"I can't believe it, how could he do this to me?" Cordelia's whine cut across the sunny courtyard just outside the library where she was eating lunch with Xander and Willow.

Xander flipped a bug off his slacks. "I fail to see what this has to do with you." He reached in his brown paper sack and pulled out a twinkie. "And why are we eating here instead of on the quad?"

"I wouldn't want to be seen with losers, now, would I?"

Willow snorted, and waved wildly when she saw Buffy and Oz approaching, a big white bag of food dangling from one hand. "What Larry and Andrew do or don't do, has nothing to do with you, Cordy."

"They got caught in the boys locker room. He asked me to the prom last year. I turned him down, but this is just humiliating!" Cordelia's face was a mask of offended dignity.

"What happened?" Buffy plopped down next to Willow, laying her head on Willow's backpack.

Willow answered quickly. "Larry and Andrew got caught with their pants down in the boy's locker room, so to speak."

Faith, who had been tailing behind Oz and Buffy, remarked, "And this is news, why exactly? It's not like they haven't been doing each other for years."

"Years? Years?" Cordy shrieked, "Larry's deflowered half the girls on the cheerleading squad. No, this is definitely news."

"So? He swings both ways. It happens." Faith shrugged, "Oz, toss me that Mongolian beef."

Oz handed over the Styrofoam box in question, and Buffy grabbed the next one, which had a 'V' on top of it. "Larry and Andrew, I don't know." She said it as if considering, "I'm not sure I'd line up to watch that one."

"Nope, don't think so." Faith remarked through a mouth stuffed with food. "I heard they got caught by the women's basketball coach. I wonder how long she watched before butting in?"

Xander choked on his twinkie, "Watch? What do you mean, watch? That's just nasty."

"Come now." Buffy teased, setting her lunch down and crawling across the grass towards Xander, "You can't tell me that half your wet dreams aren't me and Cordelia getting it on for you to watch. My face buried between her legs, her mouth sucking you off. Does it turn you on?"

Xander's face went white as a sheet and he gibbered. "Bbbbut, that's different." He reached for his jacket and threw it across his lap.

Faith chortled, nearly spraying her food. "Damn, Xander, you are so busted."

Oz's eyes were big, but he said nothing. He finally leaned over and kissed Willow sweetly. "Please tell me you wouldn't want to watch two girls going at it." Willow's voice was a low whisper.

"I am a guy. But I'd rather have you that watch anyone else."

"You're so sweet." Willow grinned sheepishly and kissed him back. "Love you, baby."

"Love you, too."

Cordelia would not be dissuaded from the latest hot gossip. "But, still, Larry's gay, who would've thought? He's a football player, for heaven's sake. Besides, it's gross."

"Plenty of people go both ways, Cordy." Buffy smarted, losing patience with the girl.

"How would you know, you've only done it once. With Angel. And we all know how that turned out. You are a pariah. Nobody would touch you with a ten-foot pole now. Besides, you're either gay or straight, not both." She picked up the next piece of sushi that was sitting in her lunchbox oblivious to the hurt look on Buffy's face.

"I can think of a few guys I'd like to see do it." Faith grinned. "All that muscle and masculine energy, sweaty and hard."

"Mmm." Buffy sat back, leaning against her sister slayer, a dreamy look on her face. "Will and Sam. That would be a sight. Mocha on alabaster."

"Ooh, that would be good. Sam Mbuto has got the goods." Faith threw an arm around Buffy. "And we could lick them all clean after. All that watcher goodness, yummy. Who knew watchers could be hot? And Giles, who would he look good with?"

Buffy gave a small pensive smile. "Anyone. Giles would look good with anyone." But she leaned to whisper in Faith's ear. "Ethan." Faith went wide-eyed.

"Giles doesn't have sex." Cordy's voice was shrill. "He doesn't think about those sorts of things. He's too old. And he certainly doesn't have sex with men!"

