Some things just couldn't be rushed into. He'd learned that in recent years. Oh, he would've in his past. Would've strolled in and grabbed the largest club with the thickest metal handle and started breaking knees. Now 'caution' was his codeword. He didn't want to mess things up.

As Spike inspected the row of clubs laying flat on the counter, Buffy yelled at him. She was already on the first hole. The tall outdoor lights created a halo around her in the evening darkness.

"I'm going without you!" she called.

He waved his hand at her to go ahead. She was so far away already. No use holding her up.

The far left side of the counter had three bright red plastic toddler clubs. They looked appealing. Bulky yet lightweight. Not dangerous in the least.

"Spike?"

Annoyed, he glanced over to where Buffy was. She stood in the middle of the course, bookended by an elephant and a windmill. Her club dangled uselessly from her right hand. She looked lost.

"Why are you all the way over there?" she asked.

"Picking my club, aren't I?" he replied. He'd told her that already, hadn't he?

She wrapped her arms around herself, her club sticking up behind her back. The lights around her began to dim.  "Please come here."

Wasn't fair, her insisting that he hurry up like that. He had to go at his own pace. She should know that. Used to be her thing, after all. But now she was gonna pout and give him that sad look that made him feel like a right ass.

"Spike, please."

He wanted to go for the longest club. It was the one for adults who accompanied their children to the course. It was a no-nonsense black and came up to mid-thigh. He'd barely have to bend over to use it. And yet, the bright red children's club kept demanding his attention. Maybe that was the better choice.

"Spike, something's wrong. Haven't you realized?"

"I'm busy." He didn't look up.

"I'm hurt."

He growled. "I said I'm busy!"

*    *    *    *    *

Dawn power walked down the hallway. She should've expected that Buffy wouldn't actually take her day off what with the way things were going with Spike - and how much did she want to just thwack Spike and ask what his problem was? Buffy had vetoed that idea, though, so Dawn had kept quiet. She had a stack of studying to take care of, anyway. Her contribution to the "Save Spike From Angel" mission had put her very far behind in her classes, and she had to cram to catch up.

In fact, she had been taking notes on the latest chapter for her Mythology class when the call from Neil had come: Buffy hadn't returned from her recent - impromptu - mission. Kennedy's team reported that Buffy had been captured. They were observing from a distance now, but Buffy's status was unknown.

With Giles, Xander, and Willow away, Dawn was the senior member of the group, so the new watcher had come running to her.

And now she was running to Spike. Because any rescue mission of Buffy had to include him.

Dawn pounded on the door to Buffy and Spike's room. Well, more Buffy's room than Spike's, apparently, though they supposedly shared it. Dawn had heard all about that during the nightly trips to Felipe's. It took a few minutes for Spike to answer, and he was rubbing his eyes as he did so. She'd obviously woken him up.

He looked surprised to see her. "Dawn."

Spike's current nondustiness told Dawn that Buffy, at least, was still alive. The claim ensured that Spike's death would follow hers. If Spike was alive, Buffy was alive. "Spike," she said in way of greeting as she breezed past him to enter the living room.

"Come on in," Spike said sarcastically.

Dawn whirled around to face him. "Spike, we need your help."

"My day off, remember? Think you all can handle training without me for a bit." Spike began to walk towards the kitchen area, presumably to get some blood.

"Spike, do you know where Buffy is right now?"

He paused at the refrigerator. "Figured she was with you. That's where she usually is."

"Right," Dawn said. "Good to see you two doing so well at communicating!"

He turned with a scowl. "You got a reason for coming here, pet, or you just gonna rail on me for my relationship foibles?"

"Buffy's missing."

He didn't respond, but his expression shifted out of anger.

"Buffy's missing," Dawn repeated, taking advantage of his stunned silence. "She went on a follow-up mission, and it looks like she's been captured by some major wizard guy. We're still trying to figure out what's going on, but - "

"She went on a mission," he said softly. "And now she's been captured."

