Buffy had told Willow and me about her nightmare last night at school.

It had been at the Bronze. She had seen Willow teaching a monkey French. She had seen her mother, who had said, "Do you think you're really ready, Buffy?" right before she dropped the saucer in her hands and making it shatter against the floor. She had seen Angel, and a vamp-out Drusilla staking Angel in the heart through his back, saying after he died, "Happy Birthday, Buffy."

Then, just to make sure it was just a dream, Buffy had gone to Angel's place to see if he was okay, and Angel had said that daytime was bedtime for him, and Buffy had said "I like you at bedtime."

"'I like you at bedtime?'" I repeated. "You actually said that?"

"I know, I know," Buffy told us.

"Man, that's like... I-I dunno, that's moxie or something," Willow told her.

"Totally unplanned," Buffy told us. "It just... came out.

I laughed, my voice mocking. "And he was into it? I mean, he wants to see you at bedtime, too?"

"Don't mock," Buffy told me. "And, yeah, I, I, I think he does. Well, I, I mean he-he's cool about it."

"Well, of course he is," Willow told us. "'Cause he's cool. I mean, he would never... you know..."

"Push," I finished.

"Right," Willow said. "H-he's not the type."

"Will, Zo, what am I gonna do?" Buffy asked.

"What do you wanna do?" I asked.

"I don't know," Buffy told us. "I... I mean. . ." We sat on a bench. "'Want' isn't always the right thing to do. To act on want can be wrong."

"True," I told her.

"But... to not act on want..." Buffy trailed off. "What if I never feel this way again?"

"Carpe diem," I told them. "I told you guys that once."

"'Fish of the day'?" Buffy asked.

"Not carp," I told them, smiling. "Carpe. It means 'seize the day.'"

"Right," Buffy said. "I... I think we're going to. Seize it. Once you get to a certain point, then seizing is sort of inevitable."

Willow's eyes widened. "Wow..."

Buffy smiled. "Yeah."

"Wow..." Willow trailed off.

The school bell rang.

"Oh..." I trailed off, standing and walking toward the school.

Buffy stood, following.

Willow stood, following. "Wow!" We walked inside. Willow was looking at Buffy. "Wow."

Buffy smiled. "Yeah." She looked over to the side and saw Oz sitting at a bench with his guitar. She looked at me. "Hey, speaking of 'wow' potential, there's Oz over there. What are we thinking, any sparkage?"

I shrugged slightly. "Sparkage meaning going ninja and saving his life twice, or . . ."

I smiled.

"Oh . . ." Buffy teased.

Willow seemed unsure. "Are you sure about this, though? I mean, he is a senior."

I stopped walking, turning to face her. "You think he's too old 'cause he's a senior? Please. Buffy's boyfriend had a bicentennial."

"That's true," Willow said. "I just don't think you're gonna go through with it? I mean, you once told me that you liked being single because a guy couldn't tell you what to do."

"Oz doesn't seem like the bossy type," Buffy told us.

I looked at Willow. "You think that I won't do it?" Willow smiled, shaking her head. "Watch me!"

I turned around, walking toward Oz.

Buffy smiled. "Go, Zo!"

Oz was practicing with his guitar.

I walked around the bench and stood next to him. "Hey."

Oz looked up. "Hey."

I looked at the guitar. "Do you guys have a gig tonight?"

"Oh, no," Oz answered. "Practice. See, our band's kinda moving towards this new sound where... we suck, so... practice."

I smiled. "I think you guys sound good. Comparing to my dad, so . . ."

I sat down.

"Thanks," Oz said. "I think. Who's your dad?"

I smirked for a second before answering. "Todd Francis."

Oz turned to face me in surprise. "Your dad's Todd Francis?"

"Yeah, I get that a lot," I told him. "Creator of skateboard art and in the rock music. When I visit him, it's all-summer long tours throughout the U.S., and sometimes even out of the country."

"That's awesome," Oz told me.

I nodded. "Yeah. So, if you need help . . ."

"I know where to go to," Oz finished.

I smiled. "But you're not so bad yourself. I bet you have a lot of groupies."

Oz nodded. "It happens. Now, I'm living groupie-free nowadays. I'm clean." I smiled. "I'm gonna ask you to go out with me tomorrow night. And I'm kinda nervous about it, actually. It's interesting."

