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Author's Chapter Notes:
For the purposes of this story, I have intentionally moved up Quentin Travers' visit to Sunnydale.
Chapter 4

"I would say it's good to see you," Giles said icily, "But I do so hate to lie. What brings you to Sunnydale, Quentin?"

"A few things, actually," Travers replied. His entourage of Watchers wandered about the shop, fingering the mystical objects they encountered, flipping the pages of miscellaneous spell books.

Giles thrust his hands deep into his pockets, fighting the violent urges that flared inside him whenever he saw, or even thought of, Quentin Travers. Giles had lost all faith in Travers, and in fact, the entire Council, after the Cruciamentum and the events that followed. The culmination of which, he couldn't forget, nearly got his Slayer killed and resulted in his own firing from the Council.

"You have no business here," Buffy said, hands on her hips. "We don't work for the Council." But curiosity got the better of her. "Why are you here, anyway?"

Travers smiled, a tight, formal smile that made Giles cringe. "It would appear that we have some things to discuss. Perhaps it would be…best if we closed up your little shop for the day, Rupert?" He nodded to a younger man standing near the door, who promptly flipped the sign on the door so that the word 'Closed' faced outward. Travers' eyes did a cursory sweep of the group seated around the table, and then he continued. "I believe it would be best if we spoke in private, Rupert, along with your…Slayer, of course."

"No can do, Q," Buffy said. She felt as though she were channelling Faith, all attitude and false bravado, and for the moment, it was a good thing. "You don't mind if I call you Q, do you? Great. Well, Q, this is my team. They assist me. They are my friends, and anything you have to say to me or to Giles can, and should, be said in front of them. So, spill." She folded her arms across her chest.

"Still a feisty one, your Slayer," Travers observed. "Well, ahem, we were on our way here to discuss your…situation regarding the mystical key you contacted me about and the entity interested in acquiring it-"

"I certainly didn't expect you to come here in person," Giles sputtered. "A phone call would surely have sufficed."

"Perhaps," Travers said. "No matter. Upon landing, I was alerted to a more immediate matter that will certainly require the Slayer's attention."

"Oh?" Giles said, affecting an air of nonchalance, his behavior making it clear to Buffy and the Scoobies that they should follow his lead and feign ignorance as well.

Travers hesitated. "Are you quite certain we shouldn't discuss this in private, Rupert?" He glanced back to the group. "This is certainly sensitive information."

"I must agree with Buffy," Giles said. "These are valuable members of our team. Their involvement is non-negotiable. Please continue."

"Well, I'm certain you are all aware that certain demons occasionally possess rather unique abilities. A very few of them possess the ability to open portals to different dimensions or even to different time periods within this dimension." He paused, clearly expecting to see shock or dismay on their faces. He was met, instead, with attentive but passive expressions all around.

Told you so, Anya mouthed to Xander.

"Okay…clearly you all know more about demonology that I had anticipated. I thought this might come as a surprise. Apparently, I was incorrect in that assumption." He cleared his throat. "At approximately three-thirty this afternoon, your time, of course, Sahjhan, commonly known as the Timeshifter, opened a portal from Sunnydale present to London some eight years in the future. He returned to the here and now shortly thereafter, but we believe it a possibility that he brought something back with him, and we have a theory on what that something could be. This thing could be rather volatile in the wrong hands, and would be invaluable to the Council to study. Such a thing is so rare as to have never been recorded in all of Council history; in fact, it's always been believed to be impossible. You can see why something so…mythical in nature would be of extreme interest to us. We've tracked Sahjhan's movements for years, because of his interest in it, in destroying the thing before it destroys him."

"So, what do you want us to do?" Buffy asked, impatiently.

"Locate Sahjhan so that we might intercept the item in question before he destroys it, of course," Travers said. "You'll have an interesting time of it, as Sahjhan is currently non-corporeal. This isn't his natural state; however, and therefore, he can be re-corporealized using the proper spell. He can also be trapped in a vessel, using magical methods. I'm sure you'll figure it out…with the proper motivation."

"Why would we help you, Q?" Buffy asked. "What's in it for us?"

Travers smiled. "The information about your mysterious female foe, of course. You present me with the object I seek, and we'll provide you with information that may help you to defeat her." He looked around. "It's imperative that we move relatively quickly, but I will give you a bit of time to think it over and to formulate a plan. This must be executed with precision to ensure that we get what we want from the demon. My staff and I are quite jet-lagged from the journey, so we'll get ourselves settled in at our hotel and rest a while. We shall return in the morning to talk strategy."

"You seem rather confident that Sahjhan won't destroy it before the morning," Giles observed.

Travers nodded slightly. "He is non-corporeal, after all. He may have managed to travel with it—he can touch other objects using extreme concentration, but he does not have the ability to destroy something so powerful on his own. He'll have to find an ally to assist him. I'm sure it will be quite the production. Not something to be done without ceremony. I feel certain that we do have a window of time in which to plan."

He turned to go, but Buffy's voice stopped him. She remembered Asher's warning, but she couldn't contain her curiosity any longer.

