A?N: Okay, now I know that Wesley's dad is on the Watcher's Council, but I had the bastard, so I'm not going to put him in this story, if I can avoid it, anyways. Here it goes. Now, I know that the story is kinda short and pointless so far, but it'll start to pick up soon. And no, for the people who hate Druscilla, she is not going to die. So don't ask.

Chapter Three: The Council

Oz let out a silent sigh as he finished pulling on a clean shirt. He looked around as he adjusted it around his waist. His eyes fell on Riley, who was still lying in bed, sleeping soundly. He'd woken up about half an hour ago, at roughly five o'clock in the morning. To him, it was more like seven, so it was no wonder that he would wake up earlier. Still, he'd chosen to take the chance to get dressed without her seeing him. Then, maybe he could get out without getting caught, especially by Riley.

Oz turned around and grabbed his duffle bag from where it lay underneath the bed. He'd set it there the night before so that the area looked neat, and so that it was easy to access without tripping over. He shoved his dirty clothes inside and zipped it back up, trying to be as quiet as possible. He was about ready to load up when he remembered that he'd left his hair gell, toothbrush and toothpaste in the bathroom. When he'd gone in earlier, Druscilla had just been coming to, and he knew that she would be awake and conscious by now. Even so, Oz knew that he couldn't leave without his hair gell.

Setting his stuff back down on the bed, Oz walked over to the bathroom and opened the door, not surprised to see Druscilla sitting up the bathtub, but unable to go anywhere because of the chains that Riley had been smart enough to pack. Druscilla was looking over at Oz expectantly, a smirk growing on her face when she saw him.

"So, the puppy spent the night with the Slayer?" Druscilla said in her childish, sickening voice. Oz ignored her as he moved past Riley's hairbrush and own toothbrush and toothpaste to get at his hair gel. Druscilla clucked her tongue in mock disappointment, and then said, "I guess the witch wasn't enough for the puppy, or was it the other way around?"

Oz felt his skin burn in anger, and he turned to look at Druscilla. "I wish that I could stick around to see Riley stake you, Druscilla, but I have somewhere to be."

Druscilla moaned, kind of like listening to a child who has just had their candy taken away. "The puppy doesn't like me, barks at me with his mean fangs."

"You wish," Oz muttered, grabbing his toothbrush and tooth paste and turning to leave.

"The puppy likes the Slayer, but would never take advantage of her," Druscilla teased.

Oz stopped in his place, his muscles tensing. He closed his eyes, reminding himself to remain calm. Otherwise, he would transform and everything would be lost.

"The Slayer doesn't know about the puppy's claws and tail, does she?" Druscilla asked, sounding almost delighted.

Oz's muscles twitched, but he refused to answer as he walked out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him, in spite of his overwhelming urge to slam it. As the door closed, the first thing that came to Oz's sight was Riley, still lying in her bed. Her eyes were closed and her head rested on the pillow, which was rested on her arms. Lying there, her hair was brushed back over her shoulders, lying sprawled out on her back. Oz walked over to his stuff, looking down at Riley. As disturbing as it was, Oz could smell her scent, and for some reason, it had been implanted in his head since he'd first met her in the airport. True, she was beautiful, but he had no intention of allowing himself to like her. As much as he hated to admit it, he was still in love with Willow, and still hurt by the circumstances surrounding their break-up.

Suddenly feeling the overwhelming desire to get away from Riley and Druscilla, Oz grabbed his duffle bag and guitar case, swung the case over his shoulders. Oz then grabbed a letter he'd written and tossed it on the nightstand beside Riley's bed. He looked down at her one more time, then walked out of the hotel room, closing the door behind him.

Riley walked across the room, shoving the rest of her clothes into her trunk after having finished changed. She was closing the trunk when her eyes fell upon a letter lying on her bed. Riley picked up the letter, turning it over in her hand. She'd read it already, twice. It was a letter from Oz, who had disappeared before Riley had been able to wake up. He'd written (rather sloppily) that he had to be somewhere by seven, and didn't have time to stay around, but that he would try to get hold of her and find out how things with Druscilla went. Riley walked over to the trash can and dropped the letter in it. It doesn't matter, she tried to tell herself. If I see him, I do. Until then, I need to go see the Watcher's Council and find out what the heck they want from me.

