FIC: Conspiracy Theory, 9/12 (Giles/Xander, FRT)
Title: Conspiracy Theory, part 9 / 12
Author: Soft Princess (soft_princess) and Mireille (mireille719)
Fandom: BtVS
Pairing: Giles/Xander
Rating: FRT
Word Count: 4,800 (this part) / 64,000 overall
Summary: When Xander is attacked by a demon on his way to deliver a trio of young Slayers to England, he and Giles find themselves investigating a plot that may threaten the Council's very existence--and re-evaluating their relationship in the process.
Spoilers: Post-Chosen; based on aired-episode canon only.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. The characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy; we are only borrowing them.
Feedback/Concrit: Both welcome, either here or at mireille719 {at} gmail {dot} com and soft.princess {at} gmail {dot} com.
Notes: This story is being posted in 12 parts: parts 1-4 at spring_with_xan on June 17, parts 5-8 at summer_of_giles on June 19, and parts 9-12 at summer_of_giles on June 22. We would like to thank wesleysgirl for the wonderful job beta-reading.
Previous parts:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8
Dawn was going to be fine.
Xander knew that. She had Buffy with her, and there was no way Buffy was going to let a demon get past her to her little sister. And Dawn knew what to expect, so she wouldn't be taken by surprise. Besides that, there were four of the older Slayers from the school stationed at the airport--three secretly, and Julia--the girl who'd done the sketch of the demon for them--who Giles thought was a reliable driver, meeting them at baggage claim.
Dawn would be in the car with not one, but two Slayers, and Xander, Catherine, and Océane were waiting for a call from Julia so they could pull onto the road and follow them back to the school. There was another group of Slayers stationed a couple of miles from the school, too, in case there was trouble there, and Giles was waiting at the school.
Even if most of the Slayers still thought this was some kind of training exercise--the girls who did have some idea what was going on had been encouraged not to talk about it--Dawn was as well-protected as she could possibly be.
His cell phone rang then, and Catherine answered it for him; Xander had given her the phone, feeling more comfortable if he helped Océane keep an eye out for trouble. Giles had tried to tell him that if the demons were targeting Watchers, he'd be putting himself at risk, but it wasn't like Xander didn't know that. It wasn't like Giles wouldn't have been out here himself if he hadn't been responsible for a whole school full of kids, either.
"Hello?" Catherine listened carefully for a moment or two, and then said, "All right. I'll tell Mr. Harris. Thank you." She snapped his phone shut and handed it to him. "They've got the car. It's a blue Volkswagen, and they're going out to the car park now. They should be here in a quarter of an hour, maybe twenty minutes."
"Thanks, Catherine." Xander took a deep breath, turning to look at both girls. "Ready?"
"Yep," Catherine replied, holding her sword in her hand. Océane only gave a short nod, keeping her eyes on the road.
Xander took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Just a few more minutes, and then the fun would start. He just hoped York, or anybody from that side, hadn't been told about the Slayers they'd pulled out of class for this. Everybody had been told it was a training exercise, but Xander had this voice in his head telling him it was very easy to make the connection between the exercise and Dawn's arrival, and that someone with half a brain would know it wasn't just a coincidence.
They probably wouldn't have time to react and call the attack back, though, even if they did make the connection.
"They are here," Océane said, pointing at a blue car on the road.
With a nod, Xander turned the key in the ignition. He waited until the car had passed them before pulling onto the road behind them. "Okay, then, let's get this party started."
Following a car on a busy highway looked a lot easier in the movies than it actually was, it turned out. At least Xander could keep an eye on the sticker from the rental-car company, so he didn't get confused by any similar-looking cars. Then he started to worry. They weren't that far from Heathrow. Lots of people would have rented cars. Lots of people would be driving little blue rental cars.
He'd just about worked himself into freaking out that he'd screwed up and put Dawn in danger when he realized that he could see Dawn in the back seat of that particular car. She turned around then, even, and he got a glimpse of her face as she studied the traffic behind them before Buffy turned around as well, tugging Dawn's arm until she settled back into her seat. Probably a good move; they didn't want anyone to think she was expecting to be followed.
Not that Xander was expecting trouble yet. Too much traffic, too many people around. No, he was pretty sure York and the rest of that side would wait until they got closer to the school, on one of the roads that was mostly deserted during the day. Right now, all he had to do was make sure he didn't lose the car in traffic.
When they hit the quieter roads, though, Xander asked the girls to keep an eye out for trouble, and he kept close to the rental car.
"You should let them go ahead," Catherine said, putting a hand on his arm.
"I'm sorry? I'm not about to let them out of my sight," he argued, and then he frowned. Maybe she had a point.
"The demon won't come out if it thinks there's more people out here than just Dawn," Catherine explained.
"Catherine is right," Océane said, hand clenching and unclenching on her sword. She kept her eyes on the road, and this was the first time she'd talked since telling them the car was there.
Xander slowed down the car and stopped on the side of the road, nodding. "You're probably right." He waited until the rental car had almost disappeared from view to get back on the road. Apart from them, there was nobody around. Xander tapped the steering wheel anxiously with the tips of his fingers, and bit his lip. "This is not nerve-wracking at all. Nope."
Catherine gave a light chuckle and shook her head. "There!" she yelled, pointing at the road ahead of them.
Xander's heartbeat quickened at the panic in her tone, and he blinked. At first, he couldn't see it, but then--"Dammit!" He pushed on the accelerator and heard the girls pick up their weapons. The demon had come out of the woods and was running towards the blue car. Xander was pretty sure the girls in there hadn't seen it yet, because they weren't slowing down or stopping, and it wouldn't be long before the demon reached the car.
In the rear-view mirror, Xander could see Catherine covering her face; he heard the blue car's tires squeal as Julia apparently noticed the demon and slammed on the brakes. Holding his breath, he watched as it skidded off the road onto the grass, only daring to breathe again when he saw it come to a stop with everyone in it apparently unharmed.
