Summers Residence, living room. About fifteen minutes later, the gang is in the midst of opening Christmas presents. Giles, Willow, and Tara are sitting on the sofa, Dawn is sitting on the floor in front of Tara, Buffy is sitting in a big comfy chair, Spike is sitting, leaning against the chair, and Xander and Anya are sharing the other chair.

Anya: (Reading a t-shirt that she's just pulled from a gift box) "Tact is for people who aren't witty enough to be sarcastic."

Buffy: I saw it and thought of you.

Anya: Oh...because of my quick wit, right?

Buffy: (Pauses) Yeah…that's exactly what went through my head.

The rest of the gang chuckles, but it's over Anya's head.

Anya: (Cheerfully) Thanks!

Buffy: (Quickly changing subject) All right, who's opening next? (She searches for a gift to hand off)

Anya: (The light bulb clicks on) Hey, (accusingly) that was sarcasm.

Buffy: (Reads gift tag) To: Giles, From: Spike. (Hands the package over to Giles) This should be interesting.

Just as Giles is about to unwrap the gift, the doorbell rings yet again; everyone looks confused.

Willow: Were you expecting anyone else?

Buffy: (Jokingly) I don't know…you tell me.

Willow raises her hands in surrender again. Tara rolls her eyes and gets up from the sofa.

Tara: Probably just carolers. I'll get it.

Tara walks through the living room doorway to the entryway. She opens the front door to great the mystery guest, but finds no one at the door. She cautiously steps out onto the porch to look around. At first, she sees nothing, but she listens carefully and hears a shivering noise coming from the opposite side of the porch railing. She steps down from the porch and rounds the corner to find a little boy crouching near the ground. The boy, who looks about six years old, is wearing a rugged, worn winter jacket, and is shaking furiously from the cold. Tara crouches down to meet the boy at eye-level before speaking.

Tara: (gently) Are you okay?

The boy gingerly shakes his head.

Tara: What's your name?

Little Boy: T-t-troy.

Tara: Hi Troy, I'm Tara. Do you want to come inside? (She slowly reaches out her hand to the boy). We can call your parents; I'm sure they're worried.

Troy just stares at her, still uncertain.

Tara: Th-there's hot chocolate,

Troy considers this, then nods his head and steps forward to accept Tara's offer.

Meanwhile, back in the living room…

Giles: A mug?

Giles finishes peeling the paper from his gift. Turning the mug around, he notices that it reads, "Kiss the Librarian."

Spike: They didn't have one that said "ex-librarian/watcher turned magic shop owner."

Anya: Doesn't he already have one like that?

Giles: Used to…I thought you said, 'Hell would freeze over before you replaced that piece of bloody stupid novelty junk?'

Spike: Have you seen outside?

They all turn to the window and notice the snow still floating to the ground.

Xander: Aww, (jokingly) it's a Kodak moment.

Spike: Bollocks! It was the first thing I saw…and it was cheap!

Buffy: (laughs) And you call yourself the 'Big Bad'?

Spike opens his mouth to protest, but is interrupted by a sudden scream from the front lawn. Everyone jumps, and Willow leaps to her feet in alarm.

Willow: Tara!

Willow sprints out the front door, with everyone else in tow, to find Tara fallen on the ground in a snow bank. She doesn't appear to be harmed as Willow rushes to her side.

Willow: Tara, are you okay?

Tara: (shivering) Y-yeah, I-I…I'm fine.

Willow embraces Tara and breathes a sigh of relief.

Buffy: What happened?

Tara: I'm not s-sure. It w-wasn't human.

Willow: We should get you inside; it's freezing.

Willow helps Tara to her feet while Xander gets a blanket from the house to warm her up. Dawn opens the door for everyone to come back in, but Buffy lingers at the end of the sidewalk staring down the road. Giles turns and notices Buffy's hesitation. He instructs Dawn to go inside with the others, and joins Buffy in the snow.

Giles: Do have any ideas?

Buffy: I wish…wait, bad word choice.

Giles: We'll figure it out. I'm sure Willow's already booting up her laptop as we speak.

Buffy: (smiles) I know. I was just kind of hoping evil would take a Holiday for a change, you know? Why can't they just eat, sleep, play poker for kittens and be merry?

Giles: And pass up the chance to spend time trying to outwit you?

Buffy: Gee, I'm flattered.

The two share a little laugh and head back up the walkway into the house. Neither of them, however, notice the little shiny, button-like pendant lying at the bottom step of the porch. Both Buffy and Giles round the corner into the dining room, where everyone is currently congregated. Willow is indeed behind her computer, as Giles predicted; the rest of the gang is in research mode as well, sifting through a pile of books about demons and magicks. Giles sits down and opens a book, but Buffy opts to stand behind Willow and look over her shoulder at the laptop screen.

Xander: So what did this thing look like exactly? I mean are we talking horns, tentacles, appendages in inappropriate places?

Tara: No…that's just the thing; it looked human. He looked human.

Giles: He?

Tara: When I went outside, I found a little boy. I asked him his name…Troy, I think he said. He looked lost so asked if he wanted to come inside and call his parents. I took his hand to help him up, and…he changed.

Xander: Ahh…ambiguous shape-shifting demon; how could I forget?

Tara: I wish I could give a good description of him, but he got very big, very fast. After he shoved me back, I tried to do a stationary spell-to hold him in place-but he took off before I could get the last word out, so I didn't bother.

Giles: Did he have any kind of markings, like a symbol of some kind, perhaps?

Tara: Not that I remember.

Willow: Well, there are about only three hundred…thousand demons that have the ability to shape-shift. None of them are listed by the name "Troy," unfortunately.

Buffy: We need to find out more about Troy and if he has any friends out there helping him crash Christmas parties.

Xander: I sense a patrol is in our near future.

Buffy: (nods) Xander, you take Anya and Willow towards town; Giles, Spike, and I will search the cemetery. Tara, I need you to stay here with Dawn and see if you can remember anything that might narrow the search.

Dawn: Why do I have to stay? (Turns to Tara) No offense, but I can help patrol. I'm very observant.

Xander: I think Buffy's right Dawn; we don't know what we're even looking for.

Tara: Besides, I could use your help (gestures towards the mounds of books on the table).

Dawn: (Slumps back in her seat and rolls her eyes) Fine.

Buffy: Great! Let's get our torches and pitchforks and head out.

Xander and Spike pull stakes, a couple of axes, a sword, and flashlights from the wooden chest in the living room, and meet Buffy, Anya, Giles, and Willow at the front door.

Willow: (Turns back to the dining room) You sure you're gonna be all right?

Dawn: Yeah.

Tara: Be careful.

Dawn: Don't talk to strangers.

Willow smirks and turns back to join the others. Xander and Giles each have an ax. Willow, Anya, and Spike have stakes and flashlights, and Buffy has the sword.

Buffy: Stakes, check. Axes, check. My favorite sword, check. Now let's go kick some ass… in the spirit of Christmas.

Buffy opens the front door, and they are bombarded by snow being blown by the blizzard force winds. Everyone stands nearly frozen; she quickly slams the door back shut.

Buffy: Mittens, anyone?