Buffy stared into the other girl's eyes. What the what? She had to be crazy. She had to be delusional, nuts, cuckoo-for-Cocoa-Puffs insane. Taking a moment to collect her thoughts while simultaneously catching her breath, she tried to maintain her intimidating look. "Okay, one more time. You're the who?!"

"I'm the Slayer," the girl repeated.

Scoffing, Buffy didn't move. "Nice cover story. But here's a tip: you might wanna try it on someone who's not the real Slayer."

"You can't stop me! Even if you kill me, another Slayer will be sent to take me place."

"Could you stop with the Slayer thing?" Buffy snapped. "I'm the damn Slayer!"

"Nonsense! There is but one, and I am she."

Recognizing they weren't getting anywhere, and this position wasn't super-comfortable, Buffy held up a hand to call a 'timeout'. "Okay," she sniffed, "a scenario. You back off, I'll back off, but you promise not to go all wiggy until we can go to my Watcher and figure this out."

The girl frowned. "'Wiggy'?"

"You know. No kick-o, no fight-o?" She winced internally, but she was frustrated, dammit. This girl – 'Kendra', if that was even her real name – was either clinically insane or trying to pull a huge scam, and she wasn't about to fall for it.

Kendra considered the offer a moment, then relaxed her stance and crossed her arms. "I accept your scenario."

Nodding, Buffy relaxed a little. "So. You were sent here?"

"Yes, by my Watcher."

"To do what, exactly?"

"To do my duty. I am here to kill vampires."

The sunlight advanced past the cage door and crept across the floor until it was about three all-too-short feet from the far wall. Angel crouched in the far corner, cowering and afraid. He looked up at the light coming through the window. He didn't have much time left. Would anyone even think to look for him here?

Kendra stood rigidly at attention while Giles paced back and forth across the library floor. Buffy just leaned on a chair, trying to look bored and like she wasn't just a tiny bit shaken up by all this. She just needed Giles to confirm the girl was a phony baloney and send her on way, and then they could resume normal broadcasting. Unfortunately, he wasn't doing much confirming – at least, not in the way that she wanted.

"And your Watcher is Sam Zabuto, you say?" Giles asked the other girl.

"Yes, sir," Kendra replied crisply.

To Buffy's disappointment, Giles didn't call her a liar. "We've never met, but he's very well-respected."

"What, so he's a real guy?" Buffy asked, astonished. "As in non-fictional?"

Annoyingly, Giles ignored her. "And you are called…?"

"I am the Vampire Slayer," she replied.

Buffy gave her a patronizing look. "We got that part, hon. He means your name."

"Oh. They call me Kendra. I have no last name, sir."

"Can you say 'stuck in the 80's'?" Buffy snorted.

Alas, Giles didn't ignore her haughtiness. "Buffy, please," he scolded. "Uh, there's obviously some misunderstanding here."

Before he could continue, the doors burst open, and they looked up to the sight of Jesse and Willow entering the library, both looking well-rested after pulling an all-nighter and in fresh clothes. "Hey!" Willow said cheerfully.

Before anyone could catch her, Kendra moved around to intercept them with a stake. "Identify yourselves!"

Jesse and Willow, taken aback, both ground to a halt and looked between the other three people in the library with confusion. "Well, jeepers, don't say 'hi'," said Jesse, already holding his hands up in surrender.

Buffy got between the standoff. "Back off, pink ranger!" she snapped fiercely. "These are my friends."

Kendra looked suspicious at the word. "Friends?"

"Yeah. As in 'people you hang with'? Amigos?"

"I don't understand."

Buffy threw her hands up in exasperation and went to sit down. "You try," she grumbled to Giles. "I'm tapped."

As she took a seat, Giles tried to explain things to Kendra. "There are a few people, uh, 'civilians', if you like, who know Buffy's identity. Jesse and Willow are two of them, and they also, um, spend time together, uh, socially." Such a simple explanation, and yet he sounded like he'd just been caught doing something he had to explain to his disapproving family.

Appropriate, since Kendra looked very disapproving. "And you allow this, sir?"

"Well, uh…"

"But the Slayer must work in secret for security."

Giles nodded, as if trying to maintain credibility. "Of course, uh, but, uh, with Buffy, however, it's, um, some flexibility is required." Buffy gave him a look.

Kendra still didn't look satisfied. "Why?"

Willow found her voice as she and Jesse moved cautiously around the new girl to sit with Buffy at the table. "Hi, guys. W-what's goin' on?"

"Apparently, there's been a really big mix-up," Buffy explained, unable to hide her irritation.

"Uh, it seems somehow that, uh, another Slayer has been sent to Sunnydale," Giles explained.

"Oh, wow," said Jesse, almost as if this were some regular occurrence. "Also – huh?"

"Is that even possible?" asked Willow. "I mean, two Slayers at the same time?"

"Not to my knowledge," Giles responded. "Um, the new Slayer is only called after the previous Slayer has died. Uh…," he trailed off, and then, his eyes widened as it hit him. "Oh, good Lord! You were dead, Buffy."

Buffy scoffed. "I was only gone for a minute."

"Clearly it doesn't matter how long you were gone. You were physically dead! Thus causing the activation of the next Slayer."

Kendra's eyebrows met in a confused collision. "She died?"

"Just a little," Buffy told her.

"She got better," added Jesse in a British accent.

Giles almost smiled at that, indicating some vague movie reference had been made that only he, Jesse and maybe Xander would get. "She drowned, but she was revived."

Willow looked awestruck between the two girls. "So there really are two of them!"

"It would seem so. This is completely unprecedented! I'm quite flummoxed," he admitted as he sat with them.

"What's the flum?" Buffy snapped. "It's a mistake, she isn't supposed to be here, she goes home!" Seeing as how she sounded like a petulant preteen, Buffy tried to rein herself in a little and give Kendra a 'grown up' expression. "Look, no offense, I really don't mean this personally, but I'm not dead, and frankly having you around creeps me out just a little bit."

"I cannot just leave," Kendra said firmly. "I was sent here for a reason. Mr. Zabuto said all the signs indicate that a very dark power is about to rise in Sunnydale."

Buffy glared as she rose to her feet and began to circle her. "And what's your great plan for finding this dark power? You just gonna attack people randomly till you find a bad one?"

"Of course not."

"Then why the hell did you attack me?"

"I thought you were a vampire." She said this as if it were totally rational and not at all nuts.

Buffy felt a swelling of smugness in her tone as she walked back around to the table. "Oh, a swing and a miss for the rookie."

Kendra looked unfazed. "I had good reason to think you were. Did I not see you kissing a vampire?"

Smugness now drained away, Buffy froze by the table, just close enough for Willow to stand to her defense right beside her. "Buffy would never do that!" she cried. Jesse cleared his throat a bit loudly beside them, and Willow edited herself. "Oh," she said lamely, looking sheepishly at Buffy. "Except for that sometimes you do that." She tried glaring at Kendra again. "But only with Angel." Then, she frowned and looked at Buffy again. "Right?"

"Yes! Right," she snapped before readdressing Kendra. "Look, you saw me with Angel, and he is a vampire, but he's good."

"Angel? You mean Angelus? I've read about him. He is a monster."

"No, no, no," Giles assured her, "he's good now."

"Yeah, he got cursed to be a good guy," added Jesse. "Ultimate punishment for a vampire is to make them care about their sins. So yeah, don't think he got off scot free or anything." He looked briefly at Giles. "That counts as not getting off scot free, right?" he whispered quickly.

Kendra looked unmoved. "I cannot believe you. He looked to me just like another animal when I…" She trailed off, her expression remaining the same but something about her screamed 'guilty conscience'.

Buffy started to walk slowly toward her, anger building up inside. "When you what?" she demanded, ready for an excuse to fly off the handle. "What did you do to him?"

Kendra faltered, the first time she'd looked uncertain since they met. "I…"

"What did you do?!"

Angel leaned against the back wall, weakened by the ambient light. It would all end right here. If Buffy ever thought to look here, all she would find would be a pile of ashes. He knew he didn't deserve rescue, but of all the ways he could've been killed, being set on fire wasn't a pretty way to go out. It would take him a while to fully burn up, and he'd be conscious for every second of it. She could've just staked him and moved on. What a little sadist.

Then, he heard movement coming from the door. Would someone find him? To his disappointment, even in his weakened state, he could just make out Willy's form. He paused to look at him, probably debating whether to rescue him or not, considering Angel tended to hit him a lot. He opened the cage door and walked in, using his body to shade him from the direct sunlight and dragged him out of the cage and into another storage room. His head all swimmy and fuzzy, Angel still had the strength to feel disgust. Did he really have to be indebted to Willy the Snitch of all people?

He heard hinges squeak, and he saw a hatch in the floor open up to the sewers below and dropped Angel down into the shallow water. Too weak to get up on his own, Angel had to wait for Willy to lower himself through the hatch, dropping to the water, too. He had to listen to him grumble about ruining his shoes.