Both the front doors opened, and Buffy and Julia both came out of the car, weapons raised. Xander pulled up a few yards behind them, turning to look at the girls. "Your job," he reminded them, "is to get Dawn back here." They nodded, but he went on. "That's your only job," he said firmly. "Let Buffy and Julia handle the demon; they've been training longer. You two just get Dawn and get her back here." He hated sending them out like this, but he needed to stay behind the wheel, keeping the engine running and his foot on the brake so that they could pull away the second Dawn and the girls were safely in the car.
"We know," Catherine said, and the two of them got out.
Xander didn't know where to look; he didn't want to look at any of it. The demon smashed through the rear window of the car; he saw Dawn rapidly slide to the other side of the car and then emerge, crouching down behind the car, as Buffy attacked the demon, hacking at it with her sword but hampered by her need to keep the thing alive.
Catherine and Océane made for Dawn's side of the car, keeping their weapons ready, as Julia moved to the demon's other side, keeping it trapped between the two Slayers. Then he saw Dawn come out from behind the car, Catherine and Océane on either side of her, flanking her protectively. Dawn, he saw, was holding a dagger; Xander wondered how much she'd had to argue with Buffy before her sister had let her arm herself. He was glad she had, though; it might not be much, but it could buy her a second or two, long enough for one of the Slayers to get to her if things went wrong.
And then, horrified, he watched as the demon pushed Julia aside, lunging for Dawn; Océane slashed at it with her sword, but was knocked away as well, her weapon falling to the ground. Xander could see her sleeve turning red with blood and felt sick. What was he doing? She was a kid.
Julia was back on her feet now, driving the demon toward the road again, and Catherine and Dawn started running for the car. As soon as Dawn was inside, Catherine turned back, running to help Océane to the car.
"You okay, Dawn?" Xander asked, not looking away from the two girls making their way back to the car.
"I'm good," Dawn said, just as Océane slid into the back seat, her hand clamped over her injured arm. Catherine followed, slamming the door shut.
Xander didn't drive off yet, not wanting to leave Buffy and Julia battling the thing even though he was pretty sure the demon wouldn't put up much of a fight once Dawn was gone. Besides, two Slayers against one demon put the odds firmly on the Slayers' side.
"I could help them," Catherine said from the back seat.
"No, you could not," Xander said, worry making his voice sharper than he would have liked. "Help Ocean."
Dawn was already on the job, using the dagger she'd been carrying to cut the sleeve of Océane's blouse open. "It's not too bad," she reported. "There's a lot of blood, but it looks pretty shallow."
Océane seemed preoccupied, looking outside the car, past the fight still going on. "My sword," she began, gesturing with her good arm toward the sword still lying on the ground. "It belongs to the school."
"Screw the sword," Xander said, knowing Giles would probably give him hell for sounding that unprofessional in front of the girls. He didn't care. "We'll come back for it later," he added, as Buffy turned around to look at them.
"We're fine," she shouted. "Get Dawn out of here, now!"
As the demon began lumbering toward their car, taking advantage of Buffy's momentary distraction, Xander decided that she was right; now was the time to floor it. "Hold on tight," he warned the girls, swerving around the demon and speeding off down the road.
He'd just gotten far enough away that he'd decided to follow the speed limit again when his phone rang. He picked it up and tossed it back to Catherine. "You're on phone duty again," Xander said. "I don't think I need to be distracted."
Catherine caught the phone and answered it. "This is Mr. Harris' phone," she said, listening for a moment. Then, sounding more animated, she said, "Good! No, no, she will be fine," glancing over at Océane, who was holding the sweater from her school uniform against her injured arm. "I'll tell him. Thank you." She clicked the phone shut, beaming. "Miss Summers--"
"Buffy," Xander corrected her. "She's not going to let you call her 'Miss Summers.'"
Catherine continued, unperturbed. "She says to tell you that they have the demon, and will be bringing it back to the school as soon as Mr. Giles sends someone to pick them up. It's too big for the car."
"Great," Xander said, his heartbeat beginning to slow down to normal again.
They were back on school grounds soon, and Xander parked the car close to Giles' home. Giles and Andrew were already hurrying down the steps when Xander got out of the car, and opened the door for Océane and Dawn to get out. "Did Buffy call you?" he asked Giles.
He nodded. "She told me that one of the girls was hurt?" Then, when he saw Océane, he frowned. "Is she all right?"
"Just a scratch!" Dawn replied, walking over to them and pulling Giles into a hug. "It might need a few stitches, but she'll be okay."
Giles nodded at that, although Xander could tell he was worried. "Is anyone else injured?" he asked.
"Not as far as I know; Buffy didn't mention anything on the phone, so I don't think so," Xander said, still unable to relax. It had gone down too fast, after twenty-four hours of pent up anxiety, and he was finding it very hard to let go of it. He really, seriously, wanted to touch Giles right now. Bad idea.
"Should I go get Buffy?" Andrew asked, coming over to them as Océane and Dawn walked inside.
"I'd rather you didn't go alone," Giles began.
Catherine interrupted him. "I'll go with him."
Xander shook his head. "Better not."
"I know how to fight," she argued, crossing her arms. "Miss Summers--"
"Buffy."
She rolled her eyes at him, and turned to Giles instead. "Miss Summers and Julia are there, so we'll be fine."
Giles shook his head. "I'd rather send a retrieval team."
Xander didn't think that was a good idea, at all. "You'd have to let them know what was going on, and what if--" He stopped himself, looking at Catherine and then shaking his head. He couldn't really say what he'd meant, which was that there was a good chance anyone they'd contact for this could let the information slip to someone they didn't want to know, and that would be bad, but he was sure Giles understood. "Andrew and Catherine can do this, it's just a twenty-minute drive each way, and I don't think there're any more demons lurking."
