The Power of Three

Book Two

by DragonWriter17

Copyright © 2004

DragonWriter17@aol.com

Rating: NC-17 (for violence, sexual situations)
Content Advisory: This book eventually contains extreme violence, including torture and sexual assault.
Disclaimer: All of the materials borrowed from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel belong to Joss Whedon and to the entities and companies associated with their creation. I have borrowed them for creative and entertainment purposes only. No compensation has been or ever shall be received for the writing below. No copyright infringement is intended.
Distribution: The Mystic Muse: http://mysticmuse.net
Cyber Lair: http://www.dragonwriter17.net/
If you are interested in posting my story on your site, please contact me first for permission.
Feedback: Yes, but only if it's of the non-flamey variety.
Spoilers: The end of Season 4's "Wild At Heart" and beyond.
Author's Notes: : (1) I have kept to the BtVS/Angel canon in some ways, borrowing directly from aired episodes; however, I have also made significant changes: deleting certain storylines, moving some, changing others, as well as adding some completely original plots. (2) If you haven't read my back history story for Tara, "Out of Shadow into Light," you need to because it is critical to Book 2. (3) There's a side story that comes along in Part 13; it's called "Pony Time." Watch for the link embedded in the story. (4) Late in the book I've borrowed a character from Watchers: Althenea Dimmons. (5) Thanks as always to Lilly for her invaluable feedback and editing.
Pairing: Willow/Buffy/Tara ; Wishverse Faith/Wishverse Vamp Willow

Part 1    Part 2    Part 3    Part 4    Part 5    Part 6    Part 7    Part 8   
Part 9    Part 10    Part 11    Part 12    Part 13     Part 14    Part 15

It was late afternoon, the day after Lindsey had finished giving his full report on the recent events in Sunnydale. Now Lindsey stood before Holland Manners' desk, awaiting news of his fate at Wolfram and Hart. When Holland glared coldly at him, Lindsey fought the panic in his stomach and forced himself to look his superior in the eyes.

"The Senior Partners are not pleased, Lindsey," Holland told the young lawyer. "The Three have Joined and come into their full power. Most of our Sunnydale clients have pulled up their tent stakes and moved on. Plus, N'Faius – a possible ally for the firm – was defeated and destroyed by the Three. All while you watched!"

"But sir –"

"Silence!" Holland interrupted angrily. "I'm not finished. The Senior Partners have asked me to deal with you since I'm the one who recruited you."

Lindsey swallowed noticeably.

"I've considered the matter very carefully," Holland said in serious tone. "Although this sort of failure usually results in an immediate termination, I've decided that your potential warrants a second chance."

Lindsey allowed a small smile of relief to crack his stoicism. Thank god, he thought to himself. They aren't going to kill me.

"Don't get smug yet," Holland warned. "You won't be continuing in your present position. Starting next week, you'll be demoted to research assistant. Your associate level clearance will be stripped, and your salary will be adjusted accordingly. Enjoy your last few days as an associate. Use your time to tie up any loose ends with outstanding cases. Perhaps, if you regain our trust and prove yourself worthy, we can revisit the matter at a later date. Otherwise, one slip-up...and I will process your termination."

"Thank you, sir," Lindsey said, trying to sound grateful.

When Holland turned his eyes to the papers on his desk, Lindsey assumed that their conversation was over. He started for the door. When he got there, he turned back to Holland.

"Sir?" he asked. "Whose assistant will I be?"

"You'll be working for Lilah," Holland replied with a satisfied grin.

Lindsey's face fell.

Buffy, Willow, and Tara sat cross-legged on the floor of Buffy and Willow's dorm room. They were perfectly still, facing each other and holding hands, their eyes focused on a trio of crystals before them.

"Good," Tara said when a glowing cloud formed right above the crystals. "Now...focus."

Soon the image of a beautiful rose, red and long-stemmed, appeared in the glowing cloud.

"Good, now let's change the color," Tara instructed.

The threesome concentrated once again, and the rose changed color from red to yellow to blue and then back to red again.

Suddenly, the image shifted, and Tara's face was added to the picture. She was smiling as an invisible hand guided the soft petals of the red rose along her cheeks and then her lips.

"Buffy..." Tara chided.

"Sorry," Buffy said sheepishly as the image reverted to the rose alone.

"Okay, let's slowly pull the petals off," Tara said.

In the glowing image, the rose's petals were magically pulled off one at a time and dropped away, disappearing as they reached the edge of the glowing cloud.

Once again, the image shifted, this time focusing on the falling petals, following them as they floated down. They fell on a naked Tara, landing softly on her bare breasts.

"Willow..." Tara admonished.

"She started it," Willow explained defensively, cutting her eyes at Buffy.

Tara glared at the two of them, and the image in the cloud returned to the original rose. When Tara turned her eyes back to the cloud, Buffy gave Willow's hand a squeeze. Then they both smirked.

The cloud's picture immediately changed back to Tara's bare chest. This time the rose was being twirled around and across Tara's nipples until the Tara in the image moaned in pleasure. Then the rose started moving down her stomach.

"You guys!" Tara complained.

Willow and Buffy just grinned mischievously.

"We're supposed to be practicing with our powers," Tara said as she pulled her hands away and ran them through the image, dispersing the cloud instantly. "I give up!" she said exasperatingly.

"Good!" Willow and Buffy cried simultaneously.

Then the naughty duo jumped on Tara, causing her to squeal in delight.

Giles leaned back on the sofa in the Summers' home. Joyce soon joined him, setting a tray with tea on the coffee table. Giles took the cup she offered him.

"Thank you, Joyce," he said. "Dinner was wonderful, as always."

Joyce smiled in response and took up her own tea. She brought the cup to her lips, but didn't drink. Instead, she stared off, deep in thought.

When Giles saw her brow furrow, he spoke. "Something on your mind?" he prompted.

Joyce met Giles' gaze. "Just the usual," she said ruefully before taking a sip of her tea.

"Buffy," Giles supplied.

"It's bad enough that she's the Slayer, but now she's one third of this 'Power of Three' thing. Won't she be even more of a target now?"

"Well, ummm, yes, I suppose so," Giles admitted. "But the good news is that she's not alone. She has Willow a-a-and Tara, and the three of them will be quite formidable."

"And that's another thing," Joyce continued, setting her cup on the table. "This threesome relationship...it worries me.

"Joyce, you've seen them together," Giles said. "Do you really doubt the depth of their feelings for each other?"

"No, no, not at all," Joyce said. "It's clear they love each other very much. In fact, I've never seen Buffy so happy."

"Then what's troubling you?"

"Right now, their relationship is still new, but after time...well, these things never turn out good. They're just too hard to maintain, with jealousy and –"

Giles interrupted Joyce's worry-rant by taking her hand in his. He waited until she met his eyes. "What they have is very real, and it will last. Of that, I am absolutely certain."

Joyce smiled in gratitude, reassured by Giles' confidence. She touched his cheek. "I don't know what I would do if you weren't here to help me through this."

It was Giles' turn to smile. He leaned in and kissed Joyce gently on the lips. She kissed him back and then snuggled against his shoulder with a sigh. He wrapped his arm around her, holding her tightly.

Willow and Tara and Buffy were naked and piled up in the bed they had improvised by pushing Buffy's single bunk next to Willow's. Willow was against the wall, Tara in the middle, and Buffy on the outside. Willow and Tara were giggling as Buffy pointed to a scar on her side and finished explaining the wacky way she had received it while fighting a demon.

"Well, that certainly beats my story, but I'll tell it anyway," Willow said, shifting her position so that she faced both of her girlfriends. "See this scar on my nose?" she asked. When Buffy and Tara nodded, she continued. "A dog ripped it open when I was two." Buffy and Tara both made alarmed faces. "No, no, it wasn't like that," Willow amended. "See, he was kissing me, and then his tooth got caught in my nose, and he was trying to get it out, and he just ripped my nose apart. Weird, huh?"

"And here I thought you just had a nose-piercing that went horribly wrong," Buffy teased.

"As if!" Willow replied, giving Buffy's leg a playful push. "Like my parents would have allowed that!"

Almost simultaneously, Buffy and Willow looked at Tara as if expecting her to chime in with her own version of the name-that-scar game.

Tara smiled and shook her head. "Oh, I-I-I don't have any scars," Tara insisted.

"Sure you do," Willow said, taking Tara's left hand and turning it over. "You've got the one on your palm."

"Oh, I m-m-mean I don't have any with funny stories attached to them," Tara corrected.

Buffy looked at Tara's hand and ran her finger down the long scar that crossed her palm. "Where did you get that?" she asked.

Tara quickly pulled her hand back. "It was just a stupid accident in the kitchen," she mumbled, hanging her head for a moment. "Look, we should probably go to sleep if we want to make that estate sale before our morning classes."

"Yeah, sure," Buffy replied as Tara fluffed up her pillows and lay down in the bed. Buffy looked at Willow questioningly, but Willow simply shrugged in response. After good-night kisses all around, Buffy turned out the light, and the three settled down to sleep.

At Wolfram and Hart, Lindsey dashed down hallway after hallway, trying desperately to escape. He was breathing hard, running in a panic. When he rounded a corner, he came sliding to a halt as Holland Manners, flanked by a pair of guards, blocked his only exit. Desperate, he turned back the way he had come – only to find the demon lord N'Faius standing right in front of him.

Lindsey watched in horror as his chest was suddenly penetrated by the demon's clawed hand. Lindsey struggled in vain as he felt his life-force being sucked from his body. When N'Faius yanked his hand from the lawyer's chest, Lindsey was faced with the sight of his own bloody heart, held in the claws of N'Faius. His mouth opened in a silent scream.

In his own bed in his own apartment, Lindsey shot up and screamed for real. His hands flew to his sweat-covered chest as he struggled to regain his breath. When he finally realized where he was, he flopped back on the bed and grumbled, laying his arm across his eyes.

The next morning, Tara was the first to awaken. When she tried to sit up, her body complained, and she groaned in discomfort. Both Willow and Buffy heard her groan and opened their eyes.

"Hey, baby," Willow said, sitting up. "What's wrong?"

"Ugh, my back," Tara replied. "Next time, you're sleeping on the gap," she added, tapping Willow on the nose.

"We should look into getting a bigger bed," Willow said.

"If we get a bigger bed, then we'll need a bigger room," Buffy suggested with a smile.

"You know, I hear there are some off-campus places that are way cool for groups to go in on," Willow said.

Tara grinned, and the other two instantly joined her.

After eating a quick breakfast, Buffy and Tara and Willow headed for the estate sale they were hoping to visit before classes. As they entered the decrepit mansion, they saw Giles already there, examining the items on a small table near the stairs. While Buffy went to meet with Giles, Willow and Tara moved toward the tables set up in the living room off the foyer.

"You better be careful what you buy," Buffy said as she walked up behind Giles. "You know what happened with your last purchase." When Giles gave her a confused look, she gave him a reminder: "The Word of Valios?"

"Oh, yes," Giles said with a chuckle. "Well, so far I haven't seen anything like that."

"Have you been able to come up with any additional information on this 'Power of Three' stuff?" Buffy asked, glancing at the items on the table Giles had been looking at.

"No, but the Council is looking into it," he answered. "I've sent copies of the documents you brought back with you from the...ummm...other Sunnydale, and I've sent a report on what this Lindsey fellow shared with us."

"Rats! I was really hoping to learn more about this thing."

"Have you and Willow and Tara been working on your powers?"

"Yes, just last night as a matter of fact," Buffy replied as she passed the stairwell and into a small alcove behind it. "We were...Ooo! Look at that!"

Buffy moved immediately to an old dagger hanging on the wall. It was tarnished but otherwise in good shape. She hefted it in her right palm, switched it to her left, then switched it back. Suddenly, she flipped it so that the blade was in her hand, and then she threw it across the room, sinking into the wall...right in front of the woman conducting the sale for the estate.

The woman jumped in fright then turned her head in Buffy's direction. The woman straightened and placed her hands on her hips. She gave Buffy an icy stare.

"I-I-I'll take it?" Buffy offered apologetically.

Giles rolled his eyes.

Elsewhere, Willow and Tara perused the items on the long tables lining the living room. As Tara scanned the objects in front of her, her eyes settled on what appeared to be a very old paper weight. It was made of heavy glass, multi-colored, with an emblem etched into the surface. The years had rubbed most of the emblem away; only the ghost of an image remained. Tara reached out to pick up the object, but she stopped only inches from it. She moved her hand through the air above it as if sensing something about it. She finally placed her fingers on it.

When she did, she felt an immediate shock, like the pop of a static charge in winter. She jumped and let a small yelp, and Willow was instantly at her side.

"What is it?" Willow asked.

Tara was giggling, a little embarrassed at her outburst. "That paper weight, it shocked me," she explained. "I felt something about it and when I reached out to touch it, it shocked me."

"Which one? This one?" Willow asked, pointing to the glass object.

When Tara nodded, Willow reached out for the object. Like Tara, she too received a small jolt and yelped in surprise. Tara began giggling again as Willow reached for the glass paper weight a second time. This time, there was no shock, and Willow was able to safely pick up the object.

"Huh," Willow said examining the glass item closely.

Tara drew closer and touched the object Willow held. "Do you feel it?" Tara asked.

"Yeah," the redhead replied. "Kinda warm and tingly. It's definitely a charm of some kind. Do you think we should get it?"

"Well, it does have an emblem on it, or part of one, anyway," Tara suggested. "Maybe we can research it, see what it can do."

"Sounds good to me," Willow said.

"Hey, look what I got," Buffy said as she joined her two girlfriends. She held up her dagger for them to see. They nodded appreciatively. "What'd you guys get?"

Willow held out the paper weight in her palm. When Buffy touched it, it gave her an immediate shock, causing her to jump back. Willow and Tara began giggling. Buffy put her hand on her hip and raised an eyebrow in Willow and Tara's direction. The giggling stopped, but the grinning didn't.

Back at Buffy and Willow's dorm room, the three put up their purchases and gathered their books for class. When they were ready to go, the three left together, shutting the door behind them.

Once they had left, the glass paper weight, which Willow had set on her desk, began to glow, pulsing faintly then growing stronger. When the glow became bright, a soft sound started to seep from the glass; it was a high-pitched maniacal cackle that seemed to be increasing in its intensity.

As a result of his demotion, Lindsey was in the process of cleaning out his office. He had already gathered his personal belongings and placed them in a couple of boxes. Now he was sorting his files into stacks according to their status. He sighed as he placed the last folder onto this desk. It was his Power of Three file. He looked at the folder intently, then sat down and pulled it towards him.

He opened the folder and browsed the documents. Then his eyes settled on the surveillance photos he had taken in Sunnydale. He picked up the photo of Buffy and Willow and Tara and brought it closer. He touched the image of the three women and frowned.

Lindsey closed his eyes as he remembered his latest nightmare: Holland waiting for him with guards, N'Faius yanking out his heart, himself crumpling to the floor with a silent scream.

He opened his eyes and then leaned back in his chair, running his hand through his hair.

"What have I gotten myself into?" he asked himself. "And how am I going to get myself out?"

He thought for the longest time, weighing the pros and cons. None of this options were appealing. After each line of self-debate was done, his eyes always returned to the picture of the Three. Finally, he sat up straight and gathered all of the parts to the Power of Three folder. He took up deep breath, stood up, and headed for the copy room.

As the entered the copy room, Lindsey glanced anxiously over his shoulder. An aide was in the room just finishing up a collating job. Lindsey smiled and nodded but didn't speak, and shortly the aide was on her way.

Lindsey set his folder on the table beside the large state-of-the-art copy machine, took out a few sheets, and sent them through the feeder. While those papers were being duplicated, Lindsey sorted through the rest of the folder, deciding which documents were relevant and which were not. As he worked, he paused occasionally to cast a wary eye in the direction of the door. Nervous sweat began beading on his forehead. When he placed the last stack into the feeder, the machine started beeping.

He groaned in frustration. "What the hell...?"

He checked the indicator light. It was out of paper. He groaned again and then bent down to get a ream of paper from the storage area beneath the machine. He ripped open the package and yanked on the paper tray, grumbling angrily as he did so. He loaded the paper and then slapped the tray back into place. Then he pressed the start button.

When he turned back to the table, he discovered Lilah standing right there. Lindsey jumped, momentarily startled. Lilah grinned. Lindsey cleared his throat and tried to recover his poise. Lilah crossed her arms and leaned against the table.

"I understand you'll be working with me," she said with an amused glint in her eye. "For me, actually, I should say."

"That's right," Lindsey replied stonily as he clenched his jaw tightly.

Lilah grinned again and then glanced at Lindsey's folder on the table. She reached over and tucked her fingers under the corner of a page as if to flip through the documents, but Lindsey quickly shut the folder and pulled it away.

Lilah lifted a curious eyebrow but said nothing.

"Just closing out my files," he explained.

"I see," Lilah said, locking eyes with her new research assistant.

He met her stare and didn't flinch. After an intense moment, Lilah merely smirked and sauntered for the door. After a few steps, she turned and looked back.

"Oh, Lindsey?" she said, in a cold but seductive voice. "When you report for duty, come ready to work. I expect all the men under me to be hard...workers, that is."

With a final flash of a grin, Lilah was out the door. After a few seconds, Lindsey let out his breath. Then he turned back to the copy machine to gather his pages.

Outside, in the alcove across the hallway, Lilah waited. When she saw Lindsey leave the copy room and round the corner, she dashed across the hall and back into the copy room. She quickly scanned the buttons and panels on the machine. She growled when she didn't see what she was looking for.

She opened the storage area below the machine and got out the manual. She flipped through it rapidly. Her eyes lit up. She pressed a sequence of buttons until she saw the menu item she needed.

"Print last scan(s)...Enter the number of scans," the panel read.

Lilah entered 25 and pressed the big green start button. Within seconds, the copier was duplicating the last 25 unique scans it had made and saved. She started reading the pages as soon as they came out. A sweet smile of success spread across her face when she realized what Lindsey had been copying.

"Lindsey, Lindsey," she whispered. "Such a naughty boy."

She picked up her stack and left the copy room, chuckling happily to herself.

After the Three were finished with their classes for the day, Buffy and Willow returned to their dorm. Tara hadn't joined them, choosing instead to stay in her own room that night. Although the other two had begged her and even promised her that she wouldn't have to sleep on the gap, Tara had remained firm, reminding them of the term paper she had due the next day. After getting a kiss each from their favorite blonde witch, Buffy and Willow had relented and gone on their way.

When Buffy and Willow reached their room, they heard a commotion down the hallway. They set their book bags inside their door and then headed toward the loud voice. They found their neighbor Nikki throwing a fit.

"I can not believe this!" she complained angrily as she stood in the hallway looking into her room. "I can not fucking believe this!"

"Nikki, what's wrong?" Buffy asked.

"That's what's wrong!" Nikki replied, pointing into her room.

When Buffy and Willow looked inside, they saw that every single piece of Nikki's furniture had been stacked haphazardly on top of each other in the corner until there was a precariously-balanced pile from floor to ceiling. Buffy and Willow grinned at each other and suppressed the giggles that were threatening to emerge.

"Methinks that Hershel hath struck again," Willow pronounced to the unhappy Nikki.

Buffy nodded in agreement. "Yep, he did the same thing to Stacey last semester."

Nikki glared down the hallway toward what was presumably Hershel's room. "Hershel!" she screamed as she stomped in that direction. "You are so fucking dead!"

Buffy and Willow turned to go back to their own room, now allowing themselves to giggle freely.

In their own room, Willow and Buffy picked up their book bags that they had left inside the door and set them under their desks. Buffy headed straight for the kitchenette.

"Want some tea?" she inquired.

"Yeah, that's sounds – oh no!" Willow cried.

"What is it?" Buffy asked worriedly, joining the redhead at her desk.

"My new paper weight – the one I got at the estate sale – it broke," she explained, pointing at it. The heavy glass object had cracked and split into several pieces.

"That's what it gets for shocking me," Buffy teased, giving Willow a nudge before returning to her tea-making.

Willow poked out her bottom lip in a mock pout.

"So what'd ya find out at the housing office?" Buffy asked as she filled the electric kettle and plugged it in.

"Oh, they said they didn't have any bigger dorm rooms, but..." Willow dug in her bag and pulled out a pink sheet of paper. "I did pick up a list of off-campus housing, like apartments and duplexes, townhouses and condos."

"I think we can mark off the townhouses and condos," Buffy replied as she got out two cups and dropped a tea bag in each.

"Yeah, but between the three of us, we should be able to afford something decent, right?"

"I hope so, but with off-campus, there's deposits and utilities, not to mention furniture."

As the kettle began to whistle, Buffy unplugged it and poured the hot water into the cups she had prepared. She dunked the bags up and down as they steeped.

"I mean, I can just imagine the look on Mom's face when I ask for money for a king-sized bed," Buffy added.

Buffy walked Willow's cup of tea over to her and then returned to her own. She pulled the sugar bowl over and dumped several teaspoons of sugar into her tea. She stirred and then blew and then took a careful sip.

"Ugghh...eeoh...gyack!" Buffy cried after barely getting down her sip of tea.

"What is it?" Willow asked.

"Bleh...it's salt!" Buffy answered.

She set down her cup and pulled the top off the sugar bowl. She moistened her index finger and touched it to the white crystals in the bowl. Then she put the tip of her finger in her mouth. She grimaced.

"Definitely salt."

"Who would put salt in the sugar bowl?" Willow asked.

Buffy narrowed her eyes and growled, "Hershel."

Willow snickered, then quickly stopped when Buffy directed her angry gaze at the redhead. Willow cleared her throat and put on a serious face, nodding agreeably. "Hershel bad."

At the end of the work day, long after dark, Lindsey tucked a FedEx envelope into his briefcase, shut the case, and locked it. At the doorway, he looked back at his office once, then headed down the hallway. He glanced nervously over his shoulder as he entered the elevator.

When the elevator opened in the lobby, he went straight for the main entrance. He tried to stay calm and walk at a normal pace. His gut was telling him to run like hell, but he fought down his panic and moved at a leisurely pace, even waving to the security guards as he exited.

Once outside, he proceeded immediately down the sidewalk. He walked briskly several blocks away to a shopping forum wedged between two tall towers. On the street out front was a FedEx drop-off box. Lindsey marched to the box, set down his briefcase, and opened it. He pulled out the FedEx envelope and then closed his briefcase. He glanced briefly around him before slipping the envelope inside the drop-box.

Lindsey heaved a sigh of relief, picked up his briefcase, and turned to go. His progress was stopped by a large body dressed in black. He yelped slightly and stepped back.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to –" Lindsey stopped when he saw Angel before him.

"I think you and I need to have a little chat," Angel said, grabbing Lindsey by the lapels and dragging him into the small alley between the shopping forum and the tower.

Lindsey grunted when Angel slammed him against the wall.

"I hear you were down in Sunnydale recently...on business," Angel said grimly.

"Yes, but I –"

"I'm only gonna say this once, so listen up. If you or your firm tries anything against Buffy, you will regret it. You'll have a war you wish you had never started."

Angel roughly released Lindsey and then stormed away.

After a few seconds to catch his breath, Lindsey straightened his coat and tie and then walked out of the alley.

The next morning, Buffy and Willow gathered up their bath baskets and towels and headed across the hall. When they got to the bathroom, they were nearly run down by Gayle as she rushed out.

"Hershel!" Gayle screamed as she stomped down the hallway, completely oblivious to the long strip of toilet paper that was stuck to the bottom of her left house shoe.

Willow and Buffy gingerly pushed the bathroom door open and eased inside. They found the bathroom completely covered in toilet paper. It was hung from the light fixtures, wrapped around the sinks and toilets, draped across the shower stalls, and layered on the floor. From the number of empty cardboard rolls cluttering the floor, an entire case of toilet paper must have been consumed in the process.

"Boy, he's really asking for it," Willow said.

"No doubt," Buffy agreed. "And if it keeps it up, he's gonna get it."

Deciding to hit the facilities on one of the other floors, Willow and Buffy exited the bathroom. As soon as they left, a small glowing cloud floated down from the ceiling, a soft snicker emerging from it.

After their morning classes, Buffy and Willow met Tara for lunch at the cafeteria. She was already seated and waved at her girlfriends when they entered. When they had filled their trays, Buffy and Willow joined Tara at her table.

"Hey," Willow said in greeting. "How'd that term paper go?"

"Pretty good," Tara replied with a smile. "It took almost all night, though."

"Well, it's a good thing you weren't over in Stevenson with us," Buffy commented. "Hershel, the prankster, is up to his old tricks. He totally TP'ed our bathroom. Willow and I had to go to another wing and shower. It took forever."

"We had to skip breakfast just to make it to class on time," Willow added.

"I was wondering where you two were this morning," Tara said. "I missed you last night."

"We missed you too," Willow said, giving Tara's hand a squeeze. "Didn't we, Buffy?"

Buffy didn't hear Willow. Her eyes were focused on a hooded figure slipping quickly through the cafeteria and settling at a remote table.

"Didn't we, Buffy?" Willow repeated, nudging Buffy with her elbow.

"Huh?" Buffy asked.

"Didn't we miss Tara last night?" Willow prompted.

"Oh, yeah, absolutely," Buffy answered with a sincere smile, meeting Tara's eyes. Almost immediately, though, she looked back at the figure. Tara just grinned at Buffy's distraction.

"What are you looking at?" Willow asked as she tried to look in the direction Buffy had been staring.

"Hershel," Buffy replied. "I'm gonna go have a little chat," she added in decidedly slayer-like tone before rising from her chair.

When Hershel saw Buffy approaching his table, he immediately tried to make a hasty departure. She grabbed him and put him right back in his seat.

"Hershel," she said in an I've-got-you-now tone. "We need to talk."

"Oh, sure, talk, I can do that," Hershel replied, with a nervous chuckle. Then he leaned back in his chair and draped his arm behind it in an attempt to act nonchalant.

"I want the pranks to stop. Now."

"Pranks? What pranks?"

"Oh, don't act all innocent with me. The furniture stacking, the salt in the sugar bowl, the toilet-papering the bathroom...it's all classic Hershel-annigans."

Hershel grew serious and leaned forward in his chair. "Look, I don't know who did all the pranks yesterday and today, but it wasn't me. I swear."

"And you expect me to what...just take your word for it?"

"I am telling you, I did not do this. I wasn't even here. I was out of town...with the basketball team. I was doing a story for the school newspaper. I left yesterday around noon and didn't get back till really late last night. I only just now got up."

"Didn't you hear the commotion this morning?"

Hershel shook his head. "I was over at my girlfriend's room. That's where I went when I got in last night. My roommate called me and gave me a heads-up, though. I've been avoiding the dorm since."

"I think that's a good idea, guilty or not," Buffy warned. "Tempers are gettin' pretty hot, so you'd better lay low."

"Believe me, I intend to," Hershel said.

Later that evening, Willow walked down the sidewalk to the gallery owned and operated by Joyce Summers. A large sign out front said "Closed for New Shipment Setup. Stay Tuned." Willow went up to the door and knocked. Within seconds, Joyce opened the door to let Willow in.

"Hey, Willow," Joyce said amiably.

"Hey, Mrs. Summers," Willow answered.

"Glad you could make it," Joyce said. "I appreciate the help."

"Oh sure, any time."

"Buffy and Tara are in the back room opening the crates for me."

Joyce pointed towards the back of the building, and Willow headed in that direction. When Willow entered the back room, she saw Buffy and Tara surrounded by wooden crates of all sizes. Various items of artwork lined the side wall.

"Hey guys," Willow called out to her two girlfriends. She quickly joined them and gave each one a kiss.

"So, what'd ya find out?" Buffy asked.

"His story checks out. Hershel was out of town with the basketball team, just like he said."

"Huh," Buffy replied, with a stumped expression on her face.

"Maybe someone's trying to frame Hershel," Tara offered.

"Yeah," Willow said, chiming in. "Someone who has a grudge against him."

"That could be half the dorm," Buffy said as she moved to a new crate.

"Oh yeah," Willow said with a deflated pout.

"I'm gonna open these next two," Buffy said to Tara.

Tara nodded. "Good. This one's about empty." Tara motioned to Willow. "Help me finish this one?"

Willow smiled and helped Tara reach into the crate for another item.

Joyce came to the door and leaned against the jamb. She watched as Buffy used her Slayer strength to rip open the top of the crate without so much as a crowbar. Joyce just shook her head. It still amazed her to see what her daughter was capable of. On the one hand, she found it reassuring – knowing that Buffy could take care of herself. But on the other hand, it was frightening – knowing how dangerous Buffy's calling was, what she faced on a daily basis.

Joyce turned to Willow and Tara. She watched as Buffy's two girlfriends carefully unloaded the crate they were working on. Joyce closed her eyes. Buffy's girlfriends, she thought. First of all, girlfriend. Big news there. Secondly, girlfriends, as in plural, as in more than one, at the same time. Once again, Joyce shook her head, lowering it as she continued to think deeply on the matter.

Joyce's head immediately shot up when she heard Buffy cry out in pain. She instantly moved towards her daughter, but stopped when she saw that Willow and Tara were already there. Joyce merely watched quietly.

Buffy gripped her wrist tightly then shook her hand, grimacing in pain. Willow made Buffy sit down on a nearby crate while both Willow and Tara knelt beside her and looked at her bleeding hand.

"What is it?" Willow asked.

"Ow, ow, a splinter," Buffy replied.

"I'll get the first aid kit," Tara said. "I saw one in the restroom."

Tara darted to the restroom and then back. She opened the kit and got out some tweezers and some antiseptic pads.

"Do you want me to try and get it out for you?" Willow asked.

Buffy just nodded.

Willow turned to Tara. "Will you–?"

"Yes," Tara said, knowing what Willow meant for her to do.

Tara stood and went behind Buffy. She began massaging Buffy's shoulders. Buffy immediately began to relax.

"Buffy, this is gonna hurt, it's a pretty big splinter and it's jammed in there pretty deep, but just listen to Tara and connect with her, okay?" Willow instructed.

Buffy didn't answer. She just murmured distractedly as Tara continued to massage her neck and shoulders.

Willow went right to work, using the tweezers to grasp the tip of the inch-long splinter and guide it from under Buffy's skin. Occasionally, Buffy's face creased in pain, but she stayed perfectly still. While Willow worked, Tara whispered a calming incantation and sent healing energy into Buffy.

Before Buffy knew it, the procedure was over. She sat up straight and gazed at her now-bandaged palm. Tara knelt beside Willow to examine her work. Buffy looked at the two women at her feet and smiled.

"Mmmm," Buffy said huskily, "remind me to come to this clinic every time I get hurt." Buffy pulled Tara to her and kissed her deeply before doing the same to Willow. "Thank you," she told them both sincerely.

Tara blushed as her lips curved into her characteristic half-smile. Willow grinned and gave Buffy's undamaged hand a squeeze.

Joyce felt a lump form in her throat as she watched this ordinary event take place. It was such a small thing – inconsequential, really, in the great scheme of things – and yet strangely powerful. In its wake, Joyce felt her concern about the girls' relationship fade away. It was replaced by an assurance, a confidence, a simple knowing...that what these Three had was special and that nothing would ever tear them apart.

Joyce cleared her throat, drawing the attention of the Three. "Everything okay?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah, sure, just a splinter," Buffy said, holding up her bandaged hand. "Willow and Tara took care of me."

Joyce smiled. "I see," she said.

"Don't worry, I'm still good to go," Buffy replied as she stood up.

"How about I order us some take-out and you can let some of that Slayer healing kick in before resuming your duties?"

Buffy's eyes lit up at the mention of food. "Chinese?" she asked hopefully.

"Okay," Joyce replied.

Buffy clapped her hands together with glee until a sharp pain reminded her of her injury. She revised her technique, bringing her hands together but not letting them touch.

"Oh, look, it's the sound of no hands clapping," Tara quipped.

Everyone rolled their eyes, including Joyce, who took that as her cue to leave for the Chinese restaurant.

Shortly after Joyce left, Buffy excused herself and went to the restroom, taking the first aid kit with her. Tara sat on the crate that Buffy had vacated and pulled Willow into a straddling position on her lap.

"You did excellent work, as always, Dr. Rosenberg," Tara teased, kissing Willow warmly on the lips.

"Why thank you, Nurse Maclay," Willow replied, playing along, kissing Tara back.

Tara wrapped her arms around Willow's waist and linked her fingers together, holding the redhead firmly in place. Willow rested one hand on Tara's shoulder and used the other to trail her fingertips along Tara's face, tracing the strong cheekbones. When she got to the blonde's lips, Tara suddenly captured Willow's index finger in her mouth. She suckled it for a moment, then caught it between her teeth and grinned wickedly before releasing it. Willow chuckled and planted a searing kiss on Tara's mouth, which Tara eagerly returned.

When Buffy came back from the restroom and found her girlfriends making out, she grinned. Leave 'em alone for a minute and look what happens, she thought.

"Hey...what's with the smooching without me?" Buffy chided.

Willow pulled out of her kiss with Tara and shifted so that she was sitting sideways in Tara's lap. Tara looked up at Buffy.

"Sorry, we couldn't help ourselves," Tara said, only a little sheepishly.

"Yes, it was the fertility statue," Willow explained with mock matter-of-fact-ness as she nodded her head at a nearby artifact. "It was a bad influence," Willow insisted.

"Don't even suggest that," Buffy interjected. "The last time one of Mom's gallery items started influencing things, Sunnydale became Zombie City."

After calling it a night at Joyce's gallery, Buffy and Willow and Tara returned to the campus and to Stevenson Dorm. They showered and fell into bed, exhausted. They were awakened early the next morning by a commotion in the hallway.

"You son of a bitch!" they heard a male voice shout.

"We're gonna fucking kill you, man!" another male voiced shouted.

Then they heard the sounds of punches and a wall-slam and then kicks. The Three jumped out of bed and threw on their robes. When they yanked open their dorm room door, they found three male students violently kicking Hershel.

"No, please, stop! It wasn't me, I swear!" Hershel cried between kicks.

Buffy immediately leapt into the fray. "Leave him alone!" she shouted as she knocked all three away from Hershel with one tackle.

The three boys got right back up, as did Buffy. Willow joined her, and the two women stood protectively in front of Hershel while Tara checked on the beaten young man. The angry look on the girls' faces slowly changed to confusion as they took in the sight of the three attackers. Every inch of the boys' skin that was showing was blue...completely blue. Even their hair had a bluish tint to it.

"What happened to you?" Willow asked.

"What the hell do you think happened?" the apparent leader of the trio replied. "That asshole put blue dye in the showerheads!"

He tried to move forward and go after Hershel again, but Buffy stopped him in his tracks and grabbed his wrist. He locked eyes with her, daring her to stay in his way. Soon his fury changed to pain as Buffy twisted his wrist nearly to the breaking point. The other two attackers took a step back.

"I am not going to let you hurt him anymore, so get lost, got it?" Buffy warned.

When she released the leader's wrist, he held it gingerly in his other hand and then backed off. The three male students stared angrily for a moment more, then stalked away.

Buffy and Willow bent down to check on Hershel. Tara had his head in her lap, trying to soothe his pain. He held his arm protectively over his abdomen; he was sweating and breathing hard.

"I'm calling an ambulance," Willow told Buffy before dashing inside their room.

"I-I-I didn't...do it," Hershel said to Buffy when she touched his arm.

"Yeah, we know," Buffy replied.

"Who's doing this?" Hershel asked plaintively.

"I don't know, but we're gonna find out," Buffy assured him.

Later that day, Buffy and Willow and Tara joined Xander and Anya at Giles' apartment. After the Three told the other Scoobies about the violent events of that morning, Willow and Buffy explained about the rash of pranks that had preceded them.

"Well, it does appear to be a-a vendetta of some kind against this Hershel fellow," Giles commented.

"Yeah, sounds like Hershel pulled one too many pranks in the past," Xander added.

Anya rolled her eyes. "It sounds like a lower-echelon chaos demon, to me."

"What?" Buffy asked incredulously.

"Oh yeah," Anya confirmed. "They love playing pranks on stupid humans. This kinda stuff is right up their alley."

"You think a demon is doing this?" Willow inquired.

"Well, they're not really demons, per se, since they don't have physical bodies," Anya explained. "They're just spirit forms."

"So, they're like poltergeists or something?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. Although they don't have physical form themselves, they can affect the material world around them: move objects, break things, slam doors, hide things...that sort of stuff."

While Anya was talking, Giles went to his bookshelf. He scanned the shelves and pulled out a particular volume. Then he returned to his seat. He skimmed the book until he found the passage he was looking for.

"Oh, here it is," Giles announced. "A iocosus spiritus. A prankster spirit."

"So how do we get rid of this thing?" Buffy asked.

"Well, it says here that you must trap the spirit in a binding crystal, marked with this seal," Giles said, handing the book to Buffy.

Buffy took one look at the symbol, rolled her eyes, and handed the book to Willow and Tara. When they looked at it, their cheeks reddened, and they dropped their heads.

"What? What is it?" Xander asked worriedly.

"Oh. Ummm...oops?" Tara ventured.

"Willow and Tara's estate sale purchase...the crystal paper weight? Guess what symbol was on the top of it?" Buffy said.

"Dear lord!" Giles said.

"Uh-huh," Buffy confirmed.

"You mean you bought the prank-playing demon...at an estate sale?" Anya pressed for clarification.

"Ummm...kinda...sorta..." Willow answered.

"Well, you'll never get your money back on that one," Anya replied.

Willow looked sheepishly at the gang. "We just knew it had some kind of power. We felt it, all three of us."

"And then it broke," Buffy interjected. "We must've triggered it somehow, when we touched it."

"Okay, no more touching the unknown power thingees!" Xander ordered.

"W-W-We need to stop it," Tara said in a concerned voice, "before anyone else gets hurt."

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do," Buffy announced. "Willow, Tara, you two head to the magic shop and get what we need to do the spell. The rest of us will handle the evacuation of the dorm. I'll feel a lot better about doing this if I know that no one else is in the building. Once everybody's out, we'll do the spell and bind this thing for good."

With the dorm now empty, the Three headed for Buffy and Willow's room, armed with Giles' book and the ingredients for the spell. Once inside, Buffy and Tara started setting out the items for the spell, including the new crystal that they would use to bind the spirit. Willow gathered the broken pieces of the original paper weight and added them to the altar.

As they worked, a high-pitched cackle began echoing in the hall outside the dorm room. The Three froze and looked at each other, then picked up their pace. Soon they were seated on the floor, holding hands and encircling their altar.

The Three closed their eyes and centered themselves, uniting their minds for the task before them.

"Watch-towers of the east and west, hear our cry," Tara said.

"Guardians of the north and south, attend us now," Willow continued.

"Powers that be, listen up," Buffy added in her own paraphrase.

Willow and Tara opened their eyes simultaneously and sent a chastising glance in Buffy's direction. She just shrugged sheepishly. Willow and Tara shook their heads.

"Lend us your strength to bind the evil one," Tara said.

Suddenly, the high-pitched cackling became screeching, and the dorm room door slammed open with a huge gust of wind. The glowing cloud of the prankster spirit shot around the three women, continuing its rage-filled screeching. The wind it had created quickly became tornadic, sending papers and books flying around the room. The Three grimaced as various objects struck them, but they didn't break their circle.

"Protect us...as we..." Willow yelled as she ducked a large book that was moving toward her head, "...seek your power!"

The prankster spirit demolished the kitchenette next – throwing open the mini-fridge, exploding canned drinks, and pelting the Three with food items.

"A place is prepared!" Buffy shouted over the gale. "Let the evil spirit be bound!"

"Iocosus spiritus concludatur!" the Three said together.

The prankster spirit's screeching became a desperate wailing as the glowing cloud was pulled towards the new crystal, freshly etched with the binding symbol. The spirit spiraled about the room as if caught in a whirlpool until, with a final cry, it disappeared completely into the crystal.

As soon as the spirit was bound, the wind died down, and all suspended objects fell to the floor with a thud. The Three glanced nervously about the room and then sat up straight once the danger was over. They let out a collective sigh.

The sigh became a giggle when they saw each other. Their hair was nothing but a tangled mess. Their clothes were torn and stained. Tara had what looked like a peach slice plastered to her neck. Willow had pieces of broken tortilla chips sticking out of her hair. Buffy's face was spotted with what appeared to be low-fat strawberry yogurt. They looked like they'd had a food fight with a toddler and the toddler had won. Their giggles quickly gave way to full-bellied hysterical laughter.

Just then, Xander and Anya and Giles burst into room. They found Willow and Tara and Buffy on the floor, laughing uncontrollably.

"Oh, god, they're possessed!" Xander cried. "Call the exorcist!"

Giles knelt beside Buffy and touched her on the arm. "Are you all right?" he asked.

Buffy laughed some more and then sat up. "Oh, we're fine," she answered between giggles. "A little bruised maybe, but otherwise okay." Willow and Tara also sat up.

"Did it work? Did you capture the little weasel?" Anya inquired.

"Signed, sealed, and delivered," Willow said, wrapping up the crystal in one of the altar cloths and handing it to Anya.

Anya peered into the crystal. "That's what you get," she chided it, "you little trouble-maker!"

"Anya, please don't taunt the evil spirit," Giles said with rolled eyes.

Anya tried to hand the crystal back to Willow, but the redhead raised her hands defensively and refused to take it.

"I don't think we should be the ones to keep that thing," Willow said.

"Really," Buffy agreed. "We set it off once before, and we don't want a repeat of that."

"I'll take it," Giles offered, accepting the crystal from Anya. "I'll...ummm...make sure it's carefully locked away."

"Thanks," Tara said sincerely.

"It looks like your room needs a good spring cleaning if you wanna get that deposit back," Xander commented.

"Ugh," Buffy groaned at the thought. "Next time, we hold the ritual in someone else's room."

"How about we not have a next time?" Tara suggested.

"I like her idea," Willow added, pointing at Tara.

"Well, why don't we see about getting the residents back into the dorm while you three get yourselves cleaned up?" Giles suggested.

Buffy and Willow and Tara glanced at each other and nodded in exhaustion. Then Giles and Xander and Anya left.

Willow looked at her two girlfriends. "I don't know about you two, but I'm way too tired to tackle this room right now. Why don't we go to my parents' house instead? We can get cleaned up and just crash."

"Sounds like a plan," Buffy said. Tara nodded her head in agreement.

At her house on Revello Drive, Joyce got home from work at the usual time. When she arrived, she found a FedEx package on the doorstep. She picked it up, tucked it under her arm, and then unlocked her front door.

After she walked inside, she put her keys and purse on the table inside the door and then looked at the package curiously. It was addressed to Buffy Summers. Joyce shrugged and set the package behind her purse. Then she headed for the kitchen.

Once at the Rosenberg home, the Three trudged up the stairs to the second floor and into the master bedroom. Buffy set down their bag of clean clothes they had salvaged from their trashed dorm room. The Three quickly stripped and heaped their soiled clothes in a pile on the bathroom floor.

While Willow started a bath in the large garden tub, Buffy and Tara each took a turn in the shower, rinsing the majority of the food residue from their bodies and washing their hair. Willow added several bath oil beads to the hot water and then set out their towels. As Buffy and Tara finished their showers, they entered the tub. When Willow had showered, she did the same, joining them in the fragrant bath. All Three leaned back and sighed with contentment.

"Oh, god, this feels soooo good," Buffy said.

"Mmmm," Tara agreed.

"You know, if I wasn't so darn tired, I'd probably be all over you two," Willow murmured.

"There's always tomorrow," Tara suggested in a sing-song voice.

Buffy chuckled, and Willow grinned.

After a long and thorough bath, the Three dried off, dragged into the bedroom, and literally collapsed into the bed – Tara nearest the door, Willow in the middle, and Buffy on the far side. With the briefest of kisses and the barest of snuggles, the Three fell fast asleep.

The next morning, Tara was the first to awaken. She extricated herself from Willow's arm and turned over. Then she leaned up in bed. She gazed lovingly at her two girlfriends. With her trademark half-smile, she watched as Willow reversed her position and faced Buffy, snuggling against Buffy's chest. The Slayer stirred slightly then unconsciously wrapped her arms around the redhead. Tara eased out of the bed. She found one of Mrs. Rosenberg's robes in the closet and put it on. Then she quietly left the bedroom and headed downstairs.

After about twenty minutes, she returned, bearing a tray containing a large carafe of coffee, three mugs and spoons, and cream and sugar. She set the tray on the dresser and then left the room again.

Almost simultaneously, Willow and Buffy began to twitch their noses. They sniffed the air and then opened their eyes.

"Do I smell coffee?" Willow asked.

Buffy nodded. Then the two of them sat up. They saw the tray across the room on the dresser.

"Tara," they both said, realizing who was responsible for the caffeine-laden bounty.

They retrieved the tray, and then they each prepared their own cup of coffee. They took a sip and sighed. "Ahhh," they said at the same time.

Just then, Tara re-entered the room, carrying yet another tray, this one covered with a large cloth. She smiled widely when she saw that Willow and Tara were awake.

"I see my aromatic alarm clock worked," Tara quipped.

"Oh, yeah," Willow responded.

"Whatcha got there?" Buffy inquired.

"Breakfast," Tara replied, setting the tray on the end of the bed. "And more," she added in a husky voice as she removed the robe she had borrowed.

She carried the tray to the head of the bed and put it down in front of Willow. Then she slid back into the bed. She lifted the cloth with a flourish and revealed a huge feast of pancakes with a choice of butter and maple syrup or strawberry glaze and whipped cream. Buffy's and Willow's eyes widened when they took in the sight.

"Hope you're hungry," Tara said.

"Tara...ohmigod..." Willow said in amazement.

"This looks great!" Buffy added excitedly.

"Well, dig in!" Tara suggested, and the Three did just that, ravenously consuming stack after stack until all of the pancakes were gone.

Willow plopped back against her pillows and groaned happily. "That was awesome, Tara, thank you."

"Yes, it was," Buffy readily agreed.

Tara smiled in response. Then her face took on expression of mischief. "Oh, look," she said in mock surprise, "we didn't eat all the strawberries and whipped cream." Tara caught Buffy's eye. "Whatever shall we do with what's left?"

Buffy grinned impishly. "Well, we can't let it go to waste. But we really need something to put it on. Oh, I know!"

Buffy and Tara both looked at Willow, who blushed and started giggling. While Buffy lifted the tray and set it aside on the floor, Tara folded the sheet and covers about halfway down the bed. Buffy picked up the bowl of strawberry glaze and handed it to Tara, keeping the can of whipped cream for herself.

Tara dipped her finger in the strawberry glaze and ran it along Willow's smiling lips. When she was done, Buffy captured Tara's finger in her mouth and sucked the remaining glaze away with a grin. Then Tara kissed Willow's strawberry mouth, running her tongue over her lips and ending with a nibbling pluck at her bottom lip.

When Tara pulled away, she turned back to the bowl of glaze. She dipped her finger once again and ran a line of strawberry goodness down the right side of Willow's neck. Tara held the bowl out to Buffy, who did the same on the left side of Willow's neck. While Tara turned over to set the bowl on the nightstand, Buffy immediately dug in, dragging the tip of her tongue along the line of glaze, starting at Willow's shoulder and moving up towards her ear. With the bowl safely out of the way, Tara started in on her side, just as Buffy began round two. Willow closed her eyes and made a strangled kind of sound deep in her throat. She shuddered when Tara started suckling her earlobe.

When Tara finished her side and sat up, she found Buffy shaking the can of whipped cream. When it was sufficiently shaken, Buffy took her free hand and pulled Tara over for a searing kiss. When Willow was able to open her eyes, she was greeted with the sight of her two girlfriends kissing deeply and passionately.

Oh, god, she thought. That's gotta be the hottest thing I have ever seen! Please don't let this be a dream!

Buffy was so into the kiss that she was sharing with Tara that she gripped the head of the can too tightly and accidentally shot a stream of whipped cream between herself and Tara. They instantly separated, laughing as they wiped at the fluffs of whipped cream that dotted their necks and faces. When they heard Willow giggling, they turned to her.

"Looks like somebody got left out of the whipped cream event," Tara commented.

"I should rectify that, then, shouldn't I?" Buffy replied.

When Willow nodded enthusiastically, Buffy turned the can upside down and squirted a lopsided circle around Willow's left nipple. She repeated the process for the right nipple. Then she handed the can over to Tara, who ran one then two wavy lines down Willow's chest and stomach before setting the can aside.

While Willow quivered in anticipation, Tara and Buffy looked at each other and grinned, then dove in, attacking Willow's breasts in earnest. They licked and sucked until the whipped cream was gone, then started nibbling on the redhead's nipples. Willow rocked in place, moaning in pleasure...until she heard her name and the attentions to her breasts stopped. She heard her name again, louder, but then realized that it wasn't Buffy's or Tara's voice. Willow's eyes shot open.

At the foot of the bed stood Willow's parents, Drs. Ira and Sheila Rosenberg. They were frozen in place, gaping at their daughter. Then they dropped their luggage to the floor with a thunk.

