Title: Charming Vacation
Author: Elisabeth
Email: dragonydreams@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.dragonydreams.com
Rating: PG
Category: Crossover – BtVS/Charmed
Summary: Willow and Buffy meet the Charmed Ones during their Winter Break vacation.
Spoilers/Timeline: S4 BtVS; mid-S2 Charmed
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership over these characters. I am merely borrowing them from Joss et al. Charmed is owned by Spelling Television et al.
Distribution: My site, the usual lists, anyone with previous permission. Anyone else - please ask.
Feedback: Yes please! I'm a greedy little writer.
Dedication: This story is for Jen who always wanted to see a crossover between these two shows. I'm sorry it took me so long to finish writing this. I miss you!
Charming Vacation
Part 1: FavorsA light knock on the door drew the attention of the brunette woman at the computer. She looked towards the door as she minimized the document she had been reading to see a nervous-looking red head poking into the room.
"Excuse me," the redhead asked. "Are you Prue Halliwell?"
"Yes, I am. May I help you?"
The redhead entered the office, closing the door behind her. "My name is Willow Rosenberg. Rupert Giles asked me to pick up the items he recently purchased while I was in town." Willow paused as Prue continued to look at her skeptically. "He said he'd let you know I was coming," she quickly added.
Prue relaxed at the name of Mr. Giles. He had been a very good customer over the years bidding on nearly every arcane book and artifact to come through Buckland's doors; although this was the first time he had ever sent someone to pick up an acquisition in person. Normally the items were sent via courier.
"Yes, Miss Rosenberg," Prue smiled as she found the note. "Mr. Giles did call to let me know you'd be stopping by."
Willow visibly relaxed in her chair, her smile looking much more natural than when she had entered the room. She had been a little afraid that they wouldn't let her leave with Giles' new books.
"Excuse me a moment." Prue picked up her phone and dialed an internal line. "Yes, hi Kathy, it's Prue. Could you please bring up the items for Mr. Rupert Giles? Thank you."
"Wow, that was easy. I was afraid you wouldn't let me take Giles' books, 'cause he really is anxious to read them and I didn't know what your policy was on allowing a person aside from the buyer to pick up the bought items. But Giles did call to let you know I was coming so it wasn't like I was just some stranger off the street."
Prue did her best to hide her amusement at the redhead's babble. It was amazing that she was able to get that all out without pausing for breath. She took pity on the girl and interrupted her. "It's no problem at all."
Willow took a much needed breath and nervously looked at her hands.
"If you don't mind my asking," Prue inquired, "Why are you running this errand for Mr. Giles? This is the first time that he has ever had anyone pick up an acquisition."
"Oh, it's just a favor for a friend. When Giles found out my friend Buffy and I were coming to San Francisco for our winter break he asked if we'd be willing to do this for him."
"That's very nice of you to take time out of your vacation."
"No biggie. This actually saved me from another shopping trip with Buffy."
Prue laughed and stood to answer the knock at the door. She accepted the box from Kathy and set it on a table.
Willow rose and moved to pick up the box.
Conversationally Prue asked, "So have you seen the sights yet?"
"Not many," Willow sighed. "Buffy seems more interested in touring the stores than the sights."
"Well, if you're looking for a good club while you're in town my sister owns P3. It is THE hotspot, if I do say so myself," she said with a wink.
"That sounds like fun."
"I'll ask Piper to put you and your friend on the list for the entire week."
"Thank you," Willow gushed. "I've never been on a list before. We'll definitely stop by." Willow picked up the cumbersome box of books. "Thanks for everything, and hopefully I'll see you at P3."
"It was nice meeting you too, Willow." Prue opened and closed the door behind Willow. She smiled as she shook her head and returned to her desk. She felt oddly drawn to the petite redhead in a kindred spirit kind of way. She quickly phoned to ask Piper to add Willow Rosenberg + Guest to the VIP list.
As soon as she hung up the phone it rang. She lifted the receiver to her ear saying, "Just do it Piper, as a favor to me."
"Prue? It's Inspector Morris."
