Author's Note: I'd be interested to know your reactions to this chapter.

Rereading it, right now, I'll tell you that my reaction is, "GASP! OH MY GOD!"

And I wrote the thing!

Enjoy.

The moment David's parents returned, Buffy got out of there. She grinned down at the device in her hand. Okay, so it wasn't exactly a sonic screwdriver, but it was still pretty cool! And go her, for being all with the Wikipedia on building this thing. Google never knew what hit it!

The gizmo flashed.

It was picking something up.

"Picking up on what's making the kids go nuts?" Buffy wondered, tracking it down.

Wow, this was cool! This must be how the Doctor always felt, when he was doing something smart and looking at a gadget. It was kind of a new sensation for Buffy — carrying obscure alien gadgets she'd cobbled together, herself, around, instead of large stashes of weapons.

Time to find the source of the flashing!

At 7:30 pm, Buffy Summers found the source of the flashing.

It was in someone's backyard. Under the ground. Easy enough. Buffy made sure no one was home, broke into the tool shed, and brought out a spade.

Then got digging.

The moment she began digging… her dizziness started, again. In earnest. She could feel it tingling all over her, like she could feel whatever was buried down there! What was it? Some kind of Slayer weapon? Something Seo had made and left for her? A Bilis-Manger-style trap?

Actually, that last one would explain a lot.

But the kids were at stake, so Buffy kept going. Kept digging. Gritted her teeth, and dug through the tingling and the dizziness and the weirdness. Dug straight down, until…

It was 8:00 pm.

And Buffy had hit something.

She jumped down into the pit. Scrambled at the dirt, dusting off the item, picking it up. Climbed back out and then leapt over the fence and onto the main street. Raising it up to let the device catch the light of nearby street lamps.

She stared at it, not really sure what she was seeing.

It was a long, thin board-looking thing. Except it was full of flashing lights and weird mechanical-looking things on the outside. The machine was whirring and spinning and clicking, obviously doing something mechanical or computery or whatever inside.

Except it was beautiful.

Wonderful. Made her smile to touch it. It was as elegant and perfect as a well-crafted sword, the kind of thing that made Buffy proud to wield and happy to hold. Didn't matter that being near it made her head spin, or made her feel… weird.

Actually, no. Wait. Scratch that.

It probably did matter.

A lot.

"What is this thing?" Buffy asked. "And what does it have to do with the kids?"

As if in reaction to her question, the lights on the device began to blink. All at once.

And Buffy felt herself keeling over, as another attack struck.

This one far worse than any of the others. Anything she'd ever felt before. It was like her brain was being lurched out of its skull, her body convulsing, and she tried to keep it together.

Then it all stopped.

The same exact moment Buffy's phone rang.

Alison tried to find the hospital whose image Future-Seo had implanted in her head. But, turned out, Future-Seo was still just as disorganized as her earlier counterpart. Alison's brain had all the information she needed, yes — but it was hopelessly muddled. And if the information she'd received might happen to contain directions to the right hospital, or even the hospital's name — well, Alison couldn't find it.

Which meant Alison wound up thoroughly lost.

And probably only found the correct spot through sheer dumb luck, in the end. But the inside of the hospital matched the view of it that had been implanted inside her head by Future-Seo.

Right.

Something was about to happen, here. Something important. Alison probably should know what, but the information was too muddled to sift through and work out, not in the amount of time she had left. So Alison decided to put it aside, for now.

No matter.

Alison would work out what was going on for herself, soon enough.

She crept through the hospital. Checking around every corridor. Ducking her head into every door. She might not know what was going on, exactly, but rest assured, it was something bad. Something Alison didn't want to blunder into.

It wasn't until she saw the people slicing Jack open in the mortuary that Alison realized just how bad it was.

She hid.

Watched, as a woman in a Kevlar vest put aside her scalpel, and implanted something inside Jack's gaping-open stomach. A woman… whose visage triggered a name in Alison's mind. An… Agent Johnson?

Except that hadn't come from Future-Seo.

