Influx 2a/?
Title: Influx (2a/?)
Summary: One by one, they return. Not in the order anyone would have predicted, though.
Rating/Warning: Descriptions of past violence and severe injury. Some adult themes as well. These are adults, after all.
Author's Note: A prologue of sorts to a story I have kicking around in the back of my head. It's my way of getting the characters from where Mutant Enemy left them to where I need them to be for this other story to work.
Author's Note 2: I have no beta readers, so please forgive any obvious errors that I missed. Feedback is appreciated, and can only lead to better-written chapters in the future.
Author's Note 3: I've had such a hard time getting this chapter together, I decided to post it in sections. I don't think I'll need to do this for every chapter in the future, but I might. I expect this chapter will have three sections, but I might cut one of those out.
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Here's part one.
Riley was the second to return, but the first to know that something was wrong.
Unlike Buffy, Riley gave Giles some warning. The day after Buffy's decision to stay on, Riley called on the secure line. This kind of call wasn't exactly rare; Riley and Giles did the best they could to share any information that might be helpful with each other, within the limits allowed by their organizations. Still, based on the demands on both of them, taking the time to call just about always meant it was something important.
After the usual pleasantries, Riley was the first one to get down to business. "I'm sorry to cut this short, Giles, but I don't have a lot of time today. I just wanted to let you know that I'll be coming by in about a week. And probably staying nearby for a while after that."
After a brief pause, Giles responded, cautiously choosing his words. The two men had done this often enough that Giles knew not to ask for information directly without first being fairly certain that Riley would be able to answer. "Riley, you are always welcome here, as you well know. However, I confess to being a tad...um...concerned."
In his best whiny little boy voice, Riley said, "But Giles, I promise I'll be a good boy! I won't break anything, and I'll eat my vegetables and everything."
"Of that I have no doubt," Giles said with a chuckle, but his tone immediately grew serious. A sarcastic response from Riley usually meant the situation was safe to discuss. "No, it's not you that concerns me, so much as what kind of situation would prompt your government to send you over here for an extended stay."
"And how do you know I'm not just taking a little R 'n' R?" Riley replied, trying to keep the conversation's tone light. Unfortunately for Riley, Giles was not going to allow himself to be distracted by friendly banter.
"Well, to my knowledge, you haven't been on holiday since you rejoined the military," Giles replied. The "after leaving Buffy" remained unsaid, but it was understood by both men. "Combined with the fact that you haven't stopped by once since your original visit, the likelihood that this would be a purely social call is, frankly, very low."
Riley's only response was a sigh. After giving him a few more seconds to answer, Giles pressed on. "Taking your lack of response as an acknowledgment, is there anything you can tell me before your arrival?"
"As I'm sure you might have guessed, not really." Following Giles' predictable snort, Riley continued, sounding suddenly more tired than Giles had heard him in quite some time. Since Los Angeles, in fact. "It's not state secrets, or anything like that. Something's going on, Giles. I don't know what it is, but I'm seeing a lot of things cross my desk that don't make sense. I really need to sit down with you and your team, pool our resources, and see if we can figure this out."
"And you think this 'something' that is going on is significant enough that you'd need to not only come over here personally, but also stay for an extended period of time?" Giles couldn't help but sound a bit incredulous. He knew Riley wasn't telling him much, but what he was telling him didn't seem to explain his visit. "Is there any particular reason why we couldn't address this situation via phone, as we have in the past?"
"Yes."
Riley's curt response, combined with his suddenly cold tone, let Giles know that further inquiry on his part would lead nowhere. There was obviously something deeper going on that Riley wasn't free to discuss, even on a secure line. Better to steer the conversation back to safe ground, and not press the matter further.
"Well, in that case, we had better see what we can do for lodging for you. I'm sure we can come up with something suitable..."
Riley interrupted, his tone back to normal. "Giles, I can't ask you to do that. You need all the room you have, I'm sure. I'll just get something in town..."
"Nonsense! If you are coming over to pool resources, as you say, you can most effectively do that if you are closer to said resources," Giles reasoned. "Besides, what's the point of having multiple housing options at your disposal if you don't put them to good use?"
Riley couldn't argue the point, but he had other concerns. "Well, I have some specific needs I'm not sure you can meet."
Giles waited for the specifics, but found he had to draw them out. "There is no way for me to know whether or not we can meet your needs if you don't tell me what they are, Riley."
