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“This may have repercussions if Angel’s demon is indeed suffering from questionable sanity.” Giles’ quietly worded statement has a serious dampening effect on the laughter had that had enveloped the room.

The silence was heavy as each individual considered Giles’ remark. Younger Spike hated the idea of drawing attention back to himself, but he desperately needed a few moments alone to consider his options and maybe put on some more clothes. If he was honest with himself, he felt decidedly uncomfortable wearing nothing but a robe in front of the other two Summers women. Bloody ponce had really done a number on his head. “Er, hate to break up the thoughtful ponderings on the mentally challenged, but can I get somethin’ a bit less exposing to wear? I don’t really care to be showing off m’ manly bits to the kiddies.”

The momentarily blank faces that changed to flustered embarrassment brought forth a quiet chuckle from the seated vampire. Buffy was the first to give any indication that she was still capable of functioning after the bizarre events that the evening had produced. Motioning to her Spike to perform escort duty, she watched as the two look-alikes moved towards the bathroom, her Spike grabbing the bag of clothes he’d removed from the factory on his way.

Not willing to begin the discussion on the ritual without her Spike in the room, Buffy focused on her mother. There were other matters of importance to be addressed. “How are the plans going for the auction, mom?”

Joyce was relieved at the change of subject. She had been feeling terribly guilty about her part in the ‘tree incident’. She hated to think that she would be responsible for any adverse effects on the mental welfare of another being, even if that individual happened to be a cursed vampire that was stalking her daughter. She didn’t mind that he had been physically hurt; that was his own fault. He shouldn’t have been lurking outside her sixteen year old daughter’s bedroom window in the first place. But the idea that her actions could push the unstable vampire over the edge was causing her to feel more than a little self-condemnation.

“We’ve set it up for next Saturday, sweetheart,” Joyce told her. “There have already been a number of advanced bids on most of the items. I’m confident that you’ll do very well indeed.” Joyce gave a satisfied little smile to her daughter. She was really good at her job and was actually overjoyed at the response that they’d so far received for the treasure. She had every intention of ensuring that the two blondes became very rich indeed. Her own commission looked to be a staggering amount.

~*~*~

“Quit lookin’ at me like that, you git!” Spike growled at his older counterpart. “You know bloody well I’ve been stuck in your head for nearly a week. I’m not tryin’ anything shady. I just want to know…” His voice trailed off as he quickly looked away. He blinked rapidly in an effort to regain control of his emotions, but not before his more experienced double had spied the moisture in his eyes.

Gently, the senior blond vampire encouraged his younger self. “What do you want to know, mate?”

“Does it get better? Will this one love us?” the quietly whispered words were filled with anguish.

~*~*~

Buffy was curious as to the cause of the sombre expressions on the faces of the two Spikes as they re-entered the living room. Okay, that was going to get real old real soon. “Does one of you mind if I call you William? The two Spikes thing is gonna drive me crazy.”

“Fine with me, luv,” her Spike shrugged nonchalantly as he voiced his agreement. It was his name, after all.

As both Spikes were now dressed in black jeans and t-shirts, anyone who didn’t know them would be hard pressed to tell them apart, but Buffy seemed to know on some instinctual level which one was hers. Pointing to the new Spike, she firmly told him to place himself back on the chair he had first occupied. Leaving William to, once again, stand sentry.

Turning her attention to the only individual in the room that seemed to have the slightest clue as to what was going on, Buffy asked Wolfie to explain the ritual and all that had subsequently happened because of it.

~*~*~

As Angel desperately tried to get comfortable, he replayed the events of the ‘incident’ over again in his mind. Try as he might he was at a loss to come up with any explanation except that Buffy obviously had someone that was an enemy and they knew where she lived. Okay so the garlic might have been targeted at him specifically, but he was fairly certain that that was only because he was Buffy’s protector. It made him suspect that the perpetrator of the crime was someone they both knew. Someone wanted to separate him from his Buffy. Now, why did that make him automatically think of the watcher?

~*~*~

“When…er, William, performed the ritual, Gaia granted his petition. But you must understand that it was William’s demon that asked to be returned to his original form and not Spike’s.” Wolfie began his explanation, trying to impress upon them all the importance of this distinction. “In order for Gaia to accede to William’s request, Spike had to be removed.”

“Then shouldn’t I be dust? Not worthy and all that,” Spike asked curiously. Not that he wanted to be dust, but a bloke had to ask the obvious.

“You had already decided to follow the path that William had shown you while you were still inside him, Spike. Gaia knew that,” the giant informed the inquisitive vampire.

“Huh? Wait…but he’s evil,” Buffy automatically responded. She might be trusting of William, but Spike was an entirely different matter.

“Buffy,” Giles gently addressed the confused girl. “Look at him. The glow of humanity is almost as strong in Spike as it is in William.”

“What, so now I’m just supposed to trust him, too?” the flabbergasted slayer questioned.

“You could at least gimme a chance, Slayer,” Spike grumbled dejectedly.

Buffy was floundering. She had no idea how to handle this situation. She didn’t understand why everyone was looking at her like they were disappointed in her. She was seriously getting frustrated. Didn’t these people understand that she was the Slayer? She needed her black and white world to stay black and white; she wasn’t equipped to deal with shades of grey; not yet anyway. It was too much too soon. Everything was changing and she didn’t have the slightest clue how to cope with it.

Casting a quick but apologetic look at his counterpart, William pulled the confused girl into his arms. “It’s alright, pet. Take your time. Nobody’s sayin’ you have to deal with everything right now. We’ll suss it out when you’re ready.”

Everyone in the room heard the threat in the protective blonde’s voice. Not one of them was left in any doubt as to the seriousness with which William spoke or his underlying message. Buffy was not to be pushed.

Buffy relaxed as the feeling of being overwhelmed by her confused emotions receded within the strong arms of her protector. She felt herself slowly calming, his embrace soothing her shattered nerves. She felt safe. She felt like she was finally home. Maybe it was time to admit that she was.

When Spike heard Buffy's muffled thanks, he tightened his grip on her fractionally. Keeping her securely within his embrace, he looked over at the red headed giant. “You were gonna tell us about the effects of the ritual, mate?”

“Of course,” Wolfie replied with a courteous nod of agreement. Sadly, he was of the opinion that this little Slayer had a lot to learn. He only hoped he could help her. “You asked to be able to retake your place as a protector of the realm, William. You’ve been returned to your original form,” Wolfie began to tell the vampire, but an unexpected eruption of laughter from the seated vampire interrupted him.

“Will you bloody well shut up, you gormless twit!” William growled in frustration at the amused blond.

“Oi!” Spike offered an indignant response as he stood and faced off against his older self. “It’s bloody funny, and watch who you’re callin’ names, you fairy.”

Buffy gently extricated herself from William’s arms. At his questioning look she gave him a shrug and the ghost of a smirk as she answered his unvoiced question, “Hey, I had to deal with him for the last four years. Now it’s your turn!”

William turned his vexation toward the blond pain in his arse that had just bollixed up his moment with his Slayer. There he was enjoying a nice snuggle, of which he’d had far too few of not to be well and truly brassed off at being interrupted. Wait a minute…what had the little pillock called him?

Spike was momentarily startled at the flashing gold eyes that turned on him in fury. Who knew the ponce could look so scary?

“What did you call me?” William snarled, incensed.

“What? A fairy?” Spike grinned smugly at the object of his humour. Crossing his arms across his chest and lifting an eyebrow sardonically as he bounced on his toes, he continued, “It’s what you are, innit?”

“I am NOT a bloody fairy,” William bellowed his indignation.

“You’ve got bloody wings,” Spike countered just as loudly.

“Boys,” Joyce gently reminded the two antagonists that they were not alone.

Instantly contrite, the two arguing blonds mumbled very similar sounding apologies. Giles eyed the Slayer’s mother with a look of impressed awe. ‘How on earth did she manage to do that?

William was suddenly struck by a horrifying thought, turning panic stricken eyes to the Sasquatch, he practically begged to be wrong, “I’m not a fairy, am I?”

Chuckling quietly, the red headed giant answered the blonde’s desperate plea, “No. You’re not a fairy.”

William’s relief was palpable. But, his expression soon changed to one of confusion and he was forced to ask for clarification, “Then what am I?”

“You’re still a vampire,” Wolfie quickly assured him. “But you’re the kind of vampire that hasn’t been seen in this realm for thousands of years; a pure vampire.” The large red head paused momentarily before making a hesitant admission. “The last pure vampire in this realm was used to make the First Slayer.”

“Huh? Wait…Okay, there is so much there that I need clarification on, but, gotta ask, he seems the same to me. I mean, he’s still my Spike, er William, right?” Buffy inched her way back into William’s arms. A wave of insecurity and possessiveness almost overwhelmed her. The need to stake her claim on the vampire under discussion caused her to mould her back more firmly into his chest and pull at his arms in an effort to tighten his hold on her. A soft kiss on the back of her head did much to calm the emotional girl.

“Only the nature of his demon was changed, Slayer. His personality, his humanity, and his experiences haven’t changed. All of these things make up who he is. The demon was only a small, albeit important part of it. He is no longer exactly what he was, but he is still who he was,” Wolfie gently reassured her.

Giles removed his glasses and cleaned them, his questioning mind forming his query as he did so. “You said William was now a ‘pure vampire’. How does that differentiate from the type of vampire that we have more experience with? I’ve never considered Spike to be a typical vampire.”

“You’re absolutely correct in making that distinction, Mr. Giles. Spike- or in this case, William- is not like other vampires. He is unique.” Wolfie acknowledged the watchers words. “Most vampires exist for blood, sex and violence. Some are more vicious than others and like to include chaos and domination. Others are less interested in violence, finding more than enough pleasure in blood and sex, but one thing they all have in common is the absence of a soul.

“Without a soul, or conscience if you will, a vampire is freed from the burden of guilt. He or she can act as selfishly as they like. They don’t feel the need to follow rules and they don’t have to care about how their actions may or may not affect others. All they care about is their own pleasure.

“While all vampires are capable of the full range of human emotions, they are usually too selfish to be capable of emotions such as love. This is where William is different. He loves selflessly.” Wolfie paused for a moment, allowing everyone a moment to fully comprehend what he was saying.

“Pure vampires are different again,” the giant continued. “A vampire itself is a combination of a human that has released its soul and a soulless demon. In the pure vampire, the demon has a soul.”

The researcher in Giles demanded more information. “How will this affect William mentally and physically?”

“Mentally he has been renewed,” Wolfie informed the watcher. Turning to William, the giant addressed him directly. “You’ve been forgiven for your past and have started again with a clean slate. The only mental anguish you’ll face is for your actions from now on and I believe that your decision making process will be easier. Physically, you are a protector of the realm; a champion. Your patron is the Goddess of Earth and Nature. Sunlight and religious items will no longer harm you. You will have an affinity with nature and animals that you should work at developing. You are stronger than you were, so time should be spent honing your fighting skills to allow for that and to learn how to use your wings in combat.”

“Can he fly too?” Spike asked sarcastically. He was quite willing to admit to being more than a little jealous.

“For short distances, but it’s mainly hovering,” Wolfie blandly replied with a lifted eyebrow and a challenging smirk.

“Bloody hell,” the two vampires responded in unison. The one that rolled his eyes in feigned disgust was not the one that had just learned he could fly.

Joyce cast a mother’s eye over the group that she considered family. Her two daughters had clearly had enough for the day and her two…vampires looked like they needed some processing time. Taking charge as only a mother can do, Joyce stood and clapped her hands together. Facing her eldest daughter, she said “I know that you probably still want to know about the origins of that other Slayer, honey, but maybe that should wait until tomorrow night’s meeting so that we don’t need to repeat it for my other Buffy.”

“I agree, Joyce. Everybody is tired and some of us may need some time to think about what we’ve learned,” Giles added his own parental concerns.

It wasn’t until Buffy, Giles, William, and Spike were alone that Spike realised he hadn’t asked his own question. “So…can any of you lot explain to me why I’ve got a bloody reflection?”

A/N: Some dialogue has been taken from Season 7 episode 'Touched'

Buffy turned confused eyes on the questioning vampire, before bursting forth with her barrage of questions, “You have a reflection? Why do you have a reflection?” Turning to her watcher, Buffy modified her words, “Giles? Why does he have a reflection?”

Giles loved it that Buffy looked to him for guidance and explanation, but her need to have immediate answers could get a little wearisome. Patiently, he made a suggestion. “Why don’t we ask Wolfie tomorrow night, Buffy? If he doesn’t know we can start researching it immediately.”

Buffy’s pout caused both vampires to shift uncomfortably and attempt to surreptitiously adjust their jeans. William narrowed his eyes at the younger vampire, barely managing to subdue a warning growl.

Spike rolled his eyes at the posturing older male. It wasn’t like he could control his reaction, now could he? Pillock! If he wanted to complain he should complain to the bint about that lip…bloody lethal that was.

“Okay Giles,” Buffy agreed tiredly. Turning her attention to Spike, Buffy considered him suspiciously. Speaking to the other two males, she kept her gaze firmly on the subject of her question. “So, what are we gonna do with junior?”

“He can have the couch, pet. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight anyway.” With everything that had been happening, William hadn’t had any time to really focus on the changes he’d gone through or what they would mean to his existence. A little late night introspection would be keeping him company this night.

