Causatum
by sailor80
Four
[reviews]
The others watched as Willow finished setting up her laptop for the video conference. Promptly at 8, the Watchers Council connected to her machine.
"Miss Summers, Miss Rosenberg, Mr. Harris, Miss Jenkins, Miss Summers, Miss Maclay, Miss Erskine, Mr. Giles, I am Meredith Davies, the new chief of the Watchers Council. My associates Gareth Edmondson and Kenneth Brown are with me this evening. Thank you for agreeing to speak with us."
"Go on," Buffy said. She sat in the middle of the camera's viewing area, with Willow on one side and Dawn on the other. Xander, Anya, Tara and Aislin sat behind them, and Giles stood behind all of them.
"I understand your hostility, Miss Summers. My predecessor employed some particularly barbaric means to achieve his goals. On behalf of the Council, I apologize for his completely inappropriate actions." Davies paused for a few moments for any reaction from the Sunnydale group, who merely waited for her to continue.
"I'll get to the point, then. We wish you to continue as our Slayer, Miss Summers."
"Why should we do anything for you?" Buffy asked.
"You are not doing anything for me or the Council. It is your duty," Davies stated.
"Yeah, yeah, sacred duty, blah blah, one girl in all the world, I know the song and dance."
"Our job is to assist you in the completion of your duties. I know you have an extremely capable group working with you, but there are many things we can help you with."
"Like?" Buffy asked skeptically.
"Research. Weapons. Backup. Whatever you may need." Davies said. "We will not interfere. When you request assistance, you will receive it without delay."
"What do you want in return?" Buffy demanded.
"We want you to perform your duty," Davies answered calmly.
"Suppose we don't agree?" Buffy asked.
"There is nothing we can do. We will not force ourselves on you."
Buffy stared at the camera for a full minute before saying, "I'll get back to you." She got up and left the camera's view. "Willow, tell them to hang on for a while, but shut down our end."
"Um, you heard her, right?" Willow said to the screen.
"Yes," Davies answered. "That's fine."
Willow moved to her machine and shut down the camera.
"Is it off?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah," Willow responded.
"Giles, do you know them?" Buffy inquired.
"Yes. I know all of them. We trained together."
"Can we trust them?"
"I believe we can. Their actions so far suggest that." Giles told them.
"Guys?" Buffy asked.
Aislin spoke up first. "I know them, too, Buffy. Unless they've changed radically in the past month, they will honor any agreement they make. Especially Merry."
"Merry?" Buffy raised an eyebrow.
"Meredith Davies," Aislin explained. "I have never heard her say anything she doesn't mean. If she says she'll support you, then that is what the Council will do."
Buffy nodded, then began to poll the others. "Tara?"
"I think we should give them a chance," she answered.
"Xander?"
"Give it a shot, Buff."
"Anya?"
"I agree with Xander. And Aislin. She sees things you can't."
"Dawn?"
"I trust you, Buffy. Whatever you decide is fine with me."
"Wills?" Buffy's tone was gentler.
"I don't know," Willow answered. "I guess all we can do is let them show us whether things really have changed."
Buffy nodded. "Okay. I'm still not sure about it, but we've walked into worse situations knowing less than we do now. Turn the camera back on, Will." Buffy returned to her seat.
"Miss Summers," Davies greeted her. "Have you reached a decision?"
"We'll work with you on a trial basis," Buffy told her.
"Thank you. Is there anything you need now?"
"No," Buffy said.
Behind her, Anya hissed, "The money!"
"That was done earlier today, Miss Jenkins," Davies said.
"Thank you," Anya and Buffy said at the same time.
"You're welcome. If you need anything else, ask Mr. Giles to contact me."
"Fine," Buffy replied.
"Good evening," Davies said, and broke the connection.
Willow got up and shut down her laptop.
"I have to patrol," Buffy said. "Who's coming?"
"We'll go," Tara said.
"Will, you coming?"
Willow looked at Buffy. Surprise and confusion mixed on her face. "You want me?"
"If you want to." Buffy moved to stand beside her at the table. "I won't be long."
"I'll pass." Willow looked back at the computer.
"Okay." Buffy leaned over and pecked her cheek. "See you soon," she said, then turned to the witches. "Let's go."
The house was quiet after everyone left. Willow and Dawn sat on the couch. "Thanks for everything," Willow said.
"You're welcome. I'm really glad you're back to yourself," Dawn replied.
"Me, too," Willow smiled.
"But if you ever do anything that dumb again," Dawn threatened.
"I won't. I'm so sorry. I was really stupid."
"You were," Dawn agreed. She waited a beat before asking, "Remember what you told Riley when he started dating Buffy?"
"How do you know about that?"
"Buffy told me." Dawn smirked. "So you remember?"
"Yeah," Willow answered cautiously.
"If you hurt Buffy, I've got a shovel for you."
"I won't." Willow smiled. "You know how you want something that you know you can't ever have, so you don't think about it anymore? Only I got it. Of course, it comes with a pesky little sister, but I think I can work around that."
Dawn threw a pillow at Willow with her good arm. Willow batted it away and threw another one back. Within moments they were having a pillow fight, laughing gleefully while swinging pillows around and rarely hitting their targets. After a while, they agreed to a draw and collapsed back onto the sofa.
When she recovered her breath, Willow asked, "You ready to go back to school tomorrow?"
Dawn rolled her eyes. "Do I have to?"
"Yes," Willow said firmly.
Dawn stared hard at her. Willow looked askance at her.
"Dawn, what are you doing?"
"No hypnotic powers, darn it."
Willow giggled. "I'll be sure to tell Giles."
"You wouldn't."
"Sure, I would," Willow teased, then broke into laughter when Dawn glared at her. "No stare of death or even discomfort, either."
"I don't have to be insulted like that!" Dawn stood up. She started to flounce out of the room, but stopped to kiss Willow's cheek first. "G'night."
Willow put her arms around Dawn's neck. "Night, Dawnie. Sweet dreams."