Willow's exhaustion was causing her to lag behind and Tara hung back with Willow to support her. This left Dawn leading their little group with Cordelia next to her. Dawn kept throwing glances at the cheerleader. "So are you two like an item?" Dawn asked

"What?" Cordelia looked at Dawn as though she had sprouted antlers.

"You and Wesley,"

Cordelia made a face. "What gave you that idea?"

"Well before you guys left you were making googly eyes at each other and then you ended up working together. So I just assumed… I guess I assumed wrong." Dawn said

"Damn right you did. That'd be like dating my brother." Cordelia shuddered.

"So you're close then?" Dawn asked "Even though you're not together?"

"Yes, very close."

"Are you scared for him?" Dawn asked

"Wes is resourceful, he'll be fine." Cordy sounded like she was trying to convince herself as much as she was Dawn. "I want to know why future girl didn't warn us about this."

"Things have already changed." Dawn said "This probably didn't happen."

Cordy sighed. "So much for our advantage."

…

Spike was dragged into a lab. Evi was sitting in a metal chair looking remarkable calm for a young girl confined by restraints. Spike was forced into his own chair and similarly restrained by Lilah's goons. Lilah picked up two thin metal spikes that were connected by wires to a device that had a screen and speakers. "Who wants to go first?" She sounded almost giddy.

"You don't want to do this Lilah." Evi's voice was apathetic.

"Oh I really do." Lilah assured her

"We're on the same side you stupid cow." Spike growled "We want to stop the old ones from rising like they did last time. Your bosses want the same thing."

"I don't know anything about any old ones." Lilah said "But if you're telling the truth the contents of your head should prove that. I think I'll start with you vampire."

Spike tugged uselessly at his bindings. "You're pissing off the wrong people."

"Yeah, you're scary." Lilah said

"Not me, the slayer."

"Why would the slayer care about one vampire? It's not as though you have a soul like Angel. I'm surprised she hasn't staked you yet. But soon we'll find out why."

Spike gritted his teeth. "Bugger off."

"I'm really sorry Spike." Evi whispered "This is my fault."

Before Spike could respond Lilah jammed the spikes into his head. He was unable to restrain a howl of pain. The irony of the situation was not lost on him and thinking about the pain made him remember that cursed water. The device emitted a few random sounds before Fred's voice came from it. "We're almost there guys. Does anybody see anything?"

A yellow light took over the screen. "Watch it Angel!" Spike's voice said

Lilah watched the screen in fascination and so did Evi despite her guilt and the sympathy she felt for Spike. The view was of under the ocean at night. "I think I see the shore." Angel said

"Remember," Buffy said "Getting into Wolfram & Hart is our top priority."

That was when it struck. The pain that this device was reminding Spike of had come from a giant jellyfish. It had slapped his head with one of its appendages. Spike had bellowed with pain and then seen the assortment of creatures. "Bugger all." Spike said "We're doomed."

"Oh my God, oh my God," Fred said

"They're everywhere." Buffy said

Buffy was right. Sharks and jellyfish and all other assortment of things. None of them were the correct size and all of them looked vicious. "Let's turn around." Angel said

"But Angel-" Fred began

"No arguments. We're going back." Then all of the creatures swam away. In defiance of physics a currents materialized from nowhere and drove the four of them from the ocean onto the beach. They were weighed down by their scuba gear. Even Spike and Angel, who didn't need oxygen, had been wearing weights to keep them below the surface and helmets so they could communicate with the others. The four of them struggled out of the heavy equipment.

"Hey guys." Es said "What do you think?"

Buffy was the first to get her gear off. She glared at the creature standing a few metres away from them. "Why did you do this?" Buffy demanded

"Why did I save your life?" Es asked

"No, why did you infect my friend? What have you to gain?"

"Well it's not as though you lot were going to be a challenge. Unused muscles will atrophy in time. I need an opponent who will make me exercise all of my skills and powers."

"Where is she?" Angel asked

"Around, and she isn't your concern."

"Why save us then?" Spike asked

"Why do you insist on asking questions you already know the answer too?" Es asked

"Will you help us get to Wolfram & Hart?" Fred asked

"Why should I?" Es asked

"I just thought it was worth a shot." Fred said

"Get there yourselves. I might be entertained by your attempt."

