Buffy sat up suddenly, panting and drenched in a cold sweat. She quickly realized she was in her bed in the penthouse of Wolfram and Hart. Angel was sitting up beside her, holding her up, and looking concerned. "Angel…."

"Hey…. It's ok." He said soothingly, placing his hand on her cheek. "You're safe." She took a few calming breaths and laid back down. Angel pulled her close against him. "Are you ok? What was that about?"

"I don't know."

"You don't have a demonic parasite from Eve, do you?"

"Not that I know of."

"The last couple of weeks was kind of a bad dream. Were you dreaming of that?"

Buffy chuckled. "No. I wasn't dreaming of that, but yes, they were horrible."

The two CEOs had spent a week trying to keep two demon tribes from starting a war. Their liaison between the tribes had been killed and it had left Gunn in charge of the negotiations in the man's place. Harmony had been framed for the liaison's murder by one of the other secretaries.

Eventually, everything had worked out, but then Eve had been caught trying to kill Angel. She had managed to keep Buffy busy and away from her husband while she'd been poisoning Angel with some demonic parasite. Angel had spent a whole day having one hellish fever dream after the next.

"Will you tell me what your dream was about?" Angel asked. She lifted up on her arm and looked down at him. "Buffy, you can share anything with me. Good or bad."

"I know I can." He reached up and moved her hair behind her shoulder. She closed her eyes as she laid down on his chest. He began to stroke his fingers lightly up and down her back under her tank top. "I honestly don't know what it was. It was just flashes of violence and pain and death."

"Slayer dream?"

"No. Maybe? I honestly have no idea." She stretched and pressed herself against him as he lightly ran his nails against her ribs. "Mmm…. This is a good distraction."

"Then let me distract you some more." His arm tightened around her waist and he pulled her up to kiss her deeply.

The next morning, Wesley and Lorne were convened in Buffy and Angel's office. Connor was sitting on the couch reading a magazine. "Maybe we made a mistake coming here." Angel said just as Fred and Gunn walked in.

"What's going on?" Gunn asked.

"Oh, parasite Eve, right on out the door." Lorne said.

"You're firing her?"

"Well, that's one option." Angel said.

"A generous one, considering she tried to kill you." Wesley said.

"I voted to kill her, but that was overruled." Buffy added.

"Ok, first, the parasite she allegedly sicced on you wasn't meant to be fatal…." Gunn started.

"No, just send him into a permanent hallucinogenic coma. And what's with the 'alleged'? You don't believe it was her?"

"It's not about what I believe. It's about the evidence."

"This isn't a courtroom, Gunn." Wesley said. "Things work with a bit more immediacy in the real world."
"She's liaison to the senior partners. You don't get to be that without serious juice. Move against her without solid proof and it could end in a long, bloody fight."

"Ok, fine." Angel sighed. "I think I liked you better when you just wanted to hit people."

"Rational thought…. it's an acquired taste."

"Wait a minute." Lorne said. "So, we're not going to snap Twiggy into little sticks?"

Buffy gestured at Lorne emphatically, happy to have him on her side. Angel chuckled at her. "Gunn's right. We can't risk it." Buffy's face fell. "Yet." That made her smile again.

"We'll restrict her access, keep a closer eye on what she's up to." Gunn said. "Play her like she's been playing us."

Harmony rushed into the office. "Boss, we just got a tip some looney's hatched from the bin."

"A who did a what?" Angel asked.

"A girl over in the nuthouse went all Cuckoo's Nest, hacked up a couple of guards and went over the wall."

"Really not our department, Harmony."

"Notify the authorities." Wesley said. "Make sure they're on it."

"Ok, but they better bring a priest." Harmony turned back to the door. "Looks like this chick's gone all kinds of Exorcist."
"She's possessed?" Buffy asked.

"Duh! Didn't I say that?"

"No. You didn't."

"I'll get a team together." Wesley offered.

