He Laid Out a Plan

"Okay, most important thing now, how do we find them?" Xander asked.

"Yeah, but how?" Buffy asked back. "Wait, why the others? Why did they leave you?"

"Giles...about the ritual," Xander said as he thought back. "They need those who were closest to him. Like physically. Giles, Willow, Cordelia..."

"And Miss Calendar," Buffy finished.

"Odds are they have a whole set," Xander said. "What was at the Bronze?"

-

Xander and Angel watched as Buffy threw the female vampire around. Eventually she dumped her onto the pool table and put her cross in her mouth.

"Huh...heh, that hurt," she managed to speak back. "Though burning off my tongue won't do you much good."

Buffy punched her again, "Well, I've still got a lot of things to try."

"I think this is enough," Angel said. "There has to be a line."

"No. Not now," Xander said as he walked forward and looked down at the vampire. "I've got holy water on me. Other ideas, Buffy?"

"Fire works. Classic for a reason."

"We could do that," Xander said as he leaned down close to the vampire. "Just so you know, there are other orifices we could stick that cross into."

For a rare moment she looked afraid, "You wouldn't."

"I'm not going to get hung up on a line when my friends are in danger," Xander said as he looked to Buffy while Angel took a few steps back. "Just let us know when you are ready to talk."

-

Buffy sat on the gravestone waiting for the vampire to rise, "Come on, don't you understand that I've got homework to do?"

"Hey," she suddenly heard behind her.

She jumped off the grave to see Angel there. "Hey. You don't sneak up on people in a graveyard. You stomp your feet or...yoddle."

He chuckled at her suggestion, "Are you here alone."

"Yeah. Just waiting for this vampire to rise. Why?"

"I thought you might be here with Xander or someone."

"Xander."

"Or someone."

"Are you jealous? Because I danced with him."

"Mated with is a closer to what was going on."

"Please, I just did that to make you jealous. Behold my success."

"I'm not jealous. Xander is just a kid," Angel said, completely missing the vampire rising from the grave. "And are you telling me you didn't enjoy it?"

Buffy paused as she remembered the dance with Xander. She tried to suppress the shudder that ran through her body at the memory.

The scene was interrupted by the vampire emerging and rushing her from behind. Somehow, despite his years of experience, Angel still got knocked out by a vampire just out of the grave, before Buffy killed it.

"Just a kid? Am I just a kid to you?" Buffy asked, resuming their conversation while leaving the last part out.

"This was a bad idea," Angel said as he walked away.

"Oh no, you don't get away from me that easily," Buffy said as she followed after him.

And caught up with him rather easily, because there were no open graves in Sunnydale that night.