Picked up a follow and favourite, so thank you to that person!

CHAPTER THREE

The sunlight was streaming in through Buffy's bedroom window, hurting her eyes. She had the oddest feeling that something had happened to her during the night, that she didn't normally feel like this, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Her alarm clock went off. Buffy slammed a hand down on it to turn the alarm off.

And smashed it to pieces.

"Oops,"she sighed.

In the kitchen, Joyce was carefully squeezing a set of oranges, making juice, when she heard the sound of Buffy singing as she came downstairs. "Macho, macho man! I wanna be a macho man! Macho, macho man! I wanna be…Oh, juice. "Buffy picked up the first glass Joyce had prepared and drank the contents. "Mmm, quality juice. Not from concentrate."

"You're in a good mood today,"Joyce commented.

"I am,"Buffy agreed,"I'm on the squad, which is great because I feel like cheering and leading others to cheer. Oh, juice!" She grabbed a second glass and drank that too.

Joyce was pleased that Buffy seemed happy but still felt she needed to broach an uncomfortable subject. "Buffy, about yesterday…"

Buffy shook her head. "It's totally yester. I mean, it's not like you were wrong, I did get kicked out of school. I'm just wacky that way."

"Still I just want you to know that, despite the problems you've had, I really…"

"Mum, you just don't get it. And believe me, you don't want to. There are some things about being a vampire slayer that the older generation…"

"What?"Joyce interrupted.

Buffy stopped in midflow, seeming to realise she'd said too much. "It's a long story…"

Joyce was beginning to grow concerned. Buffy being happy was one thing but she seemed a bit too hyper. "Buffy, are you feeling well?"

"What? I'm fine, y'know! I can't be in a good mood?"Buffy asked cheerily,"Is it a new house rule? Well, that's just fine. Fine, fine." She picked up her school bag and headed out the door, singing again. "'Cos I'm a macho, macho man. I wanna be a macho man. Macho, macho man…"

"Five, six, seven, eight!"Joy counted as she led the cheerleaders in their practise session, arms swinging, pom poms waving, feet pounding. With Buffy doing all three things a lot more enthusiastically and a lot more wildly than anyone else in the squad.

"Turn up the music!"Buffy shouted.

The cheerleaders all took a heavy step to the right, hitting their mark. Except for Buffy, who hit Joy's foot, causing her to give a yelp of pain. "Get it together, Buffy!"she snapped,"We have a game in less than four hours. "

Xander and Willow appeared in the door of the gym. Buffy waved a pompom at them. "Willow! Xander! My buds are here! I love my buds!" She suddenly seemed to be aware everyone was looking at her and hastily went back to the routine.

"Is it me or is Buffy a bit looped?"Xander asked.

Willow could see what he meant. "We've got to get her out of there."

"Yeah,"Xander confirmed,"before she…"At which point, Buffy threw Joy. Straight into a wall. "Hurts someone,"he concluded.

Buffy wandered over to where Joy was lying in a heap. "Did I do that?"she asked in bemusement.

Joy scrambled to her feet, glaring at her. "You are so out of here. "

Xander and Willow came running over. "It's not her fault!"Willow protested.

Although he could see Willow was well-meaning, Xander didn't think telling Joy that Buffy was under a spell would help. "She's on medication."

Joy was unsympathetic. "Well, obviously not enough. Who's our next alternate?" She glanced round and saw Amy, dressed in cheerleader outfit, clearly prepared for this situation. "Amy. You just made cheerleader."

"No, no!"Buffy protested,"You don't want her, she's a w…"

Xander clamped a hand over Buffy's mouth. "A wise choice indeed,"he concluded as he and Willow dragged Buffy away.

"A witch!"Buffy finished once they were out in the corridor,"A witchy witch! I just got kicked off the team, didn't I?"

"I don't think it was your fault,"Xander told her.

"Of course you don't,"Buffy replied,"Because you're my friend. My Xander-shaped friend! Do you have any idea why I love you so?"

"We gotta get her to a,"Willow tried to say.

Xander waved her back. "Let her speak."

Buffy gazed adoringly at Xander. "I'll tell you. You're not like other boys at all. You are totally and completely one of the girls! I'm that comfortable with you!"

