BTVS: In League Pt. 12

November 1, 1997 - Lima, Ohio

-BTVS multi-

The Cheerios, by nature of their calling, were all night people, yet at the same time they had, ingrained as a deep habit, the ability to wake at the crack of dawn. Fortunately for them, this did not necessarily mean they lacked getting enough sleep. Slayers could naturally function on less sleep, though they treasured the opportunity for sleep-ins a great deal. They also, had the ability to grab catnaps and benefit from them as much as a pure night's sleep; most times.

Halloween had been a long night, not conducive to much normal rest and one that had not inevitably led to addressing any issue of personal sexual satisfaction. In fact, it had been the exact opposite, which lead to Santana pouting before and after breakfast and pre-phone call to Andy. It did not help that Rachel pointed out something that had settled over their small portion of the clan like a bomb.

"You do realize we're all virgins now, including Noah. And, none of us are currently on any kind of birth control." She said it as if it were the most normal thing, as they started gathering together.

Noah, who was definitely not awake enough to process this, merely grunted at the pronouncement. Up until Quinn said, "So that means no fun for you, unless you and your mini-puck are sacked up tight."

"The Puckasaurus always plays safe," he half whined. Then he took a sip of his coffee and sighed. "Why am I up again?"

"Almost always. I seem to recall a youthful indiscretion or two. Or more. And you're up because you are part of the team and we need your expertise in getting set up for busting the nest; which brings me to there was a reason for me mentioning the fact previous."

"Do we have to have this conversation before coffee?"

"No, just before the parents wake up."

"Which reminds me, we don't need protection like Puck. So why didn't you let us play again?"

"No soundproofing. The neighbors didn't require it until I was in middle school, when the range of my voice suddenly increased. Plus, I thought we wanted to be discreet. Unless you really want us to wake up the Dads and Judy after a night like last night."

"Okay, that's hilarious and … legit. Damn it. We need our own place, even if it's a hotel room."

Rachel nodded in total agreement. "Once we handle the nest, that becomes more likely. I was thinking, perhaps, we could scope out the neighborhood and the building we spotted and begin strategizing; perhaps go to a coffee shop for some brunch to discuss our findings?"

"As long as we can get our mack on in a reasonable amount of time. Too long and we're gonna make it in the woods. I'm not waiting another twenty-four hours."

"You ain't the only one feeling the heat," Quinn said with a leer. "But I got to respect that Mom isn't ready to find us getting more than moderately friendly. You know the way this game is played. We'll be having a good time and someone will open a door and scream."

There was a nearly simultaneous group shudder. It had been one of the few in-common experiences of their teen years; inevitable parental-discovery.

Santana relented and let the rest of them cuddle her back into a cheerful mood. But Brittany had not forgotten Rachel's comment about reasons for pointing out their virginity, and thought upon it, though she held her peace.

After they finally made it to the dining room for their respective breakfasts, Brittany finally was able to figure out the numbers that had been impressed upon her, thanks to the creative use of one of those generic alphabet cereals that just happened to include numbers. She just kept rearranging them until it felt right.

"Rachy, what's this number?" She asked the Diva. "It feels like Andy, but it's not one I know."

The tiny Slayer moved around to her side of the table and looked at the cereal numbers spread out. She was trying to work it out, when the house phone rang. Then the answer was clear as a day. She reached out and split the long numeral, into a section of three, three and four. A phone number.

"That's a Chicago AC." Santana commented. "Didn't Andy say she went to college there?"

-BTVS multi-

Hours later, the parents were awake and mostly functioning after their late night, and the phone call to Chicago had successfully been made from the Berry's home. Because of what he overheard, Hiram was convinced more than ever that his daughter was part of an expanded household. LeRoy, meanwhile, had begun making mental calculations that had him realizing that his daughter and her friends might need more help than anyone realized and he wasn't entirely sure what that might mean in the long run. Judy appeared to be confused, but she was processing things much more quickly than her slayer-daughter realized and coming to some rather firm decisions. Franny was just happy to watch cartoons and play with the Berry's game console, while her younger-older sister and friends went to more deeply investigate what was going on with that house at the far end of Elm Street.

The parents met in the kitchen, much as their children had earlier. Hiram began assembling some sandwiches.

