Grids pulled her jacket a little tighter around her, the memories of her nightmare from the night before still fresh in her mind. After another moment she finally knocked on the apartment door in front of her, calling quietly, "Mac?"

There was a paused followed by a muffled, "Hold on." Moments later the door opened, Mac standing there, looking rumpled still from laying down. "Hey, Grids," he said, brightening before pausing. "Is something wrong?"

She glanced inside the apartment, "That's...what I was going to ask you. You're okay right?"

"Me?" he asked in some surprise. "Sure, yeah, everything's fine. What's up?"

She stepped into his embrace before answering, burying her head against his chest and wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, "I had a dream. Cassandra was alive. It-it was awful."

Mac gently stroked her hair. "What happened?" he asked, trying to be soothing.

"Sh-she killed you. Right in front of me. I-I saw the whole thing."

"But it was just a dream," Mac murmured. "Look, I'm still here."

"I-I know, it just...it felt so real. And it's happened before." She stepped away from him and into his apartment, running a hand through her hair, "I dreamt about the Master and that dream came true. I..."

"Not every dream comes true," he replied. "I mean, what did you dream about last night? Can you remember?"

"Um...That...Cori and I opened an office supply warehouse in Las Vegas."

Mac brought a hand up to quickly cover his mouth to keep from laughing loudly. "You see my point I hope?"

She managed an almost sheepish smile, "Yeah, but what if she is alive? We never saw her body..."

Mac shrugged. "If she is? We'll deal. We deal with things. She's no different."

Grids swallowed, looking up at him, "But, what if..."

Mac managed not to roll his eyes, leaning down to silence her with a kiss instead. She tensed at the kiss, but quickly relaxed into it, her arms moving to wrap around his neck as she deepened it.

"But what if what?" Mac murmured against her mouth, drawing back ever so slightly.

"Were we talking?" she asked quietly before leaning up to close the gap again.

Smiling, he leaned back down into the kiss, wrapping his arms around her waist.

She drew back after a long moment, "I-I should get to school..."

"I know," he murmured, kissing her again.

She pressed up against him, deepening the kiss before pulling back very slightly, "God..."

"You have to go to school," Mac started. Pausing, he considered before kissing her again, but lifting her up slightly so he could carry her back to the door, kissing her the entire way.

When he finally set her down again she stepped back, her hand resting on the door know, "Alright, this is me going to school." She opened the door, but paused long enough to lean up and kiss him one more time.

"You still haven't told me what you want for your birthday," Mac admonished. "You need to soon."

"Surprise me," she murmured.

"Okay then," he said, offering a soft smile.

She returned the smile, really not wanting to leave, "This was nice. I like you first thing in the morning."

"It's bed time for me," Mac murmured quietly.

"Well, then I like you at bed time." She paused as she realized how that could sound, "I-I mean...you, know what I mean..."

"I think I do," he said, and then considered for a beat. "What do you mean?"

"That I-I like seeing you. And the part at the end of the night when we say goodbye, well, it's-it's getting harder."

He swallowed and nodded. "Yeah, it is."

She glanced toward the open doorway, "I-I'll see you later?"

He nodded, not looking pleased but stepping back. "Have fun in classes."

"Thanks. Sleep well."

He smiled thinly and nodded, closing the door behind her. She stared at the door for a long moment before finally turning and heading to school.

o.o.o.o

"I like you at bedtime?" Mistoffelees asked, a little shocked, a while later. He was sitting in the library, a book on demons in front of him, staring at Grids.

"I know. I know!" Grids, on the other hand, was trying to pay attention to her history homework. It wasn't working.

"That's..." Mistoffelees shook his head. "And how did he react to that anyway?"

"I...well, not aversely."

"Well, that's good?" Mistoffelees blinked and swallowed. "I mean, he seems cool about stuff like that. Did he want to see you at bedtime too?"

Grids bit her lip, "I...think so. I mean, he didn't really say as much, but...he seems cool about it?"

"Well, cool is good," Mistoffelees offered. "What do you want to do about it?"

"Want isn't always the right thing. To do, I mean. To-to act on want can be wrong...but to not act on want, well, you could watch your whole life pass by," she sighed.

Mistoffelees swallowed again, glancing down. "Yeah. No kidding. But if you don't decide on anything, nothing's ever going to get done, right?"

"Right. I just...what if...no that's not what I mean. I mean...I want to, I just don't know."

