The Time Machine

by regertz

-Desperate to win back his soul and hopefully, Buffy...Spike attempts to use Science to regain his humanity...Courtesy one Warren Mears...Follows the action of "Gone"...

The Time Machine...

PG

An alternate Cicelyverse tale (check the "alternatie Cicelyverse" background page at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse to ease your confusion...)

Summary: Desperate to win back his soul and hopefully, Buffy...Spike attempts to use Science to

regain his humanity...Courtesy one Warren Mears...Follows the action of "Gone"...

(Play the Stargate theme as you read the time travel parts...Hey, they're using it in the remake

of the HG Wells story...)

If playing the theme, let it load completely first... Play theme (Stargate SG-1)

Part I...

Willow felt uncomfortable as she stood at the entrance of Spike's crypt...On her diplomatic

mission...

One which...She increasingly suspected...Had more behind it than just trying to keep Spike

enlisted as a mercenary in the cause of good...

But...Buffy had asked, even to the point of near-pleading...And after recent events, how could she

refuse...

Still...She couldn't quite buy Buffy's tale of her spat with Spike...

That they'd argued, he again trying to get her to think of him as a potential feller...She, as always,

resolutely insisting that a friendship...Perhaps eventually, given his help over the past year, a

warm one...Was the most he could expect from her...

They'd fought like that before...And Spike was always there the next day, ready to start all over

again...

Until this one...

And Buffy had been acting strangely with regards to the Blonde One...Dawn had commented on

it, even to the point of mildly joking that maybe Buf was finding herself "attracted" to Spike...

To which Buf had responded with first a shocked and frozen look, then a rather overly forced

laugh...

Me?...Attracted to dead ole Spike?...

Hmmn...Willow Rosenberg's empathic skills might have faded a hair during her wild magics

days but she knew Buffy Summers...Even resurrected Buffy Summers...

And something was up...

Warren Mears faced deposition as Fearless Leader of the Masters of the Sunnydale Universe with

the same unflinching courage he'd always shown in his battles with the Slayer...

He whined...

It wasn't his fault, guys...he pleaded to his towel-robed judges, Andrew and Jonathan...

We could've beat Buffy if it hadn't been for that Willow...

"Man...We've heard it before..." Justice Andrew noted...

Yeah...Jonathan chimed in...

And you lied to us about the setting on the invisibility ray gun...It would have killed Buffy...

And there's no penalty harsh enough for one who would kill such a hot babe...he noted...

"You are no longer our Fearless Leader..." Justice Andrew passed sentence...

Well...Then who is gonna be leader?...Warren asked...

They looked at each other...Hmmn...Hadn't thought that far ahead, actually...

"We'll be like the Jedi..." Andrew noted...

A Council...No leader...

Yeah...Jonathan agreed...A Council...

Guys...Need I remind you what happened to the Jedi Council in the fight with Emperor

Palpatine?...Warren pointed out...

Hmmn...Point there...

Still they did come back...

"You, Warren, are deposed...The ban is on you..." Jonathan noted...

You will leave at once and not return to our Council for the next...

"Morons...This is my mom's basement...You get out!" Warren cried...

And put Boba down, Jonathan...The Fett stays...he told him as the revered Judges headed out...

Hmmn...What'll we do now?...Andrew looked at Jonathan as they stood outside the Mears

home...

Well...We go on job interviews, get responsible jobs, and settle down in our own

places...Jonathan noted...

Or...We could move on to the Shrink ray...

They looked at each other...No doubts about it...

"Shrink Ray!" they cried...

Say...Andrew looked at Jonathan...

Are we like...Now on the light side of the Force...Standing ready to assist the Slayer should she

ever have need of our scientific genius?...

[Play theme...March of the new Jedi Council (Earth Division...(Raiders of the Lost Ark...)]

Absolutely...Jonathan noted...

Just as long as she doesn't find out about the Shrink Ray...

[Play Theme for Fearless Leader Warren (Everybody Wants to Rule the World...)]

Bastards...Wimps...Wusses...

Warren paced his mom's basement...

That Buffy...Did it to him again...

Thanks to her...His first and only, live, human girlfriend vamoosed...

And his brilliant schemes for ruling Sunnydale as Crime Lord had come to nought...

So far...

But now she knew who was behind the strange things that had been happening to her...And

would be ready...

Probably even watching him now...Her agents everywhere...Lurking...

As she trembled in her home, awaiting the next diabolical scheme of...

He looked at the blackboard...The noble achievements of the former Masters of the Sunnydale

Universe listed...Freeze ray, invisibility ray, robot girls, time-warping system...

And all his doing...His design...His genius...

He looked again...At the time-warping system schematics...

Hmmn...

Suppose...

Just suppose...

The past's mistakes could somehow be...Eliminated...

By going back and preventing them from happening...

After all, he'd already found a way to warp time...

Willow knocked and entered the crypt...Spike was sitting on his slab...

A look of disappointment on his face...

"Oh..." he turned away, back to the telly...

"It's you, Red..."

Well...Pull up a chair and set yourself...

Got the magics jitters, eh?...Well, ole Spikey got just the cure...

He held up a bottle of whiskey...

William the Bloody turns on the charm for his houseguest...

"Ummn...No thanks..." Willow looked at him...

So...He returned to watching the telly...

What's up?...

Hmmn...Making me work for this, Willow noted...

Definitely something is up here...

"Spike...Buffy asked me to come and..."

Oh...Buffy "asked" you, eh...he grinned...

She didn't...By any chance...Plead, beg, and whimper?...He looked at her a mo, then back to the

telly...

"She said you two had a fight..."

That's right...Spike nodded...And did she say what it was about?...

I'm getting the strangest feeling about this...Willow thought...

Somehow I feel like I've done this...For Xander...Before...

"Ummn...She wasn't specific...Just that you had a fight and she'd like you to know..."

Spike blinked...

"She's apologized?..." A radiant, almost boyish, expression of joy came over his face...

Willow couldn't look at that face and go on...

She wussed...

Absolutely...she told him...Buffy realizes it was her fault...Because of her upset condition what

with recent events and all...She knows she should try to be more considerate of your feelings...

And she apologizes...Sincerely...

What the hell...Once you've crossed a line you might as well go all the way...Willow thought...

She couldn't help...Looking at the happy Spike...Also wishing...She'd done more to help him this

past year...

But heck, it was a busy year...He never asked for help in regaining Humanity or gaining

Redemption...And look at the problems my messing with magics big time has caused...

Still...Wish I'd tried something...

Maybe I could do some research...Talk to Giles...

No magics of course...

And now the freaky part...

"Spike...Ummn...Buffy was wondering...If you forgive her, of course..."

Spike stared at Willow...

"Would you like to come over for dinner...Say tomorrow night?..."

After sunset of course...

Ok...Test number three...Warren spoke into his tape recorder...

Tests one and two?...Well...There are no failures in Science...Only lessons learned...

He placed a comic book on the platform of his time-warp traveler...A square box-like device with

three Star Trek transporter discs (special purchase at the last Trek convention)...

Stepped back, pulled out his remote...And set the destination date...

One hour in the future...

Nothing happened...

Except...It seemed dark outside...

Of course, shorter days...He looked at the clock...Whoa...

"It can't be 5:30...It's 4:30..." he looked at the machine...

Oops...

Hmmn...Slight design problem...Easily rectified...

Just gotta make sure it's the traveler who's propelled about in time...Not the rest of the universe...

The Time Machine...Part II

So...Buffy looked at the returned Willow out of the corner of her eye...

"What'd he say?..."

A hair eager...Willow noted...

Say?...

Spike?...

"Will?...What did he say?...Is he willing to stop acting childishly?..."

He knows I'm...Er, we're...All he's got...Friendwise...

Willow looked at Buffy's eager face...

No doubt about it...I have done this for Xander and Anya before...Willow thought...

"Absolutely..." she smiled at Buffy...

He knows he was acting like a fool and hopes you'll forgive him...And is very grateful for the

dinner invite...

Well...Buffy smiled...Great...

Thanks, Will...she patted her friend's arm...

Oh...she looked at Willow...

"You didn't use anything...To persuade him?..." Buffy stared at her friend...

Buffy?...Willow was shocked...Shocked...

But hey, she really hadn't used magics to persuade William to come to terms...

Just good ole white lies...

Ok...Test number ten...Warren noted on tape...

Tests four to nine?...

You don't wanna know...

A small action figure stood on one of the Time Machine's transport pads...

Boba...Heroic adventurer boldly traveling into the future...First...

Of course, if he was gonna send him into the past next...Wouldn't future Boba have already

appeared on one of the pads?...

Ow...Temporal paradoxes give me a headache...Warren thought...

Best to let the Universe handle such things on its own...

Just drop the bomb and let time sort out the bodies...

Although Willow's matchmaking had provided a truce, she had forgotten one thing...Until it was

too late...

Patrol...

Buffy was heading out happily...

Nice to see her so eager to kill again, Willow noted...

Wait a minute...She's not looking forward to killing vamps...

She's looking forward to her nightly stroll with...

Oh my God...

Xander told me he was worried about them...

And if they meet tonight...And start discussing what I told each of them...

I'm already in the doghouse with Buffy and Dawn enough as is...

"Buf?..." Willow asked brightly...

How's about some company?...

Ummn...Yeah...Ummn...Sure...Buffy looked at her...

Rats...she thought...Well, maybe I can talk with Spike later...

Gotta get things straight between us...

Just in case he took my invisible slut routine as the new state of things between us...

And of course...To thank him...He could've let me just go on...Er staying there and I might have

dissolved...

God...Thanking him for throwing me out...

"Can I go too?..." Dawn called over...

No...Buffy told her...Finish your homework and bed by ten...

Ten?...Dawn glared...

"Dawn...There'll be a new social worker coming...In two days...And we are not gonna screw it up

again...Understand?..."

If you die on Patrol that might "screw things up" you know...Dawn replied...

Hmmn...Willow thought...An out, possibly...

"Hey..." Willow noted, brightly... "Dawn may be right, Buf...It might be wise for you to scrub

Patrol for a few days..."

Wouldn't want to have to explain gaping wounds and hideous scars...

"Will...People out in the streets, vamps out in the streets..." Buffy looked at her...

Yeah...Guess so...

"We'll be back in a couple of hours, Dawn..." Buffy told her...

Ten thirty?...Dawn asked...

Ten-fifteen...

What?...No TV show ends at 10:15...she groused...

Boba...Forgive me...Warren moaned, looking at the badly aged action figure standing on the

platform...

Test ten...Results too hideous to bear...

Still Boba had traveled one hour into the future...

He'd just aged about 2000 years...

Well...Edison took years to get the light bulb right...

Back to it tomorrow...

The Time Machine...Part III

Willow was hopeful...A half-hour into Patrol, only one staked vamp and no Spike...

And Buf seems ready to call it a night early she noted, thankfully...

Something stumbled over garbage cans at the end of the dark alley they were about to check out...

Buffy had Mr. Pointy at the ready...

"Ladies..." Spike called pleasantly from the cans as he picked himself up...

Obviously he'd been running to catch up, trying to swing round in front of them...

Buffy frowned...But Willow caught the faint smile that immediately disappeared from her

friend's face.

Oh...No...

"Yes, Spike?..." Buffy called to him...

Looking for something to decorate your crypt?...

"Actually, Slayer..." he came strolling up... "I wanted to give you this..."

Buffy looked at the box...Blinking...

Oh...God...He's not bringing me presents now, is he?...

In front of Willow?...

Oh...It's not some of my underwear?...Please God, no...I know I left something behind the other

night...she thought...

Willow blinked at the box...Holy...

He's bringing her presents now?...

"You can open it you know...It's not a beating heart from my latest victim or something like

that..." he grinned at her and Willow...

Observation log:

Subject: Warren Mears

Location: His parents' basement

Purpose: Subject Mears a highly dangerous individual...Skilled in science, some knowledge of

magic...Rather lame with the ladies. Likely bent on revenge against those who thwarted him.

Poses a serious threat to Buffy Summers, world-saving Slayer. To be kept under observation

until all activities accounted for...

First night:

9pm...

Ummn..He's not doing anything...Andrew noted to Jonathan as they watched the Mears house

from the security of the new (Earth division) Jedi Council's van...

"So...Put it down..." Jonathan told him...

Subject inactive at present...Continuing to observe...

"A Short and Concise Account of the battles of Buffy Summers...Greatest Slayer of All Time..."

Buffy read from the cover of the manuscript Spike had given her...

Willow looked...

"By William...Soames Walthrop..."

Buffy blinked...Willow blinked...

Spike looked at them...

He shrugged...

"Well...Hell, Slayer...I knew you'd never get around to chronicling your adventures..."

And I do occasionally have a little time on my hands...

Willow read a few pages...And looked at Spike...

"How did you?...Spike, you weren't here when a lot of this stuff happened..."

"It is accurate, isn't it?..." he asked...Looking genuinely concerned...

Giles told me a few things when I told him I wanted to write a little memorial after...er...Last

summer...And the rest I got from some of the survivors...

Even old Angel gave me some info when I called him...

"You called Angel about this?..." Willow looked at him...

William...Soames...Walthrop...Buffy was still thinking...William Soames Walthrop...

Oh God...I never even...

"So...Mr. Walthrop, I presume..." Willow grinned at Spike...Who gave a slight bow...

At last we're properly introduced, she smiled...And looked at Buffy...

William Soames Walthrop...Buffy thought...

Buf...? Willow looked at her...Say something...she thought...

"Well...William...It's very nice...And accurate, so far as I can tell..." Willow told him...

It's great, isn't Buf...She nudged a little...

Ummn...Yeah...Great...Ummn...

"Thanks..." Buffy looked at him...

"There's a dedication...Page three..." he noted...

Willow looked...

"To Buffy Anne Summers...My greatest foe and dear friend...William..."

"And to Joyce Summers...Apart from my mother, the sweetest human being I have ever

known..."

Oh...Gee...Willow thought...His mother...Oh...

Buffy was in rapid blink mode...

"Ummn...It's very nice...William...Thank you..."

So...He looked at them...

"Patrol going well...All quiet on the Sunnydale front?..."

Hmmn-hmmn...Buffy nodded...Holding the manuscript...

Just fine...Ummn...She looked at him...

"It's really nice, William...Really...I'm just a wee floored, you know..."

Well...Nothing really...he smiled...Kept me busy...

Of course it's not quite finished but...

"Greatest?...Of All Time?..." she smiled at him...

Never heard tell of a greater...he noted...

Why do I have this feeling I should leave now?...Willow thought...Watching them look at each

other...

William?...she thought...Did she just call him William?...

"Besides..." Spike went on...Walking along with them... "After that gracious invitation, I had to

do something to express my thanks...Even though it's not finished..."

And hopefully never will be...he added...At least in terms of a final battle...

Oh...Buffy blinked...

And you were so nice about apologizing...Spike continued...About the fight we had...He looked

at Willow...Buffy freezing a bit...A slight glare coming on...

About my pestering you and all...he hastily added...

Oh...Buffy's glare disappeared...A unmistakable beam of gratitude in her eyes...

Which Willow caught...Oh, no!...She thought...

She didn't...She couldn't have...Buffy?...You idiot?...

She did...Willow realized...And also realized...

Oops...The apology thing...

Busted...

Wait...Buffy thought...My apologizing?...I apologized to him?...

The beam was extinguished...

Uh-oh...Willow caught that as well...

"Willow?"...Buffy turned to her...

Willow put her most sheepish and blank expression on...

"Did you tell Spike I was apologizing for last night?..."

Spike looked at Willow as well...

Red...?

Ummn...

Somehow this always worked out so well with Xander and Anya...Willow thought...

"You told me..." Spike told Willow quietly... "That Buffy apologized for last night...And that she

was...Sorry...For hurting my feelings..."

What?...Buffy glared at Willow...

Whoa...Willow thought...She's found a whole new glare intensity...

"So..." Spike looked at Buffy... "You didn't apologize...And you're not sorry..."

"You threw me out!..." Buffy choked...Gasping as she looked at Willow...

Who maintained an utterly clueless stare...

Nothing...She thought...I heard...Nothing...

"Hey..." Dawn came out of her room...

How did...

And caught the glare on Buffy's face...A whole new level of glare...

Must be the maturity her death and resurrection has brought her, Dawn noted...

"What are you doing up?..." Buffy asked her...

It's only 10:05...Dawn noted...You said...

Go to bed!...

Something in her sister's face persuaded Dawn to go...Quickly and quietly...

A few pebbles struck Buffy's window...She looked a moment...

No...I am not going to the window...

More pebbles...

Of course...she noted...He did come to me...

A rock smashed the window...

She ran downstairs to the front door...

"Dammit, Spike!...What the hell do you think you're doing?..." she screamed at him as he

stood on the lawn...

Dawn watched from her window...Spike catching sight, motioned to Buffy...

Nibblet...he mouthed...

"Come on in..." she grumbled...

It wasn't my fault...Willow noted to a sympathetic Xander...

She having come over bearing...Cookies...

A belated extra engagement gift...she lamely told him and Anya...

"They have no right to be mad at me...I didn't want to be their note-bearer..."

Oh...Anya looked at her...So they're at the note-passing stage now?...

That's so swe...Xander glared at her...So incautious and dangerous on Buffy's part...she

finished...

"You know, Willow..." Anya told her pleasantly... "You're very lucky...In my old human days, a

note-bearer who failed in his...or her...mission was usually buried alive..."

"Xander...I think...Things have reached a dangerous point between them...And I don't mean the

usual...They go out and try to kill each other..point.." Willow told him...

I know, I know...Xander muttered...

I think...I actually think...They've...

"Done it?..." Anya filled in helpfully...

I know, I know...Xander looked at Willow...

You...Know?...

"She was at Spike's the other day...When she was invisible..."

What?...Why didn't you?...

I didn't realize it until after I left...he noted...

Spike was acting strange...And something was in bed with him...

Bed?...With him?...Willow looked at him...

Chewing on his ear while I talked to him...Xander shook his head...

I probably knew right away...The shock must've blocked my mind...he noted...

"Course after I realized...I hoped it was just that her brain had melted a little from that invisibility

ray..."

What should we do?...Willow asked him...

"What can we do?..." Xander frowned...

But...A killer...well, hopefully former killer...demon and a human...How could that possibly...?

Xander and Anya looked at her...Oddly, the exact same expression on each face...

My...They are growing into each other...Willow noted...

"I suppose...If Spike had become human again...It would be completely different..." Willow

hastily added...

Absolutely...Xander and Anya nodded...

"Look...Buffy...We have to sort this out..." Spike told her...As he stood in the Summers'

kitchen...

Things can't just go on like this...We care for each other...You can't deny...

"I...Care for you?...You?...You're a demon, a monster!..." she raged...

And I did not apologize...she noted firmly...

"All right then...Why did you come to..." he stopped and lowered his voice...Mustn't forget the

Nibs...

Why did you come to my place yesterday?...he whispered...

"Insanity...My molecules were breaking down...My brain was probably half-melted..." she

noted...

You came to me...You wanted to be with me...He noted...

You want to be with me...

"I felt sorry for you..." she looked at him...

You're damned...Forever...And you did help me last year...And you were very good about taking

care of Dawn...

So...I tried to be nice...When my inhibitions were down...

Obviously...Big mistake...she concluded...

"You did invite me to dinner...Willow didn't make that up..." he noted...

I wanted to be nice...Encourage your better side...

Not that you have one, of course...

"I love you, Buffy...That has to mean something..." he pointed out...

You want me...Dead...And transformed...That's all it means...

"That's all it will ever mean..." she looked at the kitchen wall...Social worker's appointment

prominently posted...

"I'm sorry, Spike...But you're not human...And no amount of pledging your undying undead

devotion will make you human..."

You've killed...What?...365 days a year times...Say 100 years...At at least one kill per day...

"Anya's record must stretch over 10 times as long...You people don't seem to have much trouble

with her..." he pointed out...

Anya is human...Anyanka the demon is gone...Buffy replied firmly...

Don't see her shedding many tears of remorse over the dead...he continued...

"Enough..." Buffy stopped him...

Besides...he went on over her protests...If I were regaining Humanity...If my demon were under

control, even...Gone...How could you hold me...human Will, that is...Responsible?...

"Of course I suppose you...The Greatest Slayer of All Time...Would never allow your demon to

take control and conduct mass slaughters...Not with your noble self-control..."

But considering you've let Angel off...

"Angel has a soul..." she began...

Angel is Angelis...One hundred and eighty degree turn in motivations...That's all...he noted...

Now he wants to save the world and all the little humans in it...Instead of killing them and

sending the world to Hell...

"He wants Redemption..." she started again...

Noble of him...Spike noted...But why?...What has his human soul done that it needs to be

redeemed?...It was Angelis who was the mad killer after all...Wasn't it?...

Unless...Perhaps...Old Liam took more pleasure in his part in Angelis than Angel would like to

admit?...Or, maybe...

Saving the world appeals more to his ego than being with the woman he... "Loves"...

"He's been ready to die for me..." Buffy interrupted...

"And I'm ready to live for you...And with you..." Spike told her...

Now...When you need me...Not in some far-off hoped for future...Not the afterlife...

After all...Where the hell was he when you faced Glory?...And when you came back...Did he stay

in Sunnydale to look after the resurrected "love of his existence"?...

Did he even ask you if things were ok at home when you went to see him?...

"No..." she sobbed suddenly... "He...He..."

He and Darla had a child together...she blurted...

It was Spike's turn to blink...Rapidly...

Grandad...And Grandma...?

"Darla...She's the love of his existence...Her soul, anyway...Though he won't admit it even to

himself..."

I was just a...Substitute...A blonde substitute...she sobbed...

"In the end, Will...Buffy has to handle this herself..." Xander noted as Willow got up to go...

And she will...Anya told her firmly...

Whatever the right decision is here...Buffy will make it in the end...

Willow nodded...But paused...

I...Just wish...I could help...

"You're doing that right now, Will..." Xander told her...By being here for her...And by keeping

off the magics thing...

"Actually...I meant...I wish I could help him..." Willow noted...

You gotta admit, Xander...Spike has been trying...There's gotta be something in there...

"I know...And I'm as sorry for him...For his human self, wherever it is...As I dare be..."

But my concern is with our Buf...And if I have to...I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe...

"Even if she hates me for it..." Xander noted...

Willow looked at him...Xander...?

I'll leave it to Buf for now, Will...he told her...But not forever...

Anya saw her out...

"He's a good man, there..." Willow noted...

And stared hard at her...

"I hope...You know..."

"How lucky I am?..." Anya finished...

Well...Yeah...Willow nodded...

And that I'm as ready to protect him as he is to protect Buffy...Or me...Willow regarded her

sternly...

"I know..." Anya nodded...

I won't ever let him down...

"Well...I believe you, Anya...If I didn't..." Willow paused...

"Could you...Help Spike?..." Anya asked...If you went back to the magics...?

I'm never going back...Willow told her...But...

I am gonna check every possible source of help or info I can...She looked down...

And if something or someone can help...I'll find it...And have Tara or someone with the ability to

handle things help him...

Only wish I had before...

"Well..." Anya patted her... "After all, it was a busy year..."

Spike was at a loss for words...For once...

Grandad and Grandma...Parents?...Good God...

And Grandma staked herself for love of her kid?...

Well...Underneath the sarcasm, sadism, and brutal killings, he'd always thought there was

something real there...he noted...

Unfortunately, aloud...

Buffy went to her new glare level...

"You...Soulless!...Get out of my house!...Get out of my life!...Don't ever come back!..."

She shoved him out of the kitchen, across the living room to the front door...

"Out!" she screamed at him...

Ever?...he smiled at her...

I have all eternity you know...he noted...

"If you ever come back...You'd better be human with a soul...Cause I am gonna shove a stake

through anything else..."

And I might not be too particular about checking out your humanity...

She slammed the door...

"This mean dinner's off?..." he asked through the door...

The Time Machine...Part IV...

Test number eleven...The next morning...

Aged Boba stood ready...This time a note secured to his time-weathered right arm...

Instructions for future Warren...Who should be receiving his visitor in one hour...

Hopefully in one piece...

And a watch secured to his left...To confirm the passage was instantaneous...

Dawn went off to school that morning without a word of complaint or a single whine...

Such was the potency of Buffy's new glare...Which remained in place...

Willow thankfully had managed to slip in the night before after Buf had retired and leave for

college before she was up with Dawn...Fortunately this was the day she moved back in with her

parents...At least until she could regain her old dorm room...She left a friendly note, promising to

make proper goodbyes later...And headed out quietly...

But not before she spied Spike's open manuscript on the kitchen table...Half-read judging by

where it was open...

To the section dealing with the arrival of one William the Bloody in Sunnydale...With a footnote,

heavily underlined...

"The author, WSW, was killed on March 13, 1880 in London during a chance meeting with the

vampiress Drusilla...Tormented victim of Angelis... A scholarship student at Cambridge

University, he left behind a young sister and brother...His devoted mother having thankfully

passed on the year before. As to the cause of the events that have led him to his current state...He

can only hope that some vestige of his humanity is responsible. And that the faith his human

friends have displayed in him will someday be proven justified..."

Willow looked at it for a moment...And felt a tear running down her cheek...

Tissue?...Where does Buf keep...Well, one in the wastebasket looks barely used...

There was a torn piece of paper in the basket next to the tissue...She spied the word "Buffy..." on

half...And fished out the other...

And stared...Shocked...At...

"Buffy Walthrop...Buffy Anne Summers-Walthrop..."

Half an hour after Boba's voyage into the future had begun, Warren started across the lab and

tripped...Over the suddenly materialized form of the machine...And Boba...

With a new note attached...The watch reading only five minutes later than the original time he'd

set...

But...What was it doing in the middle of the lab?...

He scanned the note...

"Warren...Warren here...Send Boba back...I mean forward to me, idiot...Two hours from his

arrival...And, moron...Send him from exactly where he materialized...And let me know where

that was...I think there was a shift in position...May need to compensate for something in the

earth's rotation or whatever...Timewise all ok...

Yours,

Warren..."

He frowned...What a jerk...

And he might have given him the details of how he got back Boba back safely to the past...

Still...Gotta move on this...

He sent Boba two hours forward...With a new note...

"Hey, moron...Here he is...Leaving from the grid position indicated on the enclosed map...And

maybe the reason he moved is because you didn't bother to send me any data...Jackass...

Yours,

Warren..."

"So...There is no Buffy for William..." Spike muttered in the depths of his crypt...

Tearing up a photo of a smiling Buffy...

"What other pleasures can Sunnydale afford?..."

Hell, even Harmony's gone...Not, dear God, that I'd want her back for more than thirty minutes...

And even that would be pushing it...

"I'll make my heaven...In Buffy's reeking corpse...Well...Maybe not..."

The Nibs has had a rough year...Doesn't need me to make it worse...

Hmmn...Of course...Red is...Available...And she always was the sympathetic type...

And I have a feeling the "gay, now" thing is not cast in stone...

"Oh...Monstrous thought...And more to be avoided than the glare of twenty Buffies..."

Not that Red isn't a lamb...And quite attractive in her own way...Hope she realizes

that...Whatever gender she tries next...

After all, she's not a Slayer...Would be difficult for her to deal with me if the chip ever

failed...And cruel of me to try a rebound thing with her...When she's just starting to deal with

her broken heart...Even if I am a bit...With her performance last night...

"Love forswore me...In Drusilla's womb..."

No doubt Buf would say amen to that...But she cares...I know she cares...

And maybe my little remark about Angel and Darla was a tad...Insensitive...

But, hey...William the Bloody here...Not freaking Alan Alda...

"Don't come back unless you're human with a soul, she said..."

A tall order, that...But if there was any way...

"Why...I can smile...And murder whilst I smile..."

Really, I can...Or...I could...

"And cry content to that which grieves my heart..."

Well...Old Angelis is better at that...

"And set the twentieth century's greatest killers to school...Can I do all this and not get a

Buffy?"

If I were human...If I could be human again...Or at least...Oh, God, no...

Not the damned curse...

But if I love her...And I do...I know I do...There must be some of old Will left...Something...

And if I could prove it...Even strengthen it...

"I'll drown more sailors than the mermaids shall...Slay more gazers than the obelisk...Hmmn..."

Perhaps killing is not a proper objective here...

"Regain more soul than Angel has ever had..."

That's more like it...

"Can I do all this and not win my Buffy?...Tut...If she were on the moon...I'd reach and pluck her

down..."

Time to see a Wiccan about a soul, I'd say...

Hmmn...Warren...Now several hours into his tests...Had made a happy accidental discovery...

Centered around Heisenberg uncertainty...

The time machine moved in space as well as time...And...With some tinkering...That movement

could be controlled...

Teleportation...A side effect of time-warping travel...

Neat...He could not only travel back...He could avoid the long walk from his parents' basement

to, say, the site where April had first entered Sunnydale...Or where Buffy had first encountered

April...

Of course...Having discovered a practical method of teleportation...And it seemed there was no

limit to how far the machine could travel...At least on Earth...He could forego all revenge

plans...Become the world's richest man, earn every scientific award known...Be hailed by all as

humanity's greatest scientific genius...Even Buffy happy to tell of how she'd known him before

he became the famed Warren Mears...Hmmn...

Nah...Revenge was better...Besides after he'd dealt with Buffy and her friend Willow...Regained

Katrina...Or at least properly punished her for leaving him...And settled with his former

partners...He could go on to do all the other stuff...

Just a few more tests...Including some animals...And he'd be ready...

Although Buffy had told Dawn never to go to Spike's crypt alone again some time ago, Dawn

noted that she had not repeated the instruction recently...

Besides...If she brought Janice along...It would hardly be alone, right?...

And she had to know what had happened...

Besides...Buffy hadn't said anything about dinner with Spike tonight...And no one had asked him

what he'd like...

Janice stared at the graveyard gates...

"Your sister's boyfriend lives here?..."

Well...Yeah...He's...He's sort of a caretaker...

But...He's our friend...Not Buf's boyfriend...

God, I hope not...she thought...Although...It wouldn't be the worst thing I can think of...

Spike is preety sexy...And he has been so nice this year...Maybe the chip brought his soul back, at

least some...

God...Janice thought...It makes sense...Buffy is so weird after all...

No surprise at all that her boyfriend would live in a graveyard...

Observation log:

Day shift 1/10/02

Subject: Warren Mears

Location: Parents' basement

Subject Mears...Like a true whining lamester...Continues to hole up in his parents' basement.

No signs of activity except for some unusual electromagnetic readings...

"Holy crap!..." Jonathan cried...Looking out the window of the van with binoculars...

Warren's time machine...With Boba atop...Had just materialized outside the Mears home on the

lawn...

Warren himself emerging from the basement to check it out...He scanned the area intently...

Fortunately the new Jedi Council members had moved their van well up the street...And out of

sight...

After resetting the machine's controls, Warren went back inside...Thirty seconds later...The

machine disappeared...Boba with it...

Whoa...Andrew pulled away from the video screen to look at Jonathan...The thing

dematerialized...

And so did poor Boba...Who looks really bad, man...he noted sympathetically...

"More monkeying with invisibility, you think?..." he asked Jonathan...

Nah...Electromagnetic readings don't jibe...In fact...They're more like the signature of the time-

warper...

Hmmn...

As nerds...They possessed an innate ability to put themselves in Warren's shoes...

If they had been defeated by the Slayer...Rejected by their own...And...Possessed a time-warping

device...

And had a lot of equipment...And time on his hands...

"Time-travel?..." Andrew suggested...Jonathan nodded thoughtfully...

Only natural...

Hmmn...A diabolical fiend of Science, bent on altering History...Armed with highly dangerous

weapons...Like the freeze ray...

This is...Not a job for us...the Council members agreed...

"We better let Buffy or Spike know..." Andrew noted...Jonathan nodded...

A truly Yoda-like decision, my brother...The Council must only use its powers in defense...

Never take the offensive...

Nibs...? Spike looked at Dawn and her friend as they stood just inside his crypt...

He'd been waiting for the earliest moment to leave in search of Willow...To begin his quest...

"What the hell are you doing here, girl?...Don't you know it's almost dark?...When the beasties

begin to crawl out of..."

"Will?...My friend, Janice..." Dawn interrupted hastily...

Charmed...Now what are you doing here, Nibs?...

"Ummn...Well...You were supposed to be coming to dinner..." she noted...

And I just wanted to find out...What you might like?...

"Did your sis send you?...Does she even know you're here?..." he looked at her...

Ummn...Well...Buffy didn't exactly send me...But I'm sure she'd like to know...

"Doubt that, Nibs...Dinner was called...On account of Buffy-spat..."

Sounds like the boyfriend to me...Janice noted...

Nearly dark...No Dawn...

Great, thought Buffy...Social worker due tomorrow and I can't find my sister tonight...

Nice...Just what's needed...A phone call to the police and a city-wide manhunt...Oughta sit just

fine with the social worker...

Wait a minute...Oh, God...She didn't overhear Spike and me last night?...

She went over to his crypt...I know it...

Grreat...Well...

It's not like I'm going over to see him per se...Or like he's coming to see me...

Doesn't require me to fulfill my promise last night and stake him...Necessarily...

Should I bring dinner with me?...

Nah...That would be pushing it...

Nightfall...

A knock at the door of Warren's parents' basement...

He went over...Who is it?...

"I'm Angela...You Warren?...Roy sent me..."

Ah...The subject of test fifteen...A female vampiress...

From a den known to humans who liked to live beyond the wild to the hair's edge from suicidal

side...

He opened the door and greeted his guest...She scanned him and the basement...

Just another pudgy nerd living in his parents' basement, looking for a thrill...she noted with

relief...

A girl can't be too careful...Especially in Sunnydale...

"Cash up-front..." she noted...

Warren held up a thousand-dollar bill...Courtesy his brilliantly executed bank robbery...

She smiled...Then frowned a bit at him...

You havfta welcome me in, nerd...she thought...

"Ummn...Warren...May I come in?..." she asked politely...

By all means, please...Come in...

As she entered he hit her with the freeze ray...

Cold even for the undead...he giggled to her frozen body...

And sent her back about four hours...To a park outside Sunnydale...

In daylight...

With the machine programmed to return about thirty minutes after arrival...Without

her...Returning to the present at one minute after she was dispatched...And a video camera fixed

on its base...As well as a timer...

Poor kid...Warren noted, watching the video as the thawing Angela began moving only to burst

into flames in the afternoon sun...Well...

She's at peace now...

And test fifteen a triumphant success...

Now just a matter of picking the perfect time...And a good night's sleep...

After considerable debate...Necessary but consuming much precious time, new Jedi Council

members Andrew and Jonathan decided to try Spike rather than Buffy...

True, he was a vampire...However...From what they'd learned when he consulted them and from

observing Buffy...He was a vampire who could not kill humans...

And Buffy wasn't likely to have much trust in them...Plus she was probably still pissed about all

the stuff they'd pulled while seduced by the dark side of the Force...

Yeah...Best to start with Mr. Blond...

They reached the cemetery where Spike's crypt lay using their signal frequency detection

equipment to pinpoint Spike's chip's whereabouts...

Dawn felt terrible...Buffy nixed dinner?...

Seemed preety harsh...And she could guess that Will had been looking forward to it...

Of course he might have done something...Awful...To merit expulsion from Buffy's A list...

But still...

"Well...Nibs, that's about the size of it..." Spike told her...

And I have to be off...

"Where are you going?..." Dawn asked...Worriedly...

Not to Central America or some place like that she hoped...

"Actually...If you must know...I'm off to see dear old Red..."

