A Matter of Trust

by Gudanov

Sequel to 'Give and Take' and last of the series. Set summer after season 4.

A Matter of Trust

Buffy plopped down on Giles' couch and slid herself sideways so she could lean back against the arm. Her tired, scratchy eyes were begging to be closed, but she kept them open so she wouldn't appear to drift off during the meeting. Riley and Tara had arrived with her; Xander and Anya had arrived a few minutes earlier. Giles was still glancing through books.

Buffy started to open her mouth to explain what she and Riley had found, but Riley beat her to it. "Romica moved his operation. We weren't able to find any clues where he went to." He sounded awake for being up all night and fighting vampires for a good deal of it. For that matter he even looked pretty alert, standing stiffly with his arms crossed. Must be all that soldier training.

"That was quick," said Xander. "Next time I move, I'm hiring that guy."

Buffy nudged Xander with her knee, not for the comment, but to get more space on the couch for her to recline. He scooted over closer to Anya, bringing a smile to the ex-demon's face.

"I'm just getting tired of fighting him and Callie both. We've got to figure out what they're up to. They can't be in Sunnydale for the shopping," said Buffy.

"They keep kidnapping Willow," suggested Xander.

"That would be a pretty pointless goal," said Anya.

"Yes, I imagine that they have a somewhat different purpose. We know Romica had Willow cast a spell for him, but why does a sorcerer need someone to cast a spell?" asked Giles.

"Good question," said Buffy. "He obviously cast a few last night. I still have a sore back from Mr-Doesn't-Fight-Fair. That and jumping on the car, which wasn't one my better decisions." At that moment she noticed she had managed to combine an orange top with purple pants in her haste to dress before coming over. She frowned. "Sort of like this outfit."

"Hey, don't sell yourself short. Jumping on the car *looked* really cool," said Xander. "Very action-movie-ish." He made some random-looking hand gestures to add emphasis.

"A living caster," said Tara quietly. Her eyes were red and ringed with dark circles. She looked more tired and worn than anyone else in the room. Having been part of Willow's rescue only have her kidnapped again had been hard on Tara. She wasn't used to this sort of stuff.

Tara continued. "Willow told me that he needed her to cast a spell for him because it required a living caster."

"I'm still investigating Romica past when he was associating with Callie. That was over four hundred years ago when Romica was still alive so I'm check to see if any of the spells he performed back then required a living caster. Maybe something will connect to our situation," said Giles.

"I've found a locating spell," said Tara. "I was going to try it, but I might need some help." She looked at Giles.

"Certainly, I'd be glad to assist. If it works, we'll save ourselves a lot of work tracking them down," said Giles.

"Great. Is this something that will take long?" asked Buffy.

Tara nodded. "At least a few hours, plus we'll need to get supplies."

"Then I'll get some rest. I'd like a little before fighting again." Buffy closed her eyes and thought about sleep. Sleepy thoughts were happy thoughts.

*****
Buffy opened the door and walked into Giles' apartment. She had hoped to hear from him earlier with news that Tara's locating spell had worked, but there had been nothing. Giles was sitting at his desk in the middle of reading a old, yellowed book. It was an old, yellowed book much like all the books Giles read. Tara was asleep in a chair in the living room, still clutching a book she had been reading.

Buffy whispered, "Judging from the excitement, I'm going to say you didn't have any luck with the whole locating thing."

Giles shook his head. "The spell seemed to work to an extent. We know Willow is in the county."

"That's an impressive spell Giles. Next time I lose my keys I'm coming right over to you," said Buffy sarcastically.

"The spell is supposed to be much more precise. Our guess is that Romica has obscured her location with regards to mystic detection," he said.

"Ugh. He just keeps staying out of reach like?. things on really tall shelves."

Giles raised an eyebrow.

"It's a good metaphor for people with height issues," Buffy defended herself.

Buffy looked over at Tara. "How's Tara?"

"After the locating spell didn't prove useful, she performed the invitation revoking ceremony, and then she started researching for obscuring spells. At some point, she must have drifted off."

"I meant, how is she holding up?" corrected Buffy.

"Well, she's clearly concerned about Willow. But she does seem?.she appears?"

"You have no idea," said Buffy.

"None whatsoever."

"I don't know either, and she's living in my house," said Buffy with a frown. How could she know so little about someone so important to her best friend?

"Mom thinks she's doing okay," she added.

They sat in silence for a few moments, neither one able to think up anything else to say on the subject.

"I have found out that the spell to active the stones of Kartamar does require a living caster. Since Romica and Callie were trying to acquire them the last time they were associated, I believe there is a strong possibility that they are holding Willow for that purpose," said Giles, breaking the silence.

Buffy raised her eyebrows. "A real clue, huh? So, are these stone things in Sunnydale or something?"

"Um, no. At least there is nothing to indicate that. I've been trying to contact someone who should have access to more specific information. I hope to get a call back this evening."

"Sounds better than my plan. Riley and I are going to patrol the cemetery and try to get any vamps we find to talk. Maybe they've picked up some rumors about Romica and Callie. I've already tried Willie's place, but he claims to know nothing aside from the fact that they're in town," said Buffy.

"Perhaps you'll get lucky," said Giles.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "I'm going to have to be lottery lucky for that plan to work."

*****
Buffy entered Giles' apartment with Riley right behind. The night's patrol had netted them two dusted vampires, but no information on the whereabouts of Romica and Callie. Giles was busy talking on the phone as they entered, hopefully talking to the contact he had mentioned earlier. Riley took a seat on one of the barstools near the door, but Buffy felt too anxious to sit down. She remained standing and tried to stay quiet for Giles' benefit of Giles.

"Yes, well, I see how that is a coincidence," said Giles into the telephone.

Riley looked from the telephone and back to Buffy, noticing her intently looking at Giles. "Do you know who he's talking to?" he whispered.

"I think?" Buffy started to whisper back. She was interrupted by the door opening to admit Spike.

Buffy grabbed Spike by his coat and pulled him back outside. Riley followed her.

"Hey!" said Spike. "I've got information for you."

"We know about the statue, Spike. Did you think we wouldn't figure it out?" She clutched the lapels of his coat firmly as she backed him into a wall.

"Well, yeah, actually. But I'm not working for Romica any more," said Spike.

Buffy pulled him forward and slammed him back against the wall. "Right. Then we can trust whatever you tell us."

"Do you want to hear it or not? I've got better things to do than keep getting hit against this sodding wall."

Buffy slammed him against the wall one more time, just for good measure. "Okay, what have you got?"

Spike smirked in an irritating manner. "That's better. He'll be doing something at your old school -- or what's left of it, anyway."

"Doing what?" demanded Buffy.

"I'm hungry. Let me get some of my blood from Rupert's, and I'll tell you more," said Spike.

"Tell me first," demanded Buffy.

"I don't know exactly what. But there's a truck on the grounds of your old school that's got the same company name as I saw used at Romica's place," said Spike.

Buffy slammed him against the wall again. "Where's Romica's new location?"

"I don't know. I must have got put out of the loop after he tried to kill me. Funny thing that."

Buffy punched him hard in the abdomen.

Spike doubled over and had to inhale deeply to get enough air back to speak. "Hey! I'm telling you what I know," said Spike.

Buffy backed off, and Spike slipped away to get to the door of Giles' apartment.

"You believe him?" asked Riley as Spike went through the door.

"Not sure," said Buffy truthfully. She went back into the apartment with Riley. Spike was already getting a bag of blood out of the refrigerator, and Giles was still busy on the phone although the sight of Spike startled him for a second.

"I take it Mr. Dark and Broody has paid a visit. Bloody inconsiderate just to let him have my blood," said Spike as he punched a hole in the bag and stuck it in the microwave.

Buffy shook her head in confusion. "What are you talking about Spike?"

"A pint is missing. I expect to be paid back for that."

"Angel hasn't been here, and believe me, nobody's been taking your blood," said Buffy with exasperation.