"Oh, right, sorry," Riley replied. It was clear he had been lost in thought for a few minutes there. "First of all, I need a secure place to report back to my superiors. They're giving me a lot of latitude on this, but I still need to keep them in the loop. And no," Riley continued, anticipating Giles' reply, "I can't just use the secure line in your office. I'll need to be in a separate building, and you'll have to let some of my people come over and sweep the place before I can use it. I can't ask you to..."
This time Giles interrupted. "Riley, if this situation is as serious as you obviously suspect, I would be setting a bad precedent by getting overly territorial. Not to mention violating Rules 2 and 3."
"Rules 2 and 3? What're those?" Riley queried.
"Hmm? Oh, sorry, I thought I'd told you about The Rules. Xander and Willow came up with a list of basic rules for our group during our bus trip to Boston." Riley smirked at Giles' phrasing. Only Giles could make the evacuation of the Sunnydale survivors and their subsequent trek across the country sound like a field trip he thought, as Giles continued. "The two of them solicited ideas for The Rules from everyone on the bus, which resulted in their being generally accepted. We never formally adopted them for the Watcher's Association, probably because it would have been redundant. We all refer to them from time to time to be sure we aren't losing our way."
Riley was a bit surprised to hear this tidbit of life on the bus, not to mention of the inner workings of the Watchers' Association. No one had told him much about what went on during the trek, and he hadn't pressed. He decided Giles' willingness to share this with him was a good sign, and hoped he could get the logical follow-up questions answered. "So, what's Rule 2?"
"'Take every helping hand offered, as long as you trust the body attached to the hand.'"
"Sound advice. And Rule 3?"
"'Never take any action you know will make things harder in the long run, even if it is easier in the short run.'"
"Also sound advice." Riley suspected he knew the answer to his next question, but decided to ask anyway, just to be sure. "And what about Rule Number 1?"
"Don't die."
Giles and Riley both remained silent for a few moments, remembering their compatriots who had failed to follow Rule Number 1. For both men, there were far too many.
It was Giles who broke the silence. "Well, we can go over the other Rules after you arrive. As it happens, we just recently refurbished the old gardener's quarters. It's somewhat set off from the other residents, and I haven't assigned anyone to it yet. I would have no objection to your team doing a magical and mundane sweep of the house prior to your arrival."
"'House?' Giles, I don't need a whole house to myself, really," Riley protested. "I'd feel guilty about taking up all that room."
Giles chuckled again. "I was using 'house' rather loosely, I'm afraid. As I said before, this used to be the gardener's quarters. Originally, it was just a small kitchenette and sitting area, with one bedroom and a bath, that were added onto the back of the tool shed. We've connected the tool shed to the rooms in the back, and turned the shed into an office of sorts. We've also taken down most of the wall between the sitting area and the attached greenhouse, which we've winterized and turned into what Andrew insists on calling a Florida room. It's pleasant, but 'compact' would probably be the best word for it."
"Well, if you insist, and if you're sure I won't be imposing..."
"I do, and you won't be." Giles sighed lightly. Sometimes, Riley could be so...midwestern, Giles supposed. Certainly the other Americans he had met hadn't been nearly as solicitous. "When do you think your team would be arriving to inspect?"
After they worked out the logistical details, Giles ended the call and began making preparations. As he did so, Giles pondered what would qualify as "something wrong" significant enough to motivate Riley to move into the Association's headquarters until it could be solved. Giles didn't like any of the possibilities his imagination came up with, so he tried to stop thinking about it. He recalled something that he thought he had heard Buffy say once: "No sense in counting your apocalypses before they're hatched." Or was that Xander? Could have been Willow, he supposed...
Apocalyptic train of thought successfully diverted, Giles went back to his usual routine.
For his part, Riley was just relieved that he hadn't needed to explain his second special housing need. Despite his fairly regular contact with Giles, there were many things that Riley kept from him. He knew he was just putting off the inevitable, what with him going over in a week and all, but he felt this particular need was something best dealt with in person.
Not that he was the king of dealing with things in person or anything. No, Riley thought with no small amount of self-loathing, the king of bailing when things get rough sounded more accurate.
Riley shook the negative thoughts off as best he could. He always seemed to get down on himself whenever he dealt with Buffy's team (and that's what they'd always be, in his mind). If he was going to be staying with them for a while, he'd damn well better get past his issues about past failures, both personal and professional. He couldn't afford to spend all his time doubting himself.
After all, Riley reasoned, he had made his peace with just about everyone on Buffy's team back when he and Sam were tracking that Suvolte demon through Sunnydale in '02. He wasn't on Buffy's Christmas card list (if she even had one), but he didn't think she hated him, either. As for Giles, Riley had made his peace with him the first (and only) time he'd been to the Exe River facility, five months before Los Angeles.
