Into every generation, there are Chosen Ones. A Slayer will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness. With each Slayer comes a Guardian. They are protectors of the innocent.

Day One

Night - Cemetery

Carmen was walking alone through the cemetery, sitting on top of a gravestone of Stephan Korshak, playing with a yo-yo. "Come on, Stephan, rise and shine. Some of us have a ton of trig homework waiting."

The camera cut to her right and approached her from behind.

Angel was revealed to be the one there. "Hey." Carmen jumped, startled, turning to face him. "Is this a bad time?"

"Are you crazy?" Carmen asked. "You don't just sneak up on a witch in a graveyard. You make noise when you walk. You stomp or something."

Angel smirked, slightly amused. "I heard you and Zoey were helping Buffy, Brooke, Brady, Alice and Wyatt with hunting."

Carmen nodded. "I'm supposed to be, but lazy bones here doesn't wanna come out and play."

"When you first wake up, it's a little disorienting," Angel explained. "He'll show."

Carmen looked at him curiously. "It's weird to think of you going through that."

"It's weird to go through," Angel replied. "So, uh, you're here alone?"

"Yeah," Carmen answered. "Why?"

"I just thought you'd have somebody with you," Angel answered. "Buffy, Brooke, Brady. Wyatt, Alice, Zoey."

"You worried about me being out here alone?" Carmen asked curiously.

"I know you can take care of yourself," Angel told her. Carmen smiled slightly, tilting her head, shrugging. Stephan had come out of the ground, looking at them from behind his gravestone, lunging at them. Carmen used her telekinesis power to freeze him in place, throwing him against the gravestone. "Case in point."

Stephan jumped up toward Angel, throwing a few punches. Angel easily blocked all of them, punching him in the face several times, kicking him in the jaw, sending him stumbling into a large adjacent gravestone. Stephan grabbed a shovel that was lying by the other gravestone, coming at them again, hitting Angel in the side of the face, knocking him onto his back, stepping toward Carmen, lunging forward. Carmen used her levitation power to jump over him, making him run past her, still in the air, turning to face him, kicking him in the head, making him fall. Stephan jumped up, trying to hit Carmen with the shovel. Carmen was too high in the air for him to reach, smirking smugly, chuckling as she flipped through the air closer to Stephan, kicking him to the ground, taking the shovel from him, breaking it over her knee, staking him in the heart, making him burst into ashes. Angel stood, holding the side of his head.

Carmen turned to face him. "You okay?"

Angel nodded. They started to walk along, but Carmen didn't see the open grave in front of her, falling into the grave with an open and empty coffin inside.

Angel turned back. "Now my turn to ask. You okay?"

"I'm fine," Carmen answered. "Gee, I wish people wouldn't leave open graves laying around like this."

Carmen stood slowly.

Angel looked around. "So. Another vampire has risen tonight."

Carmen peaked above the top of the empty grave. "I don't think so. Look at those tracks. Whoever was buried here didn't rise from this grave." Angel helped Carmen out of the grave. Carmen found a girl's shoe. "She was dragged from it."

∞ Slayers and Guardians ∞

Day Two

Morning - Sunnydale High School - Library

Buffy, Eric, Brooke, Wyatt, Brady, Alice, Carmen and Xander walked into the library.

Giles was sitting in a chair and talking to another empty chair across from him. He cleared his throat. "W--w--w--what I'm proposing is, um... and I--I don't mean to appear indecorous, is, um, a social engagement, um, a date, if you're amenable." The others stopped to listen. Giles was displeased with himself. "You idiot!"

"Boy..." Buffy trailed off. Giles was startled, quickly standing to face them. "I guess we never realized how much you like that chair."

"I was just working on..." Giles trailed off, accidentally hitting some books and making them fall to the fall.

"Your pickup lines?" Brooke asked.

Giles leaned down. "Um, in a manner of speaking, yes."

Giles picked up some books.

"Then if you wouldn't mind a little Gene and Roger, you might wanna leave off the 'idiot' part," Zoey told him. "Being called an idiot tends to take people out of the dating mood."

"Hmm, it actually kinda turns me on," Xander told them.

Eric gave Xander a look. "I fear you." He walked toward the table. "You also might wanna avoid words like 'amenable' and 'indecorous', you know. Speak English, not whatever they speak in, um..."

Alice crossed her arms, amused. "England?"

"Yeah," Brady answered. "You just say, 'Hey, I got a thing, you maybe have a thing, maybe we could have a thing.'"

"Oh, thank you, Cyrano," Giles told him sarcastically.

"I'm not finished," Brady told him. "Hey, Zoey. Does Layla like Mexican?"

"Yeah," Zoey answered.

"Like Mexicans?" Giles asked.

"Mexican," Buffy corrected. "Food. You take her for food, for which you then pay."

Zoey sat down.

Wyatt smirked. "Mm, right." He looked at Giles. "So this chair-woman. We are talking about Layla, right?"

"What makes you think that?" Giles asked.

The others sat down.

"Simple deduction," Brooke answered. "Layla is reasonably dollsome, especially for someone in your age bracket. She already knows that you're a school librarian, so you don't have to worry about how to break that embarrassing news to her."

"And Layla's the only woman we've actually ever seen speak to you," Alice added.

"Add it all up, and it all spells 'duh'," Zoey told him. "You have a thing for my mom."

"Now, is it time to have a talk about the facts of life?" Xander asked.

"You know, I'm suddenly deciding this is none of your business," Giles told them, walking up the stairs.

"You know, because that whole stork thing is a smoke screen," Xander told him.

Giles stopped and looked back at him. The others smirked, laughing lightly.

"And, Dad, it is kind of the business of Zoey and I," Alice told him. "If you and Layla are gonna be making us stepsisters."

"Getting a little ahead of yourselves, aren't you, Alice?" Eric asked.

Zoey and Alice smiled.

"Dad, it's okay to move on," Alice told him. "It's been so long. You're allowed to be happy."

Giles managed a small smile.

"So, um, how did things go last night?" Xander asked. "Did any vampires show up on schedule?"

"More or less," Brooke answered. "We took care of them."

"Oh, Carmen told me that Angel helped her gag a vamp," Zoey told them.

"Angel?" Wyatt repeated.

"There's something else, though," Zoey told them. "They found an empty grave."

"Another vampire?" Brady asked.

"No," Carmen answered. "No, this one was dug up and the body was taken out."

"Grave robbing?" Giles asked. "That's new. Interesting."

