Prolog

Buffy opened the front door curiously. "Xander?" she said, shocked. "Oh, my god! When did you get back into town, Xander! How are you, come in!"

"Don't let Buffy's babbling bother you, Xander," Willow called out from the living room couch. "She's been kinda giddy with relief ever since the heat wave broke."

"Ah, I see," Xander said with a wide grin as he made his way into the house. "It's so great to see you guys again, Buffy, Willow," he dropped down onto the couch giving Willow an enthusiastic hug hello. "Giles," Xander finished belatedly, cocking his hand at the dignified British man sitting in the armchair across from the couch.

"Man," Buffy said, smiling at him. "I'm sorry, Willow's right, I'm kinda sleep-deprived and stuff. I'm so glad you got back." She walked over to Xander, holding her arms open for a hug of her own. "When did you get in? Was it before the heatwave broke?"

"Naa," Xander said, getting up and putting his arms around Buffy briefly. "The thunderstorm had just started when we got into the area. That was when the heat started to break, wasn't it?"

"Yeppers," Buffy agreed. "Wait a second... 'we?' Who else was in we? Just your car, or..."

"Anya," Xander admitted. "We, uh, we kinda ran into each other in Las Vegas, misplaced her car temporarily. It's a *really* long story. Don't ask about it right now."

"Uh, okay," Willow said, quite happy to leave Anya out of any conversation. "So, what's next for you, Xander??"

"Moving on," Xander told them. "My parents expect me out of the house within the week, so I need to find a new place, a job, stuff like that." A glum look settled on Xander's face.

"Hey, you'll do that," Buffy said in a cheerful voice. "We'll all help."

The phone rang, just once. Xander looked at Buffy, who was unconcerned, so probably her mother was home. "Well, thanks, I guess," Xander said.

"Buffy??" It was the voice of Buffy's mom, coming from upstairs. "Uh, can you get on the phone, Buffy?"

"Sure," Buffy said, picking up the cordless. "Hello?" Everyone else was silent. "She is? ... She is?? ... Is there any problem... Uh, okay yeah, we can be right there... Yeah, they're right here with me... Uh, okay. Thank you, doctor." She pushed the end button.

"What?" Xander asked.

"That was, uh, Doctor Ralston from the hospital," Buffy said slowly. "Faith has woken up."

"Really?" Willow asked, wide-eyed.

"How many dead?" Xander asked. Buffy turned to search his face for any side of humor, but he was totally serious.

"She's not causing any trouble," Buffy told him. "She's just asking for us."

"Us?" Giles asked.

"You, me, Mom, Xander," Buffy listed off. "Mom's offered to drive us all in."

"The attack must commence," Demon Thonis rumbled, standing in his protective pentacle, in the ruined Sunnydale High library. "It will take a long time to proceed appropriately. First, we will need to test the defences of the Slayer. She is the primary source of resistance to our efforts."

The demon considered a moment. "I require a volunteer."

Korben Gautier prodded Janson Munro in the back, making him jump forward and up, yelping in surprise. "Very good," Thonis rumbled. "Step up to the threshold."

Janson walked cautiously to the edge of the magic pentacle. "You will be the first," Thonis told him. "From the demonic essence I breathe, you will be reborn as a vampire, such as the earth had never before seen."

"V-vampire?" Janson stuttered. "No, please, no..."

But no-one listened to his protest. Foul vapors poured out of Thonis' mouth, passing across the border of the circle, and choking Janson. The cultist jerked and spasmed, then straightened up. His face snarled in a strange parody of a vampire's facial ridges.

"Excellent!" Thonis chuckled nastily.

"Hi, Faith," Joyce Summers said cheerily as she led the way into the Slayer's hospital room.

"Hey, Mrs. Summers," Faith shot back. "Nice to see a familiar face."

"I can imagine," Joyce replied. Looking around, Buffy's mom noticed that Buffy, Xander, and Giles were instinctively huddling near the door. "Well, what's the problem? You came to see Faith, didn't you?" she scolded them. "Come in, sit down, say something."

"Uh, hi Faith," Buffy said cautiously. "L-long time, no see."

"Yeah, that's what they tell me," Faith agreed. "If it's August now, I must've been in here for, what, six months, huh?"

"No, Faith, it was only..." Buffy started, then stopped short. "Do you- Faith, do you remember any of what happened to you? What's the last thing you do remember??"

"We, we had gone hunting the night before," Faith said confidently. "You got mad at me because I didn't wait 'til the count of three to jump this vamp with swords. The swords disappeared. We were gonna talk to Giles about it in the morning. I overslept, was heading into the school... That's the last thing I remember."

