Nine Hours

by Gudanov

Sequel to Kiss the Demon. New player in town causes trouble.

Nine Hours

Buffy knew this was a dream. The sounds of the night were wrong, like a pale imitation of the real thing. Overhead a full moon shone down, but Buffy knew there wasn't a full moon tonight. She was not surprised to see a woman with dark hair standing at a grave a short distance ahead.

The woman turned her head to face Buffy. Just as she suspected, it was Callie. Callie was in the only body Buffy had ever seen her use-the young attractive woman she had possessed before taking Buffy's body.

"Nice night for a walk." Callie commented.

"So, what is it tonight? Burned up? Hacked apart? Or is it going to be something new?" Buffy said. "It's getting old, you know."

"I promise to get more creative next time. The game is just beginning," Callie responded. She gave Buffy a look that sent a chill up her spine. Then Callie peered away from Buffy and toward the grave she was standing next to. "Ever bring flowers here, Buffy? Somebody must. There are fresh ones every once in a while."

Buffy looked at the tomb. It belonged to Jenny Calendar. Somehow she expected that.

Callie had her memories and seemed to enjoy dragging out unpleasant ones. She turned back to Callie, but there was nobody there any more. The cemetery was empty again.

"Bitch," Buffy muttered.

She took a step forward and her foot sunk into the ground. Within seconds, her other foot began to sink as well. All around her, the ground had turned from solid earth into a soupy mud. She tried to fall forward to reach solid ground, but the mud expanded, keeping the ground just beyond her fingertips.

Her legs were submerged now and she was sinking faster. She tried to move against the mud, tried to move toward the ground but her efforts were in vain. Struggling just made her sink faster. She was now chest deep.

"Help!" she screamed. "Somebody!"

Nobody came.

The mud was at her neck, and she took a deep breath as she went under. The world turned dark as her head slipped beneath the surface. For some reason, the ground around her seemed more solid, and she stopped sinking. She clawed at the muddy dirt, trying to get to the surface. Her lungs were burning now, straining against the urge to breathe. Eventually, she could hold it in no longer. She released the breath and the mud flowed in, choking her.

She clawed more frantically, and the world shifted. There was a loud thump, and she found herself on the floor next to her bed tangled in her blanket, covered with sweat. The light of day stabbed into her eyes as she opened them. It was morning, and she felt like she hadn't slept at all.

*****

Buffy slumped on the couch in Giles' apartment as Giles prepared himself some tea. He walked over and sat down next to her.

"So, another visit from Callie, then?" Giles inquired.

"They're getting worse, Giles." Buffy answered. "She said something about the game only starting. Aside from the dreams, what can she do without a body?"

Giles took off his glasses and fiddled with them a bit before answered, obviously considering his answer. "I've been looking into the problem. From everything I have found, there isn't any indication that she can do much more than the dream visits. Certainly nothing physical."

"Isn't there a way to make her go away?" Buffy pleaded. "I really need a good night of sleep."

Giles' face took on an uncomfortable expression.

"So...you don't know what to do, right?"

"Banishing or summoning Callie takes a great deal of power. Apparently, it's difficult to form a portal to her dimension. There is an artifact, a statuette to be specific, that has come up in my research." Giles explained with a definite lack of enthusiasm.

"But..." Buffy prompted.

"Nobody knows what happened to it." Giles finished. "I went back to the mansion to see if perhaps it had been used there and was still around somewhere. If it was used, somebody removed it from the estate before Callie was disembodied."

"Wonderful." Buffy muttered.

"I-I've talked to Miss Greenwalt. She has had a couple of dream visits as well." Giles continued, returning to the original topic.

"Miss Greenwalt?" asked Buffy. She hadn't heard Giles mention the name before.

"The young woman who Callie originally inhabited. I believe Callie has a connection with only you two," explained Giles.

"Oh," said Buffy.

"I..I'll continue to research the problem. Maybe something will come up." Giles said reassuringly.

"Well, I guess I should patrol. Maybe I'll run into something I can actually do something about." Buffy managed to drag herself up from the couch. She didn't want to patrol. She wanted to lie down on the couch and go to sleep. But sleep meant another dream from Callie and she didn't want that either.

"I will find something." Giles looked at her with concern. "Maybe you should take a night off."

"No, I'm not going to let her get to me." Buffy tried to look alert for the benefit of Giles as she left the apartment.

*****
Spike was bored. He threw down his cigarette butt and started to head out of the alley. Maybe he could find some people to scare. A man stepped into the alley, as he was getting ready to go.

As he stalked out of the alley, a man stepped into his path. He was well dressed in an expensive suit. He was tall as well, looming well above Spike. His dark hair was short and well styled. As he stepped into an alley light, Spike could see his face was angular with a strong jaw. Pale gray eyes made direct eye contact with Spike. The eyes were penetrating comma as if the man was seeing right into his thoughts, looking for fear. No doubt about it, Spike thought, this was a vampire.

"William the Bloody, aka Spike, I presume?" His voice had a rich soothing timbre. He held his gaze as he spoke.

The gaze had no effect on Spike. The vampire didn't intimidate him. "Look here, you might as well relax the act. Just tell me who the bloody hell you are and want you want."

The vampire extended a hand like he was greeting a business partner. "Romica Isarescu." Spike didn't see a need to return the gesture. Romica pulled back his hand and continued. "I want you to do something for me."

"Yeah well, I'm not interested, so sod off."

Romica relaxed his stance and turned away his eyes. He reached into an inner pocket of his jacket. "I assure you that it is in your best interests to work with me."

Spike tensed himself in anticipation of a fight. "Threats then, is it. I've been looking forward to a good bout of violence."

The other vampire got a bemused look on his face and shook his head. "Actually, I was thinking cash." He finished pulling a roll of bills from his pocket. He lobbed the roll over to Spike. "That's just to listen to what I want. There's quite a bit more once you've decided to help me."

Spike flipped through the roll. He could use some money. It was several hundred dollars. "Just for listening. Well, you've got my ear mate."

"Good." Romica gestured toward the end of the alley. "Let's take a walk and find someplace more comfortable to talk."

Romica turned his back and started off. Spike followed. Maybe the evening was going to pick up.

*****
Late the next day, Giles unlocked the door to his apartment and entered. Tara was sitting at his desk reading a book from the pile that covered the surface. She greeted him with a hushing gesture. Giles was confused by the need to remain quiet. Giles' confusion must have shown on his face, since Tara responded by pointing toward the couch.

He walked over to see what she was indicating and found Willow fast asleep, still clutching the book she had been reading when she succumbed to fatigue.

He felt a tinge of guilt at the sight. "I should have sent her home last night instead of letting her stay up all night researching," he whispered to Tara, who had put down her book for the moment.

"She's worried about Buffy," replied Tara in a whisper. "We still haven't found anything helpful."

Giles was disappointed, but not surprised. "I'm afraid I have some rather disturbing news in that regard. It seems Miss Greenwalt has gone missing." He noted the confusion on Tara's face. "She was the one Callie originally possessed."

"What does that mean?" asked Tara.

"I'm not sure. We still don't know enough about Callie to understand the implications. Perhaps she is merely out of town, but the timing is a concern. I wish Anya could have been more specific about Callie's capabilities..." Giles was cut off by the front door opening to admit Spike. He was carrying a paper grocery sack. Once again, Giles wished he had locked the door after coming in.

Spike surveyed the array of books in the room before commenting. "Quite the studious lot you are. Mysterious new evil afoot or what not?"

"What do you want now?" The last thing Giles wanted was to deal with Spike on top of everything else.

"I've got some blood I need to keep cold. Thought I might put it in your refrigerator."

"Spike?" Willow asked. She peered sleepily over the back of the couch.

Tara moved over by Willow. Spike just gave a glance at Willow's disheveled appearance and smirked. "Love what you're doing with the hair, Red." He turned back to Giles.

"Yes, well, I would like to know why you think I'll be letting you keep your blood here." Giles said now that the distraction was over. He decided a drink might be a good idea. A drink always seemed like a good idea when Spike was paying a visit.

Thankfully, Spike saw fit to let him prepare his drink in silence.

Armed with a gin and tonic, Giles once again returned his focus on Spike who was fiddling with the books on his desk.

"If you are doing this much research, there must be a reason. Maybe I can find some information for you. See what the local talk is," commented Spike.

Giles took a sip of his drink while Spike made his suggestion. "Well, there is the matter of exactly what you were doing with Callie when I came across you two."

Spike rolled his eyes. "That again. Look, she was a demon in a sodding human body. I couldn't so much as hit her and unlike you blokes, when she makes threats she actually means them. All she did was ask me where to find you all. I didn't exactly have a choice in the matter. Besides I thought the Slayer took care of her."

"Hey, I took care of Callie. Buffy isn't the only one who fights demons around here," commented Willow from the couch.

"Yeah, well whatever; I thought you all had got rid of her. Apparently, I was mistaken." Spike observed with a half smile.

"Well, to be honest, we aren't quite sure what Callie's condition is." Giles admitted. "She doesn't have a body, but events suggest she might still have an influence. Perhaps someone or something is working for her."

"I'll ask some questions, maybe find out who is working for her while you keep my blood cold. A pretty good bargain for you, I would think." Spike leaned back against the desk and folded his arms.

Giles hesitated for a moment before answering. Having Spike come over to his apartment a few times to retrieve his blood wouldn't be a high price to pay if he could find some information. "Good enough. But I'm only keeping your supply cold for a couple of days. After that you had better have found something out." He looked at the bag. "And I'm not putting it in for you."

Spike proceeded to grab his bag and stuff the contents into Giles' refrigerator. Giles just waited quietly while Spike finished the job. "So then, I'll leave you all to your books." Spike started out the door. "Give the Slayer a hug for me." he added sarcastically before closing it.

*****

Spike walked across the street next to the apartments and climbed into the passenger side of a waiting Mercedes. Romica was in the driver's seat. Romica drove off at a leisurely pace the moment Spike closed the door.

"You made the drop?" Romica asked bluntly.

"Yeah, they never suspected a thing. Handy pockets in this coat you gave me, even my style too." Spike replied.

"Well, black leather, vampire, call it a lucky guess." Romica remarked keeping his gaze on the road. "Are you sure they didn't see you place the books? Those things cost me a small fortune to have made up so quickly."