Buffy nodded in acceptance of William’s suggestion. She looked towards the spare room, knowing that she needed to get some sleep, but reluctant to leave the side of her vampire. She didn’t understand why she was feeling so needy, but she wasn’t ready to question it either. She felt like she was breaking into tiny pieces. There was so much that she’d had to deal with in such a short time. She desperately tried to suppress the knowledge that she was relieved that the friends that she had given so much power to were not here. They would have tried to get her away from her vampire. That would have broken her. As it was she knew that she would get through this, but she also knew that that was due largely to the unwavering support of a watcher that had yet to betray her and a vampire that knew how to love. She had yet to thank either of them.

“Giles,” Buffy said as she looked over at the man her watcher had been. “Can I speak to you in my room, please?” As she walked past the two vampires she reached over to give William’s hand a quick squeeze.

Giles followed silently in her wake.

William and Spike were unable to hear the quietly whispered conversation between Giles and Buffy, regardless of how much they tried. “She’s not talkin’ about you, mate,” William quietly assured his paranoid companion.

Spike turned his attention to the object of his earlier derision. He didn’t even attempt to deny his concerns. “She hates me.”

“She’s not the one you have to impress.” William smirked at the younger male and watched as the light of realization flared in Spike’s eyes.

~*~*~

“Giles,” Buffy whispered, mindful of vampire hearing. “I want to do some research,” she told him. Pointing to the tomes in the large bookcase that seemed to dwarf the actual size of the room, she continued. “Which one will tell me what I need to know about claims?”

Giving the nervous young girl in front of him a considering look, Giles walked over to the bookcase and removed what he believed to be the most accurate volume in his collection. The fact that the book was also the most graphic was another point in its favour. He did not believe that she was ready for this sort of commitment. “This will give you all the information you need,” he informed her as he handed her the weighty tract. “But, Buffy, please think carefully before taking any action. You can have no doubts. You need to be very sure that you love him. He really doesn’t deserve anything less.”

Moving towards the door, thinking the girl was finished with him, Giles was surprised when Buffy’s small hand halted him.

“Right now I’m not sure of anything, but I do need to know, Giles.”

“The fact that I agree that you need this information is the only reason I am giving you that book,” his response was delivered in a firm and serious tone.

“I need to talk to him, Giles. I have to tell him what I’m feeling.” Buffy was almost desperate in her ache for the vampire. In the maelstrom that was her emotions, William was her safe harbour. She needed him to anchor her.

“I’ll send him in to you.” The watcher smiled at her as he reached for the door. “I’ll keep Spike company.”

~*~*~

“Luv?” William hovered in the doorway, unsure of his place.

Buffy motioned for him to come in and sit next to her on the bed.

Taking a critical look at the slightly shaking girl on the bed, William came to a decision. He entered the room, closing the door behind him. Slipping off the moccasins he still wore from the earlier ritual, William positioned himself so that his back rested firmly against the wall behind the head of the bed and opened his arms to her.

Buffy was quick to take up his offer and moved smoothly to slip into his tender embrace. Taking a few moments to calm within the safety of his arms, Buffy used the time to get her thoughts in order. “Everything’s changing, William, and I don’t know what to think or feel anymore. I need to tell you about some of it. I thought that, um, maybe, you could kinda help me work some stuff out?” She was afraid to look at him. She was afraid that she would see his disappointment at her lack of strength in his eyes. She was scared that he would look at her differently now that he had the blessing of the Goddess. She was terrified that he would now find her unworthy of him.

As was usual, William seemed to intuitively understand what she was going through. Placing a finger under her chin, he gently but firmly encouraged her to lift her face to look at him. “I’ve make a lot of mistakes, a lot of wrong bloody calls. A hundred plus years, and there's only one thing I've ever been sure of: you. I asked for a crumb, pet, and you’ve bloody well given me so much more. When I say, "I love you," it's not because I want you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You're a hell of a woman. You're the one, Buffy. I would do anything for you.”

“See, that's just it, no one ever has just loved me unconditionally like that. Even mom and dad couldn't handle Buffy the Slayer. Of course they didn't know I was the Slayer at the time. Look, now I'm rambling. What I mean is how do you do that? Love with no strings...no clauses...I've only ever had love that came with curses and baggage.” Buffy pouted.

William widened his eyes in surprise. “Buffy, luv, I love like you do. That’s how you love someone. Complete, without reservations, the bad with the good. Why do you think you’ve been able to forgive every person you’ve ever loved every single time they’ve hurt you? The problem isn’t your ability to love, pet. It’s that you have a tendency to trust the wrong people and you’ve got bloody appalling taste in men.” His grin lightened the harshness of his words.

“I guess that’s true, ‘cause the man I’m interested in loves me but doesn’t want me,” Buffy replied with mock sadness.

William’s mind reeled, as he took in her words. She was interested in someone? Who? Who loved her but didn’t want her? He could only think of one person that her words could possibly describe and that thought horrified him. “You fancy the watcher?” he squeaked out his question.

“What? NO! Ewww,” Buffy scrunched up her nose in disgust.

William felt relief course through him, but it was quickly replaced by confusion. “Well, then, who the bloody hell…?”

“That would be you, stupid,” Buffy told him flatly. The images that his words had brought to her mind caused her to speak before she had time to be scared of her honesty, or had time to register her own admission. “Ew, now I’ve got Giles pictures,” she said, revolted.

“Wait a minute…you think I don’t want you? Have you gone barmy on me?” Spike just stared at her in disbelief.

“It’s what you said,” Buffy replied guilelessly.

Despite the rather wonderful turn the conversation had made, William wanted this little communication breakdown to be addressed immediately. He wanted this girl to be under no illusions about just how much he wanted her. “Buffy, pet, what are you talking about?”

“Before. You said you loved me and that it wasn’t about wanting me,” she replied with such innocence that William was momentarily floored.

Smiling down at the beautiful girl in his arms, William brought a hand up to gently caress her cheek as he explained, “What I should have said was that as much as I want you, loving you is about more than that, sweetness.”

“So you do want me?” Buffy confirmed.

“More with every passing minute,” William reassured her, his eyes darkening with desire.

Grinning impishly, her confidence restored, Buffy giggled as she told him, “You are so not getting lucky in my watcher’s home.”

William’s eyes sparkled with humour as he lifted the laughing girl onto his lap and her lips within striking distance. “Just need to make sure there are no lingering doubts, kitten,” he warned her with a smile before slowing bringing their lips together.

Buffy was left with absolutely no doubts.

“What about the poof’s flat? We could always send Spike to keep him busy.”

At William’s joking comment, Buffy’s playful mood changed. She was saddened by the knowledge that she was just now realising. “The Angel I thought I knew…he never really existed, did he?”

“Nah, pet, I don’t suppose he did. But, luv, you need to remember somethin’. You were only fifteen when you met him; a bloody baby in comparison to the bastard. He played you, and when he couldn’t have you, he left. You spent three years in love with a bloke who just needed to make you feel a smidgeon of guilt to get you to forgive him anything. He manipulated you into thinking that he made greater sacrifices. You spent so much bloody time feeling guilty for having sent him to hell that you missed the most important fact about that whole bloody thing. Yes, you sent him to hell and the Powers brought him back, but, pet…they could have brought him back at any time. They left him there for five hundred years because they thought he deserved it. If the Powers thought he deserved it, why should you feel guilty?”

She smiled sadly at his rationale. Everything he was saying was true, but there were other things to feel guilty for. “William, it’s more than that. I mean, I get what you’re saying and I agree with you, but I feel guilty that I cost him his soul in the first place. If I hadn’t slept with him, none of it would have happened.”

“You didn’t cost him his soul. You broke his curse.” William was determined to make Buffy understand that none of what happened with Angelus was her fault and if they had to sit here all night talking things through, then that was what they would be doing. As far as he was concerned, Angel had hurt this girl for the last time.

“Huh?”

“It was a curse, luv. He didn’t get it because he was deserving of a blessing, he got it because he raped, sodomised, and murdered a young girl. It was meant to be a form of punishment,” William patiently explained.

“But he was doing good. He was on the road to redemption. He couldn’t have known that that would happen,” Buffy mumbled miserably.

“Buffy, he had a hundred years to find out. Angel was turned as an adult, luv. He had choices in every bloody thing he did. You can’t hold yourself responsible for his choices. All you did was follow your heart, you didn’t do anything wrong,” William begged her to believe him.

“William, my actions had consequences. I slept with Angel and he lost his soul because of it. Willow’s fish got killed and she was traumatised. Jenny was killed. Giles was kidnapped and tortured. I don’t know how many innocent people died. Angel had to spend five hundred years in hell and you…you eventually lost Drusilla because of it.” Buffy’s last few words were whispered. It was a guilt that she’d never voiced, but that didn’t mean that she didn’t feel it.

“Oh, kitten,” William sighed as he comforted the broken girl in his arms. “You know I love you, don’t you?” he asked then waited for her muffled ‘yes’ before continuing. “Good, ‘cause I want you to hear what I’m about to say with that in mind. You are barmy, pet. Stark raving bonkers. The only thing that you could possibly be considered even remotely responsible for in that whole little pity party is having sex with the poof and it’s also a responsibility that you share with him. And if anybody should take a larger portion of the blame for that one, it would have to be him. You were a bloody virgin and he was a twenty nine year old male slut when he was turned - by a bleedin’ prostitute I might add - then he shagged anything that moved for a hundred and fifty odd years before he got the soul. Personally, I think soul or not, the bastard is a sexual predator and the quicker we can get him away from your younger self, the better.” William’s voice got harder and more derisive the longer he spoke. His last sentence had been delivered with venom dripping from the words.

Buffy was stunned by the vehemence with which William spoke. She knew that he hated his grandsire, but she had no idea that his hatred ran so deep. Maybe he needed to get some things off his chest, too. Maybe this was the perfect opportunity for them to really talk things through.

“I don’t think that’s gonna be too big of a problem, Will.” Buffy gave a little laugh.

“How so, pet?” he asked. William loved the change of moniker. He only had good memories of being called Will and Buffy was adding to them.

“The other Buffy seems to have developed a definite ‘ick’ factor where it comes to Angel. It’s really strange. I can clearly remember being more upset over the actual ‘I told you so’ conversation with Xander than I was at my potential relationship with Angel being over. But, at the same time, I know that having sex with him was the start of one of the most horrible periods of my life- four months of being the plaything of a psychotic monster that wore the face of someone I loved more than anything or anyone else in the world. I don’t know whether I’m happy or sad to know I’m going to lose those memories. I mean, I know they are all of badness, but if I lose them how will I remember just how bad Angelus was? ‘Cause that’s definitely something I need to remember.” Buffy shared her concerns.

“Not really sure, pet. I’m startin’ to have a little problem with the memory thing myself,” William reluctantly admitted.

Buffy widened her eyes in shock at his revelation. Her mind whirled with possible consequences. One struck above all else and the very thought of it tore at her soul. She couldn’t let that happen. There had to be a way to make sure that never happened. William would help, he had to. She had to tell him, but the thought…the very thought of the possibility of …‘oh, God’ she thought in despair.

William grew concerned when Buffy’s heart rate increased and she started to hyperventilate. He’d never seen her this panic-stricken. Rubbing her arms as he repeated her name over and over, he tried to regain her attention. She seemed lost in some sort of waking nightmare. All he could do was continue to try and connect with her. He moved a hand to her face, gently rubbing his thumb over her cheek, all the while quietly begging her to return to him. Finally she lifted her eyes to meet his and William sighed in relief. “Was it another memory, pet?”

She nodded slowly, her eyes filled with tears. “But not a new one.”

“Buffy, please luv, what is it?” he asked, his tone was tinged with more than a little concern.

“What if you forget about loving me?” she whispered as her tears slipped from her eyes to make tracks down her face.

Smiling widely, he used his thumb to remove her tears, William easily answered her question. “Buffy, I fell in love with you the first time I saw you dancing at the Bronze. If you think that Spike is gonna be any different, you are off your bloody rocker.”

“But you wanted to kill me,” Buffy commented, mystified at where he had come up with that idea.

“It took me a while to realise it, sweetheart, but don’t you worry about it. We’ll make sure Spike realises it a lot quicker than I did.”

Buffy’s relief was palpable. “Good thing too, ‘cause I don’t really think it’s gonna take the other Buffy as long as it took me to realise that I love you.”

“What…what did you say?”

A/N: I am sorry about the delays in posting recently, RL has been interfering. There will be more delays over the next two weeks. :)

“What did you say?” William repeated his question when the beautiful blond in his lap looked at him as if she had no idea what he was talking about. He silently prayed to whoever was listening that it hadn’t been his imagination, that she had actually said the words and she would repeat the magic phrase.

Buffy's inner Faith giggled with glee over the reaction from her vampire. She wondered what other reactions she could get from William. She also wondered how long she could play Barbie Buffy before he caught on. The very moment she realised his love could be taken from her, she had known just how much she loved him. His idea that they work with Spike to make him realise he was in love with the other Buffy was good, she had every intention of not only helping with that, but also giving the younger her a gentle push in the right direction. She didn’t think much of a push would be required if the dreams they were sharing were any indication. She finally understood that for her and William to have the happy ending she wanted for them, then Buffy and Spike had to get together soon.

Suddenly realising that there was a vampire waiting for a response from her, Buffy said the first thing that came to mind, “Huh?”

William could feel his frustration growing. He rolled his head around in an effort to lower his stress level. Bloody bint was gonna drive him crazy. He slowly counted to ten, having heard that it worked for other people. Not that he was a person, but it was worth a shot.

