[ still not much spike. really just focusing on other friendships and establishing kitty's personality. i have a fat crush on wentworth miller and was so sad when they didn't keep his character past the one episode. i'm still deciding if i want to do anything with gage or not. def let me know what you think ! ]

♡︎

MAYBE I DON'T WANT TO DO ANYTHING WITH MY LIFE. WHAT'S WRONG WITH BEING A TROPHY WIFE?

[ 2.09 — 2.10 ]

The lounge at the high school was full of people as the career fair went on. Kitty sat at a table with Xander and Buffy, all of them beginning the questionnaire while they waited for Willow to join them. It was taking Kitty a little longer, as she had to pause and ask the others to explain questions that she didn't understand.

"Are you a people person, or do you prefer keeping your own company?" Xander read aloud. "Well, what if I'm a people person who keeps his own company by default?"

"I love people," Kitty said, smiling. She skipped down to that question on her own test and marked down her answer.

"And they love you," Buffy told her. "Xander, just mark none of the above."

"Well, there are no boxes for none of the above," he informed her. By then, Willow silently joined them, beginning her own questionnaire. "That would introduce too many variables into their mushroom head, number-crunching little world."

"They don't really have mushrooms in their head, right?" Kitty asked. "Or is there some kind of mushroom demon that gives personality tests to teenagers? And they put on career fairs?"

"I think that's exactly what's going on," Xander replied, waiving at all the workers. "Mushroom demons, the lot of them."

"I'm sensing bitterness," Willow claimed, laughing a little.

"No, it's just these people can't tell from one multiple-choice test what we're gonna be doing for the rest of our lives. It's ridiculous!"

Willow smiled at Xander's dramatics. "I'm kinda curious to find out what sort of career I could have."

"What, and suck all the spontaneity out of being young and stupid?" he asked. "I'd rather live in the dark."

"You're not gonna be young forever," Willow warned.

"Yes, but I'll always be stupid," he said, smirking. Then he looked at the girls, who remained silent. "Okay, let's not all rush to disagree."

Buffy slowly looked up at him from her test. She waited a little too long before responding with, "You're not stupid."

As Xander shot Buffy a sarcastic grin, Kitty nudged his foot under the table. "You're smarter than me, Xand!"

"Everyone is, Kit, but thanks," he told her, waving her off.

Then they heard Cordelia speaking with her friends as she walked by, a clipboard with a test in hand. "I aspire to help my fellow man — check. As long as he's not smelly, dirty, or something gross."

"Cordelia Chase, always ready to give a helping hand to the rich and the pretty," Xander said snidely, getting her attention.

Cordelia smirked down at him. "Which, lucky me, excludes you. Twice."

Xander couldn't find a comeback quick enough, which put a smug smile on Cordelia's face as she strutted off. "Is murder always a crime?" Xander asked bitterly.

"Yeah. One of the big ones," Kitty answered.

"Do I like shrubs?" Buffy asked, frowning at her test.

"That's between you and your god," Xander told her.

Buffy looked at Willow for help. "What'd you put?"

"I came down on the side of shrubs," she said, shrugging.

"Go with shrubs! Okay!" Buffy said, marking down her answer.

"I said shrubs bad," Kitty informed her. "Shrubs have bugs and raccoons hiding in them."

"Raccoons?" Willow questioned, clearly amused.

Kitty flexed her hands, spreading out her fingers as she looked at them. "They have human hands and wear masks. I don't trust them. I'd rather a vampire jump at me in the middle of the night than a raccoon."

"You're fascinating, and I can't wait to see what career the mushrooms think is perfect for you," Xander said, shaking his head. "And I'm sure Buff's will be just as interesting.

Buffy groaned, clearly frustrated with the test. "I shouldn't even be bothering with this. It's all mootville for me. No matter what my aptitude test says, we already know my deal."

"Yup, high risk, sub-minimum wage—"

"Pointy wooden things," she mumbled, cutting Xander off.

"Then why are you even taking the test?" Willow asked her.

"It's Principal Snyder's hoop of the week. He's not happy unless I'm jumping. Believe me, I would not be here otherwise," she complained.

"You're not even a teensy weensy bit curious about what kinda career you could've had? I mean, if you weren't already the Slayer and all."

"Do the words 'sealed in fate' ring any bells for you, Will?" she asked flatly. "Why go there?"

Willow was clearly hurt by the snippy comment, but they all knew Buffy was bitter about her limited options in the future. Xander shook his pencil at Buffy in a scolding manner. "Y'know, with that kind of attitude you could've had a bright future as an employee at the DMV."

"I'm sorry," she said, sighing, "it's just unless hell freezes over and every vamp in Sunnydale puts in for early retirement, I'd say my future is pretty much a non-issue."

"Well then you could put all that energy into my future, which is an issue," Kitty grumbled. "I had a career that I was literally created for and did such a bad job I got banished to a different dimensional plane of existence. If I couldn't do that, what could I possibly be good at?"

"You could just live off Giles' money for the rest of your life," Xander suggested.

"Humanoid Cupids stop aging around twenty-one," Willow stated, which she'd read in a book shortly after learning what Kitty was. She wanted to know all about the rare species. "Pretty sure a librarian's salary doesn't stretch over all eternity."

"Don't remind me," Kitty said, sighing. "Saw this cute pair of pink roller skates, and Giles wouldn't buy them for me. Said I had to come up with the money on my own. How do you even, like, get money?"

