“Bloody hell,” Spike muttered as he stumbled his way out of the high school. 

 

He hadn’t run into any vampires outside the library.  Normally he would’ve thought that was odd, but after the past few months his concept of odd had changed dramatically.

 

“Pssst, Spike.  Over here.”

 

Spike turned towards Willow’s voice.   Both she and Xander were hiding themselves across the street behind a car.  In no time flat, he was hunkered down and hiding with them. 

 

Did take long for Spike to realize what he was doing.  He quickly jumped back up. 

 

“What’s wrong?” Willow asked.

 

“I’m not hidin’ behind a bloody car.  I used to be a Big Bad remember?”  He nodded towards the school.  “Not like there’s anyone to hide from anyway.”

 

Xander and Willow slowly stood up and looked around. 

 

“What do we do now?” Xander asked.  “We can’t just leave them in there.”

 

“You think, Harris?” Spike said, glaring at him.  “I thought that was the plan.  Just leave ‘em both in there.”  Spike was beyond angry.  He couldn’t think straight.  Not only did he leave a fight, he left both of them in there alone.  That wasn’t sitting well with him, wasn’t sitting well with him at all.

 

“Don’t start,”  Willow said.  “We need to help them and you two fighting isn’t doing anyone any good.”

 

“Kind of makes me feel better,” Spike said.

 

“Spike...” Willow began.

 

“Fine!” he said, throwing his hands up in surrender.

 

“Did you see Buffy and Faith?” Willow asked.  “Or anything else, well, besides being surrounded by a bunch of big, pointy teeth?”

 

“They were fine when I left… making their way to the door.” Spike gaze shifted to the ground.  “Not looking like they made it though.”  Spike faltered, if only briefly.  “Not sure what happened after that.  I should go back.  Buffy wanted me to keep you safe and you’re safe.” He took a step towards the school.  “I’m going back in.”  He looked at them making sure they understood.  “You two stay here.  Stay safe.  Red’s got her mojo if you need it and I’ve kept my word.”

 

It wasn’t exactly a flash.  It was there, and then it wasn’t.  All that remained was, well, nothing.  Even the car Xander and Willow had hidden behind was gone. 

 

The spell that had brought Sunnydale back had been broken. 

 

“Who turned out the lights?” Xander asked.

 

Spike could see them; he didn’t think they could see him though.  “Over here,” he said quietly, seeing the relief spread across their faces. 

 

Least he could save somebody.

 

Willow’s relieved look lasted briefly and then she began to chant softly

 

“You made it brighter, Will.”

 

“Yep,” she began.  “It’s sort of an enhanced brightness spell.  We needed more light to see, so that’s what we got.”

 

“I don’t care what kind of spell it is.  All that dark was freaking me out,” Xander proclaimed.  “Look over there.”  Xander pointed to where the high school had once, okay twice, stood.  “We’re still here right?  If Buffy and Faith were still in the school, wouldn’t we be able to see them?”

 

“He’s right,”  Willow said.  “Where’d they go?”

 

Spike had a pretty good idea where they went.  “Where do you think they would’ve taken them?” Spike asked, not really waiting for a reply.  He then saw realization flash in Willow’s eyes. 

 

“Guess we’re not done with the Hellmouth after all,” she said. 

 

“Soddin’ hole in the ground,” he mumbled, more to himself.

 

“More like it’s not done with us,” Xander said.  “Okay, once again.  What do we do now?”

 

Willow was thoughtful for a moment.  “I have an idea.”

 

Spike hoped Red’s idea was going to be a good one.  The thought of both slayers being alone and not showing up soon after the rest of them did had set his nerves on edge.  Whatever they were going to do they needed to do quickly.  Spike knew himself.  He and inactivity didn’t sit well.  What was that expression?  Fools rush in where, where, you-know-what’s feared to tread?

 

Spike vowed he wasn’t going to be the fool...even though the you-know-what’s idea didn’t sit all that particularly well either.

 

XXXXX

 

It wasn’t the first time Faith had to fly by the seat of her pants; she just hoped it wouldn’t be her last. 

 

She didn’t like hitting Buffy.  Okay maybe just a teeny-tiny bit.  She knew their only chance was getting one or both of them out of that cage and since it was her idea…

 

Now she was being dragged down some passageway by two-undead-Neanderthals who acted like they had no idea what to do with her. 

