The Beginning of the End
Giles had returned from yet another search for Potentials. This time
he had gone to Ireland, and returned with a sixteen year old named
Genevieve. She seemed old for a potential, and was more than a little anti-
social.
"I just don't get it Giles. I've tried to tell all of them that we
have to work together to survive. But she won't train." It had been two
weeks since the First had last visited them, and Buffy had been working her
students hard. Genevieve had tried to avoid them, preferring to train
alone. Strangest of all, she avoided Spike like a disease. Most other
Potentials had accepted his presence as necessary. And general opinion was
that maybe he was okay as he was souled, and rather hot. There weren't
exactly deep conversations between the girls and their vampire trainer, but
it was strange that she kept as far away as possible, always making excuses
to be away from him.
There were still problems with the Chinese potential. Giles' flashcards had made her wary of anything that moved, and no one could communicate with her. The one time she had spoken to Spike, he'd only answered, "Sorry luv, I don't speak Chinese." He's spent the next few minutes lost in fond memories. Principal Wood had been around at that time, and watched Spike reminisce. He was sure it had something to do with his vampire past. Wood was still waiting for the perfect opportunity to confront Spike about his mother. He knew the time would come, but from he'd seen of the way Buffy looked at the vampire, Wood wasn't sure he'd be able to kill him. It was another tense night at Slayer Central. Giles was trying to offer another glass of milk to the Chinese girl, still not understanding why she looked at him with total fear. Finally Genevieve asked, "(why don't you drink it? It's just milk.)" "(I'm lactose intolerant.)" "Mr. Giles, she's lactose intolerant." "(Why does he keep offering me milk products? I'm not very comfortable here.)" "(Don't worry, he didn't know. You're safer here than anywhere else, even if it doesn't seem like it now.)" Giles and Buffy were staring at the Irish girl. She had spoken perfect Mandarin Chinese. Not a trace of her Irish accent. Not that anyone really noticed the Irish, she said so little. "What do you mean she's lactose intolerant?" Giles asked. "She, like most Asians, is lactose intolerant. She doesn't feel safe because you keep offering her milk products." "Well, I won't do it again. But did we just hear you speak Mandarin?" "Yes. I'm fluent." "And you tell us this now? And how did you become fluent?" Buffy added. "I didn't think it was important that I speak about 200 languages." "Two hundred!" Giles exclaimed with a twinge of jealousy. He only spoke five. "I got bored." Genevieve answered as if that was nothing special and left the room.
The rest of the week went by fairly uneventfully. The Potentials all trained, going out on patrols with Buffy and Spike. One night Principal Wood stopped by as Buffy was speaking with Spike. "I think you should talk with them. Enemy to enemy. Make them see into the mind of the killer. You've been mostly a practice dummy up until now." "Hi Buffy. Am interrupting anything?" "Robin! No, nothing really. We're just discussing the next stage of training for the potentials, if you want to stick around." Spike was undaunted by the appearance of his new romantic rival for Buffy. "You want me to tell a bunch of somewhat panicky teenage girls how I killed people? That's going to go over as well as Giles' flashcards." "How you killed people? Like my mother?" Wood couldn't stop himself from asking. He'd seen the First the night before, again as his mother. "I killed your mum?" Spike was surprised. He'd never meet a victim's survivor before, at least not a living. "It's possible. I've killed a lot of women. Refresh my memory." The three didn't notice a few of the Potentials grouping around. The conversation had piqued their interest. "Try New York. 1977. Black, if you couldn't tell." "Still fuzzy. That was a good time, but I did kill a lot of women to fit that description. Try harder." "Tough. Maybe Slayer would help." Wood finished with a glare. "Your mum was the Slayer?" Spike was shocked. He didn't know Slayers had kids. "Wow. She was a tough one. Loved fighting her. She was hot, I don't know if you wanted to know. I stole my duster from her. Which reminds me, Buffy, what did you do with that?" "Your duster?" she'd known about Robin's mother being a Slayer, but she hadn't connected Spike with her. She was in shock. "Yeah. I do rather like it. And I do want it back." "Oh, you kill her and leave her son parentless. And you couldn't be decent enough to take better care of the coat, or leave it." "Um, it's somewhere. Xander, where's Spike's duster?" Xander had stopped to watch the scene with all the Potentials, but snuck away to grab the duster. He brought it up and handed it to Buffy. Spike and Wood both reached for the leather, but Spike got to it first. "Oh, look, the lining's gotten torn. You could at least taken better care of it while I was gone. They don't make coats like this anymore. Especially not pre-broken in." Wood glared at him. Buffy decided to avert disaster. "I think we need to plan tonight's patrol. Spike, Robin, girls, let's go into the den. Spike, leave the duster." Spike grudgingly left it on the stair railing, but only after Wood had gone into the living room. No one noticed Genevieve take it.