"Oh," I said. "Well, if it helps at all, I'm gonna say yes."

"Yeah, it helps," Oz told me. "It-it creates a comfort zone." I smiled. "Do you wanna go out with me tomorrow night?"

"Can I pick the place?" I asked.

"Yes, you can," Oz answered.

"We're throwing Buffy a surprise birthday party tomorrow night," I explained.

"Well, I don't wanna crash," Oz told me.

I shook my head dismissively. "No, it's fine. If they'll let Cordelia in, they'll let you in."

Oz nodded. "All right. I'm in."

Oz smiled.

I smiled back.

~~

Next day at school, Xander, Willow and I walked into the library to see Buffy and Giles.

"Hey!" I said. "It's the woman of the hour."

"It's Happy Birthday Buffy!" Willow cheered, jumping over to the table, hugging Buffy, giving her a big smile. She let go, standing next to Xander and me. Buffy just looked down and pulled her hair behind her ear. "Not Happy Birthday Buffy?"

"I-it's just that, um, part of the nightmare that Buffy had the other night actually transpired," Giles told us.

"Which means Drusilla might still be alive," Buffy told us. "Giles, in my dream, I couldn't stop her. She blindsided me. A-Angel was gone before I knew what happened."

"Even if she is alive, uh, we can still protect Angel," Giles told her. "Dreams aren't prophecies, Buffy. Y-y-y-you dreamt that the Master had risen, but you stopped it from happening."

"You ground his bones to make your bread," Xander told her.

"That's true," Buffy said. "Except for the bread part." She looked at Giles. "Okay, so, fine. We're one step ahead, but I wanna stay that way."

"Absolutely," Giles said, standing. "Let me read up on Drusilla, uh, see if she has any particular patterns." He walked toward his office. "Why don't you meet me here at 7:00? We'll map out a strategy."

"What am I supposed to do until then?" Buffy asked.

"Go to classes, do your homework, have supper..." Giles trailed off.

"Right," Buffy said. "Be that Buffy."

Buffy got up from the table, grabbed her bag and headed out of the library.

I pointed after her. "Well, that's not a perky birthday puppy."

"So much for our surprise party," Willow told us. "I bought little hats and everything."

"Mm-hm," I hummed.

"Oh, well," Xander told us. "I guess I'll tell Cordelia."

We walked toward the door.

"No, you won't," Giles told us. Willow, Xander and I stopped. "We're having a party tonight."

"Looks like Mr. Caution Man, but the sound he makes is funny," Xander told us.

Willow frowned and nodded in agreement.

"Buffy's surprise party will go ahead as we planned," Giles told us. "Except I won't be wearing the little hat."

"But Buffy and Angel..." Willow trailed off.

"May well be in danger... as they have been before, and, I imagine, will be again," Giles told us. "One thing I've learned in my tenure here on the Hellmouth is that there is no good time to relax. And Buffy's turning 17 just this once, and she deserves a party."

"You're a great man of our time," I told him.

Willow smiled. "And anyway, Angel's coming. So she'll be able to protect him and have cake."

"Precisely," Giles told us, walking into his office.

Willow, Xander and I walked out of the library with a happy bounce in our step.

~~

We were waiting for Ms. Calendar to bring Buffy to the Bronze.

Angel peeked out from behind a pillar and looked around. "Where is she?"

Others peeked out from behind the pool table and looked up at him.

"Shhh!" Willow told him. "I think I hear her coming."

~~

We heard someone fighting outside, looking toward the window.

Buffy and a vampire came crashing through and hit the floor.

Everyone stood up to look.

Buffy scrambled to her feet and kicked the vampire as he came for her. He stumbled back a few steps.

We came closer to see.

Buffy grabbed a drumstick from a drum set, spinning around with it, thrusted it into the vampire's chest and pulled it back out.

The vampire exploded into ashes.

Oz watched in astonishment.

Uh-oh.

Cordelia jumped up from behind the pool table with her arms raised high. "Surprise!"

We all looked back at her.

"That pretty much sums it up," Oz told her.

Xander shook his head at Cordelia. "Tsk."

Buffy hopped down from the stage.

Angel walked over to her.

Cordelia lowered her arms.

"Buffy, are you okay?" Angel asked.

"Yes," Giles said. "W-what happened?"

Buffy pointed behind her. "Uh, there were these vamps outs.." She looked around. "W-what's going on?"

