can find him."

"Clem?" Willow asked.

"Spike's future kitten poker buddy."

"Kitten poker?" Spike spluttered. "How the bloody hell did I get into that?"

Anne shrugged. "Boredom?"

"What do we do first?" Willow wanted to get the conversation back on track.

"Well, first, William and Dee will make some appearances around Vegas. Anyanka can get us some pictures. Then, you and Oz will get Angel out of town." Anne smiled.

The others nodded. They felt productive with Buffy there, even if she wasn't their Buffy.

Anne mentally directed Anyanka, William, and Dee to do their parts, even as she giggled over what had happened to D.G. She pulled Giles to the side, and she quietly asked, "Do you know a Reggie Bey?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Earlier in the day, in Vegas)

"Come on, Watcher," William grumbled. "Try not to destroy anything." He remembered how the Giles of his own dimension had been a tad destructive on property.

D.G. growled at the bleached blond vampire.

"Hey, don't take that attitude with me. You're the one that accepted a drink with your old buddy." William smirked. "Good memories though. Almost had Buffy during that Halloween chaos."

D.G. growled again.

"Yes, I am sure you've learned your lesson." Spike checked his duster for weapons. "Let's go kick some ass."

D.G. turned to follow the vampire, but he bumped into a woman who appeared to be in a great hurry. "Look where you're going, Fyral," she spat out.

D.G. tried to apologize, but the woman would have nothing to do with it.

"You demons are all alike. Thinking you own the world." The woman's eyes blackened. "Live as a human for awhile.'

There was a flash of light, and in the Fyral demon's place stood a younger version of Buffy's Watcher.

"Well, well, well. As I live and breathe, it's Ripper," William teased.

"You're a bloody vampire," Ripper muttered. "You don't live or breathe." He turned to the witch. "I apologize for running into you, Ma'am. Thank you for changing me back. Let's go, Willy."

The witch gaped in astonishment at the charm that oozed from the young man. She hadn't expected the demon to be a transfigured human. She watched as the two men strolled down the street, trading barbs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What the heck?" Dee stared at the younger version of the man she considered a second father.

"Ripper here ran into a witch." William chuckled. "Literally."

"Yeah, she changed me back," Ripper replied.

William sat up straight in his chair. "Anne's talking to the Scoobs. That girl just can't get names right, can she?"

"I'm sure she does it to bug me," Ripper replied. "Although it is amusing when it is directed at someone other than myself."

"Guess they had St Vigeous here," William replied. "Spike didn't eliminate the Annoying One, not like I did."

His audience nodded in understanding.

William smirked as he sent Anne a naughty thought. He was pleased to hear her answering giggle.

"What?" Dee demanded to know.

"Ever the impatient one, Nib. They're sure Angel has Buffy held prisoner." William looked glum. "Might be a good idea to tell us about that first scenario, demon girl."

"Well, Buffy will have her soul. She'll have three different parts within her; the soul, the vampire, and the slayer." Anyanka looked thoughtful. "Once she accepts all three parts, she will have the power to dust vamps with a word."

"Wow, that's cool," Dee said. "I don't like the idea of Angel having access to that kind of power though."

"I agree." Ripper looked at the young woman thoughtfully. "There is one person in the Council that would be of help to Rupert. That is, if he knows Reggie Bey." If the Council here was anything like the other Councils they wouldn't be any help at all.

"I'll have Anne ask." William tilted his head. "The plan is for Dee and me to be seen around Vegas. Anyanka needs to get some pictures of us to Anne. Red and Dogboy will come here with Peaches, while Spike and Anne search for Buffy."

"Sounds like a good plan." Anyanka appeared deep in thought. "We need to get Dee a few outfits though."

"No problem." William pulled out a credit card. "Here. Charge it to Angelus."

"Sure thing!" Dee giggled. She grabbed the card out of the vampire's hand.

It never occurred to them that they would be trackable through the credit card.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Angel set the magical ingredients on the floor of the mansion's living room. He was sure that magic was the answer to his problems with Buffy. The once champion for the PTB hadn't even noticed his descent into madness. Of course, why would he? It had been his Sire's last thoughts of revenge before he dusted her.

Angel started to whistle as he prepared the ingredients into their proper places, except two. Those two he mixed up. So, instead of making his victim more compliant, she would be even more volatile. Not like the turned Slayer wasn't like that already.

The dark-haired vampire performed the ritual. He pronounced the words right, lit the incense at the proper time, and even cleaned up afterwards. Then, he decided to join his lovely childe in her room.

Angel entered the warded room, confident that he once again had Buffy under his control. A feral growl and glittering gold eyes was what greeted him though.

"Angel, my dearest Sire, you are really stupid, aren't you?" Buffy snarled.

Angel gulped at how mad Buffy appeared; both emotionally and mentally. He knew she had no weapons, but when she advanced on him, he backed up in terror.

Okay, time for plan C.

"Since you can't behave like a good childe, starve for a few days, lover." Angel backed out of the room. He slumped against the door once it was closed.

"You just wait, Angel. You will regret this." Buffy hissed through the wooden barrier. She knew Angel could hear her. "With no expiration date, I can exact my revenge for decades. Centuries even."

Angel leapt to his feet. Time to go research the Council's Cruciamentum drug. Hopefully, he'd be able to find a supplier somewhere close.

Things weren't going the way Angel had expected, but at least the Master stayed out of his life. Maybe it was time to get off the Hellmouth. Angel decided that as soon as he drugged Buffy into submission, they'd leave Sunnydale for good.

Chapter 12

William and Dee hit the casino floors and a couple of the nicer Vegas buffets. They felt a bit strange, but they sat close together, fed each other, and gave each other little loving gestures for Anyanka's camera.

"Okay, all this lovey stuff giving me the wiggins," Dee said when Anyanka stopped clicking pictures. "It's like being way too friendly with my brother, or, in this case, my father." She wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"I love you too." William gave the young woman a smirk.

"Oh don't give me none of your lip," Dawn pouted. "You know you feel the same way about me."

"Oh, I feel like your brother or your father?" William curled his tongue behind his teeth. He really did feel the same way about Dee, like she was his little sister or daughter, but he did enjoy teasing her. He waggled his eyebrows at Dee and Anyanka.

"Oh, you!" Dee slapped William's arm. "You're such a pain in the butt."

William slipped into game face. "Don't you mean neck?"

"I'm going to go to the one hour photo place now." Anyanka popped out of sight.

"The RV rental place still hasn't called," Dee said with a sigh. "Who knew April was such a popular month for RV rentals."

"Don't worry, Bit. Your sis can handle anything Sunnydale throws at her." William reassured the girl.

"But she's alone!"

"No, she's not." William patted Dee on the shoulder. "She's got Rupes, Red, Dogboy, Harris, and Spike to help."

"I know." Dee sighed. "I just worry. She was acting so reckless before we found out that you were alive."

"The Slayer always takes risks. You know that," William replied.

"Not like this. She really missed you." Dee gave William a hard look. "Don't you dare dust on us again."

"I won't, Bit. Love you and Anne too much." William gave Dee an almost shy smile.

"Just see that you don't! I think I'm ready to go back to the hotel." Dee yawned. "I'm pooped."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

IN THE ORIGINAL HOME DIMENSION

Black Willow smiled a very wicked smile. She put the WRH report down on the desk, and she looked at the vampire frozen in the middle of the room.

Angel's eyes darted back and forth as he looked for an escape from his desperate situation. He thought back to Spike's assessment of his stupidity. Now, he completely agreed with the younger vampire's opinion that magicking Willow up was a very, very bad idea.

"You know, I'm so glad we've had this chance to become better acquainted, Angel." Willow smirked. "For your troubles, I'm going to do you a favor. No more pesky soul problems." She snapped her fingers. "All nicely anchored. No more happiness clauses."

Angel grunted in protest. He had proved he could have sex without losing his soul.

"Oh, that's right. It's only Buffy that causes you happiness, and she picked her vampire of preference." Willow rose to her feet, slinked over to Angel, and circled him with one forefinger touching him mid-chest level. "Poor, poor Angel. Don't worry. I'll be out of your hair momentarily now that I know where Buffy ran off to with my power."

Angel sighed in relief. He never realized how scary Willow could be until she had taken over the WRH building. Even the Senior Partners had cowered in fear.

"You did call me forth for a reason." Willow continued to circle him. "Since you've been so helpful, I'll do as you wanted. Come along." She crooked a finger at the vampire.

Angel felt his body being dragged over the carpet to obey Willow's command. He hated the feeling of helplessness that invaded his limbs. There was nothing he could do as Willow pulled him down the hallway to where she had the other AI members held prisoner.

Willow busted the door open with the flick of a finger, and she entered the room with her vampire shadow. "I need more power to follow the Key. Yours will do nicely." She crossed to where Illyria was chained.

"I do not fear you, puny human," Illyria sneered. When she saw that Willow wasn't intimidated, the God King changed her tactic, and she morphed into Fred. "Hey, Willow, it's me Fred. Please don't hurt me.'

Willow rolled her eyes. "Bored now." She placed her hands on Illyria's head, and she started to draw the God King out of Fred's body into her own. Willow tossed her head back to let out a sensual moan.

The AI members watched in horror as Illyria started to morph back and forth between the God King's blue-tinted features and Fred's while Willow switched between Black Willow and a reddish/black Willow/Illyria. Finally Fred slumped bonelessly in the chains while the newest version of Willow stretched in pleasure.

"What a rush!" Willow shook herself as she got used to having the God King's power joined with her own. She smoothed her hands down over her new leather-like black and red body suit. "This is just the best thing ever. My name is now Willyria

"What's wrong with Fred?" Wesley asked in a concerned voice.

"She's dead, of course." Willyria rolled her eyes. "Fred didn't have the power to withstand Illyria like I can."

"Can't you put her soul back like you did Angelus, or resurrect her like you did Buffy?" Wesley asked.

Willyria hesitated, and for a moment, Angel and Wesley could see the old Willow. "No, I won't. She's in heaven. I won't make that mistake again."

"Please, no!" Wesley pleaded. "I love Fred. I want to be with her."

"Now that can be arranged." Willyria said coldly. She snapped her fingers, and Wesley slumped in his restraints "Now I must be off." With a second snap of her fingers, a portal opened, and Willyria stepped through it.

When the portal closed, Angel fell forward. He crawled over to Wesley, only to find that the one time Watcher was dead. The vampire let out a growl of displeasure and sorrow.

"You know, you're an idiot." Gunn had been quiet up till then, but now he felt that he needed to get something off his chest. "You told us that we'd be fighting evil from the belly of the beast. Now, it seems we're mostly dead. This is really fucked up, man."

"We ARE all dead," Angel muttered. He glanced at the ghostly Gunn. "This isn't how it was supposed to be."

"Yeah, I get that," Gunn said. He looked down at Fred and Wesley. "You're the last living creature in the dimension now, you know. Enjoy the peace and quiet." He floated away.

Angel shuddered as he thought about all the souls that were now on his conscience. He rose to his feet, walked down the hall to his office, and found the stakes hidden in his desk. He sat in the desk chair where he stared at the wooden weapon.

"I'm so sorry," Angel whispered. He pressed the stake to his breast, and he pushed the sharpened tip through his flesh."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MEANWHILE IN ALMOST WISHVERSE

Angel stared at the computer screen. He gave the drained body next to him a smirk. "Good work, Meers. This is perfect, except the fact that I have to go to Vegas to pick it up."

Warren Meers didn't say a word.

"I completely agree." Angel nodded. "It is the only way to get that little bitch under control. I haven't had a good blow job in months."

Warren didn't blink at the crudity.

"Yes, my good man," Angel said as he hit another button on the keyboard. "Those awful Scoobies may cause problems. I'll just have to eliminate any of them that try to stand in my way."

Warren didn't twitch at the implied threats.

"You're quite right. By the time I return to Sunnydale that little whore will be weak from a lack of blood." Angel got to his feet. "It'll be easy to drug her then." He left the boy's house without another thought.

Warren didn't say good-bye to his departing guest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LAS VEGAS

"I have the pictures." Anyanka popped into the hotel room. "They're really quite good, if I say so myself." She handed the stack of photos to William.

"I'm feeling kinda weird," Dee said suddenly. "Like someone just walked over my grave. Something's going on out there, and it's bad."

"That's not very helpful," Anyanka said. "Out there where?"

Dee paced back and forth for a few minutes. "Anyanka, you know that spell that brought vamp Willow to our dimension?"

"Yeah," Anyanka answered with great hesitation. "You want to see Vamp Willow?"

"No, I want to see home." Dee looked concerned. "Something's happening."

The others heard the undertone of urgency in Dee's voice. Anyanka and Ripper hastened to get ready to do the spell once the vengeance demon explained it to the Watcher. Within a few minutes everyone was ready.

Anyanka and Ripper recited the spell while William and Dee peered into the pool of water. They have a running commentary of Black Willow's actions. The three from the dimension in question were not the least bit surprised by Willow's actions. They'd been there for the year from hell, after all. Ripper watched the scene with more than a touch of horror.

"She's... she's..." Ripper was unable to articulate his thoughts.

"Damned scary?" Anyanka provided.

"Absolutely. If we ever find my dimension, I think the girl will be visiting the coven as soon as bloody possible."

"Good plan," William said.

"Oh my God, she's destroyed everything," Dee gasped. "She's on the move through the dimensions. That's what I felt. That idiot Angel's about to kill himself."

"What?" William leaned forward. "That pillock. I wish he was here so I could smack him."

"Wish granted!" Anyanka intoned, her demonic face fading in and out.

Angel pressed the stake to his chest. Then, he found himself in a hotel room with Spike, Dawn, a woman he didn't really recognize, and a young looking Giles. The girls gave him a dirty look while Spike and Giles grabbed the stake from him.

"If you think you're getting off that easy, you better think again." The bleached blond vampire growled. "Now, we're going by William, Dee, Anyanka, and Ripper. Buffy's named Anne. You wanna be Liam or S.F.B.?"

"SFB?" Angel asked in a confused voice.

"Shit for brains," Dee muttered.

"Um... Liam, I suppose." Angel hesitated over his human name. "Where's Bu... I mean Anne?"

"In Sunnyhell." William tossed the stake on the dresser. "Apparently the soul don't mean much here. Your counterpart took the Slayer after she died the first time. We think he may have bloody well vamped her."

"Bet she's really pissed off too." Anyanka closed the view on the pool of water. "Now, I need to get these pictures to Anne." She grabbed the sheath of photos.

"Hold on, Demon Girl. I just had an idea." William turned to Liam. "We're luring Angel away from Sunnyhell to let Anne and Spike search the mansion." He crossed to the second dresser to get a pad of paper which he threw to the other vamp. "Draw the mansion's floor plans. Specifically any hidey holes where the git could stash the Slayer."

Liam drew what he could remember. It had been over four years since he had been at the mansion. Then, he handed the pad of paper to Anyanka.

The vengeance demon glanced at the notepad, gave a nod, and popped out of sight.

"I made a mistake," Liam said. "I apologize."

"It's a little late for that now, isn't it?" Dee gave the vampire a hard look.

"Can I at least know what's going on?" Liam asked.

William and Dee looked at each other before they turned to the dark-haired vampire. They waved him to a chair, and they spent the next few hours explaining exactly what was going on with the dimension travelers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyanka popped into Anne's house in Sunnydale. She startled the Scoobies who had come by to wait for her and the pictures.

"Who are you?" Willow asked.

"Anyanka, you're here," Anne said from the kitchen. She walked down the hall to the living room. "You know everybody. Everybody, this is Anyanka."

