A half an hour later, they stood outside with the sheriff. Police officers, out of hearing range, stood near their cars or inside the café, taking statements from the customers. Liz, Maria, and Kyle told his father what happened. He was shocked, to say the least, but his brain was processing the information logically.

"You said vampires came out of the portal, too?" he asked. Maria nodded.

"They could be connected to the vampires Oz told us about," Liz said.

"Did you find out anything about them?" Kyle asked his father.

Valenti nodded. "The murders occur in and around the park. Their hideout could be in one of the nearby buildings or in the sewer system running underneath the park."

"So what do we do?" Maria asked. "We don't have any super powers or know any spells. How are we supposed to rescue them from a mage-turned-alien?"

"Um, excuse me," a feminine voice asked from behind Maria and Liz.

They turned and looked behind them. Standing there were six people none of them had seen before.

"We're looking for someone," a young woman with fiery red hair continued. She held up a photograph. It was a picture of Oz. "Have any of you seen him?"

"Oh my God," Maria said.

"You wouldn't happen to be Willow, would you?" Liz asked.

The redhead exchanged looks with the other five. "Uh, Yeah, actually. Do I know you?"

"Sorry," Liz said. "I’m Liz. This is Maria, Kyle, and Sheriff Valenti."

"Oh," Willow said. She explained to the Scooby Gang, "Oz mentioned them. He said they were helping him, along with a Max, Michael, and Isabel."

"Do you know what has been going on?" Giles asked the Roswell citizens.

"Well," Maria began, glancing at the others. "You do know about Oz's-condition, do you?"

"You mean, the fact that he's a werewolf?" Anya asked.

"Um, Yeah."

"Who and what are all of you, anyway?" the sheriff asked.

The other blonde haired woman said, "I-I’m Tara. I’m a witch."

Anya raised her hand in a wave. "Hi. I'm Anya, an ex-demon."

"Xander," the brown-haired boy said.

"Dawn."

Willow said, "I'm a hacker and a witch, but I bet you already know that since Oz asked for my help over the phone."

"And I'm Rupert Giles," the older man said. "I trust all of you must know about vampires and demons?"

Liz, Maria, Kyle, and the sheriff nodded. "Aren't you supposed to be in California?" Kyle asked.

"Oh, we used the Ghost Roads and came out of the portal on the top of the weird-looking café over there," Anya replied, pointing to the Crashdown. "Then Willow did her witch thing and closed it."

"You were on the Ghost Roads?" Maria asked. She, Liz, Kyle, and Jim looked surprised.

Willow exchanged confused looks with the others. Something was definitely going on.

"Perhaps we should go talk somewhere a little more private," Giles suggested.

Liz exchanged looks with her friends. As far as they knew, these strangers could be lying. They had to be cautious. "We could go to Michael's apartment," Maria suggested.

"Maria!" the sheriff said, giving her a look.

Frustrated, she threw her hands up. "Well, have you got a better idea?"

Reluctantly, the others admitted they didn't. "Okay," Liz said. "It's only a few blocks away. Follow us."

*****

Elsewhere, at Angel Investigations, Cordelia Chase was answering a phone call. "We charge depending on the type of case, Mr. Chrysler. The minimum is only a few hundred, but don't worry, we can solve the problem guaranteed. We'll look forward to seeing you. Goodbye, Mr. Chrysler."

She hung up and smiled at Wesley and Gunn. Wesley stood on the other side of the counter, going through a bunch of papers he spread out on the counter, while Gunn sat at the desk behind her. "Did you guys just hear that? Our first paying customer since we got back from Lorne's dimension."

"Assuming Mr. Chrysler shows up," Gunn said, although he looked as pleased as she was. It had been a few days since their return to their world, and they'd already settled back into routine. Well, almost. Nothing had been normal ever since they found Willow and she told them about Buffy.

Angel hardly ever came downstairs. She figured he was either visiting Fred, who was still in hibernation in her upstairs room, or brooding. Not that she wasn't. Buffy had never been her favorite person, but Cordelia respected her in a way, and hearing about her death was a shock to everybody at Angel Investigations, except for Gunn and Fred. They didn’t know her.

They needed something that would knock them out of this sad mood, and Cordelia hoped this would do the trick. She knew she needed something to distract her.

Speaking of that…"Guys…" Cordelia said, feeling the pain that always came before a Vision hit her.

