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Banner created by KateKat. by Soft Princess & Mireille June 2007 64,000 words This story was posted in 12 parts for spring_with_xan, and summer_of_giles. We would like to thank WesleysGirl for the wonderful job beta-reading. * * * "Yeah, I really should have gone for the extra insurance," Xander muttered, wincing as he looked at the damage to the rental car. The Council had an account with the rental place; that probably meant their optional insurance covered "act of demon," and it also probably meant that Giles was going to kill him when he turned in his expense statement for the uninsured repairs. He was probably going to accuse Xander of driving on the right-hand side of the road again. "If it comes back--" the girl at his side began, but Xander interrupted her. "It's not coming back, Niki." "If it comes back," she repeated firmly, "I'm ready." She folded her arms, giving him a very determined look, and Xander had to wonder whether there was some kind of special class where girls got taught how to glare in that particular way. And whether Niki was in the gifted class, because he was pretty sure that was super-advanced glaring for a ten-year-old. "You don't have to worry about it," Xander said, and then stopped himself. He was talking to a Slayer, after all, even if he wasn't used to Slayers coming in extra-extra-small. Worrying about demons was in the job description. Worrying about Slayers, on the other hand, was in his job description, these days. Xander looked toward the woods some distance away from the road. The other two Slayers he was bringing to the Council had taken off in pursuit of the demon, only stopping to get weapons out of the trunk of the car--and there was going to be a huge I-told-you-so from Catherine about having her weapons shipped to England ahead of them, just as soon as they came back. Xander was going to have to admit she was right, too; even though he hadn't wanted to take a detour to go and pick up the trunk that had gone ahead of them, right now, it looked like it had been a good idea. "I'm not worried," Niki said, and Xander knew enough about Slayers, even pint-sized ones, not to argue with her. "Well, I am," Xander said. "Getting you from the airport to the Council is supposed to be the easy part of the job." Most of the time, he didn't even do that part himself; he put the girls on an airplane, and Giles either met their flight or sent Andrew to do it. Most of the time, he didn't have a little kid on his hands, though, especially not one who'd just barely managed to save her parents when a local demon had decided it didn't want a Slayer in its territory. Xander had turned up the morning after she'd managed to fight it off, which had made his whole "demons are real, your kid's a vampire slayer," speech a little bit of an anticlimax, but had also made him feel like it would be a bad idea to put Niki on the plane by herself. And since he was going back to England anyway, when Giles had asked him if he'd fly out of Johannesburg so that he could take back two other girls that one of the few remaining actual real Watchers had been training, Xander had figured that he might as well. Their Watcher was too old to travel comfortably, and since the reason one of the girls was with him in the first place--the other had only been located a month or so ago--was that her parents worried about sending her away to school, Giles thought it was best if the Council had someone accompany her. It had sounded like a good plan to Xander. He could fly back to England, get Niki settled in at the Council's Slayer-school, spend a couple of days catching up with everybody--it'd be like a paid vacation. Everything had been going smoothly, too, right up until the point that a demon came out of nowhere and attacked their car. Even with three Slayers around, that wasn't ever going to be the high point of Xander's day. Although he'd be a lot happier if there were three Slayers around. He frowned, trying to decide if he saw movement in the distance or not. "Do you see Catherine and Ocean anywhere?" The girl shook her head. "Her name's Océane," she corrected him. "That's what I said," Xander said. "No, it isn't. And I think they're coming back," Niki said, pointing. "I don't see the demon, though." "Not seeing demons is a good thing," Xander mentioned. "Catherine says that her Watcher made her bring back part of the demons she killed so that she could look up what kind it was." "Catherine's Watcher is creepy," Xander said, then quickly added, "but you didn't hear that from me." Niki shook her head, already running to meet the other girls. "Where is it?" Catherine smiled at her, ruffling Niki's hair. "Gone." She certainly wasn't the talking type. In all the time Xander had known her, which was, to be fair, not quite a whole day yet, she hadn't said more than ten words or so. Only Niki seemed to be able to coax words out of her. "Nous l'avons perdu à environ sept ou huit cent mètres d'ici," Océane said, looking back the way they came and pointing to the left. She looked at Xander, but he simply looked confused, his gaze shifting from her to where she was pointing, to the other two girls, and back to her. "Oh, I forget you do not 'ear me," she said, smiling, then tried to find the words to translate what she'd just said. "We lost him, not too long from 'ere. This way." "Sorry my French's not that good, Ocean," Xander apologized for the seventh time that day. Niki was really laughing at him now, but he didn't care. It was better than letting her think about what had just happened and getting scared. "So he just disappeared?" Both girls nodded, Océane rolling her eyes at Xander's mispronunciation of her name, which sent Niki into another giggling fit. Xander shook his head and walked back to the car, not wanting to let the girls see how worried he was. Demons didn't usually make a habit of disappearing, especially not right after they'd tried to kill three Slayers. Or if they did disappear, it was only to gather more fellow demons and try again. "We should get going. I don't want us stranded in the middle of a road in the middle of nowhere with a demon on the loose." Niki hopped in the front seat, putting the seatbelt on and pointedly ignoring Xander's glare. "Do you think it'll start again? Or is it dead?" "It's going to start. It has to." Xander said, his eye fixed on Niki. "But not until you're settled in the back seat with your seatbelt on." Niki tugged on her seatbelt to show him it was on and turned to glare back at him. It was almost enough for Xander to let it go. Almost. "I said 'in the back seat' Niki, not 'in the passenger seat'. You know it's the law. You have to be twelve before you can ride shotgun." Niki pouted. "Not in Nigeria." Maybe not in England, either; Xander had no idea. He just knew he'd feel better if she was in the back seat. Xander had to stop himself from laughing at her; no matter how much she tried to look older than ten, especially around the older girls, right now she looked not a day over five. "We're not in Nigeria, Niki. Go ride in the back with Catherine, please." He touched her face gently, his other hand sneaking down to unbuckle the belt. Niki gave a frustrated cry, but didn't fight it as Catherine helped her out and Océane slid into the front seat. Once the girls were all finally settled, Xander turned the keys into the ignition and-- Nothing. He tried again, biting his lower lips and trying to tune out the girls' sighs. Catherine shook her head in the back seat. "Motor's dead." "Or maybe it was 'is claw that stick in the--" Océane struggled for the right word before deciding on doing it the easy way and pointing at the dashboard. Xander nodded. "It might be." He looked at the dashboard, then at the twisted metal at the front of the car. It had been optimistic of him to think that the car would work, really, considering how much damage the demon had done to it. Right. So, assess the situation here. He had one totaled rental car, three Slayers, no cell phone, and no idea how he was going to get the girls to the Council. And that was the good part, the part that didn't involve there being a demon after them, or the fact that it was going to be getting dark soon. "So," Xander said, turning so that he could see the girls in the back seat as well as Océane, "how do you guys feel about a walk?" They were only a couple of miles out of the last town they'd gone through; even allowing for Niki's shorter legs slowing them down a little, it shouldn’t take that long to get back there. They'd find a pay phone, he'd call Giles, the Council would send somebody to pick them up. He'd say it'd be simple, except that the last thing they needed was for him to jinx this trip any more than it already had been. "We need to push the car off to the side of the road first," he said. "Ocean? Anybody ever teach you how to drive?" She looked at him blankly for a moment. Sighing, Xander tried again, accompanying his words with pantomime that had Niki collapsing against Catherine's shoulder, giggling helplessly. "Do you know how to drive?" Océane grinned brightly, nodding. "I am learning," she said carefully. Okay. If a police car stopped and had a problem with him letting a fifteen-year-old girl steer the dead hulk of their rental car, he'd just play stupid American and hope for the best--which really meant "and let Giles straighten it out later." Or maybe Andrew, who'd probably be a lot less annoyed. "Great," he said. "Time for a lesson." Xander got out of the car, making sure that both Catherine and Niki got out and were standing safely out of the way--okay, the car wasn't going to take off unexpectedly, but he wasn't going to take any chances, either--before he got Océane settled in the driver's seat. "When we push, steer the car over there," he said, pointing to the side of the road. Océane nodded, and he decided he'd trust her; she'd been pretty good so far at telling him when she didn't understand what he was saying. Xander helped her put the car in neutral before turning to the other two girls. "Okay, Catherine, I'm going to need you to help me push. Niki, stand back." Niki's hands went onto her hips, and she shook her head. "I'm stronger than you are," she said. "I'm not arguing that, Nik, it's just--" He sighed. "Fine. Help us push." With two Slayers helping him, it was easy to get the car out of the road; it was only a few minutes later that Océane was handing him the keys, still grinning about her stint behind the steering wheel. "We'll stop back for your stuff later," Xander said. "We don't need to carry any of it." "Weapons," Catherine suggested. She and Océane still had the weapons they'd grabbed to go after the demon, but Xander opened the trunk again so that Catherine could hand out stakes--not a bad idea, since the sun might be down before they got anywhere, Xander had to admit--and stash a few more in a backpack she slung over her shoulder. Niki had raided Catherine's weapons chest as well; Xander reached over and took the battle-axe out of her hands, ignoring the kicked-puppy pout she turned on him. "You must be this tall to carry the axe," he said, holding his hand out at about shoulder height. "Besides, I don't want to knock on somebody's door looking like we're a traveling gang of serial killers." Niki scowled until Catherine nodded and put her own broadsword back in the trunk; then she reluctantly stepped back and let Xander put the axe away as well, though she did tuck an extra stake into her belt. Xander wondered if the other girls had been teaching her about staking vampires; he'd planned to take Niki out on patrol a couple of times before they came back to England, but he hadn't had time. "Ready?" he asked. The two older girls nodded and immediately started walking; Xander let them get a short distance ahead without saying anything. He hadn't wanted to hang out around adults when he was their age, either, and as long as they stayed where he could see them, he wasn't going to worry. He'd expected Niki to run ahead to catch up with them; since half of what she'd said to him since they'd arrived in Johannesburg had started with "Catherine says," or "Catherine's Watcher says," he figured she'd want to hang out with the big kids some more. Instead, though, he felt a small hand slipping into his. "I told them I would protect you," she said solemnly. Poor kid, Xander thought. Thousands of miles from home, two demon attacks in just about a week, and now she thought it was her job to look after him. He squeezed her hand. "You bet," he said, and they started walking. "Explain this to me again, Xander, because I'm not quite sure I understand how it happened," Giles was saying, as they both sat in his office of the council. The girls were off to the dorms, where they would be shown to their beds, and would be allowed to unpack. With a sigh, Xander ran over the story again. "It's not so hard to believe, Giles," he said after he'd finished explaining the attack for what seemed like the hundredth time, but was probably only the third or fourth. First there'd been the Watcher who had picked them up after they'd finally found a phone; then Andrew when Xander, Catherine, Océane and Niki had first arrived; then Giles a first time--so yeah, fourth time. "We were about an hour outside London when we were attacked. Three Slayers in one small rental car--and have I mentioned how sorry I am for not taking that extra insurance? What was I saying? Oh, yeah. Three Slayers, one small rental car, deserted roads. You know the drill--" "I quite agree that it was a dangerous situation, Xander, but this still doesn't explain what demon would be foolish enough to attack three Slayers at once." "I don't know what kind of demon it was. I didn't even get a good look at it--I probably wouldn't be able to identify it if you had a picture." Exasperated, Xander stood and started pacing. "And that is exactly where the problem lies, Xander. You, better than anyone, should know how important it is to be able to identify the demons who attacked the Slayers--" Xander glared at Giles angrily. "I might be an idiot, Giles, but not that much! Try getting a good look at the demon who's trying to kill the three kids you're supposed to be taking care of! The only thing I could think of was getting the hell out of that car before the demon pulverized it and us with it! And by the time I finally managed to get myself and Niki out, Catherine and Ocean had already taken off after it." He slumped into the chair, drained. "I'm tired. The girls are tired. We're safe here, so can we talk about it tomorrow morning?" Giles leaned against his desk, arms crossed over his chest. "If the Slayers' safety is threatened, you know it is my responsibility to find out by whom, and when they are most likely to strike again. I'm sorry, but this can't be delayed. Perhaps coffee would do you some good." Xander groaned. "I've been awake for just about two days straight, Giles. I'm not at my best, and right now, I have nothing to add that could help. Maybe I'll recover the part of my brain that isn't so dead after I've had some sleep. Catherine and Ocean'll also be able to help after they've slept. I don't think it's going to come back tonight, and if I've just jinxed it," Xander sighed and rubbed his temples tiredly, "well, just kill