Chapter 1

Dawn crossed the room, and shook her head, her arms over her chest.

"Buffy?" she called. Her sister appeared at the bottom of the steps.

"What?"

"How long has it been since we've cleaned out this attic?" Buffy shrugged, and climbed up the ladder.

"A long time. Don't know how long, though…why?"

"It is so dusty and so dirty up here…hey! There's a window!" Buffy laughed, and pulled a rag from her pocket, wiping the dust off the glass.

"You're right, there is…"

They began to move boxes around, coughing as the dust was kicked up into their faces. Dawn fanned her hands in front of her face, knocking the dust away, and looked down. A box was at her feet, with "Buffy's memories box" written on it. Looking around, she kneeled and wiped off the rest of the dust. It read "Buffy's memories box." She turned to Buffy.

"Sis? What's this?" Buffy glanced over at the very small box, and smiled.

"Wow…I thought I lost that…C'mon, why don't we take a break, so I can look thru these." Dawn lifted the box, and headed downstairs with Buffy. Shaking the dust from her hair, she set the box on the table, and headed into the kitchen. Buffy dropped onto the couch, and pried open the warped cardboard of the box. The first thing she saw was crumpled newspaper, and she lifted it out, carefully pulling it off of the picture frame it held. She sorted thru the contents of the small box, and smiled, laughing slightly to herself. Dawn walked back out with two glasses of tea, and sat down.

"What's all this?"

"Old pictures of Xander, and me, and Willow, and even you when you were a baby…here, look." She held out a black-framed photo of a little baby. Dawn laughed, and shook her head.

"Please tell me your hiding that photo." Buffy went on without acknowledging.

"And there's some letters from when Willow and I would go to the same summer camp, and we'd be strange kids and write to each other…and letters I got from Xander…and an old letter from Dad. Then my very first A+ paper…"

"What's that?" Dawn asked, tilting the box to see some more newspaper inside. Buffy looked down, and knitted her eyebrows together.

"Must've missed that…" She pulled it out, setting down her cup of tea, and unwrapped the picture. Her eyes widened. "Oh my god…"

"What?" Dawn asked. Buffy set the picture down, and stood, walking to the window, one hand on her hip, the other on the back of her neck. Dawn set down her glass and lifted the picture. "Buffy? Who's this?" She held a picture of a girl: she wore tight, light blue jeans with a tear in the right knee; a sleeveless, neon green shirt with the words "Superstar" on the front; red, rhinestone-decorated sandals; a dark pink baseball cap with the word "Fighter" on it, covering up her long, dark brown hair; and a pair of sunglasses in her left hand. She was laughing, and squinting her green eyes. Buffy sighed, and turned around.

"That's Alex…she's an old friend of mine…"

"I don't remember you ever talking about her," Dawn stated.

"That's because I never did. At least not at home…" Buffy sighed again, and rubbed her eyes. "Alexandria Hardt…That was her name. She was a very tough girl. She always said she picked it up on her own, from growing up in such an abusive home. Her father was a violent drunk, and her mother never cared, and she didn't have any brothers or sisters. Alex was one of the few people who knew how to fight when I became a slayer. In fact, she taught me everything she knew, and introduced me to someone who knew even more about the demon world. If it weren't for Alex, I'd probably be a few years behind schedule, you know?" Dawn nodded.

"What happened to her?" Buffy paused, thinking.

"Um…Well, right after I graduated high school, she left. And I mean, just disappeared. We really don't know where she went, but we didn't call the cops. Alex had been talking of leaving Sunnydale for the longest time…I just don't think any of us really thought that she'd do it. Willow was the first to notice. She came running up to Xander and me, and we had to follow her back to Alex's house. It was completely deserted…"

"How old was she?" Dawn interrupted.

"Three years older than me. You know who else didn't believe she was gone?"

"Who?" Buffy sighed, and smiled at the thought.

"Spike…" Dawn paused, looking at her sister.

"What?"

"Yeah…Alex was one of the sweetest, toughest people I have ever met, and apparently, that Spike had ever met. She stole his heart in an instant…" Dawn smiled.

"So Spike does have a heart."

"Yeah…He's always seemed a little reserved for Alex, though…" Dawn smiled again, at the thought of a girl like Alex with a guy like Spike.

"Did they ever go out?"

"Oh, yeah…they dated for a few months, actually…She disappeared during their relationship…"

"That must've been hard for Spike." Buffy nodded.

"You want something for lunch?" Buffy asked, changing the subject as she entered the kitchen. Dawn sighed.

