Xander grinned at that and pulled his pants back on. His feet were still a little shaky from the way he’d been used the past few days: heaven and hell, his sire and that bitch Willow. But, then, he was used to it.

Buffy instinctively caught him with one hand to steady him as he finished tugging up his pants. A part of her couldn’t help but remember Spike’s words the other night. Her fingers gently traced one of the bruises Willow had inflicted on his side, her touch a smooth caress against his irritated skin. The thought of Spike been treated in any way but with complete love made her blood boil; and, by association, Xander now seemed to have won that same vehement defense.

He smiled shyly at her then, looking almost unsure of what to do in light of this unexpected kindness. It certainly wasn’t the norm in any of Willow’s little parties. A wave of something almost like guilt passed through him at what he was about to do, but then he pulled away to get his shirt, and the plan snapped back into place with sharp focus.

“Not now,” he told her, looking about furtively. “It’s not safe…and not everyone’s here…”

“‘Everyone’?” Buffy repeated in surprise. “I thought this was just you and me.”

Don’t give too much away yet… “There are…others who want Willow out as much as I do. They’ll help us,” he explained vaguely.

Buffy’s eyebrow quirked up at that. Not that she was surprised that other vampires in the clan would be just as dissatisfied as Xander was. It was just kind of impressive that any kind of organized resistance could have formed under Willow’s watchful eyes…

“How many?” she demanded.

He merely gave her that closed-off smile, revealing nothing. “Enough.”

And, unbidden, a chill went through her spine at that. “We’re taking out Willow and Dru?” she reiterated nervously.

“Just like I promised,” he grinned, showing a bit more fang than should have been possible out of game face.

She nodded slowly, still trying to wrap her mind around that fact. How many…dozens?…of followers. We can outnumber them easily. Drusilla could actually be dead by the end of the week… As much as she’d lusted after Dru’s relationship with Spike over the years, she’d never really actually pictured a world without Dru. Gone forever. No more arguing over clothes, playing with each other’s hair. No more feminine majority ganging up on Spike and doing delicious things to him while he purred the night away. No more waking up surrounded by both sire and grandsire. No more Dru at all…

Put that way, it wasn’t so pretty a picture.

Xander seemed to sense he was losing his audience. “Spike can be all yours in only three days,” he prodded carefully.

“Three?” The word practically squeaked from her lips, but the question held strong.

“You’ll find out later tonight,” he promised. “Two hours before dawn. Head for St. Martin’s Cemetery. You want the old Valezquez mausoleum.”

Buffy took a deep, unnecessary breath to steel herself up. “I’ll want answers then.”

Xander gave her a mischievous smile. “And you’ll have them. We’ll explain everything at the meeting tonight.” He turned to walk away, but paused, looking back at her. “And make sure you’re not followed,” he added.

Buffy nodded, and the twisting worry in her gut – oh god, something horrible is going to happen… – just got tighter.

Buffy had hunted by herself that night. She hadn’t felt this jittery since her human days, and she really didn’t like the sensation. Trying to act normal around anyone else would just have made things ten-times worse.

No demon hunters tonight. They were probably still regrouping from Spike’s little massacre a few days back. Buffy was more than glad to see them gone.

She found her appetite for blood full well before midnight – when would the local college frat learn that their late night hazings just led to death, anyway? – and found herself wandering aimlessly. Other appetites remained unsatiated, but she didn’t trust herself around Spike and Dru right now. Not knowing what she knew…

Dru had been good to her over the years. And, until she’d seen how Willow treated Xander, she hadn’t realized how good. She was strong for her age; she knew that. Perhaps the best lingering effect of her past slayerness was that she still learned survival skills quite quickly. But she wasn’t strong enough to take on Spike or Dru yet. They were both so much stronger than her, yet treated her as if she were their equal. Their little family really had always been quite happy.

And speak of the devil…

“Golden girl tastes like blood and death and…bubbles?” Dru cocked her head to one side and stepped forward out of the shadows.

Buffy winced visibly. Out of all the people she really didn’t want to see right now, Dru definitely topped the list. “Decent hunting tonight,” she responded brusquely, pointedly setting off on her own once more.

