Will stepped out of the misty rain of an early Monday morning, before he had to make it to work. The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled The Lima Bean, and his eyes landed on Terri, right where he knew she'd be, with a latte at her table and a small, square piece of paper in her hands, smiling serenely. He tensed when he saw her, and strode forth, taking an uninvited seat at her table. Terri's blue eyes flitted up to him from the note she was holding.

"Will," she said, surprised.

"We have to talk," he replied, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead.

She looked back down at her note and folded it in half, keeping it pressed in her hand.

"About what?"

"You know what. Halloween."

Terri rolled her eyes. "That? Aren't you over that? Bryan's gone and your slayer is fine."

"Yeah, no thanks to you. You almost killed her, Terri."

"And you want me to beg for your forgiveness?" she snorted, "Never gonna happen, Will."

"I want to know why," said Will, "I know that I'm not your favorite person, Terri, but Buffy? What has she ever done to you?"

Terri pursed her lips. "It's not about Buffy, Will. I was just doing what I had to."

"What you had to do? Terri, what does that mean?" he asked, beginning to get impatient, "Where did you get those powers? Terri, answer me."

Terri grinned back at her note and traced a manicured finger over it. "I don't think so."

"What?"

"It's none of your business, Will."

"None of my business? That was my slayer you almost killed!"

"The slayer's going to die sooner or later, Will. Really, what's the life expectancy? Twenty? Twenty five? How old was poor Lizzy Martin?"

Will wanted to pound his fist on the table when she brought up that name, but he didn't want to make a scene. "Stay away from Buffy," he said, through gritted teeth.

"Now, now, Will. It's best not to get too attached. They never last long," shrugged Terri.

Will sat back in his chair, knowing that Terri wasn't about to give him the information he wanted. "What is that?" he asked, nodding at the folded note she was twirling in her hands.

She smiled, and gingerly handed it over. Will unfolded it, and read the blotchy writing. Dear Terri, Thanks for all your trouble. Schuester won this battle, but not the war. This isn't the last you've seen of me. Bryan Ryan. Will looked back up at Terri, who was blissfully smiling at the note.

"He's kind of a romantic, you know," said Terri, taking the note back and slipping it into the pocket of her jeans.

"You've gotta be kidding me. You like him?"

Terri sighed and brought her latte to her lips, staring into the distance. "The heart wants what the heart wants."

xxx

"Wait, so Quinn Fabray is a witch?"

"Sure, but a good witch. I guess. I mean, she hasn't done anything evil since sophomore year," explained Buffy, walking through the sparsely populated halls of McKinley High in her Cheerios uniform and wasting time with Sam Evans.

"She used to be evil?" asked Sam.

"More or less. She set stuff on fire. It was like her thing. She's okay now, I think," shrugged Buffy.

"What about the others?"

"They're just regular teenagers," shrugged Buffy, "Most demons and vampires choose to not go to high school. Like Santana."

"Santana is a demon?"

"Vampire. And don't talk so loud," Buffy hissed.

"But, you kill vampires."

"Sure, but Santana has a soul. Trust me, if she didn't, I'd have some slaying to do."

"Are you going slaying tonight?" Sam asked curiously.

"Yeah, I should, after cheerleading practice."

Sam shook his head and smiled, amused. "You know, I like having a girlfriend with such versatile hobbies."

Buffy stopped in her tracks, her sneakers squeaking against the linoleum. "Girlfriend?"

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? I mean... aren't you?"

Buffy sighed and grabbed her backpack handles. "It's not that I don't like you..."

"But?"

"I'm a slayer. The one time I went on a date in the past year, the guy was almost killed."

"Right, okay, but I know all about it now. I can prepare myself. I can be apart of the scooby gang."

Buffy rolled her eyes and grinned. "I should never have told you about the scooby gang. Rachel and Tina risk their lives all the time. So do the others. They're close to death all the time. Too close for comfort."

"So why can't I be? I can help. I'm helpful."

Buffy shook her head. "Can we talk about this later?"

