A/N: Hi gang! please forgive the slew of teensie short chapters here. its all that whole transition/POV thing, so i broke it all up. sorry if it bugs you, but its my way. you should see my origonal drafts of this thing! ;-)
Now--Outside Spike's Room
As soon as Spike closed the dorr, Buffy slumped against the wall and slid down it, all the strength she'd had leaving her. She felt tears welling up in her eyes again, but she didn't know if they were tears of joy or more pain.
Quietly, so she wouldn't disturb Spike and Dawn, she began to cry again. She didn't notice Angel and Faith pull up outside Spike's room and get out of the car.
She looked up sharply when she felt two strong hands wrap around her shoulders. Her hand groped blindly for the crossbow she'd dropped until her brain registered Angel's angry and worried face in front of heer.
"Buffy, where's Spike? What did he do to you? Where's Dawn?" Some habits just couldn't be kicked, and Angel's ancient distrust of Spike must be one of them.
Buffy blinked to clear the tears from her eyes and focus on Angel's face. "They-they're inside." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "But they--Angel, wait!"
The ensouled vampire didn't give her the chance to finish her explaination. He'd kicked down the door to Spike's room before Buffy or Faith realized he'd moved. He didn't hear--or chose to ignore--Buffy's cry.
Both Slayers felt sick as they looked at the spot on the sidewalk where the crossbow had been sitting.
