Disclaimer: Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Angel are not mine, I'm just playing with them.

A/N: As of 12-18-09, this story is in the process of being edited. Things have been removed, and new things have been added, but the plot is generally the same. If you love this story, you might want to re-read it. All the chapters of this story, and the sequel, These Days, have been edited, and just need re-posted. If you've guessed what that means, good for you. For everyone else - YES, I'm finally going to finish the third fic, Last Sacred Blessing.

Yes, you read that right.

Everyone done having their heart attacks now?

Good, on with the fic. :)

Chapter 2: Reunited

Dawn hurried through the brightly-lit halls of Wolfram and Hart. She could hardly believe that Angel and his friends owned the building, much less ran the place. She was hurrying because Buffy had been waiting on her for a little while. Parking the car, which Dawn figured, would take only minutes, had taken nearly twenty. It was a pity that Buffy had never learned to drive. Sighing, Dawn rounded the final corner, according to the instructions she'd gotten from the front desk. Dawn by-passed the empty secretary's desk while glancing at the sign above it. Angel's office was just a few feet in front of her if the sign was correct. She walked the few feet silently; toying with the Walkman attached to her waist. The cord had gotten tangled while she'd been walking and she entered Angel's office while working on the knot.

"You would not believe that parking garage, Buffy." Dawn began without looking up. "And the rates!" She exclaimed. "Angel, I hope you validate..."Dawn trailed off as she finally looked up and realized that there was a familiar platinum blond standing a mere few feet in front of her. In that second she also took in that no one was talking, and they were all staring at said blond. Her breath caught in her throat as well when she realized who it was.

"Spike?" Buffy whispered with tears in her eyes, her sister's arrival pulling her out of her shocked stupor. In seconds, the Slayer was enveloped in Spike's arms. The sound of her tears was the only sound in the room. He too was crying, a fact that he didn't even try to hide. Angel noticed the tears and if it was possible, his heart broke a little more. It was true then. He was seeing it first hand. Buffy did love Spike, and somehow, Spike loved Buffy.

"Spike." Dawn's low voice interrupted the sob fest and cause Spike to lift his head off the top of Buffy's, where his chin was resting.

"'Bit..." He replied, unsure of what her reaction would be. A look passed between them, and then Spike held an open arm out to the girl. Angel watched as she needed no further invitation, and soon Spike was holding both of the Summers women in his arms.

In the meantime, the rest of the Angel Investigation's crew had found it's way to Angel's office door. Word traveled fast in their firm, it seemed, and they had heard about the Slayer's arrival within minutes of it. The sight that greeted them at the door was one they were totally unprepared for. Every thing that they had heard about Spike from Angel or read about him in books made him out to be a heartless killer. Spike with his arms around the Slayer and her kid sis in a hold that suggested he was never letting them go completely contradicted all of that.

Ever intuitive, Fred motioned for Wes, Gunn and Lorne to move from the doorway into the hall. She also waved for Angel to follow, but could see from his face that he wasn't budging. Fred walked to his side quickly, as not to interrupt the reunion going on, and grabbed Angel by the arm. She forcefully pulled him out into the hall with the rest of them, shutting the door behind her.

Dawn pulled out of their three-way embrace first. Wiping her eyes, she looked up at the vampire. The last time she had seen him had been before the big battle.

"I'm glad you're alive, Spike." Dawn said, her voice wavering. Buffy looked up at him too, as Dawn spoke. They both smiled when he cocked his eyebrow at the use of the word 'alive'.

"Never been more glad about it than I am right now, 'Bit." He replied, staring down into Buffy's eyes. Clearly this was headed to places that Dawn had no desire to know about.

"I'll let you to have your reunion. We'll catch up later." Dawn excused herself. "I'll have Angel tell me what he knows about that slayer, ok Buffy?" She walked towards the door and grinned when she got no reply from her sister. It was a rare day when Buffy was speechless.

Dawn opened the door and let herself out into the hallway where she came face to face with a clearly brooding Angel and what she assumed were the members of his team. Angel opened his mouth to speak, but was surprised to find himself interrupted by Dawn in a very Buffy-like fashion. "Don't." Dawn said. "Just tell me what you can about this slayer Buffy and I are trying to find."

*

Connor knelt in the still fresh soil; not caring that the knees of his brand new jeans were being caked it in. He reached out a trembling hand and touched the raised letters of the tombstone in front of him. The marble was cold under his fingers, but he didn't seem to feel it. Everything had gone numb inside after that night in the alley.

How he'd gotten to the hospital that night was still a mystery to him.

How he wished that he could go back and redo things, so that he was lying in this grave and Tracy was standing here mourning him.

How he wished he could go back and rethink pulling her into that alley.

The funeral had been two days ago. They had held off long enough for Connor to recover from his wound. He fingered the scar on his neck. No one had been able to explain quite how it had happened, and Connor wasn't stupid enough to admit that he and Tracy had been attacked by vampires. They'd lock him away in a hot minute, and Connor couldn't have that. It was bad enough that his wound had healed as quickly as it had. The doctor had determined that it was quite serious, if not fatal. When Connor's neck had healed within days, everyone had been speechless.

