A/N: Okay, guys, I just got to say thanks! You guys totally made my day suck less! Bravo! Thank you, thank you! Your reviews were lovely. I know life, in reality, wasn't sucking that much...but I'm a teenager, and for a teenagers standards...the past two days really sucked. lol

Anywho, thanks again, and here we go! I'm so excited that all of you are excited about the Watchers! I am so, so, so, so anxious to see if you guys like where I'm going with this. Oh, do I have plans for our Angel and Buffy! And...well...no, I don't think I'll tell you (evil laugh)...I want it to be a surprise!

Today's Random Disclaimer is for Jeremy Shane :D

Random Disclaimer: (I do not own Buffy).

Buffy reads the message on the computer: Who is this Jeremy Shane?

Angel: I don't know...but...how does he know that?

Willow: He's not supposed to know! We're supposed to have our secrets!

Me: Uh, guys...everyone knows your secrets...you're on TV

Scoobies: What?

Buffy: Aren't there, like, laws against that sort of thing? Shouldn't we know we're being filmed?

Willow: Yeah! I mean...the secret life I live on another network is supposed to be secret!

Oz: It's a conspiracy.

Xander: This is just weird.

(Door begins to shake, and all the Scoobies look up worried)

Jeremy Shane: I KNOW YOUR SECRETS!

Buffy: RUN!

*That probably made no sense to most of you guys, but I hope you at least cracked a smile*

Eye of the Beholder Chapter 10

All was quiet in the Summers' living room. It wasn't even a comfortable silence. It was a silence that was so fraught with tension that it was suffocating. No one really made eye contact with each other, and furtive glances towards the front door were made every so often by everyone.

It was the first time that all of them...the Scoobies, Buffy, Giles and Angel had been in the same room since he'd become Angelus. Xander was glaring at anything that moved. Willow kept looking between Buffy and Angel, trying not to grin at the knowledge Buffy had so recently endowed her with. Buffy really hadn't had enough time to give her all the details, but Willow knew that her spell had worked...in all it's facets. She'd made Buffy promise to take time out for some serious girl talk when she got back.

Oz was looking more pensive than usual. Cordelia was sitting by Xander, her arms crossed over her chest, looking thoroughly disgruntled due to the fact that she was missing out at a special hour sale at the mall. Giles had already cleaned his glassed three times, and Joyce had offered drinks and snacks twice.

Buffy and Angel sat together on the loveseat. Buffy held Angel's hand in a death grip that would have surely broken a human man's bones. Sighing, Buffy leaned her head against his shoulder and rested her free hand on his bicep, hugging his arm.

An angry army of nervous butterflies fluttered relentlessly in Buffy's stomach as she waited for the Watchers to arrive. It was maddening, wondering what was going to happen. She knew it would be bad, she just didn't know exactly how bad. There was only so much bad she could deal with.

The idea that the Watcher's were going to try and kill Angel did nothing to assuage her. Giles had been serious when he'd said that the Watchers would attempt to kill him. They'd talked about it. Giles had said that the Watchers would probably try to make it seem like an accident, but then he'd shrugged and said that they might just say 'to hell with it' and outright kill him without ceremony.

This didn't help Buffy's nerves.

Giles also had spoken in detail about the Review. Apparently, there were two different kinds of Reviews. The first one was a like a check-up. Talk to her friends; find out if she was doing her job right. Put her through a few tests. Done deal.

The other Review, the kind that she was going to go through, was literally a fancy word for trial—judge, jury, the whole nine yards. Without the lawyers though. You had to defend yourself. And oh joy; there was no Golden Rule that said "Innocent until proven guilty."

Buffy was thrilled.

Buffy also worried because Giles was sure he was going to get fired. Apparently, everything he'd been doing wasn't so approved of, but they'd sort of let it slide because of everything that she had done, which Buffy supposed was sort of a compliment to her. At least the recognized all that she did, right?

But it seemed like Acathla, and Angel/Angelus had broken the camel's back.

There was a knock on the door then, and everyone froze for a moment. Gathering his wits about him, Giles rose from his place on the couch and went to answer the door. Angel stood up too, but Buffy didn't let go of his hand. It was her lifeline and was keeping her sane.

"They don't know about us, Buffy," Angel whispered quickly. "I'd kinda like to keep it that way for as long as we can."

Seeing his logic, Buffy forced herself to let go of his hand. Angel retreated to the back of the room and leaned against the wall, folding his arms over his chest. It looked casual enough, but the hardness in his eyes screamed danger.

They all heard a loud greeting. "Ah, Rupert! So good to see you!"

"Quentin," Giles replied quietly. "Won't you come in?"

"Yes, yes," Quentin said quickly. "I suppose we must. We have to make this as speedy a process as possible. We have a flight to catch."

