"Congratulations, man! That's awesome!" he replied to the news of a potential Mini Soldier Boy, or the potential disappointment of a daughter.
But Xander knew just as Riley knew that the pleasantries were going to be short-lived. The Initiative's most trusted agent hadn't busted into the offices of Wolfram & Hart because the two forces weren't at odds. He could tell that his friend was taking great strides in handling the discussion delicately, but in the back of Riley's mind probably lingered the same question that Xander had asked himself on occasion.
What the hell are we doing?
In the end, it had been his faith in Buffy that convinced him that good was being done. He wondered if that reason would still be good enough for Riley after everything that had happened.
"We know what Wolfram & Hart is," he assured. "You remember Angel, don't you? Tall, pale and annoyingly handsome guy who handed you your ass that one time and then proceeded to go catch up with your girlfriend? Yeah, I don't really like him either, but when it comes to the heroics, he's good people. I'm sure The Initiative's aware that Angel's been given the keys to the big bad kingdom, right? We're all pretty much on board that he's going to use Wolfram & Hart's resources to fight evil. It's like, if you had the option of taking over Hitler's position or continue letting wacky Adolf call the shots, you'd probably throw on a swastika and use your new stroke to stop the Holocaust."
He frowned.
"Still, though, Angel can lose his soul at any given time, so it might not be the worst thing in the world to have somebody watching us. ... he also calls everybody a 'champion' a lot, and it's really... stupid. For that reason alone I kind of want him to suffer."