A/N Sphygmus, your idea that Drusilla was poisoned by that mob actually makes sense. While we're never told why she's physically ill and that ritual to restore her was needed, the clues point to it. We are told a mob attacks her, but not why they attacked her. She has a preference for children, there's a potential reason right there. And the book they stole from Giles, the Du Lac Manuscript, Giles tells them it has a ritual to restore a sick vampire to health, only vampires don't get sick, but we know from Faith poisoning Angel, that poisoning is possible. And finally there's the ritual Spike does itself, it calls on Eligor, a demon, who among other things, is a patron of poisoners, 'to bring his black medicine' and cure Dru. So, even though we're not actually told it's poison affecting Drusilla, poison makes sense given what we are told. And mystically speaking, Angel's involvement in the cure also makes sense, he made her originally, he can be used to restore her.

I've made up my mind, Dawn will be brought into the story as a born into the Summers family child, not as the Key. As I covered in my last fic, if you examine the Glory arc, it reads set up just as much as the Pergamon Codex prophecy does, so I don't plan to include it in this story.

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After taking over a nest and the vampires in it, none of which were strong enough to challenge a master vampire, Spike made sure Drusilla was comfortable or as comfy as she could be in her condition and decided to combine getting her something to eat and getting an idea of what Sunnydale had to offer.

What he found was surprising and he dusted one of his new minions when he returned dragging a teenager he'd snagged off the street for Dru.

"You couldn't be bothered to tell me the police are aware of us?!" He raged at the surviving minions as he handed the terrified girl, dressed like a punk, to Dru. "And that they have a way of destroying us?!"

"We didn't know if you'd believe us without seeing it for yourself." One slightly braver minion offered. "I mean Sunnydale's reputation is that we're safe here, but clearly we're not. The police patrol the city at night, in pairs with back up only a call away. They can recognize us as vampires and they can subdue and destroy us. And making new vampires in Sunnydale is hard too, they used to bury the dead the same day, which made it easy to make a fledge. Now they do something to the bodies and almost none of them rise. And any that do, the Slayer catches them, actually watches their graves and catches them as they're crawling out. So she has a way of knowing when one's been made that's about to rise."

"Tell me more about the Slayer, if I'm going to get my hat trick, I need to know everything there is."

"She's different from other Slayers, she has friends. She has a family, a mother that she lives with and a sister, who doesn't live with her. The sister visited the mother over the summer, while the Slayer visited her father. The girl's about twelve, I think or just tall."

"You've studied the Slayer a bit yourself."

"We came to Sunnydale because the Master called us, he wanted us to be part of his army when he was freed from his prison. A prophecy said the Slayer would face him and die and he would rise. She refused to face him even when baited and she made allies. A witch Warded all the schools around here, including Sunnydale High School where the Hellmouth is located and under which the Master was trapped and the business her mother owns."

"What happened to the Master? Dru says he's no more."

"No one knows for sure, no one survived. When we went to the cavern he was imprisoned in, we found his remains had been smashed and piles of dust indicating minions."

"His remains? What remains?"

"The Master somehow had a skeleton, it was smashed to pieces."

"So the Slayer made an ally, a witch who puts up a Ward around the Hellmouth, under which is the Master, already imprisoned. The Ward might have been enough to destroy both him and the minions. The Slayer goes to check, discovers the remains and destroys them. Makes sense, a Slayer smart enough to seek allies, now that's a challenge! And Angel and Darla, how did they buy it?"

"Darla went out hunting and never came back, it was the same day the Slayer arrived in town."

"So the Slayer starts getting familiar with her new home and runs into Darla, again, makes sense. Angel?"

"Tried to make nice with her, offered her help and advice. The soul made it difficult even for a Slayer to tell he was a vampire, but she must have figured it out, he was last seen in an alleyway she went into. She came out of it, he didn't."

"So she didn't buy the soul and dusted him. Besides the mother and the sister, who isn't here in Sunnydale, have you identified any weaknesses? Something I can exploit?"

"She's often seen talking to people, they might be her friends or her allies or both."

"I need to know who those people are, go buy a video camera and start following her. I want to know everything about this Slayer, right down to her hat size. I will find a way to destroy her, preferably after a lot of enjoyable torture. Go!" The minion scurried away and Spike turned to Drusilla. "Are you sure there isn't another way to cure you, love?"

"No Spike, only someone from the line that made me. The Master made Darla, Darla made Daddy, Daddy made me. Aurelius made the Master. Only they came before me in a nice, neat line of family. All gone now and no cure."

"I'll find something." Spike vowed.