Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel belong to their copyright holders, I own nothing.

Chapter 16: Four Days

Days had passed since Angel and Spike had disappeared. Needless to say, both Gunn and Lorne were extremely worried about the two vampires with souls. The first day, they had gone out and tried to question some resources to see if they knew anything. Nothing. Nobody saw anything, as if Angel and Spike had just randomly disappeared into thin air.

The second day of their absence, Lorne had talked to Harmony about the entire situation, and she gave a piece of information that would've been nice to have before. Apparently, a mysterious man had shown up the night they went missing, saying he had information. Gunn and Lorne tried to ask other people in the building if they knew anything about that man, but no one else had seen him other than Harmony, and she couldn't exactly give them that much information other than the fact that he was a vampire and had a slight resemblance to Angel except "way, way hotter."

The third day was hopeless. They didn't exactly have much information to go on. They tried to look through the video recordings of that night just to see if any strange vehicles had come in the parking garage that night mainly, but somehow all the cameras had stopped working around the time they disappeared. Of course.

And today was the fourth day. Neither Gunn nor Lorne really knew what to do. They couldn't find Angel and Spike alone. They tried calling where Wes was staying for some help, but no one was answering in Rome.

They thought of asking for Illyria's help in some way, but Illyria had been sulking since Wes left. Not in a crying weepy way, but sulking in the fact that she talked to no one and spent a lot of time picking fights. It was pretty amazing how much humanity she was showing involuntarily at the loss of Wes.

What were they supposed to do? They had no leads, they had no clues, and they had no idea. This reminded Gunn of oh-so many summers ago when he and Fred spent the whole time searching for Angel when he was locked in a box at the bottom of the ocean. They had nothing to go off of. So what could they do? There had to be a way to find them somehow.

"This could not be any worse," Lorne complained to Gunn. They were sitting in Angel's office, unsure of where to go or what to do. They tried looking around for clues, but found nothing. "What are we supposed to do without our champion? We've lost so many already and…and…Gunn, we need to find Angel, and Spike too."

"We shouldn't panic," Gunn said. He stood up and started pacing. "Let's go over the facts again. Two dead Slayers—one for Angel, one for Spike. They tried searchin' around for some information about who killed the Slayers but as far as we know, they never found anything. Correct so far?"

"That's right, sugar," Lorne confirmed.

"So then a few nights ago they're sittin' around in this office late at night, when Harmony comes in telling them there's a man who wants to talk with 'em. Harmony lets the man—or vampire, as she told us—in and leaves, and no one sees Angel or Spike again. So, presumably, this man is the key to their disappearance. What do we know about him?"

"Harmony said he was a vampire and extraordinarily hot. That doesn't narrow it down, much, does it?"

Gunn sighed and sat back down. He felt so damn lost and confused. They couldn't do this by themselves. Neither of them had much experience in tracking anything down. Gunn had been the muscle of Angel Investigations for years, and Lorne the moral support. How could they help in a search for the two missing vampires, especially when there were no clues?

They needed Wesley. There wasn't anyone else who could help. Unfortunately, Wes seemed to have taken a permanent break from them.

The only other person Gunn could think of for help was Willow. It was random, and they didn't know her very well, but a few days ago, Willow had called Wolfram & Hart to talk to Angel but he never called her back. Plus, she was a powerful witch, so she'd be a great help, right? They didn't really know how to reach her, though, and it wasn't like they were great friends or anything.

If they were going to save Angel and Spike, they'd need to think of something to do, and quick.

The magic Kennedy was learning was coming along nicely. She was a quick learner, and very astute. Giles actually rather enjoyed teaching her a thing or two, and she was indeed eager to learn.

Over the past four days, she'd done a lot of practice, and had some basic magic down. She could levitate a few things here and there, and she was learning enough that when the time came, she'd be a great help to Giles. Eventually, they'd be able to do the locater spell together, but Giles didn't want to rush her learning, just in case, so that left many more days of practice to come, sadly.

Kennedy loved the magic and gained a new appreciation for it. She definitely understood why Willow loved it so much now and how it could become addicting. There was just so much power, so much opportunity with the magic that it was crazy. There was a feeling of warmth she got inside whenever she did magic, even if it was just a tiny bit. That good feeling was the motivator behind her wanting to learn more. Also, the fact that her ex-girlfriend was extremely powerful helped. Kennedy thought that maybe, just maybe, if Kennedy became powerful enough, she could gain Willow's respect and they'd get back together. It was a hopeless fantasy, maybe, but oh well. Kennedy had her goals in mind.

