I cannot name this, I cannot explain this,
And I really don't want to, just call me shameless.
I can't even slow this down, let alone stop this.
And I keep looking around, but I cannot top this.

If I had any sense, I guess I'd fear this,
I guess I'd keep is down, so no one could hear this.
I guess I'd shut my mouth, and rethink a minute
But I can't shut it now, 'cos there's something in it.

We're in a room without a door, and I am sure without a doubt,
They're gonna wanna know how we got in here,
And there're gonna wanna know how we planned to get out.
We better have a good explanation, for all the fun we had.
'Cos they are coming for us, and they are going to be mad.

This is my skeleton, this is the skin it's in. That is, according to light and gravity.
I'll take off my disguise, the mask you met me in,
'Cos I've got something for you to see.
Just gimme your skeleton, gimme the skin it's in. This is you, according to me.
I never avert my eyes, I never compromise, so never mind the poetry.

Just please don't name this, please don't explain this.
Just blame it all on me, say I was shameless.
Say I couldn't slow it down, let alone stop it,
And say you just stuck around, 'cos you couldn't top it.
-Shameless written by Ani DiFranco on the Dilate album.

Sunnydale, California

The group came down the stairs to find Giles standing in the foyer with three girls around Dawn's age. Buffy and Spike had stopped off in the bathroom to bandage up her neck so as to not overly shock Giles.

"Hey G-man." Xander joked.

"I'm really not in the mood for this Xander." Giles said, they could all hear that his tone was far from mercurial.

"Sheesh, nice to see you too, tough crowd." Xander muttered as he headed for the couch.

"Hello Rupert, it's good to see you." Wesley extended his hand to Giles and they shook.

"I'm glad you got my message and could get up here so quickly." Giles noted the new faces, " Where's Cordelia?"

"She's at home with Connor."

"Who's Connor?"

"Hello Giles," Angel also shook Giles hand, "We'll tell you about Connor later."

"Sounds good. Angel, it's been a long time." Giles turned to the group already settling in the living room. "So where's Buffy and Spike?"

"Upstairs, I assume they are either bandaging up her gaping neck wound or Spike is enjoying his own personal all you can eat buffet." Anya said, with a smile on her face, eagerly looking aorund to see if anyone got it, " Did you get the joke? A Buffy Buffet?"

Xander groaned, "They'll be right down."

Giles heard the stairs creak and turned to see Spike helping Buffy down the stairs. She looked a bit pale, yet giddy and almost seemed inebriated. He noted the gauze and tape on her neck. He turned to Xander, "Was she out patrolling?"

"No, that's more of a recreational wound." He answered.

Anya leaned in, "It's a kinky sex thing Rupert, get with it."

"Thank you Anya, for once again letting me in on far more than I ever wanted to know."

"GILES!" Buffy screamed and attempted to rush up to him, "Oops, bad idea." She said as she lost her balance, "Head kinda floaty right now."

Spike grabbed her and lead her over to the chair. "Have a seat love, I'll get you a cuppa and a snack. Rupert you want one too?"

"A cup of tea or a chunk of flesh ripped out of my neck?"

"Tea. Sorry mate, just don't think of you that way." Spike smiled at him.

"Since when do we joke about eating people in this house?" Dawn laughed.

"Bit, maybe Rupert's Angels," Spike nodded at the young girls, "Would like something to eat. God only knows what he's been feeding them."

"Oh, yes, the girls," Rupert snapped out of his thoughts, "This is Kennedy, Annabelle and Molly. They'll be spending some time with us."

"Mr. Giles?" Annabelle asked, "Which one's the slayer?"

"That'd be me!" A very drunk sounding Buffy slurred as she raised her hand. "I'm Buffy the vampire slayer, twice dead, twice replaced, still kickin' demon ass after all these years."

"When she isn't bangin' it." Xander muttered under his breath.

"Like you should talk mister." Anya nudged him.

"Hi, I'm Dawn, the slayer's sister. Come on, I'll get you guys some food. How do you feel about peanut butter banana quesadillas?" Dawn started to lead them away.

"Dawn, could you..." Spike asked.

