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Author's Chapter Notes:
This one is a particular favorite of mine partly because it moves the story along and partly because we get to revisit one of my favorite pain in the ass characters.
Protective

Buffy stood in front of her register counting the minutes she had left in her shift. Mondays were always the worst, but at least she'd had a nice day full of movies, snacks and general laid-backiness with Dawn yesterday. The only argument had been Janice's sleepover on the upcoming Friday.

Buffy finally relented to the fact that her baby sister should be allowed to act like any other teenager. The overprotective instinct from last year was just too hard to suppress sometimes.

The Slayer of Vampires, alarm clocks, and Doublemeat sandwiches took off her cap and called out to the woman currently managing the store. "7:00, can I clock out?"

"Buffy, um, did you wash the trays?" The aged blonde asked.

Buffy shook her head and walked to the oversized chrome sink. After completing her duties, she was finally allowed to escape. She sighed in relief as she walked into the fresh air of an oncoming dusk.

She quickly walked home and showered.

Dawn heard the shower running and stepped out of her room up to the closed bathroom door. "Buffy? That you?"

Buffy heard her sister's muffled voice through the shower's spray. "Dawn, wait till I'm out. I can't understand you."

"What, Buffy? I can't understand you!"

"Dawn, just wait a few minutes...I'll be out soon."

"What?" the girl yelled back at the door. "Whatever." With that, Dawn hopped down the steps in search of popcorn.

Buffy dried and dressed in record time. Decked out in black jeans and a red tank, she went down the stairs and found Willow and Dawn curled up on the couch watching MTV.

Willow rolled her eyes at the screen filled with five hopping boys repeating the words
"Bye, Bye, Bye" over and over again.

"They are sooo cool!" Dawn exclaimed.

Buffy fell into the couch next to Dawn. "Oh, yeah...the coolest," she said dryly.

"Oh, what? They are cool. Would you rather we listened to The Talking Heads, or maybe, a Spike CD...The Sex Pistols," the teen laughed at her own joke.

Willow watched the two. Sisters.

"No, I've got it...Billy Idol." Dawn jumped up and did her worst impression of Billy singing "Rock the Cradle of Love." She hopped up and down, brought her fist up, and curled her lip. Then she fell on the floor laughing.

Willow was giggling, and Buffy stood up shaking her head at her little sister. "No more sugar for you."

Buffy snatched the cola off the table while Dawn protested. "To Billy," Buffy said as she raised the can in a mock toast, then downed the cola left in the can.

"Jeez! Moody much?" Dawn yelled at her sister and got up. "I was trying to tell you there was only one can left. Now we're out," Dawn yelled while getting a glass of water from the kitchen.

Willow stood up. "Oh, I can go get it." She was desperate for a reprieve from boy band hell.

"No problem, Wills. I was going to patrol real quick. I can bring some home."

Dawn sat down and looked up at Buffy. "Are you going to go see if Spike is back yet?"

Buffy looked over at Willow. They had managed to keep the relationship between Buffy and Spike a secret from Dawn and Xander so far, but Dawn was picking up on something, and it was unnerving. "I'll be patrolling his cemetery just like the others. I might see him if he's back."

"Right," Dawn said with a hint of sarcasm that Willow caught, but Buffy missed as she grabbed her black jacket and left.

Buffy was almost finished, and not a Vampire, demon...not even a good old fashioned mugging.

Into 'his' cemetery she went. Nothing. No tingle. No nothing. "He's still gone," she sighed and finished the run through of the cemetery. Still no demons to slay. "You know...something to take my mind off of...well, everything, would be real good!" she yelled at the cemetery.

Still nothing.

Buffy started home feeling restless and cold. She wrapped her arms around herself and headed in the direction of the closest grocery store. After making her purchase of a twelve-pack of cola, she went home.

When she woke on Tuesday and realized she had slept through her alarm until 1:00, Buffy jumped up and threw the door open. "Dawn!" She ran to her sister's room and saw an empty and made bed. Willow came up the steps.

"Buffy, it's ok. I got her up and walked her to school myself this morning."

Buffy's tension melted from her instantly. "God, Willow. Thanks. I don't know how I could sleep so late. I never do this."

The redhead looked at her best friend sympathetically. "It's ok, Buffy. You've got a lot on your mind. I figured you hadn't been sleeping much lately. Thought you could use a little 'early wake-up call' break."

"Willow, thanks. I really am glad you're helping out with Dawn. She needs to know that it's not just me. That we all love her."

"We do," Willow said, smiling. Then she headed back down the stairs.

Buffy grabbed a quick shower and donned her uniform for the 3:00-closing shift.
Buffy looked at the reflection of herself in the bathroom mirror over the sink. "Another day...another dollar." Her shoulders slumped. "Joy."

In LA

"Duck!!" Wes yelled in Gunn's direction. A moment later the crossbow shot, and the Vampire behind a now crouched Gunn turned to dust. Wes turned stake in hand, to attack the one going for Fred.

