Chapter 19.
"I don't want anyone to be under any delusions. Sam and Kendra likely regard us as enemies for standing between them and Angel. To say we are flying into hostile territory would be an understatement," Giles warned his clan. "Still, I want everyone to be on their best behavior. No taunting, no provoking, and no quipping," he said as he glanced meaningfully at Buffy.
"What?" she asked defensively. The others just shook their heads.
Giles went on. "Buffy, you and Amy will join me in going inside the flat. I wish to outnumber them but not make them feel overly threatened." Giles still had no true idea as to how a Slayer and a gargoyle would match up against each other. He and Zabuto had purposely not set up any sparring sessions because both would rather keep the other in the dark about their true abilities. Giles had a slight advantage, having been trained as a watcher and having worked with a Slayer briefly, but dealing with two different preternatural beings who were both much stronger than humans, it was hard to compare except having them spar head to head. He wanted Buffy along since, after him, she had the most martial arts training and a familiarity with watcher training. He wanted her to match up with Sam, not Kendra though—her tendency to draw out fights and to quip would likely frustrate the uptight watcher. He wanted Amy along because he thought that her counter-punching fighting style would match up well against a Slayer of unknown strength and speed. He also wanted to keep Xander and Willow out of the first part of the fight. Xander was a brawler, which could be bad if Kendra proved significantly stronger or faster than them. And Willow was an excellent Vampire Slayer, but she hadn't had time to develop a fighting style for anything other than vampires, though her training in going straight for the kill would be perfect as a second wave attack.
"I will do the talking. And no matter what I say, please go along with it for now. We'll discuss everything later," Giles said somewhat ominously.
The other gargoyles looked at each other, but there really wasn't time to argue. They were already at Giles' old apartment.
Xander was hiding near the back windows and Willow near the front door when Giles rang the bell. Having the watcher not knowing where the other two gargoyles were was part of Giles' plan to avoid a fight if possible, and to win the fight if it came to it. He hoped knowing that reinforcements were near—but not knowing for sure where—would cause the other man to pause.
Giles also knew that the council took a dim view of cooperation with—or even tolerance for—non-humans. The fact that they used to be human was another point he was hoping would give them pause. Or at least give Kendra pause.
The door opened and the three gargoyles walked inside.
"Welcome," Sam said a bit over-cheerfully. "Can I get you something to eat? Drink?"
"No, thank you," Giles politely declined. He wasn't sure if the man might stoop to using poisons, but he wasn't taking any chances.
"What can we do for you then?" Sam got down to business. No one sat down.
"Several things. Though first, we have information for you regarding the Anointed One. It was lucky that Kendra was unsuccessful in killing our informant. After you left, we were able to interrogate him, and he revealed some new information. Apparently, the Master has a prophecy regarding the Anointed One and the Slayer," Giles said. Both men's eyes flicked to Kendra for a moment. "Our informant is busy getting more details at the moment, but it sounds like the Anointed One might be prophesied to deliver the Slayer to the Master. The Anointed One is also, apparently, female."
Sam ground his teeth at that, sorry that he needed the Slayer as backup right now when he would have preferred her to have not heard that. "That is interesting," he allowed out loud. "I will be sure to research that more in depth. You'll be sure to keep us informed if your 'informant' turns up any new information?"
"Of course. Assuming you don't Slay him in the meantime. Then there was the next topic I wanted to bring up. You and Kendra are laying claim to the Hellmouth, correct?"
"The Hellmouth requires a guardian who is always available. If someone were to try to open it while you were sleeping..." Sam left that unsaid.
"And you wish us to leave?" Giles asked.
"I do," Sam said seriously.
"Very well then," Giles agreed. He was rather proud that only a twitch of her neck betrayed Buffy's surprise. Amy didn't flinch at all. "It will take time, of course. The usual rates for each of my clan, for relocation expenses. Double for Buffy. Also, the council will have to purchase Mrs. Summer's house as well."
"And why would we do that?"
"At double the price she paid," Giles finished. "And you'll do it, because Joyce's daughter died fighting evil for the council, and she deserves compensation for her suffering and for the inconvenience of moving out here due to her daughter being the Slayer, and then moving away again so soon."
"I will speak to the council," Sam offered.
"So be it, but the price goes up to triple what she paid in another five minutes, so I suggest you hurry," Giles smirked.
