Doza: As for Sara's likability, try and take into account that we're only getting a slice of what's going on. This has spanned over a few days so far and she's noticeably perturbed about what has happened (to say the least). Also take into account that I set up the story so that Giles was one of the few people in her life that knows about the Witchblade and hasn't tried to use it or her for their own selfish reasons. That makes him all the more endearing to her and it makes it all the more emotional if that relationship is put in jeopardy. Plus, I don't want her as a full-fledged Scooby. She functions more as an outside consultant. Truth is, the attitude of Sara is basically that she would like nothing more than to get back to her abnormal life, but is finding out more and more that it's increasingly unlikely to happen.

RTds9: I'm going to try and stay within the parameters of what I think would, could, or should happen. I don't want anyone to necessarily "show anyone up". However, what I do want is to put these guys in a situation where the old methods won't cut it and new rules have to be applied, requiring adjustments for all involved.

General Mac: I'll always try and deliver.

As for where I'm going with this story I just hope my readers will stay with it. Some things you might like and some you might hate. Still, reviews are more than welcome.

2:58 p.m., Friday - Slayer Base HQ

"Buffy! You're back!" Kennedy exclaimed. She ran to give the returned Slayer a great big hug. The others that were present ran up to her.

"Yeah, I am. But no time for chitchat; we've got work to do. I want everything to go into finding Sara. Check the police station again; call her phone over and over if necessary. Leave a billion messages at her precinct if that's what it takes. Rona and Deirdre: stake out her place for awhile, see if she pops up. Me and Willow are going to run by the informant's place. Sara probably went by there to quiz the guy about last night's raid."

"Well, Michelle saw her earlier at some murder investigation," Kennedy said.

"And?" Buffy asked.

"She got hauled out by a cop on Sara's orders. She's pretty pissed about it."

"Figures. Well, check out Sara's favorite hangout spots and the diners around her precinct. Maybe something'll turn up."

"Um… her favorite hangout spots?" Monica asked. "Buffy, we don't have a clue where those are."

"What? She's been with us for a year," she replied in confusion.

"Exactly," Monica said. "Buffy, Sara's been with us for a year and we still don't know a lot about her. As a matter of fact, the one that knows the most about her is… Giles."

Buffy was dumbfounded. It had been a year since they had met and she was struck with the glaringly obvious: no one really knew much about the cop. And she knew that lack of knowledge about her could prove the woman's undoing if they didn't get to her in time. "Then we'll have to work with what we have," Buffy responded. "Monica, Ling: you guys check by her gym. It's your choice to go by her police station, but be careful. We may need to get rough to stop her and I don't want that happening in front of a bunch of cops. Let's get moving everyone; the sooner we handle this, the better."


3:02 p.m., Friday - Home of Nicholas Sanderson, Marketing Manager for Vanguard Graphics

"Jake told me you're pretty popular over at the precinct today," Danny said as they rode up to their new destination. "Someone came looking for you, and the description he gave was surprisingly similar to the one that stopped by the Vanguard office." He looked at Sara's face for any reaction to the news. Not only did she not speak, she didn't even flinch. "Plus," he continued, "he told me you got nine calls from a woman named Willow."

Sara still said nothing.

"Well?" Danny asked.

"Well what?" Sara inquired back.

"You planning on handling your phone calls, or what?"

"Or what," she replied.

"Look, whoever 'Willow' is, she wants to talk to you badly, like that girl earlier."

"I know."

"So… you plan on calling her?" he asked, confused.

"Not really."

"You plan on giving me more than two-word responses on this?"

"Probably not," she replied.

"It might be an emergency," Danny said.

"No, at least not in the way you're thinking. Look, can we just move on to something else, please?" To Danny, it wasn't a suggestion.

"Fine," he retorted.

"Danny…" she pleaded, seeing he was clearly losing patience with her.

"No," he interrupted. "You said 'drop it', so we're dropping it. Let's just question this guy and get back to the station, alright?"

"Fine," she said back.


3:48 p.m., Friday - Nikto Electronics & Supply

Buffy and Willow had arrived near the store Stitch owned. They had some serious questions for the man and wanted some serious answers. If Sara was to go on a foolhardy mission, they wanted enough info to intercept and hopefully restrain her. And both knew that restraining her meant a possible physical confrontation.

"Buffy, what do we do if this guy sold us out?" Willow asked.

"Well, I plan to break his nose if he did," she replied. "And then we threaten more violence for information on Sara."

"Wow," Willow said, kind of disturbed at the nonchalant attitude she was taking with the issue. "How long did it take to plan that out?"

"I'm making it up as I go," she answered.

"Oh… um, here we are," Willow said. She looked at the door and there placed in the middle was a 'Closed' sign. It was odd, considering the fact it wasn't even evening.

"It's closed," Buffy said. "Huh? What for?"

"Sara's been around here," Willow said. "It's faint, but I know she was here."

