See Part 1 for Disclaimer and other details. As always, thanks to everyone who has reviewed the story. As for the question regarding romantic relationships, like a number of people have asked? Sorry, but my lips are sealed for the time being; you'll just have to wait and see. Uh, if that sounds too Whedon-esque, my most humble apologies.

Part V: Enemies And Friends

English-style pub, Sunnydale. March, 1999

Rupert Giles entered the establishment that he, Spike and Ethan would have patronised one day, and looked around for his...prey, for want of a better word.

It had been a fairly quiet month up until now. The investigation into the Mayor hadn't gotten very far, apart from a few pet theories; he and Wesley had suspected that the man in question was using some sort of longevity spell, but as for what kind it was – unfortunately, they had no idea.

Apart from that, Willow had tried to hack into the Mayor's personal files, but found nothing. And as for the rest of it, well, it had just been pretty much the usual for the Scoobies: school, homework, the Bronze, demon and vampire Slayage, but thankfully no apocalypses to deal with.

Finally Giles saw the man he was after, and went over to the booth. "I was wondering how long it would take you to find this place. Mind if I sit down?"

Wyndam-Pryce looked up from the papers he was reading, and gestured. "Please, be my guest..." And as the older Englishman sat down, Wesley got a quizzical expression on his face. "Is this a business or a social call?"

"A little of both," Giles replied, marvelling for a moment at how less officious and arrogant his companion had become after a month or so in Xander's company. He called the waitress over, "I'll have a draught beer, please. What's your pleasure?" he asked of Wes.

"A pint of Guinness, thank you," Pryce said politely.

After the waitress left, Giles stared curiously at Wesley. "I must admit, I never figured you as the Guinness type..."

"It's something I've acquired the taste for over the past few weeks or so," Wyndam-Pryce shrugged, going back to his papers.

Rupert suddenly felt a bit awkward. "Well. You seem to have finally settled in here at Sunnydale, at any rate-"

Wesley suddenly looked up. "That I have. But still – you don't like me very much, do you, Mr. Giles? If at all..."

A bit startled by the candour, Giles replied without thinking, "If we're going to be honest, no, not really. I mean, when you first arrived here, I thought you were a complete inexperienced prat."

Oddly, Wesley seemed to just take that in stride. "And now?"

"You're not quite as inexperienced, but you're still a complete prat."

The younger man thought about it. "Hmmm. I don't know about the prat thing, but I might agree with you now about my level of experience..."

This instantly got Giles completely flummoxed. "What?"

Wesley sighed and leaned back, as the waitress arrived with their beers. After thanking the woman and taking a sip, the two men resumed their conversation, "What I mean is, from the moment I arrived here the entire situation appeared completely bloody mad to me," Wes tried to explain.

"Becoming the Watcher to the Slayer – or Slayers, now that there are two of them in this world at the same time – I never anticipated it would be like...this. I mean, I hadn't expected such overt hostility from Miss Summers to my presence, for a start! In fact, it was rather lucky that Mr. Harris suggested that I assign her to you, to continue your duties with her in an unofficial capacity...or, quite honestly, I don't think she would listen to a single word I say!"

"Yes, well, Buffy is a...wilful girl. You have to get to know her," Giles smirked into his beer.

"It's been made rather abundantly clear to me that she'd prefer otherwise. And Miss LeHane is no different in any fundamental way. I'll freely admit, I don't understand it...I've followed the handbook precisely, on how to handle one's Slayer..."

Giles sighed. "Wesley, I'm going to give you a piece of advice; whether you heed it or not is up to you. But just as the Slayer handbook is useless in Buffy's case, so is the Watcher one; the powers that be obviously broke the mould, after they made her who and what she is. I'd say no other Slayer is like my former charge, in all of recorded history! And Faith is unique as well, in her own way. Attempting to isolate them from the rest of society, their family and friends, as the handbook dictates and giving them orders as if they're mindless robots...it simply doesn't work, they just ignore you when you try to do that!"

"You bring up an interesting point; namely, Miss Summers's companions in this fight," Wesley replied, after appearing to contemplate that piece of wisdom. "A witch, a werewolf, and a vampire boyfriend. Rather unusual, to say the least."

"They've all helped me keep her alive in the past, well – apart from Angel, during that nasty time when Angelus was running amok here in town," Giles said carefully. "And I couldn't help noticing you left some people out, just now?"

