Xander looked round the Bronze, waiting for Willow. It all seemed so normal. Only two nights earlier it had been the scene of an apocalyptic struggle, with the fate of the world on the line. Now it was filled with partying teens who had forgotten anything unusual had ever happened. All they remembered was vague stories about gangs on PCP, just as Cordelia and Buffy had predicted. Only his friends remembered the truth, his friends and Cordelia. Everyone else had forgotten, or at least pretended to. Why? Why were they special?

Well, he knew why Buffy remembered. She was the slayer, a real-life superhero in his own school, and beautiful too. Xander smiled as he thought about her. She was the most beautiful girl in school, and yet she was willing to talk to him. That alone was reason enough for Xander to remember everything. If he had convinced himself the Harvest had just been a bad dream that would have stopped him getting close to her. But there was more to it than that; remembering meant he could help fight the monsters, help save lives, even save the world. Really, there had been no choice at all.

Willow too had remembered, just as inevitably as Xander himself. Giles had said most people couldn't bear to face the truth, but she had never hidden from the truth. She lived for it, yearning to learn, and the occult was a brand new field for her to explore. Once she had gotten over her initial fears she'd been thrilled to realise there was so much she hadn't known, so much she could learn about. It wasn't an attitude Xander could understand, but Willow had always been like that. Of course, even without that reward, she would still have wanted to help Buffy. It was the right thing to do and she always did the right thing. Willow remembering made sense.

The real question, the question that had been nagging at him for three days, the question he just couldn't get out of his mind, was 'Why Cordelia?' She said she had noticed the vampires when Brian died, but that would have been just a struggle half glimpsed in a dimly lit alley. She could easily have dismissed that as no more than a trick of the light, but instead she had remembered. Why? Why would Cordelia want to remember? Everything was perfect in Cordelia's world. What she wanted she got. Facing the truth about vampires had spoiled that for her; it had made her desperate enough to look for his help. Wouldn't it have been easier for her to forget? It just didn't make any sense, and yet that was just the start of Cordelia's weirdness.

Xander glanced at Cordelia, sitting at a table with all her old friends. She had been looking his way, but the moment he looked at her she grimaced and turned to face Harmony. The scene looked almost normal, Cordelia holding court, but it wasn't quite right. Cordelia looked slightly stiff, like an actress trying to remember her lines. Xander suspected Cordelia was having trouble keeping the secret. Strange, when she had already kept it for three weeks. Fortunately, Cordelia's behaviour was only subtly off, and her friends were too busy nodding to notice. Cordelia could still pass for her normal self, at least in public. In private it was a different story.

In private Cordelia was weird, at least since Monday. Her personality had changed in ways even discovering vampires couldn't account for. Cordelia had always seemed a heartless bitch obsessed with social status but now she was actually being halfway pleasant. She had even shown traces of compassion. Xander wouldn't have believed it was possible had he not seen the sympathy in her eyes for himself. Cordelia had always had less empathy than the average rock, but she was suddenly showing Freudlike pschyological insight. Buffy herself had said it was as if Cordelia had read her mind, yet the two had only just met.

Discovering vampires were real couldn't explain that. Cordelia had never done anything to help others before, but on Monday she had risked her life trying to help Xander's friend. She had been prepared to fight a vampire for the sake of someone she had always despised. It was unbelievable, but it had happened. Then there was her attitude to the occult. She was so blasé about it, for someone with just three weeks experience, and she had learnt quite a bit too.

"She's looking at you again," Willow said as she sat down next to Xander.

Xander didn't have to ask who Willow was talking about. He glanced back in her direction, but Cordelia avoided his gaze.

"Cordelia has been a little different this week," Willow suggested tentatively, looking shyly down at the table.

"Different?" Xander said disbelievingly. "Different is a new dress. This is Jeckyll and Hyde land."

Willow nodded. "Literally? Giles did say the hellmouth attracted the bizarre."

Xander blinked. He hadn't considered that possibility. "Like the new Cordelia. But she's trying to be nice. The hellmouth doesn't do nice."

"She could have an ulterior motive," Willow suggested.

"So she's some kind of evil freak. Not much change there. Let's tell Giles." Then they could get rid of Cordelia.

"Um, no, we've only got gossip, not hard evidence, and she's charmed Buffy, and, well, it would be awkward. We don't want a fuss. Also, Cordelia might still be on our side. There's something we don't know but it might be good, like the way the slayer is a secret."

Xander smiled briefly. Willow really was a good person, doing her best to be fair to Cordelia even though she loathed her.

"You haven't said anything to Giles, have you?" Willow added hurriedly.

Xander tried to imagine that conversation. "I couldn't. He doesn't know us, and he's almost a teacher."

Willow smiled. "Good. It's an interesting problem, but I will solve it. Cordelia is obviously trying to hide something from us, but I won't let her. She can't outwit me. I will find out what's going on and I won't need any help from Giles."

Xander looked at Willow's resolute face. When she was like that there was no stopping her. Willow really enjoyed solving problems, and Cordelia had inadvertently posed Willow a challenge she would soon regret. Cordelia didn't stand a chance; she was no genius.

"Hack her computer?" Xander suggested, feeling he ought to make a contribution.

"Cordelia doesn't know how to use computers," Willow said, then paused, looking thoughtful. "Or she didn't. She's been doing better in class since Monday. Apparently, discovering vampires are real has taught her extra math. I'll look round her files, see if I can find anything incriminating. Good idea."

It hadn't been his idea at all; it had been Willow's. The best ideas always were.

"We should just play along with her for now," Willow added. "Give her more chances to give herself away."

Xander nodded. It would mean spending more time with Cordelia but, now that she was pretending to care, her company was bearable, and, since she didn't want to be seen talking to him in public, she might decide to hold more conversations in closets. He certainly wouldn't mind that. Despite her repulsive personality Cordelia was physically attractive, though nowhere near as beautiful as Buffy. When she had pulled him into that closet, leaned close to him and gently touched his lips, well, that had been material for a week of pleasant dreams. He'd had to swap Buffy's face for Cordelia's, and cut the unromantic conversation, but still ...

Xander smiled in pleasant reverie.

The gleam of bare flesh caught Xander's eye. Buffy was walking across the Bronze, towards his table, showing a delicious length of leg. She sat down opposite him, then glanced over at Cordelia, looking sympathetic. Xander decided to speak before Buffy said anything about Cordelia. He didn't want to spend the whole night talking about that.

"So, as Buffy comes looking for a normal night out, will it be third time lucky for our hero? The record so far, two nights at the Bronze, two fights with vampires. Let's ask the Buffster herself," Xander said, trying to imitate a sports commentator.

"Xander," Buffy smiled. "Don't jinx it. I want a normal night."

The friends began talking.

An hour later Buffy was speaking. "So, I took my knife and-"

Something howled outside the Bronze, stopping Buffy mid-sentence, and sending shivers down Xander's spine. No dog sounded like that. It howled again, louder, closer, and the Bronze fell silent.

"What is that?" Willow whispered.

Buffy shrugged. "Not a vampire." She began to rummage in her bag, probably looking for a weapon.

The bouncer screamed. People began backing away from the main entrance, their faces white. Xander stood up and peered over the crowd.

"Uh-oh. Buffy, I think we've got trouble."

It looked wolf-shaped, perhaps seven foot high at the shoulder and glowing green. It slowly stalked across the floor, growling, its teeth gleaming in the dim light.

Buffy looked at the monster and groaned. "Giles didn't give me anything for green wolves: plenty of stakes, but no steaks. Brute force it is."

Unarmed, Buffy ran towards the monster. Xander followed her, trying to think of something he could do. He wanted to help Buffy in her fight, but those teeth looked sharp. Buffy jumped at the monster, punching its left flank. Her arm sank into the mists, right up to the elbow, but it just twitched slightly, then kicked Buffy backwards. Xander crouched down, behind a table.

The monster hadn't been hurt at all. Why not? As Xander looked more closely he realised the thing wasn't solid. It was made from glowing green fog, coiling endlessly in unsettling patterns, but confined within the shape of a wolf. Weird. The teeth looked solid though, like metal, and its feet had been solid enough to knock Buffy backwards. It definitely looked lethal, but how could Buffy kill it? At least it was slow.

The monster paused in the middle of the dance floor, looked at the people cowering against the walls, then headed straight towards Cordelia. Clearly it had good taste, but even Cordelia didn't deserve to be eaten alive by a giant green wolf-thing. Cordelia's friends just sat there, frozen in terror, but Cordelia didn't seem that scared. She stood up, threw her glass at the monster, then ran over towards Xander.