"Oh," Buffy said. "That was, uh, more than three months before you got put into the coma, Faith," she said tentatively.

"Really?" Faith said, her eyes wide. "So, what am I missing? Bring me up to speed here, B."

Buffy shared a long look with Xander and Giles. If Faith really didn't remember any of that time, she didn't remember turning to evil. And if she didn't remember being evil, did it mean that she *wasn't* evil anymore??

"Um," Xander said, his face reflecting Buffy's own uncertainty. "We, uh, really need to go talk to someone. Be back in a flash, Faith." They left, Buffy dragging on her mother's arm.

"Buffy?!" Joyce exclaimed in total surprise. "What's going on? I don't understand..."

Buffy didn't say a word until they had found an empty waiting room to commandeer. "There's something I didn't tell you about Faith, mom," Buffy said intently. "She, uh, well, she made some very foolish choices... put simply, she changed sides."

"What!?" Joyce breathed, her eyes wide. "She..."

"She was working for the mayor, the transdemonist who trashed graduation," Buffy said. "Killed a lot of people for him. Would have killed me, and Angel, and Xander, if she could have."

"Oh, my god, Buffy," Joyce said. "But, wait a second. If she doesn't remember, then..."

"Yeah, exactly what I'm wondering," Buffy said. "Giles? Any ideas on how we figure out if she's still evil or not??"

Giles considered. "That's a very complicated question, Buffy. If she isn't shamming, if she really has lost her memory, I'd say that she is essentially the same person as she had been at that time."

"I wonder how my dream fits into this?" Buffy said suddenly. Everyone looked at her strangely. "After I put Faith into the hospital, and Angel put me in, I had this weird dream. Faith and I were in the apartment the Mayor got for her. That was when she gave me the clue about how to defeat the Mayor. She'd... it was as if she'd changed sides again. She was on our side again."

"You... you did what?" Joyce whispered. "Angel did what??"

"Uh, another time," Buffy said, frowning at the pain on her mother's face. After a second, she sat up in surprise. "Oh, wait a second. 'It fades - it all fades.' Faith said that, in the dream. And now, her memory has faded. And... all the stuff in the apartment, she said that it was mine, that she wouldn't be needing it. What if that was about the memories of her time with the Mayor??"

"She... she gave you her memories Buffy?" Xander said, disbelieving. "Wouldn't you have realized that?"

"Well, not the memories, but I know about what she was doing in that period, which Faith doesn't." She turned to Giles. "Does this make any kind of sense, Giles?"

"It might," he began uncertainly. "I'm trying to remember what I know of the psychology of amnesia. Selective, precise memory loss like this, as far as I know, is not associated with physical trauma. It indicates a psychological defense mechanism on the part of the deep unconscious."

"So, Faith repressed all of those memories?" Xander asked.

"Yes. Perhaps because, at the end of her experience with the Mayor, she unconsciously realized the folly of her turn to evil, but couldn't figure out any way to purge the darkness from her mind other than removing all memory of the events that triggered her fall from grace, and its consequences."

"Okay," Buffy said. "That sounds good. So she's on the home team again, yes?"

"Not forever, Buffy," Giles warned her. "From what I know of Faith, her capacity for evil, her 'dark side' as it were, has its origins in her deep childhood, its threads running throughout her psyche. She hasn't removed it simply by repressing the memory of a few months. The next time that dark side works its way out, Faith will turn to evil again!"

Part One

"Huh?" Buffy said, upset. Xander was looking nervous, and her mother seemed just plain stunned. There was good reason she wasn't normally included in war councils like this, Buffy reflected. "Uh, mom? You wanna go get a coffee in the cafeteria or something like that?" Buffy asked sheepishly, and Joyce got numbly up and left.

Once she was gone, Buffy tuned on Giles. "You can't be serious," she told him angrily. "Faith's... from what you told me, Faith's deep psyche has gone to all of this trouble to get her on the right path. She saved *all* of us at the Ascension. And you're saying that it's hopeless, that she's going to turn bad again? Isn't there *anything* we can do?"

Giles held up a calming hand. "I didn't mean to alarm you, Buffy. There may very well be a way we can assist." He paused, considering. "If we can help Faith to confront, to overcome the issues that led her to evil, we may be able to prevent it from happening again." Giles shrugged uncertainly. "Psychology is not exactly my field - but Willow and I can research similar cases to iron out the details."

"Okay, sounds good," Xander muttered. "What do we do now?"

"The first step, is to get Faith's willing co-operation," Giles started. "Let her know enough of what she did to scare her a little bit. But we shouldn't go into the reasons why yet - that might be a nudge downward when she isn't ready for it."

