Author's Note: Time for some answers!

"I don't get it," said Vi. Staring at the news footage of the fire crashing to Earth. "I mean, it's pretty clear this Fireball Thing is an alien. And that aliens have been causing all the kids to speak together. But… why's Buffy reacting to everything the aliens do to us?"

Willow sighed. "She's not." Raised up the Crystallizer. "She's reacting to this. The only reason it looks like she's connected to the aliens… is because this Crystallizer is doing something to the aliens, as well."

"Get rid of the Crystallizer," Kennedy added, "and Buffy would be fine. Even if the aliens stuck around."

Xander paced the room, his eyes on the Crystallizer. "So… this is some war-thing, right?" he guessed. "The aliens in that fire-beam are some kind of weapon or something, manufactured during the whole showdown between the evil metal exterminate-o-pots and Time Lords."

"And that Crystallizer is their remote control!" Vi agreed.

Willow looked down at the Crystallizer. Then shook her head. "No," she said. "I really doubt that."

Kennedy raised her eyebrows. Leaned over the table. "So what?"

"It's… just a theory," Willow admitted, "but… I don't think our fireball aliens know anything about this. I think they're being manipulated just as much as we are."

Xander nodded slowly. "Okay… explain better."

Willow waved the Crystallizer at him. "It's only reacting with Buffy, right?" she said. "I mean, out of this whole planet, there's only one person with a direct reaction — not to the aliens, but to this. Before the aliens ever even got here."

"So what's special about her?" said Kennedy.

Vi laughed into her hand. "What isn't special about her? I mean, her whole life's just… improbable."

"Just like this whole thing now is improbable," Willow agreed. "The Brits getting rid of Torchwood for no apparent reason. All the really competent alien-fighter guys being somewhere totally inaccessible right when this started. It's all improbable. But it all happened."

Xander froze in place. Turned wide eyes on Willow, as he suddenly realized. "Oh, God. Time Lords."

"Yeah," said Willow.

"As in… screw-around-with-time kinds of Time Lords," said Xander. "And Buffy only started getting sick when that Bilis Manger guy messed with her personal…"

"Yep."

Xander slumped down into a chair. "Okay," he said, "that puts getting screwed over by aliens into a whole new perspective."

Faith shot him a look. Then stepped towards Willow. "What's he so bummed about?"

"He knows what the Crystallizer does," Willow explained. "And why Buffy — and only Buffy — reacted to it."

"Why?" said Vi.

Willow ran her hands over the front of the Crystallizer. "Buffy has had her entire personal timeline rewritten over and over again," she explained, feeling the mystical power tingle across her fingers. "She started off as Elizabeth, then became the Slayer and became our Buffy, then the Powers that Be started splintering her timeline and choosing the outcome they wanted, isolating and eliminating any others."

Kennedy frowned. "Oh."

Willow tapped the Crystallizer. "My theory," she explained, "is that… this Crystallizer is reacting with Buffy because… it's doing the same thing to the Earth as the Powers that Be did to her."

"Don't get it," said Vi.

"I'm pretty sure the Crystallizer is some kind of machine that examines every single possibility of time for this world," said Willow, "all the different random possibilities for the future… and selects the one it likes. Crystallizes that possibility into reality." She shook the device. "It's not helping the aliens be stronger or anything. It's just making sure that… no matter what… they always win. Even if it's by random chance."

Faith stared. "Yeah, but… why would the Time Lords do that?"

"You're very nice to me, all of a sudden," Summers said, turning on Gardell, suddenly. "I mean, for someone who tried to poison me."

Gardell felt a little awkward. "I…"

Summers shot him a small smile. "It's okay," she assured him. "I know you didn't have anything to do with the poisoning. You seem to actually be a pretty good interrogation guy. No waterboarding or hoods or whatever."

"That wasn't us," said Gardell. "The Bureau doesn't do that."

Summers shrugged. "I bet the FBI isn't big on believing time travel stories, either. But you're doing okay with that."

"I'm… keeping an open mind." Gardell ran a hand through his hair. Then added, "Do you know why the British government wants you dead?"

