When Destinies Meet
by buffyfaith19
Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters in this story. Sadly, someone else does, Joss Whedon does and some TV stations, they simply don't use them quite the way they should.
Spoilers: None. It takes place after the series finale.

+1=2=3=4+

PART ONE

Redemption was a bitch. That's something Faith was learning first hand as she spent every waking moment trying to make a difference in somebody's life, only to find out that not everybody was grateful for her help.

At times, it was the most rewarding feeling in the world, but there were times she wondered if it was worth it.

It was then that she remembered Angel's many speeches on the long, never ending road of redemption and that usually put her back on track.

That's before she met a young girl named Isabella. A pretty young girl who was having problems most girls her age never have to deal with. It wasn't problems at home, in school or the few friends she had either.

Isabella was 16 and was already dealing with thoughts of death, demons and other such distractions.

Faith met Isabella in a small town in Bishop County, just south of Sunnydale. Isabella was sitting on the edge of a small dock, tossing tiny pebbles into the clear blue lake.

*****

There was something about Isabella that pulled Faith in from the moment she first laid eyes on her, but she couldn't figure out what it was.

Isabella turned to see Faith standing watching her, "Hi there. You must be new around here."

"Is it that easy to tell?" Faith said as she eased her way forward.

"Well, I know everyone in Bishop County so you're a welcome sight." Isabella stood up, walked over to Faith and held out her hand, "Hi, I'm Isabella Moyer."

"Hi Isabella, I'm Faith, nice to meet you." Faith said with a big smile, but as her hand touched Isabella's something happened that shook Faith to the core.

While shaking Isabella's soft warm hand, Faith began seeing images of Isabella being chased through town by an angry mob, with a creepy looking demon hovering in the background. Next she saw Isabella lying on the beach in a very tiny bikini and as she tried to focus on just how tiny the bikini was, the same creepy demon appeared behind her with a large shiny axe about to come down on her head. Just then, she opened her eyes to see Isabella kneeling before her.

"Oh my god, what have I done." Isabella said as she checked to see if Faith was okay.

Faith managed to get to her knees and looked up at Isabella, "What the hell was that?"

"I'm sorry. I have to go. I shouldn't have…I just have to go." Isabella said quickly then took off down the dirt road.

Not one to give up without a fight, Faith pulled herself to her feet, ran after Isabella. Within a couple minutes had caught up and was standing in front of her, "So, we meet again. Now, would you like to tell me what exactly is going on here? And spare me the I don't know routine, cause it won't work."

"But I don't know, I mean, not really." Isabella said as she stopped and tried to explain things to Faith. "I know what happens when I shake hands or touch skin with certain people. It's only happened twice before and well, both those people died less than a day later of some bizarre accident. Both people I touched were strangers. Both were women and both wanted to help me. I'm the reason they are dead."

"That's not true. I don't know what's going on here, but you are no killer. I have a sense about these things." Faith said with a smile as she tried to get Isabella to relax. "Listen, is there somewhere we can go to talk? Somewhere you'd feel comfortable?"

"I'm not sure I should talk to you anymore. I couldn't take it if something happened to you too. I don't want anyone else to die because of me. It might be too late for you anyway. I've already touched you. You've been inside my head, lived my dreams and now I have to watch you die." Isabella was visibly shaken so Faith took her by the hand and once again was down on her knees in the middle of Isabella's dream or nightmare.

This time she was watching as Isabella fought off a demon using a broom and baseball bat, then followed Isabella into a room full of people where she sat down in the middle of the table.

A tall, beautiful woman stood up at the end of the table and began to speak, "We are gathered here for the moment we've all been waiting for. After 16 uneventful years of existence, Isabella Moyer is about to give the greatest gift of all, her life. She has been chosen to be the next and most promising sacrifice for our one and only leader, Higathi."

As she said the name, the strange demon appeared, hovering through the room, before stopping in the middle of the table. It spun its triangle shaped head around to all sides of the room then focused on Isabella, "You are a special girl. You will make me stronger and help your family live a long and prosperous life. Are you ready for the big day my sweet child?"

Faith got to her feet again and couldn't help but be confused by what she'd just witnessed, "Is this going to happen every time we touch?"

"You mean you want to touch me again after what just happened?" Isabella asked, her eyes full of hope and anticipation as she looked into Faith's eyes.

Not sure what to make of the question Faith did the next best thing and avoided it, "In this last vision there was a demon called Higathi who was getting ready to take you as a sacrifice with the apparent blessing of your whole family. How much of this is true?"

"All of it." Isabella said somberly, "At the stroke of midnight in two days I will give my life to save my family and the town I love."

"Okay, first off, you aren't going to sacrifice yourself for anything. You are young and have your whole life ahead of you." Faith was about to grab Isabella by the hands, but thought better of it, "Why don't you just tell me more about this demon, these visions I get when I touch you and then you can tell me about your dreams for the future. If I have anything to say about this you will have a long happy future to look forward to."

"You are so different than anyone I've ever met. You are so confident and sure of yourself and you want to help me even though you don't even know me. I feel like you're my angel, sent here to save me." Isabella said as her eyes lit up. "Are you my angel?"

Faith was caught off guard by Isabella's comments. "I don't know about that, but I do want to help you."

"I still say you are my angel and nobody can tell me I'm wrong." She said with a defiant grin, "Anyway, for as long as I can remember I've had these visions. At first I thought they were just dreams like everyone else had, but each year they became more intense until finally I stopped sleeping so I wouldn't have to dream."

"What did you dream about?"

"At first it was normal things and then they slowly changed to supernatural dreams with ghosts, demons, magic and all kinds of strange things." Isabella said as she walked down a long hill, coming out by the lake again as she walked down the deserted shore. "Just last year I met this girl, her name was Samantha. She was passing through town and we hit it off and started hanging a lot. One day while sitting at the diner, she put her hand on mine and she was flooded with images of me in horrible situations. I know this freaked her out and she became obsessed with protecting me and then one day she pushed me out of the way of this speeding car, saving my life but losing her own in the same exact moment."

"That had to be tough. I'm sorry. That must've been a terrible time for you." Faith said wanting to reach out and hug Isabella, but not quite ready for another vision.

"It was, but within two weeks another girl appeared wanting to help me and she too was killed while saving me, only this time it was a demon who killed her. Now you're here and I know you will be next. Don't you get it, it's my destiny to be sacrificed and every time I try to fight it someone dies. I can't be responsible for your death. I just can't." Isabella ran towards an old boat and jumped in before Faith could reach her. "I'm sorry, but you have to leave now."

Back in Sunnydale.

Buffy Summers was on a routine patrol just passed the old cemetery when she came across a freshly made hole in the ground.

Stopping to investigate she stumbled on a piece of metal sticking up from the ground and fell head over heels into the hole and plummeted 20 feet before she landed on a large metal machine.

She slowly sat up and moaned as she rubbed her back, "Just great. Like I needed this after the summer I've had."

After she got to her feet, she surveyed the large object she'd fallen on and found a way down the other side, jumping the final 10 feet onto a narrow platform hovering in mid air.

In front of her was a door leading inside the large object, so she moved forward and tried to open it. It took only a couple seconds to realize she wasn't going to budge the door, so she turned around and looked for a switch or lever of some kind. Again, she was disappointed.

With very few options at her disposal, she turned towards the door when she heard a buzzing sound getting louder and louder. She stepped to the side of the door and waited.

Sure enough, the door opened moments later and a trio vamps stepped out onto the platform. One of them used a remote control device to open a hole in the wall and all three of them walked through it.

Buffy had two choices, follow them or sneak inside the door that was still open. She chose the latter and hopped inside.

She looked around the small room, quickly focusing on a blinking light in the corridor directly in front of her.

"This just gets better and better. Demons going high tech, that can't be good." She muttered to herself as she examined the light. There was a tiny button below the light and Buffy couldn't resist pushing it. As soon as she did, a portal appeared to her right. With no way of knowing where it was going it was a tough call whether to jump in or investigate further, but she had this flashback of Faith jumping into a vampire lair as she looked on and she knew that was a sign of what to do.

With a deep breath, Buffy lunged forward into the portal. She wasn't in it for a second before she was tossed out the other side, landing hard on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. Before she could even dust herself off, she was blind-sided by something and again knocked on her ass.

When she got to her feet ready to fight there, there was nobody around to fight. It was just a big old dirt road with a forest on one side and miles and miles of hay bails on the other side.

There was a building to the north so she hopped over the barbed wire fence and headed towards it.

As she got closer, she noticed numerous people moving back and forth from the main house and what a storage facility.

She crept up behind a large metal garbage crate and peeked out the side and as she got a closer look at the people moving around she could tell they were vampires and wondered what the hell they were doing on a deserted farm.

Since there was only one way to find out, she waited for the vamp closest to her to move away and she ran towards the side of the two-story farmhouse and snuck inside.

Before her foot could hit the ground, a right hand decked her, sending her falling ass over teakettle out the front door and onto another pile of dirt.

A large man walked out of the house and laughed at Buffy wiping the dust off her, "Well, what have we here? I smell a slayer. So why is it you are over there and I'm standing here? Did you lose your skill when you split your powers amongst all the potentials?"

Buffy didn't have time to think about his question as a handful of demons rushed out the door after her.

There was a huge battle as the tall vamp looked on, but when it was all said and done Buffy was the only one standing and with a confident smile, she moved towards vamp in the doorway.

"Well done slayer. I see your powers haven't dwindled at all. Oh well, this makes it of a challenge." The vamp said as it closed the door and walked back inside.

"Hey, get back here you…you…oh just get back here so I can kick your ass." Buffy was steaming at being ignored and rushed into the house again, only to be unceremoniously crunched with a bat and again sent flying onto the dirt.

"I do admire your persistence, but it's your strategy that could use some polishing." The tall vamp said as he laughed at Buffy once more.

"Okay, now I'm annoyed." Buffy fumed as she pulled herself up and slowly walked towards the tall vamp.

This time he didn't move. Instead, he let Buffy walk right up to him and when she did, he opened the door and let her inside.

"Oh, now you don't want to fight? Well, nobody knocks me down twice and gets away with it." Buffy said as she grabbed the tall vamp and tossed him against the far wall.

Only problem is he didn't hit the wall and as she felt a tap on her shoulder she just shook her head and said, "Oh crap." Just as she was sent flying against the very wall she wanted to send the vamp.

The tall vamp walked over to Buffy and held out his hand to help her up, "Don't be too proud to accept assistance slayer, it's not a beneficial trait to possess."

Buffy took the vamp's hand and got to her feet yet again, "Okay, who the hell are you and why am I here?"

"That's better, think slayer." The vamp said as he moved into the large living room. "You're acting like your old nemesis Faith used to, but even she's learned to control her impulses."