"A job," both Willow and Xander said in sync.

"Or you could flirt with a rich boy until he offers to buy them for you," Buffy suggested. "You are good at flirting."

Willow nodded in agreement. "That too. Gage on the swim team has a crush on you, and his parents are loaded."

"Gage has a crush on me?" Kitty asked, her cheeks heating up. "You think so?"

"Kitty, half the campus has a crush on you," Xander said, "what with the being super hot and sweet and that Cupid vibe that makes us all love you."

"Yeah, that does come in handy."

♡︎

"Do I look okay?"

Kitty hadn't heard Angel when he came through her window late at night. She was startled and knocked over the bottle of pink nail polish she was using. Thankfully, the vampire managed to snatch it before it could tip complexity upside down and spill on her carpet.

"What do you mean do you look okay?" Kitty asked, raising an eyebrow. She looked over Angel's black on black on black outfit and hair that never changed. "You look how you always look."

"And is that look okay?" he questioned, twisting the cap back on the nail polish bottle.

"Yeah, I guess," she said, shrugging. "Why so vain all of the sudden?"

"Says the one that checks her reflection every hour," Angel said, smirking. "And I've got a date with Buffy tomorrow. I'm taking her ice skating. But I can't exactly see how I look."

"I mean, maybe put on a different outfit than what you asked her out in," she suggested. Vampires didn't sweat much, but it'd show effort. Then Kitty stood on her toes in front of him and rearranged his hair. He crouched a little to help her reach better since he was so much taller. "Now don't touch your hair until the date."

"But what about sleeping on it?" Angel asked, frowning.

"Sleep in a chair," she said, shrugging.

"But I don't wanna sleep in a chair."

"Then I guess you'll just have bad hair for your date."

"Does it really look bad when I do it on my own?" Angel asked. He glanced pointlessly at the mirror.

"I mean, at least not bad enough to scare away the Slayer," Kitty replied jokingly.

Angel narrowed his eyes, not trusting her. "I think you're lying to be mean."

"Can you look in the mirror and prove me wrong?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Chill out, Angel Cakes. It's a good thing you can't look in the mirror because you're a total brooding babe. It'd go straight to your abnormally large head."

"It's not abnormally large!"

"Again, how would you know?"

♡︎

When school rolled around the following day, Kitty walked hand in hand with Harmony across the courtyard, having just finished with an early morning cheer practice. They were heading to the bulletin board where the career fair results were posted.

"So, what do you think you'll get?" Kitty asked her. "The test was kind of hard."

"So hard," Harmony agreed. "Like, maybe I don't want to do anything with my life. What's wrong with being a trophy wife?"

"You'd be such a hot trophy wife," she said, grinning. "That sounds like fun. Maybe I can be one too. I'll ask Giles."

"Idea!" Harmony said excitedly. "We find rich, hot, twin brothers and become trophy sisters. And we'll live in side-by-side mansions."

"Can we have pools?" Kitty asked excitedly.

"Duh. What's a mansion without a pool?"

"You what would be cool? What if there was, like, some kind of lazy river that connects our two pools? Then when we wanna visit, we just hop in and let the river carry us to each other," she explained. "Or is that too outrageous?"

"I'm sure the twins can afford those renovations," Harmony said, nodding her head. "Let's agree to have the movie theater at your mansion and the indoor mall at mine."

"This is a perfect plan for our future and it has no flaws," Kitty declared. "We should be doing the planning for everyone's futures."

The two girls finally made it to the board with the list. Xander and Cordelia were there, also searching for their results.

"Oh, here I am," Cordelia said, finding her name under the C's. "Personal shopper or motivational speaker. Neato!"

"Motivational speaker?" Xander asked doubtfully. "On what? Ten ways to a more annoying you?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes before finding the list of those with H last names. "Oh, what about you? You're..." As soon as Cordelia read Xander's results, she started to giggle. She looked at Xander in amusement before walking off.

"I'm gonna go with Cordelia," Harmony said, letting go of Kitty's hand and walking off after the laughing girl.

"But you didn't look at your results!" Kitty called after her.

"Don't need results. I've got a mansion," Harmony replied.

Kitty giggled before turning back to Xander. He was flipping through the list to see what had Cordelia laughing so hard. Neither could believe it when they saw 'prison guard' written next to Xander's name.

"Prison guard?" Xander asked in disbelief. "Prison guard?"

"Let's just check everyone else's and mine, then we can all talk about it," she told him.

While Xander searched for Buffy and Willow's names, Kitty's was just a few lines under Xander's. There were two different jobs listed — couples counselor or life coach. Kitty didn't really know what a life coach was but she did know that any time she tried to give her human friends relationship advice, they typically didn't listen. Angel was the only one that trusted what the Cupid had to say.

Once Xander had Buffy's career path — for some reason, Willow's name wasn't on the list — he and Kitty headed to Willow and Buffy. The two of them were walking out of the school, making them easy to spot.

They were giggling about something, so Kitty assumed they were discussing the upcoming ice skating date that Buffy would be going on. Xander didn't have any issues with interrupting the guy talk, too annoyed with his test results to care.

"Wouldn't you three say you know me about as well as anyone else?" Xander asked all of them. "Maybe even better than I know myself?"

Willow and Buffy looked at Kitty for some kind of answer, but she just shook her head with a smile. "What's this about?" Willow asked him.

"When you look at me, do you think prison guard?" he asked. The girls instantly giggled at the mere idea, just as Cordelia had.