Prue unconsciously sat up straighter in her chair. "Hi Darryl. Sorry about that, I just got off the phone with my sister," she apologized.
"That's okay. I'm sorry to bother you, but Andy had mentioned that you had helped out with some of our stranger cases, and I wanted to get your opinion on this latest one, off the record of course."
"Of course," Prue agreed, not entirely sure she would be able to help. In the past, it had always just been coincidence that Andy's cases seemed to involve the innocents they were saving - until it got him killed. "I'd be happy to help, if it's within my power."
"You see the thing is, there have been a rash of murders lately. That in and of itself isn't so strange. But the weird thing is, the bodies - they were completely drained of blood and the coroner found two small puncture marks on their necks."
"That is unusual," Prue agreed. "But why come to me?"
"You know, I'm not sure. I just had a feeling that this is something you should know about."
"Well, I don't know if there's anything I can do to help you catch this guy, but I'll keep my ears open for anyone bragging about murdering people with a barbecue fork."
Laughing, Darryl responded, "Thanks Prue. Say 'Hi' to your sisters for me."
"Will do. Bye Darryl. I'll be in touch if anything comes up." Prue hung up the phone, mulling over the conversation, her mind already trying to recall any demons that drained their victims. She'd have to consult the Book of Shadows when she got home.
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ Willow propped the box against the wall and on her knee as she struggled with the hotel room's key card. After her third failed attempt to open the door it was opened by Buffy.
"Here, let me get that," she offered, easily carrying the box of books into the room and setting it near the closet. "Any problems?"
"Nope. Giles had called and let them know I'd be stopping by. The woman I spoke with, Prue, seemed a little suspicious that I was picking up Giles' books instead of them mailing them, but she seemed cool. In fact, she invited us to her sister's club. It's called P3."
Buffy spun around to look at Willow. "You met one of the owners of P3?" she asked in awe. "That's supposed to be an awesome club. Do you know why it's called P3?" Willow shook her head. "It's owned by three sisters: Prue, Piper and Phoebe Halliwell. Even though all three own it, Piper is the one who runs it."
"How do you know all of that?"
"Well, unlike some people, I like to keep up with the hottest trends. And P3 is the hottest club in San Francisco. I was hoping to check it out while we're here, but it can be impossible to get in."
"Not for us," Willow grinned. "Prue said she'd have me added to the VIP list for the whole week."
Buffy enveloped Willow in an enthusiastic hug. "You're the best Will! How'd you do it?"
"I think Prue was impressed by the fact that even though we're here on vacation I'd take the time to stop by the auction house to pick up something for a friend," she shrugged.
"You know what this means," Buffy waggled an eyebrow.
Knowing that look, Willow became nervous. "What?"
"We are going to have to go find the perfect clubbing outfit. Look out stores, here we come." Buffy announced, pulling a reluctant redhead towards the door.
"Didn't you already spend the entire day shopping?" she protested.
"Yes, but I didn't look for clubbing clothes. And we need something fabulous for you too. Come on."
Bending to the inevitable, Willow grabbed her purse and followed Buffy out the door.
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ Piper set a drink down in front of her older sister. "Now tell me again why you had me add two complete strangers to the VIP list."
"I told you on the phone," Prue calmly replied, "There was just something about her. She has this open friendliness and I wanted to cut her a break."
"Now if it was a couple of cute guys I'd completely get it," Phoebe interrupted. "But a couple of college girls?"
"There's no need to say that like it's a bad thing." Prue scolded. "They're probably about your age, maybe a year or two younger."
"Which means that they're underage," Piper realized.
"So they'll get their hands stamped," Prue waved off the concern. "Look at it this way. Willow took the time out of her winter vacation to come to Buckland's and pick up a box of old books for a friend of hers. I think that deserves the reward of a night at the hottest night spot in the city."
"All right, all right," Piper conceded and went back to tending the bar.
"Did Willow say if there are any cute guys with them?"
"No, she said she was here with her friend. Buffy or something like that."
"Buffy?" Phoebe asked. Prue answered with a shrug.
