"Would you stop pacing around my room... you're making skid marks."

Angel freezes and glances towards Laney who is laying on her bed. Her head rests on Colby's lap as he sits with his back to her headboard. The three had been watching a movie before Laney accidentally mentioned Angel and Buffy going on a date. He immediately sat up and started to pace around nervously.

"I-I just don't think it's a good idea. I mean I'm no goo-"

"Dude you've been saying that since you met her. You haven't given her any reason not to trust you. You like her right?"

Angel sighs nodding at Colby, "Possibly more."

"Take the risk. You like her, she likes you. Start with something small. What's the wors-"

Laney lifts her hand to cover Colby's mouth, "Don't even get him started."

Angel playfully glares at Laney as she smiles at him, "Hilarious..." He thinks for a moment before nodding, "Alright I'll do it."

"Perfect I'm so proud of y-"

"Tomorrow."

Laney glares, "You wimp."

Colby chuckles shaking his head as he pats hers, "Down girl."

Laney pouts before rolling her eyes, "You better do it tomorrow, or I'm coming after you."

Angel rolls his eyes, "I'm so scared."

Laney raises an eyebrow and acts as if she is about to sit up making Angel speed out the window. Laney giggles before laying her head back down onto Colby. Her phone vibrates making her lift it and read a message from Angel.

'Thanks for the talk. Goodnight.'

Smiling she puts her phone down and turns to Colby, "You think we're setting them up for failure? I mean they're both so stubborn-"

"If it's meant to be, it'll be. There's nothing you can do that will hurt it. You can help but it's up to them and the universe."

"You always know what to say."

"I do, don't I?" He grins with a perfect smile.

Laney's eyes gleam as she gazes up at him, "Colby... I-"

"I know you're scared. But I'm not going anywhere."

Laney sits up and straddles Colby's thighs as his hands gently squeeze her hips. Her head falls on his chest as she listens to his calm heartbeat.

"I just don't want you to be in the middle. To be collateral damage. Or to be used against m-"

Colby grabs Laney's chin with one hand and pulls her face to his as his lips caress hers. She sighs in content as their lips move softly against one another.

"Laney I really like you..." He mumbles against her warm lips, "I can see life together with you. I don't want to let you go. I can't. I'm not afraid to die for you."

"You should be..." Laney's eyes water as she whispers, "I'm so scared. We've only been together for three months and I feel like if I lose you... I don't know what I would do. You're like my lifeline... and that shakes me to my core."

Colby kisses her forehead leaving his lips to linger for a few seconds.

"You're my life now, Laney. I will be by your side till the end."

Laney nods laying her head back in his chest. Their fingers intertwined as they rest by their sides.

"I need to talk to you about something else too." He murmurs nervously.

Laney nods encouraging him to continue.

"I've been thinking about the military. Since I was little it had been in the back of my mind."

Laney sits up straight and stares into his brown eyes, "Did you already..."

"Register? Yes... but I don't think I can fully do this without your support."

"You want my blessing? Colby this is something you wanted to do before there was me and you. I don't want to hold you back."

"You're not holding me back. I just don't want you to sit and think that I'm leaving you... I plan on coming back. And when I do, I'm never leaving you again."

...

"I've never really thought about what I wanted to do. In the future I mean..."

"Really? I would've thought you would've had everything planned out."

Laney shakes her head as she rubs her arms looking around the hall uncomfortably, "Nope. And with this career fair going on and Colby leaving for the military in a week, it just brought up some doubts and concerns. I-I just... I don't know what I want to do with my life."

Cordelia frowns looking at her friend. Laney looked exhausted. She knew the girl was spending her time laying awake thinking about her life. Laney was the type of person who needed to know what was next. If she didn't, it worried her. It made her feel like she wouldn't be in the path she was meant to be on, if she didn't have a sliver of information regarding her future.

"That's okay, Laney. You don't have to know right now. This just helps to give you an idea. And don't worry about Colby. He's a big boy. And it's only like boot camp right?"

Laney grabs a loose strand of hair from her ponytail and pushes it behind her ear while nodding, "Kind of. It's 12 weeks of boot camp then he comes back and he starts training in special operations. I'm not sure if he has to go away again but once that's over he'll be here to stay and finish his degree."

Cordelia nods in understanding, "You think you want to stay in Sunnydale after you graduate?"