Wyndam-Pryce nodded, and then briefly blushed. "Miss Chase is quite the beautiful young woman..."

Giles groaned, "Wesley, please – tell me that you've not let yourself become infatuated with that girl, of all people?"

The other man was silent for a moment, then decided not to mention how he'd kissed Cordy the other day; and how it had been the most embarrassing moment of his life thus far. What with the way they'd kept bumping each other's noses, and their lips couldn't seem to attach right...so in a nutshell, Cordelia had said they would never be doing that again.

"Let's just say she's definitely no longer interested in me," the guy finally admitted, his face going red.

Rupert just snickered, "Well, it's probably all for the best. As apart from the age difference, I rather suspect that her heart still belongs to another."

"Who?" the official Watcher wanted to know.

"Xander, as matter of fact."

Wesley started at hearing that. "But, but Mr. Harris has never once mentioned-"

"Well, they had a rather nasty breakup last year, from what I'm told. I don't know details – thing is, I prefer not to probe too deeply into the personal love lives of teenage Americans," Giles said, shaking his head a bit.

"Very wise of you..." Wesley started to say. "But Xander Harris, you know...to paraphrase Winston Churchill's speech in 1939, he's a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. Of all the students I've run into at that school whilst acting as the assistant librarian, he must be the only male specimen not completely obsessed with status and appearances, and lusting after the local crumpet. It's got me rather stumped, I have to say..."

"You should ask him about it," Giles made a decision, after a brief rush of homesickness at hearing the English slang. "Get Xander to tell you about Jason Bourne-"

"The character from Robert Ludlum's novel?" Wesley interrupted. "What's he got to do with anything?"

"The boy will explain it, if he cares to. And then you'll understand – not only why he acts the way he does, but most likely also why Xander seems to have taken you under his wing, almost."

Wesley just shrugged and nodded, as the two British men clicked their glasses together in salute before having another drink.

Sunnydale, California. A few days later

Buffy and Angel came out of the movie house along with the other couples, looking a bit stunned. "Well..." the blonde Slayer said slowly.

"Well," Angel replied, looking uncomfortable.

"That was very...artistic," the Chosen One tried to find the right word to describe the semi-porno movie they had just witnessed viewing.

"Yeah," her boyfriend replied simply.

"Wasn't what I expected. I've never actually seen...well, from the title I thought it would be about food," Buffy said, trying to calm down a little.

Angel said helpfully, "Well, there was food..."

Buffy nodded, "Right. The, the scene with the, the food. So, feel like getting some hot chocolate? Or maybe a cold shower?"

The vampire sighed, "I'm sorry, I wanted to take you out somewhere fun. It's been a long time since I've been to the movies...and, uh, they've apparently changed a lot..."

The Slayer said, "Which is a little scary. And a little not, which is also scary. I'm sorry. I just, I don't want for you to get all worked up from seeing stuff like that. On account of we can't actually...do any of those things. You'd lose your soul. Besides, I-"

But whatever she wanted to add to that was stillborn, as the very angry voice of Cordelia Chase could suddenly be heard in the background. "Get your paws off of me, you creep!"

The basketball player known as Percy West replied angrily, "Oh, come on, Cordelia! You want me to take you out to the movies, then you-you get me all wound up from choosing a film like that...and then out of the blue, you say you're just not in the mood? Give me a break!"

"There a problem here?" Buffy and Angel saw Faith casually stroll over to the bickering couple on the street and speak to them in that deliciously throaty accent.

Percy just glanced at her. "No problem – so just move it along, okay? This is private stuff-"

"You discussing it in public like this, doesn't seem too private to me," Faith observed with a grin, obviously anticipating a fight.

"It's okay, Faith," Cordelia replied. "My EX-boyfriend and I were just leaving!"

Percy looked at her in shock. "What the fuck-?"

"Shouldn't cuss like that in front of a lady, West," the dark-clad form of Xander Harris seemed to appear out of nowhere at Faith's side. "And in case you didn't notice, there are two ladies present. So apologize to 'em right now. If you know what's good for you."

Percy West backed off in fear straightaway, the rumors about Xander having become some sort of psychopath having reached legendary proportions by now. "Sure, no problem, Harris. I'm, I'm sorry, Cordy. And, and you too, Miss. Uh, have a nice evening..." the boy stammered, before turning around and trying not to sprint off in the opposite direction.

