What You Did

NOTE:  People seemed to want a B/Dr 'shipping story, and I figured, why not.  Thank you to Dawn (or Olivia, dunno what you prefer) for giving me a suggestion of when to set it!

SETTINGS: During 'Consequences'.

SUMMARY: Faith blames Buffy for the death of the Deputy Mayor.  What if Faith had been believed?

SPOILERS: All of Season Three of BTVS.  Up to Book Four of HP.  Set in their seventh year, so everyone is 18. 

DISCLAIMER: Not mine.

RATING: PG-13.

SECOND NOTE: In the episode, Buffy goes to Willow first.  Pretend she doesn't.  She goes straight to Giles.  Buffy and Angel aren't together.  They're still in that 'poor us, we can never be together, blah blah blah' phase they've got working for them.  Basically, Angel's not an issue.

ONWARDS:

CHAPTER ONE: WHAT I DID?

Friday, January 29th 1999

Buffy walked into the library, guilt settling heavily in her stomach.  She couldn't believe how badly things had gone.  The murder had been a complete accident, but Faith couldn't even admit to what had happened.  It hadn't been anyone's fault, but Faith didn't even want to admit that she'd played any part in it. 

Buffy knew she should have gone to Giles the second it had happened.  She'd had more than enough chance to tell him after the battle with Balthazar and the El Eliminati, but she hadn't been able to bring herself to tell him.  But that was why she was at the library.  To tell him.  To get his guidance.

"Giles?" she called.  She couldn't believe how shaky her voice was.  She was afraid, scared out of her wits.  She just wanted this feeling of guilt to go away.

Someone emerged from Giles' office, but it wasn't her Watcher that she desperately wanted to talk to.  It was the new Watcher that had been assigned to she and Faith.

"Buffy," Wesley greeted.

There was something in his voice, a tone that she didn't particularly like.  Then again, it could have just been the fact that she didn't particularly like Wesley that made her question his tone.

"Where's Giles?" Buffy asked.

Buffy noticed Wesley turn his head slightly, and movement from behind him in the doorway to his office swung Buffy's attention away from the new Watcher.  Buffy could only hope that it was Giles coming out of the office. Unfortunately for Buffy, it was Faith who stood in the doorway, staring at Buffy with a steely gaze. 

"Faith-" Buffy whispered.  She could hear Faith's last words to her from the afternoon. 

No, you don't get it…I don't care.

"Buffy," Faith replied.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Buffy asked.

"I had to tell him," Faith said, sounding scarily reassuring.

"You told him?" Buffy repeated, completely surprised.

"I had to," Faith said.  "He had to know what you did."

"What I did?"

She looked at Faith in confusion and comprehension dawned on her.  Faith was completely setting her up.

"What?!  No. Tha-that's just not what happened," Buffy said, looking at the new Watcher, desperation in her eyes.

"I don't want to hear it, Buffy," Wesley said coldly.

"No! It…"

"I don't want to hear any lies," he said.

"You can't be serious!" Buffy said, turning to Faith, her voice rising with panic.   "You're setting me up?"

"Get in the office, now," Wesley ordered.  "Faith, I'll talk to you in the morning."

"Wesley, please, you have to…"

"Now!" he said. 

Faith walked around from behind Wesley as Buffy began to walk into his office.  As Faith got towards the door, she turned back to look at Wesley, swallowing hard.  She couldn't believe she'd just got away with that.  It had been too easy.

"Um…sorry," Faith said.  She turned and walked away quickly, wanting to be as far away from that place as possible.

His eyes followed her for a moment until he turned and walked into his office. 

"Wesley, I didn't do this. I swear. Look, I know that I messed up badly, but the murder, i-it…it was…"

"An accident," he finished.  "But Buffy…you need to admit what you've done.  You'll…you'll never get past it if you're unable to tell me truth."

"Wesley, no!" Buffy yelled.

Wesley stepped forward and stood incredibly close to his Slayer who suddenly realised how incredibly tall the man in front of her really was.

"I've had enough of your lies," he said, his voice quiet.  "I realise you're upset, but you have no right to lie to my face like this."

"Wesley, please…you can't possibly think-"

"The Council is on their way," Wesley said.

Buffy's heart jumped to her throat. She hadn't been expecting that.

"What?"

"You're to stand trial before them."

Her mind went blank.  The Council.   She couldn't believe that this was happening.  Wesley stepped away from her and turned to the desk.  He opened the drawer and took out a small wooden box that made Buffy's heart run rampant.  She recognised that box.

It's an organic compound of muscle relaxants and adrenal suppressers.

She froze in horror, remembering the complete terror of what had happened to her whilst that drug had been in her system.  Before she could even think of moving, Wesley gripped her arm tightly and had administered the injection without any second thought.  She felt the drug rush through her system, working far faster than any of Giles' injections had worked.  Obviously Wesley had given her a higher dose to make the effects faster.

She pushed him away, but he held on tightly.  She tried to force his hand away, but without her strength it was no use. 

"I'd prefer to do this without violence," Wesley told her.

She struggled again, trying futilely to get away.  She kicked his shins, and he finally snapped.  With his free hand he backhanded her across the face, sending her stumbling as he finally let her go.  She fell against the couch in Giles' office.

Wesley stood over her and forced her to lie flat on the floor, face-down.  He grabbed her wrists and cuffed them together, Buffy not even wanting to know where Wesley had got handcuffs from.  He hauled her to her feet and pushed her so that she was sitting on the couch, her hands bound behind her back.  She tried to stand, but was pushed back by Wesley.

