"What is a CAT scan exactly?" "I don't know." "It's some x-ray, I guess." "Where do they get the "CAT" scan from?" "I mean, do they test it on cats or..." " Or does the machine sorta look like a cat?" " Dawn, I'm really..." ""Your One-Stop Spot to Shop for all your Occult Needs."" " Catchy." " Think so?" "Uh-huh, in a hard-to-read sort of way, but I think it's great." " I'm saying I think it's rude." " I wouldn't call it rude." "Rude-ish." "Rude-esque." "Whatever you wanna call it." "If you make a destroy-all-vampires date, it's courtesy to wait for your co-destroyers." "Am I right, Giles?" "I'm almost certain you're not but, to be fair, I wasn't listening." "The new phone book's in with Mr Giles's ad." "Nice." " Am I mentioned?" " Not as such." "We were supposed to hook up with Riley to take on a nest o' vamps holed up in a tomb?" "So we get there and guess what?" "Tell him, Will." " Tomb go boom." " Yep." "Captain America blowed it up real good." "All by his lone-wolf lonesome." " Rather reckless of him." " I'd say very rather." "I should think you'd be pleased to avoid the confrontation." "That's what I've been saying." "I mean, I for one didn't wanna start my day with a slaughter." "Which really just goes to show how much I've grown." "Yes." "In any event, since you're all here," "Tara and I could use your help researching Buffy's mysterious woman." "Oh, yeah." "This has been fruitful." "Trying to look up something you never saw and don't knowthe name of." "Just do what I do." "Flip through the pages and look busy." "It'd be nice if we knew where she was, where she's hiding out." "No doubt lurking around some sewer or condemned church or rat-infested warehouse." "You know, the usual haunts." "Most Beauteous and Supremely Magnificent One, this dark spell I hold in my worthless and scabby hand is our gift to you," "Most Tingly and Wonderful Glorificus." "Please, call me Glory." "Get up." "Looking atyou is hurting my neck." "Forgive me, Shiny Special One." "I beg of you to rip out my inadequate tongue." "Gimme." "I thought..." "You should know, Your Elaborate Marvellousness, that this dark incantation has been lost for aeons, and great dangers have been faced..." "Does this pump make my ankle look bony?" "No." "No, Your Terrifically Smooth One." "It is the epitome of ankles." "To touch such an ankle would be..." "But I'm not touching." "I'm backing away." " Thank you." " Dreg, is it?" "Yes." "Dreg." "Your Creamy Coolness has honoured me by speaking my name." " Your voice is like a thousand songbirds..." " I never tire of hearing that." "Look, just so we're clear, this spell's gonna work, right?" "Nothing worse than a gift that doesn't work." "Then I'd have to get all mad and kill you." "It's this whole big thing." "It will work, Your Extremeness." "Provided you have the other items you need." "Don't worry." "I'll have them, all right." "I'll have it all." "Hello?" "Buffy?" "What are you doing in here?" "What, me?" "I was..." " What are you doin' here?" " Looking for the girl who'll rip your arms off" " when she finds outyou were in here." " Oh, yeah?" "Well, me too." "Were you just smelling her sweater?" "No." "Well, yeah, all right." "I did." "It's a predator thing." "Nothin' wrong with it." "Know your enemy's scent, whet the appetite for a hunt." "That's the stuff." "Slayer musk." "It's bitter and aggravating." "Out." "Watch it." "Easy, you're bruising' the leather." "Look." "I knowfor a bleedin' fact the Slayer wouldn't mind me bein' here." "Right." "What's a little sweater-sniffing between sworn enemies?" "She in the habit of buyin' her enemies drinks?" "Cos she spent the better part of last night with me, doin' just that." "Cos you guys are such tight pals." "That's good." "Tell me another." "OK." "Twice recently, she's had the lover-Wiccas do a de-invite on the house." "Keep out specific vamps." "Asked yourself why she's never taken my name off the guest list?" " Because you're harmless." " Yeah, right." "Takes one to know, I suppose." "At least I still got the attitude." "Whatyou got?" "A piercing glance?" "Face it, white bread." "Buffy's got a type, and you're not it." "She likes us dangerous, rough, maybe bumpy in the forehead region." "Not that she doesn't like you." "But sorry, Charlie, you're just not dark enough." " Am I dark enough for you now?" " Pull me back in." "I'm startin' to sizzle." "You don't know anything about Buffy." "I know what she needs." "So you're at the hospital now, givin' her what she needs?" " What are you talking about?" " Don'tyou know?" "Didn't she tell you?" " You tell me." " Her mum's sickly." "Buffy took her to