Giles walked down the stairs, standing next to Alice.

"I know you meant to say gross and disturbing," Eric told him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Wyatt told them. "Of course. Uh, terrible thing. Must put a stop to it. Bloody hell."

"So..." Xander trailed off. "Why does someone want to dig up graves?"

"Well, we can collect some theories," Alice told them. "Uh, it would help if we knew who the body belonged to."

"Meredith Todd," Carmen answered. "Ring a bell?"

"No," Brooke and Wyatt answered.

Alice and Brady shook their heads. "None."

"Same here," Eric told them.

"Ditto," Zoey told them.

"She died recently," Carmen told them. "She was our age."

"Drawing a blank," Brady told them.

Eric gesture toward the computer. "Why don't we ask Willow to, uh, fire this thing up and, uh, track Meredith down?"

∞

Hallway

Signups for the science fair was going on. Willow was writing in her entry.

A boy named Ed walked up to her with a camera, pointing it at her to take her picture. "Smile."

"Hey," Willow told him.

Ed turned around, seeing another girl. "Oh, look at those legs."

Ed took her picture.

"No, thank you," Willow told him.

A boy named Chris walked up. "Ed, will you knock it off?"

Ed looked at him, upset to have his fun spoiled.

Willow smiled. "Hey, Chris."

"Hey," Chris told her, picking up a sign up sheet.

Willow watched what he was writing, nervous when he looked at her. "Oh, I--I was just wondering what you were gonna do this year."

"Why?" Chris asked.

"'Cause every year you win and I place second," Willow answered. "So I just thought I'd see what I'm up against."

"You know what the key is?" Chris asked. "If Dr. Clark doesn't understand your experiment, he gives you higher marks so it looks like he understands your experiment." He looked at Willow's entry. "'The Effects of Sub-Violet Light Spectrum Deprivation on the Development of Fruit Flies'?" He smirked. "That should do the trick."

Cordelia showed up to sign up. "Okay, I'm doing this under protest. It is not fair that they're making participation in this year's science fair mandatory. I don't think anyone should have to do anything educational in school if they don't want to."

Willow read her entry. "'The Tomato: Fruit or Vegetable'?"

"I wanted to do something I could finish in a weekend, all right?" Cordelia asked. Ed flashed a picture of Cordelia. "Stop it! What are you doing?" Ed took another picture. "We are under florescent light, for God's sake."

"The camera loves you," Ed told her.

"I didn't think yearbook nerds came out of hibernation till spring," Cordelia told them.

Ed snapped another picture, winking. "It's for my private collection."

"Ed, will you quit it?" Chris asked.

Zoey came through the crowd looking for Willow. "Coming through. Sorry." Ed took a picture of her. "Dude, seriously?" Ed smiled, winking. Zoey rolled her eyes, looking at Willow. "Uh, sorry to interrupt, Willow, but it's the Bat Signal."

"Okay, sure," Willow told her. "See you later, Chris. Thanks for the tip."

"Okay," Chris told her.

Cordelia watched Zoey and Willow walk toward the library. Ed raised his eyebrows at her. Cordelia made a disgusted noise, following Zoey and Willow.

Ed looked at Chris. "Cordelia's so fine. You know, she'd be just perfect for us."

"Don't be an idiot," Chris told him. "She's alive."

∞

Library

Willow sat at the computer. "This shouldn't take long. I'm probably the only girl in school who has the coroner's office bookmarked as a favorite place."

Cordelia walked in. "Hi. Sorry to interrupt your little undead playgroup, but I need to ask Willow if she'll help me with my science fair project."

"It's a fruit," Willow told her.

"I would've asked Chris to help me, but then that would've brought back too many memories of Daryl," Cordelia told them.

"I found it," Willow told them. "Meredith Todd died in a car accident last week."

"Of course I have learned to deal with my pain," Cordelia told them.

"How was her neck?" Buffy asked.

Eric looked at the computer from over Willow's shoulder. "Fine. Except for being broken."

Giles walked out of his office.

"Hello!" Cordelia told them. "Can we deal with my pain, please?"

"There, there," Brooke told her, patting her on the shoulder.

"It says that Meredith and two other girls in the car were killed instantly," Eric told them. "They were all on the Fondren High Pep Squad. On the way to a game."

"You know what this means," Alice told them.

"That Fondren might actually beat Sunnydale in the cross-town body count competition this year?" Xander asked.

"She wasn't killed by vampires," Brady told them. "Somebody did dig up her corpse."

"Eww!" Cordelia complained. "Why is it that every conversation you people have has the word 'corpse' in it?"

Buffy ignored her. "Okay, so we got a body snatcher. What does that mean?"

"Uh, here's what I've come up with," Alice told them. "Demons who eat the flesh of the dead to absorb their souls. Or, it could obviously be a voodoo practitioner."

"You mean making a zombie?" Brooke asked.

"Uh, zombies, more likely," Wyatt told them. "For most traditional purposes a voodoo priest would require more than one."

"So, we should see if the other girls from the accident are AWOL, too," Brady told them. "Maybe we can figure out what this creep has in mind. If we know whether or not he's dealing in volume."

"So, we dig up some graves tonight?" Xander asked.

Brooke sighed, rolling her eyes sarcastically. "Oh, boy. A field trip." She looked at Carmen. "Are you gonna call Angel?"

"I don't think so," Carmen answered.

"Yeah, why bother him, huh?" Xander asked.

"As far as Angel's concerned, he can have the night off from saving our asses," Carmen told them.

"So, we're set then," Xander told them. "Say, nineish? BYO shovel?"

"And I'll pack some food," Buffy told them. "Who else likes those little powdered doughnuts?"

The boys answered together. "Me."

"Cordelia?" Zoey asked tauntingly, knowing there was no way she would go.

"Darn, I have cheerleader practice tonight," Cordelia told them. "Boy, I wish I knew we were gonna be digging up dead people sooner. I would've canceled."

"All right, but if you come across the army of zombies, can you page us before they eat your flesh?" Zoey asked.

Cordelia exhaled, leaving.

"Zoey?" Giles asked.

"Huh?" Zoey asked.

"Zombies don't eat the flesh of the living," Giles told her.

"Yeah, I knew that," Zoey told him. "But did you see the look on her face?"

They gave Zoey an amused look.

∞

Night - Cemetery

That night, they were in the cemetery. Wyatt was using magic to dig the grave. Giles, Xander, Eric and Brady were helping by hand. The girls were sitting down, watching, relaxing.