Angel growled in irritation. "Come on guys. This bitch is just wasting time."

Spike, Buffy, and Fred followed Angel toward Wolfram & Hart. They did their best to avoid Troy's monsters, but this wasn't always possible. However the two vampires and slayer managed to get their party halfway to their destination before all hell broke loose. She stepped into the middle of the street and brought them to a standstill. "Oh Willow," Fred whimpered

"I know you." The demon whispered

"I know that you are more powerful when outside your host." Angel recalled "Why don't you let us have Willow back? She knew how to separate a host so you must as well."

"Her power feeds me." Troy said "I wouldn't give that up."

"Please," Fred said "You're not like Illyria. You must have some compassion."

"Such a lovely idea that is." Troy said "But why do you want her back? You can't feel for her the way she feels for you. Your heart belongs to another."

"Wh-what?" Fred asked "What are you talking about?"

Troy declined to answer that. "I have no intention of letting you get to your building and undoing what I have done." She said instead "It would do you well to turn back."

"You would let us do that?" Angel asked "Why?"

"I appreciate beautiful things. You have a very beautiful thing with you. Why would I upset her by ripping your spine out in front of her? That would be unlovely of me."

"You think killing all these people is lovely?" Buffy demanded

"Most of the people here are insignificant, merely paint."

"They're human beings." Angel insisted "All life matters. They matter."

"To you," Troy said "Not to me. And if I understand this mind then they do not really matter to you either. You care for them in an abstract way, but you do not weep every day for car wrecks and cancer deaths. You care for the people as an idea but if one disappears from your city it would not only not matter to you, you would not even be aware of it. Else you would know that none of the people in this city have died yet. Es is protecting them. For now anyway."

"Just because we don't know every person in the world doesn't mean we don't care. We don't have the power to know everything going on like you. But we do treasure life." Buffy said

Troy smiled, but it wasn't Willow's smile. "You lie slayer. Not to me, a far more egregious lie, you lie to yourself. You think they matter because you want you to matter."

"No," Buffy insisted

Troy stamped her foot and the asphalt under Buffy shot up. Buffy was sent flying, but her slayer reflexes allowed her to land on her feet. "Do not contradict me." Troy said

"Stop!" Fred shouted "Please stop!"

Troy walked closer to them. "Don't fret. I wouldn't kill you."

Fred shivered, but held her ground. "I'd rather you did then have to live in this awful world you want to create. I'd rather die than raise my daughter in this kind of place."

Troy touched Fred's hair. "I hope you change your mind."

"I won't." Fred said in her best fuck you voice

"Yes you will." Troy disappeared

Buffy made her way back over to them. "You okay?" Spike asked the slayer

"Let's just get to Wolfram & Hart." Buffy said

"You heard her." Angel said "She won't let us get there."

"So you want to give up?" Buffy asked

"No, I'm saying we need a plan. We need a diversion."

Buffy sighed. "Why do I get the feeling I've been volunteered for diversion duty?"

…

Angel and Buffy entered the Summers home. Buffy was holding Conner and Angel kept glancing nervously at them. "I'm not going to drop him Angel, calm down." Buffy said

Angel started to reply and then stopped. "Where is everyone?"

Lorne came running into the living room. "Good, you're here. We've got trouble."

"What now?" Buffy asked

"Wesley's in trouble. Everyone went to look for him. Well except for Evi and Spike who we don't exactly know how to get in touch with. But we could probably use their help."

"I know where his crypt is." Buffy said "I'll get them." Buffy handed Conner to Angel.

"Maybe I should go with you." Angel said

"I can watch the munchkin." Lorne said eagerly

"You're not a baby-eating demon are you?" Buffy asked

"I find that offensive." Lorne said "And no."

Angel sighed. "I guess I knew I would have to let him out of my sight eventually."

Lorne patted Angel on the shoulder. "It'll be fine papa bear. Now go get our watcher."

…

Xander sighed. "If I were a pretentious British guy, where would I go?"

