Full moon. Willow couldn’t help but see it and think of Oz. She wondered where he was, who was taking care of him, if he was happy. The full moon was Oz time.

“Will, we gonna do this or not?”

Willow turned to face Xander, his face glowing in the bright moonlight. “Sorry,” she told him. “I guess it’s spell time.”

She sighed and looked around. The terrace outside of Giles’ living room got a lot of moonlight, and it was quiet enough so that Xander would be free from distraction. She placed five yellow candles in specific points around them.

“My head’s not going to get real big, is it?”

Willow grinned. “Bigger than it already is?”

“Hey!”

“Sorry. You need to clear your mind. This will take awhile.”

“Right, until the sun comes up. Are you sure this is the best idea?”

“You said you wanted to be more helpful.”

“I know, it’s just… psychic energy? How are you so sure I have any?”

“Everyone has psychic energy, Xander,” she explained as she lit the candles. “It’s just stronger in some than in others.”

“You think I’ll get some sort of vision of this thing?”

Willow frowned and blew out her match. “Maybe. I’m expecting it’ll be less like one of those movie flashbacks, and more like a heightened awareness of what’s going on around us.”

“Somebody should have that. I am Mr. Sees-All.”

Willow smiled warmly and touched the side of his face, beneath the eye patch. “Hey, you’re going to be great. I have faith in you.”

Xander smiled. “That’s all that matters.”

Kennedy glared at Xander through the window, hiding herself from view by the curtains.

“So, Xander and Willow have some kind of heterohistory, hmm?” She turned to Dawn and Buffy. “Didn’t you say something about them having an affair?”

Dawn’s eyes widened and Buffy turned to her. Her guilt was apparent. “I didn’t think she’d care much.”

“Don’t worry,” Buffy said quickly. “It’s just a spell.”

“Isn’t that how Will hooked up with her first girlfriend?” Kennedy asked suspiciously. “Magic?”

“Yeah, but this is totally different," Buffy assured her. "Willow’s gay! Very gay. Gay with you gay.”

All eyes turned towards the kitchen doorway.

“Ouch! Hot, hot hot hothothothot!”

“You bloody…” Giles began. “You said you knew how to operate an oven!”

“I did - I do!” Andrew cried. Smoke was rising from the oven as Giles pulled out the burnt lasagna. “It’s just, the timer knob looked strikingly similar to the temperature knob.”

“Well, dinner’s ruined,” Giles sighed. “I don’t suppose you want to break it to the girls that we’ll be having canned soup again?”

Andrew smiled miserably.

Outside, the atmosphere was much calmer.

“Close your eyes,” Willow instructed. The ritual was almost complete. “Imagine yourself surrounded by a brilliant white light. You’re in a cocoon…”

 

* * * *

Buffy stared at her reflection in the mirror as she brushed her hair. She thought idly of cutting it. Well past her shoulders, she found it tiring to care for the longer locks. Buffy had gotten several compliments the last time she’d cut her hair, but they may have come from politeness more than anything. She had been recently dead and depressed about her resurrection, so the compliments might've been their way of saying "You're pretty! Don't die!" Spike had liked her long hair, although he was soulless and evil when he told her that. She didn’t know if she wanted to be attracting anymore evil things towards her, especially after her violent breakup with the Immortal. Buffy looked down at her left shoulder, and through strap of her camisole she could see a faint white line. Slayers healed fast, but they still scarred.

“You almost ready for bed?”

She looked over at Dawn, who was already lounging on the sofa. Buffy frowned slightly.

“You get the couch tonight?”

Dawn fixed her with a stare. “You had it last night.”

“Oh," she pouted, returning her gaze to her reflection. "I still say Giles should get one of those pull-out bed sofa thing…”

Buffy gasped loudly as she felt a sharp pain in her chest. The hairbrush slipped from her fingers and fell to the carpet with a soft thud. Tears formed in Buffy's eyes and she clasped a hand to her chest. It felt as though the blood pumping in her heart had turned to ice.

“Buffy? You OK?”

Buffy shook her head quickly, trying to shake of the sudden onset of emotion. “Yeah, it’s just…” She bent down and plucked the hairbrush from the floor, the pain reduced to a wanning case of vertigo. “A pain.”

“C’mon, the sleeping bag’s not that bad,” Dawn replied, oblivious to her sister’s pain. “At least it’s all thermal and stuff. Giles’ apartment gets so cold at night.”

“Yeah,” Buffy said distractedly, holding the hairbrush over her heart as her eyes returned to the mirror. “Cold.”

 

* * * *

Spike gasped in surprise as he was covered head to toe in dust. He nearly dropped his sword, the pain in his chest so startling. He looked up at the large, troll-like demon that had stabbed Angel from behind.

His grandsire had stopped momentarily to ask if Spike had seen Illyria when suddenly there was a large, wooden stake protruding from his chest.

Angel was dead.

Spike growled as he lifted the axe he’d nicked off a Grellar demon over his head. He screamed loudly as he swung the axe and decapitated the beast in one stroke.

Angel was gone.

All of a sudden there was a swirling of dust before him. Spike backed away from it as the swirling ball grew and then exploded before him. His eyes snapped shut, expecting to be blown to pieces. When he realized that he wasn’t, he opened his eyes to see Angel standing in front of him, looking like he’d just spent the weekend at a beauty spa.

