Xander frowned at what he was seeing. "Is she dying?" he asked over the loud noises.

"I think she's singing," said Buffy, squinting at the TV.

"To a telephone in Hindi. Now that's entertainment!"

They sat in Buffy's room, a couple of empty pizza boxes surrounding them, the other three braiding Willow's hair while she tried to explain the weird Hindi soap opera they were watching – if it was a soap opera. Maybe it was a regular opera. Hell, it might even be a sitcom.

The Hindi woman on TV danced around the room while singing into the phone. "She's jumping around now. Did she see a mouse?" asked Jesse.

"She's sad because her lover gave her twelve gold coins," explained Willow, "but then the wizard cut open the bag of salt, and now the dancing minions have nowhere to put their big maypole… fish thing," she finished, taking a sip of her drink.

"Well, who among us can't relate to that?" Jesse shrugged.

Buffy frowned. "Her lover? I thought that was her chiropractor."

"Because of that thing he did with her feet? No, that was personal," said Willow.

Xander chuckled. "Hmm. And we thought just because we didn't have any money or anyplace to go this would be a lackluster evening."

"I know! We could go to the Bronze and sneak in our own tea bags and ask for hot water," Willow smiled.

"Hop off the outlaw train, Will, before you land us all in jail."

Jesse grabbed another slice of pizza. "Personally, I'm all for a boring night. I feel like ever since we discovered we live on a Hellmouth, it's been non-stop wacky crazy scary all the time. We deserve a night to chill and watch… whatever the hell we're watching."

"The plot twist is it turns out this is Paid Programming," grinned Xander.

The others laughed, but Willow pouted. "Well, it's better than watching that show you guys always want to watch. Not everyone wants to watch a guy and his robots talk over a movie."

"Blasphemer," said Jesse.

"Wash your mouth out with Diet Rite, young lady," scolded Xander.

Buffy smiled at her friends' bickering. She agreed that they needed this, especially her. Sunnydale had gone quiet lately, with no demons or vampires to slay, leaving her free to chill with her friends. She tilted her head at the TV. "So, how does the water buffalo fit in again?"

Callie crashed through the glass door on the house's balcony. She rolled over the railing and didn't hesitate to drop to the ground below. She got up, thankfully not hurt in the fall, and she began to run as fast as she could. She looked over her shoulder. Five of them, all wearing robes, came streaming out of the house after her. She ran into the trees, looked around for which way to go and made tracks for the wall to the north. Just as she reached it, she tripped and fell, but quickly got up, climbed a low tree branch and jumped over to the wall.

She shimmied over the top and dropped down the other side into the cemetery. The figures followed her over the wall one by one, seemingly not losing strength as they did so. She ran through the cemetery, using all her strength as they gave chase. She thought maybe she could keep this up, but then, she collided with another one already ahead of her, and he grabbed her arms, keeping her from fleeing.

"Callie!" he said, mocking her with fake concern. "Callie, where're you going? The party's just getting started."

She sobbed uncontrollably as he shoved her over to the others, and they took her away. She cried out for help, but she knew no one could hear her as they forcibly dragged her all the way back to that damn house.

"You dreamed about Angel again?" Willow asked eagerly.

Buffy nodded as they came down the stairs. "Third night in a row."

"What did he do in the dream?"

"Stuff."

Willow's smile widened. "Oh! Stuff! Was it one of those vivid dreams where you could feel his lips and smell his hair?"

"It had surround sound. I'm just thinking about him so much lately."

Jesse piped up. "I must be doing something wrong. The most sensual dream I've had lately involved almost being eaten by a giant frog." They both stared at him, and he shrugged. "I fell asleep watching a nature documentary. What do you fall asleep to?" he asked Buffy.

She grinned in response. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"You two are so right for each other," Willow said brightly. "Except for the, uh…"

"Vampire thing," Buffy finished for her.

"Plus the fact that we know very little about him," added Jesse. "I mean, he seems like a nice guy, but do you ever get the feeling he's trying too hard to be mysterious?"

"All the time. I can't have a relationship with him."

"Not during the day," said Willow, "but you could ask him for coffee some night. It's the non-relationship drink of choice." Xander popped out of a classroom and quickly caught up with them as she spoke. "It's not a date, it's a caffeinated beverage. Okay, sure, it's hot and bitter like a relationship that way, but…"

"What's like a relationship?" asked Xander.

"Nothing I have," sighed Buffy. She looked at Willow thoughtfully. "Coffee?"

Xander looked to Jesse for help, but they were approaching Cordelia now while she talked to one of her loyal followers, and they stopped nearby for a moment while Buffy and Willow got a drink from the water fountain.

"There's really no comparison between college men and high school boys," she was saying, before indicating Jesse and Xander. "I mean, look at those ."

"Hey, 'those' have names, thank you," Jesse replied, pretending to be offended.

"She dares say that to us , when we wear the latest in geek fashion," Xander added, showing off his oversized floral-print shirt over his long-sleeved t-shirt.

"Oh, never mind the upper class riffraff , Alexander. We have young people things to do," Jesse said, sticking his nose up in the air, and the pair turned away to join Buffy and Willow.

Cordelia looked a bit annoyed they'd rebuffed her so readily. "See, this is why it's better to date college men ," she sneered. " I'm dating a Delta Zeta Kappa."

"Gesundheit," replied Jesse.

With a frustrated huff, Cordelia tried again. "Maybe someday you'll both go to college. I just know your pizza delivery career will take you so many exciting places."

Xander turned around as if to come up with a comeback, but Jesse hooked his arm and kept him walking to Buffy and Willow. "Let it go, man. Let it go."

At that moment, the bell rang, and it seemed to trigger a memory for Buffy. "Oh! I told Giles I'd meet him in the library ten minutes ago!" She immediately started heading for the library. There hadn't been much paranormal activity lately. Maybe Giles wouldn't be too upset at her tardiness.

Giles paced while he lectured her. "Just because the paranormal is more normal and less… para of late is no excuse for tardiness or letting your guard down."

Buffy frowned, a little insulted. "I haven't let my guard down."

"Oh, really? You yawned your way through weapon training last week, you skipped hand-to-hand entirely… Are you going to be prepared if a demon springs up behind you and does this ?!" He swung his arm over her shoulder from behind, but she effortlessly grabbed it and pulled it behind his back, forcing him to bend over and wince in pain – all while looking completely bored. "Yes, well, I'm… I'm not a demon. Which is why you should let go now."

Grinning a little, she let him go. Rubbing his wrist, he straightened up and resumed his circling – like a lecturing vulture.

"When you live on top of a… a mystical convergence it's only a matter of time before a fresh hell breaks loose. Now is the time that you should train more strictly, you should hunt and patrol more keenly, you should hone your skills day and night."

"And the little slice of life that still belongs to me from, I don't know, seven to seven-oh-five in the morning, can I do what I want then?" she asked.

Giles fixed her with a stern look. "Buffy, you think I don't know what it's like to be sixteen?"

"No," she said, trying to keep herself from getting too angry. "I think you don't know what it's like to be sixteen. And a girl. And the Slayer."

His sternness faltered a little. "Fair enough, no, no, I-I don't."

"Or what it's like to have to stake vampires while you're having fuzzy feelings towards one."

Now he just looked uncomfortable. "Uh…"

"Digging on the undead doesn't exactly do wonders for your social life."

He attempted to steer things back in his direction. "That's exactly where, where being… different, uh, comes in handy."

"Right! Who needs a social life when you've got your very own Hellmouth?"

"Yes!" he exclaimed, having found something he could use against her. "Y-you, you, you have a duty, a-a-a purpose, y-y-you have a commitment in life. Now how many people your age can say that?"

"We talkin' foreign or domestic? How 'bout none ?"

In that moment, he gave up, but not in the way that she'd hoped he would. "Well, here's a hard fact of life: we all have to do things we don't like! And you have hand-to-hand this afternoon and patrol tonight. So I suggest you come straight here at the end of period six and you get your homework done. And don't dawdle with your friends."

Buffy did the only thing she could do at this point – she pouted.

