Disclaimer: I own nothing of Tolkien's works, however all original characters and story concepts solely belong to me. The Grigori and all documented characters associated with them belong in the public domain. Any references to the original book, The Serpent and the Peacock are copyrighted to A Selby. Any references to the world created by Joss Whedon belong to him.

Author Note: As a reviewer has pointed out the first meeting between our group from the other two stories and Buffy and her people is a bit of a disaster and Buffy does come over as defensive, angry and prone to violence, but in her defence there is a lot of history between her, the Powers That Be and the establishment and most of it is not positive.

As explained in Dark Power Arising, The Slayer was the warrior of the people, the Champion of the Powers That Be (the good guys). However beings who are that powerful don't always see the smaller picture in the shape of the effect their decisions have on the lives and daily minutiae of the ordinary people caught in the firing line. To them the Slayer was a pawn...move her here where there is danger and let her get on with it...a few years later she dies at the hands of a vampire or a demon and another Slayer is called. She is expendable; a means to an end. To them her death was a inevitableevent in a whole chain of events and to this end, the Slayer herself was usually alone, without companions, family or emotional attachments to distract her.

The First Slayer, Sineya, had no family, no friends. She fought alone using the demon enhanced speed and abilities the original shamans gave her to overcome her enemies. Her life was one long round of violence until death overtook her and the next Slayer was called. Even later on when the Watcher's Council came into being and Slayers were given someone to train them, the most the Watcher did was teach fighting methods and record the Slayer's death. They did not become involved with their Slayers. I imagine this was because of the dangers inherent in getting emotionally involved with someone you knew was destined for a short life and a violent death at a very early age.

This all changed with Buffy. She had family, she had friends, she had a life. She ate, she shopped, she sneezed, she loved. She had a Watcher, first Merrick, then Giles, both of whom actually cared about her and who fought alongside her, as did her friends. The PTB made arbitrary decisions that impacted not just Buffy, but all of those people who were involved with her. She wasn't meant to have any other life than killing vamps and demons, but she bravely made a life for herself alongside her Slayer destiny which was constantly interrupted by the decisions made from above and which also resulted in the deaths of people close to her. So although Buffy worked for the PTB, she came to despise them for those decisions because she and her friends were the ones who had to deal with the aftermath.

So...when my story The Hellmouth begins, Buffy has managed to gain a lot of powerful ground after the battle with the First when the Sunnydale Hellmouth closed for business. She now heads a powerful organisation in which she calls the shots and is helped by her friends and the newly activated Slayers. She is no longer alone.

Of course her battles with both evil and the PTB have taken their toll on her emotionally and this is the situation into which Celeborn, Earendil and Osse accidentally fall. The young Potentials and the older Slayers are taught about demons, but like most of the very young, the girls (who are called sometimes as early as 11) are not prone to listening to the boring stuff. They have all this power inside them looking for an outlet and they want to fight because it's cool. Like most adolescents they are hot-wired bundles of explosive hormones. Like most adolescents they don't listen and they don't have the experience that Buffy, Faith, Kennedy, Vi and some of the original Potentials have developed over the years.

To Jocelyn when Giles lectures about demons what she actually hears is, "not human, blah blah blah...demon, blah blah blah". And remember that all Slayers have a sort of 'spider sense' that tells them when a being is not human. Her spider sense was set off by the inhuman Osse and Celeborn. She doesn't stop to remember Giles' teaching that not everything that isn't human is a demon. She has a knee jerk reaction and relays her fears and feelings back to Willow who had been searching for her telepathically and who is then given the wrong end of the stick which she relays to Buffy. Because Buffy knows that something nasty out there is rising and taking the young Slayers she subsequently has a knee jerk reaction. Hence her treatment of 'demons' Celeborn and Earendil.

Buffy is a tad arrogant, but her experiences down through the years have taught her that as the oldest and longest living Slayer she is actually the best at what she does, so her arrogance is warranted to some degree. She is also battle weary. She wants peace, she wants to live her life, but of course she can't because she has a destiny. Not one she chose, but one that was thrust upon her. She's never met any of the PTB who direct her life and of course she's likely to react very badly to any representative from the Timeless Halls and that, of course, includes Eönwë and Osse. Eönwë and the others from Valinor will have to earn her trust and of course she will have to earn theirs.

So there are likely to be a few misunderstandings and frayed nerves on all sides before they actually start to work with each other.

