"You know, you could have brought that up to us before we did it."

"I did! I said there could be dire consequences."

"Yes, but you say that about chewing too fast!"

Buffy/Giles

Chapter 21

She awoke to the sounds of drums, and darkness. It took her a few minutes to realize that the drums were in her head and that her eyes were closed. Slowly, carefully, she opened her eyes just a slit. It was dark, the light bulbs were hanging by cords that had fallen loose from the ceiling and the steady drips of water made the floor look oily in the low light. Angelus was leaning calmly against a wall his eyes flickering towards her. She groaned painfully, crunching her eyes, and shifted on the hard floor before letting her body lay limp once more.

Not tied up, good. Things were going not so according to plan. She'd been stupid. She'd assumed that Angelus would do what he had done before, mock her and jeer at her, poke at her, threaten her, scare her and then continue on his way. He would never take her before he destroyed her. It wasn't like him, not his kind of art. It was the only reason she had managed to get out of the 'buddy' system. Thankfully they had considered all possibilities, because Thank God Willow was all about Plan B. As soon as the demons knew she'd been taken the Patnja would find her, as long as she was still in town it wouldn't take long. Giles and the gang would have found the spell they need, hopefully, about then. The problem was all of that would take at least a day, maybe even two, and she wouldn't be able to act unconscious the whole time. Which meant she needed to buy time.

Which meant she needed to know what had changed Angelus' M.O. What would make him take her as soon as he caught sight of her, instead of running to go kill one of her friends when he knew she wouldn't be there to protect them? She doubted that this Angelus was any different from the previous Angelus; they'd both made Drusilla after all. Speak of the Devil

She felt her, long before she entered the room. Angel had been a prick against her senses, Angelus a flame, low-levels vamps usually nothing more than the buzzing of a fly in her mind; Spike had always drowned her senses with heat. Drusilla had done the opposite, her presence felt like a dip beneath an icy lake. Buffy didn't need to see to know that she was beautiful, and looked as fragile as glass. Her steps would be feather-light, her dress moving over the stone floor the only noise she made. There'd been a time, in that other life, that she had hated Drusilla ferociously, but she'd never taken the time to pity the she-vamp. Drusilla had always been held up as Angelus greatest creation, and Angel's greatest regret and she'd had Spikes love and devotion since the moment he first saw her. Buffy had never taken the time to consider what entailed becoming any of those things. She'd heard what had happen, of course, but she'd never tried to imagine it. Was it any wonder that the female vamp was crazier than a necrophile dressed like a zombie in a graveyard on Halloween carrying a spoon?

"Daddy?" The sick-sweet voice said a touch of innocence and a mountain of malice. Even her voice sounded vaguely insane but...Something, Buffy knew, was different. She'd only seen Drusilla once this life but she seemed different than before. She couldn't put her finger on it. Angelus, of course, reacted to that voice immediately. Drusilla had been treated the best of all of them, Spike had told her once. Probably because she was a walking, talking, killing tapestry of Angelus' cruelty. Buffy risked opening her eyes again, just a slit, enough to see Drusilla put her hands on Angelus shoulders.

"Spike's been a naughty boy." Buffy struggled not to frown, struggled to see. Angelus was hurt, blood soaked his clothes, and she could see where the fabric was ripped and his flesh was still mending. Like someone had stabbed him. Spike and Angelus get into it. If Spike hurt him enough...Would it be enough for him? Yes, she knew yes. She had chosen Spike over Angel, Spike had hurt Angelus so Angelus had come up with something brand new. Who deserved more pain, her or Spike? In another life she had been the one most deserving, because Angel had loved her and Angelus had been disgusted by the prospect. In this life Spike had done the most to hurt Angelus and, thus, he would pay. Which didn't help her a damn bit.

"Come play with me Daddy."

"No now Dru." His voice was pained but stern. Buffy closed her eyes again, forced herself to keep them closed.

"The tea is cold, but I've found a little doll. Won't you play with it Daddy? The light won't wake until the tea is warm, then we can have a tea party."

She heard Angelus sigh, and then push off from his place on the wall. Buffy didn't speak crazy but she was pretty sure Dru had just said 'I brought you a snack and, don't worry, the Slayer isn't getting up just yet.' Which was completely incorrect. Angelus, though, seemed to believe her just fine. She could hear his footsteps as he left, tossing a quick "Don't kill them." towards the crazy vamp that hadn't moved so much as a muscle.

Buffy kept her eyes closed, her breathing even. If Dru hadn't seen her wake up yet it meant that something was wrong with her whole 'vision' thing. Except cold, strong, hands clasped her shoulder. Buffy moved instantly and was, instantly, blocked. Dru sat astride her like a cement truck, Buffy could barely move and she knew better than to talk. Angelus might hear.

