"So, you're telling me Stone Temple Pilots actually did live shows?" Drew
asked. "Wow. They're, like, classic rock now."

Oz smiled slightly. "Scott Weiland was awesome. Man, in my time, classic rock
was The Doors, the Rolling Stones, Led Zepplin, and The Who. Who else is
classic now?"

"Umm...the Smashing Pumpkins, Metallica, and Aerosmith, I guess."

Oz laughed. "Aerosmith has always been classic rock."

"Really?"

"Yeah, they started in the 70s and were around a long time. The Rolling
Stones were the same way, except Mick Jagger got into a lot more marital
trouble than Steven Tyler."

Drew smiled. "What type of music do you listen to?"

"Lot's of stuff. Just about everything, really."

"Tell me about the Bronze."

Buffy grinned as she tuned out their conversation and turned back to her own.
"I think Oz has found a new friend," Buffy muttered to Graham.

Graham smiled slightly. "I suppose so."

Angel cleared his throat. "I take it you saw the message, too."

"Yeah. That they're working on a way to get them back, I think," Graham said.
"Think they can do it?"

"Well, they weren't able to before," Spike said.

"Because of you and Anya," Graham said, and Spike rolled his eyes.

"We already *know* all this is my fault, so can we move on now?"

Angel shook his head. "It doesn't matter who's fault it is. We just need to
get them back so that this future never happens."

Graham nodded. "Now, what was the other reason it didn't work?"

Spike looked over at him. "It was you, getting turned, mate," he said softly.
"And the book you were carrying."

***

The small group walked back to Tara's dorm. Graham held some of the books,
Willow carried the rest of the spell supplies, Tara held the rest of the
books and Xander walked a few steps ahead, anger totally consuming him.

"Damn!" Graham said, stopping for a moment. "I left one of the books in your
dorm."

"We can get it tomorrow," Willow said.

"It couldn't be that important, right?" Tara asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Graham said, continuing to walk forward. "I mean, it's not
like we're going to do any more spells tonight."

***

"I was wrong."

Graham sat down next to Buffy on her bed. "We looked over the books that we
had, and the one which ended up having the spell in it was left in the dorm.
But we didn't know that at the time."

"I wonder," Buffy said, standing up. "Does Jenna have the spell to transfer
messages?"

"She might," Graham said slowly, getting an idea of what she wanted. "We can
send a message to me not to go get the book!"

Buffy shook her head. "From...when they got you till you were turned...how
long was that?"

"About two weeks. I spent a week waiting while they tortured others, and..."
he trailed off. "I withstood the torture well enough, and they had me dumped
out on the campus. Spike found me, knew I wasn't going to make it but that I
was needed, and he turned me."

"I hate to do this to you, but we're going to need you to become a vampire.
We need to tell yourself in the past to leave the book at the dorm. Or to
grab--"

"Another book," Graham said. "Look, I understand why I need to...get
turned...but do you think you can save me?"

She kissed his cheek gently. "I'll try. And even if I can't...I'll still be
there for you, vampire or human." She kissed his other cheek. "You're a good
man."

He put a hand on her cheek, then moved it down to cup her chin, bringing her
face closer to his. He felt cold, but she didn't care. "That second message,
the one Spike saw? It was from me. All it said was 'Come home.' I hope we can
get you there," he said in a voice barely above a whisper.

She kissed him softly, her lips lingering near his. Then she pulled away, but
not before a tear had dropped onto Graham's hand. "We need to get the spell
done so we can change this future."

***

Oz looked over at Drew. He felt a way he hadn't felt before, not even with
Willow. Though they did honestly love each other, he and Willow had never
really had common interests, other than school related things. And animal
crackers.

But even though the things he and Drew had in common were tempered with 100
years of time, they were still common bonds. The music that was new age when
he was alive was now classic rock by her standards, but it was the same music.

With the exception that Oz could actually remember seeing these bands live
and in person.

And there was more...they had the same wry sense of humor, they were both
quiet and withdrawn but overwhelmingly smart, they both enjoyed the simpler
things in life.

"Drew, what's life been like for you, here?"

"Boring, really. I mean, I'm one of the few teenagers here. I'm already
seventeen! And everyone else can leave, but I can't. So I spend my days
training or something like that, and then I go on mini-patrols with Angel or
Spike. I have no life, I have no one to really talk to...I mean, I've never
even been kissed!"

Oz had let her ramble, but he was truly surprised by the last part. "I
thought you and Spike..."

"No! We're friends, and we talk a lot, but I mean, we don't have much in
common. And mostly, he talks and I listen."

"But you two aren't doing anything together?"

"Nope. Nothing like what I think you're suggesting. He protects me, and he's
there for me, but it's not like I date him or something." She laughed a bit.
"Graham and Angel are both hung up on Buffy, and Spike misses Drusilla. Last
he heard, she was dead."

"So you have three guys around here, even if they are vampires, and they're
all focusing on the past."

"Well, yeah. Only now it's four. Who do you miss?"

Oz smiled. The girl had a good eye. "Willow Rosenburg. Only I don't miss her
in that way. Right before I disappeared, I was attempting to become friends
with her again. Now it's 100 years too late."

"I think that's awful," Drew said, curling up on the couch with her mug of
hot tea. "Come, sit next to me instead of across the room."

Oz grabbed his coffee and sat next to her. "It's not awful. It's just
unfortunate."

"Well, call me a hopeless romantic. I think it's awful."

"I stopped being a romantic a while ago," he said softly. "A long while ago."

"Hey, you'll get back there, and you'll get to tell her about all the soul
searching you did..."

"Soul searching was what I said I was going to do when I left," Oz said with
a wry smile. "I don't think she's going to want to hear it again." Oz leaned
over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "But I have an idea of what
you're saying."

Drew beamed, her smile bright as a star. "I actually got to help someone? Oh,
that's a first in this house!"

"Well, you can help us subtly change the future," Buffy said from the door,
her eyes a little red and puffy. "We have a spell to cast."