A/N: Here's the latest installment! Also, huge thank yous and a million Nekkid Spikes to Sita, who directed me towards many, many Betas. And of course, an extra-special thanks to my brilliant new Beta, Anne! Now, on with the fic... (Thanks for the shout-out- I hope I can live up to it!) ~

"Good morning." Joyce said, smiling at her daughter who ran down the stairs in her usual hurry. Buffy threw her a quick grin and grabbed at the piece of toast in Joyce's hand.

"Ah, ah. Don't get so grabby young lady. This is * my * toast. Yours is waiting in the toaster."

"It isn't too black is it?"

"No, your majesty." Joyce chuckled, rubbing Buffy's shoulders.

"Cuz I like my toast to be toasted through, with just a grazing of brown in the center and along the crust." Buffy said as she attempted to pick the said toast from out of the said toaster, which was proving to be a cumbersome task.

"Well, well, if it isn't Buffy, my little toast connoisseur."

"You know it." Buffy replied with a wink. After gulping down a pre-poured glass of orange juice, she kissed her mother on the cheek and ran out the door, hoping that Spike would sneak through the tunnels to get to school.

So she could ask him about the researching.

Yeah, that was it.

~

"O"

That was as far as Giles had gotten in the translation of Spike's spell, and he wasn't even sure if * that * was correct.

It was quite reminiscent of when he had gotten as far as the lead character's last name in The Fountainhead.

Through his reverie, he hadn't noticed Jenny Calendar come to the doorway of his office, until she knocked gently on the wood frame.

"Knock, knock," she said, looking at Giles with wonder. Him, a Watcher. Whoda thunk it?

"Oh, hello, Miss Calendar. I'm afraid, I'm, I'm rather busy at the, uh, moment. Perhaps we could, um, ah...do this later?"

"I know you're a Watcher, Rupert."

That was totally new and unexpected.

~

Spike stumbled into the school basement. Damned sewers he thought, trying to wipe away the excess muck from his boots. Looking around to make sure there weren't any sneaky janitors lurking about, Spike trudged up the stairs and crept silently through the door into the hallway. To his luck and surprise, he ran straight into the person he was looking for.

"Dawn," he said, taking her arm and leading her back into the basement. She glared at him and slapped his arm.

"Students aren't allowed down here," she hissed, trying to get back up the stairs.

"Right, cuz you're a bloody Girl Scout. Gone klepto lately?" Spike said, biting his tongue immediately afterward. Why can't I just keep my damned mouth shut?

"That was low," she mumbled, before sighing and glaring at him expectantly, "So, what's with the grabbing and bringing down into the basement?"

"I just thought I'd keep ya updated, is all. On things I can't talk about in front of anyone else." Dawn nodded.

"Well..." Spike leaned back onto the railing, sighing heavily and shaking his head, trying to think of a way to explain everything to Dawn.

"Angel's being an all around pain in my ass...I thought I'd talk to him, ya know? Explain everything and let him make his own decision. Of course, he assumed the only reason I asked him to leave was so that I could get Buffy. Not to protect Buffy, which was what I was trying to play up. Plus the fact that Buffy had a little run in with a vamp that predicted the apocalypse. He said that "they" were wrong about when it would come."

"The Choosers," Dawn whispered, understanding.

"That was my theory. Unfortunately, Giles has to retranslate the spell for me, cuz he's being a soddin' idiot and not using the bloody computer."

"Miss Calendar!" Dawn squealed, only to receive a confused look from Spike, "Okay, I know you're probably thinking "Random Much?" but, no, she can help us. She can look up the spell for us."

"Why do you-"

"Well, if I remember what Buffy told me correctly, Miss Calendar was, or I guess, is a..."

~

"...Technopagan. At least that's the p.c. term." Jenny explained to a flabbergasted Giles, "So, believe it or not, Rupert, your demonology isn't just for books. It's evolved."

"But, how did you realize that I work for the Council?"

"Oh, that. I came into your office, I was looking for a pen, and I picked up the phone. By the way, some guy Travis wants to know the status on the Slayer."

"Travers. I told him not to call during school hours," Giles complained, moving around without any real purpose.

"So, is that why those five always hang out around the library?" Jenny asked, trying to get all the answers she could.

"F-five?" Giles asked, his mind blocked up.

"You know...Willow, Xander, Buffy, Jesse, and Ambrine? Do they work for you? Is one of them the Slayer?"

"One question at a time please. My brain is a bit overworked." She looked down at the mess on his desk (which had just gotten bigger) and nodded.

"I can see why. Is Willow the Slayer?" she asked, curious. Willow was the one she had seen around here the most...

"Willow? No, no, quite not. Willow wouldn't hurt a flea! Even, an, um, a, uh a, a, a, vampiric flea. No, * Buffy * is actually the Slayer." Jenny snapped her fingers in frustration.

"I should've known that one. She definitely has the fighter's attitude." Giles nodded vigorously.

"You've no idea."

~

"Willow!" The blonde and the redhead turned around as Dawn called their names. Out of breath, she caught up to them and stuck out two passes.

"What are these for?" Buffy asked, examining hers. Elizabeth Summers. Don't these people get that my name is * not * Elizabeth!?!

"Computer lab, during our free. Spike wants you to research 'Manifestations of Evil'," she directed to Buffy, before turning to Willow, "and you to break into the city files again and get a listing on government agencies that might know something about the apocalypse." She fluidly made up the assignments. She needed to make sure Buffy and Willow were distracted and in sight when she ran the spell through the translator. At least that was what Spike had said.

"Spike's here?" Buffy asked in a (hopefully) nonchalant tone.

"Not anymore. He left to hit up Willy." Buffy tightened her features into a perplexed scowl.

"Never mind..." Dawn said, dragging them into the lab.

~

"Buffy, don't you have somewhere to be?" Miss Calendar asked, looking the girl up and down.

"No, we all have a free today."

"Cool! But it's lab time, so let's try to make this a short visit, okay girls?" The three of them nodded and took different seats. Miss Calendar was still trying to make small talk with them which Dawn could've lived without. She was on a mission...

"So Mr. Giles and I spent the last few periods scanning books into the computer. I think I might finally get him under my techno-hypnosis after all," she said with a wink. Dawn clicked on the Netscape icon.

"This is weird..." Willow said, looking up and down her screen. She had received an instant message from someone she didn't know at all.

Do you go to SDHS?

Yes. I am Malcom.

Malcom? Willow didn't know any Malcom's...

I don't know any Malcoms.

That is because I am not in any of your classes. I've never been.

Willow accepted this. She turned around in her chair.

"Hey Buffy, Dawn. Have you guys ever heard of a Malcom?"

Buffy shook her head and shrugged. Dawn however felt sick to her stomach.

Oh, yeah...she had heard of a Malcom.

~

A/N: Sorry it's so short, but I just wanted to tie up a few things and set everything up before we get into a big, huge update which is coming next.