It was a sucky night.



"Nobody wants to come with me?" Buffy was incredulous. "Nobody?"



Giles glanced up from the crossword puzzled he'd been studying. "I don't think 'want' is quite the word Buffy, I just don't see the need to drag everybody out to the cemetery in the middle of the night when you've shown many times over that you can readily handle a few vampires on your own."



"It's what she does best," Anya noted.



"Indeed," Giles smiled up at her sickeningly.



"Get a room," Buffy mumbled.



"We have a room," Anya said, "And you're in it. Feel free to leave any time because it's late and we were planning to have sex." She plopped down on Giles' lap, crushing his puzzle. He didn't appear to mind.



"I'm not leaving until someone listens to me," Buffy stated. "I've already tried Willow and Dawn and the guys. Why doesn't anyone care about this? I think there is something brewing out there and we all need to work on this together."



"Buffy, what makes you think¼" Giles broke off as Anya began to nibble on his ear. He blushed, but managed to continue, "that this is any sort of vampire conspiracy?" He paused to settle Anya more securely on his lap. "All you've seen is a few vampires running from a fight. There's no indication that there are more out there."



"There are always more," Buffy said grimly. "You taught me that Giles."



Anya sighed impatiently and glared at her. "Yes, and he taught you a bunch of other stuff too back when you were fighting the big fight all by yourself. Now you have an army of little slayers to help you out - a horde of sprightly little girls just itching to mutilate anything they can plunge their stakes into. You don't need us."



"How can you say that?" Buffy asked. "I need all of you. I didn't save the world all those times with my super Slayer muscles or wicked-fast fight moves. It took all of us working together."



"We were facing apocalyptic battles," Giles said. "This was a routine patrol."



"My instincts tell me that it wasn't," Buffy insisted. "I just want you to come along and check it out with me. These guys were organized and seemed to be looking for Slayers. I think they might have a bigger plan."



Giles frowned. "It's possible. Creating all the new Slayers has caused a certain disruption to the balance of demon existence. In order to survive they would need to change their tactics."



"Exactly!" Buffy said. "This is why I need you. You understand about strategies and balances and lore and¼ and all that other boring stuff."



"I¼ I wouldn't say that it was boring," Giles protested.



"Trust me, sweetie," Anya patted his cheek. "It's boring." She smiled at him and kissed him for a long, long, long time.



Buffy sighed and turned away. "I'm going to try to talk to the others again. I'll see you later."



Neither answered her.



***

Buffy was getting nowhere. The only one who seemed interested in joining her was Dawn, and Buffy really didn't want to put the girl out there against what could be a large group of vampires.



"You've always hated me," Dawn said.



"I've never hated you!"



"Oh, come on! You're so jealous you can't think straight. You want my dad all to yourself. You think that because he's your Watcher you have some kind of claim on him."



"That isn't true," Buffy denied. "You're the one I'm worried about Dawn. You might not remember it, but we're sisters. You are all the family I have and I don't want anything to happen to you."



"So it won't. Take me with you and act all protective if you want and let me kill some vampires."



"Not if you're the only one who's coming with me." Buffy was resolute.



"Here we go into General Buffy mode," Dawn muttered.



"Well, your attitude is one thing that hasn't changed," Buffy muttered back.



Willow chewed on her lip. "If Dawn really wants to go so much then I could go along to help keep her safe, even if I have to do a protection spell."



Dawn squealed and hugged the reluctant witch. "Thank you, Willow. You're the best!"



*****



"So where are all the vamps?" Dawn asked.



"Shh." Buffy tried to listen to the night and pick up on the small sounds that signaled the presence of any lurking demons.



"We could go back to the hotel," Willow offered hopefully. "And we can all enjoy the company of friends and family and the thrill of no killing!"



Buffy stopped abruptly and huffed in irritation. "Do you see why this was a dumb idea? I don't know why I even try."



"Let's go a little farther," Dawn suggested. "Maybe we'll find more of this huge gang you think is out here."



"I think?" Buffy's voice rose a few notes. "I think? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"



Dawn crossed her arms. "It's just that you seem to think that wandering through cemeteries and poking sticks at ghoulies that go bump in the night is some kind of real work. You take it all so seriously."



"This is serious Dawn. I'm saving lives out here."



Dawn raised her eyebrows skeptically and pointedly looked around the deserted graveyard. "Whatever."



Buffy threw her arms up, completely exasperated. "What is the deal with you? You're the one who wanted to tag along. Now you act like I've made the whole Slayer thing up. You know this is what I do."