As the glass bounced off the monster it clinked.

"Great," Cordelia said, glaring at him. "Can't you go two nights without weirdness? I should have been told about this."

"Oh," Xander drawled, "you want the monsters to make appointments?"

Cordelia looked briefly flustered, then replied, "That's what the prophecies are."

"Did you see that?" Willow said, coming up behind them. "The glass bounced. There must be something solid inside that thing."

Buffy ran in front of the monster, then stood facing it in a defensive posture. The monster crouched, then sprang, leaping over Buffy, and landing on the table, which immediately collapsed under its weight. Xander grabbed Willow and dived to one side. The monster shook itself free of the wreckage of the table, then turned to face Cordelia.

"Don't ignore me, foggy-dog. I'm the slayer, fight me." Buffy sounded annoyed.

"Buffy," Willow shouted, "It's solid inside. Try the legs."

Buffy swiftly kicked the monster's left ankle, her foot slashing through the fog, but then she hit something solid, and the monster whimpered. As the lumbering beast turned to face the slayer she snatched up a broken table leg and clubbed the creature over the head, the blow landing with a loud metallic ring.

The monster put both forepaws on Buffy's shoulders and roared. Her knees buckled slightly under the weight, but then she twisted, shrugging the monster off. It fell sideways, landing on Cordelia.

Before the thing could struggle upright Buffy attacked it, beating it around the head and neck. After a flurry of vicious blows, she finally kicked the thing's head right off its body. The fog immediately rippled and vanished. Xander caught a quick glimpse of a skeleton, but that swiftly crumbled into dust. Only the skull remained, shimmering in the dim light.

Cordelia was coughing but she seemed unharmed. Buffy helped her off the floor.

"That fog tasted horrible. I nearly choked." Cordelia brushed herself down, then nudged the skull with her foot. "That looks like silver."

How could Cordelia sound so calm? Her life had been in danger but she sounded like it had been some minor inconvenience, nothing unusual.

"What now?" Willow asked, looking at Buffy.

"We pick up the remains, for Giles," Cordelia said, sounding slightly bitter. "Why did it attack me?"

"Good taste?" Xander joked, wondering what the real answer was.

Cordelia twitched, then smiled. "Well, I am the best dressed person here."

Buffy looked at them both and sighed. "Is the Bronze always this exciting?"

"Interesting," Giles said, examining the skull, "Most interesting."

The gang had assembled in the library again, early in the morning. Really it was too early for Xander's liking; it wasn't natural to be in school before 7:57, but Willow hadn't wanted to wait.

"But what was it? And why did it pick on me?" Cordelia said, scowling.

Buffy looked puzzled. "I've been slaying for more than a year now, and I've seen some pretty weird things, but nothing like this. Everything else was solid; they all bled. This was different."

"We are on the hellmouth," Giles reminded them. "It attracts evil. There's a veritable cornucopia of fiends and ghouls and demons to engage. Still, I think this time the hellmouth had help."

Xander looked disbelievingly at Giles. How could he be so excited by the prospect of endless fighting? Buffy and Willow appeared to be thinking the same thing, but Cordelia had an amused smile.

"Pardon me for finding the glass half full." Giles didn't sound very apologetic.

"So, what is it?" Willow asked, curious as ever.

"A skeleton with a silver skull shrouded by an emerald mist in the shape of a giant wolf?" Giles sounded as if he were quoting.

Buffy and Cordelia nodded impatiently.

"There's only one thing that meets that description, a nimbuan demon wolf. They normally come in large packs, but they are supposed to be confined to the Isles of Mist." Giles picked a book off the shelves and laid it open on the table. "They eat shipwrecked sailors."

The picture showed four sailors in ragged clothing with their backs to a cliff, surrounded by dozens of the wolves. The beach was covered in human skulls.

"Nice place," Buffy said. "Where is it?"

Giles smiled. "According to legend, 'East of the Sun, west of the Moon; Twelve leagues beyond the gates of noon; There lies the land of Merlin's birth; Where demon-lords still walk the earth.' It's not part of the normal world. It's like Avalon; a half-myth, just beyond the edge of our reality."

Willow squealed with joyful amazement. "Merlin's real?"

"Yes, and no," Giles said, smiling. "There is some truth in the legends, but most of the popular stories were invented by overimaginative bards. The truth is complicated," Giles paused and looked at the faces of his audience, "but not really relevant today."

"They come in large packs? Is the rest of the pack out there?" Cordelia looked concerned.

"I can't say," Giles admitted. "Even with the hellmouth, the wolf shouldn't have been able to get here. There are certain barriers that keep the denizens of the Isles from this world. People can come and go freely, if they know the hidden seas, but the demons have to stay there. Their magic can reach into this world a little way, enough to trick badly lost ships into their world, but that's all. The hellmouth isn't quite strong enough to breech those barriers. The wolf must have been brought here by someone, and they might have brought dozens more."

Xander was glad Giles had finished his lecture. He had enough of that during classes.

"The Master?" Willow asked tentatively.

"No," Giles said. "He's trapped in the hellmouth. He couldn't work this kind of spell while trapped. In fact, I've never heard of anyone ever summoning one of these before. There must be a very powerful witch in Sunnydale. Fortunately the wolves are pretty harmless, as demons go. There are said to be creatures in the Isles that could single-handedly lay waste a town this size 'in the space of five heartbeats.' Those accounts aren't entirely reliable but if the witch manages to bring one of the more powerful demons we'll have quite a problem."

That was enough talking. Xander wanted action. "What do we do?"

"The demon wolves can easily be killed by beheading." Giles paused and looked directly at Buffy. "Remember, when in doubt, decapitate. Not many demons can survive decapitation."

Buffy nodded, but Giles continued speaking. "Buffy will have no problems handling them; now that she knows the procedure. The witch will be harder to deal with. There are tests for suspected witches but there's no easy way to locate one in a crowd. We can't test all Sunnydale. Oh, and we'll need to bury the heads in a graveyard or they'll come back to life at sunset."

"But what can I do?"

Cordelia smiled wryly at Xander. "We can't fight. If you want to be useful, help Giles." She tilted her head in a thoughtful pose. "Willow could make a database of the weird deaths and disappearances in Sunnydale this decade, and we could look for patterns; people whose rivals all die mysteriously, ritual murders every October, houses where all the owners died violently. We might find some suspects for the witch that way."

That sounded tedious. Finding out what weird things had been happening without his noticing would be interesting, but not if it meant hours of boring research.

"Ooh. We could find other bad things too, before they find us," Willow said, predictably excited at the prospect of a research marathon.

"Well, I'm not sure it would be that useful in identifying the witch," Giles sounded doubtful. "Pre-emptive action is good strategy though. Just print me out a paper copy."

Willow winced. "Um, well, that could be hundreds of pages. Can't you use a computer database?"

"Giles?" Cordelia laughed dismissively. "Computers aren't traditional. If he starts using them, we've got real problems."

Cordelia sounded very sure of herself, considering she had only known Giles for three days.

Giles nodded. "Paper is more human, more real."

When Xander next saw Willow she looked hyper.

"I've found out Cordelia's secret, or part of it anyway," Willow quickly said as they walked toward the cafeteria. "You'll never believe it, but we can't talk here. Walls have ears, not literal ears I mean, unless with the hellmouth, but children's ears. We have to talk, tonight, my house. This is going to be fun. Labyrinthine webs of intrigue will make a really interesting problem. Just don't tell anyone. We aren't here, we haven't spoken, and you know nothing, OK?"

Xander smiled. The last sentence was certainly true. He had no idea what Willow had discovered, but it certainly had her excited. He hadn't seen her this hyped since she first got a modem. He didn't expect to find whatever Willow had discovered as thrilling as she obviously did, but she had made him curious. Perhaps he could get Willow to spill the truth, it was clear she could barely keep the secret even without prompting, but the school might be too public a place. He would just have to wait.

"So, are we going to the library?" Xander asked, changing the subject.

Before Buffy arrived Xander had never gone into a library if he could help it but now things were different. It was starting to feel almost welcoming, a refuge from the world. It was a place where he mattered.

Willow nodded. "I've compiled that database Cordelia suggested."

When they reached the library Buffy was already there, wearing a flattering top. Cordelia was there too, talking.

She broke off her conversation and asked, "Got the database done?"

Willow smiled broadly. "Gigabytes of it. A few thousand deaths and disappearances, with full crime scene reports, pictures of the victims and every file I could find that mentioned the victims in their final week."