hospital for a bit of prod 'n' probe." "Bite-sized one went too." "You know, it's funny her not calling you about that." "I've known since last night." "Blanket!" " Riley." " Sorry." "I heard." "I thought maybe you'd need..." "I do." "I'm glad." "I just..." "I didn't..." "I mean, until we knew what it was..." "I understand." "How's she doing?" "Well, she's just had a CAT scan." "I was about to go in and find out." "Will you sit with Dawn while I talkto Mom?" " She's in the waiting room." " Yeah, you got it." "Hi." " May I come in?" " Of course, baby." "Come on in." "Where's Dawn?" "With Riley." "Watching TV in the waiting room." "Excuse me, I'm just gonna check on the status of the OR." "The OR?" "Dr Isaacs says I'm lucky there's one available on such short notice." "Some people wait for days, sometimes weeks." "Mom, what did they find?" "A shadow." "I've got a shadow." "Somewhere over there." "He showed it to me, but they have to do a biopsy to find out exactly what it is." "The doctor says it's too early to be concerned." "Right." " No concern." " Right." "Just a shadow." "I wish we knew what we were dealing with." "It feels like we're going around in circles." "Our circles are going around in circles." "We've got dizzy circles here, Giles." "Weeping Buddha." "Shoulders your spiritual burden." "Makes a lovely paperweight, too." " Maybe she's not in the books." " What do you mean?" "I mean, what if she's not a demon, sorceress or spirit, or whatever these books cover?" "What if she's something else altogether?" "Thank you." "Come again." " Something new, you mean?" " Something old." "So old it predates the written word." "Giles, the Dagon Sphere." "You said that was created to repel..." "That-Which-Cannot-Be-Named." "So, I'm thinking maybe she..." "Predates language itself?" "If it means I don't have to read any more, whoo." "And might I add a big "hoo"." "If Tara's right, then we're blind." "There's no way we can determine her moves, her habits, where she'll turn up next." " I beg your..." " Uh-huh." " I want these." " Yes, of course." " Did you find everything all right?" " No problemo." "That's... your receipt." "And... thank you." "She could be anywhere." "But if she is as powerful as Buffy says," "I imagine it won't be long before she makes herself known." "Everything went fine." "They're moving her into Recovery now." "Do we have the results yet?" " Let's sit down over here for a minute." " No." "Excuse me." "No, I don't mean to be rude." "It's just I've been sitting for hours." "I don't wanna sit." "I just..." "Tell me, please." "Your mother has..." "the term is "low-grade glioma"." "It's a brain tumour." "The clinical name is oligodendroglioma." "It's in the left hemisphere of the cerebrum." "In your mother's case, the tumour seems to have started..." "I knowthis is very difficult and, because of the nature of your mother's illness, unfortunately things may progress very quickly." "Things?" "What things?" "Symptoms." "There's a fair variety that might present." "Loss of vision or appetite." "Lack of muscle control." "Mood swings..." "But what can we do?" "Not much, until we determine if the tumour's operable, which we are working on." "Is there something that I...?" "I mean, can I help?" "There's some literature you might want to look at." "If we aren't able to go in surgically, there are a number of newtreatments that are very promising." "Your mother's prognosis is a lot better today than it would have been only a year ago." "Even if the tumour's not operable, she has a real chance." "What's "a real chance"?" "Nearly one out of three patients with this condition does just fine." "Now, let me ask." "Does your mother's insurance company require copies of the MRI and pathology reports?" " I'm not sure." " Well, just let me know as soon as possible." "And I could use some information regarding your mom's lifestyle and home environment." "For instance, does she use a cellphone?" "I think so, yeah." "She has one of those ear things." "OK." "Is your house near any power lines, chemical plants, waste-disposal facilities?" "I don't know." "Maybe." "Well, the more we know..." "I'm sorry." "Excuse me, Doc, but they told me you're needed in ICU." " Excuse me, Miss Summers." " It's OK." "You looked like you needed a break." "That guy's great, but he doesn't have that bone in his head that tells him when to back off." "You mean that they didn't need him?" "I'm sure someone does somewhere." "They always do." "He really is a good doctor." "Your mom's in good hands." "Thank you." " It's Ben, right?" " Right." "He was just telling me that there's nothing I