I think I know where I'm going with this one now. Fingers crossed eh?

Disclaimer: All characters created by Joss Whedon. I don't own them, I just make them do stuff to entertain myself.

-P—

'Wesley?'

Buffy's voice was small and held an incredulous note. Angel just stared sadly at his former friend, while the Key frowned, trying to place the name and face. Spike simply growled, a repeat of his constant behaviour the last few days. As a pet dog would do, he was getting very concerned and just a little agitated by all the new faces and threatening behaviour people were displaying. On the other hand, if this one wanted to fight too, he had no problem with that.

'Unfortunately so, Buffy. I have to say you are looking rather well.' He took a couple of steps forward, to be reward with further, and somewhat louder, growling from Spike.

'Angel said you were-' Buffy started, only to be cut off by the former watcher.

'Dead, yes, well, I am. But the contract we all signed with Wolfram and Hart goes beyond death, as Angel well knows.' Another step. Louder growls. Wesley frowned. 'Does he not have a mute button?'

Buffy shrugged. 'He finds you to be a threat.'

Wesley nodded. 'Ah well, I am not. I have refused to take corporeal form you see, but the Senior Partners still insisted I play my part. I am here to merely guide, and oversee. I cannot interfere with anything that happens here. As much as I wish I could help you, my contract dictates otherwise.' He smiled sadly again and glanced at Angel, who stepped forward.

'Wes…I'm so sorry.'

The former watcher held up a hand. 'Nothing to be done now Angel. I knew, especially, what I was getting into. I died for the greater good and now I am enslaved to the greater evil. They will dispose of me once they have no further use.' He motioned to the door. 'No one can leave until this matter is dealt with.'

'They know they're going to lose right?' Dawn said, folding her arms over her chest. 'All we have to do is this ritual and time stops for the bad guys.'

Wesley shook his head. 'As I said, Miss Summers, if only it were that easy.'

The room melted.

That was what it seemed like to Buffy anyway. One minute she was stood there with her sister, her first love and her current love, who had not stopped growling for at least fifteen minutes, and then she was in what could only be described as a vortex. Only it was silent. And she wasn't alone. A tall coloured woman stood opposite her, flawless honey skin and delicate features, wearing a tank top and jeans. She had a disarming smile plastered across her face, which served to get Buffy's back up in a big way.

'Hi.' The woman said cheerfully.

'Er…..hi.' Buffy replied, keeping a good grip on her scythe.

'You won't need that, sugar. I'm not real. I'm just here to, well, introduce the show.' The lady put her hands on her hips and wiggled a bit in a very confusing manner.

'Where are the others?' The slayer demanded, looking around. All she could see around her was white and she frowned. She couldn't even sense the vampires.

'They're…elsewhere. I could say they're safe but I could be lying. But then, in our profession, who'd ever be safe right?' The woman laughed. Buffy raised an eyebrow.

'You're a slayer.' She stated.

'First prize, babydoll. My name's Nikki Wood. Your honey Is the one that took me right out of the game.'

'You're not real then. Nikki Wood wouldn't be enslaved to the baddest of the bad, even in death.' Buffy snarled, raising the scythe towards the figure. The woman's smiled faded and she grimaced.

'I said you wouldn't be easy to fool. But then, you're THE slayer, aren't you. Buffy Summers, Legend Amongst Monsters.' The figure shimmered and changed, becoming a well muscled figure in a suit, his hair cropped short in a professional style, and his face set in a grim expression. 'My name is Lindsay.'

'Isn't that a girls name?' Buffy retorted.

'Haha. Looks like you'll be just as much fun as Angel was.' He motioned towards her. 'You want to know whats going on here? You won't win, that's the ending. You won't get to see your friends or your precious damn vampire again. And we all died for damn nothing. Your precious Angel murdered me in cold blood, as he has done countless others, and don't get me started on Spike. You really want to bond with those two?'

Buffy frowned. So this was the plan? They tell her all the bad things her vampires have done and she caves? Not likely. She knew how much blood those two had on their hands and it didn't matter, she was always love both of them, albeit in different ways. 'They've changed.' She stated, shrugging his statement off.