Willow looked smugly at Giles. "I could print it all out, but there would be several thousand pages."

Buffy looked staggered. "How many years did you go back?"

"Just four," Willow said, "then the database ran out of room."

"That's one big heap of corpses," Cordelia said, sounding surprised. "There must be enough monsters here for a dozen slayers."

Xander hid a smile. If Cordelia had really been surprised, she'd have tried to hide her reaction. She thought she was tricky, but Willow could see right through her.

"The hellmouth calls, and they come," Giles reminded them. "That database may prove useful but it's too big to analyse in one lump. We'll have to extract the immediately relevant bits now and peruse the rest when we have time."

"I don't have to be at the keyboard for it to work," Willow pointed out. "The computer can be searching while we sleep."

"I know," Cordelia announced with unconvincing enthusiasm, "Why not print out the last 30 people who have disappeared, with pictures. They'll have been vamped, so if we see them we can run to Buffy."

Not a bad idea, but it wouldn't help them find a witch.

Willow nodded rapidly. "Ooh yes. Isn't that a brilliant idea Xander?"

Giles looked at both of the girls, a curious frown on his face. Willow's enthusiasm sounded almost as fake as Cordelia's. It was obviously because of whatever secret Willow had uncovered. Xander decided to play along, for now. Willow would be explaining everything that evening. In the meantime he would just have to follow her lead, but with better acting.

"Yes," Xander looked at Cordelia and asked, "Did thinking it up hurt?"

Cordelia might have found a good idea somewhere, but Xander didn't want her to think he'd gone soft. Cordelia was bossy; give her half a chance and she'd have all the gang following her orders, except for Giles. Xander had to show her that, if she insisted in being in the gang, he would fight her dominance every step of the way, for Willow's sake. Besides, Jesse had died because of her; for that alone she deserved to suffer a few extra insults.

Cordelia just smiled, claiming the moral high ground.

Willow coughed. "Um, Giles, what search criteria should I use to identify possible witch activity?"

"Print out my list first," Cordelia said, "And a copy for Buffy. She needs to recognise likely vampires too. Xander, is there anything you can be doing?"

Xander bristled at her tone, but Giles replied first.

"Willow," he said, "you may follow Cordelia's advice, this time. Xander, Cordelia; once you've both familiarised yourself with those possible vampires I will find something useful for you to do, if you are sure you want to help."

Ten minutes later Cordelia looked up from the printouts.

"Marcie Ross? I don't remember her. Are you sure this is accurate?" Cordelia said, feigning surprise again.

Xander looked at his copy. Marcie was a girl in his year who had vanished a few months earlier. He didn't remember her either but what was so surprising about that?

A smile flickered across Willow's face, then she looked thoughtful. "Why should you remember her?"

Cordelia frowned. "I remember the rest."

"This is a big school," Xander replied. "We probably never saw her."

"Hmm," Willow said, checking her files, "Me and Xander each had four classes with her. I haven't got much else on her. No one actually reported her missing. The school computer flagged her file after she had been gone a month and that was the first anyone noticed. Is she the only one you don't recognise?"

"When I should. Yes. All the more recent disappearances are older people, college students who I wouldn't expect to recognise, but she is the only student here on the list I don't remember," Cordelia said, too firmly.

She was doing it again. Her words sounded natural enough but they didn't quite ring true. The tone was slightly wrong, as if she had some emotional involvement he didn't know about. What was going on?

"Didn't her parents notice?" Buffy asked casually.

Willow shook her head. "Odd. Giles, does that sound hellmouthy?"

Giles glanced sideways at Cordelia. "Unusual, but not grossly so. Without more evidence there's nothing we can do."

Cordelia frowned then shrugged and said, "So, what now?"

"Research," Giles replied, and smiled.

Xander grimaced. That certainly wasn't his idea of fun. There had to be something more active for him to do, something more exciting.

"What's Buffy doing?" he asked. "Can't I help her?"

"Doing research is helping her. Buffy will be preparing for a fight, which isn't something you can help with directly," Giles said.

"Don't worry, Xander," Cordelia said, sounding amused, "I'm sure you'll get all the excitement you can handle later, and more." Then she turned to look at Giles. "I'll help. I so do not want more demon wolves to attack me."

Xander shrugged. Clearly he would have to tolerate a few dull hours before they got to the world-saving bit. If Cordelia could manage that he definitely could. Besides, it would give him plenty of time to admire Buffy's figure. "Bring on the books."

Xander climbed through Willow's window. She was sitting on her bed, a cup of coffee in her hand, quivering with excitement. He quickly glanced around the room, inwardly groaning when he spotted the other three coffee cups and the seven empty coke cans, every single one of them empty.

"At last. Did you tell anyone you were coming?" Willow asked him.

"No," Xander said, shaking his head. "What's the big secret?"

Willow smiled and handed him a computer printout. "I found these in Cordelia's user area. She'd deleted the files, but that doesn't destroy them. I just ran all her area through this data recovery utility I wrote and found those. Read them. Tell me what you think."

Xander looked at the printout. There were just two short paragraphs, both written that week.

The first paragraph began, "Angelus, ex-scourge of Europe, we know of thy curse and the loophole therein."

Xander looked up and asked, "Cordelia wrote this? She doesn't talk like that even now."

"And she's not smart enough to think of faking an old fashioned writing style," Willow said. "I think someone told her what to write. Have you got to the end yet?"

Xander shook his head, then continued reading. "One moment of happiness will cancel the curse. We therefore most humbly advise that ye not associate overmuch with the fair sex, lest ye know pleasure. This slayer is to be aided in her task by three mortal children, Cordelia the beautiful brunette, Xander the brave clown, and Willow the quite bright.

"Cordelia the beautiful?" Xander laughed. "That sounds like her, but she wouldn't say it that way."

Willow shrugged. "She couldn't resist adding a little self-flattery."

The note was signed 'The Children of Athena.' It was certainly a weird note, but what did it mean?

"Have you shown Giles this?" Xander asked. It was serious stuff, definitely watcher business.

Willow shook her head. "I don't know if we should. It's complicated but I'll explain. Just finish reading first."

The second paragraph had been written that morning.

"Angelus, We were pleased by thy actions during the harvest but regret that ye spoke to Buffy. Once more we advise ye against such behaviour, lest thy curse be broken. We also ask that ye inform Xander that a witch clad in her daughter's skin walks the town, killing all who threaten her vain ambition, and that there is an invisible girl living in Buffy's school. If the Master's minions should catch her, events might take a dangerous course."

That paragraph ended with the same signature.

"OK," Xander said, "why shouldn't we tell Giles? Cordelia knows stuff. This is important."

"Too important to go jumping to conclusions," Willow quickly said. "Any hacker could have planted those documents in Cordelia's files. I can't prove I didn't fake them; at least not to Giles or Buffy. They don't know enough about computers to understand the evidence. Cordelia could just deny everything and accuse us of stirring up trouble. She might have a good reason for keeping her secret a secret. Telling Giles might be dangerous. I don't want a big ugly confrontation, not without solid evidence."

Willow had always preferred to be quiet and avoid public scenes. She was too shy to defend herself in arguments, and she was too willing to see the other person's point of view. That was why she was still looking for an innocent explanation for Cordelia's weirdness. Still, Xander suspected that wasn't her only motive. Willow was too excited. She seemed to be anticipating something pleasant.

"We have to tell Giles," Xander insisted. "This is watcher business. If he finds out we knew and didn't tell him, well …"

Xander wasn't sure what Giles would do, but he might try and stop Buffy seeing them both.

"How do we know we can trust Giles?" Willow objected. "How do we know he is the real Giles? He told Buffy he was her new watcher but he never gave her any evidence."

"He knows about slayers and he's got the books," Xander replied.

"That's not proof," Willow insisted. "There may be other secret societies out there who know about this stuff, like these Children of Athena, if that's their real name. We know about this stuff. In ten years we could find some new slayer and convince her we were her watchers. Before we tell Giles anything we have to be sure we can trust him, and we have to have irrefutable evidence of what's going on."

"We have to trust people. If we start lying to each other the vampires will win," Xander said firmly, trying to calm Willow down. She had to be overreacting; Giles was too stuffy to have hidden secrets.

"Cordelia has already started the lying," Willow snapped. "Buffy would have lied to us too, if we hadn't discovered her secret first. We have to be careful who we trust. They really are out to get us, the forces of darkness that is. We can't suspect everyone but when people act suspiciously we have to suspect them, and both Cordelia and Giles are suspicious. We can't expect things to be simple either. They may want us to tell Giles about this just to spread suspicion and get us suspected of deliberately sowing suspicion so we should keep this secret secret even if keeping this secret sows suspicion of ourselves. When we know who all the players really are, and the rules of the game, then we can win."