He glared at her. "And don't think sitting there pouting is gonna get to me, because it won't."

She attempted to ramp it up and go extra pouty. Dammit, the man couldn't be that British.

But Giles looked away determinedly. "It's not getting to me."

With school over, Buffy sat sullenly on the stairs railing while she watched students taking off back into their normal lives. Her pouting failed. Giles could not be swayed. He really expected her to not have anything going on in her life. She just had to be his weapon that he could point at a mystical magical problem and make it go away at his behest. Sometimes, she thought that was all he thought of her.

Of course, deep down, she knew that wasn't the case. She knew that Giles did care for her deep down, but he had tremendous pressures from the higher ups demanding results that forced him to be a little more authoritative than either of them would like. But she was angry and sixteen, and thinking rationally is not something angry sixteen year olds do particularly well. Not that Buffy knew that, but of course, she was sixteen.

"Boy, what a long day." She turned at Xander's voice, and she saw him approaching with Willow and Jesse.

"Dude, you skipped three classes," Jesse replied.

"Yeah, and, of course, they flew by."

Willow looked surprised to see Buffy waiting for them. "Aren't you supposed to be doing your homework in the library?"

Feeling rebellious, Buffy grabbed Xander's arm and held onto him. "I'm dawdling with my friends," she replied.

Looking thrilled to have her on his arm, Xander went with it. "Works for me!"

Abruptly, Cordelia came walking by and bumped into Willow, continuing down the stairs without so much as an acknowledgement towards a black BMW pulling up to the curb.

"Excuse you!" Jesse called after her as he helped Willow right herself.

. . .

Cordelia pushed her sunglasses on top of her head as the driver's tinted window lowered. She smiled coolly at Richard – twenty years old and in delightfully expensive slacks and sports coat. So were the two Delta Zetas in the back. She could see his friend Tom in the passenger seat. He was nice and rich, too, but much more subdued.

"Cordelia," Richard greeted smoothly.

Taking the advice of her teen magazine, Cordelia never took her eyes off of him. "Hi, Richard. Nice car."

Tom looked past her, but Richard smiled. "So, uh, we're having a little get-together tomorrow night at the house, and it's gonna be a really special evening."

Cordelia did her fake laugh. They just stared blankly at her like she was crazy.

"Excuse me?" Richard asked slowly.

Maybe she did it wrong. "Oh! I would love to go!" she exclaimed quickly.

But now Richard looked past her much like Tom was. "So, who's your friend?"

Cordelia followed their gaze and saw… Buffy. Ugh – why did everyone always like her so much? Was it the blonde hair? It couldn't be her or her loser friends hanging out with her. "Her? Oh, she's not my friend."

"She's amazing!" said Tom, still staring.

Dammit! "She's more like a sister, really! We're that close!"

"Well, why don't you introduce us?" asked Richard brightly.

Realizing she'd trapped herself," Cordelia forced a smile. "Okay." Stiff as cardboard, she forced herself to turn on her heel and go get… Buffy.

. . .

"Okay, so tonight," declared Xander, "channel fifty-nine, Indian TV, sex, lies, incomprehensible story lines. I'll bring the betel nuts."

Buffy was just nodding in agreement when Cordelia burst into their little circle and grabbed her wrist. "Come on. Richard and his fraternity brother wanna meet you," she said, almost sounding bitter.

"Well, I don't really wanna meet any fraternity boys," Buffy said, taken too off-guard to resist properly.

"And if there was a God, don't you think he'd keep it that way?" Cordelia sneered, dragging her away.

Xander called after them. "Uh, I-I believe we were dawdling here!"

By the time Buffy remembered she had Slayer and strength and could probably free herself from Cordelia's grasp any time, she had already been forced towards some guy in a sport coat gazing sleezily at her as he got out of his car.

"Hi, sweetheart. I'm Richard. And you are?"

" So not interested," Buffy replied, already repulsed.

She tried to leave, but Cordelia grabbed her hand again and forced her back. "Heh, she's such a little comedian," she smiled, hitting her to keep her in place – and possibly work out some displaced aggression.

Richard still looked super weird. "What, she likes to play hard to get?"

The more casually-dressed guy in the passenger seat smirked at his friend as he joined them outside. "No, Richard. I think you're playing easy to resist." He called out to her. "Ah, feel free to ignore him. I do all the time." She finally stopped trying to get away. This one seemed semi-decent. "I'm Tom Warner. I'm a senior at Crestwood College, and I… and I just feel like a complete dolt meeting you this way, so…" He sheepishly crossed his arms. "Here I stand in all my doltishness."

Buffy glanced back at her friends. Xander looked very annoyed while Jesse and Willow watched on with visible apprehension. Deciding to at least be polite for now, she responded, "I'm Buffy Summers."

"Oh, nice to meet you. Are you a senior here?"

"Junior."

"Oh, me, too. Except that I'm a senior and I'm in college. So we have that in common, and… I major in history."

Buffy grinned a little. "Mm. History stumps me. I have a hard enough time remembering what happened last week."

Tom shook his head. "No, nothin' happened last week, don't worry, I was there." Okay, he seemed all right. She felt safe enough to engage. "So, uh, my friend invited your friend to a party we're having this weekend."

Cordelia made a sound like a jackhammer strapped to a hyena for no apparent reason. Everyone ignored her.

"You know," Tom continued, "actually he's not even really my friend. I only joined the fraternity because my father and grandpa were in it before me. Y'know, it meant a lot to them. Oh, I know, I talk too much anyway. They're really dull parties full of really dull people, so… would you like to come and save me from a really dull fate?"

Buffy winced. "Oh, I wish I could, but I'm sort of involved."

Tom deflated, and she felt a little bad for him. "Well, sure, of course you are. Well, thanks for letting me ramble."

"Y'know, people underestimate the value of a good ramble," she assured him.

" Buffy !" an all-too-familiar British voice called from the door, and she saw Giles pointing at his watch and walking off to the library.

"Oh, I gotta go," she sighed. She turned to go but stopped to smile at him. "It was nice to meet you."

"Oh. Same here," he replied, smiling back.

Satisfied to have that over with, Buffy hopped up the stairs. Xander handed her bag to her, and she ran off to the library with her friends in tow.

"I hate these guys," Xander grumbled. "Whatever they want just falls into their laps. Don't you hate these guys?"

"Nice sport coat, though," murmured Jesse thoughtfully. "Do you guys think I'd look good in a sport coat?"

"I don't think high school juniors are allowed to wear sport coats," said Willow, frowning at the thought.

Training went about as well as it could with both the teacher and student in the moods they were in. Whatever amusement Buffy got out of her conversation with Tom, it evaporated after yet another lecture from Giles, who was just as irritated with her as she was with him. It didn't make this already dull session any better.

Giles came out of the cage holding a sword in one hand and a stick in the other, wearing much more protective gear than usual. "I'm going to attack you. A word of warning: for your own good, I won't be pulling any punches."

"Please don't," she replied.

He adopted a fighting stance, and she kicked the sword out of his left hand. He looked at her, dismayed, but quickly swung the stick at her. She sidestepped him, and the end of the stick hit the floor. She pinned his arm down and stomped on the stick, breaking it. He tried to lunge at her, but she sidestepped again, and he ran into the table and slid across the top.

After a moment, he glanced up at her. "Good. So, um, you're on patrol and, uh, I'll see you in the morning." She offered a hand to help him up, but he tiredly waved her away. "No, no, I'll just rest here for a moment."

Patrol went dully enough, but Buffy still took it seriously enough to remain alert. She walked through the cemetery, keeping an eye out for any fresh graves. She double checked her stakes, all attached to her belt. She'd already talked herself red in the face, trying to get Giles to understand, and she'd almost broken a couple of his ribs today. She really needed him to start listening to her before her frustrations caused her to kill him.

Then, she spotted a glint of something in the moonlight resting in the grass. Frowning, she took a closer look, and she found a bracelet. As she bent down to pick it up, a voice behind her made her jump.

"There's blood on it."

Buffy got up and whirled around to… Angel. "Hi! It's nice to… Blood?"

