Angel and Spike stared in amazement as the newly sired Buffy grabbed a hair brush off of the vanity and brushed the dolls hair. She hummed a tune and cared for her doll as though it were a child.

"He turned her," Angel said in shock.

"Yeah," Spike said. "Look at her, she's…"

"Just like Drusilla. He- he tormented her until she went insane," Angel growled. He could feel Angelus on the forefront of his mind. Buffy was Angel's to turn or to kill.

"She was mine. I claimed her! No one respects a claim anymore," Spike said equal parts angry and annoyed.

"I claimed her first, but it doesn't matter now anyway. She's been turned. We need to find the Immortal. He will pay for this." Angel turned and stalked out of the room. He headed back down the hall and found the servant still standing in the foyer, looking a bit shaken. "Where is he?" Angel growled at the small man.

"The-the Immortal sends his regards-"

"Save it. Just tell me where he is and I won't kill you." He slowly backed the frightened man into the wall.

"I-I I'm certain th-that I don't know."

"Then guess." He pressed his left hand over the man's throat.

"P-please, don't. I-I he… he went out. Took his nicest car and he left. I don't know where to I swear. I was only supposed to wait for you to arrive and tell you where the girl was. Please, don't kill me."


Angel left the room and Spike remained with Buffy. "Oh, pet," He sighed. "What has he done to you?" Buffy looked at him. Her eyes shined in a familiar way, the way that Drusilla's always did. It was as if she was in a dream but she didn't quite know where she was. She recognized Spike and Angel and she knew that she needed help. She knew that something was wrong here, but she didn't know what. She just wanted her boys to take her away, and take care of her.

Buffy smiled at Spike. "You followed the bird song. Did you come to free the canary?"

Spike, having spent a century with his insane sire, was a master in insane speak. He could understand her as well as he had Drusilla. He smirked as he thought, Angel could never quite figure out what she saying. It was really the advantage he had here. He wanted to kick himself. Buffy has been tortured and turned and he's still concerned with which of them she loves more.

"Yes, love. We came to save you."

"Will you take me home? The games the wolf plays," she shook her head. "Sometimes I wonder if he likes the bird he's caught."

"What do you mean pet?"

"He bites, then he coddles, but which face does the creature truly bare?"

"He cared for you?"

She nodded. "I'm his china doll."

"Not anymore. We're gonna take you home. I'll take care of you now." Buffy smiled. Spike sat in the chair by the vanity. "Come here pet. We'll just wait for Angel, then." Buffy sat on his lap and babbled about all sorts of things. She told him about feeding on a child the Immortal had given her and how much she liked her pretty white dress. Spike was fascinated. She was so much like Drusilla. All of the crazy in her head seemed to block out all the trauma. Maybe that was the point of it, her brain trying to drown the pain with chaos. He reached up to pull her hair out of the messy bun, but Buffy batted his hand away. She glared at him.

"At least let me fix it, pet. It's falling out."

"No! You can't!" She jumped off his lap and ran to the corner of the room. "Leave me alone!"

"Hush, love it's alright," Spike tried to reassure her. He seemed to have triggered something in her memory. Something she was afraid of. "Alright, I won't touch it. You can have it just how you like."

Buffy was wary and watched both of his hands, raised slightly in a calming gesture, as she walked back toward where Spike sat. "It's alright, Buffy. You're safe I promise."

Angel walked back into the room looking positively fierce. "He's gone. The bastard ran off! As soon as he knew were on our way he fled." Angel growled.

Buffy flinched. "Angel calm down, we'll find him later," Spike said.

"Calm down? You can't be serious!"

"I am serious and you're upsetting Buffy," He nodded in her direction. "We need to get her home. She'll feel safer the farther she is from here."

Angel sighed and tried to calm himself a bit. "You're right."

Spike tried not to look shocked at his admission. "Right we're off then, love." He stood and took Buffy's hand.

"Hungry," Buffy whined.

"There's pig's blood on the plane," Angel said.

"No!" she shouted. She pulled her hand away from Spike's and stomped her foot. She made a disgusted face. "Awful. Animals taste awful."

"Buffy you can't kill people. You have to learn to drink pigs blood, like us," Angel tried to explain, but Buffy wouldn't hear it. She glared and shook her head.

Spike and Angel shared a look. They couldn't let her starve herself and they couldn't just let her kill could they? Angel thought a moment while Buffy pouted. He decided, yes. They could. "Come on. I have someone for you," Angel said. Spike's eyes grew wide, but he didn't protest. They'd have to talk about it while she wasn't listening.

Angel took Buffy's hand and led her down the hall. He had left the servant on his knees trying to catch his breath. He was still there when they reached the foyer. Angel released Buffy's hand and walked up the man. He wrapped an arm around his chest to hold him still and pulled his head to the side, offering him to the young vampire. She smiled and bit into the proffered throat.

