~Part 1~

She liked the San Diego Library.  They had clean bathrooms, books and computers with on-line access.  The three things she missed most about home
well three of the things she missed.  What she missed most were her friends. She had been on the road for nearly a month and she still missed them
everyday.

She sat at the computer and accessed the special link she had set up before she left.  She checked her email.  At first, her mailbox was filled with frantic messages from all of them.

'Where are you?'

'Are you OK?'

'Why did you leave?'

That was the hardest kind to ignore.  She could hear the pain in those messages, the pain that slowly turned into resignation for lack of response.

Today there were only two messages.

'I know you are reading this, you are my heart, T'

'We all love you, Giles/Xander/Anya/Buffy'

Willow brushed the tears from her eyes.  She told herself for the thousandth time that she had no choice.  She had to go through with her plan.

She spent the remainder of her time on line in a thorough review of all the local and national news services. She noticed a small item datelined
Parkersville, CA.  It might be nothing, she thought, but she couldn't risk not checking it out.

Walking out through the Library main entrance, she passed within ten feet of two police officers.  Although their daily log included a missing persons
report, with picture, on Willow Rosenberg, neither gave a second glance at the slim girl with short mouse brown hair, brown eyes and heavy dark framed
glasses.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Willie's Place was full of smoke, vamps and vamp wannabe's as usual.  Spike made his way to the bar fending off a couple of haggard looking female
vampires.

"The usual?" Willie asked.

Spike nodded as he sat on a stool and took out a cigarette.

Willie returned and slid a glass of dark red liquid and a slip of paper in front of him.

Spike took a sip of his drink and looked at the paper.

'Call me, W.' followed by a San Diego number.

He finished his drink in two swallows, slipped the paper into his pocket and made his way to the door.

~~~~~~~~~

Willow was thinking about the Lit exam she'd just completed and not her surroundings as she walked across campus.  She didn't notice the dark car as
it pulled up beside her matching her pace.  The window slid down and a familiar voice called out.

"Willow, please get into the car, it's important."

She opened the door and slid in, "Angel what are you doing here?"

"Can we talk at your house?"

She nodded, "my folks are traveling most of the time now.  We'd be alone there."
 
 

~Part 2~

They settled onto the couch in Willow's living room.

"What's so important?  Why did you have to see me alone?" Willow asked.

"I think you are in serious danger, something that could affect Buffy, Giles and all the rest."

"I don't understand, why me?  I mean Buffy's always a target for the evil uglies it comes with the job, but the rest of us aren't worth the effort."

"Do you still have the amulet that Buffy gave you last birthday, the green one?"

"Sure, I wear it most days," she said pulling a silver chain holding a lightly carved green stone from around her neck.

"It was just a fluke that it ended up at Giles' shop so that Buffy could buy it.  It's part of a collection of eight stones that have some sort of special power when they're all together."

"Someone is after the whole set.  They've been tracking them down for the last six months.  So far they've picked up three, killing at least eight people in the process."

"The third piece was taken in LA, that's how I got involved."

~~~~~~~~~~~

Cordelia was making coffee when it hit, one minute she was fuming to herself about the inability of men; dead or alive, to make the office coffee the next
she was slammed with the painful image of a human slaughterhouse.

She dropped the pot of water and staggered, catching herself on the edge of her desk.  She screamed and began to sob.  Wesley and Angel came running.

"Oh my God, it's terrible, so much blood, so much blood," she managed to get out between heaving sobs.

"What, where?" Angel said catching her around the waist and lowering her to a chair.

"So many dead, so much blood, apartment house Smith and Rogers, third floor."

The frequency of her sobs began to decrease, " go, go I'll be OK, hurry, " she said motioning Angel toward the door.

It was worse than he had pictured it, he found bodies spread from the door of the apartment through to the back bedroom.  Some of the bodies had been so
violently torn that it took him several circuits of the rooms to determine that four people had died.  While searching the kitchen, he heard a sound from a large under counter cabinet.  Tearing open the door, he pulled out a teenaged boy.

After calming the boy down, Angel decided that it would be best for neither of them to be found at the apartment.  They ended up at a seedy all night diner.