Fred glared at the stranger. "What's your problem with Wesley?" She demanded

"I don't have a problem with him." Xander said "Except for the whole thing where he's incompetent and annoying and tried to get with my ex-girlfriend- who I am totally over." Xander tacked the last part on when Anya shot him a look. "No one cried when he left Sunnydale."

Gunn raised an eyebrow at Xander. "Wes knows more about demons than any guy I know and he's used that knowledge to save our asses more than a few times. He's also pretty handy with a sword and a crossbow. So might be you don't know him as well as you think."

"I neither think I know him, nor do I want to. He once suggested letting my best friend get tortured and killed for the-" Xander made air quotes. "Greater good," He put his hands down and went on. "But of course he had no problem spilling his guts when Balthazar threatened him."

"That doesn't sound like the Wes we know." Fred said "Does it Charles?"

Gunn shook his head. "Only time I ever saw Wes spilling his guts was through the hole where he got shot because he took a bullet meant for me. Not exactly smart, but brave."

Xander frowned, unsure how to answer that. "He got shot?"

"Yep," Gunn said "So maybe you should just shut the hell up."

Xander took offense to that. "Hey, I know what it's like to put your life on the line for the good fight. But I don't see that as an excuse to decide who is worth saving and who isn't."

"Yes you do honey." Anya said

Xander turned to her in shock. "What?"

"You were willing to give yourself up for Dawn when that demon put a curse on the town and wanted to take her to the underworld. You lied and said you summoned him. Would you have done that for a stranger?" Anya spoke casually, with no condemnation in her voice.

"That's not the same thing." Xander said

"Well it sort of is." Anya said "And that mayor fellow did almost destroy everything."

"Everything like the whole town?" Fred asked

"Everything like most of the world if Buffy's plan hadn't worked." Anya said

"But it did." Xander said

"Yes, lucky you." Anya said cheerfully "And lucky me, I would have missed your penis."

Fred blushed and Gunn started coughing. "We talked about this." Xander hissed to Anya

"About wh- Hey!"

Everyone looked toward whatever Anya had shouted at. It appeared to just be an ordinary man. Anya stormed over to him. "Anyanka?" The man asked, seemingly quite surprised

"Yes, did you think I wouldn't remember?" She demanded

"Remember what?" The man asked cagily

"You owe me compensation for those two human livers I helped you get!"

"That was so long ago-"

"Yes, the interest on what you owe me must have accumulated quite a bit by now."

The man shifted from foot to foot. "I'm a little short on funds right now."

"That is not my problem Sahjhan." Anya said

The man tilted his head. "Are you human now?"

"None of your business," Anya said "I want my money."

"The currency of the land where we made that deal has been out of circulation for hundreds of years. Besides, you really have no way of making me pay you."

"I still know vengeance demons." Anya said "And since I am human now I can wish all kinds of horrible vengeance on you. You do not want to piss me off Sahjhan." Anya said

Xander grabbed his fiancée's arm. "Anya, remember that important thing we were supposed to be doing? Don't you think that's a little bit more urgent?"

"But he owes me money!" Anya whined

"I'll see you around Anyanka." Sahjhan started to go.

Anya tried to go after him, but Xander kept his grip on her arm. "Anya!"

"Who was that?" Fred asked

Anya ripped her arm from Xander's grip. "An incorporeal demon who can travel between time and dimensions. I once helped him get some ingredients he needed for a spell and he-"

"Wait," Fred said "That's kind of suspicious isn't it? What are the odds-"

Gunn started after Sahjhan. "Hey! Get back here!"

…

Spike closed his eyes, but that just increased the pain. No matter where he looked he saw the memory playing out on the screen. He was walking Fred toward Wolfram & Hart in a very roundabout way while Buffy and Angel took a more direct route. "It's so weird that circumstances have me rooting for Es. Lesser of two evils and all, but she caused all of this."

Spike nodded. "But if she can hold off the thing that took over Red that'll be something."

Fred looked at the ground. "We have to save her."

"Might not be doable love." Spike said

"We saved Wesley, we'll save Willow."

Spike gave her a sideways look. "What the demon said about how Red-"

"I don't care about what that thing said. I just want to save Willow."

