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Chapter 18- I've Got You Under My Skin
"I am really hoping this one is more subtle than the previous two over what they were telling", Willow muttered.
"You're not the only one", Buffy said as the recording started.
Angel inspected a knife laid down by Wesley on the table, noting the Mark of Kefkadlorem, and put it down, Wesley pointing out it could kill a Kek Demon but Angel said they were extinct. Wesley sank in the chair in Angel's front and said some might be in hibernation, and then the timer buzzed as Cordelia brought in pan of brownies, taking about how she had gotten and modified the recipes while saying Angel wouldn't have them since they didn't have red blood cells.
Everyone chuckled as Tara said. "He can still enjoy it."
"And Wesley does have a point about the Kek Demons, some might still be around", Giles muttered grimly.
"Yep, extinct doesn't mean gone", Xander agreed.
Wesley commented Angel was more of a drinker than eater as Cordelia ended up using the knife to cut the brownies, making both Angel and Wesley stop her as it was ancient and could have a corrosive effect, and then Wesley and Cordelia got into a minor argument as Angel stopped them but accidentally addressed Wesley as Doyle instead, before apologizing and calling him Wesley, and left the kitchen as Cordelia sat down with a sigh.
Doyle's name made them all wince again sadly, since his loss was still fresh, and not too long ago.
"They're still not fully over him, and never will be", Tara said.
In a house with a white picket fence, a boy called Ryan and a girl called Stephanie fought, Ryan accusing her of taking one of his cards till Stephanie called their mom who said that some children in India only had 3 cards so they needed to go to bed, and the dad agreed too. The mother called Paige later tucked Stephanie into the bed and then watched Ryan's door padlocked shut, while the dad proceeded to do the same to Stephanie's door.
"Now why could they be doing that?" Dawn asked.
"Something wrong with them, it seems", Giles said. "Very wrong."
"The parents or the kids?" Buffy asked.
"I do not know yet", Giles told her.
Cordelia walked to Angel's office, reminding he had called Wesley as 'Doyle', and Angel hoped Wesley was okay with it, but Cordelia pointed out Angel had not said his name for a long time, which Angel denied, but Cordelia assured he didn't need to have an unflappable vibe about all this, not with her, and when Angel denied his unflappability, she told him to flap.
"Yeah, I just noticed, after the 10th one, Angel hasn't been mentioning Doyle", Willow said in realization.
"It hurts him a lot more than he admits", Buffy said sadly.
Angel said he missed Doyle, and Cordelia did too, Angel pointing out he'd seen death and killed people, and Cordelia said he was dead too but his look made her apologize. Angel was still blaming himself as Cordelia told him not to but then she held her head as she got a vision, Angel holding her. Cordelia had a vision of the two children and the father.
"So there is something really wrong, since she had a vision", Dawn noted.
"Let's see what it is", Buffy sighed.
Angel and Wesley drove to the house and saw Ryan walking to the street in his pajamas, about to be run over by a car. Angel jumped out, running across the street and tackled the boy off the street just in time, Ryan seeing his bleeding shoulder and asking if he'd cry, but Angel said he wouldn't, joking with him.
"So his door was locked, but he still got out by a window or something. Why would that be?" Giles wondered.
Then Ryan's dad ran out, grabbing him and telling him to thank Angel and come inside. Then Paige came out too, concerned as she hugged Ryan and also thanked Angel, as well as the dad, and they asked him to come inside due to his bleeding shoulder. Angel followed after a look at the dad and walked in, the dad at the rear.
"Maybe something's up with him, and Ryan was trying to run from that", Tara suggested.
"That's what it looks like so far, but remember, we were made to think that Wesley is already a badass Demon Hunter, and that Angel is committing murders again", Willow reminded. "So it can be anything."
"You make a good point", Xander agreed.
Paige later cleaned Angel's cut as he assured he didn't bleed much, and Paige said they' just moved in. The dad arrived, saying Ryan was asleep while Angel said he seemed nice. Paige then thanked Angel again and said they could pay him money or her husband Seth who was an investor could advise him but Angel wasn't interested, Seth saying Angel probably just wanted to go home and clean up.
"Kind of eager to get Angel out, isn't he?" Dawn asked.
Angel asked how Ryan had gone out, and Seth and Paige said he could have climbed out the window due to being able to fit in between burglar bars. Angel asked where he could be going, and Seth said nowhere, so Angel said he could be trying to get away from something, but Seth said there was nothing like that in the house.