Sam fumed. "Very well, the council will pay double what Mrs. Summers paid for her house. And double the relocation fee for the former Slayer," he agreed. He was going to take quite a bit of flack for taking that deal without going through the proper channels, but he hoped that the money he saved would be enough not to blot his record. He certainly didn't want to end up like Rupert Giles with a second rate Slayer who got him killed and/or transformed into some creature. "You wouldn't be trying to give me a black mark with the council, would you Rupert?" Sam asked icily.
"Wouldn't dream of it, old boy," Giles said evenly. "After all, wouldn't want you to end up like me," he finished, apparently reading Sam's mind.
"And then there is that other group we just met," Sam went on. "They will leave as well."
"I will deliver your demands and the offer of relocation help as well."
"They protected a vampire. They get no help!" Sam nearly shouted.
Giles shrugged. "Very well, you can deliver your own demands then. You might be interested to note that they were transformed, like us, during school hours at a school activity. If Kendra had been enrolled at the time, she might have prevented-"
"Enough!" Sam yelled, his hand on his machete. "Get out," he ordered, his voice nearly a whisper.
Giles bowed his head slightly in acquiescence. "Good night to you both." He motioned for the girls to exit as he backed up and didn't turn his back on the pair until he reached the front door.
"Giles," Buffy growled through clenched teeth. "Where exactly do you get off selling my mom's house out from under her? You never even asked her!"
"In point of fact, I did ask her. We've discussed it over the course of several nights, once it became apparent that the new watcher might be hostile. I understand she's made inquiries into getting her old job back in Los Angeles. We didn't tell you," he cut off Buffy's interruption, "because we didn't want to worry you should our fears prove unfounded. Now that our fears have been proven correct, we can make concrete plans to leave."
"But, but, but..." Willow tried to think of a reason to stay. Friends, family, home. Nothing was coming to mind.
"Let us continue this discussion at Buffy's house. Joyce deserves her input as well," Giles said, ending all conversation for the rest of the flight. "For now, we must find Miss Calendar again and deliver Mr. Zabuto's ultimatum."
Miss Calendar shrugged and snorted in a very un-lady-like manner when told they would have to leave Sunnydale. "He expects us to just pack up and leave? Mid-semester, even? Not going to happen," she decided.
"Miss Calendar-" Giles began.
"Jenny," she corrected. "We're not in school any more, Rupert."
"Jenny," Giles gave in. "Mr. Zabuto views you and your clan as a threat. Sunnydale is not safe for you."
"I have a duty to watch Angelus and make sure he suffers for what he did to my tribe," Jenny stated.
"At the cost of your new clan?" Giles asked softly.
Jenny stopped and looked around at her new clan. None of them were laughing at the sobering news that a Vampire Slayer might be out to get them. The news of just how strong and fast the Slayer really was and how they'd only survived because they'd gotten in a lucky shot and the gargoyles had shown up had been hard to swallow. They no longer looked like a clan of super-powered demon hunters. They looked like the scared, adolescents they were inside. Jenny slumped her shoulders in defeat.
"What'll happen to Angel?" Buffy was the one who spoke up. He had helped her after all.
"Well, I expect that without our two clans to intervene, he will eventually be slain," Giles admitted.
"What if he left too?" Amy asked.
Jenny perked up at that. If Angel left, she would have to follow. Her tribe would pay for all the relocation expenses. And they were no strangers to spirit possessions. The tribe would take in the four children in her clan as well. She and Giles shared a 'this might work' look.
"The watchers council has a fund for relocation expenses for displaced hunters. The Slayer never seems to work well with others," Giles said, though he was beginning to wonder if it was the watchers who didn't work well with others. "You're free to try to negotiate for some help, though Sam is a bit prejudiced at the moment. But if you can convince Angel to leave as well...?"
Jenny nodded eagerly. Her clan picked up on her body language and perked up as well. "Alright guys. Sniff out Angel's lair for me."
The gargoyles followed the other clan out of Jenny's apartment. As the Hyena Clan left to find Angel yet again, the gargoyles took off to tell Joyce that her home had been sold out from under her.
Joyce took the news that she might have to move in stride, but was pleasantly surprised that Giles had negotiated a very nice 'severance package' for her and Buffy. The extra money would be nice, but the real savings was in time and energy trying to find a buyer for her Sunnydale house. Especially finding one whom she wouldn't mind dooming to a life on the Hellmouth.
There was a bit of an argument between mother and daughter, with Buffy accusing her mom of keeping plans for the move from her.
After that was settled, Buffy turned to Giles. "Giles, what did you mean, 'wouldn't want you to end up like me'?"
