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...

2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: The Sound of Silence

"I've begun to realize that you can listen to silence and learn from it. It has a quality and a dimension all its own." - Chaim Potok

Rating: PG-13

December 15th

The morning light peered through the thin dorm-issued curtains, easily waking a thrashing Buffy out of her deep sleep. Her foot was stuck out of the askew blankets as her head mostly remained under the pillow to hide from the harsh sunlight.

Yawning as she pulled herself up to start a new day, Buffy grabbed her beloved spotted towel before exiting the room, leaving a still peacefully sleeping Willow.

A moment later, Buffy finished washing her face before drying off to head back out when another girl, face lined with tears and the most wide-eyed expression, scurries to the end of the hallway before Buffy could even say anything. Her gaze followed the girl all the way down to see a boy pounding on someone's door, seemingly expressing his frustration.

'Huh. Weird.'

Shaking her head, a mildly puzzled Buffy entered her room again to see Willow finally up and sitting sleepily on the side of the bed. The Slayer moved to throw her towel on the back of her chair, before giving a friendly greeting.

"Good morning."

Except, no sound came out.

'What the...?'

Buffy instantly froze as she cleared her throat before trying again.

"Good morn... good..."

Not even so much as a tiny exhale.

Willow never noticed Buffy's increasing worry as she warmly acknowledged her best friend with a "Hey."

Yet, there was not a peep.

The redhead unsurprisingly freaked out a bit as she tried to speak again before looking at Buffy with a sudden fear.

'What the hell?'

"Willow?" Buffy mouthed again.

Willow was definitely freaked out now.

"Will, can you hear me?" Buffy asked mutely while the redhead was panicking more and more.

'What the hell's going on?! Am I... Am I deaf?! I must be!'

"I'm deaf! I've gone deaf!" she mouthed as she pointed to her ears. Buffy shook her head in a negative fashion.

"No, I don't think so. We can't speak!"

Willow yelled as loud as she possibly could despite nothing being produced before her vocal cords cracked at the strain and she sputtered before Buffy pounded her best friend's back to control the sudden coughing fit with the hacker mouthing a "Thanks" as she clutched her throat to ease the fading ache.

Seeing the dilemma, Buffy shook her head and pointed to her throat, informing Willow that she wasn't the only one who couldn't talk. Willow scurried over, breathing hard, as both roommates were at a total loss to this unusual predicament.

Buffy raised her finger as if she was thinking of any number of possible solution and stuck her head out the door.

There were five students gathered out in the main hallway, all reacting to the same malady- not being able to speak. Buffy followed right by a thoroughly frightened Willow stared at the group with growing concern. This seemed far beyond the works of a regular demon.

'Oh boy... this is not good.'

—

Tara finally completed her morning meditation before stretching all of her muscles, internally groaning as she felt an audible pop in her lower back. Lighting the sage scented incense, she made a mental note to pick up some more as she was running low. She frowned for a second when she became aware that her dorm was quiet.

Too quiet.

Fischer Hall was known for many things, more along the lines as being a sort of backup dorm when the many parties always being held at Porter Hall became a little too rowdy, as well as being the hotbed of activity with the various clubs and organizations due to its' centralized location at UCSD.

But a deafening silence on a Wednesday morning was not one of them.

Though she was not one for social interactions, Tara peeked her head out of her door and gave a soft "Hello?" to anyone who could have heard her. The witch was bewildered when she could not produce a single sound. She cleared her throat and gave more volume to her tone than she was comfortably used to as she said another "Hello?" before realizing that she was also unable to speak.

'Oh no...'

Scrambling to her dorm telephone, the blonde punched in various numbers to connect to her old roommate.

"Tina, you there?" Tara's urgency soon gave way to awareness that whatever's affecting her must be affecting the entire town as well. Therefore, Tina would likely not be able to respond.

Blushing hotly from embarrassment despite being the only one in the room, she promptly placed the phone down and began pulling out multiple heavy tomes off her shelf related to spells and curses.

'What on earth could have caused this?'

—

Xander yawned before popping out the kinks in his back from another hard night on the futon as he finally rose up and uttered a curt greeting to his "house guest."

"Up you get, Spike."

No sound was made, and he immediately contorted his mouth in a vain effort to get some semblance of noise out.

"What the shit?!" Xander mutely cursed, "What's going on? Why can't I talk?!"

The man was beyond baffled by the abrupt lack of his speaking ability. Meanwhile, Spike finally came to and to his disgust, saw that Xander was already up and about.

"Oi, you bint..." the blond instantly stopped as he realized he was not able to speak.

'I can't talk! What the bloody hell's going on?!'

Xander just gave up at this point with his fruitless attempts to get his voice back before a sudden thought popped into his head and turned to point at Spike with more than an accusatory look.

"You did this!" the darker haired man silently bellowed all his rage toward the restrained vampire.

Spike merely glanced at the man as he pointed to himself.

"Me?" he mouthed to further prove his innocence.

"I can't talk! I can't talk!" Xander kept mutely hollering which was met with Spike raising his fingers to perform quite a rude gesture.

Chastised, Xander slowly understood such an idiotic accusation as he was scrambling for a way to get out of this situation and rushed to his nearby phone.

Buffy would know what to do. She always did.

—

Meanwhile at UCSD, the dorm telephone rang, and Buffy instantly scrambled to the buzzing device, while Willow was busy looking down her own throat in the vanity mirror. Buffy instantly picked up and began mouthing out words of help before remembering that she couldn't talk for the time being. Willow shoved a piece of paper to the Slayer's face with a hastily scribbled note.

"What are we gonna do?"

The anxiety-riddled note also appealed to a visibly shaken redhead as she forced herself to take deep breaths before closing her eyes to think of happy thoughts.

Didn't work.

None came to mind as Willow stood up with an over exaggeration of hand gestures and widened fearful eyes before the Slayer gently yet firmly kept the anxious Wiccan in place by embracing her in an affectionate hug before Buffy pulled back with a comforting look that everything was going to be alright.

Willow was visibly relieved and a little shamefaced at her apparent panic mode before an idea came to mind as she seized her notebook complete with multicolored notes as she tore out a blank sheet to write something again before showing it to Buffy.

"Maybe Giles knows?"

Buffy nodded at the obvious situation before her features contorted into a scowl.

'Crap... how are we gonna be able to explain this to Giles?'

Buffy never knew what to do.

—

A steadily agitated Xander who kept barking a hello for the umpteenth time finally recognized the inevitable problem that he couldn't speak either and with great shame, he promptly hung up.

Xander slowly met Spike's eyes and the chipped vamp gave him a withering "You're such a bloody idiot" glare. The man huffed and rolled his eyes as he quickly assembled his faded jeans, a baggy maroon striped sweater, and heavily worn boots.

"What about me?" Spike mouthed in contempt and shook his head at not being to speak and therefore, failing to get the man's attention.

Until he noticed a nearby empty Led Zeppelin CD case and with great accuracy, chucked it at Xander's head.

"Ow!" Xander silently yelped as he turned to glare at the tied up vamp.

"Untie me!" Spike mouthed in a rather unfriendly demand.

Xander scoffed.

"Like hell!" he mutely retorted before scurrying up the basement to get to Anya's apartment immediately.

Spike was understandably less than enthused at being left in the dark, moldy basement.

'What the hell's a bloke got to do now? I'm bloody bored!'

Sighing inaudibly, Spike tapped his fingers against the chair in a sluggish motion before the upbeat song Blitzkrieg Bop from The Ramones etched to his mind and he was getting down to the rhythmic drumming to keep himself entertained for the time being before going all out and mouthing the lyrics to his favorite song complete with air guitar and rapid finger beats against the edge of his chair. With an unusual amount of enthusiasm, Spike closed his eyes as if to imagine he was right there up on stage with them while silently bellowing the last parts of the song.

With a contented sigh at mutely singing his heart out, Spike opened his eyes and realized he was still in his least favorite person's dank basement.

Until the vampire noticed the morning sunlight widening throughout the space and was soon about to touch him.

'No, no, no! This can't be how I bloody go out! This is the big evil equivalent of dying on the loo!'

Spike used his vampiric strength to move the couch in a way that he couldn't be touched by the forbidden brightness despite the tight ropes severely restricting any more movement. He knew Xander was going to be furious at the scuff marks on the floor.

But did he care?

Not particularly.

The couch was suddenly overturned by Spike's unnatural strength and promptly crushed the chipped blond, his previously restraining ropes now cut by the wooden supports.

"Ow..." Spike mouthed in pain before he agonizingly pulled himself out of the cursing sofa and hissed in pain as the barest amount of light slightly blistered the vampire's hand. He stole Xander's favorite black hoodie and began stretching his muscles for the day's activities.

'Right. I'm free again. Can go out and wander anywhere I damn well please. No one can talk. No one to scream for help. No one... to scream... for help.'

Spike's grin slowly grew malicious as he came up with the most evil plan...

—

A restless Riley was lazing in bed in the dark before Forrest threw the door open and shambled over to wake him. Riley came to instantly as he groggily sat up.

"What's the problem-" he mouthed quite irately before he stopped and tried to speak again by clearing his throat. Forrest shook the man again while pointing to his own throat before pointing outside to the rest of Lowell House.

Riley reached for his green cargo pants before pulling on his shirt as he exited his bedroom, a surlier Forrest accompanying him. Willis came down the second-floor stairs, appearing even more confused than ever.

Riley and Forrest descended to the ground floor at a faster pace. There are five commandos there, puzzled yet awaiting orders for anything that makes sense.

Riley signaled with his hand for them to wait there as he and Forrest proceeded to the elevator.

They stood before the mirror, letting the green light wash over them.

"Retinal scan accepted."

The door slid open before they stepped in and closed behind them before beginning its' descent as Forrest was busy scribbling something on a notepad. He held out the pad to Riley with a hastily scrawled "IT'S ALL OVER TOWN."

