Operation Slayers and Non Essentials, the Second Coming:

Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer:

Running back onto Slayer central's front steps, Andrew, Giles and Xander came back outside with barbeque lighters and all kinds of cans that have flammable and explosion warning labels on them.

"Everyone grab a few cans and lighters!" Andrew ordered.

"Hold the line! Keep them back! We have to hold ou-"

"Kennedy get down!" Buffy screamed.

Just as the Slayer dropped to her knee's she felt a strong heat above her. Curious, Kennedy looked up and was terrified as she saw a blanket of flame above her.

Panting and tossing her empty spray can on the lawn, Buffy voiced her question, "Report!"

And so the champions of mankind took their time to rest and recuperate, each took shifts to watch the other while vulnerable.

While Willow and Olivia took it upon themselves to play the role of mother hen's during the Chosen Two's absence, Kennedy and Satsu did all they could to aid the Chosen Two in their elder Slayer duties. For a few days and nights, the two senior Slayers ran classes for the less experienced Slayers, took shifts supervising guard duty with the new family pet and lead the more dangerous patrols. Once the majority of the non-critically injured members of the castle-hold were able to fight the good fight once again, Buffy Summers decided to hold a 'family meeting'; said meeting consisting of Giles, Olivia, Faith, Xander, Willow and all of team Kennedy and team Satsu, and of course, everybody's favourite four legged demon. A four legged pet demon, which just after a few days already grew a few inches.

Buffy hobbled, with the aid of her crutches, to the main Library table and sat down on it; the wound to her hip still rendering Buffy unable to walk without aid. Knocking on the table top to gain everyone's attention, and have the Slayers pet bark at the closed library doors, Buffy managed to capture everyone's attention so the meeting can begin.

"Alright so onto what happened while you were MIA Ken…" Buffy then suddenly looked at Andrew and spoke to him. "And I swear to god Andrew! If you even think about pulling a 'tales from the crypt keeper' while we tell Ken what happened, I will sew your lips shut."

After Buffy's warning, Andrew made a lock and key motion across his lips and allowed Buffy to start.

(Authors Notes: Sorry for lack of updates. In an attempt to make it up to you, i updated two chapters instead of one. That's right, chapters 8 and 9 are new. Enjoy)

Chapter 9

"So can you get it off the blade?" Giles asked his lover as she was looking at Satsu's shuriken under a microscope.

"I'm a bit rusty at this Ripper, last time I extracted blood off of a weapon for chemical use was when we summoned that demon when we were teenagers." Olivia replied. "But I won't rest until it's done."

"That's what I was afraid of love." Giles said as he sighed and then started to massage the back of Olivia's shoulders, soon looking back to all of the patients in the new medical room. All of team Kennedy was trying to rest and recover in their single mattress beds, Vi and Dawn both needing an intravenous because their faces were to swollen to eat. Buffy and Faith were laying side by side, one Slayer with a broken collar bone and some sort of furry plush toy sleeping next to her; the other with open wounds going bone deep. Finally, an emotionally pained Giles's gaze met the room's final patient and his resolved hardened; quickly leaving the room to grab tea and cookies for Olivia. As Giles left the med-bay, out of the corner of his eye he saw a physically restrained and drugged Kennedy shaking and quivering in her restraints.

The next morning appeared to bring new hope to Slayer Central, new hope and loud noises as Xander and the council's construction crew were both hard at work. Grumpy were the Slayers of Slayer Central, having to fight a large battle and not getting to sleep in. Nor did it help that Faith's new pet was barking at anything that moved past the med-bay doors and peed in the corner three times before morning.

"Oh god, what's that unholy stench?" Giles asked as he walked into the med-bay with cookies, tea and a newspaper.

Just as Giles put the tray on a desk, he jumped and yelled as the sight of a small, four legged demon appear from the corner of the room and jump on to Faith's bed.

"B, not now baby, my shoulder still hurts." Faith spoke out in her sleep, rolling over.

"Ahem!" Giles loudly cleared his throat next to Faith's bed, waking all of team Kennedy from their slumber. Unfortunately, Giles was even more annoyed when Faith rolled over again and faced him with her eyes closed.

