A/N: Sorry it took so long to update this story, but I've been busy with other things. Well, on with the show – and please review!
Somewhere on Parkview Crescent, Sunnydale January 20th 1998
The two rogue Powers That Be had to work fast, but they managed to prevent Xander and Cordelia from…consummating their relationship that night, after the Judge was taken care of. This was done by making sure Cordelia's parents were at home for once, so that the cheerleader never got the chance to drag her new boyfriend into her bedroom for the night.
Which was all for the best, because, if they hadn't done that? Teenage pregnancy was no joke, especially when you're the richest girl in town and your father would actually shoot your boyfriend for violating his little girl that way!
A short while earlier, at an old, run-down house, Johnny Van Helsing continued to attack Count Orlok with the stake he took from his x-shaped belt. { Let's see you avoid this, vampire! }
Orlok obligingly ducked and hit his opponent in the face! Which drew blood, getting in Johnny's eyes. Orlok grinned darkly and licked the blood from his long sharp nails. "Tasty..."
The monster hunter quickly wiped the blood from his eyes. His face has now long deep slashes across his face! "You god damn undead prick!" Johnny managed to strike the vampire with the stake, right into his arm. Orlok roared in pain, and counter-attacked so viciously that Johnny had no choice but to retreat.
"I'll see you around, demon!" He dropped a smoke bomb laced with garlic, which exploded once it hit the floor… And then, Johnny was gone.
Orlok simply smirked as the smoke got into his eyes. Luckily for him, the Gem of Amara protected him from the garlic smoke. Even if didn't stop him feeling pain - he pulled out the stake from his arm, which hurt like hell! There was no wound, but there was a hole in the coat sleeve.
{ Damn these long nails, I won't be able to stitch up the sleeve's hole, } the former Billy Fordham thought to himself in annoyance. { Maybe I could still hunt down some of those human blood bags that got away? } He walked into the pouring rain….
Meanwhile, somewhere Up There, the two rogue Powers That Be were playing the cosmic equivalent of chess in their realm. The chess pieces looked like the various Scooby gang members, Angel, Jenny, Kendra and Jareth (plus various pawns with various faces).
"So, Jareth is still playing his role nicely," one of the Powers moved his chess piece on the board.
"For now. But that will not last forever. We may need to intervene…directly," the other Power replied.
"It's been centuries since we been in the human realm," the other Power frowned.
"We could use human avatars, so the others won't know what we're up to?"
"It could work," the first Power mused. The two Powers were working with the ancient god Miraak. "Our powers would be severely limited, but that might not be a bad thing. We'll need time to set it up so that the others won't miss us, but yes…it could be done…"
Back at the school, the Scooby gang, along with Angel, Kendra and Jenny, had arrived to deal with the Judge's body parts. Giles thought it might be worthwhile to freeze the Judge's parts with Andrew's freeze gun, which would (hopefully) make the parts easier to destroy. So Buffy opened fire on the demon parts with the freeze gun, and then Kendra struck with her bare fists, shattering them into pieces.
No weapon forged by man could kill the Judge – but a pissed and jealous Slayer was a totally different matter!
Back at the Crawford Street mansion, Spike fed human blood to a comatose Drusilla. "They'll all bloody pay for hurting you, luv!" Spike snarled, while Drusilla lay in their bedroom within the mansion to heal up. "Dru? C'mon, wake up!" He abruptly turned to the minions. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you gits? DO SOMETHING!"
Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do – apart from leaving Spike alone to stew in his rage and guilt…
DELOS facility, summer of 1999
In his lab, Jareth had finally finished his creation: something which would put The Initiative's Frankenstein monster (which would eventually be named ADAM) to shame. The demon Drej entered the private laboratory, after coming from one of the labs containing the robots being repaired and fixed.
"Where did you get the dead demon body from, Jareth?" Drej asked.
"In a way, it was thanks to that foolish Mayor Wilkins. He sent this one to the Slayers, nearly 18 months ago. So I weakened him, and the Slayers killed his sorry ass."