Linsday scoffed. 'They've changed.' He mimicked her voice. 'Not two weeks ago, your former had me shot. For no good reason.'

'You're looking and acting pretty evil to me.'

'I wasn't heading that way. I got out, I quit, and I helped him with the final go round. But no, he gets his green friend to kill me and I end up back as a Wolfram lacky because of that stupid contract! Well, you know what? I'm beyond caring for this world. Angel took everything from me trying to save it and now? I'm gonna thoroughly enjoy watching the end. Especially if it mean watching him suffer.' He cleared his throat. 'Well, now that's off my chest, we'll get on with the show.'

Buffy had folded her arms, still clutching the scythe tightly, but she had an expression on her face of complete boredom. 'Really? You're done whining, cos I'm sick of hearing it. Just watch me kick your ass.'

Lindsay smiled. 'Goodbye Buffy.'

And the vortex disappeared.

-P—

Dawn raised her eyes, searching her surroundings for her companions. But it seemed she was totally alone, in what looked like a school building. The walls were covered with the products of various projects by students, writing from the previous lesson left on the chalk board, but other than the telltale signs of previous occupation, the room was empty. She moved to the door and twisted the knob, finding it locked. Looking through the vertical window chilled her to the bone, as there was nothing but blackness beyond the room. She backed away and ran to the first window, which was covered by blinds but looked like it had sunlight coming from behind it, only to open it and find the blackness continued. The Key took a few steps backwards, her eyes wide.

Then she spotted him.

Sat at the desk with his feet casually thrown up and his hands behind his head, in a position she'd often seen him relaxing in, in his office at home, was Hank Summers, the man who was her father, real or not.

'Daddy?' He smiled and stood up.

Dawn watched him as he sighed and shook his head. 'I could say "princess" and hug you, but we both know I'm not your father Dawnie. You weren't even real. I've never even met you.' He smiled broadly. 'Doesn't mean we can't be friends now, does it?'

'You're not real. You're a ghost, like Wesley.' Dawn said, frowning and folding her arms in her petulant teenage manner. Hank laughed.

'No, I'm not real. But I'm not a ghost. I'm not dead, so I can't be a ghost. I'm just here to show you a few home truths.' He stepped towards her, gesturing at the walls, which had previously shown schoolwork and now showed pictures, snapshots of her memories, time spent with Spike and her sister over the years. All the happy moments, laughing and dancing, some singing and mucking about with Spike during the summer from hell. She looked at them all, knowing exactly where he was going to push the subject.

'They aren't real. Your memories. The feelings your "sister" ' He raised his fingers in quotation 'and that vampire have, are completely faked. Think they would have given a fuck about you if they had met you when you first popped into existence? Know how happy your sister was before you became her biggest responsibility. Christ, if she hadn't had you to burden her down, she could have had happy relationships with everyone else. And Spike? Spike could have gone running after she died, not worrying about any obligation. Oh wait, if you hadn't been there, she wouldn't have died. If she hadn't been forced to feel something for you, she wouldn't have died.' He smirked. 'You're the unreal one here, Dawnie. You're the figment. The burden no one asked for and no one wanted.'

Dawn watched him, her eyes darting the photos as they showed images of Buffy alone and Spike too, being happy without her before she'd "existed". Tears welled in the corners of her eyes until specific memories popped into her head. Spike watching over her, when he hadn't had to, Buffy telling her she loved her, that she was made out of her and a part of her. She remembered the Scoobies and Giles, Tara, all the people she'd known. Her mom, telling her that even if she wasn't her daughter for real, she was still theirs and precious to them.

And she smiled.

'Keep trying.'

Hank snarled and threw a table to the side, making Dawn shriek and dart for the door, regardless of whether it was locked.

'You know why I never came to visit? Cos deep down I knew. Those sparkling blue eyes were nothing to do with me. You weren't mine and you weren't Joyce's. You were forced on us and I was dealt with a fuck load of memories that I didn't want. No one wanted you.'

