𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂 𝒃𝒐𝒚 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒆 ；𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒘𝒐

Xander, Willow, and I walk back into the living room just as Buffy and Giles finish talking about what I assumed to be The Order of Aurelius. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" the blonde says with a pleased expression. "And look, I won't go too far, okay? If the apocalypse comes, beep me."

Owen soon steps in behind us. "Is everything cool?"

Buffy nods. "All set."

"Yes, and, uh, you'll face a pretty hefty fine in the morning," Giles notes.

"Kinky," I murmur. Xander looks over at me and can barely hold back a laugh. I simply smile in response and he ruffles my hair. He then leans over and whispers, "your dirty mind astounds me."

"Takes one to know one," I murmur in response.

Buffy glances between Giles, Willow, Xander, and I before tugging on Owen's arm. "Well, bye. Don't wait up." They left quickly, much to the librarian's dismay.

"Is something going on?" Willow asks, her voice worrisome.

"Oh, uh, probably not, no," Giles stumbles over his words. I knew he was trying to make her feel a little bit better. "I, uh, I suppose I'll just go to the funeral home just in case, just to see if anything comes up." Much like Buffy, he's out the door, leaving the three of us standing in the foyer.

Willow turns to Xander and me, concern etched onto her features. "Guys, this is bad."

"I wish it was just bad," he answers. I nod in agreement. But, enough wishing couldn't deny the fact that tonight was probably going to be much, much worse than we could think of.

"I think we should just...follow along and hang back while we're at it," I suggest, remembering that the dagger in my boot could come in handy if we encountered any of 'The Anointed Ones'. "That way we could be the lookouts."

Xander agrees. "You're right, Katy. I don't trust that Owen guy. It's the eyes. Crazy!"

I roll my eyes. "I'm not talking about the lovebirds, Xan—I'm talking about Giles. He needs our help."

"Oh, he's gone, uh, it's—he's gonna be alright. He's like super librarian, y'know?"

Willow cuts in. "But Xander, he could be in trouble!"

After staring at us for a few moments, he finally sighs. "Fine. But I'm doing this because I kind of wants to, not because you guys told me to."

♱ ♱ ♱

After a great deal of walking, we soon made it to the Sunnydale Funeral Home. My feet were hurting, and Xander even offered to carry me if it would keep me from complaining, but I waved him off, saying that he would probably drop me in less than five seconds.

"What, are you trying to say that I'm weak?" he asks with a frown, puffing his chest outwards and straightening his posture to prove a point. Either that or attempting to look tough, when, in reality, he looked a lot like a confused puppy. It was honestly cute.

I can't help but smile. "No, but I do know that you don't get out very much."

"I work out!" he lifts his sweatshirt to reveal a surprisingly tone stomach. I could even see the curves and dips of a six pack. When did he have time for that? That certainly wasn't there last summer. "Only on the weekends," he clarified. I bite my bottom lip when he drops the sweatshirt back down, feeling myself blushing.

I shake my head, remembering our task at hand. "All we have to do is find our middle-aged bookworm." I drop to my knees, hoping to see if there was some sort of underground window that led to the morgue. Thankfully, there was. I kneel to look through the iron bars and see Giles pushing a file cabinet up against a door.

"Guys," I whisper to Xander and Willow, "down here." They kneel just as Giles turns, and he's startled to see us. He nearly jumps out of his skin.

Xander and I raise the window sash. "Giles, it's us!" Willow calls out.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, we figured that you were in a pretty bad situation, because two guys followed you in here," I answer.

Xander nods. He adds, "Are they..."

"They are!" The librarian glances back at the door. "Uh, listen, you should get to safety."

"Can you get out of this window?" Willow asks.

Giles reaches up to test the bars, but they don't budge. "I'm afraid not."

"Ugh," I mutter under my breath. Things didn't seem to be in our favor at the moment.

"Look, I hate to state the obvious," Xander begins, glancing over at me, "but we already have one slayer. The more, the merrier."

"Buffy has her...beeping thing!" Giles aids. He then skims the room. "Um, no phone, of course."

I lean a bit closer to the window. "Stay where you are, Giles. We're going to go get Buffy."

"I don't think there are many other places that I can go, Katy—"

"I know, just hang in there. As Xander said, it's always better to have two against...five." With that, we hurriedly head in the direction of The Bronze.

♱ ♱ ♱

When we enter The Bronze, we spot Buffy and Owen in a small corner, along with her mysterious friend, Angel. I stop for a moment to catch my breath, but Xander and Willow zoom past me, pushing and shoving past teens who were just hoping to have a good time.

"Buffy!"

Owen seems to be exasperated when he notices our presence. "Look at this! You show up everywhere. Interesting."

