"Well, I looked at the train station," Aisling said as she entered. " There are no boxes of dismembered parts, " she said, tossing her backpack on the table.

"Same at the bus depot," Xander said.

"And the airport and docks similarly turned up nothing," Giles said.

"Where's Buffy?" Xander said.

"Never checked in," Willow said.

"We got to find them. Xander said. "We got to go to that place that that factory, where they're hold up right?"

"And do what?" Cordelia asked. "Besides be afraid and die?"

"Nobody's asking you to go, Cordelia. If the Vampires need grooming tips, we'll call you."

"Xander." Aisling sighed, "That's uncalled for."

"You're with me though, aren't you?" Xander said.

"I am." Aisling said, "But Cordelia raises a valid point."

Aisling looked up, to see Buffy entering the room. "Hey Buffy," she said with a yawn.

"Hey," Buffy said looking around, "Angel here?" She asked.

The five looked at each other confused before they looked at Buffy, "No…" Willow said.

"What did you find out?" Giles asked.

"The Judge is fully formed," Buffy said. "It probably won't be long before he's destroying humanity." She said. "So, we need to find a way to destroy him."

Buffy nodded hesitantly before she turned to Aisling. "Spike ever get back to you?"

Aisling shook her head, "It's daytime now." Aisling said, "So he should be calling in just about—"

Aisling's phone rang and she sighed, "There it is." Aisling looked at Buffy, "Anything I should tell him?"

"Just…" Buffy looked around, "Tell him the truth." Buffy said.

Aisling nodded once and walked off. "Don't worry." She said, "No matter what. We'll find a way."

"Spike stop an apocalypse before?"

Aisling looked down. "No." She said, "I suppose you have a point there."

"Call him?" Buffy said, "I have a feeling that we're going to need."

"We'll find Angel," Aisling said.

"You don't like Angel," Buffy said.

Aisling smiled sadly. "But you do." She whispered before she gripped her cell tighter and hurried out the door while she answered. "He da'" She said, "No. No," she said. "I'm fine—" Her voice became muffled as she left the library.

Buffy turned back to her group.

"Da' I'm fine." Aisling said as she spoke to him, "Honest, I'm—"

"The Judge?" Spike said, Aisling could hear him pacing around the room annoyed. "I'm coming home immediately."

Aisling wanted to tell him not to, but the Judge was more important than the mission he had. "Ok." She said as she leaned against the wall.

Spike paused for a long moment before he softened his voice. "Are you alright?"

Aisling looked up at the ceiling, "Should have known Dru would plan something like this." Aisling closed her eyes.

Spike sighed, "It's not your fault Ash. I should have realized sooner." He said.

"How are you going to get home?" Aisling said.

"I can drive during the daytime, thanks to the modifications Nana Kat made." Spike reminded Aisling, "I just prefer not to in case something happens."

"I hope you parked close to wherever you are sleeping."

"I did sweetie," Spike said,

Aisling closed her eyes, "When should team Scooby expect you?"

"In about 14 hours." Spike said, "I'll get there as quick as possible, and we'll figure it out from there." Spike said, "How's Angel?"

"Angel hasn't been seen since Last Night," Aisling said. "We don't know what happened."

"Wouldn't take the soulful wonder to up and leave."

"Da—"

"Relax." Spike said, "I'm teasing' he'll probably show up when you least expect it. He liked doing that soulless, and I have no reason to think it's changed now."

"Don't say that around Buffy." Aisling said, "She'll not be too pleased about it. And what of your clients?" Aisling said, "I doubt they'll be too pleased that you have to cancel."

"Oh, they will be." Spike said, "However I have the oddest feeling that… oh would you look at that. I don't care. You're more important, Pet."

Aisling's laughter was tinged with nerves. "Good luck." She said before she hung up the phone. She took a deep breath and re-entered the library.

"Be home, in about 16 hours or so," Aisling said crossing her arms in front of herself.

"16 hours?"

Aisling nodded, "Sorry," She said, "It's the best we can do." Aisling said as she took a deep breath. "What now?"

"We research." Giles said, "Look for a weak spot."

Aisling nodded, "Sounds like a plan." She said,

"I'll research." Giles said, "You kids get to class."

