Buffy, Spike, Willow and their trail of fledgling vampires traveled to the center of town at a languid pace, taking in and enjoying the chaos opening the hellmouth had caused. There were more demons than normal running amok, humans screaming and barring their windows and doors, and even a few trying to fight back –gangs of neighborhood watchers with their flashlights and pitchforks. It was all quite a laugh.

Buffy breathed in deep at the smell of fresh blood spilt as they passed a strange looking demon, a giant with more tentacles than arms, pulling its victim apart by the limbs. She hummed and curled her hand a bit tighter around Spike's side and he squeezed her back around the hip as they neared the high school.

"There's just one thing I'm not quite getting." Spike said while they stepped over a few bodies. "You opened the hellmouths to unleash hell on Earth, great fun and all, I say burn it to the ground. So why are we closing them? Fun hasn't even started yet."

"I thought men were supposed to get wiser with age." Willow teased, glancing in Spike's direction as he threatened her with an intimidating point of the finger.

"Watch it witch. Or this old man will kick your wise ass."

"We aren't closing them." Buffy brought the attention back to his question. "Well…not really. We're just closing this one. Well…not really. Just as much as it was before. We just need the beast teriyaki to-"

"Beastraki." Willow corrected.

"Right. That's what I said. The beastr- beastrake- beasties. We just need the beasties to come out so we can use them. Hellmouth closes behind them. Not our fault."

"So, our witch of the damned calls out the mutts and scares the demons square. I don't get the bloody point. Murder, mayhem, that's what demons do. Why are you stuffing them back in their cage-"

"We're not-"

"Because," Willow interrupted them both with a sigh. "Fear is powerful. The demons we let out all over the world have control of the humans, for obvious reasons. The Beastraki control the demons because of their power over the damned, obtained to keep demons in their place in hell so they won't escape. Or so the legends go. Whoever controls them controls both the demons and the humans. It's like a fear filled food chain. That was fun to say. Fear filled food- anyway, the top of the food chain is the shark and I am the shark. The Beastraki will be under my command."

"We are the sharks." Buffy corrected.

"We are the sharks. But I'm the shark ruling over all the attack ones. Queen shark."

"Sure you are Willow. Queen of the pack of beastie sharks. Which look like dogs. Big mean dogs…Demons are weird."

"You're as funny looking to them as they are to you." Spike reminded her. "Wondering why you got a nose like that."

"What's wrong with my nose?!"

"Nothing. If you like that sort of thing. Number of fights you've been it's bound to be a bit crooked." Spike yelled as he earned himself a slap from Buffy up the back of the head. "Never said I don't like that sort of thing."

"Don't think I won't let Willow make you their chew toy." Buffy mocked calling one in a high-pitched playful tone, "Come on doggies. Come play with the Spike. Only his head tastes like toxic chemicals."

"You would know. You've tasted the rest."

"Gross!" Willow shouted and threw her hands over her ears. "Talk about something else or I'll turn you both into frogs. Don't think I won't."

"So we're the scary sharks." Spike said after throwing a smirk Buffy's way.

"Wait, are we the sharks or are the beasties the sharks?" Buffy asked, with her eyebrows smooshed together. "What does that make us?"

"Doesn't matter. What's the point if we can't eat all the fishies in the sea? Isn't that why we opened all of them up in the first place?"

"If we ate all the fish nothing would be left but algae or- can we drop the ocean analogy?" Buffy complained, her head starting to swim in the sea of metaphors.

Willow continued to explain for her, "The hellmouths let demons out and distracted those that would challenge us. You can't let them be open forever or everything will turn to hell. Literally hell, brought up from the hellmouth. Get it? Hell from the hellmouth? All the humans would die and what's the point in that? We call the Beastraki and they stop that from happening. We control demons and humans and the balance between them. Start small scale in Sunnydale, then expand to the other hellmouths. Many will die in the meantime but they will be more desperate for protection, something we will offer them. By the end, we will have control over everything. Hell on earth for humans, paradise for vampires…and the Queen of the beasties witch. Which is me. That about right?"

