We were all in Professor Walsh's Psyche class.

Buffy, Willow and I were sitting together.

Buffy was watching Parker and a girl flirting a few rows in front of us.

"These are the things we want," Walsh told us. "Simple things. Comfort, sex, shelter, food. We always want them, and we want them all the time. The id doesn't learn. It doesn't grown up. It has the ego telling it what it can't have, and it has the superego telling it what it shouldn't want, but the id works solely out of the pleasure principle. It wants. Whatever social skills you've learned, however much we've evolved, the pleasure principal is at work in all of us. So, how does this conflict with the ego manifest itself in the psyche? What do we do when we can't have what we want?"

   ~~~~   

Buffy, Willow and I were sitting at a table on the campus, studying.

Xander was standing in front of us, holding a lit lighter toward me. "Rough day?" I gave him an amused look. "Come on, Zo. Be a lonely drunk. Rough day?"

"Stop flicking at me," I told him.

"Work with me here," Xander told us. "I'm finally an essential part of your college-y life. No more looking down on the townie. I'm the new bartender over at the pub. Got my lighter, my rag, my empathy face."

"Aren't you too young to be a bartender?" Willow asked.

"Oh, contraire, mon frere," Xander told her.

"Mon frere means brother," I told hi.

"Mon girlfrere," Xander told us.

"If you're trying to say sister, it's 'ma soeur'," I told him.

"Well, look at the Zo, getting all wise," Xander told us, showing us an ID. "Behold."

The picture on the ID was of Xander with a mustache.

"I don't believe this is entirely on the up-and-up," Willow told us.

"What gives it away?" Xander asked.

"Looking at it," Willow answered.

"Well, no one's gonna see it, anyway," Xander told us, putting the ID into his shirt pocket. "Now I'm the bartender. I kick people out."

"You know there's more to it than wiping and kicking?" Buffy asked. Xander looked at us in confusion. "Mixing drinks, for instance."

"Well, I've seen cocktail," Xander told us. "I can do the hippy-hippy shake."

"Well, even if I've had a pretend cigarette, I couldn't tell you my pretend problems," Buffy told him. "The real ones have clogged up my head space."

"Ooh, unload them right here, baby," Xander told her, flicking his lighter, holding it toward Buffy. "Rough day? You wanna talk about it?" Buffy gave him a look. Xander put his lighter away. "Shutting up now."

"I'm pregnant by my stepbrother, who'd rather be with my best friend, who's left me with no place to live,  no food, except for this bottle of wild turkey, which I drank all that up," Willow told him. Xander looked at her in confusion. Willow smiled. "That was me being tanked and friendless for you."

"Gets my Oscar nod," Xander told her.

"You know what?" I asked. "It's class time."

Buffy, Willow and I gathered our things, standing.

"So, you gonna come by tonight to the pub?" Xander asked.

"Oz, Bronze, date," I told them.

"Studying for a huge test coming up," Willow told us.

We walked along down the path.

"You know, maybe..." Buffy trailed off. "Maybe he's just having trouble dealing. I mean, don't guys sometimes keep the girls they really, really like inside these deep little brain fantasy bubbles where everything's perfect? I mean, they do that, right?"

"How's the fugue state coming along?" Xander asked.

"Parker," Willow told him.

"Maybe I'm in his bubble," Buffy told us. "And then, pretty soon, he's gonna realize that he wants more than just bubble-Buffy, and he'll pop me out and we'll go to dinner, and... It could happen, right?"

"Buffy, that is my best friend, you need to think about not Parker," I told her. "He's no good."

"There are men, better men, wherein the mind is stronger than the penis," Willow told us.

Xander pffted, using a very deep voice. "Nothing can defeat the penis!" We got looks from the other passing by students. Buffy, Willow and I gave Xander weird looks. Xander realized, calming down. "Too loud. Very unseemly."

Willow looked at Buffy. "I mean, I'm sorry to be so coarse, but I feel strongly about stinky Parker man."

"He can be really sweet," Buffy told us. "I'm telling you. I think that he has intimacy problems because of the death of his father."

I shook my head. "Not interested. You got troubles?" I pointed at Xander. "Tell them to the bartender."

"That's right, 'cause the bartender's always ready to listen," Xander told us.

We smiled small smiles, walking on.

   ~~~~   

 At the Bronze, I walked away from a finished game of pool, sitting at a table.

