"This Year's Girl"

Based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episode "This Year's Girl" Written by Douglas Petrie and the Angel Episode "The Prodigal" Written by Tim Minear

The following story is copyright © 2023 by Mark Moore.


Buffy draped a white sheet over a bed. She was in her bedroom at home, making her bed. It was late afternoon. Sunlight shined through the windows into the room.

Buffy smoothed the edges. "They smell good, don't they?"

Faith was standing on the other side of the bed, matching Buffy's movements. "What?"

Buffy smiled. "Clean sheets. Like summer."

"Oh. Yeah. Sure."

Buffy stopped smiling and was hesitant. "I-I wish I could stay, but-"

"Oh, you have to go."

"It's just with-"

"Little sis coming. I know."

"So much to do before she gets here."

They'd worked their way to the foot of the bed and were now beside each other.

"Now, I really have to-"

"So go. Don't let me keep you."


Buffy woke up and stared at the ceiling in the dark bedroom. She turned her head and looked at Tara, sleeping peacefully to her left, lightly snoring, her mouth open.


Faith woke up and stared at the ceiling in the dark apartment. She turned her head and looked at Anne, sleeping to her left.

She got out of bed, walked over to the refrigerator, opened it, and took out a bottle of beer.


After the sun had risen, the kitchen in Harmony's house slowly started to buzz with activity.

The top panel of the Initiative taser rifle was off and hanging to the side, trailing wires, as Amy examined the inside with a pair of pliers in her hand. She had the weapon on the counter. Her laptop was sitting nearby, open and transmitting video from her webcam.

"So. Here it is. The latest in state-of-the-art combat technology."

Tara was standing next to her with tools in her hands, should she need them. Buffy was standing behind them. Behind her, Harmony, Sandy, Jenny, and Giles were seated at the kitchen table, eating a breakfast of sausage links, bacon, and eggs.

"So can you repair it?" Buffy asked Katrina.

"Ames, move it closer to the cam."

Amy picked up the rifle and moved it closer to the webcam.

"Tilt it. Let me see the wiring."

Amy did.

Buffy was getting impatient. "Just tell me, can you repair it or not?"

Amy looked at her, irritated. "We're working on it. We're working on it."

Buffy turned and walked towards the stove. She got a plate from a cabinet and a fork from a drawer and helped herself to sausage links, bacon, and eggs. Amy righted the rifle again and picked up a screwdriver.

Harmony looked over at Amy and Tara and frowned. "If you blow a hole in my mom's azalea patch, the neighbors will not be pleased."

Buffy set her plate down on the table, sat down, and rested her head on the palm of her hand, tired.

"You all right?" Giles moved his chair to sit closer to her. "You've been patrolling around the clock for three days straight. Perhaps you can use some-"

Buffy lifted her head. "What? Some rest? There's a demonoid killing machine out there, Giles, that doesn't really work the night shift."

"I was going to say perhaps you could use some back-up, but, um...now you mention it, gathering your strength might not be a bad idea."

Buffy looked at Amy. "Just get the blaster working. That's all the strength I need."

"Are you sure?" Tara asked her.

"Why? Because ray guns aren't in the Slayer Handbook?" Buffy asked her. "Tara, you haven't seen this Adam thing. H-He's the Terminator without the bashful charm. And he's deadly. And the last time we met, he kicked my ass."

"Oh...no! Blast away by all means. I only meant...it might not hurt to get some sleep."

Buffy considered it. "Yeah, okay, after breakfast."


Kate and an officer walked on the subway station platform.

"Crazy homeless guy got on at Central Street Station. Went nuts. Started tearing up the car, threatened some passengers. It was one of them that pulled the emergency brake. They're all still pretty shook up."

"What about the suspect?" Kate asked.

"Gone."

"The call said it was a hostage situation."

"It was."

"The suspect escaped?"

"Well, we're still trying to get the story, but it's a little unclear."

"Unclear? You have two-dozen witnesses!"

"I know, and they are all saying the same thing."

"Which is?"

"That the suspect went out through the top vent while the train was still moving."

"He climbed out of the moving train."

"They're saying he was pulled out."

"Pulled out by what?" Kate asked him.

The officer just looked at her.

"Get statements." Kate walked down towards the stopped cars.

