I'm starting to sense a pattern here, but I'm really sorry for the long delay. I had some computer issues, a virus to be exact, and first I didn't want to post incase the infection spread and then I couldn't post because my computer died on me. All fixed now though - factory settings baby - and so here we go. This is only a small segment of this act. I'm posting what I have ready because its been so long since I posted anything, so you have the people who prodded me recently to thank :). I hope you enjoy it.


Act three

A bang, smoke, actual shaking this time, Dawn was starting to feel stupid for dismissing what had happened here earlier

A bang, smoke, actual shaking this time, and Dawn was starting to feel stupid for dismissing what had happened here earlier. She should have known better. Weird stuff didn't just happen for no reason. She should have told Buffy, but she'd been worried that her sister wouldn't let her go, or even worse, would insist on coming too to find out what was going on, and thus ensuring that she never got to know the pleasures and pitfalls of being cool or popular.

But she could have told one of the five slayers that had come to the party with her, in fact giving them a heads up probably would have been welcomed, judging by the way three of them were looking at her now.

As the blue-green smoke cleared, one of the guys from Boudenver Academy shouted over the distorted music and the general confusion in the ballroom.

"Sorry about that. The amp blew up! Small fire, all totally out now. Please continue with what you were doing?"

After some wary looking around, most of the kids did just that. The beer had been flowing, well, until the keg had run dry anyway, and besides, they were kids – if there wasn't something trying to immediately devour them, they were making the most of the adult-free house for as long as possible.

Dawn wished she was a normal kid, although, actually, she was, she just didn't have a normal life. Xander had been right; it was way harder to be normal when you knew the world around you wasn't.

"The electrics in this place must be shot," Fen said. "That's the second time that's happened."

"Place is old." Was Charlie's only answer. He still had his arm loosely draped around Fen. "Come on, let's go find Aaron. He brought a bottle of Vodka with him."

"You coming?" she asked Dawn.

"Uh, I'm not drinking, but I'll catch up with you later, okay."

Fen nodded and the two of them walked through the crowd. Dawn wasn't sure about letting her go, but what could she say to stop her? She'd had the secret identity spiel programmed into her from an early age. Besides, everything seemed back to normal now.

"Wow, I thought something bad was happening." Miranda said after they'd gone. "I didn't know an amp catching fire could make the lights go wonky like that."

"It wasn't the amp," Dawn said.

"Do you know something?" Naomi asked her. Her expression showed that she didn't think it was something so simple either.

"I know it wasn't the amp, at least, I don't think it was the amp."

"Dude! Who changed the music?" A guy on the other side of the room called out.

While they'd been talking, the music had undistorted itself. Dawn hadn't taken any notice, assuming it was all part of the 'back to normal' thing, but now she realised Blink 182 and the Chilli Peppers had been replaced by Mozart and Handel.

"Are those geeks up there trying to convert us, do you think?" asked Alison. "Or is this all part of the not-the-amp strangeness?"

"I don't know," said Dawn slowly, and she really didn't. "Maybe we should find Reece and the others."

They all agreed and set off to find them. Above their heads, the chandeliers burned brightly.


Up on the stage, the boys from Boudenver were kind of losing it. Tall and skinny number one had shouted out the fake apology to the crowd and now tall and skinny number two was having a mini-meltdown.

"What did we do? What did we do? What did we do?"

"Nothing," said cocky and clumsy. He sounded disappointed. "All that work, and nothing."

"I wouldn't say nothing," said short and stocky. "We changed the music."

"And the place is cleaner, I think," said tall and skinny number one. "The floor looks all shiny."

"Great," said cocky and clumsy dismally. "Eighteen months of research and five months of practical experimentation and we accomplished a Mickey."

"A Mickey?" Tall and skinny number two asked.

"Cleaned the place up with magic." Cocky and clumsy explained his technical terminology.

"And we changed the music." Short and stocky reminded them again, desperately trying to figure out how to change it back before people started throwing things.


The library was small and cosy compared to most of the rooms on the ground floor. Lined floor to ceiling with books dating as far back as the invention of the printing press. It was a comfortable space, with several reading chairs and two large Victorian era sofas. Handel played softly through the small speakers mounted up by the ceiling. It was supposed to create a calm, relaxing ambience.