Oz walked closer with two drinks, sitting next to me. "Hey. You got a table."

"I had to kill a man," I told him.

"Well, it's a really good table," Oz told me. He seemed to sense something, looking away in confusion.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I don't know," Oz told me. "I feel..." He shook the feeling off. "It's nothing."

We looked at the stage where a blonde girl was singing with the alternative band, slow and hypnotic. "I'll take you up above ground." She noticed Oz, seeming to be singing right to him. "Over filth / Over fire." Oz seemed entranced. "Newly emerged."

I looked at Oz. "We could go back to your place."

"No, that's okay," Oz told me. "I'm fine."

The girl continued to sing. "Every inch of a new sensation."

"Do you know her?" I asked.

"Veruca?" Oz asked. "No. I know their drummer. He's cool. But I've never heard them play."

Veruca still seemed to be singing to Oz. "Out of my head into his / To taste and smell myself / I'll take you up / Above ground / Over filth / Over fire..."

"You know, I could go for another round of pool," I told him.

Oz nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, let's do it."

Oz and I stood, walking toward the pool table.

I started to rack up the balls.

Oz grabbed the pool cues, still listening to Veruca, still seeming mesmerized.

I didn't know why I was taking this seriously or why this felt really bad.

   ~~~~   

The next morning, I walked into the dorm room with Willow.

"So, what happened last night?" Willow asked.

"Probably just got worked up over nothing," I told her. "Oz introduced me to Veruca, we hung out for a little bit."

"Well, at least you could keep up with their band talk," Willow told me. "I would have no idea what they were saying, just like I had no idea what you and Oz were talking about when I introduced you two."

"Yeah, yeah," I told her.

Buffy was watching MTV, in PJs. "TV is a good thing. Bright colors. Music. Tiny little people."

"What did you do with Buffy?" Willow asked.

"I'm suffering the afterness of a bad night of... badness," Buffy told us.

Willow looked at Buffy in concern. "You didn't. Not with Parker again."

"No," Buffy answered. "With four really smart guys."

"Four?" I asked. "Oh. Ow. Oh, Buffy, are you okay? Do you wanna talk about it?"

"I went to see Xander," Buffy told us. "Then I saw Parker. Then came... beer."

"And then group sex?" Willow asked.

Buffy tried not to laugh, pushing Willow lightly. "Gutterface. No. Just lots and lots of beer. It's nice. Foamy. Comforting. It's... beer."

"Drowning your troubles over Parker?" I asked. "Mind-frying man. He deserves a torturous and slow death."

"Well, for today, we'll just have to throw spitballs at his neck in class," Willow told us.

"Okay," Buffy told us, standing, walking toward the door.

I grabbed her arm to stop her. "Uh, getting dressed would be fun, too."

Buffy looked over her PJs, groaning, walking toward her closet.

Willow and I exchanged a confused look.

   ~~~~   

We sat in Psych class together.

"Next class, we'll be moving on to personality types and disorders," Walsh told us. "For those of you who have done the reading..." Buffy raised her hand. "You already know...  Yes?"

Buffy pointed at Willow and me. "They read the... reading."

Other students looked at us and away in amusement.

"Well, then, they'll have some time on their hands," Walsh told us. "As I was saying, we won't be able to cover it all in class, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth knowing." Buffy was watching a girl eat a sandwich hungrily. "And it doesn't mean it won't be on the midterm. Now, if I've been unclear in any way, speak now."

Buffy leaned forward, taking the sandwich from the girl, surprising us.

