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

Morning - Francis House - Zoey's Room

Zoey was having a nightmare about having passive psychic powers such as empathy, precognition, retrocognition, or psychometry, levitating, traveling through astral projections by way of meditation, invoking curses or blessings, conjuring or channeling spirits, and illusion-casting, having all of these dreams after having been told that she and her mother Layla were gypsies by her Aunt Jenny. Having powers that they hadn't been able to tell because they had always been wearing their necklaces that were spelled to keep their powers locked away as long as they were wearing them. Zoey was having these dreams because she wasn't wearing her necklace, which was laying on her bedside table, allowing her to have these dreams for the first time, because this was the first time she had slept without her necklace on.

Zoey was slowly waking up. "No. No!"

Layla was trying to wake her up. "Yes." Zoey suddenly woke, looking at her mother with wide eyes. "It's time to get up for school."

"Mom?" Zoey asked.

"Are you all right?" Layla asked.

Zoey sat up. "No. Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm--I'm fine."

Layla sighed worriedly. "I know school sounds trivial compared to what we just learned from your aunt Jenny. But we have to keep living, Zoey." Zoey nodded. "You had dreams last night too, huh? I had them, too. First time I've slept without the necklace on."

Zoey nodded in agreement. "Yeah, me too."

"The nightmares are one of the things that Jenny mentioned," Layla explained. "Like visions warning us about the future. What did you see?"

"Us becoming a lot more powerful with a lot more powers than I ever thought possible," Zoey answered.

Layla nodded. "Me too. Believe me, Zo, we will figure all of this out, I promise. Just until then, we have to keep living."

Zoey nodded, both of them nervous and worried about this secret that they had just discovered.

  ∞ 

Sunnydale High School - Hallway

The girls were walking through the halls.

"So Brady, Brooke and I are pumped to see our dad," Buffy explained. "We're on for this weekend."

"So, do you see your dad a lot?" Willow asked.

"Not a whole lot," Brooke answered. "He's still in L.A. He, like, comes down for weekends sometimes."

"When did they get divorced?" Alice asked.

"Well, it wasn't finalized till last year, but they were separated before that," Buffy answered.

"Yeah, if anyone knows how divorced parents go, it's Zo," Carmen told them. "Remember, Zoey and Amy? Amy's witch of a mom cheated on her husband with Zoey's dad, and her dad cheated on her mom Layla with the witch mom? Ruined both marriages when Zoey told Amy, her dad overheard, and that's why he left. Remember, Catherine blamed Zo and tried to kill her for it."

"Yeah," Willow answered sadly, sighing. "It was harsh."

"Yeah, that's the word you're looking for," Buffy told her.

Willow sighed. "I'm sorry, Zo."

Zoey hadn't been paying attention.

"Earth to Zoey," Alice told her. "Gypsy girl."

Zoey snapped out of it, looking at them. "I'm so not ready for that joke yet, Alice."

The girls chuckled.

"You okay?" Buffy asked.

Zoey shrugged.

"Well, it's not every day you learn a family secret like that, like you and Layla did," Brooke told her. "Well, at least now you know you're not as useless as you keep telling yourself you are."

"Yeah, we tell you all the time that you are not useless, Zoey," Alice told her. "But you never believe us. So maybe you'll believe us now. And I'm not sure about Layla's role in all this yet, bu we'll figure it out."

"You'll get the hang of it, Zo," Willow told her. "And we'll help you. And Layla. Whatever it takes."

"Yeah, your mom," Carmen told her. "How is Layla taking it?"

"I'm suspecting better than most people would," Alice told her. "I mean, after all, you're dealing with this pretty well, and Layla's the one that raised you to deal with secrets this well."

"Let's just say I'm pretty numb to earth shattering revelations by this point," Zoey told them. "Can we change the subject back to Brooke, Buffy and Brady's parents, please?"

"Sure," Buffy answered. "Our parents weren't as bad as your parents, as bad as Layla and Todd. I--I mean, they were really good about it around me, Brady and Brooke, anyway. But still."

"My parents don't even bicker," Willow told them. "Sometimes they glare."

"My parents fight all the time," Carmen told them. "It's why me and Cordy fight all the time." She looked at Brooke and Buffy. "Do you or Brady know why your folks split up?"

Brooke opened her locker. "We didn't ask. They just stopped getting along. I'm sure we were a really big help, though, with all the slaying and everything. We were in so much trouble. We were a big mess."

"Well, I'm sure that didn't have anything to do with him leaving," Alice told them..

"No," Buffy told them.

Brooke closed her locker.

"And he still comes down on weekends," Alice told them.

Buffy smiled. "Sometimes."

"What about your parents, Alice?" Carmen asked.

"We know you and Giles have a great relationship," Brooke told her.

"But you never really talk about your mom," Willow told her.

"My mom and dad were very happy together," Alice answered. "Before she died."

They looked at Alice sadly in sympathy.

"I'm sorry, Alice," Zoey told her.

"It's fine," Alice told them.

"It was a long time ago, huh?" Buffy asked.

"Seems like forever ago?" Brooke asked.

Alice sighed, nodding.

Carmen rubbed her arm reassuringly. "It's okay."

"Really sorry, Alice," Brooke told her.

"We should get to class," Willow told them.

The girls nodded, walking along.

  ∞ 

Class

The girls walked into class, where Brady, Xander and Eric already were.

Cordelia was checking her makeup in her mirror.

Wendell came over and stopped to look at his paper in the light.

"Hello?" Cordelia asked. "Doofus!" Wendell looked at her. "You're in my light."

"Wendell, what is wrong with you?" Xander asked. "Don't you know that she is the center of the universe? And the rest of us merely revolve around her?"

"Why don't you revolve yourselves out of my light?" Cordelia asked.

The bell rang. The boys walked to their seats. The girls went to sit next to them.

Brady looked at the girls. "Hey. Uh, guess what? Wendell was in Cordelia's light."

"So we heard," Eric told them.

"I'm so ashamed," Wendell told them in mock.

"Why is she so Evita-like?" Eric asked.

"I think it's the hair," Carmen told them.

Willow smiled. "It weighs heavy on the cerebral cortex."

"Hey, guys," Brady told them. "Was there any homework?"

"We're doing active listening today," Eric told him.

"Cool," Xander told them. "What's active listening?"

"That would be the homework," Eric told him. "Chapter five? Active listening?" He showed him his book. "Where you put on your big ears and really focus on the other person?"

"Ms. Tishler demonstrated it yesterday," Brady told him.

"With you," Eric told him.

"She was wearing that tight sweater?" Brady asked.

"Oh, the midnight blue angora," Xander told them. "See, I was listening."

The girls gave him a look. Eric and Brady smirked.

"All right, take your seats," Ms. Tishler told them. "In a moment, we will choose partners and practice what we read about in chapter five." Xander cupped his ears with his hands while smiling and shaking his head around. "Good, Xander, that's the spirit." The girls gave each other amused looks. "Before we do, let's review. Isaacson's research led him to conclude that one of our most fundamental needs after food and shelter is to be heard." Zoey dropped her pencil and leaned down to pick it up. "Wendell, would you read the first two paragraphs on page seventy-eight..." As Zoey sat back up, she saw a young boy standing at the door looking in at them. The boy was named Billy. "...where Isaacson describes the rapid improvement active listening brought to some special needs clients."

