"The most common of all follies, is to believe passionately in the palpably not
true. It is the chief occupation of mankind." H.L. Mencken

Introduction: From the First Battle of Moytura:
"I saw a great flock of black birds," said the king, "coming from the depths of the Ocean.
They settled over all of us, and fought with The People. They brought confusion on us, and
destroyed us. Druid, employ your skill and knowledge, and tell us the meaning of the vision."
Cesard, the Druid, did so and by means of ritual the king’s vision was revealed to him: and he
said "I have tidings for you....warriors are coming across the sea and all kinds of death they
announce, they are skilled in every art, a magic spell; an evil spirit will come upon you, signs
to lead you astray.....and they will be victorious in every stress."
A Celtic Shaman’s Source Book, (C & J Matthews)

Buffy stood in the street and look towards the darkened alley. She knew Spike was in there, and she also knew she should walk away. The sound of raised voices drew Buffy’s mind back to the present.

It seemed that some of the Vamps were none to pleased with something Spike was saying. Spike, as usual, seemed unconcerned.....he was still standing there with his hands in the pockets of his trench coat. That was a good sign....he usually took his hands out of his pockets before he killed.....but then you could never use the words ‘Spike’ and ‘usual’ in the same sentence. He was capable of anything.

Buffy shifted her weight and attempted to angle her watch to the distant street light.....she stifled a yawn and groaned as she saw the time....four a.m.

‘Wonder how long this little Vamp tête-à-tête is gonna take?’ she thought wearily.

Seemed like she wasn’t gonna have to wait to much longer, because at that very moment, Spike broke bad. ‘Seems he’s had enough of chatting’ Buffy thought as she watched several Vamp bodies fly through the air. Clinically she watched his technique with the admiration of one warrior for another, "Damn but he’s quick" she thought.

All the Vamps, but one, had picked themselves up and disappeared into the night...the one that remained was unable to leave. He was dangling, about two feet off the ground, as Spike held him by the throat against the wall. Spike appeared to be giving the remaining Vamp some kind of lecture, cause it repeatedly tried to nod it’s head in agreement of whatever it was that Spike was saying.

Finally, Spike appeared satisfied and abruptly removed his hand from the other vamp’s neck, sending it crashing to the ground. In a split second, the Vamp was up and running.

Spike stood for a second and watched it’s disappearance into the darkness, before swinging round on his heels and moving directly towards her. As he moved towards her Buffy couldn’t help but notice the power and intelligence that he kept carefully concealed beneath that layer of uninterested casualness.

"Hey baby.......problems?" he said as he reached her and moved to gently run a finger down the side of her face.

As soon as he touched her, Buffy felt her insides begin to melt......and damn it, the worst of it was that he knew *exactly* what effect his touch had on her. She looked up at him and saw a knowing smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he watched her reaction to him. With difficulty, Buffy dragged her resolve around her and reached to push his hand away from her face. She was tired, she was cold and she was worried. It was the worry part that had brought her here to him rather than waiting for him to show up at the apartment.

Spike saw the worry in her eyes and backed off a pace or two, effectively giving her the space she needed to talk.

"So....what’s up?" he asked. Something in his tone caught Buffy’s attention and she looked towards him. Despite his attempts to appear relaxed, he was wound tight....his jaw was clenched and he was absentmindedly biting at his lower lip.

"You know what’s up, don’t you....you sense it too" she said in amazement Spike didn’t say anything, he just stared off down the alley while he waited for her to figure out what he already had.

"There is something evil coming....the feeling has been getting stronger all night" she stated almost to herself.

"What exactly would you like me to do about it?" he said tightly "Spike?....." said Buffy "Look Slayer, there is something coming and we both know it.......but your camp is not mine......I welcome it’s arrival.....it’s your job to destroy it if you can"

Buffy felt shock at the coldness of his statement...

".....and what if I can’t destroy it.....what if it destroys me?"

Spike didn’t comment.

".....and what if I have to fight you to prevent it" said Buffy slowly as the full implications of the situation hit her square on.

