21 August 2019 - Building Good Will
Title: Building Good Will
Author: Beriaearwen
Crossover: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / The Magnificent Seven - ATF AU
Characters: Andrew, Buffy, Giles, Chris, Ezra, Nathan, JD, Buck, Vin, Josiah, Orin Travis
Rating: Suitable for people over 13
Word Count: 1421
Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Mutant Enemy, etc. The characters of the Magnificent Seven belong to John Watson, etc. The ATF-AU was created by MOG. All are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Buffy felt nothing but horror. Whoever came up with this idea would pay.
Building Good Will
By Beriaearwen
Buffy was only half-focused on the conference call. The convergence that would signal the beginning of the ceremony would be happening soon and the demons were gathering. The demons themselves weren't that tough to kill. She felt confident that she, Faith and the mini-team with them would be more than enough to handle them, but the numbers gathering were distracting her and setting her teeth on edge.
Something caught her attention in the conversation. “Exchange?” she asked, wincing only slightly when Giles sighed. She could almost hear him cleaning his glasses.
“I know we're getting close to the convergence, Buffy, but do try to keep up,” the older man pleaded.
“I'll do my best,” she offered. “Just make it quick, please?”
“Very well. We have been asked to work together with various agencies throughout the world to establish better working relationships. The idea which was agreed upon by all who were involved was a personnel exchange. We will be sending representatives to each agency on a rotating schedule and they will be sending representatives to us. We will be starting with various agencies with whom we have already worked. Each of us will be expected to work with a group -”
“B! Let's go!” Faith called out, interrupting Giles.
“Sorry, Giles. Apocalypse to stop. Later!” Buffy shouted, ending the call.
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Two Weeks Later
“You sent him where?” Buffy shrieked, she really wished she hadn't, but this was beyond bad.
“He's in Denver, Buffy. It's only another...”
“Giles! We had a good relationship with them. I like them,” Buffy explained, ignoring Dawn's side comment that she liked some more than others. “Why would you send Andrew to them? Are you trying to alienate them?”
“Buffy,” Giles began calmly. “We all agreed to give Andrew a chance and...”
“Is he really the image you want to portray to others?”
Giles deflated. “I didn't have a choice. You were unavailable and the rest of us already had other assignments.”
Buffy straightened. “I'm here now. I'll go see what I can salvage.”
“I'll make the call,” Giles offered.
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
The Next Day - Denver
Ezra paused by the door, took a deep breath and gave himself a word of encouragement, “Courage Ezra.”
Taking one last deep breath and putting on his best mask, he breezed into the office.
“Mr. Standish!”
“Mr. Wells,” he returned, setting his briefcase on the desk before removing his hat and taking a seat. He did a double take at the young man. He actually might have approved of the suit, but he shirt, tie and socks... “What are you wearing?”
“Oh! Do you like it? I wanted to be classy like you but still me. I think it's sort of James Bond meets Han Solo,” Andrew burbled.
“I see” he replied, unable to think of anything else to say and hoping his eyes would not, in fact, burn out of his head.
“Oh, Here's your coffee. And might I say you look quite dashing today. Oh, I have three messages for you from various people. Oh, and one from your mother who said she couldn't get a hold of you on your private phone. She seems nice. Oh, and here are the files you mentioned you wanted.”
“Thank you Mister Wells. Don't you have a meeting in a few minutes for which you must prepare?”
“Oh, no. I have at least five more minutes to finish updating you.”
“Lovely.”
“Five bucks says Ezra breaks today and goes after him,” Buck offered in a hushed tone to Josiah and Vin who were standing with him across the room watching the daily show. Though none of them would ever admit it to Ezra, every one of them was thankful that Andrew had chosen the Southerner over them. Of course, Ezra would not be pleased and would exact his revenge when he discovered Chris had deliberately bypassed two cases which would have allowed Ezra to go undercover.
“Has Chris been able to do anything? If something doesn't happen soon, I may need to get Ezra in to get his blood pressure checked,” Nathan inserted into the conversation.
A small smile appeared on Vin's face.
“Someone heard something,” Josiah observed causing the other three men to look at Vin.
“You finally found your courage and called her,” Buck teased, earning him an unimpressed glare.
“He's been calling her regularly since she left,” JD informed, slipping into the group huddled as far away from Andrew as possible. “Any sign of Chris?”
“He's been in there since about five minutes after I got in,” Vin informed. “Has a meeting around 10:30 I think. Imagine he'll dash out then.”
“Or sooner,” Josiah intoned, looking toward the door.
The five men were torn between cheering and sighing in relief. Their savior appeared in the doorway.
“Andrew,” the female voice said, pausing in the doorway.
“Eep!” came the response.
“What was your assignment?” Buffy inquired.
“To build good will and learn how they operate,” a cowed Andrew obediently replied.
“And is that what you're doing?”
“I... well...” Andrew began before seeing the no-nonsense look on Buffy's face and deflating. “I just got overexcited and may have gotten a little distracted.”