Buffy watched as William tried to calm himself. It was fairly obvious from his expression that he was desperate for her to repeat her words, but that he didn’t want to push her. She felt her heart go out to him. Maybe playing with him over this particular subject wasn’t the kindest thing she could do. Lifting a hand to caress his cheek, she was deeply moved when he nuzzled her palm just as a kitten would. The eyes that looked into hers were breathtaking in their emotional content. Love shone clearly. How was it possible that she had missed this before now? Had he always looked at her like this?

“I love you,” she whispered the words he was so desperate to hear.

William just looked at her. She had said them. She had uttered the three magical words. He was stunned. He was in shock, desperately trying to regain his footing. She had not only told him she loved him, but to all intents and purposes she looked like she meant what she had said. Nobody had been even close to saying those words since his mother. He didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. With a half sob of relief and elation, William tightened his embrace and held Buffy in a hug that would have broken a normal girl. He held on as a dying man clutches at a life raft. Buffy loved him. There was nothing the two of them couldn’t face, together.

~*~*~

“How are you coping, Spike?” Giles asked, concerned. The vampire had not really been given many choices. His body had been, for lack of a better word, hi-jacked. He seemed to be a little belligerent, but really, given his circumstances, Giles would probably be a little churlish too.

Spike eyed the watcher suspiciously, but found nothing in his features that indicated anything other than solicitude. With a heart filled sigh, Spike moved to the couch as he answered the man. “I could use a bloody drink, watcher.”

Without a word, Giles moved towards his liquor cabinet and grabbed the scotch and two glasses. Pausing, he grabbed a third glass, just in case William felt like a drink too. Making his way back to his recliner, Giles finally spoke. “William is my friend, Spike. I hope that we can also find some common ground.”

“How old is my…er…the other slayer?” Spike asked, momentarily flustered at his unconscious slip. He had never even met the bint, how was it possible that she was already affecting him this way?

“Young Buffy is sixteen,” Giles said, looking at Spike curiously.

“Then we’ve got common ground, mate.” Spike gave the watcher a hard look before continuing. “She’s too young to be in any sort of physical relationship, let alone a sadistic bastard like Angelus. We need to get her away from the poof.”

“From what this Buffy has inferred, I don’t think separating them will be at all difficult. I am concerned with the way Angel will react, however. He is unstable and obsessed and this concerns me deeply.” Giles shared his thoughts with the blond vampire that should, by all rights, have become the nemesis of his slayer.

“Maybe he can be told the truth? In controlled circumstances,” Spike suggested cautiously. He wanted to help. He wanted desperately to be a part of it. He was just so unsure of himself, his reception, and his ideas that he needed to go slowly. He had never been in the position where his opinion might matter. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that if he let these people get close and then they rejected him, he would never recover.

Giles watched the play of emotions flitter across the face of the vampire and wondered, not for the first time, how those fools at the council had ever come to the conclusion that demons were unable to truly feel emotion. The idea seemed absolutely ludicrous in the presence of this emotive specimen.

“That’s a good idea, Spike. Do you think we should discuss it with the others before the meeting tomorrow night?” Giles asked.

“It’s prolly gonna take all of us to come up with a workable plan,” Spike said in agreement. “But, from what the others were saying, we have a more immediate problem.”

“What’s that?”

“If the poof is stalking her, what’s to stop him from listening from outside the Slayer’s house during the meetin’?”

“Good lord, I hadn’t even thought of that!”

~*~*~

“You love me?”

Buffy tried to control the smile that threatened to break out at the look of absolute adoration and hope that William directed her way. She was a little overcome with a feeling of peace that seemed to have settled on her as soon as she made her admission. As she looked into his eyes, she felt her love for this very special vampire blossom and bloom. Her features softened as she stroked his face and smiled into his eyes as she asked, “How could I not?”

They shared a gentle smile as they gazing deeply into each others eyes, lost in the intimacy of the moment.

Buffy’s eyes widened as she was hit with an epiphany; a defining moment, a moment when a simple realisation was made monumental by the complete understanding of a second meaning behind a simple statement. “Death is my gift.”

“What’s that, luv?”

“It was around the time you got vamp-napped by Glory. I was afraid that I was losing my humanity. That being the Slayer was taking it from me. So I did this vision quest thingie and spoke to the First Slayer. She told me that I was full of love, and that I loved with all my soul. That was why I pulled away from love, because I was afraid to go through it all again after Angelus and not because I was losing it. She said I only risked losing my ability to love if I rejected it. Apparently love is pain, and the Slayer forges strength from pain. She said ‘Love ... give ... forgive. Risk the pain. It is your nature. Love will bring you to your gift.’. She also told me that death was my gift.”

“Well I hope there’s a refund policy on that gift, ‘cause you’re bloody well taking it back.”

A/N: Drusilla was kindly written by Karyn. My thanks and appreciation go to her.

“See…that’s what I thought too,” Buffy told him excitedly. “But that doesn’t make sense. I was or am, whatever, supposed to ‘risk the pain for love’, but I already loved Dawnie so there was no risk in loving her. The only type of love that I was scared of was boy-girl type love. I think that’s the type of love the First Slayer was referring to. Again, not Dawnie. So, if we go with the idea that cave slayer was talking about romantic love, we can move on to the next bit. She said; ‘love will bring you to your gift’. I think she meant that by taking the risk and loving someone, I would get loved in return, by my ‘gift’.”

“And death is your gift?” William eyed the excited girl sceptically; he hadn’t reached the all important epiphany that she had.

“Yep,” she announced happily.

“And we don’t want to return your gift of death because…?” the confused vampire prompted her.

“Because I like my gift, silly.” Buffy grinned at him as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

William was having a really hard time deciphering the twists and turns of Buffy’s reasoning. He mentally went over everything that was said. This time he got it and with a smile he teased the grinning blond. “Thought you loved your gift, pet?”

“I do, but I like it, too. You were right, you know. Back when you gave us the ‘love is blood’ speech. Angel and I were never friends, but you were also wrong in a way, too. I love you more than anything, but I like you too, William. I really, really like you.” Buffy smiled sweetly at her vampire.

~*~*~

“Got some spell books we can look at, watcher?” Spike asked calmly. The man in front of him was clearly shaken and the vampire took it upon himself to take charge. “I’ve got a fleeting memory of a new disinvite spell being done. If you show her a selection of spells that can stop someone from being a nosey bugger, your gypsy should be able to tell which spell won’t affect the one she’s already doing.”

“Excellent idea, Spike,” Giles said, relieved. “I have a number of tomes we can look through in the bookcase.”

~*~*~

Angel snuck into the factory as best he could. He still felt like he was on fire from the waist down, and his silk boxers chafed painfully against his wounded flesh.

He had been unable to find any comfort in his apartment. His mind refused to let go of his distrust of the watcher. Thinking about the problems that seemed to be surrounding him, Angel found himself wishing that he had access to a seer. Someone who could give a clue telling where to start. Someone like Drusilla.

He didn’t want to talk to her - that would only lead to bad things - but, if she was in one of her moods, she might unwittingly give him the information he required.

Angel let out his senses and found his favorite childe. Making his way as quietly as he could towards her location, he was pleased when she started speaking loudly enough for him to hear.

“Naughty children, traipsing around the stars and mucking about, making all the players turn and twist unsure of their lines,” Drusilla said, whimpering. “Daddy isn't daddy and the sweet, brave knight hides in the sun and mummy can't reach him. Her. All for her, now she has them all. There’s no room for me, no room at all. She has them both - the present and the future. Such a greedy, greedy girl. Doesn’t play fair. Doesn’t share. Daddy will be so cross when he sees the sunshine doesn’t belong to him anymore. Daddy doesn’t like to share either, you know.” She turned her head to the doll at her side.

“Dust. Dust. All that's left is dust. No, Miss Edith, it can't be fixed this time. The stars have changed...realigned. The gods wish it so.” Drusilla dropped her head back to the pillow, tired out from the small exertion. “You should be more careful who you listen to, Daddy. That's how you got in trouble in the first place. Listening to grandmum instead of your dark princess. I warned you.”

Angel eased back for the bedroom door, his mind reeling. She had given him a lot to decipher until that last little bit, but there was no way he was staying around to listen to a round of ‘I told you so’ from his insane childe. Dru might have warned him that the damn gypsies would seek revenge if he hurt their favorite daughter, but the little bitch had laughed at him when he had dropped his pants and nobody laughed at Angelus’ cock and got away with it.

Drusilla smiled as she felt her very bad daddy leave the factory and turned to her silent companion. “Remember, Miss Edith, listening at doors only leads to wickedness. Truth and lies all intertwine and no one knows which witch is which,” she cackled madly.

~*~*~

“Jenny.” Giles smiled at the beautiful computer teacher. Making sure that they couldn’t be overheard, Giles told her of the complication that Spike had pointed out to him the night before. “Spike suggested that I show you these five spells we found. He thought that if you had a selection you might be able to find one that didn’t interfere with your disinvite spell.”

“Well I’m glad somebody’s on the ball. It would have been a disaster if Angel found out before we were ready to tell him,” Jenny commented as she flicked through the spells. She pointed to one. “This one will work.”

Giles smiled eagerly, happy to note that the spell she’d picked was one of the ones he had chosen.

After making their final arrangements for the meeting at the Summers home, Jenny walked out of the library and Ripper enjoyed the show.

~*~*~

Buffy walked through the door just ahead of Willow and Xander. Glancing to the right, she noted that the dining room table had been set up as a buffet. Nodding her head in the direction of the table, she shared a giggle with Willow when the redhead noticed the vegetable sticks and assorted dips.

Moving to the left, the trio entered the living room and greeted Buffy’s mother and sister. Making themselves comfortable on the couch, the trio of teens turned their attention to the watcher

“We asked you to meet with us here for a number of reasons, but before I get into those reasons, I have a guest that I would like you to meet,” Giles told them. Turning towards the kitchen door, he waited for Wolfie to make his entrance. The shocked look on the faces of the teens made his lips twitch in amusement.

“This is Garrett Wolf. He is a representative for the Powers That Be for Good. We have recently learned that the Powers are made up of three different groups, those that act for good, for evil, and for balance. Mr. Wolf - or Wolfie as he prefers - is able to directly converse with the Powers for Good and has a particular gift for seeing things clearly. For example; your slayer dreams, Buffy. Mr Wolf can decipher them.” Pausing to check that the giant was ready for his show and tell part of the evenings activities, Giles continued after Wolfie gave him a nod. “Mr. Wolf is a Sasquatch.”

“Get outta here!” Buffy excitedly exclaimed.

In response Wolfie morphed into his original form for a few moments before morphing back.

“Great merciful Zeus!” Xander exclaimed, leaping to his feet. “He’s a Wookie!”

“Xander, sit down,” Giles ordered the exuberant youth, exasperated. “There is more.”

Giles waited until Xander was once again seated before continuing. “A little less than a week ago, I was asked for help by two highly unexpected visitors. I have not mentioned this to you because, as you will soon see, it is a situation that could cause some major problems.”

“Stop with the cryptic, Giles,” the young Slayer demanded.

“We decided to bring each of you into this for very different reasons. Willow was asked because of her exceptional intellect, Buffy because it can affect her directly, and Xander because…well, according to the Powers, Xander is our resident expert,” Giles concluded.

“I’m an expert?” Xander looked stunned and very confused.

“Yes, expert. You with the freaky knowledge of sci-fi and things no one else has outside of a Star Trek convention. You're the only one of us with the entire collection of Star Trek commemorative plates,” the senior Slayer quipped as she entered the room from the kitchen.

“It's no wonder it took you forever to get laid, Harris,” William snarked as he followed his girl. Taking up his position directly behind her, he pulled the unresisting girl back against his chest and wrapped his arms around her waist.

“That’s him! That’s the guy!” the younger Buffy hissed excitedly to Willow. Turning to face the object of her recent desires, Buffy pouted prettily as she told him shyly, “I’ve been dreaming about you.”

William couldn’t help but smile at her.

“Smile at your own bird, Tinkerbell. That one’s mine,” Spike snarled from the kitchen doorway.

At Spike’s comment, pandemonium broke out.

“Whoa…twins?” Xander hesitantly offered, looking at Giles for guidance.

“Lucky Buffy!” Willow whispered to the young girl next to her.

“I’m WHOSE?!” Buffy spluttered indignantly.

“Tinkerbell!” Dawn collapsed in hysterical giggles.

“Bit,” William growled in warning before turning to his younger self. “Look what you’ve bloody well started, you git.”

“Is it my fault the girl finds that funny?” Spike snarked back, his expression innocent.

“ENOUGH!” the young slayer shouted as she brought her fist down on the coffee table turning it into kindling. “Ooops.”

“Mum, don’t worry about the table. Harris is bloody brilliant with carpentry. He’ll make you a new one.” William hurried to head off any more distractions.

Xander jumped in, positively glowing at the unexpected praise. “No problem, Mrs Summers. I’ll make it stronger too. Just in case it has to face any other slayer related situations.”

Joyce gratefully accepted his generous offer before turning back to young Buffy. “What were you going to say before the table so rudely interrupted you, dear?”

The younger Buffy gawked at her mother. Mom has a sense of humour? Who knew?

“She wants to know what’s going on, that is, until she was distracted by Mom the Comedian,” Buffy senior joked as she answered the question directed at her younger self.

“Can we start with the Wookie?” Xander asked, sending suspicious glances towards the giant redhead.

