"Warren?" Willow questioned the robot, placing a protective arm around Tara who stood behind willow dutifully. "I haven't seen Warren… in a long time."

"Oh, so you know Warren. Is he around? Do you know where he is?" April looked around, staring behind the redhead, "I'm sorry ma'am, I didn't mean to cause you any alarm. I'm just looking for my boyfriend, Warren."

"Is the Trina?" Tara asked.

"No. I'm April. No is this 'Trina' you speak of?"

"Trina and is Warren's girlfriend." Willow paused and with the reality sink in. 'Time is speeding up so quickly, Riley was supposed to be gone by now. Spike wasn't supposed to tell Buffy he loved her and now April…' "April, I know where Warren is." Willow scribbled down his address and handed it to the bot. "Now you can go be with him."

"Thank you very much, kind stranger. You must really care for Warren since you're helping me." April walked away towards Warren's mom's house.

"I have to find a pay phone, now"

…

Willow hung up the phone and started towards the end of the street. "So what's up Will?" Tara questioned.

"I couldn't necessarily call Buffy, so I called Riley instead. He said to me him at Warren's address, he knew what to do."

"Did you explain?"

"Not all…I just told him that the bot would probably hurt someone. He still has ties with his army buddies so I'm sure they are there as well. I think Dawn is still at the house, I think we might have left her there. Do you mind going and getting her? I have to take care of this. I can't have you around Warren at all. I won't risk it." Tara nodded in response. Willow watched till Tara was out of sight, turned and started walking.

…..

Tara showed up by her future home. She looked up to the bedroom window where Dawn's room was to see Dawn staring down at her. "Dawnie?" She walked up the stairs to the younger girl's room. "Are you OK?"

"They forgot about me again, huh?" Dawn had her arms folded over her chest.

"No sweetie… Buffy just had to go take off like she normally does. Your mom is in the hospital again and…"

"I know. Riley was supposed to take me there, but then Spike showed up and told him something upsetting and he left when you and Willow were here the first time." Dawn took a defensive stance beside her bed.

Tara crossed the room to the slayers younger sister and pulled her into her arms. "I know it can feel lonely when you're not in the loop, hun. I didn't feel like a Scooby until the other day when my family was here. You all made sure of that." Tara ran her fingertips through the brunette's hair. "It's a good thing to express your feelings, though. It's not healthy to keep stuff bottled up."

Dawn sighed, "Yeah, I guess…" She pulled away from the blondes touch. "It's just… different."

"How so?" Tara questioned.

"You all are in college, you're adults. While I'm just here."

"You have your mom, you have Buffy. You have all the Scoobies, and myself. You're like the junior Scooby!" Tara smiled enthusiastically.

"But soon…I don't know. It all feels different, Tara." Dawn shifted her eyes to the floor. "What if mom doesn't make it?"

Tara opened her mouth to speak but the phone cut her off. "Just a second, Dawnie. I've got to go answer that."

…

The young redhead witch finally reach Warren's house and saw Graham standing in front of Warren, April, and a body. "She was telling lies, warren. I had to…"

"Shut up already!" warren screamed, looking distressed as Trina's lifeless body lay flat on the ground, "Come on! Wake up!" He continued on relentlessly.

"Warren Mears? Is this your robot?" Riley asked, coming out of a black SU V parked on the curb. "Did you create this weapon?"

"Weapon?" Warren sniffled, "I created a girlfriend," Warren chuckled through his tears, "I created a girlfriend."

"Warren Mears you have the right to remain silent. You are being charged with the possession of a deadly weapon, illegal use of machinery and misuse of government intelligence." Riley slapped the cuffs on him and handed Warren over to Graham.

When they finally took him away Riley walked over to Willow, "So this guy gets lonely and build a robot, and you want him under military lockdown? I don't get it, why?" Riley gave Willow a small smile.

"I'll try to explain, but you just have to just trust me. This man, in the future… He's just evil.

"Evil? Like a monster or worse?"

"Worse. He shoots Buffy… And…" she wiped a small tear from her eye. "He kills someone. I have to know that he is somewhere where he can never be seen from or hurt anyone ever again."

"And Buffy?" Riley looked panicked, "Does she…? I'll kill him…"

"No. She lives. His aim was off just enough….to kill Tara."

Riley was taken aback by the statement she made, "OK… I'll make sure he stays where he's at, but Willow, all of this doesn't make any sense. I mean he doesn't look like a murderer." He looked over to the black SUV, noticing Warren sobbing through the window. "Maybe he's a bit misogynist, but certainly not a murderer."