She got out a flashlight and turned it on. She entered the tunnel. Kate ran and soon saw Angel standing and a thing on the ground that was not human.

"Well, I guess I can forget about reading him his rights." Kate paused. "It's, um, it's not a person, is it?"

"No. Demon."

"Is it...?"

"Dead? Yeah, Kate, it-it's dead."

"So they - So they die, then."

"Yeah."

Kate let out a big sigh. "Sorry, I guess I'm still having a little trouble with this otherworldly shit."

"Right." Angel paused. "Although demons aren't technically otherworldly. I mean, in fact, they were here-"

Kate looked at him and walked back towards the station.

"-first." Angel caught up to her.

"So do I call the coroner or hazardous materials?" Kate asked him.

"My advice? Don't call anyone. I'll see it gets taken care of."

"And what do I put in my report?"

"Just do what you would normally do in a case like this."

"There is no normal in a case like this."

"Los Angeles, Kate; you've seen this kind of thing before, probably a lot. You just didn't have a name for it, that's all."

"No, I think I'd remember."

"Yeah, well, people have a way of seeing what they need to."

Kate saw a delivery guy and the officer taking his statement.

"No, nothing really stood out - except maybe the smell. Just your average Joe stink homeless guy."

Kate walked over to the pair.

The officer handed her a pad. "That's what we got."

Kate looked at it. "Average height, average weight, average build." She looked at the witness. "That's the best you can do? You're the one that pulled the emergency brake?"

"Yeah. The guy came right at me."

"Why?"

"He didn't say."

"No. Why did you pull the emergency brake?"

He frowned. "It was an emergency?"

Kate turned around to look back at Angel, then handed the pad back to the officer. "Well, let's get this description circulated. We want to find this guy, right?"

"Right. We'll do our best."

"Can I go?" the delivery guy asked Kate.

"Yeah, you can go."

Angel walked up to Kate. "What's your father doing here?"

Kate saw her father talking to an officer. She looked at Angel, then walked over to her dad. "Daddy, what are you doing down here?"

"In the neighborhood."

"You've been sitting in your apartment, listening to the police scanner again, haven't you?"

"Nothing on cable, anyway. I heard you had a hostage situation. Looks like I missed all the action."

"Thirty-five years on the force; don't you think you've seen enough action?" Kate paused. "Did you also happen to hear I was the lead officer on scene?"

"You look like you're doing okay. Let you get back to it."

As Trevor walked off, Angel stepped up next to Kate.

"What's he up to?"

Kate looked after her dad. "I think he's actually checking up on me."

"You sound surprised."

Kate turned to look at Angel. "No, you don't get to do that."

"What?"

"Kill a demon in front of me and then act like we're going to have a cappuccino together. It doesn't work that way."

"How's it work?"

"I'm not convinced it does. Look, no offense. I think you're probably a pretty decent guy for a, you know, what you are, but let's keep this strictly business, all right? We don't get personal. I'm not your girlfriend."


Later, in the office of Angel Investigations, Cordelia was trying to show Angel how to use their new security system.

"Pay attention!" Cordelia yelled. "All we have to do is decide what the code will be."

"Code."

Cordelia held up a brochure. "For the security system we just had installed. Hello? What have we been talking about, anyway?"

"I don't-"

"Come on. The installation guy said it should be something easy to remember, like...my birthday."

Wesley came in, carrying two open books.

Angel got up. "Did you identify it?"

"I-I believe so." Wesley showed him a picture. "Uh, would that be the demon you encountered this morning?"

"Yeah, that's him."

"Her, actually. It's a Kwaini. They're always female."

"Okay, what's it say about disposal methods?"

"Well, it should be relatively standard. Burial on virgin soil, simple Latinate incantation - however..."

"What?"

"Well, it's curious. According to everything I could find, a Kwaini is a peaceful balancing demon. Non-violent."

"Non-violent. No. Ha. This thing was a fighter."

"Not if it's a Kwaini, it wasn't - at least, not a fighter by nature. They're incredibly articulate, gentle creatures not even capable of the kind of power and strength you described."

Cordelia looked at them. "Maybe it was just having a bad skanky-rag day."

Angel sat down with a sigh. "Oh, something set it off. That's for sure."

Wesley nodded. "Clearly."