"You look familiar." Xander studied the newcomer. "Now if I could just remember where I've seen you before." He continued to take in Anyanka's features.

Willow snapped her fingers. "That new girl Anya Jenkins. That's who she looks like."

Anne and Anyanka exchanged looks. They knew it was only a mater of time before this dimension's Dawn showed up now. The vengeance demon handed the pictures to Anne, who leafed through them before she handed them to Willow.

"Show time, I guess." The red-haired girl looked decidedly nervous. "Hope I can do this."

"You'll be fine," Anne assured Willow. She turned to Anyanka. "Can you keep an eye on Willow and Oz? Whisk them away if things get dicey with Angel?"

"I suppose." Anyanka shrugged. "Let's go, Red. You can tell me all about the werewolf induced orgasms on the way." She flounced out of the room.

Willow gave Anne and Xander a wide-eyed scared look before she followed Anyanka.

Xander stared after the two women. "She's really pretty. Tell me about her."

Anne snorted with mirth. Same old demon magnet Xander.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Willow glanced at Oz with trepidation before she knocked on Angel's apartment door. Even though she knew that Anyanka was nearby and that Oz wouldn't let the vampire hurt her, she couldn't help the way she felt. Knowing that Angel had probably been lying to them for over a year and was probably torturing Buffy, made Willow lose what little respect she had for the vampire.

The apartment door opened, and Angel's voice drifted out. "Willow and Oz. What can I do for you?"

"Um... well, Spike had been sighted with a girl." Willow shoved the pictures of William and Dee at the door. "Our sources say she's still human. Giles said we should try to rescue her."

Angel took the pictures without looking at them. "Can't. I got business in Vegas."

Willow's eyebrow arched. "What a coincidence! That's where Spike is! So, what kind of business do you have in Vegas?"

"Nothing you need to worry about," Angel growled. "I'll take care of Spike." He started to close the door.

"Giles wants Oz and I to go along.'

"Fine," Angel snarled. Just what he needed. Interference. "Be ready to go at sunset." He slammed the door.

"Wow, somebody's all bad moody," Willow observed as she and Oz left the building.

"Somebody's off the pig," Oz said.

"Really?" Willow stared at Oz.

The werewolf tapped his nose to indicate he could smell the human blood surrounding the vampire.

"One of us needs to be awake at all times, then." Willow looked scared, but determined. They had to give Anne and Spike time to find Buffy. "Let's go get some weapons."

Oz nodded in agreement.

Xander leaned against the wall as he watched for Anya Jenkins to come out of the magic store. He had talked to Anne about many things including his vampire hatred and the fact that Buffy was always meant to be with Spike. It was time to put away childish pursuits and act more grown up.

Xander smiled when the girl he was waiting for finally exited the store. He pushed himself off the wall, and he approached Anya.

"Hi, I'm Xander Harris." The dark-haired young man stuck out his hand. "I was wondering if you'd like to go out on a date?"

"A date?" Anya looked at the young man. "What's that?"

Xander grinned at Anya. He knew from Anne's talk that he needed to be blunt. "A date is where two people have fun together while trying to discover if they are compatible to have orgasms." Xander chuckled at the girl's wide eyed look.

"Oh, Xander Harris, that sounds good." Anya smiled. "I'd very much like to try one of these date things."

"Great! Here let me carry your bag." Xander took Anya's packages. "I'll walk you home, and we can decide where to go on our date."

Chapter 13

Angel grimaced at the thought of driving all the way to Vegas with Willow and Oz. The vampire wondered if he could dispose of them somewhere along the way and blame it on demons.

Willow and Oz came up to stand by Angel's car. They gave each other secret smiles when he wrinkled his nose, and he stepped away from them.

"What did you two do?" Angel growled. "Roll in a garlic patch?" His eyes watered a little bit.

Willow lifted an arm, and she sniffed. "Do I really smell garlicky?" she asked innocently.

"You smell good to me." Oz nuzzled Willow's neck.

"We did try the Garlic Buffalo wings from that new place in the mall last night," Willow said. "Guess we didn't realize how much garlic they used. Sorry." She remembered with glee how much Spike loved the wings and how he had told them that the smell would probably drive Angel barmy.

"Thankfully I don't have to breathe," Angel grumbled. Now he was doubly sure he wanted to dispose of the two redheads. "Get in the car."

The three of them piled into Angel's car. Angel sat behind the wheel with Willow and Oz in the back seat. Everyone was quiet until about five minutes outside of Sunnydale when Willow piped up.

"Are we there yet?"

"What?" Angel looked in the rearview mirror at the redheaded female.

"It's a road trip tradition, Angel," Willow stated in a matter of fact tone. "Haven't you been on a road trip before?"

Angel turned his eyes back to the road. This was going to be a long trip!

"I know!" Willow snapped her fingers. "Let's play the license plate game! Angel's a shoe in with his night vision."

"Well, California's a given," Oz said.

"Yeah, but who gets it?" Willow wondered.

"All of us." Oz flung his arm around Willow. He peered up at the half moon, and he could feel the beast within wanting to get out and rip the traitorous vampire in the front seat limb from limb.

"You're so smart." Willow kissed Oz's cheek.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anne and Spike watched as Willow and Oz drove away with Angel. In a few minutes they would start searching the Crawford Street manor. Just as soon as they were sure the dark-haired vampire was out of town.

Anne chewed on her lip for a moment. "Did he seem... off to you?" she asked the bleached blond vampire.

"Even more so than before, luv," Spike said. He took a deep, cleansing breath. "Okay, let's get this over with."

Anne nodded. Together they strolled towards Crawford Street, ever alert for the Master's minions. Anne entered the mansion first. They carefully searched the first floor.

Spike stopped at a door, one that Liam said led to a sub-basement connected to the Sunnydale sewer system. "I can smell your scent from behind this door. It's mixed with Angelus', but it's there."

"Alright then," Anne replied. She used one foot to kick in the door. "This is going awfully easy," she muttered in an uneasy tone.

"The poofter is confident that no one knows she's here, Slayer." Spike peered into the dark stairwell that led downward. "All his precautions are to prevent her from escapin', not from us breakin' in."

Anne hummed before she grumbled, "Forgot the blasted flashlight."

"I won't let you fall." Spike grabbed Anne's elbow. "I'm not sure who'd win if I had to fight m'self." He referred to the fact that his counterpart would probably try to stake him if anything happened to Anne.

Anne rolled her eyes as they descended into the bowels of the mansion. She wondered what the vampire's real motives were for continuing to help her find this dimension's Buffy. She blinked in surprise when Spike turned on a light.

The Slayer and the vampire found themselves in a room with a bank of monitors on one wall. Spike studied the console until he stepped forward to push a button. The monitors flared to life to show a blond replica of Anne laying on a bed in an otherwise barren room.

"There she is," Anne said. She studied the other Slayer. The picture suddenly changed. "What did you do?"

"He recorded everything," Spike replied. He watched the screens with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Never had he ever done any of the sickening things to any of his victims that Angel was doing to the Slayer. "I always knew he liked to stalk his victims, but I never knew how perverted he was."

"I hope she's not too much like Drusilla," Anne said in a quiet, lethal voice.

"I'll take care of her if she is," Spike replied softly. His mind catalogued every misdeed that he would have to overcome with vamped Slayer.

"I know you will." Anne gave a small sigh. "Let's get her rescued." She stepped away from the console. "Which way?"

Spike sniffed the air, and he was able to distinguish between the two Slayers. The living Slayer smelled sweet and freshly bathed while the vamped Slayer's scent was mixed with Angelus'. That was something he would have to see about changing soon. The two warriors found the door to Buffy's room, and together they broke it down.

Spike took one look at the turned Slayer, and he snarled, "She hasn't eaten in a couple of days. We need blood."

"There was a mini fridge back in the control room." Anne looked down the hallway. "You get Buffy, and I'll check for blood."

"Right." Spike entered the room, and he cautiously approached the girl on the bed. "Hello, pet," he said in a soothing voice. "We're here to rescue you."

"Who are you?" Buffy whispered. She thought she must be hallucinating the handsome, blue eyed man. She knew she felt weak from a lack of blood.

"Name's Spike." The bleached blond sidled closer.

"You're a vampire." Buffy stared at the male. "Who was the human with you?"

"Well, that's a long story, luv." Spike moved even closer to Buffy. "Basically, she's you." He hoped Anne's scent would help Buffy to realize he was telling her the truth.

"What?" Buffy struggled to sit up, but she was too weak. "How can she be me?"

"Something about different dimensions, apparently. Now, I'm going to pick you up, Slayer. Don't freak out on me." Spike leaned over to put an arm around Buffy's shoulders and the other under her knees. "Let's get out of here."

"What about Angel?" Buffy had a look of anger and terror mixed on her face.

"Don't worry about Peaches," Spike said. "He's on a road trip with the witch and the werewolf." He carried the Slayer down the hall.

"He means Willow and Oz." Anne looked up from where she was peering into the fridge. "Hi, Buffy. I go by Anne."

"You really are me." Buffy's astonishment showed on her face.

"Yep." Anne nodded. "There are a few packets of blood in the fridge, but I have more back at the house for fang face here."

Buffy took a package of blood from Anne. She'd never had warm blood before. So, she didn't think twice about drinking it down without even the glimpse of a grimace. Buffy was surprised to see her Doppelganger not turn away or even have her own look of distaste. What was up with that?

Anne answered Buffy's unasked question. "I'm involved with my own Spike. I'm used to the whole blood drinking thing."

"Let's get out of here," Spike suggested. "We can continue this conversation elsewhere." He was glad when the Slayers agreed with him. He felt leery being in this grandsire's lair despite the other vampire's absence.

The three blonds climbed up the stairs, and at the front door Anne cautioned Buffy. "When Angel took you away, you didn't kill the Master. We need to be careful because of him and the curfew invoked by the Sunnydale P.D."

Buffy nodded that she understood. Life had gone to hell since she'd been forced away from her duty. However, there was nothing to worry about, since the trip back to the Guardian's house was uneventful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyanka popped into the hotel room. She collapsed into a chair. "The road trip has started. Willow and Oz smell like they bathed in garlic, and now they're playing license plate bingo."

"Anne and Spike found Buffy," William replied. "I got the connectin' room for the Poofter." He nodded towards the open doorway.

"What are we going to do with him?" Anyanka's voice dropped to a whisper.

William shrugged. "Find a nice Buffyless dimension to leave him in. Of course, if Red finds us first who knows what will happen."

Anyanka shivered in remembered terror. "You should be glad you weren't there when she went all vengeance-y. She could have dusted you with a snap of her fingers."

"Anne told me about it all later," William said. "I miss Tara." The vampire's blue eyes were sad.

"Me, too. Surprisingly, since we never really talked."

"She knew about me and the Slayer." William chuckled. "She kept making little jabs at me at that birthday party Cecily trapped us at."

"Who's Cecily?" Anyanka looked confused. She knew it was Halfrek, her now dead justice demon friend, who caused the havoc at Buffy's twentieth birthday party. So, she didn't know why William thought Cecily was the one who kept them there.

"Cecily was the bint who rejected me back when I was human." William jumped to his feet, and he started to pace. "I ran away and Drusilla found me."

"Ah, Halfrek had only been a justice demon for just over a hundred years." Anyanka nodded. "She never really told me too much about her ascension."

"Probably wished I'd fuck off and die," William sneered. He still clearly remembered the bitch's hateful words to him. "Then she probably got recruited like your ex-boss tried with Red."

Anyanka mumbled an agreement. She remembered her own rise to vengeance demon status.

"Anyway, back to what's really important," William said. "You need to keep an eye on our impending visitors. That way the rest of us can set up a warm welcome."

"Gotcha." Anyanka was glad the subject of Halfrek was closed because she felt a lot of guilt over the death of her friend. The vengeance demon popped out of sight.

William went to prepare the rest of the gang for the upcoming confrontation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Angel, Willow, and Oz arrived in Las Vegas no worse for wear physically. However, Angel had hoped that since he had been unable to lose the two on the trip, that he'd have better luck now that they were in the city of sin. They pulled up into the parking lot of the hotel/casino that the photos of Spike had been taken.

"I win!" Willow chortled. "I saw the most state plates. I don't think Angel was really trying."

Angel growled under his breath. How on earth did Buffy become friends with this bimbo? It didn't even occur to him that Willow was playing with him, having spent as little time as possible with the Scoobies after he abducted the Slayer.

"Okay, we'll get checked in and see if Spike's registered here." Willow got out of the car followed by Oz. "You hit the casino, Angel."

Angel grunted his agreement. The sooner they found that irresponsible grandchild of his, the sooner he could ditch the Scoobies. When he realized that he couldn't ditch them on the trip to Vegas, he thought maybe, just maybe, he could use Spike's presence to his advantage.

At the front of the hotel, Angel went to the casino. He searched the room for a familiar bleached blond head, but what he saw made his jaw drop. Angel blinked, and he rubbed his eyes.

That was himself! What the hell was going on?

A crowd of people walked by, and when they passed the Doppelganger had disappeared. The perplexed vampire decided his eyes must have been playing tricks on him. Angel started his search of the casino again.

"Mr. O'Connor, I'm so glad I caught you. I was able to find everything you requested, sir. Even the Tagas Root, whatever that is."

Angel turned to find a short, sweaty man in a suit talking to him. "I just arrived in Vegas," the vampire said. "You must have mistaken me for someone else." Angel gave the man a cool look.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, sir. My mistake entirely," the man gushed. "You do look remarkably like Mr. O'Connor." He rushed off in search of the person he really wanted.

Angel shook his head before he returned to his search for Spike.

Chapter 14

"The plan is to drive him insane?" Willow asked. She eyed the other group. William was so much like Spike that she had to mentally rub her eyes at the sight. She realized what a handsome man Giles was as a young man. Dee reminded her quite a bit of Buffy. Willow wondered how much like Anya Jenkins Anyanka was going to prove to be.

"Yes, that's the plan." William nodded with a smirk. "You and dogboy here pretend whatever he says is somethin' else. Ripper will completely ignore him. Dee and I will act like he's familiar, but we won't totally recognize him."

"I'll slip him the drug that Ripper made up," Anyanka said with a giggle. "I'm going to go get Ripper and I our jobs now." She blinked out of sight.

"I sure hope this works," Willow muttered.

"It will," William assured the girl. "Today's just a warm up. Tomorrow we'll bring out the big guns." He winked at Dee. "We'll be pulling a First trick on the poofter."

Willow and Oz looked confused while Dee giggled.

"I see dead people," the Key said in a creepy voice.

"You guys are really odd," Willow replied.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Angel looked around the casino floor yet again. He knew Spike was around somewhere. He could feel the other vampire on the edge of his senses, but what confused him was the older vamp he could feel with Spike. Angel knew it wasn't Drusilla, but it felt like family. That confused him.

"Show yourself," Angel growled under his non-existent breath when he failed to see Spike.

"Your drink, Mr O'Connor." A waitress appeared at Angel's elbow.

Angel grinned as he took the drink from the young woman's tray. Whoever his look-a-like was, he deserved a few extra expenses for all the hassles that Angel was sure he would have to endure. Angel knocked back the drink in one gulp.

Within seconds Angel started to feel weird; like his skin was on fire and his eyes were melting in their sockets. However the feeling quickly passed, and he felt a pleasant buzz run through his body.

"I want another one of those," the dark-haired vamp told the waitress.

"Of course, Mr. O'Connor." The waitress nodded before she went back to the bar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Did it work?" Dee sat at the bar sipping a coke.