"Yeah… That's how he starts and out, but then he and two other guys come after Buffy."

Riley shoots an angry look for Warren. "How hard can I kill him again?"

"You can't… He's not an evil thing. He's an evil human." Willow that Riley solemnly. "I shouldn't be going into details, Riley."

"Hey, you know me. I'm always ready to follow blind orders. At least that's what I was trained to do. So, all keep them locked up as long as I can."

Willow looked around the scene unfolding before. She found a pen and a receipt from LA in her pocket and wrote a note down. If it wasn't for the second chance, and Riley, she would have to watch out for Warren in the future. She grounded Riley's hand and pulled him back as he started to walk towards Graham. "What is it Will?"

"Leave." She looked it and sternly, "Leave with Graham tonight."

"Willow, I'm sure this guy Warren won't bother you again. Graham's a good man and a great soldier, he would never…"

"That's not what I meant." She swallowed, "Buffy… She isn't your true love. And the military? They are where you belong."

"Will, where is this coming from? Did she, did Buffy say something to you?"

"No. I just know that Graham has already asked you, and you would be amazing on his team, but you have to let Buffy go. It may not be something you want right now, but it is something you need."

"But… I can't just leave without talking her."

"Then talk. Have that final conversation." Willow kissed his cheek and hugged him, slipping a note in his pocket. "But I know it will only make you realize that what I'm saying is true."

Riley paused, pulling away from willow. He looked down at his feet, deep in thought as he looked back over to Graham. He turned back to Willow as he walked words Graham, "Tell her to meet me at the Magic Box. I'll be in the training room."

….

Willow arrived at the hospital shortly after talking to Riley. "Hey Buff. Umm… Riley told me he had something important to talk to you about at the Magic Box." She was now standing next to Tara who was seated.

"Can it wait, Will? My mom's in the middle of surgery."

"We will stay here with Dawnie and call if anything comes up," The Slayer gave Willow a stern look; "He said it was urgent."

"Fine, I'll go. But anything… I mean anything. I want a call at the Magic Box."

"Will do." Buffy hugged her sister and walked out of the hospital.

"I got Dawn here as soon as I could. Buffy seemed pretty adamant about her and her sister being together right now. So, I had to leave the house."

"It is fine; I'm just like you are the OK."

"Do you think they're breaking up?" Dawn asked, breaking into the couple's conversation.

"I'm sure they just need to talk, Dawnie." Tara said, brushing Dawn's hair back. New delete that

"I think they're breaking up. It feels like they're breaking up." Dawn paused, "Riley and I went out together while you all were gone. He seemed…"

"Happy?" Willow chimed knowing it was a lie.

"Defeated."

…..

"Tell me, Riley; tell me how long you are going to keep this for me?" Buffy screamed; her fists clenched.

"I'm telling you now." He shook his head, "it's not like you've been around to hear it anyway."

"Me? Around? How about you, showing up late for our dates because of your one on one time with Graham and the gang, huh? I've been here you know the number. And with everything else," she stopped, "with my mom. I wasn't going to worry about your feelings. You're a big boy."

"Buffy…" he looked into her eyes, "You just don't need. There's nothing here for me anymore."

"What am I supposed to do? It sounds to me that you've already made up your mind."

Riley shrugged. "You know… Maybe the military had it right. Maybe I was just enough 'monster' for you when they were pumping god knows what in my body."

"How dare you."

"How dare I? God Buffy… It's sad when Willow needs me more than my own girlfriend… And she… Has Tara."

"Willow? What did she say to you?"

"She needed me to arrest this guy who killed his girlfriend with the robot. She's the one…" Riley shuffled, "Well I guess it really doesn't matter." He pushed past Buffy Ford's the door. "I'm leaving Buffy. And I don't know when I'll be back." As he said this he walked out of the training room and passed Xander.

"How much did you hear?" She asked him as he came over to her.

"Enough." Xander paused, "So what's the deal, Buff?"

"Can you believe he gave me an ultimatum? With what's going on with my mom and everything?"

"Ah well, maybe his timing was off, but it was a long time coming."

"Xander," Buffy looked as if he had smacked her, "How can you even…"

"He told me… Then I opened my eyes. Buffy… You look right through him. He's reaching for you that you're just… You just keep at a distance. And sure, maybe he shouldn't have said it the way he had, but it needed to be said, you don't need him."

"O H, here we go relationship advice from the great Alexander Harris. Tell me, why is it that you keep Anya around?"

"This is so not about her."

