BUFFY AND ANGEL FANFICTION

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Xander looked round the Bronze, waiting for Willow. It all seemed so normal. Only two nights earlier it had been the scene of an apocalyptic struggle, with the fate of the world on the line. Now it was filled with partying teens who had forgotten anything unusual had ever happened. All they remembered was vague stories about gangs on PCP, just as Cordelia and Buffy had predicted. Only his friends remembered the truth, his friends and Cordelia. Everyone else had forgotten, or at least pretended to. Why? Why were they special?

Well, he knew why Buffy remembered. She was the slayer, a real-life superhero in his own school, and beautiful too. Xander smiled as he thought about her. She was the most beautiful girl in school, and yet she was willing to talk to him. That alone was reason enough for Xander to remember everything. If he had convinced himself the Harvest had just been a bad dream that would have stopped him getting close to her. But there was more to it than that. Remembering meant he could help fight the monsters, help save lives, even save the world. Really, there had been no choice at all.

Willow too had remembered, just as inevitably as Xander himself. Giles had said most people couldn't bear to face the truth, but Willow had never hidden from the truth. She lived for it, yearning to learn, and the occult was a brand new field for her to explore. Once she had gotten over her initial fears, she had been thrilled to realise there was so much she hadn't known, so much she could learn about. It wasn't an attitude Xander could understand, but Willow had always been like that. Of course, even without that reward, Willow would still have wanted to help Buffy. It was the right thing to do and Willow always did the right thing. Willow remembering made sense.

The real question, the question that had been nagging at him for three days, the question he just couldn't get out of his mind, was why Cordelia? She said she had noticed the vampires when Brian died, but that would have been just a struggle half glimpsed in a dimly lit alley. She could easily have dismissed that, no more than a trick of the light, but instead she had remembered. Why? Why would Cordelia want to remember? Everything was perfect in Cordelia's world. What she wanted she got. Facing the truth about vampires had spoiled that for her; it had made her desperate enough to look for his help. Wouldn't it have been easier for her to forget? It just didn't make any sense, and yet that was just the start of Cordelia's weirdness.

Xander glanced at Cordelia, sitting at a table with all her old friends. She had been looking his way, but the moment he looked at her she grimaced and turned to face Harmony. The scene looked almost normal, Cordelia holding court, but it wasn't quite right. Cordelia looked slightly stiff, like an actress trying to remember her lines. Xander suspected Cordelia was having trouble keeping the secret. Strange, when she had already kept it for three weeks. Fortunately, Cordelia's behaviour was only subtly off, and her friends were too busy nodding to notice. Cordelia could still pass for her normal self, at least in public. In private it was a different story.

In private Cordelia was weird, at least since Monday. Her personality had changed in ways even discovering vampires couldn't account for. Cordelia had always seemed a heartless bitch obsessed with social status but now she was actually being halfway pleasant. She had even shown traces of compassion. Xander wouldn't have believed it was possible had he not seen the sympathy in her eyes for himself. Cordelia had always had less empathy than the average rock but she was suddenly showing Freudlike pschyological insight. Buffy herself had said it was as if Cordelia had read her mind, yet the two had only just met. Discovering vampires were real couldn't explain that. Cordelia had never done anything to help others before, but on Monday she had risked her life trying to help Xander's friend. She had been prepared to fight a vampire for the sake of someone she had always despised. It was unbelievable but it had happened. Then there was her attitude to the occult. She was so blasé about it, for someone with just three weeks experience, and she had learnt quite a bit too.

"She's looking at you again." Willow said as she sat down next to Xander.

Xander didn't have to ask who Willow was talking about. He glanced back in her direction, but Cordelia avoided his gaze.

"Cordelia has been a little different this week." Willow suggested tentatively, looking shyly down at the table.

"Different? Different is a new lipstick. This is Jeckyll and Hyde land."

Willow nodded. "Literally? Giles did say the hellmouth attracted the bizarre."

Xander blinked. He hadn't considered that possibility. "Like the new Cordelia. But she's trying to be nice. The hellmouth doesn't do nice."

"She could have an ulterior motive."

"So she's some kind of evil freak. Not much change there. Let's tell Giles." Then they could get rid of Cordelia.

"Um, no, we've only got gossip not hard evidence, and she's charmed Buffy, and , well, it would be awkward. We don't want a fuss. Also, Cordelia might still be on our side. There's something we don't know but it might be good, like the way the slayer is a secret."

Xander smiled briefly. Willow really was a good person, doing her best to be fair to Cordelia even though she loathed her.

"You haven't said anything to Giles have you?" Willow added hurriedly.

Xander tried to imagine that conversation. "I couldn't. He doesn't know us, and he's almost a teacher."

Willow smiled. "Good. It's an interesting problem, but I will solve it. Cordelia is obviously trying to hide something from us, but I won't let her. She can't outwit me. I will find out what's going on and I won't need any help from Giles."

Xander looked at Willow's resolve face. When she was like that there was no stopping her. Willow really enjoyed solving problems, and Cordelia had inadvertently posed Willow a challenge she would soon regret. Cordelia didn't stand a chance; she was no genius.

"Hack her computer?" Xander suggested, feeling he ought to make a contribution.

"Cordelia doesn't know how to use computers." Willow paused, then looked thoughtful. "Or she didn't. She's been doing better in class since Monday. Apparently, discovering vampires are real has taught her extra math. I'll look round her files, see if I can find anything incriminating. Good idea."

It hadn't been his idea at all; it had been Willow's. The best ideas always were.

"We should just play along with Cordelia for now." Willow added. "Give her more chances to give herself away."

Xander nodded. It would mean spending more time with Cordelia but, now that she was pretending to care, her company was bearable, and, since she didn't want to be seen talking to him in public, she might decide to hold more conversations in closets. He certainly wouldn't mind that. Despite her repulsive personality Cordelia was physically attractive, though nowhere near as beautiful as Buffy. When she had pulled him into that closet, leaned close to him and gently touched his lips, well, that had been material for a week of pleasant dreams. He'd had to swap Buffy's face for Cordelia's, and cut the unromantic conversation, but still. Xander smiled in pleasant reverie.

The gleam of bare flesh caught Xander's eye. Buffy was walking across the Bronze, towards his table, showing a delicious length of leg. She sat down opposite him, then glanced over at Cordelia, looking sympathetic. Xander decided to speak before Buffy said anything about Cordelia. He didn't want to spend the whole night talking about that.

"So, as Buffy comes looking for a normal night out, will it be third time lucky for our hero? The record so far, two nights at the Bronze, two fights with vampires. Let's ask the Buffster herself." Xander said, trying to imitate a sports commentator.

"Xander." Buffy smiled. "Don't jinx it. I want a normal night."

The friends began talking.

An hour later Buffy was speaking. "So, I took my knife and-"

Something howled outside the Bronze, stopping Buffy mid-sentence, and sending shivers down Xander's spine. No dog sounded like that. It howled again, louder, closer, and the Bronze fell silent.

"What is that?" Willow whispered.

Buffy shrugged. "Not a vampire." She began to rummage in her bag, probably looking for a weapon.

The bouncer screamed. People began backing away from the main entrance, their faces white. Xander stood up and peered over the crowd.

"Uh-oh. Buffy, I think we've got trouble."

It looked wolf shaped, perhaps seven foot high at the shoulder and glowing green. It slowly stalked across the floor, growling, its teeth gleaming in the dim light.

Buffy looked at the monster and groaned. "Giles didn't give me anything for green wolves, plenty of stakes, but not steaks. Brute force it is."

Unarmed, Buffy ran towards the monster. Xander followed her, trying to think of something he could do. He wanted to help Buffy in her fight, but that monster looked dangerous. Buffy jumped at the monster, punching its left flank. Her arm sank into the monster, right up to the elbow, but it just twitched slightly, then kicked Buffy backwards. Xander crouched down, behind a table.

The monster hadn't been hurt at all. Why not? As Xander looked more closely he realised the thing wasn't solid. It was made from glowing green fog, coiling endlessly in unsettling patterns, but confined within the shape of a wolf. Weird. The teeth looked solid though, like metal, and its feet had been solid enough to knock Buffy backwards. The monster definitely looked lethal, but how could Buffy kill it? At least it was slow.

The monster paused in the middle of the dance floor, looked at the people cowering against the walls, then headed straight towards Cordelia. Clearly it had good taste, but even Cordelia didn't deserve to be eaten alive by a giant green wolf-thing. Cordelia's friends just sat there, frozen in terror, but Cordelia didn't seem that scared. She stood up, threw her glass at the monster, then ran over towards Xander. The glass clinked as it bounced off the monster

"Great." she said, glaring at him. "Can't you go two nights without weirdness? I should have been told about this."

"Oh, you want the monsters to make appointments?"

Cordelia looked briefly flustered, then replied, "That's what the prophecies are."

"Did you see that?" Willow said, coming up behind them. "The glass bounced. There must be something solid inside that thing."

Buffy ran in front of the monster, then stood facing it in a defensive posture. The monster crouched, then sprang, leaping over Buffy, and landing on the table, which immediately collapsed under its weight. Xander grabbed Willow and dived to one side. The monster shook itself free of the wreckage of the table, then turned to face Cordelia.

"Don't ignore me, foggy-dog. I'm the slayer, fight me." Buffy sounded annoyed.

"Buffy," Willow shouted, "It's solid inside. Try the legs."

Buffy picked up a broken table leg, then kicked the monster's left ankle, hard. Her foot went in an inch, the fog eddying around it, but then she hit something solid, and the monster whimpered. Finally the lumbering beast turned to face the slayer. Buffy swung at its head with her table leg. The blow landed with a loud metallic ring, then the monster put both forepaws on Buffy's shoulders and roared. Her knees buckled slightly under the weight, but then she twisted, shrugging the monster off. It fell sideways, landing on Cordelia.

Before the thing could struggle upright Buffy attacked it, beating it around the head and neck. After a flurry of vicious blows, she finally kicked the thing's head right off its body. The fog immediately rippled and vanished. Xander caught a quick glimpse of a skeleton, but that swiftly crumbled into dust. Only the skull remained, shimmering in the dim light.

Cordelia was coughing but she seemed unharmed. Buffy helped her off the floor.

"That fog tasted horrible. I nearly choked." Cordelia brushed herself down, then nudged the skull with her foot. "That looks like silver."

How could Cordelia sound so calm? Her life had been in danger but she sounded like it had been some minor inconvenience, nothing unusual.

"What now?" Willow asked, looking at Buffy.

"We pick up the remains, for Giles." Cordelia sounded slightly bitter. "Why did it attack me?"

"Good taste?" Xander joked, wondering what the real answer was.

Cordelia twitched, then smiled. "Well, I am the best dressed person here."

Buffy looked at them both and sighed. "Is the Bronze always this exciting?"

"Interesting," Giles said, examining the skull, "Most interesting."

The gang had assembled in the library again, early in the morning. Really it was too early for Xander's liking; it wasn't natural to be in school before 8:57, but Willow hadn't wanted to wait.

"But what was it? And why did it pick on me?" Cordelia sounded annoyed.

"I've been slaying for more than a year now, and I've seen some pretty weird things, but nothing like this. Everything else was solid; they all bled. This was different." Buffy looked puzzled.

"We are on the hellmouth." Giles reminded them. "It attracts evil. There's a veritable cornucopia of fiends and ghouls and demons to engage. Still, I think this time the hellmouth had help"

Xander looked disbelievingly at Giles. How could he be so excited by the prospect of endless fighting? Buffy and Willow appeared to be thinking the same thing, but Cordelia had an amused smile.

"Pardon me for finding the glass half full." Giles didn't sound very apologetic.

"So, what is it?" Willow asked, curious as ever.

"A skeleton with a silver skull shrouded by an emerald mist in the shape of a giant wolf?" Giles sounded as if he were quoting.

Buffy and Cordelia nodded impatiently.

"There's only one thing that meets that description, a nimbuan demon wolf. They normally come in large packs, but they are supposed to be confined to the Isles of Mist."

Giles picked a book off the shelves and laid it open on the table. "They eat shipwrecked sailors."

The picture showed four sailors in ragged clothing with their backs to a cliff, surrounded by dozens of the wolves. The beach was covered in human skulls.

"Nice place." Buffy said. "Where is it?"

Giles smiled. "According to legend, 'East of the sun, west of the Moon; Twelve leagues beyond the gates of noon; Lies the land of Merlin's birth; Where demons still walk the earth.' It's not part of the normal world. It's like Avalon; a place, half myth, just beyond the edge of reality."

Willow squealed with joyful amazement. "Merlin's real?"

"Yes, and no." Giles looked amused. "There is some truth in the legends, but most of the popular stories were invented by overimaginative bards. The truth is complicated," Giles paused and looked at the faces of his audience. "but not really relevant today."

"They come in large packs? Is the rest of the pack out there?" Cordelia looked concerned.

"I can't say. Even with the hellmouth, the wolf shouldn't have been able to get here. There are certain barriers that keep the denizens of the Isles from this world. People can come and go freely, if they know the hidden seas, but the demons have to stay there. Their magic can reach into this world a little way, enough to trick badly lost ships into their world, but that's all. The hellmouth isn't quite strong enough to breech those barriers. The wolf must have been brought here by someone, and they might have brought dozens more."

Xander was glad Giles had finished his lecture. He had enough of that during classes.

"The Master?" Willow asked tentatively.

"No. He's trapped in the hellmouth. He couldn't work this kind of spell while trapped. In fact, I've never heard of anyone ever summoning one of these before. There must be a very powerful witch in Sunnydale, and they don't seem to like Cordelia. Fortunately the wolves are pretty harmless, as demons go. There are said to be creatures in the Isles that could single-handedly lay waste a town this size 'in the space of five heartbeats.' Those accounts aren't entirely reliable but if the witch manages to bring one of the more powerful demons we'll have quite a problem."

That was enough talking. Xander wanted action. "What do we do?"

"The demon wolves can easily be killed by beheading."

Giles paused and looked directly at Buffy. "Remember, when in doubt, decapitate. Not many demons can survive decapitation."

Buffy nodded, but Giles continued speaking.

"Buffy will have no problems handling them; now that she knows the procedure. The witch will be harder to deal with. There are tests for suspected witches but there's no easy way to locate one in a crowd. We can't test all Sunnydale. Oh, and we'll need to bury the heads in a graveyard or they'll come back to life at sunset."

"But what can I do?"

Cordelia smiled wryly at Xander. "We can't fight. If you want to help, help Giles." She tilted her head in a thoughtful pose. "Willow could make a database of the weird deaths and disappearances in Sunnydale this decade, and we could look for patterns; people whose rivals all die mysteriously, ritual murders every October, houses where all the owners died violently. We might find some suspects for the witch that way."

That sounded tedious. Finding out what weird things had been happening without his noticing would be interesting but not if it meant hours of boring research.

"Ooh. We could find other bad things too, before they find us." Willow looked excited at the prospect of a research marathon.

"Well, I'm not sure it would be that useful in identifying the witch." Giles sounded doubtful. "Pre-emptive action is good strategy though. Just print me out a paper copy."

Willow winced. "Um, well, that could be hundreds of pages. Can't you use a computer database?"

"Giles?" Cordelia laughed dismissively. "Computers aren't traditional. If he starts using them, we've got real problems."

Cordelia sounded very sure of herself, considering she had only known Giles for three days.

Giles nodded. "Paper is more human, more real."

When Xander saw Willow that lunchtime she looked hyper.

"I've found out Cordelia's secret, or part of it anyway. You'll never believe it, but we can't talk here. Walls have ears, not literal ears I mean, unless with the hellmouth, but children's ears. We have to talk, tonight, my house. This is going to be fun. Labyrinthine webs of intrigue will make a really interesting problem. Just don't tell anyone. We aren't here, we haven't spoken, and you know nothing, OK?"

Xander smiled. The last sentence was certainly true. He had no idea what Willow had discovered, but it certainly had her excited. He hadn't seen her this hyped since she first got a modem. He didn't expect to find whatever Willow had discovered as thrilling as she obviously did, but she had made him curious. Perhaps he could get Willow to spill the truth, it was clear she could barely keep the secret even without prompting, but the school might be too public a place. He would just have to wait.

"So, are we going to the library?" Xander asked, changing the subject.

Before Buffy arrived Xander had never gone into a library if he could help it but now things were different. It was starting to feel almost welcoming, a refuge from the world. It was a place where he mattered.

Willow nodded. "I've compiled that database Cordelia suggested."

When they reached the library Buffy was already there, wearing a flattering top. Cordelia was there too, talking.

Cordelia broke off her conversation and asked

"Got the database done?"

Willow smiled broadly. "Gigabytes of it. A few thousand deaths and disappearances, with full crime scene reports, pictures of the victims and every file I could find that mentioned the victims in their final week."

Willow looked smugly at Giles. "I could print it all out, but there would be several thousand pages."

Buffy looked staggered. "How many years did you go back?"

"Just four, then the database ran out of room."

"That's one big heap of corpses. There must be enough monsters here for a dozen slayers."

"The hellmouth calls, and they come." Giles reminded them. "That database may prove useful but it's too big to analyse in one lump. We'll have to extract the immediately relevant bits now and peruse the rest when we have time."

"I don't have to be at the keyboard for it to work." Willow pointed out. "The computer can be searching while we sleep."

"I know." Cordelia announced with unconvincing enthusiasm, "Why not print out the last 30 people who have disappeared, with pictures. They'll have been vamped, so if we see them we can run to Buffy."

Not a bad idea, but it wouldn't help them find a witch.

Willow nodded rapidly. "Ooh yes. Isn't that a brilliant idea Xander?"

Giles looked at both of the girls, a curious frown on his face. Willow's enthusiasm sounded almost as fake as Cordelia's. It was obviously because of whatever secret Willow had uncovered. Xander decided to play along, for now. Willow would be explaining everything that evening. In the meantime he would just have to follow her lead, but with better acting.

"Yes." Xander looked at Cordelia and asked "Did thinking it up hurt?"

Cordelia might have found a good idea somewhere, but Xander didn't want her to think he'd gone soft. Cordelia was bossy; give her half a chance and she'd have all the gang following her orders, except for Giles. Xander had to show her that, if she insisted in being in the gang, he would fight her dominance every step of the way, for Willow's sake. Besides, she had let Jesse die; for that alone she deserved to suffer a few extra insults.

Cordelia just smiled, claiming the moral high ground.

Willow coughed. "Um, Giles, what search criteria should I use to identify possible witch activity?"

"Print out my list first." Cordelia said, "And a copy for Buffy. She needs to recognise likely vampires too. Xander, is there anything you can be doing?"

Xander bristled at her tone, but Giles replied first.

"Willow, you may follow Cordelia's advice, this time. Xander, Cordelia; once you've both familiarised yourself with those possible vampires I will find something useful for you to do, if you are sure you want to help."

Ten minutes later Cordelia looked up from the printouts.

"Marcie Ross? I don't remember her. Are you sure this is accurate?" Cordelia sounded surprised.

Xander looked at his copy. Marcie was a girl, in his year, who had vanished a few months earlier. He didn't remember her either but what was so surprising about that?

A smile flickered across Willow's face, then she looked thoughtful. "Why should you remember her?"

"I remember the rest."

"This is a big school." Xander replied. "We probably never saw her."

