Mutiny

– by thatonegirl005

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, Joss is boss here. Quotes from this first portion of the story borrowed from Graduation Day pt.1, S3, and a couple from Checkpoint, S5, for purposes of setting up the story and whatnot. Enjoy and review, my fellow Buff-lovers. Feedback does a world of wonders for an author, let me tell you. –

(set in between season 3 and 4)

__________Chapter 1__________

Buffy sat on the edge of Angel's bed, listening to his unsteady and shaky breathing. It pained her to see him like this, he was usually the strong one. Damn, Faith, she thought bitterly, as she put a cool cloth on his clammy head. He was so beautiful, even when he was dying- No. He's not going to die. She cooed to him, telling him everything was going to be ok. A moment later, she heard a door open. At first she thought nothing of it, but then remembered that it was probably Wesley, hopefully with good news. With one last look at her love, she went to investigate.

As Buffy entered the foyer of Angel's mansion, she saw Giles entering from the patio as well. He looked to Wesley with a tired face. "Did you reach the Council?"

"Y-yes." Wesley replied quietly, standing rather stiffly as usual. "They, um, they couldn't help."

Buffy felt her stomach drop to the floor. "Couldn't." she repeated.

"Wouldn't," he corrected. "It's not Council policy to cure vampires."

Giles shifted his feet. "Did you explain that these were special circumstances-.."

"Not under any circumstances," Wesley said strongly. "And yes, I didn't try to convince them."

"Try again." Buffy pleaded, feeling her throat get tight.

"Buffy, they're very firm." Wesley said softly, avoiding her gaze. "We're talking about laws that have existed longer than civilization."

"And I'm talking about watching my lover die." Of course, Wesley couldn't have any possible idea where she was coming from. "I don't have a clue what you're talking about and I don't care."

Giles walked towards her. "Buffy, we'll find a cure, I promise you."

Wesley ignored the pair of them. "The Council's orders are to concentrate on-.."

"Orders?" Buffy glared at him, arms crossed. Wesley only stared back, worried about where this was going. "I don't think I'm going to be taking anymore orders. Not from you. Not from them." '

Bout bloody time, thought Giles. Wesley was lost for words, but only for a moment. He straightened, trying to look like he had some sort of authority over this girl. "You can't turn your back on the Council," he said quite firmly.

Buffy shrugged. "They're in England. I don't think they can tell which way my back is facing."

Giles smirked, but no one noticed. Then Wesley, who seemed to always have a hard time with comebacks to his Slayer's wit, turned to Giles. "Talk to her,"

However, Giles knew where his loyalty was. "I have nothing to say right now." And with that, he took his rightful place at Buffy's side.

"Wesley, go back to your Council…"

"But you-.."

"…And tell them, until they next Slayer comes along, they can close up shop. I'm not working for them anymore.

"This is mutiny." Wesley said dangerously. (As dangerously as he could muster, anyway.)

Buffy thought for a moment. "I like to think of it as graduation."

Wesley stood outside the mansion, blinking in utter disbelief of what just transpired. Ho would this had happened? It wasn't supposed to be this way. He was raised and trained to be a Watcher, a man of wisdom and power. To have a Slayer and to train her, guide her, and destroy evil with her.

Not to be pushed around by her and her blasted, beloved Scooby gang.

He tugged on his suit coat and straightened his composure. No. It did not have to be like this at all. Something had to be done. A Council without a Slayer would not be tolerated. They would do something about it and he intended to help them. Wesley began walking from the mansion, head held high. "I'll be back," he said quietly.

(Two weeks after Graduation)

"This is crazy," Buffy said.

"Tell me about it!" Willow agreed.

"Beyond crazy,"

"Unfathomable,"

They sighed. It was their first night in a long while with absolutely nothing to do. No apocalypse, no training, no school…just nothing-ness. And the trio was enjoying every second of it. They sat in Buffy's living room, watching some cheap horror flick that Joyce had rented for them. Xander was on the floor surrounded by empty cans and bags of junk food, Willow and Buffy sprawled out on the couch, also engulfed in a sea of junk food and half empty bowls of lord knows what. "Pass the Cheetos." Xander chimed in. Willow obliged without taking her eyes off the television screen.