"Mom! Dad!" Willow squeaked in alarm.

Lindsey drew a deep breath and entered Lilah's office for his first day on the job as her assistant. Lilah smiled predatorily when he came in. She stood and gestured towards the chair sitting in front of her desk. Lindsey sat down.

"On time, I see," Lilah said.

"Of course," Lindsey replied.

"Before we get started, I have something I want to show you," Lilah announced.

Lilah picked up a folder and then walked around her desk to stand in front of Lindsey. She handed him the folder and then leaned against her desk. She folded her arms and waited.

Lindsey opened the folder. When he saw what was inside, he froze. It was a stack of pages from his Power of Three file, the same pages he had photocopied earlier. Lindsey recovered quickly and closed the folder.

"So?" he said, handing the folder back.

"I think that Holland would find such a file very interesting," Lilah said as she set the folder back on her desk. "What do you suppose he'd do if he knew that you'd been copying the Power of Three files?"

"He'd assume that I was closing out my cases...as he asked me to do."

Lilah smiled. "Somehow, I doubt he'd see it that way." Lilah stood back up and walked behind Lindsey. She leaned over to whisper into his ear. "Of course, a visit from the one of the mind-readers would settle everything, now wouldn't it?"

Lindsey got a scared look on his face, but he tried not to show it.

As Lilah circled Lindsey, she played with the lapels of Lindsey's coat. "Lindsey, I want our working relationship to be...amiable," she said as she came to a stop directly in front of Lindsey. "And I think that's best achieved by knowing where we stand. Do you understand?"

As Lilah looked down at him, Lindsey clenched his jaw and then said, "Yes, I think you've made that perfectly clear."

"Good," she replied. "Now let's talk about what your specific duties will be."

Sheila and Ira Rosenberg stared open-mouthed at the sight before them...until propriety dictated that they avert their gaze. Buffy and Tara and Willow instantly grabbed the sheet and pulled it up to cover themselves.

"Mom, Dad...wh-wh-what are you doing here?" Willow said. "Y-Y-You're not supposed to be back until tomorrow."

"We...ummm..." Ira started.

"We got an earlier flight," Sheila finished.

No one else said anything for the longest moment. Eyes darted about the room, but no one spoke. Finally, Buffy decided to break the silence.

"I think...we'd better...get dressed a-a-and cleaned up," she offered nervously. "O-O-Or maybe that would work better the other way around," she added with a frown.

Tara nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we should...ummm...do that...what Buffy said."

Ira guided Sheila to the door. "We'll be downstairs," he announced in a cold voice.

When Ira and Sheila had left, Buffy and Tara each laid a hand on Willow's shoulder.

"You okay?" Buffy asked gently.

"No," Willow replied in a choked voice. "I mean, could this be any worse?" she said as tears began rolling down her face.

Tara lifted Willow's chin and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Baby, I know this looks bad, but it'll be okay. Maybe not today, but..."

Buffy took Willow's hand. "Why don't you go get in the shower, and Tara and I will take care of cleaning up the bed, okay?"

Willow nodded numbly and headed for the master bath. Once Willow had shut the door, Buffy and Tara looked at one another, the same expression of worry on their faces.

After the Three had showered and the master bedroom had been returned to its former state, Willow and Buffy and Tara went downstairs. They met beside the front door.

"Willow," Buffy said, "I don't think it's a good idea for us to leave you here by yourself."

"Really, we don't mind staying, we want to," Tara insisted.

Willow shook her head. "No, I think it's best if you go. I need to talk to my parents alone."

Buffy and Tara still didn't move.

"Really, I'll be okay," Willow said with a forced smile. "I'll catch up with you later, back at school."

Buffy and Tara exchanged worried expressions again and then glanced back at Willow. After a long look, they finally nodded, opened the front door, and left.

When she had shut the front door behind her girlfriends, Willow turned toward the living room. She took a deep breath and headed in that direction.

Tara and Buffy walked slowly along the sidewalk on their way back to campus. Buffy looked back once, then twice. After the third time, she just stopped in place.

"I don't like this. I don't like this one bit," Buffy said angrily. "We shouldn't've left her there alone."

"I don't like it either, but we've got to respect her wishes," Tara replied. "Willow wants to do this by herself."

Buffy's face creased in pain. "She's upset, I can feel it."

Tara nodded sympathetically. "I know. I feel it too."

They both looked back down the street toward the Rosenberg house and frowned. They stared for the longest time.

Tara broke off her stare and sighed. "Let's just get back to school. Willow will find us when she's done."

Tara extended her hand to Buffy. After a moment, Buffy took Tara's hand, and the two of them reluctantly went back to their walking.

When Willow entered the living room, she found her parents standing in front of the sofa, heavy into their discussion.

"This is clearly an intensification of her post-adolescent need for separation from her parental figures," Sheila speculated.

Willow slipped in completely unnoticed by her parents and sat down in the chair across from the sofa.

"Yes, she's chosen to state her desire for autonomy in the most dramatic way possible," Ira added.

"Mom, Dad," Willow said in an attempt to get her parents' attention. They didn't even hear her.

"I agree," Sheila said, continuing the debate with her husband. "First it was the 'witchcraft' thing, then dating that musician of hers, thank goodness that's over with..."

"Mom, Dad," Willow said a little louder, but with no effect on her parents.

"Not to mention her choice of university," Ira complained. "UC Sunnydale? Please!"

"MOM! DAD!" Willow finally shouted.

Ira and Sheila jumped, startled by Willow's loud voice.

"I'm right here," Willow said in a normal tone. "You can talk to me now."

Ira cleared his throat and attempted an authoritarian stance. "We'd like an explanation, young lady. We did not raise you to exhibit such...such..."

"...wanton behavior!" Sheila supplied.

"I...I wasn't...it wasn't...like that..." Willow said.

Ira turned back to his wife. "An obvious case of college experimentation, sexual mores in flux, influenced by high levels of peer pressure."

"But the fact that it was displayed before us suggests that she – "

"SHUT UP!" Willow bellowed. When her parents finally looked in her direction, she pleaded, "Listen to me. For once, will you please listen to me?" Willow took a deep breath and continued. "I am not going through some advanced adolescent rebellion, and I am not engaging in the obligatory college experimentation. And before you suggest it, I'm not on drugs either, and I haven't joined some crazy free-love sex cult."

Her parents started to speak, but she raised her hand to stop them.

"What you saw up there was three women making love – three women in love...with each other." Willow paused and put on her resolve face. "Buffy and Tara and I are in love, and we're in a relationship with each other. And we're going to stay that way. Nothing you can say or do will change that. So I suggest you get used to the idea."

Willow got up and left the room, with her parents calling in vain after her. She went upstairs, gathered her things, and came right back down. When she reached the front door, she heard her mother and father arguing in the living room. She could tell that this was no scholarly debate. She went to the doorway and listened.

"This is all your fault!" Ira accused.

"My fault?" Sheila replied incredulously.

"Yes, you're the one who took those pills during your pregnancy, though I urged you not to."

"I was studying for my comps, thank you very much, and my doctor assured me they were safe," Sheila stated angrily. "And by the way, you were the one who seduced me that night, knowing I had my last course final the next day."

"I didn't think you'd get pregnant. We used protection."

"Well, it failed, didn't it? And now we've got a lesbian daughter who thinks she's in love with two women at the same time!"

Tears rolled down Willow's face. She moved away from living room entrance and quietly left the house.

Willow forced herself to keep walking, though she could hardly see the sidewalk in front of her because of the tears pouring from her eyes. She also didn't notice Xander as he drove by and honked.

When he saw Willow so distraught, Xander immediately parked his car and ran back to where Willow was still shuffling.

"Willow!" Xander called out as he approached her.

Willow's head shot up. When she saw Xander before her, she threw herself into his arms. "Oh Xander!" she cried, burying her head in his shoulder as new sobs hit her.

Xander wrapped his arms around the weeping redhead. "Hey now, it's okay," he said in a soothing voice. "I've got you. What's wrong?"

"It's awful, Xander, just awful," Willow replied, pulling away to look Xander in the eyes.

"What is it? Is it Buffy and Tara? Has something happened to them?"

"No, no...thank god, it's nothing like that. If it were, I'd..." Willow's face became even more pained at that thought.

"Then what is it?"

"It's my parents," Willow explained. "They're home."

"Ohhhh...I get it. You did the ol' coming out to the parental units, huh?"

Willow nodded ruefully. "Yeah, you could say that."

"I'm guessin' they didn't immediately call up PFLAG and order a lifetime membership?

"Ah, no," Willow confirmed. "They just gave me their usual psycho-social babble, debating the issue as if I were one of their test subjects." She paused, and when she began again, her voice was choked, and her tears began rolling down again. "When I left, they were arguing...blaming each other..."

Anger entered Xander's expression. "If anyone oughtta be blamed, it's them!" he said, pointing in an accusatory fashion. Then he corrected himself, "Not that you're being a lesbian is anything blamable, 'cause it's not. It's just that..." Xander shrugged and then continued. "Your parents have never really...well...been parents. They're gone more than they're here. You've had more nannies and babysitters than I've had drunken family holidays."

"They never really wanted children. I was just an inconvenience," Willow said sadly. "Except when it was time to play the compare-your-child's-achievements game with other parents."

"I'm sure they love you, though, Will."

"Yeah," Willow said, unconvinced.

Xander gave Willow a grin. "Well, as you are well aware, the Harris household isn't about to win any Family of the Year awards either." Willow gave an agreeing nod to that. "So you know what I think?" Xander announced. "I think we make our own families. And you're my family, Will. I love you, and I'm here for you."

Willow's eyes filled with tears once again, this time from happiness and a deep sense of being loved. She hugged Xander tightly. Xander kissed Willow on the top of her head and returned her hug with enthusiasm.

Angel yawned and ran his hand through his hair as he exited his bedroom. He trudged into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and pulled out a jar of pig's blood. He removed the top, placed the jar in the microwave, and heated it for a short time. When the device beeped, he retrieved the jar and headed for the den. After a few steps, he stopped in place as he became suddenly aware of another person in the room.

Angel's eyes narrowed, and he growled, "Spike..."

The bleach-blonde vampire grinned as he sat slumped in the chair with his feet propped up on the coffee table.

"What are you doing here?" Angel asked in a dangerous tone as he set his jar of blood on the table.

"Oh, just passin' through," Spike replied. "Thought I'd stop by for a chat."

"Still have soldier boys on your tail?"

"Uh, no," Spike said. "What do you know about that?"

"Just what Buffy told me."

Spike glared and then grinned again. "Talk to Buffy a lot, do you?"

"Enough."

"She tell you I helped bring her back from her little dimensional vacation?"

"It's the only reason I'm not kickin' your ass all over this room right now."

"Now, now," Spike said sarcastically, "as if you could."

"Oh, I could," Angel said, taking a step in Spike's direction.

Spike stood and met his grandsire's eyes. The two vampires stared harshly at one another until Spike finally looked away, smiling and chuckling to himself.

"So Buffy told you all about her latest adventure, did she?"

"She gave me the highlights."

"Including her new honey?" Spike prodded.

"What?" Angel asked, a confused look on his face. "I knew she was seeing one of those government soldier guys, but –"

"Oh, Mr. Initiative is ancient history," Spike said over his shoulder as he headed for the exit. "Now she's got a new love. Or loves, I should say."

"What are you talking about?" Angel demanded.

"It seems Buffy's found religion. Now she's worshipping at the temple of Wicca."

Angel's mouth dropped open, and he tried to speak but failed. He tried again. "Willow? Buffy's involved with Willow?"

Spike nodded. "And Tina too."

Angel looked confused. "Do you mean Tara?" Angel asked for clarification.

"Oh...yeah...Tara," Spike corrected. Then he returned to his needling of Angel. "Yep, the Slayer's just up to her eyeballs in witchy goodness. Seemed as happy as a lark. I'm surprised she didn't tell you."

Angel didn't answer. He just stared broodingly off into space.

Spike smirked. My work here is done, he thought to himself.

Part 4

Xander accompanied a somber Willow to her room in Stevenson. When Willow opened her door, she was greeted by an excited Buffy and Tara.

"Willow, look!" Buffy said. "Anya and Xander cleaned our room for us!"

Willow smiled and looked around the room, clearly impressed. As Xander walked inside to admire his handiwork, Buffy and Tara moved closer to Willow. Tara touched Willow's arm, and Buffy leaned over to whisper into Willow's ear.

"You okay?" Buffy asked.

Willow gave a quick nod of assurance, her expression to both of them indicating that they could discuss the matter of her parents later.

"So what'd'ya think?" Xander asked, spreading out his arms with pride.

"It looks great," Willow said sincerely. "Thank you, both, so much."

Xander put on a sad expression. "I'm sorry to tell you, though, that the answering machine is…it's dead." He picked up the battered remains of the device. "Despite our best efforts at resuscitation, it just didn't make it."

Willow and Buffy and Tara gave Xander's melodramatic display a collective roll of their eyes.

Xander set down the broken answering machine. "Just so's ya know, we didn't throw anything away…well, except for the obvious. You know, empty food and drink containers, anything that was broken beyond repair," Xander continued. "We just cleaned and heaped as best we could. Hence the many stacks of stuff. Unfortunately, Anya drew the line at washing your clothes for you, although I did personally volunteer to do the whites."

The Three gave Xander a pointed look.

"What?" he replied with an innocent expression. "Anya's allergic to bleach."

"Yeah, right," Buffy chided, before giving Xander a hug. Soon the other two joined them.

"Thank you, Xander," the Three chimed, embracing Xander in a warm group hug.

Xander giggled happily and returned the hug. When the foursome separated, Xander headed for the door.

"Well, I'll leave you to it, then," he said. "I know you've got stuff to sort through and put away. I'm gonna go join Anya and crash for the rest of the day."

"Tell her thank you for us," Willow said.

"You betcha," Xander said with a wink before exiting.

After Xander had left, Willow turned from the door and hugged herself tightly. She drew in a deep breath and blew it out slowly, trying not to let it catch in her throat.

"So, I guess you guys want the scoop, huh?" Willow said, dropping her arms for a moment.

"Only if you feel like telling us," Tara replied. "A-A-And it's okay if you don't." Tara reached out and touched Willow's arm reassuringly.

Willow nodded and hugged herself again as tears began to spill from her eyes. Buffy put her hand on Willow's back.

"Why don't we sit down?" Buffy offered, guiding Willow to the edge of the bed.

The Three sat on the bed with Willow in the middle. Before she had even been seated for a second, Willow burst into sobs. Tara and Buffy quickly sandwiched her into a comforting hug and just the redhead cry.

Meanwhile, at Wolfram and Hart, Lilah was meeting with Holland Manners in his office. As Lilah sat in the chair before Holland's desk, Lindsey stood a respectable distance behind, relegated to taking notes.

"The Senior Partners want the Power of Three destroyed," Holland reported. "Although they haven't impacted any of our operations outside of Sunnydale, it's only a matter of time, especially given the Slayer's connection to Angel."

"Is that a wise course of action?" Lilah asked.

"Perhaps not, but it is a necessary one," Holland answered.

"It's foolish," Lindsey interjected.

Both Lilah and Holland gave Lindsey an icy stare. Lindsey ignored them.

"If you think Angel's been a thorn in your side before now," Lindsey went on, "try messing with his favorite Slayer."

Lilah turned back to Holland. "It's not Angel I'm worried about. It's the curse."

Holland smiled enigmatically and chuckled. "Oh, I've found a way around the curse."

Lindsey sighed loudly and shrugged. "It's your funeral."

"Lindsey, why don't you head back to my office and start the research for the Merckson case?" Lilah told her assistant.

Lindsey gave the two executives a curt nod then left the office. Holland watched Lindsey go, a look of deep concern on his face. Lilah watched Holland watching Lindsey and made a decision.

"There's something you should know," she began. When Holland met her eyes, she continued. "I found Lindsey making copies of the Power of Three file." Lilah waited until that information had sunk in, then she went on. "He said he was just closing up his cases as you had asked him to do, but…"

"But what?"

"I don't trust him," Lilah said. "I think he's up to something."

Holland thought deeply for a moment then spoke. "Have Lindsey watched and keep me informed. I sincerely hope your suspicions are unwarranted, but it's best to err on the side of caution."

Lilah smiled her acknowledgement of the order then left the office.

At lunchtime, Lindsey slipped out of the huge Wolfram and Hart tower and hurried down the sidewalk. He crossed a couple of streets, watching his back as he did so. Seeing no one, he stopped at a pay phone. He pulled out a pre-paid calling card and a slip of paper with a number on it. He punched in the requisite numbers and waited.

In Buffy and Willow's empty dorm room, the phone began to ring. With the demolished answering machine next to it, the phone rang multiple times. But no one was there to hear it.

"Damn it!" Lindsey swore before hanging up the receiver.

Lindsey picked up the receiver again, as if considering making another call. Then he put it right back down. He turned around to head back to the office.

Several yards away on a bus bench, a non-descript man in a brown coat lowered his newspaper and watched Lindsey as he walked away. The man spoke discreetly into a cell phone, then nonchalantly folded his paper and headed in the same direction that Lindsey had gone.

After they had gotten out of classes that afternoon, the Three returned to Willow and Buffy's dorm room, determined to get everything back in its place. As Tara hit the books, Willow and Buffy focused on paper sorting.

Willow held up a slightly crumpled stack of sheets from a notebook. The colored writing had been smeared from what looked like a spilled soda.

"No!" she groaned. "My psychology notes!"

"Guess your fancy-schmancy pens aren't designed to hold up against poltergeist attacks, huh?" Buffy commented.

"That's it!" Willow stated in a determined voice. "I'm going laminated!"

Tara grinned at her girlfriend, the notes-neatness-freak, and chuckled, before turning her attention back to the stack of books before her. Once she had separated Willow's magic books from the college textbooks, she began replacing them in the bookshelf. When she had finished, her eyes were drawn to a volume she hadn't seen before. She slid it out and sat down at Willow's desk to peruse it. It didn't take her long to realize that it wasn't like the others. She turned to the section that was marked and read it carefully.

"Willow!" Tara blurted in shock.

"What?" Willow answered.

Tara had a serious frown on her face as she joined Willow and Buffy on the bed where they were sorting papers.

"Th-Th-This book," Tara said worriedly, "where did you get it?"

Willow took the book from Tara's hand. When she saw what it was, her face fell.

"Oh. That." Willow hung her head and didn't answer.

"What?" Buffy asked, wondering what was going on.

Tara crossed her arms tightly and stared at Willow.

Willow looked up but didn't maintain eye contact. "Just some guy that Spike knew. I-I-I guess I forgot about returning it."

Tara continued to glare unhappily at Willow. Buffy looked back and forth between the two witches, still not following.

"What is it? What's going on?" Buffy asked.

"That's what I'd like to know," Tara said. "The two spells you have marked…is that what you used to try to bring us home?"

Willow hesitated then finally answered. "The first one, yes," she admitted. "But the second one, no."

"What's wrong with the spells?" Buffy inquired.

"It's dark magic…very dark," Tara replied. "And very dangerous."

"Willow?" Buffy prodded nervously.

Willow stood up and walked a few feet away. "Look, I didn't do the bad one, okay? It turned out I didn't need to."

"But you would have," Tara said questioningly.

Willow endured Tara's glare for a moment. Then she straightened and said, "Yes, I would have."

"Oh, god," Tara said, hanging her head.

"It was only to bring you back," Willow said, hurrying back to the bed to take Tara's hand in hers. She met Buffy's eyes. "I had tried everything I could think of, everything Giles could think of, a-a-and nothing worked. I was so afraid I'd never see you again."

Tara raised her head. Tears were on her cheeks. "Willow, you can't use black magic like this, no matter how desperate you may be. It's too dangerous!"

"But–"

"Will, you could lose your soul o-o-or your life," Tara said desperately, as she squeezed Willow's hand. Then she grabbed Buffy's hand too. "And we don't want to lose you, so please promise me you'll get rid of that book and never try anything like that again."

Buffy looked between the two witches again and then looked into Willow's eyes. "Tara's right. No dark stuff, okay?"

Willow reluctantly nodded and said, "Okay. I'll take the book back tomorrow." Willow set the book on the corner of her desk as a reminder.

Buffy and Tara sighed in relief.

Late that afternoon, when he had finished his work, Lindsey said goodbye to Lilah then left the office. As he headed downstairs, Lilah made a quick call. As soon as Lindsey left the Wolfram and Hart tower, he was once again trailed by a man in a brown coat.

After taking a circuitous route, Lindsey finally stopped a few blocks from Angel's hotel. He looked in his mirrors and out the side windows before finally getting out and making his way toward the entrance.

The man in the brown coat sat inside a dark gray van. When he saw Lindsey approaching, clearly heading for the hotel, he spoke into his cell phone, listened for a moment, then motioned to two other men in the back. They waited until Lindsey was alongside the van, then burst out the side door, and yanked Lindsey inside. Then the van sped away.

That evening, back in Sunnydale, Buffy took a break from her patrolling and headed down Revello toward her home. When she neared, she saw Giles' car in the drive and grinned. She adjusted the light pack on her back and walked up to the front door.

Buffy used her key and slipped quietly in the front door. She listened intently for a moment then headed for the kitchen. She eased through the dining room, noting that the candlelit table was set for two. She stifled a giggle and peeked inside the kitchen.

Behind the bar, Joyce tended the stove. She was distracted by Giles, who wrapped one arm around her waist and nuzzled her neck. She laughed at something he whispered in her ear then turned around and swatted him lightly. Their playful embrace led to a passionate kiss, which Buffy interrupted with a well-placed throat-clearing.

Instantly, Giles and Joyce split apart, awkwardly assuming hopefully innocuous yet totally unconvincing poses. Giles immediately began cleaning his glasses, and Joyce turned her attention right back to the food cooking on the stove.

"Buffy!" Joyce cried, while keeping her eyes on the food. "What are you doing here? I, um, I wasn't expecting you."

"Yeah, I kinda got that," Buffy replied with a grin, crossing her arms.

"I was just, um, in the neighborhood, and Joyce, she-she…"

"I…saw him…outside, and I, um, invited him to dinner, and–"

"Mom, Giles," Buffy said, interrupting, "it's okay. You don't have to pretend. I know about you two, and I'm cool with it."

"You do?" Joyce asked.

"You are?" Giles added.

"It was kinda obvious when I was in the hospital. All those times you thought I was asleep…"

Giles and Joyce blushed and dipped their heads a moment before smiling back at Buffy.

"And all this time, we were so worried about how we were going to tell you," Joyce chided her daughter before hugging her. "You are a wicked, wicked child."

Buffy chuckled and hugged her mom back. "Well, I have to admit it did wig me out a little at first. I kept having 'band candy' flashbacks when you two were all over each other."

Giles and Joyce blushed again, but recovered quickly.

"So…you, um, you don't mind, then?" Giles asked.

"Well…I do have one question," Buffy said with a serious expression.

Joyce and Giles steeled themselves and then nodded their readiness for her question.

"Are you happy?"

Joyce and Giles gave a small laugh then looked at each other, smiling. Then they turned back to Buffy.

"Yes, we are," Joyce said for the two of them.

"That's all I need to know," Buffy answered. "The rest we'll figure out as we go." She gave her mother a special grin and added, "A very wise woman told me something like that once."

Joyce hugged her daughter tightly. Buffy returned the hug then reached out to bring Giles into the hug.

After a moment, Buffy said, "Since we're talking about being happy, you know what would make me really happy?"

Giles and Joyce pulled out of the hug and eyed Buffy suspiciously.

"What?" Joyce asked.

"Being able to move off campus with Willow and Tara," Buffy replied. When Joyce rolled her eyes, Buffy continued. "I know what you're thinking. Too expensive, right? Well, actually, we've checked into it, and some places are very reasonable and not a whole lot more than what the dorm costs."

"Buffy, I don't know," Joyce said. "Things are really tight as it is."

"Can't you talk to Dad?" Buffy asked.

Joyce shook her head. When she saw Buffy's disappointed expression, she said, "I'll give it a try. No promises, though."

"Thanks, Mom," Buffy said. "Oh…I will need a new answering machine, though. It kinda got trashed in our last adventure."

When Joyce got a confused look on her face, Giles interjected, "I think I can take care of that. After all, it was damaged in the course of your Slayer duties, and I do need to be able to get messages to you."

"Cool. Well, I guess I'll leave you two lovebirds to your romantic dinner and get back to patrolling," Buffy said as she headed for the door. "Oh, one more thing," she said quickly. "Don't forget about the Honors Program thing. Willow and Tara really want both of you to be there."

"Of course," Giles assured her.

"And when are we going to see you on the honors list?" Joyce asked pointedly.

"Ahhh…ummm…I think that's my cue to leave," Buffy said. "Bye!"

As Buffy got to the front door, she heard her mother call from the other room.

"Buffy! There's a package for you on the table by the door!"

"Okay!" Buffy called back.

Buffy moved toward the table and found the FedEx package. She looked at it curiously for a moment, then pulled off her pack and stuffed inside the outer pocket. She put the pack back on and headed out the door, locking it behind her.

Willow and Tara sat cross-legged on the floor of Tara's dorm room. They were holding hands, and their eyes were closed. Sweat was beading on their foreheads, and they were breathing heavily, apparently concentrating very hard on something.

They combined their strengths and together reached out with their minds, sweeping through Sunnydale until they found the unique energy signature of their Slayer soulmate.

"Can you hear me now? " they heard Buffy quip in their minds.

Willow sent Buffy a telepathic groan. "Save the puns for the bad guys, Buffy."

"Just practicing. Can you tell where I'm at? " Buffy asked.

"Cemetery," Willow answered.

"Which one?" Buffy pressed.

"Oakdale," Tara answered with confidence. "You're sitting on top of an above-ground tomb, the one with the gargoyle and the angel beside it."

"Ex-cell-ent," Buffy said. "This whole getting into each other's brains is kinda fun, huh? "

In the bowels of Wolfram and Hart, in a room from which no sound escaped, Lindsey screamed in agony. He was bound in a medical chair, strong leather straps securing him in place. His face was bruised and battered, his clothes ripped and bloodied. Behind him stood a demon, who held his clawed hands firmly on Lindsey's head, sending jolts of electricity into the young lawyer's skull. Holland and Lilah watched impassively.

"Disappointed?" Lilah inquired.

"Yes," Holland growled. "But I'm finding this final procedure somewhat…gratifying."

"Why not just kill him?" Lilah asked. "You've learned what he was up to, thanks to the telepaths."

"No," Holland said slowly, "this is better."

Lilah gave Holland a skeptical look then shrugged and turned her attention back to the screaming Lindsey.

Later that night, Angel parked his long black car in the dead-end alley behind the hotel. He got out and headed for the back entrance. A tiny scuffle drew his attention, and he froze. He listened and then crept silently towards the red dumpster in the corner. He eased over to stand beside it, then suddenly shoved the metal bin away from the wall.

There, in the grimy shadows, was Lindsey. The young lawyer gasped in terror and tried to scramble away on his hands and knees. Angel grabbed him and pulled him back, setting him up straight and holding him firmly in place.

"Lindsey! Lindsey!" Angel called to the distraught man.

"No! No!" Lindsey cried, nearly hyperventilating in fear. He tossed his head from side to side, refusing to look in the face of his captor.

"Lindsey, it's me…Angel," the vampire said.

Lindsey calmed at Angel's name. He stopped struggling and ventured a peek at who was holding him. "Angel?" Lindsey asked with a bewildered expression.

"Yes," Angel answered.

Lindsey relaxed and let out a shaky breath. Then he leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "The clowns have eaten all the cotton candy." His face became pained. "And now all the children are crying because the circus is empty."

Angel stared open-mouthed at Lindsey for a moment, blinking in confusion. Then he shook his head and said, "Say what?"

In Angel's apartment, Lindsey sat on the couch with his knees pulled to his chest and a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. He rocked in place, talking to himself in a low voice while Angel and Cordelia stood nearby in the kitchen.

"What the hell happened to him?" Cordelia asked.

"I don't know," Angel replied. "I found him like that."

"Don't tell the trees!" Lindsey called out suddenly. "Can't trust the trees…"

Angel and Cordelia looked at Lindsey sadly then turned back to each other. "It looks like somebody beat the crap out of him," Cordelia said. "We should take him to the hospital. The way he's been talking nonsense, he's probably got a concussion."

"I don't think so," Angel said. "There's more to this than just…" He trailed off and thought some more. "Something's not right," he said finally.

Cordelia raised her eyebrows at Angel expectantly until he went on.

Angel leaned closer, lowering his voice. "When I asked him who did this to him, he wouldn't answer at first. Then he looked at me, like he knew me…I swear, for a second, he looked like he was trying to speak but couldn't. Then he just shook his head and started babbling again."

"Cat's in the cradle, but mom doesn't know," Lindsey said, rocking in place. "Steal your breath away, it will…"

"What are you thinking…that maybe somebody scrambled his brain or something?" Cordelia asked.

"Maybe." Angel thought a moment and then said, "I think we should take him to Sunnydale. See if Willow can figure it out."

Cordelia groaned. "Sunnydale? Do we have to?" Cordelia whined. When Angel glared at her, she rolled her eyes. "Fine, but don't blame me when you come back all moody broody from seeing you-know-who!"

"Sheila, Ira, how good to see you!" Joyce exclaimed in surprise when she saw Willow's parents enter her gallery.

"It's good to see you too," Sheila echoed with a smile.

"Joyce," Ira said with a cordial nod of his head.

"You just caught me on my way to lunch," Joyce said, "but I can wait if you'd like to see the new exhibit."

"Actually…we're here about something else," Sheila said.

Bet I can guess, Joyce thought to herself. "Why don't we go back to my office?" she suggested, gesturing toward the back of the gallery.

Once they had reached the office and the Rosenbergs had seated themselves, Joyce herself sat down behind her desk. "What can I do for you?"

"We're here about Willow," Ira stated matter-of-factly.

"I see," Joyce said.

"Has Buffy told you about her, um, her–" Sheila struggled to say.

"Yes, I know about Buffy's relationship with Willow and Tara, if that's what you mean," Joyce answered.

"Good, good," Sheila said with a sigh of relief. "I really didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, as it were."

"We certainly wouldn't want you to find out the way we did," Ira grumbled under his breath.

Joyce ignored Ira and looked at Sheila. "Why would I think it was bad news? My daughter's in love. That's a good thing, right?"

"Well, of course it is, of course," Sheila replied. "Under normal circumstances."

"Normal?" Joyce asked in an icy tone.

"Look, let's cut to the chase here," Ira interjected. "We don't like this so-called relationship that Willow has developed with Buffy and Tara. We want it to stop. Now."

As Sheila confirmed her agreement with a nod, Joyce stared in shock and then anger.

Then she directed a hard gaze at the Rosenbergs. "Buffy and Willow and Tara are mature adults who are capable of making informed, intelligent decisions for themselves," Joyce said. "As a concerned but understanding parent, I refuse to interfere in that."

Sheila and Ira huffed and looked away, so Joyce softened her approach. "They're in love, and they make each other happy," she said with confidence. "Have you even tried to get to know them, watch them together? If you did, you'd see that–"

"You would let your daughter run headlong and thoughtless into danger without making any attempt to save her from herself?" Ira demanded. "And you call yourself a concerned parent!"

"Well, I am certainly more of a concerned parent than you two are!" Joyce retorted, suddenly jumping to her feet. "Traveling six months or more a year, leaving Willow to care for herself…you barely even qualify as parents!"

Sheila gasped and put her hand on her chest. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Ira grabbed Sheila's hand and pulled her to her feet.

"This conversation is over," Ira stated. "We'll deal with this in our own way."

Before Joyce could say another word, Ira ushered Sheila from the office and out of the gallery.

Late that afternoon, in Stevenson Hall, Buffy and Tara and Willow were busy studying. Willow sat at her desk, typing away on her laptop. Tara and Buffy were propped up on the bed, pillows behind them and books before them.

As Buffy copied a few lines from her textbook into her notebook, she felt soft fingers trail along her right forearm. She looked up and to her left, where Tara sat beside her. Tara smiled–a small but happy smile, her blue eyes beaming with love. She gave Buffy's arm a squeeze.

God, I will never get tired of seeing that face, Buffy thought to herself as she smiled back at Tara.

Buffy put down her pen and pulled Tara's face to hers, kissing her soundly. What had been meant as a brief embrace became more as Tara hungrily returned Buffy's kiss. The two disregarded papers and books alike as they moved into each other's arms.

At her desk, Willow looked up from her laptop and sighed resignedly. She turned slowly around and stared at her girlfriends making out on the bed. She sighed again.

"Sulu, shields up!" Willow said sarcastically as she turned back around and donned a set of headphones that had been lying next to her mouse pad. "Aye, Captain!" Then she resumed her typing.

Less than a minute later, the phone rang. Buffy reluctantly pulled away from Tara and flipped over to reach for the phone.

"Hello?" she said testily into the receiver.

"Buffy, it's Giles," came the voice over the phone.

"Oh, hey Giles," Buffy replied as Willow turned around in her chair and took off her headphones. "What's up?" she asked her watcher.

"I need you and Willow and Tara to come over right away. Something's come up, and well, you just need to see for yourself."

"Giles, what is it?" Buffy asked, a touch of fear in her voice.

"We, um, we don't know," Giles answered.

"We? Who's 'we'?"

"Oh, um, Angel and Cordelia…a-a-and that Lindsey fellow."

Buffy didn't answer; she just stared at the wall. Willow and Tara looked on worriedly.

"Buffy? Can I expect you soon?" Giles prompted.

"We'll be right there," she said. She hung up the phone and then slowly got up.

"Buffy, what is it?" Willow asked, standing up beside her desk chair.

"Oh, that was Giles," Buffy answered absently. "He wants us to come over right away."

"What is it? What's happened?" Tara asked as she scooted over to the edge of the bed on Buffy's side.

"Don't know yet," Buffy replied flatly. "Guess we'll find out."

Willow joined Tara, and the two of them looked at Buffy, waiting for her to continue. Buffy glanced at Willow and Tara, then looked away, moving toward the closet to get her shoes. She came back with them and finally met her girlfriends' eyes.

"It's Angel," she said. "He's here." Buffy paused and took a deep breath. "Him and Cordelia. And that guy from Wolfram and Hart, Lindsey. Something big must be goin' down."

"Oh," Tara said.

"Angel," Willow whispered softly. After a long and awkward silence, Willow went on. "Have you, um, you know, told Angel about–"

"No," Buffy said instantly. Then she softened and came back to the bed, setting her shoes on the floor. "I know I should have, but it's just…hard. I don't want to hurt his feelings. I mean, I can move on, you know? But he can't and–"

"Buffy, it's okay," Tara said reassuringly, taking Buffy's hand. "We understand. Right, Will?"

Willow nodded and took Buffy's other hand. "Just tell us what you need us to do, and we'll do it, okay?"

Buffy nodded. "Well, during the meeting, until I've had time to talk to Angel, just keep your distance, and you know, keep your digits to yourselves." Buffy pulled her hands away, then she gestured at Willow and Tara. "Well, you two don't have to. With each other, I mean. What I mean is, just do it around me. I mean, don't do it around me. God, I am not making any sense at all."

"We get it, Buffy," Willow said. "Really."

"We'll give you your space," Tara added.

"I'll talk to him right after the meeting, I promise," Buffy told them.

In Giles' apartment, Angel and Cordelia sat on the couch. Giles sat in a chair nearby. When the front door opened, all turned to look. Willow and Tara came in first, followed by Buffy. Willow and Tara headed immediately for the sitting area, where Willow greeted everyone. Buffy stayed by the bar, setting her backpack on the floor next to the entrance to the hallway. Then she stood by the nearest stool and crossed her arms. Angel glanced at Buffy and then at Willow and Tara.

"Angel, Cordelia," Willow said, "this is Tara…my girlfriend."

"It's nice to meet you," Angel said.

"Yeah, we've heard a lot of good things about you," Cordelia added.

Tara blushed and ducked her head as she smiled. "Thanks, it's good to meet you too."

Willow guided Tara to another chair and then perched on the armrest next to her. Finally, Angel turned his gaze to Buffy. There was an awkward pause as the two former lovers looked at one another.

"Buffy," Angel said simply.

"Angel," Buffy replied. After another long moment of silence, Buffy said, "Where's Lindsey? I thought he came with you?"

"He's, um, in the bedroom," Giles answered. "He's actually the reason I called."

"What? I-I-Is something wrong with him?" Willow asked.

"Ah, yeah, you could say that," Cordelia said. "He's had a sudden absence of sanity."

"We think somebody did something to him, maybe cast a spell on him?" Angel told Willow. "I was hoping you could check him out."

Willow looked at Tara, who nodded. "Sure, we can do that," Willow replied.

"I'll get him," Cordelia said before rising and leaving.

Within a few minutes, Cordelia led Lindsey into the room. He had been cleaned up, and his wounds had been treated. His face was still battered and his expression crazed as he murmured to himself. As they came through the hallway, Lindsey's eyes caught sight of Buffy's backpack on the floor, where the FedEx package was sticking up out of the outside pocket.

Lindsey froze, staring in terror at the package. He began to whimper. Cordelia tried to nudge him forward, but he wouldn't move.

"Come on, Lindsey," she reassured him. "It's okay…"

Lindsey suddenly went berserk, screaming and shoving Cordelia violently away from himself. Then he plowed over Buffy and headed for the door. Buffy flipped over and grabbed him by the leg, tripping him up. Angel leapt over the couch and ran to the door, blocking it. Lindsey fought frantically for a few moments before finally giving up. Angel held him in a tight grip as Buffy got to her feet.

"What the hell was that all about?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know," Angel said. "He's been fairly calm until now."

"It's that backpack," Tara said, pointing. "Something about it frightened him."

"My backpack?" Buffy asked. "Why would he freak out over my backpack?"

Buffy retrieved her backpack, and as soon as Lindsey saw it, he became agitated once again. Buffy looked at Lindsey, then the package, and finally pulled the FedEx envelope out of her pack. She came toward Lindsey with it.

"No! No!" Lindsey cried, refusing to look at the package at all and trying unsuccessfully to pull from Angel's grip.

"It's not the backpack, it's this," Buffy said, holding up the package.

"What is it?" Willow asked.

"I don't know," Buffy answered. "I picked it up last night when I stopped by my mom's. I haven't taken the time to open it." Buffy turned to Lindsey and showed him the package. "Lindsey, did you send this? Do you know what's inside?"

Lindsey shook his head back and forth before finally venturing a glance at the package. The veins in his neck and forehead were standing out as he seemingly had to force himself to look at it. He let out a strangled gasp as he clenched his teeth and jaw. For a moment, his gaze seemed lucid as he struggled to speak, but then he shook his head crazily again and started rocking in place.

"Nosy rats get tails cut off, the farmer's wife with a butcher's knife…" Lindsey began repeating.

"Get him back to the bedroom," Buffy told Angel.

While Angel and Cordelia got Lindsey settled into the bedroom once again, Buffy went and knelt in front of the coffee table. She set the package on the table and opened it. She pulled a manila folder full of sheets from the package. Giles leaned over to see.

"What's in it?" Willow asked as she and Tara knelt beside Buffy.

"It looks like documents from Wolfram and Hart," Buffy said, passing a few sheets over to Giles and to Willow and Tara.

"Oh my god," Tara said. "This is stuff on the Power of Three…o-o-on us!"

An hour or so later, Buffy and Giles, now alone in the living room, continued to pour over the documents.

"This…this is remarkable," Giles commented. "They've got records here I don't think the Council has ever seen."

"Well, good," Buffy said. "We'll be ahead of them, for once."

Willow and Tara came out of the hallway and returned to the living room. Angel and Cordelia remained in the bedroom with Lindsey. Buffy and Giles turned to Willow and Tara expectantly.

"So, what'd'ya think?" Buffy asked the two witches.

"Something's definitely been done to him," Willow answered as she and Tara once again knelt beside Buffy on the floor.

"H-H-His aura's extremely stressed and…I don't know…garbled," Tara added.

"What happened? How was this done to him?" Giles asked.

"Don't know," Willow said, "but I bet I can guess why."

"He sent the file and then got caught?" Buffy supplied.

"Why would he do that? He works for Wolfram and Hart," Giles asked.

"I think that whole thing with N'Faius freaked him out," Buffy answered. "Maybe he decided he was working for the wrong side."

"But what was he trying to tell us?" Tara asked. "I get the clear impression that he desperately wants to tell us something but can't."

"Think you two could get through to him somehow?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know, Buffy. There may not be anything to get through to," Willow said. "His brain's pretty fried."

"We can try, though," Tara offered.

"Would it be dangerous?" Buffy asked, laying her hand on Willow's arm and looking into her girlfriends' eyes. "I don't want you two putting yourselves at–"

Buffy stopped when she saw Angel and Cordelia coming back in to the living room. She pulled away from Willow and Tara and stood up.

"So, how's he doing?" Buffy asked.

"He's sleeping now," Cordelia answered. "We thought it'd be best to sedate him for a little while."

"Good, that's good," Buffy said awkwardly, stuffing her hands into her pants pockets. "Um, Angel, can I, um, talk to you for a minute…alone?"

Angel glanced nervously at the group then said, "Sure."

The two of them walked to the door and stepped outside into the night air.

Buffy led Angel through the alcove outside Giles' apartment to a small bench in the side yard. Once they had sat down, Angel looked at Buffy and waited patiently for her to speak. After several long moments of uncomfortable silence, Buffy finally took a deep breath and began.

"Angel, I need to tell you something," Buffy said.

"I already know," Angel said.

"What?"

"About you and Willow and Tara."

Buffy's mouth dropped open, and then she said, "How?"

"How do you think?"

Buffy groaned. "Spike?"

Angel nodded. Then he sighed and said, "I wish you had told me."

"I'm sorry," Buffy said sincerely. "I was going to," she said with conviction. "Eventually… someday…" she finished with a sheepish wince.

"You didn't have any problem telling me about soldier boy," Angel commented with a touch of annoyance in his voice.

"I know, but…" Buffy trailed off then tried again. "I just didn't know how you'd take it. I mean, can my relationship get any different from you and I had?"

Angel chuckled at that, and Buffy joined him in a quick laugh.

"Plus…I just didn't want to rub your nose in it," Buffy added. "Oh, look at all the people I'm dating! I can be happy, but you can't!" she said in a sarcastic tone.

"I appreciate the thought, but I'm okay. I want you to be happy, Buffy. I do. That's why I left, remember?"

"Yeah," Buffy said sadly, dropping her gaze to her hands.

"You are happy, right?"

Buffy looked back up and smiled. "Yes, I am. Very happy."

"Then I'm happy for you," Angel said, putting his arm around Buffy's shoulders and hugging her.

Buffy sighed and leaned in comfortably against him. "Thank you, Angel. That means a lot to me." After a moment, she added, "Now, if we can just get this whole Power of Three mess straightened out, things'll be–"

Angel released Buffy and turned sharply towards her. "Power of Three?"

"Yeah, that's the other half of what I needed to tell you," Buffy answered. "It seems that me and Willow and Tara are some kind of special guardian trio for the hellmouth."

"I've heard of it, I think," Angel said. "A long time ago. Don't remember much, though."

"There's not a whole lot of information about it," Buffy informed him. "At least not in the Council's library. It looks like Wolfram and Hart has access to sources we don't have. Lindsey was here investigating us for the firm when that whole N'Faius thing went down."

"You didn't tell me that," Angel complained.

"Sorry. We weren't really that sure of our information when we sent Lindsey on his way, and…well, like I said, I just didn't know how to tell you."

"What else is there? I need to know everything."

"That package we think Lindsey sent? It contains some documents from Wolfram and Hart, documents dealing with the Power of Three. We're thinking he got caught and they fried his brain."

"Sounds like them."

"I just wish I knew what they were up to," Buffy said worriedly.

"I'll see what I can find out," Angel promised.

A few days after Angel had gone back to L.A., Buffy came in from her afternoon class. She dropped her book bag on the floor and went to the phone. She dialed Angel's number and waited.

"Angel Investigations, we help the hopeless!" Cordelia answered perkily.

"Hey, Cordelia," Buffy said. "Is Angel up yet?"

"Yeah, sure, hang on."

After a moment, Angel came on the phone. "Hey," he said simply.

"Hey," Buffy replied. After a moment, she asked, "So…how's Lindsey?"

"The same."

"Oh."

Buffy and Angel were quiet for a moment. Then Buffy finally broke the silence.

"Have you found out anything about Wolfram and Hart?" she asked.

"Not yet. I've spent the last couple of days pummeling some of the demons known to have associated with the firm, but they don't know anything," Angel said. "I think I'm gonna have to go quite a bit higher in the food chain on this one."

"Do you really think Wolfram and Hart might be planning something against us?" Buffy asked, deep concern in her voice.

"It'd be the smart thing to do," he answered. "Take you guys out before you have a chance to master your powers and get stronger. Have you found anything else in those documents Lindsey sent you?"

"No, not really," Buffy admitted ruefully. "It's mostly historical stuff. Not so much as a how-to anywhere in it." Buffy sighed.

"Well, you do have that curse thing going for you," Angel reminded her.

"Yeah, right. 'Take one of three, curséd be.' Oh, that's really scary. Gonna have all those evil doers just a-shakin' in their shoes with that one," Buffy said bitterly. "And that's if any of them even know about the stupid curse."

"At least we know Wolfram and Hart knows about it," Angel said. "That should help, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," Buffy said. "It's just what else they might know that worries me."

Across town, Willow stood outside the front door of her parents' house. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, thinking of Buffy and Tara.

"Call us if you need us," Tara had said. "Are you sure you don't want us to come along?"

"I'll be fine," Willow had answered.

"Just remember," Buffy had told her, "you are a bad-ass witch. If they go too far, you can always turn them into slugs."

At the memory of Buffy's line, Willow allowed herself a small laugh. Then she opened her eyes and went inside.

Willow found her parents in the living room sitting on the sofa. She sat in the chair across from them and met their eyes.

"Okay, I'm here," Willow said, folding her arms resolutely across her chest.

Ira and Sheila exchanged a look, then Ira turned to his daughter.

"We want to talk to you about this-this thing you have going with those other two women."

Willow's eyes narrowed, and she leaned forward, unfolding her arms. "First of all, 'those women' have names. They're Buffy and Tara. And secondly, this isn't a 'thing' we have going. It's a relationship. An unconventional one, I'll admit, but –"

"Unconventional?" Ira interjected. "Ludicrous is more like it!"

"It's not ludicrous!" Willow said angrily. "And how would you know anyway?"

"Now, now…tempers, tempers," Sheila said in a placating voice. "Let's not –"

"Oh let's," Willow said firmly. "I told you before. Buffy and Tara and I are in love, and we're going to stay that way. Nothing you can say or do is going to change that."

Willow got to her feet and headed for the door.

"You stop right there, young lady!" Ira called out to his daughter, causing her to stop in place. "If you walk out that door, you can kiss our financial support good-bye!"

Willow turned around slowly and looked at her parents in shock. "You'd cut me off? Just like that? Because of who I'm dating?"

"To get you to see reason…yes," Ira said, rising to his feet.

Willow looked at her father and then her mother, then brought her eyes back to her father. "Fine," she said with conviction. "I'd rather be in the poor house with them than in your good graces without them!"

Willow turned back around and stomped to the front door. She slammed it loudly as she left.

Later that day, Buffy and Joyce sat at the bar in the Summers' home, drinking coffee together.

"They just cut her off?" Joyce asked incredulously.

Buffy nodded solemnly.

"I guess that means they won't be coming to the honors program on Sunday then?"

Again, Buffy nodded.

"Well, they said they were going to handle things 'their own way'…"

"You talked to them?"

"They came by the gallery the other day," Joyce replied. "They were hoping for my assistance in breaking up what they considered to be an abnormal and dangerous relationship."

"Abnormal? Dangerous?" Buffy asked in a loud and incensed voice.

"Yes. I tried to convince them to give it time, to try to get to know you first, but they wouldn't listen."

"No surprise there. They've never listened to Willow, paid her any mind at all, until she did something they didn't like."

"Yes, I reminded them of their excessive lack of parenting," Joyce said.

"You did not," Buffy replied with a smile. "Get out!"

Joyce laughed. "I felt a little like the pot calling the kettle black afterwards, but yes, I did."

"That was totally different, Mom."

"Is it?"

"Yes!" Buffy assured her. "Finding out you're the mother of the Slayer is way more freak-worthy than finding out your daughter's gay and dating two women at the same time. What you did…it was understandable."

"You're very generous," Joyce said.

Buffy looked down at her hands for a moment, then looked back up.

"It hurt, I admit that," she told her mother. "But I get it now. I shouldn't've kept you in the dark all those years. If you had known what was going on, that would've never happened." Buffy made an angry pout. "Stupid Council and its stupid rules."

