Author's Note: My apologies for the delay in posting this fic. was giving me some difficulties in posting, so here it is at last! This year's fic is inspired by a certain creature from the famous Doctor Who series and Christmas shopping fads. Shop wisely, my friends.

"This is it," Buffy said gravely, her eyes focused on the locked door. "The single most terrifying night of my life." Her eyes narrowed. "Black Friday." Beside her, Xander and Willow yawned in unison, blinking the sleep from their eyes afterwards.

Giles was a tad more awake, but only because he had been awake anyway with Buffy patrolling the local graveyard. "Remind me again why this silly tradition exists," he said, bringing his thermos to his lips and taking a long draught. It was bitter, not at all enjoyable, but he didn't wish to enjoy coffee. Americans were addicted to the liquid, and he refused to be Americanized by enjoying the brew too much.

Buffy turned to him, appearing thoroughly confused as to his own confusion. "Because of the sales, Giles. As in 50% off. 70% off. You can get all your Christmas shopping done in a single night and not break the bank. At least, that's what mom always said. She always went." Silence held for a moment, as they gave a silent thought towards the late Joyce Summers. Xander patted Buffy's shoulder comfortingly, and Willow offered a sad smile. It was the first Christmas without Joyce, and Buffy had been determined to keep up with the same traditions she had instilled in the household. Giles had yet to see the appeal of standing in a long line outside of a store in the chilly night near the break of dawn. He hadn't slept in thirty hours.

Sudden movement from behind the doors made Willow stir. "Oh, they're opening, they're opening. This is actually getting really exciting."

"Prepare yourself," Buffy said, crouching a little.

Giles lifted an eyebrow. "Why? It isn't as though there's a rush to—oof!" he was immediately shoved forward as the doors opened, the crowd behind them all lurching forward to get inside. His coffee was shoved right out of his hand, flying somewhere, no doubt in someone's face, but before he could even attempt to apologize, he was being jostled and manhandled right into the store. He'd lost the others in the sea of eager buyers and marveled that he hadn't acquired any broken ribs during the migration. "Buffy?" he called, using his tall stature to peer over the heads, searching for her.

"Giles!" he heard distantly and turned, spotting the three of them with a cart and heading towards the toys section.

"Pardon me, excuse me," Giles said politely as he danced his way through the rushing bodies over to them. By the time he rejoined them, he was panting hard and lightly sweating. "That's . . . that's . . . that was the most violent experience I think I've ever had," he managed to gasp out, wiping his forehead lightly with a handkerchief. "People turn into beasts after Thanksgiving. I'm beginning to believe that it's all a sham. You colonists don't divulge in turkey and food as an expression of gratitude. No, it's in fact a ritual sacrifice to gain strength and fortitude for surviving the gauntlet into the store."

Buffy grinned, finding his out-of-sorts state to be rather amusing. "Welcome to America, Giles. Now, let's go. We can't dally, or we're going to miss all the cool stuff."

Willow laughed at that. "Dally. What a Giles word."

"What are we after, anyway?" Xander asked, looking up at the numerous signs that declared items on super sale.

"I don't know," Buffy shrugged, "something for Dawn. I want to make sure she gets as many presents this year as she did last year."

"And how many was that?" Willow asked.

"Twenty-four," Buffy said with a light wince.

There was a collective groan. "We should split up," Xander suggested. "Twelve presents for each. You guys hit the toys and makeup. Will and I got electronics and clothes."

"That's a pretty solid plan," Willow smiled, looking impressed.

"What can I say?" Xander shrugged. "Ever since that Halloween where I was turned into an Army Soldier, I've just gotten better at tactics. Divide and conquer." He looked quite smug about it, too.

"Yes, yes, let's carry on, shall we? I want to leave this place before the inevitable fire breaks out," Giles grumbled, already feeling a headache brewing in his temple. The two teams parted ways, Buffy and Giles taking the cart into the toys section which was full of frantic looking mothers. "I don't suppose she still plays with dolls?" he inquired, glancing down the packed pink aisle which was crammed full of dolls.

