Angel tore down the highway, cutting the trip from LA to Sunnydale in half. If a cop dared to try to pull him over, he would rip them in half. Willow was missing, they had the prophecy, and Spike, a member of the bloodline essential to said prophecy, was unable to defend himself against anything human. On top of all of that, Cariss was in the same area. Nothing good could come of this. In less than two hours, the angry vampire was pounding on Giles' door, and the rather bemused Englishman let him inside.

"I—I didn't expect you to come so quickly, Angel. I've alerted Buffy that we have a problem, but she's still out on patrol."

"Good. I have a few choice words for her. Now, how long has Willow been missing?"

The first order of business was the human girl. Cariss could handle herself; he'd had the injuries to prove it countless times over the centuries. The redhead that William was so focused on could not. If anything happened to Willow, he was pretty sure Spike would lose his tenuous control; chip or no chip.

"A few days. She and Buffy had an argument about Spike, and she stormed out. No one's heard from her since."

They were interrupted by the front door flying open, and the girl they were talking about burst in, followed by a man Angel really hoped to never see again.

"What the hell are you doing here, Lindsey?"

"So not the time for this, Angel. Spike and Siobhan/Cariss/whatever-the-hell her name is were just kidnapped!"

"What? What do you mean?"

Willow looked close to hyperventilating, and Angel guided her to the couch and pushed her head down between her knees. This girl had always been a friend to him when he lived in Sunnydale, and now she was important to not just his childe, but his Faerie. Cariss must have taken a liking to her, to have allowed her anywhere near. He looked to Lindsey for an explanation as Willow tried to recover her ability to breathe.

"What happened?"

"At the hotel, a group of armed men broke into the suite. Siobhan pushed us to hide, and she and the vampire were taken."

"What can you tell me about the men who broke in?"

"Not much. They were masked, and we were being shoved into a bedroom, but I saw a strange tattoo on one's wrist."

Tattoo? Angel grabbed Lindsey, dragging him to the couch. He disappeared, returning moments later with a legal pad and pencil.

"Draw it," he ordered the human. Everyone was quiet for a few moments, as Giles tended to Willow and Lindsey sketched. He handed the pad back to Angel, who took a single glance at it and vamped out. He shoved the pad under Giles' nose.

"You want to tell me what the fuck is going on here?"

"Bloody hell," the Watcher exclaimed quietly. "Angel, I swear I knew nothing about it."

"What is it?" Willow was finally able to speak, and she looked at the legal pad curiously.

"That tattoo is used by the other branch of the Watchers. They damned Watchers are the ones who took Spike, and Cariss."

Willow couldn't believe what she was hearing. Watchers kidnapped Spike? But why? Since when did Watchers interfere with anything? And—

"What's this about another branch of the Watchers? How many branches are there?"

"There are two branches. One branch monitors all things supernatural, such as Slayers, demons, etc, and one branch monitors something else altogether. Why they would have taken them is not something I can answer."

"Don't be ridiculous Watcher. You know exactly why they were taken."

Giles paled a bit under the vampire's furious glare. He had a feeling he was dealing more with Angelus than Angel at the moment, and not even the presence of his soul might be enough to hinder him if he decided on violence as the appropriate response.

"Trying to force a prophecy into fruition isn't—"

"It's exactly the kind of thing you Watchers would do. Where would they take them?"

"Think about what you're saying, Angel. They would have to have another Immortal to even begin to attempt such a thing."

Willow watched the two men argue back and forth. She had half an idea what they were talking about, and she didn't like the thought. The prophecy made no sense to her, but there could only be one prophecy they were talking about. She finally had to interrupt them.

"What does that prophecy mean, Angel? Why would these Watchers want to try to make it come true?"

They were interrupted by the arrival of Buffy, who burst through the doors, Riley close on her heels, Anya and Xander not far behind them. She spared barely a look for Lindsey, and only half a glance for Willow, before all of her attention was focused on the vampire in front of her. The vampire who was currently looking at her as if he wanted to rip her spine out with his bare hands.

"Angel."

"Willow! Thank God you're alright. Where have you been?" Xander pulled the slight redhead into a fierce hug.

"I'm fine Xander. But someone kidnapped Spike, and, um, I have no idea what name you knew her by."

"Save the reunions for later. Right now your bigger priority is finding Spike and Cariss."

"Cariss who?" Buffy looked at Giles blankly. "That thing that attacked me? Good riddance."

Faster than the blink of an eye, Angel had Buffy against the wall, holding her up by the throat.