me in the morning." Giles shook his head, looking concerned. "I'm sorry -- of course you're tired under the circumstances. Get some sleep, and we can talk about it in more detail in the morning. If you're not worried about this demon's attack being a sign of a larger problem, I'm sure I shouldn't be, either." "Oh, I'm worried, don't think I'm not. But there are at least sixty Slayers living here. If a demon tries to get in, it'll get killed about sixty times, so I think we're safe until morning." He sat up on his chair and looked straight at Giles, murmuring, "I’d also been expecting a better welcome home than this, but I guess you get what you deserve, right?" "I'll issue an order to keep the girls inside until we've figured out what this demon is and what he it wants," Giles was saying, as if he hadn’t heard what Xander had added. "Go to bed, Xander, I'll see you in the morning. Oh, and while you're in England, perhaps you should attend some of the girls' French classes." Xander groaned, rolling his eye as he stood. "You wish." With a tired smile, he opened the door and was about to step out when Giles grabbed his arm. Xander turned back to Giles and found himself on the receiving end of the rarity that was a Giles-hug. Their embrace lasted for a few seconds before Giles let go, straightening up. "I apologize," he said. Xander nodded once, smiling tightly. "I guess we’re both just worried. I’ll see you in the morning." He headed down the corridor. "I’ll think about those French lessons," he called back without even turning around. For all his insistence that he needed sleep--and he did; his eye felt like it had a bucket of sand in them--he didn't go straight to his room; he walked across the courtyard toward the dorms. This had been the Watchers' training school until the First Evil had wiped out most of the Council; now only the youngest Watcher trainees were studying along with the Slayers. The older students had been put to work; the new Council was short-handed, and the few old Watchers Giles had convinced to come back from retirement weren't enough. The larger dorm had been assigned to the girls--the Slayers and a couple of girls studying to be Watchers--and Xander took the steps two at a time, grinning as the old Watcher who was in charge of the dorm came out of her room to see who was coming in at that hour. "I thought I told you that if I caught you trying to sneak in here again--" She broke off, realizing it wasn't who she'd expected. "Oh, it's you, Harris. I should have realized you'd be stopping by, after hearing your name every five minutes from Miss Achebe." "Isn't Niki a little young to be 'Miss' anybody?" Xander asked. Not that he expected to convince Mrs. Cheever--he didn't even know her first name, not that they were on that friendly of terms anyway--that she could lighten up a little with the Slayers. Most of the old Watchers didn't have a lot to do with anybody from Sunnydale, and Andrew had told him the last time he was here that they weren't all that crazy about the Slayers and Watchers training together, either. Mrs. Cheever ignored what he'd said. "Can I help you with something?" At least she wasn't actually hostile, just not overly friendly, and for all Xander knew, that was what she was like with everyone. "I just wanted to make sure the girls were okay," he said. "We had a long trip, and then--did they tell you about the demon?" "I heard," she said. "Miss Achebe and the others are--or should be--asleep by now; it's over an hour past lights-out, and they won't be put on the patrol schedule until they've settled in." Xander didn't want to disrupt things too much. Well, that wasn't true; he did, but he knew he shouldn't. Besides, he'd had to wake Catherine up when their flight landed at Heathrow, and she didn't exactly wake up friendly. He could always come by and see them in the morning. "All right," he said. "But if... look, Niki's only ten, and she's still a little freaked out by everything. If she's not okay, I want to know about it, all right?" "She'll be fine," Mrs. Cheever said firmly, but Xander thought that she might have given him a very fleeting smile. "I'll tell the girls tomorrow that you came by to check on them," she added. Xander nodded, turning and letting himself back outside. As he came down the front steps, he froze; there was someone, or something, lurking in the shadow cast by one of the trees in the courtyard. He backed up a little, sliding his foot back to find the step; there'd be weapons inside. There was no way that in a dorm filled with Slayers, there wouldn’t be weapons. Then the shadowy figure moved, and Xander realized it was human: a boy, maybe sixteen or seventeen, the moonlight glinting off his glasses. He grinned; this was obviously who Mrs. Cheever had thought had been trying to sneak into the dorm at night. "What do you think you're doing?" Xander called out, as though he needed an answer. It hadn't been that long since he'd been that age, even if sometimes it felt like a hundred years ago. The boy didn't answer, just took off running back toward the slightly smaller building that housed the male students, and Xander gave a satisfied grin. Really, he had to expect to get caught, with those definitely inferior lurking skills. Xander started back across the courtyard to what used to be the headmaster's house. Now Giles lived there most of the time--the Council headquarters were still officially in London, but Xander couldn't blame him for not using those offices a lot; they were small and crowded, in a building that held a lot of other office suites, and while Giles kept saying that the Council needed a proper headquarters again, right now there weren't enough people to justify an actual building, anyway. So Giles stayed here a lot of the time, and had turned most of the big old house into secondary headquarters. Xander and everyone else from Sunnydale had just sort of taken over the other bedrooms as theirs when they were in England. Andrew actually had his own apartment on campus, like some of the younger teachers-- which Xander suspected was partly Giles' idea--but the rest of them weren't around often enough to get on Giles' nerves. At least, not usually. Until they found out what had attacked him and the girls earlier today, Xander wasn't planning on go anywhere. He'd promised Niki's parents that she'd be safe with the Council, and the first thing that happened after he got her to England was that a demon had come after her. After all of them, yeah, but this was twice in not-very-long for Niki, and it wasn't like she'd been out making enemies in the demon world; she hadn't even realized that there was anything all that weird about her before she'd had to fight off a demon in her mom's kitchen. Xander was going to stick around until he was sure that she was going to be okay here. Giles had left the front door unlocked for him, even though Xander had heard from Andrew that having some of the not-quite-old-enough Slayers sneak in and raid his liquor cabinet had finally gotten him in the habit of locking up at night. Xander let himself in, trying to walk quietly. The floorboards in the old house creaked, and he didn't want to wake Giles up if he'd gone to bed. Running the Council probably didn't leave him a lot of time to sleep. After all, working for the Council didn't give Xander much time to sleep. As he made his way upstairs and tried to get down the darkened hallway without running into anything, Xander reassured himself that that particular demon probably wouldn't come back. It had probably attacked them without knowing that the car was full of Slayers, and that was why it had disappeared when Catherine and Océane had chased it. Still, that didn't mean that the girls weren't freaked out by it, and it wouldn't hurt anything for Xander to stay in England for a while until everything got back to normal. Besides, it'd be good to see people again. Maybe, if he was going to be here for a week or two, he could even convince Buffy and Dawn to come to England for a visit. Nothing to worry about, he told himself again as he opened the door to his room. With all the traveling around Africa he did, this felt as much like "home" as anyplace did, even if he only spent a few days here every couple of months. He didn't spend that much more time in the room he rented in Windhoek, after all. Somebody had made sure that Xander's bag had been brought in. Xander sat down on the bed, meaning to open it up and get out his shaving kit and something clean to sleep in, but he decided to lie down and close his eye for a minute first. Just a minute or two, he promised himself. He wasn't actually going to go to sleep. The morning dawned bright and early, and Giles was up even before his alarm clock rang. He showered quickly, conscious that the noise of the running water might wake up his guest. The pipes were old, which didn't help the racket at all. Despite his worries and the many questions that he still needed answers to, Giles knew that Xander needed all the sleep he could get. Giles called the dorms just before going downstairs, to ask that the three new girls be sent to his house as soon as they were finished with breakfast. He liked to meet the new Slayers, to put faces to the names he knew he would hear for a long time to come. It gave him a chance to interact with them on a more personal level as well, something that seldom happened anymore. And to be completely honest, he was as curious to meet all of them as they usually were to meet him, and today Giles was definitely looking forward to meeting Niki. It wasn't rare that Slayers would show their powers from their early teens or even before, but ten was the youngest Giles had ever personally encountered. Giles knew this meant that Niki would need particular attention. He wasn't sure exactly what changes would need to be made, but it was certain that some things would have to be adjusted. He cooked himself a quick breakfast as he thought about everything he needed to do for the three new arrivals. Eggs and toast ready, he prepared tea and sat at the table to eat while it brewed. Giles had half hoped the smell of food would wake Xander, but there was still no sound coming from upstairs. When he finished eating, Giles put the dishes into the sink and poured himself some tea. He took his cup and moved to the front door, unlocking it, then picking up the morning newspaper. He went into the library and sat in his favorite chair by the window. He was halfway through his tea when the doorbell rang, startling him. No one rang the doorbell, not even the other Watchers. They all thought of this house as an extension of Giles' office and treated it as such, which, to be fair, he'd encouraged; that was why he'd made certain he could close off the more private areas of the house when necessary. They only knocked once on the door before coming in. Giles stood and went to open the door, wincing when the bell rang again just as he put his hand on the handle. "Hello, young ladies," he said, opening the door to find the three girls standing on the other side. He let them in, turning to the smallest one. "You must be Nkiruka," he said, extending his hand. She took it and shook it forcefully. "Nkiruka Achebe, sir," she replied with a bright smile. "You can call me Niki, though. Xander says my name is too hard to say. And you're Giles." "It's Mr. Giles, Niki!" the tall gangly girl behind her whispered harshly. "But Xander calls him just Giles! Why can't I?" "I'm afraid Mr. Harris got into a rather bad habit when he was younger, Niki, and I'd rather you didn't. I'm afraid all the other Slayers will follow your example if you do." Giles smiled at her. "Xander." She emphasized the name, her tone leaving no doubt that she would continue to call him that no matter what Giles said. "Xander talks about you all the time." She inched closer to Giles, watching him intently. "Really?" he asked, suppressing a smile. She nodded, quite seriously. "All the time," she repeated. "More than Catherine talks about her Watcher, even." Amused, Giles turned to the other two girls, extending his hand to one of them, trying to figure out which one it was. "Océane?" he asked, and she nodded. "C'est un plaisir de vous rencontrer." She beamed at him, obviously happy to hear someone speak her language so far from home. "De même, Mr. Giles." He turned to the tall girl standing right behind Niki. "Catherine, your Watcher has nothing but praise for you," he said with a smile, shaking her hand in turn. She gave him a small smile and nod. "Mr. Giles." Ah, yes, the girl of very few words. "Let's go into the study. We have rather a lot we need to discuss, not the least of which is that demon you met on your way here yesterday." The girls followed him into the study--or rather, Catherine and Océane followed him, while Niki skipped on ahead, peeking in doorways until she found the right one. Giles wondered if any of them were really prepared to deal with the boundless energy of an average ten-year-old, let alone a ten-year-old Slayer. "Please, sit down," Giles said once they were all inside the room. Niki immediately took over an armchair by the window, while the other two girls sat down on the sofa, watching him apprehensively. Giles sat on the edge of his desk, smiling at them. "I don't know what you've been told to expect from your time here," he began. Océane's Watcher had reported that she understood more English than she spoke, but Giles kept an eye on her, prepared to repeat his words in French if she started to look confused. "We're going to kill monsters," Niki said. "Xander already told me." Catherine shook her head, frowning slightly. "Listen," she told the younger girl, who scowled but subsided, settling back in her chair. "Niki's right, at least in part," Giles said. "That will be part of what you do here. Part of your day, however, will be spent in school, just as I assume it was back home." He spent a few minutes outlining what their schedules would look like; academically, the Council Academy--the new name had come when they'd started educating Slayers as well as future Watchers--was a normal school, although the history and language lessons incorporated a few things not found in the National Curriculum. The differences came after lessons were over for the day; instead of games and sports, the girls would focus on the physical training they needed to build their fighting skills. The girls asked a few questions, which reassured Giles somewhat. Océane and Catherine's Watcher had been part of the old Council; he'd come out of retirement, at least partly, after Giles had taken over the Council. Giles had been worried that the girls would have had strict obedience to the Council drilled into them, but while they were both a bit more reserved than Niki, he suspected that was primarily due to the difference in their ages. After fifteen minutes or so, they were out of questions, and he had a page full of notes to himself, things he'd have to deal with today: finding a tutor who could improve Océane's English while keeping her from falling behind in her studies, arranging to have the girls' school records sent, arranging tests and assessments of everything from their skill at arithmetic to the way they handled a broadsword. Niki had started to fidget, and Giles thought he had better get to the