Okay, now is the time when I get really impatient and skip a bunch of episodes ^ ^ So here's "Puppet Show"

******

In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.

The Sunnydale High School auditorium was bursting with activity, both on stage and back stage. Something in the darkness watched this activity with gleaming, hopeful eyes as the students practiced their various acts.

One girl, Emily, was doing ballet stretching exercises, and the voice in the darkness hissed out it's dark, determined words.

"I will be whole. I will be new."

The eyes watched a female student playing the tuba, a male student trying to preform a magic trick, and a second male rubbing at his temples as he adjusted the dummy on his lap. A typical highschool talent show...

On stage, Cordelia was singing "The Greatest Love of All" in an off key voice.

"Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all. I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone's shadow, If I fail, if I succeed, at least...

Giles was sitting in the auditorium seats, the only witness to the miracle that was Cordelia's amazing ability to destroy eardrums at a single note. He did not, for obvious reasons, look pleased to be there, and quickly interrupted the girl.

"Thank you, Cordelia. Tha-that's going to be lovely."

Cordelia pouted, "But I didn't do the part with the sparklers!"

Giles scrambled for an excuse. "Um, w-we'll, um... save that for the dress rehearsal. Uh, Lisa! Please!"

Cordelia let out a frustrated sigh, put the microphone away, and left. Lisa, the girl with the tuba, walked up on stage. As she began the blaring solo, Giles rubbed at his eyes.

"If it isn't the great producer!"

Giles looked up, and smiled when he saw Buffy standing beside him. Xander and Willow stood just behind her, and all three settled into seats around him.

"Had to see this to believe it." Xander quipped.

Trying his hardest to sound dour, Giles muttered, "Oh. You three."

Buffy smiled, "The school talent show. How ever did you finagle such a primo assignment?"

"Our new Führer, Mr. Snyder."

Willow couldn't help but grin, "I think they call 'em 'principals' now."

"Mm. He thought it would behoove me to have more contact with the students. I did try to explain that my vocational choice of librarian was a deliberate attempt to..." He drew a deep breath, "minimize said contact, but, uh, he would have none of it."

Buffy's eyes gleamed suddenly with mischief, and Giles found himself staring at the expression, one that lit up her whole face. "Unto every generation is born one who must run the annual talentless show." She said, "You cannot escape your destiny."

Giles scowled in a desperate attempt not to laugh. "If you had any shred of decency, you would have participated, or at least, um, helped."

"Nah! I think I'll take on your traditional role... and watch!"

"And mock!"

"And laugh!"

Willow, Xander and Buffy started to laugh. Then Buffy took mercy on him and said, "Okay. I think maybe we better leave our Mr. Giles to this business he calls show."

The three of them stood up and started back up the aisle. They didn't get far, however, before they bumped into principal Snyder.

"Principal Snyder!"

The Principal sneered at them. "So. We think school events are stupid, and we think authority figures are to be made fun of."

"No! No, we don't." She hesitated, and her eyes widened. "W-unless you do."

Snyder ignored her. "And we think our afternoon classes are optional. All three of you left campus yesterday."

Buffy: Yeah, but we were fighting a demon..."

Giles eyes shot up to Buffy.

Snyder frowned. "Fighting?"

"Not fighting." Buffy corrected.

Xander came to her rescue. "No, we, uh, left to avoid fighting."

Snyder sniffed distainfully. "Real anti-social types. You need to integrate into this school, people." He crossed his arms. "I think I just found three eager new participants for the talent show."

Giles started to laugh quietly to himself.

"What?"

"No!"

"Please?"

Snyder still wasn't listening to them, and went on as if they hadn't spoken. "I've been watching you three. Always getting into one scrape or another."

"Well, we're really, really sorry, but about the talent show, pleeease, you can't make us..."

Snyder interrupted her. "My predecessor, Mr. Flutie, may have gone in for all that touchy-feely relating nonsense, but he was eaten. You're in my world now. And Sunnydale has touched and felt for the last time." He started to walk past them.

"Can I just mention, that detention is a time-honored form of punishment?" Xander suggested, Buffy nodding emphatically behind him.

"I know the three of you will come up with a wonderful act for the school to watch. And mock. And laugh." Synder hesitated, then added, "At."

He left.

Xander slumped into a seat, "No!"

