CHAPTER 28: Independence day, Buffy Summers style

There is something quite terrifying about quiet rage, especially when hidden behind a polite smile. But while the look on Quentin Travers' face might have forced some people to take a step back, it took a hell of a lot more to rattle the confidence of a Slayer who’d died twice and faced monsters that should only exist in horror movies.

"Miss Summers. How lovely to see you." The older man said with forced cheerfulness.

She smirked. "I'd love to be able to say the same, but considering the unpleasant purpose of my visit, that would be hypocritical of me."

The Watchers sitting around the large table looked more and more confused, but they instinctively knew to stay quiet. Curious eyes kept darting between Quentin and Buffy, as if they were following a tennis match.

"And what might the purpose of this visit be, Miss Summers? It must be important for you to choose to travel across the ocean when you could have easily picked up the phone." He turned his icy glare in the direction of Giles. "You didn't use the Council's credit card for this unnecessary trip, did you?"

"Unfortunately, no. I would have, but we found another way. I believe seeing your face while discussing the fact that you tried to murder the Slayer would have certainly justified the expense."

Every single Watcher in the room gasped. They all straightened their backs and turned their faces toward Quentin. The head of the Watcher's Council had temporarily lost his countenance and his face had turned an interesting shade of red.

“I beg your pardon??”

Buffy turned her head sharply to glare at Giles, ignoring Travers. "That was MY punch line."

"I'm terribly sorry, Buffy, it just came out."

Quentin spluttered uncharacteristically. "Of all the insane theories..." He finally managed to let out.

"It's more than a theory, isn't it, uncle?" Benjamin Travers turned to address the rest of the room. "He sent me to eliminate Miss Summers and William the Bloody. That's of course until I came to my senses and realized that it was unjustified."

A young female Watcher, whom Buffy recognized as being the one with a slight obsession on Spike, raised her hand. "But... why? We all know the Slayer isn't exactly cooperative, but we've established that she is very good at what she does. So why kill her?" She blushed brightly at the attention she got for speaking up and asking the question on everyone's mind.

"Because of me, luv." Spike answered.

Her blush intensified when the vampire looked at her. She looked down. "Oh."

Instead of looking defeated as he should have been by now, Quentin regained his calm and confident attitude. He crossed his arms over his chest defiantly and stood up straighter.

"This is nothing but a ridiculous accusation. You can't prove anything."

"So, you're telling me it's not Council policy to kill Slayers who mate with Vampires?" She asked.

His eyes narrowed and she could tell he was barely keeping his anger in check.

"A Slayer who would have mated with a Vampire would have gone rogue, Miss Summers. She would be a danger to humanity."

"Or so you say. But I'm the living proof that you're wrong."

More gasps in the room.

Lydia, the watcher with a crush on Spike, spoke again. "You are mated?"

Quentin ignored her. "To say that it's Council policy would mean it happened before, and there is no precedent..."

"Oh cut the crap, Quentin!" Buffy yelled, the man obviously getting on her last nerve.

Giles handed her a stack of books and she dropped them noisily on the table in front of her. "It’s happened before. It's all here. Each and every one of these girls was killed and you tried to do the same to me."

He didn't say anything.

"This is outrageous. Aren't you gonna say something?" One of the Watchers asked.

Nothing could interrupt the intense staring match between the head of the Watcher's Council and the Slayer. Finally, Quentin spoke again.

"And what exactly do you intend to do about this, Miss Summers?"

"Everything I have to in order to keep myself, as well as the ones I love, alive."

Spike took a step forward and put a folder on the table. He pushed it sharply and it slid across the table to where Quentin was standing.

"What is this?" His tone was like ice.

"This document is the proof that will link the Council to the murder of many young women,” Buffy told him. “And before you even think about it, this is a copy. The originals are in a safety deposit box back in Sunnydale. If anything was to happen to me, Spike or my friends, a lawyer has been instructed to release this information to the authorities in the States, Canada, and the UK." She smirked proudly. "You better pray that I live a long and healthy life, Quentin."

His reaction was not what Buffy expected. He smiled.

"And you think this will be taken seriously." He scoffed. "Please. A tale of Slayers, vampires and demons. You should know by now that normal people don't believe in any of this."

