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“Mayor Wilkins?” Giles asked in almost complete disbelief.

That clicked everything into place and his memories confirmed that the guy looked down at them like they were guests at a posh party was indeed Mayor Richard Wilkins the Third. The man had been charge of Sunnydale for as long as he could remember and, based on what he’d learned in school, there’d always been a Wilkins in charge of the town. He’d never really paid much attention to politics of any kind, though, so that was probably why he hadn’t immediately recognized the person looking down at them.

“In the flesh, as they say, Mr. Giles. I see you’ve prepared a dispel potion from Fong Choi’s compendium. A fine choice but I think you’re going to need a bit more than what’s in that pot.” Mayor Wilkins took a moment to check his watch, “A pity you won’t get a chance to make more. The Hollow bait should be finished by now, so I suppose it’s time to get this show on the road.”

“WAIT! Don’t you think you’re rushing things a bit?” he asked, scrambling mentally for something to buy the brain trusts some strategy thinking time. “Isn’t it part of the villain handbook that you have to give us some big speech about how you’ve been behind everything and why we’re not going to live to see tomorrow?”

As he waited he wondered if the guy was really going to fall for it and start speechifying, he hoped that the others were using the time constructively to figure out a way to keep the stuff in the large metal containers from doing their thing.

“I suppose you’re right, Mr. Harris. There is a certain etiquette that must be followed in situations like this,” Mr. Wilkins said with a nod of agreement. “However the only incidents I’ve had a direct hand in lately have been the Hollows. Before that, all I did was ensuring that the spiritual power you and your three friends possessed was properly restrained.”

“Properly restrained? But we only got them recently so that’d mean—“ Willow began before her brain caught onto something, stopping it cold.

“Precisely, young lady. You’ve had the spiritual power since the day that you were born,” Wilkins said with an approving look on his face. “Indeed, even as newborns your powers were potent and I knew from the beginning that you would be thorns in my side if I didn’t take some preventative action. Fortunately my friends at Wolfram & Hart were of a similar opinion and so, with their assistance, we were able to seal all four of you at once. There was a slight imperfection in Ms. Chase’s seal but I was confident her appearance-obsessed parents would ensure that she’d repress her powers at an early age.

“Everything would have gone so smoothly had it not been for Mr. Rayne’s bit of mischief last Halloween. He really should have been a bit less curious, after all curiosity killed the cat,” Wilkins said with a smile that implied he was remembering a moment with fondness. “Although in Mr. Rayne’s case, Gnarl killed the cat over the course of a week. Not quite the same ring to it, I’ll admit, but it was still quite satisfactory to watch.”

http://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-26117-6/