“Can do, Scoobie doo,” Wolfie quipped.

“Hey! I’m nothing like Scoobie. I’m more Fred,” Xander argued.

“You eat all the time and you scream like a girl, Harris. Sounds like Scoobie to me.” William snarked.

“He's not wrong, Xan.” Willow snickered at her friend.

Willow giggled, Xander pouted, and Buffy was distracted by the twin pools of blue that she kept getting lost in.

Senior Buffy made the executive decision to take the momentary silence as the perfect opportunity to grab control. “Xander wanted Wolfie explained,” she said as she turned to Giles, encouraging him to continue. “You might as well tell them the whole story.”

Taking a deep breath, Giles ensured everyone was comfortable before he began. He explained the presence of William and the older Buffy, Dawn and her Keyness, the monk, and Wulfie. He told the younger blond about the slayer abilities that they hadn’t been aware of. When he got to the part of the story that involved the ritual, Xander interrupted him.

“Wait a minute.” The young brunette stood, horrified and pointed at the two blond vampires as he pulled out a large cross from inside his jacket and brandished it wildly. “Are you telling me that they are vampires?”

William walked calmly over to the protesting youth, wrapped his pale hand around the religious icon and handed it to Spike as he placed his other hand on Xander’s shoulder and physically encouraged him to retake his seat.

As William silently returned to his place next to his Buffy, Spike gallantly bowed to the other slayer and offered her the youth’s cross. Young Buffy giggled in response.

Giles removed his glasses and cleaned them before continuing. “Pay attention Xander. There are things you may yet learn.”

Giving the sulking youth a stern glance, Giles continued. The watcher explained the ritual and all that it had involved, including the results. Turning to Wolfie, Giles paused in his tale to ask the question he had been presented with the night before. “Perhaps you could tell us why Spike has also been affected by the ritual. He now has a reflection and apparently no problems with holy relics?”

“When William performed the ritual and Gaia expelled Spike from his body, Spike had already made his decision to work for Good. Gaia accepted this and rewarded his decision. The reflection was given back to him, so he could learn to face himself. He will be harder on himself than any of us can be. It is the corruption of evil that makes holy water and other relics react adversely to vampires, by whole-heartedly embracing Good, Spike will no longer be rejected. If he too chooses to go through the ritual, he will then be allowed in sunlight, his body will warm, his need for blood will reduce to a few mouthfuls that will be taken care of if he and the slayer mate; he will have a heartbeat and his demon a soul,” Wolfie elaborated on what he had already told the first group.

“William doesn’t have a heartbeat,” elder Buffy stated.

“His body is still adjusting to the changes. It will come,” The giant assured her.

“What do you mean by mate?” Willow asked curiously.

“If the young slayer and Spike fall in love, they can be mated. A mating is a serious and eternal commitment. It’s a marriage without the possibility of divorce – which is why it is so serious,” Wolfie explained.

Xander sat in stunned silence. When he spoke, it was without thinking, “No! Buffy is not going to get into yet another freaky relationship. It’s bad enough that we have to put up with dead boy. I’m not putting up with another dead guy that can’t make up his mind which side he is on.”

“Xander, we apparently need your ‘expertise’ to get us out of this mess, but if you think you have the right to tell me – at any age – who I can and can’t go out with, think again. If you’re still under the delusion that I would date you, get over it. I wouldn’t have dated you before the hyena incident, there is NO WAY I would date you after it.” This wasn’t her Xander, so Buffy had no trouble putting the mouthy brunette in his place.

“Hyena incident?” William questioned suspiciously.

“Mr. Harris, I think you and I need to have a little talk - Powers representative to Powers representative.” Without giving the boy a chance to say yes or no, Wolfie led the embarrassed teen into the kitchen.

~*~*~

“Your destiny lays elsewhere. You’re going to be blessed with a wonderful woman that adores you and a job that you love. You get to play the hero many times by saving your friends from getting blown to bits. How satisfied would you be if you were the one being saved all the time; to be the weaker of the couple? It's hard for even the most secure man to pull off,” Wolfie earnestly told the unhappy youth, then watched as the boy puffed up with pride at being called a man.

“But you need to understand the importance of what is happening now. Buffy and William, or Buffy and Spike, are meant to be together, because he will ensure that she lives to see her twenty- fifth birthday.” Wolfie tried desperately to get Xander to see the bigger picture.

“What happens when she turns twenty-five?” Xander asked fearfully.

“At that age, the slayer will be offered a gift from the Powers. She knows nothing of this, and we can’t let her know about it, either. She has to make the choice on her own, just as you must decide if you will help them.” Wolfie pleaded with the youth to hear him. “If you don’t, the future I have just told you about may not come to pass.”

“What’s her name?” Xander whispered.

“Anya,” Wolfie replied just as quietly.

~*~*~

“Right. So, what else do we need to know, G-Man?” Xander questioned easily as he returned to the living room. Denial was always a pleasant place to visit. Teasing the librarian was always a fun thing to do.

“Xander, if you call me by that infernal name one more time, I'll let the ‘Wookie’ eat you,” Ripper smugly warned the playful boy.

Xander gave the chuckling sasquatch a sideways glance, saying, “He doesn’t know you’re a vegetarian, right?”

“You’d better hope so, whelp, or the librarian just made a comment that questioned the sexual orientation of both of you.” William grinned in amusement.

Giles shrugged, unconcerned which way they took his comment. He knew what the next subject up for discussion was. He let them laugh while they still could.

Young Buffy stood. She looked directly at her older counterpart and snarled, “You and I are going to talk. Privately. And we’re going to do it now.”

Young Buffy stomped into her room. She was not a happy little camper. Everything she thought she knew had just been turned on its head. Demons could be good. Demons could choose to change sides. Demons could be super hot and could go through rituals that changed them, and did that make them demons still?

Her life had been basically stolen from her by some all powerful beings and it looked like it was going to get even freakier than it was. She already felt like she had no control over her life, what had she ever done to the Powers to make them want to punish her like this? She just wanted to be a normal girl.

Older Buffy felt the now familiar wave of new memories sweep through her. All of the fears, concerns, and self-centeredness of the younger version hit her like a tidal wave. With the same impact came the realisation that somewhere along the way she had grown up. Maybe she could make the transition easier for the young slayer and by that make it less painful for herself.

“Stop,” Buffy firmly told her younger self. “I’m getting all your thoughts as soon as you think them. I need for you to listen to me for a while, okay?”

The girl pouted in displeasure, but seated herself on the bed anyway, grumbling as she did so. “Fine. But we seriously have to do something about the two Buffys name-y thing, ‘cause it’s gonna get uber confusing.”

“Fine. Call me…Joan.” Joan lifted an eyebrow, silently daring her to comment. When the only response she got was a small giggle, she continued. “You put so much importance on normal that it’s taken on a whole new meaning, and it’s screwed up my life because of it. The truth is that what you really want is to be able to go out when you want without the burden of responsibility. You don’t want to grow up. To you, normal means being a teenager and living a fun life without any worries butting in on Buffy playtime. Do you have any idea how shallow that makes you? Do you want to go back to being a Cordelia clone?”

At the look of indignation on Buffy’s face, Joan rushed to clarify her point. “That’s not normal. Normal means being responsible. Normal means dropping out of college when your mom dies and getting some sort of menial job at minimum wage to make sure your younger sister is taken care of. Normal is paying bills and hoping there is enough left over for food. Normal is pretending to be happy so that your friends don’t worry.” As Joan said the words to Buffy, she felt the last vestiges of her delusions about normal fade away.

She made her way over to the white-faced girl and knelt by her side. Taking hold of both of Buffy’s hands, Joan made her offer. “Why settle for normal? If you let me help, maybe we can both get something that is so much more.”

~*~*~

“The little slayer’s a feisty one, ain’t she?” Spike mused as he watched the retreating forms of the two girls. He had been captivated by the fire that he’d seen in the eyes of the young blond.

“You have no idea, mate,” William told him enigmatically.

“Um…can I ask a question?” Willow requested meekly, but clearly directing her inquiry to the more mature vampire.

Cocking his head slightly to the side, William looked at the young redhead curiously. Giving her a smile of encouragement, he gently urged her on. “Go for it, Red.”

“How come you’re not all growlly and scary? I mean, not that you couldn’t be, ‘cause I’m sure you could be…if you wanted to. It’s just that you’re not and you’re a vampire and um, well, shouldn’t you be?” Willow babbled nervously.

Spike chuckled at the young redhead. ‘Now this one could be bloody amusing’ he thought to himself.

William smiled as he received Spike’s thoughts. He did love it when Red got all flustered. “The growling and the trying to scare someone is all part of the bloodlust, pet. Spike and I have better control over that than the fledges you lot come in contact with. Truth be told, I’d probably still get that way if someone threatened one of you. I have a tendency to be a bit protective.”

“A bit?!” Dawn snorted indignantly, “You threatened to eat Bobby Miller if he so much as looked at me again!”

“He was trying to look down your top!” William retorted angrily. He was still brassed that the chip had stopped him from doing any real damage to the wanker. Little bastard was definitely lucky that day.

“I was wearing a sleeveless turtleneck shirt, you dweeb!” Dawn fired back. She was still pissed that the vampire had spoiled a perfectly sweet moment with a boy that she had been fixated on all summer.

“Yeah, well, he was still looking at things he shouldn’t be lookin’ at,” William muttered unrepentantly.

“Stupid vampire,” Dawn muttered in reply.

“Anyway, it’s not like the whelp wouldn’t have reacted in the exact same way if he’d seen it,” William really wasn’t about to admit to defeat at the hands of a cranky teenager.

“He wouldn’t have threatened to eat him!” Dawn snapped at the vampire, her hands on her hips and clearly in no mood to back down either.

“Who is Bobby Miller?” Joyce asked, amused at the blustering duo.

“Someone who is far too young for our Niblet to even consider dating now,” William replied smugly.

“Stupid time travel,” the sulking teen grumbled.

~*~*~

It was a subdued Buffy that returned to the living room with her older counter-part. She silently made her way back to her seat, not daring to look at anyone as she moved.

The older slayer watched her go. When the young girl was once again seated, she made her way to the side of her vampire. “I’ve decided to go with a name change also, to hold down the confusion factor. You can all call me Joan,” she announced.

William grinned as he leaned down and whispered in her ear, “You want me to start calling myself Randy, luv?”

“Not if you ever want to feel that way again,” Joan snarked back just as quietly.

The rest of the room’s occupants were left to wonder about the look of amused shock on the vampire’s face.

“Private joke,” Joan mumbled before turning to Giles. “It might be best if you got it over with, Giles.” She knew that the watcher was not looking forward to telling the younger scoobies about Angel, but it had to be done.

“Er, yes, well…” Giles removed his glasses and cleaned them nervously, his mind trying to formulate the best way of explaining the situation. “I have avoided one particular individual’s place in the events of the last week because, quite frankly I have been at a loss to know what to say.”

“Angel,” Buffy said flatly. Images of the cursed vampire and how he had appeared to her during the Clear Sight spell came rushing back. Both slayers were assaulted by the memory that neither of them wanted to ever have to face again.

Giles started hesitantly. He told them all about Angel’s curse, and then he explained to Buffy what it was that she had seen.

Jenny explained her part in the curse and the real reason they had done the spell of Clear Sight. She also explained about the new disinvite spell that she had done.

Buffy almost wept in relief.

Wolfie told the group about the Powers That Be and which of the factions that Whistler worked for. He also explained why Angel had never been considered an option by the Powers for Good.

Giles took up the tale again and informed them what purpose Angel was given for his involvement in all their lives. Buffy’s in particular.

The growl that came from the direction of the fireplace started low and escalated as Angel’s perfidy became obvious.

Spike was in trouble.

He tried desperately to hold on to his self-control, but his demon was enraged beyond comprehension. The thought that this child had been sacrificed because his supposedly soul having grandsire didn’t have the balls to take out old Batface was enough to have both his demon and his humanity up in arms. His eyes flashed between gold and blue. Gold eyes locked onto the neck of the golden goddess seated on the couch. His inner demon screamed ‘MINE’ as his growl reverberated through the room.

William acted on instinct, reaching his younger self in seconds. He grabbed his younger self, wincing as the back of his t-shirt shredded under the pressure of his emerging wings. Dragging the shaking vampire into his embrace, William held on to him with both arms and wings.

Buffy, Willow and Xander stood in awe as they saw the pure vampire’s wings for the first time. Each wing stood as tall as the vampire who wore them. They were thickly feathered and a colour so pure and snowy pale that it just seemed wrong to call them white. They sparkled with an iridescent light, each feather shimmering with a luminous glow that left those that were watching him struck mute at their beauty. They looked exactly as Buffy had always imagined an angel’s wings should, but they were much more flexible, curling and undulating gently as they closed protectively around the irate vampire.

The emotions that emanated from the pure vampire were peaceful and calming. A low-pitched hum that sounded suspiciously like a purr was echoed by the soft growls of the younger distressed vampire.

“So what’s with the grr-fest?” Xander asked with the innocence of an oblivious child.

“Spike’s just a bit brassed at the poof, give us a minute and we’ll have it sorted,” William calmly informed the anxious group.

His calm demeanour didn’t hold however. “Bollocks!” he spat angrily. “Slayer, need a hand, pet,”

Joan’s head shot up. “Crap!” She rushed to Williams’s side and helped him coax the feral vampire towards the basement. Turning her head to lock eyes with her younger self, Joan ground out her order, “Deal with him.”

