"Ah ha!" Willow shouted, startling the others in the shop. "Sorry," she said when everyone turned too look at her. She pointed at the book. "It's just... ah ha."

"Find something so soon?" Giles asked.

"Well, I went all 'ah ha' didn't I?"

"Yes, of course. You found the spell?"

"Well, I found a reference which points to..." she looked around, then pointed to the book Buffy was holding. "That book."

Buffy looked up. "This book? Half this book is in Latin, and the other half is in... some other language."

"Sumerian," Giles said. "May I?"

Buffy held the book out for him.

"Does it indicate where in this book the spell is located, Willow?"

Willow scanned the entry again. "Uh... towards the back-ish?" she said. "It says it should be in a section on... uh... sacrificial rites? That can't be right, can it?"

"I'm not certain," Giles said as he flipped through the book. "I suppose it's possible." Giles leafed through the pages carefully until he came upon the section in question. "Let me see here... yes, I believe this is correct. Joining of the Souls, yes, here it is."

Giles went silent as he read through the spell.

"You can read that?" Davis asked from his seat along the back wall of the shop.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, luckily this part is in Latin. Otherwise it would take me much longer to decipher," Giles said.

"Donut delivery," Xander said as he sauntered into the room and dropped the donuts on the table. "We've got frosted, glazed, powdered sugar, and jelly of all kinds – why are you guys all looking at Giles? And not the wonderfully fantastic donuts?"

"Found the spell," Willow said.

"That was fast," Xander said, sitting next to Buffy and planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Where's Faith?" Pike asked from behind the counter where he was sipping his coffee.

"Dropped her at the hospital," Xander said. "She wanted to be with him."

"Selfish bint, isn't she?" Spike said from his prone position on the floor near Davis.

Xander looked at Davis meaningfully. Davis looked around, then grabbed a heavy tome from a bookshelf and dropped it on Spike's head.

"What the bloody--!"

"She didn't ask to be dropped off," Xander said. "I made her go. She needed it."

"Ah ha!" Giles said. He looked up excitedly. "Oh. Xander. Hello. No Faith?"

The entire room chuckled. "Hi. And no, she's with Riley."

Giles nodded. "The spell is actually quite simple, though it involves drawing upon a significant amount of power."

"Will Willow and I be enough?" Tara asked.

"No, you won't. The spell specifically calls for the power of three. And Xander will be between you... sitting inside of a circle drawn with a specific mixture of magical ingredients."

Willow and Tara nodded in understanding.

"Well what about this sacrifice part?" Buffy asked.

Giles smiled. "It requires the blood of a vampire," he said. "It's listed under sacrificial rites because normally a vampire, once its blood was taken, would be disposed of. Thus, sacrifice."

"Not much of one," Xander said.

"Be that as it may, I believe we have all the ingredients for the spell right here in the shop."

"Even vampire blood," Willow said.

"Oh, no," said Spike. "You're not getting any of my blood. I drink, I don't give out."

"Spike, think about it for a second," Pike said. "You donate now, you get good will, which translates to not being staked. I'm sure they'd be willing to spring for a free pint for you to replace what you lose, right?"

"Uh, yes, I don't see a problem with that, except perhaps for my stomach," Giles said.

"Yeah, see?" Pike said. "And you'll be in fighting condition by tomorrow."

"Why don't you take the poof's blood?" Spike asked, having stood up now and moved as far into the corner and away from the Scoobies as he could.

"The poof—Angel isn't here," Buffy said, grimacing at her use of Spike's language. "You are. And if we took his blood when he got back, he might not be in a good condition to fight by the time we need him."

"Yeah, that, and we like him and not you," Xander said.

Everybody stopped and looked at him. "I meant the 'as a whole' we, not me in particular," he clarified. "And anyway, Angel's a better fighter."

"Oh, he bloody well is not," Spike said. "I can school that wanker any night of the week."

"Oh please, Angel could so kick your ass," Xander goaded. Willow stood and walked to Giles' office. "I bet he could throw down with you, finish up and be done without breaking a sweat. You're probably more of a poof than he ever was."

Spike growled. "You'll want to watch what you're saying, whelp."