"All right, so, forgetting for the moment whether this thing should have been able to fight as well as it did, what would make a peaceful balancing demon attack a train full of L.A. commuters in the first place?"

"Something on the train, perhaps?" Wesley suggested.

"Or someone."


Kate saw Angel standing in the doorway to her office at the police station. "Angel."

"Hi. Can we talk?"

"What's up?"

"It's about that demon from this morning."

Kate stood up and hurried over to shut the door. "Look, if you insist on talking about this shit, could you please don't say that word? It makes me..." She closed the blinds on the window in the door. "It makes me, I don't know, just...uncomfortable. Just say...'evil thing', okay?"

"Sure. Yeah. I understand."

"Thanks. Anyway, I thought you were going to take care of it."

"It's being taken care of. It's just that the, uh, evil thing...turns out it wasn't an evil thing."

"The evil thing wasn't an evil thing?"

"Well, it was an evil thing in terms of that word. It just wasn't an evil evil thing."

"There are not-evil evil things?"

"Well...yeah."

"Right. Sorry. Hey, anyway, how did you get in here? It's, like, the middle of the day. Don't you have to-"

"Sewer system leads up to the parking garage."

"Ah, right. Of course. I remember."

"Listen, Kate, I need the names of the passengers on that train."

"Why?"

"I think that the demon, uh, I think that the train may have been targeted for a reason."

"An evil thing needs a reason?"

"I think it's after something or someone."

"There was nothing on that train. We searched it."

"Passengers."

"All checked out."

"I want to look into them, anyway. And I think we should start with that delivery guy, uh, the man who pulled the emergency brake. He said that that thing was coming right-"

"It's still dead, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good. You told me to forget about it. I'd like to."

"I think the-"

"Angel. There is nothing here. Your not-evil evil thing was just evil. Okay? Now, can't we just leave it at that?"


Cordelia and Wesley were in the subway tunnel.

Wesley was on the phone with Angel. "I suppose one can hardly blame her for being skittish on the topic." He paused. "Well, she'll come around. I think you'll find that most people require some period of adjustment after being confronted with the dark forces which surround us. Women in particular-"

Cordelia crouched over the dead demon, waving a hacksaw. "Found it!" She started sawing into the demon.

Wesley watched. "-struggle with it."


Kate and her dad were walking along a street, eating hot dogs.

"So why the sudden urge to have lunch?" Kate asked.

"Lunch time, isn't it?"

"Right. So you drive all the way out here for a hot dog?"

"Not just a hot dog. One of Manny's. Best there is." He sat down on the edge of a planter.

"All right. I'll let you and Manny catch up, then."

"And I thought I could spend a little time with my daughter."

Kate sat down.

"So...you've been good?"

"Yeah. Yeah, good."

"And, uh, how's Angel?"

"Pardon me?"

"Tall, good-looking fellow you brought to my retirement party."

"Yeah, I know who you mean."

"That ain't a Mexican name, is it? Angel?"

"I don't think so."

"You two still seeing each other?"

"We were never...seeing each other, Dad."

"What's wrong with him?"

"Nothing!"

"Must be something wrong with him. He married?"

"No."

"West Hollywood?"

"Daddy, no! Angel's just...not my type."

"He's got a job?"

"Yeah, he's a P.I."

"He any good?"

"Yeah, he's good. Very good. He doesn't mind working nights."

"That's good. That's good that he's good."

"You came all the way down here to talk about a guy you saw me out with once?"

"Well, he made an impression."

"You like him?"

"No, not really."

"Oh. Then what's this all about?"

"Nothing, just - just, uh..." Trevor sighed. "It's not good to be alone, Katie."

Kate stared at him for a moment. "Well, I won't be...when the right woman comes along."

Trevor stared at his daughter, not surprised.

Kate took a slow bite of her hot dog and slowly chewed it in front of her father. "Pay close attention, Dad. This is the only way that you'll see me do anything like this."

Trevor couldn't help but laugh.


Cordelia walked down the stairs, into Angel's apartment, wearing a short blonde wig and sunglasses. Wesley was dressed like a doctor and examining some meat on a silver tray.

"Hey, guys? Security system, remember? What is the point of having it, if you never turn it on? I could have been anyone or anything!" Cordelia motioned to the stuff on the table. "Move your...entrails."

Angel and Wesley cleared off the table.

"So...you're back."