~*~*~

He knew there were people in the house, but he couldn’t hear or smell anything. His senses didn’t seem to penetrate the building for some reason. Angel looked around in confusion. He could smell the residual scents of a couple of strangers, Buffy, her family, her friends, the watcher, and one more that seemed vaguely familiar, but it was one he couldn’t quite place. If there were that many people in there, why couldn’t he hear them?

Moving towards ‘the tree’, Angel stopped. The chafing from his pants had him mindful of the last time he had visited. Maybe the front door would be the best option this time. It was time to get some answers. Changing directions the brunette vampire headed towards the front door.

Angel was surprised when the door opened before he even had the chance to knock. His beautiful, glorious Buffy stood framed to perfection, the backlighting from the living room giving her an ethereal glow. Her perfection was not at all marred by the masculine clothes that she wore. He really would have to talk to her about her wardrobe choices.

“Buffy,” he breathed out her name huskily.

“Baby cream might help you with that chafing, Angel,” she deadpanned. She was seriously pissed at everything this vampire had forced her to go through. She wasn’t about to get into it with him now. She had a feral vampire that needed her and there was no way she was going to stand here wasting time with the creepy vampire when she could be downstairs keeping the crusty version of herself away from the really yummy stud muffin that was damage-bound in her basement. “What are you doing here, Angel?”

“You said that there was no meeting in the library this evening,” he replied quietly, his voice laced with accusation. Big brown eyes stared sadly at the slayer, clearly sending the message that Angel was very disappointed in the small blond.

Rolling her eyes in irritation that she had no problem in sharing with the brooding vampire, Buffy sarcastically made her observation. “You do know that this isn’t the library, right?”

He wondered briefly if she was deliberately trying to annoy him. “I know that, Buffy. You forgot to tell me that the meeting would be held here instead.”

“No I didn’t,” Buffy said, looking at him as if he was crazy.

“Yes you did, Buffy. You didn’t tell me about this meeting. The only reason I even know about it is because I came by to see if you were patrolling,” he told her earnestly.

“I didn’t forget to tell you about this meeting, Angel, because you were never invited to it in the first place,” Buffy impatiently corrected him. “I have to go, I’ll let you know if we need you for anything,” she told the flummoxed vampire as she closed the door in his face.

Angel stood there in shock. What the hell did she mean he hadn’t been invited to the meeting? He was the Champion for the Powers. He should be running the damn meeting, not standing on the outside looking in. Not being told that he’d be contacted if he was needed. He was Angel, the only ensouled vampire in the world. There was no way he was putting up with this. The little lady apparently needed to learn a lesson as to who as the one in charge and he was just the vampire to teach her. Curling his hand in a fist, he pounded on the front door.

Dawn threw the door open. “Rude much?” she glared at the furious vampire. Dawn had dealt with the mood swings of a grieving vampire; Angel didn’t worry her in the least. “Buffy told you we were busy. Is English your second language?”

“I want to talk to Buffy,” Angel demanded as he went to push past the smirking teenager.

The barrier held firm and kept him out, though. Angel was stunned. They had done a disinvite spell? When had this happened? “Buffy will just invite me in again.”

“And I’ll have you charged with stalking,” Joyce calmly announced as she joined her youngest at the door. Giving the vampire a hard look, Joyce made her position clear. “You are not welcome in my home or on my property. If you return here, I will have no option but to protect my children. I’m told that fire works just as well as stakes.”

“Joyce, I was chosen to protect Buffy by the Powers That Be,” Angel tried to explain to the insane woman.

“My daughter died, which means you failed. You don’t honestly think that you would ever be trusted to protect her again, do you?” Joyce asked in disbelief.

Angel didn’t know what to tell her. He needed some time to come up with the right response. He needed some time to think, to pace and to work out what the hell was going on here.

He left without a word.

~*~*~

Buffy carefully walked down the stairs to the basement. The closer she got the quieter the growling sounded. As soon as her feet touched the basement floor her eyes sought out Spike. His growling was now at a minimum, but the Slayer could still see he was clearly agitated. She walked slowly across the floor; totally ignoring the other two until she was standing in front of the vampire she felt in her soul was hers. Raising a careful hand, worried that any sudden movements might upset him, she laid her hand on his bumpy forehead, caressing his face while humming a soothing tune.

William stepped back from the oblivious couple. Reaching for Joan’s hand he pulled her to him, never taking his eyes off the bizarre vision of young Buffy soothing the beast within Spike.

Buffy kept humming and stroking his forehead as his eyes flickered between gold and blue. Slowly, his shaking subsided and he began to purr. Her gentle ministrations brought him a sense of peace. Calming him. As he focused on the compassionate blond beauty that showed him no fear, the demon lost his heart and his bravado.

Lifting suddenly shy blue eyes to meet sparkling hazel ones, Spike whispered his thanks as he lifted his hand to gently brush his knuckles over her cheek.

“Better?” Joan asked hesitantly, still wrapped in the safe arms of her own love.

“Am now,” Spike answered her, his eyes never leaving Buffy’s. He felt overwhelmed by emotions that were so strong that he could have sworn they were tangible. She was so generous in her caring that he felt blessed to be in her presence. He had never felt like this before. All other loves paled in comparison to the tiny slip of a girl that he knew without a doubt he would gladly dust for. He would do anything it took to be worthy of her. He would earn her love. Then he would worship her body and teach her the true meaning of pleasure. His imagination showed him images as his body reacted to her closeness.

“Sixteen, mate,” William gently reminded his younger self in amusement, knowing without a doubt that anything worth having was worth both waiting and fighting for.

“Bugger!”

~*~*~

“Have you told me everything about the time travel and changes to the time line?” Xander asked once the basement group had returned and the topic had been decided on.

Giles looked at his notes. “Ah, yes. I was to tell you that ‘time is not linear’.”

“Oh, man. Not good,” Xander muttered with concern. His mind jumped from one scenario to the next. Each different scene giving him more problems that the last. He was starting to feel the pressure of being chosen for this. Self doubt crept in. This was so important and he was terrified that he would fail.

Standing abruptly, the agitated boy began to pace, desperately trying to come up with something to help.

“Xan,” Joan tried to capture his attention. “Calm down. You can do this. Just talk to us.”

“No offence, Buff…um Joan, but it’s geek speak. Not so mix-y with Buffy speak.” He gave the older slayer a lopsided smile.

“Okay, then how about this. How can they both exist in the same time? Don’t you like dissolve or something?” Dawn barrelled in with the question that had plagued her. She was terrified that both versions of her sister and her best friend were going to disintegrate in front of her.

Xander looked at her blankly for a few seconds, trying to work out what she was asking. When he made the connection, he clarified first. “You mean the saying ‘the same matter can't occupy the same space’?”

Dawn nodded, afraid to speak.

“They’re not the same,” Xander calmly informed the frightened girl. At her shocked expression, Xander continued. “Willow could probably explain it better, but basically every cell in your body is replaced every couple of years. That Buffy,” he pointed at Joan, “is completely different from our Buffy. She’s also heaps older, so there is no way that they could be considered the same matter. And Spike is totally different from the fancy fairy…”

“Oi!” William exclaimed indignantly.

“Oh, I like you,” Spike told Xander with a grin.

“Be happy that he didn’t call you an angel, dear. Then we’d have to stake you on principle,” Joyce playfully teased the pure vampire.

“I have an idea,” Xander tentatively offered. The joking was fine, but he needed to take some of the pressure off himself. “I can’t do this off the top of my head. I need to discuss it with someone else who understands. That way we can sort it out together. If I invited a couple of guys I know to a meeting in the library and gave them this scenario as a solvable problem, between the three of us we should be able to come up with something. Is that okay?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Joan smiled at the boy.

~*~*~

Walking home with William and Spike gave Joan the chance to replay the sweet scene she had just witnessed and remembered, giving her the odd sensation of being the young girl it happened to and being the older girl that watched it happen. She could see it from two very different perspectives. She could be both Buffys. While young Buffy watched a very shy vampire and thought ‘what a cutie’, older Buffy would think ‘he would be so pissed if he knew I called him a cutie’. It was truly a weird experience.

Joan could easily see that while Spike had fallen for Buffy hook, line, and sinker; Buffy was far more cautious with her heart. She had seen the looks the two had been giving each other throughout the meeting, but it was Spike’s whispered ‘good night’ as he leaned slowly in to kiss the blond teenager on the cheek that had Joan’s heart racing in synchronistic beat to Buffy’s.

Damn, he was hot.

~*~*~

After saying goodnight to Joan- well actually he’d snogged the breath out of his slayer- William made his way purposefully back to the watcher’s living room. It was time to teach the younger model a thing or two.

With a nod at Giles, William took his position next to Spike as the watcher stepped to the other side of the younger vampire. Unexpectedly, they grabbed the startled blond firmly under the arms and lifted him. Ignoring his protests, they carried Spike to the couch and dumped him unceremoniously before joining him.

“Spike, m’boy, we need a bit of a chat,” William stated firmly, his voice without rancour.

“Huh?” the confused blond responded inelegantly.

“Angel will be at the meeting at the school tomorrow, Spike. We need to ensure that you remain in control,” Giles gently told him.

William smirked. “Yeah, let the pillock dig his own grave.”

“You must not show aggression, Angel will do that,” Giles counselled. His animosity towards the brunette vampire had grown to such an extent that sanity be damned, he wanted the supercilious egomaniac to pay for his arrogance.

“The last thing we want is for either Buffy to feel sorry for him. Dozy bint’s got a saviour complex.” William acknowledged begrudgingly.

“I’ll control myself,” Spike promised resolutely. His confidence all but disappeared with his next question, “What about Buffy, how do I make sure I don’t bollocks that up?”

William shook his head sadly at a memory from his past. “Never ever tell her that her boobs are too saggy to hold a guys attention. It doesn't work. Just gets her mad.”

Spike widened his eyes in disbelief and Giles looked at the pure vampire in horror.

“Oh, and don’t use chains to get your point across. That really brasses her off.” William was lost in his memories, oblivious to the looks he was receiving. He continued making observations while he moved a finger to each digit of his other hand. “Don’t call her cutie. That one gets you a broken nose.”

“What can I call her?” Spike sarcastically asked his clueless look-alike.

“When I figure it out, I'll let you know,” William muttered miserably before continuing. “Might be best to stick to Slayer or Buffy. Kitten. She likes kitten. Well, I think she likes it; she hasn't hurt me when I've called her that. Oh, yeah! Let her do her own slaying. Getting in her way gets your nose broken. Don’t ever have a robot made in her image. That one will make you wish you could get your nose broken.”

“Is there anything that doesn't get your nose broken?” Spike asked, fascinated. He didn’t know if he should be brassed off or just really turned on by the imagery the other vampire’s words were inspiring.

“Protecting the Bit and Mum's about it.” William chuckled indulgently. God he loved that woman.

“And protecting her?”

“Oh, no! No, mate. That goes under letting her do her own slaying.”

“Let me guess. Broken nose?”

“Bloody right,” William sighed heavily.

Spike grinned at William. “What about snogging?”

“Depends on her mood,” William informed the younger vampire sagely. “Let her do the snogging. You're just the willing slave, mate. Get used to it.”

Giles gasped like a landed fish. “Buffy isn't like that at all.”

“Your Buffy isn't like that, Watcher. She's only sixteen. My Buffy's a full grown woman,” William countered.

“I am aware of that, William, but you need to remember that it is sixteen year old Buffy that Spike wants to impress.” Giles wondered briefly why he was participating in this incredibly bizarre conversation.

William gave the watcher a hard look. “If Spike's lucky, and he treats her right, both Buffys will be better for it, watcher. My slayer’s quit the council, been abandoned by not just one but three men that she cared for, found her mother dead on the couch, and has died twice. That doesn't cover the things that the rest of you lot have done to her over the years.”

“What do you mean, William?” Giles felt compelled to ask.

“I spent the summer taking care of the Niblet, Giles. She told me lots of things. The monks were very thorough with their memories for Dawn,” William informed the curious watcher. “Hyena possession and the way you lot treated Buffy when she came back from her Dad’s, to name just a few. We can’t change those things, but I’ll be twice damned if I let Spike’s Buffy go through some of the other things that my Buffy did. Not gonna happen, Watcher.”

Giles waited with gleeful anticipation. He had left a note under the brunette vampire’s door, informing him of a meeting at the library at eight o’clock. The rest of the group would be present and accounted for by seven. That would give them plenty of time to ready themselves for the confrontation with the self proclaimed champion to the Powers.

He couldn’t wait.

Buffy, Willow, and Xander were the first to arrive, and Dawn followed them in moments later. Each of them was quickly sucked into their own musings about the evening to come.

Willow had tried all day to get Xander to tell her what the giant Bigfoot man had said to him. His whole attitude about Buffy had changed, and she wondered what could make her stubborn friend make such a swift about face. Maybe she’d find out tonight when the weird stalker vampire would find out that he wasn’t the Cordelia Chase of the demon world.

Xander couldn’t wait for the meeting. He didn’t know him well, but Spike seemed like the type of vamp who would get great pleasure out of mocking Mr I’m-so-sorry-for-myself, a job that Xander himself had developed a great fondness for. Actually the older blonde vampire, William, seemed like he had more than a little anger directed at the brooding one, too. Maybe they could take turns mocking the vampire with the apparently shaky soul.

