Kate shimmies into her bedroom window just before midnight.

"Katie?" Her father, shouting as he opens the apartment's front door.

She kicks off her shoes, sheds her jacket, and ventures out into the hallway, assuming the casual pose of someone who's been lounging in her bedroom for hours.

"Hi, Dad," she greets, before noticing his redfaced rage.

He advances. "Who did this?"

He shoves a sheet of paper in front of her. At the center of it, she recognizes a polaroid of herself, nude, dozing on Faith's bed. Real blood dots the crotch area of the photo and the words GUESS WHO GOT THERE FIRST, POP are scrawled across the page.

Kate trembles, the paper floats to the floor. She backs away, staring at it.

"Who did this?" he snarls.

She can't speak. She can't think. She can just vaguely hear him shouting, "Katie! Don't you protect this piece a' shit, you hear me? Tell me who it is and I'll make him sorry he was ever born! He'll be at the bottom of the Pacific with cement boots on, time I'm done with him!"

She trembles, shaking her head, staring at Faith's portrayal of her in post-coital sleep.

"Goddammit!" He holds her at arm's length, shakes her until she looks at him. "What'd he do to you? Don't you protect him! Tell me!"

Still in shock, she whispers, "Dad, it's not..."

"What? You're trying to tell me it's some kind of sick joke? Do you have any idea what it was like for me to get this at work -- to have the whole precinct see my daughter...?" He shook his head.

She snaps out of it, looks at him. "You... This is about your embarrassment?"

"No!" he blurts, and runs his palm over his face.

Same old story. Same old Dad. "Yeah, thanks a lot, Dad. Thanks for caring so deeply--"

He slaps her. "Dammit, Katie! I thought you were dead! You hear me? I thought this shitbastard killed you!"

Eyes wide, she touches her stinging cheek. He's never slapped her, not once. She turns to leave.

"Katie!" He grabs her, hugs her fiercely. "I'm sorry, Katie... I can't lose you too."

She pulls away, knowing all too well that he will. And if she lets this go, it'll be sooner rather than later. "I have to go."

"What? Don't you dare--"

She pushes him off, shoves him so hard he hits the wall. "I'm sorry. I have to go!"

"You get back here! Katie!"

* * *

"Faith is so dead. She is so very dead," Riley mutters, pacing the library.

"Riley?" Tara calls. He glances at her. She shakes her head.

With a loud exhale, Riley reluctantly sits down.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Tara asks, putting a hand on Kate's.

"Yeah," she exhales. "I'm a little spooked. But that's exactly what she wants. I can't let this get to me."

"Easier said than done, I suppose," William says as he sets down a coffee cup before her.

"Yeah." She sips at it and looks around. "Thanks for coming here you guys, I know it's late."

"We were kind of worried about you after you ran off tonight anyway, after..."

"After you almost killed Faith," Riley finishes. "Tell me again why you didn't?"

"That's enough," William snips harshly.

He ducks his head. "Sorry, sir."

"Riley's right," Kate admits, sounding tired and somehow... older. "She attacked my two best friends... I had her right there... and I couldn't do it."

"Katie," William soothes. "You weren't prepared for this. One day is hardly enough time to..."

"I wasn't prepared for any of this," she staunchly reminds him. "Demons, vampires, being the Slayer? They're back together again, the three of them. Just like old times. This is just the beginning."

"I don't doubt it. We've got a hard road ahead of us. I think it's best that we all stick together through this, and arm ourselves with all the information we can about the three in the meantime."

* * *

Three vampires, nude bodies smeared in blood and warm with borrowed heat, bite and suckle and ride one another, grunting and moaning and growling for release on a crimson-stained bedspread.

"My little girls," Faith pants, grabbing at their heads, fastening their mouths to each nipple. For a moment, it bothers her that Buffy's blonde hair resembles Kate's.

Kate. The bitch who turned her into a chump; the bitch who made her feel something no vampire should ever feel. The bitch who'll get hers...

Buffy bites hard, and Faith comes. As Buffy licks up the blood, Faith lunges three fingers into Buffy's slick pussy, and she humps her hand, movements rushed and erratic.

"That's right, fuck it, you little slut."

Willow touches herself, pinches her own nipple, fans a hand down her torso and between her legs, enjoying the show but needing more. "Baby..." she whimpers.

Gasping, Buffy dismounts, pushes Willow down onto her back and spreads those milky-white thighs, sucks at her swollen clitoris. Willow shudders and moans, tangles her hands in Buffy's hair.

With Buffy's ass wiggling in front of her, Faith sneers, probes her again with her fingers and fucks her hard. Buffy rams backward, loving the pain.

* * *

William hands Tara a black and white photo of Buffy with her hair piled in ringlets. "The night of her debut, 1943, she was turned."

"Wow, right there at the party?"

"Not sure," he says.

"It was at the docks," Kate volunteers quietly.

The group looks at her expectantly.

"Faith," she rasps, gazing down at her hands. "Faith told me. Willow was obsessed with this mega-rich girl who would sneak out at night and go slumming. That night she was with some sailor at the East River docks."

"Classy," proclaims Riley.

"What else did she tell you about them?"

"Um... just that they've been Thelma-and-Louise-ing it ever since..."

Anya bursts in through the swinging doors. "I did it!"

They turn to regard her.

Panting, exuberant, Anya explains, "I've been up all night, but I figured it out. Faith. She can be resouled. We can bring her back."

