Spellbound I - Learning to Fly

by Katherynne the Great

Set during BtVS Season 4, Episode 10: Hush in a slight AU. When sparks fly between two Wiccans, Sunnydale will never be the same again...

1. Chapter 1

Spellbound I: Learning to Fly

Chapter One: The Spark Within

Greetings to my fellow readers and aspiring writers! This series is what I think could and ideally should have happened in a slight Alternate Universe in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 4, Episode 10: Hush. This entire series revolves mainly around my favorite couple of all time, Willow Rosenberg and Tara Maclay. This is their story...

DISCLAIMER!: This is a work of fanfiction using characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created and produced by Joss Whedon (1997-2003). I do NOT claim ownership for any of these characters nor the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The series I tell here about these characters is my own invention, and it is not intended or believed to be part of JW's story line, and as such, this series is strictly for entertainment only!

Be warned that this series is M-rated and some chapters will have adult content! I'll be sure to post a warning before a chapter as needed.

Please leave feedback as it's always appreciated!

—

"This is where it all begins. Everything starts here, today." - David Nicholls

Rating: PG-13

December 7th, 1999

Somewhere in the universe...

Time's up.

The fragile balance between the bloodthirsty demons born in the Mouth of Hell and the ordinary human race within the infinite cosmos has collapsed.

The world is in danger.

In another ashen-tinged universe not far away, two ethereal souls came more into focus. Destiny blessed the lost drifting forms with the Power of Love.

For this unusual phenomenon, The Powers That Be summoned a messenger for this daunting task. The ethereal woman was surrounded by a halo-like aura that radiated all the known light and warmth within the universe. Her towering presence commanded authority and the utmost respect.

In her booming voice, she spoke to the two lonely essences seemingly chasing the other in a synchronized dance they've known for their entire life.

"In this lifetime, you will meet the one. As soulmates, you have been equally blessed with the Power of Love, and with this ability, you will change the history of your world forever. You will unite an unlikely force the world has ever seen, and you will save the universe from being plunged into a second darkness. This precious gift shall not be taken lightly, for a bond of constant trust and love must be maintained throughout the rest of your lifetime. May you always find your way to each other and may nothing separate you, not even in death."

The messenger vanished just as suddenly as she appeared while the glorious dream continued to unfold: a strikingly beautiful face with gorgeous honey-hued tresses covering the figure's features.

As it was finally made out, piercing blue eyes opened abruptly.

—

Willow Rosenberg awoke with a sudden start.

Her shallow breathing had begun to even out as jade green eyes blinked rapidly to picture her quaint surroundings.

For as long as she could remember, the hacker had the constant flashing images of blonde in a sky-blue setting that gorgeously colored the otherwise dullishly grey landscape.

Recently though, they've been appearing almost daily now with increasing vivid intensity, especially more so since the 'Vamp Willow' incident about nine months ago.

'Of course, how could I ever forget my evil, skanky, and totally gay vampire twin from another alternate universe? I am most definitely none of those things!'

Every so often in the constantly thinking mind of the unusually intelligent hacker, the recent image of a human face seemed to be more than a mere dream:

It was an epiphany.

Willow rose slightly in the darkened room and shifted to her left to focus her blurry gaze at the alarm clock. Digital envy-green numbers blared out 6:13 a.m.

'Why am I always up at 6:13?'

Groaning internally about being up exactly forty-seven minutes before her alarm was supposed to wake her, Willow laid back down to catch some more shut eye as she closed her eyes to think about the dream again. It was the most intense one she had yet.

It wasn't that Willow minded the dreams. In fact, she thoroughly enjoyed them. Every time she experienced the blonde and blue flashes, she was always left so... content. It was always a wonderful day whenever she had those dreams.

Although, it constantly baffled the redhead on how much she continuously tried to focus on that particular flash; just as she could make out a clear image, the dream vanishes like a candlelight and Willow would have a calm, dreamless sleep for the rest of that night.

No matter when it disappeared, she still felt great joy whenever she woke up.

However, a small thought, like always, wormed it way into the young woman's mind.

'Why am I having these dreams? What could it possibly mean? Is it a sign that something is going to happen? Do I even really need to worry? Oh damnit, did I leave my laptop on all night again? What's for breakfast-?'

"Wait, what?" Willow groggily called out in the dorm room as the overhead fluorescent light was suddenly turned on, instantly causing the redhead to instinctively hiss and skitter under the comforter from the harsh brightness.

Her only roommate, Buffy Summers, was famously known in Sunnydale as the Vampire Slayer: one who fought and vanquished the forces of evil to keep the world safe from darkness. She and Willow have been best friends since the blonde arrived at Sunnydale in their early sophomore year of high school and they always had the other's back when it came to fighting demons, offering advice with troubled relationships, and solving ludicrous mathematical equations that shouldn't even belong at a high school level.

However, in a dormitory living situation at the University of California at Sunnydale... said roommate was actually infamously known for no common courtesy.

"I said- what's for breakfast? A Slayer's gotta eat you know?" the pacing blonde was busy throwing on a last-minute outfit of faded skinny jeans and a lavender peasant blouse to impress her currently potential boy toy.

'Ah... Riley Finn of course.'

As much as Willow was happy for her best friend having a 'born-and-raised-in-Iowa-and-what-a-good-boy' as a potential boyfriend, who was indeed not a vampire, why couldn't the eternally noisy Slayer just let the redhead sleep in today for once?

"Buff- do you have to be so energetic in the morning? Even better, can you let me sleep for like ten more minutes?" Willow groused while still hiding under her warm and soft blankets.

Buffy pouted and moved over to Willow's side of the room, hands over her petite hips.

"Come on, Will! The faster we go eat, the faster I can meet my potential man-candy!" she whined before pulling Willow's covers off causing an instant glare in the Slayer's direction as the bumbling girl scrambled back to the vanity to apply mascara.

Willow groaned again while rolling her eyes in slight amusement and mostly annoyance from her best friend's antics. Sometimes, Buffy really did have a one-track mind.

Willow suddenly got an ingenious idea as revenge for the Slayer for waking her up so ungodly early, "Wouldn't it be funny if he's a vampire?" Willow snickered, which was met with another heavy Slayer pout.

"I swear to god, Willow! You better not be serious! I have had enough undead dates to become Penelope from the Underworld!" Buffy shot back irately from the vanity mirror.

Willow raised an eyebrow, "You mean Persephone?"

"Whatever, Will. Same diff," Buffy absently replied while applying the finishing touches of her cherry pink lip gloss.

Willow opened her mouth to make a dry retort, but decided against it and closed her mouth again. She then thought about the dream again, and just couldn't seem to shake off the feeling that something big was going to happen.

Finally sighing in defeat that she can't go back to bed, the redhead stripped out of her pajamas and mentally whooped in victory as she scored a three-pointer with tossing her dirty clothes into the huge laundry basket.

'All the years of shooting hoops with Xander in my synagogue has finally paid off.'

The hacker then took out her outfit of the day, consisting of olive colored cargo pants, a long-sleeved pink blouse, and heavily worn white sneakers that have long since been encrusted with old demon blood, vampire dust, and god knows what else. Willow then groaned when she realized that she didn't even study for today's organic chemistry test.

'Since when do I forget to study?! I wonder if-'

"Will, don't you have that um... Wicca thing today?" the blonde inquired a totally spaced-out hacker while Buffy laid out the various jackets on her disheveled bed to try on.

'Oh crap! I forgot about that too!'

"Uh... yeah, I do..." the redhead sighed as she scratched her head in annoyance. The slight grousing got Buffy's attention as she then noticed the redhead's frown.

"What's with the long face?"

The hacker could only shrug as she shifted her gaze toward the window, "Well to be honest, we're not really covering anything even remotely related to magic and stuff. All they do is talk about the mystical essence of cinnamon and watching Sabrina the Teenage Witch out of all things," Willow appeared deflated the more she spoke about the so called "Daughters of Gaia" Wicca group.

The Slayer quirked an eyebrow in response.

"Sabrina?"

Willow sighed once more as she shrugged her shoulders again, "I mean, not that I am ever going to judge an all-female group for that, because hello, Melissa Joan Hart... but it would be nice to float something bigger than a pencil, you know?" the hacker remarked with more than a hint of frustration.

The irritation coming from the redhead immediately gave Buffy a great idea, "Well... you know there's a frat party tonight at Lowell House. Riley's going to be there. And... and Graham will be there too!"

"Graham?" the hacker questioned.

"You know- Riley's friend! He seems nice and smart. So your type. And he's really cute! Hell, I might go out with him if Riley doesn't work out..." the Slayer mused out loud before turning around to finish straightening her thick blonde mane.

'Oh.'

It was then obvious that Buffy mistook Willow's general dissatisfaction with life for a more... intimate one.

'God, I definitely don't want to deal with that right now.'

"Um, Buffy... while I appreciate the 'get-Willow-out-of-her-comfort-zone-and-make-her-mingle shebang'... I still... I still need time..." Willow glanced downward in shame as she finished her sentence in an almost inaudible whisper had it not been for the Slayer's heightened hearing.

'Has it really been that long since he...'

Willow instantly stopped the blooming thought as thinking about her ex-boyfriend had a strong grip on the hacker when she once again struggled to maintain her sudden volatile emotional state.

The Slayer stopped jumbling with the various articles of clothing as she heard Willow's subtle distress. She noticed the all too familiar glassy eyes and went over to comfort the hacker as the blonde sat next to Willow and rubbed the redhead's back for support.

"Is this about… Oz?" she gently inquired, knowing how much her best friend was still hurt from his abrupt departure. The Slayer herself hadn't quite yet forgiven the young werewolf for his previous misdeeds and the emotional damage that Willow had since suffered.

