Thanks for the reviews, guys! In my first chapter, I said that I needed a beta but for some odd reason my email address didn't come up. It's the end of the world now, right? So if you're interested in being my beta, you're gonna have to see to my profile to get the email address and email me a.s.a.p. Thanks in advance! Hope you enjoy the chapter.

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The condominium wasn't the fanciest of condos. Buffy had seen finer places in the past couple of countries she had been in. But then again, this is America and this is Ohio. Not that there was much wrong with Ohio. Besides, Cedar Point was near by and there was lake Erie, too. And… an active hellmouth.

Two Slayers were sent to live there three years ago and now Buffy, Faith, and Robin came to help. Great. Buffy was starting to actually like Rome although it reminded her too much of the Immortal, or Morty as they would all call him. He had some sort of fascination with her and it got her completely annoyed. It was a fascination much scarier than even Spike's around the time when Dawn was the key. One night, he did a spell on her to make her like him. That's the night where he took her clubbing and what not. Oh, was she pissed when Willow finally uplifted the spell. As soon as she came back to her regular self, she had punched his 'immortal' ass as hard as she could. Oh, but then it got worse.

When Buffy got back to her apartment, Andrew had told her that he bumped into Angel and… she couldn't quite make out the other thing he mumbled but she just left it at that. She had asked Andrew what he told Angel and Andrew confessed. That was when Buffy grew very furious. Although she didn't want anything to do with Angel because of his whole "Wolfram and Hart" management, she still atleast wanted to see him and maybe talk. But no hello kisses as Spike would put it. Besides, she was much too angry at him at the time. She wondered what he was doing at the moment because she hasn't heard from him in a long time.

The condo was decent and it was summer time at the moment so that made Ohio a bit more likeable for Buffy. Although it would be interesting for Buffy if it was winter. She didn't really get that a lot. Hardly ever. Buffy, Faith, and Robin made their way into the condo as Rhona, who was one of the Slayers staying there, guided them inside. The condo wasn't too small and it was actually pretty clean. If there were about thirty to forty girls staying there like the time back in Sunnydale, then the condo itself would look like the hellmouth. There was a decent sized kitchen, a living room with a few couches, and a dining area. There were stairs that led up to the bedrooms in the living room. I guess I can deal, Buffy thought.

"Well, make yourselves at home," Rhona insisted as Faith ran straight up the stairs. "Or…not."

"Which one's my room?" Faith yelled from the upper floor. Rhona didn't bother to answer the dark haired Slayer as her eyes set on Buffy.

"So Buffy, long time no see," Rhona folded her arms.

"Yeah, Rome is pretty interesting," Buffy nodded as she exchanged looks with Robin. Robin and Buffy got along fine now. Although Buffy loathed him after his certain vendetta pertaining to a certain bleached blonde vampire, she learned to get along with him.

"Oh, this must be Buffy." A short brunette with skinny cheekbones walked up beside Rhona. Buffy examined the girl for a moment and she knew that this was the other Slayer, one of the Slayers that she never met before.

"Yeah, Buffy would be me," Buffy replied with a small inviting smile.

"Well, it's great to meet you. My name's Monica. I've heard a lot about you," the newborn Slayer smiled, feeling quite intimidated.

"Haven't they all," Robin muttered as he started up the stairs to go after Faith.

"Oh, there are only two free rooms up there. The rooms only containing beds, that is. You should know which ones. Pick whichever one you want, if Faith hasn't already," Rhona clued Robin in as he nodded and continued up the stairs. There was an awkward silence between the three Slayers. Buffy felt too superior at the moment. She was actually enjoying it. To release Monica's tension, Buffy also went up the stairs with her luggage in hand. Monica let out a small sigh as Rhona looked at her.

"Isn't she intimidating?" Rhona questioned, practically reading the other Slayer's mind.

"That she is," Monica nodded as they both made their way into the kitchen.

