A/N

Hey guys… sorry about the recent lack of updates…  I've been staying round a friend's house whilst her parents are away and I had limited access to a PC so the updates kinda trailed off.  On the plus side, I'm back home for a couple of days and then I'm shooting back up there so I figured I'd update while I could.  Enjoy the chapter, it's a relatively long one (for me anyway) for you!

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Day Six, Sunday, High Street, St Treharne, Cornwall

Xander strolled back to the house, munching happily on an uncooked crumpet, the bag of doughnuts tucked under his arm. He was totally oblivious to the looks of disbelief and disgust the locals threw his way. He broke into a jog as he spotted Buffy and Giles in front of him.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Buffy and Giles glared at him.

"Oh, nothing. Darcy just set us up, that's all." Buffy strode a little faster.

"Now Buffy, we don't have any proof." Giles admonished.

Buffy stopped in her tracks.

"Giles, her place was overrun with vampires."

"Man, I hear those pesky vamps are harder to get rid of than cockroaches." Xander was silenced by the killer glare Buffy sizzled his way. Giles shuddered when he saw what Xander was eating.

Buffy turned back to Giles. "It was a set-up. I know one when I smell one." She said, trying to convince him.

"Well, that maybe, but we still have no proof."

"Oh!" Buffy took a step back, feigning surrender. "Fine, come to that, we don't even have any proof that she's a dhampir. Only her word."

"Hey, steady on Buff, the girl did survive a stake through the heart." Xander stood up for Darcy and regretted it when Buffy turned on him.

"Oh, so you're on her side too!"

"I'm not on anyone's side." Buffy stared at him disbelievingly. "I just think, maybe we should hear her side of the story first."

"Excellent plan Xander. I concur." Giles sighed when Xander looked at him in confusion. "I completely agree."

"Oh. Well why couldn't you just say so?" Xander shook his head sorrowfully. "It's definitely your age. Other Brits don't talk that way." Xander attention was caught by something on the opposite side of the road. "Hey, it's Basil." He shouted. "Hey, Bas!"

The small cat spotted the trio and picked his way across the busy road. "It's Basil." He told Xander.

Xander shrugged, "Bas, Basil, it's all the same."

"No, it really isn't. Really. Trust me on this one. Totally different."

Giles took his glasses off and waved them vaguely, "I thought we told you to stay in the house."

Basil stretched gracefully. "You did. But one of my contacts told me the family's on the move."

"And who, might I enquire, are your contacts?" Giles asked, pinching the bridge of his nose, his glasses poised mid-air.

A fluffy white cat ran up to Basil and meowed urgently. "Meet, Snow-fluff, one of my best spies." Basil said proudly.

"Cats?" Buffy asked incredulously. "You use cats, to spy on your family." She laughed, Xander laughed, even Giles allowed himself a quick smile.

Basil looked as offended as a cat could look, "Hey! Don't knock it, it works."

Buffy quickly straightened her face into a smirk. "Sorry."

"Anyway, I have to be tracking the family down." Basil stalked away, every line of his body stiff and straight.

"Really sorry!" Buffy called after him.

Snow-fluff stared at them then trailed after Basil, meowing questioningly. Basil didn't look back.

"Okay." Buffy returned to the topic they had been discussing. "Since I am temporarily outvoted, lets go talk to Darcy." She strode on up the street, the Giles and Xander trailing after her like Snow-fluff had trailed after Basil.

"Hey, gotcha something." Xander offered the packet of doughnuts to Giles.

"Oh, many thanks. I don't suppose they're raspberry jam?" Giles reached for the packet and Xander whipped the doughnuts out of his reach. Giles frowned.

Xander checked the label quickly, he knew what Giles was like about his doughnuts. "Yep, sure are." He handed the packet to Giles with a sigh of relief.

Giles swung the packet by his side and smiled happily. He glanced at Xander, about to make some inane comment about the now gloomy weather and changed his mind when he saw Xander bite into a crumpet straight from the packet. Shuddering a little, he picked up his pace.