"Really? Because all I see is you playing house with your girlfriend." Buffy push Xander back into the dummy.

"Play house?" Xander giggled. "No, see that's where you are dead wrong. Anh and I, see, we are forever. Riley…well he was nothing more than convenient."

"I do not have to take this from you." Buffy stormed out.

Xander turned, brushing himself off as he pulled a small velvet box from his pocket he murmured to himself, "I'll show her how real we are tonight."

…..

Riley got onto the helicopter without a moment hesitation.

"So I guess you really aren't missions True Love after all, eh Ri?" Graham smiled, trying to make light of the situation. "What happened?"
"She doesn't like the truth obviously." He slipped his hands into his pockets and felt a crumpled piece of paper. He fished it out and unfolded it to read, "One day, someday soon, we will need you again. Be listening in for that day to come. – Willow" He smiled at the note, thankful that he was still needed in Sunnydale after all.

…..

Xander opened the door to his apartment. He saw a package laying on the counter and the light in his and Anya's bedroom on. "Hello?" He called out.

"Xander, where the hell have you been?"

"I had to talk to Buffy…she's….her and Riley broke up."

"Oh…did he cheat?"

"No, Anh…they just grew apart. Sometimes those things happen when two people let other things get in the way."

"Oh…so she cheated? She seems the type."

"Anya, no. No one cheated. Their relationship just ran its course, as sometimes they do." He smiled as he watched Anya grow visibly nervous.

"You aren't implying…"

"Anya, I've got to say something, cause, I don't think I've made it clear…but I'm in love with you. Powerfully, painfully in love. The things you do, the way you think, the way you move. I get excited every time I'm about to see you. You made me feel like I've never felt like before in my life. Like a man." He pulled out the velvet box and got down on one knee, "Anya…would you do me the extreme honor of making me feel this way for the rest of my life?"

"Really?"

"Really, Really."

"Yes, yes, oh god, yes."

….

Willow helped get Dawn home with Tara. "Baby…I don't think Buffy's going to be back tonight."

"Wait…Willow? Do you know?"

"Dawn's right. But Riley…Buffy's not his soul mate. And if I'm here to fix things then I had to make sure he wasn't going to stay and get hurt."

"So he's gone? Who is his soul mate?"

"Her name is Sam. She's going to be in trouble in Central America in a few months. She's going to be his damsel in distress, and that's what he needs."

"Wow…" Tara leaned in and kissed Willow gently. "Is there something else? You seem a little…interrupted. If that's a good word to describe you."

Willow tugged on Tara's pants loop. "There's one more thing, if you wouldn't mind staying with Dawnie?"

"No, I'll be here. Dawn patrolling." Tara gave a soft smile and watched Willow run off into the night.

…..

She ended up at Spike's crypt. He was sauntering around his home with a bottle of Jack Daniels held tightly in his grasp. He heard the door to the crypt slam and prepared for a battle, "Whatever type of-" Spike paused, "Oh, Red, it's you…" he took another swig of his drink, wiped off an edge of a coffin and hoped up on it for a make shift seat, "To what do I owe the pleasure? Come to tell me my future, eh?"

"Buffy told you?"

"Yea, I mean only bits and parts while you and your bird ran off to nest at Casa de la Angelus, but I caught the jest of it."

"Well, there's stuff, certain stuff about certain people I didn't tell Buffy, or Giles for that matter."

"Yea?" He smiled, "Like what?"

She looked around the dark room forcing her eyes to adjust. "How much do you care about Buffy?"

"I don't believe that's any of your concern…"

"It is my concern," she shot, "and Dawn? What would you do to protect them?"

"Protect?" He trailed, confusion spreading his features, "Red, you're way off, you're somewhere…protect?" He stopped, "I don't…I don't know where you're getting this." He looked down, defeated.

"Then go…go get your soul."

"What? Have you lost your damn mind! No way am I becoming like that Nancy ponce, Angel! I'm not going to thwart around all whipped and broken all the time. That 'oh look at me, I'm brooding and sauding blooding broken, hold me' nonsense. I've got my reputation to uphold!"

"Reputation? Spike you…" Willow stopped, "What would you do if I told you that you hurt Buffy?"

"Slayer," he pointed outwards, "Vampire," he pointed back at himself, "There's not much to figure out. Once I get this bloody chip out my brain then I suppose we will have a showdown of epic proportions, but until then, Spike is on the lead."

"I'm not talking about physically…well not just physically…"

"Red, hello? Chip! I can't hurt anyone with this."

"But you do, Spike. You try and…" Willow grounded her teeth, "Let's just say rape is not becoming of you."

