Cordelia took a deep breath as she opened her locker. It took all of her energy to maintain the facade; lunch had been particularly brutal. Harmony was a bitch anyway; she was also possessed of just enough animal cunning to realize that something was wrong. Cordelia was no fool. Soon the entire student body would know about what had happened; that was the way of high school. At some point Harmony would figure out some supposedly clever plan of attack. Before that happened, Cordelia needed to have the group back in her corner. Thus, a lunch spent forcing laughter and feigning interest in the gossip about the boring lives of the Sunnydale flock. Cordelia was exhausted and edgy.
"Hi, how are you?"
Cordelia whirled. "What's your-? Oh."
The girl had dark hair with forest-green streaks. Ragged bangs obscured one eye. The other eye was large and dark. She wore navy-blue track pants with two red stripes down the side and a royal-blue T-shirt with Less Than Jake and a logo of an alligator-headed Pez dispenser mounted to a rocket. A chunky diver's watch encircled her left wrist. She shifted her weight from side to side in a little hopping motion.
"You may not remember me," she said. "I'm Casey Porter. We were, you know, back around Homecoming, sorry I haven't spoken to you since, I know it's been, like, four months, but I wanted to ask if you were okay."
Cordelia blinked in the face of the verbal hurricane. "I remember you. Don't wig about the not talking. It's okay. Really." She turned back to her locker.
"I'm sorry if I'm in your space, I know I'm a sophomore and you're a senior, but my mom says I kind of have this thing, where I can tell what people are feeling, and I really wanted know if you're okay and give you this."
Cordelia turned back, a hot retort forming on her lips. Casey's arm was outstretched, one of those friendship bracelets dangling from her hand. A red bolt flashed through Cordelia's head; her first reaction was to grab the thing from the girl's hand and throw it on the ground. Her eyes focused on it and she frowned.
"It's maroon and gold," she said.
"Yeah," Casey said. "School colors, since you're a cheerleader. I know it's crummy but, uh, I never said 'thank you' for everything you did, so..." Her voice trailed away.
"You stayed and talked to the police," Cordelia said.
"Yeah, but I wouldn't have been alive to do that if you weren't there, and I never did really tell you that, and I just really thought today that I needed to tell you that and give you this bracelet, even if it is kind of lame." Casey blinked and Cordelia realized that the younger girl was about to cry. She reached out and took the bracelet from Casey's hand.
"It's not that lame. You made it yourself," Cordelia said. "Thanks."
"Thank you. I hope everything's okay." Casey ducked her head and walked away. Cordelia took a deep breath and crumpled the bracelet in her fist. She glanced down the hall. The trash can was too far away. She could throw it away later. She stuffed the string bracelet in her pocket as she turned back to her locker.
Giles jumped as the library door banged open. Stefan Warner crossed the open space in a few loping strides and rested his forearms on the counter.
"Can I help you?" Giles asked.
"Schoolwise, no," Warner said. "But I could do with a quick sit-rep."
"A what?" Giles said.
"Sit-rep. Situation report."
"Oh," Giles said. "Well, I've heard nothing from the Council-"
"No, no, not the Council." Warner raised a hand. "Unless they send another pair of assassins, out of sight equals out of mind. I'm asking about the kids."
"The kids?" Giles said.
"Yeah, you know, the students, the barely developed humans filling the halls of this place. Matti said that Cordelia was absent yesterday, missed cheerleading practice, which I gather is a very rare event. Today she shows up at school looking like a rocket-powered femme fatale. An e-mail tells me that Xander Harris is in the hospital and it seems that Faith is nowhere to be found. I don't think I'm Kreskin to assume that those might all be connected."
Giles took a deep breath and thought. "Well, it seems that Faith had sex with Xander, and Cordelia found out."
Warner winced. "Ouch. So did Cordelia brain him with a lamp or something?"
"No. Buffy and Willow think that Faith might have been involved. They went to her motel room. It was empty. Xander was found by the railroad tracks. Xander's injuries are serious, but apparently not life-threatening. No one knows where Faith is. Does that bring you up to date?"
"I guess so. Wow." Warner looked down at his hands clasped on the counter. "Bad timing, huh?"
"Yes, one could say that."
