Giles forestalled any discussion about that information by addressing Anna.
"Anna, if you could escort Mr. Finch to the coven you mentioned, I would be most appreciative. Our group needs to discuss tonight's revelations."
"No problem. Let me know when you have the box."
"We will." He assured her and once the two had left turned back to the group.
"Since when do you do Magic. Xander?" Willow demanded to know. "After all your lectures to me!"
"I don't do Magic, Willow. But I do have a day's worth of missing memory and a spirit that likes to hyjack me and leave notes that help us out."
"Indeed you do." Giles said thoughtfully. "This spirit may have directed you to Ward yourself and knowing you care for Cordelia, sought to Ward her as well."
"Why not the rest of us then?" Buffy asked. "It isn't like he doesn't care about the rest of us."
"Yeah, but I'm not in love with any of the rest of you either." Xander pointed out. "Cordelia is in a different place."
"It may be more then that." Giles said. "The notes you channel warn of potential problems. What if there was a suspected problem, but not one the spirit was sure of? It couldn't warn about something it wasn't sure of, but it could take steps to try to protect you just in case."
"Why couldn't it warn us of something it isn't sure of, Giles?" Buffy asked.
"Credibility. Everything it's warned us of has proven true. Faith and Kakistoes, the Cruciamentum, Jack O'Toole being a zombie, Mrs. Post. The attack tonight and a human wandering into it." Giles pointed out. "But if it suspected that someone might want to manipulate Xander and Cordelia but didn't know who or how specifically, then Warding them would hopefully prevent someone from doing so. The note Xander had tonight, it also said that Buffy and Faith would accidentally kill Mr. Finch thinking he was another vampire and I would only support Buffy and Faith's fear and confusion would lead to her thinking she's evil because of an accident. Since I honestly can't see why I wouldn't support Faith equally, Xander and I were speculating that someone, possibly the demon that sent those vampires, would influence me magically. It's what led to us deciding to have us all Warded, to avoid the possibility."
"It would be nice if the spirit had suggested Warding us all." Buffy grumbled. "Or could give us more notice. Why didn't it tell us about the Mayor for instance?"
"It may not have known about the Mayor, Buffy." Giles told her. "It only seems to have information available a few hours before something occurs. Think of it like getting a vision. A seer sees only what appears in a vision that lasts only a few seconds and from there has to figure out the context. If all the spirit saw was you and Faith fighting vampires and you throwing someone at Faith and staking it, that's all they could tell us about. They then have a second vision showing me supporting you and not Faith. They don't know the human has anything to do with the Mayor."
"Okay, so that makes sense. It's not like being able to read ahead in a book."
"Precisely. I shiver to think how bad things might be if Xander wasn't clairvoyant and able to channel this spirit. We would be totally unaware of the Mayor and his plans and not have a window of opportunity to stop him. For all we know, we could have ended up fighting him on graduation day after he transformed."
"And with no idea if the military actually would arrive in time to do anything, we probably would have had to blow up the school to stop him." Xander added. "Damn, now I can't realize every kids dream and destroy the school! I knew there was a downside to this psychic business!"
With a laugh the meeting broke up. The next day Giles and Willow went to the Sunnydale archives to look for verification of Mayor Wilkins longevity and found it.
"We've found pictures of Mayor Wilkins the First, Second and Third." Giles told the group. "Except for the clothes he's wearing, they're identical. We also found a marriage certificate for Richard Wilkins and Edna Mae. Her death is recorded, but not his. And no birth or death certificates for the second or third Wilkins. I think this qualifies as confirmation."
"Willow got ahold of a copy of the plans for the airport. All the terminals, all the buildings where the planes are garaged. There's plenty of hiding spaces for all of us. Buffy, will you follow the plan I put together?"
"Yes. I'll even wear the vest. I promise."
"I'm going to hold you to that, Buffy. Because the courier is human, but according to Mr. Finch, the pick up guy is a vampire. There's no good way to handle the human. We can't arrest him. We have no idea what kind of Warding he might have on himself and he's obviously aware of Magic if he's trusted to deliver a magical item. So that leaves only one option. I have to kill him."