CHAPTER NINE:

Crossing the line…

Giles tried to suppress a yawn as he watched Buffy, Willow, Oz, Xander and Cordelia walk into the library. After his encounter with that "Spartan" robot last night, Giles had a hard time going back to sleep as there was much work to do and so many questions left unanswered.

The robot acted like it knew him—almost personally, but Giles could not recognize the voice. He had decided to not tell Wesley about this encounter as the situation was delicate enough and he didn't need Wesley or the Watchers' Council watching over his shoulder and second guessing him or interfering—the situation could get out of control.

When Giles couldn't go back to sleep, he had started going through the books in his apartment to look for information on this so called "Staff of Uman". He found only several vague references to it in some of his books, but what it did tell him was that this staff had been a holy relic belonging to the Quasit demons. This knowledge disturbed Giles as he now knew that this Spartan had been responsible for the recent attack and slaughter. This caused Giles to have some doubts, but then again the robot could have just interrogated—and killed—him rather than asking for his help. Other than the good scare the robot had given him, it hadn't mistreated him. Still Giles could not underestimate this robot as it was evident it was a serious player and was not to be trifled with.

Giles had to be careful on how he handled this situation. The Spartan had stressed that Buffy and Faith were not to be involved, but if this Spartan was going to hurt anyone once it had obtained what it wanted then he needed to have a backup plan and that required having more information.

As he watched the group as they sat at the library table and Wesley entered the area to give his daily briefing, he made the decision that for now he would ask for only Willow and Xander's help in the research. He couldn't tell them what it was exactly for as they might let details slip to Buffy.

I have to tread carefully on this… It could come back to bite us all, Giles thought.

oOoOo

As Wesley prepared to give his briefing, he couldn't help but notice that Giles looked tired and distracted. It appeared that the ex-Watcher had been up late working on something. Wesley was aware of the shootout downtown, but he didn't have any further information regarding the incident. A shootout with police did not really look like anything related to the demonic, so he didn't think it was related to anything they were dealing with.

One thing that did continually bother Wesley was Giles's status here and his still ongoing relationship with Buffy. Wesley had been given charge to oversee both Slayers in the execution of their responsibilities in his role as Watcher. He was the one that had been given this unprecedented opportunity to oversee two Slayers. He was having problems though as Buffy and her group weren't completely accepting of his authority and Faith's behavior was becoming problematic and harder to manage. When he thought of Faith, Wesley couldn't help but note that she was almost disregarding the Slayer-Watcher relationship.

Some corrective action for her may be in order, he thought.

Wesley noted that Faith was not present—once again—for his briefing, but at least he could manage Buffy as long as Giles stayed out of his way. Wesley made a mental note to contact the Council to voice his concerns over the former Watcher's status. Maybe it was time to see if there was anything that could be done to remove him from Sunnydale and allow Wesley to do his job properly without any interference.

oOoOo

Buffy watched as Wesley got ready to give his briefing—she didn't think highly of Wesley. She then glanced over to Giles, no matter what the Watchers Council said, he would always be her Watcher. She noticed Giles trying to hide his yawning.

It looks like Giles had a late night after Faith and I left his place… I wonder what's up? she thought.

Buffy filed that information away and then she remembered something else she needed to take care of before Wesley started his briefing. She turned to Willow, "Will… I need your help with a science project."

This brought a smile to Willow's face as this was her area of expertise, "Sure… No problem… What's the project for?"

"I need to figure out a way to stop or slow down a robot." Buffy replied nonchalantly.

Willow just sat there for a moment blinking not sure that she had heard Buffy right.

"You did say robot… Right?" Willow said after what seemed a long moment.

Buffy just nodded yes as Wesley started speaking.

"Oh…" was all that Willow replied in a slight disbelieving tone as she turned slowly to watch Wesley give his briefing.

oOoOo

Wesley started off his briefing by rehashing details from the previous briefing. He briefly mentioned the shooting, but didn't think it was important or involved them. He was surprised when Buffy interrupted him.