Buffy sank next to Giles with a moan, looking at him with large beseeching green eyes.

The best he could do for her was to try and hide the fact that he was laughing.

Since the tuba solo was over, Giles called up to Lisa. "Thank you!"

Morgan, the boy with the dummy, goes up on stafe.

Buffy sees the dummy and squeals, "Ewww, dummy!"

At the same time Xabder sees a mine, "Dyow! Mime!"

Willow sat behind I think dummies are cute. You don't?"

Buffy groaned. "Uuuhhh. They give me the wig. Ever since I was little."

Willow's eyes widened. "What happened."

"I saw a dummy. It gave me the wig." She shrugged, "There really wasn't a story there."

Morgan spoke on stage, taking turns talking as himself and the dummy. "Hi. I'm Morgan."

"And I'm Sid!"

Morgan was so horrible as a ventriloquist that Giles could not hide his wince. Buffy could only stare in disbelief.

"Hey Morgan, would you like to tell some jokes?"

"Would I!"

"As a matter of fact, it is! It's also a wood nose, and a wood mouth!"

Willow looked confused. As Morgan laughs nervously on stage, Buffy looks up at Giles, who removes his glasses with a sigh.

"I didn't sleep at all last night."

"Alright time out, let's stop this before someone gets hurt."

Buffy looked up towards the stage in shock as the dummy starts speaking in a new voice. Suddenly, Morgan's lips no longer appear to be moving.

"Kid, you are the worst." The dummy continued, "Even I can see your lips move."

Buffy started to giggle, and Giles looks up again with hope in his eyes, slipping his glasses back over the bridge of his nose.

Morgan frowned. "C'mon, Sid. You're spoiling my act. I worked on these jokes for weeks."

"You call those jokes? My jockey shorts are made out of better material."

Other participants began to gather at the edge of the stage, laughing at the performance.

"And they're edible!"

Giles smiled, satisfied. "There, you see? I'm sure you three can come up with something... equally exciting."

******

A few hours later, Buffy, Willow and Xander were desperately trying to come up with something to do. They had already come to the conclusion that Willow's stage fright would not allow her to play piano on stage, and that Snyder probably wouldn't appreciate Buffy slaying vampires in front of the students and parents of Sunnydale high.

At that moment, principal Snyder and Giles came in through the doors at the back of the auditorium.

"Kids today need discipline." Snyder was saying. "That's an unpopular word these days, 'discipline'. I know Principal Flutie would have said, 'Kids need understanding. Kids are human beings.' That's the kind of woolly-headed, liberal thinking that leads to being eaten."

"I, I think perhaps it was a little more complex than, um..."

"This place has quite a reputation." Snyder continued, as usual pretending he was the only one in the conversation. "Suicide, missing persons, spontaneous cheerleader combustion... You can't put up with that. You've gotta keep an eye on the bad element... Like those three."

They have reached the stage, and for a minute they watch Buffy, Willow and Xander attempting to practice a dramatic scene.

"Kids. I don't like them." He sneered. "From now on you're gonna see a very different Sunnydale High. Tight ship, clean, orderly, and quiet."

Suddenly, as if to mock Snyder's words, a loud scream came from down the hall.

*******

Later, paramedics were packing up the dead body of Emily from the girl's locker room.

Giles came out of the locker room and ducked under the yellow police tape, walking over to Xander, Buffy and Willow.

"It was Emily."

Willow gasped. "Emily. Dancer Emily?"

Xander's face went pale. "Oh, man! I hate this school."

"Uh, it must have happened just after, uh, dress rehearsals. There was a cross-country meet at Melville. She, she, she never showed up for it."

"Vampire?"

"Um, I think not."

Buffy frowned. "Giles, share! What happened?"

He let out a deep breath, and said, "Her heart was removed."

"Yikes!"

The slayer shuddered, "Does that mean anything to you? Besides ooooooo?"

"Uh... There are various demons which, which feed off human hearts, but..." They looked over simultaneously to see someone putting a knife into an evidence bag.

"But demons have claws." Buffy said morosely. "And teeth."

"They got no use for a big old knife." Xander added.

"Which more than likely makes our murderer..."

"Human."

"Did I mention that I hate this school?"

"So Emily was killed by a regular human person." Willow murmured.

"The evidence certainly points that way." Giles agreed.

