Disclaimer: I own none of these characters

Chapter four

Rupert struggled to keep his eyes open. He glanced at Xander, who had taken up the passenger seat. The boy was out cold and so were the other occupants of the van. He knew he had to take a break, but he feared stopping. They had found Angelus and Darla only a few hours ago, but there had been no sign of Buffy and he was anxious to keep moving.

He wanted to be as far away from the two older vampires before they got wise to their recent visit and decided to come after them. He knew that even with Spike's presence they would not be strong enough to hold of both vampires for an extended period of time and it was in their best interest to just keep moving.

Lost to his thoughts he didn't even notice that he had swerved into oncoming traffic until there was the sound of a horn blaring. He jerked in surprise, swerving the van back into the right lane and then overshooting the tarmac, landing the van into the uneven dirt on the side of the road. The rush of adrenaline sharpened his senses for long enough to manage to pull the car to a reasonably safe stop on the side of the road.

"Jezus," he breathed as he sat and stared at the darkening sky.

"You can say that again." Oz commented from the back.

Rupert glanced around at the young ones and was relieved to note that they were all unscathed. "Spike?" he called. "Are you okay back there?"

"Sure. I just spilled the blood I was drinking, but that's all," the vampire called back. He had been ensconced behind a set of thick curtains in the back of the van ever since the sun had risen and he was forced to remain there until it had gone down completely.

"Hey, Rupes?"

"Yeah?"

"Why don't you all get some shut eye and I'll keep watch. I'll be able to take over driving in about half an hour and waiting only half an hour shouldn't be such a big problem."

"I think you're right," Rupert sighed in defeat.

Xander climbed in the back with Willow and Oz and Rupert took the passenger seat, leaving the driver's side free for Spike to take as soon as he was able. The silence was only disturbed once by a car that passed them and Rupert soon find himself nodding off.

Spike crawled out of his hiding space as soon as he felt the sun go down. He stretched his stiff muscles and breathed in deeply. He was sure they were closing in on the Slayer, but that tiny connection he felt was very difficult to pin down. Deciding to just trust his gut, he got into the car and started driving.

After an hour or two he felt like he was playing the children's game where one kid would hide something and the other was supposed to find it with hints of hot and cold. The tiny pinpoint he felt from the Slayer grew stronger, but then he'd take a turn and it would grow a little weaker again, causing him to turn around and try another direction.

When he had done this several times and had gotten turned back to the same spot three times he was sick and tired of it. He roughly shook the Watcher to wake him. He knew he needed to go on foot and see if he could find the girl that way.

"W-what?" Rupert murmured as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"I've driven us as far as we can go by car. I keep getting back to the same spot, so I think I need to take off on foot from here. I'll need to know where the best hiding places are in case I don't find her before sundown."

"Uhm, where are we?"

"Arizona desert somewhere."

"I don't have a map."

"No, but you and the little Wicca can probably come up with a little spell or two to help you figure this shit out. I need to get moving, I think Angelus and Darla are on the move."

"What about us, do we just sit here and wait?"

"No, you idiot. You find yourself a church which you protect with some spell or you buy yourselves a house so the vampires can't just wander in as they please."

"Right, of course. Excuse my lack of foresight."

"It's not a problem, I just need to get my arse into gear if I want to do some tracking before the sun rises."

"Of course. You have the cell I gave you?"

"Yup."

"Good, I will contact you as soon as I know where we'll be staying and if you need anything, just call."

Spike nodded and bolted from the car. His instincts told him to find the blonde quickly and he wasn't going to ignore that urge. He inhaled deeply and was surprised that he detected a small hint of the Slayer's scent in the air. It was different than he remembered, but it was there on the wind. He headed in the direction the wind was coming from, inhaling deeply with every step he took.

Even though her smell grew a little bit stronger every half hour or so, he knew that he was still ways off. He acknowledged as he kept walking that the Slayer's natural scent must have been enhanced by her change. Her blood was no longer distorting the scent and he had to admit that it was even more appealing than it had been before he had left Sunnydale.

