Dawn, Mom and I were home, getting ready to leave for the day. Dawn had to go to school, Mom had to go to work, and I was gonna meet up with the gang at the Magic Box.

Mom called upstairs. "Dawn, come on, you gotta eat breakfast. Xander's gonna be here any second." There was no response. Mom sighed, walking toward me in the kitchen, cooking. "She's gonna be late for school again." She looked at me. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay," I answered. "Not 'ready to head back to classes, face the world' okay, but... I think I'm finally getting back to my old self. I'm gonna head to the Magic Box, helping the gang fish for more info on the stolen diamond."

Dawn walked in, wearing a sling on her arm.

"I called you before," Mom told her.

"Didn't hear you," Dawn told her sullenly, pouring herself a glass of orange juice.

"Mom made you an omelet," I told her.

"Not hungry," Dawn told us, taking a drink.

"Dawn, you need to eat something," I told her.

"Thanks for your concern," Dawn told me, putting her glass down, walking out, leaving.

Mom looked at me in confusion. "Why is she taking it out on you?"

"Because I let it happen," I answered.

"Zoey, Willow was the one who--" Mom started.

"Who was drowning," I told her. "My best friend. And I was too wrapped up in my own dumb life to even notice."

The backdoor bursted open.

Mom and I jumped in surprise, looking toward the door.

Spike walked in, covered with a blanket to save himself from the sun, closing the door, throwing off the blanket, straightening up, smoothing down his hair, looking at us. "Morning."

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

Mom returned to cooking.

"Just, uh, took a stroll," Spike told us. "Found myself in your neck of the woods."

"Couldn't find a less flammable time of day to take a stroll?" I asked.

"Yeah, well, the fact is my lighter's gone missing," Spike told us. "Thought it might have, uh, dropped outta my pocket the last time I was here."

I shook my head. "Haven't seen it."

I turned to the sink.

Mom took the omelet pan, putting it on the counter next to the sink. "I'm, uh, gonna head upstairs, get dressed for work."

"Okay," I told her. "I..." Mom walked out, leaving. I leaned one hand against the island, watching her go, looking at Spike. "Lame."

"What?" Spike asked.

"You, making up excuses," I answered, turning to the sink to get a clean plate. 

"Oh, don't flatter yourself, love," Spike told me, walking closer. "Bloody fond of that lighter."

I tilted my head at him. "Find a new nickname."

Spike walked closer. "What should I call you, then? Pet?" I merely looked at him. "Sweetheart? My, uh..." He brushed back a piece of my hair. "Little Belle? As in the beauty."

"Well, that's fitting, since you're the beast," I told him.

Spike smirked in amusement, chuckling. "You know I love this hair. The way it bounces around when..."

Xander walked in through the backdoor. "Good Godfrey Cambridge, Spike." We looked toward him. "Still trying to mack on Zoey? Wake up already. Never gonna happen." Spike glared at him. I gave them both a look, looking away. "Only a complete loser would ever hook up with you." I turned away, a little insulted, but I knew that would be his first reaction. "Well, unless she's a simpleton like Harmony, or a--or a nut sack like Drusilla."

I looked at Xander. "Hey, you really need to get Dawn off to school. Let's go. Go fetch her, okay?" I walked toward Xander, taking him by the arm, leading him toward the hallway. "You can let yourself out, right, Spike?" Spike smirked. Xander and I walked into the foyer. I called upstairs. "Dawn! You better get going. Xander's here."

Dawn walked downstairs. "Here."

"Okay, you have everything you need?" I asked.

"Yep," Dawn answered.

"Did Mom already leave?" I asked.

"Yes," Dawn answered.

"And after school, you--" I started.

"Yeah, yeah," Dawn told me. "Let's go, Xander."

Dawn walked toward the door.

I intercepted her. "You will come straight home."

Dawn nodded sarcastically. "Sure. Maybe we can find some time for you to get me into another car accident."

"Hey," Xander told her. "It's not her fault. We've all been going through a lot lately, your sister especially."

