DISCLAIMER AND AUTHOR'S NOTE: All Buffy The Vampire Slayer stuff belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and Warner Brothers. No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this fiction. All other characters that appear belong to me. This story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies may be made for private use only and must include this copyright notice and disclaimer. There is some subtext in this story. If this kind of stuff is not legal where you live, if you're under 18 or if you don't like the notion of two women being in love, then you should read no further. This story is a sequel to Personal Demons.

Friend or Foe
By Kristjan Brezovnik

Sometime in the future, a battle was being fought. It wasn't of any epic proportions, not even close, but it was deadly serious for both sides. One side consisted of vampires and other assorted demons and the other side of a huge winged thirty-meter tall demon and a young girl, a witch. So far the witch and her ally were winning, but there were other demons approaching. The winged demon was badly hurt, but he still fought, protecting the witch. The witch stood with her eyes closed, her arms raised. She held a staff in her right arm and where her left forearm should be was a long blade instead. Her left leg ended in a wooden support. She was dirty and tired and she too was badly hurt, the left half of the face badly scarred and the eye missing.

Suddenly all demons except the witch's ally dropped dead. The witch collapsed, exhausted. The winged demon gently picked her up and then flew away. He flew fast, protecting the witch with his giant claws. Other winged demons came flying through the eternal twilight and tried to kill the demon and the witch, but the witch's ally easily flew through their ranks being more than twice as huge as the rest. A deep malign roar was heard in the distance and the winged demon looked around, nervous, and increased speed.

They finally reached their destination, a cave, but it was guarded. The winged demon opened his jaws and a huge flame burst out, enveloping the forward guards. He rammed through the next group of guards and blew another flame, killing the rest. Then he gently put the witch down.

"Go," he said. "I will hold them off."

The witch reached out with her hand and laid it on his cheek, a tear escaping her eye.

"I know," the demon said. "What happens to me doesn't matter, you have to complete your mission. Go and may the Goddess help you."

The witch smiled briefly and then entered the cave. When she was in, the demon collapsed the entrance and turned around to face the next group of demons.

In the cave, the witch quickly drew a pentagram with her blood and stepped inside. She raised her arms and closed her eyes. Nothing happened for several minutes, but then the air shimmered and space and time opened up and the witch disappeared within a vortex.

"You know," Monique said as she and Renee sat on a bench during a break, watching the boys, "not being in the bitch club really…"

Renee interrupted her with a laugh.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"What?" Monique asked, confused.

"What club?"

"Oh." Monique smiled. "Bitch club. You know, Faith called me the new bitch club queen when we first met. We were harassing Lara."

"Oh yeah! I remember."

Monique grinned.

"Anyway," she continued, "not being in it really gave me a perspective on boys."

Renee looked at her quizzically.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, before, I only had eyes for those sporty boys, like Jack over there."

"Yeah?" Renee glanced at Jack. "He's one piece of man meat."

Monique laughed at her friend's comment.

"You can say that again," she agreed. "Anyway, now I suddenly realize that they're all airheads! Like we were."

Renee laughed.

"That's cruel."

Monique smiled.

"Well, it's true. I mean, look at us. We were airheads like, say, Cassandra and Jack, and until you found out you were pregnant I never would have thought about serious stuff like that. I've been hanging out with you and Cassandra and other airheads for so long I didn't know I cared about stuff like that, it was always somebody else's problem. I had no… integrity. Hell, I didn't even know what the word meant. And then, well, I guess I grew up. We both did."

Renee raised an eyebrow as she thought over Monique's words.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." She smirked. "I guess you could say we graduated, matured."

Monique laughed.

"Yeah, I guess you could. It's a terrible thought, isn't it?"

"Well, no, not really. I'm glad we did, otherwise I wouldn't have a baby now and a place to live."

"Yeah, you're right," Monique agreed and looked around. "I guess we'll have to look for boys in the upper quality class. The nerds," she explained when Renee gave her a puzzled look.

Renee laughed.

"Yeah." She grimaced. "The only problem, however, is that they don't look even remotely like Jack."

"That's not necessarily a problem. The upper quality class, remember? They don't care about details like the fact that you have a baby."

Renee raised an eyebrow.

"Definitely a bonus point for the nerds," she agreed, her face serious.

"And besides, not all of them look like geeks. Like that new guy, Faith's friend?"

"Dennis?"

"Yes."

"Well, I think he's taken. I think he has the hots for Heidi."

Monique smirked.

"Back in the good old airhead days that wouldn't have bothered you."

"Yeah, well, like you said, we grew up."

"Yes. Definitely the bad side of growing up."

"Definitely," Renee agreed. "And guess who's been playing the matchmaker."

Monique raised an eyebrow.

"Faith?" she ventured.

"Yep."

"How do you know?"

"I saw her introduce them to one another at the Bronze and then they all left."

"Oh. Hmm, perhaps we should hire her to get us some dates."

Renee laughed.

"I'm not that desperate yet."

Monique grinned.

"Me neither.

"Anyway, I'll have to be careful about who I'll date, I wouldn't want to find out that my boyfriend is after Hope."

Monique nodded.

"Me too," she agreed. "Hey, look, there's Lara and Raelee."

Renee looked.

"Yeah. And look who's heading their way."

Monique looked.

"The new bitch club."

"Looks like Cassandra opened the club to new membership."

"Yeah, it's hard to be a queen without subjects."

Renee laughed.

"Yeah. Isn't that Roxy?"

"She's Rochelle now," Monique corrected her.

"Ooh, so sorry," Renee mockingly apologized and Monique grinned. "So, do we go and help them out?"

Monique considered the idea.

"Yes. I mean, they are our friends. And besides, I think it's time I showed Cassandra why I was the queen of the bitch club."

Renee grinned.

"Yeah."

They headed to Lara and Raelee, who had been intercepted by Cassandra and her new friends.

