April 2000

Writer: Chris Kenworthy

"Darkpoint Academy is pleased to invite you to join the best students in the country at our institute of private learning. We take pride in creating a secluded atmosphere which allows our students to focus on preparing for their futures to the best of their ability, without sacrificing the fun and socialization of the college experience..."

"Hello, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to New Hampshire. This concludes Transcontinental Airways Flight number 76366, non-stop from Los Angeles to Manchester. Coach passengers, please wait patiently as our club patrons exit the plane, then disembark in an orderly fashion."

Cordelia Chase sighed to herself. This was a tiny little midget of an airplane, without even a real first-class section, just 'club.' Only a few months ago, that would have been the only kind of accommodation she could conceive of taking - the best available.

So much had changed. The IRS surprise audit had torn apart her life so completely that Cordy hadn't been able to believe that it was real, but weeks upon weeks of lower-class living had reinforced the reality of her condition. Working part time at April Fool's to get her prom dress on layaway, and falling short even so... Having to turn down positions at some of the most prestigious schools in the country, because she didn't have money to pay for them or any financial assistance. Coming to Los Angeles, not as the glamorous debutante she had always assumed she would be, but a starving actress, and working, in the end, for Angel, a vampire turned vigilante, putting a friendly face on his little business and helping to keep the place in order.

And yet, somehow Cordelia had found something valuable in Los Angeles. Not valuable in the cash-negotiable sense, sadly, but a friendship and bonding with Angel and Doyle that actually made her happy a good deal of the time.

Doyle. Cordy fished down into the decolletage of her casual yet sexy pullover sweater, pulling out the locket that she kept hidden there. With a tiny flick of the concealed catch, the pendant opened, revealing a tiny photograph, of a young man's round, smiling, cheery face. An Irish face, framed by short dark hair, even darker than Cordelia's own.

Allen Doyle. On the surface, he was everything that Cordy disliked. Short and poor, garrulous and outspoken, a total horn-dog. He started coming on to her from the second she started working for Angel, and at first Cordelia didn't see the need to let him get to square one. But as time went on, she got to see more and more of his good side. He was a great conversationalist - they'd spent many a dull evening at the office that way, just talking about anything and everything they could think of. He was considerate and really cared about people - Cordelia in particular, and there was nothing he wouldn't do for someone he cared about, and not much that he wouldn't do for the sake of a stranger. Also, he had a nice, good-sized brave streak, and had put his own life up on the line to save Cordy's more than once.

Even the sudden realization that Doyle wasn't quite human hadn't been enough to quash her interest. He was half human, and as such living proof that a regular human girl could make it work with a demon-breed... for a little while anyways. And Doyle wasn't evil or anything. He was one of the best men that Cordy had ever met.

She had been going to ask Doyle out, since it was becoming obvious that the bonehead didn't have the nerve to ask her himself. And then it had happened.

Doyle had a vision, (not an unusual thing in itself,) but not an ordinary vision. He had seen Cordelia walking through a gate marked 'Darkpoint Academy.' Cordy had recognized the name - a catalog for a place with that name had shown up at her new apartment a week ago. Private school in New Hampshire, obviously doing a recruitment drive. Cordy had ignored it, figuring that they hadn't realized her financial status had changed so dramatically. But when, at Angel and Doyle's prompting, Cordy had called the number, the voice on the other end assured her that the Sarah Masterson Performing arts foundation would be willing to offer her a full scholarship to Darkpoint's two-year screen acting programme.

She hadn't wanted to go. Even for a two-year all-expenses paid session in a rich east-coast college, learning a curriculum that could make her dreams of becoming a star come true, she had balked. Everything that was Cordelia Chase's life, everything she truly wanted, was in Los Angeles now. But Doyle was convinced that she had to go to Darkpoint, at least to investigate the campus, to stop some dark evil.

But Doyle had asked her to come...

"Hey, miss?" It was the guy in the window seat, next to Cordy. She hadn't even gotten the window seat, she'd been stuck on the aisle. "Yeah??"

"You gonna go anytime soon?" Cordelia jumped and looked around - the coach passengers were disembarking. She snapped the locket shut, slipped it back down into her top, and got up, letting the business-suited man leave ahead of her. Grabbing her carry-on bag from beneath her seat and her purse and jacket from the overhead compartment, Cordy looked around. No reason to stay here, at least - except maybe fear of what she'd find ahead of her.

