(Untitled)

[i_amthezeppo]

Who: Xander, Buffy, Giles, Faith(?)
Where: Slayer HQ - Mansion at Bon Temps
When: Evening, after Xander leaves Willow with newly formed Dawn
What: Xander must do the dirty work and tell Buffy what's become of Dawn
Status: Incomplete

Xander pulled the car up towards the mansion. He gripped the steering wheel with both hands, trying to think about what

Comments

[british_watcher]

“I think she was wondering if Willow was trying to change her back to normal when it happened,” Giles pointed out to Xander. “It’s possible that the spell might have some sort of ‘booby trap’ on it if someone tries to tamper with it.” That didn’t seem to be the case, though. No, she had just transformed on her own, as if the spell had some sort of timer on it to turn her into something else at a certain time. Certainly something to consider when researching what to do about this.

He also gave Xander a quick glare when he mentioned that Dawn had been half-naked when she transformed. Was that part really necessary. Sure, it might have been a bit traumatizing to see the girl whom he had treated as a little sister all this time like that, but, well, did he have to put it in all of their minds as well?

“I certainly doubt that Dawn finds this very funny right now,” he said, seemingly agreeing with Buffy. It had been a long time since they were on the same page about anything, so it felt kind of strange. He wasn’t sure what to make of that, but he hadn’t been sure what to make of any of the feelings that he was having lately. Not at all.

“Maybe some sort of residence can be put together for her, in case it rains as well,” Giles suggested. He doubted that Dawn would like to be stuck in the rain. Still, she might be glad to at least be closer to home. “Do you want me to come with you to get her?” He wasn’t sure how Buffy would want to go about this. Would she want him to go away for now and come back when everyone was here, just wait here, or go with them to get Dawn and Willow? He was really leaving all of this up to her.

[i_amthezeppo]

Xander winced at his lame joke about the horse trailer that did not go over well with either of them. It was kind of weird to see both Giles and Buffy side by side, giving him that patent look that he usually got from them when he said something of the stupid, such as the horse trailer comment.

Xander was already at the place where they kept the keys to the various cars they had at hand. He grabbed the one for the van and clutched it. "Got the keys! And yeah, G-Man, why not come along? You can assess the sitch and I bet Willow will be glad to see you, too.

He opened the front door to lead them out the front door when he nearly ran into a familiar face about to knock on the door. He blinked. "Uh, F-Faith..."

[i_wrasselgators]

Faith had ventured out from main part of Bon Temps to make her way to the current HQ of the Scooby Team. Boy, this wasn't at all going to be awkward. But she had to face it all. In ways, she was part of this team. At least, on the same side as Buffy's group. But at the same time, she was never a part of this group. And now running around with Giles, it made her even more of an outcast, if Buffy had the say so about it.

Giles had let her know to meet him here in this mansion as there was a slight emergency, and also, they could possibly help them in the search for this runaway Slayer.

She got to the front porch and lifted her first to knock on the door when it opened. A surprised Xander looked back at her, jaw dropped slightly. They had to know if Giles was here, she had to be nearby.

"Hey, there, stud," she said with a smirk. "Heard there was a party here, had to check it out."

[theslayer_buffy]

Buffy paused at Giles' question, pursing her lips for a moment, "Yeah, I think you should come," she said, glancing at Xander. She knew things were strained between all of them, mostly between herself and Giles, but she knew Dawn would like to see him, as well as Willow. So, personal issues aside, she knew Giles could help in more ways than she could right now.

As they headed to the door, her brow went upward as Xander said "Faith." She came around the corner to hear the not-so-welcomed voice greet her best friend. She paused in mid-step, jaw immediately clenching. "Faith," she said, eyes narrowing in reflex. She glanced at Giles, figuring he had called to tell her to come, "Did you tell her where we were?" she murmured to her former Watcher.

Folding her arms, she looked to Faith and said, "What are you doing here?" Her tone wasn't meant to be accusatory, but she hadn't heard from the other Slayer in a few months--mostly because she'd been with Giles--so to see her pop up on her doorstep was a little unnerving.

[british_watcher]

Giles nodded, glad that Buffy was OK with him coming. He personally thought that it would be better for him to come than to just hang around here. It just made more sense, in his opinion. What could he do just sitting around here and doing nothing?

And then Faith breezed into the room, making things even more tense. He had told her where he was, but he figured it was about a 50/50 shot if she would want to come or not. He knew that things were tense between the two Slayers, as they had never had a good history with each other. "I did call her," he said neutrally to Buffy right back.

"I'm sure she's here to offer her help in some capacity, right Faith?" He turned and looked quizzically at Faith. "Also, the two of us are looking for a runaway Slayer in this area. I was hoping that maybe you all would be able to help with that as well, after we figure something out with Dawn, of course." Dawn's situation did seem a bit more important right now than one Slayer who would rather go to clubs than perform her duty in some capacity.

[i_amthezeppo]

Xander had a feeling Faith couldn't have been too too far if Giles was here. In fact, he really hadn't thought too much about Faith since she had gone off with him. It was mainly for his loyalty to Buffy and how one of his best friends felt extreme hurt by Giles' decision. He stepped back on automatic when Faith talked. God, she still looked hot, though.

