Chapter 10

Once Buffy and Xander returned from Colorado things finally leveled out all the way around. They were in a good place in their relationship, Angel had disappeared, they had gotten thing all out in the open and cleared away with Dawn and Spike. The one thing they had to deal with was getting the slayers under control, and that went rather well.

When they got back the house was in utter chaos. Bella and Laura had left the house all together, going to stay with their boyfriends, while Millie, Gwen, Lynn and Tessa had let the trash and dishes to rot where they fell and left all the freaking lights in the house on all the time. There was damage from the girls getting into fights, tons of takeout containers, and the smell of old laundry.

None of this was really a surprise. All the girls were under 20 and 4 of them were still in highschool. They had no concept of how to function with adult supervision since they had been under the care of the Watcher's Council since they were children, and the watchers that Buffy and Xander replaced had been of the coddling and spoiling variety. The girls had never had to make a meal, wash a load of laundry, or schedule themselves in any way. They were one of the few full groups made up of foster care and handed over children. They were reckless and stubborn and in need of a good ass kicking.

While they had intentionally left them to their own devices at home, they had a couple people looking out for them on patrols. They reported no problems between the slayers and no bad injuries from demons. It seemed that Bella and Laura, while not the oldest of them, took a lead role when they were out. This gave Xander a good idea of how to smooth things over between them and Buffy.

All six girls returned to the house together after patrol the night Buffy and Xander arrived home. They were slightly surprised to see their nominal parental figures sitting on the couch watching cartoons on cable, surrounded by the mess. They had expected that the two would clean the place up when they saw it. They had stayed out and patrolled a couple extra miles hoping for it actually.

The girls stared at the couple for a few minutes, before quietly agreeing to form up in front of them. Nobody had particularly enjoyed the last few days, and they wanted to get things straightened out right away. Of course they had loved the freedom at first, and still did to a point, but the realities of them trying to run a household on any level were a bit harsher than any of them had imagined.

Bella was the first person to speak. She had moved into her boyfriend's apartment just hours after Buffy and Xander left, but had been kicked out a couple of days later. She hadn't returned home because she was a bit embarrassed about the whole thing, and she was hoping that she'd be ordered home by them to cover it. She'd spent the rest of her time staying with a nice demon lady that lived up the road, but that wasn't exactly a permanent solution.

"Hi. How was your trip?" She was trying for nonchalance, but she was a bit too nervous to pull it off.

Xander answered in a slightly cold tone. "Good. Did everybody enjoy their time alone?"

"No." Laura spoke up. She actually had been fine, but the other girls were miserable and snippy. She had lived in Melbourne her whole life, she even got trained here, and she had had the same boyfriend since she was 13, so her move had been smooth and she wasn't planning on moving back. The girls, however, needed the structure and oversight that Xander and Buffy provided. "Things went to hell here, and even though I decided to move out, we need you to help take care of things. We've been patrolling together every night as one whole group because we couldn't even decide on a schedule, or patrol routes."

There was silence. Not one of the others argued.

"Everything's going ok with Jamie and your patrolling and stuff?" Buffy asked.

Laura smiled. "Couldn't be better. He's had 5 years to get used to the whole slayer thing."

Buffy smiled. "Good. I'm happy that's working out for you. Make sure you get your new address and number to Xander to fix your files." Buffy took a long pause. She was debating exactly what to say about Bella. She knew what had happened and where she had been staying since Mrs. Lit had called her the night Bella had shown up, but she didn't want to embarrass her. "Since Laura is 18 she is within her rights to live where ever she wants. Bella, on the other hand, is 16 and since the council has guardianship, she will be moving back here tonight. Understand?"

Bella nodded and stepped to the back of the group.

