Christopher Angel Presents: GOD'S TOY Cycle 2.4 - Odinborn *** LET'S MAKE AN ORDEAL *** An Oh! My Brother! side story. A Yggdrasil Production inspired by: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel: The Series Property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and a whole bunch more people. _\|/_ "This is just great. This is just fucking *great*!" Giles burst into the room, and froze in shock at the unaccustomed profanity coming from the mouth of Buffy. He stared at the blonde, who was seated beside a comatose Mr. Angel, clearly having failed to awaken their guest or find any life signs. "Buff," Xander began. "Don't 'Buff' me, Xander," she hissed. "You heard Giles! His sisters are Powers. Powers! We could barely take Glory, what am I going to do against three like her, but stronger? Don't you get what that means? And we've got their brother here, and it looks like he's *dead*! What are we going to tell them? 'Hi, you know your brother, the one I beat up? Yeah, it looks like he's dead. Would you like my skull in paper, or plastic?'" "Nice babble you got going on there," Xander replied, at a loss of anything else to say. "Xander," she growled, "*now* would be a good time for the mojo." "It's not like you can just turn me on!" A pause. "Wait, let me rephrase that." Willow wrung her fingers. "But we didn't do anything!" She looked over at Buffy accusingly. "Did we?" "I've knocked out enough people to know how to do it properly!" Buffy protested, and then grimaced sourly. "And how depressing is *that*?" "Wait," Giles said, and motioned Buffy out the way, and verified that Chris wasn't breathing and that he had no discernible heartbeat. He peered closely at Chris' face, and then took off his glasses and examined him more carefully. "My word," he breathed, and looked to the others. "Bring a video camera and set it up to record this, it's most extraordinary." "Record what?" Xander demanded, as Dawn raced out of the room, calling for Andrew. "He looks older. He must be aging quite rapidly," Giles explained, replacing his spectacles. "You can see the crow's feet that have developed around his eyes, the sharpening of some of the minor facial scars," he pointed to one in particular that followed his left cheekbone, a very faint one. "As they age, a person's face tends to grow longer and leaner, as youthful 'plumpness' fades. Facial scars, as a general rule, grow clearer as you age, more clear." He shook his head in amazement. "The rate he's aging at... I'd guess roughly ten years since I've seen him last." Willow's brow furrowed as she digested that information. "How long ago was that?" "I'd say roughly two hours? Perhaps a bit less." The witch's eyes glazed as she began to mutter under her breath. "Five years aged in an hour... that's a year every twelve minutes... that's about a day every two seconds." Her eyes widened. "He'll be in his eighties by midnight!" Giles began to clean his glasses. "But what caused this, I wonder?" Xander, who happened to be looking out the windows, snapped his fingers to get everyone's attention and then pointed out the window. "Anyone know when moonrise was? Wanna bet it was about two hours ago?" At their uncomprehending stares, he wearily explained, "Remember the phone call?" "Of course," Giles breathed, and smiled approvingly upon the one-eyed man. "Well done, Xander." As Dawn returned, Andrew on her heels, their arms full of camera equipment, he began to explain to them what exactly he wanted them to record. Buffy walked over to Xander with a pensive look. "You're not freaking out," she stated, her tone making it in part a question. "Should I be?" "I am," she retorted. "Willow is. Giles is - well, he is, in an 'ooh, research, fun' Giles-y sort of way. You're not. How come?" Xander walked over to the window, and stared out, refusing to meet her gaze. "You mean, is this 'thing'," he made an obscure gesture, "telling me something?" Buffy didn't answer, but caught Willow's eye and gestured for her to join them with a nod of her head. "I'd like to think I'd know," he finally said, but then with a bitter smile continued, "but we know that's not true, since I've been using this 'thing' for nine months without knowing it, maybe even using it on people." He punched the window frame with little force, then did it again, and then a third time, setting up a thudding undercurrent to his speech. "No, Buff, I'm pretty sure this isn't the mojo. I just think he expected *something* to happen tonight. I just wonder why he didn't leave." He stopped punching the frame and winced as he rubbed his knuckles slightly. Willow took his hand in hers, and examined it carefully, clucking her tongue in disapproval over the redness. "Dummy," she murmured, and absently rubbed her thumb over the damage as she spoke. "You're right, why did he stay? If he knew about this, wouldn't he want to go somewhere safe? Like back to his sisters? 