Then came another layer of tension - enter Buffy, who didn't look at ALL happy. Xander stepped back further, in case fists began flying.

Enter tension layer three - Giles, who tried to appease what probably wasn't meant to be appeased. But boy, did the guy try. "Runaway Slayer? Gosh, with all this chaos and stuff, tracking Slayers has been a big no-go on this end." At least by saying Dawn was of the more important, that should've done a little appeasing 'cause it was true.

[i_wrasselgators]

It was always interesting to see Buffy. Interesting in how many bruises or who loses their voice first by the yelling and/or punching that may occur. It was even more interesting lately when Giles and Faith AND Buffy were in the same room together. The tension she and Buffy shared whenever they were in the vicinity of each other was already strong - no matter how much had been forgiven (though not forgotten) - but add on top of that how Buffy for sure blamed Faith for Giles traveling along with her, then tension was pretty flammable and explosive.

But Faith tried her best not to set anything - or anyone - off. Just be chilled, do her job, try not to be a smart ass. "Try" being the main word.

"Yeah, sure, I'm here to help." She shrugged. "You know, all for one and all that shit. Giles called me in, said he ran into you guys. I'm here to help while we can. Once we get the Squirt squared away, we could use some help in the trackin' the little slippery Slayer down. But ya' don't gotta. I know Dawn's on top of the list so ya' gotta deal with her first."

She rubbed her hands together. "So, where do we start? Looks like you guys were on your way out."

[theslayer_buffy]

Buffy pursed her lips, glancing from Giles to Faith and back again. In all her life, she never thought she'd be in the position to see Giles picking Faith's side. But, that's what he did. She was glad she at least had Xander, who was attempting to help smooth over the situation, in his usual un-helpful Xander way. Whatever, she knew his brain stopped working whenever Faith was around, anyway. Ugh.

"You could have mentioned the run-away slayer," Buffy said to Giles. Yes, she was blaming Giles for a lot. But, it was definitely a way to take the easy way out of these verbal conflicts.

After standing rigid amid the tension for a few endless seconds, she threw her hands up. "Fine, everyone lets go into the woods and find my half horse sister and fix her." She shook her head, not that she was waving any sort of white flag, but she didn't want to deal with the stress of judgmental slayer finding team of Giles and Faith.

So, now it was plan mode. "We'll go pick Dawn and Willow up, head back here, and work on trying to fix Dawn. Maybe while you--" she motioned to Giles,"--and Will are doing the research and the spell planning, Xander and I can help with tracking the slayer. And we'll go from there," she said. "Does that work for everyone?"

[british_watcher]

"I did mention the runaway Slayer to you at the coffee shop," Giles said to her. He had told her why he was in this area. Really, would he come to where Buffy was right now without a damn good reason? It wasn't like he was feeling welcomed around here right now.

And it wasn't that he was choosing sides. He was actually just wanting to get to the matter at hand: getting to Dawn and figuring out just what was going on with all of them. He would be more than happy to figure out how to fix Dawn, find the Slayer they were looking for, and never look back at New Orleans again. It wasn't as if he was welcomed here, after all.

"That sounds good to me," he said of Buffy's plan. He felt like it would be easier to be around Willow and Dawn right now, anyway. "I appreciate you being willing to look for the Slayer for us. Maybe you will have better luck with her." He stood out like a sore thumb in any club, after all, so she saw him a mile away.

[i_amthezeppo]

"Right. Let's go." Xander showed them the keys and was glad to get off that front stoop and into the van. He hopped into the driver's seat. At least with Dawn as the focus, they had a common goal to work towards. Less need to punch or yell at each other. "And sure, helping track down a Slayer would be cool. It's been a minute, ya' know?"

He started up the van and pulled it into drive as the last of them got inside and closed the door. "Hey, like old, times, right? We get the Willster and the Dawnster here, and it's the gang again." Sort of. Yeah the gang with more tension than pea soup. Or however that saying went. Man, he was bad with words today - even in his head.

He just wished things were back to normal, at least between Giles and Buffy. They were like the ultimate Watcher/Slayer team. All teams could be so lucky to be them. But as Xander drove on, he knew it was far from that at the moment.

[i_wrasselgators]

Faith shrugged in an agreement of some kind. She figured Buffy would blame more things on Giles than her, but that didn't make Faith feel any better. However, Faith KNEW better than trying to defend Giles. At the moment, it was pretty tame - typical Buffy snide remarks. Giles was a grown man; he could take care of that sort of verbal jabs. Dude must've lived with it ever since he became Buffy's Watcher, anyway.

"Yeah, would be cool if you two could help with the runaway," Faith spoke up as she hopped in the back of the van. "Now, can ya' come again with the half-horse sister thing? The squirt got turned into a fucking horse? I thought she was a giant?" Faith only knew a little about what was going on with Dawn, things that Giles had told her during their first few missions together.

All Faith knew was that this could be really interesting...