Xander smiled, and turned the page. All the really juicy bits might be in Latin, but that just meant he got to have fun speculating about what they were, and anyway there were plenty of dictionaries and grammar books here. With their help, he could manage to puzzle out the gist of the Latin, and satisfy his curiosity.

'You were right,' Cordelia said, walking into their secret room.

'I was?' Xander said, hastily closing the book he'd been reading. 'Of course I was right. Um, what about?'

'Martial arts,' she said, snatching the book from his hands. 'The life cycle of the common succubus?'

'We need to know how to recognise them,' Xander said. 'You been attacked again?'

She didn't look hurt, but he was pretty sure she hadn't been wearing that top when she went out. Either she'd found a bargain, or she'd lost more clothes to combat damage.

Cordelia pointed at the bookcase next to the kitchen door. 'Margo left us dozens of books on demon recognition, and yes, I was.'

'Need any first aid?' Xander said, standing up. 'I've been reading about that too,' and not because of the perks. Buffy had slayer healing, but the rest of them didn't, and they all kept getting attacked, particularly Cordelia. As she'd said, they needed someone who could patch them up, and she wasn't the type, however hot she'd look in a nurses uniform.

'Only for my clothes. I ripped my top getting away.' Cordelia said, then sighed. 'I don't know why you bother. All the explicit stuff is in Latin, and you can see better pictures in Playboy any day.'

Playboy wasn't real though. Succubi were. He would never be pounced on by twin nymphomaniac gymnasts, but he might meet a succubus at any time, if he was really unlucky.

Smiling, Xander opened the book to page 217. 'They don't have pictures like that in Playboy.'

Cordelia glanced down at the the full colour plate, a desiccated corpse covered in bite marks, then quickly looked away. 'Succubus victim?'

Xander nodded. Succubi made for pleasant daydreams, but the photos made it very clear the reality was nightmarish.

'Don't you forget it,' Cordelia said. 'So, when do you want to start?'

'Start what?'

'Martial arts,' Cordelia said, as if it should have been obvious. 'I don't think Giles is delaying on purpose …'

'But it's not something he's comfortable about teaching us.' Xander finished, 'and Willow isn't fit enough yet.'

Cordelia scowled. 'She's not trying hard enough. She doesn't really want to learn.'

'Like you didn't?' Xander said, smiling.

'Don't,' Cordelia said sharply, and Xander shrank back in mock terror from her glare. 'Running isn't enough, and we can't wait for Willow.'

'Noticed how it's always her Giles picks for the little errands?' Xander asked. 'You still sure you don't want to find another teacher?'

'Know any who know about vampires and demons?' Cordelia asked. 'The ones in the phone book can only teach us how to fight people, not much use. Either we wait for Giles, or we use the books -- but no magic. We can't trust it.'

'The books it is,' Xander said reluctantly. A human teacher would be much better, but he couldn't afford to pay for lessons, and even Cordelia couldn't hurry Giles much. The books would have to do for now. Anything would be better than nothing.

'So, what do we need? You've been looking at the books.'

'A rolling pin, skipping rope, knitting needle, chair leg, and toy train,' Xander said, straight-faced. 'No, wait, that's for one of the advanced exercises.'

Cordelia sat down, her eyebrows raised. 'You serious?'

'It's some medieval English style, invented by these guys called the Masters of Defence, and adapted by the watchers. It's very, um,' Xander hesitated, searching for the right world.

'Odd?' Cordelia suggested. 'What's the point of that exercise supposed to be?'

'Flexibility, I think.' At least, that was what the Latin proverbs the writer had quoted seemed to mean. 'Pick up a random weapon, use it for a random time, then switch to the next one.'

'Improvisation. Like you might do in a real fight,' Cordelia said. 'Sounds practical.'

'Very,' Xander agreed, 'once you get under the tweed. There's a chapter on using bottles in bar fights — how to pick the best one, how to break them safely, what to do once you've broken them – all in ye old English, but there's also several hundred pages of commentary, with footnotes.'

'Watchers,' Cordelia said, smiling. 'They can make anything dull. Where do we start?'

'Chapter one,' Xander said. 'Basic hand to hand stuff: deflecting blows, taking falls, what to do if you're slammed into a wall.'

Xander hesitated. Cordelia might not like the next bit, but she was going to find out. He'd have to be diplomatic. 'There's a lot of grappling involved. We've got to learn all the joint locks, and how to escape from them. If you don't want to do that with me-'

'Just make sure you don't get confused,' Cordelia said, then muttered something under her breath.

Xander sighed with relief. He'd enjoy all the touching, of course, Cordelia did have a great body, but that was just a perk. The really important thing was learning how to fight properly, and for that he needed Cordelia's cooperation.

'Upstairs, then,' Cordelia said, standing back up. 'You go first.'

Cordelia stumbled backwards, then tripped, landing on her side.

Sprawled on the next mat, Xander looked at her. 'Two minute break?'

Two minutes wouldn't be enough to recover, the way he felt two days might not be enough, but if Cordelia could keep going so could he.

Her chest heaving, she slowly turned to face him. 'Optimistic, much? Wednesday.'

'Not tomorrow?'

'Tomorrow, you'll be aching all over.' She began pushing herself up off the floor. 'Shower time.'

Her arm wobbled, then folded.

'Once you're not too tired to stand,' Xander suggested, smiling wryly. 'You look--'

'We both look terrible,' Cordelia said wearily. 'Next time, we stop sooner.'

'But the book says we're supposed to do it until we drop. We need to know our limits, and be able to fight even at them.'

'We can work up to that,' Cordelia said firmly. 'You need -- we both need to get in better shape, and read the footnotes next time. You might've missed something.'

'But there're thirty pages-'

'Read them,' Cordelia repeated. 'They might be important.'

Xander looked at her, sweat glistening on her perfect skin, then quickly up at the ceiling.

'Remembered anything else about Moloch?' he asked, changing the subject.

'No.' Cordelia scowled. 'You didn't tell me much.'

So she kept complaining, but that didn't make any sense. 'If I'd known you might be blasted back in time-'

'Remember the hell mouth? Big mystic thing. Makes-'

'Why didn't I think of that?' Xander asked sarcastically, wondering what was bugging Cordelia. 'I'll go and tell Jonathon about this right now, in case he-'

'Jonathon isn't your-' Cordelia began hotly, then cut herself off. 'He was never part of the team.'

Xander looked at Cordelia, her face shadowed by a subtle pain. That explained part of her issues, a very small part. Something had gone wrong between them all in the original future, something that had left Cordelia bitter about his future self not telling her stuff.

'You're not just part of the team,' Xander said, guessing at what she wanted to hear. 'You're my friend. Forget about what future me did; I'd never keep any secrets from you, promise,' he said, then jokingly added, 'Want to know what I did in the bathroom this morning?'

'Were there demons involved?' Cordelia asked, her face unreadable.

'Not real ones.'

Cordelia's lips twitched. 'I'll pass.'

'Malcolm was Moloch,' Xander said, returning the original subject, 'and Ira is acting like Malcolm.'

'Maybe,' Cordelia sighed. 'How much has Willow told you about Ira?'

Xander scowled. 'She keeps saying how great he is, how he understand her, how he's sensitive but strong-'

'Do you know how many girls I've had to listen to, mooning over their boyfriends?' Cordelia asked. 'Too many, and most of them said the exact same thing. Ira might be Moloch; he might just be a conman. Either way, Willow-'

'But we know Moloch's involved. His book was blank.'

'He's out there somewhere,' Cordelia agreed, 'but things are different this time round. We know there's someone else involved.'

'I saw you lock that book in the drawer, and Giles checked-' Xander smiled as realisation hit him. 'We know someone released Moloch deliberately this time. How do you know they didn't last time?'

'Because-' Cordelia hesitated. 'If they did, you never found out about it. Not as simple as it seems, is it?'

'You were right,' Xander conceded, remembering that first private conversation with Cordelia, the day after Margo had sealed the deathgate. He'd said something about how easy her future knowledge would make things and she'd disagreed, vehemently. Her objections had sounded like excuses at the time, but that had been before he'd seen the whole Moloch thing go wrong.

Cordelia smiled. 'Finally.'

Xander smiled back. 'Hey, I'm not used to all this weirdness. You're the expert, like Giles but, um-'

'Better dressed?' Cordelia suggested, slowly clambering to her feet. 'Just remember, this is the hellmouth. We don't get good weirdness.'

She paused, and looked down at him, her face sombre, then shook her head and staggered gingerly away, leaning on the wall every few steps.

Xander thoughtfully watched her go. Something had been troubling Cordelia all month, ever since she'd cut herself off from her old friends, but that couldn't be the reason why. No one would loose sleep over those airheads.

It might be because she'd seen her mother die; he'd felt pretty bad after—

—but thinking about that wouldn't help anything. What mattered was helping Cordelia through her problems. She was his—

His what? She wasn't his friend, exactly. They had too much past for that, some of it in his future, but he was spending more time with her than with Willow now. Frowning, Xander shelved the question.

Whatever she was, he didn't like seeing her hurt. He had to do something.

Xander tentatively tried to stand up, but fell back, his thighs flaring with pain. Cordelia might be used to this level of exertion, with her cheer-leading practice; he wasn't.

Well, it'd be at least twenty minutes before she was out of the shower, judging by Willow, time enough for him to think, and he had a lot to think about.

Closing his eyes, Xander began running over everything Cordelia had said.

'I wasn't asleep,' Xander said, for the third time. 'I was thinking.'

'Do you normally-' Cordelia began, looking through the peephole. 'There's someone watching.'

'You sure?' Xander asked. 'Remember last week?'

'Wearing plaid was suspicious,' she insisted. 'This guy's staring at our door.'

'Monstra,' Xander said, pointing casually at the wall. Cordelia had made a couple of mistakes, but she was pretty good at spotting vampires, something to do with the way they dressed, and the spells Margo had put on the apartment made it easy to check.

An image formed on the wall where Xander had pointed, showing the street outside. There were a few dozen people out there, scurrying from shop to shop with bags in their hands, but only one of them was looking at the apartment door, a middle aged man in t-shirt and jeans, his hands clasped in front of him.

'In the doorway?' Xander asked. 'He could be waiting for someone.'

'No, then he'd stand where he could look up and down the street.'

Xander nodded, trying to remember the command he'd looked up last time. 'Omnia minus monstra? Omnes minus monstra? Omnes minas monstra?'

The image darkened, unnatural shadows drifting through the air, the malign aura of the hellmouth made visible, but the man remained unchanged. 'He's human, Cordy, and not evil.'

He was definitely watching them though. He hadn't looked away once.

'Not big time evil,' Cordelia agreed, then frowned. 'He's too obvious.'

'Maybe he wants to talk,' Xander suggested. 'He could be a watcher.'

'Maybe,' Cordelia said. 'He's not armed and there are two of us. We'll talk, on our terms.'

'You want to fight him?' Xander asked, surprised. He was still sore all over, and Cordelia wasn't in much better shape.

'No,' Cordelia said, 'I want to bluff him. Think you can manage to look tough?'

'Easy,' Xander said, trying to sound more confident than he felt. He could hardly say no, not if he wanted to retain any creditability as a man.

She looked at him thoughtfully. 'I'm not sure about that shirt. It's--'

'You want me to go home and change?' Xander asked sarcastically. 'I think-'

Cordelia smiled. 'You don't need to do that. You've got a full wardrobe upstairs, in the bedroom.'

'I have?' He hadn't even been in that room since they'd bought the place. With Cordelia sleeping there half the time, it would have been too awkward. 'Since when? I haven't brought any-'

'We agreed you needed some here for emergencies, remember,' Cordelia said, 'and it was too good an opportunity to miss.'

'We did? When?' Xander said, then hesitated. 'You've been buying me clothes?'

'Margo paid for them.' Cordelia corrected. 'I just made sure they weren't a century out of date. It's all part of our arrangement with her. I did wonder why you'd put that shirt back on.'

'Oh,' Xander said slowly. 'Um, did you ever write that agreement down?'

At the time, he'd been too busy thinking about the earlier revelations to pay much attention, which might have been a mistake. Discovering that Cordelia was a time traveller who was also possessing Harmony had been quite a shock, even by the standards of the last two months, but now he didn't know what he'd agreed to.

'Of course,' Cordelia said. 'Now, go and change. The left hand wardrobe's yours. The t-shirts are in the middle drawer, on the left-hand side.'

Xander looked at the steep stairs, then smiled. 'I'll just go and tell him to wait, shall I?'

His legs were still aching, and he was pretty sure letting a girl pick his clothes for him was getting into dangerous territory. Cordelia would never want to date him, of course, but that would just mean he got the bad without the good.

'Look at the way he's standing,' she said patiently. 'He's not going anywhere soon. White will lo- look the part. Now, hurry.'

Xander looked at Cordelia, watching him impatiently, then up at the stairs, and sighed. Some arguments, there was no winning.

'Fine,' he said flatly, and began clambering back up the stairs, exaggerating his winces.

'Xander,' Cordelia shouted cheerfully, when he was nearly at the top, 'I owe you one.'

'You got the wrong size,' Xander said, tugging at the t-shirt. 'This is too tight.'

'It's supposed to be,' Cordelia said, a strange smile on her face as she looked at him. 'Tight is good. Didn't you look in the mirror?'

'Why would I do that,' Xander asked, puzzled.

Cordelia sighed, and turned the door handle. 'Let's go.'

As the door opened, the man smiled and began beckoning them over.

'He wants to talk, all right,' Cordelia said. 'Remember what I said.'

'Keep quiet,' Xander repeated. 'Let you do all the talking, like normal.'

'Because you're so shy and retiring,' Cordelia said. 'No, wait, that's Willow.'

'Ever asked her about Microsoft?' Xander said wryly.

'You see,' Cordelia said, as if she'd scored some point, then looked at the man and tilted her head quizzically.

Xander smiled as the man strolled towards them. Cordelia had just demonstrated why he let her do all the talking, and without even realising it. He could banter with her for hours on end, and he wasn't intimidated by talking to complete strangers, but he never treated conversations like some kind of twisted chess game. Even if he'd wanted to, he wouldn't have known how.

Cordelia did, better than he ever would have guessed. He was used to seeing her cowing people by sheer force of personality, or easing her way with a flash of her father's credit cards, but while that was certainly her preferred approach, she was much smarter than she usually acted, smart enough to be subtle.

'Who are you,' Cordelia asked as the man approached, making sure she got her questions in first. 'Why were you staring at our door?'

'Bill Stevens, private detective,' he said. 'We need to talk.'

'About-'

'About why I've been watching you for the last few days. Come back to my office-'

'Where you can ambush us?' Cordelia said. 'No. We'll talk in the coffee bar.'

Bill glanced at the shop diagonally behind him, one doors down from where he'd been waiting. 'A predictable choice.'

Cordelia shrugged. 'If you could arrange an ambush somewhere like that, you wouldn't need approach us like this.'

'Unsound logic.'

'You-' Cordelia began, but Bill overrode her. 'I spent twenty years in the FBI, girl. I'm a professional; you aren't.'

'Why talk to us?' Xander asked, tossing the plan aside. 'What do you want?'

'Vengeance,' Bill snapped, his face grim. 'They must pay.'

Cordelia frowned. 'We're not-'

'You have backers,' Bill said firmly, 'powerful backers.'

'How would you know?' Cordelia challenged.

'When I'm asked to watch people, I always research them,' Bill said, 'but it's a long story. The coffee bar?'

Looking round at all the abandoned tables, Xander frowned uneasily. He didn't know how much Bill had slipped the owner to get him to close the shop down, but it must have been a lot, which meant serious business.

Cordelia sipped her coffee. 'What do you know about us?'

'Two things,' Bill said, looking out of the window at the secret apartment's door. 'Firstly, all official records show Cordelia bought your hideout last year, and I do mean all records. When I tracked down Beedon, he eventually told a very different story about how he sold it, and when.'

'So he exaggerated a few details,' Cordelia said dismissively. 'People do that.'

'More than a few,' Bill said. 'He was telling the truth, so the records must have been forged.'

'We didn't do it,' Xander said quickly.

Bill smiled. 'Of course not. No one your age could. Oh, you could have bribed Beedon easily enough, and backdating the actual purchase documents wouldn't have been too difficult, but the records also show that you've been paying all your taxes and utility bills on time, and the banks' own records tally with that. Tampering with those records, without triggering any alarms, would take a serious player.'

That must be something Margo had done, probably with magic, but she was dead now. If Bill was trying to contact her, he was too late, and he'd aimed too high

'And the other thing?' Cordelia prompted.

'I record everything said in my office, for legal reasons. I have to-'

'But you don't tell your clients,' Xander said, cutting off his justifications. 'What did they say?'

'They've got plans for the two of you,' Bill smiled, 'disturbing plans, but were clearly nervous about capturing you. Oh, and none of them were human.'

Xander leaned forwards. 'You know about-'

'-the demons,' Bill interrupted. 'I've known for five years. If only I'd left back then, my Jane would still be alive.'

Bill's hand tightened on the cup, his face contorting with rage. 'They killed her, and played me for a fool. I'll make them pay for that. I'll make them all pay. I'll-'

'Was she your wife?' Cordelia asked, sounding almost sympathetic.

'Begin at the beginning,' Xander added quickly.

Bill took two deep breaths, then nodded. 'The beginning? That'd be when I found the statistical anomaly.'

'How could you miss it?' Cordelia asked. 'The school paper's got its own obituary column.'

'The hellmouth was going through a quiet patch?' Xander suggested, smiling at Cordelia's bluff.

'Hellmouth?' Bill muttered, then looked at Xander. 'I wasn't in that section. I'd decided to run a cross-comparison of declared income with retail expenditure in small towns, excluding the tourist sector, naturally. I thought it would be a good way to identify targets for further investigation.'

'Proud much?' Cordelia asked. 'I'm sure your idea was brilliant. How is it relevant to us?'

Xander half-smiled. Cordelia hadn't understood Bill's explanation either, but she'd never admit to that.

'It's why I retired here, after my wife died. Over ten percent of the economy of this town is black, maybe as much as thirty percent.' Bill looked from Xander to Cordelia, then sighed. 'On average, people here are spending significantly more money than they've officially got, and they're not borrowing it from any legal source.'

'Dirty money,' Cordelia said slowly. 'There are enough people doing business with demons to show up in your figures.'

Bill nodded. 'Other lines of evidence showed the anomaly wasn't related to organised crime, so the file was closed.'