"That's what I said."

"Why haven't you all done anything? Send in the bloody troops!" He approached her with arms motioning to either side in a gesture of grand panic.

"We're running low on 'bloody troops'. Slayers aren't incredibly effective against magic-users, and our big gun - Willow - is in another continent right now."

"So just launch an all-out assault. Even a warlock'll get tired if you just throw everything at him!"

"Spike, I came here because we're gonna need your help to get to Buffy," Dawn said.

"What the fuck was Buffy doing on a mission anyway? It's her day off, too!"

"I don't know, but she probably went in to work to avoid you, you know. She's been crying to me about you every stupid night! If I know Buffy, she tried to talk to you, got rebuked, then went on some dangerous mission to take her mind off it. Maybe if you'd stop being such a baby about this whole thing - "

"Oh, is that the way of it?" Spike raised his eyebrows. "Listen, I didn't start this distance thing. Buffy's been treating me like I was a leper ever since I got out of the hospital. Me sleeping on the couch? Her idea. And every night, she goes out with you so she doesn't have to be around me. So don't bloody well lay this on me. I've been here. I've been right here!" He ran out of steam then and shrunk back, breaking eye contact with Dawn. He ran a hand through his hair. "She was in my mind, Dawn. She's seen everything and now she's... I haven't known how to talk to her."

Dawn wanted to smack herself. This wasn't the time to bring this all up. She stepped forward and put a hand on Spike's arm, trying to be comforting.

"She's been feeling the same way," Dawn said.

Spike looked up at her. His expression seemed close to breaking.

"Spike, you two can work this all out. Later. Right now, Buffy's captured and we need your help to get her back."

Spike nodded. "Right." He took a deep breath. "What's the plan?"

*    *    *    *    *

It was the smell that woke Buffy up. The air was thick with the stench of vomit and death. Opening her eyes revealed herself to be in a garden shed, chained to the wall with both hands cuffed above her head.

A figure moved in front of her, hard to make out in the darkness.

"Lance?" Buffy called, experimenting with a quick tug to her restraints. They didn't budge. "Lance, you have to let me go."

"No," a woman's voice answered. "I don't think so."

A lantern was lit, illuminating the shed. Buffy sucked in a breath at Drusilla's presence in front of her.

"Drusilla," she said.

"You've taken my William from me," Drusilla said. She wagged a finger at Buffy. "Naughty girl! Ought to stand still and let the heat roll away."

A corpse lay in the far corner of the shed - an older woman. Though the body was several days old, Buffy could clearly see the bite marks on her neck.

"You did this to Lance. Set him off to, what, bait me?"

Drusilla's eyes were wide and her smile ominous. She tilted her head at Buffy. "Worked, didn't it?" She stepped forward, moving within inches of Buffy. "Felt it. The ribbon between you and Spike. Called to me, and I came."

"The claim," Buffy said. "You could sense the claim."

The vampire tutted. "Doing what I hadn't, foolish girl. My Spike always asked. Dressing up young toddlers to bribe me into it."

"Why'd you turn him down?"

Drusilla's gaze shifted, looking at Buffy's chest. "His heart is clouded. Not sure what he wants."

Buffy hoped to avoid a session with Drusilla the Couples Counselor. "And what do you want?"

"I want my William back."

"If your plan is to get 'your William' back, why am I chained up right now?" Buffy asked.

Drusilla frowned. "Can't have my Willliam while he's stuck to you. Glue's all murky."

Right. The claim.

"But," Drusilla smiled. "I've found ways around that, dear sun. Lot of your blood, bit of mine, a night of dirt, and you shall rise." She laughed. "Can't wait to catch the rabbit!"

While the rabbit part of the statement went right past Buffy, she recognized the significance of what was being said: Drusilla was planning to turn Buffy.