"You know, this might go a lot faster if you femmes actually picked up a shovel, too," Brady told them. "Or if Zoey, Brooke, Alice and Carmen could use their power to help out Wyatt magically."

"Here, here," Wyatt agreed.

"Sorry," Alice told them teasingly. "I'm an old-fashioned girl. I was raised to believe that men dig up the corpses and the women have the babies."

"Zoey, Carmen, what was Cordelia's whole riff about painful memories?" Buffy asked. "Who's Daryl?"

"Daryl Epps," Zoey explained. "Chris' older brother. He was a big football star. All-State two years ago."

"He was a running..." Willow trailed off. "He was a running... Uh, someone who runs and catches. Brady?"

"Running back," Brady answered.

"Thank you for the football knowledge, ex football star," Alice told him teasingly.

Brady smirked.

"Was Daryl a studly?" Brooke asked.

"Big time," Willow answered. "All of the girls were crazy for him."

"And he broke Cordy's heart?" Brooke asked. "Thus possibly proving its existence."

"He died," Eric explained. "Rock climbing or something. He fell."

"Man, that's lousy," Buffy told them. "Poor Chris."

"Ever since then Chris has been real quiet," Eric told them. "Kind of in his own world. I heard their mother doesn't even leave the house anymore."

"I think we're there," Wyatt told them.

The girls stood, walking over to the grave.

"By the way," Brooke told them. "Are we hoping to find a body? Or no body?"

"Call me an optimist," Xander told them. "But I'm hoping to find a fortune in gold doubloons."

"Um, body would mean flesh-eating demon," Alice told them. "No body would point towards the, uh, army of zombies thing. Take your pick, really."

Giles nodded. "Right, then, uh..." He looked at Xander, gesturing to the casket. "Go on."

"Wyatt's closer," Xander told them. "And the warlock."

"Pathetic much?" Wyatt asked. "Move over."

Eric, Brady, Xander and Giles moved aside.

The Scoobies were all gathered around the grave, opening the coffin. The camera showed them from inside the coffin.

∞

Sunnydale High School - Outside

The cheerleaders were heading home after practice.

"Guys, if we don't get this down by tomorrow, no one's gonna be led by our cheers," Cordelia told them. "Practice." As the other cheerleaders left, Cordy continued on to her own car, watching them drive off, reaching her car, hearing something by the fence, stopping to look around. "Hello?" She continued to her car and started to dig in her pack for her keys, getting them out, running the rest of the way to her car, nervously fumbling with the lock. "Carmen Chase and Zoey Francis, if this is some kind of joke..."

Cordelia dropped her keys, which rolled under her car. She knelt down to reach for them frantically. On the other side of her car, she could see someone in black shoes approaching, quickly getting up, starting to run. Whoever it was followed her, his face not yet revealed, walking past a dumpster. when he was gone, the lid opened. Cordelia checked to see if the coast was clear, pushing the lid up all the way, turning around to hop out, but was startled by Angel standing there.

"Cordelia?" Angel asked. "This is the last place I expected you to hang out."

Cordelia sighed in relief. "Oh, God. Oh, God, it's you. Why are you following me?"

"I wasn't sure it was you at first," Angel answered. "I'm looking for Carmen."

"Carmen?" Cordelia repeated. "Well, she's, uh, big shock, at the graveyard. She was gonna call you, but she wanted to give you the night off from saving everyone if you wanted it." Angel looked surprised but touched. "But you're in luck. It just so happens that my night is free." She tried to get out. "Uh, hold on, my skirt is caught." She reached behind her, getting her skirt loose. "There."

Cordelia picked up what was holding her skirt, seeing that it was a human hand, dropping it, screaming.

∞∞

Inside - Hallway

The Scoobies walked toward the library.

"So, both coffins are empty," Brady told them. "That makes three girls signed up for the army of zombies."

∞

Library

The Scoobies walked in.

"Is it an army if you just have three?" Buffy asked.

Angel stood from the table and faced them. Cordelia clung to his arm and stood, too.

"Zombie drill team then," Brooke told them.

"You're back," Angel told them.

Carmen looked at him in surprise. "Angel."

Angel nodded. "Carmen."

"What are you doing here?" Carmen asked.

"Long story," Cordelia told them.

"Cordelia told me that something came up but you wanted to give me the night off," Angel explained.

"Cordy told the truth," Xander told them. "That's gotta be a first."

Giles looked at Angel. "Um, as long as you're here, perhaps you could be of some help. Hmm?" He looked at Carmen. "Hmm?"

Carmen nodded.

"We were investigating," Wyatt explained. "Somebody's been digging up the bodies of dead girls."

"I know," Angel told them. "We found some of them."

"You mean, like, two of the three?" Buffy asked.

"I mean, like, some of them," Angel answered. "Like parts."

"It was horrible," Cordelia told them. "Angel saved me from an arm. God, there were so many parts, they were everywhere. Why are these terrible things always happening to me?"

Zoey coughed to cover the word she said. "Karma."

"So much for our zombie theory," Brooke told them.

"So much for all our theories," Eric agreed.

"I don't get it," Brady told them. "Why go to all the trouble to dig up three girls only to chop them up and throw them away?"

Alice sighed, shaking her head. "It doesn't make any sense. Especially from a time management standpoint."

"Well, what I saw didn't add up to three whole girls," Angel told them. "I think they kept some parts."

"Could this get yuckier?" Buffy asked.

"They probably kept the other parts to eat," Willow told them.

Buffy nodded. "Question answered."

"Why dispose of the remains five miles from the cemetery at a school, of all places?" Giles asked.

"Maybe because whoever did it had some business in the neighborhood," Wyatt told them. "Like, say, classes?"

"Oh," Giles said. "Ah."

"This was no hatchet job," Angel told them. "Whoever made those incisions really knew what they were doing."

"Yes, really," Alice told them. "What student here is gonna be that well versed in physiology?"

"Well, I can think of five or six guys in the science club," Willow told them. "And me."

"So, Will, come clean," Xander told her. "Promise to never do it again, and we'll call it a night." There was no response. Xander smiled. "He joked!"

"Willow, why don't you get these guys' locker numbers so we can do some checking?" Eric asked.

"No," Cordelia told them. "I have to go home now. I have to take a bath and burn my clothes."

"You have to go?" Zoey asked in mock disappointment. "Aw, too bad. Keep in touch. Buh-bye."