All the Potentials were taken on patrol in Groups. Spike and Xander took one group out for a patrol, Buffy and Wood taking the other. The leaders barely spoke to each other; the earlier conversation had left tempers short. That's when the vampires hit the group. A gang of vampires had been watching the patrols, and had been waiting to attack. They attacked the young Slayers, hoping that by removing a threat to the First they'd get a deal after the Apocalypse. What they hadn't counted on was that the lack of experience in the girls was made up by strength of numbers. About half of a group of twenty vamps got dusted in the fifteen minutes of battle that ensued, albeit that most were staked by Buffy. She called the group together after the remaining nine vamps ran off. "Okay everyone, that's what we can look forward too. That was easy. It's only going to get worse. Let's get back to the house." They left, the girls controlling their fear. No one noticed that Genevieve wasn't among them.
"What do you mean she's not here!?" Buffy asked Willow for the second time that day. It had been two days since the attack, and they had noticed the new Potential's absence the day before. Buffy and Spike had a day and night sweep of all the cemeteries in Sunnydale, looking for any trace of the girl. None had been found. Night was falling as Buffy paced the living room. The other girls were looking through various books in an attempt to better their demon knowledge as their mentor ranted. "How could I loose a girl? Am I that bad of a teacher." Spike was getting sick of Buffy brooding and shouting. "Calm down. If she's dead, we'll find out soon enough." "That's right Spike. You'll find out right now actually. They all turned to see Genevieve standing in the middle of the floor. Buffy backed away. "You're the First." "Good job Blondie. Looks like all yer proud words are lost. How can ye lead all of them into battle if ye can't keep track of them during a small attack?" "Get out." Buffy didn't, couldn't let it show that she'd been thinking the same thing. "Please do, Evil. You know I hate yer ugly presence. Especially, when ye try to look like me. Just accept that ye'll never look as good." Every turned to the entrance. Genevieve stood there, holding Spike's duster. "Here ye go William. I sewed up all the tears, and I took it to some demon drycleaners to get it washed. It should be better than new now." She handed the leather to Spike. Spike stood in shock, accepting the coat with numb fingers, whispering, "Genni." "You always have to spoil my entrance don't you Genni. Always have to walk in when I'm about to do something really Evil." "Your pretend breathing is Evil. It seems rather funny that Evil, the First Evil would try to be evil. Now stop using my body." Strangely enough, the First complied, morphing into a pretty young woman, who looked something like Genevieve. "You just had to pick her, didn't you?" "It annoys you so, doesn't it sister?" "More than you could know." "You're dead!" Buffy finally exclaimed, staring at Genevieve. "Yes Slayer. I am." "But, you're still here." "Yes." "Can you believe this girl? Such a Captain Obvious. I mean, at least that lad Xander has a sense of humor and sarcasm to go with his observations, but she's just sad." The First said. "Ye don't have to remind me. I've always been a bit disappointed with Slayers. They never seem to bother learning anything other than a punch here, stake goes here. Nice sharp pointy metal cut here. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I always was a little pleased when William killed one." "You were always pleased with what ever William did. Such a mother."
"You're right. I am a sort of mother to him. Which is why I'm not very happy about the torturing. Bad First. No biscuit."
"What torturing?" "The making of William into a tool. Very bad. Ye should know that brings out my bad side." "Then I'd best be off. Lovely talking to you." "TTFN. Please tell me ye know what that means Buffy." The First disappeared as Genevieve turned towards Buffy. "I do now. But would you care for an explanation for us?" "Genni? Is it really you?" "Yes William. It's me." Spike ran to Genevieve, wrapping his arms around her as if she would disappear if he let go. "I've missed you so much Genni. If only you knew. I've had such a bad time lately." "I can imagine. I've heard the stories. But I feel I should tell all these nice people why I'm alive, er, mostly alive." "Your life story? I don't like that one." "I know ye don't, luv, but I have to." "All right then." Spike and Genevieve sat down on the couch together, Spike laying his head in her lap. Genevieve looked at all the shocked faces, drew in a breath and began.