"That THING is mine, Slayer! My childe! And I don't doubt that you gave her reason to attack you, so I would keep my mouth shut if I were you. You already have plenty to answer for."

"Angel!"

He ignored Willow trying to talk him down, or the others yelling at him to put Buffy down. He even ignored Riley, the former commando who tried to tackle him away. All of his rage was for the woman he currently held pinned, the woman who'd left his childe to suffer and lied to him about it, and who'd dared attack HIS Faerie. If either Spike or Cariss was hurt, she would pay with her life.

"Alright, that's enough!"

They were all startled when Lindsey yelled into the melee. Giles looked at the unknown male in surprise, and Angel looked at him with new appreciation when his yell did indeed silence the others.

"I don't give a damn what beef you all have with each other. I've watched brain surgery, been flash bombed and shoved into a room, and now I've had to come here and listen to you bitching like a bunch of five year olds! This isn't some stupid game here! People are missing, and the ones who took them were organized, which means this was planned out. So ya'll are going to stop arguing like idiots, and we're going find out exactly where they were taken, before I get really pissed off! And right now I don't care if I have to hit a girl, Angel can have whatever's left of you when I'm done if you don't shut up and start helping!"

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Buffy glared at him. He stared at her, unimpressed.

"He's with, um,-" Willow trailed off, not even sure what name to use. She'd heard too man y of them, all used to refer to the same person. Lindsey himself looked unsure of exactly what to call her.

"Her real name is Cariss, Willow. Or at least that's the name she's had the longest. She might not even know what her real name was. And he's right," Angel reluctantly agreed as he lowered Buffy to the ground, "this fighting is getting us nowhere. Buffy, if you're not going to help, then get out of here. I'll track you down later."

Buffy stood, amazed, as she was promptly forgotten while the others gathered around Giles kitchen table. Angel had looked at her as if he hated her, and even Giles looked disappointed. The stranger had chewed her out as if she was a kid. She was the Slayer! How dare they dismiss her! If they were right, they would need her a lot more than they needed any of the others! Why was Angel acting this way? She leaned against the wall, stewing, not paying any attention until she heard Riley speak up.

"Wait a minute. Willow, I think you had the right idea the other day, when you said that maybe all the vampire disappearances were because whoever was behind it was looking for a specific vampire, and just didn't know who it was. What if it was this group that took Spike? If they were looking specifically for him, and just didn't know it for sure until Cariss came to town and they saw them together?"

"That's a sound theory, but what's the point?"

Riley leveled an unflinching look at Lindsey, who looked ready to hit something.

"How many places in Sunnydale could they hold a vampire, or maybe even multiple vampires, without drawing attention? That's not something that can be done in a hotel suite."

"He's right Lindsey. If Willow's theory is right, that narrows down the places they could be."

"Oh God."

They all turned to stare at Willow, who had a horrified look on her face.

"The Initiative."

"No," Riley shook his head vehemently, "it was destroyed. They never rebuilt the program."

"What about the bunker? The house above was destroyed, but what about the bunker under it? If it's still intact, it would be an ideal place for holding vampires, since that's what it was designed to do."

"It's worth looking into."

B-B-B-B-B-B

"Hello, Fiona."

The redheaded giant stood beside the table Cariss was strapped to, and quickly loosened the restraints. He stopped short of actually removing the handcuffs, but that didn't matter. She could get rid of those easily enough, now that she was up and mobile.

"I'm sure they told you that's not my real name."

"It was your name when I knew you, love."

She looked up at him. She was by no means short being five foot eight, but he stood at well over six feet, closer to six and a half. He towered over her. Always had.

"How are you still alive? They beheaded you?"

"We have much to discuss, Fiona. Walk with me."

He took hold of her elbow, and started to steer her out of the room. She stopped at the doorway, sparing a glance at the fool human who'd slipped on a lab coat and was staring at William eagerly.

"If you so much as touch him, every human in this building will die," she hissed in warning. He at least seemed intelligent enough to understand the threat, and that she meant it. He set down the syringe he'd picked up, and backed away from the vampire snarling at him. Ewan pulled her from the room.

They walked a short distance down the hall before he stopped, and backed her into the wall before kissing her. Against her better judgment, Cariss responded eagerly. She'd missed him, so very much, and for the moment she didn't care why he was here now, or why he'd disappeared for nearly three centuries.

"I've missed you so much, Fiona." He breathed as he broke the kiss, leaning his forehead against hers.

