CHAPTER SIX:

He means well…

Buffy and Willow were talking as they walked into the school library. Their particular conversation was to do with everyday school and teenager issues, but the mood and topic of conversation changed quickly when they saw Giles and Wesley. Buffy caught a glimpse of Giles's face as he was talking with Wesley—it didn't look good.

The two teens made their way to the table and took a seat. Cordelia was already seated there, she'd been spending a lot more time in the library since Wesley had arrived on the scene.

Willow leaned in closer to Cordelia, "What's going on?"

"Don't know… They were like this when I got here." Cordelia replied in a low whisper.

The quietness of the library was broken as Xander and Oz walked into the library. They were talking loudly and this seemed to break Wesley and Giles out of their conversation and finally take notice that everyone was gathered—mostly everybody.

Wesley took another look around, "Where's Faith?"

All the teenagers shrugged. Buffy replied to the question, "Don't know… Haven't seen her since last night's patrol."

"Probably just waking up from a hard night of partying and slutting around…" Cordelia mumbled under her breath.

Buffy and Xander both heard Cordelia's mutterings. They both looked at her, each for different reasons. Buffy knew that Faith liked to live "for the moment" and live on the edge, but then the life expectancy of a Slayer was short, so Buffy had been willing to cut her some slack until recently.

Xander's reasons were different and of a more personal nature. Faith had taken it upon herself to "deflower" him not too long ago and he had a soft spot for her. He didn't take Cordelia's comments kindly, being lumped in with the rest of Faith's sexual habits and history.

Willow and Oz, both missed Cordelia's snide mutterings as they were too busy chatting with each other.

Wesley continued speaking, "Well when you do see her, make sure that you bring her up to speed on what I am going to brief you on."

Buffy nodded her understanding, but she took a quick glance at Giles and she noted that he was not happy with whatever Wesley and he were discussing when she came in. She made a note to corner Giles later to find out what was going on.

She let out an inner sigh, to say that the last couple of weeks had been hectic would be an understatement. The list of problems was long and complicated…

The Mayor was planning to ascend to become some sort of a demon and mostly likely kill everyone and they had no info on it … Faith had killed the deputy Mayor … Xander and Faith had slept together … Angel and her were having relationship issues … Willow had met her lesbian vampire doppelganger from an alternate reality … Giles was no longer a Watcher and on top of all this graduation was coming up. There was so much going on that sometimes Buffy felt that she needed a program guide to keep track of everything and everyone involved.

Wesley's talking shook Buffy out of her thoughts, "…the Watchers' Council has no information about the 'creature' you and Faith encountered several nights ago. The description you both provided did not match with anything in the council's records."

"Is there anything they can tell us?" Buffy asked somewhat sarcastically as she was still pissed off with the council for firing Giles and the Cruciamentum. It didn't help that the esteemed Watcher's Council had sent Wesley to be her and Faith's new Watcher. If it hadn't been for Giles, she would have walked away from them—chosen one or not.

Wesley ignored the jib and continued on, "The council believes that what you encountered was either a robot or some sort of cyborg. Though it appears to be more highly advanced from anything that has ever been theorized or developed… if your descriptions were accurate of its behavior and movement."

Buffy ignored Wesley's condescending tone in the last part of his statement, but she saw Giles roll his eyes at the slight.

While this was going on, Xander leaned in closer to Willow and Oz whispering, "Great… We now have to worry about the Borg coming to get us."

"That's cyborg… Mister StupidPants… Big difference." Willow replied back in her own whisper.

"Hopefully resistance is not futile…" Oz added dryly.

Cordelia just shook her head at the verbal sparring, "Stupid Star Wars geeks" she said in a slightly louder tone.

This brought amused stares from Xander, Willow and Oz.

"Why did you date her?" Willow asked sarcastically looking at Xander.

"Ahem!" Giles said clearing his throat to get everyone's focus back on the matters at hand.

Wesley glared at Giles for the interruption that distracted him as he was getting to the good part of his briefing, "Where was I? Ah…yes… This robot… I take it that there have been no more sightings in Sunnydale of this… ah… creature."

