A/N In less then a week, Xander's subtle nudges, designed to help lay the groundwork to protect Cordelia, have already led to some major changes. Plus, it hasn't even been two weeks since the completion of her second cycle, the first one in their 'little house'. We haven't even seen the complete fallout from his suggestions yet. Today is Giles presentation and the arrival of the witches from the Devon Coven.

Warning some slightly crude humor. Don't read if it offends.

Cordelia woke to a sensation she had never felt before. Glancing down she said, "Xander, what are you doing?"

"Wolf-Cordy likes waking me up by licking my face. I'm not licking anything of hers, but I didn't think you'd mind if I woke you up, any objections?"

"No, go right ahead."

He did, thoroughly and enjoyably.

Later, they drove to the high school, where they were meeting everyone to discuss yesterday's events, see Giles presentation and meet the witches from the Devon Coven. It promised to be a full day.

When they arrived they took a seat at the table in the library. Buffy and Faith had already arrived and they were just waiting for Oz and Willow. Oz was picking her up. With Giles were two women about his age or perhaps a bit older.

A few minutes later Oz and Willow arrived, Willow sat on Oz's lap, when he took a chair.

Giles moved to the head of the table. "Everyone, this is Amanda Wilson and Sherry Lewiston, they're both members of the Devon Coven of England. They grew up in the Coven, their families have been practiononers for generations. They both specialize in healing. A type of magic that can be extremely difficult to work, especially since mixing the mystical and medical can be dangerous. They are both very skilled and come highly recommended by Ms. Harkness, who is an old friend."

"Ms, Wilson, Ms Lewiston these are the two Slayers, Buffy Summers and Faith. These others are friends who have formed a support group to aid them in their mission, and yes the Council is aware, but disapproves."

"Well they would, wouldn't they? Pretentious pansies." One of the witches commented, drawing laughter from the group.

"Yes, quite," Giles smiled. "Anyway to continue, to my right is Alexander Harris, he goes by Xander. Xander has been possessed twice. The first time by a Hyena spirit, that controlled his actions for about three days, before being excised, and by a soldier, when Ethan Rayne cast a spell on some costumes he rented and sold for Halloween last year. Xander retained the knowledge of a soldier. Knowledge that is proving very helpful in our slaying efforts. It was by his suggestion, based off the knowledge he retained, that we did the recent diagnostics that we did. In his case, we discovered evidence that the Hyena left physical changes in him, to what extent we're not yet certain, as we have not yet had a chance to test them. We also discovered he has an inherent mystical potential, previously unknown, and no family history that might explain it."

"Sitting in his lap, is his girlfriend, Cordelia Chase, who, while never having been possessed, was subject to a rather nasty spell, cast by a dark practiononer, that made her blind for a short time, no ill effects have been noted from that, but the recent diagnostic showed, she too has an inherent mystical potential and again no family history that explain it."

"On the other side of the table, we have Daniel Osbourne, a musician. He goes by Oz. Oz is a genius level intellect and good with computers. His diagnostic was clean and he has not been subjected to any malignant magics."

"And that brings us to his girlfriend, the reason for my initial call. Willow Rosenberg. Willow was attempting to teach herself magic, her first real attempt was doing a soul curse on the vampire Angelus. Angelus had originally been cursed a century ago by the Kalderash Tribe of gypsies. Creating Angel, a souled vampire. After meeting Buffy last year, the two fell in love, which broke the curse. He nearly successed in ending the world, when Willow, after coming out of a light coma, cast the spell, in the hopes that Buffy would not have to destroy someone she loved. Unfortunately, the spell successed only after his attempt to open a portal to a hell dimension using his own blood had succeeded. Meaning in order to close it, Buffy had to send the newly reensouled Angel to hell."

"The consequences to Willow have been severe, to say the least. Her own soul has been damaged, a piece of it is missing and she has the mystical equivalent of gangrene. She must have accidentally used that piece to power the spell. Who knows how bad it might have become if Xander had not suggested the diagnostic evaluations when he did. In the meantime, she has surrendered all the magical supplies and books she had aquired previously to me, until the extent of the damage has been fully examined and healed as best as possible. Whether or not she will ever be able to practice again is currently unknown."

The witches looked a bit sick at the revelations regarding Willow and said, "You've had quite a time of it haven't you lot. How long have you all been helping the Slayers?"

"Since Buffy first came to town January last year. So almost two years. Few other things you should also be aware of in regards to me. I don't know if it matters or not, but I didn't actually get a costume from Ethan's, just a toy gun. I bought a pair of fatigues from the surplus store and made my own dog tags, with Private Alexander Harris on them. Also, our swim coach was insane. He pumped a weird mix of stuff into the steam room that turned the swim team into things similar to the creature from the black lagoon. I was exposed three times and needed a full body blood transfusion to halt the transformation. There have been a few side effects from that too. Mostly the fact that I can hold my breath for more than 15 minutes, under water. Cordy timed me."

"That and his tongue is a little longer than normal now."

The witches managed to look both amused and interested all at the same time. "Yes, thank you for telling us. The diagnostic we do is much deeper than the cursery one Rupert did, that will give us good idea of what to expect and what is unexpected."

Faith leaned towards Cordelia and said, "Any benefits from him being able to hold his beathe that long and having a longer tongue, fun ones I mean?"

A brilliant smile lit Cordelia's face, "Yes, definitely, he demonstrated some this morning before we got here."

"We'll talk later, I want details."

Buffy and Willow looked shocked, while Oz looked inscrutable as usual. Xander's ears where red. The adults looked amused.

"Anyway, the reason there are currently two Slayers is also down to Xander. Last year there was a prediction in the Pergamon Codex that foretold Buffy dieing at the hands the Master, an old and powerful vampire. She did, indeed, die. He briefly fed on her, then dropped her in a pool of water. Xander successfully revived her with CPR. Buffy was then able to defeat the Master. Her death, however brief it was, Called Kendra Young. Kendra died in May, killed by Drusilla, childe of Angelus, during his attempt to end the world. Which called Faith, I'm sorry my dear, I have forgotten to ask your last name?"

"Oh, it's Lehane."

"Thank you. Faith came here seeking help after her Watcher, Professor Diana Dormer, was killed by Kakistos and his minions. He made a game of chasing her across the country. Yesterday, when we discovered he was in town, Xander, again using his soldier knowledge came up with a plan, that succeeded in destroying Kakistos and his chief minion. Basically we blew him up. It was a bit more involved than that, but ultimately successful. By the way, Faith, next week we will be moving our supplies to a more secure location, another of Xander's suggestions, where we will be holding future meetings and working out. It includes a small apartment type area. The Council has approved you staying here, with me as your Watcher, so we will be setting that area up as a home for you."

"Oh, thanks I appreciate that."

"I still say I should be allowed to blow stuff up, it worked didn't it?"

"Only as a last resort."

"Well let's get on with the presentation and then the ladies can do their diagnostics, shall we?"