"So, how did the dinner go?" Willow asked.

"Well, the good news is, I think Mom likes Angel."

"Great!" Willow smiled, excited. She had been cheering Buffy and Angel on for a while. Xander was less enthusiastic, but he had given up on his Buffy crush a while ago.

"The bad news is, Angel isn't sure Ted's human."

"Wait, what?" Xander asked, taken aback by this news.

"He said he didn't smell quite right. I called Giles, but I got no answer."

"That would be because he was in the hospital," Jenny explained as she walked by. She sat down with them.

"Hospital?" Willow asked, worry creeping into her voice.

"Oh, don't worry, he'll be fine. I… accidentally shot him with a crossbow while he was fighting a vampire."

Mental note: keep Miss Calendar away from crossbows, Xander thought.

"So, how was your evening?" Jenny asked.

"Angel thinks Ted's evil," Willow deadpanned.

"Really?"

"No, he said Ted didn't smell right," Buffy explained. "He thought Ted might be possessed."

"I see."

Cordelia walked by. Xander called out to her.

"Hey, Cordy. Nice outfit."

She stopped. "Oh, very funny."

Xander was confused. "Not really…"

"What are you saying?"

"Uh, 'nice outfit'?"

"Why don't you just keep your mouth shut?" she snapped before walking off in a huff.

Xander was very confused.

"Will you guys excuse me for a moment?"

He got up and went after Cordelia. As he caught up with her by her locker, she snapped at him again.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I gave you a compliment!" he protested.

"In front of your friends! They're gonna know!"

"They're gonna know what? That we've been making out?"

"Gnegh!" she replied.

"I'm not gonna tell them and they're not gonna know," he assured her. "Not your friends, not my friends. You wanna go in the utility closet and make out?"

"God! Is that all you ever think about?" she replied furiously. She calmed down, then answered, "Okay."

After lunch, the gang reassembled in the library.

"The first thing we need to do is figure out what kind of demon has possessed Ted," Jenny said. "Buffy, what kind of unusual behavior has Ted displayed?"

"Well, he's a total control freak, for a start," Buffy said.

Jenny wrote "Control Freak" on the blackboard. "And Angel said he didn't smell quite right?"

"Yep."

Jenny wrote that down too.

"Anything else?"

Buffy thought for a while, but couldn't come up with anything else.

"Nothing. I had no idea about this until Angel told me he didn't smell right."

"Maybe you two could check out his house?" Willow suggested.

"Won't Angel need an invitation?" Cordelia pointed out.

"Right." Willow frowned, before brightening again with another idea.

"You could check out where he works."

"Good idea," Jenny said.

"I'll get on the computer."

After sunset, Buffy met up with Angel. She didn't always go with him, but if Ted was possessed by a demon, she would want backup.

Her first surprise came when the parking lot at Detronics was not empty like she expected. It was, in fact, quite full. And all the lights were on.

"Shouldn't everyone be home by now?" Buffy said.

"Guess not."

Buffy looked at the piece of paper Willow had given her.

"Ted's cubicle is on the second floor. How are we going to get in without being noticed?"

Angel scanned the building. "Service entrance," he pointed.

For whatever reason, the service entrance was unmanned. Buffy tried the handle.

"Locked."

Without missing a beat, she punched a hole in the door. Opening it, she saw a vacant storeroom.

"Come on."

There was a stairwell off to the left. Buffy went first, followed by Angel. Buffy opened the door, and stepped into the hallway.

Buffy looked to her left. Nobody was coming. She looked to her right. One person was coming.

It was Ted.

Buffy knew she should run. Yet she couldn't move. She stood there, paralyzed with shock as Ted… walked right by?

Seemingly oblivious to her presence, Ted continued down the hallway. He disappeared around the corner, leaving Buffy and Angel very confused.

"OK, something is definitely up," Buffy observed.

"Look on the bright side. At least nobody will recognize us."

The pair began following Ted. As they walked through the office, Buffy noticed something. The place was bare. There were no Dilbert comics taped to office doors, no Joke-A-Day calendars, no Star Trek action figures cluttering desks. Buffy didn't even see any pictures of family members. She stopped to scan a bulletin board. It contained plenty of business-related announcements (including several meetings in the evening) but nothing else.

