disclaimer: The characters of BtVS belong to Joss Whedon and Co.

"Doll, doll...pretty doll," Drusilla crooned, locking the door to her dressing room.

She lifted Miss Edith to her ear. "What's that? Why, Miss Edith, you're jealous! But I won't desert you, my sweet...not even for the new one." Still whispering to her favorite doll, Drusilla drifted out to the master bedroom.

Where Aletta was.

The Mistress smiled at Dru, and tossed her lovely black hair, then glanced at the muscular giant who towered over her..

"Drusilla," she murmured. "My dearest...you've kept Saul waiting."

The merest hint of reproach, but Dru hurried over to Saul. She liked him, she decided...he was so big and mean and rough..."Like my Angel," she murmured, running her hands over his buffed torso.

Aletta glided languidly toward the door. "Enjoy yourselves, my own," she called.

The minute she was gone, Saul seized Drusilla's red dress in his huge meaty hands and tore it from throat to hem. She whimpered, half in fear, half in pleasure, as he lowered her onto her bed.

"I like the way you play," she confided, as he loomed above her. "Perhaps," she cocked her head to one side, "I should let you play with my new doll?"

Saul grunted. "Thanks but no thanks, moron."

Dru frowned...he wasn't very nice. "No," she decided, "You can't play. Besides, she's a present for my Angel."

"Yeah, yeah,whatever..." Saul was bored. She wouldn't be a bad lay, if she'd just learn to keep her mouth shut. He couldn't figure why Aletta had taken the crazy on in the first place.

"I've got my reasons, Saul," she'd said at the time. "One blond British reason; and one dark Irish reason."

Oh well...if the crazy didn't know how to be quiet, then he'd see just how much noise she could make...

Spike was frantic with worry; Drusilla had gone to ground so completely that he was beginning to fear she was dead.

In the end, after other sources had failed him, he'd even done what he'd sworn he'd never do again...and gone skulking home to Sunnyhell.

Home...why did he persist in thinking of that gawdawful hole as home?

But it was Willy who gave him a lead.

"Nah, Spike, the hellmouth's been pretty quiet since the ascension went bust. Won't last, of course...every demon in the USA and beyond'll be headin' this way, Slayer or no Slayer! And right now, it's no Slayer."

"What?" He'd thought he had no interest in anything except Dru, but this caught his attention.

"She visits in L.A. in the summer." Willy shrugged. "Usually her friends take up the slack, but the kid is away, the witch and her boyfriend are travelling with his band, and the Watcher's job-hunting. So- nobody's home."

"What about Angel?" Spike demanded. Dru couldn't seem to get over her Angel again...maybe that's where she'd gone?

Willy shrugged again, and gave him Angel's new address.

"Whatever you want, say it outside." Cordelia blocked the door.

Angel pushed her aside impatiently. "Spike! Do you...do you know where she is?"

Spike's shoulders slumped. "I was hoping you'd seen her."

"No," Angel said bleakly. "Why would she come to me?"

"Because...she's deluded enough to think she loves you!" Spike spat.

To his astonishment, Angel groaned and dropped his head into his hands. "She never even called me, when she came to L.A."

"Well, DUH!" Cordelia had heard enough. "You SAID that the two of you were finished! You SAID you didn't want to see her anymore...for her own good. What did you expect?"

"Wait...you're talking about Buffy?" Spike never noticed he had used her name. "I thought you meant Drusilla!"

"No." Angel stared at him through haunted eyes. "Buffy disappeared from L.A. five nights ago- you say Dru is missing too?"

"She left Brazil over three weeks ago," Spike admitted.

"Under her own power?" Angel asked pointedly.

The blond tensed. "Yeah, peaches, what of it?"

"Ever think maybe Dru doesn't want to be found?"

Spike stared him down. "Didn't the Slayer run away last year?"

"That was different," Angel snapped.

"You'd like to think so, Angel. But are they really so different, Dru and the Slayer?"

"As different as day and night." retorted Angel. "Buffy is all sunshine- Drusilla is a creature of darkness."