Wendell opened his book. He screamed and dropped it on his desk when there are suddenly a bunch of tarantulas crawling out of it.

Ms. Tishler and the students closest to him screamed and quickly got out of their chairs and away from him.

The tarantulas crawled all over Wendell.

"Please!" Wendell begged. "Get them off of me! Help! Help! Get them off of me! Help me! Oh, please help me! Please!"

"Sorry about that," Billy told him.

Wendell was still begging. "Please help me!"

∞ Slayers and Guardians ∞ 

Day Two

Morning - Master's Lair

Collin was sitting, listening to the Master.

"Fear is a wonderful thing," Master told him. "It is the most powerful force in the human world." He crouched to face Collin. "Not love, not hate, fear. When you were a mortal boy, what did you fear?'

"Monsters," Collin answered.

Master stood. "We are defined by the things we fear." He walked toward the large cross. "This symbol, these two plans of wood, it confounds me. Suffuses me with mortal dread. But fear is in the mind." He put his hand on the cross, holding on while it burned. "Like pain. It can be controlled." He let go. "If I can face my fear, it cannot master me." He looked up. "Something is happening above. Something new, powerful, psychic force. Do you feel it?"

"I feel change," Collin answered.

"Change," Master agreed. "Yes. For the worse."

∞

Sunnydale High School - Outside

Joyce was dropping off her kids. "You're awfully quiet this morning."

"We didn't sleep well," Brady told her.

"I'll say," Joyce told them. "I came to check on you twice. You all were yelling in your sleep. Do you know what you were dreaming?"

Brady shook his head. "Not really. Oh, no, our bags. We packed them for the weekend. We forgot."

"You and your dad can swing by the house and get your bags," Joyce reassured. "It's not an international crisis."

"Okay, yeah, we just, uh, had meant to bring them," Buffy told her. "He's picking us up here, right, at 3:30?"

"Honey, are you worried your father isn't gonna show?" Joyce asked.

Brooke shook her head. "No, not really. Should we be?"

Joyce smiled. "Well, of course not. I just, I--I know it's a hard situation. You just have to remember that your father adores all of you.  No more than I do, by the way."

Brady smirked. "Goodbye."

"Have a great day," Joyce told them.

"Thanks," Brady told her.

They got out to go to school.

∞

Hallway

Buffy, Brooke and Brady walked around the corner, meeting up with the rest of the Scoobies.

"Buffy," Eric told her. "Brooke. Brady. We've been looking for you guys."

"We have?" Xander asked. "Why didn't we just have Zoey the gypsy cast a spell to find them, then?"

Zoey hit Xander on the shoulder. Xander laughed.

"Alice, about the spiders?" Carmen asked. "Did you talk to Wyatt or Giles about..."

"Oh, the spiders," Xander repeated. "Willow's been kind of, um, what's the word I'm looking for? Insane about what happened yesterday."

"I don't like spiders, okay?" Willow asked. "Their furry bodies, and their sticky webs, and what do they need all those legs for anyway? I'll tell you, for crawling across your face in the middle of the night. Ew! How do they not ruffle you?"

"I'm sorry," Zoey told her. "I'm unruffled by spiders."

"Now, if a bunch of Nazis crawled all over my face..." Xander trailed off.

"Mm, it was pretty intense," Alice told them.

"Thank you," Willow told her.

"Well, the Hellmouth," Carmen told them. "The center of mystical convergence. Supernatural monsters. Been there."

"Little blase' there, aren't you?" Alice asked.

"I'm not worried," Brady told them. "If there's something bad out there, we'll find, Buffy, Brooke, Alice, Carmen and Wyatt will slay, we'll party."

"Oh, and don't forget  that Zoey can help with the slaying now more than we can," Eric added. "Whenever she gets a handle over whatever's going on with her. Same with Layla."

Zoey nodded sarcastically, nervously. "Thanks for having confidence in me, Eric."

∞

Library

The Scoobies walked into the library.

"You da gypsy, Zo," Xander told her.

"Okay, but we're still caring about the spiders here," Alice told them. "Let's not forget the spiders."

"Well, Giles and Wyatt said they were gonna look it up," Brooke told them. "Giles? Wyatt?"

"Are they not here?" Buffy asked.

Wyatt walked closer. "I'm here."

"Hey," Eric told him.

"Warlock, the newbie gypsy might need your help learning control just like the witch," Xander told him.

"Gypsy?" Wyatt repeated. "Zoey?"

"Yeah, Zoey told us that her aunt gave her and her mom Layla this huge bombshell," Eric answered. "That their family is from a long line of gypsies."

"Isn't that crazy?" Xander asked.

"Not really," Wyatt answered.

"Not really?" Buffy repeated. "And how is that not crazy?"

"Because I've met gypsies," Wyatt answered. "I've taught them. They've taught me. Years ago. I didn't know that any gypsies were still around. Most of them have been wiped out by vampires. Or they're in hiding." He looked at Buffy, Brooke, Alice and Carmen. "You remember how Angel told us about the curse that gave him his soul back?" The girls nodded. "Well, I researched what he told us. And it turns out that it was gypsies that cursed him with his soul."

"So this gypsy thing might be pretty cool after all," Brady told them.

"Zoey, do you know which line you, Layla and Jenny come from?" Wyatt asked.

"I think Aunt Jenny said Kalderash," Zoey answered.

Wyatt nodded. "That's the clan that cursed Angel with his soul."

"And this went back to being insane," Zoey told them.

Giles walked out of the stacks and looked around, bewildered.

"Hey, Dad," Alice told him. "Wakey, wakey."

"I was, uh, in the stacks," Giles told them. "I got lost."

"Did you find any theories on spiders coming out of books?" Xander asked, reaching around Willow's shoulder with his arm while wiggling his fingers. "Big, hairy, crawly..." Willow was startled, turning around and hitting him. "It's funny if you're me."

"And me," Eric told them.

Willow hit her brother. "Eric."

Eric chuckled. "Sorry, Willow."

Giles was mildly confused. "I couldn't find anything, uh... particularly illuminating. Um, I think perhaps you'd best have a chat with Wendell himself."

"Okay," Wyatt told them. "If he can still talk."

They gave Giles an odd look.

The students walked out of the library.

∞

Outside

The Scoobies walked toward Wendell, who was sitting on a bench.

"Hey, Wendell," Buffy told him. "How are you?"

Wendell looked up. "Huh?"

"You okay?" Brooke asked.

"Good talking to ya, man," Brady told him, patting Wendell on the back and starting to leave.

Alice grabbed the back of Brady's shirt, pulling him back.

"Do you guys want something?" Wendell asked.

"We just thought you might wanna talk about what happened," Brady told him.

"You know, yesterday?" Eric asked. "With the spiders?"

"I don't know what to say about that," Wendell told them.

"There's nothing to say," Carmen told him. "You saw two hundred insects, you Gonzoed, anybody would have."

"They're not insects," Wendell told them. "They're arachnids."

"They're from the Middle East?" Xander asked.

"Spiders are arachnids," Alice explained. "They have eight legs. Insects only have six. Why does everyone make that mistake?"

Brady shook his head awkwardly. "Don't know. Has anything like this ever happened before?" Wendell nodded. "When?"

"Lots of times," Wendell answered.

"Ew!" Willow told him. "You must hate spiders more than I do."

Wendell smiled, laughing. "I don't hate spiders. I love them. They hate me."

