A/N: Some of the dialogue in here is quoted from the episode "Buffy vs. Dracula" and I do not own it, I am only borrowing it for creative purposes.

Buffy Summers and her friends were all enjoying a day at the beach. That is, she was playing football with Riley while the rest of them watched Xander try to light a fire for hamburgers.

She spun in the air, triumphantly waving the football around her head. "Oh yeah! Another point for Team me!"

Riley caught the football when she tossed it back to him. "Did anyone tell you that the quarterback on Team you throws like a girl?"

"I do?"

"Just a little."

She caught the ball and contemplated it a minute before throwing it directly at Riley's head, then saying, "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to throw that hard!" when it soundly whacked him in the head and sent him sprawling.

Five minutes later, after he had tackled her and sent her flying into the water, they joined Xander, Anya, Willow, and Tara on the beach blankets.

"No more fun and games?" Xander asked.

Riley held up an airless football. "Buffy slayed the football."

"I didn't mean to."

"Yeah, yeah." He pulled her into his lap and hugged her waist. "Xander, the fire still not ready?"

"Yeah." said Buffy. "I want my burger, I'm hungry!"

"Alas, no." Xander said. "I lack the culinary skills of even a caveman."

Willow waved her hand and started to speak a Latin spell but Tara shook her head. "Remember what happened last time?"

"Right...rain inside the house." Willow mumbled.

Buffy remembered the very colorful incident a few weeks ago at Giles' house. "You've been improving a lot, though." she encouraged hopefully. "Haven't lit anything on fire for a long time."

"It's okay, baby." Tara said. "You can try some other time... just not near other beach-goers."

Willow brightened. "Okay."

Buffy sighed with genuine happiness as she leaned back into Riley. Almost a week with no major vamp issues or demon parties she'd had to crash. Even the Initiative—or what was left of it—was barely doing anything demon or vampire related now. Best of all, a certain brooding, handsome vampire had kept his promise, and she hadn't seen him in months.

"Hey..." Tara shade her eyes and looked across the beach to the docks. "... doesn't she look oddly familiar? I think I've seen her before..."

Buffy inclined her head. A tall, dark-haired woman was acing restlessly below the dock were the water met the sand. "Nah. Why, does she make you think of someone bad?"

"No. I thought she was someone you knew, someone I saw in a picture." Tara laid her head in Willow's lap. "Guess I was wrong."

Buffy looked closer at the woman. She seemed distressed, and she was mumbling to herself. People kept going the opposite was as her and one little boy tried to talk to her but got dragged away by his mom. "I'm going to see if she needs help."

"Want backup?" Riley asked. He looked so peaceful, basking in the sun that Buffy shook her head.

"No. I'll be back in a minute."

As she walked closer, Buffy thought the woman was saying, "Did I fall asleep?" over and over. When the woman turned she looked at Buffy, eye wide in confusion, and Buffy looked back. Pure terror filled her stomach.

"Faith." It was like the name meant the same thing as death and destruction.

"Did I fall asleep?" Faith repeated in a panicked fashion. Whatever game she was up to, it definitely wasn't one of the old standards.

"For a little while," Buffy said sarcastically. "More like eight months in a coma, remember? Then you stole my body and slept with my boyfriend! I'm not stupid, Faith. What's your game?"

Faith looked at her, eyes unblinking. "Shall I go now?"

"Yes! Get out of Sunnydale, leave my friends alone!"

"Shall I go n-now?"

Buffy groaned. "Don't tell me you're going to keep doing that. My friends are here too, see? They can protect themselves...more or less..."

Faith kept backing away as Buffy advanced. "Shall I-I go n-n-now?"

"Stop that!" Buffy said. "Just stop! You want to kill me? Go ahead, try."

"Shall I—"

"Go now? Yes, you need to leave Sunnydale before I break every bone in your body and leave you to the government or the Initiative." Buffy shoved Faith to the ground, were she laid unmoving, terror in her eyes. "What are you waiting for? Hit me back! You afraid?"

Buffy was furious, trying to forget all the things Faith had done, but she couldn't help it. Now Faith was going to play innocent? No way.

Something seemed to click, and Faith leapt up clumsily and tried to hit Buffy. Instead she hit one of the dock's supports and went spinning into the water.

Buffy laughed. "Cute. So you can't fight, either?" It was another story if Faith was willing to be beaten to death. Well, not death, but it was still different.

Faith got up and tackled Buffy lightly into the sand. Stunned, she shoved blindly, and Faith went flying into something.

"Riley! Riley, it's Faith!" Buffy screamed for good measure, knowing Faith's game wouldn't last forever.

When Buffy got up Faith was cowering by the water, shivering. "Shall I go n-now? Shall I go now? Shall I-I g-go now?"

Riley and the others came racing down the beach, Tara in tow. "Are you okay? Is she... Faith?"

"She's playing some kind of game." Buffy said. "She can't fight, and all she says is 'Shall I go now?' and 'Did I fall asleep?'"

Faith backed farther into the water. "Shall I go now?" her head tilted like a questioning puppy.

Tara approached her, hands held out like she was approaching a skittish dog. "Hey...are you Faith?" she looked to Willow and mouthed "Faith?" curiously. Willow nodded. "Are you okay?"

"Is she OKAY!" Xander spluttered. "She attacked Buffy and she's playing head games! Be careful; she might try to seduce you."

Anya glared at him. "You would know."

Xander's eye twitched. "No..."

"Don't deny it Don't worry, I know you love me more. Right?."

"Oh...yes! Definitely!"

"Faith?" Tara repeated patiently. She was crouching in front of the terrified and incoherent Faith. "Are you even Faith at all?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "It's a game. You should probably just back away, and then we can turn her into the government. Or the Watcher's Council."

"No." Tara insisted. "I think she might be drugged. Faith, sweetie, are you okay?"

Faith stopped shaking. "Shall I go now?"

"What is with that?" Riley asked. "Go where?"

"Away. " Buffy said firmly. "Far, far away." she protectively wove her fingers through his. Faith wasn't going to get him again.

Tara shook her head. "No, I think that maybe it's some sort of codeword or phrase that she wants. Um...yes, you may go."

"Shall I go now?" Faith repeated.

"You may go, Faith."

"Shall I go now?"

Anya shrugged. "Oh well, you tried. How about jail?"

"Anya..."

Faith looked more closely at Buffy. "A world... a world..."

"What's that?" Tara peered into Faith's eyes. "A world?"

"Shall I go now?"

