"I don't know, Giles," Xander said the next evening as the Scoobies plus Riley convened at Giles' apartment. "We've got to be missing something."

"There's been no movement at any of the sites," said Riley. "We've got teams stationed around the clock. Nothing. Anywhere."

"Something about this just feels off, man," Faith said.

Giles nodded thoughtfully. "By the pricking of my thumbs. . ."

"Something wicked this way comes," finished Willow and Xander.

Giles looked at them, shocked. "Shakespeare?" he asked

Willow and Xander shook their heads. "Bradbury," said Willow.

"Americans. . ."

Willow and Xander grinned.

"Oh, hey, I gotta jet," Oz said, checking his watch. "Devon had some stuff he wanted to work on, and we're supposed to jam with Shy tonight."

Willow frowned.

"Later, man," said Riley as Oz left.

"So where else could this guy be?" Faith asked. "I mean, we've got all the sites covered."

Xander and Willow exchanged a few looks that ended with a weak smile from each of them.

"We've got to be missing something," Xander said again. "Maybe a holy site that nobody knows is holy anymore? Like a Native American burial ground or something?"

"No, Willow checked for those as well," said Giles. "Though the Chumash people did live around here, they tended to avoid the Hellmouth. They were much closer to the current location of the college, actually. And there's a satanic temple under the ground on Kingman's Bluff, but that's much too far away."

"What the hell was that?" Faith whispered to Buffy as the others carried on a conversation about the history of the town.

"What?" asked Buffy.

"X and Red. That little eyeball thing they did."

"Oh, that." Buffy shrugged. "Xander asked her if she was okay with Oz going like that. She said she really didn't have a choice and was kind of worried. He then told her that that was probably true, and he hoped everything would work out, and that he loves her. She said thanks, me too and that she loves him too."

"They said all that with their eyes?"

"Yeah," Buffy said. "I've gotten pretty good at interpreting."

"Can you talk to them like that?" she asked.

Buffy laughed. "Nobody can talk to them like that. Reading it is totally different from speaking it. Or from not speaking it. Or something. Anyway, no."

"And you're okay with Xander eye-telling another girl that he loves her?"

"With Willow, yes. Any other girl, no. Besides, he tells me he loves me all the time with his eyes. I don't think he knows I can tell what he's saying when he does that, but I know. I can just. . . feel it."

"How do they do that, though?"

"They've been a part of each other for. . . I guess fourteen or fifteen years now. They know each other better than anybody. Like. . . do you remember that first night Xander and I saw the commandos? The night before we attempted to seduce his whole construction crew?"

"Yeah."

"Do you remember dinner that night? How Willow was?"

"Yeah, I was surprised. She was really friendly, I didn't expect her to. . . I guess accept me so quickly."

"Me either. And apparently, she didn't."

"What?"

"Xander told me later that she was just acting that night. She hadn't forgiven you yet, and was just pretending to be all buddy-buddy. I had no clue, and this is the girl who's been my best friend for more than three years. But Xander just knew. They're like that."

Faith frowned.

"She's forgiven you now, Faith. We all have, and nobody holds it against you. We trust you."

"You Scoobs have been pretty good to me. And for me."

Buffy looked at Faith. "Why do you say that?"

"It's true, I mean, if not for--"

"No, not that part. You said 'you Scoobs.' Faith, you're as much a part of the group as anybody."

"No, I mean. . . I'm not. I just -- "

"Has Xander shown you how to eat a Twinkie?"

"What?" she asked. "What the hell does that -"

"Answer the question. Has he shown you how to eat a Twinkie?"

"Sure," she said. "Showed me right before the picnic. Stuffed the whole damn thing in his mouth."

"There you go then," said Buffy.

"What?" Faith asked.

"That's like his initiation of new Scoobies. Has been since Cordy joined the gang. He did it for her, even though he'd known her since forever, too. Did it for Oz. Even Angel, when he came back. As much as Xander hated him, he realized he was part of the group. And he wouldn't have done it if Willow, Giles and I weren't okay with it."