To Willow, it was difficult to even think about the reddish-haired man. Despite being heartbroken, Oz's treacherous cheating still gave the hacker the emotional equivalent of rough salt rubbing into an oozing wound. Whether the musician had the wolf inside him or not, cheating was not something that can just be swept under the carpet.

What's more, Willow's lingering hurt and pain always had that shattered trust with the razor sharp image of him and that other werewolf Veruca naked together that overshadowed her grief. There was always that one doubt manifesting in her head since then that maybe... she was an inadequate lover after all.

Of course, not even a year ago, Oz and Cordelia had caught her and Xander kissing each other due to the homecoming "fluke"... so perhaps the wolf was just an excuse to "get back" at the hacker.

'Poetic justice, much?'

"I mean, how can I not? Oz was my first boyfriend... and my first... everything. But after the whole Veruca thing... and him leaving... I don't know what to do. And... and I wish I could. I just feel... helpless," Willow was sniffling and trying so hard not to cry yet again this past week from the painful reminder.

'Easier said than done.'

However, Oz had not contacted her or any of the Scoobies since his abrupt departure almost three months ago. Willow's many letters to him were still in a small worn cardboard box underneath the redhead's bed, as if she was waiting for a response from her ex-boyfriend to just magically appear.

"Buffy... I'm gonna be alright. Really, I will. I just need a little more time, that's all," Willow wiped the tears away as her resolve face came back into full force and gave a little grin to the Slayer.

"Well, there you go! Soon, you'll be back to your normal self!" Buffy cheerfully responded as she stood up and began to try on the last of her jackets.

Willow raised an eyebrow to the Slayer's unusual cheeriness, "Uh, I don't think babbling like a spaz while floating pencils is considered normal in the real world, Buff."

The Slayer turned to her best friend with the widest grin on her face.

"Come on, Willow! It's the year 1999! The weirdos are in!" Buffy declared while pulling Willow into a tight hug.

The redhead giggled while returning her best friend's embrace. Sometimes, facing the hordes of demons and vampires was way easier to deal with than exposing the vulnerable walls that only a lifetime of parental apathy and classmate bullying could build. It was always nice to have a best friend who could also kick ass and save the world like Buffy Summers.

Even if sometimes, she did have a one track mind...

—

'Why is this haunting me now?'

At the first crack of dawn, a blonde woman was trying to snag the last vestiges of yet another restless night. Since she was a young girl, she always had the flashes of red and green teasing her soul and it served as a faint reminder that perhaps there was still something worth living in this horrid world.

The morning rays of sunlight pierced the murky windows and with no choice, she rose out of the vast bed to prepare for the day as she stretched the various aches and pains in her scarred body. A quick glance in the mirror revealed ashy blonde tangles requiring a massive amount of brushing and the need for concealer to hide the usual darkening circles underneath vividly blue eyes.

A faded yellow note was taped to the mirror that she didn't recall seeing up there and carefully ripped the tape off the frame. She couldn't help but wear a tiny grin on her face as the tape was stuck to a sticky note with a crude drawing of a UFO and an alien waving back at her, as if realizing the irony of the situation. Upon further inspection, she inwardly chuckled at her old roommate's chicken scratch as she read the note to herself:

Yo Tara! Thought you find my little drawing cute. Know you got that Wicca group meeting today. Let's fire one up tonight! Can't wait to see your latest art project! Love ya always girl!

Tina :)

The friendly note from her freshman roommate/current art therapy mentor brought a warmth to the blonde Wiccan before she felt the familiar sadness bringing her down. She always reminisced about her mother every day and the life they both endured on the farm in her small hometown of Blue Springs, Alabama. It was a harsh eighteen years for the young woman as Tara often faced the angry hands of her big brother Donnie, and the equally stern apathy of her menacing father.

Tara was deep in thought about how often she practiced witchcraft in secret and the only one in Tara's family who supported her practicing craft was her mother, who had passed the gift on to her little girl. Linda Maclay was a great witch of her generation, and though she fell into the dark magics once upon a time, she had since learned her lesson and did her absolute best to teach her young daughter that magic was a precious gift and to never use it frivolously or against another life... for even with good intentions, the magic would consume a user until there was nothing left.

Shortly before her mother passed, Tara confessed to her that she could only love a woman. The sickly elder Maclay, of course, knew long before the shy blonde could even grasp the knowledge of love as Linda gently held Tara's shaking hand in affection and encouragement.

"You'll find her someday, my little Tara. And she'll find you..."

Linda Maclay finally embraced the sweet relief of death from the sickness of residual dark magic that had long ravaged her vulnerable body. The grieving daughter bawled her heart out that night in relief that her mother was suffering no longer, and great fear swept through the blonde as she realized that she was no longer protected by the rest of her "family." She just couldn't do this any longer...

'Momma, please guide me for today in that I can use my gift for the greater good.'

In the present day, Tara mentally shook her head to clear the haunting memories. There was no point in reminiscing on the old days when she was finally a free woman.

And she was going to make damn sure that it stayed that way.

—

At the Rocket Café, Buffy was already consuming her third round of pancakes while Willow barely touched her plate. She never much cared for pancakes unless they were made from scratch.

This was after a middle school mishap that had resulted in greenish-tinted pancakes with black burn spots and had since made Willow flee the scene like a bat out of hell whenever any mention of cooking was involved.

"Geez, Buff... you got somewhere to be?" the hacker smirked at Buffy's rapid eating.

Buffy glared at the redhead before suddenly gaining a fabulously evil idea at Willow's retort, "It's not my fault that we only have exactly three and a half minutes before we're counted late to Professor Walsh's class," the Slayer finished her sentence with a large air of smugness.

Willow's widening eyes of horror said it all.

"What?! Oh no! We gotta get to class!" The hacker panicked as she hurriedly finished her breakfast before taking off in a rush to the professor's class all the way on the other side of campus.

Buffy snickered at the sight of a disheveled Willow.

'God, Willow's gonna be so mad at me when she finds out we're going to be forty five minutes early.'

As Willow unwittingly threw her garbage in the recycle bin and accidentally bumped into a highly startled Graham who barely uttered a "Hey..." before the redhead scurried off again, Buffy smiled widely.

'Worth it.'

—

As Willow rushed down the hallway out toward the campus grounds, she almost crashed into a nearby blonde girl, and yelled out a "Sorry! Late to class!" while the hacker kept galloping toward the other side of the campus. The shy blonde was mesmerized by the speeding redhead.

"Who was that g-girl?" Tara whispered in immense awe before realizing she spoke her thoughts out loud and blushed profusely as she received a few odd stares.

Meanwhile, a sauntering Buffy had the widest evil grin on the planet.

"Can't wait to see the look of Willow's face when she finds out we're early," the petite blond wickedly snickered while making a 'shush' noise with her hand, instantly causing Tara to giggle at Buffy's "evil" plot before they parted ways.

As the shy girl made her way to her human anatomy lab, she couldn't stop thinking about the fiery-haired bombshell named Willow.

Damn, she was not going to focus today. And yet, she simply couldn't blame this Willow for her already infatuated mindset.

'Willow. What a pretty name.'

—

"Hi, Will!" Buffy cheerfully skipped over to the out-of-breath and now seething redhead as Willow instantly gave the Slayer a death glare.

"That was not funny, Buffy."

Buffy just laughed at Willow's impassioned answer, "Oh, but it was! You shoulda seen the look on your face!"

The blonde plopped over the huddled redhead who seemed to be typing something discreet on her laptop, "Whatca' writing?" Buffy began to peek before Willow slammed the computer shut.

"God, Buff! Does privacy mean anything to you?" Willow rolled her eyes while hiding a small grin.

"Absolutely not. So, is it a love letter? I didn't know you had it in you!" the Slayer covered her mouth in mock shock.

"No!" Willow's impassioned answer made the Slayer's eyebrows raise a tad, "I wish..." the hacker sighed.

Buffy scooted a little closer to the still noticeably miffed redhead, "I'm still saying you should go to that party tonight."

"Why? And make an ass outta myself with my awkwardness? That'll impress somebody real quick," Willow rolled her eyes exasperatedly.

"You never know, Will! Someone could literally crash into you and before you know it, love at first sight," Buffy grinned as she made goo-goo eyes at the ceiling.

Willow raised her eyebrow as a tiny snort escaped the hacker's lips, "You totally need a life outside of slaying and reading those romance novels, Buffy."

"And you need to get laid," Buffy simply retorted.

The hacker's jaw dropped open before shaking her head at the blonde's reply.

'Got me good, didn't you? Just wait, I'm not gonna fall for anyone here.'

"So, uh... what were you writing?" Buffy's voice became serious again.

Willow sighed again. Buffy was just not going to let the issue drop.

"A letter to Oz..." was all the hacker could mumble in a wavering tone before deeply exhaling the bated breath.

Buffy then rubbed the hacker's back in support, "Another one?" she inquired with no judgement in her tone.

Willow nodded her head before frowning, "Maybe I should stop. It's been what- a hundred days now? - since I last heard from him. I guess I should take the hint, huh?" the redhead leaned into her own hands in self-frustration and much guilt.

"It's gonna be alright, Will. No matter how bad something is, something good will always come out of it," Buffy beamed as her advice seemed to be taken to heart with the hacker.

Willow smiled a little, "You're right. Thanks, Buff..." as the Slayer squeezed her best friend again in a warm embrace.

"That's what best friends are for!"

Time quickly sped up for the two girls as more of their classmates began making their way to the giant lecture room. A quick, sharp inhale from Buffy meant that Riley was jumbling the professor's keys to unlock the class.

Willow made eye contact with the teaching assistant. Upon feeling someone's gaze, Riley turned to face Willow's stare. A quick raise of the man's eyebrows was met with a subtle nod of Willow's head toward Buffy's general direction.

