Author's Notes:

All these lovely and brilliant characters belong to Joss Whedon (except for K) and we should all go worship him. But first, I'd appreciate some reviews and such, maybe for criticism and I would like to know people are actually reading what I dish out. Thanks!

Day Break

K woke up the next day, this time earlier than anyone else. Spike wasn't in the room, and Satsu was fast asleep in the other bed. She got up, tied her hair back, splashed her face with some water, and changed her clothes.

She quietly opened the door to room 718, and peered in. Kennedy and Willow were cuddled up into each other, fast asleep. Buffy was also sleeping alone in the other bed. K figured that Angel and Spike were doing some vampire-related thing together.

Spike and Angel were outside of the hotel, behind the building where the sun couldn't reach them. Spike had his eyes closed, with a cigarette in his mouth as Angel leaned against the wall and watched him.

"I've got an idea, Spike," Angel started to say.

Spike slid down the wall and sat down with one leg extended, with his other knee close to his chest. "Yeah? And what's that, Captain Forehead?"

"I think you should leave."

Spike opened his eyes, raised one eyebrow, and pulled the cigarette out of his mouth. "Leave?" Spike asked.

"Yeah," Angel said. "You've spent all this time away from anything that has to do with Slayers, and then you show up and you're suddenly part of the team?"

"Is this about Buffy?" Spike asked.

Angel sighed.

"Listen, you pounce, I've moved on from Buffy. Sure, she'll always have a place in my heart, but at the moment, it doesn't mean anything. I'm with K now, and it's strong. It's like I've been brainwashed or something."

"She's the only reason you're staying," Angel said.

"Well, yeah. I didn't want to come on your little vamp hunt, but I wanted to make sure she was okay."

"Then leave with her."

Spike raised one eyebrow again.

"Take her somewhere. I'm trying to make this as romantic-sounding as possible. Run away with her."

"Why? Can't I stay here? Help fight for the noble cause or something like that?"

"I just think the two of you should be as far away from Buffy as possible."

"Again, I ask why?"

"I think Buffy is jealous of K. I know she doesn't like her, but I'm not sure why. Every person who has ever loved Buffy has fallen in love with K. Well, besides me. But I don't think K is going to be happy around Buffy."

"I don't see why Buffy has any reason to be jealous. I mean, she's got you."

Angel glared at Spike.

"Oh," Spike said after a moment. "I see. You don't want K around so Buffy can't be jealous, and she'll focus more on you."

"Spike…"

"Fine," Spike said, flicking his cigarette butt away. "I'll go. I'll take her away. But after this whole vampire episode."

"Spike—"

"We'll stay until the end of this," Spike said. "Then I promise I'll leave."

Angel nodded. "Fine."

Spike stood up. "Well, now that we've come to that little agreement, I say we get back inside before everyone else wakes up."

"Okay, let's go."

They went back to the seventh floor of the hotel and entered room 717.

K was lying on her stomach on the bed with her book in her hand.

"You're awake," Spike said.

"Oh, there you are!" K closed her book and jumped up. "I woke up, and you weren't there. I checked the other room, and Angel wasn't there, either, so I figured you two were off doing vampire-ish things together or something like that." K shrugged. "I don't know what vampires do in their spare time."

"We were just out for some fresh air," Angel said. He left for room 718.

"How are you doing?" Spike said, pointing to his arm and his head.

"Oh, you mean this?" K said, gesturing her sling. "It doesn't hurt so much any more. The whole being a Slayer thing means I heal faster than normal. I should be out of this sling in a couple of days or so."

Spike nodded. "I can't stand to see you hurt, Pet."

"I just can't stand being useless. If we go to the next vamp nest, I'll probably need to have someone with me, so what's the point of me being there at all?"

"You're strong, love," Spike said. "And I know you can do it."

K smiled at him.

"Urngh," Satsu groaned from her bed. "Would you two keep it down? You can be all cute in the other room, you know?"

"You might as well get up now, Satsu," K said. "I'm not sure when you went to sleep, but it's almost noon."

Satsu sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Fine," she groaned again. She pulled herself out of bed and dragged herself to the bathroom.

"I'm sure Angel woke up everyone else in the other room," K said. "Let's go check."

Spike and K went into the other room, where Buffy was now awake and Willow was trying to wake Kennedy up.

"Kennedy," Willow said, nudging her gently. "Wake up. You're the last one to get up."

Kennedy turned over in bed, pulled the covers over her head, and groaned loudly.

K pulled the covers off. "C'mon, Kennedy," she said, helping Willow nudge her. "Everyone else is up."

Kennedy sat up much like Satsu did. "Fine. I'm up. God."

"Thanks, K," Willow said, patting her gently on her arm.

"No problem, Will," she said.

Buffy's eyes widened for a moment, but then she calmed down. "I'll be in the bathroom," Buffy said. She got up and left the rest of them alone.

"She's been a little out of it lately, hasn't she?" Willow asked.

"A little," Angel said. "But I don't think it'll last long."

Angel was looking directly at Spike.

"So no vamp killing today?" Spike said.

Willow shook her head. "Buffy said we're going to wait for Xander to get here. It was hard last time, so she said we'll need the extra help."

K nodded. "Makes sense. Plus, I think some of us need to heal up a bit before we go into the slaying again." K looked down at the floor.