"A private school on the east coast. So where I pictured myself, six months ago, before we lost the money. Now it's the last place I want to be. But I can't say no to Doyle..."

Pilot Episode:
"The Welcome Wagon"

"Any idea how long you'll be staying?" the guy at the airport counter asked Cordelia. She couldn't tell if he was just making conversation or filling out a form.

"Um, a few days, I think??" she hazarded.

"Reason for your visit??"

"Um, I'm visiting a school. Which reminds me - any idea how I can get to Darkpoint academy? Most easily??"

"No, can't say I've ever heard of..." The guy cocked his head. "There was a guy sniffing around wondering if anybody had asked about some 'Dark-' place. It could have been that. Last I saw, he was standing with a sign... oh, there!" He pointed, and Cordelia saw a tall, mysterious-looking dark man in a black cloak holding a large sign reading "DARKPOINT ACADEMY" in black letters. A number of younger people about Cordelia's age, give or take several years, were standing around him.

"Thanks," Cordy said, blowing off any further questions the guy might have had, and carried her own bags over to the dark man. "Hi there?"

"Hello," he said with what seemed a slightly forced smile. "I'm Mister Aron, dean of students at Darkpoint. And you??"

"Um, uh... Cordelia Chase."

Mister Aron handed the sign to a younger man next to him and pulled out a clipboard. "Ah, yes, Miss Chase. Our Sarah Masterson performing arts scholarship beneficiary, or, well, one of them." He grinned thinly. "A large number of Darkpoint students are scholarship or grant recipients - we're a small school, but very well respected by the scholarship and endowment community. It's a pleasure to welcome you into the Darkpoint family," he paused a second, "Cordelia."

"Um, I'm not enrolling yet," Cordy disclaimed. "I'm just here for a campus visit." Several other students nodded in agreement, but Mister Aron simply nodded knowingly.

"Well, I think we have enough here to fill the bus," Mister Aron's assistant said. "I'm Pete Ryger, one of the residence advisors at Darkpoint. I'm also a student - in the fourth year of my ancient literatures programme. I'm going to be in charge on the trip from here to the campus. It's a bit of a long drive - an hour out to the coast, just past Newcastle. Everybody ready to go?"

Within a few minutes all the minor problems had been sorted out and Pete left with the students. Cordy trailed doubtfully along at the rear of the procession, the last to leave Dean Aron behind.

Mister Aron waited patiently for the next flight of interest to him to arrive - Intercontinental 6466 from Sunnydale. "Hello," he said to the two young people when they finally noticed his sign and came up to him. "I'm Mister Aron, Darkpoint's dean of students. I'm afraid that you've just missed a bus to the campus, but there'll be another leaving in two hours or so. In the meantime, you can have lunch here at the airport and we'll get to know each other better. May I have your names, please?"

"Willow Rosenberg," the pretty redheaded girl said.

"Xander Harris," her companion replied.

"Thank you," the girl at the Darkpoint information desk said once Willow and Xander had given her their names. "Ah, yes, let's see... ah, right, Harris, Xander. Program undeclared, Mark Whiteson award recipient. And Rosenberg, Willow. Advanced mytho-Occult studies, Ancient secrets grant. Sign here, please." She produced a form and put it on the desk in front of Willow, handing her a pen. "And here for you." A different form and an identical pen for Xander.

"Sure." Xander bent down to sign, but Willow stopped him.

"Um, excuse me," she muttered, "but there must be some sort of mistake here. These are enrollment contracts. We're not here to enroll, just to tour the campus."

"I'm sorry, but that's not possible," the receptionist said, urging them again to sign with imperative gestures.

"Huh? Why not??" Willow exclaimed.

"School policy. Visitors disturb the learning environment, the entire lifestyles of our students. I'm sorry if you were told otherwise," she continued, raising her voice to cut through the mumbling that had arisen from several students in the line behind Willow and Xander. "Prospective students may not enter the campus itself. However, a new class schedule will be starting up in just a few days, and you can sign up now and get settled in until then."

"Well, then," Willow said defiantly, "then we're just going to go..."