"Well, hello, children," Monique said and Cassandra and her new friends turned. Monique looked at them. "Looks like your standard dropped even lower that it was when I was the queen." She pretended to think. "Tell me something, Cassandra, I've been wondering. I've only been the queen of the bitch club and Renee's only been a subject, but you've been both a subject and now the queen. Has your airhead quotient increased or decreased?"

"What?" Cassandra asked, confused.

Monique and Renee looked at each other and grinned.

"Definitely increased," Renee said.

"Definitely," Monique agreed and looked at Lara and Raelee. "Hey, you two. Come, you don't want to hang out with these brain dead people, it's not good for your IQ."

She took Lara by the hand and Renee took Raelee and they led them away from Cassandra and the bitch club.

"Thanks," Raelee said when they were far enough.

"You're welcome."

"What did they want?" Renee asked.

Raelee shrugged.

"Nothing. They were just being annoying."

Monique and Renee glanced at each other, embarrassed.

"Yes, well, speaking of being annoying," Monique said, "I think it's about time I apologize to you two for harassing you."

"Yeah, me too," Renee joined her. "And I also want to thank you for protecting my baby."

Lara and Raelee looked at both girls, surprised, and then at each other.

"It's okay and you're welcome," Raelee then said.

Lara nodded.

"Thanks."

"Yeah, thanks."

Somewhere in the park, the air suddenly started to shimmer and a vortex appeared. Nothing happened for a few moments and then a cloaked figure fell through. The vortex closed after a few moments, but the figure remained lying.

Finally, after several minutes, the figure slowly got up and staggered. It was the witch from the future. She leaned on her staff for a few moments and then slowly started to walk. She knew she was in Sunnydale, but she didn't recognize anything, even though she was born there. She didn't know where she was going, but she trusted her instincts. She wanted to go straight to her destination, but she knew it wouldn't be good if someone saw her like that and she was too tired to do a cloaking spell. She walked through back alleys, avoiding people, but she soon noticed that the few people that saw her ignored her. She stopped often and did the healing spell, but then she continued.

In school, Faith was having English when she suddenly had a vision. Six dark men were approaching a baby she saw was Hope. There was another group, three men and a woman, and they were also approaching Hope. And then there was the cloaked man, who was glowing as he approached the baby. Then she saw Willow, Tara and Lara surround Hope and attacked the cloaked man. And finally she saw Buffy and herself fighting the two groups.

"…to Miss Spencer."

Faith jerked.

"What?"

"Welcome back, Miss Spencer," the English teacher said. "I'm sure it was very interesting where you have just been, but I would appreciate if you paid attention to here and now."

Faith stared at her for a few moments, confused by the vision, and then it suddenly dawned on her. Hope was in danger.

"Excuse me, Mrs Leary, but I don't feel so well. May I go to the toilet?"

The teacher raised an eyebrow.

"You may," she allowed.

"Thank you," Faith said and ran out.

Outside, she stopped for a moment to think about what to do. She knew she couldn't leave the school, but she needed to find a phone. She thought for a moment and then ran to the lockers. The coaches were all out and she could use the phone.

"Giles? It's me, Faith. Listen, Hope's in danger… I had a vision… I don't know how! Just tell Mrs Dion not to open the door unless it's one of us. And then go to her and let Buffy, Willow and Lara know. Oh, call Cordelia and ask her if she had the same vision… Good. I have to go. I still have two more hours and then I'll come there. I'll let the others know. Bye."

She hung up and ran back to the classroom.

On the outskirts of Sunnydale, a dark van stopped in front of an abandoned warehouse. A man in dark clothes came out and opened the doors. The van drove in and the man closed the doors.

On the other side of Sunnydale, an SUV stopped in front of the motel and three men and a woman came out. One of the men went off to hire an apartment. When he came back, they each took a bag and entered the apartment.

When school was finally over for the day, Faith, Raelee, Lara, Monique and Renee ran to Monique's house.

"Mom!" Monique called.

"Everything is all right," Giles andsured them. "For now." He looked at Faith. "I talked to Cordelia and she confirmed. She said there were two groups and a cloaked man and they were attacking a baby."

"Hope, yes," Faith confirmed.

"And then Willow, Tara and Lara protected the baby fought the cloaked man?"

"Yes."

"And then you and Buffy attacked the two groups."

"Yes."

Giles thought.

"Well, I believe that we're dealing with three separate threats. Two are presumably normal, if you can apply that term to assassins, and the cloaked man is in my opinion a warlock of some kind. He is the greatest threat and he will have to be dealt with by Willow, Tara and Lara while you and Buffy take care of the two groups."

"Looked that way to me too," Faith agreed.

"Em, Faith," Buffy spoke, "since when do you have visions?"

Faith shrugged.

"I only had one," she said. "It was pretty spooky."

"When will they attack?" Mrs Dion asked, worried.

"I don't know, but it did look kinda dark. Probably at night."

"Can I take Hope to the doctor?" Renee asked.

"I guess so, as long as you take the witches, sorry, wiccans with you."

Renee looked at the three wiccans.

"I have an appointment for five o'clock. Will you come?"

Lara nodded.

"We will," Willow said.

"Good," Buffy said. "Then the rest of us can go home for a while and get ready."

"Actually," Giles said, "I could use some help with research. I would like to find out who the warlock is."

"I'll join you as soon as I eat lunch," Faith said.

The witch finally reached her destination. Home. Well, it used to be one, at least in the past as she remembered it. She could feel the protection spell repelling the evil. She stared at the house for a few moments, trembling, and tears started to run down her cheeks. She let them. She looked around and noticed a bench. She slowly went there and sat down. Then she closed her eyes and rested. And waited.

When they were returning from the hospital and were approaching Monique's house, the baby Hope suddenly started to babble excitedly.

"What is it, baby?" Renee asked and caressed her.