"I don't wanna go alone," Cordelia told them. "I'm still fragile." She looked at Angel. "Can you take me?" Angel was in open-mouthed shock, and looking at Carmen. Carmen gave Cordelia a look. "Great! I'll drive?"

Cordelia led the way out of the library as Angel gave Carmen another helpless look.

"How about that?" Brady asked. "I always pegged him as a one-woman vampire."

∞

Epps House - Living Room

Chris and Daryl's mother Ms. Epps was sitting in front of the TV, watching videos of Daryl's games. His trophy sat on top of the TV.

Chris walked out of the basement. "I'm going out, Mom." Ms. Epps didn't even look up, just blowing out another lungful of cigarette smoke. Chris walked over to the front door. "I'll be back later, okay? Mom?"

Still no response. Ms. Epps took another drag from her cigarette. Chris let out a sigh of frustration, leaving the house. On the video, Daryl had just scored a touchdown. The team was holding him up high as the cheerleaders jumped and waved their pompoms, as everyone was chanting Daryl's name. Daryl took his helmet off, holding his fists up in the air, laughing and enjoying the moment.

∞

Sunnydale High School - Hallway

The Scoobies each had a list, working the locker combinations of the guys from the list.

Giles walked toward them. "You understand, in my capacity as school official, this search is completely unauthorized, and I cannot condone it."

"Fine," Buffy told him. "Your butt's covered. Wanna grab a locker?"

Buffy handed him a list.

"Uh, yes, yes, of course," Giles answered, taking the sheet.

Brooke approached a locker. "Okay, Ed. Let's see what's on your annoying little mind."

Willow was at another locker. "Nothing in here but back issues of Scientific American. Ooh, I haven't read this one."

Willow started to read.

"Nothing remarkable here," Eric told them.

Wyatt opened one. "Guys." They all went over to see, besides Brooke. "Your friend Chris Epps' locker."

Brady read off book titles. "'Grey's Anatomy', 'Mortician's Desk Reference', 'Robicheaux's Guide to Muscles and Tendons'."

Giles reached in and pulled out a newspaper folded open to a picture of the three cheerleaders. The title above the picture read, 'Tragic Accident Kills Three'.

"I think it's fair to say Chris is involved," Eric told them.

"He's into corpses all right, but we still don't know why," Xander told them.

"Yes, we do," Brooke told them.

Brooke opened Ed's locker door and showed them a collage of a woman made from parts of various pictures.

∞

Chris' Basement

Ed was singing while Chris was working on a body. "I guess you'll say / What can make me feel this way? / My girl / Talking about my girl / My girl." He stopped singing. "How's my baby?"

"She's not your baby," Chris told him.

"She's not gonna be anybody's baby if we don't finish her soon," Ed replied.

"I'm working on it," Chris retorted.

Ed smirked. "So am I, friend. So am I."

Ed hung up freshly developed pictures of Zoey, Willow and Cordelia to dry.

∞

Day Three

Morning - Sunnydale High School - Balcony

The Scoobies were sitting on the railing of the balcony.

"Any sign of our suspects?" Brooke asked.

"Not yet," Buffy answered. "I don't get it. Why would anybody wanna make a girl?"

"You mean when there's so many pre-made ones just laying around?" Brady asked. "The things we do for love."

"Love has nothing to do with this," Alice told them.

"Maybe not, but I'll tell you this," Xander told them. "People don't fall in love with what's right in front of them."

Eric shook his head in agreement. "People want the dream. What they can't have."

Willow looked over at Xander longingly. The others understood only way too well.

Alice sighed. "The more unattainable, the more attractive."

Brooke hopped down from her perch. "And for Ed the unattainable would include everyone. That's alive."

They walked along.

"Uh, Ed's sick enough to do something like this," Carmen told them. "But what about Chris? He seems like a human person."

"I don't know," Eric told them. "That thing with his brother was really hard on him. And he talked about death a lot. Maybe he just wanted to get one-up on it."

"But it's not do-able," Brady told them. "I mean, making someone from scraps. Actually making them live."

"If it is, my science project's definitely coming in second this year," Willow told them.

They saw Giles and Wyatt walking up to them.

"And speaking of love..." Xander trailed off.

"We were talking about the re-animation of dead tissue," Alice told him.

"Do I deconstruct your segues?" Xander asked.

Buffy looked at Giles and Wyatt. "Hey."

Wyatt was looking around, feeling something off. "Oh. Yeah. Hi."

"Still no sign of our mad doctors?" Zoey asked.

"What?" Wyatt asked. "Oh. Uh, corpses, yes. Evil. Huh."

"You okay?" Brooke asked.

"Just feel like something's off," Wyatt answered.

They saw Layla pulling up to the school in her car.

Layla walked closer. "Zoey. There you are."

"Oh, Layla's here to pick up Zoey for after school," Alice told them, giving Giles a teasing look.

"Oh, Giles, just remember," Brady told him. "'I feel a thing, you feel a thing'."

"But personalize it," Eric told him.

"Personalize it," Buffy repeated. "Yes."

"Layla's a gypsy like Zoey, right?" Xander asked, taunting them. "Giles and Layla could make some magic together."

Zoey held her head, closing her eyes as if she could unhear that. "No, no, bad! Do not put that image in my head."

Buffy, Brooke, Carmen, Willow, Brady, Eric and Xander laughed. Alice shook her head. Wyatt smirked in amusement. Giles was even more nervous.

Willow looked at Giles. "Don't worry. You'll do great. Have fun."

Wyatt patted Giles on the shoulder, as they all started to walk away.

"Best of luck," Brooke told him. "You've got this."

"Just relax, Dad," Alice told him. "She'll say yes."

As everyone walked away, they smiled. "Bye."

Layla reached Giles, watching the others walk away. "Good afternoon, Rupert. Where are they going? I'm supposed to be picking up Zoey."

They walked along.

"Uh, Ms. Francis?" Giles asked.

Layla looked at him. "Oh, no. You were doing well with calling me Layla."

Giles chuckled. "Layla, then. You know, uh, Layla, um..."

"Hmm?" Layla asked.

"Would it appear indecorous..." Giles trailed off nervously. "Uh, no, not indecorous, um..."

"Yeah?" Layla asked.

"What--what I'm proposing is..." Giles trailed off, nervous enough to where he couldn't finish.

Layla was amused by his nervousness, smiling slightly. "I have to pick Zoey up. And then head to the hospital for a quick shift. But I'll be off by tonight. So if it's important, why don't you just tell me at the game?"

"Game?" Giles repeated. "Oh, uh, you're going to the football game?"