"How are you here, Ewan?" she asked once she could think clearly again. She'd spent centuries dreaming of this moment, knowing it to be impossible, and now….

"They did come to the house that day, while you were gone. I woke inside the Watchers' hut. They'd killed me. "

"That damned Watcher said you'd been beheaded."

"A small lie."

"A small lie?! I destroyed that entire village for killing you, Ewan! Every man, woman and child! Why did you not come to me? How could you stay with the very one who led the mob to kill you?! "

"Because they showed me the truth, Fiona! I knew, the moment I woke, that what you'd said was true. And I knew that I was cursed by the very devil to be what I am! But they showed me that I have a far larger part to play, the same as you."

"You can't tell me you actually believe these fools! They're mad, Ewan! We're not witches, or demons cursed by the devil to this existence! We are Immortal; no more, no less. And all of their prophesying doesn't change that fact!"

Her heart sank as she saw the light of the fanatic in his eyes. He'd had centuries with these madmen, who'd convinced him that fulfilling this prophecy was his redemption. Nothing she could say in the next ten minutes would change that.

"You'll see, Fiona. Once I'm like you, we will create the child that will save the world at the end of days. Our sin, our evil, will be forgiven by this action. We will be redeemed."

"Oh, Ewan. I've failed you."

He hauled her down the hall to a door, and pushed it open to reveal a small bedroom. She recognized the sporran sitting on a dresser; it belonged to Ewan when they were married. This must be his room. Ewan carefully pushed her down onto the large bed.

"I'll return soon, Fiona. And we will re-make the world."

She shrugged away when he reached for her again, and he settled for placing a kiss on her head. With a quiet shut of the door, he was gone. Cariss immediately pushed herself to her feet. She couldn't just sit back and do nothing, not with William's life on the line. She didn't know just how they planned to make Ewan into an Immortal Vampire; but she was sure that William wouldn't be cooperative, and that it would most likely kill him.

Making her way over to the dresser, she grabbed the sporran with her teeth, and carried it back to the bed. It was easier to get it open if she sat down in front of it and worked on it with her cuffed hands. Surely there was something inside that she could use to free herself. Yes! That was it! A small pocket knife tucked in a bottom corner. Perfect. It would be easier if she could see what she was pulling open, but she didn't concern herself with it. She would heal instantly from a small knife wound, should she manage to slice her hand open. Finally, she found the small screwdriver, and went to work.

It was a ridiculously short time later that she was free, and she was almost insulted at how badly they'd underestimated her. She dismissed that from her mind, however. She had far more important things to worry about; things like destroying those damned Watchers and saving William's life. She quickly rifled through Ewan's things, until she came across what she was looking for: his sword. Oh hell, he was using his old broadsword. That thing was almost as big as she was. There was no way she could wield that thing. Surely he had a smaller one?

She opened the closet door and hit pay dirt. These couldn't all be Ewan's; the Watchers must have acquired a collection. Or they were the swords of Immortals he'd killed. He wouldn't be the first to collect the swords of his kills. She had a fairly sizable collection in a storage unit in Zurich. She found one similar in size and weight to her own sword, and grabbed it.

X-X_-X-X-X-X-X

Spike cursed the idiot Watcher who was approaching him with the syringe, yet again. He must have decided he'd waited long enough.

"When I get out of here, I'm going to rip out your liver and make you eat it!"

He didn't know what was going on with Cariss, or where that damned giant had taken her, but at the moment he had to be more focused on getting out of his own predicament. He could worry about her once he was free of this lab. She could take care of herself until then.

"Silence, creature!"

The punch to the face wasn't entirely unexpected, but he still vamped out. This human was going to die slowly, and painfully for that.

"That's unnecessary, Roland. After all, this vampire's sacrifice will enable us to save humanity. You should show more respect than that."

Bloody hell. The giant was back, without Cariss.

"What the hell have you done to her?!"

"Fiona is alive and unharmed. I could never hurt my own wife, bloodsucker. She has a part to play in this, just as you do."

He took the syringe from the one he'd called Roland, and stepped up to the table. Spike growled at him as he unceremoniously plunged it into a vein and drew out a vial of blood, then drew several more.

"I want to thank you for your sacrifice, vampire. With your blood, we will save humanity from darkness."

Spike struggled against the restraints, but they didn't budge. He watched as the giant injected the blood into his own arm. What the hell? Did he really think he could become a vampire that way?

"You're a damned fool, and I'm going to tear you apart!"

"I'm far older than you, vampire."