Disclaimer: Summerland and all its content are not mine. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all its content are also not mine.

Chapter Two

"Willow?" Buffy asked once the female on the other line picked up. She was relieved to hear her best friend's voice again. Although she loved Italy and the certain vampires in Italy, she did miss her friends.

"Buffy?" Willow asked. Her voice was filled with shock and excitement at the same time. She smiled over at Kennedy before pointing towards the bedroom, their secret signal that the call was important and Willow would be in there for a while. "What's up with you?" she asked. "Last I heard you had a crush on this guy..." she prompted.

"That guy is a vampire--" Buffy began.

"Of course," Willow said with a giggle. "Why else would you like him?"

"Hey!" Buffy argued. "Parker, Riley, and Principal Wood weren't vampires," she stated in her defense.

"True, but Parker was evil, Riley was kind if evil and part of the Initiative, and you were never truly interested in Wood," Willow countered. "But you were saying"

"He's nice," Buffy said with a smile. "A nice break from Spike, actually." She stopped herself from droning on about how much she liked the Immortal. Not love, not yet. Probably not ever, but that was besides her point. "Willow, I actually need a favor," she began sheepishly.

"Sure, anything," Willow responded as she reached for a piece of scrap paper and something to write with.

"It's Dawn," Buffy began. "She ran off yesterday and I don't know where she is or how to find her or anything. I've talked to her friends and they don't know anything."

"Standard locator spell ok?" Willow asked.

"If it's not too much trouble," Buffy responded.

"Not at all," Willow assured her friend. "So about this vampire..."

Ava Gregory walked into her house and over towards the kitchen after spending a nice afternoon on the beach with her youngest nephew Derrick. She stopped suddenly, eyeing Bradin and the female standing right next to him eating ice cream.

"Hey Aunt Ava," Bradin greeted casually. "We're out of mint chocolate chip ice cream," he informed her.

"Are we out of it or did you eat it all?" Ava asked innocently. "And who's your friend?"

"We're just out of it," Bradin commented. "And this is Dawn. Dawn Summer," he added.

"Summers," Dawn corrected weakly. "But that's not important. It's nice to meet you, Ms. Gregory," she said politely.

"Dawn's going to be staying with us for awhile," Bradin added as he moved slightly closer to the girl in question.

"How long is 'awhile'?" Ava inquired.

"Does she play video games?" Derrick asked curiously.

"I'm not sure," Bradin answered. "To both questions, actually."

Dawn smiled as she turned to Derrick. "We never really had video games. It was just me and my sister." She turned back to Ava. "And I'm not really sure on how long I'll be here to be honest. Family issues," she began with a shudder.

"Please, Aunt Ava?" Nikki asked from over on the couch. "She's really cool."

Ava sighed. "I suppose she could," Ava reluctantly agreed. "It's a full house here anyway."

"Thank you, Ms. Gregory," Dawn said with a smile. "It means a lot."

"No problem," Ava responded with a smile. This girl would probably be better for Bradin than Sarah ever was, Ava told herself. "But you're not sleeping in the boy's room."

"Yay!" Nikki said happily as she leapt up from the couch. "She can sleep in my room." She walked over to Dawn and began leading the girl upstairs. "I hope you like the walls. I painted them myself."

About an hour later Willow had finished her spell. She had written the results down in front of her just to ensure that she would remember them. She then dialed Buffy's number.

"You have reached the house of Buffy-the Slayer who knew no fear," the voice with a super fake Italian accent answered. "How may I help you?"

"Andrew?" Willow asked in apparent shock.

"That is the man you are talking to. The new guide to the vampyr slayers," he said proudly.

"Andrew, cut it out. It's Willow and I need to talk to Buffy," Willow said forcefully. "Put her on or I'll kill you," she threatened.

Andrew shrieked as he tossed the phone over to Buffy. Buffy rolled her eyes at the young Watcher before answering. "Willow?" she asked hopefully.

"Yea," Willow affirmed. "I have your answers," she said.

"Thank you so much!" Buffy said gratefully. "What have we got?"

Willow glanced down at her piece of paper. "Ok, the town is Playa Linda. The closest airport is LAX. I can't get you the exact address, but the town's fairly small. From what I understand you can find almost anyone on the beaches there."

"I'll hold you to that," Buffy said as she scribbled down the name of the town. "Again, thank you Willow. I have to get myself on the next flight to LA, but we'll chat soon. I promise," she added before hanging up. She then dialed the number for the airport and started booking a flight to Los Angeles.