Buffy couldn't argue with the comparison, but that was the least of her concerns, "I don't have time for Yoda talks now, I used a portal I saw some vamps use and ended up here in the middle of what looks like a vamp assembly plant, so tell me wise one, why shouldn't I stake you?"

"Well Buffy, some things are up to you to figure out. Destiny is a tricky thing, very few people get a chance to shape their own destinies, but you do, but only if you make the right choices." The vamp said, his long black coat covering the entire length of his body.

"I'm too tired for cryptic messages. If you have something to tell me just do it and spare me the riddles." Buffy sat down on a large bar stool and looked the vamp over, "What is your name and how do you know so much about me and my so called destiny."

"You can call me Fatum." He said as he walked behind the small bar and poured himself a drink. "Ah, that's refreshing."

Buffy watched with a look of disbelief as he was about to take a drink. "Since when do vamps drink Vodka?"

"You'd be surprised what I can enjoy that most vampires can't." Fatum said and then gulped down the last of his drink. "Probably because I'm not a vampire, I just took this form as it was familiar to you."

"Oh, that's really nice. You couldn't take the form of a human, perhaps a little old lady that I wouldn't try and kill?" Buffy asked, the annoyance in her tone undeniable. "Never mind, just tell me what this place is and why I'm here and I can get on with it."

"It's like your patience has evaporated since you saved Sunnydale. When one might think it would be at an all time high with most of the threats to you and your friends being eliminated. Why do you think you're so irritable?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and put her finger to her mouth in a highly mocking fashion, "Oh I don't know Dr. Phil, I guess it's because summer's almost over and now I have to go back to school and I'm just not ready yet."

"I see, and you think sarcasm will hide your true feelings?" Fatum said, his eyes showing his displeasure at Buffy's attitude.

"Oh come on, am I here to slay vamps or talk to a shrink?"

"I think you succeed best when you do a little of both." Fatum stood up and walked over to the window and looked out at the stunning blue sky, then turned to Buffy, "You've always been able to be a slayer and for the most part you've been able to separate slaying with your real life, but ever since the Sunnydale situation you've been lost. This is a chance for you to get back on track. If you want to that is."

"This is silly, I'm fine." Buffy said with very little conviction, "You sound like Xander, Willow and Dawn. They've been on me since we saved the world, AGAIN I might add; that's why I took the walk in the first place. They couldn't be more wrong. I'm fine. I'm not sad or upset or mad or anything. I helped save the world and gave the powers to all the potentials and I couldn't be happier for them."

"Yes, 'for them' you are happy." His eyes looking deep into Buffy's soul, "The question is why aren't you happy? Have you thought about why?"

"I don't have to think about it. Even if I don't HAVE to be a slayer, I want to be. I thought I wanted out of this life, but it was just an excuse not to deal with things." Buffy stopped as she thought of something, "Have you had this talk with Faith too? I mean, she's the one who took off."

"Ah yes, Faith. Why did she leave?"

"Oh please, you're the seer of all so you already know." Buffy began walking away, but quickly turned and continued, "She was bored and bailed like she always does. I'm fine with it. I am. It's fine with me that she left. Why should I care anyway?"

"You seem awfully emotional about Faith's departure, is there another reason she left that you haven't mentioned?" He asked softly.

Buffy was shocked at how much Fatum seemed to know about her, "How the hell do you know all this? God, why can't we just have some privacy. Is that too much to ask?"

"You avoided the question Buffy."

"Yes, Faith and I had a disagreement and it wasn't long after that she took off. Why am I telling you something you already know? Oh, are you saying it's my fault she left? Is that it? Did she send you?" Buffy asked, not even sure why she said it.

"I think you know she didn't." Fatum said, answering a question Buffy already knew the answer to, "Where is Faith now? Have you talked to her lately?"

"I don't have a clue." Buffy snapped, "She's probably out partying somewhere. She's free now. As much as she loved the slaying, I don't think she did it for the right reasons. So I'm guessing she's off living the life she's always wanted, being the party girl, not having a care in the world and leaving her friends in the dust."

"Hmm, curious response."

"Oh shut up." Buffy said loudly as she stomped across the room.

"Even more curious." Fatum said as he moved to the couch and put his feet up on the footstool. "Let me change the subject for a moment, how are things with your other friends, is everything going well?"

Buffy let out a sigh, smiled and sat down beside Fatum, "Yes, actually Dawn is working now. She loves her job and can't wait to graduate next year. Willow & Kennedy have a place of their own and couldn't be happier. Xander came into a huge fortune when a long lost uncle died and left him millions. He bought his old construction company and he's helping rebuild Sunnydale. Andrew is well, he's Andrew. Giles is back home in England working on a book about his adventures as a watcher. I'm so happy for all of them. Everything is working out and I love it."

"That sounds wonderful." Fatum said with a rare smile, "What would it take to make Buffy happy?"

"What?" Buffy asked, confused by the question.

"You heard me, what will make you happy?"

"Um, I don't know." Buffy said with an honest shrug of her shoulders, "I am. I think. I mean, I'm not unhappy. I'm content. Yes, I'm content with my life."

"Well, content isn't happy though." Fatum added, then changed the focus of the conversation again. "Have you thought of Faith much since she left?"

"Why are you so obsessed with Faith? Are you her new watcher? Or, maybe you're her stalker. If you want to talk about Faith so bad, go find her." Buffy said, her blood pressure clearly rising each time she talked about Faith.

"Again you avoided the question."

"You are annoying. Do you know that?" Buffy said bluntly, "Did I ask to be analyzed? Nope. I'm done here. I'm going out back and if these vamps are real I'm going to do my job and take care of them."

"Okay, you go do your job and we can talk when you're finished. I'll be right here." Fatum said as he turned on the TV. "Oh look, it's Dr. Phil, I love that guy."

Buffy growled and wanted to deck Fatum, but remembered the last few times she tried and instead just mumbled some nasty words under her breath as she walked outside.

Back in Bishop County.

"Isabella come back. Isabella please, I'm not going to die. I promise you this." Faith said as she waded into the water.

"Don't come any closer." Isabella said as she put her hand on the engine cord, "I have to tell you something, so please stay there."

"Okay, I'll stay here. For now." Faith agreed then backed out of the water.

"When you touch me and see visions of my life I also see visions of your life." Isabella said as she moved further out into the lake. "I saw visions of the other two girls lives too. Both times, I saw them dying exactly the way they did and I still couldn't stop it. I saw something different for you. It was so beautiful I could hardly control myself as I watched it. It was you and a pretty blonde girl alone in a house, just sitting by a fireplace holding hands and kissing softly. I could feel the love in the room, it was overpowering."

Faith knew instantly that Isabella was talking about Buffy, but had no idea what vision she was seeing, since none of that had happened.

"I'm glad you saw something good for me. I plan on living a long happy life from now on. If it's with a certain blonde slayer then so be it, but doesn't that show you that things are changing? You didn't see a vision of me dying, so please come back here and let me help you."

"There's more." Isabella said as her face became very gloomy. "That was just the first vision I had of you. The second was much different."

"I don't believe in all this voodoo hocus pocus stuff, so go ahead, let me have it. How am I going to die?" Faith asked as she stared out at Isabella.

"You see, the thing is you won't die if you leave now."

"Just tell me what you saw." Faith said, this time more demanding than the last.

"I saw you saving my life as I was about to be sacrificed. You were amazing." Isabella said with a big smile, "You killed what seemed like hundreds of Higathi's demon friends and then took on Higathi and after a short battle you killed him."

"It all sounds good to me. So if I saved you and Higathi is dead, where's the downside to all this?" Faith asked, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"After you saved me, my family were all congratulating you and thanking you some strange cloud appeared about the town and without warning sucked you up into the sky and you were gone, out of my life forever. It's what happens when people try to help me. Don't you see why I can't risk this?" Isabella pleaded, not wanting to leave, but afraid to stay.

"Okay, here's how I see it." Faith said as she sensed an opportunity to get through to Isabella. "What if I'm going to die regardless of what I do to help you? If that's true, I'd much rather die saving your life than die doing nothing. So, unless you want me to die for no reason you had better get back here."

"I don't know what to do." Isabella stared back at Faith, even more confused than before.

"Isabella, please come back here. There's a whole lot more to me than meets the eye. I'm not your average girl, if you hadn't noticed by now." Faith said as she again moved towards Isabella, "I'm a slayer. I'm not sure if you know anything about slayers, but we are tough little cookies and it takes more than some big bad cloud to take us out. I have tried to do this your way and give you space, but if you don't get back here I'm going to show you a bit more about what a slayer can do."

Isabella smiled at Faith's change of tone, "You look so sexy when you get mad."

"Oh I do, do I?" Faith smiled at the compliment, "Are you gonna come back or am I going to have to get all wet bringing you back?"

"I would like to see you all wet, but okay, I'll come back." Isabella rowed her way back to Faith, hopped out and stood beside her. "Here I am. What are you gonna do about it? Frisk me?"

"Okay, where's all this coming from?"

"This? What do you mean?" Isabella asked with a sexy pout.

"You know what, the sexual innuendo. How old are you anyway?" Faith asked, as she looked over the pretty girl standing in front of her.

"I'm 19 if you must know." Isabella said without looking Faith in the eyes.

"19 huh, somehow I doubt that. Come on, how old are you?"

"Oh fine, 16, but I'm gonna be 17 in a month so it's not like I'm a kid. I mean, look at me, do I look like a kid to you?" Isabella said as she spun around for Faith, showing off her womanly curves.

"I'll admit you look older than 16, but you're still too young for me." Faith said, taking her eyes off Isabella's body and focusing back on her pretty blue eyes, "Okay, where were we? Oh right, you agreed to let me help you out, so let's concentrate on that for now."

Isabella wanted to give Faith a hug, but had learned long ago to control her urges and gave her a friendly smile instead. "I'm sorry I gave you such a hard time. I do trust you; I just hope you know what you're doing."

"Tell me about this demon that wants you as a sacrifice. Has it always been around?" Faith asked as she sat down on a large tree stump and motioned for Isabella to come join her.

After settling in beside Faith, Isabella cleared her throat and began, "I first remember hearing about Higathi when I was about 15. I can't say if he was here before, but it's the first time I saw him. It was at my best friend Katie's birthday party. We were all down by the lake swimming and playing in the water and I went back to the shore because my top had come loose. I was in behind an old watershed adjusting my bikini top when I spotted this gross looking thing watching me from the trees. I let out a scream and everyone came running, which was the last thing I wanted since I hadn't fixed my top, so in addition to being scared out of my mind I was also embarrassed trying to keep my breasts covered up."

Faith was laughing as she pictures Isabella's story, then quickly stopped the visual as she remembered her age at the time, "Well, that's funny to hear about, but I'm sure it wasn't fun for you. What happened next?"

"Well, I told everyone about the creature and none of the adults seemed surprised by any of it, but the kids all were." Isabella said as she flipped through her purse.