"Spoil my fun," Faith said grumpily to her roommate. "And how come they piss their pants at the sight of you, and not me?"

Xander ignored her. "You okay, Cor?" he asked his former girlfriend.

"Sure," Ms. Chase replied, trying to keep in mind that the dark-haired Slayer and her one-time boyfriend were just friends. Which wasn't easy, the way Faith was grinning and attempting to put her arm around the 18-year-old guy – just to get a rise out of her.

"Hey, guys!" Buffy's voice suddenly attracted the threesome's attention.

"Faith, Cordelia. Xander," Angel said as well, in his own trademark way.

"Hey. So, what's up?" Xander wanted to know.

"Movie's over. Giles wants Faith and me to head on over to Mercer, patrol the cemetery near there," Buffy replied.

"I'm planning to check out a lead on what the Mayor may be up to," Angel let the others in on his plans.

"Well, I'm going home. I've got studying to do," Cordelia said emphatically. Then she glanced at Xander, "You, uh, want to come? Y'know, walk me home?"

Xander didn't appear to see the other girls rolling their eyes at this. "Why not? This is Sunnydale, after all..."

And so, after the gang split up, a number of things came to pass; the most important of which was a demon meeting with Faith and Buffy, and offering them the Books of Ascension for five thousand dollars the next evening before running off into the darkness.

City Hall, Sunnydale. Later that night

Mr. Trick knocked on the door, and then entered the Mayor's office after hearing his exuberant "Come in!" The vampire spied the politician working at his desk and said, "Sorry to interrupt, but I've got some news."

"Ah, news. What is it? And please, let's be quick about this; ever since Allan's fatal little accident, I've found myself just overwhelmed with the little things!" Richard replied without looking up.

"Hey, come on, I did you a favor! That guy was about to spill his guts to the wrong people and all," the soulless vampire said defensively.

"Now, what did I tell you once before about doing me favors?" the Mayor replied, finally putting down the pen and staring at Trick with a smile. "Replacing Allan was chore enough. Please, Mr. Trick – don't make me wonder if I need to shake up the personnel roster anymore than I have to!"

Trick almost shuddered at the inhuman look on Wilkins' face. "Got a tip from Willy, there's a demon in town with the Books of Ascension. Or he'll have them soon, at any rate. I assume you'll be wanting me to find him and take care of the problem?"

"Well, now. How'd someone get their hands on a set of those? Far as I knew, there were only two copies, and they were both under heavy guard in Europe and Latin America," Richard said musingly. Then he looked at his companion and said with another of those satanic smiles, "Go ahead, Mr. Trick; find this demon, kill the heck out of him and bring me the books. Or better yet, simply destroy them..."

As the vampire turned to go, the Honorable Mayor also added, "Oh, and one other thing. If you ever come in here again without first cleaning your fingernails of those awful unsanitary germs, I'll have your guts for a garter belt, understand?"

Trick looked coldly at his employer. ( Damn crazy bastard, ) he thought briefly. "Perfectly, Mr. Mayor."

Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale. The next day

The white hats were in their headquarters, talking about what was going to happen tonight. Angel, Xander and Cordelia weren't there, but everyone else was.

"So, you got the five grand?" Buffy asked her nominal Watcher, as he came out of Giles's private office.

"The Council came through, yes," Wesley replied. "Still, if it's at all possible, I'd like for you and Faith to try to obtain those Books without having to pay for them. No point in encouraging this sort of thing."

"He's right, you know. I mean, demons wanting cash? Whatever happened to the still-beating heart of a virgin? No one has any standards anymore," Giles said with a sigh, as Wes and the teens ignored all that.

"So, Books of Ascension. Uh, anybody know exactly what an Ascension is?" Willow asked.

Wesley frowned, as he shared a glance with Giles. "It's not really a common term in demonology, no..."

Oz looked thoughtful. "Ascension. Rising. That demon last month, Bal...whatever?"

Buffy asked while scrunching up her face, "The big blob who was in thundering need of a Stairmaster?"

"Yeah, him. Guy kinda mentioned something about this...and how we were all gonna die or worse..."

Giles looked thoughtful as well, and hurried into his office to check something out. In the meantime, Faith looked around and asked, "Where's Xan? Ain't he usually at the Scooby meetings?"