Shrugging, Drej told Jareth that according to informed sources, the Powers That Be weren't too happy that the monks of the Order of Dagon were dead. "The Key returned to the Higher Realms once its caretakers were killed, Jareth."
Jareth laughed darkly. "Well. It looks like Glory will have to find another way home, without the Key!"
"I thought that hellgoddess was still imprisoned inside its human shell?" Drej looked confused.
"No, or at least not really. She managed to break loose from her confinement, back in '98…"
Not far away, Ethan had to admit it – he hadn't ever thought of actually going to one of the robot theme parks, since he came here to visit Jareth. Mostly since paying as a guest to attend one of the them was way out of his price range.
But Jareth had offered him a huge discount, so he started packing his suitcase in one of the guest rooms he was staying in at Jareth's mansion. It wasn't wise to insult his demon host, after all...
City Hall, Sunnydale January 21st 1998
Shortly after the midnight hour within the mayor's private office, Richard Wilkins wasn't happy.
After all, the Slayers had killed his minion. As dumb as a bag of rocks the demon was, he could have been still useful. { Well, I'll just have to adjust my plans a little, I guess. }
Too bad for him that the Mayor had no idea about the demon Jareth, or his spy for that matter….
Later that night at Johnny's Van Helsing's hideout somewhere in Sunnydale, the monster hunter was in the bathroom cleaning up the blood from his face - and drinking a healing potion. The mystical brew healed up his face from the damage inflicted by the vampire's long sharp nails. There were no scars whatsoever, thanks to the healing potion.
"Damn that bloodsucker!" He cursed to himself. Still, Orlok got lucky because at that moment, Van Helsing was informed of a potential apocalypse elsewhere and so had to leave the Hellmouth…
The next morning, the Scooby gang had gathered around the table at the school library. With the Judge gone and Drusilla down for the count.
"I hope things will be quiet for a while. We CAN hope for that, right Giles?" Buffy asked hopefully.
"This is the Hellmouth, Buffy," Giles replied in a deadpan sort of way, while cleaning his glasses.
"G-man's got a point," Xander said, noticing Cordy giving him a short glare. It was obvious she was still upset about the previous night. { Oh well, nothing much I can do about that! } "Way things work around here, we'll barely have time to clear away the collateral damage before the next crisis shows up!"
{ Well, at least the Hellmouth won't be opening anytime soon, } Kendra thought to herself, as the bell rang and the other teenagers departed the library. { Hmm…I need to contact Mr. Zabuto, and inform him what's happened here. Who knows, he may tell me that I should go back home and leave everything to Buffy and her friends… }
DELOS facility, summer of 1999
Jareth was giving a tour of the theme parks for a number of high-paying guests, Ethan and the two rogue Powers That Be (albeit undercover in their human avatars). First was the tour of Westworld. Everyone on the tour was having a good time…demon or not, Jareth was a good businessman and knew how to market his product properly!
Last on the tour was the Feudal Japan World, which was still being built. Seeing the new theme park being built by robots and humans was quite the eye-opening experience, especially those robots that didn't have human flesh. After the tour was over, Jareth said, "We have some time for some questions, before you all go back to your hotel rooms. Who'd like to start us off?"
One of the guests asked about the robots that were working on the new theme park. "What kind of model are they?"
"Oh, we call those worker-bots. They do most of the heavier lifting. And they can continue to work after the conventional workers have gone home for the night," Jareth said with a smile. "Any other questions?"
Another guest had a question. "Will there be any holiday theme parks?"
Jareth looked momentarily deep in thought. "Holiday theme parks sound good to me," he said with a smile. "Maybe the next generation of our facilities will include something like the first Thanksgiving, who knows? Now, does anyone have any other questions?"
No one spoke, and so moments later the guests went back to their hotel rooms, while Jareth and Ethan arrived at DELOS.