"I hate to say it, but you're right about the retrieval team," Giles said. He dug into his pocket for a key and handed it to Andrew. "Be careful, please."
"Sure thing, Captain."
"Ocean's sword," Xander said. "She was upset about leaving it behind--"
"I'll get it," Catherine said, and she and Andrew hurried away.
Giles sighed. "I truly despise this situation."
"Yeah, I hear you." Now that they were alone, Xander couldn't stop himself from reaching out and touching Giles' arm. Thankfully, Giles didn't say anything about it, and Xander squeezed. "We should--" he said, then cleared his throat. "We should go inside, make sure Ocean's okay."
Giles smiled, shaking his head. "When this is behind us--"
"I know, we need to talk."
"We do, but that wasn't what I was going to say," Giles admitted, brushing his fingers against Xander's wrist.
Xander blushed, although he couldn't tell whether it was from Giles' words, or from his touch. Probably both. "Okay--what was it?"
"I know we've talked about this before," Giles said. "But I think you should give serious thought to language lessons."
Xander frowned at him. "Where did that come from?"
Giles sighed. "Her name is Océane."
"That's what I've been saying," he said, still frowning. "Or at least, trying to say."
"Which is why I think you should take at least some basic language classes," Giles said. "It would help you to communicate with Slayers like Océane, and since you're frequently in western Africa, French might--"
"I took French in high school," he pointed out. "Two years. And I passed both of them."
"Your junior year," Giles said, "I'm well aware you had a substitute for the entire second semester because the school couldn't find a replacement on short notice."
"Yeah," Xander said. "That was great. Um, not the part where Buffy had to stake our real teacher, but the part where we mostly watched movies." He paused. "And okay, you might have a point about the French."
Giles nodded. "We'll talk about it further once this is all settled."
Great. School. Xander had thought he was completely done with that. But if Giles was going to keep bringing it up--well, Xander knew that hints from your boss were more than just helpful suggestions, and no matter what Giles' fingers on his wrist were doing to Xander's heart rate, Giles was still his boss. "I'm not going to be in class with Niki," Xander warned him.
"Nkiruka," Giles said, "is already in the intermediate level language classes."
Oh, that was going to be fun when she found out.
"Of course," Giles continued, "it would also be possible for you to get a tutor instead of attending classes."
"Really?" That sounded a little bit better. It would be kind of humiliating to have to attend classes with the kids--who weren't really kids, but were at least younger than Xander was. "I think that would be a better idea, actually, you know, for my credibility? They--well, I'm supposed to be a Watcher, and if I'm studying with them... isn't that weird?"
"Perhaps, at least in the sense that the younger students, especially, don't need to start seeing you as a peer." Giles started walking towards the front door, and held it open for Xander. "Do you want me to find you one? A tutor, I mean."
"I think we should go with your first idea, and wait till this whole thing has blown over," Xander replied, walking past Giles and into the house. "I don't even know how long I'll be in England after that."
Giles nodded thoughtfully, following Xander into the kitchen where Dawn was already patching up Océane. "How is it?"
"Not too bad," Dawn said, nose scrunched up in concentration. "It stopped bleeding, so we don't need to get any professional help, I don't think."
Océane seemed a little pale when she looked at Xander. "Is it okay? She can do the--the thing?"
"Stitches?" Xander asked, pulling a chair and sitting closer to Océane's and taking her hand in his. "Yeah, don't worry, she has plenty of experience patching us all up."
"We all do," Dawn added, still very intent on what she was doing.
"When she's done," Giles said, softly. "You should go lie down. I don't think you lost too much blood, but it's always a good idea to keep your strength up."
"And with the Slayer constitution, you'll be better in no time." Xander grinned, happy when it made her smile.
"Okay," Océane said, nodding.
Dawn sighed, and straightened up. "There, done. You should be fine, trooper."
Xander chuckled and looked at Giles with a smile. Giles was bringing over a glass of water and handing it to Océane, who took it, hands still shaking a bit. Xander knew she had fought demons before; Catherine had talked about at least one time when they'd gone training/hunting together, but this must have been different just from Océane's reaction. The size of the demon itself was kind of impressive, and Xander was pretty sure that their Watcher wouldn't have let them train by hunting demons that size. At least, not yet. "Go rest now, okay?"
Giles nodded. "Dawn, would you help Océane back to the dormitories? You and Buffy will stay here, of course, but I'd appreciate it if you'd walk Océane back and get her settled."
"Actually," Dawn said, "I was kind of planning on checking if they had a spare bed for me there." She grinned. "If I'm going to be coming here for training, I might as well get used to it."
"You just don't want to have to share a room with Buffy," Xander said. While there were a lot of bedrooms in Giles' house, most of them had been made into storage space or offices long before Giles ever moved in, and Giles had converted all the remaining ground-floor rooms when he'd started using the house as the main Council offices. There were only three rooms still furnished as bedrooms, and with Xander staying in one, Buffy and Dawn would have to stay in the other.
"Nobody should have to look at my sister first thing in the morning," Dawn said, still grinning at him. "So maybe it's both. But that's okay, right, Giles?"
Giles nodded. "I believe there'll be room for you," he said. Xander kind of hoped there was. They'd need Buffy around to help them try to question the demon, and he'd feel a lot better about Dawn knowing she was in a dorm packed full of Slayers.
It took Buffy and the others close to an hour to get back. Then there was the slight problem of finding a room for that huge thing they brought with them. Andrew was the one to find a solution to that problem when he pointed out that they did have a perfectly acceptable basement they could use. No one ever went down there because it was, well, creepy, but that worked for keeping a demon.
The demon was out cold, and Giles pointed out that it might be a while before it gained consciousness again, so everyone made their way back into the study, except Julia, who got the first watch.
"Where's Dawn?" Buffy asked.
