The party was on Crawford Street at Angel's mansion.
Once, this past month, Giles had driven past it. A For Sale sign had been posted on the front. Only then did he believe the vampire was not coming back to Sunnydale.
And now, here they were, about to attend a party at that hateful place -- a party Giles didn't want to attend in the first place.
Acknowledging his mood for the wallow in self-pity that it was, he vowed to have a good time for Erykah's sake. They didn't see each other that often and, after all, they had the rest of the weekend. Surely they could find something to do together -- alone.
Feeling somewhat better about the evening, he got out of the car, followed Erykah, Wesley, and Zoey, and entered the mansion...
...and stepped straight into one of his recurring nightmares.
The mansion was teeming with demons, vampires and monsters. He stopped in his tracks. His instinctive reaction was to get a stake, only he had none. He cursed himself for venturing out unprepared. The sheer number of fiends stunned him. That alone stopped him from breaking off a leg from a nearby chair. It would be a useless effort. He needed to think.
He glanced around for Wesley but the other man had been swept away in the tide of bodies. His dark head could be seen above most of the partygoers', Zoey's flaming red hair beside him, and then they were swallowed up by the crowd.
Someone jostled him from behind.
Giles glanced over his shoulder and found himself face to face with Spike in full vamp face, although there was something odd about that.
"Outta the way, buddy," the vampire growled in a New Jersey accent.
Not Spike then. Still, Giles went on the alert.
He watched as this one was greeted exuberantly by a female in a low cut gown. It was so low cut she was nearly falling out of it.
"Burt," she cooed. "You made it. Billy Idol as a Dracula. I love it!"
"And you came as Elvira. That dress is so you."
The pair moved off.
"Billy Idol as a Dracula," Giles mimicked under his breath. "A Dracula. Civilians." He felt rather foolish over his initial reaction, because he had figured out what was happening here.
"What are you sneering about, darling?" Erykah purred in his ear.
"Nothing. Look, this is a costume party. We're going to stick out like the blue blazes here. Let's go."
"Too late." She pointed to where Zoey had dragged Wes into the middle of the jumping, jiving crush of bodies. The other Watcher was attempting to become one of them by dancing like a teenager. It wasn't a pretty picture.
He nearly had the rhythm down, but then his arms and legs all seem to become allergic to each other.
"Lovely."
Erykah gazed with him. "Oh dear. He did so well at the restaurant. Rock and roll just isn't his music. Well, we might as well make the best of the party. We won't stay long." Erykah gripped his hand between both of hers and she looked pleadingly at him. He suspected she was feigning her mood -- just because she knew he hated parties. He knew she wasn't all that keen on them, either. Sometimes she was so perverse.
He followed reluctantly.
The noise level increased tenfold, the music becoming loud enough to hurt his ears. He didn't recognize any of the songs so far. Even Erykah looked uncertain, which gave him hope that they might indeed leave soon. She stopped near the table laden with food and drink at the back wall of the hall and looked around, unconsciously moving closer to him.
Someone inserted herself between them and put her hands on their shoulders.
"I'm so happy you could make it," the stranger yelled so they could hear her over the din. She was dressed in Goth style with blood red hair to match the colour of her velvet gown. Her makeup was starkly exaggerated.
"It's okay that you guys don't have costumes. There are a lot here who don't. I think they're gate crashers." She winked at them. "By the way, you two look great together. Eat, drink, be merry. Especially the merry part." Then she pinched Giles' bottom, causing him to yelp, and she melted back into the crowd.
Erykah leaned on Giles' shoulder and yelled, "You heard the lady."
He rubbed his injured backside. "I should go see what Wesley is up to. He might be in trouble."
"It's a party, Rupert. He'll be fine. You wanted him to get out and have fun. Well, this looks like the place to do that. Come on, we'll get some more food in your tummy and something to drink and you'll feel better." She patted his abdomen and grinned at him.
About to snap at her to stop treating him like a child, Giles stopped himself. "I've been a bit of a brat, haven't I?"
"I wouldn't say that. Churlish and snarly, perhaps, but never a brat," she teased.
Giles dropped his gaze. When he looked up, she was still smiling.
He leaned in slowly and kissed her, his lips barely brushing hers.
"I like your apologies, darling. Do it again." She lifted her face to his, long dark lashes half shuttering her sparkling green eyes.
He did. This time the kiss was fiery. Giles took her in his arms and put all of his passion for Erykah into the kiss. When it ended, she leaned against him with her eyes completely closed. Her hands rested just under his chin in loosely closed fists. She uncurled her fingers and stroked his cheek.
"Mmm," she sighed. "I'd ask you to do that again, but our hostess might object to us making love on the refreshment table."
"How about under it?"
"Down boy," Erykah laughed. "You'll get your chance."
"Promise?" He heard the note of hopefulness in his own voice.
"Did you think not?" She studied his face. "You did. I didn't come all the way up here just for dinner and a dance. Although both were lovely..."
"Mister Giles!" Wesley and Zoey rushed up to them, trying not to look like they were rushing. Wesley's eyes were wide with fear. Zoey merely looked apprehensive as if she was confused and reacting only to Wesley's emotions. "Mister Giles," he whispered for Giles' ears only, "There are two vampires here."
Giles looked at him, not sure he'd heard the softly spoken statement. "What?"
Wesley repeated it silently, exaggerating the formation of each word.
Giles would have laughed and said something like, "It is a costume party and there are a number of make-believe vampires here tonight," but Wesley had learned a lot over the summer. He knew the difference between fake fangs and the kind that drew blood.
"Show me."
There were two. They were dressed in clothes from the seventies, gaudy coloured shirts and wide belts. It could have been costumery, but Giles felt a shiver run up his back. He mused briefly that perhaps he had picked up on Buffy's "spidey" sense or, heaven forbid, her fashion sense, but somehow he knew those two were the real thing. Perhaps they were some of the gatecrashers their hostess had mentioned.
Shifting his gaze to the throng around them, he wondered how many more demons were present. He spent a few moments looking more closely at the faces surrounding them.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up.
"We need to get out of here now." Feeling Erykah tense, though most likely with anticipation of danger rather than fear of it, he put his arm around her waist and gave her a slight squeeze of reassurance. "Let's go. Calmly though. We don't want to bring any undue attention to ourselves."
Wesley nodded rapidly three times, then looked at Zoey who clung to his arm. Taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders he clutched her hand and gave her a heartened smile.
"It's all right, my dear. Just some thugs. Giles and I have run into them before. Nothing we cannot handle."
The four of them drifted toward the front door. Giles and Erykah acted couplely, walking with their arms wrapped around each other's waists, and Wesley and Zoey took their cue from them.
They were close now. Giles and Wesley stole furtive glances at the partygoers while Erykah's gaze was concentrated on the door.
Another few feet.
Just then, Elvis stepped in front of them.