Giles led the group into the living room. Buffy and Angel immediately catalogued the new arrivals. Quentin Travers was a man in his early sixties, perhaps, obviously the leader of the group. Three men behind him were plainly muscle. There were three more Watchers, two men and one woman who were at the back of the group.

"We already made a stop to pick up Acathla," Travers informed Giles. "I must say I'm quite surprised you've left the old boy unguarded."

"It's barely been two weeks," Giles replied coldly. "And contrary to what you might think, it's quite a handful to try and locate a proper place to keep an 'old boy' like Acathla."

"Ah, you're right," Travers said lightly. "I do apologize. I forget how limited your resources are here."

Travers seemed to survey the room. His eyes landed on Angel, and he fought back a flinch at the calm, yet menacing expression on the vampire's face. "Angelus," he said, quite proud of himself that his voice sounded strong and unaffected.

"It's just Angel," Angel corrected with a small smile that probably came across as more of an 'I'm-thinking-of-ways-to-kill-you' smirk.

"Ah, yes," Travers nodded, his anxiety silently reflected in his eyes as he spoke to the vampire. "You have been re-ensoulled, so I'm told?"

"Yep," Willow answered quickly, sounding just a little too bright in her nervous. "Total permanent soulfulness."

Travers seemed to smile congenially at the redhead. "Of course. I assume congratulations are in order? A spell of that magnitude is a great feat at your age. You must be quite powerful," he said, and something in his voice caused Oz to shift closer to Willow.

"So…let's get the party started," Buffy interrupted, not liking the appraising look Travers was giving Willow any more than Oz.

"Buffy Summers," Travers smiled, turning his attention to the blonde Slayer. "I must admit I pictured you taller."

"You're not the first to tell me that," Buffy said with a small smirk, fighting the urge to glance at Angel.

Travers chuckled good-naturedly. "But alas, you are correct, Miss Summers. We must proceed." Travers motioned to the people behind him. "My friends and I would like to interview each of you individually, or in pairs if you would like. Whichever you are more comfortable with. We just want to talk. Nothing apocalyptic," he smiled amicably.

All the Scoobies were silent.

"So," Travers clapped his hands together. "Any volunteers to go first?"

The Scoobies were all nervous about the interviews. Willow and Oz had been interviewed together, as Oz wouldn't let Willow out of his sight. He didn't trust any type of organization. There were too many conspiracies. They were all one big conspiracy, but Oz had yet to prove it substantially. Either way, he wasn't letting Willow anywhere near the weird, government supernatural creeps.

Willow had been shaking due to her nerves.

"How long have you known the Slayer?" their interviewer had asked.

"Buffy?" Willow laughed anxiously. "Oh, I've known her since her first day. I showed her the library…"

The questions had all been rather general until the matter of the Spell came up.

"You performed a Soul Restoration?" the Watcher inquired, studying his clipboard intently for a moment before looking back up at Willow. "You restored a vampire's soul permanently? Specifically the vampire Angelus?"

"Yes," Willow said, sounding firm and sure. "Angel's soul is permanent."

"You're positive?" the Watcher inquired further.

Willow fought a triumphant smile. "Absolutely."

Xander and Cordelia's questions had started off generally, but the Watcher interviewing them seemed to be more intuitive than the one who'd interviewed Willow and Oz. That, or he simply showed it.

"You do not seem to like Angelus," he observed. "Either of you."

"Well, he did do the whole go-evil-and-terrorize-us-thing," Cordelia replied quickly, feeling more nervous than she thought she should. "But, I mean, I like Angel when he's not evil. He's a pretty good guy, not to mention he's ridiculously good looking and has a great body. I mean seriously, have you seen those shoulders?"

"Yeah, Cordy, we got that," Xander said dully. "The guy really has the mysterious-creature-of-the-night-look going for him."

The Watcher's gaze suddenly zeroed in on Xander. So intent in his gaze, Xander started to shift uncomfortably. "You don't just not like the vampire. You hate him."

Xander began to laugh uncomfortably, feeling torn at the desire to answer truthfully and say 'yes,' or lie and say 'no' because he knew that his answer affected Angel—which in turn affected Buffy, who Xander still liked to consider one of his best friends.

"Hate's a strong word," he parried anxiously. "Look man, I don't like the guy, okay? But…" Xander swallowed all his dislike for Angel and told the truth. "But he does some good, alright? He helps us out, and he's really good in a fight. I say if he's there to watch Buffy's back when we can't, then he's not so bad a guy."

Joyce and Buffy had been interviewed together.

"You just recently came into the knowledge that your daughter was the Slayer?" the Watcher asked.

"Yes," Joyce said nervously. "Just two weeks ago."

"And how did you take this news?"

