The Three Corps operations officer had just finished detailing to them the course that Operation Grey Knights had taken. Clicking back to the title slide, he asked, "Any questions?"
The audience - Buffy, Giles and the Slayerettes, which included Faith - were more than a little impressed. Xander was the first to recover, though. "Who decided to call it 'Operation Grey Knights'?"
"That would be me," the operations officer confessed, and then shrugged. "It seemed appropriate."
"At least you didn't call it 'Operation White Knight'," Xander muttered. Seeing the expression on his face, the operations officer decided to scrap his tentative name for the garrisoning of the Sunnydale Exclusion Zone.
Giles posed another question. "Colonel, if I may ask... how many friendly casualties were incurred during the course of the operation?"
The operations officer consulted his notes. "Forty-seven killed, and eighty-four wounded - thirty-six seriously."
The faces of the Slayerettes fell as they realised that people had died in the process of clearing out the vampires from Sunnydale. "I presume that there will be some sort of memorial for them?" Giles asked sombrely.
"There will be," the operations officer agreed. "Currently, it's in the design stage, and should be erected once a suitable design has been decided on."
Buffy had another question - not so much a question as a point of concern. "Were the sewers cleared out as well? It's just that there was no mention of that."
"Sewers?" the operations officer asked, somewhat confused.
"That's right," Willow put in. "The main tunnels of the sewer system were designed to be large enough for people to walk in. I think they were intended to allow vamps and other nasties to move around in during the daytime."
"No-oo," the operations officer said slowly, scribbling down a note. "But now that you've mentioned it, I'll get right on it. If there are no more questions, there are a couple of people who would like to talk to you." He waited a few moments, and when no more questions were forthcoming, he went over to the door and opened it, nodding at whoever was on the other side.
Two men, dressed in near-identical suits that identified them as 'public servants' entered, both carrying briefcases which they set on the table in front of them. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," one said as he opened his briefcase. "My name is Paul Benson, and I'm from the State Department; this is Geoffrey Daniels, from the Government Accounting Office. The reason for this little get-together is that... well, I believe that the possibility of a nice, long holiday for you was mentioned, yes?"
Seeing the expressions of concern on the Slayerettes' faces, Benson smiled thinly and added, "There's no need to worry on that score - your holiday is assured. In fact..." Pulling a large envelope from his briefcase, he tossed it to Giles, who caught it easily and neatly ripped it open with an expression of curiosity on his face.
From it, he pulled seven dark-blue booklets - passports, in fact. His expression of curiosity now changing to one of incredulity, he passed them around, handing Joyce's to Buffy. Once that had been completed, he opened his, flipping to the page that listed personal details. The entry for 'occupation' made his eyes go wide with amazement. "'United States Government Employee'? This is a diplomatic passport?" he managed to croak.
"Mine says the same thing, Giles," Xander added, with Buffy, Willow, Oz and Faith nodding their agreement.
"Well, we could hardly put down 'Demon Hunter' now, could we?" Benson said with a smile. "Oh, in case you're wondering where we got the details from - they're from various government databases. As you can see, all that's required to make them complete are photos, and-" he pulled a digital camera from his briefcase, "- that we can take care of as soon as we've finished here, if you wish."
"You know, you're destroying my preconceptions of the government taking its time to actually do anything," Xander commented.
"We have our moments," Benson replied with a small grin, which gave way to a more serious expression. "Before you decide where to go on your holiday, I'd like to ask for a small favour. Nothing too strenuous, I assure you."
"Go on," Giles said.
"As you are no doubt aware, the British government has been made fully aware of the existence of the supernatural. There are other allied governments that we would like to pass the word on to, and we'd like to ask you to help us with one government. Think of it as killing two birds with one stone - a friendly government is informed of the supernatural threats that it may face, and you get to have an overseas holiday."
"Which government is it?" Willow asked.
"Australia," Benson replied. "The way I envisage things going, you'd have about a week's worth of talks with representatives from the Australian government, followed by about six weeks' holiday?"
"Six weeks?" Buffy said, her voice made a near-squeak by the surprise.
Benson nodded. "You've more than earned it, I'd say. Please, take your time to discuss it. There's no real hurry - the Australian government has already agreed to meet our representatives, at any time over the next couple of months."
Giles acted as spokesman. "If you'll excuse us..." he said, and drew the others into a huddle. "What do you think?" he asked quietly.
"Six weeks' holiday? Hell, yeah!"
"And the only thing they'd want us to do is to talk to a few government officials? I'm in."
"Sounds like a good idea to me."
"What sort of beaches does Australia have?"
"Do you think your mother would approve, Buffy?" Giles asked.
Buffy nodded decisively. "Yeah, I'm fairly certain she'd want us to have a nice, long break. In fact, I'm sure that she'd want to come along with us."
"So it's decided, then?"
Five nods were his reply. Turning to face the government officials, Giles said, "We accept your proposal."
Benson nodded. "Thank you," he said. Turning to Daniels, who had remained silent so far, he added, "Now all you need to do is find the money for their vacation."
Daniels smiled. "It shouldn't be too hard. I think the budget can stand it, and if not, I don't think Congress would squawk too loudly about having small amounts trimmed from various departments."
"Excellent," Benson said. "Now, if you'll all come with me, we just need to take photos for your passports, and then you can start planning your holiday."
As the group followed him from the room, Xander noticed that Faith was hanging back slightly. "You okay, Faith?" he asked.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, fine," she said obviously startled out of her thoughts. "It's just that... after everything I've done, I'm having a hard time accepting all this is for real, y'know? There's still a part of me that's insisting that I'm still in a coma, and this is all a dream."
"Well, Faith, if it's a dream, then it's a pretty realistic one," Buffy spoke up from the other side of Faith, having dropped back as well.
"Yeah, I know that," Faith replied. "But nothing this nice has ever happened to me before, and I..." Her voice trailed off, as she found herself unable to continue.
"Hey, none of that, now," Xander chided her softly, grasping her arm and giving it a gentle squeeze before resting his arm across her shoulders, gently guiding her towards the door. "We're going to go on a holiday, and you're going to enjoy it, understand?"
