A/N: here's the next installment of "Lonely Ghosts", I really hope you enjoy it :) by the way, school starts on the 30th for me, so just keep in mind I won't update as often, except on weekends and during holidays. Luckily school isn't quite here yet. However I am sorry this has taken so long even without school, I've been really busy.

Also, for those who might think that Echo's a little too developed, personality-wise (I'm one of them), my theory is that she's been exposed to enough making her way to Sunnydale and she's had flashes from her other personalities so she's just developed a semi-personality very quickly.

Finally, I apologize for the extreme shortness of this chapter, mostly because the next one is going to be extremely lengthy and have a complex plot and at least twenty of Echo's imprints included. That means it'll take me FOREVER and I want to get something posted so people, don't give up hope on this story. PLEASE? Oh, a review would be nice, too :)

Echo was exploring. As a rule Buffy's house just wasn't that big, but she'd only been to the guest bedroom, the hallway, the kitchen, and the living room. She peered into Buffy's room, where the blonde Slayer had left an untidy, unmade bed. She had to be showering. In the next room Echo's face burst into a smile when she saw Dawn, cross-legged on the bed, writing in her diary. "Dawn! Hi!"

Dawn looked up in surprise. "Oh, hi."

"What are you doing?"

"Writing." Dawn gestured vaguely with her pen. "About Slayer stuff, mostly. You wanna come in?" the last part was added as Echo continued to politely hang outside the teen's bedroom door.

"Slayer stuff?" Echo asked, gingerly taking a seat on the corner of Dawn's bed. "But you're not the Slayer."

Dawn laughed. "No, like how it messes up my life. Buffy totally freaked yesterday just because I accidentally made her fall while she was training. It's not like it's a big deal, right? She has Slayer healing, she'll be fine. Didn't even have a bruise."

"Oh." Echo scooted over a little so she wouldn't fall. "I thought diaries are for secrets."

"They are." Dawn said in a conspiratorial whisper. "Sometimes I write secrets."

"That's nice." said Echo. She stared blankly at the page Dawn was on. "I can't read very much. Just from what I see in my dreams…"

"You can't read?" Dawn was incensed. "Right now I'm writing about Xander."

"You like him." It was more of a statement than a question. Over the past few days Echo had learned that kissing meant people liked each other. That mostly came from her flashbacks, most of which she couldn't remember at all. Only the raw emotions were left, bubbling up at unexpected times and threatening to overwhelm her.

"Yeah." said Dawn. "That's my secret, so what's yours?"

"What?"

"Sometimes girls that are friends or could become friends share secrets." Dawn explained. "Well, at my school, anyway. You don't have to…I was just wondering."

Echo shook her head. "I want to be your friend, but I don't have any secrets, not really."

"What about the things you see?"

"Oh, those? I can't remember much." Echo said, but she had Dawn's full attention anyway. "I think they're of people I was, or something. There's a lot in this place, the Dollhouse, where there's Alpha and Sierra and Victor…but I don't remember much."

"What do you remember?" Dawn prompted, eager for something more interesting than verbally abusing her sister in her diary. "Have you ever been kissed?"

"A lot." Echo said. She gave Dawn a bewildered look when the teen's face lit up. "What?"

"Number one girl talk topic: being kissed by guys. Cute guys." Dawn explained.

Echo said, "Oh. Well, this one time at the Dollhouse Alpha kissed me ands told me I was special, but I knew it wasn't true because Whiskey was obviously number one. I mean, she was so nice."

"What?" Dawn's forehead wrinkled as she frowned. "Number one at what?"

"I don't know. And then one day she was gone, and Alpha was gone, and there was red all over me and I was naked and my friends were red and wouldn't wake up."

A look of horror pervaded Dawn's face. "They died?"

"I…I think that's what they call it." Echo said, lost in her own memories. "And there was other stuff I did with guys that…I can't explain, really."

"Stuff involving nakedness?" Dawn guessed.

"Sometimes."

