"Look, I'll tell you guys this now, okay?" I whispered as Willow, Xander, and I entered the cemetery. "I love ghosts. New Orleans is my town. But ghosts are good. They're dead, no stakeage required. And not much hurting can be done…Oh my lord! What was that?" Xander put his arm around me.

"That was just Willow grabbing a stake from her bag," he said. He leaned over to Willow. "Talk about seeing a new side of Buffy. Never believed I'd ever see her scared!"

"Well, remember," she whispered back, "she's not Buffy. It's rather common to have the same reaction that she is having now. I mean, running around killing Big Bads isn't usually on a high schooler's to-do list." He nodded.

"Hey, I can hear," I retorted.

"I know, Brooke, I just-" Xander said.

"Buffy!" Willow cut him off. "If anyone gets wind that Buffy's, well, not up to par, then…oh goodness."

"Look, I'm not scared out of my wits, I can handle this!" I replied. I stopped, sensing something behind me. I grabbed the stake from Willow, turned around, and lunged for the vamp standing there.

"Brooke! No!" Willow shouted. A strong pair of arms caught me, pulling the stake away. I stared up into the face of Angel. Talk about wanting to melt away…

"What happened to Buffy?" he asked, looking at Will and Xander. Willow fidgeted.

"Um, well, we're not quite sure. We can't really explain the whole thing here, who knows who might be listening…" she trailed off, glancing around.

"S-sorry," I stammered. "I mean, I just…I knew that something was behind us, not human, no offense, just…sorry." Angel nodded.

"Don't worry about it. So what's going on?" he said.

"Tonight's my first patrol. Learning the ropes. I mean, I still have to kill a vamp or two, to keep up appearances," I answered. Angel drew in an unneeded breath.

"I better stick close," he decided. I shook my head firmly.

"No, you don't need to. If Buffy can do it, I can do it. Back off!" I snapped. Angel drew back.

"Fine, but send someone for me if you need me, okay?" Angel slipped off into the shadows.

"Damn," I muttered. "Should have kept my mouth shut."

"Why?" Xander asked. "We don't really require him to kill any vamps or what have you."

"Yeah, but letting him think I was Buffy for a while longer might have warranted a kiss or two…or three…I mean, hello? Angel's a hottie!" Xander glared at me as Willow giggled.

"And I only get a 'cutie' rating?" Xander demanded hotly.

"Um, Xan? You're sweet, really, but-Move!" I shouted, shoving him out of the way. He and Willow stared dumfounded as I began to fight a vamp. I've watched "Buffy" so often, I knew all her moves, but in my world, I could never move like her.

After a few minutes, I decided to stop playing with him and dust him. So I did. And Xander and Willow were still standing there, shocked.

"Um…I think I'm going home now, no need for me," Xander joked. I walked over to them.

"Wow, I thought you said you couldn't, or didn't know, how to fight vampires?" Willow asked.

"Um, well, I don't. Not really. Like, if you told me now to pretend Xan was a vamp and start fighting him, I wouldn't know how. Just…instinct," I rationalized. We began walking towards Willow's house.

"Okay…I guess that makes sense," Willow said.

"Good, that's settled. Who's up for a movie night now? I can make popcorn," I suggested.

"Well, I'd love to, but I have calculus to finish," Willow replied. "So I will take my leave of you now. Besides, I need to call Oz. See you guys at school." She continued on down the street.

"Bye, Will," Xander and I echoed. I looked up at him. He grinned.

"Hey, I'm up for it. Just, no chick flicks, please. I prefer something that makes the girl cuddle up to me…" I smirked.