Willow brandished the car keys. "Sorry, Mrs. Summers. You know how Faith gets…"

A headshake and a wink answered her apology. "Go on, honey. After all these years – and raising Buffy – I'm used to tantrums. Get the information we need and come back safe. That's all I want," Joyce murmured.

For a second, Tara thought that Buffy might actually demonstrate her own displeasure at the teasing. She didn't, however, contenting herself with a dramatic sigh and rolled eyes. "Hurry up, Will. Faith's been outside for more than a couple of minutes. I don't want to have to chase her through town. It's been a long day and I'm not up to another run."

Were they always like this? Tara didn't want to laugh; it didn't seem appropriate. "Faith's hasn't g-gone anywhere," she assured Buffy in case the other girl had been serious. "I c-can f-feel her." Quirking a smile, Tara risked a tiny joke as she climbed off the couch. "Mag-magic is b-better th-than a leash. L-less visible in p-public."

Buffy's eyes threatened to come out of her head as the rest of the room chuckled.

Grinning, Tara trotted for the door – and then stopped. She'd almost forgotten… "Willow, d-do you have any m-magical supplies here?" If not, they would have to stop at the local magic shop on the way to campus. The sunlight might not work, and all the other spells Tara knew would be impossible without the right equipment.

"Oh. Sure!" Willow strode to a coat closet near the front door and pulled out a backpack. "Here. See if I'm missing anything. I've got more stuff in the bedroom. Faith won't let me carry everything at once. She thinks it's too heavy." Holding the bag out, she grimaced. "I think the real reason is she doesn't trust me to do the spells right."

Tara very carefully kept her face expressionless as she unzipped the bag and peered inside. Now was not the time to bring up Faith's concern about Willow's magic use. "Dear Goddess." Willow had more powders, potions, and crystals in her supply kit than Tara's mother had had in her altar room.

"What? Am I missing something important?" Willow scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. "I told Faith I didn't have the right stuff."

"No. No, this if f-fine." Tara zipped the bag closed and looped the strap over her shoulder. "We h-have ev-everything we need." And several things that Tara hadn't recognized. Praying that the mystery supplies weren't dangerous, she smiled at Willow. "Wh-when we get back, I'll h-help you res-stock. Maybe Faith w-won't be so b-bad about the bag if it's not s-so heavy."

"Cool." Willow might have said more if Buffy hadn't raised her left wrist and peered at an imaginary watch. "Oh, all right. Sorry, Buffy. You know how I get with the magic talk." She turned back to the closet and grabbed a jacket. "I'm ready now."

"It's about fucking time, Red," Faith's impatient voice called through the door. "I was gonna see how out of shape Cave Buffy was if you didn't get your ass in gear soon."

Willow ran past Tara and wrenched open the door. "You wouldn't…

"Nah." Tara giggled when Faith grinned. "Come on, Red. As fun as it would be to play hide and seek with B, you know I'm all about the Slaying. We got work to do. I can play with Cave Slayer anytime."

***

The Cave Slayer references were getting old already. Stifling a growl, Buffy put a hand on Tara's back and gently steered her out of the apartment. They needed to get the show on the road – before she and Faith crossed the line between teasing and real arguments. "Tomorrow morning, Faith," she still had to say. "We'll hit the training room, and I'll show you some of the things this Cave Slayer can do." Faith's dimples disappeared, and Buffy smiled sunnily. It was gratifying to know that her mild threat had made its point.

"W-Willow, where are we go-going?" Tara's soft question brought Buffy up short.

Damn it. She was doing it again. Losing track of the job. Buffy pulled her attention away from Faith and focused on Willow. "Yeah, Will. Did you find those maintenance reports?"

"Sorry, Buff. I got nothing. Someone…" Willow looked pointedly at Faith. "…distracted me before I could access the records. From what I remember, though, the largest and most used tunnels were next to the Social Sciences building. Why don't we start there?"

It was as good a plan as any. If they went back inside to do more research, who knew how long it would take before they made it to campus? "One more trip to our home away from home. Maybe we should swing by and say hello to Professor Walsh. Bet she'd love that. Her favorite student – and me – hanging out in her office."

Willow poked her in the arm. "She'd like you a lot more if you didn't fall asleep in her class all the time."

"I never…" Buffy started to protest. Then she stopped and grimaced. "It was only the one time, Will, and I'd been out patrolling all night. If Walsh wasn't such a pain about attendance, I would have stayed in the dorm and done my sleeping in comfort." She fell silent as they all climbed into the Jeep and Willow pulled out of the parking lot.

The silence didn't last long, though. The lights of the downtown shopping strip whipped by, and Faith asked, "How're we gonna do this, B? You want to rip whatever's blocking the tunnel out of the way and go in plannin' for a fight?"

It was their usual way of doing things when Willow wasn't around. However, Buffy caught Willow's eye roll in the rearview mirror. She didn't think it would fly right now. "Let's check out the place first, Faith."

