Chapter 5

Damage Control

A/N: Fifth chapter of the series. I'll try to post a chapter every week or sooner. Lost many readers on previous stories because of not uploading chapters soon enough, so I'll try to keep a regular schedule on this story.

Disclaimer: Property of Joss Whedon and all parties responsible for airing the shows. Other original characters are mine, and some others will be explained as the story goes on.

Feedback: Sure, if you wish.

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London, England

The Watcher's Council

November 2017

"What the bleeding hell just happened?"

Giles shouted as the giant screen at the end of his office tuned out, only to be replaced by a giant picture of CNN.

All members sat at the War Center saw what Annie had seen few moments ago. Confusion soon reigned over them all, until Giles' shout froze everyone.

Walking furiously to his desk, Giles pushed a button on his telephone, instantly answered by his secretary. The voice heard over the phone explained she'd been the one to interrupt the Locator screen and patch through CNN.

"When did this happen?" Giles asked.

"Twenty minutes ago, at 08: 12 a.m. local time, 01:12 a.m. in Cleveland, USA. I still don't have the exact location." Giles' secretary answered.

"Who is in charge in Cleveland?" Giles asked.

"Faith." Buffy answered. Giles hands were closed so tightly his knuckles were going white.

"Where is she?" He practically growled. Willow pressed some buttons on her battle station and the Locator Screen appeared again. Closing in on USA and eventually on Cleveland, they all sought the orange dot.

Giles cursed when he didn't see the dot nowhere close to Cleveland.

"Anyone recognized the slayers on screen?" He asked.

"It's Kennedy's pack." Buffy replied. "Trained those girls myself."

Giles cursed again. He slowly paged his secretary again.

"I want to talk to Agent Parker, right now." He said. There was no reply, but none was expected.

Everyone fell silent.

Four slayers had been caught on tape while patrolling. They had been displayed on national TV killing vampires and a Fyarl demon. Even if they could somehow explain the demon, they had no way to explain how teenage girls could throw cars.

The phone rang and Giles pressed the speaker button.

"Agent Parker, sir."

The giant screen refreshed and an image of a middle-aged man in a dark suit appeared. He seemed tired, which only helped to make him look older.

"I want an explanation." Giles said, his voice colder than ever before.

"We were a mile away from the scene, sir." Agent Richard Parker said. "We received no previous warning regarding a pack operating in the nearby area. We reacted as fast as we could."

"What do you mean?" Giles asked.

"Our communications were turned off a few minutes before the event took place, sir." Agent Parker continued. "All computers went offline. I can't explain what really happened."

"No excuses, Agent." Giles replied. "Why wasn't the live feed interrupted, or the scene contained?"

"Got there too late." The agent answered. "When we tried to stop the signal it had already been broadcasted. It's already on the World Wide Web, ser."

"Bloody hell!" Giles now shouted. "What about magic?"

"Don't recommend it now." Agent Parker stated. "If the feed had been contained, we could erase a small population's memories, but the feed was picked up by external news agencies, sir. The whole world must have seen them or are seeing them as we speak."

Giles sighed, took off his glasses and began cleaning them. Everyone was silent in the War Center. It was then when Buffy spoke.

"What about our slayers?" She asked.

"Already in our custody." Agent Parker answered. "The local police department wanted to arrest them for public disturbances and arson, but we pulled the national security card and are on their way out of the state."

"Good. The videotape?" She asked. The agent waved a small videocassette.

"Ok. The demon?"

"Disposed of. We placed a disguised corpse in its place and took some pictures of it."

"Creepy." Willow said. Giles placed on back his glasses.

"Prepare a statement." He said. "Richard, go public with the images of the disguised corpse; upload on the Bureau's mainframe a fake data sheet with fake ID's of our slayers, with a background regarding use and distribution of illegal steroids. Alter their pictures as much as possible and have them flown back here as soon as possible, please."

"They're already on their way, sir, and I have Agent Thompson working on the fake data sheets." Agent Parker replied and was about to sign off when Giles spoke again.

"Wait." He said. "Were you ever informed regarding the slayer's raid on the vampire nest?"

"No, sir." The agent replied. "Even after our computers went back online, we received no report."

"Is Kennedy with you?" Giles asked anew.

"She'll rendezvous with the fleeing slayers later tonight." Parker answered. Giles nodded and Agent Parker finally signed off.

"Parker's status is in jeopardy." Angel suddenly said. "Most of his crew as well. They'll be in deep trouble once the FBI begins questioning their motives for closing the scene."

"He can't just leave." Giles replied.

"He'll probably need to take a leave of absence." Angel continued. "The slayer's identities have been compromised. They'll need an alibi. Most of the slayers working on the area will need to be relocated."

Giles pinched the bridge of his nose.