"I'm not surprised about that." Faith said, her eyes watching Isabella as she pulled something from her purse. "When you're young, you're always the last to know about everything."

Isabella handed Faith a couple pictures. "This is Higathi. I took this less than two weeks ago, so I'd have proof it existed. The other picture is Higathi talking to another demon, but it was a different kind of demon and it seemed to be the one in charge as it was really yelling at Higathi for something."

Faith studied the two demons carefully, but couldn't tell much else from the pictures.

"I sure wish the scooby gang were here now." Faith said aloud, but didn't really mean to.

"The scooby gang? You mean from the cartoon?" Isabella asked, suddenly questioning Faith's sanity.

"Oh no, it's a nickname someone gave to some friends or I should say associates of mine. They were really good at this kind of thing." Faith said, enjoying the quick trip down memory lane.

Isabella was quick to offer a solution. "Well, you could ask them to help couldn't you?"

"I guess, but I'll see what I can do on my own first."

"Okay, well what should we do now?" Isabella asked, waiting anxiously to start her new adventure.

Faith had to stop and think for a moment, but that didn't last long as she was jumped from behind and sent flying to the ground. As she got up she saw a large scaly demon moving closer to Isabella so she began running hard towards it and as she got close she leaped into the air and gave it a drop kick to what looked like its head, knocking it off balance long enough for Isabella to get behind Faith and start running.

"Come on Faith, run." Isabella said as she watched the demon stare back at Faith but not make a move.

"It's okay, I don't think it wants to kill me or you for that matter." Faith said as she let her guard down and moved slowly towards the demon.

"What are you doing?" Isabella yelled from down by the dock.

Faith put her hands up in a defensive position and smiled at the demon, "Um, hey there, you wouldn't happen to speak English would ya? It would sure help if you did. Cause I can't speak demon worth a crap."

With its head moving slowly from side to side the demon reached into its skin and pulled out a small metal device. It held it up to its ear then looked back over at Faith, "I am Sittoussionigzznnoolstoyntraloeerfxeod…"

"Whoa there, could you give me the condensed version?" Faith said shaking her head at the curious demon.

"I've contacted the human database of names and translated mine to the closest possible match." The android sounding demon said as it pushed more buttons on the device then looked up again, "The best match is, Bob."

"OMG, you translate a 50 letter name into Bob? I love it. You're my kind of demon, Bob." Faith said with a spontaneous laugh.

"You are a slayer. We have the same goal in mind. Protect Isabella." Bob said as it moved toward Faith. "We've been watching Isabella since she was made the next target. We felt your presence in Isabella's life, but your aura is so mixed up it was impossible to distinguish the good from the bad, so we had to find out."

"Well, I used to be a bad girl so that's probably why my aura is mixed up. Now, what's the deal with these demons, why do they want Isabella to be sacrificed so desperately?" Faith asked as she stood beside the odd-looking demon.

"We cannot advise you on how to deal with this situation, but we do know that Isabella is the key to a vital event that must take place in your universe. If she dies before this event is set in motion, the consequences would be devastating and we're not sure your world could survive such a catastrophe." Bob said, sounding like doomsday was just around the corner.

"Aren't you just full of good news." Faith said as she turned to smile at Isabella, showing her that everything was calm, for now at least.

Bob was still pushing buttons on his little gadget as he talked to Faith. "I'm not here to bring good news or bad, just give you a chance to keep history on its current path."

"Who are you?" Faith asked, getting a strange vibe from the demon. "You don't act like a demon and before I go helping you I want to know what any of this has to do with you?"

"I am the keeper of the timeline. You are now the guardian of the girl. If you fail at your duty there will be little else we can do for you or the people of earth." Bob said as he clicked one more button on his little toy and a pretty gold bracelet appeared in mid air in front of Faith.

She looked at the bracelet then back at Bob, "Is this for me?"

"Yes, this is a multi purpose decorative item. You may contact us in an emergency by pushing the 2, A, 4, H, 6, T, 3, V, 5, L, 1, P, 7, S, 8, Q, 0, F keys in the correct order. You may push the 2,4,1,8…"

"Are you insane? Who the hell has time to punch 20 buttons in an emergency? Didn't you notice how us earthlings narrowed that down to three little number, 911? Why do you think we did that?" Faith asked with more than a little sarcasm in her tone.

Bob looked at Faith then back at his own device, pushed a few more buttons and looked back at Faith, "It is best to use larger numerical codes in order to guard against security threats." He paused for a moment and stared back at Faith as he pushed more buttons, "However, we see your point and have adjusted the device accordingly. The new code will be 811."

"Oh my god, why not just make it 911 then? Wouldn't that make more sense?" Faith asked, ready to pull her hair out at Bob's so called logic.

"We didn't feel the 9 was a strong enough number to evoke a sense of emergency." Bob said with a straight face.

Faith began looking around the area with a curious smile, "Am I on some show like Demon Punk'd or something, cause this is getting way too weird for my liking."

"We do not know what you are speaking of."

"That's okay, I'll stick with 811 and let's hope that I don't have to use it." Faith shook her head and put on the bracelet.

"I must be leaving now. Watch over Isabella and your world will be saved from…"

Faith rolled her eyes and interrupted Bob, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, an unspeakable evil. Is there any other kind?"

"Actually, there are many types of evil. Some you would…."

"It was rhetorical Bob." Faith said as she put her hand over Bob's large mouth. "Thanks for the little trinket and I'll make sure Isabella is safe."

"We shall meet again Faith; your destiny is of great interest to us." Bob said and quickly disappeared into thin air.

Isabella walked back over to Faith, "That was strange. What do we do now?"

"I'd say we need to get you back home and then I am going to have a look around for this Higathi demon and see if I can take care of this problem tonight." Faith said, her eyes focusing in on someone watching from up on the hill. "Isabella, do you know who that is up on the hill?"

PART TWO

Back to Buffy

Once outside Buffy followed a couple vamps into the storage unit. The building was much bigger than it appeared, as it seemed to go on forever below the surface.

For the most part the place was rather unspectacular. With only one unique looking piece of equipment in the first room and that was a very futuristic looking elevator that the two vamps stepped into and soon were moving downward at a very fast pace.

Buffy hopped over a railing and looked around the laboratory unit in the far corner of the building. She searched through the files on the table and studied the pictures on the wall, but couldn't figure out what they meant.

In a large freezer to the left were thousands of vials of blood, each numbered but with no name attached.

There was a computer room beside the lab and Buffy walked in, turned on the first computer she came across and sat down in front of it.

As she explored the contents on the hard drive, she found a file marked, 'formula', and since there weren't a lot of other files on the system she opened it up.

Reading the file, she quickly discovered the formula had one purpose and that was to make vamps not only invincible to sunlight, but also impervious to being staked.

She wanted to send the file to Willow's computer, but the computer she was using wasn't hooked up to the internet. She did see the printer so she printed out the entire file instead.

Knowing the file was 75 pages long, she knew she had to expect at least a few unfriendly visitors as it printed, so she walked out to the main lab, locked the door and stood waiting for the impending fight. After 15 minutes she was still alone and hadn't seen one vamp. She walked back into the computer room, saw that there were only 10 pages left to print out and that brought a relieved smile to her face. But, as with most times she'd smiled lately, it didn't last for long.

When she turned around the room had filled up with vamps, but it was a human who moved forward.

A short, stocky man with a dark goatee stepped up and pointed a taser device at her, "Buffy isn't it? I'm surprised this little operation warranted the attention of a slayer."

"You know my name but what's yours?" Buffy asked as she counted 8 vamps standing behind the portly man.

"I'm Dr. Eugene Pisnovski, not that a blonde bimbo such as yourself would know much about genetic engineering."

"What did you call me?" Buffy said, insulted by the doctor's comment.

"Oh don't be so defensive, it's not your fault you're uneducated and lack the mental capacity to understand something so complex, let alone grasp the truly remarkable scientific breakthroughs I've made with my research." Pisnovski said with a smug look of self-appreciation.

Buffy smiled at his arrogance, "You do realize that once you help your new found vampire friends, they will eat up and spit you out, leaving your research for someone else to find and take credit for."

"How typical, a small mind for such a tiny little girl." The doctor said as he walked past Buffy and sat down at the computer chair. "Do you really think I haven't thought of every single scenario? Did they only give you brawn and leave the brains to someone else?"

"Why you little piece of…"

"Now, now, no foul language in front of the vamps." Pisnovski smiled and then pulled up a large complicated graphic, "Have a look at this."

Buffy took a couple steps forward and looked at the picture on the screen, but couldn't make heads nor tails out of it, "So, it's your brilliant genetic plan for vampire superiority. Do you think it's really gonna work?"

"Actually, yes I do." Pisnovski then reached down, pushed a button under the desk and pulled up a live picture of Buffy's house. Dawn was walking upstairs as Xander sat and watched some TV.

"What is this? Why are you watching my house?" Buffy demanded as the camera followed Dawn into her bedroom.

"I call it slayer protection." Pisnovski said as she leered at Dawn in her tight blue jeans, adjusting the camera and zooming in on her shapely round ass. "Such a lovely young girl she is. It seems as though she's about to take a shower. So, let me ask you something Buffy, do you want everyone to watch or are you going to do as you're told?"

Buffy hated being in a position of weakness but as she watched Dawn slip out of her jeans and remove her t-shirt she had to put an end to it, "Stop it now. Shut it off."

"I didn't hear the magic word."

"Please shut it off." Buffy pleaded as Dawn removed her underwear and walked into her bathroom. "Enough. She has nothing to do with this. Leave her alone."

"Oh such passion, that's good, let's hope it keeps you in line. I assure you that seeing Dawn on a live web cam is the least of your concerns. If I don't get what I want, I don't think I need to explain all the ways I could make her death very unpleasant."

"Do not threaten my family. Pissing me off is not a wise move." Buffy said as she grabbed the computer monitor and smashed it against the wall.

"Now it's time for you to learn that pissing me off is an equally bad move." Pisnovski nodded towards the vamps, "Take her to the pit. Let her meet some of the others who have refused to cooperate."

It took all eight vamps to get control of Buffy, but as soon as they did, Dr. Pisnovski injected her with something and she went limp within seconds.

When Buffy woke up, she was hanging in mid air above a large pit filled with numerous human skeletons and every poisonous snake known to man.

Buffy looked down at the hungry reptiles below and couldn't help but smile, "Well, this is new. This guy must be a huge sadist."

She looked around the large room and spotted two doors, one to the east and the other to the west. Each guarded by a single vampire. With her hands tied with extra strength rope and with each hand handcuffed to a large steel frame above her head, the chances of breaking free were slim to none.

There was no time to feel sorry for herself, so Buffy tried a different approach. She closed her eyes and focused every ounce of her energy into her mind and sent out a distress signal she hoped Willow would pick up on.