Then, Angel recognized the faint smell of cigarette smoke, and he fully registered what circumstances had befallen him. He looked on as Spike walked into the light from the shadows. Thank goodness – he wasn't indebted to Willy after all. Small mercy.

"There you go, friend," Willy said in his usual faux-amiable voice. "He'll be as good as new in a day or so."

Angel could see a couple of Spike's thugs arrive to drag him away.

"Uh, hey, wai-wait," Willy objected. "We had a deal, right?"

He could almost hear Spike roll his eyes as he pulled out a wad of cash. "What's the matter, Willy? Don't you trust me?" he asked as he started handing him the bills.

"Oh, yeah. Like a brother," Willy replied sarcastically as he took them.

Then, just for good measure, Spike slapped him across the cheek. Not too hard, but hard enough to be a warning. "Talk and I'll have your guts for garters."

"Wild horses couldn't drag it," Willy assured him nervously.

Spike held up the last bill, crumbled it and dropped it into the water. "Oops! Sorry, friend," he mocked before signaling his two thugs to start dragging Angel away.

Willy bent over to pick up the bill. "What are you gonna do with him anyway?"

"I'm thinkin' maybe dinner and a movie. I don't want to rush into anything. I've been hurt, you know." He followed his goons down the sewer, and all Angel could see before being plunged into darkness was Willy counting his money.

Cordelia went through all the samples the salesman had given her. Not a terrible selection, but nothing really interested her from this bunch. Still, what did you expect with free stuff? Maybe the better stuff could be purchased. She had the number on her dad's credit card memorized, so that wouldn't be an issue, but he didn't even have a catalog she could go through.

"Do you have anything in raisin? I know you wouldn't think so, but I'm both a winter and a summer."

"Nine ninety-nine, tax included," the salesman told her in a rather flat tone.

Cordelia frowned. "You said that already. Do you have anything in the berry family?"

At first, he didn't respond, but he did take the lipstick she'd been holding and dropped it back in the case. "Are there more ladies in the house?" he asked.

"Oh, no, they're not home," Cordelia replied breezily. He still looked blankly at her. She fidgeted a little. "You know, nothing personal, but maybe you should look into selling dictionaries, or… some…" She trailed off when she saw a mealworm crawl out of his sleeve and onto his hand. Oh god, it was going to be one of these days.

Thankfully, Xander came back down the stairs and saw the guy. Good, Cordelia thought as she slowly backed away from him. Let him deal with the creepy worm guy.

"Hey, what's up?" Xander asked.

"Um, he's a salesman, and he was just leaving, right?" The worm guy just stood there, looking impassive. "Uh, okay! Buh-bye! Thank you!"

He still didn't move. Xander reached up to guide him out. "Okay, Mary Kay, time to…" But now he could see another mealworm crawl across the guy's cheek and into his right ear, so he started backing away. "Time to run!"

He broke into a sprint, guiding Cordelia away with him. She glanced briefly over her shoulder and saw that odd-looking man transform into a mass of mealworms. Fighting the urge to vomit, she followed Xander into the kitchen for the back door, but the worms reassembled back into the salesman again, waiting for them. She screamed, but Xander grabbed her hand and pulled her back into the hall.

They opened the door to the basement and hurried in, closing the door behind them. The mealworms tried to come under the door, but they stomped on them.

"Find something to cover the crack under the door!" he shouted as he grabbed a broom and swept at the mealworms like hell to get them back under the door.

Panicking briefly at the unexpected task, Cordelia fumbled around the basement briefly, soon finding a roll of duct tape. She held it out to him. "Here! I don't do worms."

He gave her an exasperated look, grabbed the roll from her and shoved the broom into her hands. "Cover me!" he ordered. She swept at the mealworms while he pulled a length of tape off of the roll and stuck it to the bottom of the door, while she shrieked and made the obligatory gagging noise.

He got the door sealed, and they both slumped down the stairs to take in their surroundings. No windows. No other doors. No hope.

"You know," Xander panted, "just when you think you've seen it all. Along comes a worm guy."

Cordelia resisted the urge to hit him.

Buffy barged into the backroom of Willy's Bar, right where Kendra had annoyingly directed her. She came up short when she found the cage door open. "Angel?!"

Kendra walked into the cage and looked around. Did she think this was a crime show? "No ashes."

"What?"

"When a vampire combusts, he leaves ashes."

Buffy glared at her. "Yeah, I know the drill."

"So I did not kill him," Kendra said, as if that absolved her of everything.

"And I don't need to kill you," Buffy sneered in response.

At that moment, a short slimy-looking but still human man showed up at the door. He took one look at the two of them glaring at each other and exclaimed, "Whoa! There's a lotta tension in this room."

Kendra abruptly attacked him and pushed him out of the back room and onto the floor.

"Doesn't anyone just say 'hello' where you come from?" Buffy demanded.

Kendra didn't listen, turning Willy over on the floor and grabbing him by the shirt, ready to punch. "This one is dirty! I can feel it!"

"That's really good for you, Percepto Girl," Buffy grumbled as she lifted the guy up, "but we're not gonna get anything out of him if he's, oh, say," she paused to slam him into the bar, "unconscious." She gave the sniveling little man a fierce look. "Where's Angel?"

The guy looked terrified but tried to hide it. "My buddy Angel? You think I'd let him fry? I saved him in the nick! He was about five minutes away from being a crispy critter."

Pausing to give Kendra yet another dirty look for almost causing her boyfriend's crispiness, she continued interrogating. "Where'd he go?"

"Uh, he said he was gonna stay underground. You know, recuperate."

She eyed him suspiciously. "Are you telling me the truth?"

"I swear on my mother's grave! Should something fatal happen to her, God forbid."

"Then he is alright," said Kendra, not sounding very apologetic. "We can return to your Watcher for our orders."

Buffy let go of the guy to look incredulous. "I don't take orders. I do things my way."

Kendra sneered. "No wonder you died."

Deciding to ignore that for now, she turned to leave. "Let's go."

Before they could actually make for the door, the guy stepped up to them. "I have to ask," he said, no doubt about to ask something stupid. "Has either of you girls considered modeling? I have a friend with a camera? Strictly high-class nude work. You know, art photographs. But naked."

For the first time that day, Buffy and Kendra thought the same thing and just walked out without a word.

"You don't have to answer right away!" he called after them.

When Spike returned to the factory, he found Drusilla sound asleep in bed. Good, he thought. Getting her strength back. He bent over her and stroked her hair.

She gave a gentle moan as she awoke. "I was dreaming."

"Of what, pet?"

"We were in Paris. You had a branding iron," she smiled.

Spike smiled back before stepping away from her. "I brought you something." He went over to the stairs and picked Angel up from the landing, bound and gagged and ready for the ritual.

Drusilla didn't seem aware at first that he'd even moved. "And there were worms in my baguette."

Spike finished dragging Angel in and dumped him on the floor. "Your sire, my sweet."

She looked up now, smiling weakly. "My Angel?"

He returned to the bed, glad to have given her something to smile about. "The one and only. Now all we need's the full moon tonight, and he will die, and you will be fully restored." He took her hand and whispered, "My black goddess." He kissed her hand, then kissed all the way up her arm. "My ripe… wicked plum…" He raised his head to look into her eyes. "It's been…"

"Forever," she finished.

They kissed passionately. Spike could hear Angel straining against his bonds, and that just made him even happier.

When the kiss ended, Drusilla looked at him hopefully. "Spike, let me have him. Hmm? Until the moon."

Although he didn't like the idea of Angel and Dru getting too close together, Spike smiled in acceptance. "Alright, you can play, but don't kill him. He mustn't die till the ritual."

"Bring him to me." Spike picked Angel up from the floor and forced him over to Drusilla. She grabbed him by the chin and looked him in the eye. "You've been a very bad daddy," she hissed before she slapped him across the face.

Now assured that at least Angel had been sauteed alive, Buffy walked grumpily along the halls of the school while Giles and Kendra walked in front, chatting amiably, while she lumbered behind them, flanked by Willow and Jesse – the former giving her sympathetic glances while the latter looked irritatingly amused at her sulking. She wasn't sure which was worse.

"Kendra, I've conferred with your Watcher, Mr. Zabuto, and, uh, we both agree that until this matter with Spike and Drusilla has been resolved that you two should work together."

"Oh, that'll be a treat," Buffy groused.

She was summarily ignored by Kendra. "So, you believe that Spike is attempting to revive Drusilla to health?"

Giles nodded. "Yes, well, I think that's the dark power that your Watcher referred to. You see, Drusilla's not only evil, she's… well, she's also quite mad, and if she's restored to her full health, then, uh, well, there's absolutely no telling what she might do."

Kendra nodded firmly. "Then we will stop Spike."

"Ooo, good plan, let's go, charge!" Buffy mocked. The girl was such an amateur. Unfortunately, she said that a little too snottily because Giles gave her the king of all withering looks, Jesse's grin broadened, and Willow looked at her shoes.