"Well, there is you, at least it looks like you so far", Buffy said.
"Or, it may be something else too", Willow shrugged.
"Yeah", Buffy nodded.
Wesley looked at a trashcan near the house, poking it with a stick as a doll said 'mom', making Wesley jump and drop his flashlight, and when he bent down to pick it up, he noticed it illuminating streaks of yellow slime all over the foundation.
"Plakticine", Giles noted.
"Someone in the house is possessed?" Buffy asked and he nodded.
"Maybe all of them are innocent then, and the father just happens to be possessed", Xander said.
"Yeah, could be it", Dawn said. "I hope it is, and then the Demon will be taken out."
Seth lighted a cigarette which didn't bother Angel, who was about to inquire some more when Paige returned with bandages but saw that the wound wasn't too bad now, and Angel said it was just a scratch. Paige then said they used to live in Akron and Seth asked his name, Angel introducing himself as 'Angel Jones'.
"Surname, always makes it less suspicious", Tara said.
Paige pulled out 2 ceramic angels, showing them to Angel as she said she thought they were around them all the time, and tonight he had been their Angel, though Angel was humble about it. Angel decided to go and Paige invited him to dinner the next night, which Seth was against but Angel agreed, saying he'd bring something. Seth didn't say a word while Paige smiled.
"Yeah, he was like their Angel this time", Dawn smiled.
"And now he's coming back the next day, and then they can figure something out", Buffy said.
Angel walked to the car, Wesley sitting next to him as Angel said the wife wanted to talk but the husband kept cutting her off, and Wesley showed him the Plakticine, Angel also realizing someone was possessed in the house. They drove away as Stephanie watched them drive away from a window.
"With all of them behaving this weird, it's hard to tell who's possessed", Willow commented.
Later, in the office, Wesley closed the blinds as Angel came in, Cordelia hanging up the phone as she said Paige was truthful about Akron. Angel looked at the vial as Cordelia said that there had been disturbances and strange stuff wherever they had gone, including animal death and a friend of the family going missing permanently.
"So it has been going on for a very long time then", Willow said. "And they are too afraid to do a thing."
Cordelia then picked up the vial, calling it pretty when Wesley called it the excretion of an Ethros Demon, making her put it down.
Everyone chuckled at that.
Wesley and Cordelia then talked about it, Wesley reminding Cordelia of Lizzie Borden, and said she had been possessed by an Ethros Demon, and Angel said it was an adolescent while this one would be adult, so they needed to evict it.
"Lizzie Borden was possessed?" Xander asked.
"As a matter of fact, she was", Giles said.
"You learn something new every day", Xander commented.
Wesley said they could do an exorcism, though not many priests did it nowadays, and Cordelia asked who the Demon was. Angel said the father seemed off, but Wesley started that a father didn't need to be possessed to terrorize his children, before stopping and then suggested a powder to make the Demon reveal itself.
Everyone noted Wesley's comments on his father and his abrupt stop.
"Everything about him makes so much more sense now", Xander said, sympathizing with him.
"Yeah, now that I think of it, it does", Buffy said.
"Especially his exaggerated nature", Dawn piped up.
"Which would be a cover for his insecurities", Willow pointed out.
"So he's another one then", Tara sighed.
"Welcome to the club", Xander said grimly, now noting another person who had parental issues, specifically daddy issues, which all of them had here except Giles. They wished no one had any parental issues, but things happened, sadly.
Cordelia asked if it'd make the head spin, and Wesley said it would and next night Angel went to the house, holding a plate covered with plastic wrap where he had brownies, and later he sat with the family around the table, as Paige went off to clear the plates, and Ryan said he didn't like the Brussel sprouts. Angel thought Stephanie liked it but she'd hidden one under her napkin, making him laugh as he said he'd hidden one in his mashed potatoes, and the kids laughed when Paige returned with Angel's brownies, and soon all of the family ate it, Seth last. He then suddenly began to choke while Stephanie screamed staring at Ryan who was growling with a demonic face, his head jerking around before he dropped on the table.
"So he is the possessed one", Buffy said grimly, all watching, tense.
"Demon is revealed, exorcism is needed now", Giles muttered.
