Angel sat in the seedy little bar drinking his ninth shot of whiskey. He looked around him at all the drunks and low lives that surrounded him. He would never have been caught dead, *no pun*, in a place like this when he was with Buffy. Just the thought of his beautiful blonde slayer goddess made him shoot the thick, burning liquid down his throat. Why had he left her?

"She was a really, really pretty girl. No she.. she was a hottie girl. She, she had.. I mean.. her hair was.. You know? You kind of remind me of her. Because, because.. you know.. the hair. I mean.. the hair." Angel said to a big, bald black guy sitting next to him.

One of the guys that had been playing pool behind him came up and told the bartender, "We want to cash out."

Angel looked up at him drunkenly. "Girls are nice." He laughed.

The guy just looked at him disgustedly.

"Here you go." The bartender said to the man.

The guy turned back to his buddies. "Ok guys, let's go find some real fun."

Angel watched them go. There was a blonde with them that reminded him of Buffy. Then it struck him. Those guys with her were vampires. He got up out of his stool and followed them out. When he got outside he heard one of the girls say, "Hey, back off!"

"Shut up and die." One of the guys said.

Angel rounded the corner. "Excuse me. 'scuse me. I'm sorry. But has anybody seen my car? It's big, and it's shiny."

"Piss off pal."

Angel walked up and leaned in close to the guys face. The vamp growled at him. "Uhh, breath mint?"

Vamp guy one threw the girl into some trashcans and swung at Angel. Angel blocked, knocked him down, spun around to knock vamp two running up in the face, and then kicked out at the first vamp just getting back up. Vamp three tackled Angel to the ground, but Angel catapulted him over his head and got back up. He saw two vamps charging him from opposite sides. Angel triggered the stakes concealed in spring-loaded wrist sheathes under his sleeves and staked both at the same time. They dusted.

Vamp one came up and hit Angel with a trashcan and Angel fell to the ground.

"You shouldn't have done that." Angel growled.

He got up, punched the vamp in the stomach and threw him. He spun in the air and landed on a windshield.

One of the girls walked up to him. "Oh my God, they were.."

"Go home." Angel said.

"Thank you."

Angel spun around and she saw his vamp face. "Stay away from me."

The girls ran out of the alley and Angel picked up one of his stakes. Walking back to the vamp on the windshield, he staked him and then went back into the bar. He sat down and ordered another shot of whiskey.



Willy flew back onto the bar with a loud screech.

"Come on Willy. I know you've heard something." Buffy said. She followed the sleazy little guy and pinned him to the bar.

"I swear to ya, I ain't heard nothing from him." Willy whined.

"Didn't say it had to be from him."

"I ain't heard.." Willy stopped when he saw Buffy pull her fist back. "OK! Please! Just don't hit me!" Buffy eased up. "I heard some vamps talking earlier tonight. Said that since your slayer whipped puppy was out of town, they could get to you easy."

"Did they say where?"

"I don't think I heard anything."

Buffy pulled her fist back and got ready to hit.

"LA! They said he went to LA!" Buffy released him. "Geez! I hope you do get him back for good this time. He leaves you again, I lose a part."

"You're damn right."

Buffy stalked out of the bar. She was drained. It was now 4:00 in the morning and nothing from Angel. At least she knew where he had gone. Now that was where she was headed. She walked back to her house and entered through the front door quietly. Buffy slipped up to her room, changed clothes, packed a bag with a few days worth of clothes, left a note for her mom to let her know where she had gone, and went to Willow's.

When she got there, she climbed up to the French doors, leaving her bag on the ground, and knocked softly. When no one answered, she tried again, louder this time. After a few seconds, the door was opened and a groggy Willow stared at her.

"Buffy?" Willow asked.

"Come on. Get dressed."

"What? Where are we going?"

"LA."

"Why?"

"Angel. That's where he is." Buffy said sadly. "I'll pack you some clothes while you get dressed."

"Ok." Willow didn't need to ask anything further. She wanted her friend to be happy and Willow knew the only way to make Buffy happy was for her to have Angel safely in her life.