"You always were the smart one Wills." Buffy smiled at how many times she said 'we' instead of 'Buffy' or 'you' and hugged her around the shoulder as they walked down the last street. The change in attitude was a satisfying improvement and she found the side of her that wanted to murder the one that pulled her from heaven fade to the back as the dark witch came to the forefront of Willow's personality.

"Didn't need the lesson," Spike cut in defensively. "I got it, knew most of it, just don't know why we can't have a bit more fun before unleashing the pups. Get the triple Ds down here." He curled his hands in the air and filled his voice with desperation while trying to explain what they were missing out on. "Tearing up the town, scaring the locals, making their throats bleed from screaming alone! All the other hellmouths will be having all the fun. Sure as hell Angelus will be playing out there."

"Triple Ds?" Willow asked.

"Dru, Dawn, Dar-"

"Got it."

"The sooner we do it, the sooner we get out of that cramped mansion." Buffy said, twisting her body around and stopping him in his tracks, slipping her hands down his side and around his waist as she pushed against him. "We can get a place all to ourselves. No vamps, no demons, just us and a dungeon full of play humans."

Spike rocked forward and nipped at the nose he made fun of earlier. "I like the sound of that."

"Can you two move please?" Willow complained as the high school came into view.

"Could wait a few more minutes." Spike said suggestively, slipping his hands down her back and over her ass, pulling her body against the growing desire in his pants. "What do you say? Quick shag behind the bleachers?" Buffy giggled as Spike started pressing his lips around hers, sliding his tongue between her teeth and pulling her in the direction of the fields. "Like a couple of teens. What do you say slayer? Want to be a bit naughty?"

"Let's go!" Willow yelled and stunned them both with a magic pulse that sent a small electric shock through their bodies.

"Hey!" Buffy yelled and jumped from Spike but noticed Willow was backed up by their hoard of fledglings waiting for some action. Not the kind of action Spike was reeving her up for either. "Yeah alright."

"What?" Spike complained. "It's not fair. Her and Tara always making googly eyes at each other. What's a bit of fun on our end?"

"Later." Buffy said before stealing another kiss. "Promise."

"Bleachers?"

She smirked and ran her hands down his chest, sliding them towards the band of his jeans, dipping in and giving him her best pout face. "I'll even steal one of the cheerleading outfits."

With hungry eyes, Spike imagined the shorter-than-her-ass skirt/crop top combo and licked his lips in anticipation. "Promise?"

"Promise." Buffy smiled and managed to steal one last kiss before Willow zapped them again and had them both charging after her. "Save the shock collar for the dogs Willow!"

They traveled into the remade school -newly destroyed due to the demons that ran from the open gate into the terrestrial world- and followed the halls to the door labeled 'Basement'. The 'Authorized Personal Only' sign ripped clean off the door with a tug by Spike, for the fun of it, and they traveled down. The corridors of the basement seemed to be resemble the old school more than this new one. It was bleak, broken, and the feeling of something lurking just around the corner was continuous.

Willow led the way as the sense of evil grew and they neared the rip in the earth's crust. The door hiding the tear lay to the side, frayed open with the metal peeled away as if it were made of aluminum foil instead of steel. The opening was clear as the dark seemed to pulse out like some kind of inverted light source, drawing the vampires near. The feeling that came from the ground was pure chaos and power. It was just a tiny rip but it was enough to feel all the terror that hid below. They spanned out and circled the source, every vampire equidistant and holding the marked stones Willow had given them.

"Alright," Willow stood in front of the gaping hole and lifted her stone into the air. "Do what I do and say what I say." Everyone nodded and raised their stones into the sky, waiting for her to start. "Oh Hades, here me. I call on you-" Willow stopped abruptly as an odd noise came from below and a demon looking like a cross between a human and a pig wiggled its way up the side of the pit. She growled and pushed a hand down, shooting the demon back down with a blast of black smoke. "I wasn't finished." Buffy shared a look with Spike, sending him a grin before turning back as Willow started up again and everyone echoed her words. "Hades, hear me. I call on you, sovereign of the netherworld, for protection. Send us those that all things fear. Let them howl at the sky and break the heavens down. Hear my call and let Cerberus come to the light. Hear me! Hear me now!"