Gunn had another one on him the moment he stood back up. Rolling to the ground so that he had the leverage, Gunn sank the stake hidden in his boot into the Vampire's heart. "Got another one!" Gunn stood and saw Wes dust the one holding Fred.

Fred screamed as one came at Wes from behind. Gunn ran to the discarded crossbow and shot the Vampire in the arm. "Damn!"

Fred screamed again, then saw the remnants of what used to be a cafeteria table. She grabbed a piece of wood and handed it to Wes's waiting hand. Just as the Vampire lunged, he was dust.

Wes, still holding the piece of wood, saw Gunn crouched fifteen feet from Fred and himself, holding an emptied crossbow, and a gleaming smile.

"I know...I'm good. You don't have to say it," Gunn said.

Fred ran to him and threw her arms around her boyfriend.

Wes thanked Gunn and noted the condition of what used to be a warehouse. "I think it's clear. That leaves us one more for tomorrow night."

The couple was happy there was one left. The only reason Wes had left his office since Angel went off was to clear the new Vampire nests. Once they were done, they were afraid Wes would lock himself up with the scrolls and books again.

~~`~~

Tuesday Afternoon, London, England, Offices of the Council of Watchers

"Rupert Giles," a female voice called him. The small brunette secretary motioned that Quentin Travers was ready to see him. He stood, walked over, and opened the door to the private office of the Head of the Council.

"Rupert, thank you for coming." The elder man motioned towards the chair, but Giles didn't take it. "I realize we have not invited you for some time since you came home. I would like to rectify this and offer you a position here that would allow you to be central in the workings of the Council."

Giles was not as stunned as his face looked. He had been expecting something like this.

The request Buffy made had allowed him to push into a confused crowd of 'green' Watchers, and slip a package in unnoticed. The sad thing was, they really did need someone, in his opinion. Someone to properly train a Watcher to be a human being. All of the drones in training had just stacked books in the crates. No questions asked.

Idiots.

He had once been one himself, Wesley, too. Now that the true world, and all the monsters that used it as a playground, had become real and not just lessons, they were drones no longer.

The truth in this came when he himself first found the prophecy. Then in convincing Wes not to share the information he came upon. After that day, he was sure to hide the precious information more thoroughly.

Buffy had found it nonetheless, and had made a very interesting request of the Council.

One that Giles was made aware of due to his large collection of Diaries, and took advantage of.

Now here he stood. In front of the man who had no answers to one question.

Why?

Why would a Slayer ask for information on all the Slayers and all the Vampires? Such a brash request was unheard of. Even worse, this man thought Giles would help him find out.

Buffy's short call to thank him, tell him she was keeping the Diaries of both Ashton and Sam, and tell him once more that she loved him was a welcomed one.

Quentin's call had been very disturbing. Mostly because Quentin had called him himself instead of asking someone to call for him.

"So, Rupert, what do you say?"

Giles was pulled out of his thoughts. "What? Ah, yes. Well I would have to say, no. I quite enjoy my current assignment."

"Documenting demons is for the newly trained, not someone who's been out there. You had your charge. Now is the time for you to relax, enjoy the privileges being a retired Watcher can have."

Giles refused to think of himself as retired, not as long as Buffy lived. The work he did was important. He had seen most of the demons the Council's books identified, but there was so much more that hadn't come from books. The books themselves needed updating, and who else better to do it but him? He'd seen first-hand so much more than what was in a most of the texts.

There was that, and there was his need to never help the Council ever again hurt his Slayer. "I am sorry, Quentin," he lied, "but I really feel my work should be done before I take any new position. You must understand, finishing what one starts is very important."

Quentin came around from behind his desk. "Rupert, something is happening with Miss Summers. She made that rather odd demand for a large amount of records."

Giles nodded.

"Yes, then the following day, she requests we pick them up?"

Giles couldn't hide his amused look. "Well, I would say that she is playing games with you a bit there, Quentin."

The man who was technically his boss, but who had lost all control over him after putting Buffy and her friends through ridiculous interviews and reviews, glared at Giles. "I know you must have some idea what it is. She is looking for something, Rupert.“

Buffy's former Watcher looked directly at Quentin. "Don't you think if I knew anything I would have given her answers before she had to resort to calling you?" Taking off his glasses and tucking them into the breast pocket of his dress shirt, he continued. "The problem you have here is not that something is going on. It's that if there is something going on and you don't know what it is, you can't get control of it."

Quentin stepped back from Giles. Fear showed plainly on the man's face. Giles made no aggressive moves towards the older man, but the face looking on was that of the Ripper in all ways.

"I would have thought you'd learned your lessons the last time, but I welcome you to question her. Call her now." The calm, challenging voice emanated from Ripper with an easy coolness.

Quentin looked at the man, remembering the young man who had been so promising. 'Such a shame,' he thought.

Glasses places squarely on his nose, Ripper calmed and Giles emerged once more. "So, you have my answer." He turned to leave, then shot over his shoulder, "Good luck. You will be needing it." Then he shut the door.


Chapter End Notes:
Don't ya just love Quentin? There will be loads of him in the second book of Akoshta.



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