other reason he'd wanted to talk to the girls. "Now that we have all that settled," he said, "I'd like to ask you a few questions about what happened last night." The girls all seemed to sit up a little straighter; obviously, they all found the demon attack more interesting than their education. To be honest, Giles found it... more immediately significant, at least. From what Xander had said, the demon had attacked them without provocation, which generally suggested one of the less-intelligent species; the fact that it had attacked a group containing three Slayers seemed to confirm that. But it had run away when the older girls had gone after it, which wasn't what Giles would have expected from that sort of demon. On top of that, one of the girls had been attacked twice in a little over a week. Giles might have been able to dismiss that as coincidence, if it hadn't been for the stack of reports on his desk that said otherwise. Slayers were, of course, always targets for demon attacks, but the frequency of attacks was increasing. These Slayers weren't on patrol, either--most of them had been attacked en route from their homes to the academy. Giles was starting to think that something, or someone, was trying to eliminate as many Slayers as possible, and targeting the less-trained ones as easier prey. So far, they hadn't been successful--there had been a few minor injuries, but no more--and Giles intended to find out what was going on and put a stop to it before the Council's luck ran out. "Good morning," Xander said as he walked down the stairs just as Giles was picking up his briefcase. "You should have woken me up." Giles gave him a small smile. "You needed your rest." He grabbed his keys and made his way to the door, turning back again just before he opened it. "Oh, just a couple of things. I’ve met the girls this morning. They’ll be meeting the other Slayers this afternoon for training, but they're free until then. So if you want to see them, they should be either at the dorms, or in the gardens, I suppose. And I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I have to go now. Gregory arrived this morning with two more Slayers, and I need to debrief him before he heads to Thailand." Xander blinked. Giles was talking way too fast for this early in the day. "Gregory’s leaving already?" Alan Gregory was one of the younger Watchers. The guy had more energy than an Energizer battery. He had found ten Slayers in the past five months, which was the current record. And he never took time off. "How were the girls?" "The girls were fine, as far as I could tell. Nkiruka was quite disappointed when I told her that she couldn’t go upstairs to wake you up." Giles grinned. "That sounds like her, all right." Xander headed into the kitchen. "And yes, Gregory is leaving in the late afternoon. He’s heard about a couple of incidents in the Bangkok area that he feels he should look into as soon as possible." Giles shrugged, following Xander into the kitchen with his briefcase and keys in hand. "Who am I to stop him? I know he hasn’t taken a day off since last Christmas, but if he’s willing to put in the hours--" "I think he just wants to be ‘the Watcher who found them all’ or something." Xander grabbed the milk and poured himself a glass, his other hand rubbing his tired eye. Giles laughed. "Well, yes, it does seem like it. At any rate, he’s waiting for me, so I’d best get going. Perhaps you could check in on Gregory’s charges as well when you’re at the dormitory, since he’ll be rushed and most probably won’t be seeing them before he leaves." With a nod, Xander grabbed two slices of bread and put them into the toaster. "Sure, I can do that. Do you know their names?" "I’m afraid I can’t remember them--the files are on my desk, though. One’s from Indonesia, the other from Bangladesh, I believe." "So it’s a fair thing to say that I wouldn’t be able to pronounce their names even if you did know them," Xander said, grabbing the jam from the cupboard. "Exactly. I’ll see you when I get back." "Okay." Giles left and Xander smiled. It was good to be home. Traveling was nice, and Xander liked it, but what he liked the most was coming back here to recharge his batteries before he left again. He didn’t even know when he was leaving this time, and he didn’t care. He’d stay at least long enough to help Niki get settled, and make sure she was going to be okay. However long that would take. After he’d eaten and checked in on Gregory’s charges--who were both still sleeping off their jet-lag--Xander took a walk through the gardens. Catherine, Océane and Niki hadn’t been at the dorms, and Mrs. Cheever hadn’t known where they’d gone after they had come back from Giles’. She’d given them the usual lecture about the ground rules and where they were and weren't allowed to go, and Xander knew they wouldn’t have gone far. Not with Niki in tow. He found them by the pond, laughing. That was never a good sign. "What are you laughing at?" he asked, as he sat down on a rock, close to Niki. "Océane said something--" The girl in question scoffed. "They are laughing at my accent--again." She didn’t seem to mind, though; her face was lightened up by a smile. "Ah, okay, I thought you were laughing at me." Niki laughed. "Oh, we were, but that was before you showed up." "Of course," Catherine added, giggling. She had her shoes off, and both feet in the pond. It wasn’t allowed, but Xander thought it was a dumb rule anyway, so he didn’t call her on it. "How did it go with Giles?" Xander asked, choosing to ignore them. "Mr. Giles was fine," Catherine said. "Just asked us about the demon." "And about classes!" Niki was obviously excited. "And we’re going training later. With a lot of other Slayers. That’s going to be fun. We met some of them this morning, but not all of them." "Well, there are sixty of you around here--no, actually, sixty-two since this morning. I guess it’d be hard to meet them all at the same time," Xander said, turning to Océane. "I’ll check with Giles about your tutor, did he say anything about it?" "Yes, it is a Watcher from the académie who will come help me." She struggled for her words, and Xander had to take a moment to decipher her accent. "Okay, Giles did say he was taking care of it--" "You know," Niki said, sitting on the ground closer to Xander. "Mr. Giles wants me to call you Mr. Harris. You wouldn’t like that, would you? It’d be weird." Xander laughed. "Giles just likes everyone to be formal. You should call me Mr. Harris when you’re talking to Mrs. Cheever and the other Watchers and teachers, but you don’t have to do the same when it’s just you and me. And them." He nodded at Catherine and Océane, smiling. "I’m not a formal kinda guy." Niki gave him a bright smile. "Okay--" The ring of Xander’s cell phone interrupted her, and Xander smiled apologetically, taking the phone from his pocket and flipping it open. "Xander Harris." He hardly ever remembered to carry the phone--he'd left it behind last time he was here, since it wasn't much use to him most of the time--but considering how much easier things would have been last night if he'd had it, he was planning to try, at least, to do better at keeping it with him. "I know I’ve told you not to hurry," Giles said at the other end of the line. "But the debriefing didn’t go as planned. Gregory was also attacked this morning. The car wasn't totaled as yours was, but the circumstances seem to be essentially the same." "I’m on my way there," Xander said, standing and flipping off the phone. "I have to go to the office. You girls stay out of trouble, and Catherine, if you hear someone coming, take your feet out of the pond." Catherine pulled her feet out of the water immediately. "I didn't know I wasn't supposed to," she said. "It's okay," Xander assured her. "It's a stupid rule--not that you heard me say so." He started back across the school grounds, though he looked back over his shoulder once to see that Catherine was once again dangling her feet in the pond, though she was looking around now to be sure she didn't get caught. Good for her, he thought. She needed to lighten up a little; she was probably a serious kid anyway, but her Watcher was pretty old-fashioned--not as bad as the creeps who'd come to Sunnydale when they'd needed help with Glory, but still not big on fun. She should have come here months ago, of course, but it had taken a while for her parents to agree. At least now maybe she'd get to have a little fun along with the Slaying. And none of it was his problem, technically, since he wasn't even really Niki's Watcher, let alone Catherine's, but it was better than thinking about the attack on Gregory. It couldn’t have been too bad, he thought, because all Giles had mentioned was that the car wasn't totaled. If anybody had been hurt, that would have been the first thing Giles told him. He couldn't help being a little glad this had happened. Not that he wanted anything to happen to Gregory--the guy was too intense for Xander, but he was all right--but he'd had this worry in the back of his mind that the attack last night had had something to do with Niki. He didn't know exactly how a ten-year-old Slayer could make that determined of an enemy, but she'd been the target of a demon attack twice in a very short time. He'd been considering how crazy Giles would think he was if he'd started going through what was left of the Council library looking for prophecies that might be talking about Niki. But if Gregory was attacked while Niki was safely eating her cornflakes this morning, that meant that this wasn't about her. Xander didn’t mind sounding a little callous about Gregory under the circumstances. He wouldn't say any of that out loud, of course, but even if he did--well, Giles had known him long enough to know what he meant. Giles wasn't alone in his office, though, and Xander wondered why he'd even thought he would be. The surprising thing ought to have been that every single Watcher and Slayer in the area hadn't been called together to talk about this. There was just Gregory--a bruise on his forehead the only sign that anything had happened to him--and a young woman about Dawn's age whom Xander recognized as one of the older Slayers. "Harris," Gregory said, giving him a nod that would probably have seemed friendly coming from anyone else. It was probably supposed to be friendly coming from Gregory, to be honest; he'd always been perfectly... Well, that was it. Gregory was perfectly everything, and it made him hard to like. "Hey," Xander replied, finally. Then, because Gregory always had been a perfectly decent guy as far as Xander knew, he added, "You okay?" "Yes, thank you. A bit bruised, but nothing serious, and Miss Harcourt is only shaken. I'm afraid the car fared worse than either of us did." Xander smiled. "Don't worry; he won't yell much," he said, nodding toward Giles. "I totaled a rental car last night, so whatever you did is going to seem like nothing." The smile Gregory gave him in return was pretty obviously saying, "I can tell you're making a joke, so I’m going to be polite and pretend I get it," so Xander just sat down. "Gregory was giving Julia a lift back here," Giles began. "She'd gone home for a few days, and--" "I went home to see my sister's new baby," Julia volunteered, grinning although her face was still a little pale. Giles smiled briefly at her before continuing. "--and as it was on his way, I asked him to bring her back here." "We'd barely got started when we were attacked," Gregory said. "Miss Harcourt was able to drive it away; it fled rather than engaging her in combat." "Yeah, that's what happened to us, too," Xander said. "Which is kind of weird. I mean, it has the nerve to attack a Slayer or three, but then runs away instead of fighting?" "Mr. Giles and I agree." Xander glanced over at Giles, who nodded. "Julia had the presence of mind to sketch the demon as well as she could remember," Giles said. "I never go anywhere without my sketchbook," she said, flipping open a notebook. Xander saw brief flashes of pencil-sketched cartoons before she found the right page and handed it over to him. Xander hadn't gotten the best look at the demon that had attacked them the night before, but as far as he could tell, the creature she'd drawn matched the one that had suddenly landed on his windshield. "Yeah, that's him," he said. "Or her. Or whatever." "Good," Giles said. "At least that means we're only dealing with one demon--or one race of demons." He smiled at Julia. "Thank you. That sketch may be very helpful." While she was still beaming with pride, he added, "And now, after the morning you've had, I'm sure you'd like to get settled back into your dormitory." She got to her feet and reaching over to take the notebook from Xander. "May we keep the sketch?" Giles asked, and Julia nodded, tearing the sheet out and handing it to him. "Thank you," he said again. "You're welcome, sir," she said, sticking the notebook in her bag and leaving the room. Giles waited until she was gone before saying anything else. "I'd like Nkiruka to take a look at this sketch sometime this afternoon," he said. "I'm curious as to whether that's the same sort of demon that attacked her family before you found her." And by "curious," Giles obviously meant, "worried," at least if his expression was anything to go by. "And if it is?" Giles sighed. "You had no trouble when you were on your own in Africa. Gregory had no problems before he picked Julia up at her parents' house, but she hadn't been in the car for a quarter of an hour before they were attacked. If this is the same demon that attacked the Achebe house--" With a sick feeling in his stomach, Xander finished his sentence for him. "Then something's targeting our Slayers." Giles’ expression turned grim as he nodded, taking off his glasses and rubbing the corners of his eyes. “I’ll warn all the Watchers in the field and have Andrew give me a list of all those who are due back here in the next few days. Perhaps have them delay their flights until we’ve come to the bottom of this.” “I agree that perhaps we shouldn’t be moving the Slayers at the moment, but I would prefer not to delay my flight to Thailand,” Gregory said, legs crossed and running a hand through his--perfectly groomed--hair. “No, of course not,” Giles replied. “The situation in Thailand does need to be addressed. I don’t believe you’ll be in any danger if you don't have a Slayer with you.” “Now that that’s settled, next thing we need to figure out is what kind of demon this thing is,” Xander said, taking the sketch from Giles’ hand and waving it in the air. “Of course. We’ll have it photocopied and sent to the research department in London immediately.” Xander smiled at Giles. “I was thinking about faxing it off to Dawn. She’s faster than the whole research department put together.” Xander frequently turned to her now when he had things to research that he couldn’t find on his own. “Yes,” Giles grinned. “She’s told me that you have a habit of asking her first." “Don’t worry. I don’t ask her more than one question a week. And you know she loves it.” That was the reason Xander asked her instead of the research department; he even made up questions just to make her happy, when things got slow and he had no real research to do. “Perhaps you’re right,” Giles said, nodding thoughtfully. Gregory’s chair