Buffy, Jesse and Willow finished paying for their lunch, stuck in the middle of some heavy gossip.

"Owen Thurman was talking to you?" asked Willow eagerly.

Buffy nodded, her grin threatening to split her face off. "It's all true," she said in a moderately nonchalant tone.

"Wow! He hardly talks to anyone. He's solitary, mysterious… He can brood for forty minutes straight, I've clocked him."

Jesse eyed her funny. "Wil, I never thought I'd say this, but you need to read more books."

Buffy's grin turned girlish. "He was so nice, it was eerie."

"What did you guys have to talk about?"

"Emily Dickinson."

"He reads Emily Dickinson? He's sensitive, yet manly!"

"The lucky so-and-so," murmured Jesse. "I can only ever manage being sensitive yet pathetic, personally."

They made their way to the table where Xander already sat, going through the food on his tray. "Well, wait, you've never even read her," Buffy said, pulling out the book and setting it down for them to see.

Willow grinned. "You Vixen!" she teased.

Xander held up his fork, eyeing the substance stuck to it with great suspicion. "Has anybody given any thought to what this green stuff is?"

"Always a great conversation starter," Jesse said, also eyeing it. "Is it animal, vegetable or mineral?"

"I think it's kale, or possibly string cheese," Xander grimaced, letting the fork drop. "So, Buffy, how'd the slaying go last night?"

Buffy gave him a stern look. No one was supposed to know about the Slayer business.

Xander quickly backpedaled. "I mean, how'd the laying go?" He immediately grimaced. "No, I don't mean that either."

Jesse snickered into his mystery meat while Buffy rolled her eyes in defeat. "It went fine, thank you. There's some new hoity-toity vampire sect in town."

Willow winced. "That's bad."

Xander shrugged. "Well, hey, they're bringing in the much needed tourist dollars."

Jesse, however, spotted movement across the cafeteria. "Heads up, Buffinator," he announced. "Owen Thurman at ten o'clock."

Xander spotted the boy in question. "Mr Excitement himself," he muttered.

Buffy, however, promptly went into a tizzy. "He's all alone! Maybe somebody should sit with him."

Willow nodded eagerly. "Mm, just to be polite! Good luck!"

Buffy got up and headed for Owen's table, leaving her friends behind.

Xander blinked in confusion. "Okay, what just happened?"

"Buffy's got a thing for Mr Excitement himself," Jesse elaborated. "Heavy on Emily Dickenson. Apparently that's a thing people like."

Xander threw his fork down again in disgust. "Seriously? What is it with her and the dark broody guys?"

They watched Buffy walk over to Owen's table, but they also saw Cordelia coming from another direction. The less pleasant girl bumped Buffy, causing her to spill her tray.

"Oh no," Willow murmured. "She's sabotaging her."

Jesse felt his heart beat a little faster at the sight of Cordelia. "Aw man, she's going for Owen, too? Why can't she sabotage girls from trying to talk to me?" Xander and Willow both looked at him incredulously, and he shrunk slightly. "Okay, yeah, I set myself up for that one," he grumbled.

They watched on as Owen helped Buffy clear up the mess, a smattering of dialogue took place between the three of them, and judging by the looks on their faces, Buffy came out the victor while Cordelia looked seriously pissed.

"Ah ha! She rebounded!" Willow said triumphantly. Then, she frowned. "Did I use that sports metaphor correctly?"

Jesse simply shrugged, still bummed that Cordelia had shown so much interest in Owen while he himself couldn't get through two sentences before she insulted him. He'd tried so many techniques over the years. Trying to be sweet, funny, charming, indifferent, cool, and none of them had worked. Not even close. Whereas this guy could just saunter up without doing a thing, and girls drooled all over him.

"The guy must have some kind of technique when it comes to girls," Jesse murmured. "I'd like to find out what that is."

"Chicks dig big foreheads," muttered Xander into his weird food. "Simple as that."

Buffy came back over, looking very excited and gushing about how she and Owen planned to meet up at the Bronze to hang out at eight that night. Willow squealed in that way girls squeal when they're happy, almost splitting a few local eardrums, while Jesse halfheartedly congratulated her. Xander continued to focus on his food without saying much of everything.

Later in the halls, lunch more or less eaten, Buffy and Willow talked eagerly about it.

"It's not that big a deal," Buffy said semi-nonchalantly. "It's just a bunch of people getting together."

"It's a very big deal!" objected Willow.

"It's not!"

"It is!" She spotted Giles and got his attention. "Tell her!"

Giles' expression looked grave. "I'm afraid it's very big."

Willow smiled triumphantly at Buffy. "Thank you!" Then she realized they hadn't even told Giles about the date yet and looked back at him in confusion. "Wait! What are you talking about?" she asked as they followed him into the library.

Giles frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Boys!"

"Yes, well, I'm talking about trouble. A violent and disturbing prophecy is about to be fulfilled."

Buffy's eyes widened. Apparently, they'd had this conversation before. "The Order of Aurelius."

"You were spot on about the connection," he said, walking over to the table. "I've looked at the writings of Aurelius himself, and he prophesied that the brethren of his order would come to the Master and bring him the Anointed."

