Xander shifted his weight from one foot to the other and back again, waiting for Cordelia to look up. This event did not appear imminent; she had apparently discovered some fascinating anomaly in the simulated wood-grain of the tabletop.

"Okay, Cor," he said. "How long do I have to stand here?"

"I haven't decided." She continued her microscopic examination of the Formica for another few seconds, then looked up at him. "Okay."

Xander slid into the chair across from her. "Let's just get everything right out in the open. Exactly how much groveling time am I looking at?"

Cordelia looked at him, tilted her head to one side, scrunched her nose the tiniest bit and shrugged. "I don't know. Probably not much." She glanced down. "After all, I did cancel without calling, so some of this is my fault."

Xander tried hard to swallow his tongue, as this seemed to be the only way to not say something stupid. Instead he nodded as though in great thought. "Yeah. Well, I would like to apologize for my crack of earlier this morning. It was insensitive and cruel of me, and it didn't help us deal with the real issue at hand."

She stared at him solemnly, then a slow smile spread over her face. "How long did you have to rehearse that?"

Xander flinched. "'Insensitive' gave me away, didn't it? I knew it was too much." He reached out and touched her fingers with a tentative hand. "Look, Cordelia, here's what I really wanted to say this morning and what I'd like to say now. When this... thing started, it was pretty much shallow, tawdry physical attraction. Then I was kind of jazzed by the idea that I was dating Cordelia Chase, you know?" He took a deep breath. "I know I sound like Jeb the Idiot Boy, but I'm having a hard time with this. I guess... I want you to know that I'm not just in it for that, at least not anymore. I... I want you to believe that you can trust me, that you can count on me if you need me."

Her expression was a perfect blank, her eyes wide and deep as she looked at him. "Xander, have you ever wondered why I date so many guys?"

Xander's face clouded. "Uh, no."

"Everybody thinks that I'm an airhead bitch because my family has money. Guys think I'll either be the perfect trophy or their own cheerleader slash whore. Reality's a little more complicated. I'm nobody's trophy. Most of the guys bail when they realize that." Her hand traced an aimless pattern on the table. "What about you?"

"What connection does this have with last night?" Xander's brow furrowed in confusion.

"I didn't blow you off. Something came up, something important. I got busy, and I forgot. I need you to trust me when I tell you that's all it was."

Xander studied her face, scrutinized every detail, even taking in the freckles sprinkled ever so lightly across the bridge of her nose. "Cor, is this what you want? For me to just nod and stand there?"

Cordelia's perfect white teeth worried at her lower lip. "It was a family thing, okay? It was a family situation."

"What kind of situation? Somebody get sick, steal a car, sprain a wrist carrying a money bag?" Xander leaned forward and arched his eyebrows.

Her throat worked as she swallowed. For a moment she stared into his eyes as she teetered on the brink of something. "It was family. That's all I can say."

Xander took a deep breath, looked down at the table, then back up at her. "Okay."

***

Oz nearly jumped out of his skin when Willow grabbed him by the shoulder. "You really shouldn't do that when a guy's just come out of the bathroom," he said.

"I got the letter," she said.

"The letter," he repeated.

"The letter," Willow said. "The one from MIT." She began to bounce up and down on her toes. "I got in."

"Yeah," he said. "If I don't act surprised, it's because I'm not. MIT would stand for Morons In Training if they didn't accept you."

Willow grabbed his arm with both hands. "Have you gotten yours yet?"

Oz blinked. "Mine?"

"Yeah, your letter."

Oz blinked again. "I didn't know I was supposed to get one."

Willow rolled her eyes. "Come on, we've talked about this. How cool it would be to go to the same college, study together for four more years. I mean, if I'm MIT material, then you sure are."

Oz nodded. "Uh, yeah, about that..." His free hand scratched at the front of his olive-green T-shirt, his fingertips slipping across the logo for the Choir's Speckled Bird. "I, uh... Willow, Devon's talking about trying to make Dingoes go."

Willow frowned, confused. "Dingoes is already going."

Oz shook his head. "I mean really go, like full-time go."

Willow shrugged. "So Devon's got some weird idea about being on MTV. I'm..." Her voice trailed away and her hands dropped to her sides. "Are you thinking about it, too?"

Oz looked down, leaving Willow looking at the crown of his head. His hair today was a distinctly citrus shade of orange-yellow. He looked back up. "I don't know. I mean, I know the odds are against it, but if we don't try... And this would be the best time to try it, before we get tied up with college and jobs and stuff."

Willow caught her lower lip between her teeth. "You're considering it, aren't you?"

Oz shrugged. He looked confused and thoughtful. "I don't know. I mean, I don't think I really am, but it just seems... I don't know, like it would be wrong to just slam the door on it." He looked at Willow. "We are good. We really are."

"I know. Remember, this is me, me who's seen you at the Bronze more than, oh, anybody."

Oz shook his head. "I don't mean Bronze good. I mean really good. Plenty good enough."

Willow began to look concerned. "Oz, what are you saying?"

He smiled. "Just spitballing." He took her hand. "Want to go sit outside?"

***

Principal Snyder's feet barely reached the floor when he sat in his chair. He hated this because when he was nervous his unanchored feet would tap against the floor. They were doing a fair imitation of the cast of Stomp as he waited for the Mayor's secretary to connect him.

"Well, Bob, you're calling on the secure line so I guess this is important."