'And you decided to investigate yourself,' Xander said. 'But-'

'I'm getting to that,' Bill said. 'It didn't take me long to discover the real situation here, but, but-'

Bill ran his finger round the rim of his cup, his eyes unfocused. 'They made me an offer.'

'You sold out,' Cordelia spat, tensing up.

'I had no choice,' Bill said, thumping the table, then he looked directly at Cordelia. 'These people had the mayor in their pocket, and they had magic. I couldn't fight that.'

'You should have tried,' Xander said, watching Bill warily. Anyone who would help demons could never be trusted.

'If it had been just me, maybe,' Bill said, 'but they threatened my daughter, and then they offered me a deal. I'd do the cabal and their friends some little favours, but not anything illegal or even unethical, and they'd ease my way. That was five years ago.'

'And now you're talking to us,' Cordelia said, her voice tinged with contempt. 'Why? What's changed?'

'They arranged an internship for my Jane,' Bill said, staring into his cup, 'with Wolfram and Hart. If I'd known what they were like … but I didn't. I thought I was doing the right thing.'

'What happened to her?' Xander asked quietly, 'Was she-'

'They told me she died in a car crash,' Bill said, his voice filling with cold fury. 'They lied. The investigators found her remains at the LA site last week. The autopsy reports …'

Bill shuddered. 'She was my little princess, and they slaughtered her. I will see them pay for that, I will-'

'Of course,' Cordelia said, looking pleased. 'That's why. You could have told your FBI friends everything, but you want the personal touch.' She looked thoughtfully at him. 'And you've been spinning this out. You could have told us everything important in half the time. You're setting us up for something, aren't you?'

'He's not checked his watch once,' Xander objected. Cordelia might be right, but she was assuming the worst again.

Bill looked at Cordelia, then sighed. 'I was a trained professional. I'd never do something that obvious. Outside, I-'

'Enough delays,' Cordelia said sharply. 'What are you waiting for?'

'My client is sending someone to assassinate you in about forty minutes.'

'What?' Xander said disbelievingly. Nothing had ever targeted him before. Plenty of things had tried to kill him, since he met Buffy, but it hadn't been personal. Now, it seemed, it was.

'How?' Cordelia asked, looking intently at Bill.

'They'll break in while you're out, then set an ambush.'

'They can't break in,' Xander interrupted, relieved. 'Margo said it would take a god to break our defences.'

Bill blinked in surprise. 'A god? Better still. You can ambush them when they try to break in. Their deaths will be-'

'You expect us to kill them?' Cordelia said sceptically, glancing up at the clock. 'Two unarmed teenagers? Or were you planning to help?'

'I can't-' Bill began.

'When did you find out about your daughter?' Cordelia asked.

'Last night,' Bill said.

'And I bet you didn't get much sleep.' Cordelia looked at Xander. 'This is why we need to think things through.'

'Like with Mrs French, or Margo?' Xander asked pointedly. Cordelia might like to plan ahead, but she had done as much last minute improvisation as him, not always successfully. He'd gotten enough out of her about what she'd been doing with her future knowledge before he found out to to know that much.

'Bill,' Xander continued, before Cordelia could reply, 'who are they sending? Va-'

'I don't know. The couple I spoke to looked human, but I think they were just flunkies.'

'When was that?' Cordelia asked. 'How long-'

'Last Tuesday. I gave them my preliminary report Saturday, then met them again yesterday. That's when I overheard what they were planning.'

'Three days, then,' Cordelia said, smiling faintly. 'That's not much time to set up anything complicated.' She paused, and looked at Bill. 'They're going to be targeting you now too.'

'So what?' Bill said, shrugging. 'I sent my daughter to her death. I deserve to die. I just hope I can take the cabal down with me.'

'You don't have to do it alone,' Xander said quickly. No one should. 'Giles-'

Cordelia clapped her hand over his mouth. 'What did I tell you?'

'You two need a private conference?' Bill said, standing up.

Cordelia nodded. 'Stay where we can see you, and keep your back to us.'

Xander pushed Cordelia's hand away. 'Now what's your problem.'

'If we involve Giles,' she said, once Bill had moved away, 'we're going to have to explain things to him.'

'Still not seeing the problem.'

'I'd like to be able to tell him everything,' Cordelia conceded. 'Having to keep track of what everyone thinks everyone else thinks we know is getting …. a bit annoying, but-'

'A bit?' Xander echoed. 'You've spent too long round Giles,' and half the intrigue was her fault anyway.

'But,' Cordelia repeated firmly, 'we can't. What about all the things we promised Margo we wouldn't talk about?'

And breaking that promise would be a very bad idea. Xander frowned, trying to remember the exact words. 'Wasn't there some way round that?'

'We'd need Harmony's consent.'

'So, we just tell him as much as we can. He already knows there's stuff we can't tell him.'

'You don't get it, do you?' Cordelia said. 'You want Giles to track down this cabal, right?'

'The cabal are already dead; they were working with Wolfram and Hart,' Xander said. 'I—

'The cabal wouldn't want his daughter killed,' Cordelia said. 'Without her, they've got no leverage over Bill.

'Bad guy politics,' Xander said dismissively. 'We can't let Bill kill himself.'

He might be a collaborator, but he was still human, and he was grieving. Letting him commit suicide by demon would be wrong.

'We can't,' Cordelia agreed, 'but if they talk, he'll tell Giles everything he found out about us.'

'That's-'

'Including our apartment.'

'You're still worried about that, when there's a man's life at stake?' Xander asked, and Cordelia winced.

Half the point of having the apartment was to back up the story she'd told Giles about a rogue watcher showing her visions, but it hadn't taken her long to spot a catch. If Giles discovered they'd only bought the apartment a few weeks ago, he'd realise her story was false, and go looking for the real source of her foreknowledge. Margo had said that would be too dangerous; the fewer people who knew the truth, the better.

Margo had almost certainly been right – she couldn't lie, and she'd known more than even Giles – but she hadn't objected when Cordelia had been talking about telling Giles about the secret apartment, before she'd had second thoughts. If Margo hadn't been worried about Giles finding out anything from that, Xander certainly wasn't going to and Cordelia shouldn't be either. She probably just liked the idea of a secret lair.

He had thought about telling Giles himself. The promise only covered the things said in the science lab that afternoon, leaving him free to talk about actually buying the place, but that would have felt too much like running to a teacher, and Giles hadn't needed to know, until now.

'OK,' Cordelia finally conceded, her voice sour, 'but only Giles, and we tell him as little as possible, or we might give away the stuff he's not allowed to know. We can say we don't know why Margo did anything.'

'We don't,' Xander pointed out, smiling, 'and we'd need Harmony's permission to tell him-'

'Only for the bits she was there for,' Cordelia said, 'but you need my permission too, and I'm not giving it.'

Not yet. He'd persuade her to tell the rest of the gang the whole truth, but that could wait. Right now, all that mattered was surviving the assassination attempt, and keeping Bill alive.

Cordelia glanced at Bill, staring glumly at the prints on the wall, then up at the clock. 'Don't you think this is all a bit too convenient?'

'You think we're being set up?'

'I think Bill might have been. Could he really have got hold of our bank accounts that fast, without help?'

'Not a clue. Willow might know,' Xander said. 'He was a professional though. He should know how long it takes.'

'He's too old to know anything much about computers. He got his daughter's autopsy report at just the right time for us too.'

'You think they're trying to panic us?' Xander asked, after a moment's thought. 'Let us know they're coming-'

'Something like that,' Cordelia said. 'They'd have to be overconfident, but also worried about someone tracing them, which mean, um, I'm not sure.' She shrugged. 'Maybe nothing, it's all circumstantial, but we should be careful.'

Xander nodded, wondering what exactly she expected him to do that he wasn't already.

'Thought about who might be responsible?' Cordelia asked.

'You only just-'

'For the assassination attempt,' Cordelia clarified.

'Anyone who doesn't like the new prophecies?' Xander suggested. It couldn't be for anything he'd already done, after all. None of that lot would be coming back, apart from the Master, and he didn't use human agents.

'That's' Cordelia began scornfully, then hesitated, 'a good point. We don't know who any of those people are.'

'Who did you think it was?' Xander asked curiously.

'Moloch,' Cordelia said, 'or one of his accomplices. It can't be the Master, or Wolfram and Hart, not their style-'

Xander nodded. Wolfram and Hart's American branches were too busy fighting for survival to bother with him.

'-and the cabal,' Cordelia went on, 'have no motives.'

'Hope you're right,' Xander said. The fewer evil masterminds he had trying to kill him, the better.

'Me too,' Cordelia said quietly, then glanced back up at the clock. 'Nearly thirty minutes yet. We need to decide what we'll do.'

'Are you sure you don't want to wait for them inside?' Bill asked. 'There's still time to set up an ambush.'

'They won't be able to get in,' Xander said, checking his watch. 'Five minutes to go. Phone Giles.'

'And we can't let you in,' Cordelia added as she pulled out her cell phone. 'Security reasons.'

'Your defences are that good?' Bill said sceptically.

Xander smiled. 'You'll see.'

'Giles,' Cordelia said, 'we need to talk. Not over the phone. Meet me-'

'Xander?' Bill said casually, 'were you involved in any of the recent …. incidents?'

'Maybe,' Xander said warily. 'Why?'

'You were, then,' Bill said. 'Peripherally, I presume.'

'Giles is coming,' Cordelia said, putting her phone away. 'We don't have that kind of power, but we know people who do.'

'Impressive,' Bill said, 'I can see wh-'

Mid-word, Bill stopped, his face going slack as he stared at something outside the window.

Xander turned to look, and smiled. There were three girls sauntering down the street in skimpy tops and hot pants, and they were gorgeous. Next to those beauties Cordelia or Buffy would look as drab and plain as Willow. No wonder everyone was staring, even the women.

Cordelia muttered something, then nudged Xander.

He ignored her, watching rapt as the girls sauntered past the window, heart-stoppingly close.

'Xander,' she shouted, pulling at his ear, 'what are you looking at?'

'Girls. They've stopped outside our door,' he said,smiling broadly

'And you don't find that suspicious?' Cordelia asked him, rummaging in her bag.

He shrugged. It was suspicious; girls that beautiful just didn't visit people like him, but that didn't matter. Let them do what they liked, as long as he could sit and admire their—

Slamming his hand on the table, Xander swore under his breath. There'd been another girl who'd made him think like that. She'd turned out to be a witch, using some kind of magical hypnosis. Now these three turned up, just when they were expecting assassins.

'Hello, salty goodness,' Cordelia murmured, peering into her make up mirror, then swivelled round to get a better a look.

Half-way, she stopped. 'I saw three men, right outside our door, talking to each other.'

'They're not men,' Xander said firmly. 'Men don't have, um, definitely girls.'

He frowned thoughtfully. He'd read about something like this recently, in one of Margo's books. What had it said?

'Got to be magic,' Cordelia said, turning her back to the window. 'They must be our assassins.'

'Bite your tongue,' Xander said, remembering.

'What?' Cordelia said disbelievingly.

Xander smiled. 'While you're looking at them, bite your tongue and think about something you're committed to. The stronger, the better. That book said that would break moderate glamours.'

'Now who sounds like Giles? You first.'

Xander stuck his tongue between his teeth, hesitated, then bit down hard, mentally reciting the great oath he had sworn, in front of Margo: 'I will remember the fallen, the heroes and the innocents alike. To their memory I will dedicate…'

The three girls shimmered, as if seen under water, then came back into focus, their true appearance revealed.

'Definitely not girls,' Xander muttered, scowling at the assassins, then smiled. He'd just done a bit of magic – only trivial magic, the kind anyone could do if they knew how, but still real magic.

Beside Xander, Cordelia mumbled the great oath, '… dedicate my life. I will strive…'

The assassins weren't even human; they were demons. He only had a back view, and he was over fifty feet away, but he could clearly see the rainbow shimmer of the scales on their bald heads and the inhuman proportions of their limbs.

'Demons,' Cordelia said, 'Succubi?'

'How'd you know?'

'Apart from their appearance, you mean?' Cordelia said. 'They're the only demons you'd want to about.'

Xander nodded. 'Lesser classic succubi, I think. They seduce men disguised as women, then collect the, um, you-know, then turn into men and, um-'

'I can guess,' Cordelia said quickly. 'They're pretty blatant.'

'The book said they can turn the glamour down, and target it. They only go full power when they feel threatened. Oh, and they're supposed to be solitary. They don't like to share.'

'Hmm,' Cordelia said, mock-thoughtfully. 'How many demon lords do we know, with a sex theme?'

'Moloch?' Xander suggested. No one had said anything about him using succubi before, but all the traces of his actions they'd spotted in the last week had involved sex.

Cordelia nodded. 'Look at the way the three of them are standing.'

Xander looked. 'They seem tense, must be why they're using full power, but-'

'Look closer,' Cordelia said. 'They're braced for an attack, from each other, and I think they're arguing. They've been forced to work together, which takes power, and anyone who's been around a while would use minions that could work together.'

'Makes sense,' Xander said, looking at the rest of the street. Almost everyone outside was staring at the succubi, only the younger children seemed to be immune, but there wasn't anyone within twenty feet of the demons. Judging by the longing looks on the boys, and their uncertain shuffling, they were probably all too nervous to get any closer.

The middle succubus pulled something out of a bag, holding it at arms length, then shoved it at the one on its right, but that succubus backed away, shaking its head.

'I'm not sure,' Cordelia said, squinting, 'does that look like a hand to you?'

'Could be,' Xander said. It was the right size and colour. He glanced at Bill, still drooling over the succubi. 'Shouldn't we wake him up.'

The left succubus gestured angrily.

'No point,' Cordelia said. 'Didn't Giles say something about a hand?'

The right-hand succubi looked nervously at the other two, then took the hand and tapped it.

A flame sprang up where she had touched it, a single black flame.

'This is it,' Xander muttered, leaning forwards to catch the action.

The succubus pointed the hand at the door.

The door shuddered, then glowed, engulfing the succubi in golden light.

Before Xander could even blink, their flesh melted away, their bones evaporating as they dropped to the ground, and then the light was gone.

'What?' Bill gasped. 'What just happened. Did you-'

'They were succubi,' Cordelia said. 'You know about them?'

Outside, people scurried past the window, anger and fear mingled on their faces.

'I've heard of them,' Bill said. 'Not seen any before.'

'They're new,' Cordelia said, then frowned. 'They should be attracted to the hell mouth though. Why are they new?'

'No idea,' Bill said softly. 'I thought I'd seen everything, but those women, and that light …. It was … impressive. No, more than that, and yet you just sit there, as if it was nothing.'

Xander shrugged. 'We've seen-'

'-a lot,' Cordelia interrupted.

Bill looked at her, then shook himself. 'Shouldn't you be clearing up the bodies?'

'See,' Xander said, a minute later. 'No bodies.'

There was nothing left of the succubi but a sprinkling of ash and a few faint scorch marks.

'I can see why you weren't worried,' Bill said. 'A good forensics team might be able to draw conclusions from the distribution of the ash, but there isn't enough left to prompt an investigation.'

'No witnesses either, officially,' Xander said. Plenty of people had watched the succubi die, but they were all gone now, leaving the street deserted.

'And the police in this town are useless,' Cordelia said.

'Deliberately,' Bill said. 'The police chief has been taking bribes.'

'From the cabal,' Xander guessed.

A few dozen yards behind Bill, Giles got out of his car.

'From everyone,' Bill said. 'The cabal likes to know who else has strings on their assets.'

Xander smiled. 'You'll have a lot to talk to Giles about.'

'Giles?' Bill said. 'You said he set up your defences? He-'

'You're fishing,' Cordelia said sharply, 'All you need to know is that Giles can help you, right Giles?'

'Perhaps,' Giles said cautiously, as Bill spun round to face him. 'Who's this?'

'Bill Jones,' Cordelia said, 'ex-FBI. He's spent the last five years working for the bad guys.'

'Defecting?' Giles suggested, looking quizzically at Bill.

Xander nodded. 'When he found out about his daughter, he decided to warn us about the assassins.'

Giles pushed his glasses up. 'You didn't mention assassins when you phoned, Cordelia.'

'You'd have wanted to bring Buffy-'

'Exactly when are these assassins due?' Giles asked, looking suspiciously at Cordelia.

Xander smiled. 'You just missed them.'

'By design, I take it,' Giles said. 'Dare I ask what happened to them?'

'Your defences-' Bill began.

'Margo's defences,' Cordelia said quickly, 'to protect our secrets. Remember Winston?'

Giles looked sideways at Xander, then at Bill. 'I understand. Is there anything you can tell me.'

Xander tapped the door. 'This is our place. The succubi tried to break in with a magic hand to-'

Giles looked sharply at Xander. 'Burning with a black flame?'

'Ye-'

'A Hand of Glory,' Giles said. 'Interesting. How did you know they were succubi?'

Cordelia smiled. 'Xander's been reading about them.'

Xander smiled back. 'And you thought I was just looking at the-'

'They said you'd help me,' Bill interrupted. 'I want them dead.'

Giles blinked. 'You want who dead?'

'The cabal,' Xander clarified. 'They got his daughter a job with Wolfram and Hart.'

'They killed her,' Bill said, his voice low. 'They killed my darling Jane. I will see them pay for that-'

'Bill has nothing else left to live for,' Cordelia said, staring intently at Giles. 'He wants to see the cabal brought down, at any cost.'

Giles looked at her for a moment, then turned and smiled broadly at Bill. 'Of course we'll help you. You'll-'

'You will?' Bill said. 'You will?'

Cordelia's phone rang.

'I've got their names right here,' Bill said, pulling a piece of paper from his pocket, 'thirteen prominent local businessmen who-'

'Buffy?' Cordelia said. 'Yes, why?'

'Buffy?' Giles muttered, turning away from Bill.

Cordelia shushed him. 'Somewhere nearby. I can see his car. Why?'

Xander sighed. She was doing it again. For someone who prided themselves on blunt honesty, Cordelia was rather too good at bending the truth.

'Assassins!' Cordelia exclaimed. 'You- OK, I'll look for Giles.'

'Need to know?' Bill said hesitantly.

'I can neither confirm nor deny,' Giles said, smiling faintly. 'How far away am I?'

'Giles!' Cordelia shouted, holding the phone at arms length. 'Not that far.'

Giles waited a moment, then took the phone from Cordelia. 'Buffy? Cordelia-'

While he was talking, Cordelia nudged Xander. 'Willow was with her,' she said softly.

'She OK?' Xander instantly asked.