Paige hugged him as Angel said he was possessed, while Stephanie argued he'd always been bad and went away. Angel then said he'd made the Demon show itself, making Paige accuse him of doing this to Ryan, but to everyone's surprise, Seth came to Angel's defense, saying something had always been wrong with Ryan, and asked Angel what he needed to help his son, and he said a phone.
"Okay, that was unexpected", Willow said, voicing everyone's surprise.
"Looks like we judged the dad wrong", Buffy noted.
"Like Willow said, these recordings are designed to surprise", Tara pointed out.
"Yeah, that they are", Xander nodded.
Paige was then huddled on a sofa with Ryan as Seth stroked his head, while Angel informed Wesley of the development, and Wesley said the priest was having trouble running to the ground, so Angel said they would contain it till they got the priest. Angel then turned to Seth, inquiring about the others' well-being, and Seth said for 3 years he has done his best to hold the family together, and now Angel was telling him there was a reason for all the terror and confusion with a way to end it, so he was an Angel then.
"Drastic change", Giles commented.
"Or maybe we were just seeing him wrong before", Dawn said.
Angel told Seth to have someone watch Stephanie as they were all coming with him, and Wesley later carried Ryan to Angel's bed, Angel introducing him and Cordelia as his assistants. Wesley covered Ryan in a blanket while Cordelia picked a glass bottle and drew a circle around the bed with the yellow sand inside, asking if vomiting was expected since she'd seen the film.
"Oh I have seen it too!" Willow said.
"It was surprisingly accurate about exorcism", Giles said. "Which is why it a great movie."
Everyone's looks made Cordelia go back to her work as Wesley said the binding power would control the Demon while he and Angel looked for the priest, but Paige was still in denial, making Angel tell her that deep down she did know the truth. Wesley said Cordelia would stay with them and Angel warned to not break the circle, Cordelia making a sarcastic quip as the two left while Seth and Paige tried to comfort one another.
"Now really hoping no one disturbs it", Tara said.
Angel and Wesley arrived in a church, Angel trailing behind as he looked at a crucifix above the altar while a nun prayed, and Wesley managed to get the nun's attention as Angel leaned against the pew, looking at the crucifix. The nun immediately knew what Angel was, as he assured he wasn't what she thought so she brushed the cross on her rosary against his hand, making him pull away as he said he was but was trying to help a child possessed by an Ethros Demon, Wesley saying they needed Father Fredericks soon.
"Okay, that was rude", Dawn said about the nun brushing the cross against Angel.
"Well, look at it this way, we have had only two ensouled Vampires like ever, and at that point, he was the only one, so it's not like everyone knows about it", Xander pointed out, and Dawn nodded, conceding.
The nun said he was out behind the church….in a grave. The nun revealed that 6 months ago Father Fredericks had saved a family's daughter from an Ethros Demon possessing her, but hadn't been able to save himself, so her prayers were with the two, but the Ethros was smart, and even more dangerous than Angel.
"So it killed the priest too? Damn!" Buffy said. "These Ethros are like, not to be messed with are they?"
"Especially when possessing someone", Tara said.
"The parallels with the movie are unnerving", Giles said, referring to the death of Karras from 'The Exorcist' after he had wrestled Pazuzu from Regan, though he had chosen to die to save Regan, while this Fredericks had clearly been murdered.
Ryan sat on Angel's bed, calling out to his mom while Paige sat at the kitchen table with Seth, Cordelia pouring them tea. Paige said she wanted to give him his toys but Seth reminded it was dangerous. Paige said they were pretending all was well pretty nicely this time, but Seth reminded her of Uncle Frank's death in a fire in Ohio, though Paige protested with a sob that it was an accident. Ryan kept calling out but Seth prevented her from going to him, and she reluctantly agreed while Cordelia assured Angel and Wesley would save him.
"Can they do an exorcism?" Dawn asked.
"Even if they can, this is too dangerous", Willow pointed out.
Wesley filled a glass bottle with water from the baptism fountain, Angel pointing out he couldn't do it due to the mental strength required, but Wesley they had the supplies and he knew the procedure, but Angel pointed out he didn't even have sales resistance and that an expert like Frederick had been killed. Wesley ended up tossing Angel a cross, telling him to do it as he caught it and then tossed it due to it burning his hand, and so Angel reluctantly agreed to let Wesley do it while he'd be with him.
"So Wesley has the knowledge but no experience and is not very resistant, while Angel is but can't do it", Buffy sighed. "No good options."