Layla smiled. "Yeah. You seem surprised."

Giles shook his head. "No. No, I--I--I just assumed that you spent your evenings working at the hospital and managing your new found powers."

"On game night?" Layla asked, teasing. "Are you nuts? You're going, too, right?"

Giles nodded. "Oh, of course, always do."

"So, we should just go together," Layla told him. "Look, I could pick you up after my shift. And we'll grab a bite to eat on the way. If you like. How do you feel about Mexican?" Giles nodded. Layla smiled. "Good. Okay. And whatever it is you wanna tell me, you can just tell me then. Okay?"

"Okay," Giles answered. "Tonight, then."

Layla smiled, nodding, walking away toward where Zoey and Alice were standing behind a tree, her voice making them jump. "Alice, Zoey. You really think that I didn't know that you two were listening? You're setting up your parents to go on a date?"

Zoey and Alice smiled.

"Well, you took the matters into your hands," Alice told her. "Very well applauded effort, Layla."

"So, that went well," Zoey told them. "I think."

Layla gave them an amused look that they smiled back to. "Zoey, let's go."

"Well, we have to talk to our friends before we leave," Alice told her. "But Zo will be fine with us."

"All right," Layla told them. "I'll see you girls later."

"And you'll be here later for your date," Zoey replied in a teasing singsong voice. "Congrats."

Layla smiled slightly, giving them a look, walking away. Alice and Zoey exchanged a look, smiling, laughing lightly.

∞

Science Lab

Zoey and Alice met up with the others in an empty science lab.

"How'd it go?" Buffy asked.

"They're going to the game together tonight," Alice answered, smiling.

Brooke smiled. "Cool."

"Yeah, that's great about Layla and Giles," Carmen told them. "But we gotta focus on this. At least for right now."

Willow was looking through a book. "I still don't get how Chris could do it. I mean, arresting the cell deterioration is one thing, but..."

"Hello!" Xander told them, holding up a visible head. "I wanna get ahead."

Eric exhaled. "Maybe an electrical current combined with an adrenaline boost."

"For the love of God, can somebody scratch my nose?" Xander asked.

Wyatt walked in. "Well, it's official. Chris and Ed didn't come to school today."

"That's no coincidence," Buffy told them. "Maybe they finished their project."

"God," Brooke complained. "What if it worked? What if that poor girl is walking about?"

"Poor girls," Brady corrected. "Technically."

"What could she be thinking?" Eric asked.

"And what are they gonna do with her?" Willow added.

Wyatt sighed. "I don't think we need to worry about that just yet. I spoke to a press person this morning about the remains. The police have finished sorting through them, and apparently they found three heads in the dumpster."

"They only had three girls," Carmen told them.

"Exactly," Buffy told them.

"So, they don't have the whole, uh, package?" Eric asked.

"Heads must be no good," Willow told them.

"Huh," Xander told them. "I found them attractive enough." They gave him a look. "Well, obviously, I'm not as sick as Chris and Ed."

"Based on what the police have put together, I would say they're one step short of completing their 'masterpiece'," Alice told them, using air quotes, rolling her eyes in disgust.

"One step," Carmen repeated.

They all looked at each other in concern and worry.

∞

Chris' Basement

Chris and Ed were working.

"We're running out of time," Ed told him. "If we wait too long, the onset of atrophy in the limbs will be irreversible."

"We can turn up the current," Chris told him. "That'll buy us a day, at least."

"We will lose the entire body if we don't attach a head soon," Ed told him.

"We have time," Chris told him.

Ed scoffed. "We don't. The crash with the girls was lucky. But we can't just keep waiting around for another lucky accident to drop a head in our laps. You know what we have to do. Hell, it's just one lousy girl."

Chris shook his head. "I won't do it. I--I can't kill anyone." He turned to the shadows. "Please. Understand. I--I can't do that. Please don't make me."

A zombie Daryl walked out from the shadows. His face was discolored and crisscrossed with stitches. "But you gave me your word. You promised me, little brother. That I wouldn't be alone."

∞∞

Ed was pacing. "The body is perfect. And if we harvest a head tonight, she'll be ready by sunrise."

Daryl looked at his brother. "When you brought me back, you promised you'd take care of me. I need this, Chris. I need someone."

"Please don't ask me to do this," Chris begged. "Don't ask me to take a life."

"I tried to tell him," Ed told him. "If you take a life in order to make a life, the whole thing is a wash. No harm, no foul."

"Maybe you could--you could go out," Chris told him.

Daryl turned away. "No!"

"Let people know," Chris told him.

"They can't see me," Daryl told him. "Chris, you've always been smarter than me. You were always the brains. You're the only one who can help me now. Third and long, seconds to go, where do you throw? Where do you throw?"

"Number five," Chris answered. "Daryl's gonna drive."

"Help me, brother," Daryl begged. Chris, even with his reservations and fear of taking a life, nodded in agreement. Daryl hugged him in relief. "Thank you." They pulled away, looking at Ed. "Show me." Ed showed Daryl the pictures. Daryl pointed. "This one."

Ed laughed. "A man of taste." He grabbed a pair of scissors, cutting around Cordelia's hair, singing. "My girl / Talking about my girl / My girl."

Ed snipped Cordelia's head off.

∞

Sunnydale High School - Library

The Scoobies were gathered.

Willow was at the computer. "I checked the obits. Nothing that would make for a likely candidate."

"They seem kinda picky for guys who had three heads to begin with," Buffy told them.

"Formaldehyde," Alice told them.

"Formaldehyde," Giles repeated. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, of course, it accelerates neural decay in the brain cells."

"After a couple days they're useless," Alice explained. "They're gonna need something really fresh."

"How fresh?" Brooke asked.

"As fresh as possible," Wyatt answered.

Carmen was clearly disturbed. "Guys. You don't think that they would..."

"I think anybody who cuts dead girls into little pieces does not get the benefit of any doubt," Brady told them. "I wanna end this thing now."

"I second that," Brooke told them.

"Okay, fine," Eric told them. "You guys go to Ed's, we can go to Chris'."

"Meet up," Zoey agreed.

"Okay, Giles is supposed to be at the big game with Layla," Buffy told them.

"Fine," Brooke told them. "Giles, go ahead. We'll take care of this."

"Well, yes, but shouldn't I, um..." Giles trailed off.

"Okay," Zoey told them. "then why don't... uh, we all meet there?"

"Fine," Buffy agreed. "Yes. Yeah."

