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Moments later at Guardian Councils England
The first thing Buffy noticed after the initial hooking of he bellybutton was that she couldn't let go of the hoop even if she wanted to. As for the ride itself, she thought this is what it would be like to be caught in a hurricane. Her new hair style was ruined by the wind that was now roaring in her ears. Thankfully, the ride didn't last that long. Soon they found themselves in a heap of twisted bodies in the park under the cover of elm trees. As people got up, she noticed everyone either feeling or looking down at their navels or both.
"Yes, the bellybutton thing is normal. It always feels like that." Hermione announced before anyone could ask.
"Man," Rona sighed. "I don't think I'll ever like traveling by magic."
"I thought it was neat." Willow said in awe.
They then gathered their wits and their gear and headed across the street to the guardian council.
Buffy led the way. They weren't stopped by any of the slayer guards on duty. After all they were expected to transport onto the grounds. As they walked into the building, the scene looked very much like it had back in Cleveland. Everyone was geared up to bring down a giant. Harry noticed at least four women with long pikes.
They made their way to Giles office.
"Ah. Buff, Willow, Xander, good you made it. And it's good to see you as well Miss Granger, Mr. Potter." Giles said.
"Mr. Giles, I'd like to apologize for…" Hermione began but Harry interrupted her.
"Hermione no, I should be the one to do this." He said and turned to Giles. "Mr. Giles, I'd like to apologize for my conduct. I had no idea what you were facing. I should never have discounted what you said before seeing if you could produce proof. Now, I have seen the dangers you and your people face. I'm certain you have no doubt saved many live by slaying those monsters."
"Apology accepted. I know how it must have sounded. You're not the first to voice his disbelief so feverishly. Especially when we first tell new slayers about what goes bump in the night and what has happened to them. They refuse to believe it until they're fighting their first vampire."
Just then Dawn and another dark haired woman walked in.
"Hey Giles, London slayers are geared up and ready to move out." Dawn announced.
"Hey Giles, these new watchers are hot especially the new boy toy. I know I said I didn't need a watcher but if you're assigning him to one of us let it be me." Faith purred.
Dawn turned to her and said. "Faith, this is the librarian Giles, has been working with at the G.L.E... Hermione Granger and this is her boyfriend Harry Potter. Apparently they're some kind of magic users."
"Actually just friends, I'm married." Harry replied.
"Oh! really, now that you met someone with a body like mine how long do you think you'll stay that way." Faith replied with a sexy smirk.
Harry's eyebrows shot up. He became red as a beat once more. He began sputtering as he racked his brain for the right response.
"Oh, I like you. To be able to do that to Harry upon first meeting him, I defiantly like you." Hermione announced.
Harry was a bit affronted. He almost gave himself whiplash as he spun his head to look at Hermione with a glare.
"Well, I already told you,-you're hot. You and I will have to try some undercover action later." Faith replied to Hermione.
Harry looked to Hermione smiling now that it was his friend getting the treatment. Payback was always good and this time he didn't have to do anything to get it.
Hermione looked at Faith a bit shocked. She caught the look in Faith's eyes that told her Faith was still playing a game with Harry and was giving her the opportunity to join in.
"Well, I've never done anything like that before. Would you be able to teach me? Hermione asked.
"Oh I'll do more than teach you." Faith replied.
"Hermione!" Harry said shocked.
"Well, I am a librarian so I have read about these things. I think I know enough to make it fun for both of us."
"Hermione!" Harry repeated totally surprised.
"Is something wrong there Xan-man?" Faith asked.
"Linoleum…I mean, I wasn't looking …I mean… What?" Xander replied being trust from a fantasy and into a state of confusion.
"Hermione, what's gotten into you?" Harry asked trying to look into her eyes.
Hermione sighed and said. "Oh Harry, ever since Voldemort, I find that I don't like when things get so serious. Then, I find myself trying to inject some levity into it to break it up. It would seem the slayers are of the same mentality."
Everyone was smiling or chuckling but Giles decided to take hold of the meeting now that every one was here. "If we're finished; I'd like to move on to this Abaddon situation. Buffy, you had asked me to come up with a battle plan. I'm sorry but given the time to do such a task and a host of unknown variables, I haven't come up with anything. Given Abaddon's size, I can't even tell you to use the fighting tactics one would use on a taller opponent because it would just be silly."