moved, the sound loud in the room. “I’ll let you both discuss the issue of research on your own. I have a plane to catch and a need to pack.” “I thought you never unpacked?" Xander quipped. "What with all the traveling you do, it must be easier to just leave everything in your suitcases.” Gregory didn’t even dignify that with an answer, not that Xander expected him to. The man might be perfectly everything, but one thing he didn’t have was a good sense of humor. Or at least, Xander’s jokes were always lost to him. He gave Xander his ‘you-know-I’m-just-humoring-you’ smile, and shook Giles’ hand. “Mr. Giles, I’ll write up my report on this morning's events during my flight and send it to you as soon as I land.” “Good day, Gregory.” “Same to you.” He turned to Xander, bowing his head. “Harris.” “Gregory. Have a safe trip.” When Gregory was gone, the door closed behind him, Xander turned to Giles with a puzzled look. “You know, something weird just occurred to me. Gregory said, and you said, that there was only Julia with him in that car this morning. What about those two other Slayers he brought back from--Bangladesh and Indonesia, wasn’t it?” “He dropped them off earlier, went home, and picked up Julia on the way back here, why?” “And he didn’t get attacked when he was with them?” Giles blinked, obviously trying to see where Xander was going with this. “I’m not sure I see your point.” “Okay,” Xander said, leaning forward on his chair, his elbows resting on his knees. “So, I get attacked in the early evening, while I’m carrying three slayers. He was attacked in the early morning, with just one Slayer. But he doesn’t get attacked in the middle of the night, with two?” “Actually, it was very early morning, not the middle of the night.” “So, that makes it what? Just a couple of hours in between him dropping off the two new girls, and picking up Julia? Doesn’t that sound weird to you?” “Yes, it does seem odd--“ “I’d be curious to see if we got a reaction from the Slayers if we showed them this sketch.” “You don’t truly believe Gregory would be hiding something, do you?” Giles asked, frowning as he leaned against the desk, facing Xander. Xander shrugged. “I don’t know. I know Gregory's supposed to be perfect, but he might have one flaw: pride. He might think that to admit to two attacks in less than two hours would be bad for his reputation. I just think it’s weird that he didn’t get attacked then. There’s a pattern here, and that doesn’t fit it. And if it doesn’t fit, then that means we might have gotten it wrong.” Giles crossed his arms, still frowning, his glasses back on his nose. “Perhaps the demon was asleep? It was still dark when Gregory arrived.” “And demons sleep at night since when?” “Some demonic species are just like humans and operate during the day, Xander, you know that. But, still, you might have a point. Let me get Andrew to fax these to both the research department and Dawn.” Xander smiled a tired smile, and leaned back against his chair. “Admit it, you just want to know who’s fastest.” “I simply want to give us the best possible chance of success,” Giles tried to argue, but under Xander’s stare he relented. “Oh, all right, I admit I’m rather curious. And if Dawn is as effective as you say--“ “She is, trust me, and she loves helping us out. It makes her feel important.” She’d told Xander once that she felt like they’d all forgotten how much help she had been with the First, like she hadn’t even been there. That had been what had prompted Xander to seek her help for research in the first place. “Well, then, perhaps it’s time I offer to pay her a salary for her efforts.” “Beats the allowance Buffy gives her every week. Oh, and you could make it clear she’s got a job as soon as she graduates; you’ll get a really cool Christmas present out of it.” “And that would be?” “I don’t know, but she’ll figure something out. She always does.” Giles laughed quietly, a hand before his mouth to stifle the sound. “I’ll do that, then. Do you think she’d like to attend the Academy after she finishes school?” Giles said it almost wistfully. It made Xander grin. “Ask her. I’d say yes, because I know her, but just in case I’m wrong, you should ask.” “I will.” “Do I have to attend the Academy?” Giles snorted. “I wouldn’t dream of it; I’m perfectly aware of how much you loathe studying. I would hope you could at least attend some language classes, but I’m not holding my breath." He said it with a smile, and Xander shook his head. Giles picked up the phone then. “Andrew? Would you join us in my office, please?” “As soon as Andrew’s done with the sketch,” Xander said when Giles had hung up the phone, “I’ll find Niki and the girls, make sure this is really it, and see if it’s the same guy that attacked Niki’s family. I’ll try to talk to Gregory’s Slayers too, maybe they saw something bizarre this morning--even if they really weren’t attacked.” “I’m not sure you should approach them with the sketch--we wouldn’t want to frighten them more than necessary.” “Maybe you’re right,” Xander nodded. “But I really think it’s weird, and the best way to know for sure is to ask them. Maybe I could take one of the Watchers who speaks their language with me, so I don’t come across as a freak.” “You’re not a freak,” Andrew replied, as he stepped into the office, closing the door behind him, and having obviously missed the rest of the conversation. “Thanks, Andrew, but that’s not what we were talking about.” Xander smiled at him, and handed him the sketch. “We’ll need you to photocopy this sketch and fax it to both the research department and Dawn ASAP,” Giles said, going around his desk to sit in his chair. “No problem, captain,” Andrew replied, looking at the sketch. “Dawn’s totally going to figure it out first.” Xander laughed, grinning up at Giles. “Told you.” “Yes, yes. Am I the only one who was not aware of Dawn’s apparently brilliant research skills?” “Yes,” Xander replied, exchanging a smile with Andrew, who had moved to the door, but seemed to be waiting for something. “Go, we really need to figure this one out fast.” “Oh, Andrew, I almost forgot,” Giles said, and Andrew stopped just before opening the door. “Could you please compile a list of all the Watchers who are due back in the next two or three weeks? I’ll need it on my desk by two o’clock so I can contact them as soon as possible.” “I’m on it, cap.” Andrew waved at them both, and walked out, holding the sketch out like it was porcelain and very valuable. “Captain?” Xander asked, eye glinting with laughter. Giles shrugged, trying not to laugh. “It’s his new, er--thing. I’ve given up asking him not to call me that.” “Well, it’s a new one. Though I still think 'G-man' was a classic.” He held up his hands at Giles’ horrified expression. “Not that I’m planning on calling you that ever again, but it was still a stroke of genius. At least Andrew’s doing his job.” “I’m rather impressed with him, actually, not that I would tell him that too often, since his ego is quite big enough as it is.” “You give the research department and Dawn a call. I’ll go find Niki and the others now.” “All right. Mrs. Cheever has some ability in Indonesian and Bengali, although I expect it’s rather rusty after all these years. You should ask her if she can talk to Gregory’s charges herself, or accompany you. In the meantime, I’ll impress how urgent the matter is on Dawn and Mr. York in London.” Xander nodded thoughtfully. “Do you think this could be a demon-for-hire? It seems a little too dumb to be acting on its own.” “You’re probably right. At any rate, we need to be vigilant. We’ll know more once we’ve figured out what type of demon we’re dealing with,” Giles picked up the phone and started dialing. With a sigh, Xander stood and went to the door. “Okay then, I’ll see you later--captain.” He heard Giles groan behind him and grinned, walking out and letting the door close behind him. There wasn't a chair in Andrew's office--which Xander was pretty sure had been a broom closet or something before Giles had moved in--except the one behind his desk, so Xander leaned against the wall, pretending not to hear Andrew fighting with the photocopier in the next room. He'd decided that he couldn't get anything done without a copy of the sketch Julia had made. After that, he could go and talk to the girls Gregory had brought back to England. It probably wouldn't do a lot of good; he didn't seriously believe that Gregory was trying to hide something from the Council, not even out of pride. But maybe the girls had seen something, noticed something unusual. Felt something, even, and then forgotten about it when nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Of course, Xander thought when he realized that Andrew had stopped trying to coax the copier to work and had started swearing at it in Klingon, it was possible that once they'd been here for a day or two, they weren't going to have any idea what "unusual" was, any more. Especially once the swearing stopped after a minute or so and Andrew came back in the room, holding a stack of photocopies. "How many people are you sending that picture to?" Xander asked, grinning. Andrew glanced down at the stack, then said, "Here at HQ, we've found that it's a good idea to build some redundancy into the archives." Here at HQ. It was a good thing it was hard to get annoyed at someone who'd just lost a fight with a Xerox machine. "Yeah, that's probably a smart plan," he said, still smiling as he reached over and took one of the copies from stack. "Is that all you needed?" Andrew asked, squeezing between the desk and the filing cabinet to sit down. It was a good thing he was skinny, Xander thought, or he'd have to climb over the desk. "Yeah, that's it. Thanks." He'd go see Mrs. Cheever first; not only did he need her to translate for him, but she'd know where to find the girls. "I really wish I had more time to talk," Andrew said--and Xander believed him; Andrew might like to make himself sound more important than he was, but he liked to talk a lot more--"but I really do need to fax this drawing off for Mr. Giles, and then Mr. Gregory asked me to confirm that his flight's on schedule...." "What's with that?" Xander asked. "I thought you were Giles' assistant." "Mr. Gregory's extremely busy," Andrew said defensively. "He's located more Slayers than anyone else on the Council. It's an honor to be able to help him." "Yeah, I get it," Xander muttered. "He's the best Watcher ever." Andrew obviously had his sarcasm detector turned off, because he just nodded enthusiastically. "I'm surprised Mr. Giles hasn't tried to convince him to come in from the field," he said. "He's exactly what we need around here." Xander didn't want to know why they needed Alan Gregory hanging around the place. He didn't care why they needed Alan Gregory in England more than they needed him out in the field. He asked anyway. "Why, if he's doing such a good job where he is?" "The other Watchers will listen to him," Andrew explained. "His family has worked for the Council for six generations. He was the top student in his year at the Academy, and if he thinks what Mr. Giles is doing is a good idea--and he does--then maybe...." "What was that about the other Watchers?" Xander asked. He knew Giles had had problems convincing some of the retired Watchers to come back to help train the Slayers, or at least to do it his way, but he'd thought everybody who'd gone to work for the re-formed Council was on their side. Andrew opened his mouth to answer, and then abruptly closed it. "It's nothing," he said finally. "Well, it isn't nothing, but it's office politics. Nothing you need to worry about." Xander told himself that what Andrew meant by that was "you have more important things to worry about," which he did, instead of "you're too far out of the loop for you to have any idea what you're worrying about, anyway." Which he probably was, when it came right down to it. He was only here for a day or two every few weeks. He didn't know anything about office politics. He didn't have an office. He had a rented room in Windhoek, and he had an SUV with a sleeping bag in the back, and he spent more time in the SUV than the room, anyway. And he had a room here, but it was even emptier than his place in Windhoek. He hadn't exactly been collecting a lot of stuff since leaving Sunnydale. "Who's worried?" Xander asked. Andrew had already picked up the phone, but he nodded, giving Xander a thumbs-up gesture. Xander folded the drawing, put it in his pocket, and went off to look for Mrs. Cheever. "Well, that was a waste of time," Xander muttered, only realizing that he'd said it out loud when two girls stopped on their way into the dorm and gave him a strange look before going on. Once he'd explained--at least a little; he wasn't sure how much Giles wanted everyone to know about this right now--why he needed to talk to Sabina and Ayu, Mrs. Cheever had been perfectly willing to drop what she was doing and go over to the classroom buildings with him. He hadn't had to keep them out of class for long, which he was sure the girls found disappointing. He'd shown them the sketch, and, with Mrs. Cheever translating, had asked them if they'd ever seen a demon that looked like that. Both girls had been definite that they hadn't, Ayu adding that she hadn't ever seen a demon, and were they really serious that they existed? Sabina, a little more talkative, had told him all about the demon she'd fought while she and Mr. Gregory were traveling, but her description was nothing like the sketch, and it hadn't behaved anything like the demon that had attacked Xander's car the night before. That had been pretty much what Xander had expected, but he'd still hoped they'd have noticed something unusual, anything that might give him some idea of what was going on. When he'd asked, though, Sabina had shaken her head immediately. "I was tired," she said in halting English. "In the car, I went to sleep." Ayu had had to wait for the translation, but her response, relayed through Mrs. Cheever, was the same. Both girls had been exhausted from their trip, and they'd fallen asleep as soon as they were in the car. No, they hadn't heard anything at all. No, they assured him, they hadn't even had any strange dreams. Ayu had flushed slightly when he'd asked that, and Xander had grinned. She looked like she was about seventeen; Xander was pretty sure that whatever she had been dreaming about, there'd been a boy involved. But that had been his last hope, a flash of inspiration when he'd remembered the weird dreams Buffy sometimes had before something terrible happened. He'd sighed, sending the girls back to class, and followed Mrs. Cheever back to the dorm. She'd asked him to come in to wait, but when he'd told her he'd kept her away from her work long enough, he hadn't missed how relieved she looked. Xander thought about how much work it had been looking after three girls, and then multiplied that by twenty. Yeah, she was busy. Besides, Xander was fine out here on the steps, watching the Slayers and the wannabe-Watchers running to their next classes. And, apparently, dozing off, because the next thing he knew, Niki was squealing, "Xander!" and running up to him, plopping down on the steps next to him and talking a mile a minute. She'd had an arithmetic test and it had been really easy, and did he know