Thanks to those who reviewed my fic. The reason I haven't updated for a while is that I was at a horse show for five days, and then it took me forever to catch up on schoolwork. Good news though, my horse and I got 2nd place in one of the hardest and most important events. He did great! Anyway, back to the fic…
Buffy woke up the next morning to find that her husband had never returned to bed. She suddenly thought the worst and sprang out of bed. In an instant she was at Wesley and Fred's room.
"Wesley! Wesley, wake up! Angel's missing!" Buffy shrieked as she pounded on their door.
A half-asleep Wesley answered the door and was shortly joined by a tired Fred. He rubbed his eyes as he looked up. "What's wrong Buffy?"
"It's Angel, he's-he's gone!" she sobbed.
Wesley was suddenly wide awake as he questioned Buffy, "What do you mean gone?"
"He-he said that he was going to take a walk, clear his head. He left around midnight after class had ended. He said that he wasn't going to be long. This isn't like him, Wes."
"I know Buffy, calm down. We'll find him." Wesley then turned to Fred, "Fred, call the others and tell them to meet us in the classroom. Tell them what Buffy had just said and tell them to hurry." Then he turned back to Buffy, "Wait here a minute. Let me get dressed and we'll go talk."
Buffy nodded and impatiently waited five minutes until Wesley was ready, then they headed off to her classroom. Minutes later they were joined by the rest of the gang. Willow and Fred immediately tried to comfort their worried friend, but soon they themselves began to worry. Giles and Wesley calm and collected, kept the group together as they asked Buffy exactly what happened.
"He said he was going to wander the grounds. He told me he wouldn't be long, then this morning I woke up and he wasn't there." Buffy hugged Willow and started to cry.
"Well, let's not jump to conclusions. We'll take the kids outside today, that way we can check for clues. Maybe he's hiding in the forest or if something did happen maybe we'll find it out there." Giles walked over to Buffy and gave her a hug.
"Thanks Giles."
Later, when classes had started, Buffy, the other teachers and the class went outside. They walked around, practicing their hand magics and moves as they did so. While Wesley was showing the kids how to do a move against another person, in his case Buffy, Harry, Hermione, and Ron moved off to the side. There they talked alone, when suddenly Ron stopped dead in his tracks.
"What's that?" He asked pointing to a shiny object on the ground.
Harry walked over and picked it up, "It's a knife." He paused, "You guys…it's bloody."
"We should show Buffy. She might know what it's about." Hermione told the guys.
"Yeah, we should." Harry agreed. They walked over to Buffy who had her back turned to them. Harry hid the knife behind his back as they approached her.
Hermione was the one who approached Buffy, "Excuse me, Buffy?"
Buffy turned around and saw the worried looks on the kids' faces. "Yeah, what's wrong? What is it?"
"We need to talk to you…privately."
"Sure, follow me." Buffy walked over to the edge of the woods and then turned to the kids.
"We found this in the grass over there. We thought you ought to know." Harry told her as he handed her the knife.
Buffy's face turned a shade of green as she took the knife from Harry. All she could do was stare at the blood, and then tears started to flow from her eyes. "Wesley?" She sobbed, calling out for Angel's friend.
Wesley ran over to Buffy immediately, not knowing what had happened. Then he saw the knife in her fingers and the blood that covered it. "Oh no."
Saying that made Buffy cry even harder. Giles ran over to his Slayers aid and wrapped her in a hug. The class watched their teacher cry, not knowing what was wrong.
Wesley took the knife from Buffy and studied it carefully. He had been around Angel enough to know what his dried blood looked like. He closed his eyes as if he was to open them and none of this was to happen. "It's Angel's." He said solemnly.
"NO! No we don't know that. It couldn't be!" Buffy screamed as she lunged for the knife. Wesley quickly swatted her hand away.
"Buffy, no! We can still salvage something from this." Wesley gave the knife to Giles, who quickly hid it from sight. The class watched in wonder at the scene before them.
"Wesley, it can't be his! It's not his!" Buffy said frantically.
Wesley moved towards her, trying to embrace her, but she fought. She began to pound on his chest. "Buffy! Buffy, it's okay. We'll find him. I promise we'll find him!" Buffy's punches ceased as she fell into Wesley's arms. She cried harder than she ever had before. Giles returned and picked her up. She cried in her watcher's arms as he took her up into her room. Wesley then turned to the stunned class, Fred and Willow.
"As you all now know, something is deathly wrong. Professor O'Connor is missing." The class gasped in horror. "All we have to prove his disappearance is a bloody knife, so please, if you hear anything that might be of help, tell us immediately. Class is dismissed."