Hope kept babbling and she reached out with her hands. Renee was confused for a moment, but then she realized that the baby was trying to tell her something. She knew the baby couldn't talk, but she also knew that the baby could share her thoughts. She leaned closer and Hope touched her face. Renee jerked as she saw the strange thought.

"I don't understand," she said and leaned closer again.

On the bench, the witch had seen the group. She knew them all and one of them in particular. She also saw the baby as she tried to tell her mother something and she guessed what it was. She got up and tried to leave, unnoticed.

"Hope?"

The witch stopped for a moment, recognizing her own name and the voice who had spoken it. Then she moved on.

"Hope!" Renee called again and ran after the cloaked stranger, leaving her confused friends behind. She stopped the stranger. "Oh my god," she said, shocked, when she saw the stranger's face.

The witch looked down, ashamed, and wanted to move, but Renee didn't let her.

"Hope," Renee said and hugged her.

The witch trembled and then hugged her back.

"Mom-my," she then said and started to cry.

Monique stared at them, confused, while the three wiccans understood who the ragged stranger was, especially Lara.

"Em, what's going on?" Monique asked. "Who is that… person?"

"It's her daughter," Lara said.

"Excuse me?" Monique asked and looked at her, confused.

"That is Hope," Willow explained. "I think she's from the future."

Monique raised an eyebrow and looked back at Renee, who was soothing the older Hope.

"It's okay, baby, Mommy's here," Renee said and caressed Hope.

The witch smiled through her tears.

"Come, let's go home," Renee said and wiped Hope's tears.

Then she wanted to take Hope's hand, but Hope pulled back and Renee could see that where her hand should be there was a blade instead.

"Hey, it's okay," she said and caressed Hope again when she saw Hope look away, ashamed. "Come, let's go home."

Hope nodded and slowly started to walk toward the carriage. There she looked at her younger self and the baby giggled at her. She smiled back and then looked at the three wiccans. She wanted to say something, but she obviously didn't know the words, so she just smiled instead. She looked at Monique and smiled as well.

"Hope?" Monique asked and the witch nodded.

Monique wanted to ask her more questions, but decided that now was not the time.

"Let's go home," Renee said and they went to the house.

"My, you were…" Mrs Dion started when Renee entered, but she stopped when she saw a ragged stranger following her.

"This is my daughter, Hope," Renee explained when she saw the confused look on her face.

"Hope?" Mrs Dion asked, confused. "But…"

"It's a long story. She's tired and hungry. I'd like to give her a bath first. Could you make her something to eat? And take care of the baby?"

"Yes, sure," Mrs Dion said, still confused.

"Monique, could you prepare some clothes for her?"

"Sure."

"Thanks." Renee looked at her daughter's older self. "Come, baby."

The witch Hope followed her mother upstairs and into the bathroom.

When Renee tried to undress her, Hope backed off, ashamed.

"It's okay, baby," Renee said soothingly. "Mommy's here. You have to undress so I can bathe you."

Hope hesitated for a few moments and then slowly started to undress. She took off her cloak and Renee saw that her right leg below the knee was also missing. She put on a smile.

"It's okay, baby," she said encouragingly.

Hope slowly undressed and Renee helped her. When Hope was finally standing naked in front of her, Renee could finally see the extent of the scars on Hope's body. She gulped and put on another smile.

"Come, baby, let's get you cleaned up," she said and removed the blade from Hope's left arm.

Hope then sat on the edge of the bath tub and Renee removed the wooden support. Then she helped Hope into the tub and gently started to wash her. Hope sat still for a while, feeling ashamed, but she soon relaxed under her mother's gentle touches.

When they were done, Renee took her to her room and dressed her up. Then she took her downstairs and helped her eat. She couldn't help but smile when she saw how hungry Hope was. At the same time, that fact also made her sad.

After Hope ate, Renee helped her to the couch, where Hope fell asleep in her arms. Renee smiled. She caressed her and kissed her on the forehead and let her sleep.

Outside, a man in black put away his binoculars and took his walkie-talkie.

"I have the location," he reported.

A couple of hours later, when the sunset approached, Faith came to Monique's house. She noticed she was the last. She also noticed another girl, who appeared to have been in some serious fight since half her left arm and leg were missing and the left side of her face was a complete mess.

"Have I missed something?" she asked and looked around.

"That is Hope," Xander said. "From the future."

Faith raised an eyebrow.

"Aha," she said and looked at Giles.

"We don't know the details yet," Giles said. "We are waiting for the girl to wake up."

Faith shrugged.

"Then we wait."

"Em, I hate to be a nagger," Xander said, "but shouldn't we be patrolling outside or something?"

"The sun hasn't set yet," Buffy said.

"Oh."

"About ten more minutes."

Outside, the woman from the smaller team put away her binoculars and took her walkie-talkie.

"I have the location," she reported.

Hope finally woke up with a scream, ending the nightmare.

"Shh, it's okay, baby, Mommy's here," Renee said and hugged her.

Hope hugged her back and cried for a few minutes. When she finally stopped, Renee wiped her tears.

"Em, I hate to interrupt," Buffy said, "but it's after sunset."

Renee nodded and looked at Hope.

"We need to know what happened," she told her.

Hope bit her lips and nodded. She hesitated for a moment and then touched her mother's cheek. Renee jerked, surprised.

"Yes, you may," she then answered the unspoken question.

Hope touched her again and thought to her what had happened and why she's came. Renee saw the images appear and disappear in her mind, one more horrible than the next, and tears started to run down her cheek. When Hope was finished, Renee hugged her and caressed her. When she saw Faith's impatient look, she let go of Hope and nodded.

"She… She told me what had happened."

"Can't she speak?" Xander asked.

Renee shook her head.

"No, she never learned. The only thing she can say is Mommy."

"Oh."

"So?" Faith asked.

Renee took a deep breath.

