FUTURE IMPERFECT

Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Nick, Callie, and Hope.

CHAPTER 21-TRIBAL COUNCIL

Their trip home was mostly done in silence, save for the random shouts by their daughter from the backseat.  After leaving the school Wesley and Faith had both begun to mull over everything that had happened in their own mind.  Faith took the time to try to figure out who she would want to talk to as she knew a few people that would have been out at that time of night.  Although most of them were unsavory characters at best she had gotten good enough information from them in the past for her to continue to use them as information gatherers.  A few bills here and there were all it took to get their allegiance.  Wesley's mind meanwhile was consumed with trying to answer some of the nagging questions in the back of his mind.  From the evidence left at the murder scene he knew that the death was no accident and that unfortunately it was most likely only the beginning.  Unconsciously along the drive home Wesley's right hand had found itself resting on the center console, palm up, with Faith's left hand overtop of it, their fingers intertwined in a dance of love and hope.

"Looks like everyone's here…guess that'll save us a few bucks on our next phone bill," Faith said with an almost melancholy tint to her voice as she laid her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes.

"Let's just hope that they've found something…anything…that we may have missed, I have a bad feeling that the shi…the you know what is going to hit the fan…soon," Wesley started to say with a very grim frown on his face as he pulled the SUV into the garage before Faith cocked an eyebrow and smirked but kept her eyes closed as he caught himself in time before cursing in front of Hope.

"You almost lost it there Wes…," Faith joked with a soft smile on her face as Wesley put the SUV into park and turned the engine off.

"But I didn't Faith…that's what's important," Wesley returned with a slightly nervous smile on his face as he and Faith slipped out of the SUV and Faith opened the back door as she began to unbuckle a slightly fussy Hope.

"So when do you want to start the big meeting, before or after supper, because I haven't eaten since lunch and stomach is really starting to growl," Faith asked with a hungry look on her face as she pulled Hope out of her car seat and cradled her young daughter in her arms.

"I think that it'd be best if we waited until later, undoubtedly there's an enormous load of laundry that needs to be done and we have to grade these tests," Wesley replied with an uninterested look on his face as he lightly patted his briefcase.  The expression on Faith's face soured and she wrinkled her nose at the thought of doing either the laundry or helping Wesley grade the tests. 

"Well then here's some good news, you won't have to worry about ordering anything for Buffy," Spike said with a concerned look on his face as he stood in the doorway that led out of the garage, hands unceremoniously slung into the pockets of his jeans.

"Is she okay…," Faith asked softly with a worried look on her face and concerned tone to her voice as she walked around the front of the car, ducking out of the way of her bike hanging on the wall.  Spike shrugged his shoulders and sighed as he slowly walked down the short flight of steps into the garage.

"For the most part yeah…she's fine, it's just the baby getting her stomach all upset and…," Spike trailed off with an almost sickly expression on his face that told Faith and Wesley all that they needed to know.

"Well then let's hope that she's feeling better after some rest…she is resting…," Wesley asked softly with a look of concern on his face before his expression softened as Spike nodded his head.

"It sucks to be pregnant," Faith muttered with an angry frown on her face before she couldn't hide a smile as Hope reached out and grabbed her nose, a silly smile spread across her face.

"I'm sure it does…," Wesley began with a nervous sigh and shrug of his shoulders before he followed Spike and Faith back into the house.

*                         *                         *                           *                       *                           *

Four hours, and a hectic afternoon of trying to play with the puppies while keeping them and Hope out of the garden, later Wesley and Faith had taken care of the tests and the laundry.  The time had allowed for everyone important to the task at hand to return to Wesley and Faith's house.  Faith and Wesley stood in the doorway talking softly with Hope in Faith's arms and Wesley's arms around her as she laid her head back up against his chest.  Spike, oddly enough, sat beside Angel near the back of the barn, the two seemingly lost in a hushed conversation about something that both seemed very interested in.  Dawn had a previous commitment with some friends and couldn't attend but had demanded not to be left out of whatever the group decided to do.  Willow paced the room nervously with Fred eyeing her with a confused look on her face as she sifted through her party mix, looking for the cashews.  Gunn was busy talking with Connor while looking the weapons over in one of the smaller rooms off to the side of the barn.  Buffy was up in the loft in the back of the barn sound asleep, much to Spike's relief.  Giles had erected a few tables in the middle of the room with chairs all the way around, occupying the one of most importance himself.  Gwen unhappily leaned up against one of the support posts in the barn, arms crossed, as she looked back at Spike and Angel, counting the seconds until the two finished their conversation.  Cordelia had remained back at the hotel with Liam and Christopher, who Anya and Xander had left with her while they went out to see a Broadway show and visit some of Anya's old friends from her days as a vengeance demon. 

