A/N : Well so far this seems like it's gonna be a popular story, I only hope I write it well enough to keep you all interested! Thanx so much to the reviewers so far; Baby Girl Geller-Green, spuffy-monica, Spuffy6, goldenshadows, Danni Rand, KelleyTheSelfToastablePopTart, wicked-angel-413, souled-angel, velja, mimi, Spuffy2008, Lifes-Slayer, RachelMarsters, roxanne, sunnyhell, Rebel Goddess, and Daniel Weesley Rydell. Here's the next chapter, and some of it is v. similar to Normal Again but hopefully enough of it is different to keep it interesting!
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1, Normal Again was written by Diego Gutierrez)

Chapter 2

Buffy was patrolling with Willow and Xander. She was a little apprehensive about being in the graveyard after what had happened the night before, that was why her friends had come along. Xander had only returned to Sunnydale that morning, he was still pretty mixed up after the whole wedding fiasco and Anya was nowhere around. Buffy felt bad for him and her, life was getting so bad for everyone and she was so confused all the time, even before the demon had done whatever it had done to her. She hadn't dared to tell her friends or her sister about the 'visions' she'd had, despite the fact she had to concentrate hard to keep them at bay. She almost slipped back there that afternoon, very briefly the room had faded in and out to that hospital room, but closing her eyes tight and concentrating hard she had forced it away.

Now she was just trying to forget all of it.

"Hey, look who it isn't" she heard Xander say nastily, and she glanced up to see a certain peroxide vampire headed their way.

"Spike" she said quietly to herself, before speaking more loudly, "What are you doing here?"

"Thought you might need some help with the patrolling after last night, but apparently not" he replied, honestly.

"Last night?" Xander frowned, "What did you do last night?"

"Me?" Spike laughed incredulously, "I saved your Slayer there is what I did" he told the boy who clearly didn't believe him.

"Yeah, right" he scoffed as the pair squared up to each other just briefly. Xander must have decided the vampire wasn't worth his time and moved to turn away.

"I don't have to take that tone or that look from you" Spike snapped behind him, "Not from a bloke who's not even man enough to go through with his own wedding!"

That was it, that was all it took. Xander spun round, grabbed Spike by the shirt and made to punch him.

This whole time, Buffy's head had started to swim, and as Willow left her side to break up the comparison of manliness occurring between her friend and, well, Spike, Buffy couldn't take it anymore. She sank down to a seated position on the edge of a tombstone, clutching her head.

"Guys?" she called, "Guys, please!" she became more frantic as they began to disappear from her sight, replaced by that frightening room again, that place, that... hospital?

"Buffy?" someone called, but the voice was distorted and she couldn't tell whether it was Will or Xander or even Spike, it might not have been any of them at all.

"No, no, not again" she complained as the graveyard completely dissolved and her eyes opened to the green room again. She was sat on a bed, and surrounded by people, three at least, one of which was clutching her hand tightly.

"Buffy, it's okay, really" his kind and familiar English voice told her, "Do you remember who I am?"

Blinking hard and forcing her mind to focus too, Buffy looked at the man before her. The blondish light brown hair confused her and the clothes were wrong but...

"Spike?" she gasped, "What's going on?"

"Spike?" a female voice echoed in confusion, but Buffy didn't bother to turn to see who was there.

"It's what she calls me sometimes..." the young man explained, his eyes never losing contact with Buffy's own, "I'm not sure why... Buffy, my name is William" he reminded her.

"William?" she whispered before smiling "Yes..." she nodded, remembering his real name, "I'm so glad you're here"

She threw herself into his arms and hugged him tight, glad to find one thing, one person at least that made sense in both Sunnydale and here. She found comfort in his arms and he held her just as tight, if not a little unsurely, and she was surprised how right it felt to be there, in his embrace. It seemed he was the only constant feature between the real world and this place.

"Buffy, honey..." a female voice caught her attention and she finally turned her head to see a woman she'd missed so much in Sunnydale.

"Mom?" her voice wavered as she spoke "Dad?" she added, stunned by the presence of her parents, both here and seemingly together again. Whatever this place was it seemed it had it's up-sides.