Cordelia walked by behind Wendell and turned to Zoey. "I hope you studied for the history test."

"What history test?" Zoey asked.

"The one we're having in fourth period right now," Cordelia answered.

"There's a history test?" Zoey asked. "Nobody told me there was a history test. I haven't... I..." She looked at the others. "Okay, I will catch up with you guys later."

Zoey ran off. The others stayed with Wendell.

"What do you mean, you love spiders?" Buffy asked.

"It's platonic, right?" Brooke asked teasingly to make him feel better.

Wendell managed a chuckle. "I had the best collection in the tri-county area. Browns and tarantulas and black widows. Then my folks shipped me off to wilderness camp. All my brother had to do was maintain their habitats. Instead he left their heat lamp on for a week. When I came home, they were all dead. That's when the nightmares started."

"The nightmares?" Buffy repeated.

Wendell nodded. "It's always the same. I'm sitting in the classroom, teacher asks me to read something, I open up my book and then there they are. They're coming after me. God, can you blame them after what I did?"

"And that's how it happens?" Brooke asked.

"Every time?" Eric asked.

"Yesterday in class, I thought I'd just nodded off again," Wendell explained. "But then everyone else started screaming, too."

∞

Inside - Hallway

Zoey was looking for her history class.

Cordelia was waiting by the door, holding it open. "You don't remember where class is, do you?"

"Uh..." Zoey trailed off.

"Hardly a shocker," Cordelia told her. "You've cut history just about every time we've had it. It's in here."

"I haven't been to class, I haven't read any of the assignments, how am I gonna pass this test?" Zoey asked.

"Blind luck?" Cordelia asked.

They walked into class.

∞

Classroom

Zoey was sitting and looking around at the other students.

The teacher walked by.

Zoey looked over at Cordelia, who apparently wasn't having any problems with the test.

Cordelia turned the page, looked back at Zoey and went back to taking the test.

The teacher came by again and stopped to glance at Zoey's work. He continued, apparently satisfied.

Zoey flipped through the short answer test. All the pages were still blank. Zoey glanced up at the clock. 11:20. She looked at the space for her name. "Well, at least I know my name."

Zoey Francis.

Zoey started to write, but her pencil broke. She let out an exasperated breath, grabbing her sharpener and sharpened her pencil. She looked back up at the clock, and it was now 12:10 already. She stared at it in disbelief, looking around everyone.

The teacher was watching Zoey intently, tapping his pencil.

Zoey looked back down at her test. The reason why Zoey was so overwhelmed and freaking out because she could feel all of the other emotions in the room with all the other students around her, apart of the empathy part of the gypsy power now that she wasn't wearing her necklace. She was breathing heavily, closing her eyes, trying to shut out all of the feelings around her, but it was nearly impossible to do.

The bell rang.

All around Zoey the students get up and began turning their tests in.

Zoey just sat and watched, still overwhelmed with all of the feelings she could feel through the empathy that was running wild in her mind and body.

Billy appeared at the door and looked in. Zoey saw him there with a sad look on his face. Billy walked off down the hall.

The classroom is empty now, and Zoey was sitting at her desk alone. She was so overwhelmed, and without wearing her necklace that didn't allow her to use her powers when she had it on, her newfound powers that were so used  to being bottled up lashed out, creating a crash all around her as things were thrown down. Zoey stood, breathing heavily in worry and nervousness, almost fearful because she could have hurt someone if she hadn't been alone in the room, but being that she had been alone, no one was hurt.

∞

Hallway

Billy was walking along, coming upon two girls talking as they came down the stairs.

One of the girls was named Laura. "Well, they both got detention, which is completely unfair since Sean started it. Anyway, it means we can't do the movie." The other girl looked disappointed as they stopped in front of the basement door. "I'm gonna take a..." Laura made a smoking gesture. "Break."

Her friend walked away. Laura looked around to see if anyone was watching, opening the door, walking in.

Billy shook his head. "You shouldn't go in there."

∞

Basement

Laura walked down the basement stairs, looking around, satisfied that no one was there, putting down her books, pulling out her pack of smokes, pulling out a cigarette.

A man that looked like a demon but mostly human was behind a rack, watching her as she lit up, walking into the weak light, revealing his face was badly scarred. "Lucky 19."

The man attacked Laura, making her scream as he began to whale on her with his huge deformed club arm as she screamed and tried to roll out of the way of his blows.

∞∞

Sunnydale Hospital - Hallway

Wyatt and Giles walked down the hallway, looking for Laura's room, while the other Scoobies were still at school so they wouldn't get in trouble for skipping class again.

"I think Layla said room 3016," Wyatt told him. "Do you know the girl?"

"She came to the library frequently," Giles answered. "Laura's nice enough. Nobody saw who attacked her."

"Well, I was rather hoping that Laura did," Wyatt told him.

They found the room.

∞

Laura's Room

Laura had cuts and bruises all over. Wyatt and Giles walked in.

"Hey, Laura," Giles told her.

"Hi," Laura told them.

"I hope we're not intruding, um..." Giles trailed off, holding out a small potted flower arrangement, setting it next to the bed.

"That's okay," Laura told them. "I don't wanna be left alone."

"You understand we're anxious to make sure this--this doesn't happen again," Giles told her.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Wyatt asked.

Laura nodded. "I was in the basement. I went down for a smoke. There was... someone there."

"Someone you knew?" Giles asked.

Laura shook her head. "I've never... seen anything like it."

Giles exchanged a look with Wyatt. "It?"

"Can you describe it?" Wyatt asked.

Laura was having trouble talking about it, unable to answer.

"Hey, that's okay," Giles told her. "Don't worry about it. Yes, you--you--you just rest now."

Layla walked in for work to help Laura. "Hi, Laura." She stopped when she saw Giles and Wyatt, nodding to them. "Rupert. Wyatt."

Giles nodded in return. "Layla."

Wyatt looked at Laura. "If you remember anything, you can tell us. Even if it may seem weird."

"She needs her rest now," Layla told them.

They turned to leave.

"Lucky 19," Laura told them.

They stopped.

"I'm sorry?" Giles asked.

"It's what he said, right before," Laura answered. "He said lucky 19. That's weird, right?"

"Yes," Giles answered. "Yes, it is."

Wyatt nodded. "Feel better."

Giles nodded in agreement. "Take care."

∞

Hallway

Giles, Wyatt and Layla walked into the hallway.

"Layla, is she gonna be all right?" Giles asked.

"She'll recover," Layla answered. "She's got a couple of shattered bones, a little internal bleeding. She got off pretty easy."

"Easy?" Giles repeated.

"Have you looked up the word lately?" Wyatt asked.

"Well, the first one's still in a coma," Layla replied, nodding to another room.

"First what?" Wyatt asked.

"First victim," Layla answered. Giles and Wyatt followed her gaze to Billy in the other room, in a coma, realizing why she had said that Laura got off easy, because Billy was in much worse condition, stunned, sympathetic. "They found him a week ago. Exact same MO as the girl, only he's in worse shape. If he doesn't wake up soon..." Layla sighed, shaking her head. "Somebody's gotta stop this guy."

"Somebody will," Giles told her. "Layla, Zoey told us about the situation the two of you are in." Layla nodded, looking down. "And we want you to know, whatever help you both need, we will help you with."