"All right. Do locate all active slayers on Cleveland and warn them. Notify Faith, since that's her area. Ask them to keep it quiet until it all cools off."

Everyone began moving and Buffy heard the distinct beep made by her cell when alerting unanswered calls. She noticed her daughter's number and called her. When Annie didn't pick up the call, she left the office in order to find her. As she opened the door, she immediately saw Connor sitting on the leather couch.

"What happened?" He asked as soon as he saw Buffy close the door behind her.

"Some slayers were caught on film while patrolling." She answered. "It was displayed on the evening news on CNN."

Connor shook his head.

"Stupid slayers."

Buffy sighed, but didn't correct his statement.

"Have you seen Annie?" She asked.

"Yeah, last time I saw her she was heading downstairs, to the cafeteria." He replied.

Buffy nodded, realizing Annie must have seen the news and it was probably the reason she'd tried to reach her mother via their cell phones.

The door opened behind her and Angel walked out of Giles' office. He looked at his son and Connor stood up and both began walking away.

"Wait." Buffy said to Angel. "Have you gotten in touch with your slayers on Cleveland?"

"Already did, boss." He harshly replied.

"What?" Buffy was genuinely confused by her husband's answer.

"Forget it." Angel shrugged and patted Connor's back and walked away, leaving behind a very confused slayer.

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Annie had run upstairs and saw how her father and brother walked away from her mother.

She saw how her father said something that had clearly bothered her mother and made her frown. She hated how of late, all her father could do was drink, mope and hurt her mother. She sighed and slowly walked towards her mother.

"Saw the news?" Both asked at the same time. Both nodded at the same time, as well.

"Tried to contact you." Annie continued. "How bad is it?"

"Bad." Buffy answered. "But Agent Parker is already on it."

"What did he say happened?" Annie asked.

"Couldn't explain." Buffy replied. "Said something weird about his equipment crashing and, get this, the slayers didn't file a report of their activities."

"This blows everything, right?" Annie asked again.

"Not necessarily." Buffy answered. "It'll be hard. Oh, there is something I think you should know."

Fifteen minutes later, a confused Annie sat in front of her mother's desk, slowly taking in all the info received.

"This really looks like the trouble your friend warned you about." Annie finally said. Buffy thought about it for a few moments.

"I don't think so." She replied after some time. "Cordelia spoke about a former enemy. The world has never been aware of the existence of the Council."

"What will happen to Agent Parker?" Annie asked. Buffy shrugged.

"He'll probably need to be relocated." Buffy answered. "Most likely, he'll come back here and take again his position as watcher. He and his crew will be under heavy investigations regarding their involvement."

Annie nodded. Silence stretched as Buffy began to fill reports on her computer, while her daughter tried to find a way to talk about what she'd seen earlier.

"Why's dad behaving like that?" She suddenly asked. Buffy stopped typing and sighed.

"Say that, huh?"

Annie nodded.

"I don't know, honey." Buffy replied. "He's been under much stress lately."

Annie frowned and was about to reply with some snarky command, but her mother just kept on working, dismissing the entire discussion.

"That doesn't explain why he drinks so much." Annie said, bringing back the subject. Buffy stopped typing again and rubbed her temples.

"Noticed that too." Annie said.

Buffy turned off her PC and disconnected her telephone. Annie waited patiently, the look on her mother's face meant things weren't entirely ok back home.

"You know most of the story." Buffy began. "You know why you're so special, and what your dad used to be, fifteen years ago."

Annie nodded.

"You also know Connor's your half brother, and both of you can pretty much do the same things."

Buffy made a pause, not knowing how to continue talking.

"But there's a part of your father you don't know about. A part I hope the world never gets to see again." Angelus appeared on Buffy's mind, smiling.

"Something from his past. Something lost long ago, but still present inside of him"

"So dad was once an alcoholic arse?" Annie asked.

"Hey, watch your mouth, young lady." Buffy reprimanded her daughter.

"He's being a dick." Annie replied, frowning. "He has been ignoring me for the past year."

"Listen, Annie, your dad and I may be having some problems, but he's still your father." Buffy said. "He deserves your respect and you shouldn't refer to him as whatever you just called him. He just has trouble with the fact you're growing up, and he has zero experience dealing with teenage girls."

Annie nodded.

"And even if he is being a dick, you shouldn't even know those words." Buffy said with a straight face, which quickly turned into a grin.

Annie answered with a grin of her own.

End of Chapter

A/N2: Agent Richard Parker is named after Spiderman's father, both characters of Marvel Comics. In the Spiderman comic books, Richard Parker was an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., a double agent working undercover. Agent Thompson takes his name from Flash Thompson, friend of Peter Parker, also a character from Marvel Comics.

As you all know, CNN is one of the larges television networks dedicated solely to broadcast news worldwide.