Dawn was beside herself with joy. Things were looking so good. Here she was, sitting with the scoobies, waiting for a scooby meeting. In short, being treated like an equal. It was so cool. And if that wasn’t enough, at least one set of her best friend and sister were together and set number two looked like it was definitely moving in that direction. To round things off perfectly, like a cherry on a sundae, the giant forehead was about to find out that he was responsible for almost every bad thing that ever happened to Buffy. Personally, she hoped either Spike or William ripped him a new one.

Buffy felt guilty. Not guilty enough to give up the new totally drool-worthy potential boyfriend, but guilty enough not to want to hurt Angel anymore than he was going to be hurt.

She couldn’t get over the fact that her mother adored the two versions of her blonde hottie. Her mother hated Angel. The Summers matriarch had even told her to ‘go for it’ with Spike. Were moms supposed to like totally approve of their teenage daughters boyfriend choices?

Jenny arrived next and Joyce entered the library a little before seven. Joan, William, Spike, and Wolfie arrived not long after.

A petite female followed the lumbering giant into the room. Cascading curls of red tumbled down her back. Golden flecks sparkled as the lights hit them. A straight part and the front side bits tied back with what looked like ivy allowed the occupants of the room to see her peaked ears. Large, emerald green eyes sparkled and an enchanting smile hinted at a playful nature.

“My wife, Llwethyn,” Wolfie introduced her.

Llwethyn smiled at the group in greeting. “I’m not here to interrupt your meeting. I would prefer to sit by the door and just wait for my husband.” Her voice was musical. It hinted at harmonic nuances that promised a breathtaking cantata. If she sang for them, none would have been surprised to hear her voice produce both melody and harmony at the same time.

As the redheaded elf made herself comfortable in the chair Giles had provided, Buffy made her way over to Joan and the two blonde vampires.

Spike’s striking blue eyes followed her every move. He wanted to hold her, assure himself that she wasn’t some figment of his imagination. He wanted to bask in the purity of her scent. Taste her as they shared their first kiss. He could imagine her lips even now, soft and warm as they lightly caressed his lips…‘hold on. When the bloody hell did I get so good at imagining things?’ Spike thought as he realised that his Buffy was kissing him hello and he needed to be participating.

William snorted his laughter as he received Spikes memories and suddenly remembered what he had been thinking the first time Buffy kissed him. The absolute ridiculousness of the situation had him roaring his mirth. Of all the bloody poncy things to do, he’d been so busy imagining their first kiss that he’d almost missed the real thing.

Spike snaked his hands around the petite waist of the beautiful blonde. As their lips parted they looked deep into each other’s eyes and smiled.

The sound of William’s merriment slowly broke into the little world that Spike and Buffy were creating.

“What the bleedin’ hell is so funny?” Spike asked, irritated that his moment with the little slayer had been interrupted.

William wiped the tears from his eyes as he struggled to regain control of is humour. Preparing to tell the younger version of himself exactly what it was that had him crying from laughter, William suddenly stiffened as he felt a malevolent force heading in their direction.

Spike felt it a split second before Joan and moved protectively in front of Buffy as he faced the library doors.

Giles immediately reacted to the fighting stances of the warriors for the Powers of Good and moved to join them. They would stand united as they faced the coming threat.

When the double doors to the library slammed open, Wolfie moved with superhuman speed to stop one of the doors from hitting his wife.

Joan rolled her eyes and slapped William lightly on the chest. “Sheesh, way to overreact, bleach boy. I thought we had something to worry about.” She turned her back on the confused brunette vampire and made her way to the table.

“Try using those vamp senses before you come barging into a room next time, Angel. You might have hurt Llwethyn,” Buffy gently rebuked him.

“Ah, yes, Angel. Nice of you to turn up forty five minutes early,” Giles stated sarcastically.

Angel glanced around the room, taking in all the occupants. He couldn’t work out what was going on. There seemed to be two Buffy’s, a giant, an elf and…

“Spike,” Angel growled as he prepared to launch himself at the evil that these fools had unknowingly allowed into their midst. His leap was forestalled when the blonde vampire snorted at him dismissively and took a seat at the table, where he was joined by a second Spike and one of the Buffy’s.

“Spike, buddy, I saved you a seat,” Xander told the younger vampire while he furtively watched the brunette, hoping for a reaction. Angel’s expression took on the appearance of a fish out of water and Xander knew joy.

“What the hell is going on here?” Angel demanded.

“We invited you to this meeting to inform you of two different matters and to ask your opinion on a third,” Giles replied. He pulled a chair out and left it facing the table but not close to it. “Please, take a seat.”

Returning to his own seat, Giles waited for everyone to settle before he started.

Angel glared at the blonde vampire. He didn’t know what was going on or who these new people were, but he was going to find out. For now, he would just listen and watch. When the opportunity presented itself, he had every intention ridding the world of two blonde vampires.

“Alright…” Giles broke off what he was going to say when Angel interrupted.

“Why don’t you start with Spike,” the brunette vampire ordered.

“Because that particular situation is none of your concern, Angel. However, the curse is,” Giles replied coldly.

“My curse is not up for discussion, Giles. I’m a representative from the Powers That Be. It isn’t your place to question me,” Angel countered just as coldly as Giles but far more pompously.

The moment of tense silence was broken by the gales of laughter coming from Xander, Spike, William, Dawn, Joyce and Wolfie.

Once they had settled down, Jenny spoke directly to Giles. “I managed to translate the curse, Rupert. I think I’ve come up with a solution, but I would like everyone’s thoughts on the subject.”

“What is your plan, Jenny?” Giles eagerly asked the beautiful teacher.

“Look, we are NOT discussing my curse. We ARE going to discuss why you’re letting an evil demon continue to exist.” Angel stood, his fury escalating.

“Don’t worry, Angel. If we don’t solve the problem of the curse, you won’t continue to exist,” the watcher said indifferently before turning back to Jenny and ignoring the speechless vampire. “You were saying, Jenny?”

“We can’t anchor the soul, because it’s not his, but I can alter the curse and bind the soul to Angel’s sanity and his demon,” Jenny explained.

Joan was confused. “How will that change anything?”

“He can still lose his soul or his mind, but if I bind his demon to both, if he loses one he’ll lose the demon too.” The Gypsy smiled smugly.

“What’s left?” Dawn asked, curiously.

“Dust,” Joan and William answered in unison.

“So…no down side then?” Xander quipped.

“We can’t allow Angelus to get loose. If Jenny does the spell and we don’t tell Angel how the curse can be broken, his demon is gonna do everything in his power to make sure the curse never gets broken. Self-preservation will ensure that he keeps doing what he’s been doing. I say do the spell.” Joan made her position clear.

“I agree,” Giles backed the older slayer.

Xander smiled coldly at the brunette vampire. “I say we bypass the spell and just dust him.”

“I’m gonna have to go with Joan on this one,” Willow quietly voted.

“I’m sorry, but with everything that we’ve learned recently, I’m going to have to agree with Xander and say dust him now.” Joyce politely gave her firm decision.

“I’m a dust him vote too.” Dawn crossed her arms and gave the stupefied vampire a hard look.

William shrugged, “Don’t care. Either way; Angelus is out of the game, and that’s all I care about.”

“I abstain,” Spike was not about to give his feisty little slayer any reason to punch him in the nose. This didn’t seem to come under the category of protecting Nibblet or Mum.

Buffy looked around the room and bit her lip in indecision.

“This is ridiculous!” Angel exploded. “Look, I’ll put it in small words so you can understand it. I am the champion of the Powers. Spike is an evil vampire. Stop worrying about me and dust the true evil.”

“Man, he’s gonna start foaming at the mouth soon, you want to borrow my cross?” Xander grinned at the blonde vampire seated next to him.

Grabbing the offered item, Spike gave the youth a wink and a smile. “Thanks, mate.”

Buffy turned her eyes from the pole axed brunette vampire to the gypsy. “Do the spell.”

Jenny nodded and moved into Giles’ office.

“Buffy,” Angel whispered in shock.

“I’m sorry, Angel, but there is no way that you can convince me that the chance that Angelus might get free is not something that I should be worried about. Even a small chance is too much of a risk,” the Slayer quietly but firmly verbalised her reasoning.

Turning to the watcher, Buffy moved the meeting forward. “The next subject, Giles.”

“Yes, well, the matter actually involves something you made reference to several times already Angel.” Giles directed his attention towards the brooding vampire.

“Finally,” Angel snorted in disgust as he gave a malicious grin to Spike and William.

Giles held out his hand towards Wolfie and introduced him to Angel, “This is Garrett Wolf. He is a conduit to the Powers That Be for Good.”

Wolfie nodded to the brunette vampire. “I’d offer to shake your hand, but it would be very painful for you. I have a natural defence against unclean flesh.”

“How come you can touch William and Spike?” Willow asked innocently.

“Both have received Ghia’s blessings. Their flesh has been cleansed.” Wolfie smiled at the little redhead.

“It appears, Angel, that you have been given some misleading information. That Whistler works for the Powers is true, but he allowed you to believe that he worked on the same side as the Slayer. He doesn’t,” Giles emotionlessly told the clueless vampire.

“I don’t believe you,” Angel growled out harshly.

“Irrelevant,” Giles responded disdainfully.

“The only reason the Powers for Good didn’t intervene was because they wanted to see if you had the potential to become an ally. You were given one job. Protect Buffy. Buffy died under your protection.” Wolfie bluntly informed Angel.

“HEY! That wasn’t my fault. It was a prophecy,” Angel indignantly protested his innocence. Turning to the tiny blonde slayer, he opened his big brown puppy dog eyes and pleaded with her. “You know it was, Buffy. I would have done anything to save you. It devastated me that there was nothing I could do.”

“You were supposed to face the Master yourself, you pillock,” the watcher spat out, the sight of the vampire trying to manipulate his slayer infuriating him.

“Huh?” Angel responded in shock, his usual skills at verbalisation deserting him.

“You should have taken him on yourself, blood breath. But no, you decided that your best course of action was to sit in your apartment and brood,” Xander accused, his own disgust at the vampire’s attitude only slightly clouded by his actual dislike of him.

“Look, this is all pointless. It happened. Deal,” Buffy insisted. All this talk of her death was wigging her out. “We were talking about Whistler.”

“But Buffy…” Angel started to say.

“Moving along, grand dad. The Slayer wants us to talk about your contact to the Powers-That-Like-To-Mess-With-You for Evil,” Spike steadfastly supported his slayer. His demon was loudly protesting the undusted presence of the other vampire, but he was keeping it tightly controlled.

“Shut up, Spike. Nobody wants your opinion,” Angel snarled.

Dawn was incensed. “That would be your opinion, Angel. We always want to hear from Spike,” she snapped.

Angel looked around the room, shocked to see most of the people nodding in response to Dawn’s statement. “But, he’s evil,” he spluttered.

“Broken record much,” Dawn snorted, rolling her eyes.

Spike leaned over to quietly comment to William, “Bloody hell, mate, just flash him your wings to shut him up, will ya?”

“William, I bought you several more t-shits, dear.” Joyce subtly encouraged the pure vampire to act.

“Come on, Tink.” Spike grinned and then made a statement loudly enough so that the rest of the room’s occupants could easily hear. “Think about it. You can sit on his left shoulder and tell him what he should do, and I'll sit his right...”

Amused laughter filed the room. Only Angel didn’t get the joke.

Angel decided it was time to take back control of the situation. Turning to the giant who had been the catalyst for the questioning of his champion status, the brunette vampire argued his case. He became more and more aggravated as his arguments continued to be unsuccessful. The escalating conversation was watched with interest by the rest of the group.

As Angel continued to argue with Wolfie, Xander leaned over to Spike. “Ya think he’s stupid enough to hit the wookie?”

Nodding his head in the direction of the small elven woman seated by the door, Spike replied with a grin, “I hope so, I bloody well hope so, mate.”

“Her?” Xander asked confused. “But she’s so tiny.” Llwethyn caught their speculative glances and gave them a sweet smile and a cheery little wave.

“Mate, when you meet a truly dangerous man, his bint is always tougher,” Spike wisely explained to the young man.

“Bloody hell, even you- I mean, ‘I’- know better than to brass off an elf.” William said to Spike, joining the quiet conversation.

“Why is that?” Giles asked, never having heard much about elves.

Spike stepped in with the answer. “They may not be quite as powerful as a Slayer, but they’re evil, vindictive bitches that usually travel in packs from three to twenty.”

“And this differs from human women...how?” Xander asked innocently.

William turned to face Xander slowly. “You met the master, right?” At Xander’s nod, he continued. “Well, the stupid bugger tried to turn one.... she literally ripped off his balls and fed them to him.”

Xander’s eyes grew huge and he swallowed convulsively as Spike continued. “Why else do you think the whore turned Angelus?”

“That was my Aunt Llwinivera,” Wolfie proudly informed them, the subject distracting him from the argument he was having with the brooding vampire. “She had them bronzed and keeps them mounted over her fireplace.”

All the males shuddered.

“How could she still have them if she fed them to him?” Willow asked innocently.

“She ripped them out of his stomach,” Wolfie grinned, shaking his head indulgently. “That woman’s the original diesel dyke.”

“ENOUGH!” Angel roared. “I will not be ignored. I am a champion for the Powers on the road to redemption. I will not let these fools pull me from the path, and I refuse to allow them to pull you from the path either, Buffy. Come with me now.”

“Hang on a minute, gramps. First of all, Buffy is the chosen one; she’s not on any bloody road to redemption. And second, from what everyone here has been saying, you claim that you aren’t the same person as Angelus, right?” Spike confronted his overbearing grandsire.

