Day 1
At 7:30, Buffy awoke to the obnoxious blaring of her alarm clock. After ungracefully smacking the snooze button, she buried her head back in her pillow. Realizing this was the fifth time she had repeated this process, she unwillingly pulled herself out of bed and got ready for the day, mumbling to herself how unfair it was she had to go to school only hours after finishing patrol.
Through her cereal and toast she didn't say a word, merely letting out a small grumble to acknowledge her mother's presence. After grabbing her bag, she walked lazily to school with her eyes barely open. She walked into Trig class five minutes late.
"Buffy," her teacher began as she walked into the classroom, "you are aware that class starts at 8:20?" Buffy simply nodded and proceeded to take her seat between Willow and Xander.
"So how was patrol last night?" Xander asked her in a whisper.
"Fine." She responded, still half asleep. She yawned a few times, earning herself another reprimanding look from her teacher. She had half a mind to just leave and sleep in the library but knew her mom wouldn't be too happy with her and she still felt bad for running away to LA the previous summer. The bell rang, and the trio headed out into the crowded halls.
"I've been working on my magic a lot. I think I'm close to being able to do some pretty cool stuff like this one spell I'm working on that..." Willow droned on while Buffy and Xander kept up the appearance they were paying attention.
"That's really cool Willow." Buffy stated at what she assumed was the appropriate time. Xander agreed and Willow gave them both a small smile, oblivious that they hadn't really been paying attention at all.
"Duty calls." Xander said as Cordelia walked past. She smiled at them before the two wandered off into some closet.
"I still find that hard to believe." Willow said, shaking her head. Buffy chuckled and nodded her head in agreement.
"Imagine going back two years and telling them they would be together - and happy. That would be amazing." Buffy reiterated.
"SO, how is Angel?" Willow somewhat uncomfortably changed the subject.
"I don't know. Right now, the only thing I've been really thinking about is getting him back to 100%. It's hard though because despite all that's happened I still love him. But I know it's not going to happen." Buffy told her friend sadly.
"I'm sorry Buffy." Willow responded earnestly. As they reached the computer science room, Willow said goodbye to her friend and Buffy headed to her next class.
"Giles!" Buffy called out as she headed to the library for lunch and her free period.
"In here, Buffy." She heard him shout from his office.
"I got your message, what's going on?" She asked concerned.
"Oh, it's nothing too much to worry about. I just got a message from an associate of mine that due to some planetary alignment as well as tidal shifts, the mystical effects of the hellmouth will most likely be acting up. This might mean more or less demons will be drawn here - I'm not too sure but I just want to make sure you're being vigilant." Giles explained to her.
Buffy shrugged her shoulders, "Constant vigilance. Got it boss," and proceeded to sit down at the library table and eat her lunch. Shortly after, Xander and Cordelia walked in, the latter giggling about something or another. "Hey Buffy." Xander greeted her as he and Cordelia sat at the seats across from her. "So any new evil in town?"
"Apparently there's some mystic mojo going down at the hellmouth but Giles doesn't make it sound like it's a big deal." She finished with a shrug of her shoulders.
"Fun stuff." Xander responded, obviously focused more on his food than anything else on the room, "So anyway..."
After dinner, Buffy snuck out as she did almost every night to spend time with Angel in the mansion. Upon crossing the threshold, she was somewhat disheartened to find him brooding next to the lit fireplace. "Hey." She greeted as she entered the open space.
"Hey Buffy." He responded still deep in thought.
"So...how are you feeling?" She asked somewhat uncomfortably.
"I'm doing alright." He responded shortly, "How about you?"
"I'm good." The two stood still for a moment not quite sure what to say, "So uh, you wanna work out?" She asked him to which he perked up and the two began to spar. After fighting for a few minutes, she noted his increased strength and that soon he wouldn't need her to bring him blood and spar with him. After about ten more minutes had passed, she found herself lying uncomfortably close on top of him, their faces growing closer together when her cell phone rang.
Awkwardly, she jumped off of him and ran to her bag to get the phone. "Hello." She said and then her eyes grew wide. "Mom? Yeah, I'm patrolling." Suddenly, she heard another voice from within her house and immediately hung up the phone. "Angel, we gotta go. Spike's at my house."