"I can smell it," he explained.

"Oh." She looked at the bracelet thoughtfully – she could just about see the blood in the dim light. "It's pretty thin. It probably belonged to a girl."

"Probably," he agreed.

Letting out a breath, Buffy decided to try Willow's earlier suggestion. "I- I was… just thinking, wouldn't it be funny some time to see each other when it wasn't a blood thing." She smiled awkwardly. "Not funny ha, ha."

"What are you saying, you wanna have a date?"

"No."

"You don't wanna have a date?"

This wasn't going how she wanted. "Who said 'date'? I- I- I never said 'date'."

"Right. You just wanna have coffee or somethin'."

Or maybe it was. "Coffee?" she asked hopefully.

Angel sighed heavily and shook his head. "I knew this was gonna happen."

And now it wasn't again. "What? What do you think is happening?"

"You're sixteen years old. I'm two hundred and forty-one."

"I've done the math," she retorted.

"You don't know what you're doing, you don't know what you want…"

Something flared inside Buffy, and she felt the anger swirl around in her head. This was the most frustrating romance novel she'd ever been in. "Oh. No, I, I think I do. I want out of this conversation," she snapped, starting to walk past him.

Angel put himself in front of her, and they bumped into each other. "Listen, if we date, you and I both know one thing's gonna lead to another."

She glared at him. "One thing already has led to another. You think it's a little late to be reading me a warning label?"

"I'm just tryin' to protect you," he insisted. "This could get outta control."

Buffy's expression turned imploring. "Isn't that the way it's supposed to be?" she asked.

He abruptly grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her closer, causing her to gasp. "This isn't some fairy tale. When I kiss you, you don't wake up from a deep sleep and live happily ever after."

Incensed at being spoken to like a child, Buffy kept her tone even when she responded. "No. When you kiss me, I wanna die." She held his gaze for a moment before pulling herself free and running off into the night.

"'When you kiss me, I wanna die '?" Jesse repeated as he followed Buffy out of their last class.

"Yep," she replied, feeling less pleased with herself than she had last night.

"What does that mean , exactly?" her friend asked. He looked utterly baffled. Buffy would've found it hilarious if she hadn't been the one who baffled him.

"I don't know," she sighed, dragging her feet miserably down the hall. "It sounded really good in the moment."

"There's just… so many different ways a person can take that," he continued, "and none of them are all that positive."

"I was just… angry. Angry at Angel. Angry at Giles. Just… angry. I'm tired of them both treating me like I don't know what I'm doing, or that I can't make my own decisions, or live my life the way I want to." She noticed he'd had to slow his stride to stay in step with her, which must be frustrating with legs as long as his, so she picked up the pace a little. "I just need some 'me time', y'know? I just need…"

Much to their surprise, Cordelia came running up from behind them, grasping Buffy's arm. "Buffy! Did you lose weight? And your hair…" She gestured awkwardly to Buffy's hair before seemingly giving up. "All right, I respect you too much to be dishonest. The hair's a little…" She forced a smile and gently nudged her away. "Sorry, Jesse – girl talk!" she said quickly, taking the other girl away from him.

Jesse just stared after them, bemused, but he hung around to wait for them to finish.

Once far enough away, Cordelia spoke quickly in a low voice. "The Zeta Kappas have to have a certain balance at their party, and Richard explained it all to me, but I was so busy really listening that I didn't hear much. Anyway, the deal is they need you to go. And if you don't go, I can't. And I'm talking about Richard Anderson, okay? As in Anderson Farms, Anderson Aeronautics," she briefly became emotional, nearly sobbing, "and Anderson Cosmetics. Well, you see why I have to go. Buffy, these men are rich. And I am not being shallow. Think of all the poor people I could help with all my money!"

Buffy barely followed most of what the resident mean girl told her, but she heard the word 'party' and knew what to say. "I'll go."

Cordelia almost did a double take, she was so surprised. "You'll go?" she asked, a huge smile growing on her face. "Great! I'll drive. Oh, Buffy, it's like we're sisters! With really different hair."

That sentence took them both off-guard, so they went their separate ways, unable to believe that had just happened. Buffy returned to Jesse, who looked just as confused as before. "I tried not to listen, but then Cordy started weeping about cosmetics, and her voice carries really well. Frat party? Really?"

Buffy nodded, but she didn't smile. This was what she needed. She was going to have fun, dammit.

That night, Richard stood before the latest pledge taking the oath of brotherhood. They stood with the other frat minions around a bottomless pit, conveniently located in the frat house's basement. Dressed in their ceremonial robes, they gathered around the altar, which had eyes, fangs and diamond-shaped carvings. The young man stood naked from the waist up, and Richard held a sword to his chest, carving a large diamond-shaped scar into his flesh.

"I pledge my life and my death…," Richard prompted.

"I pledge my life and my death…," the young man repeated.

"To the Delta Zeta Kappas, and to Machida whom we serve…"

"To the Delta Zeta Kappas, and to Machida whom we serve…"

"On my oath before my assembled brethren…"

"On my oath before my assembled brethren…"

"I promise to keep our secret from this day until my death."

"I promise to keep our secret from this day until my death."

Finished carving, Richard lowered the sword. "In blood I was baptized. In blood I shall reign. In his name."

Ignoring the pain, the pledge continued. "In blood I was baptized, and in blood I shall reign. In his name."

Richard smiled. "You are now one of us."

"In his name!" the new pledge declared.

" In his name! " everyone else said.

Richard put the sword aside and shook the pledge's hand. "Brewski time!" A brother tossed him a beer. As he opened it, he walked over to Callie, shackled to the wall. "So what's a girl like you doing in a place like this?"

Callie had tears in her eyes, so tired, and so anxious. "Let me go."

"Let you go? Okay, let me think. Um, no!" He laughed, enjoying his cruelty. "I love high school girls!" He walked off to join the party.

"You're going to the fraternity party?" Willow asked excitedly. "What made you change your mind?"

"Angel," Buffy replied shortly.

Willow's eyes widened. "He's going with you?" She turned excitedly to Xander and Jesse. "She's got a date with Angel! Isn't that exciting?"

"I'm elated," Xander grumbled as he followed his friends out of the student lounge.

"Oh, she's not going with Angel," Jesse said, grinning at Buffy's nonplussed expression. "She's going with… wait for it… Cordelia ."

Willow's excitement changed to incredulity. "Cordelia?!" She winced at her outburst. "Did I sound a little jealous just then, 'cause I'm not really…" She ran after the departing Buffy. " Cordelia ?!"

Xander looked much more optimistic at this news. "Cordelia's much better for you than Angel," he said as they caught up with Buffy down the hall.

"What happened with Angel?" Willow asked worriedly.

"Nothing, as usual," Buffy grumbled. "A whole lotta nothing with Angel."

"Bummer," Xander said cheerfully.

Willow looked distraught, as if she had more of a stake in Buffy's relationship than she did. "I don't understand. I mean, he likes you. More than likes."

"Angel barely says two words to me."

"Don't you hate that?" Xander grinned.

"And when he does, he treats me like I'm a child."

"That bastard!"

"You know, at least Tom can carry on a conversation."

"Yeah!" Then, Xander actually started listening to her. "Tom? Who's Tom?"

"The frat guy," Jesse said, amused that his friend had to change gears yet again.

Xander switched immediately from 'supportive mode' to 'lecture mode'. "Oh, Buffy, I don't think so. Frying pan, fire? You know what I'm sayin'."

Before his friends could roll their eyes at him, they came up to the library door and heard Giles' voice on the other side. "Will you be ready if a vampire's behind you?" Exchanging glances, they opened the doors and quietly entered to see who he was talking to. It turned out to be no one. Much like when he practiced asking Ms Calendar out, he was talking to thin air while dallying with a sword, stabbing and whirling around. He turned at their entry and immediately lowered the sword in an effort to look casual. "I didn't see you lot… creeping about." He tossed the sword through the open cage door and kicked the door shut. "Um, how did it go last night?" he asked Buffy.

Buffy pulled the bracelet out from last night. "Found this."

