Author: mkcrl120
Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story belong to Joss Whedon or Mutant Enemy or some other people. I own nothing and wrote this just to get it out of my system.
Summary: Set a week after Chosen, the gang is starting to get it's act together.
Author's Notes: Unsure how comfy I am with this as a possibly finished product. See bottom for further details...
Setting Up Shop - 1/1
Random graveyard
Cleveland
"Are you sure this place needs a constant Slayer presence..?" Buffy whined at her Watcher.
"Yes." Giles responded in a disinterested tone, obviously having heard this line of reasoning beforehand."But there's nothing here..." Buffy informed him.
"It's a Hellmouth." Giles reminded her, "The major one for the American continent in fact."
"No demons, no Sunnydale-level weirdness, no demon bars, not that many mysterious animal-related attacks or deaths, no demon vibe setting off my Slayer-sense... in fact if this is a Hellmouth then where is it located..? Answer me that."
"We haven't located the epicentre." Giles wearil responded, allowing himself to join in this discussion. "You know that already.""I don't believe this is a Hellmouth." Buffy stated in a matter of fact tone.
"It's merely dormant." Giles informed her. "A few years before you moved to Sunnydale it had been much the same as this.""Sunnydale had an evil immortal Mayor and a trapped vampire Master... this place has what..? Come on... where's the Watchery level of detail now then?" Buffy huffed at him.
"As I was saying." Giles continued, disregarding her previous statements. "Sunnydale was indistinguishable from the rest of surburban America. At the time, the most active Hellmouth on the planet was in Paris."At that information, Buffy got a faraway look in her eyes. "Paris... I totally wouldn't be complaining if I was guarding a Paris-based hellmouth, especially a dormant one. Anywhere European really..."
Giles sighed but refused to comment further."Maybe Drew Carey's some sort of comedian-demon... there's got to be a reason he's still on television." Buffy muttered under her breath. "Trying to force Whose Line Is It Anyway on us for the rest of time."
"I used to love listening to that show on the radio." Giles smiled at the memory.
"You're making that up." Buffy accused him.
They quietened down as they noticed a group of six Slayers running up to them.
"Graveyard secure." The first to arrive informed them.
"Swear she's a mini-Riley." Buffy commented. "Accent and all. Wouldn't be surprised if she had an arsenal back on the home farm."
"Buffy." Giles stated firmly.
"I dated him for a year... he's one of my nicer exes.. it's not like it's a complete insult." Buffy replied. "Find anything..?" She asked the group.
"No vamp activity." The first Slayer informed them as Buffy cocked her head and stared at Giles with raised eyebrows.Random hotel
Cleveland
"We need to come up with a more permanent setup." Robin Wood stated to the group infront of him, still looking like he was currently in recovery.
"Seconded." Xander added. "I for one, am fed up with booking hotels on my credit card with half a dozen jailbait needing rooms too."
"Why aren't you just using cash..?" Willow asked.
"That looks even more suspicious." Xander responded. "Don't you worry about what they're thinking about you..?"
Willow looked lost. "What who are thinking about me..?"
"How about you..?" Xander turned to the ex-principal. "You know what happens to guys accused of that when they go inside right..?"
"You can always fall back on the truth." Wood responded with a grin. "You never touched any of the girls and you're helping to train mystically enhanced teenagers to fight demonic forces. That way you'll get a nice padded cell all on your own."
"See... also not helpful." Xander complained.
"Which is why I think we need to come up with a better solution." Robin returned to his earlier topic. "This worked when there was only one Watcher and one Slayer."
"Except for the bit where a lot of the times, the dodgy English guy wasn't ever going to be mistaken for the girl's uncle." Xander fired back. "And that doesn't even go into the fact that the girl normally ends up dead."
"Right." Willow responded uncomfortably, refusing to look in the direction of the younger Slayers present. "Hopefully that'll also change now that there are more of them."
