The Warlock of Sunnydale

by makoto x chelia

Michael, a new to the craft Warlock found himself in a desperate situation with a Vampire, and fate decided to allow him to live, by meeting Buffy Summers. Now Michael, the new Warlock in town uses his new found powers to protect himself, and his friends from the evils of the world.

21. Chapter 21

Hello, and welcome to the next chapter!

DocSlendy; Yup, they pretty much worked him like a puppet for their own deeds, but they won't be getting their way forever. And they'll be doing more sinister things than just stealing his power, when we reach that point in the story that is.

Hellspam; Thank you! I am pleased that you liked it! Yeah, he's gonna be getting taught by Angel now, how to fight, and they'll be forming an unlikely, but strong friendship which will carry on through until the end of the series. You never know, it could be a possibility, considering what type of people they truly are. Well, in the future, you'll be feeling more of that as well...but they'll be getting what they deserve in the end!

Cloud4012; Thanks! I am glad that you liked it!

Anime PJ; Yeah, it was pretty good, if I do say so myself. Hehe, yeah, it does seem unlikely, doesn't it? Though, as Michael said last chapter, they are quite alike, in the way that they are both bound to the supernatural of not their choice, and they both have hardships to overcome. Ooh yeah, having combat training is going to make him more useful when his magic might not work on enemies. He might not be as skilled as Buffy or as strong (but he can use magic to increase his strength in the future) it is better than just relying on his magic when he knows that he might not always be able to use it. Exactly, I always thought that it was underwhelming, considering the fact that she's so important to Angel and his past, and I personally felt that she had more story there, before she was resurrected in Angel and all that. It was a pretty heavy scene, and I can understand why you'd feel mixed about it. But he hasn't suffered the consequences...yet. That's what the last scene last chapter was for, to establish that the pain and fear Michael should've felt, hasn't reached him yet. His parents have taken that and are going to use it against him in the future, so you could say the pay off hasn't happened yet, like a continued story line. Don't worry, it will be built up even more, and the pay off is going to shake things up. Hehe, they are gonna get screwed in a bad way in the future. I'm glad that you liked it! There's still a whole lot more of Michael to be explored in the coming chapters, so look forward to that!

rfsalinasjr; Well, they aren't going to become best friends, it is to set up what I have planned for later on in the story. And yeah, it is going to help him become stronger, physically without having to always rely on magic, but magic is still gonna be his thing, and such. He'll still use it very often, but he can now begin to fight with his fists more effectively. Aah, season four. That was a hit and miss to me. Some episodes of it I loved, and some I didn't. The overall theme of the season was, understandable, and Adam, I kinda wished he did more things in the season he was in, but beggers can't be choosers and all that. Yeah, that spell would've been better on Glory, who was a way worse threat than Adam. I guess they didn't want to reuse the same thing for a final villain of the season. Yeah, the little robot arc here, it's gonna be quite interesting~

Pedro52; Aah, thanks for all the support, and yeah, Michael/Buffy forever!

Well, with those lovely reviews out of the way, it is time to start the chapter!

---

I robot, you Jane part 1

"B-Buffy wait…"

"Shhhh, don't talk my baby."

"B-But…"

"It's okay, no one is going to hear us. Just let me take those lips as my own."

"Buffy I…"

Michael couldn't finish his sentence as Buffy blocked his lips…with her own lips.

She kissed him fully on the lips and pushed him down onto her bed, crawling next to him to continue the bout of kisses, their eyes on the other.

Buffy smiled into the kiss, and brought his body closer towards her own, deepening the kiss with him. He responded by groaning, running fingers through her hair while continuing to kiss her. Her hand wandered up his body, grazing his shirt covered chest, undoing the top button to see a hint of his chest. Her hand found itself in his hair, lacing her fingers with the blonde locks. Her fingers massaged his scalp dutifully, again and again going up and down his head.

Her eyes met his, and she fell deep into the sea of icy blue orbs that his eyes displayed to her. He felt the same, getting lost in her eyes, unable to do anything other than stare at the beautiful eyes of the Slayer that he truly loved.

Michael breaks the kiss with her some seconds later and pulled away from her, Buffy looking concerned.

"Something wrong baby?"

He shook his head at her, giving her a half smile.

"N-No…not with you…it's just, I've been kinda hanging out at your place for quite a few days now, even a week wouldn't be much of a stretch. It's like I live here now. All I need now is my own closet and I'll be all set."

Buffy snickers, and leans closer, capturing his lips briefly, before pulling away and resting her head on his chest.

"You don't hear me complaining. Having comfy boyfriend is better than being alone, and you can share my closet if you want? I've got space, and you can always throw out Dawn if you want? Besides, the Demons don't attack when there are others around and other nasty creatures, so what's wrong?"

He cast his eyes out of the window, and strokes her face gently.

"It's just, I feel like you're protecting me, when I want to protect you. I don't want to be, a burden to you. I don't want to put your life in danger, by me being here. I feel like I could end up hurting you more and more…"

He didn't want to feel like this. But he couldn't stop. He just felt like Buffy was trying to protect him by keeping him in her house, without either Joyce's or Dawns knowledge as well. But Buffy didn't feel like that, and set him straight.

"Hey." She soothed, brushing her fingers across his chin, his head snapping towards her direction. "You do protect me, very much so. And you're no burden to me. But this isn't ya know, the 18th century, girls nowadays know how to protect boys as well, and sometimes open door for boys as well as pull their seats out for them. Geez, it's like you're a Vampire stuck in the old ways."

She joked as she thought about Angel, but not in a sexual way. Since she was with Michael now, she didn't think of him like that, and only saw him as…she wouldn't say friend, but she wouldn't say work colleague either. He was just Angel, no more and no less.

He smiles gently, brushing her face again.

"I am not Angel, but I don't know what to do in relationships like this, I've never had one, so I don't understand what to do."

"Don't worry, it's the same for me. I've never had a serious relationship before either. Let's just learn together and go from there."

Michael happily accepted that, and gave in, leaning closer and closer to the Slayer.

As he was about to kiss her, she put a finger to his lips and gave a flattering smile.

"Say, I've got an idea, wanna hear it?"

She said it with a peppy outlook on life that Michael was stunned by how she could be so peppy.

"S-Sure, what is it?"

He anxiously looked at her, as she leaned to his ear, gently whispering against the earlobe.

"Why don't you just stay here permanently? Sell your apartment, and use the money however you want. If that includes buying me things, I wouldn't be objective, but don't waste money on me, I ain't like that. I just mean, there's no reason for you to be there now, is there? You can stay here with me. We could have fun every day."

He smiled at the suggestion and even contemplated the fun part, but shook his head in rejection.

"You know I'd buy you the world if I could and I'd love to live with you, but I can't stay here indefinitely Buffy."

She pouted, and asked the obvious question.

"Why?"

"Because I'm not a freeloader, and you deserve to have your own room. I mean, this has been wonderful, but what if Mrs Summers comes in when we aren't expecting it and tells me to get out or something? Where would I go then?"

Buffy hummed a little bit, and sighed.

"I thought it was a good idea. I was trying to help."

He gave her a small kiss on her forehead, and hugged her to his chest.

"It was a very good idea and if circumstances allowed, I'd take you up on your offer. But don't worry Buffy, I am going to be okay now… I know that I've worried you lately with the whole me going and crying and confessions which was the best ever, but I'm not going anywhere now, I have you after all. And even if I didn't…I can't run from my problems anymore."

He yawned at the end, feeling like sleep could take him over at any moment and he was okay with it. He didn't mind sleeping right now, he felt safe in the bed of the Slayer, and that wasn't just because she was sort of his girlfriend now.

Buffy patted his chest, and gave it a kiss as she unbuttoned the shirt that he wore. Michael relaxed, allowing Buffy to unbutton his shirt, putting his head on the pillow, his eyes opening and closing with tiredness.

"You're right, you can't run away because I'm going to be by your side now." She spoke gently, finished unbuttoning his shirt, and looked towards him, to see that he was asleep. "Geez, you've fallen asleep? Well, it has been a rough time for you, so I guess it is okay, though more kisses would've been appreciated. But since you're so adorable, it is alright."

She joked with herself, and slid off his shirt, using her Slayer strength to gently lift his body and get the shirt off, returning his head to the pillow where he smiled in his sleep, Buffy taking it that he must've been having a nice dream.

She briefly looked at his pants, and was tempted to take them off, but then shook her head, sliding off his shoes, and put the covers over him and herself, snuggling against his unclothed chest.

"Goodnight baby…"

She mumbled, as she felt his arm naturally wrap around her. She gladly accepted the warmth, using his chest as a pillow, she fell asleep.

---

The next day, Buffy woke up in the arms of her Warlock.

She looked at the man, and couldn't help the smile that was working itself across her face. She just found him cute when he was asleep. She didn't mind even giving him a kiss like this, but she restrained herself for the moment and held him closely in her arms, grabbing his hand, resting it on his stomach where she held said hand in her own, stroking it with her thumb.

"Hmmm, this is super perfect…"

She couldn't be more happy right now, being the arms of the Warlock. She found it very pleasing, and her desire to have him to herself was something that she didn't mind either.

She lay next to her man for a few minutes before gently raising her head and kissed him on the cheek, waking him.

"Hmm, Buffy…"

"Hey there, my Warlock…time to wake up."

She breezily ran her cool fingers across his face, and brushed his lips, him giving a small tender loving kiss with said lips which Buffy didn't mind at all. In fact, she enjoyed it greatly, taking in his lips with her finger.

"Good morning, Buffy…"

"Morning." She greeted, sitting up as he did as well. "If this could get any more perfect then I don't know what I would do…"

"I feel the same." He spoke with a kind smile, giving her said smile which she returned. "This feels, very surreal right now. I feel like someone is going to wake me and this is just going to be a dream…actually, I've dreamed this a number of times."

Buffy smirks dirtily, pushes him playfully then hugs him.

"You naughty boy, thinking of getting me into bed, have you?"

Michael gave a little smirk towards the Slayer, who returned it with a bright smile on her face.

"Ooh yeah, that's my master plan all along." He teased, snuggling against her. "I planned all of this out, people trying to kill me, Xander's hate of me, Willow's rejection of me, and Giles' attempts at rationalizing killing me, all so I could get into your bed."

"Hehe, I thought so, I just didn't want to say anything." She teased right back, then her eyes turned seriously. "Also, about what Giles said and had done…I just can't believe it…I understand why he assumed, but after everything you did for him…it just doesn't seem fair at all."

Buffy felt complicated about the matter. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to be angry for herself, or for Michael. She wanted to be both, but hesitant on what she should be feeling at this moment in time.

