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And I Still Do (Love You) by slaymesoftly
 
Chapter Thirty-four
 
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  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR



 



“You’re going to have to explain that, Ms. Summers.” Quentin Travers looked at the girls again, from the ones no longer leaning casually against the wall, to the ones quite obviously guarding the exits to other parts of the house. He studied them with an old watcher’s eyes, then nodded.



 



“Indeed. It seems you are correct. You do seem to have a small army of slayers at your disposal. May I ask what you propose to do with them? What did you do in your time?”



 



Buffy walked closer to him, pulling a chair with her. “I’m going to tell you, but first I think you need to know that these are not the only potential slayers to be activated. If you have a list of, and a way to contact, all the other potentials out there—at least the ones who have watchers—you’re going to want to warn them—in case they haven’t already figured it out for themselves. But they need to know that they haven’t become the next Chosen One, they’ve become one of the Chosen Many.”



 



Travers’ face paled. “There are more?”



 



“All over the world,” Buffy said. “We made a few tweaks to the spell, based on what I’d experienced before I was sent back here, but basically, every mentally and physically qualified potential who is old enough to be called is now a fully functional slayer. Not including the ones who’ve already aged out,” she added.



 



“What in the name of God will I do with them….?” he said, mostly to himself.



 



“That’s what we need to discuss,” Buffy said. “Let me tell you what we were doing in my time….”



 



While Travers listened with rapidly increasing horror on his face, Winston was shaking hands with the Security Chief and explaining to him that they’d become good friends in his original timeline. Wesley was renewing his own, more recent, acquaintance with John, and vouching for Winston as the source of much of the information Wes had been sending him. Althenea had gone to Willow and hugged her, and been introduced to Sara. The three of them wandered into the kitchen for tea and chatting about Guardians and how they could work with the Coven.



 



Temporarily at loose ends, Spike, Faith and Giles remained where they’d been standing, although Faith was now sitting on the table and Giles had pulled out a chair. Spike leaned against the wall behind them. Although only Spike could clearly hear the conversation, they all watched with interest as Buffy described the Slayers and Watchers Council, the training facility they were trying to set up, and how the trained and experienced slayers were being posted around the world at known demonic hotspots. When Travers whipped his head up to glare at Giles, they knew she’d told him who was running the new Council.



 



“Oops!” Faith said. “Doesn’t look like he approves of your promotion, boss man.”



 



“And I’m shocked and surprised,” Giles mumbled. “Not that I want the job, but…”



 



“But you know you’ve already done it,” Spike said. “As Buffy is making clear to him right now.”



 



They watched with interest as Travers and his two companion watchers learned about slayer-training, the need for good watchers, and Buffy’s plans for the future. Only Giles muffled his laughter at the range of expressions on their faces; Spike and Faith made no attempt to hide their enjoyment.



 



“You cannot imagine this is possible without the Council of Watchers,” Travers exploded. “You’ll have chaos.”



 



“And you won’t have anything to watch if we don’t like the arrangements,” Buffy said firmly, standing up and stepping back. “You think about that, and let me know what you want to do, so I can make my own plans.”  She fixed him with a stern glare. “And I will be making my own plans for these girls. With or without you.”



 



Obviously recognizing dismissal when he heard it, Travers stood up and gestured for his companions to leave with him. Althenea shook her head, saying she wanted to spend more time with Willow and Sara before going back to the hotel. 



 



Meanwhile, John and Winston shook hands and made arrangements to get together over drinks and talk about additional security measures that could be taken to protect what was left of the Council complex.



 



XXX



 



“What do you think?” Buffy’s question was addressed to everyone, but only Giles spoke up.



 



“I imagine Quentin Travers is going have a very long night ahead of him. And not just because his body is insisting it’s bedtime.”



 



“Did he believe us?” 



 



“I think so. Between Winston’s normal powers of persuasion, and the rather unshakeable proof of what you and Willow were able to do staring at him, he really has little choice.  I’m sure he’s burning up the international communication paths to London in order to obtain information about Guardians, the First Evil, and time travel. The question is, what will he decide to do about it? Will he accept your role as the Chief Slayer and allow you to set up training and handle assignments, or will he think to make his own ‘army’ of slayers?”



 



“Not gonna happen,” Buffy vowed. “I didn’t give all these girls power so that Quentin Travers could try to run their lives for them. I’ll talk to Willow. We need to get the slayer website up and running as soon as possible so we’re ahead of the game.”



 



XXX



 



A call from Giles before noon the next day had Buffy sighing and shaking her head as she ended the call.



 



“Problems, love?”