 

She said it once, she’d say it again; leave it to minions to fuck up.

 

She struggled a little.  Faith didn’t want to make it look like she was going willingly, even if she was.  But now seemed like a good time.  Faith stopped dead in her tracks, freeing her right arm and smacking the vamp on her right side in the head.  “How did that feel?  Want another?” she said as he went flying into the wall.  The vamp on her left quickly restrained her; pulling her back into his rough grasp.

 

After a couple more steps, Faith released both her arms and sent both of them flying.  “You guys are making this too easy,” she declared, standing in the middle of the tunnel, her hands on her hips.  Before she could say anything else, they both were on her, had her pinned to the ground, and then dragged her back to her feet. 

 

Faith was actually kind of enjoying herself.  “Do you two have any idea what you’re doing?” she taunted.

 

“Shut-up, slayer,” the one holding her right arm hissed.

 

“Let me guess.  It’s your first slayer abduction.  So fellas, I gotta ask.  How’s it going?  Working out okay for you?”

 

The demon on her left yanked her arm.  “He said shut up slayer.”

 

They were now out of sight of the main cavern.  “That doesn’t sound too good boys.  Where’s your confidence?”

 

Faith grabbed both of their arms, did a midair somersault and landed behind them.  Grabbing both vamps by the back of their necks, using the momentum of her speed, she pushed both their heads into the wall in front of them.  Luck!  There was crunching, little hard to move with a broken neck - or two.  That would buy her some time. They weren’t dusted, but it would have to do since she didn’t have a stake. 

 

Now where was she going to put them?

 

XXXXX

 

Buffy knew Faith was up to something, she just wished she knew what it was. 

 

Time would tell; she just wasn’t sure how much time they had or how much time Faith needed to do whatever she was going to do. 

 

She hoped Spike had found Xander and Willow and they all were okay.  Buffy sighed.  After all she had been through she had wound up coming face-to-face with the thing that scared her most… well, used to scare her the most. 

 

Buffy had gone back to the beginning, of everything... again. 

 

This time things were so going to be different.

 

The Master's back was turned to her as she called out, “You don’t scare me anymore.”  He turned and approached the cage, looking at her suspiciously.  “I just wanted you to know that.  I’m not a teenager anymore, terrified of the Big Bad Vampire.”  Buffy laughed.  “You are so,” she indicated the ground, “down there on my list.”  Buffy laughed again and stood up.  “Funny how things change isn’t it?  I never would’ve thought it.”   The Master’s confidence wavered, if only briefly, but Buffy saw it.  ”You know what I think is the most fun?” She didn’t wait for him to answer.  “I actually think you’re more afraid of me than I am of you.”

 

The Master glared at her.  “Slayer, you do not scare me.  You have never scared me and you will never scare me.”  He stormed the cage.  “You may have surprised me once, but you never scared me.  This time there will be no coming back.  You will be dead… you will stay dead.  They do say that three times is the charm, now don’t they?”

 

“Yes, they do,” Buffy said, smiling.

 

XXXXX

 

“You are good at that, aren’t you?” Xander asked.

 

Willow smiled.  “I’m getting better,” she said, responding to Xander’s question.  “It may not be a big-ole-brilliant plan, but I think it’s a start and it’s nothing huge. Huge still wigs me out a little.  Yes, I know it shouldn’t after the whole, ‘Hey, let’s make everyone a Slayer’ spell’, but still...”

 

“But Will, how can you do a locater spell without that thingamabob you used back at Buffy’s house?” Xander asked.

 

“This spell is a little different – not exactly a locater spell.  It will show me where they’re at in my mind, not all lighty on a map.  It will lead me to them and you two can follow.”

 

“So you’ll be able to sense them?” Spike asked.

 

“If it works right, yes,”  Willow said.  “It’ll be a hint.  An intuition.  And it should lead me to them.”

 

Spike wasn’t sure he should say something, but that never stopped him before, why should it stop him now?  “Kind of got my own locator spell.  Get me close enough and I’ll be able to tell you where they’re at.”

 

“I was just trying to help,” Willow said, obviously defeated.

 

Spike had screwed up.  He didn’t mean to.  It just kind of happened.  “Not what I meant, love,” he said, giving her arm a light squeeze.  “Thinking maybe its time to take a mojo rest.  Save your strength for the big stuff.  I can find ‘em.”