"No. Wait." Angel said. "I don't want to go storming in with troops until we know what we got here. I've seen a few of these possession cases. They have to be handled very carefully. Real finesse job."

"So I guess I'll go." Buffy stood up, grinning at Angel's shocked face. "I'll go change into a more possession fighting outfit in case there's split-pea soup happening."

Buffy, Angel, and Connor stepped off the elevator and looked at the person stepping off the other one. "Oh." Spike said. "Well, fancy this."

"What are you doing here, Spike?" Buffy asked.

"Didn't get the memo? Hero of the people now."

"Oh, then go and annoy them." Angel muttered.

"When I'm done. Heard one of the simples went for a stroll."

"How'd you hear that?" Buffy asked.

"Grapevine, love."

"Look, shouldn't you be out in the streets, you know, protecting the city from people like you?" Connor asked.

"Go where I'm needed."

"Which isn't here."

"Guys, he's here." Buffy said. "Let him help if he can." She stepped up to the nurse's station and gave the woman there a smile. "Hi. Is there a doctor here we can speak to?"

A man walked out from an office near the desk. "Can I help you?"

"Other way around, doc." Spike started. "I'm…."

"Hi, my name's Buffy. This is Angel, Connor, and that's Spike. We're here to get your patient back."
Angel handed the doctor a card and the doctor looked at it in surprise. "Lawyers? I already told the police everything I know."

"Can we go over it again? Just in case you left out any details."

"What she said." Spike said. "But with a bit more of a threat at the end."

"Spike…." Buffy warned.

The doctor looked at them for a moment and then sighed. "Follow me." He led them into one of the patient rooms. The place was covered in bright, vibrant, and disturbed drawings. With every drawing Buffy studied, she was starting to have a sinking feeling in her gut that she knew what was wrong with Dana. "She was a special case." The doctor said. "Her family was murdered in their home when she was 10. Whoever did it took Dana and tortured her for months. She was found one day naked and bleeding, wandering the streets. Barely functional, nearly catatonic ever since."

"Looks like she snapped out of it." Connor said.

"Several months ago her condition changed. Increasing levels of agitation accompanied by explosive outbursts of inhuman strength."

"Right. Demon possession." Spike said.

"That's ridiculous."

"You're not helping, Spike." Angel growled.

"No, I'm doing. You can hang out for the show-and-tell-me-nothing. I got a demon needs repossessing." Spike yanked one of the drawings off the wall and walked out.

"Sorry." Angel said to the doctor. "He's…. is pathological idiot an actual condition?"

"May I suggest that you stop your friend?" The doctor said. "If he finds Dana, he's gonna end up dead like the others."

"Yeah, but he'll just end up comin' back." The doctor shook his head at Angel and walked out. "What isn't he tellin' me?"

"Rabinaw videoed all his sessions with her." The nurse said from the doorway.

"Show us." Angel and Connor started to walk out, but Buffy was staring at a drawing of a girl in a white dress and black jacket. "Buffy?"

"This is me." Buffy said.

"What?" Angel walked over and looked at the drawing. The girl in the picture definitely could be Buffy.

She pointed to another drawing. "This is Lucy Hanover. She was killed in 1866." She pointed to yet another drawing. "Abigail Cole, killed in 1627." And three more drawings. "Belle Malone in 1890. Dotty Kessler in 1927. Arabella Gish in 1914." She stopped at the one next to the drawing of herself. "India Cohen. May 1996." Buffy turned to the nurse. "How many months ago did this start?"

"It started around May, so about eight months ago." The nurse said.

The Slayer looked at Angel. "Oh." He said.

"Yeah. We don't need to see those tapes. Thanks for your time." Buffy walked out past the nurse and headed for the elevators.

Angel and Connor rushed to keep up. "What's wrong?" Connor asked. "How did you know who those drawings are?"

"She's a Slayer." Angel said.

"Spike's going to get himself killed." Buffy said as she pulled out her cell phone.

"Wyndam-Pryce." Wesley answered.