"She's what you made her." Spike was unimpressed.

"Yes." Angel's dark eyes burned with a fanatic's fire. "I made her, I must destroy her. I was weak- but now I won't fail....leave noe, Spike! If I ever see you again, I will kill you."

He turned away; and Cordelia pulled the door nearly shut.

"Look, Spike, Angel can't be around vampires any more...it makes him crazy! And he's obsessed with finding Buffy and killing whoever took her....You've got a head start, so use it!"

Spike sat in his car, smoking. He desperately wanted a drink; but he needed a clear head.

"Got to find Dru," he muttered. "Slayer's friends might have helped once; but not now. Now they're all preoccupied with her going missiing. Funny that...Dru and the Slayer both gone at the same time. Can't be a connection, though..."

"Will this one do, Mistress?" she asked plaintively.

Drusilla's lovely eyes gleamed approval...the child was indeed beautiful, with caramel-colored skin and large dark eyes. There were pink butterfly barrettes in her black hair.

"What's your name, poppet?" Dru asked softly.

"Kenesha," the child whispered. "Please can I go home now?"

"To your mother?" Drusilla considered. "Don't you want to see my dolls? I have a new one, but you mustn't play with her...she's for my Angel! Come and see."

The child went willingly; and Monique, breathing a sigh of relief, scuttled away eagerly. She hated waiting on Drusilla; but she had to obey Aletta.

"She's crazy," she told Saul. "She gives me the creeps, Saul!"

"Aletta told you to serve her, so you serve her! You hear me?" Saul said automatically. But he didn't like Drusilla any more than Monique did.

Dru pouted as she finished draining the child. Not much blood in that little body; she should have made the servant girl bring two children.

"Oh well, Miss Edith," she crooned, "I can get some more from my new doll."

She unlocked the door to her dressing room. Buffy Summers was chained to a small divan, still unconscious.

Drusilla smiled at her fondly. "She must be very hungry, Miss Edith. I suppose we must feed her, if my Angel doesn't come soon."

Aletta studied the square-cut emerald on one of her slim, elegant fingers. "She stays."

Saul knew that tone; in general a fearless vampire, he deferred to Aletta whenever he heard it.

"I have a shoot." Aletta swung her lovely long legs to the floor and stood in one supple movement.

"Magazine cover?" Saul asked indifferently. The only magazine he liked was Hustler; but Aletta had once been a top model...a younger version of Naomi Campbell. She seldom worked now, preferring to devote herself to her various business interests, including the classy jazz club she operated in the North Beach district.

"Just publicity shots for Aletta's," she drawled. "Keep Drusilla happy, and keep her inside...and don't worry. It won't be for much longer!"

He'd had to substitute by driving to UCLA and finding the nearest computer lab; where a pretty coed was only too eager to assist him.

"Here...three special orders for doll clothes...L.A., Carmel, and San Francisco." The girl. Phyllis, was excited at the success of her efforts.

"Thanks Ducks," Spike said warmly. "Feel like coming with me for a bite to eat? I'm a bit peckish."

She agreed so fast that he actually felt guilty; and released her before draining her dry.

He'd recognized the San Francisco address at once- Aletta's. Named for Aletta Courcy, a vampiress who had a long history with Spike and Dru.

Long...and not always happy.

She looked happy enough to see him tonight, Spike thought cynically.

Aletta wore a long, low-cut emerald dress that called attention to her magnificent ring. She looked wonderful; but her beauty held no allure for him.

She knew it; and her long sloe-eyes glittered with dislike.

"Spike," she purred throatily, "Waht a nice surprise."

"Is it?" He lit a cigarette.

"Darling, of course. I haven't seen you since...hmmmm, was it New Orleans, in 1942?"

"But you and Dru always kept in touch," Spike said insinuatingly.

Aletta's catlike smile widened. "Don't tell me, you're lookiing for Drusilla? Why didn't you say so, silly boy? She's at my home, on Columbus Avenue."

