Four hours later, Buffy was actually glad that Giles had forced the research on her, though she never would have admitted it. She was learning a lot about the blonde vampire that was plaguing her, and had slowly made her way through the piles of information in silence, completely absorbed in the information. Some of it was terribly hard to read, particularly the diaries of the Watchers whose slayers Spike had killed, and yet Buffy found herself taking it all with a large grain of salt, unwilling to accept the accounts at face value. There were two sides to everything, weren't there? And somehow, none of it was as terrible as she had braced herself for.

She knew why. A year ago she'd been doing just this, reading everything she could about another vampire. Angelus. She had been expecting that level of horror, brutality. She didn't find it. Spike wasn't Angelus, never had been, and if there was any hope for the world, never would be. Instead she seemed to be finding things that made her feelings of guilt grow, while at the same time intriguing her. When she read the accounts of Angelus's torture of his companions, she felt deep sorrow, even pity for Spike. When she read of his strange devotion to Drusilla, she felt a great confusion and some sort of awe.

A blurry photo, taken at great distance and dated from the late sixties, fell from inside a crumbling file, and showed a punked-out Spike stumbling up the street with Drusilla on his arm, unaware of the photographer tailing them. A deep curiosity stole over her as she traced the edges of the photo, squinting in a futile attempt to get a better view of the spiked hair, the heavy black eye liner, and the glint of silver on his chest that hinted at jewelry. A cold flash of fear zapped up her spine as she recognized attraction in the swirl of emotion in her chest. Quickly folding the photo in half, she stuffed it deep into her jeans pocket, wanting only to get it out of sight, not even realizing that she's be carrying it with her. Picking up the rest of the file, she tossed it harshly onto the coffee table.

"Yeah, I second that!" Xander declared, tossing his own book onto the table with an exasperated sigh. "Break time?"

"Break time!" Willow agreed, stomping on whatever protest Giles had been about to voice. "I vote Chinese food."

"Again, I second," Xander smiled, leaning back over the couch to grab the phone off the desk. "The usual all around?"

There were clamors of assent but Buffy stayed quiet, trying to deal with the turmoil rolling around inside her head and inside her stomach. Her Watcher noticed her unusual lack of response, and kept careful eyes on her as he stood to stretch the kinks from sitting hunched over his books for too long. He waited until Xander had finished off their order with a side of shrimp egg rolls before speaking up.

"I think it would be easiest if we went around the group and each adds the important points of what we've found. Then we can collaborate and some up with a cohesive plan of attack."

Willow smiled in approval and nodded vigorously, happy with the scholarly approach.

Xander came back to the couch, flopping down with the sigh of a beleaguered teenage male. "Well, at least this'll go fast," he said with a sarcastic grin. "All these books and only a few sentences on the Gem."

"It's true that the Council doesn't know that much the Gem of Amara," Giles said in a tone that was almost ashamed. "The first rumors of it began early in the tenth century. It was said that it could be found in the valley of the sun." Giles picked up the painting he had been studying and handed it across to Buffy. "It was thought to be a ring of golden overlay, housing an emerald gemstone; the source of its power. When word of its powers began to spread, hundreds of vampires flocked to the Hellmouth in search of it, but it was never found. It was determined that the ring never truly existed, and it became a sort of Holy Grail, the ultimate prize."

"There's no real record of how the Gem came to be, how it was created or what gave it its powers," Willow said, picking up the tale as she sorted through a stack of articles she had earmarked. "Its rumored properties include immunity to sunlight, as well as increased vampiric abilities such as strength and speed over time. More importantly," she angled Buffy a significant look, "it speeds up their regenerative capabilities."

"It whats their who?" Buffy asked, quirking a brow.

"It means they heal faster," Willow explained. "Even faster than usual. It means that you can't use crosses or stakes against Sp… um, against the vampire who has it." Buffy had narrowed her eyes at Willow when she began to personalize the statement, and though Willow didn't understand her reaction, she thought it probably best to just not mention the blonde vampire at all. "Anyway… the wounds caused by a stake or a cross, piercing the heart and burning, would heal almost as soon as they were caused."

"So, what?" Xander asked, confusion obvious in his tone. "Buffy can't dust Spike?"

"Basically," Willow said quickly, standing to put herself between her two friends. Buffy had risen slightly in her chair, but had sat down just as quickly, emotions warring on her face. "The ring makes a vampire pretty much unkillable."

"So that's pretty much the sum-up then," Xander smiled. "It's just a ring that makes a vamp heal a little faster."

"Yes I suppose that is the abridged version," Giles remarked, taking off his glasses for a polish. "But I'm afraid it's a little more complicated than that. If the Gem makes a vampire invulnerable, truly immortal…"

"Well I don't think that's exactly true," Willow said, quickly paging through a book. "The Gem doesn't negate the effects of a stake or a cross; they would still stab and burn, and probably hurt like a bi…" Willow blushed hard. "Anyway. It just makes a vampire heal fast enough to keep them from dusting."

"So Buff just needs to get him to dust before he has time to heal." Clapping his hands together, Xander stood and walked over to Giles' weapons chest, opening the lid and reaching in. "Now what method of vampire extermination do we know that could do that?" Straightening up, he raised a gleaming sword, gripping the hilt tightly and swinging it like a bat.

Leaping from the couch, Giles took the sword before any serious damage was done to his flat. "Yes. Well. That's the plan then." He turned back to face Buffy, who had yet to contribute to the conversation. "We will all…"

At that moment the doorbell rang, and Buffy had never been more grateful for Chinese for in her life. Xander and Willow dashed for the door, and Giles headed for his wallet. It seemed that he was constantly shelling out for junk food for these teenagers, but if he thought about it, he supposed it was the least he could do for the one girl in all the world. So he paid the tab and tipped the slobby delivery boy, and helped to sort through the waxy white cartons of lo mein, beef and broccoli, and cashew chicken. When everyone was happily settled in with their chopsticks, he returned his attention to his Slayer.

She was poking around in a box of pork fried rice, looking a bit pale and sweaty. Perhaps the reality of her coming fight with Spike was finally sinking in. As he watched, Buffy closed the box and pushed it away.

"Buffy dear, are you all right?" he asked softly.

"Fine," she replied, with a big fake smile. Rising from her chair, she stepped around the coffee table and grabbed her jacket from the back of the desk chair, sliding it on. "I am gonna get going though," she announced.

"But Buffy, we haven't discussed a plan of attack yet."

"Don't worry so much Giles," she said, picking up the polished sword that Giles had propped near the door. Ghosting her hand along the blade, she tested the edge with her thumb. "I always do better with improv anyway." Ignoring her spluttering Watcher, she turned the knob, opening the door to go.

"Hey Buff!" Xander called.

Buffy almost sighed in exasperation, but reeled it in before turning to face her friends, a questioning smile on her face. He didn't speak only selected a fortune cookie from the table and pitched it in her direction. She caught it easily and cracked the wafer open, pulling out the slip of paper from the inside.

Beware the coming decision; its consequences will be long-lasting.

Buffy laughed and crushed the fortune in her fist.