Connor traced the letters on the headstone over and over, caught up in the memory of Tracy lying in the casket. His grief had been overwhelming, and everyone at the funeral had stared at him as he approached it to set a flower on her unmoving form. Whispers were heard as he went to sit back down, his father at his side. He knew that everyone blamed him for what happened, even if they were too kind to say it to his face. He slipped a wooden stake out of his pocket and clenched it so tightly in his fist that little slivers made their way into his hand. That's why he was out here. Every vampire he met was going to pay for Tracy's death.

Slowly.

*

Spike spoke first.

"I'm glad you made it out of Sunnyhell all right, Pet." He said, brushing her hair back from her tearstained face. Her eyes welled up yet again.

"I hated leaving you there." Buffy replied as Spike used his thumb to wipe away the tear that had just slipped from her eye. "I can't believe you're back. How did this happen?" She wanted to know. Spike pulled the amulet from his duster pocket, where he kept it for safe keeping, and held it up for her to see.

"I don't really know the how's and why's yet, Luv. All I know is that my soul got trapped in here, and when the Poof opened up the envelope it was in, I appeared in his office." Spike began his explanation.

"Why didn't you call me? I would've come." Buffy told him, her voice thick with emotion. He smiled that simple smile that only she got to see.

"There were two reasons I didn't call you." He answered, pulling out of her embrace. Unsure of what he was going to say, Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. "The first one is that I wasn't sure you would come, and I don't think I could have handled it. The second is that up until a week ago, I was incorporeal." He finished. By this time he had turned away from her, not wanting to see the look on her face.

"Spike. I...What I told you that day, in the cave..." Buffy said, her voice barely above a whisper. If he weren't a vampire, he'd be straining to hear her. "I meant it."

*

Dawn hunched over a table in Fred's lab. Knox had given her a map of LA to use, and she was trying to scry for the slayer she and Buffy had come here to find. Fred was working on some equations, trying to narrow down where they could locate the slayer based on the little info Dawn had. All that the coven in Devon had been able to give them was that the girl was in LA, where there had been some slightly heavy slayage going on in the last week. Angel's had been the first choice to stop because of his underworld connections. The fact that he hadn't heard anything about her put a wrench in the works, but Angel had resources, so Dawn was confident they'd be able to find the girl soon.

Sighing, she put down her scrying crystal. It was a present from Willow, and she was very careful with it. Wesley chose that moment to enter the room, news clipping in hand.

"Our psychics couldn't find anything, and every witch who tried scrying for her had the spell backfire." Wesley answered before Fred and Dawn could ask him.

"That explains a lot." Dawn replied, sighing.

"I, however, found this." He told them, setting the clipping down on the counter. He didn't bother to mention that he'd only come across the article when he'd picked up the paper to check the sports section. The headline mentioned something about two teenagers being attacked in an alley. Dawn looked down at it, squinting at the photo above the article, before looking back up at Wes. He pointed to a figure in the photo. "I think this is who we're looking for." Wesley said.

"She's not much to look at." Dawn commented, taking in the girl's chin length hair and tomboyish build. "How do we know where to find her?" She asked. Wesley pointed to the building in the background. The address was clearly visible.

"Well, it's the best lead we've gotten so far." Fred spoke up. "Should we tell Buffy?" She asked. The three of them shared a look.

"Perhaps we should share it with Angel first." Wesley suggested. The two girls nodded, and the three of them set out to find Angel.

*

Angel sat, hunched slightly. He was leaning against the door to his office, oblivious to the stares of his employees as they passed. None of them dared to disturb him. He leaned closer, pressing his ear up to the door. He sighed when he realized he couldn't hear anything – damned supernatural sound proofing. This is how Wes, Fred and Dawn found him.

"Angel?" Fred asked, slightly shocked to see him kneeling on the floor and eavesdropping.

"What?" He asked, before realizing who it was. "I wasn't doing anything." Angel denied, hastily getting up.

"We think we've found something." Wesley told him.

"Oh?" Angel replied, distracted. He tried to peer into the shut curtains that lined the interior windows of his office.

"Yes. We'd like to go look for her." Dawn spoke up.

"All right. I'll get Buffy." He said, finally glad for a reason to open his office door. His three companions just shook their heads.

*

"You meant it?" Spike turned around, his voice urgent. Buffy nodded, and once again Spike had his arms around her. She slipped her arms around his neck, and she steeled herself as Spike leaned in for a kiss. Their lips were inches apart when the door to Angel's office flew open, startling both of them.

"Bloody Hell!" Spike exclaimed.

"Sorry." Angel said, not sounding sorry at all. "Didn't mean to break up the reunion."

"Bugger off, Angelus." Spike replied, vamping out. Buffy placed a hand on his chest.

"Play nice." She warned the blond vamp. "What's up Angel?" Buffy asked.

"We think we found her Buffy." Dawn spoke up, getting her sister's attention. Buffy walked over to Wes, who was still holding the clipping. She looked it over as Dawn pointed out the address.

"We should try to find her before it gets any later." Buffy said.