"Over there and talk it over for a moment," Xander finished over what his best friend had been saying. Grabbing Willow's arm gently but firmly, he suited action to word, moving himself and her over to a corner of the room where no-one would be likely to hear them. Someone else came up to the desk and started signing his form.

"What are you doing, Xander??" Willow hissed. "We *cannot* actually enroll here. Or at least I can't - I'm going back to Sunnydale."

"What do you mean, Will?" Xander whispered. "We've got a job to do here, and we can't go home and leave it undone when signing one form is going to get us inside there." He took a breath and seemed to be making sure that his voice was as quiet as physically possible. "Darkpoint sent recruitment mailings to more than half the students who graduated from Sunnydale High in its last three years. There's no way an east coast school is going to target a small California town like that unless *they know about the Hellmouth*!!"

"I know all this, Xander," Willow reminded him tonelessly. "I was the first one to realize that there was funny business here."

"And you're just going to walk away?" Xander continued. "Everyone is counting on us to get inside the Academy and figure out what they're up to. Buffy, Giles... even the Watcher's council, for whatever respect you're willing to give them." Which was actually a fair bit in his case, Xander realized. The council might be brutish and inflexible, but they got a good job done. As long as he had his friends looking out for him, and Giles and Buffy were safely out of the council's way, he didn't mind a little help from the Council - not when it came to the money end of things, at least.

"But still," Willow told him angrily. "I've got plans in Sunnydale that don't involve staying here in New Hampshire for months or years. And you - if Anya was so mad at you for wanting to go away at all, can you imagine how she'll react if you're gone this long??"

Xander was silent. The fight he'd had with his semi-girlfriend Anya was more serious than he'd let on to Willow or Buffy. She had been quite clear that it would be fine with her if she never saw him again, and Xander was hard-pressed not to return the sentiment. Anya was nice, well, in the sense that he 'got some' from her. But, hard as it was to believe, there actually was more to a relationship than that. For one thing, Anya's demonic perspectives and unfamiliarity with human life kept showing through. Even Cordy had been less inhuman when you came right down to it.

"It won't be months or years," Xander said, hoping that he was right. "We enroll, we find out what's up, we drop out and high-tail it back to good ol' Sunnydale."

Willow considered that a moment. "Okay." The group of kids that Willow and Xander had come with had been divided into two groups now, it seemed. Those who had seen no problem with enrolling, had signed their forms and already been led away. And the group that was somewhat nervously watching Willow and Xander, as if wondering what they would do.

"Give us the forms," Xander told the girl behind the desk with a sigh. She did, and Willow and Xander both signed. As they were led into the college, Xander noticed that the others had apparently taken his and Willow's acceptance of the situation as an example, and were enrolling themselves...

"Ah. Room 67," Cordy said with a tired sigh, twisting the doorknob open with the hand that was carrying her carryon bag. She was disappointed that she hadn't been able to get inside the college without signing the enrollment forms, but after all, once she found out what Doyle needed to know, she could skip out on the rest.

"Hello?" There were two beds in the room, and on the nearer one to the door, a quite attractive blonde girl was sitting, her belongings spread about that area. Obviously Cordy had a roommate, and the roommate had chosen her side.

"Well, I would have taken the far bed anyways," Cordelia said with a smile. "Hi, I'm Cordelia, your new roommate, I guess.'

"Oh, hi. Kristen Winfield," the blonde said, jumping up to offer her hand for a shake. "From Blue Creek, Ohio. I'm here for the Prose Fiction writing programme. I want to be a novelist."

Cordelia shook one of Kristen's fingers, (about all she could manage with her luggage,) turned and set her cases down near the empty bed, and turned back. "Well, I'm from Sunnydale, California, though I've spent the last few months in L.A. Screen acting."

"Oh, that's so cool!! I could *totally* see you as an actress." So could Cordelia about Kristen, to tell the truth, in fact, there was no denying that she had a certain resemblance to her roommate, or perhaps the other way around. Both of them had the same height, more or less, similarly great skin and great hair, the same classically perfect figure, the same flawless cheekbones. Kristen's face was a little more 'cute' as opposed to Cordy's 'lovely' countenance, though, and her hair, of course, was light blonde and curly.

