Destiny

By PSUBrat

Lost & Found

"We really should have called Cecily to have her help look for Dawn," Anya chided as they walked along the darkened street. "The more people looking for her the better, right?"

Even though Xander knew that Anya had a valid point, he still rolled his eyes at her. She had been droning on about Cecily and William for the past hour and it was driving him crazy. He didn't care about either one of those, dare he say it, people. If it were up to him, he would send them both back to England where they belong. Or was that belonged? At this point in time, he didn't care anymore.

"An, we need to focus on looking for Dawn. Cecily doesn't know the town that well, yet. She would just get lost and then we'd have to look for her, too." That sounded reasonable, didn't it?

"You're right," Anya sighed. "It's just that Cecily really cares for Dawn, god knows Buffy doesn't."

"Hey," he shouted angrily as he spun to face her, "Buffy cares about Dawn! Buffy just went through a…thing last year, which we caused. Buffy gave her life for that girl, so don't tell me that she doesn't care about Dawn."

"Fine. I'm just saying that if Buffy hadn't been off on her own little pity party, Dawn wouldn't have been stealing from me to get attention. We wouldn't have gotten trapped at their house. Cecily does care for Dawn. That's all I'm saying."

"Right. In her own warped little way." Xander hadn't liked Halfrek as a demon and he certainly liked her even less, if that were possible, as a human. There was just something about her that rubbed him the wrong way.

"Are we done yet Xander? Because I, for one, would like to go back home and get more sleep. A woman needs her beauty sleep. This is going to wreak havoc on my flawless complexion. Besides, shouldn't we go back to the shop to see if they found her yet?"

Xander closed his eyes and shook his head. This was the woman that he loved. Amazing. Xander Harris, you chose. He wouldn't have had it any other way. "Okay. We'll go back to the Magic Box to see if Buffy or William have found anything yet. Then we'll go from there."

"Good because my feet are killing me!"

For the first time that night he looked down at her feet and noticed that she was wearing heels. He gave her an exasperated look.

"What? This was all I had at your place."

He shook his head again and grabbed her hand, leading the way back to the Magic Box.

***

The time had slipped away from them while they had talked, so now Steven was asleep on Wesley's couch. It hadn't been difficult talking the teen into staying at his place; he could see the look of exhaustion in the boy's eyes. Gently he covered him with an extra blanket he had found in one of the unpacked boxes. He studied Connor's features; even in sleep, he looked tense and ready to fight. For a brief moment, Wesley felt guilty. He was to blame for Connor's hatred towards Angel. He should have known Angel well enough to realize that the vampire would have never hurt his child. All the pain that he had caused in that one moment of weakness haunted him.

"All in the past old boy," Wesley whispered, as he backed away from the couch. He quietly made his way over to the phone. He was well aware of the boy's supernatural hearing so things would have to be kept brief.

"Do you know what time it is?" The female voice on the other end demanded before he could say anything. "You better have good news for me."

"It's done."

"Very nice Wesley. I'm impressed."

"Thought you might be."

"The senior partners will be in your debt."

He remained silent.

"Perhaps I'll thank you…in person."

Wesley closed his eyes. "Very well, we shall talk later." He hung up the phone and glanced back over at the boy.

Another piece of the puzzle fell into place.

***

William had refused to leave Buffy's side. She had thought that it would have been better to split up, cover more ground; but he had been insistent about staying with her. Now she was happy to have him along, his presence gave her the stability that she wouldn't otherwise have at the moment. Her thoughts kept drifting to William, even though her first priority was Dawn. Every time she let her mind wander there, her stomach would do little somersaults. No doubt about it, she was definitely in love, and at such an inopportune time.

Before he even looked over at her, he felt her eyes on him, and his body yearned for her touch. He couldn't believe that she was his now and that they were going to be together after all of this time. Finally. It was all he could do to keep himself from grabbing her and making love to her right here in the cemetery. "Focus man," he demanded of himself. This was neither the time nor place for these thoughts, especially since Bit was still missing. There would be plenty of time to ravage his love's body after Dawn was safe, and sound. He took a deep breath.

"Luv," he said quietly, "maybe we should head back to the shop. We've checked every cemetery and we've found nothing to go on. Maybe the whelp and Anya have found her."

Her shoulders slumped and she sighed. He was right, they should check in with the others to see what, if anything, they had found on their search. "I'm not ready to give up yet. I want to stop by Willy's first. I figure if anyone knows anything, it'll be him. Besides, I'm up for a little round of kick the bartender. How 'bout you?"

He chuckled softly. "All right then. Off to Willy's we go."

They continued to walk through the cemetery on their way to the demon bar, when they came across several fresh graves.

"Probably more fledglings," she sighed. "There's been a lot of them lately. Guess we're gonna have to wait for them to rise before we go to Willy's."

William looked at his watch. "Shouldn't be much longer now if they are…"

Sure enough, as if on cue, two of the three began pulling themselves out of the loose ground.

"Good morning sleepy heads," Buffy quipped, as she stood in front of them. "Oh, did I say good? I meant to say too bad for you that it won't be good."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a stake. The first vamp was barely out of the ground when she turned him to dust, the second one was slightly luckier, she had gotten all the way out and was now trying to stand.

"Oh," Buffy snarked, "bet you're really hungry, huh?"

The female vamp licked her lips and stared at the Slayer.

"Sorry," Buffy stated as she staked the vamp, "but the kitchen is closed."

William had already taken care of the third fledgling by the time Buffy had finished with the first. He didn't think he would ever tire of watching her work. She loved the dance and he loved watching her. He walked over to her and kissed her passionately. Things would have gone further if she hadn't reminded him of their task at hand.

"Searching for Dawn and then going to Willy's remember?"