Dawn sighed, knowing that he was right, looking at me. "Sorry."

"Me, too," I told her.

"All right," Dawn told us. "Can we go now?"

Dawn and Xander walked out, leaving.

Spike walked closer. "So, we gonna chat this out, or what?"

I turned to face him, sighing. "I gotta go. Buffy and Willow are expecting me at the Magic Box, and after what happened with Willow and Dawn, I promised that I would make an effort to be around more. Less... reclusive."

Spike smirked. "You're anything but with me."

"And you know why," I told him. Spike backed me into the wall behind me, one hand on the wall beside my head, inches away. "Spike, I really gotta..."

Spike reached his other hand into my pocket, taking out his lighter, holding it up for me to see. "Go. Just getting what I came for, love." He leaned in as if to kiss me, smirking. "So long, Belle."

Spike turned away, walking toward the kitchen to get his blanket and leave out the backdoor.

I sighed, standing there, breathing a little heavily, pushing way from the wall.

       ••••• 

I was on my way to the Magic Box, walking across the street.

A red light burst toward me, hitting me in the shoulder, making me fall.

It also hit a tree, a fire hydrant, some traffic cones, and a Dumpster. All of them immediately disappeared.

  I looked around, realizing that I couldn't even see myself.

I was invisible.

       ••••• 

I walked into the Magic Box.

Xander, Anya and Buffy were there.

Xander looked at Anya. "Let's put her back at table one. "

I closed the door.

"Well, where do I put D'Hoffryn?" Anya asked.

"We're not inviting D'Hoffryn," Xander told her.

"We have to," Anya told him. "He's my ex-boss. You're inviting your work buddies."

"She's got a point," I told them.

Buffy stood. "Hey, Zoey..." She turned around, but she couldn't see me, confused, looking around. "Where... where are you?"

I noticed that Anya had a paper that said where I would be sitting at the wedding. "At table four, apparently."

Anya frowned, looking around. "Well, that remains to be seen. Like you."

"Don't strain yourselves looking, guys," I told them. "I'm invisible girl." Buffy walked out from behind the counter. Xander continued looking around, holding his hands up a breast height. "Uh, Xander?"

Xander jumped, pulling his hands away quickly, nervous. "Sorry." He looked at Buffy and Anya. "Her clothes are... invisible, too." He looked toward my direction, but couldn't tell exactly where I was. "Zoey, how did this hap..."

"Wait a sec," Buffy told me. "Have you been feeling... ignored lately?"

"Yeah, ignored," I told them sarcastically. "I wish. No, this isn't a Marcie deal. I don't know what happened. I left Main Street..." I looked at Buffy in realization. "You cut your hair."

"Uh, yeah," Buffy answered. "Thanks for noticing. I wish I could say that I noticed you, but I can't see you."

I walked over to a table where there was a basket full of baseball-sized balls with eyes painted on, picking one of them up, tossing it from hand to hand. "Kinda fits though. Willow's still a wreck, Dawn's mad at both of us, Buffy's still grieving, you two are going through wedding arguments, and I'm... still not myself."

"Well, you're sounding a little more like yourself," Anya told me.

"That's because she thinks this is cool, and this is so not cool," Buffy told them. "Don't you, Zoey?"

"It's like you read my mind," I told her, picking up a second ball, holding them up next to each other, moving them as if the eyes painted on were looking side to side. "You know, there may be an upside to a no-see-me."

I walked toward Buffy, holding the balls up.

"Zo, did you see anyone, or... anything suspicious before you... cleared out?" Xander asked.

I continued playing with the 'eyes' next to Buffy's head, making her nervous, turning them so they looked cross-eyed. "Nope. Didn't see nothing." I chuckled. "See what I did there? With the eyeballs?"

"Why would anyone make her invisible anyway?" Anya asked. "I mean, invisible Slayer's gotta be way more effective than the standard variety."

I turned the 'eyes' to look from Xander to Anya, walking away to put them back down.