"Yes." Buffy said slowly. "Y-E-S, Yes."

Willow pulled some herbs out of her bag. "Magic, maybe? She might have some sort of amnesia."

"We can't do memory spells yet, not without the books..." Tara said softly. "Okay?"

"Okay." Willow said. "What else can we do?"

"Well," Tara said, "We could take her home."

"Shall I go now?" Faith sounded more desperate. "Shall I go now?"

"If you like." Tara tried, and Faith's eyes lit up. She looked around warily.

"Where is Topher?"

"Oh, someone have a bad boyfriend?" Anya teased. "Did he drop you off in Sunnydale because you tried to kill him, too?"

Faith got to her feet. "Who is Faith?"

"You," Buffy snarled. "Now that you seem to be a little better, why don't you get out before I break very bone in your body?"

"Is she a new friend?" Faith questioned. "Are they wiping her?"

Xander said, "Is it me or did that sound really dirty?"

"Xander!" Tara scolded, turning red. "It probably means something else to her. What is your name?"

Faith gazed across the ocean. "Topher...I think he calls me Echo."

"Okay, Echo," Buffy said, "Who are you if you're not Faith?"

"Echo."

"Echo who?" Buffy persisted, glaring at the blank look on Echo's face. "Echo Lehane?"

"Just Echo, please," Echo said. She seemed less nervous, and casually looked around. "Are you all dolls?"

Anya nearly jumped at Echo, but Xander held her back. Willow looked disturbed. "Dolls?" Tara questioned gently. "No, we're not… dolls. We're people. Are you a doll?"

Echo smiled like a little girl. "Yes!"

Riley was holding back a fuming Buffy but said, "Shouldn't we take her somewhere? You know, in case she suddenly gains her memory back?"

Tara said, "Can you stand?"

Echo got up to her feet willingly enough, but winced a little and touched her knee. "Something heavy fell on me. I think it was her." She looked at Buffy, but there was no hostility in her eyes. "Can we go see Dr. Saunders? Is she here? Whenever heavy things fall on me, she helps me."

"That sounds really nice, but we don't know Dr. Saunders," said Willow, finally joining Tara by Echo. "Here, Tara and I will help you walk."

Slowly the little group straggled up to the blankets, then gathered their things and headed to the car. The whole time Echo talked about things like she was only five or six years old, happily observing everything in the vast world.

"Oh, is that a bird? There are never birds inside… I think I draw them sometimes. No, Sierra draws them."

Buffy cuddled up closer to Riley in the back seat (technically the middle, since the car had three rows of seats), thankful that "Echo" was behind them with Willow and Tara. Xander and Anya were up front, Xander explaining to Anya how cars worked. "Riley?"

"Yeah?"

"It has to be Faith." She mumbled. "You… shouldn't you just know?"

The pained look on his face said it all. "I've said I'm sorry a million times, Buffy, but I didn't think that… I would never compare you. Not to her. Besides, she's not acting very Faith-like, according to you and everyone else. I couldn't know."

Buffy looked at Faith, or Echo, and the pure, innocent gleam in her eyes. She was like a child. Even Buffy could tell that she had no intent of hurting anyone, at least not now. "I'm… I am sorry. She makes me feel threatened. Last time she was here she took away everything that was mine, then used it until she was bored. She's a killer. Okay, maybe the whole 'going-to-jail' thing helped a little, but she took Angel away from me too, and that I'm not okay with." Angel. Last time she'd seen him he'd come to apologize for…well, that. Hitting her to keep Faith safe, though she didn't blame him. Faith had probably tricked him and then escaped. She probably broke out of jail after the first day.

Riley squeezed her waist tighter and kissed her head. "I still love you, just so you know. She won't take me away."

"No," Buffy said morbidly, "not unless she remembers who she is and kills you in your sleep."

"Well, there's an upside to everything, isn't there?"

O.o.O.o.O

The first thing Giles did when he saw Echo/Faith was yelp, throw his coffee cup in the air, and then ungracefully dive for his weapons before Willow shouted, "It's okay! She doesn't know who she is!"

He was now looking carefully at her eyes and shining a flashlight into them. "Tell me again, your name is….?"

"Echo." Echo repeated happily, swinging her legs back and forth. "My name is Echo." She had sat quietly enough while Tara had wrapped her injured knee, and now she was letting Giles do his best at trying to determine whether what she was suffering was amnesia or not.

"Not Faith."

"No. I don't know any person named Faith. Is she lost?"

Buffy opened her mouth, but before she could say something snarky Riley effectively silenced her with his own mouth. "Not fair," she protested when he let go. "I wasn't going to say anything mean!"

"Of course you weren't."

Anya was already bored with the entire thing and was lounging on Xander's lap. "I don't see why any of you care. Send her to a hospital or something, and when she gets better she can go to jail."

Xander sighed. "Anya, honey, this could be magic related."

"Then why not leave her as is?" Buffy asked suddenly. "I mean, no guilt for her and no danger for us. Win-win, right?"

Tara shook her head. "But she could be hurt, or this could be a spell that could potentially backfire." She seemed to have taken charge of making sure that Echo was okay, and not scared.

"White knight," Echo mumbled, giggling. "White knight." She looked at Xander.

"Yeah, sweetie, he's a good guy. We know." Tara said patiently. Giles handed her the flashlight he's been using and went for a book. "The name Faith still not ringing a bell?"

"Is she lost?"

"You could say that." Buffy managed, snorting. "There is a humorous side to this entire thing, you know. She is so beyond lost. Or crazy, you ever consider that?'

Giles came back, hands empty. "The only two volumes that have to do with memory spells this strong against counter spells—" he gestured to Willow, who was chanting softly from a book "—that we've tried for nearly an hour are in the Magic Box."

"Blue skies," Echo said. "What is the Magic Box?"

"Blue skies?" Tara repeated, catching onto the unfamiliar phrase.

Buffy flinched. "Five by five," she whispered.

"Do you think it could be the same thing?" asked Willow, putting down her spell book. "I can't do anything else with the spells, nothing works. Buffy, are you okay?"

Buffy had slowly lowered herself to the floor and was staring blankly at Echo. "She said everything was five by five. I'm fine, Will." She shakily righted herself. "I think she might remember something."

"What's five by five?" Echo asked, looking around with more confusion at the conversation about the girl that was lost. "Faith said five by five?"

"Apparently." Tara linked her fingers with Willow's.