"Who's that?" asked Willow.

Giles stammered as he revealed what he'd read. "Well, I-I don't know exactly, a warrior, but it says he will rise from the ashes of the Five on the evening of the thousandth day after the Advent of Septus."

Buffy shrugged. "Well, we'll be ready whenever it is."

"Which is tonight."

Buffy's heart sank. "Tonight, okay… Not okay! It can't be tonight!"

"My calculations are precise."

"Nuh! They're bad calculations! Bad!"

Willow nodded helpfully. "Buffy has a really important date."

Giles blinked. "All right, I'll just jump in my time machine, go back to the twelfth century and ask the vampires to postpone their ancient prophecy for a few days while you take in dinner and a show."

Buffy glared. "Okay, at this point you're abusing sarcasm."

"Buffy, this is no ordinary vampire. But we have to stop him before he reaches the Master."

Buffy floundered. "But… Cute guy! Teenager! Post-pubescent fantasies!"

"Those will just have to be put on hold!" Giles said sternly. "The dark forces are aligning against us, and we have a chance to beat them back. Tonight we go into battle!"

Giles' calculations ended up being not so precise after all, and the night consisted of him and Buffy mostly sitting in the cemetery with little to no activity. Buffy eventually hightailed it to the Bronze, only to see Owen dancing with Cordelia, which she recalled to Xander the next day in the hallway.

"So you just went home?" Xander asked, sounding a little hopeful.

"What was I supposed to do? Say to Owen, 'Sorry I was late, I was sitting in a cemetery with the librarian waiting for a vampire to rise so I could prevent an evil prophecy from coming to pass?'"

Xander mimed weighing options with his hands. "Or flat tire?" he suggested.

Buffy grimaced. "I can't take this anymore. I feel like everyone is staring at me, the big, hideous, dateless monster." She snapped at a passing student. "What? Yeah, that's right, I have no life, c'mon, nothin' to see here, pal, move it along!"

Xander smiled apologetically to the other student and caught up with her. "You're acting a little overly, aren't you? I mean, you could have any guy in school."

"He's not 'any guy'. He's more… Oweny."

At that moment, Jesse came around the corner, catching the end of the conversation. "What's up about Owen?"

"Oh, she's all upset because the evil bad guy never showed, and she saw Owen dancing with Cordelia," Xander sighed.

Jesse came up short. "Owen was… dancing with Cordelia?" he asked, trying not to sound too stricken.

Xander realized and had the good grace to look remorseful. "Oh, uh… sorry, Jess."

Jesse still looked disappointed, but a bitter smile split his face. "No big," he managed. "Just… y'know… Don't know why I'm upset. It's not like I've spent the last several years pining for her. Trying everything I know to get her attention, and then, along comes tall, dark and broody and she's just putty in his hands." He grumbled to himself. "His big dumb caveman hands…"

Xander tried to think of something helpful to say, but then he saw a familiar figure approaching. "And here come the big dumb caveman hands now," he murmured.

Everyone turned to see Owen walking up to them. "Hey, Buffy!"

"Owen!" she exclaimed, not sure whether to be happy or not.

"Oh, look, it's Owen," said Jesse. Off Buffy's look, he carried on. "Not that we were talking about you in any way, shape or form. Your hands are totally normal."

Owen didn't seem to pay any attention to him. "Where were you last night?"

"Oh. Well, um, my watch broke and we don't have any clocks in our house and so I didn't know what time it was or even what day it was…," she trailed off, as if realizing she should've stayed with Xander's flat tire story.

But to her surprise, Owen smiled. "I thought I was the only one that happened to. How 'bout we try it again for tonight? I'll even lend you my watch," he added, handing her his gold pocket watch and chain.

Xander and Jesse looked at the watch in wide-eyed amazement before looking at each other. Xander looked sheepishly at his Tweety Bird wristwatch. Jesse didn't even have one to look at.

Buffy accepted it. "Tonight? Y-you and me?"

Owen smirked. "Well, we could invite the chess club, but they drink and they start fights…"

"Oh, no, it's just… Well, I… sort of heard that…"

Jesse cut in. "Rumor has it that you and Cordelia were…somewhat… all over each other. We just wanna make sure that's not true before you go out with our friend here."

Owen shrugged. "I danced with her a couple of times," he said with a look of distaste. "She's kinda grabby."

Jesse nodded distantly. "Well, I wouldn't know," he sighed.

Buffy, however, perked up. "Oh, well, let's see, if I rearrange that, and I push that to n… Sure! Tonight'll work!"

Owen smiled. "Great! I'll pick you up at seven?"

"Um, seven!"

Owen pointed to the pocket watch. "That's when the little hand's there."

Buffy smiled playfully. "Oh! Between the six and the eight."

Owen chuckled before turning to leave. "Um, I'll see you then!"

Buffy watched him leave before smiling happily. "Tonight! Isn't that so…?"

Xander blinked. "So what?"

"Me and Owen!" she finished as she walked off.

Jesse grinned and patted her shoulder. "It's how I shall always think of the number seven from this day forth. Congrats, Buffinator."

