Chapter 3- The Journey

(Serendipity bus station- early afternoon)

To Buffy's dismay there were no buses from Serendipity to LA early in the morning so they had spent much of the morning at the depot. They had lunch there and talked some before hearing the call over the intercom system for the 2:00 bus leaving for Los Angeles.

Buffy hugged Dawn goodbye and walked over to Xander. "Thanks for taking care of her," she smiled at him before moving in to hug him. "It means a lot."

Xander removed the sunglasses he was wearing, revealing a solitaire black patch. He offered her his large customary grin, "come on Buffster, you sound like your saying goodbye forever. You'll be back in a couple of days."

"I know…it's just, you know…fist time in a while I leave her. What I'm saying is…I'm glad you stood around." Xander nodded his head with a small smile on his face before wrapping his arm around Dawn and walking away with her. "Let's go Dawnie…with Buffy gone," he whispered, although knowing Buffy could hear, "I'm thinking…house party?"

"Xander!" Buffy yelled towards him. "Just kidding!" He answered before walking back to the car.

Giles, who had been standing close by watching, finally approached Buffy himself. "Please…don't hesitate to call if you need me to come. I'll be there in a hurry…you are sure you don't want me to come along?"

"Thanks Giles…I need to do this alone though."

"Very well," he replied as he reached down to hug the closest thing in his life that had come close to being his child. He thought back for a moment to all that she had been through recently, amazed at how well she handled herself-yet knowing that inside she was hurting with a pain that he couldn't heal. "take care then…and call often."

She let go of him before picking her bags up off the floor and handing them to the driver to store under the bus, and then got on the bus without another word. As she got to her seat she saw him stand there a moment before he walked away to join Xander and Dawn.

As the bus pulled out of the station Buffy felt a strange feeling permeating about her. She'd be seeing Angel soon, for the first time since…that night. Even though she didn't plan to approach him, or speak to him…it gave her a strange sense of uneasiness. With this, she closed her eyes and allowed herself some time to rest, knowing that whatever was going on would not be easy.

**********

(Wolfram & Heart, Angel's office- Mid day)

Ring. Angel's intercom sounded, making him look up from the stack of papers he was investigating.

"What is it grace?" He spoke into the box- somewhat annoyed at being interrupted.

"Mr. Wesley is here for you, should I send him in sir?"

"Yes please."

He looked back at the pile before him. Listings, gathered on a daily basis of any out of ordinary happenings in Los Angeles. He had a team of 50 people designated to mystical occurrences alone. With Cordelia incapacitated he no longer had the benefit of her visions, but with his attainment of Wolfram & Heart he was able to work on a much larger scale with a considerable array of resources.

Wesley entered the office looking at the stack of papers before speaking, "anything of interest?"

"A few things. I have teams looking into it. I wanted to speak to you about something else."

Wesley sat down at one of the plush chairs beside Angel's desk. "What is it?"

"What we spoke about yesterday…I'd like to leave earlier than planned."

"What is it you're so anxious about Angel? I hardly think that it's anything of great significance if it wasn't mentioned before yesterday. Do you think this has something to do with the hell mouth?"

"No…I don't know. According to all sources the hell mouth remains dormant, I just need to see for myself. Are you in or not?"

"Of course I am…I just don't understand why you won't talk to Fred or Dunn about this."

"Because they wouldn't understand…they never knew Sunnydale like we did. If there is something… we'll sense it."

"You believe there IS something in the wrong then?"

"I don't know…I just…I need to go, and I need you with me."

"Just what is it you're expecting to find out there Angel?"

**********

It was nearly sunset as he awakened in the rubble. He could hear horn sound, signaling for the day crew to get ready to ride off on the work shuttle buses on the far side of the giant crater that once was Sunnydale. They were far enough away from him that we could rest peacefully without fear of being found.

They were working piece-by-piece filling land, building foundations. They weren't near him enough yet that he would have to move again. He'd been here now for nearly 9 months according to the calendar he had stolen from one of the workers trailers.

He got around easy enough; slept during the day in a makeshift sort of hut he had built in the rubble. He stole food and water from the trailers in the evening while the night crew was working. He was able to bath there regularly as well.

Why did he stay there? He didn't know. He never approached any of the men because he knew that he didn't belong there instinctively from the beginning. Truth was he didn't know how he got there, or even who he was…but he had a feeling that the time for answers would be coming soon. He'd been having the dreams again…of her.

She was beautiful and she came to him at night bringing flowers and poetry that rang like music to his ears. He knew her, and yet…he didn't. It really didn't matter though…she wasn't real.

**********

They had been laying in a field of grass surrounded by flowers, his sparkling blue eyes glistening in the sun as he reached down to kiss her.

Buffy awakened with a start as the Bus pulled in to the station. She looked at her watch nearly 6:00. She had slept the whole way down…dreaming of him.

"Must have been one hell of a dream," The lady sitting next to her said as Buffy turned to her confused. "Huh?" Buffy asked. "You've had a grin on your face for the last 2 hours. Buffy quickly sat up, trying to adjust her sweater, feeling disheveled.

"Oh…I'm sorry hun. I didn't mean to embarrass you. It was a long trip…I finished my book about an hour ago and was looking over your shoulder out the window."

"It's okay…I was just a little…disoriented- forgot where I was I guess."

"It happens. Well…here we are. It was nice talking to you anyway." The lady got up and walked up on the line to get off the bus.

Buffy stood until she was the last person there. Before getting off the bus. The driver handed her bags to her and she smiled appreciatively. She looked around her a minute…thinking of how long it had been since she'd actually set foot in LA. "Here goes nothing," she said to herself as she headed through the terminal.

TBC

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Thank you all for the fabulous reviews. I know these chapters have been sort of teasers but I promise much action in the near future. Please let me know what you think because It's the only thing that keeps me going.

-Erica