"Go through, I'm sure you remember the way," Owen said to the well-dressed guest he'd just greeted

"Go through, I'm sure you remember the way," Owen said to the well-dressed guest.

He had just seen Paddy arrive and wanted to stay at the door.

"You keep this place looking magnificent." The man tapped his black shiny shoes on the spotless tiles. "Superb. My castle never shines like this."

"Your castle is a dark, draughty blot on the Transylvanian landscape."

"Stop, Olwyn, you are making me homesick."

Owen chuckled. "Go ahead. Almost everyone is here now."

"Ig…?"

"Not yet, but soon I imagine."

Strong laughter came as the guest twirled towards the drawing room, his black and red cape billowing as he turned. "That should be interesting."


Dawn was having the best time. This outranked every party she'd ever been too, not that there had been that many, but she bet it outranked most of the ones she hadn't been to, too. Certainly she'd never heard of a party this wild back in Sunnydale. Except for the ones Buffy had had, but they'd always been the bad kind of wild.

She was dancing in the middle of the ballroom now with Fen on one side of her and Naomi on the other. Three of the Slayers were there too; they'd all taken to Fen as quick as she had. Rona had excused herself a minute ago to get a drink and Dawn had to admit she had no idea where Kennedy was.

When she'd asked Rona, the girl had growled something about the end of her tether and so Dawn had let the subject drop. She hoped Craig and Andrew were with her, where ever she was. They had been dancing too, but Andrew's moves had drawn 'looks' and the already self-conscious boy had reached his limit.

But Kennedy and Andrew were strangely close. If they were together, she might even open up to him in a way she felt she couldn't with her.

"Told you tonight was gonna be awesome," Fen yelled her way.

"You were right," Dawn yelled back. "I can't believe how hard this music rocks!"

"I know. I can't believe the sound system in this place actually worked! One up for the Bou boys, for sure."

The same… well, Dawn didn't want to call them nerds, because Willow was a nerd and Dawn had always kind of seen herself as following in Willow's educational footsteps, but they were wearing plaid shirts tucked into cord jeans that came up to their belly buttons… guys that had been around earlier were up on the stage again. They had some fancy equipment up there that they were getting excited over using – almost pushing each other out of the way to be the one to push the buttons and spin the disks. She wondered why they were even bothering with old fashioned decks and vinyl when the stereo they'd found worked just fine.

"I can't believe a house that's never been occupied has a sound system wired up in the first place!"

The two of them laughed and high fived.

It was a mystery for another day, because right now, having fun was all that mattered. Besides, the supernatural was Buffy's gig, not hers. She wasn't a Chosen one, or one of a Chosen many, something that was in her face all the time at home – so why shouldn't tonight be about her life instead.

Charlie came dancing through the crowd behind them and slipped his arms around Fen. In one hand he held a plastic glass of beer up for her. She turned in his arms to say thank you, but words apparently weren't enough, because she kissed him right after.

Dawn's eyebrows went up as she watched, and then she realised she was perving and turned around quick to dance with Naomi instead. She hadn't realised Fen and Charlie were anything more than friends, but then maybe before tonight they hadn't been.

She realised then that Reece still wasn't back. He'd gone to get drinks ages ago. She thought about going to find him, but he was probably just talking to Craig, or maybe he'd gone outside for a cigarette.

Not wanting to seem like a clingy girlfriend, she decided he'd be back when he was back and carried on dancing, but she couldn't help keeping a watchful eye on the crowd for his return.


The foyer was chilly and dry leaves chased each other through the front door and across the grimy black and white tiles to play around Reece's feet. It wasn't enough to make him shiver in his shirt sleeves so he didn't notice, but most kids still arriving hurried through the once grand entrance to the warmer climes deep within the house.

That meant it was the quietest room on the ground floor and also had, if the occasion called for it, direct access up the stairs to the even quieter second floor.

Julie – if he remembered her name right – laughed again and touched his arm flirtatiously.

"You really did that?"

"I did," he promised her, smiling. "It was one of my funnier, if not finer, moments."

He had a store of anecdotes from his Academy days, and with the careful omission of the more technical terms of his studies they were better than the average pick-up lines. He wasn't even pulling out his best and this cheerleader – he'd seen her and her squad form an impromptu pyramid on the stage earlier – was eating them up.

