"You can't mean that," Giles said into the telephone his eyes wide in horror. The voice on the other end replied and Giles' eyes widened further. "You have no idea what you're saying," he growled. "You don't know the devastation it would cause. You don't understand how gifted she is, how talented . . . " A few more moments passed, and Giles nodded slowly. "I'm not sure if he'll agree with it, but I know they will . . . " Another pause. "All right. I'll make sure he comes. We should be there by the day after tomorrow." Giles hung up the phone and closed his eyes for a moment, contemplating the conversation that had just occurred.
"Giles?" Buffy asked, looking at him from the table with concern. They had been in the middle of their training session when the telephone had rung, and she obviously sensed that the conversation had not been pleasant. He turned towards her. She still looked a little sick, having just recovered from a serious bout of the flu. "Giles?" Buffy called again. "What's wrong?"
Giles turned towards her, not aware that his own complexion had paled considerably. "Buffy, I don't know how to tell you this," he started, clearing his throat.
"Tell me what?" Buffy asked, immediately sounding worried, and also somewhat resigned. Things as of late had been more hectic than usual, and obviously Buffy hadn't expected the hurried pace to end.
"Do you remember a few months ago when I had to call the Watcher Council, to do some research for me?" he queried, not wanting to remind Buffy of those events, yet having no choice.
Buffy nodded, pursing her lips together. "Yeah," she replied shortly. "Though they didn't ever come up with anything that I can remember, right?"
"Right, since that particular subject was relatively new. However . . . the phone call that I just received was from Mr. Zabuto, Kendra's watcher. It seems as though the Watcher Council has decided to choose one Slayer to work in Sunnydale against Drusilla, Spike, and whatever other dangers the Hellmouth might decide to cause."
"Okay, and your point is . . . ?" Buffy sounded more than a little confused.
"My point is this, yesterday the council looked over your past record, they've been watching you, us, but that is procedure. However, since this is the first time there are two slayers they've decided to just pick one . . . "
"You said that already," Buffy interrupted.
"I know. A week from now the final decision will be made. As it stands now . . . Buffy, as it stands now you are no longer the slayer."
Buffy's eyes widened and she stared at him in shock. "What?" she whispered. "But . . . but why? What did I do that was so terrible?"
Giles sighed and removed his glasses, cleaning them with the end of his shirt. "Much of it has to do with Angel. Your relationship with him . . . your inability to slay him when he turned . . . and your decision to have him remain a vampire when you knew you had the ability to cure him. Also, the fact that four . . . or, well, rather, three, now . . . of your friends know of your idenitity. These aren't things the council approves of."
"So . . . I'm . . . I'm fired?"
Giles shook his head. "Not yet, no. We have a week to convince them that you are the only slayer capable of dealing with the catastrophes of Sunnydale. They have requested that you, Willow, Xander, myself and Angel go to Europe, where the final decision is being reached and . . . and speak, about your actions."
"You mean, you mean I'm on trial or something?" Buffy asked, raising her eyebrow and looking shocked. "But . . . I was chosen to be the Slayer, they can't . . . they can't change that."
"They can however take away your support system," Giles said softly. "If it is decided that Kendra is the more capable Slayer then she and Mr. Zabuto will be sent to Sunnydale . . . and I will be sent elsewhere."
"That's not fair!" Buffy shouted, seeming to have entirely forgotten that not to long ago she'd been wondering if it wouldn't be better for her not to be the slayer.
"I agree," Giles replied. "I will come up with some excuse for getting you three out of school, and I'm leaving it up to you to convince Angel to come with us, I doubt I would get far. We are going to fight this, Buffy. You are the Slayer, and you are perhaps the best one there has been. I've said this before, the world cannot afford to lose you. And certainly not due to Watcher politics."
Buffy swallowed hard. "I don't know if Xander will go," she said. "He's . . . he's not well. I mean . . . he's having a hard time dealing with Cordy's death and . . ."
"Buffy," Giles said sternly, "I don't think you realize how serious this is. If Kendra takes over in Sunnydale your life will be in very serious danger. There are certainly more than enough vampires who would like you dead, and if you're no longer the slayer they might misinterpret that to mean that you no longer have any powers, which would cause large numbers to come after you. Xander must come with us, because if he doesn't they will wonder what secrets he might be keeping. Explain that to him -- I doubt he wants to lose another friend."
Buffy bit her lip nervously, she wasn't liking this in the least. Convincing Xander and Angel to go to Europe for her . . . it just seemed selfish. Still, she nodded her head. "I will," she promised, and stood to walk towards the phone and dialed a number that was more familiar to her than her own.
"What?!" A very irritated voice rang through the phone line, and Buffy smiled to herself, knowing that Angel was seriously regretting having given Giles his phone number, she knew Giles more than took advantage of Angel's knowledge of vampire ways.
