Chapter 8: Old Friends?
With a quick glance at the retreating backs of Manon and Spike, Buffy walked into the kitchen. It was only the middle of morning, so she decided that breakfast food would be appropriate for the young Slayer. She was soon joined by Giles and Andrea.
“Did you get the blood for us?” she asked with a carefully inexpressive voice.
Giles sat on a stool at the kitchen island and watched her gather various things from the fridge and cupboards. Not knowing what Manon liked, she was betting on variety to satisfy her. Andrea was by the entrance, arms crossed, her expression peaceful.
“Yes,” he replied quietly. “I thought maybe you wouldn’t find any place still open after your patrol.”
“Thank you,” she said sincerely, catching his gaze for a brief instant.
The kitchen was silent during a few seconds, until they both started talking at the same time.
“Buffy, I wanted to…”
“Does it mean…”
They both stopped and shared a small smile.
“You go first,” Buffy suggested, hoping that he would answer her question before she even had to ask it.
He nodded and motioned for her to sit down across from him, waiting until she did to speak.
“I wanted to say I am truly sorry about yesterday,” he said as he rested his hand on top of one of hers on the table. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. None of us did. We were really surprised, and our reaction certainly wasn’t what it should have been. Your choices are your own, Buffy. All that matters to me, to us, is that they make you happy.”
There was the slightest questioning in his voice, and she nodded imperceptibly.
“I am happy.”
He smiled at her, a real, sincere smile. “Then it is all I need to know. Please believe that I’ll always be there for you no matter what. As will your friends.”
Fighting the tears of relief that were clouding her eyes, Buffy placed her hand on Giles, squeezing it softly.
“I would tell you two to hug now that you’ve made up,” Spike said lightly as he entered the kitchen, “but I think I prefer doing that myself”.
True to his words, he walked around the island and hugged Buffy from behind, nuzzling her neck briefly, and she instinctively leaned back against him.
“So, when are you leaving for the mother country?” Spike asked Giles, his chin resting on Buffy’s shoulder.
“We’ll be leaving for the airport soon. We’ll take a cab to get there.”
And once again, Buffy thought to herself, Giles is leaving. It was really becoming a habit with him. Of course, his life was in England now, but it was nice to have him around.
“What will you tell the Council?” Buffy questioned quietly.
Andrea stepped closer to them, leaning against the counter by Giles’ side.
“We’ll do what should have been done a while ago,” she said with a fierce glint in her eyes, “and get my father removed from his position.”
Buffy’s esteem score for the woman suddenly grew exponentially and she couldn’t help grinning. Maybe if she asked nicely they could take pictures of Quentin Travers’ face when they destroyed his comfortable empire…
“That’s one thing”, Giles acquiesced. “They will ask about the near-apocalypse, of course. And then there’s the matter of Manon and the new Slayer that was called. We have a lot to discuss.”
“One thing you’d better not discuss is why we are vampires again,” Spike warned with a soft growl. “The Council of wankers doesn’t need to know anything about that.”
Slightly puzzled, Buffy tilted her head to look at Spike. He had said before the meeting he didn’t want to tell the Scoobies about his reason, but from his words it sounded like he had.
“You told them?” she asked him.
“I bloody well did not.”
“Cordelia did”, Giles intervened. “She explained to us how Spike’s sacrifice saved Manon’s life. And we guessed that you decided to do the same thing so that you could be together without aging coming between the two of you. Were we right?”
The softness of Giles’ words made up for the indiscretion of his question. But it slightly bothered Buffy.
“Something like that,” she replied, unwilling to discuss the fine points of being a Mate and Childe with him. “Is that why you finally accepted my decision? Because it all started from saving Manon?”
Giles shook his head. “No, dear. Knowing the reason is certainly nice, but, as I told you, all that matters is that it’s your choice and it brings you happiness. The details of how or why are not important.”
The knot in her stomach that had formed an instant earlier disappeared, as Buffy understood that Giles was being truthful. He would be there for her, as he had always been every time she had needed him.
There were footfalls from the hall and Manon walked in the kitchen. She had a pensive look on her face, and Buffy almost asked her if everything was alright. Instead, she motioned for her to take a seat and help herself from the food gathered on the table. She sat down with a quiet ‘merci’, not looking up at her.
“I suppose Manon could resume her training in a few days,” Andrea said thoughtfully. “After a little more rest.”