"If you have any questions, can you wait until the end of the briefing." Wesley scolded Buffy in a slight condensing parental tone.

Buffy stared at Wesley, "I don't know where you get your info Wes, but that shooting last night involved our invisible robot friend that you said we didn't have to worry about."

Everyone at the table looked at Buffy with gasps and then all started asking questions. Wesley quickly held up his hands to try and restore order to his meeting.

"How do you know that the robot was involved with this incident?" Wesley asked skeptically.

Buffy just smiled, "Faith and I saw it and we chased it down. Faith got it cornered, but it was able to escape… Luckily no one was hurt."

"Why am I only being informed about this now?" Wesley said in a demanding voice.

"Faith and I reported it to Giles last night and we were going to discuss the robot today." Buffy replied.

Wesley turned and looked at Giles angrily, "You know that I should have been informed immediately about this incident involving this particular creature."

"I'm sorry Wesley… That was a slip up on my part. I decided that since no one had been hurt that we should be thankful and we could discuss it when we were more awake." Giles replied in an apologetic tone.

Buffy could see that Wesley was becoming agitated over how the robot situation was being handled and how he was being excluded. But what was very interesting was how Giles was reacting as they were discussing the robot. He looked very uncomfortable and distracted. He was also avoiding making eye contact with her as the robot issue was being discussed. Buffy had known Giles for several years now and she thought she could tell when he was trying to hide something from her.

He's distracted and tired… He must have found something or something happened after we left his place, she thought.

Giles continued his apology to Wesley, "I will tell you everything that Buffy and Faith reported last night."

Wesley just stared at Giles, dark thoughts going through his mind.

Yes… I will have to contact the Council to see what can be done to remove this thorn from my side.

"I think I would rather have the report of last night's confrontation directly from the Slayer rather than a third party that might get some details wrong." Wesley replied snidely dismissing Giles.

Everybody in the room, for the exception of Cordelia, rolled their eyes at Wesley's obvious petty behavior.

Buffy sighed shaking her head and then began informing Wesley and the others about the "encounter" that Faith and her had with the robot. Buffy reported that Faith would be able to give more details since she was the one that got a much closer look at the robot.

"Speaking of Faith… Has anyone seen her today?" Wesley asked as he made notes of the incident.

oOoOo

At about this same time, Faith was standing in the hallway of a seedy apartment in one of the rougher areas of Sunnydale. As the Mayor had ordered, she had tracked down the demon that had wanted to sell "The Books of Ascension" to an apartment in this building. She took a deep breath to calm herself and then knocked on the apartment door.

A nervous and obviously scared voice greeted Faith through the door, "Who is it?"

"I'm here about the books… You wanted to sell them to me and my friend a couple of nights ago…" Faith replied as her eyes darted up and down the hallway making sure no one was witnessing her visit.

Faith could have sworn that she heard a relieved sigh through the door. A smile came to her face as she heard the door unlock and open.

The slightly built demon babbled to Faith as he let her into his apartment, "Slayer! I'm so glad to see you! You can't believe how much this means that you'll take these books off my hands… I need to get out of town fast."

"Sure… No problem… Where are these books?" Faith said still smiling to keep the demon at ease.

"They're on the table over there…" the demon said pointing over to the other side of his apartment.

The demon continued babbling, "Do you have the money? If I don't get out of town, I'm as good as dead…"

Faith continued smiling and as the demon turned his back, she reached behind her back and pulled out a knife and stepped closer towards the scared demon.

"My boss just wanted me to thank you for your donation to his cause." Faith said smiling.

The demon turned back towards Faith, "Huh? Donation? Your boss?" the demon said with a confused look on his face.

The demon didn't get a chance to say anything more as Faith still smiling stepped forward and shoved her knife right into the demon's stomach.