The trio left the mansion much in the fashion of the old days. The days without souls or responsibilities. They walked arm in arm out the front doors and down the street. The servant lay dead on the cold marble floor.

Buffy was pleased with her new family. She knew they would take care of her and she would be as safe from the Immortal as a vampire could be. Angel felt guilty for letting her kill the man, but he felt that everything that had happened to Buffy was his fault. The Immortal did all of this to her to torment him. That made him responsible for her. As soon as they got back to LA, he's find a way to give her a soul. Until he could do that, he would either have to convince her to drink pig's blood, or (if his soul would allow it) the blood of evildoers. Perhaps he could convince himself that by killing bad people, she would be saving innocent lives.

Spike felt bad for the servant, but he didn't let it get to him. Soul or not, Buffy needed someone to look after her. He felt guilty for what had happened to her. A part of him wanted to put all of the blame on Angel and it would be easy to. Angel was known throughout the world as the vampire that had fallen in love with the slayer, it seemed possible that the Immortal didn't know that Spike was involved with her. Of course his name of on the package, but either way, Spike knew he was just as much to blame as Angel. Which wasn't very much at all in fact. It wasn't like Spike had been the one to tie her up or to hurt her. Neither of them had provoked the Immortal. Neither of them knew exactly why any of this had happened at all. The problem was that it did happen and they all had to live with that, or unlive as it were. He would spend the rest of eternity taking care of Buffy and hoping that one day, she might get better. Maybe one day, she'd feel safe. She would never forget what happened, but maybe she could put it behind her and just be Buffy again.

As they headed down the drive, a familiar form stepped out of the shadows. They hadn't seen the vampire many times, but they never forgot his face. The Immortal stood before them.

Angel and Spike's faces immediately took their true form and both growled. Angel pushed Buffy back behind them.

"I see you found the gift that I left you," He smirked. "I don't like getting my hands dirty, but I thought, just this once. We are old friends after all, are we not?"

"You stole our women and humiliated us. That doesn't really put you at the top of our list of friends, does it Spike?" Angel said.

"I like to think of us more as archenemies," Spike said.

"Well in that case it's a good thing I brought this." The Immortal pulled a stake from his coat pocket. "I've decided I'd like to keep my new childe. You were on to something driving that girl of yours insane, Angelus. The craziest women are awfully good in bed," He smirked.

Angel growled and Spike pounced on the Immortal. The struggled for a moment before the Immortal ended up on top, stake poised for the kill. Angel threw him across the lawn with a growl. The boys ran at him together noticing that they couldn't take him separately. Centuries of immortality makes one nearly indestructible, but only nearly. He punched Angel in the jaw before he saw it coming, but Spike grabbed his right arm and broke the bone right in half.

The Immortal howled in pain and fear crossed his eyes. He didn't let it stay though. He looked around as though he were looking for an escape. He'd made a mistake angering them so thoroughly before challenging them. Angel readied his stake as Spike round-housed him right into the ground. Angel finished him off and the worst enemy of the highest vampires in the Aurelian order became no more than dust on the wind.

Buffy squealed in delight and clapped her hands. "Yes! Finally! We gave that bastard just what he deserves, it might have taken a bit longer than I thought it would but still. We killed his not-so-immortal ass," Spike ranted excitedly.

Angel felt a bit relieved that it finally over with the Immortal, but somehow he still felt that he'd lost. "We should go. I wanna get back to LA before sunrise."


The jet landed at the LA branch of Wolfram & Hart. The people in Italy had called ahead to inform the more important members of the staff that would be arriving with an unidentified guest. After insisting that they ready the jet immediately for take-off, both Angel and Spike had refused to say a word on the subject. Buffy had been fascinated by a pretty hair pin that a paralegal was wearing and so didn't notice when the enthusiastic CEO had attempted to speak to her.

They headed immediately up to Angel's suitee and Angel went to find Buffy something she could wear until they took her shopping. He decided she'd have to make due with one of his shirts until he could borrow something from Harmony. He considered taking a dress from Fred's closet, but he didn't think he could deal with the still painful memories.

Angel went out to the living room where Buffy was examining every inch of the room, much like a cat in a new home. Spike was leaning against a table watching her.

"Buffy. I got you this. I thought you could wear it to sleep in and then I could-" Angel began.

"No!" Buffy shouted.

"She really likes that word doesn't she?" Spike said a bit amused.

Angel gave him an annoyed look. "Buffy you have to at least take the dress off so it can be washed. It smells like… You just can't wear it any longer. Not until it' clean."

"No. I won't do it," Buffy said certainly.

Angel rubbed his forehead. "Spike do something."

"Buffy. You need to let Angel wash the dress-"

"No! No he can't. I won't let him." She ran for the elevator and Angel caught her around the waist and pulled her away. She squirmed and kicked her legs. "No! No no! I love it, its' mine."