Willow was lounging on Buffy's couch, spending her time the way she liked best, kissing Kennedy. Xander was so used to it by now he didn't spend all his time staring at them anymore. Andrew was drawing pictures of Spike in his leather jacket as he sat in the corner of the room.

Willow abruptly sat up, focused her mind and soon was hearing Buffy's voice, "Willow, I know you can hear me. I've gotten myself into an embarrassing predicament here and I'm going to need some help getting out. I'm hovering above a pit of snakes, my hands are tied and bound and handcuffed to some steel beams above me. I'm hoping you can cast a spell or figure out where I am and help get me down. Oh, one other thing, there are cameras hidden throughout the house, find them and destroy them before you do anything. Thanks. I love you all."

Willow sent back a quick message to Buffy, "I heard ya and we'll find a way to help. Don't give up."

Buffy smiled as she heard Willow's comforting voice and knew that things were about to change.

Willow stood up, explained everything to Kennedy, Xander and Andrew Xander quickly began searching for the hidden cameras with the unwanted help of Andrew, while Kennedy got out the magic books for Willow. Willow ran upstairs to find Dawn and when she didn't see her in the room she burst into the bathroom to see Dawn standing there naked wondering what was going on.

"Um, you're okay. That's good. I will be leaving now." Willow turned and walked out of the bathroom.

Dawn put on her bathrobe and followed Willow. "Stop right there Willow. Tell me what's going on, why on earth did you bust into my room like that?"

"I'm sorry, I should have knocked, but I wasn't thinking straight."

"I don't care about that, I mean what caused this?" Dawn asked as she began drying her long wavy hair.

"Oh that, well Buffy needs our help. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Willow said as she turned away again.

"I've got clothes on now so it's okay." Dawn said with a grin, "What happened to Buffy?"

"I'm not really sure, but she sent me a message saying she was in a bind and it's our job to get her out of it." Willow explained quickly.

"Okay, let me get dressed and I'll be down in a few minutes and don't think you're going to tell me to stay home for this either." Dawn said firmly, making sure Willow knew she was serious.

"We'll see Dawn, just get dressed for now." Willow left Dawn and ran back downstairs.

"I've found a half dozen cameras hidden in the walls and ceilings already and I'm pretty sure that's only a small portion of them." Xander said as he showed everyone the microscopic cameras in his hands. "Why didn't I ever think of this? Cameras in Buffy's house. Brilliant."

"Xander! Focus." Willow said as she gave her best serious face.

"Oh right, sorry." Xander said with a sheepish grin, "Anyway, I'll keep searching for these things, but whoever did this will know we know and I'm not sure that is going to help Buffy."

"For now I want to take away the edge they have on us. They can see us but we have no idea who they are." Willow said as she began flipping through the magic books at a super fast rate. "Besides, they had to know we'd find them sooner or later. I doubt they would believe Buffy called and told us, so it shouldn't be a problem."

Back in Bishop County.

With a quick step forward, Isabella pointed to the person and motioned for them to come down the hill. She then turned to Faith,

"It's nobody really, just little Eddie from next door. He's only 12 and likes to pretend he's a secret agent, which means he does a lot of spying on people and it's caused quite a bit of controversy with some of the things he's seen in such a small town."

"I can only imagine." Faith said as Eddie made his way down the hill, walked over and stood beside Isabella.

"Hi Izzy, who's your friend, she's pretty." Eddie said, as he looked Faith up and down.

"Eddie, this is Faith. She is here to help us with Higathi." Isabella noticed Eddie staring at Faith and stepped in front of him, "Tell me what you saw?"

"Nothing much, I saw something disappear just as I got here, but that's it. What was that thing anyway?" Eddie said as he moved to the side and continued to look at Faith.

"You've got quite an eye on you little guy; maybe you could help me solve this case I'm working on." Faith stepped forward and put her arm on Eddie's shoulder, "If you know anything about this demon it would really help me out."

"I know he only seems to come around on Friday's. I've never seen him any other day. He usually appears around the big statue in the center of town." Eddie reached into his knapsack and pulled out a videotape. "Here, this is what I shot of Higathi last Friday when he was talking to another demon and there's also some weird stuff of him digging a hole over at the mill, but I didn't see what he took from it."

"I'm impressed, you sure are thorough." Faith patted Eddie on the back and took the tape. "You've already been a big help Eddie, but if there's anything else you can tell me about Higathi I'd love to hear about it."

Eddie pondered the question for a few moments, then his eyes lit up, "The only other thing I remember that was kinda weird, was a couple Friday's ago he was drinking some kind of gross looking drink just before he disappeared. It was bubbling and had a whole bunch of colors to it, but it wasn't anything I'd ever seen before."

"That's good, every little bit helps." Faith gave Eddie a hug then looked at the tape in her hand and quickly knelt down in front of Eddie, "Did you happen to tape Higathi drinking on here?"

"I can't remember, I might've."

"That's okay, we'll find out when we watch the tape. Thanks again Eddie, you'd done good work. I think you'll make a great secret agent when you grow up." Faith smiled at Eddie who had an even bigger smile on his face.

"We can watch this at my house, I should be getting back now anyway, it's almost dinner time." Isabella said as she looked at her watch.

"That sounds good to me, I'm starving." Faith followed Isabelle back up the hill and they both waved to Eddie and continued on their way.

Isabella opened her front door to find her mother standing there waiting, "Isabella, where have you been?" she said as she began focusing on Faith standing quietly behind her daughter.

"Mom, I'm not even late." Isabella said with a soft laugh then turned and pulled Faith forward, "This is Faith, she's a friend of mine who might be able to help with Higathi."

As her mother's face went white when she heard Higathi's name and Isabella quickly rushed over and helped her to the couch.

"Why are you mentioning that name in front of strangers?"

"It's okay mom, Faith knows about demons and wants to help us. I'm going to get you some water, why don't you talk to Faith and listen to what she has to say." Isabella didn't wait for an answer, she just motioned for Faith to sit down and went into the kitchen to get her mom some water.

Faith sat down, smiled at Isabella's mother and tried to find the right thing to say. "Hi Mrs. Moyer, I know this must be hard for you, but your daughter told me about your situation here and I offered to help."

"Please call me Debra." She said as she turned to Faith. "I'm afraid I will have to be blunt as there is no time for pleasantries. I appreciate that you want to help, but quite frankly I don't see how you can. Forgive me for saying this, but you're just a little girl, not much older than my Isabella, how can you possibly stop a demon?"

"I understand your skepticism Debra, but I've had some experience dealing with demons and I will find a way to help Isabella." Faith said trying to reassure a woman she'd just met that everything would be okay. "I guess it won't hurt to tell you. I'm a slayer. That means I have some unique abilities that will help me rid this town of your annoying demon problem."

"A slayer? That sounds like a killer to me. If you slay things it means you kill them doesn't it? I'm not sure I'm comfortable with you being around my daughter." Debra said as she got to her feet.

Faith stood up and put her hand on Debra's arm. "I know this is hard for you but I think if you give me a chance I can show you I'm not the bad guy here." Faith helped Debra back to the couch. "I only met your daughter a couple hours ago and I feel a strong desire to help her. She is such a sweet girl and I will not let some demon take her as a sacrifice. This is my promise to you."

Debra's face showed the anguish and confusion she felt talking to a stranger about her family's desperate situation. "You seem honest and I want to believe you, I do, but it's hard to trust people anymore, especially with all that's gone on in this town lately."

"I can relate to that, but I'm asking you to give me a chance and I hope to earn your trust and save your daughter in the process." Faith finished just as Isabella returned with a glass of water.

She handed it to her mother and noticed the silence that filled the room, "Okay, did I miss something? You two weren't fighting were you?"

"No sweetheart, it's nothing like that." Debra said as she took the glass from her daughter, "On the contrary, your new friend here has convinced me she not only wants to help, but can help and I want her to stay as long as it takes to get rid of that awful demon."

"Thank you mom, you won't regret this." Isabella said as she gave her mom a big hug.

"I hope not." Debra said with a more relaxed sigh than before. "Now, why don't you take Faith upstairs and show her the spare bedroom. You have 30 minutes and then it's time to eat."

"Okay, follow me." Isabella took Faith's hand and led her upstairs.

Isabella lived in a modest three bedroom home. Upstairs were the bedrooms and the main bathroom and it was much more modern than Faith expected from such a tiny little town in the middle of nowhere.

"Here you go. Your own little room for as long as you need it." Isabella opened the door, turned on the light and stepped inside the cozy room.

Faith followed Isabella inside, looking around at the hand drawn pictures hanging on each and every wall. She walked up to one picture that showed a family of four playing in the park and could tell it was Isabella and her parents but wasn't sure who the fourth person was.

Isabella walked up and stood beside Faith, put her hand on the picture and smiled, "That was something I drew three years ago. It's my last memory of Lisa with us and it's nice to see this again and remember the fun we used to have."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know…what happened to her?" Faith asked softly.

"It's another strange thing, she just disappeared one night. We had just finished watching a movie and were getting into the car and Lisa forgot her jacket so she went back inside and she never returned. The police searched for weeks on end and there was never a trace of her found. She was 17 at the time and was looking forward to graduation and never made it." Isabella moved over to another picture, "This one is my favorite. It's Lisa exactly as I remember her from that night. She loved that jacket. I used to make fun of her because I never liked the jacket at the time, I thought it was ugly, but now I just want to see her in it again."

"Did this happen before Higathi appeared?" Faith studied the picture and even though it was a drawing, it was easy to see that Lisa was a splitting image of her mother, beautiful long blonde hair, and an ever-present smile and even in the drawing, there was something about her that stood out.

"Yes, it was about a year or so before we saw Higathi so I don't think it's related. I guess it could be though, but I have a feeling Higathi would have said something if he had taken her. He's really arrogant and loves to act all powerful around us." Isabella moved over to the right and pointed to yet another drawing, "This is a picture I did when I was watching her practice her valedictorian speech. She didn't know I was there and I'd never seen her so nervous. She was such a perfectionist."

Faith looked at the picture and pointed to something behind Lisa, "What's that?"

Isabella took a closer look and shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. I don't even remember drawing it. It looks like figure in the background, but it's really hard to make out."

"I know it's kind of blurry, but my gut tells me it's a vampire. It's just something I can spot a mile away and it makes me wonder what other things are going on around here that nobody knows about." Faith stepped back and sat on the bed, "Have anyone else gone missing since your sister did?"

Isabella touched the picture with her finger before joining Faith on the bed. "No, it's been quiet here until Higathi showed up. We are just a small town who like to live a quiet life, support our school teams and have town picnics and events all year round. We've never had a crime problem here. When Lisa was taken from us, it was like a part of the town was destroyed too, the trusting part. Everyone became more suspicious of their friends and neighbors and instead of coming together in a crisis, it made people afraid to live for the longest time."

"Things seem to be a bit better now, was it Higathi's threats that brought people closer?"