"You mean he went around and asked you if he could eat a Twinkie in front of me?"

Buffy laughed. "No. He just knows."

"Oh," she said.

"Face it, Faith," said Buffy. "You're a Scooby."

* * * * *

"I just can't figure it out," Xander said that night on patrol. "There has to be something we're missing."

"You. . . keep saying that," said Riley.

"I know. Sorry, it just bugs me."

"That's all right," Riley said. "So. . . you seem to know where we're going."

Xander looked around. "Yeah. We're in a cemetery, going to another cemetery."

"I mean, you just kind of walk around like you own the place. You know, like you've done this a million times before."

"Not quite that many, but yeah, I've done this a lot. We all have. We shift patrol routes every few weeks to so the vamps don't catch on, but we know our way around pretty good."

"Bet you know a lot of good short cuts," Riley said.

"Oh sure," said Xander. "Cutting through cemeteries can shave minutes off your time going anywhere in town. I routinely came through. . . uh. . . over there. . . when I was late for school. Which was pretty routinely."

"That why you aren't in college?" Riley asked.

Xander raised his eyebrows at that. "I didn't do too well in school, no."

"I'm not judging," said Riley. "It's perfectly legit, the work your doing. Especially with all the saving the world stuff in your spare time. I'm just curious about the group, you know? A brain, a slayer, a librarian, a loner/slayer, a bass guitarist and a joker/white knight."

"Don't forget a prom queen."

"What?"

"Cordy, my ex. She moved to LA."

"Well, that's my point. How did a group like this ever get together?"

"Buffy and Giles were together from the start. Sort of. He's a Watcher, she's a Slayer. Slayers slay, Watchers train the slayers, teach them, that sort of thing. Me and Will. . . well, we've been best friends since pre- school. She grew up smart, I grew up. . . taller, but we stayed together always. A lot of times, each other was all we had. Anyway, I overheard Buffy and Giles talking about vampires, and then later Willow and our other best friend at the time Jesse got taken by vamps. Willow got away. . . Jesse didn't."

"They killed him?"

"They turned him. The next night, vamps attacked the Bronze. Buffy beat them back. I had to stake Jesse. From then on, we were together. Willow and I became the first Slayerettes in history. So then blah blah blah, Cordy got involved, blah blah we started making out in janitor closets, blah blah Willow and Oz start dating and he gets involved, blah blah, Faith shows up from Boston sans watcher, joins up for a while, goes a little evil, Buffy coma's her, Cordy moves to LA, I go on a road trip blah blah I get powers, come back, get together with Buffy, wake up Faith, make sure she's not evil anymore and now apocalypse take. . . six or seven."

"Wow. . . that. . . answered a few questions. And raised a few, when did you break up with. . . Cordy? Which, consequently, is an odd name."

"Short for Cordelia. Not the most normal name either, but come on, I'm Xander, my best friend is Willow and my girlfriend is Buffy. Not the normalest names on the planet either. Anyway, Cordy broke up with me when she and Oz found me and Willow making out on a slab in a burned-out warehouse that we had been locked up in by a love sick vampire. Oz and Willow worked it out, me and Cor didn't."

"Okay, love sick vampire?"

"Yeah. His name's Spike. I think he holds the record for number of attempts to kill Buffy. The rest of us too, I suppose, but we were just in the way. Anyway, he was in love with this psycho vamp named Drusilla, but she left him for a chaos demon."

"Psycho vamp? Chaos demon?"

Xander sighed. "Okay. Dru was psycho. As in not just evil, also insane. She called me kitten. . . it was weird. That was when the whole female population of Sunnydale was in love with me."

"Got that story last night, from Willow," said Riley. "Sans the insane vampire, but still. . ."

