Prologue: The Beginning

Disclaimer: Not mine and never will be
Title: Scoobies on Trial
Author: Kate R.
Rating: Teen to adult
Pairings: G/E, W/A, Methos/Jenny
Summary: The bosses of the Watchers and Slayers come to Sunnydale. They are not pleased.

Rupert Giles was tired. He had a headache and was suffering from exhaustion as Buffy had beaten on his door last night screaming something about a man with tattoos who'd come to clean up their mess and what mess had they made? He sighed, having a bad idea about what was happening, and went into books that were not for the children to research in.

"Tattoos on his cheeks, a line of them across his forehead, claw design ones on his hands . . . oh, as usual, dear."

"Giles?" Dawn asked, as Spike brought her in from school.

"We have a 'very' esteemed visitor on the Hellmouth this week," Giles sighed.

"The guy with the wicked tats, right?" Spike asked.

"Yes," Giles answered, "That 'guy' is . . . a major power among the Great Council."

"How high?" Spike asked.

"King of it," Giles answered, "He's the King of the Great Council."

"What's the Great Council?" Dawn asked.

"I will explain when the others get here, if he doesn't explain himself because I have no doubt he's coming, too."

"Who?" Dawn asked.

"I don't know his name," Giles sighed, "Whenever the Great Council calls he is cloaked and his face hidden, he is simply known as Medjai King. I need to call on Wesley as he, too, is an Active Watcher."

"Have you ever met him?"

"Once, before I came here," Giles told her, "I met one of the Kings. It may be another now. But anyhow, he told me to either get your sister in line or remove her. I chose not to do either and the results of that are about to bite me in the ass."

"Why?"

"Because I could have deactivated her," Giles sighed, "When I saw she was still running away and letting people die, when Xander brought her back and threw the whole balance, I could have done any of a thousand things and I did not. That the Medjai King has come in person, instead of sending someone to do what he would normally do in this case, tells me that he is going to give me a chance to plead my case to him, personally. Unfortunately I don't know what I can say that will convince him not to take matters in to his own hands."

"You mean we're on trial?" Dawn asked.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Giles sighed, "We are. The Great Council is aware of everything that has gone on since I came here, everyone who has been involved, what they have done, what they have failed to do, their motivations, their ideas about things, and I do not know what good they will find in it. For the Great Council is made up of all supernatural fighters and some of those are vampires, werewolves, shadow-men, mystics, mages of all kinds and assorted others. The Medjai King may call the leading members of all of those groups here for this trial."

"What about the human element?" Xander asked from the doorway, he'd heard what they were talking about and was not happy to know all those supernaturals would be in his town.

"The Medjai King IS human," Giles told him, "As am I and if I am right about the mage they will bring, he is as well."

"So who gets to b our advocate?"

"This isn't going to be a trial like your court TV shows like Judge Judy. Xander," Giles sighed, "We will have to convince the Great Council that we are doing a good job here. And if last night's activities are anything to go by, it will take a lot."

"What do you mean?" Xander asked.

"He had to save The Slayer, the greatest of our level on the Great Council's warriors, from a demon horde on a low level and baby evil ranked guarded place. Do you know how long it took the Council to get a place like this of their own to guard? To prove they should be allowed to move up in the Great Council?"

"Wait, you mean the Slayer wasn't always assigned here?" Xander asked.

"No," Giles told him, "Before the monks came the Native people's guarded this place and they had shamans who were on the Great Council, after they were wiped out, there were others the Great Council sent in to control this place and they did a good job. The killings didn't get out of hand until about the time the town was built and the council begged the Great Council to let them guard it. Our champion has failed in her duty, or has been seen to be failing. That the King has come tells me that he is checking for himself."

"Why do you know he's gonna give us a chance to defend ourselves against whatever charges there are?" Xander asked while looking like he was going to start a fight.

"Because he didn't have you all killed last night," Giles said, "And he could have. If he was absolutely certain we'd failed the Slayer and everyone with her last night would have been wiped out."

"You said move up in the eyes of the Great Council," Xander began, "How close to the top are they? Uh, we?"

"We are the bottom," Giles sighed, "The Watchers, the Slayer, all those who help her unless sent by the Great Council, are the bottom rung of the hierarchy."

"WHAT?!"