Michael wrapped his arm around her, and brought her closer to his chest.

"He's still your Watcher, and he is a good guy, even if he wasn't too me. But don't let my feelings or my treatment affect the way you think of him. He's still your Watcher after all. Besides, I got what I wanted in the end."

"Oh? Did you?"

He smiled, and hugged onto the Slayer, sinking into her shoulder, her hair covering his face. He smelt her hair, and felt like he was being intoxicated right now. He couldn't feel any better than he did right now, he loved being held with her.

"Yes, I got to be with you."

"And I got to be with you." She smiled, then adopted a small frown. "But you know, I won't let Giles do anything to you…if you turn evil, then I will just have to turn you back, won't I? As if I am going to lose you to something like this, I won't be losing you this day, I assure you."

"That sounds like something Giles would say."

He yawned, Buffy stroking his face in concern.

"Are you still tired? You've been like that for a while now."

He could see the concern in her eyes straight away. It was etched onto her face, so he wasn't going to let it stay there, and began assuring her, comforting her so she didn't have to worry about anything strange. So she didn't have to worry about being in a place where she felt worry for him.

"Hehe, don't worry. This is a good kind of tired." He soothed, wanting to relieve her of her pain. "This is a tired where I am actually tired because I've not been able to relax like this for a long time now. It is because I am that happy with you and feel safe here. It's just, I've not had a chance to relax like this in such a long time, and it feels strange. Yet at the same time, I feel good as well, so don't worry Buffy, I am the good kind of tired."

"Well, that's good. I don't have to worry about you now."

She said while giving him a small kiss on his lips, which he returned.

She then pushed him down onto the bed, his head gently hitting the pillow behind him, and put a hand to his face.

"Why don't you relax here while I get you so breakfast?"

"A breakfast huh…that's something rare Buffy, is something wrong?"

She giggled, shaking her head softly.

"Course not, you just seem tired. I was trying to do something good."

"Well, if that's the case, then I'd like two sausages, three hash browns, crispy bacon, a stack of waffles that can at least be three to five of them, three eggs with some chocolate sauce on it, and oh, a cup of hot delicious coffee with a hot chocolate drink as well as a cooling glass of milk on the side."

He joked with the Slayer, finding it funny to see her reaction, which was a small frown.

"You'll get cereal and like it."

She told him in a no messing around type of voice, which he nodded at and saluted.

"Cereal sounds better than what I was thinking about."

She caressed his lips with her own, and then stood up.

"Then wait right here, and I will be right back."

"Ooh breakfast in bed, I'm not worthy of such things~"

Buffy cracked a smile and got dressed. Michael, in respect to her privacy, closed his eyes and put his head against the pillow so he couldn't see her, wanting to make her feel as comfortable as she possibly could be right at this moment in time.

Once she was dressed, she left the room and went down the stairs.

Getting to the kitchen, she found Dawn and Joyce in the kitchen, having breakfast.

"Oh, good morning Buffy."

Her Mother greeted, giving her eldest a smile.

Buffy smiled as well and produced two bowls.

"Geez Buffy, hungry much?"

Dawn teased, looking at the bowls that was for herself and Michael, Buffy's brow sweating slightly when she noticed the curious eyes of the Mother of the Slayer as well.

"A-Aha, that's because I've got a big day ahead, I might not have much for lunch."

She explained as she put the cereal and milk in the bowls. Joyce found it slightly odd that her daughter wouldn't be able to have lunch.

"You won't have time?"

"Y-Yeah, it is no big really. Got a project that I've got to work on."

"Ooh, with Michael huh~?"

Dawn couldn't resist the tease that she needed to do right now. Buffy stuck out her tongue, but nodded regardless.

"Class project, involves building stuff, a model for what we think the future of a house might look like. Michael and I were partnered up, and need to work on it during lunch. We've been kinda lazy and forgot to do it, so we won't have much time later on and such."

"Oh, if it is working on a project, why don't you just work on it here, after school?"

Joyce suggested, unaware that Michael was up the stairs, and was in her daughter's bedroom. Buffy bit her bottom lip, shrugging her shoulders.

"Ah, I don't really know…"

"It isn't a problem, really. Unless his parents won't allow it?"

"…Something tells me it won't be a problem with his parents…"

She mumbled so quietly that even Joyce wasn't able to hear it.

"Hmm? What did you say?"

Buffy shook her head, and grabbed the bowls.

"Nothing at all! Gotta go, and get ready and eat this, bye!"

Before her Mother and Dawn could say anything, Buffy rushed off out of the kitchen and up the stairs, leaving the Mother daughter duo left blinking in confusion.

Getting back upstairs, Buffy went into her room, her back turned as she needed to push the door open.

"Here it is, one Buffy…" She stopped as she turned around, seeing Michael was asleep, cuddling up with one of her favourite stuffed animals. It took all of her inner girly girl to not squeal at the sight. "T-That's too freaking adorable…"

She let it slip and walked towards the bed, pushing the door closed with her foot.

She sat down on the bed, and placed the bowls on the bedside table, putting a hand to his face.

"Michael, time to wake up now…"

He stirred and groaned.

Buffy smiled, and kissed his lips, waking him up from his slumber.

"Ooh, Buffy…what…"

"You fell asleep." She explained, as he sat up, rubbing his eyes. "But don't worry, it's alright. You're awake now, and I've got breakfast~"

She grabbed one of the bowls and handed it to him, his eyes turning appreciative.

"You're too good to me Buffy, I don't deserve you. You're a good woman."

Buffy got back onto the bed, and snuggled up with him, placing the bowl of her own on his lap, his own bowl on his chest, leaning so he was slanted on the bed.

"Mmmm, let's enjoy this time together…"

He couldn't help but agree with a nod of his head, giving her a warm hearted smile, as they ate breakfast together.

---

Later that day, or more accurately near the end of it, Michael and the others including that of Buffy, Willow, Xander, Amy, Giles, two computer students and another Teacher named Jenny Calendar found themselves in the library.

The atmosphere was…intense would be a weak word to use, especially between Michael and Giles, but it was mostly from Giles than Michael, though Michael still felt apprehensive about being near the Watcher.

The boy couldn't forget what Giles had said, even Xander and Willow as well. While he wasn't going to hold it against them or anything, but he couldn't forget how they would do things to him and how Giles kept telling him to die. It did affect him, and he couldn't let it go with just a little sorry.

Buffy opens a box and a cloud of dust comes from it, her eyes rolling as she becomes sarcastic

"Oh, great! A book!"

A book-scanning project is going on, and Willow and a few other computer science students are seated at the table, scanning the books into the library's computer system.

Buffy pulls the book out of the box and blows some of the dust off of it.

"Oh, uh, I, uh... haven't gone through the new arrivals. Uh, put it in, uh, in, in that pile."

Giles points with his book to a certain area of the table that had a pile of books in it. Actually, all of the table seemed to have many books there, including a computer and scanner of course. There was no place to sit down on the table, so Michael had opted to sit down on the stairs.

A boy named Dave looks towards Buffy and sees the book, giving a small sigh.

"Here, I'll get it."

He gets up from his computer and walks over to Buffy, who smiles in appreciation.

"Oh, thanks, Dave. The Willow pile."

Dave takes the book from Buffy and goes over to the pile of books next to Willow.

"Uh, when I've examined it, you can, uh, uh, skim it."

"Scan it, Rupert. That's scan it. Please keep up with the lingo, would ya?"

Ms Calendar, or Jenny as she is known by, shakes her head at the librarian, him wearing a annoyed face, giving her a sarcastic look.

"Of course. How could I miss it before?"

Jenny snickers ever so slightly, and wears a grin.

"Oh, I know, our ways are strange to you, but soon you will join us in this century!"

Michael cracks a smile, and Buffy shot her jealous eyes towards him. Immediately, he looked down as the Slayer walked over, and sat beside him, whispering in his ear.

"Afterwards, wanna go and do something? I could do that thing you like with your ear lobe because I so know that it turns you on. Don't deny it either."

Turning his eyes towards her, he began intrigued, and whispered back to her.

"Oh Ms Summers, how you tempt me."

"Always~"

She smiles gently, and he takes her up on the offer by giving her a calm and collected expression, a smile that means that he was more than willing to go and do anything with the Slayer, and anything was anything that she wanted, no matter what.

She then turns her eyes to look at Giles giving Jenny a smug look on his face, something that she found funny.

"Ms. Calendar, I'm sure your computer science class is fascinating, but I happen to believe that one can survive in modern society without being a slave to the, um, idiot box."

"Ooh, he shouldn't of said that…"

Amy smiled as she scanned something as well, and missed the annoyed look that Jenny gave her, then returning her eyes towards Giles.

"That's TV. The idiot box is TV." She indicates to the computer. "This is the *good* box!"

"That's a matter of opinion."

Michael muttered as Buffy rolled her eyes, putting her head on his shoulder, showing some affection as her hand stroked his secretly, out of view of everyone else, keeping their relationship a secret for now.

"I still prefer a good book."

Giles said it proudly, looking at his books with that same pride.

Michael went towards Buffy's ear, and whispered gently.

"…I am worried about what types of books Giles reads. I bet it would be scary."

"…Demon porn. He reads that, doesn't he?"

Buffy whispered back, earning a snort from Michael. Giles eyes went quickly towards them, so they turned away and rolled their eyes, but kept very close to one another.

Fritz, another computer student, self-righteously speaks in a creepy manner.

"The printed page is obsolete." He began, standing up. Information isn't bound up anymore. It's an entity. The only reality is virtual. If you're not jacked in, you're not-"

"Jacking off?"

Buffy put a hand to her mouth at Michael's slip and laughed openly, Amy and Xander both snickering as well as Willow. Even Jenny snickered and wasn't going to scold him for saying what he did, believing what he said when it came to Fritz.

The boy gives a single glare towards him, grabs his books and leaves.

Jenny looks at the place Fritz leaves, then shakes her head, a smirk on her face as she remembered what Michael had said.

"Thank you, Fritz, for making us all sound like crazy people…by jacking off." She couldn't resist it, smirking as she turns to Giles. "Fritz, Fritz comes on a little strong, but he does have a point. You know, for the last two years more e-mail was sent than regular mail."

"Oh..."

Giles felt a little embarrassed, and he didn't know what to say. He looked like a deer caught in headlights right now, and Jenny couldn't resist the urge to tease him even more than before, finding it funny to tease the man.

"More digitized information went across phone lines than conversation."

"That is a fact that I regard with genuine horror."

Jenny teasingly snickers to the not appreciative Giles.

