"Xander!" Anya screamed, trying to pull Xander off of Spike, who still
couldn't fight humans. "Get off him!"

"Stay out of it," Xander growled at her, getting another solid hit on Spike.
He kept pounding and pounding on the vampire, aiming the hits for places that
would still make the vampire feel pain.

Spike, for his part, stayed silent, not enticing Xander or making any
excuses. He simply took the hits, gave no more than a grimace or a baring of
teeth, and didn't vamp out. The human part of him reasoned that Xander had
every right to do this. And, for once, he was listening to the human part of
himself.

Plus if he hit back, his head would hurt more than the rest of the bruises
and pain Xander was administering.

Finally Graham managed to pull Xander off of Spike. Anya rushed over to the
vampire. "How..."

"You're the patron saint of scorned women," Xander spat out. "You can figure
it out." He turned and started to walk away.

"I care--" she began, but when he turned around, she stopped.

"Oh, I'm sure you care. I'm sure you cared about the sex, and you cared about
me as long as I had sex with you, but then when I wasn't fun anymore, you
started to care about Spike. And who else have you cared about, hmm?"

He waited for an answer, but Anya was too shocked to respond. "Maybe there's
too many people you cared about, so many you can't name all of them." He
shrugged Graham off and stalked off towards his basement abode.

"Anya," Spike said weakly.

"Yes?" she asked, moving closer towards him.

"Look," he said, pointing to something that got Graham and Anya's attention.
"What is that?"

***

Spike walked into the room. "Did all of you do some sort of spell?"

Buffy, Graham, Oz and Drew looked up. "We're in the middle of one," Buffy
said. "Why?"

"Because my memories changing. I remember Xander kicking my arse, then
yelling at Anya, and...well, before he left, Graham led Willow and Tara away
and then went for the book. Only this time there's a message written in fire
telling Graham to get a different book."

Drew clapped her hands. "It worked!"

"We don't know quite yet," Jenna said from the doorway, where she'd been
standing. She looked at Graham. "Well?"

"I remember it, too. And then I went, and I didn't grab that book...I think I
grabbed one of Buffy's textbooks, and...everything else is the same."

"But it's a start," Jenna said, coming out into the room. "I couldn't sleep,
and thought those of you awake might like the company. Buffy, you came up
with a good idea. Now that we can communicate with them, and Graham and
Spike's memories are more or less intact, we can try and fix the small things
that happened way back then and get everything right."

Buffy nodded. "But right now, I think I need some sleep."

Spike nodded. "I'd be nice to have something to eat," he said, looking at
Jenna. "Want some tea, love?"

"As long as you don't spill blood in it like last time," she said, moving
towards the kitchen. "I think I'll make it."

"After you," Spike said as Jenna walked by. Graham stood up and quietly
followed Buffy back to her room, leaving Oz and Drew alone in the room again.

"I think I'll take being abandoned as a sign that they had other things to do
and not take it personally," Drew said, retrieving her now cool tea.

"I don't think we were abandoned, just left in peace," he said.

"Peace? Around here?"

"Well, it's just a thought."

***

"How many are gone?"

"Over a hundred minions, Master Tsar," Eddie said. "I mean, this Slayer's
good. She's really good."

Tsar rolled his eyes and started to say something harsh when he heard her
voice.

"The stars say Eddie is being truthful."

Tsar smiled at Drusilla as she walked out from their room, cramped as it was.
Gone were the white dresses and other old fashioned clothing, replaced by
sleek black dresses and more formfitting clothing. Drusilla's hair was the
same cascade of black curls it had always been, only now it was in a delicate
upsweep.

"Drusilla, my darling," Tsar said. He had a genuine fondness for the vampire,
if not love for her. "Did the stars say anything else?"

She nodded. "They said the Slayer who stole my Spike is back. They said I
should eat her heart right out of her body, while it's still beating." She
looked up at Tsar. "Can I do that to her for killing my Spike?"

Tsar cast a "don't-open-your-big-mouth" glare at Eddie before saying, "Of
course you can. and then we'll dance around the bodies of Angel and Graham as
we torture them before we stake them."

Drusilla paused. "But Angel's my dark Angel, too. Can't we just make him lose
his soul again?"

"We'll see, my sweet," he said, kissing her forehead lightly. "I only do as
you command."

Drusilla smiled and walked back into their room. Only then did the pretense
of her insanity fall away. What a wonder forty years and a few spells could
do to an insane girl...

They could make her sane again.