It wasn't.

"What is the meaning of this disgrace?" The Count asked in his authoritive, Slavic tone. "Never have we been treated as corralled cattle."

"It is most unfortunate," Owen apologised. "This is unprecedented. My wards have always been secure."

"So we are just to sit here?" Victor asked. "You are happy to remain a captive in your own house?"

"We are not captives," Owen said, exasperated, not with his friends, but with the situation. "You are all free to leave, as am I."

"That was not what he meant." Victor's friend said slowly in a voice that was bordering on painful for the ears. Not that that was his fault.

"I don't want to leave," Ptah said, his voice slightly muffled. "We only see each other once a year as it is."

Owen didn't often shrug. The notion to do so had been beaten out of him at a young age by his master, but now it was all he could do.

The door to the library suddenly burst open, making everyone look that way in alarm.

"Here youth all are!" Iggy said excitedly, waving a five fingered hand in greeting. In his other he held a bottle half full of vodka. "I didn't think I wath going to find youth guysh. Olwyn, my thriend! Great party thish year!"

Everyone groaned in unison.


Reece had fallen sideways on to the bed when the shaking had taken him by surprise. The sharp electrical sound had made him cover his ears, but the bang a few moments later had him covering his head as well.

When the shaking stopped he crawled further on to the bed, rubbing at his ears, trying to get rid of the horrible ringing feeling.

Kennedy's legs had given out during the shaking; forcing her to do a controlled plop to the floor, where she sat until it stopped. Her ears, more sensitive than Reece's, were buzzing like she had mosquitoes in them. She felt sick enough from the shaking, the light flickering and the buzzing to think she was getting a hangover already.

She stayed put on the floor, taking deep breaths of the lightly lavender scented air until the worst of it passed and then she crawled to the bed and unsteadily climbed on to the mattress.

"Remind me not to drink again," she muttered as she curled into a ball next to Reece's outstretched body.

"Okay." Reece pulled a face as one of his ears unpopped painfully. "But I'm not drunk and that didn't make it any more pleasant for me. Was that an earthquake?"

"I don't think so. But then the only earthquake I've experienced was in Sunnydale, and that was less earthquake, more the whole city being sucked under ground by evil."

Reece looked out of the window. "We still seem to be above ground, so at least that's not an issue."

Kennedy couldn't face looking up to prove it. "Good."

Reece winced as his other ear unpopped and then lay there for a minute saying nothing. He needed to re-gather, and Kennedy needed time to feel less sick, she was obviously useless right now.

Eventually she uncurled, still breathing deeply, and pulled herself up the bed to rest her head on the pillow. Reece wanted to warn her not to. The house had clearly been abandoned for some time and who knew what animals, or people, had been on this bed. Strangely though, the bedspread smelled laundered and fresh.

He pushed himself closer to the pillow on his side of the bed and gave it an experimental sniff. Hmm, not the musty, half rotten smell he'd gotten used to while arguing with Kennedy. He lowered his head to the softness of it and turned on to his back, willing his headache away.

"You alright?"

"Mmm," Kennedy's eyes were closed, but she opened them a few seconds later. "So if that wasn't an earthquake, what the hell was it?"

"No idea." Reece admitted. "We should find the others. See if they felt anything. That would determine if it affected the whole house, or just us."

"If it was just us, that would mean something supernatural, right?"

"Could mean supernatural either way, but if it was something benign, Dawn might know what."

"Okay, just give me one minute." Kennedy said, closing her eyes again. "Room's spinning."

"Take five minutes," Reece said generously, he didn't want to deal with her being sick. "But then we have to go."

He stared blankly up at the ceiling, and then not so blankly. He tilted his head to one side, staring hard. "Uh, Kennedy?"

"What we talked about," she said with her eyes still shut. "You won't say anything, will you?"

Forgetting his point for a moment, he rolled over to face her. "That depends. Are you going to get your act together now?"

She opened her eyes slowly. "Not sure what my act is supposed to be now."

"Well, either you accept you're in love and do what you do best to make it work. Or, you cut Willow loose and do what you do best to get over her. Whichever you decide, the important bit is that you be true to yourself."