"Yes, sir," Faith replied with a grin, allowing herself to be guided.
Buffy smiled to herself. As he'd done on many occasions for her, Xander was making Faith feel better about life in general. A better friend could hardly be imagined.
Just then, she felt a slight pang of... something, which she couldn't identify properly. Letting the smile slip from her face, she tried to pin it down, but it slipped away from her. It felt a little like... jealousy?
Where did that come from? she wondered. Why would I be jealous if Xander and Faith started to get along? It had been less than a week since Angel sacrificed himself to allow her to get to safety at the Graduation Massacre - the thought was almost enough to send a tear trickling down her cheek - and it was way too soon to let herself think about anyone else that way, even Xander.
'Even Xander'? Why does my brain seem to have a mind of its own?
Just then, a little voice spoke up at the back of her mind, making her internal monologue an internal dialogue. Your brain seems to have a mind of its own because it is a mind. Duh.
You know what I meant! And why am I arguing with you?
With yourself, you mean - I'm just a figment of your imagination. But to answer your original question, you really like Xander, don't you?
Well, yeah - he's always been there for me, ever since I moved to Sunnydale, and... but not like that!
Why not?
It's too soon after... you know.
I should - figment of your imagination, after all. But I should point out that I'm not saying you should do anything right now. Apart from the obvious reason, while Xander may seem like he's becoming his old self again, he's still kinda fragile, and now would not bet a good time... for either of you.
Then why'd you speak up in the first place?
Just wanted to make sure you knew what might happen. After all, you'll have six weeks, maybe more, to work out what to do next. With that, the voice faded away to nothingness.
"You all right, Buff?" Xander asked her.
"Hmm? Yeah, fine. Just a couple of stray thoughts," she replied.
"Happy thoughts, I hope."
"Dunno yet. They could go either way, I suppose."
"Try to make them happy thoughts, Buff," Xander said as he draped his free arm across her shoulders before guiding both Slayers toward the door. "Such as getting the happy snaps taken, and thinking about where in Australia we're going to go for our holidays. I hear it's kind of a big place."
Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, the photos had been taken quickly, and less than half an hour later, the passports were ready, Joyce's included. The elder Summers woman had been delighted with the prospect of a holiday - more for the benefit of the teenagers, truth be told, but it was something she was looking forward to herself.
Not long after their passports had had the photos added, an Army officer drew Giles aside for a brief conversation, regarding the possibility of retrieving the books from his apartment. After a brief moment of surprise, Giles agreed, and before too long they were at Giles' apartment, which had been fortunate to survive the recent battle, with a platoon's worth of soldiers and a number of trucks.
Thanks to the extra hands, the task of putting the books in boxes and loading them onto the trucks was completed far more rapidly than the original process of moving them from the High School library had been.
"Well, that was much easier than it was to bring them over here in the first place," Xander commented. The soldiers had done most of the work, with Giles directing and the Scoobies lending whatever help they could.
"Out of curiosity," Willow pondered, "I wonder what the Army's going to do about the sewers?"
"The platoon commander told me," Xander answered. "Apparently a bunch of Fuel-Air Explosive bombs are going to be planted at each access point, then detonated by remote control. From what he told me about FAE bombs, it should be effective."
Seeing the non-understanding expressions on their faces, he repeated what he'd been told. In its most simple form, a FAE was a large pressurised tank of a highly flammable gas and a series of release valves. On being dropped, the gas would be released through the valves for a pre-set period of time and then ignited by the bomb's detonators. The yield of the bomb was many times more effective than a conventional bomb of the same size. In fact, FAEs were widely regarded to be second only to nuclear weapons in terms of blast efficiency.
There was a brief pause as the implications of that sank in, along with the mental image. "Yeah, that should work," Oz said calmly, while Willow had to repress a shudder. Buffy and Faith looked impressed that there were already fairly effective anti-vampire weapons already available, only requiring slight modifications from their original design.
"Were you also told when they're expected to arrive?" Giles asked.
"Shouldn't be too long," Xander replied as he climbed into the Humvee that had brought them into the SEZ. "No more than a few hours, anyway."
Xander's guess turned out to be pretty close to the mark. The process had been speeded up considerably when a check of weapons inventories at Miramar revealed that there were some FAE devices in the base's armouries. From there, it was a relatively simple matter to fix radio receivers to the bomb cases, and to modify the release valves to that they would release their gas without being dropped from an aircraft. A second modification was then required to allow the detonators to be triggered by remote control.
But that was the simple bit.
The infantry squad assigned to protect the combat engineers fingered their weapons nervously as they peered into the darkness of the sewer tunnels. Of course, the light-amplification kit - complete with infra-red spotlights - they wore made it easier to see anything that was trying to sneak up on them, but the close confines made them nervous. Nothing to do with claustrophobia, more like an awareness that vampires were faster than humans - which in the close quarters of the tunnels, could mean trouble if they were attacked.
And then there was the possibility of something going wrong with the bombs. Even though they had been reassured that the odds of the bombs detonating prematurely were minimal, they still worried. At least they wouldn't feel a thing.
Then there were the weapons they'd been issued to take into consideration, as well. Their rifles had been taken from them, to be replaced with shotguns. That made sense, but the really nerve-wracking thing was the fact that each squad had been issued with a flame-thrower - and a combat engineer to use it, as none of them were qualified to use the temperamental weapon.
Behind them, they could hear the combat engineers calling back and forth as the two-thousand pound bomb was lowered ever-so-carefully through a manhole, with not a lot of room to spare between the edges of the manhole and the sides of the bomb. The more nervous of the soldiers wanted to tell the combat engineers to be quiet, both to avoid attracting hostile attention, and to stand a better chance of hearing anything that did decide to sneak up on them.
They managed to desist, however, and before too long, the bomb was sitting upright on the floor of the tunnel, and undergoing a final check-over before it was armed. The check produced a clean bill of health, and one of the combat engineers tapped in the code sequence that would activate the radio receiver and arm the detonators, resulting in a row of green lights switching to red that drew a nod of satisfaction from the engineer who had entered the code.