The eyes in the mirror widened and then narrowed.

Rushing on, Buffy spoke to Faith – while actually trying to convince Willow of her sincerity. "I don't really want to get caught in another spell today. One's enough." More than enough. "That part of campus doesn't get a lot of traffic at night. We should be able to hide out and watch the tunnel entrance for a while."

"I c-can check to see if th-there's been an magical act-tivity, too." Tara turned in the seat and looked directly at Buffy. "The v-vampires are only one of the pro-problems, remember?"

Great. Now Tara and Willow were on the same side. Slaying had been easier when it was all about the demons and vampires. Buffy felt almost nostalgic about the Master. At least he'd been up front about simply wanting to kill her. "Right. Sorry, I keep forgetting that. Is there anything else we need to be on the lookout for? What if you do find something? What do we do then?"

Tara seemed uncomfortable with the question.

"Tara?" Buffy reached across the space between them and gently touched her hand. "You don't have to get out of the Jeep if you don't feel up to it," Buffy assured her, in case that's what had Tara spooked. "Faith and I are used to going in blind. I'm sure we can handle whatever's there."

"The way you handled the thing in the bar?" Buffy wasn't watching Willow, but she could hear the new eye roll in her question. "Buffy, you and Faith can't handle everything. I know you think you can. But you can't."

"She's right," Tara agreed softly. Her lips twitched into a half-smile. "M-magic isn't something you can b-beat up." Dropping her eyes, she seemed to stare at their intertwined hands. "Wil-willow and I can ch-check out the area. If we f-find something, we c-can dec-cide what to do then."

Despite Buffy's habit of making fun of Giles and his need for plans, she understood his point. She wasn't comfortable with the vague nature of their current strategy, either. "Um…" It was hard to find a way to agree without losing face.

Tara's hand turned under Buffy's until their palms pressed together and their fingers linked. "It w-won't take long, I pr-promise.

"OK." Buffy stifled a tired sigh and rubbed her eyes with her free hand. "Will, park over by the Hague. We'll go across the Meadow to the Social Sciences building. There's enough cover for us to hide in – and a good view." Buffy tried to keep her internal map of the campus in mind as she continued to plan their movements. "We'll be close to some of the dorms if we need to have an excuse for being there."

Willow didn't reply. However, the Jeep left Empire Grade and headed down Heller. They were closing in now. The tension in the Jeep's interior rose, and Buffy automatically catalogued the familiar dorms and academic halls as they drove by.

Minutes later, Willow parked in the mostly empty lot near the Hague. "We're here," she said unnecessarily.

"Then let's get the show on the road." Faith was the first one out of the Jeep. She moved a few feet away as everyone else climbed out. "My head's gonna blow, B. You feel it?"

"Yeah." Buffy automatically pulled a stake from her pocket as she scanned the area. "It's worse than downtown. Way worse." She'd never felt anything even close. "What the hell is going on in those tunnels?" There was no doubt in her mind now that the vampires were there. Not with her Slayer senses screaming like this.

"That's what we're here to find out." There was a warning note in Willow's voice. "Follow the plan." The warning sharpened as she glared at Buffy and Faith. "We cross the Meadow and Tara and I do the magic first. Got it?"

Buffy shared a long (and disgruntled) look with Faith. "Got it," they said in unison.

Their ready agreement got a snort and a headshake. "Let's go." Willow pointed across the parking lot at the darkened Meadow. "The bad guys are that way."

"Yes, ma'am." Buffy tossed off a mocking salute and trotted away from the Jeep. Each step caused a spike in her senses. They were definitely getting closer to the source of the vampire signature. She was barely aware of the rest of the gang trailing along behind her. Shadowed picnic tables and benches dotted the large, open Meadow. Buffy skirted those. They needed cover, and that meant sticking to the far edge of the area where bushes and trees provided some hope of hiding their presence.

They were halfway to their destination when movement ahead caught her attention. Raising one hand, Buffy signaled a halt. "Stay here," she whispered urgently to Willow and Tara. "Faith…"

"Right behind you, B." As if she was Buffy's shadow, Faith followed closely as they carefully worked their way closer to the spot where Buffy had glimpsed the movement. "Can't tell if it's vamp or human. Too much noise in my senses. You?"

"The same." Buffy ducked behind a large oak tree and peered around the trunk. In the dim illumination provided by a single lamppost, Buffy strained to see what had caught her attention. Indistinct shapes made their way through the bushes ahead. "There. I count five…no, six."

Faith pressed closer. "I see 'em. Early Halloween party? It looks like they got on uniforms."

Buffy might have thought they were costumes, too, if a sudden glint of metal hadn't changed her mind. "Not a party, Faith. I think the uniforms are real. Those guys are carrying guns!"

A/N: Like Joss, I used the UC-Santa Cruz as my model for UC-Sunnydale. Anyone familiar with the campus (or a map of it, like me) will recognize several of the buildings mentioned in the chapter.