'You're lying. I know Spike. He hasn't the patience to put up with something he doesn't care about. Even for Buffy. He spent all that time with me. Even though he's completely conkers now, he remembers me, loves me and protects me. It's blood. Memories are nothing, it's blood that's important.'

'Oh and blood is certainly important to him isn't it?' Hank smiled again, his teeth white in the growing darkness swallowing the room. The pictures changed again, showing scenes of bloodshed and murder, moving with their occupants and the mayhem created behind them. 'I guess if knowing you're just a fake thing isn't going to do the trick, you should see what you're really aligning yourself with.'

Dawn frowned and was about to ask him what he meant, when the room exploded behind him and consumed her whole.

-P—

Angel and Spike stood alone in the hall, the younger of the two snarling at the surroundings, wondering where the two females had gone. Angel put a hand on his shoulder in a attempt to calm him down, but it made no difference to the irate vampire. Spike was stuck in game face and backing away from the brunette, who was urgently trying to calm him down. Without warning, Spike was snatched from him sight and dragged snarling into the wall behind him.

The older vampire shouted for the blonde but heard no response for several seconds, and then rushed to the wall, trying to feel where the weakness was that had taken his family. A giggle distracted him and he turned around, seeing the Slayer in front of the fountain.

'You're adorable when you're confused.'

'Buffy.' Angel sighed in relief and then moved towards her, only then noticing, she was wearing different clothes than before and the wounds she had carried were gone. 'You're not Buffy.'

'Oh I am. Enough of her to know the truth anyways.' She moved towards him, running a hand down his chest. He stared at her bewildered. 'Oh, Angel,' she whispered in a breathy voice. 'You were my first….everything. I loved you so much.' She smiled, pulling her hand away as if burnt. 'But you'd never match up to him. He is so much more than you isn't he? Fought for his soul, wasn't cursed with one. Stayed with me, while you ran like a kicked puppy with your tail between your legs.' She moved away from him. 'Oh and the sex….my god, that man rocked my world more than you ever could. If you began to know all the nasty things he did to me? You'd combust.'

Angel snarled, hands fisting at his sides. "Buffy" smirked and looked him up and down.

'So really, you were just second best weren't you. Except when you were Angelus. He knew he was the best, Spike always looked up to him, no matter how much he hated you….you were the master. You were the top of the food chain. Then you got your soul' she spat the word in disgust' and you went all soft. Second best to a fledge. No wonder I turned to him for what you couldn't handle.'

He'd stopped snarling, and was laughing. At the point she'd shown disgust at his soul, she'd shown that she truly wasn't the Slayer he would always love. 'You're pathetic. Yeah, I was the best. Always will be. I taught that boy everything he knew. Especially what he knows in the bedroom, baby. Maybe I just got bored with the little girl.' He stalked towards her. 'If you're trying to get me to turn, it won't work. I'm here to protect my family, whether it's by blood yet or not. You won't win here.'

"Buffy" lunged for him and scored his face with her nails. The cut burned, as if someone had poured holy water into it and he hissed.

'Fine. Enjoy eternity in hell. You can spend some quality time with your charming family.'

The floor dropped out from underneath him and he fell into the darkness. It took forever to hit the bottom and it was pitch black when he finally came back to his sense. A snarling in the dark made him turn until his eyes adjusted and he saw Spike fighting against the shadows, trying the escape the bars he had been entrapped in. Angel found himself in a similar cage and pulled experimentally at the bars, finding no weakness. Spike suddenly seemed to notice him and growled in acknowledgment, to which Angel replied with a throaty noise.

Lights flooded them from all sides and showed the rest of the room. It was mile high with bodies, blood and gore everywhere. Spike went quiet for a few seconds and started screaming, and Angel shut his eyes against the scene. The smell of the death and carnage in the room permeated his every sense. The worst thing was…..

He recognised each one of the dead people in the room. They were his. His and Spike's victims.

Spike still screamed.

-P—

I'm gonna carry on with this as quickly as I can, going to stick to the shorter chapters of two thousand words odd. It's not going to be an epicly long fic, but I want to get a point across. Still trying to figure out what it is but we will get there!