"I don't want to know." said Dawn. She closed her diary and slid it between the bed's frame and the mattress. "So…you just remember a bunch of stuff that you didn't do?"

Echo shook her head. "I think I did all of it, but it's like some of the people are real and some aren't. Caroline is pretty real…Faith is the most real, and all of you think I'm Faith." She tilted her head. "But I don't know if I want to be Faith again. She doesn't have any friends, and she knows she'll never be forgiven for anything she's done. I don't want to be her, or Caroline, or any of the others."

"Huh." Dawn said. "Well, as interesting and twisted as that is, I vote we go down to breakfast. Then you'll probably be stuck with Buffy all day."

Echo willingly followed Dawn downstairs. She couldn't help but wonder why Dawn was so sparkly and translucent, but she accepted it like it was a normal part of life. After all, everyone said Echo was crazy, and she believed it.

Echo sat, silently observing as Dawn managed to steal her sister's bowl of cereal and use up the last of the milk, earning a poisonous glare from Buffy. Buffy and Dawn didn't seem to get along too well. They were arguing about who had to take Dawn shopping for school, and Echo followed them out of the kitchen in time to hear something about the Magic Box.

"Why do I need to go there? It's not like I'm going to school at Hogwarts." Dawn said, laughing at something no one else understood. When she got three confused looks, she said, "Geez, crack a book."

Joyce was about to say something when the doorbell rang and she went to answer. Riley was standing there. "Goodmorning, Mrs. Summers. You look great."

"Oh, thank you, Riley." She said, choosing to head back to the kitchen.

Face lit up with a thousand-watt smile, Buffy was hugging him in a second. "Suck-up."

"What? It was a nice outfit. Besides, 'I'm here to violate your firstborn' never goes over well with parents." When he leaned to kiss her Echo giggled softly at the faces Dawn was making.

Riley seemed to notice Dawn after he came unglued from Buffy. "Hey, kid."

"I'm not a kid." Dawn sighed. "Come on, Echo."

Back in Dawn's room she groaned and theatrically flopped onto her bed. "He's soooo annoying. I'll bet he and Buffy have slept together."

Echo was confused. "I thought only married people shared a single bed."

"No, I meant…nevermind." said Dawn. "Tell me more about the things you remember. Maybe I can help you figure out who you are."

"Can I ask you a question?"

Dawn shrugged. "I guess."

"I know that I'm not really sane. I see things, and one of them is…well, you." Echo said. She wasn't sure how she could tell Dawn what she saw without scaring her. "You're…you're all green, and sparkly. It's like this energy is trapped inside you, tons and tons, all swirling around, and it's like you're not supposed to be here. Does that make sense?"

Dawn looked like she wanted to bolt, but didn't. "No, not really. You probably shouldn't tell Buffy things like that, she might send you somewhere bad, like an asylum."

"Is that like jail?"

"Yeah."

"There's no air in jail…there's no trees, no mountains." Echo mumbled, remembered one of her dream flashbacks. "Raise 'em above your head, in the air."

"Raise what?" asked Dawn.

Echo mimed the action with her hands. "This man, in a dark room with lots of art. He called me Taffy, and he said when the police came to raise my hands way up in the air so I wouldn't get shot. He didn't want me to get shot."

"Ooohhh…you were a thief?"

"Taffy was." Echo corrected. "She was helping them steal some statue or something…but I'm not a thief. And I don't think that Taffy went to jail." She could only remember the faint outline of a man through the smoke, the same man she would always trust with her life. "I think someone saved her. I'd trust him with my life."

Dawn seemed interested at the mention of the mysterious man. "Really? Oh, I bet you dated him! Or…or you were having a secret affair with him when you were all those different people!"

"No. I don't know his name, and when I was all those people he came to save me, but that's all. He always came to save me."

"Weird."

They sat, listening to the hum of Buffy and Riley's voices. Echo wondered if the man would come here to save her. Was she even in danger? Buffy didn't like her at all, but she didn't seem like she was a violent person, so Echo could only assume she was safe.