All yelled together and the stones in their hands started to shine a platinum gold, much like Spike's hair. They started bouncing off of each other, shooting beams of light around until all had a path leading to another. The pattern was blinding and the heat was intense but all held their position, repeated the spell, and the beams shot down into the pit. Soon after, the piercing howl of a dog-like creature could be heard, followed by another and another.

Emerging from the light was a large beast, crawling out and charging into the next room. Three more burst through before the light filtered out and the hellmouth started to close. The earth shook and all lurched until the earth covered itself and all that was left was the dirt of the basement floor and a large intimidating seal with a pentagram pattern and the figure of a goat's head.

Buffy grinned and looked up to see four large beasts running about and causing destruction in the adjoining room. They were all two stories high, too big to fit under the ceiling -breaking pipes and cracking concrete as they ran about. They looked like dogs, each with three heads and baring sharp teeth. Their red eyes floated around and met each other as they continued stampeding around and fighting amongst themselves.

She could sense what the books Willow and she had read spoke of. The creatures were fierce and daunting but it was more than that. As their eyes landed on her she could feel the power they held over the demon inside. They were the alphas that had the power to corral her in any direction they wished and it went against everything she was used to. Never had she been anything less than an alpha herself and she was not about to start now. She just had to remember who was in charge here.

"Heel." Willow demanded with an eyebrow cocking up to its side. Instantly, the animals stopped moving and turned to face her. They still looked aggressive but they stopped barking when Willow held her stone up in the air. Their eyes followed it and all listened again when Willow made her next command. "Sit."

Buffy laughed and hugged Willow from behind as the dogs sat –crouching to fit under the roof-, hearing Willow chuckling even though she tried not to. "This is going to be fun," She sang.

The beasties charged through the basement and through the school, destroying everything in their path as they made their way to the streets. The vampires behind them actually had to run to avoid the building from collapsing on them.

"Rover one through four are gonna need a bigger dog house!" Spike yelled, avoiding one beastie from hitting him in the side while shaking some plaster from his hair.

"These are outside dogs!" Buffy shouted from behind another one, trying to make her way back to the others.

Willow spoke a few words that the vamps didn't understand and all beasties' ears pricked and they all ran beside her, avoiding the cowering fledgling vamps and waiting for their next command.

"You guys know what to do." Buffy smirked and kissed Spike before gesturing for the fledglings in her group to follow. "Meet you at the Magic Box. Or you know, formerly known as."

"We'll be out for a walk." Willow snapped and one of the dogs knelt down. Without looking, she floated into the air, back to the creature, and landed on its shoulders -riding it as if it was a horse. "Whistle if you get into a ruff patch."

"I'll try not to bark up the wrong tree." Buffy winked.

"You two are pawful." Spike threw it out there and they both looked at him and simultaneously shook their head and said, "Too far Spike."

He threw up his hands and scoffed, stomping away without another word. He could hear them both giggle so he refused to turn around and continued to walk towards his destination on the other side of town.

Buffy nodded at Willow before taking her group in the opposite direction and heading for the other side of Sunnydale thinking she would make it up to Spike later.

Willow snapped her fingers again and the Beastraki all moved together and carried her to the outside of town. As they ran at a gallop, all things veered from their path -human and demon- cowering behind the rubble. Willow felt a surge of euphoria spread through her at the knowledge that brought. She truly was a queen with all the power she had.

After the mishap with Tara's soul not being removed, she had been confused once again. She felt no desire to save the world or destroy it. The only desires she had were to keep Tara by her side and use her magic at will -without everyone telling her what was wrong and what was right, as they once had.

The decision she made was to do as Buffy wanted, for the time being. In the apocalyptic, vampiric world Buffy wanted to create, Willow would be able to do exactly what she wanted. She could use her magic without worry of being judged or stopped and Tara could be at her side. Of course, Tara was not as willing because she could not see. Willow was working on a way to fix that. She thought of removing Tara's soul herself but worried of the outcome.