He was starting to close in on her when the first pricks of the approaching dawn started on his neck. He immediately reached for his phone, since he hadn't heard from the humans, yet and it was about time he found a place to spend the day in.

"Hello?" Willow's groggy voice answered after several rings.

"Red, I need a place to stay and I need it now."

"Oh, shit! We got a place to stay and we were all so tired."

"No time for excuses, pet. Find me a place to stay."

"Sure, I'll call you back in a minute or two."

Spike kept moving forward while he awaited the wicca's call. The tingle on the back of his neck grew stronger and he was just about to call the girl back when his phone rang.

"There should be a deep enough cave about half a mile to the north west. You're going to have to run for it."

"Got it. Call you when I get there."

He hung up the phone before he heard her response and broke out into a full sprint. He spotted the cave while the first rays started to creep over the horizon. He was still in the shadows of the rocks around him, but he knew it would be a close call.

He dove for the mouth of the cave just as the sun's deadly rays reached the ground where he had been standing.

He crawled into the cave as far as he could and pressed himself against the back of the cavern. He just hoped the wicca was right about it being deep enough. It would be quite a nasty surprise to wake up burning somewhere during the day.

His eyes succumbed to the heavy draw of sleep almost as soon as he laid down. Right before he fell to sleep, he inhaled, comforting himself with the knowledge that he would most likely find the Slayer the following night, judging by the strength of her scent.

Buffy was lost to her memories for most of the day. The previous night she had disposed of the carcass that had been stinking up her cave and then she had set out on a mission to find a better place to stay.

When she finally had settled on a new cave she had tried to keep her eyes open, but with a full stomach from another surprising meal, she hadn't been able to stave off sleep.

Angelus roughly grabbed her arm as soon as she awoke as a new vampire. He shoved her face into the neck of a quivering young girl. Buffy felt her demon fight to come to the forefront but something stronger kept the animal chained. She pulled her head away and struggled to get away from Angelus' hurtful grip on her.

"Drink!" he ordered, shaking her and pushing her even closer to the whimpering girl.

Buffy's stomach rolled and she gagged against the girl's flesh, causing Angelus to yank her back and to her feet.

"What are you doing?" he hissed, his eyes nearly black in fury.

"I c-can't" she whispered.

"You pathetic little bitch. I see that I need to teach you some manners," he sneered before drawing his hand back and backhanding her with a strength that left her ears ringing. She felt the blood trickle down her cheek but even that didn't make her hunger gain the upped hand.

Angelus threw her away from him in disgust and turned to the girl who had cowered away from them.

"Now, kitten. It's time for you and I to have a little fun together."

The girl begged him to let her go, but the more she begged, the more joy Angelus seemed to derive from what he was doing. Buffy tried to look away from what was happening to that poor girl before her, but Darla came in and forced her to watch as Angelus ripped the girl's clothes away and violated her while he slowly drained the crying girl until she lay in a lifeless heap on the floor.

Buffy could hardly breathe from the pain in her body. Angelus had been especially cruel to her today. Not only had he broken several of her bones, but he had finally forced her to feed off a human. The man had already died of the wounds that Angelus had inflicted, but she had still drank the man's blood and she felt disgusted with herself.

Surprisingly, Drusilla had been the one to take care of her after Angelus had waltzed out of the room, cackling away. She had been gentle while she cleaned the many cuts on Buffy's body and she had attempted to comfort the younger vampire.

"You need to drink, little one," Drusilla murmured. "Here, have mine."

Drusilla held out her wrist to Buffy and when Buffy didn't do anything to take from her, she ran a sharp nail across the skin to open her vein.

"Take some," she urged, pushing her wrist under Buffy's nose.

Buffy had eventually succumbed to her hunger pains and had greedily taken from Drusilla until the dark haired woman had pried her wrist away. In the back of her mind Buffy knew that she was still drinking the blood from the innocent, but it felt different to her when she took it like this.