"Right. Anyway, Spike and Dru were together for like a hundred years or whatever, and she left him for a chaos demon, which aren't as evil as their name sounds, but are real ugly. All mucus and antlers and stuff. Anyway, he came back, tried to force Willow to do a love spell. Kidnapped the two of us, locked us in a warehouse, and so on. We haven't heard from him since."

"Sounds like a fun guy," Riley said.

"Oh yeah, tons. Funny story: Joyce. . . that's Buffy's mom. . . once hit Spike over the head with an axe, and she didn't have a *clue* that he was a vamp. Didn't know about 'em at the time."

"That had to be weird."

"It was. Anyway, what's your story?" Xander asked.

"Oh, you know. Average everyday corn-fed farm boy. Grew up in Iowa with my parents and my dog."

"Golden Retriever?"

"Yeah."

"How rural American of you."

"Anyway, I was recruited out of high school. . . Army put me through college, and I had training a few times a month. My third year, they contacted me about some. . . training options that were only offered to a few, and, being curious, I went for it. Got into some heavy, specialized training. They had me taking a bunch of summer courses the whole time, so I graduated in three years. So I graduate, and they approach me with this hush-hush thing. Real. . . clandestine. Anyway, I sign up and got put with the Initiative. Now I'm here."

"Being all that you can be," Xander said.

"Something like that."

Xander looked around the cemetery. "You bored?"

"I won't lie, I could go for something a little more action-filled."

"Right. Follow me."

Xander led Riley out of the cemetery and back into town. After a few minutes, he pointed at a sign.

"The Alibi Room," Riley read. "Let me guess, this is where guys tell their significant others they were if they show up late?"

Xander grinned. "Not hardly. Come on, let's go in."

They walked inside and Riley immediately tensed up.

"Calm down, man," Xander said, noticing there was nobody behind the bar at the moment. "This is a fight-free zone. You want some yak urine?"

"Demons have a place where they don't fight? How come you guys don't just raid-yak urine?"

Xander waved his arm around the room. "Check it out. Vamps, demons, everything. Sitting, drinking. Willy has a deal with the local butcher shops, and various other. . . establishments. Any vamp in here drinking blood is one vamp that's not out killing people. It's a kind of a trade off. They don't go hunting, we don't kill them."

"O. . .kay. I guess."

"Look, I brought you here because you seem a trustworthy guy, but don't go blabbing this to your superiors. They'd want to destroy it, and that would be bad."

"Why?" Riley asked. "I mean, other than the fact that this keeps demons off the streets, but you guys could take care of them anyway, right?"

"We could, but we prefer not to. Anyway, the calm atmosphere isn't the best thing about this place."

"What is?" Riley asked.

"Ah, no, kid, not again!"

Xander grinned. "He is."

Xander sauntered over to the bar, followed by Riley. "Willy, old pal. How are you?"

"I was fine until about a second ago."

"Do you mean you're not happy to see me?"

"Am I ever? Who's the stiff?"

"Riley. He's good people."

"You say so, kid. Now look, you're scarin' away my customers, just tell me what you need."

"Info."

"Of course info, what else do you ever need, you kids can't figure anything out on your own. You know in my day, we had to work for our knowledge. We didn't go around beating up innocent bartenders just because the world was about to end."

"Willy?"

"Look, kid, I told you what I know. Anything more than that you'll have to find someplace else."

"You didn't tell me anything yet, Willy. Not tonight."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess I didn't. Got a bit ahead of myself. Whatcha need?"

"Fargath demon. And don't say Spike's old warehouse, because it isn't there."

"Yeah, I heard about your little raid the other day. Nice work."

"Thanks."

"Anytime."

"Willy?"

"I know, I know. Okay, listen, I'm not in favor of the world ending so I'll tell ya what I know. I heard some guys talking last night, right? Real hush hush, but they was sayin' that this guy had holed himself up where he's gonna be doin the ritual. He's already there. And it was someplace they thought your little blonde friend would be afraid to go."

"Why would Buffy be afraid to go anywhere?" Riley asked.

