See Part 1 for Disclaimer

Part 3

 “So, how are things going, Riley?” Graham asked as his friend set the two
beers he had just bought in front of them.  The two men had decided to go a
little bar near campus to talk and Graham was hoping that maybe he could do
something to help his friend get over the hurt he was feeling at the
betrayal of the blonde Slayer.
 “Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?” Riley teased, although the
laughter didn’t reach his eyes.  “You are the one working for a Goddess
now.”
 “Yeah, it is interesting,” the former commando admitted.  “Not exactly
something I planned on doing back when I was still with the Initiative.”
Suddenly a thought came to Graham and he couldn’t help but chuckle.  “Can
you imagine Walsh is she were still here.  She would insist on us bringing
in one of the Gods for testing so that she could figure out how they work.”
Riley joined in his friend’s laughter, remembering the woman that had been
both a mentor and a friend to him.
 “I can see it now.  Finn,” Riley started, imitating his former boss.  “I
want you to bring in one of these supposed Gods.  By any means necessary.  I
want to know where their power comes from.”  Riley shook his head.  “I don’t
think she would have been to happy to see you in your new job.”
 “Yeah, well,” Graham shrugged.  “Things change.  People change.”
 “Some people,” Riley corrected, becoming melancholy once more.  “Others
just stay the same no matter what happens around them.”  Graham knew exactly
who Riley was talking about, even if the blonde didn’t say her name.  The
same person that he always thought about.
 “Buffy isn’t like other women,” Graham observed.
 “Tell me about it.”
 “No really,” he tried again. “Just because she hurt you, it doesn’t mean
that there isn’t someone else out there that’s right for you.  That will
love you first and not keep pining away for a love that will never happen."”
 “You’ve been listening to your boss too long,” Riley teased.  “You’re
sounding just like her.”
 “Aphrodite had nothing to do with this,” Graham argued.  “I would be
telling you the same thing whether I was working for her or not.  Damn it,
you know me Riley.  I would never tell you something if I didn’t truly
believe it.”
 “I know, Graham,” Riley said.  “Its just, I loved her.  I thought we were
supposed to be together.”
 “So did I,” Graham admitted.  “Hell, I thought the two of you made the
perfect couple.  It isn’t your fault that Buffy couldn’t handle the thought
of her ex being with Willow.  It certainly doesn’t help that Forrest is
still backing her one hundred percent.  Why do you think that Giles finally
left.  He couldn’t handle the two of them constantly trying to plan ways of
getting Willow and Angel to break up.”
 “Where is Giles, anyway?” Riley asked, changing the subject.  Graham knew
what his friend was doing and let him.
 “Well, with the return of the Gods, it seems a bit of the old Ripper has
come out to play.”  Riley looked shocked at this.  He remembered some of the
stories that he had heard in regards to the Watcher’s youth as Ripper and
the idea that Giles was allowing that side to reemerge, even slightly,
surprised him.
 “So what is he doing?”  Riley probed farther.
 “Believe it or not, it appears as if he’s going to work for Discord.”
Riley had to stop himself from spitting out the beer he had just taken in.
As it was, he started choking on it.  ‘Giles is going to work for Discord?
Why does that sound so not right?’  “Yeah, that seems to be the reaction
everyone is having.”  Riley looked over at his grinning friend.
 “What brought this on?  I mean, I wouldn’t have figured that he would be
one to work for the Goddess of Discord.”
 “Actually, if you think about, in a way it makes sense,” Graham pointed
out.  “Before he became a Watcher, he was heavily into magick.  I’ve heard a
few stories of some of the things he had done back then.  And now, with the
Gods trying to reintegrate themselves into society and into the twenty-first
century, they need people that will help them.  With Discord, you’re talking
some serious Chaos energy.  Giles has dealt with that before and knows how
to temper it.”  Riley thought about this and had to agree.  It did sound
like it would make sense for the former librarian to work for the Goddess.
 “So what’s he doing for her?”  Riley further inquired.
 “Well, as much as she likes Giles, and trust me, she really likes Giles.”
Riley noticed the little smirk that crossed Graham’s face when he said that.
  “Discord wants him to work with someone else.  Someone whose had a little
more recent activity with Chaos.  So he’s gone to go looking for him.”
 “I take it Giles already knows this person?”
 “You could say that.”

