Heyso this is Kind of a transition chapter. I will have the next one up as soon as i finish the editing. Please review! i love hearing what you guys have to say!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea, everything else is owned by Joss whedon and Mutant Enemy.
Chapter 7: Everyday Life
6:30 am and Buffy was showered, dressed, and on her way downstairs for breakfast. Training started at 8 sharp for the Slayerettes. She would wake them up at 7, and then they would have an hour to fight over showers, feed themselves, and make their way to the sparing room where she would give them their assignments for the day.
She poured herself a bowl of cereal and then noticed that Illyria was sitting in the living room, staring at her openly. "Hey, Illyria! Want some breakfast?"
"Thank you, but I do not require food," she said rather politely for a demon god. The last one Buffy had dealt with had been a total bitch.
"Not to sound too random, but you haven't by any chance met a god called Glorificus, have you?" Buffy asked as she took a drink from her coffee followed by a spoonful of Count Chocula.
"Yes. Vile being. No respect for the ways of old," Illyria stated. "However, I have not seen her in thousands of years."
"Are you older than she was?"
"Yes, I am. You use a past tense. The Beast has been destroyed?" The Blue demon asked with wide eyes.
"Yeah... She was killed 4 years ago, "Buffy explained. "Sorry if she was your friend, or something."
"Glorificus was not my friend. She was the one who had me trapped in the deeper well," Illyria said with what Buffy thought was some anger. "I misjudged her power over the Old Ones and the half breeds. It would not have happened again."
"Won't have too. Slammed her face in with the Sledge Hammer of the gods," Buffy announced taking another sip of coffee. Illyria stared at her for a moment, then nodded in acceptance.
"What have you done to Angel?"
The question caught Buffy off guard. "Well nothing, he's in tip top shape. I set him up with a room in the warehouse last night after we talked."
"No harm came to him?"
"None…except to his pride. Being taken down by 4 mini slayers like he was will be hell on that man's ego." Buffy shrugged, trying to restrain a laugh at the memory of Angel being dragged away.
At that moment Xander came running down the stairs, grabbed the lunch that Dawn had made him the night before, and headed for the door. The only words Buffy could decipher were "Late" and "Stupid British Man." A few seconds later Giles came down the stairs fully dressed and showered, and with a cup of coffee.
"Want to explain why Xander was cursing your name while he ran to work?" Buffy asked with a smirk on her lips.
"I will presume it had something to do with the fact that we were up late researching last night...and I may have possibly used all the hot water, again this morning." Giles said the last into the coffee mug.
"Giles! We've been through this. Either you have to open up the council purse strings and get a second hot water tank, or learn that you live in a house of 5 people!" Buffy said. "I mean you're lucky Xander had to run out the door, but the next person to shower is-"
"Giles!" a shrill yell pierced the house, one that could only belong to the youngest member of the household.
"And you're a dead man."
Giles visibly froze up and then started making his way toward the door. "I'm going to go set up for the sparing sessions today."
Unfortunately for Giles, Dawn was already on the stairs in her pajamas. "Giles! Really! This is the second time this week!"
"I'm sorry Dawn, I just-"
Andrew's door opened and Spike walked out in his jeans and a black t-shirt. "Could you people keep it down; bloody creature of the night trying to sleep in here."
"Sorry, Spike," Dawn said immediately. "But this would not be an issue if Giles would just limit his showers to 10 minutes like the rest of us! Now I'm going to be late for school!"
Buffy stepped in at this point. "Alright! Dawn, go get ready for school and I will drive you this morning so you aren't late. Giles, start looking for another water heater."
"Buffy we can't exactly afford that right now..." Giles pointed out. Sure the council had funds, but a large portion was spent in feeding, clothing, and providing shelter for the slayers in their care, as well as the slayers at Faith's camp in Australia. Not to mention the renovations that had been needed on the firehouse and warehouse to make them suitable for their needs.
"Well, then try looking in some liquidation store. We can't keep doing this Giles." Buffy reasoned. "I know that it's not always your fault, but this morning thing would be easier if we weren't all scrambling for water."
"Bathroom time in general kind of sucks," Willow said coming to join the rest of them in the kitchen. Her hair was sticking out every which way and she was wearing pajamas covered in little Menorahs. "Buff, can I use your bathroom? I don't need to shower or anything, just the mirror would be nice."
"Yeah, of course, Wills." Buffy nodded and Willow disappeared back up the stairs with a cup of coffee. "Giles, look for something cheap that will work. Xander can install it. I'm going to go wake up the girls." There was a pause. "Scratch that, I'm going to go wake up Angel, send him over here, and then wake the girls."
"Good, good," Giles agreed. "The girls may act and stake him."