Buffy smiled at him and said. "Giles when I said we needed a battle plan I was trying to tell you that 'we' needed to come up with something not just you. Now, Willow was telling us that Abby kills with his shadow but seeing as its dark outside now that won't be much of a problem. However, I think we should assign a couple of witches to disrupt the power grid to make sure no lights can cast shadows."
"Yes, of course, that makes a lot of sense." Giles replied.
"I've got lots of rope and climbing gear." Buffy continued.
"Hey, great minds think alike. I had the girls break out the climbing equipment and ropes too." Faith replied.
"Good lord, are you sure that's wise?" Giles asked his eyes wide with concern.
"G-man, Abby will be too focused on the girls chopping at its legs to even notice us climbing up its back." Faith replied.
"Once Abby is pulled from its prison, the hell whole will become a hell mouth once more. I'm going to need some Wicca's to help me close it as quick as possible. If I'm not too exhausted afterwards I'll see about helping to take out the big beastie." Willow said.
"I'll be the one to help lockdown the hell mouth with you Willow. Depending on how big the hell mouth is will determine how many other Wicca we will need to pull from the battle." Giles replied.
"Oh, I'd like to make myself available to help with that. It sounds terribly fascinating." Hermione volunteered.
"Actually, I don't think you can." Willow replied.
Hermione kitted her eyebrows but it was Giles who asked. "Why not?"
"Because, what we do could be considered earth magic. And it needs to be earth magic to stitch the hell mouth shut. Hermione and Harry have Magical cores."
"Good heavens, then you two had no choice but to become witch and wizard." Giles surmised.
"I don't understand." Harry replied.
"It's quite simple Harry, what their saying is we draw our magic from within ourselves but Willow, Giles, and the rest of the Wicca Witches draw their power from the ambient magical energies from the earth elements- probably even the life-force. Am I right?" Hermione looked to Willow for confirmation.
"Yes and there are others. But we try not to use other people's life-force, it can be harmful. You're pretty good for not believing too much about Wicca."
"Thanks, but that's about the extent of my knowledge on the subject. The books written by other wizards basically said not to put too much belief in it. But I still don't understand why it would be a problem for us to try."
"Well, for one, I don't know if our magic is compatible. But, more importantly, stitching a hell mouth shut creates a lot of feedback. We've learned to let the exotic energies pass through us. Your magic doesn't flow that way. If you were to try to help it may taint your cores."
"Oh." Hermione replied stunned.
Xander used the stunned pause in the conversation to point out something. "Willow, maybe, it would be a good Idea if we knew where the trunk line to the power grid in Cardiff runs."
"Oh, that's a good Idea. Giles can I use your computer to hack into city planning; I promise they'll never know I was even there?" Willow pleaded.
"Yes, of course, but you better hurry we don't know how much time we have."
"On that note, I'd like to pop back home for something I think may be useful before we get started."
"Alright, just a moment." Willow said as she began murmuring to herself. Fifteen seconds later, Willow said. "I've cleared the wards from this room so you can leave here. But, it still would be safest if you returned by way of the teleport room you passed on the way in. Oh, and don't forget to show your badge to the girl on duty"
"I will. Thanks, I shouldn't be but a moment." And with that she disappeared from the room with a loud bang to which everybody in the room jumped.
"Wow, you guys leave so quick the air molecules slam into each other upon your speedy exit." Willow said smiling as she loved discovering new things.
Harry never thought about why apparation were so noisy but he supposed this was as good an explanation as any.
By the time Willow had retrieved the city plan information, Giles found all the material needed for capping the hell mouth. Hermione walked back into Giles office.
"Well, it looks like we're ready. Let's see to the rest of the slayers and get this show on the road." Faith suggested. Everyone agreed. They all headed out of the room.
Once again, in the gym, Buffy made an announcement. "Ladies, if I might have your attention we are about to head out. We'll be leaving by a new means of magical travel that can take us all at once with only slight discomfort around the navel area. Watchers will be in charge of handing out replacement weapons. So, look for them when and if you break or lose your weapon. Most witches will be busy buttoning up the hell mouth that Abby will leave behind upon escaping from its depths. Once we are facing the giant, we will get into position and then start our attack as one. We don't want him singling out just a few of us on the ground. I want this demon to drop quickly from overwhelming pain. We don't let up an inch until its dust or goo or whatever it's supposes to turn into when it dies. Now, Xander is bringing out hula hoops. They will be what transport us to Cardiff- everyone needs to at least lay a finger on it. Once we start traveling you won't be able to let go until the ride stops. So, grab hold and let's get started.
