It jumped out of nowhere, knocking her off her feet. Buffy Summers lay on her back, stunned for a moment. Then she jumped to her feet, dropping to a fighting stance, looking for her attacker. She held her stake ready in her right hand. Something flashed to her left and she ran at it. It turned to face her and she saw it was indeed a vampire. He was easily six feet, probably more like six and a half. He wore military fatigues and boots that made hers look like Mary Janes. He growled as she went to kick him. Her foot connected with his knee, which was like steel. The kick had hardly any effect. He just smiled insanely and backhanded her, sending her flying. she thought as she pulled herself up on a headstone. He was walking away, intending on leaving her to die. She picked up on that and sprinted the short distance and tackled him hard. He couldn't believe she was up after a hit that would have knocked anyone else out.

"Guess what? I'm not like other girls,"she said whipping him onto his back. She raised her stake to dust him when he kicked her in the stomach with both legs, again she flew through the air. She fell as Giles had taught her, rolling on her shoulder and springing back up. The vampire was walking away again.

"Hey! You are so gonna pay for that!," she called after him. He ignored her. "In general, the first rule for vampire Slayees is to not piss off the Slayer."

"Slayer?" he asked arrogantly, turning back.

Buffy nodded, smiling. He rushed her and she easily sidestepped. He stood now in a stance that was similar to hers. She thrust her arm out, burying the stake unceremoniously in his chest. "You're Dirt Devil food now," Buffy said triumphantly. Her face was going to be a wonderful shade of purple and blue tomorrow, served him right to die.

The vampire's body fell heavily to the ground. Buffy waited expectantly for him to burst into dust. He didn't. She waited a full five minutes, just watching the body. Still he didn't dust. It was late and Buffy had school the next morning. And she had to ice her bruise. She backed away from the vamp, still expecting him to go poof. It didn't happen.

*****

Xander Harris was joking with his best gal pal Willow Rosenburg outside of Sunnydale High when Buffy came up. She had tried her best to hide the bruise on her face, which was worse than she thought. She knew it was still visible and hoped no one would comment on it.

"Buffy! That bruise is awful! You should cover that up. It looks really bad," Cordelia Chase said, horrified that Buffy would walk around with a bruise on her face.

"Gee, thanks Tact Girl," Buffy said dryly to Xander’s girlfriend.

"Sorry," she said as sincerely as she could. Matters of fashion and beauty were one of the most important things for Cordelia. "I have some cover-up in my locker. Not that I need it. For emergencies. Ya know," she finished quickly.

"What happened?" Willow asked, genuinely concerned.

"I'm kinda going with she got in a fight," Xander commented. "Like with Mike Tyson maybe?"

"I could kick his ass any day," Buffy said as they walked into school. Oz joined them about to ask what happened, then decided to wait and be told.

Buffy thought. "Some big army vamp. It was weird. He was like a rock. And he hit me, and I killed him. Weirdest part: he didn't dust."

"Weird," Oz agreed, laid back as always.

"Did he disappear or something?" Willow asked. She was already thinking of research to be done.

"Something," Buffy answered. "He stayed. Full body stayed. For all I know, the body's still there. I've never seen that happen before."

"I say its a job for G-man!" Xander said cheerfully.

*****

"I've never seen anything like this," Giles said thoughtfully. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, going into what the Scooby Gang referred to as Watcher Mode. "I'll have to consult the previous Watcher's Diaries and see what I can come up with. Was he alone? Any distinguishing...anything?"

The Gang had met in the library as soon as the final bell had rung. They were seated around the table, Willow in Oz's lap, and Xander actually on the table. Buffy was lounging back in her chair with the front legs off the floor. Cordelia scooted her chair over for fear of Buffy falling on her. Giles paced in front of the table as he tended to do when he thought.

