by his Queen. Buffy cut him off and started speaking to Phoebe, "and listen closely to my words Phoebe", she added. "I am your Queen now Phoebe, and it is very important that you listen to your Queen, it is important that you obey your Queen. Awaken now and tell me you will obey your Queen, Phoebe.", Buffy said. Her tone was commanding and intense, quite a contrast from the soothing, caring induction of Mesmotto.

Phoebe opened her eyes, though they were still glossy and dazed, "I will obey my Queen", she said. "Good, now serving your Master and your Queen is the most important duty you have ever been given. You will carry out your servitude with complete devotion Phoebe. Our protection and comfort come before all else in the world. Isn't that right Phoebe?", Buffy asked. "Yes, before all else", Phoebe repeated.

Pru watched as Phoebe's priorities were "corrected". She was getting impatient though, "Buffy, can we contact Piper now and set up the meeting", she asked, eager to complete the goal her Queen had set forth. "Yes, I think Phoebe is seeing things more clearly now", Buffy said. Mesmotto just looked on, accepting that he might not be in full control of the situation, but realizing it was all for his glory.

The three women went down to the living room, where there was a speaker phone. They had the number of Cassandra's penthouse, where Piper was supposedly staying. "Alright, you know the plan. Get Piper to agree to a meeting. Tell her you want to formalize your split magically.", Buffy instructed. "I'm not sure she'll go for that", Pru said. "Don't worry", Phoebe said, "I can sell it"

Phoebe dialed the number and waited for it to ring. As it was ringing, Pru asked, "Out of curiosity, how are you going to 'sell' it?" "Well, I thought I'd throw in a warning from Grams, and something about Whitelighters tracking the unified power of three.", Phoebe said off the top of her head. "That does sound good", Pru admitted, it was nice to have Phoebe back thinking clearly for the Master again. "Sounds like they might not be home", Phoebe said,

after the eighth ring. "H-Hello", said a timid voice on the other end. "Piper?", Pru asked into the speaker phone. "N-no... this is Mary", the voice said. The sisters could tell the woman was crying. "Mary, is everything ok?", they asked. "No....", she whimpered, obviously too distracted to even ask who they were, "Someone took Piper, and Cassandra..... she's in some kind of coma or something".

Buffy stepped up to the phone, "Who took Piper?!", she said forcefully. "It was... the Slayer.... please help us.... I don't know if Cassandra is going to ---", Mary cried into the phone before Buffy hung it up in anger. Cassandra was of no concern to her. "Faith", Buffy cursed. The two Haliwell sisters said nothing, fearing any comment would fuel Buffy's rage.

After enjoying a hardy snack, Faith came back in the room to find that Giles had returned from his short, book laden, exile. He, Piper, and Spike were talking. Faith could tell by looking at Giles that things weren't going well. "Hey, have you guys tried these Double Stuffed Oreos? They are the bomb yo.", she said, in her trademark capricious style. "Faith, I'm afraid we have more important matters

to discuss than an overfilled cookie", Giles said, in an annoyed tone. Faith didn't take offense, she knew that his frustration was coming from the fact that he didn't have a good plan of attack yet. "Mr. Giles couldn't find anything in his books that will help us defeat Mesmotto." "No reversal spells or anything?", Faith asked. "No. The problem is, Mesmotto's power is made up from more than just magic.", Giles explained.

"Although the unnatural potency of Mesmotto's, and now Faith's, hypnotic power is due of a type of magic... the actual affect he has on Buffy and the others is based more on the phenomenon of true hypnotic suggestion." "All right, so magic is out", Spike said, not too upset with that outcome.... he was never a big fan of depending on magic anyway. "Is ass kicking still an option?", Faith interjected. "The same problems we had before with the option

of physical violence still hold true. Mesmotto's followers are blinded by their devotion to him. They won't hesitate for a second to try to kill any one of us. That could quickly lead us to a situation where we need to respond with equally lethal force in self defense. I don't think any of us are prepared to deal with that potential outcome.", Giles said. Everyone in the room knew he was right. "Ok, well, we know certain things though, right? Like

the fact that I was able to break Mesmotto's hold on me after I was away from him for a little while. And Giles, you and I broke Buffy out of it once, even though it didn't stick. Of course, she is not as strong willed as I am - ", Faith said. "What's your point Slayer?", Spike said, refocusing her. "Let's start separating Memsotto from his followers", Piper answered, seeing where Faith was going.

"You're suggesting kidnapping his followers. The lethal force issue still exists", Giles warned. "Actually, maybe not. We could overwhelm them, approach each one individually. Take them to a remote location for deprogramming.", Spike said. "I have the power to freeze time and people. It will work on all of them except my sisters.", Piper said. Giles was starting to like the plan, even though he was a little upset that it wasn't his, "and where would

this remote location be? How would we keep it safe. Buffy, Willow & Tara, and Piper's Sisters are very dangerous and powerful", Giles reminded. "I know where we could bring them", Faith said, then paused... it was clear the group wasn't going to like what she had to say. "We could bring them to Angel", she said. "No frickn' way!", Spike said immediately. 'Why not?!", Faith protested.

"Who's this Angel guy?", Piper asked. "He's a blowhard softy who has a thing for Buffy", Spike said. "Spike is jealous", Faith added. "We've been over this. Angel's psyche is too fragile, we can't risk having someone get in his head and release Angelus.", Giles said. "I'm confused", Piper admitted. "But if we don't involve him, eventually, when Buffy and

the fembots need more firepower, they are going to get to him. You don't want that do you?", Faith argued. "Of course not. But I still say we cannot have him involved. It is too risky.", Giles said. "I'm with him luv", Spike told Faith. "There is probably another way", Piper added, not knowing what was going on, but sensing this "Angel" was trouble. "Ok, we'll find another way then.", Faith conceded.... at least it seemed she conceded.....

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