"Tomorrow night, a warlock will come. In her past, the warlock caught us unprepared and he killed us all. He took Hope and… corrupted her. When she was powerful enough, he made her open the Hellmouth and the demons came to Earth. The warlock demanded payment, but he was killed. Some demon used Hope as his plaything for a while and then discarded her. She was lost for a while and she returned to the warlock's house where she studied magic. She… She aimlessly fought and killed demons on her own until one of the demons approached her and offered her help."

"A demon offered her help?" Buffy asked, surprised.

"Yes."

"What kind of demon?" Giles asked.

"I don't know. He looked pretty pathetic to me, but when Hope gave him back his original form, he was… huge and ugly. He had wings. He told her how she could undo what had happened and he protected her when they searched for the cave."

"Cave?" Giles asked.

Renee shrugged.

"I don't know. It was some kind of cave. In it, she performed a spell which brought her back here so she could help us destroy the warlock." She paused and gulped. "After… After the warlock is… dead, she will cease… to exist."

She hugged Hope again and Hope hugged her back.

There was silence in the room for a while as everyone thought about the prospect of being killed in the near future. Giles was the first to speak.

"Em, Hope, I need to know more about the warlock."

Hope nodded and got up. She walked to Giles as everyone stared at her wooden support. She leaned closer and almost touched his face, eyeing him expectantly.

"Go ahead," he said and Hope touched him.

Giles jerked as images flowed into his mind. When Hope was done, she stepped back and watched Giles expectantly. Giles didn't move for a few moments and then he looked at her.

"Ah, thank you," he said.

"Giles?" Buffy asked.

"I'm not sure, I will have to look it up."

"Tomorrow," Faith said and looked at Buffy. "Come, let's go out and see if there are any bad guys around."

"And be careful," Giles warned them, "they may be mortal."

Buffy rolled her eyes.

"Why is that we have to be careful? Why aren't the bad guys careful sometime?"

Faith grinned.

"That's why we're the good guys and they're not."

"Sometimes I'm not sure that's a good thing," Buffy said and looked around. "We better sneak out through a window in the back." She looked at Faith. "In case they're watching the front door," she explained.

Faith nodded.

"Let's go."

"Need any help?" Xander asked.

"If you hear yelling, you'll know."

The sky was steadily getting darker outside as the two Slayers left the house. Buffy went to the left and Faith to the right. They passed several houses before they got to the front side. Faith looked down the street, but she couldn't see Buffy anywhere. She casually walked across the street, like she was supposed to be there and not in hiding. On the other side, she slipped into the bushes and remained still for a while.

Nothing happened for two hours and the two Slayers returned back to the house, Buffy ten minutes before Faith.

"Nothing?" Buffy asked when Faith returned.

Faith shook her head.

"Not even a vamp."

"You think they saw us?"

"Maybe. They might have the house under surveillance from all sides."

"Which means we'll have to flush them out."

"How?"

"By leaving and pretending we're going home."

Faith raised an eyebrow, considering the idea.

"Okay, but what about Hope? The witch, I mean. I mean, if they have the house under surveillance, the saw her come in."

In response, Hope got up, leaned her head back and closed her eyes. A few moment later, she was gone.

"Holly shit," Xander said. "Sorry," he quickly added.

"Cool," Faith said and Hope reappeared. "So you leave with us and then come back and wait for the bad guys to show up."

Hope nodded.

"Okay, then let's go," Buffy said and everyone got up.

"How far do we go?"

Hope touched her mother.

"You keep going," Renee then said. "You will know when to come back."

Faith raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment.

"Fine with me."

Everybody filed out, including Hope, who went with Giles. When they were several corners away, Hope touched Giles' arm. Giles looked at her and then she disappeared. Giles looked around and then considered what to do. He decided to continue walking, in case he was still under observation.

"Go," the leader of the first team said when he got report from his team that everyone had left.

Black-clad members of his team left their hiding places and carefully approached the house.

The other team had received identical order and they too moved in. Unfortunately for them, they ran into the other team and they started shooting at each other. Luckily, they had silencers on their weapons or they would have woken up the whole neighborhood. A member of the first team made a run for the house, hoping to break in, get the baby and leave, while his teammates covered him.

But neither team had counted on Hope, who appeared before the surprised man who was running to the house. She extended her hand and the man flew back. Hope then raised her arms and clapped her hands together. A bright light shot over the sky and the surprised kidnappers looked at it. Then they pulled themselves together and opened fire on Hope.

Hope cocked her head and her eyes glowed for a moment. She spread her arms and the bullets hit an invisible wall. She leaned her head back for a moment and the closest kidnappers were flung backwards. The rest took cover and tried the bigger guns but had the same success as before. They decided to spread around the perimeter, hoping Hope's invisible wall didn't extend around the whole house.

But then the cavalry came, the two Slayers first. Buffy took one side of the house, Faith the other. The each took two kidnappers by surprise, but then the rest noticed them and fired at them. Faith screamed as a bullet passed through her arm. Fortunately for them, Lara came and knocked the kidnappers aside. Buffy and Faith used their confusion and beat them up some more before the kidnappers decided to retreat.

"You okay?" Raelee asked when she saw Faith hold her hand.

Faith nodded.

"Yeah, the bullet went through."

"You were shot?" Raelee asked, surprised.

"Yeah."

They went to the door, where Renee was already holding Hope's hand. Hope saw blood running down Faith's arm and she approached her. She put her hand over the wound and concentrated. Faith looked at her arm as the pain subsided and the torn flesh started to heal.

"Nice," Faith commented when Hope was done. "Thanks."

Hope smiled.

"Is that it for tonight?" Renee asked.

"Yeah, probably," Faith said. "They need to regroup. We should be safe until tomorrow evening."

"When the warlock comes," Willow said.

"Yes." She looked at Giles. "Shall we go home?" she asked.

"I can't see why not. And in case they return, Hope can protect them long enough for us to come."

"Good. Let's go home then."

Xander yawned.

"Yeah, let's."