"Yeah, uh, that's something else I wanted to discuss – without him being present. Last night, outside the cinema? Faith, was it just me, or did Xander look like he was wanting to do SERIOUS bodily harm to Percy West?" the older Slayer wanted to know.

Faith chortled, "Well, so what if he did? That wimp was a louse. And hell, B, did you see the look on Cordelia's face when X butted in like that?"

Buffy reluctantly nodded. "Reminded me of the, uh, Speedo incident – when Xander went undercover on the swim team, last year-"

"Wasn't here for that, too bad. But hey, you should see him naked! Accidentally got a glimpse once, when he came out of the shower...I tell you, the size of his package..." Faith laughed gleefully at the expressions of Buffy and Willow, as the redhead let out a small 'eep!' noise and hid her face on Oz's shoulder.

"Found it," Giles came back out of the office, and noticed everyone's expressions. "What is it, what's wrong?"

"I understand now what you meant that night, about that reference to the personal love lives of teenage Americans," Wesley answered him, a somewhat ill look on his face as he polished his glasses.

Giles wisely just let that go. "The Marenschadt Text, yes...the section on genocide; it mentions what we're after. There's a reference here to the journal of Desmond Kane, pastor of a town called Sharpsville. 'May 26, 1723. Tomorrow is the Ascension. God help us all.' It was the last anyone heard."

Wesley looked curious. "Of Kane?"

Giles replied, "Of Sharpsville. The entire town more-or-less disappeared."

There was a grim silence at that, until Oz said plainly, "We need those books."

Wesley nodded. "I agree wholeheartedly."

Sunnydale, California. Later that night

The time for the exchange had come, and Buffy and Faith had arrived at the meeting place the demon had told them about the previous evening. "Think he'll show?" Faith asked the more senior Slayer, hefting her new sword.

Buffy held a crossbow, along with the money. "I hope so."

"Hey, even if he doesn't, we'll track him down somehow..." the East Coast native seemed restless and fidgeting.

The blonde looked towards the brunette. "Faith? I think we know each other well enough by now to tell whenever something's wrong. So, what's the deal?"

Faith just shrugged, "I still don't agree with you guys having meetings behind X's back like this. I mean, the dude knows his shit-"

"Faith, trust me, it's for the best! I mean, I've learned to adapt to the new Xander – we all have. Like he said to me once, he can do more now than what he could have, before Ethan did that mojo on him! But...Xander can be way ruthless nowadays too, a lot more than he has to be. Like last week, he almost shot Willy! I don't want him to start killing people, or whatever...so with this Ascension thing, it's best if we keep it kinda low-key for now."

The junior Chosen One shrugged again, still thinking that was a mistake. And deciding never to mention how she and Xander occasionally mugged a vampire or three, in order to cover the rent. Then she stiffened, "Company's coming."

Sure enough, the demon showed up out of the shadows a moment later, a large suitcase in his hand. "You got the money?" he demanded.

"You got the Books?" Buffy asked in the same tone.

"Right here. And believe you me, damn things weigh a ton! Now show me the money," the creature barked out.

"Mind telling me why we shouldn't just kill the evil demon and take 'em for ourselves?" Faith asked, with a flinty look in her eyes.

"Because I'm not evil! And if you try that, you got nothing! Suitcase is enchanted, sister; try to open it without the right incantation first, and the Books go up in flames," the demon guy shot back.

Buffy groaned, "No wonder I like 'em nice and stupid...fine, we've got your money right here-"

"Sorry to interrupt," Mr. Trick's voice made them all turn around. "But my employer would like for me to make a bid for this here fine merchandise. I assume that I'm not too late to make an offer for them?"

"Maybe. You got the money right here as well, though? 'Cause I'm leaving town tonight," the demon replied.

"You can't deal with him! He's a vampire!" Buffy shouted in annoyance, as Faith lifted her sword and glared at the former lackey of her nemesis named Kakistos.

"Hey, if his money is as green as yours, I don't care if he's a fricking Turok-Han," the information broker snapped irritably. Then his eyes suddenly became considerably wider, "What the hell is this-?"

Instantly, both of the Chosen Two felt their Slayer senses going crazy, as a pack of vampires closed ranks around their leader. "What can I say? I like the General Patton school of thought when it comes to negotiation," Trick smirked. "Negotiate with your finger on the trigger, and your foot on their neck!"