"Buffy…," Giles started to scold.

Wanting to head him off at the pass before he lectured, Buffy tried again. "It's a little more complicated than that, John Wayne."

Nodding in agreement, Giles built off of her point a bit more diplomatically. "Yes, I'm afraid it is. You see, Spike has also called out the Order of Taraka to keep Buffy out of the way."

Kendra recognized the term. "The assassins? I read of them in the writings of Dramius."

To Buffy's chagrin, Giles looked delighted. "Oh, really? Which volume?" he asked as they exited the hall and walked along the colonnade.

"I believe it was six, sir," she replied obediently.

Buffy looked at her, confused. "Um, how do you know all this?"

"From me studies."

"So, obviously you have a lot of free time."

"I study because it is required," Kendra replied briskly, making Giles smile again. "The Slayer handbook insists on it."

"There's a Slayer handbook?" asked Willow, curious.

Buffy held up a hand to stop everyone. "Wait. Handbook? What handbook? How come I don't have a handbook?"

"A handbook written by British dudes for handling teenage girls?" asked Jesse. "Anyone else thinking 'ick'?"

Giles looked like he had thoughts on that subject, but he focused on answering Buffy's question instead. "After meeting you, Buffy, I realized that, uh, the handbook would be of no use in your case."

Buffy's gaze intensified. "Well, what do you mean it would be of no use in my case? Wha-what's wrong with my case?"

Sensing he hadn't worded that correctly, Giles refocused on Kendra. "Perhaps you'd like to show me the part in, uh, Dramius Six where it refers to the Order of Taraka. Really, I seem to have never been able to get through that book. It was a bit stodgy."

For the first time since she'd arrived, Kendra smiled. "It was difficult. All those footnotes." Then, she laughed – with Giles.

Buffy leaned over to mutter to Jesse and Willow. "Hello, and welcome to Planet Pocket Protector."

Apparently remembering he was her Watcher, Giles looked back at her. "Oh, well, Buffy, Principal Snyder was snooping 'round after you."

Buffy stopped in her tracks as she realized. "Eee. Career fair," she groaned.

Giles nodded. "Best make an appearance, I think."

"Right."

She turned to leave with her friends, but Kendra looked confused. "Buffy's a student here?"

"Yes," Giles confirmed.

Kendra's expression turned droll, as if she should've expected something so disappointing of her fellow Slayer. "Riiight, of course. And I imagine she's a cheerleader as well."

Giles chuckled. "Oh, no, well, actually, she had to give up her cheerleading. It was quite an amusing story, actually." He trailed off, though, at the lack of amusement on her face. Back to stone cold again. "Uh, uh, let's go and find the book, shall we?" he murmured, and the two of them headed off to the library.

"Get a load of the she-Giles," grumbled Buffy.

"Creepy," agreed Willow.

"Unnatural," grinned Jesse.

"I'll bet Giles wishes I was more of a book geek," Buffy continued.

"Giles is enough of a book geek for the both of you," Willow assured her somewhat helpfully.

"Yeah, but did you see how they were vibing? 'Volume six, ha, ha, ha!'"

"Try focusing on the positives, Buffinator," Jesse said in his 'wise voice'. "Twice the Slayers means twice the fighting power, and plus, if one of you needs time off, the other can fill in for a while. Oooh, you could take an actual vacation someday!"

Buffy's expression turned distant. "Or maybe… she could take over." They looked at her confusion, but to her, it made sense. Maybe after this thing with Spike and the assassins ended, she could jump ship, leaving the Hellmouth in Kendra's hands and maybe finally have that normal life she always yearned for.

Xander sat on the floor of the basement, his mind trying very hard to concentrate, but he couldn't with Cordelia pacing so determinedly back and forth. Did she think she could tunnel out by wearing a deep enough groove in the floor? "Could you sit down, or change your pattern or something? You're making me queasy."

Mercifully, she stopped, leaning on the washer. Cruelly, she started talking. "Because you're just sitting there. You should be thinking up a plan."

"I have a plan. We wait. Buffy saves us." At least, he was fairly confident she would save them. How the hell do you slay mealworms?

"How will she even know where to find us?"

"Cordelia, this is Buffy's house. Odds are she'll find us."

"Well, what if she doesn't?" she snapped. "What am I supposed to do? Just waste away down here with you? No, thank you!"

To his alarm, she started making tracks for the stairs. A bit reluctantly, he jumped to his feet and stopped her. "What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Going to see if he's gone!"

Did this woman's thick-headedness know no bounds? "That's brilliant! What if he isn't?"

"Oh, right!" she snapped back sarcastically. "You think we should just slack here and hope that somebody else decides to be a hero?" She stormed back to the washer. "Sorry, forgot I was stranded with a LOSER!"

His already frayed nerves showed signs of failing. "And yet, I never forgot that I'm stuck with the numb-brain that let Mr. Mutant in the house in the FIRST PLACE!" he finished in a yell so fierce it kind of surprised him.

"HE LOOKED NORMAL!" she screamed back.

"What, is he supposed to have an arrow with the word 'assassin' over his head?! All it took was the prospect of a free makeover, and you licked his hand like a big, dumb dog!"

She practically snarled at him. "You know what? I'm going!" She headed for the stairs again. Xander raised his eyebrows, but he made no move to stop her. She was totally bluffing – he could tell. Tellingly, she stopped at the foot of the stairs and faced him again. "I'd rather be worm food than look at your pathetic face!"

"Then go! I'm not stopping ya!"

"I bet you wouldn't! I bet you'd let a girl go off to her doom all by herself!"

He gave her a very sarcastic smile. "Not just any girl," he replied, nodding at her. "You're special."

Her face flushed with anger, Cordelia stepped away from the stairs and approached him. Was she going to hit him? At this point, he didn't even care. "I can't believe that I'm stuck spending what will probably be my last few moments on Earth here WITH YOU!"

"I hope these are my last few moments!" he shouted back. "Three more seconds with you, and I'm gonna…" He didn't even notice he'd taken a step closer to her.

Nor did he notice Cordelia step closer to him. "'I'm gonna' what? Coward!"

"Moron!"

"I hate you!"

"I HATE YOU!"

Looking back on this moment, Xander honestly couldn't remember how it really happened. One second, they looked at each other with seething hatred, breathing hard and an inch apart, and the next second, they were kissing. Not like regular kissing. Fierce impassioned kissing like in a movie. Kissing like he'd never experienced before. Could he hear romantic music playing?

Then, his eyes widened at the same time as hers, and they pulled part, stunned. He couldn't speak for her, but he felt a little better. Braver. Stronger. Saner(?) "We so need to get outta here."

"Mm-hm!" she nodded in agreement.

She rushed up the stairs with Xander right behind. They stopped at the top, crouched down and gave each other anxious looks. Screw it – if the guy was there, they'd fight him off, worms and all. Xander grabbed one end of the tape and pulled it off. No worms on the other side.

He moved the broom aside and opened the door slowly. They both looked out into the hall for any sign of the mealworms.

"He's gone," Cordelia whispered.

Satisfied for now, Xander stepped out and peeked around the corner down the hall to the dining room. The coast looked clear, so he made a dash for the front door. Cordelia followed a moment later, and when she came through the dining room door, mealworms began falling onto her from the ceiling. She screamed as they fell on her en masse and ran for the door.

Xander threw the door open and dashed into the front yard. Cordelia followed him out, screaming. "Xander, oh my God! Get them off of me!" He turned to look and saw the mealworms crawling on her as she flailed helplessly. With little time to think of anything better, he runs for the hose. She screamed and cried, which only spurred him on to run faster.

He grabbed the hose and started spraying the mealworms off of her. She kept screaming and turned her back to him, then her front again. He kept spraying as she tried to brush them off.

After she did about two and a half turns in front of the hose, she yelled, "Okay, okay, let's get outta here! Xander, let's go!" He kept spraying her in spite of her protests. He didn't want to take any chances. "Okay! Let's go!" she shouted, running for her car. He continued to spray as she ran before realizing how this probably looked to the neighbors and he didn't want Buffy's mom to get any questions about the guy spraying a teenage girl in her front yard. He chucked the hose and ran after her.

As the car peeled away, and they took a moment to catch their breath while heading for the library, Xander's brain returned to the kiss, and one thought entered his brain – Jesse's gonna KILL me!

Buffy, Jesse and Willow strolled along past the career fair displays, taking in the various people in uniforms and name tags trying to hock careers to a bunch of innocent high school students. Milling through the crowd, they spotted Amy Madison waving at them, so they approached. If nothing else, Buffy was glad for another friendly face. If nothing else, she could join her in hating Kendra.

"Hi, guys!" she said brightly. "Hey, Jesse!"

