"What's going on?" he asked, walking in the front door and dropping the sacks on the floor.
"Road trip," said Cordelia pleasantly as she added more bags to the stack next to the door.
Wesley, still confused, asked, "To where?"
"Sunnydale," answered Angel, coming into the room with a large duffle bag. The tell-tale bulges on the side said that it carried weapons.
"My dream wasn't just a dream," said Cordelia mockingly.
Wesley raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"And, well, I had a vision too," she added as if it weren't nearly as important.
"Buffy?" he asked, directing the question at Angel.
Angel nodded. "She could be in trouble," he said. "But this dream--I had a very similar one. I think there's something bigger going on than just Buffy being kidnapped."
"So we're all going to Sunnydale?" asked Wesley, attempting to clarify.
Again, Angel nodded. "As soon as the sun sets. Pack some clothes. Plan on being there for at least the weekend."
Wesley went up to his apartment. Angel walked over to Cordelia's desk and picked up the phone.
"Are you going to tell her why we're coming?" she asked.
"Definitely," he replied, dialing Buffy's home number. He still knew it by heart. "At least then she can be on guard." He frowned. "The line's busy."
"Try Giles," suggested Cordelia, but Angel was already dialing the number.
"No answer," he said after a minute. He looked at the dwindling light
at the edges of the windows. It would be time to go soon. "We'll try again
on the way."
The party was in full swing. Xander and Anya had turned the living room floor into their own makeshift dance floor. Graham seemed to be having a good time and was deep in conversation with Willow and Tara. Buffy was standing against the wall, watching everyone contentedly.
"Penny?" said Xander, coming up after his last dance.
Buffy looked at him and then in the direction Anya had gone.
"I have time," he said. "Anya went to get food. What's up?"
She shrugged. "It's just really nice to see everyone having a good time. These times seem fewer and far between these days."
Xander nodded but gave her a reassuring look. "Don't let it get you down. We've got plenty more good days ahead of us."
Buffy smiled, but it immediately turned into a frown. Anya was rushing up to Xander, and she did not look happy.
"I have to talk to you," Anya said to him.
"I'm kind of in the middle of a conversation here," he said, slightly annoyed.
"Now," she said firmly.
Xander looked at Buffy apologetically, apparently giving in to the fact that Anya wouldn't stop until she had her way.
"It's cool," said Buffy. "We can resume this later."
Anya pulled Xander out the front door onto the steps. The sun was starting to sink below the horizon, but it wasn't quite dark yet. She started to speak, keeping her voice low.
"Tara's a demon."
"What!" Xander exclaimed, louder than he had meant to. "What are you talking about?"
"Well, she's half demon," she amended. She didn't elaborate.
"Explain."
"I went to get some food and then she came in too," she started. "Then I reached down to get some celery and saw her reflection on the platter. Clearly not human."
Xander rolled his eyes. "Are you sure you didn't slip something into your punch? I've seen her reflection and there's no difference."
"In a regular mirror, maybe," said Anya. "But those platters are silver -- I heard Buffy say so. You know silver can have some unusual properties as far as monsters and demons are concerned."
He could see her reasoning, but hate to admit that he was starting to believe that his best friend's girlfriend could be a demon.
"What do you want me to do about it?" he asked finally.
"Talk to Willow," she said. "I think I recognize the species, and if I'm right then we've got trouble."
"Why don't we just talk to Giles?" Xander really didn't want to think about how Willow would react if he approached her with this.
Anya shook her head. "We don't want Tara to know anything's up. It could be very dangerous to our health."
"OK, fine," said Xander with a sigh. "I'll try to find a good time to nonchalantly pull Willow aside and talk to her, OK?"
She seemed fairly satisfied with that and they rejoined the rest of the group. Xander was glad, because he felt much safer inside Buffy's house than outside under the now-dark sky.