"Ah, Captain Cardboard speaks!" Willy said.

Xander chuckled. "It's a valid question. Where would she be afraid to go?"

"Hey, kid, you know her better than me. I just tell you what I hear."

"Yeah, all right. You hear anything, though, you make sure to contact us."

"Sure thing, kid. Apocalypses are bad for business."

"Not too good for living, either."

Xander and Riley walked out of the bar.

"Is he always like that?" Riley asked.

"Nah," Xander said. "Sometimes he's really annoying."

* * * * *

"Some place Buffy would be afraid of going? Where on earth would that be?" Giles asked later that night.

"That's what I can't figure out," Xander said. "I went by the dorm, but the light was off, so I figured she and Willow were asleep."

"And you didn't think this was of great enough importance to wake them up?"

"It's 2 in the morning, Giles."

"And yet, you found it perfectly acceptable to wake me."

"Well, yeah, but what do you have to do tomorrow?"

Giles glared at him.

"That's not what I meant," Xander said. "Buffy and Will both have tests tomorrow. We're gonna be in research mode, but we can get a late start on that if we figure out what's up tonight."

"We?" Giles asked.

"Crew's shut down for a few days, conveniently enough. Finished work on our site and have about a week until the next one's ready."

"So, I can expect you bright and early, then, with an assortment of donuts?" Giles asked.

"Well, maybe not bright and early. . . I'm thinking eleven-ish. Guy needs his sleep, you know."

Giles looked at Xander over his glasses.

"Ten?"

Giles nodded.

"And I'll leave a message for Buffy and Will to come on over when they're done testing."

"Goodnight, Xander."

Xander waved, and headed out the door, only to meet Faith coming in with a black eye and a torn shirt.

"You all right?" he asked.

"Fine," she said. "Ran into some vamps over in Shady Hills Cemetery. Got lucky a couple times. Claws sting like a bitch."

"How many were there?" Xander asked, as Giles retrieved some medical supplies.

"Five," Faith said. "I took care of 'em though."

Xander shook his head. "I knew you shouldn't have gone out by yourself," he said.

"Hey, screw you, I can take care of myself."

"I know, Faith," he said. "I just don't want you hurt, that's all."

Faith shot him a soft smile and sat down, waiting for Giles.

Xander walked over and looked at her eye and the cuts on her stomach.

"I think we can take care of this," he said. Xander placed one hand on her stomach and one over her eye and concentrated. The now-familiar white glow emanated from his hands and closed her cuts and lessened the swelling on her eye.

"Better?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said as Giles came back with some bandages. "My ribs are still a little sore, though."

"You can wrap those," Xander said. "Slayer healing and you'll be fine in a few hours."

Faith chuckled.

"Take care of her, Giles," Xander said as he headed out the door. "We need her."

Faith rolled her eyes at his back and turned to the Brit.

"So, got some tape for me?" she asked.

"Yes," he said, handing her a roll. "Um. . . shall I. . . or, or would you rather. . ."

"I'll do it Jeeves," she said. "I'm a big girl."

"Yes, of course," Giles said, turning his back as she lifted her shirt to wrap her ribs. "He's right, you know. We do need you."

Faith rolled her eyes. "Look, I may be an. . . extended part of the group," she said, "but with Boytoy and Blondie makin' like Conan and Xena, my particular skills are pretty redundant."

"Be that as it may, you are still a vital part of the group," Giles said. "Not everything is about fighting, Faith. You may recall that Xander was never much of a fighter until recently."

"Yeah, and he damn near got kicked out by you guys."

"A mistake on our parts of the highest order, I assure you."

"Whatever."

"No, Faith not 'whatever.' It is important that you understand this. This group has always had certain aspects designated to certain members. In the beginning, it was Willow and I as the brains, Buffy the muscle and Xander as the heart, and the stress relief."

"Stress relief?"

"Yes. I don't know if you've noticed, but he has a tendency to make light of many situations and often at what seem inappropriate times."