can do." "And I'm gonna tell you the same thing." "Give yourself a break." "Listen, your mom's gonna be unconscious for at least another six, seven hours." " A break?" " Well, I just mean go out, get some air." "Come back later on this evening." "Talkto the doc then if you want." "My unsolicited advice for the day." "Buffy." " It's bad." " I know." "I have to do something." " Do something?" " Yeah, like magic." "Like a healing spell." "Buffy, people get sick." " I don't think magic can help." " That attitude's not helping." "I have to try." "OK." "I need to talkto Giles." "Will you do me a favour and drop Dawn off at school?" "Tell her I'll meet her at the magic shop when she gets off." "Of course." "Whatever you need me to do." "Buffy." "What do you want me to tell Dawn aboutyour mom?" "Tell her we don't know anything yet." " Your "heys" are startling the customers." " And pretty much the state." "You sold someone a Khul's amulet and a Sobekian bloodstone." " Yes, I believe I did." " Are you stupid or something?" "Allow me to answer that question with a firing." "She's kidding." "An, we talked about the employee-employer vocabulary no-nos." "That was number five." "You never sell these things together, ever." "Bad news." " Don'tyou know about the Sobekites?" " I do." "It was an ancient Egyptian cult, heavy into dark magic." "Wasn't the Khul's amulet a transmogrification conduit?" " Damn straight." " But I still see no reason for concern." "The Sobekian transmogrification spells were lost thousands of years ago." "And the young woman to whom I sold them would have to have had enormous power..." "Young woman?" "Dear Lord." "What?" "You're melting." "Guess I'm not hungry." "Maybe I'm not making this any better." "No, I just..." "This is better." "I had my tenth-birthday party here." " Really?" " Mm-hm." "We'd just moved to Sunnydale." "Mom rented the carousel for an entire hour for just me and my friends." "Except I hadn't made any friends yet, so it was just me and Mom and Buffy riding it by ourselves, over and over again," "for the whole hour, just so Mom felt like we'd gotten our money's worth." "She's..." "She's not gonna get better, is she?" "Absolutely she will." "Summers women are tough." " I'm really glad you're here." " Thanks." "Buffy's glad too." "Yeah?" "She sure cries a lot less with you than she did with Angel." "Angel made her cry a lot?" "Everything with him was all "Eee!", you know?" "All...?" "You know, "My boyfriend's a vampire" crazy-crazy." "Every day was like the end of the world." "She doesn't get all worked up like that over you." "I think you've been really good for her." "So I figure there has to be some kind of mystical cure." "I mean like a potion or a spell or something." "We have to look." "We can look." "I mean, we will, but I haven't seen anything." "The truth is, the mystical and the medical aren't meant to mix, Buffy." "Sorry." "The human mind is very delicate." "Too much could go wrong." "I've heard stories about people trying healing spells." "If we did something it could make things worse." "We've done just about enough making things worse for one day, haven't we?" "Why?" "What do you mean?" "Nothing." "Anya broke a bippity boppity boo." "A thing." "Don't worry about it." " I did not." "I didn't break..." " Anya." "Buffy doesn't need to hear aboutyour clumsiness right now." "My clumsiness." "I mean, that is so... like me." "Slippery butterfingers." " What happened?" " Nothing to concern you..." "Giles." "The demon woman was here, the one who attacked you." "It's no biggie." "She just got an amulet and a bloodstone." " That can create a monster." " OK." "Biggie." "My God." "Are you guys OK?" "I mean, no one got hurt, right?" "No, thankfully." "No violence to speak of." "OK, so that's good." "How did she get away with this bad mojo stuff?" "Giles sold it to her." "I didn't know it was her." "I mean, how could I?" "If it's any consolation, I may have overcharged her." "Anya figured out what the demon lady's up to." "Yeah, a fewthousand years ago there was this cult, the Temple of Sobek." "Sobek?" "Reptile demon." "Sobekites were reptile worshippers." "Just once I would like to run into a cult of bunny worshippers." "Great." "Thank you very much for those nightmares." "Sorry." "Anyway, their high priest Khul had great mystic powers." "He forged an amulet with a transmogrifying crystal." "Transmogrifying is changing a living thing into a different kind of thing." "We've managed to decipher the markings that were on the bloodstone that I sold... that she left with." "A cobra." "She's going to transmogrify a cobra." "OK, so