Buffy nodded slowly. "You're absolutely right." She placed her hands flat on the table and leaned forward, her intense eyes fixed on Quentin. "But a tale of old British men recruiting young women for something that sounds like a sect, young women that turned up dead, THAT they will believe. They take this stuff very seriously you know. And I doubt that your secret organization wants the publicity."

A man, who had been sitting quietly and looking down at his hands the entire time, slowly stood up.

"If anything was to happen to you, Miss Summers, I will come forward as a witness to confirm your documents."

Buffy looked at the man in surprise. "I'm sorry... who are you?"

"My name is Bernard Lafond. I had a Slayer once."

Buffy recognized the name. Her eyes narrowed in anger. "The French Slayer. You killed her..."

"Absolutely not!" He looked horrified at the accusation. "I had no part in the death of my Slayer. But I always suspected the Council did."

"If you know that, why did you stay?"

"Because I still believe in the mission, Miss Summers. Corrupted or not, the best place to help save the world is still right here at the Council, helping the current Slayer. But I swore to myself I would never let the Council kill another girl. I promise I won‘t let what happened to Sophie happen to you, Miss Summers."

Quentin raised his eyebrow. "You're fired, Mr. Lafond."

"No, he isn't." Buffy said.

Quentin opened his mouth to protest. "You have no right..."

"That's where you're wrong. I am the Slayer. This organization is nothing without me. I was wrong when I quit a few years ago, I should have demanded that you be replaced. You know why, Quentin? Because I have the power. You don't. You‘re nothing but an old man jealous of teenage girls. How pathetic."

With quiet strength, Buffy looked around the room. "Why don't we vote? All in favor of Quentin Travers being fired from the Council, raise your hand."

Slowly, hands were raised one after the other. None of the Watchers dared to look at Quentin. When all hands were raised, Buffy smiled brightly, raising her own hand high and proud.

"I guess I'm not the only one who thinks you suck at your job then."

"You can't do this." He said through clenched teeth.

"I just did." Her bright smile turned into a dangerous smirk that made Spike proud.

Xander, Willow, Anya and Tara, who had been waiting quietly a few feet behind, all took a step forward in a show of support. They gathered around Buffy, Giles and Spike.

Willow rested a hand on the Slayer’s shoulder and fixed her emerald eyes on Quentin Travers. “I think you should leave now, Mr. Travers.” Her voice was soft, but the strength of her power could be felt in every word.

Quentin looked at every face around the table, hoping to find some support. He found none. In a fit of uncharacteristic rage, he slammed his fist on the table, making everybody jump in surprise.

“You fools! You’d rather follow a demon whore than me?”

Spike growled and his face morphed. “Watch your mouth, old man. I might be chipped, but I’ll deal with the head ache for the pleasure of breaking you neck. This woman you just called a whore, she faced unspeakable horrors since the age of sixteen and died twice trying to protect this world your sorry arse lives in. Show her some bloody respect.”

The Watchers all held their breath, wondering what would happen next. No one expected Quentin Travers to give up the fight.

“You’ll all pay for this.” He said through his teeth before turning on his heels and leaving the room.

Everybody started talking all at once.

Willow turned to face Buffy. “I doubt he’ll leave it at that. We shouldn’t take a chance.”

Buffy nodded. She knew Quentin Travers was not the kind of man to give up that easily. The man had worked for the Council his entire life. He WAS the Council. By doing what they just did, they’d made an enemy for life and if they didn’t deal with the problem now, it would come back to bite them in the ass sooner or later.

“Are you sure you and Tara can do this, Will?”

The redhead smiled. “When we’re done, Quentin Travers will never remember anything about Council, Slayers and demons. I promise. And more importantly, the name Buffy Summers will mean nothing to him.”

“All right, go. Take Ben with you and be careful.”

Willow took Tara’s hand and walked up to Benjamin Travers. She said something in his ear and soon after, the three of them left the room.

With Spike’s arm wrapped tightly around her waist, Buffy observed the chaotic scene in front of her. It was obvious to her that these men and women were not used to being left without a strong leader, and they were at a loss as to what to do now. He might have been a corrupted bastard but for years and years they had relied on Quentin Travers to lead them and tell them what to do. Their world had just been turned upside down and now she needed to turn their tangible excitement and panic into something productive.

Buffy glanced briefly at Giles who nodded his encouragement, letting her know that whatever she chose to do next, he was right there behind her. He didn‘t want to be the one to speak, he wanted her to be in charge. Giles had faith in his Slayer, and he wanted the other Watchers to do so as well.