"I'll search the net for anything on the Judge." Ms. Calendar said as everyone hurried out the door.

"After classes, I'll come back and help you research," Xander said.

"Yeah, you might find something useful," Cordelia said patting Xander's chest as she walked on by. "If it's an I can read book."

"Could you two not?" Aisling piped up as she followed them out the door. She opened her cell phone and made another phone call. She had a feeling that she would have to cancel her appointment with her therapist.

"Hey."

Aisling looked up and smiled at Devon, "Hey."

"So… we still on for Saturday?"

Aisling's brow furrowed for a moment before she closed her eyes, "Right, the coffee date." She said.

"You forgot?"

Aisling flushed embarrassed, "I'm sorry," She said, "Really. Everything's just been kind of crazy lately."

"Did something happen last night?"

Aisling looked down at her notebook, "You could say that." As Aisling sighed, she looked back up at Devon. "But assuming no emergencies happen, I should be free for coffee on Saturday."

Devon stared at her for a long moment, before he shrugged, "That's great." He said, "I thought that maybe on Saturday we could have coffee, and then maybe I could take you to my place—"

"Too soon for that," Aisling said to cut him off.

"Oh No. Not that." Devon said though the slight flush in his cheeks suggested otherwise, "I just thought we could play some music or stuff.

Aisling chuckled, "Will your dad be home? Or mom?"

"Uh—"

Aisling shook her head, "Not ready to be home alone with you Devon." She said.

"Aww, don't you trust me?"

"To an extent." Aisling said, "Things happen in bedrooms. I'm not ready for that." She said, her father's words still pounding in her ears. "Instead… perhaps we could go to the park instead."

Devon shrugged, "Alright." He said.

Aisling grinned, "Great.' She said before she turned and hurried off to class.

"We're you are going'?"

"Heading home." Aisling said, "Going to grab a few books from home, see if any of them have any information on the Judge." She said she looked at the clock.

"Are you sure that's safe?" Giles asked. "I mean with the Judge and all."

"There's still a couple of hours till sundown." She said. "And to be honest, if the Judge starts gunning for us, I doubt there's much anyone can do,"

"Even still—"

Aisling smiled, "I'll be ok." She said, and before anyone could say anything else she turned and hurried out the door, hoping to get there and back before darkness hit.

"Aisling!" She turned to see her neighbor from two doors down. A Zen demoness by the name of Anita.

"Hey, Anita." She said, "How's Michael doing?" Michael was the half-human warlock who went to school with Aisling. They weren't exactly part of the same social circle though.

"Oh, he is doing well." Anita said, "What are you doing?" She asked, "I thought you were staying over at a friend's house while your father was out of town?"

"Oh, I am. But I forgot a few things.' She said,

Anita narrowed her eyes at Aisling looking her up and down, "Is something the matter."

"The Slayer has uncovered something very dangerous." Aisling sighed.

Anita looked at Aisling. "How dangerous?"

"Have you ever heard of the Judge?"

Anita's eyes widened with fear and she turned toward her door. "He's reassembled."

Aisling looked at Anita, Zen demons were usually very calm. Very few things could faze them the only thing that could faze them were threats to their family.

Aisling closed her eyes, "Yeah." She said, "Yeah he's back." She looked up at Aisling. "IS there anything you can tell us?"

"He's very strong, very dangerous to anyone with a shred of humanity in them. Nothing I know of can defeat him"

Aisling crossed her arms that had been. "Father's coming back," Aisling said.

Anita took a deep breath. "Good, your father is one of the good ones. Do exactly as he says."

Aisling chuckled.

"I'm serious, Aisling," Anita said crossing her arms. "The Judge… his danger can't be understated."

Aisling nodded, "Be safe." She said before she turned and entered the apartment.

She took a deep breath leaned against the door, and closed her eyes.

"Breathe." She told herself. "Just breathe.," She said before she went to her father's room and began rifling through his things.

She looked outside and winced when she noticed that the sun was going down. She sighed and wondered what she should do, before pulling out her cell.

"Hey, Sorry.," She said, "I'm going to do as much research as I can, no way I'll get to the library before the sun goes down."