 



“I dunno. Giles said he and Travers have been talking for a couple of hours, he wants my permission to tell Travers about some of the things that happened in our timeline so he can understand the changes we made and how and why we made them.”



 



“I heard you say it was alright.”



 



“Yeah, I did. If it gives him an idea of what we’ve been through, and how much we’ve tried to make life better… for everybody… now…. I think it might help. I mean he is a pompous pain in the ass, but he had to do something right along the way to become the boss of everybody.”



 



“Maybe he’s just a good tactician. Lots of scheming that goes on in organizations like that. What comes out on top isn’t necessarily the best man for the job. Or the one most qualified.”



 



“Well, if he’s smart enough to finagle his way to the top job, he should be smart enough to pay attention when I tell him what I want to do with my slayers.”



 



Spike laughed heartily. “Even in this somewhat less contentious timeline, I’m sure by now he knows better than to think he can tell you what to do.”



 



“We’ll see, I guess.”



 



 



Two hours later, she did see… or hear, as Giles called back to request her presence and Spike’s.



 



“What does that wanker want me for?”



 



“He probably wants to know about the soul. Or how Wes sent you back. I don’t know, but Giles distinctly said both of us.”



 



“I’m not some tweedy nancy boy to come when he calls,” Spike muttered, even as he shrugged on his coat. “Reckon I’d best get there the old-fashioned way. No sense letting him in on all our secrets.”



 



Buffy just rolled her eyes and walked out the door.  “See you there, nancy boy.”



 



XXX



 



To her surprise, Travers’ greeting was cordial and almost warm. His bodyguard, however, stood up immediately and glared at Spike when he emerged from the basement. The bodyguard’s fingers twitched, as if wanting to reach for a stake. He’d been sitting by himself away from the men at the table, but they could easily see him and his reaction to Spike.



 



Spike bared his teeth, then strolled past the table to lean against the ladder as he usually did. Buffy shook her head at him, then turned a slayer’s hard stare on the bodyguard.



 



“If you keep looking at my husband like that, I might have to ask you to leave.” Her expression made it very clear that the asking could be painful, but before she could say any more, Travers spoke up.



 



“Stand down, Charles. I invited Mr. Pratt to join us. I feel sure I’m in no danger from him.”



 



Buffy sent Spike a warning glare when he coughed and seemed to be about to say something.



 



Wanker tried to kill you. I’m not forgetting that.



 



You don’t need to forget it, but this is not the time to make a big deal out of it.



 



She turned her attention back to Travers. “So, what do you need from me? Giles filled you in, right?”



 



“He did indeed ‘fill me in’,” Travers said. “Please join us while we talk about the things I’ve learned today.”



 



When she was seated, he continued, “If half of what I’ve learned about the things that occurred in your time are true, then you are truly a remarkable slayer. Please believe me when I say that I have nothing but admiration for you and the way you have focused on your mission for so many years.”



 



“Really?” Buffy said, her doubt more than obvious.



 



“Really,” he said firmly. “I know we have had our differences about your methods, but I cannot in good conscience fail to acknowledge your success in the face of great personal loss.” He shot a glance at Spike. “Including, if I’ve understood Rupert correctly, the loss of your husband. Who, I must say, appears quite healthy for a dead man.”



 



“Did Giles tell you about what we had to do in our time to stop the first?”



 



Travers shook his head. “Only in very general terms. Which is one of the reasons I chose to speak with you directly. I really need some explanations for how you survived some of the things you apparently endured in your time.”



 



“You’re assuming, she did survive them,” Spike growled from his spot by the book shelves. “And I am a dead man, and have been since long before you were born.”



 



Travers glanced from Spike to Buffy. “I’m aware that you survived your brief encounter with the Master when you were very young, but I’m not sure what the vampire is suggesting.” He smiled at her inquiringly.



 



Buffy exchanged glances with Spike, and then with Giles. She sighed and nodded her head.



 



“Okay, then. Just listen up and you can ask questions later, ‘k?” She took a deep breath and then began her recap of the way the past four years had gone in her timeline, skipping quickly past the Initiative except to make sure he knew about the chip that had allowed Spike to become part of their lives. He interrupted her there to say, “You should have called us.”



 



Switching  his attention to Giles, he said, “The Council has contacts and influence many places, including the US military. It’s possible we could have shut them down before it became so difficult.”



 



“I’d like to remind you that is what happened in Buffy’s original time. In our own, as you well know from my reports, Willow was able to use a spell to destroy Adam before he could be become the danger he was in Buffy’s time. And with the arrival of Winston, we were able to convince Willow to give up the otherwise unfortunate spell before there could be any unforeseen consequences for anyone else. I can hardly be responsible for decisions I made in a situation I’ve never encountered.”