"Buffy," Willow told her. Buffy took a bite. The girl looked back at us. "Buffy, are you okay?"

"Sure," Buffy answered. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Buffy took a bite.

   ~~~~   

That night, I walked out of the dorm room into the hallway.

Oz walked toward me. "Zoey. Hey. I tried calling."

"Yeah, I was studying with Will at the diner," I told him. Oz nodded in understanding. "How are you feeling?"

"What do you mean?" Oz asked.

"Well, you weren't in class," I told him. "Again."

"Yeah, I was practicing," Oz told me. "Hey, Shy's playing again tonight."

"Shy?" I repeated.

"Yeah, Veruca's band," Oz answered. "And they asked me to sit in with them. It would be be kinda cool if you were there."

"Oh, I wish," I told him. "But Buffy's at the bar again, and since I was with you last night, no one's done patrol for two nights in a row now."

"Uh-oh," Oz told me. "Someone call the coast guard."

I smiled a small smile. "A town like Sunnydale? Yeah, that doesn't sound like an over reaction."

"Right?" Oz asked.

I gestured to the door. "But you go ahead. I can see how patrolling would be dull for you compared to sitting in with another band."

"All right," Oz told me.

"Don't have too much fun without me," I told him.

Oz shook his head. "Never."

I smiled slightly, backing away, turning around, walking away, leaving.

   ~~~~   

I was patrolling in the cemetery to take the edge off, standing on top of a mausoleum, kicking a vampire in the face, making him fall to the ground below. I somersaulted off the mausoleum, rolling into a standing position, turning to face the vampire as he stood, kicking him in the head, making him roll to the ground. The vampire stood, running closer, trying to punch me. I ducked, kicking him in the leg, standing, backhand punching him in the face with one arm, punching him straight-on with the other. The vampire spun to kick me with a roundhouse. I ducked, kicking him in the back, making him fall and rebound off a nearby headstone, making him fall to the ground. He stood. I ran toward the tombstone, bouncing off it with one leg, kicking the vampire in the face with the other, making him fall to the ground. 

I knelt down to stake him in the heart, making him fall into dust, standing, sighing, turning to see two vampires behind me. "I don't suppose that you two could come at me one at a time, right?" They growled at me. "All right. Come and get it."

The vampires ran closer. I jumped into a herkie, kicking them both in the face, making them flip backward until they landed on their bellies on the ground, landing solidly on my feet. Vampire 1 ran toward me. I kicked him in the face. Vampire 2 ran toward me. I grabbed him by his shoulders, flipping him to the ground. Vampire 1 stood, running toward me, trying to give me an arm clothes line. I ducked, leg sweeping his legs out from under him, making him fall to the ground. Vampire 2 stood, running toward me. I stood, kicking him in the face. Vampire 1 ran toward me from behind. I spun to kick him in the face, gripping his arm, flipping him to the ground. Vampire 2 tried to punch me. I ducked, staking him in the heart. Vampire 1 ran toward me from behind. I turned swiftly, staking him in the heart. I watched as they both fell into dust.

Xander and Giles walked toward me.

"Nicely done," Giles told me.

"Thank you," I told him. "What are you two doing here?"

"We need your help," Xander told me.

I looked between them, sighing. "What's going on?"

The owner of the campus bar that Xander worked at had been putting a potion into the beer that Buffy and the four guys that she had been talking about earlier had been drinking.

And the four guys, who drank more than Buffy did, had become actual cave men.