The demon clutched on to Faith's shoulders trying to hold himself up. She could see the life leaving the demon's eyes and the demon tried to speak. Faith pulled out her knife and stabbed the demon again. She could feel the demon's weight pull her to the ground as he refused to release his death grip on her shoulders. Faith couldn't help but look into the demon's eyes as the life drained from it. She could see the demon ask "Why?" with his eyes as he died.

With the demon finally dead, Faith was able to shake loose of his grip. She pulled out her knife and she saw the blood on her knife and her hand. She was surprised that the blood was red just like a human. She knelt down beside the dead demon and looked at him and then the blood on her hands.

Faith shook her head trying to refocus and stood up slowly, making her way to the bathroom. She went to the sink and turned on the water and started to clean the blood from her knife and her hands. She paused as she saw the blood covering and dripping from her hands. She looked up and saw herself staring back in the bathroom mirror. She froze as she took a moment to really look at herself. She had flashbacks to the blood on her hands after she'd stabbed the Deputy Mayor and disposed of his body. For what seemed like an eternity she stared at herself in the mirror—she felt like she didn't recognize herself. She managed to push the memories from her mind and shook her head breaking eye contact with that stranger in the mirror that stared back at her. She went back to cleaning the rest of the blood off of her—she tried not to notice that her hands were slightly trembling.

oOoOo

Michael had a good vantage point on the rooftop across the street to witness the murder. He was in civilian clothes, attempting to blend in, though he still drew occasional stares from the crowd due to his size and the faded scar running down the left side of his face didn't help either. He had an advantage with his augmented vision, he didn't need to use binoculars and could keep observing from a distance without looking obvious.

Even though he'd contacted Giles and asked for his help, Michael couldn't just sit around in a warehouse basement waiting. Knowing that the staff was used in ascension ceremonies, he decided to follow up leads via a different avenue. His Faith had never talked much about Mayor Wilkins and he had never pried as he knew how much that time still bothered her. Michael didn't have a lot of information about the Mayor, other than what the others had mentioned over the years. This was the main reason he was following Faith now—to observe and gather intel. He thought maybe watching her and the Mayor would give him a lead in his search.

The other and more personal reason—he found himself following Faith—was that he couldn't sit and wait. Every time he closed his eyes he saw Faith and Adriana and if he stayed cooped up he would drive himself crazy. He knew that he was taking chances by increasing his interaction with the time line, but he knew that if he didn't get a break soon, then it would be too late and his chance to get home would be lost and that meant no Faith or no Faith as he knew her and worst of all—Adriana may not exist.

Michael studied Faith as she cleaned up after killing the demon. He watched her body language and he could see that she was bothered by this cold-blooded murder. He sighed as he found it hard watching the person he loved making terrible mistakes and there was nothing he could do to change it. That was the paradox he faced—if he saved her from these mistakes then she would be different and that could result in a different outcome and future.

Michael pushed back the thoughts as he could he feel his head start to hurt from thinking again of all the temporal causalities and paradoxes. It didn't help that he hadn't slept much in over a week. He let out another sigh as he knew that he needed to get some rest soon or his cognitive abilities would start to degrade and that could have "inappropriate" results at the wrong time.

He watched as Faith left the apartment building carrying some books. He made his way to the building's fire escape and was back down at street level in a flash. Faith didn't get too much of a head start and he was able to catch up without losing her. With his augmented vision he could stay further back to keep an eye on her as he followed her.

Michael was hoping and banking on that Giles would have luck finding the staff. As he'd told Giles, he would have to go to "Plan B" if they couldn't find the staff and he wanted to avoid that option if he could, because then all bets about the future were off...

oOoOo

As Faith made her way to the Mayor's office with the books, she found herself fighting to push the image of the dying demon from her mind.

What does it matter that I killed a demon? They all deserve to die… Don't they?