"If only it were so easy," Buffy replied. "This is terrible, Giles. The first thing that comes to my mind when getting someone a present is a spike and bottle of holy water. What the heck are you supposed to give to normal people? What are normal presents?" she asked him, looking up to him for guidance.

Giles frowned in thought, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "Well . . . " he faltered. He hadn't had a Christmas gathering in years, being without much of a family himself. Sure, there were times where he spent the holiday with Olivia, but their relationship required that such a get together be kept at minimum. "Socks?" he answered finally.

"Why did I even bring you?" Buffy asked, deadpanned. "Okay, think. Dawn likes girly things. I like girly things. What would I want?"

Which is how, a half hour later, the cart became full of duplicate items that Buffy had found herself desiring. They were just rounding the corner towards the electronics store to meet up with Xander and Willow when a sudden shout rang out near them. Two women were fighting one another over a blue elf, their struggle quite spectacular until an employee strode forward and broke them up. "What was that all about?" Buffy inquired.

"Elf on a Shelf," a young man wearing the store's employee shirt answered, stepping up beside them. "This year's biggest trend. Everyone wants one. They're great for the kids, you know?" he said, looking up at Giles in particular as he said this. "Their scouts, you see," the employee explained. "They watch the little ones and report to Santa every night if they've been good or bad. They like to play hide and seek, too, if you get my meaning," he nudged Giles. "They've been selling like crazy. That one there was the last one in blue. But we still have a few traditional red and green ones, if you're interested."

"No, thank-you, I think we're quite al—" Giles was about to say, but Buffy quickly cut him off as she took one of the Elves off of the shelf and into her hands.

"Oh my god. It is so cute. Look at their little faces, Giles!" Buffy said, lifting it up right into his face.

"Erm. Yes, Buffy. It's quite . . . endearing, yes," Giles said, pushing it away from his face. The employee smiled, obviously having done his job. "Do you really need it? Dawn isn't five, she's fifteen," Giles reminded her. "I highly doubt she's going to believe that a stuffed elf is disappearing to tell Santa if she's been good or bad and then reappearing in the home the next day."

"Maybe not," Buffy agreed, "but we need more Christmas decorations. This little guy will do just the trick." She tenderly placed the smiling, red-suited elf on top of their other items. "I shall name him . . . Elfis. He'll have a penchant for shaking his hips and wearing ridiculous clothes." Giles snorted at that, but indulged in Buffy's playful choice. After all, the elf was on sale, too.

Once they met up with the others, they joined the extensive queue to check out. Giles nodded off a few times while waiting, nearly falling to the floor in the process. But, two hours after they had arrived, they finally loaded up his car, and one-by-one, he drove them all home. When he finally arrived home himself, Giles merely dropped his keys on the counter, removed his jacket, tie and shoes and fell onto the sofa, falling asleep almost instantly.

All too soon, his phone rang. Giles groaned in displeasure, internally longing for the quiet return of the telegram. He attempted to ignore the ringing, but its persistent blare eventually forced him to push himself up off of the sofa and to the nearby table where his phone rested. "Yes?" he yawned, running a hand through his messy hair.

"GILES," Buffy's loud voice rang out, making him jerk away from the phone. "IT MOVED."

"What?" Giles asked, rubbing his temple. "Buffy, take a breath, what moved?"

"THE ELF. IT MOVED."

Frowning, he hesitated before saying, "are you sure you didn't forget where you placed it? It's an inanimate object, Buffy, there's thousands of them out there. I'm sure the employee was only jesting when he told us the story behind the elves," he reasoned, but Buffy was having none of it.

"It moved. Get here. Now. I can't keep my eyes off of it."

