It was decided that Anya and I would pick Dawn up from the airport while Willow tried a locator spell to find Buffy. We had no way of knowing just how much danger she was in and it was better to act quickly than to let a trail go cold. I very quickly discovered it was a mistake to get into a vehicle with Anya in the driver's seat. She didn't speed or tailgate but she drove as if she had received her license in a dimension without traffic lights. At least I wouldn't have to explain the lack of gray in my hair to Dawn.

Until I saw Dawn I didn't realize how difficult it would be. Grief and addiction had eaten away so much of my Dawn before she overdosed that the girl who ran into my arms was more of a ghost than Spike. I could barely recall her like this; even worried and tired she looked so- whole.

"Giles? What happened to you?"

"He's from another dimension, but not an evil one because he lacks a goatee. Oh, and we'd better tell you before we get there that Spike haunts our building but he's not really dead, he just doesn't have a body," Anya explained.

I expected more questions after this puzzling explanation and I hoped to put off Dawn asking about the Giles she knew. I didn't want to be the one to break that news again, particularly in a public place.

"You know," Dawn gave him a critical look, "I think you're one of those guys that look better with the extra mileage." It was obvious by the tense look on her face that she was trying to lighten things up.

I said, "Anya will take care of that on the ride back, don't worry."

"You remember I'm still part vengeance demon, don't you?" Anya teased back. Even though it was new this whole exchange had a well worn, comfortable feel to it that seemed to relax us all. At least until Anya sped up at the first amber light.

888

It was painful to see Spike and Dawn greet one another. I could tell they ached to touch. Spike ran a ghostly hand over Dawn's hair and then let his arm drop to his side. It was no wonder he didn't want to see Buffy; it would be doubly heart wrenching with her. He said her name quietly.

"I've missed you so much that I can't be mad at you. That really pisses me off, Spike."

"Oh, pidge, I'm sorry. We'll find your sis and then you both can kick my arse. If anyone can figure out how to kick non-corporeal butt, it's your sister. She's probably done it before. Willow's cooked up a location spell I bet we already know where she is."

"The location spell fizzled out, guys. I think it's being blocked," Willow said.

Anya said, "Unblocking it without knowing for sure if it was Buffy who had it put there or not could be dangerous. We wouldn't want to blow Buffy's cover."

"Already thought of that or Wes did." Willow wrung her hands. "But what if it's the bad guy that's hiding her?"

"Can you find out somehow if she left Rome? Check the fights to see if she's made it to London or headed somewhere else?" I suggested.

"Good idea, Giles, that will at least give us a starting point," Anya praised.

Willow cleared away the map and candles used in the location spell and then turned on her laptop.

Wesley got a legal pad out of the desk and asked, "Dawn, do you have any idea at all why your sister would send you to us? Has anything unusual happened recently?"

"Not really, she has been mother-henning me more than usual but I thought she just was feeling guilty for ignoring me when she was dating Mac."

"Mac?" I was puzzled; didn't they say Buffy was dating the immortal?

"Mac's not really his name; he said his name was no longer relevant. What kind of B.S. is that? Anyway, I couldn't call him The Immortal all the time so I used Mac like on Highlander."

"I bet the wanker doesn't even own a sword," Spike grumbled. Apparently, he wasn't as resigned to Buffy's new life as he claimed to be.

"How did Mac take it when your sister broke it off?" I asked, to try to get things back on track.

"Buffy only breaks up with guys who actually love her. Mac's dating some busty Italian that works for Wolfram & Hart now. He did the breaking up but Buffy was pretty non-heart broken over it. She said Mac didn't even qualify as a rebound guy; that it didn't mean anything to either one of them." Dawn gave Spike an apologetic look, "He's never even spent the night at our place. I doubt he has anything to do with this."

"So your sister wasn't slaying and you can't recall anything or anyone she might've been involved with that would put either of you in danger?"

"No, like I said, Wes, she was keeping track of me a little more, maybe. This isn't helping!" Dawn's face mirrored her evident frustration. "I just don't know anything. I was kind of thinking she'd met somebody new because she was always the first to get to the phone, like when she was in high school."

"Maybe the call she was expecting wasn't someone nice," Anya said.

Spike said, "Still say it sounds a lot like Angel got a happy."

"Last Buffy and I heard, he was cuddling with a werewolf," Dawn replied dismissing the idea.

"We can't rule anyone out just yet; in fact we may need to consider the possibility that it's someone or something we don't even know. Buffy is the only Slayer to have retired alive, correct?" I asked Wesley, wanting to be sure I had my facts straight before continuing with my theory. Wesley and Spike both nodded.

Spike said, "You're thinking it would be a feather in the cap of any wannabe big bad to drag her out of retirement and end the Slayer's career in the usual way."

"Doesn't exactly narrow the suspect list down," I apologized.

"No, but it could still help. That kind of demon or vamp sounds to me like the sort that would brag. We already know he's hired idiots for minions. I think you need to shed the library wear and let demon girl take you to some of London's more interesting pubs."