Hey guys! I'll be honest; I really like this chapter. Usually I'm more hesitant to say that, but there you have it. On a not-so-good note, I'm only one chapter ahead of your now, but the other side of that coin is not to long. Love-el-ly Joy, I think I've finally gotten the ball rolling on the part I was stuck on, so I'm sure you'll have the actually completed Ch 6 in your inbox by the end of the day! Hopefully the delay won't translate itself to my once a week posting schedule.

As always, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, and please, let me know what you think of this one too. This is definitely more of a Spike and Buffy chapter, but it has its Bangel goodness too. Enjoy!

Fred and Lorne were throwing out hypotheses on their way to meet an informant.

"It seems to be targeting slayers, so apocalypse doesn't seem likely. If that were the case, it would pick easier, lower profile kills," said Fred.

"Yeah, but if it's targeting slayers, why would it come all the way out here? Aren't most of them overseas?" said Lorne.

Fred frowned in confusion. "Are we sure it's targeting slayers? Maybe it's just killing randomly, and since there are a lot of slayers in Rome, he managed to get four of them."

"Yeah, but have you heard of any attacks since then? Any other kills? If it has killed since then, it's managed to keep it quiet. So why would we know about the Slayers, but no one else?"

"Maybe the only reason they were noticed was because they were slayers," Fred countered. "Buffy and the others know what to look for when a death seems odder than most.

The parked and got out of the car, still tossing around ideas until they walked into the demon bar.

"Who are we meeting?" asked Fred.

"I'm not sure what his name is, but Urghal, a friend of mine, referred him to me. Apparently he's real twitchy about this though, so tread carefully."

"How are we going to find him if we don't know who he is?"

"He will apparently be wearing white and holding a plumeria."

"You're kidding, right?" said Fred.

Lorne just pointed to a demon matching that description on the far side of the bar.

They made contact and slipped out to the back of the bar, where Fred finally got a good look at the demon. It was a grayish color, with bright blue eyes and a full head of hair seemingly at odds with its gaunt appearance. Its nose reminded her a little of gonzo.

"What's your name?" Fred asked.

"Steve," it replied.

Fred raised her eyebrows. "Steve?'

"Yeah? What, we all gotta have weird mystical sounding names? "

Fred opened and closed her mouth a few times before finally replying "No, of course not, I just…"

"Yeah, you just."

"Alright," said Lorne, cutting in. "Do you know something about this Dankaar demon?"

"Shhh! Jesus!" Steve looked around, nervously. "Not so loud!"

"You think he can hear us?" said Fred.

"I think this guy has managed to off four slayers, seriously piss off the Slayer-in-charge, and is actually going out of his way to fight her 'cause he knows he's going to win. Does that sound like a guy you want to mess with?"

"Why is he going to win?"

Steve just shrugged, then looked around, muttering. "I really shouldn't be here."

"Why are you?" asked Lorne, looking intently at him.

"It killed a good buddy of mine. Human, but willing to employ a demon." He shifted nervously. "Getting myself killed ain't gonna bring him back though, so we gonna hurry this up?"

"You said he's going out of his way to fight her. So he didn't run over here; he lured her over here?" said Lorne

Steve looked at him as if he were stupid. "Why do you think he went to the trouble to kill 4 Slayers?"

Realization dawned on Freed. "To get her attention."

"Bingo."

"Okay, so what exactly does he want?" asked Lorne.

"The Slayer."

"The Slayer? There are hundreds now," said Fred.

Steve looked at her incredulously. "Are you kidding me? Are the white hats really this clueless? Maybe I'm throwing my cap into the wrong ring," he said, making as if to move.

"Hold it right there, bucko," said Lorne.

"Bucko?" said Steve.

"Just tell us what we need to know," said Lorne, trying to look intimidating in his bright yellow and red outfit complete with a floral print ascot.

Steve rolled his eyes. "As far as the demon community is concerned, there is only one Slayer. She's the trophy."

"He's trying to kill Buffy?" said Fred.

"Give the girl a prize!"

Lorne frowned. "All of the other slayers have the same abilities as Buffy-"

"Yeah, and I have the ability to write a press release. I still can't get a job in PR without any experience. Your girl's stopped a lot of big evil plans and killed a lot of unkillable demons. She's the real threat. Hell, she's stepped on a lotta big, evil toes, so maybe it's a payback thing, Or," he said with a significant look at them, "maybe he thinks that if you take out the general, the troops will follow. Who knows, I just know he's trying to kill your Slayer."

Fred was processing his words. "Leave the new slayers to be picked off once she's gone," she said.

Steve shrugged. "Whatever abilities they might have, this guy's already proved to the whole demon community that the newbies are a whole lot easier to kill than the veteran."