"Very good, Mr. I-Can't-Trail-the-Suspect-During-the-Day-Because-I'll-Burst-Into-Flames Private Eye."

"What did you find out?"

"First off, I hate following detail."

Wesley nodded. "The voyeuristic aspect is rather unseemly."

"Uh, can I mention traffic? And parking or the complete lack of it?"

"Not like in the movies, is it?" Angel asked her.

"No! But, fortunately, I am." Cordelia flipped the screen out on the camcorder that she was holding and showed them a row of still shots. "So it turns out delivery guy really is a delivery guy."

"None of this looks like the package I saw him pick up from Kate's father."

"But this is where he spent his lunch, and he was in there for, like, ever."

They looked at a shot of a warehouse with "Kel's Exotic Auto" on it; the guy stuck two brown packages into his bag.

"I don't know what they were serving, but sure are a lot of leftovers in there, huh?" Cordelia asked.

Angel stared at the image. "That's it. That's the source. That's where it's all coming from."


Cordelia put in the security code. "0-1-1-4. There, see?"

Wesley was looking at the flyer. "Right. So now we should 'be protected by state-of-the-art home and workplace security designed to attractively complement any room, home or office, TM'."

"Exactly! Which means no lurky minions from Hell get in here without us knowing about it first."

Angel stepped into the room. "Sun'll be down soon. I'm going to head out to this exotic car warehouse, see what I can find out."

Wesley looked at him. "You'll want backup."

"No, not this time. This is strictly recon. I need to know exactly what we're dealing with before we make any moves."

"Right you are. A deliberate cautious approach would be the most sensible plan. Fools rush in-"

Cordelia looked at him. "No, he wants you to stay here."

Kate opened the door and walked in. "Hi."

Cordelia took the flyer away from Wesley. "Give me that!"

"Am I interrupting anything?" Kate asked Angel.

"No. It's all right. Come on in."

They walked into his office. Angel closed the door.

Kate handed Angel a sheet of paper. "Here."

Angel took it. "What's this?"

"The list of those names you asked for - passengers on the train?"

Angel sat down on the edge of his desk and unfolded the paper to look at the names. "Right. Thank you." He folded the paper back up. "What made you change your mind?"

"Something my father said, actually."

"Your father?"

"Yeah, he asked if you were good."

"Good?"

"At what you do. I said you were."

"Thanks."

"No matter how uncomfortable I am with certain...circumstances, I can't let myself ignore your instincts. If you think there is something more going on here, then there probably is."

"I appreciate that."

"And I'd like to be involved."

"What?"

"With the case. You find something, you bring me in, okay?"

"Are you...Are you sure about that?"

"Got to face those demons sometime, right?"

"Right."


Later, Angel was getting ready to leave, searching the whole office for his car keys.

"Isn't this going above and beyond the call of duty - and friendship, for that matter?" Wesley asked him.

"I have to at least try, Wesley."

"Angel, I understand you want to protect Detective Lockley from learning about her father's questionable associations, but you've already warned him once, and frankly even that may have been too much!"

"Look, I already warned him about me, Wesley. But now he needs to understand the real nature of what he's working for."

"If he doesn't already know."

Angel started searching through Cordelia's desk. "He doesn't know. He can't!"

"Perhaps. Still...at the very least, he must realize that he is in league with someone who, if not criminal, is most certainly unethical. It's his choice!"

"Yeah, I know all about it, Wesley, believe me. But sometimes the price we end up paying for one bad choice isn't commensurate with the offense."

Cordelia found the car keys in her pants pocket and held them out to Angel. "You go talk some sense into him, then."

Angel took the keys. "Thank you."

Angel left for the garage while Cordelia armed the security system.

"I hope he knows what he's doing."

"Have a little faith, Wesley."

A Kwaini demon burst in through the door.

"Door is open."

Cordelia looked at the demon. "Yeah. Thanks."

The Kwaini headed for Cordelia, but Wesley tackled it.

"Bathroom window is ajar."

A second demon came out of the bathroom as the first one pushed Wesley down, and Cordelia broke a vase over its head. The second demon grabbed Wesley as he got back up, but he flipped it over his back to the floor. Cordelia threw some books at the first one, then toppled the bookcase on it. Wesley and the second Kwaini wrestled on the floor while the first one threw Cordelia against the wall.