"But at least they have a choice", Tara pointed out.
"Yes, they don't have a good choice, but they have a choice", Buffy agreed.
Paige was standing on the door with Seth as Cordelia tried to pull away, and Ryan was huddled in the blanket, wearing his grey Demon face, and then he asked for help in an innocent voice. He then growled and tossed in the bed as Paige strained to go to him but Cordelia and Seth stopped her, and then Angel and Wesley walked upstairs, Wesley saying the priest would have been killed because the Ethros tried to possess his body after the daughter had been freed, and that was a problem.
"I had a feeling that had happened", Giles said.
The two heard the commotion as Cordelia and Seth tried to hold Paige back, and then they saw the elevator come down, and taking advantage of the distraction, Paige ran to Ryan, the door slamming shut and not opening.
"And then that happened", Xander said as they all groaned, while also terrified for Paige.
Ryan stroked Paige's hair as she leaned to him, saying he was glad she'd come before choking her just as Cordelia and Seth managed to open the doors and Seth tried to free Paige from Ryan's grip. Angel and Wesley then finally arrived as Wesley held a cross to Ryan's face and Angel helped Seth pull Paige away. Wesley chanted as Ryan screamed and fell back on bed, Seth cradling Paige. Angel and Wesley realized the Ethros was deeper now, and then told Paige to do exactly what he said, and she nodded.
"Well, at least she understands now", Dawn said.
"But the Ethros is even deeper in", Willow said grimly.
Wesley redrew the circle with the yellow powder. Angel came in, handed him a little black book then slowly backed out and closed the doors. Seth was sitting on the edge of the daybed, where Paige was drinking a cup of tea. Angel walked up behind Cordelia, who was sitting on the sofa looking through a book. Cordelia pointed out an Ethros Box in the book, saying the Demon got dingy on getting out but a box like this would trap it for a 1000 years, and it looked for the nearest warm body, which wasn't a problem for Angel.
"No it's not", Buffy smirked.
"So finally, something", Tara said in relief.
Angel read it took 600 species of virgin wood handcrafted by blind Tibetan monks to make, and then writing down an address gave it to her, saying a guy called Rick would have it, so she left with it while Paige asked Angel what was going on.
"He sure does know a lot of people", Xander noted. "Which is a good thing."
Wesley did the exorcism as Ryan sat up and said his Latin sucked, but Wesley splashed Holy Water on his face then picked the book, saying he won't deter him, but Ryan said in a Demonic voice he couldn't do a thing. Wesley continued chanting as Ryan said he couldn't even 'watch', and so he had been fired, and nothing would make 'him' proud.
"Well, Faith at that point wasn't the kind anyone could watch", Buffy commented.
"He was pretty fresh though", Giles pointed out. "He was learned, but he didn't have much experience in things like this back then. So it's a wonder why they sent him to be a Watcher to 2 Slayers, it's like they rigged him to fail or something."
"To be honest, based on what you've told us, the Watchers who watched the Slayers were the ones who the Council least cared about", Willow pointed out, and Giles looked stung, but it was true. [1]
"Truth is harsh, G-man", Xander said in sympathy.
"I know, and you seem to be right", Giles sighed sadly.
"Hey, they don't know what they're missing out on by treating you and Wesley badly", Buffy assured as he smiled.
"Yeah, we all still like you and find you vital", Tara smiled.
"Yup", Dawn said too.
"Well, thank you", Giles said with a flattered smile.
Wesley thrust a cross in his face and continued chanting as Ryan said in Wesley's voice that he'd been locked up under the stairs for hours and still wasn't good enough for his dad and the Council.
"His dad locked him under the stairs? Here I thought my dad was bad", Xander said. "But this is some Harry Potter level thing."
"Yeah", Willow said, everyone finding the parallel to Harry's treatment by Petunia and Vernon disturbing.
Wesley continued chanting as Ryan taunted that he wasn't wanted here either when Angel arrived and said he'd invited Wesley, making Ryan counter that made him even stupider. Wesley held the cross and continued chanting as Ryan told Wesley to tell Angel he was a fool to trust him and that he planned to kill him too which Wesley denied. Ryan said Wesley feared Angel more than him, making Wesley lunge at him but Ryan held up his hand and the cross buried on the side of Wesley's neck, making him fall back with a scream as Angel ran to him, pulled the cross and tossed it away, shaking his hand from the pain while Ryan laughed.