Summers considered. "No idea," she said. Then, a little hesitantly, "No chance there's some other evil Time Lord who survived and decided to become Prime Minister, right?"

Gardell shook his head.

"Didn't think so." She paused. Thinking it over, very seriously. "Maybe… it's the Crystallizer that actually wants me dead," she proposed. "Which is why everyone and everything keeps trying to kill me. Except it's not working. It's killing everyone around me, but… it can't actually get to me, for some reason."

Which must have been why Hiskaloph thought Summers was the only one who could stop this.

Because if this Crystallizer was trying to kill her, but couldn't…

"Why can't it touch you?" said Gardell. "If it killed Alison."

"I don't know." Summers shrugged. "Maybe… it's got too many mes tangled up in the timelines, and it can't figure out which one to kill."

"I have no idea," Willow admitted. "Buffy mentioned that the Doctor felt guilty about… something involving Earth's children. Something that was still in our future." She shrugged. "This must be it."

"He's not coming to save us, is he?" Vi asked.

"I think he's already here," Willow said, with a grimace. "I think… he's behind the scenes, somewhere. I mean, if someone wanted to make him do something really, really evil… the best way to make him do it — would be by threatening the Earth."

"But… he'd give in to save us, right?" Vi said. She saw the looks on the faces around her, and winced. "Wouldn't he?"

Xander and Willow exchanged a look.

Didn't answer.

Didn't need to.

"So we gotta destroy this thing," Faith said, nodding at the Crystallizer. "All right. Get together our most powerful magic spells, gather our best weapons…"

"Yeah, we tried those things," Xander pointed out. Raised up his hands. "Turns out? No with the weapons and the magic!"

"The Doctor told Buffy he'd seen the future, and she didn't stop it," said Willow. "None of us stopped it. That means the only person who could stop something like this… would be a time traveler. Someone who shouldn't really be here in the first place."

"Seo and Dawn!" Kennedy cried.

"Who are conveniently not here," Faith realized. Her eyes narrowed on the Crystallizer. "Cause… I'm betting… that machine made sure anyone who could stop this was out of action before our fireball aliens showed up."

"Bingo," said Willow.

Faith gritted her teeth. "Starting to think Xander was right," she admitted. "There is absolutely no way we can win."

"Unless we get Buffy back," Xander reminded them. "I'm sure."

Willow hesitated.

But didn't say anything.

"Cold," said Summers, suddenly. Shivering, her teeth chattering. "It's… suddenly… gone really cold." She reached out, almost toppled over. "Oh, God. What the hell is wrong with me?"

"What?" Gardell raced towards her. Realized she was burning up — again! The same failing going on in her organs, but a different poison working its way through her system, this time. "That's… it can't be…!"

"Twice in a row?" Summers gave a weary laugh. "Figures. Alien invasion going on, but… humans… are… the ones… killing me."

Gardell called for a medical team. For help.

Assured Summers it'd be okay.

A weak smile from Summers. "I'm okay," she whispered, conspiratorially. "Slayer immune… system. Whoever… keeps trying to kill me… hasn't… realized… what a Slayer… really…"

Then she passed out.

In an instant, Gardell had a full medical team inside the room, racing to make sure Ms. Summers survived. Wheeling her away to flush the poison from her system.

"She must have reacted badly with the sodium pentothal," said the nurse, checking Summers' chart. She shot Gardell an angry glare. "I did warn you FBI boys that she shouldn't be on the stuff. But you just had to get your secrets, didn't you?"

Gardell was stunned. "Sodium pentothal?" He grabbed the chart from the nurse. "But I didn't order…!"

Then he paused.

Realizing.

"Someone in the Bureau wants her dead," Gardell muttered. Someone who wouldn't pay attention to nurses who advised against using certain kinds of drugs. Someone who might have administered a shot of 'sodium pentothal' that wasn't really sodium pentothal.

Someone who was working for the 456.

A spy.

Gardell swung on the nurse. "Who gave her the fake 'sodium pentothal'?" he demanded.

Perhaps he'd already suspected. Somewhere deep down inside. Because it didn't come as all that big a shock when he was told the name:

"Samuel Titcher."