"Okay, so...who forgot to send *my* invitation to the office party? I mean, I know I don't technically work here, but neither do half of these people. Who *are*...half of these people?"

Tara gasped at the sight of the strange creature that walked in the front door of the Hyperion. Spike jumped beside her at the opening of the door, but to her surprise, he calmed at once when he saw that the intruder was not human.

Although she was honestly relieved by the fact that the chip kept Spike from killing humans to feed, Tara still felt a rush of sympathy as she was reminded of how helpless Spike must feel -- his nightmare experiences with Buffy aside -- to know that he was no longer able to defend himself against the creatures that had been his former prey.

The stranger had bright green skin, and eyes that were nearly completely red, with little horns sticking out of his forehead. The brilliant color scheme did not end there; he was wearing a garish leisure suit in bright orange, with a purple button-down shirt and a bright, blue tie beneath it.

Tara glanced anxiously at Angel, and was relieved to see that he did not seem the least bit upset by the presence of the strange demon...who, now that she took time to notice, did not seem exactly hostile. He seemed rather friendly, and strangely at ease with Angel and his group.

"Hey," Angel spoke casually as he approached the green-skinned creature, placing a friendly hand on his shoulder and leading him further into the room. He looked up at Tara, Spike, and Dawn, each in turn, as he made the necessary introductions. "This is Lorne. He's a friend. And..." Angel's eyes widened with dawning inspiration as he looked at his friend again, a slow smile beginning on his lips. "...he just might be able to help us with one of our problems."

"There are problems?" Lorne raised his eyebrows as he looked at Angel. "Um...if this is a bad time..."

"No, this is the perfect time," Angel assured him. "I mean..." he shrugged apologetically, with a sideways grin, "...there's no *party*...unless by party, you mean impending doom and destruction...but, I think you still might wanna stick around for a while."

Lorne studied his expression for a long moment before relenting with a heavy sigh, dismissing Angel's words with a wave of his hand as he walked further into the room.

"Party, impending apocalypse...with you people, what's the difference?"

"There's no apocalypse," Wesley assured him.

"That's good to know."

"Unless she decides to start one," Dawn muttered.

"She who?"

"The Slayer who," Cordy informed Lorne darkly.

The green-skinned demon frowned, his eyes widening with alarm as he shook his head in confusion. "Whoa...the Slayer's supposed to be one of the good guys...right? So, what are we doing going up against a vampire slayer?"

"She's crazy," Fred replied matter-of-factly, her huge dark eyes meeting Lorne's with a little grimace of apology. "And we're not exactly going up against her. She's eventually gonna be coming here, though."

"Wait...so you're saying I should stick around while we wait to be attacked by a *psychotic* vampire Slayer?" Lorne had been in the process of sitting down in a seat across from the sofa, but immediately rose to his feet again, visibly alarmed.

"Psychopathic, actually," Fred corrected in a small voice, her eyes meekly downcast.

"No, we're not just waiting to be attacked," Angel argued firmly, stepping closer to his friend as he explained the situation. "We're *preparing* for her attack. I've been thinking about ways to protect ourselves against her, and now that you're here, I'm wondering... about that sanctuary spell, the one you use at Caritas."

Lorne's expression eased with relieved understanding. "Sure, Angel-cakes. I can get a hold of the Muses and have them come over and do the spell for you. How soon do you need them?"

"Would *now* be too soon?"

"Right. Psycho Slayers move quickly, I guess. I'll get on the horn...so to speak...and see how quickly they can come over here," Lorne agreed, heading for the phone. "But, um...Angel..." He hesitated, glancing at the others in the room, his piercing gaze lingering on Spike for a moment, though he had been told nothing about the specifics of the situation.

"What is it?"

"I know one thing about the sanctuary spell," Lorne explained quietly, "And that's that whatever protection spells you've already got up...and I can feel ‘em, so I know you guys have already been doing some serious hocus pocus in here...but whatever spells you've already done are going to have to be broken before the Muses can start."

"How long will it take them?" Angel asked, his expression grim.

"Varies," Lorne shrugged apologetically. "Hours?"

Still seated at Tara's side, but able to clearly hear their conversation, Spike flinched, shaking his head in denial as a soft whimper left his throat at the very thought of again experiencing the terrible pain Buffy had inflicted on him earlier that night.

Tara ran her fingers soothingly through the hair at the back of his neck as she pressed his face to her shoulder, her lips brushing his ear as she did her best to be discreet about comforting him for about the twentieth time. "It's okay, Sweetie. She's stopped trying to hurt you now, when it stopped working. It'll only be a little while before we'll have a better protection spell up, and you'll be safer, Sweetheart...I promise..."

Clearly, Spike was not at all sure that she was right.

Tara felt her eyes welling with fresh tears, as she realized how miserably her attempts at comfort were failing. She fought off the sense of despair that had followed her from Sunnydale, most often in subjection to her hopes, but always pushing, prodding, attempting to force its way to the foreground of her mind.