"Don't wipe your hands on the carpet, or Mom will kill us both." Buffy said absentmindedly, also not looking away from the movie. "She's still trying to get that Surge stain off the throw-pillows."

Xander, whose orange fingers hovered over the carper, quickly wiped them on his jeans. "Right."

"No school, no training, no patrolling…this is great." Buffy sighed with a smile. "I almost don't know what to do with myself."

"Don't complain and enjoy it, that's what." Xander said with a mouthful.

"Have you talked to Giles much lately?" Willow asked.

Buffy shrugged. "Nope. He's been busy looking for a job."

"'S what he gets for blowing up the school." Xander grinned, "I told him, he oughta be a bouncer at the Bronze."

"In tweed?" Willow laughed.

"I think he's finally ditching that look." Buffy added.

"Aww, I liked tweedy-Giles," said Willow with a slight sigh.

"Aww, now we can't make fun of him anymore." Xander mocked.

Willow continued, "He had that old-world, British feel with it. It fit nicely with the librarian thing."

"Yes, but the library's in ashes, Will."

She pouted. "Don't remind me."

Buffy jumped back in. "But yeah, anyway, since he's not my Watcher and Wesley ran off to the homeland, I'm kind of on my own these days. I'm not complaining."

"Huh," Xander turned from the screen to look at Buffy. "You're not gonna go all 'Faith' on us and become a leathery, murderous rebel, are you?"

Buffy gave him a dark look. "I'm already leathery." She shifted, causing her black leather pants to squeak.

Xander shrugged and looked back to the TV. "Well, not excessively."

"No, I'm not rebelling."

"But you ditched the Council, didn't you?" Willow asked.

This earned a sigh from Buffy. "Yeah, but that's because they're stuffy British idiots in suits who were going to let Angel die."

"Maybe that's why he got rid of the tweed," Xander mused quietly, but the others didn't hear.

"I guess that's reason enough to ditch them." Willow nodded her head.

"Damn skippy," Xander agreed, taking a swig of Coke.

Buffy smiled. "That's right. Besides, they're in England. What are they gonna do about it? Can we get back to the movie now?"

(Meanwhile…)

With a sigh, Giles snatched his glasses off his face and let them fall to the desk with a light clatter. His job hunt was not going well at all. The more he thought about it, the more tempting unemployment became. He just…live it up as a bachelor…or something. Yes, a demon-hunting-English-bachelor. The ladies would be swooning anytime now.

Suddenly, the phone rang. His hand flew to the receiver, hoping it would be a job calling back. "Hello?"

"Rupert,"

It was all Giles could do to keep from growling back. "Quentin,"

"How've you been, ol' sport?"

"Spare me," Giles spat, before I gag. "What do you want?"

"You know what I want, Rupert. I want my Slayer back."

My Slayer, Giles kept from correcting the man. "She's nobody's Slayer, Quentin. Not mine, not Wesley's, and most certainly not the Council's."

Travers chuckled. "Is that what you think? I beg to differ." He cleared his throat, changing his tone from amused to serious. "Rupert, just listen to me for a moment, will you?"

Giles leaned back in his chair. "Seems I have no choice." Except to hang up the bleedin' phone…

"This is your chance to redeem yourself. Talk to Miss Summers, convince her to be apart of us again with full, or at least some, cooperation." He paused. "If you can do this, you can come back to the Council, full salary and honour restored." He emphasized the word "salary".

Giles froze. He was once one of the most respected men at the Watcher's Council. And now here he was in sodding Sunnydale, California, "livin' it up" on Friday evenings at the Espresso Pump with his guitar and running around with people half his age. He could have that repect, honor, and money back.