"Put on some water for tea? No prob." She smiled at Spike. Dawn and the girls disappeared into the kitchen. Spike settled on the arm of Buffy's chair, and she leanded over to rest her head on him.

"I'd ask what happened, but I really would like to avoid the visual image, so we'll just skip over that until later." Giles looked at Buffy and Spike like a disappointed parent.

"How's England?" Wesley asked trying to steer the conversation to neutral ground.

"Splendidly dreary with a touch of dismal, I'm happy to report."

"How's Willow?" Xander asked.

"Better, she's improving daily. She'll probably be here in less than a week, I told the coven she would be needed as soon as possible."

"You have filled me with much curiosity and this small talk bores me. Why are you back Giles? There is no money coming in, and the shop is closed; so I know it is not to fill your capitalistic drive for success." Anya asked, "And what's with the fillies? Is there something pedophilic going on, because I have a friend who..."

"God No Anya! A World of No!" Giles snapped, "They are potential slayers, I can't even believe you some times!"

"I'm only demon." Anya shrugged.

"Hate to be Mr. Obvious, but why are you dragging them around? Didn't the Council sorta give you the boot, sort of a no new slayer policy for Giles?" Xander asked.

Giles looked down at the floor, "There is no more Council."

Wesley stood up, "What?"

"It was blown up earlier today."

"Council go boom!" Buffy laughed.

"How?" Welsey asked with concern.

"The police said it was terrorism, but they were also under the impression it was a bank."

"Was anyone..." Wesley started.

"They were in session, all dead, no survivors."

Wesley shook his head in disbelief and slowly sat back down.

"It's worse than that." Giles said.

"Well, not a lot of Council mourning gonna happen here Giles, we weren't their biggest fans." Xander said.

"Wesley, your father was a watcher wasn't he?"

"Yes, mum too, they've both retired to Bath."

"Can you try to phone them? See if they're okay."

"Why? I have a feeling there is something you're not telling me."

Giles waved Wesley over and whispered in his ear, "Remember what we were trained for, the worst case senario? They would have told you procedure immediately prior to you being sent out to watch Buffy and Faith." Wesley nodded, "It's begun."

Wesley stepped back, "God no, Giles you must be wrong."

"Robson's most likely dead, Renate has fled."

"You saw Renate?"

"She's Kennedy's Watcher."

"I had the biggest crush on her."

"Lovely Wesley, really. But I think we have bigger issues than school boy crushes."

Spike walked up, "Does this have to do with what happened to Samuel and Abdullah?"

"You saw Samuel and Abdullah?" Wesley asked Spike.

"Please don't tell me you fancied them as well." Spike said.

"No, of course not, I just haven't seen any of them in years."

"Well, you won't see many of them again, their either dead, or have gone into hiding."

"Bloody Hell." Wesley and Spike said at the same time, then glaring at each other.

"I need you to contact your parents. I know your father was vice-chancellor under my mother." Spike cocked an eyebrow at Giles statement, "Spike it's not what you think." Giles again turned to Wesley, "I need to see if he knows anything about what may be happening. Things were so rushed I didn't get a chance to call mum, and see if she can help as well."

"Rupert's mum's still around?" Spike smiled.

"I'm not as old as you'd care to think Spike, my parents are very much alive and well. Mother retired from the Council ten years ago when Quentin took over."

The three could feel all eyes on them, "Rupert I think we need to tell them something." Wesley said.

"Yes, well, try to call through to your parents now, and I'll try in a bit."

"Okay." Wesley picked up the portable phone and headed into the dining room to make the call.

"Alright everyone, I have some shocking news. Wesley and myself were once warned that the events which are now taking palce were a possibility. We were also given minor instructions on how to deal with them. Still we aren't sure exactly what to do, and are trying to get in touch with retired Council members to assist us in understanding what is going on."

"What's going on Giles?" Angel asked, noting the tinge of fear in Giles voice.

"I believe the slayer line is being attacked, someone or something is effectively trying to wipe out the heirs to the calling, so that when Faith and then Buffy are killed there will be no one left to fight the forces of evil. They blew up the Council most likely to stop the discovery of future girls, and to destroy whatever documents were stored there which would effectively assist in stopping whatever is about to begin."

