It was nearly noon when everyone reassembled at Giles' apartment. Buffy was relieved to see that both vampires were whole and unmarked although they kept as much distance between each other as possible in the small residence. Willow and Tara were awake and alert although both girls were still a little pale.

"So, Giles," Buffy asked. "What do we do now? This gizmo won't work unless I touch Faith with it, right?"

"Yes, that's correct, Buffy," Giles answered her. "We must find her; the sooner the better. I only hope she hasn't left Sunnydale already."

***

Faith finished her workout in the hotel exercise room. She felt more confident in her own skin now. A quick trip to a nearby shopping center had supplied her with toiletries and several changes of clothing, including the shorts and t-shirt she was now wearing. As she headed to her room for a quick shower and change, she reviewed once again her plan for the hunting and killing of Scooby number one.

***

Collins pulled into a parking space several doors down from the apartment complex where Rupert Giles lived. Leaving the vehicle, he carefully made his way to the courtyard and casually walked passed the front of Giles' flat. A quick look inside filled him with triumph. There she was. The dark-haired bitch surrounded by far too many people. He would have to bide his time, but he had no doubt that very soon he would see to it that the world had a new Slayer to protect it.

***

Weatherby returned to the garage where he had left his two companions. He had received quite a dressing down from Quentin Travers for allowing the rogue Slayer to escape, especially since it appeared that she had performed some type of magic spell on Buffy Summers. Although the Summers girl no longer acknowledged the authority of the Watcher's Council, she was still doing her duty in Sunnydale and her record of averted apocalypses was quite impressive. Plus Weatherby had the distinct impression that Travers was afraid of what Rupert Giles would do to him if anything happened to his Slayer due to the Council's mishandling of Faith.

Things were really buggered up.

Pulling his car into the garage, he was surprised when he realized that the second car was missing. Perhaps Collins and Smith went to get something to eat. Not that he blamed them. It was almost noon and he hadn't eaten anything himself since lunch yesterday. Deciding he would check for a note, he exited his vehicle and headed towards the table. He was halfway there when he heard a thumping noise coming from the interior of the van. Taking a gun from the shoulder holster he now wore, he slowly opened the backdoor and peered cautiously inside. With a gasp, he quickly holstered his weapon and climbed in. Smith lay there tied and gagged with a large bruise darkening his jaw. Removing the gag he asked anxiously, "Dear God, man. What happened?"

"Collins happened," Smith ground out. "The bastard's gone completely round the bend. He's taken a rifle and gone to Sunnydale. Plans to take out both Slayers just to make sure he gets the right one."

"Bloody buggering hell!" Weatherby cursed. After unlocking the chains, he hurriedly backed out of the van and headed for the telephone. He had a feeling this last bit was going to put paid on his career with the Watcher's Council. That thought made him stop in his tracks. If he could get to Collins before Collins got to the Slayers, no one need ever know what happened. He was sure Smith would help him. His career was on the line just as much as Weatherby's was.

If it wasn't for the chuffing paperwork, Weatherby would take great pleasure in just killing that cocksucker Collins.

***

Thanks to the entry in Joyce's address book Faith had found when she looked through it the evening before, she knew where Buffy's dorm room was. She couldn't believe her luck when she realized that Buffy and Willow were roommates, although it really shouldn't have surprised her. Willow had always been so far up Buffy's ass, it was a surprise Buffy could even sit down. No one was there when Faith arrived, but she found Willow's class schedule. Once she located her, she'd simply follow her until the opportunity arose to introduce her to Faith's favorite toy. The thought of the look on Willow's face when her good friend Buffy slid the knife into her gut and twisted it made Faith damp.

As soon as this was over, Faith needed to find a man.

She was approaching the building where Willow's most recent class was held when she heard a voice calling, "Buffy! Hey, Buffy, wait up." Turning in the direction of the hail, she saw a young, dark-haired man loping towards her. "Buffy, have you seen Willow?" he asked.