She also noticed that there wasn't any idle chatter. People weren't talking about their kids, their girlfriends, or TV. Pretty much every conversation she could overhear was business-related. It was like everyone was totally focused on their work.

"Angel, you noticing this? How it's like these people have no lives outside of work?"

"I'm more noticing the fact that everyone here smells like Ted."

She stopped as two employees discussing software brushed past. "What?"

"Well, they're not identical. But the way that Ted smells off, they all smell that way. Whatever's affecting Ted, it's affecting them all."

"An entire company possessed?" That was bad news.

"I doubt it. If they were all possessed, they'd probably be doing something other than working."

"You're right. They're just doing their jobs. Like robots."

Angel stiffened. "Maybe they are robots."

"Mom dating a robot." Buffy shuddered at the thought. "Well, if they are robots, there's probably a control device somewhere around here."

"Where?"

"The boss's office?"

"Good idea. I think Ted said his name was John Sagan?"

As they headed to Sagan's office, they passed by the kitchen. Inside, Buffy saw a man filling the coffee pot. He was bald and gave off a massive creep vibe.

And unlike everyone else, he noticed Buffy and Angel.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I could ask you the same question," Angel replied.

"I'm John Sagan, manager of the Sunnydale branch of Detronics Enterprises."

"What are you doing with the coffee?" Buffy asked.

"Something pretty clever," he smiled. "It's doped with Nah'met blood. Makes them easy to control without reducing their intelligence."

"And you've used this to… turn your employees into workaholics?"

"Yep. Productivity's up by 30%. The Sunnydale branch of Detronics is the most profitable one in the country. I figure I'll be promoted shortly for raking in so much money."

"Not if we have anything to say about it," Buffy growled.

"What are you going to do about it?" Sagan demanded. "You're not employees, so you're not supposed to be here. I control the security guards. I could have you killed, and nobody would ever know."

"They might find that a problem." Angel shifted to vamp face. Sagan's eyes went wide with terror.

"Now, if you want to survive, you'll do exactly what I tell you."

"So, how did they find out about the coffee being doped?" Joyce asked.

"Sagan left a signed confession on his desk. It must have happened last night while I was at work," Ted explained. "The police still aren't sure what he was putting in there."

"But there's no sign of what happened?"

"Nothing. The security tapes from the night were missing. The last anyone saw of John Sagan, he was driving out of the parking lot."

Buffy hid a smile. Sagan had confessed to everything before taking off. He had also arranged for the security tapes to be destroyed. Evidently, nobody remembered seeing Buffy or Angel there.

"Anyway, the company's giving us all two weeks off to let the stuff wear off." He leaned back, a smile creeping across his face. "Oh, and when we get back to work, I'll be taking over."

"Ted, that's wonderful!" Joyce planted a kiss right on his lips.

"Which is why, tonight, you and I are going out. I have a reservation for two at this wonderful restaurant."

"What about Buffy? She'll be all alone."

"Oh, you two go on alone," Buffy encouraged. "I'll find something to do."

No sooner had Joyce and Ted left, Buffy was out of the door. Arriving at Angel's apartment, she knocked twice on the door.

Angel answered.

"Hi."

Supporting Cast:

Željko Ivanek as John Sagan

Robia LaMorte as Jenny Calendar

John Ritter as Ted Buchanan

Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers

A/N: Plot twist: Ted's human! Bet you didn't see that coming!

I need to clarify something here. While I will use background material revealed later on the show, I will also alter that material as I see fit. For instance, Ted is human here, while he was a robot on the show. I've also pinned down Angel's age when he was turned as 22, when there is some evidence that he may have been older. Anything prior to "Ted" is canon. Nothing else is.

I do not intend to turn this series into a fluffy happy Buffy/Angel fic. There will be death, carnage, and suffering. I only promise a few things. I won't break up Buffy and Angel, for a start. And while there won't be an Angel spinoff, I don't plan to just kill Cordelia or Wesley off. I have big plans for Cordelia.

Also, I will be listing secondary actors at the end of each episode. These would be the actors whose names would have appeared onscreen during Act One. Due to my particular viewing preferences, the majority of actors who didn't actually appear on Buffy or Angel will have appeared on Firefly, Dollhouse, or Heroes.

Next episode: Buffy's life is about to change forever, as a new enemy shows its face.