"I'll bet it is." She spoke with that teasing of hers, then turned to the students. "Alright, guys, let's wrap it up for today."

Hearing that, Buffy turns to Michael.

"Say, wanna go slaying with me?"

Jenny turned her curious eyes to Buffy.

"Huh? What did you say Buffy? Slaying?"

The teacher questioned as Buffy gained a nervous face. Michael smiled nervously, and grabbed Buffy's hand.

"She said laying, not slaying! We're going to go and lay down somewhere…n-not in a sexual way! We're going to lay down…pavement stones…eeh, Buffy and I are…eeh, we're going to go and do something amazing like laying down…damn, I dunno what to say anymore, I am worried about you now…I'm worried…I think that…"

"We need to go. Come on honey, let's go and get your medication."

Buffy feigned a little lie, Michael playing along by smiling weakly, his voice coming out in a squeak.

"Ehehehe, I have brain medication."

His weird voice carried over to Jenny who raised a curious eyebrow.

"Y-Yes...so, see you tomorrow?"

Jenny said with what Buffy thought to be a sensual voice, and when she saw Jenny brush Michael's arm ever so slightly, her eyes narrowed in jealousy.

"O-Of course Ms Calendar."

Hearing him agree, Buffy tightened her hands, more and more jealousy entering her heart.

"Ooh no, call me Jenny."

Jenny's eyes showed something Buffy didn't like, her feelings falling more and more into jealousy, and even more so when she saw Jenny take a quick look down Michael's body, muttering "That's my body to look at." with a dispassionate voice for the teacher.

Michael scratched the back of his head as an awkward laugh escaped his lips.

"A-Ah, alright then, Jenny."

That was it for Buffy, who grasped his hand tightly, so tight that Michael winced at the amount of strength she was using, gritting her teeth.

"Co-Come on Michael, let's go."

Buffy immediately walks out of the room, Michael following after her because he had no choice with being dragged, running as fast as they could to escape the eyes of the teacher.

Amy stands up as well, and looks towards Willow who shrugs her shoulders.

"I've just got a few more. I'll hang for a bit."

She said with a smile so Amy took that as a nod for her to be able to leave, Jenny wearing an appreciative one.

"Cool! Thanks."

As she said that, Amy leaves the library, her bag on her shoulder.

Xander grabs his bag and pulls it onto his shoulder, looking towards the place Amy went.

Willow couldn't resist asking her crush to stay, looking at him with pleading eyes.

"Xander, you wanna stay and help me?"

Xander looks at her in disbelief.

"Are you kidding?"

Willow's taken aback and only shows a small smile on her lips.

"Yes, it was a joke I made up."

"Willow, I love you, but bye!"

With that, he runs away and leaves, but Willow felt the need to call after him regardless.

"See you tomorrow!"

He didn't hear her, and disappeared, leaving her alone in the library with Giles, and Jenny as well.

"I'm, I'm just gonna stay and clean up a little. I'll, uh, I'll be back in the middle ages."

He starts up the stairs as he hears a snicker coming from the sexy teacher Jenny.

"Did you ever leave?"

Giles stops and looks back at her. She's smiles to herself, pleased with his reaction to her comment. He continues up the stairs and leaves Willow alone in the library, unaware that the book that Buffy had picked out of the box, contained the essence of a Demon, a Demon that Willow scanned onto the computer, gaining access to the internet.

---

At night, Michael and Buffy found themselves in the graveyard, and they weren't alone.

"Hyaa!"

"Take this!"

Buffy and Michael were fighting Vampires together, back to back.

Buffy first came at the Vampire by grabbing its collar, and bringing up her knee, nailing it in the gut and forcing his head down from the pain it received. She then came at the Vampire with an uppercut, knocking it back.

"Bitch!"

The Vampire charged for her, and swiped for her face. She pulled herself back, avoiding the fist with the grace one expects from a Slayer, and brought up her leg in a sweeping kick, knocking him back.

"You aren't even the Slayer, I get sloppy seconds!"

The Vampire lunged at Michael who dodged it gracefully, and hit the Vampire on the back, knocking him downwards.

"Sorry Vampire, but I'm not gonna lose to you."

Michael taunted as the Vampire returned to his feet. He faked Michael left, and came from the right with his fist. Michael ducked the fist, and slammed his own palm into the Vampires chest. Because he used Telekinesis, he was able to force the Vampire back a considerable distance.

The Vampire rolls on the ground and slams his head against a tree, Michael immediately going forward with a stake to slay the beast.

"Don't think so!"

The Vampire immediately swept for Michael's legs, who jumped out of the way, and used gravities aid to slam his fist against the Vampires face, knocking him down against the ground, his head colliding with the ground and caused him to become a little dizzy.

"Hah!"

The Vampire Buffy fought came at her with a swinging leg up to her face, putting his acrobatic skills to good use.

She used her left arm to block the kick, using her leg to trip the Vampire up as she spun a full 360 degrees and it hit the ground harshly, Buffy hearing it crack a rib, but it didn't howl in pain.

"Don't you know Vampire? I'm the Slayer, you're a Vampire, get where we're going with this?"

The Vampire howled and returned to its feet, charging at her.

The Slayer sighed, and withdrew a stake, and combated the Vampire.

"I guess you don't know…me the Slayer, I slay you, you be slain. That's how it is. This wood, goes in your heart."

The Vampire came in with a combo of punches and kicks. Buffy dodged each of the punches with her head moving out of the way again and again. She used her arms to bat away the Vampire's legs, and saw an opening, plunging the stake into the Vampires heart.

The Slayer watched as the Vampire turned to dust, scattering in the wind.

"Hey Michael, need some…help?"

Buffy started off happy, but then saw something strange…at least to her.

Michael was using moves he hadn't before. He dodged the punches of the Vampire with a fine finesse, as if he was dancing. Coming from the left and right, Michael used skills as if he was a professional, blocking and dodging a stronger opponents attacks.

"Damn, he's turned good."

Buffy noted as the Vampire went to do a roundhouse kick to him. Michael moved his head back, and grabbed the Vampires foot, twisting it so the Vampire couldn't keep his footing and fell to the ground.

Michael went to the Vampires side, and grabbed his shirt, dragging him up to his feet, and gave it a headbutt, knocking the Vampire back and made him snarl dangerously, making it feel dizzy.

"D-Damn you!"

The Vampire tightened his right fist and hit forward, going to strike the Warlock in the face.

He blocked a punch from the Vampire, and channelled magic into his palm, pushing it against the Vampire, and sent him flying towards the tree.

"Sharpen!"

Michael shot off an orb of magic, and hit the tree. It twisted and a tree branch sprouted out, turning as sharp as a stake. The Vampire couldn't do anything as it nailed it in the Vampires heart, turning it into dust that fell to the ground, sweeping across the ground when the wind picked up slightly.

Once the Vampire was slain, Buffy looked on with surprise in her eyes.

"What the hell was that?"

She was amazed by his new skills, Michael turning to her with a coy smile.

"Let's just say, I've been getting in some training."

He said with a grin on his face, thinking of Angel and silently thanked the Vampire in his own mind.

Buffy walked closer, and got within his vicinity, her hands fixing his collar sweetly.

"My, aren't we full of surprises. Suddenly gaining new fighting skills, what a bad boy you are. I'm supposed to be the better fighter between us."

"Hehe, trust me Buffy, a fight between you and I would end with you beating me."

He modestly spoke with a kind smile on his face.

Buffy wrapped her arms around his neck, and moved closer.

"Well, whatever you're doing is working. I don't mind having you as backup for these Vampires. Actually, it is safer and I get to spend time with my favourite guy in the world. Yes sir, that's a very good thing. It makes slaying almost worth it."

She said with a smile on her face.

Michael smiled and gave her a gentle kiss.

"Don't worry, I will…" He paused when he saw five Vampires coming towards them, from the other side of the graveyard. "Seems like we've got company."

Gesturing to the Vampires, Buffy sighed and got into a fighting pose.

"Seems like we've got some bad company." She stated again and brought out her stake, an idea coming to her head. "Say whoever takes out the most Vampires, has to do something for the other, kinda like, a little, bet or something."

"My, the Slayer is challenging me to such a thing?"

He grinned back, twirling a stake in his hand.

Buffy mimicked his movements and walked forward.

"That's right. If I slay the most, you have too…hmm, you have to wear cute kitty accessories while having nothing but your underwear on tonight while in bed, okay? You know, the ears, the cute fluffy tail and all. Even I get to draw whiskers on your face."

Michael stares at her with an incredulous look to his face, but then smirked.

"Okay, if I win, you have to wear your cheerleading outfit and cheer for me or something."

Buffy furrowed her eyebrows.

"Really? You're into cheerleaders?"

She was honestly surprised that he was. Truthfully, she wasn't sure what he was into. All she knew was that he liked her, but beside that, he honestly wasn't sure at all. But she did want to find out, so she could do things for him and he'd do things for her as well, a shared loving experience is something she'd want to share with him.

"I'm into you when wearing the cheerleader outfit. I thought you looked…sexy."

He admitted while blushing, Buffy blushing as well, not realizing that he liked things like that, but she agreed regardless.

"Alright then, there's five, so I have to slay three of them, okay."

"Heh, that means I have to slay three of them."

She winked at him and went forward, Michael doing the say.

Using their skills Buffy and Michael easily dispatched two of them at the same time. Michael used his magic to help him, using tricks and such plus with the training Angel gave him. Buffy used what she knew, plus with the fact that she had her Slayer strength, it allowed her to come at the Vampires with strength no one else possessed.

As they slayed, it was clear that these two work extremely well together. They covered the others backs, worked well off the other, using the other for surprise attacks, and it allowed Buffy to be safe and Michael as well. They were just a very well organized fighting force.

Once slaying two each, they both turned to the last one, and both frowned.

"So, you've finished as well…"

Buffy sighed, wanting to experience kitty Michael.

Michael frowned a little and pouted adorably.

"This means that I won't experience cheerleader Buffy now…she's gonna beat me…"

Buffy looked at the Warlock, realization coming to her eyes.

"But since Michael has magic and all…does that mean I am going to lose…? Won't my dream be achieved by seeing cute kitty Michael purring against my ear and I won't be able to have fun with kitty Michael…?"

"Wait, if Buffy wins I wear kitty stuff, and Buffy doesn't wear cute cheerleader outfit and doesn't cheer for me…that would be very bad."

Both of them deepened their frown, wanting to see the other as they imagined it.

"Eeh…are we gonna fight or not?"

The Vampires frustration caused both Michael and Buffy to glare at said Vampire. The Vampire backed down, and showed a sheepish face, not sure what was going to happen to him now. He was sure that these two were going to do something but they didn't know what that was.

