Willow yawned.

It wasn't a demure, ladylike indication of mild fatigue; it was an exhausted, jaw-cracking, every-tooth-exposed gaping hole in her face that lasted until Willow realized everyone was staring at her, and she hastily clapped both hands over her wide-open mouth. Finally getting her breath back, the red-haired girl sheepishly mumbled through her fingers still covering her lips, "What? I've had a rough night."

Grinning at his friend, Rick agreed, "Yeah, which means it's time to wrap it up for now." Becoming more serious, as his next remarks to the others showed, "Guys, we could spend the whole week talking about everything, so let me make things quicker for everyone. First and most important: Xander Harris is gone. Just like so many others, he went out into the Sunnydale night, and he's never coming back. The only that that I - that we can do about it is to make sure that he'll be the last one ever that disappears!"

Buffy began to protest this. "Xander-"

"NO!" roared Rick, steadily giving the shocked Slayer he'd interrupted an extremely stern look. "Buffy, this has got to stop. You and the rest just can't call me by that name anymore. Yes, I'm still me - well, mostly, but I'm also the Mayor now, and I have to be him! Because of that!" After his last urgent statement, Rick imperiously pointed to a bare section of the library floor close to the table.

Wide-eyed, Willow managed to get out, "Is that where-"

Sagging back into his chair, Rick wearily nodded, "Yep, the Hellmouth itself." Glowering at them all, a still-irritated man grumbled, "Do you have any idea at all of just how many mages, wizards, demons, vampires, and other evil monsters there are on earth alone, and also from other dimensions, that'd do anything to control the Boca del Infierno? Well, I have, right from Wilkins' memories, and if word ever gets out that sorcerer is gone, or that he's been changed into a teenage high school student, we'll really regret it! Forget about those fiends getting a number and waiting for their turn, they'll hit town all at once and stomp the whole city into the ground during their fights with each other to take over the Hellmouth! The only lucky people in Sunnydale then will be the ones who get killed right away!" Breathing hard, Rick then paused in his rant to resolutely eye the rest of their group, all of who looked more than a bit sick at the picture their friend had just painted with his words.

Giles was the first to reluctantly speak. "Are you saying that you need to impersonate Mayor Wilkins? I must point out that there are a rather large number of objections-"

"Not impersonate, Giles," broke in Rick, impatiently shaking his head. "Be him. Use his memories to run the Hellmouth, the town-"

This time it was Buffy's turn to indignantly interrupt. "But, Xan- Rick, you're not anything like him, the Mayor! How can you get away with it?"

Rick grimaced, and then he sent towards the Slayer a crooked smile, before answering, "Yeah, thank God, I'm totally different from that guy, and I sure as hell won't act exactly like him, being all friendly and informal to the voters, while plotting to sacrifice every one of 'em in his efforts to turn into a giant snake."

His features a bit green at how narrowly they'd escaped disaster, Giles murmured, "I believe you mean an Olvikan demon, Xan- er, Rick. At least, that seems to be the best identification I can presently make of whatever monstrous being that Wilkins was determined to become."

"Well, it's not gonna happen anyway, so we might as well as forget about that," shrugged Rick, who then suddenly developed a mischievous look on his mature face, as he studied the Englishman across the table uneasily regarding the other adult eyeing him.

With a perfect deadpan, Richard Wilkins IV now mused, "Hey, instead of whatever Dad planned, I think I'll just declare that occasion, when he would've started crawling around on his stomach, to be Rupert Giles Day for the whole city. Yessir, everybody will be urged to dress up in tweed, with prizes for those who manage the best English accent, the ability to say with a straight face that beer should be served at room temperature, and the top ten reasons in their written essays on why the French should be hated. Besides just for being the French, anyway."

A very icy British frown was then bestowed upon the other three people around the table now laughing at the top of their lungs. As he impatiently waited for them to calm down, Giles lifted his eyes in exasperation to the library ceiling, and when the hilarity finally showed signs of ending, the school librarian then lowered his gaze to see Willow wipe tears of mirth from her face, while this young woman snickered, "Yeah, that's a perfect Xander plan. Uh, Rick, I mean. Anyway, you'll use your memories to act like the way the Mayor should, right?"

