Summary: As it turned out, not all of Ken's 'lost' souls went to his hell dimension. You might even say that some made a 'Pit' stop. AU Anne ep. Pre-SVM series. Drabble-ish.
Disclaimer: BtVS and SVM do not belong to me. Shocking, I know.
Warning: If you haven't read the Southern Vampire Mysteries series, specifically Dead as a Doornail and All Together Dead, you won't recognize the SVM characters, as they aren't in True Blood. Also this takes place about 15 years before the Great Revelation and during the Anne ep of BtVS. I'm hoping you'll still be able to follow along, though, maybe even enjoy it. ;)

Chapter 1: Natural Selection

Buffy didn't care. She didn't. That life was behind her now, and with it, all the pain and suffering and all around suckage. She was in LA now, where she kept her head down and her slaying nonexistent.

So what if all her instincts told her that Lily was in way over her head? Getting involved would make her face things she wasn't ready to face. Not only that, it would mean she cared. Which she didn't.

Of course, that left no rational explanation, then, for why she was currently bursting through the doors of Family Home. Or why her heart actually dropped when she spotted Lily and Ken, surrounded by candles, standing over a pool of goo that had 'evil' written all over it.

Clearly, logic was not her friend.

"Anne," Lily frowned, getting to her feet. "I—"

She was cut short as Ken wrapped his arm around her, gripping her around the throat.

"This is none of your concern," he warned.

Buffy snorted. "Oh, Ken, I wish that were true. In fact, I was doing a pretty good job of living concern-free these days. But this?" she said, gesturing toward the black pit and then to Lily. "This is nothing but my concern."

Snarling, Ken turned and tried to push Lily into the black goo.

"No!" Buffy shouted, launching herself toward them with all the speed she could muster.

Even as she did, though, she knew she wasn't going to make it. Thankfully, Lily resisted, clinging to Ken, which gave Buffy just enough time to reach them.

All three of them hit the concrete floor with a thud.

Ignoring Lily's groan of pain, Buffy immediately jumped to her feet, and not a second too soon, either, because Mr. Nice Guy Ken was swiping at her with the knife — standing, of course, between her and Lily and the door.

Ducking under his hand, Buffy scooped up one of the many heavy candlesticks lining the goo pit and swung.

Her first blow knocked the knife from Ken's hand, where it clattered to the ground. The second connected solidly with Ken's face.

To her surprise — and utter disgust — his face fell off, revealing a demonic one underneath.

"And weirdly enough, this is actually an improvement," she smirked.

Apparently Ken wasn't good with the criticism, because his face twisted in fury as he charged. Instead of going for her again, though, he lunged for Lily, who hadn't moved an inch since she fell — right next to the black goo.

"Lily, run!" Buffy shouted, even as she dove for Ken, managing to grab him around the ankle so that they both to fell to the ground.

But Lily didn't move. She just sat there like a deer caught in the demonic headlights, and for a second Buffy feared she'd have to fireman carry the girl out herself. To her relief, however, the blonde snapped out of it and ran toward the door.

With one obstacle out of the way, Buffy jumped to her feet and faced Ken with renewed energy.

"Normally I'd make a quip right about now, but I'm a little out of practice," she remarked, adjusting her grip on the candlestick. "So I'll just skip right to beating your ugly ass."

Then she attacked, swinging her makeshift weapon like a cudgel.

Ken was ready for her this time, though. Catching her makeshift club with both hands, he wrenched it from her hands while delivering a powerful kick to her midsection.

Buffy fell backward, curling into a backward somersault. As she rolled, she felt something hard dig into her shoulder.

The knife.

Fingers curling around the handle, she grabbed blade. With no time to get to her feet, she stayed crouched on the ground, jabbing the knife forward just as Ken lunged for her, candlestick raised high above his head.

Ken's eyes went wide with shock, right before he deflated like a balloon. Still, Buffy gave the blade a good twist, just for good measure.

With a gasp, he fell to the ground. It was a strange sound, though, almost like he was muttering something under his breath, like a spell.

Suddenly, Buffy felt the ground beneath her feet start to shift. At the same time, the black gooeyness behind her went crazy, twisting and writhing like the Blob incarnate. Before she could get out of the way, one of its gooey tentacles wrapped around her ankle, pulling her until she fell.

...only to hit another cement floor.

Buffy groaned as her back made contact.

"Doesn't anyone believe in carpeting anymore? And what the heck just happened?" she muttered under her breath.

"That's what I'd like to know."

At the sound of another voice, Buffy vaulted to her feet, in battle ready position.

Too bad she was by herself in a cell, complete with a hard cot, an oh-so-public and plastic looking toilet, and a thick steel door.

She immediately dashed for the door and, after unsuccessfully trying to open the door, looked out the small window, trying to find the owner of the mysterious voice. From the sound of it, he was close by; maybe only a dozen feet away.

Sure enough, she saw a pair of the purplest eyes she had ever seen looking at her from across the hallway.

"Yeah, well as soon as I figure it out, I'll let you know," she shot back. "Where am I?"

There was a pause. "The Pits," her mystery neighbor finally said, sounding more than a little reluctant.

Buffy bit back a groan. Didn't that sound promising?

"I don't suppose you make license plates here," she asked hopefully.

There was another long pause before he spoke again. "We fight. This is a gladiator pit."

Buffy closed her eyes and leaned against the wall.

That would teach her to get involved, wouldn't it?