"What are you reading Jonathan?" Andrew craned his head while Jonathan tried to rapidly hide the book he was borrowing from one of the nemesis libraries.

"It's nothing. Just some practice spell theory."

Andrew shook his head. "That design didn't look like theory. Come to think of it, it didn't look like nothing either."

"I haven't given you a reason not to trust me, have I?"

"That kind of phrasing doesn't build confidence." Andrew shrugged.

"Hey, the party's in here." Warren poked his head through the doorway.

Andrew, always the lapdog, offered his synopsis. "Jonathan's hiding something. He had this book..."

"Do you have to tell him everything?"

Warren walked in past Andrew and lay his elbows down on Jonathan's desk amongst the mountain of books and strewn papers with scribbled signs and numbers abounding. "Jonathan, Jonathan, Jonathan. What are we going to do with you?"

Andrew raised his hand. "I know. Subject him to all three Star Wars films in re-release with those horrible extra scenes."

Warren didn't even bother to look back, staying his bearing upon Jonathan. "We didn't say there was punishment in this, did we? Although, all that fraternizing with the enemy does look a mite suspicious."

"There's nothing suspicious about it. Wasn't one of the great tacticians also a fan of keeping thine enemies closer?"

Warren smiled. "We're not talking about ancient societies. Nor is this in reference to any cultural isms that you might have picked up for refutary evidence. No, Jonathan, this is about loyalty. Xander's a threat to us, an ally if not an all-out attack dog for the Slayer."

Jonathan stood. "He's nothing like that!" Somewhere Xander smiled at being defended.

Warren shrugged. "I don't know. Things don't seem to have changed that much since high school."

Andrew piped in. "Yeah."

Warren gazed at Andrew, floating his hand so Andrew would know that he didn't need back-up. "The one thing that has changed is the kind of interest he's taken in you."

"Xander says he sees a lot of potential in me. And he's teaching me things...things that have benefited us all. The power of the invisibility ray for instance..."

"That experiment was a disaster."

"That's not true, Warren. There are many things we learn for the work of the war from the battles. One factor is stability of molecule. We wouldn't have learned about that save for the spectrum ray that turned the Slayer and Witch invisible. Besides, we can't just kill her."

"There are two problems I have with that statement. First, the existence of working from battle to war is not always proven effective. Secondly, you've got a soft spot for the Slayer now?!" Andrew's voice cracked slightly.

Jonathan sprang back a little in mock distaste. "No! What you see as weakness is actually research. If you look at this book Xander lifted for me from the Magic Box, you learn a lot about Slayer lore. Such as a continual wellspring of Slayer bodies. Buffy dies and we'll get another to deal with."

Warren sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "You're missing the big picture here Jonathan."

"No, I'm not." Jonathan scrambled through his small stack and flipped quickly to a certain earmarked page. "If you'll just read this prophecy..."

"This isn't about prophecy!" Warren hit the desk with enough force to send a few things sliding. "This is about our organization, our plans, and the things you put in jeopardy! We can handle another Slayer if she's the best they have to throw at us. Hell, it took turning her invisible for Buffy to even know who we all were. Before she was just clueless muscle and another couldn't do any better."

Andrew pointed to the floor. "There's the book he was hiding." Jonathan scrambled and yet Warren's grasp got to the book first.

"What is this?" He turned a few pages in and then turned to Jonathan with an amused look. "You've been holding out on us."

"Now...now that's just not fair. This is my area of expertise after all! It wouldn't do you any good and besides Xander'll know if someone else has touched his book!"

"Well then, I don't think you'll mind if I borrow it since I've already opened it."

"Wait!" Andrew blocked the door, crossing his arms as Warren skimmed through the paragraphs and subject headings until a cry of glee warmed his tone. Jonathan collapsed in upon himself. "You'll never understand how to do whatever it is you've found!"

Warren looked back from the hallway, biting his thumbnail in Jonathan's direction. "Oh, I don't have to. I guess I was wrong about your loyalties after all."

Warren walked away, hearing Jonathan's cry as Andrew walked in tow. "Are you at least going to tell me what page you're on?"

It wasn't long before the embodiment of Jonathan in panic mode was almost quite literally flying around Xander's bedroom. Xander lay silently, waiting for the emotion to ebb. "I won't do it, I just won't do it! This wasn't what we were intended for, I simply can not do this in good conscience! Not that conscience really matters or possibly even if it exists in situations like these! Will you help me out here before I babble myself into nihilism?"