"Hmm," Willow said, checking her files, "Me and Xander each had four classes with her. I haven't got much else on her. No one actually reported her missing. The school computer flagged her file after she had been gone a month and that was the first anyone noticed. Is she the only one you don't recognise?"

"When I should. Yes. All the more recent disappearances are older people, college students who I wouldn't expect to recognise, but she is the only high school student on the list I don't remember." Cordelia sounded firm, too firm.

She was doing it again. Her words sounded natural enough but they didn't quite ring true. The tone was slightly wrong, as if she had some emotional involvement he didn't know about. What was going on?

"Didn't her parents notice?" Buffy asked casually.

Willow shook her head. "Odd. Giles, does that sound hellmouthy?"

Giles glanced sideways at Cordelia. "Unusual, but not grossly so. Without more evidence there's nothing we can do."

Cordelia frowned then shrugged and said "So, what now?"

"Research." Giles replied, and smiled.

Xander grimaced. That certainly wasn't his idea of fun.

"What's Buffy doing?" Xander asked. "Can't I help her."

There had to be something more active for Xander to do, something more exciting.

"Doing research is helping her. Buffy will be preparing for a fight, which isn't something you can help with directly." Giles said.

"Don't worry, Xander." Cordelia said, sounding amused, "I'm sure you'll get all the excitement you can handle later, and more."

Cordelia turned to look at Giles. "I'll help." she said. "I so do not want more demon wolves to attack me."

Xander shrugged. Clearly he would have to tolerate a few dull hours before they got to the world-saving bit. If Cordelia could manage that he definitely could. Besides, it would give him plenty of time to admire Buffy's physique.

"Bring on the books."

Xander climbed through Willow's window. She was sitting on her bed, a cup of coffee in her hand, quivering with excitement. He quickly glanced around the room, inwardly groaning when he spotted the other three empty coffee cups, and the empty coke cans.

"At last. Did you tell anyone you were coming?" Willow asked him.

"No." Xander said, shaking his head. "What's the big secret?"

Willow smiled and handed him a computer printout.

"I found these in Cordelia's user area. She had deleted the files, but that doesn't destroy them. I just ran all her area through this data recovery utility I wrote and found those. Read them. Tell me what you think."

Xander looked at the printout. There were just two short paragraphs, both written that week. He started to read.

The first paragraph began. "Angelus, ex-scourge of Europe, we know of thy curse and the loophole therein."

Xander looked up and asked. "Cordelia wrote this? She doesn't talk like that even now."

"And she's not smart enough to think of faking an old fashioned writing style. I think someone told her what to write. Have you got to the end yet?"

Xander shook his head, then continued reading.

"One moment of happiness will cancel the curse. We therefore most humbly advise that ye not associate overmuch with the fair sex, lest ye know pleasure. This slayer is to be aided in her task by three mortal children, Cordelia the beautiful brunette, Xander the brave clown, and Willow the quite bright.

"Cordelia the beautiful?" Xander laughed. "That sounds like her, but she wouldn't say it that way."

Willow shrugged. "She couldn't resist adding a little self-flattery."

"To ensure ye are never happy we suggest that ye only speak to Xander. He will relay your messages to the slayer. All three children will be present when the slayer stops the harvest. If ye also aid the slayer tonight, at the Bronze, we will give you further advice."

The note was signed "Children of Athena." It was certainly a weird note, but what did it mean?

"Have you shown Giles this?" Xander asked. This was serious stuff, definitely watcher business.

Willow shook her head. "I don't know if we should. It's complicated but I'll explain. Just finish reading first."

The second paragraph had been written that morning.

"Angelus, We were pleased by thy actions during the harvest but regret that ye spoke to Buffy. Once more we advise ye against such behaviour, lest thy curse be broken. We also ask that ye inform Xander that a witch clad in her daughter's skin walks the town, killing all who threaten her vain ambition and that there is an invisible girl living in Buffy's school. If the Master's minions should catch her events might take a dangerous course."

That paragraph ended with the same signature.

"OK, why shouldn't we tell Giles. Cordelia knows stuff. This is important."

"Too important to go jumping to conclusions. Any hacker could have planted those documents in Cordelia's files. I can't prove I didn't fake them; at least not to Giles or Buffy. They don't know enough about computers to understand the evidence. Cordelia could just deny everything and accuse us of stirring up trouble. She might have a good reason for keeping her secret secret.. Telling Giles might be dangerous. I don't want a big ugly confrontation, not without solid evidence."

Willow had always preferred to be quiet and avoid public scenes. She was too shy to defend herself in arguments, and she was too willing to see the other person's point of view. That was why she was still looking for an innocent explanation for Cordelia's weirdness. Still, Xander suspected that wasn't her only motive. Willow was too excited. She seemed to be anticipating something pleasant.

"We have to tell Giles." Xander insisted. "This is watcher business. If he find's out we knew and didn't tell him, well."

Xander wasn't sure what Giles would do, but he might try and stop Buffy seeing them both.

"How do we know we can trust Giles? How do we know he is the real Giles? He told Buffy he was her new watcher but he never gave her any evidence." Willow said.

"He knows about slayers and he's got the books." Xander replied.

"That's not proof." Willow was insistent. "There may be other secret societies out there who know about this stuff, like these Children of Athena, if that's their real name. We know about this stuff. In ten years we could find some new slayer and convince her we were her watchers. Before we tell Giles anything we have to be sure we can trust him, and we have to have irrefutable evidence of what's going on."

Giles was too stuffy to have hidden secrets. Willow was overreacting.

"We have to trust people. If we start lying to each other the vampires will win." Xander said firmly, trying to calm Willow down.

"Cordelia has already started the lying. Buffy would have lied to us too, if we hadn't discovered her secret first. We have to be careful who we trust. They really are out to get us, the forces of darkness that is. We can't suspect everyone but when people act suspiciously we have to suspect them, and both Cordelia and Giles are suspicious. We can't expect things to be simple either. They may want us to tell Giles about this just to spread suspicion and get us suspected of deliberately sowing suspicion so we should keep this secret secret even if keeping this secret sows suspicion of ourselves. When we know who all the players really are, and the rules of the game, then we can win."

It was nice of Willow to keep saying we, but Xander knew he wouldn't be able to do more than tag along in Willow's wake. If Cordelia was involved in the kind of intricate conspiracy Willow was suggesting he would have no choice have unravelling that web of deceit himself. The best he could expect do was nod in all the right places and hope that Willow was right.

Giles would be able to do more. He was at least as clever as Willow, and older too. Buffy trusted him, and Xander trusted Buffy's judgement. They really should tell him everything, rather than making things even more complicated by piling their own secret plans on top of Cordelia's plots. Instead Willow wanted to keep the secret to herself. Fear of confrontation was obviously part of the motive, but there had to be more.

"It's going to be difficult," Willow continued, "outwitting Giles, uncovering secret societies and all that, but it will be interesting; very interesting. We'll have to assume the documents I found are genuine, while still remembering that they could be fakes. Giles might secretly be a master hacker pretending ignorance. Cordelia's probably working for a secret society, though I'm not sure why. Not yet, anyway."

As Willow began to explain how complex things were, Xander smiled. Now he knew Willow's other motive. It was the thrill of the intellectual chase. She had already been excited, just by discovering the occult was real, but the vistas opened up by her new discovery were so vast that, on top of her earlier excitement, they had left her in ecstasy. He might not be able to understand how she could be so pleased by problems, but he had known her long enough to know how much she loved solving them. She had been like this when she had discovered hacking; in a moral panic at breaking the law, but unable to resist the challenge.

Willow kept interrupting herself as the explanation continued. The ideas must be bubbling through her brain faster than she could speak them. For once, she looked fully awake, alert and in the world. Most of the time, Xander knew, Willow just idled in neutral. School couldn't challenge her brain and he certainly couldn't. She spent much of her time immersed in her own thoughts, but even then, the one percent of Willow's mind that was paying attention to the outside world was still smarter than anyone else Xander had ever met.

Now though, Willow was concentrating the full wattage of her awesome intellect on one problem, trying to crack it. Confident of her ground, she had forgotten her shyness, and let the full brilliance of her mind blaze forth, brighter than the noonday sun. Xander only had to listen to her to know that, compared with Willow, he was but a feeble candle flame.

Still, Willow wasn't perfect. Sometimes she would follow a train of logic up a blind alley and crash spectacularly into a brick wall. Xander's intuition told him this might be one of those times. Willow was building a big tower of perfectly logical speculation on very flimsy foundations. Xander had a horrible feeling she was chasing mist and shadows; fighting fog.

By himself Xander would never be able to convince her keeping the secret was a bad idea; not when she was enjoying herself like this and spilling the secret would mean the kind of confrontation Willow had always dreaded. The two of them together would have been able to persuade Willow but, now that Cordelia had let his friend die, that was no longer an option.

What should he do? If he told Giles Willow would be furious at him spoiling her fun, which would be bad, but he didn't Buffy would be angry at him keeping secret. That would be worse than Willow, except he might have been able to charm his way into Buffy's heart before she found out, which should stop her getting angry at him.

Xander needed more time to think, but that meant waiting, and keeping the secret while he thought. Choosing to do nothing would be a choice to follow Willow. Xander wished Willow had never burdened him with this secret, which might just be a solution to his problem.

"Will you not tell anyone I knew about this?" Xander asked.

Willow nodded, accepting his implicit agreement with her scheme, then asked "So, did you notice the odd thing Cordelia implied about Angel's curse?"

"Angel wasn't mentioned."

"Angel, Angelus. Sound the same, don't they? That's how he knew who we were on Tuesday. The strange thing is Cordelia seems to be assuming he doesn't want his curse removing, but curses are supposed to be things you'd want to get rid off."

So Angel had a secret identity too? Was Xander the only person without a secret? Things just got more complicated the more he learned. This wasn't good. This was definitely bad. The sooner everyone's secrets were revealed the better. Spy stuff might sound fun, but it meant too much hard thinking, and Xander had always left that to Willow. Perhaps he could drop Giles some hints so that he found out about all the secrets for himself before things got out of hand. That would mean going behind Willow's back, but since they both knew he could never outwit her she wouldn't be expecting him to try. Giles would probably want to claim all the credit for uncovering everyone's secrets so he wouldn't give Xander's help away, as long as it wasn't too blatant. Willow might still suspect his involvement, but if he kept things plausibly deniable she would probably overlook it since everyone else would be angry with her anyway.

Xander leaned back and let Willow's fevered speculations wash over him while he waited for the Bronze to open.

The next afternoon Xander was in the mall when Buffy came up behind him.

"Looking at the bracelets?" she said.

Xander nodded. He had been looking for something to give Buffy. She'd told them about the cheerleader tryouts the night before, at the Bronze, so he'd decided to buy her a good luck token. If she liked it he might be able to ask her out, especially if she made the team

"Willow with you?" Xander asked. Perhaps he could ask her what girl's liked.

"No." Buffy replied. "Cordy. She insisted on showing me the best shops. The bracelet for Willow?"

Why should Buffy think he'd want to get a bracelet for Willow? She wasn't that kind of girl. Xander turned round to face Buffy, and his breath caught in his throat.

"Um, no." Xander said. "For you, a good luck thing for tryouts. I was just thinking about an inscription."

Buffy smiled knowingly. "Good luck is traditional for good luck tokens."

Xander nodded. He had been nerving himself to ask for something more romantic, but he couldn't go against Buffy's suggestion.

"So where's Cordelia then?" Xander asked, looking warily around the mall.

"I left her trying on dresses. Getting her a bracelet for tryouts too?"

Xander laughed. Clearly Buffy didn't know him very well, yet. He'd call a vampire his friend before he started buying gifts for Cordelia.

"No." Xander said patiently. "Cordelia doesn't deserve good luck," not when she had just stood and watched while his friend walked off with a vampire. "I just like to be prepared when she's on the prowl."

Buffy sighed. "She's not that bad. Willow's accepted her. Can't we all be friends together, in a nice normal way?"

Willow was just much better at swallowing her bile than Xander. She had to be; she hated public scenes and thought it was wrong to talk about people behind their backs.

"She made our lives a misery for years. I can't forget that overnight." Xander replied.

"You give as good as you get. Then you both smile. I've seen you."

If Buffy said so it had to be true. He supposed he did get a certain kind of twisted pleasure from the verbal sparring; searching for the perfect way to cut Cordelia, then watching her wince as his words hit home, all the while dodging Cordelia's own poisoned barbs. It was invigorating. Besides, Cordelia couldn't really hurt him; she never said anything he hadn't heard a thousand times before, elsewhere.

"Willow doesn't enjoy it."

Buffy smiled at his reply, then persisted. "She's trying to be nice now."

"Well, she's certainly still trying. Why aren't you still with her?"

Buffy looked lost for words, struggling for a polite reply.

"OK, she's a um, well, I thought I saw Harmony coming. Cordy doesn't want her to see us together." Buffy eventually managed.

"Really?" Xander asked, unconvinced.

Buffy ignored him. "But I know what these last weeks have been like for her. I used to be like her, only much nicer."

Xander frowned. He hadn't thought about it, but it made sense that someone as beautiful as Buffy would be at the top of the social pile.

"Then I was chosen." Buffy continued. Her voice went quiet.

"It was awful. I had this whole new secret life and I couldn't talk about it. Everything I had ever cared about seemed almost trivial. My friends all thought I'd gone weird. I wanted to keep a normal life, I still do, but instead I lost my friends, got expelled and had to leave LA. Now Cordy's going through the same thing. She might lose all her friends, everything she cares about; not like you. You'll never lose Willow. Cordelia didn't have to do anything when she found out, nobody chose her, but she decided to hunt vampires by herself. She had to cope with everything all alone for three weeks, could you?"

Xander nodded, but he wasn't sure. He would always have been able to confide in Willow. He couldn't begin to imagine how terribly lonely it would have been for Cordelia if she had found out the way she described. It hadn't happened that way though. Willow suspected Cordelia had spent the previous weekend being brainwashed by some secret society, possibly of Greek nuns. Still, being brainwashed couldn't be any less disturbing than Cordelia's version of events. In fact, Xander realised, whatever had happened to change Cordelia couldn't have been pleasant. It had turned her life upside down in a weekend, forcing her to do things she would have previously hated. Xander would have felt sorry for her if she hadn't deserved it.

Buffy paused briefly while Xander thought, then continued speaking.

"She could go running back to her friends but she isn't. She wants to help and she understands me. I don't want you to drive her away. It's not going to be easy for her. She doesn't have anyone she can talk to, except us. She needs our support, our friendship; and I can't do it alone. You can't expect her to change overnight but there's a good person under that attitude, I think. Just give her a chance."

Xander nodded grudgingly. If he let Cordelia get comfortable with his company she'd be more likely to slip and let her secret out, which would be good. "OK, but I won't let her walk over you and Willow."

Buffy smiled. "I can handle her myself."

"Good." Xander smiled back. "She's heading this way, without Harmony."

Buffy's smile tightened as she half turned to face Cordelia.

"Buying jewellery?" Cordelia asked Buffy. "There are better shops."

"No. Xander." Buffy replied. "He's going to buy me a good luck token, for the tryouts."

"The tryouts?" Cordelia sounded faintly disbelieving.

As the two girls began talking Xander slipped into the shop.

That night, at the Bronze, Xander showed Willow the bracelet and asked "Will she like it?"

"It's not just for luck, is it?" Willow looked away, a melancholy expression on her face, then she blinked.

"Buffy's here now. We'll have to talk about Cordelia later."

Xander looked behind him and saw Buffy walking across the dance floor, as beautiful as ever. She stopped in the middle of the floor and looked around, then went and whispered in Cordelia's ear. Cordelia looked surprised, but nodded agreement.

"You spoke to Cordelia, in public." Xander said as Buffy approached his table. "Is that allowed?"

Buffy just smiled wearily. "When Harmony's not watching."

Buffy paused while she sat down then started speaking again, her tone serious. "I've got a message from Giles. He wants to meet all of us tomorrow, in the library, at half-two. He'll leave the fire exit unlocked. The watcher's council will be phoning him, and he says they want to vet you two and Cordelia."

"Didn't we go through that with Giles on Tuesday?" Xander interrupted.

"Until I told him it didn't matter what he said, I would pick my own friends." Buffy agreed, "but Giles said the council aren't as flexible as he is. He said the council must be most concerned if they want to talk to you at all."

Buffy smiled faintly. "I think that means the council is in a blind panic. They've been reading all those omens that turned up on Monday, like my dream."

Buffy briefly twitched as she mentioned her dream. Even after five days it still disturbed her.

"If the watchers are panicked shouldn't we be?" Willow asked nervously.

"Not yet." Buffy said with forced cheerfulness. "Everything will be fine unless you two start kissing."

Xander grimaced. "That is not going to happen." he stated firmly.

"Buffy." Angel said, startling Xander. He hadn't seen him approaching.

"What is it this time, cryptic guy?" Xander asked. He could guess though. Angel was delivering Cordelia's second note. Xander had been expecting it the previous night but perhaps she hadn't got it to him in time. Xander glanced across at where Cordelia was sitting. She was openly watching the gang, a smile on her face.

"Two things." Angel began. "There is a witch in town, wearing her daughter's skin. She cast her blood upon the sea and the demon wolves came to her, running across the waves. Be careful."

Cordelia's note hadn't said anything about blood. Angel must have other contacts too.

"How do you know all this?" Buffy interrupted, staring hungrily at Angel.

"The children talk to me." Angel said with a slight smile. "There is an invisible girl living in your school. You don't want to fight an invisible vampire."

Buffy glanced at Xander. "Another busy week on the hellmouth. So Angel. Angel?"

Xander looked where Angel had been standing but he had gone, vanishing swiftly and silently away.

Willow smiled. "That was interesting."

Buffy looked annoyed. "We'll tell Giles about it tomorrow. Right now, I just want a normal night out."

The next day Xander frowned as he followed Willow and Buffy into the library. He had better things to do on a Sunday afternoon. Admittedly he couldn't think of any but it wasn't right, being in school at a weekend.

"Now they're all here, can you tell us why this is necessary?" Cordelia said, glaring at Giles.

Everyone else was already there, sitting round the main table. Xander hurriedly took a seat and looked at Buffy. She was wearing yet another flattering outfit. Xander didn't know why she bothered. Buffy would still look good whatever she wore; anything would suit her, and nothing best.

"We sorted this out on Tuesday." Cordelia continued. "Buffy picks her own friends, and you can't stop them getting involved."

Xander nodded. He didn't like agreeing with Cordelia, but she was right about that.

Giles nodded. "I understand but the council takes a different view. I can not go against the council's wishes."

"They aren't here." Buffy objected.

"Yet." Giles replied. "Normally, the watcher is allowed to do their job as they see fit, guided by the ancient traditions of the council. Most watchers go years without needing to talk to the council, but this is different. Buffy's dream, and the flurry of other omens, clearly presage potential apocalypse."

"This is the hellmouth." Cordelia interrupted dismissively. "There's always big evil brewing, you said. The council didn't make any fuss about the harvest, so why now?"

A good point, but how could Cordelia be so blasé about the end of the world?

"This is a bigger evil." Giles replied.

Buffy added. "You didn't hear that laughter."

"But bigger than the master?" Willow asked. "He wants to destroy the world. What could be worse than that."

"I don't know." Giles admitted. "But the omens are clear and the council convinced. Something terrible is coming our way, something that makes the master look almost harmless. That much is plain."

