Di watched Buffy fight from her position on top of a tombstone, making mental notes. When the Slayer walked over to her, she smiled and wiggled a hand in the air. "I want to work with you on some form problems you seem to be having." She hopped down. "When would be a good time?"

"Um, never?" she suggested, looking at the tear in her shirt. "Mom's going to kill me."

"No she won't, you'll just sew it back up." Buffy gave her a look that could only mean ‘huh'. "Can't sew, huh?" She patted the younger woman's arm. "We can fix that too." She nodded toward her car, a very nice little sedan, very sporty, very fast, and very much illegal with some of the modifications. "Come on, I'll drive."

"I still have three cemeteries to do," Buffy told her cooly.

"You may but unless you're going to flash them all, I'd say you probably want a different shirt." She pointed at where the majority of a breast was now hanging out. "Come on, I'm sure you have some clothes stashed somewhere in the school."

They walked back to the car, Di flipping on the lights while waiting for her present charge to buckle up. "Like it? A friend in Dallas got it for me." She started the car, pulling slowly out into the street. "It's a former Police Interceptor." She glanced over and saw the blank look. "The cars that the cops use to chase the Ferrari's down the interstates." Buffy nodded. "So, tell me how you want to work this, Buffy," she said after five more minutes of silence, stopping the girl from getting out when she parked. "I'm here for a month so Giles can go recuperate. What do you need me to do?"

"Giles did the research stuff. He had the prophecies and things all memorized so he only needed the books on occasion." She turned to look at the older woman. "What's so special about you? Why did he pick you?"

"Because he knows I can handle anything that might come up, even if I'm not as knowledgeable about your role or those books inside. I'm well trained to be able to track and handle the bad guys, and more than able to stop them. If you'd like, you could see my personal files about my most recent case. It was in a high school in Oklahoma. It was about a Witch who was using her children to stay young and rich forever."

"Been there, done that," Buffy said, with a small sideways shrug. "Amy's mother's now a statue in the commons."

"Ah, but this one had been switching bodies since before the American Revolution."

"That's ... a long time. Didn't anyone notice?"

"No, her daughters died right after she switched usually, her old body having an accident. Then the new, teen, body would start all over again and attract a rich husband, who's only purpose was to give her a daughter so she could do it over."

"Is she dead?"

"Not real sure. Her old body was still living, in a mental institution actually, but it was reaching late thirties so she may not be able to have another daughter for a while, if at all, and I'm sure she won't get a good husband this time." Di smiled gently. "She's stuck for a while, even if she is still living, and the demons that were helping her probably aren't real pleased with her at the moment."

"So she's just stuck," Buffy finished with a smile. "That sounds cool. What else have you done?"

"Well, let's see. Want to hear about Aztec Gods, or different vamp species?"

"Um, there are different ones?"

"Oh, yeah, many different types. Of course I didn't know that until after I met Andre, but he showed me a lot." She pulled out a locket, showing her the small painting inside. "That's Andre."

Buffy smiled. "Gee, dark and handsome, just like mine was." Her smile faded as she let it go. "We're not bonding."

"Not necessary for your survival, but a little easing of the tension wouldn't hurt."

"Point," Buffy said. "Come on, lets go see what they've dug up for us."

She and Di got out, walking back inside, stopping when she heard the hiss. "Gas or snakes?" Di asked.

"Snakes," Buffy said, jogging to where the sound was. "Um, go find a really big empty fish tank or something. The Biology Python got loose. Eww! Get off!" she yelled, shaking her leg as the snake started to wrap around her.

"Willow," Di said as she walked into the library a moment later. "Go help Buffy corral the python, would you please?"

"Python?" Oz asked. "Peaches is loose?" He got up, patting Willow's shoulder as he passed. "On it."

He and Buffy came back a moment later with said snake in a big bag. "He got loose," Buffy said, face still wrinkled in disgust. "But the lab has no more mice."

Willow looked sad. "My Mortimer's gone?" She poked the bag. "Bad snake, eating my Mortimer. I was going to steal him and release him into the woods. With permission of course."

Oz walked the bag into the cage, setting it in there. "He'll be fine until tomorrow. Buffy wrote a note on the board."

"Yes," Xander shouted, standing up.

"Religious experience," Oz asked, one side of his mouth twitching like he wanted to smile.

"No, I found it." Everyone looked confused. "*It*!" He handed Willow the book. "Tell me that's not now."

Willow read carefully. "Actually, it could be now or it could have been a hundred years ago." She passed it back. "But I'd guess now since cars were pretty rare back then."