But Buffy was shaking her head. "No, wait. I-I'm not buying, you guys. Remember the Hellmouth? Mystical activity is totally rife here. This to me says demon."

"I'd like to think you're right. A demon is a creature of evil, pure and very simple. A person driven to kill is, is, um, it's more complex."

He watched Buffy's face as he said this. He knew no matter what he said, he would be unable to convince the girl that a human was responsible. Evil, Buffy understood. She had been surrounded by it since she was 15 years old, after all. She was unable to understand the human side of it though. There was no evil in humans, but some people were sick in a way that Buffy would be unable to comprehend.

Willow nodded. "The creep factor is also heightened. It could be anyone. It could be me!" They stared at her. "It's not, though."

"Uh, demon or no, we have some investigating to do. I suggest we start with your... your talent show compatriots. One of them may have been the last to see her alive."

So they split up to talk to various members of the talent show. First, Buffy spoke to Lisa.

"I didn't know her too well." Lisa said, "There's that whole dancer/band rivalry, y'know?"

"I've heard about that."

"But I did speak to her a little the day that... yesterday."

"How did she seem?"

Outside, Giles was talking to Marc, the boy with the magic tricks.

"She was happy. I guess. She was psyched to be doing the show. She was a really good dancer. Here, pick a card."

"Uh, um..." Reluctantly he reached for one.

"No, wai-wai-wai-wait. Not that one. Pick this one."

Giles took the card. "Do you remember the last time you saw her?"

"She was talkin' to someone."

"Who?"

Willow was talking to another kid.

"That smart guy. The one with the dummy. What's his name?"

"Morgan?"

"Yeah, that's it. He was actin' kinda strange."

"Strange how."

At cheerleader practice, Xander was stuck with talking to Cordelia.

"It's just such a tragedy for me. Emma was, like, my best friend."

"Emily."

"Well, Morgan's just strange." Lisa was telling Buffy. "He's always rubbing his head a lot and moaning. Especially the other day."

"He seemed kinda paranoid..." Marc explained to Giles, "Lookin' around at everyone..."

"And I think I saw him arguing..." Elliot confieded in Willow, "with his dummy."

"All I can think is, it coulda been me!" Cordelia cried.

"We can dream."

******

Later, Willow, Buffy and Xander entered the library.

"Okay, next time we split up someone else is on Cordy detail." Xander muttered, "Five more minutes with her and we woulda had another organ donor."

"I think I had a bit more luck." Willow added, "Everyone I talked to seemed to point their fingers at the same person."

As they entered Giles' office, Buffy asked, "Morgan?"

"Morgan." Willow agreed.

"We have a winner!"

Giles sighed. "I fear I was led to the same conclusion."

"Well, what do we do? We don't slay him, right? We wanna bring him to justice."

Willow began to get excited. "We could set up a complex sting operation where we get him to confess!"

"Uh, I should wear a wire!" Xander said, thrilled with the idea as well.

"Whoa, hey, you guys, all we know is that Morgan is a grade A large weirdo. That doesn't lead directly to murderer." Buffy said.

"Guy talks to his puppet!"

"And for his puppet."

Buffy nodded, "Well, yeah, but what about the whole 'it's a demon' theory?"

Giles had not had much time to look. But he knew he had to find out something, anything. He had to make it a demon. It had to be a demon. He did not want Buffy to have to face the reality that was a human's desire to kill another human.

"I'm looking into that," He said carefully, "but, uh, my investigation is somewhat... hampered by our life in the theater."

Buffy frowned. "Uh, priority check, Giles? Talent show, murder."

Xander's face lit up. "Yeah, we can't do the talent show, it's unthinkable. I'm not able to think it!"

Giles sighed. "Principal Snyder is watching us all very closely. Now, if he chooses, he can make all our lives extremely difficult. A Slayer cannot afford that! We will find this murderer, but in the meantime... the show must go on."

"This is so unfair."

"Buffy, you, uh, watch Morgan. Check his locker, see if there's anything there."

"Like a heart?" Willow suggested.

"Or something."

"Alright."

"I'll pull up his locker number." Willow skipped off to the computer, and Xander looked around, his face hopeful.

"Can I still wear a wire?"

******

The next day, Buffy had all but forgotten that he had found nothing in Morgan's locker. She was much to distracted by the fact that she had been attacked by a dummy the night before. As she hurried into the auditorium, she stopped near the doors to watch the scene unfolding in front of her.