Giles indeed has a terrible track record in his form of Sauron. However, Eru knew what he was doing when he directed that Sauron aka Annatar aka Mairon became Rupert Giles and Buffy's Watcher. Giles has not had an easy ride with Buffy at all. He had to earn her trust at the beginning (remember that she was only 15 when he became her Watcher) and then throughout her training he was directed by the Watcher's Council to do a number of things which eroded that trust which he then had to earn all over again. He was put in a position where he had absolutely no powers whatsoever. In fact he was given a number of disadvantages.

He has suffered the loss of people he cared about, including a woman that he fell in love with (Jenny Calender). He fought alongside the Slayer against evil. He has been humbled, disempowered, turned into a mortal human and has had to build himself back up. He's had to deal with hormonal teenagers, a angry resentful and frightened mother (Joyce, Buffy's Mom), his own emotions, a nasty boss (Principal Snyder), a Watcher's Council who thought he was a useless Watcher and who sacked him and a mayor who turned into a huge demon snake. He's been through the mill. Through it all he's been the gentle, tower of strength and the father that Buffy and indeed Willow, Xander, Dawn had never had. He has been brought down to nothing and then risen up through the fire to become something entirely different and completely removed from the Maia who served Aule and then Melkor and then the scourge of Middle-earth.

Events have moved on since I wrote the above. Giles has made his supreme sacrifice and has been rewarded by Eru and the Valar with redemption. He is now no longer mortal or human, but has been reinstated as a Maiar, although he has decided to keep the name of Rupert Giles. He has subsequently been sent back down to carry on supporting the Slayer and the rest of her people. Just a note, Earendil was not present at Giles's trial, judgement or reinstatement, neither was Elwing. So Earendil does not immediately recognise Giles for who and what he is. Celeborn however was there and does recognise him.

ooOoo

"I have the advantage of knowing your habits, my dear Watson," said he. "When your round is a short one you walk, and when it is a long one you use a hansom. As I perceive that your boots, although used, are by no means dirty, I cannot doubt that you are at present busy enough to justify the hansom."
"Excellent!" I cried.
"Elementary," said he."It is one of those instances where the reasoner can produce an effect which seems remarkable to his neighbour, because the latter has missed the one little point which is the basis of the deduction. The same may be said, my dear fellow, for the effect of some of these little sketches of yours, which is entirely meretricious, depending as it does upon your retaining in your own hands some factors in the problem which are never imparted to the reader. "

- The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1893),Watson and Holmes in "The Crooked Man" (Doubleday p. 412)

The Hellmouth

Chapter 3 - Elementary My Dear Finrod

Police Headquarters, London...

Detective Sergeant Finrod Arafinwion idly surfed through the recent reports on HOLMES2, the system predominantly used by United Kingdom Police forces for the investigation of major incidents such as serial murders and multi-million pound frauds. He was, as it happened, looking for something specific to do with the case he and the team were currently part of...a major financial fraud case involving top City bankers and a couple of minor Members of Parliament. It was that alone which made it a major case and Alun Davies' team had been drafted in to add their expertise. It was, as Jim Moore put it so eloquently, a huge yawn of a case and Finrod had to admit that, for his first case back on the job after returning from leave in Valinor, Jim wasn't wrong.

Ah well, at least the regimented old style sleuthing meant that he could leave at five in the evening and join Amarie at the Herald's house in Hampshire where they now resided along with Haldir, his newly arrived brother Orophin, Elrond, who was just about to take off back to Moria and rejoin Thranduil and Glorfindel on Seth Falconer's security team, Celebrian, Nerdanel, Maedhros and the not so astonishing presence of Jan Hall. A very pleased Lord Manwe and Lady Varda had presided over Maedhros and Jan's official betrothal only a few months earlier in front of a beaming crowd including Maglor and Celebrimbor and Jan's Auntie and Uncle, her only living relatives, who went through the whole thing in an overawed daze.

The subsequent promotion of Eönwë to Major-General and him taking over the post of General Officer Commanding 4 Division from the incumbent, General Sheldon meant that he and Kim had to move into the General Officer Commanding 4 Division's official residence, Wellington House, (1) which was situated smack bang in the middle of Aldershot Garrison in Hampshire, just outside of the actual town of Aldershot, known to some as 'not quite the asshole of the world, but you can certainly see it from there'.

Kim hated the large old fashioned rambling house with a passion and was grieved to leave her own home, but it was what was expected of them. She grumbled because Allie had to attend the local garrison nursery with all the other military anklesnappers, as Eönwë's Chief of Staff Colonel Roland cheerfully referred to it, and was only slightly mollified at having Chief Knowles's wife and the Chief of Staff's wife Joyce nearby to talk to. Chief Knowles was still the Staff Assistant at the headquarters, but now had special duties that meant he worked closely with the new General...namely Gary Matthews or Eönwë to those who knew him better.