"I'll have Buffy meet you," Giles said. "Or Angel if I can find him."

Aisling wrinkled her nose at the idea of Angel coming but she shrugged, "Sure." She said. "I'll be up late researching." She said, "Oh. I spoke to one of the demons who lives here. She's been saying the same thing your books have been saying. No weapon can beat him yada yada." She said, "On the plus side, a good chunk of demons might be hightailing it out of here, or seeking Buffy out to join her." Aisling said, "Anita's not the time to keep info to herself."

"Yes, Well, That's… a step in the right direction." Giles said, "Good for you."

Aisling smiled, "I'll let you go, and I'll get back to you soon."

"Sure." Aisling said, "Bye," She said before she hung up the phone and began rifling through her father's things."

Hours passed, and she yawned struggling to stay awake. So far none of the books they had had any useful information on the judge. But she couldn't stop looking.

Worse case, they'd have to disassemble him.

Maybe she could ask a few benevolent demons for their help. Have them all attack the judge at the same time and rip the guy to shreds.

No. No. Chances are a good chunk of those demons would die. Most demons nowadays have a small bit of humanity inside of them. And those that didn't – except vampires – wouldn't care if all of humanity was wiped out.

Aisling groaned and banged her head against the table. She was tired and wanted – no needed to sleep but she stayed awake.

She pushed away the books she'd already looked through and pulled another book closer to her about to go through it again, when the doorbell rang.

She looked up and sagged in relief it must be Angel or Buffy to come and pick her up.

She hurried to the door and opened it.

"Angel." She said.

Angel smiled, "Hey, Ash." He said, "I was sent to come pick you up, there's a plan in place to kill the Judge."

Aisling eyes widened, "Really?" She said, "What is it?"

Angel shook his head, "I'd rather not tell you here, too dangerous, never know who could be listening."

That was fair. Aisling nodded, "Ok, Should I pack any of my books."

"No. Just come with me."

"Ok." Aisling said, "Just let me get my coat," Aisling said, just as her phone began to ring.

"That's probably Buffy." Angel said, "No need to answer it. You'll be seeing her soon."

Aisling looked at Angel, "It'll only be a minute." She said before she reached into her pocket to grab her cell.

Angel grabbed her hand.

"Seriously." Angel said, "There's no need."

Aisling furrowed her brow, she pulled her grip out of Angel's hand or tried to but he had it in a vice. "What's the deal?"

"Oh, you know." Angel said, "We just don't have time for a phone call—"

"It's a cell." Aisling said, "I can walk and talk—"

Angel crushed the phone in his hand.

Aisling stared shocked, her heart suddenly in her throat as she realized that something was wrong. "What—"

"Oops," Angel said as he stepped into the house. Aisling's heart started vibrating. "But you know, I doubt anything they had to tell you would help."

Aisling looked up at Angel her eyes wide and fearful.

Angel laughed cruelly her broken cell phone fell to the ground and she swallowed, trying to think.

"Why are you acting this way?"

"You were supposed to be Drusilla's masterpiece," Angel said, while he began dragging her from the room. Aisling began fighting against his grip, she gripped her thumb and twisted her arm out of his grip just as Spike had taught her.

Angel turned and laughed, "Oh I'm going to have fun watching Drusilla breaking you." He said, "Normally I would just kill you, but Drusilla…. See she seemed so excited at the prospect of having a dolly that she could mold into her image. And you know me—"

Aisling eyes widened as she realized what happened. "You're soul—"

Angel laughed as he stepped forward while Aisling backed away, her mind going through all possibilities of what to do. "You're quick." He said, "You know it took Buffy and the rest a bit longer. I'm kind of grateful I could get here before they could call you. But maybe they just forgot about you until this moment."

"Gee, I wonder why I would've been on the back burner," Aisling said as back to her room Angel followed her still slowly enjoying Aisling's apparent fear.

"Spike's going to happily kill you," Aisling said as she moved to her window. "If you hurt me."

"Oh, I can take him," Angel said. "And once I take his soul. He'll see how useless you are."

"You don't understand the first thing about him," I said. "Never have by the sound of it."