Neither Wesley nor Faith said too much about Kennedy taking up magic. It was her choice, really. Faith thought it was kind of cool, and agreed that in the long run having a Slayer/witch would help, especially when capturing Buffy, even if they hadn't seen her yet (nobody knew that she'd left England and went to L.A. a while ago). Wes was also very neutral to the idea of her learning magic. It did strike him as ironic, though, that Giles had asked Wes to teach her about being a Slayer, and now he was throwing that out the window and teaching her magic. It got Wes thinking of the true motives behind why Giles had asked him to train Kennedy in the first place.

At this point, Wes didn't enjoy being in England, and he wasn't sure if this was worse than being back in L.A. and seeing Illyria's face every day. In hindsight, being with Giles, Faith, and Kennedy should've been better, but they'd done nothing but plot on what they were going to do once they finally found Buffy, and Wes didn't enjoy this. It made him uncomfortable. No wonder Willow, Xander, Dawn, and Oz had left, not wanting to be a part of his scheme to kill Buffy. If Wes had the option, he'd leave to.

The only reason he hadn't left was because he felt rather inclined to stay. He'd taken up a job to watch over Kennedy, and even if he wasn't doing so, he felt responsible for her, in a way (although not responsible enough to help Giles with magic doings). Also, Faith was here. After all the history between him and Faith, he couldn't leave her. She wouldn't admit it, but he could see she was hurt by the news of Buffy's turning. If she could, she'd kill Buffy to save her, and Wes wasn't sure what kind of damage that'd do to Faith, and he wanted to be around to make sure she would be okay, no matter what.

That night, Faith and Wesley went out patrolling. Giles wanted to teach Kennedy a trick, so Wesley was pretty much forced to go along with Faith, albeit no one really suspected they'd find Buffy. That was for the best, because Wes refused to kill her.

At Giles's, Kennedy was practicing a little magic, like usual. Nothing special, just a simple spell that would turn the lights on and off.

While she was practicing, Giles grabbed an alcoholic drink and drank it quickly. It burned on his throat, and yet felt so good. He needed a drink to do what he was going to do, though, because deep inside, he knew it wasn't the true "right" thing to do. He should be patient and wait for the right time. There was no more time, tough, in his eyes. Buffy needed to be taken care of.

He took a book that was hidden deep in a shelf and brought it to where Kennedy was practicing. He laid it on the table and sat down.

"What's that?" she asked curiously.

"Kennedy," Giles started off soothing, being a bit more manipulative than he was proud of. "Your magic is coming along nicely, you know. You are a fantastic leaner. Alas, while-while we are spending time here, teaching you, Buffy is out there killing an unknown amount of people."

"Faith and Wes are out there looking for her."

"It's not enough. And even if they found her, Wesley still refuses to use magic of any form to help us. I would try and help, but I'm too afraid. I-I know that's terrible to admit, but I am just not able to fight Buffy."

"It's understandable. You've known her for so long, been through so much… It must be very hard."

"That's why I'm teaching you magic, Kennedy. We-we may be running out of time, though."

She frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Buffy is so dangerous, Kennedy. And I don't want you to feel guilty if you can't learn in enough time. S-so, I have here an improper way to teach you magic. It's entirely your choice if you want to go through with this, I want you to know. If you don't agree, just tell me."

"What is it, Giles?"

"A spell I could perform." He rubbed a layer of dust off of the book. "Admittedly, it could be dangerous. This book is, well, known for darker magic. It would help us, though. It would help you learn magic much faster and become an expert in almost no time."

"But could it do something bad?" Kennedy questioned. "When Willow messed with dark magic, she-"

"I know what happened to Willow. But you are not Willow. Besides, I will not be doing anything bad to you. I will only be transferring thousands of pieces of knowledge of magic into your head that will be at your disposal whether you choose to use all of it or not. You will know how to do millions of spells, but you will still not have the ability and power to do them, being at the stage you are at now. You may become overwhelmed for a little while, but take my word for it; you will not become evil unless you choose to become evil. I have faith in you, Kennedy, and I know you would do no such thing."

