A/N: I'm trying to get through these first few episodes quickly so I can get down to the good stuff with The First. That said, I rather liked "Same Time, Same Place." Gnarl was an especially funky demon, or so I thought. :-)

(Note: Some dialog taken directly from the episode.)

Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its characters are the property of Joss Whedon.

I'm here, I'm not here.

There's nothing that I know for sure.

You're here, you're not here.

How long can this all go on for?

Oh, I don't know.

-Julia Stone, "I'm Here, I'm Not Here"

Buffy, Dawn, and Xander waited anxiously at the airport terminal. A couple of days ago Giles called to tell them that Willow had experienced some frightening visions about the Hellmouth. And she wasn't alone; other witches in the coven she and Tara were training with felt something as well. Evil was rising. So, it was decided to cut Willow's training short and she and Tara would return to Sunnydale, where they would doubtless be needed very soon.

Spike was out on patrol. It was an arrangement he and Buffy came up with; once a week, they'd each take a night off from the slayage. It worked out well for them, gave them some much-needed rest and time to get other things done. Plus, if the one on patrol needed help, the other was just a thought away.

Buffy smiled. So far, sharing a soul hadn't really changed Spike's personality. He still loved beating the crap out of demons. She could sense his elation now. He must've been in one hell of a scrap at that moment.

"You guys, I just noticed something," Xander's voice cut through her reverie.

"What?" Dawn asked.

"Everyone's off the plane, so...where's Willow and Tara?"

He was right. The gate was closing, yet there was no sign of the two witches. They searched all over the airport, but found no sign of them. Finally, they came to the unhappy conclusion that Tara and Willow weren't there. They piled into Xander's car and headed for home. Buffy used her cellphone to call Giles and ask if he knew what was going on.

"He absolutely put them on the plane in London," Buffy said as they entered the house.

"So, they got off at Chicago when they stopped?" Xander wondered.

"Why would they do that?" Dawn asked.

Buffy pursed her lips. "Giles said Willow was nervous about her powers. Apparently she's stronger than even the coven expected. Giles said she doesn't just use the magic; she's part of it somehow. And she's afraid she might lose control of herself if she uses it."

Dawn sighed, "We should check the messages, see if they tried to reach us here."

A sudden noise drew their attention to the second floor. They all went upstairs to investigate, but didn't find anything unusual, although Buffy did find her address book on the floor. Apparently, it had fallen off her dresser. There was no sign of the witches, and no messages had been left by them. Buffy even checked with Giles again to see if he'd heard anything. Unfortunately, the answer was no.

"Is he throwing a tasteful British wiggins?" Xander asked as they all sat on the couch.

"Oh, with extra wig," Buffy sighed, "He's blaming himself pretty hard. Like he should've known Willow wasn't ready to come back."

Spike came home from patrol a few minutes later. His expression was concerned when he came through the door. "What's wrong?"

Buffy filled him in. Spike was sympathetic. He liked Tara and Willow.

There was nothing more they could do right then. Hopefully, either Giles or the coven would hear from the AWOL witches, or they'd show up on their own, perhaps with a fun story of how they got their planes mixed up.

Buffy woke early the next morning to the sound of her cellphone ringing. She answered it, thinking it might be Willow or Tara, but it was Xander whose voice greeted her. And he did not sound happy.

"Buffy, I need you to come by the site. I found...something."

Buffy glanced at the still-slumbering vampire beside her and sighed. "I'll be there in a little while."

She took a quick shower, threw on some clothes, kissed Spike goodbye, even though he still hadn't stirred, then walked down to the construction site at the high school. There was no sign of any work crew when she arrived. Just a grim-faced Xander who led her down to where his grisly discovery lay.

Buffy grimaced at the sight of the corpse lying a short distance from some fresh graffiti. A can of spray paint lay close to the body's outstretched hand. Buffy assumed the victim had been male, judging by the shredded clothes. Hard to say for sure, since there were zero defining characteristics. Such as a face.

"No skin," she remarked, stating the gruesomely obvious.

Xander nodded, swallowing bile. "Tough to look at."

"And yet my eyes refuse to look away," Buffy muttered, "Stupid eyes."

"I found it first thing this morning. Gave my crew the day off and called you right away."

Buffy sighed ruefully, "I gotta get a job where I don't get called right away for this stuff."

Xander turned his head at the sound of the nearby ladder rattling, but saw no one, so he shrugged it off and told himself it was just the wind.

While Xander called the police, Buffy returned home to start the research. By the time Xander arrived, having endured a couple of hours of questions, Dawn was on the computer, scouring the Internet. It turned out the 'Net was chock full of databases focusing on various demons and the occult. Some of them were even legit.

