A/N: This chapter was so long I had to split it. Oh and complexity they name is Rekindling Old Flames...
The first thing Buffy noticed as she stirred was the smell, the smell of death. She knew that smell because she worked in it every day of her life it was like a thick blanket enveloping her and it had become something that she was very much used to even if she was not yet comfortable with that.
It was cold where she lay, she felt gravel between her fingers and she spat dirt from her mouth, the chill wind whipped around her.
It was the sounds that finally got her to open her eyes. The sounds of chanting, not ritual or sacrificial chanting but the chanting that reminded her vaguely of a football or basketball match. Her eyes opened and all she saw at first was the golden brown dust of the ground that she lay on. Then Buffy slowly, clutching the side of her head sat up and the cheers rose abruptly, screams of exhilaration and excitement. It was needless to say that these were screams Buffy was not used to waking up to. Screams of pain, terror and fear she was used to but not ones of encouragement and rapture.
She blinked and the sight that greeted her nearly took her breath away. Buffy Summers was sitting in the middle of a stadium that reminded her of the pictures Giles had shown her of the old gladiator theatres from ancient Rome.
Of course as far as she knew Flower Meadows was not home to one of those stadiums so she had to figure that they were in the athletics stadium which had been covered in dust for the clay soccer that took place some weeks. It wasn't the actual structure of the round stadium that reminded her so much of the gladiator stadiums it was that the stands were filled to capacity with people screaming her name and holding up signs that said things like 'Go Buffy!' and 'Buffy we love you'. It was bizarre to say the least and for a moment she thought she was dreaming.
Buffy looked up above her and saw that there was no roof on the stadium and that, instead, she could see the night sky, dark and full of stars, beautiful really. The screaming caused her to look back down again and she was confused. Why was she here and why were people shouting her name like she was the next Kobe Bryant or whatever?
Buffy stood and everyone in the stands stood too, jumped up and down and screamed their cheers of encouragement at her. The Slayer, for her part, wasn't sure what they expected her to do...a little song and dance routine maybe? No, for a strange reason she had a feeling they were out for something a little more entertaining.
The Slayer's head still hurt like a bitch and the continuous chanting was not doing anything to help that. Buffy looked down at herself and was more than a little surprised to see she was wearing a long white silk dress. It was sleeveless but straps held it up and the bodice fitted tight against her, pushing her breasts up and offering them to anyone and everyone. It floated down over her hips with plenty of room to move her legs all the way down to the ground where it dragged through the dirt – such a shame.
Her head throbbed and as her fingertips danced along the bruise that was appearing there Buffy remembered how she had hit her head in the first place. The demons. She spun around and was greeted with a sight that would stay with her many years down the line, always crystal clear and sharp with no hope of her ever forgetting a single detail of it.
The crowd noise level hit fever pitch as she saw what had been behind her and was now in front of her in all of it's macabre glory.
Buffy's eyes widened as she saw Spike and Angel both dressed in evening formal suits each tied to giant stakes pushed firmly into the ground.
There were large stacks of wood piled around the foot of each of the stakes and both vampires were tied securely with rope tied around their stomachs and their hands fixed at the back of the stakes no doubt tied tightly also. One thick length of rope was tied around each of their necks and around to the back of the stakes to keep their heads from lolling and Buffy was betting, though she could not see their feet beneath the stacks of wood, that their ankles were tied tight too.
She froze though she knew she should be running to free them, to take in the sights of her two slumbering lovers. Angel's eyes were closed and he looked peaceful even though Buffy knew that he was unconscious and not sleeping. He was dressed in a black tuxedo, with a white shirt and black bow tie. The jacket fit him tailor made tightly over his broad chest and shoulders, the sleek lines complementing him perfectly.
Buffy's eyes moved to Spike, he too looking as peaceful as he had done for a long time. His tuxedo jacket was white matching his hair to perfection. His pants were black and his bow tie too, his shirt fitted tight against his chest and one arm of his jacket was pinned up against his shoulder. The suit also complemented Spike's sinewy body, his lean, hard, muscle.
Buffy realized that the demons had probably used their counterparts to do the fitting on – that they had never intended on killing Spike or Angel, it had been part of the plan to keep them alive. To make Buffy suffer.
"Spike!" She yelled and started running towards them "Angel!"
Buffy felt hands grabbing at her arms and pulling her back, she fought against them but they were strong and eventually she was pushed to her knees on to the dirt floor. Her arms were held behind her back and she was pushed forward slightly so she had to crane her neck upwards to look upon the two vampires.