Spike didn't like be questioned. "I said they didn't see me, didn't I? I even mixed them in with a whole bloody pile. What's next then? I'm thinking you're not paying me to be the undead bookmobile." Spike took out a cigarette.

"A little breaking and entering."

"Well, the breaking I'm good with. Entering is sometimes a bit trickier. Breaking into what?"

"Watcher's council building." replied Romica.

Spike lifted his eyebrows at the statement. "You're bloody crazy if you think I'm going in with that plan. I can't even hit humans and you want me to break into the a building owned by the sodding Watcher's council?"

Romica gave Spike a little smile. "You won't be in any danger. The Slayer's old watcher is the one who will go in. You'll just open the door. He'll come to you with the plan. All you have to do is go along with it. If he has any trouble getting you to England, just tell him you know how to arrange transport and come to me."

Spike pursed his lips as he considered what Romica was telling him. "Well, I need to know the details, and there had better be a damn good payoff."

Romica smiled. "That's what I want to hear. Don't worry about compensation; it will meet your expectations. Now let's find a place to talk. There will be a number of details to work out."

*****

Buffy found herself in the living room of her house. Seated on the couch was Callie, dressed in business-like attire. Buffy was not at all happy about this.

"Enough with the pestering me in my dreams, ok?!" she spat out at Callie.

"Tonight, I'm here to help you," Callie replied without a hint of malice.

"How about a dream without you and with some chocolate or ice cream instead? Now that would help me quite a bit," said Buffy sarcastically.

"Not what I had planned," said Callie.

"Gee, what a shock. Well, how about I leave you to your plan. I'm going for a walk." With that she headed toward the front door, determined to not play along.

Callie looked surprised by this action. "You can't just leave; this is a dream."

Buffy smiled, taking satisfaction in throwing her adversary off guard. "Well, watch me. This is my dream and I'm not spending it talking with you." Buffy stomped out through the front door. The door should have taken her outside, but instead she ended up back in the living room. She looked around. Callie was gone. Buffy looked around suspiciously. From her previous dreams she had learned that the moment when Callie disappeared was usually when something bad was about to happen.

Buffy waited. Nothing happened. She heard footsteps upstairs as if someone was walking down the hallway. She carefully climbed the staircase unsure of what to expect. Once she got to the top, she looked to find an empty hallway. She looked the other way and found nothing that there was well. She turned to walk to her room.

Callie was there and backhanded her hard across the face. The force of the blow sent Buffy tumbling down the stairs. Somehow Buffy landed sitting up on her knees, straddling someone beneath her. When she looked down she saw Willow's lifeless eyes open and fixed on the ceiling. Buffy reached out to Willow's neck to feel for a pulse and found that her hands were bloodied; her right hand still gripping a stake dripping with blood. She stared at her hands and the stake in shock for a moment. Then she became angry.

"Ok, this stops now!" She looked up to see Callie standing in front of here. Buffy had expected to see a smirk or some other sign of satisfaction of Callie's face. But Callie looked serious rather than amused.

"No, the game has only started. Remember this." Callie looked downward at Willow's body as she said this. The body vanished. Buffy had no idea what Callie was getting at.

"Not really in the mood for games. You'll just have to find someone else to play with."

Callie started to say something, but her voice came out as a song. Buffy awoke in her own bed, daylight was pouring in through the windows. The music was still there and she realized it was the clock radio.

*****

Buffy dragged herself up to Gile's door and knocked after finding it locked. When Giles answered, Buffy realized she must look as tired as she felt. His face showed a flash of concern before he brightened up.

"Buffy, good!" he greeted her.

"Good to see you too Giles, but what's making it an event?" she asked, puzzled at Giles' enthusiasm. She waved at a tired looking Willow who had looked up from her book. Willow waved back and added happily, "Giles found a way to get rid of Callie!" Buffy looked expectantly at Giles.

"Well, I found a reference to one of the statuettes that can banish her. Evidently there are two in existence and one of them is in the possession of the Council in the basement of one of their buildings. I still need to arrange actually getting a hold of it." Giles explained.

"That's great! I can't wait to have my dreams to myself again." Buffy then noticed Giles starting to look a little apprehensive. "Why am I getting the impression there's another shoe that's going to fall?"

"Perhaps it's a misplaced concern. However, I did contact the council about this matter earlier and I was told they were unable to help."

"Well, maybe they just didn't realize they had the statuette or they didn't realize the connection," suggested Willow.

"Certainly, that could be the case." acknowledged Giles. "Well, it shouldn't be too early London time to go ahead and ring up my contact."

Giles started clearing books from his desk to find his address and phone information. Meanwhile Buffy collapsed on the couch and laid her head back with her eyes closed.

"Anything on patrol?" asked Willow.

"Nope, quiet. Sounds like you guys had more excitement here." Buffy opened her eyes and glanced over to Giles who was now dialing the phone.

"Oh god, I almost forget. Emily Greenwalt is missing." Willow exclaimed worried.

Buffy popped her head up. "So Callie is up to something. I knew it! I need to find her, I'll ... I'll ... I have no idea what I'll do." Buffy slammed her head back down in frustration. Somebody could be in real danger and she still didn't a clue what to do about it.

"Yeah we pretty much came to the same conclusion. I mean, how did Callie get her, if it was Callie? We don't even know that. But it couldn't be Callie since she doesn't have a body, right? How do you grab someone with a body, when you don't have a body? What do you grab with?" Willow tried to speculate.

"Damnit man, this is important! Demon on the loose and all that, we need to make sure!" Giles sounded agitated while he was on the phone. A few moments later he soundly slammed down the receiver on the phone and put his hand to his forehead.

"So I'm thinking they didn't just say, 'Sure Giles, we're Fedex'ing it right out'?" asked Buffy.

"No," said Giles. "Rather not. They have the statuette, but they won't remove it from storage."

"Well, can't the council perform the banishment? They won't have to send the statuette anywhere and then everyone's happy." Willow suggested eagerly.

Giles shook his head. "The banishment has to be performed in proximity to the summoning location. It won't work in London. They're convinced I'm wrong about the demon being Callie."

Buffy gave Giles an expectant look, then asked. "So we do what? I'm not *about* to sit around and wait for the Council to get its head out of..."

Giles waved off Buffy's statement. "I don't intend to let it go at that. I have other contacts, and there may be other options. Also there is the matter of Miss Greenwalt..."

"Willow told me. I'm going to talk to Willie, see if he knows anything about someone still working for Callie," Buffy interrupted Giles in turn.

"Maybe there's another way. We might be able to find a spell that doesn't need a statuette." Willow suggested.

"I'll continue to research. You and Tara get some sleep. You've already missed one night of sleep, and you do have work tomorrow," he said.

"Well, okay. I'll help tomorrow." Willow caved more to fatigue than to Giles.

Willow and Tara left after exchanging good-byes with the other two. Once they had left Buffy spoke. "Well, I'll see what Willie has to say. If he has anything, I'll let you know."

Giles looked at her with concern. "Perhaps, you should get some rest as well."

"Giles, I can't!" said Buffy. "Every time I tried to sleep she's there." She found herself almost in tears; the fatigue was getting to her. "I don't know how she does it, but every time she's in my dreams it's like I haven't slept at all!"

"I will find a way to resolve this." Giles said confidently to Buffy.

"Good cause I gotta admit, this thing with Emily disappearing is giving me the wig. It's one thing when she's in my dreams, but now it's real again."

****

The next day, Giles opened the door to Spike's crypt to find Spike lying on the slab of a tomb. He took a few steps and then waited.

Spike sat up and swiveled so he was sitting on the edge. "You could have the courtesy to wait until a vampire is done sleeping to pay a visit. I don't have any information for you yet."

"That's not why I'm here, actually," Giles stated, as he started to pace around the crypt. "I read an account of a Council raid on a vampire nest in London."

"What about it? Bleeding Council makes it tough on vampires in London. Not exactly breaking news, Rupert." Spike said looking disinterested.

Giles paused as he inspected a carving in he hadn't seen before. "You were there, Spike. A building on the South Bank in 1921. They trapped you and some other vampires in the subbasement, but you and two other vampires disappeared. They never found you." Giles explained.

"Yeah, I remember that," Spike answered with a smirk. "Not the last time I outsmarted them either."

"How did you get away?" asked Giles.

"That's my secret, Rupert. It's been a nice journey down memory lane, but time to bugger off," Spike said while pointedly moving his gaze to the door.

"I need into that building, Spike. I think there's a way in that only you know about. Perhaps we could strike a arrangement," Giles suggested. He stopped his pacing.

"Not bloody likely. The Council took over that building. Why the hell do you need me anyhow? It's not as if you didn't used to work for them."

Giles took a deep breath in frustration. "I don't have access to what I want there. Can you get me in or not?"

Spike thought for moment. "It'll cost you, but yeah, I know a secret way in and out from the sewers. But this is the Council we're talking about. They'll have wards against vampires. It isn't just a matter of giving you directions either, I'll need to be there to get you in."

"Yes, I already anticipated that you would need to be there in person, so to speak. I...I think I know a way around that problem. There's a spell Willow could..."

"Working mojo on me will cost you extra, especially if you have teen witch doing it. And there's the getting to London part," Spike stated.

"I can make the arrangements, Spike. I still know some of the Council's contacts at the airport.

Should we talk terms?" Giles asked.

Spike smiled. "Yeah. Can't say I wouldn't mind a little project, always gets boring during these long summer days."

****

Buffy took a seat across from Willow at the table in the Espresso Pump. Each woman had a mocha she had just purchased. Buffy looked distracted and tired, her eyes were sort of glazed and dark circles had formed under them. Callie had been in her dreams again. Willow, on the other hand, felt more animated. She started talking the moment Buffy sat down.

"Giles figured out a way to get the statuette even without any help from the Council." She spoke in a loud whisper. "I stopped over right before coming here; he wanted me to check out a spell before he told you anything."

Buffy raised her eyebrows. "But the council has the statuette, how can he do anything without them? You don't mean he's going to...."

Willow nodded her head in anticipation of Buffy's question. "Yep, he's planning on stealing it. With Spike's help."

"Spike?!" Buffy asked incredulously and loudly. "Why would Spike help? Why would Giles want Spike to help?" Buffy continued.

"Spike used to live in the basement of the building. He knows a secret way in and out of it through the sewers. The statuette is in the basement of that building now," Willow explained. "Tara and I are going to cast a spell that will let Spike get close enough to get Giles in. Then he'll take it."

