She opened the front door to get the newspaper off the doorstep. Suddenly, hands grabbed at her. She tried to scream, but there was a cloth being pressed over her nose and mouth, a sick smell coming from it.

And then everything started to go black.

Lilah stepped forward, looking around. She saw Lindsey and the Slayer on the couch, sleeping soundly with his arms around her, and she scowled. Not that long before, she wished she'd been in that position...

She shook her head. "Brett! The note."

Brett handed her the note. "We blew up the office. Do we really need the girl?"

"It's the only way to get the two of them apart," she said, pointing to the sofa. "And no more objections. You're even starting to sound like him," she muttered.

"'You're even starting to sound like him.' Bitch," he mimicked, following her and the two goons towards the van on the Summers' driveway. The van slowly eased out of the driveway and towards Los Angeles.

Buffy was frantic.

She had called everyone over when she woke up and found the door open with the note attached. She immediately woke Lindsey up, showed him the note, and started calling her friends.

Lindsey was also frantic. He had known Lilah had advanced at the firm. He had also known that she was a ruthless woman. But going so far as to kidnap someone...he should have expected it.

It was the note that got him. The note was the thing that irked him only slightly less than Dawn's disappearance.

"This is what you get for siding with the other team. Too bad...we could have had some real fun."

And then Buffy knew there was no one else to call, and she sat down next to Lindsey. She wasn't crying. She just sat there, staring into space, no expression on her face. It wasn't until Lindsey put an arm around her shoulders that she moved, looking right at him.

"We're going to find her?"

He nodded, pulling her head to his shoulder. "We're going to find her, Buffy. We just need some help, that's all."

"It didn't work."

The vampire was watching the Summers house that evening. Everyone was there, Giles and the Scoobies, Tara. Even Wesley was there, his right arm bandaged up to the elbow. Angel was still in Los Angeles, watching Gunn and Cordelia.

"That's what I'm saying! They banded together. The bomb was supposed to kill those in LA. And then the child's disappearance was supposed to rip Buffy and Lindsey apart. But they all got closer."

"Mate, I'd suggest you step away from that window before I throw you at it."

The vampire turned to see Spike taking a drag off his cigarette. "You? You've been whipped."

Spike took another step closer to the vampire. "Did you just call me whipped?"

"How the mighty William the Bloody has fallen," the vampire said archly.

"Shove it, mate." Spike punched the vampire in the nose. "No wonder the Slayer enjoys that to much," he said, starting to bounce on the balls of his feet. "Brings a sort of rush of adrenaline."

The other vampire retaliated by trying to bum rush Spike, but Spike simply moved to the side. "Nice try."

"You're a pompous ass." He charged at Spike, swinging his fists and landing a hit to the stomach, The other vampire had his back to the window, and Spike decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. He caught the vampire around the stomach and crashed through the window.

Spike had an invitation still, so he went right through. The other vampire, however, bounced off the shield and fell forward, hitting his head on the paved sidewalk.

"Did you have to break the window?" Buffy said, standing up.

"I'll replace it, Slayer," Spike said. "But I think you might want to question him. He was on the phone, talking about a disappearance to split you two apart," he added, pointing to Buffy and Lindsey. "What's happened?"

"They took Dawn," Buffy said quietly. "We don't know where."

But Lindsey was putting on his jacket, going out the front door to the vampire. "Just as I suspected."

"What?" Wesley asked, the first one outside after Lindsey. He got a good look at the vampire. "Lewis. I thought he was on our side."

"I guess he wasn't." Lindsey kicked the vampire once. "And if he's involved, we might know where Dawn is."

Wesley nodded. "The aqueduct outside of Los Angeles."

"Precisely."

"Wait, wait," Buffy said. "How do you know this?"

"Lewis' group tends to congregate there," Wesley said. "If Lewis was working for the firm, his group would as well. It's a place they know inside and out, and they can protect it well. So if they were in charge of securing Dawn..."

"Then that's where she'd most likely be," Lindsey finished.

Buffy looked at the two of them, then nodded. "Willow, Tara...stay at the hospital with my Mom. Don't tell her about Dawn." She looked at the others. "Lindsey and Wesley are coming with me. Xander too."

"And me," Spike said. "I'm not giving up the opportunity for some decent fighting."

Buffy started to object, but then sighed. "Fine. No messing with Angel."

"Fine, no messing with my poof of a grandsire," Spike said, rolling his eyes.

"What about me?" Anya asked.

"You were good with torture. When vamp boy here wakes up, make sure he regrets helping that firm."

They went off, Willow and Tara heading towards the hospital and Anya going back inside to get some rope. "And myself?" Giles asked.

"See if you can get the window fixed, and get a hold of Angel. He should be at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Tell him we're coming up, and to call Wesley's cell phone." She thought for a moment. "And help Anya with the regret session."

Giles nodded. He handed Buffy his keys. "Do be careful."

"We will," she said quietly. "Just make sure that everything's okay when we bring Dawn home." She went to Giles' car, handing Xander the keys. "Take Wesley and Spike up there; we'll go up in Lindsey's car."

Xander nodded. "Where should we meet?"

"Wesley?" Buffy asked.

"A karaoke bar. Lindsey knows the one I'm talking about."

Lindsey smiled slightly. "Yeah. Want to see if he can help?"

"A good idea." Wesley, Spike and Xander got into Giles' car. "But I'm not singing."

Buffy turned on Lindsey. "Singing? What is he talking about?"

"The owner can give hints when people sing. If we do a quick performance, he might be able to help." Lindsey opened her door.

"I'm trusting you," she replied.

"I know."