3rd Person's POV

Laney sits at her vanity and tries to brush her hair while maneuvering with her casted hand. She stares sadly at her reflection as she tries to think about the past few weeks. Groaning she throws her brush away and runs her hands down her face.

"I can't remember anything..." She whispers to herself.

She looks up and sighs as a transparent like figure stands behind her in the mirror.

"And now I'm seeing things."

Staring at Mrs. Calendar's ghost like body, Laney shakes her head with tears in her eyes.

"I don't know what happened. You're gone and I feel like it's my fault..."

"It's not..."

Laney pouts turning around to Jenny's figure, "And now I'm officially crazy. I'm hearing you speak."

Jenny shrugs, "Sunnydale is a weird little town... Laney it's not your fault. It's mine. I shouldn't have been there so late at night knowing that he was watching my every move."

Laney gulps lightly, "He as in... Angel?"

Jenny shakes her head, "Angelus. He's not the same. You have to remember."

Laney stands up abruptly and begins to limp with the help of her bulky boot cast that covered her right foot. She paces back and forth as she begins to get angrier and angrier.

"Well I don't remember. And I won't. I'm trying. If he's been hurting my friends and killed you. A-and is trying to kill Buffy... and me..."

"I don't think he can."

"Can what?"

"Kill you."

Laney frowns confused, "What do you mean? He almost did. He was the one who put me in the hospital, was he not?"

"Yes but you're too important to him for you to just die. He wants you for whatever reason."

"You don't think he's trying to make me into... Drusilla? Do you?"

Jenny sighs looking off to the side, "It wouldn't really surprise me."

Laney huffs and crosses her arms over her chest, "I'm still confused. Why did he kill you? What made him so upset that he went for you rather than me, Giles, or Buffy?"

Jenny's eyes bulge out as she remembers what she had been doing.

"I found it."

"Found what?"

"The answer to our problems. I found a spell that can give him back-"

RING RING

Laney's head snaps to her cord phone on her desk. She turns back to Jenny just to see an empty space. Looking around her entire room she sighs.

"Well I guess I'll never know what she found."

Hurrying over to her phone, Laney quickly picks it up and sits on her bed.

"Hello?"

"Hey... I haven't heard from you in a while so I told myself that I would call you before it's lights out."

Laney's mood instantly shifts from worried and annoyed to happy and mellow.

"Colby! I miss you..."

"I miss you too, baby. What have you been up to? Everyone is being super vague about what's going on down there."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well I called Cordelia last week when you weren't answering, and Xander picked up. I could hear him and Buffy bickering. He said you weren't feeling good."

Laney grimaces, "Oh... well... are you sitting down?"

"No... do I need to? What's going on?"

"So um things aren't going to well here... I was actually in the hospital-"

"What? The hospital?! Why didn't anyone say anything? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay now. I was in a little coma-"

"Little coma? Laney there's nothing little about a coma. I'm not sure what the hell is happening there but all I do know is that I'm pissed off. Why the hell didn't they say anything? Where's Giles?"

Laney sighs, "Mrs Calendar was killed..."

Silence.

Colby sighs rubbing his temple. He pulls the phone from his face and drops his head on the wall beside the phone booth. Groaning he brings the phone back up to his face.

"Laney I'm so sorry..."

Laney sniffles slightly as she feels a tear slide down her cheek, "I don't remember anything, Colby... I can't recall what happened. Who did it... I think Angel is bad now... He visited me and acted like Angel, but everyone says that's not him...
I-I can't do this. I feel so lost."

Colby stands still as he listens to his hurt heartbroken girlfriend. He feels his heart break half as he listens to her shaky voice.

"Baby I'm sorry... I'm sorry I'm not there. That I can't help you. Hold you. Protect you... I'm sorry..."

Laney smiles softly then shakes her head even though he couldn't see her, "None of this is your fault, Colby... you couldn't have stopped it from happening."

Colby stares ahead at the wall blankly and takes in a deep breath.

"I'm coming home."

...

Angelus walks through carefully and quietly while watching Buffy fight a pair of vampires nearby. He sees her kick one and then the other, and then continues on to a better vantage point. One of the vampires rushes Buffy, and she flips him over onto his back.

"Nice try."

The other one comes at her again with a swing. She ducks it and punches him in the face, in the gut and again in the face. He falls to the ground, dazed.

The first one comes at her again with a kick, but a casted arm blocks it. Laney waves then backhand punches him in the face, jabs him in the gut and grabs his arm, twisting it up high and forcing him to his knees in pain.