"Wow." Buffy looked a little taken about. "I mean wow, that's really wow. That sounds like a lot of effort?"

Willow furrowed her brow. "Don't you want to sleep again? Besides Giles is really worried about Callie with Emily missing. She's up to something and we don't even know what."

"The game," Buffy said without thinking.

"What game?" Willow asked.

"Oh!" Exclaimed Buffy.

"Did I say that aloud? It's something Callie keeps mentioning.

How the game is only beginning. I just thought she was trying to be annoying, but maybe she's serious. Do you think she's serious?" she asked with concern.

"Me. I tend to worry about things disembodied demons tell me in my dreams," Willow answered with a hint of sarcasm.

"Yeah. I guess I should worry. But..." Buffy trailed off.

"But what?" Willow pressed.

"But I can't do anything. I just wish I could fight her." Buffy punched the air a couple of times in frustration and knocked over her mocha in the process. She quickly righted it before too much spilled out. Willow started sopping up the spilled liquid with some napkins.

"Sorry." Buffy said embarrassed. "Let me do that." She took over the cleaning up.

Willow looked at her friend for a couple of seconds and then brightened up as she thought of another topic. "So how about Riley? Isn't he supposed to be back in town pretty soon?" Willow asked with a smile she hid by taking a sip of her drink.

Buffy had finished and sat back down. "Saturday night. He's going to room with an ex-commando buddy of his a while." She smiled brightly. "The best part is that his buddy is going to be gone this weekend."

"So have you got a *special* welcome planned?" Asked Willow. She kind of wondered where Buffy was going to get the energy for a special welcome, but decided it wasn't a good idea to ask.

"You could say that," replied Buffy with a grin.

Willow beamed and asked, "So what'cha got planned?"

"Oh, I got Riley to convince his friend to give me a key and I plan to surprise him when he gets there. Well, not a total surprise--he knows I'll be there. But he'll be surprised when he gets there." Buffy smiled a wistful smile.

"Sounds..." Willow took a moment to decide on an adjective. ".. fun"

"Yep. Fun." agreed Buffy.

*****

"Not exactly my idea of fun, mate!" exclaimed Spike.

"It's bad enough to have Willow working a spell on me, and now you want to cast another one on me?"

Spike was pacing around his crypt. In his agitation he paced into an unused corner and had to brush cobwebs off of himself.

Romica stood near the door, unmoved by Spike's agitation. "You need to know how to get to the entrance and use it. It's a simple spell to implant the way into your memory. Do you want to back out now?" asked Romica calmly.

"Look, how do I know there aren't going to be side effects? There are always side effects." Spike had stopped his pacing to confront Romica eye to eye.

Romica responded with a tone that bespoke supreme confidence. "I know exactly what the side effects will be. None of them will affect you. Don't question my decisions when it comes to magic."

"So you're sure then, about the no side effects for me part?" Spike asked.

Romica didn't dignify that with a response. "I'll do the memory spell tonight. Also you'll need to pack this with you." He reached down into the bag he had brought with him and removed a small silver statue. It was a shaped as a woman in a flowing gown. The carved woman's hands held a gem.

"This is a replica of the statuette that Rupert will take from the council. You will need to swap this for the real thing before you get back. If for any reason you cannot make the switch, you *must* let me know immediately." He handed the statue to Spike.

"You certainly are prepared." Spike looked at the statue and thought for a second before asking "Why don't you just get it yourself?"

"There will be an additional warding on the statuette that Rupert will need to defeat. Fortunately the Council rarely changes those, so he should still know how. Besides, the spell to get you past the wardings won't work on me," replied Romica.

"Why not?" Asked Spike out of curiosity.

"It's not you concern," said Romica.

Spike walked back over to his slab and sat down; he laid the statue down next to him carefully. "All of this magic I'll let you work on me, should be worth a little extra don't you think?"

"Not particularly," responded Romica. They just looked at each other in silence for a while. Romica shrugged and broke the impasse. "I'll make you a simple deal, Spike. I'll pay out the same amount I've already promised and I'll pull some strings and arrange some surgery to get your chip out as well. In return, you will stop trying to bargain for a better deal and you will do what I need done for the next two weeks."

Spike liked the sound of that idea, but he hid his excitement. "I've heard that promise before. How do I know you're going to keep up your end?"

This exasperated Romica. "You want me to what? Make a promise? Shake on it? Would any of that convince you? You just have to take your chances.

You're a vampire that can't bite, what do you have to lose?"

"Right, then. But you had better come through when this is all done, I don't have any problems killing demons." Spike gave him a menacing glare to back up his words.

"Hold still while I perform the memory spell. I need to be precise or they may detect something when they cast the masking spell on you latter tonight." Romica got a couple of vials of powder from his bag and approached a still but apprehensive Spike.

*****

"So will it work like I told Giles?" asked Willow nervously as Tara looked over the spell in the book she was holding. Giles didn't like the book; it was a reprint with a modern binding. Looking up arcane magic in a book that wasn't ancient and leather-bound just didn't seem right.

"Oh. Yeah, it's exactly how you described it. We can do the last part of the spell anytime no matter how far away the subject is." Tara responded distractedly.

"What is it? Is there a problem with the spell?" Willow sounded concerned. "Something we can't do?"

"I certainly hope not. The tickets are not refundable," added Giles, who was seated in a chair facing the couch where Tara and Willow were seated.

Tara shook her head and gave them both a reassuring look. "No, nothing like that. It'll be easy to cast with two of us. It's just I have no idea how it's supposed to work."

"Is that a problem?" Willow asked. "Cause I've cast lots of spells where I didn't really understand how they worked."

Tara smiled. "Yeah, you've told me about some of the things you've tried."

"Just as long as it works," added Giles.

"We should finish the spell at 2:00am. Um, that's 2am for the subject. The spell will be the most potent then." Tara continued.

"Oh! That's what I said earlier, 2 am," interjected Willow happily.

"That will be 6 pm Saturday here," pointed out Giles.

Willow rolled her eyes. "I know to adjust for the time difference."

"I'm not trying to patronize, I just want to make sure we're all coordinated."

"We'll be coordinated." Willow assured him. "Besides, one second you'll think Spike is a vampire and the next you'll think he's always been human. So Spike will know that the spell worked."

"I suppose that is true."

"See, nothing to worry about." Willow concluded.

"Unless it doesn't fool the wards," corrected Giles.

Tara shook her head. "According to this, the illusion will work on everything. Only Spike will know he's a vampire."

Spike came through the front door carrying a suitcase with him. "Well then, I guess it's time for this spell of yours. And then off to London?"

"Yes," responded Giles as he got up from his chair. "Xander will drive us to LA. He'll be by in about 2 hours, which will leave just enough time for the spell. Although, the spell won't be activated until just before we make our way to the Council's building." He turned to Willow. "I have given you all the information about our itinerary in case any of you need to contact..."

"You can give it to Buffy yourself, she'll be by before you leave." Willow got up from the couch followed by Tara and they looked over the containers of various powders and liquids arrayed on Giles' kitchen bar. "Spike, just sit down and relax. This spell will take a little time."

Spike sat down in the chair. "I'll sit but relaxing isn't bloody likely. Take all the time you need. I don't exactly want you to do a rush job."

"What is Red's success rate these days?" Spike whispered to Giles.

"I *heard* that," said Willow with her back still turned.

Spike watched in dismay as Giles wavered his hand in a 'so-so' gesture. "Bloody great," he muttered, turning back to glare suspiciously at Tara and Willow. Giles allowed himself a brief smile of amusement at Spike's expense.

Finally, Willow and Tara finished and turned around. Willow was holding a beaker of purple liquid and Tara was holding a bowl. "We're ready to start," announced Willow.

*****

Two days later, Willow unlocked the door to Giles' apartment and walked in carrying a book. Tara followed her in, shutting the door behind them. "It's hard to believe this is really going to work with Spike all the way over in London." Willow commented as they looked at the circle of white power that surrounded the chair Spike was in when the spell was cast.

"Well, like you said. Giles will know if it doesn't work." Tara reminded her.

"Should we look over the incantation one more time?" Willow asked.

Tara shook her head. "I remember it. But it's supposed to be dark as I remember it."

Willow nodded agreement. "We'll close the blinds." She went over to the windows and lowered the blinds to make the room as dim as possible. "Well, it should be almost six. Let's get started."

Tara moved the chair out of the circle and they both sat cross-legged within the circle facing each other. There was barely enough space to allow them to do this. They each folded their hands in their lap. Then they closed their eyes and began the Latin incantation to complete the spell. The incantation was the only part of the spell that was left. According to the book, there was supposed to be no indication that the spell had taken effect. That was disappointing to Willow, she preferred spells that let you know something happened.

As the incantation finished something did happen. The room seemed to start spinning. From what Willow could see through her disorientation, Tara was suffering the same effect. She held her head in her hands and fight the dizziness, but it only got worse. She laid back, unable to keep herself in a sitting position and closed her eyes.

Some time later Tara was shaking her awake. "What happened?" She asked. Tara looked as confused as Willow felt.

Willow took in their surroundings, "It's Giles' apartment. But I don't understand how we ended up here." She got up to her feet slowly and began looking around. Tara followed her. She checked the bathroom and then the loft and finally seemed convinced they were alone. "This is really strange," concluded Willow.

"I'm hungry" whined Tara "how about we get something to eat?"

Willow smiled. "Maybe we could order in." She went to the telephone and dialed Xander's number.

"Hello," answered Xander after a few rings.

"Hi, it's Willow." She said happily into the receiver. "Tara and I needed some help with something. It'll just take a minute." Willow used her sweetest voice to make the request.

"Well, Anya and I were about to go someplace. But I guess if it won't take long, we could swing by your apartment."

Willow smiled at Tara as she waited to talk. "Oh, we're at Giles'."

"Oh. Well, then I swing by there instead. See you in about fifteen minutes?"

"Yeah, that's fine," replied Willow.

"Bye"

"Bye"

With a triumphant flourish Willow hung up the phone. "That was Xander, he'll be over in about fifteen minutes. Good thing I called right away, he was about to leave."

"So he doesn't know." Asked Tara cautiously.

"He doesn't know, and he'll have Anya with him. A twofer," added Willow excitedly.