"I got my things packed. But I haven't picked which theme park to patronise," Ethan said musingly. He still wasn't sure whether Jareth wasn't trying to set him up for something.
"How about Westworld, Ethan?" Jareth replied without looking at him, as he wrote down notes for the holiday theme park ideas.
"As you wish," Ethan frowned. He was starting to get a nasty feeling about all this...
Crawford Street mansion, Sunnydale February 12th 1998
Within Drusilla's and Spike's bedroom, the female vampire was still in bed - healing slowly from her wounds. It had been a nightmarish few weeks for her boyfriend, as Spike blew cigarette smoke from his mouth. { Wankers are gonna pay, oh yes they are… }
"Spoike?" Drusilla finally spoke up, sounding as weak as she had been when she'd first turned up in Sunnydale.
"Dru!" Spike shouted excitedly. For him, all was finally right with the world again. He quickly fed her some human blood, saying soothingly, "There, there, everything's gonna be all right – you just drink up, then..."
Later that morning at the high school, the hallways were being decorated for Valentine's Day. There was a Valentine's Day dance scheduled too. The students talked among themselves about it, while Snyder was grumbling to himself. Xander, Willow, Oz, Buffy and Cordelia went to their classes for the day after home room.
Kendra, who hadn't left the Hellmouth after all, was elsewhere - looking for any clue to help her find the vampire from her vision, during the previous month. Even if she couldn't help being distracted by... other thoughts...
{ What does Xander see in that Cordelia girl, anyway? } Kendra thought to herself.
Shaking her head, the Jamaican girl forced herself to focus. She hoped to find the vampire in question before sundown. She could care less about Valentine's Day. It was just another day, like any other since she'd arrived in this country….
Elsewhere, Drusilla was almost completely healed. Both her and Spike were asleep on the bed in their bedroom - while elsewhere in the mansion, Count Orlok was awake, deep in thought.
The past few weeks had taught him that it was pointless going out during the day, looking like the way he did now. He could do it, but it would only call attention to himself – and best case scenario, he'd have to destroy the Gem of Amara like Spike had done, in order for it not to fall into the wrong hands. If there was a horror convention going on in town, then maybe he could test out the Gem.
{ Maybe I could go back to Magic Though The Ages, to see if there's something I could use to disguise myself as human? } It was a valid thought, so Ford looked for anything he could find to sell - or even some cash hidden somewhere in the mansion. { I might get lucky, } he mused to himself, { Spike's minions are pretty stupid, after all. They either carry their money on them, or actually hide it under their mattresses! }
Back at the school, Snyder was making students sign up for the dance committee for the Valentine's Day - anyone that was unlucky to cross his path in the hallway – thanks to a number of unexpected resignations (after he'd been forced to suspend the juvenile delinquents). Willow and Oz were among the unlucky students chosen.
"Where are Summers and Harris?" Snyder demanded of the two robot spies, with a growl in his voice.
"We don't know where they are," the Willow-bot replied, thinking that Snyder really did have bad breath (even if she wasn't programmed to think that).
"You stink of lies, missy! Never mind, I'm sure I'll find them sooner or later. Now, both of you will be joining the dance committee. I don't care what excuses you both have to say, you're doing it or else!"
With a hopeless shrug, both Willow and Oz signed the paper Snyder gave them. Then Snyder left to be a pain the as s to someone else. Meanwhile Xander, Buffy, Jenny and Giles were at the library; Buffy and Xander were training together. Cordelia was at cheer practice. The two teachers were rather distracted with each other, a fact that both Xander and Buffy both missed – thanks to being so competitive in their spar...
Later that day, Kendra went to Willie's Bar – still looking for any leads on the vampire from her vision. She entered the bar, seeing some the demons playing pool, some were playing drinking games and others playing card games.
Over in one corner, a half-demon hit his head on the table from the last drink. "HA HA HA, I won! Pay up, fools!" said the winner of the drinking game. The demons that lost sighed and grumbled, taking out their cash from their pockets. Even though one actually wanted to pay with kittens...
