A/N : Yes, it's kind of a Buffy and Faith role-reversal situation in the alternate reality, although not quite as simple as just that...
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 8 - Figuring It Out

"I don't understand" Buffy shook her head, looking up at Faith from her position sat on the end of the bed, "You were killed by the Master and brought back, you were in love with Angel, you destroyed the Mayor and Adam...""Well, Adam wasn't all me, you helped a lot, and the rest of the gang" Faith reminded her, "Y'know the whole combining spell thing"

"Right" Buffy nodded absently, "You beat off Dracula, Toth, Olaf the Troll, all this year so... what about Glory?" she said suddenly. It was quite clear that either the universe had gone into a spiral, or she was in the wrong dimension altogether where she and Faith had opposite roles to her own world. Whichever was true didn't matter right this minute, what did matter was saving The Key, whomever that might be in this place, from the Hell Beast that was Glorificus.

"Glory?" Faith echoed, her face twisting into a frown. It appeared she had no clue what she was talking about.

"Yes, the Hell Goddess who wants the Key" Buffy explained, "If everything else runs parallel here then this must too, she has to exist here, and if Dawn doesn't there must be another person who's the Key!" she protested, "Do you have a sister?" she asked urgently and Faith's frown deepened.

"Man, whatever screwed with you did a bang up job, B" she shook her head, "You know the closest thing I got to a sister is you"

Buffy was a little taken aback by that, since it had been a very long time since she'd ever thought of her fellow Slayer in any terms other than as a murderous bitch. Sisters? It had been suggested that their occupation ought to have made them connected with a bond like that of siblings, but that had only seemed likely for a few short months, before Faith had 'pulled an Anakin' as Xander might say, and went over to the dark side.

"There must be somebody" Buffy shook her head as she thought over the people she'd met so far in this world. Willow and Tara, her mother, Spike, Faith, they'd mentioned Wesley too. Giles apparently didn't exist, and neither did Dawn, that really didn't leave anyone who might be the Key.

"Look, I dunno what it is you're lookin' to remember or whatever" Faith shrugged, "but I gotta check in with Wes and Spike" she told her sister-Slayer, "You, er, wanna come with?" she offered, satisfied that she had calmed Buffy down enough to risk taking her over to her place to see the guys and find out what info they'd gathered so far.

"I guess, yeah" Buffy nodded, feeling a lot better about her situation than she had in a lot of ways and yet she was uncomfortable with the fact that neither Glory or the Key appeared to be present in whatever screwed up world this was. Whilst she ought it be glad she didn't have to be the protector for a while and that the big bad Hell Goddess did not exist, it bothered her because it meant things were just as out of control as they had been earlier, before she understood at least a little of what was going on.

The two Slayers didn't talk much for the first stretch of their journey to Faith's apartment that she shared with Wesley. They were just a few yards away when Buffy stopped, causing her friend to do the same.

"Whats up, B?" Faith checked, with a concerned look.

"If everything's switched... if you were the Slayer first and I was after Kendra, am I not a good person here?" she checked, looking a little worried, "Am I evil?"

"Oh God, B" her sister-Slayer bust up laughing at that particular question, "That's gotta be the funniest thing you've said in a while. You ain't evil" she assured her as her laughter subsided when she realised how serious Buffy looked, "Man, you're the least evil person I know, next to your Mom"

"But I'm dating Spike?" she said, looking confused by that fact more than most.

"Well, he ain't a saint" Faith shrugged her shoulders, "but the guy fights on our side, has done for years, ever since you two fell head over butt for each other" she smiled as she opened the front door of the building they'd arrived at and led the blonde up to the apartment.

"Yo, guys!" Faith called as the pair went inside, "How's it goin'?"

"Faith" Wesley smiled at the sight of her, "and Buffy too"

Those words got Spike's attention and he looked up from his position on the floor amongst piles of books, smiling at the woman he loved whom right now felt nothing good for him at all.

"Hello, luv" he greeted her and she offered up a half smile as she raised her hand in a pathetic attempt at a wave.

"Hi" she said quietly, feeling really weird and awkward after what Faith had just told her. She and Spike had fallen 'head over butt' in love for each other, she was totally non-evil, and he was pretty much on the side of light too. It was so weird to think they could ever be together that way and be happy, and yet somehow in this world they were.

"We, er, have various theories for the... situation" Wesley explained, scrambling to his feet, turning pages back over on his notepad and offering it to Faith, "Buffy, do sit down" he offered when the blonde hovered awkwardly near the seats.

"Alternate reality, huh?" the brunette Slayer read aloud as she skipped the pages of her boyfriends handwriting, "Seems like a theme here""How you doin' luv?" Spike asked Buffy as Faith continued to go through Wes' notes with him on the other side of the room.