"Umm...," Buffy thought out loud. "The military uniform, monster boots, he was strapped with bullets but had no gun, that I saw anyway. There was a tattoo on his right arm. I didn’t see what it was so it’s not much help. Is there a reason he didn’t dust, or is it actually him?"

"Well that’s what we need to find out. This is incredibly odd." Giles said, racking his brain for occurrences like this, and finding none.

"So you research!" Xander said grinning. Everyone turned to him, eyebrows raised.

"I expect that was your way of volunteering to help with the books," Giles said. Xander was shaking his head in mock horror. He finally surrendered, complaining softly. Cordy whacked him in the head.

Giles continued, "Willow, you’ll man the dread machine, though I don’t know what you’ll look for until we know more. Talk to past Watchers maybe."

Willow was already logging onto the library's computer. Oz sat with her, whispering something in her ear that made her giggle softly. Giles had directed Xander to the Watcher’s Diaries, where he had dragged his protesting girlfriend along. They were now cuddled together, skimming the books. Buffy looked at the two couples, wishing Angel could be there. He had said he missed not seeing her during the day, and she felt the absence too. She wondered to the pile of books Giles had set on the table. She picked up the thinnest one and started looking through it.

Three hours pasted before they came up with anything.

"Hey G-man!" Xander called from up in the stacks. He had gone through several Diaries with no joy. He had finally found something he thought worth mentioning. "It looks like this Slayer, Lacey Folette, had the same thing!" "Xander come down here and share," Buffy called back up. She figured if someone didn’t give him that direction, he’d tell the whole story from up there. That’s why they loved him, and he knew it.

"Cordy had looked through this one, but I guess she thought it wasn’t important enough to mention," Xander explained. Cordelia had left an hour ago for cheerleading. He said affectionately, "Ditz." He handed the book to Giles.

"'April 4th, 1891. I fear something evil is here. All the signs are pointing to a break-through. I rather wish they didn’t. For the past nights, Lacey has come upon unusually hardy vampires. They seem to be after something, not her death in particular, although they won’t hesitate when faced with sending her to it. That doesn’t appear to be their mission. They are focused and stop for nothing. Lacey has repeatedly tried to eliminate them, failing more often than not. The few she has managed to stake do not disintegrate. Once the stake enters their body they seem to die, falling to the ground much like humans. She’s checked for the bodies the following day, and has yet to find one remaining. They vanish without a trace. Perhaps they are moved; perhaps reanimated. Research leads me to believe they are not the actual evil, but rather its minions,'" Giles read aloud.

"Well that’s an ubersuck," Buffy said, discouraged. "So, Giles, this evil, any ideas?"

Giles shook his head, not looking up from the book. He flipped through the remaining three pages, hoping for more information. "Xander, can you please get the next volume?"

"At your service," he replied, saluting. Willow was in a Watcher’s chat room looking for information on Lacey. They could all hear Xander moving around, talking to himself. "Ah Giles?," he called, "I’m thinking we shouldn’t have left me and Cordy with all of them. They’re one hundred percent out of order." Only Xander could say that in the proud voice he did. "I'm not sure which one it is."

"Xander! You didn’t keep them in order?" Giles admonished. That made things much more difficult. "Oz, can you go up and see if you can help him? It’s the diary of Samuel Marker, Watcher of Lacey Folette." Oz nodded, heading upstairs.

"Giles," Willow spoke up. Giles turned around, sighing.

"Yes Willow?" He could use a cup of tea. Badly. Buffy saw the look and went to his office. This could be serious, and she was going try not to be too disagreeable.

"Um, not happy news. I was talking to a retired Watcher, Anthony Gallant, and according to him, Lacey Folette died two weeks after that entry," Willow said.

"And he has this information how?" Giles asked.

"Well his great grandfather served as Watcher for Eliza Renylds, the Slayer who was called after Lacey," Willow said glumly.

"Did the 'evil minions' that don't dust kill her?" Buffy asked coming out of Giles' office with his tea.

