The Male Slayer - A Buffy The Vampire Slayer Fanfiction

VI. Team Powers That Be (Chapter 2)

James entered the hospital room, spotting an unconscious Robson lying on the bed, with Julie sitting by the bedside, seemingly lost in thought.

"Julie." James said, getting her attention.

"Oh, James, how are you doing?" Julie asked, turning to face him.

"I've been better. How is he?" James replied with concern.

"He'll live, but he was badly wounded. I don't know what we did wrong." she said, putting her head in her hands.

"Robson knew the risks, and I'm thankful he's still alive, but you can't blame yourself for this." James told her, rubbing her back comfortingly. "Have you tried to phone Giles?" 

"He's not answering his mobile. What are we going to do?" Julie asked, looking at James.

"The Council's preparing for a meeting, they're going to be sending a search party for Giles, you should be there." James answered. 

"I'd just get in the way." Julie said, doubting herself.

"You're good at what you do, they'll need you." James replied, smiling warmly. "Also, Doyle appeared and said you should be there." 

"Doyle? He's back?" Julie asked, sitting up.

"Believe it or not, and he says it's essential you're at that meeting. They must need your brains to solve the problem." James said sincerely.

"When does it start?" 

"In an hour or so, we better get over there." James informed, standing up. 

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The Council members were all flooding into the boardroom as Julie and James approached. Julie managed to get in last, and as James was going in after her, an arm blocked his way.

"Sir?" James asked, looking up to find the arm belonged to Quentin Travers.

"We appreciate what you've done to help, James. However, your efforts are probably best spent trying to get a start on locating Giles." Travers told him.

James looked at Julie briefly, who seemed a bit hesitant to the idea but nodded at him to go on. "Right away, Sir." 

"Bye." Julie said, waving at him. James waved back, turning around to head back out the building. 

Walking down one of the many twisting hallways in the building, James spotted an out-of-place man wandering the halls too. The man turned to James with a smile, "Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to know where the quickest exit in this establishment is?" 

James observed the man; he was dressed like a priest, with chestnut brown hair and a very clear American accent. "Late for a sermon, Father?" James joked.

"Why, yes I am. I've got about seven minutes until it starts." the priest replied, looking at his watch. 

"Yeah, this place is a maze. There's a fire door over that way, but the alarm is bugged so people mostly use it for smoke breaks. That's your best bet." James told the priest, pointing the way that he had just come from. 

"Excellent. Thank you, young man." the priest said, smiling warmly again. He headed off down the corridor, turning the corner and disappearing.

James thought nothing of the interaction and went on his way. He exited the building and took a wander through the nearby park. Although Travers had asked him to begin a search for Giles, James really didn't know where to start so he figured he'd wait a while until the meeting had ended. He observed the spot where he had woken up a few months ago, thrown into a world after eighteen months, unaware of what had changed. The thought of excitement he had felt when he woke up, mixed with a good amount of fear, came back to him as he looked at it. The sound of kids laughing and playing in the nearby playground filled James with a sense of melancholy. Despite the fact that the world was about to enter it's toughest battle, and that there would be losses and deaths worldwide, he felt surprisingly okay.