   ~~~~   

Xander, Giles and I walked into our dorm building, down the hallway.

"Well, I cut her off before the others," Xander told us. "I don't think she had as much to drink."

"I can't believe you served Buffy that beer," Giles told him.

 "I didn't know it was evil," Xander told us in defense.

"You knew it was beer," Giles replied.

"Well, excuse me, Mr. 'I spent the '60s in an electric Kool-Aid funky-Satan groove'," Xander told him.

"It was the early '70s, and you should know better," Giles told him.

"I'm not the dad of her," Xander told us. "Buffy's a grown-up now."

"Shut up," I told them in annoyance, walking into the dorm room, stopping where I was.

Xander and Giles had to stop behind me.

Buffy was drawing people and stick figures, birds and dogs and trees on the wall with lipstick. She looked toward us, not looking like Buffy. She hit against the biggest person on the wall. "Parker bad."

   ~~~~   

Buffy was now spinning around aimlessly on the computer chair.

"Fascinating, really," Giles told us.

Buffy tipped over until she fell off the chair, to the floor, groaning in pain, crouching, pushing the chair angrily across the room, making it fall to the floor. She noticed the TV was off, crawling closer, hands on the screen. "Want people. Where people go?"

Giles leaned closer. "The TV is off."

Buffy tapped against the TV screen. "Want! Want people!"

Giles looked at Xander and me. "Well, she doesn't appear to be in any immediate danger."

Buffy stood, walking closer.

"I'll find the guys," I told them. "Bunch of cavemen shouldn't be too hard to find. Or maybe they will be since..." Giles and Xander gave me a look. "I'm not gonna say what I was thinking. You guys stay here with the cavewoman."

I walked out, leaving.

   ~~~~   

I saw smoke and flames rising into the sky, knowing that that where they would be, running toward the building, stepping through the heavy smoke through the doorway, running down the steps, avoiding the flames.

The four cavemen were on the other side of the flames. So were two conscious girls, an unconscious Parker, and an unconscious Willow.

I stepped along a couch, leaping over the flames, somersaulting to the floor on the other side. I knelt next to Willow, shaking her to try to wake her up. "Will. Willow!" Willow started to wake up, coughing against the smoke. I helped her stand. "Come on. Help me get these guys out of here."

Willow nodded, groaning, looking around in confusion. "How do we get out of here?"

I looked around, finding a window above us, jumping up to the bars on the ceiling, climbing across them toward the high, thin window, swinging my legs up to the bars, latching on, swinging my upper body downward toward the window, pushing the window out of the window frame easily, swinging back up, grabbing hold of the bars, jumping down.

The cavemen pushed over a bookcase to get up, climbing up the shelves to the window, crawling out.

Willow led the girls toward the bookcase. "Come on, let's go. We gotta go."

The two girls climbed up the bookcase, to the window, climbing out with Willow's help. Then Willow climbed up the bookcase, climbing out of the window.

I picked Parker up from the floor, hauling him over my shoulder, climbing up the bookcase to the window, starting to push Parker up through the window.

Willow, on the outside of the window on the ground above, pulled Parker outside, helping me get him out of there.

Then I climbed out with ease.

   ~~~~   

The fire department was here now, putting out the flames.

Willow and I were sitting on a bench outside.

Willow had told me that she had talked to Parker, made him feel guilty about what he did to Buffy, and all those other girls.

"Did we have enough fun for one night?" I asked.

"Yes, please," Willow answered.

"Anyways, I think that the boys in the car are contained for the time being," I told her. We looked toward where the cavemen were restrained in the car. "This will give them some time to ponder the geo-political ramifications of being Cro-Magnon creatures until they get better. Until Buffy gets better, too."

"Whose van is that?" Willow asked.

"I don't know," I told her. "Wasn't locked."

Willow looked at me. "You okay? You seem a little tired?"

I nodded. "Zoey very tired."

"You know, just because the Neanderthals got to talk in third person doesn't mean that you get to, too," Willow told me. I smiled tiredly. "No, it's not just that. You seem all too distracted, and even though you were amazing and saved our lives tonight... you just don't seem like... you."

"Well, I guess I just feel like something bad's gonna happen," I told her. "I don't know how to explain it. Just chalk it up to being over-working, exhausted and a freshman in college. I'm good, Will. Promise."

Willow didn't look convinced.

I didn't feel convinced, either.