"Right," he sighed heavily. "Let's go."

***

Anya and Xander were sitting at the table drinking coffee when Buffy and William finally arrived at the Magic Box.

"Anything?" Xander asked as he quickly stood up.

"We were just going to ask you the same thing," Buffy replied.

"So we can go home to bed now," Anya asked hopefully.

They all stared at the ex-demon.

"What? Tell me you're not tired!"

"We're all tired," William stated, trying to avert tempers flaring.

"So, you guys didn't find anything at all?" Xander asked.

"No," Buffy said dejectedly, "Nothing. But we did get to beat up Willy for a while. That was fun."

"Good for you Buff," Xander laughed.

"I shouldn't say we didn't find anything cause Willy did give up some information, it just didn't have to do with Dawn."

Xander wrinkled his brow. "Anything we should be concerned about?"

"Yeah, but not right now; we need to find Dawn first."

"I'm sure we'll hear something soon," Anya chimed in. "Usually when there's a kidnapping, those responsible will make demands, usually of the monetary variety."

"Thanks oh so much for the help sweetie," Xander said glaring at her. Then he looked over at Buffy and continued, "What do you think happened to Dawn? I mean, where could she have possibly gone and who would have taken her? Think it might have something to do with what you found out at Willy's?"

"I'm thinking no," she said, shaking her head. After a moment she continued. "Earlier William brought up the idea that maybe Dawn went through one of her portals and it closed."

"Well if that's the case," Xander mussed, "doesn't that mean she can get back here by opening one to us?"

"We're not sure how it all works yet. But that's a good point." Buffy hadn't thought about that. Did Dawn's powers work both ways? They didn't know enough at this point, but somehow Xander's statement gave her some hope.

"Look," William stated, "Anya's right. If Dawn has been kidnapped I'm sure we'll hear something soon. Pet, why don't you check the answering machine at home and see if there's any messages."

"Good idea," Buffy said, as she walked over to the phone and dialed her home number. After a few moments, she set the receiver back in the cradle and shook her head. "There's nothing."

"Right then, let's do this," William said taking charge, "We'll all go home and get some sleep and meet back here first thing in the morning. Maybe by then we'll have heard something."

"Sounds good to me," Anya replied. "Come on honey, let's go home." She grabbed Xander's hand and began pulling him towards the door.

"If you hear anything…" Xander started.

"We'll call you immediately," Buffy finished.

***

Outside the Magic Box, William and Buffy watched Xander and Anya walk away towards Xander's place.

"I should get home," Buffy sighed, as she stifled a yawn. She was exhausted and the thought of her going back to that house alone wasn't thrilling. What she needed most right now, other than Dawn returning home, was to be comforted.

"Why don't you come home with me Pet?" William suggested as he took her hand in his. "I'm only a block away." He didn't like the idea of her going home alone and by the looks of her she was about to fall asleep standing up.

"What if she calls?"

"You can check the machine regularly. It's not like you're going to be able to do much without a good night's rest."

"You're right, but I still think I should go home since that's where Dawn will try first."

"Bit has my number as well and I'm sure she has it memorized, at least that's the impression I've gotten from the amount of times she's called it."

Buffy stared at him incredulously. "She has your number? I don't even have your number! Oh, wait. I do. Never mind. Brain drain."

"Come on, luv. Some rest will do you good."

Buffy looked at him and then looked towards home. He was right. It was a far walk and she was tired. She decided that she'd rest for an hour or so and then go home to shower and check the machine.

"I'm not taking no for an answer," William commanded.

She gave him a slight smile. She really didn't feel like arguing with him right now. "Okay. But only for a couple hours."

"Agreed."

***

It had only taken them five minutes to get to William's apartment. As soon as he had turned on the lights, Buffy had been speechless. The apartment was a nice size loft in an old warehouse and it was tastefully decorated. She knew she shouldn't be surprised at his decorating capabilities, since he had been able to make the crypt look somewhat homey, but she was in awe here.

"This is beautiful," she exclaimed.

He blushed somewhat at her compliment. Then he turned to her and said, "I'll sleep on the sofa, and you can take the bed."

"Are you sure? I don't want to impose." She loved the fact that he was being such a gentleman.

"You're not imposing and I insist."

Their eyes met and suddenly she didn't feel so tired any more. So much for focusing on Dawn, she thought. It wasn't that Dawn didn't matter to her, because she did, it was just that she longed to be with him and being with him would make things a little more bearable. Surely her seeking comfort in the arms of the man she loved wasn't wrong, was it?

She looked up into his blue eyes and smiled seductively. "I'm not really tired now."

He grinned back at her like a silly schoolboy. He took her hand in his and brought it up to his lips for a soft kiss. "Are you sure, Luv," he asked, not wanting her to do something she would come to regret in the morning.

"I'm sure," she said huskily as she placed her arms around his neck.

They stood staring into each other's eyes for several moments. He wanted to remember every detail about this night and about her. Tenderly he brushed her lips with his and he felt her shudder. She returned the kiss, this time more passionately. As the kiss intensified, he picked her up in his arms and slowly made his way to the bedroom. Gently he placed her on the bed and lay down next to her, never breaking the kiss. Her tongue sought his as their hands explored wildly, trying to touch as much flesh as possible. They broke off the kiss to come up for air. His deep blue eyes searched her pale green ones.

"Buffy, I love you."

She placed a hand on his cheek and smiled. "I love you too Spike."

He pulled her to him in a tight embrace.

Softly she whispered, "Make love to me."

Everything he had ever been hoping for was now right in front of him. Looking into her eyes, he saw her love for him and as a result, he began showering her face in soft kisses.

On the other side of town, the phone in the Summers' house began to ring.

Continue