IT'S BEEN A HOT MINUTE SINCE SOMEONE FLIRTED WITH ME AND THERE WASN'T A COUNTER DISPLAYING DONUTS BETWEEN US.

[ 4.13 ]

Willow's eyes were closed as she spoke slowly and carefully. "I implore you, Neisa, blessed goddess of chance and fortune, heed my call. Send to me the heart I desire."

Kitty and Xander shared a suspicious look before looking back at Willow. "You know, magic at the poker table qualifies as cheating."

Willow, Xander, Anya, and Kitty were sitting around the coffee table in the basement, playing poker. Seeing as watching TV still sort of hurt Kitty's head, teaching her to gamble was an alternate pastime. The witch of the group decided that she needed a little help for the next round, and Xander was contemplating kicking her out of the game for it.

"That wasn't magic. I was praying," Willow insisted. Then she nodded to the stack of cards on the table. "Two, please."

Xander dealt her the cards, and then Anya went. "Five."

"Ahn, I keep telling you four's the max and only if you have an ace," Xander explained.

"Okay, four," she said.

Xander gave her a look. "Let's see the ace.

"Three," Anya said with a sigh. "What a stupid game. All these rules just to win little plastic disks."

"Chips. They're called chips. They represent money," he told her.

"But we don't have money," Kitty muttered. She was in the same boat as Anya, unfamiliar with the game for the most part. "Not much money, at least."

"Right," Xander said, nodding. "Since none of us has any money, it represents money. But that's gonna change once my merchandise hits the street."

Willow took the cue as Xander gave them inviting looks, wanting them to ask about his merchandise. "Hmm! Wha'cha got in the boxes, drugs?" she asked, looking at the many boxes stacked in the corner. Then she looked at him more sternly. "It's not drugs, is it, Xander?"

"G says I can't be friends with people that do drugs," Kitty informed him.

"Not drugs," Xander said with an eye roll. Then he got up and grabbed one of the boxes. "You are looking at the new local distributor for Boost Bars. The natural food bar that provides a nutritional energy boost for active, health-conscious people. Want one?"

"No, thanks. Those things usually taste... kind of tasteless," Willow said. "And then leave a bad after-tastelessness."

Xander pulled out a bar and pointed at the label. "Well, don't let the healthy scare you. Check out these ingredients. See? Loaded with fatty goodness."

"Is this one of those pyramid schemes?" Kitty asked, tilting her head. "That Watcher Wesley told me about them and their annoying salespeople. Like Avon and Tupperware. Are you the Avon lady of bad candy bars?"

"It is not a pyramid scheme," Xander said, scoffing. Not that he had a full understanding of what a pyramid scheme was anyhow. "Not a pyramid in sight when they had me buy all this inventory. And you can sell them too if you—"

"This is a pyramid scheme!" Willow exclaimed, laughing as she did. "Don't fall for it, Kitty."

"Come on, somebody bet already," Anya complained. "I got three 'K' cards."

As Anya revealed she had a superior hand, the others exchanged glances before folding their cards. Anya smiled happily and began sliding the pot of chips to her already large pile. Xander gathered the cards up to shuffle.

"Wish the Buff could've made it," he said. "This four-hand poker is not quite the game."

"Guess she's out with Riley," Willow said, shrugging. "You know how it is with a spanking new boyfriend."

"Yes, we've enjoyed spanking," Anya said offhandedly as she stacked her chips.

Xander fumbled while shuffling the cards, sending them flying as he looked at Anya in shock. He took a moment to collect himself before clearing his throat and looking at a smirking Kitty and Willow. "The thing is I think Riley is... okay, in an oafish kind of way. But am I the only one with a big floating question mark over his head about this Initiative thing?"

"Well, they do seem to fall into the 'good guy' camp. I mean they are anti-demon," Willow said. Then she spotted the expression on Anya's face. "Probably pro-ex-demon."

"Maybe. I choose to feel threatened," Anya muttered.

"And why not?" Xander asked, gathering cards once more. "There's still heaps we don't know about these commandos. What exactly are they up to?"