The sound of Angelus starming into the house shook her to the core.

"Don't worry, kitten. Sissy will take care of daddy," Drusilla had murmured before flouncing out of the room, singing about the stars and pretty girls in white dresses.

It hadn't taken her long at all to draw Angelus away from the house and out into the night. Even though she knew that innocents were losing their lives, she was relieved that she had been given a reprieve from the constant beatings.

A strange smell drifted into the cave on the early night wind. Buffy was awake and fully alert as soon as she realized it was the smell of a vampire. It wasn't Angelus, but that didn't mean that there weren't other dangerous vampires out there.

She very slowly crept towards the mouth of the cave and peered out into the darkness. For a moment she thought she had been mistaken, but then she spotted something to her left. She swivelled around and felt her eyes grow wide and her mouth drop.

There in the moonlight was a vampire she hadn't expected to see again, not even now that she had eternal life. From the way Angelus had spoken of him, he had been as good as banished from the continent.

"Spike," she whispered as she watched the bleached blond man sniff the air.

He will find you, Drusilla had told her. Had she meant Spike?

Almost as if he had heard her, he turned on his heel and his eyes locked on hers. Even across the distance between them.

Buffy fought the instinct to flee, because she knew she needed an ally and perhaps Angelus' wayward grandchilde was the ally she was looking for.

"Slayer," Spike whispered as he started towards her.

He approached slowly as if he were approaching a wounded animal and it made Buffy smile for the first time since she had learned that Angel had lost his soul.

"I'm not going to run," she told him quietly.

Spike smirked. "Good, wasn't feeling up to runnin' myself."

"What are you doing here? In the desert?"

"Could ask you the same thing, pet."

"Yeah, but I asked first."

"Right. There's a bit of history that precedes this whole thing, but what you should know is that I came here looking for you with your chums. The whole gang's a couple of miles south, waiting for me to take you to them."

"So they can stake me?"

"No, so they can take you home."

Buffy fell back against the cave wall in shock. "I can't go back, they should know that by now. I'd only hurt them and I don't want to hurt them."

"There are ways to be around them and not hurt them."

"I don't think I'm strong enough."

Spike nodded. "I made them bring several things that could serve as a contingency plan, but from the looks of you I say we won't need any of them."

Buffy shook her head. "I can't drink from animals in Sunnydale, I can't go back there. I need to find a place where there is enough wildlife to sustain me."

"Wildlife? What're you talking about Slayer?"

"I-I...Forget it."

"No, tell me."

"I accidentally drained a mountain lion last night and I actually felt satisfied afterwards. I figure that I can keep living off the wildlife and avoid killing humans."

"Or you could bag it."

"Bag it?"

"Like I've been doing. Drink blood from the butcher shop from a bag. Angel must've done it in a similar way before..."

"He never told me how he drank. I guess he didn't want me to realise just how dangerous he could be."

"Slayer can I ask you something?"

"If I can reserve the right not to answer."

Spike nodded his assent to that and then hesitantly came even closer. "Did he harm you much?"

"That depends on what you find much. I'm sure Drusilla has seen worse, especially after she helped me flee."

"He staked her," Spike whispered.

Buffy flinched and shrank back even further. "She died for saving me?"

"If she helped you, it's safe to say that that was the reason Angelus killed her."

"Oh, god," Buffy wailed before crawling outside and heaving into a bush just outside the entrance.

It was at that moment that Spike finally got his first real look at the Slayer and his stomach turned at the sight of her. Her cheeks were sunken in and her eyes seemed hollow, her entire frame trembled at the strain of keeping her upright while she threw up.

What on earth had they done to the Slayer, the once so beautiful Slayer?

If Angelus had been there at that moment, Spike would have ripped his dead heart out and shoved it down the ponce's throat before staking him through the heart with a piece of wood doused in holy water.

A/N: I am sooo sorry it took so long to update. My computer broke down and I had to save up some cash to buy a new one and then I had to re-write this chapter. I'll try to update regularly from now on.