Buffy raised an eyebrow at Jesse getting his own greeting, but he just greeted her amiably. "Hey, Miss Madison – how was 'environmental design' yesterday?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "Oh, totally swank! We talked about lawn mowers and hedge clippers and all the different ways to spread manure."

"Oooh," Buffy faux-pouted. "I had 'environmental design', and I had to miss it to check out some spooky mausoleum with Giles. To think what I missed out on."

"You missed out on keeping me company, you selfish grave robber," Amy laughed. "I couldn't get Jesse to join me."

"I was busy hearing a pitch on 'Cubicle World'," he replied disdainfully. "It's actually in the same system as Planet Pocket Protector."

The girls grinned, but Buffy noted that Amy giggled a bit more than the rest of them at his half-assed quip. She also noted that Jesse didn't seem to notice as they all moved off to the lounge. They stopped near the steps to the couches in the lounge. She looked around and noticed the short guy she'd accidentally attacked yesterday. He seemed to be looking at them. Then, she frowned. No… he was looking at Willow! Keeping a small smile under control, she leaned over to her friend. "Hey, Will, don't look, okay, but…" Of course, Willow turned to look. "No, don't look!" she smiled. "That guy over there is totally checking you out."

Everyone turned to look, and Jesse nodded in recognition. "Oh, that's Oz," he said.

"You know Oz?" asked Willow, surprised.

"Yeah, I just met him the other day. Nice guy. Have you met him?"

"Oh, yeah, he was the other kid who got recruited by the software guys yesterday," she nodded. "We didn't talk much, but he seemed nice." She frowned briefly. "What did you guys talk about?"

"Same as you, not much," Jesse chuckled, already in the process of waving Oz over. "He just wanted to know if you and I were dating."

Willow's eyes widened. "What?!"

"He saw us at the Cultural Dance last month. But don't worry, I set him straight. Told him we were just lifelong friends."

"Oh, good," Willow smiled.

But now Buffy and Amy were exchanging knowing looks. "Why did Oz want to know if you were dating Willow?" asked Amy.

"Because he wants to date Willow," he replied matter-of-factly.

Willow's eyes widened again. "What?!"

Bang on cue, Oz approached them, and Jesse patted him on the shoulder when he approached. "Oz, Willow - have a nice day!" And with a jerk of his head, he signaled to the others, and they all discretely slipped away – though not without overhearing just a little bit.

"Hey," he said with a smile.

"Hey!" she smiled back. "Your hair! Is brown!"

"Oh, yeah, sometimes. So, uh, did you decide? Are you gonna be a Corporate Computer Suit Guy?"

"Oh. Uh, well, I think I'm gonna finish high school first. What about you?"

"I'm not really a computer person, you know. Or a 'work of any kind' person."

"Then why'd they select you?"

"Oh, I sorta test well. Y'know, which is cool. Except that it leads to jobs."

"Well, don't you have some ambition?"

"Oh, yeah! Yeah. E-flat, diminished ninth."

"Huh?"

"Well, the E-flat, it's doable, but that diminished ninth, y'know, it's a man's chord. Now, you could lose a finger."

Buffy smiled as the conversation fell out of earshot, glad that a normal boy had taken an interest in her best friend. She, Jesse and Amy slipped further away from them, and she grinned up at the taller boy. "Look at you, playing Cupid!"

"Pfft!" Jesse snorted. "They didn't need me for that. He was already into her. Just kinda… got swept up in it, y'know? Now I am free to move… freely."

"That was really sweet," said Amy, almost sounding scolding. "Don't act like it wasn't."

He gave them both a playfully serious look. "Tell anyone, and I will deny everything." Off their solemn expressions, he turned and spotted the refreshment table. "Ooh, free samples! Score! Who's in?"

Amy raised her hand. "I am!"

"Buffy?"

Buffy looked between them, amused. "Alas, I am needed at the law enforcement table. I'll see you guys later."

Giving her a salute, Jesse led Amy to the free snacks, while she stayed back and watched. Was it just her, or were her friends hooking up? Were they all going to be in couples now? What a conveniently-timed development. A small smile on her lips, she headed for the law enforcement table, signed her name on the clipboard sheet and joined the group.

The recruitment officer, who bore a nametag that read 'Patrice', picked up the clipboard and looked it over. "Alright, listen up," she ordered, "and answer when I call your name." She briefly scanned the sheet. "Buffy Summers."

Buffy raised her hand.

To her confusion, Patrice calmly put the clipboard back down. Everything happened in a split second and in slow-motion. She drew her gun and aimed it at Buffy, who reacted in a flash and pushed the recruiter's hands and weapon up into the air as the first round went off. Panic set in throughout the hall, and people started to run and duck for cover.

Buffy kept struggling with the officer, and another round went into the ceiling. She kneed her in the gut, and she dropped the gun and fell to the floor. As she started to run, she heard Jesse's voice over the chaos, yelling at everyone to get down. Patrice got to her knees and pulled out her backup gun. Another bullet flew at Buffy as she dove over a table. She stood up again and looked around at everyone as they dropped to the floor, Jesse and Amy included. Good – as long as everyone stayed down, they would be all right. The assassin had no interest in hurting anyone except her.

She started to run again, right past Oz and Willow. She heard Oz yell to look out, but when she looked, he was pulling Willow to the floor with him as Patrice fired, and he took the next bullet meant for her in the arm. She may only have one target, but she didn't care who got in the way. So much for finding a bright side.

Patrice kept following Buffy with her gun and shot off the cranium of a skeleton. Knowing she needed to do something, Buffy ran down the nearest hall and leaned against the wall, out of sight, breathing hard and waiting for Patrice to make her next move. After a few tense seconds, she could just see her about to come around the other corner, Buffy leapt over a table and tackled her to the floor. She dropped her backup gun and it slid away.

Now facing a more evenly matched fight, Buffy got to her feet and adopted a fighting stance. Unfortunately, Patrice got back to her knees, pulled out a small ankle backup and aimed it at Buffy as she stood back up.

Before she could get off a round, Kendra kicked the gun out of her hands. She followed it up with a kick to Patrice's face, making her fall flat on her back. She made her stand next to Buffy. Damn, this girl had some decent 'nick of time' skills.

Recognizing herself to be outmatched, Patrice grabbed the nearest student, Jonathon Levinson, as a hostage, pulled out a short blade and threatened him with it. The two girls watched helplessly as she slowly backed toward the door at the end of the hall with the boy in tow. Halfway there, she dropped Jonathon and made a dash for the door. Kendra didn't hesitate to give chase.

Buffy rushed over to Oz and Willow and knelt down next to them. Jesse came skidding up as well, followed by Amy. Oz held his arm, taking deep breaths as the blood oozed between his fingers.

"How is he?" Buffy asked urgently.

"He's shot!" exclaimed Willow, trying to help her new friend. "Are you okay?"

Oz struck Buffy as someone cool under pressure, and right now, he was visibly struggling to keep that up. You could only be cool to a certain point, she supposed, and a gunshot wound probably didn't help. "I, uh, I'm shot!" he said, chuckling a little as he observed his wound. "Y'know, wow! It's odd!" His laughter faded briefly to discomfort as the pain hit him. "And painful," he added weakly.

Amy had already started ripping up a nearby tablecloth and started making a tourniquet around his upper-arm. "Here – this should help with the bleeding until real help comes," she assured him. She looked over her shoulder and yelled, "Somebody call an ambulance!"

Satisfied that he was in good hands, Buffy got up again just as Kendra showed back up. "She's gone," she reported.

Buffy scanned the crowd briefly. She noticed Jesse checking on Jonathon. The shorter boy was uninjured but very shaken. "W-was that a demonstration?" he asked, probably trying to deal with the trauma.

She glanced between Jesse and Willow. Another assassin, right under their noses. They were probably safe for the moment, but she knew there would be more soon.

Giles had the first-aid kit out, and Willow wrapped Buffy's knee as she gave him the lowdown. Jesse and Kendra hovered nearby. "She was definitely one of the Taraka gang, Giles, and way gun happy."

Giles nodded along. "This, um, Oz chap, he's alright?"

"The paramedic said it was only a scrape. Thank goodness," said Willow.

"Amy's gone with the paramedics," added Jesse. "She was technically a first responder so she's going as a witness – leaving out the 'hired assassin' stuff, just to be safe."

The door to the library banged open, and everyone looked up to see Xander and a thoroughly soaked Cordelia walk in. Instinctively, Kendra tried to head them off. "Down, girl!" ordered Buffy, but the other Slayer came to an abrupt halt when she saw Xander and Cordelia froze like a deer in the headlights.

"Who sponsored Career Day today?" Xander demanded. "The British Soccer Fan Association?"

Rolling his eyes a bit at the slight to his country's greatest pastime, Giles made his way to the table. "We had a rather violent visit from the Order of Taraka."

Xander snorted. "You wanna talk Order of Taraka? We just met the king freak of the…" He trailed off when he finally saw they had a newcomer. "Hello."

Kendra continued to look at the floor, apparently unable to look Xander in the eye.