"Were you hurt?" Cordelia asked when they met in their dreams.

"Yeah," Faith confirmed, surprised. "How do you know?"

"I felt it. It was… It was like getting shot. In the arm, right here."

Cordelia touched the spot and Faith saw that that was precisely where she was shot.

"I was, right there."

"What?" Cordelia asked, her eyes wide with worry. "Are you okay?"

Faith smiled and caressed her girlfriend, trying to chase the worry from her eyes.

"I'm fine. One of the men who tried to kidnap Hope shot me, but Hope cured the wound."

"Hope?" Cordelia asked, confused.

"Oh, you don't know yet. Well, there are two Hopes now, the baby Hope and an adult Hope who came back from the future."

"Oh."

"Anyway, we have a big fight coming tomorrow."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Be careful."

Faith smiled.

"Don't worry, I have too much to lose not to be careful."

"Oh you have too much to lose. What about me?"

Faith kissed her.

"You too, Cordelia."

Cordelia smiled.

"Good. Don't you forget it."

"I won't. Anyway, have you ever felt it when I was hurt before?"

Cordelia knit her eyebrows as she thought.

"No, not really. I mean, I though sometimes that I felt it and sometimes I was tired for no apparent reason." She paused. "Well, my back did hurt like Hell when that demon stepped on you and you were paralyzed, but that was it." She paused again, thinking. "It looks like our bond is now deeper or I would have been paralyzed as well back then."

Faith nodded.

"And then there's the vision. I haven't seen your first visions."

"No." Cordelia thought. "We last melded two days ago and before that…"

"Before Doyle died."

"That's right."

"So I guess you being a Seer now has something to do with it."

Cordelia nodded.

"Yes."

"Hmm," Faith said thoughtfully, "we should do something about it. I mean, I totally zoned out when I saw the vision and it wouldn't be healthy if you got one while I was slaying."

Cordelia nodded in agreement.

"Good point. Any ideas?"

"None."

Cordelia thought.

"Shall we ask Giles?"

Faith considered the idea.

"Nah. Not yet, anyway."

"Okay."

"Anyway, I have news for you."

Next afternoon, after school, Faith took Alice to the park to play. She sat on a bench and smiled as she saw Alice approach the other children much more boldly than she did the first time. Then she started to look around for any signs of kidnappers, but there were none. She was wondering briefly if Renee would bring Hope when another mother approached her and engaged her in a conversation. She didn't tell anyone that Alice was her sister and not her daughter, but she didn't mind being considered Alice's mother, in fact, she liked it.

Suddenly screams were heard and Faith looked, alarmed. Her eyes went wide when she saw a pit bull run straight toward Alice. She immediately ran to save Alice and she arrived just in time to kick the dog away as it launched itself at the girl. The dog quickly recovered and tried to bite her, but she kicked it again. The dog tried jumping at her next, but Faith stepped aside, grabbed its hind legs and slammed it into a tree, breaking its backbone.

She let go of the corpse and wanted to see if Alice was okay when the owner came, angry.

"You killed my dog! You're gonna…"

Faith grabbed his neck, glaring at him murderously.

"Your dog attacked my d… sister," she said in menacing voice, making the dog owner kneel. "I hate it when my sister is in danger and if you do anything to endanger her again, I will not stop with the dog. Do I make myself clear?"

The owner gasped for air.

"Do I make myself clear?" Faith asked a bit louder, trembling with rage and fear.

The dog owner nodded frantically.

"Then take the corpse and get out of my sight before I do something I will regret," Faith said and released him.

The man crawled backwards, got up, picked the dog's corpse and quickly walked away.

Faith stared after him for a moment and then turned to Alice, worried sick. She picked her up and hugged her tightly, tears coming running down her pale cheeks. The mothers of the other children applauded her, but she didn't even register.

"Is everything okay?"

Faith opened her eyes and saw Renee. She nodded.

"You look more scared than Alice," Monique commented as she looked around at the other mothers.

"I…" Faith cleared her throat. "I probably am," she admitted and looked at Alice. "Are you okay?" she asked and caressed her.

Alice nodded. She wasn't hurt, but the dog scared her.

Faith forced a smile.

"Good," she said and kissed her on the forehead. "Do you want to go play again?"

Alice nodded again.

"Okay," Faith said and put her down.

She took a deep breath to calm down.

"Hope," Renee said to the witch, "do you want to play with the children?"

The witch looked at the children and nodded, her eyes bright.

Renee smiled.

"Then go. But don't scare them with your powers, okay?"

Hope nodded and left.

Renee caressed the baby Hope in the coach.

"I wish I could do more for her," she then said, staring after the witch.

"That's all mothers wish to do," Faith said, looking at Alice. "Most of them anyway," she added, remembering her own mother.

"We'll go sit over there," Raelee said and pointed at a bench near by.

Faith nodded and Raelee and Lara left.

"Oh, by the way," Renee said, "Jesse, my brother, he got his girlfriend to move to Sunnydale."

"That's great," Faith said.

"Yeah. Only now I have a dilemma. Do I stay with Monique or do I move in with Jesse and his girlfriend. I mean, it's not fair to expose Monique, but on the other hand, I don't think Jesse's girlfriend would appreciate being in the same house with Jesse's sister and the most wanted baby in the world."

"Hey, I told you you can stay," Monique said.

"Yeah, well, still, it's awkward, you know? I mean, I appreciate it, you saved my life, but still, I'm endangering you."

"Nonsense," Monique said, "we're friends, you can stay."

"Hey, guys," a new voice interrupted the discussion.

Faith, Renee and Monique turned.

"Hey, Dennis," Faith said. "Heidi."

"Hi," Heidi said.

"Listen, can we talk to you for a minute?" Dennis asked Faith.

"Yeah, sure," Faith said and walked a few steps away. "Shoot."

Dennis hesitated for a moment.

"Well, we'd like to get more involved," he then said.