"Thank you," Layla told them. "Rupert, Wyatt, don't worry about me for now. Just worry about what's happening to Zoey. I know that Buffy, Brooke, Brady, Alice, Eric, Carmen, Xander and Willow are going to be helping her, but still."

Giles and Wyatt nodded.

∞

Sunnydale High School - Hallway

A punk kid was boasting to his friends. "Listen, I'm not afraid of him. Hey, if he wants to fight, then I'm taking him down. I'm not backing off on this. This is about honor. I'll break his neck."

Carmen, Willow, Eric and Xander walked past them toward the lockers.

"I'm just saying," Carmen told them. "Wendell had a dream and then that exact thing happened."

"Zoey said that this dream she had about her powers lashing out like that started after her Aunt Jenny told her and Layla about what they are?" Eric asked. "And then that exact same thing happened."

"Which is fair wiggins, I admit," Carmen told them. "But do you think that ties in with Laura?"

Eric shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe she dreamed about getting beat up."

"We should ask Wyatt and Giles when they get back from the hospital," Willow told them.

The punk's mother suddenly appeared in the hall.

Carmen, Willow, Eric and Xander watched them.

"Oh, there's my little baby!" the mom said.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" the punk asked. "Mom..."

She laughed, kissing his cheek. "How's my little pookie?"

"Mom, Mom, please don't kiss me in front of the guys!" the punk told her. "It's embarrassing, Mom! Please!"

She laughed. "You cute little rascal, you!"

"Mom..." the punk trailed off. "Thanks, but mom, please, my friends are right here..."

Willow closed her locker.

They headed to their next class.

"It could be a coincidence," Eric told them. "You know, Wendell finds a spider's nest and we all wig because he dreamt about spiders. A test/power mishap with Zoey and we all wig because she dreamt about it."

Carmen shrugged. "So it may not be connected."

∞

Classroom

They walked into class. The students saw Xander come in, starting to laugh.

"If there is a connection, it doesn't sound like anything..." Willow trailed off when she noticed the students laughing. "What?" Eric, Willow and Carmen were confused, looking behind them at Xander. Xander's clothes were gone, and he was standing there in his underwear. "Xander! What happened to your..."

"I-I-I don't know," Xander told them, freaking out. "I was, uh, dressed a minute ago. It's a dream. It's gotta be a dream." He pinched himself. "Ow! Wake up." He pinched himself. "Ow! Gotta wake up."

Xander realized he was not dreaming and ran from the room screaming. Eric, Carmen and Willow exchanged a look, chasing after him.

∞

Library

Giles was going over a number of newspapers. "This can't be happening. This can't be..."

Wyatt and Alice were in the room. Buffy, Brooke, Brady and Zoey walked in.

"What's the word?" Buffy asked.

"Oh, uh, we've got back issues of the, uh, papers to try to do some research," Alice answered.

"Did you find anything?" Brooke asked.

"I don't know," Giles told them.

"You don't know if you didn't find anything?" Buffy asked.

"Dad's having a problem," Alice told them.

"What is it?" Brooke asked.

"He can't read," Alice answered.

"What do you mean?" Brady asked. "He can read, like, three languages."

"Five actually, on a normal day," Giles corrected. "The words here don't make any sense. It's gibberish."

Giles turned away in frustration.

Zoey looked at the paper. "That's him."

"Who?" Alice asked.

"The kid I've been seeing around school," Zoey answered.

Buffy read from the paper. "'12 year old Billy Palmer was found beaten and unconscious after his kiddie league game Saturday. Doctors describe his condition as critical.'"

"When was this published?" Brooke asked, looking at the date. "Last week."

"It says he's in a coma in intensive care," Alice told them. "That's the boy from the hospital."

"The first victim?" Brady asked. "Zoey's been seeing him around the school?"

"Yeah, first when the spiders got Wendell, and then when I didn't know a thing on the history test when I was bombarded with feelings and emotions that weren't mine that made my powers lash out because I haven't been wearing my necklace since Aunt Jenny told me the truth," Zoey answered. "I thought it was weird seeing this kid around, but I forgot about it."

"Uh, the boy's been in a coma for a week," Buffy told them. "How can this be possible?"

"What, are we knowledge kids now?" Brooke asked. "Explanations are Wyatt, Alice and Giles' terrain."

"Well, gypsies are known for psychic powers," Wyatt explained. "Empathy, psychometry, astral projection, visions, able to see spirits or astral projections."

"Okay, slow down, Wyatt," Zoey told him. "I'm dizzy enough."

"I think that this kid is sleeping, astral projection, having an astral body which can travel through time and space," Wyatt explained.

"Billy's in a coma," Brooke told them. "That's like sleep, right?"

"In a manner of speaking, although one doesn't always awake from a coma," Alice answered.

"Could Zoey be seeing Billy's asteriod body?" Buffy asked.

"Astral body," Alice corrected. "And I don't know. As usual, one doesn't have an inordinate amount of information to work with."

Wyatt looked at the jersey that Billy was wearing in the newspaper article, which said 19. "Lucky 19."

Hank Summers walked in, looking at his kids. "There you are. I've been looking everywhere. Why aren't you in class."

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Brady asked. "You're not supposed to pick us up till after school. Is something wrong?"

"Well, I--I need to talk to you," Hank told them.

"Something is wrong?" Brooke asked. "Is it mom?"

"No, no, it's not your mother," Hank answered. "She's fine. Could I speak with you three for a moment, privately?"

"Um, sure," Buffy answered. "Uh, oh, I'm sorry. Dad, this is Alice and Rupert Giles, Zoey Francis, and Wyatt Pratt. This is our dad, Hank Summers."

Alice shook his hand. "Pleasure."

Hank shook Zoey, Giles and Wyatt's hands as well. "Likewise."

"We'll be back," Brady told them.

They left the library. Giles tried reading the papers again to no avail.

∞

Outside

Buffy, Brooke and Brady walked with their father.

"I came early because there's something I've needed to tell you, about your mother and me, why we split up," Hank explained.

"Well, you always told us it was because..." Brooke trailed off.

"Uh, I know we always said it was because we'd just grown too far apart," Hank told them.

"Yeah, isn't that true?" Brady asked.

"Well, come on, guys, let's--let's sit down," Hank told them. They sat down. "You're old enough now to know the truth."

"Is there someone else?" Buffy asked.

Hank shook his head. "No. No, it was nothing like that."

"Then what was it?" Brooke asked.

"It was you," Hank told them.

"Us?" Brady asked.

"Having you, raising you, seeing you every day," Hank told them. "I mean, do you have any idea what that's like?"

"What?" Buffy asked.

"Gosh, you don't even see what's right in front of your face, do you?" Hank asked. "Well, big surprise there, all you ever think about is yourselves. You get in trouble, you embarrass us with all the crazy stunts you pull, and do I have to go on?"

"No, please don't," Brooke told him.

"You're sullen and rude, and you're not nearly as bright as I thought you were going to be," Hank told them. "Hey, Brady, let's be honest. Could you stand to live in the same house with a son like you, or daughters like Buffy and Brooke?"

"Why are you saying all these things?" Brady asked, getting mad.

Brooke and Buffy were heartbroken, a single tear falling for both of them.