"Oh, forgive me," said Giles. "Xander, Cordelia, this is Kendra. Uh, i-it's rather complicated, but she's also a Slayer."

Cordelia, looking far too wigged out from whatever they'd just been through to acknowledge her properly, just headed for the table. "Hi. Nice to meet you," she grumbled.

Xander looked the newcomer up and down. "A Slayer, huh?" he remarked, grinning at Buffy. "I knew this 'I'm the only one, I'm the only one' thing was just an attention-getter."

Buffy hopped off of the counter. "Just say hello, Xander," she replied, making for the table with Willow and Jesse.

"Welcome," Xander said, already engaging in 'flirt mode'. "So! You're a Slayer, huh? I like that in a woman."

Kendra finally showed another emotion. She looked nervous. "Uh… I hope… I think you… I mean, sir, um… I will be of service."

Xander exchanged a confused glance with the others. "Great!" he said before looking at her again. "Good. It's good to be a giver." He joined the others at the table, still muddled by her behavior.

With introductions completed, Giles attempted to steer things back on track. They had assassins to stop, after all. "Xander, this assassin you encountered, what, uh, what did he look like?"

Before he could answer, Cordelia freaked out when she found a small mealworm in her hair. She dropped it onto a book on the table and got up, running from the library. "Uhh! Uhh! Ohmigod, I'm showering!" she shrieked as she fled.

As the doors slammed shut behind her, Xander pointed at the mealworm. "Like that."

Buffy gave him a funny look. "You and bug people, Xander. What's up with that?"

Xander shook his head defiantly as he grabbed a heavy textbook. "No, but this dude was completely different from 'praying mantis lady'. He was a man of bugs, not a man who was a bug." He slammed the biology book shut on the mealworm to kill it and sat down.

"The important thing is everybody's alright," said Giles. "Still, it's quite apparent that we're under serious attack."

Buffy nodded. "These Taraka are definitely serious." She threw a glance at the other Slayer in the room. "Fortunately for me, so is Kendra."

"And, uh, I fear the worst is still to come," Giles continued. "I've discovered the remaining keys to Drusilla's cure. The ritual requires the presence of her sire, and it must take place in a church on the night of the new moon."

Buffy suddenly felt the inside of her mouth go a bit dry from shock. Oh god…

"The new moon," repeated Kendra. "But that is tonight."

Jesse rolled his eyes. "The bad thing is always tonight."

"Exactly," Giles said to Kendra. "And I'm sure the assassins were here to kill Buffy before she could put a stop to things."

Buffy found her voice. "They need Drusilla's sire. You mean the vamp that made her?"

"Yes."

Willow saw the worry in her friend's eyes. "Buffy, what is it?"

"Angel. He's Drusilla's sire."

Xander almost looked impressed. "Man, that guy got major neck in his day!" he remarked, only to get slapped hard by Willow on the shoulder.

Buffy fixed her gaze on Giles. "Will this ritual kill him?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it will," he confirmed.

"We need to find this church. We need to find where this ritual is gonna take place!"

"Agreed, and we must work quickly." He checked his watch. "We have five hours before sundown."

Willow opened her laptop. "Don't worry, Buffy, we'll save Angel."

Kendra looked as if they'd all gone mad. "Angel? But our priority is to stop Drusilla!"

"Angel's our friend!" snapped Xander. "Except I don't like him," he added hastily.

"And besides," added Jesse, "the best way to stop Drusilla is to save Angel."

"Exactly," said Buffy, who got up and gave Kendra her fiercest expression. "Look, you've got your priorities, and I've got mine. Right now they mesh. So, are you gonna help me, or are you gonna get out of my way?"

Kendra clearly didn't like this, but she eventually nodded in concession. "I'm with you."

"Good. 'Cause I've had it. Spike is going down. You can attack me, you can send assassins after me, that's fine. But nobody messes with my boyfriend!"

Angel watched from the canopy bed as Drusilla ran her hand across the lid of an elegant wooden box labeled 'Holy Water'. She sang quietly as she lifted the lid and took out a small crystal pitcher.

"The lamb is caught in the blackberry patch," she murmured, approaching him. "My mummy ate lemons. Raw." She knelt next to him. Angel couldn't even budge away. She had tied him to the posts by both wrists high above his head. "She said she loved the way they made her mouth…," she paused to run her hand down and up his chest, "… tingle. Little Anne." She let some of the holy water trickle onto his chest. It steamed and burned like acid.

Angel jerked his head back in pain and stifled a scream.

"Her favorite was custard… brandied pears," Drusilla continued.

"Dru…," he grunted. He knew he deserved this. He knew he brought it on himself for making her this way. But he had to stop her from getting strong again. He had to do something.

But Drusilla would not be stopped. She shushed him sternly and stood up. "And pomegranates." She climbed onto the bed behind Angel. "They used to make her face and fingers a-a-all red." She reached over his shoulder and let more holy water dribble onto his chest. Again, Angel grit his teeth in pain, but he wouldn't let himself scream out loud. "Remember? Hmm? Little fingers. Little hands. Do you?"

Despite the pain, Angel still felt remorse. He'd done this to her. It only served him right to suffer at her hand. "If I could…"

"Bite your tongue!" she interrupted, angry now. "They used to eat cake, and eggs, and honey." Her voice turned sweet again. "Until you came and ripped their throats out."

She poured the rest of the holy water onto his chest, and Angel screamed out loud in agony.

Xander tried his best to focus on the task at hand, trying to find more info on the mealworm salesman. Cordelia had showered, dried off and returned to help, and of course, she chose to sit next to him at the table. That just made concentrating even harder. He'd kissed Cordelia Chase. She had kissed him. They'd kissed each other. And not just kissed. They'd k-i-s-s-s-s-s-s-sed. What good could he possibly be with his hormones dancing a conga line through his blood stream?

The door to Giles' office opened, but rather than the Watcher, who Xander could see going through some books at his desk, Jesse stepped out carrying a large book. God, what would Jesse ever say if he found out? Oh, sure, the guy claimed he was over Cordelia, but he hadn't exactly shown much interest in other girls since then. Maybe he just thought he was over her. In any case, he couldn't stop feeling guilty. Jesse had yearned for Cordelia for so long, whereas Xander spent most of his time insulting her, and he was the one who made out with her? How the hell could he be okay with that?! Or, Xander thought bitterly, maybe he'd watched too many teen dramas and his best friend would be fine with it. Maybe he needed to stop worrying about this. He and Jesse had agreed after the praying mantis lady that they'd never let a woman come between them, and dammit, he was not going to break that promise over Cordelia Chase.

Jesse stopped by Willow, who sat on the steps with her laptop, surfing the web for more info. He let out a quiet whistle when he saw the screen. "Forty-three churches in Sunnydale?" he asked quietly. "Sheesh, I'm glad I sleep in on Sundays."

Willow giggled. "It's the extra evil vibe from the Hellmouth. Makes people pray harder."

Xander watched them, if nothing else to avoid looking at Cordelia. He could hear her flipping pages beside him. Why was she here? Why did she feel obligated to help them? Why did she have to use that nice shampoo that smelled like apricot?

"Xander…?"

Xander jumped. Jesse had wandered over to him, looking suspicious. "We're not doing anything!" he yelped.

"Clearly. You had a full-on thousand yard stare going. Back in Vietnam again?" Jesse smirked.

Regaining his composure, and still not looking at Cordelia, Xander shook his head. "Oh, I'm just not having a lot of luck in this book. We got monsters, we got demons, but no bug dude or police lady."

Jesse nodded and set the volume down in front of them, opening it. "Giles says to try this one. There's a whole section devoted to the Order of Taraka."

Relieved to have a distraction, Xander took the book, and to his even greater relief, Jesse sat across from them. If nothing else, his presence might limit the hanky panky tomfoolery he was not engaged in. He stole a brief glance at Cordelia, and saw that she looked a little worked up. The kiss clearly wigged her out as well. At least they had that in common.

Buffy sharpened a knife at the desk while Giles went over some illustrations and Kendra gathered supplies. She didn't want to freak out too much. She knew they still had time, and to her chagrin, Kendra's knowledge of the book volumes had helped a little. Now the others had a nice big book to go through that might have more info on how to beat those mean ol' assassins.

Kendra looked through the window at the Scoobies doing their research. "And those two," she said, indicating Xander and Cordelia, "do they also know you are the Slayer?"

"Yep," Buffy nodded.

"Did anyone explain to you what 'secret identity' means?"

"Nope. Must be in the handbook," Buffy said, shooting Giles a look, who pretended not to notice. "Right after the chapter on personality removal." She heard movement and looked up to see Kendra had picked up the crossbow. "Be careful with that thing!"

Kendra looked at her as if she were slow. "Please. I'm an expert in all weapons." The bolt promptly flew off of the crossbow and broke a lamp, shattering it to pieces and startling Buffy and Giles.

