Willow and Xander were still sitting, alone, in the break room fifteen minutes later when Calleigh came back.  "Your prints didn't match any at the scene," she announced.  "Of course we'll also need to know if you have an alibi.  Unfortunately, this is still a murder investigation."

The duo glanced at each other nervously.  They really had no problem lying to the police – after years of practice.  But if these guys were even marginally better than the police in Sunnydale there was the real possibility that a fake alibi would be discovered.  "We just got into town this morning," Xander began with the truth.  "Giles arranged for an old friend of his to pick us up.  We were with him all day, until we read about the murder on the freighter and decided we'd better check it out.  You know, vamps and such."

"Did you get through the airport security with all your weapons?"

"Nope.  Took a private charter."

"Do we need to call Giles to verify our alibi?" Willow asked.

"We'll get to that in due time," Calleigh said, giving the young woman a reassuring smile.  "I'm sure Mr. Giles will corroborate your story."  She had analyzed everything that had happened the last forty-eight hours.  From a mass murder with drained bodies to their only suspects coming back and saving her and Tim from vampires – which were supposedly not real.  But she had seen Willow use her magic to knock Speed and Eric out of the room and seal it when they "dusted" the vampire in the morgue, then disappear.  And she had seen the faces change on the vampires that attacked herself and Speed.  It hadn't been stage makeup or anything like that.  She trusted the young people sitting before her.

"O – okay," Willow said with a little smile.

Horatio sat behind the desk in his office dialing the number Willow had given him for Rupert Giles.  She and Xander were sitting in front of him, flanked by his CSIs – including Alexx after he had filled her in on what had happened.  At first she thought they were joking, but the looks on everyone's faces confirmed the truth.  And neither Speed nor Calleigh were known for exaggeration when it came to murder.

When Horatio had informed his investigators he was calling Giles to confirm Willow and Xander's alibi, they wanted to sit in on the conversation.  This whole case had awakened their curiosity more than anything else ever had.  He had to admit he felt the same.

"Hello," a distinct British voice answered the phone.

"Is this Rupert Giles?"

"Er ye – yes."

"This is Lieutenant Horatio Caine from the Miami-Dade crime lab.  I need to talk to you about a case we're investigating."

Giles swallowed the sudden lump that formed in his throat.  Had something happened to Willow or Xander – or both.  "Has. . . is it someone I know."

Horatio realized what the man thought.  "I'm going to put you on speaker phone.  There are a couple of people who you probably want to talk to."  He punched the speaker button and hung up the receiver and nodded to the Sunnydale pair.

"Hey G-man," Xander greeted.

"Xander," the name came out as a relieved sigh.  "Is Willow with you?"

"Right here," she answered with a brilliant smile.

"Xander, did you arrange for one of the coven to frighten me like that?" he snapped.  "I had thought something had happened to the two of you."

"No.  The guy is who he says he is."

"We didn't mean to scare you Giles," Willow assured.

"Mr. Giles," Horatio said before they could get deeply involved in a personal conversation.  "We're working a murder case.  We had found this pair in our morgue searching the bodies."

"Well – erm – Xander has al – always had a strange fascination. . ."

"Your friends ki. . . destroyed a vampire that was hanging out in our morgue," Speed interrupted.

"Wh – who. . ."

"My team and I were present when a vampire attacked a tech in our morgue.  Naturally we're all a little confused and overwhelmed by this.  And more than a little curious."

"I understand."

"Ya see Giles, this *freighter* came in and the entire crew was dead," Xander explained.

Giles understood what Xander was telling him.  He and Willow hadn't told the investigators about the Blade of Morgal.  They were leaving it up to him to decide what the police needed to know.  "Vampires?"  He hoped the vampires hadn't gotten to the sword.

"Yep," Willow answered.

"I see."  He paused for a moment weighing the options.  "This ship, what was it carrying?"

"Priceless artifacts from Europe," Eric answered.