"Fine," Sam sighed, and followed her into the choir room, where Will was hunched over music sheets spread out on top of the grand piano, beads of sweat dripping off of his brow.

"Buffy, good," he said, "I wanted to talk to you about Halloween. Um..."

Will eyed Sam, and glanced back at Buffy, giving her a knowing look.

"Oh, it's okay. You can talk in front of Sam. He knows."

"Sam knows?" Will asked, looking at Sam with surprise, "How?"

"I kind of turned into a Disney prince at Halloween and then watched Buffy beat up a vampire, so..." explained Sam.

"Right," Will nodded, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his sleeve and wheezing, "Well... Sam, Buffy is the Chosen One, and... she is sworn to secrecy..."

Will stopped and coughed into his balled fist.

"Are you okay, Mr. Schuester?" asked Sam, "You look like you caught the flu."

"I guess I did," Will replied, beads of sweat dripping off of his head.

"Yeah," Buffy backed away a little, looking disgusted, "You should go home."

"We have to talk about Hallo-"

"Will, we can do slayer stuff when you get better," Buffy put her hand over her mouth and nose, "Just take the day off. You're looking green."

"Yeah, I think there's something going around," shrugged Sam.

Buffy nodded in agreement. "Quinn didn't come in today, either."

xxx

Quinn balled her fists nervously and walked into St. Rita's Medical Centre. This was the last place she saw her daughter. The only place. She didn't know why she chose today, of all days. She just knew that she couldn't handle it anymore. Now that she knew what the pangs meant, the ones that told her whenever her child was performing witchcraft, she had to find out where she was. How could a five month old infant use magic?

She stepped in to the receptionist of the hospital's obstetrics ward and sighed, her stomach tumbling. She didn't have any time to do the legal dance and only be told that the hospital's adoption records were confidential. She smiled pleasantly at the receptionist, her name tag reading 'Arlene'.

"Hi, Arlene," Quinn smiled, "You're going to go to your computer and look through your adoption records for a baby named Beth, and you're going to tell me who adopted Beth and where that family lives. When I leave, you're going to forget that I was ever here."

Arlene nodded submissively, her eyes glazing over at the power of Quinn's words, and went to the computer at her side, searching through files that Quinn couldn't see.

"The most recent Beth was four years ago," Arlene said in a drone-like voice.

Quinn shook her head. "I'm looking for a baby born in June of this year... Given away by the birth parents."

Arlene looked through more records, in a trance. "Baby Fabray."

"Yes," Quinn asked, excited.

"Baby Fabray was adopted on June 8th," said Arlene.

Quinn furrowed her brow. That was the day she was born. How could Beth be adopted on her birthday? Didn't adoptions take longer than that?

"By who?" Quinn asked anxiously.

"Shelby Corcoran."

Quinn stopped breathing for a moment. Shelby Corcoran, the Vocal Adrenaline coach? Shelby Corcoran, Rachel Berry's mother?

"Wh-Where do they live?" asked Quinn.

"Unlisted."

Quinn blinked. "You let a woman adopt a baby and you don't even know where she lives?"

Arlene stared at her computer screen, the spellbound woman unsure of how to respond.

"Whatever," Quinn sighed, "Don't worry, I'll find her."

xxx

"She-Mantis?"

"She-Mantis," Buffy nodded and smiled at her cafeteria tray.

Explaining the world of the supernatural to Sam Evans never got old. He was so impossibly interested and immersed in her world that she couldn't help but feel flattered. Even recounting tales of man-eating insect humanoid creatures made her feel somehow glamorous.

"We shouldn't talk about this stuff in the cafeteria," said Rachel, who sat beside them, looking around at their surroundings, as hordes of other teenagers flooded in for their lunch.

"Turns out She-Mantises only eat virgins," Buffy shrugged, popping a tater tot into her mouth.

"Buffy, shush," Rachel scolded, "Finn's virtue is not up for public discussion."

Buffy rolled her eyes with a smile. "She's probably right."