"I won't argue with that assessment. So, how did Willow take it?"

"She was upset at first, but after we talked, she felt better. We tried to make her feel good about standing up for herself."

"That's good. What about the money situation? Willow won't have to drop out of school, will she?" Joyce asked.

"No, Willow's on a full scholarship, so school's covered. It's just…there's no extra, you know? Nothing to fall back on," Buffy answered. "Plus, it means no off campus housing for us. At least not any time soon."

"Well, I've got good news on that front," Joyce reported. "I've talked to your father, and he's agreed to help with the finances so that you can move off campus."

"Really? That's awesome!" Buffy said, hugging her mom enthusiastically.

"I didn't tell him about you and Willow and Tara being in a relationship, of course. That's your job," Joyce told her daughter. "But I did tell him the expenses wouldn't be too bad since you'd be splitting them three ways with your new roommates."

Buffy clapped her hands happily. "I can't wait to tell Will and Tara!"

"Just remember that this arrangement is contingent on your grades remaining up," Joyce said. "Is that clear?"

Buffy saluted. "Ma'am, yes ma'am!" Buffy sat back down. "Don't worry. With Willow and Tara as roommates, I won't be allowed to be a slacker."

Meanwhile, back in Sunnydale, Willow and Tara walked through the overgrown yard up to Doc's dilapidated house. They went up the steps and knocked on the door.

"Thanks for coming with me," Willow said. "Doc is kinda creepy."

Tara smiled. "I didn't want you to come here alone."

Willow smiled back, then knocked on the door again. Within seconds, Doc cracked the door. He peered at the two of them through his thick glasses. When he recognized Willow, he opened the door fully, smiling widely.

"Oh, you remembered," he said in a pleased voice. "Come in, come in."

Doc led Willow and Tara into the large den. It was still filled with books and papers and various magical items.

"And how did it go?" he asked expectantly.

"Um, fine," Willow answered. Then she held out the book. "I just came to return this to you."

Doc took the book, running his hand over Willow's as he did so. "You didn't do the second one, did you?"

Willow glanced at Tara then blushed. "No, I didn't," Willow told him, pulling her hand back.

Doc's attention was suddenly drawn to Tara. He looked at her intently, even moved to stand in front of her as he stared.

"My, aren't you the interesting one," Doc said to Tara. "Won't be long now, will it?" He gave the blonde a wink.

Tara nervously grabbed Willow's arm. "W-W-Will, I think we should go now."

"O-O-Okay," Willow said. "Thanks again," she told Doc as they headed for the front door.

"My pleasure," Doc replied as they went out the door and down the steps. "Any time," he added with a friendly wave.

Later that day, after her classes were over, Tara sat in the library alone. Her books lay open before her, but her eyes were not on them. She stared at the wall, a frown on her face. After a moment of tense reflection, she shook her head and looked down at her books. She sighed and shut them. Then she pulled out her journal instead. She opened it and began to write.

Tara stopped writing. She shut her eyes tightly.

"Don't think about it," she whispered to herself, opening her eyes. "There's nothing you can do, so just…be happy for as long as you can."

The next day, Tara did her best to put on a happy face. It was honors day, and both she and Willow were receiving awards. She knew she would have to get on stage to accept her president's list certificate and scholarship renewal, but with all of her friends there to support her, she wasn't worried…not too much anyway.

Once she got past the nervous part of getting up in front of the crowd to accept her awards, Tara relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the ceremony. At the reception that followed, Tara stood near a column in the center of the large foyer of the convocation auditorium, waiting for the rest of the gang to return from the food table. She watched Buffy and Willow, Xander and Anya, and Mr. Giles and Mrs. Summers as they picked their way slowly down the table. It felt good to have people who supported her, who believed in her, who were proud of her achievements. Tara smiled warmly as she thought of them.

"Miss Maclay," Tara heard an official voice say behind her. Tara turned around and found Dean Henderson standing there. "Congratulations," the older woman continued, giving Tara's shoulder a friendly squeeze.

"Thank you, Dr. Henderson," Tara replied with a smile.

"I was just talking with your father about how excited we all are at having you here at UC Sunnydale," Dean Henderson said.

Tara glanced over at Giles beside the food table. "Oh, he's not my – " Tara stopped when Dean Henderson lifted her eyes to address someone coming up behind Tara.

"Mr. Maclay," she said to the man, "you must be so proud."

Tara's eyes filled with fear as she turned slowly around. When she looked up and saw her father's face, she froze.

Mr. Maclay locked eyes with his daughter. "Oh, yes," he said in an even but slightly icy tone. "Very proud."

Across the room, Buffy and Willow stood at the end of the table next to the desserts. They were frowning and sending a deadly stare in Xander's direction. He held his plate close to his body and shielded it with his hands.

"Xander, you took the last one!" Buffy accused while Willow pointed at the now empty tray of cream puffs.

"Number one rule of grazing: first come, first serve," Xander announced firmly.

"But I'm an honoree," Willow protested. "You should – "

Willow stopped mid-sentence, and both she and Buffy immediately turned to look at Tara. After a moment, they set down their plates right on the food line and hurried in their girlfriend's direction.

Anya came up behind Xander. "They're abandoning their food? Quick, grab their shrimp!"

"Something's up," Xander said, setting his plate down as well and following Buffy and Willow.

Anya watched him go, glanced about to see if anyone was looking, then nabbed the shrimp from all three discarded plates. She made one more look around, then followed Xander.

Nearby, Giles saw the sudden exodus of Scoobies. He whispered into Joyce's ear, and the two of them also headed toward Tara.

Tara broke eye contact with her father and took a step back. "Dad, I…ummm…I d-d-didn't know you were here."

"We slipped in at the end of the awards," Mr. Maclay said.

"W-W-We?" Tara asked.

"Your brother and I," he answered. "You didn't tell us about the ceremony. We had to find out by postcard," he added, holding up the official announcement card from UC Sunnydale.

Tara looked at the forwarding sticker on the card and hung her head. You idiot! she thought to herself. You didn't change the false address you gave the school. It must have been sent back and then forwarded to your original permanent address back home. Idiot!

Tara glanced quickly at her father and then hung her head again. "S-S-Sorry…I… ummm…I d-d-didn't want to b-b-bother you. It's s-s-such a long d-d-drive." Tara lifted her eyes.

"When it comes my daughter, I'd do just about anything," he said. "Isn't that right, Tara?

"Y-Y-Yes, sir," she said with a quick nod, her eyes not leaving his. Tara barely registered when Buffy and Willow arrived and took up positions on each side of her and touched her arms.

"It's good to know that Tara has such a supportive family," Dean Henderson said, patting Mr. Maclay's arm before leaving to mingle elsewhere.

Buffy and Willow looked at Tara inquisitively, but she still stared at her father.

"Family?" Willow asked.

At Willow's question, Tara finally blinked and looked away. She met her girlfriends' eyes briefly, then glanced at Xander, Anya, Giles, and Joyce as they arrived. Mr. Maclay straightened and took in the sight of the small crowd around Tara. His eyes narrowed, then he forced a small smile.

"Aren't you going to introduce me?" he prodded his daughter.

"Oh…umm…yes, sir," Tara said. "This is –"

"There you are!" a voice boomed teasingly from behind Mr. Maclay, interrupting Tara. "We been lookin' all over for you," the voice continued as a scruffy-haired blond young man came into view. "Haven't we?" he said, nudging Mr. Maclay.

Tara forced a smile and made a gesture of introduction. "Ummm…everybody, this is my dad…and my brother, Donny."

Both Buffy and Willow replied with a cautious "hi" while Xander and Anya gave a small wave from the back.

"It's very nice to meet you," Joyce said.

"Indeed," Giles echoed, giving the Maclays a nod.

"Th-Th-These are my friends," Tara said.

Donny gave a snort of laughter. "All of them?" he asked incredulously. "Boy, that's more friends than you had in all of high school." Donny gave Tara's arm a playful punch. "Ain't it?"

"Yeah," Tara said flatly to her brother. Then she turned back to her father. "Ummm…how l-l-long will you be staying?"

"Just for tonight," Mr. Maclay answered. "We're staying in the RV park. We'll be going back tomorrow. We have some…" He glanced around at the group surrounding Tara. "…family business to discuss with you, though. I was hoping we could meet for dinner."

Tara hesitated, then said, "Ummm…okay."

"How about six…at your dorm?"

"Y-Y-Yes sir, th-th-that sounds fine."

Mr. Maclay looked at Tara's friends once again and smiled. "It was good to meet you all," he said formally.

"And you as well," Giles replied politely.

At that, both Mr. Maclay and his son left. Buffy and Willow watched until the two men were out of sight, then they turned quickly to Tara.

"Are you okay?" Willow asked in a concerned voice.

"We were over at the grazing line and then our stomachs went all lurchey," Buffy added. "What's going on?"

"I-I-I'm fine," Tara said in what she hoped was a believable voice. "I was just s-s-surprised, that's all. I w-w-wasn't expecting to see them here."

"I didn't even know that you…" Willow said. "I mean, you've mentioned your mother, but…"

"My parents s-s-separated when I was thirteen," Tara explained. "I went with mom, and Donny went with Dad. We haven't exactly been close." She paused and looked down at the floor once again. When she looked up, she said, "Look, I-I-I'm not feeling very well. I think I should go back to my room."

"Are you sure you don't wanna come back with us?" Willow asked.

"No!" Tara said more sharply than she intended. She softened her tone. "I…ummm…I think I need to be alone, you know, g-g-get some sleep?"

"O-O-Okay," Buffy said in a not-quite-convinced tone. "We'll walk you there," she added, meeting Willow's eyes.

Tara nodded her agreement, then turned to Xander, Anya, Giles, and Joyce. "Thanks for coming today. It m-m-meant a lot to me."

Xander gave her a thumbs-up and a wide grin. "You betcha. Gotta support the brainiacs of the group."

"We're very proud of you, Tara. And you too, Willow," Joyce told the girls.

After a round of thank-you's and good-bye's, the Three made their way through the crowd and out of the building.

Tara, Willow, and Buffy walked in silence all the way back to Tara's dorm. Tara walked up the front steps toward the entrance. When Buffy and Willow went to follow her inside, she stopped and turned around to face them.

"Th-Th-Thanks for walking me home," she told them. Tara began backing away towards the door.

Buffy reached out to the frightened blonde. "Tara, are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm f-f-fine," Tara replied. "I just need to l-l-lie down for a while. I'll see you guys later."

Before her girlfriends could say another word, Tara turned around and dashed into her dorm.

Once in her hallway, Tara began walking briskly to her room. As tears threatened to come, her walking became running, and she barely made it to her room before her tears broke. She slammed the door shut and immediately closed her eyes and tilted her head down in a prayerful pose.

"Sacred be this chosen place, shield it now from every face," Tara forced out in a choked voice.

When she felt the magic barrier surround the room, she let out a shaking sigh of relief and fell back against the door.

"Oh god…" she whispered before starting to cry hard.

Suddenly, she stopped, and a frightened look came over her face. She snapped around and quickly locked the door, then stepped away from it. With a look of terror on her face, she kept backing up, her eyes fixed on the door, until her retreat was stopped by her bed. She dropped onto the bed. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself and began to rock in place. Then she started to sob.

Willow and Buffy watched in shock as Tara practically ran away from them and into her dorm.

"Something is wrong," Buffy announced. "Very wrong."

"I know," Willow agreed.

"We should go after her. She shouldn't be alone like this –"

Willow stopped Buffy with a hand on her arm. "Buffy, she wants to be alone."

"But she's hurting," Buffy said. "God, Will, can't you feel that?" Buffy put her hand on Willow's chest over her heart.

Willow covered Buffy's hand with her own. "Yes, I feel it, just like you do. But Tara's not ready to tell us yet, and I don't think we should try and force her to talk if she isn't ready." Willow felt Tara's strong emotions fade away. "See? She's feeling better already."

Buffy felt it too, but gave Willow a disbelieving look. Buffy looked at Tara's window then glanced back toward the auditorium. "It's her family, I know it!" she said abruptly. "Did you see the way she acted around them? How stuttery she got?"

"Buffy, Tara stutters all the time."

"Not like that, she doesn't," Buffy pointed out. "She was extra super duper stuttery."

Willow tried to shrug it off. "She was probably just nervous. She hadn't expected to see them there, and they surprised her."

"Why are you defending them?" Buffy asked irately.

"I'm not defending them," Willow replied. "I'm just…" Willow paused and then started again. "I just don't think we should jump to any conclusions until Tara herself tells us what's up."

Buffy thought about that for a moment. Finally, she said, "Okay. You win."

Willow grinned. "Good. I like to win."

"But you've only won the battle, not the war," Buffy warned her. "I am going to remain firmly entrenched in my suspicions until Tara convinces me otherwise."

Willow linked her arm in Buffy's and began walking the two of them away from Tara's dorm. "We'll give Tara some space. She'll rest. She'll think. Then when we catch up with her later, she'll tell all. You'll see."

Tara sobbed until her sides were sore. Then she sat up and wiped her eyes. She took a deep breath and stood up.

Maybe they really are here just to visit, Tara thought to herself. I shouldn't assume the worst.

They are the worst! her mind threw back at her. Have you forgotten?

Tara shook her head. No, she certainly had not forgotten. She could never forget.

"You were so stupid!" she angrily told herself. "How could you forget to change the address? Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

Tara looked at the ceiling. "What am I going to do?" she prayed to anyone who would listen.

She closed her eyes and shook her head once again. When she opened her eyes, they held a determined look. "I can't go back with them. I can't…I won't! I won't live like that again."

Tara's expression of determination suddenly gave way to one of terror. Oh god, what if he tells them about me…what I am, she thought. They'll hate me for sure.

"Oh god…" Tara said as she slipped back onto her bed.

As her tears returned, her fear and despair overwhelmed her. She curled into a tight ball and let the sobs come.

Hours later, Tara lay in a fitful sleep on her bed. She tossed her head from side to side and jerked her arms as the occasional "no" and "Daddy, please" slipped from her mouth. In her mind, pieces of her past bombarded her.

Her father looming over her, his belt in his hand. A backhanded blow across her cheek. Her brother laughing. A crushing grip on her arms, sending her to her knees. The smell of hay and the smack of leather on bare skin. Herself crying, pleading. A bug's-eye-view of the kitchen floor as she lay bruised and broken beside the refrigerator. The taste of her own blood in her mouth. A pounding on the door.

When the pounding became louder, Tara shot up from bed. She glanced fearfully at her door and then at her alarm clock.

"Oh god, it's six o'clock! He's here!" she hissed.

She looked around frantically as if deciding what to do. She finally forced herself to calm down. When she had done so, she answered the door.

"Dad, come in," she said. "I'm sorry I d-d-didn't get to the door sooner."

Mr. Maclay didn't answer. He merely walked inside and started looking around the room as Tara shut the door. He went to a table, picked up a large crystal, scoffed, and set it back down.

"You don't even try to hide it anymore, do you? Not even with your birthday coming up?" he asked as he moved towards her. "You're just…just…embracing it, aren't you?"

"Dad, it's not like that, I –"

The backhanded blow came out of nowhere and sent Tara stumbling to the floor of her dorm room. Her father stood over her and pointed down at her angrily.

"Don't you dare talk back to me, little girl!" he barked.

He grabbed her arms and yanked her to her feet. He squeezed her arms until she cried out in pain.

"No kin of mine is going to willingly walk down the road to hell while I have breath to stop it. Do you understand me?"

Tara nodded then winced in pain as her father squeezed her arms even tighter. "Yes sir," she said.

Mr. Maclay released his daughter. Tara managed to stay on her feet, but kept her eyes on the floor. She was trying not to cry but failing. She trembled when her father lifted her chin with his hand and stared into her eyes.

"I'll be back here at six o'clock tomorrow morning," he told her. "You have your stuff packed and ready to go. Clothes and personal items only. No books, no crystals, no candles…I'll have none of the devil's things in my house."

Mr. Maclay suddenly reached up toward Tara's face. She flinched, expecting another blow. She was surprised when she got a gentle cupping of her cheek.

"It's the only way, Tara," he said. "You know that. You can't control what's going to happen. You have evil inside of you, and it will come out. Without me, you're lost."

Tara didn't answer. She simply watched as her father pulled his hand away and headed for the door.

"Six o'clock," he reminded her before slipping out.

In Stevenson Hall, Willow sat on the bed with a book on her lap as Buffy puttered about, gathering their dirty clothes for a trip to the laundry room. They had both changed out of their dress clothes from the honors ceremony and into their sweats and t-shirts. Willow looked up from her book and glanced at the phone. She checked the time on her alarm clock: 7:29 p.m.

"Think Tara's back yet?" Willow asked.

Buffy checked her watch. "Probably. Why don't you call and see?"

"Okay," Willow said before picking up the phone and punching in Tara's number.

It rang once, then twice, before Tara answered.

"Hello?" Tara said.

"Hey," Willow said. "How're you feeling? Better?"

"Oh, hey," Tara replied. "Not really."

"Oh. Sorry," Willow said. Then she perked up her voice. "How was supper, though? Have fun catching up with your family?"

"Ummm…yeah…sure."

"Well…you wanna come over and hang out? I promise we won't keep you up. You can get all the rest you need. Right, Buffy?"

"Absolutely!" Buffy called out from the closet.

"No…I should, ummm, just stay here. Really. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Tara said reassuringly. "I can, ummm, see you guys in the morning. At the dining hall."

"Oh. Okay," Willow said, trying to hide her disappointment and concern. "I mean, sure. We can see you tomorrow. It's not like we're joined at the hip, right? Or hips, I guess I should say."

"Right."

"Well…okay then. We'll, ummm, see you tomorrow."

"Okay."

"Okay," Willow said. She paused and then added, "Bye…I guess."

"Good night."

Willow listened a few seconds more then went to hang up the phone. When she heard Tara call to her, she quickly pulled the phone back.

"Yes?"

"I love you," Tara said. "Both of you."

"We love you too," Willow said sincerely as a puzzled look came over her face.

Willow waited, listening for Tara to speak again. After a moment, she finally heard Tara hang up the phone.

Tara hung up the phone and let out a long shaky breath. A sob tried to escape her throat, but she wiped her eyes and forced the sob back down.

She too had changed into casual clothes: jeans, tennis shoes, t-shirt, and sweater. Now she walked back to her bed where she was packing a large duffel bag. In it she had placed her Book of Shadows and a few charms and ingredients needed for protection spells. She had just finished packing several sets of clothes and was now adding her personal items: toothbrush, toothpaste, brush, and so on. The last item she picked up was a small picture book. She opened it and then leafed through the plastic pages, stopping on a photo of herself with Willow and Buffy. She gently touched the photo with her fingertips.

I'm sorry, she thought. But this is the only way.

I'm sorry, she repeated.

Then she put the picture book inside the duffel bag and zipped it up tightly. She swung the heavy bag over her shoulder. She pulled an envelope from her pocket and left it on the bed where it could be clearly seen. Then she turned out the lights and left the room.

Tara slipped out the front door of her dorm and headed down the steps. When she reached the bottom, she looked around nervously. Seeing no sign of her father or brother, she started off down the sidewalk toward the student center, where she planned to get some cash off her student account card. She walked as quickly as she could while carrying the heavy bag, frequently stopping to reposition it on her shoulder. During one of these moments of distraction, Donny suddenly jumped in front of her out of the bushes.

"Where do you think you're goin'?" he asked with a smile.

Tara gasped in surprise and dropped her bag. As she drew a breath and reached out her hand to cast, Donny grabbed her and held a cloth over her face. She struggled to free herself, but it was too late. She went limp in his arms.

Donny laughed, then pulled the cloth away and stuffed it in his back pocket. He picked Tara up into his arms and started carrying her to his truck.

In Stevenson Hall, Willow and Buffy felt Tara's fear at the same time. It hit them like a knife in the chest. They instantly dropped what they were doing and ran from the room.

Moments later, Willow and Buffy burst into Tara's dorm room. They found it empty, then they noticed the envelope on the bed. It was addressed to them. They opened the envelope and read the note inside:

Buffy and Willow looked at the note and then each other, their mouths wide open in utter shock. Then they spoke at the same time.

"We have to find her!" they cried.

Buffy and Willow ran out of Tara's dorm and stopped at the bottom of the steps. Buffy faced Willow and grabbed her arm.

"Okay, let's do this," Buffy said as she joined hands with Willow.

They both took a deep breath and tried to concentrate. As seconds passed, they began to panic more and more.

"I'm not getting anything!" Willow said.

"Keep trying!" Buffy urged. "We can do this!"

Willow focused harder. "She's nearby but…Argghhh!" Willow pulled her hands away in frustration. "It's just not working!"

"Okay, well let's narrow it down," Buffy said. "She's running away, where would she go?"

"The airport, the bus station?" Willow answered uncertainly.

"Money's tight, she'd probably skip the airport," Buffy said. "Does she have a credit card?"

Willow thought for a second. "I don't think so. I've never seen her use one, not even a Visa debit card."

"Then she'd need cash," Buffy said.

"She'd use her student card then…the one with her stipend on it," Willow replied.

"The student center!" they chimed together before heading that way.

They didn't get far before they came across Tara's duffel bag in the bushes beside the sidewalk. They pulled it out and looked inside.

"Why'd she leave her bag?" Willow asked worriedly.

"Something was after her," Buffy said, then corrected herself. "Or someone."

"Her family. It must be."

"I knew she was afraid of them!" Buffy said angrily to herself, then she turned to Willow. "Check the student center, just to be sure," she ordered, "and call Giles while you're at it. I'm going on to the RV park. Meet me there unless you hear from me otherwise."

Willow nodded firmly then gave Buffy a kiss. "Be careful."

"You too," Buffy said before dashing off at slayer speed across the campus.

In the cab of Donny's truck, Tara awakened slowly. Her eyes fluttered open and shut multiple times as she lay facedown on the bench seat. After a few moments, she pushed herself up. She looked around groggily before shaking her head to clear the dizziness left behind by the drug Donny had used. She took several deep breaths.

Suddenly, she heard a banging noise outside. It came from the back of the truck, where Donny and his father were connecting the small travel trailer to the battered pickup. She ducked down in the seat and peeked over the top of the seat, grateful for the gun rack that blocked much of the view into the cab.

Donny was standing at the tailgate looking down at his father, who was on the ground underneath the hitch. When Donny crouched down to help with the light kit, Tara took her chance. She abruptly opened the door and jumped out. Unfortunately, the sudden move triggered a dizzy spell, and she stumbled drunkenly to her knees, crying out as she did so. Donny immediately shot up from his crouch.

Mr. Maclay could not rise as quickly because of his position on the ground. "Get her!" he shouted at Donny. "And make sure you use enough of that stuff this time!"

Donny ran for his sister. When she saw him coming toward her, she screamed and struggled to her feet. She only got a few yards away before Donny caught up to her. He grabbed her by one arm, but she turned around and struck out wildly at her brother, hitting him in the face. Donny yelled in pain, but did not let go. He angrily grabbed her free arm and shoved her to the ground on her back, straddling her legs.

"You're gonna pay for that, bitch!" he raged as he brought his fist crashing into Tara's face.

Donny landed another blow and then lifted his arm to hit her again. He never got the chance as Buffy suddenly body tackled him off Tara, sending the two of them tumbling off in a tangle. When they stopped, Buffy was on top of Donny. Before he could even react, she started pummeling his face.

"Don't you ever…touch Tara…again!" she screamed, punctuating each phrase with a violent punch.

Donny was rendered unconscious after the very first blow, but Buffy didn't stop. Tara regained her bearings and sat up. She gasped when she saw her father heading toward Buffy with a shotgun.

"Buffy!" Tara screamed. "Behind you!"

When Mr. Maclay reached Buffy, he stepped beside her and pumped the slide on his twelve-gauge, sending a shell into the chamber. Then he pointed the barrel right at Buffy's temple.

Buffy froze mid-punch.

"Get the hell off my son, or I swear to God I will blow your brains out!" Mr. Maclay said.

Buffy held her hands in the air and slowly got off Donny. As she backed a few feet away, Mr. Maclay lowered the gun but kept it trained on her. Willow suddenly ran onto the scene, joining Buffy in a skidding stop before realizing that they had a gun pointed at them. Willow froze but then looked around Mr. Maclay to see Tara on the other side.

"What have you done to Tara?!" Willow demanded, taking a step toward Mr. Maclay.

Mr. Maclay raised the shotgun once again, and Buffy grabbed Willow by the arm to pull her back.

"No!" Tara cried in anguish, scrambling to her feet. She staggered over to her father and fell to her knees beside him. With tears streaming down her face, she reached out to him. "Dad, no, please don't hurt them," she pleaded. "I-I-I'll go with you, just please don't hurt them."

"Go?" Willow asked in disbelief. "Tara, what are you talking about?"

"You heard Tara," Mr. Maclay said. "She's coming with us…back home where she belongs…with her family. So move along or else."

"Or else what?" Buffy challenged. "You'll shoot us?"

"Buffy, please," Tara said. "He'll do it, he will. So just go."

"That's right, I will, and…Arggghh!" Mr. Maclay screamed in agony as a crossbow bolt sank into his arm, causing him to drop the shotgun.

Fifty feet away, Giles lowered his crossbow.

"Great shot, G-man!" Xander said, slapping Giles on the shoulder as they quickly headed for the Three.

As Giles and Xander dashed over with Anya right on their heels, Buffy instantly claimed the dropped shotgun and pointed it in Mr. Maclay's direction. She and Willow moved around Mr. Maclay and pulled Tara away from him.

Buffy handed the shotgun to Xander and then stood protectively in front of Willow and Tara. As Mr. Maclay yanked the crossbow bolt from his arm, Donny groggily got to his feet and joined his father.

Mr. Maclay roared in pain and fury and then faced the group before him. "How dare you interfere with me and my daughter!" he shouted.

"Oh we dare," Buffy shot back.

Xander thrust the gun forward as an added emphasis on Buffy's statement.

"You tell him, Buffy!" Anya added from behind Xander.

Mr. Maclay's face was red with rage, and he stared angrily at them for a moment before calming himself a bit and changing tactics.

"I'm doing this for her own good, and yours for that matter," Mr. Maclay said.

Buffy and Willow both snorted derisively, but Tara merely hung her head.

"That's right," Mr. Maclay said. "You don't know what she is, but we do."

Buffy and Willow looked at each other, confused, then glanced at Tara. She wouldn't look up. Buffy looked at Giles.

"What…what do you mean?" Giles asked with concern.

Mr. Maclay straightened and stood to his full height. "Demon," he announced dramatically. "She has demon in her."

A look of shock spread over the Scoobies' faces.

"She and her mother both," Mr. Maclay continued as Donny wrapped a bandage around his father's bleeding arm. "That's where the magic comes from. When Tara turns twenty, the demon will come out."

Tara kept her eyes on the ground and pulled her arms tightly around herself in an attempt to make herself smaller, small enough to disappear if she could.

Buffy and Willow turned to Tara. Then Buffy asked, "Is it true?"

Tara lifted her head. Her face was wet with tears as she met her girlfriends' eyes. Then she nodded solemnly.

A look of betrayal came over Buffy and Willow. They stared at Tara in total disbelief. Finally unable to endure their gaze any longer, Tara dropped her eyes to her hands.

"I'm very s-s-sorry," Tara said. "I'll go."

Tara moved away from her girlfriends and headed for her father. After she had made only a few steps, Willow stopped her.

"Go? Go where?" Willow asked her. "With them?"

"We know how to deal with her problem," Mr. Maclay interjected haughtily.

"What? By beating her?" Buffy asked in scoffing tone. Then she stepped in front of Tara and crossed her arms tightly. "She's not going anywhere with you."

Mr. Maclay became enraged again. "You have no right to interfere in Tara's affairs!" he barked. "We are her blood kin. Who the hell are you?"

Buffy looked at Tara and then Willow. Then both Willow and Buffy put their arms around Tara.

"We're family," Buffy said with conviction. Willow added a firm nod of agreement.

Xander and Anya and Giles closed in, adding their weight to the stand.

"That's right!" Anya interjected. "We don't care if she's demon or not."

"Tara's one of us, and she's staying here," Xander said.

"That said," Giles added. "I believe your business here is finished, Mr. Maclay."

Mr. Maclay looked at the determined group facing him, then turned his attention to Tara herself.

"Tara, if you stay with them, you'll be putting them at risk, you know that," he told his daughter. "Without me to help you control it, the demon will-will…do God knows what!"

Tara looked nervously at Buffy and Willow, seriously considering her father's words. Then Willow gave her arm a squeeze.

"We can handle it," Willow whispered to her reassuringly. "I had a werewolf for a boyfriend, remember?"

"And hey, me with a vampire," Buffy reminded her. "We'll deal."

"Tara…" her father prompted sternly.

Tara smiled gratefully at her girlfriends, took a deep breath, and turned to her father.

"Dad," she said sadly. "Just go."

Mr. Maclay clenched his jaw and stared at Tara, his eyes burning with hatred. He looked like he was about to explode, but then fury gave way to reluctant resignation.

"So be it," he said. Then he turned around to go back to the truck.

Donny huffed and stopped his father. "Dad," he whined through his swollen mouth and face, "are you just gonna let her –"

Mr. Maclay gave his son a dangerous stare, and Donny instantly shut up. As Mr. Maclay finished walking to the truck, Donny turned his eyes to Tara. He glared at her for a moment, then joined his father. Within minutes, the Maclays were pulling out of the bay and leaving the RV park.

Once the truck and RV were gone, Xander immediately unloaded the shotgun and tossed the dangerous weapon on the ground. Meanwhile, Buffy and Willow pulled Tara into their arms and hugged her tightly. She began to cry and apologize all at the same time. When the Three separated, Buffy put her hands on Tara's cheeks to stop the blonde's frantic babbling.

"It's all right," she told her. "We'll talk later. Okay?"

Tara nodded wordlessly and gave Buffy a grateful smile. Buffy left Tara and turned to Giles and Xander and Anya.

"Thank you guys so much," Buffy told them. "For everything."

"You're very welcome," Giles said.

Everyone smiled, and soon there was a huge group hug going on. When everyone had been thoroughly and warmly hugged, Willow gave Tara's shirt sleeve a playful tug.

"And now, let's get you home where you belong," Willow added.

"Yeah…with us," Buffy added.

"Okay," Tara said, her face lighting up a little.

As Buffy and Willow led Tara away, Giles watched the Three carefully. At first, he smiled warmly, happy that everything had turned out all right. But his smile quickly fell as he considered the difficult road before them. He let out a heavy sigh and then motioned Xander and Anya to head out. Giles picked up the empty shotgun and discarded shells and led the group to follow the Three at a distance.

The next morning in L.A., Lilah perused her reflection in the full-length mirror in her spacious bedroom. She flicked a tiny piece of lint from her dark blue suit and straightened her jacket. She gave the mirror a final wink and smile and left the room. As she passed through the living room, she picked up her briefcase, turned out the lights, and left her apartment.

She strode confidently down the short hall to the elevator, pressed the down button, and waited. Within seconds, the doors opened, and she got in. She pressed the Lobby button, and the doors closed.

Lilah only half-watched as the other floors were passed without stopping, but when the elevator missed the Lobby and headed for the Basement, she huffed in annoyance.

"What the hell?" Lilah said angrily as she punched the Lobby button again. "Stupid elevator."

She crossed her arms and grumbled to herself for the few seconds remaining in the elevator's descent. When the car came to a stop, she waited for the doors to open. When they didn't, she punched the Lobby button multiple times.

"Come on," she complained. When the doors parted, she took a confrontational stance right at the front of the car. "All right, who the hell is tying up the damn elevator?"

"Ummm, that would be me," Angel said. Then he grabbed hold of Lilah's jacket and yanked her from the elevator before she could even make a sound.

A short time later, Cordelia and Wesley drove the non-descript van with blacked-over windows into a vacant warehouse. Once they had parked, Angel opened the back door and got out, pulling the bound and gagged Lilah from the van. He dragged her to the middle of the warehouse, where a long table with several chairs were laid out. The long table was covered with a large table cloth, concealing the items underneath. The chairs were simple folding chairs, except for one, which was a sturdy, solid-wood chair with wide slats and heavy legs.

Angel stood Lilah up in front of the chair and then removed her gag. As soon as it was off, she lit into Angel.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

Angel just smiled and shoved her roughly into the heavy wooden chair. Lilah grimaced in pain as she landed in the hard chair. Cordelia and Wesley took their seats in two of the folding chairs and remained silent. Angel leaned over and stared at Lilah menacingly.

"I don't know what you think you're up to, but you have bitten off more than you can chew," she told him. "I'm gonna have Wolfram and Hart all over you!"

"That's assumin' you're still alive," Angel replied, a dangerous Irish lilt slipping into his accent.

Then he lifted a small black object close to Lilah's face. Her eyes darted nervously at it as a drop of sweat rolled down her temple. With a flick of Angel's thumb, a razor sharp blade ejected from the black handle with a snickt! Lilah couldn't stop herself from flinching.

"We want some information," he said as he smiled again and put the blade away.

"I'm not telling you anything!" Lilah spat back.

"Is that so?" Angel said as he sauntered over to the long table.

Lilah swallowed hard as she watched him pull off the table cloth with a flourish. On the table were various tools of torture, laid out neatly and precisely. There were blades and saws, torches and branding irons, clamps and pins, extractors and drills, stun guns and cattle prods. Angel walked up and down the table aimlessly as if deciding what item to use first.

"You know, it's really a tough decision," he said. "So many choices these days."

"I'm not afraid of you," Lilah said bravely. "There's nothing you can do to me that would be worse than what Wolfram and Hart would do to me if I talked."

"Let's test that theory, shall we?" Angel replied.

As Angel lifted a gruesome-looking knife from the table, Lilah grimaced and rethought her tactics. "Angel," she said, "you can't do this. You have a soul and –"

"That's the funny thing about souls," Angel said as he put down the knife, picked up another item, and turned from the table, "they're not pre-programmed to be good." Angel hefted a long and heavy cattle prod in his hands as he crossed back to Lilah. "We always have a choice, don't we? Between dark and light. Between good and evil." Angel ran his finger across the metal prongs protruding from the end of the rod. "Some choices are difficult to make, but one thing never changes… there are always consequences."

At that, Angel activated the cattle prod and thrust it against Lilah's body, sending her screams echoing through the warehouse.

A few hours later, Angel left Lilah and returned to the long table containing his tools of torture. While Angel was occupied, Cordelia went over to the prisoner.

Lilah was now bound to the chair, her arms and legs lashed to it with strong rope. Her hair was mussed, her jacket had been removed, and her blouse was torn and bloodied. Her head was leaning forward on her chest.

Cordelia lifted the lawyer's bruised face and brought a water bottle to her lips. Lilah took an eager drink. Cordelia leaned over to whisper into Lilah's ear.

"Look, if you know something," Cordelia warned her, "you'd better start talking. He's getting a little twitchy, and frankly, I'm scared for ya."

Lilah stopped drinking to laugh at Cordelia. "Is this your rendition of bad cop, good cop?" she said. "If so, it's pathetic. It's completely transparent. No wonder you flopped as an actress."

Cordelia's expression hardened, and she leaned over until she was nose to nose with Lilah. "You listen to me, you stupid bitch. There is only one thing in this world that makes Angel go crazy – as in lose-his-conscience crazy – and that thing is Buffy Summers. He knows you're targeting her, and he will stop at nothing to protect her. And if he fails and Buffy gets hurt, God help whoever did the hurtin'."

Cordelia straightened and left. A look of fear entered Lilah's eyes as she watched Cordelia walk away. Then her gaze was drawn to Angel, who was making his way slowly back to Lilah. She swallowed hard and tried to steel herself.

As Angel walked toward Lilah, he carried a plastic mop bucket. He looked inside the bucket and gave it a little shake. As he neared, Lilah could hear the faint scurrying of live contents inside. Angel grinned and looked up, catching Lilah's eye.

"You ever watch that show Fear Factor?" Angel asked. "You know, the one where the contestants have to walk a tightrope between two skyscrapers or jump from a speeding boat onto another speeding boat?"

Angel gave the bucket another shake, then continued. Lilah began to breathe heavily and barely stifled a whimper.

"Well, every now and then," Angel continued, "they have to do something really creepy. The stunts usually involve live animals of some kind, animals that most folks find terrifying."

Angel reached into the bucket, grabbed something, and lifted it out.

"Like…scorpions, for instance," he said.

A strangled cry came from deep within Lilah's throat, and she looked away. Angel held up the struggling creature by its sting-laden tail and brought it closer to Lilah. She wouldn't look at it, though, so Angel looked at the scorpion instead.

"Well, I don't know if they've actually used scorpions on the show or not," he said, "but if they haven't, they really should. I mean, look at these critters!"

Angel brought the scorpion within inches of Lilah's eyes.

"That looks pretty scary to me," he said, "especially if you've got hundreds of them…"

Angel dropped the scorpion back into the bucket and tipped the pail slightly so that Lilah could see the scuttling mass of scorpions inside.

"…just dumped on top of you, just crawling all over your body, just –"

"Stop!" Lilah cried. "Just stop. Please."

"Why?" Angel asked.

"I don't know anything," she pleaded.

Angel gave the bucket a shake. Lilah flinched and screamed. She stopped when she realized he hadn't dumped anything on her yet. He was still waiting for her to share.

"Look, all I know is that Holland has something planned. He hasn't given me any details, but he seems confident that he's found some way to deal with the Three, without triggering the curse."

"And what way is that?" Angel asked.

"I don't know."

"And when is this plan supposed to take place?"

"He didn't say," Lilah said.

Angel threw down the bucket, sending scorpions everywhere. Cordelia screeched and jumped on her chair as a line of scorpions slid her way. Angel grabbed Lilah by the throat.

"Don't…lie to me!" he boomed.

"I'm not," Lilah squeaked. "I…urk…swear."

Wesley skirted the line of scorpions and came up on the other side of Angel. He grabbed Angel's arm and pulled on it.

"Angel, please," Wesley said as Angel increased pressure on Lilah's throat. "Angel! I think she's telling the truth!"

Angel thought for a second, without releasing his grip. Then he finally released her. Lilah coughed and gasped for air.

"She better be," Angel said to Wesley before turning back to Lilah. "Because if anything happens to Buffy, I'm coming back, and I'm finishing the job." Angel stared into Lilah's frightened eyes. "I'm gonna bring Wolfram and Hart down, starting with you!"

Angel turned back to Wesley. "Dump her off at the firm and get this place cleaned up," Angel ordered. "I'm outta here."

Cordelia watched Angel walk off and then gave an angry huff. "What?!" she called after him. "You could at least scoop up your own scorpions, you, you…oh never mind." She gave him a dismissive wave, knowing that her tirade would be wasted.

Meanwhile, at Wolfram and Hart, Holland Manners was conducting a late meeting with a new employee: a tall black-clad man with dark hair and cold eyes.

"We want the Three out of commission," Holland said to the man. "You understand the stipulations?"

"I understand that there are three dirty little girls in Sunnydale that need my special attentions," the man said with a heavy southern accent and a devious smile. "Don't you worry none. You can consider the matter a done deal."

Holland returned the man's smile. "That's just what I wanted to hear," he said before extending a hand to his visitor. "Welcome aboard, Caleb."

Caleb smiled again, took Holland's hand, and shook it. "Why, it's a pleasure to be of service."

Part 6

The Three hadn't spoken much on the way home from the RV park. They had merely held one another in the backseat of Xander's car until they had been dropped off at Stevenson Hall.

When they got to their dorm room, Willow held the door open as Buffy helped Tara inside. Once she had shut the door, Willow returned to her position on the other side of Tara. Together, the two of them led Tara to the bed. Her clothes were dirty and torn from the ordeal with her brother and father. The right knee of her jeans was ripped, and she was clearly limping.

Once they had gotten Tara seated, Willow sat beside her, and Buffy went to get the first aid kit. Tara kept her head down, her eyes fixed on her hands and her hair hiding her face. Willow reached out and took Tara's hand in her own. Tara didn't look up. Willow brushed Tara's hair back behind her ear and gently touched the blonde's bruised face.

"You're okay now," Willow assured her.

When Tara finally looked up, tears were on her face. "I'm so sorry," she said with a catch in her voice.

Willow put her fingers over Tara's lips, stopping her apology. "Shhh...don't worry about any of that right now. It's not important."

"But –" Tara tried to object.

"No buts," Buffy said as she returned to the bed, carrying the first aid kit, a bath towel, and an ice pack. "We'll talk later. Right now, just let us take care of you, okay?"

Tara took a deep breath and then nodded.

Buffy set down the items she had been carrying. Then she knelt at Tara's feet and began to remove the witch's shoes and socks. Willow pulled Tara's sweater off. When Buffy stood, the two of them helped Tara take off her jeans, underwear, t-shirt, and bra.

Willow locked eyes with Buffy for a moment as if sharing a private mental conversation. Then Willow climbed up on the bed and sat behind Tara. Willow took a pillow and put it in her lap. She gave it a few pats, indicating that Tara should scoot back and lie with her head in Willow's lap.

"Just relax," Willow told her. "Close your eyes."

Once Tara was in place with her eyes closed, Willow began to lightly stroke Tara's hair and to whisper calming words. Buffy handed the ice pack to Willow, who carefully put it on Tara's bruised face. Buffy rolled up the bath towel and put it under Tara's right leg. Then she opened the first aid kit, took out some antiseptic pads, and began cleaning the wound on Tara's knee. Tara's face creased in pain only once before Willow's calming words merged seamlessly into a magical incantation. Tara's body instantly relaxed. Within a few minutes, Buffy finished cleaning, applied an antibiotic ointment, and put a large bandage on the wound.

"All done," Buffy said before giving the bandage a light kiss and looking up. She found Tara sound asleep. Buffy grinned and looked at Willow. "Good work," she told her.

"You too," Willow replied, setting the ice pack aside. "Come on, let's get her under the covers."

Once they had gotten Tara into bed, they stood beside her and watched her sleep. After a moment, Buffy turned to Willow.

"Okay. We've got first aid and rest covered," Buffy said. "What else can we do?"

Willow thought for a few seconds and then said, "Well, there is a healing spell we could do. It won't do miracles, but it should help."

"Let's do it," Buffy said.

With the healing spell complete, Buffy and Willow once again stood watch over the sleeping Tara.

"How long will she sleep?" Buffy asked as she turned and faced the redhead.

"I don't know," Willow answered. "A while, I imagine. Between the sleep incantation and the healing spell, she should be out of it for at least ten hours, maybe more."

"But she'll be better when she wakes up?"

"Yes, much better. Not 100%, but better."

The two gave each other a long hug then turned back to Tara.

"Poor Tara," Willow whispered with a frown. "I thought I had it bad with my family."

"Bastards," Buffy growled. "I can't believe what they put her through. They're just damn lucky I don't kill humans."

"I hear ya," Willow concurred.

"It's no wonder Tara's the way she is after living with that for so long," Buffy commented. "Beating her for having demon in her. Like that's her fault. Bastards."

"Do you think she does?" Willow asked. "Have demon in her, I mean?"

"I-I-I don't know," Buffy said with an uncertain shrug. "Her father said she did. A-A-And she seemed to believe it. Wouldn't she know?"

"Children can be taught to believe anything," Willow pointed out. After a pause, she asked, "What about you? Does she set off your Slayer senses at all?"

Buffy shook her head. "But that doesn't mean anything," she added quickly. "It doesn't kick in for all demons. It works for vamps mostly, but even then, it doesn't always. Giles is always on me to work on my 'honing' as he calls it." Buffy directed the focus back to Willow. "What about you? Wouldn't you have sensed something when you two did magic together? If she were part demon, wouldn't that be like black magic or something?"

It was Willow's turn to shake her head. "I've never felt anything but white magic from Tara." Willow touched Buffy's arm. "You know her, Buffy. There's nothing but good inside her. I just can't believe that she's got some kind of evil demon inside of her."

Buffy got a worried look. "But...she has kept secrets from us. Maybe there's a part of her we haven't seen yet."

"It doesn't matter," Willow pronounced with a mild version of her resolve face. "Demon or not, we love her, and she loves us, and we will make this work."

"Yes, we will," Buffy firmly agreed. "Any ideas?"

"Maybe. I need to talk to Giles, though. There has to be a way to tell if she's got demon in her and what kind. We need to know what we're up against – if we're up against anything at all."

"Sounds good. We get with the research, and we find a solution. But first we talk to Tara and get her to tell us everything."

"It won't be easy. She's been hiding all this for so long," Willow said as a few tears rolled down her cheeks. "She was so alone, Buffy, so scared."

Buffy gripped Willow's arms and looked her in the eyes. "I know. But she's not alone anymore. She's got us, and we're going to take care of her and stay with her no matter what."

The next day around noon, Tara woke up. She had slept peacefully the whole night through, but now she sat up and groggily looked around the room. Willow was at her desk studying. Buffy wasn't in the room. Just then, Buffy came in the door with a sack of food in her arms. She smiled when she saw Tara sitting up.

"Hey you," Buffy said.

Willow looked first at Buffy and then turned around toward the bed. "Tara," she said, her face brightening.

Buffy set down the sack of food, then both she and Willow came to Tara.

"Hey, baby," Willow said. "How're you feeling?"

"Groggy," Tara groaned. "How long did I sleep?"

Buffy glanced at the clock. "About fourteen hours."

"Really?" Tara said in disbelief. "I never sleep that long without waking up."

Buffy shrugged. "Well, given the circumstances..."

Willow added her own sheepish shrug. "Plus, I kinda helped a little in that department. I did a small sleep spell on you. I figured you needed the rest."

Tara smiled gratefully. "Thanks."

"We did a healing spell too," Buffy said. "Did it work?"

"Yes," Willow said excitedly. "Are you okay? Are you hurting anywhere?"

Tara grimaced and said, "I do have a sharp pain."

As one, Willow and Buffy chimed in anxiously, "Where?!"

Tara gave her girlfriends a half-smirk before saying, "In my bladder. I need to go to the bathroom."

Willow and Buffy laughed and visibly relaxed.

When Tara started to get up, Willow reached out to her. "Here, let me help you."

While Willow peeled the covers back, Buffy went to get Tara's robe.

"I think I can manage on my own," Tara said with a grin.

Willow pulled back, put her hands on her hips, and looked pointedly at both Tara and Buffy. "What is it with you two?" she chided teasingly.

Tara swung her legs off the bed. "What?" she asked, confused.

"In the hospital," Willow explained. "Hard-headed Buffy wouldn't let me help her to the bathroom either. She nearly ended up sprawled on the floor."

"I made it to the bathroom just fine, thank you very much," Buffy objected. "It was the getting back that I had a problem with," she admitted as she handed Tara her robe.

Tara thanked her, stood up, and put on her robe.

"How's your knee?" Willow asked.

Tara made a couple of test steps. "Not bad," she said as she made a few more steps. "You did good," she told them both.

Tara gave earnest kisses to both Buffy and Willow and then headed for the door. Buffy and Willow shadowed the witch's every step. Tara left the room, went down the hall a few yards, then stopped. Buffy and Willow were right behind her. She turned to face them.

"Are you two going to follow me all the way to the stall?"

"No," Buffy stated for the record.

"Of course not," Willow firmly denied.

Tara lifted her eyebrow and stared. Buffy and Willow squirmed.

"Just to the bathroom door," Buffy replied.

Tara rolled her eyes and turned back to moving down the hallway. When she got to the bathroom door, she gave them a shooing wave and went inside. Buffy and Willow loitered outside a moment, then reluctantly returned to their room. In the bathroom, Tara smiled to herself as she thought about Buffy and Willow hovering protectively over her. Then she remembered the events of the night before. Her face saddened, and she sighed deeply.

When Tara returned to the room, Buffy and Willow had a spread of food laid out on the floor picnic style. Buffy helped Tara get seated. Then the three of them started to eat. They made idle chit-chat through a few bites before Tara finally decided to break the ice.

"I, um, I guess I have some explaining to do, huh?" Tara said.

Buffy and Willow nodded.

"But only if you feel like it," Willow interjected. "We don't wanna push."

After a pause, Buffy added, "But we would like to know."

Tara hung her head. She didn't speak for a long time. Then she sighed shakily. She looked up, tears in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry I didn't tell you," Tara said. "I just couldn't."

Buffy and Willow reached out and touched Tara comfortingly.

"Tara, it's okay," Buffy reassured her. "We understand."

"I was just so scared," Tara said.

"Of what?" Willow asked gently.

"A lot of things," Tara answered. She looked off for a moment and then said, "That my family would find me."

Buffy threw her shoulders back proudly and announced, "Well, I think we can scratch that one off the ole fear list."

"Yep," Willow agreed. "What else?" she inquired.

Tara looked down. Once again, there was a long pause. "That you'd hate me and never want to see me again."

"Not gonna happen," Willow stated sternly. "Not ever."

"Right," Buffy said. "So scratch that one off too."