Michael then turned to Buffy and smiled.

"Compromise?"

"Compromise."

She agreed and went forward.

She did a flip in the air, a forward flip and landed her foot against the Vampires head, knocking him to the ground.

Michael went forward in a normal way, running and spun around, digging his foot into the Vampires face, breaking his nose with his strength.

The Vampire howled and jumped to his feet. He went for Michael, assuming that he was the weaker of the two, and swiped for the boy. Michael brought up his arm and used his newfound strength to block the strike barely, using his free hand to summon the grey blob.

"Obstruct!"

It launched from his hand and hit the Vampire in the eyes, blinding him.

"Noooooooooooooooooo! Bastard!"

Michael restrained the Vampires arm, as the Slayer came in.

By sniffing, the Vampire caught where the Slayer was, and came at her with his straightened fist. Buffy caught the fist and restrained it with a single hand, twisting the hand so it yelped in pain.

With his chest free, Buffy and Michael produced stakes with their free hand. Together, Buffy and Michael plunged their stakes into the heart of the Vampire, slaying said Vampire from existence, taking him out of this place, his body blowing up into dust.

"Seems like a draw hunny."

Buffy noted as they gave one another a kiss.

"That's right, doesn't that mean we both win?"

Buffy agreed with Michael, and went to his ear, nibbling it, Michael biting his lip to supress a groan.

"That's it…yeah, I'll wear that cheerleader outfit, if you wear some kitty accessories I got."

"Damn, you and your kitty accessories, did you get them so you could convince me to wear them?"

Buffy coyly smiled, inclining her head in agreement.

"I couldn't help it, I saw them last week, and thought that I could maybe do them…with you, because ya know, it would be fun…"

"You just want to dress me up in weird outfits."

Buffy faked a scoff, showing a 'frown'.

"And you wanting me in a cheerleader outfit is not dressing me up?"

"That's because you're cute."

Buffy snickered, and patted his face with her nimble fingers.

"Well, to me, you're the cutest ever. So I want to make you even cuter than cute."

"Aah, I can't fight against Buffy if she says things like this. Okay, if Buffy says she wants me like this, then I will do as you ask. But Buffy has to dress in cute outfit as well."

Buffy showed a hint of a smile, and nodded her head strongly.

"If you say something like that, then I will have to obey you, my adorably Michael."

Buffy smiled brightly this time and linked arms with him, and took off with her Michael, leaving the cemetery together to do…whatever they were going to do.

---

The hall at Sunnydale High School a few days later. Students were around, going towards their glasses and such. Since it was the beginning of the week, the Monday, people weren't exactly thrilled about doing something like going towards this school.

Buffy runs to catch up with Willow as she slowly walks along. Her face seemed to be in a daze. She just walked and walked, and didn't stop. She walked for quite a long time, and she wouldn't stop walking at all. She couldn't stop walking, her mind on something else.

"Willow! Willow, hey, wait up!"

Buffy calls out to the redhead, and while there was a little, animosity for the previous acts against her…boyfriend, she guessed he was now, she wanted to remain friends with Willow, and Michael was all for it as well, he wanted things to get back to normal and so did she.

Buffy runs until she reaches her, Willow seemingly in a daydreaming state.

Buffy waved a hand in front of the redheads face, catching her attention, Willow snapping out of what she was thinking about.

"Oh, Buffy, I didn't even see you."

Buffy adopts a slightly teasing face.

"Or hear me. What was up last night? I tried your line, like, a million times."

"Oh, I was, I was talking."

Willow said it dismissively, her eyes looking forward dreamily.

"Talking to...?" Buffy's query didn't receive an answer, so she inched closer as they reached the girls locker. "Okay, that's it, you have a secret, and that's not allowed."

"Why not?"

Willow opens her locker, and rummages through it.

"Cause... there's a rule."

Buffy thought it sounded plausible, but Willow showed a sheepish face, then it broke out into a smile.

"Well, I sort of met someone."

Her smile was very perpetual, and it made the Slayer smile as well, excitedly jumping up and down.

"I knew it! This is so important! When did you meet?"

"Last week after we did the scanning project in the library."

She closes her locker, and continues going forward.

Buffy curiously leans closer to her, and asks question after question.

"Does he go here? What's his name? Have you kissed him? What's he like?"

Willow looks on at her, very amused.

"No, Malcolm, no, and very nice."

Buffy pouted with annoyance.

"You are a thing of evil for not telling me this right away!"

"Well, I wasn't sure there was anything to tell. But last night, oh! We talked all night, it was amazing. He's so smart, Buffy, and, and he's romantic, and we agree about everything!"

She seems to excited, that Buffy felt like something was off. So, she decided to question it while sighing to herself.

"What's he look like?"

Willow didn't stop, she didn't miss a beat and answered with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"I don't know!"

She continues down the hall with a big smile on her face. Buffy is confused and stares after her a moment, then starts to follow.

In the computer lab, Fritz and Dave are there, typing away. Michael was in there as well, but unlike the other two, he was fast asleep, his head on the keyboard, drool coming from his mouth as he occasionally muttered "Buffy~" in a sweet sounding voice.

Dave speaks to the monitor in a creepy manner.

"Yes, I will. I promise."

Willow and Buffy enter and continue the conversation they were having before.

"So, you've been seeing a guy, and you don't know what he looks like? Okay, this is a puzzle. No, wait, I'm good at these. Does it involve a midget and a block of ice?"

"I met him online."

Willow explained as she sat down at her computer, Michael fast asleep next to her. Buffy looked confused as she stroked her loves hair gently, causing him to smile in his sleep.

"On line for what?" Willow indicates a computer and realization comes to her eyes. "Oh! So *that* online huh…I see, so you met him online, which is a good thing, I think. It sounds good to me, I suppose you've met someone and yeah! Totally awesome!"

At that moment, Ms. Calendar strides quickly into the room wearing dark glasses and holding a mug of coffee in one hand and her books in the other.

"Morning, kids!"

Jenny greeted with a kind smile on her face, Michael making a small noise at the voice as Buffy frowned at Jenny, still curious about what she would want from Michael.

"Buffy don't nibble until I've had a chance to eat the cheese…"

Michael's sleeping words brought confusion to everyone in the room, including that of Buffy and Willow, the former shaking his body.

"Michael, time to wake up~"

She whispered against his ear as Willow looked on to see that Buffy's hand was at the back of his neck, her fingers dancing on the back of his neck, wondering how far they had taken their relationship since the last time she had noticed.

He stirred, and slowly raised his head, meeting the eyes of the Slayer, and stuck out his lips, not realizing that they were in a public place, though Buffy wasn't going to complain and was very tempted to lean in and kiss, but then remembered that it would be better if it was a secret, so she feigned confusion.

"Ooh silly, it's me, Buffy. Trying to steal a kiss like that, how cute."

Buffy played it off for a laugh, but she did truly want to kiss him there and then like he wanted. But she knew how it was better to keep it a secret, at least so the others don't have to worry about being in danger.

Michael furrowed his eyebrows and looked at her in confusion and hurt. Her eyes went towards Willow, then he realized where he was and opened his eyes, rubbing the back of his head.

"A-Ah, reality. Mehehehe, I was dreaming you were…eeh, Harmony…?" Buffy glared for that, and he laughed innocently. "I-I didn't mean her, I didn't mean Harmony, I meant that you were…eeh, I think I was dreaming of…Amy?" Buffy's eyes continued to turn dark, so he held his head down in shame. "…Okay, I meant you, I want to kiss you."

"Hehe, I see. That's naughty of you Michael~"

He chuckles and outstretches his arms, which she hugged right away, this being something that they could do together, and somehow, she ended up sitting down on his lap, her arms draped around his neck, pulling her closer and closer towards her body, his head resting on her shoulder, and yawned.

Buffy turned her concerned eyes towards him, tilting her head to the side.

"You're yawning again, are you still tired?"

Michael could tell that she was concerned. Even Willow seemed to be more concerned now than she was before everything happening, and he was happy about it, he liked it even, and he didn't want it to go away.

"Just a little bit, catching up on sleep. I've not really slept well in a few years, I think my mind is catching up to that…yeah, I kinda used a spell that kept me going, a different spell to the Demon making one, and I promise, this spell didn't summon a Demon or anything, I double checked after the whole scenario we dealt with not long ago."

He whispered so only she and Willow could hear, not wanting to bring anyone else into the conversation about Demons and such.

"As long as that's all what it is. Then I am relieved."

He assured her with a nod of his head, giving her a bright smile.

Willow looked between them, and could see that they were very close with one another.

"S-So, you two are getting very close lately, aren't you?"

Willow had no idea how close they truly were, so Buffy was the one who answered it.

"Well, we aren't strangers, but we aren't super-duper close either. I mean, we aren't dating or anything like that."

She lied, feeling Michael's fingers secretly work themselves on her back. She resisted the urge to groan, his fingers laced with relaxing magic's, sort of like vibrations that stimulate pleasure centres in her body, something that she loved very much.

"But…you're sat on his lap."

Willow noted, looking down at his lap.

Buffy went to move after realizing her mistake, but a telepathic "It's okay Buffy, stay." came from Michael, in a pleading message, so she stayed and made something up.

"That's because I'm into his lap now. We're always close and all, but we aren't dating or anything, we aren't like that. I like sitting on him and he likes me giving him…a hug a lot. He's a very needy person."

Michael scowled, but he couldn't deny it. Even he admitted to Buffy that he was needy, when he gave his confession, Buffy returning him to his senses.

Buffy turns to look at towards Jenny as she coughed into her own hand.

Ms. Calendar notices Buffy as she heads to her desk. She puts her mug down and walks over to the pair of them.

"Buffy, are you supposed to be somewhere? And the same for you Michael?"

Jenny takes off her glasses, showing her bright eyes.

"No, I have a free."

"Same here, came here for a nap."

Buffy and Michael explained, the cool teacher showing a half smile on her face with lidded eyes.

"Cool! But this is lab time, so let's make it a nice, short visit, okay?"

"Sure."

Buffy agreed with what Michael said, nodding her head.

"So Michael, how have you been recently?"

Jenny wondered even more, Buffy's eyebrows twitching.

"Aah, I've been a little tired recently, and my shoulders are a little sore, been doing lot's of exorcise, and you know how it is."

His reply made Jenny smile, Buffy gaining a deep frown for the teacher who seemed to be a little too close.

"Aah, I see. Then let me help you unwind."

Jenny then placed her hands on Michael's shoulders, and suddenly began massaging them, Buffy's eyes widening in rage.