But Buffy's dream had said nothing would happen unless he kissed Willow. Xander knew he would never do that. She was too much like a sister for him to think of her that way. So why were they making all this fuss?

Giles looked thoughtful. "Also, the council did not learn of the harvest until it was over. If it hadn't been for the omens they wouldn't have learnt about the harvest for months yet, but the omens were so bad the council actually broke its traditions and phoned me. Then I had to tell them about Buffy's dream, and about you three. Traditionally, we only send reports to the council once a year. Until recently, it took months for the reports to reach the council, much too late for them to do anything."

"What do the council do then, just write books?" Xander asked. It sounded like that was all they were good for.

Giles nodded. "Not just. Our books embody centuries of experience. Without them every slayer would have to start from scratch."

"Anyway," Giles continued, "it would not normally be practical for the council to try and control affairs from five thousand miles away, but this time it's different. This time we have been given a few months warning of impending disaster, enough time for the council to take action. This time the omens are so terrible, some on the council feel compelled to break with our ancient traditions and take direct action."

"You need to talk to them. Why do we?" Cordelia asked.

"All three of you are deeply involved in the omens. That's unprecedented. Our traditions embody the accumulated wisdom of millennia, but nowhere in it are there guidelines for dealing with civilians in your situation." Giles explained.

"You're in the new world now." Xander said smiling. "Forget your old ways. We do things differently here, and we never do them the traditional way."

If the watchers never did anything new, the vampires must know all their tricks. How could the watcher's hope to win? Only ever doing things the traditional way was just asking for trouble.

Giles smiled. "Apart from Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and Valentine's Day, and Halloween. Some traditions are good."

Giles looked wistfully into the distance. "I always thought not having the council breathing down the watcher's neck was a brilliant tradition."

Xander sat back, stung. He couldn't argue with that, but he still didn't like the idea of blindly following tradition.

"And some traditions are bad." Cordelia retorted. "If your council has no idea how to cope with something new, they're useless."

"Oh, they have ideas, all right, but I don't think you'll like them. They are liable to be counterproductive."

Xander frowned. Why couldn't Giles use plain English?

"You mean they'll make things worse?" Cordelia interpreted. She seemed to be used to the way Giles spoke. That secret society must have given her a lot of practice.

"Some of the younger watchers have volunteered to come here and advise you. They feel that if you have someone at your shoulder, twenty-four hours a day, telling you the best course of action, then nothing can go wrong."

Willow started stammering incoherently. Cordelia seemed speechless with fury.

"No way!" Xander managed to exclaim. "That's a nightmare, a total nightmare."

Buffy smiled. "Sounds like my life."

"Ah. This would be more intensive, Buffy, and you would find yourself with extra watchers too. With the fate of the world at stake, and no traditions to fall back on, many watchers are reluctant to accept a plan they think is second best. There would be several watchers in town, each with a different plan, each trying to make all of you do things their way."

"That did, um, won't happen." Cordelia said firmly. "One watcher is enough for this gang. Is that what you want us to tell the council?"

"Not quite." Giles replied. "The council is guided by the board of directors. They have enough authority to prevent an influx of watchers, but only if they can decide on a plan of their own. If the board dithers, my colleagues will ignore them."

"So we'll be speaking to the board?" Xander asked, trying to keep up with the conversation.

"Well, not directly. That would be a grave breach of protocol. You will be speaking to Mr Travers, while the board listens in."

"What do we have to say?" Cordelia asked.

"The board needs to be convinced you are sound, as competent as watchers, just the kind of people they would have picked. The board does prefer the traditional approach but you will need to soothe their concerns about civilian involvement. Convince them you are reliable, and they will trust us to handle the prophecy the traditional way. Fail, and they will take more drastic measure or, worse, do nothing."

So, if Xander couldn't sound like Giles at sixteen, he would spend the next few months being stalked by the men in tweed. It was going to be a difficult conversation.

"You need to understand how the board thinks. One wrong word and ..." Giles shook his head.

"So, spill." Buffy encouraged him.

"Most of the board of directors are alchemists."

"They can make gold?" Xander interrupted. That didn't seem relevant.

Giles smiled. "Making gold is a trivial by-product of the great work. The philosopher's stone purifies everything it touches; it turns drab metal to gold; it turns common pebbles into priceless gems; and it turns human flesh into the stuff of dreams, eternally young, impossibly beautiful, and purged of all earthly desires."

Cordelia sniffed. "That would never sell. What's the point of being rich, young and beautiful if you can't have fun?"

"That's not the point." Giles replied. "None of the directors have actually made the philosopher's stone but they have achieved limited success. None of them look much over sixty but most of them are into their second century. The board is a group of very old men, and women, firmly set in their ways. They do not react well to change, or crises. The greater the shock the more tightly they cling to the old traditions. You three are the greatest shock they have ever faced."

Xander groaned. He had thought exams were high pressure, but this phone call was in a whole new category. He would have to put on the performance of his life, in front of the worst audience imaginable. Willow didn't look happy at the idea either.

"Do I have to talk to them too?" Buffy asked.

"No, but afterwards they'll be telling us what they've learned about the omens. You will want to hear that."

Giles looked at the teenagers and sighed. "The phone call is due in five minutes. Just try your best. It's too late to back out now."

"How many languages can you read?" Mr Travers asked.

"Only English." Xander replied.

"American education is barely worth the name." Mr Travers mumbled contemptuously. "Mr Harris, are you willing to learn?"

"Yes, for Buffy's sake." Xander didn't see the point, not when they had Giles for all that academic stuff, but he could tell what Mr Travers wanted to hear.

"Would you die for her?"

That was a question he could answer honestly. "Yes." Xander replied, his voice ringing with conviction.

Xander heard paper rustling in the background, then Mr Travers spoke again. "Very well. We will speak to Mr Giles again now."

"I shall fetch him immediately." Xander said.

Xander stepped out of the office. Willow had been keeping herself busy on the computer while Buffy and Cordelia watched, but when they heard the door open they all looked at him, their faces expectant.

"Giles, they want you back."

Giles put down the book he had been reading and hurried into his office, closing the door behind him.

Xander sat down and groaned.

"Bad?" Cordelia asked, with surprising sympathy.

"Twenty minutes of sheer hell. You said it was bad but it was worse than that. Those questions." Xander exclaimed disbelievingly.

"How many Norse gods can you name" Cordelia quoted. "Why would we want to know that?"

"They were just hoping we were the kind of people they trust, like Giles was at our age." Willow said quietly.

Cordelia looked amused. "They don't want us to run off to LA and have demon-powered orgies."

"We can do that?" Xander said startled. So far all the magic he had seen had been bad, but that sounded better.

"Xander!" Willow nudged him in the ribs.

"I don't want to. Demons are bad. It's a bad idea, bad." Xander smiled nervously, hoping the girls believed him. They didn't seem entirely convinced.

The office door opened and Giles walked out, looking worried.

"Well?" Buffy asked.

"You passed muster, just. The board has decided one watcher will be sufficient for the four of you. They'll tell the council that you are trustworthy people and remind the council what went wrong last time it tried direct action, back in 1625."

"What happened?" Willow asked, looking curious.

"A black magic cult was planning to create a hellmouth under London with mass human sacrifice. We ended up fighting a small magical war with them; arcane duels in the streets, in full public view . Over forty thousand civilians died in the cross fire. If they'd stuck to tradition, and used the slayer, we think the death toll could have been kept below one hundred."

"Forty thousand!" Xander exclaimed. The council's track record really was disastrous. It was obvious why they preferred not to get directly involved. "How could they keep that out of the history books?"

Giles shrugged. "That was easy. They just blamed the deaths on an epidemic of bubonic plague. They've covered up much worse events than that."

Giles looked at Cordelia. "The board were quite impressed by what you said you did before Buffy arrived." Giles turned, and looked directly at Xander. "But they feel your knowledge is inadequate. Fortunately, the omens suggest we'll have until midsummer to solve that problem. I've been instructed to teach you all in the basics of occult lore, and given permission to teach you anything else it's safe for you to know."

Giles paused. "That was the good news. The bad news is coming by fax. They're sending us their interpretation of the omens."

"Couldn't they just tell us on the phone?" Buffy asked.

Giles shook his head. "It would take too long. The report has over one hundred pages."

Giles looked around. "Um, where is the school fax machine?"

"I'll show you." Willow said, standing up, then paused. "It's an old machine though. It'll take nearly an hour to receive that many pages."

Buffy smiled. "We'll wait here."

Five minutes later Xander was tired of waiting. Watching Buffy was enjoyable, but he needed to do something.

"This isn't right; spending sunny afternoons shut in a library, being interrogated by a bunch of snobby old Englishmen. Why can't we just kill monsters and party?"

Cordelia smiled. "We can't kill monsters; we aren't slayers. This is dull, but at least it's safe."

Buffy nodded. "I'm not having you fighting. I don't want to put you guys in danger."

"I laugh in the face of danger, then I hide till it goes away." Xander joked. "I'm not a book person. There's got to be something useful I can do."

Cordelia looked thoughtful, then smiled and asked. "So, what did Angel tell you guys last night?"

That seemed like a complete non sequitur. Cordelia was clearly up to something, but what? He would just to play along and encourage her to give herself away.

"Nothing much." Xander replied, trying to sound natural. "He said there was a witch in town, no surprise there."

"She used her blood to summon those fog-dogs." Buffy added.

"She did?" Cordelia sounded surprised. "That all?" she added impatiently. She must have come up with some plan involving that invisible girl.

"There's an invisible girl in school." Xander said deadpan.

"Then we have to catch her." Cordelia said. "We can't have her wandering around, spying on us, and what if a vampire catches her first?"

Xander smiled. Cordelia did have a plan, a plan for action. That was his kind of plan, much better than the plotting that worried Willow.

"How?" Buffy asked. "How can I find somebody I can't even see? That's what Giles is for."

"We don't even know where to start." Xander added, trying to encourage Cordelia to drop hints. If he played dumb Cordelia might end up dropping hints so blatant that Buffy would get suspicious.

Cordelia looked genuinely thoughtful. "Well, what do we know?"

"There's an invisible girl living in the school. That tells us zilch." Buffy sounded pessimistic.

"Um, why would a girl want to live in a school?" Cordelia said.

Xander nodded. "There are so many hotels that cater to the needs of the optically disadvantaged."

Cordelia just smiled at his sarcasm. "Why not live at home, or in the mall, or the Bronze?"

"Because she went here?" Buffy said hesitantly.

Cordelia nodded. "But why not at her home?"

"Her parents don't know. They must think she's missing." Xander suggested, then paused. He'd just been suckered into telling Cordelia what she must already know. Cordelia's rhetorical questions were carefully designed to elicit the right answers. That was sneaky. Cordelia wasn't about to slip up.

"Then she'll be on that missing list Willow printed." Buffy said, looking thoughtful.

Xander nodded. The answer was obvious now. Marcie must be the invisible girl. Cordelia must have been planning this conversation when she had suggested Willow should set up that database. That was why Cordelia had been making so much fuss about her on Friday.

"Marcie Ross." Xander said, deciding to claim the credit for finding the name. He could always trick Cordelia into giving herself away later. "She was the last one our age on that list, and she vanished in a hellmouthy way."

Buffy smiled. "You guys are good. We have a name. Um, now what?"

"We look her up." Cordelia suggested. "Find out what she liked, where she might be hiding."

Cordelia walked over to the shelves and casually picked up the latest yearbook. "She should be in here."

Buffy opened the book and flicked through the pages. "Recognise her?"

Xander shook his head. "No. How could we just forget her?"

"The hellmouth." Cordelia said. "It explains everything."

"Her only activity was band." Buffy read aloud.

"Let's look around the band room." Cordelia suggested, sounding pleased with herself. "We might find some clues."

Xander smiled. With Cordelia present, they'd certainly find clues, even if she was planting half of them herself.

Xander followed Buffy into the band room, with Cordelia one step behind him.

"Looks normal." he commented.

"She can't be living here." Buffy said. "It's too public."

"Perhaps nearby, where she can listen to them practising." Cordelia suggested.

Xander watched Cordelia carefully. He was sure she knew where Marcie was hiding. If he took his cues from Cordelia's body language he should be able to locate the hiding place first and impress Buffy.

Cordelia looked hesitant, probably deciding how to word her next hint. She glanced nervously up at the ceiling then looked at Buffy. Xander looked up, trying to see what had worried Cordelia, and spotted a trapdoor in the corner, above a cabinet.

Xander pointed and said, "Up there?", trying to sound tentative. "There's nowhere else she could hide near here."

Buffy dragged a chair over to the cabinet and climbed up to look. "Footprints. They haven't dusted in months."

Buffy jumped onto the cabinet and opened the trapdoor.

"Wait for us." Xander said as he climbed onto the chair. He didn't want to be left anywhere alone with Cordelia.

"You don't have to come." Buffy replied. "You should stay away from danger."

"Marcie's only an invisible girl," Xander began, then saw Buffy's face looking down at him. "Not a slayer."

"So you think she's harmless, like little young me." Cordelia said sharply behind Xander.

Xander spluttered. He would never describe Cordelia as harmless. She had left too many bruises on Willow's soul for that.

Buffy smiled. "There could be anything up here. You should stay down there with Cordy." Cordelia's face became unreadable.

"No," Xander said firmly. "I'm coming with you."

Buffy sighed. "Cordy, what about you?"

Cordelia looked startled. "Um, stay down here alone or crawl around in the dust. Does Giles pay expenses?"

Buffy smiled. "You could go and find Giles and Willow, tell them what we've found."

"Yes." Xander added. "Marcie won't be needing fashion tips."

Conflicting emotions washed across Cordelia's face. "I won't be sidelined." she mumbled to herself.

"I'm coming up." Cordelia said, sounding confident, but looking nervous.

Buffy pulled Xander up through the trapdoor then leant back down for Cordelia. Xander looked around. The crawl space was dark and grimy; he couldn't see anything unusual.

"Eeew." Cordelia groaned. "This is horrible."

"Tread carefully." Buffy warned them. "I don't want you falling through the ceiling."

Buffy paused, then pointed towards a skylight. "Footprints, heading that way." She hurried off.

When Xander caught up with her Buffy was picking up a flute.

"This must be her nest." Buffy said sadly.

Xander looked at the pathetic pile of oddments on the floor; an old yearbook, a tattered blanket, some sheet music; worthless junk, but it was all Marcie had.

"Not much of a life." Xander sighed. "I thought invisibility would be fun but this just looks lonely."

"Where's Cordy?" Buffy asked. " Did she change her mind?"

Xander looked back towards the trapdoor. "No, she's just being very careful." Cordelia was moving with great delicacy, as though she expected the floor to collapse at any moment.

"What now?" Xander asked. He had been hoping for some action, but Marcie was obviously harmless.

"Marcie, are you here?" Buffy said quietly. "We can help."

"Nobody can help me. You're all the same." a strange voice said.

Xander shuddered. That must be Marcie but he couldn't see her. There really was an invisible girl right in front of him.

"This Marcie's junk?" Cordelia asked, arriving behind Xander. She gently nudged the pile with her foot and sniffed. "Worthless trash."

"Cordelia!" Marcie screamed. "You did this. You! In my place. Get out. Now. Go!"

Xander hear Marcie run past him, screaming in fury.

Cordelia staggered back a step, then fell backwards, straight through the floor.

Xander knelt and peered through the hole. Cordelia had fallen into the science lab. Luckily, the demonstration mirror had broken her fall, but she seemed to be stunned.

"It's all your fault. Everything's your fault." It sounded like Marcie had fallen through the hole too.

Buffy jumped through the hole, landing on her feet, just inches from Cordelia.

"Marcie. We can help. Cordy's sorry. Just come peacefully." Buffy was trying to calm Marcie down.

Xander sat down, his feet dangling through the hole, and began to lower himself into the room.

"Help? How? I heard you. You kill monsters and freaks, like me." Marcie sounded calmer now.

"I never kill people, never." Buffy sounded offended.

Xander dropped to the floor and stumbled, falling to his knees.

Marcie's voice cracked. "No one can help me. It's been horrible, just horrible, and it's all her fault."

That didn't make much sense. Why would Cordelia arrange for them to discover Marcie if she was responsible. She must know Giles would find out.

Cordelia groaned. She looked terrible, obviously in pain. Whatever she had done she didn't deserve this. Xander knelt down besides her and gently wiped the blood from her cheek.

"Deja vu." Cordelia muttered, opening her eyes. What did she mean?

"Are you OK?" Xander asked quietly.

"I've been hurt worse." she said, her voice weak.

Xander looked up. Marcie was sobbing now. Xander still couldn't see her, but Buffy had her arms wrapped round some invisible shape.

Xander heard a key rattle in the lock, then the classroom door burst open and Willow and Giles staggered in, both breathless.

Willow looked round the room wide-eyed. "What happened?"

Giles hurried over to Cordelia, his face pale. "Is she?" His voice trailed off.

"Shouldn't we phone 911?" Willow asked.

"I'll be fine." Cordelia quietly insisted.

"Was this slayer business?" Giles replied. When Buffy nodded he continued. "Then we can't involve the authorities yet. I've got some medical training for these situations. We'll take her to the library. I've got supplies there."

Buffy held an ice pack to Cordelia's head while Giles gingerly felt her for broken bones.

"Heavy bruising and lacerations, but no real damage. The headache should pass in a few hours." Giles finally announced. "Now, what happened and how did you find this invisible girl."

"My name is Marcie" she interrupted, sounding indignant. "Untie me."

"We need to know where you are." Buffy said patiently. "We can't help otherwise."

Buffy looked at Giles. "We were talking about what Angel said last night."

Giles interrupted. "Angel?"

"Cryptic guy, remember." Xander said. "Told Buffy about the harvest and helped with the vampires."

Buffy nodded. "He told us there was an invisible girl here. We tracked her down. She pushed Cordy through the ceiling."

Giles frowned. "I need a little more detail than that. What did Angel tell you, exactly."

"He said there was an invisible girl in school." Willow replied.

"Is that all?"

Xander shook his head. "He said the witch had summoned those demon wolves with her own blood, but he didn't say anything else about Marcie."

Giles looked intrigued. "Hmm. Blood would make the spell more powerful, especially if she used her own. That and the power of the hellmouth might be just enough. But how did you manage to track Marcie down with such meagre information?"

"Cordy and Xander worked it out." Buffy replied. "They were brilliant."

Willow smiled meaningfully at Xander. He knew she wouldn't believe that. He'd have to tell her later how Cordelia had planted hints but for now it was enough to bask in Buffy's praise.

"It was all Xander's idea." Cordelia said. Flattering, but she probably wanted to ensure nobody asked her awkward questions.

Cordelia turned her head to look at the chair Marcie was fastened to. "What did you mean, my fault? I don't remember ever seeing you."

Yes, Cordelia definitely didn't want people asking how they'd worked out who Marcie was. The process had been too tidy. Buffy didn't seem to suspect anything but Giles was smarter. If he heard too much detail he'd know something was fishy.

"You never saw me, even when I was visible." Marcie said bitterly. "Everyone ignored me, and I vanished. You made me into a freak."

"Of course." Giles exclaimed. "Quantum physics."

Xander stared at Giles. What did he mean? Everyone else, even Willow, seemed equally baffled.

"It's a rudimentary concept that reality is shaped, or even created, by our perceptions." Giles explained.

"And the hellmouth encourages weirdness." Cordelia added.