"Oh baby, we're so glad to have you back" Hank smiled as he looked down at his daughter with tears in his eyes. Buffy was stunned.

"Have me back?" she echoed, confused even more than she had been before, her mother came to sit down beside her.

"Buffy, do you know where you are?" she asked and the young woman glanced around the room, at her parents and the man in front of her, before answering;

"Sunnydale?"

"No, sweetheart" her father said firmly "that's not real"

Buffy frowned. Could it be she was not just in a hospital but in a mental hospital? That she was still in the place she'd been sent to six years ago when she thought she first saw a vampire? She felt like she might cry, for the loss of her other life, from her confusion, and in joy at having her parents back together and by her side.

"I'll go and fetch the doctor" William said, moving to stand from the edge of the bed.

"No" Buffy heard her own voice call out, she was only half aware she was speaking "please don't leave" she begged, grabbing at his arm "please don't" she couldn't let the man who appeared to be Spike out of her sight. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on yet and he seemed to be the only connection between the two places she was caught between.

"Okay" William smiled kindly, sitting down again beside the frantic blonde. She smiled when she realised he was staying with her.

"I'll get the doctor" Hank decided "I won't be long sweetheart" he promised as he left, and Buffy knew she must ask what she needed to know, she had to know if this was real...

"Where is this place?" she asked in a small voice.

"It's a hospital, honey" her mother confirmed "in LA. Do you remember?"

"I think I do..." she nodded "but...Sunnydale, Dawn and Will and Xander..."

"That's not real, Buffy" William told her firmly but gently "it's a delusion, your mind is playing tricks on you"

"Baby, there are no vampires or demons" Joyce explained "you don't have a sister and all those friends you think you have they don't exist, but we do" she smiled "We want you here with us, sweetheart, we want you to be well again"

Buffy tried to take in the information she'd been given as Hank came back into the room along with a man who was presumably the doctor. Although he smiled at her, the man in the white coat made Buffy uncomfortable, she didn't feel safe here anymore.

"No" she said slowly, shaking her head, screwing her eyes tight shut, "NO!"

As her eyes opened again she was seated on the tombstone, Willow sitting one side of her, Spike standing the other, and Xander kneeling on the floor in front of her - the hospital room, her parents and William were gone.

"Buffy, can you hear me?" Willow asked, shaking her friend slightly.

"Yes" she answered, before asking "Where am I? What's going on?"

"It's okay, Buff" Xander told her, "You're gonna be fine" he turned to Willow and dropped his voice, "What's wrong with her?" he asked the equally baffled red head.

"Something got her last night" Spike said flatly, not taking his eyes off of Buffy as she cried and shook, "I didn't see what but she was like this when I found her, with the shaking and the blank look"

"Yeah" Willow nodded, "She had a headache last night and she was pretty out of it. I just thought it was because she hadn't slept well or stress or something"

"So this is your fault" Xander snapped at Spike, rising to his feet and shoving the vamp in the chest with both hands.

"Hey, I didn't do anything" the bleach blond protested, unable to hit back because of his chip. He was getting twinges in his head as it was, thinking how much he'd love to beat the guy down.

"Well, maybe you should've" Xander shoved him again, "If you cared about her like you say you do you would have helped her last night instead of letting her get in this mess"

"I just can't do right for you people can I!" Spike complained, shoving Xander back, causing his chip to fire painfully. Still it was worth it to almost knock the ponce on his ass.

"Guys!" Willow interrupted their second 'fight'of the night, her resolved face firmly on her features, "You will stop!" she ordered, "We need to get Buffy home and make sure she's okay and then there is research to do. This is probably a spell or something a demon caused and if it is, we need to find out what caused it and how to cure it"

Both Spike and Xander knew the witch was right. They shared one last look of hate before stepping away from one another.

Xander moved to Buffy's side and he and Willow helped her up and started to walk her home, leaving a confused and hurt Spike behind. He watched the girl he loved be carried away from him, clearly in pain and distress and he couldn't help her. That hurt more than any physical blow he'd had thrown at him, and no-one even realised it.

Arriving at 1630 Revello Drive, Buffy and her friends were surprised to see Dawn.