Some vampires stopped their card game looking up as the vampire Slayer walks towards the bar area.
"She's got balls coming in here," one of the vampires muttered, gulping down his drink at the card table.
"We gonna pig out on some free Slayer blood?" another vampire whispered, recognizing Kendra from her nightly patrols.
"Don't be stupid. You wanna get tossed out into the sunlight?" yet another vampire told him contemptuously. "As if the Slayer hasn't got backup waiting outside, to kill us!"
"What brings a Slayer to my place?" Willie asked nervously, pouring a gin and tonic for a half demon seated at the bar (and looking around at the rest of his clientele).
"I'm lookin' for de vampire named Count Orlok," Kendra said, showing him a printed black and white picture of the vampire from the movie 'Nosferatu.'
Willie took the picture from her and briefly studied it. "Yeah, kid, he was here around Halloween. Looking for a place to stay. I told him about the mansion on Crawford Street..." Willie shrugged. "Oh! That reminds me. Any chance you've reconsidered the whole nude modelling photo shoot thing?"
The Chosen One gave him a silent death glare.
"Okay, fine! The vampire you're looking for, I heard he went to that Magicks Through The Ages store. Here's the address – as long as you promise not to destroy my bar!" He wrote something down and then handed over the piece of paper with the address to her.
Kendra didn't bother to thank him, and silently left the bar.
Westworld theme park, summer of 1999
Ethan was within a saloon, drinking and having a relatively good time during his so-called 'vacation.' Meanwhile, the two rogue Powers (or at least their human avatars) were having a blast - manipulating Jareth in the most subtle way imaginable. They were here for the long-scheduled meeting between Jareth and the Scooby gang, once the white hats arrived at Westworld….
Jareth himself was in one of his hidden labs within the DELOS facility that has his clone inside a tank. The clone looked like a younger version of him, actually, one that could easily pass as his son.
The ancient god Miraak manifested in the lab, appearing out of nowhere. "Really, Jareth, you want your soul be transferred into a clone?"
The demon sighed and rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm sure. This is the only body that could hold my powers, Miraak!" Jareth grinned.
{ You fool, } Miraak thought to himself, before he vanished as quickly as he'd arrived. { Your powers won't help you, when the time comes... }
Sunnydale High School, Sunnydale February 13th 1998
Inside the school gym, Amy Madison was helping Oz and Willow with the decorations - while other students were doing their part to get the gym ready for the Valentine's Day dance. None of the students appeared happy being on the dance committee like this.
"I can't believe we have go to this lame ass dance on Valentine's Day," one of the students complained with a loud sigh.
"Willow, have you seen Andrew lately?" Amy asked with a worried look, ignoring that.
"No. I haven't seen Andrew since the day he left the library," the Willow-bot replied, also feeling a little worried. Again, not something she'd been programmed for, but still.
"None of his friends have seen him either, I heard the guy simply disappeared," the Oz-bot replied, wishing he was elsewhere.
Amy frowned, before dismissing Andrew as a casualty of Sunnydale's 'night life' and focusing on the task at hand. She'd gotten roped into all this by Snyder like the two robots spies, and had little interest in attending the dance she was helping set up. In fact, for Valentine's Day, Amy was going to practice some new spells while watching Sabrina The Teenage Witch. { I wonder if I could turn someone into a talking cat like Salem? } she thought to herself.
Elsewhere in Sunnydale, the hellgoddess Glory wasn't happy to find out the guardians of the Key had been killed. She crushed a wine glass in her hand. If she was human, her hand would be bleeding and have pieces of glass in it. But since she wasn't human, there was no blood or even cuts in her hand. The pieces of glass fell to the wooden floor, before one of her minions swept the glass shards away.
"Ugh. That stuff was gross!" Glory complained, sounding like a blonde Cordelia!