She beamed and scampered off to her next class.

Jesse then saw the look on Xander's face and had the decency to look sheepish. "Oh, uh… sorry, Xander."

After school, all four of them went to Buffy's house to help her get ready for the date. Jesse didn't get why the whole group needed to come together on the dress up part, but hey, he wanted to be supportive. Especially knowing that Owen wasn't a danger to his pursuit of Cordelia.

Of course, part of the deal with Buffy's mom was that they had to do homework as well, so Willow helped them get through that as quickly as possible. Thankfully, he managed to finish his second - Willow always came first - so he took the time to go downstairs for a drink of water and maybe pilfer the fridge while the others finished.

When he came down into the living room, he found Miss Summers - he dimly recalled her first name to be Joyce and wondered if it would be okay to think of her on a first name basis - looking very nicely dressed and putting in her earrings.

"Oh, hey!" he said in surprise. "Sorry, I was just… going to get some water."

"Oh, go right ahead," she smiled, still fussing with the earring. "Jesse, right?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said, heading for the cupboard for a glass. "Uh, do you have a date, too?"

Joyce smirked. "No, sadly, it's a work thing. We have a new exhibit going up at the art gallery, and I have to look more interesting than I really am. They kind of expect it."

Jesse nodded and got himself some water from the sink.

"Buffy's pretty excited about this boy," Joyce continued.

"Yeah, she is," Jesse nodded. "She's been kinda hung up on him for a while."

Joyce paused before continuing. "Is he… Well, I don't like to pry, but… well, she hardly ever tells me anything, but… is he a nice guy? I mean, he's not… I don't know… into anything dangerous?"

Jesse looked up from his water and thought about it. "Just Emily Dickenson," he said at last, "and we know what a terrible influence she can be."

Joyce smiled with relief. "Okay, that's good. Sorry, I know you're not supposed to tell her silly old mom personal stuff like that. So…," Joyce continued, getting her things together. "How about you? Dating anyone?"

Jesse's smile turned crooked. "Nah, never been able to settle down," he said awkwardly. "Never been able to find that special someone." He felt weird talking to Buffy's mom like this, but she had a very caring nature that made him feel like his secrets would be safe with her. "There's this girl…," he went on. "Cordelia. Kinda been hung up on her for a while now."

"What's she like?" Joyce asked, leaning against the counter opposite him.

Jesse cast his mind back to the girl of his dreams and tried to think of something positive to say about her. "She's… pretty," he said at last. "Like, really pretty. She's a cheerleader."

Joyce nodded. "Anything else?"

"She's… really nice when you get to know her," he said, really trying. "I mean… I assume she is. She's never really…" He changed tactics. "But I'm sure she is! I'm sure there's more to her than just being mean!"

Joyce crossed her arms and eyed him thoughtfully. "So she's mean to you a lot?"

Jesse fidgeted awkwardly, swirling the remaining water in his glass. "I mean, sometimes," he mumbled.

"How long have you been after this girl?"

Jesse thought. "Maybe three years?"

"Three years on a girl that's never been nice to you?"

That did sound kind of pathetic, but Jesse resisted. "I mean, she might not always be," he insisted. "My parents are always telling me to never give up on a girl. That someday she'll see me and, y'know, really see me, and change her mind about me."

Joyce's expression looked somewhere between critical and pitying. "Sweetie," she said gently, "it sounds like she's already made her mind up."

Jesse floundered briefly. "But… if I just try to be - "

"You shouldn't try to be anything. This girl has been trying to send a message to you for three years, and you've been ignoring it all this time. She's trying to tell you she's not interested, and you need to respect that."

The disappointment on his face felt huge. Jesse slumped against the counter, his face downcast. "I just…," he started, but then he stopped and thought some more. "I always thought that… there must be more to her than just being mean, y'know? And that maybe, if I could get her to like me, maybe it'd bring that good part of her out."

Joyce smiled sympathetically. "That's a very nice thought, and I'm sure there's more to her than just being mean, but it's not up to you to bring it out. She's made it clear that she's not interested, and you have to respect that." She approached him and put a hand on his arm. "And maybe there are other ways to bring that niceness out that don't involve pestering her for a date, okay?"

Jesse nodded and smiled sadly.

She checked her watch and grabbed her purse. "Okay, I need to get going. You all have a good night. Tell her I should be back by ten!"

"Yes'm," he replied, watching as she set off out the door.

After she left, he stayed there for a few minutes, looking at the empty kitchen. Everything she'd said, it ran in complete opposite to what his parents had told him. Hell, it ran in the face of everything sitcoms had taught him over the years. They always told him that if he just persisted and held in there, the girl of his dreams would eventually notice him in a whole new light and go out with him. So he'd kept at it for the last three years, chasing after a girl who didn't like him, and hell, probably would never look twice at him. It stung to be told that he needed to give up. Sure, Xander had always told him to give up on her, but then Xander hardly ever dated either, so what did he know that his parents and a bunch of television writers didn't?