'Buffy didn't say, but she didn't sound worried.'

'Good,' Xander said, relaxing.

Cordelia frowned. 'You forgot, didn't you. Buffy said she was going to try and keep her away from the keyboard.'

'She did?' Xander muttered. Maybe she had, but all his attention had been on her looks. Her latest outfit really showed off her legs, and the top had been pretty good too.

'-standard practice.' Giles said. 'Search the area for possible observation points, and collect any evidence you find. I'll meet you in the library at half-seven, the teachers should all be gone by then. Bye.'

Xander checked his watch. Six o'clock? Later he'd realised, but he'd been heading home for his tea when they'd spotted Bill, and that had been nearly an hour ago. He'd have to phone his mom soon, and let her know not to expect him, but why half-seven?

'That's ninety minutes,' Xander said, puzzled. 'We can be there in ten.'

'We can't take Bill with us,' Giles said, looking apologetically at him. 'Security, you understand.'

Bill nodded. 'Of course.'

'But we can't leave you loose either. Um, anyone got scissors?'

'Nail scissors,' Cordelia said, 'for emergencies. Why?'

'Bill,' he said, 'I'll need a lock of your hair, and your promise of good faith, freely given. Break your word, and I'll be able to use the hair to strike you down.'

Bill looked briefly uncertain, then said firmly. 'OK, for my daughter, but I want your promise too.'

'You have my word as a watcher,' Giles said. 'Cordelia, the scissors?'

'They're nail scissors,' she said. 'They're not for hair. Can't you use blood?'

'I am not in the habit of carrying empty phials in my pockets.' Giles paused. 'But nail clippings are just as good.'

Grudgingly, Cordelia passed Bill the scissors. 'This isn't going to take ninety minutes.'

'Bill is a marked man now,' Giles said, frowning at the phone. 'I'm going to try and get him out of town. Um, how do you start dialling on this thing.'

'She'll be waiting when you get off,' Giles said, forty minutes later.

'Annette Chadwick, mid-forties, red hair,' Bill said, 'Got it. You're certain she-'

'She's been working on the Wolfram and Hart investigation,' Giles said patiently. 'She….'

Xander stopped listening. Giles had already explained that twice.

'Sit down, Cordy,' he said instead, picking his hamburger carton off the seat at the side of him. 'There's room.'.

'In this dress?' she said scornfully. 'I'd rather stand.'

Xander leaned back and glanced round the Sunnydale bus station, nearly empty at this hour. The paint was peeling, and the windows were grimy, but it was only shabby, not filthy. The only litter he could see was a couple of empty coke cans and half a dozen cigarette stubs, and there was no graffiti at all, so why was Cordelia taking such pains not to touch anything?

'You don't get it, do you?' she said, looking thoughtfully down at him, then hesitated. 'I don't have-'

A bus pulled in, drowning Cordelia out.

'Finally,' she muttered, then frowned.

'That's Bill's,' Xander, watching as Giles ushered him on board.

'Obvious, much?'

Standing up, Xander tossed the empty carton at the nearest bin.

It missed.

Cordelia smiled as he bent over to pick it back up. 'You'll have to aim better than that.'

'I got the can in, didn't I?' Xander said, then looked uncertainly at Giles as he walked up to them. 'Would you really strike him dead?'

He'd seen Margo kill someone with magic before, but not Giles, and Margo's victim had been a demon worshipping cannibal. Killing people for breaking promises didn't seem like something he'd do.

'Strike down, not strike dead,' Giles said, 'and I was bluffing. The theory is sound; I lack practice. Cordelia-'

'This Annette,' she interrupted. 'How well do you know her?'

'Not personally,' Giles said, smiling, 'but she has a good reputation, her political position is weak, and she doesn't have access to any paper evidence. I didn't give Bill time to collect anything from his office-'

'And now you've got those keys,' Cordelia said. 'You can edit everything you send her.'

Giles nodded as he checked his watch. 'I can, if I decide I should. You've clearly not been-'

'That's-' Cordelia began.

'Impatient, aren't you?' Giles said, and she scowled. 'Wait until we're in my car.'

Giles looked in the rear view mirror, then pulled out. 'Cordelia-'

'Blame Margo,' she said quickly.

'Not without the facts. Xander, how long have you known about Winston?'

'Since the zoo trip.'

'Only a few days after you told me,' Giles said sharply, 'in strict confidence, and before you say-'

'I didn't want to,' Cordelia snapped. 'Xander- um, he was there when I spoke to Margo. He heard everything.'

'That explains telling him. It doesn't explain not telling me he knew.'

'I wanted to,' Xander said, ignoring Cordelia's glare.

'You should have done. I know Dame Margo put you both under a confidentiality binding, but-'

'Then-'

'But,' Giles repeated, ignoring Cordelia's interruption, 'you were able to cue me in just now. You could have done so earlier. I needed to know Xander knew.'

'See,' Xander said, looking sideways at Cordelia. 'I said he needed to know everything.'

'Not everything, yet,' Giles said quickly. 'Didn't Dame Margo explain about prophecies?'

'What about them?' Cordelia asked casually.

'I should have known,' Giles said. 'I suppose you didn't read the book I pointed out either.'

'No,' Cordelia said, then quickly added, 'you didn't sound worried, so I thought it could wait.'

'Big book, was it,' Xander asked, smiling.

'Fifteen hundred pages of small print.'

Giles checked the rear-view mirror, then changed lanes. 'How much do you worry about living in an earthquake zone?'

Xander frowned. 'That bad?'

'Buffy was attacked,' Cordelia said thoughtfully, 'but you're here, talking to us.'

'Exactly,' Giles said. 'Prophecies as detailed as those you received can only be the result of a class five causality breach, which will have left you in a delicate balance between a soul-destroying negation of free will and a reality scarring temporal paradox. Fortunately, whatever annulled the old prophecies will have largely removed the latter danger, but given the obvious involvement of major powers-'

'You lost me at causality breach,' Xander said. He knew what a temporal paradox was, he'd read too many comics not to, but what did that have to do with destroying souls?

Giles sighed. 'Cordelia knows things we don't, about what might have been.'

Xander nodded. 'OK.'

'That knowledge is a dangerous temptation. There are two ways it can be disastrously misused.'

'How disastrously?' Cordelia asked slowly.

'One of them is no longer an option, but the other could cost you your soul.'

'You didn't say-'

'You've struck the right balance,' Giles said, turning right. 'I didn't want to endanger that.'

'Like when you couldn't tell us why we needed to swear those oaths?' Xander said thoughtfully.

'Close enough,' Giles said, 'both times there were things you couldn't safely know. However-'
'There any more?' Cordelia asked suspiciously.

'Two,' Giles admitted after a moment, 'what may have happened when you met the maiden, and what it means to have heard the midnight bells. Explaining the first would be tempting fate; explaining the second could be … worse.'

'So knowing too much about the future is dangerous,' Xander summed up, before Cordelia could object.

'It is,' Giles said, turning right, 'but only for as long as it is about the future. The more events deviate from the path originally prophesied, the safer her knowledge becomes.'

'And one day it'll be safe enough to talk about?' Xander guessed.

'Yes, when Cordelia's knowledge no longer gives us any advantage.'

'Typical,' Cordelia said. 'Why are you telling us this now, not when it would have been useful?'

'It still is,' Giles said, turning right. 'You struck the right balance. I don't know if Xander has.'

'You mean I'm in danger?' Xander said, jerking upright.

'Potentially,' Giles said. 'That's why I need straight answers from you two. I know you're-'

'Ask your questions,' Cordelia said, looking sideways at Xander.

'How much have you told him about our future?'

'Not much,' Xander said. 'She-'

'I did remember what you said,' Cordelia interrupted. 'Margo said the same thing. Keep it vague. Avoid details. She just didn't bother explaining why, like you.'

'With reason,' Giles said, relief plain in his voice. 'Xander, how much have you been able to read between the lines?'

'Nothing,' Xander said, 'um, not much. When she gets all uncomfortable round people, I can-'

'That should be safe enough,' Giles said, his reassuring tones belied by his uncertain words. 'There's just one rule you need to remember, no matter what: Never try to make any prophecy come true. It doesn't matter how good it sounds, or easy it would be. Don't do it, ever. Not under any circumstances. You may have heard the midnight bells, but you are not the one unnumbered. To-'

'I get it,' Xander said, cutting Giles's warning short. 'Making prophecies come true equals major badness. I won't do it.' Then he frowned. 'But Willow said prophecies always relied on people making them come true. She said it was in all the stories.'

'I do hope she wasn't answering your questions,' Giles said, turning right.

'Last year,' Xander said quickly, 'before-'

'Willow was not wrong,' Giles said. 'Thwarting prophecies requires familiarity with their classification and a keen eye for loopholes. Crude brute force attempts only ever succeed in bringing about the prophecy's fulfilment, but these prophecies have already been comprehensively thwarted. However, I wasn't talking about thwarting prophecies but about attempting to fulfil them. Leave that to the demons; by their nature they've already paid the price, and what do they get for their efforts?'

'Nothing?' Cordelia suggested. 'Either way, you lose,'

'It's not a dichotomy,' Giles said. 'There are other options, and those two are not equally dire. As that book you didn't read says, whereas thwarting prophecies is akin to baiting a vampire, attempting to fulfil them is on a par with facing down the full fury of the Wild Hunt. Theoretically, both are possible, but while I've done the first a time or two, surviving the second is beyond any of us. The underlying problem is that – but that can wait until later.'

Preferably much later. It helped to know the reasons behind the rules – then he could decide for himself whether they made sense – but those reasons were usually boring.

'Good,' Cordelia said, looking out of the window. 'Why are we going round in circles?'

'To avoid eavesdroppers,' Giles said. 'Bill's not the only person who's been following you. The library's secure, but-'

'He isn't?' Xander interrupted, surprised.

Cordelia sighed. 'You see, Giles? You didn't need to worry.'

'What?' Xander said. 'Oh, you mean-'

'He's not going to let us out of here until he's done,' Cordelia finished.

'Hardly,' Giles said. 'We do have to work together, though it seems we might need to clarify the terms.'

'Great,' Cordelia said, smiling sarcastically. 'Where shall we start. I know-'

'Not,' Giles said firmly, 'with you as the spider in the centre of the web.'

'That's-'

'What you've been doing.' Giles said. 'You can't claim nerves, not when you…'

As Giles explained, Xander looked at Cordelia, scowling speechlessly at the seat back, and smiled. 'He's got you there.'

He wasn't completely sure what Giles was accusing her off, but whatever it was Cordelia definitely knew she'd been caught at it. It must be pretty bad too, or Giles would have put helping Buffy first.

'Your visions of what might have been are a treasure trove of information,' Giles said, his tone now didactic, 'and you've been using it to your advantage, handing out choice titbits to me and Xander – maybe Angel too, that could explain-- '

'What makes you think-'

'You've had private contacts with Angel?' Giles finished. 'Willow gave that away, inadvertently. I don't know how she found out-'

'Cordy wrote Angel a letter using the school computers,' Xander said helpfully.

'I deleted that,' Cordelia said sharply.

'Willow undeleted it,' Xander said, 'and showed it me.'

'An amateur mistake,' Giles said dismissively. 'Anyway, Cordelia, you've been giving all three of us carefully selected fragments of your visions without letting us compare notes. You're the only one with the full facts, the spider at the centre of the web. The rest of us are puppets dangling from your strings.'

'That's,' Cordelia began hotly, then hesitated.

Xander looked uncertainly at her. She liked to be in control, he'd known that for years, but he would have said she was too bluntly honest to be that sneaky, and yet, she'd used leading questions to steer Buffy into discovering Marcie's lair. That had taken cunning.

Well, she had needed to keep the time travel secret. She probably would have preferred openly taking charge, but had resorted to subterfuge rather than her usual methods.

At least, he was pretty sure they weren't her usual methods. He didn't actually know how she'd kept Harmony and the others in line, but he had had several long conversations with her about all the intrigue, and she'd sounded regretful.

Either she'd become a much better actress in the future, or she'd overreached herself, which meant she hadn't had much practice at sneakiness.

'I thought about doing that,' Cordelia admitted, after a few moments silence, 'but it doesn't work. People don't do what they're supposed to. They get ideas of their own, and-'

'The nerve of them,' Giles said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. 'That sounds like the voice of experience.'

'How long have you known?' Cordelia asked, tacitly conceding the point.

'I've had niggling suspicions for weeks, though they didn't gel until this evening,' Giles said lightly, 'but I'm sure you don't want to bore you with the details. We've got more important matters to discuss, starting with your true motives.'

Xander smiled. Cordelia would sooner be bored than talk about that, and Giles knew it.

'What,' Cordelia began, glaring at the back of his head, then her voice softened. 'What do-'

'There are things you can't tell me, yet,' Giles said, swinging out to overtake, 'just as there are things I can't tell you, but we need to be able to trust each other, despite the secrets between us.'

Cordelia smiled, a honest smile. 'Get this in the watchers a lot?'

'Byzantium had nothing on us, Our internal protocols cover – but I don't suppose you've thought about the categorisation of your secrets, have you?'

Xander looked blankly at Cordelia. 'The what?'

Giles switched the indicator off. 'We're going to need more time than we've got tonight. Tomorrow? We can talk about your martial arts training too.'

'You noticed?' Cordelia asked. 'We've got a free period first thing.'

'If you'd been attacked by a demon, you would have said by now,' Giles said. 'Hmm, one period might not be long enough.'

'We can meet in our apartment before school,' Xander suggested, ignoring Cordelia's protest. 'It'll be easier than explaining it,' and showing it off would be fun.

'OK,' Cordelia said, her voice grudging, but her face was relaxed. Then she looked at Xander, and smiled. 'Think you can be up by seven?'

After a moment, Xander nodded. 'And Buffy-'

'-has many talents,' Giles interrupted, 'but I'm not entirely sure the direct approach is called for here.'

'You'll just tell her what you think she needs to know,' Cordelia said, looking faintly amused, 'and you-'

'We,' Giles said, 'will tell her everything we agree it's not too dangerous for her to be told. Willow is currently compromised, but once that's dealt with we'll bring her in too, unless you have any objections.'

Cordelia opened her mouth, then frowned thoughtfully. 'Ask me again tomorrow.'

Giles twisted abruptly, glaring at Cordelia, and the car drifted left.

'The road!' Xander yelled, a split-second behind Cordelia, then checked her reaction. Initial surprise was quickly fading to mild self-reproach, so she must have worked out what Giles was thinking, which was more than Xander could hope to do. He didn't need to though, not with people like Willow and Cordelia around to explain for him.

'Cordelia,' Giles said sternly, once he'd got the car back under control, 'think very carefully. I've read the new prophecies. I can guess what personal motives you might have, after what you've seen, but acting on them risks …. everything, and for what? How certain can you be of what you saw?'

'Very,' Xander said immediately. Whatever Giles was talking about now, Cordelia hadn't just seen it in a prophetic vision; she had actually been there She—

Wait a minute. The way Cordelia looked at Willow, and her issues, 'Did-'

'Don't ask,' Cordelia said, just as Giles started to object, then she stared out of the window. 'I … I do have … motives-'

'Cordelia-' Giles began.

'But I haven't done anything about them,' she went on quickly. 'I wanted to, but there were always more important things. Helping you comes first.'

Xander smiled wryly. Cordelia had changed a lot in the future, and it had all been good, but she was still Cordelia. There was no way she wouldn't have tried something to her benefit; she just hadn't succeeded.

'Good,' Giles said, then hesitated. 'Xander, you sounded suspiciously certain then. There's something I don't know about Cordelia's visions, isn't there?'

'This is why I don't want to talk to him,' Cordelia said, looking accusingly at Xander.

'I have ways of blocking myself from pursuing dangerous lines of thought,' Giles said.

Cordelia''s eyebrow's twitched. 'So, if I say don't think about pink elephants …'

'I don't,' Giles said, slowing for the traffic lights. 'It was part of my anti-interrogation training, and Dame Margo gave me a refresher course.'

'Mind readers?' Xander guessed. If telepathy worked anything like it did in the comics, that'd stop anyone passively listening to his thoughts from learning anything they shouldn't, though not someone actively rummaging through Giles's mind.

Giles nodded. 'That doesn't mean you should tell me everything, of course. Theoretically, I can safely seal all the dangerous information away in the recesses of my mind, as if I had never learned it, but it is much simpler not to learn it in the first place. If you just tell me what I need to know, and what I mustn't, that'll be enough.'

'OK,' Cordelia said slowly, then looked at Xander. 'Think one night will be enough for you to work out what that is?'

Xander smiled back. 'I've seen you operate. You can work it out. I'll stick to what I'm good at,' whatever that was.

'More than you think,' Cordelia said quietly. 'Giles, Margo agreed I was right not to tell you what I didn't about what I saw, and I didn't hide anything from her, right, Xander?'

'She did,' he quickly agreed.

'But was that absolute,' Giles asked slyly, 'or subject to circumstances?'

'If circumstances change, I'll tell you,' Cordelia said. 'I told you I knew stuff, didn't I?'

'For the right reasons,' Giles agreed, signalling left. 'Is there anything else I shouldn't be thinking about, besides Harmony?'

'You know?' Xander gasped. If Giles knew, then—

'No,' Cordelia said firmly. 'He didn't say he knew; he said he knew not to ask questions.'

'Which doesn't mean I don't know more,' Giles said, 'but you're right. Dame Margo warned me off the subject. She suggested I should let you take the lead.'

'You mean ordered,' Cordelia said. 'She didn't tell us anything about this. If we'd known-'

'We could have had this conversation a month ago,' Giles pointed out. 'Dame Margo was known to be a firm believer in learning from experience.'

Xander scowled. 'You mean she got us tangled up in secrets just to teach us a lesson? That's-'

'Not just one lesson, I suspect,' Giles said. 'People like her seldom do things for just one reason.'

Cordelia sighed. 'Something else to sort out tomorrow. What are we going to tell Buffy and Willow?'

Giles turned right. 'About this evening? All we can.'

'Vague, much?' Cordelia said. 'We can't mention ….'

Xander stopped listening. Giles and Cordelia could work that out between them; he'd just follow their lead. All he really wanted to know was what had happened to Willow and Buffy, and he'd find out in—

He glanced out of the window, checking the shop fronts.

—he'd find out in about five minutes.

'What are they doing outside?' Giles muttered, reversing into the parking space.

Xander squinted into the gloom. The way Buffy and Willow were strolling across the car park, there couldn't be anything seriously wrong, but they did keep looking around.