Kennedy started laughing. "Do you have any idea how cheesy you just sounded? My Watcher was grave and uptight, but he was never cheesy."

Reece laughed with her. "I'm still learning," he said, pushing her shoulder.

"Obviously." She pushed him back.

The drink was still claiming her and she was a little more vigorous than she meant to be. He rolled onto his back again and was reminded of what had struck him before.

Grabbing her wrist in his urgency, he pointed upwards with his other hand. "Wasn't there cobwebs up there earlier?"

She looked up and her jaw went slack for a moment. "Yeah, lots."

He let go of her wrist and she used his chest to push herself up a little, staring in surprise at the unspoiled, pure while ceiling. Her eyes fell back to his and they shared a look of confusion.

"What's going on?" Dawn's sudden shrill accusation had both of them looking at the doorway.

Together they moved quickly to sit up, eager to ask the others if they knew what was happening and to point out the uncobwebby ceiling. Unfortunately, to Dawn, it looked as if they were springing guiltily apart.

"Why are you…? What are you…?"

Dawn started questions she wasn't finishing and Reece and Kennedy looked at each other even more confused. Which didn't exactly fill Dawn with confidence.

Dawn finally managed to spit one full sentence at them. "Were you two making out?"

"Kennedy and I?" Reece started laughing again at the ridiculous allegation.

"No! The ceiling!" Kennedy pointed at it.

Cici, Miranda and Alison all looked up at it, but they didn't know what they were looking for. Naomi shook her head slightly, staring coldly at Reece.

Dawn didn't seem to know what to do. She stood there, not even hearing what they were saying, because it didn't make sense anyway. Her eyes, filled with stunned pain, went back and forth between them, waiting for a proper explanation.

Looking away from the ceiling and noticing her expression, Kennedy began, "Dawn, you can't believe…"

"I know what I saw." Dawn ground out between her teeth.

"Then clearly you aren't seeing very well," Reece said, smiling the smile of someone who knew he was innocent.

"I can see you two all cosy together," Dawn counteracted, her tone making it clear she wished she couldn't.

"No, we were just talking, and then this thing happened." Kennedy explained, looking back at Reece for confirmation."

Reece nodded. "The floor started shaking."

"And you both just happened to fall on top of each other on the conveniently placed bed?" Dawn asked, crossing her arms.

"No, only I fell on the bed," said Reece.

"Yeah, I fell on the floor." Kennedy pointed to the space between the dresser and the bed.

Dawn shook her head, "Well, you're not on the floor now?"

"No, I climbed on the bed to," Kennedy frowned, "lay down."

"How snug."

"Dawn, we were just talking." Reece was getting sick of this nonsense. If he'd been caught out fair and square doing something wrong, well that was one thing, but he wasn't being accused like this for nothing.

"You really expect me to believe that?" Dawn's voice was almost dog-whistle high. It was doing nothing for Reece's headache. "That Kennedy chose to talk to you about stuff when she won't talk to anyone else? She's been avoiding me since we started dating because she doesn't like you, but now she's all willing to share her internal melodrama with you?"

"I haven't been avoiding you," Kennedy scoffed. "You've just been too busy with your new school friends, and him," she nodded sideways at Reece, "to hang out with me. And I'm not melodramatic!"

Alison coughed at that.

Kennedy glared at her.

"Okay, so we'll be going." Alison started to gently push the other two junior Slayers out of the room. "Wanna head out of the firing line, Nai?"

"We still need to know what is going on," Naomi said, but started to leave with them anyway.

"Well if you would just look at the ceiling," Kennedy said irritably.

"What about the darn ceiling?" Dawn shouted. "What's so fascinating about it that you had to lie in each others arm to see it?"

"Enough!" Reece got off the bed angrily. "There is something strange going on here, and Dawn, acting like a silly little girl isn't helping us find out what."

"Silly little…" Dawn began, furious but with tears in her voice.

"Kennedy is a flipping lesbian, Dawn. What, do you think my feminine side is so strong I converted her? Do you trust me so little that you think I'm shagging every woman I'm alone with?" Reece shouted, wondering what Rona might have said about Julie. Speaking of. "And if you are all up here having a go at me while something supernatural is going on… Where is my Slayer?"

Everyone looked at everyone; no one saw Rona.