"He's
evil and soulless, Buffy." Angel spat out. "He's never going to
change." He towered over the petite blonde Slayer, but she didn't seem
to notice.
"That's bullshit, Angel," Buffy laughed. "You only
see things the way you want
to see them. He started changing the minute he came to me for help to
defeat you and your big rock." She folded her arms across her chest,
and she glared at the brunette vampire. "He
did that to get Dru back, Buffy. The only reason he helped was out of
selfishness," Angel muttered. He glared at the gleeful vampire standing
a few feet behind the Slayer. "Well, duh. I
was there for the whole 'vamps like to talk big' convo, you know."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "I saw the look in his eyes when he talked about
the big ho." "He'll leave you, Buffy. If
she ever comes back, he's gone." Angel said with the confidence of
someone not in the know. "All she's have to do is wiggle her finger at
him, and he'll drop you like yesterday's trash." He couldn't understand
the snickers that erupted from several different people in the room. "Spike,
baby?" Buffy kept her eyes on Angel, but she directed her speech
towards Spike. "Next time you see Dru, stake her for me." "Sure
thing, luv." Spike bounced on the balls of his feet. "But really you
should have said something a few months ago when I had her tied up in
the basement and I offered." He smirked when Angel's expression turned
incredulous. "Dru came here for a visit?"
Angel's voice was laced with surprise. He hadn't expected that. Angel
was sure that Dru was finished with the peroxide blond vampire. "Sure
did, Peaches." Spike sighed dramatically. "Nattered on about grandmum
becomin' my sis, and how the lawyers got caught in her teeth." He just
loved springing surprises on his grandsire. Big hair gelled know
it all. Angel
suddenly felt panicked. His eyes darted around to the others in the
room before he settled his sight back on Spike. Angel managed to squeak
out, and boy howdy did that sound funny, "You know about the lawyers?" "Keep
back, Spike," Xander announced snarkily from his place next to Anya,
"You know how much Deadboy likes to light his family members on fire."
This little statement caused Buffy to step back towards her mate until
her back was pressed up against his chest. Willow
slipped stealthily into the Magic Box in an attempt to avoid a
confrontation with Buffy, Spike or Tara before her spell began. So, she
was grateful that Angel was taking the full brunt of the Slayer's wrath
at the moment. Willow stood behind Angel, and she suddenly felt really
woozy. Before she could say anything, she blacked out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The
petite blonde woman raised her hand to her forehead. Something was
really wrong, but she wasn't sure what it was. She realized her head
was laying on something hard yet soft, and what ever it was, it smelled
really good. The woman opened her eyes to find a pair of brilliant
sapphire blue eyes staring into hers. Hello, cutie, Blue Eyes thought. He was
surprised when he got an answer. Do you know me? The petite blond answered
back. Not sure, pet. You seem familiar, and how the
bloody hell are we talking without moving our lips,
Blue Eyes answered. He quickly looked around the room. He could tell
they were in a shop, a magical supply shop by the looks of it, and they
weren't alone. Not alone here, pet. Maybe we should wake the
others up. The
blond couple cautiously got to their feet. They clung to each other
while they oddly found total comfort in each other's arms. I think
I'm in love with you, the woman thought. She tightened her arms
around her male companion. Blue
Eyes looked down into the woman's face, and he smiled. He knew exactly
how she felt. Something about her completed him as if they were two
halves of one heart. "Which one should we wake first?" he whispered. The
woman studied the others in the room. She counted eight besides herself
and her male companion, 5 females and 3 males. Their ages seemed to
range from teenagers to late thirties. How the hell she knew that she
had no idea. The woman pointed at one of the men asleep at the table in
the middle of the room. "Him. He looks like the oldest." "Right
then." Blue Eyes carefully made his way over to the sleeping man. He
gently shook the man until he groaned and opened his eyes. "Hey, mate.
Do you know who we are?" "Who you are? I...
I... I don't know who the hell I am?" the man sputtered. "But we both
sound British." He sat the rest of the way up to look around the room.
"This is a magic shop. A ... a real magic shop." From
the other side of the room a deep voice piped up, "Magic! Magic's all
balderdash and chicanery." A dark haired man scrambled to his feet, and
he jostled his red-haired female companion while he did. He gave the
girl a cheesy seductive grin while he drawled, "Hey." "Um, hey," the redheaded girl returned hesitantly.