"Yeah," Cordelia agreed somewhat belatedly. "So, how did you hear about this place, anyways?"

"It was in this pamphlet they had in my school's guidance office," Kristen said. "Five best schools to get a scholarship at. I was graduating early, and Darkpoint was taking students at this point in the year for prose writing fiction, and here I am!! So... tell me more about yourself, Cordelia?"

"Let's see," Xander said, walking down the hall not far away. "Sixty-four, that's you, Will, I..." He pushed the door open. "A single all to yourself? Why do you rate a single and I don't??"

Willow giggled softly. "I dunno... luck of the draw? They had an empty single for a girl??"

"Or maybe they looked at your grades, and the fact that you actually were in college somewhere else, and decided they had to throw in the perks to keep you?" Xander shot back with a grin, setting Willow's suitcase down under her bed. "So... the place seems ordinary enough, huh? Except maybe a little secretive... which fits in with what else we know, right?"

"Yeah." Willow's mind flahed back over the weeks since they had first gotten the Darkpoint flyers. The mystery of the Academy had served as a welcome diversion that kept her from just sitting around and waiting to hear from Oz, when he left town after the whole Verucca mess.

No-one seemed to know much about it, including the national college review board (who could only forward a copy of Darkpoint's own catalogue and refer them to the academy's public relations website.) Buffy and Giles had agreed that the enigmatic college deserved a closer examination, and Willow and Xander were the obvious choices, since Buffy needed to stay in Sunnydale and keep an eye on the Hellmouth. The Watcher's council chancellor had been willing to fund their expedition, including all college fees that weren't fully paid by financial aid, travel costs, and outfitting, asking only to be apprised of their findings. After a bit of consideration, they had agreed.

Willow walked further into her room, getting a feel for it - a little bit cozy, but sufficient for her needs. A mirror on the wall reflected her face, and Willow jumped a little, surprised by how much her hair had grown out in only a few weeks. Well, it had been badly in need of a trim before Oz had left if she had been going to keep it in the short, sassy style she had worn since July, and after he left, she just kept on letting it grow. It might sound corny, but that bobbed hairdo had brought her nothing but heartache.

"Really nice room, Will," Xander repeated, impressed. "So, where do we begin investigating?"

"Uh... I dunno," Willow replied. "Act like normal freshmen, I guess, until we spot something weird?"

Cordelia's bonding talk with Kristen had lasted a few hours. Finally, Pete Ryger had stuck his head in and announced that since all of the other students were in the middle of finals, dinner would not be served in the main dining hall tonight. Instead, they should go to the lounge down the hall, where pizza and soft drinks would be available.

So, Cordy sat with two slices of pineapple pie, (of the pizza variety,) and a cherry soda. She had talked with a few of the other new students, very casually, but was now sitting alone and glad of it.

This wasn't so bad, really.

And then, she caught sight of them, walking through the entranceway into the lounge that Cordelia herself had come through not ten minutes before. A slender, feminine figure in blue jeans and an elegant dark red silk blouse, a tall and well-built guy wearing a black t-shirt and dark green pants. "They live on my hall," she whispered to herself.

Willow Rosenberg and her ex-boyfriend Xander Harris.

Food and drink forgotten, Cordelia charged up from her seat and rushed over to intercept them. "What are you two doing here??"

Xander and Willow stared back at her. "Well, what are *you* doing here, Cordy?" Willow shot back. "I thought you were working for Angel in Los Angeles."

"I thought you were at UC Sunnydale," Cordy reminded Willow, "and you were staying in Sunnydale too, Xander, doing all sorts of amusing menial jobs." She sighed. "What does it look like - I've enrolled here."

"Uh, us too..." Xander said. "Got tired of the world of work."

Cordy thought for a second. "Come with me," and she led them down the hall to her room. Kristen was munching on green pepper and extra cheese pizza, she knew, so the room was empty. "Look, I shouldn't be telling you this, but Darkpoint is a dangerous school. I'm only here because Doyle had a vision, and Angel needs to know what's up with this place before he does anything about it. The two of you should probably see if you can still get out."

Willow and Xander shared a look, and then a short burst of unrestrainable laughter escaped each of their mouths. "We're, um, we're here undercover too, Cordy," Willow explained. "For Giles, Buffy, and the watcher's council. It was obvious something was up - Darkpoint was targeting people who'd graduated from Sunnydale High particularly."