Spike looked at her with hard eyes, "We both knew what we were getting into when we got involved with each other......what will be, will be......now Slayer, if you want out, now is the time to go"

Spike took in the look of hurt in her eyes at his words and something in side of him thawed. With a groan, he pulled her into his arms and felt her melt against him. He had known this was coming and he was powerless to stop it......but he had faith in the Slayer’s ability.....an ability that she still doubted in herself. She’d be OK....she had to be OK! "Listen Slayer, you need your friends and that Watcher guy to help you with this.....I can’t......you have to go see them and let them know your back....it’s them you need to talk to now, not me"

Buffy didn’t reply, she just continued to cling to his solid strength.

"Hey" he said, as he cupped a finger under her chin and raised her eyes to his, "Promise me you’ll go and see them tomorrow."

Buffy looked up into his eyes and decided that they definitely should carry a warning sign on them.....something like ‘Warning: Drowning Possible Here!’.

Caught in his magic, she raised herself on her toes so that she could touch her lips to his. Her intention had been only to give a quick kiss, but as soon as their lips touched the ever waiting fire raged into an inferno. In almost an unspoken challenge to the approaching evil which might try to tear them apart, Buffy sought to deny the possibility of its success.

Mindlessly, she kissed him with an uncontrollable passion, nipping at his lips with her teeth and pushing her body against him in the vain attempt that she might actually be able to mold herself to him.

If Spike was surprised by the sudden violence of her passion, he didn’t show it.

He responded to her demands with equal passion, giving her everything she needed.

With a low growl, he lifted her into his arms and moved towards the padlocked door of one of the old deserted apartment blocks that surrounded the alley. Buffy was almost completely unaware of the movement, she clung to him and turned her passion onto his neck......kissing, biting, and nuzzling in wild abandonment. She did hear the sound of splintering wood, as the door gave way under a blow from his foot.

Spike strode into the deserted room and looked for somewhere to put the squirming girl, but the room was completely devoid of furniture. Feeling his own control beginning to snap, he lowered himself to his knees taking the Slayer with him to the floor. Buffy was totally unaware of her surroundings as she moved under him in an attempt to hold of the approaching evil that terrified her soul.

Quickly, Spike reached out with on hand and managed to capture both her wrists, and held them above her head, while he covered her body with his and used his legs to try and control her mindless movement. With his other hand he began to gently caress the side of her face, while he waited for her to become aware of him.

"Easy baby, easy" he said gently.

After a few moments, he became aware that her struggles were slowing. He looked into her eyes and saw the naked fear for their future reflected back at him.

"It will be OK..........I’m not going anywhere, and neither are you!" he said This time when he bent his head to her lips, she went with him in passion......she was no longer raging against him and the unknown approaching evil.......

***

Chapter Two

"Glory be to God.....wouldn’t it be an awful thing if the souls of all the
people who ever lived return?......Some People do be saying that happens on the Feast of Samhain"
- Unknown Clanswoman (1820)

Buffy stood in front of the high school and took in the familiar site and the bustle of activity which was surrounding the end of the school day. The overwhelming feeling that washed over her was one of detachment. It had only been a year since she left but so much had happened in that year, she had changed so much, that this now seemed alternate reality rather than the reality that she existed in nightly.

Luckily, this last week of October was still unseasonably warm and bright during the day, so Buffy felt alittle less self-conscious as she slipped her sunglasses onto her face and headed towards the school’s main entrance. She hoped that the passage of time combined with the sunglasses might serve to forestall her immediate recognition by the few students left mingling in the halls.....at the moment she only wanted to get to the library and see Giles. As the library approached, Buffy’s apprehension increased... ‘Oh God, what was he going to say to her.....how was she going to even start explaining herself!’ Despite her attempts at a slow walk, the library remained a constant, and she eventually found herself standing outside the familiar doors. For a moment the Slayer closed her eyes in preparation, and then with a deep breath she swung open the door to her past.

Buffy’s eyes drank in the site of the room. It was as if it had stood still in time, it could have been yesterday that she last sat in this room with her friends and planned the restoration of Angel’s soul.

The plethora of books still sat on the aged wooden bookshelves waiting, in the vain hope, for some student to check them out and read their words......but that had not changed either, for the library was as devoid of students now as it had been a year ago.

A noise from the stacks drew Buffy’s eyes to the upper level, as a voice called down to her.

"I’ll be with you in just one moment"

Buffy felt a urge to turn on her heels and run, but before she could, the librarian appeared from behind the stacks. He was carrying a load of books and his attention was focused on the top book which he was reading as he walked. He had almost reached Buffy before he raised his eyes to his visitor.

