Drusilla's lower lip trembled as she gazed pleadingly at Spike. Spike turned his wheelchair away from her, doing his best to ignore her. Normally he wouldn't deny his Drusilla anything, but this was different. He knew without being told what she wanted, and he wouldn't help her get it.

"Spike…" She began, her voice soft and sweet as it always was when she wanted something.

"No." Spike said shortly, still refusing to look at her.

"But-"

Spike spun around to face her. "He'll be fine, Dru. Angel can handle himself."

The trembling of her lip resumed and sparkling tears filled her enormous eyes. "But it's almost sunrise and he never stays away in the daytime. He likes to make sure I'm tucked in properly."

Spike gripped the arms of his chair so hard that the metal almost crumpled beneath his fingers. If Drusilla could have said anything to harden his resolve not to go searching for his poncy, Slayer whipped grand sire, it was that. Turning away from her again, he began to wheel towards his bedroom.

"Spike!" Drusilla wailed, hurrying after him. "You have to find my daddy!"

A muscle in his jaw twitched at the sound of Drusilla's pet name for Angelus. "Dru," He said as patiently as he could, although through gritted teeth. "The sun is almost up. Eat something and then go to bed," He gestured behind him to the door that led to the room where the fledglings slept. "One of them should have brought back something tasty."

Drusilla's eyes narrowed. "I can't eat or sleep. Not while I'm worried about my daddy."

Spike stopped and sighed. This was always how it was with Drusilla. If she couldn't get her own way she would threaten to starve herself, and would refuse to devour even the most delicious of humans until Spike delivered what she wanted. This tactic had held more sway with Spike when she was in her weakened state, but the thought of her suffering was still abhorrent to him. A tiny part of him was thrilled at the prospect of her being in pain, so perhaps she could know a fraction of the nightly agony she caused him when she slipped away with Angelus into their bedroom. But mostly he just wanted her to be happy, and would do almost anything to achieve that.

"Fine," Spike growled. "I'll find him. But," He added quickly as Drusilla squealed in delight. "I'm not looking for him until tonight. It's too late to start now, the sun is already up."

"Thank you, my sweet." Drusilla murmured, pressing a kiss against his forehead. He leaned forward to try and grab her and pull her to him, but she stepped back quickly, easily avoiding his grasp. In an instant, she had crossed the room and disappeared into the bedroom she shared with Angelus. Spike winced as he heard the lock scrape into place.

Grumbling to himself, he headed to his own bedroom. He sent out a silent plea to whatever kind of deity would answer his prayers, begging that Angelus should meet the nasty end of the Slayer's stake or receive a deadly suntan before he could find him.

"Are you sure you want to do this alone? If you wait until tonight I can come with you."

"I'll be fine, Spike." Buffy said as she rummaged through Angel's sparse possessions, looking for something she could use as a jacket. "I'm only going to see Giles. It's probably better I go alone anyway. Can you imagine the reaction if I brought you along?"

A very uncomfortable night had passed in Angel's apartment. After locking themselves in the bathroom for an hour they had finally come up with a brilliant plan: ask Giles to fix it. Neither of them knew anything about time travel whereas Giles, who knew pretty much everything, would probably be able to at least guess at what had happened to them and help them get back.

They'd decided to get some sleep and then find Giles in the morning, when there would be less chance of Buffy running into her younger self as she'd be in classes. However, getting a good night's sleep is easier said than done when there's a furious vampire chained only feet from the bed. Angelus had kept up an almost constant stream of threats, insults and feral growls until dawn. Spike hadn't helped matters by insisting on keeping an arm around Buffy and holding her close at all times, enraging Angelus even more.

Spike shrugged out of his red shirt and held it out to Buffy. She smiled and accepted it gratefully, pulling it on over her black tee shirt. It was far too large for her and it would do little to keep her warm, but she was happy to wear it anyway. Both the scent and the feel of it reminded her of Spike; even if he couldn't be with her in the flesh today, she was glad of a comforting memento of him.

"As long as you're sure…" Spike didn't look convinced. He stared at Buffy as she prepared to leave, a slight frown creasing his brow.