"Oh, um... a surprise party," I answered, blowing on a party favor.

"Happy Birthday," Cordelia told her.

Buffy smiled. "You guys did all this for me? That is so sweet."

"You sure you're okay?" Angel asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," Buffy answered.

I looked at Oz, who still seemed in shock. "You okay?"

Oz snapped out of it. "Yeah. Hey, did everybody see that guy just turn to dust?"

"You saw me do that on Halloween," I told him.

"Yeah, I just thought it was a hallucination induced from the concussion I got," Oz told me.

"Nope," Xander told him. "It was real. Vampires are real. A lot of them live in Sunnydale." He gestured to me. "Zoey will fill you in."

"We know it's hard to accept at first," Willow told him.

"Actually, it explains a lot," Oz told us.

Ms. Calendar walked into the Bronze carrying a giant wooden box. "Hey, can somebody give me a hand here?" Angel and Giles took it from her and set it on a table. "Those creeps left this behind."

"What is it?" Buffy asked.

"I have no idea," Giles told us.

I looked at Oz, gesturing to Giles. "You will almost never hear those words come out of his mouth."

Oz smirked.

Giles gave me a look.

I smiled innocently.

Giles looked at the box. "Can, can it be opened?"

"Yeah," Buffy answered. "This looks like a release right here."

Buffy worked the latch and opened the box.

Inside was an arm clad in armor.

Buffy looked over at Giles in disgust.

Suddenly the arm raised up, grabbed Buffy by the throat and began choking her.

~~

Buffy struggled with the arm. Angel tried to pull it off of her. Between them, they got it off, and Angel stuffed it back into the box while Buffy stepped back and tries to catch her breath.

Giles slammed the lid shut.

Buffy coughed as Angel helped her aside.

"Well, clearly the Hellmouth's answer to 'what do you get the Slayer who has everything?'" I told them.

"Good heavens," Giles said. "Buffy, are you all right?"

"Man, that thing had major grip," Buffy told us.

"W-what was that?" Willow asked.

"It looked like an arm," Oz told her.

"It can't be," Angel told us. "She wouldn't."

"What, uh, vamp's version of 'snakes in a can', or do you care to share?" Xander asked.

"Angel?" Buffy asked.

"It-it's a legend..." Angel trailed off. Giles looked at the box. "Way before my time... of a demon brought forth to rid the Earth of the plague of humanity... separate the righteous from the wicked... and to burn the righteous down. They call him the Judge."

"The Judge?" Giles repeated. "This is he?"

"Not all of him," Angel answered.

I raised my hand. "Um, still needing backstory here."

"Um..." Giles trailed off. "He, he, he couldn't be killed, yes? Um, a-an army was sent against him. Most of them died... but, uh, finally they were able to dismember him, but, uh... not kill him."

"The pieces were scattered... buried in every corner of the Earth," Angel went on.

"So all these parts are being brought here," Ms. Calendar said.

"By Drusilla," Buffy told us. "The vamps outside were Spike's men."

"She's just crazy enough to do it," Angel told us.

"Do what, reassemble the Judge?" Willow asked.

"And bring forth Armageddon," Angel answered.

"Is anybody else gonna have cake?" Cordelia asked, walking toward the pool table.

"We need to get this out of town," Giles told us.

"Angel," Ms. Calendar told him.

"What?" Buffy asked.

Ms. Calendar ignored her, looking at Angel. "You have to do it. You're the only one that can protect this thing."

"What about me?" Buffy asked.

"What, you're just gonna skip town for a few months?" Ms. Calendar asked.

"'Months'?" Buffy repeated.

"She's right," Angel told her. "I gotta get this to the remotest region possible."

"But that's not months," Buffy told him.

Angel gestured grandly. "I gotta catch a cargo ship to Asia, maybe trek to Nepal..."

"You know, those newfangled flying machines really are much safer than they used to be," Buffy told him.

"I can't fly," Angel told her. "There's no sure way to guard against the daylight. I-I-I don't like this any more than you do, Buffy. But there's no other choice."

"When?" Buffy asked.

"Tonight," Angel answered. "As soon as possible."

"But it's my birthday," Buffy told him.

Ms. Calendar walked over. "I'll drive you to the docks."

They went to the docks.

~~

Giles, Xander, Willow and I went back to the school, in the library, researching the Judge.

