4:00pm:

“Oh, you’ve got to be jokin’!” Spike exclaimed, throwing his arms out in exasperation and stopping short as they stepped outside the tiny police station about a half an hour later and he saw Angel waiting for them. Barney Fife had given Spike all his possessions back, including the Gem of Amarra, which was now back on his finger, protecting him from the afternoon sun. “You brought him?!”

“Spike, I didn’t bring him, he brought me,” Buffy told him. “He was the one that figured out how to find you, so you should just . . . just let it go.”

“Pffffttt!” Spike snorted. “Wouldn’ be in this mess if it weren’t for ‘im and that bloody tape!”

“Spike, please . . . we need to worry about Annie and not get distracted by smoke and mirrors,” Buffy told him as she walked ahead of him towards Angel’s car. She had explained to Spike while they waited for the Chief of Police/Judge/Jury/Executioner to fill out the paperwork for Spike’s release, that she could show him, prove to him, that it wasn’t her on the tape. He still remained unconvinced that it wasn’t Angel that sent it to him, though.

Buffy opened the door and looked back at him, holding it open and waiting for Spike to get in the car. He couldn’t take the Harley – it was “stolen property” at this point and had to stay here – at least until they could get Detective Lockley to straighten that out.

Spike sighed and dropped his chin to his chest, rubbing one hand on the back of his neck; Buffy was, of course, right. The important thing right now was to get Annie back. He could deal with Angel later. Spike pursed his lips together to keep from saying anything more, climbed into the back seat and Buffy joined him.

“Let’s get out of this one horse town before ‘Barney’ changes his mind,” she said to Angel from the back as she slid against Spike and laid her head on his shoulder with an exhausted sigh. Spike wrapped his arm around her and pulled her against him as he attempted to glare a hole in the back of Angel’s head with his eyes.

Angel started the car and headed back out of town the way they’d come. Not a word was exchanged between the two vampires the entire six hours of the trip back to L.A.

**~**

As soon as they had cell phone reception, Buffy checked both her phone and Angel’s for messages or missed calls. There were none. She didn’t know if that was bad or good. She hoped that the kidnappers would call . . . tell them when and where the exchange would take place and let her talk to Annie, but, on the other hand, she was glad they didn’t call and get voice mail . . . that might have been worse.

Then she called Willow and told her they had found Spike. Willow told her the locator spell for Annie and Lorne wasn’t working . . . obviously whoever took them was well aware of how magics worked and how to block them.

**~**

11:00pm:

It was late when Angel, Spike and Buffy got back to the Hyperion and it had been a very long day, but Spike insisted that Buffy show him where Annie had been kidnapped.

“Angel tracked them, Spike . . . there’s nothing there,” Buffy told him.

“Angel couldn’ track a bloody rhinoceros in the fucking zoo,” Spike informed her as he headed towards the door that led to the lobby of the Hyperion.

“Who do you think taught you to track, Spike? It wasn’t fucking Drusilla!” Angel retorted at Spike’s back as he strode away from him. “It’s been too long now anyway,” Angel informed him.

“PFFFTTT,” Spike snorted and just kept walking.

Buffy hurried after Spike and followed him into the lobby of the hotel. They both stopped short just inside the door. The large area seemed to be filled with people . . . with friends, with family.

Fred, Cordelia, Xander and Anya stood at the counter watching as Willow and Tara tried yet another different locator spell to try and find Annie and Lorne. At the round seat in the center of the lobby sat Faith, Wesley, Giles and Gunn. Buffy’s eyes filled with tears again as she realized that all her friends had come to help find Annie. Giles saw Spike and Buffy first and he stood up and moved quickly to where they had stopped just inside the door from the garage.

Giles drew Buffy into a hug and reached out and laid a hand on Spike's shoulder. “What can we do?” Giles asked them.

Buffy shook her head as she returned his hug, being careful not to squeeze him too tight. She wished she knew what to do. As soon as Giles released her, Faith was there and Buffy was pulled into a hug from her sister Slayer. Not the kind that Faith usually gave - quick and hard - but a strong, lingering hug meant to give strength to Buffy.

“What are you guys doing here?” Buffy asked Faith and Wesley when Faith released her. “I thought you were in Cleveland.”

“Tara called . . . we came,” Faith told her as she put a comforting hand on Spike’s shoulder.

“I’m not . . . I’m not working for the Council anymore . . .” Buffy told them.

Faith and Wesley both shook their heads. “This isn’t about that. This is family,” Faith told her. “We’re here to help. Tell us what to do.”

Buffy wiped tears from her eyes and shook her head slowly. “I wish I knew what to do . . .”