The men shared a skeptical look before the elevator instantly halted. Forrest huffed silently.

'Oh great. What now?

"Vocal code not accepted. Please state your name for vocal identification."

The two shared a much more concerned look. Riley began breathing on the intercom as Forrest rolled his eyes.

"Vocal code not accepted. Unauthorized beings will be considered hostile. Please commence vocal identification in the next twenty seconds to avoid countermeasures."

As the soothing monotone voice issued the standard spiel, Riley banged on a panel and popped it open, revealing a keypad and various colored wires. Riley pulled a card from his back pocket before inserting it in a nearby slot. The digital readout above the keypad blared: ENTER OVERRIDE CODE

Cursing his foggy memory, Riley tried to remember the numerous sequences in his head. Forrest was too busy repeating, "Countermeasures?" to offer any sort of assistance.

Hesitantly, Riley began punching in a sequence of numbers while Forrest was frantically scribbling again on the notepad.

"Override code incorrect. Ten seconds to lethal countermeasures."

Riley was trying again, with Forrest holding his pad behind Riley with much more emphasis than before, screaming "COME ON, COME ON...", though Riley never turned to read it as he kept punching the code before cracking a smile of "I'm totally fucked."

"Lethal countermeasures engaged."

A sickly yellowish gas was now launching from the corner of the elevator. The commandos instantly recognized the cloud as nerve gas as the men pulled their shirts up to cover their nose and mouth.

As a last resort, Riley pulled the wires out of the box and the lights suddenly turned off.

The door finally slid open, revealing a none-too pleased Maggie along with a skeptical Dr. Angleman and a curious Dr. Han behind her.

Riley and Forrest rushed out of the elevator and stood before her. Forrest displayed serious alacrity as the professor pointed to a sign on the wall, then turned and walked away with the other scientists in tow.

Riley and Forrest glanced upward at the bright crimson sign and inwardly rolled their eyes at the other before they followed their superior.

IN CASE OF EMERGENCY USE STAIRWAY.

—

A sudden and continual pounding at the door forced a grumbling Anya to robe herself and on the other side of the apartment revealed a sweaty and panting Xander.

Grabbing his girlfriend in an almost rough manner, he mutely bellowed, "We can't talk, Anya!"

Anya was honestly more than a little startled at Xander's unusual demeanor before rolling her eyes at her boyfriend's yet another stupid attempt with his sense of humor and began berating the man with a sarcastic quip.

"Xander, you're such a..." Anya trailed off as she realized she was not able to speak. She cleared her throat before trying again.

The man pointed to his throat and mouthed, "It's me too. Something happened."

Confusion on Anya's face soon gave way to almost hysterical panic, "I can't talk! I can't talk!" to which Xander tried to soothe his girlfriend's nerves by embracing before quickly releasing Anya, for he knew she was most definitely not a morning person.

As he had come to find out the hard way.

With her permission, the man entered the apartment and wrote a quick note on a nearby piece of paper, "NO ONE can talk. We need to go to Giles' and go from there."

With a nod, Anya motioned for him to wait on the couch as she proceeded to get ready. Figuring that his girlfriend most likely had not consumed her usual coffee this morning, he made for the cramped kitchen and turned on the kettle to brew a strong cup on the go, as Anya always drunk her coffee black, much to Xander's disgust and amazement on how she was able to consume such a bitter beverage.

A few minutes pass with Anya gathering her purse, and Xander holding out a fresh travel mug of coffee just for her. Anya took note of Xander's action and slightly narrowed her eyes before she took her first sip and smiled as he remembered that she liked her coffee just the way it was meant to be, nothing frilly or anything fancy.

Still, Xander was far from being back in the ex-demon's good books, and he was going to have to seriously prove himself that he truly cared about her, and that their relationship was more than just physical.

However great the sex was...

—

Down in the Fischer Hall commons, there were a great number of students, but it was completely different than the average hustle and bustle. The deafening silence had overwhelmed quite a few already as one girl was sobbing in her confused boyfriend's arms.

Some of the more ambitious students assembled in tiny groups, scrawling lectures and other details on their notepads as the finals were coming up, while another group in the most private corner was lighting up what suspiciously appeared as a bong as the distinct smell of marijuana wafted toward Tara's nose. To her further alarm, some guy apparently couldn't take the silence anymore as he dropped his school supplies and bolted through the commons to the outside in a hysterical panic.

No matter what the students were doing or not doing, one thing was certain:

Everyone was completely and utterly confused by this unusual phenomenon.

With a great exhale, Tara made her way downstairs and trudged about through the commons as she occasionally gazed upward shyly yet refusing to make eye contact with anyone.

Suddenly, one guy accidentally dropped a bottle of mango Snapple and it immediately smashed on the floor, the piercing noise echoing like a gunshot, startling everyone out of their miserable reprieve. The highly flustered guy sheepishly crawled down to begin cleaning up his mess.

Willow was nowhere to be found, much to Tara's concern.

'I've got to find her. She's the only one who has some semblance of power when we were at the Wicca group. Maybe if we could find a way to reverse it...'

With an inaudible sigh, Tara departed through the hall's main entrance and kept her eyes peeled for the spunky fiery-haired girl.

Until an impact sent the timid Wiccan tumbling to the ground before a steady hand gripped her free wrist. Tara glanced upward at her savior to see a smiling Tina pulling her up from the ground. The two girls exchanged a brief friendly hug before the Barbadian girl had a face etched with concern.

"Tara! You ok?" Tina mutely asked before her former roommate nodded rapidly. The darker skinned woman held a finger held up as she scribbled in her tiny notebook.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Tara could only shrug with her shoulders before taking her mentor's notebook and writing a similar response.

"I don't know. I'm trying to find someone."

Tina furrowed her eyebrows.

"Magic?" she mouthed in an apprehensive way which was only met with an apologetic glance from Tara. With neither girl knowing any more than the other, the senior written something again.

"Let me know if you find anything. I might be able to help."

With a smile, Tara shook her head and the girls hugged again before leaving in opposite directions.

—

Buffy and Willow made their way through the street. Aside from the occasional honking of nearby cars, it's way quieter than Buffy or Willow were ever used to, but nevertheless there was a great deal of activity throughout the town. The girls walked hand in hand, needing the feel of each other's presence as they took in everything in sight.

The First Bank of Sunnydale had shuttered its' door with a handmade sign declaring "Sorry, we're CLOSED". Right across the street, the seedy liquor store was apparently making huge business as their sign blared a "Yes, we're OPEN!", along with a line of mostly middle-aged men reaching well out the door.

A large imposing man wearing a crisply ironed business suit was currently crouched in the middle of the road bawling at being incapable to effectively communicate and therefore, unable to secure the quite largest deal of a lifetime with his newly established California Circuits company.

Next to the weeping man, a stocky muscle car was improperly parked on the curb and was abandoned after a crash into a nearby fire hydrant with a fountain of water forcefully spraying upward.

Meanwhile, a praying meeting was being conducted in a nearby nook by the Magic Box. A preacher stood before the congregation reading silently from his Bible. Next to him, an old woman wearing a gray bandanna to hide her eyes grasped a small chalkboard with the reading of Revelations 15:1 immaculately composed in all capital letters.

No more than ten people knelt before the pastor as they read from their own Bibles silently before a young college student joined the ever-growing congregation as he crawled downward to offer a prayer of his own.

Buffy and Willow were almost at Giles' apartment before they noticed a man selling dry erase boards on the nearby sidewalk, at only ten dollars apiece. The boards came with a velcroed marker and a thin string to keep around one's neck, as he's wearing one as a mere demonstration. The man clearly gave off the same vibes of a sleazy used car salesman as his charming smile became more of a sneer, as if the smarmy man always enjoyed profiting from disasters such as this.

The girls managed to pass by all the strange events unfolding before their very eyes with great wary and as they passed the salesman, the girls glanced at each other with a shared look.

'What a total sleaze.'

The girls were a few steps away from entering the main courtyard at Giles' apartment until Willow pulled at Buffy's arm.

"What?" the Slayer mouthed with a curious look on her face.

Willow merely nodded her head back in the opposite direction. Buffy followed Willow's way of thinking and quickly scowled. A firm shake of Willow's head made the Slayer sigh as they promptly went back to reluctantly give the ever so smug salesman a crisp twenty-dollar bill to buy two dry erase boards.

"Happy now?" Buffy mutely seethed, which was met with quite a happy nod and smile from a perky Willow.

—

At the apartment, Giles was at the table with an epic magnitude of research notes and multiple books splayed open while Xander and Anya were keeping their eyes glued to the TV with the sound off as they kept waiting for some kind of bulletin about today to appear. Olivia sat in the recliner with a glass of single-malt scotch, courtesy of an apologetic Giles, in her hands as it seemed that she was clearly the least prepared for this kind of situation. Buffy and Willow finally made it to the apartment with the dry erase boards around their necks as a skittish Olivia smiled politely at the two girls before taking yet another prodigious swing.

Xander and Anya looked back at the girls and the ex-demon simply nodded her head in greeting. Xander stood up to scramble toward his two best friends but he stopped himself and waved lamely for he literally had nothing to say before he spun back around to the TV before perching himself on the arm of the sofa. The seemingly innocent gesture wasn't lost on Anya as she still questioned his affection toward her.

Buffy placed her board down before Giles rose to walk toward Buffy and clasped his hand on Buffy's arm in a reassuring manner. Buffy smiled forlornly as she briefly returned the grip before glancing at Giles, than at the various books splayed open.

"Anything?" Buffy mouthed in concern.

Willow was determinedly scribbling on her board for she had something important to say.

Giles peered down and shook his head slightly as he could only shrug to Buffy. He was honestly at a complete loss so far.

Willow shyly held out her board out for him to read, "Hi Giles."

With a fatherly smile, Giles trudged over to Willow to give her a paternal one armed hug in response.

