Grids entered the old costume shop, finding it empty of most everything except the mannequins which added to the eeriness of the place, "Franklin...?"

A noise sounded from behind her but no one could be seen.

She whirled, turning in a full circle, but still not seeing anyone, "I'm not here to hurt you... I'm sorry to say. Cori told me everything. It's coming for you. We've got to stop it."

"And you came to protect me?" Franklin asked, appearing suddenly behind her. "I'm touched."

She whirled, on the defensive, "Don't worry, it's nothing personal: to protect Cori I have to protect you."

"How does Ripper come close to inspiring such loyalty, such goodness?" Franklin said, shaking his head.

"Because he's Cori."

"Hell of an answer that. Shouldn't happen but I suppose we can't all win what we like. Ah well, still, lucky me."

"Yes, lucky you," She crossed her arms, eyeing him.

"Well, we can't run," Franklin said, looking around the shop. "This here tat is worse than a homing beacon."

"Great, wonderful. I'm not a huge fan of running anyhow."

"Well aren't we all buff and manly," he sneered.

"One of us is. You're going to hide til this is over."

"I believe that to be an excellent plan," the slender Englishman agreed.

"Is there a way in through the back?"

"There's a door," Franklin said, expression blank. "It's locked though and pretty solid."

"Well, we can set you up back there. Come on."

"Oh, after you. After all, ladies first," he replied, voice charming.

She eyed him warily before heading toward the back. He raised the plank of wood in his hands, bringing it down hard on her head, knocking her to the ground. Smirking, he dragged her over, chaining her stomach down on a table, whistling a tune as he set to work.

Grids regained consciousness slowly to find herself tied down, unable to struggle much, "What?"

"Wake up now, you don't want to miss the fun," Franklin smirked.

"What fun?" she growled.

"Your initiation," he replied voice sing-song.

"You know? I'm not real interested in joining your club."

"Too late, I've already voted you in. It's not actually personal you know. You have spunk, I like that. I just like me more. Really, if you look at this karmically, this will be really good for your soul, to take their place so they may live."

She tugged on her bonds, "Well, I'm going to kill you. Will that blow the whole karma thing?"

He smirked, shaking his head as he dipped a needle in ink, brushing her hair away. "This might sting a little at first. But that will go away once the searing pain kicks in."

She grit her teeth as he started to work. The others had better figure it out fast.

o.o.o.o

Back in the library Mistoffelees was tearing through books, Tugger watching him. "I have never seen you read that fast without at least two mochas," the taller teenager said, slightly in awe.

"We need to find a way to kill this demon and fast," Mistoffelees replied shortly.

"Hot lava," Tugger offered.

"That's for a heretic," Mistoffelees replied, shoving a book in Tugger's hands. "Read."

"Hey," Bomba exclaimed, "I have the solution here. To kill a demon, cut off its head." She nodded decisively.

"Great work," Tugger drawled, flipping through his book. "Hey, here it says bury a potato... no, that's for warts. Who writes this sort of stuff?"

"Well, it's better than you did. You found a wart remedy," the redhead retorted.

"Right, because your solution means the school's first headless computer teacher," Tugger snorted.

"You know what you need, Tugger? I mean besides a year's supply of acne cream-maybe two years. A brain."

"I'm not the damn scarecrow, and you know what? I am so sick of your crap," Tugger snapped. "I don't care if you're a girl, I'm throwing you down," he said, entering what he hoped was a fighting stance.

She arched an eyebrow, looking rather amused, "I've seen you fight. Don't think I can't take you."

"Give it your best shot," Tugger called out, cocky.

Mistoffelees slammed down the large book he had in his hands. "We don't have time for this. Our friends are in trouble. Now we have to put our heads together and get them out of it. And if you two aren't with me a hundred and ten percent then get the hell out of my library!" he roared, pointing toward the door.

Bomba startled at that, turning to him and looking moderately chastised, "Sorry…"

"We'll be good," Tugger said, shrinking back slightly.

"We've already done the research," Mistoffelees said, running a hand through his hair. "We just have to think how to use it."

"Well," the cheerleader thought for a moment, "it needs a new body, right?"