Drusilla, never one to take the hint, followed after her. “The moon,” she sighed, dancing about to a rhythm all her own, “so dark and deadly…”

Buffy presumed she was referring to the fact that the new moon was coming up. Great, just what she wanted: her horoscope read. “That’s nice,” she agreed tightly.

Dru giggled and pirouetted ahead. “The stars fall one by one,” she sang.

Buffy fought back a sigh and rolled her eyes. She was beginning to worry she’d have to find a way to majorly ditch Dru before the night was done. The elder vampiress just didn’t seem to want to go off and hunt on her own.

So caught up was Buffy in her thoughts that she didn’t notice when Dru abruptly stopped before her until the vampiress was whispering dark secrets mere inches from her face.

“We felt it, you know,” Drusilla practically hissed. “When our Master met his end.” She frowned for a second. “Grandmother faded first… That doesn’t seem right.”

Buffy shivered at that. Talk of death in her line was far closer to the truth than she wanted Dru to be at that moment.

“Next came daddy,” Drusilla went on, seemingly oblivious to Buffy’s conflict. “He made me so strong again…” She giggled before her expression turned wistful. “But I killed him just like he killed grandmother. Nasty pattern. Do you think my William will kill me one day?” She fixed Buffy with round dark eyes.

“Your William loves you,” Buffy replied, her voice sounding strained even to her own ears.

“And Angelus loved his Darla,” she replied. “And once…” a frown crossed her face, “…once I loved my Angel, as well…”

“Spike wouldn’t—” Buffy began again.

“No, I think not,” Dru cut her off. “I think the dissatisfaction lies…” She looked around furtively as if this were the biggest secret in the world. Apparently satisfied that all was clear, she beckoned Buffy inward with one long red nail. Buffy leaned in so that Dru’s lips her brushing her ear, her elder’s fingertips stroking her opposite cheek. “Elsewhere,” Dru finished. And then, with a lightning slash, her fingernails turned harsh, leaving reddened gashes along Buffy’s cheek.

Buffy yanked her face back, clutching her cheek in pain and surprise. “W-What…?” she trailed off abruptly. She knew what, and she knew Dru wasn’t stupid enough to fall for any innocent act.

“My William is beautiful, isn’t he?” Drusilla nodded understandingly. “Do you want to know a secret?”

Buffy wasn’t sure she could take many more of Dru’s ‘secrets’. The question appeared to be rhetorical, however.

“Mummy and daddy weren’t pleased when I chose my sweet boy.” A dark gleam lit up her eyes. “But I knew from the beginning. Knew he wouldn’t be like them. He would be like me, and he would love me so perfectly…” She sighed. A somber note entered her voice that surprised Buffy. Dru sounded weary and resigned. “I can’t blame you for wanting him all to yourself. After all, that’s what every childe wants, isn’t it?”

Buffy blinked at that, trying to backtrack quickly now. “I-I never said—” she began.

“No, but I can see it in your eyes,” Dru sighed and sat back against one of the opposing tombstones, looking rather like an ironic imitation of Xander’s own position when he’d first suggested his plan to Buffy. “Especially when we’re so close to the gates of hell…”

This was solid ground. “Dalton says the Hellmouth affects vampires, makes their demons harder to control, makes them do things.”

Drusilla smiled softly, almost secretly, at that. “The Order is very wise,” she said simply. In a move that was strangely human, her eyes drifted down to the ground, powerless and surprisingly coy. “Darla and Angelus liked to play games with me, you know,” she said, voice sounding distant and empty. “They thought it was oh-so-funny that I was mad. Little mind games. Pretending things hadn’t happened that I knew to be true, trying to convince me it was all one of my delusions.” She looked up to meet Buffy’s eyes, her expression oddly sincere and open. “After a time, I came to believe it, believed I was madder than I am…” A soft pause that felt like the weight of a thousand dark nights. “The Hellmouth feels like that.”

Buffy nodded numbly. She’d seen Dru act sane before, but never like this. “I think…” she began, but trailed off. With sudden horror, she realized she’d been about to confess to Dru all her suspicions about Xander, give everything away. 

“Think what?” Dru asked pointedly, eyes dangerous and calculating – and more than a little deranged – once more.

Buffy took a frightened step back. She’d seen Dru try violence and threats and mind-games to get her way before. Her elder’s thrall intimidated even her at times. But never would she have put it within Dru’s capabilities to attack like this, with sympathy and trust and an intelligence so subtle Buffy hadn’t realized it fully even after living together for almost fifty years… “Nothing,” she insisted.