"Hey Wes, can you check with our police informants and get Dana's last known sighting? I may need a non-lethal assault team as backup."

"Do you think that's wise? I've been brushing up on demonic possessions…."

"She's not a demon, Wes. She's a Slayer."

"Good lord! I'll…. Get working on it now."

Buffy, Angel, Connor and Spike walked off the elevator into the lobby at Wolfram and Hart. When they had pulled up to the warehouse where Dana had been hiding, Spike had been thrown out of the window. She'd been gone by the time Buffy and Connor had gone in.

"A psychotic vampire slayer." Spike said.

"How many times are you going to say that?" Connor snapped.

"Just tryin' to wrap my lobes around it. A psycho Slayer."

"And you let her get away." Angel griped.

"At least I was tryin' to stop her."

"Oh, how'd that work out?"

"At least I know the game, now, don't I? I killed two slayers with my own hands. Think I can handle one that's gone daft in the melon."

"You're not handling anything, Spike." Buffy said, stopping and spinning around. He backpaddled away to keep from running in to her. "Wesley contacted Giles. He's sending someone to retrieve her." She turned and marched into the conference room. Wesley, Gunn, Fred, and Lorne were already there.

"Buffy, we were just about to…." Wesley started.

"Oh god, no." Buffy said, spotting the man that Giles had sent.

Andrew's hair was longer and he was wearing a suit and tie and holding a pipe. His eyes bugged out of his head when he saw Spike. "Spike?"

"Oh, for the love of…." Spike groaned.

"Spike?" Andrew rushed at Spike, touching his shoulders before grabbing him in a tight hug and sobbing, "It's you. It's really you! My therapist thought I was holding onto false hope, but…. I knew you'd come back." Buffy and Connor exchanged amused glances. "You're like…. you're like Gandalf the White, resurrected from the pit of the Balrog, more beautiful than ever. Ohh! He's alive, Frodo! He's alive." Spike looked over at Buffy for help, but she just grinned at him. "Uh, so what happened? Last I heard, you went all pillar of fire down in the Hellmouth."

"Why did Giles send you?" Buffy asked.

"I'm a Watcher in training."

"He's got a long way to go." Xander said, entering the room just then. "Giles stuck him with me since I'm already one."

"Xander!" Buffy turned and gave her friend a hug. "You're a Watcher now?"

"Not like there's a lot to choose from."

"True."

"We were just about to bring everyone up to speed on Slayer mythology." Wesley said, bringing them back to the problem at hand.

"I'll take it from here, Pryce." Andrew piped up. "Best they hear it from an expert."

"Oh, right. Let the top man have a go." Spike said with a laugh.

"Let's not and say we did." Buffy said.

"Good call." Xander said. "Since everyone here knows the gist of the Slayer thing and our little Sunnydale surprise six months ago, we can skip that part. We've been tracking down the new Slayers and guiding them…."

"We've been giving them the full X-Men, minus the crappy third act." Andrew interjected.

"But Dana…." Xander looked at Buffy because he knew she was feeling incredibly guilty right now. "She's an anomaly that no one could have foreseen."

"Tortured, traumatized, driven insane by Yoda knows who."

"And then the dreams of demons and superpowers she's always had suddenly become real." Buffy said.

"The dreams of Slayers are usually just that…. dreams." Wesley said.

"They're not just dreams, Wes. Some of them can be, yeah, but I've dreamt of Slayers in the past. A couple of times I got a front row seat to potentials being murdered by Bringers. I've even dreamt of things that haven't happened yet. "

"Like when you dreamed Drusilla was back." Angel said.

"Exactly. Slayer dreams are real and Dana's mental instability is probably making them seem even more real and scarier."

"Explains why that skirt was yappin' at me in Chinese." Spike said. "Must've thought she was the Slayer I took out back in the Boxer Rebellion."

"You mean the Slayer you murdered." Buffy snapped at him.

"Well, I didn't have a soul back then, did I?"