"Yes. People perceived Marcie as invisible and you became so. It's not Cordelia's fault, Marcie."

"If she hadn't ignored me." Marcie persisted.

"I didn't know." Cordelia interrupted. "Xander must have ignored you too, but you didn't half kill him. I could have died."

"You came into my home, kicked my things, insulted everything I have. What did you expect? Flowers?"

"I came to help you." Cordelia said emphatically. "And I wasn't trying to insult you. Your pile of junk looked so pitiful. It was completely worthless, but it was all you had. I was feeling sympathetic."

The amazing thing was, it sounded like Cordelia really believed everything she had just said. She might have been tactless but her heart had been in the right place. Marcie didn't seem impressed though. She just snorted disbelievingly.

Willow looked thoughtful. "Did you actually want Xander and me to notice you?"

"I wanted to be noticed." Marcie snapped. "Everyone ignored them. Nobody ignores Cordelia."

Cordelia's eyes opened wide in surprised realisation. "You wanted to be like me, but you failed."

"Like you!" Marcie spat. "You mean vain, arrogant and cruel? Nobody wants to be like you, nobody even likes you."

Marcie sighed, and in a quiet voice added "I just didn't want to be lonely."

"And you thought being popular would help?" Cordelia smiled disbelievingly. "You think I'm never lonely? I can be surrounded by people and still feel alone. It's not like any of them really know me. Half of them don't even like me. People just want to be in a popular zone, like you did. Sometimes when I talk, everyone's so busy agreeing with me, they don't hear a word I say."

As Cordelia spoke her voice grew wistful, tinged with old pain. "It's lonely at the top. Real friends are much better, if you can find them. You would have been better off with Willow and Xander."

Cordelia smiled faintly. "Buffy knows what I mean. She was popular once."

Buffy nodded. "There was something missing, and it looked like you three."

Xander was puzzled. There was no doubting the sincerity of Cordelia's words. Buffy believed her and nobody was that good an actress. Cordelia clearly had hidden depths, but that left one key question unanswered.

"If you're not enjoying it, why do you work so hard to be popular?"

"It beats being alone all by yourself," Cordelia's voice grew bitter as she looked at Xander. "I've never had any real friends. I doubt I ever will. You only tolerate me because I'm useful. That's why I had to go into the ceiling, and look what that got me. No, popularity is a poor second to real friendship, but it's the best I can get."

Xander knew that must be the headache talking. Nobody could think that way and, even if they could, Cordelia would never be so open about her feelings if she were thinking straight. If it had been anyone else he might have thought they were trying to make him feel guilty but Xander knew Cordelia was too proud to reveal any vulnerability, no matter what the motive. It would take a life-shattering trauma to weaken Cordelia's pride and Xander knew she hadn't been through any of those apart, Xander supposed, from discovering vampires were real, and perhaps being brainwashed by some puritanical Greek cult, but still neither of those adequately explained Cordelia's outburst. It had to be the headache talking; Xander couldn't think of any other explanation.

Buffy began spluttering denials while looking accusingly at Xander. Willow just looked guilty, and took a half-step towards Cordelia.

Marcie laughed scornfully. "You think you've had it tough? You disgust me."

Cordelia nodded. "You've had it worse, months of complete isolation, without people even pretending to listen to you, but it wasn't my fault." she said, in a calm sympathetic voice pitched just right to make Marcie furious.

Marcie began to reply but Willow interrupted, casually remarking. "Couldn't we cure Marcie by reversing the process. If we act as if we can see her, then our perceptions will become real and Marcie become visible once more."

"Ingenious." Giles commented, startled, then looked thoughtful.

Buffy looked confused. "How can we pretend to see something that isn't visible? We'd know we were faking it. We couldn't make Giles twenty just by acting like he was, could we?"

Willow shook her head. "No, not that way. We tell people who don't know we saw Marcie round the corner just a minute ago. We keep dropping her name into conversations until people believe Marcie exists. Once the school believes Marcie exists, she will become visible."

Marcie sounded hopeful. "I can be cured?"

Giles frowned. "It's ingenious, but it's too dangerous. The consensus image of Marcie your actions would create in the school wouldn't be the same as the real Marcie. The hellmouth would give that consensus human form, but it wouldn't have a human soul. At best it would be soulless, at worst..." Giles shuddered. "There are so many things that could use the body we would be creating, so many terrible things. It's a good idea, but it isn't safe."

Cordelia shrugged. "Don't worry Marcie. Giles will cure you. He knows magic, I bet."

Giles looked thoughtfully at Cordelia. "I do have limited knowledge of the magical arts, but no practical experience."

Cordelia smiled strangely at that, but Giles continued. "Still, I might be able to find a cure, but I will need to consult my books."

Buffy nodded. "See Marcie. Everything will be all right. You just have to wait a few days."

"Wait where?" Marcie asked. "Tied up in here like some monster?"

"No. You're human." Giles said firmly. "Buffy can take you home with her."

"I can?" Buffy said, sounding slightly panicked. "How do I explain it to Mum?"

"None of our parents would notice an invisible presence eating all the food." Cordelia added sarcastically. "You take her."

Xander and Willow nodded. An invisible girl sharing his bedroom might be interesting but there were so many ways she could accidentally get Xander in trouble with his parents.

"You can stay in my flat, if you promise not to run away or touch anything." Giles reluctantly told Marcie.

Marcie took several seconds to respond but eventually she replied, "OK but I better be cured soon."

"So, what now?" Buffy said. "Has that fax finished yet?"

Giles shook his head. "You should help Cordelia home. She needs a good night's rest. Willow and Xander can stay and keep Marcie company if there's no problem."

Xander smiled. "It'll be fun. She can tell us all the things she's spied on." Willow nodded agreement.

"But when will we know what's in the fax? I want to know why the watchers are panicking." Buffy persisted.

Giles smiled. "The council would never panic; it would be too undignified."

"Was that a joke?" Xander asked smiling. "You need to work on your delivery."

Still smiling, Giles looked at Xander. "I'll read the fax tonight, and summarise it tomorrow morning, at eight-thirty, if that's not too early."

What could Xander say? Buffy and Willow were both eager to hear about the prophecies that had panicked the watchers. He would have to agree, despite his reluctance to be in school so early in the morning. Slowly Xander nodded his compliance.

Willow looked bashfully at Giles. "You said you'd been told to teach us about the occult. When will that start?"

"When there isn't a crisis." Giles replied. "I have to decide what is safe and useful for you to know. I doubt you want or need to memorise the names and attributes of all one thousand children of the demon Fthagael."

Definitely not. That would be worse than school.

"But," Giles continued, "There are things I can tell you that might save your life. They might even help you four save the world."

"Fighting?" Xander asked. Learning to fight like Buffy would be fun. "You can teach all of us, not just Buffy."

"No." Giles said. "It is Buffy's duty to fight, not yours. Also, you are too young. If you learnt to fight effectively you would just become overconfident and get yourself killed. Watcher's don't learn the martial arts till their mid-twenties at the earliest."

Giles smiled. "Still, I might teach you the crossbow. It's useful but keeps you at a safe distance.."

Xander frowned. That was something, but he had hoped for more.

Buffy nodded. "Leave the fighting to me." She turned and looked at Cordelia. "Can you stand?"

Cordelia groaned in pain as she struggled to her feet. "Barely. I certainly won't be at the tryouts tomorrow."

"Tryouts?" Giles asked.

"For cheerleading." Buffy replied.

Giles looked disdainful. "Ridiculous pastime. It is fortunate Cordelia has got a good excuse to drop it. None of us will have the time for such frivolous hobbies, and the council would certainly not approve."

Buffy stiffened slightly but said nothing. She must be waiting for a better time to tell Giles.

Xander watched Cordelia limp out of the room, leaning heavily on Buffy. Giles followed them, heading back to the fax.

"OK, Marcie" Xander said brightly. "What's the funniest thing you saw?"

The next morning Giles looked up as the four teenagers stepped into the library.

"Well?" Buffy asked impatiently, as she sat down. "What's the bad news? What will I have to kill?"

"It is worse than I feared." Giles replied. "The four of you appeared in hundreds of visions last Monday. Most of them resembled Buffy's dream, but some of the visions had extra details. They were all accompanied by the direst of omens."

"How bad could they be?" Willow asked.

Giles leafed through the pile of pages. "Well, there is Drake's drum. It sounds whenever England is in danger of imminent destruction. Mostly, it responds to major wars, but if the world is destroyed England will also perish. It sounded just once in 1936, to warn us of Hitler; it sounded twice in 1937, the first time the master tries to open the hellmouth. Sometimes it has stayed silent for decades but now it is sounding steadily, one drum beat every two hours. There are over a hundred comparable incidents in these pages, and there may be more the watchers do not know about."

"What extra details?" Cordelia asked, looking worried. "Did anyone see anything extra about me."

"No," Giles replied. Cordelia looked strangely relieved. Xander had thought she'd want more omens, so she could tell herself how important she was.

"But the visions did make it clear that Xander and Willow must also make world-shaking decisions. These photocopies describe the omens specific to each of you." Giles said as he handed them out. "Most of the details are obscure, but it appears that Willow will have to choose between old dreams and new hope while Xander will be forced to choose between two women, each of whom would demand a different sacrifice."

Xander smiled, and looked at Buffy. That prophecy sounded enjoyable, and easy. He would just pick Buffy and all would be well. She was worth any price. Willow began looking through her pages.

"We haven't been able to decipher anything about Cordelia's choice, but it is clear that if any of you make the wrong decision you will fall into evil and the world will be worse than damned."

Xander couldn't believe that. He knew he wasn't perfect and Cordelia being evil wouldn't surprise anyone but there was no way Willow would ever do anything immoral.

"Don't I get a choice?" Buffy asked, looking peeved.

"Ah, no." Giles replied. "Your role is what it was always destined to be. You are the slayer, scourge of evil. That hasn't changed."

Giles paused significantly. "Almost everything else has. Whatever happened last Monday rewrote destiny, reducing most of the prophecies of millennia to scrap paper. That's why our tarot cards turned to dust. The future has been changed."

"So what?" Cordelia said smiling. "What if this is a better future?"

"It won't be." Giles replied. "Buffy's dream, and the other new omens and prophecies, have shown us the broad shape of the new future; death and endless despair, evil on a scale that makes the Master look petty. The only hope of humanity is Buffy, and you three."

"Us?" Xander said, shocked. That was more responsibility than he wanted, though he had no doubt that he could manage. Willow and Cordelia looked equally shocked.

Giles nodded. "Before last Monday, only Buffy had a destiny. The rest of you weren't meant to get involved. You would all have lived normal lives, completely unaware of all this."

Cordelia's face twitched briefly, in a disbelieving smile. Why? Xander couldn't see how it fitted with Willow's theory. It might just mean the secret society's plan was more intricate than they thought, which was what Willow said everytime he asked questions, but Xander felt that explanation was too complicated.

"But the future changed." Giles continued, "and you three acquired a destiny."

Buffy smiled. "Welcome to the club."

"What changed things?" Willow asked. "Can't Buffy just kill whatever is responsible and put the future back the way it was meant to be, except with us still involved, because I couldn't just forget after I've seen vampires and demon wolves and invisible girls, not that I saw her. Where is Marcie anyway?"

"Shut in my office." Giles replied. "She doesn't need to hear this conversation."

Giles paused briefly "We don't actually know what is responsible but the board recognises the style. There is something out there which patiently plots to unmake the world. Its schemes span centuries, with contingency plans stacked seven deep. In 1623 it brought the world to the edge of oblivion."

Xander frowned. There was something familiar about that date.

"But it didn't win." Willow interrupted. " 'cause the world's still here. What happened that time?"

"It was a pyrrhic victory; it took us years to heal the worst damage and, even today, the world has not fully recovered." Giles replied.

"Wasn't that when that hellmouth thing in London you said about yesterday happened?" Buffy asked. "Is that what's going to happen here?"

"No." Giles replied. "Opening a hellmouth under London was just one of the contingency plans for the failure of one of its contingency plans, not the main plan. Tricking the council into open magical warfare in the streets was only a contingency plan for the failure of the hellmouth opening plan."

Giles had lost Xander half way through that sentence, but Willow was smiling. She understood what Giles meant; she could explain it to Xander later, if it was important."

"If it's so big, why didn't you already know about it?" Cordelia asked sceptically.

"I wasn't told, until yesterday. The board didn't think I needed to know, and they wanted to ensure I couldn't be tortured into telling the wrong people. Apparently, the board has several such secrets, but they've never found it necessary to tell the actual watcher that the secrets even exist."

Giles sounded slightly bitter about that, understandably. How could the board know what Giles needed to know? They might be good guys, but they seemed completely useless at everything except writing books.

"So what happened last time?" Buffy asked. "What will we be fighting?"

"I don't know, but this battle will not be won by strength alone. These three will have to make the right choice." Giles seemed sure of that.

"But what happened? What is it?" Buffy persisted.

"It has no true name and no man has ever seen it, but the demons called it Omega, the Last, the great devourer and many other such titles. Some think it's connected with the First; it may even be the same entity." Giles replied.

"I don't care who its cousins are. What did it do that was so bad?" Buffy interrupted impatiently. She seemed as eager as Xander to get to the action. Cordelia was too composed to show any emotion but only Willow seemed to be enjoying Giles's lecture.

"It tricked the vampire, Thanatos, into crossing the spears." Giles said. " But it won't be able to use the same tactic this time. The Master was a minor member of Thanatos's court, and the only one who escaped. We think he spent the next decade hiding in Russia. He certainly won't repeat Thanatos's mistake."

"Hiding? From what?" Xander asked, trying to keep the names straight. "The Master wants to destroy the world too, right? Isn't this Omega guy on the Master's side?"

Giles smiled grimly. "Omega treated the vampires as mere pawns. The Master just wants to bring the demons back, destroy humanity, and rule the world; petty ambitions."

"Because the world is just a little chunk of rock." Cordelia interrupted sarcastically.

Giles nodded. "Omega operates on a larger scale. It came close to unmaking the cosmos; not just destroying it, but making it never have existed. Since the demons came from this reality, that would have unmade them too."

"So? Dead is dead, and I really don't care what happens to demons." Cordelia said calmly, but there was a faint tinge of worry in her voice. She seemed determined to dismiss what Giles was saying. Why? If her sources had told her this prophecy was false she would already have known about it but she had looked genuinely surprised when Giles had mentioned it.

"The Master can't harm your soul. Omega can destroy it"

Giles seemed to think that was impressive and, since he was an expert on the occult, it probably was, but Xander couldn't see why.

"So I just kill Omega and no more problem?" Buffy persisted.

Giles shook his head. "It's too late for that. Even if we knew what Omega was, and assuming it can be killed, the trap has already been triggered. Omega will have spent centuries creating this time bomb. Last Monday something started it ticking. It can only be defused if we make the right choices and, even then, we can be sure the price will be high."

Giles shrugged. "Anything could have started it, perhaps something as trivial as a drop of blood on an old family heirloom. It's too late to stop it now. All we can do is prepare to weather the coming storm."

"But last week you said if me and Willow don't kiss nothing will happen. We aren't going to kiss." Xander protested. He couldn't imagine why he'd want to kiss Willow anyway, but Buffy's dream had ensured he never would.

"Buffy's dream wasn't an if, it was a when. You will certainly, um, k-kiss Willow, at least metaphorically. It might be referring to a conspiracy, or even a betrayal."

Xander winced when he heard that. He was already conspiring with Willow. Did that mean he had already placed the fate of the world in Cordelia's hands? Worried, Xander looked at Willow, but she just smiled dismissively. She must have thought of a better explanation.

"The details are unclear but this much is plain." Giles continued. "Buffy's dream showed the keystone of Omega's plot. If you weren't going to kiss Omega wouldn't have been able to change the future."

"What did it do last time? If we know that might help. You mentioned spears." Willow asked, changing the subject..

Giles smiled at Willow. "It arranged for Thanatos to obtain two magic spears, Gungnir and Laran's spear."

"We can get magic weapons?" Xander interrupted, imagining himself swinging a big fiery sword around.

"No." Giles replied flatly. "Even on the hellmouth, magical objects are extremely rare and not safe for human use. Those two spears belonged to gods. Laran was the Etruscan god of war and Gungnir belonged to the chief Norse God, Odin."

Xander decided not to ask any more questions. Giles kept answering them, at excessive length. Willow might enjoy that, but he didn't. Buffy was also looking bored, but Cordelia looked to be deep in thought.

"Both of those spears were objects of immense power. Thanatos thought their combined power would let him breach the dimensional barriers and bring the demons back. He had been tricked."

Giles paused, and checked his notes. "Both spears were foci of mystical power. Each of them amplified magic in its vicinity."

"Like the hellmouth?" Willow asked. Xander frowned at her. If she kept asking questions Giles would never finish speaking.

Giles nodded. "In a way. The hellmouth only amplifies malign probabilities; demons, black magic, curses, and so forth. The spears amplified everything martial, for good or ill, including each other. That meant-"

Willow gasped, interrupting Giles. "A positive feedback loop. Runaway growth? Or did it saturate?" Once again, Willow had deduced the answer before anyone else had understood the question.

At first Giles seemed slightly confused by Willow's wording but he quickly smiled. "Not the standard terminology, but yes it um, ran away. At first everything was going the way Thanatos had planned. The dimensional barriers weakened, and thousands of demons slipped through. Many of the demons living today are here because Thanatos crossed the spears. But it didn't stop there. As the power of the spears grew reality began to crumble, the world dissolving into chaos. Thanatos tried to stop it, but he couldn't separate the spears. We've only got second hand reports of what happened next, but it seems that other things came to dance in the chaos; creatures of madness incarnate, vileness beyond all comprehension, and the demons fled that place, terrified. The chaos continued to expand, driven by the ever increasing power of the spears, trebling in size each week, until it seemed nothing could stop it."

"Something did." Willow said. She was leaning towards Giles, caught up in his story.

Giles nodded. "After several failed attempts we finally stopped it, but only by making the ultimate sacrifice. The twelve most senior watchers each gave up their lives to empower the slayer, giving her the strength to walk unharmed through the chaos and destroy the spears. She succeeded, but was herself destroyed in the process; not just killed, but unmade."

Willow started to ask another question but Giles glanced at Buffy, who was clearly bored, and sighed. "Willow, I think that's all you need to know for now. It would take hours to tell you the full story and classes will be starting soon."

Still looking thoughtful Cordelia said "Panic much, and all over a few dozen scary dreams. Could this Omega just be bluffing, to panic you? Buffy stops, um, can stop world threatening weirdness every month, right? That's her job. Omega might be just another easy fight for her; with a lot of help from us."

Cordelia sounded unsure of her own words but Xander thought they made sense.

"There's a witch out there with a pack of giant wolves." Xander reminded Giles. "Let's worry about her now. Omega can wait his turn. When he shows up Buffy will kill it."

Giles sighed. "It won't be that easy, but at least you've been warned. Read the prophecies about yourselves and be alert."

Cordelia smiled, apparently relieved she wouldn't have to do anything.

"Got any more thrilling news? Anything I can actually do?" Buffy asked.

"No," Giles replied, "but I do have one gift for you."

Giles reached into his pockets. "Keys." he said, placing a pile on the table. "So you can come in here at any time. They should come in useful."