Drusilla rose with a graceful rustling of silken fabric. The wind blew through her long hair and dress then, making her look like a vengeful goddess. “My little girl’s keeping sweets all to herself,” she sing-songed, stepping closer.

Buffy backed up further, but before she could react, Dru was upon her. Buffy gasped in disbelief. She’d never seen Dru move that fast before. Or, more accurately, not seen because it had been almost too fast for her eyes to make out.

“You think you know everything at fifty,” Dru giggled, the claws of one hand wrapped around Buffy’s throat, demonic eyes twinkling. “Think you’re invulnerable…”

Buffy squirmed at tried to pull away. She discovered to her dismay that Dru’s grip was too strong. As if to emphasize that point, Dru lifted Buffy a few inches off the ground and squeezed harder.

“But you’re still frighteningly mortal,” Dru informed her, leaning in close. “Never forget that…” And, with a final flourish, she let Buffy fall to the ground.

Buffy tried to scramble to her feet, but she felt strangely dizzy. She tried to cough, but her voice seemed to have failed her – vocal chords still too compressed to make any sound. If she’d been human, she would be dead by now from suffocation. Even as it was, she was very lucky Dru had let her go instead of popping her head right off in her iron grip.

Dru watched Buffy’s predicament with uncharacteristic dispassion. “If you have any objections, feel free to voice them.” A little giggle at the impossibility of that task. Crazy Dru was back…

Buffy merely glared, knowing perfectly well that the elder vampiress knew that she couldn’t talk.

“Good girl,” Drusilla cooed, patted Buffy on the cheek, and then vanished back into the blackness.

Buffy shakily rose to her feet, one hand cradling her bruised throat. Already she could feel it healing itself. One of the best things about being a vamp was the healing; she was even faster at it now than when she’d been the slayer. It still hurt like hell, though.

And, with a scent of the night air, she calculated she still had a few hours before her clandestine meeting with Xander. Plenty of time to learn to talk again…

“I almost thought you weren’t coming.”

Buffy started and spun around to see Xander. God, she was getting really sick of getting caught off guard. She wondered if that was another Hellmouth side effect, or she was just preoccupied. “Don’t do that,” she said, voice still a bit hoarse.

“Jumpy?” Xander guessed, offering her his hand and leading her toward the large mausoleum.

“Why shouldn’t I be?” she retorted, trying to sound as confident as possible. The truth of the matter was that Drusilla had spooked her severely. “Cryptic messages and secret meetings in abandoned cemeteries.”

Xander nodded at that. “Willow’s spies won’t be here,” he explained. “We’re too close to the central headquarters of the primary demon hunting gang in town.”

“And that’s supposed to make me feel safer?” Buffy retorted sarcastically. “Now, instead of getting caught, we get caught out on our own and…killed…” She trailed off slowly as they entered the old mortuary building.

Xander’s dark eyes glinted in the candlelight as he gestured to the assembled onlookers. “Meet our allies.”

Buffy blinked in disbelief. And then a bark of laughter escaped her lips. “Are you crazy?” she demanded. “They’re human!”

“Humans who have trained all their lives to kill vampires,” Xander countered. “They’re more than capable of taking out Willow, Drusilla, and anybody else.”

Buffy crossed her arms over her chest skeptically. “Then why haven’t they?” she retorted.

“Because they need to get through Willow’s security measures first,” Xander insisted. “Isn’t that right?” He turned to the apparent leader of the demon hunters, a tall black man with a muscular build and a look in his eyes that indicated only too well that he was all too accustomed to killing.

“We’ve taken down worse witches than yours,” the man agreed. “And tougher Masters than this Drusilla…”

Buffy had to bite her lip to keep from vamping out at him. Arrogant human, just like she’d been when she was mortal… “So we’re the only two on the inside then?” she demanded of Xander.

“We can’t trust anyone else. They’re all afraid of Willow. We can’t know that they wouldn’t tell her,” he answered.

She nodded slowly. “Cordy know about this?” she demanded. “That you’re planning on letting a gang of demon hunters into her home?”

A hint of sorrow entered Xander’s eyes at that. “She’s under Willow’s thumb, too,” he admitted sadly. “But once she’s free…”

“You hope she’ll forgive you,” Buffy pointed out.