Spike was in the living room, watching the latest episode of "Passions." His way of helping with the research was to stay out of the way and keep quiet. It was best for everyone that way.

"Okay," Dawn announced, all business, "So, I looked up demons that skin their victims and demons that flay their victims. 'Cause, y'know, same thing. There's a ton of prospects. Anything else gone? Uh, eyeballs, toenails, or viscera? That's guts."

"She knows about viscera," Spike declared, eyes glued to the TV screen, "Makes you proud."

"Just skin," Xander told the girl.

"Okay." Dawn's fingers flew over the keys for a moment, then her eyes lit up and she straightened in her seat. "Oh! Guys, I got a good one. A demon called Gnarl. He's a parasite with these nasty long fingernails. He secretes something through them and uses that to paralyze his victims. He then cuts strips of their skin while they're still alive. It takes hours."

"We didn't find any strips of skin," Xander said, "Which, by the way, geeuh!" He shuddered.

"You wouldn't," Dawn answered matter-of-factly, "He eats them."

Xander looked even greener at this information.

"Dawn," Buffy said gently, "you're new at this, a-and I get why you're proud, but I'm not exactly sure why this demon is any more likely than any of the others."

The girl smiled proudly. "You never said 'pool of blood.'"

"There was no pool, just splatters."

"Then this is your guy," Dawn stated, "He laps up the blood."

"I'll drink to that." Spike picked up a mug from the coffee table and drained its contents. Xander's nose wrinkled at the sight of the vampire's "blood moustache."

"Could you be any more disgusting?"

Spike smirked, licking his lips.

"Now, if we just knew how to find this thing," Dawn muttered in thought.

Xander shrugged, "Well, we could ask some questions over at Willy's place."

"Or we could be smart," Buffy interjected, then threw her friend an apologetic look. "Sorry, Xander."

Xander blinked, clueless. "What?"

Spike's smirk widened.

"Well, whoever did this had to get blood on them," Buffy explained, "which means they left a trail. And we have a way to track it." She grinned in significance.

Dawn frowned, puzzled. "We have a— Oh! I get it."

"What?" Xander repeated, more confused than ever, "How— What's goin' on?"

Spike rolled his eyes.

They had to wait until nightfall, of course. But once the sun went down, they all went down to the construction site. The body had been taken away, but Spike said there was enough of a scent for him to pick up. It was a little odd watching the vampire crouch down and sniff around the area like a bloodhound. A moment later he straightened and walked purposely in the direction the killer had apparently gone. The trail led them to Wilken's Grove, a heavily wooded area in the center of town.

"You really think it's gonna work?" Xander finally asked as they tromped through the woods, Spike several yards ahead.

"It's pretty easy," Buffy replied, "Spike follows the exciting smell of blood, and we follow him."

"It's 'smellementary,'" Dawn quipped. "Also, I'm sure there's tons of stuff like this. Y'know, procedures we can use that don't involve magic spells," she said with growing enthusiasm, "Just good, solid detective work. And we can develop a database of tooth impressions and demon skin samples, and I could wear high heels more often!"

Buffy laughed, "Wow, that was so close to being empowered." She put a comradely arm around the girl's shoulders.

Spike came to an abrupt halt. "That's it," he announced, "End of the line. Everyone off."

The gang frowned at the looming rock formation before them. "That's a rock cliff," Buffy said.

"Well, give him a break, Buffy," Xander chided, "Maybe it's a vicious, skin-eating rock cliff."

Spike gave him a look that clearly stated he was an idiot. "There's a cave in it," he said, pushing aside some shrubbery to reveal the dark opening in the cliff. Xander had the grace to look somewhat embarrassed.

Brandishing the weapons they'd brought along, the four of them cautiously entered the cave. "Dark and dank," Xander muttered nervously, "I was hoping it'd be dark and dank."

"Something's movin' in here," Spike warned. They heard a scuttling noise, like a huge rat. It was very disconcerting.

"Guess we're in the right place," Buffy remarked.

"Look at the shorn lambs," a sing-songy voice called out, "See how they tremble. Is it the cold wind? Or is it that the flock is nowhere to be seen? Poor little lambs, all alone." The echo made it impossible to pinpoint; the demon could have been close, or at the opposite end of the cave. They couldn't be sure.

There was a sudden shriek and something darted out of the shadows. Dawn screamed in alarm, staggered back with her hand clutching her stomach.

"Dawn!" Buffy rushed to the girl's side, "Are you okay?"

"I guess so." Dawn withdrew her hand, revealing a long gash across her skin. Her body stiffened. "Poison...paralyzes."

Buffy caught Dawn before the girl could fall over. Xander hurried to support her other side. "Okay, we need to get her out of here," Buffy said as she dragged her sister towards the exit, "We'll deal with him later. Seal him in."