*You can't protect him.*

*You're weak, pathetic, a victim yourself...how can you possibly defend him against the kind of power Buffy has, especially with Willow at her side...when you couldn't even defend *yourself* against a single, mortal man?*

"Hey, there."

Tara looked up, surprised to see Lorne standing in front of them, looking down with a compassionate, sympathetic smile on his face. Tara had always been reasonably good at reading the auras of those around her, and suddenly, any apprehension she had initially felt due to his strange looks evaporated in the warmth of his gentle nature.

Spike was still not looking up, struggling to regain control of his emotions before facing anyone besides her. For Tara to see his tears, his broken state, was one thing. To reveal such vulnerability in front of anyone else was humiliating, and he found that he wanted nothing more than to hide away from the rest of the world.

Forever, if possible.

A light touch on his arm made him jump, and drew his wary eyes up to the face of the green demon now seated beside him. The warm smile on his face began the work of putting the skittish vampire at ease, as Lorne met his eyes and spoke casually.

"Let's chat, kiddo."

***********************************

"Xander!" Willow cut him off from the back seat, alarm in her voice. "You're *not* making it easier! My God, has Anya been rubbing off on you or what?"

"Actually..." Anya began with a little shrug.

"*Don't* speak," Xander instructed, a trapped expression on his face as he looked at his fiancee in the rearview mirror, clearly horrified at the prospect of what she might have been about to say.

Xander was driving, and Buffy was seated in the front passenger seat, to make it easier for her to direct him, should she suddenly see a place that might be a likely location for Spike to hide with his two human prisoners. The three of them would obviously have to wait out the daylight until it was dark enough for a vampire to travel again.

All attempts at location spells had failed, and they had no idea in which direction Spike might have fled with the girls, so they were reduced for the moment to a thorough search of Sunnydale.

All was quiet in the car for a few tense moments, before Willow spoke, her voice softer and haunted with fear, "Tara's out there, too. And we know...anything could have happened. To both of them. But...but hearing it out loud isn't helping, Xander."

"Sorry," the young man said, his voice subdued and regretful. "I didn't mean...I'm sorry, guys. It's just so..."

"I know," Buffy relieved him by speaking up, her voice quiet and controlled. "Xander, I know you're just trying to help. It's okay, really." She hesitated a moment before turning her eyes on her best friend and waiting until he met her gaze. "Thank you. For trying. It... it means a lot, Xander."

The relief in his eyes was obvious, as he nodded and returned his eyes to the road.

Buffy wanted to slap him.

He wouldn't stop talking, and all she wanted was for everyone to just be quiet and let her *think*.

Her wayward slave's escape attempt was far too successful for her liking. She had been certain that the bond would easily allow her to track him down...not that she had expected to have to do so. She had also expected the severe agony she could cause him to drive him groveling back to her, if only to make the pain stop.

Neither had proven to be the case.

*Magic...he has to be using magic somehow...he hates it, but Tara must have talked him into using it...must have talked him into leaving in the first place. Dawn must have found him, called Tara, and they all took off...*

She fought the impulse to punch the dashboard in front of her, feeling her body tremble with rage as she looked out the window to her right, her teeth clenched with her effort to hide her true emotions from her friends.

*I thought I had him better trained than that...stupid witch...stupid brat Dawn...I've gotta find them, and I've gotta kill them before they can open their stupid mouths and ruin everything I'm planning...*

"Buffy, it's okay," Willow spoke up from behind her, surprising her.

Buffy caught the witch's gaze in the rearview mirror, a question in her eyes.

"You're shaking," Willow shrugged slightly, a little grimace of sympathy passing her lips. "It's gonna be okay. We'll find them." She was quiet for a long moment, before she frowned, dismay in her voice. "I don't understand. Me and Tara -- we've always sort of been able to...to sense each other. Like...we can reach out to each other, and find each other if one of us is...lost. We have a connection. Like...like family."

*Family...*

Buffy's eyes widened with a sudden inspiration, her lips turning upward in the beginnings of a smile, as she pulled her cell phone from her pocket and began scrolling through the numbers in her address book.

"Buffy, what...?"

"Shhh. I have an idea," Buffy instructed as she found the number she was looking for, and pressed "Send".

"Who are you calling?" Willow pressed, frowning with confusion.

"Angel," Buffy smiled with satisfaction. "If anyone can track the little creep down, he can." She paused, before adding in a softer tone, "They're family."

**********************************

"Don't really wanna talk about it, mate."

"But this isn't really about what you want, is it, cupcake?" Lorne pointed out, his voice mild and not at all confrontational. " ‘What you want' put you through the proverbial blender, dishwasher, and industrial strength meat grinder all at the same time...didn't she?"

Spike's jaw worked with anger, but he did not deny Lorne's words.

"This is about what you need," the demon continued firmly. "And I've got a pretty good idea that what you need is sitting..."

Mercifully, his too-perceptive words broke off in the next moment...at the sound of the ringing of the telephone.