"Alright everyone, I think it's high time that we start this meeting, so if you'll all please take your seats," Giles said with a very authoritative tone to his voice as he only half looked up at those in attendance.  At first Spike and Angel acted as if they hadn't heard the old watcher, continuing their conversation.  The two only broke off their talk when Gwen sighed loudly and stormed her way towards the tables, taking a seat of the end farthest away from Giles.  That act brought a nervous look from Angel before he sighed and shook his head.  No one heard the snide comment that passed from Spike to Angel but Willow snickered at the mere thought of what it was as she took her seat beside Giles.  Gunn and Connor reluctantly pulled themselves away from the wall of weapons and took their seats on the side of the tables, with Gunn saving a seat for an excited Fred.  Wesley and Faith reluctantly left their position at the door and took their seats beside Willow, making sure to keep Hope back far enough from the tables so that she wouldn't have the chance to grab anything important.

"So what's first on the agenda Rupert," Spike asked with an easy going smirk on his face as Angel was to caught up with trying to calm Gwen down to give his two cents.

"Trying to figure out what happened to that man in the tree and if the Initiative is involved in any way," Willow replied with a nervous smile on her face before Connor raised his hand.

"Who…or what is the Initiative," Connor asked with a  confused and almost foreboding frown of concern on his face as he expected to not like what he was about to hear.

"Load of bloody…," Spike started to mumble with an angry scowl on his face before Giles nervously cut in.

"The Initiative Connor are a secretive governmental group who's purpose is to deal with the problems that arise from the non human population of this world," Giles said with a very teacher like tone of voice, one that drew a small stifled groan from Willow as she rolled her eyes.

"They also have a tendency to shoot first and act questions never," Angel added with a very serious and almost angry frown on his face. 

"So in other words kid don't trust them any farther than you can throw a bloody tank, if they get half a chance they'll have you in one of their labs…trying to dissect you like a…," Spike continued with a look of disgust etched across his face as he fought to keep his temper in check.

"Why would they want to dissect me," Connor asked with a very truthful look of some worry on his face as he wasn't exactly sure as to what was going on.

"Because you're Angel's son Connor, you're the son of two master vampires, I highly doubt that it'll matter to the higher ups in the Initiative if you're mostly human or not, they'll only ever see you as something other than human and want to learn all of your secrets," Wesley stated with a very serious tone to his voice as Faith turned first to him and then looked down at Hope, a visible look of fear in her eyes.

"Wait…if they'd do that to Connor…would they do something like that to…Hope," Faith mumbled softly with a rapidly escalating look of fear and concern on her face before everyone in the barn turned their attention solely to her.

"I'll die before I let one of those bloody bastards lay a hand on Hope," Wesley growled with a very determined and powerful look on his face before one by one the others in the room, including Connor, nodded their heads in agreement.

"Faith…Wesley, I doubt that the Initiative has any interest in Hope or your unborn child, Buffy's either…but nevertheless we should be on guard to that eventuality," Giles said with a hopefully calming look on his face and tone to his voice before Connor raised his hand with another question.

"They wouldn't hurt Liam or Christopher would they," Connor asked with a high level of concern clearly evident in his voice as he slowly looked around the tables.

"Why would they want Liam or Christopher…I don't see…oh dear," Giles started to reply with a confused look on his face before his eyes widened at the realization.