Riley got the message and took a deep breath, "Ah! So, uh Buffy, are you ready for class?"

"I like cheese!"

Was all but shouted as Buffy immediately blurted out as she only partially understood the man's sentence. The resulting statement had the man more confused than ever and approximately twenty pairs of eyeballs staring their way at a now flustered Slayer.

'What the hell, Buffy?'

Willow instantly groaned to herself as she rolled her eyes before face palming at her once again fruitless attempt to set the two up.

'Why do I even bother?!'

Willow then nudged a still embarrassed blonde and gave her a thumbs up to cheer up the Slayer despite her mistake. Buffy sheepishly smiled as they helped each other stand and make their way into the blistering chilly lecture room, because "one has to be able to tolerate uncomfortable conditions if one should focus in my class," as Dr. Maggie Walsh had so ever so bluntly put it when the Slayer asked why it was always freezing in the room.

Soon, the rest of the freshmen began to take up the spots in Dr. Walsh's class while chatting amiably. A moment later, the professor herself entered the room and the lecture hall fell into immediate dead silence.

"Good morning, everyone," her tight-lipped smile conveyed anything but pleasant as she already began scribbling the day's lesson onto the old chalkboard.

"Good morning, Dr. Walsh..." the class responded with an almost instant obedience for they never wished to invoke the ire of the professor. The stern woman had the scarily rare gift of keeping her class silent with zero effort on her part.

Willow glanced to her right to see her best friend already dozed off in the wooden seat. Shaking her head as she tried to nudge the Slayer awake with a few pen jabs before deciding to doodle a little smiley face with a stuck out tongue on the blonde's exposed arm, Willow finally conceded in defeat as she rolled her eyes while beginning to take notes on the upcoming final exam.

Once again, the Slayer had fallen asleep in Dr. Walsh's class- a dangerous task indeed, for the wrath of a certain psych professor was not to be taken lightly...

—

The last rays of the afternoon sun poured into the class, black lighting the students and washing the professor's face in rich amber as she spoke with an air of reverence. Buffy sat near the front, by Willow's eager scribbling. For some reason Riley stood by the side of the class appearing... on edge... as if he was furious at the professor... and at the world.

"So, this is what it is. Talking about communication, talking about language. Not the same thing. It's about the way a child can recognize and produce phonemes that don't occur in its native language..." the professor paused for a moment to grant her students the privilege of writing brief notes of today's lecture.

She continued, using her aged hands to convey her articulate speech, "It's about inspiration, not the idea but the moment before the idea when it's total, when it blossoms in your mind and connects to everything, before the coherent thought that gives it shape, that locks it in and cuts it off from the universal. When you can articulate it, it becomes smaller. It's about thoughts and experiences that we don't have a word for."

Dr. Walsh paused again, this time needing an example to actually instill the lesson to her students, "A demonstration. Buffy Summers."

The Slayer was stunned as she looked around her.

'Me?'

The professor gave a small smile at Buffy's hesitation, "Thank you for volunteering. Come down to the front here."

After much pause, Buffy approached the professor and stood by her, awaiting further orders before the elder woman then grasped Buffy's shoulders with an unnatural chill, making the Slayer feel highly uncomfortable.

"A typical college girl, one assumes," she called out to her class before turning to face the Slayer, "Lie down on my desk," she ordered to an unsure blonde.

Did Buffy hear her correctly?

"What?"

The professor gently shook her head, "Go ahead. You're perfectly safe."

"Oh..." was all the Slayer could whisper out.

Despite her embarrassment and some titters from the class, Buffy obeyed the professor's strange request and laid on her back, with elbows propped up as she waited for the next instruction.

Maggie turned her head at her best student to give a nod, "Riley. If you could oblige?"

The teaching assistant had moved from his spot, and seemed quietly angry at the professor, "A demonstration, right?"

Dr. Walsh gently admonished the young man, "Be a good boy," as Riley moved to around the back of the desk, standing by a now flustered Slayer.

"A kiss is just a kiss; I believe the line goes. The rest comes from you," Maggie declared to the class while Buffy and Riley look at the other in confused apprehension.

"This feels very strange," Buffy looked anywhere but at her crush as she felt more than a little uncomfortable with this particular demonstration.

Riley flashed a disarming smile meant to put the Slayer at ease, "Don't worry. If I kiss you, it'll make the sun go down."

He took her in his arms and in front of a sea of ogling students, they finally closed the gap as they kissed.

Just as the kiss was beginning to deepen, the light changed. The sun had gone down rapidly. As Buffy finally pulled away, it was suddenly dark; moonlight being the only illumination in the empty class.

"See?" the teaching assistant motioned toward the lecture hall and its seemingly infinite emptiness.

Buffy's weary features carried a tight smile, "Fortune favors the brave..."

She stood up as Riley glanced at their bodies. He turned to her before she put her hand up.

Something was here. And they were not alone.

Very faintly, the sound can be made out. The noise seemed to have come from a little girl, humming tunelessly to herself.

"Do you hear that?" Buffy frowned as she cautiously exited the classroom. Riley watched her go before grinning to himself.

"Along came a spider..."

Buffy moved slowly through the atrium toward the hall, led by the increasingly loud humming, which turned to become a nursery rhyme of some sort:

"Can't even shout.
Can't even cry.
The Gentlemen are coming by.
Looking in windows,
knocking on doors...
They need to take seven
and they might take yours..."

Buffy turned the corner and saw the girl standing facing her at the other end of the hall. The little girl continued to sing the steadily creepy tune before Buffy noticed something in the girl's hands: a perfectly small square box, carved out of immaculate wood.

"Can't call to mom.
Can't say a word.
You're gonna die screaming
but you won't be heard..."

Riley came out as well wearing a worried expression on his face. He went to Buffy and reached silently out to her before gently placing a hand on the Slayer's shoulder.

Buffy was highly confused but she shook her head to look back just in time-

A hideously stark white face with a massively wicked grin.

—

Buffy instantly sat up in the class more awake and alert than ever.

"So, I'll see you all Monday for a final review session," Dr. Walsh concluded the end of her class period, as the class busted about to grab their belongings and quickly file out of the large lecture room while Buffy was sluggishly getting her bearings from the dream flashes showing snippets of uber weird domain.

'Ok... add that to the list of wonderful-dream-that-somehow-went-into-ultra-creepy-nightmare-like-always territory I never want to experience again.'

Willow finished depositing her books into her worn messenger bag and didn't notice Buffy's doubtful face, "Boy, that was an exciting class, huh?"

The Slayer was distracted and only picked up the last bit of Willow's overly eager sentence regarding the lesson.

"Oh yeah. Wow..." she brushed off the comment as she kept trying to contemplate the meaning of the so-called Gentlemen.

"And that last twenty minutes- it was a revelation. Just laid out everything we needed to know for the final. I'd hate to have missed that," Willow's ecstatic statement had the Slayer silently chuckle.

'That's Will for ya, ladies and gentlemen. Always the eager beaver when it came to learning.'

Buffy then immediately frowned at falling asleep in Professor Walsh's class again. How on earth does she not get caught?

"Just tell me I didn't snore," she shuddered the thought to the hacker.

"You were very discreet. Minimal drool," Willow answered with an inconspicuous hand motion.

"Oh, yay."

They finally departed the classroom and rounded the corner to walk to the student center, "So, were you dreaming?" Willow finally noticed the many thoughts that Buffy was showing on her face.

The blonde shook her head at the vivid dream... and the frightening monster. What the hell was that?

"Yeah, it was kind of intense..."

Riley chose the moment to fold in behind the women, figuring he could put in his own two cents, "Intense? Really? 'Cause you seemed so peaceful," the burly fellow offered a warm smile to an increasingly blushing Slayer.

Buffy was slightly embarrassed at the handsome man's unflinching attention, "Of course it was only for a moment that-"

Riley waved his hand in genuine friendliness, "Right. Hey, you guys headed toward Judd?" he motioned his head toward the door as the three of them continued to walk throughout the quad.

"Student center," Buffy responded nonchalantly.

Riley smiled again at Buffy's answer, "Great! So, this dream..." he decided to tease the gorgeous blonde a little bit more.

Willow, sensing to give the two of them some alone time, stopped and waved her hand, "You know, you guys go, I'm gonna do the thing," she grinned widely at her best friend finally able to have some happiness in her life again, "I'll see you after the Wicca group. Bye," she waved to Buffy before departing.

"'Kay," Buffy smiled at Willow's intuition while an eager Riley waved back and closed his greeting with a warm "Bye".

As Buffy and Riley continued onward, Willow had a slight smirk as she snuck over to the arched window from the atrium to the hall to peek out at her favorite couple to be.

"So, tell me about your dream. As a psych major, I'm qualified to go Hmm..." Riley's handsome appearance once again caught the Slayer off guard but she was determined to tease the man just a little bit more.

"I don't remember it all..." Buffy's smile conveyed anything but innocence to the teaching assistant and the man couldn't help a wider grin crack his face.

Riley gently nudged the Slayer, "Well, did I appear at all in this dream?"

"There may have been a cameo..." Buffy teased the professor's assistant and it only made Riley want to play their little back-and-forth game just a tad more.

"Is that right?" the towering soldier questioned while trying to hide his insecurity. Buffy honestly seemed like the perfect girl for him and he never felt as happy as he did now when he was able to glance at the blonde's genuine smile.

As they passed the arched window, the potential couple never noticed a certain Willow very subtly holding a worn Computers and You textbook in front of her face.

Buffy continued to up the ante with her flirtations, "Maybe more like a featured role, actually."

It simply felt wonderful to be able to move on in her love life after Angel had ultimately left the Slayer "for her own good" as he not so subtly put it. The elder vampire was never particularly great at expressing his emotions, but he thought it be better for them both in the long run if they parted ways.