"Right," Sam nodded, and tucked into his tater tots, "How do you deal with it all, though? Training and hunting and school and everything else."

"Honestly, it's tough. Sometimes I think I'm gonna go crazy from it all, but it always works out. I have my ways of unwinding."

"You mean, like, yoga?" asked Sam.

"More like bad Bollywood movies. Glee club. Oreos dunked in-"

"-apple juice?" interrupted a familiar voice, "Or are you over that phase?"

Buffy, Rachel and Sam looked up at the tall, dark-haired boy standing at the end of their cafeteria table and blinked at his friendly face until she realized who he was.

"Ford?!" said Buffy, excited and disbelieving as she leapt from her seat and pulled the boy into an embrace.

"Buffy Summers, how've you been?" smirked Ford, his dark hair gelled into short spikes.

"Oh my God, what are you doing here?" asked Buffy, a wide smile spreading across her face as Sam dropped a tater tot onto his tray and watched them, his full lips pursed into a tight frown.

"Matriculating," said Ford, pulling away from the hug, his hands still clasped with Buffy's.

"Huh?" she asked.

"I'm finishing out my senior year here at Lima," he smiled, as Sam's eyes lingered on their hands, still clasped together, "Dad got transferred."

"This is great!"

"Glad you think so. I didn't think you'd remember me," Ford smirked.

"Remember you? Duh! We only went to school together for seven years. You were my giant fifth grade crush," Buffy smiled ear to ear.

"So I take it that you two know each other," Sam finally intercepted, pushing his cafeteria tray away as Rachel watched with rapt interest.

"Oh," Buffy exclaimed, glancing back at them, "I'm sorry, um, this is Ford. Billy Fordham, these are my friends, Sam and Rachel."

"Hi," Sam faked a grin, inwardly cringing at the word 'friend' as Buffy and Ford took a seat at the table.

"Ford and I went to Hemery together in LA," Buffy explained, "And now you're here. For real?"

"Dad got the transfer," shrugged Ford, "And boom, he just took me out of Hemery and moved me down here."

"So you two were an item in the fifth grade?" asked Rachel, smirking knowingly as she removed the lid from her pot of Greek yogurt.

"Not even," Buffy rolled her eyes, "Ford wouldn't give me the time of day."

"Well, I was a manly sixth grader. I couldn't be bothered with someone that young," said Ford.

"I moped over you for months. It was pathetic. Sitting in my room listening to that Divinyls song, 'I Touch Myself'... Of course, I had no idea what it was about," Buffy blushed, "Hey, are you busy tonight? We're going to the Bronze-"

"I thought you had to train tonight," Sam said quickly, "...For cheerleading. Cheerleading practice."

Buffy shrugged and tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear. "I can skip it. Ford, you have to come with us."

"I'd love to," said Ford, glancing at Sam, "But, if you guys already had plans, would I be imposing?"

"Only in the literal sense," sighed Sam.

"Okay then," Ford shrugged and stood back up, "I have to go to the admissions office. Get my papers in order."

"Well, I'll take you there and I'll see you guys in Spanish," said Buffy, standing up and linking her arm around Ford's, when the static-y intercom sounded.

"Buffy Summers to Mr. Schuester's office," said a female voice.

"Oh," Buffy said, disappointed, "Well, I guess I'll see you later, Ford."

"I'll come with you," Sam stood up, until Buffy waved her hand dismissively.

"It's okay, Sam," she smirked, "I can make it on my own."

Sam sat back down, clearly disappointed, as Buffy and Ford left the cafeteria together. Rachel blinked at the blond boy, her eyes darting between him and the exiting duo.

"Sam," she cleared her throat, "You should note that I don't regularly register the problems of others. My hectic schedule doesn't allow a lot of time for empathy."

"Sure."

"But I kind of get the feeling that you don't like Ford."

Sam sighed, and looked back into his tater tots. "Of course not. I just met the guy."