Of course Faith had already picked a room for her and Robin to share and it had to be the bigger room. Oh well, Buffy could manage. Besides, their room was a party of two. Buffy set her luggage down on the bed she'd be staying in for the next couple of weeks. Buffy closed the curtains half way so the sun wouldn't be blinding her eyes so much. Her luggage bag was pretty big. She had to bring quite a few things such as clothes, make up, and other vital accessories. She didn't bring any weapons along knowing that the two Slayers would have that covered. Besides, it would be so damn hard for Buffy to get past the airport security with a bag full of stakes, crossbows, and an axe. It was a shame she couldn't bring her scythe along. She fell in love with that thing.

Buffy pushed her bag under the bed for now. She had a feeling she'd be staying for quite awhile, therefore she brought extra amounts of money for future shopping sprees with Faith. That was a great excuse for her just to get new clothes. Maybe she'd even go to a few other places besides the malls while she was there. She sure as hell didn't want to sit around the condo all day to wait until night to go figure out what evil was at stake. Buffy took a look out the window. It's almost night.

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"So this big dude gets in my way in the cemetery the other night and starts beating the shit out of me," Rhona explained as Faith, Robin, Buffy, and Monica all sat around the dining table with her, listening with the moonlight shining through the window. "He wasn't normal looking either. I tried to stake him but he kept blocking my hits. It was pretty hard and I could tell he was strong. So, I finally had to get myself the hell out of that cemetery and back here before he killed me. He was damn close to it."

"So, this big guy… does he have a name?" Faith questioned.

"Not that I know of. He mostly just… grunted and growled. He wasn't a vampire though. You know, he didn't have the lumpies or any of that sort. He was just big, and he had three eyes," Rhona answered.

"Hah, that's more than I can say for the Xand-man," Faith joked as Buffy rolled her eyes with a touch of a smile to her lips. Monica just sat there, confused.

"So, did he seem like something really, really evil or just… evil?" Buffy perked her eyebrows.

"And the difference is?" Robin asked.

"Well… evil is just like, 'oh, I'm a vampire and I just came out of my grave!' evil and really, really evil is like, 'oh, I'm older than Billy Bob Thorton!' evil. " Buffy explained as she changed the tones of her voice as she was impersonating 'the evil.' Faith smirked and Rhona rolled her eyes a bit. Rhona always did have an attitude with Buffy. They never really liked eachother.

"I'm betting really, really evil. Since Rhona said he was stronger than the usual vamp," Monica barged in the conversation, "plus, you should've seen her wounds when she returned. She was beaten pretty badly." Buffy nodded at that.

"Yeah, beaten as bad as you were, Buffy, when you came back from that confrontation with the Turok Han that one time," Rhona described as Buffy frowned a bit, feeling offended. Oh, I just love to piss her off, Rhona thought in her head.

"Did he have any minions of some sort? That way we know what to look out for?" Robin added in, trying to change the subject.

"Well, there were some vampires who attacked me before him. I dusted them though and he was the only one left," Rhona replied.

"Great, now we have to look out for vampires!" Buffy commented sarcastically as Faith stood to her feet.

"So, is that all you have on this? Because it isn't much," Faith folded her arms.

"Well, there have been a lot of attacks at Lake Erie lately. Many people have been found dead. The police are on it, but who knows what good they could do?" Rhona stood, heading towards the wall to retrieve the weapon's chest.

"Well, I say we split up," Faith suggested as everybody else got to their feet. Rhona set the weapon's chest on top of the table and opened it.

"Yeah, Faith and Robin, you two check out the lake. Rhona, M- Marika?" Buffy tried to remember but failed miserably.

"It's Monica," Monica answered with a touch of anger in her voice.

"She was never good with the names, " Rhona whispered in Monica's ear as Buffy tried to ignore any conflict.