"Stealing our Buffy time, that's what," Kitty mumbled.

♡︎

Kitty tagged along with Giles when he informed her he'd be swinging by Spike's new place to give him the money for helping out with the whole 'I got turned into a demon' thing. Much to her delight, he'd chosen the spacious mausoleum that they'd scouted out when trying to find that demon, which ended up being taken care of by the Initiative.

Giles let himself in without knocking, ignoring how Kitty whispered that it was rude. Spike was lying on top of a stone sarcophagus, but sat up and threw the blanket on him off when he realized he had unannounced guests.

"Hey! Wipe your feet when you enter a person's home," he insisted.

"Oh, yes. Careless of me. Tracking mud all over your, uh, mud," Giles said sarcastically.

"You also don't have a doormat," Kitty added, glancing at the ground.

"I admit, it's a bit of a fixer-upper. Needs a woman's touch," Spike said, looking around the new space. Then he pointedly looked at Giles. "Care to have a crack at it?"

Giles rolled his eyes and walked up to Spike while Kitty roamed around aimlessly. "While I'd loved to go on trading jabs with you, Spike, perhaps I'll come to the point. As much as it pains me to say it, um, I owe you a debt of gratitude for the help you provided me in my recent metamorphosis."

"Stuff the gratitude," Spike said, rubbing his neck that was still sore from the car crash. "You owe me more than that, mate."

Doing as expected, Giles pulled out a bundle of cash and offered it to Spike. "Three hundred. Count it if you'd—" Spike snatched the wad of money at an alarming rate. "—like."

"I'll do that," he said.

While Spike started to count the money, Giles looked the place over while speaking. "Um, thinking about your affliction and, uh, your newfound discovery that you can fight only demons, it occurs to me that — I realize this is completely against your nature but I-I — Has it occurred to you that there may be a higher purpose—"

"Ugh!" Spike groaned, sighing in annoyance. "You made me lose count. What are you still doing here?"

"He's talking to himself, apparently," Kitty muttered with a sly smile. She knew Spike wouldn't want anything to do with the higher-purpose spiel Giles was offering.

"So, it would seem," Giles said.

"Well piss off, then. This bit of business wraps up any I got with you and your Slayerettes," Spike said, pocketing the money. "From here on, I want nothing to do with the lot of you."

Kitty pouted a little at that but remained quiet.

"Your choosing to remain in Sunnydale might make that a little difficult," Giles told him.

"Well, you and yours will just have to show a little restraint is all. Get out," Spike said. Giles didn't say anything and headed to the door. "And I don't want you crawling back here knocking on my door pleading for help the second Teen Witch's magic goes all wonky or little Xander cuts a new tooth. We're through. You got it?"

In response, Giles opened the door without warning, letting in sunlight. Spike flinched and stepped to the side. If Kitty didn't know better, she'd say Giles' feelings were a little hurt. Perhaps she wasn't the only one Spike had grown on while staying at the apartment.

"Honeymoon is over," Spike said callously.

Giles rolled his eyes and stepped out. "Come on, Kitty. He doesn't want it, clearly."

"Yeah, I got the message," she mumbled, going to follow Giles out.

"Hold on," Spike said, dropping most of the tough guy act now that Giles was outside. "Want what? You got something for me?"

Kitty shrugged and dragged the toe of her shoe across the ground shyly. "Just thought I'd give you a 'congrats on moving out' thing, but never mind."

"Well, it doesn't have to be nevermind," he said, coming closer. "Did you really get me something?"

"I mean, I made it. Didn't buy it. It's not like a plant or anything."

"Well, let's see it," he said, crossing his arms and trying to hide a smile.

Kitty dug through the pocket of her black corduroy overalls before pulling out a small, red, friendship bracelet like everyone else in her life wore. She held it out, suddenly very nervous of his reaction, though she didn't know why. "I made you this friendship bracelet. It's red, like blood."

"Friendship bracelet?" Spike asked, letting out an amused scoff. "What am I? Six?"