'Cause you know, trust gestures like the phone aside, I wouldn't want to stay here if some weird Hellmouth-type thing was happening to me. Or if not, why didn't he tell us so that we wouldn't be freaking out like this and we wouldn't have to be worried about having to..." A familiar tinny tune came from Buffy's pocket. "...call his sisters," Willow finished lamely. She looked down at her hands, and then, in chagrin, dropped Xander's. Buffy pulled the phone from her pocket, and held it out with a vaguely panicked expression. "Here," she said to Willow. "Oh no," the witch insisted, backing up. "No no no. I'm not answering that, you answer it." "You're the one his sisters are all hot about!" "Buff, I think that's a point in the negatives column," Xander interjected. "And besides, using either of my girls' uber hotness to stave off angry witches is a definite no-no." He paused and absently added, "Now there's a sentence I thought I'd never say." "Yeah, no using our uber hotness to - wait, *our* uber hotness?" Xander gave her an incredulous look and she smiled shyly. Buffy snorted in amusement, and then started as the ringtone began again. "Willow, answer that bloody thing!" Giles roared from across the room, and returned to instructing Andrew and Dawn. With reluctance etched across her face, the witch took the phone and pressed the button to answer it. "H-hello?" Willow winced at the combined volume of the three unified voices. She looked desperately at Buffy, who mouthed "go on" with an encouraging expression. "He's uh, unable to come to the phone right now." the chorus of women demanded shrilly. In a small voice, she replied, "Willow Rosenberg." There was no response from the other end for several seconds, and then in a cautious tone, "Uhh, yes?" With a faint blush beginning to appear on her face, she answered, "Yes?" <*Mmmmmmm.* We can't tell you what a *pleasure* it is to talk to you.> Buffy snickered and whispered to Xander, who started to guffaw as Willow's face went scarlet. "Thanks?" Willow stammered. "I-I'm sorry," she repeated. "But we can't. He's-he's kind of-of er... in a weird coma thing!" the three women shrieked, and Willow winced. "Umm, no," Willow contradicted. "It happened two hours ago." the three women finished sheepishly, and then sighed. "Favour?" "Uh..sure! I think." the Furies snapped. Willow paled. "*Hopefully*?" With a somewhat sad tone, the Furies responded, Willow and Buffy stared with horrified looks at the body. "What?" Xander demanded. The Furies continued with a resigned tone. "Oh," Willow replied, panicking. "Uh, you see, I-I'm flattered, but-" Willow frowned. "I'm not part of a trinity." And with that, they hung up. _\|/_ "Get outta there," Xander barked. He was seated on the couch in the rest-slash-living room that the Sunnydale refugees had claimed as their own private area, conveniently near the kitchen, Buffy and Willow flanking him. Over in the security room, Andrew guiltily slinked out. "But Xander," he whined. "This is so cool, it's like watching one of those time-lapse scenes from TV, but a hundred times better." "Eww," Dawn shuddered from where she was half-dozing in an easy chair. "Old naked guy." Buffy scowled at the young man. "Andrew, leave the poor guy alone. It's not like he's having fun in there." "Giles gets to watch," he pouted. "*Giles* can be trusted to destroy his notes and never speak of what he's seen if the young man requests it," came the irritated voice from the security room. "He can't!" Willow squeaked. "I mean, what about all the stuff you'd learn and all the research and..." She trailed off at Xander's mocking shock. "What?" "She speaks!" he crowed. "You've been off on Planet 10, I thought we'd have to ask Voyager to look you up." "Or the Nova Police," Andrew added, and then pouted as he received blank looks. "No one gets my jokes," he complained, and sulked off to the kitchen. "All right, Not-so-wicked Willow of the West," Xander demanded. "What's the sitch?" "Was it that 'trinity' thing those Furies said?" Buffy suggested. Xander raised his hand. "For those of us not up on those wacky Wicca ways, what's the deal?" Dawn replied, her voice somewhat thick with her semi-slumber. "In Wicca tradition, three is a very important and powerful number. Witches who follow the teachings closely are supposed to form a trinity." Buffy and Xander gazed quizzically at the young witch, who nodded and continued the explanation. "A trinity's stength is based on three pillars: magical power, personal compatibility, and ability to unify their magic. That's why, even if they were mortals, those Furies are really strong - they've got at least two of those pillars as strong as they can get." Xander shrugged. "Not seeing the bad here." Dawn snickered sleepily. "Trinities are all sex maniacs." Buffy glowered at her sister. "That girl needs a boyfriend." She