"It doesn't need one if it has Jenny's," Mistoffelees replied.

"Then what if we force it into another dead body?" Tugger offered.

"I mean, we can find plenty of those, we're in Sunnydale," Bomba backed him up.

"It won't kill the demon, it would just be a change of scenery," Mistoffelees replied. "Though, at least it would get it out of Deme..."

"And then we could cut its head off!" Bomba exclaimed, triumphantly.

"Unless there was another body it could jump into," Mistoffelees nearly snarled. "Just, damnit," he slammed his hands into the table, suddenly pausing. "Oh. Oh. Oh!" and he was suddenly out the door.

Tugger blinked after him and turned to Bomba. "He's good," he assured her, before following.

She arched an eyebrow, but followed, "Yeah if 'good' means 'crazy'."

"Crazy good, honey," Tugger grinned.

"Don't call me that."

He shrugged and let it go, trying to keep up with Mistoffelees' fast pace.

o.o.o.o

Franklin stepped back, considering the tattoo now on Griddlebone's neck. "Perhaps I missed my calling as an artist."

She pulled hard against her bonds again, "Listen to me, Franklin. This is a bad idea. You're dealing with something very dangerous."

"No shit. But this will throw Eyghon off my scent."

"I wasn't talking about Eyghon," she returned, still struggling.

"You really are spunky," he said and shook his head. "My turn now," he added, pouring acid over his own tattoo on his forearm, grunting in pain. Grids finally located a nail under the table and started to work on getting it loose.

o.o.o.o

Cori had let his eyes close again, only to get flashes of visions dealing with the mark. Only this time, Franklin wasn't involved-Grids was. His grey eyes snapped open and he managed to get to his feet, heading for the door. He'd explain to Misto later.

o.o.o.o

Finally burning the tattoo off, Franklin rolled his sleeve back down. "Well, I'd hate to mutilate and run but..." he trailed off, heading for the door.

Grids finally got the nail loose and started to work on using it to cut her bonds, "I doubt that, somehow."

He was barely paying attention to her as the door suddenly swung open, revealing Demeter in the guise of Eyghon. "This is your time, dear Franklin," the demon started and paused, whipping its head around to Grids, seeing the tattoo and trailing over toward her instead.

"Oh, great..." The teen finally got her hands free and rolled off the table, using her still bound feet to kick it toward the demon, buying her time to get the rope off her ankles.

The demon in Demeter's body snarled, continuing toward her. Picking up the table, she shoved Grids back against the wall, trapping her there.

Grids tried to push it back, but couldn't get it to move. Cori stepped into the store, "Eyghon!" He looked a bit unsteady still, his hand resting on the counter, "Take me."

The demon moved back, throwing the table across the room, where it landed near the cowering Franklin. Demeter's body turned toward Cori now, slinking forward.

"Grids, get out of here," he ordered.

The girl shook her head, "No!" She moved quickly, trying to get between the demon and Cori. The demon barely paid the girl any attention, touching a finger to her forehead, which sent the Slayer flying across the room.

Reaching Cori, the demon threw him down, straddling him. "I've been waiting a long time to do this," the demon purred, hands going for Cori's throat before suddenly being tackled off by Mac.

Cori eased himself back up, his grey gaze darting to the fight between the vampire and the demon. Mac finally got his hands around Demeter's throat, all but strangling her.

Cori got to his feet, taking a step in that direction as Grids got up, brushing herself off carefully.

The three teenagers had run in after Mac, Mistoffelees startling back when he saw Cori there, his eyes narrowing. Tugger just gaped at the battle between the demon computer teacher and vampire.

Cori glanced at the three of them, his attention quickly going back to the fight. Grids moved over to support the librarian and keep him from doing anything. Her watcher shook his head, "He's killing her..."

Mistoffelees went to help support him and keep him back. "He's not. Trust me. This is going to work." Coricopat's gaze darted to him, hesitating.

Hands clawing at Mac's hands, the demon's eyes suddenly rose to meet Macs. They demon howled as Mac suddenly staggered back, letting Demeter collapse.

Bomba spoke quietly from where she stood by Tugger, "Did we kill it?"

