A/N: Well, I hope this fic is going as good as I hope. I'm in love with this fic, and I hope you can stick around for it when it progresses. It's going to be good, and the sequel will be better! This was beta'd by xaphania and thansks to PaganBaby for her awesomeness too!

Chapter 3

Buffy was restless and felt the irresistible urge to walk through the streets of the city, extending her Slayer senses outward for any sign of Spike. She had been searching for about an hour, never knowing if she was getting closer to him, or further away. She didn't even know if he was in L.A. She needed something more specific, she needed someone who could help her find him quickly, before Angel could. She stopped by Caritas to see if Lorne could tell her anything, but Lorne knew nothing else and he seemed to be annoyed with her. She didn't want to irritate her friend any more than she already had, so she just left.

The more she thought about what Angel was doing behind her back, the more she hated him. He had never done anything right by her in their past, and it just kept getting worse. First it was the whole 'happiness' clause, going off on a killing spree, murdering Jenny, attempting to murder all her friends, including herself. Then, when he did get his soul back, he just left her anyway, not even giving her a choice in the matter.

After he left, there was the following around and staying invisible to her while he could see her whenever he wanted to. That pissed her off to no end. Then he comes around a couple months ago and hans her a necklace, so volatile that it took down the one person who had never left her alone.


And now he wanted to take Spike away again?

Who the hell did he think he was? He hadn't been a real part of her life for a little over four years, and now he thought he could just run it, just like the thought he could when they were together. When she had actually loved him?

Like she would let that happen. He didn't have any right poking around her life, trying to make it better despite what she wanted. She wasn't going to let him control her every move anymore.

She wanted Spike back, and nothing less than her death would stop her.

She was so lost and alone without him, fighting a neverending war without her rock, her everything, was almost pointless. If she never found him, she wouldn't commit suicide, but she would live her life like a shell until death took her. No emotion, nothing but fighting until she threw her last punch.


With Spike around, though... she had a reason to smile, to be happy and to love again. To feel something other than the emptiness that consumed her while he was away.

She needed something to make this search easier. With one thought in mind, she dug her cell phone out of her pocket and flipped it open, dialing the number she knew by memory.

“Hey, Willow?” Buffy asked when a female voice came through the speaker. “I need a favor, will you help me?

“Of course, I will, Buffy. What do you need?”

“Can you do a locator spell?” Buffy held in her sigh, knowing that when she told Willow that Spike was alive, it could go either way. Her best friend was never a big fan of her relationship with the blonde vampire, but she knew Willow would do it reluctantly. “Spike is alive, and I want to find him.”

"Oh my God, Buffy! That's great! I mean, it is... isn't it? Great, I mean. If— if that's what you want, it's great." Willow stammered, not really knowing how to react. On the one hand, Willow was nervous. Spike was a huge factor in Buffy's life, she knew that. But on the other hand, it was Spike. The vampire that had tried to kill her numerous times. He had done lots of bad things in his past, and it made her nervous to know that he was out there. What if he didn't have a soul? Without the chip in his brain, he could be doing God-knows-what, and Buffy wouldn't be able to stop him. They were too evenly matched to defeat each other, and it would kill Buffy to know that he went back to his evil ways. Deciding to do what Buffy wanted, trusting her decision, she reluctantly agreed to help.


“Do you know where he is at all? Like the general area?”

“Of course I think it's great, Wills. I love him,” Buffy didn't hold in her sigh this time, feeling defeated. “And no, I don't know anything. I don't know how he is adjusting, I don't know if he is mad at me, and its all driving me crazy. Do you think you can do it? Help me, I mean?” she asked, her heart heavy with hope.

“Yeah,” Willow smiled, wanting to do anything to make her friend happy. Willow noticed the huge depression Buffy had gone into before she went to England, and from everything that Dawn had told her, it was only getting worse. If finding Spike was what Buffy needed to be happy, Willow wasn't going to stand in her way. Willow just hoped that Spike was still on their side, so Buffy wouldn't have to kill the second vampire to work his way into her heart. “I can do it. I'll call you back in about two hours with information. Talk to you then!”

Then said their goodbyes then hung up, Willow going directly to work and Buffy smiling as she made her way back to the hotel. She was two hours away from knowing exactly where Spike was, and it made Buffy feel a thousand times better than she had the day before.

Buffy walked along the path, her eyes on the sidewalk as she thought about what she would do when she saw him. Lots of different scenarios played through her mind, but not one of them was different. She would just have to wait and find out what would happen when the time came. Thinking about it would only drive her crazy.

“Buffy?” a male voice came from behind her.

She knew it was Angel, and her anger for the vampire surged. She didn't want to talk to him at all, but she had to make him think that she knew nothing about his plan. Instead, she turned around, giving him a small smile as she kicked a pebble on the ground with her shoe. “Hi, Angel.”

“I have to tell you something. I was trying to tell you last night, but you were... well, you know.”

Buffy shrugged, then started to walk beside him back to the Hyperion. “What is it? And please, tell me it involves some major violence.” 'Possibly some 'accidental' violence I could inflict on you...'

Angel chuckled as he put his hands in his pockets, trying to occupy them so he wouldn't reach out to touch her. He wished she still wanted him the way he wanted her, but he knew that would never happen again. He had to live with that fact, and it wasn't easy for him. “Well, it does involve violence, but not in the way you're thinking. What I mean to say is that ever since Willow did that spell to awaken the other Slayers around the world, there has been a huge increase in violence around the world.

“Mostly girls, beating people into unconsciousness all because 'they were mean' to them. There are some instances of murder, and some of girls not even leaving their rooms. Probably afraid of what they’ve turned into. Wesley and I have done a check for anything related in L.A., and we found about fifteen girls who could potentially be Slayers. I was thinking we should go check it out.”

Buffy nodded, letting the newfound information sink in. So, some of the new Slayers were getting drunk on power, and she had no clue how to settle them down. She had to make another phone call to England. But this time, to Giles. See where he was on the whole 'Slayer Overpopulation' crisis.

“Okay,” Buffy said, picking up her pace to get to the hotel faster. “I think we should call Giles. He'll know what we should do.”

Spike wasn't going anywhere she couldn't get to him, so she decided it was okay to deal with the matter at hand. She could continue her search when the matter was resolved.

Besides, she had to wait for Willow anyway.

TBC