"Um, crossing guard, maybe, but prison guard?" Buffy then shook her head.

"They just put up the assignments for the career fair, and according to my test results, I can look forward to being gainfully employed in the growing field of corrections," he explained.

Buffy giggled once more. "Well, at least you'll be on the right side of the bars."

"Ha, ha, ha, ha!" he said sarcastically. "Laugh now, missy, they assigned you to the booth for law enforcement professionals."

Buffy stopped walking, stunned by the test result. "As in police?"

"As in polyester, doughnuts, and brutality," Xander specified, earning a whine from Buffy, who was less than pleased.

"But doughnuts!" Willow said, looking on the bright side.

Buffy whined again, her day ruined by the results. "Well, I'll just jump off that bridge when I come to it." Then she spotted Giles walking across the campus with a tall stack of books in hand. "First I have to deal with Giles. He's on this Tony Robbins hyper-efficiency kick. Expects me to check in every day after homeroom."

"I'll come with," Kitty said, walking in step with Buffy. "Wanna tell him about my test results."

"Oh, what'd you get? Please tell me it's better than police," Buffy said, sighing.

"Life coach or couples counselor."

"No offense, but I definitely can't see you as a life coach," she said, shaking her head. "It's not you, it's just, ya know, you've only had a life for a little over a year. Can't exactly tell people how to live when you have no experience."

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense," Kitty said, nodding. "Though by that logic, I've never been in a real relationship either though."

"Yeah, but you've been watching human relationships for like a hundred years or however time moves in the Cupid plane," Buffy told her. "So you've definitely got more expertise there than, well, existing as a human."

Buffy and Kitty finally caught up to Giles just as he reached the library. The pile of books in his arm that was so tall he couldn't see over it began to topple over as he tried to set them on a table, but luckily, Buffy kept it from falling.

"Buffy," he said, sighing in relief. Both girls took a seat at the table, only Buffy paying any mind to the books. "Thank you. I've been, uh, indexing the Watcher diaries covering the last couple of centuries. You would be amazed at how numbingly pompous and long-winded some of these Watchers were."

"Color me stunned," Buffy said sarcastically, which earned a snicker from Kitty.

"So, uh, I trust last night's patrol was fruitful?" Giles asked.

"Semi. Mm, I caught one out of two vamps after they stole something from this jumbo mausoleum," she told him.

"They were stealing?"

"Yeah! They had tools, flashlights, whole nine yards."

"What does that mean? Whole nine yards?" Kitty asked, studying her pink nails. "Nine yards of what? Is it like a sports thing? They use yards in that football game."

"I don't know," Buffy admitted. "That's gonna bug me all day now, though. And Giles, you're in pace mode. What gives?"

Giles had ignored Kitty's questions and had been pacing, worrying about what the vampire could've been stealing. "Um, this vampire who escaped, did you see what he took?"

"No, but I could take a guess and say it was something old," Buffy said, shrugging.

"You made no effort to find out what was taken?" he asked almost accusingly.

"Have a cow, Giles! I just figured it was your everyday vamp hijinks," she said.

"Well, what if it wasn't? This could be very serious! I mean, i - if you'd made an effort to, uh, to be more thorough in your observations—"

"Y'know, if you don't like the way I'm doing my job, why don't you find somebody else? Oh, that's right, there can only be one," Buffy snapped. "As long as I'm alive, there is no one else. Well, there you go! I don't have to be the Slayer. I could be dead."

"That wasn't terribly funny. You notice I don't laugh," Giles said flatly.

"Wouldn't be much of a change," she muttered. "Either way I'm bored, constricted, I never get to shop, and my hair and fingernails still continue to grow. So really, when you think about it, what's the diff?"

"Do we have to be introspective now? Our only concern is to discover what was stolen from that mausoleum last night," Giles stated.

"Can you two just stop arguing?" Kitty asked, frowning. "Let's just all check out the mausoleum before any more mean things are said."

"Kitty, what did you make on that chemistry test last week?" Giles asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kitty's cheeks puffed out as she blew air from her lips, avoiding Giles' gaze. But after a moment under his burning stare, she mumbled quietly, "Fifty-two."

"We're going to the mausoleum," Buffy said, smirking. "You're going to chemistry class."

"Yeah, well, you're not exactly an honors student either, Buff!"

♡︎

Evidently, what was stolen was something called the Du Lac cross. It was for deciphering ancient texts — the problem being that they didn't know what needed deciphering. Though Giles suspected it might be for a book that was stolen a few weeks ago when Buffy's traitorous friend Ford tried to barter her life with Spike for eternal life.

Now the gang needed to figure out what was in the book before Spike did. That meant they'd all hole up in the library to research. Well, all of them but Buffy, who had her ice skating date with Angel. Of course, she didn't tell Giles that she was skipping out for a date, as he'd never approve.

Though Giles ended up finding out anyway. Buffy and Angel's date was interrupted by an assassin, hired to kill Buffy. When Angel spotted a familiar ring on the assassin's hand once Buffy bested him, he grew very worried. It was clear that this wasn't the last assassin that'd be coming for her.

So, Buffy returned to the library and presented Giles with the ring to study. Then she sat down and held an ice pack to her knee while Kitty pressed one to her shoulder, keeping it in place. Willow and Xander were at the table, still combing through books.

"This guy was hard-core, Giles. And Angel was power-freaked by that ring," Buffy told him, frowning. Angel was out trying to find out more, wanting to prevent Buffy from getting attacked again.

