A/N: I decided to go with some more Xander POV because strangely I enjoyed writing him. I know it's been a while but school is starting soon here (in England) and there is a desperate struggle to do homework set for 6 weeks of research. Eeeekkk! Read on, gentle viewers -

Xander sat slumped in the armchair he had started off in at the beginning of the night. His eyelids felt heavy and there was a shooting pain at his temples. Command Central Xan-Man wanted to shut down and sleep. But he overruled his brain. Buffy was not home yet and therefore Xander would not rest until he knew she was safe.

He glanced over at the clock it was almost dawn. She should have been back hours ago. Xander knew that Spike would not hurt Buffy but this thing inside him was not Spike. Anything could have happened to her. Willow and Giles were keeping busy with the translation and they were almost done he guessed by the fact that they were starting to smile again. The past few hours had been full of grumpy, creased-foreheaded Watcher and Wicca. Xander did his best to stay out of their way.

Dawn slept upstairs, or at least she pretended to. He doubted that she slept at all, too worried about Buffy and possibly even Spike.

Xander sat up straight, stood and stretched. He couldn't stand around any longer he had to go and find Buffy.

"Where are you going?" Willow asked, suddenly realizing he was still in the room.

Giles and her sat on the couch with papers strewn haphazardly on the coffee table and spilling onto the floor. The papers were filled with indistinguishable scribbles Xander could never hope to understand. They were also ringed with cup marks from the many coffees and tea's Xander had had to sustain them with. A plate of half-eaten Jelly donuts and scones lay on top the mess too.

"I'm going to find Buffy," Xander said "She's been gone for hours"

"I don't think you should" Willow said, yawning and then blinking a few times "We've almost got this translation figured out except for the partial ancient Greek that some joker decided to include. Wesley should be faxing something through soon"

Xander shrugged "More reason for me to find her, bring her back and show her the happy news"

Giles stood and stretched, picking his stale tea up and swigging it with a wince "I fear for Buffy's safety, you know I do. However, if there is one thing I have learnt the past few days is that she is very protective towards Spike. It could be that she has taken shelter with him – after all it is almost sunrise – and is unable to call us"

Andrew entered the room carrying an armful of comic books "Either that or they're doing the horizontal dance of lurve somewhere. Oooh...maybe on the beach like in that movie with Bo Derek and that guy...wowsa"

"Thankyou for those mental pictures, Andrew!" Xander rubbed his forehead then frowned "What were you doing out so late...or early?"

"Picking up the new issues of the Amazing Spiderman from my supplier" Andrew beamed holding up his stack "Hot off the press"

Xander rolled his eye "You went out at the crack of dawn for comics? Loser"

"I got one for you too" He waved the magazine.

Xander snatched it with a grin then looked sheepish "Well, if I'm gonna have to wait for Buffy I might as well have something to read"

Andrew walked out of the room to get himself some breakfast.

"Wesley said the Ancient Greek in this text is a particularly obscure strand" Willow frowned, rubbed the bridge of her nose "And we've gotten the bulk of it translated except for the most important few words"

"Those Ancient Greeks," Xander shook his head "So inconsiderate"

Giles nodded "If only I had studied Greek instead of that bloody useless Spanish"

"Hey, you can meet some hot Latin chica's" Xander said helpfully then asked "So, what have you got so far?"

Willow looked up, clutching a piece of paper "Basically a lot of scientific stuff on how the serum works and the basic myth of the water-feral demon which is, hey, interesting but not so useful, and then the one sentence that sums it all up and tells us how to reverse the change"

"Well, that's great right!" Xander grinned.

Willow and Giles looked grave.

"Not great?"

"No" Giles shook his head "We've managed to translate three quarters of the sentence. The three most important words we can't decipher"

Xander sighed "Ain't that always the way? So, what have you got? Maybe we could play 'guess the word'?"

"So far," Willow looked at the paper "We've worked out, roughly, 'To change a host back to what it once was, the curse.........something, something, something.......Once that is done all shall return to what it once was"

"Ah, I see the problem" Xander nodded sagely.

"What's up comrades?" Andrew asked as he walked into the room sipping from a juice box.

Willow sighed, put her head in her hands "Buffy is counting on us...Spike is counting on us and we can't do anything unless Wesley can figure it out!"

"Yeah, letting it all rest on Mr. Stuffed Shirt must be hard" Xander nodded.

Andrew looked piqued "The badass vampyre needs help? Why have you not come to me sooner, children?"

"Unless you know Ancient Greek, you'll be a fat lot of use" Giles huffed then added bitterly "As usual"

Andrew placed his hands on his hips "Well, actually old chap, I do know Ancient Greek! So put that in your English pipe and smoke it"

Xander frowned "I think you're confused Andrew – he said Ancient Greek not Ancient Geek"

"I heard well, Alexander," Andrew nodded "And I shall have you know I am well versed in the language of the Ancient philosophers"

"Andrew are you being serious?" Willow asked, a spark of hope in her eyes.

"I have never been more serious, she-witch" Andrew nodded somberly.

Giles threw up his hands "Then why didn't you tell us before you blithering idiot!"

"Temper, little English man, temper. I –"

Andrew was cut off by Giles grabbing the front of his Phantasm T-shirt and throwing him down on the couch, juice squirted everywhere. Andrew looked suitably dazed and frightened. Xander folded his arms and stood next to Giles both of them looked intimidating and rugged to the nerd on the chair.

"Translate, monkey boy" Xander instructed "Translate like your precious Spikey's life counted on it"

Giles looked down at him darkly "And yours"

A/N: A short chapter to just bridge the gap and let you know that the Scoobies are mounting up and are on the case! Giles, is getting pretty scary huh? – terrorising poor innocent geek boy! I think I'm gonna have to soften him up in the next few chapters. Tootle Pip! (I did NOT just say that....)

918e9a8e