At the Bronze, a cockroach was being chased along the floor.
"Get it!" a boy said. "Go get it, right there!"
"I got it!" a girl said, holding the cockroach up to the bartender and dropping it into his jar. "Free drink, please."
The bartender nodded and went to get the drink.
Willow, Buffy and I were sitting together at a table.
"Ah, the fumigation party," Willow said.
"Hmm?" Buffy asked.
"It's an annual tradition," I told her. "The closing of the Bronze for a few days to nuke the cockroaches."
Buffy wasn't paying attention. "Oh."
"It's a lot of fun..." Willow trailed off.
I looked at Daydreaming Buffy. "What's it like where you are?"
Buffy looked up, smiling a small smile. "I'm... sorry, I was just... thinking about things..."
"So, we're talking about a guy?" I asked.
"Not exactly a guy," Buffy answered. "For us to have a conversation about a guy, there'd have to be a guy for us to have a conversation about. Is that a sentence?"
Willow smiled. "You lack a guy."
"I do," Buffy answered. "Which is fine with me, most of the time, but..."
"What about Angel?" I asked.
"Angel?" Buffy repeated. "I can just see him in a relationship. 'Hi, honey, you're in grave danger. I'll see you next month.'"
"He's not around much, it's true," Willow said.
Buffy looked dreamily. "When he is around... it's like the lights dim everywhere else. You know how it's like that with some guys?"
"Oh, yeah," Willow answered, looking over at Xander.
Xander was on the dance floor, making a fool of himself. He danced up to a girl. "Hey, Annie!" He saw her boyfriend. "Dino, just leaving!"
Xander backed away, bumping into Cordelia.
"Ouch!" Cordelia complained. "Please get your extreme oafishness off my two-hundred-dollar shoes!"
"I'm sorry, I was just..." Xander trailed off.
"...getting off the dance floor before Annie Vega's boyfriend squashes you like a bug?" Cordelia finished.
"Oh, so you noticed," Xander said.
"Uh-huh," Cordelia answered.
"Yeah, thanks for being so understanding," Xander said sarcastically.
"Sure," Cordelia told him.
"You know, hey, I don't know what everyone's talking about," Xander told her. "That outfit doesn't make you look like a hooker!" He laughed, leaving the dance floor, walking toward us, standing between Willow and Buffy. "Boy, that Cordelia is a regular breath of vile air. What are you vixens up to?"
"Just sitting here, watching our barren lives pass us by," Willow answered, looking down. "Oh, look, a cockroach."
Willow stomped on the bug.
Buffy lifted her eyes to see and then turned them back down.
"Whoa, well, let's stop this crazy whirling of fun," I said sarcastically. "I'm dizzy."
"All right, now I'm infecting those nearest and dear to me," Buffy said, standing. "I'm gonna call it a night."
"Oh, don't go," Willow told her.
"Uh, yeah," Xander told her. "It's early. We could, um, dance."
"Rain check?" Buffy asked. "Good night."
Buffy walked away, leaving.
Xander let out a breath.
Willow held her shoe up to us. "Want a free drink?"
Neither of us took the offer.
~
After Buffy had left the Bronze, she had been attacked by three vampires. Angel had saved her. They had gone to her house for safety, sleeping in her room.
The next day, at school, in the library, that was where she had explained everything.
"He spent the night?" Xander asked. "In your room? In your bed?"
"Not in my bed, by my bed," Buffy corrected.
"That is so romantic," Willow told her.
"Did he try a move on you?" I asked.
Buffy smiled, shaking her head. "Perfect gentleman."
Buffy, Willow and I exchanged smiled.
The girls exchange smiles.
"Buffy, come on, wake up and smell the seduction," Xander told her. "It's the oldest trick in the book."
"What?" Buffy asked. "Saving my life? Getting slashed in the ribs?"
"Duh!" Xander told her. "I mean, guys'll do anything to impress a girl. I--I once drank an entire gallon of Gatorade without taking a breath."
Xander grinned.
I smiled, nodding. "It was pretty impressive."
Willow made a face. "Although later there was an ick factor."
Giles walked up to the table. "Can we steer this riveting conversation back to the events that happened earlier in the evening?" Buffy sat down. "You left the Bronze and were set upon by three unusually virile vampires." Giles put a book on the table in front of Buffy. "Did they look like this?"