Buffy sighed. "Sorry. This isn't a great day for me."

"The boy's right, love. You couldn't have known about this girl when you came up with the most brilliant battle plan in the history of battle plans."

"Speaking of battle plans, Buffy, I think you're definitely the one on point here." Angel said. "Spike and I are the last two people that should be confronting her. She has every reason to hate us and she's unstable. In her mind, there probably aren't any good vampires. She exists for one reason: to destroy creatures like us."

"Not all Slayers are like that, mate."

Angel looked fondly at Buffy. "No, not all of them."

"Well, she's always been a little bit weird." Xander said. "Running off and marrying the big guy without telling anyone? Really Buff?"

"It was an empath demon deprived of sleep!" Buffy protested.

"That's always your excuse."

"I promise when we decide to have an actual wedding someday, you'll be invited to that one." Buffy said. "Ok, so we need to find Dana. What's the plan for getting her to Giles?"

"I've got four Slayers hanging out at the Hyperion ready to assist."

"I think this is something I need to do alone." Xander started to protest, but the petite Slayer held up her hand. "Backup can be waiting outside for my signal, but Dana is my responsibility, ok? It's because of me that she's out there killing people."

"Buffy, don't be so hard on yourself." Fred said. "You couldn't have known."
"No, I couldn't, but she's still my responsibility. So, let's find her so I can help her."

Angel walked out of the conference room and went searching for Buffy. Harmony pointed at their office. He nodded at her and walked in. Buffy was standing at the window looking out at the city.

"Hey."

Buffy glanced back at him. "Hey."
He walked over and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, resting his chin against the top of her head. "You ok?"

"I'm just…. Thinking."

"About Dana?"

She sighed. "Yes and no." Buffy gently moved away from Angel and sat down on the arm of the couch. "I did this to her. And not just to her. To hundreds, maybe thousands of girls out there."

"You did an amazing thing, Buffy. You changed the world for the better."

"I'm not in doubt about that."

"Then what are you in doubt about?"

"Aren't those girls just as much my responsibility as Dana is? Shouldn't I be helping them, too? I just made them and then abandoned them."

"You didn't abandon them." Buffy started to protest, but Angel cut her off. "I know that you're sending a big chunk of your paycheck to Willow to help her and the others get the new Watcher's Council set up."

"And here I thought I was being sneaky."

"You were, but Harmony messed up the address and it got sent back. I just happened to get the mail that day and I corrected the address."

"You've never said."

Angel shrugged. "Neither did you."

"I didn't want to make it a big deal."
"Is the money not enough now?"

"I don't know. I actually like what we're doing here. It's important. And I love being here with you and Connor and everyone else. We have a good life together."

"Buffy," Angel walked over and gently gripped her shoulders. "You chose to make your own path. You chose to be happy for once in your life. You shouldn't feel guilty for that."

"What if I want to do more than just send some money?"

There was a knock on the door and Lorne stuck his head in. "Don't mean to interrupt, but I've had an idea I wanted to run by you." He stepped into the office when Buffy nodded. "The witnesses say it's like Dana's looking for something. I think we should start at the source."

"The asylum?" Angel asked.

"No. Where this started for her. She was abducted from home. Right?"

"That was over 15 years ago."

"Houses have long memories, Angel cakes. You just gotta know how to get them to talk."

"That's good. Yeah. Set it up." Buffy said.

Buffy, Angel, Lorne, and Lorne's psychic followed the realtor through a middle-sized suburban house. She was rattling on about hardwood floors and central air. The psychic was ignoring the realtor as he touched the walls and railings.

"The walls scream with the blood of the innocent." He said.

The realtor looked at him in shock. "Uh…. I'll be in the car if you have any questions. And remember: it's a seller's market."

"You sure this guy's reliable?" Angel asked Lorne.

"Oh, yeah. Vernon's top drawer." Lorne said. "He does all Tom Arnold's readings."