She tried to make sense of all her feelings. She felt like she was losing control of who she was and where she was going. More thoughts and feelings raced through her.

The only good demon is a dead demon… Why should it matter? They all look at Buffy as the true Slayer… You're a glitch in the system… You're the mistake… Everyone knows it… From my mom to Buffy, you've always been considered no good… Only the Mayor has given you a chance to show what you are capable of... He's the only one that ever accepted you.

These thoughts troubled her and she pushed them down, but a voice kept coming to her—it was his voice she heard "It's not too late to change…"

The tone of his voice still touched her. She couldn't recall anyone in her life that had used that tone with her before. The Mayor had come close with his almost parental concern, but this was something different and deeper. He hadn't said much, but the way he had said her name it touched her in a way she couldn't explain.

Faith smirked as another thought came to her, Great… My luck continues… Buffy has Angel and all I get is a robot that shows concern for me… Granted I'm pretty sure that he could kick Angel's ass easily.

She suddenly stopped in mid-stride. She moved to one side and turned and looked behind her. She had just gotten the feeling that she was being followed. She looked around and didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Geez… I need to relax… After I drop of these books with the Mayor, I'm going to get some rest before heading to The Bronze. I need to blow off some steam and hopefully I can find someone to help me release it, she thought as a wicked smile formed on her face.

Faith continued on to City Hall, not seeing the very imposing looking man move out of an alley to continue to follow her at a distance.

oOoOo

After the briefing, Buffy and Willow sat and talked. Willow was still trying to absorb what Buffy was asking of her—trying to find something to stop or slow down a robot that they knew very little about.

"Will… You're one of the smartest people I know with science and computers. There has to be something that you can do or think of that we can use? It's only a matter of time before this robot hurts or kills someone."

Oz and Xander were sitting across from the table from them and were listening in on the conversation.

Xander decided to offer his suggestions, "Maybe a rocket launcher like we used against the Judge or how about a very large truck… Like in Terminator?"

Buffy looked at Xander skeptically, "I don't know Xander… That robot moves pretty fast. Trying to get it to stand still may be a problem."

"If we could get it to stand still then maybe we could pour molten metal over it?" Xander added somewhat unhelpfully.

"Only problem is getting the molten metal." Oz added.

Buffy looked at both males and shook her head, "Yeah… That's the only problem with that plan."

Willow had been thinking hard and quietly as this exchange took place when some ideas came to her.

"Eureka!" Willow shouted.

The others looked at Willow in surprise.

"Uh… Sorry… I have an idea." Willow replied sheepishly.

"Yeah… I think that was obvious." replied Xander.

"What is it Will?" Buffy asked with some impatience.

"Well a couple of things… If I was a robot in a strange town… How would I find information and locate things? The robot must have some way of connecting to computer networks to gather information."

The others around the table looked at her blankly.

Willow let out a little sigh, "The robot must be hacking into computers around town… If we can find out when and where the robot was hacking from we might be able to get more information about it or even where it's hiding."

Buffy smiled as her best friend came through for her again, "That's great, but what do we do if we are able to locate the robot? We still need to stop it."

"Magnets…" replied Willow smiling.

Again blank stares from everyone at the table.

"You mean like fridge magnets?" replied an unsure Xander.

"No you silly goose… An electro-magnetic pulse… If we were able to emit an EMP pulse that should fry out the robot's circuits." Willow said proudly.

"How do we create this pulse?" Buffy asked trying to keep her excitement in check.

"That's the problem… I'll have to see what I can rig up. The only EMP's I know that have been created have been by setting off nuclear bombs." Willow replied scratching her head as she now had another problem to overcome.

"Well I don't think we want to go to the extreme of nuking Sunnydale… maybe the high school. But nuking the town sort of defeats the purpose?" Xander replied in his usual sarcastic manner.