"Stop struggling, he'll come back if you don't stop." Dru commanded and Buffy was so shocked to hear something rational come out of her mouth that she obeyed. Dru sighed gently before taking Buffy's chin in a steel grip and forced her to look at Dru directly in her eyes.

"You're changing the stars." Her voice floated around Buffy, seeped into her mind and body. Like the Master, in another life, Dru was weaving a trance and it ripped through her mind before she could raise a defense. The Master had done it subtly, Drusilla had no such time. Buffy knew what was happening and as powerless to do anything.

"I've looked and I've looked but there's only one way, one path to take so when I tell you to breathe you'll breathe and when I tell you to die you'll die. Won't you little light?"

Buffy tried to speak but her mouth was heavy with the lead weight of her tongue, feeling like sandpaper against the dryness of her throat. Drusilla didn't seem to care; she leaned into Buffy as if trying to absorb her warmth. Her cold lips pressing against her cheek were the last thing she remembered before darkness took her again.

"That's it, hopefully you'll remember in enough time."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"It means Fate was able to give Buffy all her memories before hand. We're not dead but we're not alive, the rules change. You're not gonna remember any of this, you can't because you're not alive but after this I think you'll remember the most important things when it matters most."

"After what?"

Spike didn't answer himself. Time was short; he knew it, just like he knew what he had to do. The PTB hadn't said as much but Spike figured it was the soul that mattered, why else had it been brought up? Buffy's memories had transferred because the soul was the same, didn't matter where she was, but Spike, this Spike, didn't have a soul and he did. So the memories couldn't flow between them. The only way to fix this was to get the younger version of himself a soul how convenient that there was one right here.

"This is gonna hurt." It was all the warning he gave himself before he wrapped himself up in his arms, pushing the both of them together as a bright light began to surround him. He had always imagined his soul to be weak, stained, the color of rust. The light around them though was golden bright, streaked with colors that pulsed like jewels in the sun. Even the darkest of them were beautiful. He felt the soul stretching away from him, not totally leaving him but no longer entirely a part of him. It surrounded both Spikes equally and returned to both equally, without having lost any of its power.

The other him had crashed to the ground, hands on his head and screaming. Spike didn't give him time to assimilate, they were out of time. He pulled himself back up and shook him once, hard, enough to make the other look at him.

"You remember Ben. Understand? You'll forget everything else but you don't forget Ben. The moment you see that sonuva' bitch you kill him."

The world around them began to fade, Spike felt himself fade along with it. Where he would go he didn't know he just hoped Buffy was there.

"Ben!" He called back to his younger version one more time, the word tinged with such desperate malice that his younger version managed a single nod before the madness the soul invoked took him.

Trodaí gone. Mayat had searched but she was gone. The Patnja was quick to inform the Pekuburan, moving quickly and recklessly through the night. They could move, deceptively, quicker than they appeared but not quick enough to outrun a vampire nor others of their ilk. Mayat had never worried about such things, the Patnja had no need to reveal themselves to share information. Each of them connected to the Pakuburan and, thus, each other. The thing that necessitated speed was the manusia, they didn't have that skill though the rest of their arsenal was vastly superior to mere telepathy.

Trodaí had ksatria, both manusia and setan. The Pekuburan were all searching but the Ksatria were in groups far and wide. It took long to find them.

"Prajurit ratu dalam bahaya oleh dia yang pembuat kejahatan. Ayo." The Manusia looked at Mayat curiously. None of the three in the group was the bijaksana, the wise one. Only Tukang Sihir, Prajurit and Istri Bangsawan were here. Mayat tried again.

"Anda harus mengerti. Harus datang. Harus cepat."

Xander glanced at Willow, who glanced at Cordelia, who was glancing at him.

"Did Timmy fall down the well?" Seemed like the only reasonable thing to say.

Hello Everyone, short chapter I know. I'm worried if I put too much in a chapter it'll get confusing (not just for you but for me) so bear with me please. Thanks to my wonderful beta Ginar who has helped clear up a question that will make this next chapter a LOT more interesting and, as always, Thanks to you my readers. Keep up with those reviews, ask questions, make requests if I can fit it into my story without messing it up I just might.

twotoe-All of that made sense lol, and you brought up some good points that I hope I covered for you in this chapter. I know some of you are still confused but if I told you all the answers right away it would take away the fun. ^_^

LKat90- I secretly hope that Wheedon will read everyone's Spuffy fiction and realize that (if so many years hadn't already passed) he should've made a season or two of Buffy and Spike getting it right. T_T