"Right, sorry… Monica. Rhona and Monica, you two go back to the cemetery. I can go see what I can find in the alleys and maybe ask around at some bars," Buffy ordered as Rhona tossed weapons to everybody. "Try to find anything. Maybe try to get some vampires to kiss and tell? Except not so much with the kissing…"

"We got it, B. Besides, you were always good with the kissing part," Faith winked as Robin held back a laugh. Faith and Robin headed out the door as Buffy slid a stake into her coat pocket.

"Faith kissed Buffy before?" Monica questioned Rhona in a whisper as they headed out the door behind Faith and Robin.

"No. Well, not that I know of. She's kissed vampires before is what Faith meant," Rhona explained with a small laugh.

"Oh, and here I thought you're supposed to be killing them," Monica muttered as they stepped outside. Buffy heard their little chit chat and thought that maybe the stay here should be very brief. She wanted to find this demon soon, though. And kill it so she could leave.

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It was around 10 o' clock and Allen was all better to work the bar. Spike came out of the door that led into his house with a cigarette in between his lips. People were dancing on the dance floor to a band playing while others were sitting at the bar, drinking down shots of alcohol. Allen was running it tonight and Spike was grateful for that. With the cigarette in his mouth, Spike stood beside Allen behind the bar and lit his cigarette.

"Oi mate," Spike sucked in the smoke as Allen continued serving shots, "I'm going out to patrol."

"Okay, Spike," Allen answered quickly as he concentrated on the people at the bar.

"I'll be back late," Spike replied as he gave Allen a farewell nod and left the bar. As soon as Spike stepped outside, he felt that same electric wave bolt through him from earlier in the afternoon. His senses started tangling quite a lot and that's when he remembered.

"Buffy…" he sighed as he could almost feel her. He sensed her alright. Maybe she was one of the Slayers who were staying here in Cleveland. He hoped so. But then a different thought came to mind and he grew terrified. He had a feeling that they'd bump into eachother somehow. He was excited but scared at the same time. What would he say to her? What would happen? He was nervous and his tingling senses weren't really helping. He missed her. Oh hell, he missed her so bad. He shook off the thoughts as he walked out into the alley, with a stake in hand. Maybe patrol would get his mind off of things; maybe it was just a demon that was giving his senses a kick. He didn't know though, because this was the exact feeling he would get when he was near her.

Spike crept around the corner of the alley into another alleyway. The night was warm and the moon was out. The stars were twinkling as bright as ever. He sniffed the air so he could feel the cool breeze but that only made it worse for he could sense Buffy even more that way and now he had a better sense of direction as to where exactly she was. Nature took its course as he followed the direction he sensed her only he was pretending that he was just looking for a vampire or a demon of some sort. Maybe it was just one of the other Slayers that he was sensing. He never bumped into them and he was quite curious to.

He remembered when he first got to Cleveland, he had to fight the evil that was stirring in this very city and he still never bumped into the Slayers. He killed the big bad and all that lot. He wondered if the Slayers were actually wondering why that demon never showed his face again because they sure as hell didn't know that Spike was only about a couple miles away from them. But, it couldn't have been those Slayers that were driving his senses crazy, making his head tingle and his eyes burn, making him squirm. He remembered that whenever he was around Faith, she'd never have that effect on him for it was only Buffy who made him react that way. Maybe it was the demon, maybe it was the soul, or maybe it was just love.

Spike tilted his head as he inspected the alley. He usually found a lot of vampires in the alleys. It was always the perfect place for him to get a numby treat when he was evil. The alleys were always dark and there were never really any crowds. Besides gangs and that sort. He sighed and took another puff of his cigarette before he threw it on the ground and gave it a good stomp. His senses led him through the alley until his intentions took a turn on him. He heard a high pitched scream and that was his queue. He took off running to the way he heard the sound.

