Title: No Sense In Running
Disclaimer: Purely for entertainment. No infringement intended.
Pairings: Hard to say at this moment. Will become apparent as story evolves.
Time: During S7 (Buffy), S4 (Angel).
Rating: PG-13
Final Note: Some themes in this story you may find offensive. Warnings will be displayed and if you are against, do not read. You have been warned.


PROLOGUE

- You know there's no sense in running,
You know I will find you…Surrender, Evanescence

The stairs creaked beneath her feet as she jogged down them, one by one, though hurriedly to get to the bleating telephone. She took the receiver into her hand, slightly out of breath, and as she spoke, her face became more and more serious.

'When did this happen?' On the other end was a face even more serious. But through his voice Buffy could tell this was a very serious situation. She didn't need to see his face.

She looked across the room at the congregated bodies, laughing, socialising, having a good time, and though their expressions were filled with happiness, she couldn't bring herself to join them. Worry, panic. Don't panic, she told herself, but it didn't seem to work.

- - -

'What's Dawnie supposed to do?' Willow asked gently as she watched Buffy furiously shoving various items into an overnight bag.

'Stay here, with Xander. I need you to come with me just in case if it's anything magical.'

'But Buffy, we have a house full of potentials, and bringers left, right and centre waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. We can't leave this house, not you, me, Giles, Spike, Xander, or Dawn.'

'We have to.'

'No, Buffy, we don't.'

Buffy glanced over her shoulder to see the calm red-headed female in her doorway. She resumed packing and shook her head.

'Fine, I'll go by myself-'

She watched her as she zipped up the bag and headed towards her. 'No, Buffy, I think you're missing the point, we need you-'

'And so does she, Will.'

Willow took the bag into her hands, taking it from her best friend, and looked into the blonde's eyes, her own full of anxiety.

'I think you're blowing this way out of proportion, Buffy.'

'And I don't think you're being rational. We need her. But…she needs me first.' She looked back at her friend, apprehension plastered across her face like paint to a wall. 'I have to go.'

Willow looked at her a moment, then at the hand that reached out for the bag.

Buffy took hold of it, slid past her, and hurried down the stairs, only to be stopped by Xander at the bottom.

'What's up? Where are you going?'

- - -

They all congregated in the kitchen, worried, straight faces across every face in the kitchen. 'I should be…' she made a face. 'Two, three, maybe four days at the most.'

Xander piped up, leaning back against the table. 'By yourself?'

'We already talked about this, Xand. It's too dangerous for any of us to leave the house, if one of us has to go, Buffy's going alone. I'm not leaving a house full of potentials unprotected,' Willow explained, her voice sombre.

'Don't you think someone should go with you, though?' Xander suggested.

Buffy nodded slow. 'Yeah, but…as Willow said…and she's right, you guys should stay here, keep watch over the potentials. Continue training, finding out anything you can.'

Darkness was beginning to take its reign over the city for the night, and as she glanced out of the window she thought to herself. 'Better be out of here, if I'm gonna make it before the day's over.'

She looked over at Willow, who nodded calmly, agreeing to her comment. 'Just…take care, alright? Come back all…safe and soundy. So we can…get all dead and woundy when this apocalypse comes.'

She smiled a little and nodded. 'Will do. Be safe, you guys. I'll be back soon.' They all watched as she left the kitchen, and as she left the house, they stayed at their positions in the kitchen, all seeming to look into air, at nothing in particular.

'Why is it that every time someone leaves, I wonder whether or not they're gonna come back at all?' Dawn finally said.

Willow looked up at the willowy girl and smiled a little. 'Try not to worry. She said a couple of days, Dawnie.' Everyone began to disperse from the kitchen, and she leant a hand upon the counter. 'Just…try to think about what we have to do here.'

Xander took her by the waist. 'Yeah…we all have a job to do. And yours is to find activities for the potentials to do whilst we pretend to read hefty, ancient texts and go "ah hah!" at every ancient-looking word.'

She smiled a little at him as he led her into the lounge. 'I hope that's all we have to do,' she muttered to herself, as Xander walked on, and she stayed back, looking out of the window at the darkening street.

- - -

Buffy shifted down into first as she rolled up at a set of traffic lights. She dialled a number in on her cell phone and pressed the receiver to her ear. 'Hey, it's me…yeah…I'm on the road. Expect me there in a couple of hours.'

She ended the call and dropped the phone on the seat, and headed off.

TBC

- Hope you will continue to read. Please give any feedback, I wanna know what you think!