Buffy absently examined Giles' many notes before something caught her eye, and upon further inspection, she grabbed her Watcher's notebook and saw the rhymes that she mentioned to him just the other day.

"Can't even shout, can't even cry. The Gentlemen are coming by..."

It instantly clicked in Buffy's head, with the Slayer silently groaning that she didn't remember it before. With the notebook in her hand, she held it up for Giles to see with an emphasis pointing to the top where he had written "THE GENTLEMEN" as she gave him a questioning look. Giles shrugged again and shook his head to indicate that there was nothing in the books.

A rapid snapping of fingers from Xander got everyone's attention while Anya turned the TV volume up for something critical came on.

Everyone gathered round to listen to the nearest out of town newscaster with his special report.

"We have this breaking news item from Sunnydale, California: Apparently the entire town has been quarantined due to an epidemic of- as strange as this may sound- laryngitis. It seems the entire town has been rendered unable to speak. There is no word yet what might have caused this or what other effects might be seen from this epidemic. Local authorities have issued a statement- a written statement, I should say- blaming recent flu vaccinations. A few skeptics call it a city-wide hoax."

Everyone in the apartment shared the same expression of deep concern as the newscaster issued the declaration from the local authorities.

"In the meanwhile, Sunnydale has effectively shut down; all schools and businesses will be closed for the time being, and residents are advised to stay home and rest up. The Center for Disease Control has ordered the entire town quarantined- no one can go in or out- until the syndrome is identified or the symptoms disappear. We'll bring you more on that as it develops."

"That's it?!" Xander mouthed in a clearly frustrated way as Anya turned the sound down.

With this startling information, Buffy borrowed Willow's whiteboard from her and started scribbling on it, before holding it up to the others.

"Keep researching. I should be in town tonight."

Giles was more than a little curious as he mouthed, "Why?"

Buffy nodded her head back toward the books as if the answer was obvious.

Which it wasn't as the gang could only stare at the Slayer with slight confusion.

Rolling her eyes, Buffy wrote on the board again and revealed it to everyone.

"No one to SCREAM for help..."

The gang mutually nodded their heads in understanding and cast their eyes back to the TV as Buffy exited Giles' apartment to patrol the surrounding neighborhoods.

—

Down at the lower labs in the Initiative, a plan was being formulated to provide some semblance of order for the town.

"WHY CAN'T WE CALL IN THE NATIONAL GUARD? PEOPLE ARE GOING TO GET ROWDY." was scrawled all throughout the notepad along with an impatient Forrest revealing his board. He simply couldn't understand why his most obviously easy solution was met with immediate denial by his superiors.

"Because there will be chaos."

Maggie typed in the bulky computer system as the robotic voice echoed throughout the chamber. The impromptu command center was hastily assembled in the middle of the labs, along with a clear map of the town, a few computer stations, a sturdy table, and foldable chairs. Riley, Forrest, and Graham sat at the opposite table while listening to their lead commander as they kept legal pads and sharpies at the ready for further questions and concerns.

Maggie resumed typing, "You will help keep order. Dress as civilians. A military presence would only increase panic."

Frustrated with no solution in plain sight, Riley promptly wrote before exposing the notepad with the inevitable question, "WHAT IS HAPPENING?"

The professor seemed to have already known his inquiry as she typed again into the computer.

"We are looking into it. Go. Help maintain order. We will find an answer."

The three men had serious doubts about the professor's objective to provide order without calling in the conventional military. However, as this was anything but conventional, Riley motioned for his subordinates to rally around the gear issuing room at nine tonight, for the commando had a grave appearance on his scowling face.

'No more playing war games...'

—

Buffy ambled down the street as she passed an expensive sports car that collided with a fire hydrant with the water gushing up a few feet above. Buffy made a mental note about alerting the nearby fire department with the damaged hydrant. At a local playground, kids perhaps a bit younger than Buffy's age were hanging out on a bench and blasting gangster rap on their boombox and partying as if it was all some massive prank.

The Slayer rolled her eyes before she froze at the scene in front of her.

Riley was in front the crumbling used bookstore by an intentionally lit trash can fire trying to contain the flames within. Satisfied with his effort, he then mediated a conflict of sort between two men, a black businessman in a sharp suit and a white man wearing dusty clothes, currently exchanging blows in a fistfight. The commando was playing the sympathy card before quickly dispelling any sort of kindness as he sternly and quite effectively shoved the loosely dressed man away when he got right in the soldier's face.

Buffy strolled up to the trio as Riley turned his back to face the other seething fellow attempting to calm the other man's anger while adjusting the man's loose tie.

The shoved man's eyes shined malevolently as he seized a nearby pipe to strike Riley while his back was still turned toward the wickedly smirking man.

The impact never came Buffy immediately walked up and violently snatched his wrist to twist an odd angle with an efficient promptness until the sharp snap and a dropped pipe ringing in the Slayer's ears meant she accomplished her action. The guy silently howled in pain with tears of agony prickling his eyes before dropping to his knees as Buffy never even stopped to look at the man.

Riley has eventually managed to defuse the second guy before whirling back around to see a vaguely uneasy Buffy. They instantly embraced each other before gazing in the other's eyes.

"Are you ok?" Riley mouthed with concern and affection toward his crush.

Buffy smiled weakly as she nodded before mouthing, "You?" while touching Riley's handsome face.

The startling noise of broken glass further down the street alerted the couple to be while Riley gently nudged the blonde that he should probably go investigate the noise. Out of her own sense of duty, Buffy nodded with an indication that she was heading the other way anyway.

They reluctantly began to part but soon as they kept holding the other's hands, the sudden pull of attraction toward the other had them slip back into the hug as they shared their first kiss, both feeling a great wave of dizziness as sparks flew from the passionate embrace.

A little flushed, Riley gave a warm grin and waved to a quite dazed Buffy as he went down the main street. Buffy continued to watch the man for a moment before she snapped out of it and sauntered off with a certain skips in her steps in the other direction.

—

At UCSD, Willow had her laptop tirelessly working along with a few volumes spread out on the bed and despite the hours she spent researching when she could and probably should have studied for her upcoming finals, there was just nothing of interest that would even be remotely beneficial to the gang.

'Where's someone to cast spells with when you need 'em?'

She briefly thought of Tara and how she was handling all of this before shaking her head as her ever active mind was becoming more and more jumbled thinking of the timid blonde Wiccan just as a weary Buffy entered the room, clearly beat from all the activity going on. Mentally thanking her best friend for the welcomed distraction, Willow looked up at her roommate with concern.

"Anything?"

Not even paying attention to what Willow was saying or mouthing as the case, Buffy just kept moving to her bed before collapsing face down onto it, blissfully snoring a few moments later.

With a sigh, Willow went right back to her work before producing a silent but formidable yawn.

'Probably better just to sleep it off. Everything will be answered in the morning...'

—

December 16th

Two in the morning was approaching within ten minutes as noted in the clock tower, and despite being condemned by Sunnydale Police Department, the front door opened and a pair of flattened feet with prim shoes flat and together floated through the entrance before another pair floated by.

The mysterious monsters known as the Gentlemen glided into Sunnydale and floated half a foot in the air yet not moving their lower limbs. Their astonishing act of levitation was accomplished as if one were just walking about. The Gentlemen were dressed rather dapper in their long black formal wear with the three pairs gliding throughout Sunnydale while each pair of two Footmen were flanking them and shuffling about, acting on behalf of their masters.

Their appearances of grisly pinkish bandaged heads and highly worn straitjackets with only the arms untied a relatively grotesque sight, as the Footmen slogged in a chimpish gait and hunching while swinging their arms about. The Gentlemen floated just above ground with fixed yet vile grins, the only difference between them were their varying heights. Echoes of silent communication had the Gentlemen split up into two pairs and waved a parting with minute hand movements before heading into different areas of the town.

Down Revello Drive, a pair of Gentlemen floated downward between the rows of silent homes and at one particular house at 1628 Revello Drive, before the two Gentlemen glanced at each other before heading toward the front door.

—

At the apartment, Giles was currently asleep with a restless Olivia placing her head on his bare chest, simply unable to rest.

Sighing, she rose from the bed and pulled on her partner's black woolen robe before padding downstairs toward the kitchen. A slight chinking sound from the outside had the woman pause her movements and erring on the side of caution, she trudged to the window, curious at what caused the noise. With a glance at a still dozing Giles, then to the window, Olivia pulled the gauze curtain aside peering out into the darkened street.

Focusing her blurry eyes, it seemed as though a creature of some sort was floating across the street before moving into the shadows. Peering a little more intently, Olivia squinted her eyes to zero in some more-

Another Gentlemen floated right by the window with its' wickedly grinning face merely inches away from her and she jumped back in great fright, gasping as she tried to scream. Olivia instinctively stepped back with a look of pure terror and for the longest moment, she remained rigid in place.

—

At Stevenson Hall, another pair of Gentlemen glided in the hallway with their Footmen staggering behind with the lights off in the halls here, signaling curfew time and all was totally silent here and remaining so as the grinning specters floated down the hall, moving down slowly, while craning their bald heads at every room.

The Gentlemen passed rooms 213 and 214, with Buffy and Willow sleeping soundly, unaware of a shadow lurking underneath their door.

But one Gentlemen waggled his finger no, their hands moving minimally just enough to communicate the action. The one they want is not in this area, and they glided around the corner into another hallway. The taller Gentleman waved his hand no before the pair stopped at one particular room with a Gentleman showing his affirmation for room 118 as this was the room going to be used tonight.

Three distinct knocks on the door awoke one boy wearing flannel pajamas. Despite being tired and a little confused, he yawned before climbing out of bed to pad across the room. His vision slightly hazy, he opened the door-

The two Gentlemen stood politely before him, horrors beyond speaking of.

