When Max regained consciousness he found himself tied to a chair

Liz hadn't expected to be killed by a vampire slayer in a death-by-car scenario but the way that Buffy was driving she was sure that was how she was going to meet her end. Buffy may have been the most powerful slayer in recorded history but she was also the worst driver Liz had ever seen.

What a mundane way to go, Liz thought, still rather dazed from the long line of events that were currently shaping her existence. When they screeched to a stop in front of a motel room Liz was pleasantly surprised that she'd survived the car trip.

Buffy got out of the car and was at the passenger side before Liz could climb out. She grabbed her by the arm and pulled her toward the motel room. Liz had already given her best effort to escape when Buffy dragged her away from the fire but it had all been in vain. She didn't know why she thought she could escape from someone who had just pulverized Angel.

Buffy popped open the door of the room and marched in.

"Giles, I---" She stopped abruptly and Liz saw why. The room had been ransacked.

Buffy's grip on Liz's arm got even tighter. She turned on her with a deadly look.

"Where is he?" She demanded.

"Who?" Liz said, at a complete loss.

Buffy grabbed her by the shoulders and thrust her forward into the room. That's when Liz saw the words scrawled on the wall. They were written in blood: "Your Watcher for Liz."

* * * * * *

When Max regained consciousness he found himself tied to a chair. He lifted his head and looked around but it was taking a minute for his eyes to focus He could hear the voices quite clearly, however.

"Isn't he the guy that tried to turn Buffy over to Spike so Spike would make him into a vampire?"

"I thought it was him too, but it's not. This guy smells different then Ford."

"OK, way too much information."

Max finally focused and found the four people that had been with Liz standing around him. They were smudged and blackened from the fire. The vampire was back to looking normal again and he bent down to Max's eye level. Even without the fangs he was menacing.

"You're going to tell me exactly why Buffy wants to kill Liz and how she recruited you to help her."

* * * * * *

When Sheriff Valenti walked into the Crashdown Isabel saw that he was wearing the same expression he had the night he told them all that Alex had been killed. She felt all the blood drain from her face. Losing Alex had been the most painful thing she had ever had to deal with. She couldn't lose anyone else, especially not Michael or Max. She didn't know how she would live without them, a lone alien in a hostile world.

Sitting across from her, Maria saw Isabel's expression and she turned and saw the sheriff and Kyle walking over to their table. Maria, having the same thought, started to slowly shake her head. They had been waiting for Michael and Max to return but they still hadn't.

"There's been a fire in the warehouse district on the other side of town," he said slowly. "They haven't found anything yet but they did find Max's jeep about a block from where it started. There's no sign of Max or Michael."

* * * * *

Max had no idea where he was only that it was dark and he could hear water dripping. His hands were tied behind his back and he was desperately trying to get them free. If he could do that then he might have a fighting chance. As it was, he was at the mercy of the vampire and his friends. And the vampire looked seriously pissed off.

"Liz talked about you a lot," he was saying as he paced in front of Max like a caged tiger. "It was killing her that she couldn't let you know she was alright. She kept talking about how much she loved you and about all the obstacles you overcame to be together." He bent down and looked at Max with his dark eyes full of fury. "Then you show up here with the woman that's trying to kill her. I know Buffy and she doesn't go around killing people at random. Someone is setting Liz up."

Max watched in horror as the man whose face was two inches away from his transformed once more into a demonic visage.

"Got any ideas on who?" The vampire asked.

* * * * *

"Where is he?" Buffy demanded.

"I don't know!" Liz cried. She w aved a hand at the bloody inscription. "And I don't know anyone that would do something like this!"

Buffy pushed her and Liz hit the ground hard.

"Why don't I believe you?"

And that is when Liz just lost it. She couldn't remember being so angry since Max told her he had gotten Tess pregnant. She had been so hurt and so enraged that she just went off on him and that's exactly how she felt now.

"Me?!" She cried with such ferocity that Buffy actually took a step back. "I have had my head cracked open, I have discovered that vampires are real, I have been kidnapped three times in the last 24 hours. I have no idea why any of this is happening to me and I am sick and tired of people thinking that I do." She climbed to her feet. "You're the almighty vampire slayer, you figure it out."