Gunn and Wesley took the hint immediately. Both ran over and steadied her a second or so before she fell to the ground. She was unaware of that as more pain shot through her skull.

With it came images, smells, and emotions, making them feel as real as memories. Flash. Oz's face came into focus. Behind him were three indistinct shapes, but she knew that they were in as much danger as he was. Flash. A mansion and the name of a subdivision. Flash. A Ghost Roads portal being closed.

The vision ended, but the pain lingered. She was sitting in a chair now. Wesley was gone, but appeared again a minute later with a glass of water and some aspirin.

Cordelia gratefully swallowed the pills. "Thanks." She handed the glass back to him.

"What did you see?" Gunn asked.

She took a deep breath. "Oz is in trouble."

"Oz? Willow's boyfriend? Is he here in L. A.?" Wesley asked.

"Who's Oz?" Gunn asked, confused.

"A friend from Sunnydale," Cordelia answered. To Wesley, she said, "he and Willow broke up. Willow's gay now."

"Oh. Where is he?" Wesley asked.

Cordelia told them what she saw in her vision. "We have to hurry."

"Let's go then," Wesley decided. He went upstairs to get Angel while Gunn grabbed some weapons.

Yep, this definitely was a distraction. Instead of mourning for the Slayer, she'd be worrying about loosing another friend from Sunnydale.

*****

By the time they reached the apartment, night had fallen. They went inside and sat down in the living room. "Where exactly is Oz at the moment?" Giles asked.

"We don't know," Maria said.

"What?" Xander asked, alarmed.

"What happened? Is he okay?" Willow asked worriedly, then glanced at Tara. Tara squeezed her hand, letting her know she wasn't jealous.

Maria, Liz, Kyle, and the sheriff glanced at each other again. "What do you guys know?" Liz asked.

"We heard him get attacked over the phone," Dawn said. "So we came here."

"He didn't get attacked by Valence, did he?" Anya asked. "'Cause if he did, there is no way he's still alive."

Everyone looked at her. Xander rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands and looked at his fiancé. "Anya honey, remember that conversation we had about being optimistic?"

Anya frowned. "Human emotions are so confusing."

"Human emotions?" Kyle repeated. The Roswell gang looked alarmed.

"I'm an ex-demon," Anya said with a bright smile. "I'm now mortal and destined to live for only a few more decades before I become all wrinkled and die."

Giles took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "Could you please just tell us what happened?" He asked the Roswell gang, hoping to get back on topic.

Maria explained what happened, editing out the fact that Max, Michael and Isabel were aliens. She told them about the hounds and the portal and the vampires in the park.

"You said that Valence came out of a portal in the Ghost Roads?" Giles asked, looking thoughtful.

"If that's true, they could be anywhere right now," Willow said.

"What do you mean?" Sheriff Valenti asked.

"You can travel anywhere on the Ghost Roads," Tara answered. "I wasn't there when everyone else found out about them, but I-I know it takes only an hour to travel from Boston to Los Angeles on-on the Ghost Roads."

"Saves a lot of money on an airplane ticket," Xander commented.

"It's been an hour already," Maria said worriedly. "What if they're already in Europe or Canada or something? We'd never find them then!"

"Don't worry, Maria," Liz said, determined. "We'll get them back."

"Maybe those vamps can help us out. The ones the sheriff said were in the park," Dawn said.

"Perhaps," Giles agreed.

"Where should we look?" Xander asked. "The buildings or the sewers?"

"Maria said the sewer system runs underneath the park," Dawn commented.

"Then we should check there," Willow decided. "I'll get the blueprints for them, see if there's a junction or something that could house a lot of vamps." She looked at the Roswell residents. "Is there a computer I can use?"

"Woah," Kyle said, standing. "How do we know this isn't some sort of trick? What's in this for you? How do we really know you're friends with Oz?" he asked the Sunnydale gang.

Upset, Willow stood too. "I want to get Oz back. And he was more than just a friend, okay? He was my boyfriend! I'm with Tara now, and I love her now, but I still think of him as a friend!" She still loved him, but she loved Tara, too, and didn't want to hurt her girlfriend's feelings, so she didn't say that part.

"Please," Giles said, cutting in. " None of us believe innocent humans like your friends should be harmed, so we all want to rescue them. But the only way we are going to get them back is if we cooperate."

Liz couldn't keep her eyes off Willow. In that instant, she knew Willow's situation wasn't that much different than her own. Even though the red-haired hacker was with someone else now, it was obvious that she still felt something for Oz. She was willing to risk her life for both of them, and Liz knew she felt the same way about Max. She knew Willow spoke the truth.