Everyone did as asked Hermione said the word that activated the portkeys "pumpkin pastries". Suddenly everyone felt themselves getting hooked behind their navels being pulled along to Cardiff. They appeared at the Millennium center. The lamp posts were spaced out evenly every fifty feet or so, shedding their glaring lights to every corner of the area.
"Alright every one knows what Boc looks like in his human form so spread out and search for him. There may be time to stop this before he can open Abby's prison." Buffy ordered.
"And you would be wrong chosen one; ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha," Boc yelled from down the street. "I can feel the power of my god approaching and know my work is done." He said disappearing from sight.
Willow got on the phone. "Sarah, we think he's on his way to you… Ok bye."
"I don't get it, where's Abby? All I kept hearing is how damn big this thing was suppose to be. If he's out I don't think we'd miss him?" Faith inquired.
Just then everyone felt a wave of energy pass over them. Harry and Hermione almost puked. The wave had been so negative anyone with any magical or mystical empathy would feel its oppressiveness.
"Wow! It feels like home only jumped up on crack." Buffy announced.
"Yes, this feels highly unstable. It's much worse than Sunnydale. We need to get this capped before other demons feel the attraction. I'll leave Tina and Jamie to deal with the power grid but we'll need all other witches to help close the hell mouth." Giles announced.
"Pardon me, but what will we be doing?" Harry asked.
"Since we don't know the extent of what you can do; all we can ask is for you to do whatever you can to help our slayers." Giles replied looking over Harry's shoulder and said. "Good lord!"
Rising from under the streets as if it were phasing through it like a ghost, the gigantic, horned figure of Abaddon rose up out of the ground not completely erect.
Harry whipped around and yelled. "Bloody hell! That's huge!"
To their credit the slayers wasted no time. They all rushed forward as one, many of them, with ropes and grappling hooks in hand. Some ran into tall building as Xander pointed out that they were going to make their attack from the rooftops. The very sharp pointed hooks were thrown high up using slayer strength. They sunk into Abaddon's shoulder and neck. One caught his horns, as Abaddon moved on his hands and knees trying to get his bearings.
Just before he stood erect, Harry watched many slayers make and incredible leap from the rooftops onto Abaddon's back. Then, the lights went out. The witches had disrupted the power grid. They didn't break it; they just kept the power from getting through. Abaddon stood erect now and began to move. The slayer climbing across his massive body went unnoticed. Harry was able to observe Abaddon's every move. Harry long ago spelled his glasses for many things over the years. They were shielded from rain ever since his days as seeker at Hogwarts. They were now unbreakable from all the fights he got into during and since the war. They enabled him to see clearly in the dark.
"That thing is bigger than any of the giants that attacked Hogwarts during the war." Harry thought.
"Harry, what can we do? How do we help them?"
"We do nothing until the attack begins; when it starts we'll give it everything we've got and more. But most of all, I think we should make sure no one falls to their death."
"That may be impossible Harry. If Abaddon falls one way or the other it could be bad. What spell do you suggest we start with?"
"Anything but a jelly leg, I don't fancy watching this bloke dancing down Main Ave Cardiff."
Hermione grimaced. She didn't think that cures would even affect him. However, just the idea was both laughable and terrifying. Just the thought of the destruction it would cause from the vibration alone could be on par with a 4.0 earthquake.
"We should try to keep it away from the city. Perhaps a blasting hex," She suggested.
"I agree, as long as we stick to the ones that don't throw off any light to cause shadows." Harry warned.
Hermione was stunned. She didn't think about that. She could have gotten people killed. She would have to keep that in mind for each and every spell, curse, hex, and jinx. Luckily, lightless and soundless magic were covered as part of her covert Auror training. She suspected that soundless wasn't going to matter as Abaddon gave a victorious howl at being freed from his prison.
The slayers were just about in position. Buffy and Faith were up near its muscular neck. Some of the others were lower at different parts of his back. There was a ground unit. In addition a couple of slayers had tied themselves to Abaddon's ankles. They looked very much like lumberjacks hanging off a tree they intended to chop down. With there axes in hand, they just waited for the signal.