"Okay," Buffy said. "Let's go."

"Are you ready for active duty, my son?" Thonis rumbled at Janson, now a vampire.

"Yes, my lord Thonis." Korben took note of that - all of his people had been instructed to show no unnecessary devotion towards Thonis. They were to work with him, show him respect, but not venerate him. Veneration was to be saved for the true lords of the demons.

Apparently, once Thonis changed someone into a vampire, new rules applied, and quite understandably so.

"Due to the precise nature of the demon spirit I have changed you with," Thonis was saying, "you can cause incapacitating, though temporary, pain in mortals with a single touch. Experiment with this power throughout the day with your former peers. That is, if such an exercise would be agreeable with you, Sir Gautier?"

Korben considered only a moment. "Yes. Do not permanently harm them, but you may use them as test subjects. Would two be enough? I would like to assign other duties to the rest of my people."

"That should be sufficient," Janson said raspingly. The rest of the brothers shifted around nervously, wondering which two would be picked for the torturous 'test.'

But Thonis was not yet finished. "Once night falls, you will seek out and engage the Slayer. Hold her captive with the pain-touch, long enough for me to psychically probe her. Then, dispose of her."

Fat chance of that happening, Korben thought to himself. The Slayer would destroy Janson, the first of the brotherhood to be sacrificed to the goal of weakening her defences. Or could he do it?? Suddenly Korben wasn't so sure.

"Faith?" Buffy called out, coming back into the Slayer's room. A white-gowned doctor was in with her. "Doctor??"

"Oh, hello. Miss Summers?" the doctor said, holding out his hand for a quick shake. "Leroy Ralston - we spoke on the phone earlier. So nice to see Faith's friends come down - she was so confused when she first woke up."

"Yeah, thank god that's over with," Faith muttered sarcastically. Luckily, the doctor didn't seem to hear her.

"So, what's next for our Faith?" Buffy asked.

"Well, she's recovering very well from the system shock," Ralston said. "If she wants to, she can probably check out at noon." Buffy was surprised at that - didn't Ralston know about the memory loss? Then again, probably Faith wouldn't have told him, and it was just as well if Faith could leave the hospital.

"Great!" Buffy said, smiling.

"Okay," Ralston agreed. "I'll send someone in with the paperwork. Meanwhile, I've got more rounds to make. If you'll excuse me?" With a cheery smile, the doctor left the room.

"Okay, Buff, now that Doc Holliday's gone, what the hell is up?" Faith groused. "I'm picking up a really weird vibe from you guys. Come on - what did I forget??"

Buffy paused a minute before she began. Faith's confusion and anxiety were sincere. She really didn't remember, Buffy was sure of that. Faith was a good actress, but Buffy had learned to read her face - while she had been pretending to be Faith and Angel's captive at the mansion, during the final fight with the other Slayer at her apartment. There could be no deception anymore.

"You... you did some bad stuff during that period you don't remember," Buffy began slowly, indicating to Xander and Giles that they should remain quiet. "You... you killed-" Buffy almost started with 'you killed a guy, on patrol, by accident,' leading into how much the guilt of that had messed the other Slayer up, but she remembered just in time what Giles had warned her about. Nothing about motive, the whys and wherefores. Just the facts, ma'am. "You killed several people, Faith. You agreed to work for the Mayor." A very confused blank look crossed Faith's face, like 'and why is working for a politician worse than killing people?' "The mayor being a really bad guy who had this master plan for turning into a demon and destroying the whole town. You tried to rob Angel of his soul, turn him back into the nastiest vampire I've ever had to deal with, so that you could make him your partner. You tried to kill all of me, Xander, and Willow at some point or another." Buffy took a deep breath, and decided to stop there.

"What?? I couldn't have..." Faith trailed off in mid-sentence, totally stunned.

"You did, Faith," Giles said, taking a part. "If you're amenable, we'd like to help you come to terms with why you did what you did, and try to make sure that it doesn't happen again..." Giles was cut off by a knock on the door.

"Hello?" A well-dressed man of about Giles' age in a dark suit entered the room. "Oh, look who's all here. Giles, Faith, Buffy..."

Oh, no. Buffy should have figured on this, but she hadn't thought of it until just now. "Hi," she said sassily. "You're from that collection of rejects who call themselves the Council, aren't you?"

"Guilty as charged," the newcomer said, sweeping off his hat and bowing. "Keith Hancox, at your service. How..." Keith broke off as Buffy's hand closed like an iron vice on his arm.

"Let's take a walk," she murmurred, maneuvering him back out of Faith's room.

Quickly, they were back once again in the waiting room. "So, Keith," Buffy drawled condescendinly. "What's the council want you to do with her?"