Xander snorted. "Please. The hair, the duster, the whole Billy Idol wannabe thing. Can we say overcompensating much? Tell us the truth, Dru was just a beard, wasn't she?"

"Why you!" Spike charged Xander, who stood stock still. As Spike's fist lashed out, his chip kicked in and knocked him to the floor, clutching his forehead. Xander walked over and stepped on his chest, holding him to the ground.

Willow, who had very quickly figured out what Xander was doing and retrieved the first aid kit, approached Spike with a syringe. "How much blood did we need, Giles?"

"Oh, not too much... enough to fill the bottom of a small bowl."

Willow nodded and, as Xander held Spike on the ground, she stuck the needle in Spike's arm and drew out what she felt was enough.

"Wankers," Spike said as Xander released him. "That much you could have taken from the poof and he wouldn't have felt it."

"Yeah, but stabbing you is just so much fun," Xander said.

"Why the blood of a vampire, anyway?" Pike asked.

"Well," Giles said, "a vampire gains power from others by drinking their blood. I suppose that might have something to do with the transfer of power, taking the life essence of one creature and having it empower another... that is, after all, the point of the spell."

"Or maybe they're just really icky," Buffy said.

"Um, yes, I suppose that is a possibility," Giles said. "At any rate, this should do fine. Now, there is not much more can be done. I suggest we all head home and catch up on as much sleep as we can."

"What about me?" Davis asked.

The Scoobies looked around at each other.

"Pike –"Buffy started.

"Oh no," Pike said. "The crypt is crowded enough as it is."

"I know," Buffy said. "I was going to ask if you could take Davis back to my house. Let all of his men go except for ..."

"I know except for who," Pike said.

Buffy nodded and turned to Davis. "You and your men can sleep on the couches and whatever, or go back to Lowell House if you want. We're coming for Adam and Walsh tomorrow. Warn them if you want, it won't make any difference. We don't lose."

"I'm beginning to get that," Davis said. "But my men don't know that you're going after Walsh, and after what I've seen... I'm not about to tell her."

Buffy nodded. "Okay," she said. "Then I guess we meet back at my house in the morning. Say ten o'clock?"

The Scoobies nodded and made their way out of the Magic Box. Xander and Buffy gave Willow and Tara a ride back to the dorms, and Giles walked back to his apartment.

Pike and Spike escorted Davis to Buffy's house, and left him at the threshold. Pike whipped out a switchblade and handed it to Davis. "Cut 'em loose except for the guy who shot Dawnie," Pike said.

Davis nodded and turned around. "Hey Davis," Pike called after him. Davis turned around. "You said you're not going to tell Walsh, and that's good. If you do, a lot of people could get hurt or even killed tomorrow. Hell, that might happen anyway. You tell Walsh, Buffy might beat you within an inch of your life, but she'll let ya go. She won't kill you. She's a hero. Same as Xander."

"I'm not gonna—"

"I heard you the first time," Pike said. "But lyin' alone at night, a man gets to thinking some things, and you never know what he'll decide, so I want to make one thing clear to you."

"What's that?" Davis asked.

Pike cocked his head to one side. "I'm no hero."

Davis met Pike's eyes for a moment and saw no sign of deception. With a nod, Davis went to the basement to release most of his men.

* * * * *

Giles approached his apartment and noticed his front door was very slightly ajar. Cautiously, with stake drawn, he entered the apartment, shutting the door very quietly behind him. Giles quickly made his way over to his weapons chest and retrieved an axe, before searching out the rest of his apartment.

After clearing the ground floor, he went quietly up the stairs. He saw a light on in his bedroom and a shadow moving on the carpet floor. He crept up to the door as quietly as he could and when the shadow stopped moving, he moved. Kicking the door in, Giles ran into his bedroom, axe raised high and letting out a battle cry.

Joyce screamed.

"Joyce?" Giles said, his voice almost a yell. He dropped the axe to the ground "What are you doing here?"

"Why did you try to kill me?" she asked, breathing hard, holding her chest.

"Well, the door was open downstairs," he said, trying to smoothly put the axe down. "I assumed something had broken in and was attempting to- to kill me in my bedroom."