"Now, now," She heard the familiar voice say, "Can't have you ruining the show"
Buffy looked behind her and saw Giles holding her down, Giles and Xander. The confusion must have shown on her face because they both laughed and Giles pushed her head back to face the vampires just in time for her to see her evil clone step out from behind Angel's stake. She clapped loudly and the sound from the audience died down and then eventually fell to a hushed whisper.
"We got reinforcements," Evil Buffy told her motioning to the two demons that held her back.
They had made more and now she was in deep.
"What is this? What are you doing?" Buffy's eyes locked onto ones that were identical to her own, yet so very much different.
"Well, I thought that was fairly obvious," Evil Spike swung out from behind Spike's stake, a wide grin on his face "We're burning your boyfriends alive"
"No!" Buffy struggled against Evil Giles and Evil Xander pushing back against them but she could not harm them, could not shake them because their spell was too powerful. They pushed her back down and tightened their grip on her till it hurt so much she cried out.
"That's not exactly true," Evil Buffy looked over at her paramour and tsked before she looked back at the real Buffy "We're burning one of them"
"Why?"
"Because, these people came here for a blood boiling, heart pounding, sweat pouring, knees shaking show and...we're gonna give it to them" Evil Buffy grinned with triumph.
The crowd roared to life again, clapping, whistling, some of them booing the demons but only in a good-natured pantomime way.
Buffy turned to look at the crowd and yelled as loud as she could "What the hell are you all doing? This isn't some kind of game! How can you stand there and cheer when they're gonna kill people? How can you do this?"
Her answer was a loud crescendo of screams and shouts, celebration and whooping and all of the things that told Buffy that they were either hysterical or they were under a spell of some sort. She turned and saw how the demons reveled in all the attention they were getting, they grinned and kissed each other, loving every minute of it and suddenly Buffy understood it.
"This is what you want..." She spoke, loud enough so that they could hear "You want to be famous, popular, you want..."
"Power " Evil Buffy smiled looking into her eyes.
Buffy looked at her, gritting her teeth and with hatred in her eyes "And this was the only way you could get it? To become my friends and me? To do this?"
"Please," She rolled her eyes "Everyone knows that Slayers are the new 'in' thing"
"They know you're not the real me, I mean, hello? I'm right here" Buffy pointed out.
"Yeah, but everyone loves a good villain" Evil Buffy grinned "Besides, it's not really the human world we care about, it's the demon one. With a stunt like this we will be revered. Say, you know what? I think it's time to wake the guys up, huh? What do you all think?"
She addressed the crowd and they all began to cheer and clap and scream for her to do, to do it but all Buffy wanted was for them to keep talking and leave Angel and Spike alone. She had wanted to stall whatever they were planning but now it seemed inevitable. She too watched as the two lead demons, Evil Buffy and Evil Spike, each picked up cattle prods that had been lying against each of the stakes and turned them on. Buffy knew what they were going to do but she still flinched with pain when they each brought the tip of the prod to the chest each of the vampires. Both Angel and Spike's eyes shot open and they let out cries of pain as their whole bodies convulsed from the shocks the prods were giving them.
"Stop!" Buffy screamed.
And they did.
Angel and Spike let out moans and groans and looked around not sure where the hell they were or what was going on. Eventually, though, both sets of eyes rested on Buffy and she felt their confusion in the weight of their gazes.
"So, back to the number one question, luv" Evil Spike twirled the cattle prod around like a showman as he looked at her "Who's it gonna be?"
"What?" Buffy looked at him.
"Who's gonna burn?" His evil eyes twinkled.
"Yes, Buffy, who?" Evil Buffy stood between the two stakes and held her arms up in the air "Who's it gonna be? The brunette or the blond? Pacey or Dawson? Chachi or Richie? Starsky or Hutch?"
Spike groaned deeply "I resent...being compared to that prat Dawson..."
"...Ditto...but with the Chachi thing..." Angel rasped.
"You can't ask me to choose," Buffy said, looking her mirror image in the eyes "You can't ask me to do that"
"I think I just did. Come on, girl, one of them gets burned and the other you get to keep...get to live happily ever after with..." Evil Buffy leaned a hand against each of the stakes, eyebrow arched.
A/N: Are you confused? I am...and I know the ending. But it will all be explained. Maybe. : ) Review.