"I'm afraid he was not overreacting," Giles said, sighing. "This ring is worn only by members of the Order of Taraka. It's a society of deadly assassins dating back to King Solomon."

"And didn't they beat the Elks this year in the Sunnydale adult bowling league championships?"

Kitty wanted to laugh at Xander's joke, but the withering look Giles sent the boy kept her quiet. This was clearly a very serious situation, even if they weren't grasping that yet.

"Their credo is to sow discord and kill the unwary," he said.

"Bowling is a vicious game," Xander continued to joke.

"That's enough, Xander!" Giles snapped angrily. Xander flinched and looked down at his lap. The girls looked at Giles, full of concern. After a moment, he sighed. "Sorry. It's just not the time for jokes. I need to think."

"These assassins, why are they after me?" Buffy asked as Giles cleaned his glasses.

"Cause you're the scourge of the underworld?" Willow suggested.

"I haven't been that scourgey lately," she muttered.

"I don't know, I don't know," Giles said, letting out a breath. "I think the best thing we can do is to find a secure location. Somewhere out of the way you can go until we decide on the best course of action."

Buffy stood, leaving behind the ice packs. "Okay, now you and Angel have both said to head for the hills. Are you saying I can't handle this, that I'm not strong enough to fight these people?"

"They're a breed apart, Buffy," he admitted. "U-unlike vampires they have no earthly desires but to collect their bounty. They find a target, and, uh, they eliminate it. You can kill as many of them as you like, it won't make any difference. Where there's one, there will be another, and another. They won't stop coming until the job is done. Each one of them works alone. His own way. Some are human, some... a-are not. Y-you won't know who they are until they strike."

It was so silent that you could hear a hairpin drop as they all processed what Giles was saying. Kitty was the first who dared to speak, saying something that didn't help the situation at all. It also earned a glare from Giles.

"Big yikes."

♡︎

When the next morning came, Giles was still in his office, bent over ancient books. He held his telephone up to his ear, waiting for Xander to pick up at his house.

"Xander?" he greeted.

"Is it Buffy? Is she back?" Xander asked quickly. Buffy had bolted from the library shortly after Giles' warning about the assassins, and none of them had heard from her since.

"No, no, I-I haven't heard from Buffy yet," he told him. "Look, look, I-I-I think you should go to her house and check on her."

"When?"

"Well, right a - right away," Giles said.

"But my parents have the car. How am I supposed to get there?"

"I-I don't know, get Cordelia to drive you."

Giles then hung up, cutting off Xander's complaining. He grabbed the book he was reading and left his office. However, he paused when he found two sleeping girls, realizing they never went home — well, Giles was Kitty's ride, so he shouldn't have been surprised.

Willow was sleeping with her head resting on the keyboard of the computer she'd been working at. Kitty — who gave up on research after only an hour — was stretched out on the carpet near Willow, wings out and wrapped around herself like a blanket to keep warm.

Giles shut his book before gently nudging Kitty with his foot and placing a hand on Willow's shoulder. "Kitty? Willow?" he said quietly, not wanting to startle them.

Though Kitty remained unmoving — it took a lot of noise or promise of food to wake her — Willow woke with a start and sat bolt upright. "Don't warn the tadpoles!"

She was clearly terrified of what she was dreaming about and she didn't seem to realize where she was yet. "Are you alright?" Giles asked her.

Willow looked at him in confusion. "Giles, what are you doing here?"

"It's the library, Willow," he said softly. "You fell asleep."

She looked around, realizing she never made it home. "Oh! I..."

"Don't warn the tadpoles?" Giles couldn't help but question.

"I... I have frog fear," she admitted groggily. "Don't tell Kitty. I made fun of her raccoon fear."

"Raccoon fe—"

"It's the hands," she told him. "I'm sorry. I conked out."

"What? Please. You've gone quite beyond the call of duty," Giles said, sitting next to her. "But, but, I-I... uh, fortunately, I think I may have found something finally."

"You did?" she asked, perking up. Willow glanced down at Kitty and kicked her foot, trying to wake her for the news.

"I-I found a description of the missing Du Lac manuscript. It's a ritual, Willow. Now, I-I, uh, I haven't managed to decipher the exact details, but I-I believe the purpose is to restore a weak and sick vampire back to full health," Giles explained as he got up and paced the room.

"A vampire like Drusilla?" Willow realized.

Giles sighed worriedly. "Exactly." After giving Willow the book to read for herself, Giles knelt next to Kitty. He lightly shook her shoulder. "Kitty, it's time to wake up. You've got spare clothes in your locker."

In response, Kitty groaned and rolled from her side onto her stomach. Giles sighed and tried again. "Kitty, you've got things to do. Research, cheerleading practice, the career fair."

"No want research," Kitty mumbled sleepily. Her wings fluttered, and Giles had to lean back to keep from being hit. "Want sleep."

"I'll give you money for blueberry donuts and hash browns," Giles finally offered, knowing they were her two favorite breakfast items.

Kitty peeked open one eye while turning her head to look at Giles through the messy strands of hair in her face. "Are you lying to me just to get me up?"

"No," he said, pulling out his wallet with a small smile. "You made it very clear that you'd never forgive me if I did that again. Now, up and at 'em. Wings away."

Kitty did as told, her wings disappearing as she sat up. "I'll get you a tea and some scones. And if I see Buffy while I'm out, I'll let you know."

