The smell of tea and toast lingered through the apartment that morning as Hope made her way down the creaky wooden staircase. The living room was brightly lit, morning sun streaming through the windows as Giles sat at the polished table in the corner of the small kitchen–living room area. He had his newspaper spread out in front of him, with a cup of tea to hi slips, sipping thoughtfully. Hope contemplated whether she should disturb him, as he seemed to be enjoying himself as much as an Englishman could. But before she could change her mind and make her way back upstairs, he raised his eyes and welcomed her with a large smile.

"Good morning." He said pleasantly. Hope smiled back, scratching her blue-black curls as she made her way towards the table, awkwardly sitting in the stiff wooden chair. She looked naturally beautiful in the morning, one hand on her stomach, the other propping up her chin.

"Morning." She replied sleepily, looking across the table at him. "Whatcha doin?"

"Just reading." He replied, stating the obvious. "Tea?"

Hope shook her head. "I was wondering whether I should disturb you. You looked very involved in that paper."

"Oh, well, it's rather interesting. Apparently there was a mysterious box found in some underground cave outside of town. They are holding it at the museum. Or I should say, they were."

Hope raised her eyebrows. "Interesting."

"Quite."

"So, obviously, you still haven't tired of the museum curators life."

"I know it seems tiresome to you Hope, but this box could be something…"

"Mysterious?"

"Well, yes."

"So you said they were holding it in the museum?"

"Well, it was stolen last night."

"Stolen. Now that IS interesting. Why must you hold back all these facts? Do you know what was in it?"

"In what?"

"The box?"

"Oh, ah... they didn't have a chance to open it."

"I bet it was probably something stupid like a time capsule." Hope suggested, leaning back in her chair. "Or treasure. Do they have pirates in this part of the world?"

Giles sighed, not amused at the Australians jest. "It was thousands of years old Hope. That's what worries me."

"What? That somebody stole an antique that you would have liked to view?"

"That it was stolen for something…"

"Evil? Oh. So now I see what you're getting at. You're thinking it was stolen by some of the undead."

"Yes Hope." Giles sighed, glad that was finally waking up to the idea.

"Hmm. Very interesting. So does this mean some investigation is in order? It's about we got some action."

"That's exactly right. WE get the action. YOU, stay out of danger."

Hope looked disappointed. "I won't be in any danger."

"Hope. You have more than yourself to look after. There isn't long now. You just keep yourself and that baby of yours out of harms way." He saw the look that crossed Hope's face. He knew that she felt 'out of the loop', but it was for her protection. If anything happened to her, or the baby, he would never forgive himself. "In the mean time. I might go and pay a visit to my dear friend Harry Adams. He's the chief curator at the museum, maybe I can get some information-"

"Don't bother." A light voice chimed in from the doorway. Both parties turned to see the slayer walk in and jump on top of Giles kitchen bench, waving her legs out in front of her. "He was sucked dry, along with the rest of the staff at the museum."

"Oh…" Giles voice softened as he motioned for Buffy to go on. " You did here about the box getting stolen?"

Buffy nodded. "Do you think that has something to do with it?"

"I think it should come under some scrutiny, yes. But what do you think?"

"The place was totally trashed from what I saw. Looks like they were looking for something."

"I bet it was a key." Hope put in sarcastically. "Or a crowbar or axe. Something to open the box with. I personally would smash the thing to buggery. But that's just me."

"Hope, please…" Giles turned back to Buffy and motioned for her to continue. "Go on."

"I think you should head down to the museum anyway. Get some info on this box." Buffy suggested.

"I'll see what I can come up with."

"It's settled then. We'll all meet here tonight. I'll let the others know that it's homework time." Buffy jumped from the table and straightened her outfit. "In the mean time, I must go to class." She started towards the door, trilling a final message from the patio. "Good luck."

"I thought I'd find you here."

"Miranda. How's it going?" Peggy greeted when she saw Miranda standing in her doorway. She smiled warmly as she motioned for the shy uni student to enter her office.

"Good." Miranda answered, walking over to the couch on which Declan was sprawled all over. He abruptly pulled himself up, making room for his friend, greeting her with that same warm smile and bright, enthusiastic gaze. "How did that session with Scott go this morning?"

Peggy looked over at Declan. He raised his eyebrows behind his thin glasses, waiting for Peggy to answer.

"It was interesting." She started in her calm way. "Declan told me what happened last night."

"Yeah. Is Scott alright?"

"He's fine." Declan answered. "A bit beat up, but nothing broken."

"He was very disturbed. I'm glad you suggested he come and see me."

"What did he say?" Miranda asked.

"You know I can't tell you anything specific…"

"Vampires. Mentioned lots of vampires. The whole 'I want to suck your blood' deal." Declan answered, doing his best Dracula impression.

"It's not funny Declan. This boy is disturbed."

"Yeah well, I think I'm pretty disturbed now. I mean, the guy just went 'poof' Peg. Say hello to Dust City."

"Declan… Did you ever think that it could be your mind playing tricks on you?" Peggy responded, rationality seeping through her words bringing Declan down to the ground. "It was three in the morning. You had been working all day and you were tired and…"

"Did you test the stuff?" Declan asked Miranda, ignoring Peggy's explanation.

"What stuff?" Peggy asked.

"The guy turned to dust." Miranda informed, turning stiffly towards the psychiatrist. "So I took some to test."

"And?"

"Nothing spectacular. Dust. Or more like ash really."

"Fire ash?" Declan asked.

"Yep. You could almost say he was cremated."

"Interesting." Declan stopped and turned to Peg. She turned back to her desk and opened up her computer, searching her brain for some rational explanation why a guy could turn to dust. Unfortunately, her mind came up blank.

"Well. That's a little weird."

"Peg! Come on! A little weird? You have to admit it's-"

"Ok Declan. It's very strange." Peggy looked up from her notebook. "So, what do you want me to do about it?"

"Nothin'. What else did Scott say?"

Peggy sighed. "You know that's confidential."

"Just the weird bits Peg. We won't say a word. Cross our hearts." Declan smiled as his index finger crossed his chest.

"He mentioned something that these MEN said while they were attacking him and this other girl that was with him. A key to a box. A box full of hell. But if you ask me, I say it's all a story. Just for attention."

"A box full of hell?"

"Apparently."

"And these 'vampires' wanted it?" Miranda asked.

"Yes. If you want to believe all that."

"Well. I think it's very strange anyway. People turning to ash, boxes full of hell. I might just go have a word to my dear student Scott." Declan stood up from the couch and stretched. "See what other things he might have heard while he was getting beaten to a bloody pulp. What about you Miranda? You comin'?"

Miranda looked her daggy friend up and down before standing. "I guess so."

"Good." Declan smiled before starting towards the door. "Let's go. See ya later Peg."

Peg watched Declan stride out the door, Miranda turned and waved a little before following him. Her office was quiet. "Bye."