Riley waited outside of a building, a large building that was covered in security. Riley had been instructed to come here, and had now been instructed to wait while someone was reached. After about ten minutes, the secretary at the front desk said, "Go ahead to level 3. The door you want is number 323."

Riley had obeyed and gone up to the specified room. She knocked on the door, not quite sure what to expect, and was somewhat surprised when a normal looking man standing there, if you considered a thirty-some year old man in a grey suit and glasses normal.

"Hello," Riley said awkwardly. "My name is Riley, Riley Fielders."

"Yes, welcome, Riley," the slender man said. "Please, come in."

Riley frowned as she entered the room. She looked around and saw a total of six people standing there, all of them in suits. Only one was a woman, and she was wearing glasses that made her look extremely stuffy.

"Welcome to Australia, Riley," the man who had let Riley in said, closing the door behind her. "We were expecting to see you, and I'm glad to see that you are in one piece."

"Excuse me?" Riley asked, confused.

"Your flight yesterday," the man said as he walked in front of Riley, turning to face her. "We heard that there was an attack, ten bodies left dead, and two flight members disappeared. You were one of the two flight members."

"Oh, yes," Riley said, shaking her head. "There was a vampire on board, and I had to stop her from killing everyone in the coach class after she'd already killed the first class."

"And your accomplice?" the woman asked, stepping forward with her hands folded behind her back.

"He had other business to attend to," Riley said.

"Did he already know about vampires and such creatures?" the woman asked.

Riley nodded. "Yes, and he understood that I was a Slayer. He had no intention of telling anyone."

"Good," the first man said. "My name is Hepnor, Rubius Hepnor, by the way, and these are my colleagues. Miss Price," he said, indicating to the woman. "Mr. Collins." A man who looked to be no older than twenty-five nodded. "Mr. Blackman." A very tall man with black hair and glasses dipped his head. "Mr. Ingle." A short man who looked to be about thirty nodded. "And Mr. Carraway." The final man, a much older man who was carrying a laptop in underneath his arm, nodded. Hepnor faced Riley and said, "We are the six members of the Watcher's Council. I am the director of the Watcher's Council, taking Mr. Travi's stead. There used to be over a hundred of us, while now there are only six."

"What about Watchers?" Riley asked, curious.

Hepnor frowned. "As you know, there are over 1,500 Slayers now, and 800 are working with a private group, and while I'm working to get the other seven hundred with us, I am sad to say that we only have about two hundred and fifty Watchers, all of whom are presently occupied. We have more Watchers-in-training than ever before, but even so, we simply don't have any Watcher for you."

Darn, Riley though sarcastically, but said, "That's fine with me, Mr. Hepnor. I work better on my own."

"I understand that, Riley," Hepnor said, nodding. "However, there is someone who I would like to send to live with you while you are starting out here, a Watcher-in-training who will report to us any events. You will learn together, and she is also an American, so I feel that you two will get along well."

Great, Riley thought, sarcastically again. "Who is this?"

Hepnor raised his head and said loudly, "Dawn, you may come in."

Riley turned her head and blinked in surprise to see a girl who looked to be a little younger than herself, walking into the room from an office in the far corner. The girl had long, straight light brown hair and green eyes that seemed to laugh without her actually smiling. She was wearing a red shirt and black vest and pants, and waved when she saw Riley.

"Hi there," she said. "I'm Dawn, Dawn Summers."

"Riley Fielders," Riley said, and then looked at Hepnor. "I'm only doing this on two conditions: You provide money and home, because I don't exactly have a trust fund here."

"No problem," Hepnor said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out three keys. "We've recently acquired a mansion near where you will be going to school, Miss Fielders, and I feel that it's best that you have a place where you can both train and relax. There are twenty-three bedrooms, same amount of bathrooms, and plenty of extra space for individual training. Riley, you will find a car waiting beside the house for you, and a driver's license inside the glove compartment."

