Chapter 13: Halloween
October 29, 1997 – Wednesday
Pumpkin Patch
Buffy hit the ground with a thud, feeling a jack-o-lantern smash beneath her. Breathlessly, she rolled to one side, grabbed a smaller pumpkin, and hurled it at the approaching vampire as he leaned in for the kill. The pumpkin caught him full in the face, throwing him off balance, and before he could recover himself, a second pumpkin hit him between the eyes.
The vampire stumbled backward. Instantly Buffy whipped out a wooden stake and threw it straight at his heart, but he managed to grab a scarecrow, using it as a shield. There was a dull thud as the stake pierced the chest of the scarecrow. The vampire grinned delightedly.
As the vampire tossed the scarecrow aside, Buffy jumped to her feet and resumed her defensive posture. For several minutes she stubbornly held her ground, until two sidearm blows and a merciless kick sent her back down again.
Buffy gained the upper hand with a vicious head butt. A swift kick to the vampire's chest sent him sprawling headlong into a mountain of pumpkins, where Pop's Pumpkin Patch sign toppled to the ground. With one smooth movement, Buffy grabbed the sign and swept it under the vampire's feet, knocking him off balance. Then she plunged the pointed end deep into his heart.
The night was still.
The Bronze
'Another ten minutes,' Angel decided. 'I'll give her another ten minutes…'
For the last half hour, he'd kept his attention focused on the doorway, but now, more and more unsettling thoughts were weighing on his mind.
Maybe Buffy was in trouble. Not that she couldn't defend herself, he reasoned, but nightly patrols were always potentially disastrous. Or maybe she hadn't been able to sneak out of the house tonight. Or maybe she'd made other plans and simply forgotten about their date.
Angel sighed. Oblivious to the partying all around him, he sat there and brooded.
"I know. Is the Bronze not-happening or what?"
Angel glanced up to see Cordelia standing beside him. With her long dark hair, skintight clothes, and perfect figure, she knew she looked sultry and confident as always. To her annoyance, however, Angel didn't seem to be noticing.
"Um, hi," he said. "I'm waiting for Rutherford."
"Great!" Sitting down, Cordelia made herself comfortable, leaning forward a little to reveal her plunging neckline. "I'm supposed to be meeting Devon, but he's nowhere to be seen. It's like he thinks being in a band gives him an obligation to be a flake. Well, his loss is your incredible gain…"
She droned on and on. Angel managed a thin smile and drummed his fingers nervously on the table. He gave her his halfhearted attention, trying to be polite.
That was why he didn't see Buffy come in a few minutes later. She walked over to them and draped her arm over his shoulder, kissing him on the cheek.
Cordelia's eyes widened. "Wait, you're gay?" she exclaimed.
"Um," Angel said, "Well—"
"Did you know he was gay?" Cordelia asked Buffy. "That is so unfair." Buffy just raised an eyebrow as she shook her head. "Oh, duh, if you guys are—ugh. It's always the pretty ones."
Buffy put her head on Angel's shoulder to cover her laughter. Cordelia made a disgusted noise and stormed off, and she sat across from Angel, still giggling.
"I thought you were out to Cordelia," Angel said.
"Are you kidding?" Buffy said with a chuckle. "That gossipmonger? All of Sunnydale would know within hours."
Angel looked disgruntled. "That must be uncomfortable for you, when she helps with Slayer stuff."
Buffy shrugged. "Eh. No more uncomfortable than the rest of the time."
Angel took her hand. "I'm sorry. It's got to be difficult, hiding all the time."
Buffy looked down. "It's whatever. I'm waiting for college. I'm going to go to Cleveland, I think, and just be me there." She brightened. "Besides, Halloween's coming up!"
"Halloween?"
"Yeah. The one day of the year I can wear a pretty dress and nobody…well almost nobody…thinks it's weird."
Angel nodded, his eyes widening in understanding. "Must be your favorite holiday."
"Yeah. It's pretty great." She smiled. "Enough about me. How're things in Angel-land? Gotten in some good brooding? Kill any interesting demons?" Angel shrugged and she groaned. "You know, as sexy as the whole tall, undead, and mysterious thing is, at some point you're going to have to start telling me things with real words."
"Killed a Separvo demon yesterday," Angel said.
Buffy beamed. "Was that so hard?"
Angel sighed. "You have no idea."
October 30, 1997 – Thursday
Sunnydale High School
Volunteers Are Winners, the signs read. Safe and Sane Halloween.
The halls of Sunnydale High were thronged with students moving to and from class. Halloween decorations were plastered everywhere, and a long table had been set up, manned by several kids and their neat rows of sign-up sheets. Principal Snyder stood by, arms clamped across his chest, beady eyes surveying the crowd. He looked even sneakier than usual today. It was obvious he was on the prowl.
An unsuspecting girl almost made it past the table before he grabbed her.
"Hey!" she exclaimed. She tried to wriggle free, but his grip was relentless.
"You're volunteering," he ordered.
"But I have to get to class—"
His grip tightened even more. He steered her over to the sign-up table just as Buffy, Willow, and Xander walked by with curious stares.
"Snyder must be in charge of the volunteer safety program for Halloween this year," Willow observed.
Xander hunched his shoulders, hands dug deep into his pockets. "Note his interesting take on the 'volunteer' concept," he said dryly.
Buffy warily eyed the table. "What's the deal?"
"A bunch of little kids need people to take them trick-or-treating," Xander explained, sounding less than thrilled. "Sign up and you get your very own pack of sugar-hyped runts for the night."
"I might sign up," Buffy admitted as her friends looked at her with wide eyes. "Halloween is the one night of the year I can be me, and very few people will bat an eye." She turned and walked over to Snyder, Xander and Willow reluctantly following.
"Mr. Summers. Just the juvenile delinquent I was about to look for," Snyder said as he sneered at her.
"Principal Snyder," Buffy said, trying to sound polite. She always found it really hard to keep a straight face around the man. With his balding head and huge ears, he looked amazingly like a troll or a Ferengi from Star Trek. "I was just going to sign up." (A/N)
"You were?" the principal said surprised.
"I was," Buffy admitted as Principal Snyder handed her a pen.
"The program starts at four, and the children have to be home by six," Snyder instructed.
Buffy signed her name at the end of the long list of names.
Xander and Willow stared at each other, and then at the pens Principal Snyder handed each of them.
They signed.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"I can't believe this," Xander grumbled, as they headed into the school lounge. "I get why you want to, Buffy. I do. But why do the rest of us have to dress up and the whole deal?"
"Snyder said costumes were mandatory," Willow sighed.
Buffy smiled. "Well at least I won't be bored. It's the one night a year that things are supposed to be quiet for me."
"Halloween quiet?" Xander shot her a quizzical look. "I figured it would be a big old vamp scare-a-palooza."
"Nope, it's like, dead for the undead. They stay in."
"Those wacky vampires." Xander shook his head. "That's what I love about 'em. They just keep you guessing." He stopped at the drinks machine while Buffy and Willow found a table. Dropping in some change, he waited for his soda to come out, but nothing happened. He hit the machine with his fist. He gave the machine a few choice insults. Then he hit it again.
"Harris!" A voice boomed out.
Xander looked up to see a large meaty hand descending on his shoulder. It belonged to Larry, a mean-tempered moose of a jock, and not one of Xander's personal favorites.
"Larry," Xander said casually. "Looking very cromag as usual. What can I do you for?"
Larry glanced over to where Buffy and Willow were sitting. The two girls were engaged in a private conversation, totally unaware of the attention they were getting.
Larry leaned in closer to Xander. "You and Willow—you're just friends, right?"
"Yes," Xander answered.
"So, she's not your girlfriend?" Larry said impatiently.
"Alas, no."