It was nice of Willow to keep saying we, but Xander knew he wouldn't be able to do more than tag along in Willow's wake. If Cordelia was involved in the kind of intricate conspiracy Willow was suggesting, he would have no chance of unravelling that web of deceit himself. The best he could expect do was nod in all the right places and hope that Willow was right.

Giles would be able to do more. He was at least as clever as Willow, and older too. Buffy trusted him, and Xander trusted Buffy's judgement. They really should tell him everything, rather than making things even more complicated by piling their own secret plans on top of Cordelia's plots. Instead Willow wanted to keep the secret to herself. Fear of confrontation was obviously part of the motive, but there had to be more.

"It's going to be difficult," Willow continued, "outwitting Giles, uncovering secret societies and all that, but it will be interesting; very interesting. We'll have to assume the documents I found are genuine, while still remembering that they could be fakes. Giles might secretly be a master hacker pretending ignorance. Cordelia's probably working for a secret society, though I'm not sure why. Not yet, anyway."

As Willow began to explain how complex things were, Xander smiled. Now he knew Willow's other motive. It was the thrill of the intellectual chase. She had already been excited just by discovering the occult was real, but the vistas opened up by her new discovery were so vast that, on top of her earlier excitement, they had left her in ecstasy. He might not be able to understand how she could be so pleased by problems, but he had known her long enough to know how much she loved solving them. She had been like this when she had discovered hacking; in a moral panic at breaking the law, but unable to resist the challenge.

Willow kept interrupting herself as the explanation continued. The ideas must be bubbling through her brain faster than she could speak them. For once, she looked fully awake, alert and in the world. Most of the time, Xander knew, Willow just idled in neutral. School couldn't challenge her brain and he certainly couldn't. She spent much of her time immersed in her own thoughts, but even then, the one percent of Willow's mind that was paying attention to the outside world was still smarter than anyone else Xander had ever met.

Now though, Willow was concentrating the full wattage of her awesome intellect on one problem, trying to crack it. Confident of her ground, she had forgotten her shyness, and let the full brilliance of her mind blaze forth, brighter than the noonday sun. Xander only had to listen to her to know that, compared with Willow, he was but a feeble candle flame.

Still, Willow wasn't perfect. Sometimes she would follow a train of logic up a blind alley and crash spectacularly into a brick wall. Xander's intuition told him this might be one of those times. Willow was building a big tower of perfectly logical speculation on very flimsy foundations. Xander had a horrible feeling she was chasing mist and shadows; fighting fog.

By himself Xander would never be able to convince her keeping the secret was a bad idea; not when she was enjoying herself like this and spilling the secret would mean the kind of confrontation Willow had always dreaded. If only Jesse could have been here the two of them together would have been able to persuade Willow but, now that Cordelia had let his friend die, that was no longer an option.

What should he do?

Xander looked longingly at the window. He should be climbing out of it right now; Giles needed to know the whole truth, but Willow would realise where he was going. Betraying her trust would be bad enough without rubbing her nose in it.

In fact, whenever he told Giles the truth Willow would find out, and blame him for spoiling her fun, but he had to tell Giles sometime or Buffy would be angry at him keeping secrets from him. That would be worse than Willow, though he might be able to charm his way into Buffy's heart before she found out, which should stop her getting angry at him.

Xander needed more time to think, but that meant waiting, and keeping the secret while he thought. Choosing to do nothing would be a choice to follow Willow. Xander wished Willow had never burdened him with this secret, which might just be a solution to his problem.

"Will you not tell anyone I knew about this?" Xander asked.

Willow nodded, accepting his implicit agreement with her scheme, then asked, "So, did you notice the odd thing Cordelia implied about Angel's curse?"

"Angel wasn't mentioned," Xander said.

Willow smiled. "Angel, Angelus. Sound the same, don't they? That's how he knew who we were on Tuesday. The strange thing is Cordelia seems to be assuming he doesn't want his curse removed, but curses are supposed to be things you'd want to get rid off."

So Angel had a secret identity too? Was Xander the only person without a secret? Things just got more complicated the more he learned. This wasn't good. This was definitely bad. The sooner everyone's secrets were revealed the better. Spy stuff might sound fun, but it meant too much hard thinking, and Xander had always left that to Willow.

Perhaps he could drop Giles some hints so that he found out about all the secrets for himself before things got out of hand. That would mean going behind Willow's back, but since they both knew he could never outwit her she wouldn't be expecting him to try. Giles would probably want to claim all the credit for uncovering everyone's secrets so he wouldn't give Xander's help away, as long as it wasn't too blatant.

Willow might still suspect his involvement, but if he kept things plausibly deniable she would probably overlook it since everyone else would be angry with her anyway.

Xander leaned back and let Willow's fevered speculations wash over him while he waited for the Bronze to open.

The next afternoon Xander was in the mall when Buffy came up behind him.

"Looking at the bracelets?" she said.

Xander nodded. He had been looking for something to give Buffy. She'd told them about the cheerleader tryouts the night before, at the Bronze, so he'd decided to buy her a good luck token. If she liked it he might be able to ask her out, especially if she made the team.

"Willow with you?" Xander asked. Perhaps he could ask her what girls liked.

"No," Buffy replied. "Cordy. She insisted on showing me the best shops. The bracelet for Willow?"

Why should Buffy think he'd want to get a bracelet for Willow? She wasn't that kind of girl. Xander turned round to face Buffy, and his breath caught in his throat.

"Um, no," Xander said. "For you, a good luck thing for tryouts. I was just thinking about an inscription."

Buffy smiled knowingly. "Good luck is traditional for good luck tokens."

Xander nodded. He had been nerving himself to ask for something more romantic, but he couldn't go against Buffy's suggestion.

"So where's Cordelia then?" Xander asked, looking warily around the mall.

"I left her trying on dresses," Buffy said. "Getting her a bracelet for tryouts too?"

Xander laughed. Clearly Buffy didn't know him very well, yet. He'd call a vampire his friend before he started buying gifts for Cordelia.

"No," Xander said patiently. "Cordelia doesn't deserve good luck," not when she had just stood and watched while his friend walked off with a vampire. "I just like to be prepared when she's on the prowl."

Buffy sighed. "She's not that bad. Willow's accepted her. Can't we all be friends together, in a nice normal way?"

Willow was just much better at swallowing her bile than Xander. She had to be; she hated public scenes and thought it was wrong to talk about people behind their backs.

"She made our lives a misery for years. I can't forget that overnight," Xander replied. Still, she had tried to save Jesse, and almost gotten herself killed by Darla. That wasn't enough to compensate for all her past crimes, but it was agood start.

"You give as good as you get. Then you both smile. I've seen you."

If Buffy said so it had to be true. He supposed he might get a certain kind of twisted pleasure from the verbal sparring; searching for the perfect way to cut Cordelia, then watching her wince as his words hit home, all the while dodging her own poisoned barbs. It was invigorating. Besides, she couldn't really hurt him; she never said anything he hadn't heard a thousand times before, elsewhere.

Xander scowled. "Willow doesn't enjoy it."

Buffy smiled at his reply, then persisted. "She's trying to be nice now."

"Well, she's certainly still trying," Xander joked. "Why aren't you still with her?"

Buffy looked lost for words, struggling for a polite reply.

"OK, she's a um, well, I thought I saw Harmony coming. Cordy doesn't want her to see us together," Buffy eventually managed.

"Really?" Xander asked, unconvinced.

Buffy ignored him. "But I know what these last weeks have been like for her. I used to be like her, only much nicer."

Xander frowned. He hadn't thought about it, but it made sense that someone as beautiful as Buffy would be at the top of the social pile.

"Then I was chosen," Buffy continued. Her voice went quiet. "It was awful. I had this whole new secret life and I couldn't talk about it. Everything I had ever cared about seemed almost trivial. My friends all thought I'd gone weird. I wanted to keep a normal life, I still do, but instead I lost my friends, got expelled and had to leave LA. Now Cordy's going through the same thing. She might lose all her friends, everything she cares about; not like you. You'll never lose Willow. Cordelia didn't have to do anything when she found out, nobody chose her, but she decided to hunt vampires by herself. She had to cope with everything all alone for three weeks, could you?"

