Buffy banged her head again Bad Boy #1's. He fell to the ground, but Bad Boy #2 appeared and withdrew a stungun.

"Hey! that's not fair!" Buffy exclaimed.

She double kicked him and flipped over the Bad Boy.

But...

Bad Boy #3 just had to pop out.

He came up behind her and shoved her to the ground. #2 straddled Buffy and put his hands around her neck and began to choke her-

"Faith!" she tried to scream.



Meanwhile, Faith gawked at Hope.

"You...knew about me?" she asked.

"I'm not that stupid." Hope replied.



"Faith!" Buffy screamed again.

The men finally started to back off.

"She's not our girl." and they ran.

Buffy lay in astonishment.

She began to get up and felt arund her neck for any bruising.

Nothing...at least, yet.

She smelled pizza.

"Pizza..." She looked around the corner and saw Boston Pizza.

"What do you mean, Plan B?" Riley asked madly.

"Somehow, someone else went instead of Faith." Erin replied. "I called home and Faith answered."

"Bummer." Riley stood up from his chair and began to walk out of Erin's office.

"Wait!" she exclaimed. "What do I do?"

"Do you have a gun?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Then use it."

Erin stood in shock.

"Faith! Hope!" Buffy called. "Pizza!" Buffy slid the pizza onto the counter and looked thorugh the cabinets for first aid and icy-hot.

Nothing. She growled silently and started to get paper plates adn cups out.

"Hope!" She yelled. "Faith!"

Then the usual sounds of feet pounded down the stairs.

"Hey B!"

"Hey guys."

Faith's brow creased when she saw how injured the Slayer was.

Buffy shook her head and mouthed, Tell You Later.

Faith nodded and picked Hope up.

"Want some grub?"

"No!" Hope giggled. "I want pizza!"

The Brunette Slayer laughed and put the girl down on a barstool.



Faith awoke suddenly to a screaching noise coming from the lower level of the home. She threw the covers off herself and got out of bed.

The Slayer yawned and pulled her hair back and tucked it behind her ears.

She looked down at her watch.

"Too early," She mumbled. Silently, she squinted to see if Buffy was in the bed next to hers.

Only, no one was there.

Her forehead wrinkled in concern.

She tip-toed out of the room and walked over the threshold of Hope's bedroom.

Her little girl wasn't in the bed.

She grew into panic, spinning around and running through the hall over to Erin's bedroom.

Nothing, no one.

The horrible screaching noise came from downstaris again.

Faith grasped the railing tightly as she walked cautiously down the staircase.

She heard the noise again, louder.

"H-Hello?"

She turned the corner into the kitchen as the noise became a sound like nails sliding down a chalkboard.

She saw the basement door open, light coming from room.

She searched all the drawers for the silverware and found a steak knife.

Faith was vigilant as she walked down the long, narrow passageway silently.

The sound was unbarably loud now, and she turned the corner quickly to see-