And how old were these lurks? Newbies, I'm guessing. Usually a lot of newbies are willing to do something as reckless as joining an army. With age comes the know of what to and to not get involved in. Those of us who've lived as long as I have haven't survived, because we've joined one evil cause after another. Not all lurks, as you call them, are as a dim-witted.

I was the worst. Still could be, if I decided to put old habits back into practice. I'm not going to lie about that. There's no sense in it, especially not when I'm almost positive you've head something along those lines, already.

You don't have to take the offer. All I'm saying is that there's a thing or two to be learned from someone who's supposed to be on the other end of that stake. And something to learn from someone who could've had three Slayers on his kill list, had he taken that final blow.

[ buffy, if he hadn't been so interested in playing with her and making her suffer. faith, if she hadn't survived that orpheus trip. dana, if he hadn't just neutralized her. ]