Rupert Giles turned on the light in the library and was startled to find Xander Harris sitting in the dark.

"Xander? What are you doing here?"

"I'm just wondering something. As a Watcher, you have some training don't you?"

"Yes, there is an Academy that the Watchers Council established to train Watchers."

"Yeah. Was there a class on how to not give a shit about the people you're supposedly trying to protect?"

"What are you talking about, Xander?"

"How long would it have taken, do you think, to check on the kids who were possessed, an hour, maybe? An hour of your life? Not alot of time in the grand scheme of things, is it?"

"Xander, what is going on?"

"I couldn't stop thinking about them. I'm sure, if it happened to me, I wouldn't forget. I may not have liked them very much, but I've known them nearly as long as I've known Willow. Is it the fact that they were strangers to you, that makes you not give a shit, Giles?"

"Xander, I'd like a straight answer, please. What are you talking about?"

"I found Heidi with a bottle of pills in her hand. An old prescription of her mothers. Perceset. I think it's a painkiller, not sure. I managed to talk her out of taking them and took her to the hospital. They've admitted her on a suicide watch. I told them someone drugged her and made her believe she was an animal and fed her stuff. Given how little follow up there is with police investigating things around here, I doubt anyone will check into it."

"That must have been a traumatic experience for you -"

Xander kept talking, as though he hadn't heard him. "I found Kyle and Rhonda together. They managed to forget Giles, just like you said they would. You know what it took for them to forget, Giles? They gassed themselves in Kyle's car. They both have brain damage, how bad, the doctors don't know yet. Could be just memory loss, could be they'll spend the rest of their lives in a nursing home. And Tor? He'll be buried on Monday. He cut his wrists with a knife big enough to take a person's head off. Whole lot of blood, Giles. Maybe, if you'd given a damn, we could have found them sooner. Less damage to Kyle and Rhonda, Tor might even be alive. If you'd managed to give a damn. You're the adult, Giles. The one with training, the experience. Not to mention, you're technically a teacher. Isn't there something about mandatory reporting? You knew something happened to them, that they might need help. Made me wonder about Amy, so I called her. Aside from Buffy having one conversation with her, none of us have talked to her. After her mother, her own mother, hijacked her body and used it to kill people. She's struggling. You could hear it in her voice. She's happy with her dad, but she's having nightmares. Aside from him, though, who can she talk to about it? It's not like there's a therapist who'd understand. Her dad knows about Magic and what her mom did to her. She hasn't talked to him because she was trying to pretend it hadn't happened, but she can't forget either. The best I could do, was advise her to talk to her dad. Find a non-magical solution. At this Academy of yours, Giles, do they teach you about follow-up? Seems to me, it would be very important to find out what happened to victims. But that would require one to give a shit, wouldn't it? You're the one guiding us through this supernatural crap, Giles. Maybe, you need to take some time and think about just what it is you're teaching us. Compassion should be high on the list of any adult."

Xander pushed away from the table and walked out of the library. One careful, methodical step in front of the other. As though he was afraid, if he didn't control himself, he'd start running and never stop, leaving a stunned Watcher behind.