(I own nothing to do with Buffy the vampire slayer, I am just a fan)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Season 8, episode 1
A Guilty Conscience
[First part of the Season Beginning]
Previously, At the Hellmouth...
"Osiris! Here lies the warrior of the people. Let her cross over!"
-Willow brought Buffy back from the dead.
"So here's the part where you make a choice. What if you could have that power, now? In every generation, one Slayer is born, because a bunch of men who died thousands of years ago made up that rule. They were powerful men. This woman... is more powerful than all of them combined. So I say we change the rule. I say my power... should be our power. Tomorrow, Willow will use the essence of the Scythe to change our destiny. From now on, every girl in the world who might be a Slayer, will be a Slayer. Every girl who could have the power, will have the power, can stand up, will stand up. Slayers... every one of us. Make your choice. Are you ready to be strong?"
-Willow changed the fabric of reality by changing the rule by which a Slayer into every generation is chosen.
"Andrew! Did you see? Is she-"
"I don't know, I-I was scared,"
"Did you see?"
"She was amazing. She died saving my life."
"That's my girl. Always doing the stupid thing."
-Anya was killed in the destruction of Sunnydale.
Present day...[-] Chapter 1
L.A cemetery, it seemed to have a different vibe to the familiar Sunnydale cemeteries. The tombs and graves stones formed a majestic skyline over the dark abyss and the mist rolled in from the south which made it hard to see the dark green damp grass below their feet clearly. He was knew and unaware of the rules of the game that he had no experience playing. The only thing he could recall was waking up in a dark, cramped box underground. He broke his way to the surface and gazed in every direction to survey his surroundings. The mist made it hard to see through the many trees around him but he could faintly make out a silhouette in the darkness. "Who's there?" he called out. -Twang- went a crossbow arrow as it narrowly missed his left shoulder and plummeted into a tree behind him. It had come from the direction of the silhouette so he took off at breakneck speed in the opposite direction. He was amazed at his speed and the fact that he did not trip or even stumble once. He arrived at a clearing in the back of the cemetery near the old condemned church. A twig snapped somewhere in the far right of his direction and the newborn vampire went with his instincts and this time went towards it. He looked around for a few seconds too long and was sent trembling into the cemetery boundary wall. He landed awkwardly on his side and wasted crucial moments sprawling to his feet. He looked at his assassin and let out a week laugh. "You, you're chasing me? But you're just a little girl. Guess somebody wasn't taught any manners now was she? Such insolence demands punishment!" He exclaimed as he lunged forward at the 13 year old girl in front of him. She dodged his attack and kicked him right back into the brick wall only this time he made a dent in it.
"Attacking little girls in dark cemeteries at night is hardly setting a healthy example now is it?" she retorted.
"Oh that's it, let's dance baby girl." He once again lunged at her but instead caught her off guard by ducking under her attack and thrusting her by the neck into the nearest tombstone. She hit it with an almighty thump and shook her head from side to side.
"Owch!" she exclaimed as she started at him once more. She managed to get a few healthy punches at him but in the end was no match for him. He grabbed her last attempt at a punch and twisted her around so that she was standing in front of him but facing the opposite direction. He glared down at her appetizing and supple neck and every natural instinct began to kick in. He leant in.
"Goodnight baby doll, don't let the bed bugs bite-." Suddenly the arm that was tightly wrapped around her torso was weakened and condemned to dust. She turned around to see who had saved her and a blonde woman with a familiar face stood looking down at her holding a stake in her gloved hand.
"I had him!" cried Amalia up at Buffy's face.
"Good effort Amalia, really don't feel bad it was only your second attempt after training. Come on out girls." commanded Buffy. Eight different girls swiftly popped out from their hiding places behind trees and hedges, all of different races, origins and ages. They joined Buffy and Amalia and formed a group semi circle against the cemetery boundary wall. "Can anybody tell me what Amalia did wrong?" She asked. An Asian girl raised her hand, she seemed no older that sixteen. "Yes um Fumiko, right?"
"Yes, um, is it that-that she... talked too much?" she asked while she thought carefully about her words.
"Partly, can anybody tell me why talking during your fight can be beneficial?" Buffy asked again. A Caucasian girl with long black her spoke out.
"Because it can confuse your opponent, make them lose focus. Gives us the edge." She said with emphasis.
"Good, correct. Thank you..."
"It's Kate."
"Kate..."
"Just Kate."
"Right, okay. Thank you Kate. Can anybody else tell me how talking too much is bad, well not so much bad but not good?" Buffy asked enthusiastically. Kate spoke out again.
"Because you could end up focusing too much on what your next comeback will be instead of planning how you're going to best dust that evil son-of-a bitch."
"Again, correct." Buffy studied Kate for a moment or two. Her hair seemed straightened and reached down to her lower back. She wore a pale beige coat with black buttons and black pants. She seemed around seventeen years old and had her arms folded. She had a scar across her right eyebrow and appeared angry yet enthusiastic to learn. The sky had turned an off pink colour in the time that Buffy had quizzed the slayers, the mist had retreated from the cemetery and the grass became clear. "Okay guys listen up, it's almost sunrise so follow Rona back to the car and she'll take you all back to the Hotel." said Buffy. Rona signalled the Slayers to follow her back to the direction of the entrance and they turned to follow. "Uh, not you" the girls turned around puzzled as to who Buffy was addressing. "Kate, you're with me." Buffy watched as Rona and the other seven slayers disappeared into the crevasse that was L.A cemetery.
Buffy tapped Kate on the shoulder but when Kate turned around Buffy was gone. "What the..." she said as she looked around.
"Up here" Buffy called from the cemetery wall. Buffy must've leaped up onto it and sat down. "Tell you what, if you can leap over this wall I will answer your first question completely truthfully no matter how embarrassing or personal it is, do we have a deal?" Kate enjoyed a challenge and so began attempts at getting over the wall. It just seemed to get taller and taller. Her first attempt she just plain jumped at it but couldn't get the right force off of the ground. Next she tried running at the wall but Y'know, gravity's a bitch. Kate got to around her seventh attempt and just managed to grasp the roof of the wall and began to pull herself up. Buffy quickly reached for her hands and pulled them off causing her to descend back to the ground.