"Hey!" Angel held a bottle up. "Bet you would like some of this."

The Kwaini demons left the others alone. Angel threw the bottle into his office, and the Kwaini dove after it. Angel grabbed one and threw it out through the window.

"Window is open."

Angel slammed the other Kwaini down on his desk.

"I'm unplugging it!" Cordelia ran over to the security system.


Kate was getting a can of Pepsi out of her refrigerator when her phone rang. She let her answering machine pick it up.

"Kate, it's Angel. Pick up if you're there. If you get this message, get your father. Get him out of his house. He's in danger. He doesn't know what they are, Kate. He won't understand. I'm on my way there now."

Kate put the can back in the fridge, closed the fridge, and headed for the door.


A vampire almost collided with Kate as she ran into Trevor's apartment. Angel was there. Her father was on the floor, dead.

Kate fell on top of her dad. "Oh! Daddy! No, Dad." She saw the bite marks on his neck and broke down, crying.

"Kate...he invited them in. He didn't know."

"But you did. You knew!"

"I wanted to save him. He - He wouldn't let me." Angel paused. "Look, he was involved in something, Kate, in something he couldn't have understood."

"Get out. Get out! Get out!" Kate screamed. "Get out. Get out. Get out. Please, get out. Please, get out."

Angel left. Kate huddled against the wall, beside her father's body. She spotted a manila envelope with a bunch of $100 bills in it, laying open on the floor, and crawled over to it. She found a business card from Kel's Exotic Auto.


Kate walked into Kel's Exotic Auto and shot three suited guys, who were gathered around another guy, sitting behind a desk.

"My father may not have known what you are, but I do. I know."

"Do you?"

"Oh, yeah."

The guy stood up and walked towards her. "I see."

Kate shot him in the shoulder, and he growled.

"I know it won't kill you." Kate pulled a stake out of her back pocket and staked him. "But this will."

He fell to the floor, dead.

"I told you I knew."

The head demon walked in. "What do you think you know? Do you know what walks this city?"

Kate shot him four times in the chest, and he barely even jerked. Vampires closed in behind her.

"You have no comprehension! You do not understand what stands before you!"

Angel walked in behind Kate, twirling his ax. "A big, ugly drug-running demon who thinks he is a lot scarier than he is, maybe?"

Everyone looked at him.

"Yeah. She knows."

Kate and Angel started fighting the vampires. Kate went down beneath a vampire.

Angel reclaimed his ax from another vampire, pulled the vampire off Kate, and pushed the blade of his ax up against the big demon's throat. "We walk out of here now, you don't lose your head."

The big demon grunted and motioned for the other vampires to back off.

Angel helped Kate to her feet. "Let's go."

The big demon took a step after them. One of the vampires grabbed Kate, but she threw him over her hip and staked him. Angel threw his ax straight up into the air and staked the two vampires on either side of him with his spring-loaded wrist sheathes, then calmly caught the ax as it came back down.

"You're dead!" the demon yelled at Angel.

"I'm already dead." Angel swung around and beheaded the demon. "Welcome to the club."

Angel slowly walked over to where Kate was still crouched over the vampire that she killed.

"You okay?"

Kate was trying not to cry.

"Never trust an evil evil thing." Angel paused. "Kate, I know that what happened with your father-"

Kate spun to look at him. "My father was human." She got up. "And you don't know anything about that." She walked past him without another word.


That evening, Buffy, Tara, and Amy were on patrol in the woods, each carrying a flashlight.

"Spread out?" Tara asked Buffy.

"Not too far."

Amy sighed, worried. "So not a problem."

Tara and Amy split from Buffy as they reached a clump of bushes. Tara and Amy moved their flashlights up two trees. They saw a pair of red legs - with clawed feet - tied to them. Buffy heard a crackling sound and turned. Her eyes widened as she looked up. Tara and Amy were already gaping at the sight of the crucified demon suspended high between the two trees. Buffy shined her light on the body and saw the demon was eviscerated. It was sliced down the middle from its neck to lower abdomen, its flesh pulled open wide and also tied to the trees. All of the internal organs had been removed, and the rib cage and spine were clearly visible.


Buffy, Tara, and Amy were sitting at the kitchen table at Harmony's house, sharing a batch of brownies that Amy had baked.

