"No," Tony said firmly. "That's not possible." He offered an amused grin and raked one hand through his hair, while trying not to laugh. There was no way in hell that anyone would get him to believe anything like that! He, for one, was not insane.

His companion, a teenage girl – a very pretty, blonde teenage girl named 'Buffy' – just shrugged and continued to watch him knowingly. She didn't look crazy. She didn't look like she was lying, either. But it couldn't be true!

Tony raised an eyebrow. "It isn't possible, is it?" He glanced around to make sure no one else had crept up on them and was listening in. Sure enough, they were still alone bar a few of the girls' friends who where huddled a few metres away…and a musty old librarian who looked more out of place there than any of them did.

Buffy shrugged again and smiled. "It really is," she told him. Something crackled in the bushes behind him and her smile faded. "And it looks like you get to see for yourself tonight," she added, squinting in the direction of the noise.

"Wha–?" It took Tony several seconds to catch on, but by then it was too late anyway. Buffy pushed him out of the way and met some kind of…vampire!?…in a flurry of limbs as it shot towards them.

From his place on the ground, Tony's moans of pain from being flung against a rosebush were muffled by grunts and thwacking noises from Buffy and…whatever it was. He pulled a huge thorn from one arm, then finally coming to his senses, grabbed his gun from his holster and rolled over to aim it at the…dust!? What?

"What…just happened?" Tony croaked out. He lowered his gun and fell back to lie in a tangled heap.

Buffy stood above him, moonlight bouncing off her golden hair and a sharp pointy bit of wood clasped in one hand. She smirked. "As I was saying earlier, vampires exist."

Blinking a few times, Tony pulled himself to his feet. "I…uh…right. Okay. That'll be all. Thanks for your help." He nodded towards the cloud of dust that was still settling and offered Buffy a cocky grin, which earned him a raised eyebrow and a small smile in return.

He began to walk away then and a thought suddenly hit him. Vampires? Real? He stopped. No. Way. In. Hell. He clamped his eyes shut and rubbed at his temples. Maybe he was coming down with something. He opened his eyes again.

White. White walls. He sighed in relief. He was in a room of some sort. That must mean that he had been knocked unconscious and had hallucinated Buffy and the vampires. Good. He wasn't going crazy. He was just injured…

The door of his room swung open and a nurse wearing white scrubs walked in, holding a folder. "How are you feeling today, Tony?" she asked.

Tony began to reply but stopped when he saw the nurse's face. Buffy?

"Where…am I?"