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Author's Chapter Notes:
This chapter would not be possible without the help and advice of Maryperk
Chapter 21

“We prefer to be called Forest People or Sasquatch actually, Bigfoot is so uncivilized,” Wolfie calmly explained to Buffy.

Clapping his hands together as if to announce a change in subject the giant redhead did just that. “Okay, so I understand that there have been some happenings that have caused a little confusion. The cursed one, the key and some time travel, right?”

“How ‘bout you tell us how it is that you know so much, mate, and who exactly you are?” Spike wasn’t about to take anything at face value, not when it came to his family. His protective stance was not lost on the other occupants of the room.

Buffy placed a gently restraining hand to his forearm; he wasn’t the only one who wanted those questions answered. Offering the second recliner to the huge redhead while Spike brought over a couple of dining table chairs, Buffy waited until they were all seated before asking Wolfie to continue.

“I’ll start with who I am, and what I do for the Powers.” Wolfie waited for them to acknowledge his choice before continuing, his musical voice at odds with his appearance. “My people are the Sasquatch; we are forest dwellers and rarely interact with the human world. The supernatural world is vast and much of it is hidden. The slayer would be welcome, but I’m afraid to say that the watcher’s council has made that impossible.”

“What do you mean the council made it impossible?” Giles asked, “I know they're a little stringent on their polices, but...”

“The council has a …ah…no tolerance policy, they teach that if it isn’t human – it is demon. They don’t accept that there are benevolent supernatural beings in the world, they believe there is just the slayer.” Wolfie explained to the ex watcher. “It is why they teach that the slayer fights alone.”

Wolfie watched as they mulled over what he had said, and thought about what still needed to be said. Oh well, best get on with it. “The Powers That Be are made up of three distinct factions, the Powers for Good, Evil and Balance. The Sasquach and Elves of this dimension have always been tools for the Powers of Good, as has the slayer. We were meant to work together. However, the people in control of the council have become fanatics and that actually works against you as the slayer.”

“How does it work against the slayer?” Jenny asked, knowing the dangers of fanaticism from her own upbringing, she felt this was an issue that Buffy should understand fully.

“Our peoples have had to hide from the slayer, as slayers have a tendency to slay first ask questions later. This has meant that she has lost her direct link to the Powers of Good and must rely only on her rather cryptic slayer dreams. Had we been working together, she could have just called me and I could have deciphered her dreams on the spot. My special gift is called ‘Clear Sight’; I see things through the eyes of the Powers you might say. They speak to me directly and I, of course, can speak to them.”

“What about that Whistler guy I met before?” Buffy sputtered. “He told me he was from the Powers.”

“Oh he works for the Powers alright, but he works for the Powers of Balance or sometimes, Evil; the damn fence sitter.” Wolfie let his contempt of the smelly demon be known as he muttered to himself, “Pick a side already.”

“Buffy, didn’t you tell me that this Whistler chap was the one that instigated the insertion of Angel into our lives?” Giles looked up from his notebook as he questioned the girl. He was having a difficult time repressing his own feelings of animosity towards the brunette vampire.

Buffy nodded mutely.

“What and you don’t think the Powers of Evil or Balance would want you on their side?” Wolfie asked, incredulously. He was starting to wonder if these innocents had any idea at all about the ‘real’ world.

“Did the poofter know?” Spike ground out his question through gritted teeth.

“The Cursed One?” Wolfie questioned then snickered after Spike’s terse nod. The blond vampire certainly had a way with words.

“Nah, he just got shown the pretty little school girl and was told his mission was to keep her safe.”

“Kinda fell down on the job in that respect, don't ya think?” Spike snarled. “She's died twice now.” Looking at the ground abruptly as the guilt of his own failure flooded his mind.

A gentle hand stroked his forearm. “Not your fault, doofus,” Buffy quietly assured him. Her smile turned her name calling into a term of endearment.

“You got stabbed then thrown off a tower you dweeb. You told me Buffy dying wasn’t my fault, but how can you expect me to believe that if you keep blaming yourself. It was my blood that opened the portal. You keep blaming yourself and I’ll have to assume you lied to me, Spike.” Dawn firmly informed the morose vampire. She wasn’t above using emotional blackmail to achieve her goals.

“Actually, if you are going to blame anyone, blame the Cursed One. If he had done his job properly in the first place she wouldn’t have died either time.

“We would never have used him, he’d already wasted a hundred years and couldn’t get his act together without some major incentives and the shaky soul wasn’t very trust inspiring. The other two groups decided on him for different reasons, I was told he was told he was supposed to save you, but that was just an excuse to see what he would do. See whether he’d ‘go the distance’ so to say. When he said he loved you we made the mistake of believing that love would make him do his job. The Powers for Good are sorry that you had to go though that, Slayer.” Wolfie turned his sorrow filled eyes to the girl in question. When she nodded her acceptance of his apology, he turned to Spike. “But you, William, you were an unexpected force; never before has an evil vampire gone against his nature to protect an innocent. You’ve got all the Powers jumping to attention.”

~*~*~

“Whistler,” Angel snarled. This was just what he needed, somebody else coming along and trying to tell him how to do his job. But then again maybe he shouldn’t be too harsh with the fashion victim demon, he had shown Angel Buffy.

“Easy now, big guy,” Whistler attempted to placate the moody vampire. “It’s just a little heads up from the Powers that something is changing the balance of power and you need to find out what it is and change it back.”

“Fine,” Angel replied, disgruntled. It’s not like he didn’t have enough on his plate, with the watcher situation still so unclear. Closing the door in Whistler’s face, Angel had a brief thought, ‘they’re supposed to be the all knowing Powers, how come they need me to find out what’s going on?’

~*~*~

“But the question of why Angel didn’t do his job has yet to be answered.” Ripper was furious. He damn well knew that Spike was special, but that didn’t change what Angel, the bloody pillock of protection, had failed to do.

“My guess is that he wasn’t told what he would have to do and he just never considered taking out the Master himself. He would have kept hoping that some other solution would present itself.” Wolfie answered sadly.

“I was planning on doing it myself, but Buffy beat me to it. I found out later that Xander had gone to Angel’s apartment and he was just sitting there. He was forced into action by a sixteen year old boy and when they found my slayer dead, he actually said that he would be unable to revive her because he was dead and didn’t breathe.” Giles was beyond incensed.

“What! You have to breathe to talk!” Spike was shocked. He didn’t think he had ever heard anything more stupid in his life/unlife. How was it possible that the slayer still loved the wanker, had her need for denial been that great?

Buffy hardened her expression; it was clearly time to get off the subject of Angel. Turning to the large redhead, Buffy firmly changed the subject. “You said something about telling us more about the Key and the time travel-y business?”

“Of course,” Wolfie said, subtly agreeing to the change. “Well, the Key has been depleted; Glorificus will have no way of discovering its location, so she is not a threat to you in this timeline. This has however, caused a major paradox, only seconded by your very existence in our timeline.”

“It wasn’t our fault.” Buffy pouted.

Wolfie smiled at the girl, completely charmed and highly amused. “I am aware of that, dear, as are the Powers for Good. Unfortunately, that doesn’t change anything.”

Buffy and Spike exchanged worried looks which quickly changed to confused ones when the sasquatch grinned at them and said, “At least you made the right choice with the claim.”





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