Jonathan sighed. This was supposed to be fun. Being super villains, causing chaos, hanging out. But ever since Warren had found that scroll and been all super secretive about what it said things had been different. It wasn't about having fun anymore, it was about Warren's secret plan. Well Jonathan was starting not to care about the plan. Jonathan didn't want to sit outside the slayer's house with a pair of binoculars. It felt creepy. He knew he was only doing it because of an evil plan, but if someone saw him they would think he was some kind of peeping tom and how could he explain that he was just trying to… Well he didn't know what he was trying to do because of the big secret. "This sucks." He muttered "This really, really sucks."

…

Faith trudged through the doors of the wrecked Hyperion in time to see Angel rush toward the basement. "What happened here?" Faith asked, causing Angel to backtrack

"Faith?!" Angel looked past her. "Where is everybody else?"

"They took the bus." Faith said "Did somebody throw a party and not invite us?"

The vengeance demon chuckled. "Oh you're invited, you're the guest of honor."

Faith gave Angel a quizzical look. "I don't get it."

"I'm taking the sewers. You go above ground. We have to find the others." Angel said

"They're on their way here." Faith said "Won't we just miss each other?"

Angel considered this. "Okay, I'll wait here because I can't get to the road anyway so even if I found them I couldn't do anything. But you need to go find them. We have a problem."

…

"The slayer?" Cordelia asked nervously "Have you tried Sunnydale?"

"That's cute." Ethan said "Really, quite adorable."

"I'm less amused." A woman entered the bus behind Ethan while a blond teenager that looked vaguely familiar stood outside. "Hey Wesley," She waved at Wesley, who was holding his bruised and bloody mouth. His eyes widened upon seeing her. "You look… the same really."

"Interesting," Ethan said

"Quite, where's the slayer?" The woman asked

"I told you." Cordelia said "She's in-"

The woman threw her hand toward Cordelia and she went flying toward the back of the bus, her body hitting the back wall and crumpling into the seats. "Cordy!" Gunn ran toward her.

Wesley stood up and Ethan moved forward and grabbed him by his collar. "No boy,"

The woman put on hand on Ethan's shoulder and ran her hand down his arm until she was touching Wesley's neck. She dipped a finger in his blood. "Where's the slayer?"

"She's not here." Fred said as civilians conducted a mass exodus from the bus

The woman put her bloody finger in her mouth, sucking on it. "Well that narrows it down not at all. We were looking for a more exact location. Latitude and longitude would be great."

"But we will settle for an address." Ethan said

"We don't know where she is." Wesley said, causing blood to pour out of his mouth

Ethan dropped the younger man. "Now that's just disgusting."

The woman giggled. "Oh Ethan, you're so funny."

"Um guys," The blond teenager said "I think we should go."

The woman licked her finger again, trying to get the blood stuck under her nail. "Why did we bring him again darling? He tries my patience so egregiously. Can't I kill im?"

"Oh no love, we have enemies to kill, always do them before the allies."

The woman sighed. "It's a bore, to do things the proper way."

"I know, but we'll soon be behaving most improperly. If you could just get your old school mate to tell me where his former charge is we can be on our way."

"What do you say Wesley?" The woman asked "Where's the slayer?"

"I don't know." Wesley said "I honestly have no idea."

The woman sighed. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Why do you try my patience?"

"Wait a minute…" Fred stared at the woman. "Are you…"

The woman stared at Fred with cruel blue eyes. "Am I what?"

"Are you the girl? Are you Rose?"

The woman tilted her head. "How do you know my name?"

Fred gasped. "You're the one! You're the school bully."

"Not anymore," Rose assured her "I've moved on from that. Now I'm a serial killer."

"What is it with the council these days?" Wesley murmured "Everyone's turning evil."

"We were always evil Wesley, but now we're also chaotic, a dreadful combination."

Ethan knelt down in front of Wesley. "Do you want to see what the mixture makes?"

"Hey!" Ethan and Rose turned around. A pissed off Faith entered the bus. "Get the hell away from my watcher." Faith dragged Andrew behind her as she descended on the Brits.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow," Andrew said "That hurts."