"Are you getting anything?" Buffy asked Vernon.

"Fear." Vernon said. "Anguish. Pain. He needed them to suffer."

"Who?"

"She doesn't know him. She tries to be still…. invisible…. but he senses her. She's gone."
"Where did he take her?"

"Dark. The floor is cold. The air is thick with…. Dust…. And the smell…. sickly sweet, like…. molasses. A basement. That's where her pain lives."

Connor met Buffy, Angel, and Lorne as they got off the elevator. "Hey. How'd it go?"

Buffy spotted Gunn walking up behind Connor. "Can we find the guy who killed Dana's family? His name, his past, his whereabouts…. Everything."

"Police never caught him." Gunn said.

"We're not the police. Search her files, talk to her contacts, raise the dead if you have to. Just…. find him." Buffy turned to Lorne as Gunn walked off. "I need to know where he took her after he abducted her. The psychic narrowed it down to a basement that smells like molasses. We can do better."

"You got it." Lorne said, rushing off to find his assistant.

Xander stepped out of the conference room. "Spike and Andrew ran off somewhere."

"What do you mean?" Angel asked.

"Spike started moaning about not having anything to do and next thing we know, he's gone."

"And Andrew followed him." Buffy said.

"Why would Andrew do that?" Angel asked.

"Andy has the hots for Willy." Buffy and Angel blinked at Xander and Xander turned bright red. "Sorry. Well, if Spike finds her before us, he'll end up staked and Andrew will end up the cannon fodder he was meant to be."

"That was a bit harsh." Buffy scolded.

"Sorry. You haven't been travelling with him for the last two weeks."

"Fair enough. Let's hope that he's at least smart enough to stay out of the way if they run into Dana." The group headed for the conference room. Twenty minutes later, Gunn came in and headed straight for the map.

"What do you got?" Angel asked.

Gunn pointed to the map. "Tactical found the body here: Fourth and Camden."

Buffy nodded. "She's staying in the area. Can we get aerial surveillance and thermal imaging? They can go block to block in a 5-mile radius."

"What exactly are they looking for, Buff? I mean, this is an industrial area. Most of the buildings have a basement of some sort."
"Lorne, any luck with the psychics on this place?" Angel asked.

"No. Nothing new. It's still cold, creepy, and smells like molasses."

"What about…." Wesley started, but stopped with a chuckle.

"I'll take anything." Buffy said. "Even the chuckle-worthy places."
"I almost said the words 'molasses factory' out loud."

"Whiskey!" Fred suddenly said, standing up.

"Oh, god bless you, kitten." Lorne said. "I was just about to suggest the same thing."

"No. I mean, when you're cooking up whiskey, it makes the whole room smell like molasses."

"Look for a distillery." Angel said. "Get maps from 10 years ago. Maybe it's…."
"Andrew." Fred said, cutting Angel off and pointing at the door.

Andrew was walking in, his face was beaten and bloody. "We were attacked. I think she got him. I think she got Spike."

Buffy grabbed her coat. "Where?"

Buffy made her way slowly into the warehouse. The scent of blood was almost overpowering. Angel, Connor, Xander, and tactical were waiting outside. Buffy had insisted on going alone to get Dana.

"You killed them both." Dana said.

"That and worse." Spike groaned. "But I was never here."
The blonde Slayer rounded the corner to see Dana punching Spike over and over. "Doesn't matter! Head and heart. Keep cutting till you see dust." Buffy grabbed Dana and pulled her away as she grabbed a bone saw.
Dana wheeled on Buffy and glared at her. "Dana, I'm here to help you, ok? Do you know who I am?"

Dana cocked her head at Buffy. "Dead like the rest."

"No. I'm not dead. Not at the moment, anyway." Buffy kept her hands up as she took a step forward. She glanced at Spike on the floor. He was chained to a post and he was missing both of his arms from mid-forearm down. "The man who hurt you was named Walter Kindel. He tried to rob a liquor store five years ago and the police shot him. He's dead, Dana. He can't hurt you anymore."