His eyes instantly widened as terror stretched across his entire face before the Footmen seized him roughly and dragged him back toward the bed to pin him down. He was putting up an immense struggle as he cried for help. But the effort was soundless and therefore useless. The Gentlemen floated inside and closed the door behind them before making their way to the bed with one on each side. The smaller Gentleman opened his doctors' bag and withdrew a scalpel before he handed it to the taller one, before sharing wicked smiles at the prospect of this fine harvest.

"HELP ME! SOMEBODY HELP! PLEASE HELP ME!" The boy screamed for help again and again and realized that he was never going to be heard and rescued from this horrid monsters. The Gentleman glanced down to the petrified man before the monsters looked at each other as one nodded slightly. With vile grins, the Gentleman lowered the scalpel inching dangerously closer to the student's exposed chest.

The boy's screams of terror followed by agony were utterly silent as the Gentleman sliced deep within with the cleanest cut.

—

'Damn... wish this hole in the ground would stay quiet more often.'

A certain peroxide-bleached vampire was delightfully taking advantage of Sunnydale's peculiar hush as he was currently occupied scaring the absolute crap out of the already spooked townspeople in an effort to collect enough petty cash so that he could obtain blood, smokes, and liquor in that precise order.

Satisfied with how his night turned out, Spike had a lit cigarette in his mouth as he was happily counting the huge wad of money in his pale hands.

A slight chinking noise floated to his ears and the vampire stopped to turn toward the source of the sound and listened for a long moment. Seconds passed and he was unable to hear anything related to the mysterious noise. Still puffing on the cigarette, Spike shrugged it off before turning back around to head to his nearby crypt.

Only to encounter a maliciously grinning Gentleman clutching a beating human heart along with his Footmen scattering around him.

Spike could only mutely scream in terror as he instantly dropped his cash wad to scramble away from this monster before-

DING!

Spike whacked himself on the head on a nearby light pole, forcing him flat on his rear as he clutched his head in agony. In a vulnerable moment, the Footman grappled the vampire to his kicking feet as the Gentleman ceremoniously pulled out a sharp scalpel.

A flash of a snarling vampiric face forced the Footman to release the chipped blond as he rushed to the nearest and safest place he could think of. He knew he was going to greatly irritate the former Watcher as he expressed his desires to be left alone for the next couple of days.

Yet somehow, Spike wasn't paralyzed with caring very much.

A shrill knock at the door caused Olivia to jump in fright again before a now alert yet exhausted Giles had a short sword grasped in his strong hand and cautiously opened the door to see a panting Spike speeding through the apartment and stopping to catch his breath. The vampire looked almost frightened and this made Olivia even more jumpy and Giles getting right into research mode as he wrote something in a nearby notebook.

"What happened?"

Calming down slightly, Spike roughly seized the ex-Watcher's notebook, earning a glare from the man while nursing his thumb with a freshly sliced paper cut. The vampire began sketching everything to memory regarding the hellish monsters.

—

At the Sunnydale clock tower, five Gentlemen hovered together, rustling like tall grass as the sixth and tallest Gentleman placed his treasure on their shrine.

It was the boy's still beating heart, freshly sticky before being contained in a chalice, with a total of seven chalices and three of them already containing hearts.

The Gentleman turned to his companions and flourished his hands like he was presenting the most exquisite painting. One Gentleman understood the meaning and began applauding his companion as if it was rather an excellent game of golf with the other Gentlemen following suit. The presenting Gentlemen held up his hands to stop the applause in an all too polite gesture of "No, you're too kind!"

All their grins became wicked as they shared the mutual villainous thought that the night was still young...

—

In the early morning hours, a more alert Buffy emerged from her room and instantly sensed something wrong. At the junction to the next hall, a pair of girls were comforting each other making the Slayer more anxious as she headed down to one room currently blocked by a man with a bright green jacket symbolizing his status as a campus official while preventing the unusual cluster of curious students from going into the victim's room. As Buffy was coming from the other direction, she quickly darted in the room to see the boy.

Or what was left of him.

Though the lights were off, and the shades were drawn, the Slayer's face was etched with great concern that the boy was missing his heart, and judging by the smooth incisions, it appeared to have been cut into and eventually removed by a scalpel.

'Hearts... they need hearts for a ritual of some kind.'

With this knowledge, Buffy departed the room just as swiftly as she entered and dashed straight to her Watcher's apartment.

—

Out of gratitude or more likely reluctance, Giles gave Spike a fresh pack of blood, and the vampire smirked a bit before pouring some into a mug and placing it in the fridge to slightly cool.

Olivia sat on the stairs finishing her drawings from what she saw last night with a slight tremble in her posture.

Giles set a steaming mug of coffee beside her before strolling to the door to grab his daily newspaper from his doorstep. Spike noticed Olivia's shakiness and tapped her shoulder so that she could meet his gaze, with the chipped blond giving her a thumbs up as an affirmation that everything was going to be alright. The woman seemed to have calmed slightly before giving a tiny yet warm smile to the vampire just as Giles entered the apartment, his face revealing a grave appearance as the opened headline blared:

BRUTAL SLAYING SHOCKS SILENT COMMUNITY

Down the paper was another article of a "Fifteen Year Old Girl Found Stabbed, Heart Missing."

The three focused on the missing hearts for a long moment as something began to click in the ex-Watcher's mind before he looked at Olivia who held up her completed sketch of a creepily grinning monster. Upon staring at the drawing, Giles threw down his paper and crossed to the bookshelf, scanning the many books about demons and folklore until he found a particular volume and pulled it out, with Fairy Tales as the main title. A few pages in, Spike stopped the man and pointed to one particular picture of a section called The Gentlemen while he scribbled on Giles' newspaper.

"That's the one I saw last night."

Olivia nodded her head to her partner as well in confirmation that it was the exact same description of what she had seen last night as well. With that, Giles quickly gathered his necessary supplies to meet up with the Scoobies before giving a brief yet tender kiss to Olivia and headed out the door, leaving a concerned Olivia and Spike by themselves. The vampire had a fabulous idea as he scrawled something again on the paper and held it for the woman to read.

"Want to watch Passions? Timmy's still down the bloody well."

A tiny smile gracing Olivia's features, she nodded, and the pair made their way to the couch before Spike turned the television, thankful that some semblance of sound remained, before he went on to resume watching his absolute favorite show of all time.

'Now, let's see if little Timmy's finally gonna be rescued at last...'

—

At Professor Walsh's empty lecture hall, Giles was currently assembling the projector and slides before dimly lowering the number of lights, setting an ambiance with the mood. Xander had closed the last of the blinds before heading down back to the front where the others were gathered. Buffy and Willow sat next to each in the front row seats as a slightly eager Willow was completely ready to take notes while Xander sat on the stairs several chairs away from the girls to one side, waiting a little impatiently with the rest of the gang and a bored Anya sat in the row behind Buffy and Willow munching on her popcorn that she refused to share with anybody else.

Giles pulled the screen down and finalized the overhead projector he managed to scrummage from a dusty janitor closet along with a series of transparencies set up on the desk. With a crack of his knuckles, he pressed the button and classical yet immensely creepy music came to life from the boom box as Giles slid the first transparency on the projector and is revealed on the massive screen.

However, the first transparency is upside down and backwards and the Scoobies were visibly confused as ever. Anya rolled her eyes before holding up her index finger and rotating it in a clearly meant gesture of turning around the transparency. Slightly puzzled, Giles turned to see the overhead and promptly fixed the error as it now correctly said "WHO ARE THE GENTLEMEN?" before placing the next sheet on the projector, a picture of Giles' rather borderline child drawing of a crudely drawn Gentleman, with the title "THEY ARE FAIRY TALE MONSTERS."

On the next sheet blared, "WHAT DO THEY WANT?"

Willow's hand instantly shot up. Before Giles can put the next transparency up, as if planning the big reveal, the witch pointed meaningfully at her heart.

Xander was, as always, confused. "Boobies?"

Giles gave the man a withering look before he set the next sheet on the projector, "HEARTS." along with three immaturely sweet cartoon hearts, and not of the real kind. Xander instantly got the idea while Anya simply raised her eyebrows for a moment as she continued to consume more popcorn. Giles placed one slide after another, revealing the fairy tale of the Gentlemen.

"THEY COME TO A TOWN..." along with two Gentlemen on a hill overlooking a small town with still wickedly scary grins.

"THEY STEAL ALL THE VOICES, SO NO ONE CAN SCREAM." A Gentleman extended his hand and appeared to be pulling a smoke-like mist out of the mouths of a group of people, to represent the voices being stolen.

"THEN..." A Gentleman entered a bedroom that gave Willow the inevitable chill up her spine as she recalled her encounter with Spike attempting to bite her. Or lack thereof, as they both came to find out.

A Gentleman had cut into a sleeping man and is slightly graphic and sort of bloody, followed by yet another slide of the Gentleman holding his victim's heart up. There is blood everywhere.

The Scoobies exchanged looks of slight concern and mostly disgust as they realized that Giles might have enjoyed getting a little carried away with the blood there before he stopped briefly to give them some pause. Anya actually found the graphic images kind of neat and shrugged as she munched from her bag of popcorn while Xander began writing something down on his whiteboard.

Another slide revealed, "THEY NEED SEVEN." as the image displayed a once again childish picture of seven hearts, "THEY HAVE AT LEAST TWO."

Xander snapped his fingers to get everyone's attention holding his whiteboard up for everyone, "HOW DO YOU KILL THEM?!"

Buffy snorted contemptuously before circling her fist around an imaginary stake and plunging it down repeatedly.

Everybody just stared at the Slayer as they were more than a little thrown, as the gesture didn't quite read the way she intended. Realizing her mistake, Buffy hurriedly and sheepishly grabbed a stake from her purse before repeating the gesture.

Xander then understood that she meant staking them and not... he immediately stopped his mental processing abilities before he gave himself quite an extremely haunting nightmare. Giles' poker face became one with relief as Willow pretended that nothing was amiss. Alas, Giles shook his head as he positioned the next slide.