"Well… see what you can rig up. Plus if you can start checking on any computer hacking that would be a start to trying to track down that robot… At least we have something now." Buffy said with some relief now that they sort of had a plan.

oOoOo

Giles watched as Buffy and the others started to get up to leave. He had overheard their plans to track and stop the robot and he was impressed. The only thing was that since he had met the Spartan, he wasn't so sure that it could be tracked or captured easily. From the way the robot had handled himself—Giles now found himself inadvertently personifying the robot the same as Faith—the Spartan came across as intelligent, capable and very dangerous. If he didn't know better he could have sworn that the robot was actually human, but that was impossible—wasn't it?

Giles stepped forward as the group of teenagers started to leave the library, "Willow, Xander can I have a moment of your time?"

Willow and Xander both nodded and stopped. Oz turned and gave Willow a quick kiss and said he would catch up with her later. Giles waited until Oz and Buffy left the library and then took another look around to make sure that Wesley wasn't around as well. Willow and Xander looked at Giles and each other as they noticed that Giles was acting somewhat strangely.

"Is everything alright Giles?" Willow asked with concern.

"Yes… Yes… It's just that I need to ask for your help with a project… It's an important research project that is on a deadline." Giles replied.

"Well I'm kind of busy working on something for Buffy, but I think I can find the time." Willow replied.

"I'm tracking down the address of that demon that wanted to sell Buffy and Faith those so-called 'Books of Ascension'." replied Xander.

"Yes… I know you are busy and those are important tasks as well, but this must take priority for the next couple of hours." Giles said in a quiet almost pleading tone.

Both teenagers could see that whatever Giles wanted was important, so they both nodded in agreement to help him.

"So what are we helping you with?" Willow asked.

"I need help going through the books here… I'm looking for any information or references to an object called 'The Staff of Uman'." Giles replied.

"Can we know why you are looking for this Uman staff?" Xander asked cautiously.

"No… Not at this time… You only need to know that it is important, we are on a deadline and that you can't mention this to either Buffy or Faith." Giles said emphasizing the last part about not telling the Slayers.

Willow and Xander looked at each other hesitantly as they were unsure about the last part of Giles's request.

"I don't know…" Willow started to say.

"It is important and from what I have figured out it impacts one of both of the Slayers… I promise if anything goes wrong I will be the first to tell Buffy." Giles replied again in a pleading tone trying to convince both teenagers.

Willow and Xander looked at each other again and then looked at Giles.

"We're in! Where do we start?" Xander said speaking for both Willow and himself.

oOoOo

Michael found himself another vantage point to keep watch as Faith went into city hall. He surmised that the books were for Mayor Wilkins. He knew that she had done some "wet work" for the Mayor during this period, but she had never been too specific on details as it had always been something that she'd tried to put behind her.

From his vantage point, he was able to keep an eye on all the main exits. It was about thirty minutes later that Faith exited city hall the same way she'd gone in. Again Michael waited to give her a good lead and then took up position to follow her. A part of him was trying to rationalize why he was still following her—he needed to know her habits and patterns as they could come in use later on.

He followed Faith to a nondescript modest four-story apartment building. He watched as she went in and then made his way to a building across the street from the apartment building. He used the fire escape in the alley to climb up to the roof. He scanned the apartment windows to try and locate which one Faith had gone into. Michael was a little puzzled why she was stopping here, but then he caught sight of her passing by one of the windows and he quickly realized that she was living there.

He settled himself in as it looked like she was going to be there for a while. Time felt like it was moving slowly as he kept watch. He then saw her move into the bedroom and start to undress. He immediately started to feel a little embarrassed that he was spying on her like this, but he continued to watch as she got out of her clothes. It wasn't that he hadn't seen her naked before, but that was with his Faith not this one. At that thought, he started to feel another headache build up as he tried to sort out all the temporal paradoxes. He took a deep breath and cleared his mind as he settled in for what looked like was going to be a long wait.