Without her soul, Willow felt free and without limitations and accepted Buffy's motives for making her lose it, but everyone was different. Who was to say if Tara would feel the same? Maybe she would appreciate the act or maybe she would seek vengeance as Buffy had in her return from the dead. If Florica had removed it, she need not have worried. But if was her –Willow- the love of her life …these would become issues. She could not risk losing Tara over something so unnecessary.

Perhaps she would just keep Tara locked away from the world, safe in her arms, until Tara realized just how much she loved her and how much she was willing to sacrifice to be with her.

The one thing Willow knew for sure was that these difficulties would be resolved after global change. Then she would get what she wanted and absolutely no one would get in her way. To do that, she first had to move the Beastraki into position.

With the stone in her pocket, humming with the magic that commanded them, she felt connected to each dog -as if she could see through their thirty-six eyes at will. It was comforting to know the stone worked. It had taken great magic to create so many and a great cost –though not a cost she was unwilling to make, it wasn't as though it was hers- to create the main. What was the life of a normal stray canine when it meant obtaining so many powerful demonic ones?

With a mental command, the hellhounds separated and surrounded Sunnydale, each taking a direction to protect. She took the north and started to do her job.

The hellmouth had been open for two whole days. Most demons escaped at night but they had time to make their mark and cause destruction by the light of day. There were still a bunch of idiotic humans who did not escape while they had the chance. Most were long-term residents of Sunnydale who had been through apocalyptic incidents before…only they didn't have a slayer this time. They were just waiting to be saved and it would never come. Some realized that, maybe the news covering the other cities going to hell gave them a clue. Maybe it being magical night number three had something to do with it because people were pilling in their cars –those that weren't destroyed at least- and trying to run for it.

She rode the Beastraki to the middle of the road and smiled as her beastie caused several drivers to break too fast, horns blaring, many slamming into the back of others and causing a large pile-up. She looked down at the tops of the cars from the high perch of the creature's neck and made her next command.

"Beastie, fetch."

She held on tight as the Beastraki charged, the center head she was gripping biting the first car it saw and throwing it to the side. The other heads did the same as the beast sprinted and barked, picking up spare cars and tossing them like chew toys.

Willow laughed at the rush of adrenaline and the feeling of the wind whipping through her hair as she cast a quick spell to keep her position so she could do more magic. She used more of her black smoke to manipulate the humans running from their cars so they would head back towards town. The beastie charged towards them as well, growling and sending them tripping back towards their cars before tossing them to the side.

One car managed to break free, driving off road and onto the sand of the desert. With a mental kick, Willow turned her beastie around and started the chase. The car was flooring it, getting a good lead on them but the Beastraki were fast. The demon dog tore through the dirt and snatched the truck up in its center mouth. The two heads on either side grabbed the nearest part and with a deafening crunch the truck ripped into three pieces. The humans inside were lost as the beastie ripped the metal down and swallowed the parts. Willow did nothing to stop her pup from causing the destruction, simply waiting until they could return to blocking the exit.

The fun continued for a while, the other Beastraki doing the same for each side of town, until the burning white light that lit up the sky distracted them all. Every head lifted towards the sky in utter confusion and Willow whispered aloud, "What is that?"

On the other side of the mayhem, Spike watched the beasties as they bombarded the streets, seeing the witch whooping and hollering from one of them as she ran about. After the first street was cleared of demons by one of her doggies, his fledglings made the circle and they trapped their first prey, all scared out of their minds just trying to get home. It was so pathetic.

The humans cried out as they were surrounded by the demonic faces, nowhere to turn without fangs gleaming in the chaos.

"Well what do we have here?" Spike laughed and held out his hands. "Seems like you folks could use some help. Some protection."

"Get away from us!" One woman yelled, throwing her hands to the side and trying to wrap them around the people behind her.

"Put the claws away kitten. I'm offering you something here. Cus, you see all this." Spike gestured towards the anarchy surrounding them. "It's not going to end. But there is one way to avoid it. You can join our side. The winning side. Nothing will happen to you. Most of you. Just promise us you'll do as we say and nothing will happen. You can live your cheery pathetic human lives in your own little piece of hell. As long as you do as we say."

