Who, What, Why, Where, When?

CHAPTER 18

Fraser arrived at the same time as Xander. Giles welcomed them both and asked them what they wanted to drink, sighing as Xander asked for a double bourbon and handing him a low alcohol beer instead. Fraser, who had asked for a whisky, smiled when he received his. "I've had a long day, tell me this isn’t apple juice?" he asked plaintively.

Giles smiled. "I've seen how much you can drink and I think I can risk you on the real thing for now"

"Dr Alexander" Buffy said, a little nervously. "I'd like you to meet Angel"

"Please call me Fraser" he smiled as he shook hands with the young man. He looked at his own hand when he released Angel's and stared back at him. "I've heard a lot about you but I don’t think it did you justice" he said with a slight smile on his face.

Angel met his gaze steadily and a slight smile turned his mouth up at the edges. "I understand that you helped Giles get his memory back?" he asked, giving the doctor a chance to get back onto familiar ground. "You did a good job, he's very important to Buffy and the others"

"And you?" asked Fraser quietly. He looked round to find that Giles and Buffy had moved over to discuss something with Xander and Willow and they could speak in relative privacy. "It would have been better for you if he had never regained some memories?"

Angel winced slightly. "That's true but he wouldn't be their Giles without all of his memories, good and bad, and they needed their Giles back more than I needed him to forget what I had done"

Fraser nodded. "If it's any consolation I think he would rather remember everything about Jenny than nothing" he said quietly and put his hand on Angel's arm as he took a drink.

Angel nodded and moved to the kitchen to mix some more drinks for everyone. Fraser watched him go and then turned his attention to the gathering. "Willow" he said, raising his voice above the discussion the group was having. "What does an ex-fiancé have to do to get a welcome hug around here?"

Willow smiled and moved over to hug him as Buffy reminded Xander about the ruse at the Bronze. "You owe me twenty dollars on the double or nothing bet" she whispered in his ear as she hugged him.


He laughed and took his wallet out, handing her two ten-dollar bills. "Rupert this young woman is trying to tell me that you can teach an old dog new tricks" he suggested with a raised eyebrow.

Giles groaned and covered his eyes with his hand as Xander and Buffy looked between Willow and him before looking at each other. "We don't want to know" they both said in unison.

Angel came back into the room looking a little bemused. "I'm fairly sure I don't want to know either" he agreed. "Giles, something is starting to burn in the kitchen" he said and stood aside as the Watcher practically ran into the other room. "Fraser, can I top that drink up for you?" he asked as they all heard mutterings and swearing coming from the kitchen.

Everyone looked at Willow. "What" she whispered back at them fiercely. "Oh right!" she suddenly exclaimed. "I keep forgetting I live here now and I'm not just a Scooby guest" she smiled a little sheepishly and headed for the kitchen. Seconds later she backed out of the kitchen quite rapidly and announced "There will be a slight delay in dinner, nothing to worry about"

Buffy laughed, "If the dinner's fighting back perhaps I should offer my assistance?"

"Noooo" Willow shook her head. "Even with slayer strength you don't want to get between an Englishman and an uncooperative turkey" she pronounced as if this was a well-worn adage.

"I'm glad to see the English is finally starting to surface in the patient again" Fraser smiled as they all moved to sit on the sofa and armchairs. "I guess he's pretty much back to normal?" he asked as they all settled down. He had expected everyone to agree that this was the case and was a little surprised to be faced with several seconds of silence. "He's not?" he asked, directing his question to Buffy.

She shook her head. "I shouldn't complain because the stuff he hasn’t got back yet is the stuff we could manage pretty well without. None of us are anxious to remind him of the worrying he used to do on our behalf, or the barriers he built around his feelings and emotions just to get through the days with us."


Xander nodded and glanced anxiously to make sure Giles was still in the kitchen. "He's like Giles' twin brother, and they were separated at birth and one was brought up in England, all tweed and stiff upper lips, and the other was raised in the good old U S of A" he nodded and looked around a room full of mystified faces. "Don't any of you ever watch Jean Claude Van Damme movies?" he sighed.

