"Can we trust her?" There was a long pause. "She could have just helped us so we wouldn't kill her."

"I haven't seen her in eleven years, but she's always been a good kid. Rebellious, but a good kid."

"A lot can happen in eleven years."

"She's pretty hot."

Salome groaned as her eyes fluttered open. "She's pretty awake." She struggled to sit up. "I had the weirdest dream, Ace. You were there and..."

Finally focusing, she groaned as she saw the trio of men. Azriel was sitting beside her, while Spike stood at the foot of the bed. Connor was in the doorway, hair in his face and arms crossed over his chest.

"I'm having a very bad day," Salome said quietly. She turned to Azriel, glaring venomously. "You're doing this to me. I guess third time's the charm, isn't it? I already beheaded one demon today..."

"What did I do?" Azriel asked desperately, looking thoroughly confused. "You are Salome Carr, aren't you?"

Spike opened the wallet he had in his hands. "According to her ID, she's Salome Simpson, a student at the school."

"Give me that back!" Salome lunged at Spike, but quickly fell back, groaning and grabbing her chest.

"Careful." Azriel eased Salome back. "You're injured." He shook his head. "Dahlia couldn't have done all of this damage to you."

Salome shoved Azriel away. "I got into a fight with a Hellgod."

"A Hellgod?" Spike arched a brow. "You're lucky to be alive."

"It's skill," Salome spat. She glared at Azriel. "I've gained a lot of skill since April. If you thought our last fight was..."

"We've never fought!" Azriel exclaimed, stepping back. "What the hell happened to you, Salome?"

"Wait..." Spike kept flipping through Salome's wallet. He looked closely at what he had discovered. He then looked to Connor, then back at the wallet. "That's weird."

"What?" Connor snapped angrily. "Why are you looking at me?"

Spike cocked his head. "You don't have a brother, right?"

Connor scowled. "You know how stupid that question is... Right?"

Spike held up the wallet to Connor. He snatched it away, staring at the picture in shock. It was a photo of Connor and Salome together in front of Lamia House. Connor was smiling broadly, his arms wrapped tightly around Salome.

"It's a trick." Connor threw the wallet at Salome. "She's a witch."

"Witches are human," Salome took the wallet, holding it to her chest. "I'm a sorceress."

"That is true," Azriel said to Connor. "Demons prefer not to refer to themselves as witches."

"I don't know what's going on," Salome said quietly to Connor. She bit her lower lip. "I really don't."

Connor cocked his head, his hardened look softening. He then turned away.

Azriel held a hand out to Salome. "Can I see that picture?"

Salome pulled back, clutching her wallet tighter. The window beside Spike suddenly blew out.

Spike jumped. "What the..."

Azriel blinked, looking at the broken window and then to Salome. "That was impressive, Salome." He held it hand out again. "I don't know what you think I did, Salome. But I just want to help you out."

Reluctantly, Salome handed her wallet to Azriel. He opened it to the picture of Connor and Salome together. He studied it for a long time before looking to Connor. "You know Connor?"

Salome nodded slowly. "Yeah."

Azriel frowned. "And Connor... You don't know Salome?"

"Do I look like I do?" Connor asked harshly.

Azriel gave the wallet back to Salome. "I think I know what happened."

****

"She was there," Connor insisted, pacing back and forth. "And then she wasn't..."

"But she doesn that," Oni sat perched on the edge of the couch. "Quite often."

"Only when she wants to." Connor furrowed his brow. "Or she sneezes... Or we're in bed..." He shrugged. "Okay. She really does it often... But there's something not right about it this time. I don't understand what the hell is going on."

"There's someone who might know," Andrew offered.

"Who?" Connor looked to Andrew. He thought about it, then shook his head. "Oh no. We're not calling Mistress Meerna."

"Why not?" Oni asked. She frowned deeply. "Mistress Meerna knows more about Salome's new powers than we do. In fact, besides Willow, no one knows more."

"Meerna doesn't like me," Connor groaned. "I can tell."

"No offence, Connor," Andrew sighed. "But you don't think anyone likes you."

"No one does like me," Connor replied. "Not outside of this house."

Oni frowned. "I was under the impression you preferred it that way."

Connor shook his head as he looked at Oni curiously. "Why would you think that?"

Oni shrugged. "Well, you can be very abrasive."

"Meerna's not in this!" Connor snapped.

"Too late."

Connor jumped when he saw Meerna beside him. He let out a shocked yelp.

"What did you do this time?" Meerna sighed deeply. "By the way, I don't dislike you."