"You're seriously going to regret this," Buffy warned.

Wesley didn't look the least bit intimidated.

"I highly doubt that Miss Summers," Wesley replied. 

She tried to get up once again and Wesley drew a gun inside his jacket pocket.  Buffy froze completely and looked at him.

"They're just tranquillisers, Miss Summers," he informed her.  "I won't kill you unless you give me no other choice."

Buffy slumped backwards on the couch, trying to think of how on earth to get out of this situation.  It didn't look entirely promising.  She looked away from the new Watcher and stared blankly out the window.  She didn't even see the enraged Englishman walk in the door.

"What the bloody hell is going on in here?" Giles yelled. 

Wesley swallowed hard but stood up to his full height.  Buffy looked to her real Watcher hopefully.  Giles kept his cold gaze planted firmly on Wesley.

"Mr Giles, I suggest you stay out of this," Wesley said.

"And I suggest you tell me why exactly you've got a gun pointed at my Slayer," Giles replied, his voice cold, even and Ripperish.  Buffy shivered slightly, thankful that this time it wasn't directed at her.

"She's no longer your Slayer Mr Giles," Wesley replied.  "And she's to be taken to England and will be placed in front of the disciplinary committee."

Giles' gaze finally swung around to look at Buffy who was looking increasingly nervous.

"On what grounds?" Giles asked.

"Murder," Wesley replied.

Giles paled and took an involuntary step back.  He looked at Buffy who's eyes were boring into his, imploring him to stand beside her as he always did.

"Tell me what happened," Giles demanded.

Buffy went to launch into an explanation, but Wesley glared at her and she stayed silent.  She wasn't exactly afraid of the other Watcher, but she didn't want to be unconscious for this conversation.

"There was an accident," Wesley began.  "On patrol the other evening.  A man, Allan Finch, was killed.  By Miss Summers."

Buffy saw the devastation and disappointment on Giles' face.  She looked away, unable to handle seeing her Watcher looking at her like that.  Giles could only think that Buffy's turning away from him meant one thing.  She was guilty.  His heart sank even further and a sick feeling rose in his stomach.

"I've called the Council," Wesley continued.  "They'll be here within the hour to take her to England."

That definitely got Buffy's attention.  Her head snapped up and she looked to Giles' pleadingly.

"Giles, no!  You can't let them do this!  That's not the way it happened, I swear it," Buffy said.

Giles was torn, wanting desperately to believe his young Slayer.  But there was doubt in his mind.  Whilst he would have liked to have believed that his Slayer wouldn't lie to him, there hadn't been a lot of trust between them since Jenny had died. 

He closed his eyes for a moment before looking at the younger Watcher.

"I have to make some phone calls."

He walked out of the room before Buffy could convince him to stay.

------------------------

Buffy was getting antsy.  Not only was she starting to get really worried about what would happen to her when the Council came, but she was wondering why Giles hadn't come back into the office.  She could hear him speaking on the phone, though his voice was too soft for her to make out the words.  Occasionally he would whisper harshly, his anger rising, but she still couldn't hear what he was saying.  She sighed and tried to shift into a more comfortable position. 

Wesley glanced at her and she fought the urge to glare at him.  She couldn't believe that this had happened.  She swallowed her tears and closed her eyes, willing the headache that had swelled up in the last few hours to go back to wherever it had come from.

She heard the library doors open, the sound of heavy footfalls entering.  She swallowed hard and instinctively knew that the people who had entered were Council members.  Wesley walked out of the office, giving her a warning look, silently telling her to stay put.  It wasn't as though she could really go anywhere when her hands were still cuffed behind her back, she mused.

"Where is she?" a stern British voice asked.

"In the office," Wesley replied.

"I assume that Travers has contacted you since you were given your assignment," Giles said.

"She's still being taken to London," the stern man said.  "The Council took a quick vote and decided that she would benefit from being placed under the tutelage of whom you suggested."

Buffy could only wonder exactly what that meant.  She felt a little safer knowing that wherever she was going it was somewhere that Giles had recommended, rather than anywhere the Council wanted her.

Three large men entered the office and Buffy was pulled roughly to her feet.  They were treating her as the Slayer, as though she still had her strength, and the large man's grip was bruising.  She winced and the man loosened his grip a little, obliviously testing her responses to see if Wesley had given her the compound.

She was pushed out of the office and she could only look imploringly at Giles.

"Where are they taking me?" she asked desperately, even as the three men pushed her towards the doors.

"By the order of the Watcher's Council of Britain, I am exercising my authority and removing you to England," the man behind her stated clearly.  "You will be placed in an environment where your elders can control you and where you can learn discipline and self-control.  When you have learned all they have to teach, you will be given a new Watcher and a new post, away from the Hellmouth."

"No!" Buffy yelled, struggling frantically.  She hadn't been too worried about going to England, but hearing that she was to be given a new Watcher and a new location terrified her.

She was hit across the face by one of the Council Members, and Giles had to force himself not to rush to her aid.  His eyes had tears in them and he wanted nothing more than to kill the other members of Council who were taking away his Slayer.

"Giles, please!"

The men behind her pushed her forward, Buffy struggling, but ultimately having no choice but to move towards the door.

"My mom, Giles, please!  You have to tell her.  You have to take care of her."

She looked back at him, even as she was forced out into the hallway.  Buffy was just thankful that it was evening, and the students weren't about to witness this.

Giles nodded and silently gave her his word that her mother –and friends- would be taken care of.  Wesley gave Giles one last look before walking out of the library, smug satisfaction on his face.