Her face fell as she lowered her hands. "Oh, well, I'm sorry. You don't have to take it—"

Spike snatched the bracelet from her hand even faster than he took the money. "Nonsense," he said, holding it against his chest as he looked down at her. "It's silly, but I'm never taking it off."

A grin split Kitty's face, and she felt warm all over for some reason. She didn't know why seeing him slip it around his wrist and struggle to tighten it with his teeth made her so much happier than when she'd given any of her other friends their bracelets.

♡︎

To make up for missing poker night, Buffy promised a night at the Bronze with just the five of them — no outsiders or Riley. But when the time they were supposed to meet came and went with no arrival of the Slayer, it didn't seem like she was going to make it.

Kitty sat next to Anya, kind of bummed that her first night out in a while was such a bust. Willow was too anxious waiting for Buffy to have fun, Anya was only interested in spending time with Xander, and Xander was too consumed with his pyramid scheme bars.

In times like this, Kitty really missed Cordelia — and even Harmony — as they were always fun to dance with at the Bronze. Willow and Anya hadn't even bothered to tell her how cute her new dress was, something the other girls would've done on sight.

When Xander approached them, unwrapping a candy bar to eat, Anya looked at him, clearly annoyed. "Xander. You haven't been paying any attention to me, tonight. Just peddling those processed food bricks. I don't know why."

"Well, let me put it in a way you'll understand," Xander said while still chewing. "Sell bars. Make money. Take Anya nice places. Buy pretty things."

Anya considered his reasoning for a moment before nodding. "That does make sense. All right, I support you. Go sell more."

"Oh, well this was the only one I had on me," he said sheepishly. "Besides, it's getting late. Maybe we should go."

"Go? You can't go," Willow said frantically. "Buffy hasn't gotten here yet."

"Let's face it, Will. She's over an hour late. She's probably out living the life of Riley. I don't think she's coming," Xander said.

"I hate to say it, but Xand is right," Kitty said. "I think it's time to call it a night. G doesn't want me out late anyway while still recovering from the concussion."

"She is!" Willow insisted unconvincingly. "She said she was looking forward to spending quality time with just us." Then Willow brightened as she spotted Buffy come through the door. Kitty spun in her chair to look. "See? Here she comes."

Then, Riley and four other men filed in after Buffy, clearly with her as they spotted the table.

"With Riley," Willow mumbled, clearly not excited.

"And unknown men," Kitty added. "Handsome, but still unknown."

Buffy and the group of boys reached the table, and Buffy smiled at them. "Hi, all. Sorry about the late-itude."

"Late? Really? Huh. Hadn't noticed," Xander said, shrugging.

"Hope you don't mind us tagging along," Riley said, smiling easily.

Willow, however, had to force a smile. "No. No, of course not. The more the... more."

Riley quickly made introductions, pointing out each boy. "This is Graham. This is Forrest. That's Kevin. And that's Jay in the back."

"Nice to meet you all," Kitty said politely, leaning on the back of her chair to look at them.

The one named Graham smiled at her and nodded his head. "How you doing?"

"I'll probably be better once I get Buffy out on the dancefloor," she said.

"And could I maybe cut in on that dance?" he asked.

From beside him, Forrest snorted. "Worst line ever, dude." Graham rolled his eyes and shoved his friend.

"We're gonna go grab some drinks. Anybody want anything?" Riley offered.

"Coke, please," Buffy said, smiling sweetly.

"I'm good," Willow said, still forcing herself to appear happy.

"No," Xander denied.

When they looked at Anya with the offer, she just frowned and got up. "We're going away. To dance. Over there."

"We are?" Xander asked as Anya literally dragged him away.

"Well, what about you?" Graham asked Kitty. "Can I bring you back anything?"

Kitty nodded. "Tell Jason to make the Kitty special."

"Sprite with cherry syrup," Buffy informed them, laughing.

"Comin right up," Graham said before walking over to the bar with the rest of the boys.

"Anya seems a bit on edge," Buffy noted as soon as they were gone.

"She's a little angsty around commando-types. Ex-demon issues," Willow reminded her.