Keith chuckled nervously, and then assumed a more sober disposition. "I am, er, under orders to see that Faith is finally brought back to England, to answer for her crimes in a Watcher's court..."

"Great," Buffy drawled. "Where were you when she was threatening all our lives? She doesn't need this now. She can't remember all the stuff that she did, she's got another chance."

"Oh, really?" Keith said, interest evident in his tone. "That would indeed make things simpler. We could skip the trauma of a trial and simply proceed to re-educating our dear Faith..."

"Not a chance!" Buffy declared passionately. "Your man Wesley was a big part of the reason Faith flipped out on us to start with. You don't get a second chance with a person's life like that."

"You are on very shaky ground here yourself, Miss Summers," Hancox shot back. "If you don't stay out of this matter..."

"Then what?" Buffy asked him. "You don't have a say over me anymore. I quit the Council, remember?"

"Yes, I heard," Hancox replied. "But surely, you must have guessed that it was something no Slayer had taken it in her mind to do before. There's no precedent for a Slayer 'quitting' the Council, and in the eyes of many, that means that there is no right."

Buffy's mouth fell open. Desperate, she turned to Giles, who finally, almost imperceptibly, nodded.

"Do you remember Quentin Travers?" Hancox pushed. "He's a perfect example of the kind of conservative we're dealing with. To him, a Slayer's destiny is to follow the dictates of the Council, through the duly appointed Watcher. There is no alternative, no recourse." He turned a steely gaze on Buffy. "The only reason you are not in an awful lot of trouble, Buffy, is that people like me have argued in favor of letting you be, as the most expedient course. Now, I don't intend to argue this any more. I'm taking Faith into my custody - now!"

With that, Hancox turned and strode out of the waiting room back to Faith's room, Buffy and the others trailing along uncertainly, stung with a nagging sense of helplessness. But as Hancox opened the door, his mouth dropped in total shock.

"What is it?" Buffy said, pushing past him. And theny she saw what had surprised him so. Faith's bed was empty. The other Slayer was nowhere to be seen!!

Part Two

"Well, well," Hancox said, chuckling. "It looks like our skittish little Faith has bolted once again. Oh, well, no matter. I can find her."

"No, you won't," Buffy said, clapping her hand firmly down on Hancox's wrist. "I'm gonna make sure of that. Giles, Xander, you guys find her. Get Willow to help. I'll keep council-man out of the way."

"And just how do you propose to do that, Buffy?" Hancox argued evenly. "Are you really thinking of attacking me? You could hurt me as badly as you like, probably kill me with your bare hands. You won't, though, and not just because you know I'm not a monster. You attack me, and you shall have one horrendous problem on your hands, legally speaking. So, what else can you do?"

Buffy considered that for a moment. "Okay, how about this, Mister?" she countered angrily. "You can look for Faith anywhere you want, but I'm not leaving your side. If I can't attack you, it follows that you sure as heck can't do anything to stop me. If you find Faith, I'll be right there, and I'm not about to let you take her out of the country as a prisoner. Rather than see that, I *would* attack you, or report you to the police as a kidnapper, whatever I have to do. Are you ready to see that?"

"Then it seems we have little more to say to each other until Faith is found, then," Hancox replied inperturbably. "Come along, then?" He extended his arm to Buffy in a gesture of chivalry that Buffy found more than a little mocking.

Buffy shook her head helplessly. "Let's go."

Faith ran down the street, her eyes tearing up. It couldn't be true, what Buffy and Giles had told her. To think that Faith could become something like that, a murderer, the assistant of an evil mastermind. It couldn't be true. They were telling her a lie for some reason, a kinda cruel joke or... or a test. That made sense, it was a test. Faith had to keep believing in herself, to find someone who would disprove all that they had said.

Well, who? Willow? Faith didn't know where to find Willow, unless she was at Buffy's. And if she was, she was probably 'in on the joke.' But wait a second - Buffy had mentioned Angel, hadn't she? And Faith knew where Angel's mansion was, she had been up there, the night of the Gwendolyn Post affair. That was the test, to find Angel, who would tell her that it was all made-up.

With determination in her eyes, Faith swung up Crawford Street, hope lighting in her eyes as she saw the old mansion.

"Hey, Buffy," someone called a few hours later. Buffy grabbed ahold of Hancox and turned to see who it was. The first thing she saw was a pretty face framed by dark blonde hair. A few seconds later Buffy identified it. "Anya?? What are you doing here,"

"Xander sent me," Anya said, with a suspicious look at Hancox. "Since we've looked pretty much everywhere else, he was wondering about Angel's. Faith's been there, hasn't she?"