“I’m fine now,” Manon protested halfheartedly. “Slayer healing is just a wonderful thing, isn’t it?”
There were vague murmurs of assent around the table. Buffy realized she had been staring at the teenager as she munched on some toasted bread, and made herself look at Giles instead.
“Remember what Xander said about the military having a party over the high school grounds? We met Riley on patrol last night. He questioned me about what happened there.”
“Did you tell him?” her Watcher asked, a small frown creasing his forehead.
“Not in detail. I just told him there was a battle, nothing more.”
“Who is this person?” Andrea inquired curiously.
“A military group was experimenting on Sunnydale’s demon population a few years back,” Giles explained, briefly glancing at Spike as he did so. “Riley Finn was one of them. He joined the Scoobies for a while, before returning to regular duty. He knows about Slayers.”
“You forgot to mention he is a perfect wanker who deserves to have his white bread ass kicked all the way back to his bleeding Iowa,” Spike added, deadpan.
Buffy threw an amused glance at him over her shoulder, and was surprised by the cold anger in the blue depths of his gaze. She realized that Giles’ brief explanation must have made Spike think of how the Initiative had been experimenting on him. Covering the arms around her waist with her own, she caressed him lightly, soothingly, wishing they were alone so that she could calm him better.
“Does he know you’re a vampire?” Giles questioned suddenly, ignoring Spike’s intervention.
“No, I don’t think so”, Buffy said with a brief frown. She hadn’t even thought of that until now. She supposed he would have said something if he had known.
“And he won’t find out if we can help it”, Spike completed, his voice fiercely determined.
Buffy wondered how likely it was that they would keep this a secret forever. It was sheer luck only that they had hidden it successfully from the demon world so far. All it would take for Riley to know would be a look through these nifty binoculars that told about body temperature, and it would be quickly clear that she was not one degree warmer than the ambient air. Hopefully, he would leave town as soon as the high school was cleared out, which shouldn’t take long at all. She felt strangely reluctant at having him know of her vampire status. Not that she was ashamed, or even afraid for her own security. She was simply anxious that he might try to hurt Spike if he discovered that he was her Sire.
After a few more caution recommendations, Giles called for a cab, and it was time for goodbyes. With the certitude that her Watcher accepted her decision and had promised her his support, it wasn’t too hard to let him go this time. He assured her he would call and let them know how things were going with the Council, and soon he and Andrea were gone, leaving Buffy with her vampire love and Slayer sister. Spike looked at her and Manon with a wolfish grin.
“Now that fun-spoiler Watchers are gone,” he said, “who’s up for a bit of sparring?”
*****
The video relay had just been installed and tested, and his superiors would be calling soon. Through the large bay window that constituted a whole wall of his office, Riley watched the activity beyond the sound proof, one-way mirror, aware that no one on the other side could see in. The base was practically operational, with a few last minutes adjustments being made. On a much smaller scale than the Initiative. Much more discreet too, hopefully. All they had to do was catch HST’s, and send them off to the mother base where the studies were being conducted. Nothing very hard, really, as long as they didn’t repeat the mistakes of the Initiative. And he was there to make sure of that. It was the first time he was in charge of a complete operation, and he was determined that nothing would go wrong.
The familiar face of his boss finally appeared on the video monitors, and he gave a salute as perfect as if the man had been in front of him.
“I am listening, Agent Finn.”
“As we thought, what happened at the high school was linked to the Hellmouth and the Slayer.”
“Did you interrogate the girl? What’s her name again…? Betty Summers?”
“Buffy, Sir. I initiated contact with her, but she wasn’t very forthcoming. It appears she is under vampire thrall. From the same hostile we were looking for, actually.”
“Interesting. That would mean the chip allows him to enthrall people. We will need to study that, too. When do you plan his removal?”
“In a few days, Sir. I want to study their habits and schedules to make it as safe as possible. I believe as soon as the subject is removed and the thrall dissipates, the Slayer will be more cooperative.”
“Well, that would be good, but not necessary. Your priority right now is to make sure she doesn’t meddle with our business. And if that means removing her, too, then you know what to do.”
“Yes Sir. But with all due respect, I am sure we won’t need to get to that.”
“I’ll leave you sole judge to decide of it for now, Agent Finn. But I expect regular reports about the situation.”