"Still nothing?" Willow asked, peering hopefully over the top of her laptop. The group seated around the dining room table shook their heads glumly. The redhead sighed dismissively and returned her focus to the screen.

"We'll find something." Buffy said in a confident voice, but deep down she was beginning to loose hope. It had been three days since Joey had gone missing and they had been researching every moment they had, Spike and Buffy rotating training sessions with the SIT's. As Buffy had promised, the SIT's were now doing well more than twice the training they had been before, spending almost all their waking moments in the basement with Spike or in the backyard with Buffy.

"Buff, I don't think we're going to find anything in these, we've been through 'em at least three times." Xander said, closing the book he had been flipping through.

"We've got to keep looking, Xander. If there's anything we missed, anything at all…"

"Buffy?"

The Slayer turned in her seat. Spike was standing in the doorway. "Yeah?"

"Girls are getting' fussy, not concentratin'." He said. "It's getting' a bit late, maybe we should call it quits for the night, 'ey?"

Buffy sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Tell them to get to bed." She then gave Spike an odd look. "What happened to your shirt?"

He looked down and smirked a bit at the multiple holes in his shirt. "Teachin' a couple of the girls 'ow to use the crossbows." He poked a finger through one of the holes. "Don't have very good aim."

"Just try not to get yourself dusted." Buffy said, smiling for what seemed to be the first time in weeks.

He nodded and turned, heading back towards the basement.

"Uh, Spike?"

He turned back around. "Yeah Nibblet?"

"There's an arrow in your back." She said, an odd look on her face.

Spike looked back over his shoulder. Sure enough, there was a thin bolt sticking out of his lower back. He reached back, grabbed it, and yanked it out, wincing. "Thought I got 'em all…" He muttered, walking off.

Anya and Willow exchanged odd looks.

-----

"Hold still, would you?" Buffy said, pouring some more rubbing alcohol onto a small cloth.

"Ow." Spike hissed, cringing as she pressed the cloth to one of the numerous tiny holes in his back.

"You're back looks like a pin cushion." She chastised, moving on to a different wound.

"Yeah, well, don't turn your back on a line of nine girls with loaded crossbows." He said, wincing again. He shifted in his seat at the foot of the Slayer's bed, feeling uncomfortable. It felt like there were tons of tiny drops of acid burning on his chest and back, slowly eating away at his flesh. The small yet numerous wounds hadn't been bothering him all that badly until Buffy had decided they need disinfecting.

"Hand me those bandages." She said, holding her arm around to him. She was seated behind him, her legs crossed as she tended to the wounds. He grabbed the bandages he had set in his lap and handed them back to her.

"You guys find anything new?" He asked.

"Nope." Buffy answered, placing small pieces of gauze on his back. "Willow tried to do a general locator spell, but we couldn't find anything. She thinks that the First has brightened up a bit and done some type of magical barrier to keep us from finding it so easily."

"Still no idea why it took the girl 'stead of killin' 'er?"

"Uh-uh." She replied, leaning over and setting the first aid items on the stand beside her bed. Sensing that she was satisfied with the state of his injuries, he stood, walking over to the chair where he had discarded a new and far less holey shirt and pulled it back over his head.

"Giles doesn't think it has anything to do with how young she is, does he?" Spike questioned, sitting back down.

She shrugged. "He said that the Council uses help from some powerful Wizards to detect the Potentials. He said Slayers are all endowed with the same mystical power and that it becomes more prominent as they become older. The Wizards can detect this mystical power, and that's how they find them."

"And that's why the girls are all around Dawn's age." Spike said. "Their power's just becoming evident."

"Right." Buffy confirmed. "But Joey was different. Giles said that she was thought to be a Potential right around her third birthday. The Council had insisted there was some mistake, but the Wizards insisted that the girl was emitting just as much mystical energy as the other girls, even though she was so young."

"But they don't know why?"

Buffy shook her head. "She seemed like a normal little girl, so they wrote it off as some fluke. They stuck her in the care of multiple Watchers, but most felt like it was nothing but a babysitting job, so they quit. She bounced back and forth between a few and the latest one was killed a few days before Giles go to her."

Spike shook his head. "What about her parents?"

Buffy shrugged once more. "Giles didn't say, but I got the feeling that they weren't really in the picture anymore…" Spike looked down a bit. Buffy sighed. "It's late. We should get some sleep."

Spike nodded, climbing to his feet.

"Willow's going to try to pull off a more powerful locator spell tomorrow." Buffy assured him. "We'll get her back."

He gave her the faintest smile, lying down on the floor. "I know." He said, placing his elbow on his pillow and propping his head on his hand. He had been sleeping on her bedroom floor ever since the others had gotten back. The fact was that there just wasn't enough space in the house.

There were girls in the basement, the living room, Dawn's room, Willow's room, not to mention the fact that Xander and Giles were alternating between the floor and the couch in the living room. Anya had been going back to Xander's apartment nightly and always came back assuring everyone that 'Andrew had neither broken, stolen, or used any of Xander's possessions to summon hideous demons that would viciously maim and kill each and every one of them, nor had he acquired any pet bunnies.'

Buffy smiled back., trying to hide the uncertainty she felt. Reaching over, she flicked of the light. "G'night, Spike."

"'night pet."