But Joyce - she'd been married, divorced, had a child… She knew what she spoke of. She had authority on this sort of thing. She'd presented a point of view that he'd never really thought of - the idea that he was the one being a jerk to Cordelia for pining after her long after she'd been clear on her answer. He felt weirdly ashamed. He'd always seen himself as the nice guy who deserved a chance, but how nice was he if he felt he 'deserved' a date from Cordelia?

Still in a daze from all these new thoughts, he remembered his friends upstairs, so he quickly finished his water and went back up to Buffy's room. When he got there, he found Buffy in her bathrobe, and Willow helping her decide on an outfit while Xander stood by the closet with an overcoat and a ski cap.

"I missed something fun, didn't I?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"Not even close," Buffy grumbled. "Xander thinks I should wear an overcoat and a ski cap for my date."

"The ear flaps will bring out your eyes!" Xander insisted.

Jesse rolled his eyes. Speaking of hopeless cases. "Xan-man, I think this is an area where we need to just stand back and nod silently."

"Oh, no," said Buffy, "I need a guy's opinion." She grabbed two lipsticks from her desk. "Which one do you think Owen will like better? The red or the peach?"

"Oh, you mean for kissing you and then telling all his friends how easy you are so the whole school loses respect for you and then talks behind your back?" asked Xander. "The red's fine."

Jesse looked at his friend incredulously. "Didn't realize there was so much psychology behind lipstick, Xan-man," he said, giving him an annoyed look.

"I'll go with the peach," said Buffy, putting on the lipstick.

Willow handed her a third minidress. "Here, put this on."

The girls looked at the boys sternly.

"… What?" asked Jesse cluelessly.

"Guys! Privacy!" Willow scolded.

A second later, Jesse put two and two together and awkwardly turned away.

Xander stayed where he was. "You're not bothering me!" he insisted, but Willow pushed him away where Jesse forced him to turn around.

"So, where's he taking you?" Willow asked.

Buffy shrugged as she slipped the dress on. "Oh, I don't know. Where do you suppose young kids go on dates these days?"

"None of us would know, Buffy," Jesse sighed melodramatically. "When this date's over, you need to tell us how it works if we get dates in the future."

Willow nodded eagerly. "Yeah, take very detailed notes!"

Xander edged over to the drawer chest and tried to angle the mirror inside a box so he could see Buffy in the reflection.

"I'm not taking a pad and pencil with me on a date," Buffy deadpanned. "I still need a location."

"Well, I read somewhere once that sometimes they go to movies," suggested Willow.

Jesse spotted Xander trying to fiddle with the mirror and gave him a subtle jab in the middle with his elbow.

Buffy finished pulling on the minidress. "Movies! Interesting!"

"And I saw on TV once, a bunch of people our age went to a party," Willow continued.

Buffy got her boots on. "Wow! I never knew being a teenager was so full of possibilities!"

"Thank God for TV and movies," Jesse agreed. "Otherwise, we'd have no idea how society works."

The doorbell rang, and Buffy lit up. "That's Owen!" she exclaimed. They all ran down the stairs, but when she flung it open, they found an unexpected visitor on the doorstep. "That's Giles."

Giles tried to enter. "We need to talk."

"Buffy's not home," she replied, trying to close the door, but he pushed it open and forced his way in.

"My calculations may not have been as far off as I thought," he continued, holding up a newspaper.

Buffy read the front page. "'Five Die in Van Accident'?"

"Out of the ashes of five shall rise the one," Giles quoted. "That's the prophecy. Five people have died!"

Buffy looked unimpressed. "In a car crash."

"I know it doesn't quite follow, but, but it's worth investigating. Look!" he insisted, pointing to some lines of text. "Among the dead was Andrew Borba, whom the police sought for questioning in a double murder. Now, he may be the Anointed One. The bodies have been taken to Sunnydale Funeral Home, w-we can…"

"Giles, why do you wanna hurt me?" Buffy asked sadly.

Giles blinked, very thrown. "I beg your pardon?"

Bang on cue, Owen showed up at the open door. "Hey!" he announced. Off of everyone's startled faces, he awkwardly finished entering. "Uh, hi!"

Giles stared at Buffy. "You have a date."

She nodded firmly. "Yes, but I will return those overdue books by tomorrow."

"Wait, you're not getting off that easily."

Owen looked surprised to see the school librarian in his date's house. "Man, you really care about your work!"

Jesse looked between Willow and Xander and realized they would have to act as the distraction between the Slayer and her normal life. He stepped forward and clasped a semi-friendly arm around Owen's shoulder. "Owen, buddy!" he said cheerily. "Have you met Buffy's kitchen? Because it is dying to meet you!" he said, quickly guiding his classmate into the next room, throwing a wink Buffy's way.

They dimly heard the opening words of the argument as they hustled Owen into the kitchen.

"Another date? Don't you ever do anything else?" Giles asked.

"This is the first date! There's never been a date, okay? This is my maiden voyage!"

Once a safe distance away from any compromising information, Xander immediately started talking. "Okay, so bottom line, she's not big on dancing," he said.

Owen frowned. "What, she doesn't like to dance?"