"What in the fummmmmmm!"

Before she could yell, Willow covered her own mouth, but still was shocked by what the teacher was doing to Michael, the boy himself merely having a small blush on his cheeks.

"Ooh Michael, it seems that you've got tension in these shoulders." Jenny whispered in a raspy voice, only making Buffy's anger grow, and Michael's face turn more red, Willow's confusion growing as well. "Don't worry, leave it to-"

"Okay!" Buffy broke away from Willow's hands, and pushed Jenny away from Michael, placing hands on his shoulders, and began to massage him rather harshly, hurting rather than relaxing Michael. "Sorry, Ms Calendar, but if Michael needs this, he can have it off me. A-And isn't it like, inappropriate to do things like that with a student?"

Jenny merely laughed a little at Buffy's anger, unintentionally angering her even more.

"Hehe, I was only having a little fun." Jenny sang out, and stroked Michael's face which turned a shade of red, a different shade of red that Buffy's was also wearing on her face. "See you later~"

With a singsong voice, Jenny moved away as Buffy's hands tightened on Michael's shoulders, the boy crying out in pain.

"B-Buffy! Y-You're hurting me!"

Buffy didn't realize what she was doing, and tightened her hands even more, seeing Jenny giving Michael a little look.

"Cheeky cow, thinks she can muscle in on my man does she...I wouldn't be shocked if she was as old as Angel was...damn Calendar."

Buffy's hands tightened even more, and Michael swore he heard something snap, tears coming to his eyes.

"Buf-Buffy please! Yo-You're hurting me! W-Whatever you want, you can have it! P-Please just stop noooooooow!"

Michael's cry brought Buffy back to her to her senses, taking her hands off his shoulders, wearing an apologetic look.

"O-Oh, sorry..."

She apologized and sat on his lap, drying his tears with her fingers, Willow unable to do anything other than look on. The boy cried and used magic to make him feel better from the pain the Slayer inflicted unintentionally.

At that moment the PC made the, 'You have mail.' noise, drawing the attention of the girls and the boy, Willow becoming very excited.

"It's him!"

Willow types to get the message, and Michael sees it, saying "I'm thinking of you." while rolling his eyes, Buffy curiously furrowing her eyebrows.

Willow coos over the message, putting a hand to her face.

"He's so sweet!"

Buffy nods though she isn't exactly as enthusiastic about it.

"He's a sweetie."

She smiles nervously as Willow turns towards her and Michael for some advice.

"What should I write back?"

"Leave it to me Willow." Michael said with a bright smile, and took the keyboard, typing as he spoke. "When I think of you, my heart flutters like my shoes. My eyes bleed with happiness from seeing your sexy messages. Will you please send me a photo, so I can send you one back, dressed in nothing but an anorak while drinking a six pac-"

"Oooooooooooooooooooookay!" Willow swiped the keyboard off him, and deleted the message before he could send it. "T-That was erm…swell sweetie, at the beginning, but I don't think my eyes bleeding would be sexy…and erm, why would my shoes flutter? And please don't make me out to be an alcoholic."

Michael sighs and takes the keyboard back off her, and writes something else as he says what he writes.

"Meet me in the back, we will grab a shake, and I will rock your world babycakes, because you just don't know how I wanna go down-"

"No! Please don't!" Willow grabbed the keyboard again and deleted the message before it could be sent. "I-I don't need your help Michael sweetie, but Buffy, I am looking for your help, you know, girl to girl kind of help. I can do with that."

Buffy was less than enthusiastic about it, and spoke cautiously.

"Uh, Willow, I think it's really great that you have this cool pen pal, but don't you think you're kinda rushing all into this? Y'know what I mean?"

Willow excitedly claps her hands together.

"'I'm thinking of you, too sexy!'" She then thought about it, and shook her head, crestfallen. "No, that's incredibly stupid!"

"Will, down girl! Let's focus here, okay? What do you actually know about this guy?"

Buffy spoke sense, and even Michael could tell that Buffy was right. They didn't know anything about him, and he was worried for Willow as well.

Willow on the other hand was disappointed with her friend speaking like that.

"Oh, see, I knew you'd react like this."

"Like what?"

The girl became confused, even Michael was as well, seeing Willow speak like she was, it was quite confusing to him.

"Buffy's just wanting make sure you're careful, that's all. Heck, even I want to you to be careful. You never know with people on the internet, they could be naughty and want to do weird things with people like you. You hear on the news sometimes, ya know?"

Even though he showed his concerns, Willow didn't truly want to accept them at all.

"Michael… Buffy...you're…"

Willow spoke as if she was being betrayed right now, but Buffy shook her head.

"He could be different than you think."

Willow folds her arms, and speaks with an all-knowing tone.

"His name is Malcolm Black, he's eighteen, he lives in Elmwood, which is about eighty miles from here, and he likes me!"

"Short, tall, skinny, fat?"

Buffy prodded, wanting to know more for her friend so she didn't get into any kind of trouble with this person.

"Why does everything have to be about looks?"

Willow didn't really want to talk anymore, she just wanted to get out of there. But Buffy kept pressing on with the questions and spoke in concern for the young girl.

"Not everything, but some stuff is. I mean, what if you guys get really, really intense, and then you find out that he... has... a hairy back?"

She didn't know what else to say, and said the first thing that came to her mind, which happened to be this.

"Well, no! Uh, he doesn't talk like somebody who would have a hairy back. And anyways, that stuff doesn't matter when you really care about each other. Maybe I'm not his ideal either. I mean, look at me. I could be someone he is put off by."

"Hey, I'm just trying to make sure that he's good enough for you. I think it's great that you met someone that isn't Michael…I mean, that isn't Michael…ugh, what I meant to say was, I don't think that Michael is…eeh, I mean, Michael is…stop it!"

Buffy gained curious looks from Michael and Willow, both of them tilting their heads to the side.

"Stop what? I'm not doing anything."

Buffy adopted a sheepish face, and pushed him gently.

At Ms. Calendar desk, she goes through some papers and curiously notices something out of the corner of her eye. What she sees is an intense looking Fritz that was going hyper on his computer, typing away like it was no tomorrow.

She looked at the papers in her hands, and her eyes became slightly wider than usua.

She gets up holding some papers and comes over to Fritz.

"Hey, Fritz... I'm, uh, lookin' at the logs. You and Dave are clockin' a pretty scary amount of computer time.

Fritz spares a glance at her, then turns his head to the computer dismissively.

"New project."

Jenny became excited and called her eyes towards his face, his intense face at that.

"Ooo, will I be excited?"

His eyes turned towards her, and she flinched.

Something about the eyes looked dangerous, looked different to what they should be, and was worried about what he was thinking right now, and the voice he spoke back in, made her shiver down her spine.

"You'll die."

---

A little while later, outside to the steps in the quad, a boy is sitting on them reviewing his report on his laptop.

The boy looks upset as he bangs on his laptop, confused by what he was seeing right now.

"This isn't my report! 'Nazi Germany was a model of a well ordered society'? I didn't write that! Who's been in my files?"

Willow comes down the steps next to him. Her eyes were lazily looking everywhere, but where she should be looking. It was as if she was thinking intensely about something, or a certain someone that was on the internet.

She's off in her own world and doesn't notice Xander coming from her right. He puts his hand over her eyes, and she's forced to stop, nearly losing her balance.

"Sup, guess who?"

He said in a cheery voice, trying to mask his voice at that.

"Uh, Xander?"

She knew who it was anyone, and played along, Xander adopting a frown.

"Yeah, but keep guessing anyway."

Willow shrugged her shoulders and her lips turned downwards.

"Xander."

Xander takes his hand from her eyes and chuckles softly.

"Oh, I can't fool ya, you see right through my petty charade. We goin' to the Bronze tonight?"

Willow smiles, but shakes her head as she thought about her internet boyfriend.

"Not me, I think I'm gonna call it an early night."

Xander didn't look that pleased with it, and knew who she was thinking about right now.

"Oh, Malcolm, right." Willow smiles and nods, Xander giving a half smile. "Yeah, I heard. But you're gonna be missin' out. I'm plannin' to be witty. I'm gonna make fun of all the people who won't talk to me including that of Buffy and Michael!"

"That's nice. Have a good time!"

She smiles and quickly leaves. He watches her go. Buffy arrives and watches her go, too.

"She certainly looks perky."

Xander's attention turns to Buffy, and he was surprised that Michael wasn't with her, and he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, remembering the confession he gave to her, and how he seemed more genuine than he did.

"Yeah, colour in the cheeks, bounce in the step... I don't like it. It's not healthy. So, are you goin' to the Bronze tonight? Oh, probably not, you probably have some Vampire Slaying or some lame endeavour like that, don't you? Everyone deserts me. I guess you'll be with Michael. Amy probably doesn't wanna go out either, I'm alone."

They begin to walk as Buffy cracks a small smile.

"Check out the jealous man! King of the land of jealousy!"

Xander turns towards her, confusion etched onto his face.

"What are you talking about?"

Buffy showed a coy smile on her lips.

"You're jealous."

"Of what?"

Buffy smiled at the jealousness that he was displaying right now, she found it slightly funny that Xander was always leaving Willow like this, and now Willow was leaving Xander like this, the tables turning on him.

"Willow's got a thang, and Xander's left hanging."

"Oh, that's meaningless drivel. I'm not interested in Willow like that."

Even though he said that, Buffy thought that she caught more than what he was saying, as if he wasn't saying something else, that even he wasn't truly aware of.

"Yeah, but you got used to being the Belle of the Ball and now you're not. She's got a new focus that isn't you, and you're jealous of that."

"No, it's just... this Malcolm guy? What's his deal? I mean, tell me you're not slightly wigged."

Buffy didn't want to admit it, but she kind of agreed with him.

"Okay, slightly. I mean, just not knowing what he's really like."

"Or who he really is. I mean, sure he says he's a high school student, but I can say I'm a high school student."

Buffy sweatdropped at Xander's logic.

"You are."

Xander chuckles nervously and could see why she was saying what she was saying.

"Okay, but I can also say that I'm an elderly Dutch woman. Get me? I mean, who's to say I'm not if I'm in the elderly Dutch chat room?"

Buffy making light of it, gives a sheepish smile.

"I get your point!" Her mind then words, and she gets his point. "I get your point. Oh, this guy could be anybody. He could be weird, or crazy, or old, or... He could be a circus freak." She panicked and thrusted her hands downwards. "He's probably a circus freak!"

Xander nods and tries to play up her paranoia to get her as worked up as he is.

"Yeah. I mean, we read about it all the time. Y'know, people meet on the 'Net, they talk, they get together, have dinner, a show, horrible ax murder."

