“It’s not my fault,” Andrew squawked as Faith dragged him out of the car. "She fought bravely, but in the end, it was too much for a mere child, a young slayer who was greatly outnumbered.  A slayer who…”

 

Buffy caught the murderous threat in Faith’s eyes; she quickly stepped in between them, grabbing Andrew away.

 

“There were hundreds of bloodthirsty, walking undead, non-uber vampyres.  They jumped out of the back of the van and then they grabbed her by the hair and then they hauled her right into the back of the death trap, poor girl couldn’t even fight them off, and then they knocked her out.”

 

“Hundreds of uglies wouldn’t fit in the back of a soddin’ van,” Spike said.

 

“Not a hundred," stammered Andrew, "Four.  Maybe Five.  And a really ugly demon-type dude.”

 

“Andrew," Buffy said, making eye-contact with him, "now is not the time for stories.  We need to know what happened.  Exactly what happened.  Understand?”

 

The look of panic slowly left Andrew’s eyes.  Buffy watched as he visibly took four very deep breaths.  “It’s okay.  Take your time,” she said.

 

“But not too much time,” Faith added, edging closer to him.

 

“Faith,” Spike said, touching her arm before jumping back as she swung at him.  He held his hands out, asking, “Give ‘im a moment, pet?”

 

At first it looked to Buffy like Faith was going to do anything but ease up.  But the longer Faith held Spike's gaze, the more Buffy could see something in her relax.  At least enough for Andrew to stop shaking like a leaf.   

 

Spike’s tenderness towards Faith didn’t surprise Buffy; the fact that Faith accepted it did. Faith had never been the tender-type.  Buffy was the one who had the loving relationships, even if they seemed never to last long.  When had Faith become that girl?

 

Buffy looked Andrew in the eyes again.  "Andrew, what happened to Emma?  We can't fix this without more information."

 

Andrew took one more deep breath.  “My suspicion would be chloroform.  Works quickly.  No muss.  No fuss.  Might cause some vomiting when one wakes up.  And I believe a headache will be in the making also.”

 

Buffy smiled.  He might become a Watcher yet.

 

“We already know where they’re taking her,” Spike said.  “I say we go and get her.”

 

Andrew started backing toward the house.  “Um, maybe I’ll just go inside and wait for you to get back.  You know, in case Emma shows up.  She’ll need to see a friendly face.”

 

Andrew ran into the house, slamming the door behind him.  Buffy figured it was probably for the best. Buffy turned to Faith, her eerie calmness was starting to make her nervous.  “Faith, are you okay? Let’s go talk to Willow and Giles.  We need a plan.”

 

“Faith?” Spike asked.

 

Still, Faith said nothing.  She glanced at them and then headed towards her car.

 

“Not going to happen,” Spike said, stepping between Faith and the Viper.  “You’re not going to just take off on your own.”

 

“They’ve got her and now we’re going to get her back before there’s nothing left to get.  I’m leaving now.  I’m not going into the house.  If you do, I will be gone by the time you get back out here.”  Faith looked at both of them coldly.  “It’s up to you.” 

 

XXXXX

 

Emma’s head ached and her belly felt like it was boiling. She forced her eyes open, then squeezed them shut again as she rolled over and puked.

 

In spite of the headache that could cripple an elephant and her mouth tasting like one, Emma made herself concentrate on her surroundings.  First she needed to sit up.  Lying on her restrained wrists was cutting off her circulation.

 

She maneuvered herself into a sitting position.  Moving her arms down the back of her legs, she worked them under her feet and finally back in front of her where they belonged.

 

She couldn’t rub her head very well with her wrists tied together, but she did her best. 

 

She needed to figure out where she was.  There weren’t any windows, but someone had left a battery-operated lamp next to her, giving her a little light to work with. 

 

How nice of them.  Emma would’ve rolled her eyes if it didn’t hurt so badly.

 

The little light didn’t help much, but it was enough.  From what she could tell, she was in a big closet.  She looked up and saw wire hangers on the wooden rod hanging about her head.  One of the scenes from the movie Halloween flashed briefly in her mind.

 

She really needed to stop watching all those horror movies.

 

Emma glanced at the door, she didn’t need to hear them to know there was an ugly or two parked on the other side of it.  It didn’t take a genius to realize that she had been duped by a bunch of vamps and now those vamps and a few of their closest friends, like the Nigriv demons, wanted to use her as a… sacrifice. 

 

Emma refused to say ‘virgin sacrifice’.  If she admitted that, she would know the only reason she was here was because she’d never gotten laid.  God, she really was a dork!

 

What if they made her have sex with a vamp before they killed her?  That thought just about stopped her heart in her chest.  But that didn’t make much sense, did it?  Why find a virgin only to deflower her before the big night, right?  If Emma wasn’t careful, she was going to puke again.

 

“Okay, Emma, think,” she muttered quietly.  “You’ve read enough.  You know what they do with a sacrifice.  They need the blood for something.  Some kind of ritual.  Maybe they wouldn’t need all of it?  Maybe they’d just take a little and leave the rest?”

 

Like that was going to happen.  Besides, if they only needed a little, the chances of losing her innocence to a vamp became a little too possible.  What if they turned her?  No, worse!  What if they took some of her blood, made her have sex with a vampire and then turned her?

 

Emma could wind up a slut.  A blood-drinking slut!

 

Now that she’d realized the worst-case scenario, it was time to start figuring a way out of this mess.  She just prayed that Faith and the others would show up sooner rather than later.