*****

Xander opened the door to Giles' apartment and came in without knocking. As soon as he entered Willow and Tara got up from the couch and started walking over to him. "Hi girls. What did you need the help with?" Xander asked.

Willow crinkled her forehead and asked, somewhat disappointed, "Where's Anya?"

Xander found it a bit odd that Willow would be disappointed at Anya's absence, but he explained. "She's in the car. You said just a minute, right?"

Willow exchanged a glance with Tara and continued to walk up to Xander. She got close enough to make Xander take a step back.

"Um. You said something about help?" asked Xander uneasily.

"Yeah, help." said Willow sensuously. The tip of her tongue traced her upper lip as she advanced toward Xander again.

Xander backed up right into Tara. As he stopped, Willow pressed herself against him, placing her hands on his lower back. Tara slid her arms under his and wrapped his shoulders with her forearms.

"Wow, I'm pretty sure I've had this dream. But it's much creepier in real life, might I add." Xander said. "Also, Anya waiting in car isn't part of the dream either."

Willow just ignored him and leaned in to nuzzle his neck. Tara licked him right under his jaw. Xander started having an internal debate, or at least trying to. Something was seriously wrong here, however he had an undeniable curiosity about exactly where this was leading too. Not that he would let it get too far. The debate ended when Willow and Tara bit hard into his neck.

"Ow!" he yelled. He wrenched himself free of Tara and pushed Willow a couple of steps away from him. "What was that?!" he asked while putting a hand to his neck.

Willow responded by first running her left hand along her upper teeth while striking him in the chest with the heel of her right hand. The attack resulted in little more than making Xander take another step back.

"Hey!" Xander exclaimed. He caught Willow's hand as she tried to punch him. "Will, what is going on?"

Willow just struggled to get free of his grip. "Why am I so weak?" she spitted out in frustration.

"Maybe cause you're not a vampire?" suggested Xander.

He remembered Tara at this point and spared a look behind him to see that Tara had been busy picking up a barstool and swinging it at him. She hit him directly in the face hard enough to make him lose his grip on Willow as well as his balance. As Tara began to swing the stool down him again and Xander rolled away from her attack and got back to his feet. He grabbed the stool and wrenched it away from Tara.

"Did you do this to us?" demanded an angry Tara as she attacked again with an ineffectual flailing of fists toward Xander.

He managed to catch her and hold both of her arms. "Do what? I think I'm the one acting normally here." He remembered Willow and started looking around for her. To his dismay she had spent her time retrieving the tranquilizer gun from the weapons chest.

At his point Anya opened the front door. "Xander, what is taking so long..." She trailed off as she noticed the odd scene and as Willow fired a tranquilizer dart into her chest. Anya crumpled to the ground. Willow dropped the rifle and picked up a loaded crossbow.

Xander flung Tara toward Willow and dived toward Anya. The crossbow bolt passed harmlessly over him. He lifted Anya up and ran out of the apartment.

*****

Willow loaded another bolt, but was far too late to fire again at Xander. "That sucked!" she stated angrily.

"Actually, wouldn't you say it didn't," remarked Tara.

The remark did nothing to improve Willow's mood. She spun and shoved Tara into the wall and noted the lack of force with which she shoved. "This just isn't any fun being weak as a mortal." Willow observed, her anger deflating into depression.

"What if he gets Buffy? We can't deal with the Slayer like this," observed Tara worriedly.

Willow thought. "Buffy's at Riley's tonight, and Xander won't know where to find her. But.." She marched over to Giles' desk and dialed a number.

"Hello," answered Joyce.

"Hi Mrs. Summers, it's Willow."

"Buffy isn't here right not."

"It's you I want to talk to actually," explained Willow.

"Oh. Is something wrong?" Asked Joyce.

"Actually, something is wrong. It's Xander, Buffy thinks he might be possessed or something," said Willow trying to sound worried.

"Possessed?" Asked Joyce.

"Right, she's trying to find him right now. But she wanted me to call you and tell you that he might be looking for her and come to your house. She wanted you to just not answer the door or the telephone until she finds Xander and we get this all figured out."

"That sounds pretty serious," remarked Joyce.

"It is, Xander is really dangerous right now."

"That's right. Oh. Tara and I may need to come over to meet up with Buffy, so if we get there before her, is it ok for us to just come in?"

"I'll keep an eye out for you guys," replied Joyce.

Willow winced at the reply. "Can we just come in? Buffy told me where the key is."

"Sure, you can come in," said Joyce.

Willow smiled at Tara. "Ok, just remember we don't know what happened to Xander he's very dangerous right now. Bye."

"You guys be careful."

"We will."

Willow hung up the phone and looked very pleased with herself. "That should keep Xander from finding her for a little bit and we're invited."

"That's all great, but we're still weak and can't bite," said Tara dejectedly. "We're still doomed."

Willow's pleased expression melted into a frown, then she noticed the open book they had set next to the circle still somewhat intact on the floor. "I remember something in that book. For some reason we studied a spell to give a vampire the illusion of being human."

Tara furrowed her brow. "So we pretend to be human?"

Willow shook her head. "There was a related potion that spell referenced. One that took away a vampire's abilities, made'em as weak as a human. That must be what happened to us." Willow grabbed the book and sat down at Giles' desk. She started flipping through pages rapidly. "Where is it?"

Finally she happened across what she was looking for. "Here it is!" Tara leaned up behind her placing her arms around Willow's abdomen and placing her chin on Willow's shoulder.

"Damn!" exclaimed Willow as she read further.

"What?" asked Tara.

Willow held up the book so Tara could see it more easily. "See, the cure needs all these exotic ingredients. It'll take us years to find all that stuff." She said snippily.

"You didn't read far enough." Tara remarked, her face broke into a sly smile. "The other cure is the blood of a Slayer."

Willow slammed the book down where she could read it easier. "I should have read all of it, but this just reminds me too much of what I did as a human." She snapped.

Tara whispered to her. "Relax, the important thing is that we can get cured soon. Then we can do things your human self would never have done."

"Mmmmmm." Purred Willow. "But we still have to kill Buffy."

Tara switched to the other ear. "She trusts you. Just stab her when her back's turned or something."

Willow thought about it and smiled. "I want to do something special. It's not like we're going to kill a Slayer every day. Especially not one that thinks I'm her best friend."

"What do you have in mind?"

"There's another reference in that book when it mentioned the blood of a Slayer. It says there's a potion to weaken a Slayer too." Willow replied.

Tara lifted her eyebrows somewhat surprised. "That's convenient."

"I know, it's like this book was written by a vampire or something." Willow flipped around through the book and found the potion it mentioned. "Here it is. It will weaken a Slayer, eventually to the point of unconsciousness. But the blood remains untainted. It's perfect."

"So we poison her and then you stab her, so she can see you do it?" Asked Tara.

Willow grinned. "Well, eventually. But I had something a little more interesting in mind. We'll need another potion though."

Tara frowned. "This had better be fun. Making potions isn't."

*****

They arrived at door to Riley's apartment, but didn't knock right away.

"You remember everything we need to do?" asked Willow.

Tara rolled her eyes. "Yes. We've gone over this. I'm not sure this is a good plan, though."

"Ahwww. It'll be fun," appealed Willow.

"Your part is more fun," complained Tara.

Willow couldn't really think of a good reply, so she knocked instead. "Here goes." She remarked before Buffy answered the door.

Buffy answered the door in a black evening dress and looked rather surprised to see Tara and Willow standing outside. "Will?, Tara?"

Willow crinkled her forehead in what she hoped appeared as concern. "Buffy, Giles called to tell us that Callie is more dangerous than he thought."

"Dangerous how?" asked Buffy, concerned.

"There's a mystic convergence tonight and she'll be able to possess people again, Giles said she can possess anyone she has before or even those close to them." Willow replied rapidly. "B...But there's a way to protect you and everyone else from being all possessed."

"Maybe that mystic convergence is why I didn't have a dream last night. Can we do it before Riley gets here?" Buffy asked hopefully.

Willow frowned and shook her head while she explained. "The spell for people you're close to is pretty simple, but the one to protect you is more complex. It'll take like three or four hours to perform and you'll need to get started right away."

Buffy looked back into the apartment and then back at Willow with a forlorn look. "But I cooked." She whined.

"I know you had romantic type things planned, but nothing kills a date like demon possession."

Buffy sighed. "Yeah, that would be a mood killer. Okay, let's get started."

"Um...actually, the spell is all set up at Giles', we had to sort of learn it as we set it up..." Willow started to explain.

"So we have to go to Giles'?" Buffy asked unhappily.

"Well, just you and Tara. She can cast the spell better than I can, and I need to cast a protection spell on Riley the minute he gets here," Willow continued.

Buffy looked back into the apartment and then back at Willow. "Right now?" she asked.

Willow nodded.

"Um I've got a chicken thing in the oven. It'll be done in about ten minutes. Can you..." Buffy started to ask.

"Sure. I'll get it and I'll keep things warm. If you don't mind me coming in." Willow replied.

"Of course I don't mind you coming in. Let me just get my bag." Buffy went back into the apartment.

Willow and Tara looked at each other and shrugged, they were uncertain if Buffy's comment was an invitation. Willow placed her hand through the threshold without any problems.

Willow smiled slyly at Tara and whispered. "See, it'll work perfectly."

Tara whispered back. "I still don't like it."

Buffy rushed back. "Ok, let's put the not for rent sign on Buffy's body."

Tara and Buffy started off. "See ya," said Willow to both of them and she went into the apartment to wait on Riley. So far everything was going right to plan.

*****

Tara and Buffy arrived at Giles' apartment. They had walked quietly, Buffy was unhappy about Callie interfering with her social life and Tara was content to be quiet. Inside the apartment there were containers of all sorts laid out in Giles' kitchen. The assortment of beakers, vials, and even some plastic cups contained a variety of liquids and powers. The living room had a pentagram traced out in powder with a circle of mystic symbols laid out around it. A candle was located at each vertex of the pentagram.

"Wow, looks like you guys have been busy," commented Buffy as she looked over the scene.

"Yeah, we had to do a lot of work," agreed Tara in a quiet voice. She *had* done a lot of work to set this up, a lot more than Willow did.

"What do I do?" asked Buffy as she shrugged her shoulders.

Tara grabbed a glass with a faintly purple liquid in it. "You'll need to drink this to start with." She handed the glass to Buffy.

