Hey guys! Thanks everyone for reading! This chapter is a little slow in the begining but i promise there is purpose :) Please please review! i want to know what you guys think because it helps give me direction. Also thanks tomy beta for editing :) Hope you all enjoy! Please let me know if you do!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea, Joss Whedon and Mutant enemy own everything else.

Chapter 14 The Young and the Restless

All of the Scoobies were in the kitchen having breakfast consisting of fresh scones, muffins, coffee and blood, while listening to the developments of their situation.

"Willy's back!" Spike said with glee, "Thank God there will be a decent demon bar in town."

"Anybody else think he's missing the point?" Xander asked, "I mean the demon that came through the portal is a little more pressing than a new drinking hole."

"Let's deal with that second," Giles interrupted. "I would like to hear about the Queen, Key and Soul one more time."

Buffy sighed. Giles had only asked her to recap three times that morning, what was one more? "I told you, all Carl said was that the book was supposed to be used by The Powers That Be and the Queen, Key and Soul. He wasn't very good with explaining things...or making sure I didn't run into walls."

"Well I would assume that it's safe to say that Dawn is the Key," Giles pointed out scribbling on a note pad.

Andrew popped a grape into his mouth and leaned on the counter trying to read what Giles had just written and asked, "Does that mean that the Queen and Soul are human too?"

"I wouldn't count on it." Dawn said grimly, "I mean I was a ball of energy before I was turned human. Who is to say that the Queen and Soul aren't a similar situation?"

"Dawn is quite right. They could very well have been transformed into anything," Giles replied. "Although the normal context of Queen does make me believe that one could be human."

"Sounds like a research thing to me," Willow jumped into the conversation. "We could get the girls to do a search for anything involving those words in a prophecy setting."

Giles nodded in agreement. "Yes, I suppose when they are done with their basic exercises. I will get my group started on that."

"Okay on to the demon portion of the conversation," Buffy changed the subject. "What exactly did Willy say?"

A huge smile spread across Dawn's face and she pulled a small notepad out from the back of her jeans and started flipping pages. "I took some notes while we were there…He said that it resembled a Viking in clothing, brown scaly skin and red eyes. And based on a bloody hand print on the side of a wall, he is at least 7 feet tall, probably bigger."

"No more of those guys are getting through right Will?" Buffy asked turning to the redhead.

"Nope, I sealed the room off and now that the walls are thicker we should be completely fine."

"Okay… So I will patrol tonight in some of the sketchier areas and where we think we are most likely to find this guy. Giles any clue where that would be?" Buffy asked, hopeful.

Giles looked at Buffy over the rim of his kiss the librarian coffee mug with raised eyebrows. "Yes, because I have always been able to tell where a demon likes to plunder and pillage based on his wardrobe and eye color."

Slight color rose to Buffy's cheeks. "But you can find out right?"

Giles was about to speak but Spike cut in, "I've never heard of a beast like that before Buffy, and if it came from another dimension the chances are that there isn't a book on this guy. He may be pretty high up there. How 'bout we go stop at Willy's tonight and I'll see if I can pick up its scent?"

Buffy almost jumped out of her skin at the thought of getting to spend some time alone with Spike. They had things to talk about. But Buffy tried to play it off cool and said, "You really want a beer from Willys don't you?"

"How'd you know love?" Spike smirked

"What about the girls?" Andrew asked aloud. His question wasn't very specific leaving Buffy confused.

"Wanna be a little more precise there Dungeon master?" Xander asked reaching for another scone that Andrew had made that morning.

"Are they going to go out and patrol? Seems like this big baddie is a little bit badder than the regulars that the slayers have been up against. Won't it like, tear them to shreds? They are like Padawans going up against Count Dooku!" Andrew said sounding ridiculously immature while pointing out an incredibly important situation.

"Even though I am scared shitless that I'm starting to understand the Whelp's references, I think I agree with him," Spike looked at the blonde boy. "Those aren't slayers, they are still potentials, as in they have the potential to get killed."

