Six and a half hours later they landed at Heathrow, Willow none the better for the experience. Screaming babies, snarky flight attendants, being next to an oblivious Buffy and surrounded by eavesdropping ears preventing the cessation of said obliviousness; what wasn't there to enjoy?
"Did you have a good flight, Willow?" Giles asked when he met them at the terminal.
Does Mile High Club count if you just masturbate in the toilet? No? Then I had a crappy flight. "The flight was great. They were showing Mr. Bean."
"Mmmm, yes," Giles responded, not looking up from his cardboard cuppa. "Rowan Atkinson is a fine comedian, though I always have prefered him in Blackadder. We'll wait for Buffy to return from the ladies' room then we'll get underway.
And they got away in style, Giles having procured a bulletproof white limo somehow for Council use. "Recent events have proven that our enemies have finally started to embrace technology," he explained, as the three of them rode in posh style down the M25.
"Would this be the bomb that blew up the old Council building or are we talking new new events?" asked Buffy, stretching out liesurely on the wide bench seat. Did she have to do that? It wasn't fair that those suggestive motions had been fruitless on Buffy, but were driving Willow nuts.
"A little of both, I'm afraid," stated Giles. "We'll speak more on this once we reach the headquarters building. Indeed, this is part of the reason why I have asked you here in the first place. While any opportunity to renew old acquaintances is enjoyable, the social call will have to wait, unfortunately."
Did they know just how miserable she was? When you're feeling something that strongly, it really shows on your face. But they were pretty much ignoring her right then. The bastards.
"Drop us off at the back door, if you please, Jeeves," instructed Giles as the limo decended from the motorway to the busy streets of the London outskirts. Soon enough they were deposited outside a grand, stately building and Willow felt the magical defenses deep inside her body, icy chills shuddering her bones. She also noted the multitude of security cameras and the high spear-point topped wrought iron electrified fence. "There are also pressure sensors scattered throughout the lawn, an invisible wall encircling the building halfway between the fence and shrubberies, guard dogs, an anti-sapper screen underground, a robotic Richard Simmons." They stared at him. "I'm joking about that last one, of course."
Giles led them to an underground conference room where the three of them sat down at a large meeting table. Giles punched a few buttons in front of his seat and a Powerpoint presentation blinked to life. "This is the wizard Ellis," the screen showed an unassuming skinny man in a suit with fluffy '70s style hair. "For some time we have known him as a mage of some power, but over the past few months he has gathered a force of demonic and human mercenaries to cause civil strife in the British Isles. We believe that he hopes to use the resulting public hysteria to infiltrate several important organizations and as a distraction to purloin certain objects of power with which he can increase his ability. Currently he is marshalling his forces at this location," the picture changed to a schematic map of a hill near Birmingham just outside of the small town of Lichfield. I need our two best people to neutralize this force. Any questions?"
"What kind of a name for a wizard is Ellis, anyway?" asked Buffy.
"It's Ellis's name. Michael Ellis is his full name. He's been quite the adventure tracking down. Many times over the past month we had thought to have him located only to discover that we had in fact accosted an altogether different man. It's quite embarrasing, to tell the truth."
"That's somewhat ironic," Willow said. "So what's the plan? Who's going in?"
"The cave mouth and surrounding area are regularly patrolled, so we will have more success with as small a team as possible. That is why you and Buffy will be the ones to infiltrate Ellis' base of operations. You will go at nightfall. We won't be sending any other slayers."
Willow's heart rate picked up. A dangerous mission, in close quarters, in the dark, in the romantic English countryside, alone, with Buffy. This could be just the thing to finally have her relationship jump the roadblock. She started to fantasize about a similar situation to the one that led to Xander/Cordy dangersex. Ooh! She just thought of something. She could let herself get injured - not badly - but enough so that Buffy would want to take care of her. Or better yet, what if Buffy got injured! Then she would have to let her best friend Willow take care of her, and that could lead to all sorts of sexy nursing situations and maybe (with some luck) the Florence Nightingale Effect... This could be great. Just the two of them against the evil.
"So," Giles continued, "you will proceed from the south, evading patrols as you go. You and Buffy and Andrew."
DAMMIT!!!!!!!!