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ Willow tugged on her skirt as she exited the taxi in front of P3. She turned doubt-filled eyes to her best friend. "Are you sure about this outfit?"
Buffy ran her eyes over Willow's form. The dark blue halter top left her shoulders, back and midriff bare, complementing Willow's pale skin. The tight black skirt was shorter than Willow usually wore, but it made her legs look longer, especially in the black strappy sandals.
"You look amazing Will," she honestly answered.
Willow gave Buffy the same once-over she had just received. Buffy wore a tiny sparkly tank top and tight leather pants.
"Thanks. So do you." She took a deep breath. "Okay, here we go."
Willow approached the bouncer, skirting the long line at the entrance to the club. "Excuse me. My name is Willow Rosenberg. I'm supposed to be on the list." She said with as much bravado as she could muster.
The bouncer gave her a once-over then glanced at the list in his hand. He waved her towards the door. "Go right ahead miss, your friend too."
"Thanks," Willow beamed back at him.
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ Prue had been keeping an eye on the door in case Willow decided to show up tonight. When she saw Willow on the stairs she waved her over.
"Willow, you made it," she greeted the redhead.
"Hi Prue. This is my friend Buffy Summers. Buffy, this is Prue Halliwell."
"Nice to meet you," Buffy smiled. "This place is amazing."
"Thanks, but you should really tell that to my sister. Piper," she called her over. "Piper this is Willow and Buffy."
"It's nice to meet you. Can I get you anything?"
"Soda?" Willow asked Buffy. At her nod Willow turned back to Piper. "Two sodas please."
"You got it," she smiled.
"And I'm Phoebe," she said from behind Prue, sticking her hand out in greeting. Willow shook the proffered hand. Phoebe's eyes closed and her body tensed as she saw Willow being attacked by a man with yellow eyes, ridges on his forehead and sharp pointy teeth in the alley behind the club.
"It's great to meet everyone," Buffy said, sitting on one of the stools.
"So you're in college," Piper asked.
"Yeah, we go to UC-Sunnydale," Buffy confirmed.
"Are you okay?" Willow asked when Phoebe hadn't released her hand.
"Oh, yeah, sorry," she unconvincingly apologized.
"S'okay. Hey Buff, you wanna dance?"
"Sure."
As the Sunnydale girls headed to the dance floor Phoebe turned to Prue, "She's an innocent. That's why you felt drawn to her."
"Are you sure?" Piper questioned.
"Yes. When I shook her hand I got a premonition. I saw Willow being attacked by a demon. I think it was a vampire."
"A vampire? Oh, please," Piper rebuked.
"That's what I said. And it'll happen behind the club."
"So all we do is keep her inside," Prue suggested.
"Right." Phoebe agreed. After a quick scan of the dance floor she asked, "Anyone see her?"
All three sisters searched the room. When none of them found Willow, or Buffy, they ran for the alley.
Meanwhile, after only a minute on the dance floor, Buffy paused mid-groove exclaiming, "Oh crap."
"What, did I bump into you?" Willow stopped as well.
"No." Buffy leaned in close to whisper in Willow's ear, "Vampire."
The redhead's eyes widened in understanding, confusion and disappointment. "Here?"
"Yep. He's over there." She gestured with her head behind Willow. "And he's coming this way. Look, see if you can get him out back. I'm gonna go find something to use as a stake."
Willow gulped. "Um, okay."
Willow continued dancing as Buffy slipped off the dance floor. She tried to keep from jumping out of her skin when the vampire (in human face) asked to dance with her. With her best smile in place, Willow accepted.
As the song ended, Willow looked up at the man/vamp she had been dancing with. With a look of pure innocence she said, "Thanks for the dance. I'm, um, feeling kinda warm now. Would you… um… like to get some air with me?" She batted her eyelashes at him in a last ditch effort.
Amazed that his prey wanted to willingly go somewhere private with him, in fact was suggesting it, the vampire readily agreed. Willow led the way to the alley, a small smile of satisfaction gracing her face. The vampire had a similar smile on his face, only his resembled more of a leering smirk.