"There's nothing we can do, though." Giles said suddenly, getting the room's full attention. "Buffy, aren't you supposed to be watching Dawn? You said you couldn't train today—"

"I should be there now." Buffy admitted. "Who's going to watch Faith?"

"Echo."

"Fine." Buffy huffed. "Echo. She still has strength, I'm sure of it. What if she went psycho and killed one of you?"

"If you watch her you have to promise you won't harm her out of spite." Giles admonished.

Buffy said, "But what about Dawnie? I don't want some homicidal loony anywhere near her either."

Giles sighed and took off his glasses, methodically cleaning away invisible dirt. "Buffy, she will be fine. I don't see Echo going crazy on you anytime soon, so you should be okay."

"Fine." Buffy grumbled, sizing up Echo. "C'mon, braindead girl, you're going home with me."

Anya perked up at once. "We can go?"

Giles nodded. "There's really no reason to stay."

"Good!" she cried, pulling Xander to his feet. "Xander, let's go home and—"

Before she could say anything, Xander cut in, "—and put all the beach stuff away! Good idea."

Willow and Tara got up too, scooping up her magic book. "Let's go home, I want to see Miss Kitty Fantastico." Willow said. "We got her a new feather toy," she explained to the others.

"Yeah, it's blue and silver, with little puffballs on it." Tara agreed enthusiastically. The two smiled as they left, and Buffy reluctantly walked over to Echo.

"Coming?" she asked.

Echo nodded, and hopped off the table. "Of course."

Riley said, "I can't come, I have to go and meet Graham. It's about the Initiative."

"Okay, but maybe later we can go somewhere?"

"Sure. Have fun with... Echo." he said, heading out.

Buffy sighed inwardly and motioned for Echo to follow her. "Let's re-introduce you to my Mom. I'll bet she'll be so happy to see the psycho killer's back."

"Buffy," Giles warned her, "you can't just let her make her own conclusions. At least tell her Echo is harmless."

"Fine." It was funny to think of Echo getting thrown in jail if her Mom called the police, but Buffy knew it would only complicate matters.

O.o.O.o.O

At home the first thing Buffy did when she opened the door was yell, "Mom, I'm HOOOOOMMMEEE! Faith is here too, but she's not evil," then hear Dawn yell back, "Mom's WOOOOORKING! Go away, Faith!"

When Dawn actually came downstairs, she gave Echo a critical look. "Hi, Faith. Come to kill more people?"

"No," Echo said calmly. "I'm Echo. I don't know who Faith is, but people keep talking about her. Is she lost? No one will tell me."

"You are Faith," Dawn said, confused. "Buffy, what's up with her?"

Buffy shrugged. "Memory spell? Giles couldn't figure it out, so say hello to our new house guest."

"Ew," Dawn said. She peered at Echo's face more carefully. "She doesn't seem angry."

"I'm not angry." Echo agreed. "Why would I be? It's a little confusing here, but I'm not angry."

Dawn just left it at that and helped herself to juice from the fridge. "What are we going to do, wait for her to go off like a bomb? What about when you're on patrol?"

"When I'm on patrol," Buffy said sarcastically, "I'm going to leave you and Mom alone and unarmed in the house. I'm taking her with me, duh."

"Just as well. Mom and I are going to have a girl's night out and I wouldn't want her to trash the house and steal all our belongings."

O.o.O.o.O

"So, Faith...still not popular with the Scoobies?" Tara asked as she braided Willow's red hair. "I thought everyone was awfully tense."

"No." Willow was cuddling their little black and white kitten, Miss Kitty Fantastico, leaning back against Tara. "She did a lot of things that hurt Buffy. I think the worst of it is that she and Buffy were actually really close for a while, and then Faith killed the mayor's deputy by accident... things went downhill from there."

"Yeah. So she can be d-dangerous?" Tara asked. "Not now, but she could be? I mean, I only met her the one t-time, and that wasn't when she was in her own b-body." The blonde remembered every one of the hurtful things Faith had said to her.

"Don't worry, Tara." The redhead reached her hand up and squeezed Tara's hand. "Buffy's always been able to handle her."

Tara nodded. "I'm sure she can handle Echo just fine. There's just so much h-hurt when she looks at Echo…I'm more worried for Echo than for Buffy."

"I know what you mean." Willow giggled at the squirming kitten. "Do you know, Miss Kitty?"

Miss Kitty Fantastico mewed and wriggled her way out of Willow's arms, happily running to one of her squeaky toys. The little kitten reared up, batting it with tiny paws.

"She's the sweetest thing ever." Tara said with a smile. She tossed a toy mouse over to Miss Kitty. "Yes you are, Miss Kitty. You're the prettiest kitten ever."

Willow looked out of their dorm window. "I'll bet Buffy's going to patrol soon, it's getting dark. You almost done braiding?"

"Yeah." Tara turned her attention back to Willow's hair and finished the last elegant French braid, so there was one on each side of Willow's head. "You look beautiful."

Willow blushed deeply. "Thanks. I think I'll head over to Xander's, he was going to patrol with Buffy. Want to come?"

"I-I'm going to work on a spell, and then study later." Tara said. "Have fun, but be careful, will you?"

"Don't worry." Willow grinned back at Tara as she got up and opened the door. "I'm an expert vamp duster."

O.o.O.o.O

Echo was crouching against the damp ground behind a tree watching Buffy beat up a funny-looking man. Buffy had explained to her earlier that the men with ridges over their eyes were vampires, and she wasn't supposed to go near them because they were bad. They did look scary, so Echo obeyed Buffy and hid behind trees and gravestones while Buffy fought.

The one she was fighting now growled in frustration as Buffy kept it back, blocking punches and kicking him back until he was off guard, and then she staked him. Echo didn't understand why the vampire went poof into dust, but since they were bad it was probably a good thing.

Buffy looked over her shoulder at Echo. "You okay back there?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Echo said, shivering. This graveyard gave her the creeps.

She watched as Buffy shrugged and paced forward, stalking her next victim. It was getting awfully cold. Echo hugged her arms around her body and rocked back and forth on her feet. Just ahead she heard an ominous voice say something about "Buffy Summers", so she must have found another vampire. When Echo peeked her head out she felt even more terrified. The vampire was tall and paler than the others she had seen, with long black hair.

"Are you sure you're Dracula?" drifted over to where Echo was standing. Buffy sounded skeptical. Who was Dracula, anyway? Echo didn't know. The weird thing was that Buffy kept talking to this vampire, almost transfixed by his stare. She didn't stake him, not even when her friend joined her. After a minute the vampire, Dracula, disappeared into the night, turning into a bat. Echo leaned her head against the tree.