"I'm just out here because it's more fun than hanging out with geek one and geek two while they fight over who is going to give me physics lessons using Star Trek models. There is nobody who is even remotely my age around here, so I have nothing to do until the new school term starts."



"School?" Buffy asked. "What school?"



"There's a high school over in Crestwood. I'm enrolled."



"How can you be enrolled? You don't live here."



"Not yet. Not until Dad closes on the house."



"What house?"



"Uh, Buffy," Willow interceded, "We could all go back and talk this out..."



"There is nothing to talk out! We have a mission. We have to find Slayers and train them to kill evil stuff. We can't do that if we're putting down roots in the middle of nowhere."



"All you ever think of is yourself," Dawn blurted. "We're happy! We've found a place that we like and Dad and Anya are getting married and we're going to be a family with a house and pets and stuff and this is good. We don't have to follow you around anymore while you play your games."



"These 'games' are keeping people alive. Don't you remember?" Buffy's voice ended on a wistful note. She felt as though she were going to start crying at any minute. How could they forget all the things they had done in the past, and how important they had been to the survival of human beings time and time again? It seemed that all anyone wanted to do was dive headfirst into what they thought was the normal world. They wanted to strap on their blinders and forget that there were bigger things out here than jobs and boyfriends and houses and school.



It wouldn't do to keep dwelling on this. Buffy could feel the panic of not being in control creeping over her. She tightened her grip on her stake and exhaled firmly. "I have vamps to find," she said, "and if you want to join me, do it. If you don't you can go back and join the others."



She didn't wait for a response, but turned and marched into the darkness of the nearby woods. After a few moments she heard two sets of footsteps following her, but Willow and Dawn remained silent. She could tell that Dawn was sulking. There was a big pouty Dawn vibe all around. Still, Buffy was just as glad that she wasn't alone. She could at least pretend that things were a little bit normal this way.



There were still no vampires that she could detect, and the woods were getting darker as they moved farther into them. "Willow," she whispered over her shoulder. "Do you think you could whip me up one of your little balls of sunshine?"



"Sure," Willow said cheerfully. "Don't see any problem there. Incandesce!" Willow commanded softly.



Nothing happened.



Buffy stopped and faced the other two girls. "Did I miss it?" she asked.



"No," Willow worried her lip. "That used to work in the past. Let me try again." This time she stood still and closed her eyes. "Incandesce". A very dim light appeared in front of her. Willow studied it in dismay.



"That's kind of puny," Dawn commented.



"At least it's something," Buffy said. "Let's go."



The light floated and flickered softly in front of the girls. It emitted barely enough light to keep them from stumbling over tree roots and broken branches. It was no help at all in lighting up the area beyond them. Buffy knew that any lurking vampires would have an advantage in this darkness. A feeling of unease settled in her gut and began to grow.



"I don't think this is the best idea," she said. "Maybe you two should go back."



"I think we should all go back," Willow said.



"Yeah," Dawn agreed. "It's obvious we aren't going to find any vampires, plus I'm getting hungry. We've been out here forever."



A loud crack sounded over to their left. Buffy whipped around and scanned the area, but saw only blackness. The hair on her arms stood up straight and her slayer sense went on red alert. "Get out of here now!" she shouted to the other girls.



Willow didn't hesitate. She grabbed Dawn by the arm and dragged her back the way they had come. The small light flickered out, leaving Buffy alone. But she wasn't alone. She was surrounded. There were vampires everywhere, too many to actually sense their number. At least a dozen was her guess. Buffy gripped her stake once again, and charged into the murk.



*****



"Willow," Dawn panted. "Stop. We have to stop."



Willow finally let go of the girl's arm and slowed down. Her only thought had been to get Dawn to safety. They had reached the edge of the woods and there was no sign that anything had followed them.



"I think we need to get help," Willow said.



Dawn shook her head. "No. We need to go back. We have to find out if Buffy..."



"I can't take you back in there!" Willow was panicked, "Dawn, you could get killed. I have to get you back."



"No!" she said again. "Something is going on in there and it's big and Buffy's in trouble. You heard all that yelling and fighting!"



Dawn could tell Willow was about to melt into a useless crying fit. She slapped her. "We're going to go back in there and find out if Buffy is still alive. If she is, we're going to get her out of there."



Willow shook her head, "How?"



"We'll figure it out," Dawn said as she turned to re-enter the woods. "We have to."



*****