The boy said he was a member of a family of Gypsies who acted as custodians of several important magic artifacts.  One of them being a small carved red
stone on a thin silver chain, the centerpiece of the collection.

They began hearing rumors that someone or something was asking questions about the location of the red amulet.  As a precaution, they sent one of the
family to another part of the city with the amulet.  The rest of the family gathered in the apartment and spread the word that the amulet could be found
there.

He was unclear about the details of the sudden assault on the apartment, it had happened too fast.  The only faces he saw looked human but some of the
group were masked.  There were ten family members in the apartment, the intruders were very careful not to seriously injure any of them.  They lined up their captives and instead of asking about the location of the amulet, they did something strange.

A small masked figure was brought into the room.  The figure placed a hand on each captive, he nodded after touching four of them.  These four were held
and the rest released.  The boy was too frightened to leave and hid in the kitchen cabinet.

From his hiding place, he could hear the interrogation of the four remaining captives.  The intruders said that the four knew where the amulet was and
would tell them where.  Then the screams started, finally he heard one of the Gypsies tell the location.  In a few minutes, the screaming stopped and he
heard the intruders leave.

Angel delivered the boy to another group from the same clan.  They thanked Angel and confirmed that the amulet's custodian had been killed and the
amulet taken.

Some research led Angel to the two earlier thefts and deaths.  He couldn't determine the exact powers that could be exerted by the full set, but he knew
that it was something serious.

~~~~~~~~~~

"You think these guys will be coming after me?" Willow asked.

Angel nodded.

"Why aren't you telling this to the whole gang so we can come up with a plan to protect the amulet?"

"Based on the way they handled the Gypsies, I think that would put all of you in deadly danger.  The enemy, whoever they are, are using some kind of
psychic powers to determine who knows about the amulet.  Those that know die and pretty horribly, those that don't aren't bothered.

"I think the only thing you can do is disappear with the amulet without telling anyone until I can get to the bottom of this."

Willow looked unconvinced," you really think this is necessary?"

"I think you can't take the chance that it is."

Within an hour, Willow had gathered what she could from the things she had left at home.  She intended to get as much cash as she could from her savings
account on the way out of town.

They were driving away in Angels car when she asked for the last time, "are you sure that I can't tell anyone?"

"Not if you value their lives."

Angel dropped her off at a bus station two towns away.

"Don't try and contact anyone, including me.  Here's a number to call if you need any help or need to tell me anything," Angel said handing her a slip of
paper.

He embraced her and whispered, " I know this will be rough, but I know you can do it."
 

~Part 3~

She picked a destination at random taking several buses to cover her tracks.  When she arrived at her destination, she decided to change her appearance as well.  Some hair dye and having her prescription copied from her regular glasses and put into some heavy dark frames did the trick.  She thought she
could walk by any of her friends on the street and they wouldn't know her, except maybe for Tara.

She thought about Tara a lot in the first days on the run.  She missed her so much, she'd never been away from her for a single night since they realized
they were in love.  Soon, however, she learned to push thoughts about her old life into a special place.  A place she could keep separated from her life on
the road, except sometimes late at night when she was feeling very, very alone.

She knew she couldn't just run and hide, she could apply her talent for research to this problem.  She could find out who was pursuing the amulets and why, and how to stop them.

Camping out at libraries and Internet cafés she searched reference works for a hint of the true purpose of the amulet set.  She also screened news reports
for thefts from museums, private collectors and magic shops as well as reports of extremely violent killings.

After almost a month, she didn't know what surprised her more the number of robberies of historical or cultural artifacts or the number of people violntly done in by their fellow men.

~~~~~~~~~

Willow was sitting on the bed in her furnished room, more exactly Alice Carroll's furnished room, when she heard the phone in the hall ring.   She rushed into the hall and snatched up the receiver while calling out, "I've got it!"

"Hello Angel?"

"Angel?  No, this is the bloody first team, what can I do for you?"

"Spike, is that you?  You're the contact who's going to help me?"

"Don't be so damned pleased about it, our broody friend obviously figured I had the mobility, brains and athletic ability to do the job."

"You forgot modesty," Willow responded.

"Humility is my best sodding feature," he replied.

"I need to get to a place called Parkersville to check out the theft of an artifact from the local museum, can you help?"