The two promptly arrived at the Summers' house to find Spike and Joyce enjoying a nice hot cup of cocoa. After barging into the house, Buffy found her hand around Spike's neck, forgetting about Angel who was stuck outside. "Buffy! Your ex, Angel, he's trying to get in!"
"Angel, why don't you come in?" She stated, letting go of Spike once the bleached Vampire realized he was overpowered. "Why are you in my house?" She asked the Vampire, all the while her mom looked quite confused over the entire situation. Spike went on to explain the ordeal with Drusilla and how he had captured Willow and Xander. Buffy and Angel reluctantly agreed to help.
Buffy found herself lying in bed quite late, thinking on how she would once again not get enough sleep. She mused on how they beat up a ton of Vampires and helped out Spike though in the end Cordelia and Oz found their lip-locked friends anyways. She then remembered how she told Angel they couldn't see one another anymore as she slowly fell asleep.
Day 2
Buffy grumbled as her alarm clock blared on the nightstand next to her. After the hell of a day she had, the last thing she wanted to do was get up and go to school but unfortunately it seemed she had no choice. Giving in to fate, she got up and turned her alarm off.
Luck would have her late once again to school as she slid into her usual Trig seat. "Buffy," the teacher began, "you know class starts at 8:20". Buffy nodded as she looked around and suddenly felt a sense of deja vu.
"How was patrol last night?" Willow asked her. Buffy and Xander both looked at her incredulously, amazed that she would ask that knowing what happened the night before. Willow looked taken aback and went back to taking notes. Buffy didn't pay too much attention in class but when she did she got the distinct feeling she had heard it all before. Eventually, the bell rang and the class filed out and into the hall.
"I've been working on my magic a lot. I think I'm close..." Willow began, leaving both Xander and Buffy to look at one another confused. "What is it guys? You two keep looking at each other like there's something going on did I miss something?" Willow asked.
"It's just...didn't we have this same conversation yesterday?" Xander said.
"How could that be possible? Yesterday was Sunday!" Willow stated.
"No." Buffy said, her face marked in confusion, "Yesterday was Monday." She stated.
"Oh God." Xander interrupted as he kept his head low and Cordelia approached them.
"Xander, what's wrong?" She asked upon seeing him. Again, Buffy and Xander looked at one another, unsure of why Cordelia wasn't giving him the silent treatment as promised, and further surprised she was out of the hospital and back at school so soon. Unsure of what to do, Xander walked away with Cordelia hoping maybe she just wanted to talk alone.
"Something's going on." Buffy said, shaking her head.
"Giles!" Buffy yelled as she entered the library, still feeling eerie from the entire day.
"In here, Buffy." She heard him shout from his office.
"Someone handed me a note saying you needed me here, what's up?" She asked.
"Oh, it's nothing too much to worry about. I just got a message from an associate of mine that due to some planetary alignment as well as tidal shifts, the mystical effects of the hellmouth will most likely be acting up. This might mean more or less demons will be drawn here - I'm not too sure but I just want to make sure you're being vigilant." Giles explained to her.
"Uh, you already told me that yesterday." She informed him, rubbing her fingers on her sinuses.
"You're mistaken Buffy, I just got the phone call today." Giles told her, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"No. I'm not. What's going on? Why does everyone think it's Monday again?" Buffy asked as Giles continued to look at her funny.
"...but we went over Radical Reconstruction yesterday!" Xander reemphasized.
"How would that be possible sweetie, yesterday was Sunday!" Cordelia stated somewhat condescendingly. The three sat down and a few moments later, Oz and Willow walked in happily holding hands again leaving Buffy and Xander extremely confused.
"Okay!" Buffy quieted everyone down. "Who here thinks yesterday was Monday?" She and Xander raised their hands. Everyone else looked at them with their mouths open.
Xander and Buffy both shook their heads. "Buffy, what's going on?"
"Well, from what I've deduced, Xander and I have already experienced this day." She stated burying her head in her arms.
"Are you saying you traveled back in time?" Giles asked skeptically.
"Not intentionally." Buffy mumbled.
"Are you sure you didn't just have a very vivid dream?" Willow asked.
"I would say that was it except the deja vu is uncanny and there's the fact that Xander's experiencing it too." Buffy looked at Xander who just nodded his head, the two friends thinking the same thing.
"Alright, well, assuming you two aren't crazy can you think of anything that happened yesterday that would cause the day to repeat itself?" Giles asked. Xander and Buffy stiffened, recalling Oz and Cordelia walking in on a lip locked Xander and Willow.