-----

Spike stirred slightly, the sound of something moving across the room drawing him form his rather peaceful slumber. It amazed him how easily he could sleep when he was in the same room with Buffy. He cracked open one eye, pushing the blanket he had had pulled over his head out of the way. After a few moments, he racked the sounds up as either a dream or his unstable mind and let himself drift back to sleep.

"Spike."

His eyes shot open. That had not been his mind. He sat up, tossing the blankets aside. He looked around, his vampiric eyes unable to see anything suspicious in the dark room. He looked up at Buffy. She was still sound asleep, her small body wrapped snuggly in a thick comforter. He could hear her nearly silent snores, but other than that, the room was completely silent.

"I'm bloody well insane…" He muttered, turning away.

"You are?"

Spike jumped backwards in surprise, hitting his head harshly on the windowsill. His eyes went wide. "Joey?"

"Are you okay?" She asked, giving him and odd look. She was standing about a foot in front of him, his t-shirt draping down to her ankles and her messy brown hair hanging about her face.

"Uh… yeah, kitten." He said, still staring at her curiously. Something didn't make sense.

"I missed you." She said, smiling broadly. "So I came back."

"Back? You're…y-yeah, you're back." He mumbled, arcing an eyebrow at her. "H-how'd you get 'ere?"

"Walked."

"Oh." He said dumbly. He looked back up at Buffy. She was still sound asleep. When he looked back down, Joey was taking a seat beside him on the floor.

"Can we play a game?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Uh…"

"How 'bout hide and seek." She offered, grinning. "I know a good hiding spot, but it's kinda far away."

He just stared at her.

"I can hide in that crypt again." She suggested. "No one will ever find me."

He swallowed, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"You gonna play with me?"

He shifted, scooting away from her a bit. "I don't think that's such a good idea, pet."

"It wasn't such a bad idea before, was it?" She asked, her smile fading. "You didn't mind letting me hide there the other night."

"Joey, hun… I just…"

"You're pathetic." She snapped, standing. She was glaring at him now, pointing accusingly. "You're the reason they got me!"

Spike's eyes widened, but he didn't speak. He cast another sidelong glance at Buffy, but she was still sleeping soundly. He looked back up at Joey, slinking back further against the wall.

A cruel grin spread across her face and she began to stalk slowly towards him. "Come on, Spike. Let's play. Just me and you again." She said jovially, watching as he looked back up at the Slayer. "Oh, come on, Spike. Do you depend on her for everything? My God, you really are pathetic."

"Stay away from me." He growled halfheartedly, now backed into the corner between the wall and the nightstand.

"Do you like puppets, Spike?" The girl asked sweetly. Spike noticed a thin pink gash that ran from her eyebrow down over her right eye. "I like puppets." She said, grinning again as she pulled him from his thoughts. She crouched down in front of him, leaning forward so her nose was mere inches from his. "Do you want to sing with me, Spike?"

His eyes went wide and his stomach lurched. There was something really wrong here…

Joey continued to grin as she stood up. She hummed lightly, her green eyes watching him gleefully.

Spike knew that song. He knew it all too well. His eyes began to water. "It's you…. you're the First…"

The First's only response was to smile a little wider and go from humming to singing, the words emitting from her mouth with icy clarity.

Spike screamed.

-----

"Spike! Spike!" Buffy yelled the vampire's name fervently as she tried to keep him still. She had woken to the sound of his screams to find him hunched in the corner, clawing at the wall and crying hysterically.

"I can't do it again! Don't let it make me do it again!" He wailed piteously, trying frantically to get out of the Slayer's clutches.

"Who, Spike?!" She demanded, trying to pin him on the ground. "Stop fighting and tell me what happened.

He didn't seem to hear. His only goal seemed to be to break free and get the hell out of here.

"Spike, stop!" She demanded. In one forceful move, she grabbed both of his wrists and held them firmly in one hand, pulling his body back down to the ground forcibly as he tried to get up and run. She held him there, both of them sitting on the ground, his back to her as she held both his arms against his back.

"Please…I don't wanna do it again…." He mumbled, his body shaking violently as he gave up the fight, his shoulders going slack. "Oh God…"

Hoping that he wouldn't try to run again, she tentatively released his arms. He didn't run, he merely brought his hands up to his face and began to cry even harder.

"Not again, Spike…" Buffy muttered, placing a hand on his shoulder. He fell backwards slightly, his head resting on her shoulder. "I'm not gonna let anything happen, Spike." She assured him, running one hand through his hair.

"It was singing that song again." He choked.

"The First?"

He nodded, closing his eyes and burying his face further into her shoulder. "I don't want to kill anybody…"

"You won't." She said gently, now awkwardly hugging the vampire in an attempt to calm him.

"I was wrong." He sniffed, reopening his eyes.

"About what?" She asked gently.

He pulled away from her, looking at her with red eyes. "She's dead, Buffy. She's dead."

TBC…

A/N: I'm so mean, yes yes. Feel free to hate me. XD Har. I'm sorry, really am, but I'm somewhat of a dramaqueen, so I'm kinda big on overdoing stuff, such as sad, cry-ish scenes and, as noted in the first few chaps, the overly cute and fluffy scenes!! But I swear on my life, this will have a good outcome. It'll stop being all morbid and depressing. Promise. Just keep me happy by reviewing. :)