Giles hung up the phone and announced, "Romica will be going to the Hellmouth, we need to stop him before he has a chance to use the stones of Kartamar."

"Hellmouth, that means it's bad, right?" asked Riley.

"Major bad! So what do these stones of Karta-whatever do? This isn't an end of the world thing is it?" asked Buffy.

"Not end of the world, but still serious. They allow the user of the stones to tap into sources of mystical energy. My contact thinks that part of the spell to activate the stones does require a living person to cast it. He wasn't sure though since the subject of a dead caster hasn't come up before. All known attempts to use the stones have failed, but Romica has had centuries to study the problem." Giles paused for a moment and adjusted his glasses. "Although even if he?."

Buffy interrupted. "We need to get going. Sitting here talking about it isn't going to get Willow back." Even as she spoke she started to grab her bag with the weapons she carried for patrolling.

"Told you I was telling the?," started Spike.

Before Spike even finished the sentence, the door to Giles' apartment flung open to admit a panting Willow. She ran a few steps into the apartment and stopped to catch her breath, bending over with her hands on her knees.

"?truth," finished Spike.

"Hi, guys!" Willow said happily between breaths.

"Will!" Exclaimed Buffy as she swooped over and collected her friend in a tight hug.

"What happened?" Buffy asked.

"We've been quite concerned," added Giles as he gave Willow a hug after Buffy released her.

"How did you get away?" Riley asked. He sort awkwardly tried to hug Willow without really touching her and ended up mostly patting her shoulder instead. Willow reacted awkwardly too. It was a reminder of the last time Buffy had talked to her friend. Buffy pushed the unpleasant memories of Willow's fabricated betrayal out of her head. It was just a spell gone bad, something that just sometimes happens when you live in Sunnydale and have a witch for a best friend.

"It's kinda a longish story. But the short version is that Romica and Callie got into a fight, and I took advantage of the situation to get away," said Willow. "God, am I glad to see you guys. The whole thing was sort of like being in some weird dysfunctional demonic family. Is Tara okay?"

"She's fine. She's at my house right now." Buffy noticed that Willow was now sporting two bandages on her neck. One was over the wound they had seen when they rescued her. That wound had been right under her jaw. The other bandage covered a patch at the base of her neck. Willow also appeared a tad pale, now that Buffy thought about it. Further inspection of her friend revealed a few splotches of blood on her sweater.

"Do you even know we got you out of there once?" asked Riley.

"Yeah, Romica told me. Thanks," replied Willow.

"More thanks would be in order if we hadn't let him take you right back," said Giles.

"Hey, I tried to rescue her, too," said Spike as he deposited the empty blood bag on the kitchen counter.

"I don't remember that at all, Spike," said Willow as she sat down on Giles' couch. Buffy tried to help her sit, but Willow didn't need the help.

"The bottle with the green stuff in it and all that. Knocked you out so that bracelet thing wouldn't hurt you," said Spike in an effort to jar Willow's memory.

"Sorry, Spike, I don't remember anything like that. I don't even remember ever talking to you there," said Willow.

Spike shook his head and proceeded to walk toward the door. "See if I ever try to help the lot of you again."

Riley started to edge toward the door to block Spike, but Buffy shook her head and he stopped. Spike left, unabated.

"How about going to your house, Buffy? I'd like to see Tara, I've been worried even though Romica let me call her." The way Willow looked at her made the question seem more like a demand. "I can tell you all about what happened once we're there."

"Are you sure you're up to walking around, Will?" Buffy looked pointedly at the blood on her sweater.

"Oh, I'm fine. That blood isn't mine; it's from Romica. Remember the long story part?"

Buffy smiled. "Okay, we'll go to my place. How about we call Xander first, though?"

Willow smiled, "Sure, I'd like to see everyone. Even Anya."

"Not that I wish to interrupt the reunion, but there is the matter of Romica tapping into the Hellmouth," said Giles.

"Oh, he already tried it," said Willow, cranking her head around to look at Giles. "The whole fighting with Callie thing ruined the spell. He banished Callie, but he was pretty badly wounded; I don't think there's any way he could try again tonight."

"So Callie's gone?" asked Buffy.

"Yep," said Willow cheerfully. Her expression turned grave. "But Romica isn't. We've got to kill him, Buffy."

*****

Buffy opened the door to her house and let in Willow, Giles, and Riley. Joyce looked up from the couch in the living room where she was occupied reading a book.

"Hi, Honey. Did?" Joyce trailed off when she saw Willow. Willow gave Joyce a big smile. "Willow, they found you." Joyce got up and gave Willow another hug.

"Actually, she found us. She got away all on her own," said Buffy.

"Yep. Yay me," said Willow.

Joyce backed up and took in Willow's bandages and the blood stains. "Are you okay?"

Willow grinned. "I'm great." She gestured to her sweater. "Vampire blood, not mine."

"Oh, " said Joyce.

"Willow!" exclaimed Tara. She had just appeared at the top of the stairs. Tara ran down the stairs, almost tackling Willow with a tight hug. Willow just stroked Tara's hair and wore a happy, relaxed smile while Tara squeezed hard, keeping her eyes shut. When Tara finally let go, she lightly touched the two bandages on Willow's neck. "Oh god, are you okay?"

Willow grabbed Tara's hand, "I'm fine. Really."

"What happened to your neck?" Asked Tara, concerned.

"I got bit," said Willow. She looked around and saw that everyone was looking for more information. "I told Romica I would do a spell for him, but he needed to back off with all the threatening and stuff."

"So he bit you?" Tara asked.

"Not right away. That conversation sort of led to this whole discussion about personal space, then came the bitey part," said Willow with a frown.

"Did it hurt?" Tara sounded worried.

Willow nodded. "Yeah, it hurt a lot. I think he kinda made it hurt on purpose," replied Willow, absentmindedly rubbing the bandage with her free hand.

"Wouldn't getting bit always hurt?" asked Riley.

Willow looked contemplative. "I don't think so, at least not as much. He was going to bite me another time. That time he took his time and did this trancey thing first. I think it was getting me ready to get bitten, and it wouldn't have hurt. But the second time he just did it really fast and painful."

"You look pale," said Tara placing her hand and Willow's cheek and turning Willow's head to get a better look at her face.

"He drank enough to make me pass out," said Willow. "That sounds weird, sorta like projecting intoxication."

"You should sit down," said Joyce. "Could I get you anything?"

"I am kinda hungry, I haven't had anything to eat for a long time. Being a vampire, Romica didn't exactly keep around a lot to eat."

"I have some turkey, would you like a sandwhich?" asked Joyce.

Willow agreed and Joyce left for the kitchen the same time there was a knock at the door. Buffy opened it to find Xander and Anya.

"Will! " Exclaimed Xander, brushing by Buffy to give Willow her yet another hug. "Buffy told me you escaped, but it's exciting to see the live version." He looked her over quickly. "You okay?"

"It's good that you're not dead," offered Anya along with a handshake. Willow shook hands, but faced Xander.

"I'm really fine. But the sitting down thing did sound kinda good," said Willow.

Everyone cleared out of her way to give her easy passage to the couch. Tara sat down right next to her and grabbed her hand. Willow just looked around and grinned. "Everyone is here. This is so great!"

"So what happened?" Asked Buffy. "We've got to know."

"I guess I can just start with tonight. Romica had me get ready to do this spell. I don't really know what it was supposed to do. I mean, he only had me study part of it, and he was going to do the rest." Willow furrowed her brow in thought. "I think it had something to do with like channeling extra-dimensional energy. Pretty serious stuff. The materials I read suggested maybe an Egyptian source, but Romica had changed some of the parts so it's not like it was exclusively?"

Tara nudged her and said softly, "I think they want to know about how you got away."