Summary: One by one, they return. Not in the order anyone would have predicted, though.
Rating/Warning: Descriptions of past violence and severe injury. Some adult themes as well. These are adults, after all.
Author's Note: A prologue of sorts to a story I have kicking around in the back of my head. It's my way of getting the characters from where Mutant Enemy left them to where I need them to be for this other story to work.
Author's Note 2: I have no beta readers, so please forgive any obvious errors that I missed. Feedback is appreciated, and can only lead to better-written chapters in the future.
Author's Note 3: I've had such a hard time getting this chapter together, I decided to post it in sections. I don't think I'll need to do this for every chapter in the future, but I might. I expect this chapter will have three sections, but I might cut one of those out.
*******************************
Here's part one.
Riley was the second to return, but the first to know that something was wrong.
Unlike Buffy, Riley gave Giles some warning. The day after Buffy's decision to stay on, Riley called on the secure line. This kind of call wasn't exactly rare; Riley and Giles did the best they could to share any information that might be helpful with each other, within the limits allowed by their organizations. Still, based on the demands on both of them, taking the time to call just about always meant it was something important.
After the usual pleasantries, Riley was the first one to get down to business. "I'm sorry to cut this short, Giles, but I don't have a lot of time today. I just wanted to let you know that I'll be coming by in about a week. And probably staying nearby for a while after that."
After a brief pause, Giles responded, cautiously choosing his words. The two men had done this often enough that Giles knew not to ask for information directly without first being fairly certain that Riley would be able to answer. "Riley, you are always welcome here, as you well know. However, I confess to being a tad...um...concerned."
In his best whiny little boy voice, Riley said, "But Giles, I promise I'll be a good boy! I won't break anything, and I'll eat my vegetables and everything."
"Of that I have no doubt," Giles said with a chuckle, but his tone immediately grew serious. A sarcastic response from Riley usually meant the situation was safe to discuss. "No, it's not you that concerns me, so much as what kind of situation would prompt your government to send you over here for an extended stay."
"And how do you know I'm not just taking a little R 'n' R?" Riley replied, trying to keep the conversation's tone light. Unfortunately for Riley, Giles was not going to allow himself to be distracted by friendly banter.
"Well, to my knowledge, you haven't been on holiday since you rejoined the military," Giles replied. The "after leaving Buffy" remained unsaid, but it was understood by both men. "Combined with the fact that you haven't stopped by once since your original visit, the likelihood that this would be a purely social call is, frankly, very low."
Riley's only response was a sigh. After giving him a few more seconds to answer, Giles pressed on. "Taking your lack of response as an acknowledgment, is there anything you can tell me before your arrival?"
"As I'm sure you might have guessed, not really." Following Giles' predictable snort, Riley continued, sounding suddenly more tired than Giles had heard him in quite some time. Since Los Angeles, in fact. "It's not state secrets, or anything like that. Something's going on, Giles. I don't know what it is, but I'm seeing a lot of things cross my desk that don't make sense. I really need to sit down with you and your team, pool our resources, and see if we can figure this out."
"And you think this 'something' that is going on is significant enough that you'd need to not only come over here personally, but also stay for an extended period of time?" Giles couldn't help but sound a bit incredulous. He knew Riley wasn't telling him much, but what he was telling him didn't seem to explain his visit. "Is there any particular reason why we couldn't address this situation via phone, as we have in the past?"
"Yes."
Riley's curt response, combined with his suddenly cold tone, let Giles know that further inquiry on his part would lead nowhere. There was obviously something deeper going on that Riley wasn't free to discuss, even on a secure line. Better to steer the conversation back to safe ground, and not press the matter further.
"Well, in that case, we had better see what we can do for lodging for you. I'm sure we can come up with something suitable..."
Riley interrupted, his tone back to normal. "Giles, I can't ask you to do that. You need all the room you have, I'm sure. I'll just get something in town..."
"Nonsense! If you are coming over to pool resources, as you say, you can most effectively do that if you are closer to said resources," Giles reasoned. "Besides, what's the point of having multiple housing options at your disposal if you don't put them to good use?"
Riley couldn't argue the point, but he had other concerns. "Well, I have some specific needs I'm not sure you can meet."
Giles waited for the specifics, but found he had to draw them out. "There is no way for me to know whether or not we can meet your needs if you don't tell me what they are, Riley."
"Oh, right, sorry," Riley replied. It was clear he had been lost in thought for a few minutes there. "First of all, I need a secure place to report back to my superiors. They're giving me a lot of latitude on this, but I still need to keep them in the loop. And no," Riley continued, anticipating Giles' reply, "I can't just use the secure line in your office. I'll need to be in a separate building, and you'll have to let some of my people come over and sweep the place before I can use it. I can't ask you to..."