Judy wasn't entirely sure how to frame her thoughts, but she felt the need to get them out there. "Thank you both for allowing me into your home." The words were uttered quietly. "I know we haven't spoken in a long time. I know," she paused and swallowed. Hiram's hands stopped moving and he stilled, his back to her. LeRoy set aside the plate he was holding. "... how very difficult it must be to have me in your home after, well, after everything. I can't even begin to excuse some of the things that have been said or done..."

"They weren't done by you." Hiram said, as he started his busy work again.

"But I did not stop it either."

"Could you have?" LeRoy asked. He placed a hand on your shoulder. "Do you really think you could have stopped Russell for long."

"I thought by marrying him..."

"He would change."

Judy laughed a little and smiled ruefully. "And he did. Just... not the way I hoped."

"Are you going back to him?"

Judy looked down and folded her hands in her lap. When she looked back up, she saw that Hiram was standing in front of her, a plate with a sandwich in his hand. His eyes were still kind, even after all these years. "No. I won't be. I can't. Not with Lucy... Quinn, being what she is. He would never accept her and frankly, I can't go through what she said happens. Not knowing it was like for her."

"So you believe her."

"It's more than belief. I know they are telling the truth." Again there was a rueful expression on her face. "Once upon a time, I had Potential. It's too bad I thought I could use Russell to forget."

The plate landed on table and rattled.

Judy smiled weakly. "You know the irony of this? I was getting ready to leave him anyhow. He's been cheating. The divorce papers arrived this, well, yesterday, morning. I was just trying to decide whether to go through with it or not."

The first friend she'd ever made when she'd moved in this small town took her hands in his, and smiled the bright, sweet smile she remembered. "He was never good enough for you, Judy."

LeRoy, her brother in all ways, but blood, hugged them both. Taking a deep breath, she turned her attention to the tall black man. "There's something you should also know about Mom, and why she originally took me in all those years ago."

-BTVS multi-

Daytime, while it had some inconveniences as far as subtlety was concerned, also was a great time to do some basic investigative work. The house was located near Lima's State University campus. This location made a great deal of sense to the Slayers, because of its access to the campus, which meant parties and students who weren't always as alert to their situation as they ought to be. Plus, it was far enough from the cemetery and the hospital to appear innocuous. And while vamps needed to feed, that didn't mean daily. A savvy vampire and its minions could tuck themselves away like this and remain mostly undiscovered as long as they were smart about it. A missing student here, a neighbor with a heart attack there and snacks of a voluntary nature if they convinced the local goths to play along... Well, a vampire could make a "living," in Lima, it seemed.

"Suck house," Quinn confirmed as they watched a young woman totter out of the house as if she were a little drunk. "They've got a suck house in our town," she repeated with disgust and disbelief. The slayers had paired off for their observation, working their way around the house through the modest forest cover behind and around the location; one couple to a side. Not that, given the random vamp junky they had to really be all that subtle.

"It's a nice neighborhood otherwise. It'd be a good base if its paid for." Quinn glanced at the other blonde and cocked a brow, then after thinking on it, considered.

"If we can get it cleaned out and if they haven't defiled it too much, it might be saved. But you know how some of those houses can get." They both did. It was not uncommon to find sigils and other not-so-right magical influences protecting or infesting the house. It depended on the age and knowledge of the invaders and was sometimes the work of a team of mages to clear things out or sometimes the whole thing had to be declared a loss and burned to the ground.

I wonder if they can feel us?" Brittany pondered as she worked on sharpening a stake, her legs hooked underneath a lower limb for stabilization, while she sat on a higher, thicker one. Quinn was similarly positioned, though her hands were less busy since she was holding their communication device. They were ensconced in a tree; far enough to be unobservable to the general population, but close enough that they could see.

"Maybe, but these vamps are arrogant. They'll ignore any hinky feelings in favor of the free happy meals that are just walking in for the taking."

A burst of static and clicks caught Quinns attention. She lifted the walky-talky so she and Brittany could hear and respond. Santana reported, "Nineties Goth Girl is heading toward her sixteenth birthday gift. Pretty car. Rachel's worried about her driving, but I think she'll be alright. She's got marks on wrists and ankles. She's been here before."

"I almost feel sorry for what is going to happen to her later, but girl shouldn't' have been playing with the monsters in the first place."

"Rachel reminds us there's always reasons that girls like that take a hit. Bad home life or school bullying. She's got empathy or some shit like that. Ow!"

Quinn grinned despite herself. She could picture Rachel's response to Santana's sarcasm in her head. "Do we intervene?"