"I bet everything you do is fine," she purred, curling her long blonde hair around her finger.

"Well," he lowered his voice a fraction, leaned in an inch or two closer. "I like to think I have great taste."

It took her a second to get it, but then she giggled and slapped his arm lightly.

He'd met her in line for drinks. The barrel had run dry while he was filling his plastic glass, Julie had been behind him and was upset that she missed out on a beer, so he'd done the gentlemanly thing and offered to share.

She said she had a boyfriend somewhere, but that hadn't stopped her from accepting and joining him out here. He had mentioned he was here with Dawn, but hadn't stressed the here with part. Julie had never heard of her anyway. She was a senior, he knew Dawn was a junior, and apparently their paths had never crossed.

"British guys are so hot," Julie said like she was imparting some great wisdom. "Why is that?"

"We have to be," Reece smiled again. "It's the only way to survive the weather."

"No really?"

She wasn't the brightest light bulb in the pack, but that was okay, he already had one more girlfriend than he really needed.

"I think it's your accent," she continued. "It's so sexy."

"Thank you."

"See!" She giggled, before adding, "I really wish Brett wasn't here."

The boyfriend, he guessed. He made a show of looking around the empty foyer.

"I don't see him."

She giggled some more and looked around herself. "Well, I guess not."

She put the almost empty beer glass on the floor by their feet, and he smiled when her hands slid up his chest as she straightened back up.

"Then I guess there's nothing to stop us from doing this." Her voice was a purr again.

She'd been about to kiss him, and he'd been about to let her, but out of the corner of his eye he saw an unwelcome face coming through the door from the main hall. His Slayer. He stepped back just in time and raised his hand to Julie's shoulder to stop her from following.

"I don't want to jeopardise your relationship with Brett," he said smoothly.

"What do you care?" she asked, sounding hurt by his rebuttal.

"I don't, about him," he said, trying to keep his voice slow and steady as he watched Rona fart about on the other side of the foyer. She was acting like she hadn't spotted him yet, but Slayer's had ears better than dogs. "But you seem like a nice girl and I'd hate you to throw away someone good for you on a whim. We don't even know each other properly; I could be a rotten scoundrel."

"I think your sweet," she insisted.

"Thank you," he said again, flashing her another disarming smile, but before it could have an unhelpful effect he stooped down and retrieved the beer from the floor. "But maybe you should get to know me before you make any life-altering decisions."

Not that he was planning on giving her that chance. Rona was still messing about by the other wall, fiddling with something that seemed to be stuck in her pocket. Maybe she was drunk. Did that mean he was supposed to give her a lecture on not drinking? Part of his duties was to keep his Slayer on the straight and narrow, but he didn't want to bother right now.

"Well," Julie whispered coquettishly, touching his arm again. "How about we go upstairs and I can get to know you better?"

Reece groaned inwardly. It sounded like a great invitation, but not one he could take up. Before he could answer either way though, Kennedy came through the same door Rona had. She wasn't swaying, but she looked distinctly the worse for wear.

Rona turned to her and was about to say something, but Kennedy gave her a dirty look and continued on. She didn't even seem to notice him and Julie as she walked past and took the stairs to the darkened upper floor.

"What's her deal?" Julie asked, frowning after her.

"That's what I want to know."

Reece had been staring after Kennedy too and was surprised to hear Rona speak right next to him. She didn't sound drunk at all, which at least was a relief.

"Aren't you going to go after her?" he asked, nodding to the stairs.

If Rona left to deal with Kennedy, he could perhaps invite Julie to take a walk outside with him and she could get her chance to know him better.

"Why don't you go?" Rona sneered at him. "You're the Watcher."

"What does that mean?" Julie wrinkled her nose in confusion. "And do you two know each other?"

"Yes, we do," Reece admitted reluctantly, "and she means I'm the designated driver – it's an English term." To Rona, he said, "And if it was you going up there pissed out of your skull, that would mean something, but Kennedy's not my responsibility."

"Nice." Rona chuckled sarcastically. "Good to know we're not all some sugary happy family like Buffy and Giles keep saying."

"Is this your girlfriend?" Julie demanded, her hands going to her skinny hips. "Because if you are," she directed at the Slayer. "He never mentioned you."