Drusilla stepped forward, tracing a sharp nail down Buffy's cheek. "Want to play first. Such a firm young tart." Drusilla's hand flowed down Buffy's neck to her breasts and further down. Buffy gasped and clamped her legs together, drawing herself against the wall as much as possible.

"Dru, what did you do with the girls?" she asked quickly, hoping to distract Drusilla away from that.

Drusilla's hand stopped just below Buffy's navel. She looked up at Buffy with a devious grin. "Delicious dumplings. Couldn't waste them."

"They're all dead?" Buffy asked. She knew it. She knew it as soon as she'd seen Drusilla, but she hadn't wanted to believe it.

"Oh!" Drusilla threw her hands up as if in surprise. Then she turned to rummage in one of the darkened corners of the shed. "Almost forgot."

Buffy swallowed nervously when Drusilla emerged from the shadows with a cattle prod. It immediately called up memories of, well, the last time she'd seen Drusilla with a cattle prod.

Drusilla perked her shoulders up and grinned tightly. "Happy memories."

She thrust the cattle prod at Buffy's side. Buffy jerked at the jolt of electricity - much more than she'd remembered. She doubled over as best as the chains allowed her to.

Drusilla bounced. "Harder memories."

*    *    *    *    *

Buffy's missing. Buffy's missing. Buffy's missing.

It's as if Spike's mind was stuck on repeat. Maybe if the thought whirled around his head enough, he'd actually start doing something about it instead of helplessly panicking.

Shouldn't he have known? Through the claim or just...through knowing?

Things hadn't been going well at all between them. He knew that. He hadn't been sure of how to fix it or if he even wanted to. After everything with Angel, his grip on the world felt so tenuous. Putting down roots with Buffy seemed more fantasy than reality. She was distant from him; he was distant from her. The claim should make them closer than ever before, but there might as well be oceans between them.

However, while he hadn't been sure of what he wanted, he knew he didn't want this.

Dawn sat down at one of the tables in the operations room. Neil swiftly laid a cup of coffee in front of her.

"Sit," she said.

"Prefer to stand." His hands were on his hips, and his instinct was to move. "Where's the cavalry? Sun's down, so I can head out with them - "

"That's not what we need you for."

"Maybe it's not about what you need," he snapped.

Dawn sighed but held his gaze. Of course, Dawn never backed down.

"We need to get in contact with Buffy to figure out what's going on," Dawn said. "We're low on info, and Kennedy's team can't even begin an approach without being instantly spotted."

"Not sure of my part in this..."

"We can take advantage of the claim to establish a line of communication to Buffy."

Spike paused. That sounded nutters.

Dawn kept talking, "The claim allows you to share dreams anyway. This would be a slight variation on that. Once we get the lowdown, we can more effectively plan our rescue."

"Wait, back up to the sharing dreams part."

"You haven't noticed?"

He shook his head.

She rolled her eyes. "If you two are sleeping at the same time, the claim kinda...joins your minds up so you're sharing the same dreamspace." She frowned. "You've been sharing dreams for a month and haven't noticed?"

"Well, it's a dream, isn't it? Not like I'm ever lacking for Buffy in my normal dreams so it doesn't exactly seem too odd to have her always there."

It was more than that, though, and he knew it. He strained his mind to think of any of his recent dreams, but the current crisis had sent them scattering from his memory.

Dawn looked as if she wanted to say more, but she pursed her lips and continued. "Obviously, we can't tell if Buffy's asleep now or not, but we can activate your end of the dreamspace and sort of insert it into her waking perception."

"Come again?"

"You'll be asleep. Buffy won't. Buffy will see you. You'll talk. You wake up and let us know what's going on."

"Is this like when she prowled around my head?"

"Completely different. Think of this like astral projection or something. Just, really indirect and only Buffy will be able to see you."

"And who's gonna be doing this bout of magic?"

Dawn stood. "That would be me. With Willow and Sofia both unavailable, I'm the next go-to." She waved a hand. "It's super-easy. No need to be worried."

And yet, Spike was.