Knowing all too well that there was no arguing with her when she was this geared up about something, Giles told her he was on his way, and then hung up. After a quick shower and change of clothes, he drove over to the Summers' residence where he found Buffy engaged in a staring contest with the innocent looking Elfis, which was sitting happily on the shelf across from her. "Buffy?" Giles inquired as he entered the living room, looking between her and the doll.

"Oh, thank god. Look at it, Giles. Look at it, so I can close my eyes for a second," Buffy said. Giles' brow furrowed, but he fixed his gaze on the elf.

"What exactly is going on?" he asked, feeling rather silly.

"Okay, so when I came home, I put the elf on the couch. I was pretty tired, so I thought I'd put him somewhere tomorrow. Took a bath. Went to bed," Buffy explained, moving beside him, her stature tense, as if she was ready to punch the elf at the slightest movement. "When I came down this morning, it was sitting there on that shelf. I asked Dawn, she said she never touched it. She didn't even know we had one. Giles. It moved there." Sighing, Giles turned away from Elfis, instead looking down at her. "Giles!" Buffy exclaimed, immediately looking at the elf instead. "You can't stop looking at him! As soon as you do . . . it moves."

"Buffy," he touched her shoulder, "I really think you were just tired last night and forgot you placed it on the shelf. Come on, we can run a few tests to see if it's enchanted, but I assure you, it's nothing more than a silly marketing device to make further money on Christmas." Walking over to the shelf, Giles looked the elf over closely, then slowly reached forward . . . and took it in his hand. Elfis remained still and stiff, exactly how a doll was supposed to. Turning him over, Giles began his inspection of any runes that had been etched into the wood, but he saw nothing. Even after opening the seams and searching through the stuffed material, he found nothing within the doll that might somehow make it possessed.

After his inspection, Giles placed it back on the shelf. "Nothing." Turning back to Buffy, he looked her over in concern.

"Oh, don't you look at me like that," Buffy huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm telling you. Something is wrong with it."

"Buffy, if it bothers you that much, why don't you throw it out? Or better yet, return it and get your money back," Giles suggested.

She looked between Giles and the elf for a few moments, then sighed, her shoulders relaxing. "Okay . . . okay, maybe it was just me. But I'm putting him somewhere he can't escape from tonight. Just in case."

Giles smiled indulgently. "Very well. Now, how goes the wrapping? I daresay you're likely out of wrapping paper with all the gifts you bought Dawn." Buffy nodded guiltily. "Come on, I have some extras in my car. I'll lend a hand." She grinned and happily let him do all the rest of the wrapping for her. When night fell once more, he was given the guest room. He watched Buffy lock Elfis in the refrigerator, and then climbed the stairs to bed. It took him awhile to fall asleep, since he had slept so late—not something he normally did—into the day before. But, eventually, he drifted off . . .

. . . Until he heard the smallest scuttling sound. Having slept at Buffy's numerous times in the past year, he had come to know the sounds her house made in the night. That was not a typical sound. As such, he stirred, groaning softly. The world was a blur to him, everything still cast in shadows since dawn still remained a few hours away. Reaching for the lamp, he switched it on and swore he saw a flash of red out of the corner of his eye. Immediately on alert, he sat up and reached for his glasses. As soon as he put them on, images sharpened into focus, and he found himself staring across . . . Elfis.

Gasping sharply, Giles shot out of bed, stumbling in the dark and nearly tripping over a chair. "BUFFY!" he shouted, grabbing the doorknob and all but flying out of the room, slamming the door closed behind him. "BUFFY, YOU WERE RIGHT."

Buffy's light came on in her room, and she quickly opened her door. "What is it? Is it Elfis?" she questioned, holding one of her stakes firmly in her hand.

Giles, his heart pattering quickly in his chest as the terror worked its way through his system, nodded and pointed at the door to his room. "In there. I heard something moving, and when I looked . . . it was there. Sitting on the desk. Looking at me. You didn't happen to put him there as a practical joke, did you?" he asked, rather hoping that this was just one of her pranks.