"Oh. I guess I was getting carried away. You know, magic and stuff. Anyhow, we went to the high school ruins to do the spell on the Hellmouth. Romica and I started the spell when Callie just pulled out a gun and shot him. It was pretty scary and gross; he was standing next to me when she did it. Hence the blood spots." Willow gestured to her sweater. "Then she shot and staked Romica's last helper vamp. But Romica just disappeared. I never saw where he went to. But then I was pretty much laying flat on the ground and not really paying a lot of attention."

"I thought you said Callie was banished," said Buffy.

"I'm getting to that. Callie looked around for Romica, but she couldn't find him. So she had me continue the spell. I started to do the spell, but then all of a sudden, poof!" Willow made a poofing gesture with her free hand. "Callie just dusted."

"She dusted?" Asked Buffy. Whatever kind of demon Callie was, she didn't think it would dust like a vamp.

"Well, yeah. Callie came back as a vampire. Romica had me do this really complex spell, and it brought back Callie, only she was all vampy this time. So once she disappeared, I just took off and ran all the way to Giles'."

"Willow, did you happen to see if Romica was using five stones in this ceremony? They would have looked like five six-foot tall pillars covered with carved symbols," Giles asked while Joyce returned and handed Willow a small plate with a sandwich.

Willow shook her head. "No, I didn't see anything like that at all."

Giles looked confused. "I would have thought the spell was to active the stones. Are you sure you didn't see them?"

Willow rolled her eyes. "Sure Giles, five six-foot tall pillars. I probably just overlooked them." She turned her attention to her sandwich and picked it up to take a bite.

"Yes, well, I suppose it would be the sort of thing one generally would notice," said Giles in response to Willow's remark.

The phone rang, and Joyce returned to the kitchen to answer it.

Buffy turned her attention to Xander. "Spike has resurfaced too. He says he's no longer working for Romica, but I don't think he's telling the truth. He did tell us that Romica would be at the school, but then he also made up some story about trying to rescue Willow. Oh, he also had to nerve to say we stole some of his blood. How ludicrous is that?"

Willow and Tara exchanged an odd look and Willow put down her sandwich, looking a little green.

"You okay?" asked Buffy.

"Um, yeah. I guess my stomach is a little upset. You know...." Willow paused.

"Adrenaline," said Tara.

Willow pointed to Tara. "Exactly, adrenaline. Makes the stomach upset."

"Oh," said Buffy.

"So has anyone told you about our stunningly unsuccessful rescue attempt?" asked Xander.

"Buffy," said Joyce. Buffy turned to look at her as Xander began to narrate his version of the rescue. "The phone call is for you." Her mother looked concerned.

"Is something wrong?" asked Buffy softly.

"It's just that whoever is on the line was talking oddly," replied Joyce in a soft tone as well.

Buffy walked to the phone in the kitchen and picked up the receiver. "Hi, it's Buffy."

The voice on the other end was raspy and strained as if the speaker was having trouble breathing. But she recognized it immediately. The voice was Romica's. "Slayer. Tell me, has the witch returned to you yet?"

Oh great, mind games, she thought to herself. "Why should I tell you?" she asked him.

"Callie has her claws in your witch. I don't want Callie getting a Slayer in her control."

Ugh, she really did hate mind games. "I'll be careful. Is that it?" Buffy responded in a hostile tone.

"Hardly. The witch completed part of a spell. I cannot complete my part until I have her. Once I have healed enough to complete it, I will call with a location to meet. Then you will bring the witch to me. In the meantime, you will hunt for Callie. If you refuse to bring the witch to me, I will solve the problem my own way. I can restart the spell with someone else is if she is dead."

Buffy opened her mouth to respond, but the line clicked dead. She set down the receiver and started back to the living room. As she walked in she watched Willow laugh after Xander told her something. Willow sure seemed to be her normal self. Maybe Romica was lying. Maybe she should just tell Willow what Romica said, then watch for a reaction. But if Romica was right, then Callie would know that she knew?.. that she needed an aspirin. This was just too much to figure out right now. Stupid mind games.

"Who was that?" Her mom's question broke her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, nobody. Wrong number."

"But they asked for you," said her mom in a combination of confusion and suspicion.

"Uh, they wanted another Buffy," replied Buffy.

"Oookay," said her mother. The tone indicated that her mother was not buying it, but not pressing the issue either.

Buffy turned away from her mom and noticed that Willow was getting up off the couch.

"?cause I really need to get over there," said Willow as Buffy tuned into the rest of the conversation.

"Over where?" asked Buffy.

"My parents. Joyce told me they are pretty worried, and no one has told them I'm okay." Willow smiled. "I bet they'll be surprised when I show up out of nowhere in the middle of the night."

"Do you think it's safe? Romica is still out there. That and the whole Sunnydale and vampires thing," Buffy said.

"Anya and I are driving her over there," said Xander.

"See, very safe," said Willow.

"How about I let you borrow something to wear?" asked Tara.

Willow looked down at her blood-stained sweater. "Good idea. Mind waiting a couple of minutes, Xan?"

"I good with the waiting. Besides, blood-stained attire; probably not the best for reassuring the parents," said Xander.

Tara grabbed Willow by the hand and led her upstairs.

"Those two seem like really close friends," said Joyce, watching them go.

Someday she'd have to clue her mom in on Willow and Tara, but there was too much going on right now for that. "Yeah, they really are," said Buffy instead.

She turned to Giles. "Even if Romica probably isn't there, I still think we should check out the Hellmouth."

"I agree. We need to find out what he is trying to accomplish," said Giles.

"How about you, me, and Riley check it out while Willow is busy with her family?" asked Buffy.

"Sounds good to me," said Riley. "Willow said a lot happened there; maybe we can find some clues."

*****

The flashlight beams played over the ruptured, broken ground that marked the Hellmouth in the ruins of the old high school library. A circle of white sand denoted its perimeter. Buffy's flashlight picked up the glint of a copper basin near the center. She walked over to it and looked at the contents. It contained some dark, burnt gunk. Ick, it stunk too.

As she looked around some more, her flashlight beam showed Riley kneeling and inspecting something on the ground.

"Did you find something?" she asked him.

Giles wandered over in his direction.

Riley picked up something small and shiny from the ground. Buffy could see similar small, shiny things scattered on the ground around him.

"Bullet casings," said Riley as he inspected the object. "Forty Caliber. Looks like about a dozen shots were fired."

Giles spotted something not too far away from Riley. His flashlight showed some rusty looking splotches on the ground. "Um, I think I see where at least one target was."

Riley and Buffy both looked at Giles' discovery.

"Not that much blood for being shot that many times at short range," said Riley as he looked over the evidence.

"Vampire," said Buffy. "They don't bleed as much as a person."

Riley started looking around some more, trying to reconstruct the scene. Giles and Buffy wandered off to look for more signs of the spell that was performed. Giles looked disappointed. "I really thought the stones of Kartamar would be here. Perhaps I guessed incorrectly on Romica's goal."

"Maybe they're hidden," suggested Buffy.

"Where does one hide five six-foot pillars?" asked Giles.

"Maybe behind?.something tall?" asked Buffy.

Giles looked at her skeptically as he played his flashlight beam around the ruins of the room. It was completely lacking in good hiding spots for six-foot tall pillars.

"Giles," said Buffy softly. "Romica called me."

Giles put his free hand on his chin and looked at her thoughtfully. "In a dream?"

"On the phone," corrected Buffy. "He said I couldn't trust Willow, that she was under Callie's influence. He wants me to hunt down Callie and then deliver Willow to him when he calls me back."

"Ah. So part of this expedition is to confirm Willow's story. So far all the evidence seems to support her."

"So far. But if Willow is under Callie's influence, then Callie will know everything we're doing," said Buffy.

Giles thought and looked rather concerned. "Buffy, if Willow is under Callie's influence, then she could lead any of us into a trap."

"Xander, Anya, and Tara," said Buffy. "I was so convinced that Romica was lying, I didn't warn them. We need to get to Willow's and find out?."

"I've researched Callie, Buffy. The trap could be sprung and we wouldn't know. People can seem perfectly normal and still be under Callie's control. It's what makes her such a dangerous demon. For that matter, I could be under?."