♡︎

"The fuck do you mean there's a new Slayer?" Kitty asked.

Of course, there was a blueberry donut shoved in her mouth, so the words were garbled and difficult to understand. But Giles and Willow managed to get the general idea of what she was asking just after they explained how Buffy brought a young woman named Kendra to the library, who was also a Slayer.

"Well, a new Slayer is called when the last one dies. And Buffy died, technically, before Xander brought her back. So now we have Kendra," Willow summarized.

"I stepped out for one hour and missed so much," Kitty mumbled, wiping the donut crumbs off on her jeans, which made Giles cringe. "Well, where is she? I wanna meet her."

"Uh, it seems that - that she trapped Angel in a storage closet with a window. They've gone to retrieve him, assuming the sun's not killed him yet."

"I'm sure they got there in time!" Willow quickly said, seeing the fear on Kitty's face. Even the mere idea of losing Angel — any of her friends — terrified Kitty. She'd never experienced real loss since coming to earth. "No need to worry. They'll be back soon with good news."

"Yeah. Good news only," Kitty said, nodding and managing a smile.

But when the two Slayers returned, they did not have good news. Angel wasn't in the storage closet at Willy's bar where Kendra left him in, and neither was a pile of ashes. After interrogating Willy, they learned he managed to escape — they were unaware that he was lying.

Kendra wasn't impressed when she met Kitty but only because it was one more person that knew the Slayer's identity. However, she was intrigued upon learning that Kitty was a banished Cupid, something she'd only read about. It was taking the new Slayer a long time to adjust to the way Buffy ran things. Though it seemed she'd be around for a while to adjust.

"Kendra, I've, uh, conferred with your Watcher, Mr. Zabuto, and, uh, we both agree that until this matter with Spike and Drusilla has been resolved that you two should work together," Giles told her. He was walking next to Kendra through the school while Buffy, Willow, and Kitty followed behind.

"Oh, that'll be a treat," Buffy said sarcastically. She clearly wasn't a fan of working with Kendra.

"So, you believe dat Spike is attempting to revive dis Drusilla to health?" Kendra asked, her accent thick.

"Yes, well, I-I think that's the, uh, the dark power that your Watcher referred to. You see, uh, you see Drusilla's not only evil, she's, uh, well, she's also quite mad, and-and if she's restored to her full health, then, uh, well, there's no, absolutely no telling what she might do,"

"Den we will stop Spike," she said without hesitation.

Buffy jumped in between the two with fake enthusiasm. "Ooo, good plan, let's go, charge!"

"Buffy," Giles said, giving her a pointed look.

"It's a little more complicated than that, John Wayne," Buffy told Kendra.

"Yes, I'm, I'm afraid it is," he agreed. "You see, Spike has also called out the Order of Taraka to keep Buffy out of the way."

"De assassins?" Kendra asked, already familiar. "I read of dem in de writings of Dramius."

Giles was pleasantly surprised. "Oh, really? W-which volume?"

Kitty watched Giles and Kendra speak enthusiastically about all the books Kendra had read. It made Buffy seem like a slacker, who didn't even know there was a Slayer Handbook, let alone read it. When the two began laughing about footnotes, Buffy gave up on trying to come between them.

"Hello, and welcome to Planet Pocket Protector," Buffy whispered to Kitty and Willow.

Giles glanced at Buffy. "Oh, well, Buffy, Principal Snyder was snooping around after you."

Buffy stopped in her tracks and grimaced. "Career fair."

"Best make an appearance, I think," Giles told her.

"Right."

"Buffy's a student here?" Kendra asked, raising a judgmental eyebrow.

"Yes."

"Right, of course," she said, smirking. "And I imagine she's a cheerleader as well?"

"What's wrong with being a cheerleader?" Kitty asked, wrapping her arms around herself defensively. She liked being a cheerleader with Cordelia and Harmony.

Kitty's question was ignored as Giles smiled at Kendra. "Well, actually, she had to give up her cheerleading. Uh, it was quite an amusing story, actually—" Giles stopped when he saw the unimpressed looks from both Buffy and Kitty. "Uh, let's go and find the book, shall we?"

Buffy didn't waste a second as soon as Giles and Kendra walked off, beginning to complain. "Get a load of the she-Giles."

"Creepy," Willow agreed.

"Cheerleading's fun," Kitty declared.

"I'll bet Giles wishes I was more of a book geek," Buffy said, sighing.

"Giles is enough of a book geek for the both of you," Willow said, earning nods from the others.

"Yeah, but did you see how they were vibing? Volume six, ha, ha, ha!" Buffy said, mocking their discussion from earlier.

"Buffy, no one could replace you. You'll always be Giles' favorite," Willow said, not wanting her to feel bad.

"I wonder," she mumbled doubtfully.

"Buff, you're his Slayer. The real Slayer," Kitty said. "And you're his favorite. I may live with him, but he loves you most."

"It's probably because he lives with you that you're not his favorite," Willow muttered under her breath. Between her messy room and loud karaoke sessions and the struggle of waking her each morning, Willow thought that living with Kitty must have been a tiring thing. Giles cared about Buffy and Kitty like they were his own daughters, but Kitty certainly gave him more headaches.

"I wonder if it would be so bad, being replaced," Buffy mused.

"You mean, like, letting Kendra take over?" Willow asked.

"Maybe," she shrugged. "I mean, maybe after this thing with Spike and the assassins is over, I could say, Kendra, you slay, I'm going to Disneyland."