"You guys are right. These girls aren't ready for something this big yet. I mean I don't trust the newbies to go out at all without one of the senior girls with them." Buffy nodded thinking, "I guess they will just have to stay in until we get this thing. "

Angel raised his hand from his position, in the corner, by the fridge. He had stayed quiet from the conversation but thought maybe now was a good time to try and redeem himself a little. "Um…I could train with them tonight if you want. You and Spike go out and kill the demon and I'll make sure they get their daily demon fight."

Buffy was slightly taken aback by Angel's offer but after staring at him for a moment she nodded. "Alright, thanks."

Xander looked at his watch. "If we leave now Will, I could give you a ride to work."

"Thank Xand but I called in sick. I'm going to help Giles with the Codex and Book of White." Willow smiled at her friend.

"How about you Dawnie? Want a ride instead of taking the dreaded public transport?"

"Ya sure, just give me two seconds." Dawn ran upstairs and seemed to be back instantly with her books, fresh lip gloss and a blue sweater that belonged to Buffy. "Please Buffy?"

"You are so lucky that I know why you want to borrow it." Buffy said referring to Cale, Dawn's study buddy. Buffy had gotten the full scoop on him earlier that morning, while the two sisters had done their hair in Buffy's bathroom, while Willow showered in the other.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Dawn said giving her sister a quick hug before following Xander out the door with a quick, "I love you," thrown over her shoulder.

"How did her date go then?" Spike was trying to sound calm, but he was failing.

"Seems to me he is the perfect gentleman…with a few balance issues but otherwise completely normal." Buffy told him, "You don't have to be worried Spike. Dawn can take care of herself."

"Since when? Last time I saw her fight she was still learning what end of the sword was pointy." Spike grumbled. He had missed a lot; Dawn learning to fight would have been something he would like to have seen.

Buffy sensed this and put a hand on his shoulder making him look at her curiously. "You should ask her to spar sometime. I mean she's not as good as me but right now she could beat any of the SIT's, hands down."

"Is that right?" Spike chuckled to himself trying to look like he was unfazed by Buffy's small hand taking up residence on his arm. "Who taught her then? You?"

"What are you crazy?" Buffy said incredulously. "I would have killed her by the end of it! Teacher Buffy routine so does not work on your kid sister, who knows that you had a stuffed pig up until 2 years ago. Giles taught her. He has a high patience level."

Spike laughed and was respond when Giles interrupted them, pulling apart from his own conversation with Willow and Andrew. "Only because I had to train you Buffy. Send the girls over as soon as they are done with their morning warm-up."

"Aye aye Captain," Buffy saluted Giles. She turned to the vampire, "Are you going to help me and Vi today, or do you want to hang out with the books?"

With a raised eyebrow, Spike replied in a low voice that sent shivers down Buffy's spine, "When would I ever choose Giles and books over you?"

Buffy blushed slightly when she realized her mouth fell open at his words which only caused the vampire to laugh as he pushed the two of them out the door.

Willow, Giles, Andrew, and Angel stared out after the blonde pair. The redhead was the first to speak up, "I give them a week before they are back together as a couple."

"Really?" Andrew changed his focus from the empty doorway to Willow. "I was thinking more like 2 weeks."

"I hope it's sooner rather than later," Giles grumbled. "That way we all don't have to deal with the preliminaries of their courtship for any longer than necessary."

Willow and Andrew looked at Giles with laughter in their eyes and Andrew spoke with humor behind his words, "You are really British."

…

Lilith, Leah, and Bree had been going to ask Buffy about using the crossbow today. Lilith thought the weapon just screamed badass. Who would mess with a chick with a crossbow? She had been staying at the warehouse for just about two months now and was getting itchy to fight something worth her slayer strength.

Rumor was around the house, that usually you ended up staying and training for about 8 months to a year before Buffy even considered sending you out to a watcher. Rumor also had it that sometimes she held you back until you could best her in a fight, but there was no one left on campus to give truth to that one. Besides Vi, the oldest slayer on campus was Rachelle, and she had only been there for 6 months.