However, Kim settled in with a reasonably good grace and Erestor had gone with them to help run the General's residence. Although security was seen to by the Royal Military Police and a contingent of guards from the local barracks who took in a route which included the General's residence on their usual nightly stag, Orophin was also going over to the house to provide some personal security along with Maksim, the vampire, now ensouled. Both Orophin and Maksim would move into the General's official residence.

They had all now seen Lord Manwe and Lady Varda off back to Valinor after a good year's visit during which Almare had been spoiled to death and the birth of Kim and Eönwë's son Daeron, who had been born almost a year to the day of the battle in Moria and who now now a rumbustious toddler deep in the middle of the Terrible Twos and the bane of his now six year old sister Almare's life. Not to mention the bane of his parent's lives. All was quiet for the time being and life rumbled on with few complications other than extreme exhaustion for the Herald and his wife.

Yes. Finrod mused as his gaze flicked swiftly over crime reports and requests for information in amongst descriptions of suspects on HOLMES2. Everything's quiet on the western front...must be time for another major evil happening or something.

He was more than happy for something evil to turn up and at least give them something besides fraud, common or garden burglaries, assaults and the like to get their teeth into. Even a good serial killing would be better than nothing...he stopped dead in his perusal of the reports and sucked in a deep breath, not so much for the fact that he couldn't believe he was actually wishing for a serial murderer to pop out of the woodwork; or even for the police report of a murder way up in the wilds of Northern Scotland...a particularly brutal murder which had taken place in a cemetery in the small town of Loch Mairie.

No... it was the photograph of a prime suspect in the murder case that made Finrod Felagund's eyes nearly start out of his head like chapel hat pegs.

He reached for the phone and swiftly dialled Eönwë's private line, hoping to Eru and all the angels in the Timeless Halls that the Herald would be in his office at that time of day.

His luck was in, the voice that answered was that of Eönwë and not his Military Personal Assistant.

"Eönwë." Finrod tried to keep the excitement and disbelief out of his voice. "You're never going to guess whose face I've got staring out at me in a mugshot."

ooOoo

The Loch Mairie Police Station in the North West of Scotland...

"Still no' talking is he?" The Chief Superintendent of the Scottish police in the area of Loch Mairie had arrived from a meeting in Edinburgh. He jerked a thumb towards the plain black metal door with small grill where the alleged murderer of one Robert Logan, caretaker of the Loch Mairie cemetery, now resided in solitary splendour, well dressed in a dark blue jumpsuit that was far too short for him in both arms and legs and far too large around the middle.

The Detective Chief Inspector of the local Loch Mairie police managed to extrapolate the Chief Super's actual meaning from the garbled construction of his sentence. shook his head and managed a fairly garbled reply of his own in a deep Scottish burr.

"Aye...he's no' talkin' tae nae one."

The miracle of the double negative had obviously not been hammered home to either of them in school but since both knew exactly what the other was trying to say it hardly mattered.

"No papers, no identification of any kind?" The Chief Super thumbed through the abysmally slim folder. "And not much evidence other than the fact that he was caught going through the sewers? No weapon of any kind? Precious little tae go on in here. Does he give a name by any chance?" Weapon was pronounced 'weepon'.

The DCI blanched at the barrage of questions and silently pointed to the front cover of the folder.

"O S S E." The Chief Super spelled it out and then looked up, grey eyebrows drawn together in a fierce scowl. "What kind of bluddy name is that? No last name?"

The DCI shrugged. "He says he dis'nea have a last name. Just Osse." He pronounced the name as Orssy.

"Well okay then...have you...er...interviewed our Mr...er...Orssy yet?"

The DCI shook his head. "No sir, we have'nae, we were thinkin' you might like tae dae that seeing as he's a bit..weell...unusual." He pronounced the last word as if he was describing some exotic, completely unknown creature.

"Looks like any typical long haired lout tae me laddie." The Chief Super squinted at the mugshot. "Aye well, I'm guessing you've already put this out on HOLMES?"

The Detective Chief Inspector immediately latched onto the one positive aspect of the whole sorry affair.

"Aye that we have." He answered eagerly. "We've also sent his clothes down tae the SOCO people in Aberdeen for them tae process. His fingerprints aren't on file. No priors, but then we have'nae been able tae establish a proper identification for him tae see if he has committed any other crimes somewhere else. No fixed abode. When we asked him where he came from he just said over in the West."

The Chief Super perked up at this. "In the West...you mean over the sea in the West?"

