Happily Ever After
Rating: PG (for half a swear-word)
Disclaimer: Not mine, nothing I refer to is mine, nothing I write about is mine. I really don't own a lot.
Author's Note: Set at the end of Season 3, Season 4 hasn't started yet.
Prologue:
The Scoobies circled round an apparently vacant crypt, Buffy glanced up at Giles, who nodded. He and Willow slipped off to the side and started the spell to neutralise the one the witch in side was sending out. Xander took up his position with Oz outside the tomb's doors to block any possible escape.
Buffy crept round the back, took a deep breath and blew the side of the crypt open with a hand grenade. Picking herself up off the floor Buffy headed towards the witch in the centre of the tomb crying over her shattered cauldron, her potion spilling over the floor.
The witch turned her fiery eyes on Buffy "You can't stop a happy ending, the story wants it, the people want it"
"You have to let people make their own minds up you can not make the endings for them". The Witch was passed listening to Buffy locked inside the recesses of her own head. She whispered "You broke it". The air seemed to wobble as Giles and Willow broke the last remnants of the Witch's spell. The woman in the centre of the room shrieked as the molecules of her body flew apart, as the stories she'd been spinning broke apart, "Banishment" wailed the witch as she extended a hand towards Buffy.
Part 1:
Buffy collapsed onto the forest floor, the apples she'd been collecting spilling over the earth. Spitting the mulch out of her mouth, Buffy stood shakily to her feet. Her gaze slowly turned downwards, she was dressed in a grimy blue dress, with a white undershirt, in a really old fashioned style, and her hair was down to her waist
"What the fu….?"
Spike got shakily to his feet his head whipped round to see what had pushed him out of bed. Only to find that there was no bed, or no room. In fact he was standing in the middle of a meadow, in full sunlight. He desperately looked around for cover, only to realise that he wasn't on fire. Spike stared down at his no flaming body in shock. Not only wasn't he crispy but he was dressed in the type of clothes he wore when he was alive. "Bloody hell!"
"Miss Elizabeth?" Buffy turned around to see an older woman, also dressed in servant's garb. "What is taking you so long this morning?" "You know the Prince is visiting today and the Mistress is in a terrible foul mood this morning". "Come along Miss Elizabeth, they're waiting for their breakfast"
Buffy ran back towards the house she could see in the distance. Her mind whirring, the Witch had obviously banished her, but to where? She stepped over the threshold of the house to cries of "Where in God's name is our breakfast?" Another servant grabbed her and pulled her into the kitchen, "Where have you been Lizzie?" she asked, Buffy gasped when she took in the face of the girl "Willow?", "What are you rambling about trees for? You've got to take out their breakfast; they're all in a tizz this morning". Buffy took the eggs from the non-Willow, she had her face, but she definitely wasn't her best friend.
"Sire, sire! There you are. What in heaven's name are you doing out here this morning? You're not escaping it you know" Spike's brow furrowed *what the hell is this man talking about, and 'Sire' I think I'd remember siring this ponce* "Escape what?" Spike queried. "Escape what? 'Escape what?' he asks" said the man *Great I'm in a place where strangers ask invisible people questions, bloody hell!* "You, your highness, are visiting the Baroness B'le H'ck and her daughters Anyatra and Harmoneptra". Spike blinked, there was no way in hell he was going to be able to remember their names….*what was that about 'your highness'?*.
Non-Willow scuttered into the dinning hall "Willamina, where is Elizabeth?" *So that's Willows name* Buffy thought, "coming Baroness" Buffy replied, and walked into the dining room where she stopped dead. Anya and Harmony were sitting at the table and scowling. "Those eggs are cold, fetch me some more" demanded Harmoneptra. "Don't just stand there girl, go fetch some more" Demanded the Baroness. Buffy turned towards the Baroness and her eyes bulged *It's Snyder in a wig! It's Snyder in a wig!"