Raising his eyebrows at having something possibly constructive to do, Giles read the inscription. "E-N-T."

Willow eyed it as well. "I've seen something like that before."

"It's broken in two," Buffy explained. "I don't know what the rest of the letters might have spelled. And there's blood on it."

Giles frowned as he looked it over. "Uh, I didn't see any."

"Angel showed up. He could smell it."

"He'd be handy in a forensics lab," noted Jesse. "You think he could handle the night shift?"

Xander clapped his hands decisively. "Okay, here's what we're gonna do: she should probably make the rounds again tonight, and we should try to figure out who that bracelet belongs to."

Giles nodded in agreement. "Yes, good idea, yes. She'll patrol, and, and we'll reconvene…"

With a flare of anger, Buffy interrupted indignantly. "Uh, hello? She's standing right here? And she's not available."

"Why not?" Giles asked, as if perplexed that she could have anything better to do than do whatever task he assigned her.

Xander geared up to object as well. "Buffy, this is a little more important than…"

Buffy silenced him with a look before continuing. "I've got a mountain of homework to do, and, um... my mom's not really feeling well, and she could probably use my help, and, um, to be truthful I'm not really feeling all that well myself," she added, putting a hand to her forehead.

Willow, naturally, looked absolutely stunned that Buffy had just lied – as if this were something only possible in the Bizarro Universe. Xander looked less stunned and more annoyed, while Jesse just raised an eyebrow but did a good job not expressing his disapproval.

Giles, however, bought it, judging from the concerned look on his face. "Oh, w-w-well, um, sorry, of course. If you're not well…"

"Oh, I'll take an early pass this evening," Buffy replied, trying to keep this casual, "and, um, one later on, but for the bulk of the evening…"

"Oh, you should stay home with your mother," he agreed.

Buffy kept her expression neutral, but on the inside, she was heaving a sigh of relief. Obligations dutifully discarded, she could proceed with the party.

They left not long after that discussion, but she could feel her friends' eyes on her as they walked down the halls. She could see Xander in particular looking stern. "Well, say it," she snapped.

"I'm not gonna say it," Xander replied.

"You lied to Giles!" Willow exclaimed.

"Because she will."

"You'll have to forgive Willow," said Jesse, giving her an amused look. "She's a bright girl, but she's occasionally baffled by elementary things like 'dishonesty' and 'sneaking around authority'."

"It's just so topsy-turvy!" Willow exclaimed, sounding very much like someone had just hocked a loogie on the Ten Commandments. "You don't have a sick mother, but you'd rather go to a frat party where there's gonna be drinking and older guys and probably an orgy."

Xander held up his hands, his interest piqued. "Whoa! Whoa-ho-ho, rewind. Since when do they have orgies, and why aren't I on the mailing list?"

Buffy's eyes widened, disturbed. "There's no orgies!"

"I heard a lot of wild things go on at frat parties," insisted Willow.

"Willow, your definition of 'wild' is drinking caffeinated beverages and doing your homework after dinner instead of before," Jesse pointed out.

Willow pouted. "Caffeine is just so bubbly…"

"Okay, you know what?" Buffy snapped, glaring at all her friends. "Look, seven days a week, I am busy saving the world. Once in a great while, I wanna have some fun. And that's what I'm gonna have tonight. Fun!"

"This isn't about fun," Cordelia said sternly. "This is about duty, your duty, to help me achieve permanent prosperity. Okay? Do's and don'ts: don't wear black, silk, chiffon or spandex. These are my trademarks. And don't do that weird thing with your hair."

Buffy frowned. "What weird thing with my…?"

"Don't interrupt. Do be interested if someone should speak to you. It may or may not happen, but do be polite. And laugh at the appropriate intervals." She demonstrated her fake laugh, which still sounded stilted enough to belong in a soap opera. " Do lie to your mom about where we're going. It's a fraternity, and there will be drinking."

Buffy nodded along, not sure if this was good advice or not, but she saw Xander, Jesse and Willow approaching. Willow even had a caffeinated soda in her hand – although she was clearly wary of opening it.

"So, Cor," said Xander as they stood around the table, "you printing up business cards with your pager number and hours of operation, or just going with a halter top tonight?"

Cordelia took on her bitchiest smile. "Oh, are we feeling a little envious? You could belong to a fraternity of rich and powerful men. In the Bizarro world."

Xander looked stuck for a comeback, but Jesse looked amused. "Cordy, you know about Bizarro World?"

Cordelia wrinkled her nose at him. "So?"

"So that's a Superman reference! I never knew you read comics!"

Buffy hid a smile as Cordelia went pale and pointed a very angry finger at him. "I do no such thing and how dare you even insinuate it!" she hissed furiously. Their giggling did nothing to soothe her temper, and she glared at the trio as they walked away to sit on a couch in the lounge. She crossed her arms sulkily like a small child, and Buffy only barely kept herself from laughing. "I do not read comic books," she insisted petulantly.

"I believe you," Buffy smiled. She could buy that Cordelia knew a Superman reference due to it being so immersed in pop culture that most folks couldn't help knowing about it. She herself had never seen any of the Star Wars movies all the way through, but she knew their plots and what the most significant quotes were.

Cordelia's posture loosened a little, letting the anger pass and resuming the conversation. "Makeup, makeup…," she murmured, taking in Buffy's face. "Well, give it your all, and keep to the shadows. We're gonna have a blast!" she smiled.

Buffy shook her head. She wasn't so sure.

Xander, Jesse and Willow observed the two girls from the couch. Willow still looked a million miles away, as if she were having a wartime flashback. "I can't believe she lied to Giles. My world is all askew."

"Will, you've gotta tone it down a tad, okay?" Jesse assured her. "Teenagers lie to get out of stuff from time to time. I myself lied to my Geography teacher that I'd have my research paper on Zimbabwe finished on time only this morning." He eyed her still-unopened soda. "You only got that to spite me, didn't you?"

Willow nodded sadly as she handed it to him, and he took a swig before handing her his packet of peanut butter crackers. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it. We'll help Giles."

Xander, who hadn't been paying any attention to them, announced. "I'm goin' to the party."

Both of his friends looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"I gotta keep an eye on Buffy," he said, as if it were obvious. "Those frat guys creep me."

"You wanna protect her?" asked Willow.

"Mm-hm."

"And prove that you're just as good as those rich, snotty guys?"

"Mm-hm."

"Maybe catch an orgy?"

"If it's on early."

Jesse snorted. "Oh please, you wouldn't know what to do at an orgy unless they gave you a manual."

Xander looked almost affronted. "Why don't you come with me and find out?"

"What, to see you in an orgy? No thanks."

Willow nodded as she grabbed Xander's power bar and popped a piece into her mouth. "Besides," she added, "you can help me and Giles go through the books to find the demon!"

Jesse looked at her for a long moment. Another search for a demon? As much as he didn't want to go to a frat party, he really needed a break from the constant Hellmouth crazy. "On second thought, maybe it's time to start looking at college," he sighed unhappily.

That night, Buffy clutched her passenger side door as Cordelia sent her car screeching into park and smacked the car in front of her with a light crunch. "Ohh! Why do they park so darn close to you?" the brunette complained before forgetting it happened and checking her hair in the mirror. "Are you ready for this?"

Buffy grimaced as she looked at the house. It looked nice and expensive, a home to the wealthy young snobs of the world. Little white lights strung out across the house and trees, music blasting out of the windows – she already wanted to go back. "I dunno. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

Cordelia didn't register her response. "Me, too. Let's go!" She hurried out of the car and closed the door. "C'mon!"

Buffy didn't bother to look too happy to be there. She followed the other girl through the door and into the main room. A couple of fraternity brothers watched them walk by and catcalled them, more than a little drunkenly. Ignoring them, she went into the room. All the snobby rich kids were being served hors d'oeuvres by pathetic looking guys in their underwear, hats of fruit on their heads, and all wearing signs that said 'Pledge' hung around their necks. She didn't know whether to feel bad for them or shake her head at how dumb they had to be.

Cordelia clearly didn't share her apprehension. "You know what's so cool about college? The diversity. You've got all the rich people, and all the other people." She spotted a familiar face. "Richard!"