"Oh," Buffy said, picking up on Willow's mood a little. "You know, I didn't think that you would mind. Riley and the guys were throwing a little impromptu celebration in my honor and made it, like, impossible to not invite them."

"Oh. That's neat about the celebrating. I just thought this was supposed to be, you know, just us. Just the Scooby Corps., you know," Willow said, shrugging. "I mean, I could have invited somebody else if I knew it was an open free-for-all."

Kitty instantly knew she was talking about Tara. It would've been a great night to introduce her to everyone, especially since Riley brought so many friends. They're at least heard Tara's name more times than Graham, Forrest, Kevin, and Jay.

"I'm sorry. I had no idea. My total bad," Buffy said. Then she grinned mischievously. "So, who did you want to invite?"

"What?" she asked, eyes wide.

"You said you wanted to invite someone."

"No. Not — no one. I meant a hypothetical someone, which is to say, no one," Willow lied nervously. She wasn't quite ready to bring up Tara in that sense.

"I mean, I could've invited Spike just to watch him squirm with the soldier boys here," Kitty joked, taking the attention off Willow.

"Haha," Buffy said, rolling her eyes. "If only." Then she shot Kitty a similar grin to the one she'd given Willow. "So, what about Graham? Any sparkage?"

"Maybe not sparkage," Kitty said, shrugging. "He's handsome — has really nice blue eyes." Someone else had blue eyes too. "It's been a hot minute since someone flirted with me and there wasn't a counter displaying donuts between us."

She couldn't count how many guys thought her job was an appropriate place to flirt. Though, at the end of the day, they typically left bigger tips when they had crushes on her, so she wouldn't complain too much.

"We'll just see how well the night moves with Soldier Boy," Kitty said, resting her chin on her palm as she leaned her elbow on the table. "So, what are we celebrating?"

"I'm in," Buffy told them, lowering her voice. She was clearly very excited. "The Initiative. Professor Walsh gave me the grand tour, and we're talking Grand as in Canyon! You'd never believe the size of it."

"That's really, again I say 'neat.' So, what do you mean exactly?" Willow asked. Neither she nor Kitty were expecting for Buffy to have joined the Initiative. "You've joined them?"

"No. N-not exactly. It just means that when I patrol I'll have a heavily armed team backing me up," she told them, smiling. "Plus, boyfriend going to work with me — big extra perk."

"Buffy, do you really think this is a good idea? I mean, don't you think you're rushing things a little?" Willow questioned.

Buffy's smile fell. "I thought you liked Riley?"

"Oh, it's not Riley," Kitty said, shaking her head. Well, it was partly Riley. "She means with the Initiative."

"Yeah. I mean, there's a bunch of stuff about them we still don't know," Willow said.

"I know that," Buffy said. But then she asked, "Like what?"

"Well, what's their ultimate agenda?" Willow asked. "I mean, okay, yeah, they-they neuter vampires and demons. But then what? Are they gonna reintegrate them into society? Get them jobs as bagboys at Wal-Mart?"

"Does Wal-Mart have bagboys?" Buffy asked in serious thought.

Though Buffy wasn't taking her concerns seriously, Willow continued. "Plus, don't forget that '314' thing that Ethan told Giles about," she said, referring to something Ethan had said before turning Giles into a demon.

"Well, a man that worships chaos and tries to kill you is a man you can trust," she said sarcastically.

"Well, bad info or not, I just think there's certain questions you should ask before you go off and enlist," Willow said.

"If you do enlist, ask for a cuter uniform," Kitty mumbled. "You'd look all frumpy in that getup Riley always wears."

"That's a fair point," Buffy said.

Then a loud pager suddenly went off, and Buffy reached into her bag to pull it out. It seemed the boys were getting the same message.

"When did you get a pager?" Willow asked. "What's going—"

Willow was cut off by Riley coming over to Buffy, who stood up. "That's our cue. Mother wants us," he said.

Though he had to leave, Graham at least had the decency to drop off Kitty's drink. "Thanks," she said, smiling softly.

"Maybe I'll get that dance another night," he said before rushing off with the rest of his squad.