"And like her usual charming self," Buffy said sarcastically, "she no doubt sent the guy running. Typical."

"Weren't you going to do the same?" Willow asked.

"Well... yeah, but no doubt in a much better way."

"What now?"

"I have another idea," Buffy replied, "but you won't like it."

"Pez, Willow called…." Jake said as Sara and Danny walked toward their desks. They had said nary a word to each other on the way back from Mr. Sanderson's residence.

"Save it, Jake," Danny interrupted. "She's not answering them."

"Oooookay…"

"Why is everybody so concerned about my phone calls?" Sara asked indignantly.

"When it's cutting in on detective work," Jake replied. "You know the cap's going to throw a fit if she keeps calling."

"Just tell her I'm not here and hang up."

"And if it's important?" Jake asked.

"Look, I said I'll handle it, alright?" Sara shot back. "For now, just make up something and… aaahhhh!" Sara grabbed her head in pain.

"Pez!" Jake yelled.

Sara dropped to the floor, holding onto her head and yelling out in pain. Squirming and writhing, she knew who it was as soon as she felt it. Willow.

Sara, you need to stop… now.

"No!" Sara yelled out. "Ahhhh!"

Please, for Giles' sake, don't do this.

Sara was too busy focusing on the pain to telepathically respond. Danny and Jake tried to steady her, but kept moving about on the floor. "Pez! Pez! What's wrong?" Danny asked.

"Somebody call 911 now!" Jake yelled out.

Captain Akins heard the commotion and came running out of his office. "What the hell's going on out here?" he yelled.

"It's Sara," a uniformed officer replied. "She just collapsed and started grabbing her head."

"Well, call 911!" he yelled.

"Someone's on it," the officer replied.

Every part of Sara's head was in pain, like it was in a vice's hold. Her blood racing she found it hard to breathe, as every breath made the pain in her head worse. She didn't know how much more she could take. Her vision blurred and the ceiling lights looked like they were dancing back and forth. The Witchblade was putting forth its best effort to stop Willow from reestablishing the link and thus knowing her location. It became so intense that blood started to run from Sara's nostrils, staining her blouse and pants. Then, all of a sudden, the pain started to go away.

"I can't do anymore, Buffy," Willow said, distressed at her efforts. "It might kill her."

"It's okay. You did the best you could, Willow," Buffy reassured her. In truth, Buffy was hoping for a small modicum of success.

"But I did get something from her," Willow said. "I was able to read her mind and she didn't notice. I could only make out a little: '10 tonight' and 'tiles'. That's about it."

"Well, it's something to go on. Let's get back home."

Sara sat on the floor, dazed, bleeding, and shaking from the shock of it all. She was breathing heavily, like she hadn't taken a breath in years. Holding her head, she tried to regain her bearings.

"Pez, you all right?" Danny asked. "Someone's calling 911 right now."

"No!" Sara exclaimed. "No, I'm fine. I just need to lie down."

"What you need is to get to a hospital," Jake protested.

"No!" she exclaimed again. "Just let me rest for a second." She tried to stand as Jake and Danny helped her up.

"This isn't up for discussion," Danny retorted.

"I'm fine!" she yelled in anger. While she was hoping to dissuade her colleagues, she was making their case stronger as her outburst made her dizzy again. She started to fall back a little until Jake and Danny caught her.

"Then you're doing a really good impression of someone who isn't," Jake replied.

"Just call off the ambulance, please," she pleaded. "I just need to rest a bit." Her eyes were begging Jake to listen to her.

"Hawkins, call off the ambulance," the captain said.

"What!" Danny shouted, stunned at what he was hearing.

"We can't make her go if she doesn't want to, Woo," he replied. "But she is getting rest; a couple of days' worth. Just enough time to get a physical and convince me she's fit to work. Maybe a CAT scan too."

"Cap…" she protested.

"And that is not up for discussion, Pezzini," he said sternly. "Get home. Have McCartey drive you."

"No…" she said quickly. "I'll drive home. I just need a couple of minutes."

"Fine," he said. Looking around at the officers whose attention she had Akins said, "Let's get back to work, people; city isn't paying us to play nurse."

As the group started to disperse, Danny just looked at Sara, clear disappointment in his eyes. Once again, Sara had decided to eschew help and try and handle a problem on her own. Staring at her, he just huffed and walked away.

Jake knew the air between the two detectives was thick. Though he hadn't known her as long as Danny had, he was just as frustrated sometimes at her attitude toward her life and them. If he hadn't been so damn loyal, he would've given up on helping her a long time ago.

"Pez, if you need me to drive…" he offered.

"Thanks, Jake," she said as she watched Danny walk away, "but I'm set."

"Fine." His tone was curt, telling Sara that he was just as disappointed in her as Danny was.

Great, now I've managed to piss off both Jake and Danny, she thought. Thanks a lot, Willow.