From below they heard Riley shout, "See ya, kid!"

Dawn shared an eye-roll with Echo. "I'm not a kid!"

O.o.O.o.O.

Dawn groaned as Giles told her to leave the radio alone for the hundredth time. How could she just sit and be quiet when he kept playing that horrible classical music? Echo was the only one in the car not talking or moving. She was staring out at the houses they passed with glassy eyes.

It was like she had been writing in her journal; Giles just didn't know how to deal with anyone younger than sixteen, and even then he had issues with people. He was just so stuffy and British and old. He had to be like eighty, tops. Dawn knew he'd only been able to put up with Buffy because she's had the maturity of a thirty-year-old when she was sixteen. Probably why she wasn't any fun.

"You know, as your new Watcher, you ought to show me a little respect." Giles was reprimanding Buffy after she'd made some joke about something.

"Do I hafta?" Buffy teased. She could get away with anything.

"What are you thinking about?" Dawn asked Echo softly, trying to ignore Giles and Buffy without getting their attention by talking.

"A man. He had a house like those." Echo explained. She always seemed so far away and sad. At first she'd been a little detached, but now she acted like she had actual emotions. Of course, sometimes she acted like she was an innocent four-year-old, completely void of any knowledge or sadness. Maybe she was bipolar…

Dawn didn't remember much about Faith. One day she was there, Slaying alongside Buffy, and like all Slaying matters, Dawn wasn't included. Sometimes Faith would tag along home with Buffy for food or a place to stay. She didn't even notice Dawn, excepting the few times she'd asked for money or for Dawn to move off the couch.

The night Buffy had come home after exposing Faith as a liar she had collapsed on the stairs and cried herself to sleep.

It was around three on the morning when Dawn woke up, unable to sleep. Buffy still wasn't home.

She crept out to the hallway on tip toes planning on getting a snack when she heard a soft, muffled noise coming from the stairs. Dawn instantly grabbed the closest thing—a wooden statue of an elephant—from a decorative table in the hall and made her way to the top of the stairs. She was so sure it would be Faith, lying in wait to do something horrible to her and Mom.

Instead Buffy was stretched out on the stairs, halfway up. She had her legs curled to her chest, and dawn her sobs, the sound muffled by her jacket. "Buffy?"

Buffy nodded her head a little.

"Buffy, are you okay? Was it Faith? Did she fall for your trap?"

Two more nods, followed by a strangled cry of frustration. "She….Angel…..kissed! W-What if she's b-b-better than m-me?"

"Oh, Buffy…don't say that."Dawn sat and slid down the remaining stairs between herself and her sister. "Don't ever, ever say that. Angel loves you, and only you."

That's where Mom found them in the morning.

Dawn couldn't believe that even after all that she somehow didn't hold a grudge against Echo. Echo wasn't the same person. She had morals, she had feelings, she cared about people she barely knew. Sure there was the whole "crazy" issue, but Echo was a good person. Dawn couldn't be mad at her, especially when everyone else kept shunning her like she'd contracted some disease. Tara was the only other person that didn't hate her.

There was time to brood later, Dawn decided. She had just spotted Tara.

O.o.O.o.O.

Echo stood quietly while Dawn, Tara and Willow chatted happily about magic, and Buffy soon joined in with news about her new training schedule. They all headed inside the Magic Box.

"I don't like this." Echo declared as soon as they walked in. It was dark and quiet, but it was like almost every person in her head that had been through bad things went to a room like this. It was always bad in the dark.

Tara called the shopkeeper's name and ventured further into the store, looking around. She tripped over something Echo could barely make out.

"I think I found him." Tara managed from the ground.

Oh no… "Is he okay?" Dawn asked, fighting against Buffy to see what had happened. "Is he dead?"

"Dawn, out! You too, Echo!" Buffy said. She grabbed their arms and pulled them out. Echo wasn't too bothered by it, she didn't want to see any more dead bodies than the ones already in her head.