…shaking, on the ground, terrified, can't breathe, can't breathe, can't breathe…she had to tell him, but she couldn't talk. They would take Devina away and he would never see her…you can't see a ghost…she reached for her inhaler and jammed it in her mouth frantically, but couldn't stop dropping it. They would never get Devina back, never, because he would kill the others and then use her….you can't fight a ghost, but ghosts are heavy…..

"Echo?" Echo blinked up at Willow, Xander, and Buffy, who were all giving her very strange looks.

"Ghosts are heavy." She said solemnly. She didn't know what it meant, but it was important. "You can't fight a ghost."

"Ghosts don't tend to be heavy." Willow said in her cheery voice. Echo had noticed how happy she was. It made her feel good.

"But this one is." Echo insisted. "There's a dock, and a little girl named Devina, and a heavy ghost that did bad things to somebody."

"And this is why she belongs in a loony bin." Buffy said with a shrug. "Who knows what that even means in crazy-person speak?"

Xander just shook his head. "Never mind the heavy ghosts, shouldn't we get out of here before Dracula comes back?"

"Yes. Come on, Echo." Buffy prompted, nudging Echo with her foot.

As they trailed out of the graveyard Echo followed a few feet behind, listening to them tall about this Dracula person. They all seemed upset, even Willow. Echo had noticed that Willow, and the other girl, Tara, were the happiest out of the group. Xander was a goof on the outside, but somehow Echo knew he was the real "knight in shining armor", though the phrase didn't make sense to her. Buffy was too held back. She was cheerful on the outside, along with a great deal of sarcasm, but there was hurt and pain and abandonment in her eyes. Echo decided that bad things must have happened to her when she was younger. As for the other—Anya, Riley, and Giles—they seemed normal. Anya didn't mind saying things the others wouldn't, and Echo wondered why the others yelled at her when she did. Giles thought a lot—he considered what would happen before he did something. Riley…Riley was just ordinary, but he really did care. He seemed to want Buffy to be safe, and he was always hovering nearby her if he was holding her hand or kissing her. It made Echo think of something that was similar, but she didn't know what it was exactly.

…she saw him walking up. "Good—" before she could finish he smiled, leaned down, and kissed her on the lips. "—day." She finished, unaffected.

"Echo, you're beautiful." Alpha said appraisingly. "And you're special."

"I try to be my best." She replied calmly. Alpha was very different from the other dolls.

He kissed her again and she couldn't help but smile a little. He liked to follow her and watch her, and he said she was number one. That wasn't true, though. Whiskey was definitely number one. She was really talented and pretty, so people came to see her and take her places all the time. She had to get the most treatments. Echo thought she was nice.

"Hey!" one of the Handlers said when he saw Alpha kissing Echo. "What are you doing?"

"Did I do something wrong?" Alpha asked, innocent as a child. The Handler looked at Echo.

"Go to bed." He commanded.

Echo did, and went to sleep without a care in the world…

She shook her head. It was strange, all these flashes she was getting. They didn't make any sense. There were ghosts, and dolls that didn't exist, and feelings of being scared and hunted and alone. But seeing as they were safely out of the graveyard by and near Buffy's house, Echo knew that is was ridiculous to be scared.

"Echo, hurry up!" Buffy shouted impatiently. "Do you want to be locked out of the house?"

"No. I'm coming." Echo said cheerfully, running to the door and jumping through before Buffy could slam it shut. "I was thinking about things."

"Really? How interesting." Was Buffy's snide reply as she headed into the kitchen. "Mom and Dawn are sleeping, so try to be quiet, will you?"

"Okay." Echo sat down on the couch, and Willow and Xander followed.

"Hey, Buff, you coming?" Xander asked. She appeared in the doorway with a bowl of popcorn five minutes later and held it up.

"Oh." Willow moved so that Buffy had room to sit.

Echo observed quietly from her spot on the couch. Buffy was still talking about Dracula, and she and Willow both agreed that he had "deep" eyes.

"So," Willow turned to Echo, "what were you thinking about? You said you were thinking about things."

"Someone named Alpha." Echo said. "I don't know where he is from because he's a doll but he's not real. He walked up to me once and kissed me."

Xander snorted so hard he blew popcorn across the room. "Well, alright then."

"And before that there was the little girl, Devina, and the docks and asthma and the heavy ghost." Echo continued, oblivious to the amusement on Buffy's face. "It never makes any sense."

Buffy managed to swallow her giggles. "Uh-huh. Well, I think I'll go to bed after all." She glanced back at the others who mumbled agreement and got up to leave.

"Tomorrow we'll try to figure out what you keep remembering." Willow promised. She was so nice.

With that thought on her mind Echo went up to the guest bedroom and snuggled under the covers.

…she sat in a pool of red, naked. Bodies were strewn all around her, cur and dripping red like what she was sitting in. The others weren't moving. Why wouldn't they move?

A bunch of men with guns streamed in above her, along the walkways. They all looked down, horror etched on their faces.

"They won't wake up." Echo said softly. The men would wake her friends up, and they would find Alpha, were ever he went…

O.o.O.o.O

The next morning Buffy was in a decidedly bad mood. The Dracula thing was still weighing heavily on her mind, plus the fact that Echo—no, it was Faith, whatever the others said—was in her house. Those were just two unacceptable things that she could deal with.

Echo was already up when she came downstairs. What Buffy would have given to wake up next to Riley in the frat house and the Initiative's old base of operation. Sadly she had stayed at home all night, alert for any noise from Echo's room.

"Goodmorning." Echo piped in a cheery voice. It was surreal to here such happiness coming from Faith's mouth. "Did you have funny dreams?'

"None of your business." Buffy threw together something to eat and headed for the door. "Come on, I'm heading to Giles' and I'm not leaving you in this house alone with my sister."

"Your sister?" Echo asked curiously. "You mean Dawn?"

"Yes, Dawn." Buffy impatiently grabbed Echo's arm and propelled her forward.

"But she's not your sister."

"What?" Buffy stepped back. "She's not my sister? I think I would know if she wasn't."

"She's not." Echo insisted in the same dreamy, monotone voice. "She's all sparkly and green."

Buffy sighed. "As Giles would say, 'Oh dear'. You're really losing it now. Just…come on. And stop talking like a crazy person before someone throws you in an asylum."