Buffy stealthily followed the pair out the emergency exit. She arrived just as Willow's dance partner vamped out. Casually she said, stake loosely held in her hand, "You know, all I wanted was to get away for a couple of weeks for some relaxation and shopping."
The vampire swung around to see who had interrupted his meal. "Slayer," he spat, pulling Willow towards him, an arm going around her neck.
Ignoring his acknowledgement of who she was, Buffy continued, "I mean, is it too much to ask for a night or two without any slayage? I'm asking you. Is there like, some kind of vampire secret telegraph that let's you know when I'm gonna be in town?"
The vampire sneered at her, "This is purely coincidence. And now you get to watch while I drain this girl."
As he lowered his head to Willow's neck several things happened at once. Piper burst through the door and, hands splayed in front of her, froze the vampire. Willow twisted away from the lowering head, breaking free of the choke-hold and fell to the ground. Buffy did a back-flip over Willow and the vampire, landing behind him. She plunged the stake into the frozen vampire and he burst into dust.
"Thanks Will. That's a neat trick. When'd you learn how to freeze vamps?" Buffy pulled Willow to her feet.
Dusting herself off, Willow denied, "I didn't do it. That was neat though. It'd come in handy in future slaying."
Standing in the open doorway Phoebe observed, "They didn't freeze. Why didn't they freeze?"
"I don't know," Piper honestly answered.
Prue stalked over to Buffy and Willow. "Who are you? And how did you know how to vanquish the demon?"
Buffy and Willow exchanged questioning glances. Buffy mouthed, "Vanquish the demon?" Both girls started giggling.
The sisters looked at each other, wondering what was so funny.
Willow recovered first and asked, "Did one of you freeze him? If you did, can you teach me?"
Warily Piper admitted, "I froze him. Are you a witch?"
"Uh, yeah, kind of. Although lately my spells have been going kind of kafluey. I'm guessing you are, 'cause with the freezing. Are you all witches?"
"Yes we are. What about you?" Phoebe asked Buffy.
"Nope, I'm the odd man out. Odd woman out," she corrected.
Before any more questions could be asked, Prue suggested, "Why don't we move this back to the Manor. I'm guessing this is going to be a long conversation and the alley behind the club probably isn't the best place for it."
Everyone else agreed.
Part 2: ExplanationsPiper and Willow were handing around tea as Prue carried the Book of Shadows into the living room and set it on the coffee table.
Flipping through the book, Prue said, "There's something in here I think you should see."
Willow sat next to Prue on the couch, mesmerized by the book. She started to reach out to touch it, but pulled her hand back at the last moment. "Is that a spell book?" she asked in awe.
"This is our Book of Shadows. It has spells, demons and how to vanquish them, family secrets, tips, etc." Piper supplied.
"Ah, here it is. This is you, isn't it?" Prue asked as she held open the page for all to see. There was a drawing of a stake next to the page title: The Slayer. The page read, "In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer."
Buffy, who was sitting on Prue's other side, commented, "Uh-huh. Geez, it's like listening to Giles all over again."
Prue turned to look at Buffy. "Do you mean Rupert Giles? The one Willow picked up the books for?"
"Yep." Buffy confirmed. "He's my Watcher."
"Watcher?" Phoebe asked.
Prue turned the page and found an entry for Watchers. "For as long as there has been a Slayer there has been the Watcher's Council. They train and prepare the Slayer," she read. "Well, that certainly would explain Mr. Giles' purchases."
"Well," Buffy started, settling back on the couch, "now that we've shown you ours…"
"We're the Charmed Ones." Phoebe supplied.
"Charmed Ones?" Willow asked.
"Together, we three sisters are the most powerful witches ever to have existed." Piper explained.
"It is our job to protect the innocent. Each of us has a different power. As you know, Piper can freeze things. Prue is telekinetic. And I get premonitions when I touch someone or their belongings."
"That's how you knew I was being attacked in the alley," Willow guessed. "Wow. It must be nice to have that much specialized power. I can't even de-rat Amy."
"Excuse me?" Piper asked, not sure she heard her correctly.