Just as the engineers who had entered the tunnel were preparing to leave, there was a brief noise, almost on the edge of hearing, that sounded like...
A loose stone being kicked?
Everyone froze, waiting to see if the noise would be repeated. It wasn't, but that didn't help ease nerves suddenly stretched to breaking point. The infantry sergeant was the first to recover from his temporary paralysis. "Move!" he barked to the engineers, who wasted no time in scaling the ladder to the surface.
While they were climbing, the sergeant ordered his squad to ready their weapons, and did so himself. In the brief period of silence, gunfire could be heard echoing through the tunnels. Obviously someone else had run into trouble as well, then.
Without any warning, the attack began.
Half-a-dozen vampires, crazed by hunger, leapt at the infantry squad, who needed no orders to start firing. Only one vampire was decapitated by a close-range buckshot blast, but the others were taken down by shots that blew out kneecaps and ankles, crippling them and leaving them unable to move.
"Burn them," the sergeant ordered grimly, noting that three of his soldiers had been taken down by the vampires. A quick check revealed that two of them were dead, and the third was gurgling his life away through a nasty chest wound. There was a quiet 'click-hiss' as the flame-thrower was primed, followed by a WHOOMPH and a series of brief screams as the vampires were immolated.
A couple of the soldiers immediately applied hasty first aid to their wounded comrade, while the sergeant called for a sling to be lowered so that the wounded soldier could be evacuated, and the bodies of the dead soldiers removed - there was no way they were going to be left behind. That was sorted out quickly, and once that was done, the unwounded soldiers quickly scrambled up the ladder, with the sergeant being the last one out.
His heels had barely cleared the rim of the manhole before the lid was slammed into place, and an engineer was stepping forward with welding gear, quickly tack-welding the manhole cover in place. "Do you think that will hold against the bombs?" the sergeant asked, not taking his eyes from where the wounded soldier was being loaded onto a vehicle prior to being raced to the nearby airstrip, where he would be loaded onto a helicopter for transport to the nearest hospital.
"No," the lieutenant in charge of the engineers replied. "But then again, it's not really meant to. It's more to stop the vampires from trying to escape... yeah, I know it's daytime, but better safe than sorry."
Most of the bombs were planted without incident, although a few encountered difficulties in the form of vampire attack. Most of the squads escaped relatively unscathed, but two were wiped out to the last man - including the engineers.
Once all of the bombs were in place, the soldiers withdrew from the immediate vicinity and, in the tunnels, a handful of vampires curiously inspected the new additions to their domains. The more technically-inclined of them started to panic as they realised exactly what the soldiers had been placing. There was no time to do anything about it, though, as each bomb, reacting to a radio signal, emitted a quiet click, followed by an equally quiet hissing noise, then...
The fireballs ravened through the sewer network, with the vampires that weren't pulverised by the blast overpressure incinerated before they had any real idea of what had just happened. The demon population was also exterminated - even the ones who had harboured no plans towards world domination. That wasn't something that had been taken into consideration - all that had been sought was a quick way to clear out the sewer system without exposing soldiers to unnecessary risk.
The lounge was bustling - which was hardly surprising, given that LAX was one of the world's busiest airports.
The small group near one of the departure gates was simply one of many preparing to board their flight to parts overseas, but to anyone who knew their story, they were definitely not ordinary.
Both Jim and Sam had gone with the Scoobies to see them off on their trip to Australia - Canberra, to be precise, via Sydney's Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith International Airport. As handshakes and hugs were exchanged, Sam commented, "Sixteen hours to Sydney, a couple of hours' wait there, and then a couple of more hours to Canberra. That doesn't sound like fun to me."
As Willow was hugging him, she replied, "I think we'll survive."
"We'll just focus on the holiday," Xander put in as he shook Sam's hand. "And I wanna say thanks for the help you and Jim have given us over the past few days."
"It was our pleasure," Sam replied genially.
"All part of our job," Jim remarked.
Any further conversation was pre-empted by an announcement over the airport's PA system. "Qantas flight QY-46 to Sydney is now boarding at Gate Twenty-one. All passengers for this flight are required to ensure they have checked their luggage and passed through security prior to boarding. Repeating: Qantas flight..."
"That would appear to be our flight," Giles said.
"Then we'd better let you go," Jim said. "And remember - enjoy your holiday."
They - along with the other two hundred-odd passengers - shambled through the arrival lounge like dead things. The as-predicted sixteen-hour flight had left them horribly jet-lagged and severely cramped up, despite the fact that they'd been given first-class tickets. Buffy and Faith were the least-affected; their Slayer gifts, while not protecting them from any negative effects, at least allowed them to recover quickly. Needless to say, the others were sending envious look their way.
"Oh, yes, let's go to Australia," Xander muttered. "It'll be fun."
"You agreed to come," Buffy pointed out. "In fact, you were the first to agree."
"That was before I realised how much suffering the flight would inflict on me," he replied as they made their way to the first-class waiting lounge, where extra-strong coffees were ordered all round - except Giles, of course, who ordered tea.
After the coffees had been obtained, and a table secured, Willow said, "Focus on the holiday, remember."
Xander took a sip of his coffee, wincing at its bitterness. "I'll try, Will, but it won't be easy. International air travel might sound like fun, but long trips aren't."
"I felt much the same after arriving in America for the first time," Giles recalled as he took a sip of his tea.
"How'd you survive the experience?" Joyce asked.
"I immediately sought out a hotel and tried to get some sleep," Giles replied.
"Unfortunately, that's not an option here," Willow pointed out.
"True," Giles admitted. "Maybe we'll be able to rest once we arrive in Canberra."
"Here's hoping."
The next morning, they were, indeed, feeling much better. Over breakfast, speculation was rife as to when the meetings would start. They came to the conclusion that it would be soon, a conclusion that was met with heartfelt agreement. After all, the sooner the meetings started, the sooner they would be finished... and the sooner they could start their holiday.
