Sidney opened another book and began to leaf through it. He had been going through Giles' collection of occult books, for the better part of two hours, yet had found nothing in them that could help with their current situation. "You have only one book that focuses on voodoo, and it's full of bloody lies!" he yelled at the librarian from across the room, his frustration showing on his face. "How can you be so unprepared?"

Giles poked his head out of his office, his face flushed with a mixture of embarrassment and anger. "Well I did not expect to have to worry about voodoo shamans on the Hellmouth." He replied tersely. "Voodoo and vampires don't usually get along very well."

Sidney dismissed his friend's answer with a wave of his hand. "That's a poor excuse and you know it." The former Watcher raised his eyes so that he looked directly at Giles. "When we were at Oxford together, I tried to show you how ethnic magics were just as important as more traditional ones. I'd hope you would have changed your mind after Manchester, but apparently not."

Giles face flushed again, this time in complete anger. "Now don't go bringing up Manchester! That was as much your fault, as it was mine." The Watcher came out of his office fully to face his accuser. "You didn't know they were Druids either!"

Sidney rose from his chair, his hands gripping the sides of the table tightly. "Well at least I didn't think they were Wiccan!" The Reanimator's voice was laced with equal parts scorn and amusement. "I mean, Wiccan! Even first year candidates know that Wiccans don't do human sacrifice!"

Both men stared at each other from across the room, letting their eyes finish the argument. Neither man knew how long the stare down lasted, but they realized it was over when they noticed that they were both laughing. The tension that had been building throughout the night had dissipated some. Giles walked over to the table and sat down in the chair next to his friend. Sidney sat back down in his own seat and chuckled. "I still can't believe you thought they were Wiccan, Rui," he said through a large smile.

Giles smiled at the memory, still slightly embarrassed. "Well I was.we were young. It was our first training mission after all. We got out of it unscathed." His smiled widened. "Er.well mostly unscathed. And don't call me Rui!"

"Fine, no 'Rui'. However, I wouldn't call me striped naked, chained to an altar, and almost sacrificed by a group of robed teenage druids, getting out 'unscathed' Sidney said with a sour look on his face

Giles face took on a look of non-chalance. "Well if I remember correctly, you thought one of the members quite attractive. That is, before she tried to cut your throat."

Sidney smiled wistfully at his own memories. "Yes, Amanda. She was.something." He replied faintly.

"Insane?" Giles said with a grin.

The Reanimator nodded without loosing his wistful look. Yes, but she was such made insane look sexy." His smile grew as he looked off into space. "Did I tell you about the ritual tattoo all the druids had? Amanda had hers on the inside of her right thigh.it was so small!"

Giles gave his old friend a look of shock. "Sidney! She tried to kill you!" He paused a moment before another thought came to him. "When did you get a good look at her inner thigh?" the Librarian demanded.

"Well, while you were off researching 'Wiccan human sacrifice practices', I was forced to do some.deep cover work?" Sidney gave his friend a look of perfect innocence. "Someone had to do it!"

The Watcher sat stunned for a moment. "Wha-what were we discussing again?" he managed after taking a minute to settle his mind. When he saw that Sidney was ready with another witty rejoinder, he held up his hand. "I mean, what were we discussing at first? I faintly remember voodoo."

Sidney looked at him blankly for a second, then snapped his fingers. "We were talking about your lack of material on ethnic magics in general, and voodoo magic in particular."

Now it was Giles turn for a sour look. "Oh, yes, that." He exhaled loudly, took off his glasses and started to rub his eyes. "Well as I stated earlier, I never expected to encounter such magic here on the Hellmouth. I left most of those books back in England." Though there might be a few in the shipment that just arrived, he thought suddenly.

Sidney smiled and shook his head in mock-disapproval. "Tsk, tsk, old man. Bad form. Very forgetful of you." He held up his hand before Giles could protest again. "I'm just having some fun with you, Rui." He smiled again. "Sorry, 'Rupert'! Anyway, I took the liberty of bringing a few volumes from home with me. So we should be able to muttle our way through."

