a/n so again I'm doing this instead of the smart thing... like sleeping. oh well thats what class is for... right? Tonight I watched the latest ep of Bones and guess what... BOOTH DUMPED HANNAH BOOTH DUMPED HANNAH. sorry I'm also a bones and NCIS freak so I get excited at times. Umm... this chptr is mostly about Anne, Dawns slayer I felt her perspective needed to be shared a bit. (remember with her grammar, one its me writing and two, she's from Texas, she doesn't have great grammar anyway.) so read enjoy and please please review.
Chapter Eleven
Dawn and Xander spent the majority of the day figuring out sleeping arrangements for the girls. They weren't totally unprepared for situations like this. They thought that someday, something would happen again and they wanted to be prepared. The plan was watchers would stay with their specific slayer. The only thing they had to figure out was who would sleep where. With Spike staying at Xander's they could only put three pairs and Wesley at his place. All of the extra dorm space would be used and watchers who lived off campus would just have their slayer move in. It would be cramped and crowded but they could do it. Angel, Cordy, Faith, Robin and Lorne would stay with Buffy, Giles and Dawn. Anne and Connor would stay with them to as Dawns slayer and Angel's son. Fred, Gunn, and two watcher/slayer pair would stay in Willow and Kennedy's two bedroom flat. The Scoobies had a ton of army cots and sleeping bags and air mattresses in the attic storage, this time they were prepared.
Doesn't make it any easier, Dawn thought as she went to find Anne. Buffy planned on making an announcement to the school this afternoon but Dawn wanted to tell her slayer first. Plus she felt a bit bad about sticking her away from all her classmates.
She found Anne sitting in the library with a book spread on the table in front of her. Dawn worried a little about her slayer. She seemed to separate herself from the other girls.
Walking up to her she asked "What you reading Anne?"
"Chronicles of a Slayer," Anne replied not looking up from the tomb.
"Can we talk for a bit?"
Anne finally looked up from her book and noticed the wary look on her watchers face.
"Of course we can, what's up?" she asked pushing the book away from her.
Dawn sat next to her slayer. Now that she was here she wasn't sure what to say. Anne and Dawn quickly became close once they started training together but how do you tell a girl something's trying to kill her and everyone she had come to know.
Or she didn't have to tell her. She could wait for Buffy to do that. That might work better, but that was cowardly. Dawn might be many things but a coward never. Growing up… or at least her memories that may or may not have been real… with the slayer didn't give her that option.
Sometimes Dawn wished she hadn't grown up in her sister's shadow. She understood the whole calling thing, didn't make it less well lonely sometimes. Xander understood better than anyone. Over the past two years the one eyed wonder as Xander sometimes called himself and the epic watcher to be as he called Dawn had become extremely close, in a brother sister type of way.
"Dawn hello? You there?" Anne asked.
Dawn snapped out of her thoughts realizing she had been starring off into space for about three minutes.
"Oh yeah, sorry Anne." She paused. "Hey you know how things have been a bit weird… well weirder than normal?"
"Yeah, I mean I haven't been here very long but a free day with you and the rest holed up in your offices? Plus Spike just showin up? Everyone is talkin about what might be up. Some of 'em are gettin nervous."
"Well you know the story of the First?" Anne nodded her conformation, "Well he's, she's… it's not back, but someone's trying to finish what it started. And he's coming after the trainees. Get rid of you guys, the schools, Buffy, Faith. He does that and the rest… are easy picking. Buffy's going to explain more later tonight, she's gonna talk to everyone. But the thing is, we thought something might happen. We didn't know what or if or when or any of that, but we have a plan in place. Faith and her slayers plus watches are coming. So is Angel and company."
"That's a lot of people. Where do you put all of them?" Anne asked curiously.
"Well we do some shuffling. Part of Angels gang will stay with us, part with the others, slayers stay with their watchers and stuff like that." Dawn said.
"So, I'm stayin with you?" Anne asked.
"Yeah, that's the plan." Dawn admitted. She waited while Anne seemed to think it over, worried her slayer would be upset.
"Cool, we're kipping out at your place right?" was all she said.
"Umm, yeah," Dawn said, "aren't you a little disappointed?"
"Why would I be?" Anne looked at Dawns face for a moment. "Oh, cuz it'll just be me?" When Dawn nodded a conformation Anne continued, "Don't worry about it Dawn. I like the whole stay with your watcher thing. I think it's a good choice. Besides it's gonna be interestin being at the headquarters." Anne put air quotes around quarters letting Dawn know it was all good.