"I'll be there with bells on, I could use a road trip.  Things are getting bloody boring around here, with all the long faces.  You'd think they'd all lost their best friend or sommat."

There was no sound from the other end of the line.

"Will, I'm sorry, sometimes a bloke's mouth runs away.  I'm sorry."

Willow sighed, "Ok, when can you get here?"

Willow gave him a nearby meeting place and they agreed on a time later that night.

Willow paced nervously checking her watch, he was ten minutes late already.  She looked up as she heard a rumbling sound.  Speeding up the street came a large low slung black motorcycle.  It squealed to a stop in front of her.  The rider in black leather flipped up his dark full-face mask revealing Spike's crooked grin.

He tossed her a smaller version of his helmet, " hop on red we haven't got all night."
 

~Part 4~

"I'm not getting on that thing. What do you think I am one of your leather biker chicks?"

"I think you need a ride to bloody Parkersville and this is it. A leather mini skirt and vest wouldn't hurt luv, without the red hair ." he said shaking his head.

Willow fumed but she knew he was right, about the ride at least. She put on the helmet and got on the seat behind him.

"OK, grab on, " Spike said over his shoulder.

She looked puzzled.

"You are a motorcycle virgin aren't you, you have to get out more. Put your arms around me like this," he said reaching back with both hands to pull her arms around his waist.

She didn't have time to protest before he kicked the motor to life and sped down the deserted street.

The sudden acceleration caused her to tighten her grip. Her hands pressed against his hard flat stomach, her chest pressed into his back. She noticed the smell of his leather jacket and heard the faint creak as he shifted in the saddle.