they were going to learn about vampires, and she got to be in class with the big girls and boys, and she didn't have to wear a uniform, either. That last was said very smugly, and Xander had looked up, still rubbing his eye, to see that Niki was still wearing some of the clothes she'd brought from home. Giles had explained when they'd first set this place up that the students would need to wear uniforms so that people would think this was just another school. That had seemed weird to Xander until he and Andrew had done some sightseeing, and he'd realized that almost all the kids he saw going to and from school had been wearing uniforms. Still, he didn't blame Niki for being happy about not having to wear one. "Why not?" he asked when she let him get a word in. "Mrs. Cheever has to make one smaller for me," she said. "It might be a week, she said, if she has to go into town to buy it instead." She grinned happily at him, and he grinned back. "As cool as that is," he said, "that's not what I was here to talk to you about." "You came here to talk to me?" "Of course I did. I had to hear about your first day, didn't I?" He smiled at her, reaching into his pocket for the drawing. "But right now I need to ask you something else." She nodded. "Is it going to take too long? I'm supposed to change and then I get to learn how to fight with a sword." Xander had a mental image of Niki hacking at a target with a sword twice the size she was, and had to remind himself of why he was here in order to keep himself from laughing. "If you're late, just tell them it's my fault." He unfolded the drawing, though he didn't hand it to her yet. "Do you remember the demon that came to your house right before I met you?" She nodded, her smile fading and her eyes suddenly wide. "Did it come back?" she whispered, clutching at his hand. Xander squeezed her hand back, shaking his head. "No," he said quickly. "No, it didn't come back." She didn't say anything, and he added, "You can call your parents tonight after dinner, if you want. Tell Mrs. Cheever that Mr. Giles said it was okay." He'd make sure he mentioned it to Giles; Xander was pretty sure Giles would back him up on this one, though. There was no way Giles was going to leave a little kid scared that a demon had gotten her parents. "Okay," she said, still whispering. "What about the demon?" "Do you remember what it looked like?" She nodded vigorously. "Ugly," she said, and Xander smiled. "Did it look like this?" He held out the picture now. She took it and studied it for a minute, shaking her head. "That was what broke our car last night," she said. "Yeah, but is it the same demon that came to your house?" When she shook her head again, he asked, "Are you sure?" "Yes," she said, sounding a little exasperated. "That one had horns, and it was brown. The one last night was green." She sounded certain enough. Xander nodded. "Okay." "Can I go now? I don't want to be late." "Yeah." He squeezed her hand again, smiling at her. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" "You're not going home yet?" "Not yet," he said. He didn't correct her assumption that Africa was "home"; he called this home, most of the time, but he wasn't sure that was really true. "Good." She got to her feet, picking up the book she'd dropped when she'd sat down. "You can come have breakfast with me and Catherine and Océane tomorrow." "We'll see," he said. Then, as she turned to go into the dorm, he added, "Niki? If you see a demon--especially one that looks like the picture I showed you--promise me you'll find someone else to deal with it, okay?" "I'm not too little," she said, scowling. "No, you're not," he lied quickly. "But some of the other people here have been studying how to kill demons for a long time, and you just started today. So promise me." "I promise," she said, still pouting a little as she went inside. Xander just hoped that was enough to protect her. "Xander?" Giles asked, as he walked into the house and went down the hall. He found Xander asleep on the couch in the living room, the sketch on the coffee table along with a couple of old and dusty demon manuals Xander had probably found in the library. Smiling warmly, Giles left his briefcase by the door, and walked in, crouching down by the table to look at the books. Both of them were opened, showing two different breeds of demon; one was close to the one they were looking for, but not exactly it; the other was a brown demon with a set of horns the size of a small cat. Giles picked up the second book, frowning, and started to read the description. It warmed him to know that Xander had started the research himself, despite knowing that several other people were on it. Xander had never really been the kind of person to just wait until the answers were handed out to him, and Giles admired that in him. Many of the Watchers working for the Council had a tendency to wait for other people to do their job, and it irked Giles more than he'd care to admit. Xander, on the other hand, always tried to find it first--or asked Dawn to help him, apparently. After the demise of Sunnydale, Giles had watched their group disband around the world. But Xander always reminded him that they were still linked, and still ready to do what it took to help each other. It didn't matter that Dawn was in Italy and Xander in Africa, they were in touch, and knew all that was going on in each other's lives. Giles wouldn't be surprised if the same were true for Buffy, and for Willow and Kennedy in South America. Even Andrew always knew what the girls were up to, which should have been a clue that ties made in Sunnydale weren't easily broken, at least for the others. The demon in the book Giles was holding was an African breed, extremely intelligent, almost humanoid despite their rather repulsing physical attributes. They only attacked humans to steal their belongings, although they preferred to leave none alive after their raids. Which didn't tell Giles anything about why Xander would have singled them out in his research, unless he'd come across them in Africa and had forgotten to tell Giles about it. Giles looked up from the book at Xander's sleeping form. He was holding a pillow tightly in his arms, his legs curled up against him. Africa had changed him. Xander was older, wiser, and while he often clashed with the other Watchers, with his jeans and comfortable shirts, and definite American ways, he looked at peace here, something Giles had dreaded would never happen after Anya's death. Xander had been devastated, and it had taken him a long time to find his balance. He certainly looked like he'd finally found it now. Giles smiled, standing and putting the book back on the table. He picked up the blanket he always kept on the sofa and covered Xander with it before moving to the kitchen. Giles would let him sleep a bit more. When supper was ready, Giles loaded a tray and went back into the living room, finding Xander sitting up on the couch, rubbing his eye. "Awake, are you?" he asked, smiling softly, as he put the tray on the table, and sat on the chair facing the couch. "Yeah, sorry, didn't mean to fall asleep." Xander blinked, looking at the food and inhaling deeply. "Got woken up by the smell. I always forget what home-cooked food smells like." "I'm sure you needed the rest." Giles picked up his plate and crossed his legs. "I've yet to hear from either Dawn or Mr. York. I'm hoping they'll have the answers before bedtime." Xander snickered. "That would mean there is no bedtime, because we'll spend all night poring over all the information they'll be sending us." He smiled at Giles. "Not that I'd mind the company, actually. It's not often I have a research companion anymore." Giles smiled back, taking a bite of his food. "Of course. I noticed you started some research of your own," he said once he'd swallowed, nodding towards the books that were still on the table. With a nod, Xander picked up the book that Giles had been looking at earlier. "I asked Niki, and she assured me that it's not the same demon who attacked her parents, so I'm--at a loss, I guess. She said the demon that attacked her house was brown and had horns, and this is the only African demon that fits both of those criteria. I thought at first that maybe it had ties with the other demon, but now I don't think so. It's indigenous to Africa, and doesn't deal with outsiders." He scratched his head. "I'm going to have to ask her again, make sure this is really the one, but if it is, then I just don't know." Giles pushed Xander's plate towards him. "Eat. There'll be time for worrying later." They ate in silence for a little while, and not for the first time, Giles wondered at the comfortable atmosphere. It hadn't always been that way between Xander and him--friendship, perhaps, but this level of comfort had never been a part of it. It seemed to be increasing now, every time Xander spent time in this house. Xander was the only one of them to visit England so often. Giles knew Africa wasn't home to him, and probably never would be--but then, he didn't think England was home to Xander either. Not yet, at any rate. And Giles didn't know what he could do to make it so. Dismissing the thought, Giles put his empty plate back on the tray, a smile touching his lips when he saw that Xander had also finished his food. "All right, what is the second demon you found?" Xander shook his head, picking up the book. "This is what's closest to our demon that I could find, but it's not it. It says it's a peaceful tribe from western Canada. Way too far away to be what we're looking for." "Some demons for hire travel far--" "Maybe, but this demon is lacking a lot of the big stuff from the sketch: the forehead's too narrow, the nose too puffy, and it doesn't have claws. And it looks shorter. And it's a peaceful tribe, not the sort of tribe to breed hire-able killers." With a nod, Giles picked up the second book again. "Perhaps once we've found what the demon who attacked you and Gregory is, we might be able to connect it to this one--" "I doubt it. Even if the demon that attacked us is a demon for hire, this one," he said, pointing at the book. "Is definitely not." Xander sighed, closed the book he was holding and put it back on the table. "I've studied African tribes a lot, and when it says it doesn't deal well with outsiders, it really means just that. Oh, and Gregory's girls both said they didn't see anything unusual last night--oh, and let me tell you, Ayu's going to be a handful --she doesn't believe demons really exist." Giles smiled. "Well, she won't be the first. I'm glad that you've at least checked that out, even if it didn't get us anywhere. Mrs. Cheever helped, then?" "Yeah. Niki wants me to have breakfast with her, Catherine and Ocean in the morning." "This girl has really taken to you, hasn't she?" Giles put the open book on top of the other one and leaned back in his chair, looking at Xander, his smile never fading. "Yeah, she did," Xander said, blushing slightly. "I--I know we're not supposed to get close to the Slayers--" Giles snickered. "Xander, I'd like you to remember who you are talking to. I wouldn't question your attachment to Nkiruka. I think it's rather nice, actually. At her age, so far from home, she'll definitely need the support of a trusted adult." And Xander needed something--someone--to anchor him. Not that Giles would say it out loud, but Xander needed to know he was valued, and trusted, and looked up to. He still had trouble believing he was good at what he did, and Giles wished there was some way he could tell Xander how wonderful a job he was doing without seeming like he was patronizing him. "I just hope she'll be okay here; I won't be around all the time." Xander's tone was wistful, and Giles frowned. "If you don't want to leave again, there's more than enough work that you can do at the Academy." Xander smiled and shook his head. "I like traveling, and I'm even starting to like Africa. It'll never be home, but the people there--" He looked up at Giles, and their eyes locked. Something passed between them in that moment, and they couldn't look away. "Giles, I--" Then the phone rang. Tearing his eyes away from Xander, Giles stood and went to pick up the cordless phone from the table by the door. "Rupert Giles speaking." "Giles?" Dawn's voice came through the receiver, instantly recognizable. "I was expecting Andrew." Giles had had Andrew forward the calls that came into the office through to his private line, hoping that Dawn or York might call back that evening. "Oh, hello, Dawn." Giles walked back toward the chair, carrying the phone with him. "Hey." There was a pause of a second or two, and then Dawn went right on. "I know it's kind of late, but Andrew made it sound like you needed the lowdown on this demon right away, so--" Giles had been about to assure her that it wasn't too late to call him when Dawn's words sunk in. "You've found something?" He glanced over at the couch. Xander grinned at him, mouthing, "I told you so." Giles shook his head, sitting down and concentrating on what Dawn was saying. "I think so," Dawn said. "It's only in one of my books, though, so I couldn't confirm it. But it looks exactly like the picture Andrew faxed me." "Wonderful," Giles said. "What is it?" "Something with too many consonants in a row," Dawn said. "I tried saying it earlier and gave myself a sore throat. It'll be in my notes, though, so you'll be able to see for yourself." Then she paused. "You do want to see for yourself, right? This isn't like when Xander calls me with questions just to keep me busy?" Giles couldn't help but laugh. "He does?" "He calls me with descriptions of things that have never even set foot--or claw, or tentacle, or whatever--in Africa in the past five hundred years. It's kind of obvious." He'd have to bring that up with Xander later. "No," Giles said. "I assure you, we genuinely need this information." "Okay," Dawn said, still sounding a little doubtful. "I just wondered why you wanted to know about a demon that supposedly hasn't ever been seen more than a couple hundred miles south of the Arctic Circle." "I assure you, it has been," Giles told her. "There's one in England right now--at least, there was this morning--and there may have been sightings in Japan and Turkey in the past two weeks." He'd have to have copies of the drawing sent to the Watchers who'd been present for some of the more recent attacks. Xander leaned forward then, giving Giles a questioning look, and Giles realized that he hadn't yet mentioned the other attacks to Xander. He'd been keeping that to himself, trying not to worry anyone until he was certain there was a pattern to the attacks on the Slayers. It could just be coincidence. Slayers were sought out by a great number of demons who thought the best way to deal with the threat was to eliminate it before the Slayers could hunt the demons down. The last thing he needed was to cause an unnecessary panic. "You're sure?" Dawn asked. "Because... well, there's this whole long explanation about some demon clan in Alaska and the Yukon Territory, and how they had a... do demons have religion?" "Some do," Giles said, wondering precisely how demon theology entered into this. "Weird," Dawn said, before going on. "Well, they had what sounds a lot like a religious war, and the losers moved farther