"No," said Rona. "That poor chick is in there waiting for him."

And the fun was officially over. Reece finished the last few mouthfuls of beer and handed the glass to Julie without a word.

To Rona, he just said, "I'm sorry, you are right." and started up the stairs after Kennedy.

At the top of the wide staircase, he had to strain his eyes to see through the gloom. Only small candle shaped wall lights offered any remittance from the dark up here.

"Kennedy, you bloody prat, where are you?" he called out, peering left and right down the long hallway for any sign of her.


"Where would you like me to drop you?" Giles asked, as he drove along Boudenver's main street.

"On my head," Faith muttered from the back of the car. "No, wait, someone musta done that already."

Buffy unclipped her seatbelt so she could twist around and look at Faith, "What's wrong?"

"This is lame."

"Going on a date with me is lame?" Buffy tried to keep some amusement in her voice.

"No, B," Faith said quietly, looking out of the car window. "Just… maybe we should do this some other time, maybe."

Giles turned his head slightly to smile at Buffy and she was glad he thought there was something to smile about.

"If you didn't want to go out, why ask me in the first place?"

"Dunno."

"Thanks a bunch." Crossing her arms, Buffy stared moodily out of the passenger window. She should have known she was getting her hopes up for nothing, but was it so wrong to want some proof that Faith did actually want her as a girlfriend and not just someone to fool about with after patrol or to act as a stabilizing influence in front of her parole officer. "You might as well just turn the car around, Giles."

"Sorry to waste your time," Faith said in a voice so small Buffy barely heard her over the engine.

Giles cheerfully ignored them both. "So, where would you like me to drop you?"

"Giles!"

"G…?"

"Ah, I see a pair of spooks heading into Barnies so I'll take the liberty of assuming that was your destination."

Buffy looked over to see two walking bed sheets enter the bar. Before she could argue, Giles was pulling up in front. She did anyway.

"You heard Faith. She doesn't wasn't to do this, and far be it from me to force her to…"

Giles turned the radio on, cutting Buffy off with a blast of old people music.

"Do you…?" she began to whine, but her door opening made her stop. She looked up to see a nervous zombie standing there. She hadn't even realised Faith had left the car. "Hello."

"Okay," was all Faith said.

Buffy waited for more.

"Okay," Faith said again. "If you promise not to hold the lameness against me, I'm ready."

"Oh, you're ready now? Sure you don't wanna think about it some more? We wouldn't want you rushing in to anything and it's not like I made any effort!" She pointed to the uncomfortable red and gold bodice she was wearing.

Giles turned the radio off again. "Buffy, please get out of the car?"

She gave him a 'why aren't you on my side' look. He tipped his head towards Faith, smiling knowingly. Although what he knew was a mystery to her.

"Fine." Buffy got out of the car.

Faith thanked Giles for the ride and then he was driving off almost before she shut the door; not giving either of them the chance to change their minds again.

Buffy stood on the pavement, not looking at Faith. Faith was not looking back too. Across the road Barnies stood bright and imposing. A man with a hatchet sticking out of his head entered and a gust of music and chatter came through the open door.

"So, here we are." Faith sneered, reaching into her jacket pocket for her smokes. "Impressed?"

Buffy turned to look at her scornfully, "So far, not really. What's eating you?"

Faith was lighting a cigarette and the first smoke rushed out in a frustrated plume.

"Nuthin'."

"Seriously? So this is how you always act on a date?"

Faith flinched and took another angry pull on the cigarette. "Look, I'm sorry if I'm being an ass." Her eyes were locked on the door across the street. "It's just… I'm kinda feeling like an ass right now."

"Which would explain the assness in a nutshell." Buffy shook her head with a sigh. "Okay, then I accept your apology." She gestured to the door. "Can we go in now?"

Faith didn't move. It looked like she was clenching her jaw. There was a slight tick where Buffy wanted to see dimples.

"You know, I always thought dating a girl would involve less ass, not more."

"Least you got something right."

Terrific, now Faith was muttering snide comments under her breath. The insinuation was clear; Faith wasn't getting any, poor Faith. But did she really think acting like this was going to help that sitch?