"You think she'd go out with me?"
"Well, Lar, that's a hard question to…no. Not a chance."
"Why not? I heard some guys say she was fast."
Xander could feel himself bristling. "I hope you mean in the 'like the wind' sense."
"You know what I mean."
Larry was actually leering at him now, and Xander's anger erupted. He grabbed Larry by his T-shirt, pulling him down to eye-level. "That's my friend you're talking about," Xander said.
Larry was not impressed and definitely not intimidated. In fact, Xander's outburst not only amused him, it pumped him up for battle. With a cocky smile, he stretched himself to his huge fullness. "Oh, yeah? What are you going to do about it?"
Xander stood his ground. "I'm going to do what any man would do about it," he stammered. "Something…damn manly."
With one massive heave, he tried to shove Larry into the soda machine but hardly budged him an inch. Grimacing, he saw Larry draw back a fist and aim it at his face, and Xander bravely steeled himself to be mutilated.
But the blow never came. At the last second, another hand suddenly intercepted, grabbing Larry's wrist, snapping it back from Xander's face. In a flash, Buffy spun Larry around, pinned his arms behind him, and slammed him hard into the drinks machine.
A free soda dropped out.
"Get gone," Buffy said.
As Larry scurried away, she picked up the Dr. Pepper and gave a pleased smile. "Ooh. Diet."
And then it dawned on her that Xander hadn't moved. Hadn't said a word. That he was just standing there staring at her in total shock and disbelief.
"Do you know what you just did?" he finally exploded.
"Sadly, yes, Xander," Buffy admitted. "I know the reputation you will have now and I'm sorry, okay. I've been through that and it just pisses me off, you know."
Xander nodded as he smiled at Buffy, thankful for her apology. "Thanks, Buff. And yeah, I guess you do know what it's like. In a way you and I aren't much different, are we?"
"Not much," Buffy agreed as they walked over to Willow and sat down.
"So, how was your date last night?" Willow wondered.
"I was late due to unscheduled slayage," Buffy informed them.
"Was he mad?" Willow wondered.
"Not in the slightest," Buffy admitted. "But when I got there Cordelia was drooling in his cappuccino. I chased her away though, went up there and gave Angel a kiss."
Xander chuckled. "I would have loved to have seen her reaction that."
Ethan's Costume Shop
Buffy walked up and down between rows of clothing and hats and masks, searching for something to wear. She glanced up as Willow came toward her. "What did you find?"
"A time-honored classic," Willow said proudly. She pulled a costume from a bag. The package read Ghastly Ghost, and it showed a person covered with a large white ghost sheet, complete with eye holes, ghostly smile, and the word boo stenciled across the chest.
"Willow," Buffy managed to hide her amusement, "can I give you a little friendly advice?"
Willow looked worried. "It's not spooky enough?"
"It's just, you're never going to get noticed if you keep hiding," Buffy tried to explain.
"So says the person that's had to do that her entire life," Willow countered.
"You're missing the whole point, Will," Buffy informed her friend. "The point of Halloween."
"Free candy?"
"It's come as you aren't night," Buffy informed her with a smile. "For me, it's the one night for me to be me. For you it's the perfect chance to get sexy and wild with no repercussions."
"I don't get wild." Willow's eyes grew wide and solemn. "Wild on me equals spaz."
Buffy firmly disagreed. "You've got it in you, Will. You're just scared—"
"Again," Willow said with a shake of her head.
"Look, Will, yes I'm scared. But Halloween is the one night where I don't have to be scared of how anyone would see me," Buffy admitted as Xander walked over.
Willow eagerly took advantage of his arrival to change the subject. "Hey, Xander. What did you get?"
Xander opened his shopping bag. He pulled out an orange plastic machine gun.
"That's not a costume," Buffy informed him.
"I've got some fatigues from the Army surplus at home," Xander explained. And then, in a poor attempt at Schwarzenegger, he added, "Call me the two-dollar costume king, baby."
"Nice," Buffy said as she smiled at him before seeing something that got her eyes shining. She wandered off.
"Buffy?" Xander said wondering why his friend had walked away.
"Sorry didn't mean to just…" Buffy murmured. "It's just…look at that."
Xander and Willow both turned around. They followed the direction of Buffy's gaze to the wall at the back of the store.
The red gown was draped over a mannequin. Fashioned in an elegant eighteenth-century style, it hung to the floor in flowing folds of satin and lace. The front of the skirt showed a narrow swath of pink, decorated along each side with small dainty bows, while even more delicate lace accentuated the low square neckline and cascaded down from the sleeves.
Willow drew in her breath.
Buffy seemed to be mesmerized. Without taking her eyes from the dress, she moved slowly, almost cautiously, toward it, Willow and Xander following.
"It's amazing," Willow whispered, while Xander firmly shook his head.
"Too bulky. I prefer my women in spandex."
Buffy stopped in front of the gown. "I prefer dresses," she told her male friend. She gingerly lifted one hand and touched the dress just as a man suddenly approached them from a rear doorway.
Ethan Rayne was the owner of the shop. Tall and unassumingly dressed, there was still an air of understated sophistication about his clothes and a quiet hint of elegance about the man himself. His eyes reflected a devilish sort of glint. His smile was soft and somewhat secretive, and when he spoke, his voice held just a trace of British accent.
"It is beautiful isn't," He told her as he stopped beside Buffy.
Buffy nodded her head in wonder. "It's—"
"Magnificent," he said. "I know."
"How much," Buffy questioned.
"I feel quite…moved to make you a deal you can't refuse," he told her.
Buffy's whole face brightened. "Really?" she asked looking at the gown.
Ethan Rayne smiled.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
The shop had closed for the night.
The last customer had finally gone, but the store was not quite deserted.
A tall figure moved silently into the back room.
A tall figure wearing a long, hooded black robe.
Ethan Rayne stopped beside an altar. One by one he lit the black candles that encircled it.
Directly in front of him, in the very center of the circle, was a marble bust of a woman. Her features were beautiful and serene. Kneeling before her, Ethan began to speak, squeezing his hands tightly closed, then opening them again.
His palms began to bleed. They bled thickly and freely, from stigmata like wounds on his hands. "The world that denies thee, thou inhabit," Ethan chanted. "The peace that ignores thee, thou corrupt."
He dabbed his blood upon his eyelids. He smeared a bloody cross upon his forehead.
"Chaos," he murmured. "As ever, I am your faithful, degenerate son."
He knew the true power of the statue.
He knew it, and he called upon it now.
For the back of the statue was quite different from the front.
It wasn't beautiful, nor was it peaceful to look at.
It was a hideously horrifying male visage.
A mask of pure evil.
October 31, 1997 – Friday
Halloween day dawned crisp and clear.
There was a feeling of unrepressed excitement in the air, and classes let out early so that student volunteers could go home and change into their costumes.
Buffy stood in her bedroom, gazing silently at her reflection in the mirror.
She was wearing the gown from Ethan's Costume Shop, and she looked every inch like the woman she always felt like inside. Her hair—a brunette wig—was piled elegantly on top of her head. Held in place with an old-fashioned comb, it still fell loose in a few stray tendrils that curled around her face. Around her neck hung a lovely jeweled necklace, making her throat seem all the more delicate.
"Where are you meeting Angel?" Willow's voice floated out from the bathroom, bringing Buffy back to earth.
"Here. After trick-or-treating. Mom is going to be out," Buffy informed her friend.
"Does he know about your costume?"
"Does he know that I got this one, nope." Buffy smiled at her reflection. "Does he know that this is the costume I wanted, yes."
"So, what is Dawn going as?" Willow asked.
"Not too sure, I will find out when I get to the school," Buffy informed her friend. "Mom took her over to the school when she left so it would be a surprise. She'll be in my group." She looked toward the door to her bedroom. "Come on out, Will. You can't stay in there all night."