Joyce shook her head and took a deep, calming breath. "I must have left the door open by accident," she said.

"Um, why... why are you here?" Giles asked. "Not – not that I'm objecting, it's just –"

"I saw Faith with Riley just before I left, and I didn't... I couldn't spend the night alone in that house. It's so big and empty and I just... so I came here. That is all right, isn't it?"

"Yes, of course," Giles said. "I'll just, um... get a few things, the guest room is –"

"Rupert?"

"Yes?"

Joyce smiled. "I chose your room for a reason."

Giles' eyebrows shot up.

* * * * *

"Big day tomorrow," Willow said, stroking her lover's hair as they lay in bed, the room lit only by a single candle.

"Biggest," Tara said.

"Oh, that's right," Willow said. "This is your first big battle to the death where you weren't a sacrifice."

"You seem kind of excited."

"That's to cover the scared part, and the tense part, and the worried part, and the other parts that are even less fun."

"Do you think we'll win?" Tara asked.

"Probably," Willow said. "I mean, we kind of always seem to, you know. Although, when Buffy had to send Angel to Hell... that really sucked. I mean, he was all... evil at the time, but it did kind of seem like a pyrrhic victory, what with Buffy leaving and all."

"How are we going to protect Xander?" Tara asked.

"I don't know. I mean, pretty much everybody's going to be off fighting Adam, or the demons. I guess we'll just have to find a secluded place, probably with Giles standing watch."

"And what about—"

"Baby?" Willow said.

"Uh huh?"

"I... I know you have all these questions and everything, but can we not, tonight? I just... I wanna be with you and not have to worry."

Tara snuggled up to Willow, holding the redhead in her arms and kissed her. Willow returned the kiss passionately. Tara smiled mischievously at Willow, then leaned over and blew out the candle.

The room went dark.

* * * * *

"I'm gonna take a ride on the Buffy train," Xander said as he finished brushing his teeth.

"Xander, ew," Buffy said from their bed.

"I was talking about my energy, honey," Xander said. "It's all gonna be... mixing with yours tomorrow."

"Oh."

"But, as long as your mind is headed that way..." Xander grinned.

"Why, Mr. Harris, just what are you implying?"

Xander leaned over his girlfriend and kissed her on the forehead. He then walked over to the dresser and moved something.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Xander turned back to her and grinned. "I didn't want Mr. Gordo to see what I'm about to do to you."

His eyes flashed with life as he pounced on his girlfriend, and she squealed.

The lamp broke.

* * * * *

Riley sat up suddenly and winced in pain. Then he heard a thud.

"Shit," said Faith as she stood up.

"Oh, man, are you okay?"

"Yeah," Faith said, rubbing her head. "A little more concussed than I was a second ago, but I'll live."

"What's going on? Where –"

"We're at the hospital, babe," she said, climbing back into the hospital bed next to him. "You lost a lot of blood and passed out in the shop."

"Oh," he said, curling his arm around Faith's waist. "What are you doing here?"

Faith smiled at him. "I just missed you is all. The nurse said I could stay as long as I didn't disturb you. Need your rest."

Riley yawned. "The best way to let me get my rest was to hop in bed with me?"

Faith smiled shyly. "That was for my sake... I feel safer next to you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Faith said as they lay back in the too-small bed.

"Did you guys find anything tonight?"

"Shh.," Faith said. "Talk in the morning. You need your rest now."

"Okay," Riley said, wrapping his other arm around Faith's waist and pulling her close to him. Faith rolled over so that she was facing him.

"Hey, Ri?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"I am so in love with you."

Riley smiled and kissed Faith sweetly, softly. "I'm in love with you too, babe. More everyday."

Faith rolled over again, shifted as close to Riley as she could, and fell asleep to the rhythm of his heartbeat.

* * * * *

The next morning saw the entire group – sans Spike, for sunlight reasons – gather at the Magic Box.

"What time is Angel and the rest supposed to show up?" Xander asked while sipping his coffee.

"Mid-morning, I believe," Giles said.

"So do we have a... what, an infiltration plan?" Xander asked.