Buffy started to reply, "Nothing since our first close encounter, which means—"

Wesley spoke interrupting her, "…Either the creature has left Sunnydale or as you would say it is 'laying low'. I don't think we have anything to worry about from this robot… Do we?"

Giles heard Wesley's statement and all he could do was shake his head while holding the bridge of his nose and let out a small sigh.

Wesley either didn't see Giles's response or chose to ignore it as he continued speaking, "Now on to the next item on our agenda… The Mayor and his ascension… Please remember to bring Faith up to speed when you see her."

oOoOo

As Wesley was conducting his meeting, the two people that were topics of his discussion were holding their own meeting to discuss events. Faith was in the Mayor's office, once again making herself comfortable in one of his chairs. She was feeling tired from another night of doing jobs for the Mayor and partying afterwards. Wilkins was busy reviewing some city business, the wheels of the system needed to continue turning—at least until the ascension. Then things would be much different.

He took a break from his work and looked at Faith, "I want to thank you for your work last night. My package was delivered with no interference. Any problems with Buffy or the others?"

Faith shrugged, "No problems… I got Buffy to patrol the other side of town… We found a nest of vampires and we dusted them."

A small frown came to his face, "I hope it wasn't any vampires that we know… It is so hard to get good help these days."

"You've got me on the payroll… Why do you need them?"

"You know the saying… Many hands make light work… Plus you can't be in multiple places at the same time." the Mayor said with a slight parental tone.

Faith shrugged brushing off the comment.

"There was one thing though… Last night Buffy and I ran into a demon… He was babbling about some 'Books of Ascension'." Faith added.

Wilkins's eyebrows arched up and she now had his full attention, "Anything else? Did the demon mention anything else?" he asked impatiently.

"Not much except that he wanted five grand for the books… Who would pay that much for some old books?" Faith said with a smirk.

The Mayor tried to contain his excitement, "This is very important… I need you to find that demon and recover those books."

"No problem… Whatever you need… I'm your Slayer." Faith responded smiling.

Wilkins smiled at her enthusiasm, "That's good to hear. I knew that I could count on you."

"What about this demon? How do you want me to handle it?

A harsh smile came to his face, "Do what you do best."

A similar smile came to Faith's face along with a predator's gleam in her eyes.

Wilkins felt that things were in hand that he changed topics, "So what's the latest news from the other camp?"

"Nothing new… They are still trying to gather more info about you and the ascension… There is a meeting going on now at the school."

A look of concern came to Wilkins's face, "Why aren't you there right now? This is important!"

Faith shrugged off the comment, "I got it covered… Wesley always makes sure that Buffy, Giles or himself brings me up to date on any info… Plus if I start showing up on time to all the meetings and start acting like a keener they might get suspicious that something is going on…"

"…I have a reputation to up hold." Faith added with a smirk.

The Mayor again switched into his parental tone emphasizing the seriousness and importance, "My dear you may have a reputation, but it cannot interfere with what I am doing here… This is too important and I have worked and sacrificed too much for too long to have it slip from my grasp in these final days. Do you understand?"

Faith heard the tone that the Mayor was using and she nodded her understanding.

The Mayor smiled at Faith, "I'm glad to see that."

He continued, "We need to discuss how we are going to deal with our two biggest threats… Buffy and Angel.

Faith smiled again with that predator's gleam in her eyes, "I've got an idea on how to deal with Angel and if it works out then it should also deal with Buffy."

"Excellent! The old two birds with one stone… Well it's your plan, so I will leave it in your capable hands…" Wilkins replied with a proud tone in his voice.

Faith beamed at the encouragement she got from the Mayor.

Almost as an afterthought the Mayor spoke again, "Any news on that 'robot' you encountered several nights ago?"

"Nada… Zip…" Faith shrugged.

Wilkins frowned, "I've heard nothing else from my sources… Something stronger than a Slayer and it vanishes… This could be trouble."

"Like I said… The robot was probably a coward and has run home to hide." Faith replied.

The Mayor contemplated the problem and shrugged. He could only worry about the problems he could see and handle.

He decided to switch topics, "How is the new apartment working out for you?"