"Of course, of course," Rachel nodded, "But I've been on the blogosphere, Sam, and I know that you and Buffy are currently an unlabeled item. Everyone knows about your all hallow's eve kiss. Since you're in the romantic realm and still not labelling your relationship, it's understandable that you'd be jealous of anyone who poses a threat to that potential union."

"Okay, does this psychoanalyzing have anything to do with Ms. Pillsbury's new elective?" Sam frowned.

"Couples' Therapy For Beginners?" Rachel raised an eyebrow, "Perhaps the class opened my eyes a little to the complexities of relationships, but the wisdom I share isn't anything that wasn't already there."

"Thanks, Rachel, really, but me and Buffy don't need couples' therapy. We're not even really a couple. We're just taking things slow. Seeing what happens."

Rachel nodded. "I completely understand. Taking it slow. Observing the possible outcomes."

"Exactly," Sam nodded in agreement.

"And I can imagine how distressing it must be to know that one possible outcome is that Buffy gets tired of you and begins a relationship with Ford - someone she clearly already knows, trusts and is attracted to."

Sam blinked in confusion. "I'm going to leave now."

"Sam, I know it's a confusing time," said Rachel as Sam lifted his tray and rose from the table, "But every couple needs a little management."

"Right," said Sam, and walked away.

"Sam, wait!" Rachel called after him, "I'm thinking about starting a counseling practice!"

xxx

Buffy felt a little lighter in her tennis shoes as she walked to Mr. Schuester's office. Ford coming back was a pleasant surprise, and his presence felt like a little slice of home. Not that Lima wasn't her home now, but of course LA held a lot of nostalgia for her. Her life before the mess of slayer-dom. When she wasn't the Chosen One. When she was just Buffy.

"Schue, you wanted me-" Buffy said, slipping into Will's office and stopping abruptly when she saw that Will wasn't sitting at his desk, but a woman, tall, blond and dressed in a sleek black sweater and skirt.

"You must be Buffy," she smiled coyly, rising from her seat at Will's desk and extending her hand, "Holly Holliday."

Buffy shook the woman's thin hand. "Um, hi?"

Holly Holliday leaned against the desk and smirked. "I know what you're thinking. Who's the blond, and where's my watcher?"

"Um-"

"Don't worry about it, Buffy Summers," Holly smiled, "I know what I'm doing. You probably know that Mr. Schuester unfortunately has the monkey flu."

"I'm sorry, monkey flu?"

"Mm hm," Holly nodded, "Monkey flu. Pretty rare. Almost unheard of, but hey, it happens, am I right?"

"I guess so," Buffy blinked, "I'm sorry, but who are you again?"

"Good question," Holly nodded approvingly, "Holly Holliday, substitute watcher."

"You're my substitute watcher? How long is Mr. Schuester going to be gone?"

"Who knows, kid? It's the monkey flu. Just hope he ever comes back."

"What?"

"I'm totally kidding," Holly shook her head, "He'll come back in a week, tops. Still, the Watcher's Council can't afford an untrained slayer, even for a little bit. You know they have that whole Master Sue Sylvester thing on file? Freaky, right? Don't want to be ill-prepared for that kind of thing, amiga."

"No, I guess not," Buffy folded her arms, "But, I mean, it's not like I've never gone a week without training."

"Seriously?" Holly raised an eyebrow, "The Dub-C; that's what I call the Watcher's Council; they seemed pretty narc-y about me training you at least every second day."

"Well, from what I know, not a lot of other slayer's went to high school, so you could say I'm a pretty unique case. In between school and cheerleading practice and helping my mom with her gallery, it doesn't leave me a lot of time for training," Buffy shrugged casually.

"When you put it like that, it sounds pretty hectic. Lord knows I couldn't do it," Holly chuckled.

Buffy smiled. "So you won't mind if I don't train tonight? I mean, I'd totally love to more than anything, but I have a new friend in town, and socializing is just as important part of adolescence as, like, school, and health."

Holly blinked, and smiled widely. "Totally. Yeah. Work hard, play harder, right?"

"Exactly," Buffy grinned.