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Everybody had split up and Buffy walked alone through the city. Not many people roamed the streets here like they did back in Sunnydale. There were mostly just cars and such. The only noises heard were the car engines and the beeping. Buffy folded her arms as she wandered astray. It was a nice night. The breeze reminded Buffy of the weather back in Sunnydale. A lot of things reminded her of Sunnydale and she hated to think it, but she kind of missed it. She had brought all of her best friends along from their departure, but she left behind one man. Spike. Her champion.

Three years had passed by now without him and it took a while for her to get accustomed to living without him. Usually he was always there, talking to her about everything. He was one of the only people she could talk to because he saw her more than anybody else. She understood that more than ever now. She remembered his speech he gave her three years ago before he held her. He got her to actually love herself even if he'd be snide about things at times. But that was only because he thought he couldn't have her. But she knew that if he had lived past Sunnydale, they could've been something. Something more than just lust. And she always still wondered if he even believed her when she told him those three last words. She hoped so.

Buffy paused a moment and her Slayer senses started tangling like crazy. She felt an electric wave move through her. What the hell? She sucked in some of the Ohio air. Maybe it was the demon she was looking for but usually any normal demon or vampire would just give her a different feeling with her senses. But now, her senses were rather… familiar. She just couldn't quite figure it out. This was the feeling she'd get when she was around… oh, but no. It couldn't be. He's gone. Buffy shook away those thoughts as she continued walking. Maybe it's just a demon… or hopefully the demon that we're looking for.

Buffy turned a corner into an alley. And just as she did, that same familiar jolt of energy went through her once more. She placed her hand onto the brick wall to keep her balance and her curiosity only grew. She stood a moment, with her hand supporting her against the wall and closed her eyes. What is this? She inhaled the fresh air and opened her eyes again. Have to find this demon.

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Turning one last corner, Spike spotted a huge demon cornering an innocent middle-aged woman. The girl was yelping as the demon grabbed her by the throat and threw her up against the brick alley wall. Spike quickly leapt onto the demon and threw him down to the ground. The demon hissed in pain. Spike turned towards the girl,

"Now would be a good time to run for it, pet," The girl fled like prey running from the predator. The demon sprung back to it's feet. Spike took a good look at the demon. He was tall, wide, wrinkly, and had three eyes. Three eyes? Bloody hell?

"Well, aren't you a handsome fella'?" Spike teased as he went into a fighting stance. The demon growled with anger as he gave Spike a good hit in the nose. Spike grunted a bit as he ducked down at the demon's second punch, grabbing a hold of the three-eyed demon's fist. Spike kicked the demon hard in the stomach.

"Is that all ya got? Come on," Spike chuckled as he formed his fist to give the demon a good blow in the face. The demon's third eye annoyed Spike so much that he even thought of shoving his finger through it. I could be like the woman-hating priest. The demon grew furious and picked Spike up off the ground. "What the? Bloody Hell! Put me down!" Spike yelled as the demon only raised Spike higher. The demon didn't listen. It wasn't like the demon could comprehend what Spike was saying anyways because so far it seemed the thing was as stupid as Harmony.
With that, the demon threw Spike hard into the brick alley wall. The vampire with a soul grunted in agony as his back hit the wall. Blood was dripping from his lip from an earlier punch. Full of fury, Spike put on his game face and hissed. The demon stepped towards Spike with long strides as his big feet made the ground shake. Spike slowly got back up to his feet, showing off his fangs. The ugly, three-eyed demon gave Spike a nice blow in the jaw with his right fist while the demon's left fist sucker-punched the poor vampire's stomach. Spike grunted. Damn, this thing is strong. But Spike knew he'd come out of this alive. He was Spike, after all.

Full of rage, Spike managed to get a few punches on the demon. The demon was still standing strong. Spike shoved the three-eyed bugger into the wall with anticipation, kicking and punching as much as he could. His inner demon was really kicking in and the evil demon just became more furious. It's three red eyes twitched and Spike got even more annoyed by it. What the soddin' hell kind of demon is this anyways? Spike was so unsure. Almost always could he tell which demons were which. But this demon, he had no clue for he'd never seen a demon with three red eyes before. The demon finally clubbed Spike hard in the nose with it's huge fist, making Spike fly backwards onto the cold, hard cement. To Spike's surprise, the demon walked away towards some dumpsters that stood against a brick wall. But Spike soon realized that the demon was just looking for a weapon.