Xander sighed as he and a smirking Willow led Buffy down the corridor. "That's great."

"Any other guys who gave me bracelet, they'd wanna date me and be like a…" Buffy stopped in her tracks. "I don't feel so good. "

"Buffy?"Willow asked anxiously. Buffy fainted.

"We need to get her to a hospital!"Willow protested. Buffy was sitting propped up in a chair in the library while Giles mopped her brow.

"They can't help her,"Giles replied,"This is a bloodstone vengeance spell. It hits the body like a quart of alcohol and eradicates the immune system."

"A vengeance spell?"Xander repeated,"Like she's trying to get even with Buffy?"

"Because she knows I know she's a witch." Buffy was calmer now, more herself, even though her body seemed to be growing weaker by the second.

"The others she just wanted out of the running,"Giles confirmed,"You she intends to…"

"Kill,"Buffy finished for him.

"How much time do we have?"Willow asked.

Giles looked uncomfortable. "Well, I'm sure that…"

"The truth,"Buffy told him firmly,"Please."

"Couple of hours. Three at most." Giles went back to the table where he'd been consulting books when they came in.

"How do we reverse the spell?"asked Xander.

"I've been researching that,"Giles told them,"And we can reverse all the spells if we can get our hands on Amy's spell book."

"And if we can't get a hold of it?"asked Willow.

"Well, the other way is to chop the witch's head off."

"Show of hands?"Xander suggested bitterly.

"This isn't Amy's fault,"Buffy insisted,"She only became a witch to survive her mother."

"Look, I don't care why,"Xander replied,"I just care that you go on breathing."

Buffy gave him a grateful smile then looked at Giles. "Where would Amy be casting her spells?"

"Well, she needs a sacred place, a pentagram, a pot or cauldron…"

"Her home,"Buffy concluded. She staggered to her feet, Giles taking her arm to support her. "So we just need to go round to Amy's house and find her spell book."

"We'll go with you,"decided Willow.

"No. I need you to stay here and keep an eye on Amy."

"And keep her away from the science lab,"Giles added,"We'll need it for our counter spells."

Giles parked his car outside Amy's house and helped Buffy to the door, hammering on it hard. Through the glass partition, Buffy caught a glimpse of Catherine Madison. Although she recognised the face, she didn't look like the controlling monster Buffy had imagined or the confident young woman whose photo adorned the trophy cabinet. She seemed nervous, frightened.

Catherine finally opened the door. "Who are you?"she asked, trying to sound confident,"Is there something wrong?"

"We need to talk to you about your daughter,"Giles told her.

"I'm not allow…I mean, you'll have to come back later…Hey!"

Giles had pushed past Catherine and helped Buffy to sit down in the lounge. "Your daughter is meddling with some dark forces, are you aware of that?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think you know only too well. "

Catherine glanced around nervously, finding it harder and harder to maintain the illusion of being in control of the situation. "You've got to go, she'll be home soon and you…"

"This girl is very sick!"Giles protested,"Now you will shut up and you will listen to me. Your daughter has access to some very powerful magic and somehow your obsession with cheerleading has made…"

"I don't care about cheerleading!"Catherine screamed in protest,"It's not my fault she's doing stuff. "

"As her mother, you have to assume some responsibility for her actions!"

Catherine let out a hysterical laugh before trying to appear casual. "Well, you know, these kids today…"

Buffy glanced down at the floor, at the plate of food Catherine had put down when they arrived. Brownies?

Catherine's mask suddenly dropped completely, all deception gone. "She's out of her mind,"she whispered,"Ever since Dad…since her dad left, I can't control her. "

"You're afraid of her?"Giles asked.

"Amy?" Buffy staggered to her feet and came over to them. "Are you Amy?" She looked at Catherine with sudden sympathy and understanding. "She switched you, didn't she? She switched your bodies. "

Giles looked at her in confusion. "I don't understand…" Then he looked at Catherine, really looked at her, for the first time. He looked at her eyes. They weren't the eyes of an adult. They were the eyes of a scared teenage girl, trapped in someone else's body. "Good grief,"he murmured.

"She wanted to relive her glory days,"Buffy realised.

"She said I was wasting my youth,"confirmed Amy,"So she took it. "