Slowly, Kate looks up. "How?"

"With this." She holds up a printed photograph. The gang shrugs, and she shows it to William, who frowns at it.

"The Orb of Thessula?"

"And the wicker wall unit goes to...!" Anya blurts happily, until it occurs to her this isn't a happy meeting. She clears her throat. "Any idea where we can get one? I tried all my online sources, but no one has a--"

William lifts a finger, ducks his head under the counter and comes back with a square box. He blows the dust off, opens it, and pulls out a darkened glass sphere. "This Orb of Thessula?"

Anya shakes her head and laughs, "Silly Anya. It's not deep in the mountains of Romania -- it's here, next to the overdue library books."

"Frankly, I thought it was junk," William shrugs. "Something of an antique, but hardly old. I acquired it in a fire sale of sorts."

As William reads the finer points of the resouling spell, Kate walks slowly to the Orb. Touches it. It has power, she can feel it. Or maybe she's feeling the power of all of her hope, now embedded in this one small, spherical object.

"Well, now that that's been taken care of, there's the who's-performing-the-ritual question. I'm not strong enough to do it alone." Anya glances at Tara. "But the two of us are."

Tara shrinks back, points at herself. "Me? I -- I'm not even very good--"

Anya smiles. "I was there when you teleported that snakedog from Hell, Tara. You can't fool me."

"No," William puts the printout, and his foot, down. "You're meddling with forces here you can't possibly understand. The risks are too great. I can't let you do this."

"Yeah," Kate agrees glumly. "It's okay, you guys. Really. I can handle her. I can... I can slay her."

"But Katie," Tara says, strengthened by the power she knows she has within. "If we can do it? Think about this. You'll have her back. We'll have her back. On our side. I mean, Buffy and Willow were enough of a threat, but the old family back together? Who knows what they're capable of? Who knows what they're doing right now?"

* * *

"Unhhh!" Faith shouts, hands weaving and digging into red tresses.

"Mmm..." Lips shining, Willow beams at her sire. "You taste so good, Faithy. Like salt-water taffy."

"Gimme some sugar then." She beckons her close, and Willow meets her mouth with a giggle.

As they kiss languidly, a frustrated sigh emanates from the other side of the room. "Not to break up the fun, you guys," Buffy says, reclining in the chaise lounge with a Camel Light cigarette in her hand, "but am I the only one here who hasn't forgotten that there's a really pissed off slayer on the loose right now?"

"She's no match for my Faithy." Willow's long eyelashes flutter against Faith's left breast.

Faith idly runs a hand along Willow's back. "What's a matter, B? You worried?"

Buffy gapes in disbelief. "Were we at the same fight last night? 'Cause the one I saw didn't give me that deep-down feeling of security."

"Relax, B. I got the upper hand here. The chick's head over heels -- she can't kill me."

"And what makes you so sure her friends won't?"

"Her friends..." Willow muses with a frown, and holds her palm over Faith's chest, concentrating.

Buffy continues, "Or her father, now that you've given him a mighty good reason to?" She smiles. "Not that that wasn't funny."

"First of all, her friends are useless. Believe me, I've seen 'em all in action firsthand." Faith shifts her weight onto her elbows, but Willow keeps her hand still. "And fat daddy doesn't have a clue."

"Okay, next scenario then," Buffy poses, drags on her cigarette and gets up to pace the room. "Worst case, far as I'm concerned. What if she kills us? Me and Will? Or do you even care if she does?"

Faith scoffs. "Since when are you scared of a little slayer? You slipping or somethin'?"

"Hardly," Buffy scowls evenly. "But while you were wasting your time getting all googly-eyed over her, I was studying her every move. I know what makes the girl tick now. She's not stupid, and she's not frail. She's not gonna break, I promise you that. You keep playing cat and mouse with Kate and you'll be the mouse before you know it."

With a gasp, Willow recoils from Faith as if she's been burned.

Faith untangles herself and sneers at Buffy, "You know jack shit about Kate. You think watching her block a few kicks gives you some kinda supreme insight? Think again, sister. I know her deepest darkests. I know her fears, her weaknesses... I know what makes her cry. I know what makes her shiver, what gives her that deep-down tickle, you got me? I know what makes her come, three times in a row, one after the other. When you top that, Buffy, you let me know."

"Oh, believe me, I am so not interested in fucking your little--"

"That's right, I forgot! You prefer throbbing man meat!"

Buffy gasps inwardly, but keeps her cool. "No, I just happen to value my life."

"Faithy..." Willow whispers, shaking. "No!"

Buffy stubs out her cigarette and rushes to her side. "What is it, babe? What do you see?"

"They... they're gonna take her away from me again..." She holds her head, grimacing and whimpering. "Oh god... so much pain... The fire..."

"Fire?" Buffy gives Willow a good shake. "What fire? Where? Is it Kate?"

Willow's face turns steely, angry. "It's that little witch. And that teacher lady -- that wanna-be. They're gonna curse my Faithy again. Tomorrow." Suddenly, she points up at the ceiling, her finger moving slowly down. "When the moon hits... there."

"Midnight," Buffy translates, and looks up at Faith.

"Well." Faith nods several times. "Looks like B's right after all. We need to turn this party up a notch."

Buffy exhales in relief. "Finally you talk sense."

Willow gazes at Faith hopefully. "We won't let them do it? We'll stop them?"

"Yeah, baby. We'll stop 'em." Faith smiles. "We'll stop 'em forever."