Buffy shook her head. "Don't even go there. If I go all paranoid, then I'll never figure out what to do. For all I know, Willow is telling the truth and Romica is sending me on a wild demon chase to let him heal up."

"That is possible, too," said Giles.

Riley walked up to them. "There's another set of blood stains. I'd say twelve shots fired, and two victims. Probably both vampires, just like Willow described it. I think I saw a suspicious pile of dust, but hardly conclusive in all of this rubble." Riley panned his flashlight beam around the dusty interior of the ruins to make his point. "You guys discover anything?"

Giles and Buffy looked at each other, then Giles answered. "Unfortunately, no. There isn't much indication as to the spell that was being cast. What is here is consistent with the ritual to active the stones of Kartamar, but the stones themselves are not in evidence."

"What's the point of activating these stones if you don't actually have them?" asked Buffy confused.

"Well, one could perhaps?actually, I have no idea," replied Giles.

"So what's the plan? Look for Romica?" asked Riley.

Buffy thought it over. Should she tell Riley about Romica's phone call? What if Riley had encountered Callie at some point? He wasn't with her all day. Callie could have? Ugh, she had to get rid of Callie. This was just too much to deal with. Getting rid of Callie meant a banishment spell, and Callie might already have Willow and Tara in her control. Maybe Anya too.

"Buffy? Hey, are you okay?" asked Riley after her long pause.

Buffy smiled at him, "Sorry about the total space out." She took a long fake yawn. "Must be getting tired. I say we look for Romica in the morning."

"Hunting vampires by day does have its advantages, and there is the we-have-no-idea-where-to-look problem," said Riley.

"I'll have to consult my information again. I had not expected to find the activation spell being performed without having the stones arranged," said Giles. "There might be a clue to his location if we can discover his motives."

******

Buffy insisted on having her and Riley walk Giles back to his apartment. After Giles was safely inside, they started to leave through the apartment complex's courtyard. Buffy stopped and grabbed Riley's arm. "We're not leaving."

"What?" asked Riley in confusion.

"I think Callie isn't really gone and she may be after Giles," said Buffy. She hoped Riley wasn't going to ask questions.

"Why do you think that?" asked Riley.

Dammit, why couldn't he be soldier boy tonight and forgo the questions? She didn't want to have to explain she was basing all of this off of Romica's word. She was still having enough trouble with that part. "I'll explain it later. Let's find a place where we can keep watch."

They looked around at the courtyard, but it didn't seem to offer much in the way of cover. They settled for hiding in some bushes across the street from the entrance to the courtyard. Between the moonlight and the streetlights, there was plenty of visibility. Riley looked alert and comfortable, but then this was his natural element. Buffy felt bored pretty quickly.

"I hope she makes a move pretty soon," said Buffy.

"You expect her to?" asked Riley.

Buffy shrugged. "Don't know. It's sort of a hunch."

They waited.

Buffy's legs cramped after a while, and she switched to lying on her stomach so she could keep them stretched out. "Maybe we should just go home. I think I might have been wrong."

"Want to tell me where the hunch came from? We've got some time to kill," asked Riley.

Buffy decided she might as well tell him what was going on. "I got a phone call from Romica. He said that Callie was still around and that Willow was under her control."

"You believe him?" asked Riley.

"That's why we're here," said Buffy. Riley's expression didn't reveal his opinion on her judgment. He looked thoughtful.

"So why Giles?"

"If I can trust Romica, Willow is already under Callie's control. Tara is with Willow and could already be in Callie's control. That leaves Giles as the only one who can banish Callie," said Buffy. "Well, maybe Anya, but she was with Willow too."

"So why don't we wait in his apartment?" asked Riley.

"Because Giles might already be under her?." Dammit, she thought she had a reason for not being in Giles' apartment. But if Giles was already under Callie's control, then Callie probably wouldn't be coming to Giles' apartment, so there wasn't any need to keep watch. "Look, dealing with Callie is getting really confusing. The logic was there earlier, I swear, it just took a little vacation to?."

"Willow," said Riley.

"What about Willow?"

"She's in that sedan." Riley pointed at a large white sedan that was parking near the entrance of the courtyard. The streetlight illuminated it enough to make out Willow seated on the passenger side. There was another passenger in the back that Buffy thought was probably Tara. The driver was Callie.

Callie finished parking the car, and all three of them exited.

Buffy gave Riley a light thump on the arm. "I was right! I knew it!" she exclaimed in an excited whisper.

"Hey, we're supposed to be trying stealth here," said Riley in a whisper much softer than Buffy had used. "What do you want to do now? Rush'em?"

"No. Callie might have a gun like the first time we dealt with her. Let's wait for them to get into the courtyard and then sneak up on them. We want to be as close as we can get before we jump Callie."

They waited until Willow, Tara, and Callie crossed over into the courtyard. Then they moved swiftly and quietly to the entrance of the courtyard. Buffy took the lead as they sneaked in. Buffy stopped at the stairs that led down into the courtyard and peered cautiously around the corner of the wall. Callie was talking to Willow, but she couldn't hear what was being said.

Buffy drew back. "I guess this is it. When they knock on the door or whatever, they should be distracted. We'll get to them as quickly as we can. Just remember to avoid Callie's eyes," she whispered.

Riley nodded. "So I've been told." He removed a stunner from one of his pants pockets. "It'll help take her down quickly."

Buffy peered around the corner again. Willow was just getting ready to knock on the door while Callie stood to the side so she'd be out of sight when Giles opened it. Buffy took a deep breath.

"Let's go," she whispered.

She sprung, clearing the railing on the stairs easily. She somersaulted as soon as she hit the ground and regained her feet right in front of Callie. Callie barely had time to react before Buffy landed a punch that slammed the demon back into the wall. Callie's knees buckled, and she fell to the ground.

"Hey," said Willow from behind her. Buffy's hair was pulled painfully back. She twisted around, caught Willow's arm, and managed to get Willow to release her grip. With an easy movement she twisted Willow's arm and sent her to the ground, careful not to use too much force.

Buffy turned her attention back to Callie. Callie smirked, and suddenly there was a flash of light and burning pain in Buffy's side. Muscles spasmed in protest through her body, and she fell to the ground. During the fall, she spied Riley wielding the stunner he had just used on her.

She fell badly, the ground hitting the back of her head like a sledge hammer and the world going dark for a second. Sheer force of will fought away the darkness, and Buffy opened her eyes. Unfortunately, she was directly in Callie's gaze and everything stopped.

*****

The world came back. Buffy was still on the ground in the courtyard outside of Giles' apartment, but Callie was looking away, holding her head. Apparently she had been distracted before using her kiss to enthrall. Buffy wasted no time. She swept her legs under Callie and sent the demon crashing down.

A quick flip brought Buffy to her feet so she could see what was happening. It was chaos. Riley was charging after Xander. Anya was tumbling on the ground with Willow, and Tara was trying to grab Anya and pry her off. Buffy's brain still felt cloudy after being stunned, and the Callie-induced discontinuity and the chaos of the courtyard wasn't helping any.

Fragments of thought started piecing themselves together. Riley stunned me. He's under Callie's control. Callie. Gun. She spun and kicked out at Callie's arm as Callie was drawing a pistol from her shoulder holster. The blow sent the gun skidding into a corner of the courtyard.

"Uh, uh, no fair cheating," Buffy told her. She landed a foot squarely in Callie's chest and sent her flying into a wall.

Buffy turned and saw Willow was out cold and Anya was currently staggering around with Tara on her back. She winced at the sight of Willow and was bowled over by Riley. They tumbled to the ground and separated. Buffy rolled to her feet, prepared to defend herself against Riley, but she heard a sound behind her. She ducked under a punch from Callie, grabbed Callie's arm, and threw her at Giles' door. Buffy noticed the door opening a split second after she made the move.