'Buffy's got her stake out,' Cordelia noted.

Xander opened the car door, then froze as faint sounds seeped in, ear-gratingly high pitched chanting with a deep bass backing beat. 'Gi-'

'Quiet,' Giles said softly, tilting his head.

Xander looked back at Buffy, who was staring intently at a manhole cover. She must have heard the sound from inside, and come to investigate.

'Don't recognise the language,' Giles said, pulling a crossbow out of the glove compartment. 'You two should be able to get into the boot from there.'

Cordelia twisted round, bending over the back seat. 'Which bag?'

'The red one.'

Xander smiled briefly, enjoying the view, then joined Cordelia. 'What do we need?'

'Giles,' Buffy shouted, 'do you know-'

'Don't touch,' Giles shouted back. 'Cordelia, you take the crossbow; you've got better aim. Xander, you can have the cricket bat.'

Cordelia nodded. 'Another thing you need to teach us.'

Xander hefted the bat. 'What's wrong with baseball?'

'Cricket bats are flatter,' Giles said. 'Stay behind me, if you can.'

Pushing the door wide open, Xander got out, followed by Cordelia.

The manhole erupted, a foot-wide beam of sickly green light blasting through the cover.

Blinking, Xander shaded his eyes. There were shapes wriggling in that light, unpleasant shapes.

Then the light blinked out.

'That was-' Cordelia began.

A tentacle surged out of the manhole.

Buffy took the crossbow off Willow.

Edging backwards, Xander watched intently. It had looked like one tentacle at first, but now he could see there were actually three twisted together, writhing over each other within their coating of dully glowing slime.

At the tip of the tentacle, the component strands splayed out, grey webbing stretching between them, forming a grotesque mouth. It didn't seem immediately threatening – the mouth was only weaving slow circles through the night air, not spitting fire -- but it was obviously a demon, and there might be much more to it than he could see.

He could still hear the demonic chanting too. It was quieter now, audible only in brief snatches, but it had not gone away.

Buffy raised the crossbow, then hesitated. 'Giles, what do I aim at?'

'Try the head,' Giles said. 'That's always a good target.'

Buffy fired.

'You know what this is?' Cordelia asked.

The crossbow bolt bounced off the mouth-web.

Giles shrugged. 'No idea, though I can guess why it's here.'

'The hell mouth,' Cordelia said confidently as Buffy reloaded.

'Not precisely.' Giles frowned. 'If I'm right, this is not good.'

'Well, duh,' Xander said. 'Giant tentacle, right there,' and there was no way that could be a good thing.

Buffy fired again.

Giles nudged his glasses. 'The how may be-'.

The bolt hit one of the strands, just below the mouth, and stuck there, quivering.

'-more important than-'

The tentacle whipped towards Buffy, mouth opening wide.

'Down,' Giles shouted, '-than the what.'

Scooping up Willow, Buffy dove sideways.

The tentacle pulled back, rearing up, then spat out a torrent of slime.

Buffy dodged again, then plucked at her top. 'That splashed. If it stains-'

'Belt and braces,' Giles muttered. 'Buffy, catch.'

'How did it target us,' Willow asked, looking uneasily at the tentacle, now ignoring them. 'No eyes.'

'There are other senses,' Giles said as Buffy caught the keys. 'Get a sword from the weapons locker, and the full leather suit from the red bag on the middle shelf. They should fit.'

Xander smiled. Buffy would look good dressed like-—

—-but he couldn't afford to think about that now. Blinking, Xander focused back on the tentacle.

'Wha-' Buffy began.

'He wants you to climb it,' Willow said. 'Right?'

Giles nodded. 'Get far enough up that the mouth can't reach you, then start cutting, but don't let the slime touch your skin. It might be harmful.'

'Gee, you think,' Buffy said, looking meaningfully at the dully glowing puddle.

Giles's eyebrow twitched. 'Willow, can you get over here. I want to try a banishment ritual.'

Willow looked up at the tentacle, then sprinted towards Xander.

'Magic?' Cordelia said, looking uncertainly at Giles. 'Can't we just wait for Buffy?'

'Normally we would, but under the circumstances-'

'What circumstances?' Willow asked, leaning down and rubbing her ankle.

'You hurt?'

'Just banged it a bit when Buffy-'

'Are you sure, Giles?' Cordelia persisted. 'From what I've seen, magic goes wrong half the time.'

Giles nodded. 'Magic can be simple, safe, or strong, but never all three, and with the hellmouth warp-'

The tentacle shouted three incomprehensible words, words echoed by the demonic chorus, quietly at first, but growing steadily louder.

'What now?' Cordelia muttered, loading her crossbow.

'Not yet,' Giles said, gently pulling it from her hands, 'we need to time this right.'

'You know what it's doing?' Willow asked.

'Maybe,' Giles said, walking away. 'Stay there.'

The tentacle shouted again, the same three words, and the concrete around the manhole cracked open, green light seeping out from the sewers—

Xander frowned. That couldn't be right. The sewers were pipes running through solid earth. Even they were full of green slime, and if the cracks went far enough down to reach them, not much light would escape, and it would all go straight up.

'-five, four, three,' Giles counted down, ignoring Willow's questions.

No, the light was definitely coming from just below the surface of the car park, as though the concrete was just a thin skin over a emerald sea. The demon must be—

'One,' Giles said, then fired the crossbow.

For a third time, the tentacle shouted, and the cracks raced across the car park, chunks of concrete falling into the light, but mid-word the bolt struck home.

The demonic chorus faltered as the tentacle stuttered, then fell silent, the green glow receding to a small circle, only twice the size of the manhole cover.

'Of course,' Willow said. 'A carefully timed distraction-'

Giles leapt sideways as the tentacle spat slime at him, landing on his knees.

'That your plan?' Cordelia said sceptically, taking one step towards Giles.

'No,' he said, standing back up, 'but I don't think it'll try that again.'

Xander looked thoughtfully at the tentacle, its mouth again drifting in slow circles. 'It's trying to get into our world-'

Giles half-nodded, confirming Xander's guess. The demon wasn't coming out of the sewers; it was coming from one of the hell dimensions.

'-and it's already got one tentacle through-'

'That shouldn't be possible,' Cordelia said, scowling. 'It needs someone on this side-'

'Which is the real worry,' Giles interrupted. 'If – but that will have to wait. For now, that demon only has one tentacle in our dimension. We've shown we can stop it opening the portal further from this side, so it's going to have to force its way through, and that will be slow, giving us time-'

'Or it could kill us,' Cordelia said.

'If it was going to, it already would have,' Giles said patiently, passing the crossbow back to Cordelia. 'Buffy can kill the tentacle, but that may not be enough. We need to try sealing the portal.'

'Or something else might come through,' Willow said. 'What do we do?'

'I draw a pentagram round the tentacle,' Giles said, taking the cricket bat back off Xander, 'a very large pentagram.'

'You said 'may'. You're not certain? I've not seen you use magic like this before,' Cordelia said, only the faintest of emphasis on 'seen'.

Xander nodded unthinkingly. Cordelia had mentioned before that Giles was using magic more freely than in the original history, which might not be a good thing. Not all the divergences were bad, though.

Giles glanced sideways at her, then shrugged. 'Desperate situations and all that. The demon might seal the portal behind itself when it retreats, but it might not. We have to play it safe, belt and braces. If each of you draws a pentagram on the bat-'

'In blood?' Cordelia suggested suspiciously.

'Unless you have three pounds of powdered silver handy,' Giles said sharply. 'One pentagram each, point upwards, drawn clockwise. I'll trace out a large pentagram with the bat, then we can all stand at the compass point, and I'll try every major rite of dismissal I can remember.'

'Will there be chanting,' Xander asked, smiling at Willow.

'Some,' Giles said. 'If I start saying 'we', that's your cue to echo me.'

'Got it,' Xander said, holding out his hand. 'Knife?'

Giles passed it over.

Teeth gritted, Xander slit his thumb, then drew a pentagram at the top of the bat.

As he licked the cut, Cordelia grabbed the knife off him, then pricked her own thumb, barely wincing.

Xander glanced over at Willow, uneasily watching Cordelia. Neither of them had ever liked seeing blood, but Cordelia seemed to have toughened up in the future.

'Giles,' he said, 'does Willow have to? Two is a special number, isn't it?'

'It is,' Giles agreed, 'but here, four is better.'

'It's OK,' Willow said, taking the knife from Cordelia. 'I can do it.'

Head turned away, she poked tentatively at her hand, then closed her eyes and stabbed, drawing blood.

Cordelia looked down at Willow, her face unreadable, then at Giles. 'Where do we stand?'

'Over there,' Giles said, pointing. 'Xander, you stand there, opposite me.'

'And I'm opposite Cordelia?' Willow said, rubbing her injured hand.

Passing her his handkerchief, Giles nodded. 'It'll help if you can concentrate on how the demon shouldn't be here.'

'Easy,' Cordelia said, glancing warily at the demon. 'Let's get--'

The tentacle quivered, then arched over to suck at the concrete.

Cordelia stared openly at it, then looked back at Giles, busily drawing on the bat. 'Explain.'

He looked up briefly, his eye brows flickering in surprise, but he didn't stop drawing. 'Um, yes, interesting. It seems to be attempting to physically pull itself into the world, a novel approach. It might work, though I doubt it has enough of a grip, no teeth. Done.'

Xander smiled at Cordelia. 'Then let's get chanting.'

Two minutes later, Buffy came out of the school, covered from head to toe in skin-tight grey leather, a sword half her height in her hands.

Xander gulped, his eyes locked on her. If Buffy started patrolling dressed like that, the male vamps would be queueing up to fight her.

'Where do you shop, because-' Buffy paused. 'What are you doing?'

'Drawing a pentagram,' Giles said, tracing out the last segment. 'A little magic to back you up. Dame Margo made a few suggestions about practical outfits for us, and she did leave me with everyone's measurements.'

'You can talk?' Willow said, surprised. 'Um, I mean-'

'As long as I'm not mid-invocation,' Giles said, 'and I don't let my concentration lapse.'

Reluctantly, Xander looked away from Buffy, trying not to smile too broadly. If Giles had a outfit like that for Cordelia too-—

But he could contemplate that later, when he had time to enjoy it. Smile fading, Xander stared at the demon tentacle, an alien intrusion into his world.

Buffy looked up at the tentacle, doubtfully at the pentagram, then with a half-shrug, lowered her visor and jumped over the faint line, charging at the demon.

Pentagram completed, Giles lifted the bat off the ground, holding it flat against his chest with the handle at neck height.

Buffy swung her sword down, trying to sever the demon's neck, but it jerked sideways, then reared up.

'With blood freely given, we bar the way,' Giles chanted. 'No evil shall pass this age-hallowed sign.'

Sword at the ready, Buffy circled the demon.

'Sanguine donato gratis, itineri obstamus. Malum signum quod aetatibus sacrant non transibit.'

Then Giles switched languages again, and Xander was completely lost. He didn't understand Latin, but he could recognise a few familiar words in it, several that were almost the same as in English, as well as a couple he remembered from the succubi books. Whatever Giles was speaking now, it sounded almost completely alien, almost. The words were strange, but their rhythm, that was tickling old memories.

Laughing, Buffy dodged as the demon spat slime at her. 'Pathetic.'

The demon roared, a deep bass growl that shook the ground.

'We four stand as one.' Giles said, then tapped the ground with the bat.

Buffy darted inwards, running right up to the base of the tentacle, then paused uncertainly. 'Giles, the sword. How do I-'

'Quattuor quasi una resistimus,' Giles said, tapped the ground again, then switched to the third language.

'Climb one-handed,' Cordelia shouted. 'Grip with your knees.'

Buffy looked sharply at her

Giles tapped the ground a third time, and the pentagrams on the bat lit up.

'There was a scabbard in the library,' he shouted, then touched to the bat to the large pentagram.

Rosy flames raced along the lines Giles had sketched out, only a few inches tall but dazzlingly bright.

The tentacle shuddered.

'Now you tell me,' Buffy said, looking up at the mouth, twenty feet above her.

The demon lunged at her, mouth gaping wide.

Buffy rolled sideways, the demon passing a foot over her head. 'Giles? What am I supposed to do if it-'

'Hold on tight,' Giles said. 'You are the slayer; you have the strength.'

Xander nodded enthusiastically. 'You can do it, Buffy.'

Lifting the bat, Giles pointed it at the demon. 'By the oaths we have sworn, and the blood we have spilled, we command you: begone!'

'Begone!' Xander shouted, on cue.

The demon shuddered, then roared a single incomprehensible word.

Around its mouth, the shadows deepened.

Buffy backed away from the demon.

'On the elements I call,' Giles said calmly, then pointed the bat at Cordelia.

The tentacle whipped through the air, leaving a line of shadow behind it, darker than the night.

Buffy balanced the sword on her palm for a few moments then pointed it back over her shoulder, parallel to the ground.

'Aqua, fluens calice quam maximo, arcesso,' Giles said, and Cordelia was wreathed in thin mist, scarcely visible in the gloom.

With a flick of her elbow, Buffy sent the sword spinning through the air.

The demon jerked sideways, but too slowly. The sword buried itself in the tentacle, to the hilt.

'Now, I can climb it,' Buffy said brightly, glancing sideways at Giles.

Giles nodded approvingly at Buffy, then pointed the bat at Xander.

The demon lunged at Giles, but the pentagram flared up, dazzlingly bright, forcing the demon back.

Guessing what was coming next, Xander looked at Cordelia. She was staring intently at the demon, clearly untroubled by the mist, and she hated getting her hair damp. Whoever got fire probably wouldn't even get hot.

'Terra, aeterna ut risus, arcesso,' Giles said, watching Buffy run towards the demon, and Xander's vision blurred, his lingering aches fading away.

He blinked, then waved his right hand experimentally. He could feel something round him, brushing against his skin, but all he could see were a few pale grey smears. He could feel a reassuring presence enveloping him, its timeless strength supporting him, but his hand found only empty air. Somewhere, far off, he could hear warm laughter, but—

'Earth,' Willow said, sounding pleased. 'Terra is earth. Looks like you're inside a translucent monolith.'

Buffy glanced down, at where the tentacle came out of the portal, then leapt.

'Feels strange,' Xander said, then quickly smiled, 'in a good way.'

Seven feet off the ground, Buffy clung tightly to the swaying tentacle.

'Feels like that magic water bowl,' Cordelia said, 'but a lot weaker.'

As Giles pointed the bat at Willow, Buffy began her climb.

The demon lunged at her, but missed, its head whistling inches beneath her feet.

'Ignis, rubrum scutum contra tenebras, arcesso,' Giles said, and Willow glowed, faint golden flames licking across her skin. She looked curiously at her hands, then smiled reassuringly at Xander.

The demon spat slime at Buffy, but she was already moving, swinging round to the other side of the tentacle, and the slime spattered harmlessly against the demon itself.

Howling in frustration, the demon reared up, then looked at Giles and spoke a single word, its voice painfully dissonant.

A ball of writhing shadows shot out of its mouth, hitting the concrete two feet short of Giles.

'Missed again,' Buffy said, but Giles frowned.

Xander leaned forwards, trying to get a better look, then scowled. The shadows seemed to be sinking into the ground, but they weren't fading; they were darkening, staining the ground in deepest black. The demon was definitely planning something.

'Aer, gerulus verborum, arcesso,' Giles said, awkwardly pointing the bat at himself, and his jacket flapped in the breeze.

The demon spoke a single word, short and ugly.

The shadow-stained concrete rippled like oil, three shapes emerging from its depths; giant beetles, the size of a large dog, but with four tentacles sprouting from their heads, each tipped with a single claw.

Willow and Cordelia both grimaced, but Giles looked sternly at the demon tentacle.

One of the demonic beetles sprang at Giles, only to be forced back by the pentagram, but the other two scuttled away from him, towards the tentacle, and Buffy.

'Ab vestra conlativa ope, abombinamentum amandentur,' he said, 'nunc et semper.'

Without conscious thought, Xander pointed at the tentacle, jagged pebbles orbiting his outstretched hand. An instinctive gesture, and they zoomed towards the demon in a steady stream.

Xander looked disbelievingly at his hand, then smiled. This was the good kind of magic.

Two demonic beetles ran straight up each side of the tentacle,

Smiling, Willow and Cordelia blasted them with fire and water.

Twelve feet up, Buffy watched the smouldering corpses fall away, then resumed her long climb.

The third demon began scraping geometrical designs in the concrete with its claws, presumably some magical symbol.

Xander turned, ready to blast it.

'No,' Giles said sharply. 'Focus on the tentacle. Leave its minion till the last minute.'

'Is it healing?' Willow said uncertainly.

Xander peered at the tentacle. It was pock-marked with craters from his pebbles, none of them visibly shrinking, but there weren't enough of them. The demon was slowly healing itself, just barely fast enough to keep up with the damage done.

'It is,' Giles said, 'but we're not trying to kill it.'

'We're not?' Cordelia said, 'but-'

'We can't kill the demon proper,' Giles said, 'it's not in our dimension. We're just …. trying to make it feel unwelcome.'

The demon barked another short word.

Xander smiled. 'I don't think it's got the message yet.'

Four more demonic beetles crawled out of the shadow-stained ground, and took flight.

'It will,' Giles said. 'Demete typhonem.'

The stream of pebbles veered left, circling the tentacle clockwise.

Fifteen feet up, Buffy looked grimly at the demons flying towards her.

Cordelia's jet of water wrapped itself round the pebbles and flowed on, right to left.

Left arm wrapped tightly round the tentacle, Buffy swatted the first beetle aside, then kicked at the second, but it dodged.

Wind joined with earth and water, braiding themselves together.

Xander glanced to the right. Willow's flames were there too, taking the long way round the circle.

Hovering in front of Buffy, a third beetle raked at her head with its tentacles, its claws sliding uselessly over the smooth plastic.

The flames passed Xander, the pebbles coming up behind them.

Buffy grabbed hold of one of the tentacles and whipped the beetle downwards, smashing it into the fourth.

The remaining two demons lashed out at Buffy's knees, without visible effect.

Willow smiled. 'Action and reaction. They can't brace themselves, so-'

The pebbles reached Xander, completing the circuit, and the ring of elements blazed.

Dazzled, Xander blinked twice, then looked at the glowing ring, red hot rocks wreathed in steam, swept along by howling winds.

'Pretty,' Cordelia said flatly. 'What does it do?'

Buffy smashed the last demon out of the air, then started climbing again.