"Speaking of which," Xander commented as he polished off the last of the meal, "has anyone decided exactly where we're going to visit?"
Almost as if that had been some sort of signal, ideas started flowing thick and fast.
"Ayers Rock."
"The Great Barrier Reef."
"The Gold Coast."
"Kakadu National Park."
"The Daintree rainforest."
Giles chuckled and held up a hand, cutting off the flow of suggestions. "They're all good ideas, and I'm sure that we'll end up seeing most of those places, but first we have to complete the meetings with the Australian government representatives."
As if Giles' words had been some sort of signal, a hotel employee approached their table, whispered a few words into Giles' ear and handed him an envelope.
With a word of thanks, Giles dismissed the employee and neatly slit the envelope open, pulling out a single sheet of paper. Reading it quickly, he blinked a couple of times in amazement.
"What's it say, Giles?" Willow prompted. He didn't reply, instead simply handing the note to her. She also read the note quickly, 'eep'ed, and started hyperventilating while at the same time, turning an impressive shade of red.
"Will?" Xander asked, concern for his oldest friend shading his voice. "Are you all right?"
Still not trusting herself to speak, she simply handed him the note. He read it - a little slower than both Willow and Giles, but still fairly quickly - and started stammering. The names might not have meant a great deal to him, but the titles did.
The note passed around the table in a similar fashion, with the person reading it undergoing a reaction best described as 'extreme surprise', and the person sitting next to them expressing concern before having the note, in turn, passed to them, when they would experience a similar reaction.
When the note had completed the circuit, it left behind seven people whose expressions could best be described as 'stunned'.
Unheeded, it fluttered to the centre of the table, coming to rest face-up, displaying its contents to the world in general.
"Dear Mr. Giles,
"You and your group are cordially invited to Parliament House to conduct discussions on subjects of mutual interest to both the United States of America and Australia. In attendance will be Peter Reith, Minister for Defence, Alexander Downer, Minister for Foreign Affairs and myself.
"These meetings are scheduled to commence at one pm., and transport will be provided, arriving at your hotel at 12:30 pm.
"I look forward to meeting you then.
"Yours,
"John W. Howard
"Prime Minister of Australia."
Xander was still staring at the note in shock. "Y'know," he said hollowly, "when I said that Giles was going to start playing in the big leagues, I didn't really think that the rest of us were going to as well."
"Yes, quite," Giles muttered. "I suppose that a meeting with a Head of Government and two Ministers of the Crown would be considered the 'big leagues'."
"Ministers of the Crown?" Willow asked, somewhat confused. "I thought that was the description for British Cabinet Ministers."
"Not quite, Willow," Giles replied, unconsciously falling into what Xander called his 'lecture mode' - probably as a means of recovering his equilibrium. "Australia is a member nation of the British Commonwealth, which means that the reigning monarch is also their Head of State, currently Queen Elizabeth the Second. As such, all Cabinet appointments are required to be approved by the Queen - or her vice-regal representative, the Governor-General."
The five teenagers looked somewhat confused by this, but decided to let it pass - even Xander, which was probably an indication of the state of confusion that the turn of events had left him in. Somewhat predictably, Oz was the first to recover. Glancing at his watch, he said, "If our transport's supposed to arrive at twelve-thirty, then we'd better get ready."
The comment snapped the others out of the trances they'd fallen into on seeing the note's contents. Giles recovered the note and folded it neatly before slipping it into a pocket. "That is an excellent suggestion, Oz. After all, we do wish to make a good impression."
"I suppose that note included me as well," Faith said, feeling slightly unnerved at the way the others had accepted her, particularly after the events of the last few weeks.
"You're part of the group," Oz pointed out quietly.
"But..." Faith's voice trailed off as she tried to find words for any one of a number of concerns - the fact that she'd killed a human, however accidentally; the fact that she'd worked for Wilkins prior to his Ascension; the fact that she'd tried to kill them all while working for Wilkins... stuff like that.
Seeing the expressions on their faces, though, somehow prevented her from giving voice to those concerns. While her actions may not have been forgotten, or even fully forgiven, she was well on the way to gaining their trust, which was something she was determined not to let go to waste.
She was somewhat surprised to find tears welling in the corners of her eyes. "Thanks," she whispered.
"You're welcome," Xander said with a small smile.
Somehow, she managed to rein in her emotions, and found a point of concern she could actually address. "But I've got nothing to wear!"
Joyce, Buffy and Willow exchanged looks and grins. "Oh, I think we can sort something out for you," Buffy said confidently.
As they were ushered into the office, they saw five men sitting at the long table. Three of them were wearing near-identical suits, and the other two were in military uniform, who stood as they entered. The man in the middle, who was short, balding and sported a set of near-frighteningly bushy eyebrows, was the first to speak.
"Good afternoon, Mister Giles, Mrs. Summers, Miss Summers, Miss Williams, Mister Harris, Mister Osbourne and Miss Rosenberg," he said, nodding to each of them in turn. "As you no doubt already know, I am John Howard, Prime Minister." For a moment, Xander was nearly overcome with a mental image of a garden gnome, but he managed to control himself.
"To my left is Alexander Downer, Minister for Foreign Affairs," he continued, indicating the person closest to him, whose fleshy features and general air of smug satisfaction reminded Giles of some of the more disagreeable people he'd encountered while at Oxford. "And to his left is Peter Reith, Minister for Defence."
As the introductions were made, both Downer and Reith nodded solemnly. "To my right is Major-General Anthony Lethbridge, commander of the Joint Special Forces, and Colonel Jonathon Timmins, Commanding Officer, Special Air Service."
Both military officers nodded as they were introduced. Xander noticed the berets sitting on the table in front of them. One was dark green, with a badge made up of a dagger overlaid with a boomerang. The other was a sandy colour, with a winged dagger badge.
SAS and Commando, Soldier Boy noted from wherever he was lurking in Xander's brain. He tried to ignore it for now, concentrating on the business at hand. He did wonder, however, why the two officers only had a relative handful of medals in comparison to American officers of the same rank.