Buffy looked at Kitty and Willow apologetically for bailing. "Will—"

"I know. Talk later," Willow said, clearly not happy as Buffy turned and left.

Kitty sipped on her sprite before nudging Willow's foot under the table to get her attention. "I certainly wouldn't say anything if you decided to go meet up with that 'no one' you weren't going to invite had you known you could invite people."

Willow managed a smile, planning to do just that. "Thanks, Kitty."

♡︎

The following morning, Kitty sat in the recliner with an amused smile on her face as Xander tried to peddle his stupid candy bars onto Giles. He had shown up surprisingly early in the morning for him with Anya along for the ride. There were several Boost Bar boxes on the coffee table.

"I don't know how many more ways I can say 'I'm not interested,'" Giles said, fixing himself a cup of tea.

"W — try one!" Xander pleaded. "Check these flavors. Cherry-berry. Maple walnut. Ooo, almond licorice."

"Ew," Anya muttered, not thinking any of those sounded like appetizing flavor combinations.

Xander shot her a look as Giles left the kitchen. "Anya, we don't say 'ew' in front of potential customers."

"Just skip this part and tell him you want money to buy me pretty things," Anya said, smiling. "He'll understand."

Giles sighed before giving in. "Very well. Hmm, maple walnut."

"An excellent choice," Xander said, digging out a bar to give to Giles.

"You're weak, G," Kitty said, shaking her head in disapproval. "I'm so telling Wesley you support pyramid schemes. He'll be so disappointed."

"Do you even know how to contact him?" Xander asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Cordy said he showed up and joined their little demon detective thing," Kitty revealed.

As they spoke, Giles tore the wrapper off the candy bar and took a bite. The way he instantly stopped chewing and grimaced in disgust told them all exactly how maple walnut tasted. "Please leave my home now," Giles demanded, dropping the Boost Bar on the coffee table like it was a used tissue. Then he searched for something to spit the bite out on.

Desperate to save the sale, Xander reached for another flavor. "It's the, uh, the gritty texture, isn't it? Maybe you're more a cherry-berry fellow—"

Xander's useless attempt was cut off by someone pounding on the door. Before Giles could even reach it, the person knocked again before completely bursting in. Everyone leaned back in surprise as Spike ran in, holding a huge tarp over his head as protection from the sunlight. Even then, he was smoking a little.

"Close the door!" he said frantically.

"Spike? You may want to give up these morning jogs," Xander joked, earning a laugh from Kitty.

"Soldiers boys are out in force," he grumbled. "I've been trying to keep them off my scent. Run them in circles. But they keep coming."

"And how is this our concern?" Giles asked, raising an eyebrow. "Seeing as how you've expressed the desire to have nothing more to do with us."

"Spike said that?" Xander asked in disbelief. Giles and Kitty both nodded in confirmation. Xander shook his head and then, with feeling, looked at Spike and told him, "That hurts."

Spike rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "All right. What do you want me to say? I need help." Then he pointed at Giles. "And no cheek from you." Giles made a show of zipping his lips up, making Kitty grin. "Look! The buggers shot me. In the back."

"What?" Kitty asked, getting off the chair. She was really the only one that cared as Spike shrugged off his coat and showed off a red bullet wound.

Giles was unmoved as he leaned against his desk. "Remind me. Why should I help you?"

Spike scoffed. "Because you do that. You're the goody-good guys. You're the bloody freaking cavalry."

"No, you can come up with a better answer than that," he said, smirking. "Why should I help you?"

"Ooh!" he exclaimed after thinking for a moment. "Because I helped you! When you turned into that Fyarl demon, I helped you, didn't I?"

"And that was out of the, um, evilness of your heart?" Giles asked, quoting Spike from the other night.

"Oh, hell no. I made you pay me—" Spike's smug grin dropped, realizing what Giles was getting at. "You right bastard." He dug the money out of his coat pocket and slammed it into Giles' outstretched hand. "That's all that's left. I spent the rest on blood and smokes, which I'll never see again." When no one immediately moved, he started to throw a fit. "Ah, come on! Circle the wagons. Tend to the wounded here. No time for layabouts.