Once they were out of the cave, Spike rolled several loose boulders in front of the cave opening, blocking it completely. He then picked Dawn up and carried her bridal-style. It was faster than letting Xander and Buffy half-drag her along.

"The computer," Buffy stated as they hurried for home, "That thing Dawn was reading might have an antidote for the paralysis."

"Buffy," Dawn managed to talk through her stiffened jaw, "I'm really sorry."

Buffy patted the girl's shoulder. "Oh, it's okay."

"You couldn't help it," Xander comforted, "It had paralyzing fingernails."

"Just like you said it would," Spike cheerfully pointed out, "So, good on you, Niblet."

"Okay. Watch—Watch the head," Buffy cautioned as Spike maneuvered them through the door.

"Watch my head! Watch my head!" Dawn's muffled voice anxiously cried.

With a relieved sigh, Spike dropped the girl onto the couch.

"Face up!" she mumbled frantically into the cushions, "Face up!"

"Whups. Sorry, Platelet." Spike flipped her onto her back. Dawn's eyes glared up at him.

While Buffy checked the computer, Xander tried to reassure the teen. "It'll be alright. We'll get you fixed up. You'll be doin' limbo in no time."

"Yeah, as a pole," the girl responded sardonically.

"Oh, got it!" Buffy cried, squinting at the computer screen, "It says...the paralysis is permanent."

Dawn emitted a frightened eep.

"No. Oh, wait! My bad," Buffy winced, "Um, 'permanent until the creature dies.' Sorry. Guess we have to go back."

"We can't just leave her here like this," Xander cried, "What if she vomits?"

Spike frowned. "You think she'll vomit?"

"Stop talking about vomit!" Dawn mumbled loudly.

Buffy grabbed the phone. "I'll call Anya. She can watch her."

"Right. She'll love being called for vomit watch," Xander stated wryly.

"Stop. Talking. About. Vomit!"

It came as something of a surprise that Anya agreed to come over without much cajoling required. As soon as she arrived, she scrutinized the paralyzed teen with a curious tilt of her head and declared with her usual lack of sensitivity, "I bet she's dying."

"She's not dying," Buffy corrected, "She's just paralyzed."

"Oh. Paralyzed how?"

Xander frowned at her. "In the not-moving way."

"Well, there's lots of different ways. Did you try this?" Ignoring the girl's protests, Anya grabbed her legs and pulled them straight up, where they stayed in place.

"Oh! You're pose-able!" Xander grinned.

In a couple more moves, Anya had Dawn sitting up on her own. "Neat as you please," she smiled proudly, "Hardly a need to undo her."

Spike, meanwhile, was munching on some nuts Anya had brought with her. He looked at the can's unfamiliar label and asked, "Where'd you get the nuts?"

"Brazil," the vengeance demon replied casually. She took the can from him and popped a couple of nuts into her mouth. "No need to thank me, by the way, for sitting with her," she chewed thoughtfully, "I'm feeling very benevolent today. Helping Willow and Tara. Helping you. Might even call it even for that whole worm thing last week."

Buffy's head came up from where she was rummaging through her weapons trunk. "Wait, you saw Willow and Tara?"

Anya nodded, "Mm-hmm. Oh, they're looking for you, by the way. Decided you might be out in some cave. Sounded pretty tenuous."

Dawn's eyes widened in alarm. "Cave?"

Buffy stepped closer to the vengeance demon. "Anya, listen. This is really important. Did they go to that cave?"

"Last time I saw them, that's where they were headed." Anya glanced down at the teen. "Shall I make her salute? That'd be very cute." She sat down beside Dawn and proceeded to do just that, ignoring the girl's protests all the while.

"They could be there right now, trapped with the Gnarl," Spike said, frowning in concern.

"Oh, it's not the Gnarl, just Gnarl," Anya corrected. "Wouldn't it be tragic if you were here being kinda silly with your comically paralyzed sister while Tara and Willow were dying?" she asked Buffy, her tone utterly lacking in worry.

Buffy stifled the urge to grab the woman and give her a rough shake. "Anya, you know about this creature?"

"Uh-huh. Sure."

Spike took her by the arm and yanked her to her feet. "In that case, you're comin' with us."

Anya groaned and rolled her eyes. The things she did for her friends.

"Anya, you gotta keep up!" Xander yelled as they raced through the woods back to the cave.

"I'm out of shape!" Anya wheezed, "I've been teleporting for months."

Spike and Buffy arrived at the cave first. They quickly cleared away the boulders and ran inside. This time, Gnarl was in plain view, crouching down on the cave floor. He looked like something out of an old Grimm's fairytale illustration; twisted and bony with a comically bulbous nose and snaggly teeth. The demon hissed as it dodged Buffy's sword, vanishing into the shadows.

