Giles entered the library, sighing heavily. Xander, Willow, and Oz looked up as he entered.
"Another dead end?" Willow questioned.
"Not quite. I did find some vampires...but no Slayer. I took care of the vampires, but..."
"But you're not any closer to finding Buffy," Xander finished.
"Yes," Giles agreed. "And how have you three been doing in the vampire department?"
"Oh, we got one!" Willow said enthusiastically. She added proudly, "Oz staked it."
"Yeah, we keep this up, soon we'll be getting, what, six out of ten?" Xander added. "I'd say we're getting better."
"Well, considering that we were getting zero out of ten, I'd say that this is a definite improvement," Oz put in.
"I'm sure you've all been doing your best," Giles said. "But I admit, I'd feel much better if Buffy was here. I may not be your Watcher, but I am still responsible for all of you."
"Hey, you don't need to worry about us," Xander said. "We're the Slayerettes! The Slayer's trusty second-in-commands! We can slay everything from demons to principals without batting an eye!"
"But we don't usually slay principals," Willow added, on the off chance that Principal Snyder might be hiding somewhere nearby.
"So, G-man, you coming to our big party tonight?" Xander asked.
"Uh...party?" Giles looked at him in confusion.
"We're having a big weapons-cleaning party to ring in the new school year," Willow explained.
"Yep, it'll be chock full of party mix and weapons polish," Xander added. "A tempting blend that cooks up any party."
"I-I think not," Giles replied. "Though you're welcome to use the library for your, uh, party. I need to get home, you-you never know when someone might call with news of the Slayer."
"Thanks Giles," Willow said, looking worried. "Are you sure you don't want to come? I mean...we don't want you to be lonely."
"I'll be perfectly fine, Willow," Giles said. "Thank you for your concern, though. Now, I-I really must be going."
He turned and left the library.
Night fell. The only lights on in Sunnydale High were one hall light and the ones in the library. The door was locked with a "Do Not Disturb" sign, just in case the janitor arrived to look over the school before it opened for the new school year, which was only a few weeks away.
Inside the library, Oz, Xander, and Willow were busily shining Giles's weapons.
"The key to slaying," Xander said, "is not strength, or speed. The key to good slayage, my friends, is a shiny weapon. Think of how embarrassing it would be if we tried to kill some big evil thing with a dirty weapon."
"It might mock us and our dirty weapons," Oz said.
"Exactly!" Xander agreed. "It might say something like 'na na na na na, you've got a filthy weapon,' which would get us mad and throw us off-balance. But all that can be avoided with just a little bit of spit and polish. Speaking of which, that crossbow looks like it could use some polish."
"You just want to touch it," Willow accused, pulling the crossbow closer. "Giles told me not to let you have it."
"Aw, come on, Will!" Xander said. "Give it here! I'll just polish, I promise! No target practice or anything!"
"No," Willow said, sticking out her tongue at him.
"She's very overprotective," Oz told Xander.
"No fair." Xander picked up one of Giles's swords and walked behind Willow. He pressed the sword against her hair.
"Ha! Now, give me the crossbow or get a haircut!"
"You wouldn't dare!" Willow said. "You're not getting this crossbow."
"Come on," Xander pleaded. He lowered his voice to make it mock-menacing. "Give it to me or I will suck your blood! Blah blah!"
"Xander." Willow rolled her eyes. "You can't have it."
"Don't make me use this sword," Xander warned.
"You won't," Willow said. "You're too chicken. 'Cause if you use it, I might have to use this crossbow...on you."
"Oh yeah?" Before he could think about what he was doing, Xander sliced through Willow's long hair. He stared at it in shock. "Oops. Sorry, Will."
"Xander!" Willow stared at him, mortified. "Look what you did to my hair! Now I'll have to get it all cut short!"
"I think it'll look nice that way," Oz spoke up. "You'll look even cuter."
"You really think so?" Willow asked.
"Definitely," Xander said quickly. "You should thank me."
"Maybe go to a stylist...." Willow continued.
"Great idea," Xander agreed.
"And because you cut it, Xander, you get to pay for it," Willow added.
"Wonderful idea," Xander said. Then he stopped for a moment, realizing what he'd agreed to. "No. Not good idea. Bad, bad, horrible idea."
"Good idea." Willow smiled at him and sat back down. She picked up the crossbow and started polishing again.
Xander walked back over to his chair and sat down, turning the sword in his hands.
"I still want the crossbow."
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"Pretty please?"
"No."
* * * *
Giles sat in his apartment by the phone, waiting for it to ring. He sighed heavily, taking off his glasses to clean them.
Suddenly the phone rang. He dropped his glasses on the couch and grabbed the receiver.
"Hello?" His hopes rose, only to be dashed moments later.
"Is Larry there?" asked an unfamiliar voice.
"No...no, you have the wrong number," Giles said, and hung up.
He reached down and picked up his glasses, putting them back on. He glanced at the clock. Almost midnight.
"I should go to bed," he muttered, but didn't get up. He wanted to be awake in case anyone called.
The phone rang again and Giles picked it up. This time, the voice on the other end was familiar.
"Giles? Are you still awake?" It was Willow.
"I was about to go to bed," Giles lied. "Is there a problem?"
"No....well, we ran out of polish and Xander cut my hair with a sword, but we're okay. We just wanted to see if you were still waiting for calls."
"I'm all right Willow," Giles assured her. "You don't need to be worried about me. Now, shouldn't you three be at home?"
"We were...just about to leave," Willow said. "Good night."
"Yes, good night, Willow." Giles hung up. He stretched himself out on the couch, staring at the ceiling. The clock ticked behind him, counting off the minutes. He listened to it, feeling drowsy. Before he knew it, he had closed his eyes and fallen asleep.
About ten minutes later the door creaked open. Giles had given the Slayerettes a key to his apartment in case of emergencies, and now they were using it. Willow, Oz, ands Xander entered the apartment quietly, staring at Giles asleep on the couch.
"He really misses Buffy, doesn't he?" Xander said quietly, oddly serious.
Willow went up the steps to Giles's bedroom and came down with a blanket.
"We all miss Buffy," she said softly, draping the blanket over Giles. "He's got to be exhausted."
"We'd better go before we wake him up," Oz added.
"Yeah..." Willow said. "Good night, Giles."
The three of them turned and left the apartment. They turned off the lights while Giles slept on.