Joyce paused, looking down at the table guiltily. "I was—shocked. In denial I think. I could have reacted better I suppose, but we're working through it, right Buffy?"

"Totally," Buffy agreed. "We hashed it out. Everything's tight with the mother-daughter bond."

"Your friends know that you are a Slayer, also?" the Watcher asked, looking at Buffy.

"Well, yeah." Buffy wasn't going to deny it. "But I really didn't tell any of them. They just sorta found out."

"They help you with your Calling?" the Watcher pursued.

"Yes, because they want to," Buffy defended them. "If I had it my way they wouldn't, but they're my friends and they want to help me," she added softly. "They've gotten me out of a few tight spots."

The Watcher's eyes lit up. "Oh, really?"

Giles and Angel were interviewed together, and considering both men could sit in silence for hours at a time, the interview wasn't going as smoothly as it could. The three Watchers that were strictly there as muscle stood behind the interviewer, each of them holding a crossbow at Angel, which he pointedly ignored.

"Are you going to answer any of our questions?" the Watcher finally asked after sitting with them in silence for fifteen minutes.

"Are you actually going to consider any of our answers?" Giles retorted easily.

The Watcher didn't answer, and they continued to sit in silence for another five minutes.

"Okay, let's get this out of the way," Angel finally spoke, leaning his forearms on the table. He had to fight a smirk at how the Watcher across from them had leaned back. "I've been Angelus for the past few months. Really not my shining hour, but I still managed to almost end the world. But, Willow restored my soul and it's permanent. So, I'm going to keep on helping Buffy." Angel looked up at the Watchers with the crossbows. "And can ya not point those at me? It's not like I can't catch an arrow anyway."

The Watchers were all silent.

"Did he miss anything?" Giles questioned dryly.

A little more than an hour later, Buffy, Angel, Giles and the rest of the Scoobies with the addition of Joyce were gathered in the living room. None of them had had a chance to talk about their interviews and share their answers like all of them wanted to do. Instead, they were all quiet as Travers smiled brightly at them.

"Well, thank you so much for your time," he said seemingly genuine. "But," he paused to check his watch pointedly. "We are running out of time if we want to catch our flight."

"What about Angel?" Buffy asked glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. "I know its night here, but by the time we get to London—"

"It's terribly dreary and rainy at the moment in London," Travers interrupted with a smile, knowing Buffy's concern. "Angelus will be fine."

Somehow, Buffy didn't quite believe that.

They gathered their luggage and said their goodbyes. Well, Buffy said her goodbyes. Giles got a hug from Willow and waves from everyone else. Angel got a nod from Oz and a sly wink from Willow that he tried forget was due to the fact that she knew details. Girl talk was really an enemy at times.

The only sound on the way to the airport was the sound of the SUV's engine. Buffy rode in the back between Angel and Giles, and the tension between them was stifling. Buffy had rarely seen Angel so tense, and she was sure she'd never seen Giles glare. Really glare, like borderline I'm-thinking-of-multiple-ways-to-hurt-you-glare.

And she didn't miss how both of them were angled to protect her from anything that sprung up to attack her. Why did they always worry about her? Why couldn't they worry about themselves for a change? Giles was probably going to get fired, and Angel was eventually going to have to stop his own assassination.

The silence stretched on as they arrived at LAX and boarded the plane, the Watchers own personal private jet. The only plus Buffy found in the entire arrangement was that they were in a private jet. At least she got to travel in style.

It was a little awkward for a moment when they had to take their seats. Angel and Buffy were slated to sit together, and the 'coincidence' was not lost on them. This only confirmed Angel and Giles' silent suspicions that the Watchers suspected a little something more.

Buffy chose to ignore that fact and try to remain blissfully oblivious. She took the window seat and then looked up expectantly at Angel who sighed quietly before taking his seat beside her. Both of them scanned the confined space, noting where each Watcher was. Giles was seated with Travers and they could hear Travers talking about the 'good times.' The three muscle-men Watchers were seated at strategic spots, all of them within a flying leap of Angel should a problem arise. The other three remaining Watchers were all reading, taking up the middle row. Figures.

The plane began to taxi down the runway and Angel looked just a little nervous to Buffy's eye. "First time flying?" she asked so quiet that only he would hear. Enhanced senses were so convenient.

"Yeah," Angel answered just as quietly.

Buffy grinned slyly. "Nervous?"

"No," Angel scoffed. "It's just, ya know, some things—people in particular—should stay on the ground."

"Sure," Buffy laughed lightly as they began to take off. She lounged back in her seat. "Sure."

Once they were in the air, however, Angel seemed to get used to the idea of being thousands of feet above the ground. Buffy saw him slowly begin to relax, and allowed a faint smile to grace her lips. They'd taken off on time, surprisingly, and were scheduled to arrive in London around noon once the time difference kicked in.