"Okay," Willow sounded resigned. "But don't laugh."
"I won't—"
Buffy's words caught in her throat. As Willow emerged from the bathroom, Buffy stared at her friend's amazing transformation. Willow was wearing makeup, and her hair was pinned in a casual upsweep. A clingy dark, midriff-baring top, leather miniskirt, knee-high boots—Willow was a total rocker babe. Totally gorgeous. And obviously totally miserable.
"Wow." Buffy was practically speechless.
Willow took one look at her plunging neckline, grabbed her ghost sheet, and turned back for the bathroom.
"Will," Buffy reached out and stopped her. "You're a dish. I mean, really—"
"But this just isn't me," Willow argued.
"That's the point!" Buffy countered. "Look at me. Knowing I'm a girl like you. Did you ever picture me wearing this dress?"
"No," Willow admitted.
"Tonight, is all about letting yourself have fun and be the person you always dreamed of," Buffy informed her. "This is who I am," she said as she did a twirl. "I am for tonight, a princess."
Willow was still pondering this as the doorbell rang
"That's Xander," Buffy announced. "You ready?"
Willow paused, gave a deep sigh. "Yeah. Okay." She tried to smile, but Buffy wasn't fooled. She clamped her arms tightly around her exposed midriff. Terror supreme.
"Cool!" Buffy reassured her. "I can't wait to watch the boys or the girls, as the case may be, go nonverbal when they see you." She ran downstairs and opened the front door.
True to form, Xander was wearing his low-rent army costume—camouflage pants and jacket, tank tee, aviator sunglasses—and carrying his plastic gun. He stepped up to Buffy and saluted. "Private Harris. Reporting for—"
And then his words choked off. As he got a close-up look at Buffy, his mouth dropped open and his hand fell to his side.
"Buffy." He bowed his head. "My Lady of Buffdom. The Duchess of Buffonia. I am in awe. I completely renounce spandex."
"Thank you, kind sir." Buffy curtsied.
"I mean that wholeheartedly, Buffy," Xander admitted. "You look beautiful in that dress. And I don't mean this as any disrespect but seeing you in that dress I would never have thought…"
"That I was anything but a girl," Buffy said in understanding as he nodded. She smiled in appreciation. "Thank you. You don't know how much you just made my day," she informed him. "Now wait till you see—"
"Hi," Willow said from the staircase behind them.
Expectantly they both turned.
Willow was standing there, covered head to toe with her ghost sheet.
"Casper," Buffy finished lamely.
Xander stared at Willow's costume, trying to come up with a compliment. "Hey, Will," he said brightly, "that's . . . that's a fineboo you have there."
Willow hung her head. She could feel Buffy's disappointment as the three of them went out the door.
Sunnydale High School
Outside kids were being dropped off by the dozens, screaming and shouting and waving their trick-or-treat bags as they stampeded into the building. Inside, the hallways swarmed with fierce little demons and goblins, while students valiantly tried to separate them into manageable groups.
Principal Snyder was leading a small group of children over to Buffy. As she quickly scanned their eager faces, she couldn't help noticing that there was a vampire among them.
"Here's your group, Summers." Principal Snyder gave her not only his usual sneer but a look of disgust. "No need to speak to them—the last thing they need is your influence. Just bring them back in one piece and I won't expel you."
Buffy returned his look with one of her own. As he walked away, she leaned over to the kids with a smile. "Hi," she began, then noticed Principal Snyder standing a few feet away. Scowling at her. She rolled her eyes and that was when she saw her sister approach her. "Dawn?" she said looking her sister's costume over with wide eyes.
Dawn looked exactly like Buffy, down to the clothes and the blonde wig. Or more precisely the person Buffy had always dreamed to be.
"What are you supposed to be?"
"You," Dawn answered as she smiled at her sister.
Streets of Sunnydale
As Buffy's weary group returned from a house, she couldn't help noticing their dejected expressions. "What'd Mrs. Davis give you?" she asked them, concerned.
"Toothbrushes," Dawn groaned as she and the other kids opened their hands to show her, showing her their brand-new toothbrushes.
Buffy sounded indignant. "She must be stopped." She herded her sister and the kids together and steered them down the sidewalk. "Let's hit one more house. We still have a few minutes before we've got to get back."
Perking up, the children ran off again, leaving Buffy to smile at their enthusiasm.
"Penny for your thoughts," Dawn said as they followed the kids.
"I'm enjoying tonight," Buffy admitted as she glanced at her sister. "I'm happy I did this. And not just because I'm escorting them but because…"
"You get to be yourself?" Dawn asked as Buffy nodded.
Ethan's Costume Shop
In the back room, a black-hooded figure was kneeling before a row of black candles, reciting an incantation. "Janus, hear my plea." Ethan Rayne spoke the words, but he spoke them now in Latin. "Take this night as your own. Come forth and show us your truth."
Streets of Sunnydale
Buffy and Dawn both felt an inexplicable shiver go through them.
At the house on the corner, kindly Mrs. Parker came to the front door, smiling and handing out candy to the group of giggling monsters. Willow waited patiently for them at the end of the porch. The wind was starting to pick up, and the chill in the air had grown noticeably sharper. She huddled into her ghost sheet, wishing she'd dressed warmer underneath.
"Trick or treat!" the children shouted.
"Oh, my goodness," Mrs. Parker beamed at them. "Aren't you adorable!"
Ethan's Costume Shop
Ethan picked up the statue, his hands leaving bloody prints upon the stone. His face dripped with sweat, his body trembled feverishly. And then, again in Latin, he chanted, "The mask is made flesh. The heart is curdled by your holy presence. Janus, this night is yours!"
Streets of Sunnydale
Buffy ushered the kids and Dawn quickly down the block. A sudden gust of wind sent a second, deeper shudder down hers and Dawn's back.
The sisters stopped and Dawn saw that her sister was frowning. "What?" she asked.
"Something isn't right," Buffy admitted.
At the house on the corner, Mrs. Parker was looking down at the plastic pumpkin in her hands. She shook her head in utter dismay.
"Oh, dear," she mumbled. "Am I all out? I could havesworn I had some candy left."
Ethan's Costume Shop
The candles went out.
The only light now was the one emanating from the hideous statue, casting a sickly green glow through the shadows.
Ethan Rayne lowered his hood.
A satisfied grin spread slowly across his face.
"Show time," he whispered.
Streets of Sunnydale
Mrs. Parker looked down at the trick-or-treaters clustered around her. Miniature demons, vampires, gargoyles, and witches—they were all staring at her and at her empty candy container.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Monster," Mrs. Parker sighed, playing along. "Maybe I—"
She never got to finish her apology. Without warning, a slimy green hand caught her by the throat and yanked her forward. As she tried desperately to scream, she could see that the hand belonged to the make-believe gargoyle.
Except he wasn't make-believe anymore.
Where a costumed child had stood only seconds before, there was now areal gargoyle. As horribly real as the rest of the creatures swarming over her porch.
Willow couldn't believe what was happening. "Let her go!" she cried, trying to reach Mrs. Parker.
A horned demon deliberately blocked her way. As the demon turned and attacked the gargoyle, Mrs. Parker was finally able to break free and scramble inside to safety, locking the door behind her.
"What—" Willow mumbled. "What's—"
She tried to back off the porch. She felt dizzy and weak and strange. Stumbling, she gasped for breath. Her eyes grew wide with terror. The next instant she fell to the ground, her body limp and lifeless beneath its sheet.
The whole neighborhood was in chaos.
From every street, sidewalk, and corner came shrieks of terror, car alarms, cries for help, sounds of running, howling, the shatter of breaking glass. The air was thick with panic and the smell of fear.