"Well then perhaps we should return to my apartment." Giles began.

His friend shook his head again, this time meaning it. "No, that won't be necessary. I can leave message for Eddie on his cell phone and ask him to drop by after hunting tonight." After he mentioning his protégé, Sidney's face seem to become pinched with worry.

"What's wrong, Sidney?" Giles said as he noticed the look on his friend's face.

Sidney sighed and ran his hand through his dark black hair. "I'm just worried about Eddie."

"Why?" Giles said rather quickly. What's wrong with Eddie? If I've sent Buff out there with him while he's unstable.Giles tried to push the thought from his mind.

The Reanimator looked across the room toward the double doors of the library. "I'm worried about tonight. He's not used to the company of people his own age." He said in a quiet voice, almost as if he felt he was breaking a confidence. "For along time, I've been his only contact with the rest of the world. I'm not sure how he's going to handle being around so many people."

Giles breathed a mental sigh of relief, a social outing. That's what he's worried about. "Well, surely he had friends when he was growing up." He said instead. "How long have you been training Eddie?" he asked as the thought occurred to him.

"Eddie's been with me since he was fifteen. About three years now." Sidney's voice was thickening with emotion. "I found him playing a guitar for spare change in Central Park." Sidney turned to face his friend quickly. "Did you know that I had lived in New York for almost a year?" Giles shook his head. "Well I did. Dreadful city. Noisy, dirty, full of rude people. Reminded me of London."

Giles watched as his oldest friend tried to put his thoughts into order. "Anyway, I found him sitting on a park bench, playing an old guitar. He had a hat in front of him for people to throw change into. I walked past him and threw a few quarters into the hat, not really paying him close mind." Sidney stopped again, his eyes unfocused as if he were watching a movie that no one else could see. "Ha, I remember as I pasted him. Every hair on my body stood straight up, and a chill went down my spine. I had only felt like that on a few occasions. When I was in the presence of a Necromancer."

Giles waited for Sidney to continue. He didn't want to pry, but he was fascinated by Sidney's story. "Sidney, you really don't have to." he started to tell his friend.

The former Watcher waved away the Librarian's effort to end this conversation. "You do have a right to know, Rupert. Eddie will be working with Buff very closely in the following days. Perhaps even weeks! It's only fair that, as her Watcher, you know who exactly she is working with. Plus," Sidney added with a small smile. "You have to know how to write Eddie and myself for your Diary."

The thought that he would have to describe this conversation in his Watcher Diary had not occurred to Giles. Sadness came over him, knowing that others would read about what was obviously a personal story for Sidney. "Would you like some tea?" he asked suddenly. "I have a some in my office for when I work late."

Sidney looked at his friend with fondness. "Tea would be perfect, Rupert."





.-----.-----.



New York City, USA

July 22, 1994



Sidney Benton leaned against a tall oak tree, watching a young man play guitar. The boy, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was being watched, sat on a green park bench, strumming softly on his battered instrument. It was getting dark, but the boy didn't seem to notice, he continued to play even though there hadn't been a passer-by in more then 15 minutes.

The boy was dressed in a pair of old black jeans, a midnight blue T- shirt, and black Nikes. A stained Yankee's baseball cap sat at his feet, filled with an assortment of loose change, and a smattering of dollar bills. Sidney knew that the boy had placed the bills there himself, probably hoping that some Good Samaritan would follow his example, Sidney thought to himself.

The former Watcher tugged at the collar of his black turtleneck, trying to get some fresh air on to his skin. I most likely look as if I'm preparing to attack some poor woman on an evening jog, he thought as he looked down at his own attire. He was dressed in slacks, the previously mentioned turtleneck and a sports coat. All were black.

Sidney looked up to see two police officers walking toward the boy, who had stopped playing his guitar. They stopped and started to talk to the young man. I hope to God that they don't try to arrest him. There's no telling what he may do to them. The Reanimator silently vowed to do everything in his power to stop the young Necromancer from harming the pair of officers.