Judging by the pale look on her face, however, he was going to hazard a guess that it was not. "What do we do?" Buffy whispered. "How do we kill it? We don't even know what it is!"

Giles frowned, looking at the door. "I don't understand it. I checked it. There weren't any signs of it being possessed or enchanted. Unless, of course," he frowned, "it isn't a vessel at all . . . it's the being in question. Elfis isn't a doll . . . it's a thing."

After a few calls, they brought in the Scooby Gang to convene at the Summer's house. The door to the guest room had remained firmly shut, a towel wedged underneath the door to clog the gap. While Giles, Xander and Dawn poured over books to discover just what this creature might be, Buffy stood guard over the door. Willow, their resident hacker, slaved over her computer to track down incidents linked with the elves. "I just don't get . . . why," Xander commented, flipping through one of the bestiaries. "Why set themselves up as some holiday fad? Why do they want to be bought?"

"Infiltration seems key," Giles replied, bringing a cup of tea to his lips as he paged through his own selection—a Watcher diary which he hoped contain something similar that his Slayer had encountered. "Why they wish to infiltrate, however, remains a mystery. We may be worried about nothing. Not all supernatural creatures are evil, after all. We could be dealing with some type of fairy. Some give blessings. Others may be a tad mischievous but certainly not lethal."

"And some leave money for teeth, right?" Xander said with a grin. Giles stared over at him, his mug of tea frozen inches from his lips. Xander sighed, turning back to his book, "well, so much for that get-rich-quick scheme."

"Guys," Willow said, and the tone which she used made Giles' stomach tighten in dread. Nothing good came from that tone. "There's been police reports across the state. The country even. Missing children. Which I thought was just humans being terrible people, but then I saw this." Giles and Xander moved behind her, looking over her shoulder at the computer screen. She clicked on a picture, zooming in on a missing poster image of a child. Willow zoomed in again, and just behind the child's shoulder sat an innocent looking elf on the fireplace mantelpiece. "Now, it could just be a coincidence, but," she clicked on a few more tabs, which showed other photos of missing children, all with a similar elf on a shelf.

"I mean this could just be a coincidence," Dawn said, coming over as well to examine the photos. "These things are super popular. Especially with families with small children." She had a point, Giles realized. The disappearances may not necessarily be linked to the elves on shelves. It could be entirely something different they needed to investigate. All the same, there was something very much alive in the guest bedroom. Either that, or this was the greatest prank that had ever been pulled in the history of forever.

A sudden crash and thudding sound from above caught their attention, prompting Giles to quick action. "Buffy?" he called, worry arising immediately as he rushed towards the stairs.

"It's gone!" came Buffy's muffled shout. Giles joined her upstairs in the guest room, where Buffy was examining a broken window. "It must have broken through and escaped, it isn't anywhere in here. I heard the crash and burst in immediately, but," she peered through the window, "I don't see it anywhere."

Giles pressed his lips together in concern. Their only lead had escaped, and they weren't even sure if it was a creature of good or ill intent. "Is there any way we can track it?" he inquired aloud.

Buffy scoffed. "I mean I can head down and see if it left any little elf tracks behind, but I'm gonna guess the chances are slim of tracking it traditionally." Giles glanced around the room, searching for something Elfis may have left behind that they could use in a spell, but he spotted nothing.

But then he had an idea. "We may have lost Elfis, but . . . there are stores still chock full of these things," he pointed out. "We can procure another one and use it to locate others of its like on a map. Perhaps we can find where they're hiding out. Gain some further intel by observing them instead of the other way around." The others looked wary of bringing another one of those things into the house, but seeing as they had nothing else to go on, they soon found themselves packing into Giles' sports car and headed for the local store.