As hysterical children raced past him for cover, Xander turned in confusion and immediately de-shouldered his plastic machine gun. For a split second he felt a peculiar dizziness throughout his whole body. Staggering a little, he tried to keep his balance, then just as quickly felt the dizziness leave him, clearing his head once more.
His posture went ramrod straight.
He raised his gun.
Not the plastic gun he'd held only a moment ago, but a fully functional M-16 machine gun.
Xander didn't even look surprised. His demeanor now was all military, his jaw set, his eyes like steel.
In front of Mrs. Parker's house, Willow felt herself sit up. She still felt peculiar, not quite herself, but at least the awful dizziness had gone. She stood slowly, trying to remember exactly what had happened. And then she looked down at her feet.
"Oh. Oh my God . . ."
She was still lying there on the porch.
Or, at least, her ghost was.
Willow stared at the ghost sheet, at the lifeless form that lay beneath it. And then she looked down at her own clothes.
The Willow standing here was wearing a miniskirt and halter top—the rocker-babe costume that Buffy had picked out for her. But the Willow lying there wasn't moving at all—in fact, the standing Willow could see her own boots submerged in the sleeping Willow, as though the two of them were still precariously connected.
Willow's voice was barely a whisper. "I'm a. I'm a real ghost."
Machine gun fire sounded behind her. Willow turned to see Xander backing across the street, surveying the area in silent panic.
"Xander!"
As joy and relief swept through her, Willow raced over to her old friend. But to her dismay, Xander whipped around and pointed his gun straight at her.
"Xander, it's me. Willow!"
Xander eyed her suspiciously. He cautiously low ered his gun.
"I don't know any Willow," he said.
"Quit messing around, Xander," Willow pleaded. "This is no time for jokes."
Xander's stare was cold. "What the hell is going on here?"
"You don't know me?" Willow peered earnestly into his face, but there wasn't a hint of recognition.
"Lady, I suggest you find cover."
"No, wait!" Before Xander could walk away, Willow stepped in front of him. But instead of stopping him as she intended, an incredible thing happened.
She felt Xander pass right through her.
Pass right through and step out from her other side.
Willow gazed down at herself in disbelief. She was trembling from the contact, a rush of pure physical pleasure enveloping her from head to toe.
"Ooh," she breathed.
Xander, on the other hand, freaked out. Spinning around, he raised his gun and pointed it at her again.
"What are you?" he demanded.
"Xander." Willow raised both of her hands where he could see them. "Listen to me. I'm on your side, I swear. Something crazy is happening. I was dressed as a ghost for Halloween, and now Iam a ghost. You were supposed to be a soldier, and now, I guess, you're a real soldier—"
"And you expect me to believe that?" Xander snapped.
Before Willow could answer, a little vampire emerged from the bushes, growling at them. Immediately Xander took aim.
"No!" Willow yelled. "No guns. That's still a little kid in there."
"But—"
"No guns. That's an order. Let's just get—" She broke off, spotting something down the street. "Buffy!"
Buffy was indeed coming toward them followed by someone that resembled Buffy. Buffy stumbled along the sidewalk in her gown while the Buffy look-alike followed her with a brow knitted in confusion. At once Willow ran to meet them, leaving Xander to grudgingly follow.
"Buffy, are you okay?" Willow asked as she approached the pair.
"I'm fine, Will," the Buffy look-alike said. "Though I think something is definitely wrong."
Willow glanced over at the Buffy look-alike and her eyes went wide in realization. She was looking at Dawn, albeit a Dawn that had aged overnight and looked to be the same as her sister. She opened her mouth to say something when she heard another menacing growl from the bushes—only louder this time—more like a roar. Behind them, the little vampire had been joined by a very large demon, and the two of them were heading this way.
Dawn/Buffy moved instinctively in front of her friend as Buffy stood between Willow and Xander, several paces behind.
The four of them watched as the monsters got closer.
Xander scowled. "This could be a situation."
"Buffy, what do we do?" Willow asked desperately.
Buffy's eyes grew wide. And then she fainted.
Willow stared down in disbelief.
"Xander," Dawn/Buffy said looking toward her friend. "Is that a real gun?" she asked and he nodded. "Over their heads, scare them away."
Xander hoisted his gun and fired above the demons' heads. As the monsters took off, he turned back to Dawn and Willow, who was kneeling beside Buffy and coaxing her back to consciousness.
"Buffy, are you all right?" Willow questioned looking at Buffy.
"What?" Buffy whispered.
"She like me is likely going to only know who she dressed up as," Dawn/Buffy said. "Since Dawn dressed up as me, she became me."
Willow nodded. "Whatever did this to us, must have also aged Dawn, she looks to be our age."
"I noticed that too," Dawn/Buffy admitted as she looked down at herself. "Believe me when I say the feeling of being in her body, is actually giving me a slight thrill."
"Because she's got everything you've dream of?" Willow wondered as Buffy nodded.
"I don't understand," Buffy said. "Who are you?"
Willow gave her friend a reassuring smile. "We're friends," Willow said motioning toward herself and Xander.
"And I'm our sister," Dawn/Buffy added.
"Friends of whom?" Buffy was in obvious distress. "Your dress is…everything is strange." As her panic rose, she cried, "How did I come to be here?"
Willow tried to soothe her. "Okay, breathe, okay? You're going to faint." She paused to glance Dawn. "I assume since Dawn/Buffy dressed up as you, that you're a Slayer?"
Xander stared. "What's a Slayer?"
"I've not had a chance to determine conclusively, but I would assume so," Dawn/Buffy admitted.
Without warning a demon jumped Buffy from behind. Where the old Buffy would have pulverized it with one punch, this new Buffy simply screamed and batted at it with her fingers. Instead of helping, Willow could only watch in utter amazement.
Dawn/Buffy reacted on instinct and punched the demon repeatedly until it gave up and ran off.
Xander turned solemnly to Dawn/Buffy and Willow. "I suggest we get inside before we run into any other—"
"Demon!" Buffy shrieked. "A demon!"
Dawn/Buffy, Willow and Xander whirled to defend themselves. Bewildered, they saw only a car driving toward them along the street. Buffy promptly dived into Xander's arms, shrinking against him and hiding her face.
"It's not a demon," Willow tried to explain. "It's a car."
"What does it want?" Buffy whimpered.
Xander fixed Willow with a level stare. "Is this woman insane?"
"I think we just figured out the personality inhabiting my body is from the past," Dawn admitted. "If she's never seen a car before."
"She's never seen a car," Xander said incredulous.
"She's apparently from the past," Willow said.
"And you're a ghost," Xander said looking from Willow to Dawn/Buffy. "And you're something called a Slayer?"
"Yes," Dawn/Buffy said. "Now let's get inside."
Xander stood for a moment, considering. And then he finally looked over at Willow and Dawn. "I just want you to know I'm taking a lot on faith here," he informed them. "Where do we go?"
"Where's the closest . . ." Willow shook her head, trying to think.
"My house," Dawn/Buffy answered.
Summers Home
The four of them piled through the back door into the kitchen. Safe for the time being, Xander locked up the house, then stood at the window to keep guard. Buffy's eyes wandered over the countertops and appliances, totally overwhelmed by the mysterious objects around her.
"I think we're clear," Xander announced.
"Hello!" Dawn called. "Mom?" And then, when no one answered, "She's still out, good."
"Where are we?" Buffy asked.
"Our house," Dawn/Buffy told her.
"Now we just need to—" Willow started.
There was a violent pounding on the front door. Startled, they froze for an instant, then began moving through the house, Dawn/Buffy and Xander in the lead, Willow close behind, Buffy trailing.
In the dining room, Buffy stayed behind, while Dawn, Xander and Willow bravely continued on.