Echo followed her faithfully enough (so many puns, so little time), talking to herself in a little sing-song voice whenever she saw something she didn't recognize. That meant she pretty much wouldn't shut up the entire time.

When she reached Giles' house she saw Tara and Willow were already there, as were Anya and Xander. Riley snuck up behind her, arms snaking around her waist as he leaned in to kiss her.

"My morning is suddenly looking up." she said.

"Mine too." said Riley. "Any trouble with her on patrol last night?"

"Nah." She assured him. "It's just…weird, y'know? I used to fight by her side and know she's all useless and stuff. Well, not useless, per se, but she hid for the most part."

"I get it." He assured her, leading her to the door. "I'm sure a few lessons and she'd—"

"—murder us all? Yes, that's exactly what I want to do."

Thought they arrived in the morning it wasn't until well after lunch they started talking. Xander had amused them with various Faith-related stories, as had Buffy, and then they had started a Faith pun contest while Tara prayed Echo wouldn't be offended. Luckily she wasn't, and tried to join in a few times. After a noisy lunch and another round of punning they finally got to work.

"And Buffy's all 'look out!' and then freakin' Dracula is standing right behind me!" Xander exclaimed, gesturing wildy.

Willow continued, "And then he lunges at us, like, 'whoosh!'"

"He totally turned into a bat." Xander finished, bowing like he expected applause, then settling down next to Anya.

Buffy, one eye on Echo at all times, said, "I can't believe he came to see me. Count Fangy came to see me!"

"I didn't really get it the first twenty times you told me, but now it's sinking in." teased Riley.

"I'm sorry, I'm repeat-o girl." Buffy said, giving Riley a curious look. "I was just…blown away."

"I get it." He said quickly. "You are the Slayer." He made it sound like he'd rather that she not be the Slayer. Buffy gave him another look.

"I guess…the way he said stuff made it sound so—" she began, unsure how to phrase it.

"Sexy?" Willow offered. "I bet he made it sound sexy."

Echo lifted her head. "What?"

"Nothing." said Buffy, brushing her aside. "And yeah, kinda…he had the dark, penetrating eyes and the cool accent."

"Yeah…" Willow agreed dreamily as Tara handed her a drink and perched on the edge of the couch.

"You thought Dracula was sexy?" Tara questioned dubiously.

Willow realized her mistake. "Oh….! No, he was…yuck."

"Except for the whole tall, dark, and handsome thing, yucko." Anya said cheerfully.

"How would you know?" Xander asked, clearly put out.

Anya said, "We hung out a few times back in my demon days, you know, once or twice. You know, from a whole 'evil thing' perspective." She added the last part as a look of horror crept across Xander's face.

"Please, he was no big whup." Xander said. He looked around as if to say, "Right?"

"No big whup? What about that thing where he turned into a bat, that was awesome!" protested Willow.

Giles spoke up. "Yes, that must have been interesting. I'm sorry, I missed that."

"Me too!" Willow agreed a little too heartily. "The whole time I was thinking, 'gosh, I wish Giles were here he'd know what to do!' Didn't you guys think that too?" she looked around hopefully at Xander and Buffy.

"Actually, I was thinking 'bat!'" Buffy said. She took another suspicious look at Echo. She was just so quiet and peaceful…it was hard to think of her as guilty anymore.

"How com he can do that?" Xander asked.

"I have no idea." Giles admitted. "There's a lot of myths about Dracula, beating him with entail separating fact from fiction."

"Great idea!" Willow piped up, overenthusiastic. "That is so…so Giles! We would have never…y'know, thought of that." She shrank under several perplexed gazes.

"We should start slow with Dracula." said Buffy. "He said we would 'meet again', but I would like to avoid that until we do some serious homework."

"I don't know," Riley said, a growing look of frustration on his face, "he may have a few swell party tricks, but he's still just a vampire. I say we load up the stakes and crossbows and go after him now."

"I say yes." Xander agreed.

Anya shook her head. "No, Buffy's right, Dracula's too slick to fall for the usual stuff."

"He looked stupid to me." Echo said softly, but nobody paid much attention.

Buffy purposefully ignore her. "We'll hold off. No killing until we know what we're dealing with."

"Not just saying that because of his 'deep, penetrating eyes', are you?" Riley asked, just about as insecure as he could get.

"No…" Buffy started unconvincingly, coming to stand next to Riley. "His eyes were…they were…there was no penetration, I swear." When his eyebrows practically disappeared in his hairline, she added, "Cross my heart."

O.o.O.o.O

Echo yawned and stretched as the group finally started getting up and getting ready to leave. It was already starting to turn dark outside. Tara and Willow were leaving just then, Xander and Anya behind them.

"Are we going?" Echo asked timidly.

Buffy was too wrapped up with Riley to notice. She had both of his hands, and they were kissing for the hundredth time that day. "See?" she told Riley hopefully. "A little sugar and I'm all yours. Dracula Shmacula."

"Are we leaving?" Echo repeated. Buffy sighed and nodded.

"Yes, Echo, we're leaving. Bye." She kissed Riley again, then grabbed her jacket.

The walk home was very quiet, so Echo thought about all the weird stuff that she had remembered about earlier. The kept thinking about the names "Bonnie" and "Clyde", but had no idea why and no idea who they were. There were so many names and faces that were in her head, but they didn't match up like they should've.

"Hello, door standing open." said Buffy, interrupting her train of thought. She pulled Echo inside. "It's late, you should get to bed. Don't wake up Mom or Dawn." With that she turned abruptly and huffily made her way to the kitchen. Echo obediently went upstairs, brushed her teeth, and slid under her covers.

An hour later she was tossing and turning. Everything was so foreign to her. She felt like she should be sleeping in the ground or in a box, not on this high-up bed. That didn't make any sense, but she wanted it.

There was a rustle from Buffy's room, and a low, male voice. Echo slid out of bed and crept to the wall, pressing her ear to it. She heard something to the effect of "killer" and "deep eyes" but it was hard to tell.

"I'm not disobeying." Echo reasoned as she tiptoed out into the hallway. "I won't wake up Dawn or Mrs. Summers."

She padded silently to Buffy's door and peered through the crack of the opening. Dracula was seated on Buffy's bed, his face inches from hers. He was telling her something in a hushed, breathy voice, and she seemed absolutely fine with him being in her room as well as his close proximity. He leaned in closer and spoke in her ear, causing her to shiver. Echo felt a strange sensation in the pit of her stomach. She almost thought she knew what he was going to do, but couldn't place it. He was a vampire…so he would...he would…

He went the whole way and bit into her neck, making her spasm slightly, but she didn't try to shove him away. Vampires bit people. Right.