As before, it was packed full of people taking advantage of sales that spanned over the weekend. Giles was exhausted just looking at all of the people. They squeezed their way into the store and made for the section that had been selling the elves. Both to their relief and horror, there was only a handful left. "These things must be everywhere," Buffy said as Giles picked one up between two fingers and put it in a basket. "In everyone's home. Just . . . watching."

After purchasing the elf—and feeling rather silly for doing so—they went to Giles' flat since he had all the magical ingredients stored away there. The elf was squished inside of an empty pickle jar and placed on the table. Xander kept a close eye on it while the rest of them prepared the tracking spell. With the ingredients prepared, including tearing a piece of the elf's shirt off, Giles and Willow spoke the incantation, concentrating together and using one another's focus and energy to guide the spell into being. A map of Sunnydale was placed between them, and once they finished with the words, a light appeared.

Looking down, Giles smiled, pleased. "That's us," he pointed to the light. "Our elf right there," he glanced up at the elf in the pickle jar. It seemed to be facing the window, which he was quite sure it hadn't been doing before. "Xander, do keep a close eye on that thing."

"Oh, right!" Xander turned away from the map and back to the jar. "This thing is just so creepy. I keep expecting it to start blinking at me. Never knew a staring contest could be so scary."

"There's another!" Willow exclaimed, pointing to the map as another light appeared a few streets down.

"And more now," Dawn pointed out, and they watched in growing horror as more and more and more and more and more lights appeared on the map until most of the map was lit up.

"Everywhere," Buffy whispered. "They're everywhere." The light from the map cast the surrounding area into a golden glow, so bright was the map. There had to be thousands of them. And that was just in Sunnydale and in the surrounding area. "But look," she continued, squinting her eyes past the glare, "they seem to be heavily concentrated in this area, and it doesn't look like there's any streets there."

Giles put on some prescription sunglasses and looked at where she was pointing. "You're quite right. It's the forest. What would a bunch of these things be doing there?"

"Singing carols, wrapping presents," Xander piped out, grinning over at them, "definitely not anything murderous or terrifying." All it took was a few moments of him not looking at the elf, for as soon as everyone looked elsewhere, there was a shatter of glass. They jumped, Xander quickly turning his head and crying out when the elf was right in front of him with a broken shard of glass in its hand. However, it remained frozen, not moving an inch, its smile made all the more hideous with the threatening stance it was in. "Guys? Why . . . why is it just sitting there?"

Giles approached the elf cautiously. It was crouched on the edge of the table, the pickle jar shattered across the rest of the table and floor. It almost looked as though the elf had been about to jump forward onto Xander's chest. "Curious," he murmured, moving behind the elf. Glancing at Buffy, he picked up his fireplace poker and slowly extended it . . . pushing the elf with it. it dropped to the floor, but otherwise did not move. The glass shard was dropped, and Xander quickly picked it up, away from the elf. "Keep looking at it Xander, I think I may have a working theory."

Buffy came over with one of his trunks and then used two salad spoons to pluck it up off the ground and into the trunk. She quickly closed and locked it. Once it was out of sight, the trunk began to shake and thump as the elf struggled to break out of it. "Whenever we looked at the elf, it remained still. Immobile. However, the instant we look away, it moves. What the correlation is, I'm unsure, but keeping the elf in sight guarantees that it remains frozen in place."

"Oh, so we'll just set up an army of people staring. There we go. Problem solved. Bunch of new jobs were just created," Xander quipped, still quite shaken by being almost attacked with a blade of glass.

"But why?" Willow asked, watching the trunk shake a little as the elf violently tried to break out of it. "Why would looking at it make it stop?"

"I'm not sure," Giles admitted, his hands moving to rest at his hips, frowning at the trunk. "But we can figure that out later. Right now we know that it keeps them from moving. We need to head here," he pointed to the map. "Hopefully, whatever we find here will shed some light on their purpose." Now, the real question . . . how did one destroy whatever these creatures were? If the threat to Xander's life was anything to go by, they weren't the friendliest. "We have one trapped," he said, looking over at Buffy. "Now is our best chance to find out how to kill these buggers."