"Yeah," Buffy answered. "What's with the uniforms?"
"It seems you encountered the Three," Giles told her. "Warrior vampires, very proud and very strong."
I looked at Giles. "How is it you always know this stuff? You always know what's going on. I never know what's going on."
"Well, you weren't here from midnight until six researching it," Giles told me.
"No, I was sleeping, like any sane person," I told him.
Giles ignored me, looking at Buffy. "Uh, obviously you're hurting the Master very much. He wouldn't send the Three for just anyone. We must step up our training with weapons."
"Buffy, you should stay at my house until these Samurai guys are history," Xander told her.
Buffy turned to him. "What?"
"Ah-ah-ah, don't worry about Angel, Zoey can run to your house and tell him to get out of town fast," Xander told her. "And with as scary as Zo can be sometimes, he'll listen." I hit him on the back of the head. "See?"
"Angel and Buffy are not in any immediate jeopardy," Giles told us. "Eventually the Master will send someone else, but in the mean time the Three, having failed, will offer their own lives in penance."
~
Last night, Buffy and Angel had kissed and Buffy had found out one little disturbing detail about Angel.
We were walking up the steps from the street toward the building.
"Angel's a vampire?" Willow asked.
"I can't believe this is happening," Buffy told us. "One minute we were kissing, and the next minute..." She looked at Giles. "Can a vampire ever be a good person? Couldn't it happen?"
"A vampire isn't a person at all," Giles told her, clearing his throat. "It may have the movements, the memories, even the personality of the person that it took over, but it's still a demon at the core, there is no halfway."
"So that'd be a 'no', huh?" I asked.
"Well, then what was he doing?" Buffy asked. "Why was he good to me? Was it all some part of the Master's plan? It doesn't make sense!"
We reached a bench, Willow, Buffy and I sitting together.
"Allright, uh, you have a problem, and it's not a small one," Xander told her. "Let's take a breath and look at this calmly and objectively. Angel's a vampire. You're a Slayer. I think it's obvious what you have to do."
Xander smiled.
Buffy didn't react.
Xander looked up to Giles for support.
"Uh, it is a Slayer's duty..." Giles trailed off.
Xander looked at Buffy. "I--I know you have feelings for this guy, but it's not like you're in love with him, right?" Buffy looked away. "You're in love with a vampire? What, are you outta your mind?"
Cordelia suddenly stopped walking next to us. "What?"
I looked at Cordelia. "Not vampire..." I looked at Buffy. LHow could you love an umpire? Everyone hates them."
Xander touched his fist against mine.
Cordelia looked at another girl wearing the same dress she is. "Where did you get that dress?" She walked toward her. "This is a one-of-a-kind Todd Oldham. Do you know how much this dress cost? Is this a knockoff?" She checked the label. "This is a knockoff, isn't it? Some cheesy knockoff! This is exactly what happens when you sign these free trade agreements!"
The two girls disappeared into the building.
I rolled my eyes. "You think we have problems."
~
In the library, Xander, Buffy, Willow and I were looking through books, looking for anything that mentioned Angel.
Giles approached us with his own book, startling us, making us jump. "Here's something at last.
"Can you please warn us before you do that?" I asked.
"There's nothing about Angel in the texts, but it suddenly occurred to me that it's been ages since I've read the diaries of any of the watchers before me," Giles told us.
Willow looked at Buffy. "That must have been so embarrassing when you thought he had read your diary, but then it turned out he hadn't, but then he felt the same way..." Xander gave her a look. "I'm listening."
"There's mention some two hundred years ago in Ireland of, of Angelus, the one with the angelic face," Giles told us.
"They got that right," Buffy said.
Xander cleared his throat. "I'm not saying anything, I have nothing to say."
"Does this, uh, Angel have, um, a tattoo behind his right shoulder?" Giles asked.
"Yeah," Buffy answered. "It's a--it's a bird or something."
"Now I'm saying something," Xander said. "You saw him naked?"
"So, Angel's been around for a while," I said.
"Not long for a vampire," Giles told us. "Uh, two hundred and forty years or so."
"Huh," Buffy said. "Two hundred and forty. Well, he said he was older."
Giles sat down and looked through the diary. "Angelus leaves Ireland, uh, wreaks havoc in, in Europe for, uh, several decades, and then, um, about eighty years ago, the most curious thing happens. He comes to, uh, to America, um, shuns other vampires, and, and lives alone. There's, there's no record of him hunting here."