Xander nodded, but he wasn't sure. He would always have been able to confide in Willow. He couldn't begin to imagine how terribly lonely it would have been for Cordelia if she had found out the way she described. It hadn't happened that way though. Willow suspected Cordelia had spent the previous weekend being brainwashed by some secret society, possibly of Greek nuns. Still, being brainwashed couldn't be any less disturbing than Cordelia's version of events. In fact, Xander realised, whatever had happened to change Cordelia couldn't have been pleasant. It had turned her life upside down in a weekend, forcing her to do things she would have previously hated. Xander would have felt sorry for her if she hadn't deserved it.

Buffy paused briefly while Xander thought, then added, "She could go running back to her friends but she hasn't. She wants to help and she understands me. I don't want you to drive her away. It's not going to be easy for her. She doesn't have anyone she can talk to, except us. She needs our support, our friendship. and I can't do it alone. You can't expect her to change overnight but there's a good person under that attitude, I think. Just give her a chance."

Xander nodded grudgingly. If he let Cordelia get comfortable with his company she'd be more likely to slip and let her secret out, which would be good. "OK, but I won't let her walk over you and Willow."

Buffy smiled. "I can handle her myself."

"Good," Xander smiled back. "She's heading this way, without Harmony."

Buffy's smile tightened as she half turned to face Cordelia.

"Buying jewellery?" Cordelia asked Buffy. "There are better shops."

"No. Xander is," Buffy replied. "He's going to buy me a good luck token, for the tryouts."

"The tryouts?" Cordelia sounded faintly disbelieving.

As the two girls began talking Xander slipped into the shop.

That night, at the Bronze, Xander showed Willow the bracelet and asked, "Will she like it?"

"It's not just for luck, is it?" Willow looked away, a melancholy expression on her face, then she blinked. "Buffy's here now. We'll have to talk about Cordelia later."

Xander looked behind him and saw Buffy walking across the dance floor, as beautiful as ever. She stopped in the middle of the floor and looked around, then went and whispered in Cordelia's ear. Cordelia looked surprised, but nodded agreement.

"You spoke to Cordelia, in public," Xander said as Buffy approached his table. "Is that allowed?"

Buffy just smiled wearily. "When Harmony's not watching."

Buffy paused while she sat down then started speaking again, her tone serious. "I've got a message from Giles. He wants to meet all of us tomorrow, in the library, at half-two. He'll leave the fire exit unlocked. The watcher's council will be phoning him, and he says they want to vet you two and Cordelia."

"Didn't we go through that with Giles on Tuesday?" Xander interrupted.

"Until I told him it didn't matter what he said, I would pick my own friends," Buffy agreed, "but Giles said the council aren't as flexible as he is. He said the council must be most concerned if they want to talk to you at all."

Buffy smiled faintly. "I think that means the council is in a blind panic. They've been reading all those omens that turned up on Monday, like my dream."

Buffy briefly twitched as she mentioned her dream. Even after five days it still disturbed her.

"If the watchers are panicked shouldn't we be?" Willow asked nervously.

"Not yet," Buffy said with forced cheerfulness. "Everything will be fine unless you two start kissing."

Xander grimaced. "That is not going to happen," he stated firmly.

"Buffy," Angel said, startling Xander. He hadn't seen him approaching.

"What is it this time, cryptic guy?" Xander asked. He could guess though. Angel was delivering Cordelia's second note. Xander had been expecting it the previous night but perhaps she hadn't got it to him in time. Xander glanced across at where Cordelia was sitting. She was openly watching the gang, a smile on her face.

"Two things," Angel began, "There is a witch in town, wearing her daughter's skin. She cast her blood upon the sea and the demon wolves came to her, running across the waves. Be careful."

Cordelia's note hadn't said anything about blood. Angel must have other contacts too.

"How do you know all this?" Buffy interrupted, staring hungrily at Angel.

"The children talk to me," Angel said with a slight smile. "There is an invisible girl living in your school. You don't want to fight an invisible vampire."

Buffy glanced at Xander. "Another busy week on the hellmouth. So Angel. Angel?"

Xander looked where Angel had been standing but he had gone, vanishing swiftly and silently away.

Willow smiled. "That was interesting."

Buffy looked annoyed. "We'll tell Giles about it tomorrow. Right now, I just want a normal night out."

Xander frowned as he followed Willow and Buffy into the library the next day. He had better things to do on a Sunday afternoon. Admittedly, he couldn't think of any but it wasn't right, being in school at a weekend.

"Now they're all here, can you tell us why this is necessary?" Cordelia said, glaring at Giles.

Everyone else was already there, sitting round the main table. Xander hurriedly took a seat and looked at Buffy. She was wearing yet another flattering outfit. Xander didn't know why she bothered. Buffy would still look good whatever she wore; anything would suit her, and nothing best.

"We sorted this out on Tuesday," Cordelia continued. "Buffy picks her own friends, and you can't stop them getting involved."

Xander nodded. He didn't like agreeing with Cordelia, but she was right about that.

Giles nodded. "I understand, but the council takes a different view. I can not go against their wishes."

"They aren't here," Buffy objected.

"Yet," Giles replied. "Normally, the watcher is allowed to do their job as they see fit, guided by the ancient traditions of the council. Most watchers go years without needing to talk to the council, but this is different. Buffy's dream, and the flurry of other omens, clearly presage potential apocalypse."

"This is the hellmouth," Cordelia interrupted dismissively. "There's always big evil brewing, you said. The council didn't make any fuss about the harvest, so why now?"

A good point, but how could Cordelia be so blasé about the end of the world?

"This is a bigger evil," Giles replied.

Buffy nodded. "You didn't hear that laughter."

"But bigger than the master?" Willow asked. "He wants to destroy the world. What could be worse than that?"

"Not much," Giles admitted. "But the omens are clear and the council convinced. Something terrible is coming our way, something that makes the master look almost harmless. That much is plain."

But Buffy's dream had said nothing would happen unless he kissed Willow. Xander knew he would never do that. She was too much like a sister for him to think of her that way. So why were they making all this fuss?

Giles looked thoughtful. "Also, the council did not learn of the harvest until it was over. If it hadn't been for the omens they wouldn't have learnt about the harvest for months yet, but the omens were so bad the council actually broke its traditions and phoned me. Then I had to tell them about Buffy's dream, and about you three. Traditionally, we only send reports to the council once a year. Until recently, it took months for the reports to reach the council, much too late for them to do anything."

"What do the council do then, just write books?" Xander asked. It sounded like that was all they were good for.

Giles nodded. "Not just. Our books embody centuries of experience. Without them every slayer would have to start from scratch."

"Anyway," he continued, "it would not normally be practical for the council to try and control affairs from five thousand miles away, but this time it's different. This time we have been given a few months warning of impending disaster, enough time for the council to take action. This time the omens are so terrible, some on the council feel compelled to break with our ancient traditions and take direct action."

"You need to talk to them. Why do we?" Cordelia asked.

"All three of you are deeply involved in the omens. That's unprecedented. Our traditions embody the accumulated wisdom of millennia, but nowhere in it are there guidelines for dealing with those in your situation," Giles explained.

"You're in the new world now," Xander said smiling. "Forget your old ways. We do things differently here, and we never do them the traditional way."

If the watchers never did anything new, the vampires must know all their tricks. How could the watchers hope to win? Only ever doing things the traditional way was just asking for trouble.

Giles smiled. "Apart from Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and Valentine's Day, and Halloween. Some traditions are good." Giles looked wistfully into the distance. "I always thought not having the council breathing down the watcher's neck was a brilliant tradition."

Xander sat back, stung. He couldn't argue with that, but he still didn't like the idea of blindly following tradition.

"And some traditions are bad," Cordelia retorted. "If your council has no idea how to cope with something new, they're useless."

"Oh, they have ideas, all right," Giles said, "but I don't think you'll like them. They are liable to be counterproductive."

Xander frowned. Why couldn't Giles use plain English?

"You mean they'll make things worse?" Cordelia interpreted. She seemed to be used to the way Giles spoke. That secret society must have given her a lot of practice.

"Some of the younger watchers have volunteered to come here and advise you. They feel that if you have someone at your shoulder, twenty-four hours a day, telling you the best course of action, then nothing can go wrong."

Willow started stammering incoherently. Cordelia seemed speechless with fury.

"No way!" Xander managed to exclaim. "That's a nightmare, a total nightmare."

Buffy smiled. "Sounds like my life."

"I'm afraid this would be more intensive, Buffy," Giles said, "and you would find yourself with extra watchers too. With the fate of the world at stake, and no traditions to fall back on, many watchers are reluctant to accept a plan they think is second best. There would be several watchers in town, each with a different plan, each trying to make all of you do things their way."