Connor snorted. "Then why are you always calling me a schmuck? You don't want me with Salome."

Meerna rolled her eyes. "Oh sweetie... You can schtup my niece to your heart's content... You seem to make her happy... But you are a big, big schmuck and I am very uncomfortable with you as the champion of my people."

"What do you know?" Connor asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Meerna glared at Connor. "What happened to my niece?"

"We kinda lost her," Andrew supplied, looking bashful.

"Well." Meerna cast a glance to Connor. "That was a little careless, don't you think?"

Connor's scowl deepened. "You really don't like me, do you?" He shook his head. "You obviously know something. Or else you wouldn't be here."

"I..." Meerna paused, looking down. "I can't feel Salome any longer."

"You can't feel her?" Andrew repeated, question in his voice. "What... Erm... What does that mean?"

"Feel her mystically." Meerna rolled her eyes. "Not feel her like small, dark and psychotic here."

"What would cause that?" Connor asked, ignoring the slight against him. He looked very serious.

"If she died," Meerna replied casually. "Or if she was out of the scope of my experience. I think it's the second. If Salome had died... I would have felt it." She swallowed hard. "I think so at least."

"What is out of the scope of your experience, Mistress Meerna?" Oni asked nervously.

"Not a lot," Meerna replied. "We're talking other planes of existence. Even other dimensions are within my scope..." She cast a pointed look to Connor. "Even your old stomping ground. When was the last time you saw Salome?"

"We were fighting demons..." Connor was cut off by the sharp slap upside his head. He brought a hand to the back of his head. "Ow!" He gingerly rubbed the spot Meerna had just hit. "What was that for?"

"You let my niece-- my only living relative-- who you claim to be oh-so in love with-- go hunting for demons days after a Hellgod nearly beat her to death?"

"I don't let Salome do anything!" Connor scowled deeply. "If you haven't noticed, she's pretty determined to do whatever the hell she wants. She insisted on coming with. We were fighting..." He grimaced. "The demons and each other. Then Salome tripped and disappeared."

"All right." Meerna nodded slowly. "So what kind of demons were they?"

Connor shrugged. "I dunno."

Meerna rolled her eyes. "Well... What did they look like?"

Connor shrugged again, shaking his head. "Demonish?"

Meerna groaned. "Schmuck." She smoothed down her robes. "All right. Take me to where she disappeared."

****

Jamie panted as Mandy pulled him down behind the crypt. He squeezed his eyes shut, putting a hand to his side.

"Are you all right?" Mandy asked, slightly winded herself.

Jamie nodded, but the look on his face betrayed him. "I think so. What was that thing?"

"It looked like a demonic elk." Mandy peeked around the side of the crypt. "I think Connor might have mentioned them in his Demons of Quortoth briefing."

"It's Quortothian?" Jamie winced, leaning against the crypt.

"I'm going to go with yeah." Mandy turned back to Jamie. "I don't think anything that nasty is homegrown."

"Our lives suck," Jamie groaned, his hand clutching his side tighter.

"You're not all right." Mandy put a hand on Jamie's shoulder.

"I'm fine." Jamie insisted, pain etched in his face. "Just tell me what to do, Mand."

"I'm telling you to stop being so macho!" Mandy pulled up Jamie's shirt. "Let me see if you've pulled any stitches while we were escaping."

"I'm fine!" Jamie snapped. "We just have to get rid of this demon. Let's just figure out how to kill this thing."

"I'm thinking slice and dice," Mandy replied.

"Do you have anything to slice and dice with?" Jamie asked, looking worried.

Mandy nodded. "Yeah. I have a sword." She looked down. "But it's in my car."

"You mean in the direction of the demon elk?" Jamie groaned, thunking his head against the crypt. "I hate this job."

****

Connor carefully stepped over the demon corpses. "She disappeared around here." He gestured vaguely to the ground. "About there... I think... I dunno. There are a lot of bodies."

Meerna didn't bother looking. Instead, she studied one of the dead demons. "Oh... You schmuck!"

"Stop calling me that!" Connor exclaimed.

Meerna turned to Connor, a stern look in her eyes. "You let Salome fight Resikhian demons?"

Connor groaned, raking his hands through his hair. "Again, I don't 'let' Salome do stuff. And I fought a Resikhian demon. It nearly choked me to death. These aren't Resikhians."

"You fought Sahjhan," Meerna spat back, getting back to her feet. "A Granok-Resikhian. These are Marol-Resikhians."

"What's the difference?" Connor asked.