"Yeah, I'm less with the 'why' and more with the 'how'," Buffy told us. "We get the 'how', then we got how to make her unseen sight seen again, right?"

I picked up a human skull, holding it next to Xander's shoulder, moving its mouth. "Right."

"Zoey, could you focus, please?" Xander asked.

I made the skull look around. "I am. Just... this is kind of fun."

"Well, it would help if we had a little bit more to go on," Anya told us. "Or... anything to go on."

"Well, I could go check the spot where Zoey disappeared," Xander told us. "Snoop for clues."

I put the skull back on a shelf. "Yeah, right. Uh, hey, you know what? I'm just gonna... go for a walk."

I walked toward the door.

Buffy followed. "A walk?"

"Yeah," I answered. "Um, clear my head. You guys keep working on those whats and hows." I chuckled. "Clear my head."

I walked out, leaving.

       •••••   

I was walking through a park.

A young woman was sitting on a bench, reading a book. She was wearing a purple baseball cap. The edge of the cap was decorate with metal studs.

I walked closer, pulling the hat up, holding it front of her, making it look like it was floating in front of her, speaking in a spooky voice. "I am the ghost of fashion victims' past. Studded caps? Not a good idea." The woman looked scared, standing, running way. "Hey! I'm doing you a favor." I turned around, finding a garbage can, putting the baseball cap into it, turning to see two people jogging past. "Nah. Too easy." I walked down the street, seeing a cop standing next to a parked SUV, writing a ticket. I walked closer. "Hmm..." I found the cop's golf-cart-like vehicle parked behind the SUV, starting the engine. "So long, copper."

I drove past the cop down the street, whistling 'Going Through the Motions'.

The cop ran after me. "Hey. Hey! That's mine! Stop!"

It felt good to be halfway back to normal.

       •••••   

Spike was in his crypt, watching TV, drinking blood from a jar. 

I left the door open.

Spike looked at the door in confusion, putting his jar down, walking slowly toward the door, looking around. "Whatever beastie you are, I know you're here. And I hurt beasties." I pushed past Spike toward the TV. "Hey, watch it." I turned the TV off. Spike sighed. "A ghost, is it?" He looked around. "Go and haunt the living, like a good spook." I walked around him slowly. Spike looked around, confused. I grabbed his shoulder, spinning him around, pushing him against the wall. Spike tried to move, but I kept him there, ripping his shirt open. Spike looked down. I trailed my fingers along his bare chest, leaning closer. Spike realized what was happening, confused and tentative. "Zoey?"

"Didn't think you wouldn't be able to see me, did you?" I asked.

Spike frowned in confusion, opening his mouth to ask what happened.

I pulled him away from the wall.

       •••••   

It was dark by now.

Spike and I were in the underground room underneath the crypt, having sex in bed.

Buffy walked in, confused because she didn't know I was here. "Spike?" Spike turned his head in alarm to look at her. "What are you doing?"

"What am I...What does it look like I'm doing, you nit?" Spike asked. "I'm exercising, aren't I?"

Spike turned back to me, doing a couple of what might have looked like push-ups if you didn't know better.

Buffy was skeptic. "Exercising. Naked. In bed."

Spike stopped, standing up on the bed, wrapping the sheet around his waist. "A man shouldn't use immortality as an excuse to let himself go. Gotta keep fit for the killing."

Spike sat on the edge of the bed.

"Uh-huh," Buffy told him skeptically. "Looks like you had a little trouble upstairs." I smirked, sitting up. "Mini-disaster area."

"So, what, you just come here to criticize my housekeeping?" Spike asked.

"No," Buffy answered. "Uh, no. I'm looking for Zoey."

"Haven't seen her," Spike told her honestly.

"Well, uh, you wouldn't," Buffy told him. "The fact is, she's come down with a slight case of invisibility."

Spike feigned surprise. "Yeah? How did, uh..."

"We don't know yet," Buffy told him. I sat behind Spike, nibbling on his ear. "Anyway, she's not at home, and I really, really need to find her."