Marc was on stage, helping his 'lovely assistant' into a large box.

"And my lovely assistant steps into the box... " She did so, and he closed the door and spin the box. "And... behold!"

He threw open the door to reveal his assistant. Marc scowled. "You were supposed to leave!"

Laughter caught Buffy's attention, and she spotted Willow and Xander, watching the act and laughing in the sears.

Before she could move towards them, she saw Giles come out from backstage with Cordelia close behind. This was one of the only times she had been able to watch him, without being obvious, so she took the time now. It didn't seem to matter that Giles was much older then her, she still couldn't help but find him beautiful. He moved with an easy grace that drew her, and his hazel eyes were so calm and intelligent in that face of his... Buffy blinked when Cordelia and Giles began to speak, jarring her from her thoughts. What had she been thinking?

"I don't understand why I... why I have to follow Brett and his stupid band." Cordelia was saying.

Giles tried to explain patiently, though it was clear this was not the first time he had done so. "Because we have to clear their equipment before the finale. I told you."

"But the mood! It'll be all wrong!" She stood in front of him, blocking his path. "My song is about dignity and human feelings and person... hygine or something. Anyway, it's sappy, and no one is gonna being feeling sappy after all that rock and roll."

Giles hesitated, then gave Cordelia the strangest look. Cordelia blinked. "Uhh, what."

"Oh! I'm sorry." There was something in Giles' tone that had Buffy's head tilting to the side, her eyes suddenly amused. "Um, your hair, uh..."

"There's something wrong with my hair?" Cordelia sounded horrified.

Giles didn't answer, just stared.

"Ohmigod!"

She ran off, and Giles and Buffy grinned simultaneously.

"Xander was right. It worked like a charm." Giles muttered.

Giles looked up and saw Buffy coming down the aisle. The instant his eyes landed on her, his face lit up. Then he noticed a strange expression on her face.

"Hello. You look a bit worse for, uh... "

Buffy walked past him to sit near Willow and Xander, and Giles followed her.

"What exactly are you the worse for?"

Instead of answering, she asked, "Where's Morgan?"

"Uh, I, I... haven't seen him."

Xander frowned, concerned. "Did he do something to you?"

"No, it was his... Sid, the dummy." There was a moment of silence, and Buffy sighed. "Okay, everyone look at me like I'm in a bunny suit, 'cause that's how stupid I feel saying this... I think Sid was in my room last night."

"With Morgan?" Willow asked.

"No. He was alone. And alive."

"Did you see him?"

"Well, I saw something. I-it ran across my floor, under my bed and then it attacked me."

"Attacked you?" Giles moved forward slightly, "How?"

"It was like it pounced on my face."

Xander was beginning to smile. "Like a cat."

"Yeah, exactly! But when I turned the lights on it was already gone. I-I think it went out my window."

"Like a cat."

"Yeah!" Then she noticed he was laughing at her and scowled, "No! It was Sid, the dummy."

"Or possibly the nightmare of somebody who had... dummies on her mind." Giles suggested.

"You did say they creep you out." Willow added.

Buffy's scowl grew more pronounced. "Excuse me? Can I have a little support here, please? I'm not just some crazy person, I'm the Slayer."

"The Dummy Slayer?" Xander asked. When he got a look from Buffy, he conceded, "There's nothing funny about that."

"Well, on the side of the 'Morgan's just crazy' theory there is, well, Morgan."

Morgan walked past them, carrying Sid and then opened Sid's case. For a moment, he sat down with Sid on his lap.

"I'd like to see Morgan without his better half for a few minutes." Buffy mused. "Bet he could tell me something."

Giles help up a book "Oh, uh, i-if it's any consolation, I... I may have found a possible demon culprit. The-there's a reference in here to a brotherhood of seven demons who take, uh, the form of young humans. Every seven years these demons need human organs, a-a-a brain and a heart, to maintain their humanity. Otherwise they, they, they revert back to their original form, which is, uh, uh, slightly less appealing."

He handed Xander the book, showing him an image of one of the demons.

"So Morgan could still be the guy, only demon Morgan instead of crazy Morgan." Willow summarized.

"It's said that these demons are, are, are preternaturally strong, and, and, and... Morgan is, is... Well, he seems to be getting weaker every day."