"I thought you were staying over at your friends house Dawnster?" Xander commented as he and Willow brought Buffy to the living room and sat her down in a chair.

"Oh, Janice wasn't feeling well so her Mom brought me home" the young girl explained with a shrug, "I figured you'd be back soon" it was only now she really noticed how pale her sister looked, "Hey, Buffy, are you okay?"

The Slayer didn't reply, leaning forward in the chair, her aching head in her hands as she waited for her surroundings to stop spinning.

"She'll be fine, I think" Willow told the younger girl, "She just didn't feel so good so we brought her home"

As the two original Scoobies removed their coats and shot worried looks at each other, there was silence in the living room of the Summers house and the lack of words to concentrate on stopped Buffy from keeping her hold on the reality of Sunnydale. She started to drift, she could feel it coming, and she just didn't have the energy to keep fighting it.

"Buffy?" William's voice called and despite knowing she should push against it, she let herself go to him, he sounded so comforting..."Buffy, hey, you're back" he smiled warmly at her and the girl sighed.

"Yeah, guess I am" she mumbled, "You look so like him" she said almost to herself, "So familiar"

"Well, I should be familiar" he told her, not really getting her real meaning, "We spent the Summer together, most of it anyway"

"The Summer?" Buffy echoed, her mind drifting back.

'Why don't I remember?' she wondered, before realising all too fast that she did. Whatever this place was she had been here before, with her Mom, her Dad, no demons or monsters, no Slayer powers, and a man she assumed was... yes, it had to be William, the human Spike. She had assumed it was her heaven, the resting place for the souls of past loved ones and a place she could finally rest too. She'd been happy here and then she'd been torn out, back to Sunnydale... did that mean this was...?

"Buffy, talk to me" William urged her, "Please, don't go again"

Buffy barely heard him as fear took hold, fear of not knowing, not understanding what was happening now or what had happened before. She started to fall, back to what seemed to be reality, landing with a bump and a scream, surrounded by her sister and her friends

"Buffy! Buffy!" Dawn cried frantically, tears washing down her face at the thought of losing her last family member to forces unknown. Xander had one arm around the distraught teen as they stood behind Willow, crouching at the Slayers feet, shaking her gently from her seemingly comatose state.

"Buffy, are you okay?" the red-head asked again, "Can you hear me?"

"Willow?" the blonde gasped, and as she looked at her friend, the witch knew she'd really got her attention.

"Yes, Buffy, it's me" she assured her friend, "You want to tell me what's going on?"

There was a long moment of silence as Buffy scanned the room and her friends and realised she was back from another little trip. She nodded slowly that she would explain, pushing her hand up over her face and back through her hair.

"I've been having these flashes..." she said slowly "They're hallucinations, I guess... since last night..."

Willow moved to sit on the sofa, where Xander had recently sat Dawn and himself. The three faced Buffy, worried expressions on their features, as they waited for the rest of her explanation.

"I was, uh, patrolling, like normal" Buffy swallowed hard as she recounted the events of the night before "and then, bam! Some kind of gross, waxy demon-thing... it kind of stung me, in the arm" she told them, absently rubbing her hand over the spot she referred to "and then it was like... I was in an institution. There were doctors and nurses and, and this guy..." she trailed off as she thought about the place, the place that seemed like heaven, where her perfectly angelic version of Spike resided, "They, they told me that I was sick" she continued to explain, at last "I guess crazy, and that Sunnydale and, and all of this" she gestured with her hands "none of it was real"

"Oh, come on" Xander exploded "that's ridiculous!" Willow, Dawn and Buffy all looked at him "What? You think this isn't real just because of all the vampires and demons and ex-vengeance demons and the sister that used to be a big ball of universe-destroying energy?" he considered his argument, and added, "Okay, see your point..."

"I know how this must sound, but it felt so real" the Slayer protested "Mom was there" she said to Dawn, her voice barely a whisper.

"She was?" the young girl asked, just as quietly.

"Dad, too" Buffy nodded "They were together like they used to be... before Sunnydale"

"Oh, I think... hold on" Willow who had been silent through all this practically leapt from her seat and ran to the dining room. She returned moments later with an open book in one hand and a smile on her face. Sitting next to her Slayer friend she showed her the page, pointing to an illustration upon it.