Gunn was helping Cordelia to her feet. She was rubbing her head and pressing against her spine, but she look relatively undamaged. "Don't I know you?" She asked Faith's hostage

"I'm Andrew Wells." Andrew said

"Doesn't ring a-"

Andrew sighed. "Tucker's brother,"

Cordelia's face lit up with recognition. "Right! Prom guy, what a jerk."

"You know I'm the one that unleashed the flying monkeys on the school-"

"As fascinating as this conversation is," Rose said "Can we maybe progress to the slaughtering everybody?" Rose threw out her hand and sent Faith and Andrew flying out of the bus into the street. She and Ethan went after them. Wesley, Fred, Gunn, and Cordelia followed them onto the street. Faith struggled to her feet and Rose used magic to send her flying again.

"My God," Wesley said "What happened to you?"

Rose turned around and smiled at her old schoolmate. "You know how it is."

"Not really," Wesley said "When did this happen?"

"Well once I killed my parents and about a dozen watchers that they sent after me to bring me in I had limited options. It was jail or villain. I went with the more fun option."

"What do you need Faith for?" Wesley asked

"Good old Wesley, so full of questions. You're adorable." Rose chuckled.

"I can understand why you would hate the council, but why go after the slayer?"

"It's nothing personal." Rose said "I just need a sacrifice. I figure she'd be easier to get my hands on than the one with friends. I hear that redhead is making waves in the energy flows."

"What kind of sacrifice demands blood that mystically potent?" Wesley asked

"That would be telling. But since we're catching up, what the hell happened to you?"

Wesley touched his face. "I made a wish."

"Tsk, tsk," Rose said "That vengeance demon back at the Hyperion?"

"You were at the Hyperion?" Wesley asked

"Looking for the slayer, yes. I thought the vampire would know." Rose turned around in order to send another attack toward the slayer who had struggled to her feet. Faith flew further away and Wesley saw red fluid begin to form a pool around her. "She is stubborn."

"Don't sacrifices usually need to be alive to be sacrificed?" Wesley asked

Rose sighed. She turned to face Wesley. "Trust me, that bitch isn't going to die from being tossed around a bit. Not like you, you're all squishy. Do you want to be squashed?"

Wesley stared at her. "What's the spell?"

Rose looked past Wesley toward Fred, who was leaning on Gunn because her knee could no longer take the pressure of her body weight. Rose smiled at Fred in a way that reminded Fred of the Pylean who had sold her. It was the same smile he wore when he saw a cow he thought would fetch a high price at market. "It's a terrible spell Wesley." Rose whispered

"What will it do?"

"End the world." Rose stared at him, serious. "And not in a merciful blaze. It will be a slow, painful, grueling end. Our race will cease. All that will be left will be the demon kind."

Wesley took a step back. "Why?"

Rose turned around to go collect the slayer. He heard the notes of her soft singing as she made her way to Faith. "I smell women, smell em in the air. Think I'll drop me anchor in that harbor over there. Lovely ladies, I'll love you till I'm broke." Ethan followed her and Andrew tried to get to his feet. Gunn ran after the witch and wizard. Fred had to grab onto Cordelia to keep herself from toppling over. Rose leaned over the slayer and was rewarded with a kick in the face that sent her reeling back. "You little bitch!" Rose fell to the ground.

"Good job Faith." Wesley whispered

Gunn reached Ethan and punched him in the face. Ethan reeled back, but responded by throwing a powder at Gunn that exploded in his face. Gunn stepped back and put his hands to his face, shouting in pain. Faith grabbed Ethan by the arm, took a scalpel from her pocket, and then pressed it against his neck. As Rose got to her feet Faith pressed the scalpel closer to Ethan's skin and kept a vise-like grip on his arm. "One wrong move and I'll take your boyfriend's head clean off. You know I can. But back away right now and he'll live to see tomorrow."

Rose chuckled. She rubbed the red mark on her face where Faith had hit her. "Go ahead,"

"Oh come now Rosie," Ethan said "We have such good times."

"I can find another wizard." Rose said "And I can find another dick. I might even be able to find another person who is both. I don't need him. So go ahead and kill him if you can."

Faith faltered. "Don't do it Faith." Wesley said "They aren't worth it."

The sound of sirens filled the air. "Rosie love," Ethan said "Maybe we should try to get the slayer another time. I don't think this is our moment. Let's say we go now."

