Harmony bounced excitedly as she entered the girl's shower room. She'd primped and preened like no one's business, she'd trimmed her bikini line and gotten her nails done, as well as broke out her grandmother's special perfume, everything was going to be perfect.

As her grandmother had always said… What was it her grandmother always said? Something about love or sex… possibly fire was mentioned… Oh well, it probably wasn't important.

The three wouldn't know what hit them!

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Giles looked up from the book he was reading and his jaw dropped. "My word! What did you do to them?!"

Xander, who was half carrying an obviously exhausted Willow and Buffy, just gave him a sour look as he helped the girls to their seats before collapsing into a chair himself. "As much as I'd like to claim credit, I'm afraid this was a team effort."

"I'm the Slayer, shouldn't I be like… impossible to wear out?" Buffy whined.

"While it's rarely come up in the Watcher's logs," Giles said with a wince, obviously not wishing to discuss the subject, "the additional endurance a Slayer possesses rarely extends into the… bedroom."

"She's a witch," Willow groaned out, "we'll have to burn her." She slumped down onto the table, laying her head in her arms.

"You're a witch," Xander pointed out with a tired grin.

"Oh, right," Willow said into the table.

"Amy Madison?" Giles guessed.

"Harmony Kendall, insatiable sex fiend," Xander replied.

"She could be a succubus," Buffy suggested.

"Highly doubtful, but I suppose I should check," Giles decided as he mentally went through his supplies to make sure he had everything he needed.

"Doesn't that require you to check three people?" Xander asked, recalling what Buffy had said about the spell back in Narnia.

"It takes less reagents but more time casting a threefold spell," Giles replied, "and time is a lot less expensive."

"Check Cordelia," Willow suggested.

"Miss Chase?" Giles asked and received a thumbs up from the red haired teen who was still face down on the table.

"The queen of the school," Buffy agreed. "Might as well check her."

"A waning moon will be available on Wednesday, I can check then," Giles told them.

"I guess there's no rush," Buffy said, "and we still gotta locate the nest where they're keeping Snyder tonight."

"I've already located it," Giles said smugly.

Even Willow lifted her head to look at Giles in disbelief.

"How long were we gone?!" Buffy exclaimed.

"A little over an hour," Giles said.

"How did you find it that quickly?" Buffy asked.

"I searched for any Jazz Clubs in Sunnydale and discovered a new club called The Rising Sun was scheduled to open next week," Giles replied, looking at the three over the top of his glasses.

"It's so nice of the villains in this town to send up engraved invitations like that," Buffy said with a grin.

"We really should keep an eye on any new businesses that open up in Sunnydale," Xander said, "especially ones named things that just scream 'Bad Guys Here'."

Giles considered that and nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

"How long till sunset?" Willow asked.

"Around four and a half hours," Buffy said, glancing out the window.

"Good, I should be able to walk then," Willow said, laying her head back down.

"Yeah," Buffy agreed, "I can already feel my toes."

"I feel… like pizza," Xander said, getting up causing the two girls to stare at him.

"Pizza?" Buffy asked in disbelief.

Xander nodded. "I've worked up an appetite."

Willow turned to Buffy. "How is he still standing?"

"I was just about to ask you that," Buffy replied.

"The beast must be fed," Xander said gravely, just before his stomach growled loudly.

"Never underestimate the power of a teenage boy's appetite," Giles offered dryly.

"I'd love a pizza too, but it hasn't given me the ability to walk," Buffy complained. "Slayer powers aren't all they're cracked up to be."

Xander grinned. "I'm going to order pizza, you two want any?"

"Large meat lovers," Buffy said. "In fact, make it two."

"Small pepperoni," Willow said, "and Coke!"

"I'll have the same," Giles said.

"Half a dozen large meat lovers with coke and a lie about them getting the order wrong," Xander said, before walking over to the phone.

"Yeah, that's probably for the best," Willow said as her stomach growled and she blushed.

"Anything you don't finish, we will," Buffy promised Giles, who simply sighed and smiled, amused by their antics.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"It's almost sunset," Buffy noted.

"Why are we waiting for sunset again?" Xander asked. "I mean, if we hit them during the day we could have caught them napping."

"Because vampires are like penguins," Buffy told him. "Also, Angel is helping out."

"Good point," Xander said with a nod, "unless we're burning the place down, we really need to give them an option to flee."

"Vampires are like penguins?" Angel asked as he came out of the stacks.

"Penguins are one of the most dangerous creatures in the world because when fight or flight kicks in…" Xander said solemnly.

Angel coughed to cover a laugh. "And how does that apply to vampires?"

"If we attacked them during the day and they had no chance of escape, they'd fight a lot harder," Xander replied. "It's one of those things that seems obvious now that I think about it, but I wouldn't think about it beforehand."

"It's not exactly part of today's curriculum," Giles said thoughtfully, "though perhaps it should be. I have some books on basic tactics used by demon hunters if you'd like to read them in your spare time."

"I'm sure I can find the time," Xander said with a smirk.

"And I'll read them once you're done," Willow said. "Oh, we can make tests for each chapter to see what lessons have been learned!"

"That-" Xander stopped and considered it for a moment. "That actually sounds like fun," he admitted, getting a beaming smile from the red head.

"What? Really?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah," Xander said with a nod. "Unlike the stuff they teach in school most of the time, this is going to be actual events not skewed by politics and with practical uses for them."

"You always did learn best when it came to practical applications," Willow said.

"It's time," Giles said, retrieving a couple of swords from the bookcage.

