"And now you help people to make up for it

"Is everything going according to plan?" She asked in that far away voice that he so loved.

"No," he replied, slipping his arms over her shoulders. She shrugged him off and turned to glare at him.

"No?" She asked frostily.

"Of course not, that's the beauty of chaos, there is only disorder and discord."

"And pain?"

"Of course, my dear. Pain for everyone involved. Pain for everyone that has ever hurt you."

She smiled at him.

"Then it is going exactly as planned."

* * * * *

Liz stepped back; looking on as Angel and the man he called Spike circled each other. They both looked predatory and dangerous.

"Well, well, well," Spike said. "I didn't expect to find you here. The last time I laid eyes on you, you were strung up like a Christmas goose with my friend sticking you with a hot poker. It makes me all warm and fuzzy to think of it."

Angel reached out and grabbed him by the throat.

"I heard that you've been neutered, Spike. If that's the case, then I wouldn't be reminiscing, if I were you."

But Spike just gave him a chilling grin.

"Yeah, but the thing about it is—this chip in my head keeps me from hurting humans and, soul or no soul, you still don't fall under that category." Then with a movement so quick, Liz almost missed it; Spike lifted a crowbar from within his long black coat and swung at Angel's head. The sound of it hitting the vampire on the side of the head filled the night with a loud cracking sound.

Angel hit the ground hard and Liz let out a scream. The blow Angel took would have killed anyone. But she kept forgetting that Angel wasn't anyone. He lifted himself up on his knees and turned and looked at her. Once again his face was contorted with ridges and fangs. Liz stifled the scream in her throat.

"Go!" He shouted and he turned to face Spike again, who slammed him on the other side of the head with the same crowbar. When Spike stepped closer to Angel Liz saw that his face had also made a transformation and it was even more terrifying because it seemed to match the savagery of the beholder. Liz didn't need any more warnings; she turned and ran to the door that led downstairs. She was reaching for the knob when a crowbar embedded itself in it. Liz whirled back around and found Spike grinning at her.

"Now it's rude to leave a party before it's just begun."

Then Angel tackled him from behind. They went sliding across the roof with a skin-peeling ripping noise. Liz jumped out of the way. She turned and tried to get the crowbar loose but it was solidly embedded and she couldn't get it free. She started pounding on the door and then she heard Wesley on the other side.

"Miss Parker?"

"Help!!!" She screamed and she pounded on it more until she felt her hand turning purple. She could hear Wesley, Gunn and Cordelia on the other side, making banging sounds. When the door started to shimmy with the impact of whatever they were hitting it with she backed away from it.

Then she heard a crashing sound behind her and she turned just in time to see Angel take a viscous kick to his chest. He stumbled back, and smiling, Spike kicked him again, sending Angel over the low wall, off of the roof.

Liz was screaming and running to the wall before sanity dictated that it was a stupid thing to do. She looked over the edge and saw Angel on the concrete below and an inexplicable rage filled her. She turned on Spike, who was looking her over with interest.

"You killed him," she said and she found herself pounding on his chest with her fists.

"Ooo, feisty. I like that in a woman. It's a bloody shame that my heart is spoken for." Then he lifted Liz up in his arms and started running toward the opposite side of the roof. Liz was sure that he was going to drop her off the side of the building like he had Angel but she was stunned when he used his running start to leap off the roof with her in his arms. She instinctively grabbed the vampire in a death grip and squeezed her eyes shut. A few agonizing seconds later they hit the ground. She was jarred out of his grip and went flying into a pile of alley trash. She sat up quickly and looked around, blinking and in disbelief that she was still alive. Spike was a few feet away from her. He stood up and dusted himself off. He grinned at her and Liz started backing up.

"You know, she's just going to kill you when I give you to her anyway. She won't mind if I have just a little taste."

* * * * *

"So what's up with this Buffy chick?" Michael asked over the roar of the Jeep's engine.

"What do you mean?" Max asked, scanning the area for the black automobile that the missing, blood toting Coppertone girl was last seen in.

"You don't think it's a little suspicious that she shows up right when Liz disappeared? Maybe she wasn't the one that nabbed her but maybe she was sent to distract you so you wouldn't intervene."

"She seemed really surprised that I wasn't the Ford person she thought I was." He knew that everything about Buffy was suspicious but something kept nagging him that said she was one of the good guys. Still he couldn't dismiss anything if it meant finding Liz. "But anything is possible."

They'd been searching and still couldn't find any sign of the black convertible. So he pulled off to the side of the road and pulled out his cell phone.

"She gave me a number where I could reach her," he told Michael. "Maybe we can question her and—"

The phone started ringing.

"Hello?"

"Max? Hi, it's Buffy. I talked to some friends and they didn't come up with anything new but I wanted to ask you some more questions. Can I meet you somewhere?""