This brought a happy smile to Faith's face, "Its wicked cool… It's all nice and cozy. Probably one of the best places I've ever lived in."

Faith's response actually brought an almost fatherly smile to Wilkin's face, "Well I'm glad you're getting settled in and enjoying the place. I can't have my girl living in some hovel… It just wouldn't be right."

oOoOo

Wesley had a self-satisfied smile as his briefing ended—another complete success. If he'd asked Buffy, she would have had a different opinion about the briefing. She felt that nothing had been achieved or anything worthwhile had actually been discussed. Those matters that needed to be discussed either weren't on Wesley's agenda or had been brushed aside.

As the group went their separate ways, Buffy made her way to Giles. She was happy that Wesley was distracted talking to Cordelia. As Buffy approached Giles, she saw him cleaning his glasses, but she saw the exasperated look on his face, she couldn't help but smirk. She knew that Giles was not happy with the current situation, but knowing that Wesley got on his nerves as well made her feel a little better.

"Giles… We need to talk."

Giles looked at Buffy, he'd always had a fatherly fondness for her and it had come out to the forefront during the Cruciamentum. He didn't have any regrets over interfering—well he did regret that Wesley had been appointed as Watcher in his place. He'd still do it again without hesitation. Even though he'd been fired by the Council, he still remembered his duty and oath as a Watcher—he still owed a debt. Giles found himself feeling torn as he looked at Buffy—he owed her too. He knew that he was walking a very fine line as he had no real position here and the Council could decide that he had become a hindrance and send in a Special Operations Team to remove him. But what was more important—his Watcher's oath or making sure that the Slayer could fulfill her mission and protect the world? He knew that if he was forced to choose, he would do whatever it took to help Buffy even if it was against the Watchers' Council's wishes—damn the consequences for him.

"Come back in twenty minutes… We can talk privately then." Giles replied.

Buffy left and returned twenty minutes later. She found the library empty except for Giles.

She didn't hesitate or hold back as she got straight to business, "What's going on? You know Wesley is going to get us all killed."

Giles sighed sympathizing with his Slayer, "He means well."

"They can put that on my grave stone… 'Wesley meant well'." Buffy replied sarcastically.

He sighed again knowing that Buffy had a point, "What's troubling you?"

"We have no info on this ascension that the Mayor is having… Faith's loyalties are questionable and there is a super strong robot that appears in Sunnydale and is now doing an invisible man routine… That is just for starters on my list of what is troubling me." Buffy said trying to maintain control of her emotions.

Giles replayed in his mind the conversation with Wesley before the briefing. Everything that Buffy was bringing up now was exactly the same points that he had brought up, but Wesley had dismissed his concerns at that time.

"I agree with you…" Giles replied slightly surprising Buffy.

He continued, "We are still researching on the Mayor and this ascension. You mentioned earlier about the demon that approached you and Faith about selling the 'Books of Ascension'. I think that would be a good place to start. I'll get one of the others to see if they can track down this demon's location."

"That's a start at least… What about Faith?" Buffy said.

"That will take a little more thought and planning. We need to be sure that Faith is on our side in this fight… Give me some time on this problem, but I think to be on the safe side that we should limit how much information we divulge to Faith from now on." Giles replied.

Buffy nodded in agreement as this seemed like a sensible approach to take with Faith at this time. She hated to keep Faith out of the loop as they needed her in this fight. She thought that Faith was still good—a little lost and just needed some help getting back on track. But… There was that "but" and Buffy was getting a gut feeling that there was more going on with her fellow Slayer. Buffy wasn't going to discount her gut feelings as she'd learned over the years to trust her feelings and instincts and right now they were screaming warnings.

Giles continued, "About this robot… I don't think we can worry about this problem until the robot resurfaces or we get a lead as to where it is, what's agenda is or who is controlling it."

Giles could see that Buffy was not happy with his reply and he sought to explain his thinking, "We can only deal with those problems that we can see and handle at this moment. The unfortunate thing is that more often than not other problems seem to occur at the most inopportune times."

Buffy sighed and nodded her head in agreement replying, "You're preaching to the choir…"