His jaw fell open and for a moment Buffy thought he was going to drop his load of books, but just in time he managed to regain control of the load. Speechless he just stood there with his mouth hanging open staring at her in disbelief.

Buffy offered a hesitant smile as she reached up and removed her sunglasses.

"Hi Giles" she said softly.

"B...B....Buffy!" he finally managed, as he turned around looking for somewhere to lay down his load of books.....spying a nearby table he deposited his charges, and turned back to the Slayer.

For a moment he struggled for something to say, something suitably appropriate to the moment, but in the end, all he could stammer was, "I...I am glad you have come back"

Buffy watched as the librarian unconsciously adjusted his glasses, which was a habit he tended to adopt in difficult situations. She could tell he had a hundred questions to ask her but he was not sure how he should begin.

By the way his hands were twitching, she had a suspicion that he had thoughts of going for the hug thing, but his natural reserve at shows of affection stood in his way. Buffy was glad.....she didn’t think she was into the hug thing anymore....to much had happened to her and she felt a good degree of awkwardness at having to interact with humans on an emotional level after spending so much time denying the existence of those emotions within herself.

Instead she moved to put some distance between them, by walking over to the table and sitting down.

"Giles" she began, "I know you have a million questions to ask me, but I don’t think we have time for that right now......can you deal?"

The librarian managed a slight nod, as he tried to get his still shocked brain to kick back into gear.

"Something evil is coming, I sense it......I need your help to figure out what it is and how to fight it......will you help me?"

Again Giles managed a nod, before realising that eventually verbal communication might become a necessity.

Clearing his throat, and adjusting his glasses yet again, he went for speech. "Of...of course I’ll...I’ll help.....nothing changes the fact that you are the Slayer and I am your Watcher." And then after a brief moments thought he added...... "So...so...wh....what exactly is this thing you sense?"

Buffy lowered her eyes as the confusion and uncertainty about the approaching evil washed over her one more time.

"I don’t know.....its too vague....it is just there....it’s coming for sure"

Giles moved over to the table and sat down across from the Slayer. After a brief hesitation he reached out and took hold of her hand across the table. Gently Buffy slid her hand from his and stood up, moving to put some distance between them. She had to keep it together now and not break down....now was not the time to let a simple hand touch reduce her to a blithering idiot.

Giles looked at his empty hand like he wasn’t quite sure what to do with it, before slowly withdrawing it from the table.

"OK.....so...so can you give me a starting point for researching this feeling?"

Buffy shook her head slowly, "No.....I can’t.....but someone I know has sent you a message, he says it will help you get started" said Buffy as she reached into the pocket of her jacket and withdrew a crumpled piece of paper which had obviously been torn from some very old book. Quickly she moved over to the librarian and handed it to him before retreating to a safe distance.

Giles took the piece of paper, but his eyes remained on the Slayer as he struggled to accept the reappearance of this drastically changed girl. Failing miserably, he turned his attention to the piece of paper and began to read.

It only took him a few moments to digest the single paragraph, before raising his eyes and staring off into space as he contemplated the meaning of the message.

"Giles......Giles!" said Buffy "What....oh.....yes.....quite" the librarian said as Buffy’s questioning voice brought him back to the present with a jolt.

"It’s an excerpt from the Book of Druids and it relates to First Battle of Moytura..."

"OK Giles, I can read....so tell me something I don’t know"

"I don’t....I don’t know.....I’ll have to research it"

Giles paused in thought for a moment, "Buffy.....who gave this to you?"

It was the question she had been dreading, she didn’t think now was the time to explain that she was living with a Vampire and it had been he who gave it to her. Two shocks in one day might just be too much for the librarian.

"It doesn’t matter who gave it to me....just know that I trust the source"

Giles looked at her in wonder, but Buffy refused to offer any further information.

"Listen" she said as she began to move towards the door of the library, "I’m gonna leave you alone to get on with the research....I’ve got some things I have to take care of"

Suddenly she was in a hurry to leave....she needed to get out of here and breathe again! The librarian’s voice halted her at the door, "You will be back won’t you Buffy?" he asked worriedly, Buffy merely shot him a reassuring smile before swinging the door open and disappearing down the hall.

For several moments the librarian just sat and stared into space, he was so preoccupied that he didn’t hear the arrival of Xander and Willow as they barged into the library.