"Uh, who are you?" "I
don't know, but I do know I want to get to know you," the dark haired
man continued to grin at the girl while he winked at her. He waggled
his eyebrows at her, and he ran his hand over his hair in a totally
smarmy way. "Ewwww gross, much." The blond
woman wrinkled her nose at the flirting. "Quit doing that. It's wiggin'
me out." She turned to the blond man she woke up next to, and she sent
a thought towards him. You think we associate with someone so ...
gross all the time? I hope not, pet. Something about that git raises
the hair on the back of my neck.
Aloud he said, "Maybe we should get the others awake, too." He
sauntered around the table to touch the young couple sleeping against
each other. The older British man gently
awakened the dark haired woman next to him, while the blonde woman woke
the dark-haired teenager, and the redheaded woman awakened the
dishwater blonde woman. Once they were all awake, the blonde woman
asked if anyone knew who they were. When they found out that no one
knew who they were or anyone else, chaos ensued. "Okay, who are you freaks?" the smarmy flirt shouted.
He jumped away from the others. "You don't know me?" the redheaded woman asked. She
seemed saddened by the fact. "Not a fucking clue." "But you were like," she imitated his smarmy manner,
"Oh hey." She sneered her lip at him while she smoothed her hair back. "Yeah,
'cause I thought you were a girl, and I'd remember you, but ..." His
eyes popped out of his head when the redheaded girl grabbed her breasts. "Well,
I am a girl! I'm not sure who I am exactly, but I can tell I'm a girl.
I got boobs." She gave the said boobs a little squeeze. "I
was on the floor next to you. I figured we were together," the smarmy
flirt yelled. "So, hey, those are my boobs to squeeze." He put his
hands out towards the redheaded woman. He stopped when he realized the
others were looking at him oddly. "Why are you all staring at me? Is
this some kind of psych test? Am I getting paid for this?" "It's
not just you, you moronic git," the blonde Brit drawled. He rolled his
eyes at the blond woman by his side. "Does anyone remember anything?" "Well maybe we all got really drunk, and this is some sort of
blackout," the dark haired girl from the table piped up.
"I don't
see any booze," the engaged woman said and looked around the shop, "I
don't feel any head bumps, and I don't see Allen Funt." She tightened
her grip on her fiancé's
hand.
"Who?"
asked the smarmy flirt. What the hell was the stupid girl talking
about? When the others looked at him, he started to panic. "Okay. I'm
not panicking. I'm not. I'm really not." His voice raised a notch or
two higher. "Stop looking at me like I'm panicking!" "Hey,
take it easy, guy," the blond woman said soothingly. "Okay, no one's
hurt, right? None of us look all hatchety-murdery. So, we're probably
safe here." She looked around the room. "Where ever here is." "Why
don't we look through our pockets for some identification," announced
the older Brit. He felt around his body until he found his wallet in
his hip pocket. He removed it, and he flipped through it in search of
identification. "Ah, here it is. Wesley Wyndham-Pryce. I have a name." "Oh,
I'm Willow Rosenberg," the redheaded woman announced. "Weird name
Willow. Oh and I go to U.C. Sunnydale." She showed the ID to the smarmy
flirt. "My name's Tara, and I go to the
same college," the shy dishwater blonde girl said. She smiled at the
others through the curtain of her hair. "Maybe we're study buddies." "My
name's Alexander Harris," the dark haired young man from the table
replied, "But it appears my girl doesn't have a wallet." He smiled down
at her. "Oh, but I have this key around my
neck." She lifted the key to show the others. "Maybe I should see if it
unlocks the register or something." The others nodded in agreement, and
the strawberry blonde woman hurried behind the counter. She crowed when
the key worked in the register lock. "Hey, my name is Anya. I run this
shop with a Rupert Giles. I wonder which one of you is Rupert?" "I'd
off m'self if my name was Rupert," the blond Brit said sarcastically,
"It's all yours, mate." He held his hand up, and he let the smarmy
flirt take the newly found identity. "Neato,"
the newly named Rupert Giles replied. "I'm a business owner. Bet I make
lots of money." He winked smarmily at Willow, again. Only this time he
included Tara. "I'm Cordelia Chase of Los
Angeles, California," the dark haired girl from the table said. "Hey,
it says here I'm an actress. Wonder if I'm any good?" "I don't have a wallet," the teenage girl muttered
sadly. Now she wouldn't find out whom she belonged to. "Neither
do we," the blond woman declared while she indicated herself and the
blond Brit. "Hey look." She pointed at the piece of jewelry around the
teenager's neck. "A necklace with your name on it. You're Dawn." "Or,
Umad." Dawn smiled at the shorter woman. "So neither of you have a
name?" She smiled at the blond man as well as the woman. They looked so
good together. The newly named Dawn just hoped that someday she would
find someone she fit with as good as these two seemed to. "I'm sure we must." The blond woman smiled at the
blond Brit. "Maybe we should name ourselves. How about Bob and Joan?" "Don't
bloody think so, luv," the blond Brit growled. "I like Sid and Nancy,
myself." He pulled the blond woman against him, and he sniffed her
hair. He suddenly realized his senses were heightened, and he felt very
protective about certain people in the room. "No,
I don't think so," Dawn disagreed, "I think you look more like Will and
Beth." She nodded her head before turning to the others. "I named them.