"Bloody hell…if we don't watch it they'll have us all strapped to a table in the lab," Spike exclaimed with an angry frown on his face as he slammed his hands down onto the table and stood up before stalking off away from the table.

"Perhaps we should have everyone stay together in one place until this is all settled…that is if the Initiative is actually after us and not the apocalypse that Angel and I came here to stop," Gwen said, finally speaking up, with a serious and frustrated look on her face as she looked around the tables.

"If only we were that lucky," Angel muttered softly under his breath as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, obviously unhappy at the current state of affairs.

"You can just bet that bastard Finn is behind this…still mad at me for showing him that he didn't deserve Buffy, damn git did his best to…," Spike growled with an angry and defiant frown on his face as he stormed back to the table and pointed straight at Giles as if he were trying to further emphasize his point.

"Keep it down will you…and if you could keep from swearing…," Wesley asked with a concerned look on his face that hardened as Spike glared at him until he followed Wesley's gaze to Hope.  Spike looked about ready to retort with some scathing comment but held his tongue and slumped back into his seat, clearly unhappy.

"Hey…what if Buffy or I tried to get in touch with Riley and try to find out what they're up to…," Willow started to offer up as an alternative action before she abruptly stopped talking at the glares that both Spike and Angel gave her, as if silently both were vowing to die before letting Riley anywhere near Buffy in her current condition.

"I believe that it'd be best if we were to do our best to avoid the Initiative," Giles interjected with a frustrated frown on his face as he clasped his hands together in front of him on the table.

"Finally someone's offering something useful," Spike said with a nervous snort as he sat up in his chair and absentmindedly fumbled for a nonexistent cigarette.

"Anyone else think that we should get back to talking about the guy in the tree and who or what he was after before somebody gets hurt," Gunn asked with a restrained look of optimism on his face as he looked around the barn. 

"I hacked into the morgue's database but so far the body hasn't been identified, they've taken dental impressions but don't expect to get any help there, unless someone here found his wallet or something like that I doubt that we'll ever know who he was," Willow said with a sad and serious look on her face as she laid her laptop down on the table in front of her and shrugged her shoulders.

"This just keeps getting better and better," Angel mumbled softly as he looked away and shook his head.

"I'd forgotten how negative those two could be," Faith softly whispered to Wesley as she scooted her chair up next to Wesley's, leaning up against his shoulder as he slung an arm around her shoulders and let Hope grab his index finger.

"Trust me…you haven't seen anything yet," Wesley softly whispered back with a nervous frown on his face before Spike jumped back into the fray.

"Okay so we don't know the identity of the body found in the tree…nor do we have a bloody clue how he got there or why he was there, we know that he was possibly working with the Initiative, that he was probably either watching the crowd of people that passed by the tree to pick out the wolves in sheep's clothing so to speak or he was watching someone, tracking his or her movements," Spike said with a very clear tone to his voice as he crossed his arms and hunched forward a bit, an old habit when he was deep in thought, or bored to death.

"And that the fire that consumed the tree came from some distance away, possibly from one of the rooftops of the buildings that surrounded the tree or from some sort of weapon, but if it was a weapon that lit the tree on fire it would have to have been a very powerful weapon," Faith added with a serious look on her face that was only softened by a whimper from a frustrated Hope.

"Wesley…would the reptilian fire breathing demons that you were helping Dawn research be able to start a tree on fire from a such a distance," Giles asked with a grave look of concern and worry on his face as he wiped a tired hand across his face and turned to Wesley.

"In theory I guess that it'd be possible, but to be sure I'd have to look through the Dringogen text again in more detail, and at the moment Dawn has it," Wesley replied with an unsure shrug of his shoulders as he pulled Faith and Hope a little closer.

"Well the first thing that we should do is have Angel and Spike go and check out that sight once the sun has gone down while the rest of us stay here and wait until tomorrow, then Wesley can get the Dringogen text from Dawn, decipher it some more and we can go from there," Willow said with an optimistic look on her face as she looked around the barn at those assembled.

"Whoa now hold on Red…I think that's a smashing plan…but I'm not leaving Buffy here like this, forget it…," Spike said with a very poorly hidden look of worry on his face as he alternated his gaze back and forth between Willow and the loft in the back of the barn where Buffy still slept.