"Well, there were a few things that happened but I mean, nothing that I could think of that would have caused this." He explained.
"What happened?" Cordelia asked.
"Oh," Buffy began, "Uh, Spike came to town, kidnapped Willow and Xander, you guys came and rescued them though." She told them smiling.
"Yeah, Oz, you used your werewolf sense to sniff Willow out. It was very impressive." Xander added looking relieved that Buffy didn't mention anything else.
"Spike? He's back in town?" Giles grumbled.
"Drusilla left him or something. Basically, he came in town, annoyed us, and then left." Buffy explained. "But none of this explains why we are reliving this day, and further why only Xander and I can remember, since all of you as well as everyone else at school seems utterly oblivious." She continued.
"Buffy," Xander stated uncomfortably, "Could you and I have a word...in private?"
"Sure." Buffy responded pretty sure she knew what it was all about. The two went into the crowded halls where the noise of other students muffled their own conversation. "What's up?" She asked him.
"I just remembered, in the chemistry room where Willow and I were captured by Spike, Willow was about to perform some delusting spell. What if, after the whole, us getting caught thing, Willow performed some spell to take back the day so you know, we wouldn't get caught again?" Buffy contemplated this.
"You know, that does seem like a good explanation. But taking back the day, would she really go that far?" Buffy asked.
"I dunno. But if that's the case, as long as Willow doesn't work the spell again everything should go back to normal." He stated with a slight shrug.
"Alright." Buffy responded.
Instead of going to Angel's after dinner, Buffy headed with Xander to the chemistry lab to thwart Spike. The two entered while Willow finished adding a few herbs to the potion she was making. "Uh, Buffy, what are you doing here?" She asked uncomfortably.
"You know, making sure Spike doesn't kidnap you guys." She informed her.
"Of course!" Willow mentioned, feeling stupid for having forgotten Buffy and Xander had apparently already lived that day.
Spike walked into the room, frowning as soon as he saw Buffy was there. Buffy immediately punched him in the face, reluctantly keeping him alive in case he had something to do with the day repeating. "Spike! I'm going to save us a lot of time and pain. You don't want a love spell - you just want to go to Drusilla and torture her until she comes back to you." Spike looked at her somewhat confused.
Shrugging his shoulders, the Vampire acknowledged his plan wouldn't work with Buffy in the way and drunkenly headed back to his car. "Well, that crisis is averted." Buffy stated, relieved. Getting Spike out of the way, Buffy suddenly remembered Angel and how she had previously told them they couldn't see each other anymore. "I gotta go." She told her friends before heading over to the mansion.
Rather than brooding by the fire, she found Angel practicing his Tai Chi. She watched him for a few minutes, admiring his concentration until she coughed to make her presence known.
"Hey Buffy." He said, turning to face her.
"Hey Angel." She replied, wondering how this conversation could be so awkward even the second time around. "Okay, this is gonna sound weird, but do you remember living this day before?" Angel just looked at her confused. "Alright, do you remember Spike coming into town?" At this Angel's face lit up.
"Spike's in town?" He questioned, looking anxious.
"You don't remember." Buffy mumbled to herself, "Not to worry, Spike's not in town anymore. Alright, we need to talk." And as painful as it was, Buffy once again explained to Angel she could no longer see him.
Buffy got to her room late once again and called Xander and Willow to ensure no strange spells were cast. She went to sleep, relieved the day was over - again.
Day 3
Beep. Beep. Be- "Oh shut up!" Buffy yelled at her alarm clock as she got out of bed. Without paying attention to much of anything at all, she changed and headed downstairs. "Morning mom." She said as she grabbed some cereal and headed down for breakfast. Sitting on the table was a newspaper, which she would've ignored if it weren't for the date mocking her.
"It's Monday?" She groaned at her mom.
"Yes honey, it is." Her mother told her, figuring she was just unhappy about having to go back to school.
"I'm going back to bed." Her mom protested but Buffy convinced her she felt sick and proceeded to sleep through the rest of the morning.
"Buffy!" Xander shouted as he ran up to Buffy's room, despite Joyce's protests and confusion. Buffy grumbled before getting out of bed and putting on a bathrobe. "It's Monday again."
"I know. Why do you think I went back to sleep?" Buffy asked her friend. "Does anyone else remember?"