That's because, unlike the American military, Soldier Boy put in with sarcasm that Xander could almost taste, the Armed Forces of the British Commonwealth don't hand out medals for learning how to use a knife and fork.
That made Xander wonder - ever since that Halloween, the assumption had been that Soldier Boy had been an American soldier of some sort. But now it was starting to appear as if he hadn't been. As everyone took their seats, he decided to take it up with Giles at the end of the day.
"Is it just me, or were the Prime Minister and the other two Ministers incredibly boring people?" Buffy asked as they gathered in the room shared by Giles and Xander to discuss the day's meeting.
"They were quite... dull," Giles agreed.
"The soldiers were more interesting," Faith put in from where she was sitting. Despite the efforts of the group, she didn't really feel like she was entitled to join them properly yet.
"Speaking of," Xander said, deciding that now was a good time to bring it up, "remember that Halloween when we became our costumes?"
Everyone but Faith nodded. "How can we forget?" Willow said dryly. "Buffy became an eighteenth-century noblewoman, I became a ghost, and you were Soldier Boy for the night."
"Yeah, that's right," Xander recalled. "But the main thing I was referring to was the fact that we all assumed that Soldier Boy was an American soldier. But a couple of things have happened recently to make me wonder about that."
"What do you mean, Xander?" Giles asked.
"Well, when we laid those wreaths at the High School, while the soldiers were putting on that 'honour guard' display, I was thinking that the thing to top it off would be a bugler playing 'Taps'. Just then, Soldier Boy kicked in with something he called 'Last Post'." At that Giles blinked in confusion, and an expression of amazement, which Xander failed to notice. "And today," he continued, "he identified the two officers' units - sure, we were told that one of them was SAS, but he told me that the other one was a Commando... and that we weren't told. Not only that, he added a sarcastic comment when I wondered why they didn't have as many medals as an American colonel or general would have."
"W-what was the comment?" Giles asked, somewhat confused.
"'That's because, unlike the American military, the Armed Forces of the British Commonwealth don't hand out medals for learning how to use a knife and fork'," Xander recalled, then frowned slightly. "What do you suppose that means, Giles?"
Giles removed his glasses and gave them a quick polish before replacing them - a sure sign of his increasing agitation. "I'm not entirely certain," he replied. "But I think it has something to do with the fact that British decorations are largely awarded on the basis of actions in combat."
"I think the question Xander's trying to ask is why that would happen, Giles," Willow put in.
"Oh... terribly sorry," Giles replied, and paused to think for a moment. "The only possibility I can envisage is that the soldier whose memories you were implanted with was actually British, rather than American, which, on reflection, would be logical, given that Ethan Rayne was the cause of the whole affair."
"He's English, too," Oz said quietly.
Giles nodded. "Quite so," he said. "That would probably account for the reason as to why events unfolded as they did that night."
"One thing still bugs me, though, Giles," Xander said. "If Soldier Boy was English, then how come I didn't act all English?"
Giles snorted. "When it comes down to it," he replied, "English soldiers aren't really all that different from their American counterparts. I would suggest that you look into the subject when we return to America. In fact, I may have to conduct some more research on the subject upon our return."
This pronouncement caused the teenagers to groan at the prospect of research time cutting into their holiday. "Don't worry," Joyce said with a smile. "Your holiday won't be affect by this. Right, Rupert?"
"Yes... of course," Giles said quickly, which prompted sighs of relief. Even if I had wished to look into the matter immediately, I doubt that Joyce would have let me disturb your holiday, he thought. And she can be quite a formidable woman when she wishes to be. He respected her determination to provide parental guidance for all of the teens now under her care, especially for Xander and Faith.
Faith.
That thought made him consider the situation more carefully. Joyce had shared some highlights - or lowlights, depending on one's point of view - from Faith's story with him. She'd sworn him to secrecy, of course, to spare Faith any embarrassment, and that was before the likely reactions of Buffy and Xander were taken into account. He wasn't sure what form the reaction would take, but he was fairly confident that it wasn't something that he wanted to see.
And then there was the matter of Faith's actions prior to what was now being called the 'Graduation Massacre' to be taken into account, as well. He had been informed of the official finding of the inquiry, and when he thought about the way Faith had been treated - this thought was accompanied by a burst of self-directed chagrin when he remembered his own attitudes towards the junior Slayer - combined with the way Wilkins had skilfully manipulated her emotions, he realised that it could have been worse - much, much worse, in fact.
What if Buffy had not managed to subdue Faith - putting her into a coma in the process - and she had been at Wilkins' side at Graduation? Who knows what would happened then?
He'd been worried that she would hold a grudge against Buffy for that. It seemed that she had no ill-will, but Giles was going to err on the side of caution, and covertly observe her.
And what of Xander?
After all, when he'd tried to reach out to her after she accidentally killed Finch - the first time any of them had attempted to provide such help - she tried to kill him, and was only prevented from completing the process of choking the life out of him by Angel's intervention. Xander also seemed to bear no animosity towards Faith for that, but that was also a situation that would bear watching. Maybe Joyce could assist him with that.
"Giles? You paying attention in there?" Willow asked, jerking his attention back to the present.
"Hmm? Oh, sorry, but I was thinking about something," he replied somewhat absently.
"That's fairly obvious," Xander said, but didn't press as to what Giles was actually thinking about, as did the others. The assumption seemed to be that Giles was thinking about the situation with Soldier Boy, and Giles felt no real need to correct them.
"That's as may be," Giles said, "but for the present, I feel we should concentrate on the current round of discussions. There will be ample time upon our return to America to look into this."
The week's worth of talks went fairly smoothly. Although sceptical at first, the government representatives were convinced as to the existence of the supernatural in fairly short order. In addition to the testimony provided by the seven of them, there were also eyewitness statements from the relative handful of survivors of Graduation, the gun-camera footage from the Tomcats that had carried out the bombing run on the mayor-demon, the footage from the news helicopter of the immediate aftermath of Graduation, after-action reports from Operation Grey Knights, and the imagery captured by the Predator reconnaissance drones, a weight of evidence that could only be described as 'conclusive'.