"How do you know I'm a vampire slayer?" Buffy demanded. "What did Angel tell you? And what lies did you tell him to get him to protect you?"

"Angel came to me!"

"What?"

"I came home from a date with Max and he and Wesley and Cordelia were on my patio waiting for me. They said Cordelia had a vision that a blonde woman killed me and they came to stop it from happening."

"Cordy had a vision?" Buffy said, giving this some thought.

"You know Cordelia?" Liz asked, trying to simmer down her temper, knowing it just might get her killed if she wasn't careful.

"Yeah," Buffy muttered. "We went to high school together. She didn't have visions back then but I understand that she has them now. I don't know how reliable they are, however."

Liz threw her hands up.

"Then by all means kill me!" She cried. "Hey, you're not sure about me but why take chances? And if I am a normal high school girl with parents and a boyfriend who love me, well just chalk it up to a sacrifice for the good of mankind."

Buffy walked up close to her.

"Don't tempt me," she said.

Liz met her unflinchingly.

"I am human," she said.

"She's right."

Both girls turned and found Spike standing in the door. Liz let out a gasp and backed away. Buffy didn't seem frightened at all.

"Spike, what are you doing here?"

"I, um, overheard you and Giles talking about your little field trip out here and I thought a holiday sounded nice."

"So you were ease dropping and you followed us here."

"Well if you want to put it that way—"

Buffy rolled her eyes and noticed Liz was practically cowering in the corner of the room. It surprised her after the way the girl had only moments ago been staring her down. She looked back to Spike who looked a little embarrassed. He gave Liz a small wave.

"Hey," he said. "Sorry about that whole abduction thing."

"What?" Buffy cried.

"He's with you?" Liz said to Buffy, disdain dripping from her voice.

"Yes. No. Sort of. How do you know each other?"

"He threw Angel off the roof then he kidnapped me. Angel ran him down with his car."

Buffy turned an icy glare on Spike.

"You threw Angel off a roof?"

Spike stood up straighter and squared his shoulders.

"Yeah, I guess he's not the big man you thought he was. It was downright easy. I think he's going soft, if you asked me."

"You Threw Angel Off A Roof?" Buffy repeated, emphasizing every word.

Spike's shoulder's slumped.

"He survived, didn't he?" He mumbled.

Buffy shook her head in disgust.

"And why do you think Liz is human?"

"Because when I went for a taste she gave me a migraine to end all migraines."

"You tried to feed on her?!"

"I figured if you were just going to kill her it wouldn't matter."

Buffy turned on Liz again. She took a deep breath before she spoke.

"Alright," She said. "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you aren't going to bring about the end of the world."

Liz felt like she'd been hit with a sledgehammer.

"The end of the world?" She stammered and she felt her stomach lurch.

* * * * * *

"I love Liz. She is my entire world," Max stressed, and if they knew the truth about him they would realize the significance of that statement. "I wouldn't do anything to hurt her."

"Then why were you with Buffy?" The vampire demanded.

"I told you—she came to me. I didn't know she wanted to kill Liz."

The tall black guy walked over to the vampire.

"Someone may have set up Liz by putting Buffy on her trail but I don't think it was this kid," he said.

Angel looked over at Max with his yellow eyes. Just as easily as the ridges and fangs appeared, they disappeared.

"Maybe not," he agreed.

But Max was tired of talking.

"Buffy could have done anything to her by now!" Max shouted.

"Then help us find her," Wesley interceded. "Where can we find her?"

The Coppertone girl went behind him and started untying Max's hands.

"She gave me her cell phone number but I don't know where she was staying."

"Well that's a---"

"Look, lover, it's a party and we weren't invited," a sing song female voice said.

Max felt the room charge with a sudden, terrifying tension. Everyone in the room turned toward the source of the voice. Max could see a tall man in his forties with slightly graying hair but the vampire was obscuring his view of the woman. The Coppertone girl resumed untying his hands but now she was moving with a frantic urgency. Max didn't know what was going on but he suddenly wanted her to hurry.

"I should have known you were behind this," the vampire said.

Max craned his neck to see whom he was talking to and then he had to blink. Twice.

"Yes," the new man with an English accented voice said. "You really should have."

The man lifted his hand and right before Max felt the most agonizing pain he'd ever felt in his life a name escaped his lips: "Agent Topolski?"