"Hey G-man, who was that girl who just left here?" said Xander as he repeatedly shot looks over his shoulder at the library doors.

The librarian didn’t look up as he replied, "I have told you not to call me that.......and that girl was....was....Buffy"

At his words, Xander spun on his heals prepared to race after her, but Giles reached out his hand a grabbed his arm.

"No Xander, not now.....give her some time"

Xander was about to ignore the librarians words, when his eyes caught Willow’s Ceasing his struggles to run after Buffy, he took in Willow’s reserved reaction to the announcement of the Slayer’s return.

"You seem remarkably calm about this, or is it only me that feels a degree of relief at finding out she’s actually OK?"

Willow lowered her eyes, not really wanting to get caught in this conversation, but her lifelong friend was not about to let her off the hook. A lifetime of knowing each other meant that they could read each other’s body language like a book, and Xander was sure that Willow was hiding something.

"OK...spill....what do you know" he demanded "Well.....nothing really" offered the girl in the vain hopes that he would go away satisfied with that answer.

"The ‘really’ part of that sentence tells me you know something" said Xander unmoved by the his friend’s weak explanation.

"OK...OK" said Willow in defeat, "I have talked to her a couple of times on the phone and I knew she was planning on coming back"

Xander banged his hand on the table and swung around in exasperation at the girl’s words, "Oh this is just great.....just great.......here we have been worrying ourselves to death about Buffy and all the time you two have been talking on the phone......just great!"

Willow offered an apologetic smile and added "Nooo....not *all* the time....just the last two weeks or so....and she made me promise not to tell...."

The librarian had taken in the conversation, and was now staring at Willow in contemplation.

"So Willow....Bu....Buffy has talked to you about her life this last year?"

Willow started to squirm under the intense gaze of the two men....she didn’t like the direction that question could lead......she had promised Buffy! "A little...." she replied carefully Giles reached out and handed the piece of paper, that Buffy had given him, to Willow, and waited while she read it.

Her eyes turned questioningly to his "Willow.....do you know who could have given this piece of paper to Buffy?" he asked "Oooooooo" said Willow in obvious discomfort.

"This is serious Willow....Buffy has come back to us because she is in danger.....this is the only clue we have and I need to know everything"

Willow weighed up her promise to Buffy against the librarian’s words....

"My first guess would have to be....well it would have to be..... Spike......." she replied softly You could have heard a pin drop in the library as her words echoed round the stacks.....

***

Chapter Three

We gather here on the Feast of Samhain
The End and The Beginning of the sacred Year,
The Time of Turning when the Dark Time Begins,
This is the last Harvest,
As our Ancestors did, so do we now offer worship
to the Lord of the House of the Dead
and the Sidhe on this the Feast of the Dead
Now Let Us Open The Way Between.....
Incantation for the Samhain,
Recounted from the Book of Druids.....

The knocking on the door startled Buffy. No one knew where they lived, so who could be calling? ‘Don’t be an idiot’ she thought to herself, ‘the best thing to do in these situations is to try opening the door!’ Swinging the door open she came face to face with Giles, Xander and Willow.

"Sorry," offered Willow apologetically, "they demanded to know where you were, said they need to talk to you right away."

For a long moment Buffy didn’t move, she just stood staring at the three......the awkwardness of the moment grew before Buffy finally stood back and opened the door of her house to them.

"You had better come in then" she said The three followed Buffy’s directions to the livingroom and then stood about as the awkwardness stretched out. Xander’s eyes shot round the apartment obviously searching for something in particular. Buffy noticed his search, and guessed the reason for it.

"It’s OK, he’s not here" she said simply.

Motioning to the chairs, she invited them to sit down.

"So, what have you found out?" she began

"Hang on a minute" said Xander, "Are we just going to dive into this thing like nothing has happened........don’t you think we need to talk first?"

"Xander" said Giles warningly. But Buffy raised her hand to silence the Giles Lecture that she sensed was coming, and turned cold detached eyes onto her old friend.

"It’s OK Giles, he has a right to expect an explanation"

Xander was stunned by the look in her eyes....she looked like Buffy, but her eyes spoke of another new person who was far removed from the girl he had once known.

Buffy leaned forward in her seat to give emphasis to her next words...

