"So this new big bad crashes Parent Night, and I'm already way stressed with Snyder on the war path." Buffy had spent over two hours talking to her father about Sunnydale. He actually had questions about some odd things he had read about. It was mostly the lighter stuff from that first year in Sunnydale: the witchcraft sabotaged cheerleading tryouts, Xander's hyena possession, the preying mantis substitute, and then Parent Night from the second year. Jack laughed at her being interested in cheerleading and at Xander's various predicaments. She was now explaining Parent Night, but without mentioning Spike by name. She didn't know why she didn't want him to know that it was Spike. He didn't know about Spike at all. That might have been the reason; she still had trouble believing that the vampire from that night was the same she confided in over the phone.

Buffy continued to explain getting her mom and other parents to the safety of a classroom until they could get out through the library. Jack seemed most interested in how she climbed through the ceiling to take out the vampires one by one. Then she talked about her showdown with the gang leader. "So I'm on the ground thinking it might all be over when Mom comes up behind him and swings this axe at his head."

"I knew Joyce was one hell of a woman," Jack said with a laugh. "What happened with the vampire leader after that?"

"He stayed a thorn in my side until I dropped an organ on him and put him in a wheel chair for several months."

"You certainly are creative," he said. "Why didn't you kill him?"

"I don't know," she said, not entirely sure of the answer. "I didn't really get the chance. He wasn't around so he wasn't a priority. Plus there was the big gang of followers and his psycho hoe-bag of a girlfriend."

"Now what about the Master? Who was he?"

"He was my worst nightmare, at the time," she said. "He was trapped beneath Sunnydale by some mystic barrier, and he kept trying to break free. There was this big prophesy about him and the Anointed One. Turned out the Anointed One was a kid that led me to the Master. The rest of the prophesy was how I would face the Master and die. I flipped over that, but I had to stop him. When I got to his lair there wasn't even a fight. He came up behind me and I couldn't move. He briefly sunk in his teeth and then let me fall into a pool of water. He could then leave and open the Hellmouth. Xander came soon after that and brought me back with CPR. I faced the Master again and killed him."

"How old were you?" Jack asked quietly.

"Sixteen."

"God," Jack said and shook his head. "I'm so sorry."

"You know, I think you're the first person to truly apologise for my calling. The Watchers just say it's your duty to have a life expectancy of six months to two years. Have fun!"

"How did you do it? How did you survive for so long?"

"I had my friends and family. Eventually Mom found out, and Giles—for all my complaints about the Watcher's Counsel, he was different—he became a kind of father to me during those years."

"Do you still stay in contact?" There was no jealousy of another man in his place. She had needed someone there and he was glad that she had that.

"No, not really." For the first time in all her narrative there was sadness in her voice. "They didn't trust UNIT, and they'd trust Torchwood even less. And I'm not sure I trust them anymore either. Plus, the distance puts a major halt on any real contact. They're all still in Sunnydale… well, Giles is in London, but we haven't spoken in forever."

"You should see him," Jack said. "It's important, a life outside Torchwood. You have that, so hold on to it. Take a few days and go see him. I was thinking about giving everyone a long weekend off anyways."

Buffy thought about it. Giles was probably the one she least wanted to let go; he knew what a slayer was. She had long since broken all ties with Willow, Xander couldn't forgive her for that whole incident, Dawn was building a new family without her, but Giles might understand.

"All right," she said. "I'll go see Giles for a few days."

HXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXH

It took two weeks before the promised long weekend came, but at last Buffy was able to travel out to London. The new Watcher's Counsel Headquarters was located on a large estate near the edge of Highgate. When Buffy arrived she was immediately shown up to Giles' office.

"Hey Giles," Buffy greeted him.

"Buffy, it's good to see you here," he said. "Would you like a tour of our training school? I think you'd be impressed with the program we've come up with for all of the girls."

"Not really that sort of slayer anymore," she answered.

"Yes," he said and started polishing his glasses. "You've joined Torchwood."

