Buffy reflected that her Pumas had been a good choice for patrolling. They kept her footsteps from sounding so creepy loud in the deserted hallway, and her jitter factor was pretty high after her conversation with Florestan. Echoing footsteps would have been the proverbial last straw in the camel's back of the day.

She assumed Giles would still be researching with Willow. After all, neither of them really needed an excuse to crack the books and after what they'd learned earlier, well... They might be there until morning.

Which is why she was so surprised when she turned the corner and saw Willow and Oz standing in the hall, Willow staring glumly through the window into the darkened library.
"Hey," Oz said, phlegmatic as ever.

"Hey yourself," the Slayer said. "What's with the window shopping?"

"Giles isn't here," Willow snapped.

"Whoa," Buffy replied, holding up her hands and taking a step back. "I didn't take him."

"Sorry," Willow grumbled. "We saw him after the game and he was all, I can't right now, so we went to the Bronze and came back and now he's not even here."

Buffy frowned. "That doesn't sound like Giles. Did he say what was up?"

"No." Willow made a petulant face. "He was talking to that Ms. Hollis and he said that something came up that they had to take care of."

"They?" Buffy's eyebrows shot up. "Giles and Ms. Hollis?"

"That's the reasonable inference." Oz leaned against the wall, hands shoved into his pockets.

"What could possibly demand the attention of those two?" Buffy said.

"I don't know," Willow said as she turned away from the door. Her shoulders slumped in dejection as they walked down the hall. "But it better be really important."

***

Buffy spent most of the remaining hours of darkness lying in bed staring at the ceiling. She slipped out of bed when dawn turned the sky rosy and was at school bright and early. She took up a post outside the library and waited. Giles stopped in the middle of the hall and stared at her, his coffee cup in one hand and his satchel and folded newspaper in the other.

"Good Lord," he said. "You're here early."

"That's because you weren't here late," she said. "BTW FYI, Willow's pretty pissed."

The Watcher's forehead wrinkled and he looked as though he'd tasted something sour. "What?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "By the way, for your information."

"Oh." Giles stepped around her and pushed the library door open with his hip. "Is that what you wanted to tell me?" he asked, placing his burdens on the counter.

"Not exactly," Buffy said. She grimaced and bit her lower lip. "I, uh... I had a talk with somebody last night." She jumped up on the counter where she sat, feet swinging, while she filled Giles in on her visit to Florestan. When she finished he stared at her, mouth open, coffee cup in danger of crashing from his slackened grip. Buffy offered a cute smile and a shrug.

Giles was not having it. "Do you have any idea how foolish you were?" he demanded.

"Maybe you should just get that printed on a card," Buffy said.

"Do not try to joke your way out of this." Giles started to slam his cup down on the counter, then reconsidered, since it was a paper cup. "I can't believe you would be so impulsive." He set the cup down as firmly as he dared.

"You're right," Buffy said softly.

"Aside from-- What did you say?" Giles blinked like a man coming out of a cave into bright sunshine.

"You're right. It was impulsive. Probably stupid too. I know that." Buffy sighed. "It came to me while I spent the night staring at my ceiling." She looked at her Watcher. He stood there looking like a gaffed fish, his mouth opening and closing as his head tilted from side to side. "Giles, are you okay?"

"I-I... I'm sorry, I was just prepared for some sort of excuse or justification. I wasn't ready to get right to the end."

Buffy cocked an eye at him. "Giles, sometimes you're just weird." She shook her head. "But that's not the point. What if he was right?"

"Excuse me?" Giles leaned forward. "Who is right about what?"

"Florestan said I was a shepherd guarding the flock until they were ready to eat. You said that you don't know who calls the Slayer. What if he's right? What if I'm just, I don't know, keeping the cattle fat until they're slaughtered?"

Giles rocked back on his heels, a shocked expression on his face. "That's... You can't... I never..." His voice trailed away and he placed a hand on the counter for support. "Buffy, you shouldn't even think such a thing. He was obviously trying to confuse you."

The Slayer was silent for a moment, then she slipped off the counter. "Yeah, he probably was. Still, you know."

Giles' face softened. "Buffy, there are many things I do not know, but I know that you, with all your failings, all your shortcomings, are on the side of good."

She stared at the floor, then looked up at him. A quick smile flashed across her face. "You had to get in that failings crack, didn't you?" She hugged him quickly, then broke away. "Thanks, Giles. See you later."

***

Xander rubbed his eyes with a thumb and forefinger, pressing hard enough to cause white flashes behind his closed lids. Ms. Stillwell was lecturing about... something. What class was this, anyway? He shook his head in a vain attempt to clear the cobwebs. The bell rang, a glorious benediction to a miserable interregnum. He shambled into the hall. He was dressed in baggy brown cords and a pale yellow shirt with a pattern of orange starbursts. Sunshine, he decided, would be nice.

He blinked in the bright, hazy glare and shaded his eyes with his hand. The temperature had dropped a little, but it was still shirt-sleeve weather. Xander stretched, trying to work out a kink in his back.

"Sleeping in those desks will ruin your spine." Cordelia came to a precise stop next to him.

"Tell me about it," he said. "What's up?"

Cordelia made that face, the one where she tilted her head to the side and looked down at the ground out of the corner of her eye. "Well, that's why I need to talk to you. I know we had plans for tonight, but..."

Xander grimaced. "But what?"

Cordelia squinched up her face. "Reyna's called a meeting of the spring formal committee. It can't start until after cheerleading practice, so it could run pretty late. I can't miss it." The rest of the thought hung unspoken in the air-she couldn't miss because membership on the committee was one of the few social perks left unthreatened by their relationship.

He nodded. "So we'll meet later."

"Wellllllll." She bit her lip. "It seems that Mr. Bates is going to have his gall bladder out next week, so he's moved our Calculus II test up to Monday. That's two days of studying lost, so I really, really need to--"

"Say no more." Xander held up a hand. "I'll find something to do. Hey, if all else fails, I'll patrol with Buffy."

"Yeah." Cordelia's smile was brittle. "You would enjoy that."

"That's me-the guy who fights evil because all his other plans fall through."

"Okay." Cordelia glanced at her watch. "Listen, I've gotta run. I'll... I'll call you later, okay?"

"Sure," Xander said, wiggling his fingers at her departing back. His shoulders slumped as he went down the steps. He looked to his right and saw Faith approaching.

"Hey, Xander," she said. "What's up?"

He stood there for a moment, then shook his head. "I got nothin'. I have no quip. I'm quipless."

Faith mock-frowned. "Sounds serious. You busy now?"

"Me? No. Why?"

She hooked his upper arm. "How's about a cup of coffee?"

Xander weighed his choices, then shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"