November, 2001

When he noticed the silence, Spike stopped the car.

He hadn't been here recently. He had moved back to Sunnydale after Buffy's return. He hadn't, he realized, even bothered to say good-bye to Ann and Gang Long. Well, at least he could help if there was trouble. He shifted to full vampire display and silently slipped down the driveway and around the garage to the north terrace.

Looking in one of the library French doors, he saw Gang Long, apparently unharmed and free. He entered.

"Hi."

"Good," the boy said. "I'm glad you got my message. I can't find you if you're not carrying the Viper keys or your phone, and I didn't want to leave without giving you some stuff."

"Leave? Where's Ann?" Spike glanced around. The books were gone, as were the computers, the phones and the rugs. "Where are the shouyu? What happened?"

"She's back in jail."

"Like last time?"

"No, her controllers aren't that stupid; she hasn't been arrested. Even those feckless thugs couldn't invent a conspiracy that threatens them just because Tara fired Jingwu."

"I don't know about that, Gang Long. But Ann's all right?"

"I think so. Nancy said she would be, so I think so." For a moment Gang Long was younger and more uncertain. "My grandmother wants me to come to her."

"Oh. Are you going?"

"Yes. Nancy said I should go, but after helping Jingwu close the house. I have responsibilities now."

"I thought you were going to school next year."

"I don't know. Jingwu said I could go wherever I wanted, just like humans go away to college, but I don't know."

"Will Ann be sent somewhere else? Somewhere here on Earth?"

"I assume so. They like keeping her busy, even on make-work jobs. But she's nearing the end of her sentence, and they may just keep her. I don't know."

"How near?"

"Fourteen years. Not long at all."

"So what happened? Why did Tara fire Ann?"

"Willow. Tara thinks Jingwu made magic acceptable, and helped get Willow addicted to spells."

"Ann's not a witch," Spike said. "Hell, Ann's not even human; whatever she can or cannot do, doesn't mean anything about what Willow can or cannot do."

"Nancy says this isn't a rational issue with Tara."

"So how'd Tara manage this? I mean, I thought Ann worked for Berengar's family, not for her."

"Tara was clever. She found a lawyer who could practice in Brezeliande and sued Mellisande."

"On what grounds? Berengar doesn't seem like someone who'd listen to a kid about safety."

"Harassment and molestation, sort of like stalking. It's complicated. Tara's an adult, here in California, even though she's still a minor in Brezeliande. Mellisande is furious, Tara's mother Rachel is worried, and Jingwu is without a job, so she had to surrender."

"What happens to the house?"

"Nancy's looking after it. She may rent it to a human scholar who wants to research the Hellmouth. Anyway, the closet has two suitcases for you, and I wanted to be sure you knew what happened and to give you this." The boy handed the vampire an envelope.

Spike opened it. There was a long document and a set of keys. "What's this?"

"After the last time she was arrested, Jingwu changed the paper ownership of a couple of properties, including the San Francisco condo. Now I'm the owner of record and I've sub-let it to you, to William Parker, for the next ten years. I get visiting rights, though, if you're not there. The computers are already there and I'm driving the Jaguar up. They'll be there; for you, if you want them or for me, if I come back soon."

"Gang Long..."

"Your phone won't work while we're gone. Nancy will know where we are; but go to her office. You have to do that anyway, eventually. She can extend the lease for you, just ask her."

"OK. Fourteen years?"

"Twenty fifteen, this calendar, unless they give her credit for good behavior."

"Where are the shouyu?"

"Already back with my grandmother, at least for now. Do you want to come with me? All the yunü would be glad to see you."

"I can't leave Sunnydale, not now."

"Jingwu said I could offer, but I shouldn't be surprised if you stayed."

"Are you going to see Ann?"

"Oh, sure, I just don't know when."

Ann and this house had always been there, at least in the back of his mind. "Thank her for me, for everything. Thank you, too."

"If I see her before you do, I will. I'll help you with the suitcases." Together the vampire and the boy went up to Spike's old room.

Except for the suitcases, it was empty. Spike didn't reflect in the mirror any longer and the closet felt somehow dead and still.

Silently, they carried the cases down to the Viper.

"And Giles and Lindsay and Angel? What about them?"

"She wrote Giles and Lindsay, before she and Nancy left. She might not see them again, they're mortals, after all. You and I aren't, Spike. This isn't forever, remember. Don't get staked, and we'll see each other again, maybe even this century." The boy got into the Jaguar, waved, and drove away.

Spike looked around: Even the garage was empty. He did not look back as he drove away.

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