"Problem is, you’re not going to get an explanation.....not about where I have been or about Spike.......right now, I don’t have the strength to talk about it.....I think this thing that is coming could quite easily kill me.....but if I manage to get through this, we’ll work on the relationship building scenario.......questions anyone?" but the tone of her voice told clearly that no questions would be answered.

The silence stretched on for a few moments while they all digested the terms of Buffy’s return, before Giles cleared his throat and decided to get down to business. Buffy settled back in her chair and prepared to hear the worst.

"W...Well, I think I have managed to figure out some of this" he began, Buffy nodded and waited for him to continue.

"The paragraph that you gave me is linked to the Feast of Samhain. Legend has it, that the armies that fell on the King’s people were not of this world......they had escaped from the realms of the dead."

Giles paused as he tried to decide how to continue, but Buffy just sat patiently and waited.

"Yes, well.....it seems that the armies were able to be raised from the dead on the Feast of Samhain in order to defeat the King."

"....and The Feast of Samhain is when?" prompted the Slayer.

"November 2nd" replied the Watcher slowly. "The Feast of Samhain, which by the way is Gaelic for The Feast of the Dead, was Christianized and renamed All Souls Day."

"So, let me see if I am following this.....you think that on November 2nd, someone will move to rise the dead to walk the earth?" said Buffy thoughtfully......then added, "To what aim?"

At this the three began to look at each other sheepishly....

"OK....spill....what else?" said Buffy.

"Well.....it just......" stammered Giles.

"It’s just what Giles?" said Buffy testily.

"Well, given the source of your information being a Vampire, and that this is the hellmouth......we think that it is not a human army that will be raised from the dead"

"So.....what can I expect then" said Buffy getting really exasperated.

Willow jumped in at this point as she recognised Buffy’s growing impatience, "We....well we think that the local Vamps are about to attempt to bring back all their dead buddies from Hell" she rushed.

"Wow" said Buffy as the implications of the scenario hit her. "So.....come November 2nd we could find ourselves inundated with an army of all the ‘dead’ Vamps who ever walked the earth?"

Three heads nodded back at her.

"OK......so how do I stop it" she asked.

"Well, we have some initial ideas, but we are not sure" began Giles "That’s not what I need to hear Giles" said the Slayer "Yes, quite....but it is all we have at the moment"

"I’m sorry....go ahead a give me what you’ve got....but keep working on it" replied the Slayer.

"Apparently, it the Celtic god Crom Dobh, which means ‘the dark bent one’, who is responsible for delivering the bounty of the harvest of the underworld to the surface.....to get him to do this, requires a number of Rituals and Sacrifices........Buffy, I think we are going to see an increase in Vampire activity as we approach the Feast....the Vampires will need to provide plenty of Sacrifices to achieve this request of this God."

"OK....I’ll not make any plans for social engagements for the next week then" replied Buffy somewhat sarcastically. "But I need you guys to come up with a plan.....the total Vamp population of Sunnydale going wild on me is one thing....but trying to deal with all the undead Vamps from all eternity will be abit much, don’t you think?"

Willow piped up again, "Buffy, if they do this thing, it won’t take long before they kill all the people....their numbers could progress at a geometric rate!"

Buffy nodded her head thoughtfully before speaking her thoughts, "That doesn’t make sense....if they kill off everyone and turn them all into Vamps, they are going to run out of a ready food supply.....there has to be something else involved here."

At this point, Xander, who had been unusually silent, spoke up...

"There is more" he said in a tone which said that the others might be afraid to bring this part up, but he certainly wasn’t.

Buffy turned to her old friend and raised a questioning eyebrow.

Xander was determined to cut her no slack. "Giles here thinks there is a good chance that Spike is behind all this...."

He didn’t get a chance to finish, as Buffy jumped to her feet and turned on him,

"That is not a viable suggestion......grow up and stop trying to undermine every guy who comes into my life" she ground out.

"I would if you ever managed to actually date a ‘guy’ but all you seem to be interested in is Vamps.......something strange there Buff" snapped back Xander.

"OK, OK....enough you two" broke in Giles.

Xander and Buffy continued to glare at each other, while Giles hurried to try to redirect their attention.

"Will you just listen for a moment Buffy?" continued the Librarian in a rush Buffy nodded but her posture said that she had no intention of believing the accusations against Spike.

"The situation that is unfolding here is Celtic in origin.....Spike would have been exposed to the Celtic religion during his time in Britain."