"Oh," Cordelia said, disappointment evident in her face. As quickly, though, it turned to pleasure. "This is great! If the three of us work together, we can solve the mystery that much more quickly and get home!!"

"Sounds good," Xander decided. "Let's do it."

Somewhat nervously, they crept back out of the room and down the hall to the lounge. Though people were still eating and drinking, there was a new activity - listening. Dean Aron had shown up, it seemed, and was reading a speech.

"...Though it goes without saying that you are welcome in the Darkpoint family, there are a few things I'd like to warn you about to make your stay here as calm as possible. First off, do not assume that because you see another student doing something, it is permissible for you to do also. Aside from the question of receiving special authorizations from the faculty, there are, regrettably, two classes of students here at Darkpoint. The sponsored students, who have come at the specific recommendation of faculty or distinguished alumni, and the unsponsored. All of you are unsponsored students, and may as such occasionally be referred to as 'white rats.' The reason for this is simple - up until a few years ago, unsponsored students were not admitted, and there are many who still see acceptance of them as an 'experiment.' The residence advisors will be handing out the student conduct guidelines which you, as unsponsored students, will be expected to adhere to..."

Cordelia sighed. This did not sound good.

Later that evening, the three of them were sitting in The Midnight Room, Darkpoint's 'student club.' Music echoed around the dim room as Xander drowned his sorrows in cola, and Cordelia scanned the establishment despondently. Willow was still bravely trying to forge her way through the inch-thick 'student conduct guidelines.'

"Oh, hi," a voice intruded on them. Cordelia and Xander looked up to see Kristen's smiling face. "Nice to see you again, Cordelia. Are these friends of yours?"

"Uh, yeah," Cordelia said with a smile. "Or, at least people I know from Sunnydale. Kristen Winfield, this is Xander Harris, who I dated for a little while before I regained my sanity. And the girl with her head in the book is Willow Rosenberg. Don't worry, she's always like that."

"Uh, okay," Kristen said with a slightly dubious look on her face. "Do you wanna mingle a bit? There's some cute guys around."

Cordelia's face fell. "No. You mingle for both of us - I'm not really up for it tonight." Kristen shrugged and walked away.

"I can't read any more of this," Willow suddenly groaned, throwing the handbook on the table, closed. "We can't hardly do anything, it seems. I mean, I'm not a wild one, but even I can't live under this kind of tyranny. We've got to get out of here."

"It shouldn't be too long, Will," Xander assured her, running his hand impulsively between Willow's silk-covered shoulder and her soft red hair. "I mean, just look at how weird this place is already. We just need a few more details, and..."

"Um, excuse me." Someone else had just stepped up to their table - a very handsome young man in a dark blue sweater and dark jeans, with medium-brown hair. "Sorry to disturb you, Cordy. I was just well, sitting over there," and he pointed over to another table, "and I couldn't help but notice your incredible beauty." He paused for a second, and shook his head. "Oh, I didn't even introduce myself, did I? Robert Catalin, sponsored junior in the business success program. I was wondering if I could buy you anything."

Cordelia's eyes lit up in appreciation for a second, and then she shook her head, clenching her eyes closed for a second. "Sorry, I don't think so." She turned away from him slightly, and Robert frowned and walked back to his table.

"Cordy!!" Willow hissed.

"What, are you going to tell me who to date now??" Cordelia grumped. "I've got somebody waiting for me back home, I don't need a pontz like him..."

"No, Cordelia," Willow whispered. "But... we've got a job to do here, and that guy might be the way to get it done. You heard what he said - he's 'sponsored.' The other unsponsored students are gonna be just like us - not knowing what's going on because nobody wants us to know. The teachers and faculty aren't going to tell, because that's their job, to keep us in line. But the sponsored students have got to know what's going on, and they don't have a job on the line or something. He might tell you!"

"Hmm... that might work," Xander pointed out. "As long as you show him some..."

"What, some of the old Cordelia Chase charm?" Cordelia interrupted. "Why am I the one who always has to flatter secrets out of jerks??"

"Charm? Flattery??" Xander chuckled. "Like you've got a charming bone in your body, Cordy. Show him some cleavage. And legs."