"It's me, Buffy," she said hastily.
"Oh," Angel didn't sound very enthused by that either, Buffy hoped it was only becase he was tired, not because he didn't want to talk to her. "What's up?"
"How'd you like to take a trip to Europe?" Buffy asked, trying to sound light about the entire thing.
"Europe?" Angel echoed, sounding puzzled.
Buffy briefly explained things as she understood them to her boyfriend. "Can you come?" she asked.
Angel frowned. "Europe?" he said again. "Buffy, we've discussed this, I can't fly."
"Angel, it's just from here to Europe. If we leave early enough by the time we get there it'll be dark, there's nothing to worry about."
"I - I guess so," he said, still sounding rather nervous about the whole thing. Buffy smiled to herself and said goodbye before hanging up the phone.
"Well, that's one down," she said, and headed towards class to speak with Xander.
* * *
"I don't know about this, Buffy," Xander said, sounding unhappy as he closed his locker and turned to face her. "I'm not sure my parents will let me go, and besides that there's . . . well . . . " he trailed off, unsure of what to say.
Buffy closed her eyes for a moment. "Xander . . . believe me, I feel terrible for asking this of you," she said honestly. "But Giles is convinced that if I don't win this thing . . . I'll be killed. And I can't win it without you there."
Xander sighed and leaned against the locker for a moment. "Okay," he said finally. "I'll -- I'll go." He didn't want to tell her his real reservation -- that he didn't want to spend any more time than absolutely necessary near Willow.
"Thanks," Buffy said, smiling at him and reaching out to touch his arm. "How are you?" she asked.
Xander smiled back at her weakly. "I'm fine," he replied tightly. "Though I'm not going to have much fun explaining this to my enforced therapist."
Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Your what?" she asked.
Xander's smile became a little more real. "You remember that, everyone had to see a shrink after Cordy died? Well . . . she thinks I'm completely and totally insane."
"Wow, she's off," Buffy teased, inwardly hiding a sigh. She couldn't believe how out of the loop she was with her friends, she'd been so busy lately dealing with her guilt over Angel, and then dealing with Maura, the Chosen, not to mention recovering from her illness . . . she just hadn't had much time to speak with Xander, and she was beginning to regret it. Xander had been there for her when Angel had reverted, and she felt guilty that she hadn't returned the favor after Cordelia had been killed.
Xander spotted someone over Buffy's shoulder and immediately his smile faded. "I gotta get to class," he said, and before Buffy could reply he hurried off. Seconds later Willow walked up to her.
"I told you," she said softly, watching his retreating back. "He's avoiding me all the time."
"Willow!" Buffy said, sounding relieved. "I've been looking for you. I need to ask you a really, really big favor."
"What is it?" Willow asked, turning to her and looking puzzled.
"I need you to go to Europe with me," Buffy replied.
"What?"
Buffy quickly explained once again what Giles had told her, and the danger Giles was convinced she would face if Kendra took over as Slayer. Willow's eyes widened during Buffy's explanation, and by the end she looked absolutely furious on behalf of her friend.
"I don't believe it!" Willow said, shaking her head. "You are the best Slayer . . . the original Slayer . . . if you're not dead there should be no questions but who remains in charge!"
Buffy laughed slightly. "Tell that to the Council," she said dryly. "Giles is working on coming up with some excuse to get us out of school for the week, I'm sure my mother won't have a problem with it. I'm really sorry to ask this of you, but . . . "
"No! I would go even if you didn't ask me to," Willow said immediately. "That's just crazy. Buffy, you know you're an amazing Slayer . . . I know I haven't known any others, except Kendra, but . . . you are."
"Thanks ,Will," Buffy answered. "I needed to hear that."
* * *
"Nice little plane, Giles," Buffy said admiringly, looking it over. "Hey, they may be trying to fire me, but I do get this deluxe luxury class plane to ride in to my trial."
"It's not a trial, Buffy," Giles said for the hundredth time that night. "It is simply a hearing to decide which Slayer is the best suited for the job."
"Is Kendra going to be there?"
"No. They already know her record, but yours . . . yours takes some explaining."
"Explaining?" Buffy repeated. "Oh, I'm so not going to win this," she sighed. Looking behind her, she saw Xander coming up to them. Willow was already inside the plane working on her lap-top computer.
"You can not go into this with that kind of an attitute, Buffy," Giles reprimanded her. "Just believe in yourself . . . you know what you're capable of."
Buffy winced slightly. "Yeah," she repeated softly, "yeah, I do know what I'm capable of."
Giles opened his mouth to say something to her but never got the chance to as Xander tossed his suitcase into the back of the plane and looked at them. "What are we supposed to do when this trial isn't going on?"
