A/N Syg, I agree, Xander and Willow in their untrained state were not adequate support for Buffy and Giles was criminally irresponsible not to train them or to allow them to hunt with Buffy at all or by themselves. Xander taught himself, as far as we know given we never saw Giles teach him anything, to use the ax and crossbow he was seen using on the show. Willow never learned any weapons at all and was not magically powerful enough to be of any use in the field until season five when Glory was in Sunnydale. The best she could have managed was to float a pencil or a stick and that would only be useful in a place like say...the Mayor's office. When the vampire in question had their back turned and didn't see it coming.
On the other hand, the Watchers Council had trained teams that were sent after Faith twice using modern weapons. The kind Xander had a head full of useful knowledge on that got forgotten about as his arc got rewritten. They could have supplied her with a fully experienced team and outfitted her with modern weapons instead of a crossbow better suited to storming a castle and a stake.
But watching a small, blond girl kick the crap out very strong and ugly creatures was so much more entertaining, wouldn't you agree? Logic had very little to do with the Buffy show. On the other hand, the show did an excellent job portraying human emotions and struggles. Buffy's depression, Willow's Magic abuse mirroring drugs, both were believably shown, in my opinion. Xander's fears of becoming like his father, that could have been explored more thoroughly, though.
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"Kendra will be arriving next week, along with her Watcher." Giles informed Xander after the rest had left saying they needed some time to think about the testing and the findings and make some decisions.
"They're not going to reinstate you once we get Buffy back, are they?" Xander eyed the Watcher.
"It's doubtful." Giles admitted. "I'm being recalled to England to answer questions. They have a lot of questions."
"Join the club." Xander muttered. "As much as I want answers too, Giles, your attempts at justification tell me, you don't really have answers. Not ones that make any sense and I can't stomach the sight of you right now anyway. But I'll suck it up because we do need to find Buffy. I honestly did not mean to wish her to Hell, as angry as I am at her, I can't help but feel sorry for her. She's a girl with an enormous burden dropped on her without asking, who thought she'd found someone who could understand what that burden felt like because he had a burden of his own. Neither of them should ever have been put in that position, Giles. Angelus should have been destroyed a century ago, Angel should never have existed or been forced to suffer. As much as I hated him and I definitely thought he was a coward, that curse was a crime."
"Perhaps so." Giles agreed. "And I would very much like to have eased Buffy's burden, which is perhaps, the best explanation I have for not objecting to her relationship with him. Until the curse broke she was happy and that was because of Angel."
Xander just nodded, he felt so tired, emotionally drained. Had it only been two days since he'd found his parents mutilated bodies and Willow's damaged one? It felt like a century. "Any leads on the demon that granted the wish?" He changed the subject, wondering restlessly around the Library.
"Unfortunately, no, you fit several potential categories. Halfrek, patron of abused and neglected children, is a possibility given you mentioned you came from an abusive home. However she normally prefers to grant wishes against the parents or guardians of the wronged party."
"So if I'd wished against Tony while he was still alive she might have granted it. Is this where the tradition of not saying your birthday wish out loud comes from? The fear that it might actually be granted? After all, the expression is 'be careful what you wish for'." Xander said ruefully.
"I'm unsure." Giles was glad for the less intense turn in the conversation, Xander had always been fairly blunt, but the last two days he seemed to have lost whatever filters he'd had and kept verbally firing with both barrels and Rupert Giles had been his primary target. Which, if he was being honest with himself, the accusations were not without merit. "I need to begin packing up my belongings and arrange for them to be shipped back to England, in the meantime, you are free to peruse the books yourself. You may find a likely candidate before I do."
"I'll come back during tomorrow's free period, this one is nearly over and I have class." Xander headed out of the Library, wondering if this tired feeling would pass if they could get Buffy back. Some of his nightmares last night, once he'd finally fallen asleep, had involved what was happening to her in the Hell he'd accidentally wished her to.
He'd probably have been very surprised to learn that Buffy had come up with a plan that might actually help her new friends achieve their freedom.
She just had to do something she was very good at, slay a monster.