'In theory, Cordelia,' Giles said, 'whatever is appropriate. I need-'

'In theory?' Cordelia echoed. 'You mean-'

The demon's harsh voice cut her off mid-complaint.

'More beetles?' Xander guessed as dark shapes began crawling out of the pool of shadows, dozens of them. At least these were smaller, no bigger than rats.

The beetles scurried off towards the big tentacle, their footsteps like rustling leaves.

'Of course,' Willow shouted, then smiled brightly. 'It's summoning little beetles with tentacles, relatively I mean – three-foot isn't little for a beetle, the world's smallest is, um, under half a inch – but little next to it, so it must be a beetle itself, like the ones it's summoning but much bigger, with one of its tentacles stuck through the portal.'

'And this helps, how?' Cordelia asked sharply

Willow cringed, but Giles smiled reassuringly. 'It suggests possibilities. The simple approach first, I think.'

The demon beetles raced up the main tentacle.

'As this, so that,' Giles said, swiftly tracing circles in the air.

Spinning ever faster, the glowing ring shrank inwards, but even as it shrank it grew taller, a vortex of elemental force, as high as the demon.

With the beetles nipping at her heels, Buffy grabbed the sword and awkwardly slashed at the underside of the demon's maw, slicing through the thin membrane.

The demon flailed wildly, sending the little beetles flying, but Buffy held on.

The vortex tightened round the demon, a column of boiling steam and jagged gravel, driven by hurricane force winds, nearly twenty feet high.

The demon shrieked, deafeningly loud.

Buffy looked down at the vortex, its top just inches beneath her dangling feet, then tucked her knees up. 'Giles-'

'It's still healing,' Cordelia said, pointing to the swift-closing rip.

'Naturally,' Giles said. 'Anything powerful enough to breach the dimensional barriers like this-'

'Do something,' Cordelia snapped. 'Both of you.'

Glancing sideways at Cordelia, Buffy swung at the demon's neck, but the sword bounced off.

Giles pointed the bat at the demon. 'Exi nunc-'

Buffy swung again, this time severing one of the strand that made up the neck.

'-miserabilis servus oblivionis-'

The demon whipped its head backwards, slamming Buffy into the concrete, but its own mouth crumpled under the impact, the shredded membrane flapping uselessly.

'-semper sciam dolorem,' Giles thundered.

The demon wavered, then swiftly reeled itself back inside the portal.

Xander blinked as all the magical lights winked out, leaving the car park shrouded in gloom.

'Its it over,' Willow asked, 'or is it coming back?'

'Not this way,' Giles said. 'Don't move!'

Mid-step, Xander stopped, then pointed at Buffy. 'But she needs-'

'We have to terminate the spell cleanly, or there could be adverse consequences,' Giles said, then gently added. 'Buffy should be fine.'

'I am,' she said, sitting up, 'just winded.'

Giles smiled. 'There's holy water in my car. You'll need to sprinkle it over the manhole cover.'

As Buffy walked away, Willow looked at Giles. 'That was great. I was throwing fire, and- We should do it again. We-'

'No,' Giles said firmly, and Cordelia nodded. 'That would be more dangerous to us than-'

'But-'

'And it wouldn't even work the same,' Giles said. 'Magic is not like technology. It depends on intent, and on need.'

'So if we really want the vampires dead-' Willow began.

'Use a stake,' Giles said. 'Using magic risks attracting the attention of …. interested parties.'

'That would be bad, right?' Xander said, knowing what the answer would be. One of the books Margo had left behind was 'The Abuse of Magic: Cautionary Tales', an inch thick, with hundreds of gruesome illustrations

When Cordelia had stumbled upon it a few days back, it hadn't been long before she'd started reading out some of the descriptions, her voice dripping with fascinated disbelief. The deaths in that book were weird, even by hell mouth standards. Drawn in, Xander had ended up spending a few hours leafing through it with her, though they'd skipped all the dull bits.

'Potentially catastrophic,' Giles replied while Cordelia nodded approvingly. 'Take fire. You could end up a pyromaniac, wanting nothing more than to see the world burn.'

Giles paused, and looked sideways at Cordelia. 'Magic is a tool of last resort. You can be sure I will never use it lightly.'

'This enough holy water?' Buffy asked, walking back with three bottles. 'More-'

Giles nodded. 'You only need to sprinkle it. Clockwise circles, while I chant.'

Buffy walked over to the manhole cover. 'Ready.'

'Claustrum quod fractum est sarciat,' Giles chanted, while Buffy sprinkled the water. 'Portae quae apertae sunt claudant. Omnes quae arcessiti sunt nunc abeant.'

Giles tapped the cricket bat on the ground. 'Faciat.'

Xander staggered, the comforting solidity of earth gone. Without it, he was empty, a—

—but he'd always been without it. This must be some lingering after-effect of the spell. Judging from everyone's faces, it wasn't just him either. Only Buffy looked unaffected.

'Giles,' she began, 'what-'

'It must be the elemental link,' he said, adjusting his glasses. 'Metaphorically, I just pulled the chair out from underneath us, hence the psychic shock. It should pass soon.'

'Warn us, next time,' Cordelia said sharply, then looked sideways at Willow. 'That link what you were worried about?'

'It was one of the unwanted possibilities. Even though all the visual manifestations-'

'This going to happen again?' Xander asked, cutting Giles's lecture off. 'If-'

'It shouldn't have been able to happen at all,' Giles said, then looked round the car park, 'but Dame Margo did open a portal here, which was hijacked by the voice of the triune beast-'

'He means Wolfram and Hart,' Cordelia said, smiling at Buffy.

'-and the demon didn't break through until we were all here.' Giles paused, frowning. 'You did the right thing, Xander, but it's possible blowing up that portal left a scar in the dimensional barriers which this demon was able to exploit. That would explain why it waited for us; having the same five people present could theoretically strengthen-'

'Uncertain much?' Cordelia said. 'If it's going to happen again—

'It will,' Giles said, 'eventually. We've sealed this scar, but there are others, and the hell mouth is getting stronger. If we don't stop it, more weak spots will give way, as reality begins to collapse. This demon was just the first raindrop of the coming storm.'

Xander shrugged. Giles had said similarly things a few times, since Margo's visit, but he worried too much. 'Buffy killed this demon-'

'Banished,' Giles corrected him.

'-she'll kill the others,' Xander continued, smiling. 'And when you find out why the hell mouth is getting stronger, you'll stop that too.'

'But not tonight,' Cordelia said, then looked at Buffy, leathers dripping with demon slime. 'You need to get changed. Willow will tell us about the assassins, inside.'

'I will? Shouldn't we wait for Buffy? She's-'

'We need to hear both your accounts,' Giles said, ushering Willow towards the library door, then tossed Buffy a set of keys. 'For the gym. Don't let any of the slime touch bare flesh, and don't forget the sword'

Xander watched as Buffy strolled off, a faint smile curling his lips as he thought about—

Cordelia jabbed him in the ribs. 'Inside.'

'So, this woman had hacked the security cameras?' Cordelia summed up, thirty minutes later.

'No,' Willow said, sighing in frustration. 'You can't do that. Only-'

Leaning back in the library chair, Xander nodded at the familiar complaint. Willow said the same thing every time she saw a film with hackers in.

Giles frowned. 'You said the security footage was being relayed online.'

'It was. She installed a server on their office computer, and spliced the video feed into it, using some-'

'Can we-' Cordelia began.

'The woman bugged their office computer,' Buffy clarified. 'Willow explained it all to me on the way here, three times.'

'That's not quite right,' Willow said. 'She-'

Xander smiled sympathetically at Buffy. 'Let's save the technical details for Giles's diaries.'

Giles nodded, his face tinged with resignation. 'Can you tell where the footage was being relayed to?'

'No,' Willow said. 'They must have subverted a domain name server, because-'

'Let's stick to what we do know,' Cordelia said quickly. 'You two were attacked by five succubi in the mall, but Buffy killed them all, then you phoned us.'

'What were you two doing together anyway,' Willow asked, then looked at Xander. 'Isn't that a new shirt? I don't-'
'He needed a new outfit,' Cordelia said, then looked thoughtfully at Willow. 'So do you.'

'Someone spilt their drink over me,' Xander quickly lied. 'I needed a quick change, and Cordy was there.'

'But-' Willow began,

'I told you to check for possible observation points,' Giles said, cutting her off, 'so you checked on the security cameras-'

'Willow's idea,' Buffy said, smiling.

'-and discovered that an attractive woman had persuaded the guards to let her hijack the cameras, presumably so she could watch Buffy fighting. We don't know who she is or whether she was working for anyone else.'

'Maybe she's working for Moloch,' Willow suggested. 'He's in the internet-'

'Perhaps,' Giles said. 'He's not in his book, but the online disruptions you've found don't match his modus operandi.'

Xander shrugged. 'Two demons online-'

'They'd fight,' Cordelia said, glancing at Giles.

'If they could,' Giles said. 'Moloch was always very territorial, but either way, there should be some trace of him. He may be hiding; he may be dead-'

'But he's not the big bad,' Buffy summarised. 'What is?'

'There are several possibilities,' Giles said. 'We need to consult the books.'

'Research,' Buffy said flatly. 'I never though I'd miss vampires.'

'Not you,' Giles said. 'You need to go and patrol.'

As Buffy stood up, Cordelia smiled brightly. 'And Willow will want to chat with her online friend.'

Blushing, Willow began a stuttering reply.

About to make his own excuses, Xander froze. He had almost forgotten; Malcolm had been Moloch, before history chanted. Now, Greg had taken Malcolm's place. He had to be involved in the whole business somehow – the timing was too close to be a coincidence – and he was targeting Willow.

It didn't matter whether Greg was Moloch, or the other online mastermind; he needed killing, fast, but Buffy couldn't do that until Giles had worked out what was really going on.

Reluctantly, Xander settled back in his chair. For Willow, he would tolerate the tedium.

'-so I do need to go online,' Willow said, 'to see if I can track anything down with the utilities I've got on my home computer, which I couldn't remotely log into from the mall security office computers, since-'

'You can give us a report in the morning,' Giles said, 'a non-technical report.'

Xander frowned. Willow needed to stay offline, where Greg couldn't get at her, but Giles knew about that. If he wasn't trying to stop her, there must be a reason.

As Willow stood up, Buffy looked at Cordelia. 'You coming?'

'We're staying,' Xander said quickly. If he was going to be stuck researching, Cordelia could do her share too.

Willow looked sharply back at Xander, clearly surprised, but Buffy quickly ushered her out of the library before she could comment.

Once they'd both gone Giles looked at Cordelia. 'I've not forgotten your warning, but she had a legitimate excuse, and Buffy knows to dissuade her.'

'She knows,' Xander said, confused. 'I thought we hadn't told her anything.'

'She knows Greg exists,' Cordelia patiently reminded him, ' and she knows he showed up at the same time as Moloch was scanned. We've not told her any more, but that's still enough to make her suspicious. She knows what to do.'

Giles nodded. 'If she can get Gregory's full name, that might help. Demons tend to be rather unimaginative in their choice of aliases.'

Xander smiled. 'Cordy will know. She was-'

'I've forgotten,' Cordelia said scowling. 'You heard the name too.'

'But you never forget a name.'

Giles frowned. 'Hmm. It may be nothing-'

'But it never is when people say that,' Xander interjected.

'Indeed. There are some ways of preventing your enemies from remembering your name. It's a rare skill, but-'

Mid-sentence, Giles stopped.

'But what?' Xander asked.

Giles looked uncertainly from Xander to Cordelia, and back again. 'That's a sensitive subject, but under the circumstances, maybe you should know.'

Xander started to speak, then fell silent at a warning glance from Cordelia.

'We've been speculating about the use of mind control on Ms Calender,' Giles said, after a lengthy silence.

Xander nodded. She been acting weird since last Monday, the day Moloch had been scanned, and now she'd changed again; less spacey, more … sensual.

'Have you noticed that I haven't said anything about how that might have been accomplished?'

'Of course,' Cordelia said softly.

'With good reason,' Giles said. 'I can't teach you much about how mind control works without telling you how to do it.'

'We can't do magic,' Xander protested, then hesitated. 'Can we?'

'If you meet certain criteria, and all of you do, mind control doesn't require any magical talent at all.'

'And you know how,' Cordelia said. 'I've never seen you use it.'

'I should hope not,' Giles said, looking affronted. 'I swore neither to use nor to teach those techniques, save to junior watchers. Breaking that vow could kill me.'

'Magical vows?' Xander guessed.

'Council assassins,' Giles said. 'The penalty for any use of forbidden magics is death, though-'

'You've got assassins?' Xander said, surprised. 'That's-'

'-not important right now,' Cordelia said. 'You think if you tell us too much, we'll start hypnotising people.'

'No,' Giles said. 'You'll be able to work out how to, but you must not.'

'We're not all as smart as you,' Cordelia said, glancing sideways at Xander. 'If we abuse mind control, you tell the council?'

'Not under the circumstances. Investigate the grey areas, and I will be … sorely disappointed,' Giles said calmly. 'Use true mind control, and I will kill you myself,'

Xander looked sharply at Giles. He couldn't mean that, could he? Giles—

'He means it,' Cordelia said, seemingly unruffled.

Giles nodded. 'Now, we can't learn anything from Ms Calendar alone, there are too many possibilities, but rendering one's name unmemorable is also a form of mind control. Put the two together-'

'-and we'll know who Greg really is.' Xander finished.

Giles nodded. 'The best guide is the Astus Mentis Dominationis, but-'

Xander and Cordelia looked at each other.

'You recognise the title?' Giles guessed, correctly. 'How? I-'

'Margo left us a copy,' Xander said.

'Shelved next to the books on succubi,' Cordelia said dryly. 'You'd almost think she wanted us to read it.'

'She left you that?' Giles said. 'What else did she leave you, a primer on necromancy?'

'Several thousand books,' Cordelia said. 'She didn't think much of Winston's collection.'

Xander half-smiled. Cordelia was bending the truth again. Margo hadn't thought much of Winston's collection because it was a complete fabrication, like Winston himself.

'Anyway,' Giles said after a moment, 'I left my copy is in England. I thought it was too dangerous for these shelves-'

'You've got books here on how to raise zombie armies,' Cordelia said. 'I've seen them.'

'Which should tell you just how dangerous that book is, in the wrong hands,' Giles noted dryly, 'though there are a few deliberate errors in that zombie animation ritual. If anyone tried using it, the zombies would eat them, then return to their graves.'

'Harsh,' Xander said.

'Necromancy is forbidden, on penalty of death,' Giles said, then smiled. 'But that's not our problem tonight. Without the Astus Mentis Dominationis, we'll need to chase down cryptic references in dozens of different books.'

'Then let's get started,' Xander said, smiling broadly. If he happened to learn how to bend girls to his whim along the way, well, he wouldn't do it – he remembered too clearly the horror of discovering that the witch had made him into her puppet – but knowing how, that would be cool.

'This is amazing,' Giles said the next morning, looking round the flat, 'truly amazing. Verbally triggered enchantments, and you say the kitchen door can open anywhere?'

Xander shrugged. 'It doesn't work very well.'

'That's you, not the door,' Cordelia said, then looked at Giles. 'It works, if you concentrate, but I don't trust it.'

'This is magic of the highest order,' Giles said, 'and yet-'

'We knew Margo was powerful,' Cordelia said suspiciously. 'You told us that. Why-'

'Powerful, by human standards,' Giles said. 'This … it's far beyond the magic I know. Um, you said Dame Margo wrote a booklet for you, explaining how this works?'

'Hundreds of magic commands we can use,' Xander said, smiling. 'We haven't tried half of them yet.'

'But no actual explanation,' Cordelia said, 'just a one line reference to a book we can't read.'

'Where?' Giles asked.

Cordelia pointed. 'Second shelf up, left hand side, teal cover. The title looks Arabic, but inside it's runes-'

'Not runes,' Giles said, flicking through the book. 'Akkadian cuneiform, recognisable by the distinctive wedge shapes. It's an archaic Sumerian text, annotated in Sanskrit, which is written in the Devanagari script.'

Xander looked sideways at Cordelia. 'Didn't Margo say something about-'

'-only books that we needed,' Cordelia finished.

'I recognised a shelf full of language primers,' Giles said, turning to the front of the book.

Cordelia smiled. 'Optimistic, much?'

'Dame Margo was considered a good judge-' Giles paused, surprise plain on his face. 'Apparently, she didn't cast the spell proper.'

'How can you tell?' Xander asked. 'Nothing has-'

'Not properly, proper,' Giles clarified. 'Dame Margo didn't directly enchant this room herself. Rather, the spell she cast tapped into a much older spell cast by — um, I don't t recognise the name, but context suggests a faction of the board, or possibly a precursor. Anyway, the process seems to be akin to the way this room responds to your commands, but applied on a much grander scale. Hmm, it may actually have been easier for her to do this than to provide something more proportionate using conventional-'

'Stick to what we need to know,' Cordelia said sharply.

Giles turned the page, his eyebrows rising.

'Giles!' Cordelia snapped.

'Nearly finished,' Giles mumbled without looking up.

'Think it's good news?' Xander asked Cordelia.

'In this-' Cordelia paused, then smiled approvingly. 'You're trying to manage me, aren't you.'

'No one could do that,' Xander said, smiling back. She was right, he had been trying to distract her from Giles, but—

'An admirably comprehensive introductory overview,' Giles said, putting the book down on his knee. 'Did Dame Margo have you take part in the spell casting in any way?'

'No,' Cordelia said. 'She used the title deeds. Why?'

'Then your ownership is provisional. If you were to sell this flat, or to live elsewhere for seven years, the enchantments would dissipate.'

'Margo didn't mention that,' Cordelia said flatly, then frowned, 'but she didn't actually say it wouldn't; she just implied it. What else didn't she tell us?'

'The benefits of binding?' Giles suggested. 'It would have been difficult-'

'Benefits?' Xander said. 'What can we get?'

'This book has twenty-three chapters, ' Giles said. 'Nineteen of them are about the benefits.'

'How many about the costs?' Cordelia asked.

'Apparently, they were paid by those who created the spell,' Giles said, 'but there is one chapter about the drawbacks. Principally, the binding would interfere with certain beneficial magics, and forcibly breaking it would kill you, though anything that could do that could easily kill you itself'

'And the benefits?' Xander asked.

'A suspended dimensional schism, with an option on transcendence,' Giles said thoughtfully, 'which….If it means what it seems to … the implications …'

Xander glanced at Cordelia. 'Any idea what he's talking about?'