Picking up what the man thought was some sort of demonic puppy, Giles placed it next to Faith's head. The Patriarch then grinned evilly as the demon started to lick Faith's face, getting its tongue into her nostrils a few times. Finally, Faith woke up and started spitting out the taste of demon saliva from her mouth. After shoving her pet away from her face, Faith looked up at an inquisitive but very pissed off Giles.

"Like the new family pet G? His name's Dante." Faith said while giving Giles a sweet smile, rustling Dante's fur.

Giles was not to be swayed. The man merely pointed with his newspaper to the corner of the room.

"Aww, Dante didn't mean to wiz in the corner G, nobody was awake to take him out. You didn't mean to wiz in the corner, did you Dante?" Faith asked her pet while she scratched behind both sides of Dante's jaw.

Unfortunately for Faith, Giles wasn't buying any of it. The man continued to look sternly at Faith, expecting her to clean the mess.

"A'ight, a'ight. Stop giving me the third degree G, just send one of the youngins to grab one of the construction crew's shop vac for me."

"Oh God, what's that smell?" Dawn asked as the majority of the patients in the med-bay started to awaken from their morning grogginess.

"Hey! You pee on the floor and see how it smells puffy face." Faith replied, dodging a pillow thrown her way.

"Would you people please shut up in the morning?" Olivia asked before she yawned at her desk.

"Olivia, were you there all night?" Buffy asked as she painfully propped herself up to a sitting position on her cot.

Olivia didn't answer the Slayer, she simply rolled over to the tea and cookies in her rolling chair and pointed towards a vial of blood marked 'Ethros demon'.

"Brilliant work love!" Giles congratulated the doctor before kissing her temple.

"Alright, after breakfast and a shower, everybody meet back here in two hours. Giles, grab whatever books we need, we're gonna cure Ken." Buffy commanded, receiving nods from everyone in the room and an excited bark from Dante.

"Alright, start lighting the candle's Willow." Giles stated, five candles set around Kennedy's medical bed in a star-like fashion.

Giles then started to chant as the last candle, anointed with Kennedy's blood, was lit. "As it is written, let it be done. She was once lost and now she is found. Let the words of Anatole cleanse the mark of the beast that once was and restore the vessel."

Giles stopped reciting the words of the ritual of Ethros as the five candles were now like stationary flame throwers, shooting lines of flame to the ceiling.

Willow quickly grabbed the parchment and before she began to speak, her eyes started to blacken. "And if the beast shalt find thee and touch thee, though shall be wounded in thy soul; and thou shall know madness. The beast shall attack and cripple thee and thou shall know neither friend nor family. But thou shalt undo the beast. Thou shalt find the sacred words…of ANATOLE! AND THOU SHALL BE RESTORED! THREE TIMES SHALL THY SAY THESE WORDS!" Willows voice soon boomed throughout the castle, shaking the floor and walls. "UNBIND! UNBIND! UN!…..BIND!"

And with the last of the ritual words spoken, lightning shot out through the candles and hit Kennedy's torso in a blinding flash of whitish blue. When the light faded, the mark on Kennedy's abdomen was gone and replaced with smoke.

"Kennedy?" Dawn asked as she moved closer to her best friend.

Kennedy merely produced a groan…but willingly opened her eyes none the less.

"Kennedy!" Dawn screamed with delight.

Unfortunately, Kennedy let out another groan and closed her eyes, very quickly falling asleep.

Giles stepped forwards and placed a gentle hand on Dawn's shoulder. "Dawn, it worked. Kennedy will live, but she is probably exhausted and needs to regain her strength. The best thing we can do is let her sleep and come out of it on her own."

Dawn sighed in defeat, she knew Giles was right. The young Slayer then bent down and kissed her best friend's forehead and left the room; everyone except Faith and Buffy doing the same.

Buffy took one look at Faith and kissed her cheek tenderly. "Take your time," Buffy told her lover and then hobbled out of the room with the aid of crutches.

Faith was almost in tears, tears of joy…almost. "Ken…you tough son of a bitch, welcome back." Faith almost cried out as she wrapped her good arm around her saviour and hugged the other Slayer tightly, letting a single tear fall on Kennedy's cheek. Only after minutes passed did Faith sniffle and let the body in her arms go.

(present day)

"Awwwww!" Was the only sound heard throughout the entire library.

"B! What the fuck? I thought you left the damn room!" An embarrassed Faith exclaimed.