"Good luck," Mistoffelees murmured.

"So...anyhow, enough about us. How about you? And Pounce?" She glanced around to half check for Cori, "What are we thinking? Sparkage?"

"I..." he blushed and looked down again, turning a page. "Sparkage, I think so. He's sweet. I like his hands."

"His hands?" Her brows rose and she grinned a little, "Fixation on a relatively insignificant detail. I think you may have a definite crush."

"It's not insignificant," Mistoffelees protested. "I mean, he plays guitar. It brings definite attention to his hands, okay?"

"Alright, I'll give you that. So, you going to pursue this cheese-giving guitarist?"

"I don't know," he sighed, flipping another page, having read nothing of the last one.

"Why not give it a shot?"

Mistoffelees glanced up at her finally. "I just... it doesn't feel fair."

She tilted her head on one side, "How so?"

"Me, trying to be with someone when I'm so..." he considered how best to say it. "Hung up on someone else. It doesn't seem fair to them."

She considered and then nodded, "I see what you're saying, but Misto, you can't wait around forever for him. I guess the question comes down to this: would you consider Pounce a "fall back" or a "Second choice"?"

"He," Mistoffelees considered. "Coricopat plays the guitar, did you know that? What if I'm fixating because of that?"

"I do remember you mentioning that." There was a pause as she thought for another moment, "Did you like Pounceival before you found out he played guitar?"

"Yes," he said quietly. "I don't think I'm... but what if I am?"

"I don't think you are. It doesn't seem like you."

He took a deep breath. "It... scares me a little is all."

"I'm not surprised, but is it a reason not to try?"

Sighing, he nodded. "Alright, you're probably right."

"You'll figure it out," she assured him.

"I hope so. Hope you do too," he added, offering her a smile.

She returned the smile, "Thanks. I hope so too."

o.o.o.o

A short while later Mistoffelees saw Pounce down the hall and moved forward quickly. "Hey."

The older teen paused, offering Mistoffelees a bit of a smile, his guitar case in hand, "Hey."

"Do you guys have a gig tonight?" Mistoffelees asked.

"Huh? Oh, no, practice. The band's kind of moving toward this new sound where we suck. So, practice."

"I think you guys sound alright," Mistoffelees offered. "Get many groupies do you?" he asked, trying to sound casual and failing slightly.

Pounce shrugged, "It happens. But I'm living groupie-free nowadays. I'm clean."

Mistoffelees bit back a chuckle. "Oh. That's good."

Pounce hesitated briefly, "So, hey, I'm gonna ask you if you wanna go out tomorrow night. I'm actually kind of nervous about it. It's...kinda interesting."

"You, oh," Mistoffelees blushed. "Well, if it helps, I'll probably say yes."

"It does help," the senior assured him. "It adds a comfort zone. So, you wanna go out tomorrow night?"

Opening his mouth to reply Mistoffelees froze, eyes widening. "Oh, I can't!"

Pounce blinked, "See this? I like that you're unpredictable."

"No, it... it's Grid's birthday. We're throwing her a surprise party."

"Oh, well that's cool," Pounce said, trying to brush it off.

"But, you could come," Mistoffelees offered, shyly. "If you wanted."

"That's okay. I don't wanna crash..."

"No, I mean you could... be my... date," Mistoffelees finally managed.

Pounce grinned a bit, "All right. I'm in."

"You are?" Mistoffelees perked up. "Great!"

Pounce nodded, "Well, I gotta get to practice. See ya tomorrow then?"

"See you tomorrow," the smaller teen nodded. The guitarist offered him a nod and then slipped out.

"I said date," Mistoffelees murmured and shook his head, turning his own feet back toward the inside of the school.

o.o.o.o

Tugger leaned against the locker next to Bomba's, trying not to make it look obvious he was hanging around. "So, Grids' party, manana."

She kept her gaze focused on the stuff in her locker, digging through it, "Right. Just because she's 'miss save the world' we have to make a big deal. I have to cook and everything."

"You're cooking?" Tugger tried not to sound obviously surprised.

"I'm chips and dip girl," she turned enough to look at him in the mirror on her locker door.

"Horror," Tugger managed to reply. "All that opening and stirring must put a strain on you."

"And shopping and carrying," she added with a nod.

"You should have someone to do all that for you," Tugger replied sarcastically.

"That's what I keep telling Daddy, but has he listened?" Bomba turned back to her locker's contents so she could watch Tugger out of the corner of her eye.