"Guys?" Willow asked. "Don't be too hard on Chris. I mean, he's not a vampire."

"No," Carmen agreed. "He's just a ghoul. Let's go."

Brady sighed. "Right behind you. Come on."

Xander chuckled. "Yeah. Rah, rah, go team."

"We could have done with a little less of that, Xand," Eric told him. "Seriously."

Xander smirked. "But where's the fun in that?"

Eric and Brady rolled their eyes. "Shut up."

The girls smiled in amusement. They all left the library.

∞

Epps House - Foyer

The mother answered the door for Brady, Buffy, Brooke, Carmen and Wyatt, Ms. Epps.

"Hi, um, we're friends of Chris'," Buffy told her. "We kinda need to talk to him.

"Uh, do you know if he's home?" Brooke asked. Ms. Epps walked inside, sitting down. They walked in, closing the door. "So is he home?"

Ms. Epps watched her videos of Daryl. "Westbury game. November 17, '95. Daryl rushed 185 yards that night. Four TD's. He was MVP, and he made All-City that season."

"Yeah, that was a great one," Brady told her. "Um, but is Chris home?"

"I don't know," Ms. Epps told them. "Is today a school day? Oh, watch. Watch this move. Daryl takes a kickoff, he sheds one, two, three defenders, and he breaks into the open field for a 95 yard touchdown." They saw the basement door with its 'Keep Out' and 'No Admittance' signs. "He would've been 19 next week."

Wyatt led the others to the basement door. "Guys. Come on."

∞

Basement

They quietly made their way down the stairs, looking around a bit, seeing that no one was here, going over to the table, finding the pictures of Zoey and Willow. They also found the plans for the body with Cordelia's face pasted on top.

Carmen was horrified to see her their plans for her sister like that, angry. "No. Cordelia."

They heard the door open, looking up, hurriedly leaving the basement before they could be found.

∞

Night - Sunnydale High School - Girls' Locker Room

The cheerleaders were in their uniforms. Cordelia was putting on lip gloss.

Joy, the cheerleading squad leader, walked by with Lisa. "Cordelia. You coming?"

"Yeah, I'll be right out," Cordelia answered, finishing putting on her lip gloss, seeing Chris appear behind her in the mirror, jumping, turning to face him. "Oh, God. Chris, you scared me. What are you doing in here?" Chris looked down, away from her. "Is there something wrong?"

Ed pulled a bag over Cordelia's head, pulling her away. Chris looked away as Cordelia screamed.

∞

Hallway

Buffy, Brooke, Carmen, Brady and Wyatt came running down the hall, finding Joy and Lisa.

"Joy, Lisa, where's Cordelia?" Buffy asked.

"Cordelia has a game to think about," Joy told them. "She doesn't need losers like you."

Brooke blocked Joy from leaving. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Carmen walked closer intensely. "My sister is in a lot of danger, so tell us where. Cordelia. is."

∞

Girls' Locker Room

Ed had Cordelia on the floor, trying to tie her hands. Buffy, Brooke and Carmen came running into the locker room. Buffy ran to kick Ed away from Cordelia, knocking him down.

Carmen ran to her sister's side, pulling the bag off of her head. "Are you okay?"

Cordelia sat up in relief. "Oh, my God, Carmen."

Ed stood, running away. Brady and Wyatt ran in.

"Don't worry, he's gone," Brady told them.

"I was on my way down to the field when Chris came in, and all of a sudden someone jumped me," Cordelia explained.

"Shh, quiet down," Brady told her. "Relax. Take it easy."

Cordelia heard band music outside. "that's the fight song. Oh, my God, it's time for the cheerleader pyramid at mid-field. I've gotta go."

"Well, are you sure you're okay to go out there?" Carmen asked.

"Yeah, I know you're worried, Carmen, but I'm okay," Cordelia answered. "I have to go. I'm the apex."

Cordelia ran out. The others heard a noise, looking around.

"Chris?" Buffy asked. "We know what you're trying to do, you and Ed."

"We know about the bodies from the cemetery," Brooke told him. "But you haven't hurt anyone yet."

Chris stepped out into the open.

"Look, I know what it's like to lose someone that you're close to," Wyatt told him. "But that's no excuse. What you're doing is wrong."

"I have to do this for him," Chris told them. "He needs someone."

"Who, Ed?" Carmen asked. "He needs industrial strength therapy."

"He always looked out for me," Chris explained. "Stood up for me. He's all alone. Everybody loved him. And now he's all alone."

"Who are you talking..." Buffy trailed off when they all realized. "Oh, my God."

∞

Chris' Basement

Daryl was trashing the basement, yelling at Ed. "You promised me! You promised I wouldn't have to be alone!"

"It's not too late," Ed told him. Daryl walked closer, lifting him by the shirt. "Nothing's changed! We can still do this! You and me. Your brother's not the only one who can create life. What do you say?" Daryl set him down. Ed took a few deep breaths. "Let's go scare you up a date."

∞∞

Later, after they were gone, Chris brought the others. "Daryl? Daryl? Daryl?"

"He's not here," Brooke told him. "Where else could he be?"

Chris shook his head, confused, until he realized. "But he would never go out, unless..."

"He's gonna pick up where you left off," Wyatt finished.

They quickly ran out.

∞

Sunnydale High School - Football Game

Cordelia was doing a cheer with the squad. "Go, Razorbacks, go! Go, team, go! Go, Razorbacks, go! Go, team, go!"

On the field the ball is snapped, thrown, caught and ran in for a touchdown. The crowd went wild.

Layla and Giles were coming from the refreshment stand. Giles' arms were full of snacks and drinks.

"I don't know what it is about football that does it for me," Layla admitted. "I mean, it lacks the grace of basketball. The poetry of baseball. At its best, it's unadorned aggression. It's such a rugged contest."

Giles laughed. "Rugged American football."

They climbed into the stands.

"And that's funny because?" Layla asked.

Giles chuckled. "No, I just think it's rather odd that a nation that prides itself on its virility should feel compelled to strap on forty pounds of protective gear just in order to play rugby."

They sat down.

Layla smirked in amusement. "Is this your normal strategy for a first date? Dissing my country's national pastime?"

"Did you just say date?" Giles asked.

Layla smiled. "You noticed that, huh?"

Giles smiled. Zoey, Alice, Willow, Eric and Xander walked up to them.

"Hi, Layla," Willow told her. "Hi, Giles."

"Hey, guys," Layla told them. "What's up?"