choked suddenly, and with a moue of distaste added, "I can *not* believe I said that." "She's right," Willow admitted sheepishly. "Dawn, I mean, not Buffy. Using magic is a rush, guys, that's why it's hard for people to quit once addicted. But using it in a trinity is..." she trailed off, and then finally said. "It's like going from smoking pot to mainlining heroin. The coven that helped me after..." She swallowed. "Kind of warned me against it." "Are we talking black-haired and veiny bad?" Buffy asked. Willow looked at Xander with a carefully controlled expression. "Umm, love spell bad." Xander paled. "Oh. That's not of the good," he stammered. "I mean, nice mental images, but..." he paused and closed his eye. "Xander?" Buffy prodded. He held up a finger and smiled slightly. "Just a sec, I'm enjoying this-oof!" he grunted as Buffy elbowed him. "Anyway, before I was so rudely abused, what's the prob? Don't do the trinity thing, then." "But they said I was already part of one!" the witch wailed. "Will," Dawn murmured. "They forgot about *time zones*. You really want to trust them?" She yawned and got up. "Gonna go to bed now. Tell me what happens with the guy." "Dawnie's got a point," Xander said. "'Sides, what's wrong with getting a little girl-on-girl-on-girl action? You're gay now, remember?" "Yeah, I guess," Willow agreed uncertainly, while Buffy made a disgusted scoffing noise. "What's that supposed to mean?" "Don't be so enthused there, Will." Xander had the sudden feeling that this was a *very* bad place to be. "I'm gonna go check up on Giles." He vaulted over the back of the couch and went to join the senior Watcher, closing the door behind him. Back in the sitting room, Willow was glaring death at Buffy as the blonde continued. "Don't you think it's time you cut this whole 'gay now' self-denial thing out?" "Buffy," Willow growled. "I am gay. Remember Tara? Kennedy?" "Will, I heard your breakup. Everyone heard your breakup. The whole of the Greater Washington DC area heard your breakup. The whole 'you want to screw Xander' screaming fit from Ken was pretty hard to miss." She reluctantly added, "Neither was the breakup sex. Ever wonder why Xander got asked to install all that soundproofing?" The redhead blushed scarlet and glanced wide eyed at the door to the security room. "Did anyone tell..." "Xander? Yeah, right. Who's going to tell him? Dawnie? Have you *heard* her tirade on his ideal girlfriend? Kennedy wants him dead for 'stealing' you and most of the other slayers see him as a bit less touchable than Father Masado. Andrew seems to think he should mourn Anya 'til the end of time, and don't even get me started on Giles and his whole British thing." "Dawn has a tirade? I thought she kind of has a crush on him." Buffy laughed sharply. "She does, but knows he's not going to see her as anything but his surrogate little sister. She's got this whole design for Xander's perfect girl - Cordy's looks, Anya's libido, your smarts, my Slayer-ness, and her own appreciation of him." "Well so why didn't you..." Willow trailed off as her eyes widened as the clues of the last months clicked into place. "You want him too! No no no no no! You can't!" Without any hesitation, the Slayer responded, "We're talking about you here, and this whole yen-for-Xander thing you're on again, not me. Come on, Willow, why haven't you done anything about it?" She smiled wryly. "Xander doesn't get the whole subtle hint idea even now. You've got to tell him." Looking away, Willow spoke in a low voice. "He's not the only one I'm... considering. There's another. A girl." Beside her she heard a sharp breath, but ignored it. "Which makes me sort of bi, not gay, I guess. I have to *know*, Buffy, because this time, if I choose Xander, I'm going to make it work. I'm going to want to make it work forever, like I used to dream of, and I have to make sure I don't do a Fluke, or end up wanting someone else like with Ken, or screw it up in a whole new way." "And this other person?" "Same thing." She suddenly turned and glared at the blonde, her green eyes bright. "If I go with this, it changes everything." Their gazes locked, and it was finally Buffy who looked away. They sat in silence for a long while before Willow spoke again. "Why haven't you? Xander, I mean? You do want... I mean, oh, you know." "You're not the only one considering options," Buffy admitted sullenly, and then gave a bitter chuckle. "I gave Angel this big stupid metaphor about cookie dough once, and how I've got to cook properly before I can know where I stand with him. I'm sort of done cooking now, but I don't know which cookie I want - Xander, or the other one." "Who else?" Willow asked, her mind running through every man in their lives, her forehead furrowing as she considered and discarded each one. Buffy didn't answer immediately, but stood and walked towards the hallway to