She nodded at a slim, very beautiful boy, no older than twenty. "Bertrand will take you; and I hope that you too will be my guest, Spike." Aletta's 'home' was actually a small hotel that catered exclusively to vampires. Spike knew that he had no chance whatsoever of removing Dru without Aletta's cooperation; and he clenched his fists in frustration. In exchange for Dru, Aletta would demand a favor from him. And, he knew it wouldn't be minor.

Bertrand was watching him with an open curiousity that was almost insolent.

"Drusilla has the Regency suite," Bertrand drawled. "Has a private staircase so her...visitors can come and go."

"That right?" Spike lit a cigarette.

Bertrand smirked at him. "Drusilla likes a lot of company. I sometimes visit myself."

Spike warned himself not to react; Aletta wouldn't appreciate his killing one of her people; and she was well-established in San Francisco. He'd end up offering her penance as well as the price for Dru...and he didn't like the thought of becoming a hired gun for Aletta.

He wondered who it was that she wanted him to kill.

"Angel?" Hesitantly, she touched his arm, and he vamped and growled. But she did not pull away; and after a minute his face resumed human features. Slowly, she let go of the breath she'd been holding.

"I shouldn't have let him go," Angel muttered. "I should have killed him and rid the world of another parasite."

"You were upset about Buffy," Cordelia sought to comfort him.

He grabbed a slender glass vase and sent it crashing against the far wall "I have..no right to worry about one girl! Not when Spike's kind preys on hundreds...thousands...of humans! I want to kill them...to kill them all! And my love for her...weakens me...One girl, one girl in all the world..." his voice trailed off.

Cordelia sighed as he lurched down the hall to his darkened bedroom. In the past year, Angel had become embittered, his brooding turned into something darker...something festering and corrupt.

"God, Buffy," she murmured, "I never thought I'd feel this way, but...how I wish I knew where you are!"

Spike kept his face carefully impassive.

"I don't think they'd appreciate any interruptions," Bertrand drawled.

Wordlessly Spike faced the heavy oak door- and kicked it open with a resounding crash!

"Hey!!" yelled the startled Bertrand.

Spike surveyed the cavernous room. Drusilla was still sprawled naked on the bed...an enormous giant of a man turned around to face them, muscles rippling under gleaming ebony skin.

Bertrand was babbling frantically. "Saul...sorry, he just...Aletta told me to bring him here. I didn't know he'd just barge in like..."

The giant ignored him to fasten his little dark eyes on the Englishman.

But Drusilla spoke first. "Spike!" she hummed happily, "Miss Edith told me I would see you soon."

She dropped her voice conspiratorially. "Miss Edith is jealous of my pretty new doll. She says I should give her to Saul to play with."

The big man grunted, displeased. "Give her to your pal here, Dru! Looks like the kind who plays with dolls!"

Drusilla cocked her head to one side, considering. "Yes, " she decided, "Spike...I give my new toy to you. She was supposed to be a present for my Angel; but he won't want her now. And Saul wants you to have her."

The giant looked disgusted. "Man, how'd you ever put up with her?"

"Practice," Spike said softly.

"Yeah, well, if Aletta says you can have her, you got her. And alla them stupid dolls! An' I don' appreciate her goin' on about givin' them to me, get it? I ain't the kinda guy to play dolls!" He grabbed a robe from the foot of the bed and strode out, followed by the sniggering Bertrand.

Spike waited until they were gone, then carefully closed and bolted the door.

Drusilla watched expectantly, bright-eyed as a bird. "My Spike is angry."

He was more weary than angry, he decided. "Why'd you do it, baby? Why'd you leave?"

Just for an instant her eyes cleared into some semblance of sanity. "You helped her! You helped her send my Angel far, far away!" Then the madness rolled back, like an eclipse over the sun. "But he's coming...soon. For me."

"He has his soul again, Dru," Spike said tiredly. "He's changed again."

She smiled a sly, secret smile. "He'll be back."

"Get dressed, ducks," Spike said, handing her a robe.