"Well, I'd better go find Matti." Warner shoved off the counter. "She'll want to talk to Cordelia."
Giles frowned. His mouth opened and closed. Warner noticed the gesture.
"Matti's a teacher and Cordelia's her student. She really likes the girl." He smiled. "Does that seem strange to you?"
Giles stiffened. "What are you trying to say?"
"Listen, I know you're under a lot of stress right now, and I'm probably just talking out of my hat, but did you notice that once you mentioned Cordelia finding out about Xander and Faith, you didn't say anything else about her? Does her pain not matter?"
Giles pursed his lips. Warner held up his hands. "Hey, sorry. Like I said, I know it's a hard time. You've got to worry about the Slayer and the Council and this business with the Seal. That's plenty for one man's plate. Forget I said anything." He turned and left the library.
Giles watched the door swing slightly on its hinges. "Not bloody likely," he whispered to himself.
The white van stopped in front of Sunnydale High. Buffy and Willow jogged down the steps and jumped in, Willow in the front passenger seat, Buffy on the bench.
"Hey," Oz said.
"Hey yourself," Buffy said, leaning forward between them. "I understand big congrats are in order."
Oz took a deep breath and blinked. "Yeah."
"When did you wake up?" Willow asked.
"About twenty minutes ago." He rubbed a hand through his hair. It looked even spikier. "We ready to go?"
The van pulled away from the curb. As Oz turned the wheel, Willow turned to Buffy.
"So, how did your fact-finding go?"
Buffy shrugged. "Facts were found. Some of them unsavory."
"Why were you looking for unsavory facts?" Oz asked, looking in the rear-view mirror.
"We, uh, we went to Cordelia's house. There was a bit of an encounter," Willow said.
"Close encounter?" Oz asked.
"Of the worst kind," Buffy said.
"Share?" Willow asked.
"Not yet," Buffy said. "A little too Maury Povich."
"OK," Willow said. "End of questions."
"Cool," said Oz. He glanced in the rear-view. "Have you seen Batman Beyond? It's awesome."
Buffy smiled. "Thanks, Oz."
"Don't mention it. It really is a great show."
And so they passed the time discussing animated superheroes until they pulled into the hospital parking lot. They fell silent as they crossed the parking lot. Once they were in the main lobby, Willow pulled them to a small chapel. "Okay," she said. "Hold really still."
"Why?" Buffy said.
"I'm going to use a glammer to hide us."
"Really?" Oz said.
"I don't want the nurse telling us we can't see him. This way we'll just walk in and nobody will be the wiser."
Buffy frowned. "Why are we doing it down here?"
"Oh." Willow shrugged. "It's wise to keep magick as far away from complicated electronics as possible."
"Like medical equipment?" Oz said.
"Exactamundo. So it's best to do the spell down here." Willow looked around. "Now, hold still." She moved her hands and murmured words under her breath.
Buffy looked down at her body. "Did it work?"
Willow grinned. "Of course it did. I did it." They left the chapel and walked to the elevator, and anyone watching thought it passing strange that the elevator opened and closed on an empty car.
They got out on the fourth floor. A half-dozen people were scattered through the hallway; a couple at the nurse's station, one leaning against the wall, three in a waiting room across from the elevator. Buffy looked at Willow. The redhead mouthed something. Buffy leaned forward, concentrating. Willow did it again. Buffy realized that she was saying "Xander's family." The Slayer nodded. The trio crept down the hallway, staying as far away from people as possible. They slipped around the two people at the nurse's station and through the open door of the ICU enclosure.
A hard-looking woman with dark hair and pale skin sat at the bedside. Buffy looked at Willow, who mouthed "Xander's mom." The Slayer nodded and looked at Xander.
A plethora of wires and tubes snaked to various body parts. His right arm was enclosed in a cast. His face was marred by several abrasions and small cuts. A blanket was pulled over him, but Buffy could see a large mound under the cover where his left leg would be. She assumed it was some sort of splint to stabilize his knee.
Buffy looked down at her friend, his face so pale and drawn. Florestan's words flashed across her consciousness: 'You are the shepherdess who guards the flock until we are hungry.' Anger, bright and hot and diamond-hard, filled her soul.
I am the shepherd, she thought, and nobody is touching anyone in my care.