"So we've moved from pervs all the way up to cult-leaders... yay us." Xander responded flippantly. "'We're hoping for less deaths' could be our new Council motto."
"Works for me." Faith tossed back as she strolled into the room, passing all the younger Slayers and heading directly for the conversation's main participants. "Reckon with two under her belt, B'll be on board too."
"Two what..?" Vi asked tentatively, the first not from the inner circle as the younger Slayers saw it to join in.
"Deaths." Faith said flatly.
"Faith, we weren't sure if we wer-" Robin began before being interrupted.
"They're in this for real..?" Faith countered. "Then they deserve the truth."
Willow was ready to put her own two cents in. "Fai-"
"They've already seen their friends die." Xander quickly cut in. "And as you said, we're hoping this is gonna be a 'that was then, this is now' situation." He said, smiling at the memory.
"Now you're being positive..?" Willow asked in amusement.
"Buffy died..?" Vi asked before Xander could reply. The other Slayers in the group gathering in closer now.
"Twice..?" Rona asked from beside her.
"The first time was just a little... erm, trouble breathing. Nothing to it except for some CPR. If it wasn't for Kendra we'd never have known she was ever really dead dead." Xander informed them, before turning towards Willow. "The second time... well, that was for a little longer. And required a bit more resurrection-y behaviour on our part."
"You guys bring back the dead as well as fight them." Rona stated in disbelief.
"Not often..." Willow answered, forcing herself to be truthful. "Well, that was really the only time we went through with it."
"I knew after I met you all that Buffy wasn't exactly following the Slayer guidelines." Kennedy stated, being one of the few to have been discovered and trained during her time as a Potential. "But..." She drifted off, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Consider the old guidelines dead-er than B's been." Faith answered just as Giles, Buffy and the patrolling group returned.
"Thanks... I hope." Buffy responded in a confused tone.
"Hence the need to come up with new strategies." Robin stated his proposal again.
"New strategies..?" Buffy asked with a glance in Giles' direction.
"So we look less like pervs." Xander informed her.
"Right... moving on." Buffy stared at her carpenter friend, trying to work out exactly what he was implying. "New strategies that involve Paris..?" She asked in a perkier tone.
"I think I'm with Kennedy on how we completely skipped the guidelines." Willow turned to Buffy with a confused look.
"You!" Buffy accused as she focused her attention on the red-haired Wiccan. "You said you could sense the Hellmouth from England... the Sunnydale one." She corrected herself. "That's on the other side of the planet."
"I think you'll find that's China." Giles mumbled to himself as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"At the time I knew what I was looking for." Willow tried to explain her lessons during her stay in England.
"A Hellmouth... do the spell-y thing." Buffy instructed her. "Check around Paris."
"It's not that simple." Willow responded, trying to emphasize her point. "I knew what I was looking for."
"Is anyone else confused..?" Vi asked, glancing at the other Slayers present.
"Completely." Kennedy responded quickly. "Aren't we already on the new Hellmouth..?"
"Finding it's exact location could be advantageous." Robin agreed. "It might help us decide how to progress from here."
"You won't be able to find it until after it's begun to grow in power." Giles informed them.
"That's not all." Buffy jumped in. "Tell them the rest."
"We're assuming it's located here." Giles responded. "But the fact remains that any of the... hot-spots shall we say, has the potential to grow into a Hellmouth."
"Oh fucking great." Faith replied automatically. "It could be anywhere."
"Normally." Giles continued. "The trend is for the Hellmouth to move around the more powerful hotspots. Each, as it were, taking it in turn to be the largest cause of any possible dimensional breach."
"I hate it when he talks like this." Xander nodded to the younger Slayers, hoping to put them t ease.
"Okay..." Willow said, her mind rushing over this new information. "So Sunnydale was... the most recent Hellmouth, and it was also one upon it's discovery by the Spanish."
"Probably why the Native American's considered it cursed ground." Giles added to her explanation, filling in some of the blanks. "Only moving here once the invasions started."