"What the hell was that!" asked Kate angrily.
"I didn't say I was going to make this easy for you" Buffy replied innocently.
"Pffftt, Y'know what, I don't need this, I'm outa here." Kate said bitterly whilst thrusting her arms in the air and walking in the opposite direction.
"You're just going to give up, just like that? Guess I was wrong about you." Buffy assumed. Kate turned back around and noticed Buffy about to jump back onto the ground.
"Wait!" Kate cried as she began walking back towards her with hands on hips. "And just what is that supposed to mean?"
"First, lose the attitude and second, I just thought of you as somebody who perceivers, is different and likes a challenge"
"Don't go throwing round that reverse psychology crap at me Buffy, you don't know me."
"I'm not. And true, I don't know you at all. But that's what I'm out here trying to do. Now I don't think you can actually get over this wall. So prove me wrong, I dare ya. Besides, if you don't hurry up, you're gunna be her first meal." Buffy said whilst pointing at a female vampire who was climbing out of her grave.
"Damn it, Buffy this isn't funny! I've never had a one on one with a vamp before, help me up, please" Feared Kate. Buffy rummaged through her pockets and dropped a stake to the floor. "Are you kidding me!" Kate asked angrily. Buffy shrugged and simply smiled. Kate tore off her coat and threw it at the floor where it heaped up near the grave of one Michael Gregory. She picked up the stake and stood waiting for the vampire to make the first move. The vampire wore a long floral red and white dress and had short, curly blonde hair that was covered in mud. "Y'know the fact that you're blonde really makes you less intimidating" said Kate mockingly.
"Hey!" called Buffy from above. Kate rolled her eyes and made the first move. She leaned forward and went straight for trying to stake the vamp. The vampire caught her attack and knocked the stake out of her hand, kicked her to the torso and she stumbled over her jacket to the ground. The vamp jumped on top of her and began to lean in to feed off of her. Kate retaliated with a head but which disoriented the vamp long enough for Kate to get back up. The vampire made several back-hand punch, normal punch and kick attempts but considering Kate had never had a one-on-one she was remarkably skilled. She side kicked the vampire into the tomb and she fell to the floor. Kate ran at the tomb, bounced off of it and hurled herself onto the wall next to Buffy.
"What are you doing, are you just going to unleash a vampire onto the streets of Los Angeles?" Buffy asked confused.
Kate handed Buffy her stake back and said "Just wait for it." The sun shone through the gap in-between Buffy's and Kate's heads which shone onto the vampire, she screamed out with pain and was set on fire, then crumbled to dust.
"Impressive," Buffy said approvingly. "What about your jacket?"
"There's blood on it from when I tripped over it and hit my head, besides I think I've earned a new one" Kate said as she smiled and tucked her hair back behind her ears.
"C'mon" Buffy dropped off of the wall on the opposite side which revealed a street of roaring early morning cars and business men, "We can get back to Angel's hotel this way." Kate followed her off of the wall and across the streets.
Buffy didn't like the big city and as demon infested as it was, she missed Sunnydale. She missed the familiar feeling of home but all that was left was a giant crater stretching for miles. L.A had huge skyscrapers and men in hot dog suits while Sunnydale remained suburban and secluded. Even though they had only been in L.A for a week she felt as though she'd lost ten inches in height, she felt so small and lonely. This was very odd considered the amount of people she was surrounded with. She had her loving friends and Giles, Andrew, Dawn and of course the new slayers. They had arrived in L.A with about seventeen slayers but in the past week Willow managed to locate another nine just in L.A. Kate was one of those nine, Willow found her two days ago and convinced her foster parents to let her go with them. Kate seemed so at home in L.A which made Buffy very envious as she assumed they would be in the city for a while. They reached a street corner and Buffy could make out the outline of the Hyperion Hotel "If that was your first one-on-one, where did you learn to fight like that?"
"Oh I grew up in a house with six older brothers, it was either learn how to fight or be drooled on until they all moved out. Besides my Dad liked his whiskey, he used to hit my Mom and I when the boys were out. But eventually my Mom left and I got stuck with twice the beatings. But I knew my Mom was safe so I just went on like everything was okay."
"Kate, I'm so sorry."
"Don't be, I'm not."
"So about that question I promised you"- Buffy began.
"Well I did take care of that vampire too; wouldn't you agree I've earned another one?" inquired Kate.
"That is true, sure why not. I'm going to regret this aren't I?"
"It's possible, so I guess my first question would have to be, was it hard?"
"Was what hard?"
"Being told you were chosen for some higher purpose, that you're destined to kill demons and vampires and stuff until one of them kills you instead?"
"I was called to be the Slayer just after my sixteenth birthday. It was actually here in L.A. It was only after that we moved to Sunnydale. Family stuff, and Willow did tell you that it wasn't always like this right, that it wasn't always that there where thirty or forty slayers in one area alone?"
"No..."
"You haven't been told about what happened?"
"Not exactly no, I was only told that I was chosen, dragged off to some hotel here in L.A with about two dozen other girls, given a room and basically told nothing. Well except the basics on monster killing."
"Kate, I'm so sorry I didn't know..."
"It's fine Buffy please, there are so many new girls arriving I get that it's hard to keep up. Please, go on."
"Well about a while ago this mega bad-ass demon called the first tried to wipe out the slayer line off of the face of the planet."
"What's the Slayer line?"
"Oh right, I, um, basically up until a week ago there were only two Slayers in the hole world alone. You see the legend is 'into every generation there is a chosen one. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer.' Giles loves telling that speech by the way." Kate laughed. "And when I turned sixteen I was called to be The Slayer. Just me, nobody else, and that's when my Mom and I moved to Sunnydale. Are you following okay?"
