Rating: PG
Feedback: That would be very nice, thank you. Melpomenethalia@aol.com
Spoilers: Up to "The Gift"
Distribution: Here. If you're interested, please let me know.
Summary: My take on what happened to Buffy after diving into the portal.
Disclaimer: All characters are owned by Mutant Enemy (Joss Whedon), a wonderfully creative company whose characters I have borrowed for a completely profit-free flight of fancy. Kindly do not sue me, please, as I am terrified of you. Thank you.
Part 6
"You've got to be kidding me," Buffy said disbelievingly as she took in her new surroundings. "Drusilla and Darla are in Las Vegas?"
"You sound surprised," came Darla's voice from just behind her, making her jump. "It's actually a vampire's paradise: high crime rate, the turn-over is constant so there's less chance of being recognized, nightlife is the norm, and the casinos have no windows."
"When you put it that way, it sounds like I was working around the wrong Hellmouth," the Slayer muttered to herself. "So what are the other Darla and Dru doing here?"
"Ehm, well," Drusilla had appeared at Darla's elbow and was starting to blush rosily, "they're working as entertainers."
"Entertainers? As in strippers?" Buffy asked with a blink.
"No. They haven't sunk quite that low. Yet. Darla sings torch songs in a bar and Drusilla gets all gussied up in sequins and abbreviated Lycra in one of those tacky chorus girl shows. They don't really need the money; I think they're just bored—which is dangerous," Darla responded frankly, a note of concern creeping into her voice. "I'm starting to suspect that Darla's plotting something, but I don't have the vaguest idea what it is."
"Drusilla in a chorus line. I'm trying to picture that and failing, which might be a good thing," Buffy chuckled.
"I don't think the job is going to last very long. She keeps forgetting the steps and crashing into the other girls," Dru said almost apologetically.
For just one moment Buffy allowed herself to take a step back from all that was happening in order to fully appreciate just how weird being dead was turning out to be. She was about to comment on this to William when she realized with a start that he was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh, geez, I did it wrong, didn't I?" the Slayer thought out loud.
"Hmm?" asked Darla in a semi-interested tone.
"William. I think I left him behind when we came here," Buffy responded with a shake of her head. Alive, she'd never managed to get a driver's license. Apparently, being dead hadn't helped her ability to get people from one place to another.
"No, dearie, you did just fine. He just had to be somewhere else at the moment," Drusilla said with a frown. "And I'm afraid it might be quite an important appointment he needed to keep."
"You guys can sense where the others are?"
"Nope. Just Dru. She may be dead, but she's still got that whole psychic thing going," Darla answered as she scanned the crowd, apparently looking for someone. In another moment, her eyes locked on a figure across the room in the crowded bar where they stood. "There I am."
Buffy turned in the direction of Darla's gaze and caught sight of a blonde figure who was utterly identical to the spirit standing next to her except for her clothes. The other, obviously vampiric version, dressed in a skintight cocktail gown of champagne-colored satin, was standing on a small, raised stage about thirty feet away, wrapping up the final bars of Johnny Mercer's "Stardust." With a small nod of approval, the Slayer noted she didn't have a bad voice.
"That'll be the end of the set," Darla said as she began to stride quickly across the room while her vampire self exited behind the excessively gaudy stage curtain. It wasn't until now that Buffy noticed the other woman was actually walking directly through some of the living people in the room in order to get to where she was going. None of them seemed to notice.
"Just a normal part of being on this end of things," Drusilla told her as she put a motherly arm around the other girl's shoulders. "I know it's a bit startling at first, but the living don't feel us unless we want them to. Well, except for those who have the sight, but they're quite rare. You'll probably be able to sense them."
Buffy gave herself a little shake and forced herself to try to accept just how different things had become in the last few hours. "So, where is Darla going?"
"She'll try to influence the demon inside her body. I'm afraid she hasn't had much success where that's concerned, but she does keep trying. Was that why William suggested you come here, to see the connection between our soul-selves and our physical bodies?"
"I think so. You mean that Darla's about to…" she broke off tentatively.
"I'm afraid so. It's usually between sets," Drusilla answered the unasked question. "Are you sure you feel up to this? It isn't a very pleasant sight."
"If there's one thing I've rapidly become used to, it's unpleasant sights," Buffy declared with more determination than she actually felt. After all, she had no possible way of defending whomever Darla's intended victim might be.
"All right, then. But you'd best move your level of vision first," Drusilla suggested casually as she began to lead Buffy in the same direction Darla had taken, completely ignoring the presence of any humans or objects in her way.
"My what of what?" the blonde asked with a slightly weary sigh. Did being dead have to be so confusing all the time?
Drusilla stopped short. "William didn't explain to you about the difference between the material world and the spirit world?"
"Oh, he did that. Taffy and everything. I get that. Well, mostly," the Slayer told her. "It's kind of complicated, though."
"But he didn't mention that you can see both of them, if you wish?" Drusilla asked with a little smile. Taffy? He had to be the strangest soul she'd ever met.
"No. He kind of left that part out."
"Well, it's quite easy. As you're looking around now, you can see all the things that exist in the physical world, including human bodies. If you concentrate, you can switch your sight so that instead of seeing what the average human does, you can see the other side of things, rather like a seer."
"I'll be able to see everything's soul?" Buffy said with a raised eyebrow.
Drusilla paused, considering. "Well, that's roughly it. Go ahead and give it a try."
Closing her eyes, she centered her mind on the idea of taking the wrapper off the taffy. Slowly, as though a veil were lifting over her mind's eye, she became aware of a difference in her senses. When she slowly lifted her eyelids, she was both nearly dazzled and deeply confused by the strange pictures that greeted her.