"Anyone know how she does that..?" Faith asked the group.
"So it could potentially be anywhere..?" Robin asked. "Why do you think it's here..?"
Giles paused to consider his response carefully, "Under normal circumstances the Hellmouths lessen naturally over time... but this time we forcibly destroyed it."
"And the town." Xander added.
"Yes, quite." Giles cleaned his glasses. "The pressure from the other side didn't reduce... I'd assume that as the nearest geographical hotspot, this would be the obvious place for any buildup of pressure to break through."
"Like a zit." Xander commented, ignoring the looks of disgust some of the Slayers sent his way.
Willow looked confused. "We don't know how geography on the other side relates to this... or even depending on which types of dimension it connects to, if it could even be considered geography at all."
"I really don't like the sound of other side." Rona confided to Vi in a hushed whisper.
"Willow... totally, yes!" Buffy responded, before turning to Giles. "See."
"So we'd need a presence at all these potential hotspots..?" Robin asked, trying to get his head around the concept.
"Possibly." Giles conceded.
"I've already called Paris." Buffy informed them. "In fact. Europe - shotgun. Called it."
"I don't think you can shotgun a whole continent." Xander stated confidently.
"You do know that shotgunning is for the passenger seat..?" Faith added, as Buffy waved them both off.
"Given that most of the current Slayers are from the States I think we should still maintain a base of operations here in Cleveland." Robin thought out aloud.
"I agree." Giles quickly added. "We can setup other bases as we manage to get in touch with more Slayers. That way for the most part, people can stay reasonably local."
"We'd need a larger presence once we identify where is taking the Sunnydale slack." Robin stated, thinking about it further. "Maybe having a roaming guard settled there, so that Slayers get to experience life on an active Hellmouth."
"Wouldn't put that in the brochure." Faith smirked.
"This is going to cost quite a lot." Xander informed them, realising that sometimes their plans ran past what they were capable of.
"I'm returning to England to see if I can acquire some of the old Council funds." Giles informed them. "They had very deep pockets, and I doubt The First was concerned about anything as petty as money and assets."
"That'll be helpful." Robin agreed. "I'm thinking of re-establishing a school."
"For Slayers..?" Buffy snorted.
Robin shrugged, "The only other explanation for why we have so many teenage girls is Xander's cult idea."
Xander ignored the look both Giles and Buffy sent in his direction, instead flicking his attention to Willow. Their eyes met in a silent conversation that they both answered with a small nod.
"Giles'll need protection if he's travelling alone!" Willow blurted out.
"For goodness sake." Giles began only to be interrupted by Buffy.
"I agree." She continued at his look of disbelief. "We don't know how long you'll be over there, and you're our only official watcher."
"I've lived there most of my life." Giles countered. "I'm pretty sure I'll be safe."
"Volunteers..?" Buffy asked the group.
"I don't mind going back home for a while." Vi responded. "Could visit my parents, if that's okay..?" She hesitently asked the older Watcher.
"I'm sure that'll be fine." Giles accepted the girl's request to return with him, hoping that she was intending to spend more time with her parents than on some unwanted and unnecessary babysitting mission.
"I'd like to see if any of my old trainers are still alive." Kennedy responded. "You mentioned that Watchers with known Potentials were going into hiding. If any of them survived, then they might think that the girl they're with is now the Slayer. Both Watchers and Slayers might be trying to follow their trainings. They need to know the truth..." She drifted off. "Me and Vi are proof that this isn't the old days anymore."
"Fair enough." Giles agreed, mentally turning this from a babysitting mission to one of search and hopefully rescue. Sure that between himself and Kennedy they might get a chance to confirm exactly who did or didn't die in The First's attacks.
"Faith should go too." Xander stated forcibly.
"What..?" Faith practically screamed at him. "You don't want me around you say it to my face."
"It's too dangerous for you to be around." Xander argued back.
"I'm not a dange-" Faith began.
