Disclaimer: Unfortunately I own nothing that can be traced to Buffy, Joss Whedon, ME, or any of those other things. The only thing I own is my imagination and writing. Oh! And all the new characters in the stories. Those are all mine. But seriously, I don't own anything of Joss'. I don't have that kind of money. Hahaha

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The entire room was quiet for a moment, and then Buffy spoke.

"Okay. Not so sure what the big deal is." A smirk played on her lips."Gotta tell you Giles, the whole big 'make sure everyone is awake when I get to the house. I have some important news' spiel made it seem like some sort of lurking trouble or something."

"Yah, G-man," Xander spoke up from the end of the table. "I think you may be losing your touch at the big surprises." He chuckled.

Chloe watched as Giles did what he did best and took off his glasses. He let a sigh as he cleaned them on his shirt.

"I'm not sure you all see the reality of the situation. When I ask you to take care of them, I do not mean it lightly." He paused for a moment to shake his head but continued on. "For one, Gretchen is not just a slayer who recently found out about her abilities. Did you not listen to what I was saying? Their parents died in a car accident and they both survived. Now, I do not know much about the event, but I am assuming they were both in the car when it happened. That means that on top of dealing with the power we gave her, Gretchen is also dealing with her parents death. Both children are. I want you all to think about this before you make a decision because it is a delicate situation. Do you understand? There is a reason I didn't simply take them to the main academy."

For a couple of minutes, everyone just let the words sink in. Chloe saw the varying expressions across everyone's faces.

Xander and Spike both spoke up at the same time."What do we need to do?"

Everyone's heads turned to Giles expectedly.

--

They were all waiting in the lounge as Giles went to get the two kids. All except Chloe. The group had made a unanimous decision regarding the new slayer and her brother. After Spike and Xander had asked their question, Giles had gone to talk to the kids and bring them in. Chloe watched everyone through the from the doorway as the residents of the house bustled around the room.

Shyla, Chial, Vi, and Rona, who were the four most experienced of the 'next generation of slayers', were sprawled over the couches and chairs talking impatiently.

Xander was at the bar table by himself. He had lost himself in some deep thought.

Her mom and dad were arguing. Again. Like always.

"Buffy, would you calm down?" Spike was agitated, watching as her mom paced back and forth in front of his chair.

"Well, we are going to have to find some sort schedule for her to train. And what are we going to do with her brother? We aren't exactly a real school or anything." She was talking nonstop. That was all Chloe caught before Spike was suddenly out of his seat cutting off Buffy's extensive ramblings.

"Buffy, luv, calm down!" His hands ran up and down her arms as she looked up at his eyes. He tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Let her at least get settled in before we plan out her daily activities, yah? She just got here, you haven't even met her and already you are treating her like she is some fragile crystal dish. Let's wait before we coddle her, ok?" He laughed softly as she pouted.

"It's just that I remember how much-"

"I know, luv. But do you remember ever wanting to be treated any different? It wasn't that long ago." He smiled as she smacked him on the arm. "Exactly. See? That's what you would have done if anyone had suggested treating you the way you seem to think she needs to be treated. Only your arm would have been a lot more damage-bound."

"Whatever." She scoffed and sat down next to him. Her sulking mood was interrupted by Rona's voice.

"When in the hell did she get so soft?" The other three younger slayers laughed, but Buffy's head turned towards them with narrowed eyes.

"I seem to recall it was around the time that Chloe came along. But that's just me," Vi answered with a shrug.

"You guys have an extremely distorted picture of me in your minds," Buffy retorted, shaking her head at the younger slayers.

Shy spoke up. "Oh, I'm sorry. Would you rather us bow down to your every action and word? 'Oh my god! It's the legend! I can't believe we're in the presence of the almighty legend!'" She let out a high pitched squeal and jumped up and down.

Buffy rolled her eyes and dismissed them. "Mock away."

Chloe was about to step in to her mother's defense when the door opened behind her.

"Right through that doorway," she heard Giles say as she turned around.

Two people came into the main lobby. The first was a blond girl, who she could only assume was Gretchen, dressed in blue jeans and a black long sleeved shirt that didn't look right on her. The girl twisted her head to look around the room until her eyes locked on Chloe. She immediately looked down and waited for Giles. The second person was a young boy who looked about 12 or 13. He was dressed in a light blue hoodie with khaki's. His shoulders were slumped and he didn't look up once.

The mood of the house changed drastically as Giles ushered the two teenagers into the lounge area with everyone else.

"Right. Everyone, this is Gretchen and Deryk." Giles introduced.

There was a chorus of greetings. Everyone ended up introducing themselves with a wave.

After the awkward introductions were done Giles looked around, searching for something.

"Chloe?"

She ran a hand over her face and replied, "Right here."

He turned to face her. "Oh, good! Would you mind showing Gretchen and Deryk to their new rooms? Maybe show them some easy routes around the house? It can get quite confusing."

She knew this was coming. They were ushering her away to talk about the important things. It didn't matter what any prophecy said or the abilities she had, she was always kept out of those types of meetings. It wasn't her age, she knew that much. But really that was all she knew. There was some reason she was never included.

Pushing the thoughts away, she nodded her head knowingly and gestured for the two newcomers to follow her.

Unable to resist one little smart-ass comment, she addressed them loudly as she paused on the stairs. "Oh! You might want to wait until I am good and out of hearing range. Don't want my exceptional ears to pick up anything they shouldn't."

There was no response so and she smirked, continuing up the stairs with Gretchen and Deryk on her heels.

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A/N: I apologize for any grammar errors. I do try as best as I can to check for them, but I do not have a beta at the moment. I will work on it though. I hope to get the third chapter out in the next couple of days! Reviews are lovely and help my mind and fingers work faster.