Tara smiled lightly then looked down again.

"What else?" Willow prompted once more, but Tara couldn't speak.

"Whatever it is, you can tell us," Buffy said.

Tara looked up and met their eyes. "I was afraid I'd hurt you...that the demon inside me would make me do something evil and you'd be hurt."

Willow shook her head. "You would never do that, Tara. You don't have an evil bone in your –"

"You don't understand!" Tara nearly shouted. "I've already done it!"

Buffy and Willow looked confused.

"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked. "Neither of us has been hurt."

"Yes you have," Tara said sadly. "Buffy, you almost died, and it was all my fault."

Buffy and Willow continued to look confused.

"You mean the thing with the Banesdrake demon?" Buffy tried to clarify. "Tara, you had nothing to do with that. You helped save my life, remember?"

Tara shook her head. "It never would've happened at all if I hadn't..." Tara stopped, unable to go on.

"Hadn't what?" Willow asked.

Tara let her head drop before barely whispering, "Sabotaged the demon locator spell." Tara ventured a quick peek then put her head back down. "I-I-I was trying to hide. I didn't w-w-want you to see what I was." Tara started to cry. "I'm so sorry..."

No one spoke for a while. Buffy looked on in shock. Willow did too. Then Willow glanced at Buffy, as if waiting for a cue from her. Buffy finally looked back at Tara and grabbed her arm.

"Tara, look at me," Buffy said. "I have to tell you something important." Tara looked up at Buffy. "What you did – I understand why you did it. But you need to know that it's not why I got hurt. Even if you hadn't sabotaged the spell, I still might have gotten hurt."

Both Tara and Willow looked on with confusion and concern while Buffy continued.

"I went out that night determined to take on the demon again. It wouldn't've mattered whether I already knew where it was or not. I still would've gone, and I would've gone alone."

An expression of betrayal washed over Willow's face. "What?!" she exclaimed. "Buffy...you promised me that night...you promised you wouldn't take it on alone, you said you were just looking to find it, not fight it."

"I know. I lied." Buffy hung her head, then lifted it again with a forced smile on her face. "See, Tara, you're not the only fibber in the group," she said lightly.

Willow refused to allow the humorous shift. She stared at Buffy with hurt in her eyes. "Buffy...why?"

Buffy gave up the fake smile and looked down at her hands. "I don't know. I was in a very dark place then. I'd finally figured out how I felt about you, a-a-and then I realized I was too late. I mean, it wasn't me you got glowage for, it was Tara."

Willow looked outraged. "I do so glow for you!"

"She does," Tara instantly chimed in. "She glows for you all the time."

"Maybe now," Buffy corrected them. "Not then."

"But she did. Then, I mean," Tara said. "When we first met, at the Bronze, I could see it, in your auras. I didn't realize what it was until later, but it was definitely there."

"Darn tootin'!" Willow added.

Buffy smiled and caved. "Okay, okay, I get it. The point is...I didn't know that then, and I was really down in the dumps about it."

Willow held up her hand. "Wait...are you saying that you wanted to get hurt, that you were trying to –"

"No!" Buffy quickly denied. "No," she repeated with less conviction. "At least I don't think I was...not consciously." Buffy sighed. "I just wanted to get the situation off my mind and focus on slaying. A-A-And I guess I really didn't care how it turned out. I just didn't care."

"Well, I cared!" Willow protested. "God, Buffy, we all cared!"

"I know," Buffy said. "I realized how stupid I'd been when you found me in that ravine, when I saw how upset you were."

Realization came over Willow's face. "That's what you meant."

Tara wasn't following. "What?"

Willow turned to Tara. "When I found Buffy in the ravine, she told me she was sorry." Willow turned back to Buffy, "That's what you were talking about, wasn't it?"

"Yes," Buffy admitted.

Willow pointed at Buffy in a chiding way and tried to put on her best bossy voice, "Well...no doing that again, missy, got it?"

Tara added her resolve to the matter, "Right."

"Okay," Buffy agreed, properly chastised. Then she turned back to Tara. "Now let's get off the Buffy Line and jump onto Train Tara. The whole point of this sidetrack was...that you have nothing to feel bad about. Getting hurt was my fault. You and your supposed demon had nothing to do with it."

Tara seemed to take this in, but then panic entered her eyes. "But it could, someday. Like when I turn twenty. What if it comes out, and I l-l-lose control and hurt s-s-somebody. What if I hurt you? I just couldn't bear it if –"

"That's not going to happen," Willow told her.

"You don't know that!" Tara responded, very upset.

"Tara's right," Buffy said.

Willow whipped around to face Buffy. "What?!" she demanded.

"We don't know what's going to happen," Buffy explained. "Look at Oz. He was the sweetest guy in the world...until the moon got full. Face it, Will. He loved you, but when he wolfed out, he wasn't himself. He tried to kill you...more than once." Buffy turned to Tara. "I'm not saying that's what's going to happen to you, Tara. For your sake, I hope it doesn't, but we have to be prepared for anything."

"I should just go," Tara said, starting to get up. "Far away. Where I can't put you in danger."

Willow put her hand on Tara's arm, stopping her, "Go? No! No going. No running away."

Tara looked determined but torn. "But –"

"Will's right," Buffy told Tara. "No running away. We stick together, and we see this through. Willow and I watched over Oz; we can watch over you if necessary. But the first order of business is to talk to Giles."

"You can do that, can't you, baby?" Willow said as she softly stroked Willow's arm. "Talk to Giles, tell him everything?"

Tara swallowed and nodded.

That afternoon, Willow and Buffy and Tara sat in Giles' living room, discussing the matter with the former Watcher.

"So...your father never mentioned exactly what kind of demon was supposed to be inside you?" Giles asked. "I-I-Inside both you and your mother?"

"No," Tara replied. "He just said that he could see it. And that's when he would..." Tara trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

Giles finished it for her. "That's when he would beat you?"

Tara nodded. Buffy and Willow touched Tara reassuringly.

"I tried so hard to be good," she said, "to not let it come out, but it didn't matter, I always –"

"Tara, I can't imagine you ever doing anything that deserved a beating," Buffy interrupted. "I think your father was a sadistic bastard who got off on abusing his wife and daughter."

"Yeah," Willow agreed. "I'll bet you don't even have demon in you at all. He just used that as an excuse."

Tara seemed unconvinced by her girlfriends' arguments. She hung her head and whispered, "He said...he said that was where the magic came from."

Willow gave Tara's hand a squeeze. "Tara, sweetie...do you really believe that? Deep in your heart, do you really think your magic is evil? I don't."

"He...he did a spell...to show me what I was...deep down."

"What kind of spell?" Giles inquired.

"He mixed some ingredients – I don't know what – and made some kind of incantation about revealing my true nature. Then he..." Tara stopped and took a deep breath before continuing. "...he took a knife and cut my hand and let the blood drip into the mixture."

Willow turned Tara's hand over and touched the scar on her palm. "The scar...on your palm..."

Tara nodded her confirmation before continuing. "The mixture flamed up and began to smoke. The smoke was white at first, but then it turned black. He said...he said if I was demon-free it would burn white." Tara didn't say anything for a moment, then she looked up and said, "My blood did that. I saw it."

Giles thought for a moment then finally spoke. "Well, some of that does sound familiar. I'll see what I can find in my texts."

Buffy turned to Willow. "Couldn't you do the demon locator spell again? Wouldn't it show if Tara is a demon or not?"

"Yes!" Willow said excitedly. "We could do that. It would probably work this time."

"Without me to sabotage it," Tara mumbled.

"Don't you need another witch to do it?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, I do," Willow said with a disappointed frown.

"Couldn't Anya do it?" Buffy pressed. "She's done some of the witch-fu, right?"

"Yeah, she has," Willow said, brightening again. "She could probably do it."

"And it would probably work better if Tara herself were not one of the casters," Giles pointed out. Tara blushed and hung her head. "Not because we think you'll do anything, Tara," he assured her. "It's just that the energies would be more focused, less sensitive to any, um, emotional disturbances."

Tara nodded. "I understand."

"We'll have to modify the spell somewhat so that it doesn't apply just to teleporting demons, though. We should probably narrow its locus of application as well."

"Its what?" Buffy asked.

"The area that's affected by the spell," Willow explained. "We don't need to search all of Sunnydale, just the location where Tara will be." Willow narrowed her eyes and looked off into space, the wheels clearly turning in her head. Then she turned back to the group. "You know, I saw this other spell that dealt with demon breeds. Maybe we could include it too. That way, if she does have demon inside her – which I totally doubt – but if she did, we'd know what kind."

"Excellent idea, Willow," Giles said. "Could you meet with me this evening? Around six?"

Willow smiled. "I'll be here."

"Will you need us?" Buffy asked.

"Oh, um, I don't believe so," Giles replied. "Willow and I should be able to manage things on our own."

"Good," Buffy said in a pleased voice. "Tara and I will just take it easy then." Buffy turned to Tara and said, "Hey, how 'bout we go apartment hunting?" Buffy then addressed both Tara and Willow. "Mom told me Dad was going to help us get our own place. Did I tell you?"

"No, you did not tell us!" Willow complained playfully before adding, "That's great!" Then in a sing-song rhythm, she chanted, "We get to move off campus, we get to move off campus!" Then she frowned and whined, "Oh, I wanna go apartment hunting too."

"Don't worry," Buffy said. "You'll get to go. Tara and I will just start the process. You know, pick up flyers and newspapers, make a list, that sort of thing. All over a nice cup of hot cocoa. How's that sound?"

Tara flashed a happy smile. "Sounds wonderful."

Later that night while Giles and Willow worked on the spell, Buffy and Tara sat alone in the dorm room. They were piled on the bed, surrounded by posters and classifieds.

"How about this one?" Buffy said as she read from an ad. "Two bedroom duplex, near the university, large den, modern kitchen, quiet neighborhood...oh, no pets." Buffy looked over at Amy's cage. "Do rats qualify as pets?"

"I would think so," Tara said with a slight grin.

"Poopy-doo," Buffy said, wrinkling her nose disappointedly.

Tara looked at Buffy affectionately, then her face grew serious. "Buffy?"

"Hmmm?" Buffy asked, not looking up from her reading.

"Thank you," Tara said sincerely.

Buffy heard the change in Tara's tone and looked up. "For what?" she asked gently.

Tara took a deep breath. Then she said, "For standing up to my family. For not letting them take me home."

Buffy set the newspaper down and shifted her legs so that she could face Tara. "There was no way I was gonna let them touch you. They are not your family, and that place is not your home. Not anymore."

Tears of gratitude and love rolled down Tara's cheeks. She pulled Buffy to her and hugged her tightly.

Meanwhile, at Giles' apartment, Willow was sitting at the desk, pouring over books and typing various references into her laptop. Giles was in the kitchen, doing experiments. He placed several ingredients into a bowl, then dripped some blood from a vial into the mixture. The concoction flamed up, emitted white smoke, then abruptly changed to black smoke.

"Aha!" Giles cried out. "Exactly what I suspected."

"You found the ritual Tara's father used?" Willow asked.

"Indeed I did," Giles answered. He put out the burning mixture and washed his hands. "How's your spell coming along?"

"I think I've got it done. Wanna take a look?"

Giles dried his hands and joined Willow at his desk. He looked over her shoulder and scanned the screen.

"I made one more change here. See?" Willow pointed out a particular passage.

"A vampire?!" Giles exclaimed. "You want to bring a vampire here?"

"Well, not here," Willow said. "We can do the spell anywhere. And it doesn't have to be a vampire. Any known demon will do. It's just...I wanna be sure that the spell is working. This way, we'll know."

Giles looked at Willow and said, "Very well. Have you spoken to Buffy about it yet?"

"Not yet, but I will. I'll pick up the other ingredients we need and call Anya. If Buffy can bag a vamp tomorrow night, we'll be good to go."

The next night, the Scoobies gathered in a local crypt to conduct the spell that Willow had devised. On one side of the crypt, Anya and Willow were busy setting up the spell, creating a large circle with a ball of twine. Giles was a few yards away, standing with Tara. On the other side of the crypt, Buffy guarded the vampire she had caught and bound. Xander stood nearby, the tranquilizer gun in his hand. Giles left Tara and came over to Buffy and Xander.

Buffy made a head nod at the tranquilizer gun and said, "Is that really necessary?"

"It's...just a precaution," Giles said. "If Tara does have demon in her, it's very possible that this spell could trigger it into action. I honestly don't believe that's the case, but it's, um, it's best to be prepared. I've told Tara it's for the vampire, not for her."

Xander looked at Buffy sympathetically. "I won't hurt her, Buffy, I promise. Not unless I have to."

Buffy gave Xander a grateful smile, then they heard Willow call to them.

"Okay, I think we're ready to go," Willow announced.

Willow directed Tara to take her place, and she sat in the circle that Willow and Anya had prepared. Buffy escorted the vampire to the circle and set him down next to Tara. He sent a hiss in her direction until Buffy smacked him on the head, silencing him. Then Willow and Anya took their places in the circle next to each other.

"Now if this works correctly," Willow explained, "there will be a glowing cloud. The cloud will envelope any demons in the circle, but will completely ignore any humans. Okay? And if there are any demons, the cloud will glow in a certain color to identify its species. It's not really that accurate; it'll just give us a broad category."

At a nod from Willow, Anya lit the brazier before her. Then she lifted a small iron cauldron, which was already filled with some of the ingredients, and held it in the air.

"Thespia, Goddess, Ruler of all darkness, we implore you: hear our words," Anya incanted before handing the cauldron to Willow.

Willow crumbled a dried herb into the mixture in the cauldron and added a dash of wine from the cup beside her. Then she raised the cauldron as Anya had done.

"Thespia, Protector of the Night, open a window to the world of the under-beings," Willow continued.

Willow set the cauldron on the brazier. Then she scooped up a handful of red sand from the bowl next to her. When she made eye contact with Anya, she too scooped up a handful of green sand from the bowl next to her. Together they held their hands over the cauldron.

"Thespia, we beg you...if a demon be among us, reveal it to us now!" Willow and Anya said together as they let their respective sands drop into the cauldron.

"With your knowledge, may we go in safety," Willow whispered as the cauldron began to sizzle and smoke, "with your grace, may we speak of your benevolence."

Within seconds, a golden smoke began to seep from the cauldron. It was misty and thin and glowed with energy. Unlike smoke, it did not dissipate, but rather it coalesced around itself, forming a snake-like shape as it rose several feet into the air and then returned to the circle.

When it re-entered the circle, the glowing cloud first swirled around Willow, circling her once before quickly leaving her. Then the cloud whisked around Anya, staying a little longer. The head of the cloud hovered at her face and seemed to look her in the eye.

"Move along," Anya commanded the cloud. "Not a demon anymore."

The golden cloud almost seemed to hear that and quickly left her as well. Then the cloud swirled around Tara. It went around her more slowly as if considering her more carefully. It circled her once and then twice before pausing in front of her.

Oh god, Tara thought. That's it, I really am a demon. She felt a sob slip out.

Suddenly, the shining cloud shot away from Tara and swarmed around the vampire, changing in color from its original soft gold to an angry red.

"Oh my god! Look!" Willow cried. "I-I-It worked! It identified the vampire, but no one else!" Willow turned to Tara and looked her in the eyes. "It worked. You're not a demon."

"Finis!" Anya barked and clapped her hands. She grinned proudly when the golden cloud instantly dispersed.

Willow immediately jumped to the other side of the circle to embrace Tara, who was still in shock. Xander put down the gun and came to Anya, pulling her to her feet and hugging her tightly. Giles took charge of the vampire, pulling him from the circle, allowing Buffy to join the hugging witches.

"I-I-I'm not a demon," Tara stated uncertainly, as if testing out the unbelievable truth of the words she was saying.

"You're not a demon," Buffy confirmed.

Tara began to cry, but they were tears of happiness, of ecstatic joy. The burden she had borne all her life had finally been lifted from her shoulders. At last, she was free...truly free.

When all the congratulations were done, Xander and Anya took charge of the vampire, and Giles pulled Tara aside to an area where he had some additional materials set out.

"Tara, I want to show you something," he said.

"Okay," she answered, wondering what he was up to. Willow and Buffy followed close behind.

As everyone watched, Giles put several ingredients into a bowl. Then he pulled out a knife and cut his fingertip, allowing his blood to drip into the mixture. Instantly, a bright flame flared up and went out, then it began to emit a ghostly white smoke. Within seconds, the white smoke turned black.

Tara stood with her mouth wide open. She looked at the smoke and then at her palm. Then she looked at Giles with amazement and confusion on her face.

"It was all a trick, Tara," he told her. "It was just a ruse to keep you believing that you were a demon."

Tara laughed in relief as Willow and Buffy hugged her from behind, putting their chins on Tara's shoulders.

"See?" Willow said. "No demon."

"Yep, not even a hint," Buffy added.

"Hey, what about me?" the captured vampire interrupted. "You said once I helped, you'd let me go."

Buffy made a disgruntled face and moved from Tara over to the vampire. "Oh yeah. I did say that, didn't I?" Buffy told the vampire. Then she pulled out a stake and dusted him on the spot. "I lied." When Buffy turned around, the others were looking at her funny. "He was a vampire," Buffy said defensively. "Lying to vamps doesn't count."

Everyone laughed, and all was well.

Later that night, the Scoobies met at the Bronze to celebrate the good news. Even Giles had come along, but not before stopping at the Summers home to pick up Joyce.

Buffy and Tara and Willow sat at a table alone, enjoying their snacks and drinks. A slow song was playing. Nearby, Anya and Xander danced happily. Across the floor, Giles and Joyce also danced together, contented smiles plastered on their faces.

Tara glanced at the older couple and turned back to the table. "That is so sweet," she said.

Buffy refused to look in her mother's direction. "Please...don't remind me. I'm trying not to notice."

"Oh come on, Buffy, you know you like it," Willow teased.

Buffy reluctantly grinned. "Okay, okay, I like it," she admitted. "But it's my sacred obligation to pretend that I don't and to give them a hard time about it at any opportune moment that presents itself."

Willow giggled. "You said, 'opportune'. You're starting to sound like Step-Daddy Giles already."

Buffy swatted Willow's arm jokingly. "Shut up!"

Soon the Three were laughing hysterically, mostly at Buffy's expense, but she didn't seem to mind.

None of them noticed the dark-clad figure in the shadows of the staircase as he watched them with cold, black eyes. His face twisted in hate as he stared at the happy trio.

"Dirty girls," he whispered disgustedly to himself. Then he straightened and said, "Thy time of punishment has come."

It was night in the Wishverse, and Giles was in the dining room of the Mansion, concluding a meeting of the White Hats. Faith and Vamp Willow were there, as were Riley, Forrest, and several others from the Initiative. As the meeting broke up, Faith and Vamp Willow walked out of the room. Riley and Forrest were right behind them.

"Willow and I are heading out for patrol," Faith called over her shoulder to Giles.

"Sure you're up for it?" Forrest said, pointing out the fresh bite marks on Faith's neck. "Looks like you been letting Red here make some recent withdrawals." He appeared to be joking, but more than a little disgust was in his voice.

Without even saying a word, Faith nonchalantly elbowed Forrest in the face, bloodying his nose. Vamp Willow laughed and put her arm around Faith's waist as the two kept on walking.

Riley stopped beside his friend. "Man, when are you gonna learn?" he said, shaking his head.

Forrest was holding a handkerchief to his nose. "Geez, get a sense of humor, why don't ya!" he called out angrily to Faith, who ignored him.

Faith and Vamp Willow grabbed a few stakes in the foyer and headed out the front door. As they came down the steps, Vamp Willow suddenly gasped and put her hand to her chest as if she were in pain.

"What is it?" Faith asked.

The sensation had passed as quickly as it had come, so the vampire simply said, "Nothing."

When Vamp Willow shrugged it off, Faith did too, and they set out for their patrol.

Later that night in a nearby cemetery, Vamp Willow and Faith were in the middle of dealing with a large nest of vampires who had taken up residence in a crypt. Faith twirled and kicked one vampire into the wall of the crypt while quickly staking another. Vamp Willow wasn't using her stake at all. Instead, she was magically calling up small fireballs in her hand and slinging them into the vampires, incinerating them.

"Look at you," Faith said to Vamp Willow mid-fight. "Puttin' the fiery hurt on the vamps. Wicked! You're really takin' to this magic stuff."

"Yeah, I've learned quite a lot from Ethan," Vamp Willow said.

"I don't like that guy," Faith grumbled. "I don't trust him. I mean, he just shows up, Mr. Super Warlock, and we take him in without so much as a background check."

"We don't need a background check. He and Giles go way back. He knows all about Ethan's untrustworthy ways," Vamp Willow said. "Still, that won't keep me from learning everything I can from him." Vamp Willow shot Faith an arrogant smile. "Besides, I'm his star student." Then she sent out multiple fireballs that took care of the rest of the vamps all at once, including the ones Faith was fighting.

Faith turned and gave Vamp Willow an incensed look. "Excuse me," she complained. "Those were mine! Show-off."

Vamp Willow laughed. "Yeah, I wonder what my fuzzy other self would say about me now? I'd spell circles around that little –"

The redhead gasped as she'd done before, this time falling to her knees because of what was hitting her. Her hand flew to her chest, and she began panting in distress, not from the need for air, but from the intensity of the pain she was experiencing.

"Oh god…" Vamp Willow said in a choked voice, as tears started to stream down her face.

"Willow!" Faith said, running immediately to her side. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Vamp Willow paid Faith no mind and just let herself slip to the ground. She curled into a fetal position, crying even harder.

"Willow!" Faith called again, brushing the redhead's hair back from her face.

Vamp Willow gave a big sob and then abruptly stopped. Whatever had been assailing her had apparently ceased its attack. She drew in a few more hiccupy breaths and sat up, wiping the tears from her face.

"Will…babe…what's going on?" Faith asked, holding tightly onto the vampire's arms.

Still shaking from the ordeal, Vamp Willow said, "I-I-I don't know."

"C'mon, I'm getting you back to the Mansion," Faith said.

The slayer pulled Willow to her feet, and wrapping her arm firmly about the vampire's waist, she led her from the crypt.

Giles sat in his wheelchair with his back to the fireplace. Faith stood nearby, but Vamp Willow paced nervously.

"You said this was urgent. Are you sure you don't want me to call the others?" Giles asked.

"No!" Vamp Willow objected sharply. "You think I want Forrest and his Initiative buddies knowing about this?" The vampire growled and went back to pacing. "Vampires are not supposed to have breakdowns. They don't bawl their eyes out over stupid, human, emotional shit!"

Faith dropped her gaze, hiding a grin at Willow's tirade. She knew better than anyone how much these "touchy-feely" moments annoyed the vampire. Hell, she herself shared a lot of those same feelings.

"Especially when it's not even their own shit," Willow added in a huff.

"What do you mean?" Giles asked.

Vamp Willow stopped pacing then sighed heavily. "I think that what I was feeling was tied to my goodie-two-shoes self over in the other Sunnydale." She thought for a moment. "I don't know what's going down over there, but it's bad. Really bad."

"Is it happening to Willow herself or to one of her friends?" Giles inquired further.

"I don't know," the redhead replied with a frustrated shrug.

"Well, we should just hop over there and see what's up, then," Faith announced.

Vamp Willow nodded in agreement, but Giles shook his head. "Absolutely not," he said firmly. Faith looked at Giles in shock. "You are the slayer for this dimension," Giles lectured. "You simply cannot leave it unprotected."

"We didn't have any problem yanking Buffy from her dimension," Faith pointed out, "and besides, we owe her…her and Tara both. They didn't have to stay and help us, but they did, and because of them, we defeated the Master."

"That's right," Vamp Willow added. "Besides, Willow could have let Buffy kill me, but she didn't, so I guess I owe her for that."

"Okay then, off to Buffyville!" Faith said, and she and Willow did a high five.

"Yeah, so get your boyfriend down here, and let's talk magic," the vampire witch said.

Giles got an insulted look on his face. "Ethan is not my –" A blush crept into his cheeks. "I don't know where you get such ideas," Giles insisted, folding his arms across his chest.

"Maybe it's the fact that he sneaks into your room late at night?" Faith said slyly, causing Giles to blush even more.

Giles and the other leaders of the White Hats were once again seated in the dining room for a meeting. Giles sat at the head of the table. On one side of him were Ethan, Riley, and Forrest. On the other side were Faith and Vamp Willow.

"So let me get this straight," Riley said. "Willow got a funny feeling, so she and Faith are going to do some risky ritual so that they can pop over to the other Sunnydale and see what's up?"

"They need our help," Vamp Willow stated firmly. "I'm sure of it."

"Your little 'soul seed' tell ya that?" Forrest asked snidely.

"That's right," Vamp Willow said, glaring at Forrest.

"How exactly were you planning to get to the other Sunnydale?" Giles asked, putting the conversation back on track.

Vamp Willow looked over at Ethan then said, "Well, we were thinking we'd use a modified version of the spell that brought Buffy here. In that spell, we reached out and made a connection with the slayer energies – in other words, Buffy – and teleported her here. We figure we can use that same connection, but instead of bringing her here, we send ourselves there."

"I can see how that would get you there," Giles commented, "but how will you get home?"

"The spell will work like a rubber band," Ethan explained. "The band will get stretched when we send them there. When it's time to come home, they'll simply release what's holding them there, and they'll pop right back."

"We'll need to set an anchor here, though," Vamp Willow added. "You know, so that we don't go flying off into the ether or ricocheting around dimensions."

"The timelines between dimensions aren't the same," Giles said. "How do you even know you'll get there in time to be of any assistance at all?"

"We don't," Vamp Willow said, "but I still think we should try."

"Riley and company can handle patrolling while we're gone," Faith said. "It's been nothing but the usual lately anyway. No hints of anything major brewing. Trust me, you won't even miss us."

Giles turned to Ethan. "Are you sure you can do this?" he asked.

"Ah, Ripper," Ethan quipped, putting his hand on his chest in dramatic fashion. "You wound me with your doubts."

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Giles replied, rolling his eyes. He thought for a moment then said, "Very well."

Vamp Willow and Faith smiled excitedly.

In the "real" Sunnydale, Buffy and Willow and Xander were at the Three's new apartment, unloading the latest set of boxes from Buffy and Willow's dorm room. When they finished, they stopped for a break in the kitchen, quenching their thirst with ice cold bottles of water.

"Hey, did I tell you about this new show I saw?" Xander said. Willow and Buffy shook their heads. "Well, it's pretty good, but it bears an uncanny resemblance to what's going on here in Sunnydale. It has three witches whose house rests on a magical nexus of some kind, and they have to vanquish demons every week. Coincidence? I think not."

Willow and Buffy both made a scoffing sound, discounting the notion. "Yeah, right," Willow said.

"And when they go up against a really bad demon, they have to chant 'the power of three will set us free' three times," Xander continued, giving the girls a knowing glance.

Buffy and Willow exchanged nervous looks, then they chuckled and shook their heads. "Nahhh," Buffy said, leaning against the counter. "It's just a TV show."

"Well, I guess you're right," Xander said. "After all, on the show, the 'Three' are sisters, so there's no hot lesbian sex at all…" Buffy smacked Xander on the arm. "Owww."

Meanwhile, Tara was in her dorm room, finishing up packing her stuff. Anya was there with her helping. Tara stopped packing one box and looked over at Anya.

"Thanks for helping," Tara said.

Anya looked up and grinned. "Well, according to Xander's latest lecture on human etiquette, that's what friends do: they help each other move. Even when they don't want to."

Tara hid a chuckle at Anya's statement, knowing better than to be hurt by the former demon's blunt honesty. Despite her lack of tact, Anya had a good heart, and she was trying very hard to re-learn human ways and to be a good friend. Tara went back to packing.

Suddenly, a big ugly demon broke in the door to the dorm room, startling both Tara and Anya. The beast was about seven feet tall and had shaggy hair on its shoulders and torso. Between its coal-black eyes was a single horn coming out of its forehead. It roared and headed for Tara.

Tara held out her hand to cast. "Thicken!" she commanded.

As the air shimmered and thickened around the demon, he simply passed his arm through it and shattered the immobilizing spell. He rushed Tara and grabbed her by the arm. She screamed and started to fight back.

"Leave her alone!" Anya cried, picking up an unpacked lamp and crashing it over the demon's back.

"Buffy! Willow! " Tara screamed in her mind.

In their new apartment's kitchen, Buffy and Willow felt and heard Tara at exactly the same time. Buffy shot up from her leaning against the counter. Willow dropped her water bottle. They looked at each other, fear on their faces.

"Tara!" they said simultaneously then dashed for the front door.

Xander ran after them. "What is it? What's going on?"

Back in Tara's room, Anya was hanging off the demon's back, beating him on the head with a candlestick. Tara was still locked in his grasp, desperately running through her repertoire of spells, none of which were working.

"Let her go, you big sasquatch!" Anya yelled, smacking him once again in the head.

The demon gave an aggravated roar and reached back for Anya. He ripped her off his back and flung her violently across the room.

"Anya!" Tara cried out when she saw the former-demon crash into the wall and slip to the floor.

The demon instantly turned back to Tara and savagely backhanded her, knocking her unconscious. When Anya groggily looked up, she saw the beast put Tara over his shoulder and haul her off through the broken door. Anya wobbled a moment, bleeding from her temple, then dropped back to the floor as she passed out.

Mere minutes later, Buffy and Willow and Xander arrived on the scene. They rushed inside and found Anya just coming to, pushing herself off the floor. They ran to her side. Xander pulled her into his lap.

"Anya! Are you okay?" Xander asked frantically.

"What happened?!" Willow said.

"Where's Tara?!" Buffy asked.

Anya blinked slowly, still a little disoriented. "It took her."

"It?" Buffy asked. "What took Tara?"

"Big demon," Anya said. "It broke in the door. We tried to fight, but it was too strong."

"Oh god, Buffy!" Willow blurted, the tears already coming.

Buffy turned and grabbed Willow's arms. "We'll find her," she reassured the witch, "but we've got to stay calm, okay?" Willow got herself under control and nodded. "I need you to call Giles. As soon as he gets here, we'll take Anya to the hospital. In the meantime, I'm gonna see if I can track this thing."

Willow sucked in a big breath and let it out. "Okay," she said and walked purposefully over to the phone.

Buffy went and kneeled next to Xander and Anya. "Anya, are you okay? We can call an ambulance if…"

"No," Anya said. "I'm okay. Go."

Buffy nodded gratefully then got up and rushed out the broken door.

Xander pulled a blanket from a nearby box and settled it over Anya. As Willow watched Buffy go, she waited anxiously for Giles to answer his phone.

Outside Tara's dorm, Buffy followed her senses. They led her around the front of the building to the side yard, where the demon's tracks could be clearly seen. She followed them to a small alcove. There, in the shadows of multiple trees, the trail just vanished.

Buffy looked from side to side, behind and in front of herself, but there was no sign of either Tara or the demon.

A couple of hours later, Willow and Buffy were sitting with Giles in the waiting area of the emergency room. They cast nervous glances toward the door to the treatment area. Eventually, Xander came through and walked over. Everyone immediately stood up.

"How is she?" Giles asked.

"She's okay," Xander replied, taking a seat. The others sat back down. "It's just a mild concussion. Nothing broken. Some bruises. She'll be fine." He tried to say this matter-of-factly, but it was clear that he was shaken by the event. "I can take her home in a bit."

"Good because we've got work to do," Buffy said. "We have to find Tara. And Anya's the only lead we have."

"Anya did say she got a good look at the demon that took Tara," Xander said. "If we find out what we can about it, maybe that will help us find her."

Willow and Buffy seemed encouraged by this news, gripping each other's hands tightly.

"What about this-this bond the three of you have?" Giles offered. "Can you use it to find Tara?"

Willow's face fell. "We've tried, and we can't…" Willow trailed off.

"We can't sense Tara," Buffy finished for her.

"Oh god, is she–?" Xander asked in a panic.

"No! No," Buffy answered immediately. "If she were, we'd know. A-A-And it doesn't feel like that."

"She could be unconscious," Willow suggested. "Or blocking us, I suppose."

"Or someone's blocking her," Giles said ominously.

Back in the Wishverse, Ethan was looking over his preparations for the portal spell. They had moved the furniture in the living room out of the way and set up the ritual there, directly in front of the fireplace. Faith and Vamp Willow waited nearby as the warlock made his final checks. At last, Ethan sighed in satisfaction and turned to the group.

"Is everything prepared?" Giles asked.

"Indeed it is," Ethan answered. "Shall we?" he gestured grandly for Faith and Vamp Willow to join him in the ritual area.

Vamp Willow immediately stepped forward, but Faith suddenly pulled her back. "Wait!" the slayer said. "You can't go like that," she told the vampire.

Willow looked down at her attire: tight black jeans and black boots, a low-cut white blouse. "I already dressed down so that I'd quote 'fit in' unquote," she said sarcastically.

"No, I mean, what if we get there and we're right in the middle of the football field at high noon?" Faith explained.

"Oh," Vamp Willow said. "Good point. So what we do?"

About a half-hour later, Vamp Willow trudged awkwardly from the downstairs bathroom and into the living room. She was wearing a hodgepodge of protective gear: a ski mask pulled over her head, a motorcycle helmet on top of that, a heavy scarf around her neck, a fireman's jacket and pants, and thick ski gloves.

Faith, Ethan, and Giles tried not to laugh but failed.

"I am not amused," Vamp Willow grumbled under the heavy visor of the helmet.

In the "real" Sunnydale, Buffy and Willow and the others were back at Tara's dorm, examining the scene of the demon's escape.

"You said you couldn't track it?" Xander asked, hovering protectively near Anya, who had a bandage on her temple.

Buffy nodded. "I tried, but it's like it just disappeared. Right there. See? Hundreds of feet of solid track, then poof! Nothing."

"Do you think it teleported?" Anya asked, patting the bandage on her head. Xander took her hand and pulled it away. She glared once then pouted.

"I don't know," Buffy said. "Maybe."

"But if it could teleport," Giles asked, "then why did it choose to break down Tara's door to get inside?"

"It's a sucker for a good entrance?" Xander offered.

"I can do a magic tracking," Willow said with confidence. "If it did use teleportation, there will be a psychic residue. I'll need to get supplies, though, and check something in your library." Giles nodded.

"Let's do it," Buffy said before leading the group away.

In a dank, poorly-lit, window-less room, Tara lay facedown upon the floor. Slowly, she came to, pushing herself up groggily.

"Anya?" she called out. She blinked her eyes several times and then took in her surroundings. She quickly realized that she wasn't in her dorm room, and Anya was nowhere to be seen.

Carefully, Tara got to her feet, wincing as some of the soreness from her fight with the demon made itself known. She touched her bruised cheek and then looked around the room.

It was a small room with cinder block walls. A single heavy metal door was on the other side of the room. An old metal desk and chair were to one side, along with a set of rickety filing cabinets. The room was dirty and filled with cob webs, apparently unused for some time. Various papers lay about the floor. The ceiling was low and un-paneled. The bare metal beams of the internal structure were visible as well as the electrical and plumbing duct work. Out of the four rusty light fixtures hanging from the ceiling, only one was working. Several bare I-beam-like columns ran from the floor into the ceiling. One wall was partially framed on one side, crossed with metal conduit that was part of the electrical system that would have been hidden behind the finished wall.

Tara went to the door and tried it. It was locked. She stood before the door and gestured at it. "Resera," she commanded. Nothing happened. She spoke the word again. The result was the same. A look of frustration came over her face, and she turned from the door.

Tara walked a few feet away. I've got to contact Buffy and Willow, she thought to herself. She closed her eyes and concentrated, gathering her energy; then she reached out and made contact.

"Willow! Buffy! "

Willow and Buffy were at Giles' apartment, sitting on the couch next to each other, conducting research with the others, when their heads shot up at exactly the same time. They both jumped to their feet.

"Tara?! " they said, sending their thoughts out.

"What is it?" Giles asked, hurrying over from his desk.

"I-I-It's Tara!" Willow blurted excitedly. "She's contacting us!"

"Tara, are you all right? " Buffy asked.

"I think so," Tara replied via their psychic link.

"Where are you? " Willow asked.

"I don't know," Tara said. "A room somewhere."

"Describe it ," Buffy told the witch. "Tell us anything you can. We'll find you."

"Well, I think it's underground. A basement maybe? And it's – " Tara's mental message stopped.

Willow got a worried look. "Tara? What is it? "

"Someone's coming," Tara replied, but she didn't say anything else.

"What's going on?" Xander asked.

"We don't know," Buffy answered. "She was trying to tell us where she was, and then she heard someone coming."

"She's scared, Buffy," Willow said, reaching out to take the slayer's hand.

"I know," Buffy said, wrapping her arm around Willow.

Tara nervously watched the door as the old lock began to turn. After a hefty clank of the lock, the door swung open, and Caleb walked arrogantly inside the room, a proud grin plastered on his face. Tara backed away.

"Oh, good," Caleb said when he saw Tara standing. "You're awake."

"Wh-Wh-Who are you?" Tara asked.

"Caleb's the name," the dark-clad man said, "but I'm not the one who's important here, darlin'. You are." He closed in on Tara, who backed all the way to the unframed wall. "In fact, you're the key to ev'rything."

"What do you want from me?" she said, trying to sound brave.

Caleb smiled broadly. "Pain," he replied simply.

Caleb thrust his hands forward, sending two huge bolts of energy directly into Tara's body. She fell to the ground, screaming and convulsing, as the Caleb continued to zap her with a maniacal look of glee on his face.

In Giles' apartment, everyone stood anxiously waiting for Tara to contact Buffy and Willow again. Buffy and Willow exchanged worried looks as they felt Tara's fear at her captor's arrival. Suddenly, Buffy and Willow screamed in pain and fell to the floor. Giles, Xander, and Anya looked on in shock as the two women thrashed about in a convulsion-like fit.

"Oh my god!" Xander exclaimed. "Giles, what's happening?"

"It...it looks like a psychic attack of some sort," Giles said.

"We've got to help them!" Anya cried.

"What do we do?" Xander asked desperately.

"Let's move the furniture so they don't hurt themselves," Giles replied, not knowing what else to do.

As the three pushed the sofa, chairs, and coffee table away from the two stricken girls, Buffy and Willow stopped screaming. They gasped frantically for air but remained on the floor. Xander and Giles and Anya moved quickly to their sides.

"Willow! Are you okay?" Xander asked.

"Buffy! What's happened?" Giles added.

Traumatized by their shared experience, Buffy and Willow were completely unaware of the others around them. The two sat up and reached out for one another.

"Tara…" Buffy whispered to Willow in a choked voice.

"Buffy! She's –"

"I know."

Willow collapsed into Buffy's arms, crying hard. Giles, Xander, and Anya pulled away, thinking the worst.

"Oh god…" Anya said, turning and hiding her face in Xander's chest. He wrapped his arms around her. Giles looked on with shock and grief in his eyes.

Back in the underground room that served as Tara's cell, Caleb was wringing his hands. They were still crackling with energy, but that faded as he powered down his magic.

Tara was on the floor, gasping for air, her muscles still jerking from the aftermath of his attack. Her blouse and skirt were covered with dirt from her convulsions on the filthy floor.

Caleb circled her then squatted down beside her, a gloating grin on his face.

"So, how'd'ya like my 'psychic scourge'?" Caleb asked her. "It's a fine tool, if I do say so myself."

Caleb's expression became one of haughty instruction, and he gestured overdramatically with his hands as he began to explain.

"You see, it's designed to attack the nervous system. It hits all the nerves in your body and fires them into pain mode all at the same time." He flashed a wide smile at Tara. "Excruciatin', ain't it?"

After his smile, Caleb put his hand to his chin and put on a fake look of disappointment.

"It does have one itty bitty drawback, though," he said. "I can't overuse it." He leaned closer and poked Tara's forehead several times. She jumped with each touch. "Why, if I used it too much, I'd fry that little brain of yours like overcooked bacon."

Caleb stood up and laughed. "But don't you worry, darlin' !" he said, beginning to wring his hands once again. "You ain't even sizzlin' yet." As the crackling began, Tara's eyes grew wide with fear.

Back in Giles' apartment, Buffy and Willow were recovering their composure. Giles knelt beside them to venture a question.

"Buffy, what is it?" he asked gently. "What's happened?"

Buffy turned to Giles. "Whoever or whatever's got Tara, he's…he's hurting her…bad."

"Oh god…" Willow seemed to fall apart again at Buffy's words.

"We can…feel what she's going through," Buffy explained, pulling Willow closer. "It's like it's happening to us."

"But she's alive, right?" Anya pushed for clarification. "He hasn't killed her?"

Buffy nodded. "Yes, she's alive."

"Well, then there's hope," Anya said firmly. "We just have to find her."

"Yeah, we'll find her," Xander said grimly, "and then we'll kill the son of a bitch who's –"

Giles cut Xander off. "Buffy, you said that Tara was trying to tell you where she was before…before she was attacked. What did she tell you?"

"Not much," Buffy answered. "She was in a room of some kind, underground. She was trying to describe it to us when she heard someone coming."

Willow touched Buffy's arm, making the slayer turn to her. "Buffy, she's hurting so much, we have to do something."

"I know, baby," Buffy said reassuringly, cupping Willow's tear-stained cheek. "And we will, we'll find her."

"Buffy, this bond of yours, between the three of you," Giles interjected, "do you think you could use it to contact Tara again?"

Buffy shrugged uncertainly. "Maybe. We've been working on it lately, trying to figure out what we can do with it, you know, opening and closing our mental shields. We can definitely feel what the others are feeling, especially if it's an intense emotion, but it's been hit-and-miss at best."

"Well, I think you should try," Giles suggested. "Perhaps with the two of you working in tandem, you could –"

Giles' words were cut off as another psychic blow hit both Buffy and Willow. Once again they fell screaming to the floor.

Giles reached out for the slayer and witch. "Buffy! Willow! Close your shields!" he commanded.

Buffy and Willow didn't seem to hear him and continued to convulse on the floor. Giles grabbed Buffy's arms and shook her.

"Buffy! You have to cut off contact with Tara!"

Buffy didn't respond. Giles grabbed both sides of Buffy's face and made her look at him. Through her pain, she met his gaze.

"Buffy! Close your shields! Now!" he told her again.

Buffy looked terribly distraught. She closed her eyes and shook her head. When Giles pleaded with her once more, she reluctantly slammed her mental shields shut. She was immediately released from the shared attack. She gasped in relief and tried to regain her breath.

Willow, however, was still fully in the throes of the painful experience she was sharing with Tara as she was attacked. Buffy crawled to her knees beside Willow and shook her, forcing the redhead to look at her.

"Willow! Close your shields!" Buffy told her girlfriend.

Willow shook her head. "No! I can't!"

"Baby, you have to!"

"No!" Willow sobbed. "I'm not…going to leave her…alone in this!"

"Will, you have to!" Buffy begged. "We can't help Tara if we're incapacitated! Baby, please! Close your shields!"

As Buffy's had before, Willow's expression became extremely distraught. But she did as Buffy told her and broke contact with Tara. Her convulsions instantly ceased, and she fell crying into Buffy's arms.

In the underground cell, Caleb was gleefully zapping Tara with his psychic scourge, sending bolt after bolt into her body.

The blonde witch was beyond fighting, beyond screaming, as she jerked uncontrollably on the floor. Finally – fortunately – her eyes rolled back in her head, and she fell into blessed unconsciousness.

Caleb noticed and ceased his magic assault. "Damn," he said. "Out already?" He let out a disappointed sigh.

A short time later, back in Giles' apartment, Buffy and Willow were recovering enough to talk. They were seated on the couch, which had been moved back to its normal place. The others hovered nearby.

"Buffy, I know this will be difficult," Giles said, "but, ummm, can you tell us what happened? Anything at all?"

Buffy took a deep breath. "I think…I think she must be unconscious. I can't sense anything." Buffy turned to face her girlfriend. "What about you, Will? Do you sense anything?"

"No," Willow said, shaking her head. "It's different now. Even after I closed my shields, I could still feel a little, you know, like when you can still hear the lawn mower through the door? But now, there's nothing."

Anya got a worried look. "But she's still…you know? Right?"

"Yes," Buffy confirmed. "Tara is alive. I think we'd know if…if she wasn't. But we have to find her and fast. I don't know what that monster's doing to her, but if he keeps it up, she won't be alive for long."

In the Wishverse, Faith and Vamp Willow were standing inside a small circle inscribed on the floor. Ethan stood outside their circle, but inside a larger circle drawn around the other. Giles was outside the larger circle, watching with interest.

Ethan went through a series of incantations then held up a small crystal in his hand. Vamp Willow held up a similar crystal in her gloved hands. The two began a call and response in a language Faith didn't understand. The dark-haired slayer watched with more than a little worry in her eyes.

Slowly, the edges of the inner circle began to glow, and Faith felt a wind-like force begin to whip around their legs. Just then, Ethan belted out the final line, and the portal opened.

"Hang on, baby!" Vamp Willow yelled from her motorcycle helmet as she tucked her crystal into her glove. "We're off to Oz!"

Faith wrapped her arms around Vamp Willow, and in a flash they were gone.

Back in "real" Sunnydale, the Scoobies returned to the outside of Tara's dorm, where the demon's trail had ended. Buffy, Giles, Xander, and Anya watched as Willow walked a weaving path through the wooded alcove. She waved a smudging wand before herself and whispered a chant as she moved through the area. When she was done, she returned to the group.

"What did you find?" Buffy asked.

"There's clearly a magic residue present," Willow answered.

"So the demon did teleport," Anya said.

Willow shrugged unhappily. "Looks like."

"But that means –" Xander started.

"Right," Giles said. "He could've taken Tara anywhere."

Buffy wrapped her arms around herself and looked at the ground. Willow frowned sadly before bending over to snuff out her smudging wand on the ground.

After the spell, the gang returned to Giles' apartment. All five trudged in, with heavy thoughts clearly on their minds. Anya and Xander immediately sat down in the living area. Willow stopped at Giles' desk and set her bag on it. Buffy walked a few feet away and just stood there by the hallway, a lost expression on her face.

"I'll, um, get out the necessary volumes," Giles said. Then he headed for the bookcase.

Willow walked over to Buffy and rested her hand on the slayer's arm. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.

Buffy stuffed her hands in her pockets. "Yeah…just gonna…head to the little girls' room."

"We'll start researching the demon," Willow said.

Buffy just nodded in response and then turned to go down the hallway.

Buffy shut the bathroom door carefully. She walked to the center of the small room and hugged herself tightly. Soon her shoulders began to shake, and tears began rolling down her face. She quickly put her hand over her mouth to muffle her cries.

Less than a minute later, Buffy jumped in surprise when the door opened and Willow came inside. Buffy tried to compose herself. She wiped the tears from her face and straightened her stance. When the slayer gave a nervous laugh, Willow pulled her into her arms, hugging her warmly. Buffy tried to stay strong but couldn't. She fell sobbing against Willow's shoulders, finally letting out all the worry and grief and frustration she'd been holding in. Willow cried with her, stroking her back and hair.

After a long cry, Buffy pulled away from Willow. She looked down at her hands, a sad and helpless expression on her face.

"I'm supposed to be action gal," Buffy lamented. "Slayer who saves the day." She shook her head ruefully. "I can't even find Tara, much less save her."

Willow reached out and touched Buffy's arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Buffy, you –"

"Why can't we sense her anymore?" Buffy asked in a choked whisper. "Do you think that she–?"

"No!" Willow said instantly. "Don't even think that." Willow caressed Buffy's cheek. "She's still alive, and we're going to find her."

Willow gave Buffy a comforting kiss, which Buffy eagerly returned. Then the two just held one another, relishing the reassurance of the other's presence.

Later, in Giles' living room, the Scoobies were still hitting the books, researching the demon that had taken Tara. Anya and Xander sat on the couch while Giles worked at his desk. Willow and Buffy sat on the floor, leaning against the chair for support.

"Hey, I think I may have found something," Buffy announced. She handed the book to Anya, who peered at the picture on the page.

"That's it," Anya said. "That's Sasquatch, all right."

Giles got up from his desk, perched on the arm of the couch, and took the book from Anya. He studied the text carefully for a moment.

"Gorif Demon," he read aloud. "Large and strong, its defining characteristics are its shaggy shoulders and single horn in the forehead. Not particularly intelligent, this beast has no special abilities other than its inhuman strength."

"Nothing about teleportation?" Willow asked.

"No," Giles answered, shaking his head. The watcher got a confused look on his face. Then he turned to Anya. "You say Tara tried to use magic on it, but it didn't work?"

"Yes, that's right," Anya confirmed.

"Maybe this Gorif guy has an accomplice who's the magic guy," Buffy offered.