Spike was fidgeting. "Uh, tell you what. I'll... take a peek around first change I get..." He made swatting gestures next to his head. "And if we bump into each other, I'll clue her that you're on the lookout."

Spike tried not to laugh.

Buffy looked uncertain. "After your... exercises."

"Yeah, right," Spike agreed.

Buffy looked confused, turning to go. She turned back. "You know, kidding aside, Spike... you really should get a girlfriend."

Buffy walked out, leaving.

Spike sighed. "That was bloody close."

I chuckled.

       ••••• 

After I had managed to find my invisible clothes and gotten dressed, I walked into my house, calling out. "Mom? Mom?" I walked into the kitchen. "Dawn? Hey, Dawn, come here. You wanna see something neat?" There was no reply. I sighed, walking toward the fridge, opening, revealing various food items including a pizza box. Dawn walked in through the backdoor, closing the door very carefully, beginning to tiptoe toward the hall. "There you are."

Dawn jumped, looking at the open fridge, but unable to see me, looking around. "Zoey? W--where are you?"

"I'm invisible," I told her. "Check this out."  I picked up the pizza box, moving it around, making it seem like it was floating by itself. "Woo, woo. Unidentified flying pizza, coming in for a landing."

I put the box on the island.

Dawn was in shock. "W--what are you talking--"

"Okay, not the most clever ad lib, but come on," I told her. "Points for spontaneity."

"Stop it," Dawn told me. "Just... stop."

Dawn walked closer.

"Sorry, Dawn," I told her. "I'm--I'm sorry. I--I didn't mean to freak you out."

"Well, what did you think would happen?" Dawn asked. "You're freaking invisible, Zoey."

"I know," I told her. "Buffy, Xander and Anya are working on it. Muldering out what happened."

I walked toward the stove.

"Well, what about you?" Dawn asked. "Shouldn't you be working on it?"

"Of course I--" I started.

"Do you even care about who did this to you, or--or if you're gonna be stuck this way?" Dawn asked. "You're making jokes and flying pizzas."

"I don't think that's--" I started.

Dawn looked upset. "I can't talk to you like this. I can't see you. How can I talk to you if I can't see you?"

Dawn brushed past me, running down the hallway to the stairs.

I turned after her. "Dawn. Dawn!"

I sighed, noticing that the answering machine was blinking, walking closer, pushing the button to listen to the unlistened message.

Xander: "Zoey, it's Xander. Where are you? Listen, we got a new problem here."

Buffy: "Tell her."

Xander: "I'm trying to. Buffy, Anya and I think whatever made you invisible is slowly killing you."

Anya: "Tell her about the pudding."

Xander: "Anya! Zo, if we don't... if this isn't reversed... you're gonna..."

Buffy: "You're gonna dissolve, or fade into nothing."

The machine beeped and turned off.

I was in shock. "Wow."

       •••••   

I walked toward the door, calling out. "Dawn, I'm going out to find Buffy. If she calls me--" The phone began to ring. I closed the door, walking toward the phone, answering. "Buffy?"

"Don't talk. Just listen, Slayer. You don't have a lot of time."

"Who is this? You sound familiar."

"I'm... nobody. No one you know. We've got your friend Willow, and if you don't want anything nasty to happen to her, you better meet us."

"Where?"

       •••••   

I walked into a video game arcade where they told me to meet.

Various kids were playing various games, making lots of noise.

A guy was taking tickets by a turnstile.

I turned the turnstile, making it seem like it was moving on its own, confusing him.

I found Buffy, walking closer. "Hey."

"Zoey?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah," I answered.

We saw Willow standing by a pinball machine, walking closer, hearing three male voices.

"Just stay still, and you won't get hurt," Invisible Man 1 told her.

Willow saw Buffy, relieved. "Buffy."

"You okay, Will?" I asked.

"Zoey?" Willow asked.

"Where are the bad guys?" Buffy asked.

"All around you, Slayers, so don't try anything," Invisible Man 1 told us.

"He's bluffing," Willow told us. "There--there's just three of them. I think."