Xander points at the teen. "You don't know the half of it." Then, he points at Angel. "What's he doing here?"

He shrugs. "I guess it's the same thing you're doin' here."

"Um, excuse me, what are any of you doing here?" Buffy asks, a hint of annoyance in her tone.

"Look, we gotta get to, uh—" Xander begins to speak, but I give his leg a nudge, causing him to clear his throat. "We thought that it'd be fun if we made this a triple date! Isn't that right, Katy?"

I smile, nodding as I throw my arms around Xander's shoulders. "Yup. I couldn't resist showing off my sweetheart."

Buffy's eyebrows raise. "I didn't know you guys were seeing each other. Although, what happened earlier should've been an indication."

"Well, it was gonna happen eventually, so we figured, 'why wait?'" I add.

"And what about Willow?" Buffy asks.

I grin, happy with the fact that this plan was going well. And also because Xander still had his arms wrapped around my waist. "We're going to find her a delicious hunk tonight. Unless she still wants my brother."

Willow blushes at the mention of Greyson.

"Wait, you have a brother?" the blonde asks. I guess that I had never brought that up in conversation for her to know about him.

"Correction—an idiotic older brother. He's at college right now, studying to be a crime scene technician." Buffy nods and takes a sip of her drink.

Owen looks at Xander, clearly wanting to get back to his date, with or without us there. "And you guys are thinking triple?"

Xander lets out a nervous laugh. "'Cause of...the fun!"

"And you're here because of work?" He inquires to Angel. The mysterious young man that seriously gave me the creeps doesn't answer and instead looks at the band onstage.

"Maybe we should all go somewhere together," I suggest, hoping to lead Buffy to the morgue before it was too late.

"Gee, that's so nice of you, but Owen and I were sort of, well...Owen and I."

"You know what'd be cool?" Xander adds on. "The Sunnydale Funeral Home!"

Willow nods excitedly. "I've always wanted to go there!"

I lean into Xander and look into his eyes. "Yeah, I bet it's the perfect place to make out, with all of those dark, secluded corners."

Buffy doesn't seem to be phased and is perhaps disgusted. Which is weird, because slaying vampires is one of her biggest hobbies. "The funeral home?"

"Actually, that sounds kinda cool! Do you think we could all sneak in?" Owen says. He looks excited at the idea. I knew he was weird.

Xander grins. "We saw some guys in there before. They seemed to be having fun!" The statement seems to be pointed towards Buffy, and I know it dawns on her when Angel gives her an "I told you so" look.

She exhales and looks at her date. "Um, Owen, I gotta go."

He pulls her off to the side and they carry on a conversation for a moment. I cross my arms over my chest as she makes her way over to us, then spin around and head towards the exit. "Let's roll," I state, "because who knows what that librarian's gotten himself into."

Buffy and I break into a sprint, while Xander and Willow follow close behind.

♱ ♱ ♱

As we walk through the funeral home entrance, everything seems to be quiet. My boots echo on the linoleum flooring as we make our way down the narrow hallway, hoping to find the room that Giles was currently located in.

"Which way?" Buffy asks.

"The room's around back," Willow says. I nod in agreement and Xander grabs onto my arm as we walk farther and farther into the funeral home. I really wish that I had thought about bringing a flashlight.

I groan when we find that it's a dead end. "This is great. Those vamps could be anywhere!"

Buffy huffs. "Damn it."

"This is so cool!" A voice from behind us makes me spin around and yank my dagger out of my boot, holding it out in a protective stance. Xander moves in front of me to hide my weapon when we realize that it's only Owen. I mumble a curse under my breath and wonder why this guy can't just take a hint.

Buffy is quick to rush towards him. "Uh, Owen, you can't be here!"

He scoffs. "Oh, and I suppose you guys are allowed? What are we doing here? Are we going to see a dead body?"

"I knew he was into banging corpses," I murmur. Willow gives me a frown, most likely beyond disgusted at the thought, but I shrug. "What? He has that necrophiliac vibe."

Buffy answers Owen's question with a blunt, "Possibly several." Then, she turns to us. "Willow, Xander, watch him. Katy, you come with me."

"Are they mad?" I hear Owen ask with a scoff as we run off to the way we came in. I can only roll my eyes again. He was starting to get on my nerves.

The Slayer and I approach the door of the morgue. It's cracked open, revealing that the inside is a complete and utter disaster. We exchange a worried glance and I immediately spot Giles' bag on the gurney, along with the fact that the rusted steel bars of the window is torn off. Buffy searches the floor for a moment before finding his cross.

"He's got to be in here somewhere—"

I can barely get the sentence past my lips when one of the body storage drawers in front of us rolls out, revealing the librarian.

"Giles!" Buffy cries, startled.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack," I groan, clutching my chest.

"It is you! Oh, good."

