Prep Blues

The wind blew idly through Buffy and Willow's hair as they stood outside the Summers' front porch. Buffy closed her eyes, enjoying the light Californian breeze. Sometimes, nature made her think. Which had to be a good thing in Buffy's eyes.

Willow tossed her hair back, and sighed audibly. Buffy ignored her. She knew they had to hurry, as they had a full evening in front of them, what with grabbing party clothes from her house, then going back to Willow's, then shopping in the name of partydom, then letting everything loose at Xander's shindig.

Willow cleared her throat, obviously not enjoying the blissful silence. 'Uh, Buffy, are you okay?'

Buffy smiled grimly. A Vampire Slayer was never okay. She had to see death and loss every day of her predictably short life.

'Will, this killer thing is just a monster of the week. It's nothing I can't take care of.'

'But maybe we shouldn't underestimate the killer, look at Snyder, and Harmony, even Cordelia...'

'Look, I have it under control,' she said firmly. 'I'm Buffy. I always get through these things'

'Not always,' shot back Willow.

Buffy glared at her friend coldly. 'And what's that supposed to mean?'

'Well,' Willow fidgeted, 'well, I mean, you're not immortal, and you almost got hurt last night. And then you jumped on Angel, and...'

'And so you think I'm losing it', Buffy finished abruptly. 'Thanks Will'

'I don't mean...never mind', finished Willow dejectedly.

'Listen,' said Buffy, 'I know you mean well, but believe me, I can look after myself. Tonight, we're going to mosey on down to party central, courtesy of our fabtacular friend, then tomorrow, I thwart and victor. Right?'

Willow looked unconvinced, but smiled back. 'Got it'

'Now, I'm totally lost on what to wear,' Buffy chirped, opening the front door. 'I'm thinking, heels or thigh length platforms? Red or black lip gloss? Sequin back or Slayer satchel?'

Willow giggled, and bounced behind her. 'What would you do without my fashion sense?'

The door shut behind them with a bang. The bushes rustled, and a cloaked figure run away unseen.

Xander thumped about in the dusty basement of his house, cursing as dust fell everywhere. Sometimes, his parents made him go down there so much, he was sure he'd be sent to live there someday. As he moved a grimy old box of part streamers to one side, there was a knock on the basement hatch.

'Come in,' he called out, not thinking through all the dust bunnies. When he finally turned round to meet his visitor, he let out a shriek and fell backwards onto a mouldy old sofa.

'We need to talk,' said Angel quietly, striding towards him. He threw the old letterman jacket that he'd used to shield himself from the sun onto the floor, and dust rose in a thick cloud.

Xander narrowed his eyes. 'I don't think I need to talk to you about anything. Now get the hell out of my basement.'

'Not until you tell me,' Angel seethed, 'why you told Buffy that i I'm /i the masked killer of Sunnydale?'

Xander fell silent, his eyes glazed over with fear.

'I just spent the entire night being punished for something I didn't do,' Angel continued evenly. 'I have enough to repent for without extra stuff on top'

'Yeah, well Buffy may believe that Academy Award speech but I know what you are,' Xander spat, standing up.

'And what's that?' Angel challenged.

Xander smiled innocently. 'An evil, soulless thing'

Angel roared, and grabbed Xander by the collar. Xander flinched as the vampire's features contorted. 'You know very well that's not true'

Xander stared at his attacker straight in the eye. 'Please. I may be stupid, but I know a monster when I see one. You'll never have a soul. You're incapable of compassion, of love. If you were, you would have left Buffy alone this year. She's gone through enough thanks to you'

Angel flung Xander back on the sofa, and turned away for a moment.

'Yeah, go brood in the corner!' Xander mocked. 'That always helps the situation!'

'Has Buffy questioned whether you could be the killer?', Angel asked bitterly, facing Xander directly. 'The murderer's profile fits you perfectly'

'Why would I want to kill anyone?', Xander spluttered,. 'I'm not like you. I don't get kicks out of torturing and maiming my own girlfriend!'

'I'm watching you, Harris,' the vampire warned in a low growl. He stood by the hatch, covered by the letterman jacket. 'I know what you're up to'

'If you've got my back, I've got yours', Xander replied.

Angel was already gone.

Giles sat in his apartment, head in hands. The walls spoke only in silence. When there was a knock at the door, he got up, relieved for the interruption. When he opened the door however, he failed to hide his disappointment.

'Faith,' he stammered.

'You were expecting Buffy, weren't you?' she guessed, rolling her eyes. 'Well, aren't you going to let me in?'

'Yes, of course,' he replied, shifting to one side so that she could pass. She didn't hesitate to sprawl herself across his sofa, where she made a face at a text book lying on the arm.

'Got some news for ya', she said immediately, before he even had the chance to remove his glasses to clean them. 'The Scooby Gang are partying tonight at Xander's place. Thought you might want to know.'

Giles met her eyes and cleared his throat. 'Well, there could be validity in the old saying, safety in numbers, but I do hold reason to believe that Buffy and her friends will be unsafe for quite a while.'

Faith raised an eyebrow. 'Y'mean, you think the killer will strike tonight?'

Giles sighed and sat down opposite her. 'I was actually waiting to tell Buffy this, but I contacted the Watcher's Council this afternoon, and they told be some interesting news. They warned me that William the Bloody was back in Sunnydale, and to be alert of anything that might link to his presence.'

'William the Bloody...that's Spike, right? The one Buffy told me about?'

'Yes, that's right. As you can fathom, he holds a great danger to Buffy and her friends.'

Faith smiled. 'And you think he might be responsible for going all Michael Myers on us?'

Giles frowned. 'Let's just say we should expect a number of explanations for this unusual incident, and Spike may be one of them.'

'Great,' Faith answered, getting up. 'At least I've got something to focus on tonight when B's having her post-trauma gig'

'Oh? I take it that you're not going to this gathering?'

Faith stood silent for a moment, then regained a careless expression. 'Not invited. But believe me , a party's never a party until I crash it.'

With a sly wink, Faith left the apartment.