Xander and Cordelia had just finished filling the group in on the Thanksgiving trip to San Francisco. Everyone was just sort of staring at them.

"Let me sum up what you just said." Giles said in a careful tone of voice, as though trying to control hysterical laughter. "Janus, the god of gates, among other things. One of the oldest and most powerful deities in existence thinks you're a comedy show. He thinks the way you screw things up for our opponents is entertaining. As a result of this amusement, he used Ethan's spell as an opportunity to both reward you and declare Sunnydale a protectorate of his. So no god can try to use the Hellmouth for its own purposes. And you found all of this out because the Halliwell sisters did an Aura cleanse on you and discovered you have three auras. Did I miss anything?"

"Besides the fact that I got to talk to my dead mother?" Cordelia asked.

"Yes, beside that." Giles said drolly.

"No, I think that about sums it up." Xander said.

Giles turned to Professor Dormer and Joyce and said. "Ladies, I have a bottle of barely opened scotch at home, you are welcome to join me in emptying it."

"I believe I shall take you up on that offer, Mr. Giles." Professor Dormer answered, also barely containing her laughter. "Although I wonder just what it was that you did that he found so amusing."

"Well, the first big bad we dealt with was the Master. I shoved a cross in Angel's face to convince him to help me find the Master's lair."

"Xander, he didn't need your help. I'm sure he just wanted you to stay out of his way." Buffy told him.

"Buffy, he wasn't doing anything to help you. When I found him he was sitting in his apartment reading a book and drinking a glass of blood. He even had his shoes off. When I asked him why he wasn't doing anything to help you, he said was too afraid of the Master."

Buffy gaped at him. "You're lying!"

"Prue has a truth spell she can cast if you doubt him." Cordelia offered. "But you should know by now, Xander has two modes, bluntly truthful or silence. It would take something extraordinary to make him lie."

"And how do you know this truth spell works?"

"Because Prue had cast it before we got there and it affected everyone in the house. I asked him if you wanted to give him a chance, would he accept it. He said no, but if we broke up, he'd ask Faith out, if she was willing."

"For the record, I would be."

"Thank you. I'm not breaking up with Cordy, though. I love her."

Cordelia beamed at him.

"What else have you done that might have amused Janus?" Professor Dormer asked.

"Bluffed Angelus. He showed up at the hospital when Buffy was sick with the flu. Cordy had just left and I was scared he would run into her, so I tried to buy time by confronting him. He was there to get a giggle over Buffy being sick. I convinced him I'd get everyone on the floor, security officers, everyone, to attack him. He backed off and left."

"Xander, Cordelia's right, it would take something extraordinary for you to lie. When was the last time you lied?" Willow asked.

"When I didn't tell Buffy you were trying the soul curse again. I wasn't sure you'd even be able to manage it, since you'd just come out of a coma. Plus, I was convinced it wouldn't be remotely helpful and I was absolutely convinced if Buffy had even a shred of hope that she could get Angel back, she'd risk nearly seven billion lives to do it. Since people I love are included in that number, I wasn't about to let her have the chance to gamble with their lives."

Absolute silence. Crickets chirping. Then Professor Dormer spoke.

"You did the right thing. The world was at risk and it is our job to safe guard lives."

"I agree." Giles said. "You made the correct decision."

"You lied to me." Buffy said flatly. "You doubted me."

"For a long time now, yes."

"Why."

"Besides the extremely questionable decisions you make? Angelus should have been dust a long time ago. You kept letting him get away. You were willing to risk Willow's soul to get Angel back. I may never forgive you for that. That none of us understood completely at the time, doesn't excuse the fact that you wanted her to use black magic on a soul, just so you could get your dead boyfriend back. I will never understand how you could let that thing touch you. How you could fall in love with a vampire. A walking corpse. Or how you managed to convince Giles and Willow that it was somehow acceptable. Soul or no soul, the corpse part doesn't change. You let people die and you don't care. You cried over losing Angel, but shed no tears at Jenny's funeral. And somehow I was the bad guy for wanting a vampire to be dusted. For wanting you to do your damn job."

"He loved me. He saved my life!"

"So has Giles. Matter of fact, so have I. Repeatedly. Mostly when you're being reckless and somehow, you convinced yourself, I was just trying to impress you. No. Yes, I had a crush on you. I freely admit that. But about half way through Angelus' rampage, I realized, it wasn't you I was interested in. It was the Slayer. The superhero who destroys vampires. And you weren't being a superhero anymore. Take that away and there wasn't anything left to be interested in. If Faith loses her powers tomorrow, she'll still be bold, sarcastic and fun to be around. You wouldn't be."

Everyone was staring at him.

"Bluntly truthful or silent. You asked me to be truthful. There's the truth, Buffy. You lost my respect a long time ago."