Xander closed the door when he realized that Andrew and Catherine weren't following them. "At the dorms," he replied, slumping down on the couch next to Giles. "She took Ocean there and said she'd see if they had an empty bed for her to sleep in, so I guess she's settling in for now." Then he frowned. "We didn't tell you when you got in?"
"No," she smiled, sitting down on the chair closest to them and patting Xander's hand. "But it's okay, we had something else on our minds. I just thought she was waiting inside."
Giles nodded. "Mrs. Cheever will make sure she's settled all right. I don't think we'll get anything out of that demon for a few more hours." He leaned his elbows on his knees. "She'll be back."
The door opened slowly and they all turned to it. "Mr. Wells said he's going to try to cook something for us to eat," Catherine said, popping her head in the doorway. "I'll help him."
Xander was waiting for Giles to say something, but Giles stayed quiet, and looked at him instead. Which is when Xander realized Catherine was actually looking at him and not Giles. "Oh, uh, okay, no problem." Catherine gave a short nod, and left, closing the door again behind her.
"Mr. Wells?" Buffy asked, trying not to laugh too hard.
"It's a Giles thing." Xander shrugged. Buffy's laugh was contagious, and he found himself chuckling with her.
"A Giles thing?" Giles frowned, turning to Xander with a little smile on his lips. "I simply think all the students need to be respectful."
"But it's... it's Andrew." Buffy kept chuckling for a moment, making both Giles and Xander smile, and then finally sobered up. "Nah, I get why you want them to use the Mr. thing. It's just weird to hear him called 'Mr.' anything."
"I don't know," Xander said. "He's actually doing a pretty good job, especially with how upset he is."
"Upset?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah, he and Gregory--they were kinda close. It really hit him hard."
"I'm impressed that he's been able to keep it together today, actually," Giles added, pinching his nose. "He was quite a mess yesterday."
Xander nodded. "That's probably why he's cooking. As long as he keeps moving and doing stuff, he won't be thinking about it, and he won't break down."
Buffy slumped back against the chair. "Mmm, makes sense. So... what do we do now?"
"We wait," Giles said, sighing. "While the demon's unconscious, there's not a lot we can do."
"And after that?" she said. "Because I'm telling you, I don't really think it speaks English."
"Its masters, or employers, must have some way of communicating with it," Giles said. "Either it speaks some other human language, or it speaks a demonic language common enough that someone on the Council speaks it."
"Someone we can't trust," Xander pointed out. "That's not a lot of help."
Giles shook his head. "I think we may be all right," he said. "Ruth Cheever's fluency in human languages is only due to her field assignments when she was younger. Her actual specialty was in demonic languages."
"And we can trust her?" Buffy said.
Xander nodded. "Yeah. We're pretty sure she's one of the good guys. If she has a problem with Giles, she'd probably just smack his hand with a ruler and send him to bed without supper." At Buffy's raised eyebrow, he went on, "You've met her. She's in charge of the girls' dorm? Kind of scary, especially if you're a sixteen-year-old Slayer or Watcherette breaking curfew, but we trust her."
"That's good." Buffy sat up straighter and grabbed one of the books they'd been researching in and had left on the table. "So we keep busy until he wakes up again."
"Yep, I guess that's the plan," Xander said, and he groaned, rubbing the skin under his eye. "Maybe a nap would be a good thing."
Giles chuckled and shook his head. "I'll give Mrs. Cheever a call and have her meet us here as soon as she can. Dawn should be back by then, I imagine."
"Good plan," Xander agreed, putting his feet on the couch and lying down as soon as Giles was up. "Let us know how that goes."
With another shake of his head, Giles smiled at Xander, and left.
"What's up with you and Giles?" Buffy asked. When Xander looked up, she still had her nose in the book, and she didn't look like she was actually waiting for him to answer.
He lay back against the arm of the couch, and put his arm over his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know," she said. "It's not that you're acting weirder than usual or anything, but there's like, uh, some kind of tension or something. Figured you had a fight or something."
"A fight," Xander repeated, trying to figure out whether he should agree or not. It was kind of true, but he thought whatever had happened between him and Giles was a lot more complicated than that. "No," he decided finally. "We didn't. There's just... you know, tension. Because of people getting killed, and demons on campus, and stuff."
Buffy gave him a slight smile. "Because that's totally unlike anything either of you has had to deal with before."
She had a point. "Yeah, but Giles is responsible for everybody, this time. It leads to stress." He smiled back at her.
"So everything's okay?"
"Yeah," Xander lied. "Apart from the Watcher-killing demon in the basement, and the thing where half the Council is apparently staging a coup and me being responsible for a tiny little Slayer, everything's great." Or, well, it would be, anyway, once all of this was over and they had a chance to think. And the tension that had sprung up between him and Giles was, well. Xander knew exactly what it was, but they could get all of that straightened out after nobody was trying to kill them.
"Okay," Buffy said, in a voice that made it pretty clear she didn't actually believe him.
"You know," Xander said, deciding it was time to change the subject, "I was going to try to get you and Dawn over here for a visit while I was here, anyway."
"You could have just asked," she said, smiling again. "Or, you know--here's a crazy thought--you could have taken some time off and come to see us in Rome."
Xander shook his head. "I wanted to spend a couple of weeks at home," he said. Then, realizing what he'd just said, he added, "Um, here, I mean. Which is about as close to 'home' as I get, home being a hole in the ground. I don't stay in one place long enough to feel at home in Africa."
She looked at him again, nodding. "So this is home," she said.
Hadn't he just been wondering about that? It looked like he'd just answered his own question. "Yeah," he said. "I guess it is."
"That's good. Rome is--it's not home, but it could be, you know."
Xander nodded.
There was a silence for a moment, and then Buffy said: "When do I get to meet that tiny Slayer of yours anyway? Niki, right?"
"Probably very soon," Xander said with a smile. "She's never been very far from Catherine since we picked her and Ocean up in Johannesburg, so as soon as Niki hears that we're back, she'll show up." Especially since she'd want to know everything that had happened, in detail.
