"Nice timing, B." Faith climbed to her feet, coughing. "Just…next time, do you think you could stake him a few feet away? I'm already wearing these lame ass clothes. Now I'm all covered in Ivan dust, too." She brushed at her shirt, creating smudges on the white fabric.

Rolling her eyes, Buffy poked a slender finger into Faith's shoulder. "And people say I'm too concerned with clothes. Focus, Faith. What did the late, not so great vamp want?"

Faith dropped her hands. "Fuck." She'd forgotten about that. "He wanted me. Dead, I guess." She stared at the doorway where Ivan had been hiding. "It could be worse, though. What if he managed to tell the Mayor about our plans, B?"

Paling, Buffy slumped. "If he did, we're screwed."

"Let's leave the dramatics here, shall we?" Faith looked up. Wesley stood near the cafeteria entrance, laden with archery equipment. "We don't know what the Mayor knows. Therefore, we can only continue with our current plan," he informed them.

"Ain't you the one always whining about having a backup?" Faith demanded.

Wesley raised an eyebrow in response. "Under normal circumstances, yes. However, at this point in time, our only backup is Buffy's plan to create a student army."

"Ah…" Faith grimaced, twitching under Buffy's glare. "We do have a backup then," she mumbled in an attempt to appease both listeners. "Maybe we should check in with Red and X-man. Get the lowdown on the flames and the evac."

Biting back a smile at Faith's attempt to cover her ass, Buffy said, "Plus, Wes brought up a good point." It still felt strange to say that. "We have to decide where to go after the Mayor. I mean, none of this works without a dead Mayor."

Faith grinned faintly, her dimples just peeking out. Buffy smiled back automatically.

"Then let's stop hanging in the hallway and get moving, B." Hands in her pockets, Faith strolled down the hallway.

"She's right." Buffy looked at Wesley.

He gave her a half smile. "Shocking, isn't it?"

Reaching out and taking the quiver and the paper Mayor's heart, Buffy agreed, "Oh, yeah." As she wandered down the hall, she muttered to herself, "It's sexy, too."

When she pushed the library doors open, Buffy noticed Willow was asleep, still wrapped in Oz's arms. The rest of the gang huddled in chairs placed close together in the stacks. "She OK?" Buffy asked in a worried whisper.

"As well as can be expected, Buffy." Giles looked at her sternly. "You must remember, Willow has yet to recover from the entry wound. She tires easily and, at the moment, she's feverish."

"Oh." Shrinking under his stare, Buffy huddled on an empty chair. "Sorry, I didn't mean…"

"Yes, my apologies, Buffy." Smiling tiredly, Giles reached over and patted her hand. "It's been an exceedingly long day."

Buffy remembered he'd come here straight from the Prom – almost eighteen hours ago. "My bad. Let's get this laid out, and we'll all head home for a few hours sleep."

She saw his lips tighten, a sure sign he was about to argue. She didn't let him. "What did you and Will cook up for the fire?"

"I doubt you'd be interested in the mechanics." Only the slight smile he wore took the sting out of the comment. "However, it is ideally suited to this task. Once the arrow impacts the Mayor, the fire will cling to any living tissue."

"Even if the Mayor ain't all human?" Faith asked. She lounged in her chair, both legs dangling over an arm while her back rested against the other.

Giles nodded. "Yes, that occurred to us. The spell works on all living tissue – human or demon. Not very effective on vampires, of course."

Buffy relaxed a little. If Giles was practicing his humor, things were going to be fine. "Wes is good to go on the shooting." Standing, she moved the short distance to Faith's chair and lifted her feet, swinging them until Faith sat properly. Buffy perched on the other Slayer's knee. "Now we just need to decide where and when."

"The Mayor keeps fucked up hours, B. Gonna be hard to pin him down." Faith leaned her chin on Buffy's shoulder, and Buffy shivered as warm breath played over her neck.

Joyce disagreed. "Not really, honey. I know you and Buffy are used to chasing things in the dark. The Mayor, though, doesn't hide in cemeteries after the sun goes down." She got up and hurried across the library to the periodicals, coming back with a handful of newspapers. "The Mayor has a busy schedule: groundbreaking ceremonies, meetings with local business owners…"

"You want me to shoot the Mayor of Sunnydale in broad daylight?" Wesley dropped the bow he was oiling onto a table with a loud bang.

"Shh!" Oz glared, finger pressed over his lips. Everyone froze, watching Willow. She mumbled and tossed before settling back down, light snores drifting across the room.

"Do you have a better idea?" Joyce asked, not pausing in her perusal of the Sunnydale Press.

Wesley coughed and tugged at the perfect knot in his tie. "Well, no."