“You died.”

Angel grinned and cocked his head to the side. “Kinda.”

“B-But…” Spike was dumbfounded. “I’m covered in your dust.”

“Think of it as a second skin.”

Spike merely gawked at him in reply. Angel grinned and lifted his left hand, in which he held a golden amulet. “Hey, nobody said I couldn't wear one.”

Spike glared at Angel in annoyance. Stupid bugger should’ve told about that little detail. “Got any more skins left after that one?”

“I don’t know. Either it protects me all night or just the once. I took my chances.”

“Angel, behind you!”

 

* * * *

“Dawn!” Xander moaned in ecstacy, falling onto his back. “I don’t think there’s anything in the world more beautiful than you.”

“Yeah,” Willow smiled. “I bet it’s all the beautifuler now that you’re more... aware of it?”

Her last statement had come out more as a question. They’d finished the ritual, and now it was time to see if it had worked.

“I dunno,” he replied. “I don’t feel any different. Seriously sleep-deprived, but no different.”

Willow stared at his eye. “You don’t look any different...”

“My head didn’t grow?”

“Nope, still Xander-shaped.” She looked towards the window. “Everyone else is probably still asleep. We should be quiet going in.”

“That’s it? No visions? I don’t feel very ‘awakened.’”

“If it didn’t work then… well, I’ll be pissed. But it may take awhile for your senses to fully kick in, or for your visions to manifest.”

“Manifest?” Xander replied nervously as they headed towards the door.

“Not physically. Now be quiet.”

She opened the door and they tiptoed inside. Buffy and Dawn appeared to be sleeping soundly, yet they still walked quietly as they made their way towards their respective rooms. Willow and Kennedy slept in the spare bedroom while Xander shared the floor with Andrew in Giles’. He wasn’t looking forward to the snorefest.

“Hey guys.”

They both shrieked in surprise when they heard Buffy. She sat up on the floor and looked at them.

“Sorry,” she said, noticing that Dawn didn’t stir. “That is so not fair. That girl could sleep through anything.”

“We didn’t mean to wake you.”

“No, it’s OK. I wasn’t really sleeping. Did the ritual work? Is Xander Mr. Seeing-Eye Man?”

“No, not yet. It may take a while for us to tell. I’ve never done any psychic awakenings before. Not that I was doing all the work. It was all Xander.”

“Right,” he frowned. “So I’m the one who messed it up?”

“No, sweetie. You didn’t mess up. Well, we don’t think you did...”

“So Buff, why didn’t you sleep?” Xander asked, changing the subject.

“I… last night I had this feeling.”

“Feeling?”

“It was like a sharp blow to my chest, and I felt cold. It only hurt for a little while, but it made me feel…” She trailed off, unable to describe the emptiness that had kept her awake all night. “I dunno. It was really strange.”

“You sure you don’t want to see a doctor?” Willow asked.

“No, I’m fine. It just freaked me out. It was so sudden.”

 

* * * *

Angel walked alone in the sewers. He had retreated there when the sun had risen, causing the bodies of all the slain beasts and demons to turn to ash as its light fell on them. Wolfram & Hart has always been good at covering its tracks.

Gunn was the first. Angel cringed. No, he was the second. Wesley was the first. He stopped at an intersection and sighed. He should never have allowed himself to grow close to humans. He’d lose them all, eventually – Cordelia, Wes, Gunn… Fred. All gone.

Angel fell against the wall and slid to the ground, feeling the extent of his injuries finally hit him. He wondered if Spike and Illyria were still out there, and how badly wounded they were if they’d made it alive. He hoped they did. Someone should live to see something better.

 

* * * *

“All awake, are we?” Giles asked with a yawn as he appeared in the living room.

“No, Xander conked out shortly after we finished the ritual.” Willow turned in her seat at the kitchen table and looked to Xander, who was draped across the tabletop.

“Did it work?”

Willow shrugged. “I don’t know. He hasn’t shown any signs of psychic ability.”

“Oh my god!” Xander shouted, shooting up in his seat. “Awakened… I get it now.”

“What? What’s happening?” Willow asked. Giles, Buffy and Dawn crowded towards him. Xander’s eye had gone completely white.

“This is so weird… nothing like this was supposed to happen,” Willow told them as she watched Xander anxiously.

“Xander, do you see anything?” Buffy asked.

“Yeah,” he replied gravely with a gulp. “Blood. Lots of blood.”

Everyone exchanged worried glances, hoping he wasn’t seeing their future. Xander closed his eye and when it opened it had returned to normal. “Well that was entertaining.”

“Could you see anything else?” Giles asked.

“Besides,” Dawn gulped. “Blood?”

“No,” he replied, turning to Buffy. She looked away in disappointment, unable to see the truth staring back at her.

“Hey Will, do you think you could help me with something?” he said quietly.

“OK,” she replied, moving with him towards the bathroom. Once she’d closed the door behind them she spoke again. “What did you see?”

“Spike,” he replied. “He’s alive.”

“W-What?”

“And when I say alive? I don’t just mean he’s miraculously got a body alive. I mean really alive. Spike’s human.”