"Whoa man, that's huge." Gunn said.

"Sorry, but who are you?" Giles asked.

"Charles Gunn, I work with Angel. This is Fred and Lorne. So it sounds like someone is pretty pissed off at the whole slayer idea."

"Yes, quite. Spike I believe this may be why Quentin wanted you to watch Buffy, he needed someone strong to cover her until they knew what was going on. Actually Angel I was glad to see you, as you have some experience with who I believe to be carrying out the attack, well who is at least involved."

"Really? I really don't know who has the kind of power to do something like this."

"Actually, it's the same power that brought you back from hell."

"The First." Angel said remembering, "But Giles we didn't fight it, I didn't carry out its wishes, I just didn't obey. I don't think you can actually fight the First, I mean it's not like it's something tangible."

"Hate to sound ignorant, but who's the First?" Fred asked.

"Not who Fred, what. The First is essentially the First Evil, the primordial evil which was around before man or beast, which reigned before the demon, before the gods, the First has always been."

"Oh, nice to know this is actually worse than fighting against a hell god." Spike scoffed.

"I was attacked in London, well I don't think it was intentional. I had stopped off at a fellow watcher's to see if he wanted me to take his girl with us, she was dead, and he was near death. One of the Harbingers tried to split me in two, I killed it, and took this." Giles pulled the large Bringer's knife out of his hard sided brief case.

"I'm not even asking how you got that onto an airplane." Xander said.

"Robson, my friend who was attacked said that it had begun. The Harbinger's are sort of the First's minions, they carry out its work."

"Christmas Trees." Buffy said.

"Jeeze Louise Spike! What the hell did you do to her?" Xander asked.

"They were under the Christmas Trees when they came for Angel." Buffy was apparently more lucid, "I'm a slayer guys, remember rapid healing?"

"Yes, they were, I remember that." Giles said.

"Angel do you remember anything about being brought back, or what the First said or did to you?"

"He was all wild and crazy like a beast, running naked through the woods, I had to chain him up in the mansion, and I just said that didn't I?" Buffy said.

"I don't remember much until Buffy started taking care of me, prior to that it's all just bits and pieces."

"Anything else?"

"It haunted me."

"What?"

"It took form, it would taunt me and feed on my weaknesses, making me feel bad, guilty."

"Who?" Giles asked.

"Dead people. People I had killed or tortured, that sort of thing. But it was only dead people."

"Angel sees dead people!" Xander laughed.

"Drusilla." Spike said.

"No one cares about that crazy ho." Buffy said.

"Drusilla, that vision Buffy and I had, well technically Drusilla is dead, like Angelus or myself, we are technically dead. I mean, if Buffy could see her as well, it wasn't just me hallucinating. I tried to push her, and my hand went straight through, like a ghost."

"This may be related. We'll have to look into it further. I want everyone to be on full alert. I have some documents from the Council that I need to review, Angel and Wesley can help me. Is the green guy Pylean?"

"Yes I am, Krevlorneswath of the Deathwok Clan, but please just call me Lorne, I'm really trying to erase my whole Pylean experience from my memory."

"Empath Demon?"

"Yes."

"Good, we'll need your help too. Know any languages?"

"A few, but Fred here's better with the book learnin'"

"I'm also good on the computer and that sort of thing."

"She's like Willow, without the fear of world destruction." Anya said.

"Anya, can you please head out and see if there's any discussion among the demons about disturbances, or an upcoming battle, or anything to get you out of this house and as far away from me as possible?" Giles said. "Buffy when it gets dark, I'd like you take a few people out to where you found the Bringers last time, and see if there are any signs of activity."

"I can't believe I'm going to ask this, but what are we going to do about Faith?" Buffy asked.

"We need to get her out of there. We'll work on a plan."

"You need to get some sleep Rupert, you look like hell."

"You try spending a few days with those girls and you see how you look. I could use a nap though."

"Take mom's room, we'll start the research thing, and when you get up we'll work on more. Don't worry Giles, we've been through worse."

"Buffy, that's the problem, we haven't. This is like nothing we have ever come up against."

"What's the worst that could happen? I die? I've tried that, it doesn't work." Buffy laughed.