THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3. The sun shone on Oz from the grate high up in his cell. His naked body had once again returned to human form. As he stirred, he noticed that his modesty blanket had fallen from its clothesline during the night; assuming that he had brought it down himself in a fit of restlessness, he thought nothing of it. He grabbed his trousers and pulled them on. But before he could don his shirt he noticed Willow sitting against the wall with the tranquilizer gun cradled in her lap. She seemed to be dozing. Her hair hung in a stringy drizzle from her bobbing head. Her clothes were dusty and disheveled. He put his hands on the cage door and was startled when it swung open easily. Then he rushed to Willow's side.

"Will! Willow, wake up!" he shouted, shaking her left shoulder as he crouched beside her.

Willow's head snapped up. She looked Oz in the eyes. "Oz! Oh, Oz! Thank God! You're back!"

"Yeah, Babe, I'm here. But what happened last night?"

Between tears and kisses, Willow told Oz what had transpired. When she was done, Oz looked around the room and saw the charred note pad.

"Oh damn," said Willow, following his gaze; her lower lip curled into a pout. "That's my homework. I was going to go to school as soon as they open today and type it into the computer during my free period. Now what am I going to tell Ms. Barton—that a vampire version of Buffy Summers made me burn my homework?"

"You gotta admit," said Oz, "Ms. Barton's probably never heard that one before."

"Oz!"

"What?"

"Oz, we can't go to school today! I have to get the orb and perform the spell with Giles right away. You'll help me, won't you?"

"You know I will."

Not long after dawn, Spike plodded through the sewer beneath Sunnydale. He could smell the blood of someone familiar; a vampire he knew was up ahead. He rounded a bend and there was Buffy, inspecting a nasty gash on her arm that she hadn't had when he last saw her only hours ago; yet Spike could see that this wound was already healing.

"Well, well," said Spike. "The mighty have fallen on hard times."

"I'm not in the mood, Spike."

"Got a headache, have you."

"Why don't you go somewhere so you can be alone and masturbate?" suggested Buffy.

"Already done that today," he said casually.

"When did you have a chance...? Never mind. I don't want to know."

"Licking your wounds, I see," he said. "What, did you tangle with a werewolf?" Buffy shot him a look. "Good guess, eh?" he said.

"Leave it alone, Spike."

"My lucky day," said Faith, startling them both. "Two vamps for the price of one."

"Hello, Slayer," said Buffy rising to her feet. "Sounds strange coming from me, doesn't it?"

"Music to my ears, B. You're just another vamp to me now, and I'll be glad to dust you. So what'll it be? One at a time or both at once?"

"Stay out of this, Spike," Buffy ordered.

"Sure," said Spike. "I don't care."

In the upstairs room she was using at the Summers' home, Willow sat cross-legged on her sleeping bag, her back cushioned by some throw pillows propped against the wall. She first cast stones marked with runes. Then she placed the orb of Thesulah in front of her. Oz knelt beside her, igniting incense and herbs. Giles consulted a leather-bound book embossed in faded gold with a title in Latin.

"Are you ready?" he asked her.

"As I'll ever be," she said lifting the printout of the spell that Jenny Calendar had given her life to translate.

Buffy pitched Faith's body across the tunnel. The Slayer banged her hip against the wall and bumped a knee on the floor, but righted herself immediately.

"That had to hurt," said Buffy.

"No big," said Faith. She advanced toward Buffy with caution, however. Spike sat on a ledge and lit a cigarette.

"Hey, Spike," said Buffy, without taking her eyes off of Faith. "The last time I was down here, I think I overheard the Mayor say something about a gas leak. Do you mind?"

"Oh, sorry," Spike said as he crushed out his smoke.

The orb of Thesulah began to glow as Oz waved smoking incense. Giles intoned, "Quod perditum est, invenietur."

Willow began to read her text:

"Not dead, yet not of the living, Spirits of the interregnum, I call upon thee.

"Gods, bind her. Cast her heart from the evil realm.

"Return to the body that which separates woman from beast."

Suddenly, Willow's eyelids fluttered and her head lolled. Giles watched her carefully, but he met Oz's worried look with an assuring nod and gestured to him to continue waving the smoking herbs and incense. When Willow spoke again, it was in an almost alien voice:

"Nici mort, nici de al fiintei,

"Te invoc, spirit al trecerii.

"Reda trupului ce separa femeia de animal.

"Lasa orbita sa fie vasul care-i va transporta, sufletul ea.

"Te implor, Doamne, nu ignora aceasta rugaminte.

"Asa sa fie. Repede! Acum!

Utrespur aceastui. Repede! Acum!"

At this, the orb of Thesulah brightened like a bulb about to go out and then did.

Faith struggled, but Buffy held her tightly and was about to sink her teeth into her neck. "This has to be a first," said Spike cantering back and forth a few feet from this struggle. "Ex-Slayer-turned-vampire about to bag another Slayer. You gonna turn her or just eat her?"

"What's it to you?" asked Buffy.

"Well, either way, is there any chance I could have a taste?"

Just then, Buffy's eyes glowed as her soul returned. In self-disgust, she let go of Faith and jumped backward. Faith turned and lunged toward Buffy nearly landing a punch. Buffy defended herself but did not counterattack.

"What happened, love?" asked Spike. "I thought you had 'er."

"I'm Buffy," said Buffy to Faith. "The old Buffy."

"Nice try," said Faith. "Off the wall, but, I get it: Psych!"

Buffy looked pleadingly at Faith. "I'm sorry for all the horrible things I've done, but I couldn't help it. I was a vampire. Well, I guess I still am, but... I must be like Angel now! Willow did it! She must have returned my soul. You've got to believe me, Faith!"

