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Chapter 24

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It took a total of ten minutes to extract the story from Buffy and Faith. With their excited babbling and fast-paced talking, they were rather difficult to understand. Their five friends, still lounging in the garden when they found them, were utterly confused at Buffy's quick fire recollection of the events in the library. Faith was no better, throwing in comments and exaggerated additions.

"Whoa, whoa!" Xander said, holding up his hands. "I have no idea what you two just said."

Buffy and Faith started up again, and it took a low wolf whistle from Oz to shut them up.

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Cordelia snapped, obviously becoming tired with the tirade of breathless talk.

Calming herself and taking a deep breath, Buffy told them what she had heard from Doyle in the library. There was a moment of silence, and then another rush of chatter as everyone began talking at once.

"Hey! Guys!" Willow raised her voice, demanding the attention of the group. She blushed slightly when she realized that they were all staring at her. "We need to figure out who it is."

"Oh really?" Cordelia asked, her sarcastic tone causing Willow to wince. "There's the idea of the century."

"Shut up, Cordy," Faith said, ignoring the brunette's scowl and turning back to the redhead. "Got any ideas?"

"Well, I haven't exactly been looking, but I can make a few wild guesses."

"Such as…?" Anya pressed.

"One, Lorne. I know, his one of my favourite teachers too, but he is a demon and that constantly bubbly personality can't possibly be genuine. Two, Gwendolyn Post. Just because I can't stand her and she seems to hate everyone. And three, Spike. He's too sneaky for his own good, he has access to everything in this building, and he's a vampire."

Buffy managed to keep her shock checked, despite the sudden rage that had erupted within her. She fiercely wanted to defend him, but thinking back over the last weeks, she could see where Willow was coming from. He seemed to appear out of nowhere, and could vanish just as easily. The vampire was trusted by all the staff- even if they didn't particularly like him- and would be in the prime position to spy. Buffy didn't think the vampire factor had much damage against him. Angel was also a vampire, but he was one of the best men she had known during her short life. But Spike's words sudden came back to her.

This can't happen…It's too dangerous.

She nearly gasped when a thought hit her. What if he was the spy and he was only playing her to get information? She didn't even want to consider the thought that he wanted to get close to her so she would not suspect him. He could have killed her so many times, but he didn't. She did not understand why. Unless he wasn't the spy… Her head was beginning to hurt from all the musing.

"I'm betting on Post," Xander said. "She's downright evil."

"We can watch all of them," Willow said. "Just check them out during classes and stuff."

"Me and B will take Spike, okay?" Faith said, and Buffy held back the refusal dancing on the tip of her tongue.

"Me and Cordy can watch the lovely Miss Post," Xander offered, wincing as though sacrificing something rather big.

"That leaves me, Anya and Oz to watch Lorne." Willow nodded. "We'll give it to the end of the week. See who's acting more mysterious."

The others were excited about the prospect of discovering the mole, but Buffy just wanted to sleep. For some reasons her eight hours of sleep each night left her feeling restless and sluggish, the same feeling she got after studying for prolonged periods of time. She rarely woke during the night, but she couldn't understand why the sleep she got did not satisfy her. Maybe she was dreaming, and they were forcing her to use her brain while she was asleep.

She arrived at her room and took a quick shower, glad to scrub around the sticky layer of sweat on her skin. After wrapping her hair in a towel and hopping into the oversized shirt she slept in, Buffy fell into bed without bothering to slip beneath the covers. It was only nine, but she had to get up early for a meeting with Giles before breakfast. She fell asleep before long, and again she dreamed. When she woke the next morning, she had no memory of the dream.

 
Shuffling into the library, she found it empty.

"Giles?" she called.

There was an exclamation of surprise, a scuffle and a loud thump. She peered around the shelves to find Giles sitting on the floor, books messily spread around him and a ladder perching against the shelf. She tried to hide the smile, but the picture was too hilarious. Her lips split into a wide grin, and he scowled darkly at her. After gaining control of her chuckles, Buffy stuck out a hand and helped her Watcher to his feet.

"You alright, Giles?" she asked, still grinning.