Willow knew Giles was removing his glasses and polishing them furiously at that moment.  "I see," came the clipped British tone.  "There is a sword among the cargo – the reason I sent Willow and Xander to Miami.  It has very dangerous mystical properties.  Allow *no one* to touch the blade.  This sword can steal a – a person's soul with a simple touch.  I cannot stress how much it *cannot* fall into the wrong hands."

Xander shifted around in his chair as silence stretched for several seconds.

"Is Buffy there?" Willow asked suddenly.

"Yes.  Why?"

"Can you put her on the phone?"  She looked pleadingly at Horatio.  He sighed, nodding at her.

"Will?" Buffy's voice came on.

"Hey Buff," Xander greeted bouncing a little.

"Xander.  How's Miami?  Giles looks a little – well you know how he gets.  Something went wrong, huh?"

"Yeah," Willow sighed.  "Vampires."

"How many you slay?"

"Four," she said proudly.  "Two with the crossbow, one with levitating pencils and another with that fire spell."

"Cool.  Willow works the Witch-Fu again.  Did you get any, Xander?"

"One.  And I lost my favorite ax," he said morosely.

"Aw, that sucks.  But I'll get you another."

"That's what I told him."

"How would you feel if you lost 'Mr. Pointy?' "

"Point taken, no pun intended."

Horatio cleared his throat.  "I'm sorry Miss Summers, right?"

"That's me," she said cheerily.  "Unless you're thinking of Dawn, well, then it's not me."

"I see.  Well, we really need to get back to the matter at hand."

"Okay, I'll put Giles back on."

"Tell Dawnie we'll get her something," Willow said hurriedly.

"Will do, Will.  Bye Xander."

There was momentary shuffling, then Giles was back.

"Is the sword in your custody?" the ex-watcher asked.

"All the artifacts have been brought to the crime lab."

"Good.  Lock it securely away until we work something out to dispose of it.  I am quite serious when I say that lives depend on the next course of action."

"I understand."

"Good.  Did Jean-Marc pick you up when you arrived today?"

"Yeah.  Cool guy," Xander answered.

"Ah – yes.  'Cool' indeed."

"Thank you for your time Mr. Giles," Horatio said, winding up the call.

"You're welcome.  And thank you for your assurance."

Horatio ended the call and looked at the occupants of his office.  His investigators look stunned.  Understandable consider the day they had experienced, then the news about the sword was the topper.  He sighed and rubbed his face tiredly.

Speed, Eric and Xander were looking into the crate that contained the sword.  "That's it," Xander said.  He had on a pair of latex gloves that Eric had given him.  "Stand back."  The young man reached in and carefully grasped the handle of the sword.

He took the sword out and held it away from his body.  "Let's lock this puppy up."

Willow once again found herself sitting in the break room.  This time she was alone as Xander helped Speed and Eric lock the sword away.  She glanced down at her coffee, slowly growing cold.  She began to focus on the cup.  It gradually floated out of her hands.  It hovered before her eyes and she smiled.

"Neat trick," Calleigh said from the doorway.

The cup crashed to the floor and coffee spilled out.

"Sorry," both women said at the same time.

Calleigh grabbed a roll of paper towels and helped Willow clean up the mess.  "I didn't mean to break your concentration," the blond said with a smile.

"It's okay," Willow said.  "I wasn't really paying attention to what was around me.  Not good to do out on patrol."

"I guess it's okay since you're in here."

"Yeah."

"So where are you and your boyfriend staying?"

Willow's eyes grew big.  "Xander's not my boyfriend."

"Oh, I'm sorry.  I just assumed."

Willow gave Calleigh an understanding smile.  "It's okay.  Xan's my best friend.  We've known each other practically our whole lives."  She sighed.  "I guess we're kinda complicated."

"Complicated I understand," Calleigh assured.

"Tim?"

Calleigh nodded.  "Long story."

"I've got time."

TBC. . .

Next chapter Calleigh and Willow compare complicated relationships, while Xander runs into a problem with the sword.