Spike sat in the carriage on the way to the Baroness' *Okay, so I'm Prince William heir to the throne of France, I'm still a vamp but with out any of the pesky allergies, which is bloody fortunate since everyone is wearing sodding crucifixes.* he took a deep breath *I need to find out what the hell is going on* and stepped out.
Willamina ran into the room "Begging your pardon Mistress, but the Prince has arrived". The Baroness and her daughters scrambled to the feet and out the door. Buffy sidled over to Willamina "What's going on?". Willamina stared at her in shock "Where is your head? Today is the day that Prince William comes to visit. They say he's visiting all the courtiers to choose his bride. Come up to the gallery we can see the parlour from their and get to see him, 'e's mighty handsome".
"Spike" Buffy gasped from her hiding place in the gallery. Spike's head shot up, his eyes focusing on the gallery. Buffy instinctively ducked back *He heard me, oh my God. That means he's still himself; why is he the handsome Prince?*….*I suppose in a certain light…Spike's sitting in sunlight* Buffy sat upright *How is he non-flame-y!?* Willamina grinned at Buffy's reaction "Very cute huh?" she whispered, Buffy muttered something inaudible.
*Buffy's up there* Spike was trying to see where she had gone to while still appearing to pay attention to his hosts *I heard her, I need to find her so she can help me get out of here, I just wish I could bloody well get away from these two* he thought glaring at Harmoneptra and the Baroness.
Spike walked back to his carriage, nodding farewell to the B'le H'ck Family *Good job how I can still remember the etiquette and protocol from when I was human*. His gaze searching the surroundings for a glimpse of Buffy. "Orange" he called to his guard, "have you seen a girl, short, probably blonde haired?" the Captain of the Royal Guard stared back at him with a bemused look on his face, "pretty broad description your highness. Why pretty was she?" Spike shrugged non-commitally and climbed into the carriage, only to have a hand pressed over his mouth. He tried to cry out in shock but the hand blocked out the sound. "Shut up you moron before we get found out!" Buffy hissed. She carefully removed her hand from his mouth and allowed him to turn around. Breathing heavily, the shock of having been caught off guard getting to him, "What the hell are you doing?" he seethed.
"So you are Spike? Not just a clone then" Buffy queried. "Of course I'm bloody me, are you, you?" Spike was getting more pissed off at being stuck somewhere with no apparent escape, then actually at Buffy herself. "It's just….Anya, Harmony, Snyder and Willow are here but they just look like them, their not actually them at all" Buffy's voice trembled, "And I'm a servant, who everyone keeps calling Elizabeth, I'm not me, and sometimes I do things with out knowing why, like I knew where the house was, but I don't know any one's names". Spike clamped his hand over Buffy's mouth "Shut up Slayer we're stuck here and we have no idea why, lets just find away out of here".
Buffy stared at him, "We're not here because of you?" she queried. "Me, why would it be my fault. One minute I was asleep, next I was in a sodding meadow. Any clue as to maybe this is your fault" he cried indignantly. "Yes". Spike's jaw dropped "this is your fault!" "No! well kinda. I was fighting a Witch who was using the power of the hell mouth to make stories come true. Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, we had fairytale castle's shooting up all over the place". "So" Spike reasoned "you think she put us in a story". Buffy's eyes widened "I do now!" "Then it's easy, all we have to do is work out which, carry out the ending and we should go home" Spike grinned at how easy this was going to be. Buffy just groaned, dropping her head into her hands "Why me?" she muttered.
Spike glared at Buffy "What do you have a better idea?" *God, I worked it all out and now she's just going to moan at me*. "Spike you're right okay!", Spike grinned "Always am luv". Buffy groaned again, her head still buried in her hands. "What pet?". "Do you know what story we're in Spike?" Buffy asked looking up. "No? Spike ventured. "Look at us, I'm a servant, and you're a Prince". Spike's jaw dropped "We're in Cinder-bloody-ella".