Then again, he quite enjoyed his life in Sunnydale, strange as it may have seemed, even for a Hellmouth. And he could never turn Buffy back over to the Council. It was his duty to protect her. Not his duty as a Watcher, no that was long past it seemed, but his duty as a friend and mentor. "Quentin, you can take my honour and shove it right up your arse for all I care."

He heard a sigh from the other end of the line. "I had a feeling," he grumbled sourly. "Well, Rupert, you had your fair chance. You and Miss Summers both. I'm afraid you know what we do next to rogue Slayers." He paused. "And rogue Watchers."

"I'm not one of your Watchers anymore."

"No? Well you're on our list anyway," Travers said in a slick tone.

Giles gripped the phone harder. "Do whatever you wish with me, but leave Buffy alone. She doesn't need to be in your twisted affairs, she's got plenty to worry about here with the Hellmouth."

"Yes, but what you fail to remember that it is our duty as the Watcher's Council to protect this world from that Hellmouth. It's not just Sunnydale, there are plenty of other places she could be useful at, but all she worries about is that insignificant little town. There is a whole world of evil out there and we are at war with it. We, as the Council, fight that evil, and as the Slayer is our instrument by means of fighting it."

"She is not your bloody instrument!" Giles half shouted.

"I'm afraid she is. Whether you want to accept that or not, Rupert. You once were too. I will not deny it, the two of you are quite the pair, probably the best the Council as seen in years. However, Miss Summers has clouded your mindset and is keeping you and her both from what you were both born to do."

"Leave Buffy alone," Giles said menacingly, but he was beginning to feel like he was talking to a wall at this point.

"That time is past, Rupert. We'll be seeing you both soon." And with that, the line went dead.

Giles slammed the phone back onto the receiver and let out a shout. "Blast it!"

The spurt of boring nothing-ness did not last long at all for Buffy. The next night, Originally, she, Willow, Oz, and Xander had planned a delightful evening of music and partying at the Bronze, where most of their senior graduated class was celebrating not only the end of their high school career, but the destruction of Sunnydale High. Of course, before the festivities began, Oz went up to the mic to hold a moment of silence for their fellow students who died and were injured after the Mayor's attack.

"He's such a softy," Xander said gently after it.

Willow sighed with loving eyes. "I know, isn't it the cutest?"

The trio had been sitting at their usual table, enjoying the Dingoes and a round of sodas when the commotion occurred. First it was just the faint sound of banging outside the Bronze (which was barely heard over the din), and then an ear shattering shriek. Buffy sighed and set her cup down. "That's my cue."

With a lazy wave from Willow, who barely even noticed as she watched her boyfriend, Buffy was out the door, stake in hand ready to investigate. Sure enough, outside the jammin' warehouse, Buffy found the all too-familiar sight of a vampire preying upon a lone teenager girl. Freshman, from the looks of it.

"Come on now, when are you guys ever going to learn? I practically live here, why do you always pick on people here of all places?" Buffy said lazily, swinging her stake from her hand.

The vamp, who had his teeth baring and about to bite the girl, threw an exasperated look over his shoulder at Buffy. "Oh, even better," he hissed with a smile, going back in on the girl.

"Do you have any idea who I am?"

The undead creep sighed, annoyed that he was being interrupted from a perfectly fine and tasty meal. "Desert."

Buffy tapped her stake to her lip as if in thought. "Mm, crème a la Slayer. Yes, that sounds nice, doesn't it?" His yellow eyes grew wide. "Surprise! The chef sent me out for ya." With that, she quick advanced upon him.

The vampire tossed the girl aside, who squealed with fright as she watched Buffy perform a flying side kick right into vamp's jaw. When she landed back on her feet, she threw a quick look to the girl. "Go back inside and join the party. I think Oz's solo is coming up." The girl did not hesitate for a moment, just gave a quick nod of thanks and fled.

The vampire was quickly back on his feet with his fists clenched and teeth once again baring. "So you're the Slayer? Lotta talk about ya, but you don't look like much." He snarled.