A wide grin still on his own features, Rick leaned back in his chair and happily nodded his answer to Willow's question. Which was soon accompanied by another follow-up question delivered more seriously by that girl: "Okay. Um. Ah, you'll be learning all that stuff about the Hellmouth and using it to stop the bad things that go on in town, but doing it in such a way that Wilkins looks like he's just as evil and powerful as ever to those that know about him?"

"There aren't all that many, Wils." Rick furrowed his brow in deep thought. He went on to further explain from his memories, "The Mayor kept himself as low as he could under the scope of the, um, magical radar of his enemies and other neutrals. He didn't - doesn't - have any real allies, and that's just fine with him. Fewer chances to guess his secrets. Anyway, he defends his territory as anonymously as possible - which doesn't mean he'll particularly care about the body count on their side - and he's done it well enough over the last century that he's built up a pretty nasty reputation among the other surviving monsters who might ordinarily take over. They know enough to usually stay away, but if they have to come to the Hellmouth anyway on business or pleasure or some other reason, they negotiate first with Wilkins, with him using cut-outs to keep his competition from figuring out who's really in charge. Even if they actually meet up with him, for all they know, he's just a low-level corrupt human politician passing along the orders of his boss, the Hellmouth sorcerer. Yeah, it's kinda involved, but you can't argue with success."

A raised eyebrow from Giles was accompanied by that man's doubtful inquiry, "He actually got away with the ploy of the minion or minor character revealing himself to be the evil mastermind in the last chapter?"

Rick shrugged. "I didn't say he invented that trick, just that it worked well enough for him, among other things." He glanced with interest next to himself at a blushing Willow opening and closing her mouth, as if trying to work up the courage to say something. "Cat got your tongue, Wils?"

Giving the other two members of the Scooby Gang across the table a beseeching look, Willow then dolefully turned to her friend and wailed right into his face, "Xan, about the other stuff- Look, I was there in our Civics class back in junior high during finals, when you got up from your desk and sang to everyone the song 'I'm Just A Bill' from Schoolhouse Rock! How can you possibly govern a whole city?"

Smirking at an unhappy Willow, Rick then nostalgically pointed out to her, "Hey, I passed! Even got a B-minus for it, too." Eyeing Buffy and Giles with their own appalled faces, the mature man's smirk deepened, as he raised an index finger to tap his temple several times. "Guys, I've also got all of Wilkins' memories on actually running Sunnydale for the humans. Yeah, he's become completely bored about the job, considering he's done it for decades, but that doesn't mean he's not good at it! I'm absolutely sure I can fake it- Hell, every once in a while, you hear on television or read about it in newspapers about some kid getting elected to public office, even as the mayor, in some small town."

After finishing that last sardonic statement, Rick glanced around the library table, at where the others had all developed the identical mulish expression that indicated they were prepared to further argue about this. He then raised his right hand and waved it in a clear signal for them to instead keep quiet and pay attention to him. "Look, it's getting really late, and we've got to leave here. But, before we do that, I want- need to ask you to go along with something. It's because you're still calling me Xander, which means you still think of me as him, not Rick Wilkins Eye Vee."

Buffy protested, "Hey! It's only been, what, an hour or so that we learned about the new you?"

Rick nodded his reluctant acceptance over that, but he stressed to the others, "It doesn't matter. Like I said before, you have to get used to accepting the fact that Xander Harris is gone, and that there's absolutely no connection between that vanished guy and the Mayor. One slip, and it might mean disaster if other people and not-people put two and two together and try to take advantage of it. So…I'd like to place a spell on everybody right here and now."

Rupert Giles sharply said, "What sort of spell?"

Sighing, Rick told them, "It's a variation of Sunnydale Syndrome, but instead of blurring or removing memories, it adds one. What it'll do, it makes you know that Xander Harris vanished on Halloween night, and he never came back. It'll also cause you to feel, behave, and act exactly like you would have if that really happened."

Looking with horror at the man next to her, Willow blurted, "You want us to forget about you?"

