The passageway was made from some kind of carved stonework. It was a bit hard to inspect as the only light was from the torches that he and Xander were carrying. He was quite glad of the lack of light in one respect though – he was sure that the occasional skittering noise in the far edges of his hearing were rats.

The closer they got to their destination the fewer rats he heard and by the time that they reached the door there were no rats at all. He wasn't sure why. He also wasn't sure why he could sense their destination using the Force.

Xander must have seen it in his face, because he smiled slightly. "Yeah, I know. I have no idea why. Oz has a theory that by using the Force to find the last sets of gems for lightsabres we're imbuing the place with the Force. Which is a good theory. We need to see where it takes us."

He leant against the doorframe. "I know where it takes you though. Inside. You do this part alone."

McGee took a deep breath and then walked through the doorway. At first glance he was in a cave that had been last owned by someone who'd started off with a gold fetish and had then seen it grow into total madness, with gold on gold, with more gold piled on top.

And amongst the gold were different colours. Gems. Hundreds, if not thousands of them. They varied from tiny ones to ones the size of his thumb. There was even a quartz crystal the size of his fist. He was about to open his mouth and ask Xander how he was going to do this when he had second thoughts and then closed it. Then he use the torch to find a clear spot on the floor to sit on. Once he was settled he closed his eyes and embraced the Force.

He'd been trying not to think about what colour his lightsabre would be for a while now. Now that he was here, on the cusp of it, he could actively consider it. Blue was the standard colour of the Jedi Guardian, who tended to be more physical. Green blades were used by Jedi Consulars, who tended to be a bit more cerebral about studying the mysteries of the Force.

And then there was a third type. The Jedi Sentinel. They combined combat and study with other skills, such as computers, stealth or medicine. And they were also known for their interest in justice. It was a perfect fit for him. And they used yellow lightsabres. Which meant that he needed a yellow gem.

He felt the room out using the Force. He could feel the various gems in it, the way that they felt in the Force. He could feel the echoes of possibilities all through the room. But he needed the gem that was perfect for him. Where was it?

Ah. He could feel it. It was… where? To his right? Yes. Just… there. He reached out with the Force and lifted the gem into the air. It felt… right. It was just the right size and was untainted by anything. Xander had warned him that some gems were used by magic users as focal points for spells, but had added that so far they hadn't discovered any in the room. The gem he'd found had no magic on it.

He held out his hand and then felt the gem slowly settle onto it. Then he opened his eyes. It was a yellow diamond the size of his thumb. And it was perfect. He stood up and walked back to the door. "I've got it," he said quietly, holding it up.

Xander looked at it carefully and then nodded. "Sentinel, huh? I figured as much. We haven't had a Sentinel yet. Oz likes healing a lot, but he's more into battling the Dark Side in all its aspects." He smiled at McGee. "Ok then. Time to build your lightsabre."

Of course that had been easier said than done. He'd worked on circuit boards before at MIT, but the ones for the lightsabre were, to put it mildly, a challenge. Abby would have drooled all over them, which would not have been a good thing. Oddly enough once he embraced the Force the work became a lot easier.

In the meantime he had to wait for the gem to be faceted correctly, so that it would focus the beam correctly. Xander and Oz had driven him to LA, where they'd visited a jeweller called Thorne who gave McGee a severe case of the heebyjeebies, probably because Thorne wasn't human. The third eye was a dead giveaway for a start. Thorne seemed to hold both Oz and Xander in great esteem, looked at him respectfully, inspected the gem he'd brought carefully, told him that the work would take a day or so and that had been it.

Oh and there had been the visit to a nightclub called Caritas. Tony would never have believed that place. McGee had met another demon, this one going by the name of The Host to the paying public or Lorne to his friends (who included Xander). The Host had looked at him with those oddly unthreatening red eyes and then looked at Xander. "Kenobi-kins you just keep finding them don't you!"

Xander had smiled and then gestured at Oz. "He's been training him. Do you need to read him?"

Again the silent inspection. Then The Host smiled. "Nope. He'll do good. He doesn't need to sing for me to tell you that."

"Sing?" McGee asked, puzzled.

"I can see the future kiddo. Auras. Empathy. What to avoid having for lunch in case it gives you heartburn. What not to do in case it kills you. Most people have to sing for me to read them properly. Some people – like Jedi these days – don't. I can tell you one thing though-" And then he leant over and whispered something in his ear. When he finished and straightened up again McGee was very close to blushing.

"Really?" he said.

"Tell her how you feel kiddo." Then he'd turned back to Xander and the conversation had veered off onto a different direction.

A day later he had his re-facetted gem and his circuit board, but was still lacking an important piece to the puzzle – a small enough superconductor that would complete it all. Oddly enough none of the other Jedi had been worried about how on Earth he was going to get his hands on such an advanced piece of technology.

The answer had come in the form of Graham. His cousin had knocked on the door to Mr Giles' office in the Library where McGee had been assembling the lightsabre not long after midnight. "I hear that you need a superconductor," Graham said with a grin.

"Yeah," McGee sighed as he looked down at the handle that was taking shape in his hands. "I don't have a clue where I'm going to get one though."

"Oh, I'm sure the Force will provide," Graham replied with a slightly po-faced expression on his face that meant that he was up to something. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a smallish box, which he placed carefully on the desk in front of McGee. "There you go."

McGee frowned and then opened it. Aha. A slim, technically advanced, superconductor. "Should I ask where this came from?"

"Where what came from?"

He looked at his cousin, who was looking placidly back at him. "Let me guess, Graham – you were never here?"

"I certainly was not," Graham grinned. Then he sobered. "I owe my life to the Jedi. The fact that you're now one of them makes me incredibly proud. So that thing that just appeared on your desk? Least I can do." And then he'd wandered off whistling.

And now Timothy McGee was left staring at the open hatch. This was what it had all come down to. He swung the hatch closed, felt it click securely into place then took a deep breath and picked it up. All the other Jedi were standing in a circle around him, on a hill top in Sunnydale. He looked up at the stars far above him and then he thumbed the activation switch.

The now-familiar sound of a lightsabre being activated reached his ears and he smiled quietly as he saw the yellow blade extend itself to the proper length. Then he heard the sound of other lightsabres being activated and he looked around at the blue and green blades that now cleaved the darkness.

And then as one those blades were lifted above the heads of the Jedi as the stars blazed down.