"Heaven Is A Place on Earth" by Belinda Carlisle

"1999" by Prince

"Angel of Mine" by Monica

"Under the Milky Way" by The Church

The Real McCoy

By

Michael Walker

""No. He didn't." Willow's expression was halfway between a grin and open-mouthed disbelief.

"Oh, he did." Buffy took a lick of her strawberry-vanilla Lifesaver lollipop. She wore a black sweater and a red-and-black plaid skirt. A matching plaid headband held her hair in place. "He straight-up invited himself out to Sunnydale?"

"Oh, so cool," Willow giggled. "So, is he, y'know, of the cute persuasion?"

The Slayer worked her lollipop. "I guess. I mean, that's not what I noticed at first. He's got this really long hair, like, longer than mine, longer than Trey's but…" Another hit of the sucker. "Do you think I'm developing a type? Anyway, he's just really… I don't know… confident?" She shrugged. "I mean, he saw a monster and didn't run away screaming, but he also didn't get all weird and hot about it, y'know?"

Willow cast a sly glance at her friend. "So, if he comes out…?"

Buffy made a vague gesture with the candy. "Well, I told him we'd get a burger and it would be rude to break my word." She shook her head. "Like he's really gonna show up here."

"Still, it sounds pretty cool."

"It was, it really was… minus the monsters. My family is kinda weird, but regular weird, mostly harmless." She glanced over her shoulder, then leaned in toward Willow. "And, if I'm being real, it was kinda neat to… just realize somebody liked me." She shook her head. "I sound like I just watched a Sweet Valley High marathon."

"Hey, lots of people like you."

"Yeah," Buffy said, "but… this was different. I've felt so… messed-up for so long… and to just meet someone and feel… okay with them… somebody I didn't already know. It felt... nice... normal." She sighed. "It's strange, I know."

"Hey, Giles, 'dja miss me?"

The librarian looked up as the Slayer pushed through the doors. "E-Excuse me?" he stammered.

"Jeez, Giles, didn't you even notice I was gone?" Buffy slung her backpack onto the counter.

"What? Oh, yes." The Watcher tapped his fingertips on the countertop. "I, um, since you were gone, I spent the better part of the week out of town."

"Really?" Buffy''s eyes widened, the corners of her mouth turned down. "I'm impressed. Where'd you go? LA? Tahoe?" She mock-gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "Vegas? Giles, did you spend a week in Sin City?"

"Very funny, and if you must know, and I know that you must, I was doing research. My grasp of Jewish mythology and esoterica is not as comprehensive as one might hope."

Buffy pursed her lips. "What I got from that is that you spent spring break studying. Giles, I'm calling it. You are the nerdiest of the nerds. I thought Willow was gonna give you a run for your money, but this makes you the king."

"Very, very droll." He stabbed at his glasses with a forefinger. "How was your trip?"

The Slayer smiled. "Amazingly, it was of the fun sort." She held up a hand, palm out. "Oh, and I killed a monster."

"You what? A monster? What sort, a ghoul, a vampire…?"

"Nope. It was a creature called a stikini. It's from Cherokee mythology… no, wait, that's not right… It begins with 'chuh'..." She clapped her hands. "Choctaw! That's it, Choctaw." She performed a half-bow. "I guess it's true, travel is broadening. There are scads of demons out there that I've never even heard of." She placed her elbow on the counter and rested her chin in her palm. "God, I've become the thing I feared the most."

"Wh… I'm confused… Was it stalking you, was it connected to…?"

"Oh, no. It had nothing to do with us. It was just living its life, tearing out hearts and eating them." She straightened up and slapped her hands softly on the counter. "But not any more. So, you were researching, which I realize is totally a bliss break for you… were you digging up dirt on the Seal?"

"Yes, that was the major topic." Giles looked toward the office, then turned back to the Slayer. "I also used the time to look into your…" He made a vague gesture toward the Slayer's neck.

"What?" she said. "You mean the devil's hickey?"

"Um, yes. That. You said that you felt it during the, uh, storm. That would suggest that it is still active in some way. It seems reasonable to assume that Mr. Trick knows that as well, and that it figures into his scheme."

Buffy nodded. "Yeah, but I wanted to say 'makes an ass out of you and me'."

Giles ignored her. "So, I also looked for any methods of counteracting or defending against such an eventuality."

Buffy waited, then said, "And…?"

"Well, there is very little literature on this subject, but the one area of agreement is that the only way to be sure of rendering the marks powerless is… to kill the vampire that inflicted them."

"Oh." Buffy scooped up her books and shook her head. "I love how easily they say that. 'Just kill him'." She sighed. "I gotta go. See you after school? I need to train. You wouldn't believe the amount of food they crammed down me."

"Hey, Oz, wait up."

The subject of the swiveled his head and slowed as he saw Xander Harris coming up behind.

"What's up?" the diminutive guitarist asked.

"I have an idea. Actually, I have many ideas, but this one in particular. We've already got the one-color T-shirt design, but I was thinking, what about a four-color shirt using Geoff's drumhead?"

"You want to jump to a color shirt?"

"Not all of them. We still print mostly one-color, because, since we've already paid the set-up fee, we can sell for ten bucks and have a nice margin, but we print a few color ones, put 'em to the side, sell 'em for fifteen bucks, as a prestige item."

As the student body flowed around them, Oz stopped and looked at Xander. "Have you been watching infomercials?"

"No," Xander said. "They do it all the time in retail." He jammed his hands into his pockets. "Dating Cordelia might have given me some insight. She is to 'prestige item' as 'dinner bell' is to Pavlov's dog."