After an awkward silence, Giles cleared his throat and gently removed the bolt. "Yes, well, let's set this aside until we need it, yes?" he said, prompting Kendra to sheepishly set the crossbow down.

Buffy couldn't help feeling superior. "Yeah, it's okay. You killed the bad lamp."

"Sorry!" Kendra floundered, clearly not accustomed to screwing up like that. "This, uh, trigger mechanism is different. Perhaps when this is over you can, uh, show me how to work it."

Buffy smirked. "When this is over I'm thinking pineapple pizza and teen video movie fest. Possibly something from the Ringwald oeuvre."

"I'm not allowed to watch television. My Watcher says it promotes intellectual laziness."

"And who says that's a bad thing?"

Giles rolled his eyes as he finished tucking away the crossbow. "We all unwind in our own ways, Buffy. Just because we're not all up to date on who's swimming in Dawson's Creek…"

Amused, Buffy retorted, "Well, I'm sorry I don't play three rounds of chess by myself before bed to help me relax."

"Yes, yes, very good, I'm going to check in on the research team," he said, but she saw a faint smile on his face as he exited into the main library.

Kendra watched him go, and she observed through the window again as Xander, Willow and Jesse showed Giles everything they had found so far. "Your life is very different from mine," she said, almost wistfully.

Buffy focused on carving stakes. "You mean the part where I occasionally have one? Yeah, I guess it is."

"The things you do and have, I was taught, would distract from my calling. Friends, school… even family."

That made Buffy look up. "Even family?" Crap, was she about to feel sorry for her?

Kendra nodded. "My parents – they sent me to my Watcher when I was very young."

"How young?"

"I don't remember them, actually. I've seen pictures. But, uh, that's how seriously the calling is taken by my people. My mother and father gave me to my Watcher because they believed that they were doing the right thing for me, and for the world." She put down the stake and frowned when she saw Buffy's face. "Please," she scoffed, "I don't feel sorry for myself. Why should you?"

She must've looked sympathetic. "I don't know, I… I guess it just sounds very lonely."

"Emotions are weakness, Buffy. You shouldn't entertain them."

God, now this sounded like a bad Star Trek episode – or maybe a good one. Xander and Jesse would know. "Kendra, my emotions give me power. They're total assets!"

"Maybe." The other Slayer picked up her knife. "For you. But I prefer to keep an even mind."

Buffy put down her knife. "Mm. I guess that explains it."

"Explains what?"

Buffy set down her knife and played absently with the nearest stake. "Oh, well, when we were fighting, uh, you're amazing! Your technique, it's flawless, it's, hmm, better than mine."

"I know." She said it very matter-of-factly, which somehow annoyed Buffy more than if she'd said it smugly.

"Still," she continued, "I woulda kicked your butt in the end. And ya know why? No imagination."

Kendra rubbed her blade more vigorously. "Really? Ya think so?" she said, putting down the rag.

"Oh, I know so. You're good, but power alone isn't enough. A good fighter needs to know how to improvise, to go with the flow. Uh-uh, seriously, don't get me wrong, you really do have potential."

"Potential?" Kendra repeated, knife at the ready. "I could wipe the floor with you right now!"

Smiling calmly, Buffy looked her in the eye. "That would be anger you're feeling."

"What?"

"You feel it, right? How the anger gives you fire? A Slayer needs that."

At that moment, Xander entered the office, prompting Kendra to once again look down at the floor. "Excuse me, ladies," he said amiably as he grabbed a book from the desk. He turned to go but stopped when he saw the big ol' knife in her hand. Pausing briefly to make sure she didn't attack him with it, he smiled. "Nice knife," he said, and then walked back out to join the others.

Buffy eyed her sympathetically. "I'm guessing dating isn't big with your Watcher either."

"I'm not permitted to speak with boys," Kendra said awkwardly.

"Unless you're pummeling them." Then, a thought occurred to her. "Wait a minute."

"What?"

"That guy! The sleazoid you nearly decked in the bar."

"You think he might help us?"

"I think we might make him!"

Spike liked to think of himself as a reasonable vampire. Sure, he staked his minions when they let him down, but if he thought they could redeem themselves, he would only thrash them violently. Hardly irrational. Still, he had his limits, and finding Angel bound to Drusilla's bed while she knelt between his spread-apart legs was one of them. It didn't matter that she was torturing him with a little pitcher of holy water above him – the visual was still enough.

"Say 'Uncle'," hissed Drusilla at her prey. "Oh, that's right, you killed my uncle."

Before she could pour more onto him, though, Spike decided to make his presence known. "That's it, then," he announced, giving her a stern look when she saw him. "Off to church."

Looking almost sheepish, Drusilla stood up. "It makes pretty colors."

Spike snorted. "I'll see him die soon enough. I've never been much for the pre-show." He reached up to untie one of Angel's bonds while Drusilla put away the holy water and got one of her dolls.

Annoyingly, Angel spoke. "Too bad. That's what Drusilla likes best, as I recall."

Spike should've ignored him, but then, Angelus always had a way of getting under your skin. "What's that supposed to mean?" he snapped as he stepped over to the other bond.

"Ask her. She knows what I mean."

Drusilla had come back to stand behind Spike's shoulder, and he turned his head to face her. "Well?" he asked her expectantly.

Dru hissed at Angel. "Shhh! Grrrruff! Bad dog."

Angel smirked. "You shoulda let me talk to him, Dru. Sounds like your boy could use some pointers. She likes to be teased."

Finished untying the other bond, Spike angrily threw it to the floor. "Keep your hole shut!" he shouted, standing over him.

"Take care of her, Spike. The way she touched me just now? I can tell when she's not satisfied."

"I said SHUT UP!"

He grabbed Angel by the throat, lifted him to his feet and held him against the bedpost, but the wanker kept on yakking. "Or maybe you two just don't have the fire we had."

"That's enough," Spike snarled. He pounded his other hand into the wooden railing of Drusilla's bed, grabbed the piece that broke off and held it up to stake Angel.

"Spike, no!" Dru cried out. Her voice gave him pause, but he could see Angel trying to goad him on with a stare. Dru stepped over to Spike and gently put her arm on his shoulder and snuggled up to him. "Shhh," she whispered in her soothing way, almost draining the anger out of him and allowing his brain to operate logically again.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, feeling better already. "Right. Right, you almost got me! Aren't you a 'throw himself to the lions' sort of sap these days." He felt great satisfaction at watching his grandsire deflate slightly. "Well, the lions are on to you, baby. See, if I kill you now you go quick, and Dru hasn't got a chance." He put a hand around Angel's throat and gave it a squeeze. "And if Dru dies, your little Rebecca of Sunnyhell Farm and all her mates are spared her coming-out party."

Drusilla leaned closer to him. "Spike, the moon is rising. It's time."

Pleased that he would soon be rid of the old git, Spike grinned. "Too bad, Angelus. Looks like you go the hard way. Along with the rest of this miserable town." He kept holding Angel against the bedpost as he and Drusilla engaged in a passionate kiss.

Buffy shoved Willy up against the shelves of liquor bottles, determined to get the needed info out of him while Kendra paced impatiently beside them. "Ah! Honest! I don't know where Angel is!"

"What about this ritual? What have you heard?" She'd done more research on this guy. Willy the Snitch – he didn't get this nickname from nowhere. She just needed to apply a little more pressure.

"N-nothing! I-it's all hush-hush!" he stammered.

"Just hit him, Buffy!" Kendra snapped irritably.

Buffy smiled faux-apologetically at Willy. "She likes to hit."

Blanching at the thought of two Slayers giving him the business, Willy smiled nervously as he sweated bullets. "You know, maybe I did hear something about this ritual. Yeah, it's coming back to me. But, uh, I'd have to take you there."

Not smiling, Buffy started to drag him out of the bar. "Let's go."

To her annoyance, Kendra hesitated. "First, we must return to the Watcher."

"Excuse me?!" Buffy stopped so suddenly that Willy almost got slammed onto the floor. "While we run to Giles, this whole thing could go down!"

"But it is procedure!"

"It's brainless, you mean! If we don't go now, Angel could die." She gave Willy a yank and started out again.

Kendra still didn't follow, instead yelling after her. "Is that all you're worried about? Your boyfriend?"

Riled, Buffy stopped again. "No, it's not all, but it's enough."

"It's as I feared. He clouds your judgment. We can't stop the ritual alone!"

Oh, now she was complaining about not having back up? "Are you listening to me? He could die!"

Kendra's anger finally let out, and she yelled, "He's a vampire. He should die. Why am I the only person who sees it?!"

Okay, now Buffy knew she was beyond help. A cold-hearted logical bitch who would rather let her boyfriend die just because he was a vampire. She couldn't see the bigger picture here. She had her view of the world, and she wouldn't be moved from it. She stared coldly at her a moment before turning around again and heading for the door with Willy in tow.

"Are you that big a fool?"

