W.C Academy

The converted estate was massive. There wasn't a big enough word for just how marvellous this building was. Graham realised he was only in the lobby but the tall Roman columns held the ceiling high was as magnificent as the rest of the building.

He followed the column up to the ceiling and stared up at the elaborate painting. After awhile Graham began to realise something strange. The painting was moving. As it moved it changed. He didn't know who the men draped in heavy black shadows were or the girl moving through time was. First, she was chained, then she escaped, then she fought a vicious looking demon. The painting shifted depicting this ancient story.

"May I help you, sir?" A tight high pitched voice echoed against the marble walls.

Graham looked to the voice from the ceiling and ran his eyes over her. The woman sat a desk against the wall. She was rigid looking. Her face was tight, cheekbones were high. Her dark hair was tied back into a neat bun. The woman was uniformly dressed in a power blazer, skirt, and black sensible business heel shoes. There were soft wrinkles in the corner of her eyes and over her forehead. Graham guessed she was in her mid to late forties. Her nose was snobbishly high. He knew she held some sort of power, it might not compare to the real powerful people that run this academy but it was enough to derail his entire journey.

Graham stepped in front of the desk and with all the politeness he could possibly muster he said, "I'm looking for Buffy Summers. Is she here?"

"Do you have an appointment with the Head Mistress?"

Graham's hand went around his neck already filled with disappointment. Idiot.

"I don't."

"Well, then I cannot help you."

"Please, it's very important that I see her."

The woman eyed Graham for a moment squinting her eyes as if she was coming to a conclusion. "Mmm… no. It is not possible, sir. To see the Head Mistress it is by appointment only."

With frustration, Graham shook his head, "Okay, fine. Can I make an appointment to see the Head Mistress?"

The woman looked down at the large scheduled and fiercely organised appointment book. She thumbed through it for a moment, then looked up at Graham. "I'm sorry sir, the Head Mistress cannot see you today. She is completely booked."

"Tomorrow?"

The woman pretended to scan the appointment book then said, "I'm sorry sir, the Head Mistress cannot see you tomorrow either."

"When is she available then?"

Anxiously, Graham watched the woman slowly turn the page taking her time to read each date. She was in no rush. "She is completely booked for the next… three years. It will be next to impossible to see her. She is a very busy woman."

Graham noticed a chair sitting off to the side beside the desk. He glared back at the woman and said, "Then I'll wait. I'm a very patient man." He challenged.

The woman watched Graham go over to the chair. She raised a highbrow accepting his challenge. She knew her power. It was simple, no one saw the Head Mistress unless she allowed it. Each new visitor needed to get past her.

Two and a Half Hours Later

Graham stared at the paintings along the wall leading up to a large grand staircase. Each painting changed. They were of women he had never seen before and a few he hadn't seen in years. But he had yet to see her. Probably at the top of the staircase. He told himself.

Beside the grand staircase was a long dark hallway. Clacks of heeled shoes bounced off the marble stone walls.

Graham heard a chair screech backwards and saw the woman jump to her feet. She quickly moved around the desk and sped walked into the dark hallway.

In the darkness, Graham could make out the shadowed figures. One was the grouchy secretary and the other was a petite person. Based on the curve of her hips, she was a woman.

Graham remained seated watching the women come towards him.

As the women stepped more into the light the faster Graham recognised the shadowed woman.

The clacks of heels stopped mid-step.

Graham looked up meeting her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" She asked breaking the long thick silence between them.

Graham stood from the chair facing her. He had forgotten just how short she was. But the years since college had been very good to her.

Clearing his throat, Graham said, "Hi Buffy."

Buffy stared at Graham as if she was seeing a ghost. It had been years since she last saw Graham was about six or seven years ago. Her mind struggled to wrap itself around him standing in front of her. Suddenly, it dawned on her. Graham could only be here because something happened to Riley.

"Did something happen to Riley?" She asked.

