A/N: Just to warn that there is more mention of self mutilation.


They were falling. Was this death? Suddenly, a thud as Derek hit the library floor. Two seconds later, Candace landed on top of him. They were not dead after all. "Derek! You're not dead! I'm not dead!" She grinned widely as she stood up. Putting her hand out, she helped him up.

"What happened?" Derek rubbed his head. "Is everyone else still alive?"

"I don't know." She pulled him into a hug. "But, there aren't any bodies sprawled all over the floor so that has to be a good sign." He hugged her back and she tightened her grip around his torso.

"If you don't stop hugging him like that then he won't be alive much longer. You always forget about your strength." Andrew said as he came out of his office with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Andrew!" Candace let go of Derek and ran to her watcher, giving him a big hug. "You're alive!"

"We're all alive here." Amber said as she and Casey came out of the back of the library.

"Sheldon and Emily?" Candace asked.

"They're at lunch right now." Casey replied.

"What happened?" Derek looked around the room as Candace let go of her watcher.

"I did a spell!" Casey beamed, proud of herself. "Well, I helped Amber do a spell."

"They did a spell to take a look into the future and see what would happen if Dru is successful with her plan." Andrew explained.

"But, we needed our key players to be there." Amber pointed out. "And that would be the two of you so we fast-forwarded your bodies into the future. It's all very complicated."

"How far into the future did we go?" Derek asked.

"About two months." Casey replied.

"You mean I have to wait two months for Candace to…" He began but Candace quickly shut him up with a jab to the ribs. "… figure out how to deal with Dru."

"I guess so." Amber nodded. "It usually takes time to open up a Hellmouth anyway."

"Doing all of that magic made me hungry." Casey picked up her purse. "I'm going to get something to eat before lunch is over. Anyone care to join me?" She walked over to the library doors.

"Actually, the rest of us need to stay here and discuss what happened with Candace and Derek." Andrew explained.

"Ok, I'll see you guys later on then." She blew a kiss to Andrew as she left.

"There goes my appetite for the next week." Derek made a face and took a seat at the table.

"Why didn't you guys tell us about the spell?" Candace took the seat next to Derek.

"We had to see what you would do naturally." Andrew sat across from Derek with a notebook and pen.

Taking the seat next to the watcher and across from the slayer, Amber said, "Tell us everything that happened in detail."

"Well…" Candace started. She then went on to describe the event in detail. The only thing she left out was the mention of Derek being her lover. When she got to the part about Spike, she gave Amber an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry. I hope that doesn't happen." After an explanation that seemed like it took forever, Candace let out a sigh of relief. "That was one of the most traumatic things that has ever happened to me. And, it hasn't even happened yet!"

"That must have been a harrowing experience for you guys." Amber looked at the teenagers. "I'm sorry I had to put you through that without telling you first. But, maybe Andrew can get you two excused from the rest of your classes today."

"I think I can do that." Andrew nodded. "I'll inform all of your teachers that you will be helping me in the library and I will collect the work you are going to miss from them." He stood up and grabbed the copies of their schedules he had on his desk. "I'll be back as soon as I can." He rushed out of the library.

Derek yawned and stood up. "I'm kind of hungry. I think I'll go grab some chow while I still can. You ladies want anything?"

"Could you just get me a can of soda?" Amber pulled some money out of her pocket and handed it to him.

"Sure." He took the money. "And, for you, my lover?" He winked at Candace.

"Just get me some chips and a soda." Candace glared at him as he put his hand out for money. "Could you please pay for it?" She softened her glare into an innocent looking face.

"Fine." He sighed as he headed out of the library. "But, I'm only paying because you look exceptionally hot today." He called out behind him.

"What was that all about?" Amber asked. "Are you dating him?"

"No!" Candace leaned back in her chair.

"Do you want to date him? He certainly seems like he wants to date you."

"Please promise me you won't repeat what I'm about to tell you."

"You know I wouldn't tell anyone any secrets you told me." Amber looked into the slayer's brown eyes.

"Well, there's a part I left out about our visit to the future." The slayer began. "I didn't mention it because Andrew was here and he gets all weird around stuff like that. You know how he is."

"Uh hmm." The other girl nodded. "So are you going to tell me?"

"Spike and Dru kept referring to Derek and me as lovers."

"So you two are probably going to start dating eventually."

"I don't know what I want to do with him. He's so cocky and arrogant and he just gets under my skin sometimes. But, there are other times when he's a really nice guy. And, well, don't tell him this but I do think he's pretty hot." Candace sighed. "But, I've only known him for a week. However, I have already almost kissed him three times."

Amber smiled. "How do you almost kiss someone three times?"

"I lead a very complicated life." Candace shook her head. She went on to described what happened to Amber. "As you can see, things between us are very strange. But, for some reason I feel a bond with him."

"Hello ladies." Derek announced as he came back with their food and drinks. "Gossiping about me?"

"No!" Candace grabbed her soda and chips from him. "You need to pull your head out of your…"

"Hey, you should be nice to me." Derek sat next to her. "I bought you chips and soda and I am losing points off my rep by hanging out with you in the library." He took some of her chips and shoved them into his mouth.

"See what I mean." Candace looked at Amber.

"Oh, I ran into Kendra." Derek said taking a sip of her soda. "I kind of told her that you're my girlfriend now."

"You did what? As if my day hasn't sucked enough you went and told that crazy ex of yours that I'm your girlfriend and I'm not!" She grabbed her soda from him.