Buffy didn't respond. She shoved Willy out ahead of her and left Kendra behind in the bar.

Willy led Buffy inside of a big church. Like all churches, it was creepy at night, and like all creepy churches, it was dimly lit and a little drafty. She glared at the back of his slimy head as he took her down the foyer and towards the first corner.

"Here ya go," he said. "Don't ever say your friend Willy don't come through in a pinch."

Buffy rolled her eyes as she rounded the corner. She just wanted to find Angel and get this over with. Unfortunately, that didn't look too likely as she came face-to-face with the police officer assassin, Patrice, and a hulking vampire, both glaring at her while Willy leaned casually against the wall.

"Here ya go," he said. "Don't ever say your friend Willy don't come through in a pinch."

Another vampire and some dork with glasses blocked her only path out. Can we say, 'Oops'?

. . .

Spike never thought much of churches, but he had to admit, this one was one of the nicer crappy ones. Standard stained glass windows, plenty of sconces for candles, and a whopping great organ in the corner. They could've done worse.

He walked up the main aisle from the altar with a burning incense censer. "Eligor," he intoned. "I name thee. Bringer of war, poisoners, pariahs, grand obscenity." He turned back to the altar. He had Angel and Drusilla both strapped together to a chain that hung from the ceiling, with Angel's right hand tied to the chain above his head. "Eligor," he continued, "wretched master of decay, bring your black medicine."

"Black medicine," Dru murmured sleepily, a smile on her face.

Spike set the censer down on the altar and picked up the Du Lac Cross with his gloved hand. "Come," he said, holding up the cross upside-down. "Restore your most impious, murder child."

Drusilla smiled. "Murder child."

He grabbed the downward-pointing tip of the cross with his other hand and yanked down, pulling out a dagger. He laid the rest of the cross back on the altar. "From the blood of the sire she is risen." He took Drusilla's left hand and raised it to Angel's, and she clasped it. "From the blood of the sire, she shall rise again."

With one swift stroke, Spike stabbed the blade through their hands. Angel screamed in agony while Dru smiled through her pain. A blindingly bright pink light emanated from their wounds. A pulse of energy spread out, and then the light died back down to a faint glimmer as Angel's strength began to ebb from him into Drusilla. She drooped backward, feeling Angel's energy flow into her.

Spike smiled in satisfaction, taking a step back to observe. "Right, then! Now we just let them come to a simmering boil, and remove to a low flame."

Unexpectedly, the door banged open, and Willy barged through the door and strode into the nave with the vampires and assassins escorting Buffy close behind. "It's payday, pal. I got your Slayer."

Whatever good feeling had evaporated in an instant when he saw the Slayer here and now, right at the critical moment. The whole point of calling a hit on her had been to keep her away from this! He strode up the aisle to meet him. "Are you tripping?! You bring her here?! Now?!"

Willy's cocksure smile faded. "You said you wanted her."

"In the ground, pinhead! I wanted her dead!"

"Now, that's not what I heard. Word was there was a bounty on her dead or alive."

"You heard wrong, Willy," Spike snarled.

His tirade got cut short when he heard the Slayer next to him, sounding delightfully afraid. "Angel."

He followed her gaze to Angel and Dru tied together. "Yeah," he said, stepping over to her. "It bugs me, too, seeing him like that. Another five minutes, though, and Angel will be dead, so… I forebear." He smirked. "Don't feel too bad for Angel, though, he's got something you don't have."

She looked angry now. "What's that?"

"Five minutes." He glanced at the police lady assassin. "Patrice!" he signaled.

Patrice let go of Buffy and drew her gun. Buffy struggled to get loose from the vampire holding her.

The other door suddenly burst open, and another girl with dark skin and her hair in a ponytail came in doing a series of backflips, ending in a flying double kick, one foot to the back of each of the vampire's heads. They fell to the floor, pushing Buffy into Spike and knocking him down. The new girl landed on her feet, ready to fight. She wasted no time running over to Spike as he got up, meeting Buffy there to fight him.

Spike looked between the two girls, confused and furious. "Who the hell is this?!" The new girl grabbed him by the shirt

"It's your lucky day, Spike," Buffy growled.

"Two Slayers!" said the new girl, punching him.

"No waiting!" Buffy jabbed him.

Spike fell but quickly got up. Oh bollocks, he thought. He knew two Slayers shouldn't be possible, but he could see the evidence in the stars he saw when they hit him. He also knew he had no chance of really beating them, even with help, so the next best thing would be to draw the fight out another four minutes until Dru was healed, and then, they could escape together.

Buffy broke off to fight Patrice, leaving the other Slayer to take care of Spike. He ducked a roundhouse kick from her. He looked to his fellow vampires to give him a hand. One of them started to get up from the floor and started to reach for Buffy when a bolt impaled him. He fell and turned to ashes, and through the dissipating cloud, he could see the Watcher looking on from the door, still holding the crossbow. Oh bloody hell, the whole Scooby gang had turned up. Not just the Watcher, but the red-head, the annoying dark-haired boy, McNally, and even that insufferable girl who'd been dressed as a cat for Halloween. Now he had them to contend with.

The new Slayer proved more than up to the task of fighting him, and he took her on, but he kept stealing glances to see how the original did. Buffy and Patrice fought hand-to-hand, the lady cop thrusting one blade, then the other at Buffy, but she caught her arms and held them up while she kneed Patrice in the stomach. The Slayer followed up with a kick to her face and sent her stumbling back into the wall.

Spike landed a punch on the new Slayer, knocking her down, and she scrambled to avoid his follow-up kick. The other vampire finally got up also, but the Watcher ran to engage him. He swung the crossbow at him, but the vampire grabbed it, and they struggled over it. The Watcher managed to swing it right into his face. Then, like a maniac, Red jumped up onto his back and started choking him with her arm while McNally ran in with a stake and got him while he was distracted.

Then, he heard the dark-haired boy shout in his annoying voice. "Hey, larvae boy! Yeah, that's right, I'm talkin' to you, ya big cootie!" The mealworm assassin smirked and started after him, sending the Whelp running through the doors where the loud girl waited holding a pail of something. They shut the door, and the assassin dissolved into his wormy form to attack - no doubt heading into a trap they'd set. He fought the urge to sigh despondently. They just didn't make assassins like they used to.

The new Slayer jumped over Spike when he tried to knock her legs out from under her. She tried another roundhouse kick, but he blocked it. He used the momentum of the block to spin around and hit her again. She swung at him but he blocked her. This girl clearly hadn't been a Slayer very long. He landed another hit on her, grinning a little as he did so. Maybe he could make this one his third after all. He punched Kendra again, and followed up with a roundhouse kick. She hit the floor and scrambled back up again.

Then, he heard Buffy's voice. "Switch!" Like a well-oiled machine, she bent over and the new Slayer rolled over her back to face Patrice, immediately landing a punch and knocking her into the wall.

Face-to-face with the original, he smirked a little at the sight of her as she glared at him. "I'd rather be fightin' you anyway," he purred.

"Mutual," she replied, her expression blank as she blocked his thrust, then kicked him in the face and again in the gut. He doubled over and fell to the floor. Undeterred, he got up and tried another punch that got blocked, and then she blocked another, but with a little perseverance he landed punches to her stomach and face. She blocked his next swing and held his arm while she punched him twice in the face. She grabbed his coat and pulled him around and threw him over several pews and into the wall.

Behind another pew, he saw the Snitch get up. Spike growled, returning to his feet as he rushed over and grabbed him by the back of the neck as he tried to flee the church. Odds were he wasn't going to kill either Slayer tonight, but he could at least kill the weasel who nearly fouled everything up. "Where are you going?"

Sweating fearfully, Willy held up a hand to stop him. "Now, there's a way in which this isn't my fault!"

"They tricked you."

"Mm-hm! They were duplicitous!"

Spike honestly didn't know if Willy had been tricked or not, but at this point, he didn't care. "Well, then I'll only kill you just this once," he growled as he went in for a bite.

"Spike!"

Dru… He looked and saw Buffy trying to untie her from Angel. He let go of Willy and rushed over to the altar, grabbed Buffy and shoved her to the floor. He backhand punched her as she got back up, knocking her down again. He could hear the Scooby gang reconvening not too far away, both of his hench-vamps dealt with, and Willy fled the place, but he didn't care. He briefly checked his watch. It hadn't been five minutes, or else Angel would be dust already. Maybe it had been four-and-a-half?

Patrice threw the new Slayer over a knocked-over pew and climbed over after her. She swung at the girl twice, but missed both times when she ducked. She swung again, and this time slashed her in the arm. The new Slayer grabbed her wound and looked down at it. "That's my favorite shirt! That's my only shirt!" Really mad now, she kicked Patrice in the back of the knee, making her lose her balance. She grabbed Patrice by the arm and threw her into a cabinet in front of the organ, smashing it to pieces and knocking her out.