Willow?...Dawn stared at him...

"You know me, Miss Nibs...Pick yourself up, brush yourself off...Start all over again..." he

grinned...

Willow?...But...

And think of the challenge...he noted slyly...

Let me escort you ladies to the front gate...

Place gets a leetle unsafe around this time...

"Creeps and weird types just seem to congregate here..." he smiled at Janice...Who smiled back...

Buffy is an idiot to let this guy get away...she thought...Of course, working in a graveyard isn't

exactly the greatest career possible...

But maybe it's just a temporary type thing...Just while he's in grad school or something...

Buffy arrived just as Spike was guiding the girls through the front gate...Nothing having popped

out at them thankfully...

"Dawn?..." she hollered...

Loud enough to wake the dead...At least those undead and still sleeping...

Dawn attempted an explanation...Spike attempted an explanation...Which Buffy brushed angrily

off...Threatening him with immediate...Er, looking at Janice...reporting to the police...Of his

attentions to young teenaged girls...

Now that was a trifle harsh...he noted...

"Well...Ms. Summers...Don't fret..." he told her coldly...

"You won't be bothered by my soulless likes again..."

And stalked off into the night...

Followed, at a respectful distance...By Andrew and Jonathan...

Dawn was pissed...And said so...After Janice had been safely deposited...

He hadn't done anything except see they made to the front gate alive...

And all she'd wanted to do was see if he'd like anything special for dinner...

And to see if dinner was still on...Which her sis...With extreme rudeness, Dawn noted...

Had canceled...Without so much as telling her...

It just...

"Enough!..." Buffy glared at her sis...But Dawn saw the guilty look...

"Will is really hurt, Buffy..." she noted...

It's one thing to stake him for killing somebody...It's another thing to make him suffer cause you

don't want him around...

"That thing is a maniac!..." Buffy yelled... "Don't tell me how to treat him..."

Fine...Dawn sniffed...And remained silently disapproving as they rode home...

Until they reached their street...When she allowed as how Willow would probably make him feel

much better...

Willow had a little sympathy in her soul...A leetle compassion...

"Spike went over to Willow's?..."

Hmmn-hmmn...Dawn nodded slightly...

Why?...Why would he go to Willow's?...

"I don't know...Maybe when a guy is stood up and treated harshly...He turns to some nice kind

girl for a little..."

We better check this out...Buffy noted...Turning the car around...

Never can be sure what Spike is up to...

Spike frowned as the two nerds gave him their report...

Which they'd managed to blurt out before he could chase them off...

"So...Dr. Warrenstein has built himself a time machine..." he looked at them...

Of course, he noted...You boys are not high in our list of trustworthy sources...

Still...It sounds about what old War would be trying after that last fiasco...

"Why don't we do a little preemptive striking..." Spike noted...

With you gentlemen in close support, I'm sure victory will be ours...

They headed out...Spike admiring the van...Quite a nice little nerdmobile...

"Thanks..." Andrew nodded...

Please note the efficiency of our control room design...Modeled on the original Enterprise...

Hmmn...Spike thought as they rode along...Time-travel...

Interesting...

The deposed Fearless Leader was clearing up his work area and awaiting his mom's call to

supper...

When uninvited guests arrived...

Three of them...At the basement door...

"Guys...Spike...Nice to see you..."

Warren?...Spike looked at him...

"The boys here tell me...You've been making naughty-naughty with time machines and what-

not..."

Ummn...Time machines?...Warren repeated brightly...

Where is your little gadget?...And have you done anything...And I mean anything...With it yet?

Warren backed away...Spike donned his "work face"...

The former leader was prepared for this...Thanks to Spike's little chip maintenance call...When

he'd held on the chip's schematics...Just in case he ever had a return visit from his former

customer...

"Hold it right there, Spike..." Warren called...And pressed a button on his remote...

A sudden wave of pain caused the Blonde One to stagger...

"You've got his chip's signal frequency..." Jonathan glared at him...

Warren bowed slightly, grinning...Fearless Leader has still got it...

"Man...You're gonna hurt him..." Andrew moved to help the vampire who'd collapsed to the

floor in pain...

Warren removed his finger...Hey, might as well have an audience for my farewell...

"Any closer and I send Mr. Blond into convulsive shock..." he told them...

Andrew helped Spike to his feet...What'll we do?...Andrew hissed to Jonathan...Let him have his

rant...Jonathan told him...And move over to the workbench...

Spike looked at Warren...

"So...Nerdenstein...What the hell are you planning to do with the soapbox thing?..."

This...Warren noted proudly... "Soapbox thing"...Is a time machine...

Cool...Andrew noted to Jonathan...If it really works...Lame if it doesn't of course...Hmmn...

"Maybe we should reconsider the deposition..." he whispered...

Light side of the force...Jonathan reminded him...Remember...We use our genius for good now...

Right...Andrew sighed...But good is always so slow...

Wait a mo...Spike looked at the pudgy nerd...

"How can you go back and change the past without altering yourself?..."

Arrgh...Warren sighed...Not the damned paradox again...Look...I alter the past...The world

around me changes...But I'm still the Warren of the timeline where things went wrong...

"But then...There are two of you?..."

So?...

And what if the other Warren doesn't like your altered universe, builds a machine, and goes

back, and alters the past you altered...Three Warrens?...Spike puzzled...

And he'd actually discussed the original book with its author, Mr. Wells...At his club one night

in 1896...

Not in the timeline I altered...It would be another timeline where three, even an infinite number

of Warrens exist...Warren noted...

Hey...he looked at Spike's confused face...It's an infinite universe...With infinite potential

timelines...Anything's possible...And probably is...

Andrew and Jonathan nodded...The old temporal paradox in a nutshell...

Hmmn...A chance to alter the past...Handy thing to have around, Spike thought...

"Best not to think about the ramifications..." Warren noted...

And now...If you'll excuse me...Time to rewrite the history of the past year...he pressed the

remote...

Nothing happened...

Andrew and Jonathan grinned...Moving aside to reveal...A small transmitter taken from the

workbench equipment...

"Jamming signal?..." Warren frowned at them...

Jamming signal...they nodded...And that goes for the signal to our friend's chip...Andrew added...

The Jedi have overcome the evil Emperor...Jonathan noted...

Get off that thing...Spike told him...Or I will have to experience a mix of pain and pleasure

throwing you across the room...

Deposed Fearless Leader backed off...

"Now..." Spike looked at him...How does this thing work?...

No sign of Spike at Willow's Buffy noted...

He must have been pulling your leg, Dawn...she told her...

And lucky he didn't pull it off...she glared at her sis...

"But...If he's not here...?" Dawn frowned...

Spike is a big vamp, Dawny...He can take care of himself at night...Buffy told her...

"But...He was so hurt...What if?...If he decided...To do something?..."

Buffy looked at her...Spike?...

"Dawn, Spike is not the suicidal type...And vamps have a well-developed survival instinct...Even

when their love affairs go sour..."

He's a poet, isn't he?...Or Will was...Dawn noted...

"There's Willow..." Dawn noted...

Where's she going?...

Buffy looked at the hurrying Willow...

I think she's headed for Spike's...she said, half to herself...

Why would she be going to Spike's?

Well...

"Dawn, lets get you home..."

Quickly...she thought...

I'll need the right clothes, Spike thought...

Hmmn...Suitable for 1880...

Ah...Just the thing...He slipped down the ladder into the depths of his crypt and returned

with...His Randy suit...

Or whoever Randy, lame nerd that he was, had been...Stolen while trying to disguise himself

from the loan shark demon who'd hounded him a short time ago...Perfect cover for 1880...Hell, it

might do for 1780...

Hmmn...He looked at himself...If he had glasses...And he darkened his...Wore a wig, he corrected

to himself...Must never mess with the peroxide...

He'd almost be human William again...Bodes well, he thought..

Dru will never be able to tell us apart...

Until it's too late...

Willow, feeling terrible...All my fault, she chided herself...Was on her way to the crypt to begin

making amends...

Of course, if Buf had come straight out and told Spike herself that she wanted to make peace...

Buffy, after dropping Dawn at the house, followed at a distance, not letting Willow see

her...After seeing that look on poor Spike's face back at the crypt...

Well...She'd nerved herself up for this one...After all, it wasn't right to hurt the poor fellow...Just

because she was angry at herself for her lack of self-control and all around recent sluttiness...

Oh...God...He was so upset...So hopeless...What if?...Dawn was right?...

Spike?...Commit suicide?...Ridiculous...

Then again...If someone had told her a year ago that in a year she'd be on the verge herself...Not

to mention...Resurrected...And he was so hurt...

She picked up the pace to assault speed...

"So...Spike is really gonna try going back?..."

Andrew looked at Jonathan as they headed home in the "Council"'s van...

Looks like it...Jonathan noted...

And all for the love of Buffy Summers...Wow...

The love-lorn vampire and the Slayer who must kill him...Tragic, man...Andrew noted...

But what's he gonna do back there that'll change things?...Andrew asked...

Jonathan shrugged...He didn't confide in us, remember...Just got the operating instructions from

old Warren and headed off...

Hey...A thought suddenly struck Jonathan...Wait a minute...That rat...

Andrew looked at him...

"Warren...He didn't mention setting the machine to go back with Spike, did he?...Just told him

how to set the system to send him back?..."

If he goes back...Without the machine?...Andrew looked at his partner...

"We've got to warn him..." Jonathan noted...As Buffy's unseen but benevolent new protectors...

Jedi Council duty...

But...Where does he hang out?...Andrew wondered...

"Well...Unless Buffy lets him live in her basement...Gotta be in that graveyard somewhere..."

Jonathan noted...

We should be able to track him until he goes...

"On it, man..." Andrew headed for the van's transmitter and signal detection equipment...

Jedi nerds to the rescue...

Willow entered the crypt and stared at him...

Spike?...

He stood on the platform of the machine, decked out in Randy suit...A dark wig, glasses...

"What the hell are you doing?..." she asked...

He grinned... "Just tell Buffy...I'm still a fool for love..."

And vanished...Without the machine...

The Time Machine...Part V...

Buffy raced into the crypt...To find Willow staring at the time machine and the space where

Spike had been standing...

Followed closely by...the new Jedi Council (Earth division) members, Andrew and Jonathan...

Who were discussing one minor point...That had occurred to Andrew...

Spike had never asked Warren about how to get back...Even if Warren had instructed him on

how to keep the machine with him...He wouldn't have known...

"You don't think...He was planning to stay back there anyway?..." Andrew looked at his

partner...

Of course...He is a vampire...They live forever, right?...Unless somebody kills æem...

Maybe he thought it'd be fun to relive the last century...

Maybe he's just got a natural gift with machines...Like us...Jonathan noted...

"Will?...Where's Spike?..." Buffy looked at the shocked Willow...

He...He...He's...

Gone...

Rright...Buffy looked at her...

"Where?..."

Willow...? Where did he go?...

Willow pointed at the spot where William had stood...

"He was right there...And then..."

Buffy blinked...Willow?...You?...You didn't?

Willow came out of her trance...What?...

"God, no...Buffy?...What are you thinking?...I'd never stake Spike..."

Unless, of course...

"William?" Buffy screamed...

The new Jedi entered...

"Spike?..." Jonathan called...

There's a little thing you should know about the machine, man...

Buffy whirled on them...

You...

Slayer locked onto target...Andrew noted...

Willow caught the look...

"Buffy...I don't think they..."

"Did Spike already go?..." Jonathan looked at her...

The new Jedi Council explained the situation to the Slayer and her friend...

Back in time...To 1880...? Willow looked at them...

Gee...I would've thought he'd go back a couple of years, warn past Spike about the Initiative, and

give him how to do it instructions for killing the Slayer...Willow thought...

It must be love at that...she noted to herself, smiling a little...

Buffy had run over to the machine...Although Spike had taken the remote, it was useless without

the machine...

However...The destination date and positional map coordinates were entered on the machine's

front readout panel as well as stored in the remote...

March 13, 1880...4 am...

The morning of the day William Soames Walthrop had his little encounter with Destiny...In the

form of an insane vampiress...

Willow came over...

"Say...Isn't that the day?..."

He died...Buffy finished...

And she didn't need the nerds to translate the map coordinates to know where he'd arrived...

London...Probably as near as possible to where Darla's pride was hanging out...Darla,

Angelis...and Drusilla...

And where his counterpart, young William was blissfully unaware of the fate awaiting him...

He's gone back...To change things...Buffy noted...Staring at the machine...

"But...?" Willow looked around...

What's changed...Nothing...I mean...

"We haven't changed...Unless we're protected...Somehow?..." she looked at Andrew...Who

shook his head...

Only Spike's unaffected by any changes he made in the timeline...However...

It would be a new timeline...Jonathan finished...Not ours...

"Then...He went back...For nothing?..." Buffy looked at them...

Oh, no...Andrew noted...The world he's in now is changing...But that's the world he's in...

It may be very nice...Jonathan noted...

"But...You can't know...He has no way to get back..." Buffy looked at them and Willow...

Well...Buf...Willow thought...Maybe it's for the...

"He's trapped there..." Buffy noted...

Unless of course he comes walking back in the crypt door in a few minutes to tell us how his

repeated century went...she added...

And we may never meet again...she thought...In this world or that one...

"I've got to get him..." Buffy told Willow...Who looked at her...

What?...

Wow...Andrew noted quietly to Jonathan...Shakespearian, man...

"Buffy?...There is no way in hell you are going back to 1880 to "get" Spike!..." Willow told

her...

I just want to make sure he's not stuck there...Buffy replied...

"I'll set the machine to bring me a minute before he got there...He'll appear...We come back..."

It's easy, right guys?...She looked at the Council members...

Well...Jonathan pondered...There may be a little difficulty getting the exact time and even more

with the exact position...

Still...We probably could set you down fairly...

"Buffy?..." Willow raged... "Are you out of your recently resurrected and half-melted mind?"

I have to go, Willow...she told her...

I have to...She looked at the crypt wall...

"He did this for me..."

Right...Willow noted...And now he's happy in another universe where maybe things are working

out better between the two of you...

But he's not with me...Buffy looked at her friend...Quietly...And steadily...

Oh, my God...Willow closed her eyes...Tears welling up...

Oh, the dear God of my fathers and mothers...

"I'm going..." Buffy said quietly...

Wow...Andrew looked at Jonathan...

This side of the Force has its moments...

The Time Machine...Part VI...

At Willow's insistence...Backed up by a threat to dig out her old magics skills...They waited for

thirty minutes...

In the faint hope that somehow William would have found his own way back...And the trip

would not be necessary...

At least he could've sent us a telegram...Willow noted...Like Doc Brown in "Back to the Future

II"...

Alternate timeline, Jonathan replied...It would've gone to alternate Buffy and Willow...

But...Willow pointed out...If we go back...Alter things?...

Do we have the right to take the chance?...What if we do something that alters history, gets

people killed?...she noted...

Hell...Just preventing Spike from stopping his own transformation'll kill close to 40,000

people...she did not say...

"The Powers That Be didn't worry when they allowed the monks to create Dawn..." Buffy noted

quietly...

And change our lives...Maybe even cause my mom's early death...

"Not that I...Or Mom...Would ever blame Dawn..." she hastily added...

They didn't lift a finger to save poor Will...or Dru...Even Darla and Liam for that matter...

I've played their game long enough...

If they have a problem with this...Tough s-t...

I'd like a chance to talk with them for a few minutes in any case...she noted...

Buffy Summers, resurrected Slayer vs the Powers That Be...I'd take odds on that...Willow

thought, grinning...

But...If she's going...I'm going...she thought...And said so...

"Will?...Only one of us has to go...It'll just take a minute..."

"If...Everything goes right..." Willow noted...

And if it doesn't...You may find yourself facing the Big Three...Alone...

Even if Spike can join you, it'd be tough odds...

"Besides..." Willow grinned... "In 1880 my no-magics pledge doesn't exist...And I've been

getting preety antsy..."

And...If you're right...If we just go back for one mo...Hey...I'm a history buff...she noted...

"Don't make me force you to tell me how wonderful it'll be to have me along..." Willow grinned

at her friend...

Mind-control spells always leave big headaches behind...For the practitioner as well as the

victim...

Actually...Buffy grinned...It will be wonderful to have you along, Will...

Pity we can't play dress up...Willow smiled...

Hopefully we won't have to...

Jonathan turned to his Jedi brother...

"The Slayer will need competent scientific assistance, my brother..." he noted...

Just in case that idiot Mears is as dumb as he looks...

He came over to the two ladies...Who smiled at each other...

We've got a mascot...Willow thought...

"Shall we go?..." Jonathan was properly solemn...

Buffy looked at Jonathan...And grinned...

"You know, Jonathan...If you keep this up..."

I might end up remembering you only as the sweet guy who gave me that nice "Class Protector"

umbrella...

Before departure, Buffy gave Andrew careful instructions...He was to contact Tara and Xander

immediately...Explain things...With her own handwritten note in support...

"Tara?..." Willow asked...

If we get stuck...Buffy looked at her...

Willow nodded...

Besides...If Warren makes trouble, Tara can deal with him in ways Xander and Andrew

can't...Willow nodded...

"Jonathan?..." Buffy looked at him...

Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?...You don't have to...

"You saved my life a lot, Buffy..." he told her...

And...I guess...I did let you down...Some...

No problem...she told him...Sunnydale can get boring at times...

"I can understand you wanting to liven things up a little...And no one was hurt, thank

goodness..."

"I want to...And you may need me..." he noted...

Ok...She smiled at him...

"But as to practical matters...You are sure this thing can handle three of us?..."she asked him...

Are you kidding?...Mears wouldn't have gotten close to the thing unless it could carry a dozen

people safely...he grinned...

They rechecked the controls and the three of them got on the platform...

Andrew solemnly made the Vulcan sign...

"Live long...And prosper...My friends..." he noted...

Jonathan attempted to return the sign...

Always had a problem with that thing...he noted to Willow...

As they vanished...

The Time Machine...Part VII

Hmmn...Willow thought, looking around the alley yard they'd materialized in...

1880 stinks...Literally...

Horse smells...Unpleasant ones, with the accompaniment of human waste, rotting garbage, and a

number of stinks she couldn't identify...

They'd arrived about 125 seconds before Spike's materialization should've occurred...Jonathan

told them...After they'd dragged the machine as close as possible to a flickering gaslight so he

could read the instruments in the dark...

A leetle off the one minute mark...But given the 121 year trip and the fact that Mears was too

cheap to buy new processors...Not bad...

Only problem was...It was now ten minutes since the Blonde One should've made his

appearance...

Of course...Jonathan noted brightly...Spike's arrival time could have deviated just like

ours...Maybe a little more...

They looked around...Hmmn, Willow thought...There's an awful lot of wooden trash in this

alley...

And Spike would've materialized a bit more than one foot off the ground...Not having the

machine under him and all...In the dark...If he actually arrived before us...And fell...

Oh...not that Willow thought...She looked at her friend who was also looking round...Clearly

Buffy was thinking the same thought...

Just like the Powers That Be to have pulled something like that...

Jonathan looked at them...Geesch guys...Sorry...

Not every first journey into the unknown ends in...he thought...

Oh...Wait a mo...

Lemme check the positional data...Jonathan told them...

Maybe there was a variance there too...

Welcome home...Spike thought to himself...As he donned "work face" to frighten off the petty

thief trying to paw through the pockets of the young man he'd found unconscious on the dark

street...

Strange clothing that, the thief paused to consider as he fled in panic from the mad ghoul he'd

seen...Pity I couldn't have got it off 'im...

Spike pulled himself to his feet and stared around the street...

William S. Walthrop back in...He grinned... "His" city...Well...

Unlike a certain LA type he could mention...A rather busted LA type he noted happily...Walthrop

could share the great City of London with all...

My God...He thought...I did it...The first successful journey back more than 100 years through

time...

Mr. Wells would be so pleased...In about 13 years or so when he writes the book...

That's one small...Well, one rather long step considering the fall he'd taken...One giant leap for...

Hmmn...Wonder if making a heroic contribution to scientific progress counts as points toward

ones redemption...

So...He frowned...I see the machine didn't come with me...

No doubt old Mearsy is laughing up his sleeve at that one...However, the only real problem there

for me is...If Willow tells Buffy what I've done...And they have the machine...

But, then, fortunately...Willow has no idea what I've done...Just that I disappeared in front of

her...

Poor Red...A shock that...

Besides...Buffy would probably...Will probably...Say "good riddance"...

Hmmn...Looks like I arrived about when I wanted...Well before dawn...

Pity I don't know where the old gang is right now...I could end this all very quickly...

Not to mention quite a few bonus redemption points...Well, later...

For now...Where the hell did I stay when I came to London this week?...

My God...Amelia...Phil...I could...

No...Don't think a quick visit from their dear brother in my current state would contribute much

to their future peace of mind...

Maybe a quick letter...? No...If everything works out...They won't be needing any info on my

tragic disappearance...

I won't have disappeared...My counterpart, anyway...

Would be nice to stop by Mum's grave though...If I succeed that'll be the first thing I do...

Nice to be able to tell her I finally made some good...And that I met a very nice girl...

Whom, unlike poor old Dru...I'd have been very pleased to have her meet...

After all...I'll have a lot of time on my hands...

Now, to the task at hand...Crocker Street, perhaps?...

No, that was 1878...Christmas week...

Hah...Jonathan grinned at Buffy who turned at his sound...

The machine has a possible variance in position of 1000 yards at this distance in time...

Mears and his crappy Celeron processors...Jonathan snorted...

"Meaning?...Spike could be a thousand yards away?..." Buffy looked at him...

Exactly...Jonathan nodded...But...We have the chip's signal frequency...Give me a mo and I can

adjust my remote to detect it...

"You have a remote for Warren's machine too?..." Willow asked him...

It's for the old time warper...And some of our other stuff...he noted...All three of us had them...

We were a partnership once...Before the dark side got to Mears...he sighed...

And smiled at Willow...Who could empathize...Having flirted with the dark side herself...

"But I guess...It was an evil partnership...So just as well..." he noted...

She nodded and grinned...

Thank you for coming Jonathan...Buffy told him solemnly...

"We're gonna need some clothes..." Willow noted...

Unless we can pass ourselves off as some kinda acting troupe or something...

And I don't think what we're wearing passes for the demure young lady of 1880, she pointed out

to Buffy...

Neat...She thought...I was hoping we'd have to play 1880 dress up...

Just as long as I don't have to wear a corset...

Warren Mears had not been idle in the time since Spike and his former partners had taken his

time machine and left the former lair of the Masters of the Sunnydale Universe aka Warren's

parents' basement...

He'd whined and fretted...Loudly...For the best part of an hour...

However...He could savor the fact that he had so cleverly avoided informing Spike of the need to

set the machine to travel with him...

Although even that was partly mitigated by his remembrance that Spike had not seemed

especially interested in the return procedure...And his realization that an Immortal vampire

probably didn't have much cause for concern on that score anyway...

In fact...He'd been a leetle nervous...What if Spike simply endured the 121 years and was now on

his way over...With a minor complaint as to customer service...

But then, temporal paradox...And who the hell cared if an alternate Warren was getting his throat

ripped out right now...

Anyway...Back to the issue at hand...Regaining his machine...And...Revenge...

After all...He knew where to go...

He'd been to Spike's crypt...To deliver that work of art, tragically mishandled...The Buffy-bot...

The...Original Buffy-bot...He corrected...

And...He had...As Dr. Smith once said on "Lost in Space" in a similar situation...

A proxy...

"Come...Here..." he called...

Yes, Warren?...the repaired and enhanced Buffy-bot smiled, stepping forward..

"Do you have any orders?..." she beamed...

Lucky for me Spike brought what was left of the original back in October...

Expecting a free repair...And claiming she "broke down"...

A crime the crappy way he kept up the maintenance on a work of art like that...

"Yes, Buffy...er bot..." he grinned...

I do...

The Time Machine...Part VIII

Hmmn...Willow frowned as they continued cautiously moving down 1880s London's dark streets...Following the directional signal put out by Spike's chip...Buffy carrying the time machine by her side, a bit awkwardly...Jonathan watching the blinking light of his remote...

No clothes hanging out, waiting to be grabbed...

Geesh...In all the time travel movies and TV shows, there's always clothes hanging, waiting to be taken...

Courtesy no dryers...

Of course it is only 4:45am...Still...Don't people here trust each other enough to leave clothes out to dry at night?...

So much for my grandad and all his talk about how safe people used to feel in his and his dad's day...Willow noted to herself...

They passed a grim-looking woman...Neither old nor young...Cheaply dressed but in colors that were a leetle...Hmmn...Prostitute?...Willow wondered...Or, maybe...She looked at Buf who shook her head...Nope, prostitute...

The woman ignored them expect to glance at Jonathan...And turn away...Clearly unimpressed by what she took to be a clod-hopping provincial...

Some Australian oaf, judging by the clothes...the woman thought...Maybe an Etalian...

Definitely not a fellow with the l'argent to persuade her to make his dreams come true...

Hey...Willow thought...Seeing the disdainful look on the woman's face...

Nobody disses our nerd mascot...And went over to Jonathan, putting an arm round his side...

:"How's it going cutie?..." she asked the startled Jonathan, loud enough for the woman to hear...As they continued down the street, Buffy moving ahead...

Buffy paused and looked back at her friends...Letting them catch up...

"He's still moving...And fast..." Jonathan told her...

Hmmn...And daylight coming...

"He'll have to put in for the day, soon..." Buffy noted...

And we can't wander the streets dressed like this, with the machine...

"Think your lady friend back there might point us to a place where we could stop a minute and get our bearings?...And some reasonable daytime clothes?..." she asked Willow...

I've got some cash on me...

My "lady friend"?...Willow bristled a little...

You know...The "gay, now" thing doesn't mean I go for every...she thought...

"I think she'd want 1880s cash..." Jonathan noted...

Hmmn...Spike thought...Forster Arms, that's it...

Old Henry's digs...He used to let me use them once in a while when I came to London...

God, good old Henry...Haven't thought of him in years...Fortunately...Considering what a good friend he was...

Regular Harris, that fellow...With a bit more culture, of course...

After all...We were Cambridge men...

However...He noted the first blush of dawn tickling the clouds...

Hmmn..."the first blush of dawn tickling the..." Nice that...

My poetic sensibility seems to be returning...Wonder if it's the effect of time-travel...

Or...love...

Practical matters though, Walthrop...Be quite a waste to burn up before I get anything accomplished after all this trouble...

He set about looking for a suitable shelter...After all, now that he'd remembered Forster Arms he knew the route Will would be taking to the Herricks' party...As well as the route he'd be taking after he left...

Two sterling opportunities...He'd pull this off...

And with luck...Maybe even alternate 2002 Buffy would appreciate his efforts...If they ever met...

But then, that wasn't the chief goal here...

He was setting his sights on Eternity...Where alternate timelines wouldn't matter...

But souls would...

William Soames Walthrop, human, unaware of the doom awaiting him, slept on in his rooms...

Dreaming of the coming night's encounter with Cicely Addams, the woman he had worshiped from afar for months...Wealthy, beautiful, cultured Cicely...

Who'd smiled at him one night when his dear friend Henry had introduced him round...Giving his friend Walthrop, a poor but determined Cambridge scholarship student a glimpse of London high society...

Cicely...Who since he'd made the sole object of his poetic labors...Despite his current state of poverty which might well have daunted a more practical sort of man...

He was sure he would, in time, achieve whatever position and wealth would be required...A mere side benefit in his struggle to create a new beauty with his writing and bring it to the world...

A side blessing that would allow him to do his proper duty towards his dear little sister Amelia and young brother Phil...He was after all, their support and hope now that sweet dear Mum had succumbed to consumption and years of endless slaving in service to provide her oldest and all her children with the chances she'd never had...

Besides...Cicely was not the type to be concerned with such trivial matters as wealth or position, he was sure...

Only beauty...

His sheath of poems waiting on top of the tall bureau near the bed...True, some negative comments had been made...One oaf going so far as to holler out that his poetry was the most bloody awful stuff he'd ever ...But only Cicely's opinion mattered...

And beauty finds beauty...

The remaining new Jedi Councilor had performed his duty and placed calls to Tara and Xander immediately...Both of whom as he'd expected and been warned by Buffy...Did not believe a word he said...

But all that mattered was that they were coming over...To check things out...

Andrew frowned as he watched Spike's TV...Crappy job of stealing cable, man...

Got get the guy set up with a decent dish system...

A leetle gift from the Jedi to a tragically condemned...

Geesch...He looked where the machine had been...

They're taking their time about the return... I expected some deviation in return time and all but...

He looked at the screen... Malcolm McDowell as HG Wells was preparing to make his journey into the future...In pursuit of David Warner as an evil mad surgeon aka Jack the Ripper...

Well, natch...He found the one time travel movie playing tonight...And close to the right time period, too...

A leetle silly though...All this stuff about "time-spheres"...But the machine looked neat, anyway...

He looked again at the empty spot...Gee...What to do if they don't return?...

Well...Maybe that "Tara" could help...Buffy seemed to think she could if they got into any trouble...

A true Jedi embraces patience, he reminded himself...Returning to the screen...

Which was more blurry than ever...Bummer...Oh well...

Consider it Jedi training, dude...A lesson in patience and fortitude...

Sorely needed after their late flirtation with the dark side...

Near Spike's crypt, Warren had paused...With Buffy-bot II...Who waited patiently with him...

He continued to adjust the signal on his transmitter...He'd hoped to simply command the machine to teleport to his position and make a quick exit...But it had become clear almost immediately that the machine was in use...

No doubt someone had gone in search of Spike...

Change of strategy...He couldn't control where the time machine would reappear under the circumstances...But he could affect whether it returned...And when

He now aimed at delaying the machine's return...If its users were trying to return...

He had no intention of preventing the return of the machine permanently...But he saw no reason why he shouldn't delay its and its users' return until he'd had a chance to prepare a proper welcome...

After all, no way was he gonna go out and try to build another one...Geesh...

"Xander?..." Tara spoke into her cell phone... "Did you just...?"

Nerd call?...Yeah, Xander replied...

"You think it's legit?...I can't get hold of Willow and I was afraid to call Buffy's with Dawn there..." she hesitated...

Legit?...Xander paused...

That Buffy and Willow have gone back to 1880 to fetch Spike who's on some fool's errand...Maybe involving his murder and transformation?...

Sounds pretty far-fetched...Tara noted...

Well...Xander replied...This is Sunnydale...And our evil nerds are not your average all talk, no superweapons, evil nerds...

Something's definitely up...Probably involving an ambush...

I suppose we should be grateful the nerds want to include us...he pointed out...

"Should we go over or no?..." she asked...

I'm worried about Willow...But I don't want to make things worse if somethings going on...

"You mean as in?...We become the nerds' Buffy-Willow bait?..." he replied...Anya shaking her head and waving her hands...

Well...Been there, done that..he sighed...But...Buffy can usually deal when that happens...

And if by any chance what's his name is telling the truth... he paused...Looking sheepishly at Anya...

Well...At least lets not make it too easy for them...he went on...Lets meet at the cemetery gate and go in together...

"And, Tara?...Remember...The no-magics pledge doesn't apply to you..."

"Be there in fifteen..." he hung up...

Honey, by any chance?..You weren't in London in 1880?..he asked Anya...

Hmmn...Nope, sorry...

"Paris was as close as I got that year..." she told him...

Say?...Anya looked at him...

"Any one else going to Spike's?...Besides you and Tara?..." she asked brightly...

After all, unlike Willow, Tara had never...In her presence, anyway...Specifically cast her sexual orientation in stone...

Not that Anya placed complete faith in Willow's "gay, now" either...

She'd met too many demons as Anyanka who changed their orientation...As well as their form...On a daily basis...

Hmmn...Warren thought, rising from the transmitter...That should do it...

The machine would be prevented from rematerializing until he shut down the jamming signal...

Now...Perhaps a quick test of the upgraded Botty Mark II before showtime...

He had her smash a gravestone to bits...Perfect...

He'd aimed for strength trebling Buffy's in case they met again...And it sure looked like he'd got it...

Now...As to her improved personality...

Just in case she was called on for a little acting to fool her friends...

"Buffy..." Warren called...She came over...

Please engage Buffy personality program...he commanded...

She struck a typically Buffy pose...

"Warren...What are you doing here?..." she asked...A slight glare...

Very nice...he told her...

Now...

How do you feel about...Spike...And Angel?...

"I don't know about Spike..." she sighed sadly... "I know he's been trying to help me and I want to encourage any humanity left in him..."

But he is a killer...She looked down...

Well, former killer...

"But I'm trying to do what I can for him..."

Warren grinned...Very empathic, Buffy...Just great...

"And as for that bloody stupid twit..." A rather different note of emotion crept into the bot's voice...

If he's gonna leave me for doing..." she paused, blinking a bit...Warren hadn't had much data regarding Buffy's old vamp boyfriend... "Whatever he does in LA..."

He can just stay there...she concluded...A rather Buffy look of anger on her face...

Warren congratulated himself...A real improvement with the psych profile programming...

With a leetle more data, she could pass for Buffy full-time...Even with her friends...

Which had been his intention...Had his Crime Lord schemes worked out...

After all, Sunnydale would still need a Slayer after Buffy had been dealt with...And one who would be able to obtain him info about her friends and any unique abilities or knowledge they had...While remaining compliantly obedient to Sunnydale's new ruler...Would have worked out quite nicely...

Of course he'd in large part simply built on Willow's improvements over the summer in the bot's personality profiles...

After all...He was not one to spend time reprogramming the bot from scratch...Just one to build on Willow's enhancements and take sole credit for the result...

The Time Machine...Part IX...

Part IX...

From her corner, the prostitute was occasionally glancing down the street at them, Willow noted...

Beginning to wonder about us she realized...

Hmmn...When did the Ripper make his appearance?...Willow wondered...

Now there's an explanation of the mystery for you...Not some member of the royal family or the Queen's favorite surgeon...Two oddly dressed young women and their small, equally strange-looking male companion...

Actually...If Jonathan were taller...Say...Angelis' height...

Hmmn...Maybe not such an odd explanation at that considering Darla's pride is in town...

"Lets talk to her..." Buffy suggested...

Maybe we have something she'd want besides cash...

At least she might be able to give us some info...

"I dunno Buffy...She doesn't look like the info-giving type..." Willow noted...

Maybe you could persuade her to be...Buffy looked at her friend with a faint smile...

Me?...Now just a minute, Buf...Oh...Willow thought...

"You want me to magics her?...As in mind-control?..." Willow looked at Buffy...

You can do that?...Jonathan was suitably impressed...

Well...Yeah...Willow nodded, a hair proudly...

Well...I think I could...

At least...Maybe...Persuade her to like us enough to help us...

"But you said..." she turned to Buffy... "No more magics...Under any..."

That was 2002, this is 1880 Buffy noted...

Different times, different measures...

Especially when the...man?...Well, the one...You love is in danger...Willow finished to herself...

"We can't wait to find clothes and figure out where we can stow the machine..." Buffy went on...

"Will, either you persuade her gently...Or I persuade her...My way..."

Willow looked at her friend...Whose expression was a curious mix of embarrassment and pleading...

Well...Been there myself, she thought...Smiling at Buffy...

Spike's still moving...But in a circling pattern, Jonathan responded to Buffy's questioning look...

Can't quite pin him down...But he's within a two mile radius of us...

"You're probably right...He's looking to find a place to hole up..." Jonathan noted...

Willow sighed, looking down the street...

"I'll see what I can do..."

Warren and Buffy-bot Mark II were concealed near Spike's crypt...