"Well," Buffy grabbed an axe from Giles' weapon storage crate, "I've been waiting to do that all day. I'm thinking if we chop it up into enough bits, there won't be enough of it to run away." The trunk seemed to shake even more at this.

"That's all well and good for this bloke, but we have to find a way to deal with these," Giles gestured to the large glowing blob in the forest. "A single axe, or even multiple ones, won't last against that." They needed something that would spread . . . hit multiple targets at once. Guns weren't exactly available, but . . . His gaze moved to his fireplace. Then to Buffy. She realized immediately what he intended. She nodded. Giles lit a fire within his fireplace, then moved behind her.

"Alright, everyone. Keep your eyes on it the whole time." Buffy opened the trunk, and they quickly all looked within. The elf rested at the bottom of it, motionless, as innocent as if it had never moved an inch at all. Buffy slowly reached out a hand and grasped the elf around the middle. Wincing, she turned and flung it into the fire. They watched the elf as it burned, lighting up quickly and turning to ash. "This is kinda gruesome," Buffy pointed out, her nose wrinkling. "Poor guy didn't even have a chance."

"We're lucky there's only one," Giles reminded her. "And many of us to keep an eye on it. But the point we've made here is that fire is a means of destroying it. Now, we merely need to harness it."

"Got you covered," Xander said smugly. "Just drop me off at the local home department store, give me a few minutes, and I'll make sure we're well equipped for the battle ahead." So, they gathered in Giles' car once more, Dawn was dropped off on the way at the Summers' residence for safe keeping, and they watched as Xander bought an assortment of items. It was nightfall by the time he finished constructing three large . . .

"Flamethrowers?" Giles inquired, inspecting the large tank and nozzle with uncertainty. "Not exactly the most traditional method of destroying monsters, but . . . I suppose desperate times and all."

Buffy, on the other hand, was ectastic. "Oh my god," she took the flamethrower into her arms which was nearly as tall as she was. "I need one of these permanently. Can you imagine all the damage I can do with one of these?" she asked Giles.

Giles scoffed, "to the town at large, yes." Buffy huffed at that. "We use these once, and then put them safely in my storage compartment for unique circumstances in the future." His Slayer opened her mouth to argue, but he added sternly, "no arguments. I can hardly condone barely legal adults wielding flamethrowers all willy nilly."

Despite their grumblings, they equipped themselves with their new weapons and drove towards the local forest. Once they parked in the forest's parking spot for hikers and campers, Giles turned to the others. "We've no idea what we're walking into here. Stay alert and keep your finger loose on the trigger. We don't want to accidentally barbeque a couple of campers." They filed out into the forest, each gripping their weapon.

Willow, the only one without a flamethrower, was holding the map, her brow furrowed as she attempted to lead them towards the center of the glowing mass. "This is pretty creepy, gotta say," Xander said. "They could be watching us right now." He spun around in a quick circle, attempting to spot any of the creatures, looking like quite the heavy metal ballerina.

"They likely are," Giles agreed. "How much further, Willow?" he asked, his gaze on branches above them. He swore he kept saw red flashes darting across the tops of them, but he wasn't sure if it wasn't just his mind playing with him.

"I think we're nearing the mass, but," Willow frowned. "If we are, then they should be all around us."

As if on queue, the sound of scurrying intensified around them. No longer just the gentle breeze and scratch of branches rubbing against one another. These were deliberate sounds, pattering and hurried. "Circle!" Giles exclaimed, and they stopped, pressing their backs to one another, so they all looked out around them. The sounds grew louder, but Giles couldn't see a damn thing. "Anyone see anything?" he asked.