Faith and Buffy looked up to see the man in question approaching them. Giles looked at the group with a mixture of horror and amusement. Buffy looked from Giles to Faith and fell back onto the grass, chortling. "Cordy, you are such an idiot. Giles is a hottie."

Oz piped up, "Do you even remember Sunday morning? Giles, girl, yells from upstairs?" He held up two fingers. "Twice."

Willow piped up. "Must be something Hellmouthy. But we never did meet his girl."

Faith gasped from her place in the grass where she and Buffy were hanging onto each other for dear life, tears streaming down their faces from their laughter. She pillowed her head on Buffy's shoulder. "Definitely lickable." She winked at Giles, who gave her a Ripperish smirk and winked back.

Willow ducked her head down so Giles couldn't see her blush. "Sorry, Oz, I've got to vote with the slayers. But you're better."

"I'm glad to see there are some ladies with taste around here." Giles looked sternly at the teenagers and took a seat between Oz and the slayers. "But the sexual proclivities of the staff are hardly appropriate conversation for the students."

"Unless said students are doing the staff." Faith mumbled quietly into Buffy's ear. The two girls melted into another fit of giggles. Faith rolled over on her back. "God, I so need to get laid!"

Buffy smiled down at Faith who was still resting her head on Buffy's shoulder. "So, let's drive to L.A. and get you laid. I've got the bike, you game?"

"Yeah?" Faith looked up at Buffy. "Really?"

"Hunting, slaying, drinking, partying. The docks are swarming with the most stupid vamps I've ever seen. Easy kills, but you can rough 'em up first. I even know a place in Culver where they'll pay good money to see us fight. We'll clean up at Lorne's after and hit the clubs. We'll find you a man, no doubt."

"You're kidding." Faith let out a low whistle. "Pay us for fighting. That'd be cool."

"Buffy!" Giles grabbed her leg to stop her from leaving. "This isn't safe."

"And being the slayer on a Hellmouth is so safe? Nah, I'll take my chances, unless you're willing to scratch our itch. There's not enough hunting here. Besides, I need some of the good stuff, and Lorne has it." Buffy stood up, offering her hand to Faith. "Come on. Let's play hooky. It'll be slayers' night off."

This time it was Oz who reached over to stop Buffy. "Lorne gets you plastered."

"Mmmhmmm." Buffy nodded with glee, licking her lips. "Good stuff. And he makes a mean margarita." She snickered, pulling Faith up off the ground. "Of course, if you like music and karaoke, we can spend the whole night at Caritas. We might find you a Bracken or two there." She held her fingers roughly twelve inches apart. Faith's eyes bugged. "They're neutral and look mostly human, but they do like a party. And two of them, well." Buffy licked her lips with relish.

Oz protested. "Will really hates it when you get sloppy drunk. And you don't know that Doyle's going to be around. There aren't many Brackens that hang out at Caritas. You're more likely to get stuck with a Sorthach."

"So? Will's not around. I can call Doyle, tell him to bring a buddy for Faith." Buffy shrugged. "And I don't get sloppy drunk, I get a little silly, but it wears off. Besides, we're talking about Faith getting laid, not me. I'll be playing poker with Lorne. It's so cute; you play for kittens! They crawl all over you."

"Are you going to drive back like that?" Oz protested. "Lorne's not going to let you drive back high as a kite."

"What? No. I'll let Faith drive back, unless you're volunteering to be the designated driver. Wanna come? I can hitch up the sidecar."

Oz shook his head. "The Dingoes are playing at the Bronze tonight."

"Your loss. I bet Willow would get a kick out of Caritas." Buffy pulled Faith close, dancing with her. "You'll love it, Faith. It's so damn cool! And all the drinks are on the house for the slayer. And Lorne's voice, so sexy."

"Damn, B. Let's get a move on." Faith tugged on Buffy's arm. "Get the helmets."

Giles finally found his voice. "Buffy, I must insist that you stay. And there's three more hours of school."

"Uh. Right. Come with, or stay behind. I don't care, but either way the bike leaves now." Buffy ran off with Faith, giggling madly as they made their way to the lockers. Three minutes later, the remaining Scoobies saw the two slayers don helmets and hop on the Harley just outside the school grounds.