"I am." She replied firmly.

He shrugged, a reluctant acceptance that he wouldn't be able to change her mind if she'd already made it up. Buffy felt no small amount of relief when he dropped the issue. Although she knew that bringing him along would only have complicated things, if he'd continued insisting on accompanying her she probably would have relented and allowed him to.

Wrapping her arms around his waist, she rose up onto her tiptoes and leaned in to kiss him. A growl of rage made her jump, breaking the two apart. Angelus had woken from his brief sleep and was once again yanking on his chains, trying desperately to break free to get to Spike.

Spike let out a growl of his own, but it was one of frustration rather than anger. Turning his back on Angelus, be pulled Buffy back to him. Raging vampire or no, he was going to spend most of the day away from Buffy and he wouldn't be deprived of the little time he did have with her. He captured her lips with his, trying as he always did when they kissed to retain her taste and the sensation of her lips against his in his memory. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him even closer, deepening the kiss. He tangled his hands in the long hair which he loved so much, wrapping her silky tresses around his fingers.

Throughout their heated goodbye Angelus remained ominously silent.

Buffy was the one who reluctantly broke the kiss. As she drew away, Spike resisted the strong temptation he had to gather her in his arms again. She had work to do and it couldn't be put off any longer.

"I'll be back in a few hours," She murmured. "And hopefully I'll have some answers."

Wordlessly, she made her way over to the door and, with only a brief wave of goodbye, left the apartment and walked out into the day. Spike stared after her, misgivings about letting her go alone already clamouring in his mind. It was only Angelus's gentle chuckling that pulled him out of his anxious thoughts.

"What?" He snarled, turning to face the chained vampire.

Angelus wore an almost unbearable smirk. He shrugged casually. "I get it now."

"Get what?" Spike said warily, knowing that he wouldn't like whatever Angelus had to say but unable to stop himself asking anyway.

"Why she let's you touch her," Angelus's smirk grew at Spike's low warning growl. "I don't know why I didn't see it before. She's still pining for me, and a mortal man could never take my place. Not that I'm suggesting that you could ever come close to me," He reassured. "But at least when another vampire has his hands all over her, she can close her eyes and pretend it's me."

Spike said nothing, although his anger was clear. His fists clenched and unclenched at his side, longing to lash out and punch Angelus.

Angelus laughed to see his anger. "What's the matter, Spike? Won't she let you hurt me?"

Silently, Spike crossed the room and stood in front of Angelus, who looked up at him without a trace of fear in his laughing his eyes. Spike raised his leg and brought down his booted foot hard on Angelus's broken wrist. A smile of grim satisfaction spread over Spike's lips as screams of agony filled the room.

"That enough hurt for you, mate?" He asked before turning his back on Angelus, determined to ignore him until Buffy returned.

Buffy peered through the small window in the library door. The only person she could see was Giles, who was much as she remembered him from her high school years; sitting at the table surrounded by books, sipping a cup of tea. She'd been standing outside watching for almost twenty minutes, wanting to make sure that there was no one lurking behind the stacks before she went inside. She was now torn between entering and hanging around for a few minutes longer to be certain that she and Giles would be alone. The piercing bell that indicated the start of second period made up her mind for her. Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door and strode inside.

"Giles," She called softly.

Even from a distance she could see the small frown that formed on his face. "Buffy," He said, without even looking up. "You should be in class."

"But-"

"I know that you don't see the point of a Slayer attending her lessons, but it really is essential."

"Giles!" She said again, this time more forcefully.

Giles looked up and his mouth opened in amazement. The book he was reading fell from his hand. Buffy felt a small wave of relief that Giles had noticed the difference in her much faster than Angelus had. It would make explaining her predicament and getting him to believe it far easier.

"Buffy?" He said, his voice almost too quiet to hear.

It took Buffy only a few moments to realise that he wasn't talking to her. He was staring over her shoulder, looking at something behind her. She spun around and came face to face with her seventeen year old self.

Sorry about the enormous delay. There will be another delay of a week because I'm disappearing on holiday tomorrow. But after that updates will be much more regular. Thank you again to everyone who has reviewed!