"Uh, yeah," Buffy said, nodding.

"Do you still have a key?" Anya asked.

"Uh, yeah," Buffy said, feeling in her jeans pocket even though she knew that the key was still on her key chain, and that the key chain was indeed in her pocket.

"Good, that's what he hoped you'd say. They'll be meeting us there."

"Okay," Buffy muttered, changing course and heading towards the mansion. After a moment, she let Hancox go. If he really wanted to leave her, Buffy was willing to let him at this point. Faith might well not be at Angel's mansion, but somehow Buffy thought she would be. Her instincts told her so. A pity you didn't say so two hours ago, Buffy informed her 'instincts' snidely.

There was no sign of trouble at the front door to the mansion, but Buffy didn't let that count for much. There were a lot of ways Faith could have gotten into the building, and not all of them would have been obvious. She unlocked the heavy door and headed in to look around.

"Are we sure nobody else has moved in here?" Xander asked apprehensively as he followed Buffy in.

"What's the legal status of the mansion, anyways?" Willow added. "Does Angel own it, or what??"

"Yeah, he bought it when he was Angelus," Buffy said shortly. "Never said how he got the money, or how much more he might have squirreled away. And I'm sure it would never even have occured to him to sell it." Something registered there. "You know, someone might as well be using it, Giles. I'm sure that Angel wouldn't mind."

"What??" Giles said distractedly.

"You said you were looking for a new place, last week," Buffy said. "Closer to the university - this mansion is just a stone's throw from campus."

"If he doesn't want to move in here, I do!" Xander broke in.

"There's more than room enough for both..." Buffy started, then broke off. Lying down, on Angel's bed, curled up in a ball, was a tiny slip of a dark-haired girl. It actually took Buffy a moment to process that it was probably Faith. She looked so helpless in that pose, so small. "Faith? You asleep?"

"No," a tired voice came from the bed. She turned and sat up, and Buffy saw that her eyes were teary and sore, with wet marks running off her face in several directions. "What happened to Angel, Buffy??"

"Huh?" Buffy asked. "Uh, he left town. Why, uh, why did you leave the hospital, Faith? Why did you come here?"

"I wanted to ask him... hell," Faith swore. "I *needed* him to tell me that you were putting me on, about the whole psycho trip thing. I just can't believe that..."

"It's okay, Faith," Buffy said. sitting down on the bed and putting a comforting arm around her opposite number. "We know that you're not a bad person. You just got really messed up, and you weren't thinking straight. But we're gonna help you, Faith. We're gonna help you beat this thing."

"Hey, guys," Xander whispered, coralling Willow and Giles and pulling them into an empty room. Anya followed them. "I just thought I'd bring this up... are we *really* sure that Buffy's on the right track with this whole 'redemption of Faith' thing?"

Giles looked at him. "Second thoughts, Xander? You seemed committed enough to the project at the hospital."

"Yeah, *before* Council-guy appeared," Xander explained. "Right now, well, she's their problem, why don't we let the Council deal with her?"

"Do you want to be the one to suggest that to Buffy?" Willow replied dryly.

"Maybe," Xander blurted out, "if I know you guys are gonna back me on it. I mean, come on, this is Faith. She's tried to kill most of us, she threw in with the Mayor..."

"And you're feeling annoyed that once again, someone is being forgiven??" Giles put in dryly. "Just like Buffy absolved Angel of the crimes he committed as Angelus?"

It's not like that this time," Xander argued heatedly. "Faith wasn't taken over by some evil beastie. Whatever she did, she did because she chose to."

"Not necessarily," Willow argued. "We have no idea what was going on inside her head. Anyways, what's wrong about forgiveness? Buffy's forgiven you for some pretty shitty stuff, Xander, like, oh, say, sending Faith to go and kill Angel."

"And then there's me," Anya said quietly, and Xander turned to face her in surprise. "I've done more evil in my time than Faith ever did. Would you want to hold me accountable for those crimes, Xander??"

That got to Xander, as nothing else that had been said did. "I don't know," he admitted.

"Let's let Buffy take the lead on this one, Xander," Giles suggested. "She shares your concerns, I'm sure, Xander. We all do."

Baran signalled Korben in a determined request for a conference. With a sigh, Korben swung over by his assistant and muttered "What is it?"

"Thonis, sir. We - the men, that is - are concerned. He turned Janson into a vampire. That means that Janson's really dead, doesn't it? And, he's having Janson 'test' a power of unspeakable pain on Wilsen and Gurry. He doesn't seem to be showing respect..."