Giles looked up. 'If my translation is correct, this flat would be suspended on the brink of falling out of reality, with you two as the sole anchors keeping it attached. It's described as a defensive measure, but to need such defences-'

Cordelia frowned. 'So if we were bound, one of us would have to stay outside, or-'

'Nothing would happen,' Giles said, 'I think, not unless you deliberately severed yourselves from this world, or it was destroyed. The flat would be tied only to you, but you are tied to the world in a myriad ways.'

'You think?' Cordelia said.

'You expect certainty?' Giles said scathingly. 'From a sight-translation of a summary paragraph written in two dead languages? It isn't normal prose either; it's as technical as any abstract, and you expect certainty?'

Cordelia opened her mouth, paused, then calmly said, 'We're going to need a full translation.'

'That could take months,' Giles warned.

'Anything else you can tell us now?' Xander asked.

'There are other benefits,' Giles said. 'The spell forms a … magical prosthesis, but getting the best use out of that could take decades.'

'Prosthetic what?' Cordelia asked suspiciously.

'Talent,' Giles said. 'Most spells require magical talent to perform. Without it, you cannot channel the mystical energies through your mind and soul-'

'But the flat can do that for us?' Xander said, putting the pieces together. 'Cool.'

'Apparently,' Giles said, 'but only while you're in this flat, and it doesn't help you learn the magic.'

'Typical,' Cordelia said, then glanced at her watch. 'You didn't come here to read our books.'

Giles nodded, looking wistfully at the many shelves. 'We need to cut through the tangled webs.'

'I don't have any secrets,' Xander said. It was Cordelia and Giles who—

'You mean Willow didn't tell you everything?' Cordelia said, smiling faintly.

'Apart from that,' Xander quickly corrected. 'She's been checking you both up online, but she's not found anything.'

'Both?' Giles said.

'You never showed Buffy any ID.'

'That could be faked. Slayers can tell when someone is …. sworn to good. That can't be faked.'

'Does Buffy know?' Cordelia asked.

'I'll tell her,' Giles said, then looked at Cordelia.

She shifted uneasily. 'I've seen what Willow will, um, would have done. I didn't want it to happen.'

'She wouldn't do anything bad,' Xander protested.

'I do believe hacking is illegal,' Giles said dryly. 'Cordelia, could it still happen?'

'Not the same way, but she's still the same person.'

'Tell us what you can, but remember, not too much.'

'She taught herself magic, with notes stolen from a dead person. You were … distracted.'

Giles looked sharply at Cordelia. 'Are you sure?'

'Yes,' Cordelia said simply.

'Really stolen?' Xander said, suspiciously, 'or did she just pick them up while investigating?'

'I didn't see,' Cordelia admitted. 'Does it matter.'

'It shows bias,' Giles said, before Xander could reply. 'You must try-'

'I've got personal issues too,' Cordelia said, 'but I know what comes first.'

'Good,' Giles said, then looked at Xander. 'She was right to be concerned. Teaching yourself magic is reckless, especially if you are talented, and Willow has quite the wrong attitude. Treat magic like science and-'

He paused, looking thoughtfully at Cordelia. 'Would she have performed any major spells?'

'One, um, maybe two.'

She would have? Xander smiled. Having more magic on their side would be good.

'Any complications?'

'The big one, she started speaking a language she doesn't know.'

Giles sighed. 'We should be able to prevent that, but the underlying attitude – When Willow finds out about your foreknowledge, she'll want to learn everything you know. We can't allow that, so we'll have to downplay the extent of your knowledge.'

'Why?' Xander said. 'What's wrong with- Oh.'

Willow wouldn't listen to Giles's warnings about knowing too much, any more than she'd listened when people had told her not to hack. She'd look for a safe way of using the information, just for the intellectual challenge, and then she'd want to test it, to prove she was right.

Giles nodded. 'I was the same as her at your age.'

'Now you understand?' Cordelia said. 'I needed to watch Willow. Why would she find out, anyway?'

'Because we will tell her,' Giles said firmly. 'We need to, to preserve trust. Hmm, many of your actions would seem to be justified, but not all. I need to know-'

'But she hasn't been watching Willow,' Xander protested, and Willow didn't need watching either. She needed to be told the truth.

'If you could tell I was, so could she,' Cordelia said. 'She's not looking hard, but she is looking.'

'I've noticed,' Giles said. 'If she didn't seem to be looking, then I'd get worried.'

'Why?' Xander asked. Giles shouldn't be thinking about how to keep secrets from Willow; he'd said himself that kind of thing was bad. True, she would experiment, but they'd be able to stop her doing anything dangerous. Giles was just falling back on watcher habits, subtly encouraged by Cordelia.

'It'd mean she'd found some other source,' Cordelia said patiently.

'I know that,' Xander said, 'but-'

Giles smiled. 'Willow has too much magical talent to be a good student of magic.'

Xander stared at him. 'What?' How-'

'Remember, I said magical talent lets you channel mystical energies through your mind and soul. With practice, you can learn to steer those energies by force of will, allowing much greater control-'

'But channelling those energies is dangerous,' Cordelia confidently surmised. 'It can, um, burn-'

'Only when people try spells that are beyond them,' Giles said. 'The bigger problem is that you are inviting those energies into yourself, and they are not passive. Magic is not technology.'

Xander looked at Cordelia, frowning uncertainly, then smiled. 'Not so fast on the corner.'

Giles sighed. 'Electricity doesn't want anything. The forces which power magic do.'

'Gods,' Xander guessed, trying to keep up.

'Sometimes,' Giles said. 'That's one of the dangers even for ritual magic – those spells that don't require talent. It's easy to think of the names you invoke as mere words of power; they aren't. However, it's not just gods. Some of the forces involved have no minds, as we understand them, but they still have desires. Even with ritual magic, this can cause problems; it did last night. For those with talent …'

Giles paused, then looked directly at Xander. 'Before Willow attempts a single spell, she should spend long years studying the contours of her own mind, learning to see herself as she truly is, without self delusion. Do that, and no alien influence will be able to take root in the shadowed corners of her soul, but does Willow have the patience?'

'No,' Xander reluctantly admitted. 'Isn't there a quicker way?'

'There are some relatively safe way of doing magic,' Giles said. 'I'll teach Willow them if necessary, and not before.'

Then he'd be teaching Willow magic soon.

'Good,' Cordelia said. 'What were you saying you wanted to know?'

'What deliberate changes have you made, or attempted?'

'I told Angel, um – How much do you both know about him?'

As Giles began speaking, Xander sat back in his chair, only half-listening. Finally, the secrets were coming out.

'The tarot cards represent certain fundamental archetypes,' Giles said, twenty minutes later. 'They're not the only such system – both major zodiacs do the same, and all are equally valid – but among the major arcana are those that are more.'

Xander frowned, not seeing the relevance. Giles was supposed to be explaining the stuff Margo had said about bells, not talking about fortune telling.

'Just as we all have a zodiac sign, so we each have an affinity with certain tarot cards. Under normal conditions, this would mean little-.'

'But we're on the hell mouth,' Cordelia said. 'What's my card?'

'The Empress,' Giles said, and Cordelia smiled.

'What else?' Xander said lightly. 'What's mine.'

'There's considerably more to the Empress than the name suggests,' Giles warned, 'and tarot affinities can change, or be changed.'

'What's mine?' Xander asked again.

'Good question,' Giles said, then paused. 'This would be easier if you'd never been near the hell mouth.'

'Why?' Xander asked, looking suspiciously at Giles. What was the problem?

'If I could answer that -' Giles paused, frowning. 'It's never actually been proven that being too categorical about this matter is unsafe … but I'd rather not experiment.'

'So you can't tell me anything?' Xander concluded, scowling.

'No,' Giles said. 'I just have to describe the elephant by its shadow.'

Xander sat back, waiting for the explanation.

'Only those with significant occult exposure-' Giles began.

'Like living on the hell mouth?' Cordelia suggested confidently.

Giles nodded. '- need be concerned about the deeper meaning, and even then, the effects are usually slight. Someone with an affinity for death might find themselves drawn to it, once or twice a year, by seeming chance. For you though, Xander, the effects are rather less predictable. You might become a magnet for … red-headed girls, or for vampires; there's no telling.'

Xander smiled at Cordelia. 'Is it girls?' She'd know if he'd been lucky with them.

'But,' Giles said, before Cordelia could reply, 'not only do you live on the hell mouth, you're helping the slayer. That alone would – well, if you had a death affinity, you'd probably witness a murder every couple of weeks. As it is, all I can say is that your life could grow strange.'

'Could?' Xander frowned. 'There's more, isn't there?'

Giles looked at him, then at Cordelia. 'You have both looked into the heart of oblivion, and stared Death itself in the face. That is no small thing.'

'But what does it mean?' Xander asked.

'Even guessing could be dangerous,' Giles said, 'and even if I knew, I doubt it would be safe to use that information. Anything else I can tell you?'

Xander looked uneasily at Cordelia. That sounded ominous, but there wasn't anything he could do about it.

'Martial arts,' he said after a moment's silence, switching to a topic where he might actually learn something useful. 'You said you were going to talk about it.'

'Yes,' Giles said, then glanced at his watch, 'on the way to school. I'll give you a lift.'

'Drop us off outside the gates,' Cordelia said. 'Margo left us a training manual.'

Giles stood up, looking round for his coat. 'The Masters of Defence?'

Xander nodded as he picked up his school bag.

'Not a fashionable style,' Giles said, 'but effective enough, and obscurity can help. Hmm, you know what your biggest advantage is?'

'Superior fashion sense?' Cordelia suggested, checking her make-up in the mirror, then looked meaningfully at Giles. 'Clearly not.'

'You're fighting for your life, every time,' Giles said, as he put his coat on. 'They're fighting for their dinner. They're not mentally prepared for a serious fight, and you will be. Sometimes, that's all you need.'

'And the rest of the time?' Cordelia said, picking up her school bag.

'They're usually stronger than you, and often quicker, but only physically. Very few demons can think faster than people. Keep them off-balance, mentally, and they'll never bring their physical advantages to bear. And forget about clean fights. You don't have that luxury.'

Xander opened the door. 'You make it sound so easy.'

'Never think that,' Giles said, following him through the doorway. 'If you fight vampires or demons, you will get hurt, seriously hurt.'

'But you should see the other guy?' Cordelia suggested, closing the door behind her.

'They'll probably be in better shape than you,' Giles said. 'You can't expect to kill demons, just to drive them off.'

'If you put up a fight, they go looking for easier prey?' Xander said tentatively. 'We should be trying to kill them.'

'Leave that to Buffy,' Giles said, while Xander unlocked the outside door. 'For us, surviving is victory enough.'

Xander scowled. Giles might be happy just surviving, but he was old. Xander wasn't.

'He's right,' Cordelia said, following Giles outside. 'You saw how Buffy was thrown around last night. Could you take that?'

'No,' Xander slowly admitted, 'but they aren't all that big.'

'What's more important?' Cordelia asked, tacitly conceding the point, 'killing the demons, or your pride?'

'It's not like that,' Xander said, then paused, sorting his thoughts out.

'What is it like?' Cordelia asked sceptically, locking the flat door behind her.

'Buffy's already got Giles for the book stuff. We should-'

'No,' Giles said. 'Having watchers fight along side the slayer has been tried. It never works well. There's too much difference in their physical capabilities.'

Xander scowled. Just because the watchers hadn't been able to do it didn't mean it couldn't be done.

'Xander,' Giles said. 'You have helped Buffy, already. With training, you'll be able to help her more, but you mustn't get overconfident.'

'With Cordy around?' Xander said, forcing a smile. 'No chance. Where's the car.'

'Round the corner.'

'How are we going to do this?' Cordelia asked, as they followed Giles. 'Where-'

'Time's a problem,' Giles said. 'Buffy's training has to come first, and emergency research.'

'More excuses?' Cordelia said. 'We talked about this.'

Giles sighed. 'I'm only one man. It'd take half a dozen – which might be doable. If I trade on Dame Margo's name, I could probably get some of her people to give you personal training.'

'No way,' Cordelia said. 'They'd try to manipulate us.'

'Then all you've got is me.' Giles paused, unlocking his car. 'I will teach you, but I won't be able to supervise every minute of your training.'

Xander glanced sideways at Cordelia, who did not look happy, then smiled. 'So, what's the plan?'

Giles might not be planning to teach them properly, but anything had to be better than nothing.

'I monitor your training when I can, show you new moves, and make sure you're not developing bad habits. The rest of the time, you practice on each other. I'll have to arrange a safe way for you to practice extreme manoeuvres.'

'Extreme, how?' Cordelia said suspiciously, getting in the car.

'Choke holds, cervical locks, eye gouging,' Giles said. 'You'll need to practice all of them, and on live opponents – dummy's don't fight back – but if you do them right, you'll kill your opponent, which makes it a little difficult to find practice partners.'

'You think?' Xander said, as he got in the car. 'Um, how is eye gouging fatal?'

'Very few demons can survive having their brains puréed, and with the eye gone…' Giles smiled meaningfully.

Xander looked thoughtfully at him. He'd seen demons do worse, but they were demons; Giles was just a librarian. How could he talk about it so calmly?

'I did tell you,' Cordelia said, smiling.

Xander shook himself. 'How will we practice then? Demons?'

'There were factions in the watchers that took that approach. They are no longer with us,' Giles said, checking his rear view mirror. 'You can learn the same way I did.'

'How?' Xander asked.

'It's really quite simple,' Giles began, 'though ingenious. We will…'

Listening to the explanation, Xander smiled. It wouldn't be easy, but once he learned to fight, he'd be able to kill demons twice his size. If that didn't impress Buffy, nothing would.

Later that morning, Xander turned round the corner, then hesitated. Buffy and Willow were both at their lockers, just as expected, and Cordelia was at the other end of the school.

It was the perfect set up. All he had to do was stick to the script and he'd be able to cut away half the tangle of secrets. Only half though, and it'd mean lying to Willow, but then he couldn't tell her the whole truth. Margo had made sure of that, trapping him into vows of secrecy.

Xander shrugged. He couldn't tell her everything, but at least he could tell her something, and stop her chasing after non-existent secret societies.

It wouldn't matter if she told her internet friend either. As Giles and Cordelia had eventually conceded, the demon already knew who Cordelia was. If it found out about her foreknowledge, it might actually make her safer; fewer assassins, more kidnappers.

Smiling, he walked up behind Buffy and Willow. 'You missed a lot last night.'

'A lot of dull-' Buffy said, turning round to face him. 'Why the smile?'

'Giles got the truth out of Cordy. Seems he's not the first-'

Xander paused and looked conspiratorially up and down the corridor, but no one else was paying attention.

Buffy leaned closer, just as Cordelia had said she would.

'-watcher she's met. Giles wasn't pleased, said she shouldn't have stayed loyal to someone who abandoned her.'

'Cordelia, loyal?' Willow said sceptically. 'That could explain the notes, if she's been acting as his mouthpiece, but-'

'What notes?' Buffy asked, looking from Xander to Willow and back.

'The ones she's been sending to Angel.' Willow slowly ground to a halt under Buffy's stare.

'Can we tell her the truth now?' Xander asked, trying to remember what came next. Cordelia and Giles hadn't been able to plan out the entire conversation, but they had given him suggestions for all the likely paths, suggestions which should keep Buffy from getting angry with him.

'What notes?' Buffy repeated sharply.

'We didn't want to worry you,' Willow said, looking nervously at the floor, 'and then we had to cover up the cover up, and-'

'Calm down,' Buffy said. 'We're friends. You can tell me everything.'

Xander nodded, then muttered, 'I said we should trust her.'

Willow looked uncertainly at Xander. 'Are you sure Cordelia's telling the truth?'

'Giles is,' Xander said. 'She met this watcher, who showed her visions. Giles called him a disgrace to the council.'

'She's seen the future?' Buffy asked.

Xander shrugged. 'Before it changed. She knew you'd date Owen; she didn't know about, well-'

Buffy looked directly at Xander. 'You're going to tell me everything.'

'Now?' Xander said. 'We've got, um-'

'History,' Willow supplied. 'We're going to be late.'

Buffy smiled. 'I think we can miss one lesson.'

'Slayer stuff comes first, right?' Xander replied.

'Xander,' Willow said disapprovingly, then looked nervously up at the clock. 'We can't. I can't, I mean, I know-'

'Just go,' Xander said. 'I'll tell you later.'

He watched as she scurried off to class, then looked at Buffy. 'Not the library. Giles is on a research kick.'

'The music room,' Buffy said.

Xander smiled appreciatively as she walked away, then froze. He was going to spend the next hour alone with Buffy, and she'd be listening eagerly to everything he said. It was the perfect set up.

'Coming?' Buffy called over her shoulder.

Xander shook himself, then hurried after her.

In the library, ninety minutes later, Xander buried his head in his folded arms, and groaned. Buffy had listened to him, all right, and she'd looked gorgeous doing it, but she'd only been interested in what he had to say. She hadn't even noticed his hints about his feelings.

'Bad morning?' Cordelia asked sympathetically.

'I had to trick Willow, and Buffy didn't-'

Xander paused, looking thoughtfully up at Cordelia. It had been the perfect set up, and Cordelia had arranged it. Coincidence, or was she still trying to manipulate events?

'How'd she take it?' Cordelia asked.

'All part of the hell mouth fun. She's … not happy, but-'

'And me? What does she think about me?'

Xander scowled at her. 'She thinks you were used. Satisfied?'

'Cordelia was,' Giles said, emerging from his office. 'What Winston did was quite unconscionable. Where's Buffy?'

'She said she was going to talk to Willow. Don't know where.'

'The mall, of course,' Cordelia said, then looked at Giles. 'More watcher business?'

'Another off-the-record group,' Giles confirmed. 'They were apparently reporting to. …'

Xander tuned out. Giles had been getting a lot of phones calls from other watchers lately, most of them on missions he'd never been told about. Cordelia said it was because the council had fallen apart – the normal lines of communication had broken down, but half of them had Giles's number, in case they needed to call in the slayer.

It didn't seem like a good way to run things, but Xander didn't really care. As long as the watchers stayed away from Sunnydale, it wouldn't affect him.

Giles dropped a heavy book in front of Xander. 'If you're staying in here-'

Dave pushed open the library doors, one hand rubbing his temple, then relaxed.

'-this book should be suitable,' Giles said smoothly.

'Mr Giles,' Dave said, 'you got any books on, um, the occult?'

'A few,' Giles said. 'Could you be more specific.'