“Really? A little?” she asked, leaning her shoulder against the doorframe and crossing her arms.
“Or a lot,” he admitted quietly.
Buffy took in to forlorn look and sighed, standing straight and dropping her arms to her side. “Well, let's see if we can't get it back on track,” she offered.
Andrew picked his head up slightly and offered a small smile.
“You can come out now, Chris,” she called.
The office door opened a few seconds later and an abashed Chris came into the main area. “Buffy. Will you be staying for a while?”
She easily read the underlying question, will you be sending Andrew away? Buffy's eyes scanned the group before landing on a harried looking Ezra Her smile widened slightly and an evil glint entered her eyes. “Nope, you're getting a two for one for the remainder of the exchange, and since Andrew is our paperwork guru, he could really use some one-on-one time with you learning all the administrative paperwork required to run a top team,” she explained with a brilliant smile that was all teeth. “I'm sure Orin will back me up on that, won't you Orin?”
As Buffy took another step into the office, Orin Travis appeared in the doorway looking amused. “It does make sense,” he agreed, well aware that Chris had more or less hidden away leaving his team and especially Ezra to suffer the attentions of Andrew. Adding a little salt to the wound, he added, “I actually came down for two reasons, one was to let you know Buffy would be observing and assisting for the next few weeks and the other was to find out why you turned down the Burnette case. I felt it would be perfect for your team, especially given Ezra already had an undercover persona who had an in to the group.”
Six sets of eyes landed on the seventh. Chris did not flinch. He did not squirm. He did not, in fact, give anything away with his body language, but the tips of his ears turned a bright red.
“Mr. Larabee!” an outraged Ezra exclaimed, rising from his seat.
“What's the Burnette case?” Buffy asked, cutting off what she knew would be a loud and prolonged exhortation by the Southerner about the affront to his personal mental state and professional acumen by refusing the case in order to pawn off Andrew. There would be time enough for that later. Besides, she and Vin had already come up with some interesting payback ideas to feed to the Southerner.
“Why don't we go into the conference room and discuss it?” Orin encouraged, glad to have that particular minefield circumvented.
Buffy shot a grin at the five men standing off to the side of the room and followed along behind the Assistant Director. The seven felt a sense of relief when, as Andrew turned back toward them and opened his mouth, Buffy's hand shot out and grasped his ear, dragging him out of the room.
“Maybe we will survive Andrew,” JD whispered.
“Why not, we survive you,” Buck teased, darting out the door.
“Hey!”
End
Author: Beriaearwen
Crossover: Buffy the Vampire Slayer / The Magnificent Seven - ATF AU
Characters: Andrew, Buffy, Giles, Chris, Ezra, Nathan, JD, Buck, Vin, Josiah, Orin Travis
Rating: Suitable for people over 13
Word Count: 1421
Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer belong to Mutant Enemy, etc. The characters of the Magnificent Seven belong to John Watson, etc. The ATF-AU was created by MOG. All are used here without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Buffy felt nothing but horror. Whoever came up with this idea would pay.
Building Good Will
By Beriaearwen
Buffy was only half-focused on the conference call. The convergence that would signal the beginning of the ceremony would be happening soon and the demons were gathering. The demons themselves weren't that tough to kill. She felt confident that she, Faith and the mini-team with them would be more than enough to handle them, but the numbers gathering were distracting her and setting her teeth on edge.
Something caught her attention in the conversation. “Exchange?” she asked, wincing only slightly when Giles sighed. She could almost hear him cleaning his glasses.
“I know we're getting close to the convergence, Buffy, but do try to keep up,” the older man pleaded.
“I'll do my best,” she offered. “Just make it quick, please?”
“Very well. We have been asked to work together with various agencies throughout the world to establish better working relationships. The idea which was agreed upon by all who were involved was a personnel exchange. We will be sending representatives to each agency on a rotating schedule and they will be sending representatives to us. We will be starting with various agencies with whom we have already worked. Each of us will be expected to work with a group -”
“B! Let's go!” Faith called out, interrupting Giles.
“Sorry, Giles. Apocalypse to stop. Later!” Buffy shouted, ending the call.
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
Two Weeks Later
“You sent him where?” Buffy shrieked, she really wished she hadn't, but this was beyond bad.
“He's in Denver, Buffy. It's only another...”
“Giles! We had a good relationship with them. I like them,” Buffy explained, ignoring Dawn's side comment that she liked some more than others. “Why would you send Andrew to them? Are you trying to alienate them?”
“Buffy,” Giles began calmly. “We all agreed to give Andrew a chance and...”
“Is he really the image you want to portray to others?”
Giles deflated. “I didn't have a choice. You were unavailable and the rest of us already had other assignments.”
Buffy straightened. “I'm here now. I'll go see what I can salvage.”
“I'll make the call,” Giles offered.
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~
The Next Day - Denver
Ezra paused by the door, took a deep breath and gave himself a word of encouragement, “Courage Ezra.”