"Well, it's a little too late to do anything about that. Uh, you should probably know that Buffy doesn't like to be kissed. Actually she doesn't like to be touched."

Willow rolled her eyes. "Xander…"

Xander ignored her. "As a matter of fact, don't even look at her."

Jesse quickly grabbed his friend's shoulder and hauled back a bit. "I think what our bright young friend is trying to say is…," he cut in, "is that Buffy's our friend, Owen, and we want to make sure that your intentions are on the up and up, y'know?"

Owen blinked. "I mean, I just wanted to hang out with her tonight. Get to know her and stuff."

"And that's fine," Jesse continued, shooting Xander a stern look. "Just be sure you treat her right, okay?"

Owen smirked briefly. "Or you'll kick my ass?"

Jesse let out a brief laugh. "Uh, no," he chuckled. "She doesn't need us for that. She can kick your ass herself. But if you do mistreat her, we will do nothing to stop her and possibly eat snacks while she does so."

"That, we will," agreed Xander, very eagerly.

"Guys, cut it out," scolded Willow, before throwing an apologetic look at Owen. "But yeah, we probably will."

Owen nodded, looking very weirded out. "Acceptable terms," he said at last.

Jesse smiled. "Good. Glad we're all on the same page here." He gestured for Owen to re-enter the living room, where they found Buffy and Giles had evidently finished their argument.

"Is everything cool?" Owen asked them.

Buffy smiled, looking very triumphant. "All set!"

Giles shook his head, clearly exasperated but apparently having admitted defeat. "Yes, and, uh, you'll face a pretty hefty fine in the morning."

Buffy opened the front door and shooed Owen out. "Well, bye. Don't wait up," she said, scurrying after him.

As soon as the door was shut, Willow looked to Giles in concern. "Is something going on?"

Giles shifted uncomfortably. "Oh, uh, probably not, no," he stuttered. "I, uh, I suppose I'll just, uh, go to the funeral home in case, just see if anything comes up." He turned and left as well, leaving the three teens alone in someone else's house.

Willow looked concerned. "This is bad."

Xander nodded in agreement. "I wish it was just bad."

"We should… go along."

"Yeah, you're right. I don't trust that Owen guy. It's the eyes. Crazy!"

Jesse groaned in exasperation. "Pretty sure she's talking about Giles, dude."

"Huh?"

"Xander, we should go with Giles!" exclaimed Willow. "He could get in trouble!"

Xander stammered for a moment, realizing what they meant. "Oh, he's gone, uh, it's, he's gonna be alright. He's, like, super-librarian, y'know? Everyone forgets, Willow, that knowledge is the ultimate weapon."

"Really?" asked Jesse. "Cuz I'm kinda thinking a Slayer is the ultimate weapon. That's why he wanted Buffy to go with him."

"Yeah, and we can't just let him go off on his own!" agreed Willow. "We should follow him!"

"Right!" said Jesse. "Safety in numbers and all that. We'll load up on crosses and stuff and follow him."

Xander looked very conflicted. "But… Buffy?"

"What about her?"

"I mean, we're just gonna leave her with that Owen guy?"

Jesse rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Dude, she's fine. Let her go. Bigger fish to fry, okay?"

Xander still looked upset, but eventually, he agreed that they had a point, and they took off for the funeral home.

They found the place just in time to see two guys go inside after Giles. They ran around the building and tried to find another entrance, but then, they heard a shout and a crash, and quickly ran to a barred window. Imagine their relief when they saw Giles inside. Not that he showed any relief. He let out an undignified shout when they appeared.

Lifting the shash, Willow brightly announced, "Giles, it's us!"

"What are you doing here?!" the Watcher demanded.

"We saw two guys going in after you," explained Xander. "Are they…?"

Giles looked back at a locked door to the room. "They are!" he replied. "Uh, listen, you should get to safety."

"Can you get out this window?" asked Jesse.

Giles tested the bars, but he found them to be much too strong. "I'm afraid not."

"Look, I hate to state the obvious," said Xander urgently. "but this looks like a job for Buffy?"

Giles nodded in agreement. "Uh, she has her, her… beeping thing!"

"Is there a phone in there?" asked Jesse. "Because we don't have one out here."

Giles looked around. "Um, no, not one in here. Seems the dead don't make calls."

"Look, we'll get her," said Xander, "just, uh, hang in there."

The three of them took off as fast as they could. Now would be a good time to have a car, they all agreed.

Jesse, Willow and Xander made it to the Bronze and came running just in time to see Buffy with Owen and… Angel? They skidded to a halt right next to them, gasping for breath.

"Knew this was the year to get my license," panted Jesse.

Owen looked either bewildered or suspicious. Hard to read him when dying of exhaustion. "Look at this! You show up everywhere. Interesting."

"You don't know the half of it," Xander wheezed, before noticing Angel. "What's he doing here?"

"I guess it's the same thing you're doin' here," Angel replied, giving him a stony look.

Buffy finally decided to take charge of the situation. "Uh, excuse me, what are any of you doing here?"

Too tired to think straight, Xander immediately started babbling. "Look, we gotta get to – ow!"