Perhaps after all this time, or maybe it was the sheer irony of the situation, a Slayer and a vampire could simply never live happily ever after.

Riley pulled Buffy out of her churning thoughts, "A romantic lead?" the man wiggled his eyebrows as he easily flirted with his crush.

Buffy blushed for a moment and looked away shyly before meeting the man's gaze with a hint of a smirk, "I'm not saying any more."

As they finally exited the building, Willow dropped the book and looked out after them with self-satisfaction.

'Operation Get-Buffy-and-Riley-Together is a total success, ladies and gentlemen! Now accepting any and all applications for Get-Oz-Back-To-Willow.'

Willow frowned a little at her sudden thought about her ex-boyfriend and was momentarily saddened from the grief before she shook her head and trudged to her final class of the day.

Meanwhile, Buffy and Riley had exited the lecture building and were walking down the sidewalk side by side before Riley decided to make the first move.

"So, what have you got going on tonight?" the sun-kissed man inquired as he felt more and more pulled to the gorgeously spunky blonde.

"Oh, patrolling," Buffy drawled without putting too much thought about her sentence.

Riley's features turned to utter confusion, "Patrolling?"

Buffy glanced to her right and the man's slightly raised eyebrows had instantly pulled her out of her little Riley-filled daydreams.

'Shit!'

"Uh, petroleum..." the Slayer trailed off lamely, feeling already horrible for lying to this seemingly decent man.

Riley didn't seem to buy it, "Petroleum?"

His skepticism made the blonde even more nervous than before. But she quickly covered the white lie with a tiny grin.

"Uh-huh!"

Her dazzling smile always had such a wondrous effect on the soldier as he released a small chuckle, "Tonight you have crude oil."

Buffy's plan had worked and she internally exhaled a great relief, "And homework..." the Slayer sighed wistfully at she cringed at the vast amount of work she had to finish tonight before tacking on, "what about you?"

Riley mused to himself for a brief moment as he felt the weight of Buffy's question sink in to him. How was he supposed to tell her that he's part of an underground military organization who's entire purpose was to hunt down demons and perform unethical experiments on them?

'Yeah, that'll go over real well...'

Still, Buffy had no reason to lie, right?

And there was no need to reveal his secret.

Not yet anyway.

"Oh, you know, grading papers..." he trailed off not really sure what else to say to the petite woman.

The Slayer turned her head at the man and barely caught the tail end of his statement, "Well, that'll be fun."

Riley cracked a minuscule grin, "Not 'petroleum' fun, but it passes the time..." as the Slayer blushed hotly at hearing the mirthful tone.

They finally stopped by the wall, and the pair had truly locked eyes for the first time.

Buffy was the first to say something, "So I'll..." she trailed off as the blonde dropped her gaze to the man's lips.

Riley had noticed the eye drop, for he couldn't stop staring at the blonde's lips as well, "I guess I won't see you till..."

"Yeah..."

They aren't aware of the closeness, as they kept leaning subtly forward toward the other's lips...

A sudden thought pulled Buffy out of her trance-like state, "What papers?"

Riley immediately opened his eyes.

"Papers?"

Buffy didn't let up on the issue and was slightly confused on what other homework she might have missed, "Um... grading, what papers? There's just the final coming up."

Riley finally got the hint, "Oh. Yeah..." he sighed about having to lie again before he continued, "Um, no. No, some late... papers I gotta look at."

Buffy had seemed to accept this, "Oh. Ok. Neat."

"Right. So..." Riley frowned at completely blowing a potential moment with his crush and internally cursed himself for his own ineptitude.

Buffy inwardly face-palmed as she too had totally ruined the moment between her and Riley, "Class."

"I'll see you then," Riley mused before the two parted toward their respective dorms, both completely unsatisfied by the closing.

'Dammit, Buffy...'

Buffy had taken a few steps away before muttering in displeasure, "Fortune favors the brave..." before rolling her eyes and sulking toward her intro to college algebra class. The brief flashes of her nightmare had the Slayer glance to a nearby phone booth.

'Need to make a quick phone call first...'

—

SMACK!

"Ow!" Xander Harris whined quite girlishly compared to his towering stature as he rubbed the back of his head, "What'd you do that for?"

Anya Jenkins placed her hands on her hips, lips curled in utter contempt. She was unhappy with her boyfriend and needed to voice her complaints immediately.

"You're not paying attention to me, Xander! I'm supposed to be the center of your world and everything! I'm not a cheap slut you can just use like this!"

Xander instantly raised his hands defensively, "Whoa! Hey! Where did I give you that idea?!"

The former vengeance demon shook her finger in a menacing direction toward the confused man, "Last night at approximately 9:37 when I said "Hey honey, let's try this new position where you'd dangle your-"

"Anya!" Xander sharply interrupted before adopting a gentler tone, "I told you I had a very long shift yesterday, and I didn't want to... you know... disappoint you or anything."

Anya of course took this the wrong way.

"So all I am to you is just sex?!"

Xander promptly placed his head in his hands. "That's literally not what I said, An..." his voice was barely made out over his hands covering his face.

"Alexander!"

Xander instantly stood up in great fear.

"Someone on the phone for ya! Hurry up boy! I don't have all goddamn day!"

Xander sighed in relief that only his mom was present in the house.

"Oh thank god, a welcomed distraction..." the dark-haired man muttered to himself, to which a seething Anya heard.

"Don't think I didn't hear that! And we are not finished with this conservation, mister!" she angrily shook her fist as her boyfriend trudged up the basement stairs.

Xander was currently ignoring his girlfriend's rant as he cautiously approached the kitchen, "What's up, mom?"

Jessica Harris was busy opening her fifth bottle of Miller Light today with a dented bread knife, "Some fancy asshat was callin' and askin' for ya. Don't know why anyone'd bother to call for your ungrateful ass in the first place..." she bared her teeth as the bottle cap refused to budge.

"Was it Giles?" Xander, by now used to his mother's ranting, inquired as gently as he could, knowing how quickly his mother could fly off the handle.

Which given the amount of rage the portly woman was putting into the stuck cap, it wasn't gonna be long.

Jessica finally managed to free her bottle as the cap flew off in a flash, denting yet another wall in the kitchen.

"I don't know and I don't fuckin' care! Just said for you to stop by his place. Got it?"

Despite being almost a foot shorter than Xander, Jessica's constant rage whenever she was sober enough had Xander cower in slight terror as he nodded vigorously. before swallowing audibly, "Got it. Message received."

Jessica snarled again as her ungrateful son shuffled back to the basement, "And don't forget to do the fuckin' dishes before you leave! They've been sitting out for the last five weeks! Ya goddamn freeloader..." she uttered venomously.

—

At a nearby affluent apartment complex, Rupert Giles sat at his table, chatting with his Slayer on the phone as he hastily scribbled notes with one hand, while the other kept a tight grip on his tarnished glass of single-malt scotch.

"Can't even shout, can't even cry... the Gentlemen are coming by..." the former Watcher mused as the Slayer recalled the dream to him.

"Um, it sounds vaguely familiar- you're sure you never heard this as a child?"

He continued to listen as he pulled a nearby tome to search for possible clues, "All right... and the girl was holding a box. Nothing else?"

The Slayer kept mentioning the monster from her dream, that it was unlike anything she'd ever seen before.

Giles was deep in thought. From what his Slayer relayed to him, the so-called Gentlemen, whoever it is, could present a possible threat.

Still, he didn't want Buffy to be all worried if it's only a nightmare and nothing else, "Well, it certainly could be one of your prophetic dreams, or it could just be the eternal mystery that is your brain. But I-I'll check it out and um, let you know if I come up with anything. Alright. B'bye..." Giles expressed his departing greetings before he hung up the phone and overlooked his extensive notes. He had never heard of such a group in his entire life, and he needed assistance from someone who's had considerable experience with the forces of darkness.

"Have you ever heard of a group called the Gentlemen?"

Moments later, Spike sauntered into the kitchen and was currently rummaging through some cupboards with his mouth stuffed with crackers.

"Group a what?" Spike was too busy trying to swallow all the cracker remnants with a loud crunching.

Giles sighed audibly, "The Gentlemen."

"Don't know 'em..." Spike kept ransacking throughout the kitchen.

Giles took off his glasses to polish them as usual, "You're certain?"

"No," the bleach blond vampire was too distracted to properly listen to Giles' question as a more important matter demanded the ex-Watcher's urgent attention.

"We're out of Weetabix."

Giles crossed over to the shelf behind his couch and rolled his eyes.

"We are out of Weetabix because you ate it all. Again."

Spike was less than pleased with this news.

"Get some more," he curtly replied while stuffing his mouth with more crackers. Giles wore an ever-curious expression on how unusual Spike's habits were regarding dietary and entertainment habits.

"You know, I thought vampires were supposed to drink blood."

Spike sauntered to the couch with his pile of crackers and promptly leapt over the couch to lay down.

"Yeah, well sometimes I like to crumble up the Weetabix in the blood. Gives it a little texture," the chipped vamp kept munching on his crackers as he expected the ex-Watcher to just get up and go to the store to pick up his groceries.

Giles instantly pulled an unimpressed and disgusted face, "Well, since the picture you've just painted means I will never touch food of any kind again, I'm afraid you'll have to pick it up yourself..." he tried not to shudder at the cursed image of blood curdling with the Weetabix swimming in his mind before he adjusted his highly polished frames on his rugged face.

Spike gave a little unseen smirk to the repulsed man.

"Sissy."

—

Meanwhile, Xander and Anya entered through the courtyard, heading for Giles' apartment.

However, the argument from earlier persisted.

"Again, I don't get where this is coming from," Xander shook his head in discontent at hearing his girlfriend's unceasing ranting for the last two hours.