"Play away, hombre," Holly waved, "Is that right? Hombre? I don't know, I'm not a qualified Spanish teacher. The Watcher's Council had to forge a lot of certifications."

xxx

"I'm sorry, but we don't have that on file," shrugged a gray-haired receptionist.

Quinn sighed, irritated, and looked back at her surroundings. Carmel High was a whole lot nicer than McKinley, with its polished floors and wide, clean hallways. No one was throwing slushies at people's faces, so that was nice. For a public school. Still, no one was telling her what she wanted to hear, and all of the bowls of potpourri in the world weren't going to make her feel better.

"And you have no idea where she could have gone?" Quinn asked, leaning against the receptionist's wooden desk as few students milled around behind her through the hall, and a couple of them sitting, waiting to be called into the principal, "She just up and left? Quit her job and skipped town?"

The receptionist nodded. "I'm sorry," she said, looking both bored and irritated.

"Oh, come on. She didn't have any teacher friends who she gave her new address? She's just a big recluse?"

The receptionist sighed and rolled her blue eyes behind her horn-rimmed glasses. "Ms. Corcoran wasn't a social creature. I'm sorry, miss, but there's nothing I can do for you, now I have to take this call," she said, and picked up the phone, swivelling a few feet away in her desk chair to talk privately.

Quinn's shoulders drooped in frustration as she turned around, ready to leave.

"Looking for Shelby Corcoran?" asked a girl with red hair, sitting at a cotton padded chair and flicking through a dated gossip magazine.

"Yes," Quinn said, hope flickering in her heart.

"Well, you won't find her around here," she said, setting down the magazine and looking up at Quinn, "She left Vocal Adrenaline to start a family."

"I heard," Quinn said, perking up, "Do you know where I can find her?"

"No," the girl shook her head, "But I know someone who might be able to."

"Who?" asked Quinn, getting excited.

"Do you know a guy named Jesse St. James?"

xxx

It was one of the few times that Buffy had the opportunity to make it to Lima's only nightclub for teens, The Bronze, but it was maybe one of the best times. Having all of her friends in one place - well, most of her friends - felt good. Even if Rachel was lecturing Mike and Tina on the importance of keeping the excitement alive and Sam was sulking by the bar with a diet coke, Buffy was having a good time.

"Ford, you made it," she smiled happily as she watched Ford play pool at the pool table, with Kurt and Blaine watching intently. Boy, Kurt's Warbler friend looked familiar.

"Buffy, Ford was just telling us about the fourth grade beauty contest. Swimsuit competition?" Kurt waggled his eyebrows as Blaine shyly turned away, sipping his virgin daiquiri.

"Oh my God, Ford, stop that!" Buffy blushed, smiling widely, "The more people you tell, the more people I have to kill."

"Can't touch me, Summers," Ford smirked, "I know all your darkest secrets."

"I'm gonna go get a drink," said Buffy, "Ford, try not to talk."

Buffy moved to the bar, ready for something sugary, and stood close next to Sam.

"Hey," she greeted with a smile, "Having fun?"

"Mm hm," nodded Sam, his eyes flickering back and forth to Ford.

"What'd you do today?" asked Buffy.

"Nothing," said Sam, his attention on Buffy's old friend.

"Nothing at all? You ceased to exist?"

"What? No. I just... avoided Rachel. She kept trying to give me couple advice."

Buffy blushed. "Well, I'll talk to her about it... Look, why don't you come over and hang out with the rest of us? You look lonely over here."

Sam sighed and reluctantly followed Buffy to the pool table.

"Ford, you remember Sam," said Buffy.

"Uh, yeah," Ford nodded, looking Sam up and down.

"Sam, do you want to play pool?" asked Kurt, "I don't, but I'm sure Blaine will. He's just disappeared somewhere..."

"Oh, I don't know," Rachel warned, turning away from an uncomfortable Mike and Tina, "Is it really a good idea to put Sam and Ford in anymore competition?"

Buffy blushed and gave Rachel a disapproving glare. "It's getting a little crowded in here. Ford, do you want to take a walk?"