"Wha?" was all Giles managed to get out as Callie crashed into him, sending them both tumbling into Giles' apartment.

"Oops," said Buffy to herself as she saw the collision. She turned to face Riley. He threw a punch that Buffy blocked. He threw another that was blocked just as easily.

"Sorry," she said and decked him. He fell to the ground and stayed down. She didn't like doing it, but at least he wouldn't remember. Now for Callie.

Buffy turned and ran into Giles' apartment. Giles must have been knocked on the head; he was unconscious and lying next to his desk. Callie was getting up off the ground.

"Game's over," she said and kicked Callie solidly under the chin. Callie lifted a couple of feet off the ground from the blow and fell in a heap. Buffy took a couple of deep breaths and watched Callie's still form for a few seconds. A yelp from the courtyard reminded her that Tara and Anya were still fighting.

She ran out into the courtyard to see Tara still perched upon Anya's back while Anya tried to dislodge her by backing into a wall. The battle looked like a deadlock.

Buffy ran behind the adversaries and managed to grab hold of Tara. Tara struggled fiercely, but she wasn't nearly strong enough to work loose. Anya immediately went to check on Xander.

"Is he okay?" Buffy asked while keeping Tara under control.

"Of course not; he got knocked out," said Anya curtly as she leaned over him. Xander was starting to come around, through.

Anya held up three fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"The hand moving in circles has three, " replied Xander.

Anya turned to Buffy. "If he thinks the hand is moving, but he gets the right number of fingers, does that mean he's okay?"

"Close enough," said Buffy while trying to drag Tara back into the apartment. "I could really use a hand here."

Anya helped Xander get to his feet. Xander shook his head clear a little bit and looked around. "Looks like it was a big fight." He looked around the courtyard some more, noting the lack of bystanders. "Giles must have the most laid-back neighbors ever."

"Hey, how about helping me with some tying up of people?" Buffy asked them.

"I'll do the knots," suggested Anya. "Xander's are always too loose."

Xander glanced between Anya and Buffy for a second. "Um, I'll search for where Giles keeps the rope."

Between the three of them, they soon had Tara, Willow, Riley, and Callie all tied up. Buffy made sure to put a blindfold on Callie and managed to prevent Anya from tying up Giles as well. Everyone was starting to recover.

Buffy worked on helping Giles come around. Giles looked around confused.

"I suppose I was hit on the head again?" he asked.

"Uh-huh," said Buffy. "It was a total fluke though."

Xander handed Giles a bag of frozen peas to put on his head. Xander had a small bag of ice for his jaw. "The getting-knocked-out club had a membership drive this evening. A very successful one, I might add."

Giles looked over at assortment of tied up people in his living room. "I see you found Callie. I take it that everyone who is tied up is under her influence?" he asked.

Buffy nodded. "Pretty sure. She almost got me too, but then Xander and Anya?" Now that she was thinking about what happened, where did Xander and Anya come from? "Where did you guys come from?" she asked.

"Oh, we were following Callie. You see, once we dropped off Willow, Anya told me I was being stupid," said Xander.

Anya interrupted. "No, I said everyone was being stupid."

Xander pointed at Anya. "Right, thanks. Anyhow, she said everyone was being stupid to think that Willow got away from Callie totally free. She said Willow was probably still under Callie's control. So we spied on Willow's place, and a while later she and Tara left and met up with Callie."

"I told you I was right," said Anya.

"That you were," said Xander, smiling proudly at her. "Anyhow, we followed them here and went after you and Riley. I guess Riley was under Callie's control as well."

Buffy checked Callie's pockets and found her car keys. "We need to figure out where she's staying so we can get that statue."

*****
Buffy and Giles starting checking the cabin of Callie's sedan for clues while Xander and Anya popped open the trunk for a look. Buffy had just started looking in the glove compartment when Xander interrupted her.

"Hey, you might want to take a look back here," he told her.

Buffy went around and looked in the trunk. She was greeted by the sight of several bags and a couple of suitcases. Anya was fishing inside one of the bags.

"Ah ha!" Exclaimed Anya as she proudly pulled the statue they needed to find out of the bag. "I knew it would be in that bag!"

"You're on a roll tonight, Anya," said Buffy.

"Oh, I'm commonly correct about things. It's not just tonight," said Anya. Giles came around to the back of the car to take a look. Anya handed him the statue.

"So Giles, do we need anything else to get rid of her?" Asked Buffy.

Giles inspected the statue and then the bag Anya had pulled it from. "No. In fact she has enough supplies to perform a banishment right here. It appears she was prepared to perform some sort of spell with the statue."

"So let's toss the statue back in the bag and get going. Demons don't banish themselves, but this one was kind enough to pack," said Buffy. She handed the keys to Giles.

Giles handed her the statue. "Why don't you just hold it? After the last two time times we tried the banishment I'd rather not have that out of sight until we are finished with it."

They piled into the car and headed off to the mansion where Callie had been summoned. Hopefully, for the last time.

*****

It was a wonderful morning. Callie had finally been banished without event, nobody was currently kidnapped, and Buffy had enjoyed a wonderfully restful dreamless night of sleep. Sleeping in a couple of extra hours only made it that much better. She decided to start the day with some lounging that she felt was well deserved.

Her morning of lounging was interrupted by a knock on the front door. Answering the door revealed Willow and Tara. Willow was looking quite energetic and happy despite the late night. Maybe she had slept in too. She gave Buffy a bright smile.

"Hi!" Said Willow as she entered the house with Tara. "We came over to get Tara's stuff so we can move back to our place. We stayed with my family last night and are kinda wanting our own place back."

"Thanks for letting me stay over while everything happened," said Tara.

"No big," said Buffy as she shut the door behind them. "I can understand not wanting to hang out alone."

"Yeah, being kidnapped by vampires kinda spooks me," agreed Tara.

"Helping people with their vampire problems, pretty much my job description," said Buffy.

"Um, speaking of which," said Willow. "Maybe you could sort of come over with us and check for vampires. We're going to take Romica off the invite list, but he's still on it right now, and I have this disturbing mental image of him jumping out of the closet when we get home. I'll make lunch! Trade ya food for vampire control."

"Deal," said Buffy. "You guys want help getting packed?"

"Oh, I really don't have that much," said Tara.

Tara started up the stairway. Willow started after her, but Buffy grabbed Willow's sweater at her shoulder. Willow turned around and looked at Buffy, confused.

"What?" she asked.

"Willow, I need to talk to you," said Buffy.

Willow looked over her shoulder at Tara. Tara continued up the stairs and vanished into the hallway. Then Willow stepped down off the stairs and looked at Buffy. She looked very uncomfortable.

"Is it the Riley thing? 'Cause I fell pretty icky about that whole deal. It was completely that spell, though. I mean, I've never been interested in him in that way. Not that there's anything wrong with him, it's just that?"

"Willow," said Buffy.

Willow frowned. "Yeah?"

"That wasn't what I wanted to talk about."

Willow's face turned an interesting shade of red that clashed with her hair. "Oh."

"I wanted to talk about Romica," said Buffy.

Willow furrowed her brow. "What about him?"

"He called me."

"Like in a dream or something?" asked Willow.

"More like on the phone," said Buffy.

"Oh, I guess not everything has to be all supernatural. Hellmouth habit."

"He told me that you were under Callie's influence and that I couldn't trust you," said Buffy.

Willow shifted her feet. "I guess he was right about that one, but that's history now." She knocked softly on her head. "Nobody in there but me, and that is really more than enough a lot of the time."

Buffy frowned. "Yeah, but there was this whole other part."

"Other part?" asked Willow.

"The part where he wants me to take you to him when he calls back. Something about finishing a spell."

"That part, huh? This is where I'm thinking we just sorta blow him off."

Tara appeared at the top of the stairs with her bag. She looked at Buffy and Willow, unsure about whether to come down yet. Willow followed Buffy's gaze and looked up at Tara.

"It's okay, Tara, come on down."