The blond huffed while placing her hands at her hips, "Well, what am I supposed to think?"

"How can you say I'm "using" you?" he retorted with sheer bewilderment as they both stopped just outside Giles' door.

Anya sighed exasperatedly, "You don't care about what I think, you don't ask about my day..."

"You really did turn into a real girl, didn't you?" Xander had a tiny smirk on his lips which did not go unnoticed by Anya.

"See?" the ex-demon pointed it out as if it were obvious, "And you make jokes during my pain. You don't care about me at all..." Anya stomped her foot as she tried to hide the quivering in her tone.

The dark-haired man witnessed the minute distress in his girlfriend's brash attitude and made an effort to demonstrate how much he liked her.

"I do care about you," Xander's firm stance hoped that Anya would notice the rarely seen assertiveness in the man.

She wasn't buying it.

"How much?"

Xander was suddenly quite thrown by his girlfriend's question as he kept searching for an answer, further irritating the ex-demon as Anya then promptly demanded a truthful response, "What do I mean to you?"

"Well, I... we, you know, we spend... we'll talk about it later," he finished uncertainly before opening the door and scurried through to escape his steadily rising issues with commitment.

Anya, however, refused to drop it.

"I think we should talk about it now!"

Giles, by now used to his "children's'" severe lack of manners, gave the bickering couple the typical eyeroll, "Thank you for knocking-"

Xander ignored the ex-Watcher's snide remark as he continued deflecting the argument from him to his girlfriend, "If you don't know how I feel about-"

"I don't! This isn't a relationship." Anya all but bellowed to the large man, suddenly making him feel fragile.

"You don't need me! All you care about is lots of orgasms!" the ex-demon finished with a huff.

The argument died down just as quickly as it flared up. Giles was attempting to make himself appear busy despite the magenta hue brightening his cheeks while a stunned Spike rose from the couch, a half-eaten cracker still in his mouth, and simply raised an eyebrow at the quite odd couple.

Meanwhile, Xander admonished Anya as gently as he could while fighting the all too familiar blush considerably coloring his pale features, "Ok, remember when we talked about private conversations? And how they're less private when they're in front of my friends?"

Spike then smirked as he knew the monkey boy was in serious trouble now, "Oh, we're not your friends..." he seemed to have enjoy the awkward scene in front of him despite earning a hard glare from the dark-haired man.

"Go on," he egged a contempt Anya in an attempt to once again instigate trouble since he was no longer able to create chaos and mayhem with the bloody stupid government chip deeply embedded in his brain.

"Please don't," Giles practically begged the bickering couple to quit their useless arguing, more for his sake than anyone else's.

Anya stomped her foot as she whined, "But this is important!"

"Yes. But why is it here?" the ex-Watcher in frustration, wanting nothing more right now than utter peace and quiet.

Xander quickly got back on track, "Mom said you wanted me to swing by."

"Oh," Giles sputtered as he knew the three of them were not going to like what he was proposing, "Yes, well I meant after sundown. I need you to take Spike for a few days."

"What?!"

Xander, Spike, and Anya all but bellowed in immediate shock and frustration. Anya's features contorted in anger as Xander's jaw dropped open in total disbelief that Giles would even ask him this ludicrous request.

"I'm not staying with him!" Spike howled indignantly.

Giles was not having it.

"I have a friend who's coming to town, and I'd like for us to be alone."

Anya immediately knew the answer, "Oh, you mean an orgasm friend?" the ex-demon nonchalantly replied with a slight snark in her tone. At least someone was getting some tonight.

Giles closed his eyes in irritation of the ex-demon's complete lack of social norms, "Yes, that's exactly the most appalling thing you could have said."

"Worse than the blood in the Weetabix?" the chipped vamp retorted in a much more noticeable caustic tone while Anya's face wore an 'I just spoke the truth' expression.

Defeated, Giles sank back into his chair as everyone argued over each other.

"He's not roaming around," Xander snarled before crudely pointing at the vamp, "If he stays with me, he gets tied up again."

Anya was not happy with this compromise, "What about us? Our romantic evening?"

Spike wasn't having it either.

"I'm not having these two shag while I'm tied to a chair three feet away!"

"That's not exactly one of my fantasies either," Xander rolled his eyes as he huffed in disapproval.

This was the proof Anya needed.

"So, you're blowing off our evening. Because you don't care about me."

Xander knew how bad this must have looked to his girlfriend, "I don't want him to come over! Talk to the Brit!" he motioned to a defeated Giles not so subtly banging his head on the desk.

"He better have cable 'cause I'm not missing Passions," Spike refused to budge unless the monkey boy could meet his exact accommodations.

Meanwhile, the ex-Watcher finally stood up to pour himself yet another glass of scotch.

'This is just my life: my children bickering over a neutered vampire and talking about their sex lives, and all I wanted was just some bloody peace and quiet.'

—

Finished with her introduction to management information systems course for the day, Willow headed to the Fischer Hall student lounge for the Daughters of Gaia Wicca Group meeting. The crisp December air forced the hacker to button up her tawny leather jacket as she involuntarily shivered.

'I really hope we can practice some magic today. I've been dying to do some conjuring spells.'

It's been too long since casting her last spell that was somewhat beneficial. The most recent one where she accidentally almost killed her friends because of her own selfish reasons didn't exactly count.

The budding witch was also aching to do something productive besides constant studying and the occasional patrolling with the Slayer. Since Buffy was busy trying to pursue Riley, while her other best friend Xander was with Anya the ex-demon all the damn time, Willow honestly felt... kind of lonely. And being lonely equals depressing thoughts about Oz and her absentee parents and just life in general.

'Hmm... maybe I should give Cordelia a call...'

The irony that Willow thought about calling someone who she once considered her worst enemy... was not lost on her.

She glanced at the various papers on the student information board nearby and a harsh yellow card blared peer tutoring at the hacker's face.

'Hmm. Seven dollars an hour starting... not bad. I'll have to consider that. I always need more money for magic supplies. And school supplies. And food... supplies. Mind, why are you babbling in my head? Stop it.'

For the most part, Willow enjoyed being a top freshman at UCSD... it was how she was able to earn the coveted UC Sunnydale Presidential Scholarship for the ultra-demanding double major of computer science and computer engineering. She also received multiple acceptance letters from Harvard, Yale, and even Oxford earlier last summer based on her superior academic abilities.

But to her, it was more important that she stayed here in her hometown and help Buffy save Sunnydale, and the world in general, from the active Hellmouth underneath the library of a completely former and thankfully ruined Sunnydale High School.

Of course, that nasty argument with her parents, particularly her mother, stemmed from the thought that she wouldn't get far in life if she didn't go to Oxford, and hence would still be a waste of space in their house. If she didn't feel like a trophy daughter before, she felt like it now.

To this day, her mother's harsh words about "how low she has fallen since hanging around with that Bunny Summers" left a lingering bitter taste in the redhead's mouth.

—

"This is absolutely bullshit!"

Anya was seething that despite the vehement argument that literally shook Giles' apartment, Spike nevertheless still had to be dragged along with them.

Needless to say, the three of them were less than enthused about the outcome.

"Hey, I'm the one that has to deal with him! You get to go home to your apartment after this," Xander slapped a hand to his head in pure frustration.

Spike refused to be considered of being "dealt with".

"Uh, excuse me? Standing right here, you nit!"

Both Xander and Anya ignored Spike's incessant whining as they stared down hard at the other.

"Xander, don't you care about me?" Anya's outrage barely veiled the hurt laced in her voice.

The dark haired man noticed what was about to happen as he silently pleaded her not to go off in public. Again.

"I do! I really do. I've just been really busy with all this work, and please understand that I'm doing all of this for you."

Anya failed to understand the social cue as her bellowing was attracting more than a few curious stares, "But we never talk! All we do is just have lots of orgasms together! A relationship is more than just sex, no matter how good your penis is!"

Xander briefly closed his eyes and inwardly sighed.

'And she did it again anyway.'

Not bothering to cover his intense blushing, Xander begged for a quieter response, "An, please... we're in public and we have a guest. However unwelcoming..." he trailed off in thinly disguised disgust for the chipped vamp.

Spike put a hand to his heart in mock-shock, "I'm a guest? How bloody touching."

Anya ignored the vamp's snide comment as she glared at her boyfriend before she instantly sulked off.

"Where are you going?" Xander called off after her.

Anya plugged her ears with her fingers as she sung out loud in a totally off-key voice, "La la la, not listening to you!" before she turned the corner to her nearby apartment.

Xander could only watch helplessly before he placed his head in his callused hands.

Despite chaos and general mayhem being his favorite pastime, Spike began to feel a little uncomfortable with the extremely tense emotions in the air and he attempted to comfort the weary man as he set a pale hand on the burly man's shoulders with the barest touch.

"Don't worry about her, monkey boy. She'll come around the bend. More for shagging if anything else."

Xander raised his head and gave the vamp a withering death glare.

'Fuck my life.'

—

Willow arrived early as usual in the lounge and she sat in the first available empty chair. No one was here yet, save for one blonde girl, who Willow instantly recognized as the one she bumped into earlier.

To the redheaded witch, it almost looked like the other girl was trying to make herself as small as possible. The blonde was kneeling on a purple mat and had her eyes closed and murmuring a saying that Willow couldn't quite hear but was sure that she was praying for a miracle.

'Hmm... she looks so shy... and powerful...'

Willow stared a little longer than what was necessary for a stranger before shaking her head and resting her own eyes.

Within minutes, the majority of the shallow Wicca members joined the circle, greeting each other with an annoyingly optimistic yet fraudulent attitude, while obviously ignoring Willow and the other girl.

'Yep. Time to begin...'