she's making a monster." "What for?" "What does it do?" "That's the part..." "We're working on it." "Well, you keep working on it." "I'll go kill it." " Buffy?" " What?" "I'm going." " Buffy, this chick creamed you last time." " I wasn't ready for her last time." "I am now." " Butyou..." " But what?" "Will, I can't just sit here." "I have to do something." "Chill, worm." "I'm gonna make you a star." "Chant." "Sobek, grant the power that it may mould this wretched creature, that it may be reborn, that it may serve." "Dark incantations." "Always overwritten." "Why can't they just cut to the..." "Fight?" "No fair." "Attacking when I wasn't even looking." "No, this is no good." "I'm out of the moment and you're not giving me anything I can use." "Dreg, I am not hearing chanting." "Continue." "Yes, Glory." "Work with me here." "There." "That feels more real, don'tyou think?" "Even if I do have to carry your performance." "Scene." "Arise." "Arise." "Arise." "He is arisen." "'Bout damn time." "Spawn of Sobek." "The power is yours to see what is unseen, to find what is shrouded in shadow." "Already, you know what I seek." "I have given you form." "Nowfind for me the Key." "Seek it out in the holy places." "Yes, yes, yes." "Letyour vision guide you to its hiding place, then return to me and tell me where it lies." "Now would be good." "Fun, fun, fun." ""Aleister Crowley Sings"?" "Sadly, no, I don't carry that, but I do have some very nice whale sounds." "Excuse me for a moment." " Where's Buffy?" " She left a while ago." "What?" "Where?" "That creepy demon woman's conjuring some kind of monster." "And you let Buffy go after her?" "Alone?" ""Let" isn't really a factor when she sets her mind to something." "You knowthat." "She'll get herself killed." "It's crazy." "Yeah, crazy." "Going off alone, half-cocked, instead of waiting for much-needed backup." "Charging in with a big ol' hand grenade..." "Oh, wait." " This is different." " Yeah, it is." "Buffy needs something she can fight, something she can solve." "I don't know what kind of action you're looking for." "Do you?" " I'm not trying to get..." " It's cool." "You OK?" "Just a little crazed." "I hear ya." "If she needs me..." " Magic Box, your one-stop spot to shop for..." " Giles, it's me." "Buffy." "Are you all right?" "No, I'm really not." "I couldn't stop her." "I couldn't even slow her down." " Where are you?" " Sunnydale Memorial." " Are you badly hurt?" "I'll come right over." " No." "No, I just wanted to warn you that that thing she conjured, it's loose." "It's a big snake thing." "Not Mayor big, but it's pretty lethal-looking." " Do you know why she raised it?" " I don't know yet." " I'll warn the others." "We'll get weapons..." " Wait a second." "What time is it?" " Half past four." "Why?" " School's out." " Dawn's on her way over to you." "Giles..." " Understood." " We'll keep her safe here until you arrive." " Thanks." " And Giles..." " Yes?" "Dawn's kind of fragile right now, about Mom." " She doesn't know how bad it is." " We'll not say a word." "Well, my mom's gonna wake up soon, and I should be there when the doctors tell her." "She's in good hands, Buffy." "There's really nothing else you can do." "OK." "Bye." "Bye." "Is she awake yet?" "Yeah." "She's waiting for us." "Can we take her home now?" "We'll see." "Go getyour stuff." " So, any monster-reptile sightings?" " None." "Tara and I did a mini-patrol earlier, but the biggie snake was nowhere to be..." " Dawn, are you OK?" " Why was the big snake afraid of Dawn?" "It knows." " I've gotta stop it before it gets backto Glory." " Glory?" "He called her that." "She'll know Dawn's the Key if we don't..." "We will." "Please, mistress." "Perturbed, Yet Ultimately Merciful One." "Please, no." "What is taking so long, Dreg?" "You told me snakey-wakey would find my Key." "Why isn't he back with a beautiful message?" "I grovel like a bug, Most Silky and Effervescent Glorificus." "Glory, Your Most Fresh and Cleanness, it's just a matter of time." "Everything takes time." "What about my time?" "Does anyone appreciate that I'm on a schedule here?" "Tick, tock, Dreg." "Tick frickin' tock." " Do you want me to stay?" " No, I'm fine." "I think I should talkto Dawn alone." "OK." "Do I have bad hair?" "I don't look like Scary Mom, do I?" "No." "You look beautiful." "OK." "Let's do this." "Stay close." "I will." "Buffy." "You OK?" "You look pretty beat up." "Minimal damage of the fighting kind." "It's all the other kind." "Come here." "It's OK." "Just let it out." "I'm right here." "I can't." "Not now." "They need me." "If I start now, I won't be able to stop."