"So, let me make sure I understand this, Giles. Angel just happens to know where a long lost book about Slayers is. How convenient. This book also just happens to have a prophecy specific to Buffy, namely that she will face the Master, alone and die. She 'accidently' overhears you telling Angel of all people, about the prophecy. And now that her head is messed up, she's marching off to face the Master, alone. That sum it up?"

"Xander, this is the Pergamum Codex, nothing written in it has ever failed to come to pass."

"Did you bother to determine if it was authentic or just assume it's the real deal? And how did you come to be telling Angel about it? Just as Buffy walked in, I might add."

"He asked about it."

"He asked about it. A vampire who can sense Slayers, but doesn't seem to sense Buffy, just as he gets you to tell him about a prophecy that says she's going to die. Apparently, the Watchers Council needs to add learning how to actually think to the list of classes they need to be teaching." He said, heading for the door.

"Where are you going, Xander?"

"To try to stop a friend from walking straight into a self fulfilling prophecy. This screams set up, Giles. You should have been able to figure that out for yourself."

He stopped off at his house and grabbed a few things, much easier to fight if you have weapons. Xander didn't even let Angel's door slow him down. Turns out, you really can kick one down.

"So, instead of helping Buffy, the girl you claim to love, you're literally sitting here on your ass, shoes off, feet up, reading a book and drinking blood. And you want us to believe you're a good guy who loves her. Get off your cowardly ass and actually do something for once in your miserable life!"

"Like what? The Master will kill you. You don't stand a chance."

"Let me put this as clearly as I can. At the end of the day, I pretty much just think you're just a vampire. But Buffy and Willow, they think you're a person. Sure would be nice if you would at least attempt to prove them right." As he shoved a cross in Angel's face and made him hiss and draw back.

In the end, Angel led him to the Master's lair. They found Buffy face down in a pool of water. Angel grabbed her and pulled her out. "We're too late."

"If she's drowned, there still a chance. CPR."

"I can't do it, no breath."

"I can, and you don't need breath to do the chest compressions. Get out of my way." It didn't take long to revive her.

"Buffy are you alright?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, I feel good, strong."

Xander and Angel followed as she led the way to the school. As Buffy dealt with the Master, Xander and Angel were dealing with other vampires.

'That looks like Cordy's car. In the school, bet there's a story there." As he used a base ball bat to double a vampire over and shove a stake through the back. He could hear Cordy's voice as she said. "See if you like it!" And a cry from a vampire. Xander was impressed. She'd known vampires existed for a week and she was already giving them hell.

And then the battle was over and they were standing over a skeleton of the Master.

"Giles, why does he have a skeleton?" Xander asked, that was a new one.

"Because the older they get, the more changes the demon makes to the body. Eventually, the body suits the demon."

Buffy decided she still wanted to go to the dance, after all, she'd gotten dressed up. As Angel was complimenting Buffy's dress, Xander was talking to Cordelia. "So, is there a story about how your car ended up inside the school?"

"Yeah, I ran over a bunch of vampires to save Me. Calender and Willow."

"Nice. Now that's using your head and the weapons available to you. Congratulations on your very first battle against vampires. And you helped stop the world from ending at the same time. Definitely a Cordelia worthy battle for your first outing as vampire fighter. Dramatic and over the top."

"Thanks. Hey! I'm not over the top!"

"I notice you don't object to the dramatic part."

"Well no, drama is fun."

Then next day, Xander followed up with Giles. "Giles, Buffy actually did die last night. She drowned. I revived her with CPR. But apparently it was the Master feeding on Buffy that let him escape. It was a self fulfilling prophecy. So where is that book?"

"It's disappeared. I don't know where it is."

"And we're back to convenient. Either Angel's setting us up or someone else is and he's a patsy. Either way Giles, you have to start thinking things thru. You can't just assume something, you need to verify it. Nothing about last night was inevitable, despite what a book said."

"Yes, so I've seen. I am unsure if Buffy is alright."

"Of course she's not alright, Giles. She had her head messed with and died. She needs help to deal with all that. Best bet, right now, is to be available to listen when she needs to talk. Last night, she was the victim. Now she's the one who needs help. Time to figure out how to help her."

Xander was more convinced then ever, something wasn't right where Angel was concerned. It really was just too convenient. Was he setting them up or was he being used? He decided to keep an eye on Angel. They needed to know which. They didn't need more people dying because of a convenient setup.