Made by nmcil






Chapter Twelve:







A dark-haired man pulled open the door to Starbucks, allowing his pigtailed daughter to hop out happily. She looked adorable in her puffy red jacket, which matched her reddish cheeks; she would make a beautiful Little Red Riding Hood. The mother walked out holding a toddler sitting on her hip. She engaged in a conversation with her husband while their daughter trotted before them, humming some children’s tune.

Suddenly, a cappuccino was right in Buffy's line of sight. She blinked before looking up at Spike, who was sipping from his hot chocolate. With a grateful smile, she reached for her drink and let the heat warm her freezing hands. Another cold night in cold Edinburgh.

"I'm thinking this night will be a bust, too," she said, taking a long swallow from her cappuccino.

"Night is young. It's still ten."

"It's been young the last four nights and we've got no lead yet."

"We will." There was a slurping sound as Spike drank the last drop from his cup. "Would be much easier if we knew her new hotel."

"Maybe she's staying with one of those new friends of hers," Buffy said. Reem had apparently been hanging out with the wrong crowd for a while, a fact Spike had discovered a few days after he and Buffy had parted on bad terms after that rainy night. She wondered if Spike would have told her about it if they hadn't had that fight. He probably wouldn't, seeing as she'd always been the one pushing him for new information regarding Reem. His obsession with solving this problem on his own was driving Buffy insane.

Tossing his empty cup in the trashcan, Spike ran a hand over his gelled head. "Maybe. Told you, only time I've seen her and her chums was in that dance club."

"Where you failed again." She tried to sound teasing, but Spike's grimace told her she didn’t succeed.

"Wouldn't have if she didn't point the bloody security at me. So sick of having them up my bum every time I get a chance to catch the bitch. By the time I got them out of my hair, she and her lot escaped. And it was already dawn."

Buffy nodded, thinking that if she'd been around, she would have been able to get out of the club and follow Reem to her new hotel.

The plan was to track down Reem and her hoodlums, which wasn't that easy. She eyed the people in the street in frustration, unsure if she'd recognize the kids they were searching for from the sketchy descriptions Spike had given her. And for some reason, every passing blonde girl looked like Reem, making Buffy pause to check if it was really her before walking again.

It would have been a piece of cake if they'd known the kids' hangout place, because searching for them throughout Edinburgh was like searching for a hairclip in Dawn's giant designer bag. It would have been even easier if she'd reported the problem to her Slayers, but the recent Tuscany dilemma was taking too much of everybody's time back at the castle.

She threw Spike an angry glance. If he hadn't lost his cell phone, it'd have helped them a lot when searching for Reem and her friends separately, a much easier way than the old “we'll meet here at this hour” plan.

Spike grabbed her arm, and she looked at him questioningly. He nodded with his chin to a boy in the crowd. "He's one of them."

Buffy grinned. "Finally."



~*~*~*~



A grimace played across Buffy's face as she and Spike walked into the crowded club. The smoke and heat were suffocating, giving her an urge to take off her coat. A live band was playing up on the stage, and most of the people inside were on the dance floor while a good number sat at the bar. The fried food and Cokes reminded her of the Bronze; this club was obviously a hang-out for teenagers and young adults.

She had to stand on her toes and put her mouth right up to Spike's ear to be heard over the crowd. "Are you sure they're here?"

"That's what the kid said. It's another teen club. I could see them hanging around here," Spike yelled over the loud music. "Oh, and you don't have to yell. Vampire here."

Buffy shrugged.

They descended the soiled stairs and mingled with the mass of people. Everyone was bumping into each other as they danced, and the sweaty bodies made Buffy grateful that she'd kept her coat on.

Spike abruptly stopped and jerked his head toward a group of teenagers standing near the stage. They looked normal for troublemakers, but then she didn't know what to expect. The picture she'd painted in her head was a group of boys and girls wearing leather, having polished nails, and smoking cigarettes. She glanced at Spike and almost rolled her eyes at herself.

One of the boys recognized Spike before they reached them. He muttered a warning to his friends, and then all six of them braced themselves and looked at Buffy and Spike warily.

Buffy tried a friendly smile. "Can we have a few words?" Her question was lost in the loud music, and she glanced helplessly at the band, as if begging them to stop for a minute. She stepped closer to a redheaded girl and yelled in her ear, "Can we talk outside?"

The girl stared at Buffy for a second, and then looked at a tall boy behind her, nodding her head toward the exit. The boy, apparently their leader, studied Buffy before shrugging. He gestured for his gang to follow him outside, and Buffy and Spike walked behind them silently.