Faith shook her head, "Nope. I'm looking for her myself, as a matter of fact."

"Oh," the young man said in disappointment. "She wasn't in class today and I wanted to return her notebook to her. Would you do me a favor and give it to her when you see her?" The boy grinned good-naturedly. "You can tell her that I didn't get it dirty, or mark it up, or spill coffee on it, or dog-ear it, okay?" Shoving the notebook into Faith's unwilling hands, he smiled his thanks and then loped off again. Faith looked down at the pristine notebook, walked up to the nearest trashcan and dumped it in.

***

Everyone waited with baited breath as for the third time that day the two witches worked the location spell. And for the third time, it failed. It had been a long, tiring day. The two girls had required rest after each attempt, neither having fully recovered yet from the conjuration spell.

"I'm sorry, Giles," Willow said wearily. "It just doesn't seem to work at all. I think it's confused because Faith's body is here and her spirit is elsewhere. It doesn't know what to do."

"Well it's obvious that we need to refine the spell," Wesley stated. "Giles, do you have a copy of the Espesian Grimoire? If memory serves, I believe there is a more powerful spell listed there used to track down the most powerful mages during the Spanish Inquisition."

"NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!" Xander declared loudly. At the irritated looks he received, he ducked his head down and muttered, "Jeez, just trying to lighten things up a little."

Giving Xander one last irritated glare, Giles turned back to Wesley and said, "Yes I do believe I have a copy at the shop."

Wesley looked shocked. "You have such a rare text for sale at your shop?"

"Of course not. It's just that I keep most of my rarest texts there. We do the majority of our research at the shop."

"Ah," Wesley nodded understanding. "Then I suggest we remove to your shop."

As everyone started preparing to leave, Angel said, "What about Spike and me? Are we to just stay here until sunset?"

"Well you can if you want, peaches," Spike mocked. "I'm going to the shop too."

"I suppose it's too much to hope that you'll burst into flame on the way?" Angel glared.

"Angel," Buffy intervened, "Spike goes through the sewer tunnels. There's an opening into the shop basement. You can go with him and meet us there. And," she added firmly, "I expect both of you to meet us there without any bloodshed. Understand?"

Both vampires nodded understanding; Angel with a scowl, Spike with a smirk."

As the group left, the two vampires ran under cover of blankets to the nearest sewer entrance. The sun was low enough by now that there was plenty of shadow to hide in, which made their journey easier. Once the humans were assured that they were safely in the tunnels, they piled into various vehicles for the trip to The Magic Box.

***

Collins sat up in attention as he saw the group enter several cars. Starting the engine of his own vehicle, he carefully followed the cortege. Perhaps their destination would afford him with the opportunity to take out the dark-haired Slayer.

Fifteen minutes later, Smith and Weatherby arrived in Sunnydale and proceeded to Rupert Giles' apartment.

***

Faith was really getting pissed off. She had had no luck so far in tracking down Willow. The redhead had not been at any of her classes or at the library. On a hunch, Faith headed into town to the Espresso Pump. She remembered that it was one of the gang's favorite hangouts, but hadn't any luck there either. The waitress informed her that she hadn't seen Willow for a couple days now.

Sitting at a table and drinking a cup of coffee, Faith tried to decide what her next move would be. Was it possible that somehow Buffy's friends had tumbled to the body switch? Faith couldn't see how. The vampire maybe?

Faith thought about this and then dismissed it. No, if there was one thing she knew about Miss Buffy Summers it was the fact that the girl loved her secrets. And screwing another vampire would be high on the secrets list, especially after the mess her one-night stand with Angel had caused. No, there was just no way that anyone would know about the vampire lover so there was no way the vampire could tell them that her attacking him was anything other than the Slayer doing her job. Finishing her coffee, she decided to head back to the house on Revello Drive. Maybe "mom" would have an idea where she could find Willow.

And if not, maybe she'd just have to revise her timetable and kill Joyce first, instead of last.