Taking one last deep breath and putting on his best mask, he breezed into the office.
“Mr. Standish!”
“Mr. Wells,” he returned, setting his briefcase on the desk before removing his hat and taking a seat. He did a double take at the young man. He actually might have approved of the suit, but he shirt, tie and socks... “What are you wearing?”
“Oh! Do you like it? I wanted to be classy like you but still me. I think it's sort of James Bond meets Han Solo,” Andrew burbled.
“I see” he replied, unable to think of anything else to say and hoping his eyes would not, in fact, burn out of his head.
“Oh, Here's your coffee. And might I say you look quite dashing today. Oh, I have three messages for you from various people. Oh, and one from your mother who said she couldn't get a hold of you on your private phone. She seems nice. Oh, and here are the files you mentioned you wanted.”
“Thank you Mister Wells. Don't you have a meeting in a few minutes for which you must prepare?”
“Oh, no. I have at least five more minutes to finish updating you.”
“Lovely.”
“Five bucks says Ezra breaks today and goes after him,” Buck offered in a hushed tone to Josiah and Vin who were standing with him across the room watching the daily show. Though none of them would ever admit it to Ezra, every one of them was thankful that Andrew had chosen the Southerner over them. Of course, Ezra would not be pleased and would exact his revenge when he discovered Chris had deliberately bypassed two cases which would have allowed Ezra to go undercover.
“Has Chris been able to do anything? If something doesn't happen soon, I may need to get Ezra in to get his blood pressure checked,” Nathan inserted into the conversation.
A small smile appeared on Vin's face.
“Someone heard something,” Josiah observed causing the other three men to look at Vin.
“You finally found your courage and called her,” Buck teased, earning him an unimpressed glare.
“He's been calling her regularly since she left,” JD informed, slipping into the group huddled as far away from Andrew as possible. “Any sign of Chris?”
“He's been in there since about five minutes after I got in,” Vin informed. “Has a meeting around 10:30 I think. Imagine he'll dash out then.”
“Or sooner,” Josiah intoned, looking toward the door.
The five men were torn between cheering and sighing in relief. Their savior appeared in the doorway.
“Andrew,” the female voice said, pausing in the doorway.
“Eep!” came the response.
“What was your assignment?” Buffy inquired.
“To build good will and learn how they operate,” a cowed Andrew obediently replied.
“And is that what you're doing?”
“I... well...” Andrew began before seeing the no-nonsense look on Buffy's face and deflating. “I just got overexcited and may have gotten a little distracted.”
“Really? A little?” she asked, leaning her shoulder against the doorframe and crossing her arms.
“Or a lot,” he admitted quietly.
Buffy took in to forlorn look and sighed, standing straight and dropping her arms to her side. “Well, let's see if we can't get it back on track,” she offered.
Andrew picked his head up slightly and offered a small smile.
“You can come out now, Chris,” she called.
The office door opened a few seconds later and an abashed Chris came into the main area. “Buffy. Will you be staying for a while?”
She easily read the underlying question, will you be sending Andrew away? Buffy's eyes scanned the group before landing on a harried looking Ezra Her smile widened slightly and an evil glint entered her eyes. “Nope, you're getting a two for one for the remainder of the exchange, and since Andrew is our paperwork guru, he could really use some one-on-one time with you learning all the administrative paperwork required to run a top team,” she explained with a brilliant smile that was all teeth. “I'm sure Orin will back me up on that, won't you Orin?”
As Buffy took another step into the office, Orin Travis appeared in the doorway looking amused. “It does make sense,” he agreed, well aware that Chris had more or less hidden away leaving his team and especially Ezra to suffer the attentions of Andrew. Adding a little salt to the wound, he added, “I actually came down for two reasons, one was to let you know Buffy would be observing and assisting for the next few weeks and the other was to find out why you turned down the Burnette case. I felt it would be perfect for your team, especially given Ezra already had an undercover persona who had an in to the group.”
Six sets of eyes landed on the seventh. Chris did not flinch. He did not squirm. He did not, in fact, give anything away with his body language, but the tips of his ears turned a bright red.
“Mr. Larabee!” an outraged Ezra exclaimed, rising from his seat.
“What's the Burnette case?” Buffy asked, cutting off what she knew would be a loud and prolonged exhortation by the Southerner about the affront to his personal mental state and professional acumen by refusing the case in order to pawn off Andrew. There would be time enough for that later. Besides, she and Vin had already come up with some interesting payback ideas to feed to the Southerner.
“Why don't we go into the conference room and discuss it?” Orin encouraged, glad to have that particular minefield circumvented.
Buffy shot a grin at the five men standing off to the side of the room and followed along behind the Assistant Director. The seven felt a sense of relief when, as Andrew turned back toward them and opened his mouth, Buffy's hand shot out and grasped his ear, dragging him out of the room.
“Maybe we will survive Andrew,” JD whispered.
“Why not, we survive you,” Buck teased, darting out the door.
“Hey!”
End