Buffy almost thought she had gone deaf when they stepped out of the club. She wondered why the teens had been standing so close to the stage when they weren't dancing. She looked at them closely, remembering Spike's words about the boys outnumbering the girls and about the redhead being the one Reem had danced with at the other club.

Buffy fixed her gaze on Tall Boy, knowing it was better to address the leader from the start. "We're here to talk about Reem."

The boys uncomfortably shifted their feet while their leader lifted his chin and looked down his nose at her. "We thought so."

"Good. Then you might as well tell us where she is, so everyone can happily go their separate ways."

He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall with a smug smile. "What's in it fer us?"

Buffy heard Spike's low growl and placed a hand on his arm to stop any irrational reaction. "How much do you want?" She could feel Spike's shocked stare boring into her head.

The boy licked his lips in a show of childlike mischief. "A thousand pounds." His followers gasped.

"Are you bloody…"

"Fine," Buffy cut in, her eyes holding the boy's in a firm stare.

"Buffy, don't listen to this tosser…"

"So, where is she?" Buffy asked, interrupting Spike again. She gave him a fleeting look, reminding him that he'd agreed to let her handle this on her own.

The boy extended a hand. "The money first."

Buffy reached inside her pocket and brought out a credit card. She handed it to him silently and watched as he examined it to check if it was fake. "So, yer just handin' me yer credit card?"

"You can take all the money in there."

Wide eyes gazed at her like she had just grown horns. Buffy stood her ground and paid no attention to anyone but the gang leader, who appeared as shocked as everybody else. When the stunned silence went on longer than she'd expected, she explained with a sigh, "I care about that girl."

The boy looked at the card suspiciously and then back at Buffy. "This doesn't sound right."

"If you have doubts, let's go to the nearest machine, and you can check for yourself."

All of a sudden, Reem's redheaded friend jumped between Buffy and Tall Boy. "She went with Arnold," she blurted out.

"Tina!" her leader exclaimed in displeasure, tightening his grip on the card.

Tina looked nervously at Buffy, apparently scared to disobey Tall Boy but unable to keep the truth any longer. "Reem has a dream of being a doctor, and Arnold's aunt's a neurologist. Now she's with Arnold's aunt looking at universities."

Buffy opened her mouth to comment, when Spike's suspicious voice interrupted. "You're lying."

Tina looked at Spike defensively. "It's the truth."

Buffy noticed Spike looking at something other than Tina and followed his line of sight. She caught the pleased expression on Tall Boy's face before he tried to mask it with a casual look.

Spike pointed a finger at him. "Boy there knows the truth." He walked closer to Tall Boy and grabbed him by the collar. "Tell us where the bint is."

No answer was given, and Spike's expression threatened to kill, so another boy among the group started to rock back on his heels, eyes on the ground. "She is with Arnold." All eyes turned toward him. "But… he took her to his flat."

Tina's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why would he lie about his aunt?"

The boy glanced weakly at her. "He was trying to prove he could do a virgin Muslim girl after Sam got her a bit of green. Just for a laugh, like." His eyes landed on the leader, Sam, and he bit his lower lip in a show of apology.

Sam snorted, pushing Spike's hand away. He fixed his collar while looking at Spike with unwise bravery.

"Is that true?" Buffy's voice was heavy with disgust, making no effort at all to hide her displeasure.

Sam shrugged with a smirk, unaware of Tina's hand as she snatched the credit card from him. He let out a startled exclamation, which Tina ignored as she handed the credit card to Buffy.

Buffy shook her head. "Keep it. It was fake anyway."

"You tricked me?" Sam had the nerve to look deceived.

Feeling her stomach clench more in frustration than fury, Buffy rammed the heel of her hand into his sternum. She watched him cower in pain before her and upturned her mouth. "Girls are not games, you jerk."

She turned her attention to Tina. "Can you take us to Arnold's place?"

Tina nodded slowly, glancing at her friends with shock and abhorrence.



~*~*~*~



Buffy and Spike barged through the door with Tina trailing after them. Arnold's apartment appeared less Victorian and more modern, making Buffy feel like she was back in America. She eyed the turned-on TV, the leftover of a McDonald's meal, and the wide range of CDs next to the big stereo. Typical teenage boy apartment.

A lean, dark-haired boy arrived in haste from a room to their left. He cast frightened eyes at the broken lock of the apartment door before looking accusingly at Buffy and Spike. "Here, I can hardly cover the rent delivering fast food dinners, now I've got to pay the landlord to fix the lock on the door!"