"I'm sure you'll find something better, Most Venerable and Wonderful Glorificus!" a minion said in a grovelling way, handing her a new glass of wine.
"Yeah. You're right! I'll go out on Valentine's Day, brain-suck some mortal minds, then take a nice bubble bath while I eat some chocolate. I hope poor ol' Ben doesn't have a date for Valentine's Day!" Glory said, with a dark laugh….
Elsewhere, Kendra arrived at Magicks Through The Ages - hoping to find the vampire from her vision. She'd been delayed in getting here since leaving Willie's Bar yesterday, but now she opened the door and walked inside the store.
At first glance, Kendra saw all kinds of magic items. Stuff she'd never seen of or even heard of, for that matter. The warlock that helped Orlok fix the Gem of Amara asked her if she needs help with anything. Kendra shows him the printed photo. The warlock took the printed photo and squinted at it.
"I'm lookin' for dis vampire," the Chosen One told him simply.
"Right. He was here a month or so ago." The warlock didn't bother to tell her the vampire couldn't be killed thanks to the repaired Gem.
"Why was de vampire here?" Kendra asked the warlock.
"No idea. I'm sorry I can't help you, Slayer." { It's been a long time since we got a Slayer to come by the store, } he thought to himself.
Kendra could sense that this guy was hiding something and that he couldn't be trusted. The only question was whether it was worth beating him up now for information, or later that night…
Back at the Crawford Street mansion, Count Orlok was still looking for anything to sell for cash. In Spike's and Drusilla's bedroom, Spike gave her the last of the human blood. He told her to get more rest, as Dru went back to sleep. "I'll make the bloody wankers pay! And give that ass hat Harris a beat-down, the likes of which that little git won't forget..." Spike growled evilly.
Not far away, Orlok heard something up in the attic. Going upstairs, he found the attic full of dust and spiderwebs - covering up lamps, boxes, and furniture. The former Billy Fordham saw a glowing green light from one of the trunks. He also heard a voice, even if he couldn't make out the words. He walked towards the green glow...
He opened the trunk, and saw a glowing green sphere. { Is this what I heard? } Orlok asked himself in confusion.
"William Fordham, I must warn you! If you stay in Sunnydale, you will die by the hands of a Slayer!" said the glowing green sphere.
Orlok laughed, in order to cover up his surprise. "Really? Because I have the Gem of Amara!" he told the strange sphere.
"The warlock who re-forged it for you can't be trusted, William. I will show you your future, if you stay!" the sphere replied at once.
With that, the entire attic lit up with a bright green light. From Count Orlok's point of view, the attic changed into the school library where he saw himself fight a Slayer. He'd never seen Kendra before, and it took a few moments for him to understand...
Orlok watched his future self fight the Caribbean Slayer. His future self and the Slayer threw punches at each other, before the vampire went flying across the library -
Orlok sighed to himself. He knew his combat skills weren't the best, but really – this was just pitiful!
The other Count Orlok in the vision hit a book case, and it almost fell down on top of him. Just as he about to get up on his feet, the Slayer jumped and staked him right in the chest! The stake penetrated the rib cage and slammed into the unbeating heart which contained the Gem of Amara. The Gem glowed inside the undead heart, and then his future self started to glow with white light – and then that Count Orlok exploded! Sending the Jamaican Slayer flying into a wall!
Orlok's vision changed back to the attic. The attic was no longer illuminated by green light from the strange sphere. { Well, that was – unexpected... }
A pragmatist at heart, Orlok was little bummed to realize that he had to leave Sunnydale. He'd really enjoyed living in a mansion, even if it was a bit run down and he'd been forced to live with Spike and Drusilla as well.
{ Oh well, never mind. Still, I can't help wondering - how did this thing know who I am? } he asked himself. "How do you who I am?" Orlok subsequently asked the green sphere.
"I have traveled through many dimensions and seen many things, William," the green sphere replied. "Know that I am the Loc-Nar…"
Little did Orlok know that the Loc-Nar was the sum of all evils, and had plans for him and this dimension. But that was a story for another time.
