WEDDING

                                          WOES

NOTE: I own none of these guys except for Skylar and any character that you haven't seen before.

A/N: This is the third Skylar story in the Skylar series. Like I said before each story has a different length. This one might be longer or shorter than the others. I don't know yet. But since this story goes with Angel's gift and Valentine's Surprise you might want to read those before you read this.

       CHAPTER 11

"What do you mean she's gone?" Connor demanded.

"I mean she's gone! She's not anywhere upstairs." Buffy was fuming. She turned to Spike. "You! You said she'd be OK while I was gone. I warned you to protect her, Spike. Now she's gone."

"I had no idea," said Spike. "I thought she was sleeping. She was upset—"

"Oh, so not only did you let her run away but you upset her. What the hell is wrong with you?" Buffy snapped.

"Buffy, please," said Fred.

"Yes. Fred and I were here, too," said Willow.


"You two were doing something important. He (pointing to Spike) was sitting on his ass," said Buffy.

"I was not," Spike argued.

"Buffy, Spike, could you stop it? Skylar's missing, remember?" Dawn interrupted the two.

"This is the part where you think of something," Anya added.

"Angelus and other vamps are out there… and so is Sky," said Connor.

"Wait. Just calm down," said Buffy, trying to reason. "OK. Connor, Dawn, Xander, you three come with me to look for Skylar. The rest of you do what you need for the spell."

"All right," said Xander.

"Well, come on. Let's go," said Connor.

"We'll hold things down here," said Fred.

"Good luck," said Gunn. "Find the kid."

Buffy, Dawn, Connor, and Xander exited the hotel. "This is all my fault," said Spike. "All of it."

"What? Didn't you just say it wasn't?" asked Fred.

"Yeah, man," said Gunn.

"Skylar could have gotten by any of us," said Willow.

"She is the size of a pea pod," said Anya.

"I can't believe she just up and left," said Gunn.

"Skylar's just probably stressed out from everything. God, I hope she's OK out there," said Fred sadly.

"Buffster will find Princess," said Lorne, using his nickname for Skylar.

"But I feel useless just standing here," said Fred. "This is awful." Gunn put his arm around her.

"Sky's a smart kid," he said. "She'll be OK."

"We have to focus on the spell while the others try to find her," Lorne tried to reason. "Come on. We have to give Princess a normal home to come back to. At least as normal as this home gets."

"Right," said Willow. "What do we need for the spell?"

"It's a spell of the Charmed ones," said Lorne.

"Wait. You mean that show is real?" Anya asked.

"No, buttercup. But there spells sure as heck are," said Lorne. "And there were Charmed ones a long time ago."

"What do we need, Lorne?" Fred asked.

"A barrier circle and three crystals to imprison Angelus in. Then we need someone to chant the words," said Lorne.

"I'll do that," Willow volunteered.

          Meanwhile Skylar was walking down the dark streets of LA. She was very frightened. Skylar turned a corner and went into an alley. She sat down up against a wall. Skylar sniffed a little. She hugged her knees, buried her face, and cried softly. Her long blonde hair covered her a little.

"What's wrong?" Skylar looked up. She saw Kevin in front of her. "Why are you so sad?"

"Kevin, what are you doing here? You shouldn't be here."

"Neither should you. It's scary out here. Why don't you go home?"

"I can't." Skylar began to sob. "I can't ever go home."

Kevin walked up and sat down next to her. "Why not?"

"Because if I do my dad will never come back. But if I stay away for good everything will be OK."

"But won't Angel be sad if you stay away?"

"I know. But I don't think he's Angel anymore."

"What? Why?"

"Because… I don't know." Kevin watched his friend continue to cry. He'd never seen Skylar so miserable.

          Back at the hotel everyone was in the basement setting up the spell. Fred drew a large chalk circle on the floor. Anya placed two of the three needed crystals around the circle.

"Remember," said Lorne, "When big bad vamp shows up that's when you place the last crystal down. Do not hesitate."

"Right," said Fred.

"Ready?" Anya asked.

"I am," Willow sighed. She had the chant written down on a piece of paper she was holding.

"Well, recite, Willow witch," said Lorne.

Willow took a deep breath and looked at the paper before her. Spike put his hand to her shoulder for reassurance. Willow took another breath and ran a hand through her hair.

"Be brave, pet," said Spike.

          Skylar was still crying next to Kevin. Kevin hadn't said anything. He just sat near her. It felt good that he was there, though.

"Do you think I'll see my dad again?" Skylar finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Don't count on it." Skylar and Kevin looked up quickly. Angelus was standing over them. Neither of them had heard him approach at all.

"Daddy?" Skylar gasped.

"Aww. Isn't that cute?" Angelus turned to Kevin. "I've seen you before. Hanging around my kid, huh? I wonder if angels are eatable." Kevin cringed in fear.

          Suddenly Angelus just… disappeared. He was gone in an instant. Skylar turned wide-eyed. Kevin's mouth dropped open. Neither could believe what they had just seen. Kevin looked at Skylar.

"What was that?" Kevin asked.

"I don't know," Skylar replied. She thought about something then. "Maybe it worked." She stood up. "Maybe my dad is back now." Skylar ran out of the alley. "I'll go see and then I can leave again just in case he's back."

"Skylar, wait," Kevin called after her. Skylar ignored him and kept going.

A/N: OK, so I don't know how the Charmed ones summoning spell works exactly but I guess I was close enough. Anyway, please review.