"Well, it would make sense," Willow said. "If Gorifs aren't too bright, then it could be that the magic guy is the one running the show and he's just using the demon to do his dirty work. He could have cast a spell on the demon to protect him from magic, and –"

"No, no," Anya said, interrupting. "The Gorif wasn't just protected. He was casting. It wasn't like Tara's spells just bounced off some protective shield that someone else put in place. The Gorif was actively casting counter-spells."

"Are you sure?" Giles asked. "Because that just doesn't fit what –"

"I don't care what the book says," Anya insisted. "I know what I saw."

Giles glanced around the group, a helpless look on his face. The others had similar expressions as they pondered what to do next.

"Maybe this demon isn't the demon," Xander suggested.

"No," Anya said firmly. "I swear that's the one."

"No, Xander may be right," Willow interjected, the wheels clearly turning in her head.

"I may be right?" Xander replied, looking surprised.

"Yeah," Willow continued. "What if the attacker was disguising himself – you know, to throw us off the track?"

"Interesting," Giles said. "A glamour perhaps?"

Later, in the underground room, Tara slowly awakened. Her eyes blinked in slow motion several times, then she opened them wider as if trying to focus. She went to sit up but found herself unable to since she was tied down to the old metal desk in the room.

Her wrists had been bound together with rope, and her arms had been pulled over her head and then tethered to that side of the desk. Additional cord had been tied around her ankles, pinning them to the legs of the desk on that end.

Tara looked up between her arms to find Caleb standing over her, smiling. Intense fear came over her face, but she took a calming breath and closed her eyes.

"Willow! Buffy! " Tara called out mentally to her girlfriends. She got no response. She tried again, but the same result occurred. She opened her eyes and looked at Caleb, the terror on her face even more intense than before.

"Whatsa matter? Can't git your girlfriends on the phone?" Caleb taunted. "I guess they got somethin' better to do." The dark-clad man stepped closer, wearing his familiar gloating grin. "Or maybe I just took your phone off the hook, so to speak. They don't need to feel all of it, anyway. They just need to know it's happenin'." Caleb reached over and ran a surprisingly gentle hand across Tara's forehead. "After all, we don't want them crashin' our party, now do we?"

"Why are you doing this?" Tara forced herself to ask. "What do you want?"

"I believe I have already answered that question," Caleb replied. "But don't you be frettin' about the why's and wherefore's, li'l darlin'. You've got quite enough to worry about with the what's and the how's and especially the how long's. Like…'what's he going to do to me next?' and 'how long can I hold out?' That sort o' thing."

Tara swallowed hard but didn't say anything else. She was trembling with fear, a fact that Caleb noticed. His only response to it was a slight smirk.

Caleb took a step back and cracked his knuckles by interlacing his fingers and bending them back. "Now, I love my 'psychic scourge', don't git me wrong," he said before making fists and massaging out a few more knuckle pops. "But that don't mean I have no appreciation for the traditional methods of pain infliction." He gestured dramatically as he continued. "After all, physical torture has a long and hallow'd hist'ry." Caleb scanned the full length of Tara's body, a look of gleeful anticipation shining in his eyes. Then he leaned over until he was right in her face. "Besides, physical torture leaves a permanent physical reminder of our time together."

Caleb straightened and then reached for Tara's blouse. When he started to unfasten the top button, Tara whimpered and closed her eyes. She began whispering a desperate prayer to her goddess.

Caleb laughed. "Oh, that goddess o' yours can't help you now," he said as he continued unbuttoning Tara's blouse.

That comment seemed to anger Tara, and her eyes flashed open. He ignored her, finished undoing her blouse, and spread it open. The blonde's defiance vanished when she saw Caleb materialize a large knife out of thin air. He twisted it several times in his hand, causing the blade to reflect the room's light. Tara began to tremble harder, with tears flowing freely down her face.

Caleb ran the flat edge of the blade along Tara's tear-stained cheek. A small, choked gasp escaped her mouth before she clenched her jaw tightly, clamping down on the other sobs trying to get out. Caleb pulled the blade slowly down Tara's neck, before turning and trailing it nonchalantly across her collarbone. Her chest was heaving as she panted in fear, but when Caleb passed the knife over her breasts, she instinctively sucked in her breath and held it, expecting the worst. She felt the cold blade slip under her bra between her breasts. She gasped and jumped when he suddenly snapped his wrist, slitting her bra up the middle and exposing her breasts.

Caleb pushed back the bra, brushing Tara's breasts ever so slightly. She felt the bile rise in the back of her throat, but she forced it back down. Caleb straightened up to admire his work. Tara looked at him as he examined her torso. Her eyes showed a glimmer of hope when Caleb zapped the knife away.

"You know I always thought that expression 'milky white skin' was just an exaggeration," Caleb said in amazement, "but I see now that I was mistaken." He leaned over and ran his hand between Tara's breasts and over her stomach. She jerked at his touch, but he didn't seem to notice. "It's perfect," he said, "just perfect."

When he stood up, he materialized something in his hand. It wasn't the knife he had held before. It was a metal rod, about two feet long, with a wood handle on one end, and an iron head on the other. It was a branding iron. As Tara watched with terror-filled eyes, Caleb conjured fire into his free hand and held the head of the branding iron in the flames. After a few moments, he withdrew the iron; its head now glowed an angry orange-red.

When Caleb brought the hot iron near her, Tara struggled uselessly against the bonds that held her. "Oh god, oh god," she repeated as he drew the item closer and closer to her skin. Caleb gave a savage grin as he thrust the branding iron against her stomach. She screamed as the hot metal seared into her skin.

As Tara panted through the initial pain, Caleb pulled the iron away. He smiled at the red brand left on Tara's skin, clearly pleased with the result. When he met her eyes, she managed to glare furiously at him, but that only pleased him more. Without moving his eyes from hers, he gleefully conjured up the fire in his hand once again.

Back in Giles' apartment, Buffy and Willow and the others were in a deep discussion, trying to develop a strategy to find Tara.

"So what's the plan?" Buffy asked. As her eyes turned to Giles, both she and Willow suddenly groaned in pain. They reached out for one another, but just as quickly as it had come, the feeling passed.

"Tara?" Giles asked softly.

Buffy nodded. "I think he's doing it on purpose. Blocking, then unblocking. I think he knows we can feel her. He's taunting us."

"He must be a very powerful warlock," Anya commented. "He can disguise himself, he can teleport, and he's somehow blocking your connection to Tara. That's pretty high-end stuff."

Giles nodded in agreement.

"So, how do we get around that?" Xander asked. "I mean, there's gotta be a way, right?"

Giles thought for a moment and then said, "The last time you tried to connect with her, you said that you could actually feel the barrier. Perhaps you could track it instead of Tara herself."

Willow lit up at that. "That could actually work," she said excitedly. "It takes a lot of power to maintain something like that. The energy signature would have to lead back to him."

"Can we track it on the fly?" Buffy inquired.

"I think so," Willow said. "Being on the move makes it harder, but I think we can do it."

Buffy stood to her feet. "Okay then, let's get some wheels and hit the road. We've got a warlock to find."

About an hour later, Caleb was finished with his branding. Multiple burns covered Tara's stomach and breasts. Several ran up her arms, and one was prominently placed on her neck, right next to her jugular. After zapping away his branding iron, Caleb waved his hand at Tara, and the ropes holding her untied themselves and fell away.

Tara was so exhausted from the physical and emotional trauma of Caleb's torture that she could barely move. She brought her arms down to her sides, but that was as far as she got before Caleb grabbed her hands and pulled her up to a sitting position on the desk. She swayed precariously on the edge, but he held her firmly in place as he met her eyes.

"You know I have to say, I'm impressed with how you're holding up," Caleb told her. "I imagined you just crumpling like a fragile flower, but you have quite the pain tolerance." He flashed a curious grin. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you'd done this before." Then he snickered wickedly. "Don't tell me you let the Slayer and your little Red Witch tie you to the bed and have their way with you?"

Tara shot an angry glare at Caleb.

His smile fell away, and he looked at Tara intently. "No, it's not that," Caleb said, thinking out loud. "It's something else. I think I'd better take a peek."

He wiggled his index finger at Tara's face, and her eyes grew fearful as she wondered what he was going to do. Suddenly, he magically sank his finger right into Tara's forehead. She shrieked in agony as her mind was invaded.

In the van they had rented, Xander sat in the driver's seat with Anya sitting shotgun next to him. An open map was on her lap. The engine was running, but the van was in park. In the back of the van, Buffy and Willow and Giles sat in a circle, chanting softly together. After the chant ended, the three sat silently for a moment, their eyes still closed.

"North," Willow said.

"North," Xander repeated uncertainly. Then he looked over at Anya.

"Just head out of town and catch Highway 10," Anya instructed.

Xander put the van in gear and did as he was told.

As Tara struggled weakly and uselessly against Caleb's violation, the warlock himself seemed energized and exhilarated by the experience. His eyes were closed, and his head was tilted back. An intoxicated-like grin was on his face.

"Oh I see," Caleb announced. "Daddy Dearest, huh?" Then he gave a small laugh. "Oh, and Brother Donny too."

He tilted his head back up and reluctantly pulled his finger out of Tara's head. She gasped in relief and nearly fell off the desk when he did so. Caleb easily caught her.

"Well, no wonder you've held up so well," Caleb said. "You've had years of practice." He gave a simple shrug. "That's okay. Just makes it more fun for me."

He yanked Tara off the desk and to her feet. She wobbled in place, almost too weak to stand, so he grabbed the front panels of her shirt and held her up with them.

"Why don't I make this a little more familiar for you?" he said.

Before her unbelieving eyes, Caleb morphed into the image of Tara's father.

"No!" Tara said, shaking her head and trying to pull away. "You're not my daddy!" she yelled.

He smacked Tara across the face, sending her to the ground. "Don't talk back to me, little girl!" he shouted as she went down.

She landed hard on her back. When Caleb came after her, she scrambled backwards away from him. "You're not!" she spat at him.

"Don't even try to deny it!" Caleb said, pointing furiously at Tara. "I saw the demon rising up in you, like a coiled up snake, lifting its head."

He backed Tara against the unfinished wall and locked eyes with her. As Tara stared, terror-stricken, at her father's image, she became hooked into Caleb's illusion.

"D-D-Daddy, no, please, I didn't m-m-mean to," she whimpered, shrinking in fear before the warlock.

The van was now on a twisting gravel road in a highly wooded area somewhere north of Sunnydale.

"Left," Willow called out from the back of the van. "We're close."

"Umm, I can't," Xander said.

"She said turn left!" Buffy yelled.

"I can't!" Xander insisted, looking back briefly. "There's no 'left' to turn to!"

When he turned back to face front, both he and Anya suddenly screamed. He slammed on the brakes, and the van came to a loud and skidding halt, making the three in back tumble forward and out of their circle.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Giles demanded. "Why are you stopping?"

"I ran out of road," Xander explained, pointing at the dead end sign inches from the front bumper.

"Oh," Giles replied.

"Okay, everybody out!" Buffy ordered. "We'll do this on foot."

Still in Mr. Maclay's form, Caleb stalked closer to Tara, who cowered near the unfinished wall, wishing she could just disappear into it.

"You never mean to, do you?" Caleb said. "But you just keep on letting it come out, don't you? It has to be beaten down, and you have to be punished."

"I'll do better, Daddy…I p-p-promise," Tara stuttered, without meeting her father's eyes.

"Take your place," Caleb said simply.

"Daddy, please…don't," she cried, not moving from her place at the warlock's feet.

"I said, take your place! Now!" he roared, frightening Tara even more.

"Y-Y-Yes, sir!" she answered instantly, crawling to her feet as quickly as she could.

Once standing, she faced the wall, reached up above her head, and took hold of the metal conduit inside the unfinished structure. She gripped it tightly then spread her feet shoulder width apart and tried to be still.

Behind her, Caleb materialized a riding crop in his hand. Tara could hear the familiar tap-tap of the leather crop in his palm as he drew closer.

"Daddy, please," she tried once more, not daring to look his way.

"Shut up!" he warned, raising his arm to strike.

WHACK!

The crop came down hard on her back. Even through her clothes, it stung and bruised.

WHACK!

He hit her again, beginning his assault.

In Tara's mind, she was back in her father's barn stretched over the ladder to the loft, crying out as her father laid blow after blow on her back, buttocks, and thighs. She could feel the rough wood of the ladder rung in her hands, she could hear the horses shuffling nervously, she could smell the manure and the hay. She bit her lip and prayed for her punishment to end soon. She gasped in pain with each stroke and struggled to remain both standing and still. She knew that to fall or to move would only mean additional punishment.

Slowly…ever so slowly….through the haze of pain…Tara's mind began to fight what it was sensing.

No...this isn't right, she thought. I don't live here anymore.

She cried out as an especially hard smack to the back of her legs caused her to lose her balance and fall to her knees.

"Get up!" her father demanded.

Tara closed her eyes and shook her head. When she opened them, the scene before her changed from the barn to the basement and back again several times.

No, no...I got away, she thought.

The image of the barn faded away, replaced by the image of the basement wall. Her eyes darted about until they settled on a large piece of jagged concrete beside her leg. It was the corner broken off a cinder block. She wrapped her fingers around it.

I got away, she said firmly in her mind as she brought the stone to her chest.

"I said get up!" Caleb screamed.

"You...are not...my father!" Tara said somewhat maniacally before screaming in rage, turning around, and braining Caleb with the piece of cinder block.

He crumpled instantly, but the blow took Tara to the ground with him. She landed on top of him, nose to nose. She immediately scrambled backwards away from him, holding up the brick in readiness. Luckily, Caleb was out cold. Tara dropped the brick and crawled away. She pulled herself to her feet and stumbled for the door. She left the small room and building and went outside.

"Buffy! Willow! " Tara screamed with her mind.

Buffy and Willow and rest of the gang were searching in the woods off the gravel road. Xander and Giles both carried small backpacks on their backs.

"We're close, I know it," Buffy said to Willow, who nodded in agreement.

"Buffy! Willow! " came Tara's mental cry. They stopped in their tracks when they heard it.

"Tara! " they called back to her.

"Are you okay? " Willow asked.

"Where are you? " Buffy added.

"I've got to get away! " Tara rambled almost incoherently. "I can't let Caleb find me! "

"Tara, honey, tell us where you are ," Buffy said.

"We're close. Help us find you, " Willow prompted.

"What's happening?" Giles asked.

"Tara's contacting us, she must've broken through somehow," Willow said to Giles. Then she turned to Buffy. "Keep her talking. I'll track her."

Back in the underground cell, Caleb came to and groggily got to his feet. He touched his bleeding forehead and roared in anger. Then he rushed out of the room.

When he got outside, he scanned the nearby area, looking desperately for his escaped victim. Within seconds, he saw her stumbling through the brush. A look of savage hate came over his face.

"Tara, stay with me," Buffy told Tara. "We're going to find you. Describe where you are. "

"Woods, trees, lots of trees," Buffy heard Tara say frantically. "Wait, tower, watch tower, like for – "

Tara's words were cut off by a mental scream.

Buffy started looking for the tower right when Willow pointed off in the distance. Over the highest reaches of the trees, they could just make out the top of the forest observation tower.

"Come on, this way!" Buffy cried out.

Tara screamed out loud as Caleb materialized directly in front of her. She tried to run, but he caught her by the arm.

"You little bitch!" Caleb yelled angrily. "You're gonna pay for that!"

He punched her violently in the face, sending her to her knees. He hit her several more times, before letting her slip to the ground, facedown and dazed. He stepped away and pulled a bandana from his pocket. He began blotting at the wound on his bleeding head, cursing to himself angrily.

Tara started trying to crawl away, pushing weakly with her feet and clawing at the leaf-strewn forest floor. He walked back over to her and kicked her hard in the side. She groaned in pain and tried to curl up into a fetal position. He yanked her arms behind her and tied them with his bloody bandana. Then he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. He took a deep breath and teleported away.

With the others close behind them, Buffy and Willow rushed up a hill. When they reached the crest, they saw the tower not far away. As they struggled to catch their breath, they scanned the area, looking for any sign of Tara.

"Do you feel her?" Giles asked upon arrival.

"No," Willow said desperately. "We heard her scream and then pain and then nothing!"

"There!" Buffy said, pointing out a building just beyond the tower. "That building – it has to be!"

The group dashed off, heading that way.

Back in the building, Caleb threw Tara onto the old desk facedown, knocking the breath out of her. As she gasped for air, he kicked her legs apart and held her down with one hand while he pulled her skirt and underwear off with the other hand. Tara whimpered and tried to lean up, using every bit of strength she had left, but he grabbed a handful of her hair and shoved her back down, slamming her already bruised face against the hard metal of the desk. He quickly unbuckled his belt and unzipped his pants.

"No, please," Tara begged hysterically as she felt him move into place behind her. "Please don't do this...god, no..."

Caleb merely grinned and rammed himself into her.

As Tara sobbed and cried, he rode her roughly, laughing as he did so. When his laughs became ragged grunts, he grabbed Tara's hair and forced her head back.

"Time...to pay...for your sins...bitch!" he growled in her ear before magically sinking his free hand into the back of her head.

Tara screamed in agony as both her body and mind were violated at the same time. Caleb echoed her scream as he achieved his ecstatic release. Their screams ended simultaneously, and Caleb fell forward on Tara's now-limp form.

After regaining his breath, he pushed himself up with both hands, pulled his pants back up and fastened them, and re-buckled his belt. He stepped to the side of the desk and looked at Tara's face. Her eyes were open, but completely vacant. He reached up with his index finger and closed her eye lids one at a time, saying "Chuh-Ching" as he did so.

As Buffy and company reached a point about a hundred yards from the tower, they passed through an invisible shield of some kind. It shimmered when they went through it, and they felt its energy ripple across their skin. They stopped and looked around, expecting an attack, but none was coming.

"Did you feel that?" Willow asked.

Buffy nodded. "Be ready," she told the others.

In the underground cell, Caleb turned toward the door as if he had just felt Buffy and the others arriving. He smiled and looked back at Tara.

"Only one more thing to do," he announced.

The large knife materialized in his hand once again.

"After all, presentation is everything," he added with a sick grin on his face.

Minutes later, Willow and Buffy burst through the door. They rushed into the room with Xander and Anya and Giles right behind them. Willow and Buffy froze at the sight before them.

Tara was strung up by her wrists, hanging from ropes tied to pipes in the ceiling. She was completely naked with her back to them, her head hanging limply against her chest. A message had been carved into her back:

"Oh, dear god," Giles said in horror.

After helplessly staring at Tara for a moment, the group finally clicked out of their daze. Buffy took control and ran over to Tara. She gently tilted Tara's slumped head to the side and checked the witch's pulse at her neck.

"She's alive!" Buffy said excitedly.

"Oh, thank god!" Willow cried in relief.

"Giles, Xander, help us cut her down," Buffy ordered. The two men pulled off their backpacks and came over to assist. Buffy turned to Anya and pointed at one of the backpacks. "Get out the blanket."

Giles and Xander each took a wrist and cut the rope holding Tara in place. Buffy and Willow caught Tara and eased her to the floor onto the blanket that Anya had just laid out. They wrapped her up in it.

"Tara, baby, we're here, it's us," Willow said, crying and softly pushing Tara's hair away from her bruised and battered face.

"Tara, sweetie, can you hear us?" Buffy asked.

Tara's eyes remained closed, and she gave no response.

"We have to get her to the hospital now!" Buffy said.

Buffy scooped Tara into her arms and left the room.

A short time later, Xander was zooming down the highway, racing back toward Sunnydale. In the back of the van, Buffy and Willow held each other while cradling the unconscious Tara in their laps. They both cried freely while crooning encouraging words in their girlfriend's ear.

"Hang on, baby," Willow whispered as she stroked Tara's hair.

At the Sunnydale Hospital, Buffy rushed Tara into the Emergency Room, with Willow hot on her heels. They blasted right past the admitting nurse, who blustered toward them until Giles intervened, leading her aside to explain. As Buffy and Willow got Tara on a gurney inside the treatment area, the doctor came over.

"What happened?" the doctor asked.

"We found her, in the forest, like this," Buffy said. "Somebody took her and tortured her and –" A sob caught in Buffy's throat, and she couldn't go on.

"Do you know her?" he asked.

"Yes," Buffy said, having regained her voice. "Tara, her name's Tara."

"Does she have any medical conditions, allergies?"

"Shrimp!" Willow interjected anxiously. "She's allergic to shrimp."

"No, I meant any allergies to medicines," the doctor said.

"Oh. Right. Stupid," Willow said, hanging her head.

Buffy took Willow's hand in hers but kept her eyes on the doctor and answered his question. "I don't think so. She's never said."

"That's okay. We'll take care of her," the doctor said. "If we need any more information, we'll contact you in the waiting room."

"But –" Buffy started to object to the doctor separating them.

"You've done all you can for now," he told them. "Leave the rest to us. We'll update you just as soon as we can, I promise."

When the doctor gestured at the door, Buffy and Willow reluctantly left the treatment area.

When Buffy and Willow trudged unhappily into the waiting area, Xander and Anya rushed over.

"How is she?" Xander asked.

"We don't know," Buffy answered. "They just started on her."

"They'll let us know something as soon as they can," Willow added.

They all stood there, saying nothing for a moment.

"She'll be okay," Xander stated. "We found her, she's alive, so she'll be okay."

Buffy nodded, trying to be hopeful and agree with Xander's words. Willow began to cry and crumpled onto a nearby bench. Buffy went with her. The two just held one another and cried.

Xander and Anya were at a loss at what to do. They finally just sat down on the same bench, Xander next to Willow and Anya next to Buffy. They put a comforting hand on the backs of the distraught girls and waited.

About an hour later, Giles re-joined the group, having filled out all the requisite paperwork for Tara's admission to the hospital. It had taken a while to explain the unique relationship that the Scoobies shared, but once Giles supplied the necessary legal documents proving that he and the others were all health proxies for one another, the admitting nurse gave him no further difficulties.

"Have you heard from the doctor yet?" he asked upon his return.

Buffy shook her head.

"Here he comes now," Xander said, pointing behind Giles.

The doctor came over to the group. They all stood to greet him. "Are you Tara's family?"

"Yes, we are," Buffy said.

"How is she, Doctor?" Giles asked.

"Stabilized, but still critical," the doctor replied. "Unfortunately, her brain activity indicates that she's...well, she's in a coma essentially."

Willow whimpered. Buffy shored her up.

"She was beaten very badly, but she doesn't appear to have any broken bones or internal bleeding. We're going to do some x-rays and scans to be sure, of course." The doctor looked down and cleared his throat before looking up and continuing. "The, um, the other injuries...the cuts and burns and the, um, the sexual assault...they're not life-threatening."

"Oh god..." Willow cried before slipping back down to the bench. Buffy wrapped her arms around Willow, and the two of them went back to crying.

The doctor shifted on his feet nervously before moving closer to Giles. He lowered his voice and said, "I know you're all very upset, but…I'm required to report things like this to the police and…" He shrugged and trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

"I understand, Doctor," Giles said. "Please keep us informed of her progress?"

The doctor nodded and went back inside the treatment area.

Hours later, Buffy was sitting on the bench, staring off into space. Willow was lying on the bench with her head in Buffy's lap. Buffy absently stroked Willow's back. On the bench next to them, Xander and Anya were huddled together, leaning on each other's shoulders, sleeping. Giles was walking out of the waiting room with Joyce, headed for the vending area down the hallway.

An orderly in white scrubs pushed an empty metal cart with a broken clanging wheel through the ER, earning him glares from the Scoobies. Once he was gone, the group closed their eyes once again.

The orderly went to the elevator that was near the ER. He pushed the down button, waited for the car, and entered it once it arrived, clanging the metal cart over the jamb loudly.

When the doors opened again, he was in the basement. He rolled the cart out and clanged down the hall a short ways before entering a set of double doors. Inside the doors was a makeshift office: desk with chair and lamp and phone, filing cabinets, a computer station. Around it were clumps of broken wheelchairs, gurneys, and carts and other unused hospital equipment. He parked the cart and sauntered over to the station, where a white-clad woman was sitting in the chair looking bored.

The orderly reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

"You ready for a smoke break?" he asked.

"Yes!" the woman said enthusiastically as she got up from her chair. She glanced down the hallway toward a room whose light was on, then turned back to the orderly. "Let's go," she said.

The two of them walked through the double doors to the elevator and pushed the call button. When the elevator arrived, they entered and closed the doors, and the elevator started its way up.

Back in the now-empty office area, a huge whoosh hit the room. The lamp fell over and off the desk, and file folders blew open, sending papers everywhere. A portal was opening. Within seconds, Faith and Vamp Willow came tumbling out of it and slammed into an abandoned gurney, sending it crashing into a clump of metal tables. As the portal dissipated, they both groaned and sat up. Faith was the first to get up. Vamp Willow was slower because of the protective gear she was wearing.

"Where are we?" Vamp Willow asked as she pulled off her motorcycle helmet and ski mask. She gave her hair a fluffing.

"A hospital, looks like," Faith answered. "Some kind of storage area maybe?"

Vamp Willow finished taking off her bulky getup. "A hospital? Why would we end up here?"

"I don't know. Wasn't the spell supposed to tap into the slayer energies?"

"Supposed to," Vamp Willow replied.

"Well, maybe Buffy's here in the hospital," Faith said. "If she's like me, she's been to the E.R. more times than she can count. Let's look around."

Vamp Willow noticed the lighted room down the hallway. "There," Vamp Willow said, pointing at the door. The two headed that way.

When they reached the room, they realized it was a working patient room. Faith took the lead and went inside. A curtain on the far side hid part of the room. Faith slid the curtain aside slightly.

From behind Faith, Vamp Willow asked, "What is it?"

"It's me," Faith said in a shocked but calm voice.

"What?" Vamp Willow pushed the curtain aside so that she could see. She froze in place. Her mouth dropped open.

In the hospital bed lay the pale body of this world's Faith, still comatose since her battle with Buffy the night before Graduation Day.

"Holy shit!" Vamp Willow said.

Moments later, Faith and Vamp Willow were still in shock, staring at the comatose woman in the hospital bed.

"What happened to me?" Faith asked, upset. "Why am I here?"

Vamp Willow shrugged uncertainly. "I don't know."

"Buffy and Tara never said anything about my counterpart when they were in our world," Faith said. "What about when you were here?"

"Nope, never saw her, and I really don't remember them mentioning her."

Faith went to the end of the bed and pulled the chart from the slot. "Chart says I've been here…she's been here…since May of last year."

"She's been in a coma all this time? Even with slayer healing?" Vamp Willow noted. "Damn."

"If she's in such bad shape, then why's she stuck down here?" Faith asked, anger entering her voice. "I mean, shit…she's thrown down here like another piece of fuckin' broken equipment!"

"Look, we can ask the others when we see 'em okay?" Vamp Willow said, giving Faith's arm a squeeze. "For now, let's just do what we came here to do: find Buffy and see what's going on."

Faith nodded at that and didn't say anything else.

Faith and Vamp Willow took the elevator up the ground floor. It opened near the ER. Faith walked out of the elevator and headed for the main exit. Vamp Willow didn't follow; instead, she hovered at the door to the ER.

"Faith," she called out, drawing the slayer to where she was standing.

Together they both looked inside and saw Buffy's face across the room. They rushed inside the ER waiting room and found Buffy on the bench with Willow in her lap.

"Oh, man, we're too late," Faith said to Buffy, who was staring at the Wishverse duo in shock.

"What happened to Willow?" Vamp Willow asked, kneeling down and putting her hand on Willow's arm.

Willow awakened groggily. "Whuh...what is it?" Then she saw Vamp Willow. "Ahhhh!" she yelped and scrambled closer to Buffy.

At the yelp, Xander and Anya woke up. When Xander saw Faith, he screamed too and pointed at the brunette. "Ahhh, evil slayer, evil slayer!"

Giles and Joyce returned just then and stood protectively behind the Scoobies and glared at the two intruders.

Faith and Vamp Willow backed away. This was not the welcome they expected.

"No, no!" Buffy interjected frantically to the group. "She's not evil! That's Bizarro Faith."

"Gee, thanks," Faith deadpanned. "That's way better than 'evil slayer, evil slayer'."

"This is Faith and Willow from the Wishverse," Buffy explained.

Xander and the others took on an "oh" expression. Anya gave a pleased smile. "I was always awfully proud of that wish," she said. She stopped smiling when Giles frowned at her.

"What are you doing here?" Buffy asked, getting to her feet.

"Red here got some bad vibes from Willow," Faith said. "We thought we'd better come see what was up."

"But Willow's okay," Vamp Willow noted. "Maybe Ethan did get it right, and we're here before it happens."

Faith shook her head worriedly. "No, something's already happened, hasn't it?" she asked.

Willow nodded, tears falling again.

"It's Tara," Buffy said.

About an hour or so later, Faith and Vamp Willow sat with the Scoobies in the ER waiting room, getting the scoop on what had happened.

"So, let me see if I've got this," Faith said. "This evil law firm in L.A. hired this Caleb guy to attack Buffy and Willow and Tara because of this power-of-three-guardians-of-the-hellmouth thing. Caleb kidnapped Tara and left her for dead, but you found her in time."

"Why didn't the so-called 'curse' kick in?" Vamp Willow asked. "Shouldn't Caleb have gotten some kind of karmic lightning bolt or something?"

"Well, we don't actually know for sure that he didn't, but...I imagine that the curse failed to activate because Tara never died," Giles said.

"Maybe that was Caleb's plan all along," Buffy suggested. "Hurt us but not kill us."

"It's devious, but effective," Anya noted.

"No kidding," Xander agreed. "With Tara alive but out of the picture, there's no Power of Three and no curse to worry about."

"But why is this L.A. group going to so much trouble to hurt Buffy and Willow and Tara?" Joyce commented. "They're not even in L.A. What is this group up to? What's so important that the Power of Three has to be crippled?"

In L.A., Holland was meeting with Lilah in his office. While they were mid-discussion, Holland's private line rang. He picked up the receiver and put it to his ear.

"Yes?" he answered. After hearing who it was, he smiled. "Ah, Caleb. One moment please." Holland put the call on the speaker. "You have news?"

"Indeed I do," Caleb said over the speaker. "I bring good news from Sunnydale," he bragged. "Stage one is complete."

Holland's expression brightened into a smug smile. Lilah looked on anxiously.

"Excellent," Holland said. "And who was the 'unfortunate' target?"

"Well, they all were, thanks to that wonderful connection they share," Caleb said with a laugh. "But it was the blonde witch who earned my special attentions. She was…well, lemme just say that I haven't had such a pleasurable assignment in quite some time."

"And you're certain that she's out of the picture?"

Caleb gave a loud scoff, which Holland took as an affirmative answer.

"Very well. Once my contacts have verified the assignment's completion, your payment will be wired to the account you specified," Holland said.

"Why, thank you," Caleb said happily. "It's been a pleasure doin' business with you. Should I move on to stage two? Or have you changed your mind on that one?"

Lilah cast a shocked look in Holland's direction, as if she suspected what the elder lawyer had in mind. Holland ignored her. "Maintain surveillance," he told Caleb. "We'll talk about stage two later."

"Will do," Caleb said cheerfully.

Holland ended the call and hung up the phone. He turned to Lilah and stared at her hard, daring her to question him. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but then closed it and glanced away. Holland smiled and leaned back in his chair.

"I take it you don't approve," Holland said, offering Lilah the chance to speak her mind.

Lilah turned her eyes back to her boss. "I'm just concerned, sir. What you're doing…it's risky."

"Lilah, my dear, great accomplishments always come out of great risks," Holland lectured. "That's how I've gotten to where I am now, and it's how I'm going to earn myself an elevation to senior partner." He paused for a long moment, then gestured grandly at his office. "Which would, of course, leave a vacancy in my current position."

Holland stopped again, allowing Lilah time to consider the implications. As he expected, her eyes flashed with greedy ambition. She covered it up quickly, but Holland had already seen what he had wanted to see. He smiled wickedly.

Lilah crossed her arms and returned his smile. "What's next?"

"Oh, plans within plans," Holland replied. "There is so much more at stake than you can possibly imagine."

Back in Sunnydale Hospital, the Scoobies were still deep in discussion with Faith and Vamp Willow when the doctor entered the waiting room and came their way. Once again, they all stood, anxious to hear what he had to say.

"Doctor?" Buffy prompted.

He gave a sweeping nod as a greeting to the group. Then he turned to Buffy and Willow, who had taken a step forward to meet him.

"How is she?" Willow asked.

"We've done all we can here in the E.R.," the doctor said. "She's stable enough, so we've moved her to a private room."

"Can we see her?" Buffy pleaded.

"Yes," he replied. "Just get the room number from the admitting nurse, and remember, not too many visitors. Two or three at the most at a time, okay?"

"Of course," Buffy said, nodding enthusiastically.

As the doctor turned to go, Willow grabbed his hand and held it. "Thank you," she said with deep sincerity. Buffy added her hand to echo Willow's statement. The doctor merely smiled, pulled away, and returned to the treatment area.

The Scoobies immediately engaged in a group hug, taking some comfort in the fact that Tara was stable enough to be moved. Faith and Vamp Willow stood awkwardly nearby, still very much the outsiders in all this.

After the hug, Buffy and Willow rushed over to the nurse's station and soon left the E.R. to find Tara's private room.

After Willow and Buffy left the E.R.'s waiting room, the Scoobies turned back to each other. The smiles of relief that had been on their faces faded when they considered all that lay ahead of them. As a heaviness returned to the mood, Giles and Joyce unconsciously moved into each other's arms in a sideways hug; Xander and Anya did the same. But no one spoke.

Faith looked over at Vamp Willow then cleared her throat and stepped into the group. "So, um, what do we do now? I mean, what can we do to help?" The Scoobies moved apart slightly and turned to the pair.

Giles pushed his glasses up on his nose and said, "Well, um, I think it would be very helpful if you two could handle patrol for the time being."

"No prob," Faith assured them. "We can do that. You got a place we can crash?"

"Yes...my apartment," Giles said. "I can take you by there. Joyce?"

"I'll stay here," she replied. "Someone needs to stay here with the girls."

Giles nodded at that then said, "Oh, and someone should call Angel, let him know what's happened."

"I'll do that," Xander said. "I've got his number back at my place."

"All right then, meet back here later?" Giles said.

Everyone nodded, and the group broke up, with Joyce heading to the nurse's station and the others moving toward the exit.

Meanwhile, upstairs in the hospital, Buffy and Willow eased into Tara's room. Holding hands, they anxiously approached her bed. They crossed to the far side, away from the I.V. and the electronic equipment monitoring her vital signs. The girls' faces creased in pain when they took in the sight of the injured blonde.

Tara appeared to look worse rather than better. The bruises on her face that had before been merely red and slightly raised were now dark purple and fully swollen. Butterfly closures were taped along a nasty cut on her forehead. Light gauze bandages covered the brand marks on her neck and arms. She was breathing on her own, but she was so pale and still that she seemed to be barely alive. Thankfully, the heart monitor indicated a faint but steady rhythm.

Willow let out the sob she'd been holding in and reached out to touch Tara's arm. She stopped inches above it, not wanting to touch her anywhere that might hurt. She settled on just taking her hand. With her own tears flowing, Buffy stroked Tara's hair several times then rested a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," Buffy whispered.

"Please come back to us," Willow said in a choked voice. "Please…"

Their cries came in earnest then, and the two fell sobbing into each other's arms. They were crying so hard that they didn't hear Joyce come inside. She went instantly to them and pulled them into a warm, comforting embrace. They wrapped themselves around the older woman, seeking solace in the mother's touch.

Having been by Giles' apartment, Faith and Vamp Willow were now on their way to patrol in the last few hours of darkness. Carrying their borrowed weapons, they approached one of the many graveyards in Sunnydale. Neither had had much to say since they had left Giles' place.

"Weird seeing a stand-up Giles, isn't it?" Faith commented, breaking the silence.

"Yeah," Vamp Willow said flatly before looking up and seeing the cemetery's gate. "Oh, good. We're here. I so need to kill something right now."

"You and me both," Faith agreed grimly.

The two determined White Hats entered the graveyard, gripping their weapons tightly and hoping for demon prey to be awaiting them.

In L.A., Angel was just coming in from a long night of demon hunting. He took off his jacket and headed for the bathroom to wash up. He stopped when the phone rang. He wondered who would be calling at such a late hour. He walked over and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?" he answered.

He listened intently for several moments. Then his face tightened into barely-contained fury.

"Don't worry, Xander," he said through clenched teeth. "Somebody's definitely going to pay, and I know just who to start with."

Part 10

"Do you have any other questions?" the neurologist asked as he stood in the hallway outside Tara's hospital room.

Buffy and Willow looked at each other and shook their heads. Joyce smiled and held out her hand. "Thank you, Doctor."

The doctor shook Joyce's hand, gave a small smile to Buffy and Willow, then headed down the corridor. He passed two detectives in dark suits, one male and one female. The two police officers approached the three women and caught them before they went back inside the hospital room.

"Excuse me," the male detective said. "I'm Lieutenant Land, and this is Sergeant Dunn. Are you Miss Maclay's family?"

"Yes, we are," Joyce replied.

"Are you one of the people who brought her in?" As Land asked the questions, Dunn began taking notes.

Joyce started to reply, but Buffy broke in. "No, that would be us," she said, pointing to herself and Willow.

"And you are?"

"Buffy Summers."

"Willow Rosenberg."

Detective Land looked at Joyce.

"I'm Joyce Summers," she said. "Buffy's mother."

"Thank you," Land said. "Dr. Salinger in the E.R. filed a report regarding Miss Maclay's condition. We're here to investigate the alleged attack."

"It wasn't 'alleged'," Buffy said hotly. "Take one look at her and you'll –"

Joyce put her hand on Buffy's arm and called her daughter's name. Buffy backed down but still cast an angry glare at the officers.

Land softened his tone. "Look, we're just trying to find out exactly what happened." Buffy gave a reluctant nod, and Land went on. "Start at the beginning…tell us what you know."

"We were moving to a new apartment," Willow said. "Me and Buffy and Tara. Tara was back at her dorm room packing."

"We'll need her room number," Dunn interjected without looking up from her notes.

"Sure," Willow said. "Anyway, we found Tara's dorm room broken into. The door was busted in, a-a-and Tara was gone."

"The place was trashed," Buffy added. "Like there'd been a big fight."

"We didn't know what had happened to her," Willow added. "We just started looking everywhere –"

"And you didn't call the police?" Land asked.

Buffy and Willow looked at one another. "No, we didn't," Buffy answered without elaborating.

Land and Dunn stared at Buffy and Willow for a moment. When the two girls didn't say anything else, Land said, "Go on."

"Later, she must've gotten away from whoever took her because she contacted us," Buffy said. "We rushed to where she was, and –"

"Who's 'we'?" Land asked. "Just you two?"

"No, me and Willow and Giles and Xander and –" Buffy explained.

"And that's all," Willow interjected, stopping Buffy from saying Anya's name.

Buffy looked at Willow a moment and nodded. "Right. That's all."

"We'll need their full names and numbers," Dunn said.

"Okay. Anyway, that's when we found her like we did."

"Where was that?"

"In the forest reserve north of town, in the building next to the watch tower."

"And how did she contact you? Was there a certain number she called?"

"Umm…" Buffy hesitated, unsure of how to answer. She looked at Willow.

"Oh my god! They want to know how she contacted us. What do we tell them?" she said mentally to Willow.

"W-W-Well, we can't tell them it was a cell phone or something. They'll check," Willow answered. "We'll just have to tell them the truth."

Willow shrugged and turned back to the detectives. "Umm, well, actually…that's the weird part," she said, giving an embarrassed chuckle. "I-I-I know this is gonna sound totally crazy, but…Tara's kinda, well, slightly psychic. She contacted us with her mind."

Dunn froze and looked up from her note-taking. Land's mouth had dropped open. "She contacted you with her mind?" Dunn asked incredulously.

"Yes," Willow said. Buffy added a corroborating nod.

"Ohhh-kaaaay," Dunn said and went back to her note-taking.

Land had recovered from his shock. He cleared his throat and said, "And when you got to the watch tower, what did you find?"

Buffy started to speak but couldn't. She turned to Willow.

"We found Tara…" Willow stopped, also unable to go on. Joyce put a hand on each of the girls' backs.

"I know this is difficult," Land said, "but we need to know everything."

Buffy took in a shaky breath. "We found Tara hanging from the ceiling, strung up by her wrists," Buffy said. "She was…naked…with her back to us. I think he wanted us to see what he had done to her. Particularly the message."

"Yes, the message," Land commented. " 'Slayer's bitch, Witch's whore, The weakest link, Is no more.' Any idea what that means?"

Buffy and Willow exchanged pained looks. Then Buffy turned back to the detectives. "No, not really," she said. "Sounds like crazy serial killer talk to me."

"Do you have any idea who might have done this?"

Buffy and Willow sadly shook their heads.

"We'll check out Miss Maclay's room and the watch tower, collect what evidence we can," Land said. "We'll need to speak with you again after that. We'll need Miss Maclay's dorm room and the names of numbers of those who were with you when you found her."

Dunn turned to a clean page in her notebook and handed the notebook and her pen to Buffy. Buffy nodded and began writing down the necessary information. Land pulled out several business cards and handed them to Willow.

"If you think of anything else, please call us," Land said. "And we're very sorry for what's happened to your friend."

At that, the two detectives walked away, allowing Willow and Buffy and Joyce to go back inside Tara's room.

"They're not telling us everything," Dunn commented as they headed down the hallway.

"No kidding," Land replied grimly.

In the Harris basement, Xander and Anya fell back into the bed, their nude bodies glistening with sweat. Both were breathing hard. After they had caught their breath and cooled off a bit, they snuggled back together.

"Feel better now?" Xander asked.

"Yes, thank you," Anya replied sincerely, running her hand over Xander's chest.

"Good, I aim to please."

Anya leaned up on her elbow. "But we really need to do this more often. We could die at any moment, and the last thing I want to do is to die thinking, 'Gee, I sure wish I'd had sex more often.' I mean, if we're going to be stuck in these fragile, mortal bodies, we'd better get every ounce of pleasure we can squeeze out of 'em. Am I right?"

Xander smiled indulgently at Anya. "You betcha," he said before kissing her forehead and pulling her down into his arms once again.

Meanwhile, in his apartment, Giles was leaning over his desk, talking on the phone. A legal pad covered with notes was before him. The former watcher tapped his pen.

"Are you sure, Quentin?" Giles asked. "There's nothing more on the Power of Three, nothing on this 'Caleb' fellow?"

Giles listened intently as Travers answered.

"Very well," Giles said, disappointed. "If you find anything…"

Giles listened again then nodded with a faint smile.

"Thank you, Quentin, and good night. Oh, yes…good afternoon, I mean."

Giles hung up the phone. He sighed heavily, took off his glasses, and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Faith and Vamp Willow were outside a mausoleum, finishing off the last few vamps of rather large nest they had discovered on patrol. Vamp Willow was trading blows with a female vampire, who matched her move for move. When the redhead brandished her stake, the vampire kicked it out of her hand.

"Lost your stake," the vamp taunted.

"Don't need it," Vamp Willow replied, dropping her hands nonchalantly. "Incindere!"

The vampire instantly caught fire. She gave a quick shriek then combusted in a fiery poof.

Vamp Willow gave a satisfied harrumph and turned toward Faith, who was body-slamming a male vampire over the stone bench in front of the crypt. The concrete cracked in two under the force of the blow. Before the vamp could recover, Faith leaped on top of him and plunged a stake into his heart, dusting him.

Vamp Willow smiled and sauntered sexily over to Faith. "Mmm…I just love watching you work, baby."

"Is that so?" Faith said with a grin, tucking her stake into her back pocket.

Vamp Willow grabbed Faith by her belt and pulled her close. She nuzzled into the slayer's cleavage, then moved upwards, trailing the very tip of her tongue along the slayer's skin. When she reached Faith's neck, she stopped and whispered, "Makes me hungry."

Faith tangled her fingers in Vamp Willow's hair and pulled the vampire's head back before planting a crushing kiss on her lips. Then, with hands roaming, they kissed as if devouring one another. After finally separating, they still held one another, leaning their foreheads together.

"It's gonna be dawn soon," Faith said. "Wanna take this party indoors?"

Vamp Willow's lips slowly lifted into a playful smirk.

The door to Giles' apartment burst open with a loud bang. Faith and Vamp Willow inched their way inside, their attention solely on each other as they hungrily made out. Faith felt behind herself for the door's edge and fumbled with trying to close it. She finally gave it a backward kick, making it slam once again. They continued kissing and groping until a loud throat-clearing interrupted them. Faith froze and looked around Vamp Willow to see a very peeved Giles staring at them – or rather trying not to stare at them.

"Giles," Faith said. "Didn't expect you to be here." Vamp Willow turned to face the watcher as well, but still clung to the slayer's body.

"Yes, well, I, um…had some, um, very important calls to make." Giles kept his gaze averted. "And-and-and some books to consult." He flashed an embarrassed smile. "I'll be returning to the hospital soon."

Vamp Willow had gotten bored during Giles' flustered reply and had begun to nibble at Faith's ear. "Good. Great," Faith said, trying to ignore her girlfriend's attentions. "We'll just hit the shower then. Get cleaned up. And…join you there later."

"Very good, very good," Giles said, nodding way too much. "You can call Xander to pick you up," he added as the slayer with vampire attached backed down the hallway. "The number's by the phone."

"Cool. Bye!" At that, Faith opened the bathroom door and shoved Vamp Willow inside.

Within seconds, Giles heard bodies thud against the door. And then the moaning started.

"Oh dear lord," he groaned unhappily. Then he hurried to shove his notes and papers into his leather satchel. As he picked up his keys, he heard a crash from the bathroom. "Good god, I hope my apartment survives," he muttered as he left the living room, closing the front door behind him.

When Giles entered Tara's hospital room, his hands were full. With his satchel swung over his shoulder by its strap, he held a large white sack in one hand and a cardboard tray of Styrofoam cups in the other. Joyce got up from her chair and took the sack and tray from him. He thanked her and set his satchel on the floor. As Buffy and Willow joined them, he pointed toward the rolling table where Joyce was setting out the sack's contents.

"I, um, brought donuts, oh and coffee," Giles said. "Not exactly the breakfast of champions, as it were, but um…"

"Thanks, Giles," Willow said sincerely, giving him a small smile. Then she and Buffy moved into the watcher's arms for a warm hug.

When Buffy and Willow left him to check out the donut selection, Giles embraced Joyce and gave her a quick kiss. "How is she?" he asked quietly.

"The same," Joyce said sadly.

Giles nodded, and the two fell silent. Just then, they heard a light tapping at the door. Buffy was closest to the door, so she said, "Come in."

The door slowly opened, and Caleb stepped inside. He was dressed in a black clerical shirt with a white collar and black pants; his head showed no sign of the wound Tara had given him. He smiled politely at the group.

"Mornin'," he said. "I'm Father Mallory. I wanted to stop by and see how you folks were holdin' up."

"That's very kind of you, Father," Joyce said, returning his smile. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me, ma'am," Caleb said. "Jus' doin' my job." He looked at Tara sympathetically then glanced at a piece of paper in his hand. "Miss…Maclay. You're her family then?"

"Yes, we are," Buffy answered.

"Well, she's lucky to have such a fine family standin' vigil at her side," he commented. They nodded their thanks. "I'll be heading to the chapel shortly. Would you like me to light a candle and say a prayer for Miss Maclay?"

Buffy and Willow looked at one another and then at Joyce and Giles. Then they turned back to Caleb.

"Um, sure," Willow said a little uncertainly, "but Tara's not Catholic or anything. Heck, she's not even Anglican." Her hand went to her mouth, and she said worriedly, "Oh…I said 'heck' in front of a priest!"

Caleb chuckled. "Don't fret, my sister. The Lord is forgiving, the Lord is merciful." He sobered and took a step back toward the door. "I shall pray for Miss Tara, and for you all, that my God will make Himself known to you, for truly He is all-powerful."

At that, Caleb smiled once more and then stepped out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him. As he moved down the corridor, a malicious grin spread across his face.

A little later that morning, Buffy held a meeting in the hospital cafeteria. Everyone was there, except for Joyce, who remained in Tara's room to watch over her. The group sat at a long table in the back corner.

"How's Tara?" Faith asked.

"Not good," Buffy said, shaking her head. "Will did a healing spell, a-a-and I think it helped. I mean, physically she seems to be healing some, but…"

"She's still in a coma," Willow finished for Buffy. "Well, it's not even really a full coma, the neurologist said. It's more like a mini-coma combined with catatonia."

"Have you tried contacting her?" Xander asked. "You know, with that mental walkie-talkie thing you guys do?"

"Yes, we've tried," Buffy said, "but she's just…not there."

"It's like she's withdrawn so deeply inside herself that she can't even hear us," Willow explained.

"Can't you do something to reach out to her?" Anya asked.

"Maybe. More on that in a minute," Buffy said, putting on her boss voice. "First order of business: I want someone with Tara at all times, and I want them armed. For all we know Caleb could come back and try to finish what he started."