"What Xander and Buffy are trying to say is that he's changed but for the better" Willow suggested and the other two smiled in agreement. "Since I'm the one who's benefited most from his transformation I guess I'm biased when I say I like the new guy"

Angel smiled. "I have noticed a change in him on a peal lal level but, during our discussions last night, he was the same old Giles when it came to work so I don't think the differences you've all noticed will affect him in that sense". He stopped talking and glanced up at the kitchen. "So I said to Wesley that he would never get the stain out and he should stop wearing pure wool sweaters to work if he was going to keep moaning about it" and he laughed.

Fraser looked a little bemused then realised that Giles must have re-entered the room behind him. "So this guy Wesley dresses well?" he asked and was relieved when the awkward moment was covered by guffaws of laughter from everyone in the room. Angel was smiling at him and he turned to face him. "So tell me about Wesley and Cordelia" The next half-hour was passed with tales about their friends in LA.

"Dinner was lovely" Fraser said to Giles as he helped him with the coffee later. "I can understand now why you are all so close"

"We ma goo good team and it's pleasant to come together as friends and forget about work for a while" Giles nodded then sighed. "Having said that, later tonight we need to discuss work again. Angel and I are going to outline a plan to overcome the demon that put me in hospital and it might not go quite as smoothly as dinner" he suggested. "I know this is throwing you in at the deep end but this needs to be resolved quite quickly and I'd understand if you wanted to leave before the fireworks start"

Fraser looked at him for a while. "Rupert, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" he asked and noted Giles surprised glance at him then his nod in agreement. "What prompted you to tell me about everything?" he asked and leaned back against the counter with his coffee as Giles considered the question.


"I'm not really sure" Giles started uncertainly then seemed to stin hin his attempt to find an answer.

"Perhaps I can guess that the after effects of your injury have left you a little less concerned about how things are done and a little more concerned about why?" Fraser suggested quietly. "I mean" he continued. "I don't want to get heavy and I'm not on duty, but everyone here tonight has noticed a change in you since the accident and most of them agree it's for the better" He took a drink of his coffee. "This is something we can talk about with the psychologist but I think it would be wise to put any major, life or death decisions on hold for a couple of weeks until we sort out what's missing from the new you"

Giles looked up sharply. "They don’t trust me?" he asked quietly.

Fraser shook his head. "As I've said before, these people would trust you if you told them the world would end tomorrow but the strange thing is that they aren’t questioning the extent of your recovery despite the fact that they all know you are a different person" Fraser paused. "Rupert, I'm not trying to hurt you but I'm concerned that they are all too close to you to understand the implications if you're not a fully functioning Watcher right now"

"He's fully functioning, you can trust me on that" Willow said emphatically from the doorway. Giles and Fraser jumped as they hadn’t heard her approach.

"Willow I didn't mean.." Fraser began but she interrupted him.

\t'st's OK, I know you're only concerned for him but you have to trust us that we know what we're doing" She moved to hug Giles who was still quietly considering what Fraser had said. "We know that we're only 95% of the way towards our Rupert but we will do everything we can to get the remaining 5% back, even if that is the uber-adult, cautious, English, librarian bit" she smiled up at Giles and he put his arms round her in reassurance.

When the coffee was done, and they were all relaxing and laughing at memories from high school, Fraser noticed that Giles had withdrawn from the group. He was still sitting in their company but his mind was obviously somewhere else. Buffy had just finished an outrageous description of Xander in swimming trunks, much to his embarrassment, when Willow also noticed his introspective mood. "Rupert?" she asked quietly as Xander retaliated with tales of Buffy's cheerleader tryouts. She shook her head at the lack of response and decided drastic action was required, after all he was the host. "Rupert!" she said a little more forcefully and pinched his thigh.


"Ouch!" he reacted and nearly spilled the remains of his coffee. "What on earth did you do that for?" he asked in a surprised tone then realised everyone was staring at him.

"She probably did it to make sure you were still alive" Buffy sighed. "Whatever is on your mind hurry up and tell us so we can get back to the making merry"

Giles glanced furtively at Angel then Fraser, causing Willow to also sigh dramatically. "Oh for goodness sake Rupert, just tell us. We know it has something to do with the demon but we can't sort it out till you let us know what's going on"

He coughed apologetically and stood, moving to the bookcase to retrieve a large notebook. He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes, recognising the delaying tactic even as he used it. Replacing his glasses he stared at them all then started to pace.

"It's worse than we thought" Xander groaned and ducked his head as Buffy and Willow glared at him.