Willow looked up at her friend. "I’m not sure. He doesn’t want to give anymore information."

"Great. This is just ducky. Because ya wanna know what I dreamt the other night?," Buffy said, not waiting for an answer. "'Member when the Master killed me? Dreamt I died in a place like that, only no one was there to save me. And I really died," she continued angrily. She didn't want to die again. "I'd written it off as a memory dream, but thinking about it now, I didn't see what killed me. And I didn't drown. Ya know what? It may have been prophetic. Maybe I will die. But I sure as hell ain't gonna let some anti-dust vampire kill me."

"I believe you may be getting worked up over nothing. It could just be a coincidence. But I do recommend taking someone, Angel maybe, on patrol with you. Just to be safe. I'd like to talk to him too. He was, well, alive, when Lacey was. He may know something," Giles said as he sipped his tea. He smiled at Buffy, "Perfect."

"I'll patrol with you! I'm better company than Dead Boy," Xander piped up from the stacks. "We'll have fun!"

"No Xander. Fix your mess," Buffy looked at the clock. "Hey, I gotta book. I told mom I'd have dinner with her. I'll swing by Angel’s after and patrol. I'll check for the body too. See ya!"

*****

Dinner was quiet that night. Joyce had been having problems with an order she was expecting for the gallery and Buffy was thinking about her new problem. The thought of seeing Angel was a comfort though. He was good at taking her mind off her problems. She helped clear the table and was about to start the dishes when her mother came in.

"Just go. I can take care of this. Is there anything big going on?" she asked her daughter.

Buffy thought for a moment and lied, "Nope. Just a routine patrol. Maybe hang at the Bronze for a while. I won’t be out too late. Thanks."

"Well be careful."

"Aren’t I always?" Buffy said, turning her head so the her mother couldn’t see the bruise, which was once again changing colors. She had seen it, but hadn’t said anything. Buffy figured she was hoping the slaying would just go away.

Joyce nodded absently as Buffy put on her leather jacket and left the house. She figured on going to Angel’s, then swing by the spot where the body should be when they were on patrol. Angel saved her the trip to his house. As she walked the street he moved silently out of the shadows to her.

"Hi," he said. "I thought you might like some company. Figured you’d be going out."

"Mmm. Actually I need company. Funky new demon vampire kinda thing. Potential danger, violence, and strong language. The usual. Anyway, these new guys are tough. Maybe as tough as me," Buffy said smiling. "And they die very neatly. No dust. Or anything. Do you know anything of anything like that?"

Angel thought back through his years. He shook his head, "I can’t remember it if I have. That shouldn’t happen. Makes no sense."

"What does in Sunnydale?" Buffy asked.

Upon arriving in the area of the fight the previous night, Buffy’s eyes were glued to the ground. She didn’t remember the exact spot where she killed him, but had a general idea.

"I smell blood," Angel said in a deep voice. Buffy looked up at him, surprised. He quickly reassured her, "Not fresh. Older. Dead."

"Oh," Buffy nodded. This was the area. She shook her head, seeing nothing. "I guess he’s gone."

"Wait." Now Angel was looking at the ground. He bent down and picked something up he held it out to Buffy and dropped it into her hand. It was a small rectangle of worn rock. Granite maybe. She knew her geology sucked. On it was writing in a language Buffy couldn’t begin to comprehend.

"Think it’s important?" Buffy asked. Looking around she saw the small statue she had fallen into when she was fighting. This was definitely the place she had killed him. "I think I should bring it to Giles."

"And these," Angel said as he handed her two more. She slipped them all into the inside pocket of her jacket. She’d give them to him tomorrow. "The blood is on those. If you wanted to know."

Buffy shuddered slightly. "Well, maybe Giles will. It helped him with the bracelet. With snake-guy. That sucked," she said remembering almost being eaten by a giant snake. "I still don’t want to go to a frat party."

