Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea for the story. No profit made. All characters are owned by their owners, not me.
Author: Me, pen-name: flileytothemoon
Feedback: please! With a side order of yes please!
Season: 3
Spoilers: Up to Consequences (S3, ep15), AUs from there.
Pairing(s): Buffy/Faith & allusions to Faith/Xander and Buffy/Angel
Content codes: FF, rom, angst,
Chapter 3: Doppel, Doppel, toil and trouble… (part II)
"So good to see the fitness standards for the Watchers have not been allowed to slip since I was your age…" Giles drawled, to the extent a British accent can drawl.
"Very, funny, but…have vital…information…hence my desire to relay it with haste that we may act upon it." Wesley finished, having regained his breath.
"This would be?"
"Faith may not have been entirely forthright in her account of the events surrounding the deputy Mayor's death."
"Meaning?" Giles queried, his curiosity piqued, gesturing for the insipid junior watcher to continue.
"Meaning, that we may have been lied to by our charges!"
"That I figured out by your preceding statement, you nitwit. What new information do you have that led you to this conclusion and how reliable is your source?"
"I have a source in the Mayor's office, who was able to relay to me, at great personal risk, that the Mayor suspects Faith and Buffy are involved in his murder. That the Mayor further suspects his deputy of intending to betray him to us, and that the 2 slayers may have prevented this, for reasons he, I mean my source, does not know."
"Why would Buffy and Faith want to murder the Deputy Mayor if he was going to switch sides?"
"Maybe Buffy and Faith are in league with the Mayor? Perhaps, the fatigue of nightly patrols and the prospect of nothing more than an early grave in their future has driven them to the brink of madness where this might seem preferable? Maybe this was a test of their loyalty to the Mayor?"
"Are you mad? I may not know Faith that well but I have known Buffy for almost 3 years, and I will not believe that she would suddenly turn her back on this calling. She has had every opportunity in the past and has never shirked. Her first love tried ending the world. Her mom threw her out. And later tried burning her and her best friend at the stake. I have drugged her for the Cruciamentum. Which is part of why you are now here. And yet she never shirked her duty. And Faith's approach may differ markedly, but there is no denying her enthusiasm for her calling."
"Yes, your parental care for your charge, well, as I am unencumberered by such unhealthy attachments, and am the official Watcher in charge of both slayers, it is my decision that is the one that ultimately matters, I was simply counselling with you as you have more experience in the field, though I am not without experience," at this, Giles snorted derisively "yes well, regardless of what you think of me, what you think is ultimately of little import, as I said, I am the Watcher of record, and was simply here to inform you that the Council has dispatched a team of agents to study the Slayers and make recommendations, should you attempt to interfere in any way or warn the Slayers, this time, having already been sacked, you will be dealt with differently, namely as an enemy. This was your one and only warning. DO NOT interfere with official Council business, it is no longer your concern, you are now simply a librarian, do that, do it well, do it poorly, I care not, I am here to represent the interests of the Watcher's Council." With that Wesley walked out.
Giles was gobsmacked. What had happened to these people he had sworn oath to and with?
Later that night and unaware of what had happened between the 2 watchers, Buffy was still looking for Willow when finally she had found her, from descriptions from people, and from a couple of demons she'd beaten information out of. Strange though, apparently she was at the Bronze, but not being Willow, being, well, still Willow, but a VERY different Willow. She finally got a call from Oz, who she'd had an actual conversation with earlier in the day, after leaving the library. He had pointed out that Buffy had been spending a lot of time with Faith and that Will was concerned that Faith was taking over as Buffy's best friend. Of course, Oz being Oz, it was much more concise, and the silences between what he said somehow said more than what he said did. The only other person she knew who could do that was Angel, but Oz was, what 20? Maybe 21? No way he should be that good at that for another 200 years or so like Angel, right? Or maybe Angel had been like Oz as a human? That would have to wait as she was now outside the Bronze, but something was off, well several were in fact, starting with 1) no line-up outside, and 2) the regular doorman wasn't there. In fact it wasn't even a doorman, but rather a vampire, kinda nervous-looking vamp to be exact. And that hushed, hurried call had brought her here. "Willow's at the Bronze, get here. NOW." The urgent tone of the last word and the call as a whole, almost a week's quota of words from Oz in one call, A month's worth, counting the chat earlier. Now she was trying to figure out what to do. And where was Faith? She'd called her fellow slayer, but Faith was oddly non-committal about coming to help.