Buffy looked at the glass and gave it a sniff. "Is this going to taste really bad?" She asked a little concerned.

Tara shook her head. "No, for a potion it shouldn't be bad."

Buffy frowned and then swigged the liquid. She gave the empty glass a confused look. "It tastes like lime. Why would purple taste like lime?"

Tara shrugged. "Magic is funny." Tara relaxed a little, the most important part was done.

"Yeah," agreed Buffy. "Now what?"

Tara guided her over to the pentagram. "Sit in the middle of the pentagram and just relax."

Buffy sat down cross-legged and tried to relax. She wasn't very successful. "Three or four hours?"

Tara had grabbed a book and didn't appear to hear her as she looked at the pages in an enactment of deep concentration. She really didn't need to read anything, but she continued to look studious for a bit before responding. "Actually, a lot of this is just ceremonial. We can skip that part and it will take less than an hour." She closed the book and stood up.

Buffy looked unsure. "Are you sure? I mean I would like to do this quickly, but I would like not being possessed by a demon even more."

Tara nodded and started to light the candles at the edges of the pentagram. "I'm absolutely sure. I can't believe we didn't realize this before. Well, we'll surprise Willow when we get back so soon." Tara allowed herself a smile. Buffy wasn't at all suspicious of anything; now all she had to do was cast a simple spell to let her find Buffy later and rest of the it would just be for show.

*****

Riley unlocked the door to the apartment. He walked in carrying a bouquet of roses and his suitcase to find Willow waiting for him.

"Willow?" he asked. Then confusion faded away, it wasn't hard to guess what probably happened. "I'm guessing Buffy isn't here due to the forces of darkness."

Willow nodded. "Something like that. Giles called with some news about that demon we fought a week ago. It turns out she can strike at Buffy and people close to Buffy tonight. It's a mystic convergence thingy. She's at Giles' with Tara having a protection spell cast on her. It'll be like four hours."

Riley set down his suitcase and the flowers. "Oh," he said disappointed. "Well we should get over there." He turned to head back out to the car.

"You'll need protection too. But it'll just take a minute, I can take care of it." Willow stated.

Riley turned to face her. "Just tell me what to do."

Willow produced a small glass of clear liquid. "Drink this," she ordered.

Riley took the glass and regarded it more a second. Then, he downed it in one gulp. He made a grimace. "Ugh. That tastes awful."

"A lot of potions do," agreed Willow. "But it will protect you."

"That's good. Let's head over to Giles'," Riley stated as he turned once again for the door.

"We shouldn't go over. If we interrupt the spell, then the demon could gain control of Buffy again. She'll come over the moment she's done." Willow told him before he could get very far.

"Well I wouldn't want to interrupt if it will put her in danger." He wanted to see Buffy, but it looked like that was just going to have to wait. "I guess, I'll just get my stuff from the car and unpack." He turned toward the door and this time Willow didn't stop him.

Riley got the large duffel bag that constituted the bulk of his luggage and climbed back up the stairs to his apartment. Willow was waiting near the door.

"I'm just going to unpack this," he told her while hefting his bag.

"You must be hungry. Unpack later and eat something. Buffy didn't want the dinner to go to waste." Willow suggested.

Riley looked over at the table and noticed that there were two plates of food and two glasses of wine. Some of the flowers he had brought for Buffy had been placed in a glass and now formed a centerpiece. "Wow. She went through all that effort, I wouldn't fee right..."

Willow took his arm and started pulling him over to the table. "She insisted. Come on."

Riley was still a little unsure about it, but he was hungry. "Well, she told me not to eat anything on the road so I am sort of hungry. I guess if she *said it was okay* to go ahead..."

As they ate the dinner Buffy had prepared, he asked Willow to tell him what had happened in his absence. Willow told him her story of the incident with Callie. After that they talked about Riley's trip, although that story was much less eventful. Riley continued to be somewhat uneasy throughout eating dinner. He was getting that gnawing feeling that despite Willow's reassurances, he was digging himself a hole with Buffy.

"Go ahead and unpack, I'll clean all this up." Willow suggested after they finished. Riley was quite happy with that arrangement. "Sure," he agreed.

As he got up noticed that Willow hadn't seemed to have eaten hardly any of her food, but he decided she just must have not been very hungry and decided not to comment on it. He grabbed his duffel bag and suitcase and proceeded to go into his bedroom. He set down the suitcase next to his bed. Then debated for a second whether to actually unpack the duffel bag than contained mostly clothes that needed to be washed. He decided to just toss it the closet for the moment.

He did just than. After sliding the closet door closed, he turned around to get on with unpacking the suitcase. Willow was standing right there, quite close to him.

"Uh, Willow you're...uh...here." he stated the obvious.

Willow smiled sweetly and took a step forward to end up just perhaps an inch from him. Riley backed into the closet door. Willow placed a hand onto the door on either side of him, trapping him. Riley looked nervously down at one of her arms and then the other.

"What are you doing?" If he didn't know Willow better, he would have sworn she was coming onto him.

"What do you think?" She asked seductively.

Riley just stared at her for a moment. She looked like Willow, but she sure wasn't acting like Willow. "You are Willow, right?"

"Of course I am." She moved a little closer and slid her hands up the door. They were close enough that their clothes touched. She stared intensely into his eyes, her mouth slightly parted.

Riley swallowed hard and asked "What about Buffy?"

"Aren't you greedy?" Willow answered. "I don't think Buffy is into that sort of thing."

"Greedy?... Thing?... No. That's not what I meant." Riley stammered.

Willow moved closer, pressing herself into him. A hand moved away from the closet door and to the back of his head. She tipped her head up and tried to pull his head down for a kiss. He kept his neck stiff. She pulled again a little harder, but his head still didn't budge.

"That's enough. This isn't going to happen." Riley said as he grabbed her at the waist and lifted her away from him. "I can't believe you'd try to do this to Buffy," he added.

"Buffy wouldn't have to know." She tried to move closer to him again, but his time he put his hands firmly on her shoulders and kept her at arm's length.

"Stop this now and Buffy won't find out about it. Are you drunk or something?" Riley was starting to get annoyed at her antics.

Willow turned away and sat on the bed dejected. "You don't find me attractive, do you? No one does." She put her head down and started to sniffle.

She was depressed for some reason. At least it was starting to make some sense to him now. Her odd behavior must be some sort of plea for help. Well, comforting Willow was not what he wanted to do for the evening, but she looked like she needed someone to talk to. "It's not that, and aren't you involved with..."

He seemed to black out for just a second. Only by bracing his hand up against the wall did he manage to hold himself steady.

Willow kept her head down and continued to sniffle. "No. Broke up, she didn't want me either."

Riley went over to the bed to sit down next to her. He lost his balance and sat down much more heavily than he intended to. "Look there's nothing wrong with you, it's just circumstances and..."

An odd sensation went through his body and for a split-second all his muscles just stopped responding. It was a brief sensation, but it caused him to lose track of what he was saying. "Sorry, I'm just feeling sort of strange all of the sudden."

Willow looked up at him. He had expected to see watery eyes and tear streaked cheeks. Instead she was smiling. "About time it took effect. I knew I could get you to the bed before it did one way or another. I wasn't looking forward to dragging you around in my condition."

"Wha... What did y..." He tried to talk but suddenly found himself unable to, his body had stopped responding again. This time the effect didn't go away. He fell backwards and bounced to a rest on the bed, looking up at the ceiling.

"It's the potion. It's the best we could do in the time we had. Now let's get you in position." Willow told him peering over his face so he could see her.

He tried to move, but his muscles just didn't respond. He seemed to be able to open and close his eyes and have a little control over his mouth, but nothing else worked. Talking didn't seem to work either so the best response he could come up with was a soft "Unhhhh".

Willow straightened him out on the bed, so that his head rested near the headboard. Then she removed the blanket and sheet as well the two pillows. Riley could feel and hear her doing this while he continued to have a fine view of the ceiling.

Okay, he thought, this probably isn't a plea for help. This thought was reinforced when she started to undress him. She was efficient, taking off his shirt, shoes, socks, and jeans quickly. She left the boxer shorts for which Riley was grateful even if he couldn't express it. After that he could hear her walking into the other room. He had no idea what was wrong with Willow, and he started worrying about Buffy and her other friends. Had something happened to all of them?

She returned shortly and he could a rustling of clothes. He heard the click of the bedside lamp as she turned it on and the room brightened just a bit. Then, she turned off the overhead light and the room dimmed. He wished he could see what the hell she was doing. Just waiting and staring at the ceiling was driving him crazy.

There was brief moment when nothing happened. She was being quiet. Too quiet, thought Riley. Next, she was climbing into the bed. She straddled him, he could feel the warm bare skin of her legs against his. As she did this, she pulled the sheet over them both.

Finally, she leaned over him so he could see her face. He could feel her hands pressing down on the mattress on either side of him. "Isn't Buffy going to get quite the surprise when she comes back. Maybe not as much as when I kill her a little later, but it'll still be fun to watch her face. I'll be sure to turn your head so you can see, she's awfully cute when she's hurt." She lowered her upper body onto his, and nested her head so that she could talk right into his ear. Her bare torso was warm against his.

"Now what should we do while we wait for Buffy?" She whispered into his ear. He felt her arm reach out like she was grabbing something. Then he felt the cold metallic point of knife being lightly drug down his chest. It a light enough touch to just enough to let him know that it was there, but not actually hurt him.

"I'll have fun playing with you once have my full strength back." She whispered sweetly. "There are so many things I'll teach you."

She wiggled a little bit, apparently making herself more comfortable. She stopped tracing the knife along his chest. "Let me tell you some of the games I have in mind."

*****

Buffy finished walking back to the apartment, she noticed Riley's Grand Prix in the parking lot and smiled. If he was punctual, and he always was, then he'd still have only been back an hour. Not too much time to have shaved off the evening and certainly worth it to be demon-free, maybe a little bit more time since she would want Riley to drive Willow back to Giles' where Tara still was. Nonetheless, much better than the four lost hours that was originally advertised.

She opened the door to the apartment and was surprised to not find Riley and Willow waiting for her. In fact the living room wasn't even lit, although the light in the kitchen illuminated it well enough to see. Her eyes focused on the table that clearly indicated that the dinner she had made had been consumed. Flowers formed a centerpiece that she hadn't set out. Buffy wasn't happy about it, but she rationalized that it was reasonable enough. It was already late and they thought that she wouldn't be back for another three hours. She noticed that Riley's bedroom door was slightly ajar and light was dimly streaming out.