"I don't know," Kennedy paused. "It sounds dangerous."

"You don't have to agree to it, as I said."

Kennedy thought for a minute. "So I'll know of the spells, even dark ones, but I won't have the power to do them?"

"Well, with time you may, but as for today or tomorrow, most certainly not. By transferring all of the spells into your head, it will only make things easier in the long run so you do not have to run to books or look up a spell whenever you need one. You'll know it instantly."

Kennedy wasn't sure what to say. On one hand, it would be useful. But on the other, she'd heard all about Dark Willow, and she knew that to increase her darkness Willow had absorbed all the dark magic and spells she could, much like how Giles was talking about. He did say it wouldn't be dangerous and she wouldn't turn evil. Still… Was it worth it? She wasn't sure what she was going to say.

Nobody knew Rona and Vi were dead. Their bodies were kept at Wolfram & Hart, so no news had spread. Although, at this point, nearly every Slayer had heard about their disappearance, along with the disappearance of Buffy.

Needless to say, rumors were flying around. Some had claimed they say Buffy as a vampire, some were saying all three missing Slayers were dead, and some were saying those three just went on vacation. Whatever was true, it didn't matter. Most of the Slayers, if not all, were starting to freak out. Buffy was pretty much their leader, she wouldn't have disappeared without a good reason. So what happened to her?

Paranoia was starting to set in. The rumors that Buffy was now a vampire was certainly getting into a lot of Slayers. There were rumors that she'd shown up at Rona's and Vi's and they hadn't been seen since.

Because of the rumors, because of the paranoia, the Slayers didn't know what to do. They started falling behind on their usual work. Because of their lack of focus, demon activity was rising. They didn't seem to notice, too busy worrying about the possibility of Buffy the vampire.

Slayers all over the world were calling everyone else, trying to hear if there was any news.

Once, someone got a hold of Willow, but before they could ask anything, Willow hung up. The truth was, Willow didn't know what she could say. She didn't know if they should tell everyone Buffy really was a vampire, because then they might all go crazy and start hunting to kill Buffy, and she didn't want that.

She hadn't answered anything from other Slayers since because she had absolutely no idea what to say.

The Slayers weren't stupid. They'd figure it out eventually. And when they did, Willow was sure all Hell would break lose.

Night was beginning to fall in L.A. Gunn and Lorne left to go out searching for Angel and Spike or anyone who could know what happened to them again. They were hoping that tonight, they'd find something.

Wolfram & Hart was generally empty. With the absence of the boss, there wasn't much they could do, so everyone had gone home.

Harmony had stayed until the night, though, of course. She couldn't go home in the daylight. It'd been the most boring day ever because she had nothing to do. Mostly, she sat at her desk bored, and tried to help Gunn and Lorne whenever they asked for it.

Surprisingly, Harmony actually wished Angel would show up somewhere so she wouldn't be bored at work, and she definitely missed her Blondie-Bear, even if she knew she shouldn't admit it.

With it being nighttime and most of the people already gone, Harmony got up from her desk to leave. She pressed the button to the elevator and waited for it to arrive.

The doors finally opened. Harmony was very surprised to see who was inside of it.

"Oh my God," Harmony's mouth fell open in shock. "Buffy, what is with that hair? I mean, seriously, there are standards!"

"Hey Harmony," Buffy grinned, stepping out of the elevator.

Remembering her phone call with Willow the other day, Harmony stepped back and held her hands up in surrender. "Buffy, wait, please don't stake me. I've changed, I swear! I'm no longer evil and-and I don't even drink blood anymore. Willow must've told you I was here, but I swear I'm good now. You have to believe me!"

"Stop begging," Buffy rolled her eyes. "I'm not here to stake you."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah." Buffy reached over and grabbed Harmony's arm. "You're coming with me."

"Um, I don't think so." Harmony tried to get her arm out of Buffy's grasp, but Buffy was too strong. "Let me go."

Buffy punched Harmony to the floor. Holding her down, she took a bottle of holy water out of her pocket and held it above her. Harmony moaned in fear and tried to move.

"Are you going to come with me?" Buffy asked.

Harmony nodded frantically. Anything to not get attacked with holy water. She hated being burned with that stuff so much.

"Good," Buffy smiled. Then she poured some holy water into Harmony's mouth anyway.