Micah threw herself to the side, the pipe barely missing her head. She rolled to her feet and whirled to face her attacker. It was a man, dark-haired and stocky, with a wild look about his eyes. Micah bared her fangs and screamed challengingly, hoping the assailant would back down when he saw she wasn't human.

He lunged toward her, bringing the pipe back got another swing. Micah arched her back to allow the pipe to pass inches over her face. She completed the back flip and launched herself forward. They tumbled over the floor and into the hole, landing hard on the seal, Micah on top.

She hissed at him, struggling not to lose her advantage, but he was bigger and heavier than her. So she did the first thing she thought of. Her head darted forward and buried her fangs in his throat.

His scream of pain nearly deafened her as the taste of blood exploded across her tongue and she gagged but didn't let go. He grabbed her shoulders and shoved her off him, tearing her fangs from his neck. Micah's back hit the side of the hole and she spat blood from her mouth.

"Micah! The seal!" She heard Father's shout from above and risked a glance downwards. The metal was glowing faintly around the edges of the inscriptions. "The blood!"

Blood poured from the ragged wound in the stranger's throat, soaking the front of his shirt and dripping onto the seal. Micah summoned her strength, seized hold of the stranger, and hurled him from the depression.

The seal began to open under Micah's feet, and she gathered herself to jump clear. Something clamped around her ankle at the last minute, pitching her headlong across the separating metal. She caught a glimpse of a twisted, horrible face between the pieces and screamed.

It was a high-pitched shriek of terror on the barest edge of human hearing. She had never made such a sound before, but then again, she had never been so scared. There was a replying screech from below her and the grip on her ankle was released. Micah scrabbled out of the hole and turned over, looking back into it. The seal slammed close again, the glow fading.

"What on earth?" Angel blinked at his daughter through the blood streaming from the gash across his forehead. "What was that?"

"I-I don't know," she stammered. "I think it was another Turok-han."

"What?" Angel stared at her blankly. "I was talking about that scream."

Micah gave him a quizzical look but was distracted by their attacker stirring sluggishly. She growled and grabbed him by the neck, putting pressure on the wound. "Who are you and why did you attack us?"

"I know him," Angel said, swiping blood out of his eyes. "That's Warren Mears."

*****

"What the hell happened to you?" Buffy demanded when Micah and Angel walked through the front door, dragging Warren behind them. Andrew gave a high-pitched yelp and fled the living room.

Micah and Angel looked each other up and down. Angel's face was covered in blood, as was Micah's mouth and chin. Warren's neck had been imperfectly bandaged with part of Angel's over shirt.

"He happened," Angel replied, pushing Warren to the floor. "We went to check on the seal and he met us with a metal pipe."

"And his neck?" Giles asked apprehensively.

"I did that," Micah said.

Wesley regarded Micah with sudden alarm as he realized the blood on her face wasn't hers. "Oh, my," he muttered.

Buffy prodded the half-conscious young man with her toe. "What are we supposed to do with him?" she asked.

"Tie him up," Angel suggested. "I'm going to take a shower and take care of this." He pointed to the swollen gash across his forehead. "Micah, you'd better get cleaned up, too."

"Yes, sir," she said, heading for the stairs. Oz and Doyle had already taken custody of Warren while Caddie went to find Andrew. Buffy reached up to turn Angel's head so she could examine his wound. She nodded towards the kitchen and he followed her wordlessly.

As she dabbed a wet towel to his forehead, she asked quietly. "What happened?"

"It was Micah," he replied. "She was…like an animal. She bit him. On the neck. Then she tossed him around like a doll." He flinched when she pressed too hard. "Then she screamed. It felt like my head was going to explode. I mean, more than it was already."

"Because of the scream?" Buffy asked, confused.

"Yeah. I couldn't think or move or do anything. And it stopped the Turok-han from coming out of the seal. Warren had bled on it and it was opening. A Turok-han grabbed Micah's leg, but she screamed and it let go." Angel hissed in pain as Buffy finished washing the blood away. "I'm still not sure whether to be impressed or disturbed."

"Well, now we know that both our daughters have anti-vampire abilities," Buffy said dryly, putting the bloody towel in the sink. "What are we going to do with Warren?"

"Get some answers, hopefully," Angel said with a sigh, holding a clean towel to his forehead to stem the bleeding. "Andrew said Warren tried to open the seal, right?"

"Killed Jonathan trying," Buffy confirmed. "I am so going to kick his ass."

"You have my complete blessing," Angel told her. He stole a quick kiss. "I'll be back in a minute.

*****

Doyle checked the knots on the ropes one more time as Dawn finished bandaging Warren's neck. "You've dealt with this young man before?" Wesley asked.

"Yeah," Dawn replied. "Built himself the perfect robot girlfriend and then broke up with her. April did some damage trying to get back to him year before last. Not fun."

"So he goes from mad scientist to psycho cult killer?" Kennedy asked. "How does that work?"

"Welcome to the Hellmouth, sweetheart," Dawn muttered dryly.

Warren stirred and opened his eyes blearily. "What the fuck?" he muttered. Dawn slapped him hard.

"Watch the language, buster," she said harshly. Oz lifted an eyebrow and said nothing. Dawn got to her feet. "I'll go tell Buffy he's awake."

Warren looked at the half-demon and werewolf standing on either side of him and the Potential standing a little ways off. "What? Where am I?"

"In deep trouble," Oz replied. "You hurt Buffy's family. She's going to kill you now."

Warren snarled uncaringly. "I've got power like none of you have ever imagined. The Slayer can't hurt me."

Buffy walked into the living room, her eyes as cold and hard as ice. "We'll see about that," she said harshly.

*****

Caddie found Andrew on the back porch, sitting with his head in his hands. "Andrew?" she asked softly. "Are you okay?"

"No, not really," he replied, not looking at her. "He—he tried to kill me. And now he's here. In this house. And…I'm afraid of him."

"Micah hurt him pretty badly," Caddie told him. "I don't think he's in any shape to do anything evil."

"Yeah…" Andrew sighed and lifted his head. "Why doesn't that comfort me?"

Caddie scooted closer to Andrew and put her arm around his shoulders. "Listen, Andrew. Mother and Father aren't going to let Warren act up. They'll learn what he knows and then deal with him. Besides, you don't think he can stand against Cordy and Willow, do you? And we also have Doyle, Oz, and Spike, too. Trust me, this is the safest place for you."

He looked over at her, a faint, hopeful smile playing around his mouth. "You think so?" he asked.

She gave him a mock-indignant look. "Hey, who chased an uber-vamp away from you last night?" She poked his arm. "I know so. My family kicks ass."