"Welcome, ladies!" he said brightly, already handing them drinks.

"Thank you," Cordelia said brightly.

Buffy looked at her cup apprehensively. "Oh, is there alcohol in this?"

"Just a smidge," Richard smiled.

"C'mon, Buffy, it's just a smidge," Cordelia snorted.

Buffy still made a face and set her drink down. "I'll just…"

Richard nodded. "I understand. When I was your age, I wasn't into grownup things either." He looked back at Cordelia. "Have you seen our multi-media room?"

"Oh, the one with the cherry walnut paneling and the two forty-eight-inch televisions on satellite feed? No. Wanna show me?" She smiled.

Richard glanced at Buffy. "What about…?"

"Oh, her? She's happiest by herself."

And by herself they left her, standing all by her lonesome in an unfamiliar place without a ride home. For a night supposedly dedicated to living large and free from her responsibilities, she already regretted it. Tom was nowhere to be seen, so Angel would probably not be jealous – and it was probably stupid of her to try and make him jealous in the first place. It hadn't worked the last couple of times she'd done it – why would it work now?

On the other side of the house, Xander poked his head in a window and looked around. He signaled to Jesse behind him that it was safe to enter before climbing in. He made it about halfway before he lost his balance and fell through the window onto the floor. He hopped back up and took a drink from a tray being passed around by a half-naked pledge. "Cheers!" he said brightly, positioning himself in front of the window.

Behind him, Jesse climbed in as stealthily as he could. No one seemed to be watching, so hopefully they would also assume his friend just magically appeared out of thin air – they all seemed drunk enough to believe it, anyway.

Once both boys made it inside, Jesse glanced around nervously. "I can't believe you dragged me here."

"Only because you're too scared to go demon hunting with Willow. Now come on – we can cover more ground together."

"And what's our plan when we find Buffy?"

"We…" Xander's expression went blank for a moment before he scowled. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." He looked at a girl as she walked by – very attractive. "Come on." He led Jesse into the next room, scanning the crowd. He could see a few blondes, but he couldn't tell if any of them were his friend.

Then, another girl passed by, and he followed her with his eyes, almost colliding with Jesse again. His friend came to an annoyed stop, but then, they both spotted a tray of hors-d'oeuvres being carried around by another pledge in drag. They tried to reach for it, but it was carried away, and they followed it, forgetting their mission – such as it was – already.

Buffy turned around – bored and lonely. Fidgeting with her hands could only occupy her time for so long, so she looked down at her drink and, for variety's sake, picked it up again. She stirred it idly for a moment, then realized she really didn't want it and put it back down. She looked around the room at the people dancing. A new song started, "She", by Louie Says.

The dance crowd separated for a moment and a handsome young man on the other side of the room looked at her. He raised his drink to her. Not wanting to appear unsophisticated, she picked up her drink again and raised it to him. She took the smallest of small sips as he mirrored her actions. Almost immediately, she regretted it. Whatever counted as a 'smidge' around here was too strong for her. Hoping to hide her disgust, she held the cup to her lips just a little longer, allowing her grimace to disengage.

"New girl!" Buffy looked up and saw the young man who had toasted to her being grabbed by some big drunken guy for balance. "Dance!" he bellowed, staggering towards her, not caring that the young guy was annoyed. The big guy cackled ridiculously. "C'mon, sweetheart, ha, ha, yeah!"

Buffy's eyes darted left and right. Could she justify using Slayer strength to take this guy out? It might kill the vibe, but that would be a small price to pay for escaping him.

Thankfully, Tom appeared in the nick of time and took her arm, charming smile and all. "Can I have this dance?" He pulled her away to the dance area just as the big guy almost crashed into her. He looked up in surprise at her disappearance before he saw another girl walk by and followed her instead.

"Thanks," she sighed gratefully.

Tom chuckled. "We're not all a bunch of drunken louts. Some of us are sober louts." She smiled, and so did he. "I'm really glad that you decided to come." She looked down awkwardly. "And you're not," he surmised.

"No, it's… I shouldn't be here," she sighed.

"Because you're seeing someone."

"No."

Tom frowned. "You're not seeing someone?"

"Someone's not seeing me."

Nodding in understanding, Tom regarded her. "So, why shouldn't you be here?"

"Because I have obligations. People that I'm responsible for, or to, or…," Tom laughed, which made her laugh, too, "with, or… It's complicated."

"You're big on responsibility. I like that. But there's such a thing as being too mature. You should relax. Enjoy yourself once in a while."

Flattered, Buffy smiled again. "You think I'm too mature?"

Tom chuckled again, this time at himself. "I talk too much. Have you picked up on that yet? Anyway, the, uh, the Hulk is gone, so you don't have to dance with me."

He started to pull away, but Buffy held onto him. "He might come back," she smiled.

Another hors-d'oeuvre tray passed by, and Xander grabbed a second one to go with his first. He loved tiny food. It made him feel big. He pretended to be Godzilla attacking downtown Tokyo, entertaining a pair of attractive coeds he and Jesse had managed to make light conversation with. His friend had perked up at the ladies' attention, but he couldn't stop glancing around the crowd nervously. He wished Jesse would just calm down. So they crashed a college party – who cares? Everyone was here to have a good time, right? No one would get upset.

Satisfied his mockery of the revered Japanese movie classics had amused the women, Xander decided to get some info. "So, have either of you seen a pair of girls here? One's about so high…" He had to stop talking to deal with Jesse as he furiously tapped him on the shoulder. "What?!"

"Not to be an alarmist," Jesse said over the music, "but I think we're made."

Xander, as subtle as he could, glanced past his friend and spotted that Richard guy Cordelia had been talking to the other guy, along with two other enormous guys who looked like they could snap his spine like a dry twig. They were looking at the two of them and chatting, looking increasingly amused.

Trying to remain casual, Xander smiled politely to the two girls in front of him. "Sorry, ladies. Duty calls." He hissed to Jesse. "Split up!" The two boys split off from each other and started fast-walking through the house, putting as many people between Richard's goons and themselves as possible. He glanced around at the various young servers in their embarrassing getups. That's what they did to people who belonged here. What the hell would they do to him and Jesse?!

Outside on the patio, Buffy strolled out of the house alone. She rubbed her arms a bit in the chilly night air, folding them across her chest to keep warm. She stepped on something that cracked under her foot, and she looked down to find a piece of glass. She could see several small pieces there, and she crouched to pick one up. Looking up above her, she noticed the door to the balcony all boarded up.

As she stood back up, she heard footsteps behind her and whirled around to find Tom approaching her. "You okay?" he asked.

Buffy dropped the piece of glass and exhaled. "Yeah. I was… just thinking."

Before he could say anything else, Richard found them there, too, and handed them both drinks. "To my Argentinean junk bonds that just matured into double digits!" he crowed cheerfully.

Tom gave him an annoyed look before raising his cup. "Uh, to maturity," he said, giving Buffy an apologetic look.

Buffy, however, once again found herself with a drink in her hand, and in that moment, she decided something. She'd had enough. Being the Slayer, being a high school student, all those responsibilities – she came here to have fun, and dammit, she was going to! "What the hell. I'm tired of being mature." She gulped down her drink.

Willow sat at the computer, typing letters into it while glancing absently at the blood-stained bracelet fragment. She'd had to lie to Giles for all three of her friends. She felt lightheaded at the very thought of it. She was Willow Rosenburg – she never lied! What kind of crazy upside down world had she found herself in?! She took a breath to steady her nerves. She just needed to focus. She typed the words as they thought of them.

"Bent," she said.

"Sent," said Giles.

"Rent."

"Uh, Lent. Dent."

"Went. Kent." That lit up a metaphorical lightbulb over Willow's head and she started typing rapidly. "Kent! That's it!"

Giles frowned. "Her boyfriend's name was Kent?"

"No! Kent Preparatory School. Just outside of town. That's where I've seen these bracelets."

Giles barely had time to react as Willow's fingers danced a jig over the keyboard and a new webpage appeared on the screen, taking him aback. "Wh- what are you doing?"

