"Giles, there has to be some kind of mistake."
"Buffy, I assure you, there is no mistake. She is a Potential Slayer."
"But Giles…"
"Buffy, please. I don't have time for this. The girl is a Potential and she'll need just as much protection as the others, if not more."
Spike lied there on Buffy's bed, his hands folded behind his head. From the sounds of it, Giles had returned from San Francisco with the newest SIT. Buffy didn't seem too pleased. Glancing at the clock, he sighed. Almost nightfall. Time for another long night of hands-on training with the girls. He sighed.
"What's all the fuss, luv?" He questioned, sauntering into the kitchen. Buffy and Willow halted their conversation and turned to look at him.
Buffy sighed heavily. "Willow, go make sure the girls are ready to go. Tell them me and Spike will be down to get them in a few minutes."
"What about Joey?" The redhead asked.
"She's not going." Buffy said sternly. "It's too risky."
"Right." Willow agreed. "Me and Xand can keep and eye on her while you're gone."
Buffy nodded, watching as her friend headed out of the kitchen.
"I take it Joey is our newest recruit?" Spike asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.
"Yeah…" Buffy mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.
He gave her a confused look. "S'wrong?"
She looked up at him, seeming aggravated. "Come here."
He continued to look confused as he followed her towards the basement stairs. She opened the door and began to descend down the steps. He followed, something telling him that this new girl was a bit different from the others.
"Go upstairs. Me and Spike'll be up in a minute." The Slayer said in a commanding tone. The mob of girls occupying her basement filed up the stairs, talking and giggling between themselves. They all greeted Spike as they walked past, a couple making ooglie-eyes at him.
"Where is she?" Buffy asked.
Willow, who was standing near the wall, nodded towards the corner. "She's still crying."
Spike and Buffy both turned and looked in the direction she had indicated.
Spike's eyes went wide. "You've got to be kiddin' me…"
Buffy's features remained grim. "That's what I said."
Sitting in the corner of the basement on top of a small pile of mats, there was a small girl, no older than five or six years old. She stared at them through a mess of long brown hair, her green eyes shimmering with tears.
"Spike, this is Joey." Buffy said flatly.
"There is no way that little thing is a Slayer." Spike said, pointing at the girl.
"Potential." Willow corrected.
"You know what I mean, Red. She's too damn small to be a threat to anything, let alone the bloody First."
"Tell me about it." Buffy grumbled. She sighed heavily. "Come on, we should go. I don't want to be out too late tonight, I have to work in the morning."
Spike nodded, looking back over his shoulder at the girl as he made his way towards the steps. Willow was trying to coax her out of the corner.
"Okay, we're just going to do couple rounds of the two major cemeteries tonight. Me and Spike will be there to watch, but you'll be doing the fighting." Buffy said simply, her eyes scanning over the girls scattered about the living room. There were eight of them now: Chloe, Vi, Molly, Kennedy, Rona, Amanda, and the two newest girls, a sixteen year old Vietnamese girl named Chao-Ahn and a fourteen year old French girl named Vallerie.
Chao didn't speak much English, but Spike and Giles had been able to guide her through most of the happenings with the slight bit of Vietnamese they could speak between them. Giles was a bit more helpful in this area, seeing as the only phrases Spike knew other than "Hello", "My name is…", and "Are you hungry?" were equivalents of "Fuck you!" and "I'm going to kill you now." Surprisingly, the girl had taken a liking to him and tended to stick closer to him on patrols. She had also added to his repertoire of foreign curses, much to Buffy's dislike.
"Buffy?"
The girls all turned their attention to Wilow as she walked into the room.
"Yeah Will?"
"She won't come out of the basement." The redhead informed her.
Buffy sighed. She didn't much like the idea of leaving the girl sitting in the basement alone all night. "I'll be down in a minute."
"I'll get it, luv." Spike said, walking towards Willow. "Just make sure they're ready to go when I get back."
"Thanks Spike." The Slayer said, giving him a small smile as he disappeared from view.
Spike sauntered down the stairs, his boots clomping loudly on the wood. When he reached the bottom, he took note that she was still huddled where she had been earlier.
"C'mon now kitten, time to go upstairs." He said, walking towards her.
She narrowed her eyes and slinked further into the corner.
Spike sighed. "Look, you're scared, I get that. Hell, I'd be messin' my drawers if I were you, but you can't just hide down 'ere forever."
"Leave me alone." She grumbled.
He chuckled. "So that's how you're playin' 'ey?" He questioned, squatting down in front of her. "Name's Joey, right?"
"Yes…" She pouted.
"M'Spike."
"So?"
He chuckled again. "You're a nasty little thing, aren't you?"
"I wanna go home." She pouted.
He sighed. "Sorry pet, can't do that. S'not safe. You're gonna have to stay here for awhile where we can keep an eye on you."
She remained silent.
"C'mon, you can go watch some cartoons or somethin'." He said, offering her his hand. She hesitated, but then slipped her hand into his, allowing him to pull her to her feet. "That a girl."
TBC…
A/N: I'm just playing around with an idea I had. M'hopin' everyone else finds it as amusing as I do. Spike's so cute wif little kids. :D Review!!