"Marol's are more brainless than Granoks. They're also less dangerous, which is why the Ra-Tet left them corporeal. Their dimensional powers are also... Different."

"What happened to Salome?" Connor said quietly, panic beginning to rise in his voice.

"Marol blood can wreak havoc with a Nyazian's... Well, let's call it a compass." Meerna stood back up. "Sometimes we can overcome the havoc-ness, but..."

Connor nodded slowly. "Salome can't even overcome the havoc-ness caused by a good sneeze." His eyes widened. "Where is she?"

"Granoks manipulate time and dimensions..." Meerna looked grave. "Marols, on the other hand..."

****

"A parallel reality," Spike repeated. He leaned back in his chair. "I dunno, Az... Sounds a bit hard to believe."

Azriel frowned. "All of the stuff we've seen and a parallel reality is hard to believe?"

Salome looked down, frowning deeply. "Based on what Willow's told me, that's possible." She looked over at Connor. "What do you think?"

"Don't know," Connor said tersely. "Don't care." There was a venomous look in his blue eyes. "The only reason you're still alive is because Az says you're a good person."

"I don't know why you believe him," Salome growled, glaring at Azriel.

"Um, Luv?" Spike put his feet up on the table. "Az is the reason you're alive right now. Maybe you should cut down on the hate."

"It's been eleven years," Connor said, moving closer to Salome. "I think there's a better explanation..." He leaned in, sniffing her neck. He then pulled back, eyes widening. "You don't smell like Cyvus Vail."

"Why would I?" Salome asked waspishly.

"You smell like me," Connor whispered. He swallowed hard. "How... How... Is this possible?"

****

"All right." Meerna sighed. "So you have us." She turned to the white board with the words The Big Board written over it. She opened the marker, drawing a box onto the middle. She wrote us in the middle. She then created several more boxes. Connor, Andrew and Oni watched her. "There are over ten thousand dimension around us... Quortoth, Pylea, Janu..." She marked each of the boxes.

"Where the hell is Salome?" Connor demanded.

"Things are a bit more complicated than that." Meerna drew lines through each of the boxes, creating dozens of small boxes. There isn't just one Earth or one Pylea... Or even one Quortoth... The number of dimensions is compounded by the fact there are multiple version of each dimension. Normally, these different realities aren't travelled, it's incredibly difficult to do."

"Then how did Salome get there?" Oni asked, looking confused.

"Marols are capable of travelling these dimensions. However, they don't do it often. It tends to deplete their energy... But mix the Marol blood with a Nyazian demon... Well, Salome's skipped the light fandango."

"What does that mean?" Andrew asked.

"It means Salome hasn't left this dimension, this country, this time... She's in a parallel Earth."

Connor's expression darkened. "How do we get her back?"

****

"What do you mean you don't know how to get me back?" Salome demanded, getting her to feet and immediately regretting it. She hissed and crumpled back down.

"We don't even know how you got here," Azriel sighed, rubbing his temples. "I couldn't even begin to guess how to get you back to where you came from."

"I don't even know why the hell I'm listening to you," Salome spat viciously.

Azriel groaned, raking his hands through his hair. "What did I DO?"

"Ummm..." Salome looked up, counting off on her fingers. "You tricked me into marrying you, you betrayed our clan leading to mass genocide, tried to rape me three times, used a memory spell on my boyfriend so he would hunt me like a dog..." She took a step forward. "Do you want me to go on?"

Azriel staggered back, shock and horror etched in his features. "...What?"

Salome studied Azriel's shocked face. "You're a good liar..." She shook her head. "But you're not that good. That... That didn't happen here."

"Our people died," Azriel whispered. "But I had nothing to do with it?"

"Then how did Cyvus Vail get in?" Salome demanded angrily.

"Meerna," Azriel looked away, closing his eyes tightly. "She didn't want to... But... There's only so much pain a body can take..."

Salome put a hand to her mouth, tears in her eyes. "Oh..."

"I watched her die," Azriel said harshly. "So if you think I had anything to do with it... You're not in your world any more, kid."

"We have work to do," Connor snapped. "Listen, Sally..."

"Salome," Salome corrected him, a tremble to her voice.

"Whatever." Connor picked up his axe once again. "I'm sorry you're not in your own reality anymore... But we actually have important things to do."

"Junior." Spike got to his feet "Always appreciate your need to slice and dice, but..." He glanced at Salome.

"Look at our problems," Connor spat, pointing to Salome. "Her... Or Cyvus Vail."

"What?" Salome's hand fell to her side. "Cyvus Vail is still alive?"