the dormitories and her room. She stopped at the door, and looked back. "We've got a lot more in common than you'd think, Will," she stated, and then left. Willow blankly stared after her, and then gasped, her hands going to her mouth. "Buffy's thinking about a *girl*?!" _\|/_ "Don't go out there," Xander warned. "Why ever not?" Giles inquired absently. "Buff's finally broken down and decided to have the 'you're not gay' talk with Willow." Giles blinked and looked at Xander in disbelief for a moment, before unlocking a drawer in the desk and pulling out a bottle of scotch and a tumbler. He poured himself a finger, and then shot it back. "Good lord." "Yeah, that about covers it." He indicated the monitor. "How's the Amazing Mr. Aging doing? Wow, he looks old." "Early seventies, I'd surmise." "Fuuuuun." "I admit to being surprised," the senior Watcher said, getting back to the original topic. "I would have expected you to be out there adding your own support to Buffy." "Why, 'cause I'm all into hooking up with Wills?" Xander challenged, and then grinned at the stammering response. "Relax, G-man, I'm yanking your chain. Yeah, it's true. Problem is, there's a Slayer on my mind too." At Giles' blank look, he sighed. "Buffy?" Giles removed his glasses and sighed before polishing them. "I thought you resolved this kind of problem while you were with..." he trailed off, unwilling to say the name. "Ahn? Giles, say the name, it's okay. Actually, she helped me figure it all out. She didn't know it, but," he stopped and grinned. "You know she had a massive crush on Tara for a while? I had to talk Ahn out of asking her to help explore lesbianism once." "My word," Giles breathed, his eyes wide. "That's quite... disturbing, actually." "No kidding, just imagine how I felt. Pleasant image and all, but yikes, not good for the ego." "I don't see how this applies..." "She was pretty freaked, you know? Thought she was betraying me - becoming the female version of all the guys she went all vengeancy on. It was while I was trying to deal with her that it hit me. Loving someone the way I did with Ahn, or the way I felt and still feel about Buff and Will, it's not like... like some multiple choice test with one answer, 'a' or 'b' or 'c'. Sometimes, you can answer 'd, all of the above' and it's just as good an answer as the others, maybe even better." "Xander," Giles fondly said, "you do realize that's utter rubbish, don't you?" The young man in question laughed. "That's kinda what Ahn said. Doesn't make it less true, though." He sat on the desk, obscuring the feed to their guest's room. "Okay, Giles, give me your worldly advice here. How do you choose between two beautiful, wonderful women, both of whom you'd take a bullet to the brain for?" With a dark, intense stare, he added, "Who you'd rather see the world turned into a cinder than lose?" "Good lord." Giles replaced his glasses and blinded slowly. "That is the question, I suppose." "Meh," Xander snorted and jumped off the table to pace. "Hamlet had it easy." "Good lord." "You said that already. I didn't sleep through all of English, you know." "What?" Giles looked at him with a bewildered expression for a moment, and then scowled and pointed at the monitor. "Not you, that!" Xander looked at it and quickly turned away, feeling distinctly nauseated. "Damn it Giles, eww! Rotting corpse isn't something a guy wants to see without some warning." "I'd expect you'd be rather more blasé about this after all this time." "Think again," Xander responded, and took another peek at the screen. Wincing, he quickly strode to the door and left the room. _\|/_ "Hey Wills?" The redhead jumped in surprise and turned to stare at the security room, where Xander was peering out tentatively. "It safe?" "Yeah, and thanks for ditching me," she replied petulantly. With sigh that was part exasperation and part self-disgust, Xander entered the room and sat down beside her. "Sorry." "That's it? Sorry?" He spread his arms wide, his palms up. "What do you want me to say? I screwed up and ran like a coward. I should've stayed and at least provided moral support." He dropped his arms and gave a conspiring little grin at her, nudging her knee with his. "I'm a pro at that. Hey, it's even my official 'thing' now." Willow smiled slightly and then bit her lip. "Do you think I'm gay?" "You want the real answer, or the Comfortador one?" "Is there a difference?" "Not really," he chuckled. "I was hoping to distract you, though." His expression turned serious, and he covered her hands, which were folded on her leg, with one of his. "No, Wills. I don't think you're gay. Bi, maybe." She looked down at where his hand covered hers, suddenly surprised by how rough and callused it was, and warmed by the innocent closeness of the gesture. "Indiscriminate, huh?" Xander's hand suddenly tightened, gripping hers firmly. "No," he growled, his