"I think so." Isabella said, shuffling her feet on the floor, "With Lisa's disappearance, it just seemed like something a human would do and since it was never solved, there were constant rumors and speculation that led to the distrust, but with a demon, it was obvious who the enemy was and everyone just banded together again. It was so great to see."

"That's good. You'll need your friends until this is over." Faith lay back on the pillow and let out a peaceful sigh.

"How do you like it?" Isabella said as she watched Faith relax and close her eyes.

"This feels so good. I can't remember the last time I slept in such a comfortable room." Faith was just drifting off when she heard Isabella's mom call them down for dinner.

"Don't worry, you'll love my mom's cooking and I promise she won't bother you when you go to sleep tonight." Isabella helped Faith to her feet and the two girls went downstairs.

Debra was sitting at one end of the table, her husband was sitting at the other end and Isabella and Faith sat on the two side chairs as they sat down for a home cooked meal.

"Faith, this is my husband Harlan." Debra said as she motioned towards the tall, slender man at the opposite end of the table. "I've told him about your offer to help and well, he is happy even if he doesn't show it."

"I'm pleased to meet you sir." Faith said in a rather subdued voice.

"Yes, nice to meet you too Faith." Harlan said as he shook Faith's outstretched hand, "So, my wife tells me you're some kind of super woman?"

Faith let out a big laugh then quickly composed herself, "I'm sorry, but I am as far from super woman as you can get. I am here to help your daughter and I have certain skills that will help me do it."

"Well, that sounds pretty super to me." Harland grabbed some chicken from a plate in front of him then turned his attention back to Faith, "How does a pretty girl like you get to be one of those slayer things anyway?"

"It's just something I was born into I guess." Faith took a bite of the salad and a big smile came across her face, "Oh this is delicious Mrs. Moyer…I mean Debra, I'm not usually big on salads, but I love this."

Debra smiled at Faith's enthusiastic response, "I'm glad you like it Faith, it's an old family recipe. Well, the dressing is my mother's creation really. I just added some ingredients over the years."

"I sure wish my mom cooked like this." Faith said and wanted to take it back as soon as she had, because she knew what would come next.

"Oh, your mom didn't cook much?" Debra asked politely.

Faith tried to hold in her frustration as she politely answered the question. "Well, she worked at nights and didn't get a chance." She took another bite of the salad and quickly changed the topic. "Have either of you seen this Higathi demon personally?"

"Actually we all have." Harlan said while washing down his food with a glass of water, "We all meet in the town every Friday night and he shows up and tells us what he wants. At first, it was just for strange items he wanted, old pieces of wood, some specific shaped metals and some electronic parts. It was as if he was a junk collector or something."

"Yes, it was highly peculiar at first." Debra added as she thought back to her first meeting with Higathi. "He appeared from out of nowhere, a strange, ugly looking creature. He made a point of showing us his powers by blasting away some old buildings with nothing more than a flick of his fingers. He told us he was here to reclaim what was his from thousands of years ago. A couple months ago, he said he was dying and needed a sacrifice to keep him alive. Of course we said no but he threatened to kill all of us if we didn't cooperate."

"He needs to be stopped." Faith finished off her last bite and got up from the table, "This was an amazing meal Debra, it was nice meeting you Harlan, but I need to do have a look around and see if I can find this demon." She smiled and was out the door before anyone could say a thing.

PART 3

Back to Buffy.

Dr. Pisnovski joined Buffy in the room, sat down at a console panel, pushed a couple buttons and Buffy began moving.

With his hand on a lever Dr. Pisnovski pulled Buffy closer to him, "You look good up there Buffy, I think it suits you. Have you had time to get a better attitude? I'd hate to see anything happen to your pretty young sister."

"Oh, stop with the threats. I told you that won't work."

"My oh my, I am beginning to think you're a lost cause. Fine, you play the hero to the death, but just remember you are also causing the death of every person you know." The doctor said as he pushed the lever, sending Buffy to within a few feet from the pit of snakes. "Now, just to make you remember this for all of eternity, I will let you watch as each of your friends is killed in a most gruesome way. Although, I can think of some other things I'd like to do to that hot little sister of yours. Yes, I think that's what I'll do first."

"If you so much as look at her I'll kill you." Buffy screamed up at the sadistic doctor.

"Well, won't that be a trick, what with you all tied up and hanging from the rafters and all. Until then, enjoy the view." He walked over to the vamp standing guard, "Bring me Dawn Summers and kill anyone who gets in the way."

"I'm warning you, you have no idea who you're dealing with." Buffy yelled as Dr. Pisnovski laughed and walked out of the room.

Willow and Kennedy were off getting the last ingredients for the location spell they were getting ready to use. Xander had found another 20 cameras in various places throughout the house and Dawn was searching the magic books for some type of release or teleport spell. Andrew was busy putting his pictures up all over the house.

"Okay guys, we're ready. If it works, we'll have an exact location for Buffy and then we can move onto the hard part." Willow said as she sprinkled the last of the Damian around her.

Kennedy, Dawn and Xander backed away as Willow began chanting. Willow recited the words in front of her and as she finished the chant, a blistering flash of light came down and made a mark on the atlas they had set out.

All four of them rushed towards the atlas and were surprised to see the mark was only a couple miles from where they were.

"Get me the teleport spell." Willow said loudly as she maintained her focus, "I want to do this now; I can feel Buffy's essence and don't want to lose it."

Kennedy grabbed the spell and tossed it to Willow who began to chant some more bizarre words and when she was finished there were no bursts of light or any other such effects, in fact not one thing happened to tell them whether the spell worked or not.

Buffy however was now standing outside the storage facility, but still had the rope and handcuffs on her hands, so she made her way back to the house to find Fatum sitting with his legs up on a chair watching Wheel of Fortune.

"Oh you foolish man, don't buy a vowel, solve the puzzle. It's so easy." Fatum said then switched channels after the man bought the vowel after all.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself." Buffy said as she stood in front of the TV waving her hands in front of him, "As you can see I wasn't so lucky."

"Ah, I see that. I didn't know you were into bondage." Fatum said as he made a motion with his hand and the rope and handcuffs were no longer there.

"That's more like it." Buffy said as she shook off the stiffness in her hands. "Now, what the hell were you doing while I was being hung above a pit of snakes oh wise ass super being?"

Fatum muted the TV and looked up at Buffy, "I do enjoy your sense of drama. Back to what we were talking about when you pouted and ran away, how much were you thinking of Faith after she left?"

Buffy's face went white then red then she let out a huge scream and then she calmly sat down beside Fatum, "That felt good. Okay, let me answer your question so you'll shut up about Faith. I thought about her a lot after she left. I thought about her while I was hanging from the rafters and I'm thinking about her now. Happy?"

"Actually, I always am happy, but thank you for answering this for me. But, if I could ask one more thing." He said as he pulled out a laptop from somewhere under his skin.

Buffy made a strange face as she saw him pull it out of his body, "Ewe, where did that come from, your intestines? Gross me out and what is it for?"

"Just one second dear." Fatum said as he flipped through a thousand files.

"Dear? I don't think so. You can call me Buffy or Miss Summers or pretty blonde, but not dear. I'm not sure why I don't like it, but it sounds so annoying when you say it."

"You sure are a strange one Miss Summers, I hope I got it correct this time." Fatum said as he pulled up a file on his computer, "Here Buffy, I want you to have a look at this. I'm going out back and check on our friends."

Fatum got up and strolled out the back door.

Buffy picked up the laptop, sat down in the chair, scrolled up to the top of the page and began reading.

Before she had even read one sentence she realized this was a history of Faith's life before she came to Sunnydale. Complete with pictures and video clips of her life. She instantly put the laptop down, not sure if she should read any further.

She thought of how it was an invasion of Faith's privacy and how she wanted to learn this all from Faith herself, but on the other hand she felt it might help understand why Faith is the way she is. It was such a tough decision, but ultimately she wanted to learn about Faith's life from Faith so she put the computer down and turned it off. All this thinking of Faith was bringing back all those old memories and some of the newer ones since Faith returned to Sunnydale.

Her trip down memory lane was short lived as a loud noise out back had Buffy running out the back door to see a swarm of vamps attacking Fatum.

Buffy flew into action taking out one vamp after another until there were only two left standing and they ran away and she rushed over to Fatum who was lying on the ground, "Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

Fatum opened his eyes slowly, his energy severely drained, "I guess I took on more than I could handle. I should know better, I'm not the same young buck I once was."

"You're going to be fine. Just hang in there. I know Willow set me free and if anyone can help you now it's her. She's a very powerful Wicca and she will help. Just don't die on me yet."

"I don't have much time Buffy, but you need to know a couple things before I go."

"No, stop talking like that. Don't talk at all, conserve your strength. Please, just hang on." Buffy said as she held onto Fatum tightly.

"It's okay, it's the way it was meant to be." Fatum said softly as his voice began to fade, "Your destiny has not yet been revealed, you have much more to do with your life. Do not fight love, you are meant to have it and when you find it, never take it for granted and never let it go." Fatum reached into his pocket and pulled out a small locket and handed it to Buffy, "Open this when the time is right. You'll know when that is. Goodbye Buffy, it was a pleasure meeting you."

"No! No! No!" Buffy screamed, but Fatum had closed his eyes for good.

Buffy took the locket and held it to her chest, her eyes filled with tears for a demon she'd only just met. She put the locket in her pocket, let go of his big furry hand and stood up with anger in her eyes. There was more than revenge on her mind, but her first concern was doing what was right by Fatum and giving him a proper burial. Things seemed bleak and Buffy had never felt more alone, but that was about to change as she looked up and saw a pickup truck coming down the road she knew her friends were here to help.

*****

Faith did a quick sweep of the small town and was on her way back when she saw a light flickering by the statue. She moved towards the light, but as she got close, she realized the light was coming from the statue; it was shining at the statue.

With a quick look around, she saw where the light was coming from and ran up the hill, tracing the light to a small hole in the middle of the hill. She bent down and pushed some sand and dirt out of the way, revealing a door with a camera attached to the window.

Her hands weren't working near fast enough so she ran back to the statue where she grabbed the pick axe from the ground and ran back and began smashing the door down.

Once she smashed in the top half, she climbed up and slid down the other side.

As she looked around, she saw what amounted to the basement or game room of someone's house.

There was TV on one corner and another one in the opposite corner. A pool table, foosball table and numerous calendars of pretty girls filled the room.

Faith picked up a pizza box from the table and it didn't take a genius to figure out this was no demon hideout, this was like a fraternity house.

When she opened the pizza box she could feel heat coming from inside, so she dropped it to the ground and ran towards the back door of the place. She pulled the door opened and three teenage boys started running away.

It didn't take much for Faith to get them under control and soon had them sitting in a row on the dirty old couch, "Okay, who's gonna start?"