As they traveled through the night, an unfamiliar feeling crept over her. The darkness made her feel insulated from the world, the speed excited her and his presence made her feel safe. It wasn't such a bad feeling she thought.

~~~~~~~~~~

They pulled into a seedy looking motel on the outskirts of Parkersville just after midnight.

"Why stop here?" Willow complained. "I've got enough money for a Holiday Inn or some other nice place."

"I think we need a place where we won't stand out."

She realized he was right when the manager ignored their appearance and lack of luggage.

Once they were settled, she filled in Spike on the amulets in general and the Parkersville Museum theft in particular.

Last Sunday, thieves broke into the museum. They passed over some valuable jewelry and paintings and stole only two items from the 'primitive religion
and magic' collection. News reports described the items as carved stone necklaces one blue and one black.

"In the morning, I'm going to the museum and the local paper to see if they have pictures of the pieces. That way, I can tell if they really are part of the set, " Willow explained.

"Sounds like a plan, " Spike said stretched out on one of the two double beds.

"I guess I'll get ready to turn in, " Willow said with a pointed look at Spike.

"Why are you looking at me? Do you want a bleeding standing ovation or something?"

"I thought maybe as a gentleman you'd- "

Spike's laughter cut her off in mid sentence, " gentleman, me? Grow up red."

Angrily, Willow grabbed her shoulder bag and stalked into the bathroom.

Spike smiled as he heard her clattering and muttering.

Finally, she emerged wearing an oversized tee shirt and crawled into the vacant bed.

"Ready for bed now are we?" Spike asked with a smile.

She just frowned at him in response.

"Yes, and to get it over with, I rinsed out my underwear and my underpants and bra are hanging from the shower rod. Now you can make all the embarrassing jokes you want."

He gave a gentle smile, " just trying to have you off a little, don't take everything so seriously."

Getting up he said, " sweet dreams, I think I'll have a look around for some of the places catering to my fellow creatures of the night. Maybe I can scare up some information."

He asked her to bolt and chain the door behind him. She got out of bed and followed him to the door.

He gave her an appreciative look as he took in her slim figure and long legs.

She blushed and felt a little thrill.

What was that all about, she thought to herself as she locked up behind him.

She fell asleep with a smile on her face for the first time since she'd been on the road.
 

~Part 5~

"What are you trying to say?" Tara said tears running down her cheeks.

Willow couldn't speak, she just stared at her lover. Her heart was breaking. She focused on the tears.

Tara didn't make any effort to wipe her eyes, the tears ran down her cheeks and dropped onto the carpet. They made perfect little circles when they hit.

"Is it something that I did? Am I too smothering, do you need more space? Please tell me; why are you leaving?" Tara pleaded.

Willow just shook her head, turned and walked to the door.

She heard Tara's voice, raw with emotion, "You are my heart."

"You are my heart."

"You are my heart."

Willow sat up in bed, Tara's voice was still ringing in her ears and her heart was racing.

Over the hammering of her heart, she heard someone at the door.

She looked through the peephole and saw a bruised and bloody Spike.

She helped him in and over to the bed.

"Don't worry Red, I feel worse than I look," he said grimacing.

"Can I do something?"

He gestured at the cooler they had carried on the motorcycle.

"Whole or plasma?" Willow asked.

"How about a beer instead?"

She brought him one.

He sighed and took a long swallow.

"I needed that," he said with relief.

"What happened? I thought you were just going to ask some questions."

"It wasn't the questions luv, it was the bloody answers."

After a few passes through the seedier parts of town, he located an area where vamps demons and the shadier types of humans patronized a series of dark bars and clubs.

He tried to ask a few casual questions about new characters in town and anyone interested in magical artifacts.

He didn't get any information at the first few stops.

"But I think my questions got back to someone or something."

At his fifth stop, he asked the same questions with the same results. They were waiting for him in the parking lot. They were a mix of vampires and humans with some kind of demon running the show.

They didn't try to stake him, at least at first, he thought they wanted to find out who he was, what he knew and why he was asking questions.

He finally managed to break away when the demon in charge got a little too close to his minions. He used all his strength to grab the demon and use him as a shield to get to the motorcycle. Reaching it, he tossed his shield back at them and took off.

Willow sat next to him on the bed and wiped at his cuts with a wet cloth.

"We didn't get any information but at least you're OK, " Willow said with feeling.

"Not so bleeding fast, " he said reaching into his pocket.

"My little demon pal had this in his pocket, " he said handing her a slip of paper.

She unfolded it and read.

"It's a list of names and locations. It must be the amulets, " she said.

Her idea was confirmed by the last entry.

'green stone - Magic Box, Sunnydale CA'
 

~Part 6~

After a day of rest and some plasma, Spike began to feel like his old self. He sat up and looked around.

"Red, you can nurse me back to health any time, " he said with a crooked smile.

Willow blushed, " it wasn't anything, besides without you who else would scare the hell out of me on that motorcycle?"

Spike smiled and remembered her sitting by his side for hours on end making sure that he had plasma every two hours to aid his healing. He wasn't
completely sure, but he thought he also remembered a very un-nurse like kiss.

He's thinking of the kiss, I just know it, she thought. Why did I do it? I was tired and he was vulnerable and he looked so sweet and.. Shut up Rosenberg, what kind of an excuse is that to cheat on your girlfriend, shame, shame, shame on you.

"So what's next luv?"