"Sure," sighed Ford, setting down his pool stick.

"Okay, guys, I'll see you tomorrow," Buffy nodded, and led Ford out of the Bronze.

"Night," Sam said awkwardly as they passed.

Kurt sighed. "Okay. Once more with tension," he smirked as they left.

"He just moved here?" asked Tina.

"Uh huh," Sam nodded bitterly, "He moves fast."

Buffy and Ford strolled down the side of the Bronze together, the cold air and the silence giving Buffy a little bit of room to breath and shake away the tense feeling.

"So, is Sam your boyfriend?" asked Ford.

"No. Uh, yeah. Maybe. Can we lay off the tough questions for a while?"

"Sorry," Ford shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, "So, what else do you do for fun around here?"

Buffy looked up as she heard an ominous sound of crashing. "Um, my purse! I left my purse at the Bronze. Could you get it for me?"

"Uh, okay."

"Good. Run. Thanks!" she said hastily, and ran in the direction of the sound as Ford disappeared in the distance.

Great, Buffy thought as she turned the corner on a vampire attacking a defenseless girl, And the worst timing award goes to... Ford was coming any minute and she didn't have time for some fancy moves, or even a pun. Buffy made haste and kicked some vampire ass, textbook slayer style.

"What's going on?" she heard, and whipped around to face Ford, just seconds after dusting a vamp.

"Um, there was a cat!" she said quickly, worried that Ford may have seen something, "Um, and then there was another cat. Then they fought. The cats. And then they left."

Ford nodded. "Oh. I thought you were slaying a vampire."

Buffy blinked. "Whating a what?"

"I know, Buffy," Ford smirked, "You don't have to lie. I've been trying to figure out the right time to tell you. I know you're the slayer."

xxx

Under the moonlight, Quinn eyed up a tall mausoleum, thankful that she'd stopped at the house to change. There was no way she could have climbed this crypt in a day dress. She hauled herself up, lodging her feet into stony carvings. Like any normal person, Quinn got the creeps from graveyards at night, but something about this garden of death was soothing to Santana.

"What are you doing here, Fabray?" sighed Santana, laying on her back on the surface of the crypt and staring at the blue-ish black sky.

"Am I not welcome?" Quinn sighed, and took an awkward seat on the edge of the flat, stone roof.

Santana turned on her side, resting her head in her hand. "Nope."

"Too bad. I have to talk to you."

Santana rolled her eyes. "You and your problems. I never get a moment's peace."

"I went to the hospital today," said Quinn, looking at her hands.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was trying to find information about Beth's adoption."

"Oh, Quinn," Santana sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

"I need to know Santana, and you said you'd support me."

"That was before I knew you were actually going to find the baby. Quinn, this can't end well."

"Then you'll be happy, because I didn't find anything. I could, though. If I wanted to. Jesse St. James can help me."

"Who?"

"He was a student of Shelby Corcoran's, the woman who adopted Beth. Apparently he's the only one who knows where she lives. I got his number today, from a girl who goes to Carmel. All I have to do is make a phone call."

"So why don't you?"

Quinn shrugged. "I don't know. I feel like I'm waiting for something to happen first. I just don't know what."

"Nothing to wait for, Lucy Q. No one's going to tell you whether this is right or not. It's something you're going to have to find out yourself."

Quinn sighed. "Can you just tell me what to do?"

"What am I, the fountain of knowledge? I can't tell you what to do, Q, you're a big girl."

"But you don't think it's a good idea?"

"No," Santana shook her head, "I don't. I mean, what do you think is going to happen? This lady isn't going to give you back your baby. Chances are that she won't even let you visit. She'll slam the door on your face. You need to try and work towards something that you can have. Get yourself a boy toy."

"I don't want a boy toy," Quinn wrinkled her nose.

"Fine," Santana rolled her eyes, "A boyfriend. A big monogamous, abstinent commitment."

"Santana, I don't want a boyfriend. I want my baby."