"Angel found an interesting passage in a text he had in LA and it seems to indicate that Bolak was at the last battle, probably coordinating things until he was mortally injured himself"

Buffy interrupted him "So the big bad is dead after all?" she asked a little confused.

He shook his head. "Not quite" he paused again and took his glasses off. "It seems that the demon can transfer itself into any warm blooded, sentient animal" He looked round at a sea of bewildered faces.

Fraser finally coughed slightly apologetically and asked. "You mean that it doesn’t need to be a human?"

Giles smiled at him and nodded. "Exactly, yes that's it" He stopped pacing and put the notebook down on the arm of a chair. "What's always confused me about the last battle was that Bolak didn't seem to be anywhere near the battle, yet it was obviously organised by someone as evidenced by the concerted attack on Willow" he looked at Xander and Fraser, both of whom looked totally confused. "Five large vampires converged on Willow towards the end of the battle and were obviously acting under orders to single one of us out for the final phase of the attack"


Willow nodded "They suddenly appeared out of nowhere, almost as if they were held in reserve until that point"

Angel joined the conversation. "That agrees with the battle scenarios of previous meetings with the slayers. Also, he likes to pinpoint his victims quite specifically and make it a bit more personal than just a free for all fight"

Buffy sighed. "What you mean is that Bolak was there as a human but he was injured in the fight and had to choose an animal as his next host?" Giles and Angel nodded. Buffy shook her head "I would have remembered fighting another human and I didn't"

Xander furrowed his brow. "Me neither, everyone I tackled did the dance of the newly dusted"

Willow sighed and nodded her agreement. "I'm sure one of us would have noticed if we had injured another human."

There was a silence for a minute until Fraser coughed slightly apologetically. "You are all forgetting something, or rather someone" he suggested.

His statement was met with blank stares from all those present until Giles stood up and quietly muttered "Oh bugger" under his breath.

Buffy blew out her cheeks. "Of course, it must have been you Giles, don’t you remember any of the battle?"

Giles' mind tried to recall the events they were discussing so dispassionately but he simply had no memory of them. He was brought back to the present by Angel's hand on his arm. "Giles are you OK?" he asked quietly.

Giles looked a little unsure. "Yes, I'm fine I just can't quite explain the feeling when you can't remember something that you know happened to you" he sighed.

Buffy also stood and put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, you wouldn't have harmed a human unless you believed they were playing host to a demon" she turned to the others. "Let's run through the events and see if we can come up with any ideas"

Everyone sat quietly for a few moments, recollecting what they could of the battle. Xander went first. "As we got to the wood stockpile in the yard we were jumped by a few vampires. They split us up pretty effvelyvely but only slowed us down a bit"


Willow nodded. "That's right, there only seemed to be a few of them and, looking back now, they were obviously only trying to split us up and get us disoriented"

Buffy took over the narrative. "We came out the other side of the logs and headed for the building, I was running ahead of you guys but I could see each of you. When I kicked the door in there were a few more vamps behind a barricade but they crumbled fairly quickly as well and, by the time you all got to the door we had a clear path to the centre of the main storage area"

Xander nodded. "We regrouped in the middle of the main work area and had formed a loose circle of cowboys to wait for the indians" he smirked then saw Giles looking impatient and carried on. "We didn't have to wait very long before about two dozen vampires suddenly ran from a side door and headed straight for us. At the last moment we broke formation and all picked a dance partner for the stake polka"

Fraser looked completely bemused. "So four of you were attacked by two dozen vampires and you took this in your stride?" he asked a little incredulously.

Buffy smiled slightly. "Most of them were inexperienced, recent vampires and they kind of got stage fright"

When Fraser shook his head Giles decided to translate for him. "I think what Buffy means is that, for a vampire, coming up against the slayer is their equivalent of a royal command performance. Every vampire wants a chance to come up against a slayer and prove himself the champion which means they get over confident and well…"

"Stage fright-y" Buffy said impatiently as she glared at Giles. "After all for most vampires their first meeting with the Scooby Gang is usually their last and there aren’t many old timers around to provide advice for the young pups" she smiled at Giles as she finished the last sentence.