"Don't open it!" Dawn/Buffy warned Xander
Xander hesitated. "It could be a civilian."
"Or a mini-demon," Willow countered as the pounding stopped.
They stopped, too, and waited.
At last Xander crossed to a window to look out. In the dining room Buffy saw something sitting on the mantel and walked over to examine it.
It was a picture.
A picture of a boy and a girl who looked amazingly like her and Dawn.
Buffy picked it up, deeply puzzled, as Dawn approached her. "This," she whispered, "this could be us."
"It is us," Dawn/Buffy insisted. "Do you remember anything at all of being her." She pointed at the Buffy in the picture.
"No, I…I don't understand any of this, and I…" Buffy hesitated, studying the photograph once more. "This is some other person; I would never wear that."
"We always hated wearing boys' clothes," Dawn/Buffy admitted.
"I don't like this place, and I don't like you, and I just want to go home!" Buffy whined.
"Why couldn't I have dressed up as Xena?" Dawn/Buffy mumbled. "We are home," she told Buffy.
Buffy began to cry. The pounding started again. Terrified, Buffy shrieked as Dawn hurried back to Willow and Xander.
Dawn/Buffy was just in time to see a demonic hand smash through the window beside Xander's head. The thing grabbed at him, but Xander managed to jump back just in time.
"Not a civilian," Willow observed. Xander gave a curt nod. "Affirmative."
He stuck his gun out the window.
"Hey!" Willow reminded him sharply. "What'd we say?"
Xander ignored her. There was a short burst of gunfire, then they both heard the demon scampering away.
Xander's look was self-righteous. "Big noise scare monster. Remember?"
"Yes, we remember," Dawn/Buffy said. "Thank you for remembering though."
What they heard next was a terrified scream. It came from somewhere outside, and as Xander peered out the window again, his muscles tensed for action.
"Hey—!"
Before Dawn/Buffy or Willow could stop him, he raced out the front door. Buffy came up behind Dawn/Buffy and Willow, her voice bordering on hysteria. "Surely he'll not desert us?" Buffy fretted.
Willow gave Buffy a look, shrugged her shoulders and walked away.
"I know how you are feeling, Will," Dawn/Buffy admitted sadly. "While I like being an actual girl. I would love to get this reversed so Dawn can have her body back."
"Well on the bright side you now know what it's like to be a girl," Willow said as she smiled at Dawn/Buffy.
"That's assuming I will get to keep the memories I'm getting in Dawn's body when this is all reversed," Dawn/Buffy said.
Out in the darkness, Xander had located the source of the screaming. Cordelia was running frantically down the street, her costume torn, her hair a disheveled mess. There were scratches on her face. Several yards behind her a huge hairy creature was relentlessly catching up.
Xander headed toward her. Cars had been abandoned in the streets, and shadowy figures were still running in the distance, some of them on the prowl, others fleeing for their lives. As Xander reached her, Cordelia screamed and tried to fight him off, before suddenly realizing who he was.
"Xander?"
"Come inside," Xander ordered her. He didn't have the slightest idea who she was.
He rushed her toward the house. He practically threw her inside, slamming the door behind them.
"Cordelia!" Dawn/Buffy and Willow exclaimed.
Cordelia looked supremely irritated. "What's going on?"
Dawn/Buffy waved at Willow as if to say, you explain. "Okay," Willow said as she hurried to do so, "your name is Cordelia, you're not a cat, you're in high school, we're your friends—well, sort of."
"That's nice, Willow," Cordelia cut her off. "And you went mental when?"
"You know us?" Dawn/Buffy questioned.
"Yeah, lucky me. What's with the name game?"
"A lot's going on," Willow admitted.
"No kidding. I was just attacked by JoJo the dog-faced boy. Look at my costume! Think Party Town's going to give me my deposit back? Not on the likely."
As she was spouting off, Cordelia suddenly noticed a large rip up the side of her leotard. Xander had obviously noticed it, too, for he took off his jacket and put it around her.
"Here," Xander said.
Surprised, Cordelia stared at his pumped biceps, at the tattoo she'd never seen there before. She glanced over and realized Willow was staring at the exact same thing.
"Thanks," she murmured.
"Willow," Dawn said. "With you being a ghost, and me being a Slayer, I think you and I should get to Giles."
"Agreed," Willow said nodding at Dawn/Buffy. She looked toward Xander. "If something tries to get in, just fight it off."
"It's not our place to fight," Buffy protested fearfully. "Surely some men will come and protect us?"
Cordelia regarded her in total disgust. "What's that riff?"
"Cordelia, who do you think I am?" Dawn/Buffy questioned.
"Your Rutherford's sister if my memory serves me right," Cordelia answered confused on the question.
"What would you say if I told you, I'm Rutherford," Dawn/Buffy informed her. "You see there is something going on where some people have been possessed by someone else. Dawn dressed up as me for Halloween and has become me."
"Really?" Cordelia said in surprise as Dawn nodded. "And why are you dressed like?" she motioned toward Buffy.
Dawn/Buffy let out a sigh. "I'm transgender. You can call me, Buffy."
Cordelia's eyes went wide. "Everything makes so much sense now," she admitted. "The cheerleading tryouts. The other night at the Bronze."
"Yeah," Dawn/Buffy admitted. "For now, stay put till Willow and I try and get this reversed. Better safe in here than out there." She and Willow hurried out the front door.
On their way to the school to talk to Giles they didn't notice Spike out in the street. Didn't notice him standing there amid the chaos, his long black coat drawn around him, his face a cruel vampire face. And yet his eyes shone as wide and bright as a child's on Christmas morning.
"Well," Spike smiled, taking everything in. "This is just…neat."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
The night crept by.
Willow hadn't returned yet, and Xander was growing more and more restless.
He pushed a table against a window. He proceeded to check all the smaller windows, as well, just to make sure they were secure.
Buffy followed him around like a puppy, not wanting to be alone. "Surely there's somewhere we can go?" she begged him. "Some safe haven?"
Xander wouldn't be swayed. "The lady said stay put." He glanced at Cordelia and added, "Check upstairs. Make sure everything's locked."
Confused by Xander's answer, Buffy started in on him again. "You would take orders from a woman? Are you feeble in some way?"
"Ma'am," Xander sighed, "in the army we have a saying. Sit down and shut the—whoa."
His voice broke off. He was staring down at the floor where a photograph had fallen, one which clearly showed the three of them—he, Buffy and Willow—together. He stared at it for a long time, and then he looked up at Buffy.
"She must be right," he said to her. "We must be possessed by someone else."
Buffy drew herself up indignantly. "I don't know what that is, but I'm sure I don't have it. I bathe quite often."
"How do you explain this?" he demanded, indicating the photo.
Buffy lifted her nose into the air. "I don't! I was brought up as a proper lady. I'm not meant to understand things. I'm just meant to look good and then someone nice will marry me. Possibly a baron."
"This isn't a tea party, princess," Xander retorted. "Sooner or later you're going to have to fight."
"Fight?" Buffy looked appalled. "These low creatures? I'd sooner die."
"Then you'll die."
"Oh, good," a voice spoke out from behind them. "You guys are all right."
They turned to see Angel hurrying in from the kitchen.
He shook his head at them in amazement.
"It's total chaos out there," he said.
Buffy and Xander stared at him.
"Who are you?" they asked.
Sunnydale High School
Alone in the library, Giles was immersed in his book catalog. He was used to the silence in here, especially after school hours, so when the faint screams and sirens sounded in the faraway distance, he lifted his head and frowned.
Then he remembered. Of course, it was Halloween. Screams and sirens would be the norm tonight.
But had that noise just then been something else? A stranger, softer sound—one much closer by?