Faith raised an eyebrow.

"More involved?"

"Not with each other," Heidi said, smiling, "with fighting the vampires and stuff."

"Oh."

"Well, I've seen the vampires," Dennis continued, "and Heidi told me about the hospital and, well, you know I always hated it when something was going on and I couldn't do something about it."

Faith grinned.

"You can say that again," she agreed.

"Yeah, well, Heidi also told me what they did to her family. Anyway, the point is we'd like to help out."

Faith nodded.

"Okay." She thought. "Actually, you can help us tonight. We need some scouts."

"Scouts?"

"Yeah. Yesterday, two groups of kidnappers tried to kidnap Hope, but we stopped them. We're expecting them back today, plus a really bad ass warlock. What I want is for you to walk around and see if you can spot anyone suspicious. The kidnappers haven't seen you yet, so they won't know you."

"Sure, no problem."

"Good. Look, I'll be here for another hour or so with my sister."

"Your sister? Oh yeah! Which one is it?" Dennis asked.

Faith smiled.

"That one playing with Hope."

"Hope?" Heidi asked, confused.

"With the big girl."

"That's Hope?" Dennis asked, puzzled.

"Well, yes, it's a long story. She is from the future. The real baby Hope is over there in the coach."

"Oh. Wow, things sure aren't boring here."

Faith grinned.

"Unfortunately," Faith said. "I could use some boredom. Anyway, come back in an hour or so and then we'll go to Giles and I'll tell Xander to provide some walkie-talkies."

"Okay."

"Let's go see the baby first," Heidi said.

"Yeah, sure," Dennis agreed. "See you later, Faith."

"See you."

"Hi, Faith," Monique said when she opened the door in the evening.

"Hi, Monique. Everyone here?"

"No, Willow and Tara are not… Oh, there they are."

Faith turned around and saw the two wiccans behind her.

"Hi, guys."

"Hey, Faith," Willow said.

They entered and Monique closed the door.

"Faith, Dennis and Heidi report that they are looking."

"Okay." She looked around. "Is everyone ready?" she asked.

Everyone nodded with various degrees of enthusiasm.

"Any idea how we take on the warlock?" Willow asked.

"Like in the vision," Buffy said and Hope nodded.

"Meaning?" Faith asked.

"I'm not an expert," Buffy said and looked at Hope. "Hope?"

Hope nodded and looked at her mother questioningly. Renee nodded and Hope touched her face. Renee twitched and watched the images.

"Okay," she said when Hope was done, "I think I have it. First, Lara, Willow and Tara borrow strength from Hope. The baby. Then we have to take Hope out. Lara, Willow and Tara make a triangle around her with Lara at the point. Hope, the older Hope, she confronts the warlock. The rest of us take care of the kidnappers."

Buffy raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, that was about how I figured we should do it," she said.

"But how do we know when the warlock comes?" Willow asked.

"Maybe we should do the location spell," Tara proposed, but Hope shook her head and looked at her mother, who nodded.

"He would sense the spell," Renee said when Hope showed her what she wanted to say.

"Oh."

"Then I guess we sit and wait," Faith said.

"Em, Hope wants to show the three of you the spell," Renee said.

Everyone looked at Hope.

"Okay," Willow said.

Hope approached her and touched her face. Willow jerked, but then watched the images in her mind.

"Wow," she said when Hope was done. "I understand," she added when Hope gave her a questioning look.

Hope moved on to Tara, who nodded. Hope touched her.

"Whoa," Tara said when Hope was done. "Cool. I understand."

Hope moved on to Lara, who also nodded. Hope touched her.

"I understand," Lara then said.

"Her way of doing spells is way different from ours," Willow commented to Tara.

"Yeah." Tara agreed and looked at Lara. "Is that how you do them?"

Lara nodded.

"Interesting," Willow said thoughtfully.

The witch Hope then moved to the baby Hope and tried to pick her up, but she couldn't do it with one arm.

"You want to hold her?" Renee asked her.

Hope nodded.

Renee went to the crib and picked up the baby.

"Sit on the couch," she told the witch and Hope sat.

Renee then gave her the baby and the witch held her with what was left of her left arm. The baby giggled and babbled until the witch touched her face. The baby stopped babbling and seemed to be listening intently. When the witch was done, the baby babbled something and touched the witch's face. The witch listened and then smiled and tears came into her eyes. She kissed the baby on the forehead and hugged her.

Xander's walkie-talkie made a noise.

"Xander?"

"This is Xander, I'm listening."

"This is Heidi. I see a suspicious man observing the house. He's three houses away and I think he's armed."

"Okay, don't approach him. Ignore him, pretend you didn't see him."

"Em, I hate to interrupt," Dennis cut in, "but I see a very strange man."

"How strange?"

"Very. Tall, black hair, I think, long beard. He wears a long hooded cloak. And he has a staff which has some kind of star on top, a pentagram, I think. Man, he gives me the creeps."

Hope nodded fervently and Faith could see fear in her eyes.

"That's our guy," she said. "Tell him to stay away from him and wait for your signal. And Heidi as well."

"Okay. Heidi, Dennis, stay away and wait for my signal."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Looks like this is it," Buffy said.

"Yeah." Faith looked at the wiccans. "You ready?"

"In a moment," Willow said as she Tara and Lara made a triangle around the baby Hope, whom the witch Hope had put on the table.

They each touched the baby and concentrated. Several long moments later, they opened their eyes, which were now glowing.

"We are ready," Willow said.

"Then let's go," Faith said. "Xander, give your walkie-talkie to Mr Dion. "Okay. Hope?"

Hope nodded and went to the door. She opened it and went out. Renee followed her with the baby and then the wiccans. The others waited until Renee put the baby on the ground about ten meters away from the house and then retreated. Then, as the wiccans made a triangle around the baby, the others went out and took cover on each side, waiting for the kidnappers.