 



Giles’s expression indicated he wasn’t happy about the implied criticism. 



 



Buffy spoke up quickly. “To be fair to my Giles, things escalated pretty fast in my time. Even if he had been on better terms with the Council and still employed by you then, I’m not sure there would have been time for the Council to pull any strings before we had to shut Adam down to stop him from taking over the town and then the world.”



 



Well done, love. Good job reminding the wanker that you had good reason, including in this time, not to trust them.



 



Yeah, like he would have done anything to help us when nothing would have made him happier than knowing I was dead and gone.



 



She gave Travers a few seconds to understand the true message, then said, “You said you’d hold your questions until I was done.”



 



“I did. My apologies, please continue.”



 



“Well, you know about Glory. We did contact you about her, although I already knew from my own time that she was a hell-god, and who she was when she was in human form.” Buffy shrugged. “As far as how it was different from our time… the extra magical help and the fact that we knew about Ben meant that we stood a better chance against her. We still weren’t able to keep her from getting her hands on Dawn, but we ganged up on her and managed to kill her anyway.”



 



She took a deep breath, then added, “And without me having to jump through a portal to hell to stop the demons and other nasty things from pouring through it into this world. It took Dawn’s blood to open the portal, and mine to close it.”



 



“And again, I’m amazed at the things you’ve survived,” Travers said, his skepticism of her story plain to see.



 



“She didn’t fuckin’ survive, you bloody wanker! She died!” Spike’s outburst brought Charles to his feet, stake in hand. Rather than retreating, Spike let his fangs show and he snarled. “You want a piece of me, bodyguard? I’m right here….”



 



“Spike….” Buffy’s voice was quiet, but her meaning was clear. He shook himself and went back to his place against the ladder.



 



“She bloody well died,” he muttered, even as he turned away.



 



Travers looked back and forth between Buffy, Spike, Giles, and over to Wes, who was nodding his head.



 



“Well, clearly that is not true, so—”



 



“It’s true,” Buffy said quietly. “In my time, there was a grave in the back of Restfield Cemetery with a headstone with my name on it.”



 



“But, you’re here.”



 



“Yes, yes I am.” Seemingly apropos of nothing they’d been discussing, she said, “Willow is capable of a level of magic you can barely imagine.” She waited for him to think about that for a moment, then said, “And now we’re at the reason we were all sent back here.”



 



Proving his position as the head of the Council of Watchers wasn’t only because he was a good politician, Travers said, almost under his breath, “She brought you back to life? A young witch, barely out of her teens, performed a resurrection spell….”  He blanched.  “That requires incredibly dark magic! How did it not consume her?”



 



“It almost did,” Buffy responded. “In both our time, and Winston’s, she became very dangerous for a while.”



 



“And you’ve put her in charge of the new slayers?” Once more, Travers glared at Giles as if he was totally responsible for everything in this time and the others.



 



“As you know,” Giles spoke up, his anger clear, “she has had to spend some time with the Coven, learning to control both her temper and her power. In this time line, as well as theirs. With their help, she has become a competent and trusted practitioner of magic. With the knowledge Buffy, and Spike and Winston, have of the situations that created those conditions in their time, they’ve been able to avoid much of it this time. Not all of it, to be sure, but with Winston’s help and the aid of time spent with the Coven, there was much less damage this time from her brush with dark magics.”



 



He silenced Travers’ intended interruption by continuing quickly. “And, by keeping Buffy from sacrificing herself to save the world from Glory, and thereby avoiding a reason for anyone to bring her back to life and possibly throwing off the balance between Good and Evil, we’d hoped to prevent the rise of the First Evil into this world.”



 



“But it did rise,” Travers said, glaring around at them as if they’d failed miserably.



 



There was a steady rumble coming from Spike’s chest as he crossed the room to stand behind Buffy’s chair.



 



“We did the best we could,” he snarled. “Buffy did the best she could. We couldn’t keep it down completely, but it didn’t become as powerful, it didn’t blow your bloody useless Council into soddin’ oblivion, and she saved the lives of countless potentials by taking out its main minion before he could become a host for the First in this realm.”



 



Buffy reached back and patted Spike on the leg, helping him subside into a barely-heard growl.



 



Giles cleared his throat. “As I believe I alluded to yesterday, Winston and I have concluded that some events can be changed in some way­—often for the better—but it seems that if they are important in the overall scheme of things for some reason, they will still occur in some fashion. He and I will be writing up our findings and our hypotheses, and making our experiences available for anyone who cares to explore the ins and outs of time travel more closely.”