All three boys, all around 16 or 17 years old, looked at each other and the two on the outside nudged the middle guy to his feet, "Um, I don't know who you are but we think you should go. This is our place and we didn't invite you."

"Well I'm here so get used to it." Faith said as she took a step towards the tall awkward boy, who swiftly took a seat. "That's better, now I don't want to ask again, what is going on here?"

The kid on the right stood up, adjusted his glasses and rubbed his thin goatee, "We are just having some fun is all. There's no crime in that." He looked at his two friends as he felt a rush of adrenaline go through his body, "But, it is a crime to smash down someone's door."

Faith laughed at the kids threat and walked over to an open shelf and pulled out a video tape, "What's this? Hmm, it says Karen, 7/13/03."

All three boys got up and rushed towards the shelf, but Faith stared them down and they sat back down.

"If this is anything like what I think it is you are going to wish you never met me." Faith said as she looked through the other tapes, but there were only tapes of TV shows and movies. "So, you have one tape here of a girl, should I put it in the VCR or did you want to save me the trouble."

"It's not what you think." The shorter kid said as he stood up and walked up to Faith, "It's just, well, it's the only good thing we've ever had happen to us. Karen is not some girl from around here. She's perfectly legal and willingly allowed us to tape her."

"Well isn't that a heartwarming story." Faith said as she put the tape in the VCR, "As I watch this wonderful tape, you can tell me what you know about the Higathi demon."

They looked at each other again, but nobody said a word.

Faith watched the tape and saw an attractive blonde woman appear and moments later start stripping, "It's nice to know you have a hobby…who are you three anyway? Names please and then you need to tell me what you know about this demon. I am not going to ask again."

The short kid looked at the other two, who nodded for him to continue, "I'm Dougie and that's Harold and that dork is little Timmy."

Timmy stood up and walked over to his friend, "Shut up, it's Tim now and I'm not a dork you loser."

"Enough with the teenage drama club." Faith said as she stepped in between the two boys, "Now, one last time, Higathi and what you know about him?

Dougie "Okay, okay, it started out as joke and it just got way out of hand. Who knew everyone would fall for such a fake looking demon?"

Faith was rolling her eyes at the insanity of the situation, "You've got to be kidding? There is no demon? How could you possibly pull this off? Everyone believes this and from what I've seen, are pretty scared."

Harold got up and walked over to another cabinet and pulled out a rather advanced looking video camera and brought it over to Faith, "This is not just a video camera, it's been tweaked to double as a holographic projector. We created the demon, filmed it, created a voice for it and then when we had it all setup we tried it out."

"This is just unbelievable. Don't you have anything better to do with your lives?" Faith asked as she stared at the three teens.

"Don't knock it, this took us about 16 months to pull off. You have no idea how much work it is to create a demon from scratch." Tim said while grabbing a piece of pizza.

Faith "Just one more thing, what did you plan on doing with Isabella? You know, the sacrifice girl?"

"We hadn't thought that far in advance." Harold added, his eyes staring directly at Faith's breasts, "We really had no idea this would get so far as it is. It's not like we were going to hurt her or anything."

"First off, could ya at least try looking my in the eyes?" she said as she lifted his head upward, "Somehow I doubt you wanted to bring a pretty girl into your little playpen here to talk, so I have to think it was for something sexual and that really pisses me off."

"Well, we didn't do anything wrong. It didn't work, you interfered so I guess that's that." Dougie said with a smug look on his face.

"Oh how much I'd love to wipe that look off your face, but I'm reformed now, well sort of, and I just don't think you're worth it. So, here's what's gonna happen. We, meaning you, are going to go outside, turn on your holograph thingy and explain to the town everything you have done. I'll let all the parents decide what your punishment is and then I'll let Isabella have her say in all this. When all that is done, we'll see how happy you all are. Now get a move on, it's time to meet the town."

"This isn't fair, we were just having some fun." Harold said, his face turning white with the thought of his dad finding out what he's been up to.

"That's for the town to decide, now show me the way out." Faith pushed the guys forward and they led her through a maze of corridors until they came to a set of steps that led right up behind the police station.

Faith looked at the big sign in front of her and smiled at the three troublemakers, "I wonder if this is irony, fate or just poetic justice we ended up here. Anyway, the sooner you get this over with the sooner you can get back to enjoying videos and playing pool."

They all marched into the police station, with a little help from Faith and as she watched a police officer come and take them away, she shook her head and ran back to Isabella's house.

After explaining the situation to Isabella and her parents, Faith went back up to her room to gather her stuff up.

"Hey, you don't have to leave tonight you know?" Isabella asked as she came in and sat on the bed.

"I know, but I think it's for the best." Faith said as she picked up her small bag and threw it over her shoulder, "I know it's sudden, but if I've learned anything from all this, it's that I need to go back and deal with my problems head on."

"Oh, you mean that girl, Buffy?" Isabella asked, not sure if she was happy or sad about Faith going back to another girl.

"Yes, she'd be the one. I can't believe how much I've missed her and I just want to go back and see if we can make this work." Faith smiled, but then saw the disappointment in Isabella's eyes so she and she stopped and looked her in the eyes, "Hey, I'm going to be back. I am not leaving for good. I want to find out what happened to your sister too. I just need to see Buffy first."

"Oh, that's great. I was hoping you'd say that, but I didn't want to push." Isabella said. Isabella followed close behind, "Let me walk you to where we met, it's the least I can do."

"Thanks, I'd like that." Faith smiled and the two girls left the house and began walking down the street.

"I do want to thank you for everything you've done for me. You must think we are so stupid thinking some holograph was a demon." Isabella blushed as they crossed the street.

"No, not at all." Faith said as they came upon the road where they'd met, "Those guys were pretty convincing, but I have a feeling they have learned their lesson and will never try anything so stupid again. I think you'll be safe from them."

"I know and I owe it all to you." Isabella said, smiling at Faith and then leaned forward and gave her a very big kiss.

Faith pulled back with a stunned look on her face, "What was that?"

Isabella smiled, "It was just a kiss silly. I couldn't help it. I've wanted to kiss you since we met." She stopped as she saw Faith getting nervous, "Oh don't worry, I know your heart belongs to this Buffy girl and that's fine, but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't seize the moment and show you how I feel about you."

"I don't know what to say." Faith said, suddenly at a loss for words, "If things were different and…"

"It's okay, I am happy right now and that's all I want, so thanks again. I'll never forget you Faith." Isabella was smiling from ear to ear and as she looked down at her purse, her eyes lit up, "Hey, can I take a picture so I have something to remember you by?"

"Sure, for you I'll make an exception to my anti-picture rule." Faith sat down her bag and began making mock poses, "Okay, so how do you want me?"

"Oh, I know I won't get that pose, so I'll settle for a big smile." Isabella held out her Polaroid, waited until the wind died down and then clicked the camera and waited for the picture of Faith to develop.

Faith ran over to see how the picture turned out, "Oh, I look horrible, you have to take another picture."

"You do not, you look beautiful and I won't trade this picture for anything." Isabella said as she put the picture down her top.

"You're lucky I'm going home to B or I'd reach down and take that picture from ya." Faith smiled and then gave Isabella a big hug.

Isabella squeezed Faith tight and looked behind her as a couple kids were fooling around on their jet skis.

"I'm glad I met you Isabella, you're a sweet girl and I hope you have a long happy life." Faith said as she walked back over to her bag.

"I hope you and Buffy have the same long happy life too. I'm really happy for you, I just hope she knows how lucky she is." Isabella said as she waved to Faith.

There were a half dozen jet skis in the water now and Isabella was watching them as they came close to the shore. In an instant, her eyes lit up as she saw a gun in one man's hand and as he turned to fire it at the other man Isabella saw that Faith was right in the line of sight so she rushed over and pushed Faith out of the way.

Faith was lying on the ground as she heard the sound of gunshots and screamed as she saw Isabella fall to the ground.

She rushed over to see Isabella bleeding terribly from her chest and Faith pulled off her t-shirt and held it against the wound to stop the bleeding, "Oh god no, Isabella. Isabella, can you hear me?"

Isabella didn't answer and Faith was frantic and grabbed the cell phone from Isabella's purse and dialed 911, told the operator what had just happened and within minutes the ambulance came flying down the road.

"Isabella, hang on please. The ambulance is here and they are going to take of you." Faith said, holding her hand and waving to the paramedics to hurry up.

Isabella squeezed Faith's hand and tried to open her eyes, "Faith…are you okay?" she asked in a faint almost whisper of a voice.

"Yes, I'm fine. You saved my life." Faith said wiping away the flood of tears, "Now you have to take it easy and let these people help you." She said as she watched the paramedics work on her.

They put her on a gurney, lifted her into the ambulance and with Faith by her side they drove to the small hospital downtown.

PART 4

Back to Buffy.

Xander parked the truck and everyone came running. Willow looked at the body on the ground and then saw the sadness in Buffy's eyes and rushed over and gave her a big hug. Dawn followed as did Xander and soon everyone was hugging Buffy, which is exactly what she needed.

After the hug Buffy filled everyone in on who Fatum was and what had happened, Xander had grabbed a shovel and was ready to help, but before he could take a step something appeared out of the sky. It was a demon or it sure looked like one, but Buffy knew it was one of Fatum's kind and stepped forward to greet it, "Hi, I'm so sorry about Fatum, I should've been out here when this happened. I am so sorry."

A tall, rather hideous looking creature moved towards Buffy, "You did nothing wrong, Fatum was never happier than his short time here with you. We will take him back to our world and he will be remembered as a wonderful ambassador and leader and we hope you keep him in your heart as I know he would like that."

"I will, I promise you that." Buffy said unable to hold back her tears.

"Your destiny awaits, fulfill it and I know Fatum would be proud. Farewell Buffy." The demon said and then disappeared along with Fatum.

"Do you know what he meant by your destiny awaits?" Xander asked as he put his shovel back in the truck.

"No, I haven't got a clue, but whatever it is I'm pretty sure it has to do with that building over there." Buffy said pointing to the storage facility.

"Well then, let's get a move on." Dawn said as she began walking towards the building.

"You get back here young lady." Buffy said as she grabbed Dawn's t-shirt and pulled her to a stop. "You aren't going anywhere. You can stay here with the others. I need to do this on my own."

"But…" Dawn began but quickly felt Buffy's hand over her mouth.

"Please Dawn, don't argue with me, not now, I can't take it." Buffy said as she hugged her sister.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I just wanted to help. I never get to help you and I want to so much, just once." Dawn said with a sad but pleading look on her face.

Willow walked up and gently pulled Dawn away from Buffy, "Dawn, let's stay here and let Buffy take care of this."

Xander moved towards Buffy, "You don't have to do this alone anymore. We are here now and you know we can help."