***
Part 10
Author: Soft Princess (soft_princess) and Mireille (mireille719)
Fandom: BtVS
Pairing: Giles/Xander
Rating: FRT
Word Count: 4,800 (this part) / 64,000 overall
Summary: When Xander is attacked by a demon on his way to deliver a trio of young Slayers to England, he and Giles find themselves investigating a plot that may threaten the Council's very existence--and re-evaluating their relationship in the process.
Spoilers: Post-Chosen; based on aired-episode canon only.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. The characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy; we are only borrowing them.
Feedback/Concrit: Both welcome, either here or at mireille719 {at} gmail {dot} com and soft.princess {at} gmail {dot} com.
Notes: This story is being posted in 12 parts: parts 1-4 at spring_with_xan on June 17, parts 5-8 at summer_of_giles on June 19, and parts 9-12 at summer_of_giles on June 22. We would like to thank wesleysgirl for the wonderful job beta-reading.
Previous parts:
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8
Dawn was going to be fine.
Xander knew that. She had Buffy with her, and there was no way Buffy was going to let a demon get past her to her little sister. And Dawn knew what to expect, so she wouldn't be taken by surprise. Besides that, there were four of the older Slayers from the school stationed at the airport--three secretly, and Julia--the girl who'd done the sketch of the demon for them--who Giles thought was a reliable driver, meeting them at baggage claim.
Dawn would be in the car with not one, but two Slayers, and Xander, Catherine, and Océane were waiting for a call from Julia so they could pull onto the road and follow them back to the school. There was another group of Slayers stationed a couple of miles from the school, too, in case there was trouble there, and Giles was waiting at the school.
Even if most of the Slayers still thought this was some kind of training exercise--the girls who did have some idea what was going on had been encouraged not to talk about it--Dawn was as well-protected as she could possibly be.
His cell phone rang then, and Catherine answered it for him; Xander had given her the phone, feeling more comfortable if he helped Océane keep an eye out for trouble. Giles had tried to tell him that if the demons were targeting Watchers, he'd be putting himself at risk, but it wasn't like Xander didn't know that. It wasn't like Giles wouldn't have been out here himself if he hadn't been responsible for a whole school full of kids, either.
"Hello?" Catherine listened carefully for a moment or two, and then said, "All right. I'll tell Mr. Harris. Thank you." She snapped his phone shut and handed it to him. "They've got the car. It's a blue Volkswagen, and they're going out to the car park now. They should be here in a quarter of an hour, maybe twenty minutes."
"Thanks, Catherine." Xander took a deep breath, turning to look at both girls. "Ready?"
"Yep," Catherine replied, holding her sword in her hand. Océane only gave a short nod, keeping her eyes on the road.
Xander took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Just a few more minutes, and then the fun would start. He just hoped York, or anybody from that side, hadn't been told about the Slayers they'd pulled out of class for this. Everybody had been told it was a training exercise, but Xander had this voice in his head telling him it was very easy to make the connection between the exercise and Dawn's arrival, and that someone with half a brain would know it wasn't just a coincidence.
They probably wouldn't have time to react and call the attack back, though, even if they did make the connection.
"They are here," Océane said, pointing at a blue car on the road.
With a nod, Xander turned the key in the ignition. He waited until the car had passed them before pulling onto the road behind them. "Okay, then, let's get this party started."
Following a car on a busy highway looked a lot easier in the movies than it actually was, it turned out. At least Xander could keep an eye on the sticker from the rental-car company, so he didn't get confused by any similar-looking cars. Then he started to worry. They weren't that far from Heathrow. Lots of people would have rented cars. Lots of people would be driving little blue rental cars.
He'd just about worked himself into freaking out that he'd screwed up and put Dawn in danger when he realized that he could see Dawn in the back seat of that particular car. She turned around then, even, and he got a glimpse of her face as she studied the traffic behind them before Buffy turned around as well, tugging Dawn's arm until she settled back into her seat. Probably a good move; they didn't want anyone to think she was expecting to be followed.
Not that Xander was expecting trouble yet. Too much traffic, too many people around. No, he was pretty sure York and the rest of that side would wait until they got closer to the school, on one of the roads that was mostly deserted during the day. Right now, all he had to do was make sure he didn't lose the car in traffic.
When they hit the quieter roads, though, Xander asked the girls to keep an eye out for trouble, and he kept close to the rental car.
"You should let them go ahead," Catherine said, putting a hand on his arm.
"I'm sorry? I'm not about to let them out of my sight," he argued, and then he frowned. Maybe she had a point.
"The demon won't come out if it thinks there's more people out here than just Dawn," Catherine explained.
"Catherine is right," Océane said, hand clenching and unclenching on her sword. She kept her eyes on the road, and this was the first time she'd talked since telling them the car was there.
Xander slowed down the car and stopped on the side of the road, nodding. "You're probably right." He waited until the rental car had almost disappeared from view to get back on the road. Apart from them, there was nobody around. Xander tapped the steering wheel anxiously with the tips of his fingers, and bit his lip. "This is not nerve-wracking at all. Nope."
Catherine gave a light chuckle and shook her head. "There!" she yelled, pointing at the road ahead of them.
Xander's heartbeat quickened at the panic in her tone, and he blinked. At first, he couldn't see it, but then--"Dammit!" He pushed on the accelerator and heard the girls pick up their weapons. The demon had come out of the woods and was running towards the blue car. Xander was pretty sure the girls in there hadn't seen it yet, because they weren't slowing down or stopping, and it wouldn't be long before the demon reached the car.
In the rear-view mirror, Xander could see Catherine covering her face; he heard the blue car's tires squeal as Julia apparently noticed the demon and slammed on the brakes. Holding his breath, he watched as it skidded off the road onto the grass, only daring to breathe again when he saw it come to a stop with everyone in it apparently unharmed.
