Disclaimer:  I own nothing.  Everything belongs to Joss Whedon and Warner Brothers.

Title:  All That's Good

Part 5:  Searching

By

Anessa Ramsey

            Willow stared at the man in front of her.  For three weeks she'd been stuck in this place between worlds, learning to control her magic, to harness it and not let it take control of her.  She was still grieving and a lot of the time it was hard to concentrate on magic when thoughts of Tara filled her mind, but she was getting there, slowly but surely.  Spike, or Will as he was now called, made regular appearances to check up on her, but a lot of the time he was away.  Apparently being a Whitelighter entailed a lot of traveling.  She got the impression though, that when he wasn't traveling he was spending a lot of time with the Charmed Ones.  Every time they were mentioned he seemed to flush lightly.  It was an odd sight to see Spike so affected.  "Will.  His name is Will," she corrected silently.  Sighing she returned to the meditation that was her only sanctuary from the thoughts in her head.

            Buffy stared at the map, hoping that this time Anya might be able to get a fix on where Spike was located.  They'd had no luck with anyone regarding three witches called the Charmed Ones.  Even Willie didn't know much about them, only that one of them was killed by Shax, an assassin for a being called The Source.  Giles found that information intriguing, considering that three women had accompanied Spike on his retrieval of Willow. 

            Tired and upset at being out of the loop and worried about Willow, Buffy was on the edge of her nerves.  Dawn and Xander were both slow to do anything that could set her off.  What made it worse was that she missed him.  She missed Spike.  As much as she always told him otherwise, his departure had left a void in her life that she never expected.  Dawn obviously felt it too, spending time in his crypt with Clem, as if waiting for him to return.  Those two minutes that he was there on the cliff was no indication that he had any intention of returning for good.  She didn't even have any idea of what happened to him and there was no way to find out.  She nearly gave up all hope, then two days later Anya appeared with the information that they needed.

            "I just thought I'd let you know.  I got in touch with a couple of my contacts and found out where the Charmed Ones are.  You can be there within five hours."

            "Where are they?" Xander asked, relieved that they might actually find out where Willow was.

            "San Francisco.  I found out who they are too, which gave me the ability to locate their exact address.  You're looking for Piper, Phoebe, and Paige Halliwell.  They're at this address," she said, handing Buffy a piece of paper with the number and street name scratched across it in black ink. 

            Buffy stared at the paper for a moment and then looked up at Anya.  "Thank you," she said, knowing that she had never really given the vengeance demon credit for anything before.

            She grabbed Dawn by the hand and pulled her toward the door.  "We're going to pack.  Everyone be back here in an hour ready to head out.  We're going to San Francisco."

            Anya stopped her for a moment.  "I'm just going to teleport there.  I don't feel like spending five hours in a car.  I won't go near the house without any of you.  Besides, I have a stop to make along the way.  Toodles!"  She disappeared with a slight shimmer.

            Xander and Giles just looked at each other after the women had gone.  "Road trip.  Sounds like fun."

            "You do realize that we are going to be stuck in a car for five hours with two very stubborn women who seem to control our lives just as much as they control their own?  One of whom is intent on not only finding Willow, but her vampire lover."

            Xander blanched slightly.  "Oh."

            "My sentiments exactly." 

            Dawn watched as Buffy rummaged through her closet, muttering to herself about not having the right outfit for the trip.  "Buffy, it doesn't matter what you wear.  Spike would think you look good in rags.  He doesn't care what you wear."

            "Who said I was thinking of Spike.  I don't care what he thinks of me," she said vehemently.  "I was just thinking about all the possibilities to meet new men.  Yeah.  New men."

            "You can lie to Xander and Giles all you like, but I'm your sister.  I was made from you.  There's no hiding it from me.  You miss him and seeing him all different looking and angelic up on the cliff has weirded you out."

            Buffy paused in her search for a black tank top.  "Who's weirded?  I'm not weirded.  There is no weirdage here."

            "Oh right, as if our lives are normal?  There's major oogly-booglies attacking us nearly every night.  You fight vampires every night and that's not weird?  You've dated…well not technically dated Spike…but you were involved with two vampires.  So just admit that you miss him and deal with it."

            "He tried to rape me, Dawn."

            "Yeah, he did and it was wrong.  But it isn't as if you didn't spend the entire time you've been back putting him through the wringer.  Sure, Xander believes that there's only one side to it: yours, and I was mad…at first.  I'm not trying to say that you deserved it, but I know Spike and he wouldn't have done anything to hurt you unless you did something really bad to him first."

            Buffy stared at her sister.  "When did you figure all that out?"

            "I've been thinking about it since Xander told me.  I know that it was only a day ago, but I've been too scared to do anything but think.  Willow tried to kill me Buffy.  She tried to kill Giles.  And she skinned Warren alive…" Buffy glared at her and she realized that she hadn't been there.  "I heard Giles and Xander talking about it," she said, convering quickly.

            "She didn't know what she was doing, Dawn."

            "Sure she did," Dawn snapped.  "It's just easier for you to believe that she didn't to keep all those boxes that you place people in from becoming messed up.  Spike was a good person.  He tried to help all of us only to get run down constantly.  Willow was a good person who tried to end the world and kill us all.  Where do you draw the line Buffy?  Who's good and who's evil in that equation?"

            "We'll talk about this another time," Buffy said, not wanting to think about it right then.  Just the same as always she pushed it to the back of her mind, saying that she'd deal with it later…only she never did.  She went back to throwing things into her bag and Dawn backed out of the room, her sister's feelings on Spike and Willow were clearly off limits.