"So he is a good vampire," I said. "I mean, on a scale of one to ten, ten being someone who's killing and maiming every night, and one being someone who's... not."
"I say that there's no record, but, uh, vampires hunt and kill," Giles told me. "It's what they do."
"Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly," Xander said.
"He could've fed on me," Buffy told us. "He didn't."
"Question: a hundred years or so before he came to our shores, what was he like then?" Xander asked.
"Uh, like all of them," Giles answered. "Uh, a vicious, violent animal."
~
After dark, Willow, Buffy and I were still in the library, studying.
"Okay, so let's review," Willow told us. "Reconstruction began when?"
I looked at Buffy. "Buffy?"
"Huh?" Buffy asked. "Oh! Um, reconstruction... Uh, reconstruction began after the... construction, which was... shoddy, so they had to reconstruct."
"After the destruction of the Civil War," I answered.
Willow smiled at me.
"Right," Buffy said. "Civil War. During which Angel was already, like, a hundred and change..."
"Are we gonna talk about boys, or are we gonna help you guys pass history?" Willow asked. Buffy looked up. I reached toward the book, closing it. Willow smiled. "Sometimes I have this fantasy that Xander's just gonna grab me and kiss me right on the lips."
"You want Xander, you've gotta speak up, girl!" I told her.
Willow shook her head. "No, no, no, no. No speaking up. That way leads to madness and sweaty palms."
"Okay, so here's something I gotta know," I said, looking at Buffy. "When Angel kissed you... I mean before he turned into... how was it?"
Buffy smiled. "Unbelievable."
"Wow," Willow gushed. "And it is kinda novel how he'll stay young and handsome forever."
"Although you'll still get wrinkly and die, and..." I trailed off. "Oh, and what about the children?" Buffy and Willow looked at me. I gave them an innocent look. "What? Guys, we know this isn't going to end well, so let's just skip to the back of the book--"
"Zoey, you should be really quiet now," Willow told me.
"No, it's okay," Buffy told her. "Zo's right. I need to hear this. I need to get over him so I can..."
"So that you can..." I trailed off, stabbing the air with my pencil as if to stake a vampire. "Like Xander said, you're the Slayer, and he's a vampire."
"God, I can't!" Buffy told us. "He's never done anything to hurt me... Okay, no, I need to stop thinking about this. Okay, let's give another half an hour and maybe something will sink in. And then I'm going home for some major moping."
"Okay," Willow said.
Willow went back to trivia.
~
Later, Xander, Willow and I walked through the back kitchen door into Buffy's house.
"Hey, Buffy!" Xander called.
We saw Buffy kneeling next to her mother, who was on the floor, bleeding from her neck.
"Oh, my God!" I said in a whisper.
"What happened?" Willow asked.
Buffy looked at us. "Angel."
~
At the hospital, Willow, Xander and I waited in the hall outside Ms. Summers' room.
Giles walked hurriedly down the corridor trying to find her room.
Buffy was talking to her mom.
~
Now, Buffy and Giles stood outside with us in the hall.
"She's gonna be okay," Buffy told us. "They, they gave her some iron... Her, uh, blood count was a little..."
"A little low," Giles finished. "It presents itself like mild anemia. Uh, you were, uh, lucky you got to her as soon as you did."
"Lucky?" Buffy repeated. "Stupid."
"Buff, it's not your fault," I told her.
"No?" Buffy asked. "I invited him into my home. Even after I knew who he was, what he was, and I didn't do anything about it... 'cause I had feelings for him, because I cared about him."
"If you care about somebody you care about them. You can't change that by..." Willow trailed off.
"Killing them?" Buffy finished. "Maybe not. But I think it's a start."
Buffy started to walk away.
"Uh, we'll keep an eye on your mom," Xander told her.
Giles followed her. "Buffy!"
Giles stood in her way to stop her.
"You can't stop me," Buffy told him. "The Three found me near the Bronze and so did he. He lives nearby."
"This is no ordinary vampire," Giles told her. "If there is such a thing. Now, he knows you, he's faced the Three! I think this is gonna take more than a simple stake."
"So do I," Buffy told him.
~
Buffy had left.
Giles had talked to Ms. Summers'. Now, he led us down the hall, pulling on his jacket. "We have a problem."
