TITLE: Yesterday's Child

AUTHOR: Drusilla

RATING: PG-13

PAIRING: Spike/Buffy, Max/Liz

SPOILERS: Season 5 of Buffy, Season Two of Roswell

SUMMARY: When Max is haunted by odd dreams of a certain petite blonde, he brings Liz along
to Sunnydale, California to investigate, in hopes of finding more of his kind.
Meanwhile, Buffy explores her feelings for Spike and discovers that everything
has changed during her absence. Set five years in the future.

Buffy/Roswell crossover, Spike/Buffy and Max/Liz 'ships.

DISCLAIMER: The characters aren't mine. They belong to Joss Whedon and Jason Katims.

DISRIBUTION: Sure, take it! Just let me know and credit me, please

FEEDBACK: Yes, please!



YESTERDAY'S CHILD

* * *

CHAPTER 7: Ghosts

* * *


She is sitting in the windowseat, her chin propped up on her arms, her face aglow with
morning sun. She seems thoughtful, her expression holding a child-like quality that
envelops her thin figure like a magickal aura.

He watches her through narrowed eyes, playing dead. She looks over at him for a moment,
and noting the rays of sun which threatened to dance upon his flesh, she stands to pull the
heavy drapes together, banishing the light from the room.

Moving silently, she pads across the carpet and disappears into the hallway, closing the
door behind her, shutting his existence from the pretense of her life.

Beside him the covers are unwrinkled, unmarred in their white cotton purity.

It is like she was never there.

Perhaps it was an illusion, after all. Perhaps his mind is getting too old, too worn, to
see the truth.

Still, he dreams.


* * *


The walls curve and twist and scream until anything that once resembled some form of sanity
is cut and tattered and torn to pieces.

He clutches at the floor for safety, but finds none. The blood ebbs closer and closer,
until he is drowning it, until his body is slick and his hair soaked with red.

He sobs dryly, curled on the floor like a wounded puppy, shivering and scared, closing his
eyes to shut out the horrible mess in front of him.

He can see it even in his mind.

Strange. One moment he is in control, and another, he is breaking.

And then there is the voice.

Max, Max, it's calling, but he hears only the name of some other, of somebody he cannot seem
to remember. With each breath it comes again, only to be forgotten in the milisecond it
takes for the sounds to register into his brain. It's driving him crazy, and he's wondering
whether this is the effect whoever is giving him these visions is looking for.

He can't remember.

Come back, it's saying, and he is vaguely aware that it's Liz, and that he's not the one
who did this, not the one who killed.

But he can't be sure.

(Max?) All of a sudden it's very, very clear, and very, very close.

(Liz?) But his lips won't cooperate. "Buffy?" Goddamnit! He hasn't even got a clue who
this Buffy character is, and all his thoughts are already revolving around her.

(Max, you have to come back! Wake up!) "Spike? Shh.. come with me. It's okay. You can
leave now."

He wants to rip his brain apart. Liz's voice clouds his head but it's *her* voice that
attacks his ears. (Liz!!) He pants. "Is it you?" His voice is a whisper. His mind is
spinning, as is he, but still he can't place her.

(You have to wake up. I need you. Please!) "Let's go, Spike. There's nothing you can do
here."

(I can't. Look what I did.) He's crying now, uncontrollably. "Please. Just leave me
here."

(No, no, Max. I don't believe it. It wasn't you. I love you. I won't leave.) The voice
is pleading, exasperated, and full of pain and love and regret, all at once. "Shh.. It's
okay. You saved.. they're better now."

(It was me. I felt it. I did it with my own hands.) "I killed them."

(No. It was somebody else's hands. You couldn't control what happened.) "Yes, and they're
dead. You did what you believed was best for them."

(I was there! I smelled the blood. The fear. The betrayal. I looked into her eyes as she
died.) "It doesn't mean that it's right."

(Maybe, but it wasn't you. You would never. You're a good person Max, everyone knows that.
You-- You have to come back.) "Nothing's right anymore, Spike. You can't worry about
that."

Strong hands are pulling him and--

He opens his eyes.

She is staring back at him desperately, and smiles finally when she sees his condition is
satisfactory. "Oh God, Max, I thought you were gone," She exclaims, hugging him tightly.
She sees his horrified expression and kisses him gently on the cheek. "It was just a
dream," she says, her voice muffled by his skin.

"Just a dream," He repeats to himself, running his fingers through his dark hair.

His fingers are coated with blood.


* * *


The shadows dance over the faces of the two entities, revealing beautiful faces of a nature
and colour that cannot be distinguished by human eyes. The two hold their hands together,
in front of them, their slender fingers entwined.

"She has been woken." Says the first, in a language that is not of this Earth. The sounds
are like bell-tones, sweet and light, yet firm and powerful.

They are standing in a cave-like structure. The walls are slimy and the ground is wet, but
it means nothing for them. They are creatures of purity, and all that surrounds them is
beautiful simply because they are present.

"And the other players?"

"The flesh has been molded."

The second one stirs uncomfortably, while the first remains stiff and calm. "The energy?"
She whispers.

"Still present. It should be difficult to gather. It has been four years." His mouth
curves into a sly smile.

She nods, and pulls her fingers from his grasp. When he doesn't let go of her wrist, she
gasps and looks back to him. His expression is grave, his voice clear and resonant.

"The Key will be whole once more."


* * *


TO BE CONTINUED...

God, I need REVIEWS!!!! They are the energy that keeps me going. I apologize for the long
delay, I've got severe writer's block.

Anybody who's got any suggestions, let me know! I won't know what's wrong until people tell
me...