March 16, 2001

Logan took a minute to stretch as he sat outside of the door to the Magic Box. Giles had called him earlier that morning and had asked him to come by before the shop opened…without Max. Luckily Max had been asleep, for a change, and Logan didn't have to come up with some excuse for the call. He cracked his neck, wishing he had allowed himself that last cup of coffee, and then opened the main door.

Upon entering, he saw that he could have taken the time for that last cup. Giles was resting his head on some books, and gently snoring. Logan smiled, and quickly rolled down the ramp. He moved over to Giles and gently shook his shoulder. "Giles."

"Why don't we have a round of cribbage, and tumble one down the sink?" Giles murmured.

Logan sat up, not entirely sure he wanted to know what that meant in British. "Giles," he said, louder this time.

Giles' head snapped up. "Huh? Wha— oh, Logan." He briefly rubbed at his eyes and resituated his glasses on his nose. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Obviously," Logan responded dryly. "You didn't have to call me over so early if you were tired. The shop doesn't even open for another hour."

Giles stood and stretched. "No, I'm fine. It was urgent for you to stop by." He motioned for Logan to take a place at the table, and picked up his own papers from the countertop. "I received a document late last night…from Madagascar."

Every cell in Logan's body immediately was alert. "Madagascar? You mean…Max and me…you found out something?"

Giles hesitated. Every detail would have to be handled carefully. "Something, yes. I have well over 200 pages of something. I won't go into great detail just yet, but the first thing you should know is that Maurice has found a way to send you home."

Logan closed his eyes, relieved. "That's wonderful, Giles. How?"

"Well, it's a complicated spell, but I would expect Willow and Tara to be able to perform it with great success. They…do much better tag team," he explained. "Their powers are much more focused then. The spell is a very specific one, and can only be performed at the equinoxes. Luckily, we have one coming up very quickly."

"March 21," Logan supplied helpfully.

"Actually, March 20, 5:14 am. That's the time of the true vernal equinox this year. The other is more of a placeholder…" Giles trailed off as he noticed Logan's excited expression slowly change to dread and suspicion, and knew what Logan was thinking. "Don't worry. It's not going to require the blood of a virgin or something quite so esoteric as that. You only need to—"

The meaning of Giles' words finally cut through the hemming and hawing. "'You,'" Logan rasped. "Not 'both of you.' Not 'the two of you.' You said 'you.' Was that supposed to mean me and Max, or just…or just…" he couldn't even say the words.

"Unfortunately, I meant just you, Logan. Max can't return to Seattle with you. She can't…ever return." The words stuck in his throat.

Logan couldn't breathe. He pulled back from the table, and spun his wheels angrily. "That's why she couldn't come. Not just because we were meeting here. We could have met anywhere else. You didn't want her here when you told me this."

"No," Giles admitted. "I wanted to give you the opportunity to hear this first. You have a difficult decision to make."

"Wait, wait. Before I make any decision, are you sure? Is this person absolutely sure that Max can't leave Sunnydale?"

"It's not that she can't leave Sunnydale, Logan. It's a little more complicated than that. You and Max were pulled into our time for a reason. Think of time as something that's not exactly linear, but as a ribbon, that turns and folds back on itself. At the specific point in time when Willow cast her spell, our two times were in extremely close proximity and…"

"Max does weird things to magic," Logan completed. "Are you saying it's her fault?"

"Not intentionally. There would have been no cause for her to even be aware of her…circumstance. Conditions just happened to be right at that exact moment between times. There's quite a bit more…approximately 250 pages more, actually, that will be of quite some importance to those who remain in this time."

"Tell me everything," he insisted.

Giles did. He carefully explained everything that was in the documents to the best of his ability. Even as Logan paled, he pressed on. "For now, this means that she has become locked to this time. She can move forward as it progresses, but—"

"But she can never move beyond it, like I can. Like I can," he repeated, looking a little panicked. "Giles, what do I do?"

Before Giles could say anything, the bell over the door jingled merrily, in contrast to the atmosphere inside the shop. The entire Scooby gang entered loudly, as always. Giles looked at Logan. "What you do is think over this very carefully. You are the only one who can make this decision. I can only give you the information." Giles handed over the stack of paper. "You can look over this, but it stays here. Return it to me before you leave today. I need to get back to our other problem."

He walked over to the others waiting for him in the doorway. "We're just stopping by on the way to the Hellmouth's seat of higher learning, also known as UC Sunnydale," Buffy informed him. "There's evidence of your creature…finally."

Giles' eyebrows lifted swiftly. "There is? What kind?"

"Front page headlines with giant picture of boogeyman in action," Xander said, thrusting the paper under Giles' nose.

"I dare say so." Giles examined the picture of the creature, looking quite hastily assembled, gnawing on an arm. "This is my…creature."

"The arm we saw and the leg you had seen both belong to some poor frat dude, so Thing #1 here is probably hanging over the Evil Baddy porcelain god right now, with a hell of a hangover," Buffy offered. "Giles, can you look more into this chimera thing? I'd like to know whether it's okay to slay this thing or whether I should buy it a drink instead."

Giles hesitating, knowing he had the answer to that question already. But that was another mystery that had to wait for another day to be revealed. "I'm still examining information," he answered truthfully. "But it might be better if I go with you to the scene of the crime to see if there is any evidence of the Initiative being back in town. Guess I close up shop early today."

"Thanks, Giles. Just with the whole Adam thing…he was the last big bad we had who tried to wipe me from existence. I'm just worried that his little brother is looking for payback along with his frat snacks."

"Understood, Buffy. You go ahead. I just need to give Logan a few more books, and then lock up." He waited until the group left and walked over to Logan. "Well…?"

Logan passed back the pile of papers he had flipped through while Giles had been talking to the group. "I need time."

"You can have some time, Logan, but only a few days. Willow and Tara will need time to prepare. You have two days at most."

Logan nodded. "Two days. Fine. Giles, I need you to not say anything to Max. I'll tell her, but not just yet."

Giles hesitated, but agreed. "I'm sure you know best. I'm going to go meet up with the others. Please make sure the doors are locked when you leave."

And then Logan was alone.

XXXXXXXX

March 17, 2001 – coming April 2

A/N: Many thanks to those who've been reading and reviewing. You really help some days. - D