The newspaper rustled as Joyce folded the pages along the crease and laid it on the table. "Here." She pointed to an article. "Before the graduation ceremony, the Mayor is giving a speech at Sunnydale Memorial – a fundraiser for the new children's wing."

Buffy saw Wesley's Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. They weren't going to let her or Faith kill a human. Only Wesley himself seemed concerned that he was going to be doing just that. "Mom-" she tried to object.

"It's fine, Buffy." Wesley's smile was forced and stiff. "I'll simply need a good hiding place with the proper angle for the shot. Does it say where the ceremony will be held, Mrs. Summers?"

Buffy frowned. They couldn't be serious. "Mom, Wesley can't kill the Mayor at the ceremony. What if someone sees him, and he gets caught?"

No one met her eyes or answered. "Please understand, Buffy," Wesley began slowly, "it is my goal to prevent that from happening."

Jumping off Faith's lap, Buffy took a step in his direction. However, he looked at her over his glasses until she dropped back onto Faith's knee.

"Should that situation occur, I am sure the Council will come to my aid. I am still your Watcher. Although they are far from pleased with you at the moment, I have not received notice that I have been removed from that position." Wesley wiped his hands and came over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Peering into her eyes, he said earnestly, "Even if the Council cannot extricate me from your legal system, it is still worth the risk. The Mayor will destroy every life in Sunnydale. My freedom is a small price to pay for halting that."

Buffy had to look away. The determination in his blue eyes made her ashamed of all the times she'd made fun of him, ignored his suggestions, and told him he was worthless. "Tomorrow at the hospital, Wes." She forced herself to look up and meet his eyes. "I know you won't miss."

The hand on her shoulder squeezed lightly and then he moved away. "Where is the speech, Mrs. Summers?" Wesley asked again.

"In the garden behind the hospital." Joyce looked up from the article. "There's no place to hide. Other than the flowers, it's wide open."

"The rooftop, I think," Giles commented, idly chewing on the earpiece to his glasses. "Better angle, better chance of escape. I believe we still have the floorplans to the hospital from when Buffy encountered the Der Kindestod."

As he finished, the library doors opened, and Xander and Anya crept in, tiptoeing around Willow and Oz. Catching their eyes, Buffy motioned for them to be quiet and sit down. Xander climbed up on a research table while Anya sank into a chair.

Wesley ignored their entrance and picked up the bow and the quiver. "If you could locate that, I'll start working on the details." Nodding to the group, he said, "Good luck getting everyone out of town. I think it best we don't try to meet again in the morning. We don't want to give the Mayor a chance to regroup and come after us." He grinned suddenly. "And, if he believes I'm only good for screaming like a girl, I should be perfectly safe."

"Nice to know, Wes." Xander swung his legs back and forth. "I'm pretty good at that, too. Do you think, if this plan doesn't work, the Mayor might overlook me, too?"

"It's going to work." Buffy jumped up again. "We don't have time for doubts." She glared at each member of the gang, getting nods and grim looks in return. "How's the Senior Trip coming?"

Anya huffed. "Teenaged girls are so vapid. That Harmony didn't believe me when I told her we were about to be eaten by a giant snake."

"I'm stunned," Buffy commented dryly, barely avoiding rolling her eyes. "So I'm guessing you weren't able to convince anyone to leave?"

"I didn't say that," Anya snapped. "Why doesn't anyone listen to what I say? I'm over a thousand years old. I'm a font of information. If you-"

Xander gripped her arm. "Maybe we'd listen if you actually got to the point, Ahn." Ignoring her glare and mumbled threats of evisceration, he said, "Everyone's leaving, Buff."

"She said-" Buffy stopped that statement when Anya's glare transferred to her. "Just tell us, Xan, so we can all get some rest."

"Most of the class thinks it's one last prank on Snyder. We're 'relocating' Graduation to Pacific Grove, and you and I are kidnapping our wonderful principal in the morning, just in time to give out the diplomas. The new graduation's set for four."

A chuckle sounded behind Buffy. "I'm impressed, X-man. Just…you said most of the class. What's up with the rest of the kiddies?"

"We had to be more inventive with Harmony." Xander rubbed his face and grimaced. "After she laughed at Ahn, I decided to play on her vanity."

Giles coughed at that. "I'm sure it was a difficult task."

Xander's goofy grin appeared. "Oh, yeah. Once she heard that Cordy said she wouldn't be caught dead in those robes, she perked right up." He looked at everyone, making sure he had their attention. "Then I told her Cordy had special ordered new robes for our 'special' ceremony in Pacific Grove. She was off as fast her high heels would carry her."