Graham realised what his sudden appearance must have meant to her. You just realised she'd probably think something happened to Riley. You're a fucking idiot.

"No, no. Riley's good. Last time I heard he was still in South America with Sam. They were trying to have kids." He explained.

"Oh, okay, good. That's good." She released a breath setting her nerves at ease. "Why are you here? Err — I mean, its great to see you and all but, why are you here?"

Graham felt the secretaries eyes on him. She was shooting daggers. Slyly, Graham stepped forward for only Buffy to hear. "Is there someplace we could, uh, talk?"

Buffy nodded her head. "We can go to my office." She looked at the stern secretary standing at the desk glaring at the back of Graham's head. "Janet, hold my calls, please."

Without waiting to hear Janet's firm protest, Buffy turned away leading Graham up the marble steps.

Now close enough to the paintings, Graham got a better view of the women. They twisted and turned like there was a real little person standing inside of them. Obliviously, Graham failed to notice that when he passed each painting they turned their heads letting their painted eyes followed him up the steps behind Buffy.

It dawned on him the moment they reached the top step and Buffy's painting was displayed in the centre while other familiar faces Graham recognise were beside her. All the paintings up and down each hallway were of a newly awoken Vampire Slayer.


Graham stood behind Buffy silently watching her turn a key into the doorknob lock. She then opened the wooden door welcoming him into the spacious office.

The decorations down to the finest detail of mouldings along the ceiling were to Buffy's personal taste. It was a mixture of feminine antiques with an eloquent modern edge. It was perfectly Buffy.

"Come on in. Take a seat." She directed as she moved around the large wooden desk and sat in her maroon leather chair. Buffy released a breath as she folded her hands together and placed them on the desktop giving Graham her complete undivided attention. "Okay, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Nervously, Graham ran a hand through his short brown hair trying desperately not to psych himself out. There were only two ways that this could end. Buffy could either laugh at him then throw his ass out or she'll kick his ass then throw his ass out. Both options were not particularly ideal.

"I want to join your team." He said.

Graham waited and waited for her response. He mentally prepared himself for her hysterical laugh or a punch to his nose. But neither came. There was only silence.

The surprise on her face had clued him that, that was the absolute last thing she expected to hear.

"Oh." Her eyebrows were high up her forehead and her eyes were wide with shock.

"What, uh… What do you think about that?" He heard himself ask.

Buffy blinked reeling herself back from her surprise and shook her head. She lifted her eyes to his and leaned forward. "I'm thinking that we've been down this road before. Remember? It wasn't the best working relationship with the evil professors, Frankenstein mash-up, crooked top secret government agencies. None of it was good."

"I know." Graham looked down kicking himself for doing this. It was a long shot that she would even see to him let alone sit down and have this conversation.

"Plus, aren't you with them? Or are you a double agent or something?"

Graham shook his head again. "No, I'm not a double agent. I left the Initiative — the military actually."

"You did?" Buffy raised a highbrow unable to believe that Graham quit something he was so invested in for so long. "You, Mister The Mission Is Key guy quit the mission?"

"It wasn't all that it was cracked out to be." He knew Buffy needed to hear more information and damn he will give it to her. He'll tell her anything she wanted to know. "Even after the "reform"… It still wasn't right. They put on a good face but behind the uniform and laboratory doors were more secrets. The mission never changed, it just got a different storefront. And I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't pretend that I was making a difference. Time and time again, I found myself picking up the Initiatives pieces."

Buffy could not believe her ears. She always knew, deep down inside, she knew the supernatural agency had never changed. It just was not directly affecting her so she turned a blind eye.

"What about Riley?" She asked. "Does he feel the same about all of this like you?"