Willow snatched up the library key, smiling with anticipated pleasure. Xander shrugged and picked up the key. They weren't quite what he would have chosen, but he wouldn't object to special privileges for the slayer and her gang. After all, they were going to save the world.

That lunchtime Buffy stepped out of the library, looking very attractive in her cheerleader's uniform, but slightly annoyed.

"Giles didn't approve?" Willow said.

The three of them began walking down the corridor towards the gym.

"He totally lost his water. We haven't seen anything dangerous since Thursday. I'd say he should get a girlfriend if he wasn't so old."

"But what about Omega?" Willow sounded unsure. She worried too much.

"When he shows, we'll deal." Buffy sounded dismissive. "We'll still have time to fight the forces of darkness. I just want to do something normal, something safe."

Xander nodded. "We're right behind you. Let's do things your way."

"I hope we have a choice." Willow sounded pessimistic. "Have you looked at those prophecies Giles gave us? They don't look good."

"They look like complete gibberish." Xander had glanced at them but he hadn't been impressed. "I hoped they'd say something I could bet on."

Willow smiled. "You don't know how to bet."

"I've seen prophecies before. They tell you exactly what's going to happen but you have to think like Giles to understand them. I never understood why they couldn't use plain English." Buffy said with feigned calm, then nervously added "They don't say anything about me, do they?"

Xander smiled. The one prophecy he had looked at had mentioned Buffy, and it was good news.

"Yes." Xander replied. "These Buddhist monks saw my face in a vision, and it spoke to them. It said I was 'the defender of men.' "

Willow nodded. "That's what Alexander means."

"Oh." That was disappointing. Xander had been hoping it meant something special. "Anyway, it said I had a nice laugh, in fancy language, and that I would, um, 'rescue the slayer from beyond the portals of death, twice.', so that's good news. After that it got totally incoherent."

It had also gotten very gloomy, but Xander didn't want to risk depressing Buffy.

Buffy smiled. "That's the kind of prophecy I like, not all doom and gloom."

Willow didn't seem so impressed. "That sound nice" she began tentatively "but if you're going to bring Buffy back from the dead, won't she have to die first? And three times too, at least."

"Three?" Buffy looked puzzled, and slightly worried.

"Twice when Xander brings you back, once when you stay dead, and maybe a few other times too." Willow explained.

"Oh great. First I'm told I can't have a normal life. Now I find I won't even get a normal death. I don't want to spend years yo-yoing between earth and, um, wherever."

The three of them walked the rest of the way to the gym in silence. Why couldn't that prophecy have been more cheerful?

When they stepped into the gym Xander smiled.

"People scoff at things like school spirit, but look at these girls giving their all like this." he remarked.

All the school's most attractive girls in skimpy costumes could boost anyone's spirit, it had certainly boosted his, and they didn't object to Xander watching. If it hadn't been for the wonderful school spirit he would have had to pay to see a sight like this.

"Ooh! Stretchy." Amber doing the splits was especially inspirational but also distracting. "Where was I?"

Willow smiled. "You were pretending that seeing scantily clad girls in revealing postures was a spiritual experience."

"Who said I was pretending?" Xander tried to remember what he had meant to do next, something to Buffy, or for her.

"Oh hey." Xander looked at Buffy. "Here's a good luck thing for tryouts." Xander fished the bracelet out of his pocket and passed it to her.

Buffy examined the bracelet. "And it says 'good luck' too." She smiled and put it on.

The bracelet hadn't been cheap, but Buffy's smile made it worthwhile. If he thought it would make her smile at him like that all the time he would gladly have bought her a hundred bracelets.

"Amy. Hi." Willow had spotted her old friend. Amy shivered slightly, then braced herself and walked towards Willow.

"I didn't know you wanted to be a cheerleader." Willow told Amy, looking mildly surprised. "You've lost a lot of weight."

"OK, listen up." Joy said, starting the tryouts. "Let's begin with Amber Grove. If you're not auditioning move off the floor."

Willow continued talking but Xander was only half-listening. Amber wasn't as graceful as Buffy, but she was still nice to look at.

"They have cheerleading coaches?" Buffy seemed shocked.

"Oh yeah." Amy replied. "It's safer too. Cordelia wouldn't have had her accident if a coach had been watching."

"What happened to her?" Xander asked. It would be interesting to know what people where saying. "And where is she anyway?"

"She had an accident training . She's been limping all day. She can't get in the squad, so she doesn't want to watch." Amy sounded unconcerned.

Xander blinked, surprised. Amber was still doing her routine, but now something looked wrong. He could see smoke but where was it coming from?

"That girl's on fire!" Willow exclaimed.

Amber dropped her pom-poms as her hands burst into flame, then started screaming.

Buffy froze briefly, clearly shocked, then jumped up onto the stand and pulled down a banner. She quickly ran over to Amber, knocked her to the ground, and wrapped the banner round Amber's hands, snuffing out the flames.

Xander breathed a sigh of relief.

The banner began to smoulder.

"What?" Amy sounded shocked.

The banner crumbled into ash as the flames raced up Amber's arms.

Buffy looked frantically round the room, searching for something she could use.

Amber's hair began to burn. Xander shuddered and looked away. If only there were something he could do.

But there wasn't. Willow was white with terror, Amy kept repeating "How?" in strangely excited tones, someone was vomiting noisily, and several people were screaming, but Xander could only stand there helpless while a few yards behind him a young girl died. He coughed as the sulphurous stench of burning hair filled the room, underlain by a sickly sweet scent Xander didn't even want to think about. All he could do was stare at the wall and wait for the baleful light of the flames to die away.

"Nobody's ever got toasted before." Buffy said, pacing round the library.

"I imagine not." Giles replied dryly.

"So, this isn't a vampire problem."

"You said there must be a witch in town." Willow reminded them. "Could she have done it?"

"Possibly." Giles confirmed. "Or it could have been spontaneous human combustion. It is rare and scientifically unexplainable but there have been cases for hundreds of years. If it was spontaneous there's nothing we can do but if it's a witch Buffy will have to catch them."

"Catch her? She murdered Amber." Xander said. Why not just kill the witch?

"Slayers don't kill humans, except in self-defence. The witch deserves a proper trial. If we can, we'll ship them to the Council in England, and they'll see justice done. Oh, and the witch might be a man."

"How?" Willow asked. "Can't she just magic her way out of captivity? And how will you get her through customs?"

"We'll keep them too drugged to do magic. This isn't the first time the watchers have arrested a witch, Willow. We know how to deal with the problems."

Cordelia sidled into the library. "I heard about the fire. Did Amber actually die? You know rumour."

Buffy nodded. "Nothing left, not even ashes."

Clearly shocked Cordelia looked quizzically at Giles. "Why couldn't Buffy put the fire out? Amber shouldn't have died."

"The magic the witch used must have been too strong for mundane countermeasures to overcome." Giles speculated. "Holy water should have worked though."

"Could something have, um, amplified the spell? Perhaps the witch only wanted to hurt Amber." Cordelia was looking worried.

"Well, there could have been a fortuitous astrological conjunction, or a random fluctuation in the hellmouth energies." Giles said thoughtfully.

Cordelia looked relieved, but Giles continued speaking. "More likely though, the witch actually wanted Amber to die."

Marcie spoke up, startling everyone. "Looking for excuses, Cordelia? I might have known you'd back up a witch. You've got so much in common."

Xander frowned as Cordelia winced. That was a bit much. Cordelia was no saint but she wasn't bad either.

"Well, it's no wonder you became invisible." Cordelia replied sharply. "With that attitude people must have been glad to forget you."

Marcie started to reply, but Giles interrupted.

"Marcie, you've already spent all morning complaining about Cordelia. She didn't deliberately make you invisible. Could we concentrate on the witch? Really, you shouldn't even be listening to this."

"I'm not going to spend all day cooped up in your office." Marcie sounded annoyed. "Perhaps I can help. At least I care when people die, unlike some people I could name." Giles looked frustrated.

Cordelia smiled sweetly. "We must make some allowance for Marcie. All that time utterly alone would drive most people mad. We're lucky she's still mostly sane."

"Remember the witch, people?" Buffy asked. "Burns people to death, has a pack of giant green dogs. Bickering won't stop her."

"Didn't you say Angel said something about her?" Cordelia asked.

Xander smiled. Cordelia must be about to ask a string of leading questions that would point straight at the witch, whose name she probably knew. Giles was bound to realise there was something odd when he heard her do that, which would be good. It would free him from his secrets.

"He said she was wearing her daughter's skin, and can I just say eeuw."

"She's definitely a woman then." Xander said. That cut the suspects in half.

"There are cults that wear the flayed skins of their victims." Giles said, thinking aloud, "but Angel was probably being metaphorical. Somehow this witch has made herself look like her daughter. It could be anything from a simple glamour to a full fledged soul transference. I'll have to research the possibilities, and ways of reversing the process."

"So, we're looking for someone who's changed a lot recently." Cordelia summarised.

That really narrowed the suspect list. Cordelia was making good progress.

"Like you." Marcie accused. Cordelia looked surprised, as though she hadn't expected that comparison.

It was a ridiculous idea though. Cordelia wasn't a nice person but "Why would the witch help us hunt her down? Why did the demon wolf attack Cordelia?"

"She's bluffing, so you won't think she's the witch." Marcie seemed pleased with her idea.

"No." Giles said firmly. "Cordelia can't be the witch. Magic doesn't work that way."

"What way?" Willow looked puzzled, but also interested.

"I've been reviewing the books on witchcraft since the numian demon wolf appeared." Giles began, gathering his thoughts. "No witch has ever been able to kill people at a great distance without using an elaborate ritual. The witch must either have been looking at Amber when the fire started or have been casting the spell at that moment, but in the second case she would have needed to be in her sacred space, with the full set of ritual implements, which isn't something that could be concealed in the school. Cordelia was in school, but not in the gym, so she couldn't be responsible."

"Huh." Marcie spat. "You can say what you like but Cordelia must be guilty of something."

Xander frowned again. Cordelia was an easy person to hate, even if she had improved recently, but Marcie seemed almost too obsessive about it. He hoped he had never sounded like that.

"Who isn't?" Cordelia said with a dismissive shrug. "But I didn't kill Amber. The witch did. You can't blame me for everything that goes wrong in Sunnydale. I am not a walking hellmouth." Cordelia started to say something else, then bit the words off.

"Why would the witch attack both Amber and Cordelia?" Xander asked, deciding to change the subject. Marcie's attitude was getting annoying. "What do they have in common?"

"Only cheerleading." Cordelia frowned. "Could that be the witch's motive?"

Since it was Cordelia asking the question, Xander knew the answer must be yes.

"Don't jump to conclusions." Giles warned. "This witch is clearly highly skilled. She probably read some of the omens. That could be why she attacked you. She could have seen something that made you look like a threat to her."

"That makes sense." Cordelia admitted reluctantly. It seemed her leading questions technique wasn't working very well on Giles, probably because he was too smart to be led. It was going to be harder than Xander had first thought for him to make Giles suspect Cordelia.

Giles looked at Buffy. "Have you seen any sign of the demon wolves on your patrols?"

Buffy shook her head. "Willow, did you find anything in that database of yours?"

"Nothing witchy." Willow replied. "Some interesting patterns but nothing that looked like human magic."

"So we've got nothing, a big fat nothing." Xander summarised.

"Not quite, but we need more evidence."

"So we just wait for someone else to die?" Xander wanted action.

"No. You should all talk to your classmates and see who has recently changed their behaviour."

That still sounded like nothing. Xander wanted to do something heroic, something that would impress Buffy. He sat back and smiled as he imagined how grateful she would be.

That night, the Bronze was half empty. Many of Amber's friends had stayed home and the band was third rate, but Xander didn't care. It was another chance to see Buffy, and that was all that mattered. Xander looked towards the door, hoping to see Buffy, and saw Willow hurry in.

"Could you be a wolf?" Willow asked nervously, before she had even sat down.

A strange question to ask, which probably meant the hellmouth was involved. That wasn't what Xander wanted to spend his evening talking about. All he wanted to do was chat with Buffy, find out what she liked, maybe dance with her.

Xander threw back his head and quietly howled. Smiling, he asked "That wolfy enough for you?", deliberately missing the point..

Willow smiled back. "No, it's these prophecies. One of them talks about a wolf in my future, and I'm hoping it'll be you."

"Why?" Xander replied, puzzled. "I like being human, and I want to stay that way."

"The alternatives are worse." Willow paused, then began reciting the prophecy from memory.

"Two wolves await her choice; two wolves show her fate. One wolf chases the sun; one wolf flees the moonlight. The jaws that bite, the claws that rend, for her they wait. Which will it be? Brother? Lover? Pray she chooses right."

Xander frowned. That was so cryptic it could mean almost anything, or nothing at all. Still, Willow was a genius. She would be able to understand it.

"You're going to have a pet wolf?" Xander hazarded, fishing for an explanation. If Willow told him what she was worried about he'd be able to stop it happening.

"No. It's saying I'm going to have a wolf for a brother." Willow blushed. "Or a boyfriend, and I really hope that's metaphorical, or the wolf is or both. I won't get the wolf till after I've made my big choice, but which wolf I pick will tell you what I've chosen. It's just that both wolves sound bad. The wolf who flees moonlight is obviously a werewolf."

"Obviously." Xander echoed. Werewolves and moonlight went together. Xander briefly wondered why they would want to avoid the moonlight then stopped. Willow would already have worked that out so he didn't need to waste time thinking about it.

"And I don't want anything to do with werewolves. They're bad."

Xander nodded. He couldn't imagine his Willow consorting with a creature of the night. "So you'll pick the other wolf. Where's the problem?"

"The other wolf could be Fenris. He chases the sun but he's a really big monster. He'd make a werewolf look good., but ..."

"When a werewolf looks like your best choice you know you've got problems." Xander finished Willow's sentence. He understood now why Willow looked worried. If he had found out he was going to fall in love with a werewolf he'd have been nervous too.

Willow nodded. "Then I thought of you. It's a stretch but you could be a wolf, metaphorically that is, and Buffy the sun you chase."

That interpretation made perfect sense to Xander but Willow sounded uncertain. It looked like she didn't quite believe her own explanation, probably because there was something wrong with it he wasn't smart enough to spot. Why would she suggest something she didn't believe? Xander looked at Willow, waiting anxiously for a reply, and realised she must be desperate for any explanation that didn't leave a werewolf as her best choice.

"You can call me brother anytime." Xander said, telling Willow what she needed to hear.

Willow looked slightly disappointed but reassured. Xander decided to switch to a more cheerful topic before she could bring up more gloomy prophecies.

"Did you see? Buffy was wearing my bracelet." Xander asked. "It's pretty much like we're going out."

Willow smiled wanly. "Except without the hugging or the kissing or her knowing about it."

Put that way, it didn't sound too good. Xander sighed. "So I'm just a figure of fun. I should just ask her out, right?"

Willow nodded. "You won't know until you ask."

Willow was right, of course. She almost always was. That was half the reason he liked her. It saved him having to think.

"That's why you're so cool." Xander replied, trying to show his appreciation for Willow's advice. "You're like a guy. You're my guy friend that knows about girl stuff."

"Oh, great." Willow sounded annoyed, though Xander had no idea why. "I'm a guy."

Xander struggled to think of something that would cheer Willow up. Before the harvest he had someone else who helped him do that, but Cordelia had silenced his friend, forever changing the rhythm of his conversations with Willow. Without that person to share the load Xander was finding it difficult to think of something to say. He stared at his drink, hoping for inspiration.

"Cheer up. The music isn't that bad." Buffy said.

Xander looked up and smiled. Now she was here he could be happy. Just sitting next to her was a joy in itself.

"Here." Xander said, patting the seat. "Sit down. I'll get you a drink."

Xander hurried off to the bar, looking forwards to a perfect evening.

Willow frowned "They're still doing tryouts? After what happened yesterday?"

It was Tuesday lunchtime, and the threesome were eating lunch in the school cafeteria.

Buffy nodded. "They're saying it's what Amber would have wanted, and no one else remembers how bad it was. They're forgetting but I can't. I do want to be a cheerleader but, after Amber ..." Buffy fell silent.

"They can't cancel tryouts." Xander said, determined to see Buffy in that uniform again. " Schools need cheerleeders, especially this one."

"So you don't just want to watch Buffy doing gymnastics in a short skirt." Marcie said sarcastically, startling everyone at the table.

"Quiet." Buffy mouthed. "They'll hear you."

"They won't. It's like the invisibility. People ignore me, thanks to Cordelia."

Cordelia looked up when she heard her name, then frowned slightly.

"But we hear you." Willow mouthed silently.

"You didn't expect not to. Giles explained it to me, with diagrams. He wants you all in the library, now."

"Why?" Xander asked quietly. "Can't it wait till I've finished lunch?"

"Giles thinks he might have a cure." Marcie sounded sceptical. "He's tried this spell before, but now he thinks it might work if he gets more people. You've been volunteered."

Buffy and Willow scrambled to their feet, smiling broadly. Xander sighed and stood up. It was a good thing, but surely Marcie could have waited five more minutes.

"We're going to be doing magic?" Willow said excitedly. "The four of us?"

"Five." Marcie said, then sighed. "Giles says Cordelia will be useful, a first for her."

Cordelia had clearly been listening. She stood up, said something to her clique, and limped off, giving Xander and his friends a meaningful glance as she passed them.

"I'm sure it'll work this time, Marcie." Buffy said as the group began walking towards the library. "I told you Giles could help."

"This won't actually cure Marcie," Giles cautioned, "but it should help. It will let us all see her, and make it easier for me to cure her."

"But we're actually going to do magic?" Willow asked again. "Real magic? This will be fun."

"No. Magic must never be fun. Casting spells for pure enjoyment is highly dangerous."

Cordelia nodded agreement with Giles's warning. Her sources must have told her the same thing.

"Anyway," Giles continued. "You won't be actively doing anything. I just need to get the numbers right. Five people in the circle will amplify the spell, which should make it powerful enough."

Buffy glanced at the clock. "Let's get started. We don't want to keep Marcie waiting."

Giles nodded. "Have you all got a coin on you?"

Everyone nodded. "Why?" Willow looked curious.

"Part of the spell." Giles replied. "Buffy, you can push these tables against the door. Being interrupted midspell could be risky."

Xander looked round the room nervously. He was about to see real magic. He could hardly believe it, even after all the things he'd seen in the previous week. They'd all been nasty but this was different. This was going to be good magic.

Giles was in his office, getting extra supplies, Buffy and Cordelia were sitting on the table, their bare legs swinging eyecatchingly, and Willow was stood beside him, at the top of the stairs.

"You know what that is?" Willow asked rhetorically, looking at the chalk diagram Giles had drawn on the floor.

To Xander it looked like a pentagon inside a five pointed star which was inside a circle. There was writing around the edge of the circle, but Xander couldn't even recognise the alphabet, let alone read it.

Willow answered her own question. "He's drawn a pentagram inside a circle, with a Hebrew inscription on the outside. I can't read it, but I recognise the letters. I've heard about this stuff, but I never thought I'd see it."

Giles stepped out of his office, carrying five foot-long candles, a matchbox and a cardboard packet.

"Marcie, are you in the centre of the pentagram?" Giles asked.

"Yes."

"Good. Everyone else, come and get a candle."

"Are you going to light these?" Cordelia asked as she walked over. "I don't want hot wax on my hands."