"Yeah, go on."
"Well that's where I met Xander and Willow"-
"Xander, that drunk on the third floor in the hotel?"
"He's going through a rough patch right now; he just needs time alone for a while. Anyway there was this big evil bad guy vampire called the Master, who I fought and I lost. He killed me. I was dead for about two, three minutes before Xander and Angel gave me CPR. Eventually I beat the guy but because I was physically dead, a new slayer was called. Her name was Kendra."
"Kendra, that's Willow's girlfriend right?"
"Wow you really are new to this aren't you? No, no her name is Kennedy."
"Oh right, yeah."
"Well after about a year of Kendra being a Slayer she was murdered by one of Angel's old buddies called Drusilla, she's a vampire."
"Angel is a vampire!"
"Whoa, calm down he has this gypsy curse going for him, basically he has a soul now.
"So he's like a good vampire?"
"Exactly, anyway when Kendra died that's when Faith was called. And for a long time it was just me and her"
"Well that must've made it easier, Y'know lift the weight off of your shoulders?"
"Well for about half a year, seven months sure."
"Why, was she abducted by aliens or something?" Kate said jokingly.
"No, she went crazy and tried to kill us all." Buffy said plainly. It felt so odd to be sharing her life story with a girl she barely knew.
"Oh, right, well, um" Stuttered Kate.
"Oh no it's all okay now, I mean I put her in a coma for nine months but she eventually did her time in jail. We had to break her out though because we needed her help with the upcoming apocalypse. You see you only received your abilities about a week ago right? Before that you were just a potential slayer. A potential slayer is a slayer that hasn't been called yet. And The First thought it would be fun to wipe out the potential slayers so that when it killed Faith and I that would be it, no more slayers. So Giles started rounding them up and bringing them to Sunnydale for protection. And we trained them to fight but they were no match for the uber-vamps that worked for the first and came out of the Hellmouth. You see thousands of years ago three magical priests took a girl from her village or tribe or whatever and chained her down in a cave. They infused her with the strength and speed of a demon. And through that spell they created the very first Slayer, one girl in the entire world and into ever generation a new slayer is chosen when the old slayer dies, so I decided lets change the rule. And Willow used the magic of the Scythe"-
"The Scythe?"
"It's sort of like a Slayer's version of a light sabre, only better and less noisy. So yeah I got Willow to do this spell above the Hellmouth"-
"The Hellmouth?"
"Like the area 51 of vamps and demons and whatever else. Sunnydale High was actually built right on top of the one in Sunnydale, that's why it wasn't your typical American High School. Anyhow I got Willow to use the Scythe's essence to change the rule. We made every potential Slayer into an actual Slayer. They just need to be taught the basics and"-
"So you did this to me?" Kate stopped dead in her tracks and faced Buffy.
"What?" Buffy asked Confused and alarmed.
"You're the reason My Daddy's lying in a hospital bed right now!"
"Kate I didn't touch your father, I don't even know him."
"No Buffy, you don't understand. I came home from school one day; my Dad was drunk and passed out on the couch so I turned the T.V off. I knocked over a bottle off the coffee table and it smashed on the floor. He was so angry with me, furious actually. He pushed me down and got on top of me, and suddenly his hits didn't hurt as much anymore. I had this knew instinct to fight back so I did. I kicked him off of me and he flew right across the room. He hit his head on the corner of the fire place flame. My brother Tom was upstairs in the shower. He heard the commotion and ran downstairs and found me standing over him. He was bleeding out on the floor." Kate had begun to cry. She held her hands out in front of Buffy and started to shout. People from across the streets began to stare. "These almost killed my Father. My brothers couldn't even look at me after that. I told my Mom that he was hitting me again but she acted like she didn't know what I was talking about. So I ran away, here to L.A where I was put into foster care. And they loved me, I was only there for three months but I could tell that they loved me, and for once I'd found a home that I wanted to go to after school. And you dragged me away from that!"
"Kate, I-I-I did-didn't"-
"I guess my second question is going to have to be how guilty and pathetic do you feel know?" Kate gasped her mouth with her hand and grasped her stomach with the other. They were standing just outside of the entrance to the Hyperion. The gates where old and rusted but the flowers inside seemed to bloom. The fountain the centre glistened in the morning sunshine but Buffy could not take the time to appreciate how beautiful it was because she was still stunned by the revelation that Kate had just declared to her. Kate ran inside.
Buffy sat on the edge of the water fountain and contemplated the pavement tiles until Dawn came out and asked "What's her problem?"
"Are we bad people Dawnie?" Buffy asked.
[-] Chapter 2
"What?" Dawn was deeply confused.
"What we did to these girls, was it incredibly selfish?" Buffy asked with tears welling up in her eyes.
"What we did to these girls, I never really contemplated it before now, and I guess I just assumed they didn't have a life before becoming a slayer. A lot of these girls had families, friends and a home. And we took them away from that, we literally dropped a huge wait on their shoulders and expected them to accept it. Well I did at least. And me most of all should know the loneliness and isolation that comes with being a slayer and I did that to these girls."
"Buffy listen to me" Dawn grabbed Buffy's face to interrupt her gaze at the floor so she'd look instead into her eyes. "Listen to me very carefully. Girls from all around the world were being brutally murdered by the big daddy Evil; all you did was give those girls a chance to defend themselves. "
"Well yeah but at what expense? We still have to find them all, train them all and then tell them that it's their duty to protect their village, town or even city. Tell them they have to keep this big secret, and I don't' know if I can do that Dawn. Maybe it's time for me to get out of the slayer game. I carried that weight around for seven years and then I go and pull a stunt like this? I think I'm done. Finished."
"I don't believe that Buffy. Maybe what we did was a little selfish, but half of those girls would have been found by the bringers and killed by now. We did was what right for the greater good and we won"-
"And it doesn't matter who we hurt in the process?"