Sidney's fears were elevated when one of the cops laughed and handed the boy a ten-dollar bill. A few more words were exchanged, and the two policemen began walking away from the park bench and deeper into Central Park. The older man watched the officers disappear over a small hill, then turned his attention back to his target. The young man had picked up the Yankee cap, and emptied the change into a pocket of his jeans. Well it's now or never, old man, Sidney thought as he watched the boy start to pull on his coat. Confront him or let him be.

The decision was made in a heartbeat. Sidney detached himself from the tree he had been using for cover, breaking the spell that had kept people from looking too closely at him. He made his way toward the park bench, where the boy was now strapping the guitar to his back. Sidney reached the bench just as the boy turned in his direction. The Reanimator stopped dead in his tracks, ending up only three feet away from the teenager. My God! He can't be more then 16! Sidney thought as he got a good look at the boy's face. Definitely too young to have the required knowledge to become a Necromancer. Other then the youthfulness of the face staring at him, Sidney noticed one other thing. The face showed absolutely no surprise at seeing him. "Ah, hello. My name is Sidney Benton." the former Watcher began.

"Why the Hell have you been watching me all day?" the boy cut him off. "What are you, some kind of perv?"

The force of the boy's words startled Sidney. "Wha-what? Me?"

"Yeah you! You've been trying to hide behind that tree for the past 5 hours, man!" The young man's face twisting in anger. "What the Hell's your problem?"

Shit! He has known I was there the whole time! Sidney had to think fast, "I was intrigued by your.talent!"

The boy looked at him skeptically. "Uh-huh, sure. You spent 5 hours hiding behind a tree cause you like the way I play guitar. Right."

All right, he didn't believe that great lie, Sidney thought frantically. Now what? The teenage boy was staring at him, seeming to peer directly through him. Oh, to Hell with it! Truth it is! Sidney cleared his throat and started. "My name is Sidney Benton, and I was not referring to your talents as a musician. I was referring to you other talents."

The boy looked at him for a moment, not comprehending. Then insight flashed in his eyes. His mouth fell open slightly, but no words came out. Then they boy tried to run.

He was faster and younger, then Sidney, but he never go more then ten feet away before he seemed to run head first into a wall. An invisible wall. Flat on his back, the boy looked up to see Sidney staring down at him, a slight smile on his lips. "There's really no need to run, young man. I just wish to talk." Sidney told him.

The teenage boy looked around, he figured he could get past the old man again, but didn't feel like getting knocked on his ass again. "Just talk?" he asked warily.

Sidney helped the boy to his feet. "Well, if you told me your name, perhaps we could grab a bite to eat as well."

The boy hesitated a moment, his stomach rumbling its acceptance of Sidney's offer. "I'm Eddie, Eddie Richmond." The boy wasn't happy saying it.



.-----.-----.



Giles looked over his teacup at his friend, his eyes showing mirth. "Well that's quite the first impression you gave the boy." He smiled as he said it, showing that he was only partly serious.

Sidney couldn't hold his own smile back, so he covered it by taking a sip of tea. "Yes, well, things did get better after that. At first Eddie wasn't sure if he wanted to trust me, but I eventually won him over."

The Watcher raised his eyebrows in a bad parody of shock. "You mean there was doubt, that you would?"

"Very funny, Rui!" the Reanimator said, stressing the freshmen nickname Giles had gotten at Oxford. "But it was touch and go there for awhile. Eddie has major trust issues, he has trouble believing people care about him."

This time Giles only nodded. "Yes, well I can see why you would be worried about him at a social gathering." Giles said as he put his tea down. "Though I'm sure that Buff and the rest of the group will treat him fine." Pausing to rethink, Giles added, "If they can get past their less then ingratiating introductions."

"Yes, well Eddie said he would apologize for what happened this afternoon," Sidney replied.

"Oh, then I'm sure everything will be fine." The Watcher said confidently. "Buffy's not one to hold a grudge." Giles rethought that as well. "Well, not for very long, anyway."