This left them with about six hours of time to kill.

The lights were soon shut off and pillows were handed out. Buffy took one, but she knew she probably wouldn't use it. Sleep was the last thing on her mind.

Sitting there in the dark, next to Angel, her mind couldn't help but drift to last night and the early hours of the morning. Buffy shifted in her seat slightly, and Angel noticed. He cast her a questioning look, but Buffy just shook her head and tried to think of other things.

Bunnies. Flowers. Chocolate…Angel…Bed…Kisses.

Buffy closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Angel took her hand in the darkness and it was like a shot of electricity charged the air between them. Buffy looked up at him, to find that he was already looking at her. His eyes were dark, darker than normal, and Buffy knew what that meant.

Unthinkingly, she leaned closer to him.

"We can't," Angel whispered so quietly, she could barely hear.

Buffy's mind hadn't quite traveled that far, but Angel's comment sent her mind whirling in a flurry of possibilities. "I was just going for a kiss," she breathed, keeping her voice so low that only Angel could hear her. She didn't know if everyone else was asleep. She doubted that the muscle men were sleeping. After all, they were the body guards.

"It's too risky," Angel shook his head, but he still moved closer to her. "Those three guys aren't really asleep."

"How can you tell?" Buffy whispered with a faint smile as she leaned even closer to him. They were only inches apart now.

"Their heart rate isn't slow enough," Angel answered, fighting the urge to close the tantalizingly small distance between them.

"Everyone else is asleep though, right?" Buffy whispered, unable to stop herself from glancing down at his lips.

"Mhm," Angel murmured before he couldn't resist any longer. He quickly did the math and decided that their babysitters could not clearly see them in the dark (it helped that he was wearing black).

His lips touched hers softly, and Buffy tried to keep her breathing as quiet as possible. Angel broke away far too soon for her liking, but she knew that they'd just risked enough for the moment. She'd have to take what she could get…and cherish it immensely for the next four hours.

Angel shifted in his seat slightly, positioning himself in such a way so that none of their babysitters could see Buffy clearly, and she'd be utterly invisible when she laid her head on his shoulder…which just so happened to be his plan.

He squeezed her hand to get her attention, and once her eyes were locked on his, he looked pointedly to his shoulder. Buffy smiled knowingly, immediately resting her head on his shoulder, and closing her eyes. Angel began to count her heartbeats and by the two hundred and thirty-sixth beat, he knew she was asleep.

Angel closed his eyes too, but did not allow himself the courtesy of falling asleep. He didn't trust the Watchers not to try and stake him the moment he let his guard down. Although, if the Watchers thought that just because his eyes were closed that he didn't know exactly where they were, then he didn't really have much faith in them.

Angel allowed his mind to wander. He couldn't help but wonder if this too was his fault. If he had not tried to end the world, then would the Watcher's be here? Or would they have eventually come anyway?

He also had to think about what he was going to do. Angel had no doubt that somewhere along the line of this little trip that they were going to try and kill him. It was obvious that they suspected something more in his relationship with Buffy.

Angel believed what Giles had said. He believed that Giles had not reported a word about his and Buffy's relationship to the Watchers. It was too much of a risk for Buffy, and Giles would do anything to keep Buffy out of trouble. He loved her like a daughter. It was one of the reasons that Angel respected and trusted him as much as he did.

But Angel also had an idea about the Watchers Council's train of thought. Buffy was a girl. He was Angelus, notorious for his good looks and seductive charm—among other things like torture and terror and death. The fact that he had a soul made him the perfect, stereotypical 'bad-boy-trying-to-be-good.'

It wasn't that hard for Angel to think of how Travers had put two and two together.

Angel was worried. Not for himself of course, never for himself. Buffy was his only concern. Ever since he'd first laid eyes on her, he'd known that he'd loved her and would try to protect her from anything and everything. The Watchers were a threat to Buffy, and Angel didn't like that he was very limited in what he could do to protect her.

Angel knew what kind of person Travers was. He'd lived long enough to see plenty of them. A man who'd worked hard to get where he was, but had become obsessed and greedy with the power he had obtained. He was a narcissist, believing that everyone was below him. He was a man who would do anything to prove himself right.

Angel worried at what lengths Travers would go to in order to prove his theory.

Well, that was fun! Didn't everyone have at least a good line? Personally, I'm a big fan of what Angel said in his interview. Giles too. And I had to give Xander a redeeming moment. I tried to make sure everyone was in the chapter and we got a little insight into them. I miss writing all the Scoobies together in the Two Sides/AISHB universe, so this was fun!

And...oooo...Angel brooding session at the end! Ominous, ominous...

Reviews are like chocolate dipped strawberries,

ArthursCamelot