Giles looked up. "They should be back by now."

"Maybe Buffy needed a few minutes to pull herself together," Willow told him. "Poor Buffy, on her birthday and everything."

"Hmm, it's sad, granted," Xandet agreed. "But let's look at the upside for a moment." He stood. I looked at him. "I mean, what kind of a future would she've really had with him?" Willow looked sadly up at him. "She's got 2 jobs." Giles looked up. "Denny's waitress by day, Slayer by night. And Angel's always in front of the TV with a big blood belly, and he's dreamin' of the glory days when Buffy still thought this whole creature of the night routine was a big turnon."

"You've thought way too much about this," I told him.

"No, no," Xander told me. "That's just the beginning. Have I told you the part where I fly into town in my private jet and take Buffy out for prime rib?"

I saw Buffy come in. "Xander..."

"And she cries?" Xander went on.

Giles stood. "What happened?"

Xander sat down.

"Dru's guys ambushed us," Buffy answered. "They got the box."

"Where's Jenny?" Giles asked.

"Uh, she took Angel to get clothing," Buffy answered. "I, I had some here."

"And we needed clothes because..." Xander trailed off.

"We got wet," Buffy answered. "Giles, what do we know?"

"The more I study the Judge, the less I like him," Giles told her. "His touch can literally burn the humanity out of you. A true creature of evil can survive the process. No human ever has."

"What's the problem?" I asked. "We send Cordy to fight this guy, and we go for pizza."

Xander gave me a look.

I smiled.

"Can this guy be stopped?" Buffy asked. "Without an army?"

"Um . . ." Giled trailed off, reading from the book. "'No weapon forged can kill him.' Not very encouraging. If we could only stop them from assembling him."

"We need to find his weak spots, and we need to figure out where they'd be keeping him," Buffy told us.

"This could take time," Giles told us.

"Better do a round robin," Willow told us. "Xander, you go first."

"Good call," I told her.

Xander walked toward the phone.

"Round robin?" Giles asked.

"It's when everybody calls everybody else's mom and tells them they're staying at everyone's house," I explained.

"Thus freeing us up for world saveage," Buffy finished.

Willow smiled. "And all-night keggers!" Buffy and Giles gave her a look. "What, only Xander and Zoey get to make dumb jokes?"

Xander was on the phone. "Mom, hi. Xander. Yeah, uh, Willow, Zoey and I are gonna be studying all night long, so I'm not gonna be coming home."

~~

The research was going hot and heavy.

Xander walked over to Willow and me at the counter with another open book. "Tsk. I think I read this already."

Willow looked at me with a smile. "I can't get over how cool Oz was about all this."

I smiled.

"Gee, I'm over it," Xander told us.

"You're just jealous 'cause you didn't have a date for the party," I told him smugly.

"No, I sure didn't," Xander told us.

Giles walked out into the main room. "Angel? Any luck?" Angel walked down out of the stacks. Giles saw Buffy asleep in his office and held up his hand to silence Angel. He followed Giles' gaze into the office. "Sh-sh-sh." We saw Buffy with her head down on the desk. Giles waved Angel to follow him. "Seems Buffy needed some rest."

"Yeah," Angel said. "She hasn't been sleeping well. Tossing and turning." Everyone looked at him. "She told me. Because of her dreams?"

We all went back to our tasks.

~~

Buffy was screaming in her sleep. "No! Angel!"

Angel went to comfort her.

~~

Buffy came striding out of the cage.

Angel followed her out.

Giles looked down at them from the stacks. "Buffy, what's happening?"

"She had another dream," Angel explained.

"I think I know where Spike and Drusilla are," Buffy told us.

Giles walked down the stairs. "That's very good, however, you, you do need a plan. I-I know you're concerned, Buffy, but you can't just go off half-cocked."

"I have a plan," Buffy told us. "Angel and I go to the factory and do recon, figure out how far they've gotten assembling the Judge. You guys check any places the boxes could be coming into town. Shipping yards, airports, anything. We need to stop them from getting all the boxes in one place."

"Yes," Giles said. "Yes, well, um, actually, that's quite a good plan."

"This thing is nasty, and it's real, Giles," Buffy told him. "We can't wait for it to come get us."

"Right," Giles said.

Buffy grabbed her bag, and she and Angel walked for the door.

We hoped that they would be okay.