"But not forever, right?"

"No, Disneyland would get boring after a few months," Buffy stated. "But I could do other stuff. Career day stuff. Maybe I could even have a normal life."

"You could go to Disney World," Kitty suggested. "Cordelia's family went last summer. She says it's way bigger than the Land."

"We can drop out of school and live there together," Buffy said brightly.

"I've already got plans to live in side-by-side mansions with Harmony forever. But I'll make weekly visits to you. Roller coasters seem fun."

"Oh, they so totally are!" Willow said, excitedly. "I think you'll enjoy them, especially because heights don't bother you, what with the flying."

"Maybe when this is all over, I can beg Giles for a trip to Disneyland."

♡︎

While Buffy searched for the law enforcement table at the career fair, Kitty kept herself busy by spying on Willow. Her friend was talking with Oz, the guitarist for Dingoes Ate My Baby, both with shy smiles on their faces. They had both been selected for some fancy computer career. Kitty may not have been able to see auras anymore, but she could still sense when two people had a potential connection. And the connection between them was clear. She was practically giddy at the thought of them getting together and hoped one of her fellow non-banished Cupids had an arrow in store for them.

"Did I miss the table for the spying on people around corners career?"

Kitty spun around quickly, her wide eyes landing on Gage Petronzi, who caught her watching Willow. He had an amused smile on his lips, and soon, Kitty was smiling too.

"Guess if I got caught so easily, super-spy isn't for me," she said, chuckling. "Let me guess, you've been at a table for future Olympic gold medalists?"

Gage chuckled and shook his head. "I'm not quite that fast a swimmer. Been at sports med and physical therapist."

"Oh, those sound really cool," she told him. "I got therapist of the relationship kind instead of physical."

"Ah, so you're not taking up espionage," he said, smirking. Kitty was only seventy percent sure that she knew what espionage meant, but she wasn't going to embarrass herself by asking. "Why're you watching Oz and Rosenberg?"

"They met yesterday, and I've since decided that they're going to date," Kitty claimed boldly.

That made Gage laugh. "And you decide who all your friends date?"

"Yup. I have immaculate matchmaking abilities," she told him.

"So who decides who you date?" Gage asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kitty bit back a smile, remembering how Willow said Gage had a crush on her. "I decide, though I guess I've never been asked on one before."

"No way," Gage said, genuinely stunned. "You're crazy beautiful and funny and easy to talk to."

Well, in Kitty's time on earth, she'd been on the receiving end of many a cringy pick-up line and catcall. And guys had asked her to dance at the Bronze frequently, but she'd never been asked on a real date. Besides, she was a little too preoccupied with the weekly supernatural threats to think about dating.

But maybe she could find time if someone as boyishly handsome as Gage was asking her out.

"Thanks," Kitty said, her cheeks heating up. "You're funny too. I liked that tequila mockingbird joke you made in English class last week."

"Well, Mrs. Cook did not," he said, chuckling. "Uh, you know, Oz's band is playing at the Bronze tonight. Maybe we—"

Any potential attempt at asking Kitty on a date was interrupted by a gun going off. People scattered and screamed, and just as Gage pulled Kitty under a table for cover, she spotted Buffy fighting with the woman who was running the law enforcement table.

It was another assassin, one that clearly didn't care about shooting innocent students as she fought Buffy.

After another round was shot into the ceiling, Buffy knocked the gun from the assassin's hand. But she only pulled out a second that was hidden.

"Buffy, run!" Kitty shouted. She moved to stand up, but Gage pulled her back down, not wanting her to become a target — he didn't understand that the assassin only had eyes for Buffy.

The assassin continued to shoot at Buffy, who managed to duck out of the way each time. Oz wasn't so lucky, who tackled Willow out of the way when she was in the line of fire, ending up getting shot in the arm.

Buffy disappeared down the hall, and the assassin carefully searched for her. Kitty couldn't see where they went, but it was terrifyingly quiet for a moment before the sounds of struggle filled the air. Furniture was smashed and the gun backfired, making Kitty flinch.

When the fight came closer, Kitty saw that Kendra had joined in, which the assassin hadn't been expecting. Before any of them could react, she grabbed poor Jonathan as a hostage, holding a short blade to his neck to threaten him. Slowly, the assassin backed toward the door, and once she was close enough, she tossed Jonathan to the side and ran.

Kendra didn't hesitate to run after the assassin, but Buffy stopped to check on everyone. Oz would no doubt need to go to the hospital, as his shirt sleeve was stained with blood.

"Is she completely gone?" Gage asked, craning his head to look at the door she ran through.

"I don't think she's coming back any time soon," Kitty said, sighing. Then she looked at Oz, who was clutching his bleeding arm. "Oh, god."

"I'll go see if someone's called 911."

Gage jumped up and ran off to find a phone. Kitty rushed over to Oz, Willow, and Buffy.

"Are you okay?" Willow was asking when she arrived.

"I, uh, I'm shot," Oz said, kind of confused. Then he looked at his arm and chuckled in disbelief. "Y'know, wow! It's odd! And painful."

"Yeah, I'd say getting shot would be odd and painful," Kitty told him, amazed by how levelheaded he was remaining. "Paramedics should be here soon though."

"Good," Willow said. "God, you saved me, Oz. You're a real hero."

"Nah," he said, shrugging. But he winced from the movement. "Buffy's the real hero — fighting off that psycho cop."