Tara started down the staircase. Willow waited until she was close enough to be part of the conversation.

"Buffy was just telling me that Romica called her and wants her to take me to him," explained Willow.

Tara glanced at both of them before settling her gaze on Willow. "You're not going to do that, are you?" she asked Willow.

Buffy expected a quick response, but Willow appeared to be thinking about it. Tara's expression morphed from concerned to alarmed. "Oh god, you are going to do it," she said.

"We need to find him, and if I have Buffy with me?" Willow started to explain.

"?then you'll both walk into a trap," finished Tara.

Willow frowned and looked at Tara disapprovingly.

"We can talk about this later. You said something about lunch?" asked Buffy hopefully.

*****

Everything had gone smoothly at Willow and Tara's apartment, and Romica no longer had an invitation there. They hadn't discussed the matter of Buffy taking Willow to Romica, but Buffy was reasonably sure Willow supported the idea even if Tara wasn't happy about it. Whether Buffy supported the idea was an entirely different matter. Hence the reason she was entering Giles' apartment.

Giles had been in the middle of a book when she walked in. A pretty common situation.

"Buffy," he said as looked up. A smile indicated he was happy to see her. "Is there news in regard to Romica?"

Buffy sat down on the couch while shaking her head. "Nope, same old. The only new part is that I told Willow about it. Especially the part where he'll call back and want me to take her to him."

"Ah, that part is complicated," said Giles.

"Yeah. Willow thinks it might be a good idea since we won't have to track him down. I mean it's a trap, but we'll know it's a trap. Of course, he'll know that we know that it's a?," said Buffy.

Giles interrupted her, which was just as well because she really hated logic loops.

"I've continued to research the spell I suspect Romica would use to tap into the Hellmouth. If I'm correct in my findings, he has a couple of options at this point. He can complete the spell with Willow present. In this event, I believe he will transfer the power to himself during the process of completing the spell. There is no research to confirm that outcome, but I believe we can assume Romica has devised a spell to accomplish that task. The other option is that he completes the spell without Willow." Giles glanced down at the book he had been reading. "I believe that would leave Willow tapped into the Hellmouth instead."

"What does 'tapped into the Hellmouth' mean exactly? Sure it sounds bad, but so do fish tacos," said Buffy.

Giles looked back down at his book. "Yes, well, the stones of Kartamar have been used before to tap into other sources of power. There are accounts of two sorcerers being successful. In both cases they went mad after a short time and eventually committed suicide. One of them destroyed a couple of villages first." Giles looked up from his book. "This does assume that using the stones of Kartamar is what Romica is trying to accomplish. We have yet to actually see one in Sunnydale."

"So basically, we're just guessing?"

"I would have phrased it more as a well-educated guess."

"Then I say I pick option three. I kill him before he does anything," said Buffy.

Giles frowned uncomfortably.

"You're looking like you don't want to see what's behind door number three."

"Romica has survived every encounter he's had with a Slayer. While you may very well be more than a match for him physically, you don't have a defense against his mystic abilities."

"So what am I supposed to do, Giles? Give Willow to him and let him finish his plans? Or do I just ignore him and hope your research is wrong?"

"I?I understand the predicament." He set down the book and stood up, walking over the window. After looking out for a couple of minutes, he turned back to look at her. "I'll see if I can find a spell to help you deal with him. I'll have Willow and Tara help as well."

Buffy stood up and scooped up a book. "I'll do the research thing too, but I'd better stick around my house in case he calls."

"Um?Buffy, I don't think that will help," said Giles.

"Hey, I'm not quite the research gal Willow is, but I am in college. I think I know enough to look for something helpful."

"You picked up the collected works of Shakespeare. I commend your taste, but I fear it may not be the ideal book for finding mystical protections."

Buffy looked at the cover of the book she was holding, confirming what Giles had said. "Oh." She set down the book and picked up another that was moldier looking and held it up for Giles to see. "Better?"

Giles nodded. "Much."

"Okay, happy protection hunting, then," she said as she left the apartment. Off to go wait by the phone for Romica to call. Just thinking about it made her angry.

******

Buffy put the book down on the kitchen table and looked at the phone again. It was now the second sunset. Since she had left Giles' apartment, she kept herself cooped up at home. Riley was out looking for Romica and her mother was working late leaving her all by her lonesome. Tomorrow night she was going to get out of the house, immortal sorcerers be damned.

She was just getting a snack when the phone rang. A quick lunge secured the receiver.

"Hello!" She exclaimed.

"Oops," said Willow. "Sorry to get you excited, but we think we found a spell that can help. We're going to come over and get set up if that's okay."

Buffy let herself relax. "Sure. That's great! What does it do?"

"It'll let you see though illusions for one thing. Maybe some other stuff too."

"Seeing though illusions is a big plus; he was all about illusions the last time around. See ya in a little bit?"

"Yep. See ya," Willow hung up the phone. Buffy hung up the receiver and went about the important business of putting together a snack.

One snack and little more halfhearted reading later, she was letting in Willow, Tara, and Giles. Giles had a bag of supplies with him and Willow was carrying a battered leather-bound book.

"Is there a place to set up the spell?" Asked Giles.

Buffy looked around. Mom wouldn't like it if a spell messed up the carpet. Best to perform mystic rituals on linoleum. "I think we can make space in the kitchen."

"Ah, well, I'll get to it then," said Giles as he made his way to the kitchen.

"So no word from Romica?" Asked Willow.

Buffy shook her head. "It's annoying. I feel like I'm waiting for a date for something."

"Only more evil, right?" Asked Tara with a little smile.

Buffy frowned. "Not necessarily," she answered seriously.

Her answer confused Tara, who gave Willow a look that asked if she had said something wrong.

Willow smiled at Tara. "Long story," she said softly. Willow turned back to Buffy. "We better go help Giles since I have the instructions and all." Willow grabbed Tara's hand and led her to the kitchen. Buffy followed along.

Giles had already laid out a diamond shape with red sand and was in the process of placing blue candles at each point. Willow took the book over to him so he could consult it for the process of candle placement. While Willow and Giles worked at setting up the spell, Buffy and Tara watched. Buffy glanced over to Tara c and the shy girl gave her a small nervous smile. Buffy couldn't think of anything to say to Tara that didn't sound lame, so she just returned the smile, and they continued to watch in silence. After a small debate between Willow and Giles over the placement of some wax drippings, the prep work appeared to be at an end.

"Now, then," explained Giles to Buffy, "You'll sit in the middle of the diamond and?"

He was interrupted by the phone. Buffy moved quickly to answer it.

"Hello?" She said more eagerly than she intended.

There was a brief pause before a chipper male voice responded. "Hello, I'm Travis with Armstrong siding and I'd like to inform you about a special offer we'd like to?"

Buffy cut him off. "I'd like to hear about your offer, but I just joined a new church and they've totally convinced me vinyl is a sin. Sorry." She hung up the phone and turned to look at the others. They all seemed to be wearing strange expressions.

"Okay, I'm going to guess that probably wasn't Romica that called," said Willow.

"Telemarketer," confirmed Buffy.

"Vinyl is a sin?" Giles asked.

"This is why it's good to be Jewish. Much less exterior house maintenance." Quipped Willow.

"I hate to just hang up, and I really suck at coming up with excuses," explained Buffy. "Maybe we should just get back to the spell part."

"Gladly," said Giles. "The spell won't take long to perform now that it's set up. Once Romica calls, Willow can perform the final incantation, and you'll see through illusions for an hour or two and be protected from some other unspecified magicks."

Buffy looked over the sand diamond, candles, and wax drippings that covered the kitchen floor. "So I've got to leave all this if he doesn't call? Oh, Mom is going to hate that."

"She'll just have to accept that saving the world sometimes clutters the kitchen," said Willow.

"Well, thanks for the spell. I can't wait to see his face when one of his stupid tricks doesn't work," said Buffy.

"Thank Giles mostly. Well, Giles and?" Willow flipped to the beginning of the book she had brought. Her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh?oops."