Buffy blushed red. "I was thinking more along the lines of Angel would cause them all to drool when they see him without a shirt on."
Spike made a low growl at this admission by the Slayer. Unfortunately, not low enough because Buffy turned her head toward him and said, "Spike before we head over you might want to put one of them on too."
"Where am I going then, Love?" Spike questioned crossing his arms over his chest.
"Well-um-I was thinking you might want to help me out with training the girls...I mean you don't have to! You could help Giles with the research or sleep-" Buffy was starting to ramble before Spike stopped her.
"Rather go with you, Pet. Been a while since I've gotten a good spar. Are any of the same girls here? Ones that would remember me?" Spike questioned.
"Vi stayed. We have two others that asked to stay, but they were after the hell mouth..." Buffy replied.
"Vi was the red head, right?" With nod from Buffy, Spike continued, "Liked that one; glad she stuck around. Give us 5 minutes Slayer and I will head over there with you."
Buffy agreed, then turned to Giles. "Giles we need to get the rest of the council money. Quickly."
"Yes, I understand. The lawyers have told me that we should have more of it by the end of the month, and the rest shortly after," Giles replied. "Quentin made it extraordinarily difficult to jump through the legal hoops."
"Yes, well I guess we can blame Quentin Travers for another hardship in our lives." Buffy sighed. "Spike and I will do the morning routine with the girls. Then send your group over."
"Excellent. We are going to see what you can pull up on how to repair dimensional walls. Or, at least find out what dimension is pushing through first so we know what we are up against," Giles concluded as he leaned against the count and wiped his glasses. "Hopefully we will come across something hel-"
Giles was pushed to the floor as the back door swung open with a burst of smoke.
"Shut the door!" The smoke cleared and Angel was visible under a blanket. He threw it to the floor and stomped out the flames that had begun to engulf the blanket. Spike chose that exact moment to walk back into the kitchen.
"Why does it this feel familiar? Oh, right, I did that for a good threes back in Sunnyhell. You should invest in some tunnels, Slayer."
"I'll take that under consideration." Buffy smirked at the bleach blonde. "You weren't supposed to wake up yet, Angel."
With a raised eyebrow from the dark haired vampire Buffy restated, "I mean I thought you would sleep longer so I would have time to let the girls know."
"It's fine they didn't stake me, so it's fine." Angel pulled Giles up off of the floor. "Sorry Giles."
"Quite alright; under the circumstances. If it becomes a habit though, we are going to have issues," Giles stated straightening. Then noticing Buffy's nervousness and the reason why, he quickly pulled Angel towards the library. "Angel why don't you help me with some research..."
Buffy visibly relaxed when Angel followed Giles into the library. And Spike was far to in tune to the Slayer not to notice. Even after two years apart.
"Pet, we aren't going to start beating each other to a pulp if we are left in the same room for too long." Buffy turned and smiled at him.
"Well, that wasn't the situation the last time I checked. In fact, if I'm not mistaken you had drawn a picture of him and taped it to a punching bag."
"Well, that was just therapeutic." Spike smirked. "Well, let's go see the troops then, shall we?
"Alright. Girls!" Buffy yelled over top of the high pitched voices that filled the sparring area. "Listen up! We have two new allies in our ranks. One I believe you have already met. Chased him out of the house with a stake this morning."
There was a murmur that filled the room. And a few red faces. "That was Angel. You've read about him. Vampire with a soul, fights on the side of good. New rule. We don't stake our vampire allies."
A laugh filled the room. "And we have Spike." Spike stepped out from the wall and nodded at the girls. There were a few gasps that made him raise his eyebrow.
"You all know something bout me that you want to share?" Spike questioned the girls. None of them stepped forward. Then, a small voice came from the back:
"Because you are suppose to be dead. From, you know, saving the world and all."
Spike gave a small smile. "Hello, Vi. Telling rumors have you?"
"Never! Just that, you know, you sacrificed yourself for the world, and you should be dead," Vi explained quickly.
"Always liked you, Vi. Even when I was hurting your arm." He gave a smirk. "All you lot really need to know is that I'm back; and that I'm here to help. Help you survive. The Powers That Be aren't done with me, yet."
"Alright, guys. Introductions are over. Everyone go for your run, then break into your groups. If you're with Giles just head straight to the library," Buffy said to the troops. Conversations started almost immediately as they headed outside for their laps around the block. "And apologize to Angel while you are there!"
Please review and let me know what you think of the story so far!
QOTC: Do you consider yourself a Whedonite? Have you watched as much of his work as you can? Dr. Horribles Sing a long Blog? Firefly? Serenity? What about his t.v show quest directing on the office, and Glee? are you excited for The Avengers? Let me know in a review or PM!
