Author's note: Just a clarification as to the setting of this fic, it is set in season 5 sometime inbetween Buffy finding out about Riley and the whores-she was blowing off steam by patrolling-but before he leaves.

also if you are a Riley fan-which i can't imagine given the pairing of the fic, I'm warning you now that i'm going to take every chance i get to belittle him. because i HATE the bastard.

Chapter III - Back in Sunnydale

In the Magic Box:

Willow chanted frantically.

Dawn, Tara, Xander, Anya, Giles and Riley were standing around her watching as she did locator spell after locator spell.

"Nothing." willow said dejectedly. "Nothing at all."

The silence seemed deafening until it was broken by Dawn's frightened sobbing. Tara walked over to the her and put her hand on the younger girl's shoulder.

"Nothing?" Riley demanded. "How can there be nothing?" he took a step closer to her grabbing her by the shoulders. "How can there be nothing?" he demanded.

"I mean nothing. Not even a blip. Like she just... vanished." Willow said. She was fighting to keep her voice steady. She was even more scared now. "No signal, this has never happened before. Its just like poof" A pause and a grimace at the implications of her comment. "Only not in the dusty sense."

Xander noticed her distress and pulled Riley off his best friend.

"Will, does that mean she's..." the brunet trailed off.

Dawn turned a worried face to her sister's friend. She had watched as the scoobies had tried and tried again. They were all getting angsty. She also noticed that with every spell the scoobie lost more and more hope. Giles even suggested she go home and return tomorrow but dawn refused. If she couldn't do anything to save/find her sister she could at least help Willow, who was...

"I believe." Giles started as he whipped off his glasses, cleaned them and put them on again. He had been doing that all night. "That even in death, we would at least know where the body is. In this case however, there seems to be nothing. As if Buffy just... disappeared."

"But could anything have done that?" Dawn asked the watcher. "I mean that doesn't usually happen, right? Could she have been cut up into little pieces? Omigod what if she- what if she-" she couldn't finish her sentence she looked seriously scared. Fear made her hysterical.

"Dawnie," Tara said to her. "Don't worry... we'll find her."

"Yeah!" Xander agreed. "If it means researching for days and days with... Giles about this whole AWOL Buffster and we'll even forgo the traditional pizza breaks."

Dawn hesitantly nodded. still distraught but no longer hysterical, thankfully.

Anya, who had been quiet all this time, spoke up.

"You know, I've heard of a spell the 'cloaks' the beings from view. They can't be traced but it's very powerful magic." she said as she counted the days take. She had always found that very soothing. "But I haven't seen that kind of power in nearly eight hundred years."

"To 'cloak'? These guys watch Star Wars?" Xander asked, he sighed and continued. "So we're going against an all powerful foe? Again? And me without my lucky underpants." he added snapping his fingers, trying to add his signature bit of humor to the distraught group. "And wait, it's not even Tuesday!"

It didn't work.

The brunet wiped the smile of his face and dropped his fingers. His girlfriend gave him a reassuring smile.

"I'm guessing no one else is seeing the funny here." he mumbled.

"Could you get serious?" Riley exclaimed. "Someone like that could be holding Buffy! And you can't find her?" he gestured wildly at willow.

She shook her head looking rather lost.

"God, you're even worse than I thought." he added coldly. "This is the crack team that's backed up the slayer all these years?"

"Hey, hey, hey lets all just take a deep breath here. I'm confused and scared but-" Xander said. He was desperately trying to keep the peace. He didn't like the way Riley as acting but he knew that fighting would only serve to put off finding Buffy and for all they know she could be in a lot of trouble. They didn't have time to spare on petty quarrels. Whoa! Was the maturity from the Xand man right there?

"Listen here, Harris, I will not let the girl I lov-" Riley started. He was angry and being the solider he was he was trying to take control of the scatter brained group.

That was it, Xander snapped.

"No you listen here, Captain Carboard." he interrupted, clearly angry now. He even used the nickname Spike had dubbed Riley. Dawn had told him about it. "We have been though this a hell of a lot more than you have." he paused to let Riley voice his objection, his face challenging. The solider didn't. "And don't say you loved her. I heard what happened between you and those undead crack whores."

"That is none of your busine-" riley yelled angrily.

"You made it my business." was the dark hair young man's cold reply. Riley noted that he was a lot more formidable when he was angry. "When you cheated on my friend-with undead whores-and then, had the nerve to claim to love her."

"I don't need this." Riley replied threatening to walk out on them.

"Neither do we." Giles spoke up. He was growing increasingly tired of the two boy's incessant bantering. And he had never thought that he would ever favor Xander in a battle of wit, but at this moment he wanted nothing more than Riley: gone. He went Ripper for a moment. "Get out of here."

Riley gave them one last infuriated look and walked out the door off the magic box and slammed the door behind him.

"I'll try again." willow said.

Giles exhaled, feeling the adrenaline of the temporary distraction fade and he was again plagued with guilt and remorse.

"Yes, please do."