Right outside the door she distinctly heard Willow moan. Her first thought upon hearing the moan was food poisoning, did she cook the chicken long enough.

She opened the door. Willow was straddled atop Riley, held above him on her arms. Her head was tilted back and her eyes closed. A sheet covered the details, but Willow's movements left little doubt in Buffy's mind about what the details were. Riley apparently heard her; his face was turned toward the door with a very blank expression. Willow evidently didn't hear her as she keep her eyes closed and released another moan.

Buffy just stared at the scene. Her mind was trying in utter failure to form a thought, a rationalization, an emotion, anything to help deal with what she was seeing.

Willow was somehow tipped off that something was wrong. She opened her eyes and looked toward Buffy. Oh god. I....I didn't think you would be back so soon." Willow said looking rather shocked and worried.

Riley continued to look blank.

The words managed to get Buffy's mind out of total shock. She closed her jaw that had been hanging open since she opened the door. Then she turned and walked out of the apartment without a word.

*****

Xander was frustrated. He had been to Buffy's house twice now. Joyce's SUV was clearly there, but nobody answered the door. He had called three times and no one answered the phone either. Likewise the Bronze, the Graveyard, and all of the other places he could think to look for Buffy had failed too. So here he was at Buffy's house for the third time. Just before he knocked on the door, he saw a light go on in what had to be the kitchen. He knocked excitedly and waited.

No answer.

Again he knocked and again was met by no answer.

He decided to investigate and headed to the back of the house.

He could see Joyce standing in the kitchen though the window over the sink. Since the window was open, he went up to it to get her attention.

"Mrs. Summers, It's Xander, I've got to find Buffy." He shouted to her.

Joyce jumped and spun around. She looked nervous. "Oh Xander. Buffy's looking for you too. Why don't you just wait outside? She'll be here soon." Joyce started edging her way toward the phone while keeping an eye on him.

"What's up? I'm Xander, Buffy's friend. Perfectly safe, normal guy. Willow's the one who's acting all weird." Xander stated in response to Joyce's actions.

"I think it would be best." Joyce answered. She reached for the phone, but didn't call anyone right away. "What's weird about Willow?" she asked.

"She and her friend Tara think they're vampires." He pulled down the collar of his shirt and tilted his head to expose the bite mark Willow had left. "See, she bit me. So very glad she didn't really have fangs."

Joyce slowly walked over to the window and turned on the light over the sink to get a better look. "Oh. Ouch," she commented. "Why don't you come in?" She let Xander in through the kitchen door.

"Did she tell you I was crazy or something?" asked Xander stepping in. "I'm really hoping you're going to tell me you know exactly where Buffy is."

"Willow said you were possessed, and I'm the last person who would know where Buffy is."

"And the first person would be Will," added Xander.

"Well we could take a look in her room. Maybe there's something there to tell us where she's at." Joyce suggested.

They went upstairs and into Buffy's room. Joyce began looking at anything lying on a flat surface. Xander looked around as well.

"You know I'd only snoop if there was an emergency." Joyce commented self-consciously. She picked up a piece of paper with some information written on it. "Oh, It's Giles' itinerary. She told me he was traveling to London. In fact he called earlier and left a message on the machine, something about getting a statue."

Xander came over and looked at the piece of paper. "If anyone can figure out what's going on, it's Giles. Do you mind if I call him? There's a hotel number here."

Joyce involuntarily winced at the idea of calling London, but agreed. "If it might help."

Xander grabbed the phone and started dialing, while Joyce continued to look around through Buffy's stuff. Xander got the main desk to patch him through to Giles' room and was relieved to find that he was in.

"Hello." Said Giles.

"Giles. It's Xander."

There was a brief pause. "Let me guess, something is wrong?" Asked Giles.

"Good guess, something is wrong as a matter of fact. Willow and Tara think they're vampires."

"You say they *think* they're vampires?"

"Pretty sure, they bit me and I'm still here," said Xander.

"That's interesting. Spike thinks he's a vampire too," said Giles.

"So him too. That's... well that's weird."

"Yes, odd that the same thing would happen so far apart. However, Spike has not actually attacked anyone. The situation sounds more serious with Willow and her friend. Has Buffy been able to secure them yet?"

Xander hesitated before answering. "Actually, Buffy doesn't know yet. I'm with her mom now trying to find her."

"I've already started to investigate the problem with Spike, I'll call immediately if I uncover anything pertinent."

"Well, we're at Buffy's house if you find something."

Xander noticed Joyce gesturing to him while brandishing a post-it note.

"I think I know where she is." Explained Joyce.

"We may have found her," said Xander into the phone.

"Good. I hope you have," said Giles.

"Yeah, so do I. Bye." Xander hung up and looked at Joyce.

"She said Riley was coming back to town this weekend. This has his apartment address and phone number." She handed the post-it note to Xander and he immediately dialed. After waiting for a bit, he hung up the phone.

"No answer" he said disappointed.

"Maybe we should go and see. I'll leave Buffy a note in case she comes back here." Joyce stated and started scribbling a note onto a pad of paper.

*****

Willow got herself dressed again and met Tara who was standing outside the front door.

"Everything went perfectly here." Willow stated with pride.

"Same here," commented Tara rather sulkily.

"Jealous?" asked Willow delighted.

"I just don't like it," explained Tara.

"Well, you can take it out on him once we're cured," said Willow unapologetically. "Did your spells work?"

Tara shrugged. "I think so, I can sense her, so that one worked. Guess we'll find out if she's weak." Tara then produced a dagger. "I got a knife like you wanted."

Willow plucked the dagger from her hand. "Perfect. Let's find her."

It didn't take long. The path they took lead towards Buffy's house, but went by a park. Tara was able sense she was inside the park and they quickly located her sitting on a park bench. They crouched in some bushes nearby in order to observe. If Buffy was being alert, she probably would have heard them. However, she wasn't paying a lot of attention to her surroundings at the moment. She was sitting with her elbows on her knees, head held in her hands staring at the ground.

"Well she certainly doesn't look happy." Observed Tara in a hushed voice. "Good job, now let's kill her."

Willow bit her lower lip and stared at Buffy some more. She whispered back "I was hoping for more violent sobbing, not just weepiness." Then she smiled and said excitedly. "Oh, let me talk to her first. I think maybe I can stick another dagger in her."

"How about the real dagger?"

"Oh. come on, she's the Slayer and thinks I'm her best friend. You just don't get opportunities like this. I want to savor it," said Willow as she played with the dagger.

"Well, I want to feed," argued Tara.

"Ok, feeding is good. But just give me a couple of minutes to enjoy it." She placed her hand behind Tara's head and violently jerked her head around so that their lips almost touched. "I promise to make it up to you."

"You'd better," grumbled Tara who pushed her away.

Willow retreated a little ways and then stood up and started walking towards Buffy. She imagined tasting the Slayer's blood, feeling the strength rushing back into her body. Maybe she wouldn't taunt Buffy for very long. She slipped the dagger into a pocket in her skirt.

*****

"Giles said Spike thinks he's a vampire too, so it's not just Willow and Tara who have been affected. Only Spike isn't trying to bite people." Xander explained about his phone call with Giles as they walked from Xander's car to Riley's apartment. "But he doesn't know what is causing the problem, he said he'll look into it as best as he can. So not much help for right now." They arrived at the door.

Xander knocked. There was no answer. He knocked again and again there wasn't an answer. He tried the doorknob and found the door was unlocked.

"Buffy." Joyce called to into the room.

"Riley." Xander called.

No one responded. They looked at each other went inside. The kitchen light was on, but otherwise the apartment was dark.

"Well someone was here," observed Joyce as she looked at the table that was still covered with the remains of dinner.

"Or maybe is here," Xander suggested.

Joyce looked at the short hallway where the bedroom doors where. "I guess that is possible." She went to one of the doors and knocked while loudly asking "Buffy?".

Meanwhile Xander tried the same procedure on the other door. This room revealed a bed with a soundly sleeping Riley. They both went in and Xander stated "Riley" directly to the sleeping figure. There was no response.

"Is he okay?" asked Joyce.

"It looks like he's just asleep, but you'd think soldier guy would be more of a light sleeper." Xander leaned over and shook Riley.

Riley jerked awake with a start. He relaxed a little when he saw Xander and Joyce standing there, but he sill immediately sprang out of bed.

"Buffy's in danger! Willow is possessed or something and ...." He noticed that Joyce had politely turned away. "... and I'm not wearing any pants."

"So, Buffy's in danger. Time to take a nap?" Xander asked while Riley scrambled to get dressed.

"No, Willow gave me something to drink. She was acting really..." Riley trailed off in search of a description and his socks.

"Yeah, she thinks she's a vampire. Way ahead of you on that big guy." Xander replied.

Riley slipped on his shirt. "Well, she's definitely not a vampire she was way too warm."

"Warm?" asked Xander.

"Let's just concentrate on helping Buffy. She doesn't know what's going on." Riley started heading for the door.

"Where is Buffy exactly?" Asked Joyce.

The question stopped Riley. "Well, she left here about..." he looked at a clock "...twenty minutes ago. She was sort of upset, I think she'll probably be headed home."

"Upset how?" asked Joyce.

"Warm," suggested Xander.

"It's complicated let's just find her." Riley replied. There wasn't any argument.

*****

Buffy was feeling quite lonely at the moment. She never would have thought Riley would betray her trust, he just wasn't that sort of guy. But he had and with her best friend. Then there was Willow. Was there anyone she trusted more than her? If Buffy hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she never would have believed that Willow would betray her like that. Mostly she felt dead inside, but every so often a memory boiled up and she washed it back down with tears.

She could hear someone walking toward her and looked up. That someone was Willow who looked back at her with concern. Buffy wondered if Willow was actually going to try to comfort her, fat chance of that, the very thought of Willow trying to comfort her right now made her angry. Willow stopped approaching.

"Buffy, I'm..." Willow started.

Buffy interrupted her. "You're what Will, sorry? That's not really good enough," she spat out.

"What can I do?" Willow asked.

"Well you could have not screwed my boyfriend, but I guess it's too late for that." Buffy replied bitterly. "My god, what the hell led to that? You just had a little time to kill before I got back?"