"Excuse me?"
"With Zabooboo."
Giles didn't even bother correcting her. "Ah," he turned to study a painting on the wall. "I would rather not go into the intricacies of council politics, but suffice to say that due to some indiscretions in my youth, I am not high up on the chain of command. I was quite surprised when I was assigned to the active Slayer.
"I do have one ally in the council. Her name is Diana Dormer, and last I heard, she was assigned to a potential Slayer on the East Coast. If and when we visit the other clan, I had planned on visiting her and her charge as well. After calling to warn her, of course." Giles was fairly sure, or perhaps hoped, that she wouldn't be as put off by their appearance as Sam was.
The flight to LA had run into an unexpected headwind and had taken longer than planned. The sun was already setting when David Xanatos and Owen disembarked from their plane in LA.
"This way, Mr. Xanatos," a man in a flight suit led them from the steps of the private plane to a waiting helicopter. They all climbed in and the man, who was hopefully the pilot, started the pre-flight checklist. David was in a hurry, but he wasn't quite stupid enough to try to skip the safety checklist. At least not in an aircraft he was about to ride in.
As they cleared LA airspace, the traffic in the air thinned very quickly. The flight was made in silence. Xanatos wasn't about to share much anyway, and the pilot knew better than to pry. Xanatos watched out the windshield and windows to see if he could glimpse a gargoyle in flight.
"Huh," the pilot said as they were nearing Sunnydale.
"What is it?" Xanatos asked, hoping the pilot had seen something he couldn't explain.
"There's no one in the tower. Just the automated weather report," the pilot said.
"Is that unusual for a town of this size?" Xanatos honestly had no idea.
"A town this size? This close to LA? I've flown here a dozen times during the day and figured they could stay open all night if they wanted. Further from a major city, you sometimes see airports of this size closed, say, from Midnight to 5AM. Depends if they're the major airport in the area or not. But I've never seen a staffed airport close this early."
"Interesting," Xanatos filed that information away for later thought. A lack of air traffic at night could certainly be a contributing reason for the gargoyle clan picking this city rather than the much larger one with taller buildings nearby. However, that just raised the new question as to why the airport was closed so early. "I assume you have enough fuel to make it back?"
The pilot double checked his gauges before answering. "Yes, sir. We'll be fine. We just have to make one pass around the airport for regulation's sake since it's closed, before we can land."
"I don't know how long I'll be in town. I'll call your people when I wish to be picked up. It will be during the day, probably early morning."
"I look forward to it, sir."
"Huh," Amy said, looking up into the night sky.
"Something interesting?" Giles asked.
"A helicopter just took off from the airport. I can't remember the last time I saw that at night. I didn't think it was even open at night," Amy said.
"It isn't," Willow confirmed.
"Did someone land tonight?" Buffy wondered.
"I doubt we would have noticed." Amy pointed out. "It's been an exciting night. And we haven't been in the air that much."
"Should we check out the airport?" Buffy put forward.
Giles had been contemplating the fact that he hadn't considered how little air traffic there was in Sunnydale after hours. Los Angeles would have a great deal of air traffic they would have to avoid. However, most of what might affect the heights they we would be flying at would be in fairly predictable and regulated patterns. Still it would bear research soon. "I doubt that would be productive. Whomever it was has likely just left. Still, it is a good time to remind all of you that LA will have a good deal more air traffic and you must be more aware of your surroundings in the air than you have been. All of us, including me, have likely grown a bit too complacent in that area."
"Zachary didn't return from the hunt last night," the Master said as Darla entered his cave.
Darla frowned. "The Slayer or the new hunters?"
"I know not. Which is what is so frustrating. Zachary was strong, and he was careful. And still he is taken from us... as so many of my family have been recently." The Master took a breath he didn't need. "It wears thin. Tod, what would you do about it?"
"We know the hunters fly. Bring them down here and annihilate them."
"Out of the mouths of babes..." the Master grinned.
Darla frowned. It sounded great in theory but difficult in practice. "But how do we get them down here?"
"Simple, use the Slayer as bait," Tod said as if it were obvious.
"Let me do it, Master. Let me kill her for you," Darla begged. Slayers, she could handle.
"We need her alive if she is to be bait," the Master pointed out.
Darla pouted. "Technically, we just don't want them to know that she's dead."
"I will send the Three."
Darla was intrigued. That was certainly calling in the heavy hitters, and none too soon in her book, either.