Amazingly, the second that the last note has faded away, Spike enters with a Super Minionette under guard. Tara wonders if he is the cause of the spell. Willow notices Tara for the first time and smiles, and it's a good thing that Willow is wearing one of her fluffy-collared pimp coats, because the temperature drops about fifty degrees when Tara completely ignores her. Spike replies that the minion has a nice little song to sing for them. He shoves the Supier Minionette forward, the music swells, and the camera action seems to suggest that he's taking a breath, aaaaand he says in a very normal voice that TCHD has Dawn at the Bronze until midnight, when he will return with her to the underworld unless Buffy comes to him. HA! Buffy muses dryly, "Dawn's in trouble. Must be Tuesday." Snerk. Buffy turns to the gang and asks what the plan is. Xander suggests that they move on out, but is stopped by Giles's dissent. The gang is shocked. "These underworld child-bride deals…never end well," protests Anya, then amends, "Maybe once." Heh. Giles decrees that Buffy is going to face Sweet all by her lonesome. Everyone raises a protest but Giles says, "I'm old and British and not Slayer-whipped and therefore you must listen to me." Or something like that. I understand what Giles is trying to do, but I think he's going about it the wrong way. Spike turns to Buffy and tells her that he's "got [her] back." Buffy very calmly says, "I thought you wanted me to stay away from you. Isn't that what you sang?" Spike gets all inappropriately angry that Buffy might take him at his word and grits, "Fine. I hope you dance until you burn. You and the Little Bit," before storming out. If you look very closely, you can actually see his nose start to sprout a wee potato.

Streets of Sunnydale. People spinning and dancing among trash-can fires. I must say, I really don't get the preponderance of open flame in barrels right downtown. I've lived in more than one small town and while we might, say, barbecue an entire pig in a barrel, we generally don't use them in lieu of street lights. But really, the fire is there so Buffy can hold up her hand to the flame and sing, "I touch the fire and it freezes me." See, she's feeling all out of sorts and disconnected with the world, and she lost her Bic lighter so she wants "the fire back."