Riley took two of the keys and asked, "And money?"

"There is a bank account in Terano that will have money wired to it every month for your access," Hepnor said, handing Riley a debit card. "Feel free to use the money for any purposes, but remember that you only get that amount per month."

"Fine," Riley said, pocketing both the card and the key.

"And what is your second condition?" Hepnor asked.

Riley looked up at Hepnor and narrowed her eyes as she said, "Don't question my methods or my opinions. I won't turn on you guys, but I'm not going to do things by the book just because you want me to. My methods have kept me alive, and I have no intention of turning on them now."

Hepnor nodded without hesitating. "Of course." He looked and Dawn and asked, "Do you have any questions?"

Dawn shook her head. "None. I'll take her over there in my car."

"Splendid," Hepnor said. He held out two cell phones and said, "Here you go. Use these to communicate. We'll be checking in on you girls once a month to see how things are going, but other than that, you're free to lead your lives."

"Thanks," Riley said half-heartedly as she took the phone and set it in her back pocket. She then turned and said to Dawn, "Come on, let's go."

Dawn and Riley began to walk out of the building. As they did, Dawn said, "So, are you ready to head over to the new house?"

"Not yet," Riley said. "We need to go by my hotel and grab my stuff, and someone."

"Someone?" Dawn asked, confused. "Who do we need to get?"

"Druscilla?" Dawn exclaimed. She shook her head as she backed up. "No way. No, no, no."

"How is it that everyone knows her except me?" Riley exclaimed in disbelief.

"Ooh, the Slayer's sister," Druscilla said in her silky voice as she looked at Dawn. "Come here, pet, you'd make a lovely treat."

"Oh, shut up," Riley said, suddenly turning around and nailing Druscilla in the face. Druscilla's head went back and hit the edge of the bathtub, knocking her out.

"Nice hit," Dawn said, sounding impressed as she stared at the unconscious Druscilla.

"Thanks." Riley turned around and faced Dawn, who looked thoroughly disturbed, and she asked in confusion, "You're the sister of a Slayer?"

Dawn nodded. "Yeah, Buffy, Buffy Summers."

"The original Slayer," Riley said, nodding as she made the connection. "So, that's how you became a Watcher?"

"In-training," Dawn reminded her, and then said, "Kind of. I mean, I was never really special. I didn't do magic, like Buffy's friends, and I wasn't a vampire or a Slayer, so I was always stuck doing the research. I enjoy it, and it seemed to just fit."

Riley nodded. "Well, you're going to have to finish out your high school career here, as well as doing your Watcher training."

Dawn nodded. "If you're worried about me being around and an annoyance, don't worry. I'll be so busy that you'll barely notice me."

"Fine, I really don't care," Riley said. She then picked Druscilla up and carried up out of the bathroom. "But the vamp comes with us."

"You really want to take her with us?" Dawn asked uncertainly. "But, she's a vampire."

"I want what's in her head, not her blood," Riley said. "Even if it isn't flowing."

"All right," Dawn said skeptically. "You're the Slayer, so I guess you know what's best."

"Right," Riley said. "I'll be back in a minute. I'm going to take her outside." She walked outside, put her in the back seat of Dawn's SUV, and looked around to make sure that Dawn couldn't see her. She then pulled out a syringe from her back pocket and stuck it into Druscilla's neck. She saw the vampire twitch for a second, only to relax again as she was forced into unconsciousness. Riley then put the syringe in her pocket and said, "There we go. Now, you're not going to do anything for at least half a day." With that, she closed the door and walked back into the hotel room, where she saw Dawn crouched down by the far bed. "What are you doing?" Riley asked.

Dawn stood up, a silver chain necklace and green string of beads in her hands. "I found these by this bed."

"Oh," Riley said in surprise as she walked over, taking the stuff from Dawn. "He must have left them here when he left."

"He?" Dawn asked in surprise.

Riley shook her head. "A friend, no one you know, I'm sure." She turned the necklace and beads over in her hands and thought, I'd better return this to him, but I have no idea of how to get a hold of him. She clutched them in her hand and thought, I'll get them to him later, somehow. She then shoved the jewelry into her pocket, facing Dawn and saying, "Well, let's get going."