"Kyle," Liz said. "It's okay, we can trust them."

Kyle, Maria, and Valenti gazed at her uncertainly. "Are you sure, Liz?" Maria asked quietly.

Liz nodded.

They girls looked at the two Valentis. Something in Liz's eyes made them nod in agreement.

They turned back to the visitors. "We brought Alex's computer over here. Let me see if I can find it in the piles of clothes in Michael's bedroom," Maria said, heading off to the room.

*****

Cordelia Chase threw the cell phone down onto the car seat and sighed. "It's no good. I can't get Giles, Willow, Dawn, or Xander."

"Doesn't matter anyway," Angel said. "We're here."

He pulled onto a street in a very wealthy neighborhood. At the end of long, wide lawns were large, richly decorated mansions.

"So, which one is it?" Gunn asked Cordelia.

Cordelia blushed. "Um, I'm not sure exactly. The PTB weren't really clear on that. I figured we could drive around until I see one I recognize."

They all looked at her. Cordelia looked at each of them. "What? Look, I'll know it when I see it, okay?"

Wesley sighed.

"You'd better," Gunn muttered.

*****

When Max woke up, he was lying against a wall. He sat up quickly but instantly regretted it when a stab of pain shot through him. He winced and leaned back.

"Hey, Max," Michael said.

"Welcome back," he heard Oz say.

Max opened his eyes and looked around. They were somewhere underground in a jail cell. The miniature prison was pretty clean. A bare light bulb lit their cell from the ceiling. A window slit was set twenty feet up in the wall, probably at ground level. He leaned against the solid back wall of the cell. The other walls were composed of metal bars.

Isabel was nowhere in sight.

"Where's Isabel?" he asked. "And where are we?"

"We're not sure," Michael answered. "A bunch of vamps made us get separated after Valence and his hounds led us through the Ghost Roads to wherever this place this."

"The Ghost Roads?" Max said, alarmed. "We could be anywhere in the world."

"Yeah," Oz agreed. "When we left the Ghost Roads, we were right outside this big mansion. Valence's vamp goons led us down here. I think Valence took Isabel upstairs. Don't know why."

I think I do, Max thought, worried. He remembered learning about how Isabel betrayed them in her former life. He doubted it would happen again, but who knew what Valence would do to try and convince her.

"We've got to figure out how to get out of here and get Isabel," Max said resolutely.

"Yeah, but how?"

"Uh, guys," Oz spoke up. "I've got an idea."

*****

Giles, Xander, Willow, Tara, Anya, Maria, Liz, and Kyle dropped down into the manhole. Sheriff Valenti was at the station, making sure all on-duty personnel stayed out of the park that night so they wouldn't hear anything unusual. Dawn was with him.

At the bottom of the ladder, Maria held her nose. "This smells awful."

"Tell me about it," Kyle said.

"Vampires like it down here," Anya supplied. "They know humans would never want to live around here and they like that."

"It's how they get around during the day," Xander added. "The smell's a bonus."

Not much of a bonus, Liz thought.

"We should try to get to the vampires as quickly as possible," Giles said. "Willow, which way?"

"The plans said that way." Willow pointed to the tunnel on the right.

"Let's go, then," Liz said, lifting her borrowed crossbow. She just hoped her shaking hands could pull the trigger. Max is in danger, she reminded herself. You didn't go through a year of hell without him only to loose him again. And Valence was in league with Tess. That alone was enough.

Maria held another crossbow in one hand and felt for a jug of holy water in her pocket. She'd never gone up against vampires before, but she was determined to live through this. After all, it's not just me I have to worry about, she thought, remembering what the doctor told her only a few hours ago.

The others also got their weapons out; swords, battle axes, knives, crosses, and holy water. Silently, they started forward.

Willow thought about all the times they'd gone slaying without Buffy. The first time had been over the summer after junior year, when Buffy ran away. This time, however, they knew where Buffy was, and she couldn’t help them at all.

It was only a few days ago. No one had mentioned it since that phone call from Oz, but they still grieved for her. Willow hoped they could survive without her.

It wasn't long before they heard voices. Willow announced they were nearing a junction.

They turned a corner and knew they were in the right place. Only a few feet away, the tunnel ended and led into a large area surrounded by more tunnel entrances. In it were couches, beds, and an electricity-powered TV and computer.

