Giles and I spent the next few hours poring over newspapers from several weeks back up to the present. These incidents that were happening, it wasn't isolated. They were happening all over town, not just at the Hellmouth. They weren't always obviously the same sort of attacks we were dealing with, but if one read between the lines, it was there.

Strange attacks from persons unknown, who disappeared in an instant, like something…huh, like something out of a nightmare.

"This can't be happening." Giles muttered as he finished looking at yet another such article. I looked up from where I'd been taking notes and frowned at him. He shook his head, looking from one article to the next, and also shifting through the small book of notes I'd taken.

"It-It can't." he repeated.

Before I could ask him what he meant, Buffy anticipated my question when she entered the library and asked what'd we'd discovered.

"We acquired back-issues of the papers," Giles explained, showing her one in particular, "for research."

"And did you find anything?" Buffy asked.

"I-I don't know." Giles answered, agitated.

"You…don't know if you found something?" Buffy repeated, looking at me in confusion.

"I'm…having a slight problem." Giles continued. Then I noticed his heart rate was double what it should be. He was…frightened?

"Giles?" I asked, coming around the table and grasping his arm in an effort to calm him down, "Rupert, what's wrong?"

He looked at me, his pupils dilated in panic.

"I-I can't read." He stammered.

"What do you mean you can't read?" Buffy demanded, "You can read in like, three languages."

"Five, actually," Giles smiled, "on-on a normal day, that is. But, these-these words don't make sense-" he picked up a newspaper, but his hands were shaking in agitation so he slammed it back down again.

"It's gibberish!" he declared, and stalked away from the table.

I watched him, confused and worried. This wasn't normal. Whatever was happening, it was beginning to affect those close to me, and I didn't like it. Not even a little.

Buffy picked up the paper Giles had thrown down.

"Hey, that's him!" She murmured.

"Who?" Giles and I both asked in unison.

"The kid I've been seeing around school." Buffy replied. I looked at the paper and saw a picture of a young boy in a baseball uniform. The front page said his name was Billy Palmer. He was twelve years old, and he was in a coma.

I frowned, looking at the date on the paper.

"Billy Palmer, twelve years old, was found beaten and unconscious after his Little League game, Saturday," Buffy read off while I moved back around to my original position and hurriedly scanned through the notes I'd taken, "Doctors describe his condition as critical."

She frowned.

"When was this published?" she asked.

"A few weeks ago." I answered, and waved one of my notes in the air. "I knew I'd seen that date somewhere before. Billy was the first victim." I handed Buffy my note while Giles looked on, annoyed that he couldn't read what I'd written.

"All of the other victims and happenings took place after Billy was put into a coma," I explained, "the boy from the hospital, it started with him, it must have. Unless I've overlooked something." I looked at the scattered newspapers in agitation. "Of course, there's still a lot to go through…"

"But you say you've seen him around the school?" Giles asked Buffy.

"Yeah, when Wendell had the spider attack, and when I couldn't remember the history test. I thought it was weird seeing this kid around but I forgot about it."

"The boy's been in a coma for several weeks," Giles argued, "how can this be possible?"

"What am I, knowledge girl?" Buffy demanded, "Explanations are your terrain."

"Regardless," I said, "the boy obviously must have had something to do with what's happening. At the very least he was the first victim."I looked at Giles. "You might not be able to read but surely you have some theories stored away in that brilliant mind of yours. Look for one."

Giles nodded, took a breath, and then took off his glasses.

"Well, there is the theory of astral projection," he began, "the theory that when one sleeps there's another body, one which can travel through time and space."

I smirked.

"Like the TARDIS?"

Giles stared at me.

"You've seen Doctor Who?" he asked.

"I'm what you youngsters might call a 'fan', yes." I answered, unable to hide my smile.

Buffy waved her hands to get our attention back to the matter at hand.

"Billy's in a coma," Buffy said slowly, "that's like sleep, right?"

"Well, only in a way," he said, "one doesn't always wake from a coma."

"Would a severe trauma be enough to trigger an astral projection?" I asked, "If Billy's in a coma, perhaps the astral projection is his way of trying to look for help?"