Laney shrugs, "I would love to travel. But maybe after I get my degree. I think staying here is best."

Cordelia grins playfully bumping her friend with her shoulder, "You just want to stay for Colby."

Laney blushes, "Shut up. What about you? What's going on in your life? How's Devon?"

"Don't know. Don't care. We're on a break again."

Laney shakes her head, "You two are like magnets, you'll come back together."

Cordelia smiles shaking her head. Together the two walk through the hall passing by Willow who is looking around at the displays being set up. She waits to sign up for the career aptitude test as Buffy and Xander sit at a nearby table already filling theirs out.

Xander reads, "'Are you a people person, or do you prefer keeping your own company?' Well, what if I'm a people person who keeps his own company by default?"

Willow heads for their table with a test to join them.

Buffy shrugs, "So, mark 'none of the above'."

Xander sighs, "Well, there are no boxes for 'none of the above'. That would introduce too many variables into their mushroom head, number-crunching little world."

Willow sits down smiling, "I'm sensing bitterness."

"No, it's just these people can't tell from one multiple-choice test what we're gonna be doing for the rest of our lives. It's ridiculous!"

"I'm kinda curious to find out what sort of career I could have." Willow grins with a light shrug.

Xander frowns, "What, and suck all the spontaneity out of being young and stupid? I'd rather live in the dark."

"You're not gonna be young forever."

"Yes, but I'll always be stupid." He smirks and looks at the girls, "Okay, let's not all rush to disagree."

Buffy looks up at him seriously, "You're not stupid."

Xander gives her an acknowledging sarcastic grin, then looks up when he hears Cordelia. She has a clipboard, and is taking her test as she walks into the lounge accompanied by Laney and two of their groupies.

Cordelia reads off, "'I aspire to help my fellow man.'" She marks her test, "Check. As long as he's not smelly, dirty or something gross."

Laney shakes her head covering her mouth laughing as they walk by the table.

Xander can't help but say something just as Cordelia passes him, "Cordelia Chase, always ready to give a helping hand to the rich and the pretty."

"Which, lucky me, excludes you. Twice."

Xander has no comeback, so Cordelia just walks away followed closely by her cronies. Laney pats his shoulder smiling as she follows.

Xander watches them disappear, "Is m*rder always a crime?"

Buffy frowns, "Do I like shrubs?"

Xander chuckles, "That's between you and your god."

Buffy turns to Willow, "What'd you put?"

"I came down on the side of shrubs."

"Go with shrubs! Okay!" Buffy becomes frustrated, "Uhhh! I shouldn't even be bothering with this. It's all mootville for me. No matter what my aptitude test says, we already know my deal."

Xander nods, "Yup, high risk, sub-minimum wage..."

"Pointy wooden things..."

Willow frowns, "Then why are you even taking the test?"

"It's Principal Snyder's hoop of the week. He's not happy unless I'm jumping. Believe me, I would not be here otherwise."

Willow stares at Buffy feeling kind of sad for her friend, "You're not even a teensy weensy bit curious about what kinda career you could've had? I mean, if you weren't already the Slayer and all."

Buffy groans, "Do the words 'sealed in fate' ring any bells for you, Will? Why go there?"

Willow is hurt by that comment.

Xander sees Willow's face change and frowns. Shaking his pencil at Buffy with a stern stare he replies, "Y'know, with that kind of attitude you could've had a bright future as an employee at the DMV."

Buffy huffs, "I'm sorry, it's just... unless Hell freezes over and every vamp in Sunnydale puts in for early retirement, I'd say my future is pretty much a non-issue."

...

In Spike's warehouse, Drusilla is standing at one end of a large table dealing her tarot cards. At the other end Spike is looking on as Dalton tries to translate the ancient text in the book that they stole from the library.

"Read it again." Spike orders.

Dalton shrugs with his hands, "Well, I'm not sure. It could be, uh... deprimere... ille... bubula... linter."

Spike stands paging through a dictionary, "Debase, the beef, canoe."

Dalton looks up at Spike and smiles a stupid smile. Spike cannot abide him and punches him in the face.

"Why does that strike me as not right?"

Dalton looks at him sheepishly and turns his attention back to the book.

Drusilla looks up from her tarot cards and holds out her hand with a weak smile, "Spike, come dance?"

Spike groans angrily, "Give us some peace, would you? Can't you see I'm working?"

