"Xander was very determined to help you that night." Giles informed Buffy. "The rest of us thought there was nothing we could do, nothing that could be done. But Xander's thoughts were the opposite, that there had to be a way, that you dying was not a foregone conclusion. It seems he was right and he did find a way to save you."

"Why didn't he say anything?" Buffy questioned.

"Why would you assume Angel saved you?" Giles countered.

"Because he saved me before, when the Three attacked me and when Darla attacked my mother."

"And Xander saved you before that." Giles pointed out. "As did I. At one time or another, we've all saved your life."

"Well, except me." Willow smiled self consciously. "In fact and I find this hard to believe, Cordelia actually saved my life that night and Ms. Calendar's for that matter. Actually, Cordelia saved me twice that same night, once with her car and once by alerting me that the Guardian creature's tentacle was trying to grab me. That sounds so gross."

"But that doesn't explain why neither of them said anything." Buffy protested.

"Maybe neither of them realized you were assuming Angel saved you." Willow suggested. "And after the way you treated Xander a couple months ago I doubt he'd say anything anyway."

"What did I do to Xander?" Buffy asked, confused.

Willow blinked and then frowned. "Did you forget that you humiliated him at the Bronze?"

"Oh, that. It's not that big a deal, Will." Buffy dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "Xander understands I wasn't in a good place, I was dealing with dying and all."

"By using him as a stripper pole to make Angel jealous." Willow pointed out, making Giles decidedly uncomfortable at the turn the conversation had taken. "And did Xander actually tell you he understood or are you just making another assumption?"

"Actually I think he did understand, better than I did." Giles mused. "He told me to just let you work out your issues with the sledgehammer and the Master's skeleton."

"See, I told you. Everything's fine." Buffy concluded. "Although being reminded that I died hasn't made my day any better." She shivered, remembering the Master's teeth in her neck. "So what's the new girl's name?" She changed the subject.

"Kendra Young, she's from Jamaica." Giles answered.

"Any chance I'll get to meet her?"

"Unless we need her help here or she needs our help there, unlikely." Giles answered. "There's never been two Slayers at the same time and no one's certain what the ramifications are of there being two now. It's entirely possible there are now two lines of Slayers or the line now passes through Kendra, we just don't know. Or the line may die out entirely with no vampires left. Slayers were created to fight vampires after all."

"Well, if there's nothing else I'll run that package over to Angel and see how he's doing on his first day as a human." Buffy decided, wanting to avoid that topic for now, moved to the counter and picked up the package. "I'll see you later at the Bronze, Willow."

"You too." Willow agreed, watching Buffy leave. "Giles, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Concerning?"

"Xander told me he considers me family, the only family he has left with Jesse dead. It's one of several things he said yesterday that made me realize, I don't know him as well as I thought I did. I guess I've been making assumptions too."

"Than seek clarity." Giles advised. "Challenge your assumptions and find out the truth. It's the only way to know something for sure."

Willow nodded. "You're right, if I'm making assumptions and those assumptions have proven false, than I need to determine the facts. Assumption one, Xander isn't very smart. Fact, he takes a lot of the same classes I do and has for years, something I never consciously registered. Conclusion, Xander is intelligent, but not a genius."

"His intelligence and recall surprise me on occasion as well." Giles admitted. "Such as when we were dealing with Marcie and he admitted he'd researched myths and gods. I tend to notice the irritating jokes he makes more than anything else."

"Apparently the jokes are on purpose too." Willow admitted.

"For what purpose?" Giles inquired.

"Misdirection." Willow answered. "Look over here, not over there. Never mind the man behind the curtain kind of thing."

"Interesting." Giles frowned thoughtfully. "Taking attention off someone or something else. Does he want attention himself, is that why he makes those tasteless jokes?"

"No, those are so he can pretend everything's alright when it's not. Something else I missed." Willow muttered. "Like I said, I thought I knew everything about him, but in hindsight, there are some really huge things I missed."

"I'm trained to be observant, I doubt I've missed much." Giles took a stack of books and headed toward the shelves to reshelve them.

"Really, than how did you miss the fact that Buffy dating Angel is illegal?" Willow asked.

"Excuse me?" Giles stumbled. "What do you mean illegal?"

"Vampires are dead bodies animated by a demon, you told us that. Even with a soul that doesn't change. I'm Jewish, religion wise and both the dead body and the demon part violate Jewish law. Now Angel is a 26 year old human because Liam of Galway was 26 when he died and Angelus took over the body. Buffy's 16. That's a felony in the United States, Giles."

"I was vaguely aware of that." Giles admitted. "But I never connected any of it to Angel and Buffy. I'm unsure why."

"I know why I encouraged Buffy's interest in Angel, why did you allow something you acknowledge is a crime?"

"I don't know."

"Than I think you need to figure it out."