"I'll stick with holy water and stakes," Xander decided, "I'm not really safe with sharp objects, though I have the feeling I could lay someone out with a tankard."

"Leftover?" Willow guessed.

Xander nodded. "Bar room brawls are kinda my thing, but I'm not trying to kill people in them."

"You'd need training before I'd let you borrow one anyway," Giles told him.

"I'll take a crossbow," Willow said.

"What is our plan?" Xander asked as they geared up.

"It's a big magic thingie, so we take out the guards and sneak in to see how they are doing it," Buffy replied. "Can't really plan out anything till we see what they're doing."

"The spell isn't complete until midnight, so we've got plenty of time," Giles said. "We'll take my car, it's less conspicuous."

"Not by much," Xander teased, "though it's hard to be more conspicuous than half a dozen people armed to the teeth walking around at night."

"It's Sunnydale, I doubt anyone would really notice," Buffy said honestly.

"Be that as it may, we should still take precautions," Giles said.

"Plus you're going to want some form of transportation to carry the principal back in once you've saved him," Angel pointed out.

"Yeah…" Buffy said slowly, "once we've saved him."

"Are you sure he's human, like a hundred percent?" Xander asked Giles.

"I did the test twice," Giles admitted, "he is… human."

"Much like Willy is," Buffy said. "Let's go save him," she said dispiritedly.

"Bet you five bucks we get detention for saving his life," Xander told Willow.

"Sucker bet," Willow said.

"Maybe we should wear masks," Buffy said, "so he doesn't know who we are."

"Next time," Giles said as he herded them out the door.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"There it is," Giles said as they pulled into an alley just across from their target.

"Classy," Xander said from the back seat between the two girls.

"Yes, they did good work," Giles said, "they restored the morgue to a proper 20's style."

"I'm not seeing any guards," Angel noted.

"That seems unwise," Giles said with a frown. "Why wouldn't they set guards?"

"Because they don't know that we know, you know?" Buffy offered.

Giles sighed. "Yes, despite your mangling of the English language, I understood that."

Buffy and Willow giggled.

"And with the pre-fight jitters out of the way, can we sneak in now?" Xander asked.

"Let me take a look first and make sure there's no one," Angel said, getting out of the car and vanishing into the shadows.

"Think the spell may have already fried them?" Xander asked.

"I doubt we'd be so lucky, but it is possible," Giles admitted.

"Cross your fingers everyone," Buffy said as they waited for Angel to return.

Angel returned a few minutes later, startling them all as they hadn't seen him approach. "They haven't set any guards or lookouts."

"We really have to put a bell on you," Xander complained as they all recovered.

"Sorry," Angel apologized.

"They must be relying on protection through obscurity," Giles said, "as long as no one knows who they are or what they're up to, no one can stop them."

"Or we're at the wrong address," Xander offered.

"It's the right address," Angel said, "I caught a whiff of Snyder's cologne by the back entrance."

"How do you know what Snyder's cologne smells like?" Buffy asked with a frown.

"It's very… pungent," Angel replied, "the first time I smelt it was at the school and I tracked it down to make sure it wasn't a demon of some kind making a nest in there."

"Are we positive he's not a demon of some kind?" Buffy asked.

"I'll check again on Wednesday," Giles promised.

"So, what's the best way to get in?" Buffy asked.

"Roof entrance, it'll allow us access to the catwalk above the stage," Willow said. "I looked up the blueprints over lunch."

"Fire escape?" Buffy suggested.

"They don't have one, though we could jump across from the buildings on either side which do have fire escapes," Angel suggested.

"How far a jump?" Willow asked nervously.

"You have Disney princess powers, you'll be fine," Buffy told her.

Angel just stared at them, waiting for an explanation.

Xander chuckled. "Wills dressed as a Disney Princess as you'll recall and Disney Princesses are pretty much medieval action heroes these days, and thankfully it stuck."

"The Hellmouth is a weird place," Angel said after a few seconds of silence.

"Yes, yes it really is," Giles agreed.

"Can you make the jump?" Angel asked Xander.

"I've got strong legs," Xander said with a grin as they got out of the car.

Giles frowned. "I'm not sure I can jump that far," he said as he measured the width of the alley by eye.

"Keep the car ready in case we need to book it," Buffy suggested.

"I can do that," Giles agreed, a bit disappointed that he wouldn't be able to provide more help.

"Looks like dinner arrived-" a vampire began, only to be interrupted by Giles' crossbow bolt and explode into ash.

"Maybe you should wait in the car," Buffy said as Giles reloaded his crossbow, "we'll yell if we need help."

"Probably a good idea," Giles agreed. He wished the four well and slid into the driver's seat, locking all the doors.

He lost sight of Angel almost instantly, but the three teens were easy enough to follow as they simply walked across the street without bothering to try and hide. It made them look less suspicious all things considered, Giles decided.

He watched them climb up the fire escape and held his breath as they leapt across one by one, easily clearing the distance. "I don't think I could have done that in my prime," Giles sent a silent prayer to whoever might be listening that they'd be alright as he settled in to wait.

Typing by: Abyssal Angel

TN: For just a second there, I had to consider what exactly feeling like a pizza would feel like in terms of post-sexual exhaustion. My brain jumped to an excerpt from a story in which someone shoved a grenade into a baddie's mouth, threw him out the classroom window when no one was looking, quickly closed the window, then a moment later gore splattered the window and someone turned at the noise and asked who threw a pizza at the window was as far as I got before the next line cleared it up. XD