Okay, form here on it gets a little AU. I haven't watched Angel or read season eight or anything, so this is my interpretation of how things would have went down if the season eight hadn't been written. Hope that doesn't bother anyone too much. And if it does; too bad. P.S. I still don't own BtVS.

Chapter 2:

I Will

"So the fall of Sunnydale was your fault?" Oz asked.

"Hey, not just my fault," Buffy argued. "The First did stuff too."

"You're the same as always, Buffy," Oz chuckled. Willow and Kennedy had filled Oz in on the gist of things on the way to the New York headquarters. Oz realized quickly how much he'd missed.

Since the fall of Sunnydale, all of Buffy's allies had been mobilized. Giles had begun to train Willow, Xander, Andrew and Robin to become Watchers because unfortunately, when Willow activated all the Potential Slayers, the Potential Watchers had stayed dormant.

On the military front, Riley Finn and his wife Sam had managed to set up a few private schools under the wire across Canada and the US. The many branches of the A. Jenkins Institute, named after Xander's late ex-fiancée Anya, were in reality Slayer Schools set up by the government.

Angel Investigations did it's part as well, scouting out Slayers and sending them to one of the schools. Though they didn't play a large roll, it was one Buffy was thankful for.

Maybe one of the most important players in the game however was Dawn Summers, Buffy's younger sister of sorts. Dawn had an ability few others did, she was just a normal girl. Dawn attended the A. Jenkins Institute as well and had just begun to take classes with Giles to become a Watcher. She acted as a support system for the Slayers who were struggling to accept their fate.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Oz wondered, a bit concerned.

"Well," Buffy began, sounding a little wary. "I don't want to push anything on you. I don't even know how long you'll be in New York."

"You can ask me anything Buffy," Oz replied. "You've saved my life both with and without my knowledge enough times. I can do something for you, I'm sure."

"Well, would you mind doing a seminar at the Institute?" Buffy asked hopefully. "You're different just like the rest of these kids. Showing them that you learned to control it and take charge of your life might be the inspiration they need."

"Yeah, I could do that," Oz muttered. Those words reminded Buffy just how monosyllabic Oz was and she quickly shook her head.

"Maybe public speaking isn't the best job to give you," she said, but Oz refused to step down.

"I owe you," Oz insisted.

"Fine," Buffy agreed. "Can you take a class tomorrow morning?"

"Yeah."

Suddenly, the door to the headmistress' office – which was Buffy's office seeing as how she was headmistress for the New York division of the Institute – was opened. Willow knocked lightly on the doorframe.

"Buffy," she began. "Could we have a word."

"What seems to be the problem?" Buffy asked.

"Can I?" Willow wondered, hovering in the threshold.

"Of course, come in," Buffy insisted.

"I'm actually not the only one who wants to talk to you," she said and pulled the door open the rest of the way to reveal Giles, Andrew, Dawn and Kennedy all there as well.

"I see," Buffy replied calmly. "Would you excuse us, Oz."

"No problem," Oz replied. He stepped out of Buffy's office, passing the others on his way out. Willow kept her eyes downcast. On the car ride over, things had been a bit awkward. Oz and Willow hadn't ended on the best of terms, to say the least. They had really had no end at all. He just left.

Andrew was the last to enter the room and he closed the door behind him. Oz listened in on their conversation.

"What's the 911?" Buffy asked.

"It's about Bianca," Willow said calmly.

"She won't transfer to the A. Jenkins Institute?" Buffy wondered.

"That's only the beginning," Kennedy countered.

"We don't have a Watcher to assign to her," Willow furthered.

"Sure we do," Buffy replied. "We must."

"But we don't," Andrew insisted.

"Giles?" Buffy asked, looking to her watcher for backup.

"I'm afraid Andrew's right," Giles sighed. "Andrew, Willow and Robin all have several charges too many already and I can't take on yet another Slayer if I intend to keep training Watchers."

"And Xander?" Buffy wondered.

"He's on his way. But he's got his obligations as headmaster at the Institute in Vancouver and Bianca's in a fragile condition. I don't want to displace her."

"Well Giles, there's gotta be somewhere you can slip her in," Buffy pleaded. "She needs a Watcher."

"No, she needs a friend," Dawn countered. "She needs a Watcher who has enough time to treat her like Bianca, not just another Slayer. She needs a Watcher for herself or she's not gonna be able to cope."

"Why?" Buffy asked stubbornly. "She can't be coddled, Dawn. She's a Slayer. She doesn't get to be spoiled anymore. She's gotta start taking responsibility and living for others. If the others can take sharing a Watcher, so can she. She's not a girl anymore."

"She never was a girl," Dawn shrieked. "If you didn't notice Buffy, she's albino. She wasn't super popular before becoming the Slayer. She doesn't feel heroic or respected. She feels like a freak. You don't know. She needs someone to show her the glory."

"Well if that's the way you see things, you go be her Watcher," Buffy said.

"Buffy, that wouldn't be wise," Giles interrupted. "Dawn's only just begun her training and Bianca is a special case. She isn't prepared."

"Great, so we're back at square one," Kennedy huffed.

"Square one or not, we still have to figure out what to do with this girl," Willow said.

"Look, assigning her a Watcher means nothing if she won't accept her duties as Slayer," Andrew added.

"Well maybe she would if she had her own Watcher," Dawn said, trying to emphasize her point.

"Great," Buffy huffed, growing impatient with her little sister. "But we don't exactly have an extra Watcher just lying around. Who would do it?"

"I will," Oz said, bursting the door. "I'm sorry for eavesdropping, but look, I'll do it. I'll be Bianca's Watcher."

"No, Oz, that's too much to ask," Buffy protested.

"But it's not," he countered. "I didn't say I'd be Watcher to every new Slayer you drag in. This isn't me trying to be overly helpful. But I saw something in her eyes that reminded me of myself at her age. It's the least I can do."

"Oz, know that this is a lifelong commitment," Giles warned him.

"I'm a werewolf. I'm already committed. This would just put a point to it all."

"Oz, I really don't –" Buffy began, but Willow cut her off.

"Let him," she said.

"Wills, are you sure?" Buffy asked.

"Positive," Willow replied. Buffy had learned over the years to never doubt her friend's intuition, so she agreed.

"Giles will give you a quick rundown of what it means to be a Watcher," she told Oz. "We don't have time for anything else."

"And you'll give up your whole life to do this?" Giles asked, double-checking one last time that Oz was sure of what he was doing.

"I will."