Tugger leaned forward slightly, though hopefully not obviously. "Well, you're going to this party, and I'm going so... should we just, you know, maybe go?"

There was a long moment before she turned her head to look at him, "Why?"

He looked flustered. "'Cause this thing with us... it keeps happening. Whether we plan it to or not, shouldn't just, just, maybe, I don't know, admit we're dating?"

She pulled her math book out of her locker, sliding it into the bag she was carrying, "Groping in a broom closet is not dating. You don't call it a date until the guy spends money."

"Fine," he started. "I can spend. I'm totally not above spending, I mean, as much as I can. I'm not like... totally swimming in bushels of merry cash here, but spend and then grope, fine. I just don't want to hide this from my friends."

"Well of course you want to tell everybody. You have nothing to be ashamed of. I on the other hand, have everything to be ashamed of." Her eyes widened slightly as she realized what she'd said and she turned to him finally.

His eyes narrowed, and he stepped back. "Fine, whatever. Forget I said anything, it was stupid. It's not like my friends would be happy about this anyway. Can you imagine Misto's face?" He turned, going to move off.

Bomba slammed her locker door shut, hurrying to catch up to him and catching him by the arm to slow him down, "Let me...think about it?" She let go of his arm, her gaze flickering over him, "Can I pick out your clothes?"

"Like, for the party?" he asked, slowing slightly and finally stopping.

"More like...everyday, but I'll settle for the party?"

Tugger paused for a long moment and then shrugged. "Sure, fine, to a degree. I'm not giving up all my clothes here."

She offered him a bit of a smile, "Alright. Well...I'll let you know before school's out today?"

"Alright," he managed, spotting Coricopat coming the other way.

"I gotta get going. See you later," she slipped off down the hall.

Cori reached Tugger moments after Bombalurina left, "Good morning. I trust everything's in order for tomorrow night?"

Tugger saluted. "Everything's top notch."

The librarian nodded, "Very good." His gaze moved down the hall to where Grids and Demeter were approaching, "Ah, here comes Grids, now."

Tugger turned, offering her a grin and holding his arms out. "My, Grids! So lovely to see you this fine day!"

She looked him over, offering a very faint smile, but didn't say anything. Coricopat's brow arched, "Is everything alright, Grids? You look fatigued."

The teen sighed, "Rough night. I had a dream that Cassandra was alive, and she killed Mac. It...well I was so off kilter I went by his place on the way here to make sure he was okay."

Demeter gave Coricopat a long look before glancing away.

"That's a line I haven't tried," Tugger mused. "I just dropped by to make sure you weren't dead. It's pretty much guaranteed to produce smoochies."

Cori's brow twitched upward at that look, but he turned his attention back to Grids.

"Please. I didn't go over there for smoochies, Tugger," she paused. "Well, when I found out he was okay I was relieved and so, naturally." Another pause, "Someone stop me?"

Demeter obliged her. "So, Mac's alright then?"

Grids nodded, "Yeah, but...I've got a bad feeling. I don't think it was a normal dream."

Coricopat frowned slightly, "You feel it was more of a portent?"

"I don't know. I don't want to start a big freak-out over nothing, you know?" She glanced between the other three.

"Still," the librarian replied firmly, "We should be on alert. If Cassandra is still alive we may be facing a cataclysmic state of affairs."

"So many words," Tugger said, shaking his head. "Can't you just say we're in trouble?"

"Tugger," Cori glanced at him, "Go to class."

"Gone," Tugger said, turning and pausing. "See the economy of that phrasing? Gone. Simple, direct."

Coricopat rolled his eyes. Grids spoke, "I should get gone, too."

Her watcher turned back to her, "Don't worry too much, Grids. This could be nothing."

"I know. I should keep my cool and all, but it's Mac. Which automatically means I'm going to freak."

Tugger had only moved a few spaces away when Mistoffelees spotted him from down the hall, not registering the others were in hearing range. "Tugger! I have a date!"

"You have a...?" Tugger started. "Date? Legit?"

"No, Tugger, I have a non-legit date."

"With who?" Tugger asked, grinning, not quite placing the other's behind him either.

"A senior. The senior. Cheese giving senior."

"You have a date with a senior?" Tugger asked.

Mistoffelees arched a brow. "You know, I'm not sure you said that loud enough. The science labs might not have heard you."

