When they reached the outskirts of Sunnydale, Angelus pulled his motorcycle over to the side of the road and cut off the engine, with Spike following suit.

"What's wrong?" Buffy demanded, climbing off of the bike to face Angelus. "We're back. Why waste time stopping? I want to go and renew old acquaintances."

"Patience," Angelus chided. "Good things should be savored, not rushed. The reward will be the greater in the end. Here. Put this on." He handed Buffy a red helmet that had come with the stolen motorcycle and took a blue one for himself. "Spike, you too."

Spike's helmet was green. Even as he obeyed, he complained, "I bet this color makes me look sallow."

He was right, but Buffy and Angelus weren't stupid enough to tell him that. Once they were all suitably covered, Angelus nodded in satisfaction. "Good. We don't want anyone to recognize us too soon, and this way no one can get a clear look at our faces. We'll be able to preserve our identities for a while. Spike, follow my lead."

The three got back on the bikes and continued into Sunnydale at a moderate pace to avoid attracting much attention. Buffy thought the town looked about the same as when she had left it last year. It seemed dull on the outside but in the shadows lurked great dangers. And she was one of them now. It felt good.

Ahead of them, a noisy group of young men and women spilled out of the Bronze and onto the street, laughing and chatting drunkenly as they disrupted what little traffic was on the road at that hour. With a gleeful grin, Angelus accelerated right into the tightly clumped crowd, plowing through and scattering them. Behind him, Spike ran over those people unfortunate enough to still be in his way on the ground. The sound of terrified screams and the scent of thick, flowing blood filled the air.

Buffy was licking her lips in anticipation of the feast ahead when Angelus guided the motorcycle away from the disaster rather than turning back and taking advantage. "Hey!" she yelled indignantly. "I'm hungry!"

"Too public, lover! And too soon!" he yelled back. "Just wanted to leave a little calling card."

They zoomed through the town and out onto a side street, a very familiar side street. Buffy recognized it as Crawford Street. Sure enough, Angelus drove up the old abandoned mansion and halted there.

Buffy hopped off the motorcycle again, ripped off her helmet, and glared at him. "We left good, fresh blood in that street."

Angelus calmly removed his own helmet. "Like I said, it wasn't the time or place to settle down for a meal. We would have been spotted for sure and possibly recognized. It's not time yet. I just wanted to shake things up a bit, not shout to the world who and what we are. We can pick up food anywhere."

"All right, fine." Buffy turned away in disappointment.

"Bet we killed or at least seriously mangled a good half dozen or more of those idiots," Spike volunteered in an attempt to cheer Buffy up. "I could feel myself rolling over a few bodies in the street when I went by."

Buffy didn't even crack a smile. Angelus sighed and went over to her. "I'm sorry, babe. I didn't know it would bother you this much. But I have an idea that'll cheer you up." He turned to Spike. "Make yourself scarce for a few hours. I'm going to give Buffy some...driving lessons."

Spike rolled his eyes but nodded. "This place going to be home base, then?" He indicated the mansion.

"Yeah," Angelus replied, already distracted by Buffy.

Deciding not to waste any more time talking to them, Spike grabbed a hat out of his bag, pulled it low over his head, and strolled off. He didn't want to be recognized until it was time. If he actually was recognized, he would have to kill whoever saw him and that could get messy.

He wondered what he could do that was out of the way and would take up a considerable amount of time. He didn't want to come back too soon and interrupt Angelus and Buffy when he'd specifically been instructed not to. He really needed to get himself a new girlfriend, Spike decided.

He wandered along for a while, until a thought struck him and he brightened. He could see if any of the Scooby gang was still active. When Buffy ran away this last time, it might have shattered the group. Who knew if any of the goody goodies had even stayed in Sunnydale. Maybe some of them had bought themselves clues and moved away into less Hellmouthy regions. That Willow Rosenberg, for instance, was a smart one. She might have moved across the country to attend Harvard or Yale.

With that thought in mind, Spike slunk through town until he reached Willow's house. The place was dark and he could detect no heartbeats inside. Of course if anyone was left they had most likely congregated at Rupert Giles' apartment. Spike mentally kicked himself for wasting time and set out for the former watcher's residence. A block away, he knew he had hit pay dirt. What remained of the Scooby gang was walking down the street toward him in an obviously confused mass. Spike ducked out of sight in a nearby yard and listened to their conversation.

"It sounds horrible." That was the voice of the redhead, Willow.

"They said on the radio that three people died on the site," contributed a voice Spike recognized as Xander Harris'.

"Yes, but terrible as the situation might be, the question arises as to whether the incident had any supernatural basis," chimed in an English voice. Giles, of course. "From what I have heard, it seems most likely that those responsible are humans belonging to a motorcycle gang. Best that we check matters out, though."

"I wonder if a vengeance demon was involved," piped up a young woman with an unfamiliar voice.

"Anya, not everything is about vengeance demons," Xander informed her.

They walked right past Spike's hiding place on their way to the Bronze, and he let them go without following. There were four of them, counting the new girl, Anya. He'd have to fill Angelus and Buffy in on the situation when he returned to the mansion.

TBC

I'm going to conclude this story pretty soon. Maybe two more chapters. I was getting a pretty good amount of reviews at first and then a few chapters ago they really dried up. There were seven reviews for chapter 5, then chapter 6 just got one, chapter 7 got two, and no one reviewed chapter 8. That to me says readers have gotten bored so it's time to tie things up. If anyone is still reading and would like to see something in particular happen in the last couple chapters then let me know and I will try to include it if I can fit it in with what I've already planned.