Everyone at the table nodded in agreement, clearly ready and willing to defend Tara with their lives.

"Second item," Buffy continued. "We got a visit from police detectives last night, and more than likely, they'll be contacting the rest of you as well. We need to get our stories straight."

"We told them that we found Tara's dorm room broken into. We left you out of it, Anya," Willow said. "We weren't sure if your new human identity would hold up under police scrutiny."

"Good answer!" Anya confirmed gratefully.

Willow went on. "We said we looked for her and couldn't find her, but then she contacted us during a brief escape, and we tracked her down using information she provided."

"We didn't say anything about the magic part, but we did admit that Tara contacted us psychically," Buffy added. The others got a shocked look on their faces.

"Is that wise?" Giles asked.

"We had to," Willow said. "If we had said she used a phone, they could've checked and known we were lying. The last thing we need is to be considered suspects ourselves."

"We told them where we found her," Buffy continued, "but we didn't say anything about Caleb or Wolfram & Hart; they are not something the regular police can handle."

"We just said we didn't have any idea who might have done this to Tara and left it at that," Willow supplied.

"Everybody clear on that?" Buffy asked. When everyone nodded, Buffy went on. "Next item: Patrol." She looked expectantly at Faith and Vamp Willow.

"Don't worry, B, we got it covered," Faith told her. "We bagged ten just last night, right babe?"

"Yep!" Vamp Willow answered proudly.

"Thanks," Buffy said sincerely, "but just the same, I'm gonna call Riley and ask him to get the Initiative to help out – increase their patrols or something. And maybe post an undercover guard here at the hospital."

"Speaking of the uber-powerful secret government agency," Xander interjected, "can't the Initiative pull some kind of Feds takeover here? You know, get the local cops off our backs?"

"I don't know," Buffy answered. "Maybe. I'll ask."

"What did Angel say?" Willow asked Xander.

"He's working the Wolfram & Hart angle," Xander replied. "Said he had a 'contact' he was going to hit."

"Hit up, you mean, right?" Faith asked.

"No, I'm pretty sure he meant hit," Xander answered. "And the way he sounded – with near-Angelus scary-tude – that 'contact' of his better talk fast."

In Los Angeles, Lilah busied herself with getting ready for the work day. She sat at her dressing table applying her makeup and styling her hair. As she looked at her own reflection, she met her own gaze, staring deeply into her eyes.

"Lilah, my dear, great accomplishments always come out of great risks," she heard Holland's voice say in her mind.

She closed her eyes and let out a long deep breath. She opened her eyes and looked at herself sternly.

"You can do this," she told herself. "It'll work." She looked at her watch nervously. "It'll work," she repeated as if trying to convince herself.

About a block from the Wolfram & Hart tower, Lilah came out of Starbucks carrying a large coffee in her hands. She sipped gingerly at the hot drink while walking leisurely to the sidewalk. After taking a few more drinks, she set her coffee on the newspaper box next to her, glanced at her watch, and opened her purse. She pulled out her Palm Pilot and started scrolling through her schedule for the day.

Suddenly, a van came roaring up to the curb right in front of her, screeching to a halt. Lilah gasped in alarm and stumbled back away from the curb, dropping her Palm Pilot. The van door slid open, and two masked, black-clad men leaped from the vehicle and grabbed her. She screamed and tried to fight them off, but within seconds they had dragged her into the van and driven away.

Bystanders were shouting and pointing and looking at each other in shock, as if they couldn't believe what they had just seen. The man who had been nearest to Lilah was already on his cell phone, calling 911.

Holland Manners was in his conference room, talking with several of his staff members prior to their morning meeting. Suddenly, one of the interns burst into the room, a frantic look on his face.

"What is the meaning of this?" Holland demanded.

"I-I-I'm sorry, sir," said the frightened young man, "but I thought you'd want to know: Ms. Morgan's been kidnapped!"

Holland jumped to his feet. "What?!!"

After many twists and turns and misleads, the kidnappers' van pulled into an unmarked garage. At a beep from a remote, the garage door closed. When the garage was cloaked in darkness, the black-clad man holding Lilah released her and pulled off his mask.

It was Angel.

Cordelia in the driver's seat and Wesley next to Angel removed their masks as well. All three stared intently at Lilah.

"You wanna tell me what the hell's going on?" Angel demanded.

"Yeah, like…why do you want to help us and why did we have to kidnap you to get it?" Cordelia added snarkily.

"Good!" Willow said, crossing her arms tightly. "I hope Angel does go all Angelus on whoever's responsible at Wolfram & Hart." Then she turned to Buffy and corrected herself. "In a totally not-lose-his-soul kind of way, of course."

Buffy gave a small smile then grew grim. "Right now…what I want…is Caleb. Any ideas on how to find him?"

"We could, um, use that gypsy spell that Willow found…the one we used to locate Spike," Giles suggested.

"But that needs something that belongs to Caleb, right?" Buffy asked.

"Well, yes, but perhaps we could find something at the watch tower?"

Buffy gave a pleased nod. "Okay, let's do it."

"Wait a minute," Faith interrupted. "I don't mean to be the party pooper here, but say you do find this Caleb guy, what are you gonna do with him then? How are you gonna fight somebody like that?"

"We don't know yet," Xander said. "That's what we have to figure out."

The Scoobies looked at one another in silence, all waiting for someone to come up with a viable solution. No one had an answer.

"We need our Power," Willow said finally.

"I know," Buffy replied, "but I'm not sure we can get it. Not with Tara out of it."

"What about that spell Giles told us about?"

Everyone looked at Giles.

"There's a ritual we can perform," he answered. "Seers used it in joint vision quests; they would join their minds and move through the spirit realms together. In addition, some Shamans used it to enter the minds of the possessed, in a kind of exorcism from the inside out."

"That doesn't sound very safe," Faith pointed out.

"It's not," Giles confirmed. "The herbs one must take…well, they're rather mind-altering."

"What? Like mushroom-munchin'-toad-licking-acid-dropping kind of altering?" Xander asked.

"Not exactly," Giles said, "but the ritual will allow Willow and Buffy to fully enter Tara's psyche."

"What's the catch?" Anya asked, eyeing Giles suspiciously.

Giles sighed. "The catch is that it's a completely internalized ritual. They start it, and they have to end it. We won't be able to intervene at all. And they won't have an external anchor."

"Which means they could get lost in there," Vamp Willow pointed out.

"Yes," Giles said.

"And we could end up with all three of them in a coma," Faith clarified.

"Yes," Giles confirmed. "And of course, they'd be completely vulnerable during the ritual because they would have no connection to the outside world. They'd be as helpless as Tara…in the physical realm, at any rate."

"I don't like this idea," Xander said warily. "Maybe it would be better to wait, let Tara come out of this on her own."

"No, we can't wait," Willow said urgently. "What Caleb did to her, it was made to last, I'm sure of it."

"Willow's right," Buffy said. "He didn't go to all this trouble to disable the Power of Three just to have her come out of it on her own in a week." Buffy turned to Giles. "How long will it take to get the ritual materials together?"

"If the magic shop has what I need, a few hours maybe?" he answered.

Buffy looked at Willow intently. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Buffy turned back to the group, ready to issue orders.

"Giles…get everything together for the ritual. We'll do it as soon as we can get everything ready." Giles nodded in compliance.

Buffy turned to Xander and Anya. "I want you guys to go back to the watch tower, see if you can find anything connected to Caleb there. Get back as quickly as you can. We'll need you when it's ritual time."

"We're on it," Xander said.

"Willow…I want you to go the apartment and pack us a bag. We're gonna be up here at the hospital most of the time, and I'd really like to get cleaned up, and I'm sure you would too."

Willow looked down at herself. "No kidding."

"And pack any magic stuff you think we might need."

"Okay."

"Faith…I want you with Willow. My Willow, I mean. We don't know if Caleb might be waiting to target one of us. Oh, and stop at Giles' and get weapons…lots of them."

"You got it, B."

Buffy turned to Faith's girlfriend. "Willow…I mean, Other Willow…you're with me. I'm gonna send Mom home for a while, and we'll stay with Tara. Not much you can do during the day anyway."

"Okey-dokey," the vampire replied.

Buffy made eye contact with all in the group. "Everybody clear?" When she got nods all around, she said, "Okay then. Let's do it."

As the Scoobies got up from their table to start on their tasks, they paid no mind to the people who were sitting nearby. The sparse crowd was a mix of doctors and nurses and technicians as well as visitors who had family or friends in the hospital. The Scoobies walked right on by all of them without a thought.

After the Scoobies had passed him, Caleb turned around in his chair and watched them make their way through the dining hall toward the exit. He had been sitting less than twenty feet away, eavesdropping on their entire conversation. He smiled wickedly and pulled out his cell phone. Within a minute, the voice of Holland Manners could be heard answering on the other end of the line. Caleb shared all he had heard then waited as Holland considered the matter.

"Proceed to stage two," Holland said finally.

A huge smile spread over Caleb's face as he watched Buffy and Willow and the others leave the cafeteria. "I was so hopin' you'd say that."

Part 11

After sending her mother home for some much needed rest, Buffy took over the job of staying with Tara. Vamp Willow was there too, as a protector for them both, in case Caleb initiated another attack. As Vamp Willow stood beside Tara's bed, Buffy was in the corner talking on her cell phone.

"Thanks, Riley," Buffy said. "I owe you big time."

"You don't owe me anything," Riley said softly but sincerely.

Buffy's eyes glistened with tears. "Thank you," she repeated in a slightly choked voice.

"No problem," Riley said. "See you in a bit."

"'Kay," Buffy said. Then she ended the call and put her phone away.

Buffy sniffed a couple of times, wiped her eyes, and let out a long breath. Then she walked over to the bed opposite Vamp Willow. She took Tara's hand in hers and stroked her arm gently. She looked at Tara's face – still bruised and battered – then let her gaze move down to the brand on Tara's neck. Buffy felt the tears returning and even allowed a few drops to fall before clamping down on her emotions, funneling all that grief into a determined hardness. She breathed in deeply and straightened her stance. Then she glanced over at Vamp Willow.

Vamp Willow's expression was a mirror image of Buffy's: pain masked by intense resolution. Her face would crease into an unhappy frown, then relax into a look of cold determination, then return to the frown. She looked up and met Buffy's eyes.

"She was nice to me," Vamp Willow said, "when you were in my world."

Buffy gave a small smile. "Yeah, I remember. Tara's like that." Buffy looked down at Tara once more. "She's the kindest person I know."

Vamp Willow's face hardened. "This should not have happened. Somebody should have to pay for this."

"And somebody's going to," Buffy promised, looking back up. "A somebody named Caleb."

"Good," Vamp Willow replied, giving a satisfied nod. Then a wicked smile spread across her face. "And I can help with that, ya know. I happen to be very experienced in meting out punishment. And this time it would actually be deserved."

Buffy couldn't help but grin at the redhead's well-intentioned offer. "I don't doubt it," she answered. "And I may take you up on that."

At that, the two turned their gazes back to Tara and waited.

Meanwhile, at the Three's new apartment, Faith kept a wary watch as Willow dug through boxes to find clothes for herself and Buffy. Faith looked at Willow as if she wanted to ask something, but instead of saying anything, she looked away. It wasn't long before she repeated the motion. Busy with packing, Willow didn't notice. In her third attempt, Faith finally spoke.

"So, what's up with my counterpart down in the basement of the hospital?" the slayer asked nonchalantly, as if she really didn't care.

Willow glanced up, a surprised expression on her face. "You saw Faith at the hospital?"

"Yeah, the portal opened down there. It was supposed to tap into the slayer connection to guide us here. I guess it connected with her instead of Buffy."

"Oh" was all Willow could say.

"So, what's the sitch?" Faith continued. "Why did Xander call me 'evil slayer'?"

Willow sighed and took a deep breath. "Did Buffy tell you about when she went up against the Master?"

"Yeah, she said he bit her and drowned her and she died, till Xander brought her back with CPR."

"That's right. Well, when Buffy 'died,' another slayer was called."

"Me," Faith guessed.

"No, Kendra was her name, but she was killed later, and that's when you were called. Well, when our Faith was called."

"So, there were two active slayers at the same time?"

"Yep."

"Well, that shoulda been kickin' wicked. Me and B...we did some serious damage while she was in town."

"Yeah, it should've been, but it wasn't," Willow answered. "Faith was...a loner, wild, unpredictable, she took dangerous chances. She...she killed a man one night."

Faith looked surprised.

"It was an accident, but...Faith was never the same after that. Later, we learned that she had switched sides and was working for the Mayor – the Big Bad of the time. She threatened to kill me and Xander, and she tried to kill Angel. She poisoned him, and the only cure was for him to drain a slayer."

"Buffy said that when Angel had been hurt, she had to let him feed on her so he'd get better."

"That's right," Willow confirmed. "She tried capturing Faith first, but Faith wouldn't let it happen. Faith let herself fall off the building rather than let Buffy take her in."

"And she's been here in the hospital ever since?"

Willow nodded.

"Man, she sounds fucked up."

Willow shrugged. "I don't know how much history you two share, but..."

"I don't think I wanna know," Faith muttered.

"…none of that matters," Willow insisted, ignoring Faith's comment. "Buffy believes in you, and that's good enough for me. It's good enough for all of us."

Willow held Faith's gaze to emphasize her point, and Faith eventually gave a nod of acceptance. As soon as Willow went back to her packing, though, Faith's look of doubt returned.

Miles north of Sunnydale, Xander and Anya retraced their steps until they had located the watch tower in the forest reserve. They crept around it to the building nearby. When they got close, Xander pulled a handgun from his jacket pocket and took Anya's hand. They found the entrance crossed by yellow police line tape.

"Well, whatd'ya know," Xander commented. "The Sunnydale Police actually investigated."

After looking around nervously, they tore the tape down. Motioning Anya to stay behind him, Xander went in first.

In less than a minute, they found their way into the basement room where they had found Tara. They both stopped and looked at the beam in the ceiling where Tara had been strung up. Pain filled their eyes as their minds took them back to the gruesome scene. After a long moment, Xander clenched his jaw and got a determined expression on his face.

"Come on," he said. "Let's get busy. Maybe we'll get lucky and find something the police overlooked."

At that, the two began searching the room.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Lilah was spelling out her plan to Angel, Wesley, and Cordelia.

"Let me see if I've got this right," Cordelia said sarcastically. "You've got information on Wolfram & Hart's plot against the Three, and out of the goodness of your heart, you're willing to share that information with us. Sorry, not buying it."

Lilah gave her a disdainful glance. "Of course it's not out of the goodness of my heart," she said bluntly. "I'm covering my own ass." Lilah turned back to Angel. "You don't get the information until you give me what I want."

"And what would that be?" Angel asked.

"Something I'm sure you'll enjoy," Lilah answered unhappily. "I certainly won't, but it's the only way."

Angel looked over at Wesley, and the two shared a confused look, wondering what Lilah had in mind.

Back in Sunnydale, Riley and four of his Initiative soldiers arrived at the hospital. They were dressed in civilian clothes, but each carried a backpack containing weapons. Riley sent two soldiers to patrol the outside of the hospital. Then he and Forrest and Graham went inside.

"So this Caleb guy's gunning for your girl, eh?" Forrest asked as they entered the elevator.

"She's not my girl," Riley answered as he hit the button for the fourth floor. "Not any more. But yes, there's a chance Caleb will go after Buffy next. Or maybe Willow. Or he might try to finish off Tara. No matter who his target is, we have to be ready."

"Don't worry, man," Graham said. "We got ya covered."

"Yeah," Forrest agreed. "We'll put the take-down on this guy."

Graham and Forrest high-fived each other just as the elevator doors opened. When they exited the car, Riley turned to his comrades.

"Graham, you take the south end. Forrest, you take the north end. I'll take the room itself. Stay in radio contact. If you see anything even remotely suspicious, call it in."

Forrest and Graham nodded and then headed off in opposite directions to take up their posts. Riley headed for Tara's room.

After knocking softly and identifying himself, Riley heard Buffy say to come in. He slipped inside the door and shut it behind himself. Buffy came around the bed and walked to meet Riley. The two hugged warmly. When they separated, Riley looked over and saw Vamp Willow standing on the near-side of the bed.

"Hey Willow," Riley greeted politely.

"Oh…this is the Other Willow," Buffy corrected.

"Oh," Riley answered.

Vamp Willow rolled her eyes and pouted. "Other Willow," she grumbled to herself.

Riley then did a double-take as he suddenly realized the implications of Buffy's statement. "Huh?"

"Long story," Buffy said.

"I'm Willow's vampire doppelganger from another dimension," Vamp Willow stated.

"Apparently not that long," Buffy commented.

"Oh…that's…good…I guess," Riley said uncertainly before turning back to Buffy.

"Tell ya later," Buffy said.

Riley gave her a grin and a nod. "Lookin' forward to it." Then he sobered. "So how's Tara?"

"Pretty much the same," Buffy said, leading him over to Tara's bed. Riley frowned when he took in the sight of the battered blonde. "We're going to do a ritual…try to bring her out of this state she's in. That's why I wanted you here, watching our backs."

"I've got a team outside and Forrest and Graham on this floor," Riley said as he removed his backpack. "And I'll be right outside." He opened his pack and pulled out a radio. "If you need help, call."

Buffy took the radio with a smile. "Thank you," she said.

Just then, they heard a knock at the door, and Giles and Joyce came in, followed by Willow and Faith. After greetings were exchanged, Giles informed Buffy that Xander and Anya were on their way back.

"Good," Buffy said. "As soon as they get here, we'll do the ritual."

Back in Los Angeles, at the Wolfram & Hart Law Firm, a delivery man struggled to get a large wooden crate in the front doors and over to the reception desk. He plopped it near the desk then sauntered over to the receptionist, who did not appear pleased. He wiped the sweat from his forehead then pulled out his handheld.

"I'm sorry, sir, but deliveries are to be made to shipping and receiving in the back," the receptionist said.

"Look, lady," the delivery man said, "I ain't moving this thing again. You want it out back, you can take it there yourself."

The receptionist started to object, but the obstinate look in the delivery man's eyes stopped her. She knew she'd be wasting her breath. "Fine," she grumbled and held out her hand.

The delivery man handed her his pocket computer. She used the wand to sign the screen and handed the device back. The delivery man tipped his hat and handed her a long white envelope. Then he walked away.

"Wait!" the receptionist called out. "Where does it go?"

The delivery man ignored her and exited the building. The receptionist let out an annoyed huff. She looked at the envelope he had given her. It was blank on the outside. She decided to open it.

Inside was a single sheet of paper which read, "Open the crate immediately or she'll die."

The receptionist paled and dropped the sheet. "Oh my god, oh my god…Jake!" The security guard came running over just as the receptionist came out from behind her desk. "Hurry, hurry, help me get it open!" she cried.

Together they managed to lift the top off the wooden crate. When they saw what was inside, they stepped away, a look of utter shock on their faces.

Inside was a stripped and beaten Lilah Morgan. On her back was carved the following message:

In Sunnydale, with Riley and his men in place, the Scoobies were finalizing their plans for the ritual. They had rearranged the room so that there were two additional gurneys in the room, one on each side of Tara's bed. Buffy stood between the gurney and the bed on one side, and Willow did the same on the other. Xander stood beside Willow, and Giles stood beside Buffy. Anya and Joyce were in the corner, out of the way, watching anxiously. Faith was by the door, where Vamp Willow was finishing a spell.

"That should do it," Vamp Willow announced as she turned back to the group. "Anyone who's not on our VIP list will feel an irresistible urge to be elsewhere if they try to approach the room. Anyone who ignores that and attempts to get in the door will get a severe psychic backlash, like the migraine from hell. Too many attempts at that and they'll fry their brains."

"Good. Thanks," Buffy said. Then she turned to Willow. "Are you ready?"

When Willow nodded, the two joined both their hands across Tara's bed. They closed their eyes and began to concentrate, slowly merging their thoughts together. After several minutes, they opened their eyes.

As one, they each released a hand and took Tara's hands into theirs, forming a linked triangle. Willow began intoning the spell's lines, pausing after each one so that Buffy could echo her words. Their voices became louder and louder as the spell grew in power. When they reached the last line and belted it out together, Willow and Buffy instantly passed out.

Giles caught Buffy, and Xander caught Willow. They lifted the girls into their arms and laid them out on their respective gurneys. When they were certain that the girls were safely in place, they stepped away.

"What now?" Xander asked.

"We wait," Giles answered. "The rest is up to them. They're beyond our help now, unfortunately."

All assembled shared a worried look.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Angel waited anxiously in his office. He looked at his watch and then the door then repeated those motions again.

"It's time, right?" he said, looking at Cordelia and Wesley, who sat nearby.

"Yes, it's time," Cordelia said wearily, clearly having told Angel that multiple times already.

"Then where is it? Why isn't it here yet?" Angel said. "Do you think Lilah was jerking us around?"

"With what you put her through…I doubt it," Wesley answered.

"She asked for it," Angel said defensively.

"And you enjoyed it," Wesley countered.

"Damn right, I did!" Angel answered. "She was an accessory to the plot against Buffy. No matter how hard she's trying to wash her hands of it now, she –"

"Angel," Cordelia said, cutting him off. She pointed at the door, where a delivery man now stood.

"Package for Angel?" the man said.

"That's me," Angel replied, rushing over to the door.

Angel quickly signed for the package, and the delivery man handed over a thick manila envelope. As the delivery man left, Angel hurried over to the desk to open the envelope. He spread the documents over the table, and the three of them began pouring over the contents; Angel started with the first couple of pages.

Angel read silently for a moment. When he reached a certain part, his face fell. "Oh no," he said. He looked to the next sheet, which was actually an 8X10 photograph. "Damn it!"

"What is it?" Cordelia asked.

"Scan this, now!" he barked, handing her the photograph.

Frightened by Angel's intensity, Cordelia jumped to the task without question. Angel dropped the sheet he had been reading onto the desk and ran to the phone. He rapidly punched in a number and waited.

"Come on, come on…" he murmured impatiently as the phone rang.

Giles stood in the corner speaking into his cell phone quietly. "Dear lord!" he suddenly exclaimed, frightening the others present. He turned around and frantically looked at the Three, who were deep within the bonding ritual.

"Giles, what is it?" Xander asked worriedly.

"The-the ritual…it's already begun," Giles told Angel over the phone.

"Well, wake 'em up," Angel said. "Do what you have to, but get them out of that ritual!"

"We-we can't," Giles told him. "Only they can end it, and we have no way of contacting them."

"Then find him," Angel said. "I'm sending you a picture now."

"Giles," Xander prompted again.

"Angel was able to obtain some information on Caleb's attack," Giles explained. "From what it says, he's going to attack them psychically, while they're bonded. Apparently, there's a loophole in the curse. If he can kill them simultaneously while they are bonded, the curse won't be triggered."

"Son of a bitch!" Faith swore. "We played right into his hands!"

"The good news is that Angel was able to procure a photograph of the assassin," Giles said. "He's sending it to me now. If we can stop Caleb before he can –"

Just then, Giles' phone beeped. He punched a few buttons, and within seconds, a picture appeared on his phone's tiny screen. His eyes grew wide at the sight.

"Rupert?" Joyce said, stepping closer.

"He was here," Giles said in shock. "He was here, the bastard was right here, and we didn't –"

Joyce looked over Giles' shoulder at the picture. "Father Mallory?"

"Who's that?" Anya asked.

"A priest making visitation rounds, or so we thought," Giles answered.

"Let me see," Xander said, and Giles passed the phone to him.

"Yes, everyone take a good look," Giles said. "We've got to keep him away from Buffy and Willow and Tara."

"Barricade the door," Xander offered. "Keep him from –"

"No," Giles said. "He doesn't need to get in here to do what he wants to do, but he does need to be close. We need to find him before he makes contact with them."

"Damn it!" Xander said. "If only we'd found something of his at the reserve!"

"Can't fret about that now," Giles said to Xander as he reached into the weapons bag and pulled out two pistols. He gave one to Anya and the other to Joyce. "Stay here with the girls," he told them. "If Caleb shows up, shoot him."

Then he and Xander and Faith and Vamp Willow armed themselves and left the room to search for Caleb.

Inside Tara's mind, Buffy and Willow materialized, holding hands, in what appeared to be a desert. They saw a flash of dark rocks and reddish dunes before a hot wind gusted against them, sending sand into their faces. They lifted their arms to shield their eyes and then turned to put their backs to the wind.

When they did so, they found themselves facing a stone wall that was at least twice their height. It wasn't intact, though. A few yards away, it looked as if a tank or a bulldozer had crashed into one section of it, crumbling the wall from the outside in.

Buffy's face creased into a pained expression. "Did we do that?" she asked worriedly. "Getting in here?"

Willow gave Buffy's arm a squeeze. "No," she said reassuringly. "I'm pretty sure that's Caleb's work."

Buffy's frown became a hard glare. "I am so gonna kill this guy."

"You and me both," Willow agreed grimly. "But first we need to find –"

Just as the booming voice hit their ears, a surge of power blasted them hard against the wall. The two women slid to the ground, dazed and shaking their heads. When they looked up, they saw a swirling maelstrom before them, separating and reforming in the air, creating a vague outline of Tara's face.

"GET OUT!!!" the image of Tara screamed, sending another wave of abrasive wind against the couple. Once again, Buffy and Willow held up their arms to shield their eyes.

"Tara! It's us!" Buffy cried out to the sand storm.

"Tara, let us in!" Willow called out. "We're here to help!"

The blonde's image disappeared as the storm intensified. The wind became so strong that Willow and Buffy had to turn away.

"What do we do?" Buffy yelled over the roar.

"We run through it," Willow yelled back.

"What?!" Buffy asked incredulously.

"We can't communicate with Tara here. We've got to move further in."

"Okay then," Buffy said, nodding and taking Willow's hand. "Let's go."

At that, Buffy and Willow dashed into the sand storm.

On the floor beneath Tara's ward, Caleb sauntered nonchalantly off the elevator. Dressed in an orderly's white scrubs, he whistled softly as he pushed a mop and bucket out of the car and down the hallway.

As he passed the nurses' station, no one paid him any mind at all. He smiled to himself and headed for the patient rooms.

Screaming through their clenched teeth, Buffy and Willow ran as hard and as fast as they could through the sand storm. When the biting wind became too much, they ran with their heads down and their eyes closed. They didn't stop until they felt the hot wind suddenly cease. They stumbled to a halt and looked around, gasping for air.

The desert was gone. In its place was a cold, dark, damp forest. The girls could see their breath in the dim light, and they shuddered when the chill air seeped into their bodies.

Willow rubbed her arms to warm herself and shot a quirky grin at Buffy. "Well, now that the 'heated exchange' is over, I guess we're in for the 'chilly reception'."

Buffy rolled her eyes but grinned back. "Yeah, she's really giving us the 'cold shoulder', huh?"

The two tried to maintain their smiles but failed. They reached out to each other and moved into a much-needed hug. They spent a long moment embracing, drawing strength from one another's touch.

"Come on," Buffy finally said, separating them. "Let's go find Tara."

Willow and Buffy started down the narrow path that led into the heart of the forest.

Without so much as a glance over his shoulder, Caleb entered one of the patient rooms, pushing the mop and bucket ahead of him. The room was empty, the bed clean and white and ready for the next patient.

Caleb left the mop and bucket by the door and walked to the near side of the bed. He closed his eyes and cocked his head, almost as if he were trying to listen to the conversations taking place several doors down. He made one complete turn and then stopped, tilting his head back so that he was facing the ceiling. He opened his eyes.

"Perfect," he said with a pleased grin.

Directly above the room Caleb was in, Joyce and Anya hovered near the girls' beds. Joyce stood between Buffy's bed and Tara's, holding her daughter's hand. Anya was on the far side of Willow's bed, gripping the gun and looking anxiously at the door.

"Where do you think he is?" Anya asked. "Do you think he's close?"

"I don't know," Joyce replied. "I hope not."

Meanwhile, Giles was downstairs on the first floor, showing Caleb's picture to everyone who crossed his path. So far, no one had recognized the man as someone they had seen before.

"Any luck?" Xander asked as he walked up.

Giles shook his head and closed his cell phone. When the former watcher looked up, he noticed the sign for the hospital chapel.

"Come on," he said, giving Xander's arm a tug before heading in that direction.

As Willow and Buffy moved deeper into the forest, the path became more narrow and rugged. They were forced to step over fallen trees and to climb up and down rocky ravines. After reaching the top of one particularly difficult hill, Willow held up her hand.

"Wait," the witch said. "Let me catch my breath."

As Willow leaned over, resting her hands against her thighs, Buffy circled slowly around her, directing her senses into the brush all around them.

"I could use some of that slayer stamina about now," Willow said. "I –"

"Shhhh," Buffy said, cutting Willow off. "Listen."

Willow listened intently. "I don't hear anything," she whispered back.

Buffy cocked her head. "Come on…this way."

After making their way down the other side of the hill, they came to a small brook. As they followed it, the sound that Buffy had heard became clearer. It was someone crying.

"Tara!" Willow said urgently. When she tried to dash ahead, Buffy stopped her.

"Let's not rush her all at once," Buffy suggested. "We might frighten her."

Willow nodded in agreement. Then the two of them crept closer.

Tara sat on a log beside a pool of water. She was doubled over, her arms wrapped tightly around herself, crying so hard that her body shook. Through the sobs, she was trying to speak, but the only words that could be made out were "why" and "hurts".

Finally, Tara took a big shuddering breath and said in a wavering voice, "I just…have to… align the energies..." She wiped the tears from her face and began to rock back and forth in an agitated manner. "That's what I have to do." Rock, rock. "Align the energies…" Rock, rock. "Open the chakras and-and..." Rock, rock. "Align the energies and…" Rock, rock. "And everything will be…" Her rocking slowed, and her crying started back up. "…okay." She lifted her hand to her mouth but couldn't stop the sobs from returning. She bent over and hugged herself once again.

Tears were rolling down Buffy and Willow's faces also. When they could stand the separation no longer, they took a step forward. Unfortunately, they stepped on a twig, and the loud crack was heard by Tara. Her head snapped up, and she jumped to her feet.

"No…no…" she said, backing away from the pool.

"Tara! Wait!" Buffy called out to her.

"Tara, please!" Willow cried. "It's us!"

"No, no, no…" Tara said, shaking her head frantically. "NOOO!!!"

Tara turned and ran. Buffy and Willow had no choice but to give chase.

As Tara crashed through the brush, she was heedless of the branches and briars that tore at her arms and legs. "I have to get away," she cried desperately. "I can't let him find me!"

Although Tara had a head start, Willow and Buffy quickly gained on the blonde. When they were just a few yards behind her, they called to her, trying to get her to stop or to recognize them somehow. But Tara only screamed as they neared and reached out for her.

The two women were mere inches away from her when…BLAM!…their forward progress was suddenly stopped by the side of a house.

Buffy and Willow ended up on their butts, on the ground, clutching their bruised noses.

"What the hell?" Buffy griped, looking up at the wooden structure.

"Owwww," Willow whined.

In the vacant patient room, Caleb now lay upon the bed. His long legs were crossed lazily at the ankles, and he had his fingers steepled over his stomach. His eyes were closed, and his face was expressionless.

Slowly but surely, he reached out with his mind, straight into the room above him.

Vamp Willow waited in the shadows of the staircase as Faith checked out the roof of the hospital. After a few minutes of searching, Faith returned to the stairwell.

"Anything?" Vamp Willow asked.

"Nah," Faith replied. "It was a long shot anyway. Figured we'd better check, though."

Vamp Willow pouted. Then she made a face as if she weren't feeling well, resting her hand on her stomach.

Noticing her girlfriend's change in expression, Faith asked, "What's the matter? Are you sensing something?"

"Willow must be upset," the vampire said unhappily. "She's making my stomach all knotty." Then she reached for her nose. "And for some reason…my nose hurts."

Buffy and Willow had walked around to the front of the house and were looking up at the front porch. It was an old farm house, weathered but sturdy. On one end of the porch were a couple of rocking chairs; on the other end was a bench swing. A small wind chime made of metal pipes was making tiny ta-tinks in the breeze.

"What is this place?" Buffy asked.

"I think it's her father's house," Willow said.

"Oh" was all Buffy could say.

Willow took a deep breath and held out her hand. "Come on. Let's check it out."

Buffy took Willow's hand, and the two of them approached the front door. After knocking and calling out and getting no response, they entered the house. They searched the first floor and the basement, then the second floor, and finally the attic. But there was no sign of Tara.

"I don't get it," Willow said, confused. "Where is she?"

"Hey, Will," Buffy said, motioning her over to the attic window. "Look."

After seeing at what Buffy was pointing out, Willow looked back at Buffy and smiled. "The barn," she said.

Buffy nodded knowingly, and the two of them rushed out of the attic.

Willow and Buffy approached the barn cautiously. They called out Tara's name but got no answer, so they opened the barn door and went inside. It smelled of hay and horses, and except for the slightest creaking of the wood, it was silent.

Buffy pointed at the ladder. "I'll take the loft."

Willow nodded, and the two of them searched the barn. After having found nothing, the two met back up at the doorway.

"I thought for sure that we'd –" Willow started to say, but she suddenly stopped and grabbed Buffy's hand just as Buffy did the exact same thing. Then, as one, they turned toward the far corner where the main room met the stalls in the back.

Several bales of straw were stacked neatly against the wall that jutted out. Carefully and quietly, the two moved the bales away from the wall. There they found a small door leading to some storage space behind the first stall. Holding their breath, they opened the door.

Tara was sitting inside, with her knees pulled against her chest and her arms wrapped tightly around her legs. When the door opened, her head shot up, and panic filled her eyes. She shook her head several times and tried to scoot away, but there was nowhere for her to go. She whimpered and turned away, pressing herself against the back wall of the cubbyhole, as if trying to will herself into the very wood itself. Buffy and Willow immediately went down on their knees and crept closer to the door.

"Tara, i-i-it's us…Willow a-a-and Buffy," Willow whispered, reaching out to Tara, but not daring to touch her for fear of frightening her.

"Tara, sweetie, please…look at us," Buffy pleaded.

Buffy took Willow's hand. "We love you," they said together, projecting their thoughts to the distraught Tara.

Eventually, Tara ventured a fleeting glance in their direction, but she quickly looked away. She soon brought her gaze back, though, and met her girlfriends' eyes. A sob of relief escaped Tara's lips as she finally let herself accept the reality of Buffy and Willow's presence. She crawled out of the room and into their arms.

For the longest time, the Three just cried and held one another. When they did pull apart, they stayed close, not wanting to be out of physical contact. Buffy and Willow stroked Tara's hair, her back, her arms; they caressed her face and kissed her on the cheek or the forehead. And Tara simply let them. With tears flowing freely down her face, she soaked up the love that was pouring from Willow and Buffy.

When she felt she could speak, Tara pulled her girlfriends close and said, "I love you too." The Three clasped hands and smiled.

"Well, now…isn't that special?"

Upon hearing that voice, Tara immediately gasped and stiffened in her girlfriends' arms, her eyes widening in fear. Buffy and Willow kept their arms around Tara, but turned to face the speaker who had interrupted their embrace. The two looked confused when they saw who it was.

"Father Mallory?" Willow asked.

Tara started shaking her head and trying to pull away from Willow and Buffy. "No…no…"

The dark-haired man flashed a big smile and crossed his arms. "Actually, Caleb's the name, and I believe we have some unfinished business."

"NOOOOOO!!!!" Tara screamed in terror.

Meanwhile, as Giles and Xander came back empty-handed from the chapel, they found Faith and Vamp Willow just coming out of the elevator onto the first floor.

"Any luck?" Giles asked as they approached the two women. Faith just shook her head.

"But he's got to be somewhere!" Xander said in a frustrated voice.

"Have we searched the actual patient rooms yet?" Vamp Willow asked.

"No, and I seriously doubt the hospital would allow such an invasion of privacy and –" Giles began.

"Screw privacy!" Faith said. Then she stomped back towards the elevator.

"What she said," Xander added before walking toward Faith.

Vamp Willow grinned and shrugged then joined Faith and Xander by the elevator. Giles rolled his eyes and did the same.

As Tara frantically scrambled back into her cubbyhole, Buffy launched herself at Caleb, attacking him in a flurry of punches and kicks. He easily evaded or deflected each attempt, smiling the entire time, as if the slayer were barely pressing him. He caught one arm as she punched and then caught the other in the same way. He wrenched both arms to her sides and held her in place.

"You think you can test me, little girl?" Caleb said menacingly.

Caleb tossed Buffy across the barn and into the far wall where a number of tools were hanging. She crashed into the tools and then hit the ground; the tools tumbled off the wall and fell on top of her.

Caleb grinned at Buffy's fall but grunted in pain as a magical burst from Willow hit him in the side, causing him to take a few steps back. He laughed off the pain and straightened up.

"And making the tag from the white corner…the little witchy wannabe," Caleb said snidely.

"We'll see who's a wannabe," Willow said before belting out an incantation in Latin.

The dusty dirt floor of the barn began to churn under Caleb's feet, sucking him into a muddy maelstrom. The warlock struggled for a moment then cast his own counter-spell. The dark quicksand started to backflow and to still; then slowly but surely Caleb rose from the floor unharmed. Once he was clear, the whirlpool exploded, sending a backlash against Willow, knocking her into the straw bales near Tara's hiding place.

As Willow sat dazed on the floor shaking her head to clear it, Tara barely took notice. The blonde was on her knees, with her hands over her ears, bobbing hysterically, repeating "no" to herself, as if trying to block out what was going on around her.

Behind Caleb, Buffy got to her feet, picked up a pitchfork, and threw it directly at Caleb's back. Just when it was about to reach him, he whipped around and caught it midair.

"Now, now…stabbing a man in the back…is that any way to –"

Caleb's smart remark was cut off when he realized Buffy was coming at him with a sling blade. As she swung the hooked axe toward Caleb's head, he moved the pitchfork into place, tines up, and caught the blade. Then he swept the pitchfork down and to the side until both tools struck the ground. Buffy immediately yanked the sling blade back and swiped at Caleb's torso. He evaded once, then twice, but the third time she cut him across this stomach, chest, and arm. He growled and backhanded the slayer before she could reset herself. Then he kicked her hard in the stomach, sending her smashing against the wall by the barn door.

"You bitch!" Caleb said angrily as he touched his bleeding chest.

At that point, Willow hit him again with a magical burst, this time in the back. It hurt him but not nearly enough. He dropped the pitchfork and stumbled forward but quickly turned toward Willow. He deflected her next blast and sent it right back at her. It knocked her several feet back and to the ground. He followed the blast right over to Willow and stood over her threateningly.

Buffy dashed from the other side of the barn and leaped onto Caleb's back. She wrapped her arm around his throat and tried to strangle him. He clawed at the slayer on his back and finally got a handhold. He flipped Buffy over his head and slammed her on her back onto the ground right next to Willow. As Buffy turned over to face him, he rammed his knee into her face, snapping her head back and sending her falling back against Willow.

As Buffy and Willow lay stunned on the floor struggling to regain their senses, Caleb took a moment to settle himself. He shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, and shook out his arms.

"Now then," he said, rubbing his hands together until they crackled with power, "let's see how you two like my scourge."

His face lit up in a maniacal grin as he shot lightning bolts of energy into Willow and Buffy. The witch and the slayer screamed in agony and thrashed on the floor violently.

In Tara's room on the third floor, Anya and Joyce were freaking out. Buffy and Willow had begun to seize on their beds for no apparent reason.

"We have to call the doctor!" Joyce cried out desperately as she struggled to keep Buffy from falling off the bed.

"We can't!" Anya called back as she did the same for Willow. "The spell would keep him out."

Helpless to do anything else, Joyce looked back down at her daughter. "Come on, honey," she encouraged. "Fight that bastard!"

As Faith and Vamp Willow left the elevator lobby and walked onto the second floor, the redhead suddenly cried out in pain and fell to her knees.

"Will!" Faith wrapped her arms around her stricken girlfriend.

Vamp Willow clenched her jaw and grimaced through the pain. "We've got to hurry," she told the slayer.

Faith helped Vamp Willow to her feet, and the two of them headed down the hallway.

Caleb zapped Buffy and Willow with his 'psychic scourge' for a full minute before stopping and moving closer. The girls were still jerking and whimpering in pain when he came to stand over them.

"A little more juice and you two will be out like a light," Caleb gloated. "And then I can turn my attentions back to – Arggkkhh!!"

Caleb looked down and found the pitchfork sticking into his right side. He looked up and found Tara holding the handle of the pitchfork.

"Leave. Them. Alone." Tara had an insane determination in her eyes as she carefully enunciated each word.

Caleb groaned in pain and wrenched the pitchfork out of Tara's hands. As he stumbled away and went about the task of pulling the tines from his body, Tara ran over to Willow and Buffy. She put a hand on each of them, sending a softly glowing golden light into their bodies. They instantly recovered from the attack, and Tara helped them to their feet. By the time the Three had stood up, Caleb had the bloody pitchfork in his hands.

"You're gonna pay for that, bitch!" he screamed at Tara, pointing the pitchfork at her.

"Not this time," Tara said grimly.

Then she reached behind herself for her girlfriends' hands. As Tara and Willow and Buffy joined their hands, they also joined their minds, pulling their wills together into one. They started whispering a phrase over and over, so softly the words could not even be made out. A wispy tendril of energy began swirling around Caleb.

"You can't throw me out of here!" he yelled as he tossed the pitchfork to the floor.

The Three ignored his threat and kept repeating their phrase, getting louder and louder as they went along. "Get out, get out, get out…"

"This mind is mine!" he ranted. "MINE!"

"Get out, get out, get out…"

Caleb tried to twist away from the tendrils now encircling him. "I took it!" he said directly to the glowing ribbons in the air. "When I took her!" He turned back to the Three and locked eyes with Tara. "You're mine, bitch! You can't make me –"

"GET OUT!!!" shouted the Three as One.

At that command, the swirling energy totally encompassed Caleb, squeezing tighter and tighter until he screamed and then blipped away.

Caleb jerked awake and tumbled off the hospital bed, howling in pain from the violent ejection he had received at the hands of the Three. He was grimacing and breathing hard as he pushed himself up from the floor. He clutched his side, growled angrily, and then got to his feet.

"Bitches!" he hissed. He cocked his head from side to side, popping his neck. Then he bent his back to pop it as well. "This isn't over," he muttered to himself.

Just as Caleb came around the bed to head for the door, Faith and Vamp Willow walked in.

"It's him!" Faith yelled.

Vamp Willow instantly put on her game face, and before Caleb could even power up, she whipped out a small packet of spell ingredients and threw it against his chest. The tiny bag broke, splattering its contents all over Caleb's white scrub shirt.

"Ha! Gotcha!" Vamp Willow cried out when she saw she had hit her target.

Caleb looked down at his shirt, took a step back, and held his arms out, as if he were waiting to see what the spell would do. After several seconds, nothing happened. Caleb looked up, a grin forming on his lips.

Faith shot an angry glance at Vamp Willow. "What happened?!" Faith demanded.

"I don't know!" Vamp Willow answered testily.

"Looks like somebody's vampy twin needs to go back to magic class," Caleb taunted.

At that, Vamp Willow sent a huge burst of magic in Caleb's direction. The warlock had been expecting her move and deflected her bolt, sending it booming into the wall.

Above the battle, Joyce and Anya braced themselves as the room shook.

"Oh my god, what now?" Joyce asked in a frightened voice.

"I think they may have found Caleb," Anya speculated.

Suddenly, the door shot open, causing both women to jump. Anya pointed her gun at the door. Riley rushed in.

"Are you – whoa!" Riley raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, it's me…Riley…one of the good guys."

"How do I know you really are Riley?" Anya pressed, still pointing the gun.

"Ummm…'cause I don't have the migraine from hell?"

"Oh. Okay then." Anya lowered her gun.

"I was going to ask if you were all right in here, but I see that you are," Riley said. The room shook from another blast. "I'm gonna go see what's happening below us. Graham and Forrest will still be here on this floor."

"Thank you, Riley," Joyce said sincerely. Riley nodded and then rushed out of the room.

On the floor above Tara's ward, Giles and Xander heard the boom from below. Xander whipped out his walkie-talkie.

"Faith!" Xander called into the radio. "Did you find him? Where are you?"

"Second floor!" came Faith's voice over the radio. The sounds of a magical battle could be heard in the background. "Willow!" The radio went dead as another boom rocked the building.

Giles and Xander dashed for the stairwell.

Caleb's hiding place was demolished. Huge holes were in all four walls; tiles and metal framing and electrical duct work were hanging from the ceiling; the lights were blinking on and off. Caleb himself was still standing, though with difficulty.

Vamp Willow was lying dazed in the corner, a victim of Caleb's last magical attack. A bruised and battered Faith was circling Caleb, who was wiping his own blood from his mouth and nose.

"Yeah, you're all high and mighty in the magic department," Faith taunted, "but when it comes to a big smack-down, you bleed just like everybody else."

Faith rushed Caleb, hoping to finish off the weary warlock. When she threw a punch at his face, she was surprised when he easily evaded her and snatched her by the wrist. He clearly wasn't as tired as he had let on. He wrenched her arm, and the sound of breaking bones could be heard. Faith screamed in pain but didn't have time to scream long because Caleb swung the slayer by her broken arm, lifting her off the ground and throwing her against the far wall near where Vamp Willow lay. Faith groaned and somehow sat up, cradling her broken arm.

Caleb smiled and took a few steps toward the women. "Well, ladies, as fun as this has been, kickin' your ass and all, I really must take my leave. I'll see y'all soon."

Caleb made a little salute and then tried to teleport away. Nothing happened. He tried again with the same result. His forehead furrowed in confusion, and he looked all around the room before coming back to the vampire and the slayer.

"Gotcha," they both said at the same time, grinning widely.

Caleb glanced at his shirt, where the spell ingredients had earlier splattered. He looked back at Faith and Vamp Willow. Then he dashed for the door. As soon as he opened the door, he met two gun barrels.

Thunk! Thunk!

Caleb looked down at his chest, from which two tranquilizer darts now protruded. He looked back up and saw Xander and Giles lowering their guns and coming in the doorway. Caleb stumbled back into the room. "Son of a –" Then he hit the floor with a thud.

Back in Tara's room, Willow's and Buffy's eyes shot open at the same time. They looked up at Anya and Joyce, who smiled at them. They smiled back briefly but then looked past them to see Tara. When they saw her, they jumped off their beds and rushed to Tara's side. They each took one of Tara's hands in theirs and waited. Joyce and Anya politely stepped away and stood nearby.

Within seconds, Tara's eyes fluttered open. Buffy and Willow let out a relieved breath, and tears of joy began rolling down their faces. Tara cried too as she gratefully embraced her girlfriends. Soon, however, she was sobbing against them as the memories of her ordeal came rushing back to her. Willow and Buffy just held her and cried with her, telling her over and over how much they loved her.

From their spot several feet away, Joyce and Anya watched with mixed emotions. Anya wiped the tears from her face and looked at Joyce.

"They'll be okay now, right?" she asked with hope-filled eyes.

Joyce smiled and said, "I'm sure they will."

She wrapped her arm reassuringly around Anya's shoulders, and they both turned back to the Three. Out of Anya's gaze, Joyce allowed a worried frown to take over her expression. She knew it would be a long time before any of them would ever be "okay" again.

Part 12

In Los Angeles, less than hour after Lilah Morgan had been discovered in the crate, a very nervous security guard stood trembling before the desk of one of the Senior Partners of Wolfram and Hart.

"And you're absolutely certain of what was carved on Ms. Morgan's back?" the Senior Partner asked.

Security Officer Jake Manning nervously twisted his cap in his hands. "Yes, sir," he said. "Just like I told you."

The Senior Partner smiled. "Thank you, Jake. Your cooperation is most appreciated. You may go."

Jake nodded and nearly bowed. "Yes, sir." He hurried out the office door.

Several figures, previously hidden in the shadowy corners of the office, stepped into the light. "Shall we take action against Angel?" one of them asked.

The Senior Partner shook his head. "No. Not yet." He rose from his chair to face the figures. "What matters now is discovering why Angel targeted Lilah and how the Three are connected."

"The Power of Three," another of the figures said disgustedly.

"Why were we not informed of their rising?!" barked another.

"That's what we have to find out," the Senior Partner said grimly.

Back in Sunnydale, shortly after Tara had awakened from her coma, Xander's voice came over the radio. "An! Are you there?"

Anya quickly snatched up the radio. "Xander!"

"We got him!" Xander said excitedly. "We got the son of a bitch!"

At the good news, Anya and Joyce hugged while Buffy and Willow and Tara did the same. After a few moments of shared elation, Anya and Joyce politely excused themselves, leaving the Three alone.