"Willow ax murdered by a circus freak... Okay, okay, what do we do?" She then realizes her paranoia and pokes Xander in the chest. "What are we doing? Xander, you get me started! We are totally overreacting!"

"But it's fun, isn't it?"

At that moment, Michael came into view, walking across the quad.

But he wasn't alone...

He was with Jenny, laughing together. Jenny was even stroking Michael's arm, which in Buffy's eyes looked like she was trying to do something with her Warlock.

Buffy's eyes dangerously sharpened.

"W-What does that slut think she's doing!?"

She roared and hid behind a pillar, Xander joining her. The pair of them watched as they stopped outside of a fountain, conversing with one another. Though neither could hear what they were saying, Buffy was almost convinced that Jenny was trying to steal Michael away from her, and it made her look more and more pissed off, Xander was in confusion.

"W-Well, Buffy, it seems like Ms Calendar are talking about-"

"That bitch is trying to steal my man!"

Buffy growled, seeing Michael receive something from Jenny. Buffy wasn't sure what it was, but in her mind, she believed that Jenny just gave Michael a gift, and that wasn't going to fly with her at all.

"Your man...?"

Xander was in a state of perplexity, but Buffy didn't care right now. She kept her eyes on the being in front of her, Jenny.

As they watched, Buffy witnessed Jenny leaning to Michael and from her point of view, it looked like she was giving Michael a kiss, Buffy's rage growing.

"W-What in the hell is she doing!? Damn it...wait, is she...that's it! She's The Unicorn!"

Xander sighed heavily, hoping The Unicorn was gone, but it wasn't.

"Buffy..."

Xander went to touch her arm...

"Don't touch me!" She hissed out in an unnatural voice, Xander retracting his hand with a cry, Buffy tightening her hands very tightly. "Damn you Jenny Calendar, who is also Jenny from the block! That's right Unicorn, you're trying to get my Michael! Well, don't think that you will be able to get away with that, that Warlock belongs to me! I won't be losing to you, Unicorn!"

Buffy was determined, raising her fist strongly. Xander looked like he was about to cry, he wanted to run away and run away very fast at that.

At that time, Harmony walked past Buffy with Cordelia, snickering at her.

"What?"

Buffy hissed out as she clearly wasn't in the mood for something like that, Harmony blinking in surprise but then sneered at her.

"Ooh nothing at all George. Enjoy your day hehehe~"

Harmony left with Cordelia, laughing and Buffy didn't notice the unicorn sticker on Harmony's bag, too confused about what Harmony called her, turning to Xander in confusion.

"Did that bitch just call me George?"

Xander whimpered and nodded, not wanting to anger the Slayer.

The Slayer hissed in annoyance, shaking her head.

Jenny and Michael soon part from one another and Jenny walked past Buffy and Xander, smiling to herself.

"Yeah, keep smiling while you can~"

Buffy sang out dangerously, igniting fear in Xander.

Michael then felt Buffy and Xander's presence, the pair of them staring at him.

At first, he smiled at Buffy who smiled back and gestured over, but stopped when he saw Xander, frowned and walked away, to the confusion of Xander, Buffy understanding why he walked away when looking at Xander.

"Geez, what was that about?"

Xander feigned innocence, Buffy telling him anyway.

"I dunno Xander, maybe it is because of the fact that, wounds don't heal so quickly from a great friend after they've done horrible things to you? Or maybe it is the fact that you have been telling him to die over and over again when his parents keep sending Demons after him, that want to take his life? Or maybe it is because pretty much everyone abandoned him and-"

"Okay!" He yelled out in frustration, turning towards Buffy for help. "B-But what can I do to make it right? I mean, Michael is my friend. I don't wanna be, ya know, at odds all the time. The dudes saved my life before after I was being a jerk, I owe him at least."

"Yes, you do owe him Xander." Buffy said it sternly, and folded her arms. "Look, I am personally not angry at you, at least not to the level that Michael probably is, but you have to understand that not only you, but Willow and Giles all turned on him, he can't just accept that and forget it, you know? I mean, two of his oldest friends left him out in the cold essentially after everything that he had done for you, and taken from you as well. Don't expect it to be easy. If it was me, I would find it very difficult to forgive you. But Michael isn't me, and he's who he is, so I can't say anything about it. Anyway, I got to go now, speak later."

With that, Buffy ran off in the direction where Michael was going.

She caught up to him a minute later, and showed her best smile as she wrapped her arms around him.

"You didn't have to go, you know?"

"Ehe, I just don't feel comfortable with Xander right now, even more so with Giles. I mean, it is okay if I have to be there, but other than that, it just feels…"

"I know baby, I know." Buffy soothed, and gently embraced him. "It's going to take time, especially with that damn Giles. I'm still pissed at everything he said, he's gonna make it up to you, I promise you this."

"You don't have to go out of your way for anything Buffy. I mean, it's me Giles wants dead-"

"I don't care. If he wants you dead, he'll have to go through me first. If he ever says anything to you, I want to know about it, okay? Don't keep it to yourself." He turned his head away, unsure of how to answer that. Buffy dragged her fingers across his cheek, making him face her. "Okay? I want to know about it. Don't keep it to yourself, alright? I'm not having Giles speak like that to you. I don't care about anything else, just tell me if he ever threatens you again."

Michael gave in, and nodded his head.

"Okay, I will tell you about it."

A peppy smile spread across her face, and she lightly petted his face.

"Good! Now, shall we go out tonight? How about The Bronze? ...Unless you've got plans with Jenny from the block."

Buffy muttered at the end, her jealousy being as plain as day on her face, Michael not hearing it, smiling at the Slayer.

"The Bronze huh? Alright, that sounds good~"

Just as they were about to leave, Amy caught up with the pair, and gave them smiles.

"Hey Michael, can I lend that spell book from you? I wanna do some studying."

Michael's nostrils flared in confusion, then he recalled what she was talking about, and slapped himself in the head.

"Uuuuggh! I'm an idiot! I left it at Angels. I'll get it for you tonight and give it you tomorrow."

Both Buffy and Amy curiously looked at the Warlock, both wondering the same thing, though Buffy was the one to voice the confusion.

"You've been at Angel's a lot recently. You aren't like..."

She couldn't finish the sentence and imaged a scenario where Michael and Angel were together, Amy's brow narrowing in disgust, yet also arousal as well, thinking along the same lines as Buffy, but didn't want to admit it.

Shaking her body, she looked towards the Warlock, ignoring the blushing Slayer.

"It's alright, I can get it. But I don't know where Angel lives, so if you give me the address?"

"A-Are you sure?"

The Witch inclined her head in agreement.

"Yeah, it's totally fine. Actually, I find Angel funny when he looks at me in fear. Hehe, I think he might be afraid of me, though I can't understand why~"

She laughed a little loudly, Buffy and Michael sharing a look, before the Warlock quickly got out some paper and a pen, writing down Angel's address.

"Here, he lives there."

Amy took the piece of paper and put it in her bag.

"Cool, I'm gonna go there now, since school's pretty much finished, and I'll meet you at The Bronze later on?"

The Slayer and the Warlock inclined their heads, so Amy walked off towards Angels.

Michael turned towards Buffy, giving her a small smile.

"Should we go to The Bronze now?"

"Sure, it should be open, it opens early tonight. Let's get a comfy place and do things...together."

She smiled, and together, they left for The Bronze.

---

A while later, at Angel's apartment, the Vampire himself was sat down by himself, reading a book that Michael had gotten for him. Though he thought it was stupid, it was a book about how to be more social, and since he didn't have anything else to do, Angel just thought that he might as well give it a go, and he was finding it stupid, but a funny kind of stupid.

He sat there for a long time, but then a knock at his door occurred.

So, he placed the book down and strolled over to the door.

Since it was still light out, he half expected it to be Michael that turned up at his door...he was wrong.

When he opened it, he saw Amy standing there with a smile on her face.

"Hello there, Angel. Sorry to stop by unannounced, I thought that it would be okay."

Angel took an involuntary step back, fear setting within his eyes.

"A-Amy..."

He breathed out, and if his dead heart could beat, it would be racing right now.

Amy continued to smile, and looked inside of his apartment.

"Can I come in? Michael left a spell book here, and I was hoping to study it for a bit."

Angel chuckled nervously and stepped aside without a word.

Since he didn't want to anger Amy, remembering how scary she could be, he did what she wanted and allowed him entrance into his apartment.

Amy stepped in with a "Thank you." coming from her, and she looked around.

On contrary to what she thought Angel's apartment would be like, it was quite...homely, not what she was expecting, honestly.

"Wow, what a nice place you have here Angel."

"T-Thanks."

He stuttered out, Amy missing that and continued to look around.

"So Angel...that spell book, could I..."

She trailed off, Angel using his Vampire speed and appeared next to her, holding the book.

"T-There..."

Amy was surprised by the level of speed he possessed, but took the book regardless.

"Thanks Angel, you're speedy."

She regretted saying that the instant the words left her lips, but Angel didn't even really react to her words, and tossed his eyes towards the door, indicating that he wished to be alone.

"Thanks...if that's all."

Amy smiled elegantly, and walked towards the door.

"Thanks Angel, I guess I will..." She paused, and looked at the Vampire, feeling sorry for him by the way he looked right now, down and depressed. "Say Angel, this is going to sound nuts, but do you wanna come to The Bronze with me?" Angel gave her a perplexed look, so she raised her hands up defensively. "N-Not as my date or anything! Y-You just seemed lonely, so I thought that it might be cool if you come out. Everyone's going to be there, besides possibly Willow."

"Buffy and Michael, are also going to be there, right?"

Angel's tone was low, almost unnoticeable with the slight amount of pain he felt.

Amy caught the pain though, being good at reading people, smiling softly.

"Seems like you know about Michael and Buffy being, all together, even if they don't say anything or whatever they are together now, huh. You must've heard of the confession and all."

"I did. But, while it hurts, it makes sense, for them to be together. He, and she, are more suited to one another. He, can give her a normal life."

Angel's words struck a cord within Amy, and she could feel the same thing Angel felt, that's why she understood the pain Angel was in right now.

"It doesn't go away, feelings I mean." She began, off the puppy dog hurt Angel was displaying with his eyes, so moved closer to him. "You know, it hurts me too, because I have quite a huge crush on Michael. But, I can see the same thing as you, they are more suited to one another, huh."

"You're right."

Angel agreed, so Amy sat down on one of his chairs, giving him a smile.

"Well, The Bronze is kinda slow tonight anyway. Let's stay in then."