Anyanka nodded with a smirk. "Hook, line, and sinker." She tilted her head to the side with a curious look on her face. "What does that mean anyway?"

"Fishing reference." Dawn shrugged, but she didn't offer any more towards an explanation.

"He wants another Vamp High, Ripper," Anyanka said to the man acting as the bartender.

"Who knew Ethan's little book on supernatural psychotropic drugs would come in so handy," Ripper laughed. The greyer side of life really was a lot more fun at the moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a few more of the drinks -- at Mr. O'Connor's expense, of course -- Angel was feeling quite superb. What he hadn't realized was that the alcohol covered the taste of the drug that not only loosened his tongue, but it would make him more susceptible to suggestions. This particular drug would stay in his system long after the alcohol burned away.

"Angel, here's your key." Willow and Oz approached the vampire. They were both ready to execute their part of the plan as proposed by William.

"Give it here," Angel sneered. "Now fuck off and die. I mean really die."

"Are you okay?" Willow asked in a worried voice. "You know you can't go swimming in the sun." Her eyes darted around to check on any eavesdroppers. "Your allergies, you know."

"Huh?" Angel grunted in an inelegant manner. "I said, fuck off and die, bitch."

"Well, okay, if you want to go swimming in the sun, don't expect me to bring you back." Willow grabbed Oz's hand. "Let's go, baby."

Oz nodded with a small, tight smile. He had fought his inner beast quite hard when Angel had called his girl a bitch, but the werewolf knew they had to stick to the plan.

Angel mentally scratched his head. What on Earth was that? He decided that Willow was mental, and Oz right along with her.

Out of the corner of his eye, Angel noticed that the girl in the pictures with Spike was sitting at the bar. He smirked as he rose to his feet. It wouldn't be hard to lure her away. After all, everyone who knew Spike knew what a disappointment the bleached blond was as a vampire. Angel approached the girl.

"Hey, sweet thing," Angel said with a leer. "How about I take you to my room and show you what a real man can do?"

The girl turned around to look at him with cool blue eyes that strangely reminded Angel of Spike. She wrinkled her nose is distaste. "You look just like this guy my sister used to date. He broke her heart."

Angel giggled under his breath. "Oh, sweet thing, I won't break your heart. I'll eat it still beating in your chest."

"Now you even sound like Liam," the girl sniffed in with even more disgust.

"Liam?" Angel spluttered. His human name falling from the girl's pouty little lips startled Angel in ways he couldn't even understand.

"Another drink, miss?" Ripper asked as he approached Dee. He pretended not to see Angel.

"I'd like another drink too," Angel replied.

"I'd love one of those umbrella drinks," Dee said with a grin. "A virgin one, of course."

Ripper nodded at Dee. He made her a sweet non-alcoholic drink. He set it in front of her with a flourish.

"What about my drink?" Angel snarled with anger when the bartender continued to talk to the girl and ignored his presence.

"If you need anything else, let me know." Ripper winked at Dee. He still ignored Angel, and it took everything he had not to smirk at how worked up the vampire was getting over being ignored.

"Oh, I will." Dee said as she returned Ripper's wink with a flirty one of her own. "My date will be here soon. He likes the wings and one of those bloomin' onion things. Can we eat in the lounge?"

Ripper nodded. "I'll send the order to the kitchen."

"Where did you meet Spike?" Angel demanded. If the girl wouldn't come back to his room, he'd just have to question her here in public.

Willow and Oz walked past, and Willow commented loud enough for Angel to hear, "Looks like Angel changed his mind about swimming, Oz. I don't know what he was thinking."

Angel ignored the redheads, and he again demanded, "About Spike, missy. What are you doing hanging out with that good for nothing?"

"The only guy I've been hanging out with has been William." Dawn took a sip of her drink. "I met him when I was kidnapped by this idiot and his insane ho. He rescued me, if you must know."

"I find that hard to believe," Angel scoffed. Spike was a bloodthirsty demon that would never change for anything or anyone.

"It's true." Dawn grinned at Angel with much cheek. She noticed that Ripper didn't venture too far off, just in case Angel got all touchy. "Of course, it was so my sister wouldn't beat the crap out of him."

"Oi, Nib, the show's startin' in a mo'." William appeared at Dee's elbow.

"Look, William, doesn't this guy look just like Liam." Dawn pointed at Angel. "He even has the massive forehead."

William looked Angel over with a careless shrug. "You're right. He does bear a resemblance to the broodin' poofter."

"Spike," Angel growled. "It'll be a pleasure to rid the world of your presence."

"Name's William," the bleached blond vampire said with a smirk. Oh, how he loved to play with Angel's mind, even one from a different dimension. "Who's this Spike you're talkin' about? Sounds like a bloke after m'own heart."

"Cut the crap, Spike," Angel muttered. He swayed a little as the alcohol and drugs traveled through his body. "You were in Sunnydale just last year with Drusilla."

"Must have me mistaken for someone else, mate. I haven't seen my ripe wicked plum in years." William turned to Dee, and he held out his arm. "Let's go see the show, Nib."

"Hold on there." Angel grabbed William's arm. "You're evil and soulless. It's my duty to rid the world of you."

"You touch my friend, and you'll wish you were...." Dee's snarl was interrupted by a popping noise.

"Oh, a wish. I live for wishes."

The waitress appeared at Angel's elbow. Her face was aglow with eager anticipation as it rippled to her hideous demonic visage.

Angel let out a startled grunt. "What the fuck are you?" he uttered grumpily. "Because you are the butt ugliest woman I've ever seen."

"You're not so handsome yourself, asshole." Anyanka wiggled her fingers at the tall dark-haired vampire. She spelled Angel to now see his reflection. Only he would see the evil that lurked beneath the surface instead of his normal features.

"Have a good time." Anyanka smirked before she blinked out of sight.

"Let's go, William." Dee grabbed the bleached blond vampire's arm, and she dragged him away.

Angel blinked in surprise when he caught sight of what could only be himself in the mirror behind the bar. Did that bitch make me human? Then, he realized that his features were melting and reshaping into some kind of hideous creature. He reached up to touch his cheek, but it was as smooth as ever.

"What the hell is happening?" Angel muttered. "I've fallen into an insane world, haven't I?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anne and Spike escorted the vamped Buffy into the house that Anne currently lived in. Anne took the Slayer vampire upstairs to bathe while Spike reported in to Giles.

"We have her," Spike said in the way of a greeting when the Watcher answered his phone. "I don't think she's ready for a meet and greet with the masses yet."

"Does she have her soul, as Anne thought she might?" Giles asked in a tentative voice.

"Yeah, it's there." Spike's eyes drifted upward. He was deliciously intrigued by the young vampire. She had power he couldn't even begin to imagine. "She's remarkably sound of mind considering what we saw from Angelus' tapes. He recorded all of his tortures on her."

Giles let out a growl of anger. "Oh how I wish he could feel it all. He should suffer through every little thing he did to her."

Anyanka popped into Giles' apartment with her face still in its demonic visage. "That is so evil, Rupert. I like it. Wish granted."

Chapter 15

MEANWHILE IN ANOTHER PLACE AND TIME

Willyria watched as another version of herself ripped Warren's skin away. She remembered with delight the joy she had taken in destroying the animal who had taken away her Tara. The dark-haired God-witch felt the desire to help her counterpart. She wanted control of every dimension, and this one would fall easily if she got rid of just one person.

With a smirk, Willyria set off to destroy the only person with the power to stop the other Willow. She knew her old friend Xander Harris wouldn't be that hard to find. After all, Sunnydale wasn't that big. There weren't that many bars.

When Willyria found Xander, she gave him no warning of her intentions. She simply willed him out of existence. She was quite pleased with herself when Xander disappeared.

"That wasn't very polite. Coming into a girl's dimension and destroying one of her friends."

Willyria turned to find Dark Willow standing close to her. She gave the other woman a cool smirk. "He would have ended your revenge against a world that killed your one true love."

"Him? Not Buffy?"

"The Slayer's pathetic," Willyria sneered. "She has been fucking Spike behind your back. She's only happy when she's sneaking around with the undead. Remember when Angel came back from Hell?"

"Oh, yes!" Dark Willow nodded, her eyes flashed angrily at the memory. "She sure does like the fangy type."

"They don't deserve to exist," Willyria said in a hypnotic voice. "You need to destroy them all, even the Key. If it wasn't for her Buffy wouldn't have died and neither would have Tara." She knew her argument was illogical, but she figured Dark Willow wouldn't notice. She herself certainly wouldn't have at that time in her life.

"You're right." Dark Willow disappeared from sight.

"Oh, that was too easy," Willyria muttered with a smirk. She turned to make her way towards a portal she had made prior to Dark Willow's little visit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BACK IN LAS VEGAS, ALMOST WISHVERSE

Angel awoke abruptly from his drunken stupor. His throat, anus and a spot behind his balls hurt with a burning unlike anything he'd felt before.

"What did I do last night?" the vampire groaned. "What was in that drink?"

The burning feeling turned to actual pain. Angel moaned as he sat up, and his hand immediately went to his head. He swung his feet over the side of the bed. When he got to his feet, his knees almost buckled when a new pain was added to the others.

Two years worth of whipping pains manifested themselves across the vampire's back.

"That damned bartender! I bet whatever's going on is his fault," Angel muttered. He hobbled towards the chair where he had abandoned his clothes the night before. The vampire dragged the garments on, wincing as they caught on his now sensitive skin.

Angel was so intent on getting down to the bar that he didn't notice that his male private parts were untouched by pain. However the agony inside his pelvis intensified with every step along with the burning in his anus.

Angel's steps faltered a few times as he struggled down the hall. Those who met him along the way had the impression that he was quite drunk. In fact, everyone he met in the corridor gave him a wide berth. As more and more pain and anguish manifested itself upon the vampire, Angel didn't notice the people in the elevator that cringed at the sight of him.

Little did Angel realize that even thought it felt like he was hung over, what he was really feeling was the continued affects of Ripper's drug. His path to redemption had been forever changed by Darla's last wish before her death. The soul given to Angel by the gypsies so many decades before hid as the demon in control tainted it more every day. Angel's outward appearance was now being affected by the taint. No longer did he bear the face of his namesake. His features were as twisted and ugly as his black and cruel heart.

Angel burst out of the elevator as a new pain was added to the others. Now there was a gnawing hunger in his guts. It felt like he hadn't fed for months. Angel looked around, wishing he could stop for a snack. However, he wanted to get to the bar first.

Once inside the hotel bar, Angel staggered to one of the stools where he collapsed with a sigh. A bartender that the vampire didn't recognize sidled up to him.

"Drink, mister?"

"Where's the guy from last night?" Angel growled through his pain.

"That would be me." The bartender grinned cheerily.

"No, it wasn't you," Angel snarled. "It was someone else. The asshole wouldn't talk to me."

"Oh, I'm sure I would have remembered a hunk like you." The bartender winked at Angel.

Angel grunted in disgust. "How about a red-headed waitress about this high?" He held out his hand to indicate height. "She seemed able to grant wishes."

The bartender shook his head. "The only red-haired waitress we have is Tilda the Hun." He pointed down the bar to a statuesque woman with monstrous breasts.

"That's not her," Angel muttered. At least he was pretty sure that wasn't the same waitress. He had been awfully drunk the night before. "What the hell is going on here?"

"I don't know, but your hunkiness is rapidly going away," the bartender said in a bright voice.

Angel let out a small scream when a sharp pain pierced his head. He fell to the floor, and he curled into a tight ball.

"Hey, mister, you okay? Should I call someone for you?" The bartender leaned over the bar to stare at the man on the floor. He gave an exasperated sigh. "Not another one. Why do these people come if they can't handle Vegas. Hey, Tilda," he shouted out to the waitress, "Better call the wagon."

Tilda the Hun looked down the bar. She nodded when she saw the man huddled on the floor. This was the fifth one this week that had broke under the strain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy made her way downstairs at a snail's pace. All day she had been feeling odd. It was almost as if all the abuses of the past few years with Angel were fading away. She knew that her counterpart Anne was out, and her only company would be Spike. When she got to the first floor, Buffy realized the house was a near replica of the one her mother lived in. She eased her way towards the kitchen.

"Come on in, pet. It's just us vampires here." Spike smirked when the vamped Slayer slipped into the room.

"Hey, um, Spike," Buffy said in a very soft voice. She felt a little nervous around the male vampire. Being a prisoner hadn't been very easy on the Slayer's soul. Although, if she was honest with herself, that wasn't the only thing that made her nervous. Buffy thought Spike was quite handsome. "Is there anything to eat?"

"Anne went out early to the butcher's to stock up." Spike made a grimace. "Pig swill is disgusting."

Buffy shrugged. "It's got to be better than whatever that scumbag fed me."

Spike let out a snort. "That's one way to describe the poofter." He went to the fridge to get Buffy something to eat. "You're doin' remarkably well, considering."

"I know." Buffy took a seat. "I should be freaking out being alone with a guy after almost two years of abuse from one." Her eyebrows scrunched together as she concentrated. "Isn't that odd?"

"A lot of things have been odd lately," Spike answered as he heated up Buffy's blood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BACK IN VEGAS

The paramedic stared at the man strapped to the gurney. "He's dead. There's no vital signs."

"And yet he walks and talks like he's alive," the ambulance driver said back over his shoulder.

"You mean whimpering and struggling like he's alive, don't you? Where on Earth should we take him?" The paramedic cleared his throat. "I'm pretty sure Las Vegas General won't take him."

"Of course not. We should drop him off at Rockpoint Sanitarium. They'll know what to do with him."

"Not the morgue?"

The ambulance driver gave the paramedic a pointed look in the mirror. "He isn't dead enough for Grissom's crew. It's Rockpoint, I'm telling you."

The paramedic raised his hands in surrender. "You're the driver."

Chapter 16

Spike and Buffy were conversing quietly when Anne showed back up at the house with several shopping bags. She thrust them into Buffy’s hands. “Hopefully our tastes are still similar,” the older, blonder Slayer said softly.

Buffy bit her lip for a second. She was overwhelmed with gratitude over the other woman’s actions. It had been so long since anyone had shown her any kindness that the turned Slayer was unsure how to react. “Thanks, I’m sure everything will be fine.”

Anne turned to Spike. “We’ll be having a Scooby meeting after dark to plan how to take care of the Master.”

Buffy shivered at the thought of facing the vampire that had drowned her. He scared her almost as much as Angel did now.

Anne noticed Buffy’s reaction to the mention of the Master. She turned to give the vampiress a small smile. “If Angel hadn’t done what he did, Xander would have revived you, and you would have gone on to kick old punch mouth’s ass.”

“Is that what you did?” Buffy looked at Anne with curiosity.

“Sure did.” Anne nodded. Then she gave a sly grin. “Met my version of blondie here a few months later.”

Buffy gave Spike a wide eyed look. “Did you hit it right off?”

“Oh, you could say that,” Anne said with a chuckle. “We hit it off as enemies.”

“What changed?” Buffy looked interested.

Anne shrugged. “He got caught by the Initiative and ended up with a chip that fired when he tried to hurt humans. Then, I died again, which I don’t recommend. Things were pretty crappy for a couple of years until we started this journey.”

“You gonna tell us about all this Immortal Guardian crap now?” Spike arched his eyebrow at the living Slayer.

“Are you sure you’re ready to hear all of this?” Anne looked back and forth between the two vampires. “Buffy just got out of one impossible situation, and you want to tell her about another one?”

Spike glanced at Buffy. “I think it’s for the best, Slayer. We need to know our options up front.”