As if on cue, Morgan stopped messing with Sid's shoes long enough to put his hand to his head, like he were in great pain.

******

Xander is sitting in the library playing with Sid. Buffy, Willow and Giles come in, Giles and Willow carrying costumes. Buffy spots Sid.

She frowns. "Where did you get that?"

"Oh, I, uh, took it out of Mrs. Jackson's cupboard. I thought you said you wanted to be able to speak to Morgan alone, and uh... well, Morgan's alone, and, uh... Sid's with me."

Buffy stared at Sid uneasily.

Xander attempted to speak through Sid. "Hi, Buffy! Hi, Willow! Would you like to hear some off-color jokes?"

"I really don't think you should be doing that." Buffy muttered.

"What? C'mon..." He switched his voice to Sid's. "I'm not real!"

Buffy shuddered. "Xander quit it!"

Giles frowned at Xander, and then smiled gently when Buffy inched away, further from Xander and closer to him.

She looked back when she heard Xander pounding Sid's head into the table. "He's... not... real! I think our demonstration proves that, uh, Sid is wood. Now, why don't you go and find Morgan and prove he's... whatever he is?"

"I imagine he's looking for his puppet." Giles pointed out.

"I'll go find Morgan." Buffy moved away from Giles, and turned to give Xander a look. "You watch the dummy."

Xander spoke as Sid again. "Bye-bye, now. I'm completely inanimate."

Buffy gave Xander another look and left.

"Redrum! Redruuum!" 'Sid' cried.

"What do we do with him?" Willow asked.

"Eh, I'll keep him company." Xander said with a grin.

"Willow, we have some hunting of our own to do." Giles reminded her.

Willow sighed. "Once again I'm banished to the demon section of the card catalogue."

Xander sat Sid down at the table.

"Guess it's just you and me, huh?" He adjusted Sid in the seat. "There, that looks more comfortable."

Leaving him there, he went and sat down at the opposite end of the table to work, while Giles and Willow delved into the books at the back of the library.

A few minutes later, Xander looked over at Sid in his chair, and then turned back to his homework. When he got up to get a reference book, however, and looked away for a moment, Sid was gone. He jumps and yelps, climbing onto the table.

"Whoa!"

Giles and Willow hurried out from the back.

"What is it?"

"He's gone! Sid's gone!"

"What? Oh…"

Suddenly, Giles felt a wave of dizziness hit him.

"Sid has found Buffy!" He cried.

"What?" Xander and Willow looked at him, but he could no longer see them.

As his vision went black, his thoughts whirled. They should have listened to Buffy all along. Because of their carelessness, Buffy was in danger. Then he forced himself to calm down as the image began to appear. All the other visions had shown him scenes of Buffy in danger, but she had always handled the situation. It was as if the visions only allowed him to see her when her adrenaline went up, not when her life was actually at risk.

Buffy was backstage, looking around. Some creaking noises came from above her, so she backtracked and called out Morgan's name. She continued to walk, pushing through costumes, walking towards the noise. Suddenly, she stumbled over Morgan's headless body.

"Morgan!" Her voice is nothing but a shocked whisper, and she begins to back away. "Demon's got himself a brain."

She backed up through a curtain, and her eyes shoot up when she hears snapping above her. A large wrought iron chandelier is falling towards her.

"Buffy!" Giles shouted; his eyes fixed on Buffy's unconscious form beneath the chandelier. Then she began to wake.

The sound of quick little footsteps echoes around the room. Looking up, Buffy sees Sid running across the catwalk. Unsuccessfully, she tries to lift the chandelier off of her.

"Who's ever out there, I'm gonna hurt you! Badly!" She glanced down at the chandelier. "If you'll just gimme a minute..."

Again she tried to get out, to no avail. Then Sid appeared before her, knife held high. She turned her face just in time to avoid getting stabbed. Sid tried again, and missed, and Buffy's arm shot out to knock him away. While he was recovering, she pulled herself out.

As Buffy slid out from under the chandelier, Sid tried to attack her from behind, but she knocked him away again and he lost his knife. Finally completely free, Buffy stood up and grabbed Sid, pinning him to the wall.

"You win." Sid hissed. "Now you can take your heart and your brain and move on.