 “Hello Ethan,” an accented voice said as the owner sat down in the vacant
seat.
 “Hello Ripper.  Fancy meeting you here,” Ethan Rayne quipped as he looked
at his old friend.  He noticed that gone was the tweed suit that the former
Watcher used to wear.  In its place was a black turtleneck and a pair of
jeans.  And he noticed that Giles had taken to wearing an earring once more.
  Ethan wondered what had brought about the change in the man.
 “I’ve been looking for you,” Giles told his sometime nemesis.  “You can be
a difficult man to track down.”
 “And yet you managed to do it anyway,” Ethan quipped, taking a long sip of
his scotch.  “And what is it that I have supposedly down that has you
looking for me.”
 “Nothing that you’ve done,” Giles replied.  “At least, not recently.”
Ethan quirked his eyebrow at that.
 “Then what is it that has brought you here,” he inquired.  “Certainly can’t
be because you missed your old drinking partner.”
 “I’ve got a job for you,” Giles informed the man, who tried his best to
hide his surprise.  Unfortunately, he failed.  Ethan Rayne could have sworn
he had just asked Rupert Giles, the man that he had so loved to torment for
the past many years, tell him that he had a job for him.
 Care to repeat that, Ripper.”  Giles smiled indulgently at the man in front
of him.  He knew full well that Ethan had heard him.
 “I said, I had a job for you,” he repeated.  “Don’t tell me you’re going
deaf in your old age.”
 “No,” Ethan shook his head.  “I just didn’t quite believe what I had heard.
  Dare I even ask what kind of job you may have for someone with my
particular talents?”
 “You’ve heard of the return of the Gods?” Giles asked, already knowing the
answer.  Considering the contacts that his old friend had, he was sure that
Ethan had already been trying to figure out how he could get the return of
the Gods to work for him.
 “I’ve heard something about that, yes,” Ethan affirmed. “Haven’t actually
seen it for myself though.”
 “I have,” Giles told the surprised man.  “In fact, you know some of the
newer ones.  They used to be my charges.”
 “Not the damn Slayer,” Rayne hissed.
 “No, Buffy isn’t one of them, although the other Slayer Faith is.  As are
some of the others,” Giles explained.  “Its a long story and one, that if
you accept the position I’m going to offer you, you will be told about in
time.”
 “What exactly is this job?”  Ethan couldn’t help himself.  He was curious
about what Ripper had to offer him.  Especially if it had to do with the
Greek Gods.
 “The Goddess of Discord, Eris, is looking for a few good people to work
with her,” Giles started.  “And, considering your history of Chaos, we
figured that you would be perfect for it.”
 “And how did you become involved with the Goddess of Discord,” Ethan
inquired.  He couldn’t picture the man that Ripper had become working for
the Goddess of Discord and Mayhem.  It just didn’t fit.  That was, until he
saw Giles turn a semi-bright shade of pink.  “Don’t tell me you’ve gone and
gotten yourself involved with her.  Bloody hell, Ripper.  You never could do
anything the usual way could you?”
 “Not really and my relationship with Eris is non of your business,” Giles
stated.  “So, are you interested in the job or not?”
 “What exactly is the job?  I can’t picture you letting me have the kind of
fun that I’ve been having the past few years.”
 “No and you wouldn’t be able to call upon your demon friends anymore,
anyway,” Giles informed the man.  “They have a new God also and they have to
answer to him, whether they want to or not.  As for your job, its to help
Eris control the Chaos that goes on.  She works with Ares and Strife and
between the three of them, I would say this world will be anything but
boring.”
 “And what do I get out of all of this if I say yes?”
 “You get to do what you do best.  Cause all kinds of havoc, albeit
controlled a bit more than usual.”  Ethan thought about what he was being
offered as he finished off his drink.  It sounded like the perfect thing for
him, especially if it was true that his demon friends were being controlled
by one of the gods.  And the idea of working with Ripper again, for he had
no doubt that was who was before him, sounded good.  He had missed the man
that he had cared about so long ago.  All in all, it sounded like a good
deal to Ethan.
 “Count me in.”

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