"That proves nothing" said Buffy stubbornly, "Buffy......listen to the last line in the paragraph that he gave to you..... ‘an evil spirit will come upon you, signs to lead you astray’......I think he is warning you that you should not be trusting him in this" finished Giles. Buffy felt a coldness begin to steal into her soul as Giles continued to make his argument, but she was no longer really listening. Slowly she moved over to the window and stared out into the night. Finally, she realised that the room had become silent behind her and she turned hard eyes on her three friends.

"Find me the way to fight this Giles" she said in dismissal, before turning back to the window.

Xander made to move toward her, but Giles stopped him with a shake of his head.

Together, the three friends headed for the door leaving the Slayer to deal with the reality of what they had told her.

But before they could leave the apartment, Willow suddenly turned back and walked quickly over to where her friend stood staring out into the night. Gently she took the Slayer’s hand and gave it a small squeeze. Buffy didn’t acknowledge the girl’s actions, but Willow was briefly rewarded with the merest return squeeze before Buffy withdrew her hand and effectively shut the girl back out.

Several hours passed after the three had left the apartment, but still Buffy stood silently looking out at the night, watching for the arrival of the coming evil.

***

Chapter Four:

.....one night in an ecstasy of mind he saw an Angel who held in his hand a book of glass and the venerable man received it from the hand of the Angel, and at his command he began to read least through evil counsels they lose from out their hands the scepter of this realm........(The Glass Book of Kings, yr.574)

Angel stood in the grounds of the school and looked towards the light shinning from the library windows. He had suspected that Giles would still be here researching the current evil that Buffy was facing, and he had been right.

Angel had been lurking around Sunnydale for the last few days, moving unnoticed from shadow to shadow and picking up information on the unfolding events......now it was time to share what he had found out with the librarian. Telling Buffy was impossible, since there was no way he could bring himself to face her, but she needed help and he was going to make sure she got it.

Moving with the shadows of the night, Angel slid into the school and moved directly to the library. As he silently entered the library, his eyes sought and found the librarian hunched over a pile of books, totally unaware that he was no longer alone.

Not wanting to startle the librarian, Angel consciously tried to make noise as he moved further into the room. It worked....Giles looked up and his face took on an astonished look as he recognised his visitor.

"Angel" he said in amazement "Giles" replied Angel in way of greeting.

As Angel watched, a mass of different emotions crossed the librarian’s face......Angel knew he was thinking of Jenny and how Angelus had taken her life. Angel stared at the ground as the ever present guilt for his sins threatened to wash over him.

"I....I don’t know what to say Giles except I’m sorry...." he said quietly "Oh....what.....yes....quite.....but apologies are not necessary.....you are not responsible for your demon’s actions" said Giles. Unfortunately, his words did not ring true. The words expressed his intellect and understanding of the situation, but his emotions would speak other words if allowed.

"Giles, I came here to see if I could help you with Buffy" said Angel in way of changing the subject to one less painful for the librarian.

"I must admit that I am surprised to see you here....what with Buffy and S....Spike....." Giles let the words trail off as he realised his blunder.

"Angel, I’m sorry.....now it is I who does not know quite what to say"

"Forget it" said Angel gruffly, as he moved to change the topic yet again.

"So Giles, tell me what you have found out"

Giles took in the stoic set of Angel’s shoulders and decided that retreat into facts and books would be the best way forward for both of them. Hesitantly, he began to recount what he had been able to find out....it wasn’t much, but it was a start. Through it all, Angel watched him intently, drinking in every word of knowledge that the librarian divulged. As the librarian drew the explanations to a close, Angel nodded in agreement.

"That is basically what I have been able to pick up on the streets" he said "Have you been able to discover anything more than that?" asked Giles hopefully.

"No.....I am not welcome in Vampire circles...what I pick up is stuff that I overhear by being in the right place at the right time"

Giles nodded, "So what do we do now"

"Well I for one am going back out onto the streets to see if I can pick up some more information.....might even have a chat with Spike......and I suggest you return to your books.....between us we might be able to come up with something"

"Do you think talking to Spike is a wise move?" asked Giles "Probably not, but that doesn’t mean I won’t do it" replied Angel as he moved towards the library doors. "One last thing Giles.....don’t tell Buffy or the others that I’m here....this is just between you and me"

Angel waited at the door until the librarian nodded agreement, and then he was gone. The library doors swung in his wake.

***