eye bright with fury. "For Pete's sake, it's not a bad thing! You loved Oz and the fact that he was guy *and* a werewolf was incidental. You loved Tara and the fact that she was a girl was incidental." He cupped her face with his free hand. "Wills, you loved the person, not their equipment. That's a good thing. Hey, I wish I had that kind of track record." With an impish smile, Willow challenged, "A demon, a werewolf, a witch, and a stuck-up slayer?" Her smile faded slightly as Xander shifted and took his hands back, pretending he was holding some cards. "I've got you beat with a mummy girl, mantis demon, stuck up cheerleader, evil slayer - who shouldn't count, but anyways, ex-demon, cat-lady demon, and Chinese secret agent." "Wait, secret agent?" "Uhh, can you forget that one?" "Not a chance. What's this about a Chinese secret agent?" She pointed to her face. "See? Resolve face. I want details." With a mock look of dignity, Xander complained, "I don't ask you about the details of *your* sex life. Besides, it's not that interesting." "Xander, you would *kill* for details of my sex life," she growled, and thumped his shoulder. "Don't make me hurt you." "Fine," he said unhappily. "I'm running around Nigeria looking for Slayers, and apparently a white guy with an eyepatch asking around about hot girls who can kick ass is a little suspicious to the locals. I guess someone thought I was spy hunting or something." Willow listened in slack-jawed astonishment as her friend weaved a tale of action, mystery, and betrayal, describing his run ins with the Nigerian police, agents of Interpol, and a sultry Chinese agent who slept with him and then turned him into the demonic forces that ran Africa. As he spoke, she surreptitiously made the incantation for a lie detection spell, and almost fell over as it reported nothing more than some minor exaggerations. As he finished, she felt her temper flare. "You had this entire James Bond-y adventure and you didn't tell us?!" she shrieked. Xander waved his hand dismissively. "Meh. Not the first time." He grinned at her stunned expression, and leapt to his feet, dashing out of the room. Willow shook her head as the spell faded, the truth in that statement flooring her. She glared at the door and ran after him. "Alexander LaVelle Harris!" _\|/_ Buffy looked on, amusement warring with curiosity as Xander dashed out of the sitting room and into the courtyard, where some trainees were running exercises, Willow on his heels. He ran in an easy lope, leading the furious redhead around the yard, before dashing back into the school, leaving his pursuit panting on the steps. With a fond smile on her face, the senior Slayer wandered over and watched Willow pant for a moment. "What did he do this time?" "Xander... Africa... slept with... secret agent... *Second* time," the witch huffed, and glared at the door, swallowing thickly. "Oooh, I'll get him." "Wanna try that again in English, Will?" "Xander," she growled the name, "had this whole James Bond-y adventure thing in Nigeria with the explosions and the action, and the sexy secret agent he slept with, and he didn't *tell* us. And he says it wasn't the first time!" "He was yanking your chain?" "Not according to the truth spell." Willow wilted a little under the glare Buffy sent her way. "If *you* heard that story you would have cast one," she defended. "Fine," Buffy bit out, and frowned, "Then whom? I mean, it's not like Anya..." she trailed off and stared the eyes of an equally aghast Willow. "Faith!" _\|/_ Buffy glanced over at Willow, who hissed "Yes!" at the speaker phone they were huddled around in Willow's office. "We need to ask you a question about the night with the Sisterhood of Jhe," Buffy explained. There was a long pause, before Faith hesitantly responded, "Xander." They heard Faith asking Wood to pull over, which he did so after a short and heated argument, and then the noises associated with Faith getting out of the car. Willow spoke quickly. "Can you tell us about what happened that night? Like how you two... you know." Faith laughed crudely. "Just answer the question," Buffy barked, all of a sudden extremely irritated. Faith flatly responded. "That's for sure," Willow snarled. "Xander deserved way better." "Xander apparently had some adventures in Africa that were straight out of an action movie, complete with sex with some sexy secret agent," Buffy explained. "He mentioned that it wasn't his first time..." Faith brayed laughter. She hummed for a moment as she considered the idea. "Thanks Faith," Buffy said shortly. The blonde slayer stabbed the button to hang up and stared hard at Willow. "Harris has some explaining to do." _\|/_ "Hey, there you are," Xander greeted as they walked into the sitting room. He got up from the couch and motioned for them to follow as he walked towards the security room. "You guys have to see this." Buffy glanced over to Willow. "Get him," she ordered. "*Evincio!