Orlok took the Loc-Nor with him, and quickly left Sunnydale behind. As for Kendra, she failed to hunt down the vampire from her vision. Well - not during that year, anyway!
Later that night, Xander met up with Cordelia and they went to see a movie at the local film theater. They managed to avoid anyone they knew from school, even if Cordy knew that the whole 'bodyguard' excuse was wearing pretty thin and questions would be asked if people saw them together.
Kendra herself stayed with Giles and Jenny, telling them her suspicions that the warlock was hiding something. Luckily, they convinced her not to do anything violent, as that might very well have ignited a war against the Slayers by the supernatural community!
At Oz's home, both the Willow-bot and her boyfriend were sitting on the couch watching the live action Shazam series reruns on TV. Oz's parents were out of town on a trip, as usual, and so they weren't expecting any interruptions.
"The comics are way better," the Oz-bot said in an off-hand way, nodding at the TV.
"Never mind that! Listen, what do you think Jareth will do with us, once the others eventually go to Westworld?" the Willow-bot asked with a worried look.
"I have no clue." The Oz robot hoped that they'd be still around after Jareth's plan for the Slayer was finished. Even though, neither he nor his female counterpart had no idea about the other players in this particular game…
Buffy and Angel were busy slaying come newly-raised vampires at Shadyhill cemetery. Buffy kicked her undead opponent in the head, and he hit a nearby headstone so hard the stone almost cracked from the impact! She quickly staked the unconscious vampire, while Angel used a sword to decapitate some other vamps. The explosions of dust were almost perfectly synchronised – and once she was sure that they were no longer in danger, Buffy jumped into Angel's embrace, kissing him HARD and wrapping her legs around his waist.
"Buffy -" Angel managed to whisper as his girlfriend briefly surfaced for breath. "We shouldn't -"
He was quite right, too, as a demon showed up and the combat started all over again!
Sunnydale High School, Sunnydale February 14th 1998
The gym was now decorated and ready for the Valentine's Day dance. "Finally done decorating the whole damn gym," said one of the students.
"Well, at least we got out of math class!" the student's friend replied, before they high-fived each other.
The Willow and Oz robots headed to the library. Amy likewise left the gym, also heading to the library to read some books. The other students went to the empty cafeteria to play some D 'n' D. Meanwhile Xander, Buffy and Cordelia were still in their classrooms The school hallways themselves were all decked out in Valentine's Day decorations...it really was the most romantic day of the year!
Back at the Crawford Street mansion, Drusilla is now all healed from her wounds. "Spoike, oh...the stars, the stars tell me Daddy is going back home to us," Drusilla says in a dreamlike voice.
"Eh? What?" Spike didn't get that. Angelus was now Angel, after all – defanged by love and that pesky soul curse. To think, the bloody Scourge of Europe reduced to being the effing Slayer's lapdog!
Dru didn't explain, she just told him that Orlok left town with a powerful being, but Spike didn't care too much about that… he was just glad that Orlok was now gone. "M'glad that bloody wanker left," Spike snorted, lighting up yet another cigarette. "Git was bloody useless!"
Later that day the Scooby gang met up at the library. Kendra entered the library and said, "Hello, all."
"How, how did search go for the vampire from your dream go?" Giles asked.
"De vampire is holed up at dat old mansion, along wit' Spike and Droosilla," Kendra replied in her Caribbean accent. "According ta what one of deir minions confessed, anyway."
"Damn! I forgot to tell you guys that my old friend Billy Fordham came to Sunnydale during Halloween, and he became a vampire!" Buffy had an 'oops' look on her face.
"Really, Buffy? NOW you remember that little bit of info? You could have told us sooner!" Cordy sighed, rolling her eyes.
"There were other things happening at the time, okay? Remember that wacky fun with the Judge, and all? In fact, I wasn't even sure that Ford was still in town," Buffy defended herself, albeit weakly.