Dawn, however, was furious. "You're hurting me!" she whined, jerking her arm out of Buffy's grip.

"Stay here." Buffy commanded, ignoring Dawn. Without a backward look she headed back into the Magic Box and slammed the door shut.

Dawn paced with frustration, attempting to look in the windows. "It's not fair!" she complained loudly to Echo. "I'm not a baby, but they all act like I am!"

Before she could say anything else a dirty man that looked like he lived in the streets came up to her. "Whatcha doin'?" he asked, stalking towards her in a threatening manner. Echo shivered. What could she do? Scream? "What're you doing here? Can't loiter. There's no loitering. That's why I'm a cat…quiet. See, cat's are quiet, but they find you there anyway, and hurt." He whimpered. "Please make it stop!"

"Buffy—" Dawn choked out, but the man shushed her. Echo took a wary step forward. If she could only remember how to help…Taffy would know how, or Eleanor, but she couldn't quite remember.

"I know you…" the man was saying. "Curds and whey. I know what you are. You don't belong here."

A tiny squeak escaped dawn's lips. Echo was about to just go for it and tackle the guy when he turned his head like he'd heard something and tiptoed his way across the street. "Dawn, are you okay?"

"He said I wasn't real…like you said, except different. You said I looked funny." Dawn said. "Is he right?"

"He's crazy." Echo said. "That doesn't mean he's right. I'm crazy too, remember?"

Dawn giggled. "Yeah. Kinda funny hearing you say that, though."

"I know." Echo surveyed the area. "Why don't we go sit down?"

"Okay."

That's where Tara found them, five minutes later, sitting on the curb and talking about boys. "Hey, guys."

"Tara!" Echo said. "What happened?"

"The owner's dead." She said quickly. "Buffy and the others are the dong whatever they do, I thought that it'd be better if us non-Scoobies stayed out of it. What are you doing?"

"Talking about kissing boys." said Dawn. She gestured happily at Echo. "She's kissed a lot of guys!"

Echo didn't know why Tara looked so amused. "That's nice."

"I kissed girls before, too." Echo added. "There was this one…she looked like Dr. Saunders. So did Whiskey."

"That's one thing I don't get." said Dawn. "What is with those names?"

"What names? You mean like Victor, Sierra, November, Whiskey, Alpha, and Tango?"

Dawn nodded. "Do all the….the dolls have funny names?"

"I don't know." Echo said honestly. "I can't remember more than the names and faces. I don't think they told me anything anyway, and I wouldn't understand it if they did."

"Whiskey." Tara mused. "What, was she drunk all the time? I mean, before she became like you."

"Drunk?" Echo asked. "What is that?"

"Well…" said Tara. "It starts with going to a bar and getting a ton of beer…"

O.o.O.o.O.

"She's just everywhere!" Buffy moaned frustration, throwing a vamp to the ground and staking him. "She's always ruining everything, or following me, and she thinks being the Slayer is like a privilege or something!"

"But it's been bothering you more lately than before." Riley said, helping her up.

"I know…I don't know why."

Riley said, "Maybe it's because of Echo."

"What?"

"Well, you've been so edgy lately, and now that Echo's here, it's worse." He said.

Buffy sighed. "I don't know if you can understand…you remember when I went to L.A.?"

"And Angel followed you back to apologize for something? Yeah, my face remembers being punched by his fist." Riley said. "Why?"

"When I went to see him, I found him hugging Faith. I found out later he was only comforting her—they were attacked by a demon and she had gotten blood on her hands—but it made me think of when…"

"When what?"

She took a deep breath. "When I was still in high school, we had a plan where Angel faked losing his soul and teamed up with Faith, exposing her as working for the Mayor. They kissed in front of me, and I couldn't do anything about it. When I saw him holding her it was so much worse, because if there was some plan I didn't know about it. Then he protected her, hit me to defend her. It just hurt me…and even when I knew she was going to end up in the jail I still didn't feel any better. I still don't." She threw her stake at the ground and watched it imbed itself in the dirt. "Now she's not even in jail, so I don't have that anymore. There's just pain and hurt and sorrow."