The vampire struggled to get himself up off the ground but his leg was twitching and his nose felt like it was broken. The demon headed back towards Spike with a metal pole that he must have found inside the dumpster.

"You're not gonna hit me with that," Spike yelped as he slowly got to his feet, "oh bullocks." The demon swung the pole at Spike's head but Spike blocked it with his hand, struggling to take the thing away from the damn creature. The demon growled as it struggled to pull the pole out of Spike's hand but Spike tugged as hard as he could. The vampire's teeth bit together hard as he yanked the pole out of the demon's enormous hands and swung it hard at the demon's head. The demon flew to the ground, hissing in pain.

"Somebody shoulda warned you not to mess with ol' Spike," Spike laughed as blood dripped down from his lip and nose. He twirled the pole in his hands with great enthusiasm as the demon sat up on the ground. Spike swung the pole at the thing's back as it fell flat on it's face once more. Spike just chuckled and took out a cigarette. The demon showed no sign of motion at all. Spike's game face disappeared.

"It's alright mate. It wasn't a fair fight," Spike smirked as he lit his cigarette and took a puff. "Besides, I'm a lot stronger and faster than you. Even if you're a lot wider." Spike threw the pole on the ground and started to walk off, enjoying his smoke and his sweet victory. But before he could even leave, he found himself thrown into the dumpster. The demon roared loudly and Spike grumbled in frustration. Spike popped his head over the dumpster to spot the demon but before he knew it, the demon had run in a different direction.

"Wanker!" Spike yelled after the creature as he hopped out of the dumpster. The bleached blonde dusted off his clothing to get off the various materials that stuck on him from the nasty dumpster. He turned his head over to the direction where the demon had fled. This is gonna be a long night.

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The docks were silent and the only noises made were the waves of Lake Erie, the breeze, and maybe a few cars passing by. Faith and Robin had been looking for the demon for a while now. They bumped into a few fledglings but no sign of a three-eyed demon. They tried to get words out of a few vampires but none would speak, they were mostly concentrating on the killing. They all failed horribly. Faith sighed in frustration.

"We have to find this demon soon or I'm gonna crack," Faith waved her hands around as Robin nodded.

"Well hopefully Buffy or Rhona found something," Robin replied, in his normal, mellow tone.

"It's a nice night. Not too hot, not too cold," Faith quickly changed the subject.

"Yeah, feels good," Robin smiled. Faith and Robin stood near the shore. The waves were slapping at eachother and wetting the sand near the shallow end over and over again. They both looked out onto the lake and enjoyed the view.

"You know what else feels good?" Faith grinned as Robin turned his attention towards her.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you," Robin smiled and Faith pulled him into a nice, gentle kiss. This was newer to Faith because usually she liked to put the wild fire in the kiss. But when she was with a guy that she actually liked, then she wanted it to be a bit more meaningful and gentle and then she would put the fire in. This was one of the first men that she actually really liked, especially since they're boyfriend and girlfriend and all. All of the last boyfriends or flings as she would call it were short and meaningless. Robin wrapped his arms around her small waist and pulled her closer. He was glad that he and Buffy never continued dating. Because then he would've never wound up with Faith.

Robin finally pulled away but continued holding her. "Yeah, I do feel good, don't I?" He teased. Faith punched him playfully on the arm with a big smile.

"Ouch."

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She heard several grunts and growls. Whatever it was, she had a good feeling that it was the demon they were looking for. They still didn't know much about it though and she thought that maybe they should hit research mode the next morning. She hated doing research. It was mostly Willow or Dawn's job. Dawn had become very astute with the whole "researching thing". Buffy was proud of her sister. Dawn had really grown into a woman. She couldn't wait to get back to Rome to see her sister.

