Oh yeah, I was gonna say, there seems to be a typo--

not have her burned his or her retinas

have her burned onto?

Or "into" his or her retinas?

edit: and, dear sirs/mesdames, what precisely is a "slumber nut?" Because I lurve this phrase and would know more of it.

I posted, got embroiled in a conversation with Greg, and then realized that my computer is so slow that a dozen posts appeared before mine did. Very weird. I had to go back and see what was said. That was a good thing, though, since I got to read Plei's finale.

The whole science geek thing is SO perfect! You nailed Fred really well there. It reminded me of what I liked about her when she was first introduced. Now I'm wondering if you could make her more Fredly at the very beginning, because, up until I read her introducing herself, I wasn't sure who was digging around under Cordy's desk. It's not at all necessary to the story, just a vague thought.

slumber nut is word play on the phrase numberslut, which is someone who tries to maneuver past everyone else in order to get the post with the cool number. To wit, my attempting to get 1999 with that Prince quote.

Damn, connie, I should have known that.

Braaaaaaaains! Leeeeeeeaking!

Braaaaaaaains! Leeeeeeeaking!

looks at bottom of foot. Euw. Where's the mop?

Heh. Connie, I'd envisioned a "slumbernut" to be the kernel of a plot idea, planted just before sleep.

kernel of a plot idea, planted just before sleep.

No, those are more like little pellets deposited by the damned plot bunny, who went ker-flopping across your bed when you weren't looking.

ewwwww (checking bottom of shoe....)

There we go. One more scene, and the beast is finished and I can start really hurting people

Giles came back from his desk, papers in hand. He frowned at the bookshelf. "Willow, Tara's condition may not be irreversible. Spike and I ran into a Knight of Byzantium who insinuated that there was a magical way to save someone whose mind Glory had consumed. We might be able to get Tara back."

"Get her back?" Willow repeated in disbelief. Spike tugged her away from the bookshelf and back to her chair.

"It's risky," Giles said, "and there is a time factor involved. But time is something I don't think we need worry about for much longer. We'll need to be ready, because things are going to move quickly."

"What do we do?"

He handed her the papers. "From what I gather, Glory's mind syphoning powers are a simple variant on the energy sucking powers of several types of creatures. I wasn't focusing on it as much as I should, because I wasn't anticipating a need for the information, but one should be able to trigger a reversal if you had Glory and her victim touching each other."

Spike snorted. "And the hellbitch will be ever so eager to cooperate with that."

Giles nodded. "And there lies the chief danger. For all the simplicity of the procedure, getting close enough to implement it is extremely dangerous."

Willow scanned through the papers. "What happens if we take too long?"

"Tara's mind, wherever it is stored in the entity that is Glory, will start to deteriorate. Glory doesn't need to feed very often, but she must eat regularly. This suggests that, like any food, the people's minds are consumed completely."

"Tara's at the hospital. I could go get her, then we go to Glory's apartment--"

"Willow, no," Giles said firmly. "We're not up to a frontal attack. Besides, I'm sure Glory will be coming to us before much longer."

"Damn right she will," Spike said. "Glory's running out of candidates for her Key. She came bloody close the night she played pinata with me, she's got to know that picking people off one at a time is bound to get lucky for her. Slayer can't watch everybody."

Giles looked at Willow thoughtfully. "No, you're right, Spike. I think it's time we propose joining forces to Buffy. She could use the back-up." He looked at Spike frankly. "How recovered are you?"

"Recovered enough to deal with anything that might come up."

"I'm serious, Spike."

"So am I." His face showed all his years for a moment. "When it all goes down, I'll be on the front line, never you fear."

"Foolish me," Giles said with a slight smile. "Spike miss a brawl? What was I thinking?" He glanced towards the door. "We'll have to come up with something to tell the others."

"That lot? I'll tell 'em we're going to be gone for a couple of days and to keep their hands off our stuff. I'll be right back."

Willow frowned as she watched Spike limp out. "Is he going to be OK?"

"He should be fine by the time the deadline gets here, so long as he eats properly." He didn't mention that if Spike weren't getting lots of fresh human blood, he'd be in even worse shape.

"This woman upstairs asked if I was brought in as a meal for Spike. How were you going to--" She broke off, obviously remembering she was chatting with a vampire with no artificial restrictions on his feeding habits.

"Don't think about it," Giles said kindly.

She turned back to the papers. "I--I see what you meant, about this being a simple variant. It's just like sharing energy for spells, but Glory doesn't share, she takes, and she keeps taking. The reversal looks easy--except for the getting close enough part you mentioned."

"We can work on that." He glanced at the door again, then crouched next to her chair. "Willow, when I said you weren't strong enough to fight Glory with magic--"

"It's okay, Giles, I know you're right. It's just--I was so mad and so scared, I wanted to make her pay. And keep paying."

He put a hand on her knee again. "I understand very well. But what I meant was, you aren't strong enough--yet."

She stared at him, mouth falling open. "Yet?"

"You are very strong, and you'll get stronger. But we don't have time to get you to that level before we'll have to face Glory."

"But after?" Her eyes went to the shelves of books, of skulls, of odd twisted twigs and cracked crystals.

He smiled. "Soon enough to think of that when we have an after." He stood, drawing her to her feet as well.

"But--you'd show me? You'd teach me? All the things that you said I wasn't ready for before?"

"You only want to become strong enough to keep the ones you love safe. How can I argue with that?"

She would have hugged him, but the memories of Tara in agony scolded her for her happiness. But as Giles conducted her out of the room, she couldn't help looking back towards the books.