They all jumped as they heard a loud crash. "What was that?" asked Steve, alarmed.

Fred shrugged. "A mouse? A cat? There are all kinds of strays in these alleys."

"Yeah. Listen, it's been real, but this is it. I can't talk to you guys no more. Best of luck, really. I'll keep my fingers crossed for ya, but that's it. I'm out. I've done my part."

"Wait! One more question!" said Fred.

Steve was already edging away. "What?"

"Why did he come to LA to take her out?"

"He met someone here. Don't know who. Didn't sound like the person was going to fight her though."

"Who?"

"Don't know!" he said, glancing around nervously. "I'm gettin' outta here. Wait here a while before you leave."

"Why?" asked Fred.

"Why? You don't exactly blend in! And your friend here looks like a giant fruit basket."

With that, he was gone, leaving Lorne frowning after him.

"Was he telling the truth?" asked Fred.

"I think so, sugarplum. The nervousness was certainly genuine. So was the grief about his friend."

"And we have to tell Buffy that this thing is out to take her down." Fred sighed. "How do you think she's going to take it?"

"I don't know," said Lorne.

Buffy's head thudded down onto the table currently littered with newspaper articles and other papers.

"Stick a fork in me, I'm done," she groaned.

"I can't believe all these deaths have been in just the past week," said Angel.

Buffy just groaned tragically again, making Angel smile. "Maybe we should check and see if Giles and Wesley have gotten any further," he said.

"No! No more research. No more words. No can do. I'm done with reading. I think they have the right idea," she said, jerking her thumb over at Spike and Gunn, both fast asleep on top of their papers. "Also, I think my butt's glued to my seat, I've been sitting in it for so long,"

Angel smirked at the sight of her squirming petulantly. "I'm amazed you lasted this long with research."

"Me too. My quota's up. I've gone over my limit."

"Maybe we should try for just a little longer…" Angel began, more to tease her than anything else.

"Oh no, what's this? I think I've gone blind!"

"Blind?"

"Yep, can't see anymore. Definitely can't read. It's tragic."

Angel shook his head. "That is tragic," he said. "I was going to show you my big, state of the art training room."

Buffy visibly perked up.

"But if you can't see it," he continued, "there's no point in showing it to you. What a shame."

"Wow… vision's slowly returning… I can see again! It's a miracle!"

Angel grinned and Buffy felt a sense of accomplishment for being the one to put it there.

"What do you say?" he asked. "Ready for some sparring?"

Buffy's butt was apparently not glued down. It flew out of the chair as if it were on fire. "I thought you'd never ask!"

Fred and Lorne walked into the offices to find a small crowd gathered around the doorway to the training room. They exchanged a puzzled glace before hurrying over to see what was going on.

They stopped short upon seeing Buffy and Angel sparring. Joining the mesmerized crowd, they didn't notice when a tousled Spike and Gunn started to approach until Gunn spoke.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Sugarpie, you have to come and see this," said Lorne.

Gunn grinned. "I've already seen her fight. Why, is she kicking Angel's ass?" he said, coming closer.

Spike smirked. "You've seen her fight, mate, but you've never really seen her dance."

The two partners attacked, countered, blocked and moved in a graceful give-and-take that could easily be described as a dance. The group took in the pair as they circled each other, testing, attacking, and checking for weaknesses and openings, seemingly unaware of their audience.

It escaped no one's attention just how happy the two looked. Beyond their focus on the attacks and counters and despite each partner being thrown to the ground, or even across the room regularly, they both had a playful curve to their lips and a lighthearted twinkle in their eyes.

No one knew how long the battle continued. Sweat poured down from the sparring partners, but never slowed their movements. Money exchanged hands through the gathered crowd as bets were placed about the outcome. Finally, Buffy flipped through the air, dodging a blow, somersaulting onto the ground and picking up a blunted stake on the way. She kicked out the back of his knees and rolled with him until he was on his back, perfectly placed to put the blunt stake up to his heart.

"Gotcha!"

They stilled, sprawled on top of each other, both panting heavily, until the applause from their audience broke the moment. Sheepishly, she climbed off him before giving him a hand up.

"Your fighting's really improved," he said. "You've got some new moves."

"I could say the same for you!" she said. "When you get a chance, could you show me that one where you-"

"Slayerkins, that was incredible!" Lorne said, rushing at them.

Flushed and happy, they looked at each other. "It was fun," she said.

"Fun? I know some choreographers that would kill to have seen that. And I mean that literally."

"The way they moved together…" said Fred.

"It's their substitute for sex, since that's not an option," said Spike, loud enough for them to hear as he collected his winnings from the dispersing crowd.