"Awww, don't be embarrassed Faithy, I'm hot shit." Kennedy told her elder Slayer as she slung an arm over Faith's good shoulder.

At that instant, all of the original Scoobie members looked at both Faith and Kennedy in shock. "It's like they could have been sisters," Willow spoke out.

"OWWCH! WILL!" Xander shouted after an arm pinch made sure the man was broken out of his daydream from the Faith and Kennedy sister comment.

"I know what you were thinking Mr!" Willow scolded the one eyed man.

"Yeah well…so is Andrew!" Xander exclaimed as he pointed to the daydreaming young watcher.

Everyone then looked to Andrew who obviously had his head in the clouds. Dawn only smiled as she reached into her glass of water, took an ice cube and stepped in front her lover. Dawn waved the ice in front of a still dazed Andrew, and with Slayer speed and grace she let the ice cube drop inside the front of the young watcher's pants. Within seconds, Andrew snapped out of his daydream with jumping yelps that made Dante bark excitedly.

"Jeez Dawn, I bet Dante's leash is longer than Andrews." Kennedy told Dawn before she turned to see an ice cube drop from the young man's pant legs. "Don't worry Andy, we'll talk later." Kennedy told her watcher with a wink.

Just before Dawn tackled Kennedy on a table and further fueled Xander and Andrew's fantasies, Buffy spoke out loud. "Moving on!"

( 2 recovery days after curing Ken)

"Alright, Faith. Can you tell me what happened in the- good Lord!" Giles screamed in terror as a four legged demon jumped onto his desk.

Everyone in Slayer Central library just couldn't stop laughing, especially not when the papers Giles tossed in the air landed on his head.

"Oh c'mon G. You're supposed to be head watcher? A demon puppy jumps on a table and you lose your shit!" Faith mocked in between her laughing fits.

"I did not lose my- I was simply startled by the beast. I thought that we, at least at one point in time, actually killed demons; not summon or raise them." Giles replied as he held a finger in the air, as if the man was verbally disciplining a child.

"Hey G, don't feel embarrassed. When Dante grows up, I want him to be a bad ass demon killing machine!" Faith exclaimed, followed by an excited bark from her demon puppy before it jumped off the table and into her arms.

Faith's smile and laughter was suddenly cut short, just a second after she caught Dante. Faith furrowed her brow, used more power to cradle her demon puppy, looked down at it and studied it for a good minute or two.

"Is it me or did Dante grow a few inches?" Faith asked aloud.

With interest, all of the Scoobies both old and new huddled around Faith and her pet. Even Giles got out of his seat to inspect Dante, but his interest was purely based on finding out any clues that could help him decipher what type of demon now lives in his home.

"You know? Now that you mention it…yeah he looks a bit longer and taller" Buffy spoke a loud while she studied Dante with her held tilted to the left.

"Fascinating. Andrew, can you go fetch me your camera?" Giles asked as he to, studied the demon puppy.

"Fine….We're getting you a digital video camera for your birthday. You might as well keep mine," Andrew sighed as he turned to walk out of the room.

After a few more minutes of study, Giles sat down and looked at the group of girls petting, smiling and talking to Dante as if he were a human baby. "Ahem. Ladies, could you please tell me what happened in the cave before I arrived?"

Slowly but surely, all the Slayers and one witch in the room sat down and looked at Faith.

"Ok then guess it's story time with me," Faith commented; Willow placing her fingers on the keyboard of her lap top.

"Aight, so we were on a hilltop looking at nothing. Then Andy thinks something is off so he does some magical shit and it turns out they had a glamor over the cave and a bit of the beach. So Andy takes the glamor down and we see the vamps and take them out. But we were sloppy and I felt a little fucked up for some reason…I'm guessing because of the mark thingy Ken had on her-."

"Wait, hold on." Giles interrupted. "Did any of you feel anything? Dawn? Vi? Rona?"

The three girls looked at each other and all of them told the Patriarch 'no'.

"But now that you mentioned it...we should have taken those vamps out without much of a fuss. Let alone walk into the cave injured." Dawn added.

"Hold on, so Faith…you felt different while the newer and non-original Slayers felt nothing? Interesting" Giles said as he now had the earpiece of his glasses between his lips. "Perhaps the mark of Ethros affected more so the source?...Which would further prove the 'Kennedy was destined to be the next Chosen One' theory…Errr, anyways, please continue."

