Part 4
They were now sitting in the symbol Lorne had painted on the floor. Clockwise from Lorne were Angel, Cordy, Xander, Gunn, Fred, Wesley, then Buffy.
"Ok, eyes on the bottle," Lorne instructed, then he said the spell, "We come in supplication and hope. Bring her back."
The bottle in the center started to move around on its own. All of the sudden, an amber light streamed out of the bottle and headed for each person. The light stopped and the bottle fell and started to spin.
"What's going on?" Willow questioned, walking away from the circle.
Lorne crawled away saying, "I feel a little..." He went behind the counter and collapsed. They went off in different directions, breaking the circle. They all look confused, and funnily, a little high. "What's happening to us?" Xander inquired, he stumbled to the couch and lied down. Angel traveled outside to the garden and looked up at the stars in wonderment. Buffy crawled up the stairs the best she could in her state of nausea, and when she reached the top, she slumped onto the wall. She brought her knees to her chest, and laid her forehead on them, rocking back and forth.
Fred walked over to the plant in the corner and examined it as if it's the most amazing thing in the world.
"This is important," she said, "It's so beautiful..." She then threw up into her wonderful discovery. Gunn started to practice his martial arts, while Wesley still sat in his same spot, giggling.
"We'll just wait to see if there are any side effects," he giggled again.
Willow was over by the window, pressing her face against the plexi-glass, and Xander was still lying on his back on the couch, watching his hand move.
Cordelia stood up unsteadily, "What's happening? We can't just... we have to... No!"
She accidentally stomped on the bottle, breaking it and shaking everyone from their trance. They all looked at each other confused, not knowing who each other were anymore.
"Okay!" Cordelia exclaimed, "What the hell is going on here?" she was starting to sound like her normal-teenaged self.
"What's your name?" Wesley questioned Cordelia.
"I'm..." she trailed off and wrinkled her nose, "I don't know. Is this some sort of sophomore hazing prank where I get all doped up and get left with a bunch of proto-losers?"
"Well," Wesley started to theorize, "Maybe we all got...terribly drunk and this some sort of blackout."
"I-I don't see any booze," Willow remarked, she felt her head, smoothing out her hair "I don't feel any bumps."
"Okay. "I'm not panicking. I'm not panicking. I'm not," Xander chanted. Everybody in the lobby all looked at him, "Stop looking at me like I'm panicking!"
"Hey guy. Calm down," Willow said to Xander in an effort to make him chill out, "Does ANYBODY know who they are or who anybody else is...or WHY we're here?" she added.
There was silence.
"Okay well um...Oh! I know! ID's!" she then suggested.
Their faces brightened and they dug into their pockets.
"It's me! I'm 'Alexander Harris.' Hey, I exist," Xander said excitedly, showing off his license. "Willow Rosenberg," Willow looked at her school ID, "Heh, Willow. Funny name."
"Saids here that I'm Wesley Wyndam-Pryce," Wesley puffed up his chest in pride.
"Loser," Cordelia scoffed, "I don't have an ID," she reached her hand to her neck and played with the chain that dangled from her neck. She saw a book on the counter and went up to it curiously, not noticing Lorne yet; she opened up the book that read "Sunnydale '99". Before Lorne discovered the 'no-side-effect' spell, she brought it downstairs to Angel and asked him about the people in it. Of course he only really knew about Buffy and the rest of the Scoobies. She had left down there, forgetting about amongst other things.
She flipped through it as the people around her figured out who they were.
"Charles Gunn," Gunn stated reading the license he had in his hand, he then commented, "I'm not feeling the Charles though."
"Hey! I'm Winifred Burkle!" Fred exclaimed with the same amount of excitement Xander had for his name. She renewed her license after she regained her sanity.
"Damn!" Cordelia exclaimed, "I am GORGEOUS! And I have a powerful name, too. Cordelia Chase. Ugh...why did they put me next to this freak. It TOTALLY messes up my appearance." "What the hell are you talking about?" Gunn was getting a little tired of this bitch.
"What I'm talking about Hair club for men is...Hello salty goodness," Cordelia stared ahead at Angel who just walked in, she was practically drooling when she saw him. At the same time, Buffy finally waltzed down the stairs.
"Hello," Wesley greeted Angel, "Who are you friend?"
"I am not your friend," Angel said, alert with his new surroundings, "I don't even know who you are."
"Hey guys," Buffy greeted, putting her hands in her back pockets, and bounced on her heels, "What's the what?" 'These people didn't look very hatchety-murdery,' Buffy thought, 'They looked nice. Maybe they can help me with my name and stuff.'
"Yo Blondie," Gunn looked her up and down and checked her out, "What's your name?"
"Well, I thought you guys could tell me 'cause, heh, I don't really know."
"Do you have an ID of some sort?" Wesley questioned.
Buffy searched her pockets and pouted. "Um...no."
"What about you?" Wesley nodded at Angel, careful to not anger him again. Angel shook his head and looked at Buffy. They gazed into each other's eyes and immediately felt connected. Whatever negative feelings they felt, melted away when they looked at each other.
"Well all of us seem to have names but you two," Wesley said, making the two break eye contact and put their attention toward the others, "I'm Wesley Wyndam Pryce. That's um...Willow Rosenberg, Alexander Harris, Winifred Burkle, Cordelia Chase, and Charles um..."
"Gunn," Gunn filled in.
"Where?" Wesley panicked.
"Me. that's my name. Charles Gunn."
"Oh. Right."
"I don't like this," Angel mumbled.
Buffy faced him and took his hand, both feeling tingly at the touch.
"It's okay, don't worry. We'll take care of each other," Buffy assured Angel.
Angel smiled a little and brushed some of her blonde bangs out of her eyes.
"So you don't have a name?" Willow asked.
"I have a name. I just don't happen to know it."
"Do you want me to name you?" Fred cheerfully volunteered.
"Oh that's sweet, but I think I can name myself," she thought for a moment, "I'll name me...Joan." Cordelia made a face, "Ugh."
Buffy turned towards Cordelia, "Did you just 'ugh' my name?"
"Joan? Come on!" Cordelia judged, "I mean it's so blah."
"I like it. I feel like a Joan."
"I think it's a beautiful name," Angel reassured Buffy.
"Thank you," Buffy tilted her head and added, "You still don't have a name," she studied Angel's face and then nodded her head, "You look like a… Liam."
Cordelia scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Whatever Joan."
"Whatever CORDELIA," Buffy mocked her.
"This is great and all, but does anybody have any idea why and how we're here?" Xander interrupted before anything went down. Not knowing what else to do, they all turned to Wesley for guidance. Wesley again, puffed up his chest and waltzed in pompous steps.
"I guess I shall be your leader. And as your leader I shall-"
Just then, a demon with black spikes on its blue, bumpy face, and wearing rags, burst in the hotel doors on the other side of the lobby. The group all turned to it and simultaneously let out a terrified scream.