When Willow finished dressing, she wrote a note to her mom and said that she'd be back in a few days. Then she and Buffy climbed down and collected Buffy's bag. They headed over to Xander's house and knocked on his window. It took an almost banging to wake him, but he was the one with the car, so they couldn't exclude him.

"What!?" he asked when he opened the window.

"Come on Xander, get dressed, pack some clothes and grab your keys. We're going to LA." Buffy said.

"LA? Are we all gonna run away this time?"

"No Xander, we're going to find Angel." Willow said.

"Dead Boy? We're going to LA because of Dead Boy?"

Buffy looked like she was ready to punch Xander.

"Xander..Just hurry up and get dressed." Willow said.

Twenty minutes later, they were on the highway headed for LA. Buffy sat in the front seat while Willow slept in the back. Xander kept his eyes on the road. All Buffy could do was stare straight ahead and think how to find Angel in LA. It was a big city.

"So Buff, have you thought this through exactly?" Xander asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked.

"Like, where are we going to stay? How do you expect to find him in LA?"

"Well, I figure we can stay at my dad's. He hasn't seen me in a while. And he'd be real happy to meet you guys. As for how to find Angel..I have my ways."

"Right, that freaky connection you two have cause you're soul mates and all."

"Xander.."

"I was being serious Buff. Trust me, I'm not awake enough to be funny."

"I trust you Xander. And I'm sorry. I just want to get him back."

"He was stupid for leaving you."

"I know."

"I may not be a part of the Angel fan club here, but he does something for you no other man can. I don't want to see you unhappy with some farm boy you met in college. I don't really like to see you with Angel, but he's what makes you happy. And that's what I really want: is for you to be happy."

Buffy reached over and took Xander's hand. He squeezed it in response. "Thank you Xander."

"Anytime Buff."

They went back to silence, driving down the highway. By the time they reached LA, it was about 7:30 in the morning. Buffy directed Xander to her dad's house. They woke Willow and collected their bags.

"Are you sure your dad will be up by now?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, he should be. It's Saturday, right?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah."

"He's probably getting ready for work right now."

Buffy walked up the walkway to the giant two-story house and rang the doorbell. After a few minutes, Lesley, her step-mom, opened the door.

"Buffy?" Lesley said.

"Lesley? I thought you were going to Aspen with your brother."

"I was, but Allen broke his leg at work." Lesley eyed Willow and Xander.

"Oh, God, uh Lesley..this is Willow Rosenberg and Xander Harris. They're my friends from Sunnydale."

"Hello." She shook hands with them.

"Hey, is uh, is dad here?"

"Yeah, he's getting ready for work. Come on in." Lesley stood aside and opened the door wider for them to come in.

They entered the large foyer and went into the living room. Hank came out and spotted his daughter and her two friends standing there.

"Buffy! What are you doing here?" Hank asked.

"Actually, I came up here to see you and maybe catch up with some of my old friends before they left for college. You know, graduation and all." Buffy said.

"About that sweetie, I'm really sorry I couldn't make it."

"Oh.. That's perfectly all right. You didn't miss much. Mom didn't make it either."

"I thought you're mother was so excited about it."

"She was, but something.. big.. sort of came up. And she to run."

"Oh."

"Um, dad, this is Willow and Xander. They can stay here with us right?"

"Sure." There was a moment of awkward silence and then Hank stepped up and hugged Buffy. Buffy hugged back, which was when her dad noticed the bandage on her neck. "Buffy, what happened to your neck?"

"My neck?" Buffy touched the bandage and looked at Willow for help. "Um, well.. It's a really long story. One that I promise I will tell you all later."

"Ok." Hank looked at his watch. "Well, I have to get to work. You know where your room is, Willow and Xander can have the two guest bedrooms."

"Ok dad."

"Lesley doesn't have to be at work for another half hour, so she can help you guys get set up." Hank kissed his daughter's cheek as he headed for the door. "It was nice to meet both of you. We'll have dinner tonight." With that, Hank was gone.

Buffy turned to Lesley. "So.. Rooms."

"Rooms." Lesley said. "Come on, they're all upstairs."