Graham shook his head. "No. He has no reason to feel like I do. He's got it all. The rank, the power, the girl, everything he would ever want. He tried to stop me. He pulled so many strings to keep me around, like letting me skip ranks or assigning me my own platoon as if I was a General about to storm the beaches of Normandy. His mission never changed. Mine did. One day I just went into his office and handed over my security clearance card, my gun, name badge, and a folder. Inside the folder was my Honourable Discharge papers already signed and dated."

"Then what happened?" Buffy asked completely wrapped up in the sordid tale.

"I went into every demon bar I could find and interrogated them until I met a Larkey Demon in an alleyway outside a bar in downtown Los Angeles. I asked him if he's seen the Slayer. He asked, "Which one. There hundreds — thousands of them now. You gotta be more specific." and I said, "The Slayer." The Larkey looked at me and gave me this address. I jumped a plane and here I am."

She hasn't laughed at you or kicked your ass, man. This is the moment. Just tell her.

Graham rested his elbows on his knees searching her eyes. "I know we didn't really hit it off in the past. And I know my head was somewhere different but it doesn't mean I was oblivious to you." She snapped out of her racing thoughts and met his eyes. "We have a few things in common, me and you. One of them is our morals. We're not afraid to commit a selfless act in order to do what was right or to protect the ones we love — even the ones we've never met. I chose wrong back then. Ry was the one who had it together. I should've chosen you. I should've left with Ry and followed you. I'm good. I can really be an asset to you. I can fight. I'm an expert in strategy and weaponry. I don't hesitate and I've never left anyone behind. A chance is all I'm asking for. I just want to make a difference… with you."

The silence in the Head Mistress' office was thick. Graham could hear the mechanical wheels turning in Buffy's brain. Her eyes were glued to him looking him over. He wondered what she was seeing. Was it a man of truth or dishonesty.

Without a word uttered between them. Graham watched as she reached for the telephone to her right and dialled a single number. She waited for a moment for the ring to pick up.

"Janet, contact Giles and tell him we have a new member of the Academy. Yes, he will need to make a security I.D clearance. Miller. Graham. Thank you." Buffy hung up the phone and looked at Graham who stared at her with utter bewilderment.

"Am I apart of the team?"

Buffy nodded her head. "You are."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that," Buffy confirmed.

"Oh."

Buffy raised a brow. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no, I wasn't… I mean, I prepared this whole grand speech on a barf bag on the plane just in case. I didn't think you would just say, yes."

With a small smile, Buffy teased, "Has anyone ever told you, you talk too much?"

"Most people underestimate the value of a good ramble." He noticed the slight tilt her her head. She wore an expression of curiosity. "What? Did I say somethin' wrong?"

"No, no, I just… said something like that once. A long, long time ago."

Something strange happened in that exact moment. Something Graham had definitely not seen coming. It struck him like a high fly ball landing on the top of his head. For the first time, he noticed the bright English morning light that streamed through the windows. He noticed how the bright English morning light brought a hypnotising sparkle in Buffy wide green eyes. For the first time, he noticed her heart-shaped lips and how they appeared so soft when she smiled. He noticed how her golden yellow hair fell in waves down her back. Holy shit.

Graham wasn't a blind man. His exact thought that floated into his mind the first time he ever saw Buffy Summers. It felt like lifetimes ago in the cafeteria at UC Sunnydale. Buffy was at the yoghurt machine making an utter mess. The thought he had when he watched her bend over to pick up her fallen tray would certainly earn him an ass kicking by the Slayer herself. It wasn't a secret that Buffy's a knockout but she was Riley's girl. Which meant; "off limits".

Perhaps it was years of not seeing her than seeing her again or her genuine generosity or just plain guy code cock blocking him that made him almost forget her natural beauty — No! Stop it, dude! You can't think like that! This is your boss now. You hear to be a hero, not a one night stand. So tell Thor to fuckin' heal.

Graham swallowed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Shall we do the grand tour?" Buffy asked.

Graham cleared his throat. With embarrassment, he crossed his legs praying for her not to look too closely at him. "Yeah, sure."