No, that little tidbit had come from the blond version. The incarnation that Alison knew.

"So… you'll be at Torchwood, then," blond-Seo had said. Just before she'd left to go time traveling with her mum, that first time, and met Drusilla and whatnot.

"Starting pretty soon," Alison agreed. "As an intern."

Blond-Seo had frowned. Then thrust a photo under Alison's nose. "Agent Johnson," she'd said. "She's a killer, and she's watching you. Don't let her find you."

"I'm sorry?" Alison had asked. Taking the photo. "How do you know this?"

Blond-Seo had looked off, a sad expression on her face. "Doesn't matter," she said. "None of it really happened, anymore."

And here, looking out, Alison could see that same person. The same Agent Johnson. The one that Seo had warned Alison about, specifically!

Right.

Whatever this Johnson woman was putting inside Jack… Alison was betting it was something bad.

Something Jack needed to know about, moment he woke up.

That'd be Alison's job, then.

"Everybody out!" Agent Johnson called, stepping back. "Bomb's in. Seal up the wound and put him back where he was."

Bomb?!

The soldiers moved, in busy yet coordinated action. Leaving, along with Jack. Heading off with him, somewhere.

Alison barely dared to breathe. She had to get out! Sneak past, follow them!

"He's gonna wonder where I've gone," said the Indian-looking assistant, beside Johnson. "He's gonna try and trace me. How are we gonna cover that?"

"You're not disappearing," said Johnson.

The assistant blinked. "But… I've got to! He's gonna…"

Then the assistant froze.

A horrified look spreading across his face, as he realized the truth.

He turned on his heels, and ran for his life.

Johnson didn't care. Just took out her gun. Impassively. Easily.

And killed him.

Alison gasped.

Johnson heard. Turned towards the noise.

But Alison was faster than that. Grabbed up a nearby tray and slammed it over Johnson's head. Then turned and sprinted away. Racing out of there, fast as she could.

Fumbling in her pocket for her mobile.

Had to warn someone! Had to let someone know!

She didn't have time to process. Didn't have time to think, as the soldiers opened fire, and Alison struggled to find some place she could hide. Some place they wouldn't find her!

She called the first person on her speed dial.

"Buffy!" Alison squeaked. "Help!"

Buffy answered the phone. To find Alison on the other end. Panicked.

"Buffy!" Alison squeaked. "Help! Bomb! Jack!"

"What?" said Buffy. "What are you—?"

Gun shots, in the background.

"Wait two secs!" Alison added. Then what sounded like even more frantic running.

"What bomb?" Buffy said. "Alison, what's going on? Where's this bomb? Who's going to—?"

"They put it inside him!" Alison gasped into the phone. "And then there's the 456 — I know what they are! She told me, Buffy! She showed me everything! They're coming back, and they'll keep coming back! Over and over again! There are so many of them, swarming the Mutter's Spiral, looking for…!"

Alison's voice stopped.

So did all the background noise.

"Alison?" Buffy said. Feeling her heart stop. "Alison. Please. Speak to me."

Buffy heard the sound of Alison's phone being dropped to the ground.

Then Alison shrieking, "No, wait!"

And the sound of a bullet impacting into bone.

Along with a sickening crunch, which Buffy knew only accompanied someone whose head had been blown into tiny pieces.

And the phone went dead.

"Alison," Buffy breathed. Looked down at the now unblinking device in her hands. A chill running through her. "Alison's… she's actually…"

"Did you trace the call?" Johnson asked base, through her earpiece.

She stepped over the body of the dead girl who'd witnessed everything. The one Johnson had just shot in the head.

One witness down.

Johnson heard typing on the other end of the line. Then, a little surprised, "Yeah. Yeah! Wow, that's… I just entered in random numbers, to test the machinery, and all that shielding around the trace unlocked. Like Summers' phone suddenly wanted us to find it."

Lucky them.

"Looks like someone up there likes us," said Johnson. "You know what to do." She turned away, gesturing at the rest of her team to collect up the dead girl. "I have an immortal man to take care of."