The DCI sighed deeply, they were back in the realms of 'I don't know Sir.' again. "Aye, that's what he said...over the sea tae the West."

"There you are then. He's a bluddy American." The Chief Super declared triumphantly, "Probably from New York or some such place."

The DCI was about to mention that the prisoner didn't sound American and that he had no reason to travel from New York just to murder a cemetery caretaker in the wilds of Scotland, but decided better of it. The Chief Super would soon see for himself. He didn't envy the senior officer facing this strange very tall, awfully nice to look at creature who looked alternately bored and amused when anyone spoke to him and whose eyes could freeze your bollocks right off from in between your legs.

As they walked down to the interview room the DCI bent over to the Desk Sergeant. "Better have a wee dram ready for the Super when he comes out, ye ken?"

The Desk Sergeant, a large burly man with a large ginger handlebar mustache snickered and nodded. He reached for the keys to the storeroom.

ooOoo

A large manor house some five miles from the cemetery...

Earendil looked at the apologetic, unassuming looking man with the kindly blue eyes and understated manner of dress and tried to equate everything he had ever heard or known about the infamous Dark Lord Sauron with what he was seeing. Surely Celeborn wasn't referring to this man?

"Sauron?" He finally said, his confusion was evident in his tone and his face.

Celeborn sipped the water that Willow handed to him and looked at the white tablets she held out with some suspicion.

"They're just ordinary painkillers." Willow smiled encouragingly at him. "I don't want to give you anything stronger in case of concussion."

Celeborn nodded wearily and swallowed the two headache pills down with some of the water, then he leaned back in the chair and watched the Maia who had been Sauron fend off the girl called Buffy's fairly indignant argument with patient dry humour. The last time he had seen Sauron was in Máhanaxar when he had been granted redemption. Celeborn had not been convinced then, but watching Buffy and having suffered under her not so gentle methods of interrogation, he was beginning to see why the Valar had done what they did. She was obviously quite unbalanced mentally and anybody dealing with her would deserve a medal. His head was aching far too much to listen to the bulk of the argument which was being held in stage whispers, but he got the gist of the fact that Sauron...no...Giles was busy mildly chastising the girl called Buffy for taking actions without telling anyone.

"I did tell someone" Buffy's voice rose again and Celeborn winced at the slightly strident note in her voice. "I so told a whole lot of people...people who go out there on a daily basis and risk their lives to patrol while demons crawl out of the bloody woodwork at them...oh for god's sake...now I'm channelling you. Or Spike."

Faith and the red-haired girl who was called Willow and who looked vaguely familiar to Celeborn both snickered. Their snickering grew louder when Giles took his glasses off and started cleaning them furiously.

"Be that as it may Buffy, you didn't tell me that we had apprehended anyone. Perhaps if you had, I could have saved everyone a lot of bother and Lord Celeborn a lot of pain."

Buffy turned around and glared at Celeborn and Earendil. "Oh...yeah...and while we're talking about that...which...I know we weren't, but... you know...need to know and I need to know; who the hell is Sourplum and what does he have to do with you?"

"Sauron." Giles, Celeborn and Earendil all automatically chorused at the same time.

Buffy scowled and she made a dismissive gesture with her hand. "Whatever....Sourplum, Sour-rum...what the hell difference does it make? Who is he and why did blondie over there call you that?"

Blondie? A highly affronted Celeborn mouthed at Earendil who stifled the chuckle that rose to his lips with great difficulty.

Giles didn't answer immediately. A distinctly uncomfortable expression flitted across his face and he resumed cleaning the glasses until Faith firmly took them off him.

"Yo... G-Man...you clean them any more and they're gonna disappear completely. B does have a point you know. He definitely called you...that name...and you do seem to know who they are. You tell us they aren't demons and I agree that they don't feel like demons, but a little explanation, ya know...would go a long way." She carefully propped the pristinely clean glasses back on Giles's nose and then stood back critically with her head on one side. "Yeah, now they look damn fine to me."

Giles huffed a sigh and then allowed a small grin to turn the corners of his mouth up. "Thank you Faith. I am truly not sure what I would do without you." His tone was mildly sarcastic.

Faith sniggered and Giles put a hand out to Buffy who stared down at it, but made no attempt to take it at first.

"Buffy?" There was an ever-so-slight note of pleading in his voice. "I am happy to explain as much as I can to you, but I think perhaps that we need to do it somewhere a little more comfortable. I am sure that Earendil and Celeborn would appreciate getting cleaned up and perhaps some food. Once they've eaten and feel more refreshed we will re-convene in the library and I will tell you everything."