Buffy looked at her friends, haunted. "I've never seen anything like that."

Amy nodded. "And I can go a long, healthy stretch without seeing anything like that again."

"It had to be Adam who killed it, but why?" Tara asked.

Buffy took a bite of a brownie. "He's studying biology. Human, demon, whoever he can get his hands on and take apart."

Tara understood. "He's finding out what makes things work."

Amy shuddered. "I really don't want to be around for the final exam."

Buffy looked at her. "It's not coming to that. The Initiative created this thing, and they can't stop it. But we will."

"Need help?"

Buffy looked. "Riley."

Riley sat down at the table.

"How did you get out?" Buffy asked him.

"I walked."

"They didn't try to stop you?" Tara asked him.

"Oh, they did. Repeatedly. But then I told them they couldn't keep me without a major ass-kicking, one way or another. So here I am."

"How did you find us?" Buffy asked him.

"Do you still have your badge from the Initiative?"

Buffy thought about it. "Somewhere."

"I tracked it here. It's got a tracer in it."

Buffy frowned. "Well, now, I feel stupid. We were hiding out here to avoid you guys."

"Best if you destroy it."

"Right." Buffy smiled. "We're happy to have you back."

"Are you feeling any better?" Amy asked him.

"Yeah. Hey, I know my behavior was pretty out there-"

Buffy waved a hand in dismissal. "Forget it. Tell you what: you help us take down a killer cyber demon hybrid thingy, and we'll call it all even."

"Taking down Adam's gonna be tough. There's no way to predict what he'll throw at us." Riley paused. "I think we're being watched."

"I dunno. Does the Initiative do that?" Buffy asked.

"Maybe."

"You seem a little...somewhere else. Is there anything I can do?" Buffy offered.

"Give me an order. That's what I do, isn't it? Follow orders."

"You don't have to."

"Don't I? All my life, that's what I've been groomed to do. They say 'Jump'; I ask 'How high?'; I get the job done. Just don't know if it's the right job anymore."

"I know how you feel. Giles used to be part of this council. And for years, all they ever did was give me orders."

"Ever obey them?"

"Sure. The ones I was going to do, anyway. The point is...I quit the Council...and it's okay."

"Now, see, that's where you and I are different. I just suck at the whole gray-area thing."

"It's a choice. Go back in there and make some changes from the inside. Or you can quit the team; fight demons in your own way."

"You make it sound so simple. I don't even know what my way is."

"Well, it's time to find out."


Soon, the entire group was gathered around the kitchen table.

Jenny looked at Riley. "The problem for me seems to be why Adam has stayed dormant as long as he has."

"He's probably working off an autonomic power source. And because he's straight out of the box, he needs to charge up a while."

"Okay, what's he charging up for?" Buffy asked.

Amy looked at her. "Based on the clues, I'll go with killing spree."

"And that's a best-case scenario. I suppose a little firepower would be a good idea right now." Riley activated the blaster that Amy had been working on.

Amy was amazed. "Hey! How'd you do that? Is there, like, an On/Off button somewhere here?"

"Blasters are easy. Adam won't be."

"Since Professor Walsh designed it, any chance she left instructions lying around somewhere?" Tara asked.

"Well, if she did, they're gonna be in the Initiative." Buffy looked at Riley.

Giles sighed. "Which we can't get into without mounting a major offensive."

"Speak for yourself."

The others all looked at Riley.

"I'm just saying."

Giles considered. "I must admit...a man on the inside would be-"

"A really good idea." Buffy looked at Riley. "Are you sure you wanna be a double agent?"

"I'm not exactly sure what you'd call me, but I will share information. It's the least I can do."


The next evening, on the UC Sunnydale campus, Buffy and Sandy were walking along.

Suddenly, Sunday stepped in front of them, blocking their path. "Hey, girls. Miss me?"

Buffy sighed. "Damn it, maybe I should've learned how to hone."

"What do you want, Sunday?" Sandy asked.

"Uh, well, to kill you, for starters. And then I thought maybe I'd treat myself to a facial."

Buffy stared at her. "Couldn't hurt."

"Hey!" Sunday yelled.

"Look, Sunny, no offense, but you're the last thing that I need right now." Buffy tried to sidestep Sunday.

Sunday blocked Buffy's path again. "Everyone needs a little me in their lives. I'm telling you: if I was you, I'd be worrying right about now."

