Title Familiar Chapter 2

Author: Nicki C.

Summary: Something's Changed

Feedback: I want it, I need it. I crave it

Disclaimer: None of it's mine. It's all Joss.

The assistant librarian had a secret life, one that she didn't tell her boss and mentor about. She was thinking about this as she walked into the dark and dank bar, grabbing a seat in the back. Knowing that in her no nonsense tan skirt and jacket she didn't quite fit in with the clientele, but despite that she wouldn't have missed this for the world. Six years and she had only ever missed three.

Even though it didn't seem possible the lights in the bar dimmed even more and the stage lit up; illuminating five men on stage. And then they played. She knew them all, but she had eyes only for the guitar player.

Every time he walked out on the stage, before the lights hit them, he searched the crowd for her face. Something about her completed him, and it wouldn't be the same if she wasn't waiting in the audience for him.

It was 2 AM and they were packing up the last of the equipment, she was still there in the back of the bar waiting for him. He waved to the rest of the band and went over to join the woman.

"Does your mother know you hang out in a place like this?" he walked up to her, casually throwing his arm over her shoulder as they headed out.

"I don't think so, she must suspect though after all I did marry that shiftless musician they warned me about" she said this with a smile leaning up to kiss him.

The bartender watched the couple leave their heights evenly matched he with electric blue hair and she the classic redhead. The certainly seemed the odd pair, and for a moment he got a flash of the red-head kissing another woman. He sighed at the mental picture and went back to work, deciding that perhaps he should lay off of the late night porn.

"Yes you should" A young tall brunette walked out from behind him. "And you should probably stop thinking out loud too"

"You know you could give a man a heart attack doing that, and what are you doing here anyway. Don't you have a curfew or something?"

"Nope, nada, no such thing. Or at least not while my mother is asleep." She leaned up to kiss his lips but he held her back.

"I told you bit. I'm no pedophile. Besides I think you've met my rather eccentric and somewhat homicidal better half"

"Yeah I thought it was worth a shot though; where is she anyway? She promised to help me with my Tai-Chi if I showed up tonight."

"She's in the back, she's in one of her moods though. I'd be careful."

"Of course you would, that's why you're her bitch" The brunette smirked and walked away from the bartender leaving him sputtering about who the man was in the relationship.

The husband and wife lay awake in bed, he was going through a recruiting manual and she was filing her nails. The nail filing got louder and louder until he knew that he'd better say something before you took off the first layer of skin.

"What's wrong, you're attacking your nails like there the evil minions of hell" He joked

"I'm worried about Dawnie"

"What did she do this time, is she pregnant? Did she go back to school and drop out again? Or did they kick her out this time?" He loved her little sister like his own but it seemed like it was always one trauma on top of another.

"No she's not pregnant, well at least as far as I know. And she hasn't gone back to school again. But Mom says she's been sneaking out of the house at night and heading down to that club DW's. And those friends she has down there, ugh!"

"That bad?"

"They're even worse than her last crowd" She shuddered at the memory.

"And that's saying a lot" He added

"I don't know what to do, I guess I'll try talking to her"

"That's all you can do"

Angel was worried, he was more than worried. They'd been trying to get a hold of Buffy all week and they hadn't been able to find anything. They'd needed Willow's help with a spell and tried calling her but the number at the Summer's household had been disconnected or changed. He'd then tried contacting Giles in England but that number wasn't any good either. In fact he called every number he'd had for any of the Sunnydale crowd and all of the numbers had been disconnected. He'd called information, but they didn't have a listing for anyone in Sunnydale, California. In fact the operator had told him that there was no Sunnydale. So he'd done the only thing he could think of, left Wesley in charge and headed to where he knew Sunnydale was located. Just as he was entering into town he noticed something, and it wasn't a small something. The sign that normally read "Welcome to Sunnydale" (or at least it had until Spike ran it over) instead read "Welcome to Happy Oaks, California" with a byline that read.:

"Where all your dreams come true".