"Sounds right. You can turn around, by the way."

Giles turned. "His jokes, as bad as they may be, come from an inherent understanding of human nature that Xander has. He has the uncanny ability to relieve tension and allow us all to think better. While Xander has never been what you might call a scholar, nor, until recently, anything more than an adequate fighter, he has been vital to the group. When we shut him out last year, we hurt ourselves more than we knew. Buffy did not perform as well in the field, our research was less effective than normal and we were in all together worse moods. Even Angel was affected."

"Okay, Xander's important, I get it. What does this have to do with me?"

"I'm sorry, I'm not explaining this well. Faith, we each have our role to play. Not just in the fighting, but in the group itself. As much as you may not see it, we are better fighters, better researchers, and better as people with you around. You keep us on our toes, and you aren't afraid to step up and speak your mind. Not just that, you affect us, personally. Buffy, though she may not always show it, feels a. . . sort of a connection with you. Only once before have there ever been two slayers, and Kendra and Buffy were far too different to get along well. With you, it is almost as if Buffy has found a sister. She may not open up to you, but this is still new for her as well. She is happier with you here."

"I don't make her happy like Xander. . ."

"Faith, Angel never made her as happy Xander does. Not before he lost his soul, and not when he came back from Hell."

"Okay, but I still don't think th-"

"And I know for a fact that Willow admires you greatly."

"Now I know you're making stuff up."

Giles sighed. "Willow has always been very shy, and often resented those who were more outspoken than she, merely for the fact that they were not shy."

"Xander's not shy."

"Xander has been Willow's best friend so long, she couldn't resent him if she tried. But she did resent Buffy somewhat. For being able to speak out like she couldn't, and also for attracting Xander's attentions. The same was true with Cordelia, though she did actually hate her for a long time. She once told me she was the president of the We Hate Cordelia Club."

"You're kidding."

"Xander was the treasurer. . . this was long before he started seeing Cordelia. Anyway, Willow also resented you when you first arrived to Sunnydale. You, too, were outspoken and far from shy."

"Still am."

"Yes. And she had even more reason to hate you."

"I tried to kill all of you."

"Well, yes, that, but you are hardly alone in that category. You did, however, take Xander's virginity."

"Oh."

"Willow was in love with Xander for the longest time, and what exists between them now is much more than friendship could ever claim to be. And while she was with Oz at the time that you and Xander. . . got together, it made her resent you even more. You had managed to come in, and in a few short months, take Xander away from her more than anybody else ever had. Even with Cordelia, they had known her for a long time, and she had been helping us for over a year."

"I'm not seeing the admiration part, Jeeves."

"Willow has, by now, gotten over most of her insecurities. She is nowhere near as shy as she used to be, and while she will always have a place in her heart for Xander, she is devoted to Oz, and sees you as no threat at all. Once you had Xander's trust, it was inevitable that you would gain hers. And in trusting you, she has rediscovered your spirit, your freedom, that which sets you apart from everyone else. And as much as she is no longer shy. . . she still admires those qualities in you that offset the way she used to be. . . and the way she often still sees herself."

"But you said she's overcome most of her insecurities."

"Yes, and she has. But Willow has always been her own harshest critic, and she doesn't see what the rest of us do. That she's come as far as she has. And because she sees in you the free spirit she often wishes she had. . . she admires you."

Faith sat there for a minute, pondering what Giles had told her.

"I never knew. . . that I had that much affect on anybody."

"Well you do, Faith. If we lost any individual member of the group... Buffy, Xander, myself, we could continue our duties. Not as well, for certain, and we would all be worse off for it, but it would go on. The same is true of you. We could go on. But Faith, please believe me when I say it would be much harder. You make everything more interesting, more fun. As much fun as demon hunting can be, of course, but still. You are both needed and wanted by the entire group. Myself included." Giles stood up and moved to the stairs. "I do hope you can accept that."

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End Chapter 25