"Like prisoners?" A man asked from over his shoulder, checking out the fledglings in front of him.

"Well, when you put it that way-"

"Never!" The woman screamed out, cutting him off.

"Alrighty then, option two." Spike snatched the screamer into his hands and twisted her around, pulling on her head and sinking his fangs into her flesh. In a few gulps, he took the blood from the woman and cut his arm, putting the wound to her mouth and making her drink. The body fell to the floor and a fledgling took it away as he shrugged to the people stunned and stuck in the middle of their barrier. "Become one of us."

Many humans chose to join with them, to protect themselves, but many chose to change. It was all part of the plan. The army would grow, the humans would be treated as stock, and they would take on the world. Once the world was theirs, they would be in control over everything. Population levels, food allowances, torture, money, whatever they wanted. It was a large responsibility but everything would be theirs. They could make their followers do the work as they enjoyed it all. If they had to kill off the armies they created to win in the end…well that was just part of it.

The changes continued like that until Spike was sure he covered half the city. He was heading back to the Magic Box to meet up when the sky shifted color as a bright light burst through the air and shot across it before fading back into the dark. Some instinct within him was screaming it was a bad sign so he ran the rest of the way. When he arrived, he was the only one. He looked around and smelled the air but everything was too clouded to make anything out. The only sound above the noise was a loud cry that sounded from the distance but he was sure that was just one of the beasties.

Then came Dawn, slamming into his back and nearly making him fall into the ashes of the Magic Box. When he looked around to yell, he saw her crumbling by his side panting out, "Spike!"

"What?" He snapped before taking a proper look and seeing how truly upset she was, dried blood caked on her face, and an open wound at the top of her head. "What happened? Little Bit? What's wrong?"

Dawn pulled in an unnecessary breath and frantically started to gesture around. "Faith and Wesley and that other guy, they attacked us. She ran after- they- they-she… Darla …she didn't- she- she didn't make it."

Spike felt his mouth open and murmured, "Bloody hell," at the shock of the news.

"That's not all. Wesley did magic. He had a soul and it went up into the sky and-"

Spike looked up towards where he saw the light flying before and growled. "Angel."

"Yeah." Dawn gasped out. "They probably want him to join their team or whatever. Try and take us down."

"Love to see them try." He snarled and looked around at the fledglings. "We're about done here. We'll stop him before he has the chance to get over the tingles."

"Okay." Dawn nodded along, on the verge of breaking, still in too much shock to be able to comprehend what she had just been through and the pain from her head taking a beating by the slayer was not helping.

Spike looked around for the other vamp but didn't see her coming up from behind. "Where's Dru?"

"After they…" Dawn's voice cracked and she shook away the tears she couldn't afford. "After Darla…she just lost it. I couldn't stop her."

"Look at me Nibblet." Spike grabbed the shaking girl by the shoulders and made her stand straight. "We're not beat yet. Dru will be alright. She's a big girl. Darla…well I never really liked her but we'll make them pay. Alright?"

"Alright." Dawn wiped her face and nodded again, looking around to see what her sister had to say about it. "Wait…where's Buffy and Willow?"

"They were supposed to meet up with us by now. Come on. Let's nab them."

Spike and Dawn ran to find Buffy, leaving the rest of the vamps behind. Instead of her, they found her group of vampires all heading towards the meeting spot, none of them knowing where their captain went.

"What do you mean you don't know?!" Spike yelled at one of them, shoving them into the side of a building. Moments later, the ground shook by Willow who was heading their way to meet them.

"Whoa." Dawn whispered at the sight of the beasties, backing away from their size and the power they held over her. Willow smirked as she descended to meet them on the ground.

"And where have you been?" Spike demanded to know.

"What?" Willow asked with a shrug. "I was doing my job."

"Yeah well while you were doing your job we got bigger problems."

"Angel's friends," Dawn interrupted. "From LA. They came and they- Darla's gone." Willow shrugged at that one, indifferent to the vampire's death. "They took Xander and Tara and they had this soul and this spell and-"

"They took who?!" Willow's furious voice bounced around the walls of the street they were on, echoing her screams in the small space and up into the sky.