Further discussions had resulted in another decision being made - that Australian troops would be deployed to America, not just to provide assistance, but to study the anti-vampire and -demon tactics and weaponry being developed by the American military.
To this end, one squadron of Special Air Service troopers and a company of Commandos - about two hundred soldiers, in all - would be sent for a six-month deployment, with the units being rotated at the end of the time period. In that way, any new developments in tactics or weaponry devised on either side of the Pacific would be shared.
Of course, the American government had to be consulted. Naturally, they were more than agreeable to the concept.
The week wasn't all work, of course.
On one occasion, they found themselves being enthusiastically dragged to one of Canberra's many pubs by some of the lower-ranking officers for a 'quiet night out' that turned out to be not so 'quiet', after all, and resulted in the start of the next day's talks being postponed due to 'illness', while Buffy, Faith and Xander devoured large amounts of Panadols in a valiant attempt to fight off the epic hangovers they were suffering from.
The other 'non-work' event they attended was a sport-related affair, which came as no surprise to Giles - he knew how sports-mad Australians were. The actual event itself was probably more of interest to him than to any of the others, being a rugby union match part of a competition called the 'Super 12'... whatever that was.
While Giles had enjoyed the match, the others had been mildly appalled by the level of violence - which he found somewhat ironic, given their lifestyles - and had found the rules somewhat incomprehensible. He'd tried to answer their questions, and he thought he'd done a fairly good job, and in the end they'd simply decided to enjoy it.
In the end, though, the talks had been judged a success by both the American and Australian governments, which left them free to enjoy what was, to them, the most important part of the trip.
A six-week holiday, all expenses paid for by the American government.
Life couldn't get much better than this.
That was Xander's opinion, at least, as he lay on one of southern Queensland's golden beaches. Although it was actually winter here, the climate wasn't too different from that of Sunnydale's at a similar time of the year, which made for a perfect day to spend at the beach.
And to cap things off, Buffy and Faith were on either side of him, and he was the subject of a few envious looks, which wasn't all that surprising really, considering that he was in the company of two attractive young women. Their swimsuits... well, when they'd emerged from the change rooms, it had been an effort for Xander not to stare at them, along with Willow. Giles had reddened slightly and averted his gaze, while Oz had simply smiled encouragingly at Willow - causing her to blush slightly - and Joyce had looked dubious, but she'd refrained from comment.
At this present moment, Oz and Willow were probably frolicking in the surf or something close to it, while Giles and Joyce had taken up spots in one of the beach-side café, where they were talking quietly.
Xander thought back on the holiday they'd enjoyed thoroughly. The first week had been spent visiting Ayer's Rock - or Uluru as it was known by the locals - and Kakadu National Park, before heading south, into New South Wales to spend the second week camping in the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains, where an interesting situation had arisen.
It was fast approaching Oz's 'time of the month', and they'd been unable to bring the equipment they normally used to deal with the situation. Giles had made a quick visit to an outdoor-adventure store in the mountain town of Katoomba, where he'd purchased thirty metres of abseiling rope.
"Rope?" Buffy had asked. "You sure that's going to hold him?"
"Ordinarily, I'd say no, but in this case, I'd say yes," Giles had replied. At Buffy's quizzical expression, he'd added, "The breaking strain of this variety of rope is about four thousand kilograms, which should prove sufficient."
And it had, although there had been a couple of nasty moments.
After that, they'd spent a few days visiting Jenolan Caves, before heading north to Queensland, where they'd visited the Great Barrier Reef, the Whitsunday Islands and the Daintree Rainforest, before taking a quick swing into Papua New Guinea, where they'd tackled the Kakoda Trail. Even with the locals acting as guides and helping wherever possible, it had been extremely difficult... to say that they had been tired would have missed a perfect opportunity to use the word 'exhausted'. Returning to the hotel in Port Moresby they'd stayed in, Xander had said weakly, "And people fought a war there?"
Giles had simply nodded, and the other had been suitably impressed by the ordeal imposed on both the Australian and Japanese troops during that campaign. Fortunately, the rest of the holiday had been at a somewhat more relaxed pace as they spent a few days relaxing on the beaches of Cairns before heading south again.
They'd also found the time to attend a couple of more sporting events - a rugby league game that was part of something called 'State of Origin', and a rugby union test match between Australia and the 'British and Irish Lions', whose loss had left Giles feeling disappointed, as this had been the first time a touring Lions side had been defeated in over a century.
That left the last few days of the holiday to be spent on the beaches of southern Queensland, namely the Gold Coast and Surfer's Paradise.
During the last few weeks, time and relaxation had worked wonders on the five young people. They were a far cry from the emotionally-bruised youngsters who had been struggling to come to terms with a disaster. Granted, there were still some things that still had to be dealt with, but on the whole, their emotional recovery was largely complete.
"Xander?"
His musings interrupted by Buffy's voice, Xander lazily cracked open one eye and looked sidelong at her... and got a good view. Whether intentionally or not, the way Buffy had rolled over so that she was lying on her side facing him with her head propped up on her hand gave him a good view of her cleavage.
Memorising the view for future reference, he replied, "Yeah, Buff?"
"I was just thinking... you know how we're heading back the day after tomorrow..."
"Mm-hmm. We'd better make the most of it, then. I was thinking about going to a club tonight. You interested?"
"Sure, but that's not what I meant. What do we do when we get back is what I meant."
"Oh." Deciding that this was too serious a topic to be discussed while he was lying on his back, he sat up and faced Buffy. "We start training for our new jobs, I suppose, although for you and Faith, it'll be mainly weapons training. For the rest of us, it'll be more research stuff. Yippee," he finished blandly.
Buffy giggled at that before assuming a more serious expression. "I think you'll do well as my... a Watcher," she said. At his expression of surprise, she added, "Remember what Giles told us just before we left? 'A Watcher's primary role is to guide and support the Slayer. Training and research is only part of that role.'"
"You remembered that? Well done."