"I'm sure they would have made great trophies for your case." Buffy retorted.

"That woulda been justice."

"Yeah, except for one thing: you lost, and now you'll never be human."

"Yeah, well, neither will you."

They frown, bewildered, and say, "What?"

******

"Giles!"

"Giles!"

Giles reluctantly opened his eyes as the vision faded, to see Willow and Xander standing in front of him, looking deeply concerned.

"Giles, are you okay?"

"Yes." He replied automatically. How could he explain this? "Migraine?"

They frowned doubtfully. "Why did you say Sid found Buffy? And then you yelled No..?"

"Um…" He straightened from the wall and took off his glasses, rubbing at the glass, "Naturally, I assumed he would go after Buffy. If he did last night."

They were clearly not satisfied with this answer, but before either could say anything, Buffy burst in the door carrying Sid.

*****

Later, they all sat around the table, Willow and Xander staring at Sid in obvious amazement. Giles and Buffy only watched with quietly and listened to his explanation.

"This is what I do. I hunt demons. Yeah, you wouldn't know it to look at me. Let's just say there was me, there was a really mean demon, there was a curse, and the next thing I know I'm not me anymore. I'm sitting on some guy's knee, with his hand up my shirt."

"And ever since then you've been a living dummy?" Willow asked.

"The kid here was right all along. I shoulda picked you to team up with. But I didn't because... "

Because you thought I was the demon." Buffy supplied.

"Who can blame me for thinking? Look at you! You're strong, athletic, limber... Nubile…" He began to drool a little bit, and Giles scowled darkly at him from across the table. Sid shook his head. "I'm back! In any case, now that this demon's got the heart and brain, he gets to keep the human form he's in for another seven years."

Because the tea kettle was whistling, Giles stood. "I must say, it's a welcome change to have someone else explain all these things."

"There were seven of these guys. I've killed six. If I can get the last one, the curse will be lifted and I'll be free. I'm sure it's someone in that stupid talent show."

Buffy nodded. "Yeah, but now that demon has what he wants. He'll be moving on."

"So, once we know who's missing from the show..."

"We'll know who our demon is!"

Giles started, remembering suddenly, "The show!"

"What?"

"It's gonna start! I'm supposed to be there!"

Buffy turned to Willow.

"Okay, um, start pulling everyone's addresses in the talent show. I-if they're not there, maybe we can catch them at home."

Sid spoke to Giles. "And you, get 'em all on stage, form the power circle. Then we can see who's a no-show."

"Um, uh, the what?"

"The power circle. You get everyone together, you get 'em, you know, revved up."

Giles nodded, still confused. "Right." He left.

Sid looked disgusted. "How'd he ever get that gig?"

******

Giles was backstage, trying to get everything into order before the "talentless" show.

"Fifteen minutes to curtain, everyone! Uh, fifteen minutes!"

Cordelia hurried over to him. "I, I can't go out there. All those people staring at me and judging me like I'm some kind of... Buffy! What if I mess up?"

Giles rolled his eyes. "Cordelia, there, uh, there-there's, uh, uh, an adage, uh, that, uh, if you're feeling nervous then, uh, you should imagine the entire audience are in their underwear."

"Eww! Even Mrs. Franklin? Uhhh!"

Giles winced. "Perhaps not."

"Yeah."

"Um, alright, um, we'll assemble on the stage in five minutes for the, um, uh, power thing." Giles called out to everyone.

Above, Sid and Buffy sat on the catwalk and watched, trying to see who was missing from the circle.

Sid glanced up at Buffy. "So, what's your deal, kid? I don't figure you for a demon hunter."

"I'm a Vampire Slayer." Buffy explained.

Sid's eyes widened. "You?! You're the Slayer?" When Buffy nodded, he added, "Damn! I knew a Slayer in the 30's. Korean chick. Very hot. We're talking muscle tone. Man, we had some times." Buffy gave him a look. "Hey, that was pre- dummy, alright? Now, I was a guy!"

"So, you kill the demon and the curse is lifted, right?"

"That's the drill."

Buffy watched him. "You don't actually turn into a prince, do you? I-I mean, your body..."

"Is dust and bones. When I say free..."

"You mean dead."

"Don't get sniffly on me, sis. I've lived a lot longer than most demon hunters. Or Slayers, for that matter."

Buffy looked away, and Sid put a hand on her knee.

