Rory - Interlude I

The small van came to a stop in front of the large iron gate, three quick taps of the horn alerting its sole passenger to their arrival.

"Here you go ma'am," the driver said, handing Buffy her ride ticket.

"Thanks," she mumbled around a large yawn, stuffing it into her bag before stepping out onto the driveway and away from the nondescript van. It wasn't as comfortable as one of the Council's vehicles but Giles had been able to make a deal with the airport shuttle company that was just as convenient for the band of traveling slayers and Watchers who worked out of the Hudson Valley office as having a fleet of Council vehicles and drivers constantly available for airport transportation. And, as he liked to remind them, it saved the Council a tidy sum annually.

Not that money was a big issue now, but the first year after Sunnydale had been rough. After finding out that the fabled Cleveland Hellmouth was more like an inaccessible Hell's Pimple in an underwater cave along the shore of Lake Erie, Giles had relocated the Council headquarters to a large wooded estate owned by the Council along the Hudson River in New York. It'd taken a year before the estate was suitable for their purposes. A year of constant traveling and making contact with new slayers and the Watchers who'd survived the First, while Giles and Xander turned the old estate into a new training facility, a new Council headquarters, and for some of them a new home.

Living in snow country wasn't Buffy's first choice but of all the options given them by Giles when Cleveland had turned out to be a non-issue, this had seemed the best. As tempting as they'd initially seemed, Council properties in Paris and Tokyo had lost out due to language issues. And it would be years before they could rebuild the London office.

And having access to all those shoe and clothing stores in the city certainly helped. To say nothing of the educational and cultural opportunities available for herself and Dawn.

Buffy waited for the shuttle to drive away before walking up to the security panel next to the smaller side-gate. Typing in her access code, Buffy waited for a minute while she was scanned by a combination of Willow magic and modern technology. She breathed a sigh of relief when a green light appeared and the side-gate opened. With Willow constantly refining the security for the estate there was always the chance, like the last time she'd returned home after a month on the road, that the alarm would go off instead and she would find herself facing one of Faith's trainees and have to prove her identity.

Slinging her bag over one shoulder, Buffy stepped through the gate. Closing it behind her, she nodded at the security camera and headed towards the main house and her bed. After two weeks of negotiating with that demon clan in Vegas and averting a minor apocalypse in Idaho she was exhausted. Although Willow and Kennedy were quite happy living in one of the estate's guest cottages, Buffy preferred to live in the residential wing of the main house, sharing a small suite of rooms with her sister. Knowing that Giles and Faith were around to keep an eye on Dawn made it easier for her to accept the amount of traveling her current position in the Council required her to do.

The marble floors, a remnant of the original owners, always seemed extravagant, no matter how many times she'd walked across the lobby. And no matter how softly she walked, every step seemed to echo. One of these days she was going to have to ask Xander if it was intentional. Leaving her bag with the slayer on receptionist duty, minus her small leather portfolio, Buffy headed towards Giles' office, intent on giving him the briefest report possible before heading off to see her sister and then to bed.

"Is he free?" she asked his gray-haired secretary. A relic of the London office who'd been dragged out of retirement after the Cleveland staffing fiasco, Emma was the sharp eyed protector of Giles' appointment book.

"Go right in, dear." Emma told her, buzzing open Giles' door from her desk.

"Buffy! You're back!" Dawn screeched.

She'd barely stepping inside Giles' office when she was almost knocked over by her sister.

"What'd you get me?" Dawn asked, wrapping Buffy in her arms. "I missed you, Mom."

Since she almost never acknowledged that Buffy was really her mother, Buffy was immediately suspicious. Looking up at Dawn she asked, "What's going on?"

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked, smiling innocently before releasing her.

Buffy looked across the room at Giles who shrugged faintly, shaking his head in denial that he was involved in whatever Dawn was scheming. "You never pull the 'mom card' unless you're in trouble."

"I'm not allowed to miss my mother?" Dawn asked, pouting.

"I'm too young to be your mother," Buffy grumbled, tiredly running her free hand through her hair. "I prefer to be your older, bossy sister whom you obey without any arguments."

"Yeah, right," Dawn said, smirking at her. "The difference between the two is?"

"Dawn, you're burning 'mom points'. You might want to quit while you're ahead and explain what you want." Buffy shook her head, keeping a straight face at Dawn's antics. She'd freaked out the year before when Willow had tested a genealogy spell on all of the Scoobies and she'd found out that Dawn was not actually her magical clone, nor the result of some monk run slayer breeding program but was really her daughter, and no one else's. Even after she'd looked up the words Willow had used to describe the process, magically induced parthenogenesis, she'd taken a while to accept the idea. Legally, and in her memories they might be sisters, but physically they were mother and daughter.