"The fact that you're getting beat up by a dainty girl is crazy. But the fact that you're getting beat up by a crippled dainty girl is just sad."

Angelus looks on from behind a tree and smiles.

The second vampire gets back up and rushes Laney. Without letting go of the first one she cleanly jams her stake into the other one's chest, and he crumbles into ashes.

Angelus can't help but snicker. The little slayerette was even powerful while having a cast on her hand and foot.

Buffy turns her attention to the one Laney's holding and punches him in the face. Laney lets him go making him roll away. Buffy nods to Laney making the brunette move away as Buffy yanks out a stake from her jacket pocket.

"I want you to get a message to Angel for me. Tell him I'm done waiting. I'm taking the fight to him."

Angelus smiles as he listens.

"You got that? Need me to write it down for you?"

The vampire gets up and charges her. She grabs him and pulls him around and down to the ground, and immediately plunges her stake home. He bursts into ashes.

Buffy shrugs, "Alright, I'll tell him myself."

She gets up and walks over behind a gravestone, where she reaches down to help someone up.

Xander moans rubbing his neck, "I'm good. Don't worry about me."

Laney rolls her eyes while standing nearby the two. Angelus watches the three seeing that Laney was being somewhat distant. He wondered what had happened between the group.

"You know, you don't have to patrol with me... you too Laney."

Xander indicates the pile of ash, "I had that guy under control until he resorted to fisticuffs."

Laney shrugs, "Got nothing else better to do. And might as well get some work in. That way I'm not ambushed again."

Buffy frowns looking at the girl watching her begin to walk away. She was still mad at the group.

Laney had found out that no one told Colby anything while she was in the hospital. Of course Cordelia tried to, so she got a pass. And Giles got a pass for being heartbroken and wrapped up in Jenny's death. But everyone else... she was pissed.

Xander cranes his neck, "Oh! What is that, um... five vampires in three nights?"

"Yep. But no Angel."

"Are you, uh, really that anxious to come up against him?"

Buffy nods, "I want it over with."

Xander nods agreeing, "I hear that."

Buffy exhales and starts to follow behind Laney, "Oh, we better go. I haven't even started studying for finals yet."

Xander joins beside her, "Oh, yeah, finals! Why didn't you let me die?"

"Ah, look on the bright side. It'll all be over soon."

They leave the cemetery under the watchful eyes of Angelus.

"Yes, my love. It will."

He smirks and turns to leave the other way.

...

The next day at school, Willow, Oz and Buffy at opposite to Cordelia, Xander, and Laney at a circular table in the middle of the cafeteria. Willow is sitting on Oz's lap. Cordelia is messing with her makeup. Xander is playing with his fish sticks and toothpicks pretending they were Buffy and the vampires. Laney writes in a journal as she drinks a smoothie.

"That's exactly how it happened." Buffy smiles watching Xander stab one of the fish sticks.

Oz nods intrigued, "Well, I thought it was riveting. Uh, I was a little unclear about some of the themes."

"The theme is Angel's too much of a coward to take me on face-to-face."

Laney glances up blankly, "Angelus..."

Buffy freezes and looks to Laney. Everyone stops what they're doing and watches the two in curiosity. With Laney and Buffy, you never knew when they had beef and when they were friends.

"Right..."

"And I don't think he's being a coward. I think he's messing with our heads. Making us think he's hiding when really he's just preparing for our downfall." Laney smiles sarcastically before looking back down at her journal.

Buffy sighs, "Morbid."

"The truth hurts..."

Xander interrupts the awakened conversation and clears his throat, "And the other theme was 'Buy American', but it, uh, got kind of buried."

Willow turns to Buffy, "Do you think you're ready to fight Angel?"

"Angelus." Laney mutters.

Willow nods, "Sorry."

Buffy groans, "I wish people would stop asking me that. Yes, I'm ready. I'm also willing and able. Just the one test I might actually pass."

"Don't say that! You're gonna pass everything. I will get you through this semester if I have to sweat blood."

Xander questions, "Do you think you're likely to? 'Cause I'd like to be elsewhere."

"It was only metaphor blood."

Oz smiles at Willow, "I think you'd sweat cute blood."

Laney peeks up with a raised brow and shakes her head looking back down.

Willow gives Oz a smile then turns once more to Buffy, "Sixth period, after my computer class, we'll rock on chemistry."