"Pulling up their school newsletter for the past few months. See if there's anything about…" She trailed off as the front page lit up the screen with a photo of a blonde girl and a headline that read 'Callie - Our Hearts & Prayers Are With You'.

"A missing girl," murmured Giles.

Why had he thought this would be less frightening than trying to find a demon? Jesse had just barely managed to duck out and avoid the frat bros following him and Xander, but he suspected word would get 'round, and he would find less places to hide. He hadn't seen Buffy or Cordelia, so he held out little hope they would be able to protect him. He'd tried ducking into three closets, but he only found folks making out in them. Was this what always happened at college parties?

He needed to work on finding an exit, but each door seemed to have its own thug in front of it. He attempted to circle back to the window he'd come in through, but too many people stood in front of it now. Groaning quietly, he made sure the coast was clear before doubling back. Maybe he could sneak upstairs and climb down from a bathroom window.

He checked around for Xander. He hated to leave without him. Even if the moron had gotten him into this mess in the first place, he couldn't bring himself to leave a man behind.

But then, he could hear chanting in the distance. "New pledge! New pledge! New pledge!" That didn't sound promising. Deciding to stop being picky, he found another closet unlocked. Making sure no one saw him, he slipped inside and shut the door behind him. Not a lot of room in here, so he pushed aside whatever coats he could and forced himself into the back.

As soon as he had himself hidden, the door was ripped open, and he saw light coming in, and he could smell the powerful b/o of the huge guy searching for him. He kept himself crouched low in the back, but in the light, he could see now where he'd hidden. These weren't coats he was hiding behind – they were long dark robes.

He heard the big guy grunt before shutting the door, leaving him safe for now. In the dark, Jesse looked over the robes. They had hoods at the top. What in the world did these frat guys need with these? He couldn't make out the details in the dark, but he wondered if there was to be some sort of ceremony.

Buffy came in through the front door. She'd lost track of Tom and Richard, now feeling a bit woozy. She should've guessed this would happen. One tiny sip had been too much. Drinking the entire cup had been like dropping a brick in her stomach. She blinked heavily to try and make the room stop spinning, but it didn't work, so she steadied herself against the wall for a moment.

She could hear the big guy who'd tried to dance with her earlier running around. "New pledge! New pledge!"

"Come on, man," said another voice. "I think they got away."

" No one gets away! Nuh- uh ! We deal with party crashers… by dealin' with 'em! Wooooot!" He went charging off into the crowd.

Buffy blinked again. Realizing the coast was clear and the big oaf was distracted for now, she needed a quiet place with a door to recuperate. Heading for the stairs, she accidentally knocked down a drink, but she didn't react fast enough to catch it. She was really off her game. What the hell was in that drink Richard gave her?

"Tom?" she called out, but she got no reply. She thought she saw Xander at one point, looking over his shoulder as he ducked around the room, hiding behind various items of furniture like a soldier going through enemy lines. She told herself she must be hallucinating. No way would he be here. Would he? But then, he disappeared around a corner, and she couldn't go ask him. She needed to get someplace safe.

She made it to the top of the stairs and found a bedroom. She pushed open the door, came in and bumped into someone. "Ooo! Ooo, sorry…," she murmured, but then, she realized the someone was actually a sculpture. She steadied herself and headed for the bed. "Okay," she told herself, crawling onto it. "Nice bed. Just need to stop spinning for at least…" She mumbled herself right to sleep.

Richard showed up at the door. He pushed it open and peeked in. He came in when he saw Buffy asleep on the bed. He rolled her over onto her back and smiled as he brushed his hand along her neck.

Something suddenly pulled him away from her and shoved him against the wall, and he looked into Tom's fierce eyes. "Get away from her!" he snarled.

Richard tried to look innocent. "I wasn't doing anything!"

"I saw what you were doing."

"I was just having a little fun."

"Well, she's not here for your fun, you pervert," Tom hissed furiously. "She's here for the pleasure of the one we serve."

Ashamed, Richard nodded. "In his name."

"And that goes for the other one, too." They both looked down at Cordelia on the floor.

Willow watched anxiously as Giles picked up the printout of the Newsletter's front page. "Callie Megan Anderson. Missing for over a week. No one's seen her, no one knows what happened to her."

"This being Sunnydale and all," said Willow, "I guess we can rule out something good."

Giles nodded in agreement before heading for the phone. "I'm calling Buffy."

Oh, dang it, Willow thought. She would have to lie again . "No!"

"Why not?"

Willow floundered nervously. "Because Buffy… a- a- and her mother…," she managed to force out.

Thankfully, Giles relented. "Are sick. No, you're quite right. No, there's no point in disturbing them until we know more."

Relieved, Willow turned her attention back to the PC. She clicked on a few links and some more information came up. Right away, she didn't like what she saw. "You mean, like, if there're others? Brittany Oswald, junior at St. Michael's disappeared a year ago. So did Kelly Percell, sophomore at Grant."

"A year," Giles repeated.

Willow nodded. "Almost to the day."

"An anniversary or perhaps some other event significant to the killer."

Willow's eyes widened. "Killer? Now there's a killer? We don't know that there's a…"

"No, but this being Sunnydale and all."

The implication hung in the air. "Gulp," Willow uttered.

Letting out a heavy breath, Giles crossed to the phone again. "We need to know where Buffy found that bracelet, and then we can begin our search there."

Willow's mind raced. "Good idea. Call Angel," she said abruptly. Giles looked at her in confusion. "Uh, he was there when Buffy found it. We're gonna need all the help we can get."

Giles seemed to just about buy it, and he started dialing Angel's number. Willow slumped in her chair. Why was it she could count backwards using only prime numbers but covering for her friends was so much harder?

Seeing the various partiers filing out, Xander slipped out with the crowd, relieved to have escaped. He looked over his shoulder. He just spotted two of the big guys walking around, but they seemed focused on something else right now, so he ducked out the door with the others and made it out to the front lawn. He needed to recalibrate for a moment. He scanned the crowd for any sign of Buffy, Jesse or Cordelia, but he didn't see them. Jesse at least wouldn't have left without him, right?

He looked into the parked cars. He saw one parked up against another that looked familiar. He spotted the vanity plate – 'QUEEN C' – and he knew Buffy and Cordelia must still be in there. He couldn't just leave if they were still in the building. Even if he didn't necessarily like Cordelia, he wouldn't leave her to rot. He needed to find a way back in without being noticed.

Maybe she had her Slayer metabolism to thank for it, but Buffy awoke from her drug-induced slumber with little adverse effects. She'd been chained up in the basement, her wrists shackled to the basement's rock wall. She'd been forced into a ceremonial dress while she slept, which made her feel all kinds of gross, and so had Cordelia – who continued to slumber next to her – and another girl who looked awake but also resigned to their situation.

She could see a guy stripped to the waist, kneeling before an altar that surrounded a dark pit. Several guys in robes kept a respectful distance from him, whose arms and chest sported a dozen or more of the sword-carved diamond shapes. Richard took a sword and walked behind the kneeling guy, beginning to carve another one on his back.

"Buffy? Where are we?" Cordelia had woken up.

"In the basement, as far as I can tell," Buffy replied hoarsely.

"What's happening? What did they do to us?"

"They drugged us."

"Why?" Cordelia asked, the panic in her voice rising. "What are they gonna do to us?"

"I don't know."

"I wanna go home."

"No one's going home. Ever." They turned to the other girl, and Buffy could see just how dead inside she looked. "Look, one of them's different than the others. Nicer."

"Tom," Buffy whispered back. Was he here? Maybe he'd help her.

But the girl was looking towards the guy having symbols carved into him. He got up and turned to the girls as two brothers helped him with his robe – Tom.

"He's the one to watch out for," the girl whispered.

Buffy shook her chain a bit and looked up to see where it was anchored – mostly to distract herself from the fact she'd been duped. Why couldn't she ever meet someone emotionally available and not a total psycho. She looked back at Tom and saw him looking at her.

"She's last," said Tom.

