Part One
Giles took off his glasses and rubbed his weary eyes. He had been in full research mode for the past week....ever since his encounter with Ethan Rayne. He couldn’t shake the words of doom, his old friend, now enemy, had told him...
‘They’re scared. There’s something called 314, that has them scared most of all. The kinda scared that turns to angry.’
Not that scaring demons was a terrible thing, Giles thought to himself, as he took out his handkerchief and wiped his glasses for the tenth time, but there was something else Ethan said, that had the Watcher worried.
‘This new outfit is blundering into a place it doesn’t belong. It’s throwing the world out of balance. That’s way beyond Chaos, mate. We’re heading, quite literally, for one hell of a fight.’
If the Initiative was truly tampering with things they didn’t understand, then 314 might prove to be more dangerous than anyone would have suspected. Or feared.
“Hi, Giles,” Buffy hummed, as she happily enter his apartment, “What’s up?”
“Buffy, I’m glad you’re here,” Giles smiled, putting his glasses back on, and unconsciously running his fingers through his hair. “Please...sit down.”
“You have that ‘something’s wrong’, look,” Buffy said concerned.
“I-I am a bit concerned,” Giles admitted, “I’ve been thinking about what Ethan had told me in the pub...”
“Ethan’s full of-”
“W-well, yes...most of the time,” Giles smiled. “But he really did seem worried. And not just to lure me into a false security, while he turned me into a demon. I-I’ve known him long enough to know when he’s telling the truth.”
“Okay,” she nodded, “So Ethan is telling the truth. I’ve kept my eyes open and my ear to the ground...I haven’t found out anything-”
“I think the key is the Initiative.” Giles said, “What ever this 314 is...it has something to do with them. Now, if we could somehow infiltrate-”
“Well...” she hemmed.
“Well, what?” Giles looked at her suspiciously.
“Professor Walsh got me clearance into the Initiative. I’m going there tomorrow-”
Giles looked at her annoyed, “And again, this was something you where planning on telling me after the fact.”
“I was going to tell you,” Buffy protested, “But I just found out today, for sure. And see...I’m telling you now...before the fact. Big improvement here.”
“Yes...quite,” he sighed sarcastically, “So, you’re going there tomorrow?”
“Yep,” she nodded again, “I think Maggie wants me to join them or something. She said they have a real class act training facility with all the latest equipment...” she noticed the growing annoyance at the mention of the Professor’s first name, “which, of course, pales in comparison with all the hours of training we’ve had together....Giles, come on. You know you’re still the most important person in my life...”
“More important than Riley?” he smiled mischievously at her.
“Well....” she fidgeted, “Yes, in a way, more important than even him. Well, you and Mom, anyway. I mean, you’re family.”
“I don’t think you’ve ever said that before,” Giles smiled.
“Yeah...I guess I just took it for granted. But I’m not going to anymore. New Buffy rule...appreciate her Watcher.”
“Buffy, I’m not your...”
Buffy held his hand, “Giles, you’ll always be the one who watches over me.” There was an awkward moment, that Buffy thought would end WAY too much for her. “So,” she broke the silence, “I’m gonna go patrolling tonight. Wanna come?”
“You’re inviting me to come along?”
“Well, we haven’t gone patrolling in a long time,” she admitted, “I miss it. Come on, it will be like old times. What do you say? Some quality slayage time together? I’ll come by later tonight? Afterwards we could get some ice cream?”
Giles chucked, as she headed toward the door, “Sure. Better the Ice Follies...”
Buffy turned around and gave him a glare, “Don’t push it.”
****** The graveyard was quiet. Too quiet. Buffy and Giles made their way passed the dozens of gravestones in the tiny cemetery, without any incident. And this, for the Slayer, was unnerving.
“Okay,” Buffy huffed, “Not that I look forward to the kicking of demon butts, but...is this a holiday that no one mentioned?”
“I believe this might be the effects of the Initiative.” Giles explained, putting his hands in his coat pockets.
“Which isn’t really a bad thing, right?” Buffy reasoned, “I mean, it’s nice to have some quiet time. You know, conserve our strength for the next time the world’s gonna end...”
“Yes...well...” Giles sniffed, peering around the dark graveyard, looking for any signs of life...or un-life. “I-I thought Riley might have been patrolling with you...”
“He’s on the other side of town,” the Slayer explained, sitting on a stone bench, “we’re coordinating our efforts. The Commandos take one end....I take the other, and we meet in the middle. It’s pretty effective. We can cover twice the ground, in half the time. Maggie...Professor Walsh, says that being organized is the key to success...”
“Really?” Giles inhaled, trying hard not to say something snide about the ‘Evil Bitch Monster’, “I-I’m sure she has a point, b-but...”
“And Riley...”
“Buffy...”
“Yeah?”
“I-I’m not saying that dating Riley is a bad thing,” he said controlled, “I haven’t seen you this happy since....but I would caution you not allow Riley, or the Initiative, to interfere with your duties. You are the Slayer...and this kind of distraction could very well-”
“Don’t worry Giles,” Buffy reassured him, hopping up from the bench, “Riley won’t distract me from my sacred duties. In fact, I’m more focused than ever. See? I’m Focus Girl. I won’t let anything catch me off guar-”
At that precise moment, a figure came racing around the large Mausoleum, crashing into Buffy, and sending both of them to the ground.
“-Except that...of course,” Giles finished sarcastically, watching the human and demon untangle themselves in a blind panic.
Buffy quickly leaped to her feet and stood in fighting stance, reading to pummel the attacking demon. And she would have too, if the four foot creature didn’t break down and cry.
“Mae’ takora sempa,” the little demon wailed, backing away in terror, “Toosna epi’tor racktin et no succa.”
Buffy tilted her head to one side, looking at the strange, little...
“Kid,” she exclaimed, “this is a little kid!”
“So it would seem,” Giles said calmly, trying to inch closer to the frightened child, “And a very frightened child at that.”
“Moor’nae ompta. Kae so nah!” the child demon cried, cringing against the stone wall of the Mausoleum.
“Giles?” Buffy asked, kneeling down next to the shaking demon, “what is she? Can you understand what she’s saying?”
Giles sighed and shook his head, “I have no idea. O-on both accounts. But she is definitely running from someone...”
“Or something,” Buffy said, as she heard a deep growl echoing through the quiet cemetery.
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