Anne nodded slowly. “Let’s go get comfortable.” She headed for the living room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few hours later, Anne took a deep breath, and ended her tale with, “And that’s where we are right now.”

“Wow, that’s a tale and a half,” Buffy murmured. She glanced over at Spike, who had been listening to Anne’s tale just as intently as she had. “That’s quite a list of bad things that could happen. Do you think Angel lost his soul, and that’s why he did what he did to me?”

Xander and Anya entered the house just in time to hear Buffy’s question, and Anya felt the need to speak up, “No, it wasn’t you. It was Darla. She cursed him when he dusted her.”

“Buffy, I’ve missed you.” Xander gave his old friend a bright smile before his face fell. “I’m really sorry we left you in the hands of that scum. If we had any inkling that you were alive, we would have rescued you.”

“I know, Xander.” Buffy gave Xander a reassuring smile. “You’re forgiven.”

“We’re here for the meeting, Anne.” Xander turned to the older Slayer. “Who all are we expecting tonight?”

Anne tilted her head in thought. “Well, Giles and Serina will be here for sure. I’ve contacted Clem and a couple other demons that weren’t inherently evil as well as the deputy mayor. The Initiative isn’t an issue at this point. So, that’s no help at all. RoseSeri is coming with her husband and the other wives.”

“Council won’t help, I can already tell you that.” Xander escorted Anya to a chair. “Giles has tried and tried to get them to send some kind of reinforcements, but they keep refusing. That’s how we ended up with Serina and the coven members here.”

“Giles did get to talk to that guy Reginald Bey that Ripper suggested.” Anne turned to pick up a notepad on an end table. “Someone will need to go pick him up at the airport in two days, and I don’t drive.” She shook her head. “William won’t let me ever again since I banged up his pile of crap car.”

Spike pointed at Buffy. “You! Are! Not! Driving! My! Baby!”

Buffy held up her hands in mock surrender. “I’ll take Anne’s word on it that we’re terrible drivers.”

Anne grinned at Xander who was watching with an amused look on his face. “You’re lucky you missed the whole band candy thing. My Xander refused to get in the car with me after that. In fact, I think he learned to drive just so he could be the driver.” She gave a small laugh.

Xander gave a small chuckle. He was in a good mood, just having had the date of a lifetime with Anya. He even had an idea for some backup for the plan to take out the Master. “What about contacting the Slayer without going through channels? Her Watcher is some guy named Wesley Pryce. Maybe if we talked to him directly he’d be willing to listen.”

Anne nibbled on her lip. “I don’t know about that. Wesley was pretty uptight when he first came to Sunnydale. He was very much a Council man.”

“You know the Slayer’s Watcher too?” Xander’s jaw dropped. “Is there anyone you don’t know?”

Anne chuckled as she shrugged. “The supernatural community isn’t that big you know. There’s more civvies than there are of us.”

“I could ask Hoffy for some help,” Anya said. “I’m sure he’ll spare a demon or two to help.”

Anne looked thoughtful for a moment. “Okay, that’ll work. Just not that Halfrek chick. I really didn’t like her.”

“What’s wrong with Hallie?” Anya asked. “She’s been a good friend for a long time.” So far she found Anne to be very interesting. She didn’t like that it seemed her best friend wouldn’t be welcome around the Slayer.

“About 120 years or so, right?” Anne glanced at Spike. “William recognized her. Cecily got herself ascended into demon hood.”

Anya also glanced at Spike. “The man she finally married abused her and her children. After he killed them, she killed him in a nasty enough way that it attracted Hoffy’s attention. She’s now the patron saint of neglected children.”

“Well, goodie for her,” Spike said sarcastically. “I haven’t given a damn about Cecily since I was turned.”

“Good, let’s keep it that way,” Buffy growled. She was already feeling very possessive of the bleached blond vamp. Boy, did that revelation surprise her.

Anne secretly smiled while she got to her feet. “I’m gonna go make sure that there’s goodies for the meeting.” She went off towards the kitchen.

Buffy got a look of horror on her face. “Kitchens and Buffy are really not mixy. Somebody better get in there with her before she burns the house down.”

“I heard that,” Anne’s voice drifted in from the other room. “I defrost pizza just as good as the next Slayer.”

“See?” Buffy appealed to the others. “She’s sure to burn us down.”

“We’ll go help,” Xander chuckled. “Maybe we can just call out for pizza, or Hassib can bring some donuts.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“The rental place called,” Dee said when William entered the hotel room. “The RV has been returned. Can we get out of this weird town now?”

“Yeah.” William rubbed his hands together. “Who’s gonna drive the poofter’s car back to Sunnyhell?”

“Since I’m the poofter in question, it should be me,” Liam replied. “Like I’m going to let you drive a car of mine, William.”

“Hmm, I seem to remember a certain Viper I drove around a lot,” William replied. “Besides, you can’t drive into Sunnyhell alone, or someone might think you’re Angel. You’ll get staked.” He paused for a moment. “On second thought, please do.”

Dee smacked William’s arm. “Don’t be ugly. Oz and Willow can drive the convertible. The rest of us will be in the RV. That way we can drive during the day time too.”

William sighed. “Let’s hope this RV trip is less traumatic than the last one.” He went into the other hotel room to check on the packing.

“What was that about?” Willow asked. “He’s not too thrilled about RVs.”

Dee shrugged. “Last time we had knights with big sticks chasing us. Giles got stabbed, and I got kidnapped.”

“Yeah,” Anyanka said in a bored voice. “It was a thrill ride.”

“We’ll be there by midnight if we get the lead out.” William came back from the other room. “Nibblet, use the loo, I’m not stopping in twenty miles cuz you gotta go.”

“Yes, sir.” Dee gave William a mock salute, and she quickly ducked away from the pillow thrown her way by him on her way to the bathroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Angel fought against the straight jacket that surrounded his body. He had expected to break free with in seconds, but to his amazement it didn’t happen. His nose told him he was in a hospital or similar place. The air was filled with the scent of bleach, medicine, urine, vomit, and other smells that made him glad he didn’t have to breath.

“You can’t break out of the jacket,” a disembodied voice said from the ceiling.

Angel looked up at the camera that was recording his every movement. If he had been able, he would have flipped whoever was on the other side off.

“It was designed for creatures of your nature in mind,” the voice continued. “Don’t worry though. You won’t be with us for very long. A Dr. Maggie Walsh is on her way to pick you up.”

“Who the fuck is that?” Angel muttered.

Chapter 17

“May I see the vampire?” Maggie Walsh asked without greeting the sanitarium doctor.

“Right away, Professor Walsh.” The doctor saluted his former commander. “This one is in better shape then the last one. He’s actually alert and feisty.”

“Excellent.” Maggie Walsh followed the doctor down a long corridor to a security room. When they got into the room, a bank of television sets covered one wall. “Which one is he?”

The doctor pointed to a screen where a dark-haired specimen was rolling around the floor fighting against the straightjacket that encircled his body.

Walsh took a seat to study her newest acquisition for awhile before she presented herself to him. She noted that he was shouting something as he rolled around. She looked at the doctor. “What is he saying?”

“He is insisting that he’s the Champion of the Powers that Be. He’s quite adamant that we let him go, and that he needs to get home to Sunnydale to his child.” The doctor tilted his head. “Can a vampire have children?”

“Not possible. Their seed is quite dead.” Walsh tapped her chin. “Sunnydale. That’s quite interesting. I tried to set up a base in Sunnydale, but I was vetoed with no explanation given. This could be my opportunity to find out more about that town.”

“Will you request to be assigned there again?”

Maggie shook her head. “No, some group in England has banned any military interference in Sunnydale. I just wish to know about the town for my files.”

“Do you wish for us to prep him for travel, Professor?”

“Yes, please do.” Walsh looked at her former subordinate. “While you’re at it, can you prep him for Demon Truth?”

“Of course, Professor.” The doctor left the room. He almost felt sorry for the monster in the other room. Demon Truth was a serum discovered by the Initiative while on a mission in Belize. No secret could be hidden from the drug. The demon was forced to bare all of its secrets no matter how trivial.

Maggie went back to watching the screen. She saw the big, husky orderlies enter the room, followed by the doctor. The orderlies held the vampire down, careful of the creature’s fangs, while the doctor plunged a syringe into its neck.

Angel fought the humans that held him down, but the straightjacket hindered him. He screamed obscenities at the man that held a needle. He fell into darkness as soon as the hypodermic entered his skin.

Angel had no idea how much time had passed when he woke up. It could have been minutes or days for all he knew. When he tried to move, he realized that he couldn’t move. He was strapped in the upright position.

“Tell me what your name was before you were turned,” a disembodied voice demanded.

Angel opened his mouth to tell the voice to fuck off, but instead he found himself telling his entire life history.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Buffy, can I talk to you for a minute?” Anne said softly to her vampiric counterpart. She nodded her head towards the basement stairs. “I have some news for you.”

“Okay.” Buffy nodded. She followed the older Slayer to the basement. “What’s the what?”

“The Angel who did all this to you isn’t coming back with my mate, but the one from our dimension is.” Anne sighed. “I understand that you don’t want to see him. So, he’ll be going to the apartment to hang out, but I wanted to warn you that he’s here in town.”

“Will he hurt me?” Buffy gulped nervously.

“Nah, he’s okay. Darla didn’t curse him like she did here.” Anne shrugged. “Now, if he gets all happy, that’s a different story. His soul has a happiness curse on it. One happy, and he’s Angelus.”

“When will they be here?” Buffy looked concerned.

“In about a half hour, I think.” Anne grinned. She really missed William, and she was glad that they’d be together again. “We’ll have our meeting about the Master. I think we’ll be out of your hair really soon. We need to move on to keep away from our Willow.”

Upstairs the doorbell rang to herald the arrival of the first of the guests that planned on attending the ‘Eliminate the Master’ Scooby meeting.

“We better get upstairs.” Anne smirked. “Don’t want any of them to kill each other before dinner. Besides, I need to introduce Clem to Spike. They’re gonna be great buddies.” She pulled her counterpart towards the stairs.

Spike opened the front door to find Xander, Anya, Giles, and Serina on the other side. He ushered them inside, sending the women to the kitchen with the goodies that they had brought for dinner. Xander and Anya had been there earlier until they realized they needed go out to find something for the potluck dinner.

Anne and Buffy ascended into the kitchen to find Serina and Anya placing two big square dishes, and a big round foil covered bowl on the counter. They looked at the identical Slayers, and they both smiled in greeting.

“I made two lasagnas,” Serina said. “My specialty from my Italian grandmother. One is vegetable lasagna, and the other is traditional.”

“Serina helped me make a fruit salad.” Anya pointed at the bowl. “Should I put it in the fridge?”

“Sure go ahead.” Anne waved towards the appliance in question. “I’m just glad you didn’t bring anything like what was served at the Wedding-that-didn’t. I don’t think this crowd is ready for some of the more exotic demon foods.”

“There’re demon foods?” Willow entered the kitchen carrying several loaves of bread and a tub of garlic butter. When the other women looked at her in surprise, she shrugged. “Yeah, we’re back from Vegas. The gang is dropping Liam off at the apartment right now.”

“Oh, yeah.” Anne giggled while she answered Willow’s question. “We had to keep Xander’s family all distracted from the moving food on the plates at the rehearsal dinner.”

“How did you explain everything to the Harris’?” Willow went to the counter where she started to prepare the garlic bread.

“Congratulations, Anya, you now belong to the circus.” Anne laughed at the surprised look on her face.

“Buffy, can you come in here for a minute,” Giles called out. “There’s someone who wants to see you.”

Buffy left the kitchen, and in a few seconds the ladies still in the kitchen heard the turned Slayer cry out, “Mom!”

“I didn’t know Mom was coming tonight,” Anne said. She peered out the kitchen door like she was trying to catch a glimpse of the older woman.

“Giles thought it would be a nice surprise.” Serina moved to touch Anne on the shoulder. “He warned Joyce about you, if you want to go in and say hello.”

“I don’t know.” Anne bit her lip. “I mean, she just found out her real daughter is not completely dead. She doesn’t need another one buggering up the reunion.”

“How long have you been hanging out with Spike?” Willow asked. “I have to say ‘buggered’ isn’t really a Buffy word.”

“We’ve been together for a few years now.” Anne got a little smile on her face.

“We sure have, luv.” William sauntered into the kitchen. He stumbled backwards a bit when Anne leapt onto his body, surrounding him with her legs and arms. Their mouths met in a scorching welcome.

Willow’s cheeks turned a bright red with embarrassment, and she turned to her task of buttering the bread. Serina gave a serene smile as she read the Immortal Guardians’ happy auras.

In the living room, the others watched as Buffy got reacquainted with her mother. Clem had shown up with his new girlfriend, a very nice human woman named Jack who worked as a bartender at the Bronze. They brought along another demon that looked completely human by the name of Richard Jones. Richard was an Uxia demon that owned and operated a tattoo parlor in town. He was the representative for the demonic population. The deputy mayor Alan Finch brought along Willy from the Alibi Room as a representative from the human businessmen in the town. Hassib and his lovely wives were the last to arrive, bringing a salad and some news from about the other dimensions.

After a nice dinner of lasagna with all the trimmings followed by key lime cheesecake, the group got down to business.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy patrolled alone that night. Angel was off doing what ever it was he did when he wasn’t being Mr. Cryptic-I’m-too-old-for-you guy, Giles and Willow were shelving books at the school library, and Xander had a date. Buffy just hoped she didn’t have to kill this one. Killing her friend’s dates was getting to be a bit boring.

“Maybe we need a Scooby dating quiz,” Buffy muttered to herself. She twirled the stake she was carrying.

“Slayer, we meet again,” Spike snarled.

Buffy whirled around to find the bleached blond vampire standing a few feet away. “Spike! Just who I was looking for. The fledges have been damned boring tonight. Dusting without a fight, let me tell you.”

“So, you wanna dance, Slayer?” Spike cocked his head to one side.

“You betcha!”

The fight was on. The Slayer and the vampire circled each other for a few seconds before one of them threw the first punch. Buffy was just getting into the fight when a cold shiver went down her spine, and she stopped suddenly as she looked around wildly.

“Spike, I’m scared,” Buffy said in a little girl voice.

Spike stopped fighting the same time that Buffy did. He extended his senses trying to catch a glimpse of what had so cleverly brushed up against himself and the Slayer. He stepped towards the girl, who was now hugging her body and shivering. “Me too, luv,” the vampire replied.

Buffy felt an overwhelming need to step closer to Spike, and when he opened his arms to her, she gratefully stepped into them. “If you’re scared, and I’m scared, it must be something really bad.”

“Yeah, it’s something bad.” Spike continued to scan the graveyard for something out of the ordinary. He noticed a blue light out of the corner of one eye. When he turned to catch a better glimpse, he realized it was a vortex of some kind. Turning to give the swirling light a better look, he noticed a black phantom sliding through the currents that made up the vortex. “There it is.”

Buffy turned to look at the creature. “I don’t like the feeling of this. I’m feeling pretty wonky now.”

“I agree. Let’s go find the Watcher.” Spike grabbed Buffy’s sleeve, and they ran at full speed towards the school and Giles.

Giles, Willow, and Xander looked up in surprise when Buffy and Spike slammed into the library, breathless from running.

“What’s he doing here?” Xander demanded. He didn’t like the way Buffy stayed snuggled up against the notorious vampire.

“There’s something out there,” Buffy panted. “It came through a vortex thingie.”