"Yes and I'm so grateful for all you've done for me, but I have to do this alone. I'm not trying to shut you out, I'm not." Buffy said with a conviction that couldn't be ignored. "When I find what I need, I'll be counting on all of you to help me, but for now I need you to stay here and take out any vamps that happen by and I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Just be careful, okay?" Dawn asked as she gave her sister a long hug.

"I will. I'll feel much better knowing you are safe." Buffy then smiled at the others as she walked back into the storage building. This time she had one thing on her mind, finding Dr. Pisnovski and learning more about his research.

She made it down the elevator shaft, moved through some corridors, dispatching many vamps along the way as she closed in on Dr. Pisnovski's office.

Once she took out the two guards, she broke down the door, took out three more vamps and continued through the main doors and into a huge computer center with hundreds of humans operating the computers. There were men and women of all ages in the room. There had to be over 200 people in the room and all were staring at the screens in front of them, pushing buttons and looking at reports, but with no expressions or emotions on their faces.

They didn't seem to notice as Buffy walked through the room and opened the door at the far end. Inside it was a smaller room, holding truckloads of computer printouts, each box with a specific ID number on it.

Buffy picked up one print-out, but it was impossible to tell what the numbers meant, but they were obviously tracking something as the data was in sequential order, but without knowing what they were tracking, it was a dead end.

With a door to her right Buffy opened it and stepped inside. There were rows and rows filing cabinets in the room, at least 300 in total. Opening the first one, she shuffled through the different folders, each listed with a number and nothing else. Inside the folder were pictures of people along with their physical information and their health history.

There were circles made over the ages, weights, and blood types of each person, with a genetic marker code given to each one as well. As she looked through more and more files, Buffy found that the one common denominator in all the files was no date of death for anyone. The only question was what condition they might be in after the good doctor was through with them.

A noise from the other room caused Buffy to turn around in a flash, sending one of the file folders to the ground. She knelt down, picked it up, put it in her jacket and moved to the window to see what was going on.

Dr. Pisnovski and a couple of his flunkies were giving injections to the workers. What he was injecting them with was unknown.

Buffy analyzed her options as she looked over the room and with only three vamps in the room with the psycho doctor, she made her move. She jumped out from the door ready to fight but there was an even louder commotion on the other side of the room as she saw two vamps turn to dust and then the third one go up in smoke and right after that Dr. Pisnovski came through the far doors being pushed forward by Xander, Kennedy, Dawn and Willow.

"Hi there Buffy, here's someone you probably want to talk to." Willow said as she grabbed Pisnovski by the collar and led him over to Buffy.

"I don't know whether to hug you or yell at you for not listening." Buffy said, not believing her eyes.

"Well, Kennedy is a slayer now and I know my way around a spell or two and Dawn and Xander are a lot more capable than you might realize." Willow motioned everyone to come closer, "Anyway, we wanted to help and we did, so what next?"

"Thanks, to all of you." Buffy said with a genuine smile and then turned to Dr. Pisnovski, "We meet again. Do you feel talkative now?"

"Go ahead, enjoy your little victory while you can. I've already finished my research, tested it and now will show you my masterful creations." Dr. Pisnovski tried to push a button on his coat, but Willow grabbed his hands and Buffy grabbed the coat and pulled it off him.

"What do we have here?" Buffy asked as she examined the button closer, "I guess you won't get to show me your creations after all. Why not tell me what you've done with all these people here. They look like zombies."

"Oh I don't care about these people, they were nothing more than a means to an end." The doctor said as he tried to escape Buffy's grasp, but got nowhere. "They are in a deep hypnotized state. They have not been harmed in any way."

"Not harmed? Are you crazy?" Buffy said, trying to comprehend what she'd just heard. "You kidnapped them, took them from their family and friends, took their blood, messed with their DNA and turned them into your slaves and you don't call that harm?"

"Details, details, stop whining, they're alive aren't they." Dr. Pisnovski said without any feeling. "I'm not some killer you know. I am a genetic engineer who wants only to further scientific discoveries. I wanted to work with humans, but was turned down by every major research lab in the country. I was approached by what I thought was a respectable businessman to do some research for him and it turns out he was a vampire. I was more interested in continuing my research than worrying about such things so I did my thing and he left me alone."

"Aren't you a saint." Buffy said sarcastically, "Tell me what you have done here."

"Fine, I suppose it doesn't matter now, they will be released sooner or later and when they are not even a slayer will stop them. Then the world will see that my research is to be reckoned with." Pisnovski said with a proud smile.

Xander was looking at some of the print outs as he listened to the doctor, "What makes these vampires so special?"

"Oh they aren't vampires any longer." He said, his voice raising as he became excited about his accomplishments. "I would have to reclassify them, because they are no longer susceptible to sunlight, therefore allowing them to roam around 24 hours a day. A stake to the heart won't kill them now. And it would take an axe with a 12 inch thick titanium blade to even put a dent in their necks. That's just the beginning."

"That's not possible." Dawn said as she looked at Buffy for conformation.

Buffy pulled Dawn close, "I don't know if it's possible or not, but whatever he's been doing here we do have to find out first hand."

"It is possible and I have created them. All my work with gene splicing and DNA manipulation has finally paid off. Let me show you." He said and then waited for Buffy to show him to a computer.

He pulled up a number of files before turning to everyone and pointing towards his monitor. "I'm sure these numbers, graphs and charts mean nothing to you, but if you look closely at the data on the right, it's a complete breakdown of the millions and millions of DNA samples that I've accumulated. This next page is what happens when I melded the different DNA together." He showed a number of complex pictures on the following screens, followed by a close-up of one of his DNA manipulations.

"You see how in this example the DNA is not mutated. In most cases of DNA manipulation the DNA is instantly destroyed, but I found in very rare instances that DNA can be joined, thus creating a new and ultimately more powerful DNA. Now, once I figured out which samples of DNA would match with other samples, I could then start inserting the new DNA into the never-ending supply of vampires. Most died instantly as the new DNA had a diverse reaction to most every part of the Vampire's remaining human organs, as well as tearing apart the skin tissue at such a rapid pace the vampires were literally eaten away from the inside. It was a very nasty sight to be sure. But, that's science for you." He said with a warped laugh.

"I get it, you somehow found a way to mix the DNA of humans and vampires and have made some super vamp, well, show me the way and I'll test your new vamp out for ya." Buffy said, her patience on edge from listening to him yammer on for so long.

"I haven't explained how I got it all to work yet. Kids these days, you have no sense of the big picture." Dr. Pisnovski said with a sigh, "Oh well, if you wish to see my creations I insist you get me out of this place because I haven't yet worked out the coding to program them completely. My guess is they'd kill me as quickly as they kill all your friends here."

"Isn't that a shame, I'd say that works in our favor." Buffy said and then grabbed Pisnovski by the neck and began pushing him towards the door, "You can come with me and if there's anything you want to share about how to stop your new creations just let me know."

"Wait, you can't do this." Pisnovski said, fear filling his eyes as he tried to get Buffy to listen to him. "I'm just a mere mortal; I'll be pulverized by these killing machines. This is inhuman. I'll report you to the…well, I don't know who, but I will. Now you will let me go Miss Buffy."

Buffy stopped and turned towards the group, "Kennedy, could you come help with the good doctor here. I can't be watching him if these things get loose." She then turned back to Pisnovski, "I have no time for your games. How do I stop these things you've created? If I can't stop them, well I don't like your chances in getting out of here alive."

"Fine, I can always create more with different strengths and weaknesses." He said, his survival instincts taking over, "I have a self destruct sequence programmed into each one. They have a packet of the mutated DNA and they will drink it and die instantly. It's executed when they hear the word, 'Godzilla'"

"Godzilla?" Buffy laughed, "That's different."

"It had to be something they wouldn't hear in normal conversation and something I could say fast in case things got out of control during the training process." He reluctantly explained.

"Good, now where are they?" Buffy said as she looked around the lab.

Dr. Pisnovski hesitated for a couple seconds, but knew it was futile, so he gave in, "You take the elevator to the basement, follow the corridor to a security gate, enter the combination, 345292, and they are in cages at the end of the room. There are only 12, so you can have them self destruct without leaving their cages."

"Keep the doctor here until I return, just in case he's not telling the whole truth." Buffy said as she moved towards the elevator.

"Wait." He yelled, as Buffy turned and gave him a nasty look he cleared his throat and grinned, "Um, I guess I forgot to tell you there are 6 regular vamps guarding the cages and there is one of my creations in a cage in my office on the 1st floor. Sorry, it slipped my mind."

Buffy walked up to the doctor, grabbed him and pulled him into the elevator with her, "Okay, I'm done playing games. If there are any surprises waiting or me, I have my human shield to protect me now. Ain't it great?"

"No, um, I have told you everything." He said as his face turned red with fear and as the elevator stopped at the basement he stopped moving, "Okay, I just hate to see all my work destroyed. I've spent years and years working on this. It's just hard. There are at least 36 of my creations in different parts of the facility. There are 12 in the basement here, but others are spread in groups of 6 on the different floors. All are in cages and have the same programming, but they would be killing machines if they got released and I'm not ready for that to happen."

"How noble of you." Buffy said with a heaping helping of sarcasm as she punched in the code to the first security gate, waited for it to close then turned to the doctor. "I'm going to take care of the vamps and then your creations and you better be here when I get back. Is that understood?"

"Yes, of course. I have told you everything now, I have no reason to run. I'm safer with you now." He said with a dejected look covering his face.

Buffy didn't say a thing as she turned and moved down the long corridor, stopping to check out the placements of the vamps in the room. She moved quietly up to the first one, tapped it on the shoulder and staked it as soon as it turned around.

When it turned to dust, the other vamps all turned and rushed towards her at once.

After some fairly simple fighting the regular vamps were history.

She walked up the vamps in the cages and couldn't see one difference in them from the ones she'd just disposed of.

They were all pulling at their cages trying to get at Buffy and when it seemed as though they might break out Buffy yelled the magic word, "Godzilla" and the vamps all pulled out a vial, drank it and began disintegrating on the spot.

Buffy went back, grabbed the doctor and went through each and every floor until every single vamp was destroyed, as were the creations. When she had finished dealing with the vamps she took the doctor back to the room with all the people working at the computers, "Now, there's one more thing, you need to let all those workers free. Say the magic word so they can get back to their lives."

"Yes, of course." He said with little resistance and then stepped into the room. "Alex Trebek."

As soon as he said it, the people stopped working and began looking around, trying to figure out where they were and what they were doing.

"Alex Trebek? That's the magic word?" Buffy said shaking her head with a faint smile.

"What can I say, I love Jeopardy." He said with a shrug.

Buffy took a moment to explain to everyone what had happened and after dispersing a posse that wanted to tear the doctor apart she helped everyone out of the building.

Outside her friends were waiting for her and she pushed the doctor towards Xander, "Could you tie him or lock him somewhere until the police get here. I can't stand looking at him any longer."