"Ok! Great!" Dawn smiled, "I have to go. Gotta finish getting ready. Oh by the way be in the gym at seven. Buffy's gonna talk to you guys then!"
Anne watched her watcher bounce cheerfully from the room, content now that her slayer was ok with the sleeping arrangements. She smiled to herself and pulled her book back in front of her. She took her cell phone out of her pocket and set the alarm for six thirty.
Anne was glad Dawn didn't ask why she was so content with the arrangements. She wouldn't know how to explain. All her life she had been different from the kids her age. Preferring to read a book than play sports or sit and talk. As she entered high school her differentness only became more obvious. She never wanted to gossip with the other girls of her class and never noticed the guys in the school either. She practiced Wicca like her mother and soon rumors flew around the school. She was demented, a witch, crazy. She ended up being alone a lot. She didn't mind… too much.
Coming here to London was easily the best thing that happened to her. She still liked her privacy that was just something she grew to love as a smart social outcast, but she felt like she belonged here. Dawn became her big sister she never had and she was good at slaying. Or so Buffy told her. She wasn't exceptionally close to any of the other girls yet, she was too shy to make the first move but she had good friends.
Sometimes though she still felt a bit separate from the group. If she thought about it she had always been a bit of a loner though so it didn't bother her. She was still finding her niche.
At six thirty Anne put her book away and went to the little gym where Buffy would be making her speech. Walking in to the gym Anne went over to sit with Katie and her watcher Ryan and another pair Rory and Tim, the five had become friends. Katie, Rory and Anne usually sparred together.
"Hey guys," Buffy said walking to the center of the mat. Spike flanked her right with Giles close on her left side.
"You all have an idea that something is going on. I could lie to you and say it's nothing, but I'm not. It might make you feel better, but it won't make you safer. Something is coming for us." The slayers babbled all around her, some in an obvious panic.
Katie turned to Anne, "You knew." She said a statement not a question.
Anne slowly nodded, not seeing the point in lying, "Dawn gave me a heads up. I don't know any details though." She motioned for her friend to be quiet as Buffy started to speak again.
"Giles has more details on that, along with some from Spike. What I'm here to tell you is that it's not just after us. Faith and her group is coming and so is Angel and his gang from LA. That's a lot of people and not a lot of space. When we're done here you'll go to Xander and Dawn to see where and with whom you're staying. Slayers will stay with their watchers. We also decided to mix the groups up. Some of Faiths kids will be staying with each and every one of you." Buffy looked over at the scared faces looking at her. "This isn't the First," she said looking each one of them in the eye, "He's trying to finish what the first started but he won't. I can't promise all of you will survive as a slayer. I can't promise I will survive the next ten years. But I can promise you this. You girls" she smiled over at the guy watchers, "and guys are more prepared than last time, we all are. We have more people to fight and we have more information more time to prepare. And unlike last time, Lokar can be killed." She made eye contact with each slayer and watcher for a second time before stepping back.
Giles than stepped forward and told them everything they knew on Lokar. Nothing new had been found so he merely relayed what Spike had already told them. Once he was done Spike stepped up to say his piece.
"He's going to send vampires, demons and all other sorts of nasties. You girls will practice fighting with me. And the watchers to. We'll do that until Faith, Angel and the rest come. Buffy will tell you a bit more about that."
Buffy smiled at Spikes short toss in. Stepping back up to the group she said "For now classes go on as normal. Faiths group will get here in a week or so, Angel in a few days. Xander will be taking some of you to learn how to use military grade weapons. Watchers this is most likely you so over the next few days talk to him, see if you or your slayer's are on that list. Watchers and the few slayers who are in college, you'll keep going. Robin is handling the paper work to get his college age students in to universities also so that will continue. Faith is brining thirty slayer watcher pairs. It's going to get cramped. We'll be making up a new school/training schedule to divide you guys up once her girls get here. For tonight same arrangements as last night. Everyone sleeps on campus. We'll be doing that until Faith gets here. Tomorrow those of you who live off campus can go get some extra stuff. For the rest of tonight everybody turn in. Normal schedule tomorrow."
One by one the slayers and watchers filtered out of the gym all talking about what happened. Katie turned to Anne.
"So you're staying with Dawn right?" she asked.
"Yeah, that's what she said." Anne replied.
"Darn I was hoping we'd room together." Katie shrugged.
Katie didn't notice the smile that broke across Anne's face but she did hear the excitement in her friends voice as she asked "Really?"
Turning again to look at her friend she said "Yeah of course, we're friends." She shook her head at Anne and bumped her shoulder "Can you be more dense?"
Anne smiled widely and hooked arms with Katie and walked off to the dorms with her.