"IN THE TALES, NO SWORD CAN KILL THEM." A Gentleman with several swords in him, still appearing with the hauntingly vile grin.

"BUT THE PRINCESS SCREAMED ONCE AND THEY ALL DIED." A princess had screamed her head off with the Gentlemen keeled over quite dead, "THEY CANNOT STAND THE HUMAN VOICE."

Taking a deep breath, Buffy let out her best yell but there was yet a single peep to emerge as Buffy pulled a "that's not gonna work" face.

Willow went frantic with an ingenious idea as reached into her bag to pull out a CD and began miming a person singing before mimicking a Gentleman covering his ears in pain and then flopping over dead with his tongue hanging out. Giles held a finger up as he was already ready for that one before adding the next slide, "ONLY A REAL HUMAN VOICE." and a picture of a Gentleman perfectly happy with a gramophone playing nearby. Willow threw her hands up before she pouted.

On her whiteboard, Buffy scribbled the inevitable question to show her Watcher, "How do I get my voice back?" Giles could only place his hands by his sides as he pointed to himself and the others before picking up a research tome, for there were still various books splayed open on the nearby table before he placed the final sheet on the projector.

"BUFFY WILL PATROL TONIGHT" and below was an image of a crudely drawn Buffy with a makeshift bow and arrow.

Buffy's jaw dropped in horror at observing the less than flattering picture of herself and promptly held her hands at her sides, as if complaining that her Watcher drew her hips way too large for her liking. Giles threw his hands in the air in sheer frustration of his Slayer's incessant grumbling of his pictures for she knew that art was not one of his strong suits before getting back on track.

With the show and tell concluded, the ex-Watcher pointed to rest of the Scoobies and held up a weighty text. Xander immediately objected and pointed to himself before miming hunting with a rifle. With a quite inaudible sigh, Giles acquiesced and Xander smiled happily, leaving Willow and Anya glancing at each other and relenting about having to do extensive research yet again.

Buffy crossed over to the desk before lifting the picture of the Gentleman closer to her face and she studied the slide for a long moment and realized that it was time to end the Gentlemen's reign of terror.

—

Underneath Lowell House, Riley and his commandos were donning their usual military garb before obtaining their stun rifles and expandable batons. Next to them on the small table was the local newspaper with the same stunning headlines.

However, with no other information about the demons or even their appearances, Riley hand signaled for his men to patrol in teams of four and to set their weapons to maximum power, for they had no idea on what they were dealing with. Forrest was given his quadrant in Sunnydale Square while Willis, under Graham's watchful eye, had orders to the surrounding neighborhoods with the intention of everyone rendezvousing back to Lowell House at midnight.

Once the commandos were given the green light from Riley, the squadrons began initializing their military sweeps in their assigned sectors, leaving a solitary Riley before he kept a steady pace to the highest point in Sunnydale as he wanted to scout out the entire town for any of those bizarre creatures seemingly responsible for the recent deaths in town.

With the clock tower in sight, Riley noticed that the bottom was completely boarded up and mentally cursed at not being able to enter.

Until a faint movement was made out behind the clock face. Riley's features contorted to suspicion as he reasoned that whatever was holed up in the tower didn't want to be trifled with. With that, he trudged toward it, keeping an ever-vigilant eye for any unusual movement.

—

Despite the deafening silence, Sunnydale was in a state of restlessness. Most of the residents essentially sealed off their doors and all lights were shut off, giving the appearance that nobody was home. Buffy was currently patrolling her neighborhood and keenly observed that the usual activity was dead quiet, for no one wanted to be out on such a horrific night like this.

This made the Slayer's job all the easier for her as she currently kept her drawn crossbow at the ready.

Buffy froze as her heightened senses spotted a blurry movement in the distance. She crept closer to the bushes as she finally made out what appeared to be the Gentleman and she instantly recognized the fairy tale monster. Making the first move, Buffy raised her crossbow at eye level-

SMACK!

Two Footmen leapt on the Slayer's back in an attempt to tackle her. Buffy's initial surprise gave way to pure annoyance.

'Seriously?! Now's not a good time!'

—

Under Tina's silent encouragement and tedious research, Tara's desk was covered with notes made about spells and a few books spread open, with one section titled Spells of Speech and Silence along with the nearby school directory and an underlined entry:

ROSENBERG, WILLOW D - 214 STEVENSON

Tina wrote Willow's address and dorm phone number on a Post-it pad before ripping off the sticky note to give to a grateful Wiccan, for her hands were trembling.

The older girl tapped the blonde's knee, forcing Tara to meet Tina's amber colored eyes.

"You ok?" she mouthed, knowing that what her friend was about to do was completely unheard of in terms of her mentee's social interaction, despite the months of gentle nudging and not so subtle encouragement for Tara to just go out and meet people.

Easier said than done.

Despite this, Tina motioned to Tara that she would remain here in the room and continue researching until the Wiccan came back from her hopefully successful search of a certain redheaded girl.

The blonde was taking a moment to compose herself, which wasn't lost on the other girl. She snapped her fingers to get Tara's attention as the girl met her mentor's eyes and Tina smiled before mouthing "Good luck", along with two thumbs up.

Shaking her head in amusement, Tara wore the barest hint of a grin before gathering her books and went out the door before closing it, leaving the Barbadian instantly bored amid all the research she swore earlier she was going to look at. She gave an inaudible sigh and questioned why she always did this to herself.

'Great... now what am I supposed to do?'

—

Tara briskly strolled through the empty campus, constantly looking over her shoulder. Not spotting the bushes until it was too late, she tripped over the shrubs and dropped her books. Quickly kneeling down to retrieve them, she remained oblivious to her surroundings and failed to pick up a mysterious rattling in the silent air.

Two Gentlemen floated on the university grounds along with the Footmen and were steadily leering closer to the distracted witch. Another rattle from the lackeys' straitjackets drew Tara's attention as she suddenly sensed something wrong before cautiously turning around to see the evilly smiling Gentlemen with their lackeys loping their way to her.

A soundless scream of terror escaped her lips as she hastily abandoned her books before scrambling to Stevenson Hall, the lackeys gaining surprising speed on a bumbling Tara with the Gentlemen malevolently grinning at the other as another heart will be claimed tonight.

Tara's heart was beating rapidly as she turned a corner just ahead of the Footmen and the Gentlemen leering effortlessly ever so slowly. Dashing in a dead panic, she pounded at a random door in the middle of the hallway!

"HELP!"

Yet the cry for help ironically fell on deaf ears.

A dark haired sat up in sheer terror and clutched her sheets in fear but refused to move as she had no idea what was out there. Frustrated, Tara scrambled to bang on another door. Knowing that the Gentlemen were continually floating to her, Tara kept hollering despite the silence.

"Help! Help!"

With the Footmen sauntering behind the approaching Gentlemen, Tara's hand was becoming numb by the smashing of not budging doors before giving up and sprinting to the stairway at the end of the hallway.

'Oh, please somebody hear me!'

—

Buffy kept pounding the Footmen and succeeded in hurling a henchman to the ground before seizing the other by its' head and sharply jerked the neck to one side.

SNAP!

In a flash, the lifeless Footman collapsed to the ground and the other lackey took off running as it needed to alert its' master that they were in grave danger. Buffy promptly gave chase for if she was correct, the Footman was going to lead her right where the Gentlemen took residence.

'Time to make the monsters permanent dead residents.'

Meanwhile at the ground floor of the clock tower, Riley entered the front door and made his way cautiously throughout the debris riddled space and made his way toward the rickety stairs.

A sudden tackle by a Footman sent the man collapsing to the floor as he lost his rifle as it skittered across the other side of the room. Despite the huge disadvantage, the commando yanked his telescoping baton from his boot pocket before snapping it to a full length before slamming it under the back of the Footman's legs sending the lackey sprawling across.

Yet a second one leapt on him.

'Where the hell do they keep coming from?!'

—

Tara dashed up the stairs before she turned the corner on the second floor of Stevenson and kept banging door after door.

Willow, asleep on her laptop at her desk and fully dressed, was widely awake as the constant pounding and running startled her out of her sleep. Afraid yet curious about what lied beyond, she hesitantly approached her door.

'Here's hoping my heart stays where it rightfully belongs. I hate to have it stolen.'

Tara continued to pound at the door before it swung open and revealed yet another evilly grinning Gentleman with the beating heart of a student held in his bony hand. She was momentarily startled as she stepped back and out of her peripheral vision, the first team of Gentlemen reached the hallway with their Footmen stumbling around them before scampering toward the trembling blonde. The adrenaline rush kicking in again, Tara barreled down the hall as she turned to glance back at her increasingly fast pursuers.

Willow finally mustered the courage to take a curious peek outside her door and barely took the first step outside before a certain Tara slammed into her and both girls tumbled to the ground as the redhead silently yelped in pain when her ankle had been twisted a certain way. Willow's door was effectively shut and locked from the inside and Willow mentally cursed at forgetting her keys for the first time.

Upon seeing the Gentlemen and their lackeys, they quickly scrambled up and bolted out of the hall to the closest stairway as Willow kept limping from their earlier conjoined impact and rushed down the stairs as fast as they could despite Tara assisting a limping Willow with the Footman barely behind them.

—

Riley elbowed one Footman off him into some barrels as the other scrambled back and leapt on the commando's back, sending Riley stumbling to the ground before he reached for his taser rifle. Another Footman that Buffy was pursing had bumbled through the door scared out its' wits as he passed the boarded-up window before Buffy crashed through and knocked down the boards with a shoulder block and shove with her crossbow slung over her back like a rifle and finally tackled him.

Riley pushed the one currently pinning him back into the barrels and backhanded the Footman with a closed fist before flipping the lackey over his shoulder until the first lackey seized Riley again and slammed him into a platform with one arm and both tumbled to the floor.

