Description: Post NFA. Spike returns to LA after being gone for almost seven years. He doesn't know why he came back, until he meets a little girl that will change his life forever.

Disclaimer: Joss owns all characters Buffy, I own those in which have come from my own mind. At least…I think I do.

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A/N: I just had this idea and thought it might make a good story. Ya'll will have to let me know if you like it and think I should continue.

Chapter 1

Six years. That's how long it had been since he'd been back in the states, back in California. Six years since he'd sworn he was over this place, and all of the people that had ever lived in it. And now here he was, walking down the streets of Los Angeles, feeling strangely at home. He took a drag from his cigarette and let his gaze wander. Nothing had changed, or at least that was how it seemed to him. If he didn't know any better, he could imagine that it was 2004 and that he was on his way to Wolfram & Hart to continue one of his favorite hobbies, bugging the hell out of Peaches. Spike almost smiled as he thought about their many arguments over the most pointless of topics. At the time, it had seemed like the most important thing, winning a fight with Angel. That was, he remembered, only because he'd lost the only fight that really mattered.

The smiled faded and Spike now felt a slight distaste for the older vampire resurfacing. He quickly shook off the feeling, reminding himself that it wasn't polite to think ill of the dead.

There were few people wandering the streets, though it was relatively late. Before he'd left the crummy motel that had been his residence for the past few days, the cracked clock on the wall had told him that it was a quarter till eleven. It seemed like a quiet night, which could really only mean one thing… something was wrong. He hadn't been to L.A. in a long time, but he remembered enough about it to know that it was never quiet. Quiet only meant the baddies were being careful not to get caught. Admittedly, Spike was looking for a fight. Preferably something big and nasty. He hadn't had a good spot of violence in weeks, not since he'd left Chicago.

The reason for the return to California was still rather unclear to him. Something in his gut had told him to come back. And so he had. It wasn't as if he'd settled down anywhere in the past six years, so coming back wasn't that far of a stretch. He took another drag from his cigarette and threw it on the ground, stomping on it. He placed his hands in his pockets and sniffed the air hoping for any kind of action. What he got was something… different. Not a demon. A human. A human with a racing heartbeat. Then he heard it, a little cry coming from a nearby alley. He followed the noise, unsure of what he would find. Spike ran through a few scenarios in his mind of who it could be and what could have happened to them. A woman perhaps, hiding from a mugger, or maybe a teenager whose idea to run away from home seemed better before they were alone on a dark street. That's why he was surprised to find a small child sitting behind one of the dumpsters. She looked up at him with wide green eyes. She was frightened, but also defiant somehow, like she would put up a fight if necessary.

"Are you a monster?" she asked in an almost threatening tone.

He was a bit taken aback by her statement, but responded with a "No." Though technically that was a lie, he didn't want to frighten the young girl anymore than she already was. He bent down so he was just level with her. Her light blonde hair was pulled into pigtails that hung down past her shoulders. Spike wasn't an expert on children, but he dared to guess she was not yet school-age. "Are you alright?" he asked her.

She nodded before tilting her head sideways and studying him. "Are you a good guy?"

"Yeah. I guess you could say that."

She seemed to consider this for a moment and then, "Could you help me find my mommy? I was looking for her, but the monster tried to eat me."

"What kind of monster?"

"A one with little crinklies and sharp teeth. A bampire." She wrinkled her forehead and showed her teeth as if imitating it.

"Oh. Where did he go?" Spike looked around to see if the vampire was still nearby, but there was no sign of it.

"I don't know. I kicked him and he fell down. I ran and hid right here."

Well, she was brave, he would give her that.

"I want my mommy."

Spike stared at the little girl. He wasn't good with kids, or rather, he'd never really been around kids. But he knew it would weigh on him if he just left her here. "Let's go find her then."

He stood back up and she stood up, too. There was something familiar about her, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.

"What's your name?" he asked her.

"Camilla Joyce Summers."

"Oh my God, Dawn. What if she's dead?" The slayer was panicking.

"She's not."

"How could you possibly know that?"

"I just do, okay? She can't be dead. She can't be."

Dawn was terribly worried about her niece, but she was trying to remain calm for her sister's sake. The slayer was ready to go out and beat heads. Dawn had been trying to convince her that the best thing she could do was stay here and wait for Willow. They had called the witch around twenty minutes ago to come perform a locater spell for them. The little girl had been missing for close to two hours. The first hour and a half had been spent looking frantically for her everywhere. Then when Dawn suggested they call the police, Buffy had shook her head no and said they should call Willow to do a spell to find her. She claimed it would be more effective than the police; which in this town was bound to be true.

She had been in L.A. for less than 48 hours and Buffy was already remembering why she hated it here. She had taken Camilla out for ice cream. When she had been ordering, the little girl had wandered off and no one in the shop knew where she'd gone.

Buffy sat down on the couch and put her head in her hands. "How could I let this happen?"

"It wasn't your fault."

"I…" the slayer was cut off by a knock at the door.

Dawn got up to answer it. It was Willow.

"Thank God you're here."

She came in and immediately began setting up. She too was worried about the small child. Whereas she had more strength than most children her age, it would still not be enough to protect her from even a human adult man. Buffy wiped her tears and stood with her arms crossed watching the witch perform her spell. First she lit some candles. She then set up a map of the city, sprinkled some sort of dust on it, and began speaking in Latin. After a moment the map lit up.

