Author's Note: I'd actually be bit more consistent with how often I release chapters if I could ever manage to write in order on a consistent basis. Thanks for staying patient, everyone.

Sitting at the computer with an image of some blueprints on the screen, Willow pointed at one particular pathway. "This runs under the graveyard."

"I don't see any access," answered Xander.

Ever curious, Giles asked, "So all the city plans are just open to the public?"

Willow's expression immediately turned sheepish. "Uh, well, in a way. I sort of stumbled onto them when I accidentally….decrypted the city council's security system."

"Someone's been naughty," replied Xander in a gently teasing voice.

"This doesn't make any sense!" complained Willow through gritted teeth. "There's no entrance, but they had to go somewhere. And Luke, he-"

Suddenly, Willow froze.

Amy looked at Willow with a questioning glance. "What?"

"Luke didn't come from nowhere. He came from behind. And he never followed after me." Putting it all together, Willow declared, "The entrance is in the mausoleum."

"Are you sure?" asked Giles.

Her eyes distant as she ran through what happened in her mind, Willow confirmed with a slow nod, "Yes. I'm positive."

"So the vampires doubled back to the mausoleum?" asked Amy.

Willow nodded guiltily. "Yes."

"Well, what's the plan?" asked Xander, ready for action. "We saddle up, right?"

"No," answered Willow, her voice barely above a whisper.

"What?!" replied Xander and Amy in surprised unison.

"It's my responsibility," declared Willow firmly, "and it's my fault that Jesse is with those…..things right now." Her voice again becoming very quiet, the Slayer added, "And I'd never be able to forgive myself if something happened to you guys, too."

Xander and Amy were taken aback, but Xander was the first to respond. "We can't just sit around waiting for you to get back, Will. There has to be something we can do."

"You can help me," answered Giles. "I've been researching this Harvest affair. Seems to be some sort of pre-ordained massacre. Rivers of blood, Hell on earth….Quite charmless. I am fuzzy on the details, however, and it may be that one of you can wrest some information from that dread machine."

The three teenagers looked at Giles as if he had grown an extra head.

"That was a bit British, wasn't it?"

"I was going to go with 'old fart', myself," offered Amy helpfully.

Suppressing his annoyance for a moment, Giles said, "Yes, well. Which one of you knows enough about the computer to help while Willow is gone?"

Completely bypassing Xander, Willow asked, "Amy?"

"What about me?" interrupted Xander indignantly. "I can help." After earning a look from the Slayer that clearly said, "Oh, please," Xander relented. "OK, OK."

Amy finally answered, her face turning from a look of pure annoyance that no one seemed to notice to one that was far more innocent. "Yes, I can do it. I think."

"Good," replied Willow, nodding. And to everyone she declared, "Well, I guess I'm gonna go now, and try not to die or anything." With a hopeful tone of voice she added, "Wish me luck!"

The hopeful tone did not last very long, as Willow was greeted with three very worried faces. Her optimism dashed, the redhead frowned before leaving without a word.

Outside, Willow made her way to an open gate at the perimeter of school grounds, only to be blocked by Principal Flutie, who appeared perturbed. "And where do we think we're going?" he asked.

Now thoroughly spooked, Willow "W-what? I mean, me?"

Continuing with the odd pronoun usage, Principal Flutie asked, "We're not leaving school grounds, are we?"

"How?" asked Willow, now completely flustered. "I mean, no! Not at all!"

"Because if we were leaving school grounds after some recent incidents where we may have been disruptive…..do you see where I'm going with this?"

Somehow, despite internally panicking, Willow finally stumbled upon an answer: "Mr. Giles!"

And finally, Principal Flutie was the one caught off guard. "What?"

Confidently, Willow declared, "He asked me to get a book for him, from the store, since I have a free period and he knows that I'm very friendly with the…books."

"Mr. Giles."

Willow nodded eagerly, too eagerly in fact, as she said, "Can you ask him?"

Instead, Flutie shut the gate and locked it before dismissing the idea. "Well, maybe that's how they do things in Britain, they've got that royal family and all kinds of problems. But here at Sunnydale nobody leaves campus while school's in session. Are we clear?"

Contritely, Willow answered, "Yes, Mr. Flutie."

"Good," declared the principal, now quite satisfied with himself. "I wouldn't want to think that you're becoming the type of girl who breaks rules and goes wherever she wants." And with a self-assured grin, he left.

As soon as Principal Flutie was out of sight, Willow approached the gate, and after regarding the lock for a second, she crushed it in her hand, twisting the loop until it broke apart like Play-Doh. And after a careful look around to see if she was noticed, the Slayer opened the gate, snuck out, and ran off.

Arriving at the mausoleum, Willow made a beeline for the now much more obvious entrance to Sunnydale's sewers, only to find it locked with something far more sturdy than the simple padlock she had crushed minutes ago. After a frustrated tug on it, she announced with great annoyance, "I don't suppose you've got a key on you?"

"That's the thing about getting back your soul," answered Angel with a bit of smirk on his face, "All your old friends decide to change the locks."

Jerk! "Would it have been too much for you to at least get something to break the lock before I got here?"

"Maybe," answered Angel, again in a tone that Willow found to be supremely grating, "but I figured that you would be able to take care of it yourself. Though I must admit that I thought it'd be a bit sooner."

"Well, I'm sorry that I had to sleep and go to school and everything," replied Willow harshly as she glared icily at the vampire before kicking at the locked doors, shattering the chain that held the lock in place and jarring the doors from their supports.

"I wouldn't go down there if I were you," warned Angel.

"My friend is down there," fired back Willow, her annoyance beginning to boil over. "It wouldn't hurt to come with me and help find him, you know."

"They don't like me very much," answered Angel matter-of-factly.

"And you think that they're going to be waiting for me with a cake?" asked the Slayer, clearly having had her fill of Angel's smug, coy attitude.

"You should be more concerned about the Harvest," fired back Angel. "It's tonight, and if you don't stop it, the Master walks."

With gritted teeth, Willow replied darkly, "Well, since you obviously have no interest in helping me right now or stopping the Master tonight, maybe you can go to school and tell Mr. Giles what you know." The tone of her voice made it pretty clear that Willow didn't consider the statement to be a request. "Or, you know, wish me luck like a normal person would."

Completely avoiding the Slayer's demand, Angel simply said, "When you hit the tunnels, head east, toward the school. That's where you're likely to find them."

Willow considered Angel for a moment before answering contritely, "Thank you."

Awkwardly, the two said nothing for a full moment before the Slayer took off into the tunnels. Staying behind, Angel looked on with concern before whispering, "Good luck."