CHAPTER NINE

Lost and lazy, floating through the dawn
And twisting, turning, in a hazy mist...
Guardian angel of silver and ice
Sweeping, sinking in a stream of light...
The Corrs - Rain

"Got it," Willow announced to a Magic Box devoid of shoppers but packed with Scoobie members. They were expecting Wesley and Cordy to arrive soon. Ceara and Aidan were noticeably absent, busy with the t.v. production crew. Dawn was at Jane's with two other friends, concerned over the disappearances of Evie and Tom.

"The license number?" Buffy asked hopefully. Frustration deepened the dark circles under her eyes.

"Yes." Willow's thin face fell. "But it doesn't help. The van was stolen and abandoned just a few miles out of town." Tara gave Willow an encouraging pat on the back then tapped the computer screen. "Oh, it says here that they'll be bringing in bloodhounds from the state police."

"At least the state police are more with it than the Sunnydale cops." Xander's dark eyebrows crept together. "They have to be."

Buffy slammed an impatient hand down on the table, making everyone jump. "The bad guys last night were human beings, not demons. How can they do this?"

Giles poured water from the electric kettle into a proper teapot before sitting beside her. She nodded at the pot and he smiled, setting out a mug for her as well. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I know it's hard to accept, Buffy, but most of the demon activity in this world can be traced back to human interference." He paused with a haunted look, thinking back on his own transgressions in this arena. "We've seen countless examples from the frat boys who tried to feed you and Cordelia to one, to the babies Ethan made available to the mayor's demon."

"The mayor himself," Anya piped up.

"Yes, exactly," he said and Anya brightened visibly at the unaccustomed praise.

"Why is this so hard, then?" Buffy's fingers convulsed on her luckily still-empty mug. The handle snapped off and Giles eased it out of her hand, examining her for wounds.

"Because you realize that Dawn could be a target. After all you went through the last time Dawn was in danger, there's very little surprise this effects you so deeply," Giles said.

Buffy shoved at one of the books on the table. "I can't do this…too passive. I need to do something."

"Would you like to work out? It might help," Giles said, thinking he'd like a distraction himself.

She smiled gratefully. "Thanks."

Wesley and Cordy entered the Magic Box with Aidan in tow. They noticed Anya's customary disappointed look in seeing non-customers. Willow, Tara and Xander looked depressed as well, surrounded by stacks of books and cups of tea.

"I think we might have something," Wesley said, cheerily. "But I need to double-check things. Do you have the Tome of Viprow?"

"Yes, it's up there," Tara said, popping up to lead the way to the second floor.

Aidan looked around the shop, seeing no one but Buffy's friends. "Is he here?"

A smile split Willow's face as she got up and patted Aidan's shoulder. "He's in back with Buffy, training. Come on, I'll take you back there."

Aidan shook his head, his long, loose hair moving like a slow lazy river. "I don't want to disturb them."

"It'll be all right. I'm sure Giles really wants to talk to you," Willow said, taking his hand.

She led him into the back room and they watched Giles and Buffy sparring. Aidan wasn't sure of the style. It didn't fit any one thing, a bit of Judo, some Jujitsu and maybe something borrowed from the Russians. Buffy seemed to move more by instinct than the formal training he was used to seeing from his mother and the classes she taught. It didn't take long for Buffy to take a heavily padded Giles to the ground, harder than she probably meant to.

"I thought he'd get her. She leaves her left open a bit," Aidan said to Willow.

"Buffy's the best," Willow replied proudly as the Slayer helped her Watcher up off the floor.

"Hey Will, hey Aidan. Didn't know we had an audience," Buffy said brightly, despite being sweaty. Her breathing, however, was still even and unstressed. "You're here with Wesley?"

"Yes. Wes thinks he's on to something," Aidan said, keeping his eyes on Buffy as if he was afraid to look at his father.

"Really? Do you know what it is?" Giles asked, his pale eyes lighting up.

Aidan's gaze jerked over to Giles. The boy swallowed hard then found his voice. "No, not really. Tara's helping him."

"And I should go help her," Willow said, sparing a meaningful look for Buffy. "Buffy, want to help?"