 

XXXXX

 

Spike was worried about Faith.  He knew he should be more worried about the girl, but Faith was being too quiet and that was never a good sign.  She was holding the strap of her bag so tightly, her knuckles had gone white.

 

It didn’t take much for Spike to single out her heartbeat from Buffy’s.  Faith’s heart was beating so fast in her chest, Spike wasn’t sure he needed his vampire senses to hear it.  Add to that Faith’s silence, which was so palpable that it had its own physical presence in the van, and Spike's worry took on an edge of fear for his girl.

 

“You okay?” he finally asked, sneaking a sideways glance at her as he drove.  The fact that she let him drive spoke volumes, even if it wasn’t her car.

 

Spike was surprised when Buffy had agreed to go without reformulating a plan with Rupert.  Best he could figure, she was banking that Andrew would fill Giles in on what had happened and they would start working on a plan B.  Equally surprising was that Faith had waited while Buffy went inside and snatched the keys.  Logic was somehow keeping a toehold in Faith’s head. Spike knew his role was helping keep it there. 

 

“Fine.  Let’s just get there.”  Faith’s gaze never shifted towards him; she continued staring out the front window, hands still grasping her bag.

 

“What exactly is your plan when we do get there?” he asked.  Spike was afraid that she’d just take off in search of Emma without them.  He wanted to make sure that wasn’t going to happen.

 

“Kill whatever is in our way.  Find her. Take her home.”

 

“That simple, eh?”

 

“It’s as simple as we make it.”

 

“Don’t worry, Faith.  She’ll be okay,” Buffy said from the seat behind them.  “She’s smart and she’s strong.  Emma will hold her own until we find her.  She knows we’re coming.”

 

“It’s not Emma I’m worried about,” Faith finally said.

 

XXXXX

 

It wasn’t Emma she was worried about.  If anything happened to Emma, there was no telling what Faith would do.  That's what worried her.  She would never forgive herself.  Sure, Faith would bitch about Emma.  Say things like ‘she’s annoying and clingy’, but she was Emma. 

 

It had taken awhile, but Squeak had kinda grown on her.  The little sister wannabe.  Sure, Faith had fought that label tooth and nail, but a small part of her had liked it.  Liked having someone around who was like a little sister.  A little sister Faith never had.  And one that didn’t hate her like Dawn did.

 

Emma spoke what was on her mind too.  Kid radiated innocence.  And she was smart in a people kind of way.  Real smart.  Emma could read people and say shit that would’ve pissed most people off if it had come from anybody else, but not when Emma said it.

 

Faith liked Emma.  Emma had liked Faith.  And Faith had deserted her.  Deserted her for a guy.  Once again, Faith had fucked up. 

 

Faith had let her hormones guide her.  Once she had gotten over the fact that Spike had shown up unannounced, she had forgotten Emma.  Faith had spent the majority of her time patrolling and fucking.  Would she ever learn?

 

“It’s not Emma I’m worried about,” she repeated.

 

XXXXX

 

Faith didn’t even wait for the van to stop moving before she jumped out, heading for the entrance she and Buffy had used to get into the stadium before.  She just hoped that it hadn’t been found and locked back up.  She didn’t want to take the time to break into the place again.  She had things to do.

 

They had grabbed Emma by her hair?  How many times had Faith told her that she should cut it off?  Or at least cut it shorter.  Stupid girl.  Stupid girl Faith should have never left alone.

 

The sound of Spike’s voice shouting at her to wait registered briefly, but Faith tossed it aside as she ran around the side of the building.  For once, luck was on her side.  The padlocks she had previously broken were still lying on the ground.  All Faith had to do was roll the door open.  This time she didn’t have Buffy’s help and it took a minute longer.  She wished that Spike and Buffy had caught up to her already.  No such luck.

 

Once Faith opened the door, she grabbed a flashlight out of her weapons bag.  It was dark.  Too dark.  Even with the flashlight, she couldn’t make out much of anything that fell outside the beam. 

 

She just wanted to call out Emma’s name, but Faith knew that wouldn’t work.  The place was too big to look for her.  She would just be getting unwanted attention and she wasn’t about to bring that down on herself.  It would be coming soon enough.

 

How in the hell was Faith going to find her?

 

XXXXX

 

“I can’t believe she did that!” Buffy said, slamming the van door shut.  “She just left.  Faith knows better than that.”

 

“Let’s just get in there,” Spike said, grabbing any weapons he could find in the van.  Everything had happened so fast, that neither he nor Buffy had the chance to grab their own before they left.  Spike was just grateful that Giles had left backups in the van. 

 

They stopped in the front of the stadium.  “How in the hell are we going to get into this place?” Spike asked.

 

“This way,” Buffy said as she took off running.

 

XXXXX

 

Overwhelmed, that was the perfect word for what she was feeling.

 

Faith didn’t know what to do and she didn’t know which way to go.  This place was big and even in full light it had been a bitch to search.  It was even worse now that she was alone and it was dark.

 

She heard Buffy and Spike behind her someplace, at least she thought it was them.  Maybe she should just wait for them?

 

Faith was a slayer.  How could she not know what to do?

 

XXXXX

 

Emma tried unsuccessfully to loosen the ropes that bound her.  After throwing up for the third time, she realized how lucky she was that they hadn’t gagged her.  If they had, she’d be dead already.

 

Not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Emma did the only thing she could think of.  She started screaming.

 

XXXXX