Hmmn...According to his calculations the machine should now be blocked from returning until he deactivated the jamming signal...

And Botty had determined that she could only make out one person in the crypt at present...Based on microwave and thermal scans...

Sounds good...Time to move into position to "welcome" our friends back...He started to get up...

"Someone's coming Warren..." Buffy-bot II told him...Pointing in the direction of the cemetery gates...

Whoops...Company...

He could see two figures cautiously approaching the crypt from the direction the bot had pointed ...

"Are those vampires?..." he hissed to the bot...Who tensed visibly at the word "vampires"...

A true Slayer...He noted proudly...My little girl...

She scanned them carefully and smiled...

No, Warren...Their body temperatures are those of normal humans...

She peered into the dark...

"Actually it's my friends, Xander...Who is like a big brother to me but with whom I've never had a sexual relationship...And Tara...My best friend Willow's gay companion with whom I am working on developing a friendship for Willow's sake..." she noted happily...

Should we go say hi?..she asked...

Just a mo...I mean, wait until I give an order he told her...Noting that she had immediately begun counting down one minute...

Still a bit of April in her...he sighed...Though she is a big improvement...

Hmmn...If I could get my hands on Buffy for say...Two or three hours...It'd be interesting to try that neural transfer system I was dreaming up the other day...Copy her whole brain into an artificial one...

Properly adjusted to have her regard me as the one true God...And the only person in the world she'd wish to boink, of course...

Oh well, another time...

They watched Xander and Tara cautiously enter the crypt...

Warren pondered...

Question now was...Should he tip his hand and have Buffy-bot II blindly storm in and secure Spike's digs?...Or take the subtle approach...Infiltration using her upgraded personality...Feeling the enemy out and holding off until the last possible...

But if Buffy was one of the travelers using the machine?...

Well...Nothing's to say she couldn't have come back...Seeking help...A deviation in the machine's positional systems causing her to materialize away from the crypt...

A first-rate test of the bot's abilities...In Buffy behavior and as spy...

Just requires a deft touch with the robo-instructions...

"Buffy?..." he looked at the beaming bot...

Yes, Warren...she smiled at him...

"How'd you like to spend a little time with your friends in there?..."

"Me digs...Blessed Lady..." Moira Fitzgibbons, Irish-born, London streetwalker ushered the three time travelers into her abode...Looking worshipfully at Willow...Who looked rather guiltily at Buffy and Jonathan...

Didn't expect the spell to have this much oomph...I was just aiming at her seeing me as someone she would like, trust, and respect a little...

Anyone else live here?...Buffy asked her...

Moira regarded her coolly...What kind of a question was that?...She was a respectable woman when not out earning her own...Still the strange looking girl was a follower of the Lady...

Who might be wondering herself, Moira realized, suddenly ashamed...She turned to Willow...Falling to her knees and clutching at Willow's hand...

"Blessed Mother of God I swear!...I keep a decent home and follow the ways of Mary Magdalene only to earn me bread!..."

Buffy and Jonathan looked at Willow...

Hmmn...Willow thought...So I'm the Virgin Mary...

Well, Mrs. Christ was Jewish, after all...

"It's alright Moira..." she smiled on the poor woman...

I know you're a good woman...Basically...

"That's why you're going to help us now..." Willow told her...

Spike had found shelter in the basement of a large old warehouse...

Hmmn...He sniffed...

Blood...And vampires...Though no one he could identify...

Apparently the place appealed to his kind in general terms...Well...Might be useful to introduce himself round...Maybe get a lead on where the dear grandparents and poor old Dru were at the moment...

He began walking towards the scent in the dark basement...

Hmmn...No gaslight...Too dangerous in a warehouse I guess...

Pity electric lights wouldn't be installed on a regular basis for a while yet...

On the bed of their hotel room, Drusilla was trembling...Practically in a fit, Darla noted...

Moronic little fool...Mad as a hatter...

What Angelis had ever seen in her...

"Leave..." Dru grabbed at her "grandmother's" sleeve, shaking in hysteria...

"Leave...Leave...Leave...We have to leave!..." she stopped shaking and calmed a bit...

Naturally Angelis had wandered off at the beginning of Dru's fit...Responsible, caring father that he was...

Why do you want to leave here, Dru?..Darla asked her coldly...

Mad as she was...Her visions and hysteria sometimes had a kernel of useful information...

Dru was calming...Back to normal...Or what passed for normal with her...

She looked at Darla...Leave?...The lovely city?...With all these lovely, tasty, frightened little people?...

And the new one she sensed she'd be encountering soon...

"Don't want to go...Grandmother..." Dru took on a pleading tone...

You just said... "We have to leave"...Darla noted...

Why?...

Sadly, alternate timeline visions tend not to make it to the long-term memory...

Dru had no idea what Grandmother was talking about...Very confused she was...

Not an unusual state for Dru...

With a sigh, Darla gave it up...

And began to get themselves settled for the day...

Pity she hadn't grabbed a last bit of someone before beginning to bed down...

Not likely selfish Angelis would bother to bring anything back for them...

"Tucker's brother..." Andrew introduced himself to Xander and Tara who'd cautiously entered Spike's crypt...After they'd clearly not had any idea who "Andrew" was...

"Where are Buffy and Willow?..." Xander glared at him...

Well...Andrew pointed at the spot where the machine had been...If they get the positional coordinates exactly right...

"Oughta rematerialize about there...Unless the machine deviates a bit..." he noted...

Xander frowned...He'd had quite enough of nerdspeak...And of this ridiculous time-travel blather...

Like Buffy would go back for Spike's sake...Why she'd have to be...

In love...he thought, gulping...

Oh, no...

Tara tried the gentle approach...The little guy seemed sincere...

"How long have they been gone?..." she asked...

About an hour now, Andrew noted...He was getting a hair worried...

Their return by all rights should have been almost instantaneous...

"Guys?.." Buffy called from just inside the door of the crypt...

She came in, looking a bit rumpled and disoriented...

"Xander...Tara...Thank God, you guys are here..." she staggered a bit...

Problems in 1880...she noted...Had to come back...Guess the machine plopped me down a bit off the mark on return...

The others are ok, she explained hurriedly...Just...Captured...

"Where's the machine?..." Tara asked her...Helping her to a chair...

She shook her head...Had to leave it there...So the others could get back if they could get free...

Hmmn...Andrew looked at Buffy...

That wasn't what she was wearing when she left...

And it doesn't look like the fashion for 1880...

"You came back here?..." Xander looked at her...

Not like Buffy to leave when her friends are in danger...Especially when she has a time machine/teleporter to get her back before a trap was sprung...Say just outside where the trap was set...

Had to, Xander...Buffy looked at him...No choice...

Hmmn...Possible...

"What can we do?..." Tara asked her...Without the machine...

"Warren...He must know how to build another one..." Buffy pointed out...

We'd better get over to his place...Make him build us a second one...

Ok...Xander thought...Looking at Andrew who stared back at him...Darting his eyes around...

Something's up here...Xander realized...

"Why don't we wait a bit..." Tara suggested...

"We can't leave them stranded..." Buffy told them, agitated...

Well...Tara patted her hand...Maybe I could do something...

Just give me a mo...

"We should go...Warren might be building another machine right now..." Buffy looked at her...

"I think Tara's right, Buf..." Xander told her, coming over...

Lets see what she can do...

And if not...I'm sure Andrew...And Jonathan, when he gets back from the store...Can help us reconstruct the machine...

"Ok, Xander..." Buffy smiled wanly at him...

"Andrew?..." Tara asked... "Could you get her some water or something?...I think Spike keeps some in the fridge against the wall there..."

Andrew grinned at Xander as he walked over to the fridge...Neat play, man...

"What do you think you can do, Tara?..." Buffy looked at her...

Oh...Maybe a variation on the locator spell can trace them back...Reach them somehow...Tara noted...

Oh...Buffy smiled...A spell...Right...

"Xander?.." Tara asked... "Would you help me find the magics books we have Spike keep in the lower cavern?..."

Xander looked at her...Books?...

Oh...So, she's caught on too...

"Right with you..."

So...Buffy...Andrew came over...Bringing some water...

"How's 1880..."

The Time Machine...Part X

In Spike's crypt, awaiting the anxiously hoped-for return of the time-travelers, Xander and Tara had descended to the lower depths, ostensibly to obtain magics material...

Buffy, apparently back from 1880 to seek help, was arousing their suspicions...

"She didn't know Jonathan was with them...And Andrew didn't seem to think she was quite right..." Xander quietly told Tara...

Unless nerd boy was trying to make a pass at me back there, he noted...

Tara nodded...She'd sensed something wrong as well...

"Her aura's blank...It's not Buffy...More like..." Tara began...

Botty?...Xander looked at her...Tara nodded...

He shook his head a bit...Warren's outdone himself...Quite an improvement over April...Even over the last time the bot was functional...

"Why do you think she's here?..." Tara looked at him...

I'd say Mears wants his time machine back...Xander replied...Hmmn...

"Andrew said they should've returned by now...You don't think...?" he looked at Tara...

Botty did seem to want us out pretty quick...Tara noted...

"I think we'd better find out what old Warren is up to..." Xander frowned...

"So?..." Buffy looked at Jonathan...As they sat in what passed for the "parlor" of Moira Fitzgibbons, 1880 London streetwalker...He was checking his remote...

Spike's definitely slowed down...About two miles away, north by northwest...he told her...

"Could we teleport to him...Using the machine?..." she asked him...

Hmmn...Given the deviation factor and the lack of firm positional coordinates he wouldn't recommend it for a trip like that...They could end up anywhere within the deviation radius...In broad daylight...And still rather far away...

Miss Fitzgibbons watched them respectfully, her attention focused on her Blessed Virgin...

Not for her to question the doings of the angels and the Mother of God...

Odd, though...She'd never heard of the Blessed Mary having red hair...Still, all the statues had her hair covered...

"Willow?..." Buffy turned to her...

A locator spell...Or something?...

Willow shook her head...

"I haven't got anything of Spike's to work with...Should have thought of it when we left but there wasn't time..."

Hmmn...Something of Spike's?...Buffy thought...No...I don't think I want to go that way...

Willow's already guessed enough about the state of affairs between me and Blondie...No need to mention that I'm in possession of some of his bodily fluids...

"Well, we'll just have to go on doing it the hard way..." she sighed...

At least we have a good idea of where he is for the moment...And he'll have to stay there for the day...she noted...

Willow nodded and turned to her new friend and devout follower...

"Moira?...Can you get us some clothes?...Keep our box...Of, er...Sacred artifacts...Safe here?..."

And...If you could lend us just a leetle money...

Angelis returned to the hotel room where Darla and Dru waited just before dawn, March 13th, 1880...Bearing nothing, as Darla expected...

"Has our insane nun settled down?..." he asked Darla...Who frowned at him...

Your "daughter" is fine...she told him...

"What was it she was going on about there?..." Just a hair of nervousness in his voice, Darla realized...

Just like dear Angelis to panic at the slightest thought of impending danger...she thought...

She raised her head and looked at him...Pity he has to be so good-looking...What a delight it'd be to hand him over to a peasants' lynch mob...

"She doesn't remember herself...Probably nothing..."

Well, then...He smiled at Darla...

"We may as well get comfortable..." Putting his booted legs up on a footstool...

Clearly expecting his mate to remove them...

She glared at him...But...It was 1880...He was a powerful vampire...And she was a traditional kind of girl...

And...When all was said and done...A devoted mother...

She pulled them off, cursing him under her breath...However, as she didn't have to breathe he noted her reaction...Enjoying it immensely...

"Having a little trouble with my boots, dear one?..." he leered at her...

Pity Dru didn't sense old long-dead Holtz or someone like that, Darla noted to herself...The terrified look on Angelis' face would be worth even our destruction...

Not a particularly friendly group...Spike thought...As he began his third fight to the death with one of the nest's best...A large, hulking brute of a fellow...Must've been a longshoreman or something like that in life, he noted, remembering the huge fellows he'd used to watch working on the Thames...

But then, as he now recalled...Dodging the brute's lumbering thrust of a long wooden pole...It had been the same after his initial transformation...Difficult to break into any of the established prides...And adding British reserve on top of normal vamp demon territoriality...

Well...He had no more time to waste on this...He pulled another Buffy move and jumping up, grabbed and rammed the pole into the astonished lug's chest, dusting him...The others, now at last beginning to see the light of reason, backed off from him in shock...

At last, peace...He watched the vamps retreat into their resting places...

Summers would be so proud...Her moves were really giving him an edge against these fellows...

Not that his newly transformed self hadn't acquitted himself well in similar battles in this era...

Well, if all went well...He'd have a lot of interesting bits about this trip to tell her soul in the afterlife...

Great...And to think it was my idea to tell Spike to try and get the botty repaired if possible...Xander noted to himself with a sigh...

Take some pressure off our newly resurrected Slayer...Well, seemed like a good idea at the time...

He and Tara had returned from the crypt's depths to find a hapless Andrew firmly in the bot's grip...

Warren having thoughtfully provided her with amplified hearing, she'd overheard them talking in the lower crypt...

And switched to Warren's "Plan B" instructions...In a remarkable display of her superior computing performance...

"Please stay where you are, guys...I don't want to hurt anyone human...Slayers should only kill vampires and demons, you know..." the bot told them pleasantly...

Warren should be here in just a minute...He's been monitoring me...

"Tara?..." Xander hissed...

"Sorry...I try to stay away from any stuff that hurts people..." Tara sheepishly noted...

Admirable...But just right now...

"Buffy?..." Tara tried a little psychology... "Why do you want to help Warren?...He's evil...He wants to hurt people...And you're the Slayer..."

Hmmn...Well...the bot looked at her...

"I'm Warren's Buffy copy, Tara...As you know...I heard you and Xander talking downstairs.." Buffy-bot II smiled at her friend...

I follow his instructions...

"But you're programmed to be Buffy..." Tara noted... "And Buffy fights evil..."

Hmmn...Well...the bot pondered a mo...Andrew struggling helplessly in her firm but gentle grip...

That's beyond the scope of my programming, Tara...she told her pleasantly...I have to follow Warren's instructions...

"But I will fight evil when Warren is finished..." she concluded happily...

Speak of the nerd...Xander thought as Warren entered, lugging the freeze ray...Puffing a bit...

Never know when a leetle back-up might be needed...

"Warren...I'm sorry my friends failed to accept me as Buffy..." the bot told him...

Should I let Andrew go now?...she asked...

Nothing of Moira's being of suitable size, the time travelers were awaiting her return from Jack the RagMan's...Where she was sure she could find something for each of them...

Willow, feeling a tad guilty, made sure the woman kept a strict accounting of everything she was spending on them...Poor lady has to earn it the hard way, she thought...

Jonathan was reasonably sure of Spike's location now...He seemed to be staying within a few hundred feet of a central spot 2.2 miles away...Still doing a lot of moving up until the last ten minutes or so, he noted...But all in the same local area...

"He must have found some place to hang out until dark..." Buffy looked round the room...Clearly in pacing mode...Which she began in the limited open space the small room had to offer...

"Maybe we should just go now...?" she stopped, looking at Willow...

Ummn...Dunno know, Buf...In these clothes...

"Moira said she'd be back in a couple of hours at most...That's plenty of time..." Willow noted...

If he stays where he is...Buffy fretted...

"He can't wander around in daylight, Buf..." Willow pointed out...

Yeah...But sewers, that sort of thing...Buffy noted...

"Spike?...Risk that hair of his in a sewer?..." Willow smiled at her friend who grinned back...

He'll stay put...And if he doesn't...We'll go right after him...she concluded...

Buffy nodded...And finally sat down...

Jonathan kept an eye on the remote while looking curiously at Miss Fitzgibbons' photographs, hung about the room...

"Will?..." Buffy looked at her hands as she sat...

Haven't had time to say...Thanks...she grinned...

"Don't mention it..." Willow grinned back...

How often do I get a chance to see Victorian London?...

"I guess..." Buffy paused, a little hesitant to begin... "You'd like to know...Why?..."

Willow's turn to look at her hands...

"You're in love with him, aren't you?..."

"I don't know..." Buffy shook her head slightly... "I know it'd be crazy if I am..."

But I can't just let him go...

Willow sighed...Patting Buffy's hand...

"Well...Guess we'll have to sort it all out later...When we get him home...Anyway..." she smiled at Buffy... "He must love you...In some way...To have done this..."

And at least he seems to want to stick around...Unlike some of your previous beaus...

She looked at where Jonathan was peeking at photos...

Hmmn...Family and "friends"?...Wonder if poor Moira has any steady customers we'd know from history?...The current Prince of Wales was supposed to be a pretty randy fellow...

Well, some things are best remaining unknown...Willow noted to herself...

Warren had ordered Buffy-bot II to retain her grip on Andrew...

"Just what is it you want, Warren?..." Xander glared at the pudgy nerd...Now engaged in snickering at his former partner's predicament...

Thank God I was never desperate enough for friendship to try and hang out with this creep...Xander thought...

Course he did manage to have two human male friends...And a girlfriend for a little while...But hey...I have a fiancee...A former demon...And my friends...Who are girls...

With whom I rarely if ever stood a chance...

And my single current male acquaintance...A former killer vampire...

God, I'm pathetic...he sighed...

Oh, well...More important matters at hand...

"You're keeping the others from returning, aren't you?..." he frowned at Warren...

"You've gotta let them come back, Warren..." Tara told him...

Hey...Warren looked at them...I didn't tell them to use my machine...

"Lets keep it straight here...It was my property that was stolen...And I want it back..."

So...He pointed the freeze ray at them...

"We do this my way..."

The Time Machine...Part XI...

March 13th, 1880...8am...William Soames Walthrop, human, Cambridge scholarship student, poet and would be Creator of Beauty, had awakened in his friend Henry Foxcraft's generously lent digs at Forster Arms...

And was dutifully writing in his daily diary...Before composing his first poem of the day, to be followed by a long letter to his dear young sis and brother...Now living with relatives since their mother's early death from consumption the year previous...

A glorious March morn, he noted, looking out the window...A pleasant day free from his heavy student workload which he planned to use to advantage to clean up odds and ends of things necessarily put off during the past exam sessions...And to complete his cycle of poems revolving around one Miss Cicely Addams...

With luck a large part would be ready for presentation quite soon, though he had no intention of trying it out at the large party to be given at Henry's cousins, the Herricks that evening...

Not after that first disastrous reception of his poetry in public...

However...If Miss Addams should spy him, poor but earnest young Will Walthrop, scribbling away during a break in the party...And sweetly request of him that he reveal what was so occupying his mind even at such a delightful event...How could he refuse reading a small snatch of his work?...

Of course...Dear old Hal had been guarded in his enthusiasm for Walthrop's latest before he'd left on his urgent visit to his ailing mother...Even to suggesting he not bring it to the world's attention for a short time just yet...Polish it up a bit, that sort of thing, he'd suggested...

Well...He'd need something to keep him busy, knowing so few people personally among Henry's friends and relations...So, he'd take it along, not pressing it on anyone yet having it handy...Yes...

He'd let fate take a hand tonight...And with luck...

A rap at the hotel room door...Angelis tensed, rising from his bed in the darkened room...

Darla sat bolt upright, looking at him...He waved a hand...

Drusilla, exhausted and full of laudanum courtesy a grandmother tired of her recurrent fits, slept on...Dead...Literally...To the world...

"Who's there?..." Angelis called...

"Morey...Sir..." Came the reply...

Angelis and his mate relaxed...Morey...The half demon contact who'd promised to introduce them to the locals...All anxious to meet the famed Angelis...And his women...

Angelis went to the door and cautiously allowed the demon, in appearance a slightly deformed old man, into the room...

Well...Darla regarded the little demon coldly...

Miss...Morey bowed slightly, glancing over at Dru on her bed...

He turned to Angelis...Who glared at him...

"Why have you disturbed us at this hour, Morey?..." he came over to him...

The mighty Angelis does not appreciate the disrespect of a daylight awakening...

Unless of course some emergent danger is involved...

Darla caught that slight hint of fear in Angelis' face...And rolled her eyes a bit...

My heroic boy...

"You asked to be immediately informed if any newcomers of strength came to town, sir..." Morey

noted...

Short of funds in a market where competition for wealthy humans was intense, Angelis and co hoped to take a purse or two in fights with any interested vamp parties...However the locals were well aware of his reputation and were not taking his challenge...

None cared to be staked in the back by Darla or Dru while trying to deal with their lord in front...

However all were quite willing and eager to see the great Angelis against some reasonably strong...

And naive newcomer...Who'd managed to endure the challenges of the locals...

"You can't do this, Warren...Changing history to suit yourself..." Tara looked at him...

He blinked at her...Gee...Just what is Spike doing right now?...Besides...

"I won't be changing anything here...Just a potential timeline...Which already may exist and probably does..." he noted...

In which my existence is rather...A neat one...he giggled...

Ok...Xander looked at him...As Mears kept the freeze ray pointed at them and the bot continued to restrain Andrew...

"Just let them come back in one piece...Then take your damned machine and get out of here..."

Warren glared at him...

Hmmn...he looked at them...I think I remember saying... "We'll do this my way..."

And "my way" begins with you saying...The Magic Word...

Oh, come on...Xander thought, rolling his eyes...What a geek...

"Oh, no..." the bot interjected helpfully... "Warren, it's Tara who can do spells, not Xander...She just told me..."

Ummn...Spells?...Warren hesitated...Raising the freeze ray...

"A word from her, Mears, and you're rat-boy..." Xander told him, thinking fast...Tara looked at him...

Though she much prefers to avoid violence...Xander hastily added...

Tara nodded...Much...

"Well..." Warren nodded slowly... "Then I guess..." he sighed...And jerked up the freeze ray... "It's time for a cold one..." Aiming hastily he fired at her...

Rats, missed...Damn...Whoa, bad choice of word there...Warren thought, feeling himself...

Phew...

Hey...You can't do spells worth a damn...he sneered at Tara...And aimed again...

The freeze ray clicked and sputtered...

Tara grinned...

"Maybe I can't hurt people...But nothing says I can't screw up a ray gun or two..."

"Buffy!" Warren hollered...Fuming...

Yes, Warren?...Buffy-bot II came over, dragging Andrew gently...

"Take Andrew over there..." he pointed at the others... "Let go of him...And then go knock them all unconscious...Especially the witch..."

However...There seemed to be a leetle conflict for the bot...She led Andrew over, released him, and halted...

Warren rolled his hands... Get a move on, girl...he told her...

Buffy-bot II shook her head...

"No...Warren...I am sorry but I can not obey that order...I can not hurt Xander who is like a brother to me although we have never had a sexual relationship...Or Tara who is my best friend Willow's gay companion and with whom I am working to develop a friendship..."

Does she have to tell everybody?...Xander wondered...

Gee...Tara thought...I thought we already were friends...

"What's going on?..." Xander hissed to her...

Must be some safety program Willow buried in the programming for the original bot...In case Spike ever tried anything funny before we got to trusting him last summer...she whispered back...

We "got to trusting Spike" last summer?...Xander wondered...

I wouldn't be trusting him if he were here right now...

"Can you do something with her...?" Xander hissed to her...

Ummn...Actually...Xander...Tara looked at him...

"I didn't screw up Warren's ray gun...Just thought it would scare him if I said that I did..."

It must've malfunctioned...she sheepishly noted...

Fearless Leader was enraged...Defied by his own bot?...

"I order you to knock them unconscious!...Hell, I order you to kill them!"

She looked at him, smiling...

I am sorry Warren but I cannot...

"Damnit...Come on over here and lets have a look at you..." he commanded...

"Ummn...I am sorry Warren but I cannot...You threatened Xander who is like a brother to me although we have never had a sexual relationship...and...Tara who is my best friend Willow's gay companion and with whom I am working to develop a friendship...Therefore...

I cannot allow you to readjust my programming..."

Xander grinned...

"So...Buffy-bot...How's about putting old Warren under restraint, him being such a dangerous type and all..."

Warren looked at the bot nervously...Who shook her head...

"I am sorry Xander...I cannot obey any orders except from Warren...Nor can I allow you or Tara or Andrew to harm him..."

Hmmn...Stand-off...

Andrew tried his hand...

Logic to the fore...

"Ummn...Botty?..." the robot turned and smiled at him...

"Hello, Andrew..."

You know...If you keep us from helping our friends...You're really...Hurting us...

he noted...

Oh...she looked at Xander and Tara...

Warren frowned, narrowing his gaze...So...My former comrade wants to play the logic game, eh...Well...

"Buffy?..." Warren called...

Who is Andrew?...

Andrew is your friend and partner, Warren...Which means he is one of the coolest dudes in Sunnydale...she replied...

Really?..Andrew grinned...

Warren glared...

"That was from when we were all still partners, Andrew..."

Before you guys sold me out...

You mean before you turned to the dark side...Andrew noted firmly...

"You, moron!...We all worked together on our plans...Till you guys wussed..."

Buffy?...Warren turned to the bot...

Warren?...she smiled pleasantly...

Ok...You can't harm Xander and Tara, right?

That is right, Warren...

And you can't obey Xander and stop me, right?

That is right, Warren...

But...You could harm Andrew, right?...

Yes, Warren...I can harm Andrew...she nodded pleasantly...

Andrew gulped...Oops...

Flaw in my logic there...

Ok...Willow looked at the clothes Miss Fitzgibbons had purchased...Or stolen... For them...

A leetle...Well, at least the corsets looked clean enough...And they could go on wearing their own 2002 undies...

Buffy and Jonathan fingered the clothes gingerly...Are we supposed to actually wear this stuff?...

Looks like it was stuff rejected from Goodwill, then thrown under a truck...

Moira was a shade crestfallen seeing Willow's hesitation...Had she failed her Lady?...

Willow hastened to reassure her...Everything was fine...She was just...Sad...Saddened by the current unhappy state of the world and the poor folks in it...

You know, like the expressions on all my statues...she told her...

Right, guys?...She nudged Jonathan and looked at Buffy...They nodded in agreement...

"You did just fine, Moira..." Willow assured her...

They dressed rather slowly...Tolerable fits at least...

Hey...Jonathan pointed at the old photos...We fit in just fine now...

"We even look black and white and gray..."

Well...Spike thought...This should do just fine...

He sat himself down by a large pillar of the warehouse basement...Well...

At least eight hours to go before dusk...And my appointment with my destiny...

What to do?...Hmmn...How's about a poem, he thought...

Something to present to Buffy's soul in the afterlife...Or if I get very lucky...To alternate 2002 Buffy in 121 years...

I'll certainly have plenty of time for revisions...

A small...hmmn, Spike looked him over...vamp?...Nope...demon...Came over cautiously...

Doffing his hat as a token of respect for the valor-proven newcomer...

"Sir...?" he respectfully addressed Spike who looked up at him...

"May I present myself?...I am Morey...I handle things for those of us in the lower world of London who need daytime contacts..."

Spike nodded...Always nice to have daylight-capable associates, he noted...

"You're new here, aren't you?...Sir..." Morey asked...

You might say that...Spike nodded...

"And quite capable...If I may say so...Based on your performance back there..." Morey pointed toward the main space of the warehouse...

"I was wondering...Sir...If you perhaps might be on the lookout to make a small piece of change?...To cover your expenses while in town..." he looked at Spike's rather odd Randy suit...

"London...She's a mighty expensive place...Sir..." Morey noted...

"Fight promoter, are we?..." Spike grinned at him...

Well, sir...Our brethren have so little to amuse themselves with in the daylight hours...One feels for them as can't see the light of day in safety...Morey solemnly replied...

"Afraid I'm not up to any more fights today, lad..." Spike told him...Another time, perhaps...

"Ah..A shame, sir...Mr. Angelis...He'll be so disappointed...Have you hear tell of 'im perhaps?...And the purse, a fine..."

"Angelis?...The Angelis?..." Spike looked at the little demon...

Indeed sir, the famed Angelis himself...In town for a limited engagement...With 'is lovely ladies...

Under the care and management of yours truly...Morey bowed slightly...

Sometimes the Powers that Be curse you for no Godly reason...And sometimes they send you a Buffy Summers...Spike thought...Or an opportunity like this...

"I think I might be willing to reconsider your proposal, lad..." he smiled at Morey...

The Time Machine...Part XII

March 13th, 1880...A little after 11 am, London...Buffy, Willow, and Jonathan...In more or less suitable attire had left the time machine in the charge of Willow's devout Miss Fitzgibbons who had sworn on her soul to keep it safely hidden and were now following the directional signal Jonathan was receiving from Spike's chip...

About two miles away from where he was preparing for a bit of rough-housing with none other than Angelis...

The crowded streets of London, 1880 made 2002 LA look like a picnic Willow noted...People on

foot everywhere, street trams, cabs, horses, animals of all descriptions...Even the rare demon,

attempting to pass as human...

Jonathan desperately tried to watch the remote's signal while keeping it hidden from view...

While Buffy stayed by him, watching for any signs of unusual curiosity or worse from passersby as they strolled...

Difficult to keep together even at a slow pace, Buffy noted...

She eyed the cabs passing by...Pity poor Moira had been so broke...But the poor woman had practically broken the bank to get them the rather awful clothes they were wearing...If she'd even been able to afford paying for them...

Hmmn...At the rate they were going...If they weren't soon hopelessly separated and lost, they'd still take most of the day to cover the two miles to where Spike was...

Willow had nixed any idea of a transport spell...Very dangerous, even more than using the machine for short-range travel...They might end up in another continent...Literally inside that other continent...

Well...The thing with poor Moira had worked fairly well...Maybe it could be done again...With some cabby or some wealthy businessman...

Hmmn...Need a leetle time to recover from that last one, Buf...Willow told her after Buffy moved back to her friend and mentioned the idea...

Besides we'd need some privacy as well...Can't do something like that in the middle of the street...

Morey happily reported to Angelis at his hotel room that Mr...er...Spike...Was willing and eager to accept a challenge...

A likely lad, Morey noted...Small and slight but powerful...And very experienced, judging by his performance...

Hmmn...Experienced?...Powerful?...Angelis was somewhat...Thoughtful...

"Sounds challenging, my love..." Darla smiled at him sweetly...

Tell Mr...Spike...The mighty Angelis is pleased to accept his challenge, Darla told Morey...

And will meet him tonight...

"Only daylight hours, miss..." Morey sternly informed her...

Our clientele have too much to do in the night hours to waste precious night for entertainment...

Outside the hunt, of course...

Of course, Darla smiled at the half-demon...

And will meet him...Shortly...

"I'll be awaiting you in the hallway in one hour..." Morey bowed and putting his bowler back on head, left...

Angelis stared at Darla...

"You're rather quick to decide who and when I'm to fight..." he grimly noted...

A good provider like you, dearest?...I knew you'd be pleased at the chance...

Spike?...Angelis looked at her...

"My love...Would I ever allow you to come to harm?..." she smiled at him...

"Guys?..." Buffy looked at her friends rather sheepishly...

"Did I mention how grateful I was to both of you for coming along to help me?..."

Willow felt the cold water seeping up her skirt, soaking her feet...Not to even begin to mention...The stench...

Jonathan desperately tried to plug his nose...And studiously avoid looking at the rat-sized shapes scurrying around...Everywhere...

Welcome to 1880 London's amazing sewer system...Wonder of the industrialized world...

And fastest means of transport through London on foot...With connections in many large buildings, almost certainly including the one Spike must be holed up in...

Hmmn...Willow thought...Trying that "persuasion" spell on some cabman is sounding better by the minute...Even if it puts me in a coma with my ears bleeding...

Buffy beamed the faint light of Jonathan's little pocket tool on the path ahead...Handy-in-all one flashlight, screwdriver, can opener, wrench, pliers, solder tool, stun gun...and heavy-duty calculator...

No true nerd is without one...

In the warehouse basement, never suspecting that he was now only separated by about one and a half miles from his own true, Spike awaited his leetle "family reunion"...

It was perfect...With any luck, all the eggs in one basket...Angelis, Darla, and most important, dear old Dru...

Stake the old family circle...And soulful city here I come...Or, at least, my counterpart, good old Will...

And think of the redemption points to be earned...Why, I'd be on the plus side of the balance sheet in one fell swoop...

Of course...The little matter of actually defeating the world's three most powerful vampires...Who had even managed to survive encounters with the Greatest Slayer of All Time...

Dracula, for all his flash, rating a poor fifth, of course...As for the Master, please...The administrative type...Never surprised Spike a bit that Buffy had taken Heinrich almost the moment he'd resurfaced...

But he had 121 years of fighting experience, a through knowledge of all of Angelis and co's little tricks, plus incomparable training at the hands of Buffy Summers, some of it even voluntary...

Right on his side...Amazing as that fact might seem...

And, most important, no matter what the outcome...He really couldn't lose...In terms of his overall goal...

Even the Powers That Be would cut his soul a break fighting in a cause like this...

"Time...My love..." Darla noted...

He looked over at Dru...Sighing...

Still sleeping off Darla's laudanum...

Pity...

Pity...The moronic little clairvoyant couldn't be up and about to help him survive this grim battle...

Well...If he was destroyed, he'd have the satisfaction of knowing that Dru would probably not survive a single day alone...

The hallway being windowless...They exited down the back, bowing courteously to another young couple...

Lunch?...Angelis suggested hopefully...

Never helps to fight on a full stomach, Darla noted...

Hmmn...Spike?...Angelis thought...Sounds familiar somehow...

Experienced...Powerful...Spike...

Great, just great...The thanks I get for acceding to my girls' desire to see London again...

"I think..." Buffy paused, waving the time-travelers to a halt...

I think I sense vampires...Dead ahead...

A lot of them...she noted...

She turned to Jonathan...

"Is that the way we're going?..."

He nodded, looking at the remote...

Well...Willow pointed out...Stands to reason he'd be hanging out in a vamp den...

All alone in a big city and all...

Buffy looked at the others...Hmmn...

"Maybe you guys oughta hang back here a bit..."

Willow frowned...Jonathan shook his head...

"Here for the full monty, Buf..." Willow told her...

'Sides...We'd probably be safer with you in there...Than waiting in the dark down here...

"I'll keep a watch on our Jonathan..." she smiled at him...

After politely greeting them on the stairway Morey led Angelis and Darla to the hotel basement entrance...Leading to the sewer system connection running to the warehouse where Spike and the members of the local nest waited...

Mind those slick steps, Miss...Morey noted to Darla courteously...

Catching her deftly as she slipped...Damn these sewers, she thought...Why do these things always have to be in daytime?...

Angelis naturally pressing on, utterly heedless of her...

Hmmn...Spike?...Darla wondered...Looking after her mate...Who had paused to wait for them...

Not, of course, out of courtesy...He had no intention of entering the fight arena alone...

Spike...Darla thought...Nice name...Wonder what he looks like?...

I might possibly be in the market for a new companion for all Eternity...

The Time Machine...Part XIII

March 13th, 1880, now just before 12:30 pm...

London, near the Thames...

Buffy, Willow, and Jonathan had reached the sewer tunnel connection leading into the warehouse building where Spike was preparing for his match...Against Angelis...which of course meant Darla and Dru as well, who as he knew would never allow a little thing like fair play to stand in the way of protecting their male...

Buffy was pulling at her corset bindings...Damn moronic century...What kind of idiots would wear these damn things on a regular basis?...

Still, to be honest, probably not as hard as actually keeping the weight off, 2002-style...she thought...

They halted near a grilled opening...A bolted inspection door up ahead...

Fortunately it seemed this particular sewer tunnel was not the sewer route of choice into the building for most underworld types...