"So, where do we stand?" The Mayor rested his hands on the back of his office chair.

"We've located someone who can vet and perform the ritual for us," Trick said.

The Mayor's brow furrowed. "Is he reliable?"

"He's better than that," Florestan said. "He doesn't care. He just wants to be paid."

"I fail to see how that's better." Mayor Wilkins sat down and placed his elbows on his desk, steepling his fingers.

"Someone who actually cared might begin to take interest, ask questions, or, after it's over, wonder what it was all about. No, my read is that this man is in our sweet spot, professionally vain enough to perform the ritual correctly but personally venal enough that the money is what really matters."

"All right then, I trust you." The mayor smiled, a smile that indicated that 'trust' was dry humor.

"Well, that's squared away," Trick said. He leaned back in his chair. "Now that the object is on its way, let's discuss the termination of the contract."

Mayor Wilkins placed his palms flat on his desk. "In what sense?"

Trick shrugged and made a 'meh' face. "It's a thing of mine, I like to make sure when and how I'm getting paid."

"And when were you thinking that this would occur?"

"When the item is off the boat and in your hands. That seems to fulfill our terms."

Mayor Wilkins drew in a long, sighing breath. "But does it? I believe that our contract stipulates that the object will be delivered in working order. An artifact that I can't use because a ritual hasn't been performed is not in working order, at least not in my neck of the woods."

Florestan's eyes slid back and forth between the other two, his face a flat mask.

Trick nodded. "And if I disagree?"

"Well, at this point, I should make sure that you realize that if certain… parties become aware of your involvement, the question of whether or not you'll be paid will certainly become the least of your worries."

"Couldn't I say the same thing to you?"

"Hmmmmmm." The Mayor stroked his chin with one hand. "I know that sounds very threatening, but I would point out that I have several decades' history with the current management, and I've been very careful to keep both of us under the radar. If you were to do something as silly as exposing our little role-playing exercise, in the hopes of making them angry, well, it would probably work. They really aren't known for being good listeners or exceptionally fair-minded, but I think it would go worse for you than for me. Oh, I'm not saying I wouldn't get my hair mussed, but… I think it would go worse for you." He nodded toward Florestan. "After all, I have a witness who will corroborate my… story that you perpetrated this entire enterprise without my knowledge, maybe even that you were trying to overthrow me to establish yourself in my place. Now, don't look so peeved. I know you're just trying to do what's best for your people, I understand that, and I don't want you to feel unappreciated." The Mayor leaned back and held up a hand. "Let's say, just to calm the waters, I add a ten percent surcharge to our agreed-upon fee?"

Trick stared, face still, eyes dark and burning. "Fifteen," he said, finally.

"Excellent. Very doable." The Mayor exhaled and smiled. "See? It's nice to do business with reasonable people."

The Reverend drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair, each hard nail producing a distinct, percussive click. "So, we do not know why the heretic has contacted this particular human… but would they send the turncoat to him if he was not important?" He stood up. "Continue to watch the docks, but let us also keep a watch on this man."

"Yes, sir," said Coyne, "but…"

The Reverend inclined his head toward his lieutenant. "Speak your piece."

"It's just… between the docks, this surveillance, and the continuing engagement with our opponent's forces, we're spreading ourselves pretty thin."

"What does it matter?" The Reverend's eyes burned. "We are approaching glorious destiny, when the fire will fall. There is no need to reserve any strength, or plan for a far-off tomorrow. This is our fight, this is our battle, and if we expend all of our strength in a just cause, so be it. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," Coyne said. "I'll make the assignments."

"Very good." The Reverend turned away and spoke over his shoulder. "It is a rare thing to trust someone as completely as I do you. Whatever happens, I will always remember your steadfastness."

Coyne nodded. "Thank you, sir."

Buffy walked a little faster than usual as she patrolled Ramset Park. Turned out a week of eating like a lumberjack every day did make a person sluggish. It was nothing horrible, but she felt a little off and slow. Satisfied that the park was safe, she headed south. There was bound to be some action there.

There was, but it did not require her involvement. Between the mall and the Bison Lodge, she came across a skirmish between the Reverend's forces and Trick's minions. There were a half-dozen combatants on each side, so she withdrew to a safe spot behind a tree and watched. One thing about vampire fights, they didn't last long. Within a few minutes, all of Trick's force was ashed and three of the Reverend's had joined them. Buffy sighed and took out a stake in each hand.

The first one went down easily; the element of surprise left her an easy target. The second one took a bit longer, since the Slayer had to keep an eye on her back, but he went down. As she turned to face the third vampire, she was breathing hard.

"You know," she said between gasps, "if you wanted to run away now, I might give you a break, this once." The vamp snarled and gathered itself. "Great," Buffy said, "you're an overachiever." The vampire attacked. Buffy ducked a couple of wild swings, but missed her first thrust. The demon swung a wild, blind backhand and by luck caught her above the eye. She dropped the stake, stars exploded in her vision and she stumbled back, shaking her head. The vampire bared its fangs, lunged–

And exploded into a cloud of dust. "You looked like you could use a hand," Angel said as he tossed the dropped stake to her.

She caught the smooth length of ash easily and scowled. "I didn't need help. I've just been out of town."

"That's what I heard," Angel said. "Is that why you were a little slow?"

Buffy's mouth drew in tight. "You just following me around so you can needle me?"

Angel shook his head. "No. I'm actually looking for you. Something's happening in Docktown."