Sitting on the couches were twenty male vampires. They were distracted by whatever was playing on the TV set.

"Can you guys get some of them?" Xander asked Liz and Maria.

Liz looked over at the vamps and knew she could hit three of their hearts easily. She nodded.

She and Maria fired the crossbows. They managed to get five of the vampires' un-beating hearts before they knew what hit them.

The remaining fifteen got to their feet and snarled in their direction. "He said you'd come," one said, smiling hungrily.

Maria fired again. One of them brought a hand up, spoke a foreign language, and the arrow hit an invisible shield before falling.

"Protection shield. It can only last for a few seconds," Tara supplied.

"We'll have to do this hand-to-hand," Giles decided. "Maria, Liz, watch our backs. Tara and Willow, work on that artificial sunlight spell. I'm going to corner one of them for information. The rest of you, have at it."

With that, Kyle, Xander, Anya, and Giles ran forward. Xander punched a vamp and staked him before he could react. Another one waited in his dust cloud and knocked Xander to the ground.

The vampire straddled him and opened his mouth wide, showing off his fangs. Before he could descend, however, an arrow appeared in his chest, and he was dust. Xander, sending a silent thank you to Liz and Maria, got back up and went to help Anya and Kyle, who now stood back to back in the middle of ten vamps. Xander easily staked one of them, and saw another crossbow bolt hit the vampire standing next to him. However, another vampire grabbed him and pinned him against the wall.

Kyle joined in, attacking the vamps on the other side of the circle with his battleaxe. He beheaded one and knocked another forward with a shove to his back. Anya splashed holy water on the vamp and he fell, screaming in agony. Kyle took his head and he exploded into dust.

"Behind you!" Anya said, in dismay. She ran forward and staked the vamp that was sneaking up on Kyle. Unfortunately, a friend of the vamp's stood right next to his dust cloud, and he easily knocked Anya to the floor, unconscious.

The other three vampires tried to attack Giles. Giles staked two and managed to hold the other one still by pressing his blade to its neck.

He led the vampire back to the tunnel entrance. As soon as they were in the shadows, Giles said. "Now! Do it now!"

Obediently, Tara blew a specially blended powder into the air and Willow chanted, "Oh great Apollo, God of the Sun. Grant us light, full of peace and goodness, to ward off the dark, full of warfare and evil."

In the middle of the junction-room, a part of the sun, a ball of pulsating energy, formed. The remaining five vampires screamed in agony before they burst into flames and dust.

Kyle, Liz, and Maria were amazed. "Wow," Maria said.

"That's not possible," Liz said. Even though she'd seen a lot that day, she still wanted to deny something.

"Good going, Wills, Tara," Xander said, smiling, as he, Anya, and Kyle approached. "Not we can find out what that vamp told Giles."

Willow glanced around. "Where are they?"

They heard a scream come from around the curve in the tunnel. Quickly, they ran around the corner, weapons poised and ready.

Giles stood next to a cloud of dust.

"Are you alright? We heard a scream," Tara said.

"Oh. Uh," Giles said. "That was the vampire."

"What did he say?" Kyle asked.

"He was extremely helpful," Giles said. "We don't have an enormous amount of time, so I suggest that I tell you on the way."

They started back the way they came. "So where are they?" Liz demanded.

"They're in Los Angeles."

"What?" Everyone exclaimed, stopping and staring at Giles.

"Where in Los Angeles?" Willow asked. "Are-are they all right?"

"He wouldn't say." Giles started walking again. "But we must hurry. Valence plans to leave the planet."

"Huh?" Xander asked, exchanging confused looks with the scoobies.

"How?" Kyle asked, glancing worriedly at Maria and Liz.

"The Granilith is gone. How could he get off the planet period?" Maria asked worriedly.

"Um-" Xander spoke up, making them remember they weren't alone.

"What are you guys talking about?" Willow finished.

Kyle, Liz and Maria glanced at each other. "Damn. Now more strangers will know everything," Maria said, sighing.

"We'd better explain it on the way," Liz decided as she started walking again. "Like Mr. Giles said, we don't have a lot of time."

"We should call Angel," Anya suggested. "I mean, he's in LA, isn't he?"

"Who's Angel?" Kyle asked.

"A friend," Giles answered. "If we can reach him, he would be a great asset in getting Oz and your friends back."

Liz took out her cell phone and handed it to Willow. "Try calling him."