Listening, Willow could hear the sounds of cheering from a short distance away...Shrill cries somehow almost, but not quite...human...

Buffy was right, she realized...A lot of vamps in there...

A lot...

Willow looked back at Jonathan who rechecked his remote, shrugged, and nodded...He's in there...

Grreat...

Numerous large candles and torches lit the large area in the center of the warehouse basement now marked off by Morey the demon promoter and his associates...The crowd, a motley collection of underworld London, anxious for the fight to begin...Quieted and pulled back along the lines, allowing the contenders to get into position...

Damn...thought Spike, seeing Angelis with Darla...And no Dru...

Gramps, great-grandma, but no mum...Vampiral sense, he mentally added...

No offense to real Mum intended...

This puts a stick in the wheel, that's for sure...he realized...

He had to know where Dru was...And where she would be for the next ten or so hours...

Else he'd be limited to his original two shots at intercepting his counterpart...Before and after the Herricks' party...And after would be cutting it dangerously close...

Well...Still the leetle business of surviving his now rather pointless match with the Brooding one to deal with...Who actually seemed in quite the non-brooding mood as he strode into the fight area...Waving to the crowd, evenly divided between cheering fans and hissing enemies...Casting long and admiring glances at the various females in the crowd...Which were eagerly returned...

Darla plainly put out by his behavior...

Poor old great-grandma...Grandsire was always quite a project for her...Spike thought...

And yet...If what Buffy had told him back in 2002 was really true...

Well, he was hardly one fit to question the concept of finding your true love in the oddest places...

Morey spoke...Addressing the eager crowd...Ready and waiting for bloodsport...

Not to mention standing by to lick up any random spills of blood during the sport...

"Mesdames and Monsieurs...Ladies and gentlemen...In my 'umble capacity as your 'ost...May I present our two gallant contenders..."

The famed Angelis...Legend of our world for the past century and more...

"And our new and challenging friend...Mr..."

Spike signed to him, causing the promoter to pause...Spike staring over at old Angelis...Who was doing his best to show an utter lack of fear...

And gave no sign of recognition...Nor did Darla, though she was scanning Spike with considerable interest...

Well...Spike thought...Sad as it is not to be known by one's own "family"...

No need to do things without a little style...

Morey came over and he spoke a word to him...

Backing off, eh...Angelis wondered...Hopefully...

The little fellow looked tough...Experienced...And eyed him without the slightest hesitation...

Unheard of...

After all, the mighty Angelis...Famed and feared throughout the underworld...

Nothing beats good publicity...

However, in this case it seemed his formidable reputation alone would not be enough...

Morey returned to the center of the fight area...And waved a hand at Spike...

"William...The Bloody!...Ladies and gentlemen!"

A cheer surged across the room...

Sure-fire crowd-pleaser, that name, Morey noted...

Angelis blinked... "William the Bloody?"...

That sounded even worse than "Spike"...Formidable as that had sounded...

What the hell had Darla gotten him into?...

Pity...Darla thought, looking at the mysterious "William the Bloody"...

Just a bit too short for me...

In 2002 Sunnydale, at Spike's crypt, Warren had found the logical solution in his confrontation with Xander, Tara, and Andrew...

If Buffy-bot II could not harm Xander or Tara due to previous buried instructions left in the old Buffy-bot programs...She had no such restrictions on dealing with former fellow Master of the Sunnydale Universe, Andrew... Now foolishly having chosen the light side of the Force...

Faced with the prospect of seeing a new friend...Well, acquaintance...Well, he had been trying to help the time traveling Buffy and Willow, hurt...Xander and Tara reluctantly gave in and allowed the bot to tie them up...

The deposed Fearless Leader considered his options while savoring his triumph...

If he deactivated the jamming signal, it was likely the time travelers would return, giving him a chance to recover his stolen time machine and proceed to create a Warren-friendly alternate timeline beginning back before Buffy's first encounter with his original bot, April...

However...He might face serious odds...The freeze ray was out of commission, possibly thanks to the witch's...He glared at Tara...Manipulations...Even his strength-enhanced Buffy-bot Mark II might have trouble fighting Buffy, Spike, and the others, if they all came back together...

And the damned bot might not even be willing to fight Willow and Spike...or Buffy...Thanks to Willow's buried safety programs...

What to do?...What...to do?...

Well...He did have hostages now...

Get on with it, you...Vain-glorious, stupid...Cowardly...Darla thought, looking at Angelis...Who was preening himself in the center of the fight area under the studious gaze of several dozen attentive females...

And, as Darla knew all too well, desperately playing out his entrance...Trying to avoid that moment of truth...While also trying to feel out his opponent...Who seemed uninterested in anything but the fight...

Utterly unaware that he was enjoying what were likely if not certain to be the last few hours of his life, young William Soames Walthrop had paused from his dutiful brother letter-writing to savor the surprisinglywarm March sun...

Without realizing it, his letter to his younger sister Amelia, describing some of the places and people he'd met while on his current holiday in London, was turning into an epic prose poem on the virtues of his beloved Miss Addams...

He'd merely intended to present his friend Henry's distant cousin as a model of the best in English gentlewomen...Completely different from the sort of disdainful and ridiculously insular upper class types who'd dominated the meager social and cultural life of his and Amelia's home-town, Brusset...

A young and lovely woman of exquisite sensibility and taste...Who understood and appreciated Inner Beauty...Possessing it herself...

But...Practical matters were pressing...He had just enough funds saved, he happily informed his sister in his letter, to cover Amelia's desire to attend the local school, a private academy for young ladies, in the town where she and brother Phil resided with their uncle's family, for the rest of this year...Her first step in avoiding the grim fate that had consigned her mother and namesake to a lifetime of servitude and an early death...

Money...Which unless the course of history were changed...Would shortly be spent by his beloved siblings in a desperate and hopeless effort to find him after his tragic disappearance...

The spell she had just tried wouldn't exactly make the vamps filling the nest down the hallway mistake them for comrades, Willow explained to Buffy and Jonathan as they proceeded cautiously forward through the grilled opening which Buffy had pried open...It would only mask their human scents...And hopefully Buffy's Slayer scent...

A variation on a spell for covering up bo when one has no time for showering after exercise...

Still, vamps in a packed place like this would naturally assume any newcomers not plainly human by scent were their own kind...Or at least demons...

They'd take it for granted that even humans would surely not be foolish enough to wander into their midst...

She hoped...

"Well...If it doesn't work...We'll deal..." Buffy patted her on the shoulder as they continued...

Jonathan politely pointed out the stun gun feature on the all-purpose flashlight-12 in 1 tool set he given to Buffy to light their way...

He'd finally gotten the necessity of having protection when strolling about Sunnydale at night, he told her, grinning...After about the...Third?...Or fourth?...Time you saved my life...

Nice, she noted...But she preferred good ole Mr. Pointy, putting her hand in a concealed pocket of her skirt to pat the stake...She returned the gadget to Jonathan, lighting no longer a problem...

They could hear distinct voices up ahead now...

"Did some of them just call?... "Angelis"...?" Willow looked at Buffy...

Who looked back at her...And listened carefully...

Whoa...

"I think they did..." Buffy replied...

"Who's "Angelis"?..." Jonathan asked...

Hmmn...Morey frowned at Angelis...Still making his grand procession of the fight area...

Taking his time about it, I see...

Fortunately young William seemed eager for the battle...

Darla caught sight of a newcomer at the edge of the far end of the crowd...Staring at her, for some reason...

Slight young blonde...Not much to her...Probably a run of the mill "lady vamp of the evening" judging from her cheap clothes...

With a diminutive red-haired young female trailing just behind...And what appeared to be their mate...Rather a poor excuse, that one...just behind the red one...

But the blonde female continued to watch her...With a rather angry glare...

Hmmn...Is she the one from St. Petersburg, 1797?...Whose mate I killed?...No...

No one Darla could place...Yet she certainly seemed to have a strong enough dislike of her to merit a clear memory...Strange...

After all...Darla thought...With the occasional rare exception...Everybody likes me...

"Darla..." Buffy hissed to Willow...Glaring across the crowd which blocked their view of the fight area...

Keep back, both of you...she whispered to her friends...

They stood at the edge of a large crowd, mostly vamps...More vamps than Willow at least had ever seen concentrated in one place before...

Must easily be a couple hundred of them, she realized...

"Where's Will?..." Buffy asked Jonathan quietly...

He studied the remote and nodded in the direction of the massed crowd...A few of whom in the rear were beginning to take note of the newcomers...

However, a major fight being about to start, the usual territorial clashes were suspended...

Buffy began moving cautiously through the crowd of vampires and demons...One fellow resenting being touched as she tried to slip past, grabbed at her to throw her back...

Mr. Pointy fell from her skirt...With a clatter that caused the entire room to go dead silent...

And every face in the immediate vicinity...Including those of her friends...To turn in her direction...

Looking at her...And the wooden stake on the floor beside her...

What the hell is up back there?...Spike wondered, looking back where the crowd was turning...

Angelis, seeing an opening while his would be opponent was distracted, smiled his trademark smile and moved in for a quick kill...

After all...Who was gonna fuss about his lack of gentlemanly sportsmanship in this crowd?...

The Time Machine...Part XIV...

Main Theme (Stargate SG-1)

Across from the cemetery where Tara, Xander, and Andrew faced former Fearless Leader Warren and his new and improved Buffy-bot II, Anya watched, waited, and fretted in Xander's car...

She looked at her watch...Thirty minutes since they'd gone in...

Surely time enough...But, stay put, her heroically noble fiancee had said...If things look bad, go to the shop and call Giles in England, he'd said...

Don't try to come in after us...

Above all...Do not call Dawn...

Oh...It was just like Buffy to do something like this...Putting poor Xander in terrible danger while she's probably off touring Victorian London's fashionable sights with Willow and Spike...

When this was all over she'd really have to put her foot down regarding this sort of thing...

Not that she'd not found it all romantic...Spike off to 1880 to do...Something...To change history and win his Buffy...Buffy off in search of him...

Most romantic of all, of course...The noble Xander...The noble, gallant, and all too breakably human Xander...Off once again to rescue his "sisters" from whatever evil menaced them...

With no thought of financial reward...And not even a prayer of sexual recompense...

She hoped...

What to do?...Even now he and Tara might be in the fiendish grip of the pudgy nerd genius Warren Mears and his sidekicks...Or at least Warren, if his sidekicks weren't lying and had deserted him...

She couldn't believe Xander wouldn't have come out by now to let her know all was well...Although he did tend to forget little things like his devoted and loving fiancee when engaged in acts of selfless heroism...

Of course if she just went to the crypt entrance, listened for a bit to see that all was well, and then scurried back to the car...It wouldn't really be a violation of her pledge...

And it would prevent her from unnecessarily bothering poor Giles...

A rap at the car window brought her out of her reverie...

"Anya?..." Dawn frowned at her...Standing beside the car...

Where's Buffy?...

"Is she in the crypt over there with Spike?..." she demanded...

"Are you guys keeping tabs on her?...Did Willow and Xander put you up to this?...Where are they?..."

Well?...

"Are Buffy and Spike?..." Dawn gulped... "Making out over there?..."

She frowned...And rapped again...

"Would you please roll your window down so I can talk to you?..." she asked...

In 1880 London, a slow wave of dropping vampiral jaws was surging across the speechless crowd now turning to face Buffy, Willow, and Jonathan...

A Slayer?...Here?...They looked at Mr. Pointy on the ground...

Buffy grabbed Mr. Pointy...Hmmn, just a few too many of them, even for me...

And raised it overhead...

"My trophy!..." she cried, doing her best to sound sufficiently evil...

The former Slayer's favorite stake...she announced...

Now mine...she grinned wickedly...

Neat...thought Willow...Too bad Spike can't see from back there...

He'd be so proud...She's picked up a lot from him...That's his most Spikean smile, for sure...

Isn't the current Slayer in India?...One of the crowd nudged his fellow...

Spike, his view blocked by the crowd around the fight area, had turned to try and learn the source of the sudden shift in the nest's attention...Giving Angelis a chance for a quick and complete victory...

However, knowing old grandad all too well, Spike had been expecting something like this...If not from dear old grandsire himself, then certainly from old vamp mum Dru or grandmum Darla...And thrust an arm forward, while whirling back to face his opponent...

Angelis fell back, startled...How'd he know?...

Damn you, Darla...he thought...This one is not gonna be easy...

Darla?...He looked around...

What the...?

He caught sight of her moving back through the crowd...

Away from the fight area...Away from him...

Dearest?...Ummn...

We are a team, you know...Angelis thought...

I count on your faithful support...Darling?...

Spike closed in and Angelis fell back...

Still trying to catch the rapidly vanishing Darla's eye...

You're not gonna leave me alone to fight... "William the Bloody Spike"...?...Honey?...

Morey was pleased to note that fighting had at last begun...Although the new distraction was a bother...He moved through the crowd to see what was going on...

"You took that from the current Slayer...?" a female eyed Buffy...And Mr. Pointy, firmly in her hand...

Those nearest Buffy in the crowd keeping a respectful distance...She might not smell like a Slayer or a human...And her story might be barely plausible...However...

Former...Buffy corrected...

Willow and Jonathan kept near her...

"Try to look evil..." Willow whispered to Jonathan...

Darla, pushing her way through the crowd, had reached the circle around Buffy, Willow, and Jonathan...

As had Morey...

"So..." Darla smiled pleasantly at Buffy...Several others pulling back respectfully...

"You killed the Slayer?...And this is her stake?..."

Might I see it?...Just a moment...she asked...

Buffy, struggling to tone down her instinctive glare, passed the stake over...

Darla sniffed...It had seen considerable use, no doubt about it...

But...

"Isn't the Slayer in India just now?...Last I heard she was fighting demon assassins in New Delhi..."

Hmmn...Buffy thought...Darla...Almost certainly trying to catch me up...

"Hardly matters where you heard the Slayer was, miss...ummn...?...She was in my field of vision last time she had this..." Buffy smiled...

"Darla..." Darla smiled back...

"Buffy..."

Willow rolled her eyes...

Buffy...I love ya and I would never fault your sweet Mom for naming you as she did...But look around you...

Couldn't you come up with something a leetle more...

Hmmn...Darla thought... "Buffy?"...Silly, but perhaps deceptively so...

Morey had reached them and looked at Buffy and co...

"Well...Morey?..." Darla looked at him...

Might I?...He looked at Buffy pleasantly and reached for the stake which Darla released to him...

"Yes..." Morey nodded carefully...

This is the Slayer's stake...He handed it back to Buffy with a slight smile...

"I saw her with it in India a few years back...Quite a fiend with it she was..."

Buffy blinked just a bit...Willow as well...

What the...?

Jonathan was curious but felt under the circumstances it was best to defer any questions...

Morey turned to the crowd...About half of which now faced them...

"Ladies and gentlemen... 'Ats off and 'eads bowed to the memory of our late and great opponent...The Slayer is dead...May her newcomer have a short and uneventful career..."

To Buffy's and Willow's surprise, many males did so...Even the females in general bowed their heads...Polite century, this...

But what the hell was the old demon up to...?...Backing them up like that...

Darla frowned but hearing some of the crowd watching the fight area cheer, made a choice in favor of mother love, and dived back into the mob...

No doubt her boy was in desperate straits without his devoted mate on hand for back up...

Which he was...

Spike had leaped up and over him to block his retreat back to the edge of the crowd...

Assuming "work-face", Angelis held his ground and then suddenly charged, Spike nimbly dodging at the last minute...

Angelis stumbled into the crowd, staggering...To the general delight...

Nothing like a gallant underdog to win a crowd over...

As Angelis returned, Spike lept up in Buffy-style and rammed his feet into the tall vampire's chest...Knocking him to the ground...

Gotta thank Summers for that one, Spike noted happily...

Pity she can't be here to see it in action...

The crowd had mostly returned to watching the fight...Morey remaining beside the three newcomers...

"Slayer?..." he hissed to Buffy quietly...

Buffy blinked at him...

Follow me...Slowly...He told her...

Spike whirled up, kicking out, and let Angelis have it in the face...

Oh...Not the face, several dozen females sighed...

William...The Bloody...A good number more sighed...Dreamily...

Angelis was not having a good day...

However...

He was not "the mighty Angelis" for nothing...And caught Spike's next kick, throwing him back and off balance...

In the quiet corner of the warehouse basement where he had led the three time travelers, Morey introduced himself properly...

Morey...Special Observer attached to the Watchers' Council...And British State Security...

Observing and reporting on the movement and activities of London's most powerful underworld dwellers...Courtesy his half-demon nature and carefully established connections...

After all...The seat of the greatest Empire on earth could not be allowed to fall into the hands of

those committed to the triumph of evil...Particularly with the...former?...Morey looked at Buffy... Slayer fully occupied defending the jewel of the British imperial crown...

Hmmn...Buffy thought...Gee...

I do tend to forget the guys and I weren't the first to battle and defeat evil...

"Why are you here?...Miss...er..." Morey asked Buffy quietly...

"Buffy Summers..." Buffy introduced herself and the others...

Jonathan, her Watcher...Jonathan nodded solemnly...Willow...Her magics expert...Whose expertise had allowed this penetration of the west London nest... Willow grinned sheepishly...

As for why?...Well...

"Poor Amara..." Morey noted sadly...

How did she...?

No, no...Buffy hastily explained...

The...er, other...Slayer is fine...she noted...

"I was summoned...Sort of by accident..."

She didn't think now was the time to have Jonathan try and explain the principles of time travel...

Ah...Morey sighed with relief...Just like the 1821 incident, eh...Premature burial of the Slayer after her "death" from illness and the new one popping up just as the old emerged from her crypt?...

Ummn...Yeah...

Well, he smiled...Always good to have more than one Slayer around...

American, eh?...he grinned...

"You Yanks always do like to enter with a bang..." he noted...

Still...He looked around...Not the safest place to take your place on stage...

Dangerous lot this...Especially the Angelis pride...

"Are they why you're here Miss...?" he asked her...

Or is this new fellow, William, the problem?...

Had rather hoped either he or Angelis would dispose of at least one of them...

Which might still be the happy result...he noted, looking towards the fight area where cheering could be heard...

"Actually...It is William I'm here about..." Buffy told the half-demon...Looking carefully at Willow and Jonathan...

You see...There's something special about him...she began...

Spike regained his footing as Angelis charged for the kill...And hopping up, struck him full in the face...Again...

Oh...Wailed Angelis' adorers...

A cold and furious look came over Angelis' face...One not to be matched until Angel would take the path of redemption a century plus from now...And would face Spike under different circumstances...

"Angelis!..." Darla called to him...Reaching the edge of the crowd...

Now?...She wants to talk...Now?...he thought...Looking at Spike...

"William!..." she called to Spike...

Waving at them both...She threw her beautiful scarf into the area...Signal for a brief halt to the fighting...

The crowd fumed...Just like Darla to spoil a first-rater...

"Watch 'er, there William me boy..." one called out...

"She'll be like to stick you one the moment you turn ye back..."

Eyeing Grandad cautiously, Spike followed him over to where Darla stood...

"Morey has betrayed us to a Slayer..." Darla told them quietly...

"So you see...We have to get William safely out of here...So he can continue his fight against evil...Until his redemption is won..." Buffy noted to Morey...

You know...Willow thought...When you actually hear that "vamp with a soul" curse story...It sounds preety...

Thought Spike came back to get his soul, Jonathan wondered...

Clearly Morey had his reservations...However he agreed to do what he could to let them get over to William...Before Angelis...And the vanished Darla...got to him first...

Buffy nodded gratefully and they began moving back towards the fight area...

Well...A "vampire with a soul", eh?...Morey pondered...

Of course, there were a few rare confirmed cases of vampire redemption and more anecdotal ones...But...He was a skeptic by nature...And profession...

Who was well aware of the attractions a charming and clever young vampire prince might hold for a young and inexperience Slayer...

This young American would not be the first to fall from grace in that way...

And more important...

Well-trained and keen-eyed observer that he was...He'd not failed to notice the old bite scar Miss Buffy was carrying...

The Time Machine...Part XV...

A rather disoriented...Effects of Darla-administered laudanum and her natural psychosis...Drusilla awoke in the 1880 London hotel room she'd been sharing with Grandmother Darla and Papa Angelis...

Who were nowhere to be found...

She cautiously strolled the hotel corridor...Fortunately, windowless...

A young chambermaid came by... "Two o'clock, miss..." she answered in reply to Dru's polite query...

Strange, strange time for the others to be out and about...Dru noted to herself as she fed gently on the young maid in an empty room...

True, Father Angelis might be annoyed with her feeding in the very place they were staying...Still, she thought, rather peevishly...If he'd wanted her to behave he should not have left her to her own devices...

Besides...It wasn't like young women were never found murdered in London hotel rooms...

Two o'clock...she sighed...Not a time she could go out and about seeking her missing ones...

Unless...She used that sewer tunnel Grandmother and she had taken to follow Father to his most recent battle a few days before...

Perhaps they were there...Having another lovely fight with others...Blood and gore to spare about them...

Rather cruel of them to leave poor Dru all to herself while having such a nice time, she noted...

Well...If she could remember the way back...Perhaps there'd still be something left for her...

Darla had proposed to the mysterious William that an alliance be formed...

At least a temporary one...Until the Slayer and their treacherous half-demon "promoter" were both destroyed...

Angelis smiled his trademark leer...Nothing he liked better than an alliance...Of temporary duration...Ending with the ally receiving a short, sharp stabbing in the back...Or being used as a lure for the object of the alliance...

Hmmn...Spike thought...Don't think killing the current Slayer would exactly enhance my chances for soul recovery...Besides, isn't she in China?...Nope, that's 20 years from now...Well...

On the other hand, keeping close to the old ones would be his best chance for getting a line on Dru's whereabouts...Not to mention a possible chance to gain a few bonus redemption points by offing two of history's worst killers...Should that chance occur...

And of course saving the current Slayer was sure to be something Buffy would appreciate...Her soul in the afterlife, at least...A sort of courtship present, you might say...

And, how many Slayers besides Miss Summers had Angel saved anyway?...

Yes, he pleasantly nodded to Darla...Given the grim news she'd brought he could see the advantages of an alliance...

In 2002 Sunnydale, Anya nervously twisted her hands as she sat with Dawn in Xander's car...

Explaining in edited terms as best she could, the situation as she knew it...

Buffy and Willow off...Nearby...Helping Spike deal with a dangerous foe...

While Xander and Tara waited in the crypt...Meeting with one of the...Hopefully former...Minions of that foe...

Well...Dawn frowned...

"Why are we sitting here?...Lets go in..."

Can't...Anya explained...Promised Xander I'd stay here in case the minion was lying and an ambush was planned...

"Well, what the heck are you supposed to do if they don't show?...They could be dying in there!..." Dawn noted...

We have to check things out...Now...she insisted...

Well...Anya hesitated...

"I was thinking of just going by the crypt entrance...Listening to see if all's ok...Then right back here..."

Dawn nodded...Now that was more like it...

She'd do it...she told Anya...

Being smaller it'd be easier for her...

Hmmn...Makes sense, Anya thought...

But wait...Adult humans don't let their young expose themselves to danger...

If they know about it and aren't the cause of it...

At least nowadays...Rather a change from her former human times...When exposing unwanted infants to the elements was what passed for modern birth control...

"We'll both go..." she firmly noted...

March 13th, 1880, London...2:10 pm...

Miss Cicely Addams, wealthy young beauty and object of adoration for a number of London's eligible bachelors, emerged from her cousins' the Henricks' townhouse for an early afternoon promenade...

She was looking forward to tonight's party where no doubt she would be the object of many a young gallant's devotion...

Of all people, the image of young William Soames Walthrop, her distant cousin Henry's friend, popped into her head...

Odd...

A handsome enough, even rather engaging, little fellow, but hardly one worthy of consideration...Still, she'd been polite to him for Henry's sake on their few chance meetings here and at the various events Henry...Social radical that he was...Insisted on bringing his "friend" the charity case to...

She was aware that the little...Poet?...Yes, that was it...Was coming to tonight's party, but why he should suddenly come to mind...?

Odd...She looked at herself in her small purse mirror...And startled, saw another face there...Similar to her own, yet different...And blonde-haired...

She carefully returned the mirror to her purse, trembling slightly...And caught herself as an elegant young man passing by, bowed to her...

Perhaps...Her promenade should wait a bit...

Clearly her corset stays were being laced much too tightly...

There was no way of knowing how many of those in the crowd were Morey's people, Darla pointed out...Angelis having suggested they simply inform the crowd of Morey's treachery and let the mob deal with the problem...

It was quite possible a lynch mob might end up under his control rather than theirs...And most of the crowd would not much care who was lynched...So long as they got their proper share of the lovely gore...

Spike interrupted politely...

Why not let him deal with the Slayer?...While they prepared a surprise for their former associate and provided a quick exit in case of difficulty...

"You're willing to take on the Slayer?...Alone?..." Darla looked at him...

Quite an interesting little fellow...

Pity he had to be so short...

Spike nodded...He'd had a certain amount of past experience with Slayers...And rather enjoyed a dance or two with them...

"Dance?..." Angelis frowned...

The little fellow seemed to think this was a game...Dance, indeed...

You'll be in dancing on the end of her stake if you don't take this seriously...Angelis solemnly noted...

Spike rolled his eyes slightly...Same old grandad...

God, he must have freaked when he came to beside Buffy that morning after...Spike noted...

Waking up after all that time in limbo...Next to the Greatest Slayer of All Time...

Pity I couldn't have been there...The look on his face...

Buffy and her friends were slowly making their way towards the fight area...Still too blocked to see the object of their search...Jonathan cautiously pulled out his remote to scan for the signal from Spike's chip...

Morey followed closely, watching them carefully...

A few of his people scattered through the crowd watching him...

"Morey?..." Darla came through the crowd...Smiling at Buffy and her friends...

Angelis would like to see you...It seems his opponent has fled...He'd like an explanation...

"As I'm sure this crowd would..." she noted...

And indeed, Spike having headed off from the fight area to "lie in wait" for the Slayer as agreed, the crowd was beginning to sense the fight had ended prematurely...And was expressing its displeasure in no uncertain terms...

Jonathan noting Spike's position moving to the rear of the basement area, began moving in that general direction, Buffy and Willow following...

Morey frowned, watching the others move on, but there was little choice...He signed to two of his people to watch the departing Americans and followed Darla back towards the fight area where Angelis waited...

A small, rather young vamp noted Jonathan's rather sparkling and twinkling toy...And grabbed it...

"Hey!..." Jonathan cried... "Give that back!..." Willow and Buffy turned back to look at him...

The little vamp shoved him back...Hard enough to knock him down...

Buffy and Willow raced over...Jonathan would not last long here dissed like that...

"We've got to have the remote..." he hissed to Buffy...Who headed after the little vamp and grabbed him just as Morey reached the waiting Angelis...

"You have my friend's property..." she told the little vamp, twisting his arm back until he dropped the remote...Jonathan grabbing it as Willow came up, and called out to Buffy...

"Buffy!..." she cried, pointing...

To where a furious Angelis was lifting old Morey by the throat...Darla by his side...Watching for the demon's friends and glancing over to where Buffy had released the little vampire...

Buffy hopped up and raced towards Angelis and Morey...Several of Morey's "people" were likewise moving up...

Darla called out to Angelis, just as the choking Morey pulled a vial of holy water and threw it at his assailant...

Angelis released the half-demon, screaming in pain...Darla moving to him in a fury...Which quickly calmed as she saw the extent of the threat opposing them...At least five plus that Buffy and her friends had come to Morey's defense...

And the crowd naturally was not pleased to see a popular old friend like Morey being unmanhandled by what they took to be an posturing Angelis peevishly upset over the fight's outcome...

Time for a strategic withdrawal...And to see if that "Spike" was going to keep his word and "deal" with the Slayer when they led her to him...

Come my love...We're not properly appreciated here, she noted...

A furious Angelis, however, was not willing to leave without some measure of revenge...

He pointed a finger at Buffy, now standing by Morey...

"That is a Slayer!..." he cried...

We have all been betrayed...And a Slayer let into our very midst...By Morey...

"A Slayer?..." Morey laughed...Having recovered some breath...

Does anyone sense a human, let alone a Slayer, here?...he asked...

Don't press it, mister...Willow thought...That scent-covering spell of mine will only last so long

...And Darla's already seen through it...

Throw them out!...Outside!...One of Morey's agents began a cry...

The crowd siding with their local, the chant was eagerly taken up...Angelis and Darla beat a retreat...

"Stay with Morey..." Buffy called to Willow and Jonathan, taking the remote from him...

She moved off in the direction where Spike waited...

Waiting at the spot agreed to for the Slayer's "ambush" Spike had heard the cries of the crowd and a vaguely familiar but too garbled cry...

If he didn't know Buffy was back..er, ahead...in 2002...He'd almost swear that sound was...

Ridiculous...Love was clearly beginning to impair his senses...But then, maybe all Slayers' cries sound alike...

But more important, he'd sensed a new presence approaching...Still at a distance, but definitely closing...

A boy knows his mother's scent...

Angelis and Darla raced up to him...The Slayer had "taken the bait" they told him quickly...And hurried on into the sewer tunnel...

Likely their new partner would become the object of the increasingly angry mob's attention...All to the good if his murder would provide them with just enough time to escape...

Well...Spike thought...Seeing his "family" flee...And hearing the mob's now inflamed cries...

Angelis and Darla fleeing a howling mob...

Just like old times...Pity old Dru was not yet here...Still...Since the Slayer, whoever she was, was now safe from Angelis and Darla...No need for him to hang around and become an afternoon's entertainment for a crowd of disappointed vampires...

Besides, he was anxious to catch up with "Mum"as long as she was nearby...Lots to thrash out between them...

A confused Dru greeted her family near the tunnel entrance...

Why had they left the poor little...

They raced on past her...Leaving her blinking after them...

And turning to follow...Quickly and steadily hurrying her pace...

Dru might be insane...But her survival instincts were honed to a fine, vampiral edge...

"They won't come after us..." Darla called to Angelis as they reached the main tunnel...

Too much chance of attracting attention from above...

"What about the Slayer...And Morey?..." Angelis noted...

With luck, William has dealt with or slowed her down being dealt with by...the Slayer, his mate noted...

As for Morey...Another time...Which would not have been necessary if you'd have just killed him instead of waiting to pause and make a speech when you had him...she groused...

A whining Dru came up, demanding that they take her along...

Not nice the way the old ones treat little Dru...No...

They heard the sound of rushing feet, stumbling over trash in the unlit dank connecting tunnel behind them...

Who's coming?...Is it William?...Darla turned to Angelis, nearest the connecting tunnel...He went over and peered down the dark passage...

"Good luck, my love..." Darla called to Angelis, hurrying on down the main tunnel...Dru in hot pursuit...

Darling?...Angelis looked after her...

Fortunately for poor Angelis...It was Spike...Who'd set out to catch up to his "mum" if possible...And if his fate would have it...Catch the whole "family" circle together or separately somewhere along the tunnelway...

"Well?..." Angelis called to his new "ally"...As Spike came up to him, looking about for any sign of Dru...

Hmmn...Pity I didn't think to grab one of those short wooden poles back at the fight arena, Spike thought...Good chance to deal with old Grandsire alone...

Interestingly enough a similar thought was occurring to Angelis...This William was presenting a formidable challenge to his status...He'd have to be dealt with sooner or later...

However...Hearing the cries of the approaching mob...Apparently Darla having underestimated their persistence...He felt it was best to view the "big picture" and maintain the alliance for now...

"Did you kill the Slayer?..." Angelis asked Spike eagerly...

Wounded her only, I'm afraid...Spike told him...

Her friends grabbed her before I could finish the job...And circumstances being what they were...I thought it best to join you good folks down here...Spike explained...

Coward...Angelis thought to himself, mentally sneering...Bet he never let the Slayer get within a foot of him...

Still...Might be best to accept his story for now...Until they were safely away, the extra help might come in handy...At least as something to throw at the mob as they charged in...

The cries were getting loud...Fast...

Hmmn...Speaking of letting the Slayer get too close...

The Time Machine...Part XVI...

March 13th, 1880...London...2:30pm...

In his borrowed digs at Forster Arms, William Soames Walthrop, human, was composing a second letter...This to his young brother, Philip...

Good lad, Phil...But, as a rather practical sort, inclined to avoid the finer things...All well and good for a boy of poor family to want to make his mark...However...As his elder brother pointed out, it was their right, even duty, to lay claim to those "finer things" as well...And not abandon them to those wealthy enough to have the leisure to enjoy them full-time...

After all, one could count on one's fingers the number of comfortably wealthy types who made any major contribution to Beauty...Or even if Phil insisted on the practical, Science...At least until the great geniuses had made their first mark and acquired wealth and position, many, perhaps nearly all were poor...Look at the great scientist Faraday...

For Mum's sake, Phil, he concluded...Mum who loved the beautiful and had so little of it in her life...We have a duty to try to pause now and then to take...And make...Our fair share of the world's beauty...

However much the world may try to deny us...And Fate may intervene to keep us down...

Underneath west London, Angelis and Spike were slowly falling back down the main branch sewer tunnel...Much of the mob from the warehouse basement fight arena who had been pursuing them seemed to have dropped back, probably in fear of attracting human attention...But there were clearly a small number still in pursuit...

No doubt including the current Slayer, whoever the young lady was, Spike thought...

Glad as he was to have helped protect her from Grandsire Angelis and Great-grandmother Darla, he was not anxious to meet her in the flesh just now...Rather unlikely she'd accept his explanations of why he was here or allow him to continue on his quest...

Brave lass, though...To have taken a chance like that, raiding the west London nest against what must have been at least 200...Good thing that demon promoter, Morey, was apparently some kind of double agent...She'd probably make it unscathed...

Funny such a courageous one didn't leave more of an impression in history...Well, look at his poor Buffy...Saved the world countless times...Nobody remembered her after death...

Excepting of course her Watcher, now off to England...Her few friends...

And her loving poet-historian...Who had documented her exploits...And intended to see those exploits and her story, told...

Of course, to be fair to 2002 Humanity, no one but the old gang and he had known Buffy had been dead...

Yes, her story would be told...He patted his manuscript, carefully stowed away in his suit...If only to his human counterpart...Once human Will was safe...And the history of this timeline at least, rewritten...

A story he knew his human counterpart would cherish...And a woman...Whom Spike was sure...Would become the love of young Walthrop's life...And existence...

Even if the young poet could only hope to meet her after death...

He had an instinct about this one...

Angelis glanced quickly at his "ally" as they approached a branch tunnel..Boltable inspection door left open by some careless fight attendee...Hmmn...A chance to kill two birds...Leave something to keep the crowd amused for the time it'd take him to escape...And eliminate a new and hardy rival...

He slipped off into the branch tunnel, slamming and bolting the door behind him...

Well...Spike sighed, hearing his "grandad's" gleeful crackle as Angelis fled down the side tunnel...

Nothing surprising there...Too bad I couldn't have dealt with him here and now, though...

Still...Darla and poor old "mum" are the focus of attention for now...

And old gramps had the right idea...Best to avoid the locals just right now...

He hastened his pace down the main tunnel, the scents of Darla and Dru lingering heavily in the dank air...

Buffy was continuing cautiously down the tunnel connecting to the main sewer,. Jonathan's remote, set to track the signal from Spike's chip, in her hand...

Fortunately the mob continued to accept her as one of them based on Willow's scent-covering spell and Morey's vouching for her claim to have killed the former...er, current...Slayer...