Tina twisted her lips. "Yer dad bought ye this flat."

Arnold's attention snapped to her, just noticing her. "Tina, what's happening?"

"I'll tell you what's going on." Spike punched Arnold's jaw, and he tumbled back from the force of the blow, falling to the floor. Spike grabbed him by the neck and stared him down.

Buffy stepped forward to stand next to Spike, looking at Arnold's alarmed expression. "Where's Reem?"

"Huh?" Arnold's eyes hadn't left Spike's, probably in fear he would get hit again.

"Bleached blonde, thin, and Middle Eastern," Buffy said in a hard tone, feeling no sympathy for the boy who was about to pee his pants.

Arnold choked, grabbing Spike's hand on his neck in a desperate attempt to free himself. Spike took the hint and let him go, only to take hold of his collar and pull him near so they were face to face. "Now tell us, where's the girl?"

"I-I dunno."

Spike punched him again, making his head snap back and his body fall to the floor yet again. Arnold's bleeding teeth started to chatter, and he withdrew from Spike in horror. "I swear. I know nothing."

"Your friends told us she was with you last time they saw her," Buffy said, glancing at Tina, who nodded in confirmation.

Arnold trembled on the floor, looking at Spike cautiously. "Seriously, I don't know where she went."

Spike pulled him up roughly and barked, "But she was here, now wasn't she?"

"Yes, yes, she was," Arnold stammered.

"What did ye do to her, Arnold?" Tina gritted out. Every muscle in her face was rigid, and she looked as if the only thing in the world she wanted was to pop him in the nose.

Arnold's eyes pleaded for mercy. "I didn't do a thing."

"But you intended to," Buffy said with disgust.

He looked down, shamefaced. "Yes." Then he returned his frantic gaze to Spike. "But I didn't. Believe me."

Impatient, Spike shook him hard. "Where is she?"

A sob escaped Arnold's mouth, and tears began to gather in his eyes. "I dunno."

Buffy sighed, crossing her arms. "Tell us what happened." Her eyes narrowed. "And no more stalling."

"She… she was strong. Too strong," Arnold choked out, the tears that were gathering finally falling. "She knocked me out and then buggered off! I dunno where she went after that. Honest."

Spike glanced at Buffy briefly before he knocked Arnold unconscious with another strong blow.



~*~*~*~



Buffy touched the ballerina trophy on top of Tina's console cabinet as she and Spike waited for Tina to come out of her bedroom. Reem had been staying here after Spike had broken into her hotel room and stolen her passport; she was either done with hotels or was a little short on cash.

Buffy turned around and found Spike making himself comfortable on the couch, taking out his lighter and pack of cigarettes. She frowned at him and shook her head no. His lips twisted in displeasure, but he returned the lighter and pack of cigarettes to his pocket.

Hearing the click of Tina's bedroom door, they turned their attention to the girl coming out with a Coach backpack. She handed it to Buffy with a thoughtful expression. "I wonder why she never came back. Maybe she thought I planned for her to get raped as well, but I thought she'd come back for her bag, at least."

Buffy tightened her grip on Reem's backpack. "I bet she wanted to, but couldn't." She set the bag on a table and searched inside, feeling Spike peering over her shoulder. There were a few clothes, beauty products, an iPod and other uninteresting items. She searched the side pockets and found Reem's visa, credit card, and ID. Glancing at Spike, she figured that Reem's disappearance must have been against her will, since leaving those things behind would be irresponsible and very unlikely. Their encounter with Arnold didn't change the fact that Reem had probably been kidnapped… or possibly killed.

Buffy pulled the zipper shut. "Thanks for the bag."

"I hope she's all right," Tina mumbled sorrowfully.

Buffy looked at her, noticing how her eyes were glistening on the edges. "When did you guys meet?" she asked, curious.

"Weeks ago, maybe a month ago, I'm not sure. At Burger King. She was too uptight, probably ’cause of how she was brought up. I couldn't stand it; I wanted her to loosen up a bit. To be a part of the group. I didn't think Sam would take her in, but weirdly, he did." Looking at her feet with regret, she continued, "Now I know why."

"She was nothing but a game." Spike held up his lighter to the cigarette sticking out of his mouth. He exhaled deeply, and a cloud of smoke rose in front of his face. "Wankers like that like themselves a challenge."

Buffy shook her head at his poor manners, and Spike replied by exhaling more smoke into the air. She ignored him and ran a soothing hand down the distressed girl's back. "I think it's better if you stop hanging out with those guys, Tina. I don't think their idea of fun is the same as yours."