Angel's eyes widened slightly in puzzlement with the way Amy seemed to be so relaxed.

"You...want to stay here, with me?"

He was perplexed at best. He didn't expect Amy to volunteer to stay with Angel, and truthfully, he wasn't sure if he wanted to turn her away or keep her around. She was quite weird, yet he couldn't say that she didn't bring at least a little bit of amusement into his life, even if it was only a slight amusement between the two of them.

She shrugged her shoulder's, her eyes displaying a willingness to stay.

"I don't have anywhere to be tonight. We could have our own fun by watching tv..." She looked around and noticed he didn't have one, sweat dropping. "...or, maybe listening to some music?"

She added at the end, seeing a CD player in the corner of the room.

"As long as it isn't 'Hey Mickey', I detest that song."

Amy's curiosity grew, but didn't say anything about it, and went to the CD player, and saw a Barry Manilow disc there. She put the disc on, and the first song that came on, was Mandy. She snickered lightly, and looked towards the Vampire, trying her best to not laugh right in his face at the choice of music he had, not expecting him to be so...into stuff like this.

"So, you like a little Mandy huh."

Angel's eyes cast low, his expression unreadable.

"...I don't dislike the song."

He admitted as Amy couldn't hold it in, giving a laugh, which in turn made Angel feel depressed.

Seeing his face turn downwards, Amy swung her body around, slow dancing with herself, making her way towards Angel.

"Come on Mandy lover. Let's dance."

"I don't dance."

He muttered out, but then was pulled to the middle of the living room, slow dancing with Amy, very reluctantly, though they didn't touch one another, but they were close to one another.

"Now, now. Don't be a prude, and dance. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone if you suck."

She snickered as he scowled at her, but that didn't deter her to make him dance.

He reluctantly did as she asked, and danced. Though Amy thought it was awful, she didn't really care, as she was reluctant to admit it, but she had fun teasing the Vampire, and thought that she might do it again in the future.

---

The next day, in the girls locker room, Buffy and Amy were sat, talking with one another.

"So, how's it going Buffy?"

Amy began, showing her a small smile.

Buffy shrugged her shoulders.

"It's alright, I'm alright."

"I didn't mean about you…I meant about you and Michael."

Buffy froze on the spot, and began sweating nervously.

"W-Whatever do you mean?"

Her voice wrecked with nervousness, it was jittery and it was obvious that there was something going on in her voice right now, her eyes looking everywhere other than the girl that was in front of her, not wanting a confrontation.

"I mean, you've been getting closer to him right? He did, confess his love and all, so I thought that you'd be able to tell me what's going on with you two? I thought that you'd be together with him, I mean you have that sexual attraction and emotional attraction thing down, don't you?"

"Eh…eeh, yeah. I mean, he did confess and all, I thought that it would be better if we remained friends and all…it would be too complicated…"

She hoped that she was a good liar. She didn't want to seem like she was, she just wished that she didn't have to hide it, yet she respected her loves wishes and for now, she was going to keep it a secret, knowing Giles would have a field day if he found out, but she didn't care about Giles and what he felt about Michael, but she thought it would be best if it was kept on the down low.

"You don't want it to be complicated…? What does that even mean?"

Amy couldn't wrap her head around why Buffy and Michael weren't together. Even if it was something that hurt her, she'd like to know about it, and if she couldn't have him, she at least wanted Buffy to be happy with him, as she did care for Michael.

"It means…we don't want to make it complicated. And then there's you and all…"

Amy's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, not liking what she heard.

"What about me? Was it because of what I said when I was possessed?"

Buffy slowly nodded her head.

"Yes, I remember how you said you loved Michael and didn't want me to have him. Having heard him confess to me must've been tough on you."

While Buffy did want to be with Michael, she was concerned that she was going to break a friendship apart, and she didn't want to do something like that. She didn't want to break any friendships apart, she wanted to make sure that Amy was alright as well.

"Erm well…I'm not going to lie. Hearing it, did make me feel bad about it. And it made me feel foolish that I could be with him…but, I at least know that if I can't have him, you should Buffy."

"Huh? You're giving me consent?"

She was very shocked by this. She didn't expect Amy to say anything like she. Honestly, she thought that Amy might dislike her now, or even downright hate her. But she didn't, from what she was saying.

Amy nodded her head, giving a small smile.

"I get it Buffy. You might not think I do, but I do. I understand it now. You and Michael are great together. I can see it well, and he's in love with you. That's a lovely thing. If it is me you're worried about, then don't be. I love Michael, he's a sweetie, and if I can't have him, please be with him, if you love him too. He's gone through enough crap in his life, he doesn't deserve anymore, especially after finding out about all of this…I still can't believe Giles though, he surprised me."

Buffy nodded, and leaned against a locker, looking to see if anyone was listening, but couldn't see anyone.

"Yeah, it was shocking to me as well. But Michael doesn't seem to want to talk about it. I guess, he doesn't want to think badly of the others. Though, Giles went way over the line, so did Xander for that matter."

"Xander's always been kind of a jerk like that. Anything he finds threatening, and he targets it. Giles is…I don't get his bloody problem."

"I feel the same, but if Giles does do anything against Michael, then he's going to know about it."

Amy nodded, and the girls made a vow that if Giles or Xander does try and do anything, they are going to stop it. They weren't going to let anything happen to him anymore.

Buffy then turned her eyes downwards and spoke in a serious voice.

"Amy...I think Ms Calendar wants Michael."

"Hahahahahaha!" Buffy scowled at the laugh Amy released, the girl finding it ridiculous. "Hahaha, M-Ms Calendar h-has a thang for Michael? I can't believe it."

Buffy folded her arms, and sighed.

"S-She's been doing things with him..."

"L-Like what exactly?"

Amy pondered with a slight stutter, Buffy leaning backwards against the wall and explained.

"S-She's been stroking his arm, massaging his shoulders, and I swear that she tried to kiss him, but she didn't, thankfully. That bitch is trying to muscle in on Michael, and she can't be allowed to do it. S-She's too old for him!"

"Didn't you have a thing for Angel for a while?"

Buffy shot a darkened glare towards Amy.

"That's different."

"Why? Isn't Angel like 200 plus years old?"

Buffy felt tears brimming in her eyes and threatened to escape her eyes at any second.

"L-Look! This hasn't got to do with me liking Angel, which I don't anymore! This has to do with Michael and that OAP who is trying to get with my Michael! He confessed his love to me damn it! She's ancient! She makes Giles look young and he's well passed it! A-Amy! W-We've got to make sure this bitch doesn't do anything! S-She's a freaking milf or something! We've got to stop her!"

"What do you propose we do? Slay her?"

Amy's joke was took seriously by Buffy who pondered it.

"Hmmm..." As she pondered, she saw Amy looking at her strangely, so ultimately gave up on that idea. "Okay, maybe she can't be slayed. B-But she can't come onto a student, it's like against the law or something. It would be like Giles trying to come onto Michael...ugh, great, I've just gained that mental image."

"You're not the only one."

Amy looked frazzled right now with the image her mind was making of Giles and Michael.

Buffy shook her head, tightening her hands.

"O-Okay, we've got to do something about her...g-get her background history, see if she's got a criminal record for seducing her students...w-we've got to do it Amy!"

"O-Okay, calm down..."

The Witch giggled nervously, seeing the determination of the Slayer.

Buffy wasn't going to calm herself however, and allowed a single smirk to appear on her face.

"Don't worry Amy, you and I will put a stop to that woman's seductive ways, one way or another."

Amy wasn't sure what the hell was happening, but to stop herself from crying, she agreed to help Buffy.

---

As they were talking, Willow suddenly comes barging in.

"Whoa! You're the Late Girl."

Buffy noted, looking at the time.

"Like for the past few days actually."

Amy added, concerned for Willow.

"I overslept."

She spoke dismissively, ignoring the looks from the Slayer and the Witch.

"Till fifth period? Talkin' to Malcolm last night?"

Buffy gave her a look. A look that said that she was very concerned and worried about what was happening with her.

"Yeah." She nods absentmindedly, then sees Buffy's look. "What?"

Buffy shrugs as Amy looks at Willow with the same expression as Buffy is.

"Nothing."

"You're having an expression. Both of you at that."

Buffy winced, as Amy tries to soften the situation.

"We're not having any kind of expression of any kind at all. But if I was, it'd be saying, 'This just isn't like you.'"

"Not like me to have a boyfriend?"

Willow said it with hurt in her voice, Buffy being the one to speak this time.

"He's boyfriendly?"

"I don't understand why you don't want me to have this. I mean, boys don't chase me around all the time. I thought you'd be happy for me."

Willow was confused why both Buffy and Amy were like this with her. She didn't understand because she felt like Buffy could have anyone, even Amy, yet she herself wasn't as attractive as they were.

Buffy looks on, concerned for her friend.

"I just want you to be sure, we both do. To meet him face to face. In daylight, in a crowded place with some friends. I mean, take me, Michael and Amy with you. Slayer, Warlock and Witch, you'd be as safe as houses. Y'know, before you become all... obsessive."

"She's right Willow, meeting people online, is dangerous business. What if this guy is like, a stalker pervert guy that preys on the weak? We're only concerned for you and don't want you to get into a kind of trouble that you cannot get out of."

It was easy to see that Buffy and Amy were concerned for their shared friend. But Willow wasn't going to listen to them, showing an uncaring face.

"Malcolm and I really care about each other. Big deal if I blow off a couple classes."

She spoke dismissively, shaking her head.

"I thought you said you overslept."

Buffy pointed out, folding her arms.

"Malcolm said you wouldn't understand."

Willow turns and leaves in a huff, Amy and Buffy sharing a look.

"Malcolm was right."

"We've got to get to the bottom of this. This isn't like Willow."

Buffy stated, Amy furrowing her eyebrows.

"What are we gonna do?"

Amy wondered aloud, unsure of what the Slayer was going to do about this, as it wasn't supernatural as far as she knew anyway.

"I've got to go to the computer lab to see something, maybe you could go ask…I mean, if she's even…I want to know what was going on with..."

"You want me to follow Willow?"

Buffy shook her head strongly.

"I want you to find something on Calendar, if you would?"

The girl chuckled unevenly.

"A-Ah, erm...you want me to follow her?"

"Bingo. Could you? We need to make sure she's dealt with."

Amy inclined her neck in agreement, afraid on what she was going to do to Jenny.

"I don't have a problem with that, I guess. Leave it to me."

"Right, then I've got someone to talk too."

Buffy and Amy nodded at one another, and then split off from each other.

---

A little while later, in the computer lab. Buffy comes in, sees Dave and goes over to him.