Giles shook his head. "That's why we have the advantage, we have at least one wise head on several young shoulders"

Willow sighed. "If you two are finished?" both Giles and Buffy nodded a little sheepishly. "After the first wave we had reinforcements popping up from various areas around the workshop and, before any of us knew what was happening, we were split up into the four corners of the room". Her voice lowered a little. "I don’t remember seeing what the others were up to and didn’t realise that Giles was closest to me until he jumped the vampires that had surrounded me"


Xander tried to move them on from the painful memories this caused for all of them. "I was nearest to Giles on the other side and he seemed to be holding his own, although I was pretty busy myself" he finished apologetically.

Angel stood and crossed to stand next to Giles. "So far" he recapped. "We have the four of you fighting in different areas, Willow I know you were next to the conveyor belt and Buffy, you told me about chipping machines you were backed against."

Willow nodded. "I noticed, when we were checking the room later, that there was a pile of logs near where Giles must have been"

Xander agreed. "Yeah, we were both against the long wall with logs piled up to about seven or eight feet high"

Willow scowled. "No, I mean the logs were lying on the floor all higglety pigglety"

Xander stood and paced. "Nope, the logs behind me were still stacked when we finished. They were held in place by a couple of wedge shapes in the bottom row and I remember thinking that it didn’t look very safe."

Willow and Buffy stared at each other, trying desperately to remember further details. Buffy nodded. "Yeah, I'm with Willow here, I remember the logs lying about and thinking it looked like a giant's game of pick up sticks"

Angel smiled. "That means that, at some point, the Watcher was attacked and the pile of logs cascaded down. Did anyone check under them when the fight was over?" he asked quietly.

Buffy looked crestfallen. "That's my fault, I honestly didn’t think for a minute that anything would be under them and I doubt that anything could have survived under them for very long, if at all"

There was silence in the room for several minutes until Fraser stood to get himself another drink. "I know I'm a bit slow but you are suggesting that a demon infested human attacked Rupert and was left for dead under the fallen pile of logs?"

Buffy nodded. "That is the only way a human could have been injured in the fight as we all fought vampires and there weren't any bodies around at the end, except for Giles" she grimaced slightly and turned guiltily to Willow. "Sorry Will, I didn't mean…"


Willow stood up and patted Giles' shoulder as she went past his chair. "I know, it's just another in the long line of horrible memories for my old age". Giles smiled up at her but was obviously distracted by his thoughts. She filled her glass with orange juice and moved towards the fireplace. "What Angel is suggesting is that there was an animal of some kind in the vicinity that was close enough to become the host for Bolak?"

Angel nodded. "It could have been anything, although I'm guessing you would have noticed something big. We're probably talking about a dog or a cat"

Xander stood and poured himself another drink of orange juice. "That would certainly explain the vampire work to rule we've had for the last couple of months. I can't see them taking orders from a talking cat"

"Oh bloody hell!" Giles spat out as he stood and started to pace. "It was right under our noses all that time". Everyone stared at him then at Fraser, as if he would be able to translate. Giles looked round them all then stopped his pacing in front of Willow. "Heard about any wild dogs hanging around recently?" he asked and stared into her eyes.

"Mrs Leech?" Willow asked incredulously. "But that could just be a coincidence, couldn't it?"

Giles shook his head and turned to look at the rest of the gathering. "Our neighbour Mrs Leech told us that she had heard and seen a wild dog hanging around recently. At first I worried it was a full moon but it seemed to just be a normal dog and I forgot all about it"

Buffy nodded. "When was the last sighting?"

Willow considered. "She told us about it the morning after the first night I… well we….. that is" she ground to an embarrassed halt.

Xander held up his hand to stop her. "Please don’t finish that sentence. Shaggy DA demons are bad enough but you two sha…"

"Xander!" Giles shouted him down before he could finish his sentence.

Buffy stood in front of Giles to block his purposeful strides towards the young man. "Giles" she said and waited, her hand upon his chest, until he looked down at her. "We're talking about approximately a week ago, right?" she waited until the anger left his eyes before she removed her restraining hand.


"Yes, about that" Giles admitted and turned back towards the fireplace to stand next to Willow. She was blushing furiously and staring at the floor.

Angel took pity on her and coughed slightly to get everyone's attention. "If this is the demon then he may have found a human host already. We'll need to question this neighbour tomorrow to establish the last sighting then check the papers for any missing persons since then"

This return to standard operating procedure seemed to break the tension in the room and Willow looked up gratefully at him. "Last time we did this I found a few new web sites that should help narrow the search down" she smiled.

