Last week they had to deal with a puppet possessed by a demon hunter who was hunting demons that cut out people's heart and brain to extend it's own life, along with Cordelia's latest attempt at singing. Cordelia couldn't sing no matter how much she wanted to believe it. On the other hand, she really was hot. They'd been friends once, back when she was snarky bitch and not mean bitch. Xander didn't like mean bitch much, most people didn't, but snarky bitch was fun. He wondered if snarky bitch was still in there. But that was a question for another time. Right now they had to deal with people's nightmares coming to life. 'As if life in Sunnydale couldn't get any weirder.' Xander thought, as he punched out the clown in front of him. 'Wow, one punch, must have a glass jaw.'

"You were a lousy clown, your balloon animals sucked. Anyone can make a giraffe."

"You're afraid of clowns?" Buffy asked, trying not to snicker.

"You would be too if your father hired a drunk clown to save money, who chased you with a knife on your birthday." He told her.

"Oh."

The nightmares really weren't that horrible, standard stuff really. Cordelia being afraid of not being popular. Willow afraid to sing in front of an audience. But Buffy worrying she'd become a vampire was interesting. And frightening. Given how strong a Slayer was, would a Slaypire be pretty much unstoppable? Were they able to become vampires? Maybe not, one would probably be ruling the world right now if they could, outside of nightmares. Buffy having to deal with the Master being free for a time was also scary. She was obviously afraid he was stronger then her. That could end up being a self fulfilling prophecy type deal. If she thought she couldn't win, then she'd subconsciously sabotage herself. She needed confidence that she could handle him. Not to the point where she thought she couldn't lose. That would accomplish the same thing as too little confidence would. Maybe a pep talk would help. But again, that was for later. Right now they needed to find Billy, the kid who'd accidentally caused all this by being trapped in his own nightmare. Personally, Xander would also like a quiet word with the jackass who thought beating up a kid and putting him in a coma was okay. That one hit way too close home, nightmare wise, for him.

Finding out it was the kid's little league coach was infuriating. While Buffy was dealing with the nightmare version Xander was dealing with the real life version. "So you think it's ok to hit kids?" Punch. "Put 'em in a coma?" Punch. "Let's have a conversation about the right way to deal with anger, shall we?" Punch. "Notice that, while I am very anger right now, I am not actually beating you up." Punch. "Just making my point." Punch. "There's a better way to deal with your anger then taking it out on a kid." Punch. Just as Buffy dragged the nightmare version into Billy's room and had him pull off its mask, ending the nightmares.

"Now, here's what's going to happen. We're going to call the police. You're going to confess what you've done. Then you're going to cover all Billy's expenses while he's recovering from what you did to him, however long that takes. Including making sure, he and his family get counseling for the nightmare you put them through. Any questions?" Xander asked the bruised and battered coach, who managed a negative and sat quietly while Willow called the police.

"So Buffy, you're afraid you'll become a vampire. Giles, can Slayers become vampires?" Xander asked later in the library, once things had returned to normal. Or as normal as they got in Sunnydale.

"No, actually. They're immune. Vampires have tried to turn them, but are unable to."

"Good, because a Slaypire really would rank up there nightmare wise. Plus, it looks like you're kind a concerned as to whether or not you can handle the Master. He might be stronger then you are, true. On the other hand, unlike other Slayers, you're not alone. Between the fours of us. I'm sure we'd come up with a way to stop him. Just don't go thinking you have to do it by yourself. You're part of a team and we can all contribute."

"The five of us."

"What?"

"There are five of us on this team. Angel's apart of the team, too."

"He hasn't come to a single meeting and we never see him when we're patrolling. How and when exactly is he helping?"

"Yours and Giles' attitudes aren't helping him feel very welcome."

"Buffy, if he wants to help, then regardless of our attitude, he should be helping. It would go a long way towards proving he is a good guy and wants to help. But if we never see him actually doing anything remotely helpful, then all we are left with is the feeling that he isn't actually helping."

"He helps. He helped me with patrol a couple of days ago."

"Making out with him in a cemetery isn't helping. I heard you and Willow talking about it. I will never be able to understand how you can ignore the dead body and demon portion of him. Frankly, just the idea of getting frisky with a vampire is vomit inducing."

"I love his soul!"

"Right and the pretty face doesn't have anything to do with it. What do you know about him?"

"What do you mean?"

"What's his favorite color? His favorite book? Song? Memory? What makes him happy? Sad? Afraid? Did he ever have a pet? Who were his human family? Does he ever talk about them? Do you know anything about him? How can you say you love someone if you don't know them? Until you really know someone, you can't claim you love them. Until then, it's attraction, then affection, then caring and then love. You've skipped right to the end and gained nothing in between. That's not love, Buffy. That's fantasy. Real life works differently. Once you figure that out, then you can really say you love someone. Until then, it's not love. It's everything except love."