"Being the hero is kind of her thing," Kitty said, looking at Buffy.

The Slayer got up and walked over to Kendra, who returned from chasing after the assassin. "She's gone."

Jonathan, who was still shaking from being grabbed by the assassin, slowly got to his feet, looking around at all the terrified students. "W-was that a demonstration?"

♡︎

Once again, Kitty found herself in the library with Buffy, Willow, Kendra, and Giles. The Watcher hadn't even been aware of the incident in the lounge, the library too far away for him to hear the gunshots.

"She was definitely one of the Taraka gang, Giles, and way gun-happy," Buffy said while Willow wrapped a bandage around her knee.

"This, um, Oz chap, he-he's alright?" Giles asked, worried about the student.

"The paramedic said it was only a scrape," Willow assured him. "Thank goodness."

A moment later, Xander and Cordelia came into the library. Kitty frowned, seeing that Cordelia's clothes were soaking wet. When Kendra saw them, she perceived them as a threat and shifted toward them.

"Down, girl!" Buffy said quickly before she could attack.

"Who sponsored Career Day today? The British Soccer Fan Association?" Xander asked, eying Buffy's injury.

"We had a-a rather violent visit from the Order of Taraka," Giles explained.

"You wanna talk Order of Taraka? We just met the king freak of the..." Xander trailed off, his eyes finally landing on Kendra, who shyly looked away. "Hello."

"Oh, forgive me. Uh, Xander, Cordelia, this is Kendra. Uh, i-it's rather complicated, but she's also a Slayer," Giles explained.

"Hi. Nice to meet you," Cordelia said, not really meaning it as she walked over to the table.

"A Slayer, huh?" Xander asked, raising an eyebrow. He glanced at Buffy and shook his head. "I knew this 'I'm the only one, I'm the only one' thing was just an attention-getter."

Buffy hopped off the reception desk. "Just say hello, Xander."

"Welcome. So! You're a Slayer, huh? I like that in a woman," Xander told Kendra, smirking.

Kendra seemed nervous, like she'd never talked to a boy before — well, she hadn't. "Uh... I hope... I tank you... I mean, sir, um... I will be of service."

Xander glanced at the others for a moment, who had no idea why she was so shy all of a sudden. "Great! Good. It's good to be a giver."

"Xander, um, this, this, uh, assassin you encountered, what did he look like?" Giles asked as everyone migrated to the table.

Cordelia then found a mealworm in her hair and screamed before dropping it onto the pages of a pool. She got up instantly, feeling ready to crawl out of her skin. "Uhh! Ohmigod, I'm showering!"

As Cordelia ran from the library, Xander pointed to the bug. "Like that."

"You seem to have a thing with bug people," Kitty said, recalling some of the past insect monsters. "Maybe the universe is trying to tell you to be a bug scientist."

"Entomologist," Willow said, teaching her the technical term.

Xander cringed at the thought. "No, but this dude was completely different than praying mantis lady. He was a man of bugs, not a man who was a bug." Then Xander slammed the book shut on the mealworm, killing it.

"The, uh, the important thing is everybody's alright," Giles said. "Still, it's quite apparent that we're under serious attack."

"These Taraka are definitely serious," Buffy said. Then she looked at Kendra appreciatively for helping earlier. "Fortunately for me, so is Kendra."

"And, uh, I fear the worst is still to come. I-I've discovered the remaining keys to Drusilla's cure. The, uh, the ritual requires that the presence of her sire, and it must take place in a church on the night of the new moon," Giles explained.

Buffy grew worried instantly, but she wasn't the only one.

"You - you didn't say that stuff about needing a church and his sire this morning," Kitty said, picking at her fingernails anxiously.

"Didn't think you'd be interested," Giles said, shrugging. Kitty always tuned out during research and almost never knew the specifics.

"The new moon. But that is tonight," Kendra stated.

"Exactly. And I-I'm sure the assassins were here to kill Buffy before she could put a stop to things," Giles assumed.

"They need Drusilla's sire. You mean the vamp that made her?" Buffy asked, concerned for the same reason Kitty was.

"Yes."

"Buffy, what is it?" Willow asked her.

Buffy looked at the ground, distraught. Kitty, who was the only other one who knew, spoke up. "Angel is the one who made Drusilla."

"Man, that guy got major neck in his day!" Xander exclaimed. Willow quickly slapped him hard on the shoulder.

"Will this ritual kill him?" Buffy asked, assuming the worst — rightfully so.

"Yes, I'm afraid it will," Giles answered.

"We need to find this church," she told him. "We need to find where this ritual is gonna take place."

"Agreed, and we must work quickly," he said, checking the time on his watch. "We have five hours before sundown."

Willow opened her laptop, ready to find all the churches in Sunnydale. "Don't worry, Buffy, we'll save Angel."

"Angel?" Kendra questioned, clearly annoyed. "But our priority is to stop Drusilla!"

"Angel's our friend!" Xander told her firmly. But then his shoulders relaxed. "Except I don't like him."

"Look, you've got your priorities, and I've got mine. Right now they mesh," Buffy said, getting in Kendra's face. "So, are you gonna help me, or are you gonna get out of my way?"

It took Kendra a moment to think it over. "I'm wit you."

"Good. 'Cause I've had it. Spike is going down," Buffy said determinedly. "You can attack me, you can send assassins after me, that's fine. But nobody messes with my boyfriend!"