"Shut your mouth, Baran," Korben muttered. "First of all, Janson - was Janson, for god's sake. The man was a stuck-up fool with no usefulness to the mission left once Thonis had been summoned. And the 'exercises,' well, it's a little unsavory, but they're a genuine justification for it."

"Uh, okay," Baran said, not seeming reassured in the slightest. Korben supposed he really should do something about that.

"If Thonis oversteps boundaries, I shall remind our demon ally of said boundaries. As long as he is confined to our summoning circle, which should be until the demon Fathers themselves arrive, I can make my displeasure felt."

"Thank you, Korben," Baran muttered, and walked quickly away.

"When it is truly in my best interests to do so," Korben muttered to himself ominously.

Part Three

"So, Buffy?" Hancox said softly from the door, seeming none too discommoded by Faith's evident distress. "It seems that the time has come for us to have that little talk."

Buffy looked up at the Watcher, and there were tears in her own eyes. "You insensitive little piece of crap," she scolded him idly. "What the hell do you think it would accomplish, to drag her to England in chains??"

"Look, I don't like this any more than you do, Buffy," Hancox said. "You have my word, I will do my best to look after her. But I have my orders. Faith is not to be left without Watcher supervision. We're willing to let you go without formal ties to the council, Buffy. You've proved yourself to be on the side of good. But Faith is in doubt. She needs our supervision, to..."

"*We'll* look after her," Buffy spat. "*We* are the ones who should be taking care of her. We care about her - she's just one more entry in the Diaries to all of you, isn't she??"

"It doesn't work that way, Buffy," Hancox continued stubbornly. "You may be the best Slayer of the century, but that doesn't entitle you to take custody of Faith like this. She must be under the supervision of the Watchers."

"Watchers," Buffy repeated, nodding. "That's what it comes down to, isn't it?" Hancox slowly nodded. "Fine. You want her to have a Watcher? Reinstate Giles."

"What??" several voices rang out.

"Yeah, why not?" Buffy continued. "He was fired because of an excessive emotional attachment to me. But I'm a free agent now, I'm out of the picture. He was always more professional with Faith." Buffy turned to Faith. "What do you say, Faith. Buddy over here says you need a Watcher, no alternative. Who do you want?? You want Wesley back?" A puzzled look crossed Faith's face. "Oh, yeah, you forgot him - really stuffy, cowardly English twerp. Or Travers, remember him? The guy who fired Giles? You want a new Watcher, someone like that? Or *do you want Giles*??"

"Yeah," Faith agreed hollowly. "If it's gotta be someone, it's gotta be Giles."

"I... I can't..." Hancox was muttering, then made an exaggerated shrug. "Oh, what the hell. By the authority vested in me by the council, which does not specifically authorize me to do this, I reinstate you, Rupert Giles, as Watcher, and assign Faith to you." With overdue solemnity, he tapped the bewildered Giles on the shoulder with one finger. "If the big boys in England have a problem with that, let 'em come over here themselves."

"This isn't going to be easy, Faith," Giles told Faith as they toted his chest of weapons through the front door. "We have no way of knowing how strong this 'dark side' still is within you. Until you have begun to make progress in overcoming it, we can't risk you in possible conversion situations..."

"Yeah, I know, I know," Faith said. "Can we just get on with this? I've got the heavy end, you know."

"Well, why not? You're the Slayer - I'm only a Watcher." Giles smiled with personal pleasure at being able to use that title again.

"So, the three of you in here," Willow said to Xander, as they sat with Buffy around the living room. "You, Giles, and Faith. How weird is that."

"Yeah," Xander admitted. "But it'll be cool, too. It's close to downtown, and to campus. We'll always be able to get together."

"Yep," Buffy said with a smile. "Now, all you need for your master plan is a job, right??"

"Ugh," Xander moaned. "Don't even say the 'J' word until tomorrow." He shrugged. "Oh, by the way, Cordelia says hi. Actually, she says 'glad you're not here,' but that's just her idea of a joke." He considered for a second. "I think."

Buffy and Willow exchanged a glance. "And where exactly is Cordelia's 'here,' anyways?" Buffy asked. "She kinda took off right before fourth of july and never came back." Buffy winked. "I was thinking about becoming worried, but decided 'Hey, it's Cordelia. Count your blessings and move on.'" She grinned widely, indicating the fact that she was joking too.

"Oh, I thought you knew. She's in Hollywood, or was, a few weeks ago," Xander said. "There was a postcard waiting for me at my parents' house. Says the next time we see her, she'll probably be on the movie screen."

"Typical Cordy," Willow said, shaking her head.

"Wow, it's getting dark out," Buffy said, surprised. "I had better head out to patrol."