"What's with the big disapproval?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Your glasses," Buffy pointed to them. "You do that when you don't approve or don't want to know something. You already know, so…"

"I… um…" He was flustered enough putting back on his glasses that he accidentally knocked a picture from his desk. Buffy picked it up. The glass had cracked but was still all in place. The photo was of her, Willow and Xander. Giles watched as she looked at the picture. "You do know what you've gotten yourself into, don't you?"

"If you mean do I know about Torchwood One at Canary Wharf, then yes, I know. This group is different. They aren't perfect, but I trust them."

"And you don't trust us," Giles filled in what she didn't say.

"I trust you, Giles, but I don't think I could with the rest of them."

"Willow has asked me to intercede on her behalf."

"You told her I was coming?" Buffy started to get very angry, but Giles quickly reassured her.

"No, but I am closest to you now by way of geography. You could try to forgive her. She was your best friend. And since she came out of the coma last year…"

"Best friends don't use magic to kidnap and control their friends. I'm not sorry and I won't forgive her. What's past is past and gone." She put the picture back on his desk. Buffy decided she owed Giles the truth. "I joined Torchwood because its leader is my father."

"But Hank Summers…"

"Wasn't my biological father. I found out that it's really Captain Jack Harkness."

"Have you told Dawn? Or him about Dawn?"

"I asked Spike to tell her, and not yet. It's not a conversation I want to have with him just yet."

"And how do you like your father?" Giles asked.

"He's… something." Buffy couldn't help laughing; Jack wasn't what she expected by any stretch of the imagination. But so far that was just fine.

"If I remember what I've heard about Captain Harkness that seems the general consensus. Is he really such a character?"

"And then some."

HXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXH

Buffy knew it was late when she finally got back to Cardiff; it was almost morning. But she went to Torchwood first to see if anything was happening—just in case. When she entered the Hub it was dark with only an ambient blue light by which to see. She looked around and saw Ianto on the couch. He was flipping through a book with no small amount of desperation.

"Ianto?" she said. "What's going on? Is something wrong?"

"Do you know a man named Adam?" he asked.

Once again she was in Torchwood and reminded of the Initiative. This was getting out of hand. "Can you be more specific?"

"Is there a man here at Torchwood named Adam?"

"Not since I've joined. Why? Who is he?"

"He's been here, all this time, but I there isn't a single mention of him in my diary. Everyone else is there, even you, but not him. And he's been here so long."

So something bad was definitely mobile in an upward direction. Buffy then heard a small crash from the autopsy area.

"Is anyone else here, Ianto?" she asked.

"No, just us."

"Wait here. We'll get to the bottom of whatever this is, whoever this Adam is." She slowly walked towards the pit and looked over the railing. Sitting on the table and nonchalantly swinging his legs was a man she'd never seen before. "Adam, I presume?"

"And you must be Buffy." He smiled.

Still moving carefully and deliberately, she walked down the stairs. "What have you done to Ianto?"

"Not just Ianto. Everyone." Still there was no fear in his voice, only joyful boasting.

"What have you done?" she repeated more forcefully.

He hopped down from the table. "Nothing to harm any of them. If you would just let me explain."

In less than the blink of an eye he was next to her and had a hand on her shoulder. She heard him say the word "remember" and then in the next instant images flashed in front of her eyes.

There was a bright light, her mother making breakfast with Dawn, Willow and Xander laughing in the library, Giles in padding for training, stabbing Angel, stabbing Faith, fighting Spike, jumping from the platform, an even brighter light, the Tardis with the Doctor, an orange planet with a domed city, the open fob watch glowing. More images and words and numbers flew through her brain, and then recent memories at Torchwood. Finally it stopped. It took maybe a second or two but it felt so much longer.

"Why didn't it work?" Adam was saying angrily. "Why can't I touch you?"

Before she could react she heard a gun go off and felt a punch in her chest. Her last thought, 'Not again.'

HXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXH

"What have you done?" Ianto said as he rushed down to Buffy's side. Blood was everywhere. Adam had shot her in the chest, and then again in the head and stomach. Though there was no hope, Ianto checked for some sign of life. She was dead.