Ms. Summers' had never seen Angel. She had seen the vampire named Darla, who pretended that she had been Buffy's friend to get inside and attack her.
Angel didn't attack Buffy's mom.
Darla did.
~
Giles, Willow, Xander and I were walking down a street.
"We're near the Bronze," Willow said. "What now?"
"Keep looking for her," Giles answered.
"I have a question: what if we find her and she's fighting Angel and some of his friends?" Xander asked. "What the heck are we gonna do about it?"
~
Outside of the Bronze, I could swear I heard gunshots.
"Did you just hear . . .?" I trailed off.
We ran forward to find a way in.
~
Inside, we crawled along the floor to avoid being hit by the bullets from the guns that Darla had.
"So many body parts, so few bullets," Darla said. "Let's begin with the kneecaps. No fun dancing without them."
Darla shot a few times toward the pool tables. Buffy popped up with a crossbow, shooting at Darla, the arrow hitting her stomach. Darla doubled over in pain. Buffy watched her.
Darla stood straight. "Close, but no heart."
Darla grabbed the arrow, pulling it out, tossing it aside.
"We need to distract her, fast," Xander told us.
"Buffy, it wasn't Angel who attacked your mom, it was Darla!" I yelled.
Darla turned toward my voice, shooting toward me. I ducked as low to the floor behind the bar as I could.
Angel pulled the arrow from the wall.
Darla turned her attention back on Buffy and hopped up onto the pool table. Buffy jumped up, grabbing the edge of the table, pulling it out from under her, making her fall onto her back, pushing the table away starting to run for cover.
Darla fired off a few rounds as she rode the table across the floor.
Buffy jumped for cover over a glass case in a dive roll as bullets broke it all around her.
The pool table had stopped sliding. Darla stood to look for Buffy, hopping off of it and advancing on the counter while shooting.
Giles stood, messing with the lighting system controls.
The strobe lights come on.
Darla looked at him and stopped shooting.
Buffy took the opportunity to change position.
Darla saw her move and let loose another volley. "Come on, Buffy. Take it like a man!"
Angel came up behind her, growling, and plunging the arrow through her back, into her heart
Darla was surprised and cried out in pain, turning to give him a look of betrayal. "Angel?"
Darla fell to the floor, bursting into ashes.
Buffy stood.
Angel looked from Darla's ashes to Buffy.
Buffy walked out from behind the counter.
Angel looked at her a moment longer, turning around and leaving.
Buffy was speechless and just watched him go.
~
The next night at the Bronze, when there was actual fun with clubbing, Xander, Willow, Buffy and I were standing together.
"Ah, the post-fumigation party," Xander said.
"Okay, so what's the difference between this and the pre-fumigation party?" Buffy asked.
"Much hardier cockroaches," Xander answered.
"So, no word from Angel?" I asked.
"Nah," Buffy answered. "It's weird, though. In his way I feel like he's still watching me."
"Well, in a way he sort of is," I told her with a smile. Buffy looked at me in confusion. I nodded behind me. "In the way of that he's right over there."
Buffy turned her head to follow my gaze to see Angel, briefly looking at Xander, Willow and me, walking toward Angel.
"I don't need to watch because I'm not threatened," Xander told us. "Just gonna look this way."
Xander turned away from them, sitting down at a table. Willow and I sat next to him, facing Buffy and Angel so we could see what happened.
The crowd was slow dancing to "I'll remember you", by Sophie Zelmani.
"Did they know what they wanted / The times they kissed me? /And your hands / I held in mine."
Buffy and Angel reached each other.
Obviously, we couldn't hear them.
~
Buffy kissed Angel, the kiss becoming passionate, her hand going to his neck.
"Your eyes / That always make me shiver / Now they are closed /They just sometimes twitch a little"
Willow and I exchanged smiles.
Xander looked at us, noticing. "What's going on, smilies?"
"Nothing," Willow told him.
"Well, as long as they're not kissing," Xander said.
Willow just watched and said nothing.
I smiled. "Yeah, okay."
"And your body / I could hold for an hour / It sent me to Heaven / With its heat and power"
Buffy and Angel finally pulled back.
"I'll remember you / You will be there in my heart / I'll remember you / And that is all that I can do / But I'll remember"
Buffy walked away.
Angel watched her go.
Romeo and Juliet.