"Still, that must be quite a-"

"I don't care!" Fred snapped

Spike raised an eyebrow. "Okay,"

They walked in silence for a little while. Fred sighed. "Willow was there for me at some of the lowest points in my life. She helped me get through a lot of rough stuff and she never judged me. She's my friend and that's all that matters. We're going to save her."

Spike smiled at Fred. "I like it when you get all determined."

Fred flashed him a smile in return. "I get serious when my family is threatened."

"Note to self, if I ever become evil again do not mess with a Burkle."

"Good decision," Fred said

Spike frowned and then knelt down and touched the ground. "What the bloody-"

"Spike!"

Spike turned around and a number of projectiles launched themselves into him. Spike looked down and saw bone and stone sticking out of him. Parts of the street were gone and one of Troy's creations was now only loose skin on the ground. Another creation was running toward him and Spike knew he wouldn't be able to react in time. But then Buffy came out of nowhere and ripped one of the creature's own tentacles off of it. She then wrapped the tentacle around the creature's neck and tried to strangle it. Fred called out to Buffy before tossing the slayer a sharp rock, which Buffy used on the creature. When Buffy was finished with it the thing was in pieces, but still moving somehow. Buffy made a sound of disgust and backed away from it. "We need to get out of here." Buffy said "Right now, before she sends more of those things after us."

"Where's Angel?" Fred asked

Buffy shook her head. "There was a building with a woman and some kids in it and Angel offered to take them to safety. We were supposed to meet back up, but he never made it to our arranged location. Something must have gone wrong." Buffy stared at the goo on her hands.

"He's missing?" Fred asked

"For now," Buffy was trying and failing not to sound worried.

"We'll deal with the magnificent poof later." Spike said "We need to do what we came here for. All of this was for nothing if we don't get Fred inside Wolfram & Hart."

"You're in no condition to go anywhere." Buffy said

Spike looked at his wounds. "Fair point."

"I'll take Fred to Wolfram & Hart. You find somewhere safe to hunker down."

Spike pulled out his communication device. "Maybe we should get rid of these."

"Why?" Fred asked "They might start working again."

"If Troy's power is why they aren't working maybe she can tap into the signal."

"And find us." Buffy concluded

"Can't she do that anyway?" Fred asked

"Well it isn't as though they're doing us any good right now anyhow. They stopped working for talking to Xander and Dawn the second we got under the wall. Buffy and Angel stopped coming through when they were less than a kilometer away. They're useless."

"Yeah," Buffy said "Let's lose them." Buffy dropped her communication device on the ground and watched the others do the same. "We'll find you." She told Spike

Then the attack came. Another monster went for them and Buffy was occupied with fighting it off. It managed to knock Spike under the overhang of a store entrance with enough force to exacerbate the vampire's wounds. Then Troy stepped onto the scene. "I've been thinking about what you said." She told Fred "And it actually sort of hurt my feelings."

"Good," Fred said defiantly

Troy grabbed Fred's arms. "I'm going to show you something." Troy whispered

Fred struggled in her grip. "Let go of me!"

Troy and Fred vanished. Spike struggled to his feet and stared at where they had been moments before. Buffy's fight was taking her away from Spike. Spike knew if he stayed here he would be safe from the eventual sunrise. But he couldn't abandon Fred. So he dragged himself down the street in the hope of catching a whiff of her scent. It was a fool's hope, but it was his.

…

Angel stood in the middle of Spike's crypt. "Something's wrong." He said

"Maybe they just went somewhere else." Buffy suggested "To the Bronze maybe."

Angel shook his head. "There's a familiar scent here."

"That girl? Evi?"

Angel shook his head. "Her scent isn't that familiar to me, but it's here too I think."

"So who else was here? Besides Spike and the girl obviously?"

Angel's nostrils flared in anger. "Lilah,"

…

Gunn, Fred, Xander, and Anya ran after the demon. "Hey!" Fred shouted

But he was gone. They stood panting and annoyed on the sidewalk, attracting concerned glances from passers by. "Shit!" Gunn said "That was our only potential lead."

"You guys all right?" A voice asked

They turned around to see Amy standing there. "Hey," Xander said "We're good."

"You sure?" She asked

"Yeah," Xander said "How's the adjustment coming along?"

"It's coming." Amy said "I think. Were you guys looking for someone?"