She led the three upstairs and for the first time, Buffy noticed that Lesley had dyed her hair to a strawberry blonde. It had been brown before. Lesley was also taller than Buffy.

*Of course, who isn't?* Buffy thought.

The first time she had met Lesley, Buffy had not been too happy. Lesley was younger than Hank. He was 48 while Lesley was 29. Hank had brushed it off as anger that another woman was going to be with him that wasn't her mother. After a while, though, Buffy got to know Lesley and she and Lesley had gotten to be friends. Her dad had gotten married at the courthouse quietly and then took a three-day honeymoon to San Francisco before he told Buffy about it.

"Here's Willow's room." Lesley said.

Willow walked into a room that was done up in pretty pastels. The bed was an off-white, almost beige color. The walls were a light yellow and there was a border of flowers and ivy vines running at the tops of the walls.

"Wow, this is really pretty." Willow said.

"Thank you. I decorated this just this winter." Lesley said. She took them down a room. "And this will be Xander's room. It's more boyish."

The walls were dark blue and the covers on the bed were a deep purple. There was a border in here too. It was a gold stripe with black bordering each said of it.

"Wow. Did you do this too?" Xander asked, tossing his bag on the bed.

"Actually, Buffy helped with this room. She said that since we had done the other one more girlishly that this one needed to be boyish."

"Because I don't think a guy would want to stay in the other bedroom." Buffy said before walking off to her room. It was done up the way she had left it. The walls were a light pink, almost white. Her covers were light yellow with little flowers embroidered on it. There were stuffed animals everywhere in the room. In the mirror on the vanity, there were pictures. Buffy walked over to them. There was one of her, Xander, and Willow having fun at some amusement park they had gone to. And then her eyes found the one of her and Angel. They were at the Bronze. They had decided to double date with Cordy and one of her dates. Why, Buffy still needed to figure that one out, but Cordy had said that she didn't want to be left alone for too long with the guy. Angel and her looked so happy together. He was smiling in this picture and Buffy was beaming. Their hands were clutched and they were looking more at each other than at the camera.

Buffy started to cry as she picked the picture out of the mirror. Lesley came in and went to her. She pulled Buffy into a hug and led her over to the bed.

"Buffy, what's the matter?" Lesley asked.

Buffy couldn't answer; she just stared at the picture and sobbed. Willow came in and went to sit next to Buffy on the bed.

"Awe, Buffy. We'll find him. Then you guys can talk and you can tell him how stupid he was and then you guys can kiss and make up." Willow said.

"What?" Lesley asked.

"That's Angel in the picture. They were dating and they both loved each other, but he left. It's really hurting Buffy because the reasons he gave her were pretty stupid. We came here to find him and get him back."

"Oh. Why did he leave?"

"Because he wanted me to have children and go out into the light and have someone that could make love to me." Buffy said.

"What?"

"It's a long and complicated story." Willow said.

"Oh." Lesley stood. "Well, I'll just let you handle Buffy. You know what to do."

"Ok."

Lesley left and Willow looked at Buffy. "Buffy, look at me."

The blonde looked up at her, eyes watery and red.

"We're going to find him. And if I have to, I'll put a spell on him to make him stay put while you talk. Although my witch skills aren't that great, so I'd probably end up turning him to a paralyzed toad." Willow said. "But you are going to get him back if I have anything to say about it. And I don't care how long it takes."

"Thank you, Will." Buffy said.

"Always welcome."

"So, are we going to go out there now or what?" Xander asked from the doorway.

"I wanna shower first." Buffy said.

"We all do!"

"Ok, well.. Lesley won't mind letting one of you use her and dad's shower. I'll use mine, and whoever doesn't use dad's can use the guest bathroom."

"It's a plan."

"I'll use your dad's bathroom." Willow said. "That way if Lesley walks in, Xander won't be embarrassed."

"What about Oz?" Buffy asked.

"I'll call him after I before we leave."

"Ok."

"Maybe he can come up and help look for Angel."

"Yeah. Ok. Let's get started." Buffy said, wiping away her tears.