Buffy smiles, "Ready to rock."

Cordelia looks away from her mirror, "Boy, Willow, you've really got the teaching bug: taking over computer class, tutoring..."

Willow smiles widely, "I love it. I really do."

Cordelia shrugs, "I think it's great to do that before you go out and fail in the real world. That way you're not falling back on something. You're falling... well, forward."

Xander rolls his eyes, "And almost sixty-five percent of that was actual compliment. Is that a personal best?"

Cordelia turns to Xander, "Gee, Xander, what are you gonna teach when you fail in life? Advanced loser-being?"

"I will teach..." He begins with a French accent as he reaches for her, "zee Language of Love!"

Cordelia fights him off, "Don't touch me! You have fish hands!"

...

Laney takes in a deep breath as she turns the corner of the hallway and begins to walk to a familiar room. Her chest starts to ache as her heart beats quickly. Standing at the door she peeks inside seeing Buffy sitting with Willow at a desk. Clearing her throat she knocks on the door lightly while trying to keep her eyes on the two and off the ghost like figure of Jenny Calendar that stood by her computer.

"How's tutoring going?"

Buffy sighs turning to glance at Laney, "I'm a moron."

Willow gives Buffy a look, "Will you stop that? You're not stupid! You've just had a lot on your mind. You can learn this real easily, but if you're just gonna give up, then don't waste my time."

Buffy smiles impressed, "Wow. You really are a good teacher."

Laney chuckles shaking her head, "Almost done? This place gives me the hibbie jibbjes at night... with reason."

Willow nods, "Yeah hold on five more minutes. Okay?"

Laney nods and leans against the doorframe still trying to ignore the figure of Jenny.

"Are you scared of me?"

Laney gasps lowly and shakes her head before whispering, "No... but every time I see you it reminds me how real this is. How you're gone. How I almost died. He can't be stopped."

Jenny smiles, "But he can."

Buffy puts her pencil down on her open book, and it rolls off of the desk and into the space between it and the filing cabinet next to it.

"Ohh! Hold that thought."

She reaches down and in with her fingers, and pulls the pencil out. In the process she bumps the disk with the pencil so it now leans against the desk instead of the cabinet.

Buffy sits back up, "Okay. I'm Learn Girl."

Willow points to the paper, "Okay... So, see here..."

Buffy has an epiphany, "Deja vu."

"Really?"

Buffy nods looking off to Laney who seemed to be whispering to herself.

"Yeah. I have this perfect memory of the pencil and Laney...huh maybe..."

She drops the pencil onto her book again. Laney freezes as she watches Jenny walk over to the desk and push the pencil. It rolls off of the desk again, falls and hits the disk.

Buffy frowns feeling chills down her spine. She looks over into the space and sees the disk. She reaches down again for it and her pencil.

"Oh, hey." She pulls up the disk and pencil, "You dropped this."

She hands the unlabeled yellow disk to Willow, who looks at it curiously.

"It's not mine. It might be something of Ms. Calendar's."

Laney drops her books making the two jump in fright.

"Are you okay, Laney?" Willow stares at her sister in worry as her face turns white.

Laney shakes her head and walks forward. She softly takes the disk from Willow and stares at it in awe. She peeks over at Jennys ghost figure who smiles and nods.

Laney grunts in pain as she holds her temple. The night of chaos and death comes back to her.

Buffy and Willow both get up and walk over to Laney making sure she was okay.

"Maybe you should sit down."

Laney shakes her head frantically, "No...This is what Jenny was working on. That night."

She inserts the disk into the laptop's floppy drive. The program on the disk starts up, and the Rumanian text scrolls into the left-hand window. The translation program's percent complete window appears, and the bar begins to zip across the screen.

They all watch as the bar reaches the far side. It disappears, and the English translation scrolls into the right-hand window.

Buffy looks closely, "Does that say 'restoration'?"

"It's one of her spells, I think." Willow looks at Buffy, "Ms. Calendar wasn't a practicing witch, but she did dabble..."

"Dabble she did, Willow. This is the answer. The key to our problem."

Willow looks back at the screen and begins reading more. She quickly realizes what they've found.

"Oh, boy. Oh, boy."

What do we think about this episode?!? We are literally so close to the end of this season!!

Jenny 🥺

Colby is literally right around the corner

They have found the restoration spell

What could go wrong?

😒😂

Just kidding lol if you've watched the show then you know... don't spoil for everyone though!!

Future predictions?

Any special requests...