Dave shuffled nervously. 'Something on demon's names.'

'A project?' Giles asked.

'A name I came across, not real, of course-'

'What name?'

'Ig-' Dave began, then fell to his knees,his face contorted in pain.

'You don't have to say the name,' Giles said quickly.

'Did you know that was going to happen?' Dave asked, wincing as he clambered back to his feet.

'No.'

'But you're not surprised. You're not just a librarian, are you?'

'No denial,' Cordelia said, looking at Xander. 'He must be in deep trouble.'

'Collapsing like that is a big clue,' Xander said, half-smiling. Giles didn't look worried, so it couldn't be anything really serious.

'I have hobbies,' Giles said non-committally, then pointed to the counter. 'There's pen an paper over there. Try writing the name, but make sure to hold the pen loosely.'

'Or what?' Dave asked, walking over to the counter.

'It should be safe,' Giles said. 'In most cases, only the sound of the name is proscribed.'

Then Giles looked at Xander and Cordelia. 'The wards Dame Margo placed on this library,' he said softly, 'are still in place. Among other things, they prevent the speaking of dangerous names.'

Xander frowned thoughtfully. The only demon Dave should know about was the one in the internet, but they'd named Moloch in the library, several times, and nothing had happened.

'It's not Moloch, is it?' Cordelia half-whispered.

'I can still hear you,' Dave said, looking warily at the pen, then began to scribble down the name.

After a moment, he paused, shook the pen, then started again.

'Cordelia,' Giles said. 'Could you fetch 'Identifying the Unnameable,' both volumes? Third bookcase on the left, second shelf down.'

Cordelia scowled. 'But Dave's-'

'No,' Dave said, holding up the paper. 'When I try to write the name, the pen refuses to work. Anything else, no problem, but that name, no ink. You know why, don't you.'

'This library is protected,' Giles said, as Cordelia hurried off to fetch the book. 'Some names are dangerous to speak. They draw the attention of demons, and worse, but they cannot be spoken here.'

'They're real then,' Dave said. 'I knew it. Who are you, really?'

'An occult expert,' Giles said. 'That's all you need to know.'

'A good one,' Xander added.

Giles sighed, then looked at Dave. 'Where did you find this name?'

'It's someone I met online recently. They seemed great; they really understood-'

'But?' Giles prompted.

'Then they started hinting about making dreams come true by hacking into the computational underpinnings of reality.'

Dave paused at Giles's blank look. 'Magic, dressed up as technology, but Fritz bought it. He only reads hard SF.'

'Unlike you,' Xander guessed.

'I read fantasy, and horror,' Dave confirmed. 'Tolkien, and Lovecraft. I can recognise the supernatural when I see it.'

Xander smiled. 'How long have you lived in this town?'

Dave stared at him. 'You mean this is one of those places? It can't be. I'd have noticed.'

'Our school newspaper has an obituary column.'

'Before you tell him anything else,' Giles said, 'perhaps you should wait until we've confirmed it's safe. With some demons, speaking their name allows them to touch your mind.'

Xander nodded, remembering what he'd read the previous night. Actual mind control through that channel would require staggering power, but reading Dave's most recent memories would be much easier.

'David,' Giles asked, 'were there any particular dreams your friend was offering.'

Dave looked away. 'That's another thing. My dreams have gotten … explicit, which is too much of a coincidence. I don't watch porn-'

Xander looked sceptically at Dave.

'Well, not hard porn. I wouldn't know where to buy it. These dreams aren't natural. I can remember them too clearly, details I didn't have the imagination to make up, and then I started getting flashbacks. I'd look at a girl, and start thinking about her naked, and what I could do to her.'

'Normal adolescent behaviour,' Giles said, 'in moderation. I take it this is immoderate.'

'Detailed three-D images, and touch too,' Dave said quietly. 'The worst, no, the second-worst part is, it's starting to feel normal to look at a girl and immediately imagine taking her up against the wall. I know it isn't me, I know it, but I can feel myself slipping.'

'Corrosive personality modification,' Giles said grimly. 'Your mind is being slowly rewritten in the demon's image. An exorcism should work, but there may be permanent damage. You said second worst?'

'The dreams are getting kinkier. Cacti would hurt, going in, and licking the blood up-' Dave, paused, swallowed nervously, then looked down at the floor and quietly said, 'Last night, I dreamed about doing that with the girl across the street.'

'You will not look at me,' Cordelia said firmly, emerging from the stack, books in hand. 'You will not even think about looking at me, ever.'

Then Cordelia looked at Giles. 'Think this is the same demon that's got Ms Calendar?'

As Giles nodded, Dave looked up at Xander, his face a study in torment. 'The girl's only ten! Ten! I'd rather die than have that become normal, and what if it doesn't stop there?'

'Giles will cure-' Xander began, then stiffened. 'Willow! The same demon's after her too. We've got to-'

'Identify it first.' Giles said.

'But-'

'Firstly, if I attempt an exorcism without knowing what I'm exorcising, I could easily wipe Willow's mind clean,' Giles said firmly. 'Secondly, Dave, you developed a headache when you approached this library which cleared up when you came in, correct?'

'Yes, what-'

'Willow has displayed no such symptom, suggesting the demon hasn't started on her yet.'

'Saving her for later?' Cordelia suggested, putting the books down on the table.

'We can only hope,' Giles said, then looked gently at Xander. 'I'll do everything I can for Willow, and the others. I promise.'

Xander looked back at him. 'You'd better. I want this demon dead.'

'We'll help you kill it,' Cordelia said, then glared at Dave. 'And remember, if you start acting out any of your deranged fantasies, you will die.'

Dave edged away from her, fear plain in his eyes.

'Frightening him won't help,' Giles said, putting a notepad and pen down next to the book. 'Dave will need all his concentration if we are to identify this demon.'

'Concentration?' Dave said. 'Isn't it just an index?'

'That would be a recipe for disaster,' Giles said. 'Open volume one, follow the instructions.'

Dave sat down, turned to the first page, then frowned.

'Paragraph one,' he read. 'If the final syllable of the name ends with a fricative, write the number thirty-seven on the first line of your notebook, then turn to paragraph 438. If not, write sixty-three on said line, then turn to paragraph 247.'

Confused, Xander looked hopefully at Giles

'Paragraph five,' Dave read. 'Add the numbers on the second, fifth and thirtieth lines of your notebook, then divide by thirty-seven. Write the last digit of the remainder on the next free line of your notebook, then multiply said remainder by thirteen, add the product to 924, and turn to that paragraph.'

'Sounds like the tax code,' Cordelia said. 'How-'

'It's an algorithm,' Dave said, smiling delightedly. 'It turns the unspeakable names into code numbers, without ever needing to use the actual names, but someone had to know the names to produce the book. How-'

'Extensive security precautions,' Giles said, 'There hasn't been an incident for nearly seventy years.'

'Couldn't you reconstruct the names from the book, work the algorithm backwards?'

'Theoretically, but not in practice. Read the book, silently.'

Fifteen minutes later, Dave looked up. 'Code number 35376.'

Giles picked up the second volume, flicked to the right page, and blanched.

'Category thirteen,' he said. 'This is not good.'

'That bad?' Cordelia said, eyebrows raised.

'It's not a demon; it's worse.'

'Dark god?' Dave suggested.

'Possibly,' Giles said, 'if we're lucky. It's known proclivities limit the field, but not enough.'

Xander scowled. 'You mean, you still don't know.'

'I will, soon,' Giles said patiently. 'That book is effectively a list of unspeakable names, scrambled together, with instructions for unscrambling them, but some names are so powerful, they can unscramble themselves.

'Category thirteen?' Xander guessed.

Giles nodded. 'For those, we split the procedure across three books, and set up protective circles. It shouldn't take long; there aren't that many being in the category. Cordelia, you'll find a book on leprechauns in the stacks. Last bookcase but one on the left, third shelf from bottom. '

'Leprechauns?' Cordelia asked.

'It's a code,' Giles said. 'Xander, there's a dissertation on the homoiousian heresies in my office desk drawer.'

'On it,' Xander said.

Two minutes later, he rushed back into the main library, holding the dissertation high.

'Sit there,' Giles said, pointing to a chair, surrounded by a chalk circle. 'You can write on your knee.'

'You sure I can't have a chair?' Dave asked.

Xander looked over at him, then blinked. Dave was sitting cross-legged in the middle of seven concentric circles, a pentagram, and a six-pointed star, all decorated with runes.

'Dave is the compromised party,' Giles said, 'your circle is just for insulation, and Dave, I've already explained about chairs.'

'I'm reading one of the books?' Cordelia said, looking down at Giles.

Giles nodded. 'If anything does go wrong, I need to be free to intervene. The books claim nothing can go wrong-'

'And we know what that means,' Xander finished.

Cordelia sat down, opening her book, then frowned. 'What's the code? This-'

'Read the fifth and penultimate letters of each line,' Giles said. 'One double page per paragraph.'

Opening his book, Xander began slowly reading the instructions.

'Fifty-two,' Dave said.

'Um, seventeen,' Cordelia replied.

'Ninety-three,' Xander said after a few seconds, writing 'six' down on his notepad. This was a bizarre system, but if it worked, they'd soon know which demon was stalking Willow, and then they could kill it, before it did anything to her.

'The abomination beyond the wall,' Giles said slowly. 'We can't hope to kill that, but-'

'How bad is it?' Xander asked.

'It is said to be one of the whisperers in darkness that have found purchase in our reality.'

'Like the shadow creature we saw in the morgue?' Cordelia said, after a long moment's silence.

'Yes,' Giles said, 'but that was reaching in from beyond. These have made themselves a part of this universe, a fundamental part. They cannot be slain, nor even banished, for that would rip a hole in reality itself, through which worse things would flood, but they must be fought.'

Then Giles smiled faintly. 'The books Dame Margo left me have been very informative.'

'More bad guys,' Cordelia said. 'Great. They work for Omega, right.'

'Indirectly,' Giles confirmed. 'Dame Margo said they are as maggots crawling across the rotting floor of the court of oblivion, far beneath the notice of even the least of the terrors that cringe before Omega.'

Giles smiled wanly. 'She was trying to cheer me up at the time.'

'Forget that,' Xander said impatiently. 'How do we fight this thing.'

'We duel its shadows,' Giles said. 'All the whisperers are bound, one way or another; none are walking free. The First is sealed on the borders of death, the Ebon Maw is chained in the fires of Algol, and the Abomination is trapped behind a wall in the dreamlands, beyond the plateau of Leng.'

'Dreamlands?' Dave muttered. 'Leng?'

'Trapped behind a wall,' Cordelia began. 'Doesn't-'

'The wall has only one side. Climb over it, tunnel under it, drill through it; you'll find yourself back where you started,' Giles said. 'The abomination is on the other side, the side that does not exist. It cannot escape while the dreamlands survive.'

'Where are they,' Xander asked. 'That wall needs fixing.'

'Seventy steps to the caverns of flame, then seven hundred to the gate of deep slumber,' Dave said, 'but that fiction. It can't be true, can it?'

'Unfortunately,' Giles said slowly, 'half of it is loosely based on truth. The details, he invented, but-'

'This abomination,' Dave said, 'it's the one in 'The Shadow of the Wall', isn't it?'

Giles hesitated, then nodded.

'The unliving embodiment of depravity,' Dave said, shuddering. 'Not just human depravity, but of all perversions that can be conceived by any mind, sane or insane. To know its name is to be damned, for it can possess all who even think of it. That's what's been dabbling its fingers in my brain?'

Cordelia stared at him, puzzlement plain on her face.

'I'm afraid so,' Giles said, 'but we can help you.'

'How does he know that?' Xander asked.

'I've read Lovecraft,' Dave said quietly. 'Got all twenty of his books: 'The Colour out of Space', 'The Shadow out of Time', 'The King in Yellow', 'The Laughter of Mad Gods' – but if even half of them are true… '

'Lovecraft,' Giles explained, 'was a minor American writer who, in search of inspiration, decided to sleep by a standing stone near Arkham, reputed to mark the grave of a witch, but that which lie buried there is neither human, nor truly dead. Its dreams touched Lovecraft's, and he woke changed.'

'They locked him in the Dunwich asylum,' Dave said. ''He spent the next thirty years there, writing stories of cosmic horror. One of the guards smuggled the work out, published it under his own name. There was quite a scandal when people found out the truth, but money talks. They called him America's greatest horror writer.'

Then Dave laughed, but his laughter rang hollow.

'We couldn't suppress the books,' Giles said softly, 'but we reached an understanding with the editors, and his private nurse was one of our people. None of the spells listed in those books will actually work, and all the names are, at best, subtly wrong.'

'I don't care about the books,' Xander said, 'or the dreamlands. What about Willow?'

'What about us?' Cordelia said. 'Willow told us the name of her online boyfriend. If that name-'

'It's disguised,' Dave said, 'but I know demons are supposed to like acronyms, so-'

'Insightful,' Giles said, 'but we don't need the details. Cordelia, neither of you could remember the name Willow told you, correct?'

Cordelia nodded.

'Then you're both clean. The name is the shadow of the abomination beyond the wall. Because you've sworn the great oath, it can find no purchase on your soul, and the name, even disguised, evades your memory.'

'Willow,' Xander reminded them. 'We've-'

'Two things,' Giles said. 'We are not facing the abomination proper. If that were loose, we would all have been overcome by its insane lusts, even in this warded sanctuary. We are facing some kind of herald or avatar. We don't know how it got in the internet, but-'

'The dreamlands are supposed to be an embodiment of the collective mind of humanity, sort of,' Dave said. 'Cyberspace is too, metaphorically. Could-'

'Possibly,' Giles said, 'though your metaphysics is slightly off. However, as I was about to say, we don't need to know how it got in the internet. Heralds and avatars can be killed, whether in the physical world, or in the dreamlands, but I do not know how to fight in this cyberspace. There, Dave might be able to help us.'

'I will,' Dave said. 'I want to help.'

'Secondly,' Giles said, 'even the agents of the abomination can consume a mind in seconds. They prefer slow corruption, it engenders more despair, but if we approach Willow carelessly, it could devour her before our eyes. We need a plan.'

'If we kill the herald, will that free Willow,' Xander asked. It worked that way in stories, half the time.

'It might,' Giles said, 'if we do it the right way, and if her infection is indeed still latent.'

'And me?' Dave said.

'You are being ridden by a nascent herald,' Giles said. 'That requires a full exorcism, fuelled by a major sacrifice.'

'What do I have to cut off?'

'Not that kind of sacrifice,' Giles said, 'but you'll have to wait. We need to kill the primary herald's host first. That should sunder the herald itself from reality, and the psychic shock should incapacitate the latent heralds. That will give my colleagues time to use you as the focus for a mass exorcism.'

Cordelia scowled. 'More watchers? We-'

'They won't come here. I'll send Dave to them,' Giles said. 'I might be able to free him, but using him to free the rest via sympathetic magic? That is beyond my power.'

'No,' Dave said, 'You've got to cure me now, before-'

'While you're in the library,' Giles said, 'the infection cannot progress. The abomination has no power within these walls, not while it remains bound, and I will not permit you to leave here until adequate safeguards have been arranged.'

'Who do we need to kill?' Xander said, smiling.

Giles nudged his glasses. 'The evidence is unclear. Ms Calendar was showing symptoms of mind control before Moloch could have been released, but the only demons the abomination is recorded as using are succubi. It hasn't changed its ways in over ten thousand years; it's not likely to now, unless it had no choice.'

Cordelia shrugged. 'Ms Calendar spread the name around online. When Moloch was released, he saw it.'

'Possible,' Giles said. 'She wouldn't have spread the name indiscriminately, but-'

'Why not?' Xander asked, puzzled. 'That-'

'If the abomination takes the gloves off, so will its rivals, and its enemies,' Giles said. 'We're fairly sure it won't do that until it thinks it's got a guaranteed victory.'

'Do the heralds have some kind of hive mind, or are they independent instantiations?' Dave asked thoughtfully. 'And can I get out of this circle now.'

'No,' Giles said. 'Not until the code books have been safely put away. Hmm, as far as we can tell, the nascent heralds are isolated, from each other as well as their source. They follow the abominations' wishes because they are copies of it, not because they are receiving orders from beyond the wall, but that's just the initial stage'

'And after that?' Cordelia prompted.

'We try not to let it get that far,' Giles said dryly. 'Three aren't many cases, but it seems that once the host's soul has been completely subsumed by the herald, it seeks to transcend to local quasi-godhood. We've always stopped these incident before that stage can be completed, but the theorists claim the heralds would require godlike power to penetrate the wall and communicate with the abomination proper.'

'How long does all that take?' Dave asked.

'A few weeks,' Giles said. 'The first stage could be completed in minutes, if the heralds weren't so sadistic. The second stage … godhood in a month is amazingly quick, but that's what the records suggest. Fortunately, it seems only one herald ever attempts to transcend at a time, perhaps because-'

'So we can grab one of the infected people without the others knowing,' Xander said, concentrating on the important point. 'Let's go get Fritz.'

'Unfortunately,' Giles said, 'mundane methods work just as well for them as for us. If Fritz has arranged to contact Ms Calendar-'

'Bad plan,' Xander quickly conceded, 'got a better one?'

'You know anything about what they're doing, Dave?' Cordelia asked, then frowned. 'Giles, should we really trust him? The-'

'It couldn't have known about the defences on this library,' Giles said. 'The herald in Dave is out of action, and the others don't know-'

'But they will,' Xander said. 'We've got a deadline.'

If they could do something before Dave was due to contact the others, they'd be able to surprise the heralds. Take too long, and the heralds would know they'd been spotted.

Giles nodded. 'Dave, your memories will have been edited, how heavily I-'

'But if you know it's a trap,' Dave said, 'you can turn the tables on them.'

'You sure they don't know about the library defences?' Cordelia said. 'Willow-'

'Did not show any symptoms,' Giles reminded her.

'Oh, yes. So all they know about us is what they saw last night? We can bluff them.'

'Maybe,' Giles said uncertainly. 'You will have impressed them, but being overestimated can be dangerous.'

'Last night,' Dave muttered, 'What did you do?'

'Nothing you need to know about,' Giles said. 'Do you know anything about their plans?'

'Fritz was saying something about building a robot body, at Calax, well-'

'Calax Research and Development?' Xander said. 'It closed down last year.'

Then he noticed Cordelia and Giles staring disbelievingly at him.

'What, I can't have information sometimes?' he said, smiling in mock surprise, then admitted, 'My uncle worked there, in a floor-sweeping capacity.'

