Whilst Giles rambled on about supernatural occurrences on the other end of the line Buffy thought it was a prime opportunity to change the bandage on her arm. Unravelling the existing one careful she noticed that the bite mark wound had already begun to heal. "Just another perk of being the slayer" She smiled and then was caught off guard as Giles quickly asked her what she just said. She knew it wasn't good to interrupt him when he was giving one of his demon, magic, and monster speeches. "I didn't say anything." She quickly chirped in before resuming the changing of her bandage.
"I'm going to Janice's" Dawn bounded down the stairs quickly and then head for the door. She turned to look at her sister and smiled. "Are we patrolling tonight?" She was thoroughly disappointed when the answer Buffy gave was simply. "No." Dawn new it was best not to argue with her now, sure they had there differences in the past but Buffy let her do almost anything these days and it was best not to anger her. With a quick turn she said Goodbye and then shot out the door.
Giles who was still on the other end of the line, to what Buffy was still not listening, heard talking on the other end of the line and decided to give up. "Buffy, you haven't listened to a word I said. Have you?" Buffy had now finished swapping bandages and was doodling on a nearby piece of paper.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?"
Willow looked at her lover and a huge grin came over her face. Everything was coming into place, her and Tara were back together, she was off the magic's and she really felt like the Scooby gang was pulling together after all of their problems. The days just seemed to be getting better. But soon it was all taken away, shots were fired, glass cracked. Tara's body slumped to the floor. Lives came to an end.
Willow awoke with a start; her body was clammy and cold with sweat. Wiping her brow she didn't even realise that she was breathing rapidly. The nightmares never seemed to go away. Whether they were of Tara's death or of what she had done to Warren the recent events haunted her. Getting up off the bed she moved over to the window, pulling the curtain aside she peered out and looked out at the people going about there everyday lives. She wished that was her, she wished she was part of the crowd. But the fact still remained that she was different. That's how it had always been, ever since High School.
"Buffy, you haven't listened to a word I said. Have you?" Giles moved past his frustration and then told Buffy to call him back when she had more clues on the latest evil that was bothering the people of Sunnydale. He had written down what brief facts she could give him but it wasn't much to go on. Placing the receiver down he was startled to see Willow standing not far behind him. "That was Buffy." Willow gave a slight nod and smile at hearing her name, as the good times played in her head. "She asked of you, but you were sleeping and I didn't want to wake you."
Willow sighed and then perched herself on the edge of a nearby chair. "I want to meet with the coven again, now." Giles could see in her eyes that this was something that she really wanted to do. "I have to know, about Tara."
Xander slowly made his way through the streets of Sunnydale towards the Magic Box. Another day of hard work lay ahead of him even though he wasn't in the best condition after the fight that had occurred just the other night. His arms and neck were sore and his whole body ached. "The dead just don't like to stay dead in this town." Xander thought.
Making his way down Main Street he was surprised to see the dark haired woman that had made an appearance in the Magic Box. Standing outside of the Sun cinema she seemed to be waiting for something. Her hair flowing freely about her shoulders she stood completely still. Xander quickly made his way across the street just in case she decided to take off again. "Hey, there." Raising an arm to wave at her she gave a pleasant smile in return. Though something seemed off about this chance meeting. It was although she had been waiting for him, but how did she know that he was going to be there?
"You shot off before we had a chance to talk the other day." Xander moved closer as the young woman looked to scan him up and down. "I'm Xander" He held out his hand but she didn't take it, in fact she didn't respond at all she still seemed to be studying him. "So.." Xander tried to move the conversation along. "Have you lived in Sunnydale before? It's just that you said things have changed."
"Lets have coffee." Cutting Xander off abruptly the young woman smiled and then started off down the street towards the Espresso Pump. Watching her depart Xander shot a glance at his watch, he didn't really have time to have coffee. He had promised Anya that he would start working on the Magic Box early and he didn't really want to make any more promises he made to her. Anya was really pushing for the grand re-opening in a couple of days and there was no way that could happen if Xander didn't finish of all the structural work. After running it through his mind a couple of times he finally decided to follow the young woman.
"Ten minutes won't hurt." Following close behind, the two then sat down in the Espresso Pump. At first Xander seemed nervous almost like he was back at High School just trying to get a girl to notice him. But the truth was he wasn't looking for a romantic relationship so why was he even say there? Questions began to run through his mind but he also had questions for the young woman now sat opposite him. "So, since you haven't disclosed anything about yourself why don't we start with your name?"
The dark haired woman smiled and then paused for a thought, the decision to tell him came quickly and she didn't see any harm in it. For what could he do? Or know? "They call me Lilith." Her eyes connected with Xander's as she waited for a response, but he said nothing. Bringing a smile to her lips she placed her right hand on top of his that lay on the table between them. "So how long have you lived here." Lilith once again ignored the question as she had greater things in mind.
Xander pulled his hand for underneath Lilith's and raised it to his forehead. A sharp pain had just hit him and it seemed to be growing in intensity. A high pitched noise rang in his ears and he became unable to focus. He could see the people in the Espresso Pump moving around him and it all became a blur. Motions seemed to speed up; he drew his attention to Lilith who was still sat in the exact position. He didn't have a clue what was happening to him, he tried to stand but he couldn't muster the strength to do so. "What's…" Before he could even finish his sentence he fell forward collapsing on to the table in front of him. His arm stretched out, dangling over the side.
"Hey, are you alright?" Xander eyes opened rapidly, his head resting on cold metal. Pushing himself upright with his hand he looked around to find he was still in the Espresso Pump. "Are you okay?" One of the other customers had come up to check if Xander was feeling okay. He nodded in reply and looked forward to see that Lilith had disappeared. He wondered if she might have been frightened when he had passed out, he thought that was the most reasonable explanation or just the best one he could come up with.
Getting to his feet he exited back onto Main Street and made the rest of the journey to the Magic Box slowly. Maybe the injuries he had sustained the other night had made a bigger impact on him then he had first thought. Taking the handle he slowly pushed the door to the Magic Box to find a very unhappy Anya. Standing with both hands on her waist she didn't seem to be in the best of moods. "An, something weird is going on here."
"Yeah that's right, you're late!" She wasn't just a little pissed off either. "Xander you said you were going to be here early, I can't open up if you don't finish."
"Anya, I'm like what? Thirty minutes late? Calm down, I'll get it done." But she could tell by the look on his face that things weren't exactly right. "What? I'll stay longer." He tried to make his way over the table as he had a great need to get off his feet. "It's not a big deal." Anya stopped and scowled.
"You said you'd be here at ten am Xander! Its 2! Where have you been?" She saw the look on Xander's face, it was utter confusement. But she didn't believe it for a second. "This is just typical, don't make commitments that you're just going to ignore." He could tell she was channelling part of the wedding fiasco when she said this and before he had a chance to reply she teleported out in a whirl of mist and crackling energy.