"We have slaying parties for two," Angel said as they left the graveyard looking for vampires. "And research parties. And...well you don’t need frat parties."

"Nope. I got you," she said moving closer to him.

A potentially good moment was ruined by the sight of a vampire up ahead. He saw them coming and was ready. As they got closer, Buffy drew her stake. Angel let her go and she moved closer. "Hey party crasher. Wanna play?"

The vampire looked at her strangely. He stared at the left side of her chest, which Buffy was about to literally kill him for, when he took off with terror in his eyes. Buffy watched him go, thinking she had never seen a vampire run from her so fast. Felt good. "That was new. Didn’t even have to show my stake. He should be dead though. Oh well. He can be my problem another night. And we can continue on our peaceful walk."

"That’d be new," Angel said. "A peaceful anything on a Hellmouth would warrant a holiday or something."

"I agree. But we can try right?" They decided to head in the general direction of the Bronze. Even the vampires seemed to think that was the place to be. And they were there. "Here we go again. I think I’d like to kill it this time."

Two vampires were leaning against an alley wall when Buffy and Angel sprang at them. The vampires looked at Angel then at Buffy, then at each other. And then they broke into a run. Buffy thought, going after them. Buffy and Angel over took them quickly, knocking them down from behind. The one Angel was fighting with fought strong, trying to kill him and get away, where the one Buffy had was cowering away from her, blocking itself with its hands. Angel staked the one he was working on while Buffy watched the other one. This was ridiculous. One vampire who was absolutely terrified of her was fine, but these ones too? Buffy took off her jacket, showing the vampire she was ready to fight. He looked at her coat, which was tossed in a heap and he moved away from it. Then he looked at Buffy and attacked her. Buffy jumped up, snap kicking its neck. He collapsed to the ground and scrambled down the alley. Buffy staked him before he was on his feet. She waited to make sure this one dusted, which he did.

"Am I really scary?" Buffy asked Angel as she put her jacket back on. She felt the stones move against her chest. She couldn’t forget to give them to Giles.

"You’re terrifying," Angel said, giving her that half smile she loved so much.

"Oh yeah? Do I scare you?," she said grinning. "Hey, food. Now. Bronze?"

"Good use of one word sentences. Yeah, sounds good."

As they approached the door Buffy sensed vampires other than the one with her. She looked closely and saw a group of maybe six by the entrance. They watched her approach and took off, not trying to hide their fear. Buffy let them go, giving Angel a strange look. He shrugged slightly as they went in.

Xander was sitting at a table with Cordelia and Willow, watching Oz play. He saw Buffy come in and waved her over. When he saw Angel he rolled his eyes. Everyone ignored it. Buffy pulled up a chair and motioned for Angel to sit down. She was in a good mood; she felt powerful. She sat on Angel’s lap grinning at him. She shrugged out of her coat and when she went to put it over the back of the chair one of the stones fell out of the inside pocket. She retrieved it and put it in the front pocket of the jacket.

Angel thought it was like she had split personalities. Serious when she was slaying, and completely a teenager when she was just hanging out. And she always made him feel welcome, though he felt detached from the group.

"So Giles freed ya guys?" Buffy asked. “Any information that will ruin this happy moment?”

“Nothing exiting. We all ended up organizing the Diaries. Big fun”, Willow said, still watching Oz. She had told half the world her boyfriend was in a band and still kinda marveled at the fact.

“It wasn’t my fault!”, Xander protested. Cordelia turned to him with a ‘look’. “Well, okay, not completely not my fault.” The look didn’t go away. “Fine. It was my fault.”

“That’s right”, Cordelia said as Buffy laughed. A slower song came on and Oz hopped off the stage. He nodded hello to everyone and sat down.

“I feel like dancing”, Buffy said. “Angel, will you dance with me?”

He nodded and stood up. Xander gave them a dirty look and Willow smiled. The pair moved to the edge of the dance floor as others paired off.

