With open mouths, the Scoobies stared at the undeniable form of Faith, Tara shrinking back into Willow, trying to make herself as small and unseen as humanly possible.

"Why Faith? Why does it have to be this way?" Buffy implored as the rogue slayer took a few steps into the room. "And Tara, what did she ever do to you?"

Willow glared at her blonde friend, her look telling her to keep her mouth shut or risk inflicting another beating upon one of the group.

"Oh B, c'mon." Faiths thick Boston accent hadn't diminished in the slightest and they all wondered how it had taken them so long to work out who their captor was. She paced slowly, meeting each glare as she passed, "You gotta find the fun a little!" the giggle she uttered chilled each Scooby in turn, icy shivers ran the length of Willows spine and she took to her feet. "Find the fun?" she spat, "Where the hell was the fun in beating Tara?" her voice was shaking slightly, tears of pure fury stinging her eyes.

"Oooh, look at Red, all puffed up and looking to score some revenge." Faith laughed as she crossed the small expanse to confront Willow, who, to her credit, refused to back down. "The fun in beating your gal, was the beating!" she stated, her face now inches from Willows own.

"Yeah? Well guess what Faith, she wasn't having any fun!" Willow wished she could take the sentence back and ram in down her throat in exchange for something much better.

Rolling her eyes, Faith allowed her attention to drop from Willow and to her total shock, found the hand of the redhead spinning her back to face her. "We're not done here!" Willow snarled.

"You think you can take me, Red?" Faith asked incredulously.

"I can take you!" Willow replied, "And you know why? Because you're weak and afraid!"

The other Scoobies stared at their friend in disbelief.

Faiths eyes set firmly on Willow and she grinned. "Did you forget our little chat about keelhauling, Red?" she asked quietly, every word coated in danger. "Coz maybe I should have Giles here remind you."

The other Scoobies rallied around Tara as best they could, each one trying to wrap her in a firm, yet gentle hug.

"You know your problem, Faith?" Willow continued, her eyes blazing with fury as she confronted the slayer. "You're a bully!"

Faith laughed and made to turn away once again. To the utter astonishment of everyone, including Faith herself, Willows hand contacted with her cheek in a lightning fast SLAP!

"Oh, you're gonna wish you hadn't done that!" Faith spat, the amazement at being hit by this usually timid woman was written clearly over her face, a face that now wore a bright red hand mark on the left cheek.

Undeterred, Willow's voice found its power and she continued; "You can beat people who are chained and weak but a fair fight scares you!" she snarled, "You're scared to play by the rules, scared that someone will beat you if you go one on one!"

Behind Faith, Buffy was trying to quietly unlock her shackles, succeeding as Willow finished speaking.

As Faith balled her fist, the surprises continued as Tara spoke up. "Obrigesco!" she yelled as she threw her hands out in front of her in a desperate attempt to help, startling both Xander and Giles. Amazingly, Faith froze in place, her fist in midswing towards Willows head.

Turning towards the blonde, each Scooby in turn looked both thrilled and amazed. "Tara? What did you do?" Buffy asked quietly.

"I-I I froze her." she stuttered.

"Yeah, I got that!" Buffy replied. "But how?"

With a grin, Giles released their shackles and stood up, rubbing his legs. "We must be out of the triangle." he deducted. "It appears as though Tara has her magic back."

With the tables turned, Buffy and Giles moved Faith to the space that Buffy had previously occupied and shackled her to the large hoop in the middle of the room. "How much time do you think we have before we, well slip back?" Buffy asked as her eyes darted around the room.

"Honestly, I don't know?" Giles told her "But I think the best thing we can do is get out of here as quickly as possible."

After unlocking the shackles of the others, the gang moved as one combined unit towards the door. Taking a deep breath, Buffy reached for the handle, "Ready?" she asked the gang, who nodded their agreement. Pulling the door open, Buffy scanned the sunlit deck for any signs of danger. Buffy was thankful that Faith wasn't as lucky as she was to have a loyal and faithful group of friends to look out for her. "Good thing pirates are dumb!" she giggled as they stood in the doorway waiting for their eyes to adjust to the bright light.

As Buffy took her first cautious steps onto the deck, she spun defensively at a sharp sound above and behind her, the movement scaring a seagull that had been perching on the wheel. "Mine!" she squawked at it before giggling.

"Buff, I don't think we have time for pop culture fun!" Xander chastised quickly. Rolling her eyes playfully, the slayer continued to scan the deck for any signs of the remaining pirates. "It's weird, there's no one here!" Buffy announced after she'd taken another quick look around.

"Excellent, then lets get the hell outta here!" Willow exclaimed suddenly, making them all startle visibly.

Stretching and squinting against the bright light, the Scoobies each took there own look around to satisfy their rapidly growing nervousness. "This isn't right." Tara whispered, she had been the last to leave the dingy room in which they had all been held captive and, after stepping into the light, felt instantly uneasy.

As she scanned the deck, her eyes fell on the mast, then the deck surrounding it, the wood darkened with blood, her blood and who knew who else's. The lashing she had received at Faiths hand flashed back through her mind, the sound of leather whistling through the air before coming into contact with her soft and blood stained back echoing in her mind.

Buffy had climbed up to the helm and was peering comically through a telescope she had found there. "Its 'Solo Dreams'!" she announced making everyone jump once again. "I see our boat!"

Turning in unison, the Scoobies hurriedly shushed the excited blonde. "Buffy, I think it's wise if you keep your voice to a minimum, we are still unsure as to the whereabouts of the remaining pirates." Giles told her firmly as he climbed up to the helm to retrieve the telescope from his young charge.

As the rest of the group made their way to Buffy's side, no one, not even Willow noticed that Tara wasn't directly behind them. "We can go home!" Willow breathed happily as she reached the helm and got her first glimpse of the boat, "Tara, we can go…." her words trailed off into nothing as she turned and saw the space behind her to be void of her beloved. "Tara?" she called, rushing back down to the deck. "TARA!" she screamed when she received no reply.

The others followed her lead and rushed back to the deck, each one searching and finding no sign of the blonde witch. As Willow pushed the door to their temporary prison open once again, the sight before her chilled her to her very soul. Faith had somehow managed to escape her spell induced freeze and her shackles and now held Tara in her grasp. One hand firmly gripping the blondes throat, slowly closing down her airway. Tara struggled but seemed to only make things worse and, on seeing Willow, allowed herself to relax slightly. "Now Red, it's time you pay for slapping me!" she snarled as she shook Tara violently.