AN: So yeah, just to clarify some things, Spinelli is older than Dawn by maybe 4 or 5 months. Dawn was sixteen in 2003 (I think, and she is now) so she is twenty-one now along with Spinelli. And Buffy is about 5 years older than they are, putting her at 26 – ish.
I'm actually having a hard time with this middle bit, I knew exactly how I wanted to started, and I know where it's going to end, but connecting them is kind of hard.
Also I swear that one of the writers from BtVS has to be working for General Hospital because it is i SOOOO/i easy to translate Jackal-ese to Scooby (Whedon) speak.
So yeah, on with the show.
It was the pounding on the door that woke up Spinelli, but for a minute as he looked around the room, not seeing pink walls, he forgot where he was. Then it all came rushing back to him, he was in Scotland, with his sisters, one of whom was a superhero, and the other had once been a mystical ball of energy. After the fight in the pub the previous night the Cyber Goddess and his most awesome sisters had explained everything they could. They told him about how the earth wasn't a safe place, vampires and demons existed, but there were people like Buffy there to stop it.
"...Into each generation a girl is born, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill needed to fight the vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness, stopping the swell of their numbers and the spread of their evil. She is the slayer..."
The way the three had rattled it off, and all with very bad British accents had him cracking up last night. But that wasn't true they told him, and there were 1800 slayers worldwide and about 500 of them worked for the ISWC. Cyber Goddess was really a goddess, and had turned all the possible slayers into definite slayers.
It had gotten rather late, but they had given him the soap opera digest version of their past few years. They told him that it was too long to tell, and most of the stories were personal, but Dawn promised to fill him in on the Tales of the Slayer if he'd stick around for awhile.
"Dude!" A loud female voice came from the either side of the door, shocking Spinelli back to his present situation. "Buffy sent me to wake you up!"
"Ah, tell my fair sister that the Jackal will be dressed momentarily!" Spinelli yelled back, not really sure who was on the other side of the door. Slipping out of the bed he fished his cargo shorts off the floor where he had dropped them the previous night. Quickly pulling on his cloths, Spinelli shivered slightly at the temperature. i Perhaps the Jackal will need warmer cloth. /i Spinelli thought as he pulled open the door.
"Finally!" A redhead shouted exasperatedly, from where she was waiting leaning against the opposite wall. Spinelli stopped short, unsure how to proceed.
"The Jackal is most confused; his fair haired sister said that she would be showing me around today?" He asked, fingers combing his crazy bed head hair, now that he was in the presence of a most gorgeous female.
"I'm Vi," she said holding out her hand, "Buffy had a minor emergency, and Dawn is translating up a storm, so I got sent to give you the tour." Spinelli shook it, wincing slightly at Vi's strong grip.
Being the gentleman that he liked to think he was, Spinelli offered Vi the crook of his elbow. "The Jackal would be most appreciative of a tour of this amazing citadel." Vi rolled her eyes, but took his arm, and started to lead him down the hallway. "But the Jackal requests that we start at the kitchen, I am most hungry and could use some snackage."
Vi shook her head at his vocabulary, "Yeah I can tell that you're related to one of the Scoobies." She muttered as she led him to the kitchen.
Spinelli shot her a confused look, the phrase Scooby Gang had been tossed around last night but never explained. "May the Jackal ask what the Scooby term refers to?"
"Well apparently before the whole slayer army bit happened, it was just Buffy for a while." Vi explained, "And her, Willow and Xander ran around solving all the 'mysteries' in Sunnydale. Knowing them it was probably Xander who came up with it. You should probably ask him, have you met him yet?" Vi asked as they entered the large spacious kitchen of the Slayer Fortress.
"Not yet, the Jackal was promised an introduction to the Xander shaped friend sometime today." Spinelli replied as he grabbed muffin from a basket on the counter.
"Well how about we swing by the library and see if we can convince Dawn to take a break." Vi said as she led Spinelli out of the kitchen.
The tour of the slayer citadel took several hours. There were dorms, labs, two libraries, three gyms, multiple training rooms and several offices. Vi and Spinelli had managed to tempt Dawn away from her work, and the three had crawled all over the castle, with a few minor exceptions. Dawn and Vi apologized but Spinelli didn't have clearance to enter the main control room.
"Yet!" Dawn promised, "You have to pass a test, and swear on a copy vogue, and a couple other things, and then there's your initiation …" She was grinning at Spinelli's horrified face. "Don't worry 'Mian, it's all part of being part of the Scooby Gang and part of the ISWC, everyone had to do it." She draped her arm across his shoulders giving him a squeeze. "Besides, if you're really going to get your Professional Investigators license it won't hurt to have access to the council's resources."
