Angel cast a guilty look toward his wife, where she stood, just inside the restaurant door, hands on hips, lips pursed. "You didn't have to come here. I, I was just about ready to leave."

"Dawn's husband phoned, looking for her. I said I'd no idea where she would be but that there seemed to be some sort of gathering going on here and I would go have a look for him."

"Oh, is he home already?"

"I believe so, Dawn. He said no-one was there and neither you nor your sister was answering your phones. He rang to see if Angel knew anything."

"Oh right. I guess it must be later than I thought or earlier or..."

"You'd better ring him, Dawn. He's worried about you. And I can see why." Nina ran an appraising look over Dawn, before she tuned to Angel. "What is going on here, Angel? Next time you go storming off take your phone!"

"Um, Nina, I just... that is... They rang me!" He flung his arm around to indicate the other three behind him.

"Oh. Hi Nina. How are you? I'm sorry we've made you come out so late. Guess I should've left it till tomorrow to speak to Angel. Or at least until after I talked to Spike. It's all been a bit unexpected really. Bit of a shock to the system to find out someone you've been missing, isn't missing at all, or that is, well you know."

"I think I do know, Buffy. I'm sorry you had to find out the way you did. I know Spike'd be sorry to have hurt you. He told me, well... I'll let him tell you what he thinks he ought to." She looked past Buffy toward Dawn who was searching in her handbag, presumably for her phone. "If you haven't got your phone, Dawn, you can borrow mine."

"Oh thanks, Nina. Sorry, and um, hi. Thanks for bringing me the message. I seemed to have left my phone behind. I was worried about Buffy and I just knew Angel was keeping something important from us and, I guess I had a sneaking hope that, well... I missed Spike terribly after Sunnydale. I felt really bad because I never got to say I still cared and then he was gone. I was so mad the second time." She looked up at the vampire. "Not just for me. Buffy'd been moving on and well she... it was hard, you know. Unfair and really hard." A tear slipped down her face and Buffy knelt down beside her and pulled her into a hug.

Nina turned to look at Spike. "Spike, you okay?" He stood, looking down at the two sisters, so much pain across his face. Angel had told her of the poet, William, Drusilla had dragged home and she could see that he was still very much a part of the creature that was Spike. The vampire had brought complications into her family's lives and she'd not been pleased. He'd been so lost, when they'd found him. He'd been Angel's family and family was important to Nina, so she'd accepted him, taken him under her wing, as he'd struggled to come back to life.

She hadn't wanted to be part of the strange world Angel had inhabited when he was a vampire, but, since she herself had become an unwilling part of it, in a very real and violent way, she'd accepted that it would continue to hover at the edges of their lives. The occasional visits from a slayer or a watcher, sometimes Buffy and her family, were an accepted part of their life. When Spike turned up however, she'd a feeling things were about to get complicated. Especially when her dope of a husband wanted to play secrets.

Spike sighed and got a grip on himself. He smiled at her. "Fine, Nina, thanks. 'M sorry, luv. The poof... Angel's right. 'S my fault. I did ring him. Panicked, yeah? 'Course it kinda snowballed a bit from there. Know I've been a bother to you, since I came back. Never could get it right. Never follow a plan."

Nina took his hand. "It's okay Spike. Some plans aren't worth following and I know a little bit about coping with sudden life changes." She smiled. She still remembered acutely, the shock of becoming a werewolf. She also remembered the kindness and help of Angel and his little band. They'd rescued her, got her through; helped her accept her new life and move on. "I'm glad I've been able to help you a little. You know that, right?"

"You've been amazing, pet. Couldn't have done it without you. It's been a godsend being part of your family; accepted." He lifted her hand to his lips.

"Even if some of us make stupid decisions on behalf of others. What were you thinking Angel?" She fixed her gaze on Angel.

"Well, I didn't know Buffy and Dawn were back in the States. No-one tells me anything." He all but pouted.

"Pot, kettle!" Buffy glared at him as she stood up again. She'd been looking at Spike's hand in Nina's and trying to push down the rising desire to shove the woman away from her vampire. She felt heat filling her cheeks. She so needed to hit someone or something. She was blushing like a giddy, jealous teenager. For the first time, she really wished Angel was still a vampire!

"You okay Buffy? You look a little hot and bothered." Spike looked at her with that damn eyebrow lift.

"Don't you start, Spikie, 'cos I haven't forgotten where your nose is and that you so need to do about a decade of groveling for your part in all this."

"Um, ah... Slayer. There's no need..."

"Buffster! There you are. Me and the g-man have been hunting the town for you. Where's my girl?"

"Ah, Buffy, my dear, I... Good grief! Spike!"

"Bugger, now all the movers and shakers are here."