This new knowledge scared Echo. She wasn't strong enough to fight, but she couldn't just watch Buffy get killed. She seemed so nice all the time. She was about to open the door and scream, hoping it would break Dracula's hold on Buffy, when Buffy's eyes closed and she slumped over. Dracula smiled and vanished out the window as a trickle of mist.

"Buffy?" Echo pushed the door open and crawled to Buffy's bed, tapping her face lightly. "Buffy?"

After a second Buffy drew a shuddering breath, but she didn't wake. Echo decided she must be fine. Maybe Dracula thought her blood was icky.

As she was about to leave Echo turned back and looked at Buffy's face, bathed in the moonlight. It was so familiar…

…hand to Buffy's neck, Faith grinned. They both had each other with a knife at the other's throat, and both were tense and ready to kill their opponent. For a second Faith believed Buffy could do it. Just for a second.

"You can't do it, B." Faith smirked. "Kill me, and you become me."

Buffy's hand faltered just a little, and Faith batted it aside. She saw horror deep in Buffy's eyes: horror from her betrayal, and taking Angel, all of it. For just an act, Faith had gotten a lot of mouth action with Angel. Really must've bothered Buffy.

Still Buffy couldn't say a thing, so Faith did. "Thanks, B." She said, and she grabbed Buffy's head, kissing her before she ran into the night. She would be back soon…

Echo shivered. It had been like she was watching the whole scene unfold, not like the others, where she was the person there. Faith looked a lot like her. Faith didn't seem very nice, either.

"Goodnight…B." Echo ventured, backing out of the room.

"G'night…" was the drowsy reply. "Night…...Faith."

O.o.O.o.O

The next morning when her alarm went off Buffy nearly jumped out of her bed. She couldn't understand why, but it felt like she was being watched.

"I am not a morning person." She groaned, rolling her head. She felt a twinge on the right side of her neck. Trancelike, she got up and slowly approached the mirror, bringing her hand to her hair. Brushing it aside, she revealed two small punctures in her neck. "Oh no. No, no, no, this is not happening!"

"There was some guy in your room last night." Echo said, and Buffy hurriedly pulled her hair over her neck. "I saw him. He bit you, but then he was gone and you were breathing, so I thought you were fine." She tipped her head to the side. 'Did…did Faith ever kiss you? You know, here?" she tapped her forehead.

"Dracula was really here?—Wait, what was that about Faith? Did she kiss me?" Buffy spluttered. "Okay, one thing at a time. Dracula was here, he really bit me?"

Echo nodded solemnly. "Yes. You seemed okay with it."

"Not happening, so not happening." Buffy said, clenching her fists. "And what was that about Faith kissing me?"

"I saw something." Echo explained like it was obvious. "Faith looked like me, you both had knives and both had them against each other's throats. She said you would become her if you killed her, thanked you, and kissed you. Right here." She tapped her head again.

"You saw it?" Buffy demanded. She had already had enough of the weird comments about ghosts and Devina and bad men and all the other things that Echo constantly brought up.

"Yes. One minute I was looking at you and then I saw it like I was standing right there." Echo said. "I don't think Faith is very nice."

Buffy snorted. "Hop aboard the irony train."

"What?"

"Oh…nevermind. Just go get dressed and be ready to leave." Buffy paused. "Echo?"

"Yeah?"

"Please don't mention the thing with Dracula to anyone, okay?"

"Okay." Echo promised, turning away and hippity-hopping down the hallway like a five-year-old.

As soon as she was gone Buffy shuddered and drew a hand to her neck again. She had to hide the marks for some reason she couldn't fathom. They'd be so disappointed that she had let Dracula just waltz in and sample her blood like she was the one-stop Slayer buffet. He might even come back…

But that was a place with deep penetrating eyes that Buffy kept telling herself were neither deep nor penetrating. Dracula should be staked, not fawned over like a dark, mysterious hottie with—

"Shut up!" she reprimanded herself. "No more thinking about anything but your boyfriend, Riley, who is was cuter than the vampire with amazing hair and eyes and everything and…no! I am so not having this conversation with myself!"

"You okay?" inquired Echo, appearing from no where.

"Geez!" Buffy gasped. "You need a cat bell more than Angel did."

Echo shook off the comment as usual. "Yeah…why are you talking to yourself about Dracula? He's really not that…hot. You said hot, right?"

"Not a good time. Besides we need to go to Giles'. I need to kill Dracula and get it over with." Buffy said impatiently. She pressed a hand to her neck. "But I need something…" she grabbed the first scarf she saw and wrapped it around her neck and the two bite marks. "Remember, not a word to ANYONE!"

Echo nodded. "Of course."

Buffy was almost afraid to go into Giles' house. He would just look at her, or Riley would, and they would know something was wrong. That, or Echo would tell them, "Oh, there was a pale, funny-looking guy in Buffy's room."

Of course she had to go in, and as soon as she was Buffy made herself as scarce as possible. Giles was mentioning ways to kill Dracula.

"And he can be killed like any other ordinary vampire, so it should be easy." He concluded, looking at Buffy.

"Oh...yeah. Stake. Yay." She responded in a monotone voice.

"He has mind control, though." Giles said. "He keeps his victims in a sort of…well, a thrall or trance, and he always likes his victims to have an intimate sort of relationship with him before he kills them. More like a connection."

"So, seduce and then it's dinner time?" asked Buffy vaguely.

"Well, we are talking about the dark master." Xander said in a strange, high voice. When he realized everyone was looking at him he added, "Or so I've heard they call him that…really should be dark evil guy. Weird, dark, evil guy." He looked down at his shoes. "Yeah."

"Mmmm-hmmm." Buffy was faintly aware of Riley giving her a concerned look.

"Buffy?" he ventured slowly, approaching the couch. "You okay?"

She slid down further and fingered her neck, Oddly enough, Echo still hadn't said a thing. "Yeah..yeah, I'm fine. Are you?"

"Not sure." said Riley. He watched as she unconsciously rubbed her neck where she had been bitten. "Wait…take off your scarf."

"What? No." she dropped her hand. "Why?"

"If you're not hiding anything, just take it off." He instructed more firmly. Echo's eyes strayed to Buffy's, matching the panicked look. Why did Echo care what happened?