"Why, thank you," Buffy said with a smile, before turning serious again. "Ever since I moved to Sunnydale, you've supported me - except for when Angelus was on the loose, and even then, you tried to get me to do what was right - and not only that, you've saved my life on more than one occasion."
Xander's eyes widened slightly. "You mean you now think that you should have staked Angelus?" he asked in a surprised tone of voice. Buffy could have taken offence, but he seemed more genuinely surprised than anything else.
She nodded sadly. "Yes, and I just wish I'd realised that at the time, before..." Her voice trailed off, and tears began to gather in the corners of her eyes.
Acting on instinct, Xander moved forward and hugged her tightly. "Don't worry about it, Buff. It's in the past now, and wishing won't change a thing." Buffy leaned back slightly and gave him a level look. "I'm including Anyanka, since you're not a scorned woman... and look, there doesn't seem to be a Vengeance Demon anywhere around here," he added without missing a beat.
Buffy laughed lightly, her mood abruptly lifted. "Thank you," she said quietly, and kissed him softly on the cheek.
"Not that I'm complaining or anything," Xander said in a bemused tone of voice, "but what was that about?"
"Just for being... you, I suppose," Buffy replied. "And for being there for me, no matter what."
Xander felt a surge of guilt run through him. The curse... I haven't told her about the time Willow was going to restore Angel's soul, and I lied to her about it. He considered it briefly, and then decided not to tell her about it now. No point in ruining her good mood. There'll be plenty of time to tell her about it when we get back to the States.
He still wasn't sure about why he had lied, even after a year. Jealousy might have played a part, along with a desire to see Angelus brought to justice for his crimes, but he was fairly certain that the main reason was that Angelus was trying to use Acathla to end the world, and given Buffy's record in fighting Angelus, she probably wouldn't have gone all-out, instead fighting a holding action while Willow re-cast the soul curse. With six billion lives on the table as a stake, and considering the fact that Willow had been injured at the time, and was only beginning to learn how to use magic to boot, the risks had been too high to chance it.
Fortunately, Buffy didn't notice his moment of guilt, and he was opening his mouth to make a reply, when he was interrupted. "He doesn't have anyone else to be, Buffy."
"Stop stealing my lines, Faith," he said without turning around.
"Sorry." She didn't sound very sorry, though.
"'Salright," he replied, letting go of Buffy and turning to face Faith. She was still lying on her back with her eyes closed. "What do you think, Faith?"
She opened her eyes and sat up. "I dunno, Xan," she said. As he was about to make some sort of reply, she continued, "Oh, I'll work with you guys - consider it a penance or something; something I have to do."
Buffy was about to protest that she didn't have to do anything she didn't want to, but Xander stopped her by shaking his head. She silently asked why with a raised eyebrow. In return, he shook his head again, which she interpreted as meaning, This is something she has to sort out for herself.
It didn't come as a real surprise that he'd gauged Faith's mood so accurately - after all, he'd shown an ability to accurately read people before, and she came to the realisation that there was nothing wrong with his intelligence, it was just that he showed it in different ways to, say, Willow or Giles.
As for Faith... well, the jury was still out on that. She'd made considerable progress towards becoming a fully-fledged member of the group, but she wasn't quite there yet, which was probably a product of the life she'd had before being Called as a Slayer. Even Willow seemed to be overcoming her earlier dislike for the junior Slayer, and Xander had been nothing but supportive.
Must be something in his genes or something, Buffy mused. Indeed, Xander seemed to be incapable of not helping someone who needed it. She sighed quietly. And now I'm going to have to share Xander's help with Faith... whoa, where did that come from?
Are you being dense on purpose? 'Cause you're normally brighter than this. The little voice from the back of her mind had returned.
What do you mean?
You know exactly what I mean. You're falling for him, aren't you?
Yeah, she admitted silently. But what if he doesn't feel the same way about me?
How can he not?
Well, let's see... I chose Angel over him, then there was that dance at The Bronze, the whole Angelus saga - which we won't go into now - oh, and the way me and Willow tried to push him away over the last few months couldn't have helped matters any, either.
The inner voice sighed. True, but he's probably forgiven you for all of that. Just look at the way he's acted towards you over the last few weeks. He certainly doesn't hate you. Besides, what have you got to lose?
Try as she may, Buffy couldn't come up with a response to that. Once again, I lose an argument with myself. That can't be a good sign, she thought, trying to ignore the idea that if you argue with yourself, you always lose.
Xander's voice broke her contemplative state. "You'll be fine, Faith," he was saying.
"You sure?" Faith replied, her voice and expression hopeful.
"Trust me," Xander said with his trademark lopsided grin, which did all sorts of interesting things to Buffy's emotions. Digging into his bag for his wallet, he added, "I'm going to get a drink. Anyone else want a drink?"
"Coke, please," Buffy replied, and Faith nodded.
"Two Cokes, then. I won't be long," he said as he got to his feet and strolled off in the direction of the same café that Giles and Joyce were at. Buffy watched him leave, trying not to stare too blatantly.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Faith was performing a similar appraisal. Faith noticed the same thing at the same time, and both Slayers burst into laughter, which caused Xander to glance over his shoulder before shrugging and continuing on his way. Buffy was the first to recover, and she said with a smile, "Good view, isn't it?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," Faith said, trying to look innocent. The broad grin she was wearing kind of spoiled the attempt, though.
"Your loss," Buffy said with a shrug.
"You really like him, don't you?" Faith said quietly and in a more serious tone of voice.
Buffy didn't even try to deny it. "Yeah," she admitted, just as quietly.
"That doesn't surprise me," Faith conceded. "I've seen the way you've been looking at him for the last week or so - and the way he's been looking at you. How come you're only just admitting it now?"
"I dunno," Buffy replied with a shrug. "What about you? You seem to be getting along with him pretty well."
It was Faith's turn to shrug. "Yeah, but not like that," she replied. "I mean, he's a good friend, and all, but..." Faith shrugged again. "I'm not really the relationship type - but Xander might be the one to break through that. To be honest, he's been more like a big brother to me, especially after..." Faith's voice trailed off again, and Buffy felt a small surge of anger. Xander had persuaded Faith to tell her story during their first week in Australia, and the reaction of the other Scoobies had been impressive to say the least.
