"Spill."

"Buffy!"

He gave her a sharp sideways look but her eyes were fully trained on the other slayer who looked much improved from a few days ago when she was dying. Faith's eyes were downcast, a scowl on her lips. The others, thankfully, were out in the stable with the horses. They weren't there to hear the argument. He saw the tight way she was holding her body and the slight curl in her hands ready to make fists and needed both girls to calm down.

"What did you do? I saw the nest, Faith. I saw it! I know it was you!"

"What do you want from me?"

"The truth! Is it so hard just to tell the truth?"

"Girls, please." He stepped physically between them, an ill advised position at best. "Please try to calm down."

"But she killed them!"

"They were demons!"

He let out a savage growl and caught both of their arms, physically keeping them apart. He glared at Buffy and nodded to one side of the room, Faith to the other. Both girls gave their own glares but had never heard that growl before and retreated to their side of the room. With them separated, he let out a slow breath to get relaxed and raked a hand through his hair. He couldn't deal with whatever was hanging over their heads and squabbling slayers as well. He kept his body as a physical barrier between them, trying to figure out how best to proceed.

"I know those types of demons, Faith. They're large, but harmless unless provoked."

"You're on her side?"

"I don't have a side; I'm simply trying to understand. Why would you destroy an entire nest alone?"

Her face fell when she realized there wasn't going to be a chance to talk her way out of this. Her eyes traveled angrily from one to the other before she sighed. She shrugged her shoulders and looked away while the other two waited expectantly for an explanation.

"I didn't have a choice."

"Why?"

"I just didn't, ok?"

"Faith, we need you to be more forthcoming."

"The deal I made to get you out. I'm the demon's muscle for hire for the rest of my life in exchange for getting you out of hell."

"What?"

"Faith, you should have never made such an exchange for my life. It was reckless of you to -"

"To what? Get you out of there before ten years passed? If this is how you came out after six years what do you think you'd be doing then? You might be gone forever if we waited. Or dead."

"So we kill him."

"You can't. If we kill him that cancels your get out of hell free pass."

"If it's a matter of that I'll gladly take the fall."

Faith got up and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, yanking him into the other room and shutting the door behind them. He flailed and though he was considerably stronger than he used to be she'd recovered in full and he could not stop slayer strength. He had no choice but to follow her, marveling as she let him go. She stood close, dropping her voice low so that Buffy couldn't hear or anyone else that happened to come home. She studied him for a few long minutes before she finally let him have it, balling her hands at her sides as she did.

"Don't do that. Don't even think it. B? She needs you. They all need you. You can't just throw yourself on the grenade every time you think you should."

"What about you?" He asked quietly. "You have your very own grenade right now and it's causing damage."

"I figure I owe you guys that much, at least. You're more important, anyway."

He sighed and shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was wearing his glasses again and had blessed modern technology the moment he got them on. In the Hellmouth they'd broken fairly early on so he hadn't had the benefit.

"You constantly undervalue yourself."

"Are you looking in a mirror right now?"

He paused and took her point, conceding it silently. Leaning against one of the shelves he crossed his arms over his chest.

"We can't change what's been done. I'm grateful for your sacrifice but I can't allow it to continue. We'll spend as much time as it takes to find a way out of this deal of yours. It was rash of you, but of course you already know that. Further finger wagging is unnecessary just now, I think."

"I didn't want to kill them."

"I believe you."

He put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed, seeing the maturity and the guilt in her eyes. They'd gotten close while he was, well, less than himself. He didn't want to jeopardize that by pushing her too far. Anyway, it wasn't important to get a lecture in with a new problem on the horizon. He leveled his gaze at her, catching her eyes.

"I need you to tell me everything."

"If you say so."

They went back into the living room. He and Buffy listened while she told her tale, letting her go at her own pace. Though she didn't saw so he saw the changes in her when she started talking about the nest. He saw her tremble a little and her hands clench together in front of her. He saw how carefully she controlled her facial expression which was telling in itself. It hurt to think about, knowing she'd put herself in this position for him. They all stayed quiet when she was finished, letting the tale digest.

"Alright, so we research."

"What's more important? The demon or the stone?"

"At this point it's difficult to tell. Of course we don't want him to keep his contract with Faith but that stone...it sounds familiar to me. He didn't want it without having a reason."

"I swear I don't know what it does."

"I know you don't. We'll figure it out, with any luck before something terrible happens."

"That's not very comforting."

He frowned, but he couldn't disagree. It wasn't meant to be comforting, only true. He moved to his bookshelf and pulled several volumes he thought would be handy. It was considerably more comforting to be able to touch the actual books than try to use the proxies in his head. He split the work having the slayers look up the demon while Xander, Willow, and he tried to find out what they could about the stone. It seemed best. The redhead went to the main house to be able to access reliable internet, which was still rather spotty this far in the country. Hours melted away in mind numbing research until Faith had had her fill and Buffy's head was beginning to droop with sleep.

"Perhaps we ought to call it a night," he suggested at last.

"Sleepy." Buffy mumbled.

"I'll go get you and Will settled."

Xander moved from the table guiding the blonde by the shoulders out the door and across the yard to the main house. It was substantially bigger than the cottage and would be where the majority of the Scoobies would be sleeping. It wasn't Giles' taste, not really, even though he owned the place. It was an ancestral home he kept for reasons he honestly never stopped to put a finger on before. Tradition, probably. That sounded about right.

He noticed he was alone with Faith who, despite the work, looked awake and restless.

"Something on your mind?"

"No." She was toying with a lace decoration on top of the side table. "Maybe."

"Want to talk about it?"

"No." The silence dragged for a moment before she looked up. "Do you want to talk about what you went through in the Hellmouth?"

"Not especially, but I suppose I should try. As much as I'd love to keep it to myself I've read numerous reports that talking about this sort of thing is therapeutic."

"Do you still get the nightmares?"

"Every night."

"I'll tell if you will." She decided.

"That sounds like a fair deal."