Buffy bit her tongue until she felt she could speak with a civil tone. "You know, there's not much point in making the apology if you're just gonna turn right around and be assy again."

"Then I retract my apology."

"Okay, then I retract my acceptance. You are an ass, a big ass with all the ass-trappings that go with, and I should dump your ass-like ass for being such an ass…" Buffy had to pause for breath, "…but I didn't get dressed up like this to go to Xander's underwear party, so come on!"

Faith was looking at her now, eyebrows up, not quite grinning but definitely less tense than before. "You expect me to take you on a date after you speak to me like that?"

"No. No, I don't." Buffy told her, her voice shrill with impatience. "Because if I wait for you to face your fear, I'm gonna need a walker to get across this road. So… I'm taking you on a date."

"Wha…?"

"Faith, will you go out with me this evening? You will? Great. I'll pick you up an hour ago."

"Buff…"

"Hi, Faith. Wow, you look amazing. We're going to…" Buffy looked down at her spangly costume and then at Faith's sliced and mangled one. "…what I can only hope is a fancy dress party at Barnies. It's going to be awesome, but even if it isn't it won't matter, because the important thing is that we're there together… Did you catch that bit, because it's kinda a major theme of my vexation here?"

Faith was grinning now; although she didn't look very happy about it. She nodded, "I caught it."

"Good." Buffy leaned close enough to kiss Faith's cheek. "Now be a good zombie and relax; and I promise you you'll get through your first date unscathed."

"Hey! Who said it was my first…"

"I can spot a virgin." Buffy smirked.

Faith gave her a semi-amused glare.

Ignoring it, Buffy linked her arm through Faith's and started towards the bar. "So, do you think we're even still allowed in here? After last time, I mean, when we got arrested."

"Shit!" Faith stopped again. "I didn't even think of that."

"I was kidding!"

"But what if you're right?" Faith frowned. "See, this is what I mean? I can't do this shit, B. Our first date and I'm taking you someplace we're probably friggin' barred from." She started backing away from the bar.

"Then I'll just have to flash some spandex and we'll slip in while Alex's eyes are still glazed." Buffy tried dragging her to the door by their linked arms, wanting to get her in there before she spazzed completely again. "Come on! Don't make me use my lasso."


Reece got lucky – although not in the way he'd been hoping to obviously – and found Kennedy only halfway down the dusty corridor. She was in a bedroom, sitting on a musty bed, hugging her knees. Her face was buried in her arms and she was rocking slightly, but he couldn't tell if she was crying.

She'd found a light by the bed and switched it on – it was a wonder this place still had electricity, but there was proof of it all over the house – and the smell of burnt dust rising from the bulb and the moth-eaten lampshade made his nose itch a little.

He tapped the door gently, not wanting to startle her. When she didn't acknowledge it he stepped into the room and slowly approached the bed.

"Kennedy?"

"If you ask if I'm okay I will launch you up into the spider nests."

Reece looked up to see what she meant. The ceiling was covered with dust-brown tendrils. He wasn't generally scared of spiders back home, but was well aware they had poisonous ones this side of the pond.

He sat down on the very end of the bed. "I'll not ask if you're okay then."

"Good."

"What are you doing up here?"

"Thinking."

"What about?"

"Since when is that your business?"

That was a good question. It wasn't his business and he didn't want it to be his business, but downstairs when Rona had sneered at him, he'd… not liked it.

It wasn't that he was in the Watcher trade for the power trip like some were, he didn't want to lord it over his Slayer and be the big 'I am', but he did want her respect. He was aware he didn't have that right now, and was smart enough to know that he'd have to earn it from someone like Rona and not just expect it to be offered for the sake of his position. That was fine; he gave respect on the same principals.

So he was up here trying to earn it fair and square, but he wasn't going to tell Kennedy that.

"It's not, but… we don't know how sound this house is. I don't want you stomping around up here and falling through the floor boards."

Kennedy looked up; her face was dry and cold. "Rona sent you, didn't she? Bitch sent her watcher to slap me back into line. Didn't have the guts to come herself…"

"Now hang on a minute," Reece raised his voice, getting more annoyed. "Rona's a bloody brave girl and she's your damn friend. I know you're bladdered right now, but I won't have you slagging her off just because you're feeling sorry for yourself."

