CHAPTER SEVEN

I know this face I'm wearing now
I've seen this in my face
And though it feels so great
I'm still afraid
That you'll be leaving anytime

The Corrs - Don't Say You Love Me

Giles returned to the Magic Box in time to see Buffy arriving for her late afternoon training session. She gave him a nervous but curious look. He could see the questions in her pretty eyes but he was ready for them, even if he did dislike talking about himself.

"Did…did it go okay?" she asked hesitantly, pushing a lock of gold hair behind her ear.

The gentleness in her voice was touching. He could remember a time when she barely saw past herself and her problems. "Yes. You look like you think it might not have."

"I guess I didn't expect you to be here if it had. We can train anytime."

He noted she didn't mention they didn't really train together any more, not since he had gone home. "Ceara's here on business, Buffy. She had to meet with her producers, late but she did go," he said with a little smile.

Opening the shop door, he paused as a cloud of sandalwood wafted past. Anya probably thought it made the shop more 'new agey' and hence alluring to shoppers. Buffy beamed at him as she went into the shop. It was the happiest look he could remember seeing on her face since she had been brought back. Anya looked up from the register perkily then frowned seeing they weren't paying customers. Tara and Willow sat at the table doing homework. Xander, still in muddy work clothes, seemed half asleep on the same table. Wesley and surprisingly Cordelia were up in the book stacks. He saw Spike hiding in the shadows looking bored. Giles knew why the vampire was here; hoping for more gossip no doubt.

"Here it is," a voice came from behind Giles and Buffy. Aidan came up from the basement, book in hand. "Now will you please take me home. I…oh." Aidan broke off, surprised to see Buffy and Giles. Oddly he appeared nervous as he skittered around them heading for the steps to the mezzanine.

"We'll take you home soon," Wesley said distractedly, not looking away from the shelf holding some of the most dangerous tomes in the shop.

"It's kinda too late," Aidan mumbled, jerking his head at Buffy and Giles. He climbed halfway up the stairs.

"Shouldn't my sister be showing you the town? Don't tell me she ditched you," Buffy said, wrinkling her nose against an odd, somewhat salty smell wafting off the boy. "Your hair's wet."

"Um, yeah. I…ah, don't really need to see the town any more." Aidan handed off the book to Wesley who took it upstairs without noticing the distress in Aidan's eyes.

"Your mother suspected you might go out on your own," Giles said, wondering if he should say anything at all. His son's face was unreadable, at least to him and he felt he had vast experience reading teen-agers thanks to Buffy and her friends.

Aidan snorted. "Can't fool Mum but that's not what I meant. I was kinda trying to go back to the mansion before Buffy got here and noticed I smell like the ocean and I wanted to get my wet suit out of the training area. I hope you don't mind I put it there," Aidan babbled, moving back down the steps like a puppy waiting to be scolded.

"Wet suit? How did you get to the ocean?" Buffy asked.

"I knew you'd ask that. That's why I wanted to be gone by now, that and I'm itchy from soap and salt water." Aidan sat on the last step, looking deflated.

"My sister took you," Buffy ground her teeth, mentally doing the math to figure out when they would have had to have left to get to the beach and back and realized Dawn would have had to cut class. Willow almost said something but Tara put a restraining hand on her.

"Yeah, but I didn't know she was wagging school, not until we got to Spike's and he threw a wobbly." Aidan held out his hands, as if to deflect Buffy's anger.

"She took you to Spike's?" Giles growled, his head snapping round to face the vampire.

"Hey, they're safe as houses with me," Spike said testily, pulling himself up more erect, sensing the challenge in the Watcher's eyes.

"Which is what frightens me," Giles replied, shooting him a glare.

"Dawn came around nine o'clock. We did the town, lobbed in on Spike but he threw us out to watch some stupid soap opera," Aidan said, figuring the truth was the best path for him to avoid getting in trouble. He nervously finger combed his hair in a manner that put Buffy in mind of Giles.

"Passions is not stupid," Spike snapped.

"Uh-huh. It's a soap opera." Aidan shrugged as if that explained it all. "We ran into some of Dawn's friends with a car and they took us to the beach. Dawn wanted to learn to surf…how she's going to explain the bruise on her head to you, I don't know."

"No good?" Buffy asked, amused in spite of herself.

"From the shark's point of view, she was great. From a surfie's, she's pretty bad. I don't know where they went afterwards. The older kids didn't want me hanging around. I'm lucky Dawn convinced them to bring me this far," Aidan confessed, a little unsettled about nearly getting abandoned at the beach.

"I'm going to kill her." The flatness of her voice earned Buffy sharp looks from her friends. Willow almost protested but the flash in Buffy's eyes silenced her.

"Kinda figured you'd say that, that's why I tried to get them to take me home before you got here." Aidan jerked a thumb at Wesley and Cordy, sending a glare their way. Wesley didn't look up from his book but Cordy gave him a smile that made many men forgive her worse things.

"When she didn't come to take you on the tour this afternoon, I would have suspected something," Buffy said, slumping into a chair next to Xander. Anya scowled.