"Ok so yeah, we kicked ass and left a sign for B to tell her that we went in-"

"What was the sign?" Willow asked, cutting Faith off.

Before anyone could say anything, Willow was looking at the back of a digital camera; the display screen showing an aerial view of rocks, sticks and stones. The items were all arranged in a way that strangely resembled a heart with something like a stick going through it.

"Yep, that's Faith's sign." Willow chuckled while looking at the back of Andrew's digital camera the young man put in front of her face.

"Andrew, kindly take a few pictures of Dante while Faith continues." Giles instructed.

"Aight so I left B a sign and we go in and you could so tell it's a trap, so we were be'in careful. But we didn't expect the fucker to toss us in a coliseum!" Faith continued.

"Collis…? So the demon was prepared?"

"And then some. The way we came from was sealed off behind us and the walls literally opened up and a shit ton of vamps and demons came out. And then they started to chant something and this giant version of Dante came out. And then… and then….ok what the fuck?" Faith stopped herself, looking at her sister Slayers for an answer. "Anybody remember what happened before we actually started fighting?"

All the Slayers of team Kennedy shook their heads with confusion, wondering why they can only recall flashes of bits and pieces of their memory before the fight.

"I remember"

"Andy?" Faith asked.

"I remember what happened, and you're scaring me now by not remembering." Andrew declared.

"Could you explain Andrew?" Giles asked.

Andrew placed his camera on Giles' desk and sat down beside Dawn. "While the big version of Dante was walking to the front of the enemy's army, it was so weird. All the gir- Slayers, didn't move, they didn't even blink. It was like the beast had some kind of paralyzing stare…actually… come to think of it, before I went into 'oh my god mode', the thing's eye's glowed before it lunged at Faith."

"Wooooah, woah. Wait a minute Andy. You telling me we were magically paralyzed?" Faith asked the young watcher.

"It looked like it"

"Fascinating!" Giles exclaimed.

"Come again," Faith asked Giles in both confusion and annoyance.

"Oh no, I didn't…I meant that this new information could help us find out what kind of demon Dante is and what he can do." Giles elaborated. "But we can do that after. Please continue, Andrew what happened next?"

"While the Slayers were stuck, I summoned a few demons to keep the beast occupied and then the fighting started. We proceeded to get our asses kicked, at some point Faith got bit by the beast, and then the Calvary came and we won" Andrew finished.

"Alright, anything else anyone can remember?" the patriarch of Slayer Central asked.

"Yeah, almost all vamp's have crappy stuff." Rona answered with a chuckle.

"Alright then, if there are no-"

"GET DOWN!" Willow screamed as she got low to the ground, everyone else in the room knowing by now to trust in whatever the witch says and got on their stomachs.

As all of the castle hold members in the library hit the deck, a bright red light shone in the night sky from a distance outside one of the Library's windows; a thunderous boom being heard throughout the castle.

Andrew being the closest to the window, waddled on his stomach as quickly as he could and slowly peered out the window with just his forehead and eyes showing.

"Um…guys?"

With that, everyone in the room waddled over to the window and peered out of it.

"Well I found Waldo, and he brought a crusade." Xander exclaimed as the entire group witnessed the events going on outside.

By the front gates of the castle's property, an army of demons, vampires and winged beasts were all pounding at Willow's barrier. In addition to the body's slamming against the property's magical wall, a handful of what could only be mages could be seen bending and contorting Willow's barrier with glowing red hands.

"Xander, do we have anywhere to hide the construction crew?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, we made a safe room that Willow put a barrier around, under the bottom floor."

"Gather all of the crew and make sure the only way in or out of the castle is through the front doors. Then get them to the safe room and meet us at the front steps." Buffy commanded. The blonde Slayer then turned to Faith and her Slayers, "Gather every Slayer who can fight and arm them." Buffy's attention now turned to Andrew, "Andrew, ridiculous Nintendo battle strategy?"

"Nintendo? Jeez you're so outdated! I'll let you play with my DS lat-"

"ANDREW!" Everyone in the room roared.

"Alright! Alright, keep your pants on. Other than my summons and Willow taking care of our magically inclined friends, all I got is watchers volleying projectiles from the back while the Slayers fight at the front."