"My friend Amy turned herself into a rat to avoid being burned at the stake with me and Buffy, but she hadn't taught me how to reverse the spell beforehand, and every attempt I've made so far has failed."
"You were burned at the stake too?" Phoebe asked. "Was it in the future?"
"No, it was last year. A demon tricked our parents into thinking anything related to the occult needed to be destroyed. Giles was able to reveal the demon for what it was, reversing its spell, but Amy was already a rat, and lots of Giles' books were burned as kindling." Buffy explained.
"Oh my," Piper exclaimed. "Have you had any spells work?"
"Yep." Willow grinned. "My first spell ever was to re-ensoul Angel, Buffy's ex-boyfriend."
"He's a vampire," Buffy supplied, then quickly added, "but he's good."
"You dated a demon?" Piper asked.
"Uh, yeah." Buffy looked down at her hands. "It's a long story."
"It's okay, you wouldn't be the first," Phoebe tried to comfort her. "Piper almost married a Warlock and then fell for a ghost." Piper glared at her.
"Anyway, my last spell kinda went nuts and caused all kinds of trouble. I had done this "My Will Be Done" spell and only things I said in passing came true - I made Giles blind, my best friend Xander a demon magnet and Buffy got engaged to Spike," Willow trailed off, looking down at her hands.
"What were you trying to do?" Prue asked.
"Speed up the healing process. I had just found out that my boyfriend, I guess now my ex-boyfriend, had sent for all of his belongings, without telling me. He had left a few weeks earlier to go 'find himself', but I always thought he'd come back." Willow said bitterly.
"Oh honey," Piper consoled her. "There are always consequences that go along with using magick for personal benefits. Didn't anyone ever teach you about personal gain?"
Willow shook head. "Not really. In the beginning Giles tried to keep me from practicing any kind of magicks. But once he realized that I wasn't going to stop, he has been guiding me a little."
"Who taught you?" Buffy asked.
"We've kinda been figuring it out as we go along," Phoebe admitted.
"But we've had the Book of Shadows to guide us. Spells have been added by witches going back generations in our family," Prue added.
"We only came into our powers a little over a year ago," Piper further explained. "After our Grams died."
"She had bound our powers when we were little and they were released upon her death," Prue continued.
"That must have been tough," Willow commented.
"Yeah," Piper snorted. "You wouldn't believe how shocked I was the first time I froze time."
"That is a such a neat power," Willow complimented. "My biggest trick is floating a pencil. But it works in a pinch to kill vamps."
"So you can move things with your mind, like me," Prue commented.
"A little," Willow nodded. "Mostly just pencils."
"At least it's an active power," Phoebe griped quietly.
Piper noticed Buffy sitting back quietly, not participating in the magick talk. "What about you Buffy, how do you fight demons?"
"Oh the usual," she shrugged. "Vamps are easy - stake through the heart, beheading, holy water, a little sunlight and poof. There's usually a little hand-to-hand mixed in. I usually train with a crossbow, quarter staff, fencing, that kind of stuff."
Ever the pragmatist Prue asks, "How do you know how to kill other demons?"
"That's where the research comes in," Buffy groaned.
"I'm Research Girl," Willow proudly piped in. "Hacker extraordinaire. Plus Giles has loads of books that we use to research various demons and prophecies. We find out the basics and then Buffy goes and kills it."
"How do you do it?" Buffy asks the witches.
"Usually Piper freezes the demon and then we use a potion or say a spell to vanquish it," Prue supplied.
"The spells work better when we all say them together - The Power of Three," Phoebe added.
"And all the spells you use are in the Book of Shadows?" Willow asked.
"A lot of them are," Piper answered. "Sometimes we write our own."
"As fascinating as all this shop talk is," Buffy interrupted. "If I'm going to be working on my vacation, I'm going to need my beauty rest."
"Of course," Prue said as they all stood. "We didn't mean to keep you so late."
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Phoebe asked.
"Not really," Buffy told her. "We just need to figure out where all the vamps are coming from, then find the lair and slay the leader. The minions will either run or get killed in the process."