Amber watched in amusement. They kind of reminded her of her and Spike when they first met.

"Got ya!" Derek laughed. "You should have seen the look on your face." He took another sip of soda.

"That is so not funny." Candace hit him in the stomach.

"Everything is all squared away with your teachers." Andrew came into the library with stacks of papers. "I've got all of your work right here." He walked over to the table and in the process tripped over the throw rug on the floor.

"You're perfect for Casey." Derek laughed. "She's such a Klutzilla."

"Oh! I almost forgot!" Candace jumped out of her seat. "That's how the vampires can get into the library during the day!"

"By tripping over a rug?" Amber asked.

"No, under the rug." Candace explained. "There's a hatch that leads to the basement. And, that's where the opening to the Hellmouth is. And, there are tunnels that lead every where in town under there."

"I guess you know where you'll be going after school." Andrew told her as he picked up the papers and set them on the table.

"Are you going to make me go there alone?" She asked. "Because there could be spiders down there and they give me the creeps."

"I'll go!" Derek looked up. "Spiders don't scare me."

"That might not be such a good idea." Andrew pointed out.

"Let the boy go, Andrew." Amber said. "Candace can take the free time that she now has to train him a little bit."

Candace shot a look over at Amber. Then images of her beating on Derek played through her head and she smiled. "Sounds like a plan." She cracked her knuckles. She ran over to the weapons cabinet and opened it up.

Andrew stepped between her and the cabinet. Picking up two quarterstaffs, he handed them to her. "You can only train with these."

"Andrew, you are such a buzz kill." She whined.

"Just think of yourself as being Gandalf and that is your magical staff." He told her.

"She looks more like Frodo." Derek teased.

"Shut up… Gollum!" Candace grabbed the staffs from Andrew and threw one to Derek.

"What have I done?" Andrew shook his head.

"I think you just set up the next major sporting event to sweep the world." Amber laughed.

"Where is my precious?" Derek asked in a voice that sounded similar to Gollum's.

"You do know that Frodo wins the battle, right?" Candace grinned. "Gollum dies and Frodo manages to escape with just a missing finger." She took a fighting stance.

"Hey, there will be no training in this part of the library!" Andrew pointed out. "There's a storage room in the back that has things of little importance in it. You should re-enact Lord of the Rings there."

"That's where we did the spell." Amber got up and showed the two teenagers the way to the storage room. It was rather large for a storage room. "Here you go. I've got to go wake Spike up anyway. And, I'm sure Andrew has some research to do."

"I'm going to have so much fun with this." Candace smiled. "Tell Spike I said hi." She stepped into the room, followed by Derek who said nothing about Spike.

"I will." Amber closed the door and headed out to see Spike.

Andrew went about with some research and waved to Amber as she left.

Candace took her fighting stance on one side of the room. Derek took his stance, holding the staff like a hockey stick. The slayer shook her head and rolled her eyes. "This is not a hockey game. You should hold the staff like this." She showed him the way she was holding her staff.

"Nah, I'm good like this." He shrugged. "Who do you think starts all the fights at our hockey games?"

"Fine." She looked at him. "But, don't whine to me when I whip your butt."

"I didn't know there would be whips involved." He grinned.

"Just shut up and fight."

"All right." Derek smirked as he moved closer to the slayer.

Candace took her defensive stance, waiting for him to attack. When he did attack, he did it in a way that caught her off guard. Using his staff like a hockey stick, he knocked her staff out of her hands. After giving him a look of shock, she shook it off. "I don't need that anyway." She kicked his staff out of his hands.

"I don't need that anyway." He mimicked her. "I know how to fight." He ran at the slayer, taking her by surprise and knocking her to the floor. However, every slayer knows that if you are going down then you take the enemy with you. At the moment, Derek was her enemy. She grabbed his hand as she went down and he landed on top of her. "You do realize that you just made yourself more vulnerable?" He asked.

"Hey, who's giving the instructions here?" Using her slayer strength, she rolled them over so that she was on top and now had the advantage. "This would be the moment when one would pull out their stake and thrust it through the vampire's heart. But, since you're not a vampire I don't have to worry about that."

As she was about to get up, he grabbed her hand. "How come you never told me about this before?" He asked, referring to the light scars on her arm. They were not very obvious because of her ability to heal fast.

She looked away. "It's a time in my life that I would like to forget." She pulled her hand away and stood up. He stood up as well. "And, this is not the time to be discussing such things. I need to teach you how to defend yourself against evil." She changed the subject.

Derek stepped in front of her. "If you ever need to talk about anything like that then I'm here." There it was. His sweet side was coming through again.

Why can't he be like this all the time? Candace thought. "I'm not depressed at the moment. So, let's just continue with the training."

"I'm just saying, that's all." He looked into her eyes.

Closing her eyes, she sighed. "If I ever get depressed, I'll go to you. I don't know why but I just feel like I can tell you anything. I've never felt like this before with someone I've just met. Usually, I can't trust people. But, I trust you and Casey. I even trust Emily and Sheldon. I think I may have true friends in you guys. My only true friends have been other slayers and watchers and the council. Sure I had friends in my other school but not like you guys. I don't know why I'm telling you this." She hugged him. Yes, I do! I like you a lot! But, I can't tell you that right now.

Derek hugged her back, kissing the top of her head. What is this girl doing to me? I'm turning into a big sap over this one girl. But, I actually like it.

"Derry!" The door opened and Kendra stood there. "What are you doing?"