“That’s right,” Angel looked down his nose disdainfully at the impertinent childe that was addressing him.

“Angelus is responsible for all the evil, right?” Spike persevered.

“Yes,” Angel rolled his eyes and he hoped that the annoying little bastard would get to the point soon.

“Then why do you need redemption?” Spike crossed his arms and waited for an answer.

Every person in the room sat in stunned silence. Not one of them had ever even considered things from that point of view. It’s seemed so simple. If Angel was innocent of blame, why did he need to be redeemed? It was the demon that needed redemption, not the soul.

Joan was astonished. All it had taken to remove the last vestiges of her illusions about Angel had been a simple observation from an intuitive blonde cutie. Spike’s simple statement had finally broken the chains around her heart.

Her vampire was sooo getting lucky…as soon as they found a place of their own.

Turning to Angel, Joan spoke with deceptive innocence. “Wow, you’re so lucky that Spike figured that out for you. Now that you know you don’t need redemption, you could always try that ritual that my William did.”

“What ritual?” Angel narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

“The Ritual of Returning.” Joan smiled innocently. She didn’t believe for a minute that he’d survive the ritual.

“I’ve read that ritual, Buffy. There’s no way that it would work. Don’t try telling me that it worked on an evil, soulless vampire like Spike,” Angel spoke with derision.

Joan smiled sweetly at the disbelieving vampire before turning to her own. “Up for a little show and tell, baby?”

William’s eyes twinkled with mirth as he stood and removed his t-shirt. His naked chest gained gasps of appreciation from several directions. Moving away from the table, he failed to see the glare his girl gave the gaspers.

“Damn, I age well, don’t I?” Spike guffawed at the lethal look the pure vampire aimed at him.

“Actually, no aging at all, you pratt. Immortal, remember?” As William shifted into game face and spread his wings, Angel doubled over in pain.

“Gee, that’s only meant to happen to minions of evil,” Wolfie blandly commented on the brunette vampire’s distress.

Shifting back to his human guise, William replaced is t-shirt and decisively took control over what would happen next . “We need to decide what to do about Dru.”

“Drusilla?” Angel had no idea what the idiot was going on about and didn’t really care. His entire body felt like it was on fire. The chafing he’d received two days before was only just beginning to heal and this new attack had caused the pain to flare up again. On top of that, whatever it was that had just happened had left him feeling weak and disoriented. In the shape he was in now, he’d have trouble beating Xander. There was no way he could take on the combined forces of Buffy, the older Buffy look-a-like and whatever the hell Spike was now.

William rolled his eyes. It was clear that Angel wasn’t listening to a word that anyone had to say. Turning to Joan, he silently passed the baton and hoped that she’d have a better chance at getting through to him.

“Um…can I ask something?” Willow inquired nervously, raising her hand as if she were in class.

Smiling indulgently at the shy redhead her Willow had evolved from, Joan encouraged the girl to speak. “Go for it, Wills.”

“Well, it’s just that I was, you know, thinking… a-and I was wondering about the spell that Miss Calendar is working on. I know that it’s been decided and all, but really there are some other things that we might not have thought about and I have thought of them, so I thought I should, you know…mention them.” Willow gasped for much needed breath. She hated bringing the subject back up, but she needed to be sure that they were doing the right thing.

“What’s that, Willow?” Buffy looked at her friend with concern. If babbling Willow was braving the attention of the group then it had to be important.

“Well, Miss Calendar said the soul wasn’t Angel’s. Whose is it? What happens to it if Angel, you know…dusts? Is it still bound to his demon? Because that would be totally of the wrong. If the soul is being corrupted by the demon, like they told us all last night, what’s to stop him from still turning evil? He’d still have his soul, but there are lots of people with souls that are like completely evil and doing evil things,” Willow rushed out all her concerns.

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?” Angel bellowed in frustration.

Jenny, who had been standing at the door of Giles’ office, heard the young girl’s questions and chose to ignore the vampire hated by her clan and answer the redhead’s concerns. “The binding will only be while he still exists. On the death of his demon, the soul will be released. It’s true that the soul is being corrupted by the demon, but a simple cleansing of the soul and an added protection to it will stop that from happening. The problem is that the soul requires its continuing vengeance and as that is such a negative emotion it can be difficult to control. The cleansing should give the soul a measure of closure, but don’t worry my clan will always have an eye on him,” Jenny explained, smiling at the inquiring teenager.

“Whose soul was it, Jenny?” Giles had to know. He was dreadfully afraid of the answer, but he had to know.

“His victim’s,” Jenny whispered. She was deeply ashamed of the truth, but these people deserved to know.

Only Xander noticed the shamefaced expression on the face of the vampire he loathed. “You knew,” he accused, disgusted. His reasons for hating the brunette just seemed to be multiplying.

All eyes turned to Angel at Xander’s accusation.

Angel abruptly stood. His strength had returned. Turning to the person closest in proximity to him, he was going to get answers and he was going to get them now. Grabbing the front of the giant’s fur shirt, the vampire only had time to snarl before he felt himself being hoisted into the air.

“Baby...baby? Put the evil vampire down?” Wolfie begged his wife.

Angel flew over his head and crashed into the steel cage.

“Sweetheart, I meant set him down easy,” he admonished gently. His wife grinned as she coloured a delightful shade of puce and shrugged her shoulders.

“She doesn't patrol, does she?” Joan asked Wolfie, pointing at his blushing bride.

“Yeah...but,” he started.

“Good. ‘Cause me, her, and a few of her friends...I think the Mayor, Adam and Glory just got easy.” Joan smiled and walked over to check on the vampire in the cage.

Wolfie turned to William and Spike. “But she’s like a nympho on crack after a bit of violence,” he whined.

The two blond Brits dissolved into gales of laughter. Giles, losing his usual British reserve, joined them as Wolfie pouted.

“Any of her friends called Anya?” Xander asked with youthful exuberance.

William’s head shot up, his mood sobered immediately. Eyeing the sasquatch, he suspiciously asked, “Anya?”

Wolfie met his gaze. “He needed to know, and you and Joan have to work out how to get her here,” he replied.

William rolled his eyes. “I’ll put it on the list.”

Joan waited for Angel to look up at her from his position on the floor of the cage. “So…you gonna behave now?” she chirped brightly. All remaining sympathy for the brooding vampire had disappeared with the knowledge that he knew more about the soul than he had ever mentioned.

“You’re not Buffy,” he growled at her. “Why do you smell like her?”

“Okay, the sniffy thing? Gross.” She delicately scrunched up her nose as she spoke. “I am Buffy, just four years older. I’m the Buffy that met and beat Angelus. I’m the Buffy that you psychologically tortured for months. I’m the Buffy that sent you to a hell dimension for five hundred years. Might be a good idea to think before you speak, Sparky; you seriously don’t want to piss me off, because if I could send you to hell when I did love you, imagine the damage I can do now that I don't.”

William kept his eyes on his girl as she spoke to his loser of a grandsire. He felt his heart expand and beat for the first time in over a century. His breathing became erratic as he struggled to understand what was happening to him.

Wolfie moved swiftly to his side and helped the struggling pure vampire to sit. “Just breathe. Calm down and concentrate on breathing.”

Wolfie was quickly replaced by Joan. She held his hands, looked deeply into his eyes and started speaking. “Honey, look at me. I’m right here and I love you. You need to calm down and tell me what’s happening.”

William was at a loss, he couldn’t find the words. As he took their advice and concentrated on controlling his breathing, he moved Buffy’s right hand to his chest.

As Joan flew back to her distressed boyfriend, Spike took over her position by the cage door. A quick flick of his eyes got Llwethyn to position herself by the library door. Neither of them was overly concerned for the pure vampire as they had a pretty good idea what the problem was.

Buffy was torn. She wanted to help the older version of her potential cutie with the perfect abs, but she didn’t want to get in the way of her older self. She was still really miffed that she’d been glared at for her innocent appreciation of a set of drool-worthy abs that by all rights were hers anyway. She couldn’t believe how possessive she’d gotten. A quick glance over at Spike assured her that Angel wouldn’t be going anywhere yet, so she allowed her concentration to be focused on the struggling vampire at the table.

Angel realized that the room's entire focus was on the irritating menace that was calling himself William. The brunette vampire snorted to himself ‘What a fucking drama queen!’ He glanced at the blond vampire standing between himself and the swinging doors of the library. It wouldn’t be difficult to leave this mad house. Then he could go and find out what was actually going on. He bet if he grabbed Xander he could have the idiot singing the whole thing in minutes. He casually pulled himself into a standing position and forced himself to wait a few more seconds before attempting to inch his way past the second blond vampire, but before he was clear a fist popped up to block his exit. It surprised the elder vampire so much that he was unable to stop before his face slammed into the clenched hand and he was back where he started – sitting on the floor.

“Did you really think you could get past both me and the elf?” Spike drawled disdainfully, not even bothering to look over his shoulder at his disgraced grandsire. “Slayer’s not finished talking to you yet.”

Joan’s eyes widened as she felt the strong beating of his heart under her hand. Her smile lit up the room.

William couldn’t remember a time when he had seen his girl smile like that. He felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes. She was smiling because of him. He reached for her and hugged her tightly to him. They would do this, change everything for the better. Together there was nothing they couldn’t achieve.

“What is it?” Joyce asked tremulously, terrified that something bad was happening to one of her boys.

William smiled shyly at the concerned mother. “Got me a heartbeat, mum.”

Joyce and Dawn rushed over to William and joined Joan in their family hug.

“I am so proud of you,” Joyce said, smiling through the tears in her eyes.

“I have the coolest best friend in the whole world,” Dawn whispered in his ear.

William grinned at the teen before kissing her on the forehead and ushering her and her mother back to their seats. Turning to face the brunette in the cage, William crossed his arms.

Even though his eyes never left Angel’s, William spoke to the group in general. “By my count, we’ve addressed the matter of his soul and warned him about Whistler. If he chooses to keep working for the bastard, that’s his problem. He steps out of line and he becomes ours. We tend to solve our problems,” he announced with cutting finality. There was no doubt about his message to Angel. If the brunette vampire stepped out of line he would be dusted.

“That takes us up to the last little problem- Drusilla. We want to give her peace, but we’re not sure how your demon will react to that; what with you having so little control and all,” William coldly informed the elder vampire then stood silently waiting for his response.

Spike moved back to the table. He was not concerned with Angel escaping now. He knew the bastard would stick around for the Dru conversation. He didn’t even think about what he was doing, he just automatically walked over to Buffy’s seat, picked her up, and sat down with her on his lap, his arms draped loosely around her waist.

Buffy seemed unconcerned by his actions, as she also acted automatically. She placed her arm around his shoulders and kissed his cheek.

Giles had to stop himself from giggling like a school boy at the look on Angel’s face. His forbearance was sorely tested when Xander did not find it necessary to hold onto the same restraints.

Angel tried to get his mind to take in the two things at once. They wanted him to dust Drusilla, and Buffy- his Buffy- was sitting on Spike’s lap and kissing his cheek. It was too much. His demon was screaming. He was losing control. This was not the way it was meant to be. Drusilla belonged to his demon and Buffy was his.

“MINE,” he roared in game face as he began to leap towards the girl.

He was grabbed from behind and unceremoniously dumped on his face back in the cage. The door was closed and locked before he could see who had dared to manhandle him. As he scrambled to his feet and turned, he discovered an elf with arms crossed and a smug smile.

“There’s an empty spot over my mantle place just begging to be filled,” the beautiful elf happily informed him.

Angel shuddered at the thought.

“What was all that about, with the bumpies and the grrr and the mine and the trying to attack?” Buffy demanded indignantly; still safely ensconced on Spike’s lap.

Spike softly chuckled at her butchering of the English language. She was a bloody joy to behold. He had no intention of letting this one get away. He was beginning to enjoy the feeling of falling. It looked like it was going to be one hell of a ride.

Angel reined his demon back in. He couldn’t believe he’d made such a critical error. He needed to do some serious damage control. If he was ever going to save Buffy from what ever crazy spell she was under, he had to play it smart. Lifting his sad brown eyes to meet her green ones, he began his game. “I’m sorry, Buffy. I don’t know what happened. I think it’s a spell or something. But you don’t have to worry about Drusilla. I’ll take care of her,” he informed her sincerely.

“Would that be like you ‘took care’ of the Anointed One, Angel?” Giles spoke with deceptive mildness. He knew exactly what the pillock was trying to accomplish and he had no intention of allowing it to happen.

“What do you mean, Giles?” Angel asked innocently, wondering how much the watcher knew.

“You told us that you dusted him,” Giles reminded him, his tone mildly curious.

“I said I was responsible,” Angel hedged.

“Giles asked you straight out, blood breath. He asked if you’d dusted the little creep and you said yes.” Xander pushed a little harder, he had no idea why this was important, but if Giles thought it was then it must be.

Angel glared at the hated teen. “Don’t call me ‘blood breath’, I didn’t hear you call Spike anything like that,” Angel complained with a whine.

“Ah, but I like him,” Xander mocked the sulking vampire. “Now answer Giles’ question.”

Angel mutinously refused to answer. Crossing his arms, he glared at everyone as if daring them to push him.

“Giles, what’s going on? Angel said he dusted the creepy little vamp. What am I missing?” Buffy asked, confused by the direction of the conversation.

Angel glared at the watcher, daring him to speak. It would be just a watcher’s word against a champion. He had nothing to worry about.