Cordelia scoffed, but Willow stepped in. "Cordy can be good at the sweet talk, Xander. And showing off some, um, flesh wouldn't hurt, Cordelia, especially if we want him to tell us something he shouldn't. Feminine skin has a tendency to short-circuit a guy's brain."

"Oh, okay," Cordelia said, sighing. "I'll go up to the room really quickly and change, then go take 'Robert' up on his offer."

"So, you want to be an actress?" Robert said, running his eyes over Cordy's ensemble again as they sat at the bar. Cordy felt his stare on her body, the long legs she had exposed with a fairly short skirt, the skin that was showing in her scoop-necked top. "You'll be a great one, I can tell."

"I already am an actress," Cordy protested with a smile. "I've had a few gigs," she lied. "But not the kind of success I was expecting. So... here I am."

"Well, I don't know very much about acting," Robert admitted with a smile, "but I'm sure that the program here is good. I suppose that it's like everything else - you have to study the greats."

"Hmm..." Cordelia sipped her drink. "Yeah, I guess."

"Well, I don't want to sound like a total cliche," Robert said, flushing a little, "but I've got what I like to think of as a good collection of movies up in my room, and a nice home cinema setup. Birthday present." He shrugged.

"Well, I don't know about that..." Cordelia said, even though she really did want to get away from the music down here in the Midnight Room again.

"Hey, come on," Rob fixed her with a disarming smile. "I'm not just trying to lure you up to my room so we can fool around or have sex or something like that. I wouldn't do that kind of thing - take advantage of a girl just to satisfy a physical urge." He grinned. "I've got Casablanca, The Piano, Terms of endearment, the Silence of the Lambs, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Sophie's choice... it'll be fun. No reason to worry."

"Uh, okay," Cordy said, looking around the room, trying to find and signal Willow and Xander. She'd feel better if they were following her up, just in case there was a problem. She caught sight of them, and waved, but couldn't tell if Xander saw her or not.

Robert led the way to an elevator, up several floors, and past a doorway where a serious-looking guy nodded at him. Cordelia was getting more and more nervous about this. Robert's room was incredible, it had to be more than three times as big as the one Cordy shared with Kristen, even bigger than her old room in the house her father had owned before he lost all his money. The bed was an understated king-sized with a chocolate-brown quilt draped neatly over it, falling all the way to the floor.

The video setup was as incredible as promised, too - widescreen tv, surround-sound speakers, top of the line VCR and DVD. On a shelf near the DVD player were stacked dozens upon dozens of movies. Cordy picked out the Academy Awards edition of 'Casablanca' and popped it into the player.

"I'm curious," Rob said, as she settled down on the couch next to him, "would you rather know what I'm going to do to you as we watch the movie, or not??"

Cordelia skittered out of her seat. "You... but, you said..."

"I said that we weren't going to fool around or have sex," Robert reiterated, "that I wasn't going to take advantage of you in a sexual way. Oh, also, that there was no reason to worry, which was a half-truth, maybe. You won't worry about it afterwards, because you won't remember, but you might worry if I do tell you beforehand. And I said that it would be fun, which it will be for me."

Cordy made a break for the door, but Robert vaulted out of the sofa with an easygoing athleticism, tackling her down to the floor. Pressing three fingers to the space behind her jaw, just below Cordelia's ear, he backed away again. "Stand up," he ordered.

She didn't want to do a single thing he said. But there was something very unusual about the sensation of his fingers in that particular place, and Cordelia's arms and legs swung around, regaining her balance and getting to her feet calmly. "Why... why am I doing this??" she muttered.

"Magic," Robert said with a nasty smile. "A very simple spell. Not the only one I'm going to use on you tonight. Please sit back down on the couch and stay there."

"Ewww!!" Cordelia sat down as ordered. "Ew! You're a... a warlock, or a demon, or something!"

"Hardly a demon," Rob laughed, moving his hand to Cordelia's shoulder and sitting down beside her, almost as if they were on an ordinary date. Cordelia could move around a little, but she couldn't seem to lift her weight from the couch. "And I wouldn't call myself a warlock. Just a dark sorcerer."

"So, that's what it is??" she muttered. "Darkpoint's a school of the black arts??"