"Of course, if you want to snuggle up and comfort me... "

Buffy looked disgusted and lifted his wooden hand off her knee. "So, that horny dummy thing really isn't an act, is it?"

"Nope!"

"Yuk!"

Sid and Buffy looked towards the stage once more, just as Giles began to speak.

"I-is everybody here?"

"Okay, here comes our line-up." Sid muttered.

"Quickly, everyone! Uh... um, power circle."

Below, the students arranged themselves in a circle and held hands. Sid and Buffy scanned the group for any missing members, and Giles did as well, from his position on the stage.

"Well, that's that, then. Um, everybody, uh, get ready!"

Some of the students looked confused, but broke the circle nevertheless and wandered away to get ready.

Buffy slipped under the railing, and dropped easily to the stage below, as Sid watched. Giles blinked when she landed lightly beside him.

"No one's missing."

"So the demon isn't in the show." Buffy sighed.

"It seems not. Uh, tell the others. Look, it's nearly curtain. I must get the show rolling."

"Right."

"Right."

Buffy looked up. Sid was gone.

"Sid?"

She frowned, and then began to look around for him. She stopped by a work bench and glanced around and then felt something dripping onto her arm.

Buffy reached up the shelf above her and yelped in shock when a brain rolled down from the shelf into her hands.

*****

In the library, Buffy and Xander hovered around the computer where Willow was working.

"I'm never gonna stop washing my hands." Buffy informed them, staring at her hands.

"So, the dummy tells us that he's a demon hunter. And we're, like, fine, la la la la. He takes off, and now there's a brain. Does anybody else feel like they've been Keyser Soze'd?" Xander asked.

"Sid's on the level, I'm sure of it." Buffy argued. "But why would the demon have rejected the brain? I-I mean, I thought Morgan was the smartest kid in school."

Willow looked up from the computer where she was going over Morgan's files. "He was, look at his grades: all A's. He was even taking college classes. Wait a second."

"What?"

"All these sick days."

Xander looked. "He was off for, like, half the year!"

"Check the school nurse's file."

"Look at this! 'In case of emergency, contact Dr. Dale Leggett, California Institute of Neurosurgery, Cancer Ward.'"

Xander frowned. "Brain cancer?"

Willow's eyes were wide. "That's why he had all the headaches."

"This means that whatever's out there still needs a healthy, intelligent brain." Buffy murmured.

Xander grinned, "In other words, I'm safe!"

"And it's gonna be looking for the smartest person around." Both Buffy and Xander look at Willow.

"What? What could a demon possibly want from me?"

"What's the square root of 841?" Xander asked pointedly.

Willow didn't even hesitate. "29... Oh, yeah."

"Don't worry, Willow. As long as you're with us there's absolutely no way that demon is gonna get what he wants."

******

Backstage in the auditorium, Giles was helping Marc set up another of his "magic show" pieces. He held up a pair of weights and was trying to explain a concept.

"Yes, if you, you calibrated the units of weight then you could calculate the, uh, specific maximum velocity achieved before the point of impact."

Marc smiled harmlessly. "Gee, Mr. Giles, you're really... smart! Could you do me a favor?"

Marc showed Giles how the guillotine worked on a melon.

Giles picked up the other half of it. "Oh my!"

"Pretty cool, huh?"

Giles frowned. "Are you sure there's no one else who could help you out?"

"My assistant got sick. You won't have to say anything. I'll, I'll show you. Lie down."

"Uh, uh, how, how exactly does it work?"

Marc pulled up the blade. "A good magician never tells his secrets. C'mon. We haven't got much time."

*****

Buffy, in the library, was pacing nervously. "This is ridiculous. We can't just sit here and wait for him to come to us. We have to figure out who we're dealing with."

"I still vote dummy." Xander said.

"No. Okay, so we ruled out all the people in the talent show..."

"That's because they were all there. But that's before we found the brain."

"Right. So it probably is one of them. And, and Giles doesn't know! He's with them all right now!"

Xander scoffs. "Giles can handle himself. I mean, he is really..."

Suddenly he pauses, jaw dropping.

"Smart." Buffy whispered, horrified.

Buffy slammed out through the library doors. "Giles!"

She was barely aware of Willow and Xander racing after her towards the auditorium. She was only aware of the terror in her heart and the image of Giles' warm smile and beautiful hazel eyes in her mind, urging her to hurry.