An appalled Rick stared at the red-haired girl in her chair beginning to cry. Hastily putting his arm around her shoulders, the mature man quickly reassured Willow as he hugged her to him, "NO, Wils! Deep inside your mind, you'll still know that I'm still around and that I was changed into the Mayor. But you won't be able to say, write, or sign this to anyone, and since that spell will be powered by the Hellmouth energies, including Sunnydale Syndrome, nobody here in town will ever be able to get it out from you, not by any other kind of magic, hypnosis, or mind-reading abilities."

"That spell…seems to be a variant of a geis, Rick," frowned Giles at the pair across the library table still embracing. "Those enchantments always have the possibility of accidentally violating that obligation or prohibition, with the breaking of that binding causing great grief."

"He wants to put a spell that's a big white duck on us?" A bewildered Buffy Summers then flinched at the triple synchronized stares of disbelief being sent to her from all the others.

"G-E-I-S or G-E-A-S, Buffy," Giles resignedly spelled out to the Slayer. "It's an idiosyncratic taboo, similar to being under a vow, but instead cast or bespelled by another. That sort of enchantment is very common in Celtic mythology-"

"Okay, okay you don't have to read aloud to me a whole book about it," interrupted a sheepish Buffy, who then sent a glower at where Rick and Willow were snickering to each other, having let go of their hug and sitting back in their chairs, smiling at the Slayer, who had her face suddenly scrunch up in thoughtful dismay. "Hey, that geese spell - it'll make me feel really bad about you being missing, since that means you probably ran into a vamp or other demon and got killed?"

Rick had an equally saddened expression then appear on his features. "I'm afraid so, Buffy. You'll also feel unhappy in various degrees while telling or being around other people who also learn about my disappearance, depending on how much they know about the Sunnydale nightlife. Your mom, say, might think I'm a runaway and you'll have to agree with her while also feeling sad both about my demise and that Joyce can't be told otherwise. It'll be different for you when Cordy learns about it, since she knows about the Scooby Gang and what lurks in the dark, so you and Giles and Wils will have to act sad in another way. But none of you will ever break the geis." At those last words, Rick saw out of the corner of his eye Willow stiffening with alarm in her chair.

"Rick, what about your- Xander's mom and dad?" At that aghast question from the red-haired girl, Buffy and Giles also stared with shock at each other over something that nobody had previously considered, until this pair switched their attention back up the library table, where a stone-faced man was bleakly regarding them all, until his thinned lips opened to tersely speak.

"What about them?"

Willow beat out the others to start a choked response of "But you-" until she was thoroughly cut off by someone who'd clearly had enough.

"That's private. Now, do you want to have me put the spell on you, or not? Look, you'll still know deep inside that I'm still alive, plus it won't be permanent - just for a couple of weeks. Hell, considering the way things work in this town, I'll be completely forgotten by everyone then, just like Jesse!" Rick's angry gaze swept around the room, successfully silencing all there, who had to admit that he had an actual point. Taking a deep breath, the man with the politician's face then gritted out, "Also, if you really need to end the spell before that, all you have to do is to come back here, sit in the same chairs you're in now, and have everyone say at the same time, 'I want the spell placed on me at Halloween to stop.' You'll be able to talk to anyone you like then and be back to normal."

There was a frozen pause in the room, until someone finally reacted. Rick felt a small hand clasp itself around his own left hand, and startled, he looked over to see and hear a sadly-accepting Willow Rosenberg by him sniffle, "I'll do it, Xander, and don't growl at me, because I just want to say your name for maybe the last time." As she squeezed his hand once, the young woman wiped at her tear-stained face with her other hand.

Buffy Summers felt her own eyes prickle at this, and she impulsively spoke, "Yeah, that goes for me too." The Slayer then appealingly looked at the Watcher next to her now furiously polishing his glasses.

Rupert Giles concentrated upon his task, not meeting anybody's eye, until he finally sighed, and placed his glassed upon the table, to examine everyone there with a rather unfocused stare. At last, there came from the Englishman a reluctant nod, and an equally unenthusiastic mutter, "Very well, as Shakespeare wrote, 'If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly.'"

