Giles had, at one time, more years ago than he cared to recall, been a teenaged boy; even now he remembered with a vague sense of horror being a slave to raging hormones and peer pressure. That had been a period in his life he would never wish to live through again. Adolescence, the entire period between the onset of puberty and the widely acknowledged official transition into adulthood at the age of eighteen had been one long nightmare.

Perhaps that was why, when Buffy had first come to him voicing her concerns over Xander’s behaviour, he’d dismissed what she’d been trying to tell him as merely another case of teenaged boys behaving like teenage boys. He’d told her it was just an excess of testosterone, that Xander would get over it, that teenage boys could be cruel, teasing their victims, preying on the weak…

Buffy had, of course, been correct, and Giles, to his shame, had been completely and utterly wrong. Buffy might only be a teenager herself, but she was also the Slayer, HIS Slayer, and it behoved him to listen more carefully when she was concerned about something, or someone, because Slayer instincts, and Slayer senses, were considerably sharper than those of regular people, even the ones who had undergone the rigorous training required to become Watchers. He had been quite appallingly remiss.

Of course, Xander was indeed a teenage boy with raging hormones, Giles had been correct about that. Unfortunately, Xander and his new friends, on top of being teenagers, with all that entailed, also happened to be possessed, by the spirits of hyenas, of all things. That could not possibly be a good combination. Animal instincts had quite taken over: the urge to hunt, to kill, to eat, to satisfy certain other needs. It was perhaps fortunate the other four had each other to… uh… play with, and that Xander had fixated on Buffy as a potential mate. Nevertheless, by the end of the school day, not only had Herbert the piglet, the school’s erstwhile mascot, become a snack for the possessed teens, they’d also eaten the school Principal.

Perhaps if Giles had believed his Slayer sooner, Principal Flutie’s life might have been saved… Well, perhaps not, which was unfortunate. Possibly. None of that was of any help to Giles right now. He’d done his research, learned all he could about trans-possession, although at the time, he hadn’t been able to work out exactly how Xander and the others had managed to carry out the necessary ritual without noticing. In hindsight, it was clear that he’d been lacking a few significant pieces of information… The things certain individuals were willing to do in order to gain power. Really, it was quite disturbing.

He should have known the zookeeper was involved. Who else would have had access to the hyenas, not to mention the knowledge, no doubt gathered on his trips to Africa? Giles sighed. He never use to be so slow to figure things out. Getting tricked and knocked out… Buffy would be so ashamed of him; he was supposed to be the one who guided her, kept her informed, and now he’d let her and her friends down, and… Staggering to his feet, still a little dazed, he stumbled his way into the viewing area of the hyena exhibit to find everyone simply standing around, and no sign of the zookeeper in his ceremonial Masai garb.

“Uh, did I miss anything?” It was perhaps not the most insightful, or even lucid, comment, but that might have been the result of a mild concussion. Thankfully, it appeared that Buffy and her friends had managed to deal with the situation in his… absence. As a Watcher, his performance had been less than impressive, there was definitely room for improvement. His Slayer, on the other hand, never ceased to surprise him. She was quite extraordinary. As for Xander, he seemed to be back to his normal behaviour, a teenage boy at the mercy of his raging hormones. That was at least significantly simpler to deal with than a pack of hyenas in human form.

Giles made a silent promise to himself that in future he would listen to his Slayer and not dismiss her concerns, regardless of how outlandish they might initially sound. Sunnydale was, after all, situated on a Hellmouth. In such a place, who could say what might be possible?


The End