Author's Chapter Notes:
Betaed by Tasha. For those of you that follow my stories; yes, this one has been posted elsewhere. Yes, it is a WIP. I'm adding it here because eventually this story and Never Be the Same Again will be crossing over.
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.





You must login (register) to review.