Robert jumped in surprise, almost letting go of Cordelia with his magic touch. "Now, how did you come to guess that, I wonder? Well, it won't be my problem, after I drain off half of your energy for my energy sphere. You won't remember any of this evening in the morning. There'll just be a general feeling of laziness for a few months. Which will make it difficult to carry on your studies in acting, I'm afraid. Oh well, can't be helped."

"You little creep..."

"Oh, I'm quite a big creep," Robert said, smiling. "Now, please turn your attention to the screen, since I promised you that you'd see the movie. And don't speak again unless spoken to." Cordy helplessly turned to watch the movie. She could open her mouth but not make any sounds with it.

Robert's hand crept up to the vicinity of her neck, and Cordelia could feel the beginnings of whatever 'draining' Robert had mentioned...

And then, suddenly, there were sounds, sounds that Cordy couldn't quite interpret through the fog of magic. She tried to look away from the television, but couldn't. A bumping, a girl's voice calling out 'stop that!' After a second, there was a flash of light. The whistling of air as somebody moved quickly across the room, then several impacts. Robert's hand slipped away from the back of Cordy's neck.

And suddenly, she was mostly alert again. Willow was standing by the door, pushing it closed again. Xander was lying on the floor where Rob had knocked him down with a single punch. "Fucking freshmen!" he was yelling, crossing over to a drawer in a chest by the wall, pulling out a deadly-looking dagger. "I'll see you die for this!!" He stepped back towards Xander, lowering the blade menacingly.

Cordelia acted without thinking of it. Her agility from cheerleading stood her in good stead as she sprang off the couch, staying low, and knocked Rob's feet out from under him. Unfortunately for her, Robert got his left arm around Cordelia's waist before she could get away, throwing her down to the ground as he climbed to his feet. Cordy couldn't move as Robert oriented on her heart with the point of the dagger.

And staggered as a gust of wind from out of nowhere slammed into him. The next blast of air blew him away, tossing this way and that for a second, then slamming into the couch. His knife clattered, scratching the hardwood floor.

Cordelia turned to see Willow, standing with a sphere of blue radiance dying away between her hands. Had it been a tiny bit of elemental air that she had summoned to create the wind? Cordelia didn't know enough about magic to be sure.

Robert had realized the source of his frustration too. "You work the art," he said to Willow, struggling to his feet. "Why do you challenge me thusly?"

"These are my f-friends," Willow said, stuttering. "You won't do anything to hurt them while I can stop it."

"Then you may be the first to be hurt," Robert said grimly. "You may know a little magic, but you're just another white rat in the eyes of the school. You won't be able to protect them. And I'll match my magic against yours any day." A dark blue aura seemed to start to radiate from Robert's body, and then he damped it down, except for small balls of glowing blue in each of his hands. "You ready, witch??"

Willow didn't get a chance to reply. A tall and angry figure popped up behind Rob - it was Xander. And he was holding a knife, no, it was Robert's own dagger, to the young sorcerer's throat! "Get out of here, Willow, Cordelia," Xander growled, his voice dripping with fury. "You don't need to see this."

"Xander!!" Willow cried out, the emotion on her face inscrutable - fear, horror, disgust, concern, anger...

"You can't kill me," Robert managed to grunt out despite the blade poking into his adam's apple. "I'm under the protection of this school - they'll send psychic tracers to examine this room, scry into the past. They won't let any stone unturned until they find my killers, and when they do, they'll send all three of you into the farthest void. They'll never even find your bodies."

"So, you're all wizards around here?" Xander muttered.

"Yeah, whatever," Rob groaned. "Still, if you kill me, you're dead."

"If we kill you, you're dead too," Cordelia pointed out. "And considering your whole 'I'll see you all die for this' speech earlier, our safety is very much in doubt if we let you go right now. So... since none of us want to die, the question is, can we work out a compromise we can all live with??"

Robert frowned. "I'll deal. What are your terms??"

"You don't tell anyone else what happened here or what we know," Willow proposed. "Or seek to do us harm or inconvenience in any way. And we'll let you go."

"I want the same protection," Rob prompted. "Nobody talks about what happened tonight to anyone, and you don't target me for payback if you ever get the means to. Got it??"