"Good, I guess" the blonde shrugged, "Seems like maybe I've been sucked into another world, which is freaksome for everybody but it could be worse"

"Right then" Spike nodded, not really sure what to make of all this himself.

Wes had been talking about alternate realities and the possibility that this Buffy was not from their world at all, but was in fact from a different dimension and had some how been transported to this one. That meant it was likely the 'real' Buffy was somewhere else in another world, the world from which this version of Buffy had come. The science and magicks involved made Spike's head spin if he were honest, but the fact that freaked him out most was that he was sitting here opposite the woman who appeared to be his lover, and yet they didn't even know each other. She was a different person in a lot of ways to the Buffy he knew, and it was obvious he must be much more evil in her world where they were not together in any sense of the word.

"Spike" she said suddenly catching his attention once again, "Do you know what the Key is?" she asked quietly, not wanting Faith to overhear her mentioning this subject again. The last thing she wanted was for her to think she was crazy again.

"The Key?" the vampire frowned, "Key to what?" he checked.

"It's a person" Buffy clarified as he came to sit beside her on the couch, the pair of them whispering conspiratorially, "An innocent person, formed out of energy, and there are all these memories that are made up to make that person fit in the world of the Slayer..." she stopped, her voice trailing away when she saw something shift in Spike's expression, mainly in his eyes. He didn't give much away, but it was clear even to her that he knew what she was talking about.

"Whatever world you're from, that still happened then, did it?" he asked, already knowing it must be true, "Connor was born?""Connor" Buffy frowned, "The Key is a boy here?"

"Reckon so, luv" Spike nodded, still finding it unsettling that Buffy knew so much and yet not because she wasn't the woman he really loved but a double, "Sounds like he's the one you're talking about as the Key or what all. He's Faith and Angel's miracle kid"

"Huh?" Buffy's eyes went wide as she stared at first Spike and then over at Faith talking animatedly with Wesley. This was getting weirder by the second.


"Good Morning, Joyce" Giles greeted her as she opened the front door to him. It was quite early in the morning and the Watcher had arrived as promised to talk to this alternate Buffy in an attempt to work out where she had come from exactly and how she might have got here. Once this was figured out, hopefully the Scoobies could locate their own version of the Slayer and find a way to bring her home, with any luck before Glory began another attack.

Joyce ushered Giles into the living room, offering him something in the way of breakfast. He politely declined since he'd already eaten but said he would join her in a cup of coffee if that was okay.

"Ah, Buffy" he smiled at his Slayer as she descended the stairs, not long after her mother had disappeared through to the kitchen, "How are you this morning?"

"Fine, I think" she said uncertainly as she came further into the room, "It's Giles, right?" she checked, feeling terribly awkward. From what Spike and her mother had told her, this guy was her Watcher, practically a father figure to the other Buffy, and yet she herself didn't know him at all.

"Yes, indeed, I'm Rupert Giles, your Watcher" he smiled, "Well, when I say your Watcher, of course I mean..."

"It's okay" Buffy nodded, "I know what you mean" she smiled as she took a seat in the armchair opposite, "This is all a little weird. Sometimes it feels just like home and then..." she trailed off, feeling ridiculously tearful and so wishing Spike was here, even the alternate Spike that wasn't really hers to claim the services of.

"It must be very disturbing for you" Giles sympathised, "but we're all friends here, and I just wondered if I might ask you a few questions" he said as he opened up a notebook on the coffee table, "I understand it has been explained to you that we believe that Buffy, the one who belongs here, has traded places with you as it were, and is probably in the dimension from which you yourself come"

"Yes, Spike told me" Buffy confirmed, "though honestly, it seems pretty weird. I guess you have to expect this kind of stuff on the Hellmouth""Indeed" Giles smiled, ticking off one question that he now no longer needed to ask. As he suspected, the Sunnydale in this Buffy's world was also on a Hellmouth.

Joyce soon returned to the room with coffee for Giles and breakfast cereal and juice for her daughter. Dawn was quickly ushered into the kitchen for her own early morning meal, as Giles ran through his list of questions with Buffy and noted down her answers, some of which were much more interesting and/or confusing than others.

"Excellent, right" he said, ticking a another box, "Er, that brings us to Glory" he told the Slayer, "Do you know who she is?"

"Glory?" Buffy echoed, her brow creasing, "No, that's not familiar"

"Hmm, how strange" Giles mused as he made a note of it, "No mention of a Key in your world? An innocent person formed of energy by..."

"How do you know about him?" Buffy gasped suddenly.

"Him?" the Watcher echoed, sitting up very straight suddenly and frowning somewhat.

"Faith's son" she confirmed with a nod, "Connor"

"Good Lord" Giles gasped, as he dropped the pencil from his hand. This was getting ever more strange by the minute.

To Be Continued...