As the hours went by, Michael used some of the time to replay events over in his head. He was reviewing everything that had happened to bring him to this point and he tried to find out if there was anything different they could have done, other than reject Buffy's request to help in the first place—which wasn't an option. As he watched Faith in her apartment, he actually managed to get his mind to relax. He wasn't going to fall asleep, but this had been the most relaxed he'd felt since this whole mess had started.

The sun was going down, and Michael saw lights go on in the apartment. He was deciding on how long he would stay before going back to the warehouse, when he saw Faith moving around again—it looked like she was getting ready to go out. As she left the apartment, Michael made his way quickly back down to street level to be in position when she left the building. Again he took up position at a discreet distant as he followed her.

It didn't take long for Faith to get to her destination. Michael arched an eyebrow and was a little confused as she made her way towards a nightclub entrance. He saw that the place was called "The Bronze" and he remembered that Buffy and the others had talked about spending time there in the past. Michael watched Faith approach the doorman at the club entrance, at that moment he felt an uncharacteristic wave of jealousy hit him as he saw the doorman check out Faith and then wave her into the club.

Michael found himself torn. He knew that there was no further reason to follow Faith as it was obvious that she was going to spend most of the evening in the club. He knew that he should head back to the warehouse and try to get some rest, but a part of him was telling him something else.

Before he could change his mind or give it any further thought, he was making his way towards the club. He noted the long line at the door, but kept walking on past—getting a few stares and looks. He made his way to the back alley.

Luck was on his side, as the kitchen entrance was open and a couple of the kitchen staff were outside having a smoke break—he had his way inside. As he approached the staff members, he could see them get very nervous, but that changed into smiles as Michael flashed a couple of fifty dollar bills. Money was no problem for him as he had a more than ample supply since Junior had hacked the ATM system.

Michael entered the club through the kitchen—again getting a few stares and questions that were quickly brushed aside by flashing some more money. He left the bright lights and noise of the kitchen to suddenly being assaulted by the flashing dance lights and loud music in the dark club. It took a few minutes for him to orient his vision and hearing for the night club. He scanned the club and located a vantage point at the bar, which would give him a clear view of the club, including the dance floor and he would be far enough back that he figured shouldn't be noticeable.

Michael had barely sat down, when the bartender approached asking what he wanted. There was a moment where he considered ordering something with a kick, but ended up ordering a soft drink. Michael saw the bartender roll his eyes, but again he flashed some more bills implying to the bartender to leave him alone. He saw the bartender's eyes light up and quickly agreeing as he moved off, but also saying to ask if he needed anything.

Michael scanned the room and it didn't take long to locate Faith. He picked her out in the crowd out on the dance floor— she was moving her body to the beat of the music. It looked like she was dancing with two men at the same time, splitting her attentions between them. The way she was moving between them it was almost like she was trying to make a decision.

Michael found himself mesmerized as he watched Faith's body move with the beat of the music—she was moving with such smooth grace. It reminded him of when they worked out together—he would watch how she would stretch and move her body when he showed her some of the hand-to-hand combat moves he knew. His mind then switched over to how her body would move when they were making love and how she would respond to his touch. His daydreaming was rudely interrupted as he watched this Faith start to rub her body up against the men she was dancing with.

Even in the darkness, Michael could clearly see the men's faces and he could see the lust in their faces as they looked at her. Their faces reminded him of the men on the video where they had drugged and for lack of a better description—raped Faith. He felt a wave of hate and jealousy hit him again and this time it was followed by anger—and it was growing. He stopped himself quickly as his hand had started drifting towards his coat and the .50 cal Desert Eagle in his shoulder holster. The handgun had been the item he'd lifted from the gun shop as it had the stopping power he needed and he could easily handle the recoil with his augmentation.