“Well, I bloody well know one thing to do,” Spike said as he headed towards the front door of the hotel with Buffy, Faith and Angel following closely behind him.

When Spike was outside, he stopped and closed his eyes as he drew in a deep breath. He may not be able to track Lorne after this many hours, but he was sure he could track Annie; her scent was as ingrained in him as Buffy’s.

Angel walked up beside him and said, “I told you so.”

Spike opened his eyes and glared at his grand-sire before turning and walking in the direction of the ice cream shop, following Annie’s scent.

After the ice cream shop, he tracked them to the children’s clothing store and then further down the block towards the toy store. About half way there, he stopped abruptly, at the same spot that Angel had stopped. He walked around slowly, examining the sidewalk, the pavement, the parking meters . . . anything that Annie, Lorne or the kidnappers may have touched. A few feet away was a newspaper box, when he got to it he stopped again.

“Bloody hell,” he muttered as he leaned closer to the box. It’s the same vamp that killed the shopkeeper at the Magic Shop, he thought . . . the scent was unmistakable and still vaguely familiar to him. Spike closed his eyes to concentrate on matching the scent with a face.

“You never learn, Spike,” Angel said from behind him.

“I may be a slow learner . . . but eventually . . .” Spike opened his eyes and looked at Angel. “Say that again . . .” he said to Angel, his brows knit together as pieces of a puzzle began clicking into place in his mind.

“You never learn,” Angel repeated.

“You never learn, Spike,” Spike said to himself, repeating what Angel said originally. “I may be a slow learner, but eventually . . . I . . . catch . . . on . . .” Spike said slowly as he tried to pull a dreamy memory from the depths of his mind.

“I had a plan . . . A good plan. Smart. Carefully laid out. But I got bored . . .” Spike spoke quietly to himself as he turned back to the paper box and the scent there.

“Have you lost your mind, Spike? What are you talking about?” Angel asked as he moved closer to the blond vampire.

Buffy was looking at him with concern too. What is he talking about? What plan?

“Oh God!” Spike suddenly exclaimed as the last piece of the puzzle clicked to place in his mind.

“What! Spike, what is it?” Buffy asked as she moved up next to him trying to figure out what was going on.

Spike’s legs seemed to turn to rubber and he dropped to his knees on the sidewalk as he realized who it was that had taken Annie. “Marcus . . . it was Marcus!” Spike exclaimed as he looked up at Buffy with fear in his eyes.

Buffy shook her head. Spike was scaring her more than she already was, if that was at all possible. “Who’s Marcus?”

“Oh God!” Spike exclaimed again as his whole body seemed to collapse from within onto the sidewalk, as if every bone in his body had suddenly turned into jelly.

“SPIKE! Who’s Marcus!?” Buffy repeated, kneeling down beside him and turning him by the shoulders to face her.

Spike shook his head and closed his eyes, unable to look at Buffy.

“WHO THE FUCK IS MARCUS!?” Buffy screamed at him, shaking him by the shoulders until he opened his eyes again.

“He’s . . . he’s the most vile creature in the world . . . God Buffy . . . he’s a . . .” Spike broke down, he couldn’t even say the word. How could he tell his wife that their daughter had been kidnapped by a pedophile? And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, he was also the coldest creature Spike had ever met. Torturing his victims, young or old, was what pleased Marcus the most, right before he used them for his own pleasures and drained them, leaving only their broken, lifeless bodies for their families to find.

The memories of how, in the other dimension, Spike had hired Marcus to torture Angel for the Gem of Amarra flooded Spike’s mind and he began to cry for his daughter. Clinging to Buffy like he was being sucked into the pit of hell and she was the only thing in the world that could save him. Sobs wracked Spike’s body as horrible images of what could be happening to Annie invaded his mind unbidden. His sweet, innocent girl who had never hurt anyone in her life; who loved chocolate and old bedtime stories and kittens and even hermit crabs, was now in the hands of the devil himself.

Buffy held Spike to her. She still didn’t know who Marcus was but, obviously Spike did. The most vile creature in the world, Spike’s words filled her mind and the knot in her stomach drew tighter until she thought she might throw up.

Buffy looked up at Angel and Faith for answers, but they both simply shook their heads; they didn’t know who Marcus was, either.

Suddenly, Angel’s phone began ringing. Pulling it out and looking at the caller id Angel said, “It’s them – it’s Lorne’s phone.”

Spike jumped up suddenly from where he was on the ground and grabbed the phone from Angel just as Angel hit the button to answer it.

Spike screamed into the phone, “If you touch ONE HAIR on that girl’s head, the only way you’ll see the bloody Gem of Amarra is by swallowing your eyeballs, ‘cause it’ll be shoved it so far up your arse it’ll never see the bloody light of day again!”

