Rose followed Willow and Buffy back to campus, everything she had was in her backpack. They didn't have much conversation until the girls were on campus, walking toward the dorms.
"Where are you from?" Willow asked.
Rose smiled, warmly, "Savannah, GA. I was raised there by my aunt and luckily she didn't question my decision to go across the country for college. Did you two move here or are you natives?"
Buffy answered, "I moved here from LA during High School. Sunnydale is a Hellmouth, which means lots of demon activity, so the perfect place for a Slayer. Even better for two," she gave a smile. "Sorry if I came off a little rough before, the transition to college has been a little rough and a second Slayer was another change which made me feel a little threatened. But I am really excited you're here," she confessed.
"Thanks you guys," Rose replied, "That means a lot. I was really nervous to come here but so far, it's not so bad."
"You'll fit right in, I can already tell," Willow said with a grin, "Giles is really good and Buffy has already saved the world three times. You're in good hands."
They reached the dorm and, surprisingly, had an easy time getting moved to a room for three. Rose moved in and got her class schedule figured out.
"Do you guys think I'll be able to catch up alright in my classes?" Rose asked once they were all settled in their room, "I know it's still the first week of classes, but I've heard if you get behind at all in college, you're screwed."
Buffy shook her head, "You should be ok. What classes are you in?"
Rose pulled out her schedule, "English 1, Intro to Earth System Science, Philosophy, and Journalism Freshman Seminar."
"I wouldn't worry too much," Buffy replied, though she wasn't in any of Rose's classes.
Willow interjected, "I looked at your schedule. All your classes are Monday, Wednesday, Fridays, so you've only missed one class for each which was probably going over the syllabus. You can get all of those online, so you have nothing to worry about," she comforted their new friend.
Rose nodded, "I actually feel a lot better. Thank you, again."
"I'm going to go out for a quick patrol around campus, do you want to join me?" Buffy asked.
"I think so," Rose began, "What is patrol?"
Buffy smiled, a chuckle came from Willow, "We go out and just walk around to make sure there are no bad guys lurking. Here, you'll need this," Buffy added, standing from her bed and going to her closet where Rose noticed a chest filled with weapons. She got what she was looking for and passed Rose a wooden stake.
"Ok, I'm game," Rose answered, pushing herself up from the floor where she'd spread out all her books and papers, which she'd already packed up for the next day.
Buffy gave Rose a confident smile before she looked at Will, "You want in?"
Willow shook her head, "No, I'm gonna meet up with Oz at the coffee place. Do you guys want me to grab you anything?"
Rose shook her head, "I don't need a caffeine high to keep me up all night when I have my first day tomorrow, but thank you."
Buffy passed as well as she and Rose waved goodbye to Willow and left the dorm room.
Once they were outside, Buffy quickly changed from casual chat to on alert. "We most likely won't find anyone or anything," she began to explain, "But, it's always good to do a sweep. Last weekend, when we moved in, there was a gang of vampires killing kids and leaving notes like they'd quit school and then stealing all their things."
"That is a lot more inventive then I would have expected," Rose replied, "If you don't mind me prying, what's the hardest thing you've faced?"
Buffy's mind flashed to when she had to kill Angel, but she shook that away because it was too much to explain. "Probably the Master, he's the one who killed me, temporarily. At our graduation, our mayor turned into a giant snake. That was pretty tough too," she shared.
Rose shook her head, "Well, that all sounds awful. Are those like every night type occurrences or more, when you've save the world, types?"
"Save the world," Buffy replied, "The usual will be vampires, every now and then ones with bigger aspirations, or demons."
"That's a relief," Rose said, visibly less tense, "I don't know if my one vampire staking makes me ready to take on the things you mentioned," she admitted as the girls rounded a corner to the other side of the dorms.
Buffy smiled, "I wasn't either when I was first called, and I had the advantage of an assigned Watcher, but you'll get there. You already have what it takes, inside, so all you need is the skills to hone your natural abilities."
Rose was about to say something else when they were confronted by a man with bleach-blonde hair, dressed in a long, leather, jacket.
"Slayer," he greeted Buffy, Rose assumed, in a British accent, "I'm not here to fight, right now. But, I wanted to give you a heads up that soon I'll have what I need to take you out. Enjoy your last days," his tone was confident. He seemed to notice Rose, eyeing her up and down, "Who's this?"
Buffy glanced at Rose, deciding what to say, "She is a Slayer too, Spike. You will have your work cut out for you. Rose and I don't mind taking care of you, right now. It would save all of us some time."
"Rose," Spike let her name roll off of his tongue, "Aren't you a pretty, little, thing. No, I don't want to start things before I have all my details in order. I can promise that I will be seeing the two of you again soon. Don't worry about calling all your little 'Scoobies'," he finished, disappearing back into the darkness.
Rose looked at Buffy with a million questions on her face, but she chose one, "So, you already know this vampire?"
Buffy nodded, "He put a lot of effort into killing me two years ago. He failed, obviously, but he likes to come by every now and again to try another way. I wouldn't worry too much about him. Let's head back to the dorm for the night. There's nothing going on out here."
Buffy and Rose started walking back to their room when a thought came to Buffy and she spoke again, "Hey, you're going to see Giles for sure tomorrow. I only mean, that I am never sure if I'll make it over there. Do you mind mentioning Spike to him, for me?"
Rose nodded, "Not at all. I'm happy to help in any way I can, even if it's just as the messenger while I get started."