"Because they're true," Hank told them. "I think that's the least we owe each other." Buffy began to sniff and cry. Brooke looked away, wiping a tear away. Brady glared at their father. "You know, I don't think it's very mature, getting blubbery or angry when I'm just trying to be honest. Speaking of which, I don't really get anything out of these weekends with you. So, what do you say we just don't do them anymore?" They just looked at him. Hank patted them on the shoulders. "I sure thought you'd turn out differently."

Hank stood, walking away. The siblings watched him go. Billy was nearby, watching them.

∞

Library

Carmen, Willow, Eric and Xander walked into the library to join Alice, Wyatt and Giles.

Xander was pulling on his gym shirt.

"Red alert," Carmen told them. "Where're Zoey, Buffy, Brooke and Brady?"

"Uh, they just stepped out," Giles told them. "Buffy, Brooke and Brady's father came by earlier. He needed to talk to them. Zoey's out elsewhere."

Wyatt looked at Xander in confusion. "W--where are your other clothes?"

"Oh, don't I wish I had the answer to that question," Xander told them.

"Xander kinda found himself in front of our class not wearing much of anything," Willow told them.

"Except my underwear," Xander told them.

Carmen laughed. "Yeah. It was really..." Xander gave her a look. "Bad. It was a bad thing."

"Bad thing?" Eric repeated. "He was naked. 'Bad thing' doesn't cover it."

"Everyone staring?" Willow asked. "I would hate to have everyone paying attention to me like that."

"With nudity!" Xander told them. "It's a total nightmare."

Willow realized what was happening. "Well, yeah, Xander. It was your nightmare."

"Except the part with you waking up going 'it's all a dream'," Eric told him. "It happened."

"Like it happened to Wendell," Carmen told them. "That thing with the spiders? Wendell had a recurring dream about that."

"And Zoey dreamt that she would fail every single test and not be able to control her new powers after what Jenny Calendar told her and Layla," Willow told them.

"I dreamt that I got lost in the stacks and I couldn't read," Giles told them.

"Of course," Wyatt told them.

"Uh, our dreams are coming true?" Xander asked.

"Dreams?" Wyatt repeated. "That would be a musical comedy version of this. Nightmares, our bloody nightmares are coming true."

"So, why is this happening?" Willow asked.

"Billy," Alice answered.

"Well, that explanation was shorter than usual," Eric told them. "It's Billy. Who's Billy?"

"He's a boy in the local hospital that Zoey's been seeing around," Alice answered. "He was beaten. He's in a coma."

"Somehow, we think he's crossed over from the nightmare world he's trapped in," Wyatt explained.

"And he brought the nightmare world with him," Xander told them. "Thanks a bunch, Billy."

"How can he do that?" Willow asked.

"Things like that are easy when you live on a Hellmouth," Alice  told them.

"Well, um, we have to stop it," Willow told them.

"And soon," Carmen agreed. "Or everyone in Sunnydale is gonna be facing their own worst nightmares."

∞

Hallway

Cordelia opened her locker, looking at her mirror. Her hair had become totally frizzy, freaking her out as she tried to force a comb through it to no avail. "I don't understand. This can't be happening. I was just at the salon." She put her hands on her head in terror. "Oh, my God."

Cordelia tried the hair on the other side of her head, but it was just as bad.

∞

Outside

Zoey was walking alone, finding Billy by some stairs to the gym entrance, following him.

∞

Gym

Zoey walked in, finding Billy sitting on the stands. "Billy?" Billy looked at her. Zoey walked closer. "Are you Billy Palmer?"

"I'm Billy," Billy answered.

"Why are you here?" Zoey asked, sitting next to him. "Did something bad happen to you after your game?"

"Something bad?" Billy repeated, pulling his hands through his hair. "I--I don't remember."

"Do you remember playing baseball?" Zoey asked.

"Uh-huh, yeah," Billy answered. "I play second base."

"Are you lucky 19?" Zoey asked.

Billy looked at her. "That's what he calls me."

"Who?" Zoey asked.

"The ugly man," Billy answered. "He wants to kill me. And he hurt that girl."

"Why does he want to kill you, Billy?" Zoey asked.

"He's..." Billy trailed off nervously.

"Billy, it's okay," Zoey reassured. "Just tell me."

"He's here!" Billy told her.

Before Zoey could turn around, the ugly man clubbed Zoey with his deformed arm, knocking her down.

∞∞

The ugly man hit Zoey in the face, knocking her off the stands to to the floor. Zoey quickly got up, ducking another hit, breathing heavily nervously, backing away, kicking him in the side, unable to control her power since she had spent her whole life with her powers bound by the necklace that she had never taken off, so she settled with punching him repeatedly, kicking him back. The ugly man wasn't phased, swinging again with his club arm, hitting her squarely in the back, knocking her into the stands, swinging again as she got up, making her fall backward and onto the floor again. Zoey rolled out of the way as he swung again, getting up quickly, starting to run, limping slightly.

∞

Hallway

Alice, Carmen, Willow, Eric, Xander, Wyatt and Giles walked out of the library.

"Zoey knows what's going on," Willow told them. "But Buffy, Brooke and Brady don't know this is happening."

"And given the sort of things that they all tend to dream about, it's imperative that we find them," Giles told them.

"Probably faster if we split up to look for them," Xander told them.

"Good idea," Carmen told them.

Eric sighed. "Oh, uh, faster, but... not really safer."

They split up.

∞

Outside

Zoey slid a hockey stick through the door handles to slow the ugly man down. The ugly man pounded on the door as she leaned against it.

Zoey looked around, seeing Billy, running over to him. "Billy!"

"I'm sorry, I can't help it," Billy told her.

"Who is he?" Zoey asked.

"He's the ugly man," Billy answered.

"He's too strong," Zoey told him. "I can't fight him. We have to find my friends. They can help us."

"We have to hide," Billy told her.

"No, he'll find us," Zoey told him.

"Yes, but we have to hide," Billy told her. "That's how it happens. We hide, and then he comes."

They went to find the others.

∞

Hallway

Willow came down the stairs, seeing a commotion down the hallway.

Cordelia was being dragged by some nerds into the chess club. "No! What are you doing? Hey, no! You don't understand. I don't wanna go. I'm not even on the chess team. I swear, I'm not!"

They dragged her into the room. Willow smiled at the sight. She heard her name being called from the door to the basement. "Willow!" Willow turned toward the voice, going to the basement door, opening it, looking inside. "Willow!"

∞

Basement

Willow walked downstairs, leaving the door open. "Buffy? Brooke? Brady? Zoey?" She reached the bottom of the steps, looking around. "I'm not afraid. You'd think I'd be afraid, but I'm not."

Willow continued into the room, looking around. A hand grabbed her on the shoulder, pulling her away as she screamed.

∞

Hallway

Carmen was walking alone, looking around. Her powers started to go out of control. She started to levitate without trying to, making her let out a startled gasp as she struggled for control, trying to pull herself down. Her telekinesis destroyed everything in the hallway, making everything fall into a mess surrounding the floor. "Okay. All right. I can get this under control. I think. I hope." She still couldn't control her powers, bouncing through the air as she levitated out of control, hitting multiple walls and lockers, hurting herself pretty badly without meaning to, yelling in pain. "Somebody help!"

Buffy and Brady heard the commotion, running into the hallway. "Carmen? Hey!"

"Hey, it's okay," Brady told her. "We're gonna get you down."

"Can you calm down?" Buffy asked. "Get your powers under control. So we can pull you down."