Both the front doors opened, and Buffy and Julia both came out of the car, weapons raised. Xander pulled up a few yards behind them, turning to look at the girls. "Your job," he reminded them, "is to get Dawn back here." They nodded, but he went on. "That's your only job," he said firmly. "Let Buffy and Julia handle the demon; they've been training longer. You two just get Dawn and get her back here." He hated sending them out like this, but he needed to stay behind the wheel, keeping the engine running and his foot on the brake so that they could pull away the second Dawn and the girls were safely in the car.
"We know," Catherine said, and the two of them got out.
Xander didn't know where to look; he didn't want to look at any of it. The demon smashed through the rear window of the car; he saw Dawn rapidly slide to the other side of the car and then emerge, crouching down behind the car, as Buffy attacked the demon, hacking at it with her sword but hampered by her need to keep the thing alive.
Catherine and Océane made for Dawn's side of the car, keeping their weapons ready, as Julia moved to the demon's other side, keeping it trapped between the two Slayers. Then he saw Dawn come out from behind the car, Catherine and Océane on either side of her, flanking her protectively. Dawn, he saw, was holding a dagger; Xander wondered how much she'd had to argue with Buffy before her sister had let her arm herself. He was glad she had, though; it might not be much, but it could buy her a second or two, long enough for one of the Slayers to get to her if things went wrong.
And then, horrified, he watched as the demon pushed Julia aside, lunging for Dawn; Océane slashed at it with her sword, but was knocked away as well, her weapon falling to the ground. Xander could see her sleeve turning red with blood and felt sick. What was he doing? She was a kid.
Julia was back on her feet now, driving the demon toward the road again, and Catherine and Dawn started running for the car. As soon as Dawn was inside, Catherine turned back, running to help Océane to the car.
"You okay, Dawn?" Xander asked, not looking away from the two girls making their way back to the car.
"I'm good," Dawn said, just as Océane slid into the back seat, her hand clamped over her injured arm. Catherine followed, slamming the door shut.
Xander didn't drive off yet, not wanting to leave Buffy and Julia battling the thing even though he was pretty sure the demon wouldn't put up much of a fight once Dawn was gone. Besides, two Slayers against one demon put the odds firmly on the Slayers' side.
"I could help them," Catherine said from the back seat.
"No, you could not," Xander said, worry making his voice sharper than he would have liked. "Help Ocean."
Dawn was already on the job, using the dagger she'd been carrying to cut the sleeve of Océane's blouse open. "It's not too bad," she reported. "There's a lot of blood, but it looks pretty shallow."
Océane seemed preoccupied, looking outside the car, past the fight still going on. "My sword," she began, gesturing with her good arm toward the sword still lying on the ground. "It belongs to the school."
"Screw the sword," Xander said, knowing Giles would probably give him hell for sounding that unprofessional in front of the girls. He didn't care. "We'll come back for it later," he added, as Buffy turned around to look at them.
"We're fine," she shouted. "Get Dawn out of here, now!"
As the demon began lumbering toward their car, taking advantage of Buffy's momentary distraction, Xander decided that she was right; now was the time to floor it. "Hold on tight," he warned the girls, swerving around the demon and speeding off down the road.
He'd just gotten far enough away that he'd decided to follow the speed limit again when his phone rang. He picked it up and tossed it back to Catherine. "You're on phone duty again," Xander said. "I don't think I need to be distracted."
Catherine caught the phone and answered it. "This is Mr. Harris' phone," she said, listening for a moment. Then, sounding more animated, she said, "Good! No, no, she will be fine," glancing over at Océane, who was holding the sweater from her school uniform against her injured arm. "I'll tell him. Thank you." She clicked the phone shut, beaming. "Miss Summers--"
"Buffy," Xander corrected her. "She's not going to let you call her 'Miss Summers.'"
Catherine continued, unperturbed. "She says to tell you that they have the demon, and will be bringing it back to the school as soon as Mr. Giles sends someone to pick them up. It's too big for the car."
"Great," Xander said, his heartbeat beginning to slow down to normal again.
They were back on school grounds soon, and Xander parked the car close to Giles' home. Giles and Andrew were already hurrying down the steps when Xander got out of the car, and opened the door for Océane and Dawn to get out. "Did Buffy call you?" he asked Giles.
He nodded. "She told me that one of the girls was hurt?" Then, when he saw Océane, he frowned. "Is she all right?"
"Just a scratch!" Dawn replied, walking over to them and pulling Giles into a hug. "It might need a few stitches, but she'll be okay."
Giles nodded at that, although Xander could tell he was worried. "Is anyone else injured?" he asked.
"Not as far as I know; Buffy didn't mention anything on the phone, so I don't think so," Xander said, still unable to relax. It had gone down too fast, after twenty-four hours of pent up anxiety, and he was finding it very hard to let go of it. He really, seriously, wanted to touch Giles right now. Bad idea.
"Should I go get Buffy?" Andrew asked, coming over to them as Océane and Dawn walked inside.
"I'd rather you didn't go alone," Giles began.
Catherine interrupted him. "I'll go with him."
Xander shook his head. "Better not."
"I know how to fight," she argued, crossing her arms. "Miss Summers--"
"Buffy."
She rolled her eyes at him, and turned to Giles instead. "Miss Summers and Julia are there, so we'll be fine."
Giles shook his head. "I'd rather send a retrieval team."
Xander didn't think that was a good idea, at all. "You'd have to let them know what was going on, and what if--" He stopped himself, looking at Catherine and then shaking his head. He couldn't really say what he'd meant, which was that there was a good chance anyone they'd contact for this could let the information slip to someone they didn't want to know, and that would be bad, but he was sure Giles understood. "Andrew and Catherine can do this, it's just a twenty-minute drive each way, and I don't think there're any more demons lurking."
"I hate to say it, but you're right about the retrieval team," Giles said. He dug into his pocket for a key and handed it to Andrew. "Be careful, please."