"If I was at the mansion, you wouldn't have known she hadn't…sorry." Aidan made puppy eyes at her.

"It's not your fault, Aidan. And you, Spike, I don't like that Dawn's coming to see you at all," Buffy said, her eyes giving warning to the vampire.

"Hey, it's not like I invite her there." He scowled.

"Spike did throw a major wobbly when we showed up," Aidan said uncertainly, as if unsure he should be defending the vampire who had honestly not been thrilled to see them.

"Thanks, kid. How are your arms by the way?" Spike asked, glancing over at the boy's exposed mahogany skin.

"Okay."

"What happened?" Giles asked, wincing at the sharp worry in his voice. If Aidan noticed, he gave no sign.

"Ghosts can get grabby." Aidan displayed his bruised forearms. "Plenty of ticked off ghosts in that cemetery."

"No surprise. That looks terrible. I can't believe your mother lets you do this," Buffy said, getting back up. She took his arm and examined it gently.

"This is nothing." Aidan turned, lifting his shirt to show four long diagonal scars running from left shoulder halfway down his back. "This was something."

"What did that?" Buffy touched one of the raised scars.

"A ticked-off entity. I don't remember it. I was only three at the time. Like I said, they're going to come for me whether or not I'm trained to handle it. That's why Mum let's me do this. Next time something that nasty comes my way I'm better equipped for it." Aidan pulled his t-shirt back down and smoothed it out. Giles belatedly realized it read 'My family tree is full of nuts.' He couldn't help but smile.

"But aren't you afraid? You could get really hurt," Tara said, worry cutting across her pale face.

"It can be scary. Ask Wesley about that. Last time Mum visited him in L.A., an entity grabbed him and if it weren't for Angel, it would have killed him and Mum. It dragged her to the other side when she rescued Wes," Aidan said. "Angel pulled her back."

"I prefer never to remember that," Wesley snapped, looking up sharply from his book.

"Can't say I blame you. I'm in no hurry to see the other side either. I've died once already and I'm hoping to wait a little while before trying it again," Aidan said so matter-of-factly no one said anything for several long moments.

"Died?" Giles stammered, his pale eyes wide. Buffy lost what little color she had, swaying just a bit in spite of herself.

"For about seven minutes. I was surfing and wiped out. When I went under, my lungs acted like a vacuum and drowning was nearly instantaneous. I woke up a few days later in the hospital," Aidan said with a little shrug. He gave off the air it was something that happened on a daily basis and should be of no concern.

"Your poor mother, she must have been frantic," Wesley said, a look of apprehension and hurt warring on his wan face. He was still smarting at the realization he wasn't as completely in Ceara's confidences as he had believed for years.

"She was pretty calm all things considered from what I understand. She was the one who pulled me out of the surf and tried to revive me until EMS got there."

"But you still surf," Willow said in a tone that suggested he was crazy.

He glanced over at the redhead and smiled. "Well, yeah. Mum didn't stop when she spent a few minutes dead after that shark nearly bit her in half. A little drowning isn't likely to stop me from doing what I love."

"I drowned once, too, the first time I died. Xander saved me." Buffy's eyes dropped. She touched Aidan's shoulder gently. "Do you remember anything of when you were gone?"

His full lips pursed as he considered his answer. "Yeah, I remember the ghost path and something soft, white light and all the voices. I saw people I knew. Then again, I can see and feel 'there' from time to time from this side of existence. I'm in no hurry to return like I said but I'm not afraid, you know."

"Most kids would be," Xander said with just a hint of awe in his voice. He had lived with the fear of dying for a handful of years.

"Because they don't know what comes next. I don't know exactly either but I know for the most part it's nothing to fear unless you've earned your passage to hell. I can be bad from time to time but nothing deserving a stint in hell." Aidan smirked. "Wes, are you nearly done? I'm getting really really itchy. I didn't get all the soap off from my wet suit."

"Nearly. It won't be much longer," Wesley replied, distracted by a tome he had only heard rumors of. He snatched it greedily off the shelf.

Aidan rolled his eyes, lounging back against the stairs. "Tell it to my skin."

"I understand entirely," Cordy piped up. "I can tell you the perfect moist-"

Cordy's statement was cut off as she cried out, stumbling back against the railing. Wesley grabbed her before she could topple over. He took her to the ground, holding her flailing body.

"What's wrong with her?" Xander asked, jumping up.

"She's having a vision. Do you keep aspirin here? She'll need it," Aidan said, heading up the stairs to Wes and Cordy's sides.

"I'll get it," Tara said, hurrying off.

"These visions…they're always this bad?" Willow asked, her eyes wide. She might not have ever really liked Cordelia but she wouldn't wish what she was seeing on anyone.

"And getting worse. They were meant for Doyle, a half-demon," Wesley said. "And when he died, the Powers That Be shifted them to Cordelia. Whatever she's seeing, it's meant to guide Angel." As Cordy's thrashings and moaning tapered off, Wesley turned his attention back to her. He brushed her hair out of her face. "Are you all right, Cordelia? What did you see?"