"We could use some numbers and inside information. Rachel's says let her go. She's just in a bad situation and will have it tough enough when she's going through withdrawal after we clean things out. We're gonna wait and see if someone better comes along and make a grab."

-BTVS multi-

After what she was coming to think of as the "great revelation," Judy, Hiram and LeRoy had discussed, at length the pros and cons of even informing her retired watcher about the turn of events. Judy's sense of humor revived to life when Hiram pointed out, "Oh my goodness, they're cousins. Admittedly, not by blood, but still this will surely put an, ahem, kink into their lives."

LeRoy grinned, "As if they don't have enough as it is." He had then pointed at his sister, "I hope you're not in denial, sis, but our daughters and their friends are so much more than just teammates."

Judy had stared at them for a few moments and then the giggles had started as she imagined that conversation. When she could catch her breath she said, "Well, it's kind of hard to miss, though I do know the kids are trying. I'm not going to judge them though. I'm not my husband. My daughter is a slayer and I know what that means or at least, what it used to mean; a very short life, lived alone. But my little girl seems to have gotten luckier than that. How can I deny her any happiness given what she must face. That said, I realize this answers our question as to whether we ought to tell Mom or not. We must, because I know she can help and I know she won't let the old Council get their hooks into our daughters, whether she helps us otherwise or not. Besides, I'm tired of my daughters only knowing Russell's side of the family. Quinn and Franny deserve to get to know her. I only hope she wants to see them."

"Of course she will, Judy. And Rachel will love having a new, or shall I say old, kissing cousin."

The laughter started again. In the end, they agreed that it might be in the best interest of Quinn and Rachel to know that they had another something in common.

-BTVS multi-

People who did not know Rachel was a slayer always, always thought of her as the nice one; aside from Brittany. They also tended to underestimate her because of her height. She was, of course, genuinely kind and often nice, but when it came to slaying, she was also all business and did what needed to be done.

They ended up grabbing the person who appeared to be the human House servant. Every suck house had at least one. They were Maitre D's of sorts and were usually the ones who took care of getting essentials needed to maintain their human 'livestock'. Food, drinks, bandages, etc. It turned out to be a relatively short interview. Mostly because Rachel was all smiles while Brittany and Santana held the man over a bridge railing and Quinn looked on with her trademark ice cold HBIC glare. It didn't help that Rachel pointed out, "It would be quicker and better for you if we just let you go. Your keepers will eventually get tired of maintaining the facade. Then they will suck you dry, and turn on the rest of the town. So you see, we really are just hurrying things along, and getting rid of them first."

Brittany and Santana, both experts at holding people without letting them actually fall, let the man drop a little. He screamed, much like Kurt would when he's older. Laughing, they let him drop a little more. The scream was louder this time, as he had a very good view of the bottom under the bridge now. "NO, PLEASE! Stop! Please!"

Rachel's smile brightened. "So, are we ready to talk now?"

They set the man free, of course, but only after making sure that he had no money and no phone. They bought him a ticket and put him on a one-stop express bus out of town. Quinn informed him if he ever returned to Lima, they would not as lenient.

-BTVS multi-

Judy never thought she would say these these words or be at this particular doorstep again. She didn't think she'd have the right, but LeRoy had insisted that first contact had to be more than by phone and that they take Franny with them. "Hi Mom."

She wasn't sure what to expect. Judy had always been very careful about her strength, which while not that of a slayer was more than average, and that had led to most people considering her distant and, ofttimes, even uncaring. It also led to her thinking others did not want to touch her back. Rationally she knew that was mirroring her issues onto someone else and an aspect of being under the influence of Russell's non-touchy-feely presence in her life. She never said she was rational.

But she fully expected that Mom's Berry would slam the door shut. It would be no less than she deserved.

Momma Berry was a tall woman, built strong, but at the same time with a softness in her face which belied that strength to those who did not know her. Shock and hope graced her face. "Judy?" Her gaze flickered from the tall blonde to the little girl beside her, "And..."

"This is my eldest daughter..."

"Hi, my name is Estelle Francis Fabray." Franny suddenly piped up, cutting her off. She hadn't said much since her little sister grew up right before her eyes, but her mom had called this lady 'Mom', and she knew that meant that this was her grandmother. And she felt the sudden need to introduce herself. Her daddy didn't like her first name, but she loved it, because her Mommy said that she was named after someone very special, and she introduced herself with it whenever she could.