"While you were resting, I took a good look at that list. The next to last entry, the one for the seventh amulet, was ' crystal stone - Thomas & Sons Jewelers, Los Angeles CA'."

"LA, now who do we know in LA?" he asked with an evil smile.

"Right, I called the office number this morning and told them we'd be there some time tonight if you were up for it."

"You'd be surprised what I can get up for, " he said with a wink.

Willow wasn't surprised that she blushed at his crude joke, she was surprised at the warmth that spread through her body as she involuntarily glanced down
at his lap.

YOU HAVE TO GET OUT OF THIS ROOM NOW, her inner voice sreamed.

'I gotta go and make another call, bye, " she threw over her shoulder as she ran out the door.

Spike smiled at the closed door. I think our little redhead is having some naughty thoughts he said to himself, and not about her little blond witch either.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Willow, Spike, what a surprise, " Cordelia said.

Willow gave her a puzzled look, " surprise? I left a message for Angel this morning. I said we'd be here."

"That's the thing, " Cordelia said, " Angel, Wesley and Gunn, he's a new guy, left early this morning on some mysterious mission in some one horse town
called, " she glanced at a slip of paper on her desk, " Parkersville."

"Damn, they must have left before I left the message. Now I guess we'll just have to wait until we hear from them," Willow said.

She continued, "why did they rush off to Parkersville in such a hurry?"

Cordelia leaned back in her desk chair, " I had a vision, " she saw the puzzled looks on both their faces, " it's a long story, but I inherited the curse or blessing, take your pick, of being able to see people in real trouble with vamps and demons and such. Very early this morning, I had a kinda confused image of someone being attacked by a bunch of vamps headed by some demon. I couldn't see who it was clearly, but I saw a sign that said 'Parkersville Bar & Grill'."

"I called Angel and he got way excited and got everybody together and they split this morning."

Spike added, "that's where I was jumped, it must have been them working me over that Cordelia saw."

"I don't understand, how do you get these visions, what's it like?" Willow asked.

"It can be pretty bad. Usually I get this terrible headache and I go all stiff and "

She slammed forward onto her desk. Her eyes were closed and she screwed them up as if in pain.

"Cordy! Are you having one now?"

Cordelia nodded as tears ran down her face.

"What can you see?" Willow asked.

"Four people, three alive one dead, vamps and one demon, Thomas & Son Jewelers, " Cordelia managed to get out between stabs of pain.

"Spike, that's where the seventh amulet is, " Willow said reaching for the Yellow Pages.

"12234 South Beach Drive, " Cordelia said in a stronger voice.

"Come on, we can take Wesley's car, " she said rising from her desk and heading for the door.

"But how?" Willow said following.

"I knew the names and addresses of every good jeweler and exclusive boutique in LA the first week I was here. You forget who you're dealing with."
 

~Part 7~

They were speeding down South Beach Drive when two police cars and an ambulance passed them.  As they approached the address, the location was apparent from the police activity.

Cordelia slowed down as she passed the store, it was crawling with paramedics and police.  Their mood became more somber as a van marked 'Coroner' pulled in.

"What now?" Cordelia asked as she continued down the coast road.

"Back to your office I suppose, might as well wait …."

Spike interrupted, "turn left here."

"Whoa '80's boy, who put you in charge?" Cordelia replied.

"Just do it you bloody twit.  That green van that just turned, I saw it last night in Parkersville and I don't believe in coincidence."

Cordelia shot him a withering glance, but she did as he said.

"Stay back, don't let'em see us," Spike directed.

"If I don't stay close, I'll lose them, " Cordelia said turning to face Spike in the back seat.

"Bloody hell watch out, " Spike shouted.

Cordelia turned back but she was too late to avoid rear ending the car in front of her.

"Oopsie, " Cordelia said as she and Willow got out of the car.

Spike gave an angry last look as the van turned the corner and was lost from sight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Angel and Wesley were waiting when they arrived back at the office.

"Willow, " Angel said, " I just got your message, where have you been?"

Cordelia walked over to Wesley who was holding the phone about to make a call.

"I'm OK, thanks for asking, " she said sarcastically.

"Sorry Cordelia, but my car has been stolen, I'm about to call the police.  I just know I'll never get it back."

"Well, I've got some good news and some bad news, " Cordelia said trying to dredge up a smile.

Wesley put down the receiver, " the good news is?"

"Your car is downstairs, it wasn't stolen."

"The bad news?"

"You know that nice shiny bumper in the front?" Cordelia asked.

"Yes, I take it that it's not so shiny anymore, " Wesley said grimly.

"It's not so much there anymore," Cordelia said looking down at her shoes.

"Wesley, " Willow added, " it really wasn't her fault.  We were chasing a van load of demons and .."

"She was what?" Wesley shouted.

Willow quickly explained about Parkersville and their attempt to head off the thieves in LA.

'Then Spike spotted a familiar van and we tried to follow them.  Then Cordy had a little accident.  That police car was going pretty slow.  I think he
might have been secretly backing up when .."

Wesley cradled his head in his hands, " she rear ended a police car, with my beautiful new car?"

Cordelia l gave him a sad puppy look.

He looked up and began to pat his pockets, " wait a minute, I've got my keys, how did you…?"

She gave him a sadder puppy look and held up a duplicate set, " I thought in case of emergency, some responsible individual should have copies of your keys."

Willow drifted away from the conversation and logged on to Cordy's computer. She used her link to access her blind e mail account.

Only Spike and Angel heard the sharp intake of breath and turned toward Willow.  She was sitting frozen at the computer.

"What is it pet?" Spike asked.

"It's Dawn, " she said in a tight voice, " she's missing."
 

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