“Listen up, everybody...” She tried to get their attention, but they all kept talking animatedly. She rolled her eyes. “Quiet!”

This seemed to work. They stopped talking and looked at her.

“Before we start, anybody here agree with Travers’ views? Because now would be the time to leave. Anyone?” She waited a beat or two. When nobody said anything or stood up to leave, she smiled. “Good.”

One of the Watchers raised his hand.

“Yes?” Buffy asked.

“I apologize for jumping ahead, but we were wondering who will take over as the head of the Watcher’s Council?”

“We’ll get to that. But before, there’s a few things we need to clarify.” She paused for effect and looked at each and every one of them before continuing. “This isn’t 1408, anymore. This is our chance to take the Council out of medieval times, and into the 21st century. The Slayer will not be a tool anymore. Not only will I be part of this team, I will be the most important part of this team. Same goes for whoever will replace me and Faith in the future. The idea of making sure Slayers die young so they’ll be immature, naive and easier to manipulate is barbaric.”

One of the Watchers opened his mouth to deny, but Buffy effectively glared him down.

“Not only is it barbaric,” she continued “but it doesn’t serve the purpose of this organization. Our goal is to keep the world safe. The older a Slayer gets, the more experienced, knowledgeable and efficient she gets. Quentin’s agenda wasn’t to keep the world safe, it was to stroke his own ego by keeping a being as powerful as the Slayer under his thumb and dispose of her when she gets a little too head strong. This stops now. These girls,” She put her hands on the journals “died at the hands of ignorant men who didn’t know any better. But the most recent deaths happened under Quentin Travers’ regime.”

“And why is that different?” Lydia asked, then quickly added: “Not to excuse his actions, mind you.”

“It was still inexcusable, but it was a different time.” Buffy answered. “Women were seen differently, we didn’t matter as much, and they didn’t know what we now know about the demon world. They saw everything in black and white and probably honestly thought that these Slayers were a threat to the world because they fell in love with Vampires. It would have never occurred to them that a demon could change for love and actually help a Slayer in her duty. But Quentin Travers knew better and it didn’t stop him. Spike has helped me fight. He’s put his life on the line so many times for me and the world. Travers knew this and it didn’t stop him from trying to kill me and Spike.”

Buffy pointed at Spike, then at herself. “Together, we’re stronger. He’s there to watch my back in battle, keeps me safe so I can live to fight another fight. If I have changed, it’s for the best, not the worst.”

Spike grabbed her hand and she smiled at him.

Some of the Watchers were nodding in approval, and Lydia looked like she was about to swoon. Probably fantasizing that she was the one Spike was looking at that way.

“Glad we‘re on the same page. So from now on, we’re a team and we all work toward the same goal. I have the power, you have the knowledge. We need one another. I think if we can keep that in mind, our working relationship should improve a whole lot.”

One Watcher started applauding, almost hesitantly at first, until another one joined him, then another one. Soon, the entire room was clapping. Buffy beamed, and Giles patted her on the back to show how proud he was of her.

When they all settled down again, a thin blonde man with thick glasses spoke up. “We still don’t know who will be head of the Council now.”

Buffy frowned, not sure what to answer. Finally she asked: “Any suggestions?”

No one spoke for awhile, but then the same thin blonde man finally made a suggestion.

“What about Mr. Lafond? He is the most senior of us, had a Slayer, and is well liked by everybody.”

Bernard seemed surprised that someone would think of him. He removed his glasses and started cleaning them in a gesture that reminded Buffy of Giles and made her smile. She turned her head to whisper in Giles’ ear: “Is the glasses cleaning a Watcher thing? I always thought it was just you.”

Giles bit his lower lip to stop himself from grinning.

“Would anybody else like to nominate someone?” Buffy asked, returning her attention to the Watchers.

She didn’t get any answers. “All right then. All those of you in favor of Bernard Lafond as the new head of the Council of Watchers, raise your hand.”

It was unanimous. Mr. Lafond would be their new leader. This was definitely the beginning of a new and improved era.

Spike leaned over to whisper in Buffy’s ear.

“As if you weren’t famous enough already. I think you just made Council history, pet.”

Buffy’s grin widened.

“I know. I‘m awesome, right?”

The vampire laughed and shook his head in amusement. “Yes, pet, that you are.”