Chapter 2: Buffy: MIA

Buffy didn't know what had compelled her to take Spike's hand a few minutes ago. Her human side had reached out to him in that moment, wanting to accept the strength and protection he was offering. She let down the shield separating her from her emotions, allowing her true self to emerge for a moment.

Now, being in Spike's lap had unnerved her, all the emotions that had greeted her when she first returned were back, and she was too weak to stop them. For the second time that night, Buffy gave in to the Slayer inside her, letting it deal with the feelings that she herself could not.

She began to move around on Spike's lap, trying to get off. He wrapped one arm firmly around her waist to hold her in place, which only caused to anger her. She started to wiggle and kick, scratching at him as she tried to free herself; growls reverberated through her throat, her nails dug into his shoulder.

The wiggling wasn't doing well for the bulge that had formed in Spike's jeans since the minute Buffy had sat on his lap. He let out an involuntary moan as Buffy's movement intensified. Then he heard the growls and felt the pain from her nails. He growled, hoping it would have the same success as before, but it fell on deaf ears.

Spike's hand still hadn't moved from the possessive grip it had on Buffy's waist. It infuriated her. Doing the only thing left she could to free herself from his grasp, she punched him. Immediately, he released her and put a hand to his nose.

"Fuck!" Buffy jumped off the bike and took off at a sprint. Spike pulled his hand away to see blood covering it.

Stupid bitch. She always goes for the soddin' nose!

"Buffy, stop!" Dawn yelled from behind him, her question brought Spike back to the problem at hand.

Her mates aren't going to be happy 'bout this. He inwardly groaned.

"Now what are we gonna do?" Dawn asked with a hint of anger in her voice.

"I dunno, pet. I guess we'll go back to the homestead and get the Scoobs together. See if we can suss out what to do 'bout Wild Thing." He wiped at his nose, the bleeding had already stopped thanks to his vampire healing. He sighed. It was going to be a long night and he was not looking forward to it.

"You what?!" Xander yelled, throwing his hands up in an angry gesture.

"We didn't mean to! She was different. She was mean, and… she wasn't Buffy." Dawn tried to explain to her friends what had happened. She didn't know how Buffy had come back and frankly, she didn't care. Her sister was alive and Dawn was no longer alone. Yes, Spike had taken care of her all summer, but it wasn't the same as having Buffy there.

"What do you mean different?" Willow asked softly; hurt shining through her green eyes.

Spike's eyes widened in realization, "Not what you were plannin' on, huh Red? You figured she'd come back, all shiny an' new, thankin' you for savin' her from the fires of hell." Spike had derived a conclusion when he saw the witch's disheveled appearance and the flash of hurt in her eyes. The four Scoobies had all come in together looking defeated. When he and Dawn explained what happened, they hadn't seemed as surprised as they should have been. It seemed to make perfect sense that Willow would try and bring her back and of course the rest of the group would jump on the band wagon.

Spike was getting angrier by the second as everything unfolded before him. "You daft bint! You brought her back and didn't even bother to get her out of the bloody grave first?! And you call yourselves her friends." He shook his head and clenched his jaw, trying to calm himself.

Willow sat down on the couch, "Oh, God. We thought it didn't work. The Urn broke and then those demons came and… oh, God. Poor Buffy." Willow let the tears fall freely as she took everything in. In the midst of trying to save her best friend, she had betrayed her.

"If what Spike said is really true, Buffy is probably dangerous right now. I think our first priority should be to find her, before she hurts anyone else." Tara spoke up from in the foyer.

"And how are we gonna do that?" Xander asked.

"Well, if she is as crazy as Spike says, than we could probably just follow the path of dead bodies."

"Anya, not helping!"

"What! Just making a suggestion."

"Everyone shut up. My sister is back and even though she's a little… un-Buffyish, she's still my sister. We have to find her."

Tara walked over to Dawn and put a comforting arm around her. "We'll find her Dawnie, don't worry."

"Look, I know her scent. Why don't I go back to where we lost her and see if I can track her?" Spike started heading out the door but Xander stopped him.

"What makes you think you're even a part of this, Evil Undead? You're the one who lost her in the first place. I think you've helped enough already." Xander said sarcastically, pointing an accusing finger at the vampire.

Spike rolled his eyes, "Look, whelp, we can stand here and argue or I can- oh sod it, I really don't care what you lot think. I'm going to find Buffy." He slammed the door behind him and headed off into the night.

"What should we do? I can't just sit here and do nothing." Willow's voice was small and worried.

Dawn, sick of feeling useless, started giving out instructions, embracing her sister's previous role of group leader, "Xander, Anya, go check out the cemeteries." Xander nodded and pulled Anya out the door with him. "Tara and Willow, do a locater spell."

"Dawn, I'm so sorry. I never wanted it to happen like this." Willow was filled with guilt over the whole situation, taking the blame for the majority of it.

"Willow, just go do the spell. Apologize later." Dawn was filled with determination. She had lost her sister once already; she didn't think she could handle it again.

"I'm going to call Giles."

TBC.