Again, Giles looked up, pausing to listen, thinking perhaps he'd imagined it.
A growl?
Slowly he turned from his work.
He didn't hear the sound at all now. Still, he supposed it wouldn't hurt to investigate—
He was turning around when Dawn opened the door leading Willow into the library.
Giles let out a yell of surprise, he hadn't expected anyone this late to show up.
"Hi," Willow said.
"Giles," Dawn added.
Summers Home
"Okay," Angel said, "does somebody want to fill me in?" He stared at Buffy's dress, the lowcut neckline, the delicate lace. He had to admit that she looked beautiful.
Xander's voice yanked him roughly back to the present. "Do you live here?"
"No! You know that. Buffy…" Bewildered, Angel took a step toward her. It was Buffy, he was certain, and yet somehow, not Buffy at all. "I'm lost here," he mumbled. "You…"
Buffy drew back fearfully. Angel squinted at her long dark wig.
"What's up with your hair?" he asked.
"According to Buffy who is possessing her sister, Dawn," Cordelia said. "Something happened and everyone is being possessed by someone else, well except Willow who from what I've been told is a ghost now." She gave Angel a smile. "How are you?"
Pounding erupted all around them. As the lights went out, plunging the room into total blackness, Buffy shrieked and grabbed Cordelia.
"Do you mind?" Cordelia snapped, shoving her away.
Xander turned to Angel. "Take the princess here and secure the kitchen. Catwoman, you're with me." Cordelia gratefully handed Buffy over to Angel and followed Xander into the living room.
"But I don't want to go with you!" Buffy protested, trying to wrench from Angel's grasp. "I like the man with the musket."
"Come on," Angel ordered her.
Buffy's voice was tiny and hopeful. "Do you have a musket?" She clung to him as they entered the kitchen.
The back door was standing wide open, and Angel slowly shook his head. "I didn't leave that open." He moved cautiously and silently toward the door.
Fearful, Buffy watched him as she cowered back against the wall. She didn't hear the cellar door opening right beside her. She didn't notice the vampire slinking out from the shadows…
Angel shut the back door and turned around. "Look out!" he yelled.
As Buffy spun, the vampire grabbed at her. Amazingly, she managed to seize the door and slam it back on the creature's arm. But the vampire was much more powerful than she was now. Almost immediately it flung the door wide again, sending Buffy sprawling to the floor. Angel made a dive for the creature, tackling it and wrestling it into the dining room. As Buffy staggered to her feet, she looked around frantically for a weapon. Taking a big knife from the counter, she peered timidly through the doorway and saw Angel on top of the vampire, his back to her, struggling to hold the creature down.
"A stake!" Angel yelled.
"What?"
"Get me a stake!"
Without warning he turned in her direction, and Buffy screamed.
Angel's face was contorted, hideous, an enraged vampire face. Buffy screamed again and raced out the back door.
"Buffy, no!" Angel shouted.
It was just the opportunity his opponent needed.
Throwing Angel off, the other vampire twisted free and came around on top of him.
Sunnydale High School
Giles had soon learned from Dawn and Willow, there was plenty of work to be done tonight if they wanted to save Sunnydale.
Now the three of them were surrounded by piles and piles of books. Looking for something—anything —that might give them a clue as to what was happening this wild, unforgettable Halloween.
Willow gazed at Giles in frustration. "I don't even know what to look for. Plus," she added lamely, glancing down at her ghost arm, "I can't turn the page."
"Right." Giles nodded understandingly. "Okay, then, let's review. At sundown, everyone became whatever they were masquerading as."
"Right, Giles," Dawn/Buffy agreed. "Dawn became me and somehow got a rapid age up to my age. And I am seriously hoping that when we reverse this and she gets her body back that she doesn't lose five years of her life, that she becomes and eleven-year-old again. Anyways Willow became a ghost. Xander a soldier and my real body is that of someone from the past, we never asked her what year it was that she was from."
Giles took off his glasses. He stared blandly at Willow's outfit. He raised both eyebrows.
"I tried to get Willow to dress a little sexier, that's the costume I picked out for her," Dawn/Buffy said. "She put a ghost sheet on over the top of it. Seriously that's better than what Cordelia was wearing, a unitard with cat ears and a tail."
"Good heavens. Cordelia became an actual feline?" Giles asked in surprise.
Willow stared and Dawn/Buffy looked at each other, as something began to dawn on the both of them. "No," they said.
"She was still the same old Cordelia, just in a eat costume," Willow added.
Giles looked at them, his brow furrowed deep in thought. He put his glasses on again. "She didn't change," he repeated.
"No," the girls said again.
"Hold on," Willow said excitedly. "Party Town."
"Your right," Dawn/Buffy agreed as she realized what Willow had. "She told us she got her outfit from Party Town—"
"And everybody who changed, where did they acquire their costumes?"
"We all got ours at this new place," Willow said.
"Ethan's," Dawn/Buffy and Willow said in unison.
"So, Buffy," Giles said as they headed for the door, there was no time to lose. "Your costume…"
"I bought a dress," Dawn/Buffy admitted with a smile on her lips. "Halloween is the one day of the year where I can be me and wear a pretty dress. While there are people that well will always be cruel there is just as many who won't because it's Halloween. So, I get to be me for one night without having to hide who I am."
"Despite the fact your mind is in Dawn's body, you actually get to experience what its like to be born a girl," Giles said with understanding as they exited the building and walked toward his car.
"The question will be will I remember that when I'm back in my body," Dawn/Buffy said sadly.
"Memory spells aren't to be taken lightly," Giles said. "But if Dawn consents, I could see about working it so that you remember what she does, assuming you don't remember yourself."
"Thanks, Giles," Dawn/Buffy said appreciatively. "We will have to ask Dawn what she thinks about that though. I don't want to do something she doesn't want to do."
Ethan's Costume Shop
"Hello?" Giles called softly. "Is anyone in?"
Not that they'd really expected to find anyone inside the shop at this late hour. The store was dark, seemingly deserted, and yet Giles, Dawn/Buffy and Willow entered easily through the front door.
Together they moved slowly through the main room. Costumes were strewn everywhere. Masks lay about on the floor and countertops, like so many severed heads. Mannequins stood within the shadows, and Willow had the distinct feeling they were watching her with flat, painted eyes. She was bravely trying to quell her overactive imagination when she noticed the open doorway in the back of the shop.
Almost at once Dawn/Buffy and Willow spotted the altar and the ring of black candles, the golden statue—its hideous, evil face, the glowing green eyes…
"Giles…" they said.
Giles came up behind them, following the direction of their stare. "That's Janus," he said. "A mythical Roman god."
"What does it mean?" Willow asked.
"Primarily, it represents the division of self." His eyes went anxiously from corner to corner. "Male and female. Light and dark—"
"Chunky and creamy style." Ethan's mocking voice was terrifyingly close. "No, sorry. That's peanut butter." He stepped out from a shadow, smiling at Giles.
Giles stared back at him; his own face tight with shock. "Willow, Buffy," he said firmly. He stepped in front of them, never taking his eyes off Ethan. "Get out of here. Now."
"But—" Dawn/Buffy started.
"Now, Buffy. I know you are the Slayer, but that is your sister's body you are in. I don't want any harm to come to her. And take Willow with you."
Giles seldom used that tone with any of them. And when he did, they knew all too well that he was deadly serious.
Dawn/Buffy and Willow turned and bolted from the room.
Now Ethan Rayne and Giles stood face to face.
"Hello, Ethan."
"Hello, Ripper," Ethan replied.
A dangerous silence fell between them.
Eerie green light played over Giles's face, accentuating its tenseness, its grim determination—and yet Ethan's manner was light. He was clearly enjoying this.
Enjoying every minute.