"Could I be seeing Billy's asteroid body?" Buffy asked. Giles rolled his eyes.

"Astral." He corrected, "And, I don't know. As usual I don't have enough information to work with, doubly so now that I can't seem to read the information I need."

"Lucky nineteen…" Buffy murmured, frowning at the picture. I leaned over. The number on Billy's uniform was '19'.

"There you are!" a voice boomed. We all whirled around to find a man entering the library, smiling brightly at Buffy.

"I've been looking all over for you," he continued, "why aren't you in class?"

Buffy's father, no doubt. My assumption was confirmed when she walked up to him, smiling in greeting but looking confused, all the same.

"Dad, what're you doing here?" she asked, "You're not supposed to pick me up until after school, is something wrong?"

"I need to talk to you." He said. Buffy frowned.

"Something is wrong, is it mom?"

"No, no, it's not your mother. Could I speak with you a moment? Privately?"

Buffy still looked confused but nodded.

"Uh, sure," she said, "oh!" she turned to us and then brought her father over.

"Dad, this is Mr. Giles the librarian, and this is Margery, a friend of mine."

"Pleasure." I said, dipping my head as I took his hand. I saw him give a little start of surprise.

"Your hands always that cold?" he laughed as he let go. I frowned down at them. They did look rather gray, come to think of it.

"Uh, poor circulation." I answered, chuckling weakly. Then he shook hands with Giles.

"Pleasure." Giles said, Mr. Summers grinned amiably.

"Likewise." He said, then Buffy grabbed her coat, linked her arm through her father's and gave us a smile.

"Well," she said, "I'll…be back."

I watched them go, frowning slightly.

"Is it just my imagination, Giles," I said once the doors closed, "or did that meeting seem…a little odd?"

"How do you mean?" Giles asked, sounding distracted. I turned towards him and saw him peering at the newspaper, frowning and shaking his head.

"I mean I just thought Mr. Summers seemed a little…I don't know…odd." I shrugged, shaking my head and then walking over to the table and taking the newspaper from Giles. I put a hand on his shoulder, and pushed him gently into a chair while I sat myself down on the table.

"Never mind," I continued, "now just relax and let me know what you're looking for and I'll read it for you."

"All right." He sighed, "But…what if this is…permanent?"

"It won't be." I assured him, "We're going to fix this. We always do, don't we?"

Giles nodded slowly, sighed again, then leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

"All right," he said, "start looking for details of what happened preceding Billy's attack."

"Fine." I said, "I will if you'll make tea."

While Giles brewed the tea, I read the whole article aloud. I was just beginning on another paper when the door to the library opened and Willow and Xander entered. Xander was just putting on an ill-fitting Sunnydale shirt. He was breathing quickly, and an embarrassed flush was still red on his neck.

"Red alert!" Xander said as he wrestled into his shirt, "Where's Buffy?" he asked, then stopped short when he saw me. He blushed again and pulled the shirt down over his exposed body.

"Hey Marge." He murmured.

"Xander," I greeted, "Is something wrong?"

"Kind of, sort of, yeah." He said.

"Buffy just stepped out," Giles said, emerging from his office with a teapot, "her father just arrived, he needed to talk to her." He stopped short when he saw Xander's odd outfit. "Where are your other clothes?" he asked.

"Oh don't I wish I had an answer to that question." Xander growled.

I looked at Willow, confused. She made a face at me.

"Uh, Xander kind of found himself in front of our class…not wearing much of anything." She explained.

I was so surprised that I forgot to laugh. I gaped at Xander.

"Except my underwear!" he quickly amended.

"Yeah," Willow grinned, starting to laugh, "it was really-" she caught Xander's gaze and quickly subdued her smile, "bad," she finished, "it was a bad thing."

"Yes, of course," I said, beginning to feel a chuckle trying to force its way out, "terrible. How dreadful for you, Xander."

"You think?" Xander snapped, "I was naked in front of everyone. 'Bad thing' doesn't even begin to cover it."