"Of course it matter's Buffy but you of all people should know that there are hard decisions to make in life. When you first became the Slayer it took some adjusting, there were a lot of nights when I would here you crying in your room. But it got easier right? And it will for these girls I promise you."
"You really think so?"
"I know so. Now come inside, everybody is waiting for you."
"Who exactly is everybody?"
"When I came out to see you Giles, Willow, Angel, Faith, Kennedy and Mr. Wood were waiting in the lobby. The girls are still in bed."
"Xander hasn't come out of his room yet then huh?"
"He comes and goes. Mostly just to break into Wesley's liquor cabinet. Willow tried talking to him this morning but he just grunted whenever she paused for a reply"
"He should be okay soon. We'll find a place somewhere, or maybe stay here. I don't know but ill figure it out. Let's go inside." Dawn rubbed her thumb over Buffy's face where the tears had slided from her eyes to her jaw. Buffy put her arm around her sister and they walked side-by-side simultaneously through the entrance to the Hyperion. The carpet was an off blue colour and seemed torn and tattered in patches. The stairs led onto a hard tiled floor which was home to magical symbol that Angel must've used before Buffy arrived. The office was closed and shut off from view and four girls sat talking on the balcony. Giles was leaning on a pillar near the stairway to the balcony and Angel leaned against a wall on the opposite side of the room, his arms where folded and he looked extremely tired. Willow was sat on a sofa in the centre of the room holding Kennedy's hand as she sat next to her. Faith and Robin also sat hand in hand but on the opposite sofa. Robin was bleeding under the white wife-beater vest he was wearing. Dawn kissed Buffy on the cheek and whispered "I'll be upstairs if you need me." Buffy pulled her arm off of her and sat down on the stairs that Dawn had just ascended up. She put her head in her lap and the room fell silent. The girls on the balcony above seemed to have disappeared. Everybody looked at her contently. They expected so much of her, Buffy thought those days were over when she cast the spell to give the potential slayers their abilities but it was only for a brief second. The sound of a liquor bottle smashing from one floor up broke the silence in the room and Buffy looked up. She spotted the blood on Robin as she swished the hair out of her vision.
"What happened to you?" she asked politely.
"Vanguard demon just outside of the city limits kinda' roughed me up a little; I'll be fine."
"How are the girls?" Faith asked.
"They're adjusting if nothing else." Buffy replied. The silence continued for a while, maybe even longer this time, Angel paced up and down the room as to stop him falling asleep and Giles cleaned his glasses as though it were an Olympic sport.
"What the hell, I'm just gunna say it." Kennedy announced. "What the hell are we doing here Buffy? It's been just over a week and we're still hiding out like animals."
"Kennedy!" whispered Willow angrily.
"What, you where all thinking it; I'm just the only one willing to say it." Kennedy spat as she let go of Willow's hand and folded her arms across her chest.
"You know what Kennedy I'm sick of you speaking up and thinking you're so much better than me." Buffy began, "But guess what, now you're a slayer too. You're just as strong as I am; you're just as fast as I am and so are all other girls. Why is it always me that has to make these tough decisions? I don't know what's best for us right now. We buried our home under miles of rubble and all that is left of it is a huge crater that the news is blaming on bizarre alien activity. If you're so willing to do all these things why don't you take charge for once? Because like most of you, I'm tired, no I'm exhausted." Buffy waited for Kennedy to respond maybe verbally or physically but instead she remained in her seat and wouldn't make eye contact with anybody. "Yeah that's what I thought. But she did have a point. We've been an inconvenience to Angel for long enough, we need our own place."
"Or you could stay here?" Angel interjected.
"What?" Buffy asked, "What about Angel investigations?"
"Actually we've been offered a position at Wolfram & Hart. We thought we'd take a look Y'know, diminish evil from the ground up. Wesley, Fred and Gun are there now but I thought it best to stay here. If we take the job then this place is yours." He offered.
"Let's not rule anything out yet, it's a very good offer Buffy and with more girls arriving every day we need a place as big as this, possibly bigger to do training and give the girls a place to sleep." Giles advised.
"Yeah I guess that's a start. Does anybody else have any bright ideas?"
"Cleveland." Willow added.
"What's Cleveland? Or better question, where is Cleveland?" Faith asked.
"Of course Willow! Cleveland is a city in Ohio right here in the U.S" Giles explained
"Yeah and Sunnydale was a town in northern California. What's so special about Cleveland?" Faith asked.
"Cleveland too is the home to one of the six Hellmouth's on the planet. Well one of the two still active now that Sunnydale Hellmouth is destroyed." Giles explained again.
"So what, we just saddle up and rent out a few tents on a field somewhere in Cleveland and spend another seven years of our lives killing bad guys? I don't think so." Buffy said disapprovingly.
"Well were better to train the Slayers Buffy than a Hellmouth? We have to so what is right for these girls no matter the cost, It was us that did this to them."Giles muttered.
"Y'know what, I'm sick of that crap. We never did this to those girls, they were chosen, just like I was! There becoming a Slayer was inevitable." Buffy cried in frustration.
"Well yeah B but we didn't exactly stand by and watch until they got their Slayer powers did we? We pushed those girls to the front of the queue to be next in line to be chosen. That's on us... and red here." Faith said as the voice of reason. Willow dropped her head and looked down at her shoes; she refused to feel guilty for casting that spell. "It was a necessary risk" she thought.
"So that's it, we're going to Cleveland? Robin asked.
"We can just up and go, were will we stay, on the streets?" Buffy asked as she became more and more okay with the idea. She did indeed feel guilt for sharing the weight of being a slayer with these girls and she figured this was the best way to help them.
"No." Nobody had noticed that Wesley had entered the Hotel Hyperion. He was dirty and unshaven and his brown jacket seemed to darken the mood in the room.
"Wesley is everything okay at Wolfram & Hart?" Angel sounded concerned.