"Sure…"

Buffy entered the cemetery, and wandered thru it, her hands buried in her pockets.

"Buffy?" She looked up, and turned around. Willow and Xander jogged up, smiling.

"Hey, guys," she half spoke, half muttered. Their smiles faded.

"You alright?" Willow asked. Buffy shrugged.

"Dawn found a box of my old stuff up in the attic yesterday…at the very bottom of the box was a picture of Alex…" Willow and Xander looked at each other.

"Alex? Wow…Haven't heard that name in a long time." Buffy nodded.

"Yeah, I know. And of course, Dawn wanted to know who she was, and, you know, I didn't mind telling her about Alex…but it got odd and uncomfortable when we brought up her and Spike." Xander let out a low whistle.

"Haven't heard those names together in a long time, either," he said.

"Yeah…I think Dawn felt bad about asking about the two of them…even though she shouldn't have…She didn't know, it wasn't her fault." Willow smiled.

"I wonder how Alex is doing now…" she said softly.

"I hope she's alright, wherever she is. Haven't heard of her or from her for such a long time, I'm slightly worried about her, but I know she's strong. She can take care of herself…" Buffy trailed off.

"I hope," Xander added, digging his hands into his pockets.

Spike sat on the cold concrete floor in the basement of the new Sunnydale High School, his head in his hands, staring blankly at the floor between his legs. He could hardly remember a time when his thoughts hadn't wandered to Alex at one moment or another. But now, at this very moment, he shoved all thoughts of her to the back of his mind, and concentrated on the silence around him, praying the prayer of all prayers that he could keep still and silent for a time, to try and fool the demon in his mind into leaving him alone. He closed his eyes, keeping the image on the insides of his eyelids nothing but a never-ending blackness, and struggling to keep his thoughts off Alex.

Willow lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, thinking. She could hear the memories of Alex's laughter, and of the screams she let loose when she fought an enemy, a demon, anything that tried to harm another. The same memories flowed thru Xander's mind as he lay on his bed, and thru Buffy's as she lay on her bed. Memories of the friend who'd never been selfish, no matter what she could have gotten thru selfishness. Who never gave a second chance to a demon or any enemy that had already harmed another. At the same time, Willow, Buffy, and Xander sighed, and rolled onto their sides, closing their eyes, falling asleep.

Buffy hung up the phone, and turned to face her sister, who sat on the couch.

"Dawn?" she asked. Her sister lifted her eyes from the magazine in her hands.

"Yeah?" Buffy lifted her bag and her keys off the table.

"I'm gonna go out…I've gotta meet Willow and Xander at the diner uptown."

"Okay…" She looked back down as she turned the page.

"If you go out, call me, and be home no later than ten."

"Gotcha." Buffy pulled the door closed behind her, and jogged down to her car, climbing in and tossing her bag on the passenger seat as she started the car.

The three headed into the park after leaving the diner, Buffy leaving her car parked in the parking lot spaced nicely between the park and diner. Sighing, Buffy made sure her car was locked and the alarm was set, and ran her hands thru her hair, shaking her head.

"You feeling okay?" Xander asked.

"Didn't sleep well…" Buffy replied.

"Neither did I…"

"Same here…" Buffy jumped as something slammed into her back. Spinning around, she saw a soccer ball lying at her feet.

"Sorry! Didn't mean to hit you! I was trying to give it back to them!" a voice called. Buffy paused, and lifted her head. A girl stood about ten feet away, her hands crossed in front of her. Her dark brown hair was hanging around her shoulders, covering the shoulders of the light blue T-shirt she wore. Her shirt was tucked into a pair of partially tight, partially loose shorts, held up by a pink gel-filled-looking belt. On her feet were white and red tennis shoes, and her green eyes were wide with surprise.

"It's okay! Who were you trying to give this to?" she asked slowly. The girl pointed. Buffy tossed the ball to a few boys nearby, and turned back to the girl. "Come here…" she said, motioning. Hesitantly, the girl moved closer. Buffy's eyes widened, and she tapped Xander and Willow on the shoulders.

"What?" they asked.

"Look…" The girl suddenly stopped as the two turned, and her eyes widened more, though this time her lips curled into a smile.

"Buffy? Xander, Willow? Is that you guys?"

"Yes…" Buffy answered. She laughed, and ran over.

"Oh my God!" she cried. Buffy threw her arms around the girl, and they hugged. The girl also hugged Xander, but Willow stared at her blankly for a second. Her eyes suddenly widened as it hit her like the ball hit Buffy.

"Oh…God…Alex?"