 



Travers was silent for a time, waving Charles, still hovering over him, stake in hand, back to his seat. 



 



“I see there is still much to understand about the time you left behind,” he said finally, turning to Buffy. “I would like very much to have a written account from you of both your life as it was up until the time you were sent back, as well as what you know of the structures left in place and how they were being reconstructed.” He shot a look at Spike, who stared back calmly. “You’re free to exclude any personal details you feel would be unnecessary, but a brief explanation of how William the Bloody went from a killer of slayers to married to one would be useful. I presume you were already together in your time? Although I’m a bit confused about how and why you were sent back from a different place.”



 



“I thought he was dead,” Buffy said quietly. “You didn’t let me finish about what we did in our time to stop the First.”



 



Travers frowned. “I just assumed it was the same as what you did here. You activated the potentials and attacked with a small army of slayers, backed up, to be sure, by a powerful wizard, a witch, a master vampire, and a small group of normal humans?”



 



Buffy shook her head. “Not quite. You remember Angel, right?”



 



“The other souled vampire with which you had a relationship when you were very young?”



 



“Yeah, him. Anyway, in our time….” Buffy quickly ran through what little she knew of Angel’s problems with, and eventual take-over of Wolfram and Hart. Travers frowned deeply when she said the amulet had come from them, but at a glare from Giles, he held his tongue while Buffy explained about giving the amulet to Spike. Reminding Travers that it had been much later in the year by the time they were ready to take on the First and its army of Turok-Hans, and that Winston had not been a member of the team in either his timeline or theirs, she quickly recapped the fight in the hellmouth, including her being stabbed, but getting up to continue fighting. She took a deep breath.



 



“And then, the amulet lit up. And Spike was channeling sunlight through his soul. He was mowing the Turok-Han’s down with fire coming from his chest, and the roof started collapsing, and things were shaking, and he was on fire, and….” She stopped and turned her head to look up at Spike, who smiled down at her and nodded. “And he told me to get out while I could. So, I told him I loved him, and I ran like hell.” She glared at Travers. “When I left, he was on fire from the inside and burning to ash. I never expected to see him again.”



 



Travers looked at Winston, who nodded his head. “That’s what happened in my time also, I just wasn’t there to see it or participate.”



 



Both Travers and his bodyguard stared at Spike. Clearly as alive as a dead man could be, and also not on fire. He shrugged and tried to answer the unspoken questions.



 



“No bloody idea,” he began. “All I know is, I came to myself in the poof’s fancy office at Wolfram and Hart, on fire, then not on fire. Also not solid. I was a ghost, trapped there for a long time after I popped out of the amulet when it fell out of an envelope mailed to Angel. Didn’t let Buffy know, on account of I couldn’t dial a phone, and I didn’t know how long I’d be around. Kept fadin’ in and out for a while. Then another mysterious package came in to the office and presto! I was solid again.”



 



“And then you came to Buffy?”



 



“Not exactly, but in a way, I reckon. Before I could do anything about finding Buffy, Angel and Wes, here—only not this Wes, obviously—had reached the same conclusions as Rupert and friends. That if Buffy didn’t die and get resurrected, the balance wouldn’t be off and the First wouldn’t become so powerful. So they sent me back to her to make sure she didn’t die.”



 



“Or, if I did, that I’d stay dead. Don’t leave out that part.”



 



“Right. Or that she’d stay dead. I was to stop Willow from doing her resurrection spell if that was what needed to happen.” He rested his hands on Buffy’s shoulders, smiling when she clasped her hands on top of them. “Didn’t happen this time.”



 



“No. No it did not.” Travers frowned. “I would like a full report from you also, if you don’t mind. Everything you can remember about your time, right up until you were sent back.”



 



Spike cocked his head at the man he knew had made Buffy’s life harder in her time, and had tried to eliminate her via a Cruciamentum in all three timelines.



 



“You do get that we don’t work for you, yeah? Not a one of us. Rupert and Wes are fired watchers, I’m a bloody vampire, and this Buffy is one of the two heads of the Council of Slayers and Watchers in her time. You can ask for all the reports you want, but whether or not you get them could depend on what we think you need to know, and how nicely you ask.”



 



Having said more than he usually did at meetings, Spike gave Buffy’s shoulders a little squeeze before going back to his place by the books. He flashed some fang at Charles when he went by, disappointed when the man didn’t rise to the bait.



 



 




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