"What have I done?" said Adam. He leaned down to Ianto and put a hand on his shoulder while whispering in his ear. "Don't you mean what have you done?"

The image of the gun in Ianto's hand as it fired at Buffy filled Ianto's mind.

"No."

"And she's not the first. Remember this. I know you didn't mean to kill her. You just couldn't stop yourself."

Ianto saw himself choking a struggling woman on a rain covered street. Ianto struggled himself for breath while remembering all of the violence against her.

"I didn't do that," he said as he slipped to the ground.

"Oh, yes, you did, and she wasn't the first."

It was still raining, but in a different alley. A girl was running, but he cornered her. She begged him not to hurt her as he stalked ever closer.

"Good old Ianto, loyal Ianto." He could still hear Adam's voice. He saw another street and another girl. "Roaming the streets at night for bait."

Ianto struggled with the memories. He clung to the one thing that held any hope. "My… diary!"

"All human record is a lie," Adam said as they were suddenly walking down an alley in Ianto's mind. Adam threw the diary aside. "You twist it into what you want to believe. But we know the rot in your heart. You crave flesh."

Ianto tried to stay in the present, but Adam's voice kept drawing him back into dark memories that just couldn't be his. "No. Please."

"Remember it." The memory of even more women falling, dying at his hand filled his head. He once again felt the rush and power while draining away their lives. Ianto screamed in agony, but he just saw more and more as he heard Adam's voice. "Remember it. Remember it! Remember it! I helped you dump the bodies. It's me you call."

Ianto again saw Buffy standing there. He held the gun. He shot her through the chest. He put several more rounds into her head and gut. He killed her.

"And I'll take care of her too," Adam said. He kissed Ianto and held him as over and over Ianto remembered killing all those women. "You know, I forgot what a rush it is, feeding in the bad stuff."

Ianto didn't understand that last comment, but he didn't notice. Instead he was lost in his head. He looked back and forth, sometimes in the Hub, sometimes in the rain covered alley. But no matter where he saw himself, there next to him was the body of a dead girl. He couldn't tell whether or not Adam took away Buffy's body, because he still saw it. He watched her fall and bleed and lie there.

He couldn't tell how long he cowered in his memories. It must have been hours, but it could have been only minutes.

HXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXH

Jack came back to the Hub so late it was early. He had only just walked in when he heard his name whispered. He turned and smiled when he saw Ianto. After all the ghosts and unburied memories he needed some familiar companionship. He walked towards the Welshman who was sitting in the coffee area.

"Hey." Jack noticed that Ianto didn't look well. "What's wrong?"

"You'll have to put me in the vaults," Ianto said, his voice pained. "Lock me up. I killed so many girls. Strangled them."

Jack's smile had fallen into a deep frown. He didn't understand why Ianto would say these things. "Stop kidding around."

"I'm serious," Ianto replied, his voice only a hoarse whisper. "I murdered them, in cold blood. I took their bodies, and…"

He watched Ianto lurch to his feet. He kept looking back and forth; it was as if he was seeing things that weren't there.

"You have to lock me away… before I turn on you too. None of you are safe."

Ianto ran past him and stopped at the railing around the autopsy pit. Jack grabbed him. "Hey, hey. Come here, come here. What's happened to you?"

"I'm a monster," Ianto said into Jack's ear as Jack hugged him. "I killed her."

There was something different in his voice, as if with this one "her" Ianto was begging Jack's forgiveness. He looked into the autopsy pit. There were some streaks of badly cleaned blood—not Ianto's work.

"Who?"

"Buffy."

Jack felt his heart stop. It stopped and his stomach dropped. This couldn't be true. Ianto would never have done any of these things.

"Just checking for poison," Buffy said with her best cheerleading-bimbo smile.

"Ianto, are you trying to poison the new recruit?" Jack asked jokingly.

He didn't know anything anymore. This night had gone on too long. There was one way to get to the bottom of things. He put Ianto in the chair across from his desk and pulled out the lie detector. Ianto was gripping the chair while Jack set it up.