"I'm working on it," a pale Riley said from his seat at the table, upon which were laid out a hand-drawn map of the Initiative and some rough maps of the caves nearest to it. "I won't be a whole lot of use fighting today, but I can still plan with the best of 'em. I think I've figured out a place where the spell can be cast from without interference."

"None?" Buffy asked.

"Well, assuming nobody comes looking for them," Riley said. "And I don't see why they would. They don't know about the spell, right? It's out of the way, in the caves. It would be smart to have somebody there to watch over everybody, since they'll be, you know, completely vulnerable while the spell is being cast, but it should be pretty safe."

"Will, what do you think?" Buffy asked.

"Huh?" the redhead replied, looking up from the spellbook. "Oh. Yeah, sure, whatever, I'm sure whatever he picks will be fine."

"Okay," Xander said, sitting down across from the soldier. "So what now?"

The shop door jingled.

"We're closed," said everybody in the shop without looking up.

"I uh... wanted to talk to Riley," came the reply.

Riley looked up. "Graham," he said solemnly as he and Xander stood up. Riley walked around the table to stand next to Xander as Faith cleared up the papers on the table. "What do you want?" Riley asked while scowling.

"Look, I just want to talk. They said you were in the hospital last night, but the nurse said you weren't to be disturbed and if you were as bad as they said, well, I didn't really want to wake you up," said Graham.

"That was kind of you. I think if you had, Faith might have beat you to death with your own arms."

"What's all this 'might' shit?" Faith asked, sliding in next to Riley. "Your ass woulda been toast."

Graham smiled. "Listen, I don't know what's going on, but we need you back, Ri. With Forrest dead, and all those guys disappeared, man. The unit's falling apart."

Riley's brow furrowed. "Uh. Graham, you know I'm AWOL, right? And Walsh basically told me I'd be shot if I came back?"

"You uh. What?"

"Yeah," Xander said. "We broke a prisoner out of your holding cells. He should be here pretty soon, actually. I'm surprised you didn't hear about it."

"Yeah... me too. It seems we're all out of the loop these days," Graham said.

"Or someone's making sure the loop stays small," Xander said.

"You think Walsh ordered the men not to talk about it?" Riley asked.

"It's what I would do," said Giles. "If I were attempting to keep certain secrets."

Graham turned to Riley. "You broke someone out?" he asked, his expression darkening.

"Yeah, but it's not like that," Riley said.

"Well what the hell is it like, Ri? I mean we're fallin' apart in there, and you just abandon us because of some demon?"

"It wasn't just because of *some* demon," Riley said. "He's a good guy, and a friend of the group. He doesn't deserve to be in there. And it's more complicated than just that. There are other issues."

"Like what?"

"Like stuff, Graham. Listen there's... things that you don't know about. Things with Walsh, and Dr. Angleman, and the work they've been doing. Things that... it's just stuff that made me rethink my priorities, and who I was actually working for."

Graham folded his arms across his chest. "Listen, we need you back, man."

"I get that," Riley said. "But I can't come back."

"Look, can we talk, just us, for a minute?" Graham asked. "I need to know what's going on. For me, if not for the guys."

Riley frowned.

"Please."

Riley sighed. "Giles, can I use the back room?"

"Of course," Giles said.

Riley lead Graham into the back of the shop.

"Okay," Riley said. "What's up?"

"Listen, we all know Walsh is kinda... off."

"More than kind of," Riley muttered.

"Well, that's the thing. Look, we signed on for this thing, but the guys are restless. We know something's going on. Something big. What's going on?"

Riley sighed again. "How are the guys?" he asked. "You said they're restless. What do they think about Walsh? Are they willing to defy her?"

"What do—are you talking about mutiny?"

"It's not mutiny if she's unfit for command," Riley said, sitting on the couch in the workout room. "I believe she is." Riley shook his head. "Listen, something... something's going to happen tonight. Something big. I can't tell you anything beyond that, and I can't come back with you. But make sure the guys are ready."

"Ready for what, Ri? How can we get ready if we don't know what's coming? What's happening?"

Riley looked up at his friend, looked straight into his eyes and told him. "Get them ready for war."

----------

End Chapter 30