Sister, Sister (Book Five, BTVS)

chapter 12 - Checkpoint

Everyone was gathered at my house for a Scooby meeting after dark.

Xander had his wrist in a cast.

"We--we're here for a reason," Giles told them. I sat down. "I've had some rather, uh... Well, I've had some news. It seems that the Council of Watchers has... found some information that may help us out."

"About Glory?" Buffy asked.

"Presumably," Giles answered. "We'l find that out when they... arrive," Giles told us. "Could be very important."

"Arrive?" Buffy repeated. "They're coming here? Now. W--why do they have to come here?"

"Yeah, don't they have phones?" Xander asked. He used a fake British accent. "'Hello, Slayers, here's some stuff we know, pip, pip.'"

"Yeah, phones," I agreed. "See, I'd like them on phones."

"Well, what's so bad about the coming here?" Tara asked. "Aren't they good guys? I mean, Watchers, that's just like other Gileses, right?"

I shook my head. "Yeah, they're scary and horrible."

"Um, they, well, they can appear a bit, well, uh, hard-nosed, but, uh, well, essentially, their agenda is the same as ours," Giles told us. "They want to save the world and kill demons."

"Kill the current demons, right?" Anya asked. "Current demons?"

"Giles, I don't want them to come here," Buffy told him. "I don't trust them. Make them not come here."

"They're probably already on their way," Giles told us. "Our old friend Quinton Travers is... heading up the delegation."

"They put me and Buffy through that test, and it almost killed us, and it led to both of our mothers being kidnapped," I told them. "And then, when Buffy was Faith, they almost killed her again. Honestly, we really can't handle their kind of drama right now."

"I don't like the sound of this," Anya told us. "They don't sound very ex-demon-compatible."

"Are you sure they're English?" Tara asked. "I--I thought English people were, um, gentler, then, uh... normal."

"Maybe it won't be so bad this time," Willow told us. "I mean, Buffy, they did think you were Faith last time. Now that they know you're just you, maybe they won't care enough to kill you."

"It's not just that," I told them. "They're gonna screw everything up. I--It's a delicate time right now. I--I have to take care of Dawn, and--"

"But that's not new," Xander told me. "You've always taken care of her."

I nodded. "Right. Right, I--I know that. It's just, you know, there's--there's Glory, and... and I don't need the Council looking over my shoulder when I don't even know what we're dealing with."

"Well, that's precisely why we need to talk to them," Giles told us.

I could hear Mom's voice in the foyer by the stairs. "Dawn, honey, what are you doing up at this hour? Go back to bed."

"I was just getting a snack," Dawn told her.

I looked over my shoulder toward the foyer. "Dawn, are you listening?"

"I can get a snack if I want to," Dawn told us, walking upstairs.

I looked at Giles and Buffy, slightly alarmed. "She was listening."

"Does it matter?" Willow asked. "I mean, is she really gonna set the junior high school buzzing with, 'Ooh, there's a delegation a-coming'?"

"No," I answered. "I--I guess not. You know, it's just... sometimes we... say stuff, and--and..." I sighed. "It's all good. Giles, you were saying... something."