*" The word of power exploded from the witch's lips, and green bands appeared around Xander, who looked shocked and then betrayed at the assault. He struggled slightly, and then suddenly appeared to shrug. The bands slipped off him, disappearing with flashes of light as they hit the ground. "Nice spell," he said blandly, although there was a dark undertone. "Was there a point to it, or are you just casting spells for kicks now?" The witch stared, and pointed at his feet. "H-how did you do that? No one's ever done that before!" "Don't ask me! You're the one who decided to play ring toss on the Xander. Did you guys want to cast more spells at me, or did you want to see the baby?" "Baby?!" Still irritated, Xander pointed towards the door where Giles was ensconced, and followed the pair as they rushed into the room. As they entered, the elder man, who was absorbed taking notes from the monitor, looked up and said, "Oh, excellent! Now, allow me to manage this infernal device." Giles picked up the remote for the digital recorder and backed up the playback point to a period several minutes ago, then turned the monitor towards the trio. "Ewww," the girls chorused upon seeing the deteriorating skeleton on the screen. "Xander said something about a baby!" Willow protested, looking over at the young man and cringing slightly as he glared back. "Do show some patience," Giles admonished. "As you can see here, Mr. Angel's aging has not abated following his 'death' from old age. As I skip forward," he did so, and the skeleton disintegrated. "Now watch the dust." As they watched, the dust began to move, coalescing together into a single larger pile. "Yuck, reminds me of Dracula," Buffy breathed, and then gasped as the pile quickly merged into a solid shape. A baby boy, with wispy red hair. The infant opened its eyes, and looked around the room in fascination, an innocent confusion in its eyes, and the viewing women began to make appreciative noises at the adorable sight. "Wait for it," Giles muttered, and winced at what was coming. The baby boy's face scrunched up, his mouth opened, and he *howled*, his arms and legs flailing furiously. Buffy whirled and headed towards the door, but Giles shout stopped her. "Buffy! Wait!" "Giles," she growled impatiently, and he held his hand up. "Trust me," he retorted, and grabbed at the remote, paging the scene forward a couple minutes. "Watch." Reluctantly, Buffy focused her attention on the screen, at the screaming young child that was now noticeably larger, almost a toddler. Suddenly, on his cheek, a line of crimson blossomed and just as quickly faded away, disappearing. As she looked askance at the Watcher, he turned off the monitor. "I believe I'm now able to make a reasonable conclusion as to what's happening to Mr. Angel," he said, and picked up his notes. "It's quite fascinating actually, reminiscent of the myths of many ancient cultures, most notably the phoenix." Willow, her eyes wide and her face pale, looked between the blank monitor screen and Giles. "He's in *agony*," she whispered. "I can feel it through the Earth." "I think it would be best if you didn't dwell on that," Giles advised. "I believe that what happened to Mr. Angel is a sort of rebirth. He aged, died, and has been reborn anew, and is now aging again, likely to his natural age. I don't doubt that he's in a great deal of discomfort. The process of maturing from childhood is hard enough when done naturally, it's quite clear accelerating the process only magnifies the pain." He frowned and fidgeted with his notes, before continuing in a somewhat more lively tone. "It makes an odd sort of sense, when you consider it closely. The Norns are known as beings of time and destiny, it seems clear that Mr. Angel's Ordeal, as his sisters called it, is of that nature." "So we just let him suffer?" Buffy asked uncomfortably, clearly not happy with the idea. "I believe that's the best plan," Giles replied in a sympathetic tone. "I don't see anything we can do." He reached forward and patted her shoulder. "Perhaps you should all retire for the night. This should all be over by the morning." Too drained to protest, the young women shuffled out of the room, leaving the two men alone. They remained there in silence, as Giles reactivated the live feed with some fumbling at the equipment and began to take more notes, while Xander leaned against the wall in solemn contemplation. "How come you didn't bring up me?" The older man started, surprised by the sudden shattering of the peace. "Pardon?" Xander snorted. "Come on, G-man. If Dusty over there has to go through one of these, I'm pretty sure I have to. Don't tell me you didn't think of that." "I rather did," Giles admitted. "But I hesitate to consider what yours might be." With a grim laugh, Xander told him, "Oh, that's easy. I hang."