"Buffy, let me help you. This is ridiculous," Angel said. Buffy opened her mouth wide and bit right into Angel's arm. "Ahh, fuck, Buffy!"

Spike laughed. "You're gonna have to let her keep the dress mate."

"I'm not having her running around smelling like that. It's driving me crazy. I just want it washed you can have it back as soon as it's clean, I promise."

"No, no, no." Buffy shook her head.

"I'm not crazy about the smell either, but she looks like she'd rather chew through your arm than take the thing off. Plus now it's got your blood on it, so it's slightly less Immortaly."

"Doesn't matter. Help me get it off her."

"Noo!" Buffy shrieked. "You'll shut down the system!" She kicked Angel in the shin as hard she could and swung her legs trying to get free.

Spike looked at the struggling Buffy. He didn't want to upset her, but she smelt so strongly of the hated vampire that it was almost as if he were in the room with them. "Alright, Buffy hold still." The two fought to get the dress over her head. She refused to make it in any way easy for them and Spike worried it might tear. Begin so close to her, he noticed something. Underneath the smell that was clearly the Immortal, was something far more familiar. It was a smell that reminded him of home, because it was clearly Drusilla's. The bastard had stolen right off of her, or possibly killed her for it. He and Drusilla were over and done, but she was still his sire. Spike growled.

Buffy frozen when she heard it. The moment of distraction allowed them to slip the dress right off her head and Angel took it to the elevator and headed down stairs. Buffy hissed at him, but she didn't cause any more trouble. She seemed to be in a state of shock like she'd lost something she couldn't live without.

Spike felt bad for her. "Come on, pet. Let's get you cleaned up before Angel gets back." Buffy let Spike bathe her but she refused to let him wash the makeup off her face. Every time he tried she hissed and scratched and once growled. She wouldn't let him touch her hair either. He was okay with leaving the makeup if it made her happy, but her hair smelt worse than the dress had and he was not going leave it that way. They argued. Mostly Buffy just yelled no and Spike asked as nicely as he could, until she finally said, "Close your eyes."

"What for?"

"To wash my hair. You have to close your eyes," She said in a matter-of-fact way as though anyone would know that.

Spike sighed but went along with it. He closed his eyes and Buffy pulled out her hair piece and let her hair fall straight. Spike helped her wash her hair as much as he could with his eyes shut. When she was clean she put her hair back up and put the decorator back in place.

"Open now," Buffy said sweetly.

Spike opened his eyes. Her hair was perfectly clean, but a bit messy from being tied back while still wet. "Well, there you go, pet. You're all clean."

She smiled. "Like flowers in the spring." Spike wasn't sure just how clean spring flowers really are, but he smiled anyway. He got her a towel and dried her off before he went and got the shirt Angel had offered her earlier.

"You can wear this 'til you have your dress back."

"No."

Spikes eyes narrowed for a split second. He was getting a bit tired of her not cooperating. He decided not to fight her on it though and tossed the shirt across the room. She giggled and threw her towel on the floor. Apparently she decided that it's her dress or nothing at all, and that was just fine with Spike.


Angel walked into his suite to give Buffy back her dress. His possessiveness caused him to hold it to his chest just a little bit more than necessary, just so it smelt more like him than the brand of laundry detergent that Harmony had bought for him. No one was in the living room so he headed to the bedroom. There was water all over the floor. Angel rolled his eyes and entered the room. Buffy naked and standing by the window. She was standing on her toes trying to see over the building next to theirs. Spike was sitting on the bed looking like he'd been trying to tell her something when Angel came in.

"Angel. I was just telling Buffy that she should get some sleep, but insists that it's more important that she finds out where the stars are hiding."

"I can't seem to find them anywhere," She said looking around outside.

"I have something for you," Angel said.

Buffy spun around. When she saw her dress, she gasped and looked delighted. She ran over to Angel and took it from him. She pulled it carefully on and then spun around and around and around until Angel felt a bit dizzy watching her.

"You should get to bed. The sun is will be up soon," Angel told her.

She nodded and climbed into Angel's bed. Spike kissed her forehead and the both boys said goodnight before shutting the door quietly behind them.

Angel sat down on the couch and Spike took the chair opposite. "I can't believe this. Can you?" Spike asked looking a bit dazed.

"Not really, but the reality of it is slowly growing on me." The sat in silence for a moment before Angel said, "You got water all over my floor."

"Yeah, I gave Buffy a bath. She's not the more cooperative of girls."

"No. She's really not."

"You're not going to comment on that?"

"I thought I did."

"I meant… me and Buffy, alone all naked and wet."

"Does it matter?"

"Well I'm glad we can set aside or differences here to save the girl we love."

Angel's already broody face went a lot darker. "We can't save her, Spike. She's gone. She's not even Buffy anymore… She's broken."