Buffy steps a bit closer. "What happened?" I ask. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Katy, I'm fine. To answer your question, two more brethren came in here. They went after me. But I was more than a match for them." He seems pleased with himself.

"Meaning...?" Buffy says.

"I hid. Uh, this chap was good enough to bunk with me 'till they went away." I grimace when I realize he's mentioning the body he's currently laying on top of. He hops off of the cadaver.

The blonde seems incredibly nervous. "Well, w—were they here after you, or w—was it that prophecy thing?"

I cross my arms over my chest, eager for answers. "I guess we'll just have to find out sooner or later."

Giles nods. "I don't know what these brethren mean to do, exactly. Find the Anointed, or give him something perhaps; it's all very vague. And the Anointed may be long gone!"

"I hope not, because I want to stake him myself," I murmur. Buffy gives a soft smile at my statement.

"We must find out."

"Okay, I just need to get Owen and the others out of harm's way first," Buffy says with a nod.

Giles' brows shot up, and I can see that he's surprised. "Owen? You brought a date?"

I roll my eyes. "He brought himself."

The librarian sighs. "Buffy, when I said you could slay vampires and have a social life, I didn't mean at the same time."

"I know. I'll get rid of him." She turns to leave, and I follow."

"You can't make him go out there alone, we don't know where the brethren are. I—I'll just..."

Buffy shakes her head. "No! No, Giles, he sees you, he's gonna have more questions than he already does right now. Katy and I will take care of it."

"We promise," I add. Buffy and I run into the hall, on high alert. My eyes scan the passageway as I search for the others, but they soon come into view after turning a corner.

"Is everything okay?" Willow asks.

Buffy nods. "It is."

"And we'll be leaving?" Xander presses. It looks like he's dealt with enough vampires for tonight.

Owen is quick to protest, and his statement nearly makes me want to stab myself with my dagger. "We're not done lookin' around yet!"

Buffy nods and ignores my 'I told you to stay away from nerds' look. "No, he's right. So let's find a nice, safe, fun room to look around in."

She takes Owen's hand and leads us down the hall. I'm preoccupied with my surroundings, the grip on my dagger causing my knuckles to grow white as my heart hammers in my chest. Xander and Willow are both huddled by my side, his hand wrapped around my arm tightly while Willow tugs at my jacket.

We reach a door. "We tried the office here, but it's locked," Owen informs.

Buffy breaks the lock without any hesitation, and we all scurry in. "No, it's not!"

Her date states the obvious. "Well, I don't think we'll find much in here."

"I think that's the plan, Owen," I say, crossing my arms over my chest. "But if there does happen to be something in here, I'll take care of it."

Xander nods. "Yeah. Katy's, like a female Superman or something."

"Okay..." Owen hesitantly responds but then realizes what I had said. "What?"

Buffy finishes searching the room, and she tilts her chin towards the door, signaling that it was time to meet Giles. "I have to go now. Um, to the bathroom, I have to go to the bathroom. If you hear anything, like a security guard or something, just be really quiet." She turns to Xander and Willow. "And barricade the door. C'mon Katy—you can be my backup. Just in case we see a guard."

I follow her into the hall once more, and we hastily make our way to the morgue. Xander closes the office door behind us.

As soon as we reach the morgue, Giles, Buffy, and I start looking through body drawers, hoping to find the Anointed One.

Buffy opens one, revealing a nude corpse. She grimaces. "Ew, parts!"

I laugh at her childishness. "It's just a dick, Buffy."

"Keep looking, he must be here somewhere," Giles intervenes.

After what feels like hours but is known to be a few minutes, there's one storage cell left. Giles unhinges the patch and Buffy pulls out the drawer. It's empty.

I clench my hand in a fist. "Ugh!"

"The Anointed must be gone."

"I guess," Buffy says with a defeated sigh. "I mean, this is where they keep all the dead bodies, right?"

Giles nods. "Mm-hmm."

Our heads turn when we hear glass raining down. A window was smashed. I knew that it had to be the Anointed One.

"Fuck," I swore, beyond frustrated. "These guys don't ever stop, do they?"

I make a run for the hall, Buffy quick to follow behind. We meet Owen, Willow, and Xander, who were coming from the opposite direction. As soon as he sees me, Xander grabs me, holding onto my shoulders for a quick moment before pulling me into a tight hug. "God, you're okay."

I lean into his chest, and I wrap my arms around his neck. "You were worried about me?"

He nods. "Of course."

I'm taken aback, but then I smile. "Thank you, Xan."

"Where is he?" the blonde questions, her tone frantic.

"In there!" Xander answers.

"Go!" I cry, shoving Willow and Xander forward. Owen quickly catches up to be beside me. "C'mon, we don't have much time!"