"First, you'll have to tell me what it is before I can comment on the situation."

"I mean, this goes beyond larceny, this could, wait, it is murder! I mean, if I thought Andrew would agree with me we could take him on but I can imagine Andrew's resolve face and how it would fall the moment Warren took a stand...."

"You've got to calm down before you pop a blood vessel and I get curious enough to want a taste of the babbling stream of Jonathan. Will you tell me what happened?"

"Ummm...you're going to be angry with me."

Xander chuckled, sitting up into a reclined position. "How can I be angry if you won't tell me exactly what is going on, Jonathan? I'm a vampire, not a psychic."

Jonathan closed his eyes and winced. "They got hold of the book."

Xander's reply made Jonathan's eyes pop open. "So, what's the problem? Andrew's studying to be a demon summoner, Warren's studying to handle alchemy, and you're studying spells. So, this is the only book of it's kind?"

"Warren had all the books in the house disguised by spell. In the wrong hands, they turn into Barbarella figurines and in the right hands the pages light up."

"Barbarella figurines, really?" Xander tried to contain his laughter.

"You're missing the big thing here Xander."

Xander sighed. "Jonathan, Jonathan, Jonathan. Did you think I'd just let you waltz back home with a book without information I wanted him to see in it?" Xander replied when Jonathan's mouth moved toward a pouty motion and then closed before interjecting. "The thing is, your little group of crusading marauders harnessing the power of the Hell mouth for earthly conquest intrigues me as a mechanism. Wow, how many big words did I use in that statement? In any case, anything he could find in those books would be harmless at best."

"I think you need you to reread your library, Xander."

"And why is that, Jonathan?" Xander sighed.

"He found the sacrificial incantation for summoning and vanquishing Nezzle'khan children to sacrifice and create the portal to the Orbs."

"Wow, I really do need to start rereading my books."

Jonathan blurted what he was thinking in exasperation. "What are we going to do?"

Xander moved from the bed to the wardrobe, picking out a nice black button-down. "Well, firstly, we is going to become a nonentity after we attack this problem twofold. Warren's become a threat and Andrew's complacency worries me. I've let a lot slide, but I think the time has come..."

"You're speaking in riddles, frightening and cryptic riddles."

"You don't really like that house as much as the mansion, do you Jonathan? Would you ever, say, move in with me if you didn't have another option?"

"You're going to destroy them."

Xander's eyebrows furrowed. "You're surprised by this?"

Jonathan stumbled as he moved backwards, almost dropping the binder he had brought with him that he was now clutching to his chest. "This was the plan all along."

"Well...yeah. You don't think I'd let someone with notions of world domination just go, do you? I mean, think of all the perks I'd lose. Spike said it best when he said that you're like little Happy Meals on legs and who really wants to give that up?"

Jonathan turned wide-eyed and pale, a momentary reminder to Xander of the boy's humanity and he backed up on his stance a little. "You're going to eat them?"

"Ummm...No?"

Jonathan shuddered as Xander's hand came lightly across his shoulder. "I really hate that," he exclaimed in a hushed and embarrassed tone.

"Jonathan, I don't know about you sometimes. The stomach for spells and for making others want you through them and yet just without the stomach for the dirty work. I mean, I assumed when you came to me with your concerns the first time..."

"Oh no! Xander Harris, you're not going to pin this on me."

"Will you stop calling me Xander? This is not high school."

"Exactly. I'm not the same guy."

Xander spread his arms like wings. "And you don't think I've changed a little? Come on, this is pure brand nihilism in its fighting form. This is a rush of New Deal democracy at a Hooverville! This is Amelia freakin' Earhart landing in England!"

Jonathan cleared his throat. "You know, that last one didn't happen. And nihilism would infer that you didn't actually plan anything nor that anything ever actually happens."

"So not the point, I was on a role. I want you to go through with the ceremony and if you get scared remember how capable you are and that you won't be alone."

"How can I trust you?"

"How can you trust Warren?"

"Good point. But do I have to sacrifice the kid?"

"The demon kid from an alternate universe. Generally, that's not the type of spell I'd let you dabble in any ways. Let's run some lines and see if we can talk our way out of it." Xander sighed. "If push comes to shove, then you'll just have to think of it as the runt pig of the litter."

Jonathan grumbled. "I hated that movie."