A/N SamonIllmantrim, it's interesting that you should mention Xander keeping Autolycus' sense of confidence along with his knowledge and skills because I noticed that whenever canon Xander tapped into the soldier knowledge he also tapped into the confidence he had that night as Private Harris. So, let's see if I can blend that confidence into this version of Xander. The only other times we saw confident Xander on the show was mostly when the Scoobies weren't around or when it involved his job. A shame that he didn't feel able to be confident around them.
Faith's conception date was April 7th, the date the hyena possession episode aired and now Halloween is past and it's November 1st, that means she's now seven almost eight months pregnant. I got a pm asking if I knew anything about pregnancy because she'd be huge by now. Yuh, no. A pregnancy in a healthy, physically fit woman, if she's eating healthy and maintaining some level of physical fitness is medically recommended to have gained 10-15 lbs maybe 20 lbs total at the most by now. By the time she delivers, she should be around 25 to maybe 30 lbs total gained, 35 lbs maximum. This is what a doctor recommends, which is the guideline I'm using for this story. So yes, Faith's not showing much, especially if she's wearing slightly oversized t-shirts to avoid calling attention to her pregnancy before she's ready to announce it. Given the high metabolism that a Slayer is hinted to have, even this amount of weight gained could be difficult for Faith and the majority of it is the baby, the amniotic fluid and the uterus itself and not going directly to Faith. In fact in real life, a Slayer might up end losing weight while pregnant because of that high metabolism. Given the pm, I think incorporating some of this information into the story between now and the actual delivery date is necessary.
And I have been around pregnant women, I'm the oldest of six kids and an aunt to a dozen kids. My mother, my own aunts, my sisters and sister-in-laws have all been pregnant. First pregnancies can be very different from subsequent ones.
######
"Okay, after talking to the kids we know two things they all touched that could have been the origin of the magical tracer." Diana got the meeting the next evening with Mason and the others going. "The clipboard and pen Vice Principal Snyder used to ensure sign up. Kiddie escort duty was a mandatory class project, part of the Mayor's civic responsibility campaign that he's started and the School Board initiated. No students in the other grades at the High School were affected, unless they got a costume from Party Town. A lot of students did what Cordelia did and went to Los Angeles to get a costume and none of them transformed, so it's unlikely that the tracer was put on books or desks or lunch trays. But every Junior did sign that clipboard and all of them did transform, whether they went to Los Angeles or Party Town or ordered something off the computer, which makes either it or the pen the most likely source of the tracer."
"Ethan took possession of the Party Town costume shop two days before Halloween." Mason went next. "The owner of the shop hired him to manage the store from then to Halloween. He simply says he wasn't feeling well and needed someone to take over the store. He maintains Ethan was an acquaintance, that they'd met at some point awhile back, a few months maybe, he's unsure exactly when and kept in contact. Which is all he would say, although he didn't bother to inquire about Rayne's health." Mason finished sarcastically.
"The front page of the morning edition of the Sunnydale Times was running a story that what happened yesterday was hallucinations brought on by spiked candy." Aaron laid the paper on the table, the headline was above the fold and in large, bold print. "To have it run in the morning edition, the story was either written during the night or already written. When did the police have time to collect any candy and send it off for analysis?"
"Especially since no officers in uniforms were seen out last night." Stephan pointed out. "But then, we've never seen them out at night. At least no one in uniform."
"The paper was running an article the day after the attack on the Bronze when the Harvest happened declaring it a gang attack." Rupert Giles informed them. "I found it on microfiche at the public Library."
"And the news the night Faith and I arrived in town was running a segment asking the public for information on Kendra, saying she was one of two people that died in the attack." Diana continued.
"The article in the paper did not mention any one had died in the attack." Rupert told them. "However, it did run in the morning edition and the attack was never mentioned again, in any subsequent editions. As though it's been forgotten about." He suggested. "The day nightmares came to life was reported as a gas leak."
"Which would only cause hallucinations in some people, not all and only those indoors or if the leak was in a pipe in the street, someone hovering right over it." Diana stated. "And everyone has forgotten about both. Or seems to have. At the time I speculated that enough power and Lethe's Bramble was one way that might have been achieved."