Then he scowled, "What the-"

One of the vamp minions brought a struggling Cordelia Chase to the center stage, his hand clamped around the young woman's mouth to prevent her screaming. "Found her eavesdropping in the trees just now-"

"So, just kill her already! What, do I have to do everything myself around here?" Trick demanded.

"You try it – any of you try to harm her, and you're dust in the wind. You got that, Trick, you spineless little minion?" Faith sneered at him. Then she had an epiphany, "Yeah, I mean first it was Kakistos, and now it's the Mayor – right? Come on, tell me I'm wrong..."

"The Mayor?" the demon asked, growing observably pale. "You work for him?"

"You're one to talk about being spineless, little girl," Trick sneered right back at Faith, ignoring that last bit. "You think I've forgotten the way you turned tail and ran, the night your Watcher died?"

"That was then, this is now," Buffy caught Faith's eye, cautioning her not to give in to the soulless demon's goading. "And you're gonna be ashes soon enough, pal!"

"KILL 'EM ALL!" the Master vampire went into game face, as he shouted to the other dead people.

An assault rifle barked out, and the head of the vampire holding Cordelia exploded – a moment later the rest of the body also turned into dust, which fell to the ground.

The girl screamed as Trick ducked and looked around, and several other minions of his suffered the same fate from a shooter in the trees. "Crap, he must be using some kinda blessed bullets...?" the black guy whispered to himself in confusion.

He suddenly noticed the asshole who'd brought the Books running for it, and remembering his orders the vamp chased after the guy with two horns on his head. Then as he noticed Buffy chasing after HIM, Trick thought to himself, ( Screw this... ) and simply launched a well-aimed knife at his target.

His trajectory was spot-on, and the demon collapsed face-downwards as he stumbled and fell. And just as Trick had anticipated, Buffy stopped and glared at him. "You bastard!"

"Now, now. Just 'cause I'm black, that don't give you the right to make assumptions like that," the evil undead just grinned at her.

"You got one chance here, Trick – tell me what the Mayor's up to so we can kill him easier, and I promise I'll make it quick for you!"

Trick roared with laughter. "You can't kill him, little girl – no one can! Didn't you know that yet? That guy is completely in-vulnerable nowadays! His Honor built this town for demons to feed on, and sixty days from now...he's gettin' paid! And I'll be there then, to feast on your heart..." The vampire then blurred and vanished with incredible speed, leaving behind a very pissed Slayer.

Buffy then ran over to the demon, and to her amazement he was still alive. "Itsabu..." the fence croaked at her, before he finally expired.

Ms. Summers quickly ran back to the others, noticing that the undead numbers had been decimated; Faith had gotten creative with her sword before ditching it aside in favor of her stake. Angel had shown up out of nowhere too, to help lend a hand and protect Cordelia.

"Yo, B! Did ya get him?" Faith yelled, as she finished off the last vampire.

"Demon's dead, Trick got away," Buffy growled. Then she spied the suitcase. "Well, guess the evening wasn't a total loss..."

"You should have told me what you were up to tonight."

The blonde Chosen One almost jumped out of her skin, at hearing Xander's voice in her ear. ( How'd he get so close without me hearing him? ) "Uh, Xander..."

"I'm just saying. Could be if I'd had some more time to set up my sniper's nest, we wouldn't be in the situation that we're currently in now," Xander's chocolate-brown eyes were so dark, they almost looked black in the darkness of the cemetery.

"Xander, I..."

But Buffy was quickly bowled aside by Cordelia, who rushed over and grabbed Xander into a deep and passionate kiss. "You saved me. You were the one who saved my life just now with that rifle, when that vampire was about to kill me!" Then she kissed him again, her tongue trying to force its way past Harris's tonsils.

Faith made some gagging noises even as she smiled, Angel looked away with a slight grin, and even Buffy tried not to smirk at the cheerleader's antics. But finally when she came up for air Xander asked, "What did you think you were doing coming here, Cordelia?"

"Well, duh! Maybe I was worried YOU were gonna do something stupid, and get yourself hurt? Faith told me what was going to happen tonight!" Ms. Chase growled, majorly unhappy over how he hadn't kissed her back.

Xander sighed and gently detached himself from her grasp, ignoring the girl's upset look. "Whatever. What's the sitch with the Books?" he asked Faith.