“SPIKE!!” Buffy, Faith and Angel all yelled at once. Faith grabbed the phone from his hand while Buffy was standing back up from where she had been kneeling on the sidewalk next to Spike.

“Hello?” Faith said into the phone. There was a pause and she repeated, “Hello?

“Can you hear me? Are you there?” she asked as she turned away from Spike to keep him from grabbing the phone back out of her hand.

Faith held one hand out towards Spike to keep him back as Buffy made it to her feet and stepped between her husband and Faith.

“Yes . . . Yes, we have it. Yes, Yes, OK . . . Hey . . . Hey! Let me talk to Annie!” Faith was saying into the phone as the others listened and waited.

“FUCK!” Faith screamed as she pulled the phone away from her ear to look at the screen. “Call ended,” it said.

In that instant, Spike grabbed the phone from her hand and pulled his arm back as if to sling it against the nearest wall.

“NO!!” came from the other three in one voice as Buffy grabbed the phone away from him.

Buffy shoved the phone back towards Angel and pushed Spike gently but firmly away from him. “Spike, you have to calm down! That’s the only phone they know to call!” she told him as she backed him against the nearest parked car.

“You don’t know Buffy . . . you don’t know Marcus . . .” he told her. His whole body was trembling in fear and rage. His blue eyes glistened and streaks of gold rose and fell within the blue as his human side struggled to keep the demon within him contained.

“Ok, Spike . . . but that’s not going to solve anything. We have something now . . . we know who it is . . . maybe we can find where they’re hold up . . . but please promise me that you’ll calm down,” Buffy pleaded with him. “Breathe,” she told him. “Just breathe a minute, ok?”

Spike closed his eyes and nodded before taking a deep breath to try and calm down and steady himself as Buffy turned back to Faith and Angel. “What did they say?” Buffy asked Faith.

“He wanted to know if we had the Gem, I told him ‘yes’,” Faith started. “He said if we didn’t want anything to happen to Annie that we had to follow their instructions precisely. He said that she was fine – for now – and with the ‘green guy’, but that could change if we fuck up. He wouldn’t let me talk to her. He said we can talk to her when he has the Gem . . . and NOT shoved up his ass,” Faith relayed to them, looking pointedly at Spike.

“He said he would call back at 4:00am Wednesday morning with more instructions. The exchange is to take place at dawn . . . What time is dawn?” Faith asked.

“Six fifty nine,” came from both Spike and Angel.

“I guess now wouldn’t be the time to say ‘jinx’ . . . huh?” Faith asked, trying to lighten the mood slightly.

Buffy sighed. Definitely not the time to say ‘jinx’, she thought. “Ok, let’s go – now we have something to do,” Buffy said to the group as she grabbed Spike by the arm and ushered him past Angel and back towards the Hyperion.

1:00am, Tuesday, December 30th:

Back at the Hyperion, Buffy told everyone the situation. Somehow, seeing Spike lose it so completely, switched her mind into Slayer mode . . . protector and guardian of her family.

“Tell us about Marcus,” she said to Spike. “How do you know him? Who is he?”

Spike paced back and forth in front of her for a couple of minutes as he thought. How was he going to tell Buffy who and what Marcus was? He tried to think of some way to not tell her . . . to not worry her more than she already was, but he knew that he had to tell her the truth. It could be important when the time came to get Annie; it may even help find her before tomorrow’s sunrise . . . he was going to have to tell her, and everyone else, who and what Marcus was and how he, or at least a part of him, knew the vile creature.

Spike stopped in front of her and took her hands in his as he related the memory from the other dimension.  He spoke directly to Buffy, keeping her eyes locked with his, but loud enough for everyone in the lobby to hear. He described the dreamy memory of how he had hired Marcus to torture Angel into giving up the location of the Gem of Amarra. But, when he finally had the Gem within his grasp, Marcus double crossed him and took it for himself. Then he told her that Marcus was not only an expert at torture, but he was also a pedophile.

Buffy simply nodded her head and closed her eyes in an attempt to hold back the tears that were threatening again. Now she understood why Spike was so upset; why he said what he did to the kidnapper.  She could hear the gasps and crying and worried whispers from their friends as a thousand different images and thoughts raced through her mind – none of them good. Buffy took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she fought to re-focus her mind back from terrified mother to Vampire Slayer . . . THE Vampire Slayer – the one in charge.

Buffy opened her eyes and gave Spike a determined and grateful nod and he released her hands.  Buffy turned to face the rest of the group; she knew exactly what she wanted everyone to do now and she wasted no time in letting them know, too.