In the months since then Buffy had been dismayed to find her feelings towards Dawn changing to be more 'motherly' and less sisterly. She suspected if the trend continued she would be unable to resist indulging Dawn's requests when accompanied by that particular look by the end of the year, but she wasn't ever going to tell her that. She wasn't ready for their relationship to change that drastically.

"Faith is taking her class to Boston to celebrate finishing training. Can I go with?" Dawn asked hopefully.

"Let me catch up on some sleep first," Buffy told her with a sigh. "I'll need to talk to Faith before I agree to anything."

"Thanks!" Dawn gave her another hug.

"I haven't said yes yet," Buffy told her, shaking her head at Dawn's enthusiasm.

"But you will," Dawn said confidently before bouncing over to the small couch near the large bay window behind Giles' desk.

Grabbing a chair, Buffy dragged it over to the side of Giles' desk where she could easily face both of them. Opening her portfolio, she pulled out the document she'd picked up in Vegas and leaned forward to place it in front of Giles. "What can you tell me about this?"

Picking it up, he carefully examined the document. "Where did you get this?" he asked.

"Interrupted some kind of ritual in Vegas," Buffy told him. "Rescued the sacrificial victim and got a door prize."

"What kind of ritual?" Dawn asked, peeking over Giles shoulder at the document. "Virgin sacrifice?" she asked, a little too eagerly for Buffy's peace of mind.

"Not really sure," she said. "And probably not. It was at one of those all-night wedding chapels." How she knew it wasn't a virgin sacrifice was a detail she planned to keep to herself, Buffy thought, glad she longer blushed at such things. There were certain questions she didn't want to answer about the Vegas trip if she could help it.

"I'm not familiar with the language." Giles admitted before handing it over to the eagerly waiting Dawn. "How did you find out about this ritual?"

"Stopping it was one of those faith things?" Buffy tried to remember the exact words the Ragnok Elder had used.

"Faith?"

"No, not our Faith." Buffy vaguely waived her hands. "You know, something to prove to them that we are on their side or are willing to help out?"

"Oh, a good will gesture?" Giles said.

"Yeah! One of those." Buffy nodded. "There was some demon or mage causing problems at several of the casinos and the Ragnoks were getting blamed. So I took care of it for them."

"So, you were able to get an agreement from them?" Giles asked.

"Yup. They even put me up in a nice hotel room afterward." Buffy told him, leaving several details out. He didn't need to know she hadn't been alone. "They're going to send it to us after their lawyers take a look."

"And this?" He nodded at the document Dawn was happily examining.

"Not really sure." Buffy shrugged. "It had something to do with the ritual."

"Is that blood?" Dawn asked, pointing at several brown smudges on the document.

"Yes. Had to do that to stop the ritual."

"Hmm..." Giles looked at her thoughtfully. "And the sacrificial victim?"

"Her blood's on it too." Buffy said, adding "and she's all taken care of."

"Sunnydale effect in full force?" Dawn asked, looking up from the document again.

"Nope. They drugged her. She doesn't remember a thing."

"How do you know that?" Dawn asked.

"She told me the next morning." Buffy admitted, standing up and tucking her portfolio under one arm. "Well, I'm off to bed. Dawn, don't forget we're having lunch together tomorrow."

"I would like a full report tomorrow." Giles told her before she could escape. "In writing."

"Everything?" Buffy asked, frowning. She knew her duty to the Council and future slayers didn't leave much room for privacy.

"Yes." Giles said firmly. "Including complete details regarding this ritual."

"Some of it'll be 'Your Eyes Only'," Buffy said.

"That's not fair!" Dawn whined. "I never get to read those."

"You know the rules Dawn. You can read it after we're dead." Buffy told her before slipping out of Giles' office. Holding a finger to her lips in a hushing motion, Buffy stepped over to Emma's desk and quickly pushed the buttons on the intercom that let Emma hear what was going on in his office.

"We? Who's we? Giles!" Dawn's frustration could be clearly heard. "You're going to let me read all of it. Right?"

"No."

"Giles!"

Buffy could almost hear the pout in her voice. Shaking her head, Buffy turned the intercom back off. "He's still immune to her pout isn't he?" she asked Emma.

"Yes." Emma said, her eyes twinkling in amusement. "She's given him enough practice to build an immunity."

"Good." Buffy gave her a quick smile and started back to the lobby. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night, Miss Summers." Emma's voice followed her down the hall.

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