"Sure thing." Xander agreed and then grabbed the short little man and took him over to his pickup, tied him up and stood watch over him.

Buffy unzipped her jacket to get some air and the folder she'd put inside fell to the ground. She picked it up, opened it and looked it over.

There was no name, but there was a picture of the young woman and as she held it up for a better look the exact same woman walked up to Buffy and she was standing beside her picture as Buffy looked at the picture and then the woman and shook her head in amazement.

"Hi, you seem to know what's going on here. I was wondering if you knew where we were and how I could get back home?" the young woman said politely.

"Of course, what's your name?" Buffy asked as she pulled the picture down and stuffed it back into the folder.

"Oh, I'm Lisa Moyer." She said as she shook Buffy's hand, "I live in Bishop County and I want to get home to my family, they must be worried sick. I don't even know how long I've been gone, do you?"

"I'm sorry I don't know when you were taken. It's August of 2003 now if that helps." Buffy said as she took the woman's hand and led inside the house.

The gang stayed outside and helped the others get readjusted to the world and help them on their way.

Buffy sat Lisa down and explained to her everything that she knew about what had happened to her and then tried to talk about something more enjoyable. "I'll be glad to help you get back home. Bishop County isn't far from where I live so we can head over there when you feel up to it."

"Thank you, I can't tell you how much I miss my family." Lisa said as she sat back in the chair and stretched her arms and legs out. "Even my little sister will be a welcome sight."

"I know they will all be just as happy to have you back home." Buffy said, just happy things turned out so good for this young girl.

"I guess I probably should get going then. Are you sure it's no trouble taking me home? I can walk if it's not far or call a cab or my parents even." Lisa said as she got to her feet again.

"No, it's no trouble at all." Buffy said, leading Lisa out to the truck. "I have the strangest feeling I should be in Bishop County now, so I think I better find out why."

When they walked outside, they saw the police taking Dr. Pisnovski away. There was an FBI team was all over the storage facility and Buffy and her friends all gave their statements and were free to go.

Everyone hopped into the truck, with 3 in the front and three in the cab of the truck and Xander took off down the dirt road and made his way to Bishop County.

It was a slow ride, with so many people walking down the road, but once they got onto the highway things picked up and within a couple hours they came across the, "'Welcome to Bishop County' sign. Lisa took over giving directions and Xander pulled up outside Lisa's home about 10 minutes later. She got out of the truck and slowly walked up to her front door, just smiling and looking over every familiar inch of the home she hadn't seen in over a year.

Back to Faith.

Inside, Isabella was taken to the emergency room where the doctors worked on her until they had her moderately stable and a doctor came out to talk to Faith, "Are you Faith?"

"Yes. Is she going to be okay? You will save her right?" Faith said her voice breaking up as she spoke.

"Isabella would like to talk to you. Please keep it short, but I'm sorry to say she doesn't much time." The doctor said softly and then walked away.

Faith was stunned by what she'd just been told and wasn't sure how she could face Isabella now, but she pulled herself together and walked into the emergency room.

"Hi there." Faith said, trying to put on a happy face.

Isabella turned to look at Faith and a smile came across her pretty face, "Hi, I bet I don't look very good right now."

"You look beautiful." Faith said with sad smile, "How do you feel?"

"Not great, but better now that you're here." Isabella winced and held her chest, "This isn't how I thought our last meeting would be like."

"I know…you shouldn't talk right now." Faith said as she caressed Isabella's hand, "You saved my life. This isn't how it was supposed to happen. I was supposed to save you." Faith tried to keep the tears away but just couldn't do it.

"Don't cry." Isabella said softly as she put her hand over Faith's, "Looks like I'm out of visions and you're safe from looking at my life now."

"Please don't joke about this." Faith said, putting her other hand over Isabella's, "You're my hero. Do you know that? The only other hero in my life is Buffy, but now I have two. But you have to get better so you can meet her, okay?"

Isabella coughed and winced as she smiled up at Faith, "I guess we're even then, cause you're my hero. I want you to tell my parents I love them. I want you to have a good life and a happy life and fulfill your destiny. I'm sorry I didn't get to meet Buffy, I know I would've liked her. Goodbye Faith." Isabella smiled and closed her eyes.

Just then the single white line appeared on the machine and a loud buzzing sound began going off. Faith looked up and saw the straight white line and knew what it meant, "Wait, no, noo, noooo. Please don't go. Isabella. Please."

Doctors and nurses rushed into the room, ushering Faith out in the process. After working non stop for the longest time Faith saw a nurse turn off the machine and cover Isabella up.

Faith was unable to move and barely said a thing as the doctor told her that Isabella had died.

She sank to the chair and cried and cried and cried. When she looked up, she saw Isabella's parents standing over Isabella. Debra was crying and Harlan was in a state of shock and disbelief. After they said their goodbyes they came out to see Faith.

They both gave Faith a big hug and she pulled away, "No don't do that, I don't deserve it. I'm so sorry. I should've seen this coming. I should've protected her. I failed."

Debra pulled Faith close and gave her another hug, "No, sweetheart, it's not your fault. The paramedics told us what happened. She saved your life. The only blame is to the person who fired that gun. Please, you can't blame yourself. It's not what Isabella would want."

"Debra is right." Harlan said as he put his hand on Faith's shoulder, "This is a horrible, horrible tragedy, but we will take solace in the fact our daughter saved someone's life today. Someone she looked up to and admired so much. You made a huge impression on her and we'll always be grateful for that."

Faith was overwhelmed by emotions as she tried to make sense out of what had just happened.

"I don't know what to say. She was so happy and smiling and…I just don't understand any of this." Faith said, still shaken by the tragic turn of events.

"I know, I know." Debra said as she sat Faith down and held her until Faith fell asleep in her arms.

It was a couple hours later when Faith woke up in Debra's lap, "I can't believe I fell asleep. I feel so dumb."

"It's not dumb, you had a very long day and you needed this more than you know." Debra said as she watched Faith sit up and get to her feet.

"You didn't have to stay." Faith said as she looked over at the emergency room, only to find it empty.

"I have to tell you something now and I'm not sure if it's the right time or not, but since I don't know your plans I have to say it before it's too late." Debra took out a letter from her purse and handed it to Faith, "Isabella gave me this just before you got back tonight. She didn't tell me what it was, but she was emphatic about me giving this to you before you left. She said you'd understand when you read it."

Faith took the letter and stood there frozen in her tracks. Debra got up and touched Faith's arm, "You should go outside and read this in private. Harlan and I have to make some arrangements, but we'd love to have you stay with us tonight."

"Thank you, yes, I'd like that." Faith said, her eyes glued to the letter.

"Okay, you go read this and we'll see you back at the house." Debra picked up her coat and walked towards the door, then stopped to look at Faith, "This is a terrible time for all of us, but I want you to remember Isabella when she was smiling, I know it's what she'd want." She smiled as she wiped her own tears away and walked down the hall and out of sight.

Back to Buffy.

It was quiet and even a little eerie as she looked around the deserted streets.

A neighbor drove up in his car and when he got out and saw Lisa standing looking back at him he froze and stood there in silence.

Lisa ran over to him and gave him a hug, "Mr. Jensen, it's really me. I'm home again."

"I can't believe it, it's a miracle." He said as he looked at Buffy and the gang standing behind her.

"Those are the people that helped rescue me." Lisa said as she looked back over her shoulder, then turned to Mr. Jensen, "Where is everyone?"

Mr. Jensen's eyes bulged out and he became visibly shaken, "Oh Lisa, you need to go the hospital now. Your mom and dad are there now. Please go."

"What, is something wrong? Is it dad? Mom?" She asked, not even thinking it could be Isabella.

"Please go there now." Mr. Jensen gave her a hug and walked slowly into his house.

Lisa turned and ran towards the truck, everyone piled back into it and Xander followed Lisa's directions and soon had pulled up in front of the hospital.

Buffy got out and walked with Lisa through the hospital, stopping as Lisa saw her mom and dad walking towards her.

They stopped dead in their tracks, mouths open and tears still fresh on their faces. After walking away from unspeakable sadness, they were now walking towards the return of their other daughter. Lisa rushed forward and hugged them both, but she could feel something was wrong just by looking at them. Their happiness to see Lisa was marred by what they'd just been through with their youngest daughter.

Buffy looked down the corridor to see a dark haired girl walking away and as she turned to see Lisa's parents tell Lisa about Isabella, her heart broke for the family.

She knew they needed time together so she followed the girl out of the hospital, looked around and spotted her go up on the hill and quickly followed. She stopped once she was sure it was Faith, letting her read the letter in her hand in private.

*****

Faith took the letter and walked out of the hospital and up on the hill overlooking the small town, sat down on an old log and opened up the letter.

As she read it, she heard every word in Isabella's soft sweet voice.

Faith.

I know you must be feeling bad about now. I know you will be blaming yourself for my death and I can't let you do that. I've lived a very boring 16 years and yet I can say with certainty that today was the best day of my life.

I don't think you have a clue how much you meant to me in the short time that I've known you, but I've never smiled so much or felt so alive as I have just being around you.

I know we could never be together and maybe it's silly to even say this, since I've only known you a day, but I think I love you. I don't know if it's just as a friend or more, but I know I feel this and I wanted you to know it too.

When you were off searching for the demon, I was feeling lonely so I picked up your bag to be close to you and when I did, I had the most intense vision ever.

I've never had one touching an object before, but this one was so real I can barely write this because I'm still shaking from it.

You're not going to like it, but I saw my own death. I saw it through your pretty dark eyes. I saw the man aiming the gun and I could see it was going to hit you and I just couldn't let that happen. You told me once that you would rather die and save my life than stand by and do nothing, well, that's exactly how I felt and I'm so proud to have saved your life.

I know you are meant to do great things and I can't stand in the way of this for anything, not even my own life.

Please don't be mad, but I know you have a destiny to fulfill and I will be watching over you when it happens.

Love Isabella.

Faith was sobbing uncontrollably as she finished reading the letter, unable to stop herself as she fell to the ground and screamed a single word into the air over and over and over again, "Why?"

*****

When she saw Faith break down in tears and scream out, "Why?" she rushed over, put her arms around her and held her close.

Faith looked up, her eyes filled with tears, to see Buffy holding her and a sense of relief and comfort came over her, helping deal with the mind numbing sadness she was feeling.

Neither girl said a thing, Buffy just held Faith tight and let her cry until she cried herself to sleep.

As the sun came up a mysterious gaseous cloud had formed over the small town, with people dropping like flies as they took their first breath outside.

Buffy and Faith woke up to the smell and as they covered their faces, they noticed a strange hovercraft just up the hill.

They ran towards it, stopping about 100 feet away, when they looked down to see Faith's bracelet glowing and Buffy's amulet glowing, they opened them both up and a blinding flash filled the sky, the gaseous cloud had disappeared, but so had Buffy and Faith.

...to be continued...