Xander’s eyes flashed gold. “She doesn’t care about Willow. She’s been nothing but a slave all these years, and I’m going to free her!”

If you honestly believe that there’s nothing real between Willow and Cordelia, then you’re even more nuts than Dru. Buffy didn’t say that out loud, of course. Because she was belatedly becoming more and more aware of the fact that she was trapped, that these people could kill her at any minute, and only Xander’s intervention seemed to be stopping them. Best not to piss him off.

“What’s the plan, then?” she sighed.

He smiled happily at that. “We attack during the ceremony on Monday,” he explained, “while everyone’s distracted. You and I have to let everyone in through Willow’s wards.”

Buffy nodded slowly. “Why do you need me?” she countered. “You can let them in all on your own.”

Xander’s eyes narrowed at some distant memory. “Because Willow will be…watching me,” he replied.

Buffy caught the hidden meaning, however. He’d probably be thoroughly delegated to pet status before the ceremony and thus unable to escape and let their ‘allies’ in…

“And then they…what? Kill everything in sight?” Buffy demanded.

“Sounds good to me,” the leader of the humans replied.

Buffy glared at him once more.

“They know not to kill us,” Xander hastily amended. “Or Cordy and Spike. Just the rest of them.”

Buffy worried her lip between her teeth. “And what was this about me taking down Willow?” she asked.

The demon hunter answered for Xander. “We need someone to keep the witch for working her magic when we attack,” he explained. “Could be the shift of battle.”

Buffy nodded at that. “I wouldn’t even have to defeat Willow…”

“…Just distract her long enough that the rest of us can take her out,” Xander finished the thought eagerly.

Buffy paused and thought on that. She didn’t like the hostility radiating off of their allies, and even more so she didn’t like betraying her kind to humans. But if she said anything too dangerous, they could stake her where she should. Out of the corner of her eye, she counted the crossbows in the room. She didn’t like those odds. Especially since all the holders were undoubtedly very good shots.

“How do we know they won’t turn on us once we’ve given them what they want?” Buffy finally demanded.

“Don’t worry about it,” Xander assured her. “We’ve been working together for years.”

“We believe we can trust Xander to leave town and never come back once we’re done,” the human leader replied.

Buffy’s eyes narrowed. “That time when we were attacked…”

“We do apologize for that,” the human agreed. “We thought you were supposed to be caught in our trap like all the others before you.”

“I kinda didn’t have a chance to warn them in advance,” Xander apologized, “but I told them not to follow after you, made sure they knew you were cool.”

Buffy was feeling less and less ‘cool’ every minute. Her demon was threatening to erupt in all its fury, and it took all her self-control to beat it out, to get out of this situation alive… “It’s not a bad plan,” she finally conceded. It was a rather good plan, actually. It could really work.

“You in?” Xander asked, grinning.

She hesitated for a second. Never. “Sure,” she said with a false, bright smile. “As long as Spike goes free.”

Contrite nods.

“Great,” Xander said, rubbing his hands together. “We should break this up then. We don’t wanna be seen together.”

Buffy was more than eager to comply with that. “I’ll go first,” she volunteered. No one stopped her. She almost breathed a sigh of relief when she exited the mausoleum, but didn’t dare. They still might be able to see her.

Running as fast as she could, she vanished into the night, heading desperately back to a home that she knew all too well wasn’t safe anymore…

“She was lying. She’ll turn against us as soon as she can.”

“I know,” Xander agreed, disappointed. “We still don’t kill her, though.”

“Oh?”

Xander’s eyes flashed yellow. “I’ve wanted her from the first moment I laid eyes on her,” he insisted vehemently. “And, with everyone else gone, she’ll have no one to turn to but me.” Cordy and Buffy all mine, forever… The thought was nearly enough to make him swoon.

“And Spike?”

Xander smiled. “Don’t worry, Wood,” he assured his human ally. “You can have your revenge where your father failed.”

Simon Wood smiled back. Finally get to kill the monster that murdered my grandmother. Finally win my father’s respect. Finally.

“Plan B, then?” Wood asked.

“Plan B,” Xander agreed.

And, visions of victory clear in their heads, they parted ways each to set their own parts of the plan in motion…