Even more fortunate, most were now backing off and returning to the warehouse...Fun was fun but survival was more important...And even idiot humans were sure to get suspicious hearing the cries of a couple of lynch victims coming from the sewers of west London...

So that they were content to leave the hunt for Angelis and Darla to Buffy and the few hardy unsouls who dared continue...

Back at the warehouse, Morey guided Jonathan and Willow to a relatively safe corner...Willow having explained her spell to cover their human scent would only last so long...

They were anxious to continue in pursuit of Buffy but with the tunnel still crowded with returning vampires...In a highly agitated state...Morey felt it was best they hang back a bit...

Willow agreed...After all, without the remote they could easily get lost in the tunnels...

"Any idea where Darla and Angelis would go?..." she asked their half-demon friend...

Probably straight back to their hotel, he noted...They'd be quite safe there, no vamp or demon being foolish enough to risk making a scene at such a place...And a safe house in any case, pledged by all underdwellers to remain so...Under any circumstances...

Hmmn...Hotel, eh...Angelis and Darla must be riding high these days...Say...

"Is there another vampire, a young female, with them?..." Willow asked Morey...

Miss Drusilla?...The crazy one?...he looked at her...

Is she the one the Slayer is concerned with?...Rather interested in her myself, he noted...She seems to possess some rather dangerous abilities...The Council's been anxious to learn more abut her...

Dru...Of course...That's who Spike's after...His siress...That's why he took on Angelis here...Willow thought...Trying to get a line on Dru...

It's Dru he's come for...she noted to Jonathan...

Dru?...he asked...

Who's...?

One never knows where fate and a sewer tunnel will take one, as Angelis now learned to his regret...Just ten minutes after he'd abandoned the mysterious William the Bloody to face whatever the local lynch mob had in mind...

Light suddenly streamed down just a few feet in front of him...From a grated manhole cover...

Blocking the way forward...No choice now but to turn right back...

Reaching the connecting door to the main tunnel, he cautiously unbolted the inspection door...And slipping through, found himself face to face with...The Slayer...

Buffy glared quietly at Angelis...Holding a torch in one hand...

Damn...Thought you were Spike lurking in there...

Hmmn...she thought...My old vampire love...Unsouled as yet, of course...But if I kill him now, he and the Buffy of this timeline's future will never meet...

And he'll never father Darla's kid...

She placed the torch in a wall bracket...Mr. Pointy emerging from her skirt pocket...

Angelis backed up against the inspection door...

My God, look at him...The great Angelis...He's shaking like a leaf...

Hadn't he ever fought a Slayer before me?...

"Slayer...?" he pleaded... "It's not me you want...I can lead you to the others...I'm not the threat to Humankind...You want Darla, Dru...That Spike fellow..."

You know Spike?...she held Mr. Pointy, aiming for his chest...

"A mighty prince of evil..." Angelis nodded... "Not a simple fellow hunting for his existence like me..."

Attractive girl, he thought...Rather like my Darla, only shorter...Which I'd have no problem with...

"Let me help you...I can bring you to him...To all of them..." he told her...

Hmmn...He's lying, no question...Regarding Spike anyway...They only met a short time ago...

Still, she thought...If he knows where Darla and Dru are going...Spike is sure to head there...

Might be faster than tracking with the remote...

And if I kill Angelis, Angel and the Buffy of this timeline will never go on to battle evil, fall in love, separate...

And he'll never leave her for...Darla...er, excuse me, I mean...Redemption...

Yeah, right...

Boy, this Buffy is never gonna know how lucky she is...

But, she sighed...Later...

"All right..." she waved the stake towards the path down the tunnel...

Lead me to this "prince of evil"...

Spike'd get quite a kick out of that, she noted, grinning to herself inwardly...While keeping a close and glaring eye on her...Future?...Boyfriend...as they moved along in the near-dark...

A short distance behind Buffy and Angelis...Willow, Jonathan, and their somewhat reluctant guide, Morey...Who'd agreed to lead them back to the hotel where Darla and Dru were almost certainly headed...

And, Willow was sure, with Spike..And Buffy...In pursuit...

3pm...Darla and Dru had reached the point of the sewer tunnel connecting to their hotel's basement...

"Angelis...?" Dru looked at Grandmother...Who shrugged...

A tragic loss, my heart bleeds...

Just hope he kept the crowd entertained...

Dru started and looked back at the tunnel entrance...

Someone...Coming...Someone she didn't...But did...Know...

"What is it, Dru?...Is Angelis...?" Darla looked at her...

No...Dru shook her head...Not Daddy...

She rubbed her tummy...Stroking it...

What...Some human strolling in the sewers?...Darla wondered...

An inspector, maybe?...

"A little one, Dru?..." Darla asked her...

Yes...And no...Dru giggled...

Darla glared...Crazed little...Moron...

Dru looked away, smiling...Her...Secret...

And then looked back at Darla, rather frightened...

A Secret even she didn't know...Couldn't comprehend...

And a danger...

"He's coming, Grandmother...He's coming for your Dru..." Dru whimpered, shivering now...

Lets hope so, Darla thought...

Losing both of them would make this my best day in quite a while...

Dru?...Darla looked at Dru...Now staring blankly at her...

"Who's coming, dearest?...Is it Morey?..."

"No...Don't know...Him..." Dru shook with rising fear...

"Why is he coming for me?..." she cried desperately...

Hmmn...Darla stared at her...

A somewhat sane remark coming from her at last...

And given that, perhaps it was best to take her hint and find someplace to hide...

To await "his"?...coming...

Angelis, to his credit, played the part of perfect Victorian gentleman to a fault...Warning the Slayer behind him to mind the slick bricks of the tunnel, miss...Politely pausing to let her relight her torch when it blew out...Making a little pleasant conversation to ease the tension and pass the time...

"You know, Slayer...I have the strangest sensation that I know you from somewhere...Have we ever met?..."

"Have you ever met a Slayer before?..." Buffy replied grimly...

Only from a respectful distance...he noted...

But always with the greatest admiration of a gallant foe...

She eyed the remote...Still on track...But Spike was still moving fast...

Don't stop, keep moving...she told him...

Or your "gallant foe" will be paying you her last respects...

By now, poor Dru had reached a level of panicky hysteria new even for her...

"Grandmother!...Want to go!..." she screamed...Trying to tear out of Darla's grasp...

He's almost here!...He wants your Dru dead!...

Darla held her firmly...If whatever was coming was nearly as dangerous as Dru's panic suggested...She'd want...Bait...

"Ladies..." Spike addressed them pleasantly as he emerged from the tunnel entrance...

With the strength of desperate fear, Dru tore loose from Darla and raced back into the hotel...

Him?...Darla thought...Looking at Spike...

Hmmn...Perhaps I should reconsider this William's fitness as a potential mate for Eternity...Especially as Angelis appears not to have survived...she thought...

Sad when a mother can't face her own child, Spike noted, smiling at Darla while looking after the vanished Dru...Sins of the past and all that...

The Time Machine...Part XVII...

In the tunnel of the 1880 London sewer system, wonder of the nineteenth century industrialized world, Angelis continued his attempts at pleasant conversation with the mysterious new Slayer who was using him to hunt the equally mysterious "Spike"...

"You're an American, aren't you, miss?..." he asked politely...

Fascinating country, America...He'd always wanted to go, he told her...Amazing people with their remarkable energy and cleverness...All those amazing inventions...That Mr. Edison...

Remarkable...

It was thanks to them that this century would go down as an age of Discovery...he noted...

And all that wide open prairie...Paintings of it reminded him of the west of his own dear Ireland...

Was she from the prairie country by any chance?...

Chicago, now California she told him tersely...Keep moving...

Ah...The Mid and Far West...He'd known it, he told her...Unleashing his most angelic smile...

He'd read a little Whitman...Had she ever read Whitman?...

Really captured the feel of the place, you know...

Buffy urged him along...Holding her torch carefully...And Mr. Pointy firmly...

Hmmn...Least she could do was tell him her name...he thought...

Americans...No sense of the proprieties...Savages, all...

Wait...Darla had mentioned...Buffy?..."Buffy"?...he suppressed a chuckle...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer?...

Well, time the mighty Angelis made use of his greatest talent...And dealt with...

"Buffy" the Vampire Slayer...

Lord...He'd have to come up with some better name for her after he killed her...

For the sake of the mighty Angelis' reputation...

In 2002 Sunnydale, Anya and Dawn had reached the entrance of Spike's crypt...

Anya caught the faint sound of Xander's voice...Couldn't make out the words...

Buffy?...Dawn thought sure she'd heard Buffy say...Something...

And another voice...Hmmn...

Anya looked at Dawn who shook her head...But the other voice was clearly a bit raised...

Something about..."fooling around..." Dawn told her friend...

"No more fooling around?..." Anya whispered...

Yeah...

Some sound from inside, a quick rush of footsteps...

They looked at each other...Time to be...

"Hi guys..." Buffy came to the entrance...Smiling...

Spike smiled pleasantly at Darla who, now standing up from where she'd hid herself, eyed him cautiously...

"Where's Angelis?..."

He's not here?...Spike looked innocently at her...

He left me by way of a side tunnel sometime ago...he explained...

Just like him...Darla cursed inwardly...And I told that moron all the other side tunnels led past the surface manholes...

He's probably charcoal by now...

Something wrong with your little friend, just now?...Spike asked her pleasantly...

She seemed in quite a hurry...

"Slayer?..." Angelis called quietly back to Buffy as they continued down the tunnel...

Who was silent...

"Slayer...I know you have no sympathy for me...That I am simply a monster to you..." he paused...

But...

Oh, God...Buffy frowned sourly...Is he trying to pull the angelic act with me?...Pity the poor condemned one?...

Do I look like poor sweet Dru?...

Spike never played that game, thank goodness...Even on his worst days...

And now...His actions speak for themselves...

As did Angel's...she thought...Grimly...

"If you could find it...In your heart..." Angelis paused...

To pray for me after...I'm gone...

Buffy rolled her eyes...Angelis, not able to see her well behind him in the dim light, took her silence for sympathy...

He fell to his knees, imploring...A striking Victorian tableau...The Slayer and the condemned but remorseful vampire...

He'd have to have a painting of the scene commissioned for posterity...Maybe Darla could stand in for this "Buffy"...

Surely the young Slayer's tender heart must melt at the sight of...

"Get up...And get moving..." Buffy paused a few feet from him, glaring...

Up...she prodded him a bit with the tip of Mr. Pointy...

He got up sheepishly...Damn...

What's in that heart of hers, lead?...

These Americans have no heart, no soul...No sensibility at all...

Definitely not a good day for the mighty Angelis...

However...

A faint call from behind them...

"Buffy...?"

Willow...Buffy realized...

"Better warn your friends to be careful...Buffy..." Angelis told her...They could easily get lost in these tunnels...

For just a moment she forgot, turning...

He'd gotten just the right tone of sincere concern...His trademark...

In fairness to poor human Dru, it had taken an equally sincere plea for her prayers, plus releasing her mother, unharmed, to win her reluctant grant of access to her convent chapel...

He saw his opportunity...And donning face, grabbed at Mr. Pointy, tossing it aside...

Everything was fine, guys...Buffy informed Anya and Dawn as they stood outside Spike's crypt in 2002 Sunnydale...

Had a little trouble with old Warren...But he's under lock and key...

Anya couldn't contain her curiosity...

"How'd the time travel thing work out, Buffy?..." she asked...

Did Spike get his heart...Or soul...Or whatever he went back for?...

Dawn stared at Buffy...Hmmn...She seems in an awfully good mood all things considered...

Whoa?...Time travel?...Spike's soul?...

"He's still there...Willow too...There was a leetle problem..." Buffy noted...

But we're working on it...Come on inside...

They followed her...A loud howl outside...

Hmmn...Buffy frowned...Looking at Dawn...

Must protect my little sister...

Something's up...From the grave...she told her friends...

"Just a minute while I take care of this one..." she smiled, patted Dawn, and hurried off...

Anya...Dawn hissed...

Anya?...

Anya looked as they waited just inside...

"What?..."

Dawn put a finger to her lips...

"She didn't blink...Didn't you notice?...Not once..."

Well...Buffy always had an intense stare...Anya thought...

"It's not Buffy..." Dawn hissed...

I know that touch...It's the bot...

A summer of trying to pretend it was Buffy had made her an expert...

"But I thought the bot got wrecked..." Anya looked at her...

Dawn signed for quiet...God knows how good her hearing is...

It's the bot...She insisted...And I'll bet that Warren is running her...

A loud howl was cut off in mid-scream...

Knowing his way through the tunnel quite well, Morey the half-demon underworld fight promoter and British double agent had managed to help Willow and Jonathan overtake Buffy and her vampire "guide"...

Just in time to find Buffy in serious trouble...

Angelis had gotten the drop on her when she'd turned back to look for her friends coming up the tunnel...And, for Angelis, was moving rather quickly for once to deal with her...

Willow had just reinforced her scent-covering spell to protect her and Jonathan from detection from the vamps and demons still lurking in parts of the tunnel...She tried but was too weak to help...

Morey leapt to the Slayer's defense...Angelis smashed him back with a full blow...

But he'd deal with that traitor later...

Ladies first...He lifted the stunned Buffy...

Jonathan ran up with his handy all purpose, 12-in-1 flashlight, multi-tool kit, calculator...Stun gun...

No true nerd is without one...

A bolt of blue light flashed at Angelis...He fell back in howling pain...

"Who...Who are you?..." Angelis looked at Jonathan as he struggled to his feet...

A wizard commanding the power of lightening?...Able to subdue even his own mighty self?...

He backed off as Jonathan threatened him with his fiendish device...

Willow helped Buffy to her feet, then turned to help Morey...Buffy glared at the cowering vampire...

Damn...Where's Mr. Pointy?...There's a vampire with my name on him...

If I find so much as a pencil, the future Buffy of this timeline is gonna be one lucky Slayer...she thought...

Rats, no stake...

"I am..." Jonathan thought for a suitably menacing name...Looking at Willow, who shrugged...

Hmmn...1880...

"Thomas Alva Edison..."

The American Wizard of Menlo Park!...Angelis recoiled in horror...

Prometheus of the modern age with his wonderous night-piercing light bulb...The human genius who can take sound out of the air and save it forever on wax cylinders...Even Darla had looked a bit nervous after he'd read to her of Edison's achievements a while back...

Now having parted the darkness with his electrical magic, turning his genius in union with the Slayer against the vampiral menace...Jonathan announced...

At the secret request of Her Majesty's Government...

Nice initiative, Jonathan...Willow grinned at him...

I knew it, Angelis thought, shaken...

I told Darla he'd be coming after our kind one day...When I saw those new light bulb things at the Great Exhibition a few months ago...

But no, she said...This is the same as the time you got nervous when that Franklin fellow showed up with his kites and lightening rods, she said...No little human scientist is ever going to threaten our kind...oh, no...

Damn...

Hmmn...

Didn't think Mr. Edison was quite that young...But...They do call him the "Boy Genius"...

The Time Machine...Part XVIII...

At the sewer tunnel entrance to her hotel basement, Darla eyed the mysterious

"William the Bloody"...

Not especially menacing just now...But clearly on his best behavior...And on

guard...

And if Dru's fears were semi-lunatic ranting...There was clearly something real

behind them...

But then, Darla liked a little "menace" in her relationships...

Back up the main sewer tunnel...

Angelis did what he usually did when a new foe proved rather powerful...Turning

and fleeing down the tunnel...

Buffy sheepishly grinned at Jonathan...Nice job there, "Mr. Edison"...

And smiled at Willow...Who returned the smile...

Angelis...Fleeing in panic from the mighty...Jonathan?...

If only they'd brought a camera...

Morey came over...Cocking his head at "Edison"...

Was that story...? he asked...

"Ummn...Well...not exactly..." Jonathan began...

Jonathan is Mr. Edison's top assistant...Buffy cut in, smiling at him...

Naturally Mr. Edison couldn't be allowed to take the risk...she explained...

Ah, Morey nodded...Well, good to have Science on our side...he smiled...

Remarkable contraption, that...he looked at Jonathan's 12-in-1...

"Pity Angelis got away from us though..." he sighed...

Yeah...Buffy frowned grimly...Pity...

"They'll probably all be up ahead with your William...At the hotel..." the

half-demon noted...

No other place for them to go really until sunset...The tunnel beyond runs into

the Thames...They'll be trapped if they go there...

"At the hotel, they'd have some place to hide and some protection..." Morey

added...

"Protection?..." Willow asked...

Demon guards, contacts like me...It's the safe house for the west London

underworld...he reminded her...

Hmmn...Buffy looked at the others...

"Maybe we shouldn't try the direct route..." she suggested...

"Angelis will be waiting for us, maybe Darla and Dru, too..."

Unless, of course William destroys them first...she noted...

"He could do that?..." Morey eyed her...

"If he gets any chance..." Buffy nodded...Just a hint of pride in her voice...

Great...Now she's singing his praises?...Willow thought...

Geesh...Our Buffy's got it bad...

"Useful fellow, 'this vampire with a soul'..." Morey looked at Buffy...

If she's telling the truth and isn't in his thrall...he thought...

Still her associates are definitely human...And unscarred...

Buffy knew that Angelis, didn't she?...Jonathan whispered to Willow as Buffy discussed the situation with Morey...

Seemed like something personal between them...At least for her...he noted...

Long story...Very long story...Willow replied...

In 2002 Sunnydale, "Buffy"...Or whoever she was...Had hurriedly returned from a

quick Slaying of a hideous newborn demon to Spike's crypt where Anya and Dawn

had debated their course of action...

Too quickly for them to implement Anya's carefully thought out "run for the

car" plan...

"Got it..." she noted happily to them...

Dawn...My sister...is safe...she thought...Or whatever equivalent of thinking she did...

As is Anya...My friend Xander's former demon now human fiancee given to inappropriate but well-intended remarks who requires encouragement and support

to ease her re-entry into human society...she "thought"...

"Ummn...What was it?..." Dawn asked brightly, playing for time...

"Big, hairy, very stupid...Now former...demon..." "Buffy" grinned...

Lets go in...she suggested...

"How hairy was it?..." Anya asked, rather desperately...

"Buffy" stared at her...How hairy?...Hmmn...

"See...Ummn...That's...A distinctive characteristic...To identify the specific

demon race..."

After all...Some hunt in pairs...Even groups...Anya noted...

So it's important to know...

Oh..."Buffy" nodded...Important...And more could be around...

She hesitated...More around...A threat...

Dawn...Her sister...Her top priority in Willow's old programming...

And Warren hadn't made it imperative that she bring those she found lurking outside in to him immediately...

"I'm not sure how hairy he was...Let me go check..." the bot beamed at them...

Wait here, guys...It could be dangerous...she waved and was off...

"Well..." Dawn looked at Anya...

She's come a long way since last summer...

"What'll we do?..." Anya looked at her...

It'll be back in a second...

You go to the car...Get to the shop and call Giles...Dawn told her...

"I'll stay...I think she likes me...I'll tell her you went inside to see

Xander...That'll give you some time..."

Anya hesitated...

"I don't know what and where things are in the shop...You do..." Dawn noted...

Go on, now...she hissed...

Anya nodded and hurried off as quietly as she could...

Abandoning Darla and Dru to whatever grim fate the electrical wizard Edison and his minions had in store, Angelis continued on down the sewer tunnel past the hotel basement exit, hoping to find a safe hiding place in a side branch...

He'd no doubt that little William...The source of all this trouble, undamn him...Would have gone on to the hotel...Where Edison and the Slayer Buffy, would doubtless deal with him and the females...

Alas, poor Darla...His heart bled...

Still one should display a little appropriate sentiment at one's mate's demise...he noted...

If only to keep in practice for the next encounter with a susceptible human...

He paused at a side tunnel...

"Darla...my poor Darla..." he sighed...Tragically...

"Is that the way you'll mourn me?..." Darla called to him...

He jumped, whanging his head on the tunnel roof...Fortunately no wood used in the bracing...

My mate...For all Eternity...Darla groaned to herself...

"Get hold of yourself, Angelis..." she sighed...

The Time Machine...Part XIX...

March 13th, 1880, 4:30 pm...London...

Their "ally" William had kindly offered to make another attempt on the Slayer at the hotel basement entrance, Darla explained to Angelis as he nursed his bruised head...

Asking only that she let him know where dear Dru had got herself off to... Dru?...Angelis asked...Befitting the responsible parent that he was...

This fellow's interested in our Dru?...

"Apparently..." Darla noted...A little grimly...

Lucky for our little Dru I was rather more concerned with survival just then...she thought...

Else...I might have "helped" William find her mangled corpse...Or ashes...

Still, the fellow is a bit small for me...

In the hotel, Spike was cautiously feeling his way...Darla had told him their room was on the fourth floor, number ten...Despite her assurances that all the hallway areas were windowless, he felt it best to take it slow...

Even if she weren't lying, one never knew when some happy human might come innocently out for a stroll, leaving his or her sun-filled room door wide open...

It was now just after 4:30 pm...He had at least two hours until sunset...And a little over three hours before he could make his first interception attempt on his human counterpart ...Unless things worked out well here in his call on dear vamp "Mum"...

As for Darla...Even if he could have gotten the drop on her, it was best to leave her alive...By her own admission she'd be trapped in the dead-ended upper tunnel until sunset where Dru would no doubt seek her out if she survived his visit...Offering him an additional chance...

And her presence in the tunnel might keep the current Slayer and her minions whoever they were, busy long enough for him to slip away...

In 2002 Sunnydale, the bot had made a rather thorough inspection of its dead demon victim...Providing Anya with a reasonable amount of getaway time...

She returned to find Dawn waiting at the crypt entrance...

"Dawn...?" the bot looked round...

"Where's Anya?...I checked the demon and he's extremely hairy...About 10,000 hairs to the square inch..."

That is hairy...Dawn agreed brightly...

"Anya's gone in to see Xander..." she told the bot...Who frowned a bit...

Oh...

"She hasn't come back, then?..." Buffy-bot II asked her...With Xander?...

Nope...Seems pretty quiet in there, actually...Dawn noted...

"Well..." the bot smiled... "Why don't we go in and join everybody?..."

God I wish you had an off-switch, Dawn thought...

Actually...That'll be preety neat in the real Buffy...

Oh, well...She stared at the bot who looked expectantly at her...

Poor thing doesn't mean any harm I guess...Just that jerk Warren making her lie to us...

Hope Buffy and the others don't have to rip her apart again...

She went in, the bot following...

Angelis explained the new situation to his mate...Who rolled her eyes at his panic-stricken descriptions of the mighty wizard he encountered...

Tom Edison and his electro-shocking machine...That Franklin all over again she thought...

Still...This little human sounded like he was in command of a respectable power...Even she hesitated at the thought of a counterstrike...Perhaps best to hole up here for as long as possible until sunset...

Well, with luck that "Spike" would at least keep Edison and his Slayer occupied for a bit...

For once Angelis was in complete agreement with his dear mate...

After all...He'd never been one to risk confronting Slayers and would not be until forced to deal with Buffy more than a century from now...And even then would be taking his sweet time about it...

It was not a good day for poor Dru...Trembling in a room on the fifth floor...Its murdered occupants scattered around her...

Abandoned by her "family" was the poor little one, she noted, whimpering to herself...And hunted by...Who...?

Why was he coming for her?...For one of the few times in her existence, she struggled to concentrate...

A little one...Her little one?...No...Unless...Had she been naughty?...And forgetful?...

Maybe her Bad One, the little human soul, had been naughtier than anyone had guessed...

That would be jolly, she giggled, speaking to the dead victims in the room...The Bad One's own coming for her, for her to make her own...

How she could tease the trapped Bad One for that...Her so proud and haughty...And no better than poor little demon Dru...Just a little nun-girl, praying away in her limbo prison...

Never coming out to play with her "sister"...Hiding all the time...No fun at all...

Bad One..Very Bad One...Dru pouted...

But no, this one wasn't hers either...

"Welcome..." Warren grinned at Dawn as the bot followed her into the main room of the crypt...

She looked over at Xander, Tara, and Andrew...All well-secured by the bot with ropes...

"Your bot's much improved, Warren..." Dawn noted...

He frowned at her...

"Dawn?..." Buffy-bot II looked at her...

I'm sorry Warren...she looked at her owner, rather downcast...

Dawn couldn't help it...The poor thing seemed so disappointed...

"You did fine, Buffy..." she told her... "We were really fooled for a while..."

The bot beamed...

"Thank you, Dawny.." she smiled at her sister...

WE?...Warren looked at the bot...

"Oh, yes..." Buffy-bot II smiled at him... "Anya was there...She..."

"Go get her!...Now!" Warren hollered...

"Isn't she here?...Dawn said..." Oops...Buffy-bot turned to her "sister"...

She looked at Dawn and frowned... "Dawny...You know better than to lie to me..."

You are grounded tonight...And we'll see about tomorrow...A very Buffy glare...

Hafta to hand it to Mears, Xander thought, watching...Excellent upgrade...

"Buffy?..." Warren hollered, glaring at the "sisters"...

Get moving!...

Ummn...Well...Buffy-bot II hesitated, looking at Dawn...

"You seem very angry, Warren.." the bot looked at him...

Ummn...Seventy?...In a forty mile per hour zone?...Anya repeated brightly to the cop who'd pulled her over...

Of all times for the Sunnydale PD to be on its toes...

"What's the rush, lady?..." the cop sighed through her window...

You sure ain't pregnant...You trying to get away from some bogeyman?...

Actually, and secretly, a valid excuse with the Sunnydale PD...If the bogeyman fit certain general characteristics on description...

Just not something they liked to have generally known...In view of the effect on the already dismal property values and all...

Hmmn...On the one hand, Anya had relearned enough about human behavior to guess what the effect of the truth on the police officer would be...

On the other hand, her beloved fiancee, heroic to the last, was in terrible danger...

On the other hand...She'd once had four for a while, but it'd been rather cumbersome...The record of the Sunnydale PD in dealing with underworld menaces...

She bit the hideous bullet...

"I'm sorry, officer...I didn't realize I was speeding...Guess you'd better..." she gulped...

Ticket me...

Morey led Willow, Buffy, and "Thomas Edison's top assistant" into the front entrance of the hotel...Above ground...

They'd managed to avoid too many onlookers in emerging from the nearest manhole...

Morey got them through the lobby and they started up the stairs...He nodded to a burly "friend" posted at the second floor stairwell...Who looked them over...And sniffed at them...

Hmmn...A little...Strange...

De...mon... Buffy hissed...

Oops...Willow thought...My spell's fading for sure...

Still, humans do use this place, Morey said...she noted to herself...

No need for large boy to give us the sniff-over...

Relatives of yours?.. the demon guard asked him...They don't smell like fresh meat or our own...

Cousins...Morey noted politely...

Buffy smiled brightly...As did Willow...Jonathan nodded...

Well...No offense intended, ladies...the guard smiled, doffing his bowler...

"It's just we have a large clientele and have to be careful..."

Have to know who's who...You understand...he paused as a human couple came up...

And nodded pleasantly to them...

Fresh meat?...thought Willow...

Two floors above them, Spike had reached room ten...Definitely a scent there...The whole family, including Dru...

And Dru's was strong and fresh...He tried the door, locked...And cautiously snapped the lock and opened the door...

Someone on the bed...Dru's scent...But...

"Dru?..." he whispered...Ah, damn...

An unmistakable scent of death...

Dru being clever, he realized...

Rubbed her scent on this corpse, draped one of her blouses round it...

A young girl, her maid's cap beside her...

Poor thing...Barely Dawn and Amelia's age...he thought...

My God...I actually am sorry for her...he noted...Pity Dawny isn't here, she'd be so proud of me...

Dawn and Amelia...Good lord, I never thought of it...They're the same age...

They even looked a lot alike, I can almost see Amelia now...My poor sister...God, what happened to her?...And Phil?...

Dawn...A touch of my own sweet sister...

A little gift from the Powers That Be...And I had to travel all the way home to realize it...

Thank God I never caught Dawn alone before the chip...

Good-bye, sweet thing...he looked at the girl...

There are worse things than dying so young, you know dearest...

Poor Dru...he thought...Well, perhaps this is as much to help her as me...At least this timeline's Dru may finally find peace...

He left the room and began trying to pick up her scent...

The Time Machine...Part XX...

1880, London 4:48pm...

Dru had recovered just enough equilibrium to realize she could not stay in the fifth floor hotel room any longer...Whoever the hunter coming for her was, he knew her scent and was close...

She politely excused herself from the young family she'd killed...And cautiously slipped out of the room...

As she edged quietly down the hall, a handsome, slight and slender, very oddly dressed brown-haired...Man?...She was too agitated to be certain...Appeared at the stairway at the far end of the hall, staring at her...

Him...she knew...And trembled...A deer caught in the headlights...

"Dru.." Spike quietly called to her...

A rather foppish, heavy-set young man emerged from his room, his young wife in tow...And looked at Dru...Who under the circumstances was able to give an excellent performance as a shy young woman in fear of her life...

"Sir?..." she turned to the young husband who regarded her curiously...

"Please call a constable...That man..." she pointed at Spike... "Has been following me..."

Well, Spike noted to himself as he stared down the hallway...She wasn't lying...

Dru's amazing clairvoyance...Transcending even the timeline barrier...

Not to mention the beneficial effect of terror on her mental condition...

The young couple regarded the strange-looking young man...Up and down from brown wig to glasses to the somewhat worse for wear Randy suit...

"Here now, you...What are you bothering this young lady about?..." the husband asked him coldly, rising to the full length of his slight height advantage...About two inches...

Poor Dru sought comfort in the arms of the sympathetic wife...A very sweet lady, she thought...

"I don't know why he is following me..." she told her sincerely, sobbing... "I think he wants to hurt me..."

"This is a family matter, mate..." Spike glared at the husband...

You'd be wise to go and let us be...

"I don't know him!..." Dru cried out from the wife's arms, confused, again with utter honesty...

"Help me!..." she pleaded... "My father and grandmother are away..."

Burying her head in the young wife's arm...

Very nice smell, this nice lady has she thought...Very tasty smell...

But, survival first...And she was genuinely grateful for the protection...

Her cry was bringing other guests to their doors...

Not working out well for me, this rendezvous...Spike sighed...Keeping near the hallway stairs...

Several gentlemen, including some burly and capable-looking lads, beginning to cluster near the delicate young lady...Inquiring of the heavy-set gentleman and glancing at the odd young fellow by the stairs...

Definitely not working out...Spike noted...As three fellows stepped forward to discuss the matter in detail with him...

In 2002 Sunnydale...In the main room of Spike's crypt...

Warren Mears was not amused...His bot was again acting up...

"Buffy!..." he glared at her...As she looked at Dawn and nervously?...Xander watched in wonder, excellent workmanship he had to say, as one craftsman to another...At her owner...

"I told you to go and get this "Anya"...Right now!" Warren hollered...Fuming...

"I...Uh...Dawn is my sister, Warren..." the bot began...Clearly conflicted...

You seem so angry...she noted...

Damn, damn, damn...When I get my hands on whoever reprogrammed her...Warren glared at the bot...

Of course he chose to avoid remembering he'd been too lazy to do his own reprogramming from scratch and so had failed to catch all of the old buried directives...

"All right...See...I'm calm...I'm fine...Your sister..." he glared at Dawn who stared back at him...

Will be fine with me...

"Now will you go?..."

Ummn...Dawny is my sister, Warren...she told him hesitantly...

"I can't leave her in danger..." she paused...And brightened...

"I could take her with me..." she noted, smiling...Problem solved...

Hmmn...She likes me, Dawn thought...Maybe I can...

Einstein never had days like this, Warren thought...

On the other hand he was more of the Frankenstein persuasion...And old Frank had indeed had days like this...

Giles politely suggested over the phone that Anya remember she was human now and needed to breathe occasionally...One good, deep breath and she ought to be able to tell her story coherently...

He heard the sound of a long wheeze...And Anya resumed, a bit more calm...

Buffy chasing Spike through time?...To prevent what?...No, not chasing to kill him or stop him from some hideous act...

Trying to save him...

Hmmn...Well, the lad had done well this past summer...Even meriting a review by him of the literature on vampire redemption...But...

Wait...Giles gripped his phone with a tension Anya could hear across the Atlantic line...

"Anya, did you say that Buffy was..."

In love with him?...Oh yeah...Xander caught them having sex the other day when Buffy was invisible...she told him hurriedly...

"And see...The invisibility thing is what led them to learn about what this War..." she continued...

Giles cut her off...

"Have you people gone completely out of your minds?..." Giles asked her, steel in his voice...

You've let Buffy become involved with William the Bloody?...

Physically involved?...

Well...Giles...Anya paused...

She was very lonely after you left...And William has tried so hard this past year...

"In fact...He's gone back to for her sake...To get something for her...His heart or soul or something..." Anya told him...

The Watcher got hold of himself...Focus, Rupert...He told himself...

You're no good to her unless you focus...

He sighed...

"So...Spike is trying to prevent his transformation?..." he asked her calmly...

But that would change everything...The whole history of...

"No, see...that good nerd, Andrew?...He told Xander on the phone that what Will does won't effect our existence...Just creates a possible alternate one..." Anya explained...Rather pleased with herself to have gotten the concept so quickly...

I think...she paused...Actually Xander hadn't really placed too much faith in Andrew...

"And Buffy is trying to prevent that?..." the astonishment in Giles' voice carried well, Anya noted...

"She doesn't want to lose him, Giles..." Anya told the Watcher...

I've failed her again...Giles thought...God forgive me, I thought I was doing the right thing in leaving...But again I fail her...he sighed...

Still, there is something real in Spike's feeling for her...I saw the look on his face when she died...And no pure demon cries for a dead human...

God help my poor girl...And that poor lost boy...

Of course, this being a trans-Atlantic call...And two very practical-minded people on the phone, they jointly cut to the chase

"Warren has the others...Dawn, Tara, Xander...In Spike's crypt...With a new Buffy-bot..." Anya told Giles...

"I think he's trying to get his time machine back...And he may try to hurt them all..."

What can I do, Giles?...she pleaded...

My sister...A sad case...Spike noted to the gentlemen approaching him...

"Your sister?..." one large fellow glared at him...

Mental patient, he attempted to explain...You see she just escaped the asylum...Very dangerous...

"I've seen her with her family walking in these halls three times this week..." another fellow

cut in...Looking coldly at Spike...

That was enough for the gallant lads...They closed in on the fiend...

Dru, safe in the lady's comforting embrace, whimpered a bit...But peeked out at Spike, a sly smile faint on her lips...

A couple of hotel guards passed Buffy, Willow, Jonathan, and the half-demon, Morey on the stairs heading up to the fourth floor...

"Something amiss, lads?" Morey asked pleasantly...

Human, Buffy noted...

Some bloke on the fifth floor, one paused to tell him...Trifled with a young lady...

Terrible thing, Morey sighed to the guard...In a fine establishment like this...

The guard nodded and hurried on...

Jonathan?...Buffy looked at him...Having restored the tracking remote to him...

Up...he told her pointing...But which floor I can't say...

"Lets try Angelis' room floor first..." she suggested...See if the remote says we go up or down, then split up to block both stairwells...Willow and Jonathan nodded...

Morey watched her carefully, following...

No interest in hunting the evil Angelis or his mate...Her only concern finding and protecting that "vampire with a soul"...

A strange Slayer indeed...

But first things first...Find this "William" with her and her comrades and then check out her story...A relatively simple spell would establish the truth regarding this "soul" business...

And if she was the victim of a new and menacing threat...Release her...