"I wish I never dragged her down that road." She looked at Buffy with sincere guilt and disgrace. "But she seemed so desperate for a friend, y'know?"

Buffy's throat closed over any response she could have made. She understood the loneliness caused by running away from family and friends, staying away for months without a confidant. That probably wouldn't have happened to Reem if she hadn't been a Slayer; she wouldn't have been capable of running away and eventually falling victim to sick teenage boys' traps.

Anguish flared briefly in Tina's gaze. "If you find her, can you tell her I'm sorry?"

Buffy looked at her with sympathy. "I promise. And, hey, I'm sure she appreciates you letting her stay at your place when she needed it."

"It was a laugh having her stay over. I thought she'd left the hotels 'cause she got skint, but then…" Tina glanced at Spike, who snorted.

"If you ladies are done with the chit-chat, I'll be out in the hall," Spike grumbled, raising an eyebrow at Buffy before going out.

"I better go." Buffy smiled kindly at Tina. "Take care."

Tina half smiled, shoving her hands into her pockets, her slumped shoulders mirroring Buffy's. Sighing, Buffy hoisted the backpack onto her shoulders and walked out of the apartment.

She found Spike sitting on the steps outside the building, still smoking but staring into space. She sat next to him, bringing her knees up and wrapping her arms around her legs. She noted the weary lines on his face and could relate. Every chance he missed to catch Reem meant another failure at rescuing Angel, and if anyone knew how bitter failure tasted, it was Buffy.

Placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, Buffy and Spike held each other's gazes. "Guess I'm taking this to the castle," she said. "Our only solution right now is magic."

With a lopsided smile, Spike closed two fingers on the cigarette and pulled it out of his mouth. He dropped it to the step below his and ground it out with his foot. "I'll finally get to see that castle of yours, then?"

Buffy frowned. "There's no need for that. The Slayers can do the locator spell while we keep hitting the street."

"That’s useless, Buffy. ’Sides, I'd like to know about that part of your life." His smile grew warmer.

She felt the usual surge of mixed emotions that went through her whenever Spike expressed a desire to learn more about her current life. There was also a blend of discomfort and fear at the thought of them coming to surface. However, she couldn't refuse his offer after what he’d just said.



~*~*~*~




Buffy set a meeting with the squad, warning them not to utter a word to the man she was bringing tomorrow, not even a hello. They were also ordered not to speak one word to Xander about a strange man visiting the castle, which she justified by the fact that Xander was no longer part of their organization. From her place in the center dais, she could see the raised eyebrows and confused expressions, and her fingers tightened around the steel rail she was holding until her knuckles went white. She'd expected some questions or complaints, but none came. It was a blessing that her Slayers had so much faith in her that they never questioned the methods she took, even when they appeared hesitant about some of them.

Not wanting to push her luck, she decided to change the subject to other troubling matters. "So, is the group going to Tuscany set and ready?" She wrapped her arms around herself, directing her question to Leah.

"Yah. They'll be heading there in a few hours."

Buffy nodded. "Good. Hope everything is fine over there." She went down the stairs with a sigh. Two days ago, they had lost contact with the squad in Tuscany. All the computer screens showed nothing. Not only that, but it seemed that there was no life over there at all. Even their locator spells couldn't find any trace of a Slayer.

She looked at her watch. It was way past midnight, and she was late.

Again.



~*~*~*~



Buffy brushed a strand of hair back, gazing out her window at the empty street. She didn't expect to see anyone outside at five a.m. It always looked boring and lifeless at night without the wandering people and passing cars. Sometimes she missed the sweet denial in Sunnydale. It was different in Edinburgh. People knew perfectly well that monsters lurked at night, which was why not many of them left the house after sunset without a noticeable weapon.

She glanced at her equally empty bed illuminated by the moonlight. She'd just come back home to find Xander asleep in his old room with Andrea's crib next to him, both looking neglected in their slumber.

She gripped her pajamas tightly as her fight with Xander yesterday echoed in her head. She'd been too busy for her family; days spent at the castle and nights spent with Spike searching for Reem and her friends. It didn't help that her neglect had started right after her relationship with Xander had jumped to a new level.

She sighed, feeling the weariness from so much pressure all the way down her bones. She thought about going to Xander's room and placing tender kisses on his and Andrea's foreheads, but her eyes were suddenly hypnotized by the dawn. Xander would be up soon, and she didn't feel like facing him when he was awake, at least, not when her head was spinning so badly. So, she left her place by the window and went to bed. She had to get all the sleep she could before meeting Spike later at sunset.



~*~*~*~