~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

She took a deep breath – steeling herself for what was to come - before turning the handle and walking into her house, only to be instantly bombarded with her mother’s worried questioning.

“Did you find her?”

She shook her head solemnly, slipping tiredly out of her jacket.

“Oh no,” her mother moaned, her hand going to her mouth, “My poor baby.”

“I’ll find her, Mom.”

“And you checked all her friends?”

“I checked everywhere.”

She paused as they went through to the kitchen and she made herself a drink.

“I even went to Spike’s,” she said after a long silence, turning to take in her mother’s fraught expression.

“And?”

“He said he hadn’t seen her.”

She frowned and took a mouthful of her drink.

“Do you believe him? You said he threatened Dawn just last night. What if he -“

She cut her mother off before she could get too worked up.

“I don’t think he was lying, Mom.”

“Oh, my poor little girl. I can’t even think what might happen to her in this town. What if that Glory has her?”

She couldn’t deny that the idea haunted her too and made her sick to the stomach.

“Mom, calm down,” she said quietly, laying a hand on her mother’s arm, “She’ll be okay. I’ll find her.”

“God, I hope so.”

After a moment’s contemplation, she rose to her weary feet.

“Where are you going?” her mother asked.

“I’m going to hook up with the gang. Willow might be able to do a spell… or something.”

“Be careful.”

“Always,” she whispered with a sad smile, grabbing her jacket and making her way out into the night once again.



She met her friends at the shop and was disheartened when none of them had any good news for her. They had all been searching and asking around Dawn’s friends but it seemed no-one had seen the girl since she left school early that afternoon. Buffy’s worry increased and on top of that she dreaded to think of what her mother was going through.

“Is there anything you can do?” she asked Willow almost helplessly.

“I… I don’t know.”

“Anything, Will. I need to find her.”

“I could try a locator spell?”

“Do it,” she said quickly, pulling on her jacket once more.

“Where are you going, Buffy?” Giles asked her as she rose to her feet.

“I can’t sit here and wait. I’m going to look for her some more.”

Giles looked like he was going to argue for a moment but then with a silent nod, he retreated to the bookcases.

“Buffy, what if it’s Glory?” Xander asked hesitantly.

“It’s not.”

He went to continue but she stopped him, raising a hand.

“I have to believe it’s not. Or I might go crazy,” she whispered.

He nodded and she gave a tight smile, pulling her jacket around her.

“Call me if you find anything,” she said to Willow.

Her friend nodded and with a grateful smile she nodded back, before turning and leaving the shop once more, her desperation growing with every minute her sister was missing.



She didn’t even know where to look anymore – had tried every place she could possibly think of. She walked aimlessly now, her mind spinning. She couldn’t stop imagining what awful thing might have happened to her sister. There were too many monsters in this town and she had no doubt that a teenager – and the Slayer’s sister to boot – would be a tempting victim for anyone who found her. And that was still ignoring the fact that there was a hell god set on hunting her sister down. She just couldn’t let herself think that Glory had won – had captured her sister – because it would leave her devastated, and right now she needed to be strong.



In a strange way, she almost wished Spike had been guilty, because Spike she knew how to deal with. He had been telling the truth though, she was sure of it: Spike was a terrible liar and there had been nothing duplicitous in his gaze at all. In fact, his gaze had displayed nothing more than hurt at her accusation and a softness when he noticed her worry. And somehow, despite her misgivings and everything that had happened recently, she trusted him. She believed him when he said he would not hurt Dawn, that he had only threatened her safety to hurt her, Buffy. It had been a cheap shot but perhaps she had deserved it. She had hurt him and he had lashed out. That still left her with a problem though: if Spike wasn’t involved in Dawn’s disappearance, then who was?



Her feet had led her right through town by now and into the nearest cemetery – which just happened to be the one where Spike lived. She stopped when she caught sight of his crypt and regarded it pensively. A new idea came into her head and before she could change her mind, she strode towards the crypt. She went in with only a brief knock and came to a stop in the main room. Spike was nowhere to be seen. Neither, thankfully, was Drusilla.

She hesitated, not knowing what to do now. Her plan had been to ask the vampire for help in tracking down her sister – knowing that he had every right to refuse her – but he was not here and she did not know where to find him. She resolved instead to wait for him to return and settled into the one solitary chair, looking around the room uncertainly. She did not know what she would say to the vampire, but she was desperate now and any help would be gratefully received. She went into her pocket and pulled out the only money she had on her, counting it quickly. She had a grand total of about fifteen dollars. Shoving it back in her pocket, she hoped that the incentive of helping her would be enough to win Spike over. If only he would hurry up and come home.

Getting frustrated already, she got to her feet and wandered around the crypt, stopping and listlessly flipping through an old NME magazine.

“Come on, Spike,” she spoke to herself irritably, “Where are you?!”