"Well, we got 'em," the Bostonian indicated the suitcase that Angel was now manhandling, not surprised he'd somehow learned about that part of it. "Only problem is, we don't know the code that'll prevent 'em from getting deep-fried, if we open that case!"

The gunman nodded. "Let's get outta here, for all we know Wilkins will send the cops around just to try and arrest us..."

Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale. A short while after midnight

Buffy and Faith had reported what had happened during the meet to Wesley and Giles, and a little while later Willow and Oz had shown up to join the rest of the Scoobies. Xander hadn't said anything much, but the way he kept stealing glances at the Summers girl...well, the young woman definitely hadn't liked the looks her friend was sending her.

"Looks like he wasn't bluffing; the case is definitely warded with some kind of enchantment. Possibly a variant of a Woodlow transmogriphic spell," Wesley reported, his minor magical talents put to use to diagnose their package.

Giles sighed. "Bloody brilliant. So the incantation could be anything, then?"

"I'm afraid so," Pryce said in distaste. "Well, if anybody's got any ideas, I for one think now's the time to hear them!"

Angel looked to Buffy and Faith. "He didn't say or hint at anything that it might be, during your conversation?"

"No," Buffy said simply.

"Just that if we tried to off him, we'd end up with squat," Ms. LeHane muttered.

"Can't we just open it up, and have a really large fire extinguisher handy?" Cordelia asked. "What? I'm just trying to help!" she stated in annoyance, in response to all their looks.

"I think we need a plan other than that," Willow told her as gently as possible.

"Xander? What do you think?" Oz suddenly asked out of the blue, staring at his friend.

All eyes turned towards him. And at first, he didn't seem to notice...Xander Harris seemed far away, within his own mind...

( Keep it simple, say as little as possible. Here's a list: eight names. Methods of matching kills? You slipped! Try again. Concentrate! Obliterate everything else. Wipe away the past. You are not Delta, you are not you! You are Cain. You are a man named Bourne. Get Carlos. Trap Carlos. Kill Carlos! )

"Xander?" Cordelia hesitantly placed her hand on his shoulder.

Harris jerked away, coming back to life and ignoring the startled noise the girl made. "Buffy. You mentioned how that demon tried to say something to you, just before he died?"

"Uh, yeah?" the girl said in confusion.

"This is a long shot, I know...but what did he say, exactly? Could it have been the incantation? I mean, could it possibly be that simple – our demon salesman tried to get the only form of revenge he could on the vamp who killed him?" Xander wondered.

Buffy looked at him, somewhat stunned. "I, uh, I never thought of it like that..."

"Quickly, Buffy, what were the precise words he used?" Giles demanded.

"Itsabu, or something like that," Buffy recalled. "I don't know for sure, he was dying..."

They tried it, but nothing happened. "Well, guess it was kinda too much to hope for that it would be that simple," Faith grumbled.

Suddenly, Xander went over to the suitcase. "It's a book. It's just a book," he said in a loud clear voice.

The suitcase instantly glowed red, and then the light disappeared. Glancing at the others, Xander then took a deep breath and opened the case...and nothing happened, the five Books of Ascension were simply sitting there unharmed. "Whew..."

Instantly, the Research Twins grabbed the mystical tomes and started burying their noses in the dusty old pages. Willow stared at her old crush and asked in wonder, "How did you know...?"

"I didn't, I just sorta guessed. Looks like Demon Boy was a big fan of 'I Dream Of Jeannie'," Xander said simply, as he shook his head.

"You actually watch that TV show?" Cordelia asked acidly, wondering for a moment if Harris liked his women in harem girl outfits. "Come on, Xander, it's gotta be over 30 years old by now! Even the reruns are just-"

"No, it's not that. It's just...I can remember portions of a few episodes here and there when the show was brand new almost, back in the 1970's; even if those memories are just fakes," Xander said, shaking his head again as he turned his mind to other problems.

All four girls then looked at each other, as Harris suddenly remembered something that Buffy had mentioned earlier. He ran into Giles' office and leafed through his daily planner, "Sixty days, sixty days..." The boy then arrived at the appropriate date, and cursed violently.

"What? What is it?" Cordelia demanded, as Harris came out of the office and rejoined the group.

Xander looked at her, and then all the others. "Graduation day. If I'm right, the Mayor's planning to ascend...on the same day we all graduate high school..."

To Be Continued In Part 6