Because slayers can naturally see well in the dark, Buffy was able to see the other slayers wave when they got into position. She turned to Faith to give the signal. From the ground Harry and Hermione heard someone whistle through their teeth twice. Then, all the slayers went to work. Abaddon only took one step when he felt pain all over his body. Its lower back was quickly and efficiently being attacked between his vertebras. Slayers chopped at his ankles leaving behind chunks of flesh and bone. Faith joined in chopping away at Abaddon's neck vertebras.
Meanwhile, Giles, Willow and the rest of the Wicca witches were busy casting a large and elaborate spell to patch the hell mouth closed. Giles kept a careful eye on a black eyed Willow as her hair was black with red and white streaks; then it was white with red and black streaks. Her hair was shifting colors faster than a mood ring. It was now red with black and white streaks. Even so Giles made sure to keep time with his chanting.
All the pain being inflicted upon Abaddon by the other slayers was largely to distract him from Buffy as she went for the jugular veins. Now blood was running freely down Abaddon's chest. In addition the slayers located at Abaddon's lower back hammered their pikes in between his vertebras so deeply that he arched his back so quickly that he almost fell over backwards. But with some quick thinking, Harry was able to get Abaddon to re-balance himself by sending a blasting hex at him. It was delivered to his gut. It caused him to straighten up and slightly bow forward. This quick action made Faith go flying over the top of Abaddon's bowed head. Harry heard Faith shout the words, "Oh, Shit!" before he even saw her. But it was Hermione who cast the Aresto Momentum spell that slowed Faiths descent cushioning her landing.
"Wow, am I glad you guys decided to join the party tonight." Faith said relieved.
"Are you alright?" Harry said genuinely concerned as he threw another blasting hex at Abaddon's right hip.
"Yeah five by five, if it hadn't been for that magic thing you did, someone would have been picking me up with a spatula and an eye dropper. Thanks for the save by the way. You sure you want to stick with that I'm married shtick? I got a pretty big bed."
"Actually it was Hermione who caught you." Harry said trying to keep an eye on Abaddon.
"Yes, I believe we already have a date for some undercover time." Hermione said teasingly with a smirk while watching Abaddon being attacked.
"Be careful Hermione, some of these girls might take you up on your offer. Slayers tend to get hungry or horny after a hard slay. Most of the time it's both and not all of them are as wholesome as me." Faith said smiling with a gleam in her eye.
Hermione tore her eyes away from Abaddon giving Faith a shocked look. "I'll keep that in mind." She replied.
"Wholesome? Who are we talking about Faith? Surely not you," A familiar voice said.
"Hey, Xan-man! You know me, I'm as wholesome as Quaker." Faith replied.
"In what parallel universe do you see that happening?" He quipped.
Faith just gave him a dazzling smile.
"Anyway, I got you some replacement weapons. I think they will bring this battle to a quick end once you get back up there." He said.
"Hey, hold on there boy-toy! If you haven't noticed, the rope that we hooked up to old Abby no longer reaches the ground now that Abby is standing tall. The ropes only come down to his butt. Even the buildings around here aren't that tall; so, I'm pretty much benched for the rest of the game."
"I think we can get you up there without any trouble." Hermione announced.
"Okay then, I stand corrected. What have you got for me X?"
Xander reached into the duffel bag he was carrying. He pulled out a very shiny sledge hammer, one side was flat the other side was pointed.
"Oh, she be pretty." Faith purred at the sight of the weapon.
"It's covered in a thick coating of silver but this is just the can opener. And this…" He said as he pulled the next weapon from the bag handing it to her. "..is the death blow."
"Xander, is this for real?"
"Yep! It's made of mostly silver too. Riley's team has been using the same thing in South America. He gave us a few of them for extreme emergencies. "
"Why did you wait till now to pull them out?"
"I had to be sure it was an extreme emergency! If you or the rest of the slayers knew about these you'd want to use them; then we wouldn't have them for stuff like this. But, by the time I saw the problem you guys were already half way up old Abby's back."
"Alright, then lets get a move on." She then turned to Hermione. "You said you have a way to get me up there. Lay it on me."
"Not me, but Harry can."
"What are you talking about?" Harry asked.
Hermione pulled out her deceivingly small hand bag.
"Ah that's what you went home for, the infamous beaded bag. You usually don't bring that out unless we're chasing down death eaters." Harry stated.
"I bring it out for emergencies, Harry; this classifies as one or hadn't you noticed." Hermione then opened the bag and said "Accio Nimbus two thousand and one." the shaft of the broom poked out of the small bag. Hermione grabbed it and pulled the broom the rest of the way out.