Angel answered. "Although, it seems likely that he's still stuck in his present form until he can find a human host again because there hasn't been another assault yet"

Giles took a deep breath and returned to his notebook. "However, we need to consider all of the possible scenarios and, in a way it will be easier to overcome him if he has found a human host, after all he'll be easier to identify" he smiled a little. "If he has found a human host then Angel and I have finalised the procedure to disrupt the transfer from one host to another " he continued. "We've come up with a plan which should rid us of the demon for good but it is quite risky and it will require all of us to play our parts to ensure it's success" He stopped pacing and met each of their gazes. He was instantly transported back to the library and numerous previous occasions when they had all sat waiting for him to come up with the important information. He glanced at Fraser and wondered if the Doctor was correct. If he wasn't functioning at his best, he could be missing something vital and jeopardising their lives as well as his own.

Buffy looked towards Angel. "Won't the old Eghyon switcheroo work again?" she asked.


Fraser looked confused but knew that someone would explain to him later.

Angel shook his head. "This demon requires an awake, fully conscious, live body to transfer into and two out of three won’t do"

Giles coughed slightly. "Exactly, but the previous plan is still a good working theory to start with"

Willow winced as she knew how much he hated to be reminded of his mistakes and their consequences. "What do you suggest?" she asked quietly.

Giles took a deep breath. He could predict their reactions but it didn't make it any easier to say what he had to say. "Angel and I think that, if we could all engage the demon in battle and ensure that his current host is mortally wounded, we should be able to persuade him to transfer into a host of our choosing." There was deadly silence in the room, with only Fraser lagging behind in understanding what Giles was proposing. "The host would be able to disrupt the transfer at a vital stage and allow Angel to defeat the incorporeal demon spirit before it could find another host" he finished in a rush and held his breath for the expected riot.

Instead they all looked a little confused. "How would we get him to choose a specific host?" Buffy asked.

Angel stood beside Giles and decided to take some of the flak for him. "Because everyone else would be out of the locked room or unconscious and he would only have one live person left to choose from" he said quietly.

Buffy still looked a little confused but Angel and Giles both noticed a look of realisation dawn on Willow's face. "Still trying to work through the prophecy Giles?" she asked quietly and stared at him. Fraser noticed the change when she called him Giles and felt the tension in the room mount again but he had no idea what they were talking about.

"What are you all talking about?" he asked plaintively and everyone looked at him as if they had forgotten he was there.

Willow stood up to pace as she answered him, causing Giles and Angel to get out of her way. "Plan A is to track down every dog in Sunnydale, identify the possessed one and then kill it and Plan B means that Giles allows an eight hundred year old demon to inhabit his body in order to kill it before it can make the residence permanent." She was working up a head of steam as she continued "He is proposing that we all fight this demon and his henchmen to the death and then leave him while he and Angel fight it out with the bad guy"


Xander and Buffy were staring at her, Xander in horror, Buffy with a calculating look that meant she was trying to figure the odds in this particular battle scenario.

Willow stopped pacing and stood in front of Giles. "He is then proposing that he disrupts the transfer in some way to allow Angel to mop up the messy ectoplasmic leftovers of the demon." She shook her head and turned to Fraser. He sat back a little, shocked at the anger in her eyes despite the enforced calm of her speech. "I was wrong Fraser, he is far from fully functioning" she announced and left the others staring at the front door as it slammed behind her.

The brief silence was broken by Giles. "Well that went better than I expected" he suggested.

Angel nodded. "Yeah, much better" he agreed and followed Willow out of the front door to ensure her safety.

Xander stared at Angel's back. "Was she right?" he asked, changing his incredulous look to focus on Giles. "Because if she was I think the Doc had better call for backup, your brains are still on the fritz" he looked to Buffy for her agreement.

She was staring off into space. "Why does it have to be you, why can’t I do it?" she asked quietly. "After all, this Bolak is after me, not you"

Giles wearily shook his head. "The only way to ensure the host can disrupt the transfer at the precise moment of weakness for Bolak is by magic and that is one of the few things you have never mastered. The rest of you will remove yourselves from the demon's choice of hosts. The host has to control the moment of interruption precisely and a magic spell is the only thing I have been able to come up with that would work"

"It won’t work" Willow said quietly from the doorway. Xander stood and moved to her side, giving her a hug and moving her to a chair at the table.