Buffy took it from Xander, sitting down to read it. "What's a...Vor...plas...ic..nics demon?"

"Um, really sickening," Di said, sitting down with a shudder. "Really gross." She grabbed the book Willow handed to her, flipping through it until she came to the mention of one, handing it back. "That kind of gross, only with mental powers."

Willow read it and her face turned green. "Eww!" She handed it off to Buffy, who turned really pink. "Not eww?"

"No, very eww worthy," Buffy said, handing the book off to Oz, totally ignoring Xander, who was standing beside her now. "But it could be worse."

"Um, would dreams be worse," Di asked. "Of the plaguing you until you're ready to jump off a cliff just to make them stop variety?"

Xander nodded. "Yeah, that would be worse. Oz, the book?" he asked. He got it and looked, sitting down. "Um, would these dreams include really graphic content?" He looked up to see their temporary Watcher nodded. "Then we've got a problem, it's here."

"It's early?" Willow asked, typing it into her computer. "Why would a demon be early?"

"Watch running fast?" Xander suggested, putting down the book. He looked at Di. "I'll tell you about them sometime not now." She nodded. "Thanks."

"Hey, not a problem as long as they're not affecting you yet."

"No, they just started last night."

"Then he's not early," Willow said. "That would be on time." She looked at Buffy. "But the other bad guys would hide from him so he's not affected."

"Then why would Xander be affected," Xander asked.

"Um, hyena?" Oz suggested.

Di shook her head. "Giles told me about that, asked my advice, and no, that's not a factor. He has to be actively touched by the dark side to be affected. This sort of demon can actually be a life *saver* if none of the good guys are touched by demons in any way."

"So why Xander again?" Xander asked.

"Don't know, but we'll figure it out," Di told him. "Start by making a list of all the things that have touched you personally. Not the things you fought unless they possessed you too. Just the things that may have left a taint on you." He nodded, taking out some paper. "Willow, would you please do some research on this particular sort? They're fairly rare so we should be able to narrow it down and block him somehow from harming him. Buffy, be on the lookout for anything that looks like a six foot, snot-colored slug, but don't hurt it. Those things are almost impossible to kill but if they're mad, they can broadcast to everyone in town and the people would start on a killing spree." Buffy nodded, grabbing her jacket and pulling it on over her new shirt. "Um, Oz," Di said, "I wanted to talk to you separately. I think I may have some books that might help." He nodded, sitting down next to her. "No, later. Maybe tomorrow? I'm sure if you felt safer, Willow or one of the others could come too though," she hurried on.

"You're not evil," Oz said, getting up to go back to his reading.

Xander handed over the list. "That's all I can think of." Di led him off to another table so they could talk quietly. "I mean really could think of."

"No demonic possessions? No near misses with the vampires and being almost eaten? None of that?" He shook his head. "Okay, let me think and read this, do some checking of my own. I may be wrong about the hyena part but I'm pretty sure I'm not."

"Oh, the love spell," Willow called. Xander groaned. "Would that do it?"

"Love spell?"

"One of the local witches was helping me get even with my girlfriend by supposedly allowing her to love only me so I could dump her, show her what it felt like, but everybody but her reacted."

Di shook her head. "No, wouldn't be it," she called. She pinched Xander's arm. "Don't do that again, it's easy to step over the line once and be stuck." He nodded, looking down. "I understand the sentiment," she said softly, "but it was very bad and could easily have marked you as evil."

"Is that it then? It marked me?"

"No, that wasn't this. That sort of mark wouldn't go deep enough. This would be something that would have possibly changed you fully over to the dark." She sat him down, looking and ‘looking' him over. "Without doing some major magic around you, I'd say there's no logical reason for this to happen." He bit his lip, thinking. "But that means that it's probably one of three of them." She patted his shoulder, handing him back the list. "Willow, cross reference them with predators. There are only three of those, most of these demons are unable to control their emissions, but a few are just out using them to hunt."

Willow nodded, typing in the search string. "Got them." She turned her laptop around so it could be seen. "Which one?"

"I was thinking of a particular one." She scrolled down, pointing and clicking on one name. "That one." She read then looked at Xander, then back at Willow, who was frowning at the monitor. "Fit?" she asked quietly. Willow nodded so she went back to where Xander was sitting. "Hon," she said, sitting down next to him, "it's a predatory one we think. Tonight, I want you to record your dream for me. This hasn't gone that far yet and we can stop it, just not without some more information. And I promise the only one that will see it is me." He nodded, getting up. "You could stay and help if you liked."