Riley eventually reached his rifle and slammed the butt into the Footman's bandaged face as Buffy delivered a powerful kick at her Footman before slinging another and reached back for her crossbow. Riley obtained his weapon and rolled in an evasive combat maneuver while Buffy round housed another lackey before flinging one of the other Footmen into a shelf. The commando reached his feet and used his rifle as a club to knock down one still having a hold on him.

Defensive tactics now on the offensive, Buffy and Riley quickly drew and aimed their respective weapons-

At each other.

Buffy and Riley were completely and utterly stunned to see each other here. Buffy's confusion gave to realization that Riley was currently donned in commando style gear and a rifle, as if he were working for the military. Riley's face hardened slightly upon noticing Buffy's powerful stance and a bulky crossbow wielded with authority.

'What the hell are you doing here?'

Neither had time to question the other's presence as the three Footman attacked all at once, the close quarters making it impossible to wield their lengthy weapons. Riley slung one over the shoulder while Buffy kept kicking hers repeatedly while the commando backed away far enough to blast a Footman with an electrical charge, causing it to keel over and convulse on the floor.

Buffy widely fired an arrow as the third gained on her and knocked her crossbow down before Riley captured the Footman from behind. The arrow struck Footman snatched Buffy and flung her towards the wall. She stumbled and fell but gracefully landed on her feet to meet the impact. She shoved the lackey into the wall, delivering robust kicks to the Footman's side and the head while launching a mighty left hook.

Buffy saw one scrambling upstairs and she takes off after the Footman before looking at Riley. A look from the commando meant that he seemed to have been in control of his fight, so the Slayer made her decision to follow the one lackey.

One of the lackeys rose up and Riley ducked another blow while Buffy dodged her opponent's staggering swing before spinning to issue a jaunting kick to the head.

Meanwhile, Riley flipped the lackey to the ground again while Buffy walloped a Footman with a powerful left than a sharp right hook as she snagged the lackey before slamming him down to the ground.

Riley was restraining a Footman with a strong arm bar hold before he gazed upward to see one lackey previously blasted from his stun rifle already up and moving as Buffy dashed to clutch a rope before swinging on the rope to drive the heel of her foot hard, sending the lackey flying across the room breaking right through a post and into a shelf. Riley was completely shocked. Buffy was more than strong- she was downright superhuman.

—

At Giles' apartment, the ex-Watcher was currently reading a chapter of James Joyce's Ulysses before crossing out of the kitchen with a steaming mug of chamomile tea to soothe his partner's nerves. He and Spike accidentally bumped shoulders and both gave the other a massive eye roll before the vampire opened the fridge to get his Kiss the Librarian' cup of blood and began drinking deep, his face becoming vampiric as he drained the remaining cup.

Still in vamp face, he sauntered to the living room where Anya finally fell asleep on the couch from the agonizing hours of research and curled up with a lengthy yet deeply boring text. Tossing and turning with her neck facing Spike, the vampire set his mug on the coffee table before knocking over some more books. Peeved with himself, he knelt to retrieve them and place them back on the table.

Tired from spending all day researching and walking around the entire town, a weary Xander crawled through the entrance, his mood instantly sobering when he saw a somewhat pale and crashed Anya before Spike's head popped out from the couch still vamp faced with some remaining blood on his lips before Spike stood up and was briefly curious on why Xander had an expression of pure rage on his face before he glanced down at Anya and immediately realizing how bad this must look to the man who despised vampires more than anything in the world.

The vampire rapidly shook his head and was mutely yelling "No!" as Xander launched himself over the couch like a shot, tackling Spike to the floor and violently beating the bleach colored vamp repeatedly. The commotion instantly awoke Anya and got up in annoyance before noticing that her angry boyfriend was situated on Spike, roughly grappling the vampire with his left and clubbing him with his right and he kept pounding the vampire to submission several times. Upon hearing the crash and commotion, Giles and Olivia rushed out from the back room to see what was going on as Anya kept tapping Xander on the shoulder a few times as a beaten Spike was forcefully pointing to her with his right hand.

"Hey! It's alright! I'm ok!" Anya mouthed and was more than a little worried on why her boyfriend was beating the ever living daylights out of the chipped vamp. Xander saw Anya still alive and well and promptly jumped up to fiercely kiss her before tightly embracing the ex-demon. Anya was extremely puzzled at first, then smiled widely as she was pleased by his true display of caring.

Groaning inaudibly, Spike rose from the floor, his vamp face expressing a dully furious look at the dark haired man. Xander kept hugging Anya before stopping to look at Spike with a distressed face, only to apologetically shrug at him and kiss Anya again with all the passion he had for her. Spike rolled his eyes at the couple while Olivia glanced at Giles then to the couple and the two older partners smiled warmly at the young lovers.

"You wanna go someplace and..." Anya mouthed in her coquettish way before making a rather obscene gesture of a circle with her thumb and forefinger before inserting her other finger in it repeatedly, giving a slight nod to a stunned yet highly pleased Xander. The tall man smiled widely as he and Anya promptly exited the apartment to head back to Anya's for a night of passion, leaving Spike even more irked at what had just happened, followed by a revolted Giles and a mortified Olivia blankly staring at the odd couple.

—

It was no use! Willow and Tara tried to push the vending machine, but they both lacked the physical strength to even budge it.

Where was Buffy when Willow needed her?

The pain in the hacker's ankle seized the inopportune moment to flare up, and groaning yet again in silence, she fell backwards as the agony proved too much to even put the slightest amount of pressure. She prayed hard that her ankle wasn't fractured.

"Shit!" Willow cursed with a scowl, but the word was still mouthed.

Willow realized that the only way to move the damned machine was with magic, but she also knew that she has never been able to move anything that big before. She didn't have the time to properly cleanse her emotions as the scraping sounds of the Gentlemen's lackeys forcing their way into the flimsy door meant they were almost through the obstacle.

Concentrating on only the machine, Willow was able to get it to budge only an inch and attempting to move it again as the machine rumbled about, but the large machine had finally remained firmly back in place again. The increasingly sharp pressure in Willow's head forced her to stop. She just could not do it and she never felt so inept up until now as she cursed her apparent lack of power.

Meanwhile, as Tara was observing the whole time of what Willow was attempting to do, she knew that Willow had power, and a lot of power at that. She never felt this much energy since her mother practiced the craft so long ago. Perhaps if they worked together...

Slowly, Willow glanced downward as she felt a tingling feeling in her hand and saw Tara intertwining her fingers with hers. Willow never felt so much energy coming from another person. It felt wonderful and pure. The pair locked eyes, now slightly dilated with magic and something else that neither could grasp at the moment, and they suddenly understood.

Their heads turned swiftly as the vending machine instantly obeyed their command and covered the heavily damaged door within a second.

It was done! They did it!

Willow and Tara gazed at each other again with their eyes still dilated, and then looked downward to their intertwined hands in total awe as well as confusion. Both witches were astonished at feeling such a rush of energy flowing within them and aside from the tentative occasional eye lock, Willow and Tara couldn't do anything more but keep their hands clasped together, the brushing of one's skin against the other's sending the girls in a tingling state of wonder and delight. Yet both of them had the same question in their hyperactive minds:

'How did we do that?'

—

It was total chaos in the clock tower.

Buffy noticed there were only two empty jars remaining and presumed that if they didn't succeed in getting their voices back soon, she and Riley were next in line to lose their much needed organ.

A swift kick from behind had the Slayer tumbling to the ground as three Footmen snagged and held her in place as a nearby Gentleman floated toward her with a wicked grin and a sharp scalpel inching ever closer to Buffy's chest.

A blast of electricity forced the Gentleman back as another arc made its' target on a Footman, temporarily stunning the lackey. Being held by only two Footmen, Buffy flipped over and drop kicked an approaching fourth lackey before breaking free and jabbed one away.

Riley's weapon had effectively shut down from using all its' power from the maximum usage, but he pushed through and jumped toward the chaos as another lackey tackled Buffy with two of them going after the cornered Slayer. Riley used the back of his rifle to strike one before another seized him and yanked him backwards. Riley was not deterred as he wrapped a rope around the lackey's arm and neck. Buffy ducked a roundhouse and kicked another lackey in the back before dodging another roundhouse and kicked a stool forward into the Footman to deliver a terrific uppercut.

Riley elbowed the restrained lackey in the head before the other Footman finally recovered from the blow and grabbed him again as Buffy snagged a lackey and shoved it with its' head smashing on the metal cylinders as a Gentleman moved forward with a scalpel at the ready while the Slayer was currently distracted.

Riley evaded the Footman's grasp and bashed its' head into the huge tower bell with quite a walloping force as the bell gonged in the surrounding silence, the trembling echoes felt far and wide.

—

Both Willow and Tara swung their heads to the distant echoing resonance from the bell tower.

"Buffy!" Willow mouthed in terror as she crawled up from the floor before collapsing to the floor and silently hissing in pain as her ankle, seemingly forgotten in the ensuing chaos, flared up again. She tried to climb up again but gripped her ankle as it refused to move with her and was currently working with a deep breathing technique as she felt panic swell up within her until she felt a warm hand on her own. Stunned, the redhead glanced up to see Tara giving a disarming yet caring smile.

"It'll be ok," she mouthed before squeezing Willow's hand for the hacker seemed to have melted upon seeing the sincerity in Tara's eyes and with a strange calmness, Willow relaxed under Tara's touch and shyly looked away as the sharp pain gave way to a now dull ache.

Tara noticed the redhead's pained face and with Willow's permission, she pulled the pant leg upward, revealing Willow's ankle. It thankfully didn't appear to be broken but there was a definite sign of slight swelling around the site due to the odd angle in which the redhead fell. A twinge of guilt gracing her features as being partially responsible for her crush's agony, Tara gently placed both her hands on the ankle before closing her eyes and began cleansing her emotions to concentrate on a silent healing chant.