Back in the upper end of the main tunnel, Angelis was pleading with Darla...

They were trapped here between the hotel and the Thames...Their only hope was to slip back down the tunnel, past the hotel while Edison and the Slayer Buffy were occupied searching there...Hide in the side branches until sunset...

The wizard even has a device to hunt us...I saw the Slayer using it...Angelis moaned...

We've got to flee while we still can...he insisted...With the Slayer helping him, his power is too much even for us...

Darla sighed, rolling her eyes...

God, what an embarrassment to have a mate like this...However menacing he may seem when confronting a helpless victim...

But hardly a surprise...Remembering how he had fallen to his knees in panic when one of Dru's feeble uncles had managed to briefly catch him in a crossbow site...Begging for the old fool's mercy and pleading with a fatally compassionate human Dru to believe his claims of seeking only the sweet redemptive mercy of her prayers...

Well, clearly this "Edison" would have to be dealt with...

If only for the sake of the mighty Angelis' reputation...One carefully nurtured by his devoted mate...

The Time Machine...Part XXI

London, 1880...5:15pm...

Standing down the hall from Drusilla, Spike considered his options as the three louts closed in...

Even if he could crash through the chip long enough to rush the cluster of humans between him and Dru, he'd never reach her now...And if these fellows got hold of him, he'd lose any chance for intercepting her later...The whole thing all for nought.

He raced back to the stairs and hurried down...With the three gents in pursuit...Backed up by several more...

"I think he's straight ahead...Down the hall...Nope, he just passed the floor..." Jonathan looked from the remote to Buffy as they reached the fourth floor where Angelis and Darla and dear Dru's room was...

"Whoa...He's..." Buffy swooped past Jonathan, down the hall in a heartbeat...He stared after her... ".. really moving.."

He looked at Willow who shrugged..

.

Woman in love...Gangway...

Morey hustled after her...Rather faster than one might have expected from his appearance...

Lucky guy that Spike...Jonathan noted to Willow who nodded...As they watched Buffy grab at the stairwell door down the hall...And hurried down after her...

Yeah...Willow thought as they ran, looking at Jonathan as they reached the smashed stairway door to see Buffy tangled up in a small crowd of Spike's pursuers and additional hotel guests and guards brought out by the racket...Morey, halted, observing them off to one side...

That's one lucky vampire...Even factoring in that unjust damnation of an innocent thing...

She stared at Buffy struggling to shove through the swelling group on the stairs...

"Just hope letting her go on with this is the right thing to do..." she whispered to Jonathan...

"Mind that, miss!..." "Ey, lady?..." A couple of bowler-hatted types thrown back hollered at an increasingly desperate Buffy...

Let me though, please let me though...

Pushy lil thing, that...one tossed-back woman told her companion...

"Like to get herself killed...There's a bloody maniac down there..." her companion replied...

"Miss?..No place for you here..." a human guard called to her...

"Jonathan!..." she called back through the throng...

He scanned the remote...My gosh...

"I think he's left the building, Buffy!..." he yelled to her...

What?...Willow blinked...But ..

Still, Spike had a well-honed talent both for slipping out of tight situations and emergency daylight travel...And it must be starting to get on towards sunset out there...

Buffy couldn't make out Jonathan's words, Willow saw...

Outside...Willow mouthed to her...

The crowd was beginning to mill a little...Clearly those down the stairs in front had lost sight of their quarry...

Buffy gestured that Jonathan should toss the remote...Backing up from the group moving on down the stairs...

Jonathan heard a couple of bells ringing...Like an alarm...

Morey moved forward...From the box near the stairway door where he'd pressed the floor alarm bell...A new-fangled electric contraption based on the telegraph which he'd had his doubts about...But now was proving quite useful as summoned guards began emerging from the lower floor stairway doors...

Lotta guards for a hotel, Jonathan noted...As he moved to toss Buffy the remote...

The little half-demon's own men, Willow guessed...Her Majesty's government must've had quite an anti-vamp operation in mind for this place...she thought...Wonder how Angelis and his "family" slipped through their fingers in our timeline...

Something's up...Willow realized...

As Morey hopped out at Jonathan, clearly seeking the remote...

"Bill..." he called to a large guard near Buffy on the stairs as Jonathan tossed the remote...

That thing...I want it...

Bill neatly caught the remote and began climbing the stairs...Buffy in pursuit...

He tossed the remote to another guard just as Buffy grabbed him...Carefully, sensing human...

The other guard brought the remote up to Morey...

He called to others to block Buffy's climb to them...And several coming down to him to take Willow and Jonathan...Two at the fourth floor stairway door blocking them from fleeing down that hall...

Willow was still weak from reinforcing her last spell...And was leery of harming humans in any case...At least until she knew what was up...

From just below Buffy saw her friends seized...Damn...She pushed on...

Five guards with more coming up from the throng below...Nearly all human...And armed...

Morey signing for them to pursue the blonde woman moving up towards him...

At the half-demon's request the guards between him and Buffy pulled guns and faced the Slayer...

She looked up at Morey...In fury...

Definitely more involved here than helping a friendly, soulful vampire...the half-demon noted to himself watching the Slayer's angry face...

"Just a minor incident, ladies and gentlemen..." Morey called down to the hotel guests standing confused in the stairway at the turn of events...

A police matter...Please go back to your rooms...

Willow glared at Morey...You...

"I'm sorry, miss...But you should know that even a half-demon's hearing is excellent..." Morey looked at her and Jonathan...

And now that young William appears to have escaped...I need to know just what this is really all about...

And why you're "not sure if this is the right thing to do"...

A half-dozen guests, plus three hotel guards had escorted Drusilla back to the stairs to her floor...

On the opposite side of the hotel hallway...Away from where the pursuers had set out after the fiend...

The hotel guard, human, who'd passed Morey and Buffy earlier, promised the young lady she'd not be disturbed again...The maniac would be seized...And for now a guard would be posted at her room door...

Did she wish them to find her relatives for her?...

No, thank you...Dru smiled wanly...

Father and Grandmother would be back soon, she was sure...

She turned to the lady who'd been comforting her in her embrace..

.

"Thank you so much...You're a very sweet lady..." Dru smiled...

Something in that gentle smile made the young wife suddenly shudder...

I hope I see you again...Dru told her, smiling and looking her up and down gently...Then turning slowly and descending the stairs to the fourth floor...Three guards accompanying her to her room...

A quick and desperate run into the second floor hall, followed by a smash into the first room opened by a guest, and a leap through the room window, protected by a hastily grabbed blanket, had been Spike's means of eluding the growing mob...

Fortunately it was getting on in the day...And between that and the London fog his burning was minimal...Although he put it to good advantage as he passed the first floor main entrance...

Yelling..."Fire!"...And offering clear evidence that he was not some prankster...

The doorman and onlookers took up the cry on seeing his smouldering form racing past...

Well...That at least should keep the mob occupied...In case they were considering carrying the hunt outside...

He dashed into a chemist's by the corner...Managing to explain his singed condition rather easily...

This having been the third fire in that section of town in as many days...

The sympathetic chemist was kind enough to provide him with some ointment and a roll of bandage...Obvious that the poor fellow had escaped his burning hotel with only the rather odd clothes on his back...His wife kindly dressed the burns...And insisted on his taking a cup of tea.

All of which provided quite enough time for the sun in the late afternoon sky to begin setting...

He thanked his benefactors...No, he was quite all right...And indeed had a place to go...

A party, actually, he smilingly informed them...At the home of cousins of his dearest friend in London...

Yes...He nodded at the wife's question...His friend Henry no doubt would be amazed to see him...Like this...Still...

He was quite sure all his difficulties would be settled once he reached that place...

After all, his...Brother...Would be there as well...

The couple wished him well and he left, pausing just outside to get his bearings...

Dru had escaped him...But it wasn't over by a long shot...

He knew where to be...And had a fairly good idea of when...

It was not that he did not believe them, Morey carefully explained to Willow, Jonathan, and a guard-surrounded Buffy...Having had them escorted into an empty fourth floor room..

But as an agent of British State Security...And the Council of Watchers...Now that this "Spike" of theirs had escaped...He could not allow them to proceed without knowing more...

For starters...He looked at Buffy...

"Where and when did you get those bite scars?...And who gave them to you?..."

Just before Spike's leap to freedom, Darla had reluctantly consented to Angelis trying to push back down the tunnel past their hotel basement...

Not out of any serious concern for her mate...Just...

If the Slayer and Edison got their hands on her boy again, he'd surely lead them right back to her, loyal boy that he was...Trapped in the upper tunnel as she would be for at least another half-hour or more until the sun was down enough to risk emergence outside...

Still, if their pursuers were still occupied in the hotel with the mysterious William, or even better, had succumbed to him...

Anything was better than waiting with no word...

Angelis reached the basement branch-off just as part of the mob searching in vain for the hotel fiend had begun poking around there...

One man glared at him suspiciously...But another corrected his mistake...

Not the one, mate...Ours is a little fellow, brown-haired...

"Any sign of the man, sir?..." the genial would-be lyncher turned to Angelis...

Who quickly caught on that William was the quarry of the group...Long experience with human mobs paying off...

"No sign of him in the tunnels here..." Angelis informed him, quite truthfully...

I'd thought it best to scout them in case he tried it...

"Here, sir...You're a relative of the poor lady, aren't you?..." the gentleman who'd recognized Dru as a fellow guest came up to him...

Hmmn...Dru dead?...Wonder if it was William or the Slayer?...

Not that he'd lose any sleep over it...Just important to get the facts right for future accounts of the mighty Angelis' exploits...

Make sure it was recorded that the mighty Angelis had taken vengeance on the killer of his beloved offspring...

"Well...Poor thing's safe now..." Another gentleman noted...

Terrible thing, sir...For your young lady to be harassed by that fellow...the first gentleman told Angelis...

More of the mob now entering...

"Yes...Dreadful...Her...Mother was quite upset..."

Or would be when Darla learned he'd called her Dru's... "Mother"...

But what interest would William have in little Dru?...

Must have been the Slayer pursuing her...William getting mixed up in the affair...

Still, if these fine lads wished to rid him of his new rival...Why look a gift horse in the mouth?...

Rather a nice change, all-in-all...Leading the mob instead of being in panicky flight from it...

"Lads..." he addressed the men now at least a dozen strong in the basement...No sign of the Slayer...Or Edison...he thankfully noted...

"I and the poor girl's dear mother wish to thank you all for your help..."

"Lets search throughly and find this fiend..."

Buffy carefully explained to Morey that her scars were an old wound...

In fact, inflicted by Angelis himself...In a previous...Encounter...

Jonathan stared at Willow...Who shrugged him silent...

"Strange...He didn't seem to recognize you at first..." Morey looked at her...

Though admittedly he had identified her as a Slayer to the crowd before his flight...

Altered my appearance a little...Hair color...she noted...

He'd been sure I was dead...You know what Angelis is like...He'd never believe any foe could escape him...

"And why is your friend here so concerned about your search for this William?..."

She paused, looking at Willow...Who looked sheepishly at her...

Sorry, Buf...Didn't know the old fellow had sound cannon 2000s for ears...she thought...

I care for him...Buffy told the half-demon frankly...

My friends are afraid...Even with his having a soul and all...That that may cloud my judgment a little...

"Please...We've got to find him before he tries to take on Drusilla and the others alone..."

And just why is the fellow so anxious to do such a daft thing as that?...Morey regarded the Slayer...

"He wants to prove himself worthy of me..." Buffy looked at him steadily...

He loves me...

A nervous William Soames Walthrop, human, gathered his letters together, rushing to get them to the front desk of the Forster Arms for posting...

Almost time to prepare for tonight's affair...And for Miss Addams...

He pondered as he hurried down to the first floor...

Was "effulgent" the correct word?...Old Henry had seemed a bit...Uncertain...When he'd read part of his latest to him the week before...

But no, surely there was no more radiant word to describe his feeling...

And, in any case, he had no intention of presenting his work to the world just yet...

He paused after delivering the letters...5:15 pm by the large clock in the lobby...Hmmn...

The new elevator rested on the floor in its cage...Why not try it out?...

He signaled to the operator, who waved him in...Glad to demonstrate it, sir...the man told him...

So few of the clientele used to it yet...Makes them nervous...

Hmmn...A unique experience of the new industrial age...A subject worthy of a poem the young scholar thought...

A hymn to Man's progress...With perhaps a cautionary note...He happily jotted down some bits with a pencil as the elevator lifted him to his floor...

He smiled faintly in a gleaming metal panel on the cage...And saw, to his astonishment, the woman of his dreams smiling back...

No...Not quite...A blonde Ms. Addams?...With just a slight difference as to face...

And yet unmistakably like his Cicely...

A poet's dreaming...he noted...Perhaps a gift from his Muse...

Gone now...

He mentioned it to the operator...Oddest thing...

Who nodded kindly...He often saw the faces of people he knew appearing in the reflection of the gleaming plates...

A trick of the eye and mind, he assumed...A rather pleasant one, actually...

Your floor, sir...

The Time Machine...Part XXII...

In 2002 Sunnydale, Warren Mears faced a frustrating situation...

His Buffy-bot II, a real improvement over his earlier attempts, was proving a little too successful in imitating Buffy's personality profile...

Refusing to leave her little sister, the obnoxious little brat, in his tender care while heading out to deal with Buffy's friend Anya who'd evaded his clutches...

Not that it might not be safer to have Botty around to protect him..What with the freeze ray out of commission, a lair full of prisoners, his former partners Andrew and Jonathan turned against him, and the possibility of facing Buffy and her friends on their return from 1880...

At least so far she'd refused to take any action against him...Even at her "dear little sis"' request...Though she had preferred not to tie Dawny up, please...And she was keeping an eye on Whiny the Slayer's Sister, ready to warn him if she started pulling anything...

If the little brat didn't outwit her...Not exactly a task requiring genius, he sighed...

Though BBII was a great improvement.

No, the real worry was...What was this "Anya" capable of?...And up to?...

Sadly Botty's biographical information on the girl, part from Spike, part from Willow in her reprogramming, was limited...But disturbing enough...

A former demon, now part owner of a Magic Shop.

Doesn't sound good...

A crimp in his plans for recovering his time machine, that's for sure...He couldn't risk allowing Buffy, Willow, Jonathan, and possibly Spike to return from 1880 until he held all the cards...

Something would have to be done about this "Anya".

Fortunately...Botty had also provided him with one very relevant piece of info about her, he noted...

Smirking over at the others, including a tied-up Xander.

In 1880 London, the basement of the hotel where Angelis and pride had lodged...And where time travelers Buffy, Willow, and Jonathan remained upstairs under British agent and half-demon Morey's careful guard ...

The dozen or so remaining members of the lynch mob pursuing what would be forevermore known as the "Quayside Hotel fiend" sheepishly reported back to the "father " of the poor innocent lamb exposed to the "fiend's" foul ravages...

They'd come up empty...And a guest on the second floor had reported a young fellow, answering some of the details of the "fiend's" description had run into his room, threatening immediate death to all, then been tossed out the window by the heroic occupant...

A bystander outside having confirmed that a young man had indeed fallen from the second floor, catching fire as he rolled down the hotel awning in some kind of blanket...

Spontaneous combustion?...Or the Lord's just wrath?...In any case, no further sign of him...

Angelis, though clearly somewhat disappointed, thanked the lads graciously for their efforts and pondered his next move...

He assumed Darla would eventually come down the tunnel and see that all was well...

Perhaps...If he got bored later he'd go down and mention it to her...

After all...He'd bravely taken the great risk of returning to the hotel...Where even now the Slayer and the genius wizard Edison might be prowling, waiting in the shadows near his room for his return...Using Dru, whom the lads had informed him had been escorted safely back to the room,

as a kind of bait...

I mean doesn't every Slayer seek to crown her stake with a notch for the mighty Angelis?...

Hmmn...Perhaps, as the loving and devoted mate that he was...In need of a little back-up...He ought to consider checking on his dear Darla and escorting her back...

Something to throw at Edison and his Slayer if they should still be around...

Although playing the poor little human girl was getting a bit dull, Dru felt she should wait until sunset before leaving her room...

The strange creature who'd come for her had left that much of an impression on the poor little...Who still for the existence of her could not understand why he tormented her so...

Wasn't like he was some little human, seeking vengeance for a murdered wife or baby daughter...He was a vampire, she sensed that much...

Still...An unusual one, she'd also sensed...

So much feeling...So...Not wishing to insult but simply admitting what she sensed...Human...

She shivered...Even without clairvoyance it was easy to see he'd be back for her...Waiting somewhere, out there in great London...For poor Dru...Who'd done nothing...

Unless...Could he be the father of that young family she killed a few weeks ago?...Darla had been interested in him...Such lovely anger and rage...Maybe Grandmother had?...

No...He was taller...Oh...

Very confused was poor Dru...And much put upon...

A messenger boy stopped by to pass a note to the guards at the young lady's door...

One of the two remaining guards knocked politely...

"Alright there, miss?...They tell us the man has gone from the building...We'll be off now if you're quite well?..."

Yes, thank you, sir...she called pleasantly...

Yes...she sighed to herself...Best to wait a bit yet...

A rather fortunate pair of human guards...

And a fortunate Dru...Not able to see the three new rather odd-looking "men" who the messenger boy now waved into position by her door...

In the fourth floor room, down from Dru's, where the half-demon, British intelligence agent, Morey held them under heavy guard, Buffy was reaching her limits...

However...Six heavily armed humans inside around her...Willow and Jonathan, seated under two more guards...And probably more in the hallway outside...

Jonathan again requested his remote...Warning Morey that indelicate handling would break the thing, man...

Or whatever percentage of man you are...he thought...

Willow was puzzled...And said so...

"With all the people you have and Her Majesty's government behind you...Why don't you just destroy the vamps here? Especially the Angelis pride..."

This place is a vital source of information on underworld activities around the world...Morey explained...

We have contacts here that have taken years to build up...That are vital to the Empire and Humanity in general if we are to have any knowledge of those creatures whose interests lie beyond mere survival.

Besides...I have fifty men here and on call at most...How long would fifty, most of them human, last against the vampires and demons here and in the tunnels?...

Our role here is observation...Persuading the underworld denizens to feel safe and secure in this building...And carrying out the occasional targeted assassination of one getting too grandiose for comfort.

As for Angelis...Hardly a threat to Humanity in general, you know...A survivalist moving from meal to meal, town to town, with no interest in power or close association with other prides that we've seen as yet...Out for his neck and that's about all...Same for his mate, Darla...

Far more useful for intelligence purposes...The bellicose fool's reputation attracts vampires from the world over...Including those seeking real power in the world...Or in the pay of foreign powers...

However, Miss Drusilla...Now she might be one we'd like to deal with...Especially now that her "family" has left her...he noted...

"In any case..." Morey frowned at the three time travelers... "Your activities, worthwhile or not, are likely to compromise our operations here..."

"What if we were to take out Drusilla for you?..." Buffy interjected...

"In exchange for allowing us to continue searching for William..."

The half-demon eyed her... "Take out?" he thought...And smiled faintly, shaking his head...

Americans...

Rather a ring to it though..

"Some of my.."men"..have her under guard down the hall.." he replied...

Quite capable fellows...Demons...But British demons though and though...

So...Willow thought...The British crown colonizes the underworld...

They weren't kidding when they said "the sun never sets on the British Empire"...

Soon as the floor clears a bit for supper, Morey nodded...They'll deal with her...Thanks in part to your William who's provided us with a convenient explanation for her demise to our other clients...

"I think your "people" will find Dru a bit of a challenge..." Buffy noted drily...

Odd...Spike thought as he strolled carefully along towards his first interception point...A poorly lit stretch of street, isolated from the shops and pubs further down...But on the direct route to the Herricks' home...

I, an Immortal, finally once again concerned with Time...

A prisoner again of the clock and calendar...Rushing for fear my brief moment will pass...Like any run of the mill human...

He looked as he strode along at the scurrying men, women, and the occasional demon, even what with the darkness coming on, vamp...The humans rushing to squeeze one more precious moment out of the dross of their workday lives and convert it to the gold of their home life and leisure...

Poor fellows...Such bother and desperation...And all leading to the same end...

But after all...I'm rushing and desperate for my little bit of gold too...Almost one of them again...

Well, maybe...Those golden moments are worth it...

Yes...I'll gladly trade my Immortality even for a moment with Buffy smiling on me...Worth

it?...Absolutely...

Besides, we're all Immortal in what counts...My whole purpose in being here hinges on that...

In 2002 Sunnydale, at Spike's crypt...The deposed Fearless Leader of the Masters of the Sunnydale Universe had reached a strategic decision...Formulated a plan of action...

Come up with a neat idea...

All right...Warren told Buffy-bot II...Smiling pleasantly at her...Calm, cool, collected...

A worthy Crime Lord of Sunnydale...

"Your sister can go..."

He smiled at Dawn who glared back...

In fact, I want her to carry a note for me...

Dru had been attempting to listen and sense for her "relatives" when she realized newcomers had replaced the two little ones at her door...

Not little ones, these...Demons...Powerful ones...

And little Dru's safety not exactly their primary concern...

No, not a good day for the little Dru...

Who had done nothing...she fitfully noted...

She probed outward desperately...Nothing out there in the vicinity except the three new ones...

Not even some foolish little one...Who would be quite welcome just right now...With a silly surface-fixated nature easily persuaded to see even the friendliest demon as a threatening monster...While never realizing the true monster standing beside them, in the guise of a waifish young girl...

She probed again, harder...

Surely Grandmother and Daddy Angelis were planning to return, eventually...

Hmmn...More demons, some little humans...Further away down the hall, but not too far...

And why were they all there...So close...Unless...

No...

This was not fair to the poor little Dru...she whimpered...

All of them...Coming for her...?

Angelis, responsible parent that he was, had not yet informed his "offspring" of the important fact that even for vampires...

Life is not fair...

The Time Machine...Part XXIII

London, 1880...5:50 pm...The Quayside Hotel...Room 410...

Little Dru...Lost waif vampiress...Alone in a world gone suddenly very cold...And harsh...

Hunted by a mysterious maniac vampire...In a very bad wig...Not to mention the Randy suit...And the glasses...

Trapped in her room by powerful enemies clearly determined to do her serious harm...

Poor Dru...Who'd done nothing...

Well, nothing to a fellow vampire at least...Or the large demons outside her door...

Unless that vampire was a friend of one of Angelis' former fight opponents?...Or perhaps still retained some measure of family affection for one of her human victims?...

Likewise for the demons...But she sensed less personal interest on their part...

Rather, a chilling professionalism...

Hmmn...5:55 pm by the clock...Just late enough to travel outside if she was careful...

But the little one could hardly be expected to jump from her fourth floor window...Such a great height...

Might hurt...Besides...

Her pretty dress...Miss Edith...

She shook her head...And pouted at the door...

Such cruel ones to frighten the poor little Dru like this...

What to do?...She turned to Dolly for advice...

Miss Edith was silent...

"Sister?..." Dru reluctantly reached out...To her Bad One...

No answer...The little human nun-soul remained silent as ever...Hiding...

So cruel she was...Would probably enjoy seeing the little Dru get hurt...

Waiting to see her die, the cruel nun-soul...Mean sister, she thought...

Everyone abandons the poor Dru...

Well...The little one would just have to look after herself...she sighed...

Spike's crypt, 2002 Sunnydale...

"It's just a note, Buffy..." Warren rolled his eyes at his bot as she carefully examined the sheet of paper he wished her to hand to Dawn...

Must protect my little sister...And Warren has been so angry at her...

But it seemed ok...She took it over to Dawn...Who tried yet again...

"Buffy...I'm your sister..." she whispered... "You have to help me...Please...Warren is going to hurt me...You know that..."

"Oh, no, Dawny...Warren is letting you go..." the bot noted happily...

He wants you to take this to Anya...She handed her the note...

"Anya...

Warren Mears here...Very clever the way you slipped away from the bot, congrats.

As a pledge of good faith, I'm letting little Dawn bring this to you. Now I understand you have access to some interesting stuff in that shop of yours, which is very cute. You should be aware though that I have my own magics protections and I will be able to detect anything you try, so read this carefully.

If you don't get over here...With little Dawn...And in the next hour...Carrying no weapons or any little charms, your fiancee has had it. I mean that in the worst possible way.

Looking forward to meeting you.

Yours,

Warren Mears..."

Dawn showed the note to Xander and Tara...

"Go..." Xander hissed... "Don't worry about us...Just go..."

And don't give Anya the note...Just help her with whatever...

"What if he's not lying, Xander?...Willow and Buffy both said the nerds..." she paused apologetically, looking at Andrew...Who shook his head, no problem... "know a lot of magic..."

Is he lying?...she whispered to Andrew...

Well...We did have a lot of protective stuff, he noted...

When one is planning to become Master of the Universe in a place like Sunnydale, magics defense is a no-brainer...

"Just go, Dawny..." Tara told her...

Warren having been surprisingly tolerant of the extended conversation among his prisoners, now chose to terminate their discussion...

"Miss Summers?...Either you leave now and bring that to your friend...Or I get started on Mr. Harris..."

She turned to Buffy-bot II...Who nervously smiled at her...

"Please don't frighten my sister, Warren..." she pleaded...

He won't hurt Xander, Dawny...I wouldn't let Xander be hurt...

"Right, see?..." Warren glared at Dawn...

All your little friends'll be fine...Just do like I say and bring that to Anya...

She glared back...A promising Buffy glare, Xander noted...

And reluctantly agreed...

Buffy-bot II requesting permission to escort her to the cemetery gates...Which was generously granted by her owner...

Won't let me hurt "her Big Brother Xander" eh...Warren frowned...Or the others...

Excepting good old Andy of course...

Well...We'll see about that...

A reprogramming session definitely called for...But, later...

Fortunately...His additional back-up should be on call by now...If the young lady's currently ongoing basic programming and memory installation were complete...A rushed finish to the job but one he'd felt might be worth having on standby...

Besides...How difficult could it be to duplicate a teenager's emotional state?...Just program her to whine constantly...

And this one would not be troubled by any buried safety directives...

He grinned to himself...He'd known it'll be worthwhile to keep surveillance on both Summers girls...Amazing what you can do with some surreptious video and vocal shoots, a few spare parts, and a leetle time on your hands...

Of course having Buffy-bot II's memory bank on hand hadn't hurt...

After all...He could hardly have replaced one sister without the other...

He tapped out some commands on his remote, the signal using a frequency different from his jamming signal...New botty up and functional...

Excellent...

Not only did he have the location of Anya's "Magic Shop" from Buffy-bot II but he'd placed a small tracker on Dawn unseen when she took the letter from him...

Just in case she'd agreed to meeting Anya elsewhere...

He was fairly safe with his protective charms now in the crypt he felt, but...

No point in having his other bot wandering around Sunnydale all night looking for her prey...

He smirked at his captives...Idiots...Probably think they've got me...

"Dawny will get to Anya and they'll topple the evil Warren Mears and save us"...

Well, he grinned at Andrew the would be Jedi...Guys, the Emperor Palpatine's got a leetle surprise in store...

They all glared back at him, with the exception of the returned Buffy-bot who smiled pleasantly...

Pleased to see her owner in a better mood...

And her sister safely out of his grip...

A crashing outside the room where Morey held Buffy and her friends abruptly ended the negotiations Buffy had been attempting with the half-demon...

Crashing, followed by almost, but not quite, human screams in the hallway...

Buffy looked at Morey...Not much doubt as to the source of the activity outside...

He had his men hastily bring her and the others out into the hallway, joining them to find the one surviving demon gasping on the floor...His throat ripped open...

Little Dru safely on her way...Right out the front door, pausing to respond graciously to the human desk clerk's anxious inquiries as to her condition, like the demure young lady and paying guest that she was...

Perhaps a bit dissatisfied with the service...In regards to security at least...

But kindly willing to refrain from mentioning the "fiend" to any reporters she might encounter on her stroll outside...Much to the clerk's relief...

Bird flown the coop, Morey's men and unmen reported back...

"William will be after her...So my offer regarding Dru is still open..." Buffy drily noted on their return to the room...Staring at the half-demon...Who sighed...

And handed her Jonathan's remote...

All right...

"We will be in support..." he told her...

And ready to act if I find anything not to my liking...

Regarding your William...Or you...

Darla had had little doubt Angelis' return to inform her of the situation had more to do with his own preservation...

Typical...He wasn't about to go prowling the hotel on his own...

Still...Sunset was in progress...And a large hotel offered a better battleground if need be than the dead end of a sewer tunnel...

And with easy access to a quick exit now becoming available, she was looking forward to renewing her acquaintance with Morey, Edison, and the new Slayer...

Though sadly Angelis seemed more inclined to simply find a safe route outside...And a quick and defenseless meal...

But he'd been through a lot today...

The Time Machine...Part XXIV

Xander had watched Mears while he tapped away at his remote, giggling to himself...

Clearly engaged in a long transmission...To somebody or something...

"Nerdenstein's up to something..." he hissed to Tara and Andrew...

And...Giggling again...

"That's bad, man..." noted Andrew...

He's always got something up his sleeve when he giggles...

"You think we shouldn't have let Dawny go?..." Tara whispered back...

Only option we had...Xander noted...

Gotta believe she's safer away from Mears than here...

A nervous-looking Buffy-bot II came over...

"Xander?...You think Dawn isn't safe?..."she asked hesitantly...

Incredible job, I must say...he thought, looking at her...

But Mears should give Willow some credit...Though the hearing enhancement is all his...

"No, botty..." he replied, looking at her carefully... "Long as dear old Warren is around and about, Dawny isn't safe...None of us are..."

"Honey..." Tara looked at her... "If you want to protect Dawn, you've got to restrain Warren..."

You don't have to hurt him...You'd actually be helping him...

"Keeping him from hurting Dawny and the rest of us will keep him out of jail...and maybe out of Hell later on..." she whispered firmly to the bot...Who sighed...

Buffy-bot II looked at her, biting her lip in a very Buffy gesture and looked back at Warren, now frowning at them...

"Buffy?...Back over here, please..." he called...

"I'm sorry Tara..." Buffy-bot II looked at her sadly...

"What you're asking me to consider is beyond the scope of my programming..."

But I will watch out for Dawny and you guys...she finished, smiling...

Tara sighed and nodded...Smiling back at the bot wanly...

Poor thing's doing her best...she sheepishly noted to Xander...

Approaching downtown Sunnydale Dawn pondered her options...

If she went to Anya and showed her the letter...Anya would either freak and run in firing off whatever she and Giles had come up with...Or if they were still trying to find something, freak and run in ready to surrender herself...

The key words in either case, freak...and run in...

Besides...Nerdster Mears had been too eager to let her go...Maybe he'd cursed her or something?...

Don't feel cursed...Dawn looked at herself in a store window lit by a streetlight...

But then, she noted...I never felt like the Key...

March 13th, 1880...6:30 pm, London...

Buffy and the others emerged from the Quayside Hotel into the London evening...Fog and mist moving up from the Thames...Gas streetlights flickering along the sidewalks...A strolling bobby, swinging his club frowned at the cheaply dressed time-travelers...

However as they seemed to be going about their business...Perhaps it wasn't the business he instinctively suspected on seeing the two young women so near a popular hotel...

Morey and several of his men and "people" emerged from the hotel, a man further down the street signaling them as to the direction Buffy and co had taken...

They moved quickly to where they could just keep the Slayer and her assistants in sight, Morey's group fanning out a bit...And continuing to follow the time travelers...Who paused at intervals, Jonathan checking his remote...

Buffy was pensive...Though hurrying them along as much as possible...

"We're losing him..." she muttered softly...

He's slipping away from me...She rubbed her forehead...

Willow looked at her...Jonathan preoccupied trying to keep a fix on Spike called a brief halt...

"Buffy?..." she called to her quietly...

Buffy stared into a storefront...Willow watching her...

Could've sworn she said... "He's slipping away from me...Again..." Willow thought...

"Buffy?..." she called louder...Patting her...

The Slayer looked at her blankly for a second... 'Buffy?'...Who is...?

"Ok..." Jonathan pointed down the street...

Got him...That way...

They resumed their pace...

"You ok?..." Willow looked at Buffy...

Who nodded, shaking herself...Just...

"I thought...For a second..." Buffy paused a mo...

And waved a hand...Nothing...Just...

"Lets get moving..." she picked up her pace after Jonathan, now a little ahead...

Must be the time travel getting to me...Buffy thought...Seeing myself like that...Feeling like I was someone else...

Well...Hafta lodge a complaint with Dr. Warrenstein when we get back...On top of the others I have waiting for him...

Hope the others aren't gonna come down with this...

Odd though...Like deja-vu...I felt as if...Some of this had happened before...

But not quite the same way...

It was dark now, getting darker by the minute...

A kind of panic was beginning to grip her...Already past 6:30...

I won't fail...I can't fail him...she thought...Hurrying along...

And oddly the same thought as before...

Not this time...

"Dawn?..."

Dawn halted on the sidewalk and paused to look at the girl calling her...

She hesitated a mo...Looking at the one approaching carefully...

"Janice?...It's very late for you isn't it?..."

"Sneaked out..." Janice giggled...And frowned...

Besides, how about you...Buffy out again?...

"Yeah...But I have an errand to run..." Dawn started off...

Dawny?...Janice blinked...

My best friend?...Geesh...she thought...

Leaving me here in the middle of the night alone?...

"Hey?...Dawny?..." she raced after her...

Dawn halted again and looked at her...

"I have an errand to run, Janice...I'll catch you later..."

She brushed her hair back and hurried on...

God, Dawn can really move, thought Janice, watching her...

She's as fast as that crazy sis of hers...

"Dawny?..." she continued following as best she could...

Angelis, back out on the London streets, was a reasonably content vampire...

Darla having allowed a brief stop for refreshment as they passed a young flower-girl...

Their cautious venture into the hotel had come to a quick end on the main floor when the anxious lobby clerk informed them their "daughter"...Had left the hotel...

Cousin...Darla had firmly corrected...Smiling frostily at the nervous young man...

Do I look old enough to be her mother?...she had frowned to herself...

A member of Angelis' former lynch mob standing in the lobby had likewise been kind enough to tell Angelis he had indeed seen a young blonde woman leave the hotel as well...With her red-haired friend and a small dark-haired young man...

However, glad as he was to be out of the hotel...Angelis felt one encounter with the wizard and Slayer was quite enough...

Best to keep a low profile and find new lodgings...In fact, why not leave London altogether?...

Dru'd catch up to them sooner...Or later...

A proud father's instinctive faith in his darling daughter's abilities...

"I prefer to find them before they find us..." Darla told him, a firm grimace on her face...

You said that Edison had a device to find us...Remember?...she noted...

And it will hardly do for word to get out that the mighty Angelis retreated in panic from the new Slayer and her minions...

Willow watched Buffy carefully as they moved along, following Jonathan...

The Slayer was clearly getting antsy as time moved along...But somehow, it seemed like more than just concern for her dear Spikey's survival...

She suddenly paused at a corner...Jonathan pulling ahead...

"This way..." she turned and hurried...Away from their partner and his remote tracker...

"Buffy?..." Willow called to her...

What the hell are you doing?...

She raced after her...

Morey's men...And "unmen"...following her and the Slayer as instructed at a slight distance...

William Soames Walthrop, human, emerged from the Forster Arms...Feeling a trifle sheepish in his kind friend Henry's loaned suit...Refusing the doorman's offer to call a cabbie and manuscript carefully tucked under one arm, he made his way through the darkening London streets...

Passing a corner where a dark-haired, wan-looking young woman suddenly blanched with fear

and cried out...Seeing her nemesis pass...