"Whoa, that's very Mary Poppins of you." Faith replied.
"I'll say." Xander replied. "Wait a moment, are you guys trying to tell me you actually ride brooms? Because I got to tell you, Willow has a problem with the stereotypical ideas about witches on brooms and pointy hat things.
"Yes. We even play sports on them. But Hermione, where did you get it?"
"I nicked it from Jon hobble the death eater. I figured he wasn't going to be using it with a life sentence in Azkaban. I just told him it burned up in the fire he set as a diversion to get away from us. I've got a clean sweep and morning star as well."
"You're tripping; you mean to tell me you're going to fly me up there on a broom?"
"That's right, we better hurry, he's getting to close to the inner city."
"I'll try and turn him just get up there." Hermione said trying to hurry them off.
Harry and Faith straddled the broom. Harry pushed off and before they were even six inches off the ground they blasted off and upward.
"Whoa, holy shit. Faith shouted then laughed. "I got to get me one of these."
Buffy was aggressively slicing through tendons and muscle in Abaddon's right shoulder when Harry and Faith arrived.
"Honey, I'm home!" Faith yelled.
Buffy was quite stunned to see Faith. As a matter of fact there was evidence that Buffy had been crying. Faith had hoped off the broom and quickly grabbed a rope and said. "Did you miss me?"
Faith was surprised to be enveloped in a hug. She realized what must have been going on in Buffy's head, since the last thing Buffy saw of Faith was her falling head first over old Abaddon's head to what should have been her death.
Since Sunnydale, Buffy and Faith had become closer, having the shared title of being the last of the chosen ones. They had slowly been putting the past behind them. They were becoming better friends then they had been before the accidental killing of a human and all the insanity afterwards. Buffy felt she could put her trust in Faith again and Faith would go to hell and back to keep that trust.
"Hey, I'm alright. Willows new friends are wicked cool you should see them in action. And Xander gave me some weapons that will take out this mother in seconds. Should we get started?"
"Okay, I took out his right arm. For now, he won't be able to swat us with it. So stay on that side," Buffy said.
"Yeah, well you better grab on to something because this is really going to hurt him."
Buffy did and Faith had a rope now clipped to her belt. Faith rose the sledge over her head and with slayer strength she brought the pointed head down onto the back of his skull. Abaddon howled as he brought his left arm up to cover the back of his head. He rubbed it a bit and then tried to feel around the back of his shoulders to find whatever it was that caused him so much pain. Faith and Buffy slide down the ropes onto his right side just out of his reach. He swayed a bit from a new pain on the inside of his right knee that came from one of Hermione's blasting hexes. It had not only hurt him but it had spun him around into an unpopulated open area. With his hand now away from the wound, Faith created the cue for both slayers to climb back up. Once they were in position Faith let out two short whistles telling all the other slayers to retreat. The other slayers readjusted the ropes allowing them to come closer to the ground, retreating as fast as they could. They knew what the signal meant. Abby was going down and none of them wanted to get crushed when he did.
Now, that everybody but Faith and Buffy was off the demon; Faith looked at her handy work. There was a fist sized hole in Abaddon's skull. She figured it went clear through to his brain.
"So, what is the plan?" Buffy asked.
"Well, we got the hole; now all we need is something to put in it." Faith said proceeding to pull out Xanders second weapon, a silver grenade.
"Where did he get that?" Buffy asked
"Xander said it was a gift from your ex. Can you guess which one?"
"Remind me to thank Riley next time we see him." Buffy replied smiling.
Just then, Harry flew by and said. "Are either of you ready for a lift?"
"Take Buffy. I'll give you some time then head down the express way I took before. So, tell Hermione to be ready to catch me again."
"Are you sure about this? I mean I could do it." Buffy asked.
It'll be fine B. Now, get going you two. And with that, Harry flew off with Buffy. Faith counted to twenty then pulled the pin on the grenade. She shoved her arm, grenade and all into the hole. She released the explosive. In a hurry to exit her watch band got caught on something bony. It was a tense second before she pulled her hand out minus the timepiece but she was relived to have gotten it out at all and to hell with the watch. Quickly, she ran over to Abaddon's right shoulder and dove off. Just then there was the sound of a muffled explosion! Harry caught her with an aresto momentum spell. Meanwhile, Abaddon lost all expression on his face. He started to sway heavily.