"Yeah they took your bint." Spike said in a hurry. "Shut it for a moment would you? We can get her back later. Right now we need to find the big lummox and shove that soul outta him."

"Do you think you can tell me what to do?" Willow challenged and the beastie behind her started to growl with one of its heads, as if to back her up.

"Look," Spike yelled back, only flinching a bit at the sight of the dog's eyes narrowing in on him. "You're the witch here. You're the one that can get that soul out of him. We can get your precious pet back when that's done. You go now and Angel will come and screw up the party plans. He could screw you up to. Then all this will go away."

"I'm not the only one." Willow challenged with a deadly glare under black brows. "Buffy could just sleep with him again."

"That's it-" Spike started to roll his sleeves up in anticipation of landing a good punch and make one of those black eyes truly black. He was hopped up on a ton of blood and he was ready for whatever spell she wanted to throw. Or, that's what he thought, until Willow held up her hand and threw an invisible wall in front of her body making his hand collide with the solid air.

"Oh I'm so sorry about that." Willow smirked as Spike held his knuckles in his palm.

That was when Dawn interrupted, trying to stop the fight and get back to their real problems.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Her screaming worked momentarily and she was able to ask, "Shouldn't one of us go to LA? Help Dru? Won't they be trying to stop us?"

"The backup dancers and the psychotic slayer?" Spike sneered. "They won't be able to make heads or tails of anything for a while. That's if Dru hasn't already killed them all."

"Faith was there and I didn't even get to say hello?" Willow asked with equal parts sarcasm and anger. "Now I really gotta go meet them."

"Shut up." Spike whined. "Angel knows things. He is the issue which is why we need you, queen of the undead doggies, to sick him."

"He makes sense Willow." Dawn pleaded.

"Fine." Willow barked, throwing her arms up. "We'll fix Angelus and then get Tara back. Then I'll kill all of you for letting her get away in the first place!"

"Where's Buffy?" Dawn asked again, ignoring the outburst, while thinking Buffy would want to be the one making the plans.

"Come on," Spike said, walking away. "Before Red flips her lid."

They searched all over town for Buffy but could find no trace of her in the destruction left behind. She didn't answer their calls or anything.

"Where the bloody hell did that woman go?"

"Buffy!" Dawn screamed for the hundredth time. "Where is she?"

"I'm not waiting for this. I don't need her." Willow said, beyond frustrated. "I'm going to stop Angel now so we can get a move on things."

"You don't think he would have come back do you?" Dawn asked, worried as she glanced at the many piles of ash littering the ground. "Angelus might have turned back without us knowing and Angel could have come and-"

"Don't say that." Spike cut her off. "Alright, here's the plan-"

"Oh good, you're in charge." Willow said with a laugh.

"Shut it or I'll steal your little pebble and make you dog chow. You and Dawn go find Angel and stop the bipolar bastard from killing our fun. Kill him if you have to. I'll sniff Buffy out and we'll meet you there. She couldn't have gotten far."

"What about Dru?" Dawn asked again, looking to Willow who was crossing her arms over her body and huffing in annoyance at the time it was taking. She needed to know where Tara was and she needed to know now.

"She'll come back." Spike said with assurance. He wanted to be there for Dru but honestly Buffy was more important to him. Dru had gone off on her own before and when she was upset, she was the true definition of a monster. His priority was finding out where Buffy was and what happened to her. "Then we can visit our little pals in LA. Maybe I'll get to tick another slayer off the kill list after all."

"Alright," Dawn said with a nod. "Come on Willow. Let's go stop that soul."

"Finally." Willow floated up, back onto her beastie and gestured towards Dawn, making her float into the air as well.

"Oh hell no Willow!" Dawn tried to pull from the magic but there was no point. "I am not riding one of these things!"

"Well you can't drive can you?"

"You can!"

"This is more fun and they can pick up Angelus' sent." Before they could argue more, all four beasties charged and they were on their way towards stopping Angel.

Spike left to check the Magic Box one last time and send the fledglings packing –choosing a random one to be leader in their absence. He hoped she had just gone to steal that cheerleading outfit and that was it. This was just a big pile of shit he did not want to deal with.