Giles rolled his eyes before acting. "Take a seat, Spike. Xander, find me a flashlight. Anya, I believe I have tweezers in the bathroom upstairs if you'll get them. Let me find some gloves."

As everyone moved around, Kitty dragged a dining room chair over to Spike. Then as he struggled to get his coat and shirt all the way off with his injured shoulder, she stepped in to help. She had to bite her tongue as her fingers brushed his toned stomach while pulling the shirt off. Spike was too busy craning his head to inspect the wound to notice how her eyes were glued to his body.

Fuck, Kitty thought, blinking several times. A part of her felt an impulsive need to push him into the chair and run her fingers over his muscular arms and those abs. To just to keep going lower and lower until she reached that v-line that disappeared underneath his tight jeans—

Kitty quickly turned away and pulled the most alarmed expression, unable to believe her own thoughts. She hadn't even thought that much about Graham's physique last night, he was built like Captain America.

To avoid looking at Spike, she ran around and got some stuff to clean the gunshot wound with. By the time she returned, everyone else was in the room, meaning it was safer than being alone with Spike while shirtless.

Giles spent a lot of time examining the area and searching for the bullet. Xander and Anya were on either side of him, both shining a flashlight each to help him see better. Kitty was staying out of the way, sitting on the floor across from Spike's chair. Each time he grimaced or cringed or flinched, so did she, never one to enjoy someone in pain.

"Oww!" Spike whined. "Watch it. That hurts."

"It doesn't appear to be a bullet," Giles said, though he was unsure. "It's too deeply embedded to be a tranquilizer dart."

"Also not tranquil," Spike grumbled.

"Some sort of... illumination emanating from it. It's blinking," he said, not understanding why.

"I don't care if it's playing 'Rockin' the Casbah' on the bloody Jew's harp. Just get it out of me!" Spike said, practically growling from the pain. Based on how much he was flexing his biceps — which Kitty totally wasn't looking at — he was close to breaking the back of the chair that he was grabbing.

"Kitty, there's a bottle of Cognac in the cabinet next to the sink. Can you get it for me?" Giles asked. Kitty silently nodded and got off the floor to go grab it.

"What? You're gonna get snockered now?" Spike asked, unimpressed.

"It's not for me, you prat. If I'm gonna operate on you, then I need you anesthetized. It's going to take some time," Giles told him.

"So the plan is to get Spike snockered," Kitty called from the kitchen.

"We don't have any time," Xander told them, actually sounding worried. "That blinking thing. My pseudo-soldier memory bank tells me that's a tracer."

"A what?" Giles and Spike asked in sync.

"It's like a homing beacon. And if commando guys are reading the signal, they're coming home," Xander explained as Kitty returned with the bottle of alcohol. She held it out to Spike, who took it and immediately swallowed a mouthful.

"Well, we need to buy some time. It's in deep, and I'm no surgeon," Giles said.

"Who can help us buy time?" Anya asked. "Buffy's too busy with the guy hunting Spike down."

Xander and Kitty shared a look, thinking of her at the exact same time, even if they didn't know what kind of spell could actually help. "Willow."

♡︎

When Willow did finally arrive, Spike was absolutely blackout drunk — of course, he'd sober up fairly soon since he was a vampire. While Spike was hardly conscious on Giles' desk, Kitty decided to take advantage of the fact and paint his nails. It was matte black this time. She'd purchased a bottle shortly after he started staying with them.

Xander and Anya were standing to the side while Giles continued to work on the wound, and Willow stood next to him, reading from a spellbook. She had some kind of pink crystal in hand as well. "Tropo, strato, meso, aero, iono, exo."

As Willow continued to chant, Xander leaned in and whispered to Giles. "So how is this supposed to work again?"

"If she succeeds, her spell will ionize the atmosphere around us thereby disrupting the tracer's signal," Giles explained.

"Can you Xander and Kitty that down?" Kitty asked quietly. She'd finished with painting Spike's nails black and put the bottle to the side. But then she couldn't resist taking her silver, glittery topcoat and adding it to his left pinky finger for him to find later.

