Part 9

But they didn't think of anything, not for a while. Buffy had a fitful night's sleep, dreading another dreamy confrontation with Ogha Dunver. Fortunately, she dreamed hardly at all, and when she did, she dreamed of old crusty volumes and ridiculously small print. And brushing her hair with a Barbie comb. She attributed this stroke of good luck to the fact that she hadn't the slightest idea what she was going to do the next time she saw the Slayer Vampire, and there was nothing worthwhile in her brain for Ogha (or whoever made these decisions) to mine for information. She had nothing.

In addition, she had a terrible day in class. The girl next to her in her History of Poetry in English class (Buffy thought her name was Melissa... or Melinda... or possibly Teresa) woke her up three times with a dirty look, whispering "snoring again." The professor asked her a question about reading she hadn't done, and she'd forgotten to put on deodorant that morning. She was sleepy, stupid and she reeked.

She did not do her patrol that night, but rather "chose" to stay in and attempt, with the help of her friends, to find an answer to the Ogha problem. Really, she knew that at least part of the equation was that she was terrified of running into the Irish vamp again, until she had a plan of attack. But she also knew that one more night's sleep meant more risk that Ogha would find out whatever Buffy and her friends had found out, so there was a real urgency to get this thing done as quickly as possible.

Giles had no coffee left in the house, so she was currently on her fourth mug of black tea, to help keep her awake. It was no match for her supernatural constitution, and she was mostly drinking it just to keep her hands busy.

The gang had at least five spent hours poring over Giles' texts and the internet for any references to how to deal with compounded vampire and Slayer strength, but Ayres' portion of the Watcher Diaries were the only thing that came close, and he had died at her hands, without having found a way to defeat her.

And then around midnight, like a beacon of hope, Xander had an epiphany. He awakened the startings of an idea that just might incapacitate Ogha Dunver long enough for Buffy to kick her ass heartily, and then dust the crap out of her.

Giles immediately got on the wire to England to find out if this plan could be carried out to its fullest potential.

"Filthy ponces," Giles spat as he slammed the phone down.

"I'm guessing the answer was no," Buffy said, barely looking up from the useless text in her lap.

"Quentin wouldn't even speak to me," he sighed, sitting on the back of the sofa, rubbing his eyes. "And again, they show that their petty agenda is more important than life-and-death peril."

"You do still have some of that stuff left, don't you? I mean, since you never finished..." Buffy asked, trailing off, remembering a painful time in her relationship with her Watcher.

"I do, yes," he answered. "But I'm not at all sure that it's enough. The plan would work if we could just have a little help from the Council. Bastards."

"Well, it's just as well," Anya pointed out. "I mean, if they had agreed to help, we'd have to wait two or three days for their package to arrive. And Buffy would be running on no sleep when she faced this girl, so... bully for the Council I say." Her overly cheerful tone was rarely inspiring, but tonight, it made sense.

"That's true," Willow conceded. "When have they ever been helpful? I mean, we were just looking to them for backup anyway. We might actually have enough stuff to get the job done ourselves."

"Exactly," rallied Xander. "So I say we circle the wagons, and take this bitch out tonight. Whaddya say?"

There was a silence as each individual weighed his or her options.

Then, rather than the great battly cry for which Xander had been hoping, Giles said, "I'm afraid we haven't any other choice."

"I'll get it ready," Willow said, disappearing upstairs into the loft. A moment later, she re-emerged, then in turn disappeared into the kitchen. While the rest of the crew discussed logistics, Willow brewed some poisoned tea in a yellow mug that said Kiss The Librarian. In ten minutes when it was ready, she handed the mug to Buffy.

"Let's do it," Buffy said. "But who's going to be the bait?"