"No, just us. It's getting really annoying too." Xander informed her, shaking his head.
"What should we do? I mean, what can we do? Is the day just going to keep repeating itself?" Buffy asked.
"Well, I don't know. That's why I came over here - I figured you were trying to figure it out." He told her doubtfully.
"Yeah, well every time this day has started I've been really tired so this time I figured hey! At least if the day's going to start over again, I'm going to get a lot of sleep!" Buffy said. "Now that I'm up, I guess we should go to the library and see Giles." She began to leave her room, not bothering to get changed.
"You're going to school in your pajamas and a bathrobe?" Xander asked.
"You know, I really don't care right now." She responded and was out of the house before her mother could utter a word.
"We're stuck in a time loop." Buffy told the group as they assembled in the library.
"What are you talking about?" Cordelia asked.
"What I'm saying is that this day keeps repeating only Xander and I are the only ones who remember." Buffy explained looking incredibly bored.
"Is that why you're wearing a bathrobe and pajamas?" Willow asked.
"No. Well, sorta. I'm wearing this because I just woke up and I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be Monday again and so well - I really don't care." Buffy explained.
"I'll remember." Xander chimed in.
"So?" Buffy asked, shutting Xander up.
"Now that you mentioned the time loop, you should know I talked to a colleague -" Giles began but was interrupted.
"Ya ya, mystical energy. Boring." Buffy rolled her eyes.
"We think Willow cast a spell and it went awry or who knows, the mystical energy stuff meddled with it." Xander brought up, causing Willow to redden a bit.
"I didn't do anything!" Willow defended herself.
"Well, not that you remember. Don't forget, you're stuck in the unknowing part of the time loop." Buffy pointed out.
"Could you maybe explain what happened and the nature of the spell you think Willow performed?" Giles suggested.
Buffy looked at Xander who stared daggers at her. "Let's just say, something happened that we think may have made Willow inclined to make the day restart." She told them cryptically.
"Can't you give us any more details?" Willow asked, somewhat curious.
"No." Xander and Buffy responded, unwilling to create the rukus that would follow the knowledge of the truth.
"Oh!" Buffy stated with a snap of her fingers. "I almost forgot, Spike should be coming into town soon!" She pointed out causing the other Scoobies to panic. "Don't worry, he's just going to come into town and try and get Willow to do a love spell, no biggie." They didn't look all that relieved but nodded anyways. "So, is there some sort of anti-Willow's spell we can do?" She asked in all seriousness.
"Let me think." Giles started and began pacing his office. "There is an anti magic spell we can do that is relatively broad. It should work for this sort of thing."
"Great!" Xander exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. "Let's do it!"
The group headed to the magic shop, Buffy still in her bathrobe, while unknown to them Spike was using underground means to get to the same place.
"Mr. Giles!" The man at the counter greeted with a large smile on his face. "What can I do you for today?" He asked. Giles and the man talked at the counter while the teenagers wandered around. Buffy was in the back of the store when suddenly she felt something.
"Guys, I think someone's back here." Quietly, Buffy, Willow, and Xander crept towards the back.
"Ow!" The group heard and Buffy proceeded to grab the collapsed Spike.
"Spike! There you are!" Buffy exclaimed somewhat relieved.
"Slayer." He grunted and started looking around for the bottle of whatever he was drinking.
"Ok. I get it. Drusilla left you blah blah leave town." She told him.
"No. Must have revenge...I'm the big bad." Spike began droning until he literally passed out. The group shrugged.
"What do we do with him?" Willow asked, slightly concerned.
"Who cares?" Xander retorted.
"I wanna keep him alive - for now. Make sure he has nothing to do with the damn time loop." Buffy made the final decision and the group found some rope and tied him up, earning them an awkward look from the store clerk. Covering him with a large jacket, the group rushed the now literally smoking Vampire to the car.
"Spike's smoking!" Oz pointed out, saying his first words in a while really. The group chuckled.
Back at the school, the group kept Spike locked in a cage while they performed the anti magic spell. After the spell was successfully performed, a small poof sound was made and a wif of smoke came from a small alter. "Well, I'm glad that's over with." Buffy stated. "Now, I know I slept all day but I'm really tired and I'm going home." She said, noting to herself she'd end her and Angel's - well, whatever it was - thing tomorrow.