The bar was a disaster. Stools were overturned, bottles and glasses broken everywhere, the dead and injured littering the floor. In the middle of chaos stood one man, a sly smile on his face, a bottle of whiskey in his left hand, held to his lips. He looked around him, looking for another person to fight.

"COME TO ME!"

"Who the Hell do tha' be?" Liam stumbles forward, bends down and lifts the head of one of his victims. "Was it you? Nay, I didna' think so."

"COME TO ME, CHILDE!"

Furiously Liam yells, "I am no man's child. Me parents are long dead. Now show your fucking self!"

"IF YOU WANT TO SEE ME, CLOSE YOUR EYES, LISTEN TO MY VOICE. COME TO ME, AND I WILL REWARD YOU GREATLY."

"Rewards are for the weak. I have already been rewarded. If ye want me, you can find me. I'll be takin' me leave now." Casually he strolled out the door, stepping over the bodies on his way.

***

"In my many years as a Watcher, I have never even heard of these scrolls, but they are fascinating," Giles said leaning over the parchments laid out in front of him. Gunn and Fred had just returned with them, and he was getting his first look.

"What do they say about Angel is all I care about Giles," Buffy said as she came down the stairs. Find out what happened for me, please."

The look on her face, the utter desolation there, the anguish, the pain were enough to force Giles beyond his capabilities, to do everything he could to help this girl he loved so much. "We'll need some time, Buffy, but we will get there. I promise you, we will find out what happened."

With a flicker of a smile, Buffy replied, "Thanks. I know you will. I think I'm gonna go see if I can find him...talk to him."

Xander walked up to her then, standing in front of her, looking at her sincerely. "Be careful, Buff. We don't know who, or what he is yet. He could be dangerous."

Looking at him sharply, she responds, "I know that Xander. That's why I have to find him...he's dangerous. To himself, and maybe others."

***

Am I going mad? That voice wasna' anyone in that pub. It was naught me own thoughts. So who did it be? Stalking through the back streets, looking for a fight to release the frustration he was feeling, Liam walked with his head down, his shoulders slumped, ignoring those around him, hoping that someone would take him for easy prey.

"YOU ARE MY PREY. YOU ARE MY EYES. YOU ARE MY CONTACT TO YOUR WORLD. NOW COME TO ME LIAM!"

Closing his eyes, he stopped, breathed in deeply, relishing in the act. "Where do I go?" And he was told. And he shivered at the thought of what was speaking to him. He did not know for sure, only that it had great power. Power over him. "I shall start preparations in the morrow."

***

As Buffy walked, she could feel something watching her. She stops abruptly, turns around and looks up to see a pair of glowing yellow and violet eyes in the moon. As fast as she sees them, they disappear.

"Well Pet, what brings you out on a night like this, now that you've defeated the Big Bad. I'd have thought you'd be with Angel."

Whirling around, she flung herself into his chest. "Spike! You're alive. I saw you burn. Oh my God, Spike...," she crumples into his arms.

Holding her, caressing her hair, he can feel her turmoil. "Buffy, it's okay . What's happened?"

And she did, telling more to him than she had to the others. He felt pity and relief combined. Pity for what she had had to endure, relief that it wasn't him that had been shanshued. He had a soul, he had immortality. He didn't want to be merely human again. What a fool Angel had been to accept such a 'gift' as that.

"I'll look for him, but Buffy, don't tell the others I'm back. I'll help you, but I'll be leaving right after. I'll not stay around to watch you and Angel together."

Putting her hand flat against Spike's chest, Buffy looked up into his eyes, "Spike, I..." Shaking her head, she continues, "A few minutes ago, did you see weird eyes up in the moon?"

Laughing, he gently pushes her away from him, a hand on each shoulder, looks down into her eyes, and says, "So, you saw the man in the moon did you?"

***