All of the sudden, Buffy heard something growl very loud. She knew she was close. She paused a moment in the middle of the alley. There was loud stomping. It was coming closer and closer. I guess Rhona really meant it when she said that this demon was big. Buffy continued walking, quickening her pace. She moved towards the sound and let her senses take her to it. Her senses doubled the tingling. Maybe there's two demons over there. However many there were, Buffy was sure that they were just around the corner. The stomping came closer and closer and closer and…

"ARGH!" The demon grumbled, standing right before Buffy. It's three eyes twitched and Buffy stared at it in shock.

"Well now I know why there are three blind mice," Buffy cringed as she didn't hesitate to hit the demon. The demon grunted. It must've known that Buffy was coming for it to just run at her like this.

"SLAYER," the creature yelled in her face as it grabbed a hold of her and shoved her into the wall. Buffy scrunched up her face in pain but quickly recovered.

"The one and only. Well, not so much anymore but-" Buffy stopped herself as the demon ran full speed into her. She moved out of the way as the demon hit the wall and missed her.

"I knew you'd come," the three-eyed creature grinned, turning around swiftly and showing off his sharp fangs.

"Yeah, me too," she replied bitterly as she gave the demon a couple of hits. The demon stood still, taking her hits. He smiled wretchedly and punched her in the face; she fell to the ground with a groan. Looking up at the demon from the ground, he turned his attention somewhere else.

"Stupid vampire," the demon growled under his breath as he turned the corner again, leaving Buffy on the ground. Buffy pressed her hands to the ground and pushed herself up off the ground. She stood warily to her feet. Her light brown sweater was ripped and there was a wound on her cheek from the strong hit. The blonde Slayer stood in wonder as she heard a manly scream. She turned her attention towards the corner where the demon had just run off and then she saw it. A man was thrown into the wall in front of her. She couldn't quite make out who he was because the demon stood in front of him and punched him while the poor man was on the ground, up against the wall, taking the pain.

Buffy snatched the creamy colored woolen shirt of the demon and threw him away from the guy. She didn't pay any attention towards the victim for she was too busy kicking the three-eyed monster that stood before her. Come to think of it, he kind of looked like a big troll. She punched the demon's jaw and then kicked him to the ground. It had angered her to see that thing beating on a poor, innocent man.

Buffy. That is Buffy. Standing before me, saving me. Spike smiled as blood dripped down his face. He was still against the wall and he was wounded but he would live. Live as much as a vampire could. His senses did the tangling thing again and he knew it. He knew this feeling was because of her because she was here. Now. It felt like his unbeating heart was racing a mile a minute. His soul burned. He yearned for her. He watched her beat the shit out of that demon and he missed it, watching her fight. He missed her so much and now he got to see her. Oh no, she's gonna see me. Spike hesitated. He grew scared at the thought that she thought he was dead. This was going to be his first appearance. Spike struggled to get up so he could run or go somewhere.

"Come on," Buffy yelled after the demon as it ran the opposite direction, out of the alley, "I wasn't finished!"

"I'll end you later, Slayer!" the three-eyed demon yelled as he disappeared. The trembling of the ground stopped and all was quiet again.

Buffy sighed, "they always run after the first fight." Spike held onto the wall tightly to get himself up off the ground. Buffy took her attention off of the empty alley where the demon had run and focused it on the poor innocent man. She turned towards him saying,

"Hey, are you al-" Buffy paused. Spike. Oh my gosh, Spike. He inhaled an unneeded breath and wiped some blood off his face with his sleeve. His bleached hair was in curls from the fight and he stared in her eyes. She was lost. Lost in eyes. There he stood, before her. He was only inches away. The electric feeling came back stronger than ever.

"S- Spike?"