"If Wesley can kill Angel when needed, then it would only make him more trustworthy", Tara pointed out.
"Yes, but Demons like this one have a way of manipulating words", Buffy said.
At Rick's place, Cordelia asked for an Ethros Box but Rick didn't have it, but he did have a Shorshack box made by mute Chinese nuns, and said it could work for an Ethros Demon, and she agreed to buy it.
"If it's tight across the shoulders, then it would make the Ethros uncomfortable, so fine by me", Dawn said with a smirk.
Paige put a bandage on Wesley's neck in the kitchen as he assured it wouldn't happen again but Angel told him not to go in there, and then the kitchen table shook as marbles rolled out of their bag spelling 'Save Me' while Doyle's voice came from the bedroom. "The good fight, yeah?"
Doyle's voice made lumps almost form in everyone's throats. This Ethros really was something else.
The doors sprang open as Ryan said Doyle wanted to ask why Angel hadn't protected him. Angel ripped off a strip of the kitchen towel, wrapped it around his hand, and picked up the cross as Cordelia came back. He walked to the bedroom, Seth behind him as Cordelia and Wesley held the box open between them, while Ryan taunted both Angel and Seth. Angel made Seth back off while he lay the cross on Ryan's chest, and then Wesley and Angel both chanted, the former in English and the latter in Latin, Angel's hand smoking badly, but he didn't budge one bit. He then morphed into Vamp face. "Now get the hell out!"
"That was brave", Buffy said of Angel holding the cross for so long.
"And selfless", Willow added.
"Just hope it's enough", Tara said.
Angel stepped back as Ryan writhed on the bed. Ryan began to glow, the light hitting the open box and shattering it. Cordelia and Wesley turned as a wind raced up the stairs. Ryan was laying on the bed, back in his human face. Paige ran in and hugged her son, Seth following and doing the same while Team Angel looked at the broken box.
"And the Demon is out of Ryan", Dawn said.
"But not in the box", Giles pointed out. "So it's still out there."
"Guess a smaller box wouldn't work", Xander sighed.
Wesley later scraped up some Plakticine, realizing the Ethros had come here, but Angel said it would be long gone, though it'd possess again, but it needed time to recharge due to expelling energy to escape, so right now it was corporeal and they could kill it. He tossed Wesley a weapon and said they needed to go to primordial volcanic basalt, Wesley telling Cordelia he meant sea caves as she wondered why he hadn't said that while the two walked out.
"He sure does know a lot of big words", Buffy commented.
"So, study more then", Xander shrugged with a smirk.
"Look who's talking?" Willow asked as he sighed, then all chuckled together.
Angel and Wesley walked to a sea cave, finding some mucus, and as Wesley brought up what the Ethros had said, Angel said he knew Wesley didn't plan on killing him, but was willing to, which was good.
"Told you", Tara said as all sighed in relief that this was resolved.
They found the Ethros who mocked them both for thinking they could destroy him, and Wesley called him a bully for corrupting an innocent child. The Ethros said he had corrupted spirits of men before they could talk, and the child was supposed to be the last, so Wesley taunted him for not getting the boy's soul, only for the Ethros to ask. "Hmph, what soul?"
Everyone paled as they realized what the Ethros meant.
"Does he mean the kid doesn't have a soul?" Willow asked.
"I think that's exactly what he implied", Buffy said.
"But he's an evil Demon, maybe he's lying to distract", Dawn pointed out.
Paige set a cup of hot cocoa for Stephani and Ryan, as Ryan pointed out Stephani had 9 marshmallows while he had 7, though Paige assured him it was fine and that bedtime was nearby, kissing his cheek.
"Suddenly I think having less marshmallows than him is fatal", Xander said with a gulp.
Ethros lowered its hood. "Do you know what the most frightening thing in the world is? - Nothing! That's what I found in the boy." Ryan stared at Stephanie as she drank her hot cocoa, "no conscience, no fear, no humanity, just a black void. I couldn't control him. I couldn't get out. I never even manifested until you brought me forth. I just sat there and watched as he destroyed everything around him. Not from a belief in evil, not for any reason at all."
"What the hell?" Dawn said, everyone horrified.
"So all of the evil, it was the boy?" Giles said, clearly in disbelief himself.
"Damn!" Xander said.
