The Hart of L.A.

Willow came out of the room looking very pale. Xander looked sort of haunted, but he looked over at Willow and asked her a question. " Does your hair always turn that color when you do a spell? If so, where the hell have I been?" Willow smiled at him. " It's only started doing that since I did that Slayer spell." Xander just shook his head. Everyone was around him waiting for the answer. Giles walked up to them. " Well? Did you find out where she is?" Xander nodded. " Yes, we did, and I for one vote against going there." Willow kind of gave Giles a weak half smile. " She's gone to the thing she knows best." Faith spoke up then. " Oh you've gotta be kiddin me!" Dawn walked over to where they were standing. " Am I missing something? Where is she?" Willow sighed. She really didn't want to go there either. " She's gone to Cleaveland. I guess she's gonna try to destroy that hellmouth. We need a plan of action, so where's Angel?" Just then Angel walked in from the other room. " I heard, so we need a team to go and retrieve Buffy. I'm thinking Spike, Gunn, Faith, and Talia." Faith was nodding her head, but Talia stepped up. " Um excuse me, I don't mean to be rude, but I don't know what the hell is going on. I've just been told that I'm a vampire slayer, and now you want me to on a mission without even having a chat with the guy who is supposed to be my watcher, whatever that is." Angel walked over to her. " I actually don't expect you to do anything, I just need you gone. The senior partners are trying to kill you, and I want you as far away as possible." Gunn walked over to where Talia was standing. " See, now I think that's a very wise decision, Angel." Angel nodded at Gunn then walked over to Xander. " Here's where you come in. Cordelia is being released tomorrow, so you're job has just started."

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

It was weird, but Cleaveland felt just like Sunnydale. The vibe coming off the place was almost identical. She'd been going through the newspapers and there were several missing people out there. She'd known she'd been right in picking here to come. She'd been trying to forget the image of Oz her whole trip. Seeing him lying there like that, made her want to curl up into a ball and cry. It was dark out, and she was pacing the graveyard, when she saw a familiar face. The girl turned, saw her, and smiled at her. " Hey Buffy, you come to scope the place out?" Buffy gave her a little half smile. " Something like that. How've you been, Rona?" Rona shrugged. " A hellmouth is a hellmouth. You know this place is crazy! I swear everytime I go out I kill at least six vamps. Sometimes more, and some demons. This place is crawling." Buffy grinned then. " Good, cause that's exactly what I need right now."

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

Spike, Faith, Gunn, and Talia set out that night, so they could get an early start. They'd bought a minivan with the windows blackened out so spike wouldn't have to hide under a blanket. Talia was absolutely terrified. She was headed to one of the places that was supposed to be one of the scariest and most dangerous places on the planet. Faith noticed her look, and touched her arm. " You know you're going to be fine, right? The three of us will be able to protect you, but you should be able to do some damage yourself." Talia tried to smile, but failed. Gunn was the driver, but he reached back to touch her hand. " You'll be fine, girl. You just need to calm down." At this Talia nodded and put her head back on her seat. Spike on the other hand couldn't keep still. " Why do you think Captain Forehead wanted so many of us to go? It should take two at the most to grab Buffy and come back." Faith laughed out loud at this. " Captain Forehead, is that really what you call him? That's great stuff right there. Anyway, he wanted us to come, because he thinks Buffy is going to put up a fight. I don't know what to expect. Willow says she was talking crazy before she took off. So, I'm thinking we might have to knock her out or something. Woe be to us if we do, and she wakes up in this van."

** ** ** ** **

The next day Xander was a little nervous. He didn't exactly know why, but he really was. He hadn't seen Cordelia in a really long time, and here he was, picking her up at the hospital. When he got there he went up to the nurse's station. " I'm Xander Harris, I'm supposed to pick Cordelia Chase up." The nurse smiled at him. " Oh thank goodness! She's been harping on us all morning about when you were going to get here, although she kept asking about a guy named Angel. I really don't think she'll mind who is picking her up, just as long as she's being picked up. She's in room 112." Xander smiled his thanks at the nurse, and braced himself. He walked up to her door, but it was closed. He knocked softly, and the response came almost immediately. " Finally, you're here!" When Xander opened the door, he found Cordy sitting in a wheelchair in front of her hospital bed. " Hey Cordy, You ready to leave?" Cordy whipped her head around and stared open mouthed at Xander for a very long time. " You're kidding me right? Have just entered a freakin alternate universe?! What the hell are you doing here, and where is Angel?"

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

Willow was going in the same direction as Xander. She was headed to see Oz. She was still very worried that he hadn't woke up yet. When she got to his room, she found him as she'd left him. He was perfectly still, except for his breathing. She went and sat next to him, and put her hand on his. " I wish I could do a spell and make you wake up. I probably could, but it wouldn't be right of me to interfere with the order of things. I just really hope you wake up soon. I mean, I just got you back, and now you go into a coma?" Willow bowed her head and started crying silently. A nurse came into the room and patted Willow on the shoulder. " I think your boyfriend here is going to be just fine. I don't know how I know, but I do. You shouldn't get yourself down. They say that they can hear you when you speak to them, and I don't think that he'd want you to be crying, now would he?" Willow sniffled and looked up. The girl looked exactly like Tara, but that wasn't possible! Willow rubbed the tears away from her eyes, and when she looked up the girl was gone. It was then that her hand was squeezed back. Willow looked over at Oz to see him staring at her. " Willow? Man, did I have the strangest dream."