Chapter 2 – Monday, Alternate Reality
Buffy woke the next morning, looking at her alarm clock. It was 9 o'clock! Why hadn't the alarm gone off? She had to get Dawn off to school. Hoping that Willow had seen Dawn off, Buffy jumped out of bed, pulled on a wrap and ran into Dawn's room. She stood in the doorway, looking at the room in disbelief. The room was full of packing cases and junk. It looked like no one had used it in a long time. Buffy turned and headed to Willow and Tara's room. She burst in through the door and stopped dead. The room looked exactly like it had when her mom was alive. For a fraction of a second, there was hope. The whole last few months had been a bad dream and her mother was still alive. As quickly as it had sprung up, the hope was gone as she looked around the room. The decoration was as it had been when her mother was alive, but there were no personal things, no signs of occupation. The bed wasn't even made up. In a daze, Buffy walked into her own room, managing to sit on the bed. She shook her head several times, trying to throw off the panic which was threatening her. She pinched herself, trying to make sure she wasn't dreaming. She felt the pinch well enough – there can be definite disadvantages to Slayer strength. Persuading herself to think logically, she grabbed the phone from the table beside her bed. She pressed the short code for Xander's number. The phone simply beeped at her to say it didn't have a number for that code. Irritated, she tried the code for the Magic Box. Same result. She rummaged through her drawer, finding her address book. She didn't keep phone numbers in her head any more – that was what speed dialling was for. She looked under H for Harris. There was no entry. She checked for the Magic Box. Again, no entry. Seriously worried now, she couldn't work out who to call next. Even Giles had been staying here. She jumped up. Giles. He must be downstairs. Running down, she found no sign of him or any of his belongings. Going into the lounge, she noticed immediately that there were no photos. There had been several around the room – her and her mom and Dawn and the Scoobies. They were all gone. Wait a minute. Over in the corner. Her weapons chest. It was gone too. Somehow, she had gone to sleep last night and awakened to a completely different world.
She walked into the kitchen. She wasn't sure what to do next, but thought some breakfast might help. As with the rest of the house, she saw nothing in the kitchen to suggest that anyone but she lived there. She quickly ate some breakfast than went upstairs to shower and dress. Looking into her wardrobe was a revelation. Gone were her trousers, gone were the clothes she went slaying in. The wardrobe was full of the loveliest clothes, but absolutely nothing practical for her way of life. She chose the best she could find, a soft, full, calf length skirt in a pretty turquoise colour and a blouse which seemed to match. Both were made from a satiny material which felt lovely against her skin but which would simply not survive her first meeting with a demon. Shrugging, she finished dressing and went outside. She had taken a look at her reflection in the mirror before she left and had liked what she saw.
The only place she could think of to go was Spike's crypt. She decided she must persuade him to get a phone. As she left Revello Drive, she noticed other changes around her. There was none of the atmosphere that Sunnydale usually exuded. There were fewer abandoned buildings. Something strange was going on, and she really didn't have a clue.
She was relieved when she got to Spike's crypt. She usually wore shoes which weren't exactly sensible, and the sandals she had chosen to wear were pretty, but completely unsuited to walking. She thought about kicking open the crypt door as she usually did, but one glance at her aching feet persuaded her that the sandals would simply not survive. For the first time, she opened the door gently. She stepped inside, looking around. There was no sign of Spike, but she knew he spent a lot of time underneath, so she walked to the trap door, opened it and crept down. She saw him immediately. He was lying in the middle of his large bed, dead to the world. She smiled to herself. She had used that phrase before, but never so accurately. She walked towards him, intrigued by the perfect stillness. There was no rise and fall of his chest because he didn't have to breathe. He naked chest was uncovered and she stopped, unsure whether to approach further. She decided to act as normally as possible, even if nothing else was normal. She found a book and threw it at him, shouting his name. He sat up with a start, looking at her, while pulling the sheet up over him from where it had slipped as he sat.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he shouted at her. "Could've given me a heart attack, waking me like that."
"Your heart's dead, just like the rest of you. What's going on?" she asked.
Spike just looked confused. She seemed serious, but he couldn't for the life of him understand why she thought he'd been up to anything. It was only a few hours since she'd last seen him. Since she'd kissed him. The memory of the kiss swept back over him, threatening to cause embarrassment. He changed position to make things less obvious. "Well," he drawled back at her, "last thing I remember is coming back here after trying unsuccessfully to get drunk. The getting drunk was a result of the last few minutes I spent with you. When you kissed me, then ran off. Tried to understand it, but gave up the attempt and thought some alcohol would make it easier to stop thinking. 'Twas giving me a headache."