"Well, never mind. We'll, we'll just have to investigate that mansion again, later tonight -" Giles started to say.
Jenny cleared her throat. "Really, Rupert? Tonight, of all evenings?"
Giles looked rather embarrassed at all the looks he was receiving. "Yes, well, I-I-I supposed the, the appearances do need to be maintained…"
Westworld theme park saloon, summer of 1999
Ethan was enjoying himself playing poker with the human avatars of the two rogue Powers, and some Westworld guests. Of course, Ethan didn't know who he was really playing a poker game with. And the next moment, Jareth entered the saloon, ordered a drink and walked over to the poker table. "May I join in, gentlemen?" the demon smiled.
"Go ahead, pal," said one of the poker players sitting next to Ethan. They assumed he was just in costume – and after a few rounds, both Jareth and one of the human avatars of The Powers That Be won big-time! Afterwards, Ethan and Jareth got some drinks and took a table in the rear of the saloon.
"Enjoying your vacation, Ethan?" Jareth asked with a grin.
"Well. It does rather beat selling chaos-spelled costumes and masks." Ethan smiled back, albeit in a guarded way. He took a big gulp of his beer. "I'm curious, Jareth; why didn't you make more robot spies other than the two redheads currently vegetating in those tanks?" he asked his companion.
The demon sighed. "I had my reasons. Lycanthropy and magic, among them…"
1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale February 14th 1998
After the half-day of school, that afternoon Buffy was getting ready for her date with Angel tonight. She had decided that she'd waited long enough, and that it was time to take things to the next level with her boyfriend! Elsewhere, Kendra was keeping her eye on the old mansion. Xander and Cordelia were getting ready for the Valentine's Day dance elsewhere, and so were the robot versions of Willow and Oz. Both Giles and Jenny were going to chaperone the school dance (much to Rupert's annoyance – he could think of more important things to do!).
"Good thing fer him 'ow that Orlok bloke left town," Spike laughed, as he and Dru went downstairs to the mansion's ball room. "Or else I mighta given you his eyeballs for Saint Valentine's, luv!"
"Oooh, how nice! And we'll paint the town red with the Slayers' blood, Spoike, once Daddy comes home. All thanks to that naughty Slayer!" she grinned happily.
Kendra, who had infiltrated the mansion and was eavesdropping on the soulless undead before attacking them, didn't like the sound of this at all. She was about to attack, just as a shadowy figure appeared behind her.
"Sorry, Slayer," said the shadowy figure. Before she could turn to face him, Kendra was knocked out cold and her memory of hearing about Angel becoming Angelus erased. "But I'm afraid you can't be allowed to interfere that much..."
The shadowy figure vanished, even though he made sure that Kendra was safely taken back to her hiding place outside the mansion. Because the creature had been sent by the two rogue Powers, who wanted the rest of their plans still proceed - unlike what had happened with the Key...
During the Valentine's Day dance at the gym, Xander, Cordelia, Oz and Willow danced and had themselves a good time. Xander spent most of his time talking with his two friends, while Cordy was talking to her popular friends. Elsewhere, Glory was sucking out people's minds. Buffy and Angel were out on a date while this was going on, but it was unlikely they could have done anything to stop it even if they had known – hellgoddess and all.
Back at the gym, after succumbing to temptation - both Xander and Cordelia snuck out of the gym, but Harmony spotted her best friend quietly departing. She followed Cordy, who didn't know that she was being followed/stalked. Since the brunette was too busy meeting up with Xander in the hallway.
{ Where in the hell are they going? } Harmony asked herself with a heavy sigh. Making sure the coast was clear, Cordy and Xander opened the mop closet door. From a safe distance, Harmony saw Xander close the closet door. { No, better yet, what are they doing in there? Wait, don't tell me-? }
Harmony yanked open the door. She was instantly shocked and horrified seeing Cordelia and Xander making out in there. "What the hell, Cordelia?!" Harmony yelled in sudden disgust.