For the longest time, Buffy, Willow, and Tara had simply cried – out of a mixture of relief and release, joy and pain. Once their crying had finally subsided, they had settled into a kind of quiet "being". It was enough that they were together; words could wait.

Their silence was broken, however, when Tara let out an intense groan, closing her eyes and scrunching her face in pain. Buffy and Willow instantly went into action: leaning closer and gently touching her.

"Tara, are you okay?" Buffy asked. "Do we need to get the doctor?"

"We should do that anyway," Willow said to Buffy.

When Buffy nodded, Willow gave Tara a small smile and then headed for the door.

"Hey, Will?" Buffy called out, stopping the redhead before she could leave. "You might wanna un-zap that door. Otherwise, you're gonna migraine the doc."

"Oh, right," Willow said. Then she turned her attention to the door. She spoke a short incantation. Immediately, a shimmer flashed around the door and then disappeared. Willow smiled and left the room.

Buffy turned back to Tara and smiled, giving her hand a squeeze of reassurance. Tara tried to return the smile, but it didn't last long before a frown took its place.

"Everything's going to be fine now," Buffy said, lifting Tara's hand and kissing it softly. "Okay?"

Though Tara nodded in reply, her expression was full of doubt. She gave a shaky sigh and glanced away for a moment before turning her eyes back to Buffy.

Later, in the emergency room, Vamp Willow hovered nearby as the doctor worked on Faith. Both women had already had their superficial wounds treated while still on the second floor. Vamp Willow, of course, had waved off any additional treatment, not wanting her lack of a pulse to become common knowledge. However, Faith's arm had been badly broken and could not be ignored. Despite the slayer's objections, Vamp Willow had dragged her girlfriend downstairs to the E.R.

Faith grimaced as the doctor set her arm. She let out a long breath of relief when he was done. When he started to bring over the material to put a permanent cast on her arm, she held up her hand.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Faith said, slipping off the exam table.

"But if we don't immobilize that–" the doctor objected.

"Trust me, I'll be fine," the slayer insisted.

The doctor opened his mouth again, but didn't get the chance to speak. Faith had already left the exam room with Vamp Willow right on her heels.

As they walked to the elevator, Vamp Willow linked her arm with Faith's good one and sidled up close. Faith didn't look amused.

"Oh, you were such a good girl," the redhead cooed playfully. "So brave."

Faith rolled her eyes, a reluctant grin tugging at the corners of her lips. "Shut up," she said, trying to sound annoyed.

Back on the second floor, two of Riley's Initiative soldiers were guarding the door to the destroyed patient room where Caleb had been defeated. Riley himself was standing nearby, deep in conversation with several Sunnydale police officers who had arrived on the scene a short time before. One of the officers was talking on his cell phone. When he finished his call, he turned back to the group.

"What's the word?" Riley asked.

"Word is we're supposed to turn this investigation over to you," the officer announced. Although the officer appeared slightly annoyed, his colleagues seemed glad, nodding and barely containing their relieved grins.

Riley gave the policemen a cordial smile. "Like I said, this is a matter of national security. We'll be taking the prisoner into custody and handling the investigation from here on out."

The officer put away his notepad and made a sweeping gesture with his arm. "Be my guest," he said before motioning the other policemen to follow him.

After the local police left, Riley walked over to the guarded door, where Giles waited anxiously. They soon stepped aside, though, as Forrest and Graham brought Caleb out on a hospital gurney. The warlock was unconscious and strapped down tight. The other two guards took position ahead and behind the gurney as Forrest and Graham pushed Caleb down the hallway. As Riley went to follow, Giles stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"It's imperative that you keep him sedated at all times," Giles warned. "He's extremely dangerous…a sorcerer of immense power. He cannot be allowed to awaken under any circumstances."

Riley gave a sober nod. "Don't worry, we'll keep him knocked out and locked up till you guys decide what to do with him. What are you going to do with him?"

Giles shrugged uncertainly. "I don't know."

Outside Tara's room on the third floor, Xander was updating Anya and Joyce.

"Yeah, Riley and his government goons are taking Caleb into custody for safekeeping," Xander told them.

"Good," Anya said firmly. "We should tell them he's an alien," she suggested. "Then maybe they'll do a gruesome autopsy on him and videotape it for us." Her eyes lit up at the prospect.

"An, he's not dead," Xander pointed out.

"Oh, I'm sure the experiments will kill him," Anya said with confidence. "That's what secret government agencies do, you know. I saw it on The X-Files."

"I just hope they can handle him," Joyce said. "What he's capable of…it's frightening."

"Nothing massive doses of tranquilizers won't fix," Xander said, hoping that he sounded reassuring.

A short time later, the doctor was examining Tara. He made a note of her pulse and blood pressure then pulled out a penlight.

"You gave us all a scare," he said as he passed the light over her eyes and watched them dilate. He turned the penlight off with a click. "We're so glad you finally woke up."

Tara gave him a quick smile before grimacing uncomfortably.

"The pain pretty bad?" he asked.

Tara continued to frown, but nodded her answer.

"You've got some cracked ribs," the doctor said as he stepped away to where he had placed a small tray on the table. "Hate to tell ya, but those are gonna hurt like hell for a while." He pulled a vial and a syringe from the tray. "I'm gonna give you something for the pain," he went on. "It'll probably make you sleepy but–"

"No!" Tara blurted out abruptly, surprising the doctor as well as Buffy and Willow. "I-I-I'm fine," she insisted. "It's n-n-not that bad. Really."

Willow moved back to the bedside and touched Tara's arm. "Sweetie, if you're hurting…"

On the other side, Buffy leaned closer. "Tara, what is it?"

Tears filled Tara's eyes as she looked at Buffy and Willow in turn. "I…I don't want to go to sleep," she finally admitted in a choked voice. "I got so lost before. What if I can't–?"

"We'll find you," Buffy said with certainty.

"We will always find you," Willow emphasized.

Tara seemed reassured by that, but fear was still in her eyes as she stole a glance at the doctor.

"Don't worry. We'll be right here with you," Buffy told her. "The whole time. I promise."

Willow gave Tara's arm a squeeze to second that notion.

After looking intently at her girlfriends once more, Tara nodded. Willow took a step back and let the doctor return to Tara's side. He had already prepared the syringe and was now waiting for Tara to give her permission.

"Okay?" he asked.

Though still frightened, Tara nodded and said in a whisper, "Okay."

The doctor smiled and then injected the solution into Tara's I.V. line. Within seconds, Tara relaxed, and soon her eyes drifted shut.

"She'll be fine," the doctor told Buffy and Willow. "She just needs time."

"Speaking of time," Buffy said as she came around the bed to stand beside the doctor. "When do you think Tara can go home?"

The doctor thought a moment then said, "As long as her vitals hold strong and we're confident there's no neurological damage, probably in a day or two." After setting the used syringe on his tray, he turned back to Willow and Buffy. "She'll need someone to stay with her for the first few days, to make sure she gets around safely. Even with pain meds, her injuries are going to make even the smallest tasks very difficult: getting into and out of bed, using the bathroom, brushing her teeth, even eating and drinking. She'll need help with all of those things."

"We can do that," Willow insisted.

"Right, we can do that," Buffy echoed.

The doctor gave them a sober stare. "Someone who's been through what she's been through…she's got a lot of healing to do beyond the physical. She'll need to see a counselor."

Willow and Buffy frowned but nodded, unconsciously reaching out to take each other's hand.

"Thank you, Doctor," Willow said.

"Yes, thank you," Buffy said.

"No problem," he said. Then he took his tray and left the room.

When the doctor had gone, Willow and Buffy turned to each other. They sighed and slipped into a long and needful hug. When they separated, they had tears in their eyes.

"We can do this," Buffy asserted, though with less assurance than before.

"We can help Tara through this," Willow added with a similar lack of confidence.

Then they both cast worried glances in Tara's direction.

A short time later, with Tara sleeping peacefully and the two extra gurneys having been removed from the room, Buffy and the others held a Scoobies meeting.

"Caleb is now in Initiative custody," Giles told Willow and Buffy, "where he will remain, locked away and safely tranquilized."

"Yeah, Riley pulled a Feds takeover, so no need to worry about nosy local police either," Xander added. "Not that they would have done much investigating."

"The question now, though," Giles went on, "is what to do with Caleb."

"That's easy," Willow said. "We punish him, and not quickly either. Something like…slow roasting over an open fire?"

Anya gave Willow an enthusiastic point with her index finger. "Good, good. But only after the government does experiments on him."

"Yes," Xander quickly added. "Experiments involving many sharp objects. And perhaps power drills."

"I'm thinking more like car batteries hooked to certain vitals," Joyce said grimly.

"Ooo, way to go, Joyce," Faith noted. "That one definitely tops the list."

While Willow nodded approvingly at all of the suggestions, Buffy just shook her head. "No," she stated. "No punishment. Not–"

Willow whipped around and angrily interrupted the slayer. "Buffy, you know what he did to Tara. He has to pay for that."

"And he will," Buffy said. "Just not right now. Best thing for us is to focus on getting Tara better. Then we can deal with Caleb." When Willow didn't reply, Buffy met Willow's gaze and held it. "Caleb will pay," she told her mentally. "I promise." Willow returned Buffy's look for a long moment; finally, she nodded in acquiescence. The two shared a quick smile; then Buffy turned to Giles. "How long can they hold him?"

"As long as it takes," Giles answered. "They'll keep him sedated at all times. I've made it very clear exactly what kind of threat they are dealing with."

Buffy turned back to address the group. "Well until Tara's home safe and sound and on the mend, we'll just have them keep Caleb on ice. We'll figure out what to do with him later."

After the meeting, Buffy sent everyone home to rest and get cleaned up. Only Willow and Joyce remained with her in Tara's hospital room. As Tara continued to sleep, Willow went into the small bathroom to wash up and change clothes. Buffy stood beside Tara's bed, holding the witch's hand. Joyce stood beside her daughter, her arm resting lightly on Buffy's shoulders.

"Buffy," Joyce said, causing the slayer to look her way. "What are you going to do when Tara's released from the hospital?"

"Ummm, I don't know. Finish moving into the apartment, I guess," Buffy replied. "We'll have to work out a schedule, so Tara's not alone, and…" Buffy frowned and trailed off, her mind overwhelmed by the myriad of details that would need to be addressed.

Joyce shook her head then looked at Buffy intently. "I think you should move home," she said.

Buffy became appalled, and she pulled away from her mother. "I'm not moving home! I'm not gonna leave Willow and Tara alone at a time like–"

Joyce waved Buffy into stopping her tirade. "No, no, I didn't mean that," she said, trying to correct Buffy's misinterpretation. "I meant all three of you. I want you home with me. All of you."

Buffy's expression changed from upset to embarrassed to grateful in a matter of seconds. "Oh" was all she could say before wrapping her mother in a warm hug. Joyce returned the hug, stroking her daughter's hair lovingly. When Buffy separated them, she said, "Thank you, I-I-I don't know what else to say."

"Say you'll do it," Joyce replied.

"I'll talk to Will and Tara," Buffy said, postponing a definite answer, but it was clear that Buffy loved the idea.

Joyce nodded her acceptance of that plan. Then she returned to sit on the bench near the window, while Buffy remained standing beside Tara's bed.

Just then, Willow came out of the bathroom carrying the bag that she had packed for them before they had done the ritual. She looked very refreshed and sighed contentedly. Buffy left Tara's side and walked over to where Willow was setting the bag on the chair.

"Feel better?" Buffy asked.

"Much," Willow replied. "Best sponge bath ever." Buffy frowned, and Willow did the same. "Did that sound as pathetic as I think it did?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Buffy said with a grin.

"We'll just have to do something about that, won't we?" Willow said huskily, pulling Buffy close and kissing her soundly. "You could be Nurse Buffy, and I could be–"

Willow's fantasy description was interrupted by Joyce loudly clearing her throat. Joyce peeked over Tara's bed at Willow, who was now blushing furiously.

"Ha, ah, um, Mrs. Summers…didn't realize you were still…ha, yeah."

Joyce's face lit up in an amused smirk, and then she returned to her seat. Buffy, a little embarrassed herself, still snickered a bit as Willow turned back to face her girlfriend.

Willow gave Buffy a small smack on the arm. "How could you let me do that?" she whispered urgently. "You're supposed to stop me before I put my foot in my mouth."

Buffy scoffed but smiled as she did so. "I didn't have time," she answered in a similar whisper. "You just blurted it out." Then Buffy leaned closer. "But for the record…I'm all for a new sponge bath scenario."

At that, the two giggled wickedly. An instant later, they ceased their laughing and cleared their throats, casting a guilty glance in Joyce's direction. They kept smiling, though, until Buffy sobered and looked Willow in the eyes.

"So…are you mad?" Buffy asked. "You know…about the punishment thing?"

Willow stiffened a little but didn't pull away. "No, not really," she said. Then her expression became very serious. "I just don't want to see him get away with what he's done. He deserves to be punished."

"And he will be, Willow, I swear," Buffy said. "As soon as Tara's back on her feet."

When Willow nodded her okay, Buffy pulled away and grabbed the bag from the chair. "My turn," she said before heading for the bathroom.

After Buffy entered the bathroom and shut the door, she turned on the faucet to let the water get warm. She put down the seat on the toilet and set the bag on top of it. She tested the water temperature then set the plug and allowed the sink to slowly fill. By the time she had stripped off her clothes, the sink was full, and she turned off the faucet. She leaned over, scooped some water into both hands, and splashed her face. When she straightened up, she didn't reach for the towel. Instead, she stared at the wall, her mind clearly elsewhere.

Images flashed in her mind: Caleb gleefully zapping Tara. Tara convulsing in pain. Caleb smiling as he stuck a red-hot brand to Tara's neck. Tara running in fear. Caleb savagely beating Tara until she slipped to the ground. Caleb –

Buffy shook her head. She couldn't let her mind go there, to what Caleb had ultimately done. It hurt too much to think of it. She shook her head again and then looked at her reflection. Her expression became grim and determined. She cast a quick glance at the door, thinking of Willow outside. She closed her mental shields tightly. Then she let her mind go where it truly wanted to.

To Caleb.

She saw herself viciously stabbing Caleb with a large knife. She felt his blood splattering all over her as she thrust the blade into him again and again. She heard the sickening sound of wet flesh as his lifeless body finally slid off the knife and slipped to the floor.

Buffy blinked and came back to reality. Her heart was racing, and she was breathing fast. She gripped the sides of the sink and made herself calm down. After letting out a long breath, she reached for a wash cloth, forcing herself to focus on the mundane task of washing up.

Later that day, Faith and Vamp Willow returned to Tara's room. They found Buffy and Willow alone with Tara. Giles had come by earlier and had finally persuaded Joyce to go home for a while. The slayer and vampire had also washed up and changed into clean clothes. Fortunately, the wounds the two visitors had received in the battle with Caleb were already fading – Faith's thanks to her slayer powers, Vamp Willow's thanks to vampire healing.

"Look at you," Buffy teased when Faith and Vamp Willow walked in wearing their borrowed clothes.

Faith held out her hands and looked down at her outfit. "Yeah, good thing you kept that stuff of hers."

Buffy looked a little uncomfortable. "I-I-I know it's weird," she said, "but…I just didn't feel right leaving Faith's things at her apartment."

"Hey, worked out for me," Faith said with a big smile. "And look at what Red found over at your place."

Buffy's eyes widened a bit at the sight of Vamp Willow. She was dressed in shiny leather pants, dark green, with a slinky, smoky-colored, low-cut blouse with a slightly ruffled collar.

"Not exactly my taste, but close enough," Vamp Willow said approvingly.

"You found that in Willow's stuff?" Buffy asked. Then she turned to her girlfriend, who was blushing slightly.

"I bought it for Oz," Willow admitted. "You know…when I was all worried about the whole Veruca thing?"

Buffy nodded then grinned. "Well, feel free to wear that for me anytime," Buffy said, giving Willow a nudge, which made the redhead blush even more.

"How's Tara?" Faith asked, changing the subject.

"Still sleeping, thank goodness," Willow said. "Best thing for her probably."

"What about you guys?" Faith asked. "You ready to take a little break? Maybe go for a walk or something? We'll stay with Tara." She hitched her thumb at herself and Vamp Willow.

Willow shook her head. "I appreciate the offer, but I-I-I really don't want to leave her right now."

"What about you, B?"

Buffy looked at Willow and Tara as if torn between two decisions. Then she looked back at Faith. "Actually, I do have somewhere I'd like to go."

Willow looked at Buffy curiously.

"I want to go to the Initiative," she said. "I want to make sure Caleb is secure. I know I won't feel safe until I see it with my own eyes."

Willow nodded as if she considered that to be a good idea.

Buffy turned back to the others. "If you two will stay with Willow and Tara, I can run over to the Initiative and–"

"Not by yourself, you're not," Faith stated firmly. "Willow can stay here. I'll go with you."

"That's really not nec –" Buffy started to say.

"Buffy," Willow said, cutting Buffy off. "We don't know who else might be out there gunning for us."

Buffy was quiet for a moment. Then she reluctantly said, "Okay." She gave Willow a quick kiss then headed for the door.

After arranging for clearance, Riley took Faith and Buffy into the fraternity house's hidden elevator. Neither Buffy nor Faith said much on the long ride down, but when they stepped off the elevator, their eyes grew wide at the sight of the elaborate facility.

"Damn!" Faith said. "This is like the Bat Cave or something. Only better."

"Wow," Buffy added. "It's so secret agent-y."

Riley grinned proudly. "Come on," he said, motioning them to follow. "Let me give you the tour. The restricted tour, anyway."

After showing the slayers those areas that had been approved in their clearance, Riley finally took them to the containment area where Caleb was being kept. He led them down a long hallway of cells, each one with an invisible barrier blocking the entrance. They passed several vampires and a handful of other types of demons.

One large beast rushed its cell entrance, only to be repelled by a massive electric shock delivered by the invisible shield. Although Buffy and Faith had jumped at the demon's initial rush, the two slayers relaxed when they saw that the monster was being easily contained by the Initiative's technology.

"Cool," Faith said. "Sure beats a pair of rusty ol' shackles, right, B?"

"No kidding," Buffy replied.

Riley led the duo to the end of the hallway, to a larger cell sitting off by itself. Two armed guards were outside the cell. At a nod from Riley, they stepped away, moving several yards down the corridor. Riley went to the keypad on the wall and entered a code. As the invisible shield shimmered and disappeared, the light on the pad changed from solid green to flashing red to indicate that the room was no longer secured. When Riley motioned to them, Buffy and Faith stepped inside.

In the center of the room but pushed against one wall was a hospital bed. Around it were several machines, two of which were monitoring systems – one for heart rate and blood pressure, the other for brain activity. Caleb lay strapped down in the bed, unconscious and unmoving.

"We've got him in an induced coma," Riley explained. "Dr. Walsh felt that this would be the safest way to contain him. With the right meds, there's no way in hell he's waking up. And we can keep him suspended like this indefinitely."

"Good," Buffy said, her jaw clenched tightly. "That's what I wanted to hear." Buffy turned to Faith and Riley and put on a vulnerable expression. "Do you guys mind giving me a moment alone with him? I have some things I need to say."

"He can't hear you," Faith pointed out.

"It's not for him," Buffy said. "It's for me."

"Oh." Faith still made no move to leave.

Riley nodded and pointed his thumb toward the door. "We'll be right down the hall if you need us." Riley touched Faith's arm and gestured for her to follow him. After staring at Buffy questioningly, Faith finally relented and went with Riley into the hallway.

After they had gone a few yards away, Faith stopped Riley and confronted him.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" she asked him.

"What?"

"Leaving her alone with him, you nimrod."

"She's perfectly safe," Riley said. "He's completely out of it."

"She's not the one who's in danger."

"What? You think that she'd…?"

"I don't know," Faith said with a shrug. "If it'd been my girlfriend that he had attacked…"

They both looked toward the cell with worried expressions on their faces, but neither took a step that way. Faith tilted her head and strained to listen.

Buffy walked the short distance to Caleb's hospital bed. Her fists were clenched tightly at her sides as she stood next to him. Her eyes were locked on the metal railing of the bed.

"You hurt Tara," Buffy said matter-of-factly. "You tried to kill her. And Willow. And me." She lifted her gaze to Caleb's face. Angry tears were in her eyes. "But you hurt Tara. You hurt the kindest, gentlest, most loving person I have ever met, and you liked it." Buffy's voice became choked with near-sobs as she forced the words out past the tears. "You got off on it…you sick…son of a…" She couldn't finish for crying.

Meanwhile, back at the hospital, both Willow and Vamp Willow paced anxiously in Tara's room. Even Tara stirred restlessly in her sleep, as if she were having a bad dream.

"What's going on?" Vamp Willow asked in a near-growl.

"It's Buffy," Willow said in a voice not unlike her twin's. "I think she must be with Caleb."

"Better her than me," Vamp Willow said. "I'd be killing him right about now."

"Me too," Willow said, but without the conviction she intended. She stopped pacing and looked away, a worried expression on her face.

Back in the Initiative, in Caleb's cell, Buffy had stopped crying. She was now looking down at Caleb with a hard coldness in her eyes. There was a knife in her right hand. When she took it both hands and raised it over Caleb's chest, she suddenly heard a voice behind her.

"Whatcha doin', B?" Faith asked calmly.

Buffy didn't even glance back. "What has to be done."

"'Has to be'? You sure about that?" Faith slowly circled around until she could see Buffy's face.

"He's a monster," Buffy said, her jaw clenched tightly. "I kill monsters."

"Last I heard, Caleb here was human," Faith said, moving closer to the bed. "Slayers don't kill humans."

Buffy whipped her head around to face Faith. New tears were streaming down her face. "That 'human' tortured Tara, raped her, left her so terrorized that she had to hide in her own mind! He deserves to die!"

Faith was only a few feet away now. "So what's stopping you?"

Buffy turned back to Caleb. She was still holding the knife over him. Her brow furrowed as she tried to focus on bringing the knife down, but it didn't move. Her arms started to shake.

Faith stepped up right beside Buffy, mere inches away. "Quick thrust to the heart, a little blood…okay, a lot of blood…and it'll all be over…Right?"

Faith held her breath and waited, letting her question sink in. After the longest moment, Buffy finally burst into sobs. Faith instantly moved in and caught Buffy's hand as she let her arms drop harmlessly to the metal railing. Faith took the knife away and, with a sigh of relief, stuffed it into the back pocket of her jeans.

When Faith turned back to Buffy, she was surprised when the blonde just fell into her arms crying. Faith seemed unsure of what to do at first, but then she just wrapped her arms around the sobbing slayer and held her close, stroking her back and her hair.

"It'll be okay," she whispered, her own eyes welling with tears. "It'll be okay."

Later that day, Joyce and Giles and Xander and Anya returned to the hospital. They found Buffy and Willow helping Tara eat a little supper. Vamp Willow was slouched in a chair. Faith was standing nearby, trying not to pace. By the time warm greetings had been exchanged by all, Tara had finished eating.

"So…how's the hospital fare? As bad as they always say?" Xander teased.

"Just some chicken broth and Jell-O," Tara said. "But n-n-not together," she added for clarification.

"Thank goodness," Buffy said, grimacing at the thought of the odd food combination.

As everyone chuckled a bit, Willow set the food tray aside and returned to stand next to Buffy. She leaned against the slayer and let out a weary sigh.

"Buffy, you and Willow look so tired," Joyce said. "Why don't you come home with me for a while?"

Willow immediately stood up straight and exchanged a look with Buffy. "No, thanks, we're fine." They turned back to the group. "We'd rather stay with Tara."

"We'll stay with Tara," Anya offered, linking her arm with Xander's.

"And it's not like we got anywhere else to be," Faith added, indicating herself and Vamp Willow. "We gotta patrol later, but that can wait."

Buffy shook her head. "We appreciate it," she said, "we do, but–"

"Buffy?"

Buffy stopped when she heard Tara speak up. Both she and Willow leaned closer.

"Mrs. Summers is right. You should go," Tara told them. "At least for a few hours." She gave them a small smile. "I've got four babysitters. I'll be fine."

Buffy and Willow looked at each then back at Tara. They didn't look convinced.

"We don't want to leave you," Willow projected mentally.

"We promised we'd stay," Buffy added.

"You're both exhausted," Tara replied in her mind. "I can tell. Please…for me…go home and rest a while."

Buffy and Willow looked at one another again. When they turned back to Tara, they reluctantly nodded in agreement. Then, after way too many goodbyes and kisses to their girlfriend, Willow and Buffy finally allowed themselves to be dragged away by Joyce and Giles.

Not long after Willow and Buffy had left, the nurse came in and gave Tara another round of pain medication. Soon the blonde was sleeping peacefully again. After settling themselves on the bench beside Tara's bed, Xander and Anya encouraged Faith and Vamp Willow to take a break, and the two women gratefully accepted.

As Faith and Vamp Willow made their way down the hallway toward the elevators, Faith took her girlfriend's hand. "Come on," she said, "let's hit the cafeteria. I'm starved."

"Me too," Vamp Willow said.

Faith stopped and turned to face the redhead. "Are you?" she asked, concerned.

Vamp Willow grinned. "Nah, not really. Nabbed a bag from the blood bank this afternoon. Still hungry, though. Got all riled up when you and Buffy were gone. What happened over there?"

Faith started walking again and led them to the empty elevator. When they had gotten on board and she had pushed the button for the first floor, Faith turned to Vamp Willow, shaking her head. "Man, Buffy scared the bejesus outta me. She pulled a knife on Caleb. I thought she was gonna kill him."

"What did you do?"

"I talked her out of it," Faith said. "Close call, though."

"Why?"

"Why was it a close call?" Faith asked, confused.

"No, why did you talk her out of it?" Vamp Willow clarified. "Why not let her kill him?"

Faith looked a bit appalled by the question. "Because it's not right, that's why. Slayers don't kill humans."

"I don't think Caleb qualifies."

"That's what she said…that he was a monster, that she killed monsters."

"She was right."

Faith shook her head again. "No, she wasn't, and she knew that. That's why she couldn't kill him." Faith sighed and looked away. "I don't expect you to understand."

Vamp Willow looked a little miffed at that. "Maybe I understand more than you think."

Just then, the doors opened, and Vamp Willow strode angrily out, leaving Faith behind. Faith had to hurry to catch up to her.

Later that night at the Summers home, Willow and Buffy lay awake in bed. Though they were both exhausted, they could not fall asleep. For hours, they had tossed and turned and fought the covers, their minds bombarded by a never-ending smash-cut slide-show of the last few days' events. And, above all, they keenly felt Tara's absence.

"Should we just get up?" Willow said finally. "We're obviously not going to sleep."

"Might as well," Buffy wearily agreed. She reached for the light on her night stand and turned it on, then propped herself up against her pillows.

Willow sat up as well, sighing heavily once she was in place. "Do you think Tara's okay?" she asked worriedly.

Buffy turned to Willow, smiled, and held out her hand. "Let's find out."

Willow grinned and took Buffy's hand. Then they both leaned back against their pillows and closed their eyes. They focused on their breathing, joined their minds, and reached out to Tara.

When they connected with her, they found her sleeping soundly. Not wanting to disturb her rest, they just sent their love and then broke their connection. Although Willow and Buffy now felt some relief, their mood was still somewhat heavy. After several long moments, Willow glanced at Buffy, who seemed deep in thought.

"You haven't said much since you got back from the Initiative," Willow commented. "You or Faith."

Buffy's eyes darted to Willow's but only briefly. "Not much to say," she answered. "Checked out Caleb. He's secure. Came back."

"Something happened…something you're not telling me," Willow accused, but not harshly.

Buffy refused to either confirm or deny.

"Buffy, I could feel what you were feeling. It's that nifty little bond of ours, remember?" Willow said, exasperation slipping into her voice. "I know you were trying to block it, but whatever happened…it just blew right past that. So…just tell me."

Buffy still didn't answer. She pulled her knees to her chest and looked away, not letting Willow see her face.

Willow growled in frustration and plopped back against her pillows. "Fine! Don't tell me. I'll just–"

"I tried to kill Caleb," Buffy said softly, not looking in Willow's direction.

Willow instantly shot back up. "What?" she asked, not sure she had heard correctly.

Her eyes wet with tears, Buffy turned back to face Willow. "I tried to kill Caleb," she repeated, though not much louder than she had before.

"'Tried'?" Willow asked.

"I-I-I couldn't do it," Buffy said. "I wanted to, and I could have, he was right there, but…I just couldn't."

Willow went stock-still. The only movement in her body was the sweep of emotions crossing her face: rage, pain, disappointment, sympathy. Then she looked away without speaking.

Buffy became both alarmed and distraught at Willow's reaction. "Willow, please…talk to me."

When Willow turned back, she was crying too. In a choked voice, she said simply, "I wish you had." Then Willow shook her head and rose from the bed. Without another word, she headed for the bathroom.

All Buffy could do was watch in shock as Willow left the room.

Part 13

"I wish you had…"

Willow's statement hit Buffy like a rock hurled at her chest. She crossed her arms over her heart and hunched in, hugging herself, holding her breath, as if halting that life-giving function would somehow stop the pain inside.

She wishes I had killed him, she thought sadly. I couldn't do it, and now I've let her down. I've let Tara down.

The need for air finally forced Buffy's lungs to expand. Her heaving breaths came as hiccupy near-sobs that she had to struggle to suppress. It took her several moments to regain control. When she had done so, she wiped her eyes and then cast a troubled glance at the bedroom door. She longed to reach out to Willow telepathically, but didn't dare to – not when the redhead was so upset, so angry…at her.

Buffy glanced away. Then she turned off the lamp on her nightstand and curled back up in the bed, facing away from Willow's side.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, she imagined telling Willow in her mind. Why can't you understand? I just…can't. I want to so bad, but if I do…

Buffy closed her eyes tightly. She couldn't bear to think of it – what would happen if she gave in to the dark rage seething inside her. She sighed and tried to focus on going to sleep.

Her tears now gone, Willow stood at the sink, holding the edges of the counter with both hands, her white knuckles attesting to the intensity of her grip. She was staring at the polished chrome of the faucet, breathing slowly and deliberately as if trying to calm herself. Finally, she looked up at the mirror above the sink and met her own eyes. They were blazing with barely-controlled rage.

Willow stopped her thoughts and growled, pushing off the counter to pace around the small bathroom. She clenched and unclenched her fists multiple times, feeling a dangerous energy building inside her.

Willow let out another frustrated growl and then stopped at the sink once again. She took a deep breath and slowly released it. When she turned to her reflection this time, her gaze was hard and cold.

Caleb deserves to die, she thought. And if Buffy won't do it, then I will.

When Willow came back in the bedroom, she found Buffy seemingly asleep. The blonde was in bed, with her lamp off, and she was giving no indication that she had heard Willow come in. But Willow could sense that Buffy wasn't asleep. The angry expression that the redhead had been wearing softened a bit, and she padded over, turned her own light off, and eased into the bed.

At first, she lay on her back, almost halfway sitting up. She stared at the far wall, her face constantly changing, as a tide of emotions rolled through her. She looked over at Buffy, how the slayer was turned away from her, and frowned at the sight. Willow could feel Buffy's pain – or at least the portion of it that was seeping past the slayer's mental shields – and she longed to do something to ease it. But Buffy's positioning had made it clear that she didn't want to talk. With a heavy sigh, Willow scooted down in the bed and turned onto her side, away from Buffy.

Though they were only a small distance apart, it felt like a gaping chasm between them. Yet neither one spoke or made a move toward the other. They simply lay there, staring into the darkness, praying for sleep to take them.

Meanwhile, at the hospital, Xander and Anya were keeping watch over Tara. As she slept, the couple sat quietly on the bench nearby. Xander had a worried gaze locked on Tara, but Anya was completely absorbed in the notepad she was writing on.

Tara was frowning in her sleep and tossing her head from side to side. When she began to whimper slightly, Xander rose to his feet and stood next to her bed. He put a gentle hand on her forehead.

"She must be having a bad dream," he said softly.

"Not to worry," Anya assured him, holding up her pen but not taking her eyes off her notepad. "I know just what will make her feel better when she wakes up."

Xander turned from Tara and cast a suspicious eye in his girlfriend's direction. "What are you up to?"

"Just makin' a list and checkin' it twice," Anya answered, once again not looking up from her work. Suddenly, she stopped and shot an inquiring glance at Xander. "Does 'disemboweled' have one L or two?"

Xander merely slumped and rolled his eyes upward in a heaven-help-me expression before turning back to Tara.

Later, about an hour before dawn, Faith and Vamp Willow were finishing up a long night of patrolling. At the moment, they were in the middle of dispatching a fanged foursome near the Mercer mausoleum. After slaying her two adversaries, Faith turned to watch her lover in action.

Whirling with practiced skill, the redhead was systematically pummeling the two vampires, alternating from one to the other until they were both just tottering on their feet. She could have dusted them much faster, especially if she had used her magic, but she was intentionally prolonging their demise – a pattern she had been repeating all night. When the fight was completely gone from the pair, Vamp Willow eyed them with disgust and staked them.

"Good work," Faith complimented.

Vamp Willow gave Faith a haughty side-glance and refused to speak – another pattern she had been repeating all night. Then she stomped away.

Exasperated and somewhat annoyed, Faith hurried to catch up with her. "Look, I said I was sorry, okay?"

Vamp Willow stopped in place and whipped around. "Sorry for what?" she shot back, finally ending the silent treatment.

"For what I said."

Vamp Willow just glared at Faith expectantly until the slayer was forced to go on.

"For saying that I didn't expect you to understand."

Vamp Willow stared at Faith intently for a long moment. "You don't have a clue, do you?" she accused.

"About what?" the slayer asked.

"About why that pissed me off so goddamned much!!!"

"I, um…uhhh…" Faith looked totally lost.

Vamp Willow shook her head and started stomping off once again. Faith ran after her and grabbed her arm to stop her.

"You're right…I don't," Faith admitted. "But I wanna know." The slayer's voice was sincere, and her eyes were pleading.

The irate vampire sighed and glanced at the ground for a short time. When she looked back up, the anger in her eyes was tinged with hurt. "Just because I don't have a full soul doesn't mean I'm less than you."

"I know that," Faith said defensively.

Vamp Willow huffed in disbelief and took a few steps away before giving the slayer a skeptical eyebrow lift. She watched Faith's brow furrow deeply as she struggled to understand what her girlfriend was trying to tell her. She wasn't encouraged by the confusion she saw in Faith's expression, and she felt her anger rising once again. She let her eyes bore into Faith's.

"If all I am to you is some soul-less plaything," Willow told her sharply, "then this is not gonna work." She gestured between herself and Faith. "This…whatever it is we're doing. I won't be somebody's bitch, not even for you!" She crossed her arms tightly and turned away.

"You're not," Faith insisted as she closed the distance between them. She stood in front of the redhead and reached out to touch her shoulder. "I swear."

Vamp Willow didn't respond to her touch and didn't appear to be the least bit mollified by her words. Faith reluctantly went on.

"I…I didn't realize…how it sounded…what I said," Faith offered. "I…I'm sorry."

After several extremely long seconds, Vamp Willow finally met Faith's gaze. "Okay then," she said in testy acceptance of Faith's apology. She pulled out of the slayer's grasp and walked a few feet away. Then she stopped and glanced back at Faith. "We should go," she told her. "It'll be dawn soon."

At that, she strode away, with an only slightly less confused Faith following.

A short time later, Faith and Vamp Willow were at Giles's apartment, cleaning up after their night of slaying. Vamp Willow had showered first and was now in the bedroom, halfway through getting dressed. Just then, a naked Faith walked in, towel-drying her wet hair.

She found her girlfriend sitting on the edge of the far side of the bed, intentionally faced away from her. It was obvious from her current posture and her return to silence that – despite her earlier acceptance of Faith's apology – the redhead was still holding a grudge.

Faith made a silent sigh and went about the task of drying off and putting on her underclothes. When she sat down to put on her socks, she cut her eyes in Willow's direction. The redhead was fiddling with her hair, clearly stalling any need to turn around.

Faith turned back around and slumped for a moment as she thought deeply. Then she took a deep breath, got up, and walked around to Vamp Willow's side of the bed. She knelt at her feet and took both of the vampire's hands into her own.

"I'm really sorry about what I said earlier," Faith began. "I don't think of you as less than me or as some disposable plaything."

She gave Willow's hands a squeeze, and the redhead returned the gesture, looking deeply into Faith's eyes as she went on.

"What we have – whatever it might be – it matters to me. A lot. And I don't want to lose it. Or you."

Vamp Willow gave Faith a tiny smile and nodded but said nothing in reply.

"So, what do I need to do to make things right?" Faith asked.

Instantly, Vamp Willow's face lit up in a brilliant but mischievous grin. "Pony time?" she offered with hope-and-lust-filled eyes.

Faith groaned in mild complaint and let her head fall back against her shoulders. Then she laughed at herself and turned back to her girlfriend. "Walked right into that one, didn't I?"

Vamp Willow's grin became a sexy smirk. "Uh-huh!" she chirped in a pleased-with-herself tone.

Faith laughed again and then gave her lover a nod of acquiescence. Before she could even finish her nod, Vamp Willow was on her, growling and taking her to the floor.

[Editor's note: Click here to see the NC-17 side story Pony Time]

Later, but still fairly early in the morning, Buffy awoke in her bedroom. She blinked her eyes groggily, slowly but surely remembering where she was and why. When her mind brought back the memories of the previous night's events, she quickly looked over her shoulder at Willow. The redhead was asleep, still curled up on the other side of the bed, as far away from the slayer as the slayer had been from her.

Buffy sadly hung her head. She considered waking Willow up so that they could talk but then decided against it, choosing instead to let her girlfriend sleep and to give herself time to think.

Silently, she slipped out of the bed, donned her robe, and left the bedroom. As soon as Buffy had gone, Willow's eyes popped open. She sat up in bed and sighed, staring at the back of the closed door.

When Buffy trudged into the kitchen, she was surprised to find Giles there. His face was unshaven, and his hair was tousled, and he was going from cabinet to cabinet and peering inside. She couldn't help but grin at the sight.

"What are you doing here, mister?" she called out in a stern voice.

Giles jumped and turned around. "Oh! Buffy. You startled me." He nervously adjusted his robe and glasses.

Buffy crossed her arms and tried to glare. "Listen here, I don't recall giving you permission for a sleep-over."

"I, um…well, you see…uhhh…i-i-it was late, and-and Joyce and I were –"

"Relax," Buffy said, interrupting her watcher's babble. She walked over and gave him a playful jab in the arm. "I'm just giving ya a hard time."

Blushing a bit, Giles laughed in relief. "Good, good," he said. "But, um, if my staying over upsets you in any way, then I can –"

Once again Buffy cut Giles off. "Giles, I'm cool with you and Mom. Really." She paused and then said, "More than really, actually." The two shared a warm, sincere smile before Buffy spoke up once again. "Now…can I help you find something?"

Giles held up a cup and said somewhat sheepishly, "Tea?"

"You're in America now, Giles. You should learn to drink coffee in the morning," she teased as she went to the correct cabinet and pulled out a box of English tea and handed it to him.

"Well, if you Colonists hadn't gotten your knickers in a knot about taxes, you'd be drinking tea right now," he countered with a grin.

"Yeah, and we'd all be singing 'God Save the Queen,' too."

"Precisely," Giles said as he dropped a tea bag into his cup and headed for the kettle he'd already set to boiling on the stove.

Buffy, on the other hand, walked over to the coffee maker. She checked to see that it was set and then punched the brew button. Soon, the rich smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the air. She sniffed and sighed and retrieved a cup from the cabinet. Before long, both watcher and slayer were seated at the dining room table sipping their hot beverages and nibbling on toast and jam.

More than once as they ate, Buffy looked up at Giles as if she wanted to say something, but every time she quickly turned back to her food without speaking a word. After the third or fourth occasion, Giles reached across the table and placed his hand on hers.

"What's troubling you, Buffy?" he asked.

She looked surprised at first and then just ashamed. She pulled her hand back and dropped her gaze to her lap. Finally, she spoke, but in a voice that was barely above a whisper. "I tried to kill Caleb last night."

Her eyes flickered up to gauge her watcher's reaction, but his expression was unreadable. So she went on.

"It was when I went to check the security at the Initiative. I took a knife with me and convinced the others to leave me alone with him."

"And what happened?" Giles asked in an even voice.

"Faith stopped me. She talked me out of it." Buffy gave a rueful laugh. "Ironic, isn't it? Faith lecturing me on the slayer morality of not killing humans."

Giles chuckled briefly and said, "Yes, I must admit it is. But she's not our Faith."

"I know," Buffy replied. "But sometimes when I look at her, I remember what happened – what our Faith did, what I did, and…" She trailed off and was quiet for a moment. "Maybe we're not that different after all."

"You are not like Faith," Giles said firmly. "Our Faith, I mean. You proved that last night by not killing Caleb when you had the chance."

"But I would have, Giles," Buffy said in a choked voice. "If Faith hadn't stepped in when she did, I would have." Tears were trickling down her face as a rage entered her eyes. "I would have taken that knife and stabbed it right in his heart and then kept on stabbing and…I would have liked it."

Buffy began to cry in earnest then, and Giles left his chair and came around the table to wrap his slayer in a warm hug. Buffy accepted the hug but not for long. Soon she pulled away and looked into her watcher's eyes.

"I scared myself last night," she confessed. "Even when our Faith tried to kill Angel, what I felt then…it was nothing like what I felt when I stood over Caleb with that knife. If Faith hadn't been there and kept me from going through with it…I don't think I would have come back from that. I think I would have been lost. Forever."

Giles nodded in agreement and sympathy. But Buffy withdrew even more, hunching down in her chair, a pained expression on her face.

"Buffy, what is it?" Giles asked. "What are you not telling me?"

It took a while for Buffy to get out the words. "When I told Willow, she got really upset."

"Well, I'm sure she did," Giles said. "She loves you; it's natural that she'd be worried about you."

Buffy shook her head. "No, not like that. She was upset that I hadn't killed Caleb."

"Oh, I see," Giles replied.

"What if she's right?" Buffy asked. "I mean, what are we supposed to do with Caleb now that we've caught him? Turn him over to the police and the justice system? They can't handle someone like Caleb."

"Well, um, I believe that the Initiative may be our best avenue for permanent imprisonment," Giles suggested. "They have access to the latest weapons and best technologies the government has to offer, and they have experience in capturing and containing a wide variety of demons."

"But they don't understand and respect magic," Buffy pointed out. "Induced coma or not, how they can possibly deal with a sorcerer of Caleb's caliber?"

"They can't."

Buffy and Giles turned to the sound of the voice and found Willow standing several feet away at the doorway to the hall.

"That's why we have to deal with him ourselves," Willow continued as she stepped inside the room. "And there's really only one way to do that. We have to kill him."

"So…what?" Buffy challenged. "We're judge and jury now? We get to decide who lives and dies?"

"Buffy's right," Giles said. "We mustn't –"

"We don't need a jury!" Willow shot back, ignoring Giles entirely. "Or a judge or a trial. We know he's guilty. We were there, remember? We felt what he did to her, we saw him in Tara's mind. He deserves to die!"

"No," Buffy said, shaking her head. "Slayers don't kill humans."

"I didn't say you had to do it," Willow answered sharply.

Buffy clenched her jaw and swallowed hard. "Last night you said you wished I had."

"Yes, I did," Willow said, "and I do wish that. I wish more than anything that he was dead and in the ground right now! What I don't understand is why you don't wish it too." Her eyes filled with tears, and her voice grew strained. "For God's sake, Buffy…he raped Tara, he tortured her, he –"

"You think I don't know that?" Buffy asked. "You think I don't want to see him punished for that?"

Willow shook off her tears, and her anger returned. "Then why are you standing there pleading for mercy for that bastard?!"

Giles attempted to step between the girls, but Buffy just pushed past him.

"I am not pleading for mercy!" Buffy shouted back. "I'm just saying that –"

"STOP IT! RIGHT NOW! "

Buffy and Willow and Giles turned to see a furious Joyce Summers approaching them. She made brief eye contact with Giles but then stalked right over to the girls.

"What the hell is the matter with you two?" she accused.

The girls glanced angrily at each other for a second then warily met Joyce's eyes. Once she had their attention, she continued her reprimand.

"Tara is in the hospital, out of her coma less than a day, facing God knows how much recovery time, and you two are here arguing about Caleb!"

Both Buffy and Willow dropped their heads in shame. Joyce let them stew in their guilt for a long moment; then she reached out and touched their arms to make them look at her.

"Tara needs you," she told them. "Both of you. Together. So, put your differences aside for now. Caleb can wait."

Reluctantly, the girls made eye contact with each other and then nodded at Joyce.

"Good," Joyce told them. "Now go upstairs and get showered and dressed. I'll have breakfast ready for you when you come back down."

Without a word, Buffy and Willow did as they were told. Once the girls had left, Joyce turned to Giles. Deep worry was in her eyes.

"How are they ever going to get through this?" she asked.

"They'll make it, you'll see," he said with a reassuring smile.

Then he gave her a kiss on the forehead and pulled her into a comforting hug, which she gratefully accepted.

A short time later, while Giles went to pick up Faith and Vamp Willow, Joyce drove Buffy and Willow to the hospital. When the three women arrived, they went straight to Tara's room. When they came in, they found Xander and Anya inside, but Tara and her bed were gone.

"Oh God! Where's Tara?" Willow asked in alarm.

"What happened? Why isn't she here? Why didn't you call us?" Buffy added, just as frantic.

Xander held up his hands to stave off the panic attack. "Don't worry…nothing's wrong with Tara. They came and got her earlier to run some tests, that's all. She should be back just any time now."

"We shouldn't have left last night," Willow said, turning to Buffy. "Then we would have been here when she woke up, before she had to go for those tests."

"I know, I know," Buffy agreed sadly. "We shouldn't have let her talk us into it."

"Okay, okay," Xander said, walking over and putting an arm around both girls. "Enough with the guiltapalooza. Tara was completely okay while you were gone, I promise." He guided them to the bench and sat them down. "As you'll see in just a few."

Just then, there was a knock at the door, and both Buffy and Willow jumped back to their feet, their eyes expectant. When the door opened, though, it wasn't Tara. It was a very chipper Vamp Willow. Buffy and Willow's faces fell.

"Oh," Buffy mumbled.

"It's just you," Willow finished.

Then both of them plopped unhappily back onto their bench.

Vamp Willow's grin became a pout, but only for a moment. She was in too good a mood to let a little morning grumpiness from the others get her down. She ignored the remark and turned to prop the door open so that Faith and Giles could enter.

As Faith came in the room, she was moving a bit slower than usual, and every so often, her face would scrunch into a quick grimace. Despite her best efforts to hide her discomfort, the others easily picked up on it.

"Faith, are you all right?" Joyce asked in concern.

Faith involuntarily cut her eyes in her girlfriend's direction. Vamp Willow merely crossed her arms and smirked. A slight blush entered Faith's cheeks.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Faith said, shrugging and trying her best to stand up straight and act nonchalant. "Just sore." Instantly, she clarified, "From slaying! Patrol, you know, last night."

"Must've been rough if it's got you walking like that," Willow commented.

Vamp Willow shot another smirk at Faith. "It was rough all right."

"Did ya go up against some extra-bad-ass demon or something?" Xander asked.

"She sure did," Vamp Willow answered, grinning wickedly now.

"Well, you're here in one piece, so I guess you came out on top," Buffy noted.

Vamp Willow snickered. "Oh, I wouldn't go that far." When she gave Faith a playful nudge, the slayer blushed even more and took a step away.

"Can we stop talking about me now?" Faith said grouchily. "Where's Tara?"

"Getting some tests run," Xander answered.

"How was she this morning?" Buffy asked worriedly. "You know…before they took her for the tests?"

"Just groggy," Anya said, joining Xander. "She was asleep when they came for her."

"Did she sleep okay? Was she in any pain?" Willow pressed.

"Barring a few instances of wake-up-for-vitals-check, she slept just fine," Xander said.

"Well, except for the bad dreams," Anya added matter-of-factly. Xander gave his girlfriend a glare, but she didn't notice.

Both Buffy and Willow looked stricken. "Bad dreams?" Buffy asked.

"Understandable," Giles interjected gently, "given what she went through."

Everyone grew silent as their minds went unwillingly to their own imaginings of what Tara had endured while in Caleb's clutches.

Xander got a look of disgust on his face. "That guy really needs to pay, and I mean pay."

"No kidding," Vamp Willow said grimly. "And the sooner, the better."

Willow gave Buffy a vindicated glance but said nothing.

"Fear not, my troubled friends," Anya announced proudly. "I have the solution." She waved her notepad in the air and then went on. "Having served as a vengeance demon for over a thousand years, I possess a certain expertise in this area, and I've devised a list of what I feel are crime-appropriate punishments for Caleb – including some of those terrific ideas we came up with right after he was captured." She smiled and turned to the first page in her notepad. "Okay then, let's start with basic torture and work our way up to the truly horrific. Then we can –"

"No!" Buffy barked, making everyone jump. She got to her feet and walked to an unoccupied corner. "We should not be talking about this right now!"