Carmen tried to very hard, gasping in effort.

Brady reached above them to grab her hands to pull her down. "It's okay. It's all right. We got you."

"We got you," Buffy repeated. They got Carmen on the floor on her feet, helping her stay steady and helping her regain control of her powers. "There you go."

"You got it?" Brady asked. Carmen nodded, holding her arm in pain. "What the hell was that about?"

"We figured out what's going on," Carmen answered. "We're living our own worst nightmares."

"And yours was of losing control of your powers?" Buffy asked. "Hurting yourself?"

"And others," Carmen answered.

"All right," Brady told her. "It's okay."

"Let's just go find the others," Buffy told them. "They can't be doing too good right now either."

∞

Other Hallway

Eric ran through a door and found the hall that had been vandalized, with swastikas spray-painted everywhere. A light was hanging from the ceiling, flickering.

Eric spied a chocolate bar on the floor. "All right!" He picked up the bar and tore it open. "Someone else's loss is my chocolatey goodness." He took a huge bite, looking around some more and saw a Hershey bar. He walked over to it, picked it up and tore it open. "This is my lucky day."

Eric took a huge bite out of the Hershey bar and looked around again.

∞

Outside

Zoey and Billy walked out of a door.

Zoey was confused. "Wha--I was sure this led to the library." Billy looked at a couple students playing on the other side of the fence. Zoey walked closer. "They're just playing. What is it? What's bothering you?"

"Baseball," Billy answered. "When you lose, it's bad."

"Did you lose your game last week?" Zoey asked.

Billy nodded. "It was my fault."

"Why was it your fault?" Zoey asked.

"I missed a ball and I should have caught it," Billy answered.

"You missed one ball and the whole game was your fault?" Zoey asked skeptically. "What, you were only one playing? There wasn't eight other people on your team?"

"He said it was my fault," Billy told her.

"Who said?" Zoey asked. "Billy, did he hurt you after the game?"

Billy nodded. "Can we go another way to find your friends?'

Zoey nodded. "Sure, okay, we can go around the cafeteria."

∞

Elsewhere

Alice was looking for everyone, making her way through the student crowd, walking through some students, suddenly finding herself in the cemetery at night. "What just happened? What the bloody hell?"

∞

Basement

A show director was pulling Willow through a door to a dressing room. Willow was dressed in a green kimono for a part of Cio-Cio-San, the title character of Puccini's opera Madam Butterfly.

"Man, I thought you weren't gonna show," the director told her. "Aldo is beside himself."

The director made some adjustments to Willow's kimono.

Willow could hear the Emcee make his announcement on the stage. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are proud to present two of the world's greatest singers."

The audience began to applaud.

The director guided Willow onto the stage behind the curtain. "I hope you're warmed up. It's an ugly crowd out there tonight. All the reviewers showed up."

"All the way from Firenze, Italy, the one and only Aldo Gianfranco! And all the way from Sunnydale, California, the world's finest soprano, Willow Rosenberg!"

Willow saw Aldo on stage through the curtain, dressed in a tux and holding out his hand to greet her, backing away into the director. "But I--I didn't learn the words."

The director gave Willow a shove onto the stage. Willow stumbled through the curtains and bumped into Aldo. Aldo gave the terrified Willow a look. The applause died down. The spotlight was on Aldo.

Aldo began to sing the famous love duet from Act 1. "Bimba dagli occhi pieni di malia, ora sei tutta mia. [Child, from whose eyes the witchery is shining, now you are all my own.]" The spotlight moved to Willow when it was her turn. Willow was stiff with fear, remaining silent as she looked between Aldo and the crowd. Realizing she was not going to sing, Aldo began again, and the spotlight shifted back to him. "Sei tutta vestita di giglio, mi piace la treccia tua bruna fra i candidi veli. [You're dressed all in white light a lily, your ebony tresses are shining on ivory shoulders.]"

When Aldo finished his bar, he gave Willow an annoyed look, stomping his foot.

Willow was still frightened, speaking meekly. "My turn?"

"Mm-hmm," Aldo answered in annoyance.

Willow turned to the crowd, letting out a high-pitched squeak. Numerous murmurs came from the audience. Aldo was disgusted, turning away.

∞

Cemetery (Night)

Brooke had been walking, appearing in the cemetery, looking around in confusion, seeing Wyatt standing at a couple of gravestones, walking closer in concern. "Wyatt?" Wyatt looked up, surprised to see her. "What's wrong? What happened? How did we get here?"

"I'm not exactly sure about how we got here," Wyatt admitted. "But I know that we're living our own worst nightmares."

"Which explains why Buffy, Brady and I just had a conversation from hell with our dad," Brooke told him. "Our father was such an ass to me, Buffy and Brady. What, uh... what's your nightmare about?" She walked closer, looking at the headstone to read a woman's name. "Who is she?"

"My girlfriend from centuries ago," Wyatt answered. "Before I cast the immortality spell."

"What happened to her?" Brooke asked. "If you don't mind me asking."

"My brother," Wyatt answered. "He turned into a vampire and he killed her to try to make me lose my mind."

"Your brother killed your girlfriend to try to make you go dark side?" Brooke asked. "Wyatt, I'm so sorry."

Wyatt took a deep breath. "I've been afraid to get close to anyone since then, for the fear that they would end up the same way she did."

"Your brother, he's the one that Angel and Darla used to run with, the one you were running from, isn't he?" Brooke asked.

Wyatt nodded. "Yes."

"You don't have to live with this stuff alone, Wyatt," Brooke told him.

"It's better if I do, Brooke," Wyatt told her. "So no one can get hurt because of me again."

Brooke shook her head, turning to face him. "She did not die because of you. She died because of your brother. It's not your fault. It's never been your fault."

"I wish it was that simple," Wyatt told her. "But it's not. It's never been."

Brooke looked at him sadly in sympathy, stunned by what she learned.

∞

Sunnydale High School - Hallway (Day)

There were sheets of plastic hanging from the ceiling.

Eric pushed though a pair and stopped. His hands were full of various chocolate bars. "I love these bars." He spotted another one on the floor. "A Chocolate Hurricane. These are the best. I haven't had one of these since my..." He heard incessant giggling coming toward him. "...sixth..." He looked around in fear and recognition "...birthday."

Eric saw a shadow come up behind another sheet of plastic. A clown suddenly burst through, with dark, evil, red and black make-up with a knife in hand. Eric yelled. The clown held up a knife, slashing toward Eric, slashing into his shoulder. Eric held his bleeding shoulder, backing away quickly, falling, somersaulting backward into the next hall. The clown walked closer. Eric started to crawl away fast.

∞

Cemetery (Night)

Alice was wandering through the cemetery, finding a fresh grave, confused. "Who died?"

She heard the Master's voice. "Nobody died." Alice looked up in surprise. "What's the fun of burying someone if they're already dead?"

Alice looked at him in disbelief. "You."

"So, this is one of the Guardians?" Master asked. "You're prettier than the last ones."

"This isn't real," Alice told him. "You can't be free."

"You still don't understand, do you?" Master asked. "I am free because you fear it. Because you fear it, the world is crumbling. Your nightmares are made flesh. You have little Billy to thank for that."

Alice shook her head, backing away. "This is a dream."

Master appeared behind her. "A dream is a wish your heart makes." He grabbed Alice by the neck. "This is real life." He pulled her around so her back was to the open grave. "Come on, Guardian! What are you afraid of? Is it turning into a vampire, just like your mother?"