"Well, we could scry for the leader tomorrow." Prue offered.
"That'd be great." Willow exclaimed. "Can you show me how? I know a couple of locator spells, but they usually require something of the person you're searching for."
Part 3: DiscoveriesThe next day Willow returned to the Manor while Buffy decided she'd prefer to enjoy the hotel's pool. Pure had to go to work, which left Piper and Phoebe to work with Willow.
The sisters were all set up when the doorbell rang.
Phoebe opened the door for the smiling redhead. "Willow, hi." Noticing the girl was alone on the porch she added, "Where's Buffy?"
"Hi there." Willow stepped into the foyer practically bouncing with energy. "Buffy opted to work on her tan. Are we ready?"
"We're all set up in here." Phoebe led the way to the conservatory. A map of the city was laid out on a coffee table with a crystal attached to a chain lying on top.
Piper entered from the kitchen. "Good morning, Willow," she greeted.
"Morning Piper. So how does this work?" Willow eagerly asked.
"A little eager are we?" Piper teased.
Looking abashed, Willow answered, "Is it that obvious?" Both sisters nodded. "Sorry. It's just that it isn't often that people encourage me to do magick."
"Sorry to disappoint, but there isn't much magick involved in scrying," Phoebe informed Willow.
"That's okay. This will still be useful in helping to find demons."
"Let's do it then." Phoebe knelt in front of the coffee table. She lifted the chain and began to swing the crystal in a circular pattern over the map.
"What are you doing?" Willow asked, kneeling next to Phoebe.
"I'm concentrating on vampires." Phoebe said.
"It helps if you have something of the person - demon - whatever that you're looking for. If you don't have anything then you can concentrate on what you know about the focus of your search." Piper explained.
"In that case you probably want to try to hone in on vampires that are relatively new to the city. A lair with fairly new minions." Willow suggested.
"Why someone new to the city?" Piper queried.
"A vampire who's been around for a while would know better than to hunt around the slayer," Willow shrugged.
The crystal stopped and pointed to a spot on the map. Piper looked at where the crystal had landed.
"That's just around the corner from P3," she exclaimed.
"That makes sense," Willow commented.
"How does that make sense?" Piper incredulously asked.
"If it's a young vampire then it would be drawn to a club, not just for the music, but also because of all of the potential meals."
"Well you seem to be the expert here. What do you suggest we do?" Phoebe asked.
"I'll have to check with Buffy, she's the real vampire expert, but I'd say we go clubbing."
"You want to use P3 to draw the leader out," Piper concluded.
"That's the idea. I'm thinking that the head honcho vamp is probably going to notice that they're one vamp short after last night and will come to investigate."
"Then one of us can lure it to the alley, Piper can freeze it, and Buffy can slay it," Phoebe surmised.
"Yep," the redhead grinned.
"Well then it looks like we need to load up on stakes, holy water and crosses," Piper stated.
"I'll go find Buffy and fill her in on the plan," Willow said as she stood.
"And I'll give Prue a call," Phoebe offered as she walked Willow to the door. "And you try to get some actual sightseeing done," she told Willow.
"That would be nice. I'll see you at the club tonight."
"We'll see you then."
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ Buffy was still lying by the pool with a glass of iced tea in one hand and a magazine on the lounge chair in front of her. Willow sighed in exasperation and moved to sit on the chair next to her friend.
"Hey Buff," she greeted the blonde.
"Willow," Buffy exclaimed. "Back already?"
"Yep. Piper and Phoebe showed me how they scry for a demon's location. We found a lair of vampires about a block from P3."
Suddenly in slayer-mode, Buffy sat up. "That makes sense. They'd want to be close to where the action is."
"That's what I told them," Willow agreed.
"So what's the plan?" Buffy asked.
"Basically we hang at the club." Willow shrugged. "I'm guessing that whoever set up shop is going to notice they're missing a member of the gang and want to check out the club for possible threats."
"Then we'll isolate the leader and make with the slayage," Buffy concluded.
