Remembrance: 9
by Selene
The weather was uncommonly warm for this time of year. It had been nice to be back in England. He knew it wouldn’t last.
Giles sighed and started to clean his glasses with his handkerchief. It was at times like these that he really felt useless. What could an middle aged Ex-Watcher do that was going to make a difference. In the big fights he was more of a background player. Useful but not in a major way. Most of his texts that he had in the U.S. had been to refer to books that had been here in London. All of that glorious knowledge had been lost.
Surprisingly, a wealth of books had been out on loan to Wesley’s Father, Roger Wyndam-Price. He was able to get most of them back from the retired Watcher. He had to endure the biting tongue of the old man for hours in order to do so. It had been worth it. Almost. To think that Wesley turned out as good as he did was a huge surprise. Growing up with a man such as that couldn’t be easy.
He had been able to straighten out most of the financial matters and that left the surviving members of the Council, himself included, well off. He had managed to get an annuity set up for each Slayer so that they wouldn’t have to be forced to deal with financial matters on top of trying to save the world on a daily basis. To think about what Buffy had been through the past two years. She was really an amazing woman. Everything that he had hoped she would be. She made him proud...
He had even been able to get one set up for Dawn since she was mystical in origin. The only catch is that the remaining Council members wanted one interview with her so they could question her more about Glory. They had taken his full report of what had happened. But as with any major event, they tried to get as many eyewitness accounts and Dawn’s role had been pivotal. Buffy would have a fit but, would give in for Dawn’s best interest.
There wasn’t any real need for her to be concerned. The Council that Buffy had known was gone. None of the Elders remained. There was going to be a power vacuum until someone stepped up to fill the position. He had set a date with the surviving member to elect a Council Head but that was weeks away. In the meantime, he had been given authority to use whatever he would need for the upcoming onslaught. This conflict was going to be on a bigger scale that anything that he had faced with Buffy before.
There was organization behind every movement that Wolfram & Hart made. They were always two steps ahead of every move that the Council, at full strength, had ever made. The disaster that had happened to the Council had been noted and every attempt at secrecy was made. Giles thought reasonably that there was little more that he could do. Stress and anxiety was making him want to smoke. He had given it up... The absolute wrong time to have tried to.
Then Willow had come in from the Continent... There was a serenity to her now. She had found something within on that day in Sunnydale. When everyone else had lost so much. He still could remember the lose on everyone's face. They had lost some of the girls. Anya. Spike.
That last name brought back bitter memories for him. He had been so sure of himself. So self righteous. He knew evil. He had danced along the edge of it in his youth. Flirted with it since. But how could he even think to make such a decision for Buffy. She had been the only one to fully trust Spike... Spike had saved them all and he had tried to kill him a week before. He felt full of regret. There was nothing that he could do now to assuage his guilt.
Hindsight was always twenty twenty... Of all of his bad decisions this was the one he most regretted. For losing Buffy’s trust. For not giving Spike a chance. He had been so scared for them all at the end of the siege that the First had imposed on them. It had looked so dark. And he had doubted the two that had shed light upon them all with their actions. Willow had played her part in saving them. He had doubted her, too. He was humbled. His ego had taken a blow. He had so many successes with Buffy, that he had turned a blind eye to the fact, that it was because of her that they always triumphed. He played his part. That’s all it was... a part.
The time he had spent here at the Coven had been the best part of his Holiday. Willow had been progressing so well. He had helped in training her. For some reason the Coven had thought that his past with her would strengthen the lessons. It had awakened in him a spiral of energy. His own power. That he had carefully kept hidden. Buried within himself. Since his youthful summoning of the demon that had killed his friends. When he was the Ripper. Ethan had known that he had buried the power. That is why he he had come to Sunnydale... To see what was left of it. He had left disappointed. Giles had kept a firm reign on himself. Now it was rearing itself up again demanding to be used. Tempting once again.
He saw movement out of the corner of his eye. The Coven’s Seer, Margaret. She had followed him out to the gardens. He had been blindly looking out at the landscape not truly appreciating the beauty of it. Everything was natural and free. The only order was the herb gardens. They were carefully tended and shaped in intricate knots. Margaret smiled at him.
“We are almost ready for you...”
“I’m not sure I am ready for this...”
“I know that you are. Remember I see how it can unfold. You just have to be true to yourself. You have to accept that part of you that you have denied. It is unnatural for you to suppress such a gift.”