"Riley, don't be ridiculous." said Buffy. She stood and trained her eyes on the door. "Look, shouldn't I go do some recon or something?"

"Well, you could—" Giles began, but before he was halfway done speaking Buffy was out the door.

Instead of leaving she sat down on the edge of a decorative stone wall. Buffy ran her hands through her hair. This couldn't get any worse, not with Riley acting all suspicious. Granted, he had a reason, but she was sure he wasn't just suspicious, but that he knew. For all she knew Echo was in there telling everyone what had happened.

The door banged open and Riley strode over. He ripped off her scarf with a swift motion and then stood and glared at the two distinct bite marks. Behind Giles and Xander looked on. Echo's head appeared from behind the door.

Riley threw down the scarf in frustration. "I knew it." He wasn't glaring any more, just looking at her like she had just kicked a puppy in front of him. "He was with you, or in your room, or—"

"In my room." She confirmed. "I know it's bad, and I'm s-sorry I tried to hide it…but I just thought I had too." She blinked at him with teary eyes. "Riley, I'm really sorry. I think he used the whole 'thrall' thing on me."

"Yes, the mind control." Giles agreed. "He is forging a connection with you so he can kill you."

"Can we go kill him now?" Riley asked, shifting from upset back to angry.

Giles nodded. "Yes, we can find wherever he is, and we might have a chance, seeing as it's still daylight. Buffy, you should stay with someone so Dracula doesn't get to you again." as Echo shuffled out, he added, "And you too, Echo."

"She's not under any thrall." Buffy said. "She thinks he's ugly."

"But bad things could happen," said Xander, twitchily hopping from one foot to another. "Maybe Buffy and Echo can stay at my place."

"I'll go too." said Riley. "Well, unless you need help kicking Dracula's sorry butt, Giles."

Giles shook his head. "I'll need to research the gypsy magic he uses more extensively first, but I'll call you as soon as I'm done and have determined where he might be."

"Then we're off to Xander's."

O.o.O.o.O

Echo wasn't sure about a lot of things, but she was sure that Xander's "home" in his parents' basement was uncomfortable and damp and smelly. They had been there for at least three hours, and all they did was sit. Buffy was sitting over in a corner with Xander, and Riley was a few feet away on the couch, still upset by the Dracula thing. Echo rose from her perch on a coffee table and walked over to Buffy, kneeling in front of her and curiously peering at her face.

"What do you want now?" Buffy asked.

"Well…" Echo started, her vision blurring. "Last time I looked at your face I saw—"

…It was like last time, with Echo seeing herself as Faith but not being her. Faith was pinned to wall by a bunch of vamps in armor, and Buffy was being drowned headfirst in sewer water.

"Buffy!" Faith screamed, then swore and fought harder against the three vamps holding her. "Buffy!"

At that moment the blonde Slayer's flailing legs went limp, and Faith choked out a strangled cry and one of the vamps grabbed her by the throat. The vamp holding Buffy backed away, grinning.

The water exploded, and Buffy surfaced, spluttering and coughing. "I hate when they drown me." She grumbled, kicking the vampire that had held her down. In a matter of minutes she and Faith had dusted every single vampire. Faith turned to Buffy, face alight.

"Tell me you didn't get a rush outta that." She said, confident she was right.

"Well," Buffy said, "It didn't suck."

Faith laughed, looping her arm through Buffy's the two headed out of the sewer and out of sight…

"Echo? Hello?" Buffy was waving a hand in front of Echo's face. "You see what?"

"You...and Faith." Echo explained.

Buffy groaned. "Not this again."

"No, really." Echo insisted as Riley got up to see what was going on. "There were sewers, and a vampire drowned you, but not really, and then Faith asked you if you didn't get a rush from Slaying. You know, after you Slayed the vampires. And then you said it didn't suck, and the two of you left."

"That is creepy." Buffy said. "And it proves my theory that you are Faith and you either know it or you have major head trauma."

Xander, shrugged. "Who cares? I mean, does it matter?" Echo wondered what had him all twitchy. He looked like he had way too much caffeine in his system. "Sun's down.' He added, giving Buffy a meaningful look.

Five seconds later Riley was locked in the closet and Echo was down on the ground, everything fading to black from a hit to the head. It had to have been Xander.

"I'm supposed to take you to Dracula." she heard Xander say.

"Okay." Two pairs of feet shuffled off and a door slammed shut. Echo blacked out two seconds later.

… "Shall I go now?" Echo asked, shivering. It was much clearer than the docks and the girl. She was Echo, or someone. It wasn't a garbled version of what she thought, mixed up with emotions. This was like seeing Faith, but actually being there, being herself.

"Taffy?" a man asked, approaching her. Another man was leaning against a box, bleeding from what looked like a stab wound.

"I think we broke her." The stabbed man said ruefully.

More and more talking, but they wouldn't listen…no, they wouldn't tell her what she needed to hear. "Shall I go now?" she repeated, all her memories fading away. No more Buffy, no more Dawn, no one there… "Shall I go now?"…

Now she was next to the stabbed man. She liked looking at the pretty painting of the mountain, but he was talking. She had to listen.

"We're probably going to get caught." he told her. "The cops and guards are going to come in here with guns, and when they do you need to put your hands up, okay? Put 'em up in the air, above your head."

"Like this?" Echo stretched her arms way over her head.

"Yeah. That way they won't shoot you. You'll probably get taken to jail."

"What's jail?" the word sounded...small. Small and gray, like the mountains. Echo like the mountains.

"It's were there's barely any air, and barely any sunlight. There aren't any trees or mountains." He said. 'it's like being trapped in, caged in, an animal."…

Now she was holding a baby in her arm, grinning as she handed him to the brand new father. "See?" she said. "Shoulders like a linebacker, just like I said."

The father smiled and accepted the precious bundle from her arms. "I can't thank you enough—"

"It's my job." she assured him.

Things started to swirl faster and faster and faster until there were just images flashing on her eyelids, blurring with a sickening speed.