"Willow, please, I know what I'm talking about, it will work" Giles said quietly, not meeting her gaze.

"Oh the spell would work" she agreed. "Just not if you're the one to do it"

His head whipped up and he met her gaze steadily. "What do you mean, nobody else has the ability to …" his words trailed off as he read her meaning in her face.


"Giles" she stood and moved towards him. "We both know that you aren’t 100% fit yet and, although we've been practicing magic again you are still way too shaky to take on anything large, let alone a spell this tricky" she was kneeling in front of him. "Whereas," she put her hands on his knee, "We both know that I am more than capable of doing this."

Buffy was on her feet a split second before Xander. "Wait a minute Willow, you can't be serious" she started before Willow interrupted her.

"Giles simply doesn't have the big guns that this will need but his star pupil does" she stated with absolute certainty, holding his gaze while the others continued to argue.

Angel looked at the couple ges gestured to Fraser. "We should leave them alone to sort this out" he suggested and moved to collect Buffy. Fraser nodded and ushered Xander into the courtyard before quietly shutting the door behind them.

"Hey what's the big idea" Xander asked indignantly when he realised that Buffy and him were now arguing outdoors.

"Ssshhhh" Fraser pointed at his watch. "We don’t want to wake up the neighbours" he suggested and moved towards the stairs. "Come on, let's all grab a coffee and you can explain what just happened in there"

Buffy stared at Angel then nodded. "Come on Xand, let's give them some time alone" she said quietly and linked her arm through his.

Giles was standing at the fireplace gazing into the flames. Willow tapped his shoulder lightly and handed him his drink when he turned to face her. "Why didn’t you tell me what you were planning?" she asked. "I could have helped" she looked away and returned to the sofa.

"Angel and I only finalised the plan this afternoon and I wanted to tell you but I was selfish and afraid that we would fight and ruin the time we had together" he said quietly and sipped his drink. "As the Watcher I knew what had to be done but I couldn't separate that from the person who wanted to wake up next to you"

Willow sniffed a little. "You can trust me not to move out at the first sign of trouble Rupert, I thought you understood that my feelings for you were a little longer lasting than that"


Rupert sighed and moved to sit beside her, handing her his handkerchief as he put his arm round her. "I'm not saying we couldn't survive an argument about toothpaste tubes but I was suggesting putting all of us in danger and I knew you wouldn’t agree with the role I chose for myself"

Willow gulped down a sob. "You definitely are not fit enough to do it and I won’t let you" she finished on an angry note.

Hehed hed and hugged her against his chest. "I can imagine what you're feeling right now because I've felt that every time you went on patrol with Buffy but it doesn't change the facts"

She pulled away from his arms and started to pace again. "This isn't a girlfriend thing" she shouted at him. "In the best interests of Buffy and the others I should be the one to do the spell" she turned to stare at him.

Part of her brain noticed dispassionately the anger that flared in his eyes. "I think I know more about the magic involved than you do, after all I have been practicing serious magic a little longer than you" He said angrily and swallowed the rest of his whiskey as she continued to pace.

She turned to stare at him and he felt his glass being lifted from his hand and found it floating in front of his face. "Take the glass away from me" Willow said quietly.

He stood up abruptly and moved towards the kitchen. "This isn't a bloody circus Willow, and I'm not going to perform stupid magic tricks to win this argument"

The glass followed him into the kitchen. "Take the glass away from me" she reiterated through clenched teeth. "You know that you don't have the strength to beat me at parlour game magic yet you think you're strong enough to go up against a demon of Bolak's abilities?" askeasked incredulously.

He whirled to face her and she hovered the glass in his face. With an angry gesture he swung his arm and swept the glass into the sink where it shattered. "Willow I will not let you do this" he shouted at her and strode towards her. "You have never faced anything like this before and I have. I have the experience of defeating demons like this and it's my job and I will do it, with or without your agreement" he was standing in front of her now, his anger making his breath come in short, sharp gasps.


She didn't even realise what she had done until she saw the reddening finger marks on his cheek. Her tears were generated by anger but soon turned to sobs as the adrenalin left her system. She ran from the room and he heard her run upstairs before he moved from his position. Eventually he raised his hand and touched his cheek where she had slapped him.