This time Giles interrupted. "Riley, if this situation is as serious as you obviously suspect, I would be setting a bad precedent by getting overly territorial. Not to mention violating Rules 2 and 3."
"Rules 2 and 3? What're those?" Riley queried.
"Hmm? Oh, sorry, I thought I'd told you about The Rules. Xander and Willow came up with a list of basic rules for our group during our bus trip to Boston." Riley smirked at Giles' phrasing. Only Giles could make the evacuation of the Sunnydale survivors and their subsequent trek across the country sound like a field trip he thought, as Giles continued. "The two of them solicited ideas for The Rules from everyone on the bus, which resulted in their being generally accepted. We never formally adopted them for the Watcher's Association, probably because it would have been redundant. We all refer to them from time to time to be sure we aren't losing our way."
Riley was a bit surprised to hear this tidbit of life on the bus, not to mention of the inner workings of the Watchers' Association. No one had told him much about what went on during the trek, and he hadn't pressed. He decided Giles' willingness to share this with him was a good sign, and hoped he could get the logical follow-up questions answered. "So, what's Rule 2?"
"'Take every helping hand offered, as long as you trust the body attached to the hand.'"
"Sound advice. And Rule 3?"
"'Never take any action you know will make things harder in the long run, even if it is easier in the short run.'"
"Also sound advice." Riley suspected he knew the answer to his next question, but decided to ask anyway, just to be sure. "And what about Rule Number 1?"
"Don't die."
Giles and Riley both remained silent for a few moments, remembering their compatriots who had failed to follow Rule Number 1. For both men, there were far too many.
It was Giles who broke the silence. "Well, we can go over the other Rules after you arrive. As it happens, we just recently refurbished the old gardener's quarters. It's somewhat set off from the other residents, and I haven't assigned anyone to it yet. I would have no objection to your team doing a magical and mundane sweep of the house prior to your arrival."
"'House?' Giles, I don't need a whole house to myself, really," Riley protested. "I'd feel guilty about taking up all that room."
Giles chuckled again. "I was using 'house' rather loosely, I'm afraid. As I said before, this used to be the gardener's quarters. Originally, it was just a small kitchenette and sitting area, with one bedroom and a bath, that were added onto the back of the tool shed. We've connected the tool shed to the rooms in the back, and turned the shed into an office of sorts. We've also taken down most of the wall between the sitting area and the attached greenhouse, which we've winterized and turned into what Andrew insists on calling a Florida room. It's pleasant, but 'compact' would probably be the best word for it."
"Well, if you insist, and if you're sure I won't be imposing..."
"I do, and you won't be." Giles sighed lightly. Sometimes, Riley could be so...midwestern, Giles supposed. Certainly the other Americans he had met hadn't been nearly as solicitous. "When do you think your team would be arriving to inspect?"
After they worked out the logistical details, Giles ended the call and began making preparations. As he did so, Giles pondered what would qualify as "something wrong" significant enough to motivate Riley to move into the Association's headquarters until it could be solved. Giles didn't like any of the possibilities his imagination came up with, so he tried to stop thinking about it. He recalled something that he thought he had heard Buffy say once: "No sense in counting your apocalypses before they're hatched." Or was that Xander? Could have been Willow, he supposed...
Apocalyptic train of thought successfully diverted, Giles went back to his usual routine.
For his part, Riley was just relieved that he hadn't needed to explain his second special housing need. Despite his fairly regular contact with Giles, there were many things that Riley kept from him. He knew he was just putting off the inevitable, what with him going over in a week and all, but he felt this particular need was something best dealt with in person.
Not that he was the king of dealing with things in person or anything. No, Riley thought with no small amount of self-loathing, the king of bailing when things get rough sounded more accurate.
Riley shook the negative thoughts off as best he could. He always seemed to get down on himself whenever he dealt with Buffy's team (and that's what they'd always be, in his mind). If he was going to be staying with them for a while, he'd damn well better get past his issues about past failures, both personal and professional. He couldn't afford to spend all his time doubting himself.
After all, Riley reasoned, he had made his peace with just about everyone on Buffy's team back when he and Sam were tracking that Suvolte demon through Sunnydale in '02. He wasn't on Buffy's Christmas card list (if she even had one), but he didn't think she hated him, either. As for Giles, Riley had made his peace with him the first (and only) time he'd been to the Exe River facility, five months before Los Angeles.