30 minutes later, the four of them were gathered around in the Sunnydale High library, sharing stories and swapping the new 'memories'.
"Do you think any of these are actually true?" Willow asked sombrely. "Did I…do I actually kill someone?"
Giles shuddered. "You almost killed me!"
"I'm sorry! I don't think I meant too…"
"Wow. This is beyond weird. I mean, not only do we have all these creepy 'memory' things, but also we all seem a lot older…and these events are random. They don't seem to be following any kind of pattern. I'd say we're missing about 3 years worth of future memories, but why do we have these specific ones?" Xander puzzled.
"Giles? Planning on jumping in with an explanation any time soon?" Buffy asked.
"Erm…how about we go off and write down ALL the new memories you've acquired, we'll come back and compare them and then try to figure out what caused this."
"Alright."
"Okay."
"Good plan."
They all grabbed a notepad and pen and walked off to separate corners of the library, then sat scrawling, occasionally pausing to think or rest their hands. An hour later, Giles called, "Finished, everyone?"
"I think so. I think I got everything important down," Buffy replied.
"Yeah, me too." Willow agreed, and Xander nodded.
They walked over to the large table and placed their notes on the table.
"Ah, Willow, how about you read yours out first?" Giles suggested.
"OK. Well, what I think is the first new one is me and this girl lying on a bed, and I'm drawing all these symbols on her back…we're talking and I call her Tara. That memory is strange, it has a kind of dream like quality. The next one, as far as I can tell, is a bullet smashing through a window, into a room in Buffy's house, and it's hit Tara in the back," Willow quavered here for a moment, "see, I've never met this girl before but she must be a huge part of my life in the future or something, because seeing that tears me up so much I can hardly breathe. Next I see myself screaming at this shadowy face, and kind of…well…swallowing it? The rest after that are flashes. Me with black hair and veins, using magic to skin someone alive…me fighting Giles in some kind of magic shop…and the last one I remember is seeing Xander standing on the edge of a cliff, in front of this weird statue thing, like a demon, and then he walks over and holds me, and I cry till I would have emptied the Nile." Willow looked ashamed of her new recollections, as if she had already committed these crimes. Buffy leaned over and grasped her hand, patting it comfortingly.
"Um, Xander, how about you?" Giles asked hesitantly.
"OK. Mine are a bit strange. In fact, highly bizarre. But the first one is Spike strapped to a chair in my parent's basement, yes I did warn you these were weird, and then all of us, including a mental chick, a random woman I have never seen before but we talk and her name is Anya, a young teenager, and Spike are in this big camper van thing with all the blinds drawn and blacked out windows. After that, Buffy is in this hideous green dress and she's helping my with a tuxedo, we're talking about a…cummerbund. And then all I remember is a strong urge to kill Spike, and running around with a huge axe in my hands." Xander frowned at his own reminiscence and shrugged. "What about you, G-man? What new twisted-ness did your brain come up with?"
"Well, not much to tell you the truth. I remember being stabbed through the stomach with a large spear thing whilst driving a van, I suppose that one that you remembered as well, Xander, and two Willows, one a vampire and the other normal. I have a distinct recollection of a new English man here, who I don't like at all…and I buy a magic shop! I too have vague reminisce of a teenage girl, but no idea who she is or what she is doing with us. And Buffy, I recall you coming to me in great distress, because Spike admitted he loved you. Apparently this is a very disturbing development. The very last thing I can think of is we all sitting in my magic shop singing about theories, and what we can do if we're together. Odd."
"I guess that leaves me, huh."
"If you wouldn't mind, Buffy."
"Well, this will sound really disturbing, but the first new memory I have is of clawing my way out of my own grave."
Giles, Willow and Xander gasped, and Buffy nodded grimly. "I know. I don't even know how I know it's my grave, but I do and it's horrible. Then, a teenage girl in screaming and crying on top of a strange tower thing, me singing in front of this weird ugly red demon thing, some guy called Riley busting in on…" Buffy paused here. She didn't want to tell them about her memories of herself and Spike. "Busting in on…me staking a vampire. And the very last one is me and that girl again, in this deep pit killing these weird monster-y demon things."