She ignored it. "My Spike...don't you want your present? She was for Angel, then for Saul...but they neither one shall have her. She's for my Spike. Say thank-you!"

He sighed, humoring her as he always did. "Thank you, princess."

Drusilla giggled, dancing over to him. "Now, Spike! Shall I..."

There was a loud knock on the door.

Spike opened it a crack, and Monique smiled at him. "Aletta would like to see you now, sir."

Spike nodded; he'd been expecting the summons.

"Dru, looks like we'll be staying a few days. Why don't you put this pretty dress on?"

He followed Monique down to the lobby, knowing Drusilla would still be dancing naked when he returned.

"Do you wish me to take her something to eat, sir?" Monique ventured. "I always do on nights when she doesn't go hunting."

Spike considered. "No, I'll do that. I don't expect to be long, so fix enough for two."

"Oh, yes, sir!" Monique dropped her eyes coyly. She'd enjoy serving THIS particular guest...in every way.

"Have something to eat, pet," he urged, filling a wineglass for her.

She drank the contents greedily, eyes shining at him. "NOW do you want your present, Spike?"

"Sure Dru," Spike said absently. Inwardly he was cursing Aletta's demands. She actually expected him to...

Dru was unlocking the padlocked door to her dressing room. "In here, Spike."

"Is it the French doll that Aletta bought my princess?"

Dru giggled madly. "No, Spike. It's one I got..all my own self!" She swung the door wide. "Aren't I the clever girl, then!"

Spike looked, and nearly lost his dinner.

There on the divan, chained hand and foot, was a small naked figure.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

With a strange presentiment of doom, Spike observed the tell-tale puncture wounds in the Slayer's neck.

"Dru!" he grabbed her by the shoulders, almost causing her to drop Miss Edith. "Did she drink from you as well? Is she a vampire? Answer me!"

"Of course she did, silly boy," Dru pouted. "But I gave her my sleepy powder so she doesn't wake up anymore! I'm glad, she's angry when she wakes up...and she won't play!"

She picked up a hairbrush and began to brush Buffy's blonde hair.

Spike's thoughts were racing wildly. "Dru...listen to me! You said you drugged...gave her the sleep powder. Does that mean she hasn't eaten since you turned her?"

"No. She's been a cross toy...she wouldn't play, so she had no tea," Drusilla shook her dark head.

Spike groaned aloud. Now what? Dru had turned the Slayer, then starved her, making her into a ravening, violent vampire kept under control by drugs.

What's more...by gifting him with her "new doll" in front of witnesses, Dru had effectively transferred any responsibility for her fledgeling to him!

Worse yet...he owed Aletta a debt for Dru; and in vampire terms, that meant he owed her a kill.

Spike had agreed to kill someone for Aletta.

His sire.

In the end he decided to use Dru's method.

"I was so clever, my Spike," Dru bragged. "She was fighting vampires, and the last one stunned her as she staked him. So, I hit her. Very hard. On the head. Then I took her to my suite...Saul saw me, but it didn't matter. Because I went out again! I went out, just before sunrise and got another little blonde. And when Saul came I gave him her body to take away. And he never knew...nobody did!..that there were two! Isn't princess a clever girl?"

"My princess is very clever," Spike agreed numbly. She'd also had the devil's own luck, which Spike couldn't count on.

Still he had to try.

First, they'd need a ringer. And he didn't trust Dru alone with the Slayer. It was mere chance that she hadn't given the secret away a hundred times. If people didn't tend to discount her because of her craziness...! There was only one thing to do.

"But I don't want to leave," Drusilla whined. "I like it here."

Spike gritted his teeth. "We'll come back somday, ducks," he promised rashly.

It took him nearly an hour to convince her; and by then his jangled nerves were screaming. But she finally agreed to slip out and find another tiny blonde to use as a decoy.

She slipped silently down her private staircase, clutching Miss Edith.

But...she didn't come back.

Spike was beside himself; but he dared not leave the Slayer alone to go in search of Dru.

All day long he fretted and fumed. He had to get the Slayer out of this hotel!

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