Angel stepped out of the stacks at that moment. He could smell the fear rolling off both Spike and Buffy, and he knew if Spike was scared then it was something really bad. The Spike he knew wasn’t scared of anything. In fact none of the Spikes he had ever met had been this scared except under one certain condition. “Tell me what happened.”

Spike and Buffy looked at the older vampire, and then at each other. Buffy spoke for the two of them. “I got really cold first. Then, I was scared like nothing I’ve ever been before. Spike noticed some kind of vortex.”

“A dark shadow creature came out of it,” Spike continued.

Angel gave a sigh. “I was afraid of this. The Shades have finally come to this dimension.”

“Angel, what are you talking about?” Giles gave the dark haired vampire a curious look.

“Let me tell you a story.” Angel descended the stairs. “A story about a vampire with a soul who did a really, really bad thing. As Spike will tell you, magic has consequences. It always has consequences.”

Chapter 18

“Let me tell you a story.” Angel descended the stairs. “A story about a vampire with a soul who did a really, really bad thing. As Spike will tell you, magic has consequences. It always has consequences.”

“What are you blatherin’ on about?” Spike grunted.

“I’m not the Angel from this dimension.” The dark haired vampire rubbed a shaky hand through his hair. He made his way to a chair, skirting around Spike and Buffy as he did. “The Angel from here dusted twenty years ago, and I was able to take his place.”

“Why?” Giles asked the simple question.

The dark-haired vampire looked at the gathered people, and he slowly told his story from the beginning. Angel didn’t look at any of the others as he talked. He told them everything; how he had gotten the soul, his years of brooding, seeing Buffy for the first time, his time as Angelus, and everything that happened in Sunnydale and Los Angeles. Angel talked about his dimensional trip to join his Buffy and her mate, their search for a place for him to fit in, and his life up to this moment.

“Is that why you never let Buffy get close?” Willow asked. She was still trying to process her role in everything that Angel had told them.

Angel nodded his head towards the red-haired teenager. “Anyanka was very specific about the curse she would unleash on me if I failed again.”

“Failed what exactly?”

“To make Buffy ready for her mate instead of breaking her heart and making her think he was beneath her.” Angel glanced at Giles. “Buffy, along with her mate, are the Immortal Guardians of this dimension. You can look the prophecy up in the Pergamum Codex.”

“That’s the book that got me killed, wasn’t it?” Buffy replied. “I’m not so sure that I want to hear anything that book has to say.”

“In every dimension the Codex is different,” Angel said softly. “It is written specifically for the dimension it resides in. Dying wasn’t a bad thing, Buffy. It prepared you for the next step in your evolution.”

“Is Buffy immortal now?” Giles asked.

Angel shook his head. “Not yet. To protect this dimension from the Shades, Buffy must be with her mate.”

“You have been very secretive about this mate, Angel,” Giles said. He gave the dark-haired vampire a suspicious look. “I suggest you give us his identity right now.”

Angel glanced over to where Spike was still holding Buffy in his arm and comforting her with little purring growls. Now that he knew they were destined to be together, he could see the connection that had been between them from the beginning. No matter how much he brooded or wanted it to be different, there was no getting around the connection that Spike and Buffy felt for each other. Angel turned to Giles, lifted one eyebrow, and quietly said, “Do I really need to spell this out to you, Rupert? Look at them.” He pointed at the Slayer and his grandchilde.

Giles stared at the two blonds. He wasn’t at all happy with Angel’s revelations, especially this newest one.

“You’re lying,” Xander sputtered. “There is no way that Buffy’s going to mate with that creature.”

“If it means saving the world, I’ll do it,” Buffy declared. She didn’t know why, but being in Spike’s arms felt like she was home for the first time since she had been Chosen. “Besides, from what Angel says it’ll happen eventually. I say sooner is better than later.”

Spike was still dumbfounded by his grandsire’s admissions. He had no idea that this Angel wasn’t the one that was supposed to be here. If what the broodin’ poofter said was true, the Slayer was right. It was only a matter of time before he fell for the girl and fell hard from the sound of it. After thinking about it, falling in love with another unobtainable woman sounded about his style. Only this time, maybe the girl wouldn’t be as unobtainable as he thought.

Spike realized that everyone was looking at him. He smirked at Buffy. “When should we get started, pet?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

“We should spend one night taking out as many minions as possible,” Giles said. “If we situated people at the hot spots we should be covered.”

“What are the hot spots here?” Ripper asked his older double.

“Willy’s, the Bronze, and the Rusty Beaver,” Finch the deputy mayor answered. He thought the sets of doubles were weird, but this was Sunnydale. Things were always a bit odd.

“The Rusty Beaver? What’s that?” Anne asked.

“Demonic strip club out on the Route,” Giles replied.

“Not all the dimensions have a Rusty Beaver,” RoseSeri said. “It appears to be a random appearance.”

“Oh, okay. We didn’t have a Rusty Beaver. I mean I don’t think we did.” Anne glanced at William who shook his head. If anyone knew all the demonic haunts in their Sunnydale it would have been him.

“Spike and I will take Willy’s,” the vamped Buffy said. She wanted some time alone with the older vampire. He made her feel safe which was completely strange to think about. She was smart enough to know that most rape victims were leery of men after an experience like hers, but she felt – there was no other word for it – safe with him.

“William and I will take the Bronze. We can blend in with the crowd a bit better now that William is letting his hair grow out.” Anne looked around at the others. “Who’s taking the strip joint?”

Ripper looked at Giles. He wiggled his eyebrows at himself. “What do ya say, old man? Wanna go watch some demon hussies strut their stuff?”

Giles rolled his eyes. He hadn’t realized how annoying he had been as a young man. That atrocious language was just over the top. He turned to look at one of the demons. “Clem, I would very much like it if you, Mr. Jones, and Mr. Hassib would join Ripper and myself for a drink at that time.” He was pleased when the three demons easily agreed.

“We still need some more weaponry though.” Anne stood up. She bit her lip while she walked back and forth. “We should stock up on crossbows and Mazal tav cocktails.”

William chuckled. “I think that’s Molotov cocktails, pet. Think you and the Scoobies are up to that, Harris?”

Xander thought about it for a moment. “I think so. I can hit a few bars for bottles. We’ll just need to come up with the fuel.”

“I need to look at the Codex while you’re all busy,” Dee said. “I need to find out what it says about us.”

“I’ll let the Mayor and the police know what’s going on,” Finch replied. “It’s been hard to hide the supernatural from the authorities lately.”

Anne snorted. “Wilkins is ancient. He already knows about the supernatural. You better hope he doesn’t try to turn himself into a snake here.”

“Serina, could you and Anyanka look into some magical help?” Giles asked the witch softly. When Serina nodded her agreement, he moved on to the next group of people. “Joyce, we may have injuries. Can you and Jack make sure our medical supplies are up to par?”

“Of course.” Joyce nodded. She moved over to the Bronze’s bartender.

“Two of my lovely wives are pregnant,” Hassib suddenly spoke. “I would prefer they left town for a few days while we pull this off.” He held up his hand when his wives protested, and then he gathered them in his arms. “I love you all too much to jeopardize our children.”

“I’m picking up Reginald at the airport the day after tomorrow,” Giles replied. “I’d be happy to see them off for you.”

“My thanks.” Hassib nodded at the Watcher. “Looks like we all have our assignments. I will bid you all good night.” He left with his wives surrounding him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Maggie’s nose wrinkled in disgust while the vampire continued to ramble on about anything and everything that came to mind. It would be a service to mankind if she dusted him right then and there, but the opportunity for experimentation was just too great to pass up. This one would be the perfect specimen to try the newest computer chip on. The old chips allowed the vamps to hit demons. The new ones didn’t allow them to hit anything with a life force.

“Do we really have to keep this one, Professor?” Riley Finn asked. “How could he hurt that girl that way?”

“She not a girl anymore,” Maggie replied.

“She was when he started,” Finn said in return. “No one deserves to be raped like that, demon or not.”

“You’re a good man, Agent Finn.” Maggie turned to the young man. “Prepare him for surgery, and then transport. I want a full detail of men to accompany him every time he is moved. This one will not escape.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Finn saluted his superior. He had been home on leave when Hostile 17 had escaped, but he remembered the handsome young-looking vampire with the naval record. Sam Lawson had disappeared into thin air once he reached outside the Initiative compound. He was still out there though. The chip still transmitted information to the computers, but Lawson was good at hiding it appeared.

“She’s not the only one,” Angel muttered in his drugged state. “Turned Lawson back in World War II.”

Maggie whirled around. “Did he just mention Lawson?”

Riley nodded with his eyes open wide in surprise.

Maggie grabbed the microphone. “Tell us all about Lawson, vampire.”

Angel opened his mouth, and the words spilled out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Willyria continued to move through the dimensions in search of her prey. She knew she was getting closer, but she couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t catching up. It wasn’t like Buffy or Spike was more powerful than her. She had already proved that to the Slayer once before. Willyria smirked to herself. It was only a matter of time before she found the right ones, and then they’d pay dearly for their insolence.

Chapter 19

LIAM’S DIMENSION

Buffy plucked nervously at the buttons on her jacket. She’d never been intimate with anyone beyond a few smoochies. Now she needed to mate to save the world. Dying sounded so much easier and potentially less embarrassing.

“Come on, Slayer. Don’t wimp out on me now.”

Buffy whirled around to confront the vampire only to find that Spike had already removed all of his clothes except his skin tight black jeans. Her eyes were glued on the firm, toned, and pale muscles of his chest.

“Like what you see?” Spike gave the young woman a smirking leer.

“Guh.” Buffy couldn’t get any words past her suddenly dry lips.

Spike stalked over to Buffy, moving like the predator he was. He slid his hands up the lapels of her jacket and then inside to slip it off her shoulders. As the coat dropped, the vampire buried his face in the Slayer’s exposed neck.

Buffy groaned with arousal when cool lips ghosted along her skin. She gripped Spike’s elbows to keep herself upright when her knees turned to jelly and threatened to buckle.

“Never thought about fuckin’ a Slayer till I met you, Buffy,” Spike whispered in a husky voice. “Now it’s the only thing on my mind. Can’t wait to taste each and every inch of your delectable flesh.”

Buffy whimpered while she surrendered herself to Spike and the sensations he caused to her body. Dying might be easier, she decided, but this would be oh so much more pleasurable.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

ALMOST WISHVERSE

AT THE BRONZE

Anne and William entered the Bronze. There were very few humans present. Just those who thought the curfew was for wimps. Vamps and demons outnumbered the living, but that didn’t bother Anne and William. They were used to uneven odds after all. Besides what were a few demons and normal vamps after an army of ubervamps?

“Any minions you recognize?” Anne whispered to William.

William raised an eyebrow. “That was years ago, luv. The only one I remember is Dalton, and the Judge burned him.”

Anne nodded. “I’ll take the vamps, you take the demons.”

Two young men stepped up to stand by Anne and William.

“Hassib sent us,” one said. “We’re Akbar and Akash.”

“We blocked the door. No one can escape,” the other continued.

Anne turned to study the two boys. She found herself looking at twins with dark hair and dark complexions. She thought they very much resembled one of Hassib’s wives. “Sounds good.” She slipped off her coat to expose her halter top. “Let’s see what the baddies think of this.”

“Show off,” William muttered in a good natured voice.

“Better believe it.” Anne allowed her pure white angel wings to burst forth.

The demons, mostly vamps, with evil in their hearts fell to their knees in the presence of the winged Slayer. The humans gazed in confusion at the prostate demons.

“That’s never happened before,” Anne whispered.

“It’s not like you bring ‘em out very often, pet.” William glanced around at the quaking demons. “Right handy though.”

Akbar and Akash moved easily among the vampires and demons, dusting and killing as they went. In a few minutes the only creatures left alive were the non-evil demons and the humans.

“Wonder if yours do anything special.” Anne looked at William in speculation.

“There’s one way to find out!” William removed his duster, and he pulled off his t-shirt. Then, he extended his own wings. At the sight of the jet black wings, several of the humans fell to their knees screaming in pain. When they finally stopped writhing in pain, there was something fundamentally different on each of their faces’.

“That’s something you don’t see everyday.” A familiar voice to both Anne and William spoke from the shadows.

“Faith.” Anne turned to look at the newcomer. Her eyes shifted to the tall, lanky man behind the other Slayer. “Hey, Wesley.”

“You two aren’t the typical Slayer and vamp,” Faith observed.

“Not hardly.” Anne shrugged. “Of course, we’re not from around here.”

“Yeah, I get that.” Faith looked around at the remaining humans and demons. “So, what do we do with the rest of these jokers?”

“Tell them to go home and be quiet,” William growled. “The less old bat-face knows the better.”


“You’re going to take out the Master?” One of the demons shuffled forward.

“That’s the plan.”

The demon nodded. He turned to the other demons and the humans. “You heard him. Go home. Don’t talk to anyone about this.”

The other agreed, and Akbar allowed them to leave. The twins started the clean up process. Anne and William both retracted their wings. Then, they put on their jackets.

“Maybe we should hit Willy’s,” Anne suggested. “See how Spike and Buffy are doing.”

Faith looked confused. She glanced at Wesley who shrugged his ignorance. “Thought you all were Spike and Buffy.”

“Oh we are,” Anne said with a dismissive waved of her hand. “Like I said, we’re not from around here.”

“Where are you from then?”

“A different dimension, of course.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Spike and Buffy strolled into Willy’s with every sense on alert. They were completely unsure of what to expect in the bar. Spike’s rep was sure to precede him. However not one of the warriors planning on the Master’s demised knew if any of the vampires would recognize and remember Buffy. They were hoping not.

“You can’t come in here,” a tall minion with a mullet growled when he saw the newcomers.

Lenny looked up from his drink. His eyes widened when he recognized the bleached blond vampire. “I suggest you sit down and shut up, Gerald,” Lenny hissed.

Gerald turned on Lenny. “This is the Master’s territory. Newcomers aren’t allowed.”

“I’ll be sure to tell Grandpappy how protective you are of his territory,” Spike drawled at Gerald. He turned his attention to the other vampire. “Hello, Lenny.”

Lenny sighed. Spike was easily maddened at the best of times. Having his authority questioned was sure to send the master vamp into a killing frenzy. “Hello, Master Spike. Welcome back to Sunnydale.”

“S-spike?” Gerald stuttered in terror. If he was living the blood would have drained from his face. He’d heard tales from other minions about Spike.

“That’s the name don’t wear it out.” Spike gave a contemptuous wave of his hand. “Sit down, pissant.”

Gerald fell back into his chair after he recognized the blond vampire’s name. Spike was one scary, vicious monster. He glanced at the fledgling female that accompanied the older vamp. Rage filled Gerald’s breast as he realized that she continued to snicker at him from behind her hand. He growled at her in the hopes of intimidating her.

Buffy didn’t care for the minion’s attitude. She let out her own intimidating growl.

Spike tilted his head to the side. “Go talk to the barkeep, pet. I’ll take care of the minions.”

Buffy flashed her demon eyes at Gerald before she complied with Spike’s command. She knew this was her cue to talk to Willy. He’d agreed to point out those vampires working for the Master. She sauntered away.

Spike leaded over Gerald who watched Buffy leave with hatred in his eyes. “She outclassed you when she was alive, mate. Being dead hasn’t changed a thing. Best be careful around m’girl. She dusts little pillocks like you.”

“Willy.” Buffy gave the bartender a nod. She glanced around the room taking in the identities of the occupants. Then, she tossed a wad of cash on the bar. “A round of drinks to Grandpappy’s best workers.”