"Last? For what?" asked Cordelia. Tom didn't answer. He just walked over to the well and picked up a bag. "Who's first?! Answer me! Who's first?!" Tom let three stones drop out of the bag and into his hand.

"Three stones," murmured Buffy before looking at the other two girls. "Three of us."

If Cordelia wasn't panicking before, she sure as heck was now. "Buffy…!"

"Stay calm. We'll get outta this," Buffy assured her as Tom poured water over the stones.

"Why'd I ever let you talk me into coming here?!" Cordelia wailed.

Angel eyed the bracelet as he spoke with Giles. "She found the bracelet in the cemetery. Near the south wall."

"South wall," Giles repeated, about to continue, but then, he spotted Willow staring hard at something behind them – the window, onto which Angel cast no reflection. "What are you doing?"

Willow snapped out of it. "Oh! Sorry. The reflection thing that you don't have. Angel, how do you shave?" They both stared at her, and she cleared her throat to get her thoughts back together. "South wall. That's near the college and… the fraternity house!" she finished in horror.

"A fraternity?"

"Could they be taking these girls?" Angel asked. "Let's get out there!"

Giles and Angel made for the door, but Willow didn't move. She had no choice now. "Buffy!"

They both stopped in the doorway. "We don't know that it's concrete," said Giles. "Uh, let's not disturb her until…"

"Is there!" Willow finished. "With Cordelia. They went to a party at the Zeta Kappa house."

Giles' demeanor changed, his brow furrowing in confusion. He didn't look angry, but Willow figured that emotion wasn't too far away. "She lied to me?"

"Well…," Willow fidgeted awkwardly.

Angel didn't look too happy either. "Did… she have a date?"

"Well…," Willow fidgeted again.

Angel huffed – he looked angry.

And that just made Willow angry. "Well, why do you think she went to that party? Because you gave her the brush-off!" she snapped. She turned on Giles. "And you never let her do anything except work and patrol! And I know she's the Chosen One, but you're killing her with the pressure! I mean, she's sixteen going on forty!" She turned back to Angel again. "And you! I mean, you're gonna live forever! You don't have time for a cup of coffee?!"

She managed to make the angry stop. Both men looked plenty startled by her outburst. She took a deep breath.

"Okay, I don't feel better now, and we've gotta help Buffy." She hurried out of the library with them right behind her.

Xander peeked in through a few windows of the fraternity house. He could just about see inside, but he couldn't get too close. He could see a thug at every door, on guard for something apparently. He snuck around to another window and found a trash can, and he saw a long dark sleeve hanging out. Curious, he lifted the lid, and he saw a long dark robe crumpled up inside. It had a tear down the front, hence its presence in the garbage, but he could tell it must be for something important.

He heard a tap on the glass window, and he jumped back all set to run away, but to his relief, it was Jesse. He looked a little disheveled but otherwise unharmed. He opened the window and spotted the robe. "Another one of those things?"

Xander held up the robe. "You've seen this before?"

"I found a whole closet of 'em. All those guys put 'em on, including that Tom guy. They went down into the basement a little while ago."

"Where're Buffy and Cordy?"

"Haven't seen them, but I heard those guys saying something about 'offerings'."

Xander's eyes widened. That didn't sound good. "We gotta find out what's happening down there."

"Without backup?" Jesse hissed. "There were several of those guys. The two of us against them?"

Xander thought for a moment, and then, he looked at the damaged robe in his hands. "Okay, here's what we do…"

Buffy watched as the ritual continued. Tom stood on the basement stairs holding the sword. "Machida," he intoned, stepping down.

"In his name ," the other cult members said together.

"We who serve you, we who receive all that you bestow, call upon you in this holy hour."

"In this holy hour ," they chorused.

He turned to walk toward Richard, holding the sword horizontally in both hands. "We have no wealth, no possession… except that which you give us."

"Except that which you give us. "

He placed the sword on Richard's arms. "We have no power, no place in the world… except that which you give us."

"Except that which you give us. "

Richard hugged the sword to his chest, crossing his hands over his heart.

"What are they, some kind of cult or something?" Cordelia whispered.

"Yeah, a psycho cult," muttered Buffy.

"You've gotta do something."

Tom didn't seem to hear them, continuing the ritual. "It's been a year since our last offering." Richard lowered the sword and rested the tip on the floor. "A year in which our bounty overflowed. We come before you with fresh offerings."

Cordelia's eyes widened. "Offerings? He's talking about us?"

The other girl snorted. "Do you see anyone else chained up in here?"

"Accept our offering, Dark Lord," Tom continued, "and bless us with your power. Machida!"

"Machida !" the brothers chorused.

Tom tossed the stones into the well at the center of the basement one at a time. They could hear a low rumbling coming from the pit, but they could tell it was definitely getting louder.

"What's down there?" Cordelia demanded fearfully.

"Come forth, and let your terrible countenance look upon your servants, and their humble offering. We call you, Machida."

"In his name. Machida. "

Cordelia just couldn't keep quiet when her imminent murder plagued her mind. "There's something down there and he's gonna throw us down there with it."

"I don't think so," Buffy replied.

"No? Well, that's good! That, that's…"

"I don't think we go to it. I think it comes to us ."

The rumbling grew more powerful, and the brothers continued to chant "Machida" over and over like a skipping record. Suddenly, with a great explosion, the horrible green thing burst out of the big black pit. Half-man, half-snake, green and scaly – and not with a good center of gravity as it wobbled about above them. He growled as he looked at the girls.

Cordelia screamed at the top of her lungs while Buffy stared at Machida in wide-eyed horror. She tried to yank her chains from the ceiling.

"C'mon, Buffy!" Cordelia practically sobbed. "Oh, my God! Oh, c'mon! Oh!"

Machida didn't attack, though. He remained stationary and spread his arms.

"For he shall rise from the depths, and we shall tremble before him," entoned Tom. "He who is the source of all we inherit and all we possess. Machida."

"Machida ," the others said together.

"And if he is pleased with our offerings, then our fortune shall increase."

"Machida. Let our fortunes increase. "

"And on the tenth day of the tenth month he shall be enhungered. And we shall feed him."

Machida gazed over at the three girls chained before him. "Feed him?" Cordelia repeated as the huge snake demon maneuvered in front of her. "Feed him?!" she repeated incredulously. "Oh, no!"

Buffy continued to try and wrench her chains free, but it was no use.

Outside the frat house, Angel, Willow and Giles walked through the bushes from the street to the lawn. Several discarded plastic beer cups and a few articles of clothing strewn around, but other than that, not a lot of life. "Looks like everyone's gone," said Willow.

At that moment, a familiar came stumbling out of some foliage, and they all turned to face him – Xander! He lit up when he saw them. "Oh good! I was just coming to get you guys!" Then, he frowned. "What are you guys doing here?"

"A bunch of girls are missing, and the Zeta Kappas may be involved, and Buffy…," Willow trailed off as she looked around. "Where's Jesse?"

"Still inside, looking for Buffy and Cordelia. Her car's still here. I was supposed to get back up. There were all these guys in robes going down to the basement."

"They may be involved in some kind of ritual," Giles explained.

Willow nodded. "With the missing girls."

Angel growled, his face vamped out. "With Buffy!"

Xander withdrew quickly at the sight. "Okay, that is the guy you wanna party with!"

With Machida closing in on Cordelia – and Cordelia screaming her head off – Buffy knew she needed to act fast. "Hey, reptile boy!" she shouted, diverting the demon's attention.

"No woman speaks to him!" Tom snapped angrily.

Buffy ignored him. "You don't want her. Look at her. She's all skin and bones. Half an hour later you'll be hungry."

Tom approached Buffy, all trace of the half-decent human being he'd seemed to be earlier gone completely. "I told you to shut up!" He backhand punched her and held up his sword. "You speak again and I'll cut your throat."

Buffy's eyes rolled around in her head, dazed. Either he had surprising strength, or she was still feeling the after effects of the drug. She started to tug at the chain again as Machida moved for Cordelia again, but then, she saw one of the hooded brothers moving toward her. She got ready to try and kick the guy, but then, she saw something that interested her very much – a tear down the front of the robe, revealing a familiar pair of sneakers.