The warlock soon made his appearance and he looked surprised when he saw the setup. Then he laughed. Hope didn't wait for him to stop. She raised her arms, threw back her head and concentrated. Behind her, the three wiccans did the same. Lara had no problem with it, but Willow and Tara found it strange, though they didn't let that bother them. In the center, the baby lay quietly, aware of the consequences if those who protected her failed.

The warlock staggered under the assault, surprised, but he quickly recovered and fought back.

Near by, both kidnapper teams had seen the warlock, but they hadn't been quite sure as to what his intentions were. But when the fight began, they knew that the warlock was after the baby. Even though they both wanted the baby themselves, they knew that they must not allow the warlock to have her.

Faith saw the kidnappers approach, their weapons ready, and she prepared for a fight. But to her surprise, the kidnappers opened fire on the warlock. She quickly waved her friends to back off and let the kidnappers fire.

The warlock was surprised by the new enemy and he had to split his attention between the witches and the new threat, which was all the more dangerous because their bullets were small, fast and all too lethal. He waved his arm at one of the teams, sending small fireballs at them. Screams were heard, but the fire kept coming. The warlock then waved the other arm at the other team and screams were heard again as the fireballs hit their targets.

"Let's get the wounded!" Buffy called and Faith nodded.

The Slayers and Slayerettes moved.

On the main scene, the three wiccans were getting tired, even though they had tapped into the baby Hope's power. They all appeared to be in some sort of trance, like someone else had taken over. In their center, the baby still lay quietly.

In front of them, the witch Hope seemed to be glowing as she took the brunt of the warlock's assault. She was visibly tired, sweat mixed with blood running down her face. She also appeared to be in a trance.

On the perimeter, the kidnappers decided to use the bigger guns. As explosive shells hit his defensive wall, the warlock staggered and his defensive wall flickered. Small holes appeared in his cloak as small bits of explosive shells penetrated his defense.

The witch Hope started to tremble as the assault continued and she staggered for the first time. Inside the protective triangle, the baby Hope whimpered for a few moments as the three wiccans momentarily lost control.

Finally the witch Hope, knowing that they couldn't fight the warlock much longer, screamed as she directed all of her essence into one last deadly strike. The warlock screamed and staggered. The kidnappers, who had continued their barrage, finally managed to score a more direct hit. The warlock staggered again as his defenses started to fail rapidly.

The witch Hope finally collapsed, exhausted. The warlock tried to strike at her again, but the constant barrage from the kidnappers prevented him from doing so.

When the kidnappers saw the Warlock collapse, they moved in for the kill.

"Xander! Call Dennis and Heidi!" Faith called.

Xander nodded and ran to the house.

Faith looked for Buffy and when she saw the other Slayer look at her, she motioned to go to the wiccans and the baby. Buffy nodded and moved. On the way, both Slayers told their friends to come along.

"Okay, Xander, you, and Giles get Willow, Lara and Tara inside the moment they stop chanting," Faith said when they gathered at the triangle. "Monique, you take the baby, Renee, you go to Hope. The grown up one. The rest, get the guns from the fallen kidnappers and take cover. I have a feeling that they will try to get the baby as soon as the warlock is dead."

Everyone nodded and moved.

"Faith!" Dennis called when he came closer.

"Where's Heidi?" Faith asked.

Dennis looked around.

"Over there."

"Okay, take cover."

Faith looked back to the warlock and the kidnappers. There were only four out of the five left shooting at the warlock. Which meant that they now had six guns, including the one from the kidnapper who was too wounded to take part in the shooting, but they only had five shooters.

Suddenly the kidnappers stopped firing and Faith saw that the warlock was now a mess. She looked at the protective triangle. The three wiccans had dropped to their knees and Xander and Giles were busy helping them get into the house. Monique had already disappeared inside and Renee was holding the witch.

"Okay, drop your weapons!" she called to the kidnappers, who turned around, surprised. She fired a couple of shots at their feet. "Now!"

The kidnappers hesitated.

"You wouldn't shoot us!" one of them called.

"I don't need to kill you, only wound you badly enough!" Faith called back. "Although I'm having second thoughts right now about whether to let you live."

She fired another round and from the other side, Buffy did the same. One of the kidnappers dropped his gun.

"I don't have time for this," Faith murmured. "You have exactly five seconds!" she called. "Then I start shooting!"

Four and a half seconds later the other three kidnappers dropped their weapons as well.

"Lay down, arms spread!"

The kidnappers obeyed. Faith waited until they were down and then carefully closed in. On the other side, Buffy did the same.

"Dennis, Heidi, come here and help us cover them. Raelee, go to the house and tell Giles and Xander to get here and tie them up."

Dennis and Heidi carefully approached, while Raelee nodded and ran to the house.

In Renee's arms, Hope finally stirred and slowly opened her eyes.

"Mom-my," she said and Renee smiled through her tears.

"Everything's okay, baby," she said, "the warlock is dead."

Hope smiled weakly and closed her eyes.

"Hope?" Renee said, worried, and Hope opened her eyes again.

Renee smiled, relieved, and Hope smiled back. Then Hope reached out with her hand and touched her mother's face. Renee gulped as she saw what Hope wanted to tell her.

"Oh baby," she said and hugged her daughter more tightly.

"Mom-my," Hope said as her body phased out for a moment.

"Hope?" Renee said, worried.

Hope smiled.

"Mom-my," she said.

"Hope!" Renee cried when Hope's body slowly disappeared as time accommodated for the new set of events and a new future.

Finally, only Hope's new clothes remained, which were not from the future. Renee pressed them to her body and cried. Monique, who had come out to help her get the witch Hope inside, kneeled beside her and hugged her. Renee hugged her back.

"Why don't you come in," Monique said after a few moments, "the baby still needs you."

