"You think you know...what you are...what's to come. You haven't even begun." 'Restless, Buffy the Vampire Slayer'

Prologue:

Tess, Monica and Andrew stood overlooking a small Southern Californian suburb called Sunnydale. For right now, no one could see the three Angels and they all seemed to bathe in a golden light.

"Tess, why are we here?" Monica, the young red head asked. She looked at her supervisor Tess fearfully. Monica sensed an incredible evil nearby.

Tess gazed at Monica with her large brown eyes before explaining her newest assignment. "Oh, Angel baby. This is going to be one of our hardest assignments yet. There's a young women in that town fighting the forces of darkness. She is called the Slayer. One girl in all of the world who is Chosen to fight vampires and every other demon that the Devil puts on this earth."

"Why does she need my help, Tess? And why is Andrew here?"

"In answer to your second question, Angel girl, Andrew is here because Buffy, that's your assignment, faces death every time she fights. The next demon she faces could be her last. Buffy needs you to lead her to God. She fights on the Father's side but has no idea who the source of her power is." Tess stroked Monica's hair, knowing how difficult the assignment would be. They had all faced the Devils Angels, but never to this extent.

Andrew finally spoke up. As the Angel of Death, he had to bring the children of God Home when they died. "If Buffy dies, it will be Hell on earth, Monica. She has to realize that it was God who chose her to fight the demons, or she will never defeat the newest foe. It is essential that Buffy accept God into her heart for salvation before she fights her next big battle. You see Sunnydale sits on the top of a Hellmouth. It's a kind of portal between our world and the demon dimension. There are many creatures of the night who want to open the Hellmouth and destroy the earth."

Monica gasped in disbelief. She new that demons were heartless but to destroy the world? It was just impossible to understand. And the Maker wanted her to help this girl? How could she ever do this? Monica looked to the Heavens and prayed. 'Father, I know this is something You want me to do. Lord, how can I help this girl? What can I do?'

Monica tilted her head, listening to something no one else could hear. When she received her answer, Monica smiled slightly in relief. "Ok Tess, Andrew. When do I start?"

"Tomorrow morning, Angel girl. Buffy is a student at U.C. Sunnydale. Her Psychology professor was recently killed and you will serve as the replacement teacher. There is a young man named Riley Finn. He will be your TA. Riley and Buffy have been seeing each other for the past few months. I will be assigned to him. Andrew will be assigned to Buffy's mother, Joyce." Tess replied.

With that, the three Angels disappeared into thin air.

Part 1:

Buffy Summers did not sleep well that night. As the Slayer, she occasionally dreamed of rather nasty things. Defender against things that went bump in the night, Buffy usually had nightmares that she tried to forget in the morning. Unfortunately, this was one of those dreams that wouldn't let go. When Buffy awoke in her dorm room that Wednesday morning, she was confused about the meaning of the dream. 'Golden glowing people? I've really got to cut back on the midnight snacks' Buffy thought with a sigh.

She looked over to where her best friend, Willow Rosenberg, was sleeping. Buffy admired Willow so much. She had been through everything the past three and a half years, and she kept fighting alongside Buffy. Buffy always thought that her friends Willow and Xander were more heroic than they ever gave themselves credit for. After all, Buffy had to fight the forces of darkness. They did not.

Willow slowly opened her eyes, sensing that Buffy was watching her. Rubbing her eyes sleepily, Willow sat up and smiled at Buffy. "Morning." She said to her blonde friend. "Sleep well?"

Buff shrugged. For some reason, she didn't feel like sharing last nights nocturnal mind movie with Willow at the moment. "Slept ok, I guess. I feel like I could sleep for another two years or so, but then again…"

"It would be awfully hard for you to graduate that way, Buff." Willow said with a smile. "I mean, sleeping in class is one thing, but sleepwalking to class? I think the professors might notice."

Buffy giggled slightly and looked at the clock. "Oh, geez. Speaking of professors, don't you think we should get to psych?"

Willow also glanced at the clock. When she saw the time, she bounded out of bed, suddenly full of energy. The two girls were ready for class in less than fifteen minutes. 'A miracle, most people would say,' Willow thought as they walked to class.

"So what's the sitch with the teacher, Buff? Is Riley taking over again today?"

"I'm not sure, Will," Buffy replied sadly. While she knew that their psych professor, Maggie Walsh was involved with some pretty heavy dealings, not to mention the fact that the women had tried to have Buffy killed, she also knew how much it was upsetting her boyfriend, Riley. But Walsh was dead now, and Riley wasn't taking it well. "He hasn't said anything about a replacement, so I guess he'll be taking…" Buffy stopped mid sentence as they walked into the classroom. In the front of the lecture hall stood a young women with long red hair. Surprised, Buffy and Willow took their seats.