"Yes, we should!" Willow countered angrily. She got to her feet and faced Buffy. "Until that man is dead on a cold, hard slab –"

"'That man'," Faith said, cutting Willow off. "Do you hear yourself? Like it or not, Caleb is human; he has a soul, and we don't have the right to –"

"So what?!" Xander said. "Ted Bundy had a soul. Does that mean the State of Florida shouldn't have killed the son of a bitch?"

"But that's not the point," Anya said. "It's punishment we should be talking about, not quick execution. I mean, zap-zap-he's dead…where's the justice in that?"

"He Doesn't. Deserve. To Live." Willow enunciated each word with icy deliberateness.

"He's too dangerous to live," Vamp Willow added.

"But at the moment, he's not a danger to anyone," Joyce interjected. "Which means we don't have to make a decision right away."

"Joyce is correct," Giles said. "The Initiative is holding Caleb in a deep comatose state. There's no way he can harm anyone."

"That we know of," Xander pointed out.

"Exactly!" Willow told Xander. Then she turned back to Buffy. "Look, if we don't do something permanent about him, he could come back. He could hurt Tara all over again! Is that what you want?!"

A hurt and appalled expression came over Buffy's face. "Of course not! God…how can you even say that?!"

"Here we go," came a nurse's sing-songy voice from the hallway. It stunned the arguing Scoobies into immediate silence.

When they turned toward the open door, they saw an overly-cheerful nurse wheeling Tara's bed back into the room. They quickly moved out of the way, sending smiles Tara's way, hoping that she hadn't heard any of their heated debate.

Once the nurse had finished and left, Buffy and Willow went immediately to Tara. Caleb was forgotten, and nothing else mattered but the woman they loved. They took Tara's hands in theirs and looked deeply into her eyes. Then, as one, they whispered her name. Tara smiled and let out a shaky breath as she gave their hands a squeeze in return.

For the longest time, no one said a word. The Three had temporarily retreated into their own little world, and the others were reluctant to disturb their moment of re-bonding. It was Xander who finally broke the silence.

"Well," he said, slapping his hands together in announcement fashion, "I believe Anya and I have earned ourselves a waffle breakfast and a long day in bed." He took Anya's hand and then turned to Faith and Vamp Willow. "Care to join us?"

"He means the waffle part, not the bed part," Anya clarified.

Vamp Willow snorted. "Don't be so sure," she told the ex-demon before giving Xander a steamy up-and-down look.

Anya's eyes widened and then narrowed. She gave Vamp Willow a glare and pulled Xander closer, literally latching onto his arm.

Faith rolled her eyes and muttered, "Just a sun-free ride back to Giles's place will be fine."

"Rupert and I have some work to attend to as well," Joyce said, giving Giles a pointed look.

For a split second, Giles didn't get it. Then he caught on. "Oh! Yes, that's, um, quite right," he said, joining Joyce near the door.

Buffy chuckled. "Real smooth exit, guys…but thanks." Willow gave them a grateful nod too.

At that, the Scoobies made well-wishes to Tara and then slipped from the room, closing the door and leaving the Three alone.

Outside Tara's room, Joyce and Giles met briefly with the others.

"Get some rest," Giles told them. "We'll call you if anything changes. Otherwise, we'll meet back here this evening. Agreed?"

The two couples nodded then headed off down the hallway. Joyce and Giles watched them go and then turned back to Tara's door. They stared at it for a long moment, with deep concern in their eyes. Joyce finally spoke up.

"Could I interest you in some boring small talk over a really bad cup of coffee?" she offered with a self-deprecating grin.

Giles grinned back. He took her hand and kissed it. "I assure you," he said, "conversations with you are the very antithesis of boring."

"Flatterer," Joyce teasingly accused as they started down the hallway. "Go on," she quickly added.

With a shared chuckle, the two made their way toward the elevator.

Meanwhile, back in Tara's room, the Three had reverted to just a silent basking in each other's presence. Through the simple touch of their hands, they reconnected on both a physical and an emotional level.

"We missed you," Buffy said.

"Sooo much," Willow added.

"I missed you, too," Tara replied.

"We're sorry we weren't here when you woke up," Willow said.

"Yeah," Buffy echoed.

"It's okay," Tara said. "It was like the crack of dawn when they came, anyway."

"What did they do? What kind of tests did they run?" Willow asked.

"What didn't they do?" Tara answered wearily. "I must be the most highly-tested patient in the hospital." She sighed and started the list. "They drew blood, took another set of x-rays, put me in two different kinds of scanners. I'm probably glowing from the radiation."

"Is that what that is?" Buffy said, peering curiously at Tara's head and body. "And here I thought you were just extra glowy because of us."

Tara rolled her eyes then smiled warmly. "I'm always glowy for you," she said sincerely as she gave her girlfriends' hands a squeeze, which they happily returned.

"Did they give you something for the pain?" Willow asked, brushing her fingers against Tara's forehead.

"Earlier," Tara said. "It's worn off a little, but I'm okay," she assured them. "Really."

"What did the doctor say?" Buffy asked.

"I haven't talked to him yet," Tara said. "The nurse told me he'd review the test results and see me this afternoon."

"Maybe he'll let you go home soon," Willow said encouragingly.

"I hope so," Tara said.

"Oh! About that," Buffy said. "When you get out, Mom wants us to move home with her. You know, till you're well again. But I told her I'd have to ask you guys about it."

When neither Tara nor Willow answered right away, Buffy nervously went on.

"I mean, true, our apartment is closer to the school, but it's still a wreck from the move, just a bunch o' boxes with hardly any furniture, a-a-and we're off for the summer anyway, so I figured it might not be such a bad idea, you know, having some extra help, 'specially if Giles stays over, but i-i-if you guys don't want to do it, then that's okay, it's not like I'm super-glued to the idea or anything, but…" Buffy trailed off when she realized Tara and Willow were staring at her. "What?" she asked.

Willow turned to Tara and said, "She's so cute when she babbles." Tara giggled in agreement.

Buffy let out a long-suffering sigh. "Okay, okay…enough with the Buffy-tease. Do I get a Yea or a Nay on the offer?"

Willow turned back to Tara and looked at her questioningly. When Tara nodded in the affirmative, Willow turned back to Buffy and said, "That would be a Yea. Two of 'em."

"Yay!" Buffy blurted excitedly. "I'll tell Mom when she comes back. She'll be really happy to hear it."

For a few moments more, the Three discussed the ramifications of the move and made other safe small talk, but eventually they grew quiet. It wasn't the peaceful silence of before; it was the awkward tension of unresolved issues and unasked questions.

"So, um, w-w-what was going on earlier?" Tara asked hesitantly. "W-W-When I came in?"

Both Buffy and Willow looked at a loss. They worriedly locked eyes as if debating how to answer Tara's question.

Meanwhile, in a hospital in Los Angeles, Lilah Morgan lay uncomfortably in her bed. It wasn't her injuries that were causing her discomfort – it was the presence of one of the senior partners of Wolfram and Hart…and the man in black who had accompanied him. Whether the man in black was a telepath or an assassin or both, Lilah didn't know.

"I know that you're still recovering from your ordeal, Ms. Morgan," the senior partner said, "but I and the other partners have questions that need answering."

"Yes, of course, I understand," Lilah forced herself to say.

"Who did this to you?"

"Angel," she said, clenching her jaw tightly.

" 'Touch the Three'," the partner said. "What was Angel referring to?"

Lilah knew that her interrogator knew the answer, but she replied anyway. "The Power of Three, the guardians of the hellmouth. Angel's ex, Buffy Summers, is one of the Three."

"How is that you knew of their rising?"

"Holland told me."

The senior partner just crossed his arms and said nothing.

"H-H-He had this big plan to somehow take out the Three," she stuttered in panic. "I-I-I warned him, but he insisted he had a way around the curse."

"And Angel got wind of this plot, I presume?"

Lilah nodded, frowning in remembrance. "He wanted…d-d-details…He…" She trailed off, unable to put into words what the vampire had done to her.

"And you told him, didn't you?" the senior partner said coldly.

Lilah's eyes darted from the partner to the man in black and back again. "Yes," she finally admitted in a frightened whisper.

For the longest time, the senior partner just glared at her, but eventually his expression softened.

"Thank you, Ms. Morgan, for your candor," he said. "We hope that you have a speedy recovery, and we look forward to seeing you back at work soon."

At that, the senior partner and his companion left the room. After a long moment, Lilah finally let out the breath she had been holding.

At the same time, Holland Manner was sitting in his office, looking very unsettled. He glanced frequently at his phone, as if he were expected an important call. His wall-mounted television was showing a news anchor doing a teaser commercial.

"…and authorities are still investigating a mysterious explosion that occurred yesterday at a hospital in Sunnydale," the anchor was saying. "We'll look at these and other stories on KCAL 9 News at Noon."

An anxious look on his face, Holland used his remote to turn off the television. He glanced at his phone, thought a moment, then activated his secure line. He punched in the number for Caleb's cell phone and waited.

"Hello?" answered a male voice.

Holland sat up straight in his desk chair. "Who is this?" he demanded.

"Who are you?" the voice demanded right back.

Holland instantly hung up the phone. His eyes, once merely worried, were now extremely frightened.

At the Initiative, Riley pulled Caleb's cell phone away from his ear and looked at it. The screen still showed no identification of the number that had called. A cable ran from the phone into a computer system, where a technician attempted to analyze the call statistics.

"Did you get it?" Riley asked.

The technician made a few final strokes on his keyboard and then sadly shook his head. "Sorry, man. Couldn't track it."

"Damn!" Riley swore.

Tara grew impatient with the lack of response to her question, so she asked it again, this time more sharply. "What was going on when I came in?"

"Oh, umm, it was nothing," Buffy said, attempting a dismissive wave.

"Yeah," Willow agreed. "Nothing you need to worry about."

Tara's expression tightened. "It was about Caleb, wasn't it?"

Once again, Willow and Buffy just looked at each other without answering Tara. It was obvious that they were having a telepathic conversation that did not include her.

"Stop talking behind my back!" Tara's sudden outburst completely startled her girlfriends.

"S-S-Sorry," Willow said. "We just…"

"We just didn't want to upset you," Buffy finished.

"I…am not…a child," Tara enunciated slowly and with great emphasis. "So tell me."

After a deep breath, Buffy admitted, "Yes, it was about Caleb." She quickly added, "But don't worry…he's safe. All locked up at the Initiative. He's not going anywhere."

"What were you fighting about, then?" Tara asked.

"We weren't fighting…exactly," Willow said. "We were just…debating." She paused then said, "About what to do with him."

"I see," Tara said in a not-pleased voice. "And you were just going to decide all that without me?"

Buffy and Willow looked at Tara and then each other. They didn't know what to say, but Tara's tone was starting to scare them.

"Do you think I'm helpless?!" Tara accused angrily. "Or-or mentally incompetent?! Do you think I can't make decisions for myself?!" She was practically screaming at them.

Buffy and Willow flinched at her words and pulled away, taking a full step back from the hospital bed. They had never seen Tara like this – never seen such rage in her. And they had certainly never been on the receiving end of it. All they could do was hang their heads and stare at the floor.

"We're sorry," Buffy whispered.

"So sorry," Willow added.

The two kept their gaze averted until they heard a small sob from Tara. When they looked up and saw her crying, they rushed back over to her.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Tara told them over and over, in a voice choked by tears.

Willow and Buffy took her hands in theirs once again. "It's okay, it's okay," they both reassured her as they stroked her hair and caressed her shoulders and arms.

"I-I-I…I don't know why…I s-s-snapped…like that," Tara said, still hiccupping a bit as she struggled to get her crying under control.

"It's okay," Buffy said, tears rolling down her own face. "You're allowed."

"But I don't wanna be," Tara said. "It hurts." She closed her eyes and whispered, "Everything hurts."

Tara began to sob again, and Willow and Buffy quickly joined her. For a time, it was all they could do – just cry. But at least they were together, and soon they felt the worst of their pain subside.

Buffy and Willow leaned over to place twin kisses on Tara's temples. "We love you," they told her. "No matter what."

Tara smiled a tiny bit and said, "I love you, too." Before Buffy and Willow could pull away, Tara reached up and grabbed their shoulders. She locked her eyes on theirs and said, "Is Caleb really secure?"

"Yes, he is," Buffy said firmly. "He's in the Initiative, being kept in a deep coma in the most secure room they have."

Tara acknowledged that and then glanced away for moment. When she looked back, she said, "Then just keep him that way. For now. I-I-I need time to think. Okay?"

"Okay," Buffy promised. She looked over at Willow and got a nod from her.

At that, Tara relaxed somewhat, and the Three turned their conversation to less stressful topics.

About an hour later, Tara was asleep. The morning's tests and the high emotions had taken their toll, and she had drifted off right in the middle of talking with Willow and Buffy. They didn't mind, though. They were grateful that she could rest, and they prayed that her sleep would be undisturbed by bad dreams. Once Tara's breathing became deep and regular, they slipped their hands from hers and stepped away.

They moved to the end of the bed, where they simply stood and watched Tara sleeping. Their expressions grew pained as they took in the sight of Tara's still battered condition. Although the swelling had gone down, the bruises on her face had not yet begun to fade. After a long moment, they drew their eyes away.

When they looked at one another, they realized that they were standing a least a yard apart. On any other day, they would have been side by side, hugging or holding hands, touching in some way. They both looked away, not knowing what to do next.

After a seemingly interminable series of seconds, they finally turned to each other and blurted out simultaneously, "I'm sorry!"

When Tara stirred at the noise, they froze and waited until Tara was still once again. Then they closed the gap between them and took each other's hands.

"I'm sorry," Willow whispered urgently.

"I'm sorry too," Buffy echoed.

They fell into a long and desperately needed hug. The intensity of their reconnection moved them both to tears.

"I don't like it when we fight," Willow said in a choked voice.

"Me either," Buffy agreed. She sniffled as she pulled them apart. "So let's not, okay?"

"We need to be together in this," Willow affirmed. "Not just for Tara, but for us too."

"Right," Buffy said. She reached up and wiped the tears from Willow's face with her thumb. "We'll deal with Caleb, and he'll get what he deserves," she told her. "I promise. But right now, let's honor Tara's wishes and just keep him on ice."

When Willow nodded, Buffy leaned in and gave her a heartfelt kiss, which Willow gratefully returned.

Meanwhile, Holland Manners was at his office, cramming items into his briefcase. When he was finished, he forced case shut and hurried for his office door. When he opened the door, he found the man in black who had been in Lilah's room waiting for him outside. Holland froze in place.

"The Senior Partners would like to have a word," the man in black said.

"No…" Holland said, backing away. "No…"

At a nod from the man in black, two burly guards rushed inside and grabbed Holland, causing him to drop his briefcase. Holland began to struggle and scream, but it was no use.

As the guards dragged Holland away, the man in black calmly picked up the briefcase and followed after.

Later that morning, close to noon, Joyce and Giles rejoined the Three in Tara’s hospital room. The two adults joined Buffy on the near side of the bed and greeted the three girls warmly. Then Joyce reached out and touched Tara’s arm.

“How are you feeling?” Joyce asked.

“I’m okay,” Tara answered with a shy shrug.

“She went to the bathroom!” Buffy chirped proudly. Her smile changed to a sheepish wince when she saw Tara and Willow roll their eyes. “Okay, that didn’t come out the way I intended.”

“She got to get out of the bed and walk to the bathroom,” Willow clarified.

“That’s wonderful!” Joyce said.

“Of course, it took two nurses and two girlfriends to manage it,” Tara commented with a hint of a half-smirk.

“Well, maybe the doctor will let you go home if he’s letting you do that,” Joyce noted.

“Yes, h-h-has he come by?” Giles asked.

Tara shook her head.

“A counselor came by, though,” Willow pointed out, trying to be upbeat about that bit of news.

“Good...that’s good,” Joyce said. “Did you, um, get a chance to talk?”

“A little,” Tara replied but said nothing more.

She kept her head down and only occasionally glanced up. It was clear that the topic of counseling was making her very uncomfortable. Giles noticed and decided to broach a topic he’d been considering.

“Tara, I don’t mean to overstep my bounds,” Giles began, “but I’d like to make an offer, if I may.”

Cautious but curious, Tara looked up and met the older man’s eyes. “O-O-Okay.”

“I have a friend who’s a counselor,” he told her. “In fact, she just recently moved from England to Los Angeles, temporarily at any rate, so she’s not far away. I-I-I think you’d like her, and-and she’s a witch as well, which would give you some common ground. Would you like me to call her?”

Tara cast quick glances at her girlfriends and then ducked her head once again as she considered the offer. She didn’t really want to see a counselor at all. Counseling meant talking, and talking meant sharing, and sharing meant reliving her nightmare, which was the last thing she wanted to do. Her logical side, of course, reminded her of the value of counseling, particularly in light of such a traumatic event. Still, it was difficult for her to break the pattern of secret-keeping, especially after having spent years covering up her abusive home life.

But a counselor who’s a witch, Tara thought. Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad...

After thinking for a moment more, Tara looked up and gave Giles a nod of approval. His face lit up in a smile. “Excellent,” he said. “I’ll-I’ll call Althenea first thing tonight!”

“Buffy, have you spoken with Willow and Tara about my offer?” Joyce asked.

“Oh!” Buffy said, just remembering. “Yes, I did, and they both said yes, so that’s three votes for moving in with you when Tara gets out. Yay!”

“Oh, I’m so glad to hear it,” Joyce said as she directed smiles at both Tara and Willow before drawing her daughter in for a hug. Giles moved closer and placed a hand on the backs of both Summers women.

Willow smiled happily at the embrace, but a frown crept onto her face when she was reminded of her estrangement from her own parents. Tara saw Willow’s reaction and reached over to take the redhead’s hand in hers. Tara’s reassuring gesture wasn’t needed for long, though, because soon the hug-fest was extended to both witches, and everyone just beamed in the happy family moment.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, deep within Wolfram and Hart, Holland Manners was getting a good dose of karma. He was in the same interrogation room to which he had sent Lindsey McDonald, strapped in the very same medical chair, bound by the very same leather straps. And now, just like the unfortunate young attorney, Holland had been reduced to vacant-eyed, drooling imbecility.

The clawed demon responsible for torturously ripping information from Holland’s mind stepped away from the man and approached the group of senior partners who had been watching the proceedings. The demon bowed slightly before speaking.

“That is all...there is nothing more,” he told them.

“Very well. Thank you,” one of the senior partners replied. After the demon had stepped away, the man turned to his colleagues and gave them an expectant glance.

“It was a good plan,” one of them admitted. “Kill the Three...open a new hellmouth in L.A. Too bad it didn’t work.”

“Too bad?” another added with contempt. “We’re lucky this idiot didn’t get us all cursed.”

“Well, the ‘idiot’ has earned his reward,” still another pronounced. “We should make sure that the video of this interrogation is forwarded to all employee inboxes...as a reminder that one should never forget the chain of command.”

The other partners nodded in agreement to that suggestion.

“What of the Three?” one of the group asked. “And Angel?”

All turned to the first partner who had spoken. He thought a moment and said, “Leave them be. For now. Their time will come, sooner or later. We have patience.”

Later that afternoon, Lilah Morgan was still in the hospital, recovering from the injuries that Angel had inflicted on her. It had been a dangerous plan on her part, but not nearly as dangerous as Holland’s had been. She had weighed the pros and cons and made her choice—she would play along with Holland but give herself a ‘out’ if he failed. And failed he had, and Lilah was just damn lucky that the senior partners had not ordered a deep scan. With only a cursory scan, she could tell the truth and come out of this ordeal intact. So far, so good.

When she heard a knock at the door, a hint of terror flashed in her eyes. She got her emotions under control and then called out to her visitor to come in. Lilah relaxed when she realized it was only Lee, one of her male colleagues. He was a snake, but weren’t they all at Wolfram and Hart?

“Lee...hey...”

“Boy, you are one lucky bitch, you know that?” Lee said.

“Yeah,” she said, grimacing in pain as she shifted in her bed. “Feelin’ real lucky right about now...”

“You should,” Lee said grimly. “Holland got the ‘Treatment.’ Just like Lindsey. Only this time, the partners sent a copy of the video to everybody. That could’ve been you, too.”

Lilah shuddered and pulled the cover more tightly around herself.

Lee gestured at the hospital room. “This is like a paper cut compared to that.”

“True,” Lilah said with a rueful smile. “So...what’s the scoop on Holland’s project?” she asked. “The Three...Angel?”

Lee scowled and shook his head. “Well, the Three are out of our cross-hairs, obviously,” he replied. “But what I don’t understand is why the senior partners took Angel off the ‘Most Wanted’ list. That Mr. Goody-Two-Fangs needs to be taken down.”

Lilah’s eyes narrowed as she nearly growled, “Agreed.”

Lee looked down at his watch and hitched his thumb at the door. “Look, I gotta run. Deposition at two.”

“I understand. Thanks for coming by. Tell everyone I’ll be back to work soon.”

“I will. Ciao!” Lee waved and left.

Lilah waited about five minutes and then gingerly pushed the covers back and eased out of her bed. She put on her hospital-provided robe and slippers then began rummaging through the drawers of her nightstand. She found her purse and dug around inside until she had located a small amount of change. With money in hand, she left her room.

Slowly but surely, she made her way down the hallway to the small waiting area that was set in the corner of the building. She stopped to smile at the bright sun shining in the windows, then moved to the payphone on the wall. She put in the requisite coins, punched in a phone number, and waited while it rang.

“Hello?” came Angel’s voice over the phone.

“Holland got taken down,” she told him.

“Good,” Angel said in a near-growl, not unlike Lilah’s earlier tone with Lee. “What about Buffy and the others? Are the senior partners going to leave them alone?”

“As far as I can tell, yes. They consider Holland’s actions to be foolishly risky, and they’ve made sure that all employees have seen the consequences of putting the firm in danger.”

“You’d better make sure they steer clear of the Three,” Angel warned Lilah, his Irish accent re-emerging. “Otherwise, I’ll be makin’ another example of you...a much more lengthy one.”

At that, Angel ended the call. Lilah’s face tightened, and her eyes grew hard and cold. “We’ll see...” was all she said as she too hung up.

Meanwhile, back in Tara’s room, all of the Scoobies had gathered to hear what the doctor had to say. He seemed a little flustered by the crowd in the room, but Tara told him that she didn’t mind.

“I’ve looked over your charts and talked with the nurses about your progress,” the doctor said. “I’ve decided that you can go home tomorrow if you have someone to stay with you for the next few days.”

The room immediately burst into a cacophony of jubilation, volunteering, and reassurance. It got so loud that the doctor had to quiet them.

The doctor laughed and said, “Okay, okay, I get it. You’ve got her covered.” Then he looked at Buffy and Willow. “But you’ll need to go through some training on the care Tara will need.”

“No problem,” Buffy said.

“Just tell us when and where,” Willow added.

“I’ll set it up with the on-duty nurses. They’ll get you squared away.” He met Tara’s eyes. “And you rest up. We don’t want any setbacks keeping you from going home tomorrow.”

Tara smiled and nodded. At that, the doctor left. As soon as he was out the door, the noisy celebration returned. Within a few minutes, the phone rang. Buffy was closest, so she answered it.

“Hello? Angel.” As the others quieted, she listened intently for a while. Then a look of relief came over her face. “That’s wonderful.” She listened once more, and this time her expression became stern. “Good,” was all she said. Her face lightened again as she said, “Thank you so much, Angel. Really. Okay. Bye.”

As Buffy hung up the phone, Willow asked, “Good news?”

“Yes,” Buffy confirmed with a smile. “We’re off the hit list. Apparently, Wolfram and Hart is cutting its losses and moving on.”

“What about that Holland guy?” Xander asked. “The one who started all this?”

“He’s toast,” Buffy replied. “It seems the higher-ups did not appreciate his little private campaign.”

“Good,” Vamp Willow said with satisfaction. “One down, one more to go.”

“Amen, sister!” Anya added with gusto.

The room went silent. Buffy and the others shot appalled looks at Vamp Willow and Anya for raising an already sore and supposedly tabled subject.

“Sorry,” mumbled Anya, although without any real conviction.

Vamp Willow held out her hands and said defensively, “What?”

The air was tense for a moment, but Xander broke the mood with a quick slap of his hands and a big smile. “So...I’m thinking homecoming party, yeah?”

He waggled his eyebrows at the Three and gave Tara a wink. Soon everyone’s smiles returned, and the group happily went about making party plans.

Later that afternoon in another room, Buffy, Willow, and Joyce received training on the proper ways to care for Tara at home. They learned how to help her to and from the bed and how to clean and redress her wounds. The nurse explained all of her medications: what they were for, how they should be taken, and what side effects they had. She warned in particular about the pain medication Tara would be on.

“Rib injuries are a real pain, literally, so the doctor’s putting her on a low-dose of Vicodin,” the nurse said. “It won’t knock her out or anything, but it will put her in a kind of haze at times. Dizziness is a side effect, so no matter how good she feels, she shouldn’t walk around without assistance, at least for the first few days as she adjusts to the medication.”

The three women nodded in acknowledgement to the nurse.

“She gets one in the morning and one in the evening,” the nurse instructed. “No more. Vicodin is a narcotic, and it’s very addictive. No matter how badly she may be hurting, you are not to deviate from the prescribed regiment. Understood?”

Joyce glanced at Buffy and Willow then said, “We understand.”

“And no alcohol,” the nurse added.

“I don’t think we have to worry about that,” Joyce said pointedly. “Do we?”

Buffy and Willow grinned and shook their heads. “No ma’am,” they both chirped compliantly.

That evening, Giles, Xander, and Anya were at the Three’s new apartment. A small moving van was parked outside. Buffy, Willow, and Tara had never been able to complete their move due to the attack on Tara. As a result, almost all of their belongings were still packed in boxes, which were clustered in heaps in the apartment’s various rooms. Giles, Xander, and Anya had already stopped at Tara’s dorm room and picked up what remained there; now they were in the process of moving the boxes into the van.

In the kitchen, Anya was repacking the few items that had been put into place when the original move began. Xander and Giles stopped by for a drink of water.

After slugging down a big gulp of water, Xander turned to Giles and asked, “We’re leaving the furniture, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct,” Giles confirmed. “Most of it isn’t theirs; it came with the apartment. Buffy said she’d come by later this week to pick up anything we missed.”

“Do we need to make a moving run by your place?” Xander said, giving the watcher a teasing nudge. “You and Buffy’s mom...gettin’ mighty cozy, I hear.”

Giles blushed slightly and cleared his throat. “That won’t be necessary,” he said. “I assure you, Joyce and I are not nearly as cozy as that.”

As Giles immediately returned to his work, Xander and Anya shared a snicker.

Meanwhile, Joyce was at the grocery store, stocking up for the invasion of the college co-eds. As she pulled into the checkout line with an overly full cart, she noticed Sheila Rosenberg in front of her.

Sheila glanced briefly at Joyce but said nothing, her eyes cool and distant.

Joyce considered fighting cold with cold, but then she decided more was required. She moved to the end of her cart and stood there staring at Sheila, making the woman very uncomfortable. Finally, Joyce spoke.

“Aren’t you going to ask me about Willow?” Joyce accused.

Sheila kept her nose in the air and her gaze forward. “I’m sure she’s fine,” she replied evenly.

Joyce folded her arms across her chest. “She’s not.”

Sheila actually showed some concern then. Alarmed, she turned to Joyce for an explanation.

“Tara’s in the hospital,” Joyce went on. “She was attacked, beaten within an inch of her life. She nearly died.”

Sheila’s eyes went wide. “Was that the attack I read about in the paper? The girl in the coma?”

Joyce nodded.

“Oh my goodness…”

“Willow and Buffy were devastated,” Joyce said, “but thankfully Tara’s awake now. They expect a full recovery. But it’s not going to be easy.”

Sheila shook her head. “No, I imagine not.”

Joyce stepped closer and put a hand on the other woman’s arm. “Sheila, whatever objections you have to Willow’s relationship, you need to set that aside.” She gave the redhead a pleading look and said, “Willow needs her mother.”

A guilty expression came over Sheila’s face, but it soon disappeared under a stony wall. As soon as the cashier finished processing the sale, Sheila snatched up her receipt and hurried away with her cart.

Joyce could only stand there and shake her head.

Later that evening, Faith and Vamp Willow were out on patrol. They had just finished slaying a couple of fledgling vampires near the Hudson tomb. Faith rotated her neck a few times then did a big overhead stretch.

“That’s better,” she said. “Feel like I’m finally getting some of those kinks worked out from this morning.”

“Better not lose all your kinks,” Vamp Willow warned teasingly.

Faith grabbed Vamp Willow by the hips and drew her close. “I don’t think you have to worry about that,” she told her before giving her a hungry kiss.

After indulging in a brief make-out session, the two resumed their patrol. A somber mood seemed to settle upon them as they walked.

“Guess it won’t be long before we have to head back home,” Faith said.

“Yeah,” Vamp Willow agreed, herself not immune to the sadness of that prospect. Her demeanor quickly changed to grim determination, though. “But we’re not going anywhere until Caleb is dealt with.”

“Agreed,” Faith said without elaborating. She didn’t want to get into another argument about appropriate punishments for Caleb.

Meanwhile, Buffy and Willow were alone with Tara in her room. While Buffy was setting up a fold-up bed on wheels that the hospital had provided, Willow was helping Tara walk out of the bathroom.

“We should have asked for one of these the other night, but I didn’t realize we could get one,” Buffy commented.

As Tara passed by the sink in the bathroom, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror. She frowned at the sight of her own face, still bruised and battered. She shook her head and resumed walking.

“Bet you can’t bear to look at me,” Tara said.

Willow moved around to Tara’s front. She carefully cupped Tara’s cheek and looked straight into her eyes. “Not so,” she told her then placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

Buffy walked over and did the same. “Not so at all,” she said firmly.

Tara’s eyes grew a bit watery, and she gave them a grateful smile.

When Tara turned to head toward her bed, she groaned loudly and stopped walking. She scrunched her face into an intense grimace. The pain was so great that she felt dizzy and swayed on her feet. Buffy and Willow steadied her and eased her back a step to the folding bed.

“Just go ahead and sit down here,” Buffy directed. “We’ll get you in the big bed later.”

After Buffy and Willow had gotten her seated, Tara took several moments to breathe through the pain, all while her girlfriends murmured reassurances and watched with concerned eyes.

Once she was past the worst of it, Tara grumbled, “I really hate rib injuries.” She sighed heavily and said, “It hurts to be still, it hurts to move, it hurts to just breathe.”

“Y-Y-You’ve had broken ribs before?” Willow asked cautiously.

Tara nodded but said nothing more. Buffy and Willow exchanged glances. They knew that, more than likely, the previous injury had come courtesy of her abusive father. They decided not to inquire further.

Willow looked at the clock on the wall and then at Buffy. “It’s time to redress Tara.”

Buffy’s mouth quirked into a smile. “Shouldn’t we undress her first?” she said in a deliberately husky voice.

“Ooooo, yes,” Willow said, joining Buffy’s game and speaking in a fake French accent. “Ooo, la, la...”

Then Willow and Buffy made loud kisses in the air until a chuckling Tara swatted at them.

“Stop it,” she told them. “You’re making me laugh, and it hurts.”

“Sorry,” both of her girlfriends chimed, although neither looked particularly repentant.

“It is time for us to redo your bandages, though,” Buffy said, all serious now.

“I know,” Tara said, not looking too happy about the prospect.

“Hey, why don’t you lie back in my lap?” Willow offered, grabbing the nearby pillow and setting it in her lap. “Buffy can do the front, and then you can sit up and I can do the back.” Tara smiled and nodded at that idea. But Willow reached out to touch Tara’s arm. “It won’t hurt your back to do that, will it?”

Tara shook her head. “I don’t think so. It actually hurts more to sit up. After a while, at least...without something to lean on. I’ll take the lap.”

“Great,” Buffy announced cheerily. “I’ll get the door.”

She put up the “Treatment in progress. Do not disturb.” sign on the door and then gathered up the things the nurse had given them during their earlier training session: some hand sanitizer, a bottle of mild antiseptic, soft gauze, a roll of tape, and some aloe. Then she returned to the bed and set the items down. Together Willow and Buffy helped Tara out her hospital gown and into position in Willow’s lap.

After sanitizing her hands, Buffy gave Tara a smile and a shrug. “Hopefully, I won’t mess this up too much.”

“I’m sure you’ll do fine,” Tara said sweetly.

“If it hurts too much, just—”

“You’ll do fine,” Tara repeated, this time more firmly.

“Okay,” Buffy said, ready to begin.

She met Willow’s eyes, and Willow began stroking Tara’s hair in a soothing gesture. Then, Buffy turned to her work. One by one, Buffy removed the loose gauze dressings that had been placed over the burn marks that Caleb’s brand had made on Tara’s torso, arms, and neck. She forced down the rage and pain she felt at seeing what Caleb had done and focused on the task at hand. After setting the old dressings aside, she picked up a fresh piece of soft gauze. She wet it with the antiseptic and began cleaning the wounds. After a while, she could see that Tara’s breathing had increased and sweat had broken out on her forehead. Buffy looked at Willow then back at Tara again.

“Are you okay, baby?” Buffy asked. “If it’s hurting, we can stop...”

Tara shook her head. “It’s okay. It’s not you, it’s just...” A few tears trickled out of her eyes. “The marks...every time they’re touched...I-I-I remember, and...” Tara couldn’t go on.

“Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry,” Willow crooned.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Tara said, regaining her composure. “It’ll get better, right?”

“Right,” Buffy assured, although there was sadness in her eyes.

Buffy went right back to work. She finished cleaning the remaining wounds. After letting them dry, she applied a small dab of aloe to each burn then loosely applied a new clean dressing over it. Within minutes, she was done.

After discarding all of the old dressings and the gauze used for cleaning, she gave Tara a kiss and then asked, “Ready for the back?”

When Tara nodded, Buffy and Willow helped her sit up again. As Buffy held Tara’s hands and helped steady her, Willow went through the same basic process that Buffy had: sanitizing her hands, removing the old dressings, cleansing the wounds. The difference was that Tara’s back didn’t have burns; it had deep lacerations, letters carved by Caleb directly into her flesh, letters that formed a message Willow and Buffy could never forget:

Slayer’s bitch,
Witch’s whore,
The weakest link,
Is no more!

Willow tried not to let the words get to her as she gently cleaned each cut, but she couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down her face. When Willow made eye contact with Buffy, she could see that Buffy was struggling to keep down the tears, too.

“Stop it, Will,” Buffy chided telepathically. “I can’t keep a calm face with you crying back there.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Willow replied. “It’s just...I mean...Does she even know what’s here? Has anyone told her?”

“I haven’t, and I know you haven’t.”

“How are we going to tell her?” Willow wailed.

“I don’t know,” Buffy answered. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

When Willow finished, she and Buffy helped Tara back into her hospital gown. They noticed that Tara’s demeanor had changed; she seemed testy now as they helped her to her feet.

“So...what were you two talking about just now?” she asked.

Buffy and Willow eyes widened in fear. “Uhhh...nothing!” Willow instantly answered.

“Nothing...important,” Buffy corrected when she realized that Tara wouldn’t buy a straight denial. “We’re just worried about you, that’s all.”

Tara glared, unhappy with the answers she was getting. “It’s about what’s on my back, isn’t it?”

Willow and Buffy looked at each other again, panicked expressions on their faces.

“What did he do?” Tara asked pointedly. “He wrote something, didn’t he?”

Buffy and Willow opened their mouths, but no words came out.

“What did he do?!!” Tara nearly screamed.

Buffy held out her hands in a placating gesture. “You’re right,” Buffy confirmed. “He did write something.”

Getting no satisfaction from being correct, Tara pressed on bravely. “What did he write?”

Willow tried to answer but couldn’t, so Buffy spoke the words. In a slow, strained voice, she said: “Slayer’s bitch...witch’s whore...the weakest link...is no more.”

Tara was in shock at first. Then tears began streaming down her face, and she shook her head several times. As a sob escaped, she stumbled on her feet, and Buffy and Willow had to help her back to the folding bed.

“Oh my god,” she cried. “It’s my fault. He told me I was the key to everything...It’s my fault, everything that happened...He was able to attack us because of me.”

“No, sweetie, that’s not true,” Buffy insisted. “He could’ve taken any one of us and gotten the same result.”

“Buffy’s right,” Willow added. “He didn’t have to pick just you. He probably chose you just because you were alone a-a-and we were together at the time he needed to act. If I had been the one alone, he might’ve picked me.”

Tara shook her head, refusing to hear their reasoning. “No, no...he knew to pick me, he knew I’d be the one to break.” She began to sob in earnest. “I’m not strong like you...”

Buffy and Willow took her hands in theirs and tried to get her to look at them. When she finally did, they gently touched her face and shoulder.

“Do you really think that either of us could’ve gone through what you did and not break?” Buffy asked. “My god, Tara, anyone would have.”

Tara looked at them with anguish in her eyes. She wanted so desperately to believe.

“What he wrote...it was just part of his plan to tear us apart, that’s all,” Willow said. “Please don’t blame yourself. We don’t.”

Tara couldn’t hold back the rest of her tears any longer. Ignoring the searing pain in her side, she crumpled over onto the bed and let the sobs come. Not knowing what else to do, Buffy and Willow curled up around her, forming a cocoon of love and compassion, and cried with her.

Slightly before sunrise, Faith and Vamp Willow finished patrolling and returned to Giles’ apartment. The former watcher wasn't home; he had stayed with Joyce that night. While Vamp Willow showered, Faith wolfed down a meal of leftover pizza, not even bothering to heat it up. When Faith was done, she too showered and then plopped naked into bed where Vamp Willow was waiting.

As soon as Faith was situated on her back under the covers, Vamp Willow snuggled up next to her, wrapping her left arm and left leg over Faith’s body. She rubbed Faith’s stomach and asked in a teasing voice, “All better?”

“Uh-huh.”

Vamp Willow moved into a kneeling position over Faith’s leg. Then she leaned over and planted a few nips along the side of the slayer’s neck until she ended up at Faith’s ear. “Know what?” she asked, breathing huskily into Faith’s ear.

Faith knew exactly what her vampire girlfriend wanted; she smirked and played along. “Whaaaat?” she asked.

“I’m hungry.”

“What a shock,” Faith said, chuckling.

Vamp Willow put on a surprisingly effective pout. Then her lips curled into a seductive smile.

“So, can I?” she pleaded.

She used her little girl voice, but her eyes suggested something very adult. She leaned back down and began kissing and nibbling Faith’s neck again. Faith murmured contentedly and brought her hands to rest on her girlfriend’s back.

“Sure,” Faith answered.

The redhead grinned to herself and instantly morphed into her vampire visage. However, right before she could sink her fangs into Faith’s neck, the slayer pushed her back, causing Vamp Willow to get a confused look on her face.

“But not the neck this time,” Faith said. “Nowhere visible. Okay?”

Vamp Willow grinned teasingly. “What’s the matter? Did my little slayer get embarrassed today? Don’t want your ‘kinks’ showing to your new friends?”

Faith glared in response, but the vampire just laughed. “I know just the place,” she said before running her finger along the inside of Faith’s thigh. “Don’t worry,” she added with a wink. “I’ll make it worth your while.” Then she disappeared under the covers.

Soon the blanket started to move in a rhythmic pattern, and Faith began to groan in pleasure. She gripped the sheet with both fists. “Mmmm, that’s it, baby,” Faith crooned. “Don’t stop...”

The movements became stronger, and Faith’s moaning became panted breaths. Finally, Faith arched in release and fell back on the bed, exhausted but satisfied.

Before Faith could even say thanks, Vamp Willow’s voice came chirping from under the covers. “Eating now...”

Faith laughed, but then her smile changed into a slight grimace. For a moment, her face was contorted in pain, and she closed her eyes tightly. Her smile quickly returned, though, when Vamp Willow found a use for her currently unoccupied fingers.

Faith groaned as she felt another orgasm building. “Thank god for multi-tasking...”

Later that morning in Tara’s room, Buffy and Willow were finishing up a healing spell. They were on opposite sides of the hospital bed, Willow on the door side and Buffy on the far side. They had formed a complete triangle, holding hands with each other across the bed while also holding Tara’s hands. Their eyes were closed; their expressions were focused but relaxed. Willow was whispering an incantation, her voice so soft that it was almost inaudible. After finishing her last repetition, Willow drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out. Then she opened her eyes. Seconds later, Buffy and Tara did the same, and the Three released hands.

Willow smiled at Tara and touched her shoulder. “How’s that?” she asked. “I know it’s not much, but every little bit helps, right?”

“It helps more than you know,” Tara assured them with a smile.

“I modified the basic spell a bit,” Willow said.

“I noticed,” Tara replied.

“Well, it seemed like a good idea,” Willow explained. “I mean, we’ve got a slayer here. Might as well make use of some of that ‘slayer healing’ energy. Besides, she’s like our own little private power station, you know?”

“Oh, I know...” Tara said with a half-smirk.

Buffy rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Don’t mind me...not even here...” she mumbled in mock complaint.

Tara and Willow snickered.

Buffy’s gaze fell on the water pitcher on the nightstand. “Why don’t I go fill up the water pitcher?” she suggested sarcastically. “Then you two can talk about me even more.”

“Nope,” Willow said, holding out her hand. “It’s my turn. You filled it up last time.”

Buffy glared but with a smile and then handed over the pitcher.

“Be right back,” Willow announced cheerily before leaving the room.

As she stepped outside and closed the door, she removed the “Treatment in progress” sign and headed down the hallway toward the ice machine.

Moments later, Willow was on her way back to Tara’s room, now carrying a full pitcher of ice. When she looked up, she saw a sight that made her eyes grow wide in disbelief. It was her mother, cautiously approaching Tara’s room. Willow hurried over, meeting her several yards away from the door.

“Mom?” she called out hesitantly, drawing her mother’s attention. When her mother looked at her, she said, “What are you doing here?” She didn’t ask this meanly; her tone was surprised but curious, perhaps even a bit hopeful.

At first Sheila looked as if she were ready to bolt, but she eventually stood still. “I, um, I don’t know exactly,” she admitted. “I heard about Tara,” she added in an even but not quite cool tone, “and I felt I should come.”

Willow angrily narrowed her eyes. “Well, if you’ve come to lecture me about consequences, how this is what happens to those who choose to live ‘unnatural’ lives, then—”

“No!” Sheila interrupted in an appalled voice. “No, of course not,” she insisted.

Willow didn’t seem convinced and said nothing.

Sheila wrung her hands nervously and then went on. “I-I-I just wanted to see how you were,” she said. “I can only imagine how upset you must be.”

Willow let out a bitter scoff. “Having your girlfriend abducted, tortured, and raped…‘upset’ doesn’t really cover it, Mother.”

Sheila dropped her gaze to her hands. “No, I suppose it doesn’t.”

After a long, extremely awkward moment of silence, Sheila finally spoke up again. “Anyway, for what it’s worth,” she said, “I’m sorry.”

Sheila gave her daughter a small smile then turned to walk away. Willow watched her go, her face showing a sea of emotions. When Sheila had gotten several yards away, Willow called out to her.

“Mom!”

Sheila turned around.

“Thanks,” Willow said simply.

Sheila smiled a bit more this time and nodded. Then she turned back around and headed for the elevator.

Willow had a troubled expression on her face as she slowly walked back to Tara’s door.

When Willow walked back into the room, she found her girlfriends looking at her with deep concern in their eyes. They had felt Willow’s strong emotions but hadn’t known the cause.

“What happened?” Tara asked.

“Yeah,” Buffy said, “our stomachs went all Tilt-a-Whirl on us, but not in a fun way.”

Willow sighed heavily and walked over to the bed. As she handed the pitcher to Buffy, she said, “I saw my mother.”

Buffy’s and Tara’s eyes went just as wide as Willow’s had moments earlier.

“She was here?” Buffy asked incredulously.

Willow nodded. “She heard about what had happened to Tara. She said she wanted to see how I was.”

“That’s wonderful, Will,” Buffy said with a smile. When Willow’s mood didn’t lighten, Buffy added, “Or...maybe not...” She gave the redhead an inquiring gaze.

When Willow still didn’t go on, Tara reached out and touched Willow’s arm. “Are you okay, sweetie?”

“I don’t know,” Willow answered. “I...I’m not sure what to make of this.”

“The important thing is...she came,” Tara said gently. “She was worried about you, and she came.” Buffy added a nod of agreement to that assessment.

Willow let herself smile at that.

Early that evening, Tara was finally released from the hospital. Giles picked up the Three in Joyce’s SUV and drove them to the Summers home.

When Buffy and Willow helped Tara inside the front door, they were greeted by a loud “Welcome Home!” from Xander, Anya, Faith, Vamp Willow, and Joyce. A colorful banner was taped on the wall, streamers were woven along the staircase, and small bunches of balloons were clustered around the room. The table in the dining room was covered with enough food and drinks to feed an army. Lively music was playing softly from a boom box in the corner.

As she received careful hugs from everyone present, Tara was moved to tears. After regaining her composure, Tara sincerely thanked them all. As soon as Buffy and Willow had gotten Tara seated in a comfortable chair, the party began.

After a couple of hours, Tara was looking more than a little worn out. Her girlfriends noticed and knelt beside her chair.

“Are you getting tired?” Buffy asked.

Tara nodded.

As Buffy waved Faith over, Willow told Tara, “Xander said they’ve got us all set up upstairs.”

Tara eyed the stairs warily. “Stairs?”

By then, Faith had joined them, carrying a wooden chair from the dining room.

“Don’t worry,” Buffy assured Tara. “We got it all worked out.”

The two slayers set the chair with its back facing the stairs. Then Buffy and Willow helped Tara move from the living room to the wooden chair. Willow moved a few steps up the stairs, and Buffy moved into place behind the chair. Faith moved in front.

When she saw Tara tightly grip the arms of the chair, Buffy gave Tara a kiss on the temple. “Relax. We’re slayers. We won’t let you fall.”

Faith grinned and added, “Yeah, just sit back and relax and let us do the drivin’.”

Together, Faith and Buffy tilted the chair back. Then Faith reached down and grabbed the legs of the chair while Buffy gripped the back. On the count of three, they easily lifted Tara and the chair off the floor. As Willow directed, the two slayers moved up the stairs, around the bend, and down the hallway to Buffy’s room. Joyce followed, but the others stayed downstairs. When they had gotten situated in the room, Buffy and Faith carefully set the chair down.

“See? That wasn’t so bad,” Buffy said.

When Buffy and Willow helped Tara from the chair and then turned toward the bed, Buffy suddenly froze. She blinked, shook her head, and blinked again. In the place of her old double bed sat a brand new king-sized bed, big enough for three. Buffy’s eyes shot to her mother, who was wearing a self-satisfied smirk. Buffy rushed to Joyce and gave her a big hug.

“I can’t believe it,” Buffy told her. “I don’t know what to say except ‘thank you’.” Tara and Willow instantly echoed those thanks.

“You’re very welcome,” Joyce said. “Oh, and by the way, the boxes from your apartment and the dorm room are in the spare bedroom.” Then she nodded at Faith and gestured her towards the door. “We’ll leave you girls alone now. Have a good night, Tara.”

Without waiting for a reply, Joyce and Faith headed out the door, leaving a still-in-shock Three behind.

A short time later, after Tara had gone to sleep, Buffy and Willow came back downstairs. Everyone was still there, although much of the party mood had dwindled. It had been a harrowing series of days for all of them. After a series of hugs and good-byes, everyone departed. Giles drove Faith and Vamp Willow home with him while Anya and Xander headed for his basement apartment. With the crowd now pared down to Joyce, Buffy and Willow let their own exhaustion show.

“Come here, girls,” Joyce said, calling them over to the sofa. She sat down at one end and patted the cushions.

Hearing the seriousness in Joyce’s tone, Willow and Buffy eyed her warily. But then they walked over and sat down anyway.

“I don’t mean to rain on your ‘we just got Tara home’ parade,” Joyce said, “but we need to talk about some of the issues that may come up.”

“I-I-I thought we covered all of that at the hospital,” Buffy said. “We know what to do.”

“I’m talking about Tara’s emotional state,” Joyce said. “I had a chance to talk to the hospital counselor today, and he gave me an idea of what to expect.”

Willow and Buffy nodded solemnly as they listened.

“He said the most important thing to do was to be patient and to give her your unconditional support.”

“Of course,” Willow said.

“More than likely, she’ll have severe mood swings: even-keeled one moment, then sobbing or lashing out the next. She may be open and talkative one day, then completely withdrawn the very next day. You’ll see sides of Tara you’ve never seen, and it’ll be some time before you begin to see glimpses of the Tara you