"All right," Dawn said, picking up Riley's trunk and carrying it outside.

As Dawn and Riley drove down the driveway toward the mansion, Riley was impressed by what she saw. The mansion wasn't so much a mansion as a castle. It was enormous, at least for her standards. It had two towers in it, making up something of a diamond-shaped house. It had a set of large double doors on the front porch. As Dawn pulled the SUV to a stop, Riley saw a black convertible sitting right outside of the house, the top pulled down. She silently thanked the Watcher's Council, and wondered why Giles could possibly hate them. They were taking complete care of her, and Dawn.

Riley stepped down out of the SUV once Dawn had stopped, grabbing Druscilla from the back seat as she did. Dawn walked over to the front doors and unlocked them with her key. By the time she'd finished, Riley was walking up behind her. Dawn then opened the doors, both girls stepping in at once. Inside, Riley found herself in even more awe. They had stepped right into the main hall. There was a flight of stairs that led up and away to two different hallways, and underneath, there were two couches and two single-seated chairs to relax in, right in front of a fireplace.

The place looked old, mid-evil even, but Riley felt relaxed her, at ease. She then remembered that she had Druscilla, and said, "I'm going to go look around for a place to keep our guest." She emphasized the word "guest" to make it clear that she wasn't fond of Druscilla's presence. Dawn seemed to get the picture and said, "I'll bring in our stuff from the car." With that, she turned and walked away, leaving Riley and Druscilla alone.

Riley made her way up the stairs and down the hallway. She soon found a flight of stairs that led down and away from all of the doors that Riley guessed were for the bedrooms. Riley followed down the steps and was surprised to see that it led to something of a cellar. It was large, spacious, shaded from the sun, with the exception of one small window on the top of the far wall, too small for a person to fit through. Riley smiled when she looked around. This was the perfect place for Druscilla. Riley set the vampire down and walked back up the stairs. She had no fear of Druscilla waking up, and if she did, there was only one way out, and she would have to get past Riley and Dawn to make it into the daylight.

Riley made her way down to the main hall, where she saw Dawn bringing in the last of their luggage. "This place is perfect," she said. "I've found a cellar that we can use to chain Druscilla up in. I've got enough stuff in my luggage to keep her knocked out for a day or two, which is enough time to put up some kind of cage or something in there to keep her in."

"Do you think you have enough money to supply that?" Dawn asked uncertainly.

Riley nodded. "I've got money in the account in town, and I've got some chains and swords and stuff that will work fine for now."

Dawn suppressed a smile, looking down at her feet. Riley frowned, uncertain as she asked, "What?"

"Nothing," Dawn said, obviously struggling not to smile. She looked up at Riley, who clearly wasn't buying her excuse, and she said, "Well, I'm just trying to imagine a few scenarios in which you voluntarily carry chains with you."

Riley chuckled and shook her head. "It's nothing like that."

"Hope not," Dawn said as Riley walked over to her trunk, opening it and revealing half a dozen stakes, two sets of chains, a few changes of clothes, a dozen bottles of holy water, and a long sword. "Wow," Dawn said, looking into the trunk. "Looking at that really reminds me of living with my sister."

"No," Riley said, drawing out the chains and some metal spikes. "Just a Slayer."

Riley made her way back to the cellar where she'd left Druscilla, not surprised to see that the woman hadn't moved or awaken. She then took the two spikes in her hands and shoved them into the wall, one three feet above the ground, and one five. She then dragged Druscilla over and uncuffed one of her wrists. She then ran the chain through the hole at the end of the spike, re-cuffing Druscilla's wrist. Finally, she took one of the new sets of chains and connected one end to the higher spike, and one end around Druscilla's neck. This way, there was no chance of her escaping.

Once she was sure that Druscilla was secured, Riley grabbed her stuff and headed out. As she reached the main hall again, she looked around and smiled. Yes, this definitely felt like a possible home. More than that, it was perfect here.