"We were just…" Buffy trailed off, seeing the cross expression that pinched Willow's eyebrows together. Both women's eyes flicked between Giles and Aidan, and Buffy shrugged sheepishly. "Sure."

They hustled out of the room. Giles slowly peeled out of his padding. His motions were somewhat pained. Aidan could tell Buffy had left bruises on the older man. When Giles got himself free of the protective gear he turned to Aidan. He wanted to quip at the obviousness of the girls' departure but no words would come. He stared at the boy, wondering if Aidan was as afraid as he was. This was even harder than talking to Ceara. He knew Ceara intimately, however long ago it was. He had things to tell her, such as how sorry he was. He had no idea what to say to this boy. There was nothing to be said for never being there. He couldn't replace what Aidan had lost out on in his life. He didn't feel worthy of being here with the boy.

"All the times I rehearsed this moment in my head, it went a lot smoother than this. I knew exactly what I'd say and how it would all go," Aidan said, backing himself into a corner. He twisted his hands in his long hair. "Instead, I'm here with all this fuzz in my brain."

A panicky smile ghosted over Giles' face. At least the boy had given thought to meeting him. "If it's any consolation, I feel very much the same."

Aidan grinned, trying to find something to do with his shaking hands other than tear at his hair. "It is."

Giles stared at his feet. His sneakers were scuffed and a bit of his pants cuff had been torn during his sparring with Buffy. He felt scruffy, hating it. "I'm usually good with words but this…it is…"

"Hard," Aidan supplied, wrinkling his nose.

Giles sighed. "Very. I wasn't sure…if you…your mother said you wanted to talk to me but I wasn't sure she was right."

Aidan almost said something. He clamped his lips into a grim line then catapulted himself across the room and wrapped his arms around Giles with enough force they both nearly toppled. Giles let out a hiccupping sob, folding his arms over his son. He pulled Aidan tight to him, wanting to meld them into one being so he could know him completely. Warm tears soaked through his sweatshirt as he stroked his child's hair. There was an amazingly silkiness to it except for the two blue locks at either temple. That wasn't dye but rather sapphire gel. Giles didn't know how long they clung together like burrs before Aidan got squirmy and he let him go.

Aidan wiped his face, looking acutely embarrassed. He backed away, facing the blank walls, studying the bareness that surrounded him. This room was made for one thing, training. There were no distractions on the walls or the furnishings. It reminded him of the Sunday school classroom he had seen once with one of his friends. He turned back to his father then away again, seeing Giles looked no less embarrassed. "Do you need to go help Wesley with the research?"

Giles dabbed his eyes and compulsively cleaned his glasses again. He took a step toward his son but stopped. "Wesley is more than able to handle this on his own. I would much rather stay here and talk to you."

Aidan smiled. "Good. I emailed Grandmum and asked her to send some VCR tapes and photo albums. I thought you might like to see. I had her overnight them to Buffy's place. It was the only address I knew. I hope that's okay."

Giles hesitantly patted his shoulder. "I'm sure Buffy won't mind. She might like to see the videos, too. They all might, if you don't mind."

Aidan shook his head vigorously, his dark hair splashing around. "Nah. Some of them are from Uncle Cailean's TV show. Animal Planet might pick it up next year."

"That's splendid. Tell me more about yourself," Giles urged eagerly. He sat stiffly on the ugly green couch that was along one wall, wondering if Aidan would join him or keep a safe bubble of space between them. He wasn't sure which he preferred. "I know you're a lot like your mother when it comes to your abilities and you like to surf. I think she mentioned you like to write as well."

Aidan seemed to glow from within from all the attention. He sprawled on the couch next to Giles. "Love it and I like to play rugby. I've just started in the last couple of years but it's a lot of fun."

