Author's Note: Hopefully this chapter will answer your questions, Guest.

Enjoy!

Buffy woke up.

Sprung to her feet, taking in her surroundings. Three white walls, a white floor and white tiled ceiling with fluorescent lights, and the last wall… was composed of metal vertical bars. A cell, like the one beside it, and the one beside that.

One woman stood beyond the bars, facing away from Buffy, blond hair and a white lab coat. Leaning over a table, bent in concentration.

And Buffy knew who.

"Don't tell me that's what the back of my own head looks like," said Buffy. "Because, seriously? I think the Buffy-bot got it better than you."

The woman swung around.

And Buffy felt the breath knocked out of her.

As she saw… her own face, staring back.

It wasn't like looking at Seo, or looking at that Buffy-bot, or anything. This… was her. Her face. Her body. Herself. Every feature perfectly identical. Every crease in her face, every micro-expression, even the way she stood or walked forwards or whatever…

Completely identical.

"Yeah, it's all with the weird, huh?" said Elizabeth, a small smile touching her lips. "I mean, I was expecting something different. Like with twins. But… we're not twins. We're the same." She gestured in between the two of them. "Same person. Same Line Hopper."

"A Line Hopper," Buffy said, dully, "who's Line-Hopped."

Then doubled over, in sudden pain, at the thumping in her head. They were loud, now. Even louder than before. A thumping that seared past her brain and into her soul.

"You'll get used to that," Elizabeth told her. Shrugged. "I know I have."

Buffy glanced up at Elizabeth, through the pain. Forced herself to look normal, planted a smile onto her face. "So… what? You brought me here to kill me? Because, no offense, but… yawn." She pretended to yawn, exaggeratedly. "Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt."

Elizabeth crossed her arms. "You sound pretty sure of yourself."

Buffy crossed her arms, too. A mirror image of her counterpart. "Me, Slayer," she said. "You, normal human. See how this is gonna work out?"

Elizabeth didn't answer.

An enigmatic smile dancing across her face.

"I mean, take these bars, for example," said Buffy, grabbing them up. "With Slayer strength, I can just…"

She yanked as hard as she could.

The bars didn't move.

Elizabeth brushed some hair back behind her shoulders. "Finished gloating, yet?"

Buffy gritted her teeth, and tried again. Struggled to yank open the iron bars that… weren't even secured that well! This should have been easy! No sweat!

Except the bars didn't give.

"What… what is…?" said Buffy, looking down at her hands.

Elizabeth tsked, shaking her head. "Poor, poor other-me," she said. "Hasn't anyone ever told you?" She stepped forwards, tapped her own head. "If you're smart enough, you don't need super strength."

Buffy stared at Elizabeth.

Realizing.

"You took my powers away," Buffy said. Her mind whirling. "I can feel it. Stifled and horrible. Like when I was 18, and—"

"—the Watchers Council tried to pit you against Kralik," Elizabeth continued, easily, "that insane vampire who had a creepy obsession with killing mothers."

Buffy was speechless.

Confused.

Elizabeth just raised up a little vial in front of Buffy. "Cyclobenzaprine, fluticasone propionate, triamcinolone acetonide, and a dash of orphenadrine," she said. "Or, as your memory puts it, 'Cyclone Ben-a-thingy, flute-scone appropriate, tricycle acetone, and orphanage'." She waggled a finger at her. "You really should have paid more attention in Chemistry. Reading your memories, it's like you need an anagram decoder to decipher them!"

"What do you mean, reading my memories?!" Buffy cried. "How did you get your hands on my…?!"

Elizabeth grabbed hold of the bars. Leaned in, close.

"I know your whole life," Elizabeth whispered. Her eyes glowed, with the words. "I saw it, with the Crystallizer and the 456. Every memory. Every hope. Every dream. Every sorrow." Her voice turned icy. Cold. "Even the sickening way you've been deluded about the Doctor."

Buffy shook her head. "And you say I'm stupid," she muttered.

"We're two sides of the same sheet of paper," Elizabeth continued. "Don't you get it?" She peeled away her hands from the bars. "While you were turning into me… I was turning into you."

"Yeah, I figured that one out when you said the paper-thing, thanks," Buffy snapped.

Elizabeth looked at Buffy, pointedly.