"Good morning, everyone." The women said brightly. She had an Irish lilt to her voice, giving it a very friendly quality. "My name is Monica, and I'll be taking over here. I'm going to pass this sheet of paper around. If you would just initial by your name so I know who's not here, I'll get started." Monica looked towards Buffy and smiled at her. "Riley, would you pass out these worksheets? I'd like to talk with one of the students." Riley nodded and proceeded to hand out the worksheets that Monica had prepared.

As Buffy and Willow began working on the assignment, Buffy heard Monica calling her name. "Buffy Summers? Could I see you please?" Glancing up, Buffy saw Monica looking at her expectantly. Buffy nodded and made her way to the front of the class. 'What a way to start the day. Getting called down to talk to the new teacher.'

"Yeah? What is it?" Buffy asked.

Monica smiled at her again. "Take a seat, Buffy. I just wanted to tell you that I was looking over Professor Walsh's grade book, and it seems that you have been doing very well in the class. I was wondering if you would like to work on an individual project with me?"

Buffy almost said yes. There was something about this women that told Buffy that she could be trusted. One of the benefits of being the Slayer was that Buffy knew when something evil was lurking nearby. The only feeling Buffy got from Monica was one of serene calm. Then she realized. Buffy nearly smacked herself. It would be impossible to take on an extra workload what with Adam on the loose. A human-demon hybrid, Adam was the strongest foe Buffy had ever faced. She needed all of her spare time to research and train. "I wish I could," Buffy told her regretfully. "But I have a…another project I'm working on with the librarian of my high school." It was partial truth anyway.

Monica frowned slightly. 'Father, how will I be able to work with Buffy? She seems as though she wants to work with me, but she's so reluctant.' She smiled as she received her answer. "I'd like to meet this librarian of yours, Buffy. He must be special if you're still helping him after graduation."

"M-meet Giles?" Buffy asked shrilly. "I mean, why? He is special, but he's very busy."

"With school?" Monica asked innocently.

At that moment, Buffy froze. Monica couldn't know about the Mayor and how she had blown up the school last year. Still, every time she thought back to graduation, Buffy was shaken to the core. In order to defeat the Mayor turned demon, Buffy had to resort to blowing up the school. 'Not the greatest scenario considering the rising popularity in violence in the schools.' "Um, no not with school. The school board is rebuilding the school right now, so Giles is between jobs. I help him categorize his books. He had to bring them all home after he found out about the school."

"I see. Would he mind terribly if I assisted him as well? I imagine he has many old classics."

Buffy smirked. "You'd be surprised at how old his books are. I guess it would be ok. My friends and I are going to his flat at 7:00 tonight. Why don't we meet in front of the Student Center?" Buffy knew she would regret this, but Monica seemed insistent, and Buffy was running out of excuses.

"That would be wonderful, Buffy. I'll see you at seven."

Buffy nodded and looked at the clock. To her surprise, the entire class hour had passed while they were talking. Buffy glanced towards Willow as her friend gathered their things. "Thanks, Will." Buffy said as she took her bag. As they walked out of class, Riley hurried to catch up.

"What did she want, sweetie? You two talked the whole hour." Riley asked as he planted a kiss on the top of Buffy's head.

"She told me how impressed she was with my work, and wanted to know if I would work on a project with her."

Willow gasped happily. "Buffy! That's so great! Getting chosen to work one on one with a college professor is incredible."

Buffy laughed at her friend. "Down girl. I didn't say I would do it." Seeing the fallen expression on Willow's face, Buffy had to stifle a giggle. "How can I with Adam on the loose, Will? Though I somehow got talked into inviting Monica over Giles' place tonight."

"Huh? Ok, confusion. Why is Monica coming to Giles' with us?"

Buffy held up her hands in mock surrender. "I have no idea. All I know is that she asked to help 'categorize his books', and the next thing I know, I told her to meet us in front of the Student Center."


"Oh boy. What are you going to do?" Riley asked. He was concerned that Monica would find out more than what she needed to know. Like the fact that Buffy slew demons and he was part of a secret military operation called the Initiative.

"I really don't know. Willow, would you call Giles and give him the heads up? I'd like for him to know that we've got a tagalong."

Willow nodded and headed back towards the dorm room. Buffy turned and smiled up at her boyfriend. "Hey," she said softly. "How are you?"

Riley shrugged. "Kind of in auto pilot I guess. It doesn't seem possible that Maggie could be dead."

"At least you know I didn't do it," Buffy said quietly.

Riley shuddered as he thought about how he first suspected Buffy as his mentor's murderer. "Shhh. You know I wasn't myself then. I would never accuse you of murder. Unless of course the victim was a vampire."

"I'm sorry," muttered a contrite Slayer. "I didn't mean that. Why don't we go back to the house and talk? I'll be your shoulder to cry on, if you want."

Riley smiled lovingly at the petite blonde girl at his side. For all the horrors she had to face nightly, Buffy still had this endearing quality of genuinely caring for her friends. "Sure. That would be great." Her arm around Riley's waist, the two lovebirds walked in silence back to Riley's frat house.