"Hearing," Giles automatically corrected. "They have arranged for hotel rooms where we can stay." He saw Buffy's eyes widened and quickly added, "They made certain one was sun-proof."
Buffy sighed in relief, but her expression changed to impatience when five minutes passed and Angel still hadn't arrived. "Where is he?" she muttered.
"I'm right here," Angel said from behind her. She jumped and whirled to look at him.
"I really wish you'd stop doing that," she said, watching as he tossed his suitcase into the cargo-hold as well and then turned to eye the plane as though it were about to come alive and go after him. "Angel?" she asked, raising her eyebrow as she watched him stare at the plane.
"What?"
"This whole plane thing . . . it's because of the sun-light, right? Not because you have any deep traumatic plane experience that's causing some angst I don't know about, right?"
Angel smiled. "No, no deep traumatic plane experience's," he replied. "I just don't like them. I mean . . . I'm sorry, but I just don't think any person, vampire or human, should be hundreds of feet above ground."
"So, the truth comes out," Buffy said, walking towards him. "Look, it's a thousand times safer to fly then to drive, right? And you're immortal, let's not forget, so even if we all crash and die you'll still be safe." Angel nodded, trying to look like he agreed with her, but she could tell from his expression he didn't. "Angel," she tried again, "there's nothing to worry about. You can't get jet-lag, you can't get air-sick, you can't crash and die, there are no deep traumatic experiences I don't know about involving planes, so . . . I'm not seeing the problem."
"There's no problem," Angel said weakly, still staring at the plane which sat harmlessly in front of him. "Who's flying this?" he suddenly asked.
"Someone from the Watcher Council," Buffy replied with a shrug.
"Oh, great," Angel sighed. "I get to go miles up into the air with someone who's been taught for their entire life that I'm the enemy. What fun."
Buffy glared at him. "Are you saying you don't want to go?" she asked. "Because if you don't, fine, I'll just face the council myself."
"I didn't say that," Angel answered. "I just . . . I don't like these things, and as a rule I don't like the watchers . . . Giles isn't that bad, except when he's calling me up at three in the damn afternoon, but . . . "
"It's just a plane," Buffy said calmly. "And I doubt the Watcher Council guy is going to do anything except fly the plane and land the plane. God, Angel, you're not at all afraid to face down other vampires, or do battle, or anything like that . . . but you're afraid of flying? I'm confused."
"I'm not afraid of planes!" Angel protested.
"Good, because it's time to actually go on it now," Buffy said, grabbing his arm. "Do you need to be invited in a plane or . . . ?"
"No," Angel muttered, "unfortunately."
She pulled him inside the plane, which was seperated into two sections, one for the pilot the other for the passengers. Giles and Willow sat next to each other, while Xander sat on the other side. Buffy and Angel sat down next to him, and Buffy watched with amusement while Angel eyed the plane nervously. "Get a grip, Angel," Buffy tried for the third time, "I can understand why anyone else would be scared of planes, but it's not like you're in any danger if it crashes . . . "
"I'm not scared of planes!" Angel protested again, still resembling a deer caught in a pair of headlights.
Buffy sighed and leaned her head back against the seat, she had a feeling this was not going to be a fun ride.
* * *
"How much longer?" Giles asked, pressing down on the intercom to speak with his fellow watcher.
"Another hour," the watcher replied before cutting off the connection. Giles sighed and returned to his seat, looking at the others curiously. Willow was still typing away on her laptop, while Xander and Buffy had both fallen asleep. Angel, however, was wide awake and he kept drumming his fingers against the arm-chair of the plane's seat, then glancing at his watch every ten minutes. Giles shook his head in amusement at that, but supposed it should be understandable. Despite the fact that Angel's attitute and attire were very modern he was still born and raised two centuries prior . . . he had a feeling his fear of planes was more instinctive than any actual fear of getting hurt.
Buffy yawned and stretched, slowly blinking as she opened her eyes. "Where am I?" she wondered aloud.
"You're on a plane, Buffy," Giles reminded her.
Buffy smiled slightly and sat up, glancing towards the still sleeping Xander, then towards Angel who was still drumming his fingers against the arm-chair. On cue, he stopped long enough to glance at his watch. "Having fun?" Buffy asked him, fighting to bite back her grin.
"Mhmm," Angel replied, glancing at his watch again.
Buffy and Giles exchanged amused looks. Of all the things Buffy might have guessed Angel would be scared of flying had not been anywhere near one of them. Instead of saying anything else she reached for the book she'd brought with her, and Giles glared at her when he saw the title -- 'The Verdict'. Shrugging, she opened it and began to read. The hour passed quickly by, and before Buffy knew it a voice rang out over the intercom.
"We've landed."
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