Soon the other Scoobies left for class, leaving Oz and Giles to finish remains of their lunch. Giles shook his head. "I don't understand those girls."

"They're scared." Oz rolled on his back, watching white puffy clouds overhead. "They both need to decompress."

"They're slayers. Life is scary."

"You haven't seen what Aaron did to Ethan. He looked like raw meat." Oz's nostrils flared a bit at the memory of the smell. "Worse than you did last summer. I know you don't like him. But if Aaron had done the same to Buffy, we'd be burying her today."

"She's stronger than she looks."

"She's weaker than you think. Plus, she and Sam did some spells to help heal Ethan."

Giles protested. "She told me Ethan was fine."

"She lied." Oz rolled over onto his elbow and looked to the watcher.

"Why would she do that?"

"He had three broken ribs and a fractured hip. It took six hours for Sam to do enough magic so he could heal properly, and Sam completely drained Buffy's healing in the process. So she's weaker now than she came back in July."

"The selfish prick!"

"Ethan?"

"Yes, of course Ethan." Giles ran a hand through his hair, standing up from his seat in the grass and pacing. "How could he use her like this? Put her in danger?"

"I don't recall Ethan having much say in the matter. He was unconscious and half dead when we found him. But he's up and around a bit today." Oz speared a piece of meat off his box. "But he was royally pissed at her this morning. Gave Buffy a right reaming for endangering herself for him when he woke up. If you want to point fingers, point them at Buffy and Sam."

"And who's Sam?"

"Sam Mbuto. He was Kendra's watcher, wasn't he? Buffy is fixing up the pool house for him."

Giles did a double take, looking down at the young werewolf who was still stretched in the grass. "And why did Sam go along with this?"

"Probably because Ethan's the only person who can reason with her when she gets worked up into a snit. She trusts him, the same way she used to trust you. She listens to him, and she respects his advice." Oz shrugged when he saw the enraged expression on Giles' face. "We called Lorne, had Buffy sing for him, and Lorne said that if Ethan died, Buffy's mind couldn't take it. So we did what was necessary to save him."

"Ethan's not worth saving."

"Maybe not." Oz frowned. "But, Buffy is. And Ethan's important to her. From the little I understand of what happened to her there, I don't think she was ready to bury another friend, especially one she was able save."

"What happened to her?" Giles' hands were balled into fists. Oz could tell he wanted to punch something. "All I've gotten were hints and innuendos."

"She had to kill someone she loved. A close friend. Someone she knew was innocent. She was ordered to torture him and publicly execute him." Oz took a deep breath. "And she did."

Giles let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "She did what?"

"A year later, another man was arrested. Again, the man was innocent and an old friend. I think they were married at one time. She was ordered to torture and execute him." Oz looked off into the distance, as if staring at a junior class trotting around the track would make what he was saying less awful. "If what Spike says is true, it was a man with whom she had tried to have children. She had miscarried all of them. She wasn't able to kill him. She tried to help him escape and failed. After his death, she didn't try to escape her punishment. Spike tore the place apart to rescue her, and he hid her until Ethan summoned them back." Oz picked at the grass, tossing it into the wind and allowing it to float away. "Despite Ethan's and Abbott's best efforts, she had a miscarriage two days after her return. I assume it was that man's child. Or she hoped it was." Oz's expression was bleak. "It was never said out loud, but I can guess that she was raped. It was standard practice. And her injuries... well."

"How do you know all this?"

"Diaries. Spike wrote diaries the whole time. There's a complete written record of everything that happened once he found her." Oz grimaced. "Ethan was the only one who had the stomach to read them all. Sam read half the first diary and threw up, finished it, threw up. Said he didn't need to know. And there are twenty-eight more."

Giles looked over at the young man. "And you, did you read them?"

"I read ten." Oz slumped. "It was a living nightmare. If she eked out any happiness in that... I can't imagine."