Both high off endorphins, Angel just rolled his eyes while Buffy shrugged and said "Less complicated than any sex I've ever had, too!"

Spike smirked and opened his mouth before Angel cut him off with a warning "Spike!"

"I didn't say anything!"

"Yeah, but you were going to."

Spike just smirked again and waved his winnings in the air. "Thanks, pet," he said to Buffy.

She grinned at him. "Anytime."

Her phone rang, and she checked the display before picking up. "Hey, Xand. What's up?"

Xander: "Hey Buff, just checking in to see how everything's going over there. Giles get there okay?"

Some of her glow disappeared as she was reminded of her purpose for being there. "Yeah, he got in several hours ago. He's probably asleep now though," she said into the phone.

Xander: "Good deal. Everything alright over there? You sound out of breath."

"Yeah, I was just sparring with Angel," she said.

Xander's voice chilled noticeably. "Well I'm glad you're out there having fun with your exes. Are you going to fit in slaying this thing at any point, or did you just run out there to play?"

It was as if a massive weight had settled back onto her shoulders. She straightened her spine in response. Her lingering smile dropped into the set lines of the Slayer. "Xander that's not fair. You know I'm tracking this thing down," she said quietly. Angel and Spike looked at each other.

She heard Xander heave a big sigh over the phone. "I know. I'm sorry. Sorry. Old baggage, I know, plus the … the new," he said.

Buffy nodded even though Xander couldn't see her.

"Double funeral today," he said.

Buffy rubbed her forehead as her shoulders drooped. "Whose?"

"Allison's was this morning."

The words hit Buffy like a blow to the chest. She knew they were all dead; she was as used to and familiar with death as one could get, but Allison was so full of life. She was one of the older ones, but she had adapted to being a slayer remarkably well. Her offbeat sense of humor always made Buffy think of the Scoobies back when they were in high school.

"Oh," she said quietly, leaning her back against the wall for support.

"Kennedy's was this afternoon."

That made no sense to her until she remembered the time difference. Her heart ached that she couldn't even make it to the Sunnydale veteran's funeral. "Willow?" she asked.

"She's…. she's taking it hard. I mean, of course she's taking it hard, but she'll get through it. We'll get through it."

"Tell her I'll be back there as soon as I can. Give her my love,"

"I will," said Xander. "Allison's parents are here. I… I had to talk to them. They want to speak with you, so they're staying in the area until you come back."

Parents. Families. Loved ones. Buffy started to slide down the wall until her butt hit the ground. "Right," was all she could manage.

Spike and Angel both started towards her at the same time, both moving with the same purpose. Spike got there first. He took the phone from her and passed it to Angel, who wordlessly took it.

"Xander," Angel said into the phone. "… Right… right, well I can give you a progress report just as easily…" he said, walking out of the room with the phone.

Spike sat on the floor next to Buffy. Feeling intrusive, Fred, Gunn and Lorne quietly left the room to go find the Watchers.

"I'm not there," she said to Spike.

"Nope. Last I checked you were here," he said.

"I left them. I abandoned them to chase after it."

"That's one way to look at it," said Spike. "The other being that this thing has to be stopped. Not to mention the fact that killing it gives everyone closure and gives you an outlet for your grief."

"An outlet for my grief?"

"I know. I've been hanging around Fred and Lorne too much," he said, eliciting a small, watery chuckle from Buffy.

"They don't understand because you grieve differently," he said.

"You think I'm cold."

Spike shook his head vehemently. "No. That's not even remotely what I said. I think you're the warmest, most passionate woman I know, but who didn't always get to show it. At least, not in the usual way. I had hoped things would change over there."

"They have," said Buffy. "I mean, not everything, but I made an effort to connect with the girls. To get to know them."

The implication that the connection only made it so much more painful for her sat heavy and unsaid in the air between them until Spike spoke.

"You didn't connect with them the way you connected with me, did you?" he asked with a teasing glint in his eye.

Buffy rolled her eyes, but a small smile played around her lips. "No."

"Just asking." He waited a beat. "If you do, can there be pictures?"

Buffy swatted at him, but couldn't stop the laugh from escaping. She laid her head on his shoulder. Spike tried not to savor the moment too much.

Angel walked in a moment later, taking in the sight of Buffy and Spike sitting next to each other, her head on his shoulder, chuckling as they traded quips. He frowned for a moment, then shook it off. He cleared his throat and both looked at him.

"Hey, we're meeting in my office. Fred and Lorne found out some information and Giles and Wesley have gotten a little farther on the translation."

"Good." She took a deep breath. "Good, I need to get this thing," she said with a glance at Spike, who just nodded.