"Looks can be deceiving." She shot back, tossing a couple of punches at his ugly vamp-face. "Like these shoes for example?" Which she used to drive a kick right into his gut, "They look like Prada, right?" He took a swing at her, which she ducked. She popped back up. "Yeah, they're fake. Wal-Mart for twenty bucks. Such a steal, right?"

He let out a hideous growl as he dived at her. Buffy grabbed his outstretched arm as he came and twisted it hard, spinning him around. "My shoes may be fake, but I'm not. Slayer, real deal." After a smirk, she spun her stake forward and plunged it into his chest. Dust.

"The real deal…that you are," said a cool voice from the shadows.

Buffy spun around, but saw no one. "Who's there?" she asked to the dark alley. "And what's your deal?"

After a silent moment, a man, who looked vaguely familiar, stepped out from a corner, wearing a long black trench coat, cigarette hanging from his mouth. "My deal is your deal. This is your last chance, Miss Summers."

"You know, the trench coat does nothing if you're trying to be scary or something. And I'm guessing by the pompous accent that you're from the Council, am I right?" she quipped.

"We've given your Mr. Giles his chance to help, but he seems to be resisting as much as you are for some reason." He said, taking in a long drag from his cig.

Buffy narrowed her eyes at the mention of Giles. "What have you done?"

"Oh nothing," he sighed, sounding almost disappointed, "yet."

She advanced on him. He was twice her size, but of course that didn't worry her a bit. Still, it was hard to intimidate a man when he was looking down to see her flaming eyes. "I swear if you do anything--.."

"If your heart is where you say it is and you truly care about Mr. Giles…and your little friends for that matter, you will cooperate with us." He said quite coolly. He didn't seem to be afraid of her at all…which was bad on his part. Once again, people just didn't seem to know how she handled things; with her fist.

Buffy took a step back, not to back down, but she felt stupid craning her neck to look at the man. "You guys can't do anything to us. I hope you remember that I'm the Slayer. Big muscles, quick reflexes, ya know? I can take care of my friends. Your little gang of weeny Watchers don't scare me at all. Or my friends for that matter."

"You should be frightened, my dear." The man said quietly, blowing a puff of smoke out. "So should I take this as a 'no', you won't come back and cooperate with us?"

"Why should I? Or Giles? You've never helped us, you've never done anything but cause trouble for us and nearly ripped me and Giles apart with your damn little test. Why should I help you guys?"

"Because you belong to us and it is your duty to do so."

"I don't belong to anybody. You can just shove it, for all I care." Buffy spat, crossing her arms.

The man chuckled. "That's what he said. You two are quite the pair, you know."

She assumed he spoke of Giles. "Yes, you can say that."

The man sighed and flicked his cig away to smolder in a corner somewhere. "You'll regret this, Miss Summers."

"I doubt that," Buffy scoffed. A second later, she blinked, suddenly feeling slightly dizzy. Even more disturbing, she found that the creepy dark man was standing much closer to her than she remembered, quickly shoving his hand into his pocket. "Ah…what?" she shook her head.

"Have a good evening, Miss Summers," said the man with a slow bow of his head, and he turned on his heel and walked away.

Buffy was confused. Did something just happen? Perhaps she just scared him off. We'll go with the latter, she thought, heading back into the Bronze. She wouldn't let a stuffy British guy ruin her night out with her friends. One vamp dusted, one Watcher scared (or she hoped), she felt her night's work was done.

"Buff, over here!" Xander called from their table, which was filled with more drinks than before.

"Vamp?" Willow asked as she bopped her head to the music.

"Yeah."

"Took a while, didn't it? Or was he just really tough?"

"I…" Buffy paused. Why bother mentioning the man to them? He wasn't going to be a problem. Honestly, the Watcher's Council has never scared her much, they were just more of a bother than anything else. If anything, she'd go to Giles about it, since the Council seems to already have. "Yeah. Rough vamp. But he's dust, no worries," she said with a grin and stole Xander's drink away from him when he wasn't looking.

