The Squad

[deird_lj]

A remarkably short pre-series ficlet, written for still_grrr, for the prompt of "cruel intentions".
And no, it's not about vampires.
Clearly I haven't been getting enough sleep. This was not for the "cruel intentions" prompt. This was for "the Warriors". (I'll leave my mistake here for posterity anyway...)

The Squad

 

By day it was mostly cigarettes and poker. But at night it became all about guns, poisons, knives, fire, and black leather. At night they became ruthless, and incredibly scary. The most dangerously efficient team you could hope for.

 

She didn’t understand, at first.

But then Mr Matthews explained it to her, and it all became perfectly clear.

 

They came in to report – strode in, rather, tracking mud across the carpet. They dropped some bloodied weapons onto the table, gave some wildly obscure information, made some rather off-colour jokes, and then… strode straight back out.

 

“Mr Matthews?”

“Ah, Jocelyn. What did you think of the Squad?”

She sat down, tentatively. “Um… sir… what do they do?”

Mr Matthews looked at her. “I’m not sure I understand the question, Jocelyn.”

“Well… are they Watchers?”

“The existence of the Watchers Council is a closely guarded secret. You will find very few people walking these corridors who are not Watchers.”

“They don’t research, though.”

“No.”

“They don’t research, they don’t train Potentials, or monitor mystical events, or learn languages, or check prophecies, or track down obscure texts… They don’t do any of it.”

“No, Jocelyn, they don’t.” Mr Matthews cleared his throat. “The Watchers Council has many important facets. We dedicate our lives to fighting the forces of darkness. And the Squad are one of our most necessary tools in that fight.”

“But, fighting… isn’t that why we have Slayers?”

He smiled genially at her. “Obviously. But someone has to fight them.”

Comments

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

Ah, the wet works team. Nice to see a little back story.

[deird1]

Glad you liked it!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Good stuff.

[deird1]

Thanks!

[shapinglight]

Great ficlet. Never seen backstory on those three before.

[deird1]

I'm glad you liked it!

[dreamincolor.livejournal.com]

Ooo..very nice. And strangely creepy.

Of course at first I assumed that they were talking about fighting the beasties - vamps, demons and the like - until the last line, when I remembered who all these people were, and that what they're fighting, with their poison and fire and bloody weapons, is human. And there's something distinctly disturbing about that.

Good work darlin. -squash-

[deird1]

Why thank you!

I'm glad you liked it.

[brutti-ma-buoni.livejournal.com]

Good and nasty - perfect for the characters we saw. Why does the Council really need them, after all, and what does that say about the organisation? Nothing good.

[deird1]

They're kind of scary, when you think about it...

I'm glad you liked this!