Giles sat back and listened to tales of rugby, Aidan's friends and their adventures, scuba diving, exploring the Outback and the Daintree rainforest with his relatives and of writing. He wished he had picked a homier place for this talk. The workout room felt cold and sterile, a place where death was born and fostered. He wanted to be in a home, a real one, one of his own and realized he couldn't remember the last time he really had one. He had an apartment. That hadn't been a real home, even though Buffy and her friends were more his family than his real one was. Back in Bath he tried almost frantically to feel like he was home but it didn't take. He latched onto a girlfriend more in an attempt to pretend he could have it all at his age and lifestyle. He knew it would never last. He tried to immerse himself in her, in the familiarity of work and in England to convince himself that he had done the right thing, that he hadn't condemned these young people by abandoning them to their own devices. He would remind himself that they were no longer teenagers. It was time to stand on their own, but it still felt wrong no matter what he did.

Giles realized, belatedly, how much time had escaped. Nearly two hours. It was true; his son was a chatterbox. Something must have showed in his face since Aidan wound down, glancing at him.

"Think we ought to go see if Wesley and Willow need help?" he asked, picking at a thread on the couch pillow.

"I was thinking that. You can tell me more once we look at those pictures your grandmother is sending," Giles said, rather glad for the passage of time since he no longer looked overly-emotional.

"Okay." Aidan scrambled up. Seeing Giles hitch trying to get up, holding his freshly bruised ribs, Aidan held out a hand to his father.

Giles let him haul him up. He was surprised at the strength in that young arm. He chalked it up to the ballet lessons Aidan said his mother made him take to enhance his speed and endurance for his various marital arts. Aidan was more excited about taking the dance-honed endurance and ability to leap and using it for rugby.

They went out into the main shop area. Willow, Tara, and Buffy couldn't keep the smiles off their faces. A glance up to the second floor shelves showed Wesley and Cordy just as happy-looking. Xander had a smug expression on his face. Only Anya appeared indifferent and bored with it. Giles missed seeing Ceara until his second survey of the shop, half hidden behind a shelf of candles. She smiled, too, and waved her son over to the table the girls were working at. Aidan sat down wordlessly.

Giles looked back at Wesley. "Aidan said you might have something about these kidnappings."

Wesley bobbed his head, nearly losing his glasses in the process. He slid them back up his long nose. "We found the sigil the kidnappers have been carving into their victims."

Willow pushed the book toward Giles. She tapped the mark in question. "We're looking for a specific Moufyng demon."

"He's sort of like a king," Tara said with a shiver.

Giles squeezed onto the table and peered at the book. "Chatha." Giles read the name with no recognition in his blue eyes. "I'm not familiar with him."

"As Tara said, he's a ruler of the Moufyng demons," Wesley said, coming down the stairs. "We haven't had a lot of success discovering more about Chatha but the sigil itself is interesting. It doesn't have the power to physically summon the demon. It's more like a homing device if Chatha feels like putting in an appearance."

"Which he only seems to do if there's an adequate sacrifice," Willow interjected, flinging another books at Giles. "But we're not finding a reference as to what that is other than children and teens."

"We did learn that if he does come, destroying the sigil will destroy him. That's why it's carved in instead of just drawn. It makes destroying it harder," Tara said then hesitated, still shy about speaking out. A look from Willow bolstered her. "That's got to be important."

Giles nodded. "Very much so. Wesley, any ideas where to find out more about these sacrifices?"

"We're going through the books without luck. You may have to put a call into the Council," Wesley replied. "How about you, Ceara? Any thoughts?"

She held up her hands. "I'm just here to pick up my son and take him back home before I have to meet with my producers again. I'm a channeler, not a witch. Most everything I learned about demon hunting is fifteen years in the past, give or take. This is your playground, not mine. Sorry."

"It's not your problem, Ceara. It's mine. I'm the Slayer." Buffy rocked back a bit in her chair, staring up at the ceiling. It needed dusting. There were a few cobwebs. She'd tell Anya later, tell her it would drive off customers just to watch the ex-demon fly around in a tizzy. It might be cruel but it would lift her sagging spirits a bit. She glanced back over at Ceara. "I wouldn't blame you if you packed up and got out of town." She set the legs of her chair back on the ground, studying the older woman. "But I doubt you will."

"Couldn't even if I wanted to. My job's here until they run out of places they want to film. And speaking of that, I do need to drop Aidan off and get out to one of the cemeteries. I know, I know I'll do my damnedest to not film at night in the cemetery. With my luck this so-called haunted crypt is Spike's." Ceara tugged her ponytail tighter as she got up.