north. The group that won was... well, for demons, they don't sound too bad. It sounds like they mostly stay to themselves and avoid humans as much as possible." "...And the other group?" Giles asked. "They... well, they're in the Arctic Circle," Dawn said. "They're probably not a huge threat. But this book says they were more... hang on, let me look at my notes." There was the sound of rustling papers, and then Dawn came back on the line. "War-like and aggressive, and a lot more hostile to humans." That would explain the differences in attitude, at least, between the demon they were looking for and the one Xander had found. It wouldn't explain the physical differences, but if the demons in the splinter group had been primarily from one or two family groupings, and there'd been time for inbreeding--"How long ago was that?" "A couple hundred years, maybe?" Dawn said. "This book's pretty recent, but the author apparently spent a year or so up there studying the main group, and then went looking for that second clan. She didn't find out a lot before she had to get out of there, but she did get some pictures." That could have been enough time for the more subtle physical differences to develop, although he wasn't certain how they could have developed claws in that short time span. Still, he'd have a look at Dawn's research. It did seem like a possibility, if someone else were controlling the demons. He couldn't imagine why a remote clan from the Arctic would be bothering, otherwise; he couldn't remember ever hearing of the Council sending the Slayer to that area... although, he remembered, there'd been a Slayer attacked about six months ago, shortly after the Council had made contact with her--at her home in Fairbanks. "Send me everything you have on those demons," Giles said. "As quickly as possible." There was another short pause before Dawn said, "Okay... I can fax over my notes tonight, and then e-mail Andrew a better report tomorrow? And I'll send you the name of that book. It's pretty new, so you ought to be able to get a copy without any trouble." "That's perfect, Dawn. Thank you." He could hear Xander clearing his throat, although he didn't actually need the reminder of what they'd discussed earlier, "And when you send Andrew your report, be sure to include a statement of how many hours you've spent on this project, so we can pay you." "Pay--you don't have to pay me, Giles. I like helping." He thought she sounded pleased, though. "And I'm very grateful that you do, but from now on, any time you help us, I want you to send Andrew a statement of your hours, and any expenses you might have--that book, for example." Even when the Council had been at full strength, they'd occasionally had to consult outside experts, and lately, they'd had to rely on them even more. He was a bit surprised he hadn't considered hiring Dawn before now; once Xander had suggested it, it had seemed perfectly reasonable. "You'll be paid at the lower end of our fee scale, of course," he went on, "until you've finished university--by which point I hope you'll be considering joining us full-time." He'd talk to her about training once this situation was under control, he decided. The sooner they worked out the details, the better. While Dawn squealed into the phone, Giles looked over at Xander, who gave him a thumbs-up and a tight smile. Giles smiled back, wondering if the strain of the past two days was getting to Xander more than he'd admitted. "I'll fax that stuff over now," Dawn said once she'd calmed down a little. "Ignore the stuff at the top of the page; I was doing homework." "Thank you," he said again, and then, as Xander held out his hand for the phone, "and I think Xander wants to talk to you now." He handed the phone to Xander, picking up the tray with their plates on it instead and leaving Xander to his conversation. By the time he'd taken care of the washing-up, the fax had come through, and Giles picked the papers up, rifling through them. Dawn's handwriting was large and loopy, but readable, and a quick scan through the notes (credited to chapter nine of Ethnology of the Demon Cultures of Alaska and the Yukon, by H. Doyle) confirmed what she'd just told him on the telephone: this could very well be their demon. One phrase jumped out at him suddenly from a list of the physical traits of the larger, more peaceful, demon tribe: retractable claws, with Dawn's note, (like a cat, I guess?) to one side of it. That was the one piece of description that he hadn't been able to mesh well with Dawn's research, and there it was, explained for him. They were onto something, he was sure of it. He still didn't know what had provoked the demons to go hunting Slayers, but they were on the right track. He left a note for Andrew, asking him to make certain Dawn was paid for her work as well as to find a copy of that book for him--three copies, he decided, crossing out that part of the note and changing it: one for the research department--well, York and his assistant--in London, one for the library here, and one for his personal library, so he could access it without having to wonder if one of the students had checked it out. Then, putting the faxes from Dawn into a manila folder and tucking it under his arm, he went back to join Xander. Xander was looking straight at him when Giles came in. Giles handed him the folder, his face grim, and he sat down on the chair. "Anything you forgot to tell me?" Xander asked, opening the folder and looking down at the faxes Dawn had sent. "Pardon?" "Other attacks, Giles?" Xander asked. "You just told Dawn that there have been more than just the two attacks. You never mentioned that." Xander's tone was cold, and he was scanning the pages, turning them with a bit too much force. Giles sighed, leaning against the back of his chair. He rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I'm not sure these attacks are related to the attacks on Gregory and yourself. I didn't want to worry you for no reason." "I'm already worried." "Exactly. There was no reason for me to add any more. Especially since they are most probably not related. Dawn has explained quite a lot. The demons we are dealing with are related to the ones you found, apparently. There was a tribe war and they were exiled to the north--" "You're not off the hook, you know. You could have told me." Xander sounded hurt, and Giles felt a twinge of guilt as he picked up one of the books. "Xander, I thought it would be better if--" "I get it," Xander said, putting down the file on the coffee table. "Maybe I should go to bed." "We have to--" "You probably can figure it out without me anyway." Xander smiled tightly, and stood, heading for the door. "Xander, sit down, please." Xander stopped and sighed, putting his hand on the doorway. "Giles--I'm--" "I never meant to imply that I don't trust you, if that's what you think. I simply didn't want to alarm you even more. I truly need your help here." Giles took his glasses off his nose and rubbed his eyes. "The attacks in Japan and Turkey were brought to my attention the day before you arrived. I didn't think much of them until this morning. Slayers are attacked daily; this isn't anything new." Xander let out a shaky breath, and turned back to look at Giles, leaning against the doorframe. "Turkey and Japan aren't any closer to the Arctic Circle than England, are they? It makes no sense for the demons to go there." "Just as it makes no sense for them to come to England. Which is why we need to get to work on this." "You could have half the Council on this in minutes, Giles, you don't really need me. These guys know more about everything than I do." Giles sighed, closing his eyes for a minute, and then looking back up into Xander's face. "I don't trust them the way I trust you. I don't want anyone to panic; I especially don't want the girls to panic and think something's going to come after them. I need someone I can trust to work on this with me." "You know that all the girls know by now; girls talk. A lot." Xander came back to the couch and sat down facing Giles. "Yes, but if the word gets out, I'm not quite sure how the Watchers themselves will handle this. They could see this as a failure on my part," Giles said, shaking his head. "Giles--" "I know you don't believe in yourself, Xander, but I do. And this is a matter in which I genuinely need your help." Xander looked down to hide the blush that spread on his cheeks. "Thanks, but Giles, you didn't fail. Nothing you did made this happen." "I'm aware of that. I'm not foolish enough to think that demonic activity of any kind is my fault. But it isn't the way others will see it." Xander didn't say anything for a moment, and then, finally, he said, "I don't know how to keep it from getting out, Giles. Like I said, the girls have probably told everyone by now. I can ask Catherine and Ocean to downplay it some--they probably haven't said all that much, since Ocean doesn't speak a lot of English and Catherine... she's just not a big talker." "And Nkiruka?" "She's ten. This is the most excitement she's ever had in her life. You know she's got to have told everybody. But if the other two aren't making a big deal out of it, maybe people will think Niki's exaggerating a little bit." Giles sighed. "That's something, at least." Word would get around the school quickly, if it hadn't already, but it was very possible that the staff would chalk much of it up to exaggeration and one-upmanship among the girls. If for no other reason, he thought wryly, than that they wouldn't like to believe their students knew more about the situation than they themselves did. "The research department," Xander said abruptly. "Pardon?" "The research department, York and what's-her-name." "Bishop," Giles supplied. "What about them?" "They know something's going on," Xander pointed out. "And it came from you, not one of the girls, so there's no way they're going to believe it was just something that got blown out of proportion." "I'd thought of that," Giles said. Even a year ago, he might not have done, but he was getting entirely too good at the politics required by his job. There'd been a brief period of respite at the beginning, when everyone was still too shocked by what had happened to their colleagues, their friends--their relatives, given the Council's rather insular nature--to make things difficult for him. That time was long gone, however, and if he hadn't learned to anticipate their games and play his own, he would have found himself out of a job months ago. It wasn't that he'd miss the job itself, but he didn't like the thought of someone trying to restore all the old traditions he'd put an end to. "And?" Xander asked. "They're serving as a... a benchmark," Giles said. "I'm evaluating Dawn's research skills. The task itself is irrelevant." He smiled slightly. "It's close to the truth, at least. I did want to see how Dawn's research compared to York's." "I'm guessing she passed?" "She certainly made a favorable impression." He gestured toward the file in his hand. "The speed could partly be attributed to a teenaged girl wanting a reason to avoid doing her homework, but she was remarkably thorough." "If you ask her, she'll start putting a little paragraph up front where she answers the question 'How do I kill it?' in a hundred words or less." Xander's smile this time was far less strained-looking. "I never have the heart to tell her that most of the time, that's the only paragraph I bother to read." From Xander's reports, Giles sincerely doubted that; he was sure that was what Xander focused on when there was a crisis, but once it had passed, he obviously went back through the information more carefully. "That might be helpful in the future," he agreed. Xander rubbed the back of his neck. He still looked tired, Giles noticed, remembering that the last time they'd spoken on the phone, Xander had been looking forward to taking some time off before returning to Africa. This certainly wasn't turning out to be much of a holiday for him, and Giles momentarily regretted relying on Xander so much to help him find out what was going on. He pushed the regret aside. He did need someone he could trust, and Xander wouldn't have wanted to be left out, anyway. He certainly wouldn’t have been able to rest if he'd been afraid that any of the Slayers were in danger, no matter how strenuously Giles might insist that he had the matter under control. And since he wasn't even close to having things under control, Giles didn't see a better option than asking Xander for help. He could trust Xander, after all, and there was no doubt that Xander was as concerned about the girls as he himself was. "We can wait until morning to go through Dawn's notes," Giles offered. He'd spend much of the night looking through them, regardless, but at least one of them could get a few hours' sleep. "I'd never be able to sleep," Xander said. "Just let me make some coffee and I'll be fine." As he turned to go, he added, "We should set up in the dining room. There's space for us to spread all Dawn's notes out." Giles nodded. The dining room had the other advantage that it was in the "private" part of the house, rather than the part that housed the offices; he could close the doors and keep people out without anyone thinking it odd of him, and since Xander was staying there, no one would be surprised that Xander had the run of the place. "Let me just put the coffee on, then." "I've been here often enough. I know where things are," Xander said, starting down the hall toward the kitchen. Giles picked up some of the books Xander had been looking through earlier; now that they knew what they were dealing with, the information Xander had found about the original group could be useful. He pulled a few more books from the shelves, running his finger over the spines as he considered which volumes might be most helpful. Then, putting the folder of Dawn's notes on top of the stack, he headed for the dining room. He could still hear Xander moving around in the kitchen, so he left the books on the table, going across the hall to his office to get pens and paper. These days, he wasn't accustomed to having other people around while he worked; he worked at his desk, or took books upstairs if he wanted to work late into the night. This, he thought, was going to be a pleasant change. Giles came back into the dining room just as Xander entered through the other set of doors, carrying two mugs with steam rising from them. "That's very thoughtful," Giles said, "but I doubt I'll drink it, Xander; take it when you need a second cup." "It's not coffee," Xander said. "It's tea." A smile flickered over his lips briefly. "Probably really bad tea, but still tea." Giles smiled, taking the cup from Xander’s hand, and sat down. He pulled a book closer and opened it, and then took a careful sip of his tea, both to avoid the burn, and because he wasn’t sure of the taste. “This isn't bad,” he said, impressed. “Quite good, actually.” “I’m sure you’re just saying that to make me feel better,” Xander said, pulling another chair closer to Giles’ and sitting down. “But thanks anyway.” “Hardly,” Giles said, looking at Xander and taking another sip. “Do you really think I’d drink this if it was as foul as you believe it is?" “I never said it was ‘foul’, just not very good.” Xander smiled. “Okay, so--where