Alex shook his head, his mind already ticking, thinking through possibilities. “No, she still hasn’t gotten the hang of the aura work. But Seb...God, if he’d do it...” The irony of having to ask Seb for assistance wasn’t lost on him; he and Seb barely spoke if they didn’t have to. Seb had agreed to help them though – and he’d have to see that this was too big for their personal feelings to get in the way of.

Sam’s face was screwed up in distaste. He took a slurp of his beer. “Does someone want to explain to me what’s going on? Why are we talking about that half-angel guy?”

“Because he can change his aura, idiot, remember?” said Liz, shoving lightly at Sam’s solid arm. “That’s what he’s training Willow to do – remember?”

He glowered at her. “Yeah, but I thought that was just to make it look normal.”

“No, he can make it look really unappetizing, too,” said Alex. “You know – like the last aura in the world an angel would ever want to feed from. Willow said it’s what he does when he sees one on the hunt.”

Wesley’s habitual frown was back in place, his expression intense. “What about the computers? Won’t they have passwords on them?”

Kara sighed. “I think, unfortunately, that’s the part we’re going to have to play by ear.”

Alex blew out a soft breath. He’d known already that breaking into the Church offices wasn’t as sure a bet as he’d like when it came to getting the security plans. But it was their only real hope.

“I’ll talk to Seb when we get home.” He circled his finger through the condensation on his beer glass as he considered how they could best provide Seb with backup. No immediate way sprang to mind – not with that many angels in the office area, and in the narrow hallways that Kara had described. If any trouble broke out, it would be slaughter to have anyone posted back there; Seb was most likely going to have to be on his own.

“Jesus, this is going to be risky as hell,” he muttered. He felt a short, fierce relief that Willow hadn’t learned to disguise her aura yet.

“Well...there is something else we might try, but I don’t know how well it would work,” said Kara slowly. “The evening service two nights from now is going to be a special one, to celebrate the appointment of the new angel head – and the preacher’s going to be giving blessings on behalf of the angels.”

Her eyes met Alex’s as he took in what this meant.

Liz blinked. “Yes? And?”