“It isn’t a gift...”
“Yes, it is... You have the wisdom now to use it as it should be used. And we have provided you with the training. All of the time that you were helping Willow you were helping yourself too.”
“Why does it have to be me? I would rather not do magicks. I am afraid of the consequences that they bring...”
“You know that we cannot leave the Coven. We are bound to the land. We are the protectors of the sacred stones. Our power’s would diminish outside of our boundaries. That is why we sent Willow back to her friends before she became too afraid to leave here. She is not meant to be a part of us. We must bind our powers to yours so that you both may become our weapon in this upcoming fight. Our vessels. The two of you must go through with this ritual. I know that you did not like the experience before when we sent you to help guide Willow back to the right path. But we know that you have the strength to withstand the ritual and the wisdom to use the power wisely. You also now have the training with Willow that will help you. When you used the power in your youth you were stripping it away from others. You now have the knowledge of how to channel existing energy, to borrow it, not drain it from others. There will be a difference no consequences. No backlash. You both have a certain amount of natural energy but combined with ours you should have enough to turn the tide of this upcoming fight.”
“Are you sure that Willow and I are the right choice?”
The small smile was back on Margaret’s face. “Giles... I am sure. Visions... remember? I’ve known you for years. Do you honestly think that I would mess up on something as important as this?”
“Well... It is rather hard to grasp the concept that I am going to be using the power that I have been spending my life trying to deny.”
“You are ready.” She extended her hand and walked him into the house heading for the main hall. The floors were made of stone and they had been swept clean. The smell of incense hung heavily in the air. Willow was standing in the middle of an elaborately drawn out pentagram. Many of the symbols Giles had to look twice at to decipher. He saw that she had been dressed like him in linen. She had a loosely flowing gown and looked radiant.
She held one arm out to him as an invitation. He looked at Margaret, who only nodded, and went to join her in the inner circle. Willow grasped his forearm and took his hand up and placed it on her shoulder. And repeated the motion so that Giles hands were now resting on her shoulders. She made a hand gesture in front of Giles’ heart and motioned that he should repeat it. The silence in the hall was overpowering. The Coven sisters had filled in the ranks around them and watched the proceeding with a critical eye. Once Giles had repeated her motion Willow placed her hands on his shoulders... the spell had started and the room filled with warm yellow light.
Low chanting filled the room where silence had been before. In front of each member of the Coven was a ball of energy that when it became big enough its owner would send it to wash over both. Willow and Giles. There was a peacefulness to this. A strong sense of giving. So different than what Willow had done when she had practiced black magicks.
The euphoria that Giles and Willow felt was enormous. Power came washing over them in waves. The training that they went through helped stabilize their centers and kept them focused on what was to come next.
Willow felt her eyes start to turn black. Giles had been waiting just for that to happen. She felt his power expand and help her with her control. His many years of self discipline extending itself to help her. She knew that this wasn’t what usually happened. Giles shouldn’t be able to tell exactly what she would need and be able to somehow give it to her. But she was grateful for the increased control that it gave her.
They felt the room start to fade around them. Energy streaking across each others face. Both lit up with a glow that was ethereal. Giles felt her joy and felt a strange answering feeling coming straight from him to her. A connection was made in the circle that helped tame the immense power that had been bestowed on them. The power was shared between them and the burden was somehow lessened. The support that they gave each other. Each complimenting each others weakness with their strengths. A perfect balance.
The last ball of energy had been absorbed by them and they held each other close as the Coven completed the spell and teleported them outside the Hyperion Hotel.
Kennedy fumed. She was on her way from New York to LAX and couldn’t wait to get there. She hated flying. Especially since she wasn’t in first class.
She had been stuck with this passel of brats since Willow and Giles had decided to get a spelled up. If anyone should be helping Willow it should be her. She had already assisted her in that spell in Sunnydale and it was a piece of cake. Why the Watcher had to get involved she would never know.
She resolved to talk to Giles about opening a Slayer branch in major cities that could handle emergencies like this one. All this travelling was getting tedious. She had rounded up twenty seven slayers and had bribed their way onto this flight. Giles was going to be so pissed when he saw the bill for this one. That brought a smile of satisfaction to her face.
L.A. here we come.
A/N: Please review. Next chapter will be all about Buffyness.... I swear.
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