"Did I mention how much I hate Angel sometimes?" Riley asked, still preoccupied by what she'd said about Angel. "He hit you…"

"I hit him first." Buffy admitted. "But it still hurt."

Riley slid an arm around her waist and gave her a quick hug. "Well, I'd never do that to you. You know that, right?"

"I know." She snuggled into him. "This is nice. It's so peaceful, without Dawn making gagging noises—"

"Buffy…"

"Sorry." Stretching up on her toes she kissed him. "Ruining the moment. My bad."

O.o.O.o.O.

Dawn was furious. She could hear Mom and Buffy in the together room, talking about how she was a kid, how she shouldn't have been at a crime scene, though she hadn't seen a single thing. "It's not fair!" she complained for the hundredth time that day.

Echo, seated on a white stool next to Dawn's bed, shrugged. "Your Mom wants to protect you. She is nice."

Dawn glared at Echo. "Why is everything always puppies and rainbows with you, anyway? I thought horrible stuff happened to you."

"It's not bad most of the time. said Echo. "Most of the time I don't feel anything."

From the other room Dawn heard something to the effect of, "Who's going to watch her now? You can't leave her alone, or leave her with Faith!"

"I don't need anyone to watch me!" Dawn shouted down the hall.

"Yes you do!" was the reply.

"What about Xander?" Dawn heard Buffy suggest. Xander! He was the only person that saw her for who she really was; a woman. She leapt of the bed and bound down the hallway, stopping at her Mom's bedroom door. "Okay."

O.o.O.o.O.

Echo had finally decided that she was right about Dawn liking Xander. Dawn couldn't keep her eyes off him, smiling only when she wasn't glaring at Anya. They were playing some game Echo didn't understand. Anya seemed to be winning and Dawn's face was slathered in ice cream when a rock came sailing through the window. Echo shrank away from the shards of glass. Too many bad things were associated with that.

"'Slayer, come out to die'." Xander read off the paper attached to the rock.

"I'm waiting for you, Slayer!" a high, girlish voice called from outside. Xander looked out the window.

"Harmony?"

"Who's Harmony?" Echo asked Dawn.

Dawn just shrugged. "I don't really know…I think she went to high school with Buffy, but now she's a vampire or something."

"She knows a lot of vampires." Echo said.

"Used to date one."

Echo hid behind Dawn while Xander poked fun at Harmony, who, even as a vampire, Echo didn't find very intimidating.

"Shut up, Harmony!" Dawn said after Harmony said something to insult Xander. The teen's cheeks were burning bright red. "Why don't you come in here and say that to his face, he'll—"

Anya shouted, "Dawn, no!" but it was too late.

Harmony came flying through the door, her minions stupidly crashing into the invisible barrier. They hadn't been invited. She tackled Xander and punched him a few times before he threw her off, and managed to throw her out the back door. "I'll be back!"

Everyone turned and glared at Dawn. "It was an accident?" she offered hopefully.

Xander sighed. "It's not your fault, you didn't mean to."

"She can always come in now, right?" asked Echo, unsure. All she knew is that Buffy said only someone who lived in a house could invite a vampire in, which meant Echo couldn't, since she was only a guest. She didn't remember whether the invite was forever or if a vampire had to be invited in every time they came to someone's house.

"That's the idea." Xander said, nursing a purple bruise forming on his jaw. "Now she can come in and kill Buffy any time she wants. Well, she can come in and try; I don't think that it'll ever actually happen."

After a while Riley and Buffy came back, and both found the idea of Harmony having minions so amusing they laughed until they cried, but when Xander told Buffy Dawn had invited Harmony in she went storming up the stairs. Echo heard shouting, and then nothing. She decided there was nothing she could do but wait at the back door and watch for Harmony so she could yell if she saw anything.