Snyder actually jumped at the sound of the voice in his ear. "Yes sir, I think it is. I noticed Rupert Giles meeting with those two new teachers before school this morning."

"The two we were concerned about?"

"Yes. I thought you should know."

"Admirable of you. Thanks for being on your toes, Bob."

There was a click in Snyder's ear and the phone went dead. He felt one calf begin to cramp as he put the phone in its cradle.

***

"Hey B. Hold the train a second."

Buffy turned and saw Faith walking toward her. The dark Slayer wore low-slung black pants and what appeared to be a coat of red paint on her torso. A backpack bounced against her hip as it dangled by one strap. Buffy assumed rest position, one knee bent and her weight resting on the straight leg.

"Hey, I was wondering," Faith said as she stopped beside the blonde Slayer, "if you'd be interested in patrolling together tonight."

Buffy drew back a bit and frowned. "What?"

Faith shrugged and looked embarrassed. "Look, I know I've been off in my own little funk for a while, but it's time to get serious again. I've been letting the patrolling slack pretty bad."

"I've had to be careful too." Buffy's hand started toward her neck but she stopped it in time. "The guys were going to go with me tonight."

"Well, unless I'd be the ultimate fifth wheel I'd still like to come." Faith pushed some strands of hair behind her ear. "I haven't exactly been warm and fuzzy to them either."

Buffy nodded. "Sure. I know that they'd be happy for you to come."

"Great. I'll see ya tonight." Faith turned and walked away. When her back was to Buffy, the dark Slayer let a small smile slip out.

***

Giles stood in the hall outside the library, the very vision of casual detachment as he sipped from his mug. He nodded at passing students and smiled at fellow faculty members. Buffy saw him from a distance and slipped out of the stream of humanity to stand in front of him.

"Hey, Giles, good news about tonight's patrol.""

Giles hesitated, his mug on the way to his mouth again. "You're patrolling tonight?"

"Yeah. Don't worry though. The whole gang's going with." She squinched up her face. "Never let it be said that our generation doesn't care."

"What do they think they can do if you meet Trick?" the Watcher asked.

Buffy shrugged. "I don't know. Jump on me and hold me down, I guess. Oh, and Faith's coming too."

"Faith?"

"Yeah." The Slayer's eyes softened. "Giles, I think maybe she's coming around."

Giles tipped his head to the side. "That would be a welcome development."

"Yeah." Buffy hefted her books and waved as she walked away. "See ya."

***

The sky flared a dark, blood-red as the sun slipped below the hills. That color faded and deepened into a cool black. The doors of the house burst open and the denizens of the night poured forth. They streamed across the overgrown yard and scattered to the four points of the compass. One of them paused on the porch steps and inhaled deeply, smelling the wintry night air. Then Othniel Hampton smiled.

"Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." Hampton's voice rose in power as the old cadences awakened. "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth." The sound of his voice died away, only faint echoes chasing each other through the night. Hampton closed his eyes and luxuriated in the fierce purity of his zeal. It was time for the infidel to pay.

***

There was tension. Also, the Titanic was a bit of a disaster and World War I was something of a rough patch.

The look on Willow's face when she opened her front door and saw Buffy and Faith standing on the porch was clearly a harbinger of things to come. Xander shuffled his feet and acted like some sort of retarded Clampett cousin and Cordelia... well, Cordelia was frosty enough to store beer in her bra. Only Oz maintained any semblance of civility and Buffy assumed he was being civil because she realized that she really didn't know how a rude Oz would behave.

"Buffyyyy." A sharp whine edged Willow's voice. Her eyes kept cutting over the Slayer's shoulder to sneak a glance at Faith.

Buffy took the redhead by the arm. "Could I talk to you for just a minute?" she said, steering Willow toward the kitchen. The blonde Slayer glanced over her shoulder. Faith stood just inside the door, her face as brittle as the pages of grandma's diary. "Be just a sec," Buffy said, holding her thumb and index finger just that far apart. Faith nodded.

Willow was practically hopping as the kitchen door closed behind them. "What's she doing here?" Willow caught her lower lip between her teeth. "I mean, I didn't expect you to show up with her."

Buffy placed a hand on her friend's forearm. "I don't know. She just came up this afternoon and said she wanted to patrol." The Slayer took a deep breath. "Maybe she just had to, y'know, grieve... and now, she's through it and ready to move on."

Willow thought about that for a moment. "Well, Xander did say something about talking to her, you know, about getting on with things." She nodded. "Maybe Faith took it to heart."

"I hope so."

"But, Buffy..." Willow flinched as the Slayer turned back. "I know you want her to be better, but she went through an awful thing. Don't... don't let what you want blind you to what is."

Buffy took a step closer to her friend. "If you've got a point, just make it, okay?"

Willow looked as though she might cry. "This seems like such a sudden change... I know you want her back, I know you want her to be well, but... You can't will it, you know?"

Buffy glanced down at the floor, then back at Willow. The redhead was about to tie her fingers in knots as she twisted her hands together. The Slayer spoke in a soft, sad voice. "Willow, I know what it's like to go through a terrible thing, and I know what it's like to deal. I know what it's like to be in the dark and see a little bit of light. I'll go all the way to the wall for her. I can't do anything else."

Willow nodded, then raised her chin and looked into Buffy's eyes. "I know. That's what bothers me."