"Ed's was a bust," Zoey told them. "Nothing there."

"Yeah," Xander agreed. "Nothing but a bunch of computer equipment and a pornography collection so prodigious it even scared me."

"Hi," Alice told them. "Did Buffy, Brooke, Brady, Carmen and Wyatt get back yet?"

"No, uh, no," Giles answered. "Uh, perhaps you should, uh, circulate nearer the field, see what you can find."

They slipped under the railing and sat in front of Giles and Layla.

Eric reached back and took Giles' popcorn. "Thanks. So, what's the score?"

Giles and Layla were somewhat amused because they wanted to know what was going on with their date, especially Alice and Zoey, but at the same time they wanted to be alone.

The teams were getting in position for the next play. The ball was snapped.

Daryl was crawling along beneath the stands, looking for Cordelia, seeing the action on the field, stopping a moment to watch and remember. A player on the field was tackled, but had gained several yards and got high-fives from his teammates. Daryl lowered his eyes, noticing Cordelia. Cordelia took a break from cheerleading, walking over to the coolers next to the bleachers for a drink. Daryl came up behind her as she drank and grabbed her. Cordelia screamed, but her yell was drowned out by the crowd cheering for another touchdown. The other cheerleaders jumped and waved their pompoms. On the field, the players helped the scoring team member up to pat him on the back.

Buffy, Brooke, Brady, Carmen and Wyatt arrived by the bleachers.

"I don't see her," Carmen told them worriedly. "Do you?"

"No," Brady answered.

"Cordelia!" Carmen called.

They were all frustrated and worried.

∞

Old Science Lab

Cordelia had been blindfolded and being tied to a gurney. "Please, what's going on? Just take off the blindfold. I promise I won't scream. I promise!"

Daryl lifted the sheet from the headless body Chris and Ed had constructed. "She's beautiful."

Ed lowered the sheet back down. "No, it's bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding."

"Please?" Cordelia asked. "Just take off the blindfold. I promise I won't scream. I promise."

Daryl walked closer. "Cordelia?"

Daryl took off her blindfold. Cordelia took one look at him, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"You can scream all you want," Ed told her. "We're in an abandoned building." Cordelia screamed for help at an even higher pitch. Ed held up a pan, threatening to hit her with it. "Okay, that's enough."

Cordelia stopped her screaming, so Ed put the pan down.

"You were always good to me," Daryl told her. "Always noticed me. But I ignored you. I'm sorry. I'm glad I have a second chance to tell you that."

Cordelia realized who he was. "Daryl?"

Daryl nodded. "I was thoughtless. I see that now. But I've changed. I've learned to appreciate how much it meant that you wanted to be with me."

"We're ready," Ed told them.

"Ready?" Cordelia repeated. "Ready for what?"

"You're gonna feel a little pinch, maybe some discomfort around the neck area," Ed told her. "But don't worry. When you wake up, you'll have the body of a 17 year old. In fact, you'll have the body of several."

Ed lifted the sheet. Cordelia saw the body, letting out a very intense scream.

∞

Football Game

Buffy, Brooke, Brady, Carmen, Wyatt and Chris met up with Zoey, Alice, Willow, Eric and Xander.

"He was here?" Zoey asked. "Where did he take her?"

"To the rest of the body, right?" Alice asked. "To the lab."

Chris nodded.

"Okay," Willow told him. "Where is that?"

Chris hesitated, hating what he was doing, but hating the thought of betraying his brother. "I promise him that I--"

Carmen was not having any of this, angry and worried with her sister in danger again, but trying to stay calm and clearheaded. "Look, he'll kill Cordelia!"

"You can't just give and take lives like that," Eric told him. "It's not your job."

"Chris, please," Xander told him. "It's Carmen's sister."

Chris gave in, nodding. "He's in the old science lab. Everything's set up there."

Zoey and Alice nodded in relief. "Thank you."

"Now find Giles and Layla," Willow told him.

"Layla is Zoey's mom," Eric explained.

"Just find them and tell them what's going on," Xander told him.

They all ran off. Chris went to find Giles and Layla.

∞

Old Science Lab

Ed was pouring gasoline into a sink.

Cordelia was still tied to the gurney, terrified. "Daryl, please, you don't have to do this."

"We have to, so we can be together," Daryl argued.

"We'll be together anyway," Cordelia told him. "I'll be with you, I promise."

Daryl knew that wasn't true, humoring her. "Is that right?"

Cordelia nodded. "Mm-hmm."

"You see anything you like?" Daryl asked, walking over to the other body, lifting the sheet. "And when you're finished, you won't go out. You won't run away. But we can hide together."

Cordelia struggled in fear. "Please. Please."

Ed held a knife into a flame a moment, walking toward her. "Sterile enough for government work."

Cordelia struggled. "No! No, please! My sister Carmen's a witch and she has powerful friends and they're gonna stop you, including Zoey Francis. Zoey and her mother Layla are gypsies." They heard a loud pounding on the door, turning to see it break open due to Zoey's powers as they walked in. Ed threw his knife at them. Buffy caught it midair. Cordelia sighed in relief when she saw her sister. "Carmen, help me!"

Ed ran away. Carmen stepped toward her sister, but Daryl stopped her.

"Daryl, listen," Zoey told him. "We know what you're doing, okay? Your brother sent us to stop you."

"He wouldn't do that," Daryl told them. "My brother loves me."

"Zoey, he's crazy," Cordelia told her.

"It's okay, Cordelia," Alice told her. "We're gonna get you out of here."

"No, I'm not done with her yet!" Daryl told them, turning to the instrument tray, fumbling for something, grabbing a cleaver. "I'm not finished!" He took the cleaver back to Cordelia, trying to start hacking at her neck. Wyatt used his power to grab his hand mid swing so he couldn't hurt Cordelia, waving his arms to throw him into the wall, making him fall. Buffy jumped over the table toward Daryl to fight. Daryl stood, punching Buffy hard in the face, grabbing her, slamming her head into the instrument tray, throwing her over Cordelia to the floor, knocking over the can of gasoline, which poured over the floor. "I won't live alone!"

Zoey used her power to pull Cordelia's gurney toward her away from Daryl.

Ed ran away. "I'm getting out of here!"

Daryl grabbed Ed by the shirt. "You have to help me!"

"Let go!" Ed told him.