Paige told Seth that Ryan didn't remember a thing, while Wesley realized the marbles was actually the Ethros. The Ethros said he had tried to get Ryan to end his life, even if it meant ending his own. Angel realized he had made Ryan sleepwalk to the car as the Ethros said he'd given up hope, and he didn't fear death now, only the boy. Wesley reminded Angel that Ryan was with his family so they needed to hurry, the Ethros agreeing as Angel brought his ax down on it while a scream was heard as Paige tucked Ryan in bed.
"So the family is still in danger", Buffy said, all pale. "The Demon was never it."
"This is….." Willow trailed off, not sure what to say.
"No one has words for this", Tara said grimly.
Paige and Seth slept as Ryan arrived, picking up matches next to Seth's cigarettes. Seth stirred as Ryan walked off and closed the door, driving a wedge underneath the door to prevent it from being opened, puzzling the now woken parents as Seth tried and failed to open the door. Ryan took the phone off the hook and picked a can of gasoline, ignoring his parents' attempts to talk to him as he walked into Stephanie's bedroom. Seth kept throwing himself again the door, trying to break it open, screaming at Ryan. Ryan poured gasoline on the floor in Stephanie's room. He set the can down and lit a match. After a moment he dropped the lit match and the gasoline went up in a wall of flame with Stephanie's bed on the other side. Stephanie woke up and screamed as the smoke detector went off. Ryan just stood there watching the flames. Seth and Paige came up behind him, seeing the wall of flame as Stephani begged for help.
"So this proves it, it was the kid all along", Buffy said, clearly saddened by this turn of events, and so were the rest.
"A kid without a soul, wonder how he was born like that", Willow wondered.
Angel jumped in through the window, picking Stephanie as Wesley arrived and led the family away, picking up Ryan as Angel jumped out the window with Stephanie, and later firemen, ambulance and police cars had arrived, Kate shutting the back door of a police car where Ryan sat, and she walked to Angel and Seth.
All sighed in relief as Tara said. "At least they're safe."
"But the family won't ever be the same", Dawn pointed out.
"I don't think there was anything same in them before", Xander sighed.
Kate told Seth social services would speak to his son and he could only see him the next day. Angel thanked her for coming and she nodded before walking off. Seth watched as Ryan was driven away. "I won't be able to cover for him anymore. They're gonna want to know about Ohio – and everything. - I wanted to protect him." "I know", Angel assured. Seth looked over at Angel. "I was just trying to hold my family together." Angel looked over at where Paige and Stephanie stood together wrapped in a blanket and Seth looked over as well. "I think you did." Seth nodded slightly at Angel then went over and picked Stephanie up in his arms. Angel walked over to where Cordelia and Wesley were waiting next to his car as the screen went black.
"So this is the end", Buffy sighed.
"I have to admit, this ended up very differently from what I had anticipated", Giles said.
"None of us would have seen this coming", Willow told him.
"The family is together, but it would be a long time before they can be normal and happy again", Xander said.
"Well, I hope it ended up better for them all", Dawn said.
"Still, a kid born without a soul, that is something I've never heard of", Tara said.
"Yes, that is new", Willow agreed.
"Don't think you can give him a soul, can you? Since the guilt would horrify him", Xander said.
"Well, I don't know. Like, if that fire that killed Uncle Frank and what we saw here was all he did, then I can, but if there's more, it would be even crueler to give him a soul", Willow said.
"Guess some people just can't be helped", Tara said. "Soul or no soul."
"I know", Buffy said as she went to the next recording. "Here's hoping the next one will be better."
Got to say, if this episode had been simply about exorcising a Demon from a boy, it would have been a decent one, and a good homage to 'The Exorcist', but nothing special.
Then the 2nd half happened, bringing up Wesley's daddy issues for the first time, and the shocking reveal that Ryan had been evil by himself and not because of the Ethros Demon, and all of that elevated the episode.
[1] I think others would have noticed it but I'm still saying it- the Watchers assigned to watch a Slayer (or Slayers in Wesley's case) are the ones treated the worst by the Council, and not cared about much, like when Post said that the other Watchers were getting together for a retreat in Buffy Season 3, Giles had no idea. So clearly, they have their own classes, and their inner circle is what knows everything, while other Watchers, especially the ones who are handling Slayers, are treated like trash.
Anyway, hope everyone enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter. Stay safe from the coronavirus ya all!