This is Will and Beth." "Hey, maybe I wanted to call myself Joan," Beth
declared. She squinted her eyes menacingly at the teenager. "No!
That is such a blah name." Dawn turned back to Beth, not at all
intimidated by the older female. "I don't care what you say. You're not
naming yourself Joan, and that's final." "God, you're a brat." "Well, you're bossy." "Do
you think we're ... sisters?" Beth and Dawn exclaimed together. They
immediately began to hug one another. Then Beth turned to the others.
"I think we need to find some help. I think the hospital is our best
bet." Before anyone could respond to Beth's
hospital suggestion, the door of the shop opened and a distinguished
looking older man stepped into the store. He looked around at the group
with a certain amount of uncertainty on his face. The expression turned
to astonishment when the smarmy flirt rushed forward with his hand out
for a handshake. "Welcome to the shop. My
name is Rupert Giles." The dark haired man shook the older man's hand.
"Over there is my partner, Anya. Can we sell you something?" "Angel, are you completely daft?" "No,
I don't think I'm daft." Angel turned to look at the others. "Do you
all think I'm daft? What does daft mean?" He turned back to the other
man. "You know us?" "Of course I know you
all," Giles replied indignantly. "Really Buffy, what is going on around
here? Why the hell is Angel pretending to be me?" He moved towards the
petite blond girl. "I knew your name wasn't Joan," Dawn crowed
triumphantly. She giggled when the blond woman gave her a dirty look. "Well, you picked Beth." "Well,
both Beth and Buffy are formed from the name Elizabeth," Giles replied,
and then he pointed to the blond man, "I'm sure Spike doesn't have any
ID either, since he never carries any. What did you name him, and why
are you naming each other?" "He wanted to
be Sid, but I overrode that and named him Will," Dawn answered. She
watched in amazement when Giles burst into laughter. "What the bloody hell is so funny, mate?" Spike
growled. His eyes flashed yellow, but the only one to notice was Buffy. Calm down, Will,
Buffy said soothingly. Somehow Spike suited the blond man's style, but
Will just felt more intimate, and for some reason it fit just right.
She rubbed his back in a soothing manner. "Oh
God," Giles spoke between sputtering chuckles. "Your name from before
was William. I can't believe Dawn was so spot on with your names." He
slowly sobered up long enough to study the others in the room. "So, can
anyone tell me what is happening here? How about you, Wesley?" "Well,
um," Wesley stuttered before he stood up confidently to continue, "We
woke up here, and apparently none of us have any memory of who we are.