"That wasn't the first time." Willow stated flatly.

"How long?" asked Buffy. She imagined Riley and Willow laughing at her trust.

"Remember when those vampires took the hostages in the church, it started a little after that. I wanted to say something..." Willow replied.

"Just go!" Said Buffy. "I mean it."

"You know, you're really cute when you get mad," said Willow with a little bit of a giggle.

Something was starting to seriously not add up here. Willow sleeping with Riley behind her back was already hard to believe. But, Willow taking delight in upsetting her. This was just not making any sense. She just stared back at Willow as a response.

Willow continued to stand there looking quite happy with herself.

"What, did someone just come in and replace my best friend with some sort of evil demon?" Asked Buffy.

"About time you figured out I was a vampire. But then, you never were exactly a genius." Willow replied. She pulled a dagger out of a pocket in her skirt.

Buffy reached into her bag and removed a stake. "You better not have done anything to him after I left."

"I haven't harmed him yet. I think I taught him a few things though." She said to Buffy while closing in, dagger ready.

"I know you're new to the whole being a vampire thing. But a big tip, don't piss off the Slayer." Buffy planted her left foot and kicked out with her right.

Buffy could feel her kick was slow, much slower than she usually moved. The slow movement allowed Willow dodged out of the way. As Buffy's left leg buckled, she realized her balance was off as well. She hit the ground hard enough to disorient her. Something was really wrong with her.

A kick to the ribs brought her back to the situation. The kick wasn't nearly strong enough for a vampire, but just as surprisingly it hurt. Buffy started trying to get to her feet, but was kicked in the ribs again. The force of it was enough to make her fall to her back. Willow placed a foot on the hand held the stake.

"Weak? I know the feeling." Willow told her as she looked down Buffy. "I bet you can guess what the cure is."

Buffy rolled herself into Willow's legs and caused the other woman to fall over. She managed to get back to her feet at the same time Willow did.

"Tara did something to me." Buffy stated.

"Very good. A gold star in figuring out the obvious." Willow mocked her observation. She lunged with the dagger.

Buffy moved out of Willow's path and caught Willow's arm. She used Willow's momentum to swing her into a tree trunk. The impact caused Willow to lose her grip on the dagger. She then kicked Willow's legs out from under her and brought the stunned Willow to the ground.

Buffy straddled Willow's abdomen and remarked, "For the vampire version of Willow, you fight like the regular version." as she started to plunge her stake toward Willow's heart. The image of her bloodied hands and Willow's dead body flashed through her mind. This was what Callie wanted her to remember. She stopped and dropped the stake.

"Oh god, you're alive." Buffy stated. Before she could decide what to do about this new development, something struck her hard on the back of her head. She blacked out.

*****

Tara dropped the rock she used to hit Buffy while Willow rubbed her head and sat up.

"Maybe I should have waited for the potion to make her a little weaker before I tried that." Willow remarked.

Tara didn't answer; instead she looked off another direction. "It's Xander and Riley." she said worried. "They saw me and there're heading this way." The sound of car doors slamming closed echoed through the park.

"Maybe they didn't see me." Said Willow. "Lead them away. I'll kill them once I'm restored. Go!" She ordered.

Tara ran. After a little while, Tara looked over her shoulder. It was clear that she wasn't going to be able to lead them away very far. Riley was gaining on her quickly and Xander wasn't far behind him. She then noticed that she had just passed a trashcan and got an idea.

She ran a little further and turned to face them. As she did, she concentrated on the trashcan. The can fell over precisely in front of Riley. He went tumbling to the ground and hit hard enough to knock the breath out of him. She had hoped Xander would get entangled with Riley as well, but he managed to jump over Riley's tumbling body.

Tara turned and ran again, but Xander was on her in seconds. He tackled her from behind and they went tumbling. She ended up face down on the ground, with Xander on top of her legs. She tried to kick him loose, but his weight on top of her legs made this difficult.

"Riley!" Xander called out.

Tara looked back toward where Riley went down and saw he was already getting up. She tried to get free again, but Xander was too strong. Riley started to limp over, it appeared that one of his ankles was hurt.

"Where's Willow and Buffy?" Xander demanded from her.

Tara had no intention of responding, she struggled some more and managed to turn onto her back with Xander still holding her legs. She resumed to kick and tried to push him away with her arms, but it was too late. Riley was there now. He grabbed her from behind and pinned down her arms. Then he proceeded to lift her up.

"Where are they?" Xander demanded again.

Tara defiantly refused to answer.

*****

Joyce decided to not run after the men. If they couldn't subdue Tara, then she probably wasn't going to be much help. As she decided this, she heard something move in the bushes just a little ways away. She quickly crouched and found some brush to hide behind. After a few more sounds, she was able to figure out the source. She saw Willow looking for something. Xander and Riley weren't very close anymore. If she yelled out, Willow would get to her long before they did. She wondered if she could handle Willow long enough for them to return. She bet most mothers never had to debate whether they could take their daughter's best friend in a fight.

Willow looked like she found what she was looking for. It was a knife. That ended the debate in Joyce's head. She would wait for the men to get closer before calling out. However, she could at least find out was Willow was up to. She carefully started to move to get a better view.

A few quiet steps gave Joyce a much better view. She saw Buffy unconscious on the ground and Willow heading straight toward her. There was no debate this time, she ran toward Willow. She reached her just as Willow was getting ready to use the dagger on Buffy's neck. She plunged her hand into Willow's hair and pulled her away from her daughter as hard as she could.

She managed to drag Willow a good three feet from Buffy before Willow managed to twist free. Willow got quickly to her feet and faced Joyce. Joyce had acted pretty much on instinct when she drug Willow away from Buffy. Now, she was unsure what to do.

Willow gave her a sinister grin. "That hurt," she commented. "But not as..." Willow suddenly fell silent and looked past Joyce. She turned and ran away as fast she could. Joyce glanced in direction Willow looked and saw Xander running her direction. She hurried over to Buffy and kneeled down to check on her.

A few moments later, Xander ran up to where Joyce was and noticed Buffy. "Is ... she ... you?" he asked gasping for breath.

"We're okay." Joyce reassured him. "Go on."

Xander ran off in the direction Willow had gone. He returned a few minutes later, this time walking and shaking his head. In the meantime, Buffy started coming to.

"Lost her." He said to Joyce.

"What about the other one?" Asked Joyce.

"Riley's got her." Replied Xander. "His ankle got hurt, so I got to be running guy."

"We should get her home." Joyce said while looking down at Buffy.

"Yeah, well we've got to do something with Tara too," said Xander while he looked back. "Wait here for a minute, I need to help Riley." Xander ran back to where Riley was still struggling with Tara.

"Mom?" asked Buffy. She started to sit up, but winced and grabbed the back of her head.

"Be careful, you got hit on the head pretty hard." Joyce gently turned Buffy's head so she could examine the back of it.

"Ow," commented Buffy as Joyce found the lump left by Tara's blow.

"You're not bleeding, but you've got a quite a bump there. Maybe we should..."

Buffy waved off her upcoming suggestion. "I'll be fine Mom, I've been hit a lot worse." She managed to sit up. "What happened?"

"Xander came by and told me that Willow and her friend thought they were vampires. We came looking for you at Riley's apartment. When we didn't find you there, we thought you might be going home. Xander spotted Tara from the car and he and Riley went after her. That's when I saw Willow and she was about to stab you so I stopped her. She got away."

"I guess you saved my life then, thanks." Buffy commented.

"That's what mothers are for."

They were then both distracted by the sight of Xander and a limping Riley both carrying Tara back to Riley's car. Tara was struggling and it was taking both men to manage to restrain and move her.

"So, was Riley hurt?" Buffy asked after they passed. She started to get up.

"Not when we found him. Xander said he hurt his ankle chasing after Willow's friend." Joyce helped Buffy get to her feet. "Are you sure you shouldn't wait to get up?"

"I'm fine. Tara gave me something that makes me feel weak, but otherwise I'm okay." Buffy started to walk in the direction where Xander and Riley went. Joyce went alongside her.

They got to car as Xander and Riley were finishing putting Tara in the trunk. Riley limped up to Buffy.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Will be," responded Buffy.

"Buffy, what you saw wasn't..." Riley started.

"Look I know something weird happened, but we need to figure out what to do with Tara and Willow is still on the loose." interrupted Buffy. As she talked she suddenly leaned over and braced herself by placing her hands on her knees. "And I think I'm still getting weaker."

"We need to get you home." Joyce said to Buffy.

"I've got some rope with my camping gear we can use to secure Tara. It won't take long to get it and then we can get Buffy home," suggested Riley.

No one objected to the plan, so they climbed into Riley's car and headed back to his apartment. During the drive Xander went over his phone call with Giles for the benefit of Buffy and Riley.

*****

They arrived at Buffy's house in two cars. Riley drove Joyce and Buffy, while Xander had driven his own car there so he could search for Willow after everyone else was settled. When got to the door, Joyce remembered something. She looked in the hiding spot for the spare key and found it was still there.

"I forgot to get the spare key and Willow knows where it is. It's still here, but I guess that really doesn't mean anything," said Joyce while Buffy opened the door.

"We should check the house, make sure it's secure," suggested Riley.

"Very soldierly way to put it, but a good idea," agreed Buffy.

They looked through the house, making sure to look in every room and every closet. There was no sign of Willow anywhere. At the end of the search, Buffy had another spell of weakness and Joyce insisted that she get into her bed to rest. Joyce stayed with her as Riley and Xander went to retrieve Tara. Buffy lied down, but remained restless. "We need to do something mom, Willow is out there thinking she's a vampire. She might hurt someone or get herself killed or something."

"Xander will look for her. You need to rest right now," said Joyce as she brought up a chair and took a seat next to Buffy's bed.

"I almost killed her," said Buffy.

"But you didn't," reassured Joyce.

"It's so weird. All of the sudden she, Tara, and Spike all thinking they're vampires. I'll bet its Ethan. He must have escaped and done this somehow. We need to check the magic shop, see if he's been there. Tell Xander to do it," said Buffy.

"Tell Xander to do what?" asked Xander as he came into the room and handed Joyce the ice pack she had requested earlier. She put the ice pack on the back of Buffy's head as Buffy spoke.

"Check the magic shop. I'll bet Ethan is behind this, it sounds like one of his pranks." Buffy told him.