And yet not the one...A little human, Dru realized...Even dressed differently...

Several bystanders came over to the poor girl, so frightened...

Walthrop halted, looking back...Anything wrong?...

"Little lady over there took a fright..." a fellow standing on the edge on the group around Dru noted...

I'm quite all right, thank you...Dru told the kindly bystanders who'd come to her aid...Just...

Something gave me a start...

William, noting the situation seemed well in hand, and the poor girl or whoever was well provided for by the large group around her, hastened along...Bit of a stroll yet ahead of him if he was to make the Herricks' on time...

Perhaps he should take the route by Ames Lane?...Use the rear entrance...The servants knew him well by now and would gladly let him in...

After all, he wanted to be in and settled before Miss Addams made her appearance...

Drusilla, in the midst yet of her little crowd of well-wishers, watched the young human hurrying along...

Strange...She could have sworn it was the same one...But he'd definitely been a vampire, that one...

Very confused was the poor little one...

Hmmn...Perhaps she should meet this little human sometime...See what he could tell her...Pity he'd moved away from her so quickly...

Well, once she was sure she was safe from the other...

Maybe...Maybe the little one was a relative?...A brother?...

But why would the other be harassing her so?...Unless...He too had a gift of foresight...

And had sensed Dru's interest in his twin?...

Rather an elegant little fellow...So dashing...she noted...

And she'd sensed a genuine romantic nature in him...As she had in the other, even under his menace...

A nature not unlike her own...Both as to romantic sensibility...

And menace...

The Time Machine...Part XXV...

Downtown Sunnydale, 2002...

Janice had been trying to catch up to her friend for the better part of fifteen minutes...Fortunately Dawn's progress had been pretty much in a straight line, broken only by an occasional halt, when oddly, Dawny seemed to simply stand for a second as if lost in thought...Leading, her friend quickly realized, to that weird magic store where she and her sis were always hanging out...

Back at Spike's crypt, Warren Mears was quite pleased with himself...He'd calculated for every conceivable eventuality he thought happily, grinning at his hapless prisoners, Tara the witch, his former partner Andrew, and most important of all, for now at least, Xander Harris, fiancee of the one potential threat remaining free...The mysterious former demon, Anya...

Soon to be dealt with...Though he hoped not permanently...He was rather curious to meet her...

And after she was secured...It would be time to allow the travelers now in 1880 to return...And force them to surrender his time machine...

Buffy-bot II was likewise pleased...Her friends remained unharmed yet restrained...Dawn, her sister, was safe and away...And Warren, her owner, seemed quite calm and happy now...

All was well with her world...

Tara for her part was considering her options...Mears had brought a few protective charms into the crypt from his car after learning of her spell casting ability...

Not that that ability had proven of much use in any case...Given her avoidance of harmful or restrictive spells...Still that option was probably blocked now, even if she could think of something...

Thank God at least for Willow's buried safety directives in the bot's old programming...The only thing holding Warren back for now...

But not likely to be something that they could count on for much longer...Besides Warren had found a way to circumvent them to an extent by threatening Andrew who was not protected from the bot by Willow's instructions...

All she could do for now was reassure a nervous Xander regarding his beloved Anya's safety and try to keep chipping away at the bot's programming...Find someway to get her to help them...And stand by in case anything magicswise she could remember might help them...

Xander however was getting more concerned by the minute...Nerd boy Mears was too happy, considering Anya was free and potentially able to do him harm...And he'd been too willing to let Dawny go...Even if it made sense that he'd have her carry an ultimatum to Anya...

The little geek had something up his sleeve...

Andrew attempted to embrace the patience that a would-be Jedi should have...The light side of the force must win out eventually he noted...

Of course that might be years from now, long after Mearsy had killed them all and established his own Warren-friendly alternate universe...

March 13th, 1880...London...6:45 pm...

Spike waited in the shadow of a large brownstone, on the direct route to the front entrance of the Herricks' London home...Scene of the upcoming party at which his once beloved Cicely Addams had uttered the fatal words that had driven him to despair...And death...

Cicely...Odd...In all of this I've had no great desire to see her again...he noted as he paced slightly...And yet...

I almost feel...Somehow...As if I were finally settling things between us...

If tonight works out...And I can catch old Will...And keep him safe for this night...

Somehow...I know...If I can keep him alive tonight...The future of this Will Walthrop will be a human one...

To be graced with the story of an amazing woman...The true love of his...And perhaps all the Will Walthrops of this infinite universe's...Existences...

Hurrying down the street in pursuit of the tracking signal from Spike's chip, Jonathan had been unaware that Buffy and Willow had taken a different turn...Along with the men and demons her Majesty's agent Morey had assigned to keep a watch on the strange new American Slayer and her friends...

He paused to get a fix on Spike's signal and realized his friends had become separated from him...In fact, except for a few passers-by, he was alone...

But he was not unobserved...

"Buffy?..." Willow desperately called to her strangely driven friend...Still hurrying on down the avenue she'd taken for whatever bizarre reason had seized her...

Buffy suddenly halted, unsure...And looked back at her friend...

Willow?...What...?

Willow raced up to her...

"Buffy?...Why did you turn back there?...Jonathan went the other way..."

It...I think it's faster this way...Buffy confusedly noted...

"What are you talking about?...Do you sense Spike around here?"

Buffy looked at her...Spike?...No...I...

"William is that way..." she pointed...

"At my cousins'..." Buffy paused again in confusion...

And blinked...

Willow?...

"Where's Jonathan...?"

Willow considered...

Time travel psychosis or something, maybe?...

"Buffy, you said 'William is this way'..." Willow told her patiently...

At your cousins...

"My what...?" Buffy looked at her...

And looked back up the street...Seeing several of Morey's "people" carefully following...

Halting in the shadows...

"Which way did Jonathan go?..." she asked Willow...Who pointed back up the road...

She hesitated, thinking...What was happening to her?...Who or what was leading her on in this direction?...

"Will...Can you?...Check me out?..." she looked at the Wiccan...

I seem to be picking up...Something...Some kind of visions or something...From someone...

Willow rubbed her head...

"Reinforcing that last spell pretty much drained me for now, Buf...But...I'll see..."

One of the agents came forward quietly...

"Miss...?" he asked carefully... "Is there anything we can do?..."

There was a sudden commotion from up the street...

They hurried back up...

"Angelis!..." came a cry from several of the men posted up the street...

Darla grabbed at the 12-in-1 just as Jonathan turned to face her...

Tossing it aside and knocking him unconscious...

A lone bystander ran off as she showed him her demon face...

From far down the street she heard a faint cry..."Angelis"...

Alas...Poor sweet mate of mine seems to have made a fatal mistake in choosing to cover my rear...Ah, well...

Just as long as his hunt and destruction gives me a little time...

She lifted Jonathan and carried him into a nearby building...

She and Mr. Edison needed a little time to get acquainted...

Damn...Angelis thought...Looking at the horde closing in on him...

Including a few demons as well as crossbow-armed human agents...

Darla knew this would happen...She deliberately encouraged me to stay back...

He struck out at a couple and tried to flee...

On the rooftop of the building she'd dragged "Edison" into, Darla watched the street below...

No sign of pursuit as yet...

Well...Darla looked at Jonathan...I don't know...

Does look a little like Edison...Hard to say for sure...Those newspaper drawings are such poor likenesses...

Anyway, hardly matters...We'll know in a moment if we've got a genius joining our "family"...

Or a silly fool...

She bent over him...

Damn...Spike thought...Will should be here by now...

I know I came this way that night...

Where is he...er...Am I...?

He concentrated in frustration...Clearly the damned Powers That Be were determined to have their fun jerking him around a bit longer...

He couldn't stay here much longer without attracting suspicion...

He walked over towards the Herricks' front door...Where carriages were pulling up and disgorging London's elite...Greeted by several elegant and quite capable looking footmen and butlers...

Wait...He vaguely felt...In the distance...

Hell...He must gone round to the back entrance...He's already inside...

But why did he alter the route?...

Well, nothing to be done about it now...And no way to get inside without an invite...

One golden chance lost...

Still...At least he'd caught on to something...Some link between them, allowing him to sense his counterpart's presence...And with luck, he could keep in range when young Will left...

Or rather, fled...

In about one hour...

Buffy reached Angelis just as he hurled back two more of Morey's men...

Several others already dead or dying around them...

"No games this time Angel...er Angelis..." Buffy grabbed him...Waving the surviving others back...

Willow, breathing hard, came running up...

"Take me to my friend...Now..." Buffy shook the vampire in her grip...

"Your friend...Buffy?...I..."

Give me something wooden, a stake if you have it...she told the agent who'd spoken to her and Willow...

He quietly fetched her a stake from one of his men...

Angelis looked at her, pleading...He glanced around...

Surrounded by crossbows...

No sign of his beloved females in support...

"My friend...Now..." Buffy raised the stake and pointed it towards his heart...

"I don't know, Slayer...How could I know?..." he pleaded...

Darla...Willow looked at him...

"Where's Darla?..."

He gave a visible sigh of relief...

Hell, Darla was that way...he pointed...

Attractive little redhead...he thought...Smiling faintly at Willow...Who ignored him...

"Find Darla and we'll find him...She must have been following him, I'm sure of it..." she noted to Buffy...

Be happy to guide you...Angelis helpfully offered...Her scent's easy for me to track...

Nothing like a vampire mate's devotion...Willow noted grimly...

However, to be fair...She couldn't see Spike doing this to Dru...At least before Buffy had come on the scene...

"Move..." Buffy nudged him...

"If anything has happened to my friend...I will kill you..." she told Angelis...

The little human had been too fast for poor Dru...And was safely inside the large house...

Pity...But...Sooner or later...He'd be coming out...

She strolled round the back of the house...And halted...

He was here...The other...

Spike had felt her almost as quickly...

That old black magic...

He hurried round...Following her as she fled down the street...

"Dru!..." he called to her...

Sadly she was in no mood for a family reunion...

There...Angelis pointed at the building where Darla had taken Jonathan...

"She must be in there..."

Take him...Buffy called to the agents who followed her and Willow...

She released the vampire and Angelis fled...Abandoning Darla to her fate...Pursued by most of the surviving agents...

Love's labor lost...Darla sighed, looking down at her fleeing mate...

"Jon...er Mr. Edison!..." Willow cried...Looking up...

She raced into the building...Buffy pausing, looking back up the street...Shaking herself...

She had to help the other poor boy first...Then William...She hurried inside...

On the roof, Darla released Jonathan and he staggered...Collapsing on the ledge...

My little boy...she thought, maternally...

In just a minute or two...

But...A true Jedi knows that death is meaningless...The only true death is to surrender to the dark side...Jonathan raised himself on all fours...And crawled to the edge of the ledge, Darla staring at him...

Don't be a fool, little one...she called to him...Eternal life is almost yours...

Willow was climbing as fast as she could...Buffy now coming up fast...

He could feel his demon surging up...

"Come back here, you little fool!..." Darla cried...

Buffy passed Willow and raced toward the ledge...Darla saw her charging, threw a large piece of roof slate at her, and ran to the back stairs at the rear of the roof...Heading for the open street back down on the surface as quickly as she could...

"Jonathan!..." Buffy cried...Stumbling from the force of the slate's impact...Grabbing at him desperately...

Jonathan grinned at her, tossed the remote, and dying, rolled off the ledge...His demon cursing him as it took possession...All too briefly...

Buffy screamed as she watched him fall until she couldn't see him in the darkness...Willow came up, panting...

Darla?...she paused...

Buffy stared at her...Wiping her bloody face with her hand and holding it at her mouth...

And dazed, stared back where Jonathan had fallen...

I've killed him...My poor Jonathan...

Killed him...Just like...she stared blankly into the empty space off the ledge's edge...

Just as we killed poor William...So long ago...So thoughtless...

Willow looked at her...

"Buffy?...Jonathan?..."

She pointed dazedly at the edge...

"He's gone..."

I killed him...she murmured...Oh, God forgive me...Killed him...

Poor boy...she sobbed...Falling to her knees...

Willow looked at her in horror and ran to the edge, peering...

She turned back to look at her friend...

"Buffy...? He went over?..." she cried...

I killed him...Buffy repeated...She put the remote in her pocket...Covered her face with her hands...

"Jonathan!" Willow screamed over the ledge...

Poor, poor boy...Poor William...How could I have been so cruel?...He loved me so...Buffy muttered, head in hands, rocking gently...And suddenly looked round her wildly...

No...No, not William...This was not the place...Not yet the time...

She couldn't help this Jonathan, poor sweet soul...But...For William...This William...There was still time...

Still a chance...To set things right...

She hurried to the stairs Darla had taken and began descending...

Willow stared after her...And followed, best as she could...

"Buffy!..." she cried...

"I must find William!..." Buffy called back, continuing...

But I know where to go...Cousin Henry's...

It's not too late...

"Wait for me, Buffy!..." Willow cried...Trying to follow as best she could...

William?...Does she mean the human one?...Or our Spike?...

Oh, Jonathan...she paused and looked back up the street to where a body now lay...

And watched it crumble into ashes, blown by the wind...

Forgive us...Forgive me...

8:10pm...

Buffy had finally stopped...Giving Willow a chance to catch up...

They stood outside a large brownstone...Quite a party going on inside, Willow noted...

"He's here, he's here..." Buffy was agitated...

"Spike's here?..." Willow looked at her...

William is here...I have to stop him...Buffy insisted...

Willow looked at her... You mean, human Will?...

But...Shouldn't we be looking for...?

Buffy?...

"Miss?, Miss!..." The footman at the door cried out as Buffy raced through the door...Clearly not an invited guest in her outfit...

Willow quietly slipped in while the servants were distracted...Grabbing a cloak from the racks which she draped round herself...

"A bit chilly I think..." she noted politely to a waiter passing by who offered to take her wrap... "I'll keep it, thanks..."

Buffy was pushing desperately through the crowd of party guests...A waiter, several footmen, and others in pursuit...

Willow following as closely as she could...Unnoticed as yet...

She caught a distant glimpse of a young man on a settee who looked...My God, that's him...

"Spike!..er Mr. Walthrop!"...sitting beside a dark-haired...Holy cow!...Buffy?...No, not quite, but...

Buffy had likewise seen them...But a large distance and crowd still separated them...Her pursuers closing in...

Several gentlemen, having seen the strange, rather cheaply dressed young woman running from the servants turned to grab at her...Some sneak thief, no doubt...A couple of the servants reached her and tried to take hold of her arms...

"You're beneath me..." Cicely turned away from the stricken Walthrop...Who fled the room, clearly on the verge of tears...

"No!" Buffy screamed...Falling to her knees...Her hands to her face in horror...And anger...

"What have you done?" she screamed across the room at the startled Miss Addams who stared at the strangely familiar blonde woman...Her own age...Almost her own...Face...

Buffy?...Willow looked at her in shock...

The Slayer rose, tossing back the men trying to restrain her...And dashed in the direction young Walthrop had left...

Willow now drew some attention herself and several began looking at her...She smiled politely at a shy-looking young man who was only too happy to be engaged in conversation...The others returned to scratching their heads over the bizarre incident...The severely shocked Miss Addams receiving the devoted attention of several of her worshipers...

Willow's shy escort was only too happy to be allowed to lead her back through the halls to the front entrance...Where she took a pleasant and kindly good leave of him...

Uncle's carriage coming for her in just a mo...But thanks so much for seeing her out...

She slipped around the gate and into the street as quickly as possible...

To find a sobbing Buffy about a block down...

"All for nothing...Nothing...I've lost him...Again..." she looked at Willow not recognizing her for a full minute...

Buffy?...Willow grabbed her...Buffy?...

Where did he go, Buffy?...Willow looked at her...And paused...

"Willow...?" Buffy looked at her friend...

"I...Don't know where he went..."

What about Spike, Buffy?...He must be here somewhere...

She felt in her pocket...She still had Jonathan's remote...Tuned to track the chip's signal...

She held it out to Willow...Who looked it over carefully...

"He's at least a mile away...Probably near wherever Drusilla met up with Walthrop..."

They looked around...A stable down the street with cabstand out front...

And looked at each other...Hurrying down the street...

The Time Machine...Part XXVI

"Sorry ladies..." John Carrier, London cabman, shook his head at the two pleading young women...

My Ole Bess is laid up in the stable there...Bad off she is...

Shame, you know...He went on, genially if sadly...She was once a great racer, my lass was...

"P'haps you'd like to try down on Browning Street...Ask for Jaime Morse..." he suggested...Pointing the way and then retiring to his quarters within the stable building...

They looked at the stable door...A large broom propped against it...

Buffy looked at the broom...Thoughtfully...

"You know Will...Like you said...In 1880, your no-magics pledge doesn't exist..." she looked at Willow...

"Buffy, come on..." Willow snorted...

Everyone knows witches don't fly on broomsticks...

They're aerodynamically unstable...

Well...Buffy sighed...Guess that leaves us with one option...

She went to the back of the stable and came back lugging...A saddle...

Open the horse's door...Quietly...she told her friend...Willow looked at her but complied...

Horse?...Willow looked at Ole Bess...Who seemed to give an audible sigh as she caught sight of Buffy coming round her with the saddle...

That horse?...

"Stopping looking and start helping me figure out how to get this thing on..." Buffy called to her as she struggled to get the saddle on Ole Bess...

Who was not particularly pleased at the idea of coming out of her genteel semi-retirement...

Mr. Carrier had returned outside...And heard the sounds of a rather vexed horse within...

"Bessie, old girl?..." Carrier called...

Is anything amiss, my poor sweetheart?...

Asthe front door of the stable burst open and Bess emerged with a mighty leap, Buffy on saddle with Willow hanging on behind her...

[Suggested theme...Buffy and Ole Bess to the Rescue (Raiders of the Lost Ark)]

Rather pleased with herself...Just a lil' spell to give Ole Bess back a bit of what she'd had in her salad days...

2002 Sunnydale...The Magic Shop...

Dawn entered carefully...A couple of lights still on...

"Anya?..." she called...

The shop had been locked she noted...But Anya might simply have locked the place for safety...

She paused, looking around carefully...And a gasping Janice came running up...Slamming the door open...

"Dawny?...Why did you leave me back there?..."

"I have an errand to run Janice...Please go away...I'll catch you later..." Dawn told her...

"Some friend you are..." Janice gasped...

I ran all the way after you...Why didn't you wait?...When you stopped I thought you were waiting...

"Janice, I'm busy...Can't you see I've got a lot on my mind...Geesh...There's my stupid sister and...Everything...And Anya isn't even here..." Dawn whined...

Go away...she told her friend...

I've got an errand to run and I'm busy...

"Where's your sister?...And that weird lady who owns this place?..." Janice looked at her carefully...

Dawn...The door lock was broken...she noted...

"Did you break in here?..."

I have to find Anya...Dawn told her...

She paused, lost in thought, apparently...

"Dawn?..."Janice looked at her...

Dawny?...

Dawn looked back at her...

"I have to go..."

Go?...Where the hell?...It's nearly one o'clock...Unless you're going home?...

"I have to find Anya and..." she paused...

"I have an errand to run...Go away, Janice...I'll catch you later..." she began heading out...

And stopped...

"Someone's here..." she noted...But...Puzzled...

"I should have sensed them...Before..."

A figure emerged from the back office door...

"Hello, Dawn..." Giles said quietly...Hurling a ball of intense light at her...

"Duck!..." he called to Janice pleasantly...Who went down...

The light struck Dawn-bot and she sparked in a dozen places...

And collapsed on the floor...Smoking at the same points now...

Janice looked at the smoking, inert Dawn on the floor and babbled senselessly...Looking at Giles...Trembling...

"Anya!..." Giles called...

At Spike's crypt Buffy-bot II waited patiently, smiling pleasantly at the others...The rope-secured members of the gang waited restlessly, hopeful and nervous by turns...

Warren, true to his nature, fidgeted and fretted...

Where was Dawn-bot anyway?...She hadn't even called him or communicated back by internal transmission...

Course she might be occupied trying to fool Anya the demon girl into thinking she was the real Dawn...It had after all only been fifteen minutes since her last full contact...

His remote flashed...A signal...

But a rather scrambled...Ah, clearing now...Hmmn...Mission accomplished...In return mode...

Excellent...

Subject alive?...He tapped out...

He was anxious to meet Anya after all this build-up...

A brief pause...Yes...

He rubbed his hands...And grinned over at Xander...

You're a lucky man, pal...he thought, giggling...

"Is Mears?...Gay or something?..." Xander hissed to Andrew...

Little creep keeps giggling at me...

Warren signaled the new bot to make a quick return...

Hmmn...He looked at the pleasantly smiling...And now rather obsolete...Buffy-bot II...

Perhaps, when Dawn II arrived...It would be time to take steps towards a make-over...

Though only the programming of course would have to be changed...Nothing wrong with her look...

A true work of art if he said so himself...

And he'd need the older sister around...After all...

Perverse to have the young kid bot hanging round him without Buffy...Hell, she was only what, 14?...

People might get the idea he was weird or something...

A teleportation spell...An extremely dangerous teleportation spell...Performed in concert and with the somewhat reluctant approval of a hastily assembled quorum of the Council...Had brought Giles back to Sunnydale in the shortest possible time after Anya's pleading call...

Armed with a few extras...Again thoughtfully provided by his colleagues...

At the urging of Chairman Travers...Old Quentin having appreciated the gravity of the situation...And having not been above realizing it could only be to their benefit to provide all-out assistance, for once, to the newly resurrected Slayer...

Hopefully, "their" newly resurrected and grateful Slayer if they played their cards right...

Suppressing his urge to slit a few of the bellies of his calculating colleagues, Giles had graciously accepted their assistance...

Equally important, of course, had been human Dawn's burst of practical good sense...

She'd called to say she was coming, though a leetle concerned about why Mears had released her...And remembered to mention where she was...

So that, naturally, when Anya spotted "Dawn" coming down the street from the shop window, barely two minutes after she'd called from all the way across Sunnydale...They'd known something was up...And Giles had been preparing for a bot fight...

New botty a little too eager to carry out her owner's orders...And dodge her meddlesome friend...Who was rather lucky to be alive given Dawn-bot's lack of safety restrictions...

Warren had, of course, told his new bot to take a little time in coming over...Assuming Dawn might try to call...And to occasionally scan for the signal from the tracker he'd stuck on Dawn's jacket in case she'd set up a different meeting place...But he'd never specified how long "take your time" was supposed to be...

Well, Giles sighed to himself, looking at the shattered Dawn body on the floor...And pointing out the stricken, terrified Janice to Anya, now rushing in from the back office where his spell had concealed their presence from Dawn-bot's sensors...He had promised Buffy he'd be there for her if the situation ever reached the breaking point...

And if this wasn't quite an end of the world scenario...It was close enough for him...

Buffy with Willow racing through time to save her beloved...Spike?...

The remaining gang in the grip of a maniacal, if nerdy, and well-armed human genius

A desperate Anya and Dawn alone to face the enemy...

Yes, definitely time to break the glass and push the alarm bell...

Thank God Travers had been anxiously looking for ways to "assist" poor Buffy in her "transition" back to life...With an eye to regaining her services...And so was quite receptive...

Ole Bess pounded the paved streets of London, bearing Buffy in saddle and Willow still desperately hanging on...

Gotta stop pushing Willow on the magics, Buffy thought, embarrassed...Very hypocritical of me to take advantage of her romantic sympathy like this...

"Sorry!..." she called out to the man fleeing for his life to the sidewalk as Bess nearly ran him down...

Say...I'm doing pretty well...First time on a horse and all...

She looked at the remote...

"Ok, left turn...ummn...Old girl..." she told the horse...Pointing down the street to the left...

Will?...Willow?...she called back...

"How'd you get this thing to turn?..."

"Turn?...Don't know, Buf!..." Willow hollered back...

Thought you knew...

Damn...Buffy thought...Where's that nineteenth century whoever who's been possessing me when I need her?...

She might at least help me get this thing to William...

"The reins, the reins...You goddamn fool!..." a helpful, if furious gentleman called from the sidewalk as Bess nearly trampled him...

Right, the reins...Like in the movies and on TV...Yeah...

She grabbed at the reins and pulled left down another street...

She could handle this...No problem...

Bess leaped over a small flower cart in the street...

"Willow?..." Buffy called to her fallen friend...

Can't stop!...she called behind her...

Willow dazedly picked herself up and ran after the horse and Slayer as best she could...

Ok, no Willow...But so long as she was ok...She was too pooped now to be of help for a while anyway...Buffy noted...

The remote suggested another left and straight on down...

Bess made the turn neatly, hooves clanging away...

Hmmn...I should try this when we get back home, Buffy thought...Maybe take Dawny sometime...

If I can ever get over my usual fear of large, fierce-looking animals...

God, I must be in love...

Ow!...Damn saddle thing...

But who is the other?...The one who's been helping...Pushing me...Since we got here...

Maybe it's human Dru?...Trying to make amends?...

Well...Look into that later...

"Really sorry!"...she cried to the young couple racing in panic from their carriage as their horse reared in fright at Bess' maniacal charge and toppled them...

Oh...Gosh...

Poor Jonathan...she bowed her head...

Bess clanged along...She seemed to be beginning to actually enjoy this...Having a bit of her old self back...

The Time Machine...Part XXVII... Main Theme

March 13th, 1880...London...8:45pm...

Willow staggered a bit as she hurried along the street on foot, desperately trying to follow Buffy and her Ole Bess...Finding the way reasonably well marked by the path of destruction Buffy and horse had left in their wake...

That last spell had left her rather woozy...God, Tara is gonna be so pissed at me...she thought...

But hell, I couldn't say no to poor Buffy...And after all, 1880...Special circumstances...

Insane romance...

And most of her spells had been minor ones except for poor Moira's persuasion spell...

At least I didn't enjoy it...Maybe, when it's done at request rather than for my own amusement the thrill goes out of it a little...

Say, maybe that's why Tara doesn't get the buzz I do...She usually does them...Heck, almost always does em for others...

But, she's still gonna be pissed...Well...Like Spike with Buf, I can't help thinking it's better to have her angry at me...Then not have her concerned with me at all...

Besides, Buffy shares some of the blame in this one...A whole lot of the blame...she thought, rubbing her aching fanny discretely as she could...

An enclosed cab pulled up to her...She eyed it cautiously...

Sorry, Jack...Not in the profession...And busy in any case...she noted to herself...

Holy God...Why did I have to think of the name "Jack"?...she nervously thought...Moving away quickly...

Just when did that maniac show up around here, anyway?...

Probably this week...Maybe right now...She picked up the pace, stumbling again...

"Miss?..." Morey called to her from the cab...

Back at her cousins, the Herricks, the shaken Miss Addams was attempting to pay attention to her fervent admirers now jockeying for position near her side...

One handed her a sheet of paper...

Must have come from that silly fool's things...he noted, smiling at her...

"There's no need to be cruel to the poor boy..." she returned, surprising him...

She kept returning to the scene in her mind...Walthrop running out...The girl rushing in...Trying...What?

To stop her?...Stop him?...

What you have done?...That was what she'd said, wasn't it?...That strange blonde girl...

The same one she'd seen in her mirror early that afternoon...

What have I done?...A slight chill gripped her...

Well...She'd apologize later through dear cousin Henry...Make the poor fellow understand that she was just...Unable to accept his protestations of love under circumstances as they were...

It could all be dealt with tomorrow...A little smile and a kind word and he'd be fine...And Henry could explain the reality of the situation to him...

She looked at the sheet...Not another poem...Just a draft of a letter to his sister...

Describing one Miss Cicely Addams...

In innocent and tender words no one had ever used or would ever use again to describe her...

Drusilla left the body of a heavy-set older woman who'd halted to comfort the clearly terrified young woman in an alleyway...

Very kind lady, she thought...Well...One grandmother is quite enough...

She'd remember the lady fondly, according to her lights...Thanks to her comforting words she was much calmer now when she'd halted, expecting immediate destruction at the hands of her pursuer...

But he'd fallen behind...Apparently off after someone else...

That little human "brother"?...Or whatever he was?...

Hmmn...That would be too bad...She'd hoped to meet the little one first, and learn just why his brother, father, cousin...? was so tormenting to the poor little Dru...

Perhaps some general dislike of his fellow vampires...But he'd let Darla and Angelis live...Hadn't bothered them at all...

Very unfair to the poor Dru...

Still...The little one was stalking around, moving in her general direction...she sensed...

Perhaps she could catch the little human soon and put an end to this...

Or at least get some idea of why the other was here...And seeking her so single-mindedly...

Misery...All life is nothing but misery...A desolate William Soames Walthrop kicked at the pavement...

Cicely...Rejecting him...Without even looking at his work, just listening to that goddamned fool "gentleman" who'd grabbed his poems...Reading them out to that assembly of morons in mock serious tones...

He could've understood her not liking the work...He knew it was still rough and unfinished...

But not to even listen to what lay beneath...

Beneath...God...

"Beneath me..." That's what she said...

"Beneath" her, eh...?

So...She was just like all the rest...A money-grubbing, position-seeking little scheming...

But he'd seen so much more in her...It couldn't be true...He couldn't be so wrong...

Is there no truth in Beauty?...

He hurled his sheath of poems into the gutter...

What a waste...Well, damn her...And damn her damn friends...And damn relatives...

God, was even old Henry just stringing him along?...Pretending to be a friend, setting him up to be a clown for his cousin's and friends' amusement?...

Silly ole Walthrop, in his borrowed suit...A pet monkey for the nobs to play with and sneer at...

But...He balled a hand into a fist and beat the nearest wall...Cicely...She'd smiled at him...And he'd seen...Something in her...

Pity perhaps, he thought ruefully, looking at his bloodied hand...Before she'd been, oh so embarrassed by his words of love...

Damn that stupid lout "gentleman"...

Gutless fop probably couldn't spell his name to save his life...

But...What did it matter?...God, what had he seen in her that had led him to trust her?...To believe that she would, of all people...Understand...

Maybe that blonde one...The face he'd seen reflected in the elevator...Maybe that's what he'd sensed...

Her better angel, perhaps...Damn...

Damn...If she'd thought his work so worthless, such an embarrassment...

Maybe it was...Maybe he was...

His work...Mum's sacrifice...All for nothing...He'd never escape what he was...They'd always be throwing him back...

Just another working class upstart with pretensions...

He put his head to the wall of a building...Sobbing a bit...

A hand reached out and touched his back...He jerked around...

"What...?..." he mumbled, looking at the intruder...

Jaw dropping slightly...

"Are you sure you can handle this?..." Giles looked at Dawn...

Who had arrived a few minutes after Dawn-bot's untimely shut-down...

The sensory spell about her should convince anyone that she was whoever they initially took her for...Including Warren's robo-Buffy...But it was not foolproof, Giles noted...And would fade in the crypt rather quickly...If she slipped up, Warren or Buffy II would catch on fast...

"Giles, can't we just go in and you hex Mears or something?..." Anya put in, anxiously...

"As I've told you, Anya...I can't penetrate the charms young Mr. Mears has set up...Else none of us would risk going..." Giles sighed...

I think we'd find it impossible to initiate a new spell in his presence right now...

"Hey...I can pass for Dawny-bot any day of the week..." Dawn insisted...

It'll be easy...I go in, tell Warren you've vamoosed...He'll freak and run for the hills...

"Well...Dawn...I think I'd better go too..." Anya told her...

Buffy would be pretty annoyed if I let you go alone...Xander too...

"Yes..." Giles nodded... "Warren probably would be only less willing to leave his protected area if he thought you were still free and about, Anya..."

Oh...Well...Gee, thanks for "supporting" me, Giles...Anya thought...

"I will be following you...If the robot fails to detect Dawn as human...As I believe she will...I can then make a distraction and you two should be able to free the others..."

"Given the fact that the robot seems unable to harm any of Buffy's family or friends, I think the only real danger is what our mad scientist has on his person for weapons...So it's essential that someone he would trust at least to some extent gets close enough to disable him..." Giles concluded...

Oh...Dawn looked at him...

"I gotta shoot him or something?..." she frowned a bit...

Not that I would shed any tears over that creep, just...I kinda agree with Sis...

Guns and knives...Bad...

"No, no..." Giles reassured her...Just use this...

He held out a calculator-sized block with a couple of buttons...

"Some kinda of magic thingy?..." Dawn asked hopefully...

Neat...

She was beginning to like this "undercover operation"...Finally a chance to get in on the action...

No magic thingy could be started in the crypt right now, I think...Giles noted...

This...Careful, my dear, as she grabbed it...Is a stunner...With a quite respectable charge...

"Just offer it to Warren...As something Anya had about her...And press that red button as you give it to him..."

And he will get it...Rather well...Giles noted, smiling...

Janice was coming out of her panicky collapse thanks to the sedative Anya had given her, courtesy of Giles...

"Dawny?..." Dawn went to her...Hey, Jan...

We dead or what?...Janice asked feebly...

"Now as to our little lady here..." Giles looked at the Dawn-bot...

I think we'd best have her send a message to her owner...He must be getting anxious by now...

"Anya, would you help me with her?..." Giles asked...Lifting the robot gently and carrying her towards the back office...

And keep Dawn away...he hissed to his partner...

I don't think she'd enjoy seeing her new "sister"'s head opened...

"This is Felix..." Morey introduced a rather dog-faced demon to Willow in the cab...

A noted tracker in my employ...

He'll get us to your Miss Buffy...

Willow nodded politely at Felix who smiled...

He liked redheads...

But of course, as a loyal British demon...A Victorian British demon...Duty came first...

"That way..." he pointed...

Willow looked at him...

"Say...How can he track Buffy?...Doesn't he need...?"

Morey waved Mr. Pointy at her...

"One of my men found her in the tunnel...A bit confusing for most of my trackers what with all the vamp scents...But Miss Buffy's scent is strong on it and Felix is the best..."

Geesh...How did Angelis and co get away from these guys in our timeline?...Willow thought...

Course Morey here doesn't view them as large potatoes anyway...Dru's the only one who interests him...

Kinda of takes a little of the air out of the "Mighty Angelis"' rep...

Musta been good PR that gave him the big name and all...

A shaken Angelis was philosophical as he cautiously re-emerged into the street from the shadowy corner where he'd hid himself from Morey's pursuing agents...

Win some, lose some...

As for Darla...Well...At least her dear mate was still alive, to keep her memory immortal...

And to record the saga of "Angelis' Encounter with the Slayer in London"...

Rather nice title, he thought...Perhaps he should submit it as fiction to the Strand magazine...

Just need to find someone to write it up at his dictation...Hmmn...Say...That William had seemed the scholarly type...If he were still around...And still willing to continue their alliance...

A sure-fire crowd pleaser for both vamps and humans...Given the surprise happy ending for both vamp and Slayer...

Gotta change that name though...God, "Buffy?"...Ridiculous...They'd think he'd been fighting a rabbit or something...

"Angelis!..." Darla hollered at him from up the street...

Oh...the joy...he groaned...

Quietly...

The Time Machine...Part XXVIII...

2002 Sunnydale...

I hope this works...Anya thought as Dawn led her into Spike's crypt...Trying to look sufficiently intimidating, yet Dawnish...

Though frankly...she thought...I can't see why we don't just let the little maniac have his machine and go off into the unknown...Something in another timeline is sure to get him...They always do...

Still...Giles is right...He might hurt Buffy and the others when they try coming back...And most important of all, he might hurt my Alexander...

Hmmn...Wish I could have my pendant back...Just for ten minutes...I'd show that pudgy nerd what messing with magics is all about...

A plea to my old boss, maybe?...