Luckily, no one heard her. Everyone was in the gym this late at night, after all. Anyway, Xander and Cordy stopped what they were doing and saw Harmony there standing at the doorway of the closet.
"I don't believe this! You followed us, Harmony?!" Cordelia truly couldn't believe her best friend would do something like this.
"Well, yeah! I saw you both sneak out of the gym. So I followed you here." Harmony was not at all ashamed of herself for doing so.
Cordy gave her a harsh glare. Xander wasn't too happy with Harmony catching them, either. { Maybe if I give Harm some cash, she'll go away? } Xander thought to himself. { Probably worth a try... }
Xander and Cordelia exited the mop closet. Harris was about to take some out some cash, but then Cordy warned Harmony if she told anyone about this, she'd be kicked off the junior year cheerleading squad.
"You wouldn't!" Harmony cried in dismay. Cordy just sent her another glare, which quickly convinced the Kendall girl that her friend was serious. "Fine, Cordelia, your secret is safe with me," Harmony huffed, "even though you could do a lot better than HIM!" Nose turned up in disgust, the blonde then headed back to the gym.
"Glad that worked. I was gonna give Harmony twenty bucks so she would leave," Xander laughed nervously.
Cordy rolled her eyes. { As if that would have worked? Hello, she's rich as, just like me! }
Elsewhere, outside the mansion, Kendra woke up. Thanks to the memory magicks used on her, she wasn't too happy knowing that the vampire she'd been looking for thanks to her vision had left town. { Damn it! }
Luckily for her, the Caribbean Slayer quickly found some vampires to take out her anger on. Not all that far away, Glory had returned home and was taking a bubble bath, plus eating the Valentine's Day candy which she took from Ben's part of the condo. For their part, Angel and Buffy left the local theater after watching a romantic movie and went to get something to eat. Well, Buffy got something to eat while Angel (being a vampire) didn't eat anything. They were sitting at a booth table at an expensive French restaurant, making eyes at one another, when -
"Spike and Drusilla haven't made any movement lately. Like whatsoever," Angel said in his usual brooding way. "It's gotten me worried."
Initially annoyed with her boyfriend for breaking the romantic mood, Buffy then sent him a worried look. "Will Drusilla go after Xander again, do you think?"
"It's been a few weeks - Drusilla may have been healed by now. Maybe, Buffy. I don't know," Angel warned her.
The mood briefly ruined, after dinner they headed towards Angel's place.
"Can I offer you anything?" Angel asked awkwardly. He could see the way his girlfriend was looking at him, the hungry look in her eyes – he knew what she wanted, ever since her birthday Buffy hadn't made any secret of the fact that she wanted him in her bed...
"Yes. You!" Buffy said determinedly. Before she launched herself at him, and fastened her lips to his.
{ Well, it's not like I didn't know this was coming – and it's not like I could deny her forever, even if I wanted to, } Angel thought to himself. He knew that Buffy's mother was not expecting her back at home tonight, the Slayer had made her excuses that she would be staying at Willow's place after the dance. { All right, fine. I guess if she wants it, there's no better time like the present... }
Still kissing, they headed towards his bedroom. Both started to take off their clothes. Angel and Buffy got into bed, and then continued to make out and explore each other's bodies - in great detail. As gently as he could, Angel took Buffy's virginity – and unlike what had happened last month, there was no thunderstorm that night as the two star-crossed lovers finally gave into their intense feelings, and made love until Buffy collapsed into blissful unconsciousness, sated beyond measure.
And that, of course, was when Angel experienced a moment of perfect happiness, for the first time in a hundred years...
Angel felt his soul leaving his body. He felt the agonizing pain blazing through him. Ignoring the sleeping blonde Slayer, the naked vampire raced out of his basement apartment, trying to understand what was happening to him. And he eventually figured it of course, after Angel had once again become Angelus!
Sunnydale, beware - another Big Bad was in town!
TBC...