"What, no hug?" he taunted Giles. "Aren't you happy to see your old mate?"
Giles remained composed. "I'm surprised I didn't guess it was you. This Halloween stunt stinks of Ethan Rayne."
"It does, doesn't it?" Ethan replied proudly. He picked up a Halloween mask, rubbing his fingers almost lovingly over the surface. "Not to blow my own horn, but it's genius. The very embodiment of 'be careful what you wish for.'"
"It's sick," Giles returned. "And brutal. It harms the innocent—"
"Oh, and we all know that you are the champion of innocence and all things pure and good, Rupert," Ethan went on condescendingly. He paused, then, "This is quite an act you've got going here, old man."
Giles's shoulders stiffened. "It's no act. It's who I am."
"It's who you are? The Watcher? Sniveling tweed-clad guardian of the Slayer and her kin?" Ethan's smile was cold. His tone grew even more mocking. "I think not. I know who you are. And I know what you're capable of." And then something seemed to dawn on him. "But they don't, do they?" he realized. "They have no idea where you come from."
Ethan finally got the reaction he'd hoped for. It was obvious from Giles's expression that he felt threatened by this new line of attack. Only this time his mild demeanor began to change.
No one in Sunnydale had ever seen this side of Giles.
This was a side he kept hidden. Had kept hidden for a long, long time.
"Break the spell, Ethan," Giles demanded now, advancing slowly. "Then leave this place and never come back."
"Why should I?" Ethan threw back at him. "What do I get in the bargain?"
The answer was deathly calm. "You get to live."
"Ooh. You're scaring—" Ethan's words exploded inside his mouth as Giles dropped him with a vicious punch, his unfinished sentence oozing out across the floor with his blood.
Streets of Sunnydale
Buffy was terrified.
Lost and alone, she wandered through unfamiliar streets in an unfamiliar century, her clothes and shoes muddied and torn beyond repair. Without knowing it, she had entered the industrial section of town, that place of forgotten factories and boarded-up warehouses, where even the lowest of life never dared venture.
She struggled through an alleyway, trying to climb over heaps of boxes and trash. Her eyes darted fearfully around her. Shadows crouched on every side, black and endless as nightmares. And when someone stepped out in front of her, blocking her way, she was so panic-stricken she couldn't even scream.
The pirate was gigantic. He towered high above her, eyes glittering in the darkness, leering down at her with a lascivious, black-toothed grin. "Pretty…pretty…" he chuckled deep in his throat. Savagely he jerked Buffy into his arms, laughing as she screamed and tried to twist free. When one of her fingers managed to gouge his good eye, he let out a furious bellow and flung her away.
Buffy hit the ground, stunned and whimpering. She tried to crawl away, but Larry lifted her to her feet once more. "No," she pleaded, "no…"
Roughly he grabbed her face. He opened his mouth and ran his tongue slowly along his jagged, scummy teeth.
Then he moved in for a kiss.
With a yell, Xander came out of nowhere, hitting Larry with a flying tackle. As Buffy scrambled away, the two of them went at each other full force.
Buffy ran right into Cordelia.
"Buffy? Are you okay?" Cordelia asked.
Trembling violently, Buffy threw herself into Cordelia's arms. For once, Cordelia was at a complete loss how to handle the situation. She stood there with Buffy burrowed against her and watched the battle raging several feet away.
As the pirate tried to reach for his sword, Xander knocked it away.
Buffy looked up to see Angel hurrying toward them. She shrieked and gripped Cordelia even tighter.
Cordelia ran out of patience. "What is your deal?" she snapped at Buffy. "Take a pill!"
"He's . . . he's a vampire!" Buffy screamed.
Angel stopped and stared at them. For a split second the concern on his face was touched with deep hurt. Oblivious, Cordelia rolled her eyes. Then, in her most patronizing tone, she said sweetly to Buffy, "It's okay. Angel is…a good vampire. He'd never hurt you."
Buffy faltered. "He—really?"
"Absolutely." Cordelia might have been soothing a dim-witted child. "Angel is our friend."
Buffy looked timidly at Angel, still not convinced. As Angel went over to Xander, Xander finished the pirate off with a headbutt and two swift punches.
The pirate hit the ground, out cold.
For a minute, Xander stared down at him. Then he turned to Angel with a puzzled frown. "It's strange," Xander said, "but beating up that pirate gave me a weird sense of closure."
"Guys!" Willow shouted.
As the group turned expectantly, they saw Willow and Buffy/Dawn coming toward them at a dead run. Angel moved forward, already sensing that things were about to get worse. "Willow and—" He looked at Buffy/Dawn and wasn't exactly sure who she was. She looked somewhat like Buffy but she also looked like Buffy's sister, but that was impossible since Dawn was only eleven-years-old, right?
"It's me, Angel," Dawn/Buffy said when she noticed his hesitation. "I'm Buffy. Dawn dressed up as me."
"You guys got to get inside," Willow said breathlessly.
"Willow's right," Dawn/Buffy agreed as she pointed behind her, to a cluster of shadowy figures that was making its way in their direction. "Spike has been following us with an assortment of both child-like and adult monsters."
Xander took control. "We need to triage."
"This way." Angel pointed. "Find an open warehouse."
Xander gallantly rounded up the females. "Ladies, we're on the move."
Everyone took off except Buffy.
In her weakened condition and torn, heavy dress, it was all she could do to even stand up.
With one smooth movement Angel swept her into his arms.
"You know how long I've been wanting you to sweep me off my feet," Dawn/Buffy chuckled.
Angel glanced at Dawn/Buffy as he held Buffy tighter, carrying her swiftly through the winding maze of dark, dangerous streets.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
They had to get to safety.
As Xander, Cordelia, Dawn/Buffy and Angel rounded the corner of an alley, Angel shifted Buffy in his arms and motioned to a warehouse door a short distance away. "Over here!" he shouted.
Together they slid the door open and dashed inside, just as Spike and his minions appeared behind them. With only seconds to spare, they wrestled the door shut again, then looked around frantically for some sort of barricade. Old crates and broken furniture were stacked against one wall. As Xander immediately started moving stuff against the door, he yelled over to Angel.
"Check and see if there are any other ways in!"
Angel was ready for action. "Just stay here," he told Buffy, handing her off to Dawn/Buffy.
But the barricade wasn't working.
Xander jumped back as something jerked at the warehouse door. He could see demonic hands punching through it now, tearing it apart.
The door jerked again.
And then it began to slide.
The makeshift barricade flew everywhere. Xander and Angel fell back, retreating with the others as the warehouse door came completely open.
Spike stepped inside, smiling triumphantly at his loyal followers.
Ethan's Costume Shop
Ethan Rayne was smiling even though his bloody face was plastered to the floor. "And you said 'Rupert the Ripper' was long gone," he taunted.
Giles stood over him calmly. It was a frightening calm, a lethal calm. Slowly and deliberately he wiped his fingers clean on a white handkerchief. "How do I stop the spell?" he asked again.
Ethan began to laugh. "Say pretty ple—" he began, but Giles aimed a savage kick at his side, leaving him gasping for breath. "Janus," Ethan finally managed. "Break the statue."
Immediately Giles grabbed it and threw it against the wall. And then, as the statue shattered into pieces, he turned back again to Ethan.
For a long, long while Giles gazed down at the floor.
He was alone in the room now.
Ethan had disappeared.
Warehouse
Angel and Xander were pinned, held at bay by Spike's minions, and though the two of them fought to free themselves, no one could help Buffy now.
"Look at you," Spike murmured softly. He moved toward Buffy as she backed away, his pacing slow and stealthy, his look deceptively kind. He could see how absolutely petrified she was, her eyes desperate and full of tears. Excitement raged through him—the thrill of the hunt, of the kill.