Drusilla pulls back her hand and begins to pout and whine like a puppy.

Spike sighs realizing he snapped and immediately goes up to her, "Oh, I'm sorry, kitten. It's just this manuscript. Supposed to hold your cure, but it reads like gibberish. E-even Dalton here, the big brain, he can't make heads or tails of it."

Drusilla puts her hand to her head.

"I... I, I need to change Miss Edith."

She takes a few steps and then puts her other hand to her head as well, bends over and whines. Spike rushes to her, puts his arms around her and pulls her back up.

"Oh, forgive me! You know I can't stand to see you like this." He sits her down and crouches, "We're runnin' out of time. It's that bloody Slayer and her trainee! Whenever I turn around there they are, muckin' up the works."

Drusilla frowns running her fingers down the side of his face as she tries to comfort him back, "Shh. Shh. You'll make it right. I know."

Spike puts his hands around her neck and kisses her gently but firmly. After they release their kiss he stands up again and turns his attention back to Dalton. Drusilla reaches for the next tarot card.

"Well." Spike says as he walks around the table, "Come on, now. Enlighten me."

Dalton frowns, "Uh, well, it looks like Latin, but it's not. I-I'm not even sure it's, it's a language, actually, I..."

"Then MAKE IT A LANGUAGE! Isn't that what a transcriber does?!"

"Well, not exactly..."

He yelps as Spike grabs him by the shirt and lifts him from his chair.

Spike glares, "I want the cure."

Drusilla whispers, "Don't..."

"Why not? Some people find pain," He punches Dalton in the stomach, "very inspirational."

Dalton doubles over.

Drusilla looks up from her cards, "He can't help you." She looks back at her cards and points at them, "Not without... the key."

"The key? You mean this book is in some kind of code?"

"Yeah."

Dalton nods weakly, still in pain. Spike shoves him back into his chair and walks over to Drusilla. He looks at one of her cards. A mausoleum is pictured on it.

Spike smiles, "Is that where we'll find this key?"

Drusilla smiles, "Yeah!"

Spike grins clapping, "I'll send the boys, pronto!"

Drusilla gazes up at him, "Now will you dance?"

He nods with a huge smile and takes her hand, "I'll dance with you, pet."

He pulls her up from her chair and lifts her into his arms.

"On the Slayer's grave!"

He starts to spin around with her in his arms.

...

Buffy walks through the cemetery at a relaxed pace. She pauses for a moment, but continues on, scanning the graveyard around her as she goes.

She stops again when she hears clinking noises coming from a mausoleum.

She looks at it and sees light coming from inside. She walks over to it, pushes the door open a bit and peeks in. Dalton is chipping away at the wall, exposing a chamber behind it. He reaches in for something as

Buffy pulls her head back out and closes the door. She walks down the steps and turns around to wait for him to come out. A few moments later

Dalton opens the door and steps out.

"Does 'rest in peace' have no sanctity to you people? Oh, I forgot. You're not a people."

Another vampire comes up behind her. She senses him, turns around and kicks him in the gut, then the jaw, then again in the gut. He takes a swing at her, but she grabs his arm and punches him twice in the face.

He swings at her with his other arm, but she ducks and catches it, too.

She yanks it back, and it can be heard snapping. While she has him leaning back she thrusts a stake into his heart. He explodes into ashes.

"One down," She turns and sees Dalton missing, "one gone."

She looks around, but sees no sign of him anywhere.

Groaning she turns around and hurries back home. Angel is there, and he looks around while he waits for her to get home. Buffy climbs up to her window and looks in. She sees him looking into her bookcase. Angel takes her stuffed pig from the shelf.

Without a word Buffy reaches for her bag and tosses it loudly through the window and onto the floor. Angel turns around, startled. He gently squeezes the pig.

"Buffy! You scared me."

She climbs in, "Now you know what it feels like, Stealth Guy."

She crouches down by her bag and reaches into her hair to pull out a few clips.

"Just dropping by for some quality time with Mr. Gordo?"

Angel stares confused, "Excuse me?"

"The pig." She opens her trunk and dumps the bag in.

"Oh." He chuckles now nervous, "I uh..."

Buffy walks past him and stand at her desk, "What's up?"

"Nothing."

He tosses the pig onto a chair and walks to the foot of her bed. She drops her hair clips into a desk drawer and faces him.