Rose shrugged. "All right slayer, we'll go."

Faith let go of Ethan. Wesley knew what was going to happen next so he made his way toward her as quickly as possible and tried to push her out of the way of Rose's attack. The last thing he remembered was a flash of red light and then a wave of darkness.

…

Angel paced back and forth in the lobby. He tried to block out the taunting of the vengeance demon while he thought, but it was nearly impossible. He didn't know very much about magic, he needed an expert. He slapped his forehead and went over to the phone to dial a number he remembered from yesterday. He tuned out the demon's joke about how he was supposed to beat up his enemies, not himself. He barely let Giles get out the hello before he started his explanation. "Giles! We just got back. Some wizards are after Faith. They want to sacrifice her for some kind of really bad spell. I need to get in touch with Willow."

There was a pause. "What have you lot gotten into up there?" Giles asked with a sigh

"It's not us." Angel tried to defend himself "Your buddy Ethan is a part of it."

This got Giles's attention. "Ethan?! I thought he was rotting away in a cell somewhere."

"He's in L.A. and he's after my friends. He wants to do some sort of spell, I don't know what it is but it's probably bad. They want to sacrifice Faith for it. I thought Willow might be able to tell me what kind of spell they might be trying. This is kind of an emergency."

"I can see that." Giles said in a dry tone "We've been dealing with a bit of an emergency ourselves however, Sunnydale is under some sort of mystical effect that has caused everyone to burst into song at the slightest provocation. We're trying to figure out the cause now."

"I'm not trying to be childish, but I think my problem's a bit more serious."

"I know it sounds trivial on the phone, but it really is a problem. Where is Faith at this exact moment? If the wizards need her to complete the spell your first priority should be to make sure she's somewhere they don't have access to. Perhaps you could take her back to prison, they can hardly perform the sacrifice there. The assassination attempts were probably a ruse to draw her out. It would appear they have been successful in that regard." Giles said

"I can't just take her back to prison. She didn't do anything wrong."

"She killed a man." Giles said gently "She also, if I recall correctly, tortured your friend."

Angel flinched. "I mean when she broke out. They'll punish her for breaking out even though she only did what she had to in order to survive. I can't let her be punished for that."

Giles sighed. "You never said where she is."

"She's out looking for Wes and the others."

"So she's out looking for your friends while the people who want to kill her are in the same city looking for her? That seems like a disastrous setup Angel." Giles said

"Well when you put it like that-"

"Listen I have to go." Giles said "Call me back later."

"But-" The line hummed, dead.

Liyanna chuckled. "Nice job vampire."

Angel slammed the phone down. "When this is over I'm going to cut your head off."

…

Faith ran toward the witch. She saw Rose move her hands and Faith instinctually put her hands in front of her face. She felt a burning in her hands so painful it brought her to her knees and she screamed. Rose started toward the slayer, but Ethan grabbed her. "Not now my love, now we make our grand escape." He took firm hold of her wrist and started to drag her down the street away from the scene. Rose punched his ear. "Ah!" Ethan staggered back.

Rose turned back toward the slayer and was greeted by Faith's burnt hands latching onto her throat and squeezing. Rose grabbed the hands and the burns on Faith's hands got worse and worse as Rose forced heat into her flesh. But Faith refused to let go and soon Rose's eyelids began to flutter. Rose slumped toward the ground. Faith let her fall to the ground and the woman would have incurred a serious cranial injury if Ethan hadn't caught her. He lifted her over his shoulders and ran from the slayer. Andrew followed, terrified. As they ran by Cordy she tripped Andrew and sent him sprawling to the ground. Ethan didn't even pause and when Andrew tried to get to his feet Cordelia kicked him in the abdomen and then put her foot over his throat.

"I surrender!" Andrew squeaked

…

Jonathan's mouth dropped open. Were the witches having sex? This almost made being put on recon duty worth it. Jonathan tried to adjust the focus on his binoculars, but then his cellphone went off and he dropped them. "Darn it!" He sighed as he answered the phone, but secretly he was glad he had dropped the binoculars. He liked to see a naked woman as much as the next guy, provided that guy wasn't Andrew, but he felt so creepy watching a woman without her knowledge. It felt wrong in a very visceral way. "Hello," He said to the unknown number

"Hey Jonathan," A petulant voice whined

"Andrew?" Jonathan looked at the number. "Whose phone are you on?"