Daryl threw Ed aside, facing the others. Ed slid into a barrel with his head, getting knocked out. Brady kicked Daryl in the knee, making him collapse to the floor, kicking him in the gut as he tried to get up, then the face. Daryl stood, trying to punch Brady. Brady ducked. Zoey used her power to throw Daryl into the wall, making him fall. Daryl pushed over the Bunsen burner to the floor, igniting the gasoline, starting a fire.

"Zoey!" Willow told her. "Carmen. Wyatt. Stop the fire."

"They got it," Eric told them. "We'll get Cordelia."

Carmen was using her power to untie Cordelia, but Daryl threw Buffy into Carmen, making them both fall to the floor before Carmen could finish untying Cordelia, grabbing a canister, throwing it Alice and Brooke. Alice and Brooke used red Guardian energy to freeze the canister midair, throwing it back into Daryl, making him fall. The flames around them were starting to get higher. Wyatt and Zoey were using their power to contain the fire so that none of their friends got hurt, but it took all of their focus to control the fire enough to make sure that no one got burned. Buffy and Brady stood on either side of Daryl to kick him on both sides. Alice and Brooke continued to make intricate hand movements with red energy glowing from their hands as they used it to shoot Daryl and pin him to the wall. While all of this was going on, Willow, Xander and Eric were trying to untie Cordelia.

"Come on!" Cordelia cried. "Come on! Get it off!"

Giles and Layla arrived in the doorway.

"Don't have time for this," Xander told them. "Let's go."

Eric, Xander and Willow gave up trying to untie Cordelia, just wheeling her out. Layla walked further into the burning lab to help Wyatt and Zoey control the fire with their powers. Giles and Carmen saw the unconscious Ed, helping him up, getting him out. Willow sat on the gurney next to Cordelia. Eric and Xander gave the gurney a good shove, hopping on, and they rolled through the flames while Cordelia screamed. They hopped off, stopping the gurney, getting Cordelia loose.

Buffy hit Daryl in the neck, trying to kick him again, but he grabbed her leg, lifting her up, throwing her to the floor. Buffy was stunned and lied there while Daryl grabbed a desk and raised it over his head.

"Daryl!" Chris yelled. Daryl looked behind him and saw his brother there. "Don't!"

Daryl looked back at Buffy and then noticed the body surrounded by flames. He tossed the desk aside and ran over to it. "She's mine!"

"Daryl!" Chris yelled, running toward the flames after his brother. Zoey and Layla created a shield of purple power to stop Chris from walking into the fire. "Daryl!"

Everyone watched, stunned.

"No," Daryl told them. "We'll be together always. No! Mine!"

Wyatt, Carmen, Zoey and Layla tried to put the flames out magically before Daryl and his "bride-to-be" could be burned alive, but it was already too late.

∞

Outside

Chris looked at the Scoobies. "The first time he woke up after... he said I shouldn't have brought him back. I--I was just... trying to look out for him like he would've done for me."

Angel arrived, walking toward Carmen. "I saw the fire. I figured you'd be here. Is everyone okay?"

Carmen nodded. "Yeah. We're okay."

Angel and Carmen managed small smiles, taking each other by the hand.

Giles walked up to Layla, handing her a cup of coffee. "Sorry about all of this."

"It's okay," Layla told him. "Never thought I would feel bad for not being able to save a living zombie and a dead zombie." Giles smiled sadly in understanding. "Although, a good rule of thumb for a first date is don't do anything so exciting that it'll be hard to top on the second date."

"Believe it or not, since I've moved here to live on top of the Hellmouth, the events of this evening actually qualify as a slow night," Giles admitted. He paused, remembering what she said. "Did you just say second date?"

Layla smiled. "Yeah. You noticed that. Huh?"

Giles smiled back, taking a sip of his coffee. "Yes."

Buffy, Eric, Zoey, Alice, Brady, Willow and Xander were talking.

"Well, I guess that makes it official," Wyatt told them. "Everybody's paired off."

"Vampires get dates," Xander told them. "Hell, even the school librarian sees more action than me."

"You ever think that the world is a giant game of musical chairs?" Zoey asked. "And the music's stopped, and we're the only ones who don't have a chair?"

"All the time," Willow answered.

Cordelia walked toward them. "Guys? I just wanted to thank you for saving my life. What you did in there was really brave and heroic, and I just wanted to tell you if there was anything that I could ever do to..."

"Do you mind?" Xander asked. "We're talking here."

Cordelia was taken aback, rolling her eyes, walking away.

"So where were we?" Buffy asked.

"Wondering why Xander, Willow and Zoey never get dates," Brady answered.

"Yeah, whereas everyone else is paired off," Alice agreed.

"Buffy and Eric," Brady told them. "Brooke and Wyatt. Giles and Layla. Carmen and Angel."

"Hmm," Eric hummed. "Yeah. Oh, and, uh... Don't forget that thing you have with Alice, Brady."

"What thing?" Alice asked.

"The thing that you're both used to denying," Buffy answered. "Yeah. Don't try to deny it."

"So obvious," Zoey agreed. "Well, Carmen and Wyatt can see soulmates. And they both said that you two are."

Alice was blushing slightly. "Zoey. Shut up."

They all smiled.

"Don't be embarrassed, Alice," Zoey told her teasingly.

"And out of all of that, Zoey, Xander and Willow are still the only ones not with anybody," Buffy told them.

"Yeah, so why do you think that is?" Willow asked.

Alice smiled. "You just haven't met the right ones yet. Not something to be worried about. Just be patient. It'll happen."

∞

Park

Wyatt and Brooke were walking together.

"God, the whole thing was so creepy," Brooke told him. "Well, at the same time, I mean... he did do it all for his brother." Wyatt looked down. Brooke looked at him sympathetically. "I'm sorry. I know brothers don't have a very good track record with you."

"Well, the Epps brothers and my brother took things a little over the edge," Wyatt told her.

Brooke shrugged. "Love makes you do the wacky. Whether it's for family or for that special someone. Not saying that your brother did what he did to you out of love, but... it's all crazy."

"Crazy, like our every day lives?" Wyatt asked.

"Yep," Brooke answered. "Are you okay? You seem distant."

"Like I said before, I just feel like there's something off," Wyatt answered. "Like there's something coming."

"Very specific," Brooke told him sarcastically, trying to make him feel better.

"Whatever comes, we'll figure it out," Wyatt told her. "We have before. It's getting pretty late. I could walk you home."

"I'm a Guardian that can take care of myself," Brooke told him. "But I do like the idea of the warlock walking the Guardian home."

They smiled, walking along. Brooke took his hand as he walked her home.