Xander swallowed as he went up to the front door and knocked. The big guy who'd seen him earlier answered, and he acquired a sickly grin when he saw him. "Hey, I think a couple of my friends are still here. Have you seen them?" he asked hopefully.

"Well, look who decided to turn up!" the big guy grinned as he reached out to grab Xander. All the other big guys on guard also lit up at the sight of someone to rough up and demean, so they came running up to take part.

With all the guards now in the room, Angel came storming in and punched the first big guy dead in the face, allowing Xander to escape. As each of the frat bros changed from 'hazing mode' to 'attack mode', they caught sight of his vampire face and screamed as he went after them.

Buffy watched with bated breath as the brother with the key unshackled Cordelia and relinquished her into the arms of two other brothers. She writhed frantically, trying to get away as they dragged her towards the snake demon, when they heard a crashing sound from above.

"Something's going on upstairs," said Tom urgently. "Go. Go!" Several of them rushed upstairs, and he turned back to Machida. "Feed, Dark Lord!"

With everyone focused on Machida, Buffy glanced at the brother with the key, who took advantage of the distraction to start undoing her manacles. Machida rose above Cordelia, then moved in to take her from the brothers' grip. She screamed loudly and struggled. At the critical moment, Buffy's hands were freed, and she quickly ran over to Machida and punched him in the face. He pulled back away from them, holding the side of his face as he roared in pain. Cordelia managed to get free in the confusion and fled to safety while Buffy started fighting the brothers.

Tom came at her with a sword, which she managed to dodge and avoid. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Cordelia scampering for a corner while the brother with the key started unshackling the other girl and helping her down.

"You… bitch !" Tom growled with a swipe of the sword. "I'll serve you to him in pieces!"

Buffy rolled her eyes as she somersaulted backwards and kicked the sword out of his hand, sending it clattering to the ground. "Tom…," she started. She hit him with a right, then a left, then she spin-kicked him in the side of the head – he flew back, tripped on the altar, and fell on his ass. "You talk too much," she finished.

She turned to the single remaining brother still protecting the other girl. He lowered his hood, and she smiled at Jesse's sheepish expression. "In my defense, Xander dragged me here," he explained.

At that moment, the basement door opened, and she saw Xander coming down the stairs, followed by Angel, Willow and Giles. During her distraction, however, she'd forgotten to keep an eye on Machida. He'd gone after Cordelia and now had her in his arms, lifting her into the air.

" He-e-e-e-e-e-lp! " she screamed.

Buffy gathered the discarded sword and took a fighting stance. "Don't back sass me, worm boy!" she shouted. Machida roared at her, and she responded by raising the sword and bringing it down hard and fast in the middle of Machida's snake body, cutting him in half. Cordelia fell to the ground, safe at last, and the snake torso splattered on the ground, dead.

She looked up to see Xander and Jesse grinning at her in amusement. "'Don't back sass me, worm boy'?" Jesse repeated.

Buffy suddenly felt a little embarrassed. "It was funny."

Willow frowned, looking between them. "What was funny?"

"Oh, nothing! It's nothing!" Xander chuckled, but after a few seconds, he couldn't help himself. "Maybe next time, say 'Eat my photons, small heads!'"

Buffy snorted involuntarily at the reference and covered her mouth while the two boys laughed. So much for maturity. Damn them for making her watch that show.

Perhaps mercifully, Cordelia got to her feet and staggered toward them. "You did it. You saved us!" she said gratefully to… Angel, who she hugged tightly, much to his chagrin. "I've never been so happy to see anyone in my whole…" She nearly sobbed, composing herself. "You guys, I just really… hate you guys, the weirdest things always happen around you!"

At that moment, Tom regained consciousness with a soft groan, and he saw the mess around him. He attempted to make an escape but Angel intercepted him, grabbing him by the scruff of the neck.

"You!" Cordelia snarled, getting in his annoyed rich guy face. "You're going to jail for about fifteen thousand years." She stormed up the stairs. Xander, Jesse and Willow assisted the other girl go up as well, while Angel forced Tom up after them.

That left Buffy alone with Giles. She shuffled awkwardly under his gaze. The cat was truly out of the bag now. "I told one lie, I had one drink," she sighed.

"Yes," said Giles, hands in his pockets as he approached her. "And you were nearly devoured by a giant snake demon. The words 'let that be a lesson' are a tad redundant at this juncture."

Buffy smiled a little, but she still felt bad. While it was good they had put an end to this fraternity's annual kidnapping and saved Cordelia and the other girl from the demon – which she had successfully killed, which was another plus – she still felt incredibly low for sneaking around like this. "I'm sorry."

"So am I," he replied quietly, much to her surprise. "I… I drive you too hard," he continued, his voice heavy, "because I know what you have to face." He looked at her with a sad smile, and she returned it. "From now on, no more pushing, no more prodding," he said decisively. "Just, um… an inordinate amount of nudging."

Buffy laughed and led him upstairs. It was a start.

The next night at the Bronze, everyone had largely recovered from the ordeal. Buffy sat with Willow, Jesse and Xander, the latter of whom was going through a newspaper. Cordelia sat at a table nearby, her personality fully restored after yet another trauma. Either she was repressing it or her emotional baggage truly was carry-on only.

"Thank you, Jonathan," she said to the younger boy bringing her coffee and a muffin. She eyed them critically. "Did we forget something?"

Jonathan's face went slack as panic set in. "Um…," he said, trying to remember the instructions he gave her. "Cinnamon chocolate half-caf… Nonfat."

" Extra foam ," she reminded him patronizingly.

Realizing his mistake, he took the coffee and ran back the way he came.

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Young men," she sighed. "The only way to go."

The others rolled their eyes, too – but not at Jonathan.

Xander held up his newspaper. "It says here that they've all been sentenced to consecutive life sentences," he told them, reading an article about the frat bros. "'Investigators found the bones of missing girls in a huge cavern beneath the frat house… and older bones dating back fifty years. A surprising number of corporations whose chairmen and founders are former Delta Zeta Kappas are suffering from falling profits, IRS raids, and suicides in the boardroom.'" He lowered the paper, shaking his head. "Starve a snake, lose a fortune. Boy, I guess the rich really are different, huh?"

Jesse nodded as he raised his glass of water. "We saved Buffy, Cordy and … that other girl, killed the demon, beat up some overprivileged frat guys, and I didn't have to see an orgy. It turned out to be a good night after all." He took a sip and gave them all a stern look. "Let's not do it again real soon."

The others laughed. Willow glanced at Buffy. "Have you heard from Angel?"

Buffy shook her head. After last night, they'd been more focused on calling the police and making sure Tom, Richard and the other drunken idiots got taken care of. By the time they'd wrapped things up, the sun was rising, meaning Angel had to make himself scarce. She hadn't heard from him yet.

Willow continued, almost gushing. "When he got so mad about you being in danger and changed into a grrr …" She made a brief impression of Angel's game face, prompting Buffy to smile and Jesse and Xander to both roll their eyes. "It was the most amazing thing I ever saw. I mean, how many guys can…?"

"Angel, Angel, Angel!" snapped Xander. "Does every conversation always have to come around to that freak?" A shadow fell over him, and everyone looked up to see the vampire in question standing right behind him. Xander didn't even miss a beat. "Hey, man, how ya doin'?" he asked casually, as if he hadn't just been insulting him.

Angel looked past him to Buffy. "Buffy."

"Angel," she replied.

A long silence stretched between them.

"Chief!" said Jesse.

"McCloud!" Xander replied in a gruff voice, causing them both to laugh, Willow to look annoyed, Buffy to kind of smile a little, and Angel to just look plain lost.

Angel soldiered on, looking very awkward. "I hear this place, uh, serves coffee. Thought maybe you and I should get some… sometime. If you want."

Buffy smiled. "Yeah," she replied. "Sometime. I'll let you know." She grabbed her purse and walked away, earning a few surprised looks from the others, but she could see the guys looked a little impressed. Playing it cool, she decided to head for home for the night.