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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.





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