"Harry, we need to do something!" Hermione yelled
"Right," he said and just as he called out "petrificus totalus"; Hermione shouted the spell for a leg locker curse. Abaddon's swaying stopped as his legs were brought together; his arms were locked at his side. The fall was anything but graceful. More like a plank falling heavily to the ground. The earth shook with a thunderous boom! He landed face first. As Abaddon took his last breath, Harry and Hermione watched his gigantic body evaporated into a fine mist then disappeared.
"What? You mean they just disappear like that?" Harry asked. "No wonder, there isn't any evidence to prove their existence."
"Yep, they evaporate, turn to dust, or decay very quickly." Xander replied. "I recall only having to bury one that didn't immediately decay. And that was back in Sunnydale."
Hermione looked around for Willow and Giles. She spotted them and the other witches down the street.
"Why in the world are they doing the spell there? I mean there are less conspicuous places than the water tower of Roald Dahl Plass." Hermione voiced freely to anyone who would listen. "Because, that would happen to be the center of the hell mouth; Funny, the artist must have sensed something since he decided to build it exactly there." Xander replied.As they got closer, Buffy noticed something was off. What she had originally thought were electrical cables were actually vines that were attempting to get at the spell casters.
"They're in trouble." She said racing down the street to help the other slayers not far behind. Once they got there Harry and Hermione were able to see that one of the witch's, more than likely Willow was holding the advancing vines at bay with a magical barrier. You could see the look of concentration on her face. She continued to pour on the magic. This worried Giles for obvious reasons. The slayers hacked away at the vines cutting them into little pieces of vegetation. It seemed that they were only making things worse as the plant pieces started to grow they became their own plants. The vines began to wrap around the slayers some were in real danger of being squeezed to death. It wasn't till Harry got a good look at the vines when he stopped and ask.
"Hermione isn't that…" but was interrupted.
"Devils Snare." She finished for him.
Immediately they knew what to do. They rose their wands to the sky and said "Lumos Solem Maxima" which caused the area to be flooded with a blinding bright light. The illumination only lasted about five seconds before they canceled the spell. But within that time, the Devils Snare had shriveled up and died. The danger was averted and the witches were better able to concentrate on the spell to cap the hell mouth. Five minutes later, the negative feeling that had been in the air was gone and something that sounded like a coffin lid closing was heard signaling the lockdown of the hell mouth. All the witches relaxed, the spell was finished. Willow sat down. She put he head between her knees. "Is Willow alright Mr. Giles?" Hermione asked "Yes, at least, she will be. She's just exhausted. In the middle of the spell the vines started to attack. Had we all stopped to defend ourselves we would later have to start the capping spell all over again. So basically, Willow held our spell work together by herself while we tried to put up a magical barrier to defend ourselves. The power she put out in holding it together was immensely incredible." "Holy cricket!" Hermione exclaimed. "I had thought it was the other way around. Wouldn't it had been better to have Willow defend and the combined powers of the other witches hold it together?""Umm well you see, the combined power of all the witches wouldn't have been nearly enough to do that. Willow being as powerful as she is, was able to hold it together; however, being the conduit to that much magic for so long can be quit exhausting I'm sure.
"She's that powerful?"
"Umm, well you see, in certain circles some refer to her as…goddess. Not that she takes the title to heart or even likes it but others see her accomplishments as both awesome and frightful like that of a goddess."
"What kind of accomplishments?"
"Let see, at seventeen she gave a vampire a soul."
"What?"
"At twenty, she fought a hell god to a stand still… twice."
A gasp came from Hermione.
"And at twenty two, Willow activated all the potentials to become slayers."
"She's the one who activated them all? I would have thought that would take many witches to activate them across the world." Hermione said a bit shaken.
"Yes, one would; maybe, I shouldn't have told you any of it because I think she feels alienated enough… but if she should… shall we say go off the deep end it's better to have other magic users who know what she may be capable of."
This stirred something in Hermione as she said. "If you didn't want her to go off the deep end, her friend should be acting like a friend and not alienating her like a ticking time bomb waiting for her to explode."
"No, you don't understand. Her friends don't see her like that," He tried to clarify."
"No, but with a friend like you she is guaranteed of not having any more friends." She said as she turned and headed for Willow leaving Giles and Harry to themselves.
"Sorry about that, but when Hermione see something she considers morally wrong she tends to go out of her way to put it right. But seriously, making her sound so dangerous isn't going to earn her any friends."