Buffy stood for a moment, still scowling deeply, but then slowly her expression cleared and she smiled at Giles. In that moment both Celeborn and Earendil saw a magical transformation from a terrifying female warrior capable of great harm to a small, slim girl with golden hair and a bright smile and a affectionate expression in her hazel-green eyes when she looked at her mentor.

"Okay...if you put it like that, I guess I can hardly say no. I guess they're not really any threat." She still managed to inject a small grumble into her tone at which Giles just smiled. "But I still think they need to be guarded...just in case. Just until I get a good explanation of all of this and why they..." She pointed at Celeborn and Earendil. "...were down in the sewers...and also what happened to their friend who ran off. In my experience people who run off have something to hide."

Celeborn made a strangled sound at that juncture which made Buffy turn to him, both hands on hips and a question in her eyes. "And...we have a counterpoint?"

Celeborn opened his mouth, Giles took in a deep breath and prepared to rush in, just in case, to smooth things over again, but it was Earendil who managed to silence the silver-haired Elf Lord before he put one shapely Eldar foot in his mouth. He surreptitiously kicked Celeborn on his ankle to which the Elf Lord instantly glared at him, but Earendil shook his head in warning. Celeborn sighed, reluctantly took Earendil's point and subsided, although the expression on his face was mutinous to say the least.

"No indeed." Earendil assured Buffy hastily. "I can assure you that getting cleaned up and something to eat would be most welcome...I thank you...for both of us. And of course we will explain everything that we know to you...willingly."

Buffy looked slightly mollified and Giles slowly let out the breath he was holding in. He smiled at Earendil in relief. "Well then, if that's settled, perhaps Willow, you and Faith could show our guests where they can refresh themselves and Buffy and I will go and organise food?"

Buffy pouted. "I'm not cooking anything...me and cooking are very un-mixy things." She said as she left the room, trailing behind Giles. "Of course, if you want somebody poisoned..I'm your gal. Dawn won't let me cook anything any more, she says that my food is lethal..."

Celeborn and Earendil exchanged speaking glances, but the dark haired Faith gestured for them to precede her out of the room before either could say anything.

"After you guys. Willow will lead the way."

As they walked along a wide, half wood panelled corridor Willow suddenly turned to Earendil and Celeborn.

"Hey." She smiled at thembrightly. "Do I... like...know you guys from somewhere? You look really familiar."

ooOoo

The General's Residence, Aldershot, Hampshire, England...

"Well it certainly looks like Osse, but what the hell is he doing here and in custody for murder for Eru's sake?"

Eönwë's face was a study in bewildered astonishment and unfortunately neither Jim nor Finrod could actually enlighten him any more than the printout of the police report they had handed to him. The Herald perused the report thoroughly and then put it down on his desk with a deep sigh. He dragged his hands through his already very short hair in exasperation.

"How easy would it be for you to involve yourself in this? Does Alun know yet?"

Finrod shook his head. "He doesn't know because he isn't back from leave yet. He doesn't come back to work until tomorrow. Jim and I thought it important enough to bring to you. I truly thought I was seeing things. We can check with Alun about getting involved when he gets in tomorrow morning. I'm sure it won't hurt Lord Osse to spend one night in a police cell. He could probably break out any time he wanted so I assume he's just waiting there for a reason. I just have one question though." Eönwë raised a querying eyebrow at him. "And that is...have you managed to contact any of the Valar or anyone over in Valinor in the past couple of weeks?"

Eönwë frowned. It occurred to him that it had been some time since he had communed with Valinor, but put it down to being busy taking over a new, very important role and the chaos that was a permanent aspect of his personal life now, what with two small children and all.

"I must admit I haven't" He said finally. He got up and went to the window, Jim and Finrod saw his eyes silver over, a clear indication that he was communing with the Valar. They sat patiently for a good ten minutes, but when Eönwë's eyes turned their normal dark blue, they saw that he was deeply concerned.

"I can't reach anyone." The Herald's tone sounded definitely more than just concerned. In fact Finrod knew for a fact that Eönwë was deeply worried and not a little bit distressed.

"I can't hear or reach anyone at all."

ooOoo

(1) Wellington House is just my name for the General Officer Commanding 4 Division's official residence. This is not to be confused with the real Wellington House which is a modern set of buildings in Aldershot Garrison that has accommodation for the military.

NB: HOLMES2 is the latest version of the police database which is commonly used in police stations and headquarters across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. There is no real direct co-relation to Sherlock Holmes the fictional detective, but it's more than likely that the name is a deliberate tip of the hat to him.