Max looked up at Michael.

"Sure, Buffy. I have some questions for you to."

* * * * *

Liz scampered back, away from Spike but he was all over her in a split second. She tried pushing him away but he was incredibly strong. He lowered his head down to her neck and she was about to scream for all she was worth when he suddenly yanked away from her, screaming. He had a hand over one of his eyes and he stumbled back.

"Bloody hell!" He shouted. "Why didn't you tell me you were human?" He stumbled around a little then he lowered his hand and blinked at her as if something just occurred to him. "Hey, that means—"

That's when the car hit him. It roared out of no where and slammed the vampire right in the back. He caught air and was launched several feet down the alley. Then the car screeched to a stop in front of Liz. Angel was behind the wheel of the big black convertible.

"Get in," he said and she didn't even bother with the door, she leaped inside and Angel slammed it into reverse.

* * * * *

The fact that a young woman would agree to meet a practical stranger in a dark alley reminded Max that Buffy was not a typical girl. If he hadn't been so distracted by Liz's kidnapping maybe he would have picked up on it sooner.

He had not wanted to abandon his search so he asked Buffy to meet him where he and Michael had been when she called. They had reached an industrial area of town that was full of warehouses and she didn't hesitate when he asked her to meet him there.

It only took her a few minutes to get there and as he watched her walk up he took the time to study her. She was small in stature but she moved with uncompromising confidence. She didn't seem scared but she glanced around like she was assessing the area. Max knew she was incredibly strong but she wasn't very muscular. And he remembered that she had summed up the crime scene like a seasoned investigator. It made him realize that he didn't know anything at all about her.

"Hi," she said with a sunny smile. "Any luck?"

"No," he replied. "What happened with your friend?"

"I have some people looking into it. But I wanted to ask you some questions."

"Me too." He said quietly, and that's when Michael came up behind her. The plan was to hold her while Max asked her questions. Intimidation wasn't in his nature but he had to find Liz. But when Michael put his hands on her shoulders she didn't hesitate to grab his wrist and swing him into the closest wall. When she turned back to Max, her fists were clenched and she had that look of hatred in her face that she had when they first met.

"It's not nice to pick on us poor defenseless females. Now what the hell was that about?"

Michael was groaning and climbing to his feet. But Max didn't back down.

"I think you know more then what you're telling me," he said. "Why do you really want to find Liz? Who are you?"

* * * * *

"L.A.? As in Los Angeles?" Liz asked as Cordelia shuffled passed carrying a box of God-knows-what.

"It'll be safer for you there," Gunn said, toting a bag across the floor that seemed to be filled with dirt.

"If Spike knows where we are then we have to leave here," Wesley said, hefting a bunch of really heavy looking dusty books. "We have no idea who he's working for."

"Then shouldn't we find out?" Liz suggested. "I mean, this is never going to end if we don't find out who it is that's trying to kill me. And if Spike's working for her then shouldn't we make Spike tell us who it is?"

"That's why I'm staying behind," Angel said. He had just hung up the phone and he was walking over to Liz. She still couldn't understand, even after seeing it happen twice, how such a handsome face could just twist into something so evil looking. He looked over at his friends. "I just checked in. The Host says he got a call from the Roswell sheriff. He was looking for Cordy."

"Me?" Cordy said. "Why was he looking for me? Why not Wesley, or Gunn! Gunn has a record!"

"He didn't know why, he just got vibes from him that told him that much." He looked at Liz again. "Liz, things are getting too dangerous for you here. You can go back to L.A. with these guys and I'm going to stay and find out what's going on."

"Can I call—"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry."

She nodded glumly and sat back in her chair.

"You can help me out if you could tell me if you know of anyone that would want to hurt you. A blond in particular."

"Tess," she replied without hesitation.

"Who is Tess?"

Who is Tess, Liz thought. Back stabbing, seductress/ murderess from another planet. But she couldn't exactly tell Angel that.

"She—she's Max's ex-girlfriend." Even saying the words made her quiver with anger. "She's bitter."

"Do you think she's capable of murder?"

"Yes." Liz said and she stood up and began pacing. She'd already killed Alex. But the last time Liz saw her Tess was on a one way trip back to her home planet, carrying Max's child. "But she left town a while ago. I don't think she can come back."

"Maybe she snuck back into town."

Liz thought of all the headlines the original Roswell crash had caused and how it had effected the town and the entire nation.

"Unlikely, but I suppose it's possible."

"I don't know what her connection is to Spike but I'll find out."

He stood up and went back to the phone. Everyone else had resumed their frantic packing. Liz crossed her arms and sat back down. Things were going too fast and she'd never felt so out of control in her life. She would feel better if she could talk to Max, or at least tell him she was all right. But she knew that Angel was right. They'd already had run-ins with the government so his phone being tapped wasn't out of the question. And who knew what vampires and other monsters that she wouldn't have believed were real just two days ago were capable of. If only….