"Just fine," he replied stiffly, adjusting his suit and pushing his glasses further along his nose. She knelt to retrieve the books sprawled across the floor and handed them to him. He led her back to the tables at the front of the library.

"So what's the what?"

"Excuse me?" he asked blankly, confused at her- according to him- colourful language.

"Why'd you call me here?" she repeated.

"Oh, yes. Well," he began. "I'd like you to begin patrolling every night. You won't be alone, of course. If, for some reason beyond my control, I can not be there, then Angel, Wesley or Gunn will accompany you. It's simply that this city needs a Slayer out there, and the experience will help you considerably."

Buffy listened attentively, her excitement growing with each moment that passed. Slaying always took the edge away from her personal problems, and only doing it three nights a week was leaving her frustrated and itching for a good fight.

"This is great," she said. "Thanks!" She ran over and wrapped her arms tightly around him. He stiffened at the embrace, but then relaxed and patted her awkwardly on the back.

"T-that's fine…Buffy," he said. "But a man must breathe!"

She released him quickly, shrugging sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Okay, now off you go to breakfast." Her stomach grumbled loudly and she didn't wait to be told twice. She turned to leave, but he called her back. "Oh, wait! You don't mind if we train after lunch, do you?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

She watched for Spike all morning but found no trace of him. Stopping Gunn in the hall, she asked him where the bleached vampire was, but all he could tell her was that he was probably "doin' whatever he does during the day". It seemed no one knew what he did during the day, and her suspicions began to grow. She pushed them forcefully away, refusing to believe the vampire she loved could have anything to do with something so evil. They had even kidnapped him, for god's sake. They wouldn't go to that much trouble just to convince her he was good…would they?

Xander and Cordelia were not having much luck either. Gwendolyn Post acted like she did every other day; severe, aloof and malicious. Her class was the usual most boring hour of their lives, and her cutting insults did not become more or less harsh than they usually were. They followed her in between classes, and watched her tell off students and bitch to other teachers. She was definitely not acting any different, but that did not mean anything. She was still on their list.

Cordelia followed her to the bottom floor after class alone. Xander had a detention in the hall for not handing up an assignment, and had slouched away grumbling. She had not been happy when Xander had told her, and had reluctantly followed the Mathematics teacher. Nothing much happened and she considered returning to the dorms to fix the chipping on one of her nails, but she did not particularly look forward to Xander's scathing comments that she wasn't able to follow and watch someone. She knew they thought her to be nothing but a stupid bimbo, and she was going to show them that she could do something to help.

A phone suddenly rang, and Gwendolyn pulled a cell phone from her bag.

"Yes?" she answered frostily. Cordelia couldn't hear what the other person was saying, but she understood the gist of it.

"What happened?" she continued into the cell. "Another one? A week? That should be okay. We're having trouble here though. He's returned. Yes, I know. I'll try to find out exactly what happened…let you know. Fine."

She snapped the cell phone shut and walked on, but Cordelia's mind was racing. She had spoken about Doyle, and had told whoever was on the other side that she would find out more. It all pointed to the same thing. She quickly turned and rushed back to her room, smirking as she imagined her friends' faces when she told them the news.

Willow, Oz and Anya found Lorne to be a most intriguing demon they had ever met. Actually, seeing as he was the only demon they had ever met, their opinion was failr predisposed. He was constantly in a bright, bouncy mood, and his ability to talk in almost incomprehensible English reminded them uncannily of Buffy. He told jokes to the students, cheered the staff, entertained his classes, and was an all round perfectly nice guy. The only thing slightly suspicious about him was the horrendous suits he insisted on wearing. Anya found herself thinking that it was lucky Cordelia had not been watching Lorne, or the brunette may have found herself in hell.

They had been swapping watch outside Lorne's quarters up until lunch, and decided that a quick check afterward would be sufficient. It was then that they saw the green-skinned demon sneak from his room and leave the school. What was he doing at this time of the day, when most teachers would be readying themselves for their next class? They hurried back to the room, disappointed that Lorne was as suspicious as they believed.

None of them realized they were being watched.