"Dawn!"

Echo saw Dawn rush past Anya and out the door, where she stood. Echo could hear her crying. "Dawnie?" she called, using Dawn's pet name. Dawn shook her head.

Anya pushed her way past Echo and ran out, yelling at Dawn for running out. She started to drag Dawn back inside while scolding about vampires when one of Harmony's "useless" minions smashed Anya into the door and grabbed Dawn.

Echo dropped to her knees next to Anya. "Anya! Anya, wake up!"

Xander's face went pale when he saw her, running in because of the crash. "Anya!"

A flash of an image went through Echo's mind; Devina, huddled at the bottom of a fridge tipped on its side. That wasn't going to happen to Dawn. Knowing that she was completely helpless, Echo sprinted out the door as Buffy and Riley ran into the kitchen and saw Anya.

O.o.O.o.O.

"Dawn…they got Dawn." Anya mumbled before her eyes closed again.

Buffy's heart sped up and she grabbed Riley's hand. He squeezed her fingers. "You'll find her. It had to be Harmony, she can't be far, right?"

"Right. Where's Echo?"

"Must've taken her too."

"Perfect." Buffy said, taking a crossbow off the counter. "Now I have to save both of them. This wouldn't have happened if Echo was Faith."

O.o.O.o.O.

Echo was running down the street at full speed, the vampires ahead of her. She had just barely managed to find them, and she wondered why they weren't using the sewers to get wherever they were going.

She went through what she could remember from the other people she used to be; there was some fighting, and ways to get back kidnapped people, but there wasn't really enough to go on.

Taffy slid down the length of the safe, listening for the audible clicks when it became unlocked. Even then she was still listening to the men behind her, smirking as she had at least three different counter attacks planned should any of them think of jumping her. Smiling, she swayed her hips a little, hoping it drove them crazy. Knowing it drove them crazy.

Echo tried to go over the attack moved in her head as she panted for breath, but they faded as quickly as the memory did. What could she do?

Reaching the vampires hideout she listened to them fighting over whether or not they should kill Dawn.

You can't fight a ghost.

Echo slid in the cave, skirting the walls and hiding behind a couch.

"The dollhouse deals in fantasy. That is their business, but that is not their purpose." She had to get Paul out of the picture. She was highly trained in ways of killing people, but this required something trickier. He had to live, but he had to lose his gun.

She grinned as a cop rounded the corner. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard.

Now she could remember ways to fight. "Let her go!" Echo commanded, making herself visible to the vampires. Harmony had just disappeared around the corner. "Where's Dawn?"

For a second the vampires didn't reply, but one wrinkled his nose. "A Slayer…but you're not the Slayer! You're not Buffy!"

"The Dark Slayer." Another hissed, nearing her, making her already labored breathing speed up. "I read about her. She's supposed to be in jail."

"Should we kill her?"

There wasn't an answer, because Echo threw herself at the first one and hoped for the best.

After a few bad punches and a few hits to the head Echo could feel her body sliding into another persona. She was spy, with one mission and one mission only; stop Paul from finding out more about the Dollhouse. But the other half of her was Echo, confused and scared. All she wanted was to save Dawn. Or was that Eleanor? She couldn't even tell anymore.

"Echo!" that was Buffy. Trapped in a headlock, Echo tried to wave her hand where Harmony had gone.

"That way!" she choked out, then firmly grabbed the vampire's shirt and flipped him over, onto the ground. "Dawn's in there with Harmony!"

Buffy was off in a second, and moments later Harmony fled from the room. When they saw their leader leaving the other vamps fled. Echo fell to the floor and coughed, her throat sore. Dawn. Some part of her—it had to be Eleanor—was screaming to know that Dawn was okay.

She stuimbled through the doorway and saw Buffy helping Dawn free her wrists of chains. "Dawn!"

"Echo?"

"She was fighting when I got here, I thought she got captured." Buffy explained.