"That did, um, won't happen," Cordelia said firmly. "One watcher is enough for this gang. Is that what you want us to tell the council?"

"Not quite," Giles replied. "The council is guided by the board of directors. They have enough authority to prevent an influx of watchers, but only if they can decide on a plan of their own. If the board dithers, my colleagues will ignore them."

"So we'll be speaking to the board?" Xander asked, trying to keep up with the conversation.

"Well, not directly. That would be a grave breach of protocol. You will be speaking to Mr Travers, while the board listens in."

"What do we have to say?" Cordelia asked.

Giles nudged his glasses. "The board needs to be convinced you are sound, as competent as watchers, just the kind of people they would have picked. The board does prefer the traditional approach but you will need to soothe their concerns about civilian involvement. Convince them you are reliable, and they will trust us to handle the prophecy the traditional way. Fail, and they will take more drastic measure or, worse, do nothing."

So, if Xander couldn't sound like Giles at sixteen, he would spend the next few months being stalked by the men in tweed. It was going to be a difficult conversation.

"You need to understand how the board thinks. One wrong word and …" Giles shook his head.

"So, spill," Buffy encouraged him.

"Most of the board of directors are alchemists," Giles began.

"They can make gold?" Xander interrupted. That didn't seem relevant.

Giles smiled. "Making gold is a trivial by-product of the great work. The philosopher's stone purifies everything it touches. It turns drab metal into gold, common pebbles into priceless gems, and it turns human flesh into the stuff of dreams; eternally young, impossibly beautiful, and purged of all earthly desires."

Cordelia sniffed. "That would never sell. What's the point of being rich, young and beautiful if you can't have fun?"

"That's not the point," Giles replied. "None of the directors have actually made the philosopher's stone but they have achieved limited success. None of them look much over sixty but all of them are into their second century. The board is a group of very old men, and women, firmly set in their ways. They do not react well to change, or crises. The greater the shock the more tightly they cling to the old traditions. You three are the greatest shock they have ever faced."

Xander groaned. He had thought exams were high pressure, but this phone call was in a whole new category. He would have to put on the performance of his life, in front of the worst audience imaginable. Willow didn't look happy at the idea either.

"Do I have to talk to them too?" Buffy asked.

"No, but afterwards they'll be telling us what they've learned about the omens. You will want to hear that."

Giles looked at the teenagers and sighed. "The phone call is due in five minutes. Just try your best. It's too late to back out now."

"How many languages can you read?" Mr Travers asked.

"Only English," Xander replied.

"American education is barely worth the name," Mr Travers mumbled contemptuously. "Mr Harris, are you willing to learn?"

"Yes, for Buffy's sake." Xander didn't see the point, not when they had Giles for all that academic stuff, but he could tell what Mr Travers wanted to hear.

"Would you die for her?" Mr Travers asked.

That was a question he could answer honestly. "Yes," Xander replied, his voice ringing with conviction.

Xander heard paper rustling in the background, then Mr Travers spoke again, "Very well. We will speak to Mr Giles again now."

"I'll fetch him immediately," Xander said.

Xander stepped out of the office. Willow had been keeping herself busy on the computer while Buffy and Cordelia watched, but when they heard the door open they all looked at him, their faces expectant.

"Giles," Xander said, "they want you back."

Giles put down the book he had been reading and hurried into his office, closing the door behind him.

Xander sat down and groaned.

"Bad?" Cordelia asked, with surprising sympathy.

"Twenty minutes of sheer hell. You said it was bad but it was worse than that. Those questions!" Xander exclaimed disbelievingly.

"How many Norse gods can you name?" Cordelia quoted. "Why would we want to know that?"

"They were just hoping we were the kind of people they trust, like Giles was at our age," Willow said quietly.

Cordelia looked amused. "They don't want us to run off to LA and have demon-powered orgies."

"We can do that?" Xander said startled. So far all the magic he had seen had been bad, but that sounded better.

"Xander!" Willow nudged him in the ribs.

"I don't want to. Demons are bad. It's a bad idea, bad." Xander smiled nervously, hoping the girls believed him. They didn't seem entirely convinced.

The office door opened and Giles walked out, looking worried.

"Well?" Buffy asked.

"You passed muster, just," Giles said. "The board has decided one watcher will be sufficient for the four of you. They'll tell the council that you are trustworthy people and strongly suggest that they should consider what went wrong last time the council tried direct action, back in 1625."

"What happened?" Willow asked, looking curious.

"A black magic cult was planning to create a hellmouth under London through mass human sacrifice," Giles said. "We ended up fighting a small magical war with them; arcane duels in the streets, in full public view. Over forty thousand civilians died in the cross fire. If they'd stuck to tradition, and used the slayer, we think the death toll could have been kept below one hundred."

"Forty thousand!" Xander exclaimed. The council's track record really was disastrous. It was obvious why they preferred not to get directly involved. "How could they keep that out of the history books?"

Giles shrugged. "That was easy. They just blamed the deaths on an epidemic of bubonic plague. They've covered up much worse events than that."

"The board were quite impressed by what you said you did before Buffy arrived," Giles said, then turned, and looked directly at Xander, "but they feel your knowledge is inadequate. Fortunately, the omens suggest we'll have until midsummer to solve that problem. I've been instructed to teach you all in the basics of occult lore, and given permission to teach you anything else it's safe for you to know."

Giles paused. "That was the good news. The bad news is coming by fax. They're sending us their interpretation of the omens."

"Couldn't they just tell us on the phone?" Buffy asked.

"It would take too long. The report has over one hundred pages," Giles said, shaking his head. Then he looked around. "Um, where is the school fax machine?"

"I'll show you," Willow said, standing up, then paused. "It's an old machine though. It'll take nearly an hour to receive that many pages."

Buffy smiled. "We'll wait here."

Five minutes later Xander was tired of waiting. Watching Buffy was enjoyable, but he needed to do something. "This isn't right; spending sunny afternoons shut in a library, being interrogated by a bunch of snobby old Englishmen. Why can't we just kill monsters and party?"

Cordelia smiled. "We can't kill monsters; we aren't slayers. This is dull, but at least it's safe."

Buffy nodded. "I'm not having you fighting. I don't want to put you guys in danger."

"I laugh in the face of danger, then I hide till it goes away," Xander joked, "but I'm not a book person. There's got to be something useful I can do."

Cordelia looked thoughtful, then smiled and asked. "So, what did Angel tell you guys last night?"

That seemed like a complete non sequitur. Cordelia was clearly up to something, but what? He would just to play along and encourage her to give herself away.

"Nothing much," Xander replied, trying to sound natural. "He said there was a witch in town, no surprise there."

"She used her blood to summon those fog-dogs," Buffy added.

"She did?" Cordelia sounded surprised. "That all?" she added impatiently. She must have come up with some plan involving that invisible girl.

"There's an invisible girl in school," Xander said, deliberately feeding Cordelia the cue she obviously wanted.

"Then we have to catch her," Cordelia said. "We can't have her wandering around, spying on us, and what if a vampire catches her first?"

Xander smiled. Cordelia did have a plan, a plan for action. That was his kind of plan, much better than the plotting that worried Willow.

"How?" Buffy asked. "How can I find somebody I can't even see? That's what Giles is for."

"We don't even know where to start," Xander added, trying to encourage Cordelia. If he played dumb enough she might end up dropping hints so blatant that Buffy would get suspicious.

Cordelia looked genuinely thoughtful. "Well, what do we know?"

"There's an invisible girl living in the school. That tells us zilch." Buffy sounded pessimistic.

"Um, why would a girl want to live in a school?" Cordelia said.

Xander nodded. "There are so many hotels that cater to the needs of the optically disadvantaged."

Cordelia just smiled at his sarcasm. "Why not live at home, or in the mall, or the Bronze?"

"Because she went here?" Buffy said hesitantly.

Cordelia nodded. "But why not at her home?"

"Her parents don't know. They must think she's missing," Xander suggested, then paused. He'd just been suckered into telling Cordelia what she must already know. Cordelia's rhetorical questions were carefully designed to elicit the right answers. That was sneaky. Cordelia wasn't about to slip up.

"Then she'll be on that missing list Willow printed." Buffy said, looking thoughtful.

Xander nodded. The answer was obvious now. Marcie must be the invisible girl. Cordelia must have been planning this conversation when she had suggested Willow should set up that database. That was why Cordelia had been making so much fuss about her on Friday.

"Marcie Ross," Xander said, deciding to claim the credit for finding the name. He could always trick Cordelia into giving herself away later. "She was the last one our age on that list, and she vanished in a hellmouthy way."