 

Spike felt her relax and he was glad. 

 

“We know where to start,” Spike said.  The three of them trudged slowly to the hellmouth and stopped along side it.  Spike could see the one lone tunnel leading down.  “Lookin’ like the only way in.  Guess it will make it that much easier.”

 

“Here we go,” Xander said.

 

XXXXX

 

Okay, now what in the hell was she going to do? 

 

Faith snuck to the opening of the tunnel that the mangled boys had brought her down, making sure she kept her back to the wall.

 

It didn’t take her long to get to the end, she peered around the corner and spotted B, still in the cage and still alive.  And she was giving The Master some shit. 

 

“Way to go B,” Faith said quietly. 

 

Now that was a good thing.  Faith pretty much figured she’d be on her own, well until she could break B out.  She just wasn’t sure how she was going to do that yet.  The Master was strong; she had assumed that she hadn’t seen all his powers yet.  Besides Kakistos, Faith had never been around a vamp that was full strength and this old.  The Old One had been a walk in the park, but she didn’t want to take any chances with The Master.

 

She glanced around the cavern.  A quick count landed on fifteen vamps.  Okay not a huge number, but no way she could take all of them out without help.  And who knew how many more were scattered around that she couldn’t see.  She was a slayer, but she wasn’t stupid, she knew when she was outnumbered and The Master being nearby didn’t help matters either.

 

Damn it!  Faith knew what she wanted to do, but she didn’t even have a lousy stake on her, so she retreated back into the tunnel.  She mentally forced herself to relax.  What was the first thing she needed to do?  Weapons, she needed weapons.  Faith worked her way further into the tunnel.  She didn’t want to be gone forever and she knew it would only be a matter of time before they realized she was missing. 

 

Once that happened all hell would break loose… literally.

 

About a quarter of a mile past her unconscious-undead-pals, the tunnel branched off to the right, so Faith went that way.  It led into another cavern.  This one was not as big; it looked more like a cave now that she was standing in the middle of it, and someone lived here.  There were a couple cots, some books strewn about, an old table and chairs; the table had a gas lantern sitting on it and right next to it a lighter. 

 

“I’ll flick your Bic alright,” she said.  Faith had a pretty good idea where the boys were bringing her.  In the far corner, by the bed, was a set of chains.  “Undead guys kind of into the kink.”

 

Faith beamed.  “Now this stuff I can use.”  She grabbed one of the wooden chairs and stomped on it with her foot.  She listened carefully to make sure no one had heard her.  Once she knew that she was indeed still alone, she finished off the chair and then grabbed the pillow off the bed, pulling the pillowcase off.  Faith gathered up all the makeshift stakes, jamming as many as she could into her waistband.  The remaining ones she tossed into the pillowcase.  As an afterthought, she grabbed the lantern, snatched the lighter and stuffed it into the front pocket of her jeans.   You just never knew when something would come in all handy.  What the hell, she grabbed the chains, too.

 

Faith worked her way back to the main cavern, stopping to check on her two buddies, who were still unconscious, but beginning to move around a little.  She gave them both a swift kick in the head.  Why? Because she felt like it.  Faith then took one of the stakes from her waistband. 

 

“See ya.”

 

By the time she had made her way back to the main cavern, she could see that Buffy was still in the cage, there were still vamps guarding her, but The Master was nowhere to be seen.  A quick survey proved to her that there were fewer vamps in here than before. 

 

“Finally,” she whispered, something working in her favor.

 

Faith scanned the room, trying to get her bearings.  She saw the way they had come in.  The way in was the way out... now to just actually get her and B outta here in one piece.

 

But first she had to bust her out of the cage.

 

XXXXX

 

Spike, Willow and Xander made their way down the tunnel.

 

Spike motioned for the two of them to stop when he realized they were only a couple steps away from the main chamber.  “Wait here,” he whispered.

 

Spike peeked in.  “Not much to it,” he said, motioning Xander and Willow to come closer.

 

“There’s Buffy!” Willow exclaimed, trying to keep the excitement out of her voice and be quiet at the same time.

 

“Not seeing Faith anywhere,” Xander added.