"No problem, G-man." Still holding onto Willow's hand, Rick Wilkins IV closed his eyes. An instant later, the other three people there felt a quick throbbing sensation throughout their heads. Before anyone could actually react, they saw Rick open his eyes again and heard him say in calm satisfaction, "Okay, guys, it's done, just like Giles wanted."

"What?" burst from Buffy, beating out the others there. "I don't feel any different from what just happened!"

Rick shrugged, and he also gently removed his hand from Willow's grasp, while telling them all, "Oh, the spell won't start actually working until you leave the library." The older man then looked across the library table at the Briton somewhat shakily replacing his glasses upon his face. "Giles, can you take Wils and Buffy back to their homes in your car?"

"Er, certainly. But what are you going to do, Rick?" tentatively asked the Watcher.

Leaning back in his chair, Rick waved a casual hand around at their surroundings, "I'm just gonna stay here for a while. I need to study the Hellmouth up close, anyway, and it's also a good chance to stock up on my mojo without any other Big Bad noticing. Plus, I'll also scan the town, keep an eye on things and make sure no troublesome demon decided to take advantage of tonight to roam around." Smiling at everyone, Rick then began to fade away, his body becoming intangible enough so that the staring Scooby Gang could see right through him at the back of his chair. Finally, he completely vanished, until a chuckling voice came out of thin air where he'd previously been sitting. "I'll see you guys first thing Monday morning here, and we can work on our plans then. Oh, yeah, I'll be right here - the library's the only place in town where your geis won't work and you can talk to and about me, without any problems. See ya, gang."

Blinking in sheer astonishment, Willow, Buffy, and Giles traded bewildered glances, and after hearing nothing else, they cautiously got out of their seats, and headed towards the library door with equal wariness and an occasional glance over their shoulder at the empty chairs. During this, Buffy looked startled, and she then cleared her throat to get the attention of the man walking next to her. "Giles, on our way, could you stop off at Crawford Street? I want to check-"

"Oh, for Chrissakes, Buffster!" An exasperated voice without an accompanying body rang throughout the library. "I told you that Deadboy was fine! If you really have to know…" The voice from an invisible Mayor trailed off into irritated grumbling, and in the next second, a yard-wide image of a Sunnydale street map appeared, hanging in mid-air just before the library doors. At one specific location of a structure, a pulsating red dot glowed, followed by Rick's sardonic commentary: "See? He's right there at this moment, and no, I'm not going to show you what he's doing! For all we know, he celebrates Halloween by dressing up in a white disco suit and dancing the night away in his bedroom to the soundtrack of that Travolta film! Like I really need to see that!" At those last derisive words, the library doors opened without anyone touching them.

An annoyed Buffy then stalked through the passageway, trailed along after by a giggling Willow and Giles with his own twitching lips, which meant that none of this trio noticed the library doors soundlessly closing after them. Until after they'd all taken a few steps down the school corridor, Willow's face suddenly turned blank, and the red-haired girl stopped short, calling to everyone there also halting in mid-step to look at her in surprise. "Guys, wait up. I need to check something."

Turning around, Willow went back to the library doors and pulled open the right-hand panel. Peering into the book-filled room, she examined the entire deserted area, only to jump slightly when another girl's voice spoke into her ear. "What's going on, Wils?"

"Oh, nothing. I thought maybe I forgot something here, but I can't remember what it was. It'll probably come to me, I guess," shrugged Willow to Buffy who'd joined her and was also glancing over the Sunnydale native's shoulder into the empty library. "C'mon, let's get out of here. Maybe Xander left a message for me on my home phone about what happened to him. I'll call you at your house if he did."

"Gotcha, Wils." Buffy stepped back and around, soon followed after by Willow to where Giles was waiting for them in the corridor. Calling over her own shoulder above the sound of the other girl's closing of the library door, the Slayer commented, "Well, at least we know what we're doing this weekend, trying to find out just what happened on Halloween, even if nobody really got hurt."

Long after the footsteps of the departing trio died out in the hallways of Sunnydale High, that school was totally silent, until there was then delivered a remarkably sad sigh from out of thin air inside the library.