"Dave?" She calls, but he's oblivious. She took her hand and waved it in front of his face. "Hey there, Dave. Anybody home?"

He jumps in his seat when she puts her hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, what do you want?"

He said it so harshly, Buffy blinked a few times, and then sighed.

"I wanted to ask you something if you have a minute."

"What is it?"

He said it dismissively, wanting to get back to what he was doing. But Buffy continued forward regardless.

"Well, you're a computer geek... genius, and, uh, I sort of have a technical problem. If I wanted to find out something about someone, i-if someone e-mailed me, could I trace the letter?"

Dave looked up from his computer, and stared blankly at the girl, said girl shivering at the sight of the boy.

"Well, you could pull up somebody's profile based on their user name."

He explained, but Buffy wasn't looking for that kind of answer.

"But they write the profile themselves, right? And so they could say anything they wanted."

"True."

He agreed with her, Buffy adopting a bright smile at her accomplishment.

"Wow! I had knowledge! Well, is there a way to find out exactly where a letter, an e-letter came from? I mean, the actual location of the computer?"

Dave puts a hand to his chin, and begins considering it.

"That's a challenge."

"Cause, you see, Willow's got this boyfriend, Malcolm, and to tell you the truth, I think..."

Dave adopts a dark frown on his face, interrupts, annoyed with the Slayer.

"Leave Willow alone."

Buffy blinked at the boy before her, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

Dave huffs, insistently shooing her away.

"That's none of your business."

Buffy blinks a few times, her mind then jumps to a conclusion.

"Dave, are you Malcolm?"

Dave turns back to the PC, and shakes his head, frustration on his face.

"Of course not."

With that, he begins to type again, confusing Buffy even more.

"Dave, what's going on?"

"Look, I'll talk to you later, okay? I've got work to do."

He was once more back to being dismissive.

She gets up and leaves, exhaling deeply.

"So do I."

Fritz watches her go as she passes him.

---

In the library, Buffy follows Giles down the stairs to the counter.

"I'm telling you, something is going on. It's not just Willow. Dave, Fritz, they're all wicked jumpy."

"Those boys aren't sparklingly normal as it is."

Giles wasn't exactly dismissively, but he didn't believe her wholeheartedly.

"Giles, trust me. Remember, you're not always the best when it comes to judgement, or do I have to remind you of what you thought and said about Michael?"

Giles' eyes turned downwards in sorrow, remembering what he had done to the blonde.

"I-I do! I-I-I really don't know how to advise you. Things involved with a computer fill me with a childlike terror. Now, if it were a nice ogre or some such I'd be more in my element. Well, I-I suppose you could, um, tail Dave, see if he's up to something."

"Follow Dave? What, in dark glasses and a trench coat? Please. I can work this out myself." She said with a small smile, but then she looks towards Giles, and furrows her eyebrows. "Say Giles, have you even spoken to Michael since everything went down?"

Giles turned his head upwards to meet her gaze, shaking his head.

"I-I haven't had the chance."

"I see. Well, when you do, you might want to mention the whole you wanting to kill him thing and how sorry you are for him."

"Listen Buffy, when I said I wanted to kill him-"

"You wanted him to die, and even had a special knife made to kill him, didn't you?" Giles couldn't refute her words, so she moved closer, and folded her arms. "Giles, I understand why you thought what you did, but you didn't need to ever go that far. And, I won't let you."

"Huh?"

Giles expressed his doubt, as Buffy furrowed her eyebrows.

"I mean, I won't let you kill him. Even if he does turn out evil, if he is ever forced evil, which he has told me could happen if he uses his dark magic, so you don't need to worry about me there, then I will turn him good. I won't let you hurt him."

She expressed it clearly to the Watcher, her eyes never wavering for even an instant.

Giles narrowed his eyes judgmentally.

"Buffy, you don't understand. The Moonglow's-"

"I don't care." She interrupted. "I don't care about other Moonglow's. Michael is not like his Mom, he's not even mean. He's never intentionally hurt someone that wasn't attacking him first. He's gentle, sweet, and lovable, despite the shit that he's had to go through. I'm telling you Giles, he's been through well more than enough, from being tortured daily, to even having to sleep with one eye open. If he was going to give into evil, don't you think he would've done it by now? But he hasn't, because he doesn't want to be evil. And he told me about his Grandmother. She was a Moonglow, and she wasn't evil. According to Willow, Xander, Amy, and even Michael himself, she was a very sweet lady, so don't judge people on their family. Because he's predisposed to being evil, doesn't mean that he is evil. It is the same with Angel. He's a Vampire with a soul, he has a Demon in him, but his soul holds him back, it is the same with Michael. His soul stops his inner darkness from coming through. And if I ever hear you threaten him in anyway, or I hear you've tried to kill him, then…even I don't know what I'm going to do."

Buffy wasn't threatening Giles. She was only making sure that the Watcher didn't do anything to the guy she loved. She wouldn't hurt anyone, like she knew Michael wouldn't either. She wanted to show Giles how mad she could get if someone was going to hurt Michael, Giles or whoever that would try and harm her love.

---

After school, outside of the school building, Dave gets into his car, starts it and drives off.

Buffy was hiding behind a tree, wearing dark glasses and a dark coat as she watches him go. She lift's up the glasses, as if she was doing sleuthing. She tipped her hat that she was wearing, as if she was going to do something important.

"Buffy, why do I have to wear this?"

Michael comes out, wearing cat ears, a tail attached to the back of his jeans, and whiskers drawn on his face. He even had to wear a shirt that says 'I Love Cats' in huge letters, inside of a love heart on the shirt, the shirt itself being a reddish colour.

Buffy blushed a storm on her face upon seeing him, and licked her lips with lust.

"Hehehe, we need to be conspicuous."

She giggled dirtily, Michael showing a frown.

"But you're wearing the hat, dark coat and dark glasses."

"Well, we only had the budget for one of these. But we had that for you, so we decided that you'd wear that. Sorry baby, but that's how it goes."

Michael's face fell into dissatisfaction as Buffy's rose in assurance and victory as well.

"W-Why can't we swap then?"

Buffy snorted with a ludicrous gaze for her boyfriend.

"Because I got these first, you will just have to wear that outfit, you know? It's fine, no one will think a boy would wear something like that, so they won't know it is you."

Her trying to relieve his worries didn't do it for him, propel his eyes at the ground with depression on his face.

"Great, a wound to my masculinity."

He grumbled in malaise, his icy blue eyes decreasing in size.

Buffy could see the inner turmoil, and patted his face.

"Don't show such a face. You're cute, and I love cute. Now stop complaining because we're going to need to go."

Even though she said it with a no nonsense stare, he wasn't going to let it go.

"This isn't even fair, you're not even dressed as anything that I like. I'm not exactly into the Sherlock look."

Buffy snickered and walked closer, running a finger over his chest, showing a pout on her lips.

"But kitty Michael is a cute Michael…"

"E-Even if that's the case…" Buffy whined adorably, he couldn't resist her, and sighed in acceptance. "Fine, let's go, I'll keep this shit on. I guess I will have to go with Buffy, but Buffy has to do something for me as well..."

Buffy rolls her eyes and mutters "Don't think so~" as they run off together, following the car.

---

The place Buffy and Michael ended up was the CRD building, and they went around to the loading dock in back.

Dave drives up and gets out, walking towards someone that appeared to be a technician.

Outside of the fence, Buffy and Michael were looking in. They see Dave go up to a technician and start talking to him. After a moment Dave and the technician go inside, Michael and Buffy share a small look.

"This building…"

"CRD…ugh, I know that it used to be a company, but I think it shut down like two years ago or something?"

Michael recalled the best he could, but Buffy pointed forward.

"Does that look like its shut down?"

Michael shrugged his shoulders, attempting to come to terms with what he was seeing right now.

"It does seem weird…I guess we'll have to do something about it. But what are we going to do?"

"We'll meet up with the guys tomorrow and talk about it. This isn't normal."

"True enough. Meeting the others would be…"

Buffy saw the confliction in his eyes, grabbing him by the shirt, and gave him a small kiss, a soothing kiss to show how much she cares for him.

"Don't worry, I won't let them say anything. If Giles says anything, then he'll deal with me. I'll knock him out."

She attempted a joke, and it made Michael feel warm in his chest that she'd joke about something like this.

"Hehe, it seems like I am relying on you a lot lately…it is unlike me."

He didn't like the foreignness of the concept of relying on someone. He never had a chance to do something like that before. He always had to look after himself. But now, he had Buffy and he wasn't sure what was acceptable to rely on her for, and what wasn't.

"Well, welcome to the world of relationships, it's a partnership my dear boy. Like I'm gonna be relying on you, you can rely on me as well. But as I said, don't worry about the others. You have me now, leave them to me. Besides, there are things you can do for me if you really want to my sexy Michael~"

He smirks as he releases a soft "Meow~" in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. He gives her neck a small kiss as he winds his arms around her frame, pulling her closer and closer to his body, something he loved doing now.

"Stuff like that~?"

Buffy melts on the spot, her head barely able to nod itself.

"Y-Yes, like that…definitely like that…always like that. N-Now, what do you want to do…?" Michael gets close to her ear, whispers as a bright blush appears across her face. "Y-You really are bad. I'm gonna have to punish you for that."

"Ooh Buffy punishment, I can hardly wait~"

Buffy giggles, and pushes him against the fence, giving her assertiveness in full force as she presses her lips against his, sinking into their love. She pushed Jenny out of her mind for the moment, and trusted that Michael wouldn't do anything with her, even if she seemed to have the hot's for him. She could feel like Michael wouldn't want someone like Jenny by the way that he had his hands on her body.

What Buffy and Michael weren't privy to is that a security camera was spying on Buffy and Michael which was transmitting to Fritz's PC at school. It stops on Buffy and Michael and pulls in for a close-up, seeing them making out. By now, Michael was forced against the fence by Buffy's superior strength, his hands running up and down her back, her hands resting just above his butt on his lower back, rubbing soothingly.

"They are too close. What do I do?"

On the monitor, the words "Kill them." appear in letters that were very strong.

Fritz's face turns upwards into a dark smile, his eyes shining with the thirst for murder and mayhem.

"Party."

---

End chapter!

So, this chapter shows the relationship of Buffy and Michael moving onto the first stages of a romantic relationship, where they literally can't keep their hands off each other, and the start the episode as well, with of course my own spin on it. Even Amy and Angel are becoming somewhat closer, and there's a good reason for that, which is gonna be established as the story goes on. But what's going on between Michael and Jenny? Buffy has even involved Amy, what's gonna happen from there!? Until next time!