"That's it in a nutshell," Willow agreed. "We're going to meet them at P3 tonight. Which means that we are going to spend the afternoon playing tourists."
"Do we have to?" Buffy whined.
"Yes. This is my first trip to San Francisco and I want to ride a trolley and see the Golden Gate Bridge."
"Alright, fine," Buffy grumbled, getting her belongings together.
"Just think," Willow comforted, placing her arm around Buffy's shoulders, "after all the mindless sightseeing you can take your frustrations out on the vamps tonight."
Buffy managed a half-hearted smile in response as they headed towards the elevator.
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~ Prue and Phoebe were sitting on a couch off to the side when Buffy and Willow arrived at P3 that evening. As the Sunnydale girls sat on the adjacent couch, Piper joined her sisters.
After some initial small talk Prue got down to business. "Why don't we just attack the lair instead of hoping they show up here?"
"We don't want to go in blind. There's no way of knowing how many vamps will be there. It'll be better to draw out the leader and find out how many are there. Then after dusting said leader we can go after the minions."
"What if he doesn't show up tonight?" Prue questioned, ever the practical one.
"I think he might be here already," Buffy said tensing. "My spidey-sense is tingling."
On alert, all five girls began scanning the room for possible vampires.
On one pass, Willow did a double-take. Drawing Buffy's attention to the blonde dancing near them she asked, "Is that…"
"Harmony," Buffy finished loudly.
Having heard her name over the din, Harmony turned and smiled at the familiar faces. She bounded over to them saying cheerfully, "Buffy, Willow, what are you doing here?"
"What are we doing here?" Buffy repeated as she and Willow stood. "What are you doing here?"
"You know this girl?" Piper asked.
"Oh hi, I'm Harmony. I went to high school with them."
"And now she's a vampire," Willow added.
"Well duh," Harmony countered.
"Harmony, what are you doing here?" Buffy asked again.
"Well after Spike left me, again, I decided that I need to start out on my own, in a new town, so gathered my minions together and moved here. What are you doing here?" she asked sociably.
"We're on our winter break," Buffy hesitantly admitted.
"That's great," Harmony brightly replied. "Does that mean you aren't going to try to slay me?" she asked hopefully.
"That depends," Buffy cautiously replied. "Were you planning on feeding here?"
"Of course." Noting Buffy and Willow's raised eyebrows she added, "Not. Like I'd want to eat here."
"What's wrong with here?" Piper asked, offended at the prospect that anything could be wrong with her club.
Phoebe nudged her with her elbow and whispered, "Piper."
"Oh, right. Never mind."
"I think it might be time to move on again Harmony." Willow suggested.
"Oh yeah? You gonna make me? You'll be back in Sunnydale soon," she taunted.
"True," Prue agreed. "But we'll still be here." As she spoke she pulled a stake out of her purse, Piper took a bottle of holy water out of her pocket, and Phoebe revealed a large cross.
Harmony laughed nervously, backing up slightly. "You know, I hear San Diego is nice. Maybe I'll just go check it out. Bye." She turned on her heel and ran out of the club.
"And take your lackeys with you," Buffy called after her.
"Aren't you going to slay her?" Phoebe asked as Buffy and Willow sat down again.
"She's harmless," Buffy commented.
"Just annoying," Willow added.
"What about her minions?" Piper asked.
"Believe me, anyone working for Harmony won't be difficult to kill. We'll give her tonight to get outta Dodge, then tomorrow we can see if she left anything behind in her lair." Buffy calmly stated.
"Well that was kind of a let down," Phoebe said putting her cross away. Her sisters followed suit.
"I'd leave some of those behind the bar," Willow suggested. "Just in case any vamps are dumb enough not to leave town."
"Good idea," Piper agreed.
"I don't know about you," Prue started, "but I'm in the mood for a celebratory dance."
"You read my mind," Buffy said, standing.
The rest of the girls stood and made their way onto the dance floor as the band took the stage. Tonight they would dance and relax, enjoying the company of their new friends. Tomorrow would be soon enough to worry about the demons of the world, again.
The End
Copyright© December 2003