"I think you need to try a new tactic," suggested Spike. "Clearly, she's not buyin' it."

"Shut up, Spike, or I'll help her slay you!"

"A little too deep into character, aren't we?" said Spike warily.

"Well, here's the thing, B," said Faith. "I don't care! I'm not like you. When Angel got his soul back, you went all soft; you see, I wouldn't have."

"What do you mean I went soft, you idiot?" shouted Buffy. "You don't know anything about it! I sent Angel to HELL! And I'd do it again. It was just that it hurt."

"Well, B, that's my point. Soul or no soul, I don't care, and I'll dust you in a New York minute, without batting an eye!"

"Well, if I can interrupt this pig pile of the cliches," interrupted Spike, "I don't pretend to know who's what here, and I'm leaving." With that, Spike turned and ran, leaving Faith and Buffy to continue their fight. Faith attacked; Buffy parried and retreated, feinted and retreated. Faith aggressively punched and kicked; Buffy fought back but with lessening verve.

Then, with a sweeping kick, Faith took Buffy's legs out from under her. Now Faith sat astride Buffy, pressing a stake downward toward her heart. "Faith, it's me," Buffy said, effort straining in her voice. "It's Buffy." Closer and closer, the point approached Buffy's breast bone.

"Sure," said Faith through gritted teeth. "My old pal, Buffy, was just trying to drain my blood! You vile bitch!"

"Think, Faith: why do you think I stopped?... I'm back... Something's changed... in me."

"I'll tell you... what's changed," replied Faith. "You're going to hell... where you belong." Spike came up behind Faith and grabbed her, forcing the Slayer to draw back the stake. But the sputtering, fuming, utterly riled Faith, using all her strength, proved too much for Spike. She managed to free herself from his grip, elbowed him in the groin and neatly jumped to her feet, stake still in her hand. Meanwhile, Buffy had been able to crawl away from them. Confused, she was slow to stand up.

"Thought you didn't care," said Faith, catching her breath.

"I always reserve the right to change my mind," Spike said.

"That's your prerogative as a woman," said Faith dryly. "Now, I'm going to slay both of you."

"Either help or run," said Spike to Buffy without looking at her.

Sensing her own vulnerability, Buffy backed away, and when she got far enough, she turned and began to run. Behind her she could hear a grunt from Faith followed by a loud blow probably connecting with Spike's body. They could be heard exchanging blows and shouts for a long way down the tunnel. Buffy felt guilty about abandoning one of them to the other, but she could not decide which one.

The last thirty feet as Buffy approached the Summers' front porch seemed like thirty miles. She had waited until dark. During the day, she had found her way through an underground tunnel to Angel's, but he had not been home. Otherwise she had struggled with unbidden memories of the people she had tortured and killed or, worse, turned into monsters—all this in less than a week. Now she trudged forward, eyes fixed on the door of the house. Though she felt weak, her knock was firm enough that she immediately heard bustling and voices within. The door opened and her mother stood for a moment as if paralyzed.

"Buffy?" she said in disbelief.

"Hi, Mom."

Suddenly her mother reached out but hesitated. "You're still a vampire, aren't you?" she said, fear etched on her face, but then she gave in to impulse and hugged her daughter.

"It's OK, Mom," said Buffy, burying her face in her mother's hair. "It's really me. I'm back."

"Buffy?" said Willow coming up behind Joyce. Joyce released Buffy and the two schoolmates looked at each other. "It worked?" Willow asked.

"Of course it worked," replied Buffy. "I have a good friend who's a great witch."

Giles entered the room as Willow and Buffy embraced. He attempted to polish his lenses while he waited his turn, but Joyce went to him, beaming, and took his hand in hers. Buffy noticed but suppressed her reaction, not quite certain what her reaction was or what it should be. Then she embraced Giles. When the hugs were done, Buffy became serious.

"Did Faith ever show up?" she asked.

"No, not yet," said Giles.

"The last I saw her, she was battling Spike, and I have no idea which one survived," Buffy said sheepishly. "I'm not proud of it, but I couldn't stay and protect her."

"I'm sure she can take care of herself," said Giles, but he looked worried.

"Maybe Angel could find her," suggested Buffy. "I went by his place, but no one was home."

"He's been out searching for you, actually," said Giles.

"Then he agreed to watch Oz tonight," said Willow, "just in case—you know, in case the spell didn't work, and you showed up there again all homicide-y."

"Does he know about the spell?" Buffy asked.

"Why, yes," said Giles. "I hope it was all right to tell him, but I thought he needed to know."

"Of course," said Buffy, "but we have another problem. Cordelia is still out there, and she's planning to hit the Bronze tonight to see who she can scare up... so to speak."

Willow sucked her breath in. "My God! Xander is at the Bronze!" she said.

"Death and mayhem all about and the Xan-man is still party boy," Buffy observed.

"Not quite," said Giles. "Believe it or not, he's there on orders from me to see if there is any vampire activity, but I told him quite firmly that he is to report back here immediately if there is anything at all. I told him not to do anything foolish."

"Not exactly easy instructions for Xander to follow," said Willow apologetically.

"He may not have much choice. He's just the guy Cordelia would most love to..." Buffy hesitated, "...see. I'd better get over there."

"I'll go with you," said Giles.

"No," said Buffy. "I've already put all of you in enough danger for one week. Besides, if Cordy sees me coming with any of you, she might get wise and I'd lose the element of surprise."

"She doesn't know you've changed?" asked Giles.

"No."

"But you just got home," said Joyce. "Do you really have to go out again?"

Buffy hugged her again. "Mom, I'm sorry, but I have to, and what's more, since I've changed, I'm afraid I've become even more of a night person than I used to be."

"Just be careful, dear."

"I will."