Summary: Certain books have found their way to Sunnydale, pre-Buffy.

Disclaimer: I dun' own nuttin'!

Feedback, it makes me write faster. (You know you want to do the feedback thing.)

Pre-Fic Comments:

Thanks for all the comments on the previous parts -- they help to clarify my thoughts and crystallise the plot (such as it is.)

* * *

Darkness enclosed the small, corridor like alleyway. It had once been illuminated by a small light, but the bulb had not been replaced since it blew two weeks ago. Silhouettes were all that could be seen.

The shape of a woman could be seen walking in from the street. She stopped in front of a refrigerator box, before stopping.

"I know that you're there."

Her voice was smooth, aristocratic.

"Fuck off," a voice said from inside the cardboard. "Before I look at you."

"Given time, and my talents, I could fix that," the woman said.

The cardboard was pulled to one side by the inhabitant. He thrust his face at the woman -- it was misshapen, one of the eyes an inch lower than the other, the jawline was not normal, and his eyebrows twisted unnaturally.

"Now you've seen me," the man said, "piss off."

The woman reached out a hand to his face, drawing a finger along his left eyebrow. Under her cold digit, the line of flesh and ridge of bone moved, making a faint cracking noise, as it moved back to where Nature intended normal eyebrows to be. She handed the man a mirror.

"Take a look."

The man did. He had nothing better to do, and doubted this woman would fuck off until she was satisfied. He was wholly shocked when he saw his reflection.

"How... how did you do that?! I-I don't have anything to pay you with, but--"

The woman cut him off. "I'm a vampire. Oh, please don't look shocked. My Clan can work your flesh and bone like playdough. In return for your services, I'm willing to repair your face and... other... irregularities."

The man looked up at her, hope infused in every pore. "If you can fix my face, I'll follow you past the gates of Hell."

* * *

Xander blinked at Willow. They were walking to their maths class, together.

"So, you found a guy, Will?," Xander asked, slightly disappointed.

"Yeah," Willow said. "He's such a sweetie!"

"Who is he?," Jesse asked.

"Malcolm," Willow replied.

"Again we must ask, who is he?," Xander said.

"I met him online," Willow expanded. "We talked last night. He's so smart, and romantic and--"

"Okay, Will, you like him. Now, the basics. I didn't see you at the Bronze, so where'd you meet him?"

"Online!"

"Aren't there pedophiles who go into chatrooms to look for underage girls?," Jesse asked.

"I-I can't believe you guys! You're jealous!"

"Great going," Xander said to Jesse, as Willow stormed ahead of them.

* * *

Two more girls had arrived in Los Angeles. They pulled up in a Nissan Skyline, then got out.

One had a fine, pure white porcelain mask on her face, hiding her looks. It wasn't apparent how it managed to stay on. The other was an elegant woman, both in their mid twenties. The one with the mask had a black and white jacket on, and a full length white skirt that was cut to the knees on the sides. The other had a red and black outfit on, again with a full length skirt.

"You're sure that Amanda came to LA?," the non-masked one asked.

"Positive," the masked one replied. "Hey, a gallery. Let's have a look in it."

* * *

"Ah, Xander, are you sure that no ill effects have survived your... episode from last night?," Giles asked, worried about Xander's state of health. He hadn't had a chance to ask the youth until now.

"Sure," Xander said, avoiding his eye. Buffy saw this immediately.

"You're hiding something."

"It's nothing!," Xander protested.

"If you don't tell us, Xander, I will tell them about that book you borrowed from me," Giles said.

"You wouldn't!"

"What book?," Jesse asked curiously.

"No book!," Xander said hurriedly. "Okay, I give, I give. Eris made me promise to, uh, nggemslfthr."

Buffy blinked. "Okay, could anyone else understand that? 'Cause I've got Slayer hearing, and I couldn't."

Giles sighed deeply. "A week ago, Alexander Harris borrowed a book from me called 'The--"

"OKAY!," Xander said, drowning out Giles. "She made me engage myself to her. That took care of the permanent connection, once I changed it."

Universal doubletake.

"You have /got/ to be kidding," Jesse said. "You've got Discordia hooked up with you?"

Xander shrugged. "Well, I did get a hell of a boost from that hyena thing."

"How far have you two gotten?," Jesse asked, jealous.

"Yeah," Buffy said. "'Cause I want to know why an ancient goddess is interested in you."

"She refused to tell me," Xander blushed. "She, ah, and then, said, uh, and did, uh..."

"He's gone non-verbal," Buffy said. "Most guys take a minute to come out of it."

"Well," Giles observed. "Now that our hormones have cleared, let's hear how your tailing of Dave went."

"Okay," Buffy said. "Whatever this Dave is up to, it's large."

"What is the name of this place?," Giles asked. The group were all in the Library.

"It said CRD," the Slayer reported. "But I couldn't get close enough to see what it was."

Buffy had hypothesized that Dave was connected to Malcolm, Willow's new crush that she had met on the Internet. Jesse, Xander and Buffy had started trying to check out this 'Malcolm' to make sure that their friend wasn't getting to know a serial killer, or circus freak.

It was starting to look that way, with the secrecy surrounding him.

"Calax Research and Development. It's a computer research lab," Xander said, coming out of his memories. "Third largest employer in Sunnydale till it closed down last year."

Jesse looked at him in stunned amazement. "How'd you know that? That is in no way connected to the books."

"Well, my uncle used to work there. I-in a floor sweeping capacity."

"But it closed?," Buffy asked, smelling something.

"Uh huh."

"Looked pretty functional from where I stood. I don't have a clue what they were doing."

"And what do they need Dave for?," Xander wondered.

"We still don't know an enormous amount. Whatever is going on there may be on the up-and-up," Giles pointed out, playing the part of Devil's Advocate.

"No, if CRD opened, it would've been on the news," Xander said. "And my uncle would have let us know he had a job again."

"Besides, I can just tell something's wrong," Buffy complained. "My spider sense is tingling."

"Ah," Giles said. "This is connected to your demonic spider from the other day?"

"Kinda," Jesse said.

"Yes, well, ahem, I think we're still at a stand still. Short of breaking into the place, I don't see..."

"Breaking in!," Buffy broke in. "Then this is the plan!"

"I'm free tonight," Xander suggested.

"Tonight it is!"

"A moment, please, of quiet reflection. I do not suggest that you illegally enter the--," Giles began, cutting off as Ms Calendar entered the Library.

After a quick panic for an excuse, the man continued. "...data into the file so the book will be listed by title as well as by author."

"I just came by to check your new data base, make sure your cross reference table isn't glitching," the Computer Studies teacher said. "'Cause I'm guessing you haven't gone anywhere near it."

"Uh, I'm still sorting through the chaos you left behind you," Giles the Luddite said.

"Hmm," Ms Calendar non-committally agreed, then spotted the three teenagers. "You're here again? Kids really dig the library, don't cha?"

"We're literary!," Buffy said, scoring brownie points.

"To read makes our speaking English good," Xander joked.

"Yeah, I speak good England," Jesse said.

"Uh, we'll be going now," the Slayer said, grabbing the two boys on the way out.

* * *

Post-Fic Comments:

Don't worry, I have got a plan. Kinda. Somewhat.