Willow had kicked him. "Uhhhh," she stammered, trying to overcome a lifetime of stage fright. "We thought it'd be fun if, uh, we made this a double date!"

Willow and Xander put their arms around each other, much to Jesse's chagrin.

Buffy frowned. "I didn't know you guys were seeing each other."

Willow nodded eagerly. "Oh, yeah, well, we knew it would happen eventually, so we figured, hey! Why fight it?"

Jesse rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and I'm a professional third wheel, so I tagged along just 'cuz."

Owen shrugged at him. "I mean, I think Cordelia's here somewhere."

Jesse looked around on instinct before slapping himself. "No, not a good time. We're here because we want you guys to come with us to a fun new date idea!"

Xander snapped his fingers as if remembering. "Yeah, that's right! We should all go somewhere together."

Buffy scowled. "Gee, that's so nice of you to ask, but Owen and I were, well, sort of…," she allowed herself a cheesy grin, "Owen and I."

But Xander continued. "You know what'd be cool? The Sunnydale Funeral Home!"

Willow nodded emphatically. "I've always wanted to go there!"

"The ambience is to die for!" added Jesse. Xander and Willow both glared at him. "Too much?" he asked awkwardly.

Buffy looked nauseated by the idea. "The funeral home?"

To their surprise, Owen perked up. "Actually, that sounds kinda cool! Do you think we could all sneak in?"

"We saw some guys go in there before," said Xander, making sure to look right at Buffy. "They seemed to be 'having fun'!"

Eyes widening, Buffy muttered something under her breath before looking up at Angel. He simply raised his eyebrows patronizingly, so he'd clearly been trying to tell her the same thing. Buffy let out a breath before smiling awkwardly at her date. "Um, Owen, I gotta go."

Owen looked weirdly disappointed as he said, "I thought we were going to the funeral home."

"No, you can't. I'll tell you what. I'll be back in a little while."

But Owen gently led her away from the others. "Buffy, what's the deal? Do you wanna bail on me?"

"No! No… no… uh…," she floundered. "You remember when you said I was like two different people? Well, one of them has to go. But the other one is having a really, really good time, and will come back. I promise."

After a moment, Owen just nodded his head and watched her go. She doubled back and planted a brief kiss on him before following the others out the door.

After yet another way-too-long run back the way they came, they returned to the funeral home. Buffy managed to get the door open with a swift kick, and they tiptoed inside. "Which way?"

"The room's around back," Willow whispered.

They went to the left, and as they rounded a corner they hit a dead end.

"Damn it!" Buffy muttered.

"This is so cool!"

They all gave a gasp of horror as they whirled around and saw Owen right behind them.

"Uh, Owen!" Buffy gasped. "You can't be here!"

"Oh, and I suppose you guys are allowed?" he asked pointedly. "What are we doin' here? Are we gonna see a dead body?"

"Well, the rest of you might if you keep sneaking up on people like that," Jesse panted while clutching his chest.

Buffy didn't have time for this. Telling her friends to stay with Owen, she took off the other way. She quietly walked down the hall, looking and listening. She eventually found the morgue door open and went in. Finding the place a mess, she looked around for Giles. No sign of him, but his bag sat on the autopsy gurney, and the window bars looked like they'd been through a heavy-duty rototiller. Even worse, she found his cross, seemingly abandoned.

Suddenly, one of the doors to a body storage drawer opened in front of her and the drawer rolled out. Buffy jumped back, startled to find: "Giles!"

Her Watcher looked so relieved. "It is you," he exclaimed, climbing out. "Oh, good."

"What happened?"

"Uh, two more of the brethren came in here. They came after me. But I was more than a match for them."

"Meaning…?"

"I hid. Uh, this, uh, chap was good enough to bunk with me till they went away." He jumped down, revealing a dead body underneath, making Buffy seriously crinkle her nose.

"Well, were they here after you, or was it that prophecy thing?"

"Ah, well, that's what we have to find out. I don't know what these brethren mean exactly. Find the Anointed, or give him something perhaps, uh, it's all, all very vague! And the Anointed may be long gone!"

"But he may not be."

"We must find out."

Buffy sighed. "Okay, I just need to get Owen and the others out of harm's way first."

Giles stared at her incredulously. "Owen? You brought a date?"

"I didn't bring him, he came. Huge difference."

"Buffy, when I said you could slay vampires and have a social life, I didn't mean at the same time."

"I know. I'll get rid of him," she sighed, starting to leave.

Giles called after her. "You can't make him go out there alone, we don't know where the brethren are. I'll just…"

Buffy stopped him from leaving. "No! No, Giles, he sees you, he's gonna have more questions than he already does right now. I'll take care of it."

She ran out into the hall and looked around for the others, almost crashing into them as they came around a corner.

"Is everything okay?" Willow asked.

"It is," Buffy nodded.

"So we can leave?" Jesse asked hopefully.

Owen – again – looked weirdly disappointed. "We're not done lookin' around yet!"

Buffy, seeing no other option right now, simply smiled awkwardly. "No, he's right. So let's find a nice, safe, fun room to look around in." She took Owen's hand and led the group down the hall. They reached the office door. Finding it locked, Buffy promptly kicked it open and started shoving the others inside.