 

“Me either,” Spike grumbled, not noticing the look Willow and Xander exchanged.  “We need to get Buffy out and then find Faith.”

 

“Do you think she’s…?"

 

Spike glared.  “Don’t say it Harris,” he growled, handing him a stake.

 

“Not saying anything.”

 

“I’m going after Buffy; anyone gets near her or me, light ‘em,” Spike said, aiming his statement at Willow.  She nodded.  “Harris, anyone gets past me or Red here, use the stake.”

 

Spike entered the cavern and ducked behind a crevice in the wall making sure his intrusion remained unnoticed.  

 

Seeing Buffy gave him some relief, but Spike was far from comforted.  Where was Faith?  Why were the two of them split up?  Was he already too late to save her?  Spike immediately banished the thought from his mind.

 

Faith was not dead.  He would know it, he would feel it.

 

Now he just needed to be sure of it.

 

XXXXX

 

Willow waited for Spike to make his move.  She didn’t feel nervous. 

 

Okay not really, really nervous, she had done this spell hundreds of times.  Okay not hundreds of times, but a few times.  It shouldn’t be a problem; a little chant, a little ball of fire and poof, bad vamps all gone.  She glanced back at Xander, who smiled at her reassuringly.

 

Willow smiled and then stopped, a wide-eyed look taking over.  “Xander, sometimes I amaze myself.”

 

XXXXX

 

“Buffy can you hear me?”

 

“Willow?”

 

Buffy’s voice was in her head, making it sound as if she was standing right next to her. 

 

“Yea!  I almost forgot about this.”

 

“Where are you?” Buffy asked her.

 

“In the tunnel, just out of sight, Spike is in there already.  Umm, Buffy?”

 

“Yea, Will?”

 

“Faith?”

 

“I don’t know, but we’ll find her. She’s still alive.   And Will, it’s The Master.”

 

The Master?  Willow couldn’t believe it. 

 

“He’s dead Buffy!”

 

“Doesn’t mean much nowadays.”

 

“Good point.”

 

“What do you want me to do?”

 

“Just wait, you’ll know,” Willow instructed her  “One down,” Willow thought.  “Two more to go...”

 

It had been a while since Willow had tapped into Spike’s head.  She didn’t think about those times much anymore, all it did was make her sad.  Before Buffy had come back, or before they had brought Buffy back, they had used telepathy while patrolling.  She wasn’t sure she could, him being a vampire and all.  But Spike’s head was open to it.  She just had to promise never to do it again. 

 

Willow took a deep breath.

 

“Spike?”

 

“Bloody Hell Red,” Spike said loud enough for Willow to actually hear him.  Spike glanced back towards the entrance of the cave, realization dawning on his face. 

 

“We talked about this Willow.”

 

“Sorry Spike.  There was no other way.  Well, unless you wanted me to throw a rock at you or something.”

 

Willow sounding even more tired than she thought she should sound.

 

 “Sorry, Red.  It’s okay.”

 

“Buffy knows we’re here.  She’s waiting for us to make our move.  And Spike?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“It’s The Master.”

 

Willow didn’t wait for him to respond, she had a feeling his response would be pretty close to Buffy’s.  All she needed to do now was find Faith.  She had never tapped into Faith’s head before; this was going to be interesting.

 

Willow wondered briefly why she hadn’t told Spike that Faith was still alive.

 

XXXXX

 

“Faith?”

 

Who the hell is that? 

 

Faith spun around, stake in hand, figuring someone had snuck up behind her.  There wasn’t anyone there.  It's not like she could’ve heard anyone; her heart was beating so outta control at the moment.

 

“Faith, its Willow.”

 

“Willow?”

 

Faith turned around frantically trying to find out where she was hiding.

 

“I’m not there Faith.  And you don’t need to talk, just think.  I’m in your head.”

 

Faith stopped. 

 

“You’re in my head?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Get the fuck out!” 

 

This was even too weird for Faith. 

 

“Willow what are you doing in my head?  Where are you?”

 

“We’re all here.  Buffy knows.  We’re going to get both of you out.  Just wait; you’ll know when to make your move.”

 

Faith waited a few seconds.

 

“Willow?” 

 

No answer.  Good!!  Faith’s head was crowded enough without Willow roaming around in it. 

 

Besides, there were a few thoughts she wasn't ready to share just yet.