Willow and I got the girls settled into rooms at the hotel. Then, I head out. I want just a little time to explore on my own. I tell Willow where I'm going and that I am well prepared.
With the scythe, I head for the ruins of Wolfram and Hart. Demons are out in force now that the sun is down, and I have killed many before I even come close to the ruins. And it quickly becomes clear that I won't be able to stay at the ruins long. It is almost literally crawling with demons.
When I feel a tap on my shoulder, I spin around. A green faced demon stands in front of me in rags. I start to raise the scythe, but he holds up a hand.
"I'm not going to hurt you. I swear." He speaks quietly. I study his face but nod. Something about him strikes me as trustworthy.
The demon leads me towards a building, barely standing. He leads me over to a bar, and I can't help but wonder how it is still standing. It looks as if a bomb has gone off here.
"Look, unless you want me to call you demon-green, I should probably know who you are." I say.
"You can call me Lorne, Ms. Summers." I blink.
"How do you know who I am?" I study his face, sure I've never encountered him before.
"Buffy Summers, I know quite a bit about you. Not just as the fabulous Slayer, either. I have had friends who spoke quite highly of you. Though, most of the time, they were bickering at the mere mention of your name." Lorne grins at me.
"Wait..." I think a moment. "You know Angel?" I can't fathom who the others would be though.
"Oh yes. I worked closely with Angel. Up until he brought Hell down on top of us." Lorne sighs and pours himself a drink. "'Course, Spike was the one who spoke of you most often." I had been studying my hands trying to figure it out, but suddenly my head pops up and I glare at Lorne.
"How could you possibly know Spike? He died." Lorne chuckles softly.
"Oh my dear. You really don't know, do you?" I narrow my eyes at him.
"Know what?"
"Spike did die in Sunnydale. But then he came back. Wolfram and Hart brought him back. At first, he was incorporeal and sort of stuck. But when he became corporeal again, he was convinced that you would ever love him. So he fought alongside Angel." I shake my head, trying to make sense of it.
"No. That's...that's just not possible. If Spike was alive, he would have contacted me. He would have-"
"Would he though? After you made it clear you weren't in love with him? I saw his aura, darling. I know how messed up over you he was." He empties his glass and pours another. Then he grabs another glass and pushes it towards me.
"Oh, I...err...don't really drink."
"Trust me. You need it." I sigh and drink it. The alcohol burns on the way down and I cough. Lorne grins at me.
"So what do you want from me?" I look up at him again.
"I want your help. If we can bring them back, Angel and the others I mean, we can fight what is happening here." Lorne drinks his second glass. I sigh.
"Bringing them back from whatever Hell dimmension they're in won't be easy."
"No, it won't. But it IS possible." Lorne holds his empty glass up in a toast. I smile.
"Well, then, I guess I am in."

Willow hoped Buffy was okay. Her friend seemed to be slipping away everyday, spiraling into a depression worse than anything Willow had seen before. And she had seen Buffy pretty low before. But when Buffy came back that night, things were almost scarily different.
Buffy was smiling. Truly smiling, without faking it at all. Willow wanted to be happy, but a nagging suspicion took hold of her. What could possibly have happened to change her mood so drastically? But Buffy refused to talk about it around the other Slayers.
The next morning, Buffy was up early, working out and training with a few of the girls. It almost seemed like Buffy didn't want Willow to find her alone. While she had time, Willow decided to do another locator spell, hoping against hope that something would change. She was completely unprepared when it did. When she got a ping, a hint that Spike was in London. She couldn't believe it. She was sure she had done something wrong.
So, she tried it again. And the results were exactly the same. Buffy needed her to stay in LA, but as soon as they were home, Willow would keep looking for Spike. Until then, Willow would help here in LA.
So, when it was time, Willow went with the girls to explore the ruins of the Wolfram and Hart LA headquarters. Buffy lead the way, wielding the scythe. They didn't run into any demons in the daylight, however.

I lead the way to the ruins feeling more buoyant than I have for a very long time. Spike is out there somewhere, and I will fight to bring him back. Whatever it takes.
The ruins are seemingly deserted when we get there. We dig through the rubble for quite some time, looking for clues. If Lorne is right, and Angel brought this about, I want to know just how. Maybe then, we can reverse it.
After a few hours, all of us are hot and tired. So we head back to the hotel. Finally, I decide it's time to face Willow. To tell her what I've learned and my plan.
"Will?" I ask as I knock on the door to her room.
"Come in, Buffy." I open the door and head inside. "What's up?" Willow asks, her tone suspicious.
"I found some things out and I wanted to talk to you about them." She nods for me to continue. With a sigh, I do. "I met a demon named Lorne. He knew Spike. And Angel." Willow nods.
"I remember hearing about Lorne, though I don't think I ever actually met him when I came out here." I nod and continue.
"Last night, he found me, and told me some things. Like the fact that Spike didn't stay dead after Sunnydale. He came back. He even worked alongside Angel for awhile." Willow looks away, and I know something is up. But I continue. "Apparently, Angel called all Hell down onto LA when he fought the Senior Partners of Wolfram and Hart here." I gesture to the window. "Hence the destruction. Now, Angel and everyone that helped him are trapped in a Hell dimension, and only they know how to stop what is going on here." I sit down on the bed beside her. "But we can't use them until we get them back."
Willow looks up at me, her eyes sad. "Buffy, I don't know. I want to get them back. But...I don't know if I can. I don't know if I have that kind of power." I look up at her.
"I know you do, Will. I have faith you do. And I also know you won't go dark." Willow sighs.
"I knew. I mean, I wasn't completely sure, but I had heard rumors that Spike wasn't really dead." She looks away.
I bite my lip. I had already figured as much. But I don't say so. Not right now. I need her help. Making her feel bad about it won't get us anywhere. "Please, Willow. Even if you don't want to do it for me, I understand. But we need to stop what's happening here. Before anyone else gets hurt. Or worse." Willow looks up at me. She sighs.
"Fine. But I'll need to make some calls. And get some things together."
"Thanks Will." I hug her and get up to leave. "I'm going to go talk to Lorne. I'll be back soon." I head back to the bar Lorne lead me to the night before.