There were still problems with the Chinese potential. Giles' flashcards had made her wary of anything that moved, and no one could communicate with her. The one time she had spoken to Spike, he'd only answered, "Sorry luv, I don't speak Chinese." He's spent the next few minutes lost in fond memories. Principal Wood had been around at that time, and watched Spike reminisce. He was sure it had something to do with his vampire past. Wood was still waiting for the perfect opportunity to confront Spike about his mother. He knew the time would come, but from he'd seen of the way Buffy looked at the vampire, Wood wasn't sure he'd be able to kill him. It was another tense night at Slayer Central. Giles was trying to offer another glass of milk to the Chinese girl, still not understanding why she looked at him with total fear. Finally Genevieve asked, "(why don't you drink it? It's just milk.)" "(I'm lactose intolerant.)" "Mr. Giles, she's lactose intolerant." "(Why does he keep offering me milk products? I'm not very comfortable here.)" "(Don't worry, he didn't know. You're safer here than anywhere else, even if it doesn't seem like it now.)" Giles and Buffy were staring at the Irish girl. She had spoken perfect Mandarin Chinese. Not a trace of her Irish accent. Not that anyone really noticed the Irish, she said so little. "What do you mean she's lactose intolerant?" Giles asked. "She, like most Asians, is lactose intolerant. She doesn't feel safe because you keep offering her milk products." "Well, I won't do it again. But did we just hear you speak Mandarin?" "Yes. I'm fluent." "And you tell us this now? And how did you become fluent?" Buffy added. "I didn't think it was important that I speak about 200 languages." "Two hundred!" Giles exclaimed with a twinge of jealousy. He only spoke five. "I got bored." Genevieve answered as if that was nothing special and left the room.
The rest of the week went by fairly uneventfully. The Potentials all trained, going out on patrols with Buffy and Spike. One night Principal Wood stopped by as Buffy was speaking with Spike. "I think you should talk with them. Enemy to enemy. Make them see into the mind of the killer. You've been mostly a practice dummy up until now." "Hi Buffy. Am interrupting anything?" "Robin! No, nothing really. We're just discussing the next stage of training for the potentials, if you want to stick around." Spike was undaunted by the appearance of his new romantic rival for Buffy. "You want me to tell a bunch of somewhat panicky teenage girls how I killed people? That's going to go over as well as Giles' flashcards." "How you killed people? Like my mother?" Wood couldn't stop himself from asking. He'd seen the First the night before, again as his mother. "I killed your mum?" Spike was surprised. He'd never meet a victim's survivor before, at least not a living. "It's possible. I've killed a lot of women. Refresh my memory." The three didn't notice a few of the Potentials grouping around. The conversation had piqued their interest. "Try New York. 1977. Black, if you couldn't tell." "Still fuzzy. That was a good time, but I did kill a lot of women to fit that description. Try harder." "Tough. Maybe Slayer would help." Wood finished with a glare. "Your mum was the Slayer?" Spike was shocked. He didn't know Slayers had kids. "Wow. She was a tough one. Loved fighting her. She was hot, I don't know if you wanted to know. I stole my duster from her. Which reminds me, Buffy, what did you do with that?" "Your duster?" she'd known about Robin's mother being a Slayer, but she hadn't connected Spike with her. She was in shock. "Yeah. I do rather like it. And I do want it back." "Oh, you kill her and leave her son parentless. And you couldn't be decent enough to take better care of the coat, or leave it." "Um, it's somewhere. Xander, where's Spike's duster?" Xander had stopped to watch the scene with all the Potentials, but snuck away to grab the duster. He brought it up and handed it to Buffy. Spike and Wood both reached for the leather, but Spike got to it first. "Oh, look, the lining's gotten torn. You could at least taken better care of it while I was gone. They don't make coats like this anymore. Especially not pre-broken in." Wood glared at him. Buffy decided to avert disaster. "I think we need to plan tonight's patrol. Spike, Robin, girls, let's go into the den. Spike, leave the duster." Spike grudgingly left it on the stair railing, but only after Wood had gone into the living room. No one noticed Genevieve take it.