Eyes glowing, Mac cried out. Grids froze, "It's in Mac..."

"This is going to work," Mistoffelees murmured as Mac's face changed back and forth between human, vampire, and the demon face that Miss Calendar had been wearing. "Please let this work," Mistoffelees added, voice tiny.

Finally Mac threw his head back, the demon screaming before fading out, leaving Mac with himself.

Grids let go of Cori to move over to Mac. Coricopat slipped away from Mistoffelees before he really processed it, going over to Miss Calendar and kneeling beside her, "Demeter...?"

Mistoffelees paused, suddenly bereft before going over to help Grids get Mac back on his feet.

"Hey Charles," Demeter said weakly.

"Oh, God, I...Are you..." He broke off, knowing better than to ask that, "It's alright now. He's gone for good."

Grids helped Mac up, glancing at Misto, "You knew that if the demon was in danger it would jump into the nearest dead guy..."

Mistoffelees nodded as Mac did. "I put it in danger," Mac said.

"Then it jumped, like I thought it would," Mistoffelees said.

Demeter took a shaking breath, clinging to Cori from where she was.

"But," Mac continued. "I've had a demon in me for a couple hundred years, just waiting for a good fight like that."

"I'm glad that worked." Grids said, slipping her arm around Mac's.

Cori held Deme close, murmuring reassurances, "Shh, it's alright. I've got you."

"So am I," Mistoffelees murmured, stepping away and leaving Mac and Grids together. The shorter teen moved over to Tugger, who was looking around.

"That Franklin guy bolted," Tugger told him.

Grids heard him and glanced in that direction, "Damn. I really wanted to hit him til he bled."

Bomba shrugged, "At least it's over..."

Coricopat carefully helped Demeter to her feet, "Shall I actually take you home this time?"

She nodded, wavering. "Yeah, please."

Mistoffelees watched them. "No, it's not," he said, voice quiet.

Cori carefully guided Demeter out, taking her to her home.

Grids nodded very slightly, leaning her head lightly against Mac's arm for a brief moment. In return, he wrapped his arm around her, the remaining group falling silent in the remains of the costume shop.

o.o.o.o

Grids met her friends in the quad the next Monday at school, "The worst thing about this thing on my neck is, I was saving up for some very important shoes. Now I gotta blow my allowance getting this stupid tattoo removed. I just hope mom doesn't see it first..."

Mistoffelees smiled faintly at her, shaking his head. Tugger rolled his eyes, turning to Misto. "Sticking that demon in Mac was pretty brill, Misto."

"I'm glad it worked," he replied with a shrug.

"So am I," Grids admitted, "You did good, Misto."

"Thanks," he murmured.

"You should like, consider a career as a Watcher or something," Tugger said. "Or a librarian. You got pretty possessive of that library and... someone please stop me before I speak?" Tugger added off Mistoffelees' expression.

"We're not mind-readers, Tugger, but stopping now might be good?" Grids suggested.

"Shutting up," the taller teen said with a nod, and Mistoffelees offered him a faint smile.

"I'll be fine. I'm sure the dental is crap anyway," Mistoffelees said softly and shrugged.

"Probably," Grids agreed.

Mistoffelees' eyes wondered across the quad, settling on Coricopat as he moved down the hallway, sighing softly.

Cori moved quickly down the hall, dodging around students as he approached Demeter's classroom, "Demeter, Deme!"

Finally, she turned. "Oh, Charles. Hi."

"I tried calling you last night, see how you were."

"I left the phone off the hook," she replied mildly. "Need a lot of sleep right now it seems."

"But you're doing alight? Is there anything you need?"

She shook her head hard. "I'm fine. I mean, I'm not "running around, wind in my hair, the hills are alive with the Sound of Music" fine, but I'm coping."

"I-I would like to help," he spoke quietly.

"I know," she replied simply, but not offering him any opportunities.

"Perhaps we could talk some time? Have dinner, or a drink-when you're feeling stronger?"

"Sure, sometime," she said, making it sound like she meant years at the soonest.

Coricopat reached out to rest a hand on her arm, looking like he was going to say something else, "Deme, I..."