"Well, I don't think we'll find much in here," Owen complained.

"That's the plan," Buffy said as she made sure the room could adequately protect her friends. "I have to go now." She paused to think of an excuse. "Um, to the bathroom, I have to go to the bathroom. If you hear anything, like a security guard or something, just be really quiet." She looked pointedly at Willow, Jesse and Xander. "And barricade the door."

She ran out into the hall again and looked around on her way back to the morgue, relieved to hear the door shut behind her. Once she returned to the morgue, Buffy and Giles started looking through the body drawers hoping to find the Anointed One. Buffy nearly gagged at a drawer full of 'parts', but Giles insisted they keep looking.

In the office, Jesse, Willow and Xander started to pile furniture in front of the office door.

Owen stood off to the side, looking perplexed. "What are you guys doing?"

Willow stammered briefly. "Uh, just in case!"

As they worked, however, Owen spotted a curtain and drew it open. "Oh, my!" he exclaimed.

Jesse, Willow and Xander turned around to look. Owen had found a dead body all wrapped up behind the window, and he looked at it with fascination.

"I read a lot about death," he breathed, "but… but I've… never really seen a dead body before." Then, only adding to the tension in the room, the body's hand moved. "Do they… usually move?" he asked uncertainly.

The hand moved again, prompting the others to approach and have a closer look. It reached up and pulled the sheet off. A big burly vampire sat up and faced them, making them all jump back. He stood up, looked down at himself and flexed his hands. He looked back up at them.

"I have been judged!" he declared.

Owen finally looked more frightened than fascinated. "What's going on?" he asked as they backed away from the window slowly.

The vampire approached the window and smashed it with his forehead. "He is risen in me!" he laughed. "He fills my head with song!"

Owen, Jesse, Willow and Xander frantically began moving the furniture away from the door. Right behind them, the vampire stepped through the opening.

"Pork and beans. Pork and beans!" he continued. "I can smell you."

They got the furniture moved, wrenched open the door and ran out, listening as the vampire followed them at a quick walk.

"You're the chaff, unblessed. I'll suck the blood from your hearts, he says I may!"

Once again, they nearly collided with Buffy as she met them running down the hall.

"He's in there!" said Xander, pointing back behind them.

"And apparently he's got a song stuck in his head," added Jesse.

Buffy regarded him briefly before sending them on their way.

Owen briefly looked like he would protest, so Xander and Jesse both grabbed his arms. "She'll be okay," assured Xander. "C'mon!" They continued running, leaving Buffy to try and find the vampire.

They could still hear his voice singing in the distance. "Shall we gather at the river? The beautiful, the beautiful river?"

They found the exit, but the brethren vampires had already blocked it. Willow screamed as, for a moment, it looked like a fight, but instead of attacking, the brethren closed the gates, trapping them inside the empty hall.

"I think he's coming this way!" Willow gulped.

They ran, but they found themselves at the same dead end as when they first got there.

"I hate running gags," muttered Jesse.

"This is too much," Owen decided. "Somebody's gotta help Buffy!"

The others made to stop him, but Owen started to run to the morgue. Groaning, Jesse, Willow and Xander followed.

Buffy groaned herself awake again, finding herself on the floor. The vampire had gotten her unawares, and now it approached Giles.

"They told me about you while I was sleeping," it said, only for Giles to hold up his cross, cutting off the yammering with some pain. "Uh!" it complained. "Why does he hurt me?" He then slapped Giles' hand away, and the cross went flying. He grabbed Giles and threw him into the crematory controls. The fires in the chamber lit up all pretty – not that Giles noticed. He fell unconscious.

Then, the vampire bent down to pick Buffy up, just as Owen came barging in. She heard him call her name, then heard a crashing sound, and she saw the vampire's knees buckle. She staggered into an open body drawer door and fell down unconscious. When she came to, she saw the lovely sight of Owen over her.

"Did you see that? He tried to bite me!" Owen said incredulously as he helped her up. "What a sissy!"

Then, Owen went down as a body drawer smashed into the back of his head, knocking him down.

Buffy snapped to attention at that. "No!"

"Dead!" the vampire laughed. "He was found wanting!"

Buffy responded with a front snap kick to the gut. He rolled over the autopsy gurney and onto the floor. She ran around to the far end of the gurney while he got up. She pushed the gurney into his gut, and then pushed down on her end so it pivoted up to hit him in the chin. He staggered back and fell. She jumped up onto the gurney and did a round-off onto the floor as he got up. Clearly dizzy, he swung wildly at Buffy's face, but she blocked it. He tried again with his other arm, hitting Buffy solidly in the face and knocking her to the ground. Just as he started to taunt her, though, she quickly got up.

"You killed my date!"

Willow, Jesse and Xander appeared at the door, but she didn't want to deal with them right now.

"Buffy!" Willow exclaimed. "Owen's…"

"J-just give her a sec!" Xander interrupted.