"A demon." Anya said "He escaped because somebody doesn't think that people owing me money is a matter worthy of our time." Anya glared pointedly at Xander.

Xander sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Do you need help doing a locator spell?" Amy asked

Anya looked considering. "He is probably the only Granok demon in the general area."

"Shouldn't we get Willow to do any spell casting?" Xander asked

"You want to ask Willow to do a spell right now?" Anya asked

"Fair point, let's go to the magic box."

…

The four pale creatures had encountered varying levels of success in dragging themselves across the desert. This mostly had to do with their varying levels of motivation. Illyria had made the most progress as she was fueled by anger. The nameless one the next most as she was fueled by desperation. Es was third as her drive came from anticipation. Troy alone seemed to care almost very little if she ever made it out of the desert. When the stars twinkled in the inky sky a lone figure came toward them carrying a pot of tea and four cups. She was not repulsed by their appearance, she in fact smiled at them. Drusilla poured warm blood from the pot into one cup and then sat down in front of Illyria. "Would you like to drink? He was a virtuous man."

Illyria glared at Drusilla, but then she nodded. Drusilla held the cup to the weakened old one's lips and let the demon drink all of the hot blood. Drusilla poured a cup for each of them and fed them. They all felt a tiny, almost negligible rise in their strength. But they still could not rise to their feet. "It wasn't enough." The nameless one said "I need something better."

"What?" Drusilla asked

"Slayer blood." Illyria said "It is full of magic and of power. Bring us some of that."

Drusilla stood to go. "All right."

"Such a shame that someone had to die for us to eat." Es said "We'll never know what sort of life he may have lived." Es smiled at Drusilla. "It was a clever thing you did."

"It was you who tricked the girl. It was you who told her all who she loved were gone when they were yet alive. I only saw it. I saw it and I wanted to come back here too."

"Get us the blood." Illyria demanded

Drusilla grinned. "I will."

…

If you had asked Wesley how long he had been in this dark room he would not have been able to tell you. It could have been an hour or a month. All he knew was that there was pain, the kind of pain that set up house and didn't go away. This was worse than Faith. This was so much worse than Faith. He blinked and saw the ice picks that had been driven through his hands into the wooden chair arms. A metal wire was wrapped around the metal of each pick and they connected to the car battery on a table behind him. Right now the electron flow was interrupted, but all Holtz had to do was flick a switch and the electricity would start back up. Wesley shivered when he heard footsteps. From the other side of the room Holtz spoke. "Do you want to go home?" Holtz asked "Do you want to walk out of here? Do you want the pain to stop?"

Wesley spat some blood out of his mouth and his broken jaw screamed pain at him in protest of even that slight movement. "Go to hell." He muttered almost unintelligibly

"One day, but not today." Holtz said "I have unfinished business to attend to." Holtz fingered the switch that would complete the circuit and send the electricity into Wesley, but he did not flick it. "You aren't doing yourself any favors by helping out that demon."

Wesley just squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the pain. No matter how bad he anticipated it would be he knew it would be worse than that. He was right.

…

Angel stopped in front of a grate on the UC Sunnydale campus. "This is where Lilah's scent trail ends. She must have taken them down there. I have no idea why though."

Buffy sighed. "I do. There used to be a secret government facility down there."

"If it's a secret how do you know about it?" Angel asked

"They caught my attention when they created a Frankenstein-like megademon that I had to put down. Your lawyer friend must have taken over the abandoned facility." Buffy said

"We better go down there." Angel said

"Yeah," Buffy started to remove the grate.

"For the record though, Frankenstein was the name of the scientist, not the monster."

Buffy turned around and glared at him. But she could only keep the glare on her face for a few seconds before the smile appeared against her will. "Don't start with me." She warned

"Sorry, after you." He pointed down the tunnel.

"What a gentleman." She rolled her eyes and headed into the compound.