"Oops?" Asked Buffy, worried.

Giles crinkled together his eyebrows and looked over Willow's shoulder. "Oh, dear lord," he remarked as he put a hand to his forehead.

Willow's face took on an embarrassed look. "Um, turns out that the guy Giles thought was the creator of the spell was just the guy who compiled the book."

"And that makes for an 'Oh, dear lord'?" asked Buffy.

"No, no. The fact that Romica created the spell is the 'oh, dear lord' part," said Giles, sounding quite upset with himself. "I had thought I had just the one book of his. I didn't realize this one was complied from his works as well."

"Maybe it would be a good idea to find a spell that he didn't actually create," suggested Buffy.

"I concur. Although it is rather disappointing. This one seemed so well suited to the task." Giles looked forlornly down at the book as if staring at the spell long enough would change its authorship.

"Awww, we'll find another one," said Willow, trying to lift Giles' spirits.

The phone rang. Everyone stiffened.

Buffy relaxed and grabbed the receiver. If it was another telemarketer, she was going to scream.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Slayer. Good to talk to you again." The voice belonged to Romica. It sounded strong and healthy. "You'll be glad to know I'm feeling much better."

"Don't get too used to the feeling," said Buffy.

Romica ignored her remark. "Bring the witch to the ruins of your old high school in fifteen minutes. The two of you will come alone. If you ignore either condition, then the meeting is off and I finish off the spell without the witch at a location that isn't the old high school. If your watcher is at all competent, you should know what will happen to her. Meet my conditions, and everyone will walk away unharmed."

The line went dead.

"He wants us at the high school ruins in fifteen minutes. Alone. Well, together, but alone aside from that," Buffy explained to Willow.

Willow took a deep breath. "'Kay. Not exactly a lot of time to make a plan."

"I've got a plan," said Buffy. She looked at Giles. "Get everyone else and come after us if it takes longer than?" she wasn't sure about the time frame.

"From the research, it appears his part of the ritual should last about twenty minutes," said Giles.

"Twenty minutes, then," said Buffy.

She turned to Willow, "Ready to finish that spell?"

"I guess, although it's a pretty loose interpretation of the word 'ready'," said Willow, frowning nervously.

"We better get going," said Buffy.

*****

A globe of bluish light floated above a door to the old school. Buffy decided this must be the way Romica wanted them to come. She decided to play along for now. Once they approached the light, it started to move slowly into the ruins, leading the way and lighting the path as it bobbed along the hallway. Light from the nearly full moon seeped in through holes in the ruins, adding its pale silver light to the pale blue of the globe.

"Guess we're not going to surprise him," said Willow as her gaze traced the movement of the blue globe.

"Guess not," said Buffy.

"It's kinda mesmerizing don't ya think, just bobbing up and down like that ?" said Willow as they walked down the hallway, stepping over scattered debris.

"Library?" Asked Buffy.

"Yeah. At least that's where he set up last time, and the globe is taking us there," said Willow.

Just as Willow predicted, they walked into the area that used to be the library. Here the blue globe drifted upward, where it joined a slowly rotating circle of blue globes that illuminated the ruins of the room. Pale blue light and shadows swept slowly over the shattered remains of the stacks and the ruptured ground that marked the Hellmouth. Concentric circles of red filled with arcane mystic symbols surrounded the Hellmouth. Five wrought iron candle holders standing three feet tall were perfectly spaced around the circle, a tall white candle burning steadily in each. In the middle of the circle sat a chest-high pedestal upon which was mounted a large crystal cube. A pile of daggers sat just outside the circle.

Romica stood next to one of the candles, head down and back turned to Buffy and Willow. The second Buffy saw him she pulled a stake from her jacket and threw it. From the second it left her hand she knew the throw was perfect. The stake flew toward Romica's back on a perfect path to his heart. But it slowed as it approached its target and came to a complete stop a foot from his back. The stake just hung there in mid-air, defying all sense of physics.

"Stupid magic," muttered Buffy.

"So what's the plan?" Asked Willow quietly.

"Um, I've pretty much moved past plan and firmly into the winging it phase of the performance," replied Buffy.

"Oh?.. Really?" Asked Willow, disappointed and worried.

Romica turned to face them. He swatted away the stake, sending it into a dark corner of what remained of the room. He was well-dressed in a tailored gray suit that shifted between a pale blue and charcoal black as the light shifted around the room.

"Good. You're a couple of minutes early. Now I'll need the witch to come over to me so I can complete this spell. You may wait where you are, Slayer. Once I'm done, you'll both be free to walk away," said Romica.

Buffy pulled out another stake. "I'm afraid we have a different agenda." Willow added a defiant expression to help back up Buffy's words.

"Ah, as luck would have it, I have prepared for that possibility." As he spoke, the pile of daggers shifted and all eight daggers rose into the air. They flew quickly in a single file toward Buffy. She dove to the ground under the line of daggers and rolled back to her feet. The daggers had formed a circle around her. They rotated and weaved around her in seemingly random patterns. Then they started to dart at her.

She dodged the first one, and a second. Another dagger darted out, and she paid for being a split-second too slow to react with a shallow cut on her arm. A fourth dagger darted, a fifth, she lost count as all her concentration was consumed by avoiding the little missiles.

They stopped, the daggers suddenly seemed content to just circle her. Buffy panted and took the reprieve to see what was happening.

Willow was walking toward the circle traced around the Hellmouth as Romica looked straight toward Buffy. "The witch has agreed to cooperate to save you from the daggers. A wise decision on her part. Unlike the decision to use one of my spells to protect you from me."

"What can I say? We were short on time." Buffy lunged at one of the daggers, but it shifted away too quickly to grab.

"The daggers will be too quick. One Slayer has died confirming that fact; There's no need to add to the evidence. Don't worry, though. I have no particular interest in killing either of you. I just want my spell completed."

"Well, gee," said Buffy, eyeing the daggers spinning around her. "I feel so much more at ease now."

"I've never sought to kill Slayers. Another one is always called. It's actually quite ironic that we're meeting like this. Callie told me that the Council of Watchers has people who receive visions. One of them had a vision of me performing this very spell, although they didn't know where. A small group of zealous watchers decided to take it upon themselves to summon Callie and bring the Slayer under their control to battle me. Naturally, Callie outsmarted the rogue Watcher that summoned her. Then Callie asked me to come here and told me where to find everything to perform the spell the Council feared," said Romica with a chuckle. "Those fools should be more careful about self-fulfilling prophecies."

Willow stopped at the edge of the circle and eyed the layout of the candles and the symbols. She took a long look at Buffy before turning back to Romica. "What do you want me to do?"

Romica kept his gaze focused on Buffy as he spoke to Willow. "Stand on the symbol for life. That which you possess that I don't." He finally broke his gaze away from Buffy to retrieve some items from behind a pile of rubble.

As he turned his attention to the items, Buffy noticed the stake Romica had swatted away was started to float into the air.

"Don't even think about it, witch," said Romica without diverting his attention from his current task. The stake dropped back to the ground.

Buffy tried to get past the daggers again. She started to lunge between them, but they struck. One grazed her on her side, slashing through her sweater and leaving a small cut on the flesh below. She barely regained her balance enough to avoid another one. For all her efforts, the daggers still trapped her. Guess he doesn't need to actually pay attention for this to work, thought Buffy.

Romica took a knife and a small glass with a clear liquid out from behind the rubble. He started to advance toward Willow.

"Hey! What happened to the everyone walks away part of the deal?" Asked Buffy.

"I?It's okay, Buffy. It's part of the ritual," answered Willow, although she sounded uneasy.

"Everyone will be able to walk away, Slayer. I just need a drop or two." He stopped in front of Willow who was standing rigidly on the symbol. "Your hand," he said.

Willow gave him her left hand, and he used the knife to prick one of her finger tips as Willow shut her eyes. He squeezed out a couple of drops of blood into the glass. Then he pricked his own finger and contributed a couple drops of his blood to the solution. The solution turned a cloudy purple.