"I could tell you if it is," Aidan said then grimaced. "Probably shouldn't have reminded you I was there."

Ceara's dark eyes slotted. "No."

"Ceara, he could stay with us and we'll make sure he gets home," Wesley said quickly after tossing a glance Giles' way, hoping he hadn't overstepped his bounds. "He'd be safer here than alone at the mansion."

"Angel is there but then again, Angel might appreciate not having to listen to unending yabber." Ceara gave her son a sour look that he mirrored right back.

"I do not chatter." He folded his arms in front of him, pouting.

"Sure you don't. Just take a look at Rupert's face." She waved a hand at Giles. "He holds that laugh in any longer his head will explode."

"Leave me out of this, woman," Giles replied, getting suddenly even more intent on the book Willow had given him. A smile tugged the corners of his mouth and he tried to hide it.

Catching him at it, Ceara smiled. She sniffed a blue candle then set it back. "Do you want to stay here, son?"

"I guess," he replied as the door opened.

Anya sprang to life hearing the bells but slumped back into boredom seeing it was only Dawn and another teen-aged girl with frizzy blonde hair.

"Did they hear anything about Evie?" Buffy asked, even though she knew it was highly unlikely.

Dawn shook her head, brushing her hair back. Her friend just stared around the magic shop as if afraid to move away from the door lest something bizarre grab and kill her.

"Not yet. Buffy, I have a group paper due on Monday. Jane's part of my group." Dawn nodded at her friend. "Can we go to the library and bring the books home to work on the project there? I'd need to call David, Bethany and April so we can finish it."

Buffy sighed. She didn't want her home overrun with teenagers and she didn't want Dawn alone either. Nor did she want to discourage her from doing her work. "To the library and straight home."

"What's your paper on?" Willow asked brightly.

Dawn shrugged. "We have to do two to three pages apiece on a foreign country. You know, it's history, economics, entertainment, culture, that sort of thing."

"We haven't picked a country yet," Jane added.

Aidan wrinkled his nose. "How long have you had to work on this?"

"Three weeks. I know, nothing like waiting to the last minute. But this is boring," Dawn moaned then her greenish eyes brightened. "You're from a foreign country. You can help. We can do it on Australia."

He looked at her in disbelief. "What would you want me to do? Surely you need reference books and stuff," he protested.

"Yeah, but you can help us pick them out and tell us all the highlights," Dawn said with growing enthusiasm, seeing an easy way out of work.

Aidan looked at the two girls then back at his mother. She read his expression as being torn between leaving them to fail as they so rightly deserved to do in his opinion and riding to the rescue of four girls, David be hanged.

"If you want to help, son, that's fine, too. But as Buffy said, to the library and to her house, nowhere else, am I understood?" Ceara asked, sternly.

Aidan nodded. "I have my cellular charged, too, in case something happens. Okay, I can look up websites while you guys are going over the books, how's that?"

Dawn beamed and a relieved look flooded Jane's face. "Thank you. Come on, we better get to the library before it closes."

Dawn grabbed Aidan's hand and dragged him out of the store. The last the Scoobies heard was Jane asking "What kind of weird shop was that?"

"He didn't look happy about helping," Willow said, surprise in her pretty eyes.

"He takes his studies seriously, too seriously sometimes. He's getting to be an old man before he's a boy." Ceara sighed. "He doesn't have patience for those who don't see school the same way."

"I understand entirely," Willow said, shooting Xander a meaningful look.

Xander glanced away quickly, his cheeks going pink. "Like father, like son," he muttered, smiling at Giles who flushed as well.

"If it's possible, I'd like to move our research session back home," Buffy said. "I don't like them being there alone. They'll be upstairs. They won't know what we're doing."

"I'm doubtful we'll glean much more from these books at any rate so I don't see what it'll hurt," Wesley said.

"Thanks."

"I'll meet you all back there," Ceara said, heading for the door. "If I'm not back by dark, I won't protest you sending the cavalry out to rescue me."