"Actually, no," Giles replied. "There are many documented cases of the council's involvement in cataclysmic events--floods, fires, earthquakes--all to mask the destruction of some-"
He stopped when he realized the others were staring at him in disbelief. "There were no public records, of course," he said, a bit sheepishly.
"Do you really think the Master was the relative she was trying to cure?" Willow asked. "I mean, the Master was really old. Gaby would have to be a really distant descendent."
"I thought the same thing," replied Giles. "But the journal says she followed the relative here for a ceremony, and that points to the Master."
"Done!" Cordelia called brightly from the top of the stairs. "Even with the sparing tools I had, I've created a masterpiece. Oh, and I used your hairbrush, Giles. I hope you don't mind."
Giles raised an eyebrow and sighed, but knew it would have done no good to comment.
When Gabriella came down the stairs, they would not have known her for anything but a normal young person if they hadn't seen her before. Her straight, light brown hair was flowing neatly onto the shoulders of a sleeveless crimson top. She wore a long black skirt with it, the slits on the side showing off nicely shaped legs. The only things that set her apart from an average girl were her bare feet.
"You look nice," Xander said politely.
Gaby smiled shyly and sat back down in the seat she had occupied most of her time there. "These clothes feel so strange."
"Well, they are about a size too big," said Cordelia.
Buffy flashed her an evil look.
Giles was about to question Gaby about her past when Oz and Kendra arrived, nearly as empty-handed as the others had been.
"The only problem we ran into was right outside the Bronze," said Oz with a sideways glance at Willow. "These two vamps had attacked these girls, pretty standard style."
"We were unable to save one of them," Kendra input. "And the vampires both got away."
"Losing your touch?" Xander quipped. A gaze from Buffy shut him up.
"The vamps looked familiar," Oz continued, "but I couldn't place them."
"They all start to look the same after a while," Buffy said with a sigh. "I sure hope Angel finds something in that book, because we're not getting much to go on here."
Giles looked up at the clock. "The sun will start coming up the next few minutes. You should all go home, collect your stength and be ready to meet back here a few hours before sunset."
"But what about-" Buffy started to protest.
"There's nothing that will be out in the daylight," Giles insisted. "You'll be no good to fight if you don't get some sleep."
The front door flew open and slammed hard against the wall. Spike strode in purposefully. "What the-" he started and then stopped. He looked at Kendra and asked, "What's this? Return of the Living Dead?"
Xander started to make a smart comment, but he didn't get the chance.
"Bloody hell."
Buffy followed Spike's gaze directly to Gaby.
"Do you know her?" she asked.
Spike shrugged. "Sure. It's only right, after all."
"What do you mean?" Giles asked.
"Well, she is my granddaughter, after all."