"Yes Angel everybody is fine. We took the deal, But on one condition. I asked that Wolfram and Hart use whatever was left of their evil resources money to find the Slayers a place to train. They found several estates all over the world that seem big enough and secluded enough for you to begin training the girls. All you have to do is pick one." Wesley tried to hide an excited smile behind his rugged frown.
"So that's it then, we become the new faces of the centre of all evil in Los Angeles and Buffy picks up and leaves to a musty old fortress in Cleveland?" Angel asked. It seemed to be all too easy.
"It would appear so and nice choice on Cleveland by the way Mr. Giles. What would you do without any Hellmouth to battle?" Wesley stated with a grin. The gang began to mumble amongst themselves. Buffy got out of her sitting position, stood up and faced Wesley.
"Is this legit Wes, I mean it just all seems so sudden." She asked timidly.
"I've gone over the contract several times Buffy, all that's getting in your way is Angel's signature at the bottom of the page." He explained. Buffy turned round to face Angel and he signalled her to the corner of the room, she responded and walked after him.
"Is this what you want Buffy?" He asked, "Are you sure you want to fight the Hellmouth over again?"
"I gotta' be honest it wasn't my first choice but like Faith said, we had a major part in changing these girl's lives and if moving to the Hellmouth and training them there helps us make up for that then I have to take it, with or without your help." She emphasised as she gazed into his eyes for a brief moment waiting for a response. He gently put his hands on her shoulder and moved it down to her body until he grasped her hand.
"I trust you to have made the right decision here Buffy." He stated.
"I have." She replied.
Buffy stayed in the lobby of the hotel with Giles, Wesley and Angel deciding on a property to move into in Cleveland whiles the girls and remaining scoobies had some breakfast and started packing. The contract didn't come with any images so Buffy had to use her imagination to form the picture of the building in her mind from the description provided. She decided on a condemned building that was once a boarding school for boys in the 1890's. There was an apparent earthquake which caused the building to be set on fire. All but four teachers and twenty one students made it out alive. Wolfram and Hart bought the property about eight months ago to house some of their... otherworldly clients and had begun refurbishment. Before the building was made into a boarding school Wesley told Buffy that Wolfram and Hart had found evidence that a Slayer from the early 14th century named Cassandra Blaire led a crusade of warriors against an evil warlock named Nathaniel Thomas. He bested her in the fight but she managed to strip his magical abilities before she went down completely. It was this epic tale that persuaded Buffy to train her girls there.
It was a long drive from Los Angeles to Ohio. Thirty one hours and twenty eight minutes to be exact. Willow was going to book flights on the web but was reminded that Faith was still top on the FBI's most wanted list and as soon as she entered a federal airport, she was a goner. So Angel leant them some money to rent out two coaches, two vans and a Giles's car. Robin offered to drive one van of luggage while Faith drove the other. Kennedy and Rona were put in charge of keeping an eye on the girls on the coaches while they endured the day's journey from L.A to Ohio. Giles, Buffy, Willow, Xander and Dawn road it Giles' car as they trailed behind the two coaches as Giles didn't know how to get there. Giles drove while Buffy rode shotgun. Dawn was wedged spaciously in between Willow and Xander. Willow wore a pair of large darkly tinted sunglasses while Xander wore a dirty T-shirt that was once white but had turned a dark yellow colour. Over that her wore a red and white un-buttoned check shirt that Willow had cleaned for him this morning, and of course his eye patch.
"So this is fun huh guys? Just the original scoobies on a road trip down California highway" Willow said whilst making an ocean wave gesture with her hand out of the car.
"You're awfully chipper this morning Will!" Buffy grinned as she wiped her hair out of her face as she looked into the back seat.
"I feel real good about this Buff, like were moving on and re-writing the written! How 'bout you Xand, got any vibes about the future?" She asked him nervously. He didn't reply, but instead fondled with one of the buttons on his shirt. "Xand, Xander?"
"Hugh, what, I um... future vibes right, nope I haven't felt anything like that in a while." He said as he swigged off another portion of a can of beer he was holding. Willow wished she had just left him alone and Dawn placed her hand on his knee.
"You okay Xand?" Buffy asked concerned.
"Y'know I wish everybody would just stop asking me that. Look at me! I've never felt better"- He gestured his arm up when he said the word better and lost grip on the beer can. It landed on the floor of the car and began to stain Giles' white leather seats. Dawn quickly bent over to pick it up and threw it out onto the sidewalk.
"Oh, Xander look at my car!" Giles exclaimed. Xander reached for a bottle this times and ripped of the lid off of it causing it to make a 'tssssssssss' sound.
"That's life G-man. She sucks like a bitch." He mumbled as his lips curved around the tip of the bottle. He nudged Dawns hand off of his lap and slouched back into his seat. The rest of the car journey was filled with awkward small talk and radio fiddling. Xander eventually passed out as it began to get dark. The highway was empty and Rona noticed a sign saying "Now leaving Indiana, Ohio dead ahead." Buffy noticed it too so she silently nudged Willow and pointed the sign out to her. Willow told Buffy to call Rona and tell her to wake up the girls and tell them they'll be arriving in around a half hour. Willow did the same with Kennedy and Robin and Faith signalled with their headlights that they already knew. They were driving along the hill side for about 10 minutes; Willow got a little upset when Xander didn't make a 'Road Runner' joke, when they bent around the corner. The driver of the in front coach honked his horn to signal that they had arrived. Wesley had described the building itself as 'a safe house, just outside of the city limits, safe and secluded' but even Kennedy who was showered in luxuries from birth was impressed by this place. It was more of a mansion type fortress than a safe house. It was still early hours in the morning so only the contour was visible but it was huge to put it lightly. It must have had at least four floors and the walls emanated right from the cliff side. The yellow glow of light coming out the many windows gave the impression to Dawn that she had finally been accepted to Hogwarts. The driver of the front coach turned onto a private lane and entered some combination into a machine that opened the gates. The road stretched upwards towards the fortress and was lit up by what seemed to be solar powered street lights. They reached another set of gates only these were smaller and bared. Four armed burley men in black commando uniforms stood at the gate and kept a watchful eye at Giles's car and the other vehicles. The two coaches pulled over at opposite ends of the path. Faith pulled up her van near Rona's coach while Robin pulled up his next to Kennedy's. Giles parked in the dead centre. All was silent, Faith looked over at Buffy. Buffy shook her head at Faith and Robin to signal them to stay where they were. Robin gave the same look to Kennedy and Faith gave the same look to Rona. "Giles stay here, don't let anybody leave the car, turn back as fast as you can if there's trouble." She ordered.