Lilith thought that the whole system was a little harsh. Wouldn't it be better to pump out the trained Slayers as fast as possible? More Slayers to defend the people and what not? But that wasn't going to happen, even though Lilith thought that she was competent enough to go out on her own. Buffy's opinion was the only one that mattered in this hemisphere regarding the slayers.

This was why Lilith had thought to go directly to the senior Slayer about crossbow lessons with Leah and Bree. But they hadn't just entered the kitchen, instead they all stopped dead when they heard the morning meeting. The Slayers in training didn't want to interrupt them, not a good idea to get on Buffy's bad side if they really wanted to use the crossbow.

Then words caught Leah's ears, it was Andrew the slightly annoying but incredibly smart Watcher in training "What about the girls?"

Leah signaled the two together girls and they pressed as close as they dared to the backdoor to hear what came next. "Wanna be a little more precise there Dungeon master?" Xanders' voice asked.

"Are they going to go out and patrol? Seems like this big baddie is a little bit badder than the regulars that the slayers have been up against. Won't it like tear them to shreds? They are like Padawans going up against Count Dooku!" Lilith cringed as Andrew made the reference to Star Wars, but she cringed more at Spike and Buffy's response.

"Even though I am scared shitless that I'm starting to understand the Whelp's references, I think I agree with him," the English vampire's voice was easily heard through the door. "Those aren't slayers, they are still potentials, as in they have the potential to get killed."

"You guys are right. These girls aren't ready for something this big yet. I mean I don't trust the newbies to go out at all without one of the senior girls with them. I guess they will just have to stay in until we get this thing."

Lilith was taken aback by Buffy's words. She didn't think they could take this new threat? They had all been training hard! Besides, if they took away their nightly patrols, the slayers would never get to leave the warehouse. And how would they get to train? This was so not fair. Lilith kept ranting inside her head beside her two friends, who were doing the exact same thing. They almost didn't hide quickly enough before the slayer and vampire made a dash for the warehouse. And that's when the three teenagers looked at each other and a common thought was shared among them. The slayerettes were just going to have to prove themselves to Buffy.

…

Giles was one of the few people that he knew who could handle extreme amounts of research. If his nose was in a book, he was in his natural habitat. But even the Veteran Watcher, and supreme researcher, wanted to bang his head on the table after 5 hours of going through the books with Andrew, and 15 or so giggling girls. If not for Willow, Giles would have been reaching for the bottle of brandy he kept behind the poetry books.

"Giles," Willow said from the Watcher's right, "What do you think about this?"

The Watcher adjusted his glasses and took the book that Willow and one of the potentials had brought him. "What do we have?"

"Possible reference to the Queen and Soul, Mr. Giles," Anna replied smiling.

'The Queen of the strong will fight beside the soul that had her heart,' was the line that Willow pointed out to Giles. "Well that is curious..."

The British man stayed silent for a moment as he contemplated the words, then proceeded to get the Book of White and the Codex, and flip through their pages.

"What do we have?" Willow asked excitedly.

"I'm not sure…" Giles was barely paying attention to the girls now, instead he began looking frantically for the page that he had found earlier. "Willow, would you please take the girls back to the house, and retrieve Buffy, Spike, and Angel."

"Ya sure Giles." Willow ushered the SIT's out of the room, while grumbling about the secretive Watcher.

Andrew pulled his chair over to Giles and looked at the pages as they flew past. "What is it? Do you know what we have to do?"

"Andrew… What have we talked about?" Giles said absently scanning page after page.

"Patience and personal space, but I just want-"

Right at that moment, Dawn came through the front door to see Giles and Andrew alone at the table. "What'd I miss?"

"He won't tell me," Andrew whined

"Is this a 'Giles won't tell Andrew' thing or a 'Giles won't tell anyone' thing?" Dawn asked removing her coat and scarf. She took up residence in a chair on the far side of the table.

Andrew sat back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, and sunk back into the chair. "He won't tell anyone."

"Then you know that you are so not going to crack the Giles safe until he is ready," Dawn replied as Willow, Buffy, Spike, and Angel entered the room.

"What do we have?" Buffy smiled as she questioned her watcher.