"Andy that's it? What the hell man? That's a HUUUUGE downgrade from your last 'defend the castle' plan man. You're off your game." Kennedy said in disbelief, even she could have came up with that.

"Oh c'mon! I had time to thinking about it then! You try using anything but your boobs and blades for a change miss-"

"Good enough! Giles, take Andrew and arm the rest of the watchers with whatever range weapons and ammo we have. I want our ranged support on the front steps above all melee fighters in the front line. Any questions?" Buffy finished with that famous question question.

"No? Alright you have your assignment's, move!"

(present day)

"Andy! The man with the plan!" Kennedy hollered

"It's what I do." Andrew replied, getting a chuckle from the room.

"So anyone else have anything else they want to add?" Buffy asked, receiving a room full of no's. "Meeting adjourned, go about your business."

With that closing statement, the room full of people started to collect their things and exit the room.

"Willow, could you c'mere please" Buffy asked.

"What's up Buff?" Willow asked her leader.

Buffy waited until everyone was out of the room before she addressed her best friend, "Will, you know I love you and trust you right?"

"Umm… yeaaahh? Buffy what is it? When you start off a conversation like this, either something apocalyptic is about to happened, or Spike is around somewhere making us hate each other again."

Buffy giggled and recalled the time when Spike tried to turn the Slayer and her Scoobies against each other before she spoke to the red headed witch again. "No, no. Nothing like that. I just want you to know that I trust you to take care of teaching Dawn about magic and to help ensure she doesn't misuse magic." Buffy's face suddenly went very solemn as she took a step into Willow's personal space, "And if she gets hurt or worse because of magic, I a holding you personally responsible….K?"

"Make sure Dawn doesn't screw up like I did, got it. Anything else?" Willow asked.

Buffy then turned to leave the room with Willow alongside her, "Yeah, remember the spells you and Oz would use for sex? If Dawn asks about that stuff, give her itching cream and tell Andrew to apply-"

"BUFFY!" Willow scolded.

(over a week later)

Barely alive and conscious, a man in ripped clothing was limping down a random street. Panting heavily, the man wiped both sweat and blood from his eyes as he limped onwards. Passing a street lamp, he looked back; seeing shadows chasing after him in the distance. In a panic, the man looked in all directions for sanctuary but finding only a graveyard to his left and forest to his right. Deciding in a heartbeat, the injured man limped as fast as he could to the graveyard. Strangely enough, the graveyard's gates appeared to be opened upon closer inspection. The Man didn't take much time to think about the unlocked gate as he continued to limp through the graveyard in search of anything he could hide behind or in.

Luckily, a cemetery lamp helped this wounded man spot a small family mausoleum in the distance. Hearing the metallic sound of what could only be his pursuers opening the cemetery gates, the pain stricken man limped as fast as he could towards sanctuary. With every step, sanctuary seemed closer and closer. Finally when the mausoleum was but mere meters away, the man tripped and hit his head on a broken tombstone. After precious seconds past, the fallen man started to slowly and groggily get back to a vertical base; only to fall back to the ground as his muscles gave out on him. Turning onto his back, the man could now see his attackers a few feet away and closing, long knives being unsheathed as his attackers closed the distance. The man knew he was dead and so he performed the sign of the cross on himself, and began to pray.

"As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil-"

"SON OF A BITCH!...YOU GUYS AGAIN?"

All heads suddenly looked above the fallen man, only to find all of team Kennedy standing over him.

Without hesitation, the group of what could now be identified of eyeless men lunged forth to attack team Kennedy with their long curved knives. Unfortunately for the armed men, team Kennedy was now back to full health and ready open up a can of whoop ass on their old enemies. The eyeless group of five was the faction to strike first, meeting team Kennedy member for member.

Or at least it would have been five on five if not for Andrew launching a crossbow bolt through one of the enemy's jugular, downing him instantly while gurgling on his own blood.

Vi's attacker was the first to lash out, but met his end in three seconds flat. As the man attacked the red haired Slayer with a vertical stab aimed for her neck, Vi raised her left Gladius above her head and slashed the man's stomached open with a horizontal slash from her other Gladius.