"Okay," Willow said, nodding. "I think I'll go and see if Giles is up to a few questions. I'm helping him build a profile on Faith. Part one of project 'defeat the dark side.'" She winked at them.

"And I'm waiting for... well, guess who's here already," Xander said, peering over into the vestibule, where the door was open and Anya was making her way in. She was looking very fashionable, in a short, clingy, violet skirt, leather heels, and a tight purple crop top. Her dark blonde hair was pinned up elegantly, showing the shapely curve of her neck.

Xander's mouth dropped open after he took in her appearance, and a cloud of anger passed over Willow's features. "Uh, are you to, um, going anywhere?" Buffy said, getting up from the couch.

"Uh, yeah," Xander muttered. "Goin' to the Bronze, just hangin' out as new friends, you know." Oh, yeah right, Buffy thought. I believe that.

"Well, have a nice time," she told them in an aside. "I really need to go kill some vampires now. Bye."

"Okay," Willow said, uncertainly. "And I'm going upstairs to talk to Giles." Within a moment, she was gone.

"It's nice to see you," Xander said to Anya with a shaky smile. "You look, uh, you look great. Would you like a drink? We've only got water here so far, but it's good quality water. Not from a tap."

"We?" Anya looked at him strangely. "You, you actually did it? You've moved in here?"

"Well, I've begun the moving in process," Xander qualified. "Why??"

"I dunno," Anya said, shrugging and drawing Xander's eyes to the way her breasts moved under her tight shirt. "I guess I just didn't figure you for someone who'd actually take a leap and do something like this so quickly." Returning to the question Xander hardly remembered he had asked, "No, I'm good without the drink. You about ready?"

"Uh, yeah, just let me grab my jacket," Xander said, completely refusing to give a sign that Anya had come dressier than he had. "Let's go," he continued, grabbing the sports coat with one arm and gesturing out the door.

As they walked away from the spooky mansion, Xander noticed someone or something near Buffy's Jeep. Wait a second, Buffy's car should be gone already, shouldn't it. "Buffy?" he called, sprinting over to the dark shapes he saw. It *was* Buffy, grappling with a vampire, both of them locked in seeming tableau. What had happened to her? Why wasn't she doing the Slayer butt-kick thing?? Suddenly Xander found out, as the vampire's hand left Buffy's shoulder, coming around to grasp Xander by the neck. Unspeakable agony stretched out through Xander's body, holding him motionless.

"Xander? Buffy?? Xander??" Anya called out, approaching the scene more closely. "Xander!! I, uh, oh man, what do I do now?" She tried approaching the vampire from behind, but shied off as he got ready to strike behind him with a foot. Finally, overwhelmed by a feeling of helplessness, she ran off. But not into the woods, or to her car. She headed the way she had come, back into the mansion.

"Okay," Willow said, going over the screenful of facts on her laptop's monitor. "Uh, do we have any idea exactly when Faith first started working for the Mayor in all this??"

"No, I'm not sure," Giles admitted. "Weeks before Angel went undercover, we know that much. Oh, uh, probably before your double came to town." Giles pondered that. "I think. Not quite sure if we have any certain evidence of that, though."

"It fits, though," Faith admitted. "Could well have been a matter of hours after she staked Mister Trick..." Willow broke off as footsteps rushed up the hallway towards them.

"Uh, help?" Anya called out. "Big problem here??"

"What is it, Anya," Giles said, turning towards the ex-demon.

"Some kinda weird spooky vampire or something has got Buffy and Xander. He, like, he just touched Xander, and he couldn't seem to move."

"Let's go," Giles started, getting up. Willow was staring, speechless, at the figure standing right behind Anya.

"Faith," Willow whispered. "No, Faith, you can't..."

Part Four

Faith didn't pay any attention to Willow's objection. Instead, she gently shoved Anya to one side so she could enter Giles' room, open the chest of weapons, and take one, a long, solid scimitar. The slayer hefted it comfortably in her hand, swinging it to and fro, getting the balance.

"Willow is right, Faith," Giles said. "From Anya's description, this character sounds mysterious enough to be careful about, and we haven't even started your treatment." He sighed, hating how much he sounded like Wesley Windham-Price inside his own head. "You cannot go. Willow and I will deal with this situation." He stood up, walking towards Faith and reaching out his hand to take the hilt of the scimitar from Faith.

"No way, Giles," Faith snapped, pulling the sword away. "Buffy's in trouble, and you know I'm her best chance. And we're wasting time."

"You can't go, Faith," Willow pressed. "And you're right, we don't have time to argue about this. Give Giles the scimitar, and we'll go save her."