Giles was reading the page in the Codex that he had been searching for. The first time he had read the passage it hadn't made much sense. But with the line that Anna had found, it made it fairly easy to decipher. "What we are going to have is a problem."

Buffy shrugged looking around the room. "That's nothing new Giles."

"It is when I know for a fact that you are going to be the cause of the problem." Giles said rubbing his forehead, already dreading the reaction of his slayer. "God I can already feel the headache coming on."

"What? What does it say?" Buffy panicked slightly leaning towards the watcher. The others in the room were also on edge with the watcher pronouncement.

"This passage in the codex didn't make a lot of sense to me before. It says 'Only the strong heart and the soul that processes it can open the Book of White'. I have reason to believe that the Queen is the strong heart. Some other references, and later in the same passage it calls the Slayer the leader of the strong."

Willow realized what Giles was saying and gasped. This only caused Buffy to tense up further. "Spit it out Giles."

"Remember to keep your head clear Buffy," Giles began once again cleaning his glasses as he watched the Slayers face, "To put it plainly, you are the Queen of Slayers. The Queen that can open the Book of White."

Silence filled the room as the Scoobies' eyes widened as they stared at Buffy whose jaw had gone slack.

"Queen," Buffy said staring Giles down. "Me?"

"I would like it to be known that I refuse to call you Queen, your majesty, or your highness," Giles said sternly.

"This is Awesome!" Buffy exclaimed

"That is what I was afraid of," Giles moaned

…

"She thinks we won't be able to handle ourselves!" Lilith exclaimed to her friends, ten other girls who were barely 16. The girls were currently sitting around the warehouse, while Buffy, Spike, and Angel went to see what Giles had found. Normally Vi would have kept the training going but it was her day off.

"That's not fair. I mean we've been training really hard!" Carla agreed. "How are we supposed to learn if she always puts us on the side lines!"

There was a murmur of agreement throughout the room of slayers. Lilith smiled; maybe they would help her with her plan.

"So we want to do something to prove that we are ready, that we don't need to be babysat," Leah announced over the room of teenagers.

"What exactly do you have in mind?" one of the other girls asked.

"Well," Bree said with a smile, "Why don't we just sneak out tonight and kill that demon that came through the portal?"

A hush came over the girls. Go out and kill a demon? 'They had a hard enough time with vampires, some of the more logical' girls thought, while the other more impulsive ones, were smiling thinking that this was perfect.

The three friends looked out over the other girls trying to gage what the others were thinking. "Who's in?"

There wasn't a single no. Not one person left the room in disgust or rolled their eyes at the stupidity. Instead all the girls nodded their heads or said something in agreement. Lilith smiled "Excellent."

"So here is what we were thinking…"

…

"Wait so I still don't see that problem you were talking about," Xander asked the watcher. "I can see the connection that made you see that the Slayer and the Queen were the same thing, but isn't it a good thing that we now have 2 out of the 3 things we need to open the book?"

Buffy was sitting at the opposite end of the table from Giles, her legs curled up underneath her looking out into space. "I wonder if I could get the potentials to call me your highness?"

Everyone's eyes rolled over to the slayer momentarily looking at her like she had just grown a third head.

"Oh …I got it," realization of the 'problem' hit Xander.

"I didn't believe that Buffy's ego would swell this much," Giles explained cleaning his glasses again.

Buffy snapped out of her queen related though process. "Hey! At least I didn't ask for a crown or something."

Spike eyed the slayer curiously across the table. "Love, this is where you tell me you don't actually want a crown."

Buffy blushed and quickly redirected the conversation back at Giles. "What about the soul that keeps getting mentioned, anything new on that front?"

Giles spoke over Spike's laughter, "Well actually, I believe we have the soul as well, although there are two possible options…The Codex says that 'A soul previously lost will came to help the Queen and Key in their time of need', and if the soul had to possess the Queen's heart…if I'm not mistaken we have the only two beings on this plane that fit the Codex, sitting right here."

Silence filled the room. Everyone was looking from Spike to Angel and back again. There were only two known beings that had their souls reinstated after losing them, one was forced by curse and one fought for it and almost died to earn it.