"No thanks." He walked out, dropping the paper in his hand into the trash.

Willow looked toward the door when she heard it open but otherwise went back to her research. Which worried Di more than anything at the moment. If Giles had been telling the truth and those two had been friends since early childhood, then she was sure something was wrong now.

***

Xander woke up from another disturbing dream, sweating profusely and shaking. He took a moment to calm himself then did as Di asked, writing it down, or as much as he could remember. He got up, taking a shower, and headed off for another day at school. By the time he got there, he knew something was wrong, he could feel it. He looked around, and not seeing anything, started to walk faster, but the feeling something bad was going to happen stayed with him, even as he walked into the library. "Hey," he called. Di popped out of the office and he handed her the account of his dream, not mentioning what else was going on.

She sat down, looking from the paper to him and back then balled it up and threw it away. "Okay, that's gone so no one else could see it." She saw his confusion. "I memorized it and I'm sure you can't forget it so we're all fine here. No one else has to know the details, they aren't pertinent." She stood up as she saw Oz walk in, frowning as she walked out to meet the boy. He was breathing hard and sweating, leaning against the check out desk, all of which was unlike the man she had seen yesterday and Giles had told her about. "Problems?"

"Yeah, big ones." He handed over a paper, nodding at Xander. "Not alone man, but it'll be fine."

Di read it and balled it up. "The rest don't need to know the exact details but they were incredibly similar." She nodded back toward her office, leaving the door open so she could hear if anyone walked in. "Okay guys. Your dreams are almost the same, but it's from two different viewpoints." They both shuddered. "So, what commonality do you share? That's how she's getting to you."

"She?" Xander asked.

"This one is female." She got up as the outer door opened, going out to meet the little balding man. "The Biology teacher?" she guessed.

"Yes, I believe you found my Peaches?" He smiled at Oz. "Did you capture him, Mr. Osbourne?"

Oz nodded. "After he ate all the experimental mice." He walked into the cage, grabbing the bag and looking down inside it. "Hey, Peaches, daddy's here," he told the snake, pulling it out.

The Biology teacher smiled, walking over to grab it and wrap his friend around him. "Oh, Peaches, how did you get out?" he cooed, walking out with her. "Thank you," he called as he walked out.

"No problem," Di called after him. She shuddered. "Not real fond of snakes." She and Oz headed for the office, finding Xander asleep on the couch. "We have one problem, Oz," she said quietly. "The females don't sleep when they're in heat, which apparently she is. She can broadcast to you at any time of the day or night." He nodded, sitting back down, accepting Xander's feet into his lap. "But we need to find out why she picked him. Your own problem would be enough to call out to her and make you susceptible, but it's not necessary if she's in heat. It works better, but it's not necessary."

"So, Xander's either got something he's not telling or it's just us that she wants." Di nodded. "How do we stop her?"

"We have to get a small silver stake into her heart, which is buried about a foot inside of her from any direction." She swallowed some of the tea in her glass. "There's also the problem of location. The easiest way of hitting it would be to send it in magically but she projects a null magic field. The only other tried and true method involves letting her possess one of you and then staking *him*." Oz shuddered. "Not my most pleasant option either. There's supposed to be a hack and slash method available but that's only if you can catch her in an unguarded moment and you about have to hit the right inch to knock her unconscious."

"But she doesn't sleep," Oz finished.

"No, she won't, so the only other way is to do it while her attention is focused elsewhere, like she's possessing one of you."

"Can't be me," Oz said, "silver would kill me."

"I know, but I doubt he'd be strong enough. So which option do you prefer?"

"I would almost rather be sacrificed to her," Xander said, sitting up some, smiling at Oz as he removed his feet. "So, we get me possessed how?"

"That may not work," Di told him. "You account wasn't from the... how do I put this delicately? These females don't carry their young, they implant them." Xander nodded slowly. "And I think she chose you."

"What's going on in here?" Snyder yelled as he walked in. "Dreams?" he sneered.

"Yes, dream research, I'm very involved in it," Di said. "Why, did you need some help in that area?" He scowled at her. "Next time knock, Principle Snyder, I'm not here to make your life easier."

He glared at the students, but neither of them moved. "Class," he reminded them.

"Free period," Oz said.

"Me too," Xander said. "Changed my schedule yesterday." He shrugged at the small growl. "I don't do mornings."

"Go sit in the lounge then. That's where *you're* supposed to be."

"Yay," Di said acidly. "I asked these two to help me with my research. I've given them permission to be in here, as has Mr. Giles. If you have a problem, I'm sure we can take it up with the school board."

Part 3