"Only you don't have a nothing face. You have a something face. And you don't have to whisper. Mom's in L.A. till Thursday. Art buying, or something."

"Then why'd you come in through the window?"

Buffy crinkles her nose, "Habit."

Angel nods before taking a deep breath, "I wanted to make sure you're okay. I had a bad feeling."

Buffy exhales rubbing her eyebrow, "There's a surprise. Angel comes with bad news."

He exhales and turns away, tired of the same old reaction from her.

Buffy sighs, "Oh, God, I'm sorry." She walks over to him and bites her lip, "Look, I've been Cranky Miss all day. It's not you."

"Well, what is it then?"

"It's nothing."

Angel isn't buying it.

"Uh, we're having this thing at school."

"Career week?"

Buffy frowns wondering even though she knew the answer she probably wouldn't like, "How did you know?"

Angel thinks for a moment if he should say how he actually knew or not. Buffy was sensitive. And he already knew how she would react if he told her that her former friend or present, he wasn't sure what they were at the moment, was the reason.

"I lurk."

Buffy raises an eyebrow. Not the answer she though.

"Right. Well, then you know it's a whole week of 'what's my line', only... I don't get to play." She sits on her bed and frowns, "Sometimes I just want..."

"You want what?" He sits next to her.

Buffy looks into her long mirror. She's alone in the reflection.

Angel nods reassuring her to continue, "It's okay."

Buffy looks up at Angel, "The Cliff Notes version? I want a normal life. Like I had before."

"Before me."

"No, Angel," She touches his hand before raising it to caress his cheek, "it's not you. You're the one freaky thing in my freaky world that still makes sense to me. I just get messed sometimes."

Angel looks down sadly.

"I wish we could be regular kids."

"Yeah. I'll never be a kid." Angel gets up quickly.

"Okay, then a regular kid and her cradle robbing, creature-of-the-night boyfriend."

Angel can't help but let out a laugh. Buffy smiles back. He sees a picture on her desk and picks it up. It's of her as a child on ice-skates.

"Was this part of your normal life?"

"Oh, my God." Buffy laughs as she stands up and goes to be beside him, "My Dorothy Hamill phase. My room in L.A. was pretty much a shrine. Dorothy dolls, Dorothy posters, I even got the Dorothy haircut. Thereby securing a place for myself in the geek hall of fame."

"Hmm, you wanted to be like her?" Angel smiles glances over at Buffy as she lights up looking at the picture.

"I wanted to be her. My parents were fighting all the time, and skating was an escape. I felt safe."

Angel thinks about his talk with Colby and Laney and hypes himself up.

"When was the last time you put on your skates?"

Buffy inhales, "About a couple of hundred demons ago."

Angel steps close to her, "There's a rink out past Route 17, it's... closed on Tuesdays."

Buffy looks up at him with a light smile, "Tomorrow's Tuesday."

Angel nods, "I know."

...

The next day at school, Laney, Cordelia, and Xander are going over the results of the career aptitude test posted on a bulletin board.

"Investigator or Detective. Hmm..."

Cordelia smiles, "I can totally see it."

Laney smiles softly, "You really think so."

"Of course. You're really good at figuring all the supernatural stuff that happens now. Plus I bet you'd look really good in your investigator outfits."

Laney nods, "That I would, Cordy. Okay your turn."

Cordelia nods and turns back to the list. She finds herself in the A-D list.

"Oh, here I am. 'Personal shopper or motivational speaker.' Neato!"

Xander frowns looking over at them, "Motivational speaker? On what? Ten ways to a more annoying you?"

Cordelia rolls her eyes and pages through the H-K list and finds Xander's results.

"Oh, what about you? You're..." She giggles and taps Laney's shoulder. Laney glances at the page and then at Xander with a smirk. The two look at one another before bursting out laughing. They don't say anything to the confused Xander as they quickly leave.

"What?" He frantically looks himself up, "What?!"

Willow and Buffy exit a building nearby and start across the quad.

"You and Angel are going skating? Alone?"

Buffy smiles, "Unless some unforeseen evil pops up. But I'm in full 'see no evil' mode."

Willow smiles, "Angel ice-skating."

"I know. Two worlds collide."

Xander meets up with them, "Wouldn't you two say you know me about as well as anyone else? Maybe even better than I know myself?"

Willow frowns, "What's this about?"

"When you look at me, do you think 'prison guard'?"