He looked at her properly now. She was obviously worried. Shrugging off his initial irritation, he wrapped the sheet around him and threw his legs over the edge of the bed. "What's the matter, love? Is it Dawn? What happened?"
Buffy tried to explain, but knew she wasn't making sense – she knew what she was saying and she didn't understand it. He reached out to her hand and pulled her towards the bed. She sat down beside him, not thinking of the incongruity of sitting on a bed beside an apparently naked Spike. His hand was on her shoulder, his thumb running comforting little circles over her blouse.
She took a deep breath, trying to find a way to make sense of what she had seen this morning. When she had finished, he was looking quizzically at her. He obviously thought she was mad. Well, she would have thought so too, if their places had been reversed. "You've been dreamin', pet. Go home, you'll find it's all in your imagination."
She stiffened and he immediately knew he'd said the wrong thing. "I'm not imagining it. I know it sounds crazy. But they're all gone. It's like Dawn never existed, and if Willow and Xander are around somewhere, they're just not part of my life. You're the only other person I could think of. Believe me, I wouldn't be here if I could think of anyone else."
Spike saw the truth of her words and was hurt by them. He would certainly be her last resort. And she didn't seem delusional. "Ok, suppose I accept what you say. What do you want me to do?"
She relaxed at his words. At least he was prepared to listen. "I don't know. Could you, y'know, find out what's happening among the local demons? I could do the same in the human world. Meet you back here before sunset?" As she said this last, she stood up, watching for his reaction.
"Sure, pet. I'll have a nose around." When he didn't move immediately, Buffy realised again that he was undressed under the sheet and reddened. "See you later," she added, heading for the steps.
Buffy wasn't sure where to start. She didn't fancy walking anywhere, but didn't really have a choice. She headed for the centre of town, just looking around. Everything looked vaguely familiar, as if she hadn't been there for a long time. Suddenly worried, she checked the date on a newspaper on sale from a machine. It was what she expected. "Ok, not time travelling," she thought, somewhat relieved. Another thought led her to a making a telephone call. She found a public phone and looked up the number of UC Sunnydale. When she got through, she asked for someone who could get her information on a student.
"I need to find an old friend, Willow Rosenberg. I've come to town to see her, but I forgot my address book and I don't have a note of her number. I've got to see her. Can you tell me how to contact her?"
"I'm sorry, we can't give out our students' private information."
Buffy started to reason with the woman. She pleaded. She even managed to make her voice break a little. At last, the woman relented. "Let me just check, yes, we do have a Willow Rosenberg registered. She should be in her psychology class at the moment. If you could come here, you could maybe catch her…." The conversation continued with details of how to get to the Psychology building and the information that the lecture would be over at 11 o'clock. Buffy was able to find a bus to take her to the campus and with a sigh of relief, she sat down.
Knowing her way around the campus, Buffy made it to the Psychology building with time to spare. She stood around, waiting, expecting to see some familiar faces in the milling crowds but there were none. As 11 o'clock approached, she turned her attention to the exit from the building. A few moments later, the exodus began.
She was almost going to give up when Willow eventually came out. She was among the last to exit. What surprised Buffy most was who she was with. They were wrapped in each other's arms as they walked, neither giving any attention to their surroundings. Willow and Xander were obviously 'together' in a way they had never been in the 'normal' world.
Buffy approached, shouting Willow's name. Willow looked around, trying to find the source of the interruption. When she spotted Buffy, she looked momentarily confused, then light dawned. "Hey," she said. "I remember you, Buffy Summers, Sunnydale High. We shared a couple of classes. Haven't seen you in … I don't know. Xander, you remember Buffy, don't you?" Xander had dragged his gaze away from Willow to look at Buffy. "Yeah, think so," he replied, showing a total lack of interest in the new arrival.
"Hey, we've got to rush, we've got another class. You enrolled here now? I'll see you around." Willow was dragged off by Xander as she finished talking.
Unsure what else to do, Buffy took the bus back home. She sat in her almost familiar surroundings, trying to work out what else to do. In desperation, she thought of the Watchers Council. Maybe they would know where Giles was in this reality. It took a while to get the number, and even longer to get them to admit knowing a Rupert Giles. In fact, there never was an actual admission, but in the end, something of Buffy's desperation must have pushed through the officiousness, which seems endemic in all those responsible for fielding calls for large organisations. "I'm sorry, Miss Summers, but I can neither confirm nor deny that the Council has knowledge of a Mr. Giles. However, if you could leave your contact details, I could perhaps pass them along, if at some time I find the gentleman's details? Then, if he exists, he could perhaps choose to contact you."