"Best lie detector on the planet. If something's untrue, the light turns red." Jack flipped the switch. "Go."

"My… hands on her throat. And it felt so good. Squeezing the life out of her."

Why wasn't it changing to red?

"It reads as truth," Ianto pointed out.

"I don't believe it. Okay, tell me about Buffy."

"She was standing there, at the bottom of the stairs. I held the gun. I shot her first through the chest and again in the head and stomach after she had fallen. I shot again and again and…"

"No. This is not you." Jack couldn't believe it. There was something just wrong in the story let alone that Ianto did it. The Hub logs could tell him what really happened. He turned off the machine. "Something's changed you. You're not a murderer. I'm certain of it."

He went out to the computers and pulled up the log. Looking through the thumbnails, he found what he was looking for. Adam was speaking, torturing Ianto with just his voice and touch.

His touch.

Jack pulled up feed from even earlier. A hand on Toshiko, asking if she remembered. He pulled up more videos. This time Gwen when she came in. She didn't know who Adam was until he touched her and asked her if she remembered. He tried to think back in his own thoughts. Sure enough, there were several moments where Adam touched him and said the word "remember."

Jack went over to Ianto and took his hand. He pulled him to the computer. "Come here. Come here, just look. Look."

Ianto watched as Adam drove him into screaming pain, telling him to remember.

"I figured it out," Ianto muttered.

"What?" Jack asked.

"My diary. Adam isn't in it. Buffy came in, and she said she didn't know Adam. She went over to the autopsy and…"

Jack could see that Ianto still remembered shooting Buffy, so he pulled it up on the computer. Sure enough there she was, and Ianto didn't shoot her. But Adam did.

"No," Jack breathed. She couldn't be… not now… not here… "It's not your fault, Ianto. It's not your fault. It's mine." The last sentence was barely more than a whisper.

Ianto was fixed on the screen and then on the pit as Jack went down to the refrigerator to check the blood samples. He had to be sure what he saw about Adam was what he thought it was. And then he would kill the son of a bitch.

Sure enough, there wasn't a blood sample. He asked Ianto just to be sure.

Ianto checked the records at the workstation. "Everything's in order here."

"When was it last updated?"

"Um… twenty-four hours ago."

The lights then went on and Owen stumbled in. Both Jack and Ianto pretended nothing had happened, but Jack couldn't help wondering if it was really Owen, or just the man Adam forced Owen to be.

HXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXH

Numbers. Words. An orange planet.

Buffy woke with a gasp. She frantically took in her surroundings. She was in some sort of small, heavy, metal box. Using all the Slayer strength she could muster, she pushed against the sides of the box. The metal wasn't too thick; it bent and buckled as she pushed. But as she did so, water started to seep in. Taking a deep breath, she pushed again. The seams on the box gave way and she was free. She was also under water. Kicking rapidly, she fought her way upward. At last she broke the surface, and gasping for breath she tried to see where she was. Luckily she was in the bay and not very far from Torchwood's tourist shop door. She swam towards it and pulled herself up over the fence.

When she at last made it into the Hub, no one was around. She closed her eyes and listened as best she could. Her ears were still a bit water-logged, but she could hear them all in the conference room.

She was almost there when she heard Tosh say angrily, "What harm has he done to us?"

"He killed Buffy!" Jack yelled.

Oh boy. She winced as she now stood in the doorway. She was hoping they wouldn't know about that.

"Jack," Gwen said, her eyes fixed on Buffy.

As Jack turned and everyone stared at her, Buffy was suddenly very self-conscious of her appearance: she was soaking wet and dripping on the floor, and her blouse had bullet holes and watered-down blood stains. But as awkward as it was, as exhausted as she suddenly felt while the adrenaline faded, she had something to say.

Words and numbers came out of her mouth. She didn't process them; she just repeated the things that kept invading her mind. The way to kill Adam.

When she finished everything blurred, spots filled her vision, and then she fell to the floor unconscious.