should we start?” Giles pushed the folder containing Dawn’s notes towards Xander. “We should go through Dawn’s notes first, and then see if we can find references in the books to anything she mentions.” Xander nodded and opened the folder. He took about half of the papers, and gave the rest to Giles. “Cross-referencing,” he said. “That’s my idea of a good time.” “Please, don’t mock me,” Giles replied, smiling. “Cross-referencing is a valuable research tool.” “Hey, I wasn’t mocking. I’ve learned to value cross-referencing over the past few months.” “All right,” Giles said, shaking his head. “We should probably start with mentions of the demons and work our way from there.” “Sure.” Two hours later, they still hadn’t found anything of note in the books, and Giles was starting to wonder if they’d find anything at all. He looked over at Xander and smiled. Xander’s head was pillowed on his forearm, facing Giles, and his eye was closed. “Are you sleeping?” “Mmm? No, I’m not.” Xander looked at Giles, and gave him a sleepy smile. “I’m just resting.” “Of course,” Giles said softly. “Found anything?” Xander shook his head. “No, this book is totally useless. I’ve gone through it four times, and there’s nothing.” He sat up and rubbed his eye, groaning and reaching for another book. “Perhaps you should go to bed.” “No, we need to do this.” Xander was resolved. He opened the new book, and skimmed the table of contents. “I’ll make you some more coffee, then.” Giles stood up and walked to the kitchen. He started up the coffee pot, and then set to preparing his own tea. “Maybe we should get something to eat too?” Xander leaned in the doorway, still blinking the sleep out of his eye. “That wouldn’t be a bad idea. Although, Xander, if you need to sleep, we can continue to research in the morning. And by then, perhaps York and Bishop might have got back to us with their own findings. We’ve gone through all of Dawn’s material, and it’s evident that my library is severely lacking the right books.” Xander nodded. “Maybe--but I still think we should keep looking anyway. We don’t know when they’ll strike again.” “No, we don’t, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t sleep at all. Especially not when you so clearly need it.” Giles poured the boiling water into his cup, and turned to face Xander. “You know, you could just tell me you want to do it alone. I understand; I’m cramping your style.” Giles crossed the kitchen and touched Xander’s shoulder, which made Xander look at him. “No, you’re not. I’m simply worried. You’ve barely slept since finding Nkiruka, and forcing yourself to stay awake isn’t going to help.” “Let's just--I’ll have this cup of coffee,” Xander said, pouring himself a cup and adding sugar and milk, “and we’ll go back to researching, and if I fall asleep on the books, you can put me to bed. How’s that?” Giles wasn’t fully happy with this plan, but it was better than Xander simply refusing to acknowledge that he was tired. “All right.” He picked up his tea and a packet of biscuits, and made his way back to the dining room, Xander on his tail. Xander sank down in his chair, gulping coffee and stealing a biscuit from the packet as soon as Giles set it down. Giles reached for the nearest book, pulling it closer to him, although he didn't expect to find anything. He didn't have the resources here; the first copy of anything useful they managed to acquire or replace went to the research department in London, and he was beginning to think that if they did have any references that would help them deal with the demons, they were in books rare enough that they hadn't yet found a second copy. At least this book was modern enough to have an index, and that spared him from having to do what Xander was currently occupied with: carefully turning page after yellowing page, looking for anything that might be referring to the demon that had been attacking the Slayers. And finding nothing, but the same could be said about his own search as well. The rustling of the pages of Xander's book slowed; without looking up, Giles asked, "Did you find something?" Xander didn't answer, and Giles realized that the other thing that had slowed was Xander's breathing; it was deep and even now, and when Giles did look up, it was to see that Xander's head was once again resting on his arms. He'd pushed the book out of his way first, and Giles smiled, thankful that maturity had taught Xander the proper respect for books. "Xander." Giles nudged him slightly, and Xander sat bolt upright, looking around him warily. "What--" he began and stopped, reaching up to rub his eye and then turning to Giles. "Would you believe 'resting' again?" he asked hopefully. Giles shook his head. "Go upstairs and get some sleep. I know," he added, when Xander opened his mouth to protest, "you want to help, but surely you can see that you'll be more help when you're awake enough to remain sitting upright?" Xander sighed. "Okay, I'll go," he said, yawning and stretching. Then he stopped and looked at Giles for a moment. "But you're coming with me." He didn't even have time to raise an eyebrow before Xander cleared his throat and added, "And by that I mean, 'you don't look any more awake than I do, so you should go to bed,' and not anything that could fall under the description of 'sexual harassment.'" "That never occurred to me," Giles assured him. Or rather, it had, but he'd correctly assumed that Xander hadn't meant it the way that it sounded. He sighed. "And I suppose you're right," he added. "It has been a long day." "Say that again." "It's been a long day," Giles repeated. "I was up early, trying to sort through some of the paperwork on my desk before I met with the new Slayers, and--" "No, the other part." Xander smiled. "The part where I'm right. I never get tired of that." "I could put a note in your personnel file," Giles said dryly. It wasn't as though Xander was never right these days, after all; he'd been doing exemplary work in Africa. "Not yet," Xander said, picking up the mugs and the biscuits and heading toward the kitchen. Giles hadn't realized just how much at home Xander had made himself here, and he found that he liked it. From the next room, he heard Xander go on, "Wait until you do more than 'suppose' I'm right, and then put the note in." Smiling, Giles turned to go up to his room. It was mid-morning before Giles heard from York, and by then, Xander was back from his breakfast with the Slayers and had set up in the dining room again, doggedly searching through every book Giles had while Giles took care of some of the unavoidable business of running both the Council and the school. He was trying to make sense of Andrew's summary of the field teams' expense reports when the phone rang, startling him. "Rupert Giles here," he said, setting the folder aside with relief. "Mr. Giles, it's Stephen York." "I hope you're calling with good news about that project I sent you yesterday," Giles said. "Well, news, at least," York said, "though you'll have to tell me how good it is." "If you can tell us anything about that demon, it's good news." He'd wait until this was over to point out to York that a high school student taking a break from her algebra homework had found the results twelve hours before the Council's research department had. Right now, he was just hoping that York had found something Dawn hadn't, something that might lead them to the reason why the demons had ventured this far out of their usual territory. "Then it's good news, sir," York said. "I've got some preliminary information, and Bishop's working on a more detailed report. She got a bit bogged down; doesn't agree with Frederick Marley's translation of the Gi'iz...." Ordinarily, Giles might have found that interesting; if Marley--who'd been dead for at least two hundred and fifty years by now--took the same liberties with Gi'iz that he had with Akkadian, Bishop might have a point. Right now, though, there was something far more important. "Yes, that's fine. Send what you have now, and then Bishop can forward the rest when she's finished--as quickly as possible," he added. "I don't need a perfect translation; a general summary will do for the time being." "Yes, sir, of course. I'll fax it over straight away." York paused. "Is there some particular reason that you're asking about this demon?" he asked, then quickly added, "I only ask because it might help us to focus our research." That was quite reasonable, but Giles found he wasn't ready to let the Council know what was happening. As soon as they had some idea what they were up against, then he'd call a meeting, bring everyone in from the field and explain to them just what sort of danger their Slayers were in. Right now, he wouldn't have any answers for them, anyway. "Just a private project Xander Harris and I are working on," he said. "Something that came up when he was in Africa." "All right. Well, I'll send you whatever we turn up," York said. Giles thanked him and hung up the phone, getting up and going to the outer office, where the fax machine was. The fax from York was already coming through, and Giles picked up the first few pages, skimming them while he waited. The first pages were copies of one of York's references--text on one side, and on the other, a drawing of a demon that looked very much like the one they were looking for. Giles smiled out of sheer relief. The Council had information on these demons. They'd be able to find out what was going on, and most importantly, how to stop them. His smile faded as he read the text accompanying the picture, describing the demons as being a solitary species; the largest concentration of them was in central Asia, but they were found all over the world. Giles pulled the other pages off the fax machine, going through them as quickly as he could. All of them gave him the same information--a wide-ranging demon species, extremely unintelligent, highly territorial and only attacking humans when they felt they or their young were in danger. Apart from the physical description, the demons couldn't sound less like the ones Dawn had described. Frowning, Giles gathered up the papers and went to find Xander. Xander picked up the papers from Giles’ hands. “What do you mean, not the same demons?” He looked down at the image and then back at Giles. “It looks the same.” “Yes, yes,” Giles said, sitting down and taking off his glasses. “They look the same, or at least, similar enough that one could be mistaken for the other. Or perhaps, Dawn’s information was wrong--“ “Dawn’s information? Why not York’s? I would seriously believe Dawn over that stupid--“ “Please refrain from finishing that,” Giles said, sighing. “I must admit, I wish Dawn was right, but this information,” he continued, pointing to the documents in Xander’s hands, “is less puzzling. And York has several acknowledged sources to back it up.” “Acknowledged by whom?” Xander asked, annoyed. “The old Council? You know they were full of it, Giles. And when was it written anyway? Centuries ago? Dawn’s source is new, like, written in the past ten years. Not two centuries old. A lot of things can change in two hundred years." Giles looked at him for a few seconds and then picked up Dawn’s documents, shuffling through them quickly. “You do have a point on the date of the source, of course, but I’d still wait for Bishop’s more thorough report. She has issues with the translation of the Gi’iz, which I’m sure is well-founded.” “So there’s a possibility that York’s information is wrong?” Xander perked up at that, and shot Giles a look that clearly said "I told you so." “One of York’s sources might be wrong, but he still has all the other sources which are saying essentially the same thing.” Giles put his glasses back on his nose and stood, going into the kitchen to make some tea. “Of course, we can also argue that they might both be wrong,” he said, loudly enough for Xander to hear. “Perhaps we should look for more information about York’s demons, and see if we can find anything? We haven’t found the tiniest bit about Dawn’s demons, perhaps it’ll be the same with these.” “And what happens if we find some on York’s?” Xander asked, trying not to sound too much on the defensive. He hated the implication that Dawn was wrong, but Giles was right. York did have multiple sources backing him up, even though Xander really questioned their accuracy, considering they were older than the telephone. “Then we’ll have to assume Dawn is wrong, at least until proven otherwise.” Giles sighed, and leaned against the doorway, waiting for the water to boil. “Truly, Xander, I hope Dawn is right, for many reasons--all of which are more personal than professional. And that is why I’m more inclined to believe York’s sources at this point.” Xander didn't answer anything to that, just picked up the nearest book and started turning the pages angrily. He hated York. Always had, from the first moment he'd met the guy. He was one of the old ones left from the Council explosion. He'd been there when it exploded. Well, not in the building, but on his way in; he'd been hurt and spent weeks in the hospital. York had totally hated being relegated to the research department, but he seriously wasn't in any state to do any fieldwork. It was that, or work here with Giles, and he hated Giles, and Xander, and anyone who came from Sunnydale. Xander wouldn't be surprised if York was one of the Watchers Andrew had mentioned who were questioning Giles' involvement with the Council. That still didn't mean he was wrong. "York has to be wrong," Xander said aloud, scratching his head as he read over a paragraph of the document he was still holding. "It just--he has to." Giles sighed and started pacing near the table. Xander counted the steps: five steps to the right, turn around, five steps to the left, turn around, and repeat. "This is all very frustrating," he said, taking his glasses off and polishing them with his shirtsleeve as he walked. "The pictures are the same, for both Dawn's and York's demons; they are our demon. We simply need to put our finger on which stack of information is the accurate one." "Nothing in the actual description matches," Xander added. "Nothing. They're not from the same continent, don't have the same tendency to violence, or the same level of intelligence--I mean, one has a religion, the other probably doesn't even think beyond what's instinctive. None of the same history--" "Yes." Giles stopped pacing and went into the kitchen again. He came back a minute later with a cup of steaming tea in his hands, and he sat down in his chair. "Perhaps what we need is Dawn's book in our hands." "Did Andrew find it yet?" "I haven't heard from him about it. I suspect he hasn't, or he would have mentioned it." "You should call him. Tell him it's urgent and he should do it ASAP instead of waiting until things quiet down. He probably thought that it wasn't that important," Xander said. "He'll find a copy and have it shipped here by tomorrow if he tries hard. Dawn said the book's easy to find since it's new." "I'll ask, then. I've never heard of this--" Giles picked up the stack of papers from Dawn, and searched for the book's reference. "H. Doyle before. Perhaps I should look into his references. That would tell us if he can be trusted, at least." "You call Andrew, I'll fire up the Internet and see what I can