"It'll get rid of the hairs." Xander said as picked up a candle. They were doing this to help Marcie; Cordelia shouldn't be worried about a little discomfort.

Giles nodded. "It's quite safe. The wax will set before it reaches your hands."

"Is the spell safe? You won't accidentally summon a swarm of giant wasps, or open the hellmouth, will you? Have you done this spell before?" Cordelia seemed concerned.

"I had to modify the spell a little. Marcie being invisible makes it harder to do magic on her, so I had to make some minor adjustments to strengthen the spell, but it should work."

Giles pulled a sewing needle out of the packet and tossed it to Marcie.

"Everyone stand in a different point of the pentagram; not at the tip, inside the triangle. It doesn't matter which one, but don't step on the chalk." Giles said, quickly stepping into the pentagram..

Xander waited for Buffy to get into position, then jumped into the point between her and Willow. Cordelia carefully stepped over the chalk, and stood between Giles and Buffy.

"Hold your coins in your right hand, and Marcie will put a drop of her blood on each of them."

"Blood?" Marcie said. "Do I have to?"

"I need to create a mystic connection between you and us five. Your blood, freely given, is the best way to do that. We could use your hair, but then the spell might not be strong enough."

"OK, but why don't they have give blood?"

"Wrong symbolism. The coins will act as a token sacrifice, and create a second link between us and you. Either link on its own might not be enough, but a twofold link should be a strong enough bridge to let the magic work."

Xander heard movement, then Marcie said "Done." He looked at his coin, but the blood was invisible.

"OK, carefully put the coin down behind you, blood side up, just inside the tip of the pentagram."

When everyone had stood back up, Giles lit his candle, then passed it to Cordelia.

"Everyone, light your candle from mine, then pass it on, clockwise, and hold your candle in your right hand."

Once all the candles were lit Giles spoke again. "Now I can begin the spell. I'll repeat an Aramaic chant three times. Whatever happens, stay perfectly still. Don't cross the lines until I give permission. Don't say anything either. Just imagine the spell working."

Giles began to chant.

At first, it was all Xander could do to keep from laughing. Everyone looking so ridiculous, just standing there with their right arms stuck out, as if they were about to start some weird dance.

Then the magic started.

Xander's skin prickled. The chalk lines began to glow and, as Giles completed the chant, the coins floated in to the air. Xander could see them opposite him, glimmering faintly in the afternoon light, hovering just above everyone else's heads.

Giles began the chant for a second time, his voice full of authority. Xander's skin began to tingle pleasantly. The flame of Xander's candle brightened, then two beams of white light shot out, linking up with the candles Buffy and Willow held. Xander blinked, dazzled by the lights, then looked again. The five candles had formed a solid ring of light. Inside the ring, the air within the central pentagon began to glow. Against that glow Xander could just make out a dim silhouette which had to be Marcie.

For the third time, Giles chanted, in a thunderous voice that shook the room. Xander could feel the magic in the air. Sparks crackled across his skin, across everyone's skin, and then their eyes began to glow. Pulses of light spiralled inwards from the ring formed by the candles they held, and with every pulse the figure of Marcie grew clearer. As Giles's voice rose to a deafening crescendo the five coins swooped in, circled Marcie's head once clockwise, then hit her forehead and vanished. Marcie snapped into full view, looking just as real as anything in that room. There was a final blinding flash of light, then everything went still.

The chalk lines had vanished, along with the candles and the coins, but Marcie had appeared; a girl in ragged clothes, almost as plain looking as Willow. Xander still couldn't remember ever seeing before. Buffy and Willow rushed to hug her, while Cordelia watched, a faint smile on her face.

"Tidy spell." Xander remarked, struggling not to seem too impressed. Buffy was used to this kind of thing, so it would look better to her if he didn't seem overawed by a little magic, however impressed he actually was. It was the kind of thing Xander had thought only happened in dreams, but if he had been dreaming Marcie would have had fewer clothes.

"This is wonderful." Marcie exclaimed, looking at her hands. "I'm cured. I can see myself again. You can see me. Thank you all." Marcie looked at Cordelia and grimaced. "Even you."

"Ahem." Giles coughed politely. "This isn't a full cure. We can all see Marcie, because we cast the spell, but we will be the only people who can. To everyone else she is still invisible."

Giles looked directly at Marcie. "Finding a full cure will be hard. Being able to see you myself will make the magic easier but, even so, it will probably take weeks to find an effective cure for your condition. At least now, you can behave normally with us five. This should make your life more bearable."

Marcie looked disappointed at first, but then she smiled mischievously and looked at Cordelia. "This could be fun."

"Despite the terrible thing that happened yesterday we still have to pick new cheerleaders. If you make the team you'll find your names posted in the quad after school. We will continue from where we were interrupted yesterday."

Xander stopped listening to Joy when Buffy sat down next to him and Willow. After they'd cast that spell, which had been a truly incredible experience, Buffy had rushed off to get ready for the tryouts, despite Giles's objections

"Going to show us some real gymnastics? Quadruple back somersaults?" Xander asked, covertly admiring the way the cheerleading uniform enhanced Buffy's incredible figure.

"That would be cheating. I'm doing this because it's normal, and I always enjoyed it back at Hemery. I'm not going to ruin the one normal thing in my life by being freaky."

"One?" Willow sounded slightly hurt.

"Apart from my friends. You guys are good and normal." Buffy said hastily. "Amy's looking good."

Xander glanced at the gym floor, where Amy was doing her audition. It looked perfect to him, but Joy was frowning.

"And she only started practising a few weeks ago." Willow said.

"You sure?" Buffy asked.

Willow's reply was interrupted by Marcie's shrill laughter. Xander looked down the bench and sighed. Marcie was still harassing Cordelia. She deserved some harassment, of course, but Marcie was going way over the top. She had started by pulling faces at Cordelia, which was only what Xander would have done, but when Cordelia hadn't reacted she had sat on Cordelia's knee and yanked Harmony's hair, making it look as though Cordelia were responsible. That was definitely excessive. Verbal sparring could be fun, but physical violence just wasn't right. If it had been anyone else Xander would have gone and stopped Marcie but the thought of defending Cordelia was just too weird. It wasn't as though her life were in danger.

Buffy winced. "What does Marcie have against Cordelia. She's trying to be helpful."

"Ignoring her till she vanished? You haven't seen Cordelia at her worst, but Marcie is going too far."

Buffy sighed and stood up. "Marcie should be more grateful."

Buffy walked down to the opposite end of the bench, where Cordelia was sat with her popular friends. Xander looked at Willow, then the two friends followed Buffy.

"Who invited the losers down here?" Harmony said, an ugly look on her face.

Xander smiled, not deigning to reply. Harmony tried her best but she just wasn't in Cordelia's league. Swapping insults with Cordelia was an enjoyable challenge, but it was too easy to score off Harmony, not worth the effort.

Buffy casually sat down next to Cordelia, smoothly nudging Marcie away.

"But Cordy's so nice." Buffy said, glaring at Marcie. "We've got so much to be thankful to her for. We came to be sympathetic, since she's still hurting."

"Thanks to you." Willow said, giving Marcie a stern look, before turning to face Harmony "people's obsession with cheerleading. What's the point?"

"I get the point." Marcie said, looking unhappy. "I was only trying to have a little fun but these people make me so angry." Marcie paused then grudgingly added, "I suppose Cordelia might not be quite as bad as I thought, but she still deserves years of torment."

"Buffy Summers." Joy called, as Amy walked back to the benches..

Buffy stood up, looked warningly at Marcie, then walked out into the middle of the floor, ready to begin her routine.

Willow waved at Amy. "Over here." but Amy just shuddered, then ignored her, and went to the far end of the benches.

"What's got into her?" Willow muttered.

"And since when has Amy wanted to be a cheerleader?" Cordelia added, in what she clearly meant to be a thoughtful tone.

Xander looked at Willow and smiled. Cordelia was dropping hints again. He had no idea what she was getting at but Willow clearly did.

"She's the wrong shape." Harmony spat. "Our cheerleaders should all be beautiful, like Cordelia."

"You think Cordelia's attractive?" Xander said suggestively.

"No!" Harmony exclaimed without thinking. There were dozens of better replies Harmony could have made, but when it came to words she had all the dexterity of a drunken elephant. Her tongue might be sharp, but not her wits. The way she went on to dig herself deeper in trouble proved that. "Cordelia is not attract-, um, she is but-, well..."

Pale with anger, Harmony abruptly changed tack. "I'm sure Amy can be persuaded to drop out, for the good of the school."

Harmony stalked off towards Amy, mumbling unintelligibly.

Xander looked at Cordelia. "Are you feeeling better?" It couldn't be much fun for her, being forced to sit on the sidelines and watch.

"Amy's mom was a big time cheerleader, way back when." Marcie said thoughtfully. "And this is a change in Amy's personality, like Giles said. Could she be a suspect?"

Xander smiled. That was a bit of a stretch but it fitted with the hints Cordelia had dropped. They could tell Giles that idea later, and see if he bought it. At that moment though, all he wanted to do was watch Buffy's routine. Xander sat down, ignoring the Cordettes, and stared at Buffy, admiring her grace.

Buffy was so beautiful, and friendly too. That was good but Xander wanted more. Buffy had his heart; it was only fair that she give him hers in exchange. She didn't seem interested, but Xander knew he could easily change that. All he had to do was impress her. Saving her life would be best, guaranteeing kisses, but that wasn't something he could do immediately. There had to be something brave he could do to win her heart, but he hadn't thought of it yet.

Marcie shouted, interrupting Xander's reverie. "Xander! Come here."

Xander looked up. Marcie was stood at the far end of the bench, next to Amy. Willow had gone up there too, as had Cordelia and her friends. They were all arguing but, even from his distance, Xander could see something was odd about the body language.

Xander sighed, stood up and walked over to join Willow. He'd rather just sit and watch Buffy but he needed to know what was going on.

"Amy's no worse than Buffy." Cordelia said as Xander approached, smiling at Willow. She briefly smiled back at him then returned to studying the three arguing girls. Xander had suspected there was something odd going on but Willow being interested proved it.

"The psycho weirdo? Hardly a glowing recommendation." Harmony replied.

"She doesn't even train properly. I'm much better than her. I'm as good as my mom ever was."

"Doesn't mean much. Her old routines are so passé, and Cordelia is so much better than she ever was."

Cordelia winced slightly as Amy's fists clenched

"Cordelia has many talents." Amy said reluctantly, glancing sideways nervously. "Not like you. A blind frog would be more use than you."

Xander listened as the three girls bickered, too intent on each other to notice him. The scene looked almost normal, but it was subtly off-key. Harmony was just being her normal catty self but the other two girls were definitely acting oddly.

Cordelia was trying to calm the other two girls down, attempting to be diplomatic, though she clearly lacked practice. It might just be part of her new improved personality, but that wouldn't account for the nervous way Cordelia was looking at Amy, or the way Cordelia was twitching every time Harmony insulted Amy. It had to be because Cordelia thought Amy was the witch. Even Cordelia wouldn't want to insult someone who could turn her into a human torch.

Amy was acting the most oddly. Many people were nervous around Cordelia but they didn't normally pale at the sight of her. Amy had though, and her voice was shaky. Amy was definitely scared of Cordelia, but why? If she was the witch she could kill Cordelia with a single spell. Even if she wasn't the witch Amy must know something, there was no other explanation for her behaviour, but if she was the witch ... Xander wasn't sure he wanted to know what could scare a witch.

Joy blew her whistle. "OK, Buffy, we've seen enough." Joy glanced at the clock. "We're going to have to skip the rest of the individual auditions, and move straight on to group performance"

Amy smiled and hurried away, clearly glad for the excuse to escape Cordelia.

Xander sat down. Now that little drama was over he could get back to his favourite activity, watching Buffy.

Willow sat down next to him. "So what did you think?"

Xander repressed a sigh and began talking.

After school had finished, Xander watched Willow go into her home, then began walking to his house. It had been a good day. He had done magic, got a C- on his homework and spent an enjoyable half hour watching Buffy audition. True, Amy's strange behaviour had spoilt things slightly, but even that had had a good side. When they had told Giles about Amy he had agreed she was a plausible suspect, and come up with a simple test that would confirm if she was guilty. They wouldn't have a chance to use it until after lunch on Wednesday, but once they had the proof they could swing into action. Giles had been researching body switching spells so he'd just put Amy back in the right body, then Buffy would take care of Amy's mom and that problem would be over.

It was a good plan, but it did have one small flaw. There was nothing for Xander to do. He wanted a chance to impress Buffy with his heroism, but it looked like all he would be doing would be watching her. That was fun, but it wasn't enough. Xander knew he couldn't fight the witch directly, he didn't have Buffy's strength or Giles's magical expertise, but there had to be something he could do, some way he could help stop the witch.

Willow had found something to do. She was investigating Amy's mom online, checking her history for signs of magic, so that Giles would have a better idea what the witch was capable of. Cordelia had her own sources of information, which she would use to make herself look good. Xander didn't mind about Willow, she had always been better than him, but there was no way he would tolerate Cordelia looking better than him at something important.

He didn't have her information sources though. He wasn't a mouthpiece for a secret society. No one ever told him anything. The only way he could find out anything useful about Amy's mom would be by spying on her.

Xander suddenly stopped walking, stunned by his brilliant idea. With a little luck Amy would spend the night ranting non-stop about her plans and powers. All the comics said that was the standard procedure for evil masterminds, but even if Amy's mom hadn't read the manual he should be able to see something useful.

Five minutes later Xander was crouched behind a rose bush in Amy's back garden, looking up at the house.

"Are her neighbours blind?" Xander muttered. Green fog was billowing out of the attic windows, completely hiding the roof. That proved Amy was the witch, or rather that her mother was. Xander looked round the garden, trying to work out how he could get closer to the house without being spotted. He didn't want to do anything dangerous but hiding behind a rose bush wouldn't impress Buffy.

Behind Xander something growled.

Xander turned round slowly, dreading what he might see. One of the demon wolves was standing there, just inches away. It kicked Xander, knocking him flat on his back, then bit his foot. Xander screamed as the teeth pierced his ankle, but the demon ignored him, and began dragging him towards the house. Perhaps this hadn't been such a brilliant idea after all.

"Good boy! Put him on the sofa."

The demon followed Amy's instruction, dropping Xander head first on the sofa. He quickly sat upright and looked around. Amy was sat opposite him still wearing her cheerleader's uniform, with just a coffee table between them, her mother was stood behind her holding a first aid kit, and there were two demon wolves behind him.

"Amy, bandage him up. I don't want blood on my clean carpets."

Amy's mom knelt on the floor and began to bandage Xander's ankle. At least, that was what it looked like, but Xander remembered what Angel had told them.

"Amy?" Xander asked tentatively. Her mother's head nodded slightly. Angel, and Cordelia, had been right. Amy was trapped in her mother's body, bandaging his ankle, while her mother, the witch, sat opposite him.

"Why did you have the first aid kit out?" Xander asked. He didn't really want to know, but the longer he kept the witch talking, the more chance there was that someone would rescue him.

The witch smiled. "I knew you were coming."

"How?" Xander asked, genuinely curious. If it had been prophesied, or she had used some spell to lure him, his predicament wouldn't be his fault.

The witch tapped the coffee table. "The cards told me."

Xander looked again at the table. There was a deck of cards there and a single face up card next to it.

"Playing patience?" Xander asked, trying to look relaxed.

The witch smiled. "Do you recognise the card?"

Xander leaned over the table, examining the card. It had a hand-drawn picture on it; a man walking along a cliff edge while a dog snapped at his heels.

"Let me guess. These are magic cards."

"They are Tarot cards." The witch pointed at the face up card. "And that is the Fool."

Xander frowned, not liking the implication. "So the cards said a fool was coming, and you thought of me?"

The witch laughed scornfully. "The Fool embodies all the wisdom and folly of life, but draws no distinction between the two. He is a primal archetype, father to the trickster, cousin of chaos. He is the laughter of the cosmos made manifest. He dances on the cliff edge, and the universe follows in his wake. He breaks all the rules. Even the iron chains of prophecy shatter at his touch. He could save us all, if he cared."

The witch paused, in what Xander considered an unnecessarily dramatic fashion.

"But you are not the Fool." she continued. "Just a joker in the pack, one of millions, mere comic relief."

The witch smiled, as if at some secret joke, and looked at Xander, clearly waiting for a response.

"Nice speech. Eight out of ten for style, but only two for content." Xander joked, trying to sound unimpressed by the witch's mind games. At least she seemed willing to talk, which would give Buffy plenty of time to rescue him.

Amy finished bandaging Xander's ankle and looked at her mother. "What should I do now?"

"Where are your manners? We have a guest in the house. Make him welcome. Serve him coffee and cakes, on my second-best china, then go straight to your room and do my homework."

As Amy scurried into the kitchen Xander stared at the witch amazed. That was the kind of thing normal people said, people like Willow's mom. It didn't sound right coming from someone who burned people alive.

The witch smiled. "I do so hate bad manners. Besides, they were right. It's such fun to watch you sitting there, knowing I could kill you at a whim. It's a lovely sensation, this feeling of power, almost as much fun as cheerleading. I'd recommend you try it, but you'll be dead before you get a chance."

"They?" Xander asked. He didn't care how much the witch enjoyed herself. As long as she kept talking he had a chance.

"My new allies, the lords of the mist. They told me how to get these cute dogs. Such good value, I just couldn't resist the bargain. Normally they cost an arm and a leg each but I got half a dozen for just one hand."

"You won them at poker?"

"No." The witch smiled. "I threw my left hand in to the sea and they came to me, running across the waves to greet their new mummy."

"Your hand?" Xander echoed, shuddering. "But you've still got two." Xander was sure the witch must be talking metaphorically, but the thought of someone cutting their own hand off made him feel uneasy.

The witch chuckled and waved her left hand. "Watch."

As Xander watched, the witch's left hand shimmered and faded away, revealing a jagged stump. Xander gulped and looked away. She had cut her own hand off, but why? What could have driven her to such extremes?

"I use a simple glamour to make people see the hand, and telekinesis to pick up stuff with it. It's a trivial illusion for a witch of my skills." the witch said, clearly pleased with herself.

"But why? Why did you do it?" Xander asked.

"One is the first, and smallest, number." the witch replied. "Now the last comes. Last Monday it touched the world, and the very gods screamed in terror, the cowards. Soon the hellmouth will be ripped open. Then I'll need these lovely dogs to keep the supernatural vermin from my door."

"You've been having bad dreams too." Xander guessed, remembering what Giles had said about the omens.

The witch shuddered. "If you had seen what I saw..." The witch fell silent, her face pale with remembered terror, then nerved herself to speak. In a quiet voice she added. "It made hell look like a picnic. A weaker mind would have gone nuts, but not me. I don't keep having flashbacks. I'm not scared of the dark. I am still perfectly sane, aren't I?"

Xander thought about telling the truth, then decided to lie. "Yes."

Amy walked back into the room and put two cups and a plate piled high with cake on the coffee table. Xander snatched up a piece of chocolate cake and began eating.

"This is good stuff" he mumbled, forcing the rest of the cake into his mouth.

The witch might be completely insane, but at least she knew how to feed him.

"Manners, boy!" the witch snapped. Xander hurriedly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Then she smiled. "And you are supposed to be the world's only hope? I wouldn't trust you or any of your pathetic friends to rescue a kitten from a tree. The powers that be are idiots clutching at straws. I have a better plan."

