"Uh, I have something to say. Are you completely utterly incurably CRAZY!?" Xander shouted at him, his single eye slightly wild.
"I agree," Andrew commented, his eyes wide. "Although I've never really had anything to do with you Watchers, I've heard all sorts of things about you. And you guys don't sound too nice."
"As I'm sure you've noticed Erik, none of us are thrilled by the idea of the Watcher's Council coming back. You'll recall we either quit, or were fired, quite some time ago," Giles agreed, removing his glasses and wiping them idly.
"That was the old Council. A bunch of snobbish old men in pinstriped suits trying to hold onto something they'd lost a long time ago." Cain glanced over at Giles and Wesley, who was still staring silently. "No offense intended of course. But the fact is the last Council was obsolete."
"You're preaching to the choir who wrote all the music pal. But how's your new and hopefully improved version going to be any better?" Xander asked, his voice sarcastic, his eye hostile.
"To put it simply, instead of just trying to regulate the Slayer, which is now impossible due to Willow's little spell-."
"How do you know about that?" Willow interrupted, looking slightly alarmed.
"As I've said several times, I know everything there is to know about all of you. Anyway, instead of trying to watch over the Slayers, the new Council will be designed to assist the Slayers. The new Council will be responsible for raising an army, and keeping everyone's movements in concert, because the end is coming."
"So does that mean we get to call that shots?" Kennedy asked, sounding defiant.
"You? Never. Buffy and Faith would be making most of the decisions. The decisions that were pertinent anyway. In the past, the battle has been all about small groups fighting, about guerrilla tactics. We're approaching a time when the battle will become an actual war, a war for the planet that will be fought everywhere."
"I always loved these speeches. They make me feel all warm and smart inside," Xander said, speaking to no one in particular.
"So, what? You're going to raise an army and we'll fight it out with the demons? Why did you come here?" Faith was lounging in an armchair, still looking a little pissed from before.
"For two reasons. LA is a major hotbed of demonic activity, and its going to be our base of operations once the war's begun. Second, I came here looking for you. A recruitment mission. In strictly military terms, you're all valuable assets and would be indispensable in the coming war."
"Why don't you spell out for us exactly what's going to be happening here over the next few months then Cain." Buffy was interested in what he was saying, and she felt that the others were too, despite their hostility.

"I'll start by filling you in on the Council's development so far. I have everyone who associated with the former Watcher's Council working with me. I'm also in touch with every coven and mystic and cult in Europe. Most of them are willing to help us. But the most important one at the moment is the Initiative." He stopped speaking, watching them expectantly, awaiting the inevitable reaction.
Nearly everyone exploded, Buffy included. "I thought the government disbanded them after Adam." she trailed off as everyone else quieted down.

"They were. But I've spoken extensively with several of the commanding officers and they've been working on reassembling their team, with sizable additions, for the past two months. Are there any questions so far? Too bad. On to positions and such. I have Watchers working with nearly every new Slayer in the world, you have know idea how much work that was. Many of them have extensive combat training, and all of them have sufficient teaching ability to help the Slayers along. All in all there are roughly one hundred and fifty of them, the world over. That means they're spread pretty thin. Back in Europe and Asia I have about a dozen teams looking to unearth any artifacts or books that'll help us. Aside from that, I'm working on assembling a small team of Witches, and then there's the Initiative."
As he spoke, his image seemed to change. He transformed from a strange man with inhuman abilities to a powerful leader of men, someone who had worked long and hard to try and give the world a fighting chance against that darkness that was coming.
"So what do you want us, them to do?" Dawn asked, looking like she was holding back something that was trying it's very best to burst out of her. After a moment she added, "can I help?"
Cain laughed and nodded, his face hardening again in an instant. "I have something for all of you to do, and I can only pray that you'll accept, because every last one of you is immeasurably important to the plans I have begun to lay. However, I would much prefer to talk to you individually. So if it's all right, I'll be approaching you with the individual offers over the next few days."
Xander snorted. "If you try and get us alone and then kill us, you'll be sorry mister. I don't know what I'll do about it, but Buffy will teach you a lesson, she'll print it on your ass with a boot."
"Xander!" Buffy exclaimed, feeling her face redden slightly.
" I don't plan on trying any tricks Xander. I'd have to be crazy to try." His lips twitched and Buffy thought she caught a hint of sarcasm in her voice. But she may have been imagining it." He looked around, each person in the room feeling the burning heat of his stare drill into their own. "So its all clear? Good. I'll be talking to you. And Wesely, try not to look so frightened, I don't plan on hurting you. Incidently, it would be best if you didn't mention me to Angel yet, I believe Buffy wants to bide her time before seeing her lover again. And besides, I want ot have a talk with vampire with a soul myself." With that, he turned and whisked effortlessly through the door, his movements sure and fluid. The room remained silent for several seconds. Xander drew in a breath, making ready with some sort of comment, but a stare from Faith and a glare from Giles silenced him. After several minutes, everyone got up, as if on cue and filed out of the room, leaving Buffy alone with her thoughts.