"I'll check. Good call, clever and yet cowardly. Very much his style. Riley's asking Tara questions and I guess I'm off on the wild Willow chase," announced Xander.

"Good luck," said both Joyce and Buffy nearly in unison. Xander left.

Joyce continued to sit and watch Buffy. Her eyes were starting to get heavy and Joyce could tell she was struggling to keep herself awake. After a little time, Riley finally limped into the room.

"Well, she wasn't real forthcoming but she said the potion only causes temporary weakness and is harmless once it wears off. It sounds like it will make you go asleep eventually. She also said is was all mystic, so there's no way to counteract it. I don't think she was lying, but I can't verify that," reported Riley to Buffy. "Anyway, she's secured in the living room." He added.

"Mom," said Buffy to Joyce. Joyce didn't need any additional communication.

"Why don't you sit with her for a while," she said to Riley. She got up from the chair and left the room. She could hear them starting to converse as she left and began to close the door.

"Buffy, what you saw wasn't..." started Riley before the door closed and muffled the voices. Joyce went downstairs to get some coffee. She was sure it was going to be a long night.

She avoided the living room since having Tara sitting there glaring at her was unnerving. She went back upstairs and listened for voices at Buffy's door and couldn't hear a thing. She knocked softly and heard Riley tell her to come in. Buffy was fast asleep.

"Do you need anything?" she asked Riley.

He looked at her cup. "If you don't mind. Some coffee would be nice."

She went downstairs and retrieved another cup. He thanked her when she gave it to him.

Riley looked over at Buffy. "She fell asleep almost the second you left."

"Oh," commented Joyce. She was curious about what Riley kept trying to talk to Buffy about. But she didn't think it was a good idea to pry and she had a pretty good idea of what it might be. Instead she just talked to him about the last year of college and a little bit about his family. Buffy slept hard the entire time.

After a couple of hours, the phone rang.

"Hello," said Joyce upon answering the phone.

"Hey. I've looked all over town, but no Willow," said Xander. He sounded tired. "The magic shop is closed, so I'll head there as soon as it opens. I'll keep looking for her, but I thought you might want to know about the total lack of finding."

"Thanks," said Joyce.

"Want me to call if I find her? It'll be late. Well, latter."

"Yes, go ahead."

"Okay, bye." Xander hung up.

Joyce informed Riley of Xander's report.

"Why don't you get some sleep. I'll keep watch on Buffy and let you know if anything changes." suggested Riley.

Joyce accepted although she didn't think she would get any sleep. She went to the living room and endured Tara's cold glare long enough to make sure the rope was still secure. It was, Riley had done a good job. Well, what she assumed was a good job since she didn't have much experience in tying people up. She didn't even bother trying to go to sleep, she was too worried. Instead she brought up more coffee and sat on watch some more. At a little after 3:00am the phone rang again.

"Xander?" asked Joyce as she answered the phone.

"No. It's Giles actually," replied Giles.

"Oh. Buffy is asleep and I'm not sure if I can wake her up."

"Did something happen to her?" asked Giles with concern.

"Tara gave her something that made her weak. It's supposed to wear off eventually."

"Ah. Well, Tara and Willow cast a spell that was supposed to create the illusion that a vampire was actually human. I believe that the spell had the side effect of making them believe they were vampires." Giles explained to her. "The spell has worn off on the vampire, so it stands to reason that it has worn off on Tara and Willow as well. The illusion prevented me from remembering the spell earlier."

"Thanks. We have Tara here so we'll check and see."

"Good, but be careful."

"We will."

They exchanged polite exits and she hung up the phone. She told Riley what Giles had told her. They went downstairs to check on Tara. Tara had managed to fall asleep, but the moment they woke her Joyce could tell something had changed. The glare was gone.

Tara started talking as soon as she woke up. "I..I'm normal again. It...It was a spell." She tried to explain as she avoided eye contact. "The potion won't hurt Buffy," she added as she apparently remembered her earlier conversation with Riley.

"I'm sorry." She added softly.

Joyce and Riley looked at each other. While they decided what to do, the phone rang. This time it was Xander, he still hadn't found Willow. However, he had just remembered the spell that Willow and Tara had done. Joyce explained that Giles had already called with the information.

"That was Xander, he called about the spell as well. He never did find Willow." Joyce told Riley and Tara. Tara looked quite upset at the news, but didn't say anything.

"So do we untie her?" asked Joyce.

"Well, we can't leave her like this forever," replied Riley. He looked hard at Tara one more time and then started to untie her. She rubbed her wrists and asked to use a restroom and then a phone to call her apartment to check for Willow. After that, Joyce got her some food. The poor girl was ravenous, but was too timid to say anything. Riley limped around to stay near the whole time just in case it was an act. Joyce made frequent trips up to check on Buffy who was still sleeping soundly.

Eventually, Riley went back up to watch Buffy. Tara was still there where she would hear from Xander if his search ever turned up anything and she could call home every once and a while. Joyce kept an eye on everyone as the long night progressed.

As dawn finally came, she found herself to be the only person in the house still awake. Riley had positioned himself on Buffy's bed still fully dressed and fallen asleep. Buffy was still asleep with her head nestled securely on Riley's shoulder. Joyce stopped looking in after spying that scene since she didn't want to disturb them. Tara had fallen asleep on the couch. Joyce fixed some more coffee and resigned herself to the fact that she just wasn't going to get any sleep.

*****

The sound of shifting bedsprings awoke Willow. She lifted her head only to find that she was under a bed. Buffy's bed she remembered. Then, the night's events came back to her and she dropped her head back to the floor. She could hear someone walking and a door shut. She slid stiffly out from under the bed and stood up. Riley was on the one side of the bed fully clothed, but thankfully asleep. Willow took a careful step, but still managed to find a squeaky floorboard.

Riley opened his eyes and looked her way. She gave him an shy smile.

"Gahhhhh" yelled Riley. He promptly startled himself right off the bed with a loud thud. His fall knocked the chair next to bed over onto him as well.

Willow hurried around the bed to make sure he was okay. "You okay?" She asked timidly.

"Fine, no need for help," replied Riley waving her away.

The door to the room opened. Buffy stood in the open doorway wearing a bathrobe.

"Willow!" She said quite surprised.

"Normal Willow." Willow quickly added. "I'm me again."

"What's going on? Where did you come from?!" Asked Buffy. Joyce appeared behind her along with Tara.

"All the noise was just me," explained Riley. "She really gave me a start." He looked around the room. "Where *did* you come from?"

"Um... I was under the bed," said Willow. She looked at Tara who looked as relieved to see her as she was to see Tara. She could tell Tara was back to normal as well.

"How could we *not* look under the bed? That's the first place you look for monsters." wondered Buffy aloud.

A monster. She couldn't blame them for thinking about her like that right now. "Yeah, well you missed this one." Willow walked out of the room, sidestepping Joyce and Tara. Buffy looked after her but didn't follow.

Willow went down to the living room with Tara following her. The more the events of the last night came back to her, the more she just wanted to leave.

"Giles called about 3:00am to tell us that the spell on Spike had worn off. I guess it was a side effect." Tara told her.

"I remember it now." said Willow.

"I'm glad you're okay." said Tara.

"Me too, about you that is." said Willow. "Uh, I'm glad everyone is okay." Willow added as Joyce also came down into the living room.

The three of them just stood around silently for a few moments until Joyce decided to play hostess. "I could get you something to eat" she suggested.

They stood silently for a little bit more. Willow looked at Tara and then back at Joyce. "Maybe it would best if we just went home."

"Buffy, knows it was the spell, not you." Joyce tried to reassure Willow as she and Tara left.

"Yeah." said Willow to Joyce before she and Tara walked out the door. Tara knew as well as she did that the description of the spell said nothing about a side effect. Just because it was a spell that caused her to almost kill Buffy, didn't mean it wasn't still her fault.

*****

Tara opened the door to her and Willow's apartment. As they walked in they continued the discussion they had been having. Willow was depressed and insisted on blaming herself for everything that had happened. Tara hated seeing her like this and tried to distract her from thinking about it. "Maybe we should go get something to eat. Joyce gave me something last night, but you haven't eaten since..."

Willow was not to be distracted and interrupted her, "I know Buffy says it was the spell, but I cast it and messed it up. I *am* a monster."

"*We* cast it," Tara objected. "And we didn't mess it up."

"It was supposed to make everyone make Spike think he was human, not make us think we were vampires." Argued Willow. "How am I supposed to even talk to Buffy again when I almost killed her? Not to mention Riley, I can barely look at him." She slumped down on their couch.

Tara sat down beside her and put an arm around her for support. Willow laid down and placed her head on Tara's lap. Tara stroked her hair absentmindedly.

Something was wrong. In her concern about Willow, Tara hadn't noticed it before. However, now she could feel it.

Curiosity broke Willow out of her moping for a moment and she interrupted Tara's thoughts. "What do you mean we didn't mess it up?"

"We just didn't" Tara replied. "Everything we did felt correct and the Spike part worked just like the book said it would."

"Then why did we go all vampy?" Asked Willow.

Tara tensed. Someone or something was here; she could feel a cold malevolence.

"What's wrong?" Willow asked as she looked up at Tara concerned. There was a popping sound like a cork in the background.

"Tara was right, you cast it perfectly," said someone from behind them. The voice was smooth, rich, and male.

Tara spun around to see a tall man dressed in a charcoal-gray designer suit. He was holding an open glass bottle with a boiling green liquid inside. Willow sprung to her feet. "Who...." she started as she edged toward the phone.

Romica interrupted her to answer. "Ah, introductions. My name is Romica and you're Willow and Tara. Oh, the phones are disconnected so you can stop trying to get to it. You know I'm very disappointed. I gave you all the tools you needed and no dead slayers on the news this morning. I can only hope they haven't found the body yet."

"Run!" Yelled Willow to Tara. Tara didn't really need the encouragement. They both ran for the door, but Romica moved too quickly and blocked them. Willow changed directions and headed for the balcony door, but she only managed a few steps before collapsing and falling unconscious. Tara stopped and tried to pick Willow up. She looked back and saw that Romica was not coming after them. He just stood there and watched with amusement. She noticed the bottle he was holding was now empty of liquid. The effect hit her like a lighting bolt, one second she felt perfectly alert; the next second everything went black.