"Oh!" Estelle Westland Berry exhaled in pleased surprised. She glanced at her son and his husband, through the screen door. "I imagine this is your doing, bringing them here?"

LeRoy didn't even bother not to be at ease. "Partly, Mom. Judy has some things that need saying."

"Hey!"

"Well, all of us do. We need to talk to you about Rachel and Quinn."

"Quinn?"

"My other daughter. Lucy Quinn, my youngest. There was an event. She's..."

"They're slayers, Mom," Hiram said bluntly. "And they need your help."

Even as the screen door swung open, Estelle was saying, "First of all, that is impossible. And second of all, how do you, LeRoy and Hiram, know what a slayer is?"

"Because their Watcher, Noah, told us."

Estelle was quiet for a long moment. Being inseparable from the day they first met at Temple, she knew Noah Puckerman like she knew her granddaughter. "I see. Well don't just stand out there. You apparently have a story to tell me and I want to hug my granddaughter."

-BTVS multi-

Noah still hadn't made it to the Lima Bean, the very new and shiny and popular coffee house, but Santana had managed to snag one of the soft-seat booths. The booth had a circular table with a U-shaped seat that swept around it. The slayers filled the booth, with a space reserved for their Watcher whenever he managed to show up from wherever he had gone.

Empty sandwich wrappers, leftover chips and cooling drinks were set on the table, situated around the notes and map that Rachel had taken time to create while they were there. The map was based on the description provided by the Human Servant, and the notes detailed salient points, including the dismaying number of vampires who actually occupied that house.

"I thought Lima was supposed to be easy," Santana said. "Not that it won't be, but there shouldn't be near this many..."

"Well, considering the population of Lima..."

"But no Hellmouth..."

"Well, 'Active' Hellmouth, but that may be an assumption. We know that Sunnydale is definitely active and we know what our friends were told about other Hellmouths, but honestly, given the Watchers of the time, should we believe the deduction that less activity meant no results at all? I think not."

"But this is Lima."

"A quiet, podunk, perfect breeding ground, with a mostly satisfied population that sees only what it wants to see. Consider our High School experience and compare it to what we know of the descriptions other schools from our slayer sisters. Compared to normal schools, our school had a population that was oblivious to non-trivial events unless it was deemed gossip-worthy. It was occupied by strange teachers and students with weird habits, which I bet we could assess correctly now, and there was a basic lack of classroom management on the best of days. Add in the odd occurrences, which were never properly addressed by the administration or were simply covered up and we have a school under the influence. It might not be bad as having needing an obituary section in the school paper, but such blatant abuse of the student population should not be able to go so overlooked.

"Holy crap," muttered Quinn as realization struck. "Principal Figgins wasn't human."

"Indeed. He was also wrong about Tina, which is instructional. Of course, she wasn't vampire, she was fairy; Sidhe if you want to be particular about it." This time it was Santana who looked startled, but Brittany just smiled while Rachel continued, "But she was a very nice sidhe, which we all know. But I digress. You will note the common features to other schools that were near Hellmouths. Add to it that Lima is far enough away from the actual portal to be overlooked, yet big enough that oddities can go unnoticed for a bit, and you've got a situation. It does make me wonder what the cities around Sunnydale might be hiding, but that's a discussion to hold when we make contact with them later."

"Well, when you put it like that, I guess you're right. Inactive doesn't mean inert."

"Correct. One might compare the influence to be like breathing, happening regardless of events unless otherwise stopped. A more positive aspect of this new knowledge, is that awareness of activities in and around an area where a Hellmouth is reported to be located, could give an indication of which one would go active next."

"Which would explain the critters and the oblivious population."

"Sheep," Brittany added, which caused the other women to raise their brows at her. She wasn't exactly known for calling people names. The taller blonde, however, wasn't looking at them. She was examining the cup in her hand and slowly peeling away the heat cover. "Coach would call them sheep."

"Coach Sylvester," Rachel repeated and leaned back. "Wow."

"What do you think she'd say if she knew what we were?"

"I hesitate to even speculate, but weirdly, I think she'd love it."

Quinn added, "But if we'd told her then, she'd would have made us run a kazillian laps for not changing sooner so she could win Nationals. Even if we were already graduates."

Santana disagreed. "No. She'd just twist out some snarky names and make us run an impossible routine to scare the newbies into thinking they'd have to work harder and better to even qualify for her respect. And we'd do it too, because she's Coach."