Well...Guess Xander'd be so disappointed in me if I did...Although he has transgressed himself on occasion...

Better save it for when our children are in danger though...Sort of a last ditch, final fling thing...A tension-releaser if nothing else...And my Xandy would never object to it to save our offspring...

Screw the wedding plans...If we get out of this, we elope tomorrow...

London, 1880, 9:15pm

Spike raced towards where he sensed his counterpart...

The area looking disturbingly familiar...

Oh, God, don't let this all be for nothing...

He clutched his manuscript tucked underneath the Randy suit...Precious cargo, that...

The key to linking Walthrop's human soul in this timeline to Buffy's...

Will was here, somewhere, nearby...Concentrate...Where did I go after Cicely dissed me?...Where?...

Uh-oh...Another presence off in the distance...

Dear old vamp Mum...

Time was running out on William Soames Walthrop...

"Will!.." he called desperately...

Where the hell are you?...

He tried concentrating on Dru...Still a bit too far off...

Well, he'd tried everything else...Perhaps it was time to make his peace...

"Listen you sodden bastard...Or bastards...You condemned me for nothing...And all I damned have ever asked you for is right here...A chance to keep one of my counterparts' souls in this damned infinite universe around and kicking...And connect him with Buffy Summers, at least in Eternity..."

Damned unselfish, I'd say...For a former killer demon-maniac...

Someone, for my mother's sake...For poor Buffy's sake...Listen to me for once...I'll go to Hell...I'll take any damned condemnation and punishment you choose to throw at me...

Just let me find him, please God...

He suddenly heard a kick on pavement...A kicking sound he recognized...

Damn good service...Thanks...he grinned...

And turning the corner, froze...

A cab had halted in the road...And next to it...William Soames Walthrop...

And a young lady he hadn't seen in some time...

"William?...er...Mr. Walthrop?..."

Walthrop blinked at...A nervous Cicely...

"Miss Addams..." he nodded, regaining a hair of composure...

"I...I wanted to...I..."

"I've thrown it away...Don't worry yourself..." he looked at her...

"I'm so ashamed William...Please...Accept..."

He waved his hand at her...

"It's fine...I understand...I'm not completely illiterate, you know..."

I'm beneath you...I received your communique quite clearly...

"Mr...Wal...William...Please...Come back with me..."

I'm so ashamed...

"Why...This is so very kind of you...Very noble...I thank you..."

But I am otherwise engaged for the evening...

"Did you write this?..." she handed him the draft letter...

Guilty as charged, miss...he nodded...

Shall I tear this one as well?...

"No...Please..." she took his hand...

You mustn't stay here...It's not safe for you...

"Please, William, come back with me..."

You're in danger here...

He looked at her pleading face...

She looks just like she did...The girl I saw in the elevator's reflection did...he thought...

"Why do you think I'm in danger, Miss Addams?"...

"I don't know...I just know you are...Please, William...Please do this..."

For your sister's sake if not mine...

"What would it matter if I was?...Who'd care...?

She would, Cicely replied...Touching the letter gently...

And I would...

She took his hand gently...And he stared at his hand in hers...

"Here's the arrangement I propose William..." she began...

Spike, watching them in wonder, suddenly smiled...

Here's the deal...he thought...

My God...How could I have been so blind?...

She followed me...That night...But Dru was too quick for her...Nothing to throw Dru off her path like this time...

And she wasn't the Slayer...Then...

But that didn't stop her...She just waited until she could find another way to save me...A century later...

I was right about her...More than I ever could have guessed...

William having clearly accepted the "arrangement", helped Miss Addams into her carriage and they drove off...

We did it, Spike grinned to himself...At last...

Cicely and I...With the help of one rather evil nerd...

And some reincarnation from the Powers That Be...

He sensed Dru getting nearer...

Too late, dear heart...Not in this timeline...

He heard the sound of a rampaging horse coming up on him...

And jumping back, recognized its occupant...

One could hardly call her its rider the way she was straddling the poor horse...

"William?..." Buffy looked at him...

Buffy?...Spike looked at her in astonishment...

Fancy meeting you here...he recovered with aplomb...

"Enjoying the sights, are we?..."

"Spike?..." Buffy stared at him...Obviously confused...

He looked at her carefully...

"Where's William...?"

Past us and...God willing, safe...he smiled...

"But what the hell are you...?"

With a shriek, Drusilla came howling in...Smashing him down...

Having decided the offense was the best strategy in this situation...Her mysterious nemesis being apparently on quite good terms with the Slayer...

The Time Machine...Part XXIX

"William!..." Willow from Morey's carriage heard a familiar scream...

She leapt out, followed by Morey and Felix, pausing for a second in astonishment as she recognized Miss Addams and Walthrop riding past in their own carriage...Clearly lost to the world...

My God...We did it...We saved him...

Or, rather...Helped her save him...

"Buffy!..." she heard Spike cry...To the accompaniment of loud smashes...

But sounds like we're about to lose our own version...And Buffy as well...

2002 Sunnydale...The crypt...

"Dawny..." Buffy-bot II greeted her sister happily...

"Anya...It's so nice to see you again..." she hesitated...

You didn't come here to hurt Warren?...she asked anxiously...

Warren watched them narrowly...Dawn holding Anya firmly...

"Here she is...Warren..."

Thank God the other bot didn't call him "Master"...Dawn thought...

I'd of barfed for sure trying to say that...Danger or no danger...

Anya looked over at Xander...Hey, sweetie...she smiled, a little wanly...

"Dawn?..." Tara called to her...

Dawn-bot...Dawn replied...

"I think Dawn is still on her way to the shop..." she noted...

Xander frowned angrily at Mears...You little...

Buffy was bad enough...But Dawn too?...

Though...As a craftsman...He had to admit...Quite a piece of workmanship...

"Surprise..." Warren giggled at him...

Buffy-bot II stared in what was an excellent imitation of astonishment...

"Dawny?..."

She looked at Tara as if for reassurance...

"Warren?..." she turned to Mears...Dawn trying not to look nervous...

Anya at least could afford to look nervous...Playing "prisoner of the Dawn-bot" and all...

"You never told me you'd made a Dawny-bot..." Buffy-bot looked a hair accusingly at her owner...

"Is my sister?...The real one...Ok?..." she asked anxiously...

Phew...Dawn thought...Hurdle one overcome...

"Spike!..."

Buffy had leapt off ole Bess to assist Spike, Dru turning her attention to her...

Damn...No stake...Nothing wooden around..Buffy thought, hopping up to kick at the vampiress...

Just don't look her in the eyes, she told herself...

Dru caught the kick in her chest but grabbed at her and threw the Slayer down...

Spike wobbly rose and jumped her...Knocking them both to the ground...

Buffy stunned on the pavement, groaning...Spike picked himself up, turning and calling to her...

"Buffy!..."

Drusilla staggered to her feet, and charged at him...Smashing him against the wall of the alley building...

Willow tore ahead of her companions...Bearing down on the fighters, but...

Drusilla grabbed at Buffy as she tried to get up and tossed her back, unconscious now...Spike was out on the ground...

She lifted the Slayer in her arms...Almost a maternal embrace...

For a new daughter...

Willow screamed...But Dru ignored the little human running towards her...

There was only one thing to do...

The only sure-fire spell for stopping a vampire...

Though under these conditions the curse could not be expected to last forever...

She focused desperately...In her weakened state, this one was gonna hurt she knew...

Dru stared at her, dropped Buffy, and fell...

A howling cry came from Drusilla...Crumpled on the ground...

Buffy gasped for breath, beside her...And standing, rushed to Spike, now coming round...

She helped him gently to his feet and they looked at Drusilla...

Who beat her fists on the pavement, wailing...

"Oh...God!...Merciful Jesus!...No...No!..."

And looked up at them in torment...

Fixing her eyes on Spike...Not quite sure, but aware...As Willow came up...

Buffy looked at her...Will?...

Willow nodded, sighing...Yeah...The good old curse...

She staggered a bit and plopped down on the ground...Blinking...

Takes a lot out of a girl...

Spike looked at Willow...Red too...?

My God...I have friends...he shook his head briefly as he turned to poor Dru...

Though really Red...I wish you might have found another way...he thought...Though I understand...

Crisis situation and all...

Morey and Felix came running up...And halted...

Buffy turned to the half-demon and his friend, holding them back, explaining...

Another vampire with a soul?...Morey looked at her incredulously...But one look at Dru and he realized it was true...Somehow, they'd found a way...

Amazing folk, these Yanks...

A curse...Buffy explained...Highly specialized spell...

My poor Dru...Poor sweet lamb...Spike stared at the hysterically sobbing Drusilla...

Have a hairsbreath of mercy, you Goddamn bastards...He stared at the few stars visible in the murky sky...She is innocent...

He touched her gently...

"Miss...Drusilla..."

I don't even know your last name, my poor, poor girl...

We never were properly introduced...

"Oh, God...Sir...I know you...I..." Dru looked at Spike and paused, confused...

No, Miss Drusilla...You don't know me...We've never met...Spike told her hurriedly...

"Kill me, sir..." Dru begged... "Now, please..."

She looked to the others...Pleading...

Oh, please...Let me go home...

He looked at Buffy and Willow...Please...

"Don't let her suffer..."

Willow stared, tears running down her face...

A whole century of agony...All this suffering...And he never blamed her...

"Forgive me!" Dru pleaded... "I know...I...can see it..."

I killed...She buried her head in her hands...

"You've nothing to blame yourself for Dru..." Spike told her gently...

You didn't kill anyone, dear heart...He looked firmly at Morey who watched him quietly...

Felix having gone over to inquire after the pretty redhead...Was she quite well?...

By the way, excellent spell-casting, Miss...he told her...

Fine, thanks very much...Willow smiled at him...Cute little fellow...Reminds me of...

Oh, Jonathan...she sighed...Bowing her head...New tears streaming down her face...

Miss?...Felix asked anxious...

"Our friend..."

Felix gallantly offered a hanky...Yes, we heard...he noted...

So sorry Ma'am...

Spike continuing to try to comfort Dru...Buffy watching...

"The other...Is part of me, sir..." Dru stared off, into the London night...

Nothing I can do can ever cleanse me of this shame...

Morey watched in wonder...The fiendish Drusilla...

"No, Dru..." Buffy told her gently, coming over...

You have no shame to bear...

"I failed...I failed my God...My soul was not strong enough to fight the Evil One..." Dru told her...

Spike took her hand, kneeling beside her...Stroking her hair gently...

"You are not the cause, Dru..." he told her...

Morey came over...Pausing before her...Doffing his hat...

"Your soul is here, Miss...Still alive...You hate what the demon did...There are many, I can tell you, who surrender to the demon, lose themselves in it, Miss..." Morey told her...

"Your soul was strong...Kept clear of the evil...And has no share in the demon's crimes..."

Spike looked gratefully at the old agent...Good lad, that half-demon...

Nothing can change the fact that my body was used for evil...Dru noted sadly, desperately twisting her hands...And that I did not stop it...

I am cursed...And damned...

What have I done...Willow thought...I can't leave her like this...But...

Not a stick in sight...

"Dru...I..." Buffy began...Looking at Spike...

"I love William here...And he is a vampire, his demon barely held back..."

But his soul deserves love...And is blameless...

"I don't know why God chooses to be so cruel to you and other innocent people like you...But you...And Will...Are not to blame..."

Dru stared at Spike...Almost but not quite...Aware...

He was recovering from severe shock at Buffy's quiet announcement...

"Should I...Should I know you, sir?...Are you one I harmed?..." Dru looked at him sadly...

No, Dru...Honestly...You've never met me...Spike smiled at her...

"But I am glad to meet you at last...Dear heart..."

He looked up at his...friends...And stood up, raising Dru gently...

Buffy stared at them...As Willow came over to him...And wordlessly cradled the young woman gently in her arms as she sobbed...

Felix watching sympathetically...A very sweet red-haired lady, that...he noted to his superior...

Don't think she's your type, dear fellow, Morey whispered back...

Buffy moved over to Spike and he turned to her...Staring back...

"As I was saying before poor Dru interrupted..." he began...

What the hell are you two doing here?...

"Oh..." Buffy sniffed...So...

You didn't think I'd come after you?

He frowned at her...And then...The same boyish smile appeared on his face that Willow had seen the night back in Sunnydale when she told him Buffy had apologized...

"I love you too, Buffy..." he told her quietly...

They stood a little apart from the others...

"You came...For me..." he noted...

She nodded...

Courtesy one Warren Mears...she smiled...

Hmmn...Yes...But that's not what I meant...he noted...Pausing...

"Were you very sad when I died...Cicely?..." Spike looked at her...

Yes...William...Buffy replied without thinking...to Willow's astonishment as she looked at them, gently rocking the sobbing Drusilla...

When I heard you'd died that night my heart broke...

She looked at Spike in wonder...

"I thought so..." he said quietly...

2002 Sunnydale...

Dawn held Anya carefully by an arm as she "awaited instructions"...

Warren looked the former demon over...Didn't seem like much of a menace...

"Did you check her for anything she might be carrying on her?..." he looked at Dawn...

Who saw her opportunity...

"Only this..." she noted, holding up Giles' stunner in her other hand...

Hmmn...

"Some kind of charm?...Anya?..." he asked Anya...

It won't work here anyway...I've protected this chamber from any kinds of spells...

Hmmn...Anya frowned at him...Typical...

Nerd reads a couple of magics books and he knows it all...

Tara clearly thinking the same as she stared at him from the other side of the room...

"Do you want it, Warren?..." Dawn asked, calmly as possible...

Just put it down on the table there, he told her, pointing...

"I'll look it over later..."

She glanced at Anya...Who stared back...Then placed the stunner on the table, button pressed...

First things, first...Warren noted...

"Your sister is a bit disobedient..." he frowned at Buffy-bot II...Who wore a slightly guilty look...

I want you to deactivate her...Without damaging anything...

Just disconnect the R5A cable to the main computer, please...

"Ummn...Warren?..." Buffy-bot II stared at him...

I can't let Dawn-bot deactivate me...I must protect my sister...My friends...

"Well...then..." Warren grinned...

We have some entertainment in store for our guests...

I guess it's time for a robo-fight...

Robo-fight?...Dawn gulped...I have to fight her?...

1880 London...

Felix turned to Morey, patting his pocket...And gave a questioning look...

Morey nodded...And Felix pulled out Jonathan's 12-in-1...

Found by his remains, Miss...he told Willow quietly...

"Thank you..." Willow smiled at him sadly...

Drusilla had calmed a bit...Thanking Willow for her kindness...A kindness her flawed soul did not deserve...she noted...

Kindness?...Willow stared sadly at her...

"It was wrong of me to question God's purpose..." Dru told her, composedly...He will show me the way in His time...But for now...She looked at the red-haired woman...Realizing for the first time that she was almost as young as she would have been...Had Dru been human...

"What can I do?..." Dru asked her, looking at Willow...And the others...

Willow looked back at her...

"Why have you called me back?..."Dru asked...

Ummn...

Dru tensed, sensing...As Spike did likewise...

"They're coming, Miss..." Dru told Willow...

"Ma'am..." she called to Buffy... "The Evil Ones are almost here..."

"Angelis and Darla..." Spike noted to Morey who nodded...

Coming in from up that way, he pointed...

"Leave them to me..." Dru told them...

They looked at her...Willow turned to Buffy...

We can't...

"Please..." Dru begged...Looking at each one of them...

"Let me have some chance to make amends..."

Morey nodded carefully...But noted...

"Mr. William is quite right, Miss...Drusilla..."

You have nothing to blame yourself for...

"Then let me prove it..." she told him...

"Buffy...?" Willow looked at her...

"Let her do this, Willow..." Spike told her...Looking at Dru and nodding...

"Will..." Buffy looked at him...

It's her right to deal with Angelis...he noted...

"Leave me..." Dru said... "They're coming for me...I can deceive them until you're all safely away..."

The others looked at each other...

Please...Dru begged...No more innocent blood on my hands...

Willow turned to Morey...

"If she...Survives..."

We'll take care of her...He nodded...Either by letting her help us in the work...

Or helping her find her blessed peace at last...

"You'll be heading home, I take it, Miss Buffy?..." he looked at the Slayer...

Yes...Home...she nodded...Looking at Spike...

"Pity...But I suppose America has its own share of the underworld to contend with..." Morey smiled...

Willow went to Dru...And gave her Jonathan's tool...

A little extra surprise, she noted, explaining its use...

Dru smiled wanly...Always was fascinated by my uncles' machinery, she noted...

"Forgive me, Dru..." Willow hugged her...

You have saved me, Miss...she told Willow gently...Freed me at last...

"Good bye, Sir...Miss..." she smiled at Buffy and Spike...

Much happiness between you...I will pray for it...If God will still hear me...

Spike took her hands...

"When I had no hope, your sweet soul called to me, Miss Drusilla..." Spike told her... "And kept a little of me alive..."

"You will be an angel in God's Heaven, my Dru..." he told her, kissing her...

He looked at Buffy who took his arm wordlessly...Her hand around his...Gently squeezing...

"First order of business when we get back..." she told him...

I promise...We'll free her...Our timeline's Dru...

No more waiting for Angel to get around to it...

Dru?...Angelis looked at the trembling Drusilla...Darla coming up beside him...

"Yes...Angelis..." she stared at him...

"Where are the Slayer and her friends?..." Darla asked her...

Gone...Dru looked at her...

Darla stared at her...

Dru?...

"The little humans ran off with William when I came..." Dru noted...

We won't catch them tonight...And we should find new lodgings before it gets too late...Shall we go...? she asked...Taking Angelis' arm...

He leered and turned happily to Darla...

Another time for completing his heroic tale of the Slayer's defeat...

Thank God...he thought...

Darla frowned...What had happened to her insane little granddaughter?...

Not like Dru to make sense when deadly peril is not closing in...

And she'd caught the tremble in her as she took Angelis' arm...

The Time Machine...Part XXX...Conclusion...

London 1880...10:55pm...

The group broke up at Morey's cab...Her Majesty's agent tendering the grateful thanks of the British government...

The safe house operation's secret maintained...And the fiendish Drusilla restored, however briefly, to the side of light...

Perhaps even the minor problem of the remaining Angelis pride being dealt with...

Dispatching several newly arrived agents, Morey promised to maintain surveillance on Dru and the others...Keeping his and his men's distance until she called for them...If she chose to...

And to see that she was properly cared for afterwards...Even if only her remains...

Felix took a reluctant farewell of Willow...Who pecked him gently on his jowly cheek...

The time travelers strolled causally back towards Miss Fitzgibbons' digs...Where the carefully hidden machine remained under her devout protection...They hoped...

Buffy frowned at Spike as they walked...

Although she'd learned more about him...And herself...Than she'd ever wanted to...She still...

"Why did you come back here, Spike?..."

What did you hope to achieve?...she asked him...

He grinned at her a little sheepishly...Well...

Willow looked at the sheath of papers in her hands...Which she'd picked up from where Spike had dropped them in the fight with Dru...

And passed them to Buffy...

A copy of the manuscript he'd given Buffy in 2002...The history of her adventures...

And their romance...

To be given to young Will, after his rescue from a grim fate...

Surely, for one so romantic, supplemented by a lifetime of association with his Immortal counterpart...Guaranteed to win his heart...Spike explained...

He'd come to love Buffy...Somehow Spike knew it instinctively...

And knowing of her...And loving her...

"We'd have met...Our souls...In the afterlife..." Spike looked at her...

Alternate timeline or not...

Human with a soul, you said...Well...

Just aiming to please...

Yes...Buffy agreed, looking at him...

We'd have met...Just as I finally found you a century from now...

No doubt about it, given Cicely's...My...determination...she looked at him...Rather proudly...

"Well..." Willow smiled at them... "I always thought it was strange the way you kept finding excuses not to kill each other..."

Some one to eat...? Darla suggested to Dru...Questioningly...As they walked along...

Dru shook her head...No...Miss...No...Grandmother...Not hungry...

"Well..." Angelis leered expansively... "I could eat horse, driver, and the occupants of a four-seater carriage..."

We should find a new place to stay...Dru noted quietly...

"We aren't safe...They'll be searching for us with more men...Dogs...The Americans' devices..."

Hmmn...Darla stared, eyes narrowing...

Very sensible foresight...

Not the Drusilla I know...

2002 Sunnydale...

Uh-boy...Dawn thought...

Moron Mears wants a robo-cat fight?...Buffy-bot II and me?...

Well, why should I be surprised?...Perverse little geek...

The nerd in question was grinning happily at his two "little girls"...

He'd always loved a good robot demolition derby...

Great...And the bot can't tell I'm human...Yet anyway...Dawn noted to herself...

So she'll have no compunctions about ripping me to pieces...

Anya glanced nervously at her...Clearly ready to give it up...

No sign of Giles as yet...

Tara was still hoping to win Buffy-bot II over, courtesy Willow's buried safety directives...And was not anxious to see Mears indulge his sleaziest fantasies...

"Buffy...?" she called...

The bot smiled at her, while keeping a watch on her potential opponent...

"You can't want to fight Dawny?...Even robo-Dawny?..."

She frowned at Warren...Disgusting little twerp...Much as she hated the thought of using magics for harm...She only wished she knew Amy's old rat spell...

Perfectly appropriate in his case...

"You can't make them fight, Warren...It's inhuman..."

The deposed Fearless Leader was properly annoyed...Hey, he was running things here...

"Lady...I can do anything I want with my girls..."

Except, of course, in Buffy-bot II's case, get her to harm anyone besides Andrew...he did not say...

Dawn-bot...he turned to Dawn...

"Over there..." he pointed...To the far left corner of the room...

Dawn went over...Darting a quick glance at Anya...

No...she mouthed...To Anya's nervous, questioning stare...

Not yet...

"Buffy..." Warren looked at the bot...Who seemed a bit reluctant...

Over there...he pointed to the opposite corner...

Ummn...she hesitated...

"Don't listen to him, Buffy-bot..." Xander called...

"Sorry, Xander..." she looked at him sadly, heading over...

Ummn...Warren?...Dawn called...

Anya looked at her...

"Are you sure this is such a good idea?..." Dawn asked...

Warren stared at her...What?...Another rebellious bot?...

Are they all reading Freidan or something?...

Hmmn...

"If Buffy-bot is stronger than me...I won't be able to help you...Later..." Dawn noted carefully...

And you said she's been disobedient...

London, 1880...11:20pm

Darla, Angelis, and Drusilla were moving down a near empty avenue...Gaslights flickering as they passed...Only a handful of carriages passing them...

Darla was more puzzled and suspicious by the moment...Not a whine from dear Dru...Quiet and composed...

And no interest in any of the handful of prospects for feeding they'd passed...In fact, she'd pointed out sensible reasons for avoiding them in each case...

Very sensible reasons...

Something very strange was afoot...Either Dru had been terrified into sanity by her encounter with the mysterious William and his Slayer...Clearly allies, they had all agreed, bizarre as the concept seemed...Or...

Or...What?...It was Dru, Darla was sure...And she was a vampire, no doubt about it...

Although she was clearly very nervous around her "family"...Recoiling slightly from Angelis' touch as they walked...

Angelis, true to form, had noticed nothing strange in his "dear daughter"..In fact he seemed to appreciate her new-found caution...

He'd had a rough time of it, after all...And was ready to settle for a safe haven and a very quiet and cautious kill or two...

Well...Perhaps the direct approach...

"Dru...?" Darla looked at her...

"Were you very frightened back there?..."

Yes...Grandmother...Dru nervously nodded at her, not looking at her...

I was very frightened...The Slayer and her witch almost killed me...

"Witch?..." Darla smiled at her...

Witch?...Angelis snorted...

"There are no such things as witches, girl..." he smiled at Dru...Who avoided looking at him...

With the firmly confident assurance of a man of a rational nineteenth century...Who defined his supernatural world in rather narrow terms...

Darla stared at him...

He'll be telling us there are no vampires next...That we're figments of our own imagination...

Must keep him from reading those scientific journals...He doesn't really understand them and what little he does is affecting his mind...

"Tell me more about this witch, dearest..." Darla came beside Dru...

Whether she exists or not...She frowned at Angelis...

Witches...he chuckled to himself moving ahead of them...

The things my Dru comes up with...

Miss Fitzgibbons gratefully greeted the returning time travelers and her Blessed Lady...

She had feared they might have come to harm...Or worse, rejected her as unworthy of further contact...

She eyed Spike with a faint surprise...Had their friend changed his appearance?...

No, William here was another friend...Willow noted, sadly...Their friend Jonathan...Was staying behind...

A Guardian angel...You might say...She looked at Buffy...Who nodded...

"Ummn...Moira?...Is our box...Of sacred implements...?"

Miss Fitzgibbons led her to the time machine...Intact and ready...

She nervously noted that she'd kept close for the day...In case anyone might have come by the place...

Willow hugged her...Which startled the poor lady into near shock...

And realizing her discomfort...Gave her a more formal and appropriate blessing...

Plus a few pounds Morey had kindly given her...And the address of the Quayside Hotel...

She suggested Moira contact her kindly friends Morey and Felix with an eye to...Safer...And better compensated employment...

Was she seeing anyone?...Willow asked...To Buffy's surprise as well as Miss Fitzgibbons'...

No...Blessed Lady, she was giving up that...Line...As she'd promised in her prayers...The ones she'd been making...All day...

"Oh...Well...I meant...Seeing..."

A gentleman caller...Spike put in helpfully, grinning at "the Blessed Virgin"...

Not...Recently...Moira hesitated...But if the Lady required that she take Holy Orders...

"No, no...Actually...I was thinking..." Willow paused...

"You might care to meet my friend...Felix...He's a little...Different...In his looks..."

But a very kind fellow...In a rather noble profession...

Buffy looked at her...

Mary, the Matchmaker...

Willow shrugged...

Felix might be a demon...But he was a kind soul...Whose job was steady and eminently beneficial to Humanity...Bearing the recommendation of Her Majesty's top underworld agent...And...

He liked redheads...

"Anything that keeps her off the streets while Jack is around..." Willow hissed while Moira happily fetched tea...

Speaking of old Jack...? Buffy turned to Spike...

Who shook his head...Never met the fellow...

And Angelis and pride were always neat and tidy with their food...Eviscerating prostitutes wasn't their style...

Unless of course...Dru had had a hobby...

Sunnydale 2002...

Warren gave Dawn...er "bot"...A long glance...

Well...he noted...Looking at the waiting Buffy II in her corner...

Perhaps she had a point...He hadn't upgraded her strength to Buffy-bot's enhanced level...

"How's about a handicap?..." he grinned...

Buffy?...he called...

Please shut down one arm, and depress main power by 40 percent...Until I give the order to restore full power...

Oh...And reduce hearing level 45 percent...

"I want your robo-sister to have a fair chance..." he smiled at Dawn...

Ok, Warren...Buffy-bot II smiled happily...Power systems modification completed...

Well...A leetle better...Dawn thought...

Hmmn...Why would reducing her hearing help me fight her?...

"Buffy?..." Warren called...

One last thing...

"Would you make a quick sweep outside?...Just a half-mile radius from here...See if that human sis of yours is hanging around?..."

You won't need full power to handle her...

"You think Dawny is coming, Warren?..." Buffy II asked...

Very likely...he replied...After she doesn't find Anya at her store...

Well...Ok...

"I'll be right back guys..." she waved to the roped-up gang...And left...

Warren smiled at Dawn...Waving his blinking remote...

"Good thing I just checked for the tracking signaler I put on your jacket before you left, Miss Summers..." he grinned, whispering... "My Buffy would have killed you before she realized you were human..."

You really should have changed jackets with my botty before you tried to play her...

Rats...Dawn glared at Warren...

Who looked over at the stunner on the table...

"So what's that?..." he grinned... "Can't be a charm...What is it?...A smoke bomb, stun-gun?..."

"He knows, Anya..." Dawn called over...

"Disengage DS1 and grab him, Dawn!..." Anya hollered at her...

Warren blinked...Dawn was on him in a second...

Anya grinned at Xander...His jaw dropped...

Dawn-bot?...Playing...Dawn?...Playing Dawn-bot?...

Excellent craftsmanship, he had to say...

"Warren?..." Buffy-bot II re-entered the room...Leading Giles...And Dawn...

Look who's here...It's Giles, my Watcher...she told him happily...

And Dawny, she beamed...

Oh...She looked at Dawn-bot now holding Warren firmly in her grip...

"Don't try anything, Buffy..." Anya told her...

Warren is in danger if you do...

Dawn-bot looked at the others from where she held Warren...

Clearly as startled by the turn of events as they...

She looked at Dawn...Who grinned back...Hey, sis...

"But...I can't be Dawn-bot..." she frowned...

My primary memory core says I'm...Oh...she paused...

"Primary...memory...core..." she sheepishly bit her lower lip...Right...

Sorry, kid...Dawn went over, patting her...Warren twisting helplessly in her grip...

"We didn't want to risk Dawny going in...And Giles felt it was best if Dawn-bot really believed she was the real thing after he got her running again and loaded Willow's old Buffy-bot command programs from the shop computer."...Anya noted to Xander, Andrew, and Tara...

Then we found Warren's tracker on Dawn's jacket and that clinched it...We knew he'd believe she was the human when the tracking signal showed up on her...

Angelis had reached an old narrow building...Seemed to be abandoned, he called back to the others...Should be safe enough...

Lodgings secured...A brief hunt could now begin...he happily noted...

Dru watched him...Shuddering slightly...

Darla eyed Angelis...

"Tell your "father" about your witch, Dru..." Darla smiled at Dru...

Amuse him...

"Nothing to tell...Sir...The Slayer said she was a witch...That she could harm me...So...I ran..."

Sir?...Darla smiled coldly...

"Is that the way to address our dear Angelis...?"

Actually, rather nice to be treated with a little respect...he thought...

He is your father, Dru...Darla's voice was velvet...And menacing...

"He Is Not My Father!..." Dru screamed at her...Tearing from her grip...

She charged at Angelis knocking him down...

"Stop her, you fool..." Darla cried...

She's...Been turned back...Somehow...Her soul is back...

What?...Angelis stared at his "daughter" from where he'd fallen...

My little Dru...Human-souled, again?...

After all the trouble I went to?...

But Dru had no intention of fleeing them...

And swung back in, Jonathan's 12-in-1 in hand...

Catching Darla in the chest...She followed Willow's instructions to the letter...And gave her "grandmother" a massive discharge...

Darla went down...Angelis struggled to his feet just in time to receive his in turn...

Very bad day for the Brooding One...

Willow having suggested after their tea to Miss Fitzgibbons that it would be best if she not witness their return to Heaven, Moira wished them safe journey and headed for bed...

Buffy dragged the machine into Miss Fitzgibbons' "parlor" and set the destination...

Willow got on...

Buffy turned to Spike...Who waved a hand...

"And now you and Willow can go home..." Spike told her...

Buffy stared at him...Halting...

But...

"There's nothing more I can give you, Buffy..." Spike looked at her...

Except to leave you in peace...And hope, that maybe, one day...If I can keep out of trouble...

No...Buffy looked at him, frowning...

Damn you, she hissed...Not wishing to upset the devout Miss F...

I want more than that from you, William...she told him...

"You swore you'd live for me...with me, Will"...Buffy looked at him...

Now...When I need you...Not in some afterlife...

Not when your redemption is complete and the world is safe and at peace...

That's what you promised me...

Now...Well, now in the 2002 sense, I mean...she explained...

You offered me that...And you're not backing out now...

"Cicely...I...spent a century trying to find a way to save you...You owe me, Walthrop..."

And the soul you wanted?...he looked at her...

"Is right here..." she touched his chest gently

It's better my way, Buffy...he shook his head...

"If I go back...If...When...My chip fails?...When I...?"

Spike is the demon...Buffy noted firmly...Not William...She looked at Willow who nodded...

If Spike ever comes back we'll deal...she told him...Please, Will...With tears running down her face that she did not trying to check...

"I'm not as self-sacrificing as your chronicle makes me out to be, Will..." she looked at him... "I won't give you up to my counterpart here..."

"It's not life for me back there...Without you..." she told him quietly...And smiled...Taking his shaking hand...

You have to let me help you...Your human counterpart gave alternate Cicely another chance...

Let me have mine...

After all...

"Lots of couples have to deal with a disability or two..."she looked at him...

Willow came over to him as well...And grinned...

"Come on, Walthrop...It's time to come home..."

March 14th, 1880...London...3am

In the room of the building she'd dragged the unconscious Angelis and Darla into...Drusilla.. On her knees...Quietly praying...

"What the hell are you up to, Miss Drusilla?..." Angelis leered at her...As he staggered to his feet...Still a bit dazed...

Drusilla looked at him...Calm...And resolute...

"I am praying for your souls, sir..." she told him...

Same old crazy Dru...he grinned...Soul or no soul...

Well...We'll take of the witch's curse...As soon as we catch up to the witch...

"Darla?..." he called...Turning from Dru...

Darla?...He caught sight of her unconscious body...

Drusilla struck him from behind with Jonathan's stun gun...And held it on him until he collapsed...

A short time later, he groggily came to his senses...Rage helping him to his feet as he regained consciousness...

Dru knelt in the center of the room...He leaped over to her and grabbed her, she unresisting...As Darla gave a hideous cry...

'Angelis!"

Angelis turned and looked in horror...At the rising sun...Shining into the open window of the room...

Darla cowered in the corner, the rays just starting to singe her flesh...

She screamed...And began to burn...

Drusilla, praying softly on her knees, paused occasionally to watch them both... Quietly...Serenely...As the sun's rays gently began to lick her and she began to catch fire...

Angelis looked desperately for a way out...He forced the locked door open at last...And dropped back from the light...Rays from door and window creeping swiftly across the room to meet at the point where he tried to hide from them...

"May God have mercy on your soul, sir..." Drusilla called to him gently...

Andrew looked quietly at the three returned travelers as they stood on the platform...

Warren...Securely held by Dawn-bot with Buffy-bot II submitting calmly to Giles' reprogramming...

Damn safety directives...Warren fumed...She wouldn't let me reprogram her, but she'll let her "friends" do whatever they want to her...My own bot...

It's not fair...he whined...

"She's doing it to protect you, you jackass..." Xander glared at the nerd...

She doesn't want you hurt...Though God knows you sure deserve to be...

He needs someone to watch him...Constantly...Giles noted to Anya and Tara...As he continued Buffy II's reprogramming...

Unless of course we do the sensible thing and kill him right now...However...the Watcher sighed...

"Buffy would not approve..."

Well..Anya noted...Looking at Buffy-bot II...

He wanted a robot girlfriend...

And now...He's getting a robo-nanny...

"Am I gonna have to stay with him, too?..." Dawn-bot looked at her original...

Yuck...Major yuck...

Hell, no...Dawn told her...

You can live in our basement...We can hang out...It'll be great...

It was not necessary for Willow to look sadly at Andrew for him to sense the passing of his Jedi brother...

She looked at Xander...

Who came over to the last of the Jedi...(Earth division)...And patted his shoulder...

Spike looked at him for a mo...And grinned...

Whispering to Buffy...Who nodded...

Willow had stepped down...And turned back to see...

Spike tapping on the remote...And he and Buffy vanishing...

And returning almost instantaneously...

With a rather shaken Jonathan...

Willow's jaw dropped...

Buffy grinned...Spike grinned...Jonathan staggered off the platform...

Welcome, alternate Jonathan...Andrew greeted him..

"What the hell, Will..." Buffy looked at Willow...

What good is having a time machine if you can't go back and help a friend or two?...

and the next trip...?