"Neil," Riley Finn quietly asked as he crept into his son's room. "What are you still doing up?" Neil turned back from his perch at the window and looked at his father.

"I couldn't sleep," he said matter-of-factly as he continued to face the window. Riley nodded as he walked into the room and joined Neil by the window.

"I know it seems like me and your mother were being harsh about tonight, Neil, but it's not as bad as it seems." Neil glanced from to the window to his father with sad eyes.

"I'm more mad at myself right now than anything, Dad," he admitted. "I didn't handle it very well," he confessed with a whisper. Riley placed an arm around Neil's shoulder.

"We've all made some mistakes, Neil." Riley gave the idea some thought before he went on, but decided to anyway. "Did I ever tell you about the first time I met Angel?" Neil looked back at his father and shook his head. "Well, I was already dating your mother at the time, and I basically went very medieval." Neil glared at his father, not believing what he was being told. "I tried to kick the shit out of him," Riley continued. "And your mom could have kicked my ass for doing it. The point is, Neil, that I let my heart override my brain, and I could have caused some real damage that night." Neil nodded.

"Thanks, Dad, but did Mom have to say those things about Mike? She's not some kind of user," Neil reminded him. Riley sighed as he shifted his weight.

"Your mom was very upset tonight, Neil. I'm sure she didn't mean it that way," Riley tried to explain.

"That doesn't mean that it hurts any less to hear her say that," Neil told him and Riley nodded.

"Just give your mother and I a chance to calm down some and we'll discuss it some more later, when we're all a little more clear headed, okay?" Neil turned back to the window.

"Fair enough," he agreed. "All things considered, it's better than I had thought it would be," he added. Riley patted his son on the back.

"We'll get through this, Neil," he promised him. "You'll see." With that, Riley turned and began to leave the room. Neil suddenly turned back to the door.

"Hey, Dad, you weren't joking about the Angel thing, were you," he asked. Riley turned and shook his head.

"No," he replied casually. Neil smiled.

"I'm sorry I missed it, then. It must've been fun to see Pretty Boy get knocked down a notch," Neil said, grinning. Riley grinned back.

"Just don't let Mike or your mom hear this," Riley warned. "But between us, it was." With that, Riley left the room and shut the door behind him. Neil turned back to the window and began to look back out again. After a few minutes, Neil started to hear something coming from outside. He couldn't quite place the noise, but he wanted to investigate it a little further, so he lifted up the glass to hear it better. That was his mistake. As soon as the window pane was all the way up, a pair of large, burly arms grabbed onto Neil's wrists.

"What…" Neil shouted as he was forcibly hauled out of the window and thrown to the ground. He rolled down the roof and hit the lawn feet first with an "umph". After taking a few moments to regain his breath, Neil slowly rose to find himself surround by five vampires, all with their game faces on. "Oh, shit," Neil muttered as he rose to his full height and faced his opponents. From his left, a sixth vamp joined the circled the others had formed around Neil, and he suspected that this one had been the one who had pulled him out of the window. Neil was trapped.

"Hello, dearie," Dru cooed. "Would you like join me and Miss Edith for a tea party? It will be great fun," she mused.

"What the hell are you trying to do," Neil said hastily.

"All the voices are singing for you," Dru said. "They tell me that you've been a big disappointment to mommy and daddy and that she would be so very upset if you were to be hurt after they said such mean things to you."

"Oh, God," Neil whispered as he began to realize the full ramifications what was happening to him.

"Night, night, Neil," Dru cooed as Neil felt the blow to the back of his head, plunging him into darkness.

After a chance to talk to Spike, Mike finally decided to call it a night and began to head home. She crossed the deserted cemetery and headed to her car. The windows were dark, and the light coming from the near-by street lamp was dim, making her unable to see inside the car. She open the door driver's side door and sat down in the seat, sticking the key in the ignition, and paying little attention to the rest of the vehicle. She never got it started. As soon as she leaned back close enough to the back seat, a hand came from her right and covered her mouth with a damp cloth.

Mike tried to struggle and resist, but her assailaint held firm. She soon began to weaken under the drug and soon passed out into darkness. The vamp smiled.


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