Faith turned from looking at the noticeboard. "But she's not you."

Buffy smiled. "Faith. What are you doing here?"

"Had a weird dream. Used it as an excuse to come see you."

"Awww, how sweet. Us making the bed?"

"Yeah. What the fuck was that about?" Faith asked.

Buffy shrugged. "Beats me. Something about Dawn, I think? I called Dad. Nothing unusual there."

Faith smiled. "So...check you out, B. Nice, the big-girl-on-campus thing's really working for you."

"How are you?"

"Five-by-five."

"Uh, hello?" Sunday interrupted. "Who the fuck are you?"

Buffy smiled at Faith in amusement. "So much for pleasantries, huh?"

Faith looked at Sunday for a moment and then smiled, friendly. "I'm Faith. The Vampire Slayer. And you are...?"

Buffy sighed and gestured. "Faith, meet Sunday. The Vampire Slayer."

Sunday frowned. "Don't call me that."

Faith smirked. "You really need to find the fun, S."

Sunday held up a hand in Faith's face. "Oh, please." She looked at Buffy. "Let's have another go at it. See who ends on top."

Faith smiled. "Stealing my lines?"

Buffy stared at Sunday. "It doesn't have to be like this, y'know."

"Actually, I think it has to be exactly like this."

"I guess it was too much to hope that you'd use your downtime to reflect and grow."

"I could say the same about you. I mean...you're still the same killer, Buffy."

Buffy flinched. Sandy took her bookbag off her shoulders.

Buffy gave Sunday a steely gaze. "They had it coming. Your kind are killing innocent people."

"That's one interpretation; another is you're persecuting us for getting a good meal."

Sandy walked towards Sunday from behind her, wielding the bag.

Sunday didn't look at her. "Try it, traitor, and you'll lose an arm."

Sandy froze.

"Fuck this." Faith punched Sunday around the face.

Sunday bared her fangs and shoved Faith back. Buffy ran at Sunday. Sunday did a roundhouse kick and connected with Buffy's stomach. Buffy fell to the ground. Sandy attacked Sunday from behind. Sunday turned and was grabbed by Faith.

Sunday broke free, grabbed Sandy's left hand, and pulled the ring off her finger. "See you around."

She ran off and ran over a field, pushing people aside, with Buffy and Faith in pursuit. Sunday leaped over a wall. Buffy and Faith looked over it to find Sunday had disappeared. Faith hopped over the wall and went to track Sunday down.

Buffy returned to Sandy. "Shit, she got away. Faith's tracking her, but-"

"We've got bigger problems."

"Of course, we do." Buffy sighed. "What now?"

Sandy stared at Buffy. "She took the Gem of Amarra. Sunday's invincible."

"Shit." Buffy thought for a moment. "Let's get back to Harmony's. We'll split into teams and comb the town."


Amy and Harmony were walking the streets, looking for Sunday.

They heard rattling. They looked around. Amy charged the blaster. They walked towards the sound. Spike came out of the darkness.

"Spike?" Harmony asked.

"What are you doing here?" Amy asked him.

"Me? Hey, I'm not the one out of place here."

Harmony made a face. "For your information, smartass, we've got a rogue Slayer on our hands. Your ex-girlfriend, Sunday."

"Sunday's a Slayer?!" Spike asked incredulously.

"You didn't know?" Amy asked in surprise.

Harmony sighed. "Anyway, she stole the Gem of Amarra from Sandy-"

"Harm!" Amy yelled.

Harmony was embarrassed. "Oops."

Spike smiled. "Sounds serious."

"It is. What do you know?" Amy asked.

"What do you need?"

"Her. Have you seen her?"

"Is this bird after you?"

Amy and Harmony looked at each other for a moment and shrugged, then looked back at Spike.

Amy shrugged. "Could be."

"Tell you what I'll do, then. I'll head out, find her, tell her exactly where you are, and then watch as she kills you."

Amy and Harmony looked at him in surprise and irritation.

"Can't any one of you damn little Slayerettes at least try to remember that I hate you all?! Just because I can't do the damage myself doesn't stop me from aiming a loose cannon your way. And here I thought the evening be dull."

Amy and Harmony watched him leave.

Amy looked at Harmony. "We're dumb."