Willow put her hand on her arm. "Hey. Don't worry about it. You'll be in Slayer mode again by tomorrow."

K sighed, but smiled at Willow.

"So we're just going to sit around here and do nothing today?" Spike spat.

"Unfortunately."

"Bugger that. We're wasting time."

"There's nothing we can do, Spike."

Spike ignored the rest of them, went into room 717 as Satsu came into room 718.

"Why did you wake me up when we're not even doing anything today?" Satsu asked.

"Fine, go back to sleep if you want!" Willow said.

"Thank you!" Kennedy said as she fell back into bed.

"Well, if everyone just wants to laze around and sleep all day… fine! K, why don't you and I go out and do something today?"

"Huh? You want to go out and do something with me?" K asked, slightly shocked. "Well, I'm fine with that if no one else minds. I'll go ask Spike, since, y'know, he can't exactly come along in the sunlight."

K left to see Spike flipping through her book on the bed.

"Spike?" K called. "Willow wanted me to go out with her today, and I just wanted to let you know."

"Why d'you need to tell me?" Spike asked.

"W-well, y'know, you kind of can't come into the sun. And I just wanted to make sure you knew."

"Oh," Spike said. He nodded. "Okay. Have fun."

K smiled just before going back to Willow.

"You're going out?" Buffy asked Willow. "With K?"

"Yeah. Do you want to come with?"

Buffy looked at K, and then back at Willow. "No, it's okay. I've got a little bit of research to before Xander gets here."

"Oh! Does it have to do with our vampires? Can I help?"

"Um, just a little bit. And it's okay, I can handle this one. You go ahead and have fun today."

"Are you sure, Buffy?"

"Positive. I'll fill you in on the situation once I know exactly what's going on."

"All right, then." Willow turned around. "Are you ready to go, K?"

"Oh, yeah, totally," she answered. "Buffy… are you sure you don't need any help with whatever you're researching?"

"I'm sure," Buffy said a little bit too quickly. "You two go ahead."

"All right. C'mon, K," Willow beckoned.

The two of them left the building and started to walk down the street.

"Where are we going?" K asked.

"I'm not sure. But it seems like a waste to come to New York City and not wander around the streets for the hell of it. We can stop by somewhere and grab something to eat or something. If we see anything good, we'll just stop."

They walked for another minute or so before K spoke up again.

"Will, why d'you think Buffy hates me so much?" K asked. "I mean, maybe not hate. That's a bit strong. But I know she doesn't exactly like me."

"Sometimes, I don't really know why," Willow answered. "Sometimes she seems a little, I dunno, jealous of you."

K laughed. "Jealous? Buffy jealous of me? Are you kidding me? What on earth do I have that Buffy could possibly be jealous of?"

"If you've noticed, everyone that has loved Buffy but got rejected by her has moved on to you. Like Satsu and Spike."

"But she has Angel," K said, more to herself than to Willow. "What if she thinks I'm trying to take Angel away from her, too? Oh, God, that must be why she hates me so much."

"No! Well, actually, I don't know. I wish I could tell you, but I don't really know what Buffy thinks."

"Yeah. I just wish I knew why she didn't like me so I could make it better."

"You don't really seem like the kind of person to care what people think of you. I mean, you dance on tables."

"I don't," K said. "People can think whatever they want, whether it's about me or not. But… I don't know, sometimes it just bothers me, I guess. Like, with Buffy. I care about her, and I don't know what I did wrong to hurt her, and I just want to make it right."

"Don't worry," Willow said, putting her hand on K's shoulder. "Buffy will come around eventually."

"I hope so," K said. "Hey, that Chinese place looks nice."

"It does. Let's go."

Back at the hotel, Buffy was doing more research on Willow's laptop about demons that brainwash other beings. She learned that these demons can keep a hold on their brainwash victims telepathically, but to have them completely in their control, they must at least touch their victims.

"Hey," Angel said.

Buffy quickly closed the laptop, hiding anything that she was doing. "Hi."

"What are you up to?" Angel asked, putting his arm around Buffy's waist. "Looking up dirty things you don't want anyone to see?"

Buffy chuckled. "I was just doing a little research."

"I think you need a break," Angel said, just before kissing her.

"Angel," Buffy said quietly.

"Shhh," Angel said. He kissed her again. The laptop fell to the ground and opened as Buffy lied back with Angel leaning forward. He kissed her again and again before slowly moving his lips down, now kissing her neck.

"Mmm… Angel…"

Angel adjusted so that one of Buffy's legs was in between his, and he moved his hands down her torso, continuing to kiss her.

"Angel," Buffy said again, lifting his chin with her hand.

"Buffy," he said just as quietly.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this now," she said.

Angel furrowed his eyebrows. "Is there something wrong?"

"N-no," Buffy said. She sat up straight. "I should just really get back to the research I was doing."

Angel looked down at the laptop. "Why are you researching brainwashing demons?"

"Um…"

He picked up the laptop and began to read what Buffy was looking up. "Does this have anything to do with our mission now?"

"Kind of," Buffy said, snatching the laptop out of Angel's hands. "Angel… I'm sorry, I'm just not in the mood right now. And I've got this headache still, and…"

"Don't worry about it," Angel said, standing up. "I'll get you some painkillers."

"And a cup of warm water?"

"Sure," Angel said.

"Thanks."