Willy nodded, and he immediately started to fill shot glasses. He waved over the two waitresses specifically recruited for the evening to deliver the drinks. The two ladies passed out the drinks in a quick and efficient manner. Both Willy and Buffy looked up when the front door opened.

Akbar and Akash stepped into the demon bar together. The twins surveyed the room.

“Their kind is definitely not welcome here,” Gerald snarled.

Spike glanced over his shoulder. “Thought you blokes were helpin’ at the Bronze?”

“Been there.”

“Done that.”

“We’re all finished,” Akbar and Akash said together.

“Good, good. Time to start here.” Spike watched the waitresses hand out the drinks. His group now knew all of the Master’s minions and allies in the room. As the two women finished their journey around the room, Spike studied the minions.

Buffy sauntered over to Spike. She leaned into him, and she ran a finger up and down his lapel. “I’m ready, baby,” she cooed.

The waitresses joined Willy behind the bar.

“Of course, you are, pet.” Spike smirked. “A Slayer’s always ready.”

“Slayer?!” Lenny bellowed. It had been quite some time since a Slayer had been in Sunnydale.

“You called?” Another blond woman that looked exactly like Buffy stepped into the room behind Akbar and Akash. The twins stepped apart to let the newcomer enter.

“Maybe it’s me he called,” a dark-haired woman entered the bar next.

“Three Slayers, no waiting,” Anne chirped.

The vampires realized they were in big trouble. Several of them inched towards the back room, only to find themselves confronted by crossbows held by Willy and his waitresses.

Neither Spike nor Buffy knew who this new Slayer was, but Anne didn’t seem to be concerned. They both mentally shrugged. The more, the merrier.

“Well, well, Lenny the pissant.” Another Spike, one with longer hair and less bleach, joined the group. “It’ll be my pleasure to dust you.”

Anne smirked. “Again.”

Lenny goggled at the group. “It’s time to get out of here!” He jumped to his feet.

“Thanks for volunteering to die first.”

A dozen thumps echoed through the room. As the dust settled, the only vamps left in the room were Buffy and the two Spikes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Giles and Ripper strolled into the Rusty Beaver. Anyone that saw them together thought they were brothers out for a night on the town.

Hassib and Richard Jones were seated at a table when the Watchers arrived. Hassib shook his head when he saw Giles and Ripper.

“No minions here,” Hassib said in a quiet voice. “Zoof said they caused a ruckus last night, and he banned them from the club.” He waved the club owner over.

Bernd sat down, and he studied the others. “Those of us here are willing to fight the Master,” he finally said.

“Why?” Ripper sounded genuinely curious.

“The Master has a plan to kill all the humans. We can’t let that happen.” Zoof shifted in his seat. He was human himself, but most of his associates were demons.

Giles gestured towards some demons lurking in the shadows. “Even the Polgaras and Fyrals?”

“Polgaras have racial memory.” Zoof cleared his throat. “They remember what it was like before God created humans. Even they don’t want that chaos to return. I don’t know what Nest is thinking. Vampires will die out without humans to feed from.”

Giles looked around at the nodding demons with an unsure look on his face.

Hassib leaned forward. “I can vouch for them.”

Giles nodded. He was still suspicious, but the thought of defeating the tyrant that had held Sunnydale in a grip terror for the past two years was too good of an opportunity to pass up. He laid out the plan to rid the dimension of the Master.

Chapter 20

The three groups met again at the Slayer’s house to further outline their plans after they’d dispatched the Master’s minions.

“I’d say ninety percent of the Master’s minions are dead. We need to strike now before he has a chance to make any more.” Buffy said.

“I say we attack tonight,” Anne replied. She looked around at the gathered warriors. “Anyone disagree?”

Hassib rose to his feet. “The Committee is ready and willing to follow your command, Slayers.”

“Yes, the demons of Sunnydale do not like the Master’s plans any more than you do.” Richard Jones joined Hassib. “As we speak, Daria and her sister succubae are attacking the remaining minions in their dreams.”

Hassib gave a nod. “Yes, one of the other Committee members has infiltrated the Master’s lair in her animal form which will allow the Dark Elf to telepathically monitor those inside. Shadow has relayed that there are only between fifteen and twenty minions remaining with Nest.”

“Okay, everyone get some rest.” Anne nodded to the gathered warriors. She turned to Buffy. “You and I have a date with the dye bottle.”

Buffy looked at her ‘twin’ in confusion. “Why?”

“You and Spike are going to be our inside source.” Anne grinned. “We gotta make you look different enough that good old Heinrich doesn’t recognize you.”

“You’re gonna have me go dark, aren’t you?” Buffy groaned.

“Unless you want to go pink?” Anne laughed at Buffy’s panicked look. “It’s either red or black. Sorry.”

Buffy contemplated the choice for a few moments. “Black, I suppose. I need some clothes to match Spike’s though.”

A few hours later a transformed Buffy stepped into the basement room she shared with her dimension’s Spike. After seeing that several of the clothing items for her punk outfit were pink, the turned Slayer opted for pink streaks in her hair.

Spike looked up from the book he was reading. “You look right pretty there, luv,” he said.

“Thanks.” Buffy would have blushed if she had been able to. It had been a long time since anyone had complimented her. She hoped that Angel hadn’t ruined her forever.

“How are we playin’ this whole thing?”

Buffy crossed the room to perch on the edge of Spike’s bed. “You get to play the big bad, and I get to play the airhead.” She gave the older vampire a pout.

Spike chuckled. “Next time you can play the big bad, and I’ll play the boy toy.” He reached out to tuck a lock of Buffy’s hair behind one ear. “We can have all kinds of naughty fun with that one.”

Buffy flinched at the gesture and words. She was sad as soon as she saw the hurt look on Spike’s face. She grabbed his hand. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be so flinch-y. Maybe someday?” Buffy gave Spike a pleading look while she hoped he understood her dilemma.

“Pet, if you weren’t flinchin’ I’d be worried.” Spike squeezed Buffy’s hand. “We have all the time in the world.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Upstairs Anne knocked on Anyanka’s bedroom door. After a second or two she called out, “If you’re having orgasms, I can come back later.”

Anyanka opened the door. “No orgasms for me, I’m sad to say.” She looked up and down the hall. “Although Ripper might be getting lucky one of these nights. I wonder if he kisses as good as our Rupert.”

“When did you kiss Giles?” Anne was genuinely curious.

“While I was the tarty stepmom.” Anyanka stepped back to let Anne into the room. “What can I help you with?”

Anne followed Anyanka into the room. When the door closed she said, “I think there’s too much bad blood with our Angel. We need to find him a dimension to stay in.”

“He’ll need instructions too,” Anyanka said thoughtfully. She remembered the information that Hoffy had imparted on her before she joined the dimension hopping Immortal Guardians. “It’ll be best if it’s someplace where Angel is gone for whatever reason.”

Anne nodded. “You and Dee work on that while we take down the Master.” She shuddered at the thought of facing the creature that caused her first death.

“You beat him once, and that was before you had William on your side. You can beat him again.” Anyanka patted Anne on the shoulder. “Go get some rest. Dee and I are capable of handling this.”

“Okay, but if you have any trouble, don’t hesitate to pop in and ask for help.” A big yawn interrupted Anne’s words. “Guess I’m tired after all. Night.” She left Anyanka to her planning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

When the sun set the turned Slayer and her protector were rested and ready to go save the day. Spike and Buffy arrived at the vacant church that Heinrich Nest used as a lair about an hour after dark. Spike strolled in like he owned the place with Buffy on his arm at her ditzy best.

“We’re not staying here are we?” Buffy whined. She looked around the dirty building with a nose wrinkled in disgust. She turned said nose up at the minions who were using the pews for beds. “There’s dust and other icky stuff. You know I only sleep in a bed with silk sheets.”

“I told you before we’re just here to meet the head of the line.” Spike acted exasperated even though he agreed with Buffy’s vapid assessment.

Buffy turned pouty. “Baby, you promised if I did that nasty thing, you’d take me shopping.”

The Master’s minions watched the two newcomers with trepidation. Several of them remembered Spike’s previous visit to Sunnydale, and they expected the impatient vampire to at least punish the female for her back talk. They were surprised when Spike simply chuckled.

“Let me meet with Gramps, and then I’ll take you to the mall for anything your heart desires,” Spike promised.

The smile that spread across Buffy’s face was breathtaking to behold, or at least Spike thought so. He heard the minions let out a sigh of relief, not realizing that they had two master vampires in their midst who where willing and able to take them all out for the greater good of humanity.

“William, you came for a visit,” Heinrich Nest said in the way of a greeting when he entered the room. “Where is the delightfully wicked Drusilla?”

Buffy tensed up. If the Master recognized her the plan could go badly in a heartbeat.

Spike felt Buffy tense beside him. He draped his arm around her waist, and he pulled her closer to reassure her. “Dru’s enjoyin’ the hot, spicy blood of Brazil.”

“I seem to have a small problem,” Nest lisped from between his fangs. “My best plan is about to seek its fruition, but I’m missing my minions.”

Spike glanced around the room. “I thought the room looked a bit empty. Where is that little ponce? The Annoying One?”

The Master looked saddened at the mention of the child vampire. “That Island bitch got my Colin.” Then, he shrugged his shoulders. “Oh well, he served his purpose.”

“Must have happened right after Dru and I blew out of town.”

“Master Lenny and the others still haven’t returned.” Chad cowered in front of the ancient vampire. “Only twenty minions returned from feeding this morning.”

A deep rumbling outside the lair caught everyone’s attention. Then, the doors burst open. Giles, the remaining Scoobies, and the coven witches swept into the church.

“Only Gramps and twenty minions, Watcher. We did a good job cleanin’ out the flotsam last night.” Spike nodded at the newcomers.

Buffy, encouraged by the presence of the others, stepped away from Spike. She flipped back her darkened tresses. “Hey you, punch mouth, I might be as dead as you now, but I’m still prettier.” She switched into game face. She didn’t realize that she wasn’t vamping, but instead she had become pure Slayer.

Spike stared at Buffy in shock when her heart started to beat. He gave Giles a startled glance while the turned Slayer launched herself at Nest with a guttural growl.

The Scoobies and witches dispatched the remaining minions with ease. With a fatal plunge of Buffy’s stake, the reign of Heinrich Nest came to a dusty end. All that as left was a pile of charred bones.

“Those bones need to be ground up and thrown into water or someone can bring him back.” Anne stepped into the room with William and Ripper.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

“I think I found one,” Dee said. “I checked the timeline. Angel’s gone.”

“Can you track backwards to his death?” Anyanka asked. “I know it’s hard, but we need to know.”

Dee nodded. “Watch the pool.” She concentrated hard on shifting along the timeline. It was not something she would be able to do on a daily basis. Moving around the timeline of a dimension took an incredible amount of power that she just didn’t have yet.

Liam leaned forward. There in the portal, he could see a version of himself feeding off an alley rat. “That was a bad time for me. I almost waited for the sun several times.”

Dee, Anyanka, and Liam watched as Angel finished the rat’s blood. The other vamp climbed to the rooftop of a nearby building where he waited for the sun to rise. Liam visibly flinched when Angel dusted.

“We’ll put you in right there,” Anyanka announced. “Well, we’ll make sure it’s inside a building though.”

“How are we going to make sure Captain Hair Gel here doesn’t make the same stupid mistakes?” Dee glared at Liam.

“My counterpart should do fine,” Anyanka said with a grin.

“Okay, let’s do this then.” Dee looked back in the swirling pool. Then she pointed at Liam. “Spike and Buffy belong together! If you mess this up, I’ll be back to make you sorry.”

Chapter 21







Willyria gazed at the Sunnydale High School. She knew her Spike and Buffy had passed through the dimension recently, and she still had time to catch up with them if she hurried. She was about to open a portal for herself when a blue vortex opened above the school.







Willyria watched with curiosity as several dark creatures slipped out of the vortex. They reminded her of Dementors from the Harry Potter movies. They floated on the air with long, black, tattered robes covering their skeletal bodies. Willyria felt the God King shudder beneath her skin.







Here is one of those we search for, brothers, a cold dark voice skittered across Willyria’s mind, and she knew they meant her.







Willyria quickly opened her own portal. Inside her mind the God King screamed in absolute terror. What the frillin’ heck is your problem? she asked Illyria.







You will remove us from here immediately, Illyria demanded. The Shades will suck the marrow from our very bones.







Willyria stepped through the portal to the next dimension. Under her breath, she muttered, “We can just zap them out of existence. We’re the most powerful being ever.”







That is where you’re wrong, mortal, Illyria replied. The God of your forefathers is the most powerful being ever. He, and only He, oversees all time, all matter, and all dimensions.







“There must be something that can take them out,” Willyria said softly. Her anger diminished a little in the light of the new information.







Yes, only the Immortal Guardians.







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*







“Is everybody ready?” William asked with great impatience. When the rest of his group nodded, he let out a great sigh of relief. “Well, it’s about bloody time. Let’s get this show on the road.”







“Sounds good to me.” Ripper came to stand by the vampire. He was tired of the long good bye speeches himself. When another round of hugs and kisses seemed to be going around, he whispered out of the side of his mouth to William. “You just wanna leap through the hole and see if they can find us on the other side?”







William gave Ripper a sly look. He might have a soul, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t ready to take a few risks now and then to relieve his boredom. “Ladies first.”







“Who you callin’ a lady?” Ripper grumbled. He grabbed Spike’s coat sleeve when he moved past the other man. Together they fell into the portal. They soon landed with a jolt on the other side where they found themselves inside the Initiative.







Ripper’s eyes widened when a Fyral demon rushed past them only to disappear into a swirling vortex. “I think I’m home,” he said softly. “We need to find Spike.”







“Right then,” William muttered. He sniffed the air trying to catch the scent of his counterpart. He’d hoped never to be inside the labs again, but if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. William homed in on the smell he was looking for quite easily in the sterile environment. “Hope to hell the soldier boys don’t catch us.”







Ripper grabbed a white lab coat from a nearby chair, and he put it on. “Let’s hope this works.” He grabbed William’s arm, and they marched down the hall trying to look like they belonged.







Ripper and William came to a stop in front of the cage that held Spike. Ripper kept an eye out while William fiddled with the locking mechanism.







“What happened to you, Rupes?” Spike asked. Then, he looked fully into the face of the Watcher’s companion. “Who the bloody hell is he?”







“I disappeared through a vortex and ran into a witch-bitch in Vegas,” Ripper replied. “This here is William. He’s your counterpart from another dimension.”







“Hey, you, what are you doing?” A soldier yelled out from the end of the hall. “You can’t be around here.”







William looked up from what he was doing. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t Captain Cardboard himself. Getting’ any suck jobs lately?”







“How did you get out of your cage, Hostile 17?” Finn growled.







“Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in years.” William finally got too frustrated, and he punched the key pad with a fist. The instrument panel popped and fizzled letting the cage door slide open.







Spike stepped out into the hallway. “Well, what do you know, you’re right. He does look like cardboard.”







“Two of you? How is that possible?”







William smirked. “We’re twins, you git. I‘m Randy and he’s Will.”







Spike let out a bark of laughter. “Desperate for a shag, are you, mate?”







“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” William said with a wink. “Our girl will keep you on your toes.”







Anyanka popped into the hallway. “Here you are. When you disappeared the Slayer got all hot under the collar.”







Spike goggled at the newcomer. “The Slayer? You’re shaggin’ the Slayer?”







“The one and only.”







“What about him?” Spike waved a negligent hand at Riley.