"Spike…," Giles pleaded with a frustration and somewhat disappointed frown on his face as he looked up from his seat and tried to put on his best watcher face.

"No…Spike's right, with Buffy like this he should be here if she wakes up and is disoriented or worse…I'll go alone," Angel interjected with a very serious look on his face that seemed to indicate that although he believed in what it was that he was saying he couldn't believe that he was actually saying it. 

"I'll go with Angel," Gwen piped up with a bored out of her mind look on her face as she absentmindedly began to dig some dirt out from underneath her fingernails.

"Come to think about it I should probably go to…I'm the best tracker here," Connor chimed in with a nervous and slightly unsure look on his face as he looked back and forth between Angel and Giles.

"You sound pretty sure of yourself mate," Spike said with an almost challenging tone to his voice as he cocked his head to one side and aimed his gaze straight at Connor.

"He's probably right Spike, he's been trained to be a tracker since he was a young boy…alright Connor you can come…but on one condition, I'm in charge, that means that if you sense something you can't go running off on your own, if you find something the three of us will follow the trail okay," Angel said with a nervous shrug of his shoulders as he cautiously glanced over at Connor, who reluctantly nodded his head and then looked away.

"Well now that we have that all settled we should think about getting something to eat, because as they say…an army marches on its stomach," Giles said with almost a palpable sigh of relief as he leaned back in his chair and smiled.

"Nnh…not this one," Buffy mumbled with a tired and somewhat sickly look on her face as she slowly climbed down the ladder and walked towards the tables, Spike was almost instantly at her side with a supportive arm around her.  Angel as well was out of his seat in seconds, drawing a slightly worried and annoyed frown from Gwen.  "I...I'm okay…I feel better than before…really," Buffy added with a weak smile on her face as she turned to Spike before laying her head on his shoulder as outside the sun slipped beneath the horizon.

*                         *                          *                           *                     *                        *

Hours later Wesley finally managed to stumble back into their bedroom, throwing off his shirt as he did so.  Faith sat on their bed, pen and tablet of paper in her hands, wearing her rarely used glasses and scribbling away feverishly with her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail that took her hair off of her neck.

"I swear the defense of Bastogne couldn't have been as hard as trying to figure out what everyone wanted on their bloody pizza," Wesley moaned with a tired look on his face as he walked over to the bed and sat down by Faith's feet.

"Maybe…but at least McAuliffe could give a reply of nuts when faced with a situation similar to this, you're being to hard on yourself Wesley…again, the world's not going to end right this second if you're not on top of everything, come here…," Faith said with a motherly tone of concern in her voice before she set the pad of paper down on the nightstand and beckoned for Wesley to scoot closer to her.

"We knew that this would happen…everything's gone down the bloody shitter…," Wesley grumbled with an unhappy and defeated frown on his face as he slumped his shoulders and scooted closer to Faith with his back to her.

"Everything's gone down the bloody shitter…my, dear…that's being pretty harsh don't you think, this little play isn't over yet and we're all still here…maybe you should wait until we know a bit more about what's going on before you make such a dire assessment," Faith chimed in with a playful smile on her face as she placed her hands on Wesley's shoulders and slowly started to work her hands around to soothe the tension in his tired muscles. 

"Maybe you're right…," Wesley replied softly with a tired sigh as he wiped a hand across his face.

"Maybe…what do you mean maybe…of course I'm right…," Faith cooed back, with bravado of old tone to her voice, softly into Wesley's ear as she couldn't help but smile.

"My wife is a very smart woman," Wesley snickered back with a slightly more relaxed smile on his face as he half turned his head back towards Faith.

"You forgot beautiful…," Faith chided Wesley with a stern yet playful smile on her face as she tapped him hard on the shoulder before he turned around to face her.

"And sexy…and kind…and generous…and loving…a wonderful mother…," Wesley started to say back in between soft and gentle kisses before the rest of the night was lost in candlelight and soft music.

END OF CHAPTER 21