Despite her best efforts, the hacker was having quite a difficult time trying to concentrate in the Wicca group. Of course, this was only the second meeting, but when would they actually get to the part about magic and spells and stuff? If she has to hear that damn blessing one more time, she'll do something... moderately rude.

The first Wicca, a curly ginger girl named Nicole, began the usual blessing, "We come together, Daughters of Gaia, sisters to the moon. We walk with the darkness, the wolf by our side. Through the waterfall of power, to the blackest heart of Eternity..."

'Come on, come on, come on...' Willow mentally rolled her eyes. Though the redhead was infamously known for her great impatience, this was truly frustrating for a budding witch such as herself and she honestly doesn't know how much longer this can go on without her babbling about how useless this "blessing" is and to actually get started with real spells.

The blessing concluded, Willow was just about to say something when-

"I think we should have a bake sale," Nicole finished with an upbeat note.

'Wait. What?'

All the wheels stopped turning in Willow's mind as she jerked her eyes open.

"I don't know..." a second girl mumbled uncertainly.

"I mean, you guys like a bake sale, right? We need money for the dance recital. And you know I do an empowering lemon bundt," Nicole inquired the crowd as a whole.

'Are you kidding me? A dance recital? This IS the Wicca group right? I for one wasn't aware of joining the Girl Scouts... or the adult equivalent of Girl Scouts rather.' Willow's mind continued to wander. The hacker wanted to practice defensive spells, create things out of magic, and just maybe learn how to dust a vamp without relying on Buffy as much.

Because she sure as hell didn't want to sell cookies... or any baked goods really, no matter how delicious those infamous thin mints were- she had enough of that crap from middle school.

'Empowering lemon bundt my butt. Well, it's really no wonder we haven't covered anything even remotely witchy, if all they are... are just wanna blessed-be's.'

Cheryl, the raven-haired leader of the group with the sharp face of a hawk, interceded, "The most important thing is the Gaia Newsletter. We need to get the message of blessing out to the sisters. Also, who left their scented candles dripping all over my womyn-power shrine?"

'Oh my god- who cares! I could care less about dance recitals and bake sales and newsletters. What. The. Hell.' Willow sighed mentally in frustration; this was truly a waste of time on her part.

'But would it hurt to ask about the spells? I swear if they give me any crap about finding myself...'

Willow finally decided to put in her two cents, "Well this is good, this is all fun... a bake sale, some baked goods... but there's also other stuff... that we might show interest in... as a Wicca group..."

Nicole and Cheryl eyed Willow suspiciously, as if this redhead brazenly challenged the 'Wiccan Way.'

Nicole gave a blank stare to the redhead as the ginger spoke almost hesitatingly, "Like what?"

"Well, there's the wacky notion of spells..." Willow began before she was rudely interrupted by Cheryl staring her down.

"Well, you missed last week, we did a healing chant for Brittany's ankle, she said the swelling went right down," Cheryl pointedly remarked.

"What was she doing on a mountain bike anyway?" an incredulous Nicole quizzed the Wicca group leader, to which Cheryl's nasal tone had a haughty reply, "She was trying to impress Justin."

Annoyed, and strongly tempted to actually roll her eyes this time, Willow persisted, "I was actually talking more about real spells you know. You know: conjuring, transmutation..."

It was at this point that the one girl kneeling, a beautiful but reclusive witch named Tara, who up until this moment, refused to make eye contact with anyone, glimpsed up at the redhead with definite awe and possible infatuation. There was just no way that the fiery-haired, courageously bold, and indeed, quite gorgeous girl she bumped into earlier was a witch too... right?

Honestly, Tara was about to give up going to the Wicca group after the first two meetings consisted of nothing but mere chatter about the magical properties of sage and watching Sabrina the Teenage Witch out of all things. Not that she would ever judge the all-women group for their own personal interests, because... hello, Melissa Joan Hart is a total heartthrob, but seeing the redhead, and her instant crush if she could be honest with herself, being harassed about witchcraft, despite this group being a so-called Wiccan organization, she decided to speak and defend the smaller girl.

If only she could ever get the chance to actually speak...

"Oh yeah, and then we can all get on our broomsticks, and ride around our broomsticks!" Cheryl declared while the rest of the group save for Willow and the shy girl were laughing at the hacker's ridiculous claim.

Willow was astounded by how... pretentious these wannabe Wicca's were to her.

'At least the shy girl didn't laugh at me...'

Nicole added insult to injury, "You know, certain stereotypes are not very empowering..."

'And again. Why do I always think that college students would be more mature than this...' Willow was becoming quite irate with the faux witches.

Tara decided this was her time to shine, "I think that-"

"One person's energy can suck the power right out of the circle... no offense," Cheryl refused to acknowledge Tara's attempt to speak as she continued to berate Willow. Tara had bowed her head down again out of shyness.

'Yeah right...'

Willow did indeed roll her eyes this time at the pretentious wannabe while wondering what the shy girl had to say- the redhead kinda noticed that this blonde was glancing- well staring, more like- at her throughout the whole meeting.

'The girl kinda reminds me of who I was in high school- maybe I should talk to her after this damn meeting. See if she's ok. Hey, wait a minute... Did they just insult my energy? Oh hell no! Willow Rosenberg is about to counterattack! Fight fire with fire! Verbally of course.'

"No, no, my energy's always very... you really don't do any spells, do you guys?" Willow sighed deeply while raising an eyebrow.

The group glanced at each other as if Willow was the biggest loser in the world.

'Good to know I won't get shit done here.' Willow's frustration was clearly evident in her demeanor and energy. Tara was easily able to read the smaller girl's aura like an open book, with the immediate reading coming from the hacker astonishing Tara. Willow's aura was a unique blend of yellow and blue- yellow often meaning a razor-sharp intelligence with a high compassion for all forms of life while blue revealed honesty and utmost clarity. Tara prized honesty and kindness above all else.

"Well, m-m-m-maybe-" Tara once again tried to speak up; she wanted to let Willow know she wasn't like the others, but seeing as she'll get shut down again, she simply trailed off.

Cheryl noticed this however and immediately put her in the spotlight as she uttered pointedly, "Yeah? Tara? Guys, quiet! Do you have a suggestion?"

Completely embarrassed and intimidated by the sudden attention, the poor blonde just smiled and shook her head.

For some reason, Willow was very livid at how the wannabe Wiccans were treating Tara.

'Tara- what a pretty name. I definitely need to talk to her.'

But Willow still couldn't figure out why she was so angry.

'Perhaps this Tara is the college version of me when I was in high school? A much more powerful and intelligent and sexier version- wait WHAT?!'

The wheels rolled to a screeching halt in Willow's mind.

'Where did THAT word come from?'

Cheryl, being smug now that she had won the "argument" once again, decided to continue onward, "Ok then. Let's talk about the theme for the Bacchanal."

'Well, no point in coming back here again...' Willow sighed inwardly as there was simply no reasoning with the Wicca wannabes. She was so disappointed, and she really wanted someone to practice magic with. If only-

Tara continued to stare at Willow, sympathizing with her internal turmoil.

Feeling a second pair of eyes on her, Willow then gazed upward at Tara and the instant their eyes locked: sky blue meeting jade green- a spark of some kind was created. It almost felt like...magic. And very powerful magic at that.

Only... there was something more.

'Wait a minute... why does she look familiar?'

Willow had recognized Tara from somewhere, but she couldn't quite place it...

Normally, Tara would look away the moment someone established eye contact with her, but for some reason, with Willow- it felt so... right.

'I recognize her from somewhere... have I met her before?' Tara was trying to figure out where they might have met. Although, since Tara fled Alabama almost a year ago, she really hasn't said two words to anyone since she came to Sunnydale.

Even Tina was stuck on how to get Tara out of her shell and "Get down and get on with the lady-lovin'!" as the often stoned obsidian-haired girl liked to bellow out in public much to Tara's chagrin.

The lack of friends growing up save for one bold brunette who moved in the middle of their sixth grade year also had its' effect on the timid witch, for the blonde was constantly teased for her disheveled appearance, how she spoke with a noticeable stutter, and for being classed as the 'weird lesbo'.

Willow gave her a look of sympathy and understanding that said it all-

'I get that all the time too.'

She then smiled at the blonde, wanting to be friendly as she could be to this stranger.

'She's not a stranger though... I know her, I seen that face before...'

Tara's blush colored her pale cheeks, but she couldn't help giving Willow a small yet definite smile as well.

'Her eyes remind me of that dream I had last night. And all those nights before...'

Even though the group was droning on and on, to Willow and Tara, they honestly... didn't seem to mind. By some unknown force- they needed to see each other again. Willow wondered what this force could be...

For what seemed like an eternity, it was finally four in the afternoon- the meeting was adjourned and the Wicca Group was giving the same "blessing" when they first opened the meeting.

'Yep, definitely useless.' Willow mentally rolled her eyes at the obvious fact.

"Farewell, sisters! Remember to take part for the Gaia Newsletter. Dance recital is this Saturday at three!" Cheryl called out to the departing members.

'Well, thank god the meeting's over- I thought they were never gonna stop berating me. Well, I guess it didn't matter after they were discussing about some sort of party. All I can think about is going over to that shy girl, Tara. In fact, I'll do that right now. Newsletter be dammed.'

Willow cautiously approached Tara, who was casually looking at the various papers on the student board, knowing that if Willow even said "Boo", the poor blonde would run away in fright.

"Um, hi? Tara, right?" Willow gently inquired the shy girl.

Sure enough, a startled Tara turned around and had the proverbial expression of a 'deer caught in headlights'- it was immediately obvious that no one had ever approached her before, at least not willingly, or as friendly as Willow was trying to be.

"Uh... h-hi... you must be W-willow..." she had a nervous lilt in her voice and silently cursed her accompanying stutter as the intensity of the redhead's eyes made the blonde shyly look away.