Buffy smiled. "You guys are good. We have a name. Um, now what?"

"We look her up," Cordelia suggested. "Find out what she liked, where she might be hiding."

Cordelia walked over to the shelves and casually picked up the latest yearbook. "She should be in here."

Buffy opened the book and flicked through the pages. "Recognise her?"

Xander shook his head. "No. How could we just forget her?"

"The hellmouth," Cordelia said. "It explains everything."

"Her only activity was band," Buffy read aloud.

"Let's look around the band room," Cordelia suggested, sounding pleased with herself. "We might find some clues."

Xander smiled. With Cordelia present, they'd certainly find clues, even if she was planting half of them herself.

Xander followed Buffy into the band room, with Cordelia one step behind him.

"Looks normal," he commented.

"She can't be living here," Buffy said. "It's too public."

"Perhaps nearby, where she can listen to them practising," Cordelia suggested.

Xander watched Cordelia carefully. He was sure she knew where Marcie was hiding. If he took his cues from Cordelia's body language he should be able to locate the hiding place first and impress Buffy.

Cordelia looked hesitant, probably deciding how to word her next hint. She glanced nervously up at the ceiling then looked at Buffy. Xander looked up, trying to see what had worried Cordelia, and spotted a trapdoor in the corner, above a cabinet.

Xander pointed and said, "Up there?" trying to sound tentative. "There's nowhere else she could hide near here."

Buffy dragged a chair over to the cabinet and climbed up to look. "Footprints. They haven't dusted in months."

Buffy jumped onto the cabinet and opened the trapdoor.

"Wait for us," Xander said as he climbed onto the chair. He didn't want to be left anywhere alone with Cordelia.

"You don't have to come," Buffy replied. "You should stay away from danger."

"Marcie's only an invisible girl," Xander began, then saw Buffy's face looking down at him. "Not a slayer."

"So you think she's harmless, like little young me," Cordelia said sharply behind Xander.

Xander spluttered. He would never describe Cordelia as harmless. She had left too many bruises on Willow's soul for that.

Buffy smiled. "There could be anything up here. You should stay down there with Cordy."

Cordelia's face became unreadable.

"No," Xander said firmly. "I'm coming with you."

Buffy sighed. "Cordy, what about you?"

Cordelia looked startled. "Um, stay down here alone or crawl around in the dust. Does Giles pay expenses?"

Buffy smiled. "You could go and find Giles and Willow, tell them what we've found."

"Yes," Xander added. "Marcie won't be needing fashion tips."

Conflicting emotions washed across Cordelia's face. "I won't be sidelined," she mumbled to herself, then, her voice ringing with confidence, added, "I'm coming up."

Xander hid a smile. Some people might be fooled by Cordelia's act, but he'd known her long enough to spot the tremor in her left eyebrow.

Buffy pulled Xander up through the trapdoor then leant back down for Cordelia. Xander looked around. The crawl space was dark and grimy; he couldn't see anything unusual.

"Eeew," Cordelia groaned. "This is horrible."

"Tread carefully, I don't want you falling through the ceiling," Buffy warned them, then pointed towards a skylight. "Footprints, heading that way."

Xander watched as Buffy hurried off, admiring the view, then shook himself and swiftly followed her.

A dozen yards in front of him, Buffy bent down and picked up a flute.

"Found something?" Xander asked.

Buffy slowly nodded, her shoulders drooping. "This must be her nest."

As Xander approached, he looked at the pathetic pile of oddments on the floor; an old yearbook, a tattered blanket, some sheet music; worthless junk, but it was all Marcie had.

"Not much of a life," Xander sighed. "I thought invisibility would be fun but this just looks lonely."

"Where's Cordy?" Buffy asked. "Did she change her mind?"

Xander looked back towards the trapdoor. "No, she's just being very careful." Cordelia was moving with great delicacy, as though she expected the floor to collapse at any moment.

"What now?" Xander asked. He had been hoping for some action, but Marcie was obviously harmless.

"Marcie, are you here?" Buffy said quietly. "We can help."

"Nobody can help me. You're all the same," a strange voice said.

Xander shuddered. That must be Marcie but he couldn't see her. There really was an invisible girl right in front of him.

"This Marcie's junk?" Cordelia asked, arriving behind Xander. She gently nudged the pile with her foot and sniffed. "Worthless trash."

"Cordelia!" Marcie screamed. "You did this. You! In my place. Get out. Now. Go!"

Xander heard Marcie run past him, screaming in fury.

Cordelia staggered back a step, then fell backwards, straight through the floor.

Xander knelt and peered through the hole. Cordelia had fallen into the science lab. Luckily, the demonstration mirror had broken her fall, but she seemed to be stunned and bleeding badly.

"It's all your fault. Everything's your fault." It sounded like Marcie had fallen through the hole too.

Buffy jumped through the hole, landing on her feet, just inches from Cordelia.

"Marcie. We can help. Cordy's sorry. Just come peacefully," Buffy said, trying to calm Marcie down.

Xander sat down, his feet dangling through the hole, and began to lower himself into the room.

"Help? How? I heard you. You kill monsters and freaks, like me." Marcie sounded calmer now.

"I never kill people, never." Buffy sounded offended.

Xander dropped to the floor and stumbled, falling to his knees.

Marcie's voice cracked. "No one can help me. It's been horrible, just horrible, and it's all her fault."

That didn't make much sense. Why would Cordelia arrange for them to discover Marcie if she was responsible? She must know Giles would find out.

Cordelia groaned. She looked terrible, obviously in pain. Whatever she had done she didn't deserve this. Xander knelt down besides her and gently wiped the blood from her cheek.

"Deja vu," Cordelia muttered, opening her eyes. What did she mean?

"Are you OK?" Xander asked quietly.

"I've been hurt worse," she said, her voice weak.

Xander looked up. Marcie was sobbing now. Xander still couldn't see her, but Buffy had her arms wrapped round some invisible shape.

A key rattled in the lock, then the classroom door burst open and Willow and Giles staggered in, both breathless.

Willow looked round the room wide-eyed. "What happened?"

Giles hurried over to Cordelia, his face pale. "Is she?" His voice trailed off.

"Shouldn't we phone 911?" Willow asked.

"I'll be fine," Cordelia quietly insisted.

"Was this slayer business?" Giles replied. When Buffy nodded he continued. "Then we can't involve the authorities yet. I've got some medical training for these situations. We'll take her to the library. I've got supplies there."

Buffy held an ice pack to Cordelia's head while Giles gingerly felt her for broken bones.

"Heavy bruising and lacerations, but no real damage. The headache should pass in a few hours," Giles finally announced. "Now, what happened and how did you find this invisible girl?"

"My name is Marcie." she interrupted, sounding indignant. "Untie me."

"We need to know where you are," Buffy said patiently. "We can't help otherwise."

Xander frowned. Marcie wanted their help; she wasn't about to run away. They should have trusted her, not tied her up, but Cordelia had insisted on taking precautions, and Giles had agreed with her.

Buffy looked at Giles. "We were talking about what Angel said last night."

Giles interrupted. "Angel?"

"Cryptic guy, remember," Xander said. "Told Buffy about the Harvest and helped with the vampires."

Buffy nodded. "He told us there was an invisible girl here. We tracked her down. She pushed Cordy through the ceiling."

Giles frowned. "I need a little more detail than that. What did Angel tell you, exactly?"

"He said there was an invisible girl in school," Willow replied.

"Is that all?"

Xander shook his head. "He said the witch had summoned those demon wolves with her own blood, but he didn't say anything else about Marcie."

Giles looked intrigued. "Hmm. Blood would make the spell more powerful, especially if she used her own. That and the power of the hellmouth might be just enough. But how did you manage to track Marcie down with such meagre information?"

"Cordy and Xander worked it out," Buffy replied. "They were brilliant."

Willow smiled meaningfully at Xander. He knew she wouldn't believe that. He'd have to tell her later how Cordelia had planted hints but for now it was enough to bask in Buffy's praise.

"It was all Xander's idea," Cordelia said. Flattering, but she probably wanted to ensure nobody asked her awkward questions. Then Cordelia turned her head to look at the chair Marcie was fastened to. "What did you mean, my fault? I don't remember ever seeing you."

Yes, Cordelia definitely didn't want people asking how they'd worked out who Marcie was. The process had been too tidy. Buffy didn't seem to suspect anything but Giles was smarter. If he heard too much detail he'd know something was fishy.