So we checked our IDs to determine our identities." He pointed at the
people as he called out their names. "Cordelia, Alexander, Willow,
Tara, and myself had legitimate forms of identification. Anya
determined her identity from the key to the register around her neck,
and Spike didn't want to be called Rupert. That's how we assumed that
Angel was Rupert Giles. Dawn has a necklace, and she in turn named
Buffy and Spike. That about covers the progress we had made when you
arrived." "Other than a total loss of memory has anyone else
felt anything unusual? Angel? Spike?" "Only
thing I'm feeling is the need to get these two lovely ladies between
the sheets." Angel attempted to put his arms around Willow and Tara,
but the two women slipped away from the embrace. They both shuddered,
and they moved as far away from the smarmy man as they could. "Must
you, Angel. Besides I'm sure Willow and Tara don't need a male
influence in their relationship, especially one like yours," Giles
commented. He turned to the blond man. "How about yourself, Spike,
anything out of the ordinary?" Spike looked
down at Buffy who smiled and nodded at him. He looked up at the older
British man, and he replied, "Well, two things really. I've noticed my
senses are quite extraordinary, and that Buffy and I can communicate
without speaking." Across the room Tara and
Willow were digesting the news that they were in a relationship. They
touched hands, and they were surprised at the spark of recognition
between them. Tara and Willow sat down at the table, and they scooted
as close together as they could, happy to find someone for themselves. Angel
inched closer to Cordelia, determined to find himself a companion, but
she rebuffed him with a lifting of her aristocratic nose. He pouted
while he thought about what might be wrong with him. Maybe it's my
hair.
Angel drifted over towards the mirror at the front of the store, but
when he looked in it he couldn't see himself. He shrieked while he
pointed at the mirror. "Something's wrong! Something's wrong! I can't
see myself. I can't see myself. The mirror is broken." "I'm
sure the mirror's not broken, you nincompoop," Spike drawled. He moved
to look in the mirror, too. "Look, see there's the others. It's not the
mirror. Just you." "If it's just me, then where the fuck are you, Spike?"
Angel asked. He nodded to the place in the mirror where Spike was
supposed to be standing. "Well
obviously I'm such a good looking bloke the mirror is jealous." Spike
looked the other man up and down with obvious contempt. "In your case
it's probably trying to save itself from breaking." "You
guys are weird," Dawn announced, "It's obvious you're both vampires."
She flounced over to the table where she flopped down in one of the
chairs. "Vampires are just a myth," Wesley
declared. "This is a magic shop. I'm sure it's just a trick of some
kind." He laughed wryly. "You know, ha-ha let's have a bit of fun with
those that are memory-impaired." "I'm
afraid Dawn is quite right, Wesley," Giles revealed. "Both Angel and
Spike are vampires. Their circumstances are unique, and that is why
they are with both of our groups." "What
circumstances are those, and who the hell are these groups exactly?"
Xander exclaimed. He smiled down at the woman who was still clutching
his hand as if she was afraid if she let go something bad would happen.
Then Xander glanced at Angel and Spike as if he was gauging how soon
they would be attacking anyone. Now that
Spike had moved away from Buffy, Angel decided it was time to try and
make a move on the blond woman. He didn't really care that she had
showed a marked interest in the blond vampire. Angel knew that all she
really needed was to feel the full blast of his charm, and she would
fall into his arms. He swaggered awkwardly across the room while he
plastered his best seductive grin on his face. "Hey baby." Buffy
wrinkled up her nose, and let out a long 'ewwwwwwww' before hurrying to
Spike's side. She pressed herself against the blond vampire while she
threw disgusted looks at the other vampire. Angel made her feel icky,
and why the hell did his hair look like that? What the hell is wrong with me? Angel
thought. His eyes landed on Wesley. Hmm, maybe the problem is I
don't like girls. Before he could act on his thought he was
intercepted by Giles. "Angel,
would you please go sit down before you embarrass yourself any more
than you already have." Giles indicated a chair next to the front door,
far away from the others in the room. "I
have a feeling this memory loss is the result of a localized spell."
Giles crossed the room to the bookshelf where he took a book down. He
flipped through the pages until he found the spell he wanted. "Willow,
can you get me the Tagas root? It should be on the shelf at the front
of the shop." Willow jumped to her feet to
help Giles, but in her rush she tripped over the chair leg. She fell to
her hands and knees. In the commotion of Giles and Wesley helping her
up, she failed to notice the crystal that fell out of her pocket. It
rolled across the floor to stop next to Anya's foot. Willow walked
carefully to the front of the store. "Are
any of you going to pay for this?" Anya asked. "I'm not sure how we
make money if we are always doing spells around this place." She moved
to one side when Willow brushed by her while the redhead gathered
ingredients at Giles' instructions. "Ugh, I stepped on something
crunchy!" Spike stared into Buffy's eyes as
they returned to themselves with full memories. Both of them realized
that whatever had happened this time the claim hadn't been covered. It
was too strong now. As one, they looked around the room to see horror
and shock cross all of the faces except one; Willow. The only
expression she had on her face was one of irritation.