"Buffy, we have around twenty five slayers here and all they are is four men. If they try something they don't have chance." Giles scoffed.
"Giles, those men have guns. We could take them but they'd take half of us first." Buffy warned.
"Ah, yes, well, I um didn't notice that. I suppose ill stay in the car then." Giles agreed. Buffy opened the latch on the car door and it swung open. She stood before the men with her hands on her hips and looked at each one in turn.
"What seems to be the problem officer?" she asked with a twistedly innocent tone.
[-] Chapter 3
"Miss Summers I presume?" asked the guard furthest to the right.
"Yeah, who's asking?" she retorted
"I'm with Wolfram & Hart, we've been expecting you." The gates behind the men opened as the furthest guard to the left whispered something into a device strapped into his shoulder. The guards all entered through the bared black gates one by one and marched up onto the porch of the mansion. They stood and waited for the guard who had spoken first to give them further instructions. He tucked his gun back into its deposit that hung from his shoulder, pulled down his mask and placed a pair of thin sunglasses on. He traipsed up to Buffy and held out his hand as an invitation for a hand shake. His hair was short and spiked in the front but flat in the back and it reflected a brown glow from one of the headlights. He was about two inches taller than Buffy but shorter than Robin. He spoke with a strong British accent and was of Caucasian race. Buffy looked down at his hand and up again into his glasses. She didn't trust the man and so silently refused his hand shake. "Well I can't say I'm surprised, I wouldn't trust me either. But I can assure you if you'll follow me into the Manor all will be explained and you can stay if you like what you here and if you don't then you're free to go."
"Wait a second, if I like what I hear? I was told that this was our place if Angel signed the contract, you're saying that this place comes with terms and conditions?" Buffy asked confused and fiercely.
"Ma'am Wolfram and Hart is a multi-billion dollar company and we just want to make sure we have the details right before we give you this place." He mumbled defensively.
"Buffy!" Faith called, she had gotten out of the van very conspicuously and began walking in Buffy's direction. "Can I speak to you a minute B?"
"Sure Faith" She obliged.
"By all means take your time" the guard said happily. Buffy let out a weak smile and walked over to Faith.
"You're not going in there alone B, this is Wolfram and Hart that we're doing business with here, who knows if that contract Wes was given was even the real deal, or if that was even Wesley!" Faith warned.
"Faith, we have no choice, we don't have the money to pay the drivers to take us back to L.A. We knew when Angel signed that contract that this was a one way street okay? So if you wanna' come inside with me than by all means." Buffy informed. Buffy tried to put on a brave face for the crowd of her friends that was gathered within the perimeter but she secretly felt just as cautious as Faith did. Faith looked nervous but nodded in agreement. They steadily made their way up the narrow foot path that ran through the gates with the guard leading the way.
"Y'know I hate saying I told you so B" whispered Faith.
"We both know that's what you live for," Buffy joked. The Slayers smiled at each other. Buffy could see the building a lot clearer now. The walls had patches of brick that seemed really old, the moss that grew on them spread down to the ground, other patches of brick seemed charred but stable but most of the brick work seemed six weeks old. The history of this building could be understood just from a glance at the entrance. The grand doors were made out of dark wood and metal. The frame was brand new; the steel door knockers hung from around the height of Faith's shoulder and had the pattern of a lion on it. There was also a crest at the very top of the door, it was shaped like an old fashioned shield and was split into four sections. The top left section of the shield had the letter C on it while the bottom right had the letter B on it.
They finally caught up with the other guards who pushed open the doors for Buffy and Faith. The main guard gestured his hand through the threshold and the Slayers entered the Manor. They were completely astounded by the size of the building. The entrance hall –as the guard called it- was about the size of Sunnydale College library and just as grand. The walls were layered in thick dark red paint that was illuminated by the grand glass chandelier that hung above their heads and the several lamps and fire torch's that hung off of the walls. The windows were draped with long flowing curtains and the ceiling was painted with quite a unique pattern. Two large light wooded staircases derived from the upper floor, a long old red carpet was sown into the wood of the stairs in the centre. There was a lounge area to the left of the entrance hall with numerous brown leather corner sofas and a T.V hung from the wall. And to the right was an extensive white glass table draped with a dark brown cloth that matched the tall dark brown leather chairs that were neatly tucked under it. In-between the two staircases on the ground floor however was a closed door that suggested it was as old as the moss overgrown bricks on the wall outside for it also had the unfamiliar crest on the top of it. "Ladies, if you'll join me at the dining table?" the guard asked. Buffy did as instructed immediately but Faith was still stunned by the room she was standing in, Buffy nudged her and they sat down at one end of the dining table. Buffy counted as they walked up it that the table had twenty four chairs down one side, twenty four opposite and one at each end, you do the math. The guard sat himself at the head of the table while Buffy and Faith took their place next to him but on opposite sides. "Did the Manor make a good impression?" he asked cheerfully and he pulled a white piece of paper out of a briefcase under the table.
"Man you kiddin', this place is tight!" Faith exclaimed. Buffy looked at her as if to say, "Calm down" or "Play it cool." Faith spotted the look and placed her hands in her lap.
"Well good, I'm glad. Allow me to formally introduce myself, my name is Nicholas Reynolds and I have been appointed your liaison to the senor partners." He stated.