"Hey, Q?"

"Yes, Miss Summers?"

"What is it that you're looking for? This mythical thingy? What exactly is it?"

His eyes swept across the room. "Ah, I knew you would ask sooner or later. Actually, I thought it would be a little sooner. It's a vampire, Miss Summers. A vampire child."

"A vampire child?" she looked confused. "As in, a child changed by a vampire? Like the Anointed One, back in the day? I don't get it. That's rare, but not impossible."

Travers shook his head. "Not a changed child. Quite the opposite actually. The child of a vampire. By birth."

"Huh?" Buffy said, her jaw dropping.

"Impossible!" Giles exclaimed.

The head of the Watchers' Council looked smug, having finally managed to surprise this group of misfits. "Yes, seemingly so," he mused. "So you see why we might want to lay eyes on this thing for ourselves." And then he was out the door, his entourage following behind him.

Xander broke the stunned silence that followed. "And to all that I say…what?"

"A vampire child, Giles?" Buffy asked. "Vampires can't have children. Right?"

"Right," Giles replied. "At least, as far as I know. I've certainly never heard of it." He took his glasses off and rubbed the lenses against his blazer. "I believe it is up to us to find the truth in what our two visitors have told us today."

"And why would Asher have called it a weapon?" Willow asked. "And for that matter, why wouldn't he have wanted to tell Buffy what it was? I mean, vampires are kind of her specialty, right? Why would he have kept that information to himself? Unless Mr. Travers is the one who was lying." She frowned. "My head's all full and confused now."

"Breathe, sweetie," Tara said, in her calming voice.

"So, what do we do, G-Man?" Xander asked. "What's our next step? Which story do we believe?"

"We don't have a choice but to help the Council," Buffy said. Her friends raised their eyebrows.

"Which Council?" Willow asked.

"The current one. Travers. He has information on the diva bitch and how the monks play into it all and he knows about the key thingie. I have to know what he knows."

Xander raised his hand. "But, how do we know Asher doesn't have all that information, too? I mean, he knows her name, right? Glory? I mean, assuming he was telling us the truth."

"But he was telling us the truth," Willow said. "Truth spell, remember?"

"Yeah, but he's not all with the sharing—he's the total opposite. Giles, why wouldn't he tell me about a vampire child?"

Giles shook his head. "I don't know. We do know some things for certain, though. It looks like our two resident, um…Watchers are on the same page on a few points. One: we know that this demon did go to the future, and that he did bring something back. Two: I think we can assume that whether it truly is a vampire child or some type of unusual weapon, it's not safe in our time and in the hands of a demon. Or the First, as the case may be. We do not know to what extent Quentin Travers can be trusted. If, in fact, there is such a thing as the child of a vampire, we don't know why the Council is in possession of it in the future. We don't know if the child is good or evil, though Asher was adamant that the 'weapon' was to be used for good. We don't know if it has a soul. We do know that the future Council seems to value it greatly. I'm not sure that Travers should be allowed to get his hands on it, either way. Good or evil, supernatural or no, a child should not be subjected to Quentin's…tests."

"Okay," Buffy said. "So…what do we do?"

Giles thought. "Well, I would say that either way, we need to find this…child, or whatever it is. Willow, how long will the truth spell you performed on Asher hold?"

"A few hours, at least."

"Does anyone know where he might have gone?"

"I assume he went scampering away when the Council boys showed up. Current Council boys, I mean. God, this is so confusing!" Buffy shook her head. "He was pretty clear that Asher plus Quentin equals badness. So, we have a bone to pick with Asher now about the lack of upfront information. How do we get him back here before the truth spell wears off?"

"I don't think he'll have gone far," Giles mused. "He seemed to find the matter quite…urgent. He may even be hiding outside of shop, waiting for a sign that Travers has departed. Xander, why don't you see if you can find him outside, or in the shops nearby? Meanwhile, our best avenue for gathering more information would be to do a quick bit of research on the demon in question. Asher did not provide a name, but our friend Travers most certainly did. Sahjhan, I believe it was?"

"You can spell that?" Xander asked. Giles rolled his eyes and began gathering books from the bookcases.

"Giles!" Buffy exclaimed. "There are too many books on this table as it is. How can we manage researching our new demon and our resident bad girl at the same time?"

He sighed. "I hate to say it, Buffy, but I think we are going to have to take a time out on the monk research to figure out what is going on with this weapon. Or child. Or vampire. Whatever it is, I think we are…sufficiently involved in the situation at this point. I don't think we can turn away from it now. Willow, why don't you and Tara start working on the locator spell Asher suggested earlier?"

"Or, we could just do a locator spell for Asher!" Willow said, excited for a split-second before her face fell. "Except, we don't have anything of his. Crap. Guess you're hoofing it, Xander."

"No matter," Giles said. "He shouldn't be far away."

"I'll go with him," Anya piped up, smiling. "I have some questions for Asher about my future with Xander."

"Yes, accompany Xander. Buffy and I will start researching our demon."

"Goody." She sighed. "More research."





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