"We discussed this." Willow backed Xander up. "We noticed how edgy you were on patrol. And how when you saw the polic-"
"I'm sorry if I'm trying to keep my ass out of prison." Faith replied tightly.
"It's the warrant that's the issue." Xander explained further. "It makes you a liability."
"Guys..." Buffy started, unsure where this conversation was going.
"This issue is mute." Giles stated. "Faith can hardly travel abroad with me."
"Which makes it the perfect hiding place." Xander threw out there.
"What..?" Faith asked, confused now that the comments were aimed at helping her instead of simply getting her out of the way as she'd first suspected.
"I can do a glamour." Willow answered automatically. "Just enough to enchant a pendant or something. Then I could rig it so that either yourself or Giles could activate it when necessary."
"You just said we might need to setup schools elsewhere." Xander turned to Giles. "But even if it's only temporary she needs to vamoose pretty quickly cos her luck won't hold out indefinitely."
"What are you proposing..?" Giles asked curiously.
"She'd be even more proof that this wasn't a standard Slayer being called situation." Kennedy mused to herself.
"See." Willow smiled approvingly at her partner. "And if you do need to return, well I'm sure Ripper can obtain some fake documents on his old stomping grounds..?" She asked the Watcher, bringing a confident smirk to his face.
"Okay, I'm considering it..." Faith held her hands up casually to stop further attempts at persuading her. "But that doesn't help me get there in the first place."
"We've thought of that too." Willow informed her. "I'll set up a little glamour and you'll use these to get you through customs."
Faith took the documents Xander offered her, quickly opening them and eyes widening as she recognised what she was being given. "I can't... Xander, I can't take these."
"You can." He said confidently. "She... Anya used D'Hoffryn's standard method for creating an identity when she first moved here to grant a wish."
"So..?" Faith asked confused.
"It's set up in such a way that most agencies around the world would spot that it's been faked."
"So it's useless..?" She asked again.
"No. It's done purposely so it looks like it's been done by a witness protection agency. And there's a magical tilt to it so that it's from any particular government's equivalent." Xander explained. "D'Hoffryn never revoked it's magics, as she discovered when she was going to regain her demonhood."
Rona began to comment but got elbowed in the ribs by Vi before she could say anything. The two turned towards one another and had a silent conversation using only facial expressions.
"Until we can work out some way to either remove the warrant, or provide you with a more permanent fake ID then it'll have to do." Xander explained. "But it's on finite time period from now on."
"Why..?" Robin asked from where he'd been following this discussion closely.
"Because finally the government is going to excavate the remains of Sunnydale and start to retrieve the deceased." He choked back, refusing to let tears come to his remaining eye. "And I will be collecting her body."
"All of them." Buffy agreed from beside him, casually resting her arm on his shoulder in support. "We collect all of those that fell beside us." She informed the rest of the group, causing the Slayers to stand straighter. She refused to allow herself to dwell on thoughts of those whose remains they would never be able to retrieve.
"Thank you." Faith mouthed silently to Xander, making sure she didn't interrupt his pain.
"This way we avoid the perv factor too." Xander forced out a joke. "Vi and Kennedy are... students... returning home. Whereas Giles is travelling with his ex-business partner."
"Could be complications for both of you when Anya gets confirmed as one of the deceased." Buffy stated, never letting up her grip on her friend. It being a source of comfort for both of them.
Xander turned to smile weakly at her. She returned his grin and squeezed a little harder to reinsure them both.
"We deal with that when it happens." Willow stated confidently, showing just a little hint of the power held within her small frame.
Faith shrugged grateful for what she was being offered. "At worst, the news report'll be that the fugitive Faith Lehane made an escape from the States using the documents of the dead and by forcing another known acquaintance to accompany her; police suspect foul play though are unsure at this point whether she was directly involved in causing this tragedy."
At their looks she continued. "I'll either have new identification or I'll help setup another Slayer... school."
"Your name's Lehane..?" Xander asked.
The End