Master growled, baring his teeth, but didn't bite, throwing Alice into the coffin at the bottom of the grave. The lid slammed shut.

Alice couldn't use her powers because of the nightmare world, practically paralyzed by fear. "No! Help me!"

"How about being buried alive?" Master asked, laughing manically, starting to shovel dirt into the grave.

Alice struggled, trying to use her powers to break free but couldn't. "Somebody help me, please! No, no! Please! No, no, no! Somebody help me, please! No!" The first shovelful of dirt hit the coffin, and some fell in through the cracks of the poorly constructed coffin. "Please, no! Help me! No!"

The next shovelful of dirt covered the crack between the boards.

∞∞

Sunnydale High School - Hallway

Willow came through a door while being pelted with tomatoes, dressed like she had been in a show or musical or whatever. Eric, Zoey, Xander, Brady, Buffy and Carmen ran up to her. 

"Zoey, there you are," Xander told her in relief. "Brady. Carmen, Willow, Eric. Buffy, too. Wow. All right. Where are Giles and Alice? Wyatt and Brooke?"

Willow was still horrified. "I had to sing. Very bad to sing."

"Guys, come on," Brady told them. "Let's find the others."

Buffy looked at Eric's slashed shoulder worriedly. "Oh, my God. Eric, what happened to you?"

Eric looked at Willow, Carmen and Xander. "Remember my sixth birthday party?"

Xander laughed. "Oh, yeah. When the clown chased you and you got so scared that you had..." He stopped smiling, looking at Eric's shoulder. "Oh!"

The clown sliced through a sheet of plastic. Willow and Xander screamed. They all started to run, right into Giles.

"You found Buffy, Brady and Zoey, good," Giles told them. "Where are Alice, Brooke and Wyatt?"

They grabbed Giles, running and pulling him with them. Giles saw the clown, starting to run with them.

Eric saw a broken locker door on the ground, slowing to a stop, looking a t his shoulder in annoyance, tired of the whole thing, grabbing the door, turning to the clown.

"Eric!" Buffy told him.

The clown raised his knife to stab Eric. Eric put the locker door above his head to stop him, turning it to the side with all the strength he had, hitting his face, knocking him out, making him fall.

Eric used the locker door to point at him. "You are a lousy clown. Your balloon animals are pathetic. Everyone can make a giraffe."

Eric dropped the locker door on his body.

∞

Outside

They all walked outside.

"I feel good," Eric told them in relief. "I feel liberated."

People were running past them.

"Eric, you seem to be the only one," Brady told him. "Things are getting worse."

"In a few hours, reality will fold completely into the realm of nightmares," Giles told them.

"Well, what do we do?" Carmen asked.

"The only thing I can think is to try and wake Billy," Giles told them.

"Uh, no," Xander told him. "We can't leave without Alice, Brooke and Wyatt."

"Agreed, but who knows where they might have gone?" Giles asked.

Buffy saw a dimensional rift to the graveyard across the street. "Excuse me. When did they put a cemetery in across the street?"

"And when did they make it night over there?" Willow added.

They headed that way.

∞

Cemetery (Night)

Brooke and Wyatt were digging at the grave where Alice had been buried alive.

Brooke was crying. "No. I couldn't save her."

The others arrived.

"Save who?" Carmen asked. "Brooke, Wyatt, what's wrong?"

"We heard Alice screaming," Wyatt answered. "We couldn't use our powers to save her."

"Your nightmares were being unable to use your powers to save people," Brady realized. "Giles' nightmare was losing Alice."

Giles had tears in his eyes, trying not to cry.  Brady was heartbroken. The others were just as devastated.

Giles knelt next to his daughters' grave. "I've failed in my duty to protect you. To teach you. My daughter. I've lost you the way we lost your mother. I should have been more c--cautious. Taken more time to train you. But you were so gifted. And the evil was so great. I'm sorry, Alice."

Giles laid his hand on the fresh soil. As he started to stand, a hand reached up through the dirt and grabbed his.

Willow screamed.

Giles tore himself away.

Alice came up through the dirt out of the grave, brushing herself off.

Brady, Carmen, Willow, Xander and Buffy were in shock. "Alice?"

Alice looked up. She had turned into a vampire. "I thought I was dead."

"Alice, your face," Xander told her.

Alice felt her face, realizing what had happened. "Oh, God."

Alice kept her hands up to hide her face.

Brady took a couple of steps toward her. "Alice..."

Alice turned away from them. "Don't look at me!"

"You never told us you dreamt of becoming a vampire," Buffy told her.

"Why did you dream of becoming a vampire?" Carmen asked.

"Because it's what happened to Alice's mother," Giles answered somberly.

The others looked at Alice and Giles in shock and sympathy.

"This isn't a dream," Willow told them.

"No," Eric agreed. "No, it's not."

"But there's a chance that wee can make it go away," Wyatt told them. "This all comes from Billy."

"Now, if we can only wake him up, we believe that the nightmares will stop," Xander told them. "Reality will shift back into place."

"But we have to do it now," Buffy told them. "I need all of you to hold it together long enough to end this."

"We can do that," Carmen told them. "Alice, can you?"

Alice looked at them, nodding. "Yeah. I think I can."

"Thank you," Willow told her.

Alice looked over her shoulder. "Well, we better hurry." She looked at Eric's shoulder. "'Cause I'm getting hungry and fighting the urge to feed off Eric's wound."

Alice walked away.

Eric followed. "That's a joke, right?"

The others followed.

"Are you sure everything will go back once he's awake?" Willow asked.

"Oh, uh, positive," Giles told them.

"Well, how do we wake Billy up?" Xander asked. "What if we can't?"

"Xander," Brady told him. "Do shut up."

∞

Sunnydale Hospital - Hallway (Day)

The Scoobies came running down the hallway to Billy's room. Pandemonium reigned. Layla was standing by the door to Billy's room.

"Layla," Giles told her. Layla turned to face them, completely overwhelmed, looking around. "What happened?"

"I lost control," Layla answered. "Without the necklace..."

"Mom, don't worry," Zoey told her. "I lost control earlier today, too."

"Yeah, it was part of both of your fears," Buffy told her. "Long story."

"No time to tell," Brooke told her. "Is Billy still here?"

Layla nodded.

∞

Billy's Room

The group ran into the room, looking at Billy in bed.

"What now?" Carmen asked.

"Um..." Willow trailed off, leaning next to Billy. "Billy?"

"Billy?" Carmen asked.

Billy appeared by the curtains, astral form. "That won't work."

Eric looked at him in surprise. "Billy? Uh, Billy, you have to wake up."

"No," Billy told them. "I told her, I have to hide."

"Why?" Brady asked. "From what?"

Zoey looked down the hall. "From him."

The ugly man walked toward them. They saw him through the window.

"Aw, man," Xander told them. "What do we do?"

"I think I know," Wyatt told them, taking off his jacket.

They heard buzzing outside, peeking through the blinds to see giant black wasps flying over the town.

"Whatever it is, it better be soon," Eric told them.

They nodded.

∞

Hallway

Buffy, Brooke, Wyatt, Alice and Carmen walked toward the ugly man, but none of them had control over their abilities because that was their fear. Zoey and Layla stood by the door to the hospital room, neither of them having control, and not knowing how to control their powers even when they weren't lashing out because of fear yet.