The others stared at her pensively, as if they could somehow extract more memories by looking at her.
Feeling uncomfortable, Buffy turned away but spoke. "Do you think, seeing as Spike was in quite a few of our memories, that he might have got new ones too? Or maybe we should see if we can track down the teenager, this Tara chick you knew Willow, and who did you mention, Xander? Anya."
"Good idea. Do any of you have any means by which to contact Spike?" Giles asked.
"Nope."
"We could try the phone book."
"No we can't, Willow, we don't know his last name."
"Oh yeah. Well I'll do some magical hacking and see if I can find Tara and Anya. I think I'd be impossible to find the teenager coz we don't even have a name to go on." Willow said, and then headed over to the computer.
"Alright. I'll research with the books; see if I can find anything on sudden memory tampering. But I suppose we must remember that it is entirely possible that none of this will ever happen and is the result of some strange dreams or perhaps a spell." Giles announced.
Willow reddened suddenly. Could it be possible she had somehow done this with her Tabula Rasa spell last night?
"Will? You still in there?" Buffy poked her best friend on the shoulder.
"Huh?"
"Giles was asking if you had found anything yet."
"Oh…um no I only just started."
"OK. Well I'm going to work on finding Spike, and Xander's going on a doughnut run."
"Kay. See ya soon."
Buffy pushed open the large library doors and walked out, her boots making small clicking noises on the tiled floor as she went.
Out in the school gardens, she paused to think. If I were an ex-vampire, where would I stay? Buffy made it to the cemetery in a few minutes, and looked at the vast expanse of crypts. Where to look first? But as she surveyed the graveyard, Buffy couldn't believe her luck as she saw Spike duck out one of the far away tomb doors and walk off hastily.
"Spike!" she shouted, "Hey, Spike!"
He turned, and it appeared for a minute that was going to run away, but he turned back and walked towards the blonde Slayer.
"Buffy?" he inquired politely.
She stumbled over her words, "Ah…um…well, I…"
A slow grin worked its way across his face at her discomfort. "Yes, pet?"
"Do you have any new random memories?" she blurted out.
His scarred eyebrow went up. "Can't say that I have, luv. Why? Have you?" Here he felt a small thrill of fear. He had progressed very well with Buffy so far, even f she had run away after they kissed. She was talking to him now, wasn't she? But if she had remembered- well, not really remembered, seeing as the events hadn't actually happened yet- but if she had known all of what was to happen between them in the future…
"Yes. And some of them involve you."
His fear cranked up another notch. "What? What was I doing?" he asked frantically. If he was lucky, maybe she would only have a few new recollections and they would involve him in heroic acts?
Buffy took a deep breath. It was time to be blunt. "We're kind of sleeping together."
Spike whitened. "What else do you remember…erm what else have you foreseen?"
Buffy looked at him curiously. "What do mean, remember?"
"All I meant was you were calling them memories so I guess, in some twisted, way, you remembered the future. Which hasn't happened yet."
"Right. Well, you're sure you didn't wake up with any new memories?"
"Positive."
And before he knew what had happened, Buffy grabbed him and was kissing him just as intensely as she had the night before at the Bronze. This time, however, a horrible thought occurred to Spike. Last time she had got into a 'relationship' with him, it had all been some kind of façade to convince herself she could feel. What if she was doing it again, but transferring her pain about Angel? As this occurred to him, he tore his lips away.
"Buffy," he said in a strangled voice, "are you just kissing me because of Angel?"
Buffy looked up at him in complete and utter shock. "Who told you about him?"
Spike gave himself another mental whack on the forehead.
"Um…I heard around the place that the Slayer killed him…and uh…I also heard that you two were involved. So, um…I thought you might be upset and…transferring your pain about that to passion with…um…me."
Buffy stared at him. "You seem to hear an awful lot 'around the place'. And I have a question for you. Where's this girl you were so in love with, the one you did all the stuff for? If you love her so much, why are you kissing me back?"
Spike gulped. How on earth was he going to get out of this one?