“Off in Belize getting orgasms from his wife, I’m sure,” Anyanka said. “Probably getting all horny from torturing all the demons.”







“I would never,” Riley protested. Demons were evil and abominations, but he would never torture one.







“Then what’s the plastic stake for then, soldier boy?”







Anyanka’s eyes grew large. “He staked you with a plastic stake. That is so evil!” She glared at Riley.







Finn felt fear for the first time in a very long time. He had no idea why this petite woman made him scared, but he took a step backwards anyway. He hoped that someone in security noticed his predicament on the monitors before it was too late.







“You really should be careful. Brassin’ off the patron saint of scorned women isn’t incredibly brilliant.” William laughed. “She’s had over 1100 years of emasculating men to fall back on when deciding on what to do to you.”







“Best thing to do would be to have everyone forget they captured Hostile 17 and a Fyral demon,” Ripper replied.







“That sounds good,” Anyanka replied. “Although, I really wanted to do some vengeance on Riley for how he treated Spike.” She waved her hand in the air to make the suggestion reality.







Ripper, William, and Spike found themselves in Restfield cemetery. After a few seconds, Anyanka appeared beside them.







“I guess this is good bye then,” Anyanka said to Ripper. “I wish we could have gotten to know each other better.” She grabbed the lapels of his lab coat, and she pulled him in for a kiss.







Spike and William watched with suppressed laughter. After a few minutes of intense, frenzied snogging, Ripper stumbled away from Anyanka.







“Now you do that to your Anya, and Xander won’t stand a chance.” Anyanka patted her hair back into place.







“Come on, Ripper. Let’s go talk about a couple of things.” William pulled the dazed young Watcher away.







Spike sidled up to Anyanka. “So, demon girl, how about you make soldier boy’s dick shrivel every time he thinks about sex. That’ll put a damper on his pursuit of the Slayer.”







Anyanka grinned. “Oh, I like the way you think.” She wiggled her fingers. “Wish granted.”







“Okay, Anyanka, let’s blow this Popsicle stand,” William said while he approached.







Spike grabbed William’s sleeve. “Before you go, mate, you’re really shaggin’ the Slayer?”







William smirked. “I think I’m gonna let that be a surprise, mate.” With a wave of his fingers, Anyanka and he disappeared.







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*







THE NEXT DIMENSION







Spike let out a puff of air. He was hungry and bored. Being tied up in the spare Watcher’s apartment wasn’t exactly exciting. Spike let out a gasp when a portal opened in the ceiling. That can’t be good, he thought to himself. Aloud, he said, “Watchers, Slayer, somethin’s happenin’ out here.”







Buffy, Giles, and Merrick appeared in the kitchen doorway just before a body fell from the swirling vortex. The new person looked incredibly like the tied up vampire, but his hair was grown out a bit so that only the tips were bleached blond. Another body fell out of the portal on top of the other Spike. This was a blond woman.







“Bloody Hell, Slayer. Watch the knees. You almost crushed the package.”







“Sorry,” the woman said in a contrite voice. “I’ll kiss it and make it better later.”







Giles cleared his throat. “Anne, William, you’re here.”

Chapter 22

Giles cleared his throat. “Anne, William, you’re here.” His mouth twisted into a wry smirk while the two blonds struggled to their feet.







Buffy glanced at Giles. “You know them?”







“I’ve met Anne. She told me about William. However, they haven’t met me,” Giles said softly. He took a deep breath before he crossed the apartment to the telephone. He went through the motions of making a phone call without looking at the others. Only the two vampires could hear who answered the phone on the other side. “It’s time. I need the book.”







“Who are these people, and why do they look like me and Spike?” Buffy demanded.







“Because they are you and me,” Spike sneered. He tilted his head towards the newcomers. “Good to see you again, pet.” He spoke directly to the newest Buffy.







Merrick and Buffy were startled when two more female bodies fell out of the rift onto the floor. Anne and William rushed over to help the newcomers up.







“There has to be a better way to travel than this,” the younger of the women complained when she got to her feet. She looked around. “Where the heck are we?”







William looked around the apartment. “I’d say we’re just in time for a visit from the Native American vengeance demons.” He let out a chuckle. “Better get old Spike there out of the line of fire. Between the arrows and the bear, it wasn’t a fun evening for me.”







“I really must insist you tell me what’s going on here,” Merrick said. He was confused, and he didn’t like being confused.







“I agree,” Buffy growled. “I want to know what is going on too.”







Giles ignored Buffy and Merrick, and he continued to speak into the phone. “Yes, of course. We’ll see you in a few hours, Angel. Bring the rest of your team along with you, please. See you soon.” He replaced the receiver on its cradle. He turned around, and said, “Everyone sit down, and I’ll explain.”







Buffy and Merrick didn’t look too happy, but they did as they were told. They were astonished by this take charge type of Giles. Before he had always deferred to Merrick, and only offered advice in a helpful manner.







“In 1977, I killed the Slayer on a subway train. Her name was Nikki Wood,” Spike said. He closed his eyes. “Then, a portal opened, and a woman fell out of it. It was you, Anne. You were being chased by these Shades creatures.”







“That’s when Spike and Anne contacted Angel and myself for help. We were able to thwart the Shades at that time, but we knew we had to be ready.” Giles let out a deep breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Anne told us that the only way we could prevent the Shades from coming here again was to either allow the Immortal Guardians to emerge or to prevent certain events from occurring like Buffy dying at the hands of the Master.”







“You and Spike know each other?” Buffy blurted out.







Anne looked at Giles with interest. “Which one was your choice?”







“I prevented certain events from occurring. Buffy has not been bitten by any Aurelian master vampire.” Giles gestured towards the young Slayer’s neck as evidence to his claim. “Several years ago, Spike and I searched out Glory’s host body. We eliminated it.”







Merrick sat back in shock. All this time he had thought that Giles was interfering with his decisions because he wanted control of the Slayer. In reality the other Watcher was changing the course of history.







“As long as Buffy’s not resurrected, everything should be okay,” Anyanka replied. “I mean obviously, she’s not a vamp. Without the bites from the Master or Angel she won’t be a Sultana.”







“Angel has the Wolfram & Hart’s version of the Codex,” Giles replied. “I’ve been hoping you’d show up again, Anne. There’s some information you need to see.”







Anne looked at her companions. “Looks like we’re waiting on Angel then.”







William rose to his feet. “Spike and I’ll go out for a smoke then.” He grabbed the other vampire’s chair, and he dragged it towards the door.







Anne smiled brightly at Buffy. “Thanksgiving dinner? We just love a ritual sacrifice or two.”







“With pie.” Anyanka rubbed her hands together. “Don’t forget the pie.”







“Why was Spike tied up?” Dee asked Giles. “If the two of you are friendly and all?”







Giles gestured towards Merrick and Buffy. “Despite my reassurances that he was of no threat, they weren’t convinced. The only way they would allow him to be around was if he was tied up.”







“What about the chip?” Anne bit her lip.







Giles shook his head. “Spike hasn’t had a run in with the Initiative as of yet. They are here in town though, I’m afraid. Professor Walsh and Riley Finn are teaching a psychology class at the college.”







“What is a chip? Who are the Initiative, and what does it have to do with my boyfriend?” Buffy demanded.







“You’re dating Riley?” Merrick asked. “I thought you were going to concentrate on your school work and slaying.”







Buffy blushed. “Yeah, well, I am. Honest. Riley was just so cute when he asked me out I couldn’t resist.” She glared at Anne. “Are you going to answer my questions?”







“In order, the chip is a microchip that the Initiative put in William’s brain so he couldn’t hurt humans. The Initiative is an army group sent here to capture demons to make them into weapons.” Anne glanced at Anyanka and Dee. “Riley Finn is one of the men directly involved with the Initiative. I should know. I dated him for a year and a half until he went to vamp hos and then left me to go to some country starting with the letter B.”







“Belize.” Dee nodded. “His wife was kinda nice, in a military sorta way.”







Buffy looked at her counterpart in aghast horror. “Vamp hos? Why would he go to one of them?”







“He didn’t think I needed him. He wasn’t powerful after leaving the Initiative, and he couldn’t handle it.” Anne gave a sad smile.







“So you took up with Spike?” Merrick glared at the older Slayer. Why on earth would a Slayer want to be with an evil, soulless vampire?







“Not right away.” Anne shook her head. “When he first told me he loved me, I was pretty much as disgusted as you seem to be, Merrick. He grows on you after awhile.” In a way she was a bit wistful to see Merrick again. Although he wasn’t her Watcher for long, his death was the first blow of many that she received, and it hurt her deeply. After Merrick was gone, she was all alone with parents who thought she was crazy.







Dee laughed. “Kinda like mold.”







Out in the courtyard, Spike and William were both smoking a cigarette from Spike’s meager pack.







“Can you get me a refill?” Spike asked, holding up the almost empty package.







“Shouldn’t be a problem,” William replied. “So, if you’re Rupert’s friend, how did you end up tied up in the chair?”







Spike winced. “The Slayer and the other Watcher don’t trust me.”







William arched an eyebrow. “You haven’t mentioned the soul have you?”







Spike shook his head. “Your Slayer loves you with or without the soul. I couldn’t take that chance. This Slayer is sometimes so shallow that I can’t stand to be around her. Everything that makes Anne herself was changed for my Buffy, and I’m not sure it’s for the better.”







“I always said she needed a little monster in her man. Here’s what you do…” William leaned down to whisper in his counterpart’s ear.

Chapter 23







Dee laughed. “Kinda like mold.”







Anne nodded with a chuckle. “That’s one way to describe it.”







“Okay, next question.” Buffy raised a hand. “Who the hell is Angel, and why is he coming here?” This was the first she’d ever heard of Angel. She had to wonder who he was.







Anne turned to Giles. “She’s never met Angel?”







“No, meeting you inspired him, and he’s been helping the hopeless since your visit.” The Watcher gave Anne a grin. “Besides you completely convinced him you weren’t interested.”







“What did I do?”







Giles’ grinned widened. “You’ll figure it out when the time comes.”







“Darn.” Then, Anne brightened. “I’ll just ask Spike.”







“Hey, keep your hands off my vampire!” Buffy glared at Anne. “You have your own. Leave mine alone.”







“Slip of the tongue much, Buff?” Dee asked. “The answer to one of your questions is that Angel is Spike’s grandsire. He’s the one that made Drusilla.”







“Isn’t Drusilla dead?” Merrick asked in confusion.







“Not hardly.” The seated, tied up vampire said while his counterpart pushed his chair into the apartment. “We just went our separate ways way back when.”







Merrick looked confused. “The books all say you were completely devoted to her.”







Spike glanced at Anne. “I was, but then something changed.”







The door burst open, and the Scoobies spilled into the room. Xander looked a little worse for wear from his spot between Cordelia and Willow who were holding the sickly young man up. He saw the two Buffys and two Spikes, and he exclaimed, “What the frilly heck?”







William snickered. “Caught yourself some mystical syphilis there, Harris?”







Cordelia glared at the newest version of Spike. “You know what’s going on here? Tell me. Tell me now!”







William gestured towards Anne. “She knows more than I do. I was tied up the whole time.”







“The construction disturbed the Native American vengeance spirits. All Buffy has to do is stab Hus with his own weapon, and they should disappear.” Anne looked at Xander finally. “Your magical diseases will disappear then too.”







“How long before they get here?” Giles asked.







Anne glanced towards the window. “I’m sure it’s after dark.”







“It was,” Anyanka said. “Angel showed up while we were at the dean’s house. He was quite broody at the time.”







“Just when I thought Sunnydale couldn’t get any weirder,” Cordelia muttered.







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*







Amon stepped through the portal. He’d already searched through several dimensions for the one to fulfill his destiny. He was not surprised to find that several of the Keys he had encountered had already lost their powers. Amon wasn’t sure what was causing the power losses, but he knew he needed to find his Key soon.







Amon glanced around. He knew he was in yet another version of Sunnydale, and he just hoped this one wasn’t as bad as the last one he’d passed through. He shuddered in remembrance. Witches like Willow Rosenberg were few and far between. Thank the Powers. Destroying an entire dimension except herself had been one of the most devastating sights that Amon had ever seen.







Being a Hell God, Amon had seen some pretty nasty things in his lifetime. A meteor from space had nothing on a grief stricken witch.







“Come on, man,” Amon admonished himself. “You’re falling into maudlin.” He set off towards where the Slayer and her little gang of followers usually hung out.







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*







ONE WEEK IN THE PAST IN ANOTHER DIMENSION







“We are losing the war,” Doc said to Glory. “If we are going get the advantage, we must release the Puzzleman and his Shades.”







“Don’t be ridiculous,” Glorificus replied while she admired herself in the mirror. “I almost have my Key.”







“Maybe here, but not elsewhere,” Doc growled. “You know just because you win in this dimension doesn’t guarantee success everywhere, you stupid idiot.”







Glory whirled around to confront the short, dark skinned demon. She held her hands out like claws while she approached him. “Do not call me stupid!”







“Then, quit acting stupid.” Doc didn’t look particularly scared of having an irate Hell God threatening him. He waved Glory’s threat away with a wave of his hand. “You and I both know you’re losing the battle. More of your counterparts have been defeated than have won.”







“What do I care?” Glory rolled her eyes. “I will have my Key within a few hours. My minions have told me so.” She went back to admiring herself in the mirror.







Doc rubbed his forehead. Sometimes he hated Glorificus. All she ever thought about was herself. Maybe it was time to contact his brothers. They’d approved the releasing of the Puzzleman and the Shades. He rose to his feet. “Forget it. I won’t trouble you again.”







Doc left the penthouse without speaking to Glory again. He entered the stairwell just as the elevator opened, and he missed the minions dragging an unconscious bleached blond vampire into the hallway.







Doc transported himself to his home dimension where he slipped unnoticed into the containment room. Big black sarcophagi stood around the room like giant dark sentinels. If nobody else would release the Puzzleman to deal with the losing battle he would. With a dark smile, Doc opened the releasing mechanism.







Steam billowed through the room when the first sarcophagus opened. A cloven hoof stepped out of the steam followed by a seven foot tall body that had the legs and hips covered in light brown fur and the chest and arms of a man. When the head finally emerged, there were tall horns towering above evil filled back eyes and a long snout with a twitching black, nose and sharp, yellow teeth. A feral snarl echoed through the room.







“Welcome, Puzzleman. Your time has arrived.” Doc bowed low to the creature.







“Where are my Shades?”







Doc straightened, and he gestured towards the other sarcophagi. “They are awaiting their release by you.”







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*







“Tell me about these Immortal Guardians,” Willow demanded of Illyria. She held the God King under tight control. “What are they?”







“The Immortal Guardians are a Slayer and an Aurelian vampire,” Illyria replied reluctantly. The God King wasn’t happy with its current host. “I heard the rumors while I was in The Deeper Well.”







Willow growled under her breath. “What rumors?”







Illyria gave a mental shrug. “Some said it was time for them to emerge, but I paid little mind. I do not care for lowly mortals.”







“The word immortal implies something besides mortality.”







“When you are a God King, all else is mortal.” Illyria gave a haughty sniff.







“So Spike and Buffy are these Immortal Guardians?”







“I would assume so.”







“Not for long! We must go.” Willyria strode towards a glowing portal.







“Your anger diminishes, witch,” Illyria commented. Soon her power will weaken, and I can take over.







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*







“They’re here,” Angel announced when he hung up the phone. “Giles wants the Codex.”







“Took them long enough.” Diane stood up. She smiled down at the vampire beside her. “Claudius and I have been waiting a long time to meet another pair of Immortal Guardians.”