"More than enough to cause some serious carnage, right, guys?" Invisible Man 1 asked. "Guys? Guys!"

We looked toward a video game with the joysticks seemingly moving on their own.

"Kick," Invisible Man 2 told him. "Use the kick."

"I tried that," Invisible Man 3 told him. "He keeps blocking it with his drunken monkey fist."

"Ooh, scary video carnage," I told them sarcastically.

"Hey!" Invisible Man 1 told them. "The Slayers are here."

"Sorry," Invisible Man 3 told us. 

"Why don't we continue this in a less crowded area, like over there?" Invisible Man 1 asked.

Buffy, Willow and the other two Invisible Men and I spoke together. "Where?"

"Over..." Invisible Man 1 trailed off. "Follow me."

An invisibility ray was carried over to a secluded part of the arcade, pulling Willow with it.

One of the other Invisible Men grabbed Willow's other arm.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess you guys are the ones who did this to Zoey," Buffy told them.

"It was an accident," Invisible Man 2 told us, his voice recognizable. 

"Who is that?" I asked.

Invisible Man 2 disguised his voice. "Nobody you know."

"They're the ones from your mystery van," Willow told us.

"Oh, you," Buffy told them. "So, what annoying thing are you gonna do to us now?"

"Save your friend's life, make her visible," Invisible Man 1 told her.

"Right," I told them skeptically. "I'm supposed to believe that?"

"They told me everything, Zoey," Willow told me. "Something's happening to you, that you're--"

"Fading away," I finished. "I know."

"I can fix that," Invisible Man 1 told me, lifting up the invisibility ray gun. "Pick up that air hockey mallet on the table."

"What for?" I asked.

"It'll give me a target to aim at," Invisible Man 1 answered. Willow looked at the ray. I picked up the air hockey mallet. The ray gun whirred. "Okay, now hold still, and all your troubles will soon be gone."

"You're on the wrong setting," Willow told him.

"What?" Invisible Man 1 asked.

"The gun, it's not set for reversing the particle ionization," Willow told us. "It'll accelerate her molecular dissolution. I saw the plans."

"Mind your own business," Invisible Man 1 told her.

"What's she talking about?" Invisible Man 2 asked.

"That's what I'd like to know," Buffy told us.

"Zoey, he's trying to kill you," Willow told me.

Invisible Man 1 hit Willow in the face with the invisibility ray, making her fall.

"Willow!" I told her worriedly, throwing the air hockey mallet at Invisible Man 1.

"Ow!" Invisible Man 1 told me.

The invisibility ran fell to the floor.

"Okay, play time's over," Buffy told us.

"You haven't won yet, Slayers," Invisible Man 1 told us.

"No, that part comes after we beat the snot out of you," Buffy told them.

"You'll have to find us first," Invisible Man 1 told us. "There's three of us, against the two of you."

"Hey, you lied to us," Invisible Man 2 told him.

"Fight them yourself," Invisible Man 3 told him.

"Think they care about that?" Invisible Man 1 asked angrily. "I go down, we all go down."

"And I promise, you're all going down," I told them.

"We may not have your powers, Slayers, but you'll find that we are not so easy to--" Invisible Man 1 started. I threw another air hockey mallet at him. "Ow! Get them!"

Buffy walked toward the direction of the other two Invisible Men to beat them while I fought against Invisible Man 1. 

Kids in the arcade looked over in confusion at the noises, seeing that Buffy seemed to be fighting nothing but air, running out, leaving.

I pushed Invisible Man 1 toward Buffy.

Buffy started to beat him.

Willow was still lying on the floor, sitting up with a pained expression.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Invisible Man 2 told us. "Who's biting my leg?"

"Sorry," Invisible Man 3 told him. "Where is she?"

"Here," I answered, starting to beat Invisible Man 2 and 3.

Buffy threw Invisible Man 1 into a pinball machine, making it shatter.

Willow noticed the invisibility ray under the pin ball machine, crawling over to it.

"They can't find us if we split up," Invisible Man 1 told them. Willow picked up the ray gun, fiddling with it. "You go that way."

