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Angel goes to Giles to inform him about Carson Vincent. He also informs of Angelus' new status as a Demon of Hell.
10/23/2016 8:30 PM
Public Library, San Francisco
Public Library[]
The lights are on, illuminating the area.
Dominated by a huge skylight that allows an incredible amount of sun to pour through the building at proper times, the San Francisco Public Library boasts a vast and varied selection on books on every subject imaginable. It exists as an informative labyrinth that one could easily get lost in due to the winding corridors and stacks. There is a welcoming presence to the building itself, almost inviting, while it also holds an air of mystery and wonder. Not to mention it has an incredibly large occult section.
Outside, it's foggy and cool.
Rupert Giles is doing that thing he always does when he's in between Apocalypses. He's putting up the books that he used in the previous apocalypse and doing it without so much as a second thought. The library is closed, of course, which would make it very simple for the arrival of vampiric allies. Somehow, Rupert has managed to score some hot tea which is sitting on the table and steeping while he flips through the pages of a book on demonic soul rendering and astral projection. He adjusts his glasses and makes a mental note of something he's reading on page seventeen. If Giles is expecting any visitors it doesn't look like he is.
The library may be closed, but 'after hour' visits are some of the best times for him to drop by. Even with the new Mantle he's received. Angel smoothly steps in to the library, a shadow among shadows in the tall book stacks, before making his presence known with a, "Hey." Of course, it's never a social visit when Angel shows up it's usually something important.
"Before you even tell me what's going on, please give me a moment. We've only just saved the world. I would like to enjoy my tea before the next one." Giles would sound teasing if he were the type to take those tones. However, he places the book on the shelf and moves back over to the table with this tea. He doesn't even look at Angel. He doesn't need to. He takes his sweet time grabbing the tea and lifting it for a quick and British sip. He prolongs it, of course, giving Angel plenty of time to prepare the bad news. Which he's ready for the moment he sets the tea cup back down on its matching plate.
Angel only halfsmiles, and takes a seat opposite the Head Watcher. He's not one to deny a man his tea before putting the next issue on him. Angel rather dryly says, "The world only needs saving on days that end in Y." But, on to the actual news. "This is less an Apocalypse and more of a problem with the Slayer line. As far as we can tell, there's a young man named Carson Vincent with powers very similar to a Slayer's. He even seems to be able to tap into the Slayer dreams, as he was able to identify Buffy as a cheerleader without ever meeting her. And he knew what the Scythe was and what it was for." Pause. "So, how is this possible? Either he's the first male Slayer in recorded history, or maybe he swapped powers with one as Cordy and Wyatt did, but something's going on."
Rupert Giles looks as though everything he's ever known has been obliterated from his mind and then put back in within a few moments. He very rarely looks at Angel directly, due to some personal issues, but those words are enough to have him trying to meet the vampire's eyes. He takes a moment to process what he's been told and moves right into acceptance. "Interesting." Although, the look on his face is something that says something more akin to worry. "I cannot be sure without doing a bit of digging but this seems like an impossibility. Unless something changed during the activation of the Potentials..." Giles' mind is already turning. "I have every Watcher Diary that's been found and while I haven't read every single one I'm sure that none of them have any accounts of a male Slayer."
Angel's gaze is completely steady on. And he's not known for jokes anyway. "Exactly. It should be impossible. It's possible Willow changed something when she activated all Slayers at once, but as far as I know, he's a unique case. It's not like there's 5 or 10 of them and he's just one of a small group. There's only the one. Personally, I suspect a power swap, which we've seen done, or maybe a ritual that steals the power another way. It doesn't seem likely he was activated when everyone else was."
"I'll see what I can find out. Nothing happens now that hasn't happened before. In some way." Rupert's grasping at straws with that statement but he's clearly just attempting to keep things sounding as though they have them under control. "At the very least, I can look through some of the text about the First Slayer. That should provide some insight." Giles has forgotten all about his tea. "In the meantime, I need you to keep an eye on this person. If someone is targeting Slayers and absconding with their abilities..." Giles doesn't finish that statement because he'd rather it be something not of that ilk. "Well. We'll cross that bridge should we come to it."
"I planned to have Willow look into it too, maybe with the Scythe. As the one who activated them in the first place, she might be able to see things only she can see." He nods once, "We're watching him. Faith doesn't believe he's the real thing. Other people seem to be taking him at face value." There's lots of impossibilities here, and not all is change that looks like it is change. When Giles bring up stealing the power of Slayers, "Well, that does sound like something Wolfram and Hart would do, among others. But we have no proof of that yet, and I'd rather not give them the idea if it hasn't occurred to them."