“Ok, Angel and Gunn: You guys head out and get in touch with the local snitches . . . see if anyone can give you any leads on this vamp named Marcus. And check this warehouse that Spi . . . that was used in the other dimension – sometimes things like that overlap.

Faith and Wesley: You know this detective Lockley, right?” Buffy asked. When they both nodded she continued, “Good, you go see her and have her ping Lorne’s phone and see if she can find it . . . tell her . . . I don’t know – tell her whatever you need to to get her to do it. Then, we need her to drop the stolen vehicle report on the Harley . . . but she can do that later . . . just get her to ping Lorne’s phone.”

“It’s 1:00am, Buffy . . . I doubt she’ll be at work,” Wesley pointed out to her.

“Then find her house and get her to work!” Buffy told him before turning her attention to the others in the room.

“Giles, Xander and Anya: Get me whatever research you can on this vampire Marcus – maybe he has some history here in L.A.; places that he’s frequented before – maybe he’s a creature of habit.

Willow and Tara: Keep trying different spells to find Annie or Lorne . . .”

“What do you want me to do?” Cordelia asked.

“Have a fucking vision!” Buffy screamed at her in frustration.

“You know it doesn’t work that way,” Cordy informed her again, frowning and folding her arms across her chest.

“Yeah . . . whatever. Help with the research then,” Buffy told her with an exasperated sigh, thinking that maybe next time the PTB sent a vision involving her or Spike that they may just be occupied elsewhere.

When Buffy stopped talking everyone took their assigned tasks and went to work. “I’m goin’ with Gunn . . .” Spike said as he turned away and started following Charles out of the Hyperion.

“No, you’re not,” Buffy told him as she grabbed his arm.

“Why the bloody hell not?” Spike asked, turning back towards her.

“I need you here,” Buffy said. “Spike, it’s going to come down to us, to you and me, to get Annie back. I don’t know about you, but I feel like I haven’t slept in days. We have to get some rest . . . we have to be ready in case anyone finds anything sooner. You need to stay here with me now.”

Spike pursed his lips together to keep from arguing with her and gave her a small nod. He didn’t feel like he could sleep now if . . . well, if Annie’s life depended on it. But, Buffy was right, it would ultimately come down to them; they had to be ready, sharp – they couldn’t fuck this up.

Buffy gave him a small, sad smile before turning to Giles. “If anyone finds anything that we can use to get to Marcus sooner, come get us, ok?” she told him and he nodded.

As Buffy and Spike made their way upstairs to the room she’d slept in the previous night (had it only been the previous night? It felt like so long ago) the others all went to work to find what they could about Marcus while Willow and Tara continued trying different spells to locate Annie and Lorne.

“I don’t think they’re going to have sex this time,” Anya commented as she picked out a book from Angel’s research library. “Although, a good orgasm or two would really help them get some rest – you know, release some of that tension? Did you know that after sex, the brain releases endorphins that decrease stress and induce a state of euphoria? But I doubt Spike could even . . .”

“ANYA!” came from the entire group that remained in the lobby – cutting her off.

Anya shrugged. “I’m just saying, as worried and tired as he is, even with his vampire constitution, he probably can’t get it u. . .”

“ANYA!”

**~**

Spike wished he could do something, anything, to make everything all right again. He blamed himself for the mess they were in and for the pain that the two people he loved more than anything else in the world were going through now. He had to find a way to fix it and vowed to himself that somehow, someway, he would get Annie back no matter what he had to do and he’d most definitely make Marcus pay for what he’d done to his family.

“C’mon, pet,” Spike said as he lay down on the bed and pulled Buffy with him. “Try to rest now,” he told her as he held her against him. “It’ll be ok. I promise.”

Buffy laid down and snuggled against Spike as he put one arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder. She was beyond exhausted and couldn’t hold the tears back any longer. They stained her face as she held on to her husband and hoped and prayed that he, with her help and the help of all their friends, would be able to keep that promise.

Buffy fell into a nightmare filled sleep as she lay in Spike’s arms. Images of what may be happening to Annie filled her sleep for most of the night and she woke more than once during the night only to find Spike still awake. He would hold her and soothe her, humming his lullaby softly to her, until she would fall asleep again in his arms. He wished he could do more. Spike knew that their friends, and possibly even Angel, were doing everything they could to find Annie and Lorne, and he wanted to be doing something as well, but he knew that Buffy needed him here right now, so this is where he stayed – at her side.

As Buffy tried to rest, Spike went over a hundred scenarios in his mind of how to outsmart Marcus, how to get Annie back without giving him the Gem. But, Spike knew, if giving Marcus the Gem of Amarra was what it took to get Annie back safe and sound, then that’s what he would unquestionably do. He would do anything to get Annie back safely . . . give anything.