…

The pain was starting to mess with his memory. In the background he heard someone whispering to someone else. It was something about permanent damage, but the pain and the memories drowned it out. Him struggling to find a way to get to the top of a tower despite his injuries and having no idea what to do when he got there. Spike eavesdropped on Fred's conversation with Troy. The demon was getting angrier and angrier. Spike was trying to remember what their conversation had been about. But his brain felt like it was melting and he just wanted the pain to stop. One phrase stood out. "You don't know what love is." The rest of the conversation started to play. "You will never understand the beauty of love. You are not the patron goddess of beauty because you are an ugly creature. You create to distract yourself from just how ugly you are." Something happened after that. Spike was trying to remember but his brain had to be dribbling out of his ear at this point. Someone was screaming. It was so grating.

"Stop! Please stop! Do it to me! Leave him alone!"

The pain started to fade. Spike blinked and saw a scientist cleaning off the spikes that had just been removed from Spike's head. "Are you sure we couldn't go further?" Lilah asked

"Not without potentially destroying valuable memories." The scientist said

"Oh well, let's do the girl now." Lilah said

Spike blinked again and tried to focus. Evi's face was red from sobbing. Had she been sobbing for him? Spike tried to summon a little strength. He opened his mouth to speak, but his throat wouldn't work. His eyelids drooped down. "A human probably won't last as long."

"Well," Lilah said "We'll play it by ear."

The door to the room flew off its hinges. Buffy stood in the doorway with Angel right behind her. "What do you think you are doing?" Buffy asked "As a lawyer you should know that it's a federal offense to trespass on government property. Also, no one is allowed to beat up Spike but me." Buffy started into the room and then stopped when Lilah pulled out a gun.

"Put it down Lilah." Angel snarled

"This won't kill you." Lilah said "But the slayer-"

Buffy had disarmed Lilah and slammed her against the wall before she could get her next word out. "I'm sorry." Buffy said "How rude of me, what were you saying?"

Angel chuckled at the terror on Lilah's face. "You win, take them."

"I want you out of my town." Buffy said "K?"

Lilah nodded. "No problem,"

Buffy let go of Lilah and then went over to Spike to free him. "Now would be good."

Lilah ran out with her scientist right behind her.

…

Willow frowned when she saw a familiar face. "Isn't that Jonathan?"

"Who?" Cordelia asked, looking around

"There," Willow pointed. "We went to high school with him."

"Oh right, right." Cordelia said "Nerdy, into witchcraft, no style, complete loser."

Willow glared at Cordelia. "Is that right?"

"Nothing like you Willow," Cordelia amended

Willow rolled her eyes. "Jonathan!"

Jonathan practically jumped out of his skin. Then he saw them. "H-hey Willow."

"Have you seen a British guy around recently?" Willow asked

"Are you looking for our old librarian?" Jonathan asked

"No, this guy is younger than that." Willow said

"Blue eyes, really skinny," Cordelia said

"Nope, sorry,"

"Well thanks anyway." Willow said "If you were on your way to the magic shop it's closed today. Sorry," Willow told Jonathan this to be helpful, but his eyes widened.

"Why'd you think I was going there?" He demanded

"I didn't… I mean I just meant if you were… You're still practicing right?"

Jonathan calmed down. "Yeah, yeah, sorry." He swallowed. "I'm jumpy today."

"It's cool. Have a good day." Willow said

Jonathan turned around and headed in the opposite direction he had been going before they had stopped him. "Isn't he the guy who cast the Superstar spell?" Tara asked

"Yeah," Willow said

"Do you think he's up to something again?"

Willow frowned. "Maybe, think we should follow him?"

"No." Cordelia said "Worry about the magic midget later. We have to find Wes."

Dawn and the two witches shared a look. "What if he knows something?" Dawn asked

Cordelia sighed. "Fine,"

…

Anya stabbed the map with her finger triumphantly. "Found him!"

Fred examined the map. "What is that building?"

"I think it's abandoned." Xander said "It's not far from here."

"Should we call the others?" Gunn asked

"We don't know for sure if this demon has anything to do with Wesley." Xander pointed out "We should check this place out first. Anya, you said it's incorporeal right?"

"Yeah," She said "No touchy,"

"So let's just give the place a quick look." Xander said "Thanks for helping Amy."

The witch smiled at them. "Of course, always happy to help. Hey can I browse around while you guys are gone? I've been looking for this certain spell book and I just wanted to see if you guys have it. I promise I won't take anything. You can lock the door before you go."

"Sure," Xander said "Least we could do."