Rona's attacker somehow fared even worse then Vi's. With a blinding display of power, Rona let the handle of her weapon slide through the fingers of her right hand until the axe head hit the ground. The ebony Slayer then waited for her attacker to get close enough before she turned the axe so the sharpened side of the axe head was facing the enemy, and then heaved her weapon upwards; cutting her opposition in half, from balls to head.

As Rona was a pure display of power, Dawn performed her kill with absolute grace and technique; such is the way of the Summers bloodline. When Dawn's opponent tried to horizontally slash the woman's torso, with one hand on the middle of the broadsword and the other gripping the hilt, Dawn blocked the incoming attack. The youngest Summers sister then slide her blade downwards against her attacker's and tugged towards her until her hilt bashed against the other weapon, sending the knife flying behind her. Without even the slightest bit of hesitation, Dawn followed through by thrusting her weapon upwards across the enemy's chest; effectively slicing open cloth and skin. While Dawn's opposition opened his tongue-less mouth to yell in pain, Dawn span in a circle to her right and with both her back and her sword facing towards her enemy's front, the Slayer ripped the point of her dragon slayer through her victim's sternum; downing him as soon as she pulled her broadsword out of the man's flesh.

Finally, the last of the eyeless men were defeated after Kennedy took him down. The Latina Slayer ducked the horizontal slash aimed for her throat and with one hand behind the Slayer Axe's head and the other gripping the shaft of the weapon, Kennedy rose from her crouched position on an angle while pressing the blade of her weapon across her attacker's torso and pushed upwards; sending blood in one direction and the newly deceased in another.

"Andrew," Ken started.

"On it, grab the knives." The young watcher replied.

As the women took their enemy's weapons for their own, Andrew knelt to access the damage on the now barely conscious man who was being ruthlessly pursued.

"Well he has a pulse, but his head wound will need stitches, his ankle looks mangled and he is practically a giant bruise...And apparently he is a priest." Andrew told the group as he noticed the shredded piece of white cloth tightly wrapped around the injured man's neck.

"Bringer's hunting priests...something about that is either really weird or to cliché to be true." Dawn exclaimed as she was already dialing the Castle's phone number. "No Giles, were fine. We just need a medical pick up. We have an injured priest here that you're definitely going to want to talk to. I'll explain later, Bye"

"Look familiar," Kennedy asked aloud after she placed a Bringer's knife on the table.

"Bringers," Giles also said aloud.

"Which also means the First is running around." Buffy exclaimed.

"But why now? Why not when we were moving in this place?" Xander asked.

"Maybe it did. Maybe Joan and the Ethros demon were agents of the First, who knows?" Satsu commented.

"Alright, I think we can all agree that the First is back and has evil intentions. I will contact Council's around the globe starting tomorrow morning and try to find out if anything out of the ordinary has occurred in the past few months. For now I suggest we all get some rest. If the worst comes to past I imagine we are in for another war." Giles announced.

"G, not for anything...but your people skills suck." Faith told the patriarch.

"Goodnight everyone," Giles told the room as he glared at Faith before he left.

Slowly but surely, all the people in the library made their way to the hallway to talk or go to bed; all except Satsu and Kennedy.

As Kennedy was the second last person to walk towards the exit, she was suddenly spun around and slammed against the library wall before she could join the others in the hallway. Normally Kennedy would have opened her eyes after the impact and get ready to kick ass, but in an instant, the Latina Slayer smirked because she knew who pushed her against the wall. Fortunately for Kennedy, Satsu's lips were already crushed on her's before she could make a smart ass remark.

Satsu swiftly pried apart Kennedy's lips with her own and stroked Kennedy's saliva covered make out muscle with her own tongue. Wrapping her tongue around Kennedy's and pumping up and down on the the Latina Slayer's own. The two women then snaked their hands through each other's hair and somehow managed to deepen the kiss, trying to push each other closer with every passing second. Finally when the two Slayers broke their embrace to take in some oxygen, Satsu spoke earnestly with a smile.

"I've been waiting to do that for a long time Ken-Flow."

For a brief or a moment in time Kennedy was about to make a narcissist remark about her hotness, but she decided against it. Instead, the Slayer brought her face closer to Satsu's and gave the Asian Slayer a chaste kiss; licking Satsu's upper lip just as Kennedy broke the kiss with a smile. While Satsu was grinning like an idiot, Kennedy snuck past Satsu's face and whispered into the other Slayer's ear, "Showers, five minutes."