She flinched back. "I need to go to class," she said, not giving him a chance to say anything else before leaving. He stood in the hall as it cleared before retreating to the library and locking himself in his office for the remainder of the day.

o.o.o.o

Mistoffelees glanced at the box and bag he had balanced in one hand that evening, and sighed, informed himself he was an idiot, and knocked on Cori's door.

Coricopat looked up from where he was considering his fridge and whether he actually had the motivation to locate something to eat. He weighed the pros and cons of pretending to not be home and finally relented, going to answer the door. "Yes? Can I-Mistoffelees?"

He held up the bag. "British flicks, pizza, ice cream. Currently all I have to offer in the way of comfort and I really think you need it."

"I-I..." He looked the teen over, again taking pros and cons into account before shaking his head, "I'm fine."

"Like hell," Mistoffelees replied. "Last I checked you hadn't recovered from bloody Halloween Mr. I-haven't-been-sleeping-the-past-few-nights. And now it's worse. Look, this may be verging on stupid but... I want to help. This is sorta the best way I know how."

Cori sighed, stepping aside, "Fine, come in. Is there anything I can get you?"

"No, I don't think so," he said, stepping inside and only feeling a hundred times more awkward.

"Give me a minute to locate the television, then," the librarian murmured.

"You buried your TV?" Mistoffelees asked, smiling at him faintly.

"I...don't use it much." Cori offered him a ghost of a smile.

"I can understand that," Mistoffelees said, dealing with the food he brought. "You want plates or Pizza from the box?"

"Plates are preferable. They're on the second shelf of the corner cabinet."

Mistoffelees pulled them down, more and more realizing this was a bad idea. "How... truthfully, how are you?"

"Truthfully? I've been far better," the older man answered as he carefully moved the stacks of books from around his television.

"I figured as much but you know," Mistoffelees murmured, finally turning back around. "Will you be okay?"

"Of course. I always am."

"Until you aren't," Mistoffelees replied. "But, alright."

Cori sighed, sinking down on the couch, "Honestly? I don't know."

Mistoffelees sat on the far end, offering Cori a plate. "Knowing is hard. Anything specific?" He considered and then shook his head, it was not something to bring up to Mistoffelees. "You once said I could talk to you about stuff. It goes the other way too. I can listen to this," Mistoffelees replied.

"I can't say I blame her, but she won't even look at me. That's disregarding the dreams I've been having and the complete lack of sleep."

"When was the last time you slept?" Mistoffelees asked. "What dreams?"

"They vary night to night, mostly just replays of things we've been through recently."

"Have you talked to a doctor or something about sleeping aids? Not that pills or meds are a good plan to get in Sunnydale, but you could always drive to LA to see about it."

"I'll be fine. They'll fade."

"Seriously, no, when was the last time you slept?" the teen pressed.

"I've been sleeping! I promise."

"Not five minutes ago you said 'and the complete lack of sleep.' That implies not sleeping," Mistoffelees protested, finally starting to eat the pizza.

"It was an exaggeration. I do that from time to time."

Mistoffelees gave him a long look. "Honestly? Are you sleeping enough?"

Cori sighed, "I'm functional, I'm as alert as I ever am. Yes."

"Alright," Mistoffelees demurred.

"You needn't worry so much about me," Coricopat said softly.

"But I do," Mistoffelees told him, glancing over. "I just do."

Cori sighed, "I give you my word that I'll try to get more sleep, alright?"

"Alright," he said. "But that's just one of the issues. But yes, thank you."

"How are you doing? Honestly."

"Me?" Mistoffelees glanced over again in slight surprise. "Fine. I mean, coping. Sure, things hurt, but you're my friend, even if we can't be anything more. I just don't want to lose that."

Coricopat offered him a faint smile at that, "I don't either." He glanced toward the TV, "Shall we?"

The teen waved a hand. "Please. You pick."

The librarian looked over the selection he'd brought, smiling at a couple of the selections and shaking his head at another before making a choice. Mistoffelees settled back, watching him somewhat more than the film.

Pizza and Movie Night of Pain returns! In the most awkward way possible. We hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and hope to hear for our readers! Cheers all.