Alternate Lives.

Buffy woke to a cold hand on her face. When she opened her eyes she saw Spike there wearing a worried look on his beautiful pale face. She noticed that she felt much better than last night when he had rescued her from the Bronze. The throbbing pain in her side had stopped and her head didn't feel two sizes to small.

"Where?" That was all Buffy could manage to say. Her throat was so dry it felt like the desert.

"We're at the Watchers place pet." Spike whispered to her. His hands came around her slightly sore frame and held her like she was the most precious thing in the world. His strength radiated off him and poured new life into her. Enough so that she could sit up and not feel really dizzy.

"Water, can I have some water please?" Buffy asked and Spike moved from her side. She looked around and her eyes focused on the other Giles. He came over to her and sat in front of her.

“Can you tell us what happened to you?” Giles asked, but Buffy didn’t answer instead she got up off the couch and backed away from him.

“What’s wrong with her?” Anya asked taking a step towards her. “She looks scared.”

“Spike!?” Buffy shouted and sank to the floor and pulled her knees up to her chest. She started to shake when Spike came to check on her.

“Buffy!” He come over to her and pulled her close to him. “Shh, everything is going to be fine. You’re safe. The drug will wear off soon.”

“Can’t you stop it?” Buffy pleaded

“It would require…” his sentence dropped off there. He said he would never taste her blood and he wanted to keep his word but if it could end her suffering.

She knew what it would mean for him to stop her pain. It was worth it in her eyes. “Please.”

Spike moved away from her and went into the kitchen again returning with a bowl. “You, watcher I need you to hold this. When I bite her I will need something to spit it into.”

“Why are you…?” Giles started to ask but Spike shoved the bowel in his hands.

“She was poisoned.” It was the only explanation that he would offer. He picked Buffy up and walked with her ever to the couch. Sitting down he positioned her carefully on his lap and looked at her face. She had broken out in a sweat.

“Buffy? Pet, I need you to look at me.”

She opened her eyes and said, “I know what you have to do. Just do it.” Ever the decisive one, even when she is sick. She fisted her hand in his pants leg and waited for his dark kiss to come.

Spike allowed his demon to come to the surface. Moving her head to the side Spike sucked in breath that he didn’t need and sank his teeth into her slender neck. The blood filled his mouth but it left a bitter taste. Pulling his mouth away Spike motioned for the bowl so he could spit out her blood. Spike got most of the poison out in one bite he replaced his mouth the puncture mark and drew more blood out of the wound. Spitting out the mouth full Spike pulled out a bandanna and held it to the side of her neck.

“I suggest you burn that.” Spike said to Giles with out even looking at him.

“What was it?” Giles asked.

“Some poison mixed with the Masters blood.” He placed her back on the couch comfortably and went to get the taste of fouled blood out of his mouth.

“Tell us about your world?” Giles asked.

“For starters, the Master rose before we could stop it. He changed so many into Vampires. Then he went for he demon community, most of them are on his side. The few we could cajole to join us did so reluctantly. That’s how I found out about Buffy being held by the Master. Angelus serves the Master and he handed her over like a present.

“I tried to protect her like Giles wanted but she insisted on patrolling that night. I was too late. Angelus got the drop on her and…” Spike couldn’t continue. The weight of his guilt was pressing down on him.

“You really love her?”

“Yeah, I sodding well do. I hate seeing her like this. We have been fighting a losing battle for nearly five year. For reasons unknown to me I’m glad Red screwed up and sent us here. All I care about is that she is safe.” He pushed past Giles and headed back to his Buffy. She had stopped shaking and her breathing had returned to normal. It would be a matter of time before she woke again and would be back to her old self. That was what he hoped any way. Only time would tell if his wish would come true. Spike placed a light kiss on her brow and sat on the floor to watch her sleep.

*******

Across town Buffy sat I her living room with her sister Dawn and her mother. She had just told them what happened lat night and that Giles might ask her to keep them at her house until they found a way to send them back.

“Now when you say double, do you mean…?” Her mother started to ask.

“Yes mom I mean she is an exact copy of me, though she has brown hair where mine is blonde and I’m not sure how that works. The thing is Giles might need somewhere safe for them and I know that he is going to ask me. So I just thought that I would give you the heads up.” Buffy said and headed to the door.

“Buffy wait a minute, now why would Mr. Giles ask you to do this?”

“Because, you know I don’t know. I said it was possibility.”

“Am I going to be stuck with two Buffy’s?” Dawn whined.

“No!” Buffy shouted and headed out the door.

She headed down the sidewalk and made her way to Giles’ apartment. Buffy had encountered two vamps on her way but dusted them quickly. She had wanted to get there as soon as possible so she could talk to the other Buffy. There had to be some mystical reason that they were here and not because of some mistake. Things like that rarely worked out like that.

Buffy sensed something behind her. Spinning around stake in hand she laid eyes on Riley Finn. “What are you doing back so early, not that I’m not glad to see you, but why?” She babbled.

“I told them all what they needed to know and they let me go early. Where are you off to?”

“Oh Giles and some new problem that seems to crop up every time I’m finished with the last problem.”

“Something happen?” He asked.

“It would take too long to explain because it hasn’t finished sinking in on my brain yet.” With that said they both headed to Giles’ place.