"She's on 76th street."

"That's not too far from here," Dawn said excitedly.

"Then let's go," Buffy said grabbing her coat and walking towards the door.

"Oh." Willow's words made Buffy stop in her tracks. "She's not alone."

"So we hurry."

"No, Buffy; it's not just anyone. It's a vampire."

"Summers?"

"Uhuh."

He shook his head. There were plenty sets of Summers in the world. Didn't mean she was related to the ones he knew.

"What's your mommy's name?"

"Buffy."

Spike nearly tripped over his own feet. Did she just say what he thought she just said?

"Buffy?"

"Uhuh."

"Buffy Summers?"

"Yep."

She didn't seem to notice the sudden panic that he was experiencing. The slayer… his slayer… had a daughter. There had been something familiar about her, and he hadn't seen or heard from Buffy in going on 8 years. Why shouldn't she have a kid? She was probably married, too.

"What about your daddy?" he found himself asking.

"I don't have a daddy. Mommy says he went away before I was born."

Relief washed over him. She wasn't married, or at least not to the girl's father. He then felt a bit sorry for her. Growing up without a father was hard, he knew that first hand. His own father had left him and his mother when he was only 2 years old. Even though that had been centuries ago, he still couldn't help the pain that he felt when he thought about it. Maybe things would have turned out differently for him had his father stayed around. The thought that a man had gotten Buffy pregnant and then left her made him angry. Good thing he wasn't around or Spike might have to break a few of his parts.

He stood there in a bit of a daze. He had Buffy's daughter. The plus side was, at least now he knew who he was looking for. The down side was, he would have to see her again. It wasn't that he didn't want to see her, he was just afraid of how she would react to him after all this time. There was a good chance that she would be happy to see him, but there was also a good chance that she wouldn't be. She might even be uncomfortable. Her last words to him had, after all, been I love you. Whether there had truly been feelings behind the words was another question. He was pulled out of his thoughts by the little girl.

"What's your name?"

"Uhh… Spike." He started walking and she followed.

"Spike?" she asked curiously. "Isn't that a name for a dog?"

"No."

"You talk funny."

He looked down at her. "So do you."

"Nuhuh."

They kept walking in silence for a moment.

"Are we going to find my mommy?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know where she is?"

"If I knew where she was then we wouldn't be looking for her, now would we?" his words weren't harsh, but she didn't say anything and that made him regret them. She was just a child after all and it wasn't her that had him all wired. It was her mother. But it's not like he could tell her that. He heard something behind them and turned to see a vampire.

"There you are you little bitch."

"Hey, no talking to the bit like that," Spike growled back at him, pushing the small child behind him.

"The little brat kicked me."

"Oh, did she hurt you feelings, mate?"

The vampire made a growling noise. "Just give me the kid, and I'll be out of your way."

"No way in hell. You want her, you go through me."

"Yeah, you big meanie head. No way in hell."

Spike looked down at the little girl, who was now standing beside him scowling at the vampire. He fought the urge to smile. 'Just like her mother,' he thought.

"You heard the girl."

The vampire stood there a moment before charging at Spike. He stepped forward and punched the vampire in the face causing him to fall to the ground. He jumped back up. Spike kicked him in the stomach and punched him in the face a few more times before pulling a stake out of his pocket and stabbing it through the fledgling's heart. He returned the stake to his pocket and looked back at Camilla. He expected her to be terrified or shocked, but instead she looked interested.

"You dusted him."

"I did."

She smiled. "Like mommy."

"Yeah, like mommy." Spike thought it odd that the Slayer would have done so in the presence of her child, though he supposed if they were in danger then she would have had no other choice.

"Mommy says that bampires are evil and scary and if I ever see one I should run away and hide."

"That's a good idea."

They started to walk again. Spike's mind was still all over the place. He hadn't the slightest clue where to start to look for the slayer.

"I hate bampires. They always wanna hurt me. But there's no way in hell you'll let them hurt me right?"

"Right, but you probably shouldn't be talking like that, Nibblit. Mum might not like it."

She nodded and they walked a little ways in silence. Spike suddenly felt the need to smoke and instinctively reached in his pocket, but only found an empty pack. He made an annoyed sound. How was he supposed to face Buffy without calming his nerves first?

"Mr. Spike?"

He looked down at the child. "Yes Nibblet?"

"Are you mad at me?"

"No, I'm not mad at you."

"You sound mad."

"I'm not mad. I'm just… frustrated."

"What's frus-ter-rated?"

"It means that I'm… tired." She sure asked a lot of questions, he thought.

"Am I making you frus-ter-rated?"

"No little bit."

"Then what is it?"

He stopped walking and looked down at her. "It's…" he searched for something to offer to the little girl. "…my pants."

She glanced from his face to his pants and back again.

"Pants?"

"Uhh yeah." It was a stupid response and he knew it, but she seemed to except it. "Now c'mon. We need to get a move on."

He started walking and she didn't follow at first. Then she came running up beside him and surprised him by grabbing his hand. He looked at it strangely. It had been a while since anyone had held his hand. Though, strange as it was, he didn't pull away.

Someone who didn't know them, who saw them right now, might think they were father and daughter. And that thought was enough to disturb Spike immensely.