Azriel stood up straight, arching a brow. "You mean he isn't in your reality?"

"Connor..." Salome looked away when her boyfriend's double locked his gaze on her. "My Connor... Killed him about six months ago."

"How did he do that?" Azriel asked eagerly. "It'll probably work here too. We could take him out finally."

"Connor chopped off his head with the Scythe of the Vampire Slayer," Salome explained. "After draining him of his magicks using the Nyazian Fang as a conduit."

Spike blinked. "It's so simple." He looked to Azriel. "Why didn't you think of that, Green Jeans?"

"We don't exactly have the resources," Azriel snapped. "The Pure Scythe is with the Council, unreachable... And Cyvus Vail has had the Nyazian Fang since he murdered my wife!"

"You and Meerna were married?" Salome exclaimed.

"More important things..." Spike took a step towards Salome. "Cutting off Wes' head will really end this?"

"Wesley?" Salome looked to Spike. "You mean.... Oh!" She slapped her forehead. "Of course! Cyvus needs Nyazian blood to create a new body. Since Azriel's on the home team, he hasn't been able to yet... You know, you guys can save Wes too. We did..."

"Stop!" Connor snapped. He glared at Salome. "It's sounds like your reality is really great... But we can't do things like you did. So I'm just going to do what I do best." He headed towards the door.

"Connor." Azriel put a hand on Connor's shoulder, halting him. "We can't just leave her here. She doesn't belong here."

"So stay with her," Connor hissed. "You're the one that knows her."

Azriel leaned in. "If you haven't noticed, she doesn't exactly like me."

"Then Spike can stay with her!" Connor spat back.

"Forget it!" Salome threw her hands up in the air, gritting her teeth to work through the pain. "You guys obviously have your own issues." She brought a hand to he ribs. "I'm pretty capable. I'll handle things by myself. It's been a slice." She strode past Connor, going out the door.

As she went by, Connor closed his eyes, inhaling deeply.

****

Salome closed her eyes, muttering in Gushundi. She reached in her pocket, producing a handful of glittering dust. She tossed it in the air. She then began to choke, sneezing powerfully. "Oh great." She opened her eyes and found herself standing in the exact same spot outside the apartment building. "Huh? I'm..." She hissed, touching her chest again.

"You're hurt."

Salome turned to Connor. He stood in the doorway. "You're a smart guy."

Connor took a hesitant step forward. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to get back home." Salome looked around. "But it's not working. I didn't even teleport when I sneezed. I always teleport when I sneeze."

"It's Cyvus Vail," Connor explained. "When Az first came here, he was able to teleport. But when Cyvus started to get more powerful... He's doing something to block it."

"Oh." Salome nodded. "Then I'm boned."

"I'm not going to let you die," Connor sighed. "I've let enough people die in my own reality. I'd rather my count didn't spill over into another."

"Where are Spike and Azriel?" Salome asked, looking around.

"They said they won't help me. They think I need to stop acting like a jackass with the people I help." He looked down, bashful. For a moment, he looked very much like Salome's Connor.

"How did you..." Salome shook her head, confused. "Spike and Azriel... Just... How? Why them?"

"Why do I work with them?" Connor finished her thought. "After Andrew, Spike was sent by the Council. He was in San Francisco when it happened."

"When what..." Salome slumped down. "Andrew's dead."

Connor nodded. "About a year ago. Fighting a Black Shroud. He died saving my life."

"Oh." Salome looked down.

"Azriel felt dark power rising here and he came from Los Angeles. He had this scroll..."

"The Nyazian Scrolls," Salome nodded. "Yeah. We had those too."

Connor held up one finger. "Scroll. We only have one of them."

"Oh." Salome frowned. "And we thought we were short on info." She furrowed her brow, confused. "But what about Jamie?"

"Jamie?" Connor's expression was one of heartbreak. "Jamie's at MIT... At least I think he is. I'm not sure. He took off after Jules... In your reality, is she...."

Salome nodded. "Yeah. She's dead in my world too."

"I became hard to live with after Jules. He couldn't deal." Connor sighed, taking another step towards Salome. "But he's still around in yours?"

"Yeah." Salome nodded. "Andrew too. We fought a Black Shroud, but... Andrew did save you, but he and I worked together to get you out before it killed any of us."

"You make things better," Connor murmured.

Salome shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe."

"Then your Connor won't forgive me if I let anything happen to you." Connor held out a hand to Salome.   "And I don't want to fight myself."

Salome took Connor's hand. It felt more callused, rough. "I kinda thought you did that every day."

ACT THREE