"Look, is this it?" she asked Buffy, "The demon that stung you?"

Buffy looked uncertain but then she nodded.

"Yes" she said in agreement "yeah, that's the demon that... got me" she told her witch friend quietly.

"Then it's gonna be okay" Willow assured her, "I've read about these demons, they carry an antidote to their own poison, in the pointy stinger thing" she smiled in triumph "All we have to do is track it down"

Buffy looked blankly at the girl beside her and then at the rug by her feet.

It was a demon thing, of course it was. Nothing else could cause these strange flashes to places where the deceased were alive and evil people were so kind to her. At least that's what she would've said before. Now Buffy was begining to wonder if it was all the other way round.

Though he hadn't really meant to, Xander had made a good point when he said the world they lived in was unbelievable with the Hellmouth and all it's creatures and effects. The world where she lived in a mental institution, where her parents wanted nothing but for her to be better and come home to them, and a kindly young man named William watched over her, that could be real.

There was a conversation around her that Buffy barely heard, in which Xander begrudgingly agreed to take Spike with him to find the demon and capture it, then Willow would be able to make up the antidote. Dawn was sent to make tea and Buffy was suddenly aware that there was only her and Willow in the room.

"I feel so lost" she told her best friend with a worried look.

"I know" the red-head nodded sympathetically, putting an arm around her friend to comfort her, "You're confused. It's that crazy juice inside you"

"It's more than that" the Slayer shook her head lightly "Even before the demon...I've been so detached"

Willow frowned.

"We've all been kind of slumming..." she covered, knowing that she too was guilty of some weird behaviour since her cold turkey with magic "and y'know it's understandable..." she was going to say after the whole heavan debacle, but the guilt over what she'd done to her friend still existed and mentioning it was not easy.

"Every day I try to snap out of it, figure out why I'm like that..." Buffy continued, as if she'd not heard a word her friend had said "Maybe it's true" she began to sob, "maybe, maybe I am..."

"Buffy, no" Willow snapped sternly, getting to her feet "Don't even think that"

Buffy looked up at her, lip quivering as tears cascaded down her face.

"You are not in an institution" she was told "You have never been in an institution"

"Yes, I have" the blonde said shakily and almost inaudibly causing Willow to come back down from her feet very suddenly. Sitting beside her friend she could only gasp at the news she'd just received.

"Back when I saw my first vampires" Buffy sniffed and choked "I got so scared. I told my parents and they completely freaked out. They thought there was something seriously wrong with me. They sent me to a clinic"

Willow remained silent, shocked and confused, almost wishing she'd never been told this news, not understanding why Buffy hadn't admitted it sooner.

"I was only there a couple of weeks" she heard Buffy continue "I stopped talking about it, and they let me go. Eventually my parents just forgot... but what if I'm still there?" the Slayer cried frantically, "What if I never left that clinic?"

"Buffy, you're not" the previously silent red-head assured her, holding onto her friends hands and looking her in the eye "I'm so sorry you had to go through that, but it's the past"

Buffy didn't look completely sure whether to believe or not that Sunnydale was real. It made sense that it was an illusion, but it also made sense to her that the other world was unreal.

"You've got to trust me" Willow protested, sensing the Slayer was still uncertain "We're gonna get you that antidote"

Buffy nodded and sobbed her heart out as her friend put her arms around her in comfort. The bottom line was she was scared, and it wasn't a feeling she was used to. She couldn't control what was going on around her. Her Slayer strength wouldn't help her now, she had no grip on anything, not even reality.

Dawn was almost just as frightened by the state of her sister as Buffy herself. Standing in the doorway, listening to every word, she realised her sister was very sick. What was a nastier shock to realise was that in the head of Buffy, Dawn didn't exist. If the blonde believed she was in the institution from six years before, and that all of the vampires and demons and Sunnydale were from her imagination, that meant the big ball of energy she thought of as a sister was a figment of her imagination too. Did Buffy really want to believe in a place where Dawn didn't exist? The younger girl was hurt at the very idea that she might, tears falling down her face as she ran to her room.

To Be Continued...