"You never saw me, even when I was visible," Marcie said bitterly. "Everyone ignored me, and I vanished. You made me into a freak."

"Of course!" Giles exclaimed. "Quantum physics."

Xander stared at Giles. What did he mean? Everyone else, even Willow, seemed equally baffled.

"It's a rudimentary concept that reality is shaped, or even created, by our perceptions," Giles explained.

"And the hellmouth encourages weirdness," Cordelia added.

"Yes," Giles said. "People perceived Marcie as invisible and you became so. It's not Cordelia's fault, Marcie."

"If she hadn't ignored me," Marcie persisted.

"I didn't know," Cordelia interrupted. "Xander must have ignored you too, but you didn't half kill him. I could have died."

"You came into my home, kicked my things, insulted everything I have," Marcie shouted. "What did you expect? Flowers?"

"I came to help you," Cordelia said emphatically. "And I wasn't trying to insult you. Your pile of junk looked so pitiful. It was completely worthless, but it was all you had. I was feeling sympathetic."

The amazing thing was, it sounded like Cordelia really believed everything she had just said. She might have been tactless but her heart had been in the right place. Marcie didn't seem impressed though. She just snorted disbelievingly.

Willow looked thoughtful. "Did you actually want Xander and me to notice you?"

"I wanted to be noticed," Marcie snapped. "Everyone ignores you. Nobody ignores Cordelia."

Cordelia's eyes opened wide in surprised realisation. "You wanted to be like me, but you failed."

"Like you!" Marcie spat. "You mean vain, arrogant and cruel? Nobody wants to be like you, nobody even likes you."

Marcie sighed, and in a quiet voice added, "I just didn't want to be lonely."

"And you thought being popular would help?" Cordelia smiled disbelievingly. "You think I'm never lonely? I can be surrounded by people and still feel alone. It's not like any of them really know me. Half of them don't even like me. People just want to be in a popular zone, like you did. Sometimes when I talk, everyone's so busy agreeing with me, they don't hear a word I say."

As Cordelia spoke her voice grew wistful, tinged with old pain. "It's lonely at the top. Real friends are much better, if you can find them. You would have been better off with Willow and Xander."

Cordelia smiled faintly. "Buffy knows what I mean. She was popular once."

Buffy nodded. "There was something missing, and it looked like you three."

Xander was puzzled. There was no doubting the sincerity of Cordelia's words. Buffy believed her and nobody was that good an actress. Cordelia clearly had hidden depths, but that left one key question unanswered. "If you're not enjoying it, why do you work so hard to be popular?"

"It beats being alone all by yourself," Cordelia's voice grew bitter as she looked at Xander. "I've never had any real friends. I doubt I ever will. You only tolerate me because I'm useful. That's why I had to go into the ceiling, and look what that got me. No, popularity is a poor second to real friendship, but it's the best I can get."

Xander knew that must be the headache talking. Nobody could think that way and, even if they could, Cordelia would never be so open about her feelings if she were thinking straight. If it had been anyone else he might have thought they were trying to make him feel guilty but Xander knew Cordelia was too proud to reveal any vulnerability, no matter what the motive. It would take a life-shattering trauma to weaken Cordelia's pride and Xander knew she hadn't been through any of those — apart, he supposed, from discovering vampires were real, and perhaps being brainwashed by some puritanical Greek cult. Still, neither of those adequately explained Cordelia's outburst.

It had to be the headache talking; no other explanation made sense.

Buffy began spluttering denials while looking accusingly at Xander. Willow just looked guilty, and took a half-step towards Cordelia.

Marcie laughed scornfully. "You think you've had it tough? You disgust me."

Cordelia nodded. "You've had it worse, months of complete isolation, without people even pretending to listen to you, but it wasn't my fault," she said, in a calm sympathetic voice pitched just right to make Marcie furious.

Marcie began to reply but Willow interrupted, casually remarking, "Couldn't we cure Marcie by reversing the process? If we act as if we can see her, then our perceptions will become real and Marcie be made visible once more."

"Ingenious," Giles commented, startled, then looked thoughtful.

Buffy looked confused. "How can we pretend to see something that isn't visible? We'd know we were faking it. We couldn't make Giles twenty just by acting like he was, could we?"

Willow shook her head. "No, not that way. We tell people who don't know we saw Marcie round the corner just a minute ago. We keep dropping her name into conversations until people believe Marcie exists. Once the school believes Marcie exists, she will become visible."

Marcie sounded hopeful. "I can be cured?"

Giles frowned. "It's ingenious, but it's too dangerous. The consensus image of Marcie your actions would create in the school wouldn't be the same as the real Marcie. The hellmouth would give that consensus human form, but it wouldn't have a human soul. At best it would be soulless, at worst …" Giles shuddered. "There are so many things that could use the body we would be creating, so many terrible things. It's a good idea, but it isn't safe."

Giles paused, adjusting his glasses. "Nor should we be so quick to assume my first explanation is right. If the Hellmouth truly rendered reality that labile other consequences should follow, which we do not see."

"Can you cure me or not?" Marcie demanded.

Cordelia shrugged. "Don't worry, Marcie. Giles will cure you. He knows magic, I bet."

Giles looked thoughtfully at Cordelia. "I do have limited knowledge of the magical arts, but no practical experience."

Cordelia smiled strangely at that, but Giles continued. "Still, I might be able to find a cure, but I will need to consult my books."

Buffy nodded. "See, Marcie. Everything will be all right. You just have to wait a few days."

"Wait where?" Marcie asked. "Tied up in here like some monster?"

"No. You're human," Giles said firmly. "Buffy can take you home with her."

"I can?" Buffy said, sounding slightly panicked. "How do I explain it to Mom?"

"None of our parents would notice an invisible presence eating all the food," Cordelia added sarcastically. "You take her, Giles."

Xander and Willow nodded. An invisible girl sharing his bedroom might be interesting but there were so many ways she could accidentally get him in trouble with his parents.

"You can stay in my flat, if you promise not to run away or touch anything," Giles reluctantly told Marcie. "Not everything I have there is safe."

Marcie took several seconds to respond but eventually she replied, "OK, but I better be cured soon."

"So, what now?" Buffy said. "Has that fax finished yet?"

Giles shook his head. "You should help Cordelia home. She needs a good night's rest. Willow and Xander can stay and keep Marcie company if there's no problem."

Xander smiled. "It'll be fun. She can tell us all the things she's spied on." Willow nodded agreement.

"But when will we know what's in the fax? I want to know why the watchers are panicking," Buffy persisted.

Giles smiled. "The council would never panic; it would be too undignified."

"Was that a joke?" Xander asked smiling. "You need to work on your delivery."

Still smiling, Giles looked at Xander. "I'll read the fax tonight, and summarise it tomorrow morning, at eight-thirty, if that's not too early."

What could Xander say? Buffy and Willow were both eager to hear about the prophecies that had panicked the watchers. He would have to agree, despite his reluctance to be in school so early in the morning. Slowly he nodded his compliance.

Willow looked bashfully at Giles. "You said you'd been told to teach us about the occult. When will that start?"

"When there isn't a crisis," Giles replied. "I have to decide what is safe and useful for you to know. I doubt you want or need to memorise the names and attributes of all one thousand children of the demon Fthagael."

Definitely not. That would be worse than school.

"But," Giles continued, "There are things I can tell you that might save your life. They might even help you four save the world."

"Fighting?" Xander asked. Being able to fight like Buffy would be fun. "You can teach all of us, not just Buffy."

"No," Giles said. "It is Buffy's duty to fight, not yours. Also, you are too young. If you learnt to fight effectively you would just become overconfident and get yourself killed. Watchers don't learn the martial arts till their mid-twenties at the earliest."

Giles smiled. "Still, I might teach you the crossbow. It's useful but keeps you at a safe distance."

Xander frowned. That was something, but he had hoped for more.

Buffy nodded. "Leave the fighting to me." She turned and looked at Cordelia. "Can you stand?"

Cordelia groaned in pain as she struggled to her feet. "Barely. I certainly won't be at the tryouts tomorrow."

"Tryouts?" Giles asked.

"For cheerleading," Buffy replied.

Giles looked disdainful. "Ridiculous pastime. It is fortunate Cordelia has got a good excuse to drop it. None of us will have the time for such frivolous hobbies, and the council would certainly not approve."

Buffy stiffened slightly but said nothing. She must be waiting for a better time to tell Giles.

Xander watched Cordelia limp out of the room, leaning heavily on Buffy. Giles followed them, heading back to the fax.

"OK, Marcie," Xander said brightly. "What's the funniest thing you saw?"