'Why must I stutter so damn much?'

Willow however, found Tara's stutter absolutely adorable, for the blonde's shyness had a nostalgic effect on the hacker and brought her back to her sophomore year of high school, with Buffy introducing herself to Willow.

'And now I'm the one introducing myself to someone who was once like me...'

This mostly explained why she wished to be friends with the blonde.

But there was something more, and she couldn't place her finger on it...

Content with being a potential friend for now, Willow gave an easy smile as she nodded in confirmation of her name, "Indeed I am! Will's the name! Well actually, my full name is Willow Danielle Rosenberg. But my friends just call me Will or Willster or Babbler. Cause I babble a lot... obviously. But I'm really sorry about the attention those wannabe Wicca's thrown at you- I totally get that feeling. I just... I just wanted to learn some new spells because I'm on a mission...to..." Willow suddenly trailed off from her rambling antics- she wasn't sure if she should share Scooby-type stories with this new girl.

At least not yet anyway.

Tara was internally beaming with joy that this beautiful Willow was having an actual conversation with her, but then she noticed her halted speech, which made Tara more than a little nervous.

"A mission... for w-what?" the blonde cautiously asked a pensive Willow.

Now it was Willow's turn to look like the deer caught in headlights.

'Shit, how can I get out of the babble-hole now? Heh. Babble-hole. Damn it, Rosenberg! Focus!'

"Well, there's a lot of weird things going around here in Sunnydale, and I know Sunnydale isn't much to look that, but I'm kinda fond of not seeing... weird stuff? God, I'm not even making any sense-" Willow became frustrated at her vain attempt to not sound like a crazed lunatic.

Tara, noticing Willow's internal struggle, gave a little giggle. The redhead was just so adorable.

"Willow, it's ok. I… I understand," Tara gave the smaller girl a slightly lopsided but warm smile.

Willow felt as if nothing else in the world mattered right now- just seeing Tara's smile made her melt... in a positive still-alive way of course. Seeing that Tara could potentially be a powerful ally to the Scoobies, she eased her way into the conversation some more with regards to magical defenses.

"I know that you were trying to defend me at the meeting, and I felt your energy, all good and stuff... so I wanted to ask you if you knew any spells that could be useful for a... fighting situation...?" Willow sheepishly muttered as she ran her fingers through her bright auburn locks.

The wheels in Tara's head turned.

'Fighting?! Fighting what?!'

And suddenly she was worried about the redhead- she didn't even want to know if Willow ever got in a fighting situation. And since when could someone feel her energy? She consistently tried to conceal the nature of it- lest her demon side would show at the most inopportune of times...

"L-like actual... offensive spells?" Tara calmly inquired because deep down, she was full of dreadful worry- a worry for the redhead who she's instantly infatuated with, coupled with a steadily rising panic that her energy had revealed itself again...

Damn, she was trying so hard-

Interrupting Tara's darkening thoughts, Willow pressed onward, "Yes! I mean, possibly yes- but I myself am not doing the fighting... at least not willingly. Because I'm such a spaz. And spaz plus fighting equals bad idea. I'm more looking for defensive spells. You know what they say- the best offense is a good defense!" Willow almost immediately cringed upon saying that last part.

Why can't she control her damn mouth sometimes?

"Wow... that was lame... please stop me…" Willow sheepishly grinned while hoping her face didn't feel as red as it felt.

Out of sheer relief for her crush, Tara couldn't help but giggle again at Willow's attempt of a joke. It was then she noticed an arc of a thin scar on her neck- a small one, but still noticeable if in the right light.

'I wonder where she got that scar...' Tara gazed at that mark. She had to admit, the whole "chicks dig scars" stereotype was surprisingly true for her. Especially when the scar belonged to the brightest green eyes she had ever seen before. And that delicious looking neck-

'Whoa, stop right there, Maclay. You don't even know if she's gay. And even if she was, why would she be with you?' An inside voice issued a stern warning to the hopelessly infatuated Wiccan.

'But still, such beautiful eyes...' Tara gazed dreamily at them.

'Wow. She actually laughed at my horrible joke. And that laugh is absolutely amazing. So cute- Cute? What in the world...?' Willow's never ceasing thoughts have always confused her but now, it was like straight up what-the-hell mode.

Still, it felt so great and wonderful to meet someone new. Someone cool. Someone who actually... gets her. Willow then glanced at the nearby wall clock- she had to go meet Buffy soon.

Why did she suddenly feel disappointed now?

"Anyway, I have to get ready to meet Buffy. She's my best friend and also roommate. Isn't that cool? She's trying to get with this cute guy, and she needs to tell me all about it. But maybe... we can meet up later?" Willow's tone conveyed hopefulness and briefly wondered if she was appearing too eager.

"Sure, Willow. T-that would be great," Tara smiled brightly.

"Great! See you later, Tara. Oh, and I think your name is very pretty," Willow grinned and waved at the taller girl before departing.

Tara blushed at Willow's compliment. She was smiling widely and waved back.

"Bye, W-willow..." Tara sighed dreamily to herself.

'Yep. Totally and completely head over heels with Willow Danielle Rosenberg. And I honestly don't give a damn.'

Sitting back down in the lounge area, Tara drafted a blank sheet from her sketchbook and painstakingly sketched out the vivid essence of a womanly face. She made sure the details were perfect, right down to the bright green eyes shining at her and the almost minute freckles on a certain redhead's nose.

As she finalized her drawing of Willow happily staring in the distance with her left hand supporting her face and her right hand over her various notebooks, Tara began to sing softly to herself.

"What is this greatness I'm feeling?
This Goddess just stole my heart

Tara gave a final glance at the departing redhead and a slight blush highlighted her cheeks again she caught herself staring at Willow's firm bottom.

I never felt so breathless,
For such a work of art

The beaming blonde stood up and seemed to have skipped down the hallway in pure joy.

Now I'm feeling much more,
Happier than ever before...

Despite catching more than a few curious stares, Tara could care less about how she appeared, for she's never felt this happy in her entire life.

I'm under your spell
No one else will do,
I just willed my heart to you.
Your eyes brighten my life,
Oh Gaia, show me the way-
I need to see her emeralds today..."

As she joyfully finishes the tune to her song while closing the door to her single room, her greatest work was done- the portrait of Willow is complete. On top of the sketch was a title written in gorgeous cursive: Under Your Spell

Tara gently sighed as she reverently touched the portrait, more detailed than anything she's ever sketched before. She has never fallen this hard or this fast for anyone in her life, but for once in her young life, she knew that she had made the right decision in falling for Willow.

'I finally know you now. The beautiful woman in the dreams I've had since I was a little girl. Once I was lost... but your emerald green eyes have found me. Do you not know I was born to love you? You're the one, Willow.'

—

"So, not stellar, huh?"

Buffy and Willow had come up the stairs in Stevenson Hall, where the usual crowd shuffled around the lounge to discuss the latest party with the most kegs.

The redhead threw her hands up in sheer frustration, "Talk! All talk: blah blah Gaia, blah blah moon, menstrual life force power... I thought after a few sessions we'd get into something real, but..." Willow sighed heavily before the girls hastily maneuvered around the definitely-on-something freshmen seemingly talking to themselves.

Buffy already figured out the answer, "No actual witches in your witch group."

"Nope! Buncha wannablessedbe's. It's just a fad. You know, nowadays every girl with a henna tattoo and a spice rack thinks she's a sister to the dark ones..." the budding witch shook her head in discontent on how much the times truly have changed.

Well, since last June anyway. At least this time no one tried to burn her at the stake.

The girls entered their room, both disappointed with the day's events.

"I'm sorry it was a bust. I know you were looking to go further in that department," Buffy mused as she remained internally conflicted about the almost kiss with Riley while pulling two cans of soda out of the mini fridge.

"Well, I'd just like to float something bigger than a pencil someday..." Willow trailed off before something popped up in her head, "Hey how's with you and Riley? You guys seemed pretty snugly after class..." the hacker gave a little knowing smirk to her best friend.

Buffy shook her head at the redhead's antics and sighed, "See above, re: talk, all talk."

"Do I have to tie you two together?" Willow groaned in disbelief as her plan to set them up failed yet again.

Buffy wasn't exactly happy with how things turned out either, "We almost, but..." she sighed as the duties of being a Slayer almost always meant concealing the truth from most people coming Buffy's way.

"Well, get with it! I need my vicarious smoochies and lovin'!" Willow clicked her tongue with her hands thrown in the air in slight frustration before taking a gulp of her root beer.

Buffy audibly exhaled, "I don't know- I get nervous, and I start babbling, and he babbles- it's a babble-fest," she rolled her eyes at her own ineptitude with her limited dating experience before voicing her concerns about her supernatural heritage, "Plus every time we talk, I have to lie. They Slayer thing comes up one way or another... it bothers me that I can't tell him the truth."

Willow's eyes creased with concern, "It didn't bother you with Parker."

"I know," Buffy muttered while inwardly groaning at her last "fling", "But with Riley... I wish I could just come clean."

The redheaded hacker understood her best friend's reasoning to protect her Slayer lineage, for her own sake than anyone's else.

"I get it, Buff," she gave a tiny grin before her stomach rumbled loudly, making the witch blush slightly, "Hey come on, let's go get dinner."

"Chinese again?" Buffy's entire face lit up at the mention of teriyaki chicken and egg rolls.

Willow grinned widely, "You read my mind."

With that, the two roommates gathered their keys and wallets as Buffy not-so-discreetly concealed Mr. Pointy in her jacket lining.

"So, why were the Wiccan wannabes giving you a hard time when you asked about the magic again?" Buffy quizzed the hacker as she opened the door to let Willow through before locking it.