"What's going on?" Buffy looked around frantically, "Where are they?"

"They're right here," Anya knelt down at a particular spot, "Can't you see them? They're both paralyzed and Willow's hurt."

Xander waved his hand over the area. "There's nothing here."

Anya blinked in surprise. "Your hand is going right through them. What's going on?"

"I don't know," Buffy replied, "But I'm startin' to get why we haven't seen them."

"Because we haven't seen them," Xander declared.

"I get the feeling whatever's causing this invisible thing is a whole separate issue from the skin-eating monster," Spike muttered while his wary eyes scanned the surrounding darkness.

Anya cried out a warning, "Behind you!"

The vampire spun, leapt back as Gnarl's claws swiped at his midsection. There was a ripping sound as his shirt tore, but the skin underneath remained untouched. "Close one."

"Remember what I said," Anya called out as he and Buffy began fighting the demon, "Get him in the eyes."

Gnarl laughed as he dodged their swinging blades, lashing out with his deadly claws whenever he saw an opening. He seemed to see it all as a game, until an impatient Spike impaled the demon's foot with his dagger. While the creature shrieked in pain, Buffy rushed in and grabbed him by the head, driving her thumbs deep into his eye sockets. There was a disgusting squishy noise, then the demon fell over, dead.

"Ew!" Xander cried, "Thumbs? I can't believe you did that!"

"Neither can I?" Buffy's lip curled as she stared at her slime-covered digits.

"Buffy killed the demon!" Anya informed the unseen witches, "It was gross."

They all hurried to where the vengeance demon knelt, asking whether Willow and Tara were okay.

Anya pushed Xander back, "Stand back. You're getting your feet in Willow." She got to her feet, her expression worried. "She's hurt really bad, you guys. I'm gonna go get help."

As Anya left the cave, Buffy leaned over the seemingly empty space on the floor and called out, "Guys? We-We can't exactly see you, but we're really glad that you're back. I-I don't know how badly you're hurt, but—"

A strange shimmer appeared. Within moments it coalesced into the familiar images of Tara and Willow. Willow's head was pillowed in her girlfriend's lap, her hands pressed over her bleeding stomach.

"W-We couldn't find you guys and we looked everywhere," Tara stammered.

"The demon said that you left us," Willow added, "and— Oh!" she brightened, "There you are! Don't go away."

"We're not goin' away," Xander promised.

Buffy reached down to grip her friend's shoulder. "It's gonna be okay, Wil. You're gonna be okay."

Willow had become more integrated with the magics than even she realized. It had reacted to her misgivings about seeing her friends again by putting her and Tara in a sort of alternate time dimension, where they existed in the same time and space as everyone else, yet were unable to see or touch each other. It revealed just how powerful Willow had become over the summer, and also how much farther she had to go in order to learn to control it. Tara, as it turned out, had a key role in her lessons. The blonde witch's presence didn't make Willow stronger, so much as help her to focus her abilities. They weren't sure if this steadying effect was purely psychological, or an actual magical talent she possessed, but Willow knew she wouldn't have learned so much so quickly without her girlfriend at her side.

While Buffy was visiting with a recovering Willow upstairs in the guest room, Tara, Xander, and Dawn chatted quietly around the dining table with cups of tea. Spike was once again sprawled lazily in front of the TV, flipping through random channels.

Tara gazed at the vampire in fascination. "His aura's changed so much," she remarked in awe, "It's like his and Buffy's have become mixed together."

"An said they're sharing a soul," Xander told her.

"And they're sharing Spike's demon," Dawn added.

"It's weird," Xander continued, "Sometimes when I'm in the room with them, I swear they're having a conversation even though they're not saying a word. Kinda freaks me out."

"Is it the Claim that's doing this?" Tara asked.

Dawn shrugged, "What else could it be?"

"That's amazing," Tara smiled, "And really beautiful. I'm sure Giles would love to hear about all this, since there isn't much documentation about Claims."

Dawn, their little junior Watcher, perked up at this. "Oh! I could start documenting everything we learn. It could be, like, the definitive work on the Claim!" Her eyes shone with the possibilities.

Xander and Tara shared smiled. "Sounds like a smart plan," Xander replied, "Especially since there might be more of these 'Intendeds' in the near future, if that book Michael Poole wrote is right."

"Hasn't been wrong so far," the teen pointed out.

Spike smiled, listening in on their conversation. He rather liked the idea at being the very first at something potentially world-altering, even if it did mean enduring Dawn's constant questions as she chronicled it all. He wondered what other changes lay in his and Buffy's future, and if they would all be of the good.