Buffy didn't think of her encounter with the Council guy until halfway through her morning jog the next day. She was already out and near Giles' apartment, so she jogged her way over, hoping he'd be up by now seeing as it was a Saturday-…nevermind. It's Giles. Of course he's up.

Before knocking on his door, she stopped and bent over, taking a few deep breaths. She hadn't jogged in a while, it'd been a fairly lazy summer so far, she seemed to be slightly out of breath. Thinking nothing of it, she rapped on the door, then entered not waiting for a response. "Giles?" she called, closing the door behind her. "Hello?"

There was movement from upstairs. "Buffy? Oh, er, just a moment…"

She shrugged and walked to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. As she did, she noticed that his stash of alcohol that he normally had on the corner of the counter had dwindled quite a bit. "Fun summer, eh, Giles?" she muttered to herself, turning on the tap.

A minute or so later, she turned to see Giles making his way down the stairs, tying the sash of his robe around him. "Good morning," he said quietly, giving her an odd look. "Are you alright?"

Buffy shrugged and walked to the couch for a seat. "Yep."

He waited for something more. "Is…there something you need? Some reason why you're here so early?"

She glanced at the clock on his mantel. "It's ten-thirty. Don't you normally rise with the sun or something?"

Giles squinted at the clock as well. "Is it? Oh, right then." He shuffled to the kitchen as well, aiming for his teakettle.

"Are…you ok?" Buffy asked.

"Yes, fine, just had a late night, that's all. But is there something you wanted?"

"Just wondering when you were going to come to me about these Council jerks that keep bugging us, that's all." She said nonchalantly. She turned when she heard a clatter from behind her and saw that Giles had dropped the teakettle.

"They've come to you?" he asked sharply, sounding much more awake now, even without his dose of tea yet.

"Don't wig, Giles, he was just talking it up with me, that's all."

"But he came to you? In person?"

Buffy shrugged. "Yeah. What's the big deal, they've been here before."

Giles quickly walked back into the living room and sat on the couch with Buffy, giving her a stern and yet worried look with his green eyes. "Buffy," he said gently, "I don't want you to underestimate the Council."

"I can take them," she said a matter of factly. "Really, Giles, do you really think these old guys scare me much?"

"No, but they should. Buffy, the Council has ways of battling that doesn't always include brawns. They fight discretely and dirty, most of the time."

"Sooo…no punching?" Buffy asked somewhat dumbly.

It's almost cute sometimes, Giles thought with a very small smile. "No, Buffy. No punching."

"Oh."

"I just want you to be on your guard for the next couple of days…or weeks. I was going to come to you about this, but I've been trying to sort it all out myself here. I may be an outcast in the Council, but I still have one or two reliable connections."

Buffy only nodded, wondering if now she really should be worrying about this. They sat in silence for a moment, and Giles stood to go tend to his tea once more. Buffy sipped on her water, feeling much better physically, but not mentally. Stupid Council…

She took one last gulp of water and decided to leave. She told Giles she'd come back later in the day, when she didn't smell ripe of jogging and he wasn't in his jimjams. "Buffy," he called as she was closing the door. "Just…be cautious, please."

Buffy nodded and looked him in the eyes. "You too, Giles. I'll see you later."

As she left, he sighed and rested both hands on his counter, leaning heavily on them. She really had no idea who they were dealing with and how powerful and dangerous they were. It was killing him that they had to be in this mess. But at least they'd be in it together.

Still, that didn't help much. He sighed and reached for a glass of brandy and poured it in with his tea.

AN: Yay! I am intending this to be an all around balanced fic with all the Scoobies being involved...although it does slightly center around Buffy and Giles for obvious reasons. I might even toss Faith in here for a bit, so be excited. But not too much cos personally I'm not a big fan of her until season 7. But yes, stay tuned, I'm already part done with the next chapter, I just wanted to get this one up soon. I'm taking a break on my other Buffy-fics cos they aren't getting much feedback, so if you want more, please let me know! Or I'll just move on to something else.