Renee slowly stopped crying and nodded. Monique got up and helped her up. Then they went into the house, where Faith was starting to take masks off the kidnappers' faces. Monique led the sobbing Renee to her sleepy daughter. Renee picked up the baby and hugged her. The baby babbled something and Renee looked at her. The baby reached out with her tiny hand and touched her mother's face. Renee watched for a few moments and then smiled and kissed the baby. She hugged her and sat in a chair.

"Jacob!" Giles recognized one of the kidnappers.

"Hello, Rupert," Jacob said.

"What in the world are you doing here?"

"Trying to get the baby."

"What?! Have the Council completely lost their minds?"

"I'm not with the Council anymore."

"What?"

"Some of us felt that things were pretty outdated and needed to be changed. The rest didn't agree, so we left."

"There were two teams," Buffy said.

Jacob nodded.

"Yes. I'm the only one left of my team."

"So you're all Watchers?" Buffy asked the other four and they nodded.

"You know, I'm getting really tired of this shit," Faith said and came closer. "I don't even want to know for what sick purpose you wanted the baby, but here's what we'll do. You will go back to England, to the Council or whatever other group you belong to, and you will tell them to stay the hell out of Sunnydale. As a matter of fact, stay out of Slaying business if you don't mean to help. Because if you mess with us again, well, I'm sure the vamps and other demons would just love to exterminate you."

"What?!" one of the Watchers said, outraged. "Giles, you can't…"

"I'm afraid she is right," Giles interrupted him, agreeing with Faith. "The Council has gone too far. The Slayers may have killed only demons so far and left normal criminals to the police, but in your case, going to the police wouldn't help and you are becoming a threat to the safety of the world. I would suggest that you seriously reconsider your priorities."

"That's telling them, G-man," Xander said and the Watchers glared at him.

"You, Jacob, right?" Faith said.

The man nodded.

"Yes."

"We'll let you go first. You have one hour and then we'll let the Watchers go."

"And don't forget the corpses," Buffy added.

"Yeah. Giles, untie him and let him go."

"Oh, one more thing," Buffy said as Giles kneeled beside Jacob. "You wanna come back to Sunnydale for some reason, let Giles know first. I'd really hate it if you didn't."

Jacob nodded and when she glared at the Watchers, they nodded as well. Giles then untied Jacob and escorted him out.

"Giles, I'm not going on patrol tonight," Faith said.

"Of course," Giles said. "Though I would appreciate it if you took the longer way home and at least look around."

Faith nodded.

"Sure."

"I hope Adam will behave," Buffy said.

"It's the least he can do," Faith said and grinned.

Buffy grinned back.

"What do we do about the sleeping beauties?" Dennis asked.

Everyone looked at the three wiccans, who were already asleep on the couch.

"They can stay overnight," Mr Dion allowed.

"Can I stay as well?" Buffy asked. "They'll probably still be tired in the morning and they'll probably need help getting back to the campus."

"Of course."

"Em, can I stay as well?" Raelee asked, shyly. "Lara would want me to be there when she wakes up."

Mr and Mrs Dion smiled.

"Of course," Mrs Dion said.

"Thank you."

"Can the couch be extended?" Faith asked Mr Dion.

"Yes."

"I'll get the blankets," Mrs Dion said as her husband helped Faith extend the couch.

Buffy watched over the sleeping wiccans while Faith and Mr Dion extended the couch and then took off their shoes and socks.

"Do we go home now?" Xander asked.

"Giles?" Faith asked.

"Yes, I guess so. We can't do anything else."

"I'll watch over the Watchers and let them go in an hour." She looked at Xander. "Xander, you get rid of the weapons."

Xander nodded.

"Will do."

"Night, guys," Faith said. "Night, Mr Dion."

"Good night, Faith," Mr Dion said.

Faith left and Giles followed her. Dennis moved to help Xander and Heidi waited for him. Then they too left.

Buffy looked at the Watchers.

"You behave or I'll knock you out."

"Hey," Cordelia said when they met in their dreams, but was immediately hushed by Faith's fierce hug. She hugged her back. "Hey, it's okay, we're together now."

Faith nodded, still hugging her girlfriend.

"Missed you," she said after a few moments and let go of Cordelia.

"I missed you too. Now, what's wrong?"

Faith smiled.

"Nothing's wrong."

"Then why don't I believe you?" Cordelia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Really, nothing's wrong. We killed the warlock and we captured the Watchers."

"Watchers?" Cordelia asked.

"Yeah. The two groups we saw in your vision? One were the Watchers and the others were renegade Watchers. They both wanted Hope."

"Oh."

Faith took a deep breath.

"Anyway, I'm so tense because a dog attacked Alice."

"How is she?" Cordelia immediately asked, worried.

"She's fine, I killed the dog before it could reach her." She paused. "I've been scared out of my mind when I saw that pit bull running at her." She gulped. "I've only been that scared twice before, when I was running from Kakistos and when you were possessed by that dream demon."

Cordelia hugged her and caressed her.

"Well, everything's okay now," she said softly.

"For now," Faith countered. "And then I saw Renee lose Hope, the witch, and that didn't exactly help my mood."

"Well, you do what you can to keep the world safe," Cordelia said and let go of Faith. "And now that Alice has seen you in action, she will know that you really are able to protect her."

"But I can't protect her from everything."

Cordelia smiled.

"Neither can I. But we do the best we can. That's all anyone can do, even though it's sometimes not enough."

Faith nodded. Then she smiled.

"Talk about the pains and joys of motherhood," she said.

Cordelia smiled at that.

"Don't you just love it?"

Faith's smile widened.

"Absolutely."

"Good. And if you think you're worried, think again. Mom's probably ten times as worried about us as you are about Alice."

Faith's face became serious.

"Yeah," she agreed. "I guess I'll have to show her that I appreciate it."

Cordelia smiled.

"I'm sure she knows."

"Yeah, well, still."

"Okay. How about we do it together?"

Faith nodded.

"As soon as you get home."

"Good."

The End