******

Meanwhile, backstage, Giles was strapped down to the guillotine bench.

"Sh-sh-shouldn't it be aimed at my neck?"

"No. No, this way your scalp gets sliced off and your brains just... come pouring out." Marc smiled and slid the head restraint onto Giles' forehead.

"What exactly is the trick?" Giles asked.

"Trick?"

Marc pulled the restraint tighter and Giles' eyes widened. "Marc?"

Ignoring him, Marc grabs a small axe and begins to hack at the rope holding the blade up.

"M-Marc?"

Another swing had the rope barely together. The blade slipped slightly, and just as Marc began the final swing, Buffy appeared out of nowhere and tackled Marc to the floor.

A third swing, and the rope is almost cut through. The blade slips a bit. Giles looks up at it in terror. Another swing and the rope hangs by a thread. Marc raises the hatchet for the final cut. Buffy lunges at him and tackles him to the floor. As he tries to get up, she kicked his legs out from under him, stood, and went into a fighting stance.

Again, Marc tried to stand, and she kicked his face, knocking him back to the floor. Marc gave a vicious growl, and Buffy noticed his demon skin coming through.

"Ewww!" Buffy muttered.

Marc took advantage of her distraction and punched her hard several times, causing her to spin and crash to the floor. Behind her, the rope snapped, and Giles cried out. At the last possible second, Xander grabbed the rope, stopping the blade, and began to pull it up and away.

Willow began to release him. "Where are the keys?"

"Marc's got it!" Giles cried.

"Willow!" Xander kicked the axe to her, and she scooped it up and began to hack at teh lock.

"Hurry!" Giles begged.

Buffy got up again and grabbed Marc, pulling him down and onto his back, then, when he stood, she began to punch and kick at him. He staggered backwards and into the disappearing-act box. The door closed on him.

"How do you lock this thing?" Buffy asked.

It turned out to be a moot point, because Marc punched through the box and reached for her. When she backed out of the way, he began to claw his way through, now in full demon form.

Marc grabbed Buffy by the neck and lifted her into the air.

Hearing Buffy's struggled, Giles shouted, "What's happening?"

The demon slammed Buffy harshly into the wall a few times.

Finally, Willow pulled the lock off, and Giles is freed. Out of nowhere, Sid leapt onto the demon's back and began to stab it with the knife.

As Giles finally rolls off the bench, Buffy and Sid force the demon onto the guillotine where he was only seconds before.

"Let go!" Buffy yelled to Xander.

Xander let go of the blade, chopping off the demons head. Willow winced.

"Uh... I must say, all of you... Your t-timing is impeccable." Giles whispered.

Buffy looked up, and their eyes met. Giles read the left over terror in her expression and frowned, but before he could say anything, Sid spoke.

"And now for the big finish."

He stands on the demon's chest and raises the knife.

Buffy looked away from Giles. "What are you doing?"

"It's not enough. He'll come back. You have to get the heart. Then all of this'll be over."

Buffy held out her hand. "Let me."

"I got it. Thanks."

Sid stabbed the demon and then he slumped lifeless over the demon's dead body.

Buffy looked sadly at Sid, and then lifted him into her arms. She was about to walk off stage when the curtain drew back, revealing the entire audience looking upon the scene, including Snyder and Buffy's mother.

"I don't get it." Snyder said, "What is it? Avant-garde?"

*****

Later, Giles and Buffy walked off of school property together. Giles was walking to his car, and Buffy was going to meet her mother at their own car.

"Buffy?" Giles asked quietly.

"Hm?"

He looked over at her, and saw that beautiful face illuminated by the moonlight. Feeling his gaze, Buffy looked over too, neither noticing that they had stopped walking.

"Did you think I was going to die?" he asked.

Buffy's eyes flashed with pain. "Yes."

He felt like a jerk for pressing the matter, but he asked, "Would you have been sad, Buffy?"

"Yes." She reached out and linked her hand with his, just for a second. "But I wouldn't have let him hurt you."

Then she released his hand and walked away, meeting her mother and vanishing into the car.

Long after Joyce and Buffy had disappeared, Giles stood alone in the parking lot, looking down at his hand, and wondering.

*****

Couldn't resist adding that part ^ ^