Buffy stood. "I want this place clean before any of you go to bed. Since there is no school tomorrow, there are no excuses. We can talk about the rest of it tomorrow. Don't look to Xander. It's time you learned that I'm just as much the boss of you as he is. I'm the head of slayers for the whole council. I'm the most senior for a reason. I survived as the only slayer for a long time. None of you will ever have to be on your own like that in your entire lives. Being the only one of your whole group with the power is a lot harder than squabbling with a bunch of other slayers about who is better. I've died, I've led an army, I've been alone, and I've lost. I deserve your respect, and I'm not putting up with your shit about it anymore. Do as you're told or be reassigned. You girls have been together for a long time. You are a family, and I'd hate to have to split you up, but I will if you push me. Are we clear?"

There were murmurs of assent and the girls, even Laura, started getting things cleaned up. "Laura, you don't have to stay, but if you do, remember to call Jamie so he doesn't worry."

Laura just nodded and excused herself to make the call.

"Bella."Buffy shouted. When the girl approached her, she pulled her aside. "I'm not going to say anything, but I know what happened. I'm very happy that you were smart enough to go stay with someone who you could trust, but you shouldn't have left in the first place."

The girl was about to argue, but Buffy just shook her head. "Just… don't do it again, and if something like that happens to you again, when you are old enough to make those decisions, don't be too embarrassed to come home. Ok?"

Bella nodded and hugged Buffy, which surprised both of them.

"Go get your stuff and help the others."

"I wasn't even here." Bella whined.

"You should have been." Xander said from behind her. "They look to you and Laura as leaders. You have to set the example. You guys set the example that running off and ignoring it was the way to go. We're going to have a talk with both of you tomorrow, but I want you to know that I'm not going to get into the moving out thing. That's Buffy's domain, and she's decided not to lecture, and not to tell anyone about it. I'll respect it. Now, hurry to Mrs. Lit's place. She's waiting for you."

By the next morning the girls were worn out and too tired to really fight.

"Ok." said Xander as Buffy handed each girl personalized patrol and chore schedules. "This is how it's going to go. Buffy is in charge of training. You WILL attend training or you can't patrol. You don't patrol, you don't get paid. Buffy is in charge of schedules. You follow the schedule or you don't patrol. You don't patrol, you don't get paid. School is mandatory. No school no patrol. You don't patrol, you don't get paid. Grades are important, but we will not be basing your patrols on it. If you need help with a class, according to me, you get a tutor. Which leads to, tutoring sessions are mandatory. No tutoring, no patrol. And, if you don't patrol……"

The girls chimed in, "we don't get paid."

"There you go." Xander smiled at the unhappy group.

Buffy chimed in next. "Chores are not mandatory." The girls cheered. "However, if Xander or I have to do something, we are charging the person scheduled to do it for our time, and it is taken directly out of your pay." More grumbling. "But….." she waited. "If you go to school, get good grades, do your tutoring and training, and do all your scheduled patrol hours each week, we will hire someone to come in and clean three days the next week. That means all of you. Laura doesn't have chores, cause she doesn't live here, so we came up with an alternate responsibility for her. She's responsible for keeping the cars clean and tidy. The weeks you get a housekeeper, she gets to take the cars to the car wash. The council is willing to shell out for this, if you are willing to work for it."

The girls mulled it over and agreed to the terms.

Xander took a breath. "Ok, that's settled. The other thing is rules. You know the rules, they're simple and posted in the kitchen. Follow them. Do as we ask and we'll get on great, don't, and you're on your way out. We aren't tyrants, we listen to you and we go easy on you most of the time, but we aren't going to be trampled anymore. Buffy is the one who decides who gets time off, date nights, if you can stay out overnight. Don't come to me about that stuff. I'm your man for money stuff, if you need something fixed, if you need someone bludgeoned. We are both here for anything you need from us otherwise. Buffy would do the bludgeoning, but she gets carried away, so go to her if you need someone killed. I'm good for alibis."

Buffy snickered. "Any questions?"

Nothing.

"Good. Go do whatever. Have fun, schedules start tomorrow."

And that was that.