He was a little shocked that he'd been ready to drop both men without a second thought. He sat there watching, taking deep breaths and feeling a pain inside him, as Faith put on an exhibition on the dance floor with those two men. Dark images and the memories of that video clouded Michael's thoughts as he noticed how the other men—and some women—were checking out Faith. He knew that these people were not the men that had assaulted his Faith. Even after his AI—Adriana—had trashed all their electronic records, it hadn't been enough knowing that they were walking around free—unpunished. He occasionally still had dreams where he saw their faces and heard their begging before he had made sure they "disappeared". Michael took some more deep breaths trying to push his dark thoughts away. A small rational part of his mind noted that it was fortunate that he didn't have his assault rifle or grenades with him—the temptation to sweep and clear the room was growing.

After watching a few more minutes, Michael couldn't stomach watching the show on the dance floor anymore—the way she was rubbing herself against the men and the way they were pawing her. He got up and left the club using the kitchen as his exit. As he left, his mind was racing, he knew rationally that this wasn't his Faith, but it didn't make any difference emotionally to him—it was her. Once he got outside, he took some deep breaths of fresh air and tried to clear his mind. He found himself at a loss at what to do next. He finally decided on taking up another observation spot near the club's main entrance—and waited.

oOoOo

Faith had been dancing up a storm, releasing her pent up frustration and pushing all thoughts, feelings and doubts out of her mind. She lost herself in the music, just letting her body flow with the beat. She wanted to forget everything… the past… the present… the future. She'd seen a few of the women checking her out and she'd toyed with the idea of taking one of them back to her place, but she decided she wanted to play it straight tonight as she had a deep itch that needed to be scratched. She managed to locate a couple of guys that looked to be suitable candidates for some further fun and had spent a lot of time on the dance floor getting their engines revved up. She enjoyed being the center of attention. She could feel everyone look at her as she danced and moved her body on the dance floor. She could feel the other women look jealously at her.

She was in her zone and in her element when she was struck again by the feeling that she was being followed. She tried not to be obvious and continued her dancing as she scanned the dance floor and the rest of the club for any threats. In a moment that if she had blinked, she would have missed it, but also seemed to freeze in time. She caught a glimpse of a man at the far end of the bar. He was sitting down, but even from that position, she could tell that he was a big guy. From that glance, she could tell he was an older man—probably trolling for young women to make himself feel younger. She had seen and been hit on by those types before, but there was something different about this man.

What burned into her memory was the look on the man's face and his eyes. It was a look she had never seen from another man before. She couldn't place what exact feelings were being expressed, but the eyes looked like they were in pain and there was something else there—something dark and dangerous.

She found herself curious and drawn—like a moth to a flame—that she wanted to know more about this man. She toyed with the idea of going over to the bar after this dance and hitting on him, but as she spun around again—he was gone from the bar.

It was strange, but she had a feeling of disappointment inside her and she found herself temporarily distracted from her dance partners as she looked around the club to see if she could see the man. After a moment of looking and the two men coaxing for her attention, Faith shrugged off the feelings and went back to her dancing and trying to decide which of the two men would be the lucky guy tonight…

oOoOo

It had been a long boring wait for Michael, but he finally saw Faith leave the club. She wasn't alone as she was walking with one of the men from the dance floor. He saw how they were holding on to and groping each other and he knew where this was heading. He found himself torn again as to whether he should follow or not. His mind and gut were flashing warning signals that he should just leave, but as always when things concerned Faith, he overrode his common sense and started following. He kept his distance, but they would have probably have hardly noticed him from the way they were hanging on and grabbing each other.

Faith took the man back to her apartment and once again Michael took up his observation post on the opposite roof top. He watched as Faith and the man entered her apartment. He felt a deep stabbing pain as he saw Faith wrap her arms around the man and kiss him hard, pulling his body into her. The pain grew as he watched them move across the room to her bed and they started taking off each other's clothes.

