Thanks for all of the reviews and nice words! I'm sorry that it took me a while to update, but I wasn't sure how I wanted to write this chapter. So I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think. Again, thanks for checking this story out!

Chapter 3

"So how are you going to help me?" Angel said doubtfully as he went into his kitchen.

Spike followed him and lifted himself up so that he was sitting on the counter. "I don't rightly know. I guess the first step is to make you friendly with the people again."

Angel opened the refrigerator and took out a pint of blood. He poured it in two cup and then put the cups in the microwave. "You're going to teach me to be friendly."

Spike's chest puffed up defensively. "I'll have you know, mate, that people find me charming."

Angel muttered, "People think you're an ass."

He pointed his finger at Angel. "This is coming from the man that yelled at the damsel in distress tonight."

Deciding it wasn't worth it, Angel handed him one cup and took the other. "How am I going to change that then?"

Spike took a drink from his cup. "Well, I'd normally say that you need to get laid, but that isn't a good idea."

Angel turned away. "This is hopeless."

Spike took out a cigarette and lit it. With it in his lips, he mumbled, "Hey, I'd rather be back in New York trying to get models to sleep with me. You say the word, my friend, and I'm gone."

Angel gritted his teeth and looked up as if through the ceiling. "What do you want from me?" he asked the Powers. What more can you take? he thought but did not say in front of Spike.

He keeled over in pain as visions shot through his mind.

Spike looking bored took another drink from his cup. "Guess you got your answer from Dear Abby."

"Good to see that your ability to be a smart ass hasn't waned after your bicentennial." Angel rubbed his head.

Spike clapped his hands and jumped off the counter. "So, who are we saving?"

Angel looked at him wearily. "I think we're going to LA. I have to go across the continent with you."

Spike looked excited. "All planes have vampire-safe windows now. We can sneak into the airport through the sewer system and we can get a flight that ends at night."

"Don't you have all the plans," Angel mumbled.

"What are we going to be doing exactly?"

Angel shook his head and headed for his jacket by the door. "I don't know exactly. I just saw some guy get attacked by demons. It looked like a stadium."

Spike followed him out of the apartment. "You're giving me your little bottles of airplane liquor. You shouldn't save while intoxicated."

Angel rolled his eyes. "You are so in danger of me killing your ass before we get there."

……………………………

Cagney needed to kill something. Her dreams were really starting to piss her off. She had tests to study for and she kept waking up because of the stupid dreams.

The last couple hadn't been too bad, though, if she had to admit it to herself. She was still the same woman in both of them and the same tall, dark man was there as well. They would kiss each other and fight side by side. There was a closeness between these two people and Cagney could feel it as though she was this woman. But there was always this maudlin feeling, tinges of sadness and repression.

She wondered why she kept having these dreams. She knew that it usually was a sign of something to come, but these dreams were in the past.

Walking through the campus, she was listening hard for sounds of vampires feeding. They usually circulated on Friday nights in hopes of drunken coeds. She laughed, thinking that vampires weren't that different from fraternity guys.

As she went through a dark patch of the sidewalk, she heard menacing laugher behind her. She smiled. Finally. Slipping the stake out of her purse, she gripped it tight in her hand. C'mon.

"You shouldn't be by yourself this late at night," the male voice said. "You should let me walk you home."

She kept walking, her body tingling with anticipation. "I think I'll be alright."

He whistled and continued to walk behind her. "You look alright, girl. Is your front view as good as the back?"

She licked her lips and locked her jaw. "Doesn't matter, pal. You won't be seeing too much of it."

"Now that would be a shame." He walked faster to catch up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

Instinctively, she reached behind her, grabbed his forearm and used his momentum to throw him over her shoulder. He hit the sidewalk hard and with a grunt. She bent down in a fluid motion over him and put the stake to his heart. "This is the only wood I'm feeling tonight, buddy."

His eyes bulged and he squirmed beneath her. "What's wrong with you, you crazy bitch!"

She looked at him closer. To be sure, she put her hand on his chest. She felt a pulse. Damn it. "Me? What the hell is wrong with you? Grow some balls, be a man, and stop stalking girls at night."

He scrambled to his feet and started running.

She shrugged disappointedly. She was glad to have stopped a jerk for the night but it wasn't the kind of release she had been hoping for. Deciding to head home, she walked back to her car.

About half an hour later, she drove up to the two story brick home in the suburbs. She still lived with her parents. Amazingly enough, they had never discovered that she was a Slayer. She had trained in LA in high school and had been able to tell them that she was going to an after school tutoring service to volunteer. They had bought it for three years. Now that she was attending college, they never asked her where she was going or where she had been.

Walking through the front door, she saw that the light was still on in the kitchen. Her mother was sitting at the table, grading papers. Dana Carter taught at the prep school Cagney had attended during high school.

"Isn't this a little late for you, Mom? You're usually passed out by 9:00," she said, going over to the refrigerator and getting a glass of milk.

Her mother laughed over a yawn. "I'm waiting up for your father, CC. He was going to go to a basketball game on campus but he should be home now."

Paul Carter was a teacher at the prep school as well and often attended sports events for the school. Cagney looked up at the clock. It was almost midnight. "He probably got into another debate with Dean Winters over global warming. He should be home soon."

Cagney put her hand on her mother's shoulder, told her goodnight and headed up for her bedroom. She took a shower, letting the water beat her tired muscles. She wasn't looking forward to going to sleep because she knew that she would wake up and still feel exhausted.

She put on an oversized t-shirt and snuggled into her bundle of sheets and blankets. About five hours later, she woke with a start as her mother pushed her and called her name.

"Wake up, CC. Get up," Dana cried.

Reflexively, Cagney sat up wide awake. "What's wrong?"

Her face was stained with tears and more tears were imminent. "Your father never came home. The police called and said he left his car in the school parking lot. The doors were open and the windshield had been busted out."

She jumped out of bed and put clothes on. "What? He's just gone?"

Her mother wiped her eyes. "We need to go to the police station and file a missing person's report and answer some questions."

Cagney nodded. "Let's go."

TBC