"Vengeance..." said Tara with a shudder. "It's such a terrible word."
"I'm not offended." said Anya. "I've moved on since my demon days."
"Vengeance." repeated Buffy. "Vengeance. Who, out of us here, deserves a good old vengeance-spanking?"
"Well," said Anya hesitantly. "Let's not forget why I'm here. I don't like to think of Xander kissing anyone else, but he and Willow were..."
"Making with the smoochies." finished Buffy.
"Yes, that. I was supposed to grant Cordelia's wish, but something went wrong and I lost my powers."
"M-maybe Catherine want to finish off the vengeance you started?" suggested Tara. "But, who was the other she mentioned?"
"Cordelia was involved..." mused Buffy. "and Oz...with Veruca..."
"The she-werewolf." explained Willow, sounding slightly miserable. "She and Oz, they had a lot in common..."
"We're jumping to conclusions here," said Giles, irritably. "We don't know what she meant..."
Willow was losing concentration, which was unusual, she'd had over four years of practice of listening to Giles.
She kept looking at Xander's toned and muscular arms, and the cutely concerned look on his face.
She flicked her red hair, as if to get his attention.
Wait, what am I thinking? she snapped out of it. She hadn't felt like that about Xander for a long time.
She loved Tara.
She shook herself and tried to look interested, but Giles had stopped talking halfway through.
They looked at him expectantly, but his eyes drifted down the smooth curve of Anya's neck, down to her cleavage.
It was his turn to shake himself, what was he thinking of? Then he realised that she was around 22 times his age.
But that wasn't it. He sensed something, something inside her. Someone. Someone familiar that he hadn't sensed for a long time.
It feels like...Jenny. He knew he was acting irrationally, but he couldn't shake the thought.
Xander was the only one who had noticed his strange behaviour.
He gave him an odd look, but then dismissed it.
"Ah, yes...err..." Giles tried to continue. "If D'Hoffryn won't assist us, then the only way to destroy a vengeance demon is to...behead them."
"Sword through the chest won't do." confirmed Anya. "Or you can destroy their power centres. Mine was a beautiful pendant, with a green stone."
Willow nodded. "I remember it. But it won't kill her, it'll just remove her vengeance demon status. She'll still be a powerful, experienced and pissed off witch."
"Willow, we have two powerful, experienced witches." Buffy reminded her.
"No!" protested Tara. "I mean, W-willow is the real power."
"But together we're indestructible, sweetie." Willow tried to convince her. "I'm sure if we find the right spell, we can bind her again."
"It's certainly worth a try." said Giles, tearing his eyes away from Anya again. But she was just so beautiful to him in that light, just the way Jenny was.
It must be her. he told himself.
"Well now we're in full research mode." said Buffy. "I'm Prophecy Gal again."
"I'll get the doughnuts," said Xander. "Ahn, you coming?"
Giles wasn't about to let Anya out of his sight.
"No." he quickly interjected. "We need Anya for the...vengeance research."
"I'll go!" said Willow, eagerly. As much as she needed Tara, she couldn't stop thinking about Xander, and some time alone was just what she wanted.
"Will, you're Wiccan-witchy research gal." reminded Buffy.
"I'll go." said a familiar voice from the door.
Cordelia Chase walked over to them.
"It was open." she explained, gesturing to the way she had came in.
"Cordelia...what are you doing here?" exclaimed Buffy, incredulously, while everybody else just looked shocked. "Aren't you working for Angel in LA?"
"Well, I was." said Cordy. "But he sort of...fired me. He's been all moody and leave me alone lately. It's a thing."
"Well...Cordy...What are you doing here?" he echoed Buffy's words, finally finding his voice.
"Lets just say I have some unfinished business to take care of. Come on Xand."
She tilted her head towards the door, and went through it.
Xander looked apologetically at Anya and followed her.
Immediately Willow and Anya stood up.
"What?" cried Anya.
"What?" cried Willow.
"She can't-!"
"She can't do that!"
"Okay guys, there's confusion." Buffy tried to calm them down. "But we've agreed that Cordelia is involved with the vengeance. Maybe Catherine lured her here. The important thing is to work on removing Catherine's powers and binding her. That's our priority.
"Her power centre is sure to be a necklace," commented Anya. "I know it seemed cliché, but like D'Hoffryn said, I know him well."
"We can smash it from a distance!" realised Willow. "Tara and I have been working on a spell, haven't we sweetie?"
Tara smiled, but an uncertain smile, she was unsure about how Willow was reacting around Xander.
"With the proper incantation and control we can destroy it right now." she confirmed. "B-but we'll need time to prepare."
"Start now." said Giles. "There's no time like the present."
Catherine smiled to herself.
She could feel the magick working, the effects taking place.
The cheerleader girl was over from LA already, she knew.
Their feelings for each other were slowly becoming distorted, and they would soon destroy themselves.
She felt the symbol on her necklace, cool on her warm skin, and was grateful.
Her demonic powers prevented the exhaustion she had been suffering from earlier.
"Mara-chi Patraka alanci-smai msr cadona." chanted Willow.
"Karana, molonu, eranda tempulous!" continued Tara, taking over from her.
Their voices were different, deeper, Buffy noticed.
The two wiccans joined hands and turned their heads towards the door.
Miles away, the necklace in Catherine's hand shattered.
She shrieked and fell to the ground, she could feel her abilities fading and her weaknesses returning.
"It's done." said Willow, breathlessly.
"I can feel it." said Tara in agreement.
"Good. Now it's just the binding spell we have to take care of." said Buffy.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute, this looks good." said Anya, showing Giles a page in a large, dusty occult book.
"and it's only in the fourth volume I looked in!" she commented happily.
"Must be a record." noted Buffy. "What does it involve?"
"Create a circle of protection around you, speak these words and the entity will be confined in the object of your choice." Giles read aloud.
"But when it's done, what's to stop her breaking free again, if the object's smashed?" Buffy asked doubtingly.
"We'll protect it." decided Willow. "And bury it."
"Bury what?" asked Spike, entering the shop.
Buffy groaned. We really have to lock that door. she reminded herself.
She then realised it must be nightfall.
"Where were you this morning?" she asked, noticing his absence for the first time.
"You didn't write, you didn't call!" he mocked her in a high-pitched voice.
He lit up a cigarette, until Giles point to a no-smoking sign and he graciously stamped it out.
"I was kept in my crypt by the Cralt demons. They aren't best pleased with you and me, Slayer." he explained. "But it's nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about. I took care of them as soon as the sun went down.
"Good." said Buffy, more than a little relieved. "I don't have time to think about that right now."