"What?" Anya said "How do we know she won't steal anything? She's been a rat for years, who knows what habits she might have picked up?"

Xander's face reddened in mortification. "I'm so sorry Amy. You can stay as long as you want to." Xander pulled Anya out of the building while they argued with each other in low furious voices. Fred and Xander followed the couple wearily.

Amy waited until she was sure they were gone. "Morons," She chuckled as she set to pilfering the store. She snuck out the back with laden bags a few minutes later.

…

Buffy held Spike up. "Are you okay?" She asked

Spike was grateful for her support, because without it he would have fallen to the ground; which on its own would be embarrassing, but in front of Angel would be unendurable. "I'll be right as rain soon as I get a few pints in me and vent my frustrations on an unsuspecting demon."

Buffy patted his shoulder. "Good man."

Angel was undoing Evi's bonds. He looked at her red tear-stained face. "What did they do to you?" He asked quietly "Are you hurt?" She looked fine, and she didn't smell of blood.

"They were torturing him, right in front of me." She was trying not to start crying again and Angel saw she was only a few moments away from failure.

"It's going to be all right." Angel said gently

Evi shook her head. "No it isn't."

"Spike will be fine. He's been through a lot worse. Hell I've done worse to him."

Evi sniffled. "I'm supposed to be strong, but this is really hard."

"Evi, strong is not the same thing as not feeling anything, that's the opposite of strength."

Evi pressed her fists against her eyes to hold back tears. "I want to go home."

"Evi… I don't think that's possible. Didn't you say it was destroyed?"

Evi nodded, her eyes still hidden. "But there were so many nice memories there, and everything here is horrible. All of the things I remember aren't real here. Like when you used to catch me sneaking out of my room at night to spy on you and my parents talking in the living room and instead of telling on me you put me back in bed and sang me Irish lullabies."

Angel was taken aback. "I did?"

"Or my mom taking me to the park and getting on the swings with me. We used to stay there for hours and we would have picnics. I thought coming back here would erase all of the bad, but it took all the good too. I want to go back. I want my history back." Evi said

Angel pulled the girl to her feet and removed her fists from her eyes. "I'm sorry your parents don't have any memories of you, but if you give them a chance I know they'll want to make as many as possible as soon as possible. Just hold on for a little while okay?"

Evi took in a deep breath and then nodded. "I'm sorry." She shook her head and then he saw something weird happen. A wall went up behind her eyes. "I won't do that again."

"Evi, it's o-"

"We have a lot of work to do. And Lilah learning about the old ones could have all kinds of consequences. We have to stop Warren and Holtz so we can get to work on the arti-"

"Evi," Angel cut her off.

Evi frowned. "What is it?"

"It's W-your dad. He's kind of missing."

All color drained from Evi's face. Although to be fair she had so little to begin with it was almost impossible to notice this. "What happened?" Her voice was calm, but very quiet.

"I don't know." Angel said "But we're going to find him."

…

Fred frowned as she looked at the building. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

Anya stormed toward the entrance. "I have a few choice words for that welsher."

Xander rolled his eyes. "Oh boy."

…

Holtz pulled a long metal rod out of a fireplace. "What's that f- never mind."

Holtz turned around to face Sahjhan. "What do you want?"

"There are some humans outside. Well one of them used to be a demon, but-"

"Are they Angelus's people?" Holtz demanded

"Two of them are."

"Good, they can find their friend."

"We want them to find their friend?" Sahjhan asked

"We've been over this." Holtz said

"Well won't Angelus be more upset if we kill his friend than if we let him go?"

Holtz held up the metal rod that ended in the form of the letter A. "It is much easier to forget the horrible things we've done to people who we don't have to look at every day."

Sahjhan shrugged. "Whatever you say."

Holtz walked over to the half-conscious Wesley and pulled the icepick out of the man's right hand. Wesley whimpered from the pain. Holtz took hold of the watcher's hand and pressed the hot metal against his skin. This fully awoke the watcher, who shouted in agony.

…

The four people entering the building stopped dead. "Did you hear that?" Xander asked

Fred started running. "Fred wait!" Gunn shouted

They all ran after her and ended up in an almost empty room. The noticeable exception was the chair where Wesley was sitting and unable to stand up from because his left hand was connected to the chair by an icepick driven through it. His other hand sported a red angry burn and blood was dripping from his face. Fred knelt down next to him. "Wesley? Wes?"