"Can't hurt me. Not weak anymore."
"No. You're not weak."

"Strong. Slayer."
"Like me."

Dana cocked her head again and snarled, "Vampire."

Buffy pointed at herself in confusion. "Me?" Suddenly, Dana charged at Buffy, trying to kick her in the chest. Buffy easily blocked it and the next few hits that were directed at her way. "Dana, stop!" The dark headed Slayer actually did stop. "I'm not a vampire. You can hear my heart beating."

"You smell like one."

"Well, that's just a repercussion of being married to a vampire with a soul. And keep your nose to yourself!"

"Married?"

"The world is so much different now, Dana. You're not the only Slayer." She took a cautious step forward. "Six months ago, my friend Willow did a spell and changed the potential Slayers into actual Slayers." Buffy took another step. "You were a potential and now you're like me and thousands of other girls out there." Another step and she was right in front of Dana. "You're special."
"Slayer."

"Yes." Buffy held her hand out. "Can I take you to the other girls that are like you? They'll take you someplace safe with them. You'll be surrounded by girls like you."

Dana stared at Buffy's hand and glanced at her face a couple of times. Finally, she took Buffy's hand. "You'll be happy with them. They'll take care of you." She wrapped her arm around Dana and led her outside. The girl tensed when Angel and Connor walked up to them. "It's ok. He's a good vampire. His name is Angel and that's his son Connor."

"Married?"

"Yes." Buffy looked up at Angel. "Get the med team in there. Spike's pretty bad." She led Dana over to one of the ambulances. "Can they look you over? Make sure you're ok?" The girl spotted the needle one of the paramedics was holding and she started to panic. Buffy tightened her grip on Dana to comfort her and keep her from bolting. "It's ok. It's ok. You don't have to. They just want to make sure you're not hurt or sick. They won't use the needles if you don't want them to, ok?" Dana looked hesitant. "I won't leave you."

Xander walked up to the ambulance a few minutes later. Buffy was sitting with Dana, holding her hand, as the medics checked her over. "Hey Buff. Good work."

"Thanks."

"Dana, I'm Xander Harris. I'm a with the New Watcher's Council."

"You've got to find a better name." Buffy insisted.

Xander chuckled. "I'm going to take you with me to meet the other Slayers." He reached out to take her hand, but Dana yanked away from him and clung to Buffy. "Uh…."

"She doesn't trust you."

"I'm not one of the girls." Xander took a breath and looked at Dana for a long moment. "Buff, I think you need to come with us."

Buffy looked at Dana firmly tucked under her arm. "Seems like it."

Angel walked into Spike's medical room. His newly reattached arms were bandaged tightly. Spike was sitting up in his bed and sighed when he saw Angel. "Come to tap-dance on the patient, have we, doc? I'd give you the finger, but apparently I won't have the motor skills till the drugs wear off."

"A lot of pain?" Angel asked.

"More than I'd like, but not as much as you would. Just what I deserve."

"I didn't say that."

"No. I did. The lass thought I killed her family. And I'm supposed to what, complain cause hers wasn't one of the hundreds of families I did kill? I'm not saying you're right…. Cause, uh…. I'm physically incapable of saying that. But, uh…. for a demon, I never did think that much about the nature of evil. No. Just threw myself in. Thought it was a party. I liked the rush. I liked the crunch. Never did look back at the victims."

"I couldn't take my eyes off them. I was only in it for the evil. It was everything to me. It was art. The destruction of a human being. I would've considered Dana a masterpiece."

"What happens to her?"

"I don't know. Buffy left with Xander to take Dana to England. Connor went with her."

"She was good with the bird."

"Yeah."

"The tingling in my forearms tells me that bird's too far gone to help. She's one of us now. She's a monster."

"She's an innocent victim."

"So were we…. Once upon a time."

Angel nodded, hoping that Spike was wrong about Dana. "Once upon a time."