"Which way?" Invisible Man 2 asked.

"That way," Invisible Man 1 answered. "Over..."

I punched Invisible Man 2 and 3 in the faces, making them fall, making Invisible Man 3 fall into the ball pit. "Just keep talking, boys."

Willow stood, fiddling with the invisibility ray.

Buffy continued to beat Invisible Man 1.

I grabbed Invisible Man 2 by the front of the shirt.

"Ow!" Invisible Man 2 told me. "Watch the chest hair."

"I know that voice," I told him. "You--you're..." Willow aimed the ray around, shooting, making me and Jonathan appear. "Jonathan?" I pushed Jonathan to the floor. "You have chest hair?"

Willow fired at the Invisible Man 1 next to Buffy.

"Warren?" Buffy asked. Warren glared at us. Willow fired at the plastic ball room, making a man appear. Buffy and I frowned. "Who are you?"

"Andrew," the man answered. I shrugged, shaking my head. "I summoned the flying monkeys that attacked the high school." Willow, Buffy and I exchanged a confused look. Andrew climbed out of the ball pit. Jonathan stood. Warren walked toward them. "During the school play, you know?"

"It's Tucker's brother," Warren told us.

"Yeah, it's Tucker's brother," Jonathan told us.

Buffy, Willow and I realized they meant the Tucker that tried to have Hellhounds attack the school on prom night, nodding. "Oh."

The geeks stood together.

Willow walked toward Buffy and me, standing on the other side of me.

"So, you three have, what, banded together to be pains in our asses?" Buffy asked.

Warren walked sideways with the other two following him. "We're your arch-nemesises... ses." Buffy, Willow and I looked at them in confusion. "You may have beaten us this time, Slayers, but next time, um.... uh, next time..."

"Maybe not," Jonathan told us.

Jonathan threw something down in front of the Trio.

It bursted into smoke and sparks.

Buffy, Willow and I coughed, waving the smoke away.

"What do you mean, it's locked?" Warren asked. "You were supposed to check it."

"I forgot," Andrew told them.

The smoke cleared to reveal the Trio standing by the backdoor and looking sheepish.

I gestured to them. "We give you our arch-nemesises... ses."

I frowned.

A security guard walked toward us. "What's going on in here?" Buffy, Willow and I turned to face him. "I got a bunch of scared kids saying this place is haunted."

We heard the door open, turning back to see the backdoor closing behind the escaping Trio. We sighed, irritated.

  ••••••  

Buffy, Willow and I walked outside.

Willow was carrying the invisibility ray.

"Pretty neat, you finding the van," Buffy told her. We walked down the street. "So, how did you manage to... do it exactly? I mean, to locate it?"

"The hard way," Willow answered. "The spell-free way. The, oh-my-God-my-head's-gonna-fall-off, my-feet-are-killing-me way." She sighed, making a pained face, sitting down on the edge of the curb. Buffy and I sat on either side of her. "I don't know how I got through this day."

"Well, the important thing is that you did," Buffy told her. "It's a... good first step." She looked at me. "What about you? How are you doing, post-invisibleness?"

I shrugged. "Okay. I still have to do some damage control from my giddy-fest. Dawn was pretty freaked out." I sighed. "The whole taking-a-vacation-from-me thing didn't work out so well."

Willow nodded. "Tell me about it."

I looked at Buffy. "Except... when I got your and Xander's message, you know, that I was... fading away... I actually got scared."

"Well, yeah," Willow told me. "Who wouldn't?"

"Me," I answered. "I wouldn't. Not too long ago, I probably would have welcomed it. But I realized... I'm not saying that I'm doing back-flips about my life, but..." I nodded. "I didn't... I don't... wanna die." I looked at them hopefully. "That's something, right?"

Buffy nodded. "It's something."  

"So I guess we both made good first steps," Willow told me.

I nodded. "I guess."

Buffy smiled a small smile. "Yay for you."

Willow and I smiled small smiles. "Yay."