Willow was astonished as she observed Tara's intensely focused yet serenely peaceful face as she felt immense heat from Tara's naturally warm hands. A moment later, her hands were cooling rapidly, greatly reducing the swelling in the hacker's twisted ankle. Carefully standing up while pulling the blonde with her, Willow was immediately relieved that she was able to walk normally again and she was once again completely stunned and spellbound from her new friend's incredible power.

'She's so powerful... and wonderful...'

—

The battle didn't appear to let up anytime soon as Buffy was currently whacking the one she already shoved twice before drop kicking him away.

Immense pain contorted her face as a Gentleman sliced into her from behind with the now bloodied scalpel before backing away, reveling in his success. Riley turned with the highest alarm another lackey snagged Buffy before flinging her into a giant spool of rope and held her in place around the shoulders and neck from behind. Weakened from the blood loss and agony, she was completely unable to break loose. Snarling, Riley seized a heavy pipe and struck the barely restrained Footman as it started to ease its' way out of the ropes, with another hard blow sending the lackey down.

Buffy's vision was starting to fade before a small box right next to the jars of hearts caught her full attention. A sudden flashback to the little girl singing the Gentlemen's lullaby as she held the box brought the Slayer right back to the present. Waving her arms like a madwoman before failing to get Riley's attention, she banged her hands on the giant spool as she was still restrained by the Footmen. The commando understood her hasty gesture and used the butt of his rifle to smash a blue vial right next to the box before gazing at Buffy for her approval.

A quick roll of the eyes and miming a box opening and closing had Riley mouth a "Oh..." before he finally shattered the box. A heavy stream of mist emerged from the broken object before the Footmen threw the Slayer down with two of the streamers of mist lodge right back into Riley's and Buffy's throats.

With a deep inhale, Buffy released a howl.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The wailing went on and on and on as the Gentlemen clutched their heads in sheer agony while the Footman collapsed to the floor with sudden convulsions. After a long intense moment, they simply could not withstand the anguish of the human voice any longer before all of the Gentlemen rigidly stood in place.

Abrupt cranial explosions of Gentlemen and Footmen promptly followed as their heads splattered sickly greenish remains all throughout the tower and Buffy finally ceased her screaming ability. Glorious relief swept through the Slayer as she audibly sighed before surging herself up from the dusty ground. She and Riley exchanged a knowing look that serious explaining needed to be done.

"Riley," Buffy sighed again as she took a step toward the known commando.

Riley couldn't almost meet her intense gaze but he forced himself anyway, for he knew that if he wanted to make things genuinely work between them, he was going to be completely honest with her... just as she hopefully would be with him.

"Buffy..." his eyes remained elsewhere before extending his hand toward the Slayer which was met with a hesitant one.

"Well, we better head back to campus. No doubt people are gonna hear about this," the blonde nudged her head to the floor before immense disgust contorted her face as she stepped in Gentlemen remains, "Ugh... brains. And I just bought these boots!"

Riley chuckled before forcing a light smile, "Yeah... we need to get back. To our dorms."

Buffy knew he was putting on a front but didn't say anything else as he gently led her down the stairs before the pair exited the clock tower and they remained silent on the journey back to the university.

Making it back without any incident from demon or vampire, the Slayer and the commando waved their goodbyes before Riley entered Lowell House as the Slayer went on her remaining nightly patrol. Yet both shared the exact same thought:

'This is not going to be easy to explain tomorrow morning.'

—

"You're so cool! Thanks!" Willow enthusiastically spoke out, but her words were actually spoken aloud.

Tara's jaw dropped open, "You can talk!"

"As can you!" the other girl excitedly remarked and knew that Buffy had succeeded in bringing everyone's stolen voices right back throughout Sunnydale. Willow was beyond grateful and would never again take speaking for granted as she looked to Tara again with an eager face, "This time, I properly thank you for not only saving my life from the Gentlemen, but you even helped me with my ankle! You gotta teach me that sometime!" Willow babbled frantically before her eyes met the floor in embarrassment, "I mean... if you're ok with teaching that to me... 'cause, you and I... there's something between us. We're uh..." the hacker trailed off lamely and inwardly kicked herself for sounding like a gigantic loser while a deep shade of red added color to her pale cheeks.

Tara recognized Willow's embarrassment and felt a kinship with this girl in mutual shyness. Despite the list of endless questions she wanted to ask the redhead, only one came to mind.

"W-who are t-the Gentlemen?"

Willow realized her mistake and mentally cursed herself for revealing a Scooby story to the blonde despite feeling such a powerful connection with her. Answering as honestly as she could without revealing the true nature of her experiences, she began her spiel.

"The Gentlemen... the monsters you and I saw... they're the reason we couldn't speak. They're actually out of a fairy tale believe it or not," the smaller woman replied as Tara was busy assembling the clues together.

Tara had no idea what to say in response to Willow's statement, but naturally curiosity got the better of her, "Fairy tales? They're actually real? I only thought they w-were just myths."

"Yep! Fairy tales are indeed real, as Sunnydale unfortunately came to find out. You'd be wise not to go outside after dark. The town's called 'Sunnyweird' for a reason..." Willow muttered darkly as she shook her head from living on the Hellmouth about Sunnydale High for the last eighteen years of her life. The ominous tone from the hacker wasn't lost on Tara but she quickly brushed it as she noticed the soda machine still budged against the laundry room door and moved her head to Willow about the barricaded door.

Both girls glanced at the other and with a nod of recognition, they laced their fingers together. As if sharing one mind, the witches felt the intense rush of power again as the soda machine was yanked away from the door, banging violently against the wall and expelling a number of surprisingly still cold drinks, which a delighted Willow hurried to grab at least five cans of root beer.

"Things are looking up today! Free soda!" Willow's overeager tone amused a chuckling Tara before said amusement turned to slight concern as the redhead immediately began drinking one soda, after another, after another...

"Uh, W-Willow?" Tara's eyes slowly grew wide at the vast amount of soda consumed within a five-minute time span. It was an unbelievable sight.

"Want one, Tara?" Willow's now hyperactive mood simply couldn't forget the cute blonde beside her.

"Uh..." was all Tara could reply before being handed a root beer anyway. The redhead proceeded to skip out of the laundry room... before smacking her head on the door frame, causing the hacker to land backwards on the floor. This immediately caused a snort from the blonde witch, which she failed miserably to hide behind her hand before she scurried to the redhead to help her back on her feet, no amount of humor overriding her concern for the fiery haired witch.

"I'm such a spaz..." Willow dejectedly glanced toward the ground as she laid a hand against her now throbbing forehead as the ache eventually went away while the redhead motioned to a slightly trembling blonde to stay right behind her.

"Anyway... you ready?" Willow asked as she made her way to the door while Tara nodded in a remaining nervousness. When the smaller girl clutched the doorknob to take a peek outside, the first thing she noticed was-

"Ewwww... brains," Willow scrunched her face in disgust while Tara winced a little herself from seeing the headless slimy corpses on the floor. Tara slipped a little after stepping on a particularly gooey splatter before Willow caught her.

"You ok?"

Tara blushed furiously from the sudden close proximity to her crush, but maintained a smile nonetheless, "Yes. Thank you."

The grisly sight of decapitated corpses never deterred Willow's bubbling enthusiasm as she skipped down the long hallway. Tara couldn't hide the chuckling now and was indeed staring at the redhead's surprising curves.

'Wow... such a nice butt...' she gazed dreamily at the firm ass of her crush.

"Wait! I'm forgetting something! You!" as Willow grabbed Tara's hand and they strolled down the hallway together, both giggling like schoolgirls before the girls went upstairs to stop at Willow's room. Despite the excitement from downstairs, both girls were now at a loss for words.

Willow broke the silence first, "Tara?"

The Wiccan met the hacker's intense eyes and seemed to have fallen deeper and deeper into the redhead's soul, "Yes?"

"Thank you so much... I... I couldn't have done it without you..." Willow nervously murmured while blushing a little both with her utterance and at Tara's soulful gaze.

Tara's own cheeks went pink as she gave a small lopsided smile to the redhead. For some reason unknown to her, Willow hugged the blonde. Tara's figure felt so warm and full and just... right against hers. A stunned Tara was totally not expecting the hug, but she quickly embraced back, for Willow's body felt so wonderful and so complete against hers.

'What is she doing to me? I feel so... happy.' Willow briefly wondered before letting go of Tara.

"Do you want to meet up tomorrow?" Willow asked in a hopeful tone as she shyly added, "I have a morning break right after my networking security class."

"Absolutely," Tara responded almost immediately before a coy smile crept up as she dared to meet Willow's wondrous green eyes, "I'll be there."

'Networking security. The girl of my dreams is cute, kind, brave, and smart. How did I get so lucky?'

Tara wore the largest grin on her face as she briefly touched Willow's hands and squeezed them gently in support, with the touch sending both of their hearts in a wonderful flutter as the pair gazed at each other, their eyes slightly dilated with a spark of some kind.

'Did she feel that?'

"I'll s-see you tomorrow, W-willow," Tara gave a small wave before heading back to her dorm, a certain skip in her steps not gone unnoticed by an equally joyful hacker.

"Bye, Tara..." Willow sighed dreamily to herself as she gazed at Tara's curves with slightly more than a friendly intention before she literally smacked herself to her senses and sighed wistfully as she pulled a bobby pin from her back pocket to pick the lock to her dorm, usually because Buffy was always the forgetful one when it came to her keys the first few times the best friends lived together, and loudly whooped in celebration when she heard the opening click.

Once inside and saw that everything was still in order, minus a heavily snoring Slayer, the hacker shut the door and locked it on the inside to prevent any more mishaps. With a very audible yawn and not caring that she desperately needed a shower, Willow just collapsed on the bed while dressed in the same clothes worn all day and dozed off in a matter of minutes. In the midst of danger and adrenaline, only one thing was on the sleepy hacker's mind:

Tara.