"You do?" Xander said, surprised. Giles had seemed to think there was no alternative.

"Yes. The last is as unstoppable as the tides, but I am a witch. I know how to nudge the cosmic forces my way. I can ride the tiger, and remake the world as I see fit. My allies will lend me the strength I need, for they too fear the last. All I will have to do is kill Cordelia, then sacrifice twenty-seven people every full moon, until the end of time."

The witch shrugged. "It's a pity so many people will have to die. Killing them will be hard but it will be worth it to save the world, right? If I only sacrifice unpopular people nobody will mind. They'll build statues of me in every town."

Xander choked on his cake. That wasn't an acceptable alternative. Saving the world wasn't worth killing anyone."

"Why kill Cordelia? She's nothing special." Giles had said that Xander and Willow were just as special as Cordelia, so why was she being singled out for special treatment?

"Cordelia is the mother of abomination."

"Who is the father?" Xander asked, smiling.

"You are, and Willow is its midwife."

Xander picked up a third slice of cake. "I really hope you aren't being literal." There was no way he wanted to get close enough to Cordelia for that. It would be as bad as kissing Willow.

"Wait and see." The witch smiled, and sipped her coffee.

Xander smiled. The witch was too obviously trying to make him nervous. She had to be lying.

"But why didn't you just burn Cordelia?" Xander asked casually, trying to act as if this was a perfectly normal conversation.

"The cards say she has seen much of the occult, as much as Buffy."

Since when? Willow thought she had little more than a week's experience. Cordelia herself only claimed to have a month's experience. She might have been told a lot but how much could she have actually seen in so little time.

"She could have any number of arcane defences. Direct attack would be a foolish strategy. That's why I sent my little dog. I watched through its eyes, and studied your actions."

"Learn anything useful?" Xander asked, hoping she'd say no.

The witch smiled. "I saw Buffy in action."

"And lost your dog. You're no match for her." Xander smiled confidently.

"I dug up the skull, and he came back to life. Since then I've been investigating all four of you, trying to find out what makes you special. It's been a frustrating week, but now my problems are over. You will tell me everything I need to know."

"No." Xander said firmly. "I won't say a word."

The witch giggled. "Silly boy. You won't have a choice." She lunged across the table, grabbed Xander by the neck, and yanked him onto the floor. Xander started to struggle, but the demon wolves growled.

"Stay still. This won't hurt."

Xander lay on the floor, wondering what the witch was planning. He didn't dare turn his head, but he could hear her rummaging in a tin.

The witch knelt at his side, a small knife in her hand, and rolled Xander onto his back then ripped his T-shirt off, then smiled appreciatively.

"This might be even more fun than I expected." she said, licking her lips.

The witch forced Xander's legs flat on the floor, then knelt astride him. "Look at me." she commanded.

Xander looked up. The witch leered, then began carving a line in her own forehead with the knife. Strange behaviour, but better her than him. The witch didn't grimace, didn't show any sign of pain. Without ever removing the knife from her forehead she drew a perfect pentagram there, in her own blood.

"Your turn." the witch muttered, then dropped her knife. She carefully traced the lines of the pentagram on her forehead with her fingers, covering them in blood, then bent over, leaning closer, until her hair was tickling Xander's cheeks.

With her ring finger the witch drew a line of blood on Xander's bare chest, from just under his left shoulder to directly under his heart.

Looking directly into his eyes, she chanted. "You are the leaf. I am the tree."

She had to be trying some magic spell, but it wouldn't work. Xander would never do anything that might hurt his friends, not even for a girl as pretty as the witch.

The witch drew a second line on Xander's chest, from the end of the first upwards and to his right, making a v shape.

"You are the pebble. I am the mountain."

The pentagram on Amy's forehead began to glow bright red. Xander had never realised how beautiful she was before, almost as beautiful as Buffy. He could sense her magic in the air, making his skin tingle. She was so powerful, but she was evil. Xander would never obey her.

Amy reached up to her forehead and put more blood on her fingers, then drew a third line on Xander's chest, slanting leftwards and crossing the first line. Xander wasn't sure, but it seemed like she was drawing a pentagram round his heart.

"You are the raindrop. I am the ocean."

Xander looked up at Amy. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, so beautiful she made even Buffy seem as plain as Willow. Amy was so much better than Xander, so much wiser. She might not be very good, but Xander wished he was on her side. Xander would do almost anything for her, except hurt people, especially his friends.

Amy tenderly drew a fourth line on Xander's bare skin.

"You are nothing. I am your god."

Amy was right. He was worthless, an idiot Willow and Buffy had taken pity on. Amy was perfection, everything he could ever want to be. She was wiser than any man could ever be, a living goddess. Nothing she wanted could ever be wrong, nothing at all. He would do anything she asked, anything at all, but there was nothing this sublime creature could want from him.

Amy drew a final line, completing the pentagram.

"Surrender your soul to me."

"Gladly. How may I serve you?" Xander replied, meaning every word.

"First, you will answer all my questions." Xander's goddess announced, running her fingers through Xander's hair.

Xander smiled, filled with joy at his goddess's touch, but in the deepest recesses of his heart his soul screamed in agony.

Confused, Xander opened his eyes and looked around. The last thing he remembered was waving goodbye to Willow but now he was somewhere else. Had he been knocked out and kidnapped?. His body ached as though he had just been beaten up. Everything was out of focus, but it felt like he was tied down on some hard surface, and there were dark shapes looming over him, mumbling unintelligibly.

Something wet landed on Xander's chest, on his bare skin. For a brief moment the droplets burned him, then the pain vanished.

"And the dark shall have no dominion." Giles said.

Xander blinked, and everything came into focus. He was in the library, with Giles dripping water on him while Buffy and Willow watched anxiously. At the sight of their faces he relaxed.

"Um, guys, what's going on?" Xander asked. Buffy must have had a good reason for tying him to the table, but he couldn't guess what it might be.

Willow looked at Giles. "Is it really him?" she asked, sounding close to tears.

Giles dropped a little more water on Xander. When he didn't flinch Giles nodded.

Smiling broadly, Willow dived onto the table and wrapped Xander in a smothering hug, babbling incoherently into his ear.

Xander gently nudged her away. "Why am I tied up?"

Buffy bent down and began untying him. Willow looked at Xander, blushed, and stood up.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Willow asked.

"I waved good bye to you, and then" Xander tried to remember more, "Then I decided to spy on Amy, see if she was doing anything witchy, and then ..."

"No! Don't think about it." Giles said sharply.

Despite Giles's warning images flashed through Xander's mind; green fog, chocolate cake, Amy's face, each of them suffused with an aura of terror. Xander shuddered, not wanting to remember any more.

"Why?" Willow asked. "It'll do Xander good to talk."

"No. It's not safe. Remembering what she did to you could put you back under her spell. Remembering doing what she made you do could impair your sanity. Some things are best forgotten."

"But what happened?" Xander persisted, wanting to know why Willow had been so upset.

"Can't we say anything?" Willow added. "Xander can't remember what not to remember without maybe remembering more than is good, which isn't good, so shouldn't we tell him enough for him to be able to know what he mustn't remember without actually remembering it?"

Giles smiled and began polishing his glasses. "A dry recitation of the facts shouldn't hurt, as long as Xander remembers not to remember yesterday."

Giles turned to face Xander. "You must remain emotionally detached from those events. Think of them as if they happened to someone else."

"Yesterday? What day is it?" Xander asked worriedly. He hoped he hadn't lost too long.

"It's ten to nine on Wednesday, the twentieth of March. Amy caught you yesterday." Giles said offhandedly, looking thoughtful.

Buffy stood up. "That's your arms free."

Xander sat up. There was still one rope fastening his legs to the table and a second tying his ankles together, but at least he wasn't stuck staring at the ceiling. Buffy started untying the first rope.

"Amy seized control of your mind." Giles explained.

"She hypnotised me?" Xander echoed. That explained everything.

Giles sighed. "Rather more than that. Normal hypnotism has definite limits. It can not compel people to hurt themselves, or to do wrong. In essence, hypnotism can not touch the soul, can not deprive you of a conscience. At most, it can play tricks with your memory. To do more takes magic. Amy did more, much more. With her dark magics she split your mind and soul, imprisoning your soul inside your heart. That left you without a conscience, but with a void in your mind. Amy filled that void with her desires, warping your mind to suit her purpose. You became her puppet and, unlike hypnotism, it would never have worn off."

"She hypnotised me." Xander repeated. The details weren't important.

Willow shuddered. "It was horrible. You kept laughing and you had this knife, but Giles knew what to do. He did some magic and washed the pentagram away with holy water."

"Well, at least we know who the witch is, for certain." Xander said, trying to sound positive.

"We would have found that out anyway, this afternoon, when we did the test. Six hours, that all you gained us. Do you think it was worth it?" Cordelia said, sounding annoyed, as she stepped out of Giles's office.

"Well, Amy has inadvertently made it straightforward for us to force her out of her stolen body without needing to acquire her spellbook. Because of the way she touched your soul she ..."

Shocked by the sight of Cordelia, Xander stopped listening to Giles. What had happened to her? She had sticking plasters all over her arms, covering long cuts, and her top had been slashed in several places.

"You should be sitting down." Willow said, pulling out a chair for Cordelia.

"You would have done that anyway." Cordelia told Giles.

"I would have needed her spellbook."

"Which is probably guarded by dozens of those demon wolves." Willow added, defending Xander.

Xander recovered from his shock enough to speak. "Cordelia, what happened to you? Are you OK? Who hurt you? I'll ..."

As Cordelia silently glared at Xander, an awful realisation slowly dawned on him.

"I did." Xander said quietly, answering his own question. He remembered the knife, how he had ...

"Xander!" Giles snapped. "Don't think about it."

Xander shuddered. "I don't want to."

"Good." Giles smiled reassuringly. "We have gained from your misjudgement. Never forget that, but remember the price. Spying on Amy by yourself was foolish. You should always consult me before doing any slaying related activity."

"What were you thinking?" Buffy asked, as she pulled the rope away from his knees. "Anything could have happened. She could have turned you into a frog, or killed you. It's not safe for you to do that kind of thing when I'm not there. Look what happened to Cordelia."

Willow nodded, looking concerned.

Xander smiled weakly. "Me and Willow have an arrangement. She does all our thinking; I do all the heavy lifting." he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Willow smiled, but Cordelia didn't seem to like the joke.

"What will you do when you haven't got Willow?" she asked, her voice sad, as she walked towards the table.

"Never happen. Are you sure you're OK? Shouldn't you go to the nurse, or something?"

Cordelia smiled. "Trying to get rid of me again? They're only shallow cuts. Giles soon patched them up. It took me longer to get my hair combed. You really messed it up."

Xander didn't know what to say. Either Cordelia was incredibly shallow, which didn't match her recent behaviour, or she was accustomed to being attacked by knife-wielding madmen, but Xander was almost certain he would have noticed if she had regularly come to school covered in plasters. He just didn't understand her.

Buffy stopped untying the rope and looked at Cordelia. "You almost died, and you worry about your hair?"

"Appearances are important." Cordelia said simply. "You don't let slaying spoil your looks, most of the time."

"Yes, but I'm used to it, and none of my friends have ever tried to kill me, not while they were alive."

Cordelia shrugged, looking amused. "You're on the hellmouth now. These things happen. I know some people don't want me here, but I want to help, and if that means I have to put up with stuff like this," Cordelia looked regretfully at her arms, "I will."

Buffy turned and glared meaningfully at Xander.

Cordelia looked directly at Xander. "But this should never have happened."

Xander knew Cordelia was only trying to guilt-trip him, but she was still right. He didn't like Cordelia but killing her was going much too far. She had been hurt, and it was his fault. He had been too eager to impress Buffy. He supposed she deserved some kind of apology, repugnant though the notion was, and Buffy clearly expected one. If Buffy thought he should apologise she must be right.

Xander swung his legs off the table and stood up, facing Cordelia.

"Cordelia." Xander began hesitantly , then stopped. That sounded too formal. Xander knew he could never like Cordelia, but she was on his side. Buffy had been right, he should at least try and be friendly to Cordelia. According to Giles and his prophecies, they needed her and, if half what she'd said about herself on Sunday had been true, she needed help. She was trying to be a good person, but she needed his support. He had never let down anyone who needed him, and he wasn't about to start now. However much he disliked her, he had to help her. He just hoped her secrets wouldn't cause a problem.

Xander began to take a tentative step towards Cordelia, then realised his ankles were still tied together. He fell forwards, managing to land on his knees, at Cordelia's feet. She looked down at him and smiled, clearly amused.

Inwardly, Xander sighed. He couldn't really stand up until someone untied his ankles and he liked the approving way Buffy was smiling.

"Cordy," Xander began, "I never meant to hurt you. It was all my fault. I'm ...."

The library doors swung open.

"What!" Harmony gasped. She was standing in the doorway, looking shocked. "What happened to your arms? What's going on? Aura said she saw you sneaking in here yesterday, but I didn't really believe her."

Giles hurriedly closed the library doors.

Harmony smiled, looking pleased with herself. "Well, wait until I tell her about this. You, in the library, with a geek, a psycho, and Xander, topless! It will make her day."

Xander had forgotten about that, worried by more important things, but he really didn't want to argue with Harmony while only half-dressed. It was too embarrassing. He looked frantically round the room and spotted a tattered shirt under the table. It must have been ripped off so Giles could do his magic.

Xander groaned and tried to stand up but the rope round his ankles tripped him. Buffy caught him and helped him upright.

"And why is Xander tied up?" Harmony demanded.

There had to be an innocent explanation, but Xander couldn't think of one. He looked hopefully at Willow.

"Isn't it obvious?" Cordelia asked scornfully, "We're rehearsing for the annual talent show."

"Already? That's not for ages yet."

"Xander needs the practice." Cordelia explained, as if stating the obvious.

"But why Xander, and why all these other wierdos?"

"Mr Giles suggested us." Buffy said nervously. "He thought we looked the part."

"He's only a librarian." Harmony sneered.

Giles smiled. "I was a brilliant actor at university, but books are my vocation."

Harmony looked doubtful.

"I found them some spare clothes. What's she doing here?" Marcie said.

Xander turned to look. Marcie had just stepped into the library, carrying his gym shirt and a long sleeved top for Cordelia.

Harmony turned to see what Cordelia was looking at and shrieked.

"What's up now?" Cordelia asked with fake sympathy.

"Clothes can't fly. I didn't see that." Harmony told herself firmly. "If you're only rehearsing, why are you all cut up?"

"Method acting." Willow answered. "Perhaps you've heard of it."

Cordelia smiled at Willow as Harmony twitched.

"And what weird play is this?" Harmony asked sceptically.

"Boadiccea." Buffy said. "It's one of the classics"

"We're doing the scene after the Romans punished her for defying them." Giles explained.

"The 'I am only a woman, but I have the heart of England' speech." Cordelia said, making Giles wince.

"So cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war, because this is a finer thing we do than ever afore." Xander added helpfully.

"And all men hiding in bed will wish they'd fought under me instead." Buffy finished, waving her arms dramatically. Willow winced.

"Whatever." Harmony said. "I'm sure your act will be really funny. I was looking for you, but obviously you are too busy."

Harmony turned and walked out of the library, muttering under her breath.

Buffy looked at Giles. "Do you think she believed us?"

Five minutes later Buffy asked "This everything?" as she put the camera in the bag.

Giles nodded. "Is everyone ready?"

Xander nodded nervously. He didn't like the plan but it was the only one they had. At least he would have a key role.

"You can't think of anything safer?" Cordelia asked, looking concerned. "She's better at magic than you are."

"She's stronger." Giles admitted. "She stole Xander's soul. Even if she drugged him first, that still shows enormous strength. But this is the largest occult library west of the Mississippi. Raw power is no match for superior wisdom."

Giles paused. "The witch could decide to attack us at any moment. It's the most sensible thing for her to do now that she knows we're hunting her. We'd be forced to fight on her terms. We haven't got time to create a perfect plan but this will work."

That was the third time Giles had said that, but Cordelia seemed reluctant to believe the witch would act that way. She wanted Buffy to steal Amy's spellbook despite the risks, saying that was the way things should work.

"You can always stay here and polish your nails." Marcie said, scowling at Cordelia. "I'm going to help, whatever the risk."

Cordelia glared at Marcie. "It's easy for you to say that, Miss I'm-so-invisible-magic-can't-see-me, some of us could get hurt doing this."

Xander smiled. Marcie had been hesitantly willing to help even before Giles had told her about that, but the moment Giles had said how hard it was to do magic on invisible people Marcie had become much more eager.

Giles nodded. "Cordelia is right to be cautious. This will be risky but it is our only choice."

Buffy raced into the science lab. "She's right behind me."

Hidden behind the benches, Xander looked at Willow and smiled. Stage one of Giles's plan had worked. Buffy had lured the witch into an ambush. Next Marcie would do her thing, then it would be his turn.

Xander swallowed nervously and peered through a crack at Buffy. She looked so beautiful, a delicate flower half hidden behind the teacher's desk.

"I see you." Amy laughed in the doorway. Xander shuddered at the sight of her, memories racing through his brain, memories of what he had done to Cordelia, memories of what Amy had done with him. He looked down at the floor, trying to calm himself. This wasn't good. He had to be able to look Amy in the eye, or their plan would fail, but he could hardly bear to look in her direction.

Xander heard the door close. "You are trapped." Amy gloated.

Xander shivered. The memories her voice woke were nightmarish but not half so terrifying as the urge he felt to crawl at her feet. She looked perfectly normal, yet there was something about the sound of her voice, the sight of her pretty face, that made him want to purr.

Xander shook his head, and tried to gather his thoughts. Giles had warned him that the spell would have some lingering side effects, but Xander hadn't expected them to be so strong. Xander hurriedly put his hands over his ears. He was sure he would be able to resist Amy's magnetism, with the help of his friends, but he didn't need to start that fight yet.

Willow rubbed Xander's shoulder reassuringly, looking nervous.

"Muscle is useless against magic," Amy said confidently, her sweet voice muffled by Xander's hands, "and Giles is still in the library."

Xander smiled. They'd let Amy see them all in the library, then sneaked out through the stacks while Buffy lured Amy here, an empty classroom where she would never expect to be ambushed.

"Hermes Trismegistus, this room I ask you to seal." Amy chanted. " Let nothing escape, however small, not even a squeal."

"Now you have only two choices." Amy said casually. "You can become my slave, like Xander is, or you can die."

"Tough choice." Buffy sarcastically replied. "I pick number three. You lose."

"You dare!" Amy screamed, then Xander heard a body hit the ground. What was happening? Was Buffy OK? He had to know what was happening, but he didn't want to forget which side he was on. Xander hesitated, then looked up nervously. Buffy was fighting for him; the least he could was watch. He just had to remember not to look too closely at Amy.

Buffy was wrestling Amy, while Marcie scurried round their feet. Amy was trying to push Buffy away, but Buffy had a firm grip on Amy's left arm and every time Amy began a spell, Buffy punched her, just like Giles had told her to. As long as she didn't get a chance to complete any spells Amy was mostly harmless, or so Giles had said.

Amy wrenched her right arm free and pointed at the teacher's chair. Before Buffy could react, the chair sprang off the floor and hurled towards Buffy, hitting her on back of her head. Xander gulped. That wasn't part of the plan.