Liz gave a start and sat up. There was a way! She glanced around and everyone seemed busy. She'd only have a minute or two and she didn't want anyone to see her do it, it would bring up too many questions that she was unable to answer. But no one was paying attention to her so she sat back, closed her eyes, and prayed that she could remember how to do it.

* * * * *

Buffy hesitated. What was she going to tell him? I'm here to kill your girlfriend?

"Listen, Max, I---" But then she realized he wasn't paying attention to her anymore. His eyes drifted over her shoulder to something behind her. She turned and standing behind her was Liz Parker. It only took a second, however, to realize that the girl wasn't really there, it was a ghost-like image of her. Max stepped passed Buffy, toward the apparition.

"Liz?" Max said.

She smiled and mouthed the words "I'm OK." Then she nodded. Obviously she couldn't speak in the form she'd taken. Then she turned to the guy that had tried to jump her and mouthed the same words again. Then she saw Buffy and she froze.

"Liz, where are you?" Max asked.

But she shook her head and mouthed "I'm OK" again and then she took a step back. She looked around, like she was confused about something. She turned around in a circle then she looked up at Max again and this time she looked frightened.

"Liz, what's happening?" He asked and panic was seeping into his voice. "Where are you?"

He took a step toward her and she took a step back. She shook her head, turned, and bolted down the alley.

* * * * *

Liz couldn't turn it off. She'd contacted Max this way once before when he was in New York City with Tess, but Ava had been there to walk her through it. Liz had thought that if she could start the process on her own then she could stop it, but she couldn't.

She'd connected with Max as she'd planned and she knew that he couldn't hear her so she'd made her message simple. She was going to let him know that she was OK and then she was going to return to her body but something had gone wrong and she couldn't pull out of it. Now she was running, trying to get away from him.

It was a strange thing. She was cognitively aware that she was still in the warehouse but she was also breathing heavily and feeling sweat trickle down her back from the running. She didn't even know where Max was when she found him so she had no idea where she was running to. She glanced around to get her bearings when she noticed some fresh skid marks on the ground beneath her.

"Oh no," she whispered to herself. She stopped running and looked around. She saw the place where her body had made an impression in the trash pile nearby. "No….."

She turned and saw Max and Michael coming after her. And that blond that had been with them. That blond….

"Liz?"

It was Cordelia's voice.

"Liz?"

She felt the brunette give her body a shake but it wasn't enough to break her free.

"Angel!" She cried. "Something is wrong with her!"

Then she heard the slap but she didn't feel it until she opened her eyes and she felt the sting on her cheek.

"Cordy, you slapped her." Angel said, coming up to them.

"She was having a seizure or something."

"And slapping her is medically sound," Wesley said, bending down to Liz's eye level. "Are you all right?"

"He's coming," Liz stammered, still disoriented. "I've lead him right to us." Then she looked at Angel. "And he's with a blond."

* * * * *

Max came to an abrupt stop when he saw Liz's image suddenly vaporize.

"Damn it!" he shouted. He looked frantically around the alley. Michael came up behind him.

"What was she running from?" He asked.

"I don't know," he cried.

Then Buffy came up behind them. But before anyone could say anything they all heard the roar of an engine around the corner. Max and Michael turned the corner and saw two men and a woman sitting with their backs to them in a big black convertible.

"That's the car!" Michael shouted.

Then the man from Max's vision came running out of the warehouse, holding Liz's hand as they ran toward the car. The man ran over to the driver's side and then leaped behind the wheel and the others all reached their hands out to Liz.

"Come on, come on," Max heard them say, and to his surprise, she reached up and let them haul her into the car.

"Liz!" He shouted.

She looked over her shoulder when she heard his voice. She looked incredibly sad but she didn't make a move to get out of the car. Then the guy behind the wheel floored it.

"Max," Liz whispered, sandwiched between Angel and Gunn in the front seat.

"We'll get you back to him," Gunn assured her.

Liz looked back over shoulder and her heart constricted when she saw Max and Michael futilely trying to run after them. Then she realized something.

"She's gone," she said.

"Who?"

"The blond," Liz said.

"What did she look like?" Angel asked.

Liz turned back to face forward and she pointed out the windshield.

"Just like her."

Standing in the middle of the alley less then a yard in front of them stood the blond that Liz had seen with Michael and Max. Angel jerked the wheel to the right, scraping the side of the car along one of the alley walls, amidst screams and shouts from the passengers, just barely missing her. The car came to a rough stop and the young woman walked up to the driver's side.

"Angel," she said, looking like she should be surprised but she wasn't.

The vampire looked up at her and he shook his head.

"Buffy," he growled.