"Sure thing, Captain."
"Ocean's sword," Xander said. "She was upset about leaving it behind--"
"I'll get it," Catherine said, and she and Andrew hurried away.
Giles sighed. "I truly despise this situation."
"Yeah, I hear you." Now that they were alone, Xander couldn't stop himself from reaching out and touching Giles' arm. Thankfully, Giles didn't say anything about it, and Xander squeezed. "We should--" he said, then cleared his throat. "We should go inside, make sure Ocean's okay."
Giles smiled, shaking his head. "When this is behind us--"
"I know, we need to talk."
"We do, but that wasn't what I was going to say," Giles admitted, brushing his fingers against Xander's wrist.
Xander blushed, although he couldn't tell whether it was from Giles' words, or from his touch. Probably both. "Okay--what was it?"
"I know we've talked about this before," Giles said. "But I think you should give serious thought to language lessons."
Xander frowned at him. "Where did that come from?"
Giles sighed. "Her name is Océane."
"That's what I've been saying," he said, still frowning. "Or at least, trying to say."
"Which is why I think you should take at least some basic language classes," Giles said. "It would help you to communicate with Slayers like Océane, and since you're frequently in western Africa, French might--"
"I took French in high school," he pointed out. "Two years. And I passed both of them."
"Your junior year," Giles said, "I'm well aware you had a substitute for the entire second semester because the school couldn't find a replacement on short notice."
"Yeah," Xander said. "That was great. Um, not the part where Buffy had to stake our real teacher, but the part where we mostly watched movies." He paused. "And okay, you might have a point about the French."
Giles nodded. "We'll talk about it further once this is all settled."
Great. School. Xander had thought he was completely done with that. But if Giles was going to keep bringing it up--well, Xander knew that hints from your boss were more than just helpful suggestions, and no matter what Giles' fingers on his wrist were doing to Xander's heart rate, Giles was still his boss. "I'm not going to be in class with Niki," Xander warned him.
"Nkiruka," Giles said, "is already in the intermediate level language classes."
Oh, that was going to be fun when she found out.
"Of course," Giles continued, "it would also be possible for you to get a tutor instead of attending classes."
"Really?" That sounded a little bit better. It would be kind of humiliating to have to attend classes with the kids--who weren't really kids, but were at least younger than Xander was. "I think that would be a better idea, actually, you know, for my credibility? They--well, I'm supposed to be a Watcher, and if I'm studying with them... isn't that weird?"
"Perhaps, at least in the sense that the younger students, especially, don't need to start seeing you as a peer." Giles started walking towards the front door, and held it open for Xander. "Do you want me to find you one? A tutor, I mean."
"I think we should go with your first idea, and wait till this whole thing has blown over," Xander replied, walking past Giles and into the house. "I don't even know how long I'll be in England after that."
Giles nodded thoughtfully, following Xander into the kitchen where Dawn was already patching up Océane. "How is it?"
"Not too bad," Dawn said, nose scrunched up in concentration. "It stopped bleeding, so we don't need to get any professional help, I don't think."
Océane seemed a little pale when she looked at Xander. "Is it okay? She can do the--the thing?"
"Stitches?" Xander asked, pulling a chair and sitting closer to Océane's and taking her hand in his. "Yeah, don't worry, she has plenty of experience patching us all up."
"We all do," Dawn added, still very intent on what she was doing.
"When she's done," Giles said, softly. "You should go lie down. I don't think you lost too much blood, but it's always a good idea to keep your strength up."
"And with the Slayer constitution, you'll be better in no time." Xander grinned, happy when it made her smile.
"Okay," Océane said, nodding.
Dawn sighed, and straightened up. "There, done. You should be fine, trooper."
Xander chuckled and looked at Giles with a smile. Giles was bringing over a glass of water and handing it to Océane, who took it, hands still shaking a bit. Xander knew she had fought demons before; Catherine had talked about at least one time when they'd gone training/hunting together, but this must have been different just from Océane's reaction. The size of the demon itself was kind of impressive, and Xander was pretty sure that their Watcher wouldn't have let them train by hunting demons that size. At least, not yet. "Go rest now, okay?"
Giles nodded. "Dawn, would you help Océane back to the dormitories? You and Buffy will stay here, of course, but I'd appreciate it if you'd walk Océane back and get her settled."
"Actually," Dawn said, "I was kind of planning on checking if they had a spare bed for me there." She grinned. "If I'm going to be coming here for training, I might as well get used to it."
"You just don't want to have to share a room with Buffy," Xander said. While there were a lot of bedrooms in Giles' house, most of them had been made into storage space or offices long before Giles ever moved in, and Giles had converted all the remaining ground-floor rooms when he'd started using the house as the main Council offices. There were only three rooms still furnished as bedrooms, and with Xander staying in one, Buffy and Dawn would have to stay in the other.
"Nobody should have to look at my sister first thing in the morning," Dawn said, still grinning at him. "So maybe it's both. But that's okay, right, Giles?"
Giles nodded. "I believe there'll be room for you," he said. Xander kind of hoped there was. They'd need Buffy around to help them try to question the demon, and he'd feel a lot better about Dawn knowing she was in a dorm packed full of Slayers.
It took Buffy and the others close to an hour to get back. Then there was the slight problem of finding a room for that huge thing they brought with them. Andrew was the one to find a solution to that problem when he pointed out that they did have a perfectly acceptable basement they could use. No one ever went down there because it was, well, creepy, but that worked for keeping a demon.
The demon was out cold, and Giles pointed out that it might be a while before it gained consciousness again, so everyone made their way back into the study, except Julia, who got the first watch.
"Where's Dawn?" Buffy asked.
Xander closed the door when he realized that Andrew and Catherine weren't following them. "At the dorms," he replied, slumping down on the couch next to Giles. "She took Ocean there and said she'd see if they had an empty bed for her to sleep in, so I guess she's settling in for now." Then he frowned. "We didn't tell you when you got in?"
