After speaking to Giles on the subject, Buffy had approached the Watchers Council, and not only been able to upgrade the rooms that the others were accommodated in, but had managed to convince them to pay for a suite of rooms for the whole gang to share. They were assembled there now, when a knock on the door heralded the arrival of the Watcher's Council. Of all of them, only Giles had some idea of what to expect but even he was nervous of meeting the mysterious figures behind the Slayers. Buffy looked around at the others then shrugged and headed for the door.
"Hello." She said as she opened the door. "Come in." She stared as two men and a woman walked past her. The other members of the Scooby Gang stood and faced the newcomers. Willow wiped her hands nervously on her skirt and Anya shifted from foot to foot as she told herself that they couldn't possibly know who she was. Giles stared at the carpet rather than look his former employers in the face and Xander walked up to them and offered his hand.
"Hi! I'm Xander, and may I just say that it is a pleasure to finally be able to meet you." They ignored him. "Oh-kay then! So glad we had this meaningful chat." His hand gradually came back down to his side and he moved away, a little hurt by the encounter and feeling somehow less of a man.
The older man turned to Buffy. "Is it really necessary for them to be here?" He indicated the others with a nod of his silver-haired head.
"Yes." Said Buffy, going into her defensive mode. "They're my friends, I couldn't leave them out of the loop like that!"
"What Mr. Woolston means is, you, as the Slayer, should not have the outside distractions of…friends. The woman said. "Especially now, when you will be fighting perhaps the…"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Buffy said. "You're telling me, because I'm a Slayer I can't have any friends? Well, excuse me! Last time I checked, I didn't even work for you any more! I'm doing you a favour and all you can think about is the fact my friends came to support me? I'm sorry, no! All my friends here have saved my life at one point or another. I'm one of the longest living Slayers thanks to them! And they all come with individual talents. We. Are. A. Team. You don't just get me, or Giles, or Willow. We come as a package. Now I'm sorry of you can't understand that, because you're the ones losing out." Buffy sat down abruptly. "Now sit down and tell us where we're going because I for one am willing to turn around and go right back to Sunnydale now. It's not as if we're not needed there." The Slayerettes sat down near Buffy as the Watchers looked at one another then sat down at the opposite end of the table.
Anya sat as close to Xander as possible with actually sitting in his lap. "Buffy didn't mention me." She whispered to him. "Do you think that they noticed that I'm not part of the team?" She asked. "What if they find out I was a demon?" She continued, starting to panic now. "Would they tell Buffy she had to kill me? She wouldn't do it, right? Or would she? I mean I'm not part of the team, am I?"
"Anya!" Xander interrupted with a harsh whisper as he noticed that the Watchers were getting ready to speak. "Calm down. Buffy didn't mention me either." He pointed out.
Anya frowned. "She didn't, did she?" She whispered to herself. "That bitch."
"I am Gloria Clarke" The woman gestured to the older man the to the other member of the trio. "This is David Woolston and this is Gregory Morey. We are senior members of the Watcher's Council. We decide where the Watchers and Slayers are assigned."
"Willow."
"Anya."
"Xander."
Buffy, noticing how uncomfortable Giles looked, spoke up. "And I'm Buffy and you know Giles. So down to business."
Gloria Clarke took up the narrative once again. "It has recently come to our attention that there is a large…"
"Disturbance in the force." Butted in Xander
"Problem arising in Cornwall. St. Treharne to be exact." The woman continued.