There was a woman, Susan, scared of a man that had abused her but somehow she could cope now…talking to a little girl… "You let me get close…I know you have a knife on you somewhere…" ….older, Margaret, memories of a real life that had ended through what she suspected was murder…running with her son away from the horses' stable…a spy, sliding over a table as Laurence Dominic shot at her because she found him out…herself, but more aware, with an intense need to escape…walking out of the Dollhouse, out to freedom, until she collapsed…a flighty, free spirited girl drawn to a college campus and reliving something that was never hers… "Leo! Please, Leo, I need you!"…dead, gone, cold…someone's wife, hand over her mouth as she stared at the house he had bought for just the two of them…but he was sad because she never really made it, she died in a car crash…Esther, blind but able to travel across the country..regaining her sight…saved by a man she never actually knew, but trusted with her life…Taffy again, professional thief, cracking a safe…confused, alone, Echo….the midwife…Jordan, dangling a famous singer from a catwalk to show her she needed to live…singing on stage, stomach swooping…Jenny, running and panting, hiding from her date…he needed to kill….the man she trusted was shot and she couldn't help…back further, they were in a boat gliding down a river…Eleanor, hugging Devina's body close to her… "You're gonna be okay…"…negotiations…they would do things her way…a random person's date, on a motorcycle, but she fell off and the motorcycle fell on top of her… "Something heavy fell on me…" ….

Everything was blurring and speeding up. Images of a woman named Caroline flashed by. She had almost found out the Dollhouse and they would only give her one choice; joining them…she had a few friends, Bennett, and Leo, and a lot of other people, but then Leo had died and left her all alone…at first the images slowed…there were more flashes of other people until it stopped at one.

Faith Lehane, sitting at a table and talking to a man. Being promised she would be let go, given her memories back. Then she left and then left the Dollhouse by accident while imprinted and never came back. They had her memories, but they never were going to give them back!

Echo started violently as someone shook her by the shoulders. "What?"

Giles was giving her a puzzled look. "I came over here and found you and Riley here, Riley was locked in the closet."

"Oh…Xander shoved him in, I think…" she was caught up in a torrent of indefinable emotions, the aftershock of her dream. There was so much fear and hurt and pain and loss, all of it coming from each of the people. Fear of men, weapons, being hunted like an animal, not being able to breathe, not knowing who she was, and not being able to help…but the worst was fear of never being forgiven. Echo started to shake so hard her leg drummed against the floor, but Giles was already up and talking to Riley.

"We'll have to track down wherever they went," said Riley. "Probably a mansion or something like you mentioned. Coming, Echo?"

The two men looked down at her expectantly, and then frowned as she clutched the carpet and gasped.

"I…can't…can't, too much, too afraid…" she breathed softly, steadying herself. She couldn't go crazy on them; it just wasn't the time for that. "I saw a lot of things that I can't understand, and I'm feeling a lot of things too. Bad things."

"What?" Riley asked. "You mean you did that weird thing like when you look at Buffy?"

"The weird thing?" questioned Giles.

"Yeah." said Riley. "She said she saw stuff about Faith when she looked at Buffy."

"And now I feel it." Echo said, getting shakily to her feet. "But I think I can walk." She realized Giles and Riley where a little more than preoccupied.

"Good, you can fill us in on what you saw later." said Giles. "We have to find Buffy first."

They trekked around the town as the sun set, when suddenly they stumbled upon an eerie mansion.

"Was that there before?" Riley asked, staring at the ominous darkness that shrouded the place.

"No."

Once they were inside Echo got distracted by the ornately carved armor lining the walls, and eventually she looked back and Riley and Giles weren't there. Ahead of her a door was open slightly, and voices drifted from inside. Echo could have sworn she heard Buffy's voice.

Creeping closer, she peered inside and saw Buffy just standing there as Dracula slowly approached. He was talking, telling her about how he could make her immortal. This was exactly like when he had been in Buffy's room, except that Dracula didn't look like he was going anywhere anytime soon. Echo trembled, wondering what she could do. She could barely stand there as it was, with all the unknown feelings swirling in her head and tripling her fear. She could barely remember the dream now, just the swirling emotions. She couldn't even remember why it had been important to remember, except that she had known for a second who she really was. Of course, there was a more imminent problem at hand.

"Uhhh….I could…I could….stake him?' she mumbled to herself. It was impossible, though; she was too terrified of Dracula to move.

Back in the room Dracula was offering his cut wrist to Buffy, saying something about her drinking his blood, then him drinking hers again. As far as Echo could tell, if Buffy was close to death she'd be turned into a vampire. Echo giggled. A vampire Slayer turned into a vampire? Ironic. But, she realized, also very bad. Especially since Buffy was obeying his every word, pressing her mouth to his wrist. Echo reflexively gagged.

Suddenly Buffy's head jerked up, and her eyes went from glazed over to focused. She shoved Dracula away and began to fight him as Riley, Giles, and Xander appeared behind Echo.

"This is bad." Xander mumbled. Riley appeared to be holding him back, and Giles was in the process of straightening his clothes.

"You get lost?" Giles asked casually as he finished smoothing the now imaginary wrinkles from his jacket.

"Yes." Echo said. "I'm lost, and I lost a lot of my dream, too."

He didn't pay attention. "Yes, of course…right then."

A minute or so and Dracula was staked. The odd look in Xander's eyes disappeared. "Where is he? Where's the guy that turned me into a spider-eating slave?"

Buffy pointed to dust on the floor. "He's gone."

"That's it! You know what? I'm sick of this crap! I'm sick of being the guy who eats insects and gets the funny syphilis. As of this moment, it's over. I'm finished being everybody's butt-monkey!" Xander huffed, clearly upset.

"Check." said Buffy, stifling a giggle. "No more butt-monkey."

They started to head out, but Echo noticed Buffy hung back. Swirling from smoke, Dracula rematerialized. With a swift movement she staked him again."You think I don't watch your movies? You always come back."

For a second there was nothing, but mist began to form around her feet again. "I'm standing right here!" said Buffy, trying not to laugh. The mist quickly dissipated.

Echo grinned as she turned and followed Giles, Riley, and Xander. This day—or night—was looking just a little better.

O.o.O.o.O

It was the next day, and Buffy had just returned home. Giles had agreed to be her Watcher again, so she could learn how to become stronger and more powerful than before. Dracula had really gotten her thinking about where her power came from, and what she used it for.

Heading upstairs, she went in her room only to find Dawn there. "What are you doing here?" she asked, and for a second she felt like something was completely wrong. Then it was normal.

Dawn looked up but didn't reply.

From her room, her Mom called, "Buffy, if you're going out, take your sister."

Two voices rose in unison, both protestant. "Mom!"

A/N: Whew, I'm grateful I FINALLY finished this chapter. I'm expecting each one to be about his long, covering an entire episode with Echo included. What did you think? I'm seriously considering writing this all the way to season 7, but obviously faith will get her memories back at some point…or will she? Muahaha. I love tormenting people :)