Buffy looked at the ugly man. "Glad you showed up. You see, we're having a really bad day."

"Lucky 19," the ugly man told them.

"Scary," Brooke told him mockingly. "I'll tell you something, though. There are a lot scarier things than you."

Alice let her face turn into vampire visage. "And I'm one of them."

The ugly man stopped in his tracks. Alice roared, running to attack, jumping on him, making him fall, punching him twice in the face, trying for a third punch, but he blocked her, getting his foot under her stomach, pushing hard, making her fall back. Alice stood quickly to roundhouse kick him in the gut, making him double over. The ugly man pushed her into the window of Billy's room, throwing her into the opposite wall, making her fall.

Even though they didn't have control over their powers, Wyatt, Carmen, Brooke, Zoey and Layla used them against the ugly man, sending him flying against the wall at the end of the hall, making him fall. Buffy ran toward the ugly man. The ugly man tried to punch her with his club arm, but Buffy ducked, and his arm slammed into a wall. Buffy came up behind him, side kicking him in the back. The ugly man slammed into her, knocking her through the door into Billy's room and against the bed.

∞

Billy's Room

The ugly man was magically thrown into the room by the Wyatt, Brooke, Carmen, Zoey and Layla. Alice ran into the room to kick the ugly man toward Buffy. Buffy spun to kick him back toward Alice. The ugly man swung at them with his club arm, but Alice and Buffy caught it, roughly bringing it down, breaking it. The ugly man wailed in pain. Alice body checked him into the wall, where he hit his head and slumped to the floor, unconscious. Everyone just stared at him.

"I--is he dead?" Billy asked.

"Come here, Billy," Carmen told him.

"I--I don't..." Billy trailed off.

"You have to do the rest," Carmen told him.

Billy slowly walked around the bed and over to the ugly man.

"What  are they doing?" Willow asked.

Giles gestured for her to be quiet.

"I get it," Eric told them.

Zoey took Billy's hand. Billy looked up at her, then everyone.

"No more hiding," Wyatt told them.

Billy looked down at the ugly man. Zoey let go of his hand. Billy reached for the ugly man's neck, peeling back his face. A bright white light streamed out.

In the next instant, everything was back to normal. The ugly man was gone. Alice was human again. Xander and Willow were in their regular clothes. The hospital was functioning. Layla, Zoey, Brooke, Alice, Carmen and Wyatt had complete control of their powers. Eric looked at his shoulder. There was no wound, no blood, no pain.

Brady showed Alice a mirror that showed her human face. They both smiled, embracing in relief.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, looking up. Billy woke up.

"Hey, he's waking up," Xander told them.

They all gathered around.

"I had this strangest dream," Billy told them. He looked at Zoey. "And you were in it." He looked at everyone else. "And you. Who are you people?"

They all smiled.

Billy's coach walked in. "Oh, huh. Billy's got company." He took off his cap. "I--I--I'm his kiddie league coach. I come by here every day, just hoping against hope that he's gonna wake up soon. He's, uh, my lucky 19." Everyone exchanged a knowing look, realizing that he was the one that hurt Billy. "So, um, how is he?"

Brady stepped aside to show him that Billy was up. "He's awake."

"What?" the coach asked.

"You blamed him for losing the game," Willow told him. "So you caught up with him afterwards, didn't you?"

The coach acted innocent. "What are you talking about?"

Billy sat up. "You said that it was my fault that we lost." The coach realized he had been found out and tried to get away. Eric grabbed him by the jacket and stopped him. "It wasn't my fault. There's eight other players on the team. You know that."

Billy laid down.

Zoey looked at Billy. "Nice going."

Zoey smiled. Billy smiled back.

∞

Day Three

Morning - Sunnydale High School - Outside

The Scoobies were walking together. Zoey was wearing her necklace that blocked her powers.

"So, Zoey, you're really gonna wear that necklace all the time again even after what you found out about you and Layla?" Buffy asked.

"At least until us and Wyatt can teach Zoey and Layla how to control their powers," Carmen answered.

"So that nothing like what happened before happens again," Eric agreed.

"I just can't believe a kiddie league coach would do something like that," Brady admitted.

"Well, you obviously haven't played kiddie league," Xander told them. "I'm surprised it wasn't one of the parents."

"I'm just glad he's behind bars where he belongs," Willow told them.

"But that was kinda heroic, Eric, grabbing him and all," Buffy told him.

"Well, I just did what anyone else would've," Eric told her. "I mean, if you wanna label it heroic..."

Eric and Buffy smiled at each other.

Carmen smiled knowingly, looking between them.

"I know that I wanna be able to do something to help you guys," Brady told them. "After nearly losing Buffy and Brooke, both my sisters, everyone losing control like that, Alice turning vamp..."

"You don't have to have powers to help out, Brady," Alice told him. "You help out enough."

"Yeah, I know, but I wanna do more, Alice," Brady told her. "You know, like Sid did before he was a dummy."

"You wanna be a demon hunter?" Brooke asked. "Brady, you really think that me and Buffy would let you put yourself in danger like that?"

"Brooke, you and Buffy are in more danger than I'll ever be every day," Brady replied. "And besides, my sisters are a Slayer and Guardian. I should be able to defend myself for whatever more vampires or demons come after us."

"Brady's got a point," Carmen told them. "I mean, didn't you guys burn down the gym to your old school because vampires were coming after Brady to get to you two?"

"Yeah," Brooke answered. "I just don't want him to get hurt."

"But you are right, Brady," Buffy told him. "We'll help you out with all that comes with that."

Brady smirked. They all smiled.

Hank drove up, honking and getting out of the car, waving. "Hi."

The Summers siblings smiled.

"Have a killer weekend, guys," Brooke told them.

They smiled. The Summers siblings walked up to Hank, talking on the way.

Brooke whispered to Brady teasingly. "Brady, don't think for a second that we don't know that you wanting to train to help us fight is just for me and Buffy. You got a reality check after Alice turned vampire."

"Shut up, Brooke," Brady replied. "And don't start, Buffy."

They smiled, reaching their dad.

Hank walked up the steps to hug his kids. "Hi, guys! Oh, it's so good to see you." They pulled away. "How was your day?"

"Fine," Buffy told him. "You know, the usual."

Zoey looked at Alice. "Personal question?"

"Yeah, shoot," Alice told her.

"You and Brady have a thing for each other, huh, Alice?" Zoey asked.

Alice didn't know what to say to that, but knowing that she couldn't deny that she liked Brady, smiled impishly.

Carmen smiled. "Oh, you guys have no idea."

The girls smiled, walking away together.

Zoey saw Layla arrive. "Oh, my mom just got here. I'll talk to you guys later."

"See you gypsy ladies later," Xander told her. "Layla's probably gonna take to being a gypsy as well as you did, Zoey."

Zoey hit Xander on the head teasingly, walking away. Everyone smiled. Zoey and Layla walked toward each other, embracing.

"It's hard now, Zoey," Layla told her. "I know that. You know that. But I don't believe for a second that we can't get this under control."

Zoey smiled. "I know, Mom. Until then, we just wear the necklaces whenever we're not training so nothing bad happens."

Layla nodded. "Until then."

Layla and Zoey got into the car. Zoey looked out the window toward her friends to smile and wave bye as they drove away.