The pain was soon replaced by another wave of anger and jealousy growing exponentially. Michael could feel his hands tighten into fists—he could have crushed steel in his grip at that moment. He was under no illusions of who and what he was—he'd seen his UNSC psych evaluations. He knew what he was—a killer. He'd never kept an overall count of how many people, aliens, demons and vampires he'd killed in his life, but the huge overwhelming number had been under orders, in combat or in self-defense. There was a very small number of men that he'd killed in premeditated cold-blooded murder, but they had deserved it—as he told himself. He looked across to the apartment as the two bodies were pressing at each other in sexual hunger wanting to release it. He knew that he could easily take out the man with his Desert Eagle from this range.

Michael found himself unable to turn away as he watched as Faith and the man lay on her bed. She was down to her bra and underwear and the man was lying on top of her and their bodies were moving together, pressing against each other…

He had seen enough! He was able to tear his gaze away and he turned and left the roof top. Thoughts and feelings washed over him as he hurriedly left the rooftop.

Maybe I haven't gone back in time… Maybe I'm dead and I've gone to hell… That's the only explanation… I've died and gone to hell and the devil is tormenting me with these visions.

Michael made his way back to warehouse, trying to push the images and thoughts of Faith from his mind. He tried to focus on his "mission" and that he would contact Giles in the next day or two to see what he was able to find and then go from there…

oOoOo

Faith had finally decided on a guy, though she did toy with the idea of taking both guys home. In the end she chose some college muscle jock. He didn't seem that bright, but he had a nice ass and he looked like he had enough stamina to keep up for a bit and give her what she wanted. As they walked together back to her place, they were playing tonsil hockey with each other and grabbing each other, but she still couldn't shake the feeling that she was being followed.

When Faith and the guy—she hadn't even bothered to ask for his name—reached her apartment the action got heavier and the kissing and touching got more serious. They had moved to her bed and both started taking their clothes off and Faith could feel the guy move his hands up her thighs and she could feel him press against her. That's when the feeling hit her…

She suddenly had flashes of that man's face from the bar. She heard the robot's voice as well. She tried to push the feeling down and continue on, but the feeling pushed back hard and it grew. At first she didn't know what it was, but then it came into focus and it was almost funny…

She felt like she was betraying someone. It was a silly idea and she couldn't explain why she was feeling this way. Again she tried to push the feeling and thoughts away and keep going as the guy was now trying to pull down her panties. She could feel how excited and ready this guy was, but she suddenly didn't feel in the mood anymore—at least not in the mood with this guy.

"Ok guy… Time to simmer down and put things in reverse…" Faith said as she slowly tried to push away from the guy.

"Come'on babe… You were hot for me a moment ago… This is no time to play the tease." the guy said still holding on to her and rubbing up against her.

Faith now found herself definitely not in the mood and she suddenly changed the tone in her voice, "I said NO and I mean it!"

The guy brushed aside her objections and didn't stop his advances. Faith had decided this was going to end now. It didn't take much for her to get leverage and she threw the guy off her and the bed. The guy hit the floor with a thud.

"WHAT THE HELL… BITCH!" the guy shouted in shock and surprise.

"I said get out or I'll throw you out…through the window!" Faith said showing a serious look in her face as she got off the bed and stood in front of the window.

It took a moment for the guy to realize, through his alcohol and sex-hormone induced haze, that she was serious. The way she had tossed him off of her made him think that she could and would probably do it too. The guy grabbed his clothes and pulled them on as he stumbled his way to the apartment door.

"To think that I wasted my time with a crazy bitch whore like you! Good riddance!" the guy yelled angrily as he made his way for the door.

"Just get the hell out or they'll be scraping you off the sidewalk!" Faith yelled back.

The guy slammed the door as Faith watched. She couldn't believe what had just happened and what she had done. For a moment she thought she was going crazy as she shook her head trying to understand what was happening.

I just kicked a perfectly good stud out of my bed over a damn stupid feeling?

She headed back to her bed to try and get some sleep, but for some reason she stopped and looked out her window to the roof top across the street…