Aisling backed into her bedside table, where she gripped a vial that she always kept on it just in case something happened. She took a deep breath if she could keep Angel at bay long enough to get to the fire escape…

Maybe she could sneak into the door next door. Michael Anita's son. He may just have enough humanity in him to have the disinvite magic work on him… maybe. Hopefully.

She turned her head slightly and held back a gasp of relief as she realized the window was open.

Spike would be so mad that she'd left it open before she'd left but it served her purpose. "You must be so angry." She said to Angelus. "To realize that the soul prevented you from acting on your truest desires."

Angelus growled, "It made me love her." He hissed, "It was sickening feeling the soul want her like that." He laughed, "But I have to admit that love… it freed me."

Aisling swallowed. Appealing to his sense of morality wasn't going to work that part of Angel no longer existed. "You say Drusilla wanted me?"

"Yeah. She wants her dolly and having you being constantly tortured would drive Spike insane… and that—that would fill me with glee."

Aisling glared at him. "You're a monster."

Angelus grinned. "Why thank you."

She clutched the vial tightly in her hand, waiting for the exact right moment. "Spike is 10 times the vampire you could ever hope to be."

Angelus rolled his eyes, "I'm tired of this back and forth." He said, "Let's go." He said.

And then he lunged.

Aisling smashed the vial of holy water into his face, the smell of burning vampiric flesh hit her nose just as Angelus pushed her away, yelling in pain. Aisling hit her back against her bedside table but she didn't have time to wince in pain, she turned and scrambled out of the window and onto the fire escape. She knocked on the window to Anita, and Anita came to the door.

"Help." She whispered. "Quickly, does your house have the invite barrier?"

Anita furrowed her brow before she saw Angelus coming out looking murderous, she didn't waste time and opened the window to allow her in.

Thanks to Michael, Angelus was stopped from entering at the window.

"You can't hide there forever."

"Neither can you," Aisling said, gasping for air. She winced in pain as she put her hand on her back. The Adrenaline was leaving and now her back was starting to smart.

"Are you alright?"

"I was pushed into my bedside table." Aisling said, "I'll be ok."

Anita shook her head, she spent her days as a nurse at the hospital. "Come." She said guiding Aisling. "Let me take a look."

Aisling sat on the nearby couch and closed her eyes, as Anita took a look. She felt Anita press against her fingers against Aisling's back. She winced at the feeling but Anita said nothing.

"Nothing appears broken." Anita finally said pulling her shirt down.

"Where's Michael?" She asked.

"At a friend's house." She said, "They'll be ok."

Aisling took a deep breath. "The moment, sunlight comes I'll be heading back to my house and doing the disinvite spell." She said shaking her head. "This is so messed up." She said putting her head in her hands.

Aisling looked to the window relieved to see that Angelus was gone. "Heard he could be impatient." She said standing and going to the window.

"Stay the night." Anita said, "Go back in the morning."

Aisling closed her eyes and swallowed deeply.

"I'd give you Michael's bed." Anita said, "But—"

"I get it," Aisling said cutting her off. "Don't worry, the couch is more than fine." She turned away, "My phone broke—can I borrow yours?"

"Of course." Anita said, "It's in the kitchen."

Aisling nodded and stood wincing slightly as she did so, getting slammed into a wooden table even a small bedside table hurt.

She reached her phone and closed her eyes in thought trying to decide who to call first. She swallowed before she started to dial. No need to worry about her father before he got there, and chances are he'd be driving at the moment.

"Hey, Giles." She said once the phone stopped wringing. "I'm ok. I managed to evade Angel." She said, "Managed to break a vial of holy water on his face." She said, "Little banged up but I'm fine. Staying with a neighbor at the moment—" She winced, "She is?" She closed her eyes. "Alright, I'll deal. Thanks for telling me." She hung up the phone. "Slayer's coming." She said closing her eyes. "Fuck—"

Anita looked concerned.

"Just hide in the bedroom." Aisling said, "I'll… I'll wait outside for her."

Anita took a deep breath and hurried to another room before exiting, "Here." She said, "Because of the dangers, I always make sure Michael has a few crosses on his person." She said.

She took the cross from Anita and smiled, "Thanks." She said, "I'll give it back as soon as I can." She said.

Anita nodded and Aisling stepped outside to wait by her door.