Chapter 24







NEW YORK CITY, 1977







Spike tore the duster from the Slayer’s dead body. He rose to his feet while he twirled the garment to settle on his shoulders. He looked up in surprise when a whooshing noise sounded at the end of the subway car. A portal opened, and a blond woman leapt out of the center. She looked around with a frown on her face. “Well, shit,” she grumbled.







Spike narrowed his eyes. “Who the bloody hell are you?”







The woman looked down at the body of the Slayer, and then she looked back at the portal for a moment. “Sorry about this, Nikki.” She dropped to her knees next to the dead Slayer. With a quick wave of her hand, the woman made Nikki Wood look just like her.







“Fuck,” Spike said. He stepped back away from the woman. “Don’t you know magic has consequences, you stupid bint?”







“So you keep telling me,” the woman replied. “Now, we need to get the hell out of here before the Shades make it through the portal. They won’t care that you’re not my Spike.”







“I ask again, who the bloody hell are you?”







The woman smirked. “I’m Buffy. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but you can call me Anne for now. I will be that eventually. I’m not born yet here. Now get a move on it, Spikey. Wouldn’t want to miss out on all the fun, would you?” She grabbed the arm of his newly acquired duster, and she pulled him towards the back of the subway train.







“Let me go, Slayer,” Spike growled. He pulled his arm away from the petite blond. “What the hell am I to you?”







“Mine. All mine.”







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*







“Just when I thought Sunnydale couldn’t get any weirder,” Cordelia muttered.







William snorted. “It’s good old Sunnyhell, Cheerleader. Of course it can get weirder.”







“What could be weirder than having a double?” Buffy asked. She was pretty sure that was the strangest thing she’d ever heard of happening.







Anne looked at William. “Well, that’s nothing new. We had a vampire Willow from an alternate dimension that Anyanka brought here.”







“Oh, and Xander was split in two by that Toth rod,” Anyanka replied. “Remember?”







“William had the Buffybot made,” Dee said. “And of course, the First could pretend to be anyone who’s dead. Did anyone besides you ever see your double, William?”







William shrugged. “Not sure. It liked to pretend to be the Slayer more often than not with me.”







“So, the doubles are no biggie.” Anyanka rubbed her hands together. “So, where’s the pie?”







“It still needs to be made,” Buffy replied.







Giles walked over to Spike, and he started to untie the vampire. “Anne and William, how about you two join us in the courtyard for a discussion? There are things we need to talk about.”







Buffy narrowed her eyes at Giles. “Not without me, you’re not.”







“Not everything is about you.” Spike glared at the Slayer. His attraction the young woman was entirely based on the time he had spent with the older version. However in ensuring the safety of the young woman in question and the dimension in general, this version hadn’t had to grow up like Anne had to do. His Buffy still acted like an immature child at times.







Anne laid a hand on Spike’s arm. “Let her come. She’ll find out eventually anyway, right?”







Here I thought things would be easier if you hadn’t been with the poofter, William thought to his mate. I think these two have more issues than we did







Anne snorted. Yeah, who knew.







Giles herded the two pairs of Slayers and vampires out into the courtyard of his small apartment complex.







“What’s the what, Giles?” Anne asked.







“I’ve spent the last twenty years studying the Key and its powers,” Giles said. “When you were here before you mentioned the Key’s mate…”







William growled. “She’s too young to have a mate.”







Anne snickered while she patted William’s arm. “She’s eighteen, sweetie. She’s plenty old enough for a boyfriend.” Then, she turned to Giles. “Tell me this one isn’t a vampire. Please.”







“No, not by a long shot.” Giles grimaced, and he pulled his glasses off his face. “The Key’s mate is a Hellgod. One of Glorificus’ brothers.”







“Oh, please tell me you’re kidding,” Anne moaned.







“What the heck is a Hellgod?” Buffy asked. “And who is Glorificus?”







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*







“What the heck is a Hellgod?” Buffy asked. “And who is Glorificus?”







Amon came to a stop when he heard the young woman’s voice and the mention of a very familiar name. He was interested in the explanation to the questions that were to be given.







Another voice that sounded surprisingly like the first, but with a bit of maturity and exasperation added in said, “A Hellgod is exactly like what it sounds like. A god from Hell. Stronger, faster, and harder to kill than everything else you’ve ever come against. Glorificus was one of them.”







“But she can be killed,” the younger voice said.







“Only if you kill the host,” the older replied. “But there’s a catch.”







“There’s always a catch,” a male snarled.







“Yeah, the bitch had a spell that made almost everyone around, except demons, not realize she and her host were one and the same. I had a hell of time trying to convince the Slayer and her lot that there was a spell.” This male sounded the same as the other one.







Amon decided that this must be where he was meant to be.







“We have an eavesdropper,” the first male voice said.







Before Amon could announce himself, two men pushed their way out of the apartment courtyard to confront him. They looked almost the same, but Amon was sure they weren’t twins. They were dressed similarly with bleached blond hair, but one had longer hair that was lightened only at the ends.







The one with the longer hair sniffed the air. He raised one eyebrow while he studied Amon. “Well, I guess this one doesn’t have a lopsided arse and a bad perm.”







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*







DA INTERLUDE, DIANE AND CLAUDIUS







Diane lay on the ground, panting harshly from her fight with the fledglings. It had been hard fight, but she had persevered.







“Well, well, well, Slayer,” a smug, confident voice said. “Laying down on the job again.”







Diane groaned. “I’m really not up to having a visit with you right now, Claudius.”







“I can see that, my dear,” Claudius chuckled. “However, my sire wishes to meet with you.”







Diane sat up, and she glared at the vampire. She deliberately ignored that he was a thing of beauty despite his evilness. “You can tell Marcus Aurelius he can go to hell. In fact, you tell him, I’ll help him get there.”







“You know, Slayer, the man is your Emperor. You need to show him a little respect.”







Diane rolled her eyes while she scrambled to her feet. “Not anymore he isn’t. Now he’s just another vampire. Same as you.”







“Oh, how you wound me, my dear.” Claudius put his hand over his heart. “There is no way I could possibly be just another vampire. I’m incredibly special.”







“More like incredibly stupid,” Diane muttered under her breath.







“Probably, as it seems I’ve fallen madly in love with you, Slayer,” Claudius replied.







“Oh Hera, tell me it is not so,” Diane moaned in disgust. “The only chance you have with me is if I’m unconscious.”







“That can be arranged.” Claudius snapped his fingers. “Boys!”







Several vampire minions holding a net in their hands appeared. They threw the web-like rope bindings onto the Slayer, effectively containing her.







“Sorry, my dear. Marcus really wishes to speak with his future daughter in law.”







“That’s never gonna happen!” Diane struggled against the net and the minions.







“Never is a very long time, my dear. A very long time.”

Chapter 25







DA Interlude, Somewhere, Post Helpless







Buffy burst into the library. “Giles, are you secretly drugging me again?” she yelled.







“No!” the Watcher protested. “Why on earth would you think that?”







“How else can you explain why I thought I saw myself and SPIKE in my bed doing nasty things.” Buffy made an exaggerated shudder at the thought. There was no way she was going to tell her Watcher that the erotic sight had aroused her. So, she went for disgust instead.







Giles noticed how upset Buffy appeared to be. “Do you think Spike might be playing with you before he moves in for the kill?” He wondered what kind of ‘nasty things’ the vampire could have been doing in the Slayer’s room that would have caused her to run to him instead of staking the vampire in question. She hadn’t mentioned blood and guts. She also didn’t seem worried that Joyce would find a mess of any kind.







“You think he found a lookalike to boink in MY bed to lull me before striking?” Buffy scoffed. “Somehow I don’t see that has Spike’s style.”







“Oh.” Giles felt his jaw drop. “Oh, well, that’s not exactly what I had in mind when you said ‘nasty things’.”







“Well I did mean that,” Buffy huffed.







“We could revoke the invite despite your mother’s protests,” Giles suggested.







“She’d just invite him again.” Buffy shook her head. “She actually likes him.” She let out a sigh. “I guess I better go back and stake him before he does something worse.”







When Buffy got back home, her visitors were gone, leaving nothing behind to even show that they had been there. She wondered what Spike’s motives were. Boy was she surprised when they met up a few months later over the Gem of Amara. The vampire had no clue what she was talking about. However, she had to admit that the idea of the two of them participating in bedroom Olympics brought a gleam of interest to Spike’s eye.







Good thing Buffy didn’t inform Spike of his doppelganger’s declarations of love to the lookalike.







The one with the longer hair sniffed the air. He raised one eyebrow while he studied Amon. “Well, I guess this one doesn’t have a lopsided arse and a bad perm.”







“If you wanna date my sister, you’re gonna have to prove yourself,” Anne replied while she studied the Hellgod. She might be thrilled he wasn’t a vampire, but she wasn’t completely sure a Hellgod was a much better choice.







“I am Ptolamony, but you may call me Amon,” the Hellgod introduced himself. “I’m here to help with Glorificus and the order of Cerberus.”







“The Order of Cerberus? Who hell are they? The Order of Three headed Hell-dogs?” William asked.







Amon let out a bark of laughter. “Not hardly. However I believe you met one. Short little fuck with nine lives and a lizard tongue.”







William let out a growl. “Doc.”







“The one that cut Dee!” Anne’s face turned stony.







“The one that threw me off the tower first.” William narrowed his eyes. “Okay, so Rupes here figured out that Dee’s mate is a Hellgod. As soon as he said so, one just magically appeared? How do we know you’re not workin’ with that bitch sister of yours?”







“I’ve already helped a set of Immortal Guardians,” Amon said. “Besides, I have further proof of my goodwill.”







“What’s that?” Anne asked.







“A willing host.” Amon’s body shifted into that of another man. The new body was of a younger, more innocent faced boy. “I’m Brother Nickoli of the Order of Dagon. I believe you met Brother Malachi, Guardian,” he said to Anne.







Anne nodded. “I did. I’m sorry I couldn’t save him, but Glory did too much damage to him.”







“Vicious bitch,” William snarled under his breath. He rubbed his chest where Glory had tried to dig out the truth about Dawn.







“Amon’s desire to assist is genuine,” Brother Nickoli said. “I chose to be his host, Guardians. I chose of my own free will, as did my brother Amir to host Calypun, Glory and Amon’s other brother. It is my destiny.”







“Someone’s been talking to old Obi-Wan,” William grumbled. “Where is this Calypun?”







“He stayed with the others to help them.”







“Okay, this is getting way too funky,” Buffy muttered. She pinched her arm. “I want to wake up now. All I wanted was a nice Thanksgiving dinner with my friends.”







“Sorry, Slayer,” Spike said. “Reality is a bitch.”







Brother Nickoli morphed back into Amon. “Now that the introductions are over, time to get down to business.”







“Glory’s gonna be a problem, isn’t she?” Anne asked. “I’m so not the one dying this time around.”







William put his arm around Anne’s shoulders. “It’s not going to happen again, luv. I won’t let it.”







Anne leaned into William’s side. She let out a sigh of relieved contentment. “Thanks.” I love you, she whispered into his mind.







I love you too, Slayer, William whispered in return. Aloud, he said, “First order of business is a list of rules for dating the Slayer’s sister.”







Amon lowered his head in acknowledgement. He might be a Hellgod, but he knew better than to piss off his bride-to-be’s family. Some higher – and lower – beings did learn something from Hades’ woeful method of wooing a lady love. “I will agree to whatever terms you both set forth for me to adhere to. I am sincere,” he said.







“On to other business. Angel is on his way with the Codex,” Giles said to Amon. “Is there anything we need to reference besides the Shades?”







Amon’s head popped up. “The Shades? Are you sure?”







“Met them myself,” Giles replied. “They were here before, but we successfully vanquished them.”







“That means the Puzzleman has been awakened.”







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*







WILLYRIA







Willyria stepped through the vortex into a dark, desolate world. The night sky was filled with scaly, screeching beasts flying in and out of a hazy, swirling blue mass.







I like this place, Illyria murmured to Willow. It reminds me of home.







A scabby little creature in a brown robe that Willow recognized as one of Glory’s minions scurried out of the darkness. “Ah, excellent,” he said when he saw Willyria. “Another acolyte for her Glorificusness.”







Thought so, Willow reflected. Glory won here.







Illyria searched Willow’s memories for references to this Glory creature. What he found disturbed the God King. Glorificus was nothing more than a glorified – forgive the pun – upstart with delusions of grandeur. How she escaped her brothers’ influence was a mystery to Illyria.







They kicked her sorry insane ass to the curb, Willow provided. They should have found a deep dark hole for her instead.







Good idea. Illyria laughed. We destroyed an entire dimension because they wouldn’t bow to our wishes. This one is primed for us. I think we should take over. Make it ours.







What about…







Forget the Guardians. This is our place. Illyria surged forward, and their body armor turned bright red. “Bow before your King, slime. Bow before Glorificus’ King.”







“I know you,” the minion cackled. “You can’t fool me with your puny magic spells. You’re that red haired witch bitch of the Slayer’s.”







“We shall see.” Willyria raised her hands in the air. She released her magic that would call her Qwa’ha Xahn to her side while it simultaneously ripped the scabby little minion to shreds.







In Los Angeles at the Hyperion Hotel, John Knox, ex-research flunky at Wolfram & Hart, awoke. Willyria’s magic flowed through his body making his skin itch in all kinds of fun ways. He smiled to himself while he slipped out of bed to dress.







Knox had to contain his laughter while he snuck past the other sleepers. There was the blond Slayer from Sunnydale and her equally blond vampire pet, the dark Slayer and her new lawyer boy toy, the members of the Scooby gang and Angel Investigations. Then, there was Angel himself curled around his heavily pregnant vampire slut.







Knox found himself an abandoned car to hotwire. Soon, he was driving in the direction of his King’s call with his wild laughter pouring out of the broken car windows.







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*







PUZZLEMAN AND DOC… DOCS







“We need to send the bulk of your army against the set of traveling Guardians,” Doc Four pointed out to the Puzzleman. “Of all of them, they have the greatest influence over the others.”







The Puzzleman bowed his head in agreement. “Make it so.”







“However, it would be advisable to send a squad to the stopgap dimension,” Doc Five informed the Puzzleman. “We’ve already lost a sect member to the Guardians there.”







The Puzzleman sniffed in disdain while he considered the suggestion. “I agree. Send the Kobalts.”







The Kobalts were the best of the best in the Puzzleman’s army. They trained longer and harder than any other division of soldiers.







Doc Five bowed his head. “I will inform them immediately.”







Twenty minutes later, Doc Five stood in front of the Puzzleman again. He quivered and quaked under the potent glare of the more powerful demon. “We were unable to insert the Kobalts into the stopgap. I don’t know what went wrong. We tested their insertion into other dimensions after the failure, and it worked every time.” He muttered under his breath again that he didn’t know what went wrong.







“Get your best researchers on this problem,” Doc Four growled. “Failure is not an option.”







“Right away,” Doc Five replied. He hurried from the room as if Hell hounds were nipping at his heels.







~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*







ANGEL INVESTIGATIONS







“These Shades creatures sound like bad news,” Alonna Gunn said. She and her older brother Charles had met the vampire during a low point in their life a few years before. They had been with Angel ever since.







“Very,” Angel replied. His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “I’ve seen some really nasty things in my years as a vampire… “







“Probably was one of the really nasty things,” Claudius piped up. “I know I was.” He smiled down at the woman curled up at his side.







“Yeah.” Angel nodded. “I was, but I have to tell you the Shades really scared the fucking shit out of me.”