A/N: This is a really short chapter which follows on from the last one. This is Buffy's POV though.

"How is it possible I wouldn't know?"

Buffy sat on the edge of the bed in her hotel room. It was a small room with twin beds painted a warm yellow colour with beige carpeting and en suite bathroom. Dawn knelt on the floor in front of her as she tended to Buffy's slashed ribs. She had spread antiseptic cream on it and was now bandaging it tightly. The Slayer realized her sister was becoming quite the expert at dressing wounds...she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"I don't know, Buffy" Dawn said softly.

It seemed to Buffy that she would know if a friend had come back from the dead. She had always kind of thought of herself as having all these invisible strings that tethered the people she loved to her. They stretched and occasionally sometimes became frayed but they always remained so long as the person still lived. When someone she cared about died Buffy could almost feel the string flailing in the air no longer attached to any other body. Buffy didn't know if this was a Slayer thing or a Buffy Summers thing but she was sure she would have felt if Spike's string had become taut again. Instead she had been oblivious.

Christ, that was deep for her.

"I just can't believe he didn't tell me," Buffy winced as Dawn brushed a cut "It's a simple courtesy thing. When someone comes back from the dead they call. How would he have felt if I hadn't told him when I came back from the dead?"

Dawn nodded "He would have been mad"

"Right. And he told Andrew!"

Her sister's eyes widened "Andrew? Andrew can't keep a secret!"

"I know!" Buffy threw her hands in the air and winced.

"I can't believe he didn't tell us. He crashed on our couch for how long?" Dawn looked outraged "That little worm. I'll kill him when I get back"

The Slayer looked at her "Get in line"

The Slayer stood after Dawn had finished with her slashed ribs and she walked into the bathroom to wash up. She shed her grimy, bloody clothes. Getting a sponge she washed every inch of her and still wanted to shower but she couldn't because of the dressing on her wound. She looked at her arms where the demon claws had sunk in and winced. She wrapped some bandages around those herself and was beginning to feel like a mummy.

She looked in the mirror and tried to work out why Spike hadn't told her. Had she been that much of a tyrant that he thought she would drag him away against his own will? His excuse had been that he had to be his own man. As excuses went it was lame. Buffy had never asked Spike to follow her around and fall in love with her. It had been his own fault.

Buffy washed her hair over the bath and then picked up her comb to de-tangle. For some reason it made her feel better, made her clear her head. Gave her something to focus on. It was only when she looked in the mirror again that Buffy realized she was crying. She grunted at herself and balled up some toilet tissue to wipe away the salty tears.

The Slayer was not going to cry over that arrogant vampire.

She hardened herself then because she only had two options. One of them was to fall to pieces and bawl her eyes out before running back to Wolfram and Hart to hug him and possibly never let go. The other, much more preferable option, was to act like she didn't care, make him think that she was over it. As far as she was concerned it was life as normal. The mission was what mattered.

So, that's what she did. She straightened the set of her shoulders and lifted her chin defiantly as she looked in the mirror and combed her hair out.

Buffy paused a moment before walking back out into the room to find Dawn watching the TV, or at least pretending to. When she walked in her sister looked up. Buffy gave her a reassuring smile and walked to the wardrobe to get some fresh clothes. She went back to the bathroom and changed before coming out again and walking to the half open window.

Their view was of a busy L.A street and Buffy welcomed the distraction. The sun was shining as it usually was in California. Nothing compared to the heat of Rome though. Buffy smiled as she thought about the gorgeous beaches and sights. There really was nowhere else in the world like Rome.

Right, think about the weather not about him.

Buffy scowled at herself. She had almost made it a full minute without that subject cropping up and now her own brain was betraying her. She let out a resigned sigh and tried to focus her mind on the mission – Kraals, Speed Beads, slaying. Kraals, Speed Beads, slaying. Kraals, Speed Beads, slaying. It was like a mantra and Buffy knew that she could get through this if she just kept on repeating that. However there was still one issue that she just had to clear up before she could move on. She couldn't ignore it. It had to be addressed.

"He looked good, didn't he?" Buffy asked.

Dawn turned to look at her "Which one Spike or Angel?"

"Spike"

"Oh. Yeah" Dawn nodded "Still a hottie"

Buffy screwed her eyes shut and rested her head on the windowsill "I thought so" She groaned.

A/N: Short. Short. But you gotta have variation, right? RIGHT?!