Cordelia put a hand on his chest, her head wobbling. "More children…so many faces…so many. That's what the demon needs…more children."

"Anything more than that?" Wesley asked as Tara came up the stairs with the aspirin and water. Xander was right behind her.

No…no." She pounded on the floor. "I'm sorry." She squeezed her eyes shut tight. "For this kind of headache, I should get a crystal clear image of who, what, where and why."

"I know. Can you stand?" Wesley put a hand behind her back.

"Yeah."

He stood her up with Xander's help. Tara pressed a glass into Cordy's hand and gave her the aspirin. Wesley and Xander guided her down the steps once she took the pills.

"Thanks." Cordy leaned against Xander's sturdy body, remembering when it had felt so right to do so. She could see jealousy all over Anya's face and wanted to say she had nothing to fear but she felt too wrung out to speak.

"I'm going to take Cordy back to the mansion so she can rest and we can tell Angel about this," Wesley said, steadying her.

"I…I couldn't quite focus on the place. I think I know it but I couldn't tell for sure," Cordelia said, frustrated.

"Anything at all that was familiar?" Buffy asked quietly, disturbed by this turn of events. She wasn't used to Cordy being the one with answers.

Cordy's eyes fluttered closed for a moment "Music. There was music in the background, too loud, too out of tune or maybe it was distorted."

"Is that important?" Buffy asked.

Cordy gave a frustrated shrug. "I get sounds sometimes with the visions, smells…even sensations. This is Sunnydale. I should know this place. Sunnydale doesn't change much."

"That's not necessarily so, Cordelia. You've never been in the new high school," Giles said. "Maybe we should take you there."

She nodded wearily. "Can we get in there now? It's getting dark."

"No, they tend to keep it locked better now, but you could at least see the outside before the sun sets," Buffy said.

"Okay." She pressed a hand to her forehead, her eyes squeezing shut. "God, I need a long bath. The mansion isn't really equipped for one. These visions…I get sore thrashing around like that not to mention the killer headaches." Cordelia looked embarrassed as if no one should ever have to see her in such a state.

"Cordy, why don't you come to my place for a while, get a bath and relax. I can go with you and Wes past the school," Buffy offered.

"Thanks, Buffy. I mean that." Cordy smiled wearily "It's not like I learned anything that Angel doesn't already know. No need to report immediately."

Before they could get through the door, Ceara strode in it, motorcycle helmet under her arm. She took a look at the long faces and asked, "Has something happened?"

"Cordelia had another vision. Unfortunately it wasn't much different than the last one," Wesley said. "We were just about to take her to Buffy's for a rest."

"Okay. And why am I seeing my son standing here sans Dawn?" Ceara asked, her dark eyes slotting.

"Dawn sort of wagged class and took me out all day," Aidan said, edging away from his mother.

She showed her teeth in something that wasn't a smile. "And what do we do when plans change?"

"Call." Aidan fished his thin cellular phone out of a pocket. "Forgot to charge the battery. Sorry."

She frowned at the poor excuse. "Charge it when we get home."

"I will. Maybe we should go back to the mansion so I can get clean and we can tell Angel what Cordy saw if they're going to stay at Buffy's for a while," Aidan suggested.

"Of course. How long do you think you'll be at Buffy's house, Wesley?" Ceara asked.

"I'm not sure."

"I would like to have the car later if possible. Angel wanted to accompany Aidan and I tonight and my Harley can't take all three of us," Ceara said.

"Where are you going that you need Angel?" Buffy asked, a hint of jealousy in her voice that caused Spike to glower.

"He thought having a little supernatural back-up might be good. We're investigating an abandoned club. The ghost has only been noticed around midnight," Ceara replied.

"Shooting at midnight here in Sunnydale is not of the smart ideas," Buffy said, crossing her arms. A frown creased her face.

"Buffy, if I had enough influence I wouldn't have let them come to Sunnydale in the first place. I'm hoping all the bright lights won't draw in vampires like moths," Ceara said.

"That's why Angel volunteered to help keep an eye on the site," Wesley said. "He's not as patient with research as Rupert and I. I think he preferred feeling more active and useful."

Spike snorted. "I know the feeling. Need an extra set of eyes at the shoot?"

"Depends. Are you going to be watching our back or are you going to be concentrating on Angel?" Ceara asked. "I know you two have a history and neither of you are high on the impulse control meter."

Spike curled his lip. "You're sharp." He glanced over at Buffy, noting her harsh look. "But whatever needs settling between me and Peaches can wait. I'll be there to help."

"That would be appreciated." She clamped a hand on her son's shoulder. "Ready to roll, son?"

"Wes, can I put my board and suit in the car? I shouldn't leave them here and I can't take it back on Mum's motorcycle."

"Of course. Go ahead and do it. We'll try to meet you two back at the mansion within a few hours," Wesley said.

"Good," Ceara said as Aidan ran to retrieve his gear.