"Whatever."

"Don't give me that. I don't know what happened, but I bet she'd be up here right now if you hadn't said something to piss her off."

"How do you know it wasn't something she said that pissed me off?"

He didn't, but Kennedy had pissed him off. "Because I've seen the mood you've been in all evening. You've already upset Dawn."

"Never asked her to get in my face."

"She wasn't in your face! She was trying to care."

"Well, now she knows better."

"Do you not like having friends or something?" Reece asked in exasperation.

"I like friends who aren't only there when it's convenient."

"And you think tonight was a convenient time for Dawn to get shit on by you?"

"I didn't…"

"She's spent more time tonight worrying about you than she has enjoying the party." It was one of the reasons he'd gone wandering in the first place. "You're being a selfish brat…"

Kennedy burst up to her knees, her drunkenness not slowing her down at all. Instantly Reece's training kicked in and he was on his feet, one arm raised to his chest ready to block the blow should she make one.

Instead she laughed, "Are you scared of me?"

He chose to watch her warily instead of answering.

"Some Watcher you're going to make if you're scared of Slayers." She taunted him.

"I am not scared of Slayers," he said firmly, but he didn't lower his arm. "However, I am aware of the dangers involved in dealing with psychotic ones."

There had been a whole course of lessons on them in fact. The rogue, Faith, had featured heavily, but she was by no means the only one in the Council's history.

"So you're calling me psychotic now?"

"Drunk, psychotic, both are irrational and both hit just as hard."

"You're really annoying, you know that?"

Reece was offended. He'd never been called annoying in his life. He'd been called a bastard and an arsehole, but never annoying. He was as smooth as glass, he had the Highbury charm, the intellect of an Oxford scholar, the looks of young Hollywood movie star, the morals of a rock star…

He smiled at his self-assessment, and chuckled softly as he answered her. "No, but I can see why some might think so. Didn't think you'd be the type to be jealous of me, though," he teased. "It's not like you don't have a lot going for you, yourself. Money, so I hear, passably pretty, brains you know how to use, funny even, sometimes…"

"Passably pretty?"

"It's confidence, though, that draws the women. That's what I find anyway. You had that; I could tell the first night we met. I actually had my eye on you, thought we could, I don't know," he smiled. "And then I realised you were the competition, not the prize, and I was looking forward to the challenge."

Kennedy pointed at him indignantly. "Firstly, I don't see women as prizes, they're people not speedboats, and… firstly, I don't consider them a challenge."

"Yes you do," Reece countered. "And you said firstly twice."

"I decided both points were equally important." Kennedy waggled her finger. "And… No, I don't."

"You see a girl you want to shag, and you go after her. You're pushy and forceful, or sweet and gentle, whatever it takes to get her, right?" Reece's tone brooked no denial. "You have your eyes on the prize and you are always up to the challenge."

"Fine, so what if I do," Kennedy gave in. "So what if I am. There's nothing wrong with knowing what I want and since when is confidence a bad thing."

"It isn't." Reece shrugged. "It's a shame you lost it."

"I haven't," she replied angrily.

"Looks like it to me."

"You don't know me!"

"Not very well, no, I agree, but I know you're not the same woman you were a month ago."

She stared hard at him, annoyed, her fists balling up the manky bedcovers by her knees. "That's bullshit."

"What's bullshit, darling, is you coming up here to sob your heart out over a woman, when you could be down there having fun and forgetting about her."

"You're saying I should cheat on Willow?" She sneered.

"I never said that, but seeing as you brought it up, monogamy obviously isn't doing you any favours." Reece replied calmly.

"Screw you!"

"Look, you obviously already think the relationship is over…"

"I don't."

"Well, you act like it. You mope about, you've lost interest in everything, you don't even slay anymore. Face it, love, you let yourself get under the thumb, Willow's thumb to be precise, and now you're not her be all and end all, you've given up, lost the will to be you, it's sad but true, I'm afraid."

Kennedy shook her head, "No."

"No?" Reece laughed. "That's all the response you have?"

"I'm still me and I haven't given up."

"Looks like it to the rest of us."

"Then it looks wrong."

"So all the sulking during the day and going out to drown your sorrows at night is just a clever tactical move that's too sophisticated for the rest of us to spot?"