"Do you remember how Warren sent me to L.A. to help those creepy British people capture the other slayer for that super-secret spell he wouldn't tell us about?"

"Yeah," Jonathan said

"I got caught. Warren won't answer his phone and I'm really scared. One of these people is a vampire and I'm afraid he's going to eat me. Can you find Warren and come rescue me?"

Jonathan sighed again. "I'll go look for him."

"Hurry! I don't want to be eaten."

"I'm hurrying. Just try not to smell too delicious."

…

Angel rubbed his head. The vengeance demon was still in the binding circle and Andrew was tied to a chair in the lobby. Cordelia was on the phone with Giles getting information about the geeks that had been terrorizing Sunnydale lately. Wesley was still unconscious in one of the upstairs bedrooms and Fred was watching over him. Gunn was lying on the couch with an icepack on his face while Faith paced back and forth with her hands wrapped in bandages like she had gotten a transplant from a mummy. Angel heard a click. "Giles said he will come down to talk to this Andrew guy and try to figure out the spell as soon as everyone stops singing."

Gunn sat up. "What?"

Angel waved his hand. "Don't ask."

"So what do we do until then?" Faith asked

"Avoid the crazy British people?" Angel asked

"I say we have Faith torture Andrew." Cordelia said

"What?!" Andrew squealed

Faith gave Cordelia a dirty look. "I don't do that anymore."

"Cordy," Angel said in a warning voice

"I just don't see why when it's us getting tortured it's fine, but when there's a bad guy with information we need suddenly it's wrong. That doesn't make any sense to me."

"It's always wrong Cordelia, you know that. You're just trying to make Faith feel bad."

"Is it working?" Cordelia asked

"Hard to tell." Faith said "I already feel bad."

"Can we focus?" Angel asked "Please?"

Cordelia put her hands in the air. "Fine, whatever."

"The bad guys need Faith to complete their evil plan right?" Gunn asked

Angel nodded.

"So we just keep her safe until those witches get here and tell us what's the what."

"But what do we do with the wizard and the vengeance demon?" Cordelia asked

"I say we cut the demon's head off." Angel said

"Sounds good to me." Cordelia went over to the weapon's cabinet to get Angel a sword.

"What kind of binding spell is that?" Warren asked

"No talking unless it's of the gut spilling variety." Cordelia told Andrew

Andrew mumbled something under his breath but they all ignored him. Cordelia handed Angel a sword and he headed toward the vengeance demon. As he rose it to sever her head the pattern on the floor glowed for a moment and then Andrew shouted a wish. "I wish the vengeance demon and I were transported to where Warren and Jonathan are! Please!"

The demon gave Angel a cheeky smile. "Done."

Angel's sword swung through empty air. "Damn it!" He shouted

Gunn shook his head. "I'm going to go take a nap."

"Me too," Faith said "Does it matter which room I take?"

Angel shook his head, temper boiling. "No, you can have whatever room you want."

"I'm going home." Cordelia said

"Maybe that's not the best idea." Angel said "If Ethan or the chick-"

"I'll be fine." Cordelia said "I'm a seer with mad swordsmanship skills."

Angel nodded. "Just be careful."

…

Jonathan entered the basement. "Warren! Are you here?!"

Warren was hunched over a scroll and he looked up with an expression of intense displeasure on his face when he heard Jonathan. "What is it?" He snapped

"Andrew got captured." Jonathan said

Warren swore. "How are we supposed to capture the other slayer if we can't even stop ourselves from being captured? What exactly happened?" Warren pushed the scroll aside.

"I don't know. They let him call us, I think they were trying to find out who we are."

Warren pulled out his cellphone and saw the missed call. "Great, and now they do."

"So are we going to go rescue him?"

"We'll wait until we hear from our new allies." Warren said

Jonathan glanced at the scroll. "Can I take another look at the scroll?"

"Why? You already translated the part I needed to read." Warren said

"I just thought it would be cool to know what the spell did."

"You'll know soon, you'll be helping cast it." Warren said

Jonathan shifted uncomfortably. "Andrew thought he was in danger."