Realising this was the best she was going to get, she left her telephone number. For something to do while she waited, she started to do some tidying. There really wasn't a lot that needed doing. Almost as if she didn't have anything much else to do in this reality. It was nearly two hours later when the phone rang. She jumped, running to the phone.
"Miss Summers?" she heard Giles' familiar voice.
"Giles, oh Giles, thanks for calling me. I woke up this morning and everything's different. I need to know what's going on. What happened?"
The answering voice was cold. "Miss Summers, you really have a nerve calling me after your behaviour. How can I tell you about what happened to you last night? I haven't been in Sunnydale for over five years. Since you refused to have anything to do with being the Slayer and ensured that I lost my job as school librarian, leading in turn to my being deported. I'm not even sure why I called. If you'll excuse me, …."
Buffy interrupted. "Giles, wait, please listen. I don't know what happened in your past, but I saw you yesterday. I've been the Slayer since I was sixteen and you've been my Watcher. I went to bed last night, and everything was familiar, yet when I woke this morning, you're gone and Willow and Xander hardly know me, and my sister's gone and…"
"Wait. You don't have a sister – at least you didn't have when I last saw you. And, well, I remember Willow Rosenberg. She tried to befriend you, but you didn't want to know. That's how I remember your relationship with Willow. Why don't you tell me what happened according to your memory?"
Relieved that he was actually willing to listen, Buffy started to tell this strange Giles the story of her life since becoming the Slayer. Some parts were obviously familiar to the Watcher. Not that he admitted her involvement with any of it, it was as if the outside events had happened but she had not been part of it. When she finished, he seemed warmer, as if he almost believed her.
"Can you tell me what happened here? I know what happened in my reality, but here, I need to know how things are. I've tried everyone else I can think of. Even Spike – but he's got the same memories that I have."
"Wait, did you say Spike? Also known as William the Bloody? He's the scourge of Sunnydale. He's the only senior vampire not wiped out by the Initiative. Never thought I'd say it, but I thank God daily for the Initiative. Without them, Sunnydale would have been … well, I'd rather not think about it. Riley Finn and his team did your job. They decimated the demon population, but had to move on before they got Spike. Still, the vigilantes are keeping him in check, from what I've heard."
Giles went on, telling the story of Sunnydale, as he understood it. Of course, it was all second hand. He had been in London all that time. Because she had accused him of stalking her - reported him to the school so they had been forced to sack him. Although charges were never pressed, he was deported, his character forever blemished.
When the call eventually ended, she sat for some time taking in the information she had received. It seemed as if Giles believed her story. She looked at her watch. 5 o'clock. Remembering her promise to Spike, she grabbed some food, changed her shoes and headed towards the cemetery. Remembering Giles' words, she picked up some pieces of wood on her way, fashioning stakes from them as well as she could. Just in case.
As she approached the cemetery, she became aware of a crowd ahead. They were noisy, chanting 'Kill the Demon' over and over again. She stopped short of the crowd, waiting to see their intentions. A few moments later, it was obvious. They were heading for Spike's crypt, and they were armed with explosives. She crept closer, trying to hear the individual conversations. "Can't believe he had the nerve to come back. And to his old crypt, too. Thought we'd run him out of town last time."
"You sure he's here?" another asked.
"Yeah, he was spotted earlier. And I can smell him." As he said this, he held up a small electronic device. One look told Buffy it was US Military issue. Riley.
Realising that there were too many of them for her to stop, Buffy simply followed. When they reached the crypt, two went inside. A moment later, there was a massive explosion. The two had come out, shouting, "Threw them down into his lair. He didn't stand a chance." The crowd cheered and laughed. A veritable party atmosphere ensued as the crowd left the cemetery. Buffy did her best to melt into the shadows – easier now that the sun was low in the sky. As soon as the crowd had gone, she ran to the crypt. The door had been blown off its hinges by the force of the explosion. Piles of what were Spike's belongings smouldered on the floor. She ran to the trap door, to find no ladder beneath. Ignoring her concern that she might be trapped, Buffy let herself into the area below. The devastation was almost complete. There was rubble everywhere. One look around and she knew that nothing could have survived the blast. Her one ally in this strange world was gone. Buffy sat down on the rubble and started to cry.