A/N Syg, I think it's canon that Buffy being in Sunnydale is not a coincidence. In the first episode Giles actually says "Do you think it's coincidence, you being here?" There's no follow up though, nothing to explain why it's not a coincidence. Joss himself stated that the movie is not canon, the retroactively created The Origin is. I've never read it, but I understand Merrick is in it. But there are still gaps between The Origin and the start of the show that are never explained. Add in things like Buffy telling Willow she'd been hospitalized in Normal Again with no explanation from Joss as to why the Council didn't try to help (well, unless you count the fact that by then they'd been shown to be misogynist control freaks). But since I've been trying for several stories to flesh out a compentant Council, that explanation doesn't work, so another has to be given and with no canon to act as guide...

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The gaps in Mr. Giles reports were adding up the more Sam Zabuto talked to Buffy Summers friends and the glaring omissions were mostly centered around two things, the vampire's involvement and by extension Miss Summers involvement with him and just how much her friends had helped, which seemed to be quite a bit. For instance Mr. Giles had never mentioned the fact that Xander Harris had gotten the vampire to help him find Miss Summers or that he'd revived her from drowning in a pool in the Master's lair. His report had simply stated that she'd drowned and Xander Harris had revived her. His reports indicated two separate events, the Master escaping one night and her drowning being on another night, instead of the same night.

"You got the vampire to help you find her?" Sam clarified.

"I didn't have a choice on that, I couldn't go into the sewers myself, they're a confusing, winding mess of tunnels and I had no idea where exactly the Master was anyway. I didn't trust Angel, he was a vampire. Sure, he said had a soul and said he loved Buffy, but aside from saving her a couple of times and dropping some cryptic hints, he didn't do much. And considering how I found him, shoes off, reading a book, claiming to be too scared to help, he just cemented how unhelpful he was. But a cross shoved in his face convinced him to help, he literally sniffed her out and we found her drowned. I did CPR, she beat the Master."

"Don't forget I drove over a whole bunch of them to save Willow and Ms. Calendar." Cordelia reminded him. "They were pretty messed up and not much of a threat. Not that there weren't plenty that were. Including one whose hand I bit when he kept trying to grab me. He obviously didn't understand hands off!"

Sam struggled not to grin, but was definitely amused. She bit a vampire? "Well, you use the weapons available." He nodded. "I guess that's all for now, I may have more questions after I speak to Miss Summers. But there is one thing, do you intend to continue hunting vampires?"

"Yes, if the others want to, they can help too."

"In that case, I should make sure you all have some training and once I've reviewed those studies you recommended and the reports on the longest lived Slayers, we can talk about you possibly helping Kendra as well. I really do want her to live as long as possible and you're already aware of her status and have a vested interest in protecting Sunnydale."

Xander nodded, glad Mr. Zabuto was willing to give them a chance and not just try to keep them out of it, not that he'd be able to. He and the others headed out as Buffy came in.

"Have a seat, Miss Summers, we have a lot to talk about." Sam indicated the chair on the other side of the table and Buffy took a seat.

"Are you going to get on me about Angel?" Buffy asked.

"If Mr. Giles had followed Council policy you'd have never had a chance to get to know him." Sam pointed out. "But the fact is, you did and you insisted on him being in your life and your friend's lives and ignored the potential danger he represented. That shows poor judgement on both your part and Mr. Giles'. Kendra knew he was a vampire the moment she saw him, didn't you?"

"No, not until we kissed and he went into game face. I never sensed he was a vampire and I never took any notice of any of the signs that indicated vampire."

"It's puzzling as to why, but your history may have something to do with it."

"My history?"

"Why didn't you contact the Council when your first Watcher, Merrick, died? Or when you were hospitalized for telling your parents about vampires?"

"He never told me how to contact them." Buffy answered. "Why didn't you guys try to help me?"

"We couldn't find you, Merrick gave us no information on you. We're not even sure how he managed to find you, standard locator spells for Potentials and the Slayer never showed us anything about your existence. We didn't find you until a month before you moved to Sunnydale and we were barely able to get Mr. Giles installed here so he could be your Watcher."

"Any chance the Hellmouth was why? Giles says it can warp reality a little and affect perceptions. I never asked to be the Slayer and I was hoping to leave it all behind when I got here."

"It depends on how much of an effect those things have and how far it's area of effect is, but personally I don't think so."

"Too bad, guess we can't blame everything on the Hellmouth."