Xander, Giles and Buffy had gone into full-blooded rage at the people who had inflicted such misery on her. In fact, for a moment, it looked like Ripper was going to put in an appearance. Even Willow and Oz had exhibited somewhat-out-of-character anger. After everyone had calmed down somewhat, they had hastened to offer their apologies to Faith for the way they had acted towards her, both when she'd first arrived in Sunnydale, and after she'd accidentally killed Finch. She'd accepted their apologies, but she had been somewhat uncomfortable with the situation.
Buffy's thoughts were interrupted when Faith said, "I wonder what's taking him so long." She recognised the attempt to change to subject, but made no comment.
I wonder what they were giggling about? Xander wondered as he made his way to the café
You mean you didn't notice the way she was checking you out? a voice piped up from the back of his head.
What are you talking about? And more to the point, who are you? You're not Soldier Boy, are you?
Hardly, the voice replied. You should be able to figure it out for yourself, anyway.
Xander decided to simply accept the situation. Okay, assuming that she was checking me out - which I find hard to believe, by the way - why would she?
Oh, come on. You're not normally this dense.
She doesn't think of me that way, and you know it. Remember the time I asked her out and she turned me down?
That was a while ago. She might have changed her mind since then.
For the sake of argument, I'm going to go with that. But what about 'The Lie'?
The voice fell silent for a moment, long enough for Xander to buy three Cokes. Long enough for him to start thinking that he'd scored a point, in fact. For some reason, that left him feeling slightly disappointed. You've got a point there, the voice conceded. But that's something you'll have to deal with before too long, anyway.
Yeah, I know, Xander admitted silently. But not right now, okay?
"Xander!" Giles' voice startled him somewhat, and he turned to the table he was sitting at with Joyce.
Walking over, he placed the bottles on the table and dropped into a seat. "What's up, Giles?"
"You know, ever since I stopped telling you not to call me 'G-man', you have stopped. I wonder why that is."
"It wasn't as much fun as it used to be," Xander replied with a grin, causing Giles to glare at him.
"How's Faith doing?" Joyce asked.
Xander gave her a look that said, 'Why are you asking?', but refrained from commenting. Instead, he said, "She's doing fine, Joyce. The holiday's done her - all of us, in fact - a world of good."
"That's good to hear," Giles remarked, feeling slightly relieved as one of his concerns was addressed. He addressed the other with his next question. "And you?"
"Fine as well, Giles," Xander replied. "I mean, there's still some stuff that... you know," he added with a shrug, "but all in all, I'm feeling a lot better, thanks."
"That's good to hear, Xander," Joyce said.
"And now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'd better get these drinks out to Buffy and Faith before they start wondering where I've gone and send out a search party."
In fact, when he returned, the two girls were chatting away animatedly, which was yet another sign of the way Faith had been accepted into the group. They were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't notice his approach, and he grinned as an idea occurred to him.
Managing to sneak up on the two Slayers wasn't easy, but he managed it somehow, and rested a bottle on Buffy's back.
An ice-cold bottle.
The result was everything he could have hoped for. Buffy squealed, and whirled around to see who was responsible, while Faith burst into helpless laughter. The look on her face was priceless, and Xander couldn't help but start laughing himself.
"That wasn't funny!" Buffy exclaimed with a scowl.
"Y-yes it was," Xander replied, still laughing. "The look on your face-" He dropped into a sitting position next to Buffy and gently tossed a bottle to Faith, who caught it neatly and opened it straight away... only to be soaked when the shaken-up Coke overflowed the bottle. It was Buffy's turn to start laughing at somebody else's expense, and Xander's laughter doubled in intensity, to the point where he couldn't sit up straight any more.
"Laugh it up," Faith muttered as she dried herself with a towel. Xander was still doubled over with laughter, and an idea occurred to her. Catching Buffy's eye, she nodded at Xander and mimed a shaking action. Buffy caught onto what she had in mind, and quickly gave Xander's bottle of Coke a shake before returning it to its original position.
A few seconds later, Xander stopped laughing and opened his Coke... and was drenched as well. "Okay, I guess I deserved that," he said as he mopped the spilled Coke from himself with his towel.
"Yes. Yes, you did," Buffy said smugly, as she opened her own bottle of Coke - only to discover that Xander had shaken that one up as well.
Their laughter continued for the next five minutes, and when it was over, Buffy leaned against Xander with a contented sigh and wrapped an arm around him. "Why can't we do this more often?" she said wistfully.
"Nothing stopping us from spending days at the beach when we get back," Xander replied.
"When you come up with good ideas like that, it's no wonder I love you," Buffy murmured. And I don't mean it in a 'just friends' way, either.
"Yep, that's me. Good-ideas-person," Xander replied. "Part of the service for the people I love." And I do love you, Buffy. I always have. But do you feel the same way?
It was a slightly subdued group that was preparing to board the Qantas flight back to Los Angeles, and back to an undeclared war.
"I'm going to miss this place," Willow said.
"We're going to have to do this sort of thing more often," Oz agreed.
"Hey, don't sweat it, guys," Xander said. "I'm sure that we can come to some sort of arrangement for yearly holidays, now that we're not trying to hold off the end of the world by ourselves."
"That's true," Buffy admitted. "But I'm still going to be eagerly awaiting any holidays we might get."
"No worries," Xander said, using an expression that he'd picked up from the locals. "You know the saying - 'Absence make the heart grow fonder' and all that," he added, casually resting an arm across her shoulders and guiding her towards the departure gate. Buffy nodded and relaxed slightly into his embrace.
Joyce noticed this, and exchanged looks with Giles. They'd both noticed that Buffy and Xander had been getting closer over the last week or so, almost back to the level they'd been at just after Graduation, but with completely different overtones.
They decided not to say anything, however. That was something for the future, and the future had a tendency to disrupt most plans that were made to deal with it. They came to the conclusion that if the two young people were heading towards a relationship, it was probably a good thing.
It meant that the future was probably in good hands.