Xander and Cordelia looked to Willow. "Sounds good," she decided. "Swear it by the oath of Akradion, which can never be broken."

"I swear I will never repeat the events of this night to anyone, or seek to do harm to any of the three of you, in the name of Akradion," Robert said. "Your turn."

"I swear I will not repeat the events of this night to anyone, or seek to do harm to you, in the name of Akradion," Willow said. Cordelia and Xander repeated it.

"You were incredible, Will," Xander said admiringly as they headed back down to their respective rooms. "The way you took charge there at the end..."

"How about you, mister tough guy?" Willow said, shaking her head. "We would all have been dead if you hadn't pulled off that hostage-taking bit. How did you..."

"I don't know," Xander admitted. "Somewhere inside I knew what had to be done, and I did it. It was the scariest thing I'd ever been through." He considered. "Hmm... do you think that soldier Xander knew about that kind of thing?" Xander continued to channel occasional bits of memory from the time he had been turned into an infantryman as part of a Halloween spell.

"Could be," Willow said. With a turn of her head, she realized that Cordelia had left the two of them, possibly because they had already reached Cordy's room. "Well, we should meet in the morning, figure out if there's anything more we need to do here at Darkpoint."

"I'm thinking no," Xander admitted. "School of black magic, wizards recruiting test subjects, that seems to cover it. Plus, we almost got killed our first night here. I'd say that the others can take it from here." They had gotten to Willow's room, Xander noticed, and he felt a strange impulse to kiss her goodnight. Why was that? He wasn't interested in Willow, that way... or was he? Plus, he hadn't sorted out whether he wanted to work things out with Anya or not, and Willow was still grieving for her departed Oz... starting up the smoochies again would just complicate everything.

So why was Willow looking up at him with that 'come hither' look in her eyes? Was it all in Xander's mind??

"Well, see you," he said, giving Willow a quick hug and heading quickly off for his own room.

Breakfast *was* being served in the main dining room, it seemed, and Willow, Xander, and Cordelia got together at one end of a table to discuss their plans. Kristen came too, and it took a bit of effort to send her off on some errand that would let the three secret investigators talk privately among themselves.

"Oh, I agree, this is more than enough to go back and tell Doyle," Cordelia agreed with a smile. "We know what the problem is, and who's involved. That's all I came here for... uh, hello Robert." The junior had come up to their table again.

"Hi," he said. "Just wanted to tell you guys good morning, and a belated welcome to Darkpoint. I think this year is going to be quite interesting."

"Um, well thanks," Willow said, "but we're not going to be staying. We're leaving today."

Robert looked at them as if they were crazy. "You're what?? Well... you can't leave!"

"What do you mean," Cordelia complained. "Of course we can leave. They can't force us to stay, can they?"

"Well, you don't just let the rats out of the laboratory just because they go over to the door and ask nicely, do you?" Rob whispered, taking a seat at the next table over. Kristen came back and sat down, and Mister Aron was standing up at an announcements podium.

"Good morning, Darkpoint academy. I'd like to say hello to all of our incoming students. Due to several inquiries, I'm afraid I have to announce specifically that, as mentioned at the end of the student guidelines handbook, unsponsored students are not allowed to resign from the Academy or to leave campus except for officially sanctioned field trips. There can be no exceptions. My apologies to anyone who was not aware of this particular condition before enrolling."

"My god!!" Xander whispered aloud. "They're talking about keeping us here as prisoners? They can't do that!!"

"They've done it for years," Rob told them with a chuckle.

"Oh... Oh!!" Willow was looking off across the hall, and she nudged Xander. "I can't believe that... Xander, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"Well, I don't know what you're seeing, but... it can't be her!!"

"Who are you..." Rob asked, following their gazes to the dark-haired thirty-ish woman. "Oh, that's Keira Toscani. She's one of the academic supervisors - why??"

Neither Xander nor Willow could formulate a reply. If they didn't know better, heck, even given that they DID no better for several reasons, the resemblance Ms. Toscani had to another woman they both knew was undeniable. Janna, of the Kalderash clan.

And, as if that wasn't enough, she noticed them watching, and the smile of recognition was so completely like the expression Jenny would have had that, when Cordelia looked up, she actually said "Hey, what's Ms. Calendar doing here?" before she realized how impossible a question that was...

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