Dawn and Willow traveled for hours before picking up on Angelus' sent and narrowing it down to one town in the middle of a desert. They were on foot, checking in and out of the streets while the sun was just starting to rise over the horizon. There was no sign of Angel.

"I thought Spike and Buffy would be here by now." Dawn mumbled as they walked the town, hoping that whatever happened to Buffy did not happen to him. They had been there a while and the two powerful vamps would easily be able to trace them. It only worried her for a moment before she heard Angel speaking from down an alley.

"And why would they be coming here? Whoa, those are large do-" Willow shot out a hand and slammed Angel into the side of the brick wall with a thump as Dawn came running forward. Angel coughed and shouted, "What the fuck?!", as he continued to fight the spell holding him down.

"Too bad Angel." Dawn said with a satisfied smirk, secretly grateful they didn't have to have a huge fight. She wasn't sure she could win against Angel. "You only get to be here for a few hours this time."

"Don't call me that!" He screamed as he pushed against the rough of the brick. Nothing he did mattered, he couldn't move.

"Oh, he's trying to play dumb." Willow smirked and slid his body higher up the wall, nearing the point where the sun had started to shine at the tip of the roof.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Alright Willow, do it. Remove his soul."

"Soul?!"

Willow started to chant the words that came, having looked them up earlier in her life when researching for the Scooby Gang. It was as though all magic became a part of her and she could access it whenever she wished. Why hadn't she tapped into her dark side before? Really, it was just convenient.

Angel continued to sputter and fight and yell over the spell, "What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"

"Sorry Angel," Dawn yelled up, "But with a soul you're-"

"I don't have a soul!"

"We heard that before." Willow mumbled before picking the spell back up.

"That's the point of me killing this gypsy bitch. Who is very hard to find by the way-" He joked as he continued to try and inch his way down the wall, very wary of the sun creeping near the tips of his hair. "All that mojo keeping her hidden."

"You can't trick us Angel." Dawn said, crossing her hands over her chest and smiling as one of the beasties growled at the demon on the wall.

"Trick you?!" He screamed as he growled back at the dog. "I'll kill every last one of you!"

With one resounding word, Willow had completed the spell and looked on in befuddlement. Dawn looked over at her, cocked her head to the side, and asked, "Willow?"

"I did it." Willow said, shaking her head. "It should have worked. Why didn't it work?" She took her hand away and Angel fell to the floor of the alley in a very pissed off heap.

"Because I don't have a fucking soul! See, watch." He jogged out into the middle of the street and looked around until he saw one worker opening the doors to their mom and pop business. He walked over and asked, "Excuse me…sorry do you have the time?"

"Oh yes, it's-" Before the woman could finish he had snapped her neck to the side and thrown her body towards the two across the street, the dogs behind them sniffing the dead shopkeeper curiously.

"See?! No soul."

"Ohhhh…kay?" Willow said, completely confused.

"Now fuck off!"

"Well that doesn't….make sense…" Dawn looked around as if one of the dogs would give them an answer. "If you don't have your soul then…what did Wesley do?"


Spike had picked up on Buffy's trail a while after starting. She had been mixed in with death and destruction and it had been hard to set her apart. After he did, he found her to be moving fast and moving far. Whatever it was, she was running.

Maybe Dawn was right. Maybe Angelus had turned around and therefore sent Angel straight back their way. Maybe Florica had come back for her. Maybe they were off dueling it out in the middle of a desert. Maybe. At least, that's where the sent took him.

He was dizzy with worry as he walked the dunes of sand and followed the trail around rocks and cacti. The sun was near rising and he contemplated going back to find shelter but picked up the pace instead. If she were hurt for any reason by that pig-faced Neanderthal, she would need him and he would need to commit murder. There were caves close enough to sprint to in a hurry.

The trail led him in a wondering path, circling around itself, until he ended up at the door of a small house. Well, house was generous. It was more like a shed or a shack, abandoned and beaten by the weather abusing it.

Without hesitation he stomped up to it and threw the door open, frozen in place by what he saw, his voice falling apart in shock and disbelief. "Buffy?"