As if waiting for her to go on.

Buffy faltered.

For the first time, feeling like… there was something she missed. Something really, really big.

"And…?" said Elizabeth.

"And… nothing," said Buffy. "I don't know!"

"And if that's Time Lord technology," Elizabeth explained, slowly, "then why would it activate on your world, when there aren't any Time Lords around to trigger it? Why — out of all of the possibilities — did you wind up so nearly turning into me?" She slouched, her hands in the pockets of her lab coat. "I thought about it. Then I figured it out."

And Buffy knew the answer, too.

Like it had just appeared in her head.

"Your world and your whole timeline… it's been getting closer to our reality," said Buffy. "Closer and closer and closer. Until things started… transferring over between the two. Even more so than usual."

"There!" said Elizabeth, smiling. "You're getting the hang of this, now."

"But that should be impossible," Buffy insisted. "This whole place is supposed to be mega time locked. How could…?"

"Because this is the end!" said Elizabeth, throwing up her hands. "Oh, don't look so confused! I was in your timeline. I heard what all your friends said about this place. There's some great big Time Lord war going on, and the Doctor's about to kill everyone. Which means time and the universe are falling apart, and the Time Lords are desperate."

Buffy didn't get it.

Not at all.

"I found a trace," said Elizabeth. "One Time Lady has been disappearing from this reality and reappearing in yours. Punching tiny little holes through, so she can appear to some… worthless old guy named 'Wilfred'." Elizabeth made a face. "Imbecile."

Uh… huh.

The more Elizabeth spoke, the less Buffy-like she seemed.

"That," said Elizabeth, "gave me the opportunity to bring you here." She whirled around, ran back to the lab table. Yanked something off its surface. "And this…" showing it to Buffy, "is how I took that opportunity."

And Buffy came face-to-face… with…

The Crystallizer.

"The one on your world was destroyed," said Elizabeth, lowering it. "The one on mine wasn't. And thanks to you… I knew exactly where to find it."

"That thing's dangerous," Buffy warned. "It wants to destroy the human race. If you're not careful—"

"Like I care about the human race!" Elizabeth shouted. She shot Buffy a deranged look, tucking the Crystallizer under her arm. "Earth fell after the 456. At least half the population's gone, now. The rest won't be far behind. They're cretins. Imbecilic half-wits. Useless people in a locked away timeline that's falling apart, anyways. Why save them?"

Buffy thought of Seo.

The child saved from a timeline falling apart.

And looked away.

"The only thing that matters," said Elizabeth, "is the Crystallizer. Me. And you."

Buffy squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the increasing pounding in her head. "You screwed around with the Crystallizer," Buffy guessed, resting her head against the bars. "Amplifying the side-effects. To turn yourself into me, and me into you — and cure your insanity."

Elizabeth seemed amused.

"It won't work," said Buffy, cracking her eyes open. "You might be trying to swap us, but that's not what you're actually doing! You're just squashing us together. You won't cure yourself, Elizabeth — you'll just drag me down with you!"

"But I like being me," Elizabeth replied.

This made Buffy falter.

Confused, again.

"Oh, you really don't get it, do you?!" Elizabeth threw up her hands in frustration. "I don't want to be you! I never did! When we're separated, again, we'll revert back to who we were. Me, Elizabeth; you, Buffy. That's not the point. It's not why you're here!"

"Then why…?" Buffy started.

Then stopped.

Because she knew the answer. Knew it as it crept through her.

"UNIT thought they were my only jailers," said Elizabeth. "But there's a larger prison to escape — a prison spanning this entire reality. And only two Keys can unlock it."

"That's why you were all with the theatrics and threats when you took me," Buffy realized. "So they'd know where I went. And come after me."

Elizabeth grinned.

"You jerk!" Buffy shouted, throwing herself at the bars, again. Trying to tear them apart. Urged on by the knowledge that this trap was not for her. And she needed to save her family!

Elizabeth just tutted.

Turned back to her work.

"One of them's already turned up," Elizabeth said, raising up the Crystallizer, again. Analyzing it in detail. "I've diverted her away from here. But… don't worry. She's not alone." She reached out to something embedded into the lab table. "Time to keep her occupied… until things are complete on this side."