Grateful to have no distraction while she focused her rage, Buffy blocked another punch, and then hit the vamp in the face with an open-hand punch. Blocking a second punch from him, she hit him in the gut with another open-hand punch. As he leaned forward from the pain, she kneed him in the gut, and then shoved him backward into a counter.

"You killed my date!" she shouted again.

The vampire growled at Buffy. "Your turn!" He lunged at Buffy, but she sidestepped him and used his forward momentum to launch him into the air. He landed on the gurney, and it rolled over to the crematory. The gurney stopped on impact, sending the vampire through the open door.

The newly-conscious Giles kicked the gurney away and slammed the crematory door shut. They listened to him scream. Buffy watched him burn through the small window.

Then, to her immense relief, she noticed Owen trying to sit up. "Does anyone have an aspirin? Or sixty?"

"Owen!" She ran to him and crouched beside him.

"What happened to that guy?" he groaned.

"Oh… We scared him away."

"Oh, good. 'Cause, y'know, I would've…," he fumbled, perhaps feeling a little foolish.

Buffy nodded sympathetically. "I know. Here," she said as she helped him up. "I'm sure this isn't exactly what you had in mind for our first date."

"Yeah!" Owen agreed. "I was hoping maybe we'd finish at Ben & Jerry's."

Buffy held onto the vain hope that maybe she could salvage this date after all. "We still could…," she started.

But Owen shook his head – an action he immediately regretted. "No, I, I, I think I'll just walk home." He started to go, but stopped. "Uh, which way's home?" he asked woozily.

"I'll get you there," Buffy offered.

Owen waved her away. "No, I'll go it alone," he said, rubbing his temples.

"We'll make sure he gets home safely," Xander offered, while Willow and Jesse nodded in agreement.

They led Owen away.

Buffy watched them go, her heart breaking. She heard Giles come over behind her.

"Buffy," he started awkwardly, "if I might, uh…"

"Don't," she replied shortly. Whatever he had to say, she really didn't want to hear it right now. She walked slowly out, not caring if he followed her or not.

Alas, school still happened the next day. Buffy really wished she could declare a weekend after big nights like that. She walked with Xander, Jesse and Willow along the balcony, dreading the question she had to ask them.

"Well, did Owen say anything about me on the way home?"

Willow looked nervous. "Oh, you mean specifically about you?"

Buffy shrugged. "Or generally… in the area, in the ballpark, any sort of indication?"

"Well, in that case, no," said Xander awkwardly as they went down the stairs inside.

"But he was pretty incoherent, so we might've missed it," added Willow.

"Gotta give the guy credit," said Jesse. "He really took being attacked by a vampire on the chin." He paused. "Well, not the chin, but, y'know."

Buffy groaned. "I totally blew it last night!"

Xander emphatically shook his head. "No, see, what you need is a guy who already knows your deepest, darkest secrets and still says, 'Hey! I like that girl!' Someone like…"

Buffy looked ahead and saw… "Owen!"

Indeed, the man himself came strolling up, looking a little sheepish.

"Well, heh…," said Willow nervously. "This is our stop." She walked around Buffy and dragged Xander away with her. Jesse gave Buffy a reassuring pat on the shoulder before he took off after them.

As it transpired, not only did Owen not hold any hard feelings towards the adventurous date last night, he actively seemed thrilled by it. He actually suggested taking Buffy out for a bar fight just to capture that adrenaline rush again. Realizing she could never be with someone who lived for the danger – who saw this destiny of hers as some kind of childish adventure – she reluctantly told him they would have to just be friends. He took a hint and left, clearly disappointed.

As she watched him leave, she heard Giles come up behind her. She went over to sit on a bench. She made no objection to him joining her.

They sat in silence for a while, when Giles abruptly announced, "I was ten years old when my father told me I was destined to be a Watcher. He was one, and his, uh, mother before him, and I was to be next."

"Were you thrilled beyond all measure?" Buffy grunted.

"No," he replied, surprising her a bit. "I had very definite plans about my future. I was going to be a fighter pilot. Or possibly a grocer, well, uh… My father gave me a very tiresome speech about 'responsibility' and 'sacrifice'."

"Sacrifice, huh?"

Giles looked down the hall at Owen's retreating form. "Seems like a nice lad."

"Yeah. But he wants to be Danger Man. You, Xander, Jesse, Willow, you guys… you guys know the score, you're careful. Two days in my world and Owen really would get himself killed. Or I'd get him killed." She looked sadly at Giles. "Or someone else."

Giles stammered briefly. "I, I went to the funeral home of my own free will."

"And I should've been there."

"Buffy…"

"I blew it!"

Giles put a hand on her shoulder. "I have volumes of lore, of prophecies, of predictions. But I don't have an instruction manual. We feel our way as we go along. And, I must say, as a Slayer, you're, you're doing… pretty well."

Buffy looked up at him, unable to help the smile his warm words gave her. "Well. At least I did stop that prophecy thing from coming true."

"You did! Handily. No more Anointed One. And I would imagine the Master, wherever he is, is having a fairly bad day himself," Giles added with a smile.

Buffy laughed back. Her dating life might be a shambles, but at least she still had her friends.