Her magic. The pure energy. Their connection. Her intense gaze. Her beautiful smile.

The spark within.

Willow opened her eyes in a sudden revelation. Her mouth turned into a brilliant grin.

"Wow."

—

December 17th

There was a great deal of commotion the next day in the student commons and it simply felt wonderful to be able to hear the many voices filling the silence, but the chirping of birds eventually stirred Willow out of her slumber. With a quick stretch of her limbs, the hacker forced herself out of bed before she noticed the other unslept bed which meant Buffy never came back last night. A wave of concern was quickly brushed off as she knew that Buffy could always handle herself and immediately made a mental note to grab some chocolate and vanilla swirl ice cream for her best friend. Gathering her hygiene items and a striped towel, Willow strolled through the hallway to take a brisk and steaming hot shower.

Willow mused to herself about last night, and what she would say to Tara.

'So do you live at Stevenson Hall? Are you a witch too? How were we able to use our power like that? Were you looking for me? Do you know me like I somehow know you?'

That last thought bewildered the hacker before she shook her head and twisted the shower knob off. Finally out of the bathroom, Willow quickly assembled her outfit and briskly paced down the stairs to go to her first morning class and almost couldn't stop bouncing in her chair as the two hour long lecture came to an end.

As soon as the elderly professor issued his typical partings in a monotone inflection, a usually studious Willow bustled out of the cramped lecture room and almost stopped in her tracks when she recognized Tara humming a melody while sketching what appeared to be quite intimate to her. The wonderful sight sent Willow's heart into a flutter and wished that she would be able to peek at whatever the beautiful witch was drawing.

"Hey Tara," the hacker waved in her usual ecstatic manner while strolling to her before an intensely focused Tara looked up to see an already brilliantly smiling redhead. With a blush, Tara instantly stowed her sketchbook in her handwoven bag, "Hey, Willow. How was your class?" the blonde questioned as she stood up to properly chat with her new friend.

Willow sighed wistfully before stretching her back, "Long. As always. You think with computers, we'd all know the answers by now, but we don't. And we may never know..."

"Good things come to those who wait," the taller girl remarked with a faint longing in her tone, for she knew she could always wait forever for Willow.

Whether she became a great friend or maybe something even more, Tara would endlessly remain content so long as the redhead would be a part of her life no matter how small or insignificant.

Willow grinned in response before a replacement of curiosity etched on her face, "So um... how were you able to find me?"

Tara hid her face behind her blonde tresses while she confessed to how she literally stumbled into Willow, "I was able to locate your name with the student directory. Willow Rosenberg is what you told me the other day, and... I was on the way to your dorm when..." she shuddered as the memory of running for her life from the Gentlemen was apparently not going to go away anytime soon.

The fiery haired witch was stunned at Tara's apparent elephant memory as she herself couldn't remember what she said to Buffy the night before the Gentlemen came to town. Though, this may have more to do with the hacker not being to sleep all night after the awesome current between the witches and the sudden rush of potential power in a silent mutual effort last night to save themselves from literally becoming heartless folks to those fairy tale monsters.

"You were there looking for me?" Willow inquired as the pair of budding witches walked toward the student lounge chairs together.

Tara nodded as she honestly answered as to why she was searching for the redheaded hacker, "I thought m-m-maybe we could do a spell... make people talk again. I'd seen you... in the group, the w-w-Wicca group. You were..." the older girl sighed as her stutter made a reappearance once again before Willow's curious eyes forced her to resume her statement, "You were different than them. They didn't seem to know..." she trailed off as she was busy coming up with the nicest way to describe the quite pretentious organization.

Luckily, Willow already knew the answer as she snickered a little, "What they were talking about?"

Tara giggled as well before a shy smile curled on her face while forcing to calm her heart down. This was due to Willow's finishing sentence that exactly came to the blonde's mind, almost as if they always knew what the other was thinking.

With that and a newfound courage, Tara created a miniature quip just to see if her crush would find it hilarious as she thought it would be, "I think if they saw a w-witch they would... run the other way."

Willow smiled warmly at her new friend and let out a slight chuckle. She thought it was just so cute when Tara cracked a joke at the expense of the faux witch group before a thought, like always, popped in the overly active girl's mind as she stared wonderingly at the blonde, "How long have you been practicing?"

"Always," Tara replied before rolling her eyes at how cliche that sounded, "I mean, since I um, was little... My-my mom used to..." she trailed off in a sort of forlorn way as the last time she felt that much warm and innately pure energy, her mother was still alive. Tara mentally shook her head as she finished the rest of her sentence with a prideful yet contented expression "She um, she had a lot of power. Like you." Tara's intensely blue eyes beamed right through Willow's soul as she felt her breath catch in her throat from the intensity of Tara's stirring gaze before Willow caught the tail end of her friend's remark.

A by now familiar blush colored Willow's pale cheeks. "Oh, I'm not- I don't have much in the way of power," she smiled in a sheepish fashion as Tara gave her a contemplative look. The redhead continued, "Really, I mean most of my potions come out... soup," she chuckled at her own joke which got a slight giggle from the other witch as well. "Besides... spells going awry, friends in danger... I'm definitely nothing special."

Within a flash of a second, Willow's honesty inspired Tara to utter the boldest yet truthful answer to ever emerge from the Wiccan's mouth.

"No, you are."

The unexpected yet sincere compliment sent Willow's heart fluttering again while Tara smiled hesitantly at first before giving Willow a truly brilliant grin. In a rare moment such as this, the usually babbling hacker was struck dumbfounded on how to react to such a simply wonderful reply.

'Does she really understand me... like I understand her?'

For now, Willow was content with making a wonderful friend.

"Well, I thought we made a pretty good team... not getting killed at all..." the redhead trailed off before the magic they shared last night wormed its' way to the smaller girl yet again as she pressed on excitedly, "With the soda machine, boom! Pretty cool," Willow grinned widely at reveling in the newfound potential she amazingly tapped into with Tara before she mentally slapped herself at not offering a responding compliment to Tara's earlier statement and was more than willing to see the blonde's gorgeous lopsided smile once more.

"Seems like you're kinda powerful."

As if it were magic, Tara's grin became even wider if that were possible and Willow briefly wondered if there was such thing as dying from pure happiness, judging by the way her heartbeat soared upward the more Tara smiled.

Tara pulled Willow out of babbling thoughts of happiness, "I'd like to be. I feel like I'm s-stuck. Like I'm at the door and it won't open."

"I know exactly what you mean!" Willow exclaimed astonishingly as she too had been stuck at the door with virtually no way to open. This was so cool that she and this Tara were exactly on the same wavelength.

Tara stammered a bit in what appeared to be a sort of apprehensive way, "Maybe we could..."

"Break through together?" Willow offered hopefully as she never felt... whatever this was... before.

Tara gave Willow another lopsided grin and the budding witches shared a secret delight of having a new friend to practice magic with.

Yet something within Willow was tapped, and the redhead couldn't stop the surprisingly pleasant thought invading her mind.

'I finally know you now. You're the one in my wonderful dreams that I've had since forever. There's something about you that I can't help but always find my way back to your baby blue eyes. Do you not know how much you mean to me already? You're the one, Tara.'

—

Back at the apartment complex, Giles and Olivia were laying together on his couch as they cuddled.

"So would you say this was, uh, your best visit ever?" the man inquired in a slight chortle as he took a sip of scotch. Olivia could only grin a bit as she was deep in thought with the recent events of the last two days.

"All the time you used to talk about witchcraft and darkness and the like... I just thought you were being pretentious," the woman chuckled briefly and fought to contain the shudder within her as the haunting image of the Gentleman creepily grinning at her was not something she was ever going to mentally erase from her mind in a long while.

"Oh I was," the former high school librarian replied in his usual banter as he gently squeezed his partner in an affectionate manner, "I was also right."

Olivia seemed satisfied with this answer so far. "So everything you told me was true."

"Well no, um, I wasn't actually one of the original members of Pink Floyd..." Giles sheepishly rubbed the back of his hand before tacking on, "But the monster stuff, yes."

"Scary..." was all the woman could utter in a tone that wasn't revealing much.

"Too scary?" Giles dared to question for he knew how overwhelming the recent events were to his girlfriend.

Olivia seemed almost hesitant to reply.

"I don't know."

The woman's almost curt answer seemed to have the ex-Watcher in a barely hidden state of apprehension and he inwardly sighed that his duties as a Watcher, no matter if he was fired or not, were always going to get in the way of a regular life; there seemed to have been no point in connecting to "ordinary" folks if it always led to... this.

The rugged man forced himself to keep the stinging tears at bay as he faced the inevitable decline of his and Olivia's relationship.

'So be it.'

—

On a chilly Friday morning, Buffy was currently folding her laundry while keeping her door unlocked so she could gather Willow's remaining clothes still being dried in the nearby student laundry center.

A heavy knock at the door had Buffy turning her gaze toward the door before handling the remaining laundry that needed to be folded.

"Hi," a pensive Riley muttered.

Buffy almost couldn't meet the man's gaze after what happened last night.

Still, things needed to be said out loud.

However, she couldn't manage more than a soft "Hi," toward the burly man.

With Buffy's silent nod, he shut the door, knowing that what was about to be revealed could not be made public. The commando trudged to Willow's freshly made bed and sat on the edge of the bed. Buffy mimicked Riley's actions as she perched on her own bed.

The tension between was unbearably thick, as the college students remained unusually quiet after last night's harrowing reveal toward the other.

"Well..." Riley began before he was struck with a loss for words as he ran a hand through his hair. He audibly sighed before continuing, "I guess we have to talk."

Buffy shrugged as she struggled to maintain the swirling conflict within her.

"I guess we do."

They just sat in total silence as they faced each other with hands folded in their respective laps. Both of them were only thinking of one thing:

'How the hell can I explain myself?'

Seconds to minutes easily ticked by for it seemed that the sound of silence was preferred to speaking...