Buffy put her arms around Angel's neck and they danced slowly. She knew Xander was watching without even turning around. Hearing Cordelia say, “Xander. Hello? That’s not your girlfriend. I am. Look at me”, confirmed it.

“This is great”, Buffy said. “It feels so normal. Like I’m just a teenage girl and not the Slayer. Nothing life threatening or evil.”

“Me”, Angel replied, almost bitterly. “I’m evil. I can be. You’ve seen it.”

“Yeah, but I can too. Anyone can. Even”, she glanced around “Even Willow could be evil.” Angel gave her an incredulous look. She smiled. “Okay. Maybe not Willow, but the point is I feel normal.”

They moved closer together and Buffy laid her head on his shoulder. They were hardly dancing, just holding each other, moving to the music.

Angel thought about that and softly said into her hair “With me? You feel normal with me?”

“Always.”

*****

"I have presents”, Buffy said entering the library. “Okay, they’re not fun presents, but...” She reached into the inside pocket and handed two stones to Giles.

“Hmm”, he mused as he turned them over in the palm of his hand. “I don’t believe I recognize this language. It appears to be some type of hieroglyphics. I have some books we can look through to find the meanings. Where did you get them again?”

“Angel found them. We were looking for that vampire I killed the other night, which wasn’t there by the way, and he spotted them on the ground. Right were the vampire should’ve been. So we took them.”

“And there was nothing else? No jewelry or weapons?” Giles asked, still studying the stones.

“Nope. Just the little rocks. What’cha think they’re for?” Buffy asked, leafing through a Watcher’s Diary.

“A ritual of sorts, I assume”, he said as he went to find a book. Buffy wandered after him.

“Don’t even tell me it can end the world because that would just suck.” Buffy ordered as he selected the book.

“Well, I hope that won’t be the case.”

“That wasn’t a ‘no it’s not gonna end the world’ but I guess it’ll have to do. Hey, I don’t suppose you’d be willing to get me out of the biology test I have in about, oh, three minutes?”

“You’re right. I won’t," Giles replied without looking up. Buffy groaned. Giles looked up suddenly, finding what he was looking for in the book. “Or maybe I will.”

Buffy perked up. “Oh yeah? How come?”

“The stones--”

“Knew they were good for something,” Buffy said.

“Something like chaos”, Giles said taking off his glasses.

“I told you not to tell me that the world was gonna end. Again”, Buffy said flopping down into a chair.

“Which I didn’t. This is quite different. These stones”, Giles began, going into explanation mode, “are from a set of five. When put together by a being with enough power, they will bring forth thousands of demons. The world will not, however, end. There will be people, people like Slayers, Watchers, witches, true psychics, and the sort, who won’t be taken over and made slaves of. The knowledge of them will, in a sense, protect you. Everyone else will be overpowered. The sundry of demons will range from your average vampire to unimaginable evils.”

“If it’s unimaginable, how do you know it’s coming?” Buffy joked, trying to keep a straight face. She knew it wasn’t funny but she couldn’t resist. “Don’t answer that.”

“Yes, well. If the set of five stones are brought together...”

“So we have these ones, they have there’s, we just don’t share,” Buffy suggested.

“On paper that’s a good plan. In reality though, it’s easier said than done. The vampires or whatever is after the stones will be very strong. They will work in a group to collect the stones.”

“Maybe it was chance that we found them and no one’s after them,” Buffy said hopefully.

“They surfaced for a reason. They remain untouched until a powerful enough group starts bringing them up. Unless we stop them, we will live among demons. In amounts to many for anyone, even you, to get rid of.”

“That just sucks”, Buffy said, stunned. “I really don’t know what to say, except that we have to stop this party from happening.”

“I do agree. We, unfortunately, have no idea of the whereabouts of the other stones. These two are all you found?”

Buffy nodded, completely forgetting the one in the front pocket of the leather jacket Angel had given her.