"Just a whole bunch of moving branches," Buffy replied, sounding focused but irritated. He understood the feeling well. Fighting an unseen enemy was among the worst situations one could find oneself in. Beneath them, the ground began to tremble. "Why do I have a feeling that's not a Californian earthquake?"

Giles squinted, and then dropped his gaze from the trees to the ground. Dirt was kicking up seemingly from underground, as if moles were burrowing and kicking dirt upwards. It circled around them, the trembling growing stronger, making Giles nearly fall over. "Guys, guys!?" Xander exclaimed just as the ground beneath them seemed to disappear. They fell downwards, each giving out a cry of surprise. Giles landed on his feet but stumbled to his knees with a grunt, feeling a sharp pain shoot up his leg. Not broken, but certainly sprained.

"Is everyone alright?" he managed to get out through grit teeth.

Three affirmatives replied to him, but aside from the sun above shining down into the hole, he couldn't make out their surroundings. "Where are we?" Willow coughed, slowly getting back to her feet as well.

"Looks like a cave," Buffy said, already on her feet, sharp gaze cast around them. "Some light, Wil?" Willow murmured an incantation and lit a small ball of light, letting it fly above them. It illuminated some of the area around them, but the darkness was too deep. The scuffling intensified, sending a shiver of dread down Giles' spine.

"Everyone send a single blast of flame on my count," he said, righting himself and holding his flamethrower out. They resumed their position from before, back-to-back, and each released a single blast. Before them, and around them, was an army of red elves. They were all immobile as they made eye contact with them, but as soon as the light from the fire disappeared, the scuttling resumed. Well, now that their worst fears were confirmed. "Fire at will!"

They blasted their flamethrowers, hitting first line of elves as they froze in place. Willow hurled fireballs, tossing them at the elves on her side. As the first line of elves caught flame, it spread, lighting up the area further and allowing them to see more of the elves. But even though those that were spotted remained immobile, others yet unseen snuck forward, scuttling ever closer. How many there were, Giles couldn't tell, but it had to number in the thousands. "Not to make anyone panic, but I'm almost out of gas," Xander called to them.

Giles checked his own tank and saw that he was nearing empty as well. A new plan was required. "Willow, the map!" Giles called. "Can you lead us to the center from here?"

Willow hurled another fireball before looking at the map once more. "If the cave continues, we should be able to this. This way!" With that, she led them forward, tossing fireballs ahead of her to clear the way. They formed a triangle behind her, shooting out spurts of fire as they went. Giles took up the back, becoming increasingly aware that the elves were gaining on them. Despite the inferno that they had created, the creatures kept gaining, their number seemingly endless. "We're almost there!" Willow shouted ahead, Giles giving another blast, but it died quickly. His tank was empty. "It's just—oof!"

"Wha—gah!?" Giles tripped, falling face first into darkness, sliding down further and further behind the others. They crashed onto an even lower level of the cave, Giles colliding with the others once they came to a rest. The scuttling had stopped, but it was replaced with a smooth slithering sound instead. "What's going on? Does anyone see anything?" Extricating himself from the other bodies, Giles tried to peer through the dark. "Willow? Light?"

Another ball of light was created, and instead of seeing only further darkness, a large serpentine body glinted off of the light. Giles followed the line of the scales as they receded to flesh, taking the form of a woman at the top. Although she was topless, she was more serpent than human, scales replacing breasts and navel. Her face, however, was entirely human, if not ghastly. Her mouth was larger than was normal, an unhinged jaw opening and displaying sharp, glistening teeth. Once he stopped staring at that horrifying mouth, he saw that the woman, creature, whatever, had no eyes. Or, rather, once had eyes, but what remained were bloody sockets. Blood still remained on her face, dripping down to her mouth, but it had long since dried, as if it had become part of her skin.

"Oh dear," Giles managed to whisper out. The image before him tugged at his memory, but he couldn't recall the creature readily. Before anyone could say or do anything, the woman moved forward, her voice ringing out clear, if not hoarsely.

