Part 2

      "Hello Giles," Willow said nervously when the former Watcher entered the
offices of Angel Investigations.  Even though he had told Cordelia that he
was supportive of Willow and Angel over the phone, she was still unsure of
his support.  Those fears were quickly put aside as the older man engulfed
her in a hug.
      "Willow, I am so sorry for ever listening to Riley," he told the girl.  "I
should have known better than to even suspect that you would leave town.
Can you ever forgive me?"
      "There's nothing to forgive, Giles," the red head assured him.  "Anya told
me that Riley had been very persuasive and I'm sure that it didn't help
having Buffy back him up on everything he told you."
      "But I still should have done something more," Giles insisted.
      "The only thing that's important is that you're here now," Angel told him
as he joined Willow.  Giles and Angel shook hands, that Watcher taking in
the closeness between the souled vampire and the hacker and finding that he
approved of it.  It made sense to him that the two of them would be
together.
      "Thank you.  I must tell you that this is all very upsetting to me."  Giles
came further into the office, nodding a greeting to the other people in it,
including Spike.  He took the chair offered to him by Cordelia and faced
that three couples.  "Riley's betrayal and Buffy willing acceptance of that
betrayal and offer to help him recapture you all have proven to me my
failure as a Watcher.  The Council was correct in firing me.  I have become
to emotionally attached to my Slayer and that has done more harm than good
as it has caused me to overlook her faults."
      "Giles, this wasn't your fault," Willow said.  "The only thing you did was
care about Buffy and the rest of us.  You did what you thought was right and
that's why she's the longest lived Slayer."
      "Bt if I...."
      "Bloody hell, Watcher," Spike interrupted, "you've been around Red long
enough to know that you can't argue with her once she's set her mind on
something.  Besides, the only person at fault her is Slutty and her commando
boy toy.  And I plan on doing something about that."  The others all nodded
their heads in agreement.
      "What do you have in mind?" Giles inquired.
      "We're going to hit the Initiative hard.  Shut them down for good," Angel
explained.
      "How?" Giles questioned.  "I mean, not to belittle any of you, but it will
take more than the seven of us to destroy them."
      "That's why we're bringing in a few friends," Doyle explained.
      "Friends?  Dare I even asked?"  Willow went over and took Giles' hand.
      "Don't worry, Giles.  Remember, these are people that have their own
reasons for helping take out the Initiative.  They want to help."
      "Who exactly are these friends?"
      "Two are vampires that you might have heard of.  One is names Louis, the
other is his sire Lestat," Angel informed the ex-Watcher.  "You might have
read the book, "Interview With a Vampire" that came out a few years ago."
      "I remember.  I thought it was just fiction," Giles mentioned, recalling
the book and the uproar it caused amidst the Watcher's Council.
      Well, it was all true," Spike told him.  "Peaches and I met them on a trip
to the States before his curse."
      "Okay," Giles thought of the two vampires and was intrigued about meeting
them.  "Who else?"
      An old acquaintance of mine," Anya answered.
      "Don't you mean victim of yours," Spike teased.  Anya hit her boyfriend
playfully.
      "Hush," she admonished.  She turned to face Giles and explained.  "His name
is Barnabus Collins.  A former lover of his asked me to help her punish him
and she made him a vampire."
      "If you helped punish him, why would he be willing to come and help?"
      "Because I also helped him find love again, although I didn't truly intend
to at the time," Anya explained.  "Let's just leave it at that for now."
      "Interesting," Giles murmured.  "Anyone else that I should know about."
All eyes turned to Doyle.
      "What?" The demon asked.  Everyone just continued to look at him.  "Fine,
spoil the fun.  I have a friend coming also.  His name is Nick Knight.  He's
a vamp, although not like the kind that you're used to.  He'll remind
everyone a bit of Angel."
      "Not another soul boy," Spike groaned.
      "Not exactly," Doyle explained.  "Nick was never cursed with a soul, but
for some reason, he has begun to feel guilty over his past as a vampire.
He's been trying to find his own redemption for about the past one hundred
years or so."
      "How did you meet him?" Cordelia asked, wanting to know more about Doyle's
past.
      "He arrested me for disorderly conduct not long after my divorce.  I was in
Toronto at the time and had decided to stop in a bar for a few and got into
a fight," he informed the group.  "Where our Angel is trying to redeem
himself as a PI, Nick is working as a cop.  Doesn't make his sire all that
happy, let me tell you."
      "Who is his sire?" Angel inquired, wondering if he knew the vampire.  The
concept of another vampire also trying to redeem himself, intrigued him.
      "An old general by the name of Lucien LaCroix."  Giles took in a breath at
the mention of the vampire's name.  "I see you've heard of him."
      "There have been some records of him and his children, especially two that
went by the name of Jeannette and Nick.  That particular vampire family is
one of the more interesting in history."
      "If you ever met them, you would understand why."
      "So everyone has somebody coming to help them," Giles commented.  "I guess
it would only be fair if I contributed something."
      "What are you talking about?"  Willow asked her mentor.  Giles just looked
at her.
      "May I use the phone?"  Angel signaled that it would be alright.  Giles
dialed in a number that he knew by heart.  "Let me speak to Joe."  "Tell him
its Rupert Giles."  "Yeah Joe.  Good to hear your voice too you old dog"
"Well, I have a problem here that I thought you could help me with."  "A
group of government demon hunters that go by the name of the Initiative."
"You've heard of them."  "I'm sorry to hear about that, but how would you
like to get back at them?"  "Normally I wouldn't mind having their help
except that they aren't only going after demons, they're targeting humans
too, including two of my charges."  "No, she's involved with one of them and
refused to help."  "Yeah, I'll hold on."
      "Giles, who are you talking to?' Cordelia asked the former librarian.
      "An old friend of mine from the Watcher's Council.  His name's Joe Dawson
and he has some friends that I think would be of great help."  Giles
attention returned to the phone when Joe came back on the line.  "What?"
"Okay." " They did, fantastic."  "Okay, here's the address."  Giles relayed
the address to Angel Investigations and also gave Joe Cordelia's cell number
in case an emergency came up.  "I'll see you all tomorrow and thanks."
Giles hung up the phone and turned to face the group of curious people.
      "Explanations would be nice," Anya stated.
      "Well, let's just say that vampires aren't the only creatures that are
immortal."  An uproar came from the group of people.  Giles raised his hands
to silence them.  "There are people out there, just like you and me, well
mostly, that can not die unless someone takes their head.  Like the Slayers,
there is a group of Watcher's that record their history without interfering.
  Joe is one such Watcher.  But, like me, he began to care about his charge.
  A four hundred year old immortal by the name of Duncan MacLeod."
      "Four hundred years old," Willow whispered.  "Wow."
      "You'll get to met him, as well as his student Richie Ryan who is only
about twenty three.  The third person that will be joining them is a man by
the name of Adam Pierson.  There may be a female, if they can persuade her,
named Amanda.  They'll be here tomorrow."
      "You know, I believe that we might actually be able to take those bastards
down," Spike commented.
 

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