***********

Giles watched as the alternate Spike tended to Buffy on the couch. It was weird watching this happen. They seemed so at ease with each other that it make Giles’ head hurt. They had seen alternate clones before, though Vampire Willow was a little more than they could handle at the time. This would be something that they would have to get used to if they were unable to find a way to send them back right now. The other Spike had moved Buffy so that she as reclining on him while he had his cheek resting against the top of her head. To the casual eye it looked as both of them were sleeping. Spikes right hand was tracing patterns on Buffy’s side making her shift more of her body into his side. Where Giles stood he saw the vampire smile. ‘This would definitely take some getting used too.’ He thought.

Looking to the door he saw his Buffy and Riley walk in. Riley’s eyes immediately went to Spikes head on the couch. He started to make his way over when Buffy stopped him and shook her head no at him.

The Spike on the couch sensed the building tension in the room and he woke his Buffy up. Sitting up with her they both stood and faced the small group standing by the door. Riley’s jaw almost hit the floor. There he stood staring at another Buffy who had her hand in Spike’s.

“What the hell?” Riley gasped.

“Who’s the hall monitor?” Spike asked looking from Riley to Giles and then back to Riley.

“He looks familiar; might be a Reinfield.” The Buffy at Spike’s side said.

“What’s a Reinfield?” Riley inquired.

“They are humans who serve Vampires. That wanker, Dracula made that idea popular when he spilled his guts to that Irish novelist. That stupid ponce owes me eleven pounds. And wouldn’t you know he didn’t….” Spike’s rant died on his lips when Buffy placed her hand over his mouth.

“Sorry he gets like that when ever Dracula is mentioned.”

“You must be feeling better.” Giles said steering the conversation in another direction.

“I’m still a little fuzzy around the edges but I feel like my old Slayer self once again.” She stepped away from Spike and almost fell if he hadn’t been there to catch her.

“I think that you should sit down, luv.” Spike offered.

“No I need to stand and get me strength back. You know shake the fog in my head.”

“Then these two things should make you feel better.” Spike pulled out a small ball chain that held a silver Ankh. He clasped the chain around her neck and noticed the improvement almost immediately. Spike walked over to the desk and picked up a glass of red liquid. To the others it looked like watered down blood.

As the other Buffy took a sip she shivered in pleasure and looked to Spike. “Thanks I definitely need this.”

“What is that?” Buffy asked

The other Buffy said, “Some of Spikes Blood mixed with tea.”

“Ew that is way up there on the grossage scale.”

“It’s necessary for me.”

“Why?”

“I’m bound to him, for as long as he lives I will live. The one draw back is the blood thing. But the dark part of me that was the first Slayer seems to be less restless when I do.”

“Who in there right mind would bind themselves to vampire?”

“I would.” Buffy said taking another drink.

“You have part of the first Slayer in you?” Giles asked. Buffy moved around getting the kinks out from being unconscious for so long. Spike went to stand near the window looking out at the night. The other Buffy sat with Riley on the stairs waiting for Alternate Buffy to answer.

“Before the Master rose, Giles took me out into the desert to help me find my way. I felt her, soul, I guess you would call it, enter me to give clarity on what the Slayer really is. The first Slayer was pure Primal rage. When she merged with me she left some of it behind. His blood helps to quiet the demon that she left in me.”

“How did you get bound to that?” Riley asked.

“We went to Africa to find this demon. He put me through a few things and I passed his test, so I got my soul back and a little extra. I got her.” Spike jerked his head in his Buffy’s direction. “That’s why we wear these.” Spike pulled out a silver Ankh matching Buffy’s, only his was on a longer chain that went down to the top of his abs. She finished off her drink and set the glass on the counter.

A tense silence descended on the room when the Buffy that was next to Riley said, “What are we going to call you because calling you Buffy is going to get confusing.”

“Well when I was in LA I used the name Jessa for hunting Vampires. That was before my parents threw me out and I was called here by my watcher.”

“Why Jessa?”

“Cause I wanted to keep my life separate from my slaying but it didn’t turn out that way.”

“What about Blondie over there?” Riley growled.

“Why does everyone hate Spike? This one has done nothing to you… so just get over it. The sooner you get over it, the sooner we can get home, though with what we have to go home to I’m not so sure we want too.” The last sentence was muttered. She went ramrod stiff and she grasped her head going down on her knees.

“BUFFY!” Spike shouted and ran over to her.

“NO!” Se screamed. Images of blood and death exploded behind her eyes. She saw the Master and Angelus laughing at her while she was chained up. Blood from her open wound coated their hands. Cordelia punched her in the mouth and laughed.

She saw Spike chained like she was and another Vampire was dropping matches on his bare chest. His left eye was swollen and his top lip was cut and bleeding heavily.

“Buffy snap out of it.” Spike shook her and she opened her eyes. Buffy looked at him and wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him to her. “Another vision?” He asked.

“They get worse and worse. They just don’t wait till I’m asleep anymore.”

“What did you see?” Giles asked.

She drew in a shaky breath and with Spike’s help she regained her standing position.


A/N: here’s more. Please tell me what you think. Ya, you like it. Nay you don’t. I like feed back. It’s very nice.