"No," she smiled, sitting down on the chair closest to them and patting Xander's hand. "But it's okay, we had something else on our minds. I just thought she was waiting inside."
Giles nodded. "Mrs. Cheever will make sure she's settled all right. I don't think we'll get anything out of that demon for a few more hours." He leaned his elbows on his knees. "She'll be back."
The door opened slowly and they all turned to it. "Mr. Wells said he's going to try to cook something for us to eat," Catherine said, popping her head in the doorway. "I'll help him."
Xander was waiting for Giles to say something, but Giles stayed quiet, and looked at him instead. Which is when Xander realized Catherine was actually looking at him and not Giles. "Oh, uh, okay, no problem." Catherine gave a short nod, and left, closing the door again behind her.
"Mr. Wells?" Buffy asked, trying not to laugh too hard.
"It's a Giles thing." Xander shrugged. Buffy's laugh was contagious, and he found himself chuckling with her.
"A Giles thing?" Giles frowned, turning to Xander with a little smile on his lips. "I simply think all the students need to be respectful."
"But it's... it's Andrew." Buffy kept chuckling for a moment, making both Giles and Xander smile, and then finally sobered up. "Nah, I get why you want them to use the Mr. thing. It's just weird to hear him called 'Mr.' anything."
"I don't know," Xander said. "He's actually doing a pretty good job, especially with how upset he is."
"Upset?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah, he and Gregory--they were kinda close. It really hit him hard."
"I'm impressed that he's been able to keep it together today, actually," Giles added, pinching his nose. "He was quite a mess yesterday."
Xander nodded. "That's probably why he's cooking. As long as he keeps moving and doing stuff, he won't be thinking about it, and he won't break down."
Buffy slumped back against the chair. "Mmm, makes sense. So... what do we do now?"
"We wait," Giles said, sighing. "While the demon's unconscious, there's not a lot we can do."
"And after that?" she said. "Because I'm telling you, I don't really think it speaks English."
"Its masters, or employers, must have some way of communicating with it," Giles said. "Either it speaks some other human language, or it speaks a demonic language common enough that someone on the Council speaks it."
"Someone we can't trust," Xander pointed out. "That's not a lot of help."
Giles shook his head. "I think we may be all right," he said. "Ruth Cheever's fluency in human languages is only due to her field assignments when she was younger. Her actual specialty was in demonic languages."
"And we can trust her?" Buffy said.
Xander nodded. "Yeah. We're pretty sure she's one of the good guys. If she has a problem with Giles, she'd probably just smack his hand with a ruler and send him to bed without supper." At Buffy's raised eyebrow, he went on, "You've met her. She's in charge of the girls' dorm? Kind of scary, especially if you're a sixteen-year-old Slayer or Watcherette breaking curfew, but we trust her."
"That's good." Buffy sat up straighter and grabbed one of the books they'd been researching in and had left on the table. "So we keep busy until he wakes up again."
"Yep, I guess that's the plan," Xander said, and he groaned, rubbing the skin under his eye. "Maybe a nap would be a good thing."
Giles chuckled and shook his head. "I'll give Mrs. Cheever a call and have her meet us here as soon as she can. Dawn should be back by then, I imagine."
"Good plan," Xander agreed, putting his feet on the couch and lying down as soon as Giles was up. "Let us know how that goes."
With another shake of his head, Giles smiled at Xander, and left.
"What's up with you and Giles?" Buffy asked. When Xander looked up, she still had her nose in the book, and she didn't look like she was actually waiting for him to answer.
He lay back against the arm of the couch, and put his arm over his eyes. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know," she said. "It's not that you're acting weirder than usual or anything, but there's like, uh, some kind of tension or something. Figured you had a fight or something."
"A fight," Xander repeated, trying to figure out whether he should agree or not. It was kind of true, but he thought whatever had happened between him and Giles was a lot more complicated than that. "No," he decided finally. "We didn't. There's just... you know, tension. Because of people getting killed, and demons on campus, and stuff."
Buffy gave him a slight smile. "Because that's totally unlike anything either of you has had to deal with before."
She had a point. "Yeah, but Giles is responsible for everybody, this time. It leads to stress." He smiled back at her.
"So everything's okay?"
"Yeah," Xander lied. "Apart from the Watcher-killing demon in the basement, and the thing where half the Council is apparently staging a coup and me being responsible for a tiny little Slayer, everything's great." Or, well, it would be, anyway, once all of this was over and they had a chance to think. And the tension that had sprung up between him and Giles was, well. Xander knew exactly what it was, but they could get all of that straightened out after nobody was trying to kill them.
"Okay," Buffy said, in a voice that made it pretty clear she didn't actually believe him.
"You know," Xander said, deciding it was time to change the subject, "I was going to try to get you and Dawn over here for a visit while I was here, anyway."
"You could have just asked," she said, smiling again. "Or, you know--here's a crazy thought--you could have taken some time off and come to see us in Rome."
Xander shook his head. "I wanted to spend a couple of weeks at home," he said. Then, realizing what he'd just said, he added, "Um, here, I mean. Which is about as close to 'home' as I get, home being a hole in the ground. I don't stay in one place long enough to feel at home in Africa."
She looked at him again, nodding. "So this is home," she said.
Hadn't he just been wondering about that? It looked like he'd just answered his own question. "Yeah," he said. "I guess it is."
"That's good. Rome is--it's not home, but it could be, you know."
Xander nodded.
There was a silence for a moment, and then Buffy said: "When do I get to meet that tiny Slayer of yours anyway? Niki, right?"
"Probably very soon," Xander said with a smile. "She's never been very far from Catherine since we picked her and Ocean up in Johannesburg, so as soon as Niki hears that we're back, she'll show up." Especially since she'd want to know everything that had happened, in detail.
***
Part 10