"Not your baby, Quinn. I'm sorry, but it's not."

Quinn sighed, and looked out at the sea of gravestones. "So, what? A boy is supposed to fix all of my problems?"

"No, but they help, don't they?"

"Not usually," smirked Quinn.

"Well, maybe not the jerks you've been dating."

Quinn narrowed her eyes at her friend. "Finn and Puck weren't jerks. I mean, Puck had questionable morals, but his intentions are usually good. And Finn is a good guy. Always has been."

"Oh yeah? Even when he kissed Berry behind your back?"

"It was one time," Quinn grimaced, "Twice, maybe."

"Once a jerk, always a jerk."

"That's not fair."

"And what is?"

Quinn breathed in the night air. "I'm going to think about calling Jesse some more. I'll sleep on it, okay?"

Santana rolled over onto her back again and stared at the endless sky. "Okay."

xxx

"Just like that? He told you?" asked Tina, laying on her bed that night with her cell phone held up to her head, with Buffy on the other line.

"Just like that," said Buffy, "He said he found out after I got booted from Hemery."

"Wow. It's cool. Is it cool?"

"Yeah, I guess it is. I don't have to constantly worry that he's going to find out my dark secret. It just makes everything easier."

"I guess that's how you feel about Sam knowing, too. Right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, totally."

"Buffy?"

"Yeah?"

"What's going on between you and Sam?"

"Nothing. We're friends. What are you talking about?"

"I saw you guys kissing on Halloween. I'm sure everyone knows about it. Now that he knows, you two are free to be a couple. So why aren't you?"

Buffy sighed wearily on the other end. "It's complicated, Tina. You know that. With great power comes great responsibility blah blah blah."

"Well, if that's how you really feel. If you want, I could do the Rachel schtick and tell you exactly what I think about you and Sam."

"Please don't."

"Didn't think so," Tina smirked, "Just be careful, okay? Sam really likes you."

"I know," sighed Buffy, "Talk to you tomorrow?"

"See you," said Tina, and hung up the phone as she heard a knock on her window.

Tina looked up and squinted at the window, surprised to see that Sam had climbed onto her miniature balcony. Tina rushed to open the balcony doors and let him in.

"Sam, what are you doing here?" she asked.

Sam sighed and settled into his surroundings, the dark Victorian theme of Tina's room feeling a little foreign.

"I don't mean to intrude. I hope this isn't innapropriate."

"No, it's fine," she shrugged, "My parents aren't very strict."

"Okay, cool," Sam nodded, "I wanted to talk to you. I need help."

"Homework help?" asked Tina.

"No. Computer help. I need you to track someone down."

"Oh, great," nodded Tina, taking a seat at her dark cherry wood computer desk, "What are you looking for?"

"Records, affiliates... I'm not really sure what I'm looking for yet," said Sam, leaning over Tina's shoulder as she opened her laptop.

"What's the name?" she asked.

"Billy Fordham."

Tina cringed, and turned back to Sam in her seat. "Sam, can I say something you may not want to hear?"

"You're gonna tell me that I'm jealous," Sam nodded.

"It kind of looks that way," Tina said, as she idly typed into her computer.

"I never used to be," Sam shrugged, taking a seat on the edge of her bed, "I guess I never worried about what girls thought of me. Then she comes along. So yeah, I guess I'm jealous, but I'm also good at reading people. Something tells me that this guy is up to no good."

"Okay," shrugged Tina, researching on the laptop, "But if there isn't anything weird- Wait, that's weird."

"What?"

"I just checked the school records, and he's not in them. Usually they transfer your grades and information, but he's not even registered."

"What's up with that?" Sam raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know," Tina said, glancing at the time, "Look, it's getting late. I'll keep researching, and if I find anything, I'll tell you tomorrow."

"Okay, fine. Just don't tell Buffy about this."

"You want me to lie to her?" Tina raised an anxious eyebrow.

"Just don't bring it up until we know what's going on."

"Okay," Tina agreed, "It's probably nothing."