"I'm sorry this whole thing came out so wrong. It wasn't my intention to make you alienate her. I think of her as a daughter and just want her to get some care should she need it. I thought maybe you could help in that area."
"I'll try and explain that to Hermione later."
Just then Buffy walked over. "Well, you guys were a big help tonight thanks for saving Faith by the way. Hey, Giles you know they actually ride brooms? I can't wait to see Wills face when she finds out."
"Finds out what?" Willow said walking over with Hermione.
"They ride brooms." Buffy announced.
With a raised eyebrow, Willow looked to Harry who was still holding the broom. "Well, it's hardly recognizable as something you'd clean the floor with. It kind of looks streamlined for flying. But really why broom? It's so stereotypical."
"Because flying carpets are illegal in Britain," Hermione deadpanned.
"Besides, there's a sport called Quidditch that makes all other sports look lame."
"Oh Harry you and Quidditch, I always said you should have turned pro. You would have been much happier." Hermione replied.
Just then a woman's voice called out. "Alright just what the hell has been going on around here? Have you people been looting the shops? Every time there's a black out I get to see humanity at its worst. Riots, looting, it's always the same."
"And who are you?" Buffy asked.
"Detective Gwen Cooper and I'll be asking the questions. Now what's going on here?"
"Citizen Patrol, when the blackout started we came down to protect the shops in this area." Buffy lied.
"What caused those earth shaking explosions?"
Buffy could have said, they were actually footsteps of a giant but opted to lie some more. "We were wondering the same thing. It broke a lot of glass around here but we can guarantee nothing was stolen."
At this point Hermione was quietly getting the word out to everyone to get to the portkey hoops.
"What do you have in the bags?" The Detective asked.
Buffy looked at the duffel bags the slayers just got done stowing their weapons. She turned back to Detective Cooper knowing the officer would look in them anyway. Buffy nonchalantly said "medieval weaponry."
Detective Cooper blinked signaling surprise.
"What? People are walking the streets with cricket bats. We needed to be scarier than them if we were going to protect the area."
"Show me." Gwen demanded.
Buffy looked at Xander. He gave the slightest of nods indicating the girls had done clean up. Standard procedure for a slayer is to wipe their weapons of any demon blood no mater what. Watchers would dispose of the towels. At that moment a watcher by the name of Kenny was just getting back from dumping towels into the bay. So Buffy opened a bag and stepped back. Gwen peered inside it. There were fifteen swords and five axes in the first bag alone. She turned back to tell Buffy how much trouble she was in only to see that she and the rest of the people gathered around in four circles.
"Hey, what's going on here then?" Gwen asked.
Harry walked up behind her and said. "They're getting ready to leave."
"Like hell they are!" She said starting to walk over to them.
Just as she got halfway to them, Hermione said "caldron cakes" and everyone disappeared, making Gwen stop short. "What the hell! Where did they all go?"
"Where did who go?" Harry asked. Gwen turned around to face him only to find he was pointing a stick at her as he said the word Obliviate. Gwen's face went blank. Harry then sat her down on a bench and walked back to the weapons where he found Xander.
"Nice trick. What did you do to her?" He asked.
"I took her memories of the past forty-five minutes. I realize there were probably dozens of other people that had seen even more of what went on than she did but she's an officer of the law and would have to report everything she saw. She got a good look at everyone's faces. I just felt it needed to be done."
"You'll get no argument from me. I wish we had someone able to do that more often. It would save a lot of psychiatric bills."
"Why didn't you go with everyone else?" Harry inquired.
"I'm in charge of these weapons. Where they go I go." Xander said as he picked up the two duffels.
"This isn't all of them is it?" Harry asked.
"No the other watchers took the rest. So, can you give me a lift back the G.C.H.Q.?"
"Sure, have you got everything?"
"Yep."
"Then, hold on to my arm." Xander grabbed hold. There was a pop and Xander had a feeling of being shoved through a small tube.
The popping noise brought Gwen out of her Catatonic state. She looked around wondering what she had been thinking about and when she decided to sit down. "Oh well, worry about that later. There's work to be done." She thought.
Just then the lights came back on.
A.N. / Doctor Who doesn't exist in this universe. He never met Queen Victoria in the episode "Tooth and Claw". Therefore, Torchwood was never created nor did he meet Captain Jack Harkness. So, Jack never became a part of Torchwood, a time agent, or immortal. Gwen Cooper remained a police officer. It was through her hard work and dedication that she became a detective.