"Buys us time," Giles specified.

"Elements are brought to bear. Wind, earth, and water churn amidst the fire. Let the air be burned," Willow said. As the spell finished, all the lightbulbs in the house started sparking, alarming them all. "Did it work? Is the atmosphere ionized?"

Kitty giggled when she saw everyone's hair was sticking up from the electricity, making them look ridiculous. It was like they'd raided Angel's supply of mousse and used it all at once — she'd have to remember that joke to tell him later.

"I'd venture yes," Giles said flatly.

After pressing Spike's hair down flat again, she quickly put hers into two french braids. She stayed on the floor, not wanting to watch Giles cut deeper into Spike's shoulder. It took a long time — so long that Willow and Anya started nervously munching on Boost Bars.

"It feels, and looks, like the ionizing spell is wearing off," Willow told Giles, making it clear he needed to hurry.

"Giles?" Xander asked.

"I've got it. I've got it!" he said, managing to get a grip on the tracer with his tweezers. He held up the blinking tracer that was nearly two inches long.

"Spell's gone," Willow said suddenly. "They'll be on the way here."

Giles frantically handed the tweezers to Xander. "Um, go!" he instructed, and Xander dashed to the bathroom. "Kitty, go see if they're outside. If they are — throw them off our scent."

"Distraction. Got it," she said, rushing for the door. She grabbed her skateboard on the way and skated out of the apartment and onto the street.

It was a good thing Giles sent her out, as the group of soldiers — all of whom had been at the Bronze last night — were standing in the middle of the street and staring down at some machine in Riley's hand.

"Look alive people. Weapons at the ready," Riley ordered, causing the others to reach inside their unsuspecting backpacks.

"Twenty-five meters," Forrest read off the tracker. "Twenty — fifteen."

"Where?" Riley asked, not understanding how Hostile 17 was moving so fast and in the daylight.

"To the left. Ten meters — five!"

"Anyone?" Riley asked. But no one spotted Spike — nor had they spotted Kitty, who was waiting behind a tree.

"I got nothing," Graham said.

"This doesn't make sense," Forrest said, shaking his head. "It went right past us."

Riley then noticed a drain gutter and grimaced. "Flushed. The tracer's been flushed."

"So, it could be hiding on this street and waiting for nightfall to leave a house," Forrest correctly guessed.

Kitty took that as her cue and started skating toward them, making it seem like she'd been at it for a while, coming from the opposite direction of her apartment. She made sure to make a big, distracting show of it while singing the 'do do do do's from Hungry Like the Wolf, which was on the radio earlier.

The soldiers all turned, on high alert with Spike on the loose. As Kitty got closer, she leaned forward and peered at them, pretending to recognize them.

"Kitty?" Riley called, unaware that she lived on the street.

"Riley? What are you do — shit!"

It wasn't planned to be part of the distraction, but as Kitty skated over a pothole that she usually remembered to avoid, she toppled off her skateboard. That sent all the soldiers into overprotective mode as they rushed to check on her.

Damn, she was good.

As the one named Kevin tracked down her skateboard before it could roll too far away, Graham knelt in front of Kitty. He gently helped her into a sitting position and inspected a small cut on her left knee. "You alright, darlin'?" he asked. Kitty detected a slight southern accent that she hadn't noticed the night before.

"Oh, I'm alright. Thanks. Usually, a much better skater when I'm not distracted," she said, smiling sheepishly.

"I should have a bandage for that," he said, nodding to her knee. Graham dug through his backpack to find a bandaid, and the angle gave Kitty a clear view of a huge gun.

"Kitty, what are you doing here? It's dangerous," Riley said, just worried about Buffy's friend.

Kitty looked up at him, feigning ignorance. "This is my neighborhood. That I live in. And am pretty sure none of you do," she said. Then she pretended to think on it. "Unless you're thinking of moving or something. If the ATO house relocates, am I still banned from going in?"

Forrest raised an eyebrow. "You're the one that did that keg flip?"