Seeing he had no choice now, Spike took a torch from its wall hanger and threw it into a pile of old drapes, setting them ablaze. The Scoobies and the New Slayer got well clear of it, meaning he had a clear path now. He pulled out the knife, cut the bonds and grabbed Dru as Angel fell to the floor. "Sorry, dear, we gotta go. Hope that was enough…" He carried Dru on the other side of the fire to the back, towards the organ loft.

Then, he felt something hit him in the back of the head, and he crashed into the beam holding the organ loft up. The beam fell, and the loft came crashing down. His last thought before everything went black was: Ow!

. . .

Buffy watched as the organ loft fell on Spike and Drusilla, satisfied at a job well done. "I'm good," she thought to herself. She came down to Angel as the others ran 'round to help carry him out, even Kendra. She smiled sheepishly at the other Slayer, but no words were said. They gathered him up as he started to regain consciousness. "It's gonna be okay," she assured him.

"Buffy?" he groaned.

"Let's get him out," Kendra said quietly.

And so they did, with Giles already making plans to call the fire department once they were outside. They had to step gingerly over the liquid adhesive full of squashed mealworms that Xander and Cordelia had used to trap the phony salesman – major ick factor. She glanced at the fallen rubble. If the crash hadn't killed Spike and Drusilla, the fire would. She felt much more confident that this would be the last they ever saw of them.

With all the craziness of last night behind them now, and Angel on the mend back in his apartment, everyone went back to school the next day. Jesse finished up at his locker and headed to the student lounge. He spotted Oz at the snack machine with his arm in a sling. He almost went over to see how he was, but he stopped when he spotted Willow already approaching him. He hung back and hid just behind the corner.

"Oh. Hey. Animal cracker?" he asked, holding the box out to her.

Willow shook her head politely. "No, thanks. How's your arm?"

Oz shrugged. "Suddenly painless."

"You can still play guitar okay?"

"Not well, but not worse."

They started walking down the hall, and Jesse had to take a tentative step out into the open to hear them more clearly.

"You know, I never really thanked you…," Willow started.

Oz held up a hand to stop her. "Please, don't. I don't do thanks. I get all red and I have to bail. It's not pretty."

Willow nodded in acceptance. "Then forget about… that thing." She smiled bashfully. "Especially the part where I kind of… owe you my life…"

Unable to handle such praise, Oz pulled a cookie from the box. "Look. Monkey. And he has a little hat. And pants."

Willow smiled in amusement. "Yeah, I see."

"The monkey is the only cookie animal that gets to wear clothes, you know that?" he remarked. Then, almost casually, he remarked, "You have the sweetest smile I've ever seen." She looked startled, but he just breezed past it. "So I'm wondering, do the other cookie animals feel sort of ripped? Like, is the hippo going - man, where are my pants? I have my hippo dignity! And the monkey's just, 'I mock you with my monkey pants!' And then there's a big coup in the zoo."

Willow tilted her head at his choice of accent for the monkey. "The monkey is French?"

"All monkeys are French. You didn't know?"

"No."

Grinning to himself that they were hitting it off, Jesse waited until they turned a corner and were gone from sight. He glanced absently at his side, and did a double take when he saw Amy Madison with a knowing smile on her face. "Amy! Jeez, how long were you standing there?"

"Long enough to freak you out," she replied. "So – just keeping an eye on them?"

Jesse shrugged awkwardly. "Just glad to see things working out. Will's needed this for a long time. Maybe now she'll let go of mooning over Xander and moon over a guy who's mooning her." He shook his head sadly. "It's depressing when you're just yearning for someone who doesn't notice you. I know. I've been there. The best thing is to move on and find someone who does."

Amy tilted her head. "And… has anyone noticed you?" she asked, stepping a little closer to him.

"Pfft! I wish. Buffy's got Angel, Willow's got Oz, Xander got the attention of both the praying mantis teacher and the undead mummy princess and now Kendra… I mean, not to sound bitter, but I'd like to be liked, y'know?"

"Well," Amy sighed, putting a hand on his arm, "maybe someone does. They're just going through some stuff and aren't ready to really approach you that way yet. Maybe."

"Maybe," he replied wistfully.

She smiled at him. "Walk me to class?"

"Oh, sure, no sweat," he replied, falling in step alongside her. "Thanks, Amy."

"Thank you, Jesse."

Xander moved through the halls, having just about forgotten about what happened in Buffy's basement the other day, when he saw Cordelia coming his way. She saw him too. They both turned and headed in opposite directions.

Then, Xander thought better of it. This was no way to live. He needed to confront this situation head-on. He turned back and ran to catch up with Cordelia. She didn't look pleased to see him, and he couldn't blame her, but this had to be done. "We need to talk," he said quietly as he hustled her into an empty classroom.

At first, they could only stand a good distance from each other, arms folded, glaring at each other, but once it became clear she wasn't going to talk for once, Xander broke the ice. "Okay. Here's the deal. There is no reason for us to run every time we see each other in the halls."

Cordelia nodded along. "Right. Okay." She frowned. "Why shouldn't we run?"

"What happened – there is a total explanation for it."

She gave him a sardonic look. "You're a pervert?"

Oh, she was going to blame everything on him? Hell no. "Me? I seem to recall that I was the jumpee, my friend."

"As if! You've probably been planning this for months!"

"Right," he said incredulously. "I hired a Latvian Bug Man to kill Buffy so I could kiss you. I hate to burst your bubble, but you don't inspire me to spring for dinner at Bucky's Fondue Hut."

"Fine. Whatever. The point is, don't ever try it again," she said threateningly.

Xander threw his hands up in frustration. "I didn't try it! Forget the bugs. Just the memory of your lips on mine makes my blood run cold!"

She took a step towards him. "If you dare breathe a word of this…!"

He took a step towards her. "Like I want anyone to know!"

"Then it's erased?"

"Never happened."

"Good."

"Good!"

Dammit, they were kissing again. Big kissing. Dramatic kissing.

Jesse was gonna kill him.

Outside the school, Buffy did the decent and walked Kendra out front to the street. She had it on good authority that Snyder wasn't paying attention right now, so she could be out and in before he noticed she'd stepped out. After she had bailed her out last night, she couldn't begrudge her. Maybe she'd been just as right about protocol as Buffy had been about emotion. Maybe she could be the Kirk to her Bones. Or was it the Spock to her Kirk? Bones to her Uhura? Guh – her engines couldn't take much more of this.

Kendra fiddled a little with the shirt she had on. "Thank you for the shirt. It is very generous of you."

"Oh, hey, it looks better on - well, me, but don't worry." She had no undercurrent of sarcasm in her barb. Maybe she could finally admit to being friends with her. "Now, when you get to the airport…," she prompted.

Kendra nodded. "I get on the plane with my ticket. And sit in a seat. Not the cargo hold."

"Very good."

"That is not traveling undercover."

"Exactly. Relax. You earned it. You sit. You eat the peanuts. You watch the movie, unless it's about a dog or Chevy Chase."

"I'll remember."

They arrived at the curb where a taxi waited patiently.

"Thank you," Buffy said sincerely. "For helping me save Angel."

Kendra's expression turned neutral. "I am not telling my Watcher about that. It is too strange that a slayer loves a vampire."

Buffy rolled her eyes but nodded. Just one more person who didn't understand a good love story when they saw one. Still, she had to admit, there were times she didn't get it either. "Tell me about it."

To her surprise, Kendra smiled a little. "Still, he is pretty cute."

"Well, then, maybe they won't fire me for dating him."

Kendra tilted her head in a curious manner. "You always do that."

"Do what?"

"You talk about slaying like it's a job. It's not. It's who you are."

Buffy frowned. She always tried to keep her Slaying life separate from her Normal life. She didn't know if she could possibly live a life solely in the Slaying life like this other girl. "You get that from the handbook?"

"From you," Kendra said with a pointed smile.

Relenting a little, Buffy nodded, a little sad. "I guess I can't fight it. I'm a freak."

"But not the only freak."

"Not anymore."

They stood on the curb for a long companionable silence. In fact, they stood for so long that Buffy started to feel a little uncomfortable. She took an awkward step forward, feeling an odd compulsion to –

"I don't hug," Kendra informed her in a flat voice.

Relieved, Buffy stopped herself. "No. Good. Hate hugs."

Smiling, Kendra got in the taxi, and Buffy stood on the curb as it merged into traffic and vanished into the distance.

The church was a mess, with black rubble everywhere from the fire. She walked along, searching for him, a smile on her lips as she relished how good she felt. She peered through the rubble until she spotted a pale sooty hand. Reaching down, she grasped the hand by the wrist and tugged. She cleared some of the debris, and she saw him. Not just a mess, but also scarred by the fire and motionless. She bent, wiped some ash from his brow, and his eyebrows twitched, unconscious – but alive.

"Don't worry, dear heart," Drusilla smiled, lifting Spike with one arm, as if he were a toy. "I'll see that you get strong again… Like me."