"Wait hold on a second, we don't need a liaison buddy. We were told that we we're being given this property as a reward for Angel taking over as CEO of the L.A branch of Wolfram and Hart. We want free range to use this property as we see fit and without influence from any of your 'senor partners'. It's that or the deals off." Buffy bargained. Faith shot Buffy a worrying look but Buffy reassured her that she knew what she was doing.
"I see. Well lucky for you that is what it states here in the contract, the only thing that the senor partners want here is to house me in the Manor to keep an eye on their new investment." Nicholas reassured.
"Right, but what if this eye they have in here, doesn't like what it see's?" Buffy asked. "Do we get instant eviction because that's a deal breaker too."
"I was only told that I need to file a yearly report of what has been happening within the manor. As far as I'm concerned if you fight an apocalypse outside on the front lawn and the Manor remains intact, I see no reason to even mention it in my file. My job is to look after the Manor, not you." His accent made it hard not to trust him because it sounded exactly the same as Giles'. Eventually Buffy was swayed into signing the contract that says that she agreed to 'housing and protecting the liaison to the senor partners' and that she 'grants him free range to file whatever he deems worthy in his reports'. Nicholas placed the signed contract back into his brief case and sat in silence with the Slayers until Faith began asking some questions.
"So Nick, I think you need to fill B and me in on the smaller details of the place, like bathrooms, basements, escape roots..."
"Yes of course, the Manor itself has five floors; each floor has three bathrooms equipped with showers, bathing and lavatory appliances. Each floor also has 12 bedrooms stocked with a double four poster bed and wardrobe. The first floor however has 17 rooms used as teaching rooms back in the 1800's, if you would prefer it Wolfram and Hart can transform those into bedrooms as well. At the end of each corridor is a balcony 10x14 meters in perimeter for recreational and downtime requirements. If you look behind me you will see a closed door. Through that door you will find a fully stocked kitchen, washing machine room and a second lounge area. A library fully stocked with information on everything that goes bump in the night is available through there too. The basement is currently undergoing remodelling so the entrance to it has been magically sealed for your own protection for the time being. You training spaces are temporarily located across the back garden until we can fully renovate the basement to fit your needs. Quilts, toilet paper, basic emergency food, towels and more can be found stored in the attic that is accessible by a ladder found near the fifth floor recreation balcony. Each floor has two reasonably large store rooms that the cleaners in 1890 used to hold their mops and brushes but they're fairly large enough for the witch to stock any magical items she may have and Mr. Giles could use one as an office. As for escape roots, several were built during the crusade of Cassandra Blaire over 400 years ago but none of which have yet been found. Perhaps during your stay here you may stumble across some. Do you have any further questions?" Nicholas asked smugly. Both Faith and Buffy shook their heads from side to side, jaw open slightly at the description Nicholas just provided. "Excellent, now am I right in thinking you have twenty six slayers in your care?"
"Um, I uhh, yes that-that...is correct." Buffy stuttered.
"Marvellous, in order to keep up appearances Wolfram and Hart have told the local city council that this is an orphanage for gifted young women and so they have enrolled your girls that are under the age of eighteen in private school. Uniforms for their appropriate schools are stocked in the attic but the uniforms are only mandatory on special occasions within the campus, or so I'm told. Your girls must attend school from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday" Nicholas informed. "The schools are only a 25-40 minute walk give or take. My room is actually located on the fifth floor at the end of the corridor and if you ever need me, please knock. Please wait for me to dismiss my men and you may bring in your Slayers. I look forward to our futures together Miss Summers."
Two weeks later...
The Girls settled into their new home quite quickly. Lots of the girls had already made friends during their time at the Hyperion so they quickly paired up and explored the mansion to find their chosen room. Most of the younger slayers chose the rooms on the top floor so Faith and Robin picked a room up their also. Then everybody else sort of fanned out across the manor. Giles insisted on a room near the kitchen as he was used to his early morning tea and read of the morning news paper so he chose the first bedroom on the second floor. Xander sat himself in the lounge area through the old door on the bottom floor and picked his room after everybody else; he ended up with the middle room on the fourth floor. Willow insisted that she be close to Xander to keep an eye on him so she and Kennedy chose a room two doors down from his. Dawn sweetly yet assertively asked Buffy if it was okay if she had her own room, Buffy just assumed she'd share with her sister but she didn't mind too much; dawn picked the room next door to Nicholas'. The third floor remained untouched except for Rona and Simone; they had become quite close since she was recruited back in L.A. She was Rona's age and from Rona's home town back in southern Carolina. Kate however was last of the new slayers to pick a room. She was the newest recruit and so hadn't made many friends. She didn't have much luggage either; just a backpack. Buffy wondered whether to ask Kate if she wanted to stay with her but Buffy new that Kate was not her biggest fan. Kate eventually picked a room on the third floor without a roommate. Buffy picked a room two doors down. Andrew asked to share with Xander but he regretted the idea when all Xander did was get drunk, so he wedged himself in-between two bathrooms on the second floor. Giles did eventually clean out one of the old storage closets on the fourth floor and carried a desk down from the attic and created himself an office. He spent most of his time in there reading some of the books he had taken from the downstairs library.
-Knock, knock, knock- went Giles' door one Thursday afternoon when 90% of the girls were in school. "Come in." He called. Willow opened the door and entered the room. It was illuminated by a laptop on the desk that shone against a bookshelf behind Giles. Even thought it was compact, Giles loved that room.
"Hi." She greeted him.
"Hello Willow. What can I do for you?"
"Well look at you acting all business man" She grinned and laughed.
"Ah yes, sorry it's so hard not to get caught up in the fact that I have my own office. And people actually knock when they want something. It's brilliant!"
"Well I'm glad. But I was wondering if I could take your car to the magic shop downtown. I'm constantly going back and forth as we exhaust our supplies while I do locator spells searching for lost Slayers but I don't know what it is lately. In the past two weeks we've found nobody in the country. It just seems a little off so I'm going to go down there to get a second opinion from a witch I met last week."
