Cordelia Chase looked up with a smile as the office door opened. The smile didn't last long. Jumping up, she hurriedly backed up yelping, "Faith! What...what are you doing here? I thought you were in a coma."

"Cordy," Buffy said, holding out her hand in supplication. "I'm not Faith. Please, where's Angel? I need his help." Buffy was so intent on trying to reassure Cordelia that she didn't even hear the door open behind her. The blinding pain that flashed through her as something solid met the back of her skull was the last thing she knew before darkness engulfed her.

***

It was quiet in Giles' apartment when the telephone once again startled everyone into wakefulness. Joyce had fallen asleep on the couch and Xander had been snoring peacefully in one of the armchairs. The two witches had been studying a text intently. They finally had a notion as to what the device was and were looking for verification. Giles had been making another pot of tea and Spike had just been standing in the doorway smoking yet another cigarette.

As Giles hurried to answer the insistently ringing telephone, everyone waited tensely. "Giles," he snapped. He listened for what seemed an interminable length of time before he said, "Well thank God for that anyway." Everyone immediately relaxed. It appeared that Faith wasn't dead. "And you've no idea where she could have gotten to? There was no sign of her in the area? Yes, yes, I know Los Angeles is a large city, Quentin. Very well, keep me informed. Oh, and Quentin, please be sure that your agents know that she isn't to be harmed." It wasn't a request.

Looking at the anxiously awaiting faces, he shook his head as he told them, "She got away from the bloody idiots. Chained them up with their own chains, stole their money and disappeared. She could be anywhere by now."

Willow and Tara exchanged a look and Willow said, "Uh, Giles. Maybe we can find her."

"How, Willow? Quentin has his entire team looking for her, but to be honest, chances are they won't find her. She could be in Mexico by now."

"Well, maybe we could do a location spell. All we need is something of hers. Maybe we can get something from the hospital that she left behind."

Giles looked at the two girls and for the first time in hours smiled. "Yes, excellent idea, Willow." Turning to the two men in the room he said, "Spike, Xander. Go see what you can get." He didn't need to speak twice.

***

Throbbing pain lanced through her head as she slowly regained consciousness. When she found out who had hit her, she was going to tear them a new one she promised herself. Moving slightly, she felt the chains on her wrists. God, not again!

Slowly opening her eyes and blinking rapidly to clear her vision, she saw first Cordelia, then Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. Struggling, she managed to push herself back along the wall to which she was chained until she was sitting upright.

Taking a deep breath, she said, "Look guys, I know I look like Faith, but please believe me, I'm Buffy, not Faith."

"Oh!" Cordelia exclaimed. "Of course. I knew that. Just because you look and sound exactly like that ho Faith and nothing at all like Buffy is no reason for us to not believe that you're not Faith."

"Cordelia, please, let me handle this," Wesley said pompously. "You look like Faith. Why should we believe you are Buffy?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "That's just what I said, Wesley."

Buffy closed her eyes in frustration. "Look, where's Angel? Let me talk to Angel, okay? He'll be able to figure out that I'm really Buffy."

"Angel in out on a case right now, so I'm afraid you'll have to deal with me," Wesley said, drawing himself up to his full height.

Buffy rested her head against the wall, shoulders slumping in defeat. "Great," she muttered. "I'm doomed. I just know it."

***

Xander and Spike got out of the car and hurried into the hospital. Going to the floor where Faith had been cared for, Spike told Xander, "Look, just let me do the talking, all right? I can get what we need out of these nurse birds easier that you can."

"What, you think I can't charm a few nurses?" Xander protested. Off Spike's look he ducked his head and mumbled, "It's that damned British accent, that's all." Spike snickered, "Yeah. That and the fact that I'm ten times better looking than you."

"Jeez, Spike. Conceited much?"

Spike just smirked at him and then sauntered up to the nurse's station turning on all his Big Bad charm. Xander watched in awe as the middle-aged nurse in charge turned into a prepubescent girl right before his eyes. Fifteen minutes later, they left the hospital with Faith's personal belongings.

***

Cordelia and Wesley were off in a corner of the room whispering together. Buffy had refused to say anything more after telling them she would talk only to Angel. She hoped that the Watcher's Council murder squad didn't track her here. She had no faith at all that Wesley would protect her. He'd probably be glad to turn her over to them and wash his hands of her. Stupid Wesley Wyndam-Pryce.

***

Tara and Willow had prepared as much as they could for the location spell. They waited only for Xander and Spike to return from the hospital and Giles to return from the Magic Box with a few additional ingredients. The items from the Magic Box were not only for the location spell, but also for a ritual that they had discovered in the text. Tara was certain that it would reveal exactly what had happened to Buffy.

***

Buffy was studiously ignoring Wesley. He had attempted several times to get her to speak to him, but she had refused to acknowledge his presence. Cordelia had returned to the office above to wait for Angel. It had been over an hour and Buffy was hungry, thirsty, her head ached and she had to pee. If Angel didn't show up soon, she was going to rip the damned chains out of the wall, thump Wesley with them and go to the bathroom. The sound of the elevator moving brought both of them to attention. As it slowly descended, Buffy felt her heart start to pound. She hoped it was Cordelia and Angel. The doors finally opened and Buffy looked up into the dark eyes of her former lover. She felt like weeping in relief.

"Faith," Angel said coldly.

"Buffy," Buffy answered.

"So Cordelia tells me. Want to tell me how Buffy came to look just like Faith?"

Taking a deep breath, Buffy said, "I really need to go to the bathroom."

***

The map of Los Angeles County was spread out before the two girls as they cast the location spell. It wasn't working. The pendulum they'd made by tying Faith's ring to a long cord swung erratically over the map, seeming to settle over one area but then skittering off to the edge of the map in the direction of Sunnydale. After ten minutes of concentration, the girls conceded defeat.

"Perhaps it didn't work because you're too tired," Giles said, exhaustion evident in his own voice. "I think it might be best if we all take a break and get some sleep. Try again in a few hours."

Protests abounded, but Giles was adamant. And so the three women went upstairs to sleep in Giles' bed while he bunked down on the couch, Xander draped himself over an armchair and Spike curled up on the floor. Spike didn't think he would be able to relax, worried as he was over Buffy, but he was asleep two minutes after lying down. The room settled into the soft sound of snores.

***

Buffy finished telling her story to Angel, Cordelia and Wesley. Stony looks of disbelief gave way to exclamations of shock when she got to the part where the men had tried to kill her, and then back to stony looks of disbelief again. And so she brought out the big guns. Every single secret that Buffy knew about the three with her was revealed. By the time she got to the night she and Angel had made love, everyone believed.

"So what do we do, Angel?" Cordelia asked. "I agree with Buffy. There's no way Giles is going to believe this over the phone."

"Then we go to Sunnydale," Angel answered.