"Rape? Red you're off…" Spike stammered as he took another swig off his bottle. "No, I can't."

"Yes, you do. And without your soul…you try…"

"Was she ok? Did I hurt her…? Oh god…" He smashed the bottle up against the crypt wall, "I really am a monster."

"No, I've seen the kind of man you become. With your soul…you save the world."

"And Buffy?"

"Forgives, but never forgets."

"Red…I…" Spike was whispering, his eyes in panic.

"Just go. You know the place." Willow walked away from Spike and out of his crypt.

….

Giles arrived in LA just a day after his phone call with Quentin. "So, what's all this mess about, Quentin?"

"The First," Quentin smiled at his old friend, "They have started."

"I'm aware." Giles said firmly, his eyes locked on the ground.

"Yes, but of course." Quentin shifted, "then you must know we've allied ourselves with the coven. They told me it was dire that they be involved in the gathering."

"Gathering… You mean?"

"It's time, Rupert. The First will begin their attack on the girls, then the slayers, and then the whole line will be obliterated. The coven has found ways to prevent such evil from occurring, so we saw fit to include them in our endeavors. However, they were very specific in detail… About Faith."

"And this would be what exactly?"

"She must be freed."

….

"Dawn!" Buffy screamed up to the stairs.

"She's upstairs in bed." Tara smiled coming out of the kitchen.

"Tara… Where's Willow?"

"She had to go do something… I figured it was something else about Warren."

"Warren?"

"Yet… S –she didn't want me around him."

"No… She was too busy giving my boyfriend all the excuses he needed to skip town with his boy soldiers."

"W – want… S – she didn't…"

"She did. And she knew. She knows everything, doesn't she?"

"She… She's not trying to hurt you, Buffy."

"Well, damn, isn't that the thing? She doesn't mean to ever, does she?"

"What's going on?" Willow asked, switching puzzled glances between Tara and Buffy as she walked back through the door.

"Nothing. I was just leaving. Mind watching Dawn?" She asked fleeting, running out before she got an answer.

Willow started out the door is Buffy ran. "She's not happy with you, you know?"

"I know. It doesn't give her the right to yell at you though." Willow move closer to Tara, noticing the blonde visibly shaken, "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine. I think," she nodded, "I'm just a little scared is all. Will, she looked like she was going to take off your head."

"I know." Willow looked around the Summer's homestead. "I'm just glad she didn't hurt you."

"I'm fine, really." Tara took a step for the stairs, "I'm going to talk to Dawn; let her know Buffy may not be back tonight."

…

"Freed?" Giles looked at Quentin for answers, "That's rich. Even coming from you."

"We're doing what must be done, Rupert. The slayer is in grave danger alone in there. This evil we are facing could get her at any time, and we need her on our team."

"She's a dangerous threat!" Giles screamed.

"What's done is done."

"What?"

"Are men have already gotten her of released. It's only a matter of time before…" His cell phone started ringing. "Just a moment. Hello? Yes… You do what? Where is she? Find her you moronic fool's!" He hung up the phone and began to panic.

"She escaped your men, did she?" Giles smiled, a smug look crossing his face.

"We will get her back."

"No need. I know where she will run to."

…. To…

Giles arrived at the Hyperion Hotel just to be told that Angel was at some lawyer's house. Arriving at the lawyer's house he saw a woman lying on the floor, blood pooling from her neck. He entered the house just as Angel was walking out from a large cellar door. "Giles…" Angel walked past him, a shocked expression covering his face.

"Angel… What is…? Angelus?"

"Know…" He walked out, grabbing Giles hand, and pulling them out of the house. New paragraph "Angel the… Stop. What is this all about?"

"Darla and Drusilla… They are in there."

"And… those people?"

"They've brought Darla back to mess with me. She's their problem, not mine. If she kills them all, then that's their problem too."

"But not all of them…" Giles stared that the vampire, "You're just going to let innocent people die? "

"Not my problem."

"No, it's certainly not. Saving and protecting innocent lives has never been your problem, has it, Angelus?"

"Look, Rupert, whatever this is…" He stopped as he noticed a cross and a crossbow held up, "Giles?"

"You remember Jenny. Am I right?"

"Giles, no…" he begged, "Those people in there… They aren't innocent…"

"That's what you would have me believe is that right? Tell me… Was Jenny not innocent when you took her life?"

"I wasn't myself then, Rupert. I couldn't control… Can we just please think about this."

"No." Giles press that if the crossbow into Angel's chest and pulled the trigger.