'The robot has to be bait,' Giles said. 'No herald of the abomination would be satisfied with a metal body.'

'Not that kind of robot,' Dave said, 'more an android. Fritz said I-, um, the herald, told him it was a new development that would revolutionise the sex trade – your ideal partner, made to order.'

'Brainwashed employees with new faces,' Cordelia suggested. 'I've seen some lifelike robots, but-'

'Or maybe succubi,' Giles said, pushing his glasses up. 'If there are any there, they'll try to keep the place running, even after we banish the heralds.'

'Not in my town,' Cordelia said, 'but we'll need Buffy to fight that many.'

Giles nodded. 'Is she coming back here?'

'Yes' Cordelia said, glancing at the clock. 'They'll be on there way back soon.'

'I'll go intercept them,' Xander said. Once Willow was in the library, she'd be safe, and with Buffy, they'd be able to start fighting back.

'No. Willow knows you too well,' Cordelia objected. 'If the thing inside her suspects anything …'

'You get her then,' Xander said quickly. It didn't matter who went, as long as someone did.

'Didn't you say Willow was latent?' Dave asked, looking puzzled.

Giles sighed. 'She was last night, but the historical reason is clear: if she realises anyone suspects anything, the herald will almost certainly awake.'

'Why,' Dave asked. 'How would it know, if-'

Giles sighed. 'In the last ten thousand years, there have been under five hundred recorded incidents where the name of the abomination has been used. That's enough to know how dangerous its heralds are; it's not enough to know how they do what they do.'

'Ten thousands years,' Dave muttered. 'Your records go back that far?'

'That is no concern of yours,' Giles said sharply. 'Can you remember anything else useful Fritz or the abomination said?'

'No. It's weird. When-' Dave paused, then smiled. 'But it should be possible to recover most of the conversation. I just need to hack-'

'You don't think Moloch might notice?' Cordelia objected.

'You said he was online,' Dave replied. 'Is he possessing computers in general, or just the internet?'

'Neither,' Giles said. 'He was scanned in from a book-'

'And he spread across network links from there?' Dave said. 'Then that might not work. Fritz and me, we keep archives of our online conversations. Um, do the bits of Moloch in each computer form an hive mind, or is it like the heralds?'

'I've no idea,' Giles admitted. 'This is an unprecedented situation. Theoretically, he shouldn't be able to do anything, even if he is aware, as long as the computer isn't connected up.'

Giles paused, and glanced at Xander. 'The archives may have been tampered with, but Willow-'

'Knows how to undelete stuff,' Xander said, smiling as he realised the plan. 'Your parent's home, Dave?'

'My Mom's working until nine,' Dave said, pulling out his keys. 'There's no one else'

'Can't we just wait for Buffy?' Cordelia said. 'She-'

'Of course,' Giles shouted. 'Why didn't I see it? Moloch and the heralds, the parallels are obvious. If we adapt the procedure we can dismount the herald.'

Cordelia glanced at Xander, then smiled. 'Can we have that in English?'

'I was planning on re-imprisoning Moloch,' Giles said, 'but for that we'd need to operate in cyberspace. If instead, we simply exorcise him, he'll take physical form somewhere nearby, but not the herald. Left behind, without any souls to feed on, it will whither and die, as long as it's not already finished consuming Moloch;s soul. We'll need to use sympathetic magic to target all computers, but since they're soulless; it'll be much easier than doing the same with people.'

'But then you still need to kill Moloch,' Dave said. 'Isn't he supposed to be a demon king?'

'And what if the herald has already eaten his soul?' Cordelia asked.

'Then it gets harder,' Giles said. 'The herald will still need a physical body, or the computer equivalent, but as it approaches transcendence, it will become increasingly difficult to destroy that body. We may need to call in help.'

'Another Margo?' Xander asked. 'She didn't seem the computer type.'

If the Board tried fighting in cyberspace, they'd certainly kill the monster, going by Margo's performance, but they'd probably wreck half the world's computers doing it.

'When she was born, telephones were the big new thing, ' Giles said, 'but her people have a wide reach. They should be able to find a competent advisor, if it comes to that. Hopefully, it won't.'

Then Giles smiled. 'If we can banish Moloch from the internet, he won't be much of a threat with his soul half-eaten.'

'So we get Buffy and Willow on board, then exorcise Moloch fast,' Cordelia summed up. 'Do we need Dave's computer, because you know-'

'The heralds can't have been expecting us to go to Dave's now,' Giles said. 'They would have had to predict everything that happened after he came in here, which should be beyond them. Even if Dave's missed a scheduled contact, assuming that meant we'd discovered their plans would be an astounding leap.'

'It would,' Cordelia conceded, then smiled, 'but that info won't help us exorcise Moloch, and they might have ambush set up there for some other reason. Get rid of Moloch first, then grab Dave's computer while the other heralds are still wondering what happened.'

'Why would they-' Dave began.

'To mess with your mind,' Cordelia said. 'Make you forget everything, then have a succubus jump you when you get home.'

'Possible,' Giles said. 'Cordelia, your strategy is sound, but we need the computer itself. Moloch will not be in every computer equally. His exorcism will work best if we use one he has a strong connection with, and the ones with the strongest connections will be Ms Calender's, Fritz's, and Dave's.'

'And we only get one shot,' Xander said, standing up. 'Let's go.'

'Not yet,' Giles said. 'We can wait ten minutes for Buffy.'

'But Willow-'

'The clock is ticking,' Giles said. 'It's not ticking quite that fast. We'll have at least two hours' warning before any of them transcend.'

'What kind of warning?' Cordelia asked quickly.

'A transcending herald warps every unprotected mind within a few miles, reducing all those under its shadow to rutting beasts, no longer human,' Giles quoted. 'We'd be able to hear the screaming from here.'

'But they can't get in here,' Xander said, smiling faintly. If that happened, it would be bad, but they would survive.

'Not at first,' Giles said. 'Theoretically, the wards on this library should hold up under the psychic pressure, but the theory hasn't been tested in the field, It's a moot point anyway; once the transcendence is complete, the abomination will break free, and every single mind on the planet will succumb to its dark desires'.

'Not gong to happen,' Xander said flatly. 'We've got Buffy.'

'We will win,' Giles agreed, 'but at what price? This is no common vampire or demon we face; it is a menace before which even gods quail. Do not take it lightly.'

'We get it,' Cordelia said reassuringly. 'What do you want us to do?'

'Shouldn't we be sneaking?' Xander asked, as they walked up to Dave's front door.

'Only if we wanted to look suspicious,' Giles said wearily. 'We've got the keys.'

Buffy smiled sympathetically. 'Don't be so tense. Willow will be fine.'

'You don't know Willow. It'll take her months to get over the trauma, ' Xander said earnestly, then smiled, 'of missing a whole afternoon's classes.'

'An admirable attitude,' Giles said, his voice tinged with approval, then pushed the door open

'I'll go first,' Buffy said quickly, and went in, closely followed by Giles.

A few paces behind them, Xander scowled. Willow was not fine; she was stuck in the school library with Dave and Cordelia, unable to leave in case some insane abomination turned her into a raging nymphomaniac It didn't get much worse.

Perhaps he should have stayed with her. He knew how to distract her, and he could keep Cordelia—

—but if Willow was distracted she wouldn't be able to write the explanation of cyberspace Giles needed, so he could adapt the spell. If he'd stayed, he wouldn't have been able to anything useful; here, at least he could carry the computer for them. That way, Buffy and Giles would have their hands free, if there was an emergency.

It wasn't as if Cordelia would do anything to Willow, either. That was just habit talking. She might have Willow-issues, but Cordelia's priorities were in the right place. She'd keep random interruptions from disturbing Willow, and make sure the cyberspace explanation was actually in plain English, not the jargon only Willow and Dave understood.

Anyway, if he'd stayed in the library, as Cordelia and Giles had suggested, he'd have only ended up wishing he'd gone to get Dave's computer instead.

At the top of the stairs, Buffy paused, then silently pointed to a blue door on the left.

Giles nodded.

Buffy gently pushed the door open, then dropped into a defensive crouch, waiting.

When nothing came rushing out, she straightened back up, then peered cautiously round the door. 'Can't see anyone,' she reported, 'and the computer's switched off, no lights.'

'Stay alert,' Giles said, stepping into Dave's room. 'Xander, can you unplug-'

A blur fell from the ceiling, shrouded by plaster dust, pinning Giles to the floor.

Xander edged forwards uncertainly, studying the creature. He could only see its back, but it looked almost like two people, joined at the waist. Both halves had the same grey skin, but above the waist, it was heavily muscled, with broad hairy shoulders, clearly male. Below the waist though, it was equally clearly female, long smooth legs, leading up to a perfect—

—but admiring a sex demon's curves just had to be a bad idea, and anyway, he'd seen almost as much on the beach.

'Stay here,' Buffy said quickly, holding Xander back, then charged in.

A single graceful leap, and the creature was facing Buffy.

Xander gulped. The creature had only a carpet of writhing maggots where a face should be, mouths in its palms, and eyes on its chest, but the worst bit was its groin. It had a mouth down there, a vertical slash lined with blood-red fangs, and from that mouth protruded a … tongue, nearly four foot long.

Buffy feinted left, then kicked at the demon's right hip, sending it sprawling.

The demon rose smoothly to its feet, sparks crackling along its tongue.

'Cut its head off,' Giles said, standing back up.

'What is it?' Xander asked, as Buffy smashed the bedroom mirror with her elbow. 'You said-'

'It was human,' Giles explained. 'The abomination-'

'Willow,' Xander said softly, eyes widening in understanding.

The demon lunged at Buffy, but she sidestepped, slashing at it with a mirror shard.

Giles started sidling round the edge of the bedroom.

Grim-faced, Xander copied Giles, slowly edging his way to behind the demon.

Buffy struck the demon again and again, brushing aside its feeble defences, and it retreated before her.

'It shouldn't-' Giles muttered, then realisation spread across his face. 'Buffy! It's faking-'

Wreathed in crackling sparks, the demon's tongue lashed out, striking Buffy's chest dead centre.

She staggered backwards three steps, then collapsed.

Behind Giles, the computer lit up.

'Moloch,' Xander warned, pointing.

'No lights,' Moloch quoted mockingly, its laughter filling the room. 'We control the lights, as we shall control all things.'

Then Moloch spoke a single word, and darkness fell.

The ceiling drifted into focus.

Blinking, Xander sat – tried to sit up, but he was tied down, his hands fastened above his head. Moloch must have knocked them out with some magic spell, then taken them captive.

Xander looked round, trying to work out where he was.

On his right, tools lay scattered across a work bench, the chisel and pliers spotted with dried blood.

On his left, Giles dangled from two manacles high in the wall, his feet precariously balanced on a wooden box.

Behind Xander, Fritz laughed.

'Fritz?' Xander said, thinking quickly. 'They caught you too?'

If he could just get Fritz talking, that'd give Buffy more time to rescue him and Giles.

'Rupert already tried that,' Ms Calendar said, sauntering round to stand in front of Xander.

'New look?' Xander choked out. A translucent top and skin-tight black shorts was not a combination he'd ever imagined any of his teachers wearing, but on Ms Calender it looked good, despite her age.

'New me,' she said, smiling, 'and soon a new Fritz. Soon, a whole new world, courtesy of Moloch the great.'

'Aren't you going to ask where Buffy is?' Fritz said, moving next to Ms Calendar.

Xander looked at him, noting the casual, almost absent-minded, way Fritz had put one arm round his teacher and started fondling her breast. He would never have dared do that a week ago, nor would Ms Calender have let him, and she certainly wouldn't have put her hand atop his, encouraging him.

The abomination's influence must be giving Fritz a lot of confidence, enough to do the things he had once only dreamed of, but with Ms Calender it had clearly gone further.

'I know where Buffy is,' Xander said firmly. 'She's coming to rescue to us. What's happened to you two?'

'Moloch gave her to me,' Fritz said, smiling. 'Her wiped her mind and made her my sex slave.'

'You think Moloch did that?' Xander asked. 'Moloch's not the big bad.'

If Fritz didn't know the full story then perhaps he could still be reached. Once he discovered just how bad his position really was, he might rebel.

'Don't bother,' Giles said. 'His herald won't let him know; it'll just tease you with false hope.'

'You think Buffy will rescue you,' Fritz said, as if Giles hadn't spoken. 'We stripped her naked, tied her up, and dumped her in the sewers. You'll never see her again.'

'A fitting end for the slayer, Master,' Ms Calendar said, gazing adoringly at Fritz. 'So much better than simply killing her.'

'She'll escape,' Xander said confidently. If Buffy was alive, being tied up wouldn't stop her.

'The same old trick,' Giles spat, 'but the joke's on you. Xander, everything these creatures do is calculated to allow you false hope, so they can reveal it to be false, and thus drive you into despair.'

'If you really believe that, kick the box away,' Ms Calender said. 'Death would come quickly.'

'Another lie,' Giles said. 'The hopes you allow are false, but there is hope nonetheless. Buffy will escape from your escape proof trap, and upset all your calculations.'

Fritz laughed. 'I am a genius. I cannot err.'

'Hubris. How the herald must be laughing, in the recesses of your mind," Giles said, smiling faintly as both Fritz's and Ms Calender's faces went blank, "but the jokes on it. Xander, these heralds are playing twisted games with their puppets, for nothing more than idle amusement, but that too is hubris. They are stronger than they act, but weaker than they believe, and that arrogance shall be their downfall."

'Hubris?' Ms Calender said, awareness returning to her eyes. 'Have you forgotten already, Rupert? Buffy could not defeat our pet; she cannot defeat us. If she should escape, she will come to your rescue, and learn despair at our hands.'

'Your pet?' Xander asked, trying to keep her talking.

'Her uncle was a superstitious fool,' Fritz said. 'He believed in magic and demons, so he killed himself when he learned of Moloch, such a waste, but we have made good use of his body.'

'You turned her uncle into that thing?' Xander said. He had seen worse looking things than that in his nightmares, after the deathgate opened, doing things he refused to remember, but those had been dreams. This was real.

'It has been a most … pleasurable experiment,' Fritz said, his voice passionless.

Xander stared. Pleasurable? The thing in Dave's room, when they had succubi?

The Xander's eyes opened wide in sudden realisation. The heralds weren't really into sex, they got their kicks from degradation. Like Giles had said, they loved to play sick games with their victims, for the pure fun of it. Sex was just the bait in the trap.

Ms Calendar smiled. 'When Moloch the great is free, all flesh shall be reshaped in like manner.'

'Only if I approve,' Fritz said sharply.

'You think you could stop Moloch?' Giles said scornfully. 'Would you care to explain how? I might die laughing.'

Xander struggled not to smile as Fritz looked proudly at Giles, oblivious to how he was being played.

'The entity you call Moloch believes its own propaganda. I know the true nature of things.'

'A big claim,' Giles said encouragingly.

'It's really quite simple. My first clue was that so-called magic requires the effective laws of physics to be AI-complete, but you're too Luddite to know what that means, aren't you?'

'Any fool can spout jargon,' Giles said. 'It takes a genius to put the ideas into plain English.'

'Magic responds to meaning, and intent, but recognising meaning requires a human-equivalent intellect, and intent is harder still.'

'Of course,' Giles said dismissively. 'All serious students of magic know that.'

'But do they understand the implications?' Fritz challenged. 'No, or they'd have done what I'm going to do with Xander.'

'Shoot a porn video?' Xander suggested, trying to sound hopeful.

'Let him see the circles,' Fritz said to Ms Calender, then looked back at Giles. 'Magic is too complicated not to be running on some underlying hardware, meaning this entire universe is but a virtual reality.'

'An old philosophy in new guise,' Giles said, as Ms Calendar stepped behind Xander, 'and not entirely without merit. Dave explained Moloch's version, but-'

'But nothing,' Fritz said. 'It was trivial for me to reverse engineer the magic spells, determine the coding language, and find a route to transcendence. Sit up, Xander.'

Xander hesitated, then tried to sit up. He couldn't move his legs, and his hands were still fastened together, but they weren't fastened to the table any longer. It felt more like elastic, awkward to pull against, but he could manage it.

Finally upright, he looked round, and groaned. He was tied to a flimsy-looking table, surrounded by an elaborate set of magic circles, seven of them, each a different colour, with other symbols in between the circles.

'Are they real?' he quickly asked Giles. Anyone could draw paint fancy patterns on the floor, but for most people, that was all they'd ever be.

'They are,' Giles said, 'but they won't do what Fritz wants.'

'You could not begin to comprehend-'

'I have four books that describe exactly what those circles do,' Giles said firmly. 'You are not the first to be tricked this way, which shows how little your herald thinks of you.'

'Prove it,' Fritz spat.

'The basic idea is to use the energies released by torture to transform yourself, but Xander would die before you succeeded, so some of those energies are diverted to heal him. That bit does work, Xander; you shouldn't suffer any permanent physical damage-'

'But it won't stop the pain,' Fritz said, smiling, 'and you won't be able to faint either.'

Giles nodded. 'Fritz thinks he can use the remaining energies to ascend to a form of godhood. What the spell actually does is turn him into powerful but near-mindless demon - Brace yourself!'

Xander looked round wildly, then yelped as the elastic yanked his hands backwards, wrenching at his shoulders, pulling him down, until he was again flat on his back.

Smiling, Ms Calender sauntered back to Fritz's side.

'Just remember, hope can never die,' Giles said. 'Um, good news: we can be fairly sure that neither of these heralds have reached the second stage, since they're still playing with their food, though Jenny is a puzzle. Buffy should have no trouble killing them.'

'I can see how that could happen if errors were made,' Fritz said, again ignoring Giles's last comment, 'but I do not err. Slave, time to change.'

Ms Calender rippled, her clothes dissolving and reforming as her flesh flowed over her bones, settling into a new shape.

'What do you think?' she asked coyly.

Xander swallowed nervously. She was wearing Willow's face now, but that was not Willow's body. If his friend had really been that curvy, every boy in school would have noticed, even without the skin-tight black leather outfit.

'The personal touch is always best,' Fritz said as he took off his shirt, revealing occult symbols drawn on his stomach and chest, symbols matching those drawn round the circles. 'Begin.'

Ms Calender ripped open Xander's shirt, licked her lips, then picked up a kitchen knife and leaned over him.

Xander thrashed, but she planted one hand on his chest, skin against skin, and slow paralysis crept over him.

Giggling merrily, she began to cut, blood welling up round the knife.