"Any clue who it'd be, Rupert?" Spike asked with a raised brow. "I mean doesn't say anything a little more…I don't know… helpful?"

" 'fraid not," Giles responded right as Angel spoke.

"It's not me."

"And why is that? Thought you'd be itching to save the world again?" Spike commented.

"When I went to see the Oracles… Cordelia said it wasn't my place, that the Key belonged to someone else. Besides that other line you read said the soul had the heart of the queen, that's not me." Angel ground out fists clenched at his side. His discomfort went unnoticed by the others but Spike caught the tension in his sire's words.

'He knows something else…' Spike thought, but out loud he said, "I think that's for Buffy to decide mate."

Spike turned and faced the slayer meeting her green eyes with his blue ones, "What do you think Slayer?"

Buffy gulped down air, "Umm…well it makes the most sense if that's what Cordelia said...I mean can't we give it a try?"

"Not to be particular but Buffy, it says in the Codex that the ritual for unlocking the book is very precise, one wrong element, wrong person… well it doesn't end with hugs and puppies." Buffy paled at Willows words.

"Okay, okay, just give me a moment." Buffy said standing up and bolted from the room. Her footsteps could be heard as they ran up the stairs to her bedroom.

Xander looked at the blonde vampire, who sat staring at the door the slayer just ran through. The carpenter could have sworn he saw a glimpse of pain cross Spike's face. "Well one of us should go after her…" Spike didn't move an inch, almost like he hadn't heard Xander speak. "And by someone Dead Boy Junior, I meant you."

Spike nodded and stood up and headed for the stairs, for Buffy.

…

Buffy sat on her bed and stared out the window taking deep breaths. She needed to really think hard. Is there any possible reason it couldn't be Spike? Was there a reason it could be Angel? She had to be 100% sure. Because if she were wrong, one way or another she would lose someone she cared about and it would be her fault.

A small knock came from her doorframe and Buffy saw the man in question standing there. Spike spoke softly, "Can I come in?"

"You don't need to ask, it's not like you need to be invited," Buffy replied

"Just being polite Buffy," Spike smiled slightly. "I know, rare coming from me, but thought I'd give it a try this once since you seemed upset about me possessing your heart and all."

Buffy laughed out loud, "Never been really good at transitions or subtle have you Spike."

"Nah always thought it was a waste of time," Spike smiled back taking a seat on the edge of the bed next to Buffy. "So why did you going running out of there like a Fyral demon was on your tail?"

Buffy smiled slightly pulling herself to the end of the bed next to Spike. "I just had to think."

Spike nodded, "I know the feeling. But love, don't worry about hurting me if it's not me. I will understand. You and Angel have got history. I can understand that… won't like it one bit, but I can understand. Never really expected you to love me anyway-"

"Is that what you think this is about?" Buffy cut him off mid thought.

"What else would it be about?"

"I need to think because I need to be sure that when we try and open that book that you're not going to light on fire and die!" Buffy exclaimed, "If something happened to you again, already so soon after I just got you back…"

"Slayer, I'm not going anywhere," Spike replied quickly. "If you think I am the soul then we shouldn't have a problem."

Buffy was quiet for a moment, making Spike think that it might not be him. He had gotten his hopes up for nothing. But then Buffy whispered, "Who else would have it?"

Spike's eyes sparkled. It wasn't exactly an 'I love you' but it was definitely more than a crumb. "Well then, seems we don't have a problem."

…

"We have a problem." Illyria was standing in the doorframe after Spike and Buffy came back down stairs.

"What's up blue?" Spike asked .

"The sun has set." Illyria apparently wasn't very good with details, Xander thought.

"Not to burst your bubble, but it kind of does that every night," the self proclaimed comedian pointed out.

"I am aware of this human. The problem is that the sun has set and the young powerful ones haven't returned yet." Illyria almost glared at Xander, but he wasn't worth it she decided.

"What do you mean they haven't returned?" Buffy snapped. "They shouldn't have left in the first place!"

"I was looking at your arsenal, when I heard them all come down the stairs," Illyria stated. "They left just before sunset."