"Oh Wise sister, the Jackal does not expect or require any access to any resources!" Spinelli protested.
"We know that!" Dawn said with a grin, "But you're part of the family! You get all of us and all we've got whether you want it or not!"
Over the next six months Spinelli became a dependable and trusted member of not only the Council, but the Scooby Gang as well. Xander had welcomed Spinelli with open arms, excited to add another Y-chromosome to the group. Giles had been welcoming in his own way, always ready to adopt another child into his already diverse family. The girls all loved him, and many of the mini-slayers had crushes on the boy.
Despite her early eagerness to get to know her new brother Buffy was not around as much as she would have liked to be. So the two younger siblings bonded the most, and many nights were spent working until the wee hours on either Dawn's thesis or one of Spinelli's pet projects. Surprisingly Vi had fallen in with the pair and the original Scooby Gang looked on with amused grins as the second generation was formed.
One of the side effects of living at the Slayer Fortress was a definite step forward in Spinelli's quest to 'Man Up.' While it was a lost cause to try to keep up with any of the slayers, but he had put on a bit of muscle and had up his level of endurance. He was still an incredible klutz, but Dawn was as well. They joked that it must run in the family.
They did make an attempt to contact Hank, but were unsuccessful. Spinelli had only been mildly disappointed; he didn't really know what he would have said to his estranged father. However Dawn and Buffy were more than enough blood family, and the rest of the Scoobies had become his heart family.
Now six months later he sat in Giles office with Dawn wondering what the head watcher wanted with the pair of them. Dawn had just defended her thesis the previous day, and Spinelli had taken the Private Investigators Exam via correspondence the week before. Giles sat behind his desk staring at the two siblings. "Before I explain why I've called you both in here, something came for you in the mail Damian." He said, holding out a thick envelope to Spinelli.
Spinelli accepted the envelope with shaking hands; it was from the licensing commission. He held it out to Dawn. "Oh wise sister the Jackal is too scared, you open it."
Dawn took and opened the letter, quickly scanning the contents, a huge grin breaking out on her face. She leapt out of her chair and into her brother's lap. "You've done 'Mian!" She shouted, hugging him.
Giles smiled his quiet smile from behind his desk, watching the sibling rejoice. Clearing his throat slightly he got their attention again, and they settled down, waiting for what he had to say. "Congratulations Damian, I knew you would succeed, just like I knew Dawn would finish her thesis in record time. Now I would like to offer you both an opportunity." It was moments like these that the relation between Spinelli and the girls was undeniable as Spinelli and Dawn shot him a look of dubious curiosity Giles had seen on Buffy's face hundreds of times. "Now that you have finished your thesis Dawn, the next step to becoming a watcher is to spend some time in the field. And now that you have received your license Damian, I can assume that you intend to pursue your own business." Giles continued.
"We are looking to install a small satellite group on the East Coast of the Colonies, and after much discussion between the senior members, we have decided to offer the positions to the pair of you."
"Are you serious?" Dawn squealed as Spinelli looked at him slack-jawed. This was a chance neither of them thought they would ever get. "How are you going to get Buffy to say yes?" Dawn asked, suddenly skeptical.
"In all actuality it was her idea. Buffy, Xander and Willow all want you to do this." Giles explained, "They want you to take one of the slayers as well, and Willow intends to check in from time to time to continue your magic lessons."
"Mr. Giles, sir, could Vi come with us?" Spinelli asked cautiously, knowing that Vi was one of the main trainers for the fort.
Giles grinned, "I highly suspected you would request her, and I do believe that could be arranged. Now we don't have an exact location pick out yet. We would prefer to have it in the north east, fairly accessible…"
"I know just the place!" Spinelli replied with a grin.
Maxie Jones was furiously sorting the accessories for the shoot that would be taking place in less than an hour. Lulu was supposed to have done this yesterday, but had gone off with Johnny. So now she was rushing around trying to finish forty some odd tasks and time was running out. Glancing at her computer to check the time, she noticed that she had a new message in her inbox. Clicking on it she read:
Maximista,
I'm coming home.
Always yours,
Spinelli
Sooooo yeah, what do you think.
Sorry for the time jump, but I want to get back to the states, and show off the new improved Spinelli to the folks in Port Charles.
Reviews are most welcome.
