Xander had returned and was now in the infirmary once again being examined by Dr. Frazer. Cordelia refused to let go of his hand and if he was being honest, he refused to let go of hers.

"They said they removed the knowledge, sir. And I feel a lot better. I'm not speaking another language, which is kind of a bummer, since I only know English, Spanish and some Latin. Cordy and I were part of an Archeology and Ancient Cultures group in High School. What happens now, sir? Coming here and breaking in was my idea. Whatever punishment you mete out, please don't put it on her. She was just trying to help me."

"There's not going to be any punishment, son. You came to us for help. I've spoken to the President and he agrees, everything you did, was to survive. Neither of the personnel you accosted were injured. But you will need to sign non-disclosure agreements and direct us to that repository. We can't leave it for someone else to stumble into."

"I understand, General. There's something else they said. Well, two somethings. One, my connection to the Alterrans is from both sides of my family and two, they said to tell you, you haven't yet, grown enough. They said you'd understand."

"Yeah, basically they're saying we're still kids compared to them." Colonel O'Neill said.

"Well, their civilization is millions of years older then ours. We must look like toddlers to them." Xander said.

"So SG 1 will meet you in Sunnydale in one week so you can show them the repository." General Hammond told them.

"We can meet them at the airport if you like. Sunnydale has it's own." Xander offered. "Means our summer road trip is over, though. But at least we got to see the Grand Canyon and a show in Vegas, before things went weird."

"I intend to hang out by the pool and at the Bronze and veg for the rest of the summer." Cordelia said.

"Cool. Bikini." Xander answered.

Dr. Frazer returned and had something to say.

"I'm still showing those proteins in your system, Xander. They didn't remove them."

"Yeah, they said they couldn't. They're apart of me now. But I haven't mutated like the rest of the team did, so I don't think they're hurting me."

"I don't think so either. But if you have any problems, please call me. I don't like the treatment the doctors did on you. I'd like to do any follow up myself."

"Sure, if the General doesn't have a problem with it, I don't either." Xander answered.

"I don't mind. We'll just consider it part of the whole package of what happened."

"Then we'll see you in a week."

SG 1 escorted them to the surface and watched them climb into Cordelia's car and drive off.

"I'm not old, am I?" Colonel O'Neill asked.

"I notice you don't object to the treachery part." Daniel commented as they headed back in.

"I refuse to answer that as it may incriminate me."

Xander and Cordelia were too tired to do much once they had returned to their hotel room, so they just decided to call it a day and go to bed a little early. They next morning they headed back toward Sunnydale. Xander told Cordelia what else the Nox had told him.

"I can understand why you didn't mention any of that to them. They seem like nice people, but someone might get the idea to study you. But how are we going to explain this to Giles, not to mention Buffy and Willow?"

"I've been thinking about that. We can tell them, I started having some problems while we were on our trip. We went looking for someone who does Magic because we were afraid it was related to the Hyena possession. We tell them that they noticed the changes and that they were at odds with me. They couldn't remove them and choose to blend them instead. And now I have the ability to heal faster and heal others and to blend into my environment. All of which will come in handy with the Slayage. Have I told you yet, how much it means to me that you gave up some great colleges to go to UC Sunnydale with me?"

"Yes, but you can thank me again. Gold is always nice." She grinned at him.

"More incentive for me to find a permanent job when we get back. I'll start looking as soon as we get back."

"You know I don't actually expect you to buy me things."

"I know, but I like doing it."

They took their time driving back to Sunnydale, stretching it into three days, so they could get a little more sight seeing in. Once they did, they called everyone together at Giles to tell them their version of a cover story. It didn't go quite the way they hoped. Willow and Buffy both flipped out.

"Giles! There has to be a way to fix this!" Willow exclaimed.

"Fix what, Willow? There's nothing wrong." Xander told her.

"But it's not normal, Xander!"

"It's also not related to Magic or caused by Magic. The coach may have been crazy, but he used weird science, not weird Magic. Magic can detect the changes, but can't do anything about them. And trying to remove them might hurt or even kill me. And you're not doing Magic on me against my will."

"Xander, I'm trying to help you."

"I neither need nor want help. But you might need help."

"What do you mean?"

"They wanted to know how we know about Magic. So I told them everything I know. They freaked out over the soul curse. They said a curse that involves the soul, damages the soul of both the castor and the victim of the curse. The damage is progressive."