"I'd strongly advise against that Willow. We're new to the city and we don't know who to trust. Besides the Slayers here came into their abilities in their own time, I'm sure we'll have more girls in no time."
"Maybe you're right but I still need those supplies; keys please?"
"Well why don't we order them in? There has to be some other way then making eight trips a week to the magic shop. What if we ordered the supplies by the bucket load and keep a stock cupboard next to your room. That way you wouldn't have to make the trip to the shop several times every week and you could focus more on... whatever it is you focus on."
"We can't afford that Giles. I'm actually looking for work in the city, the kitchen supplies are being diminished and with no source of income we can't even buy simple locater spell essentials yet alone food for twenty six girls and the other nine of us."
"Actually I've been spending time with that Nicholas bloke, he's actually a remarkable fellow, and he told me he could hack into some of the watchers councils old frozen bank accounts. With the council gone there must be thousands of dollars there just waiting for somebody else to take it. Our money problems are a thing of the past Willow. Here" he handed her the car keys, "make the order at the magic shop and at... where ever it is you buy food from in this city. I assure I can take care of us financially, you just do the rest."
"Well you have become quite the business man haven't you Giles. I shouldn't be gone long and Kennedy's helping to sort out the classrooms on the first floor with the other six slayers who don't need to go to school. If you could just watch her while I'm away, there are so many girls around her; I get kinda' jealous." With that she swiftly left the room. Giles laughed silently to himself and adjusted his glasses to re begin reading.
Before Buffy, Willow had but one best friend all her life and his name was Alexander Harris. From in kindergarten when Willow broke the yellow crayon and cried, up until they destroyed their home of Sunnydale about one month ago. Throughout their friendship Willow and Xander formed many traditions, like the Charlie Brown movie marathon every Christmas and Xander would do his snoopy dance. But recently they formed a new tradition that neither one of them ever looked forward to. You see in Cleveland the Magic shop is located on a row of stores and on that row was Xander's new favourite hangout, the bench outside the liquor store. Usually when Willow spotted him sitting on that bench; dirty and smelling with his whiskey hand around yet another bottle, she would just smile and wave worryingly in his direction. When she got herself out of Giles' car she spotted him again and so continues their newest tradition. It had been raining heavily all day that day and judging by what Willow could see of Xander through the waterfall of rain he seemed to be dripping wet; he'd been on that bench all day. She smiled and waved just like every other time but he was completely oblivious to her this time. Willow felt like her heart sank in her chest as she turned to walk towards the entrance of the magic shop but the sound of yet another glass bottle smash and Xander screaming made her turn around and dash in his direction. She protected herself from the rain with an umbrella and though the clear plastic of the umbrella cover she could faintly make out the outline of about four little boys throwing things at Xander from across the street. He smashed another used bottle on the floor and grabbed the sharp pieces of glass in both hands. He stood up and began waving them about in the air and shouting things that she could not understand because the sound of the wind in her ears was deafening. As she approached him the kids ran off into an ally and he sat back down on his bench. His hands were bleeding from gripping the shards of glass to hard. "Xander, what are you doing!" Willow exclaimed.
"What does it look like Will, I'm sitting on my bench, and yeah it's my bench now!" he replied louder. He was obviously very drunk.
"They were just kids Xander they don't know any better!" she argued.
"Oh yeah, well som-some-somone sh-should teach those brats some manners. You hear that, old Xander is going to teach the children of Cleveland some respect!"
"Xander, you're bleeding." She said she reached for a tissue from her purse.
"Yeah well thanks for the news flash captain obvious!"
"Xander I miss Anya too." Willow cried with tears welling up in her eyes. Xander was stunned by Willow's sudden outburst. Since Anya's death nobody has been able to even say her name around him.
"No you don't." He mumbled.
"Yes... I do!" she cried.
"Did you cry?"
"What?"
"Of course you did. But you don't wake up every morning Willow feeling like you have nothing to live for! My life... my whole life I've never loved anybody as much as I did her and now she's gone. My world, my little blonde witty sarcastic world is buried under miles of rubble all alone and when she died, I may as well have too."
"I know you miss Anya Xander, we all do but this, screaming at little kids in the rain with bloodied hands and getting dangerously drunk isn't the way to deal with your grief."
"And when the love of your life was murdered all you did deal with it" he spat sarcastically. "Y'know what you did Willow, you almost destroyed the world, you tore the skin of another humans beings body, you almost turned Dawn back into a ball of energy and you dismembered Giles viciously. Well I'm sorry to disappoint you Will but I'm not some uber-witch like you. I can't just wave my arms and summon the forces of darkness to kill the people responsible because the people responsible are lying right next to the body of the love of my life, and they'll stay there forever. And there's not a damn thing anybody can do about it. So don't you stand there and act all high and mighty. How dare you."
"That's not fair." Willow mumbled through her tears.
"Well life isn't fair Will."
"Please just tell me how I can make things right please Xander; it kills me to see you like this."
"Y'know what you can do for me Willow?" he responded.
"What?" she asked.
"You can take me back to Sunnydale and push me over the edge of the crater." There was nothing she could say to him after that. He didn't even look at her as he turned back and disappeared into the mist of rain. She sat on that bench for a while. She replayed the conversation in her mind over again and she recalled something he had said, 'Well I'm sorry to disappoint you Will but I'm not some uber-witch like you'."He was absolutely right" she thought. Willow was one of the most powerful wiccans in the northern hemisphere and she suddenly got a dangerous idea. She'd considered it once before but knew that it was impossible but Xander said it himself, 'uber-Witch'. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her back down the street as the mud infested puddles splashed up at her. She entered the magic shop. It wasn't much different from the one in Sunnydale but this one was not as stocked and displayed properly.
"Willow!" called the shop keeper at the sight of her. "How's my favourite regular?"
"Hey Ernie. I need to know where I can find An Urn of Osiris." She requested.