"Continue to stand there, witch. This will only take a couple of minutes." He took the glass and placed it in the center of the circle. He chanted for a couple of minutes in Latin while walking to each symbol in the concentric circles except for the one Willow was standing on. Then he walked to Willow and told her two lines to repeat. Willow repeated back the Latin, and the purple liquid in the glass slowly swirled and changed color to a vibrant red. Romica strode over to the glass, picked it up, and drank it.

"Now just one more little step, and we'll be finished." He pulled a small vial of a clear liquid from his inner coat pocket and uncorked it. The cork fell to the ground and bounced into a rent in the earth. Romica moved right in front of Willow again. "Hold still," he told her.

He dribbled a little of the liquid onto his index finger and touched it to the center of Willow's stomach. "Be true to my mark." He then slowly traced his finger up to the base her neck. "And be guided by my path." He backed away.

Willow looked at him confused, "I?I don't remember that part from what you showed me about the spell."

"That's because it has nothing to do with it. That last part was for my daggers. You are free to go, and I suggest you run." He gave her a mocking smile.

The daggers circling Buffy broke formation and started flying toward Willow. Willow's eyes opened wide, and she turned and ran.

"Break the daggers to break the spell. I give you a 50-50 chance to save your friend, Slayer," said Romica smugly.

Buffy shot him a murderous look. "This isn't over," said Buffy as she ran off after Willow and the daggers.

"It will be soon," said Romica from behind her.

Buffy flew through the opening that the daggers had followed Willow through and found Willow running down a dark hallway. There was just enough moonlight to catch a glint of metal. The daggers were gaining on her friend. Buffy sprinted after them, but she could tell the daggers would reach Willow well before she could. They were almost at Willow's back.

"Will, get down!" yelled Buffy.

Willow threw herself to the ground and the daggers flew over her. They started to turn around but were thankfully slow. Much slower than when they had threatened Buffy. "Run the other way," yelled Buffy as she hurdled over Willow and grabbed for two of the daggers. She managed to get a grip on one, but the other tumbled away out of her reach. Willow scrambled quickly to her feet and started to run away again.

Buffy slipped the blade of the dagger into a gap between locker doors and snapped it in two as she turned to pursue the daggers once again. One down, seven to go. They couldn't do the same trick seven more times. She still couldn't really understand how the daggers didn't get to Willow the first time. Something clicked. This was a distraction. Romica's spell wasn't meant to kill Willow; if the daggers had moved like they did against Buffy, then Willow would already be dead. Buffy saw Willow duck into a door down the hall with the daggers close behind. Buffy ran back to where Romica was.

She pulled a second stake from her jacket as she rushed back into the remains of the library. Romica was standing in the middle of the circle, eyes closed, chanting in some unknown language. Directly in front of him was the crystal cube that was now glowing a dim blue. Blue smoke streamed from each of the five candles directly into the cube. Buffy charged at him with her stake.

She didn't get close. As she crossed over the circle, Romica's eyes snapped open and he raised a hand. It felt like a huge invisible hand just struck her. She went flying backward and crashed into what remained of the stacks. As she picked herself up out of the smashed debris, Romica set down the cube and advanced on her. She threw her stake only to have Romica calmly step out of the way at just the right moment as if he had read her mind. "This time I'm prepared for you, Slayer."

"Do they teach that in the vamp scouts?" Asked Buffy. She ran at him and threw a kick. He dodged it and struck her hard in the back, hammering her to the ground. Buffy rolled back to her feet.

"You shouldn't have come back," he said to her.

"Well, you were such a gracious host the first time I couldn't help myself," She tried to hit him, but he moved away just in time. She followed with a kick, but again he stayed a step ahead of her. He kicked her solidly in the midsection, sending her crashing into a wall. Her head hit hard, and her vision started to cloud.

Romica pulled a dagger just like the ones he had sent after her and Willow from an ankle sheath. He held it flatly in his palm and closed his eyes. "May your brothers delay no longer and find their sheath in living flesh," he intoned. He gave Buffy a smug smile. "As you must have guessed, the daggers were not going to actually kill your friend. I'm afraid that is no longer the case."

The fog cleared, and anger charged through her veins. She flipped herself to her feet and lunged at Romica. Again he was a step ahead of her and connected with kick to her chest, sending her flying again. Ugh, this couldn't be a coincidence. He must be using magic to anticipate her motions. Her ribs hurt. The fog was creeping back into her head. She had to do something different. Mustering her concentration, she was able to focus in on Romica again. He was walking toward her in full vamp face now. He looked ready for the kill.

She looked around and found the first stake that Romica had swatted away only a couple of feet away. Turning her head back toward Romica, she could see him a little bit away, walking up to her calmly with a mocking smile plastered on his demonic features, dramatically backlit by the increasing glow of the crystal cube behind him. She threw the stake, and again Romica easily moved aside. He realized a split second too late that he wasn't her target this time.

The stake smashed into the crystal cube. Romica watched it shatter, an expression of absolute horror on his face. "No! It's not done!" he yelled. From somewhere outside the building, there was a powerful explosion that shook the ground. Buffy got to her feet and leaped at Romica. Another explosion shook them.

Buffy punched him straight in the jaw and followed with a kick into his hip that sent him down. Another explosion. She ran back to the shattered remains of the cube and retrieved her stake. Another explosion.

Romica was starting to get to his feet, chanting another incantation. Buffy jumped toward him, somersaulted, and plunged the stake into his chest at the end her roll. "You really should learn to talk faster," she said as he exploded into dust and another explosion shook the ruins. Buffy took a deep breath and ran off to find Willow.

She burst into the hallway where she had first followed Willow and headed toward the door Willow had ducked through. It led into a ruined classroom with several openings in the smashed walls. She froze. From somewhere not too distant, she could hear a metallic tap-tap-tap. She ran after the sound through a couple more rooms and a hallway. Then into the remains of the cafeteria. The tapping was getting louder.

Buffy made her way into the remains of the kitchen area and found the daggers tapping furiously at the door of a ruined refrigerator. She started grabbing and snapping daggers until six broken daggers lay on the ground. Then she flung open the refrigerator door. Willow was huddled there, both hands gripping a dagger pointed directly at her midsection. Her eyes were locked on it in complete concentration. "Help, please," she asked with a squeak.

Buffy grabbed the dagger and snapped its blade in two as well. Willow burst out of the refrigerator and hugged her. "Oh, god, am I glad to see you."

"Me too," said Buffy. "Romica is dust, just to let you know."

Willow squeezed her one more time on that news and then let go. She had a big smile. "I think we are entitled to a celebration. You know, something that doesn't involve being shut in a dark box."

"I could go for something involving band-aids and aspirin, and I'm totally with you on the dark box thing," said Buffy. "In fact, why don't we start by getting out of the dark ruins?"

*****

Buffy emerged from the school with Willow to spot Xander, Giles, and Riley walking briskly to another entrance, loaded down with weapons.

"Hey, guys!" Shouted Buffy. They all looked her way and started to jog toward her. Riley jogged up to her first. He hugged Buffy and nodded at Willow. "You guys okay? We saw the explosions around the school."

"We're fine. What was the deal with the explosions anyhow?"

Giles took a couple of breaths and answered. "Those would be the stones of Kartamar. Apparently the circle was much wider than I had thought, and Romica managed to make the stones invisible. Clever really. Speaking of Romica?"

Buffy smiled proudly. "History. I staked Magic Boy."

"Just like the last time he was killed?" Asked Xander.

Buffy glanced back toward the school ruins. "Oh." She looked back at everyone else. "You don't think he?It felt real."

"Bear in mind that last time it took two hundred years to determine that he had not actually been slain," said Giles.

"See, you just have a wait a couple of centuries before you can put another notch on Mr. Pointy. No big deal," said Willow.

Buffy shrugged. "I can live with that."
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