"Keep me in the loop as much as possible. I'll find out what I can and get the information over to Willow as soon as possible. Perhaps between the both of us, we can attempt to make some sense out of this." Rupert takes a moment to run his finger around the rim of his tea cup. "I'm going to have to meet him and assess him for myself. I don't want to do that until I know a bit more. As he mentioned anything about the Watchers' Council or having a Watcher?" Giles may be coming up with a plan. Or something close to it.
Angel considers that. "He hasn't. No Watchers that I know of. That doesn't make him unique, of course. But even if Watchers did know about him, they may have thought he was something else. Maybe some kind of Half Demon or whatever."
"Good. Let's keep it that way." Giles is hesitant to let Angel in on everything that he's pondering but it seems like he's got something up his sweater sleeves. "Thank you. For coming to me with this." Giles stands and reaches out with a hand to offer it to Angel in a manner that may suggest the bygones be bygones. Sometimes, one just has to let the past go. This may be one of those times.
Angel understands the gesture for what it is, and shakes on it. There is one other thing he could mention. "Thanks." He paused. "Something else you might want to know about. My alterego manifested in the Nevernever, with the Black Eyes of a Hell class demon. Angelus dueled me in a mirror match. He lost. But Caladbolg isn't the right type of weapon to permanently end a Demon of Hell."
"You would like for me to find you a weapon that will?" Rupert takes a moment to ask that question and make sure that he's understanding where this line of questioning is going. Or these statements. He's gotten pretty good at predicting things over the years. And if there's a chance that they can be rid of Angelus for good he may want to lean into the research there a bit more.
"Yeah. The only weapon known to be able to do so are angel blades. But that's just because I've seen one in action, and they don't seem inclined to loan them out too often. Heaven's forces seem disinclined to interfere when a Champion is present." Which is why you never saw one in Sunnydale.
"I'll look into that as well." Giles is pretty clearly just trying to make everything happen that needs to happen in this moment. He's the researcher and he's pretty sure he can find a weapon that will rid the world of Angelus... then that'll be a good thing no matter if there's a male Slayer running around or not. "We'll leave Heaven's forces to their own devices." Not a burn but kind of a burn.
Angel would only be too happy to end his alterego. The only question is who gets to finish him off. The man in front of him, Faith, Buffy, all of them have BIG scores to settle with his alterego. Unfortunately, he can only be permanently killed once. "Thanks. I'd rather deal with him before he can wreck any more havoc." That's the price for his permanent soul. The evicted demon could do all kinds of evil if given the chance. Angel isn't going to let him have one.
"I too would be okay with less havoc being wrought." Giles reaches for his tea cup and finishes it off now that the plans have been set in motion. "I'll contact you directly about the weapon as soon as I find something." He stretches a bit and eyes one of the clocks on the wall. "I suppose I should get started. Finding the answer to a male Slayer in a world with no male Slayers may prove to be an all night task."
Angel agrees. "It might. It's probably the more complicated of the two tasks." He pauses for a moment. "When we find the right weapon...who do you want using it?" Basically, offering the man the vengeance he wanted so badly when he took a flaming 2 by 4 to him.
"I'm not a man of vengeance, Angel. Not anymore." Rupert stands up straighter in that moment as if to try and make that even clearer. He's just trying to keep this moving as smooth as possible. No drama. "I will find you your weapon. What happens after that is not up to me." Guess that means he won't be doing the honors.
Angel nodded once. "I understand. Thank you." Angel starts to depart...he's not going to be of much help with the research here. "Is there anything I can do for you before I go?"
"Yes." Rupert turns to face Angel more fully. "Tell Dawn that her hiatus from training is over. With the Glory threat averted, I'd like to continue her training as soon as possible." Giles offers a nod to Angel.
"I understand. I'll send her your way as soon as I can. Do you want to see any of the other Slayers, or just Dawn?" There are more of them lurking around, after all.
"Just Dawn. For now." Giles says. "I'm working on setting up something else for the larger group. It'd be nice to know more about this Carson fellow before I proceed, though."
Angel considers, and nods. "Alright." He considers speaking up about Buffy...but a man like him must surely already knows that Buffy still needs him, so he figures the point didn't need to be said. He almost adds something about keeping him informed...but Watcher/Slayer business isn't really his, no matter how much he's mostly part of the family now. Keeping quiet, then, "I should let you get to it."
"Very well." Rupert is already moving off towards the stacks. He doesn't even look at Angel when he adds, "If you would not mind playing messenger once more, do me a favor and tell Buffy that I expect to see her for training as well. I would hate to see her get... rusty." Oh Giles. That total burn will definitely get Buffy to come see you.
Angel sees Buffy all the time, what with their current status and all, and, guessing at what's going on, "I'll let her know." Pause. "She misses you too." And it has nothing to do with rustiness. Though he wonders if Giles brought some extra strength heavy duty enchanted pads for that particular training session. And then he departs.