When we got to the hotel Van Helsing led the way to his room.  Lyanka had brought her large carpet bag full of magical paraphernalia.  Van Helsing's room had a large balcony attached.  Lyanka opened the sliding glass door and walked out onto it.

"What are you going to do out there?" I asked.

"I do not think the hotel would appreciate me making a circle on their carpet.  I shall form the gate out here.  It will take about an hour to prepare.  I suggest that Giles and Buffy gather what things they wish to bring and say their goodbyes," she said and shut the sliding door.

"I'll help you pack," I said to Buffy.

"Let me come with you," Beatrice said.

We headed for Buffy's room.  Along with the clothes we had bought a duffle bag and it really didn't take long for Buffy to stuff her clothes into it. When she was finished we all sat on the bed.

"I haven't had this much fun in a long time," Buffy said.

"Your idea of fun is a bit odd," said Beatrice.  "Chasing vampires through the sewers, watching witches create gates to other worlds, and helping boring men do research."

"Yeah, well that's what being the Slayer's all about.  The fun part was meeting you two.  Let me give you both my phone number, in case you ever make it to my Universe."

Buffy wrote her phone number twice on a piece of the Inn's stationary and ripped it in half.  She handed one to each of us.  I stuffed it in my pocket.  I could add it to my address book later.

"What should we do for an hour?" Buffy asked.

"How about I treat you both to ice cream sundaes?" I asked.

"I'm up for that," said Buffy.

"I think they have ice cream in the restaurant here," Beatrice said. They did. 

We spent the hour eating and talking.  Buffy told us more about her friend Angel.  I didn't know how she had lived through what she did.

Beatrice told us about her bad experience dating a colleague.  They commiserated on my lack of love life. The hour was over sooner than we thought. 

We headed back up to Van Helsing's room. Lyanka had finished her preparations.  We all went out onto the balcony, which was surprisingly large.  Lyanka took a little bit of Giles and Buffy's blood.  Then she gestured for them to enter the circle.  Giles had a few books under his arms and Buffy had her duffle bag.  I wondered when Giles had had time to purchase books.  Maybe Wells had given them to him.  Lyanka had them each drink from a goblet which held their blood and some herbal mixture.  She chanted in what had to be Latin and the same bright light filled the center of the circle.  When we could see again Buffy and Giles were gone.

Epilogue

It took Spike and Drusilla more then a week to dig their ways back to the surface.  During this time Dru kept her determination not to talk to him.

Spike ended up talking to himself most of the way just to pass the time.  He went through all the songs he knew and then started reciting the multiplication table. 

They were starving by the time they reached the top and found themselves in a grave yard.  Spike leaned against a tombstone and watched as Dru methodically brushed herself off.  Suddenly they both grew alert as the sound of someone's drunken singing came wafting through the air.  It was an old man with a bottle of scotch.  He had to be the graveyard's caretaker. Dru got to him first and had him drained within a minute.

"You could have saved some for me," Spike said.

Dru ignored him, looking around the graveyard with an odd expression on her face.  Suddenly she spun around and started walking purposefully.  Spiked hurried to follow her.

"You can't blame me for this, Dru.  It's not like I could have known there was a gate to another universe in the London Underground.   You can't stay mad forever."

Dru just ignored him.  She strode her way past the tombstones, obviously with some goal in mind.  Spike followed silently.  For some reason this place seemed familiar.  He had to find out what she was looking for.  She was looking for something.  They came to a crypt.  Dru broke the lock on it and stepped inside.  Spike gaped at the place.  It was his family's crypt. He'd showed it to her once after his whole family was dead.  What was she doing going inside?

Dru came back out carrying something.  It was some papers, yellowed and dirty.  They were tied with a red velvet ribbon. 

She held them out to him. "What's this Dru?" Spike asked.

"My lord, I have remembrances of yours, that I have longed long to redeliver; I pray you, now receive them," Dru said.

"What are you talking about, luv?  What remembrances?  I never gave you any papers."

"My honur'd lord, you know right well you did; and with them words of so sweet breath composed as made the things more rich.  Their Perfume is lost. Take these again; for to the noble mind rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind.  There my lord."

Dru forced the stack into his hands.  Spike undid the ribbon and glanced at the first one.  It was a love poem he had written before he met her.  Before she brought him across and the only love he had left was for here.

"Those are you words from before.  Perhaps they weren't for me, but I took them.  I read them and drank from your soul.  Now I give them back to you. You think  you love me, but you don't.  How could one who loves kill my Angelus.  I'm leaving, William. There's nothing you can do to stop me."

Before he could respond she spun away and starting running.  H was so shocked that he just stood there holding the poems.  She reached the iron fence and made her way over it.

"Drusilla," he wailed.  "No, come back to me.  Come back," but there was no answer.