find about our friend H." "The Internet? Xander, I hardly think you'll find--" Xander laughed. "Oh, you are still living in the dark ages, Giles. Seriously, if you want to know something about someone, the first place to look is the Internet. It'll take two seconds, and I'll have all the information I need." He squeezed Giles' shoulder. "It's fine, you know, the computer won't eat me." Giles snorted and stood up, obviously deciding not to answer that. He went into the next room while Xander went into the office to grab Giles' laptop. It was easier than going upstairs to grab his own. When he came back, he could hear Giles talking to Andrew; then, just as Xander booted up the laptop, he came back into the dining room, still carrying the phone. "Thank you, Andrew. I wouldn't be asking you if this wasn't important." Giles hung up, dumping the handset on the table and watching Xander type. "Aha! Here it is," Xander said, hunching over to read the information on the screen. "Hey! H. is a she! Harriet Doyle. I don't know why we always assume everyone's a guy first." Giles shook his head, smiling and bending over Xander's shoulder. "Mmm, it seems there isn't any more information than this." Xander took a deep breath, suddenly nervous about having Giles so close to him. Which was weird, but not the point. "Yeah," he said, licking his lips. "You need a password to get to the good stuff." "I'm not quite sure I understand--" Xander shook his head and pushed the laptop away, a bit disappointed when that made Giles move away too. "Some people who don't want their information easily accessible will protect their site with a password. It keeps people from just stumbling on the site and learning all about demons when they were just trying to plan for their trip to Canada." "How do we get this password, then?" Giles picked up Dawn's documents, fumbling with them and nearly dropping them before he got them in order again. "Maybe we email H-for-Harriet and ask her?" Xander shrugged. "Or maybe the password's somewhere in the book." "Should we call Dawn, or wait for Andrew to find the book, do you think?" Giles asked, frowning. "I'd rather not contact this woman and have her suspect anything." Xander looked at the clock and bit the inside of his cheek, trying to figure out what time it was in Italy. "Mmm, I think we should call Dawn first. She's at school right now, but she'll be out in a couple hours, so we can call then. If it's not in the book, I'll send H. Doyle an email; I promise not to sound suspicious." Giles nodded and went back to reading Dawn's notes. Xander picked up the stack of papers from York that he'd pushed aside earlier and started to read again. He sighed after a few minutes and rubbed his nose. "I'm sure we're missing something." "Pardon?" Giles said, looking up from his own reading. "There's a piece of the puzzle missing, and when we find that piece, everything will make sense," Xander said. "I have to believe that, because otherwise, I'm going to go crazy." Giles shook his head and smiled. "I believe that would be the reason we're researching." "Yeah, but it's something else. I don't think H.'s references, whatever they may be, are going to have a huge impact here, because I'm sure she's the one who's right." Xander pushed York's files towards Giles. "See, if York's right, we have the motive: the demons feel threatened because of the number of Slayers, so they want to eliminate as many as possible, so that the threat is less, you know, threatening. It's too easy. I don't buy it. "The demon we fought wasn't dumb. So okay, it was dumb, because it attacked a car full of slayers, but… It attacked my side first." Xander paused, surprised. "Huh… it fled when it saw the Slayers, which shows signs of some kind of intelligence. What if--" He shook his head. "Never mind." Giles must have followed Xander's thinking much better than he usually did; he frowned. "No, I think you might be on to something. Let me make a call." He picked up the cordless from where he'd put it earlier and quickly dialed a number. "I'm sorry to bother you again, Andrew. Would you happen to have the report for the damage done to Gregory's car yesterday?" Xander waited for Giles to say something else, hoping that it would be enough to let him know what was going on. Maybe he ought to try to convince Giles to start using speakerphones. "All right, Andrew, I'll take a look tomorrow," Giles said, sounding impatient. "Can you call me as soon as you have Gregory's report?" Then it clicked, and Xander realized what Giles was after. Another, shorter, pause, and then, "Thank you." As soon as Giles hung up the phone, Xander said, "So… if Gregory was attacked on the driver's side too…" "Then we might have been wrong when we thought the Slayers were the target." Giles closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Unless the demons are intelligent enough that they know to put the Watchers out of commission first before attacking their targets." He sighed when Xander put a hand on his shoulder. "In either case, Dawn's source would be the right one, as it means the demons are intelligent enough to think on their own." Xander bit his lower lip and squeezed his hand. "I hate saying this, because whoa, scary, but it makes a lot more sense if Dawn's right and the Watchers are--you know." He paused for a moment. "If York's right, why would the demons attack one at a time? If they think the Slayers are threatening their kids, and they're scared of them, it would make more sense to attack in groups of two or three to make sure they have the upper hand. And they wouldn't run from the Slayers. They're dumb, but why attack in the first place if you're just going to run away? And they have enough instincts to be protective, so they'd have enough to know that you don't attack a Slayer, or three, without backup." Giles nodded thoughtfully. "Of course, if the Watchers are the target, they'd only need to cause a car accident, killing the driver and escaping before the Slayer can react. Unless they weren't counting on there being three Slayers in your car yesterday, since you were only supposed to be bringing Nkiruka…" "But they couldn't know that. Not if they're as dumb as York says they are." Giles sighed, and nodded. "I'm still not certain York's sources are wrong. There are just too many to make that assumption, and I'd rather believe the demons are dumb and the solution is that easy, than believe that something or someone is trying to kill the Watchers. I'd certainly prefer it to having to tell the Council that the attacks were aimed at us, so soon after we'd gone through something similar with the First." "But--" Xander started, and Giles held his hand up, interrupting him. "I know, Xander, your explanation does indeed make sense, and you raise some very interesting questions. That's why I'm grateful to have you here to help. I wouldn't have thought to check which side of the car had been hit if you hadn't thought of it first." Giles held Xander's gaze steadily, and kept his hand exactly where it was, over Xander's on the table. "On the other hand, we haven't yet finished pouring over York's documents, and there will be more sent later when Bishop is done with the Gi'iz. "Perhaps the answers are in there. I'd rather not jump to the wrong conclusion--especially one this disconcerting--before we've finished going over everything we have." Giles looked up at the laptop. "Perhaps you could use this thing to see if Dawn's sent me the full report she said she'd send today? She said she'd email Andrew, but I should have access to his account from here. He might have forgotten to mention it when I spoke to him." Xander looked at their hands on the table, and nodded. He knew he should take his hand away, but Giles' hand was warm, and it felt--nice. "Okay, I can do that." Giles gave Xander's hand a final squeeze before finally taking his away. There was a long silence when Giles was just looking at him, and Xander felt like he needed to say something, to try to explain what had just happened, even if he didn't really understand it himself.. "Giles--" "Xander--" Giles began at the same time. They both laughed nervously, and Giles put a hand on Xander's shoulder again. "Go on." Xander shook his head and surprised himself by leaning into Giles' touch. "It has absolutely nothing to do with research, so you go first." "Well, I--" Giles sighed. "Never mind." "Okay," Xander said, nodding and moving out of Giles' range by standing and going into the kitchen. He came back a moment later with a pack of biscuits, and passed them on to Giles. "Never mind me either. It was stupid anyway." Very much so. Xander was sure 'Hey, I think I kinda like you a lot' wouldn't go over very well. He hadn't been thinking things through at all, and it was a good thing Giles interrupted him and his thoughts of the so very not good variety. And it was so not the point either. Xander needed to stop thinking about Giles and how warm his hands were and start thinking about research. Research good, Giles' hands bad. Simple, right? At least, research important, Giles' hands, not so much. That shut up the voice in the back of his head that was arguing that really, Giles' hands weren't bad at all. Demons attacking people were definitely a lot more important than anything about Giles and whatever Xander had been about to say about how much he liked having Giles' hand on his shoulder. "Okay," he said, after what he was afraid was an embarrassingly long silence. "How do I get to Andrew's e-mail from here?" He couldn't help but grin at the blank look Giles gave him. It wasn't often that Xander felt like a technical whiz, but Giles had a huge blind spot when it came to technology. Or maybe just a huge stubborn spot. Either way, it left Xander feeling like a computer genius. "Er, there should be a file somewhere with the passwords in it," Giles said, just as Xander had poked around and found the file labeled "Andrew's email.txt." "I am so siccing Willow on you," Xander said, opening the file and logging into the e-mail account. Junk mail, junk mail, crap from mailing lists Andrew had signed up for, junk mail... mail from Dawn, with an attachment. "Found it," he said, opening the message and downloading the file. It looked like the research reports Dawn sent him, with the summary up front highlighting all the key information. This time, unfortunately, Xander was pretty sure they were going to have to go into the details; Dawn's summaries focused on things like "how can we kill it?" and "how dangerous is it?" Useful even now, but if they were going to figure out who was right.... Xander really didn't think he was letting the fact that he liked Dawn a lot better than he liked anybody left over from the old Council influence his judgment. It was definitely true, but Dawn's research fit the facts a lot better, from what Xander could tell. He knew Giles felt the same way; he hadn't had any problems with Dawn's report until York had sent his over. Still, there was that nagging feeling at the back of his mind; how could that many of York's books be wrong? He'd never had a problem trusting Giles' books, back in Sunnydale, and if it was Giles saying that his research disagreed with Dawn's... so maybe it was just that he didn't like York, and he wasn't as professional as he tried to convince himself he was. And now he was just thinking in circles, which never did anybody any good. Xander sighed, shaking his head. Maybe he needed to take a break from the research for a few minutes. "Let me guess," he said to Giles. "You're going to want Dawn's report printed out, instead of reading it on the computer." He was already picking up the laptop and detaching the power cable when Giles nodded. "Let me take this into the office, then," Xander said. "If you hear swearing, and especially if you hear anything breaking... pretend you didn't." If he'd been back in Africa, he'd have gone for a long walk, or an even longer drive, to clear his head. If they had had more time, he'd have called time for a break--even if it hadn't been that long since they got started--and gone to watch Niki's training, or to check up on some of the girls he'd brought back to England months ago. But something was attacking either them or the Slayers, and it didn't matter which; they still had to stop it as quickly as they could. So Xander's "break" would be going in and trying to print out copies of Dawn's report for himself and Giles. Maybe, if it took long enough, he could get his brain back to doing something useful, instead of running in circles, or wishing he'd had the chance to figure out what he was going to say to Giles. It took Xander half an hour to get the computer hooked up to the printer. And then he had to fight with it, because the sheets of paper kept getting stuck. "Brilliant," he muttered. "Seriously brilliant." He finally managed to get Dawn's document printed, and he was picking it up when he realized he hadn't thought about Giles at all during the whole ordeal. Apparently, he was on the right track. Until he came back into the dining room, and saw Giles hunched over an open book. Xander just stood there in the doorway for a moment, spellbound. He really had forgotten just how much he liked watching Giles like this, working and researching. He looked so--so intense. "Giles?" Xander finally said, keeping his voice low so as to not startle Giles too much. "Yes?" Giles didn't look up. "I have Dawn's stuff," Xander replied, the spell broken and his legs working again. "Here." He put the pile of papers down on the table within Giles' reach. "I'll be in the office, reading on the computer." He didn't wait for Giles' nod. He really needed that walk. Three seconds in the same room as Giles, and his mind was back to thinking in circles. "Focus, Xander, focus," he muttered to himself, sitting down in the front of the computer to read. Hopefully, that would distract him from unwelcome thoughts, and put him back on track. He started reading. "Xander?" Giles' voice startled him, and Xander looked up from the computer, rubbing his tired eyes. He must have been reading for a while. "Hmm?" Giles was standing close to the desk, Dawn's document in his hands. "We've both been reading for hours now; perhaps we ought to take a break." "Yeah, you're right," Xander said, sighing. He stretched and looked at the clock. "I should check up on Niki, see how her day went." "You do that," Giles replied. "Andrew just phoned, and I have to meet him in my office. Something's happened to Bishop." "Oh." Xander frowned. "What?" "I didn't really understand what Andrew was telling me, but there seems to have been an attack of some sort on the library in London--nothing to do with our current research, I don't think--and Bishop was hurt." Giles looked worried. "So I guess you have to go to London, then?" "I don't know. I'm hoping not." Xander grabbed his phone and keys, and followed Giles out of the office. "Keep me posted. I have my phone." "Of course." Xander didn't go straight to the dorms to find Niki; she was probably still in class, and besides, he needed a few minutes to shake the cobwebs out of his brain before he saw her. He wouldn't be able to pay attention to anything she was saying if he was still worrying about the demon, or Bishop, or even his brain's unbelievable ability to get off-track |