Coricopat turned, startled at the voices, his body tensing as Mistoffelees' words sunk in. Grids managed a smile at that, "Misto, that's wonderful!"

"Oh, Grids," he said, still brightly until he realized Coricopat was also standing there. For a moment his face froze and he made a couple angry, abortive hand gestures at Tugger for not warning him. Tugger glanced over his shoulder.

"Whoops."

Mistoffelees hit his arm before turning his smile back to Grids. He noticed that Demeter was offering him an encouraging smile too, and tried to ignore the librarian. "Yeah. Thanks."

"When?" Grids asked brightly, ignoring the mood she could all but feel rolling off of Cori.

"Tomorrow night," Mistoffelees replied, quietly, aware that Coricopat would be aware what that meant, though hopefully Grids would not.

The girl smiled, "That's great!"

"Yes, very," Cori murmured. "Congratulations, Mistoffelees."

The smaller teen's mouth worked for a moment and he nodded. "So, a senior?" Demeter asked with a smile and Mistoffelees managed another nod.

"Yeah."

Grids glanced at Cori, offering him a frown, "We should probably all head to class..."

The librarian glanced at her and managed a smile, that didn't reach his eyes, "Probably. I wish you well, Mistoffelees and hope your date is enjoyable."

Mistoffelees wanted to tell Coricopat he was only making it worse each time he congratulated him, but instead grabbed one of Tugger's arms and one of Grids' and dragged them both to class.

Demeter watched them leave before turning back to Coricopat. "Well then."

Cori took a deep breath, cleared his expression, and focused on relaxing a little bit. He finally turned to Demeter once the students had rounded a corner, "Hm?"

"How've you been?" Demeter asked. "I mean, I know we haven't been talking much lately..."

"I've been...well, honestly, it's Sunnydale, so I've been as well as I can be here." He paused, carefully not pointing out that it wasn't by his choice initially that they hadn't been talking, "How have you been?"

"Good. Better," she replied. "Dealing. You sure you're okay though? You got really tense there."

"Of course. I worry about them, is all. Sometimes a bit too much I'm aware."

She tilted her head. "You know, you really get an allover protective father vibe going. Since you seemed as freaked by Misto getting a date as Grids having possible visions."

He removed his glasses and cleaned them, trying not to think about the idea of 'overprotective father' in regards to Misto. The entire situation was difficult enough to deal with, "I'm hardly that. I'm concerned about them, really that's all. I hadn't heard about this senior before that I'm aware...of." Cori trailed off as he recalled the conversation about the youth who got winged with a bullet. He doubted it was the same one, but nevertheless, he couldn't think of any other seniors the three would have interacted with.

"It's not like a senior's that much older than him," Demeter said with a fond smile. "I doubt they're going to try and take advantage of his age."

The Englishman's jaw tensed slightly, but he nodded, "I suppose that's true. It could turn out to be a good thing for him."

"So relax," Demeter told him. "He's going to be fine. And Grids is turning seventeen tomorrow."

He didn't want to wish Mistoffelees ill, he really didn't, but his stomach knotted at the thought of him being "fine" in the relationship with the senior. "Yes, she is. Though what was the point of that reminder?"

"Well, are you guys doing anything? It seems like a big thing," Demeter replied.

"We're throwing her a party tomorrow night after sundown. She doesn't know though, so that would likely be why you've yet to hear about it," he answered quietly.

"Right," she nodded, saddened to be out of the loop, but aware it was a situation of her own making. "Well, that should be good. Does that mean Misto's date is to there then?"

Cori smiled thinly, "I would assume so, as I can't imagine Mistoffelees missing the party."

"Well, that means you can be overprotective while seeing the actual kid," Demeter replied, smiling brightly. "That should be entertaining. Be sure to cut the kid a break, alright?"

"I'll do my best," he replied. There was a pause, "You could come if you like?"

"I..." she paused and finally nodded. "I'll see about it."

Coricopat finally offered something close to a genuine smile, "Wonderful."

"Great," she murmured. "I'll see you there then."

"I should probably let you get to class..."

"Yeah," she nodded. "Well, I'll see you around then."

"See you around. Take care, Demeter."

"You too," she said, waving to him over her shoulder as she turned and swayed down the hall toward her classroom.

He watched her go, appreciating the view before shaking his head and turning to head to the library. He intended to hole himself up in his office with something mindless for a while and hope that no students came in.