Most of December passed fairly quietly for the group, there wasn't a lot they could do to help Buffy and no demons to aim her at, but they did continue taking apart the Mayor's protections. Mid January did have one surprise.
"Does anyone know what Cruciamentum means?" Xander asked. "Apparently it's some kind of test that the Watchers Council made Buffy do. Giles drugged her and sent her after a vampire, a vampire that kidnapped Joyce. Buffy managed to dust the vampire and save her mother and apparently passed it, but Giles has been fired. They're claiming he cares too much for Buffy."
"He drugged her? And they're saying he cares too much?! That doesn't make any sense." Charles said.
"Cruciamentum means test of torture in Latin." Joshua said. "But that's all I know, I've never come across anything about it in my research."
"Buffy seems to have forgiven Giles. Her mother was in danger because of this and Giles actively participated in it, even though, he apparently had some objections."
"Very few of her reactions have been normal, this one is no different." Coral said. "And just as worrisome."
"We're only months away." Charles said. "This probably means they'll send a new Watcher. We don't need a wild card at this point. And why didn't our contact give us a heads up on this?"
"He may not have known about it." Tony said. "It's possible, they kept it a secret. Anything else of interest, Xander?"
"Not right now, but I'll let you know. I wonder if this means they'll do one on Faith too? From what I heard, they consider it a rite of passage for any Slayer that makes it to eighteen."
"When's Faith's eighteenth birthday?" Aura asked.
"I don't know, she's never offered any personal information about herself. But Giles should know, he was her Watcher too."
About a week later, Xander returned with a stunning announcement. "Buffy's sidelining me. I saved her life last night when we went into that cave with the weird blue demons and then tripped. She's decided and the others are going along with it, that I should be 'fray adjacent' her words. I don't get it. I do more to help then Willow does, but Buffy thinks I'm a problem."
"It might not be Buffy that thinks it. Angel might finally be noticing that you're not bring affected by his manipulations." Charles said. "He may have encouraged her to try to push you out."
"After two years? He's just now noticing? That idea doesn't fit either." Tony said.
"Someone else wanting Xander out of the way? And maybe influencing Buffy to make it happen?" Tony asked.
"Damn, is there going to be anything left of this girl, if this doesn't get figured out and stopped before long? Memory spells, manipulations and influencing her behavior and responses. Possibly from multiple sources." James said. "Will she even be able to come back from it all?"
"I'd like to think so." Jessica said. "But we can't even prove any of it, let alone be able to fix it."
"Do what you can to keep helping, Xander. They haven't kicked you out of the group, just sidelined you. You can still help with research, patrols and ideas. Let us know if anything changes." Charles said.
Xander knew there was more going on then Buffy and the others were telling him, so he hid in the stacks and listened to them discuss an attempt the blue demons were going to make on the Hellmouth.
"I hid in the stacks and heard them talking. The demons from the cave are called Jhe demons. Sisterhood of the Jhe, to be exact. They're an apocalypse cult of demons and they want to open the Hellmouth tomorrow night. There's dozens of them in town."
"Damn." Said Charles. "Another run at the Hellmouth. Alright, we'll be out tomorrow night too. Big blue demons will be easy to spot. Kill any you come across. Heavy weapons."
Xander returned to the school and stayed hidden. He watched as Buffy and them came in and began to prepare for the Jhe's assault. Then he noticed something else. Jack O'Toole. What was he doing here? Soon he discovered, it wasn't just Jack, it was three others. And the others looked dead, as in rotting dead. 'Zombies maybe?' They needed to be dealt with, whatever they were. He got an axe and started stalking them. He got two and a Jhe got another. Then he cornered Jack in the boiler room.
"A bomb, Jack? Really? I hate this school too, but blowing it up while there's demons playing games upstairs isn't the smartest idea."
"Demons? Is that what those big blue things are?"
"Yep. How many zombies do you have, Jack? Your whole little gang, all three of them zombies?"
"Four, I'm a zombie too."
"You're the last one. I got two of them and a Jhe got another one. So what to do about you?"
"The bomb's on a count down. We need to go."
"Disarm it Jack, or we all die."
"I'm already dead."
"There's a difference. That bomb goes off and you're just bits and pieces."
"You will be too!"
"I like the quiet."
Jack disarmed the bomb and Xander beheaded him. Better to be safe then sorry, after all.
The group met up afterwards to discuss their individual hunts.
"We've got a problem." Johnathan said. "I found out where Faith is living. I saw her deal with one of the demons and then go back to her place. Her shoulder was messed up and I saw her set it."
"Where's she living?" Charles asked.
"Sunnydale Motor Lodge. Why would Giles put her in that stink hole? It's his job to take care of her."
"I'm not sure Giles even remembers she exists half the time." Xander said. "Unless she's in front of him or Buffy's complaining about her, that is."
"This is a problem. What are we going to do about it?" Madelyn asked.