Kennedy got off of the bed to stand in front of him. For a moment he thought she was about to attack him after all. He almost wouldn't have blamed her. After all, he was deliberately goading her, but her patheticness recently, while mildly amusing to start with, really had been grating on his nerves.

She didn't attack, but she looked determined. Her jaw was set, her shoulders were back. Silently he congratulated himself on at least bucking her up even if it lead nowhere. Especially as he had generally only gotten D's in Motivational Speech – his weakest subject by far; apparently he lacked patience and showed a trend for being too brusque.

"I've been regenerating," Kennedy said. "And also, by the sounds of it, spending too much time with Andrew. "I needed to get my head together, things moved fast with Willow, and… you're right, that's not me. I hit and run. Breakfast the next morning is my idea of a long relationship. I don't know what I'm doing."

She went to an antique dressing table by the window and leaned on it, staring into a mirror to dusty too give a reflection. Reece turned to face her back, but stayed quiet, waiting to see if she had more to say, because he was pretty much done now. He didn't want to say anything else in case it was the proverbial too much. He realised he'd actually been a Watcher tonight. Not in the strictest sense of the word maybe, but in the truest sense. He'd helped a slayer deal with her issues; the fact that they weren't duty related or that it wasn't his Slayer he was helping was neither here nor there.

"She caught me off guard," Kennedy continued to the fuzzy grey mirror. "I've been in lust before, been infatuated briefly even, but never… Love is new and…" she paused for a long moment. "… I don't think I like it much at the moment. Is it always so hard? Shouldn't I be happy to be in love? I mean, it's supposed to be the thing everyone yearns for, right? So why have I been feeling like shit ever since I realised?"

When her pause stretched on even longer this time, he realised she might be waiting for an answer from him.

"Because instead of embracing the feeling and making the most of it, you've been acting like a kicked dog."

She turned to glare at him over her shoulder, but then looked away again without comment.

He shrugged. "Perhaps because it's so new you were scared."

"You're saying I'm a coward?"

It seemed like a genuine question, so he gave her a genuine answer.

"In this instance, yes."

She nodded. "Have you ever been in love?"

He hesitated before deciding he owed her the truth, "Yes."

"Were you scared?"

"Not at first."

"Did she hurt you?"

Reece hesitated even more now. This wasn't who he was, he didn't share like this with people, but then he got the impression that Kennedy didn't either.

"I hurt her and that scares me," he finally replied.

"What do you mean?"

Kennedy was turning away from the mirror to face him when the house started to shake and the light began to flicker. She turned back to grab hold of the dressing table again, her inebriated legs not up to withstanding the floor's motion and Reece fell sideways to the bed, slapping his hands over his ears as a loud kwa-zingggg sound cut through the room, threatening to burst their eardrums.


Downstairs in the ballroom chaos had erupted as one hundred and fifty kids tried to figure out why the floor was shaking, the music was distorting and the lights were flashing weird psychedelic colours that no mirror ball could ever be able to emulate, but it was at its most frenzied on the small stage.

"Nearly there!" One tall skinny boy promised as he held his glasses on with one hand and peered over the vibrating equipment.

"Good," said another, who was holding on to the decks with one hand as he consulted a clipboard. "Because much longer and it's gonna rip altogether. "We've never tested more than fifteen medes at a time and we're up to fourteen!" His voice was high with anxiety.

"Fifteen was fine," a shorter, stouter boy reminded him, sounding the only confident one to have spoken so far. "And we've always worked with a three medes threshold. Stop being a baby."

The antennae sticking up from various places on the thing that looked very much like a set of DJ decks started sparking blue and green, and streams of what could have been electricity started to flash between them.

"Stop being a baby?" Clipboard guy shouted. "A rip could mean death to all; and that's the big ALL, not just the people in this room."

"Well, you'll be the first to go, so the guilt will be short-lived," said tall, skinny guy.

Another guy bustled between them, a manic grin on his face as he leaned over the dials. "I'm taking her up to sixteen. Get ready to become prestigious, men."

In his excitement he twizzled the dial too far and hit seventeen. "Oh shi…!"

There was a bang, and the ballroom, and possibly the whole state of Ohio, was lost in a blue-green flash.

end of act 2