"You attempt to take my eyes, but they are everywhere. You will not take what is mine. I starve," and this was spoken with a deep groan. Her breath wafted over them, new decay and old decay that made Giles nearly wretch.

"Your eyes?" Buffy questioned, moving in front of her friends, flamethrower in her hands. "Those elf things? They're your eyes?"

The snake woman paused, tongue flickering out to smell them. "Perfect eyes to find perfect meals," she replied in that same clear and hoarse voice. Giles dreaded to know just what she meant by 'meal,' but sure enough, the sound of voices caught others' attention.

"Hello?" came a small voice somewhere in the dark. "Is someone there? Help us! Help us, please!" The sound of whimpering joined the voice, making the snake woman hiss angrily and move towards the sounds. Giles didn't even need to think twice to know who was there. The missing children. Some of them, anyway. He had a feeling some of those children would be missing forever.

Buffy looked over at him, and Giles, tightening his jaw, nodded at her. The Slayer looked over at Willow, who nodded to her as well. Buffy turned the flamethrower on the serpent woman and released a blast of flame. It hit the bulk of her body, making her hiss in pain and anger. She reacted quickly, moving with a speed Giles hadn't expected of her. With a flick of her tail, she sent Buffy flying. Willow moved forward quickly to intercept, shooting another ball of flame at the serpent. As the two women kept the serpent busy, Giles and Xander rushed towards the voices.

They nearly stumbled into the cage which easily contained thirty or so children within it. They were dirty and crying. Some were pale and quiet, obviously having been there longer and witness to events Giles didn't wish to think of. As they worked on opening the door, Buffy was back in the fight, her flamethrower had broken, but she was using the nozzle as a spear now, thrusting it against the serpent's body. The scales were tough, making the nozzle only glance off. The serpent slashed at them again, ripping into both Willow and Buffy with a single swipe.

Willow crashed to the ground, groaning loudly. Buffy jumped back to her feet, running along the serpentine body. With the nozzle in her hands, she jumped up in the air, and with a cry, she thrust the nozzle straight through the serpent woman's missing eye. There was no scream. The creature simply shuddered and collapsed to the ground, dead. There was a moment of complete silence as everyone took in what had happened.

"Willow?" Buffy finally broke the silence. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah," Willow grunted. "I'm . . . bleeding, but I'm okay."

Xander finished breaking open the gate to the cage, while Giles inspected Willow. There was a gash down her arm, deep, but nothing the hospital couldn't patch up. He took off his tweed jacket and wrapped it around her arm, then looked back at the others. "Come on, we need to find a way out of here. These children need to be taken to the hospital and reunited with their families." Buffy was in maternal mode immediately, telling the children to hold hands and follow her. With Willow weakly leading the way, they climbed back to the surface, finding motionless elves on their way. The sounds had stopped, even after they stopped looking at them. It seemed that by destroying the puppeteer, the puppets were nothing more than cloth and wood.

Later that evening, after everyone had been taken to the hospital that needed to be looked after, Giles was relaxing comfortably on his sofa with a cup of tea. Buffy and Dawn rested with him, Buffy looking through a magazine boasting of Christmas sales. "Didn't you get your shopping done?" Giles inquired, bringing journal to him to finish the entry about the case they had just finished.

"Yeah, but now that I know that supernatural creatures are using shopping fads to ensnare the general public, I want to be aware of any potential threats." Buffy paused, then added a tad more quietly, "plus shoes sales."

"You know, a big thing with the kids is this thing called Hatchimals," Dawn said, sitting on the floor and doing her homework. Both Giles and Buffy looked at her. "Yeah, you just rub it or something, and then a stuffed animal comes out. Or something," she shrugged.

Watcher and Slayer looked at one another. "I doubt it'd be," Buffy said.

"Right," Giles agreed. "I'm sure it's just a fake toy within."

"Definitely."

". . . I'll get the car."