Faith was beside herself as he handed over her cell phone. There were a million missed calls and the battery was distressingly low. She pulled up the right number and moved a little distance away from him as it rang. Buffy answered it after only one ring, sounding ragged.

"Faith! Where are you? Are you alright? We've been worried sick. I thought something might have happened to you and you might be...where are you? We're coming to get you."

"No, Buffy, slow down. I don't have long. The battery is dying."

A long pause, cautious tone. "What's going on?"

"I need to talk to you. This is all wrong. When can you meet me? Alone."

"Faith, I don't understand."

"I know you don't, but you will. I promise. I just need to talk to you."

"I can meet you in an hour."

"I need more time than that. What about sunset at the old church on Amesbury St? There's a cemetery there. We can patrol, like old times."

"Faith." The plaintive tone spoke volumes.

"Trust me. I'll make this make sense tonight."

Another pause. A sigh. "Alright. Tonight."

She hung up without any final thoughts and found Ripper smiling at her. He was standing with a cup of tea in his hand looking so much like the man she loved she had to hold back tears. Was he conscious in there? She had no idea. She wasn't sure what was kinder, the ignorance of unconsciousness or having front row knowledge of what was being done in his body. He chuckled.

"A cemetery? How morbid."

"I figured getting a fight or two in might not hurt. I gotta keep in shape if I wanna be your right hand, don't I?"

"If it's a fight you want there are plenty of people here who can be made to -"

She cut him off quickly. "Humans aren't what I'm built for, no offense. I'm a vampire slayer."

"Very well. I'll be attending with you tonight."

"I expected it, but keep your distance, ok?"

"Of course. Faith, I know this is some sort of ploy, I'm not stupid, but I don't care. I want to see what you think you can do."

She swallowed but didn't deny it. There was nothing she could say in her defense and to try would have insulted them both. She couldn't afford losing his good humor now that she seemed to have a little leeway. She was a toy. It was expected of her to challenge and amuse, but never overtake. Each loss would be another stab, one step closer to breaking. She only prayed that the time she bought them gave them time to come up with some sort of plan. She couldn't beat him on her own.

"I know you're not stupid. I have to try, right?"

"Don't disappoint me, Faith."

"I'll try not to."

Time seemed to pass forever until sunset. Emily followed her around like a puppy dog, watching her every move. She felt sorry for her guardian who had no idea the sort of person she was guarding. As far as she could tell there was nothing remarkable about her except a pretty face and had no idea what made Ripper prey on her except by fear. How did he find time to seek these people out? There was so much she didn't understand about the demon or what he could do in her lover's body. Asking for his name had ended in a brief burst of anger, red eyes blazing.

"Never ask for that! Never that. I am Ripper and you would do well to remember that!"

"Alright!" She'd held her hands up in surrender. "Alright, I'm sorry."

Now they were pulling up to the church, the one she'd been at with Ripper when he hadn't kissed her. She wasn't sure why she chose it thinking on it now. It was just the first thing that had come to mind. The blond was in front of the gate waiting, true to her word. She saw the brunette and sagged with relief, meeting her as she approached. She found herself wrapped in a sincere, and rather strong, hug. When she was released she looked at the other girl.

"Hey B."

"Spill."

"Let's go inside first." She was aware of Ripper lingering close, a guard or two at hand as well.

"Oh, wait a sec. Will gave this to me for you."

The blond held out her hand and opened it to reveal her engagement ring. It was still smeared with the blood she'd offered in sacrifice for the locating spell. Confused, she picked it up and turned it this way and that, marveling at the beauty of it. Her heart ached terribly to see it, debating what she should do now that it belonged to a man that wasn't present. Then she saw a ring on Buffy's hand that had never been there before. Willow gave this to her. The mild pointed look put the puzzle pieces together and she nodded.

"Thanks, B." She slipped it on her finger. "I've been missing this."

They moved to the side of the cemetery and climbed the wall effortlessly, landing inside without much effort. She landed on familiar ground, winding deeper into the cemetery lest they be spotted. She didn't see them but she knew they were being watched as they walked in silence. Once they couldn't hear the street anymore Faith lingered by a fresh grave.

"Look, B, you have to promise me you'll stop hunting him, hunting us. I'm there by choice."

Can you hear me? The words came out of nowhere though her lips hadn't moved. Faith froze. No, don't react. Just blink if you can hear me. She blinked.

"What are you talking about?" Buffy spoke that aloud, continuing their conversation as if nothing had happened.

The ring is enchanted. We can talk without anyone hearing as long as we're close together. The magic breaks if we're too far apart.

"I choose to be with him, B. He's the man I love. Promise me you won't come after us."

He'll know we're doing this. He can sense the magic. If we get caught, he'll be so mad. He's dangerous B. More than that, he's a demon.

"I can't make that promise, Faith. I know what he's capable of without anything to keep him in check. I have to stop him."

Hopefully he only feels the magic from the locating spell, if anything. Willow tried to make sure she didn't use anything flashy. A pause. A demon? What the hell?

The two conversations happened simultaneously, making her head spin. Faith was worried that she'd forget to say aloud and what to think silently. She took her time with her words instead, trying to make it look and sound as natural as possible just in case.

"You don't have to stop him. Just leave us be. I choose him. I choose this. There's nothing more to really talk about. If you try to come after him he'll kill you."

When Giles cast the spell it allowed a demon to take possession of the body. He won't tell me his name or where exactly he comes from, makes me think that's his weakness. If we can find out, if Will can backtrack the spell Giles used, we might stand a chance of getting rid of him.

"This is crazy!" A response to both conversations. "He'll kill you if you stay."

His name. Where he comes from. Got it. We'll be in research mode major when I get home, I promise. I won't leave you alone there for long. Are you ok?

"No, he won't kill me. I'm useful to him. He needs me."

Not even remotely.

"If you're sure…"

Faith, I'm so sorry. I promise we'll get you out of this. We'll find a way to fix this. I promise. Just keep your head above water until then, ok?

"I'm sure. This is what I gotta do. I promise I'm ok."

Hurry.

The desperation in her tone made the blond shudder, the only betrayal of their inner conversation. Once she gathered her composure again the other girl nodded reluctantly. She wrapped her up in another hug and stepped back. The guards had approached closer by now since they hadn't moved during their talking. She almost hoped a vampire would get one of them but had no such luck. The fresh grave they were at didn't seem to want to rise.

"I trust you, Faith."

"This place is dead. Sorry, but I gotta go if there's not going to be any action."

"Yeah, I should get back to Willow and Xander to explain the sitch."

"Make sure they don't do anything stupid."

"I will."

Both of them walked back to the gate and crossed over. Ripper was waiting and gave his Slayer a quick, mocking wave. They parted, the mental connection severing before they got too far away from each other. She forced herself to give him a kiss on the cheek when she returned, for show, and was ushered into the waiting car. Her life had become a game and she did not fully understand the rules. None of them, in fact, except one: do not upset the demon. He picked up her hand and looked at the ring she wore. He knew its significance but didn't say anything about it, instead he let her hand drop and leaned back.

"You disappoint me."

"What are you talking about?" She tried not to let her body belie her nerves.

"Did you think I didn't deduce that it was some sort of code you were speaking in? It was so transparent"

She almost let out a sigh of relief. "There wasn't any code. I told her to keep away and she's going to keep away. I did just what I promised to do."

"I swear to you, Faith, if she does anything to jeopardize my plans I will kill her. I hope you made yourself crystal clear."

"As clear as I could. You were listening, apparently. You know what I said."

"Yes, I heard." He picked up her hand again. "You should take that off. It doesn't mean anything anymore."

"It still means something to me."