All the Potentials were taken on patrol in Groups. Spike and Xander took one group out for a patrol, Buffy and Wood taking the other. The leaders barely spoke to each other; the earlier conversation had left tempers short. That's when the vampires hit the group. A gang of vampires had been watching the patrols, and had been waiting to attack. They attacked the young Slayers, hoping that by removing a threat to the First they'd get a deal after the Apocalypse. What they hadn't counted on was that the lack of experience in the girls was made up by strength of numbers. About half of a group of twenty vamps got dusted in the fifteen minutes of battle that ensued, albeit that most were staked by Buffy. She called the group together after the remaining nine vamps ran off. "Okay everyone, that's what we can look forward too. That was easy. It's only going to get worse. Let's get back to the house." They left, the girls controlling their fear. No one noticed that Genevieve wasn't among them.
"What do you mean she's not here!?" Buffy asked Willow for the second time that day. It had been two days since the attack, and they had noticed the new Potential's absence the day before. Buffy and Spike had a day and night sweep of all the cemeteries in Sunnydale, looking for any trace of the girl. None had been found. Night was falling as Buffy paced the living room. The other girls were looking through various books in an attempt to better their demon knowledge as their mentor ranted. "How could I loose a girl? Am I that bad of a teacher." Spike was getting sick of Buffy brooding and shouting. "Calm down. If she's dead, we'll find out soon enough." "That's right Spike. You'll find out right now actually. They all turned to see Genevieve standing in the middle of the floor. Buffy backed away. "You're the First." "Good job Blondie. Looks like all yer proud words are lost. How can ye lead all of them into battle if ye can't keep track of them during a small attack?" "Get out." Buffy didn't, couldn't let it show that she'd been thinking the same thing. "Please do, Evil. You know I hate yer ugly presence. Especially, when ye try to look like me. Just accept that ye'll never look as good." Every turned to the entrance. Genevieve stood there, holding Spike's duster. "Here ye go William. I sewed up all the tears, and I took it to some demon drycleaners to get it washed. It should be better than new now." She handed the leather to Spike. Spike stood in shock, accepting the coat with numb fingers, whispering, "Genni." "You always have to spoil my entrance don't you Genni. Always have to walk in when I'm about to do something really Evil." "Your pretend breathing is Evil. It seems rather funny that Evil, the First Evil would try to be evil. Now stop using my body." Strangely enough, the First complied, morphing into a pretty young woman, who looked something like Genevieve. "You just had to pick her, didn't you?" "It annoys you so, doesn't it sister?" "More than you could know." "You're dead!" Buffy finally exclaimed, staring at Genevieve. "Yes Slayer. I am." "But, you're still here." "Yes." "Can you believe this girl? Such a Captain Obvious. I mean, at least that lad Xander has a sense of humor and sarcasm to go with his observations, but she's just sad." The First said. "Ye don't have to remind me. I've always been a bit disappointed with Slayers. They never seem to bother learning anything other than a punch here, stake goes here. Nice sharp pointy metal cut here. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I always was a little pleased when William killed one." "You were always pleased with what ever William did. Such a mother."
"You're right. I am a sort of mother to him. Which is why I'm not very happy about the torturing. Bad First. No biscuit."
"What torturing?" "The making of William into a tool. Very bad. Ye should know that brings out my bad side." "Then I'd best be off. Lovely talking to you." "TTFN. Please tell me ye know what that means Buffy." The First disappeared as Genevieve turned towards Buffy. "I do now. But would you care for an explanation for us?" "Genni? Is it really you?" "Yes William. It's me." Spike ran to Genevieve, wrapping his arms around her as if she would disappear if he let go. "I've missed you so much Genni. If only you knew. I've had such a bad time lately." "I can imagine. I've heard the stories. But I feel I should tell all these nice people why I'm alive, er, mostly alive." "Your life story? I don't like that one." "I know ye don't, luv, but I have to." "All right then." Spike and Genevieve sat down on the couch together, Spike laying his head in her lap. Genevieve looked at all the shocked faces, drew in a breath and began.