Chapter Nine
Early July 2003 ad
London, England Sol III
Giles had a rather enjoyable week with Chao-Ahn, Dawn and Buffy. The few days they had spent at his family homestead were a nice change of pace from the tension of Sunnydale and the bustle of LA. Dawn had really taken to horseback riding, but Buffy had enjoyed the shopping in London the most, although she had also been quite taken with the weapons collection at the Tower of London. Aside from their having to eat at Pizza Hut for lunch or dinner every day because of the girl's aversion to English food, things had went smoothly. He had been sorry to see the sisters get on the bus that would take them to the Chunnel and thus to France.
He hoped things would go as smoothly with his present company. He and Bettina Travers, widow the late Mr. Quentin Travers, had exchanged pleasantries during the first part of their tea time meeting, but now it was getting down to brass tacks.
"So how are things proceeding with the girls, Mr. Giles?" she asked. "The girls" was an expression used among Watchers for Potentials and Slayers.
"The young ladies we have made contact with so far are continuing with their training and we are making plans to relocate to the Cleveland Hellmouth."
"Fine. I'm still getting used to the fact that all the Potentials are Slayers now," Travers said. "In the past the Slayer, the Watchers, and various allies were sufficient to stave off the forces of darkness."
"Yes but the First was different that any kind of evil we had ever faced. Its quite likely the guardians of the Scythe knew we would eventually face it and forged their weapon with the express purpose of one day empowering all the Potentials. Perhaps the last guardian died before she could reveal that to Ms. Summers."
"If that's true, these guardians certainly put us to shame where long-rang planning is concerned," Travers said. "Dear Quentin would have had so much trouble adjusting to all this sudden change. He was a dedicated man, but very bound by tradition. Tell me, will you still be giving the Slayer her horrid 'birthday present?"
"Good lord, no."
"That is the thing that rankled me the most about the Watchers, but Quentin insisted we adhere to tradition. Much as it pains me to admit it, the time for change was overdue. I'm old and tired and out of touch with the girls. But you seem to have an idea of what the Watchers should be doing now. And you know the girls better than anyone that's left in the organization."
"I suppose I do," Giles said.
"I am going to muster what resources I have left and put them at your disposal, Giles. We could fight you, but we would lose and it would weaken the cause. Attitudes go in cycles and I'm sure not too far down the line one of your successors will wish to conform more to the old tradition of the Watchers. That is good enough for me."
"Well, umm, I'm not certain what to say about that."
"Don't say anything. Listen to the information I'm going to give you about the contact in Rome you asked for. I will also tell you how to access the Council's secret library, operating funds, and give you contact information for all living persons that have been connected with our organization in any meaningful way. Finally I will give you the name of a contact in America so secret that its never been written down."
Not for the first time, Giles was at a loss for words.
####
Mid July 2003 ad
Tours, France Sol III
Buffy had promised that she would show Dawn this wonderful world. So far Buffy had taken her to two other parts of the world, even if other people had ended up showing Dawn the sights. Right now they were walking along the banks of the Loire with the newest slay-gal, Giselle Villate-Autrives. Buffy had expected the new Slayer to be at least a little freaked to find out her new "savior of the universe" status. But Giselle had taken it in stride. Dawn had attributed it to "gallic stoicism," whatever the heck that was supposed to be.
Giselle was a slim sixteen year old girl with copper-colored hair. She and her family lived in the heart of Tours in an old hotel that was now subdivided into the apartments. Her family boarded students to make ends-meet, but the four story apartment's spare rooms were empty now because it was between terms, so Giselle and her mother Maude had insisted that Dawn and Buffy stay with them.
The French habit of a virtually non-existent breakfast and extremely light lunch took some getting used to, but the heavy, multi-course dinner made up for it. Even Buffy's appetite was satisfied and she gave in and let Dawn have wine with the meal. Giselle said she used to be in the habit of working off the calories from dinner with a walk along the river, but that area had gotten rough a few months ago.
Buffy asked a few pointed questions about the trouble along the Loire and it soon became clear a nest of vampires was working the area. Giselle was for all for going out to kill them right away, but Buffy made her wait. They found a practice space at the university gym and Buffy showed the new Slayer some moves. Giselle was untrained in fighting, but learned pretty fast. Buffy felt comfortable with letting Giselle back her up in the coming confrontation, especially since Dawn was there to back up the back up.
So a couple of nights later the three had eaten cous-cous followed with green tea at a Moroccan restaurant and then walked towards the river. They passed an old cathedral where several women in skimpy outfits were hanging around on the corners. "What are those women?" Dawn had asked.
"They are putains, how do you say, hookers," Giselle said.
Buffy put her arm around Dawn's shoulders and stepped up the pace. Later they crossed a broad two-lane street with a median. In one spot in the median, there were several cars parked around two small trucks with campers on the back. "What's happening there?" Dawn asked.
"More putains," Giselle said with a shrug.
Buffy knew France had decadent reputation, but this was ridiculous. Finally they came to the river and walked towards one of the reported vampire hangouts. Soon they saw a couple making out on a bench and several men lounging around a darkened park area. The dark haired man on the bench took his attention away from the girl, got up and walked towards Buffy. He seemed to be the leader and wore a red leather jacket and pants and had a cigarette dangling from his lip. "Vampires and leather," Buffy thought with a sigh.
"Hey guys," Buffy said in her chirpy voice. "You ever hear of 'Le Slayer?"
"Actually Buffy, its 'La Tueuse."
"Thanks Dawnie, now guys....."
Buffy was interrupted by rapid-fire French from the leader. Giselle shot back some more French. She sounded really pissed.
"You getting any of this," Buffy whispered to Dawn.
"Too fast for me," she answered.
Soon the argument came to a head and the leader tried to use a spinning kick on Buffy, but she dodged, caught his leg, and used it as a lever to fling him against a tree. The throw caused his tight leather pants to rip in the crotch.
"Opps," Buffy said as she punched another one and then staked him.
Out of the corner of her eye, Buffy saw Giselle and Dawn taking care of the vampire woman. Buffy saw the leader get up. Eww, he was hanging out of his pants. She rushed to dust him before Dawn could see. Buffy soon took care of the rest of the recently turned vampires.
"Very nice, Giselle, what was the argument about, anyway?"
"Rien, nothing I mean. I just said his kind wasn't welcome around here and he had a different opinion. Now the point is moot, for them at least. Let's go to a café. I could use some wine."
As she calculated reasons not to let Dawn have any more wine, Buffy was comforted by the thought that Giselle seemed to be coming along very nicely. If only the rest of the trip would go so well.
####
Mid July 2003 ad
Cleveland, Ohio Sol III
Whistler felt sorrow as he gazed upon the body of the warrior demon as it lay in state for the burial ceremony. He had been a powerful force for good, and not too shabby of a drinking buddy either. The demon had stopped several apocalypses, including one a couple of months ago, but sooner or later the law of averages said you were gonna get it.
This Hellmouth had lost its old guardian, but it had recently gained a new one. She didn't have much experience, but she was a fast learner. And she would soon be getting a lot of back-up. She would need it. He had places he needed to be and beings he needed to influence, so he tipped his pork-pie hat to his old friend one last time and left. With the Posleen coming, the scales needed a lot of tipping towards good.