"Not a chance," Faith insisted, readying the sword and marching out the doorway. Anya shrieked and pressed herself against the wall as the dangerous Slayer pressed her way through.

"Giles??" Willow whined, turning to the ex-librarian, completely flummoxed.

"Let's go after her," he blurted out, going to the chest himself and picking out some things, a cross and stake for Willow, a machete and vial of holy water for himself. They hurried out, Anya tagging along in bemusement.

One has to give the vampire who had once been Janson Munro credit. Despite the relative stealth and undeniable speed of Faith's attack, he heard her coming before she was halfway down the driveway. What is more, he didn't waste a single moment in indecision. Given the sabre-like blade his assailant was carrying and the energy behind her charge, he knew that he didn't stand a chance of restraining her while still keeping either of the other two helpless.

So, in an instant, he shoved Buffy and Xander away, hoping that the shock of the tumble and the lingering effects of his agonizing touch would keep them out of the fray. Turning like lightning, he ducked underneath Faith's first enthusiastic slash, scrambling forward to grab her ankles. Concentrating, the vampire tried to zap her with the pain touch, but Faith didn't seem to be affected, sitting up and swinging fairly blindly with the sword.

Damn it! What could be wrong? Maybe it had to be skin on skin. Fumbling in panic, Janson pulled the girl's pant legs out of her boots, touching the skin of her leg for the first time. The effects were quite satisfying. Faith screamed in agony and dropped to the ground.

Okay, now what? He couldn't kill this girl by hitting her on the feet, he needed more leverage. Scrambling around, he tried to reach one of her hands while still holding onto one ankle, but that involved switching hands and a lot of fancy foootwork. Finally he succeeded, and from there moved up quickly to the neck. Now it would be simple, to strangle the life out of her, flooding her body with agony all the while.

"Hey!" a new voice called out. Janson looked up to see a pretty teenaged redhead girl running toward him, a cross in one hand, wooden stake in the other. With one backhanded blow, Janson knocked her aside, her weapons flying. That was too easy. But somehow, between dealing with Red and making sure to keep one hand on the warrior princess with the scimitar, he didn't see the other figure in the shadows.

Something landed onto his skin like liquid fire, water, burning violently, the pain now running over Janson's own body. But he was vampire now, and pain, even the fire of holy water, wasn't enough to stop him. He returned his attention to Faith first. The hell with strangling. He was gonna break the bitch's neck.

He had forgotten about the first Slayer by this point, and the stake that Red had dropped. They were fatal errors. Just as Janson was about to snap the first vertebra, that stake slammed into his heart, pushed there by Buffy Summers, being careful not to touch him directly. Janson didn't even finish absorbing his surprise before he perished.

"This is serious, Faith," Giles said, sipping his tea. "I've taken responsibility for you with the Council. I expect some measure of respect and obedience. If you're going to be disregarding my orders, I'll just send you back off to England."

"I was right," Faith replied simply. "The guy didn't try to convert me, he didn't even talk to me. I needed to help Buffy, and I did." She looked at Giles intently. "I'll always listen to what you say, Giles, and if you're on base I'll do whatever you say. But if you're wrong, and I'm right, and I *know* that, I'm gonna do what's right." She sighed. "That's as much as I can promise you."

Giles smiled. "That sounds like enough to be getting on with."

"That guy creeps me, Giles," Buffy told him. "I've... I've never met a vampire that could do something like that. With just one touch... it was like my body was shutting down. The pain was so horrible. Do... do we have any idea how a vamp could do something like that??"

"I must admit, it doesn't ring a bell," Giles said, nodding with concern. "It could be magic, a vampire warlock casting a spell of pain. Aside from that... well, I'll take a look at my references."

"Do that," Buffy said, standing up. "Well, once again, I had better say goodbye. I've got to get ready to pack myself. We're moving into residence on Monday, aren't we, Willow?"

"Janson did well," Thonis rumbled to the assembled cult. "I have been able to turn my psychic eye upon the Slayers and their allies, to begin to spy out their strengths and weaknesses. The agony configuration seems to be quite useful - I intend to change another into that variety of vampire, who can begin building up a squadron of others from innocent humans."

"Very well, Thonis," Korben said. "Would I be permitted to suggest that such conversions might be done using outsiders, captives, instead of depending on the numbers of we Cultsmen?"

"If necessary, yes," Thonis replied. "Certainly, for the role of the expendable, such as Munro played, we could use non-Cultists. But the one I change now will not be considered expendable. He will be raised to a role of honor in our enterprise, second only to myself and yourself, Sir Gautier. I believe that there will be volunteers." His keen demon eye spotted a waving hand among the assembled cultists. "You. Step up to the threshold, and breath deeply of my essence..."