"Yeah, and everyone staring…" Willow shuddered as her sense of empathy kicked in. "I would hate to have everyone paying attention to me like that."

"It was a nightmare." Xander growled, running a hand through his thick black hair. The poor boy was embarrassed and didn't know how to fix what had happened, bless him. I jumped off my perch on the table and patted him consolingly on the shoulder.

"I can almost guarantee in a few weeks no one will remember." I said.

Xander didn't look convinced.

"It was!" Willow's outburst caught us by surprise and we all looked at her in surprise. "It was your nightmare, Xander!" she said.

"Except I didn't wake up." Xander pointed out.

"And Wendell had the same thing happen after a recurring dream." Willow pointed out. Giles was frowning and nodding slowly.

"I had a dream," he said, coming out of his office, "that I got lost in the stacks." His eyes got wide in understanding.

"Of course!" he shouted.

"Our dreams are coming true." Willow said.

Giles scoffed.

"That would be a musical comedy version of this," he said, "no, our nightmares are coming true."

"Then that's why you can't read." I murmured, beginning to understand. When I did realize the severity of what Giles was implying I felt myself go rigid. If our nightmares were coming true, then that meant…Giles…

I involuntarily took a few steps away from Giles, worried I might suddenly lose control and just attack him then and there.

No one noticed that I had started trembling.

"Why is this happening?" Willow asked, voicing what we were all thinking.

"Billy." Giles and I said at the same time. It only made sense. He was locked in a dream state, and with the Hellmouth rife with energies, there's no telling what a victim of trauma could do with his torture subconscious running rampant.

"Well," Xander said in surprise, "that explanation was shorter than usual." He turned to Willow with a forced, excited smile, "It was Billy!" he exclaimed. He turned back to us, "Who is Billy?" he demanded.

"A boy in the local hospital," Giles explained, "he was beaten, he's in a coma."

"And possibly creating an astral projection." I added. Xander looked at Willow, obviously confused. She stood on tiptoe and quickly whispered what I meant to him. He didn't look any less confused, but at least he didn't interrupt.

"Yes," Giles said, "only he's not just making a projection of himself, but his nightmare world."

"Thanks a bunch, Billy." Xander said sarcastically.

"How could he do that?" Willow asked. I pointed at the ground.

"Hellmouth, sweetling. A few weeks ago we were battling a demon on the internet."

Xander looked down at his shirt.

"We have to stop it." He pointed out.

"And soon," Giles agreed, "otherwise everyone in Sunnydale will soon be facing their own worst nightmares."

Immediately, I thought of my nightmare, with Giles dead in a pool of his own blood. My worst nightmare: losing control.

I swallowed and took another step back.

"We have to move," I murmured, "and quickly." I looked at Giles, "We should warn Buffy."

Giles nodded and I immediately turned and stalked for the door, with the three of them close on my heels.

"She doesn't know what we know," he pointed out, "and given the kind of things she dreams about, it's imperative that we find her."

I nodded.

"And with her being all but the center of attention of the Hellmouth, I'm surprised she hasn't had anything happen already. It's just a matter of time."

We exited the library and Xander caught my arm, turning me.

"It'll be faster if we split up." He pointed out. I nodded in relief. Separation, I needed to be separated from Giles. That was a great plan, and I told him so.

"Faster but not exactly safer." Willow said as we started to split up. I hesitated, and then gave her hand a squeeze.

"You've fought demons and vampires and worse things and survived," I told her, "you can do this. We won't be separate for long, I promise."

Some of the color returned to her cheeks, and she nodded, taking a deep breath. I smiled at her and gave her hand another squeeze, then turned away and hurried down a corridor, testing the air for signs of Buffy.

I had to tell Giles about my nightmare, at the first possible opportunity.

I wouldn't let anything happen to him, I couldn't. I'd rather die first.

Tasty morsel in the hospital…would stop the hunger

'Laura is not prey. No one is prey, we're not doing anything.'

But you've seen what will happen

'I've seen what MAY happen. It won't.'

Can't fight it forever

'Watch me.'