"Do you think Schue ever figured out she was putting him on about the Master Cleanse?"

"I know, right. We're athletes for fucks sake. And he thinks she's making us live on salads alone? Please. We burned calories just waking up and that was before we changed. But it did make for fun lunches. I mean the way he looked at us, like we were starving and he could do nothing about it except moan on our behalf."

"Aunt Sue was a great coach," Brittany said as she flung the wrapper down on the table. "I miss her."

"Coach was your Aunt?! I mean ..." Quinn blinked. Santana blinked. Rachel didn't blink.

"How... what?" Santana blurted. "That's... it's... since when, Brittany."

"Umm, since always? I thought you all knew. Didn't I tell you?"

Silence reigned around the table for a bit as individuals digested the idea of their coach as a relative.

Rachel fiddled with her pen and wrote a few notations down. She spoke first. "We should tell her."

"I'm … wait.. say what now?" Quinn stared at Rachel, but Brittany nodded. Santana leaned back, folded her arms and furrowed her brow as if in thought.

"We should tell Coach. We at least owe it to her to let her know about the Hellmouth and she's..." Her gaze flickered to Brittany, who nodded, "The woman might have had issues on a good day, and that may speak to the the long-term influence of the hellmouth on a strong minded individual, but she had the skills to put a field Watcher to shame. Considering how stand-up she was regarding your training as Cheerios, I think she might have known, or at least suspected that something was off with the school, though she might not have known exactly what. We know she isn't one of the sheep." Rachel began to warm to her topic. "We know she was in some type of special services. She had to go insane somewhere, and it wasn't here. If things aren't too different in this place and time, we know that she has already been working the college scene for trophies and is looking for change about now. We could snag her before she even gets tagged by McKinley.

"We know we are sorely lacking in personnel to begin with; not the least of which, she's adaptable and savvy. If nothing else, we could then make sure that... Aunt Jean... gets taken care of, the way Coach would like. We'll have resources that she doesn't have, won't have. Dawn said they've already cracked some of the old council's stashes, so we'll have access to funding. We can pay Coach Sylvester... our... Aunt Sue... so she can do something she basically was doing with the Cheerios for years. Hell, given the opportunity to train a bunch of impressionable, super powered young women in hand to hand combat and life and death situations; we all know she'd probably do it for free."

"And Noah and Alice..."

"They're clan, as well as part of our team. I'm simply saying we should invite her to our team, like Andy brought in Lily and Doug. The more the merrier and the better. We don't have all our sisters any more and you know survival in our field of expertise is a numbers game sometimes. With Sue on our team we will at least add a good percentage our chances of success in our endeavors. We already know she's a great strategist, even if she is quirky in delivery. And if she's the type that has to have trophies on the wall, well, there's no reason we can't pursue something to shine in a case. She never said cheerleading was her only god. She said she loved winners."

Another bout of stunned silence rose around them and settled before Santana uncrossed her arms. She picked up her cup and finished it off in one long chug, before thumping the cup down. "We tell Coach. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Quinn echoed, followed by a beaming Brittany and a satisfied Rachel.

"Well, since that is resolved, let's take a look at the map again. Maybe we can have the cleaning planned out by the time Noah gets back from wherever he is."

-BTVS multi-

The hardware stores of Lima were a bit emptier by the time Noah was done with his shopping spree. He might not be able to easily acquire some types of armament, but he and the slayers had learned the value of do-it-yourself when it came to weaponry. It helped that the Human Servant's supply of cash had been generous. It also helped that he could spread the wealth, and shop at other stores, including the Hobby-Lobby, which had clear crystal balls; always useful. He also made a stop at a grocery store. The supplies the girls purchased at the All-Mart were good for a night or two, but he knew slayers and they operated best when they didn't have to worry about food, even subconsciously. It never hurt for them to stock up when they could.

By the time he was finished, he had the raw elements to create some very interesting weapons; splinter shatter bombs, stake flingers, holy water mini-bombs; among other things. He had also acquired two well balanced machetes, a quality buck-knife and a super-soaker, which he'd filled with holy-water after stopping at a chapel. It wasn't perfect, but it was a start from a point of zero. They might not use it all, given that the house probably had human visitors, and that meant exercising some caution, but that didn't mean they couldn't improvise.

Feeling a bit more like a Watcher again, Puck finally made his way to the Lima Bean.

-BTVS multi-