"I'm, admittedly, a little clumsy," she said, pretending to be embarrassed. Graham finally pulled out a bandaid big enough to cover the cut on her knee. "Look at you. Just a prepared little Boy Scout."

Graham only smiled while carefully putting the bandaid on her knee, smoothing the edges down without bringing her any more pain. "I'd put ice on that before it bruises."

"Thanks, Doc," Kitty said, accepting his hand to help her stand. "Sorry for interrupting your, uh, dude walk."

"Kitty, how long have you been skating around the neighborhood?" Riley asked, hoping she'd seen something.

"Um, I'm not sure. Maybe forty-five minutes. Actually, G will want me back soon, so it's good I ran into you. I kinda forget to pay attention to time," she said, scratching the back of her head as she lied.

"Have you seen anything suspicious?" Graham asked. They knew that Buffy's friends all knew about the supernatural, so he didn't have to sugarcoat it. "Maybe someone covered up with a tarp. Or a van with the windows blacked out?"

"Are you... hunting a vampire?" Kitty asked, raising an eyebrow. "In broad daylight."

"This one has no problem moving around, apparently," Riley said, sighing. "But it shook the tracer we had on it."

"Oh, well, no, I haven't seen anything," she said, shrugging. "Sorry. I guess I should let you go. Probably have to report back or something?"

"Yeah. Thanks anyway, Kitty," Riley said. "And keep an eye out. Be careful."

"I'm always careful," she said, waving him off.

"Didn't you crash a car last week while trying to keep some of our humvees away from Giles when he was a demon?" he questioned.

Given that they couldn't know about Spike helping, Buffy lied and said Kitty was the sole getaway driver involved. When the Initiative captured Ethan, both she and Giles had to give statements.

"And you just crashed your skateboard while not wearing a helmet," Jay interjected.

"Helmets are for nerds."

♡︎

With the Initiative guys finally gone, with no plans of going door to door to search for Spike, Kitty wandered back into the house. Giles was finishing cleaning up from the impromptu surgery, and Spike was back awake, slowly sobering up.

"G.I. Joes are no more," Kitty announced. "It was actually very easy to distract them. They should be ashamed."

"How'd you do it?" Willow asked.

"Skateboarding, fell off skateboard — totally on purpose — scraped knee, Graham valiantly came to my rescue, bandaid on knee, avoided all Hostile 17 questions, got asked on date, have date Friday," Kitty said, summarizing it all very quickly.

Spike narrowed his eyes at her while picking up his shirt. "You made a date with one of the blokes hunting me for sport? Was that necessary?"

"Necessary? No," she admitted, shrugging. "But he's a babe, and maybe I'll get some of his yummy—"

"Not while I'm in the room, please," Giles said, grimacing at the thought of Kitty talking about Graham's yummy anything.

"I was gonna say his yummy Initiative secrets," Kitty said, smirking at him. "Since Buffy's not been particularly forthcoming."

"Yeah, but Graham is also just yummy in general," Anya admitted bluntly. Xander scoffed at her. "What? I may hate all of them, but many of them were attractive last night."

Kitty rolled her eyes playfully before moving over to Spike and Giles. "Get the patient all stitched up?" she asked while looking at Spike's shoulder. Damn, that was a hot back.

Yeah, she really needed to distract herself with a date with Graham.

"He'll survive," Giles said, not particularly thrilled about the news. Spike began putting his shirt back on, wincing as he did. "It will be dark soon. I think it will be wise for you to leave Sunnydale."

"I'm not going anywhere," Spike declared. "Not until those bastards undo whatever they did to me. Put me back the way I was."

"Sure. Just explain to the nice scientist guys that you really miss killing and torturing innocent people," Xander said sarcastically.

"Do you think that would work?" he asked, earning a snort from Kitty.

Giles removed his glasses and sighed. "Spike — lord knows why I'm telling you this — it's for your own good. As long as the Initiative is in operation, it's not safe for you here."

"No." They all turned to see that Buffy entered the apartment, looking as if she'd been through quite the fight. There was a grim expression on her face. "It's not safe for any of us."

"Something tells me I'm gonna be canceling that date," Kitty muttered.