Echo found herself running to Dawn and enveloping her in a tight hug. "I'm glad you're okay…or Eleanor is. I'm not sure.

Eleanor was hugging Devina close to her body, tears tracking down her face. "You're okay, you're okay, you're gonna be okay now…" she murmured into the girl's hair. "He can't hurt you anymore."

Echo finally stepped away when Dawn squeaked and said something about not being able to breathe. "I wasn't captured. I followed you because I didn't want you to get hurt."

"You said something about…uh…Eleanor?" Dawn asked, perplexed. "Do I know her?"

"I was Eleanor." said Echo. She smiled and took Dawn's hand. "I'll tell you about her later, okay?"

Dawn grinned. "Okay."

The three of them headed out into the night. As they walked in silence, Echo felt another mindset sliding into place like it belonged in her body. She caught up to Buffy, a little ahead of her and Dawn. "Glad I could help, B."

"What?" Buffy spun, arms held up defensively. "Faith?"

Just like it had come, suddenly Echo found she was normal again. "I don't know. I felt funny for a minute. It was like a wave."

Buffy refused to talk to Echo the rest of the way home.

O.o.O.o.O.

Buffy sighed for the billionth time as she came back from reminding Dawn not to touch anything. The last thing she needed was having to pay for something expensive and magickal. "I'm worried about her." She told Giles, who was setting up the punching bag she had accidentally knocked over. "She's way too friendly with Echo."

"Echo has a very charming, childlike personality." Giles said, earning a disapproving glare from Buffy. "It's not surprising that Dawn is becoming friendlier with her."

"And why is Echo friends with her?"

"Maternal instinct." Giles said. "She mentioned being someone, someone named Eleanor?"

Buffy nodded. "She said she saved a little girl named Devina from someone called 'the ghost' or something."

"She merely feels protective of Dawn because she's seen another girl get caught and scared by bad men." said Giles.

Buffy hit the punching bag several times. "I don't like it. She fought too well."

"We can look into that later. For now…try to stop dropping your left shoulder, I thought you had stopped doing that a long time ago."

Buffy wondered if she should bring up the moment when Echo had seemed like she was Faith again, but decided against it. Maybe Echo was just messing with her.

Maybe.

O.o.O.o.O

In the Dollhouse Topher was staring at a screen, displaying a bleeping dot and a picture of Echo. "Bingo."

"You found her?" Ivy asked, bringing a juice box over to him.

He nodded, pointing at the dot. "Right in the middle of Sunnydale, CA. Right where there are cheap, cheap houses and a high, high mortality rate. A doll wandering amongst muggers and robbers and who knows what else."

"Lions and tigers and bears, oh my." Ivy responded sarcastically. "You gong to send someone there?"

He handed her a phone, the number already entered in it. "See that name?"

"Boyd?"

"Her Handler. Let's hope he can find her in time."

Ivy looked puzzled. "How come you can see her on the map now?"

"Something must've jarred her when she went off the system and deactivated her tracking device, maybe she got attacked by a mugger and the same thing happened again, but in reverse." He held the phone to his ear. "Hello? Boyd, good to here your voice again…yes, that was sarcasm. I've found Echo. Sunnydale. Some house on Revello drive, I don't have an exact address." A pause. "Good luck."

A/N: This is a really sucky chapter. Next to come, Echo gets hit with the thingy that split Xander in two…but will it rip her apart into twenty people? Will Boyd completely lose his mind when he runs into Taffy, Susan, Alice, Eleanor, Jordan, and countless others? Yes, and yes…though you won't see the next chapter for a while. For now enjoy my randomly inspired oneshots that I will post from time to time.

Finally (I'm almost done ranting, I swear!), thanks to Smalville-HarryPotterfan13 for the first review I ever got on this story! To answer your questions: I don't know when Faith will get her memories back, if she ever does. She might just remember everything, like on Dollhouse in season 2, but stay as Echo, with memories of being Faith helping her to fight.