Willow and Buffy giggle.

"Um, crossing guard, maybe, but prison guard?" Buffy smiles shaking her head.

"They just put up the assignments for the career fair, and according to my test results I can look forward to being gainfully employed in the growing field of corrections."

Buffy giggles, "Well, at least you'll be on the right side of the bars."

Xander smirks, "Ha, ha, ha, ha! Laugh now, missy, they assigned you to the booth for law enforcement professionals."

Buffy stares completely stunned, "As in police?"

"As in polyester, doughnuts and brutality."

Buffy whines.

"But," Willow smiles, "doughnuts!"

Buffy whines louder, "Well, I'll just jump off that bridge when I come to it."

Xander pouts with his arms crossed over his chest, "Laney got the cool job."

Buffy frowns, "What'd she get?"

"Investigator or Detective."

Buffy gapes as Xander continues to pout, "She got those and I got a regular small town police officer?"

Willow smiles with a shrug internally proud of her sister, "She is really good at figuring things out."

Buffy glares lightly at Willow before she spots Giles walking along with a tall stack of old books in his arms.

"I gotta go. I have to deal with Giles. He's on this Tony Robbins hyper-efficiency kick. Expects me to check in every day after homeroom."

Xander starts to follow, but Willow holds him back.

"You didn't check to see which seminar I was assigned to, did you?"

Xander nods, "I did, and you weren't."

Willow frowns confused, "I wasn't what?"

"On the list."

"But I handed in my test! I used a number two pencil and everything!"

Xander smiles, "Then I guess you musta passed."

Willow shakes her head, "It's not the kinda test you pass or fail."

"Your name wasn't up there, Will."

Willow is a bit taken aback.

...

Laney moans as gentle hands grip her thigh pulling her closer. Her legs wrap around Colby's waist as he gently grinds against her.

Laney throws her her back with a light sigh as Colby's lips peck up her collarbone to her revealed neck. Her fingers run through his brown locks as he sucks on a certain spot on her neck causing her to let out a whimper.

Colby brings his hand up her arm before intertwining their fingers. Their hands rest over her head. She felt like she couldn't breath. She had never felt this good.

Sure she had fun with Xander. But Colby felt experienced. And her strong feelings for him made her want to melt.

"I think we should stop."

Laney frowns looking at Colby confused, "You don't want to-"

"I do. Believe me I really do." He brings his free hand to slide her hair from her face as he gazes down at her, "But I'm leaving. And I want our first time together to be special. I don't want to spend the best night of my life with you, just to wake up the next morning and have to leave."

"Yeah I guess you're right. And I would miss you too much. I mean I'd miss you anyways."

Colby smirks kissing her forehead, "You better."

Laney pokes his arm grinning, "And how do you know it's gonna be the best night of your life if it hasn't happened yet."

"I just know. You're something else Laney. I-I... really like you."

Laney's eyes gleam with happiness, "I really like you too, Colby... I know you leave in the morning, but can you stay with me until I fall asleep."

Colby grins and flips them over making Laney squeal in surprise. He kisses her head of hair as she runs her nails softly up and down his bare chest.

"I'll stay with you forever."

As the two lay together, legs tangled, Colby runs his hand up and down her back as he hears her light purring snores. He glances down at her and grins before frowning.

Colby was internally struggling with his emotions at the moment. He wanted to burst out and tell Laney that he loved her. But first of all, he didn't want to scare her away. Second of all, he scared himself. It was so fast. The way he felt so deeply for this girl. He didn't want anyone else. He knew she was it. And third of all, he knew that she was the reason he felt the need to go into the military.

Had he lied to her about him wishing to be in the military as a kid? No. But he didn't tell her that she was the main reason he wanted to go now. The life that she was involved in was dangerous. And he intended to do everything in his power to make sure that she would be okay.

He was now apart of what she called her friend, the Scooby Gang, and as much as he wanted to admit... he didn't want to be Xander. It was harsh but he didn't want to be collateral damage like Laney had said. He didn't want her to be fighting off demons and worried about him on the side. He wanted to be able to protect himself and her. So he would go to boot camp. Come back stronger and better than before. He just hoped that while he was gone, nothing would happen to Laney.

What did we think of this chapter?

Fav moment so far from this season?

Colby and Laney?

Thoughts on Colby leaving?

Fav character?

Fav duo or trio?

Future predictions?

Any special requests...