Kitty slid on top of the table, making sure to push the book with the smashed bug far away. "It's good that you've got your priorities sorted out, Buff."

♡︎

After hours of looking up all the churches in Sunnydale — there were a lot, which was unsurprising, as living on the Hellmouth caused a lot of praying — and Buffy and Kendra once again interrogating Willy, they found the location of an abandoned church. Willy took Buffy straight there, planning to hand her right over to Spike.

Kendra came and got the others before they all rushed to her aid. And they arrived just as Spike was ordering the assassin from school to kill Buffy.

Kendra kicked the front door down, managing to knock down two vampires before rushing to Buffy's side. Spike looked at the new girl with wide eyes. "Who the hell is this?"

"It's your lucky day, Spike," Buffy said smugly as Kendra gripped the front of his shirt.

"Two Slayers!" Kendra exclaimed before decking him.

"No waiting!" Buffy added, attacking him.

As Buffy and Kendra took on Spike and the assassin, Giles and Willow came in to take care of the few vampires. It was Xander and Cordelia's job to kill the bug assassin, who chased after them.

And everyone was too busy fighting to notice Kitty. She kept to the wall as she moved closer and closer to Angel. He was barely conscious and chained near a window with Drusilla tied to him. She looked out of it, body bent backward as her hand that was clasped around Angel's drew his life force from him.

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey," Kitty said to Angel, who only groaned lowly. She glanced at Drusilla, who was at least managing to keep her eyes open. "You must be Dru. Heard a lot about you. Nice to meet you."

Drusilla's head lolled to the side, her gaze falling on Kitty. "Wings around his heart," she murmured.

"Right. I forgot you're crazy," Kitty muttered. Then she looked up at their hands and saw a dagger in them. Kitty stood on her toes to remove it, muttering a "gross" under her breath as she tossed it to the side. Next, she began trying to untie them.

"Spike," Drusilla called weakly, finally registering that Kitty was going to cut off her connection to Angel.

Spike had been ready to kill Willy, but looked and saw Kitty trying to untie them. He dropped Willy and ran over to the altar.

"Buffy!" Kitty shouted just as Spike roughly shoved her to the floor. She winced as her shoulder knocked into the sharp corner of the altar. "Ow! That's gonna bruise!"

Buffy rushed to Kitty's aid, pulling him away from her. Spike quickly backhanded Buffy, knocking her to the ground. Knowing he was outnumbered, Spike pulled out a knife and cut the bonds around Drusilla and Angel. He swept Drusilla up in his arms as Angel collapsed on the ground. "Sorry, dear, we gotta go. Hope that was enough," Spike said.

Then he grabbed a torch off its wall hanger and threw it onto a pile of drapes on the other end of the church, where the rest of the gang were waiting — Spike was the only one still standing. He carried Drusilla to the other side of the church, the fire separating him from the others.

"Buffy," Angel said weakly, finally realizing that she was there.

Seeing the state that Angel was in made Buffy furious. She grabbed a censer for burning incense and swung it overhead before throwing it at Spike. It hit him hard in the back of his head, causing him to crash forward, right into the beams holding the organ on the second floor up. The organ and beams crashed down on top of him and Drusilla, burying them.

"I'm good," Buffy breathed out, glad to be rid of the two vampires. They could burn with the rest of the church.

"She's good," Kendra said in agreement. She was starting to like how Buffy ran things.

Buffy then crouched beside Angel, gently cupping his face. He looked exhausted and near dead, but at least he was alive. "It's gonna be okay," she whispered softly, brushing her thumb along his cheek.

"Buffy?" Angel questioned, trying to keep his eyes open.

Knowing that they could have a passionate reunion once they weren't in a church that was slowly catching on fire, Kitty moved to Angel's other side.

"Let's get him out of here," Kitty said, wrapping one of Angel's arms over her shoulder. Buffy took the other and they dragged him through the rubble and toward the exit.

Not a single one looked back at the pile that Spike and Drusilla were crushed under. If none of the splintered wood had pierced their hearts, the fire would take care of them.

It was over, and they'd never have to see them again.

♡︎

Cordelia and Xander stood across from each other in an empty classroom, arms crossed as they glared at each other. Now that the business with Spike was finished, they could discuss the absolutely horrid, revolting thing that had happened when they were trapped together in Buffy's basement, hiding from the bug assassin.

"The point is, don't ever try it again—"

"I didn't try it!" Xander snapped. "Forget the bugs. Just the memory of your lips on mine makes my blood run cold!"

Cordelia narrowed her eyes and stepped closer. "If you dare breathe a word of this—"

"Like I want anyone to know!" he shouted.

"Then it's erased?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Never happened," he agreed.

"Good," Cordelia said.

"Good!"

A moment passed before they each surged forward into the other's arms. It was a kiss of passion and hate as hands began to wander. And they would've kept kissing if the sound of someone dropping a book hadn't hit their ears.

Xander and Cordelia ripped apart as if they were burned by the other. They turned to the door that was now pushed fully open. Kitty stood in the entrance, having dropped her chemistry textbook in shock. Her jaw was hanging open, the red sucker that she'd been eating on the verge of falling as well.

Not once had Kitty ever picked up on a connection between Xander and Cordelia, but now her senses were humming with it.

"Kitty, it is not what it looks like!" Cordelia said quickly. "As if I'd ever willingly kiss this—"

Kitty put up a hand, silently cutting her off. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go process this and also run my eyeballs through a dishwasher."