“The truth,” Giles raised an eyebrow at the posturing vampire as he responded to his Slayer. “William slayed the anointed one. Joan was with him and between them they removed all but three of the vampires- Drusilla and two others that pledged allegiance to William and have been taking care of Drusilla on his orders. All three of them have been partaking of blood from the butchers since William’s intervention.”

Buffy said nothing. She wasn’t overly surprised, Angel had always been secretive in a sneaky stalker-ish way. She was more surprised that it had taken her this long to really see him. Nodding her head to acknowledge her watcher, she moved things back to the subject they had been dancing around all night. “So, Dru. Are we dusting her or what?”

Angel tried to plead his case to the small blond killer of his kind. “Buffy, please, don’t ask me to do this. She’s my childe.”

“Would that be the childe that you dumped as soon as you were cursed? The childe that you abandoned after making sure that she was totally dependent on you? The childe that I’ve bloody well taken care of for the last hundred years? The childe that is ill and possibly dying from garlic poisoning? Would that be the childe that you’re suddenly so concerned about, Peaches?” William snarled, absolutely disgusted at the manipulative vampire.

“End of discussion, she deserves peace. William or Spike have both been her major caretakers for the last hundred years, they both think she deserves an end to her suffering. Everyone in agreement raise your hands now,” Joan’s Slayer had taken control.

She looked around the room, only Angel did not have his hand raised.

~*~*~

Drusilla sat, chained to the bed in her room at the factory. Her two caregivers were in their own room. She could hear them as they played. There was no one for her to play with anymore. Naughty little pixies with their wings fluttering all around her, telling her secrets she didn’t want to know. They spoke to her of so many things, showed her pictures of more. “Pairs. Pairs, doubles, and troubles all around. The light burns so bright in them all. Oh, how it burns. Princess will be going home soon. No more cakes, no more tea. Daddy won’t be able to save his princess this time.”

If anybody had been looking out their window as the group walked by, they would have seen an unusual sight– that is, unless they were a resident of Sunnydale– then they would have denied seeing anything at all. There were two tiny blond girls, obviously sisters. Actually they could have been twins had one clearly not been older. Another set of identical twins, male and apparently sharing a deep affinity for black. They were followed by a giant of a man with a wealth of body hair– probably a basketball player– holding the hand of an absolutely tiny redhead that appeared to have some sort of birth defect on her ears, an older gentleman who seemed out of place and wearing tweed, a pretty little redheaded teenage girl, a tall brunette youth and a large, rather lumbering man who appeared to be wearing an excessive amount of hair gel. An odd group who clearly had other places to be.

As the made their way to the factory, each member of the group seemed lost in their own thoughts.

Joan worried that William would react badly after the fact. She was terrified that her new found love would be in jeopardy because he undoubtedly still cared for Drusilla. Would he ultimately blame her for the loss? God, she hoped not. She loved him too much to want to see him go through any pain. She’d already given him enough of that over the years and she never wanted to hurt him again.

Buffy peeked over at the gorgeous blonde that had grabbed her hand as soon as they started walking. She was right on the cusp of falling madly, truly, and deeply in love. She felt these wonderful little goose bumps travelling up her arm as his thumb stroked the over-sensitized flesh between her thumb and forefinger. Her heart seemed to expand and shrink every time he glanced her way. His every action, gesture, his every word seemed to capture her attention. It wasn’t enough, though. She wanted more.

William thought again of the changes he had gone through over the last couple of years. Every time he spoke to the younger version of himself, he was astounded at how immature he seemed. Bloody perfect for a sixteen year old, if you asked him. Mentally they were probably the same age. He was at a loss to understand why his slayer would think even for a moment that he could prefer the younger her. The girlish giggling alone was enough to make him want to invest in a set of industrial strength ear plugs. His slayer was a work of art, while the young one was still a work in progress as far as he was concerned. If he thought of Drusilla at all, it was only the fleeting thought that if Angelus thought what he’d done to her was artwork, he really was truly one sick fuck.

Spike surreptitiously peeked through half closed eyes at the gorgeous blond whose hand was safely captured in his. She was looking at her feet and nibbling at her bottom lip- the lip that seemed to call to him, asking him to nip at it every time he saw it. He wondered what she was thinking about, but then he was always wondering that. Always thinking about her and hoping she was sparing a thought for him. He was still a little thrown by her earlier lip lock. He certainly hadn’t expected her to take the bull by the horns so to speak. And the way they’d just seemed to automatically fall into the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing worried him. He didn’t want to bollocks it up, but she was so bloody young. Were they moving a bit too fast? He realised that he wanted to take it slow. He wanted to get to know her, to revel in all those new moments and discoveries. He wanted all the first time things in a new romance that he’d never experienced before. He wanted what the human that he had once been had never been blessed with.

Wolfie let his eyes drift to the four warriors leading their little group. Joan was so scared of doing something to screw up her new relationship that she was missing the simple joy that true love can bring. Buffy was allowing her budding sexuality to rush something that should be taken slowly and thereby enjoyed more. William was finally realising his own growth and Spike…well, Spike the impulsive was finally growing up. William would help Joan, and Spike would slow Buffy down. They would get there in the end; their destinies were safe, but the giant had to chuckle at the thought of the trouble they would cause themselves on the way. His own life would become more complicated with his involvement with the Slayer’s team, but his wife would be the last person to complain about that. She wanted to join the team, too.

Llwethyn focused all of her senses on the vampire behind her. She hated that he was back there. She was a creature of nature and of purity. Vampires didn’t offend her, she recognised the need for balance, but that unnatural curse did. The façade of the fake soul could not hide the malevolence of the demon from her. His evil emanated from him like fumes of noxious gas. She wondered how someone as pure as the Chosen One could stand to be this close to him. The warrior elf was hard pressed to not follow her relative’s example. The empty space above her mantle was just screaming out to be filled, and really, it wasn’t that expensive to get things brassed.

Giles considered the wisdom of allowing the two teenagers to accompany them. An undertaking such as they were embarking on could have serious repercussions and both Willow and Xander seemed to attract danger. It was of course possible that in Xander’s case this was because the boy had a remarkable knack for inflaming tempers with his often inappropriate and inane commentary. Actually from that point of view, it was perfectly understandable that the boy be attacked in the first place.

Willow watched Buffy peek at Spike and then Spike peek at Buffy. It was so cute. Why couldn’t she have something like that? Taking her own quick little peek over at Xander, she inwardly sighed in frustration. What would it take to get him to notice her? Like really notice her? Maybe if she talked to the giant Wookie man? He was all-knowing guy. Or maybe Joan? She was from the future, so maybe she could share or something? There had to be something she could do. Maybe a spell?

Xander was surprisingly thinking about paradoxes. Ever since they’d asked him to be all helpful guy- Mr. Expert as chosen by the Powers That Be- the issue hadn’t been far from his focus. The problem was; the more he thought about it, the more certain he was that his hypothesis wasn’t going to make them happy. The two guys that he’d proposed the problem to were meeting with the group the next night. Xander really hoped that they could come up with a better theory than he had.

Angel didn’t know what to do. He could feel his demon fighting to gain control. It was taking everything he had in him to keep it at bay. The thought of them dusting his precious work of art was sending the demon into a frenzy. Angelus screamed to get out, symbolically beating on his cage. Angel could feel the bars that held the demon in check bending under the weight of the attack. How long would the prison hold him? Angel feared it wouldn’t hold him for very long at all, but he said nothing. He didn’t want Buffy to think of him as weak.

~*~*~

Drusilla had moments of lucidity. She knew they were coming.

She welcomed them.

“Dalton, this is my friend Rupert Giles. He is to be treated with the utmost respect. Please show him the books you’ve collected.” William ordered the minion as the group stepped into the factory.

Angel snorted in disbelief. These people were insane! There was no way that the minion would leave the Watcher alone. He’d be drained in minutes. ‘Good riddance to bad rubbish,’ his demon whispered from inside, all the while looking for a way to break out of his prison.

William walked purposefully towards the room he knew held his dying sire. He knew that the others would follow. He wasn’t surprised to find Spike walking beside him rather than Joan. He knew his girl. She was giving him space.

Joan slipped her hand into Buffy’s. She wasn’t sure if it was to offer her younger self support or because she needed the support herself. Buffy seemed to be a lot less insecure than she did.

Drusilla scared her. Not the vampire, but the female that William/Spike had loved for over a hundred years. What sort of hold did she still have over him? What if she said or did something that made William or Spike change his mind and leave her? She couldn’t lose him now.

She knew with absolute certainty that William needed to do this. She trusted him. But then he wasn’t the problem…she was. Drusilla.

Buffy wondered what had Joan so freaked that she was left with the possibility of having her hand broken. ‘Who the hell is this Drusilla anyway?’ she mused.

“You’re not mine anymore, are you Sweet William,” Drusilla’s voice floated over them all, her words more statement than question.

Surprisingly, in a voice filled with compassion, understanding and a certain amount of innocence, she continued, “Have you come to send me back to my family? The pixies told me, but I was afraid to believe them.”

“Do you want to go back, Princess?” William asked, curious.

“Oh, yes. Please. Daddy killed them and then he killed me. We should already be together, but Daddy wanted me to stay with him, and then he went away. Now that you have your sunshine, princess is all alone. Just the pixies whispering, always whispering, and Miss Edith are with me now. I’m tired, dark knight. Help me get home?” Drusilla whispered.

Angel stepped forward. “Daddy’s here Dru. Let me help you get better, sweetheart.”

Ignoring Angel completely, Drusilla continued to address William. “Miss Edith has told me things that I have to share first.” She was desperate to hold on to her clarity this once. She could feel the voices calling her off to play. She knew that what Miss Edith had told her was important, so she fought the desire to follow the entreaties from the ones that lived in her head. ‘Not this time, my pets,’ she silently told her inner voices.

Turning to Xander, she offered him a soft smile. “The best will come from what you fear is the worst. Trust yourself and follow your path. Soon, you will be an unknowing instrument, rest assured that you will shoulder no blame. You will always be needed.”

Turning to face the young redhead across the room, Drusilla offered her some advice, “Little red witch must learn control early.”

“B-but I’m not a witch,” Willow stuttered nervously.

“You will be, little one. A powerful one too. You can choose to help or harm, choose wisely. Learn control,” Drusilla warned her before turning once again to Spike, “Sunshine is what you were looking for, my knight. She’s effulgent.”

“Enough of this. Dru, you need to rest. It’s alright childe, Daddy’s here. I’ll look after you now,” Angel spoke softly as he moved closer to his ailing childe.

She shrank away from him, his presence clearly agitating her. “No,” she hissed.

Angel pressed forward and Drusilla pressed herself further into the bed, whimpering and pulling weakly at the chains that held her in place.

Xander bravely stepped in front of Angel, stake drawn. “She doesn’t want you near her, dead boy.”

Angel snarled and backhanded him before anyone could move. Event’s seemed to move in slow motion. Xander lifted off the floor, twisting midair with the force of the blow. The youth landed face down on the bed where the vampiress lay and a cloud of dust billowed out from under him.

The room seemed to freeze in shocked silence until Angel stepped forward menacingly.

“You will die. Nobody touches my family but me,” Angel snarled at the shocked boy.

Spike got to Xander before Angel had a chance. Dragging the terrified youth off the bed, Spike pushed Xander behind him. “You’ll be goin’ through me, Angelus.”

Llwethyn stepped up to his side, joining the blond vampire. Wolfie positioned himself on his other side.

“He killed Dru,” Angel growled. His eyes flickered gold as his demon fought to gain control. “He deserves to die.”

“You killed Dru, you bloody hypocritical poofter. Twice. This time the whelp just happened to be the instrument you used.” William joined the throng. “Dru warned him and told him he wasn’t to blame.”

Xander sagged in relief. He hadn’t made the connection between what the vampiress had said and what had just happened. The feeling of shock and overwhelming guilt faded.

Angel’s demon finally gained control.

“You can’t save ‘em all, boy,” Angelus sneered at the younger vampire, ignoring the older one completely.

Laughter rang out behind him, causing the furious vampire to spin to see just who it was that dared to find amusement at his expense.

“Actually, yes he can.” Joan laughed. “Let’s not forget that William can incapacitate you by just going into game face. In case you missed it, Angelus, you’ve got two slayers, a trained watcher, a sasquatch, an elf, a master vampire and a pure vampire to face. Ya might wanna rethink the threats, big boy,” Joan explained the facts of life to him, her contempt clear in her voice.

Moving faster than anyone anticipated, Angelus grabbed Buffy around the throat and pulled her protectively in front of him.

Spike roared in outrage but was prevented from acting as both Llwethyn and Wolfie held him back.

“Move and I’ll snap her neck,” Angel warned them all.

Buffy twisted in his arms and faced him without an shred of fear. “Did you forget I’m the Slayer?” she asked innocently.

Angel sneered and narrowed his eyes, then widened them comically as he felt the point of the stake pressing into his chest. Moving slowly, he released his grip on the grim faced girl and stepped back.

“Thanks.” Buffy gifted him with a brilliant smile and then thrust her stake home. “I need the extra room.”

Angel’s dust drifted to the ground unnoticed as Spike swept Buffy into his arms.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel the series and all related characters are the property of Mutant Enemy, Joss Wheadon and the WB. This site is strictly a non-profit fan run site, and it is not intended as a violation of any copyright regulations. Most artwork on this site was created by Karyn.