Before Buffy could recover from the surprise impact, Amy pulled completely free and, with a wave of her hand, hurled Buffy against the door. Buffy looked dazed, but struggled to her feet.

Amy began to chant, her voice musical.

Marcie drew the final chalk line near Amy's feet.

Amy stopped her spell and cursed as the chalk diagram Marcie had drawn began to glow a bright blue.

"It worked." Marcie squealed excitedly.

"Of course." Giles said as he stood up, closely followed by Willow and Cordelia. "The seal of Solomon is an age-hallowed symbol of great power. It doesn't need magical talent to make it work."

Xander decided to stay hidden. He wasn't scared, Buffy wouldn't let Amy hurt him, but Amy didn't seem to know her spell had been broken. Surprising her might make things easier, and it would give him more time to prepare himself for the confrontation.

Amy smiled, showing her perfect teeth. "Nice trick, getting the invisible girl to do your dirty work, but you forgot one thing. This seal only confines hostile magic and some demons. I can just step out of - Aargh!"

Xander smiled. The moment Amy had tried to step out of the diagram a wall of blue flame had appeared in front of her, singeing her foot.

Amy hopped backwards, holding her injured foot, and glared indignantly at Giles.

"I'm human!" Amy screamed. "This shouldn't work. You're cheating."

Giles looked surprised. "You didn't know?" he said scornfully. "You removed Xander's soul, made him into your puppet, and you didn't expect consequences? You broke every ethic of magic ever written, laws as old as the slayer, and you thought you wouldn't have to pay? Body-theft is bad enough, but at least Amy still has her free will. What you did to Xander was worse, an offence against all that is holy. By that act you defiled your own soul. You are unclean, vulnerable to the seal of Solomon, and other measures."

Amy looked shocked, but quickly recovered her composure. "OK, watcher, so I'm just a self-taught small town girl, not some know-it-all with a really big magic library, but there is one, um, no." Amy paused and counted on her fingers. "Three things I'm certain of; you won't kill this body, you can't reverse the spell without reading my spellbook, and you can't leave this room unless I undo my Hermetic seal."

Amy smiled. "Either we spend the next few days starving to death, or you let me go and I'll promise not to kill you. Deal?"

Giles shook his head. "No. You're right on every point, but we planned for this."

That was news to Xander. Giles had explained how they were going to get Amy her body back, but he hadn't said anything about being magically locked in the room afterwards.

"We don't have to reverse your spell." Giles explained. "We can just exorcise your unclean soul."

"Never." Amy replied sharply. "You're no witch. You may know more, but exorcism is a battle of wills. You don't have the strength to face me, mind to mind."

"True," Giles conceded. "But I know a man who can, Xander."

"He is mine." Amy scoffed. "And he'll -"

Xander swallowed nervously and stood up, interrupting Amy.

"No" Xander said firmly, careful not to look directly at Amy.

Leaning nonchalantly against the door, Buffy smiled encouragingly at Xander. Willow looked tense, but Cordelia looked relaxed and slightly bored, as if she confronted witches every week.

Giles walked behind the teacher's desk and began pulling things out of his bag. He tossed the camera to Buffy, then lit the red candle and passed it to Xander.

"We easily broke your spell" Giles said.

Xander smiled slightly as Amy shuffled her dainty feet. Giles had said he would try to keep Amy unbalanced with shock revelations, to weaken her resistance. It seemed to be working.

"But you still owe Xander an enormous karmic debt." Giles continued. "That gives him the authority to command you, once. Your greater strength will be useless in the face of his moral authority."

Giles passed Xander a notepad and quietly said. "Just read the words, then blow out the candle. Remember, for this all you need are pure intentions. The words are just to give your will focus, so put your heart into it. You are her judge, passing sentence. Look at her, resist her allure, and sound confident. We're here to back you up. You can do it. Um, are you ready?"

Xander stepped forwards and stared confidently at Amy's left ear. It was pretty, but not as cute as her nose, so it wouldn't distract him from his speech. Amy tried to turn and face him, but Xander kept moving, avoiding her gaze.

Xander began reading. "You are an abomination in the eyes of the holy; an offence to all that men hold sacred. You have defiled me, heart, mind and soul, but I offer forgiveness."

Xander hesitated. Did Giles really mean that? Some things could never be forgiven.

Amy hurried to fill the silence. "See. Giles is weak. He is bound to lose. Forget about him and remember last night. Imagine what fun it will be when Buffy is mine too."

Xander shook himself free of Amy's beguiling tones, horrified by the thought of Buffy subject to Amy's whims.

"Surrender your stolen flesh of your own free will, and be forgiven, or stay and suffer justice. Which shall it be?"

Amy laughed. "I'm not going anywhere. You need me. I've seen the new future, and I have a plan."

"And we should trust you why?" Cordelia interrupted scornfully. "Hurry up, Xander. Don't let her get to you."

Feeling grateful for Cordelia's support, Xander looked back at the notepad, trying to find his place. "You owe me a debt beyond all price, restitution for the damage done. By that debt I command you. Let justice be done. Go now, or be forever cursed. Anata, um anna-"

Xander stumbled over the unfamiliar words.

Amy began to croon, her voice lyrical. "You are the leaf. I am the tree."

"There is no magic in her words now, only memories." Giles said firmly. "Ignore her."

"Anathema you shall be. Go now or no roof shall shelter you, no hand feed you, no man know you. Your name shall be forgotten; your deeds stricken from the memory of man. On rotten meat and foul water you shall dine, and the light of day shall be denied you."

Amy abruptly jerked her head round, catching Xander's gaze.

"You are the pebble. I am the mountain." Amy sang, her voice as beautiful as the sunset.

Amy licked her lips with a suggestive leer, and Xander's mouth went dry. She was so attractive. Did they really have to hurt her?

"Xander." Willow interrupted, sounding worried.

Xander glanced at Willow and frowned. He'd let Amy get to him again. He had to resist, but it was so hard.

Xander began reading again, hoping the words would start to work soon. "Go now, or the gates of magic shall be closed to you, and the tools of men shall serve you not. The comb in your hair, the fork in your hand, the road beneath your feet; all the works of human hand shall spurn your touch. Naked you shall wander the world, like a loathsome beast, and in the wild places you shall sleep, forever alone."

Xander couldn't help but wonder who wrote these curses; probably lonely old men who spent all their time inside dry books. If someone as beautiful as Amy was cursed like that, she would never be alone. Amy had done wrong, but could he really put her through that?

"You are a raindrop." Amy began.

"But you are a grain of salt." Willow sang, interrupting Amy. "Um, did that work?"

"Ego much?" Cordelia added. "I wouldn't compare myself to a mountain if I had your hips."

Amy whirled to face Cordelia.

While the two girls bickered, Xander quickly thought. He was reading from a list of traditional curses, all of which the witch would suffer if she didn't hurry up and get out of her daughter's body. There were dozens of paragraphs left, with the nastiest curses at the end, but so far the witch didn't seem worried. Xander could skip ahead, but Giles had said the worst curses should be saved for a last resort or there would be side effects.

The thing was, he had to put his heart into the curses, but they just weren't his style. He had to find better words. Xander summoned all his fury at what the witch had done to him and, his voice contemptuous, spoke.

"Catherine Madison. You will never cheerlead again. Go to hell, witch."

The witch span back to face Xander, looking terrified.

Xander blew out the candle.

The witch threw her head back and screamed.

Green mist oozed out of her eyes and mouth.

Amy fell to the floor, unconscious. Her left hand shimmered and vanished.

The green mist floated up towards the ceiling, bobbed around uncertainly, then hurtled back towards Amy.

"Say cheese." Buffy raised the camera, pointed it at the mist, and clicked.

An inch from Amy's head, the mist stopped, struggled briefly, and was sucked into the camera.

"So cameras really can steal your soul." Willow said, looking interested.

"Only naked human souls." Giles corrected. "Most souls are wrapped in flesh, or other protections."

Giles bent down and quickly drew a chalk circle round Amy, mumbling under his breath.

Cordelia clapped Xander on the shoulder. "That was brave, but couldn't you have been faster?"

Xander smiled. "It's your turn now Cordy. Think you'll manage?"

Cordelia smiled back. "Of course." she said, a slight tremble in her voice. "Ready, Willow?"

Giles took some herbs out of his bag and began mixing them in a beaker.

Buffy put the camera down and turned the door handle. It immediately began to glow bright red. She quickly pulled her hand away, and blew on her fingers. "Um, Giles, how will we get out of here with this seal thing?"

Giles looked up. "Oh, that's not a problem. If the caster leaves the room the seal is broken, so all we have to do is throw the camera through the window. First though, we have to get Amy's soul back in her body, before something else claims it."

Cordelia pulled a rope out of Giles's bag while Willow looked at a compass. They quickly took up their position, standing opposite each other on the north side of the circle, with the rope held taut between them.

Giles checked Amy's birthdate, written on a scrap of paper, then added a final pinch of herbs to his potion and put it over a lit Bunsen burner. The potion glowed a dull orange and gave off a pleasant smell; halfway between bacon and newly mown grass.

"Are you both ready?" Giles asked.

Both girls nodded. Willow looked nervous, but also eager.

"Remember, don't let anything in the circle until you are sure it's the real Amy. I'd rather not do another exorcism so soon."

Giles began chanting, summoning Amy's soul. His tone was commanding, but Xander couldn't understand a word.

The air at the north of the circle began to glow. At first it was just a blur, but then a multitude of faces snapped into focus, not all of them human. One of them even looked like Cordelia. The faces moved forward, towards the circle, but Willow and Cordelia barred their way, keeping them out.

"What!" Buffy exclaimed.

Xander turned around. Buffy was looking at the camera that held the witch's soul, a camera that was melting. As Xander watched, the camera seeped through Buffy's hands. Xander looked hopefully at Giles, but he just stared amazed at the camera as it oozed through the floor, then shrugged helplessly without ever interrupting his chanting.

Willow and Cordelia looked at each other, then nodded and lifted the rope. A single spirit entered the circle.

Amy's eyes opened. "What? Where am I? That's my real voice!"

Amy sat upright and looked down at her hand. "I'm back in my real body!"

Giles smiled briefly then spoke, his voice sombre. "We still have a significant problem."

Marcie looked annoyed. "But you said the camera would hold her. You drew runes on it, and everything."

"Not runes; cuneiform, an Akkadian prayer but it should have worked. The hellmouth must have given her the strength to escape. She will be heading for her original body, and when she reaches it she will come for us."

"But what if her body is already possessed?" Willow asked. "You said we would need to exorcise it too."

"It is her rightful body, and she is a witch. Nothing can keep her out of that body, not even death. We can pray she decides to hide, but if she doesn't she could be here in fifteen minutes, faster if she is reckless with her magic."

"Um, Amy. What happened to your hand?" Cordelia said, looking puzzled. "That definitely isn't right."

"My mother cut it off." Amy said bitterly. "Just because she had some nightmares. She went and swapped it for these horrible giant green wolves."

Cordelia looked understandably upset, and slightly guilty. Why? Cordelia had never been nasty enough to give a witch nightmares.

"But we could see two hands." Cordelia said slowly, her voice thoughtful. "Was she using some sort of illusion?"

Amy nodded. "But why does-"

Cordelia interrupted. "Then you could do the same thing. It might take a few days to learn the trick, but people would soon forget you had ever had only one hand, right, Giles?"

Cordelia smiled, clearly pleased with her idea, then frowned.

Giles nodded. "People are good at denial, but that doesn't matter right now. There's a powerful witch out there," Giles gestured at the window, "who could be heading for us right now, and we are completely defenceless."

"Way to inspire the troops." Xander said sarcastically. Couldn't Giles be more positive?

"Marcie's safe though." Willow said, looking nervous. "Can't you just, um, reverse the polarity of that spell we did, and make us all invisible."

Giles shook his head. "This is magic, not engineering. Invisibility would take weeks of research to achieve, if it's even possible."

"Marcie?" Amy said. "That's the invisible girl, right? Is she here?" Amy started looking round the room.

"Didn't you hear her." Buffy asked.

Giles sighed. "I explained that. Can we focus on the witch?"

Willow glanced at the window, then gasped. "I think she's being reckless."

Xander quickly looked outside. A small cloud of green fog had appeared, no more than twenty feet away. It started to glow, filling the classroom with a sickly green light. There were sparks crackling across its surface and it seemed to be growing.

"Amazing!" Giles said. "I think she's teleporting, very foolish. One slip and she'll be jam."

A flurry of small lightning bolts erupted out of the cloud, going in all directions. One shattered the windows and set the teacher's desk on fire.

Six demon wolves jumped out of the cloud. Three of them sailed straight through the window, one carrying the witch on its back.

The others missed, hitting the outside wall with a loud thump.

"Do you want to know how much exorcism hurts?" the witch asked calmly, then giggled "When my lovely little pets eat you alive, then you will suffer only the smallest fraction of my -"

Buffy jumped onto a desk, then leaped towards the witch, interrupting her speech and knocking her off her wolf.

Cordelia yanked Xander into the closet where Dr Gregory kept the lab coats, then tried to close the door.

"You can't do anything out there" she said, her mouth near Xander's ear. "All we can do is hide while Buffy fights. She's bound to win."

Xander didn't like the idea of hiding, and the closet was a poor choice anyway. It was too small. Cordelia hadn't been able to close the door completely, and he was uncomfortably aware of how closely she was pressed up against him. It was a nice feeling, not like anything he'd ever done before, but being so close to Cordelia just felt wrong, even if she didn't seem to mind.

Xander peered out of the closet, trying to ignore Cordelia. Amy and Willow were crouched in a corner behind Giles, who was building a barricade out of the desks. Marcie was stood in the middle of the room, dodging the wolves and the witch, who was staggering around with Buffy on her back. Buffy had one hand over the witch's mouth, stopping her from doing any magic, and kept punching her with the other hand, but the witch was managing to stay upright. She had to be using magic; there was no way a normal human could take that kind of punishment. The green sparks crackling over her skin were a big clue too.

One of the wolves tried to paw open the closet door but Xander stamped hard on its foot. It pulled back and growled.

Another of the wolves sank its teeth into Buffy's leg, pulled her off the witch's back, and hurled her against the wall.

"Why doesn't anyone come in?" Xander asked. "Can't they hear the fighting."

"They don't want to." Cordelia said impatiently. "They're in denial, not idiots. Nobody will show up until the fighting's over."

As a wolf pinned Buffy against the wall, the witch began chanting.

Buffy plunged both hands inside the wolf, her arms sinking deep into the fog, and twisted, breaking its neck.

As the skull dropped to the ground Buffy caught it and hurled it at the witch, interrupting her spell.

Large gashes appeared in the closet door as a wolf clawed at it.

"Great hiding place you picked." Xander said, wondering what he could do now.

The wolf yelped as a bottle broke on its nose.

Xander leaned out of the closet, trying to see who had thrown the bottle.

Cordelia pulled him back in. "Don't." she snapped, sounding worried, then asked "What's going on?"

"Marcie's throwing the chemical supplies at it."

The wolf wandered off, looking for the bottle-thrower.

The witch pointed at Buffy and, with a look of intense effort, levitated her. Smiling triumphantly, the witch flicked her finger, hurling Buffy out of the window.

"No!" Xander gasped.

"Don't worry." Cordelia said confidently. "She's the slayer. She can walk away from a fall like that."

"Giles." the witch said as she turned to face him. "You dared used magic against me, the most powerful witch in town. You never had a chance."

The witch began ripping apart Giles's barricade with her levitation trick.

Amy looked at her mother pleadingly. "Do you have to kill us now? You want sacrifices. Why not use us?"

"Playing for time?" the witch said with a smile, then paused. Looking thoughtful the witch continued "I could give you ten years to escape, and you still wouldn't stand a chance. I'll do it your way."

Xander smiled, confident that while the witch was gloating Buffy would burst in and kill her.

Her voice trembling, Marcie asked "There's no chance you'll cure me, is there?"

The witch glanced around the room. "Marcie? You still here? You drew the seal that trapped me. I would never cure you. Never."

Marcie looked terrified, but then she smiled and said. "But you can't magic what you can't see."

Marcie began circling the witch, spiralling in on her.

"Doesn't matter. I can see chalk. The moment it moves ..."

The witch pointed at the smouldering remnants of the teacher's desk and made a squeezing gesture. The desk crumpled, collapsing into a pile of ash and splinters.

Marcie ducked under one of the remaining demon wolves and picked up a shard of glass.

"No." Giles shouted. "Run."

"No." Marcie said firmly as she moved behind the witch. "I want to be cured and I won't let an ex-cheerleader stop me, even if I have to kill her."

"Lords of the mist, upon you I now call. Let those who threaten me die, one and all." the witch chanted, then held her left hand out, palm upward. A pillar of green mist erupted from that hand, forming a cloud near the ceiling.

Marcie paused, looking as surprised as Xander felt.

Beams of green light stabbed silently down from the green cloud, blindly searching for Marcie.

Marcie winced as a near miss made the floor smoulder, then smiled grimly and leaped forwards. She wrapped one arm around the witch's neck, yanking her backwards, then slashed at her face with the glass shard, drawing blood.

"No!" the witch screamed, looking terrified, then the light engulfed them both.

Marcie evaporated, before she could even blink. The witch screamed and fell backwards as flames engulfed her.

Xander looked away. The witch deserved to die, but not like that.

The two demon wolves looked at each other, then jumped back out of the window.

"It's over." Giles said. "The witch is dead."

It should have been a time for cheering but Xander couldn't, not when he had just seen Marcie die.

Amy walked over to her mother's corpse, looking sad. "I'll miss her; not the diets or the arguments, or the magic, her. She cared for me, in a really sick twisted way." Amy hesitated. "Are you sure she's completely dead, Mr Giles. I don't want her ghost nagging me."

Giles smiled. "Quite sure. That's why witches were burned at the stake. It stops them coming back."

"Um, Giles." Willow said tentatively. "How are going to explain this?"

Xander looked round the room noting the damage; the broken windows; the jumbled piles of desks, the smouldering patches in the floor, and the unrecognisable corpse. It would take some explaining.

"Simple" Cordelia said, smiling.

"So you said Marcie broke into the science lab to smoke, and accidentally blew herself up?" Buffy asked, looking sceptical. "Didn't they wonder who she was?"

Xander looked at Buffy and smiled, still glad she hadn't been seriously hurt. She had fractured both ankles in the fall, but they had healed within a day.

"Death breaks most curses." Giles explained. "They remembered her, with a little prompting."

"At least she got what she wanted" Cordelia added, "but she shouldn't have died. If only I'd waited, um wasted more time, not found her so fast, she would still be alive."

"Don't blame yourself." Buffy said hurriedly. "It wasn't your fault."

Xander nodded. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"We couldn't win without Marcie." Willow said reassuringly, making Cordelia smile. "Everything worked out very neatly, but not because you planned it that way. Nobody could have planned what happened, not unless they knew the future, which no one does, now all the old prophecies are destroyed, so you couldn't and didn't; not that you would even if you could."

"You really should drink less coffee." Buffy said, smiling, while Giles looked thoughtful.

"Don't worry, Cordy." Xander said smiling. "Next time we'll do better."

After all, they couldn't do any worse. They'd almost died. Still, with practice they'd get better, and it looked like they'd be getting plenty of practice. Soon Xander would be killing monsters in his sleep, and dating Buffy. Then his life would be almost perfect.

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