As we run, singing fills my ears. It echoed in the empty hallway, a haunting melody that made chills run down my spine. We manage to find the exit, but it's blocked by the brethren. Willow screams and Xander grabs her, pulling her behind him for safety. He tugs on my arm, and I move behind him as well, still holding my dagger out in case one of the vamps decided to attack. But, instead of attacking, they close the gate.

"I think he's coming this way!" Willow shouts, referencing the Anointed One.

"You think?" I answer, and we're making a run for it once more.

That is until we reach the same dead-end from when we first got to the mortuary.

"Oh God, this is too much!" Owen exclaims.

He runs a hand through his hair before looking back at the mortuary. "Someone has to help Buffy," he says.

"Owen—"

I can barely get the warning out before he's running back in the direction of the morgue. Xander and Willow begin to follow, but I'm stopped by someone's breathing filling my ear.

I turn and see that it's not the brethren, or even the Anointed One—just some random bloodsucker. Xander calls my name but I ignore him.

"Hey there," I smirk. "I see that you wanted to join in the fun."

I hold my dagger out in front of me as I move to a protective stance, tilting my head slightly as my smile grows wide. "Show me what you got."

He lunges forward, and I throw a hard punch, my knuckles colliding with his jaw and sending him to stumble backward. Taking his moment of weakness as an advantage, I turn, kicking my leg out. He grabs my ankle and twists, causing me to land on the cold, wet grass. The vampire kneels over me and I roll, grabbing my dagger from where it had fallen.

"You're a lot tougher than I thought," he laughs maniacally, punching me hard enough to make me feel my jaw nearly pop out of place, copper filling my mouth. Then he takes hold of my hand, gripping my wrist tightly. I bite my lip to keep from crying out as he squeezes it tightly, bones cracking as he's closer and closer to breaking it.

Quick thinking comes in handy when my knee hits his groin. He groans, stumbling back before I stand, sending a roundhouse kick to his chest so his landing is just as harsh as mine was.

His eyes seem to be pleading as I lean over him, wiping the blood off of my lips and chin. I spit on his face before smiling, revealing the crimson color that coated my teeth.

"Nice try," I sneered, my expression hardening. My dagger sinks into his chest and he explodes into blood scented ash.

I stand, looking where the vampire had once been for a moment before running back to the mortuary.

"You killed my date!" I hear Buffy yell, and I bolt into the room just as she uses Andrew's forward momentum to launch him into the air. He lands on top of a gurney, and it rolls over to the crematorium. He slides through the open door, and I move forward to shove the gurney away as Giles slams the iron door shut. He screams, and we watch him burn.

"Does anyone have an aspirin? Or sixty?"

Buffy goes straight to Owen's aid and crouches beside him. "Owen!"

"What happened to that guy?"

"Oh...we scared him away."

"Oh, good. 'Cause, you know, I would've..."

Buffy nods. "I know. Here..." she pulls him to his feet. "I'm sure this isn't exactly what you had in mind for our first date."

Owen rubs his head. "Yeah! I was hoping maybe we'd finish at Ben and Jerry's."

"We still could..." Buffy offers.

"No, I—I think I'll just walk home." Owen starts to leave but stops. "Uh, which way's home?"

She steps forward. "I'll get you there."

"No, I'll, I'll go it alone."

Xander pulls me forward, along with Willow. "We'll make sure he gets home safely." We lead Owen away, and I give Buffy a glance of pity as she stares at us.

I hear Giles speak. "Buffy, if I might, uh..."

"Don't!" she says, cutting him off.

I smile, and Xander pulls me a little closer to his side as we leave the mortuary. Who knew what time it was, but at least there were no other vampires in sight.

"You've got a little..." he says to me and points to his bottom lip. I use the back of my hand to wipe it away, but some still must've been on there, because he leans forward, using his thumb to brush off the remaining blood that coated my lips.

"There we go. Good as new." Xander smiles, and I can't help but blush.

♱ ♱ ♱

The next day, Willow, Xander, Buffy, and I are walking along the school balcony.

"Well, did Owen say anything about me on the way home?" Buffy asks.

Willow glances at her. "Oh, you mean specifically about you?"

"Or generally...in the area, in the ballpark, any sort of indication?"

We round the corner and begin walking down the stairs.

Xander shakes his head. "Well, in that case, no."

"But he was pretty incoherent, so we might've missed it." I know that Willow only wanted to make Buffy feel better.

She brightens. "You think?"

Xander looks down at the ground. "No."

"I'm really sorry, Buffy," I say, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "I know how much you liked the guy. Despite his obsession with funeral homes, he seemed really sweet."

Later on, Buffy informs us that Owen was only in it for the thrill. So much for a good first date. I wished our blonde friend the best. She deserves it.