"Shaking," he whispered to her. "Terrified. Alone. Lost little lamb." Spike smiled. Then he struck her savagely across the face. "I love it," he said. He heard someone take a step forward. Turning he looked at Dawn/Buffy, who he had dismissed a moment earlier as being no one, tip her head.
"Look at you. Thinking you're so big. Ooh, I'm all strong because you can smack me when I'm helpless," Dawn/Buffy quipped.
"And just who do you think you are?" Spike said. He eyed her outfit hungrily and smirked. "All dressed up with no place to go?"
Dawn/Buffy smiled. "Well I'm her," she answered pointing at Buffy. "You see whatever did this to us, made sure there was still a Slayer around. So, whatever, put my mind in my little sister's body."
Spike's eyes went wide in realization as he looked between Dawn/Buffy and Buffy.
Dawn/Buffy threw a punch that landed square in the face, followed by a round house kick, that sent him flying into the boxes and down on the ground.
Spike jumped to his and attacked, but that was what Dawn/Buffy had been waiting for. Using his momentum, she flipped them over so she was straddling and started to punch him in the face. She went for the kill and hesitated only for a second. But long enough for Spike to smack the stake out of her hand and throw her off of him.
"What's the matter?" Spike ran a hand over his chest. "Can't get enough of me, eh Slayer?" He threw Dawn/Buffy up and over him, sending her flying out across the warehouse.
Without warning, Xander broke free. Before anyone could stop him, he grabbed his gun and scrambled to his feet, Cordelia and Willow crowding in close behind him.
"Now that guy," Willow pointed at Spike, "you can shoot!"
Xander raised the machine gun. He aimed at Spike, tensed, and squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened. As he stared down at his weapon, he saw that he was holding only a toy—a small plastic gun. His mouth gaped open. "What the—"
Around the room, Dawn/Buffy as well as Spike's minions were suddenly changing, too reverting back to Dawn, and a very scared assortment of high-school kids and little trick-or-treaters.
As Spike gazed at them in slow realization, he suddenly glanced back toward Buffy, right at her smiling face.
"Hi, honey," Buffy said. "I'm home."
Spike never had a chance. As all the rage and frustration of her last defenseless hours came flooding through her, Buffy let loose on him with a brutal series of kicks and punches. He sprawled to the ground. She yanked him back to his feet. "You know what?" she said cheerfully. "It's good to be me."
Again, she let loose on him, throwing him viciously into the wall. Spike grabbed an iron bar, trying to fend her off, but Buffy wrenched it away from him. Beating him mercilessly, she stood back and watched as he collapsed once more to the ground.
Spike lay there, stunned. Then, after several seconds, he staggered drunkenly to his feet and took off.
An unsettling peace descended at last, broken only by the frightened crying of several bewildered children. As Buffy stood there, Dawn, Xander, Cordelia, and Angel all moved toward her.
"So, you don't remember?" Dawn, once again an eleven-year-old, asked looking up at her big sister.
"I remember, everything," Buffy told her sister.
"It was way creepy," Xander added with a frown. "Like I was there, but I couldn't get out."
Nodding emphatically, Cordelia turned to Angel. "I know the feeling. This outfit is totally skintight."
"So, you remember being in my body?" Dawn asked.
"What are you talking about?" Buffy asked her sister in confusion.
"I dressed as you, remember?" Dawn said, trying to jog her sister's memory. "During whatever it was, you were in my body."
"I don't remember that," Buffy admitted.
"You both okay?" Angel asked quietly looking at the sisters.
Buffy stared back into his eyes and she could see the worry they still held for her and for Dawn, and the unmistakable relief and concern.
"Yeah." Buffy smiled. "Dawn and I are fine."
Angel took the sisters by the arm and started to guide them outside when Dawn broke away. "I need to talk to Cordelia," Dawn said as she hurried back to the cheerleader. She pulled Cordelia to the side away from everyone. "Don't mention to Buffy what I told you, not till she's ready. Okay? It took her a while to reveal that to Xander and Willow. It's not easy for her to do."
Cordelia looked from Dawn to Buffy and back before nodding. "Okay," she agreed. "And just so you know, when she's ready. I may not say it before my friends of course, but she has an ally in me."
"Thank you." Dawn smiled before hurrying out after Angel and Buffy, leaving Xander and Cordelia alone.
Cordelia turned back to the dazed little group of trick-or-treaters. "I guess we should get them back to their parents," she said.
"Yeah. It seems like everybody is—" Xander broke off, his eyes going anxiously around the room. "Where's Willow?" He realized suddenly that he hadn't seen her leave. That he hadn't seen her at all, in fact, since he'd snapped out of his spell.
Streets of Sunnydale
"So," Buffy said looking at her sister as she, Dawn and Angel walked down the alley away from the warehouse. "You got a little taste of what my life is like."
"Yep," Dawn said. "And just so you know I still want to help you when I get older. You shouldn't have to go through that alone."
"She's right, Buffy," Angel agreed. "In fact, it might not hurt for her to get in some training now." Buffy looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Not to actually go out and patrol now. But so, she can defend herself should the need arise."
Buffy nodded as she looked at Dawn and smiled. "I guess he's right. You could use some self-defense lessons just in case your caught out alone or with mom without me."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Willow wasn't sure what had happened either. One minute she'd been standing with the others back in the warehouse, but now she was coming back to consciousness on Mrs. Parker's front porch, lying there underneath a sheet.
Groggily, she pushed the costume away. It took a few seconds for her head to clear, to get to her feet and stand up again. She felt alive, at least. Back in her own body and in one piece.
Willow looked down at the sheet and started to throw it over her head.
And then she stopped.
With a boldness that was new to her, she tossed the sheet aside and strode off across the yard.
Summers Home
Buffy came out of Dawn's room, having tucked her sister in. She walked into her own room and sat down hard on her bed, Angel closing the door behind her. She wished he weren't there, and buried her head in her hands, letting out several long, deep breaths. After a second silent tears came, and Angel sat next to her, patting her back.
"What's wrong?" he asked quietly.
She hiccupped. "Nothing," she said. Angel looked unconvinced. "It's just—the stupid costume spell. For a couple of hours, I was a real girl." Not only did she have the memories of being a real girl while in her own body, Dawn had told Giles she consented to her memories of when Buffy had possessed her being given to Buffy. So, Buffy had two sets of memories from tonight of being a girl. "And now I'll never—" She cried harder, hiding her face.
"You've always been a real girl," Angel said reminding her of what he had said just a month earlier. He took her hand and with his other he took her chin and wiped away her tears. "Whatever your body looks like doesn't make a difference. It's what's on the inside, remember?"
Buffy looked up at him and smiled, sniffling. "I know," she said. "I know that, I do. And honestly, I usually just have so much going on that I don't have time to think about what it could've been like, you know? How much easier my life would be if I had just been—born right! But this was just—" she shook her head. "It's still hard. My life is deception on lies on deceit, and I just wish…" She hung her head. "I'm being stupid."
"You're not being stupid," Angel said. "With the exception of your friends and Dawn, everyone else is. I wish the world was better for you. I'd make everyone understand if I could. So would Dawn, I'm sure."
Buffy nodded knowing that Dawn would do everything she could to make everyone understand. Even though Dawn kept saying she wanted to help her in her role as the Slayer, she was sure that when Dawn grew up, she would be an activist for LGBT rights.
"You're so brave, Buffy, and so amazing." Angel squeezed her hand. "I love you just the way you are."
She sighed and leaned into him. "I love you too, Angel."
He kissed her shoulder. They sat in silence together for a long time.
Author's Note: The mention of Snyder looking like a Ferengi is a nod to his actor from the show. Armin Shimerman who played Snyder also played Quark on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