"He'll be fine. Good guys never kill anyone."

"But-"

"I said-!"

Warren was cut off by a flash of light and then Andrew was on the ground wincing and rubbing his backside. A woman was also there. "Wow," Jonathan said "What happened?"

Andrew started to answer, but before he could get a syllable out the vengeance demon grabbed Warren and threw him across the room. She picked up the scroll and shoved it into her pocket before turning to face Jonathan. "You, you are the one with the magic." She said

Jonathan backed away. "I-I-"

She waved her hand for silence and Jonathan complied. "Tell your leader and his allies that if they go any further with their attempt to activate the scroll of Creon I will find someone who despises you enough to wish you particularly gruesome deaths. You have been warned."

Jonathan's eyes widened as the strange woman disappeared. Warren pulled himself up and both he and Jonathan turned to Andrew. "What the hell was that?!" Warren demanded

…

Wesley opened his eyes and tried to remember what had happened. They had been on a bus, then the bus had been attacked. The memories came rushing back and Wesley recalled getting in the way of Rose's attack on Faith. Wesley sat up and touched his head. "You're up!"

Wesley jumped a little at the loud proclamation. He turned his head and the sight that greeted him turned his face into a grin. "Hey Fred," She moved from her chair to sit on his bed.

His smile grew. "How long was I out?"

She reached for his head to feel the knot in the back. "A couple of hours," She said

He wanted to turn his head and kiss her arm, then keep kissing her up her arm, to her neck, and finally reaching her beautiful ruby red lips. "What happened after I went out?"

"We got away with a hostage." Fred ran her fingers through his hair.

"Go us," Wesley whispered

"Hm," Fred moved closer to him. She leaned forward. "Wesley," She whispered

"Yes?"

"I'm trying to seduce you." She said

"Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah,"

"Does that mean I'm supposed to kiss you?" Wesley asked

"Only if you want to." Fred said

"It's sort of what I've been thinking about since I woke up and saw you." Wesley leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. She opened her mouth and ran her tongue over his teeth while he tasted her lips. He savored the flavor that was Fred. "Hm," He moaned

When they pulled apart she grinned at him. "Now what are you thinking about?"

"How beautiful you are." He said "And also that I might be dreaming."

"Do I look like a dream?" She asked

"Not one of mine, like the dream of a famous sculptor."

She blushed. "I didn't know you were a poet." She said

"I'm not." He promised "I'm just overcome by you."

"By my beauty?" She asked

Wesley shook his head. "By all that you are, by your essence and soul."

Fred giggled. "You're not like anyone I've ever met." She said

"Is that a good thing?"

Fred pressed her ear against Wesley's chest and listened to his heartbeat. "Yes,"

…

Faith was a light sleeper, she had to be both in prison and on the street. So when she heard the soft impact of a light foot hitting the carpet she immediately sat up. She stared at Angel, who wore a very guilty expression. "Sorry," He whispered "I just wanted to…"

"What?" Faith wasn't whispering. "Watch me sleep?" She asked in a humorous tone

"Only for a moment, I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"If someone snuck up here and murdered me you would probably hear something."

"No," Angel gave her an exasperated look. "That's not what I meant."

"Well what did you mean?" Faith asked, genuinely confused

"You've been through the ringer. When you got here you were already exhausted, then we went to that other dimension and… I don't even know what all… put you through. Then you went up against a powerful witch. I know you have slayer healing, but the emotional strain-"

Faith cut him off. "Don't worry Angel. Compared to parts of my life yesterday was a total cakewalk. I just need a few hours of z-time and then I'll be bright and perky." She smirked.

"I just want you to know that if you're having a hard time… that's okay." Angel shifted from foot to foot and looked everywhere but at her. "You can… talk to me." He said

Faith chuckled. "Man, you suck at this."

"That has recently been brought to my attention." Angel said

"Get some sleep soul boy. I'll still be here later."

"Promise?" Angel asked

Faith tried to keep the hurt from her face and voice. "Do you think I'm going to run?"

"No Faith, I just want you to know I would care if you did." Angel's soft footfalls carried him out of her room. Faith slowly laid back down and let herself fall into a slightly deeper sleep.