"Because certain stereotypes are not very empowering, Buffy," Willow retorted in a Cordelia-esque mocking tone to as she rolled her eyes at the faux witch group.

Buffy caught on to Willow's jeer as she then made a deceptive serious face as if to "lecture" the witch, "Wow Willow, you're a real actual witch? Oh my god, I so need to call everybody."

As they were still heading down the hallway to the main downstairs lounge, Willow refused to let up the sneering tone.

"I enjoy talking this way."

Thankfully, neither did Buffy.

"As do I," the pair took one look at each other and busted out laughing at their taunting of the aforementioned Wicca group.

—

In the Initiative, two commandos are climbing out from the ladder descending to a platform overlooking a gigantic demon in a blue robe with long horns.

"How can I be honest with her?"

Forrest shrugged with his typical surliness, "Well, you can't."

Both commandos climbed out of the master pit, sweaty from their intensive daily exercise.

Riley ignored his subordinate's attitude for the time being as he couldn't help a displeased groan escape him.

"Yeah, I know I can't," the towering man was busy fumbling with his jacket before the pair exited the exercise chambers, "But it bugs me this time."

Forrest understood his best friend's conflict, "This is the burden we bear, brother. We have a gig that would inevitably cause any girl living to think we are cool upon cool. Yet we must Clark Kent our way through the dating scene never to use our unfair advantage," the man smirked as the commandos stopped to let a cart carrying a group of scientists drive by.

As the cart finished its' rounds, Forrest continued the conversation with a haughty sigh, "Thank god we're pretty."

Riley was still deep in thought. "But it's just... Buffy's special..." he trailed off despite sounding like a desperate poet.

Forrest gave him a withering scornful look, "You think she's special. Wow. The first four hundred and eighty-six times you told me, it didn't register but now, I see that you think she's special," he quipped with an ever slight amount of deep sarcasm laced in his voice.

"See, you're naturally inclined to talk too much..." Riley dryly retorted as his friend more or less stared at him before the brownish-haired man spoke further, "I don't have that."

Forrest rolled his eyes, "Then get with the kissing."

They entered the elevator before Riley activated his vocal credentials, "Riley Finn."

"Initiative vocal code match complete," the usual soothing voice rang out in response.

Once the elevator sealed the doors, Riley muttered under his breath, "I wish."

"Hmph," Forrest scoffed as usual.

The two men have been best friends ever since they enlisted in the Army at just seventeen and have been on numerous combat missions together. They briefly separated when Riley attended West Point while Forrest remained with their old unit. Upon his commissioning appointment, Riley was selected by the U.S. government to become a part of a conceptual organization known as the Initiative: a top-secret military unit infamously known throughout the demon world for capturing anything with supernatural roots to perform various experiments on those captured before ultimately being subjected to slavery or just killed off. Riley only agreed to be a part of the Initiative on condition that Forrest would be selected on this new assignment as well.

Over the last year and a half, Riley had excelled in all challenges laid out to him and he was deemed by many to be the next leader of the Initiative after Maggie's upcoming retirement.

"Besides, what can I say?" Riley was about to go on a long-winded lover's tangent before he spotted another commando named Willis and instantly scurried over to scold the lackadaisical Corporal, "I don't see that report on Thursday maneuvers by tomorrow, you're gonna be on latrine duty and I'm talking about the sector C latrines where we keep the big ass demons and you know I mean that literally..." which was instantly met with a shakily fast salute and an even prompter exit.

"I'm a romantic..." Riley's eyes glazed over once again at the thought of the gorgeous blonde. Forrest was too busy rolling his eyes and shaking his head in discontent to notice his commander's star-struck lovers' gaze.

'No reasoning with him tonight with him thinking about what's-her-name...'

This made the Sergeant's scowl even more pronounced than usual as he tried to brush off the immense feeling of jealousy plaguing him.

'Whatever.'

—

Inside a decrepit house at the end of the cul-de-sac, the usual shouting matches followed by breaking glass upstairs had bitterly reminded an exhausted Xander that he seriously needed to move out of his parent's basement.

Once again, Spike remained tied to the reclining chair as Xander was just getting into bed. It had been a long day for the dark haired man and he just wanted to shut down from the world for a few hours as his mind was weary from all of Anya's irate barbs.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Xander would not getting any sleep tonight due to-

"Don't see why I have to be tied up," the chipped vampire snarled in annoyance.

Xander refused to engage in their usual petty bickering, "It's just while I'm sleeping."

Spike scoffed in utter contempt, as if what the man said was severely offensive, "Like I'd bite you anyway."

"Oh, you would," Xander retorted as he adjusted his ragged blankets to offer him the most warmth as the heater gave out again this week, and the freezing December air often meant a sleepless night for the young man.

Spike rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time today, "Not bloody likely."

"I happen to be very biteable, pal. I'm moist and delicious," Xander added the last word with more than necessary emphasis as he tucked in his futon.

Spike finally gave up on their miniature squabble.

"All right, yeah fine. You're a nummy treat..." he huffed with the faintest amount of sarcasm.

"And don't you forget it!" the man boasted while he rudely pointed a finger at the restrained vampire before he switched off the overhead light.

Curling up under the blankets as best he could, Xander was just about to doze off-

"Xander, don't you care about me?" an obnoxiously falsetto voice that almost sounded suspiciously like Anya broke the eerie silence.

An exasperated sigh said it all, "Shut up."

All was quiet again.

"We never talk..."

Xander pointed a finger up as a final warning, "Shut up."

Another five seconds passed.

"Xander..."

A now irate Xander seized his nearby Wolverine figurine to chuck at the blond's head, "Shut up!"

"Ow!"

The dark-haired man smirked knowing that he had managed to clip the vampire with blind accuracy.

"I'm thirsty!" Spike continued to whine, making it highly obvious that neither of them were going to sleep tonight.

"That's too bad," Xander grunted in irritation as he punched the pillow to make it more comfortable.

Spike wasn't going to let up, "But you're my host!"

Xander had enough. "Oh my god, Spike! Please go bite yourself, then you can drink all your own blood. And I can finally have some damn peace and quiet! Is that too much to ask around here?!"

"Can someone just stake me?" Spike growled irately as his vampire face revealed immense displeasure.

"Keep it up, and you'll get your wish..." Xander muttered darkly.

—

It was now thirty minutes closer to midnight, and though Giles became a little concerned about the lateness, there were more pressing matters that demanded his immediate attention.

He remained perched in his chair with numerous worn books and notes splayed open about the desk as he kept pondering about the Gentlemen. He could've sworn he'd heard of this mysterious creature somewhere before, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

"They need to take seven..." the rugged ex-Watcher uttered with an ever-increasing amount of curiosity laced in his raspy voice, "Take seven what?"

The sudden shrill of the doorbell had Giles come back to reality as he rose to answer the door, and a tired Olivia trudged through the apartment with a small grin on her face.

"Olivia," Giles tried to contain the happiness in his tone, to no avail.

Olivia slithered out of her bulky jacket and dumped her bags on the floor, "Sorry I'm so late. The flight was a horror..." she shuddered at the harrowing experience she had today.

"Bad weather?" Giles nodded sympathetically.

The woman shuddered even more, "Baseball movie."

"Oh, I am sorry..." the Brit had a slight sneer of disgust at the mention of "America's favorite pastime."

"Yes..." Olivia trailed off as she scooted dangerously closer to an ever increasingly flushed ex-Watcher and conveyed a slight smirk on her mischievous face, "That's enough small talk, don't you think?"

She wrapped the man up in a great big kiss, and everything else, including his notes about the Gentlemen roughly written at the top, had been erased from the Brit's mind.

For now, he had a more pressing matter to attend to...

—

Somewhere within the hushed night, something secret steered in the Sunnydale clock tower.

There's a grand exchange with a tiny ornate wooden box, bony white hands, and a silent ritual. Behind an ornate and old-fashioned clock face, a second hand large as a man swept around behind the frosted glass of the face.

Pandora's Box was now exposed and though revealed to be pitch black, a faint whisper echoed from deep within.

The whispering began spreading over the whole town as it made its' whole way into one house where a small boy laid sleeping on his racing car bed, when he suddenly opened his mouth to release a huge breath snaking out of him and out through his barely opened window.

But the boy never woke up.

The whispering echoes continued to extend across from the various affluent suburbs to little-known run-down neighborhoods.

Inside the private nest where Giles and Olivia were currently fast asleep from their earlier passionate reunification, they too emitted deep and sudden breaths.

Finally approaching the nearby UCSD campus, more murmurs nonchalantly seized all of the breaths from the dozing college students.

In a certain blonde Wiccan's room, Tara was muttering almost fearfully in her sleep. Another nightmare seemed to have plagued her.

"No... Don't hurt me... I didn't mean..."

Though she had slept through her deep breath, she continued to murmur soundlessly as her body was twitching with sleep paralysis.

Meanwhile in the nearby Stevenson Hall on the second floor, the deeply sleeping Buffy and Willow had inhaled their deep breaths and they too had their breaths flowing outward from the asleep duo.

The immense task complete and all voices wrongfully stolen, the collective breaths snaked throughout the town and began heading upward toward the town's central clock tower.

In the middle of the decrepit structure, all of the town's voices have finally streamed directly into the ornate box, before a stark bone white hand closed the lid to seal the voices from escaping, and the mysterious monster revealed itself.

He had an old rickety appearance with no trace of color anywhere. The monster's creepily bony features were almost as if the old Nosferatu had decided to merge with the Hellraiser before taking the Joker out for drinks at the seediest nightclub, as if such a disturbing abomination could even exist. The so-called Gentleman couldn't stop his rictus-grin, with his highly exposed teeth a gleaming metal.

And he grinned ever so widely with the wickedly utmost satisfaction...