Gunn heard a moaning sound. He felt heavy. Seeing his friend like this was so horrible his mind wanted to detach itself and go hang out elsewhere. But Gunn knew it was needed here so he walked over to Wesley. "Sorry," Gunn said before he quickly yanked out the icepick

Gunn heard Wesley yelp and flinched in sympathetic pain. "I'm going to call Buffy's house and Cordelia." Xander said to no one in particular

…

Lilah made sure the DVD with the vampire's memory on it was still in her bag as she got into the limo. The car started driving. Lilah went over what she planned to tell Linwood in her head as they made their way to L.A. Then the demon appeared in the car. Lilah jumped in surprise at his sudden appearance. "Jesus!" Lilah put her hand over her heart.

"I am Sahjhan." The demon said menacingly

"You're not one of my clients, but what can I do for you?"

Sahjhan gaped at her. "You're not afraid?"

"Should I be?"

Sahjhan sighed. "You humans are so jaded these days. Time was I would appear in a village and they would burn the place to the ground and salt the earth. Good times,"

"That's fascinating, now what do you want?"

"You're direct, that's good. The vampire, Angel. He is your enemy?"

"In a big way." Lilah said

"I want to kill his son."

"I can get behind that." Lilah said

"Good," Sahjhan said "I think we can do business."

Lilah pulled out her DVD. "Do you know anything about time travel?"

"Quite a lot," Sahjhan said "Do it all the time."

Lilah put the DVD in the car's built in media system. "What can you tell me about this?"

…

The four women watched Jonathan disappear into a house. "Looks normal. So since we're in Sunnydale we should assume there is a demon nest down there." Cordy said

"You can take the girl out of Sunnydale, but not Sunnydale out of the girl." Willow said

"Unfortunately," Cordy said "What's the plan?"

"Break down the door?" Dawn suggested

"Okay Buffy," Cordelia said "Any not psycho plans?"

"We could knock." Tara suggested

"That's kind of conspicuous." Willow said gently

"Not if we don't get all accusey." Tara pointed out

"How about we sneak in?" Dawn asked eagerly "Like spies?"

Click. The four women turned around and saw Warren Mears pointing some sort of device at them. "I think spies have to be, ya know, sneaky." Cordelia said "We don't qualify."

Warren smiled. "The slayer's sister and friends. Must be my lucky day."

"Not really." Cordelia said with no concern in her voice

"And why's that?"

Willow flicked her pointer finger and Warren's device compressed into a useless cube that the boy just stared at. "Ah man," He whined "We worked really hard on that."

"Boo hoo." Cordelia said "Why don't you show us into your evil lair and tell us all about the evil you've been up to lately? Come on, we don't have all day."

Warren looked from the witches, to Cordelia, to Dawn. "How about we call it a draw?"

"How about Willow doesn't do to you what she did to your toy?" Cordy asked

"I wo-" Dawn elbowed Willow midsentence. "Uld totally do that. If you don't cooperate I might even turn you into a gross icky… Toad! So you better do what we say."

Warren was too busy gulping and nodding to notice Cordy rolling her eyes at Willow.

…

Faith didn't wonder who was coming to visit her. The only visitor she'd ever gotten was Angel and she had no doubt it was him. She tried to tell herself she wasn't excited to see him, but she knew she was. So when she sat down and saw a stranger she was disappointed. Who was this brunette with piercing eyes? "Are you sure you have the right prisoner? I don't think I know-"

"Shhhh," The stranger held up two fingers and pointed at both of Faith's eyes with them while also staring. "Look at me, Dearie. Be in my eyes. Be in me." The words almost sounded familiar, as though from a dream. Maybe they were. Maybe this woman was from one of her dreams too. Like all slayers she sometimes dreamt about her past incarnations. This woman felt so familiar all of a sudden. But then that familiarity became soothing. That was wrong. This was a person that had killed her. Yes, a fight, and then… "You're going to come with me."

"Yes, I am."

"You're going to break out of here."

"Right now?"

"Yes please,"