Buffy's earlier worries seemed to evaporate. With that demon from another dimension on the loose they had a higher chance of getting killed. "Which girls Illyria?"

"I do not know their names." The god seemed to shrug it off, but then gave one detail that made Buffy know who it had to be. "One of them left with a crossbow that I wish to see, if they do not destroy it."

"It's got to be Lilith Bree or Leah!" Buffy announced, "They were asking about learning the crossbow this morning, but I said no. How many left?"

"Ten. Maybe more." Illyria calculated.

Buffy ran to her weapons chest and grabbed her scythe. Spike and Angel were seconds behind her, Spike taking an axe and Angel a sword. Buffy nodded quickly in appreciation then started barking out orders. "Alright, we need someone to get a hold of Vi. She's probably out at the bar. I also want a locator spell done as quickly as possible to find them. Call as soon as you find out. Xander I want you to do a count of them and get me names, who all went, if anybody knows why, that kind of thing."

"On it Buff," Xander replied, already out the door to the warehouse.

"Spike and Angel could one of you sniff out the girls and the other go to Willy's and see if you could trace the demon?" Buffy asked not wanting to make the choice. "I'm going to look for the girls…"

"I'll go to Willy's," Angel quickly responded. He could tell his grandchilde didn't want to leave Buffy alone, besides they fought better together than he and Buffy did. And the main priority was to get everyone home safe. But Angel didn't say that out loud, instead he made a jab at Spike. "I'm less likely to stop inside for a drink."

"Funny coming from the vampire with delicate taste buds," Spike snorted. "Only ponces drink otter blood."

"The manly sow of testosterone can be later," Buffy cut them off. "We need to go find them before they get killed."

…

Buffy and Spike had parted ways from Angel almost immediately. Seemed the girls had headed out towards The Warehouse District. Even while Buffy was panicking over their safety, she was glad that they had paid attention in training. The Warehouse District was right on the Cuyahoga River and was filled with restaurants, clubs and people, perfect victims for trans-dimensional demons.

"Anything?" Buffy asked hopefully.

"Sorry love, the scent is still week," Spike sniffed the air, trying to be discrete. "But it could be because of all of these people. I miss Sunnydale. Most people I ever saw in one place was at the bronze."

"Don't like the big city?" Buffy asked while scanning the crowd outside of a club.

"Nah, even back in the day when people were dinner, preferred the small town life," Spike replied. "Hang on…"

Spike had stopped dead in his tracks to get a better hold of his bearings, and then turned to his right. There was an alley that ran down the side of a club and led to the water. There were no streetlights, only the distant glow of one around the corner. "They went down there."

"Of course they did." Buffy sighed and started towards it, but Spike grabbed her arm holding her in place. "What is it?"

"Something followed them down there. Something that's not human and smells like the insides of a Drokken beast," Spike spoke with distaste.

Before Buffy could reply her cell phone rang with Willow's picture on the screen. "Will, where are they?"

"Looks like they went down to Settlers, close to the water, Xander questioned the girls and looks like we have 13 newbies who think they are all that. Rachelle was saying that these slayers think they are more than prepared to go off on their own."

"Ya. That's why they went out with 13 slayers to get one demon," Buffy growled. "I am so going to have to teach them a lesson. Where's Vi?"

"She was making her way out of a…Sunset lounge," Willow said. "It's on West 9th St."

"Umm, I think that's where we are. We will find Vi then go to the park." Buffy looked around for a street sign.

"Alright be careful." Buffy said she would, then disconnected with Willow.

"So where are the kiddies?" Spike asked, rolling a cigarette between his fingers.

"Willow said that they are in the park just 2 minutes from here. But we have to get Vi." Buffy was looking around for any sign of the club. "She was leaving Sunset Lounge…I don't know where that is…"

Spike looked about then realized that a redheaded girl had just pushed herself out of the club they had just passed. Vi made a run for it when a couple guys followed her out of the bar. She was going to run right past them as she tried to use her cell phone. Spike grabbed the girl's coat right as she went barreling past the veteran demon fighters. Vi gave out a little shriek when she came to a dead stop but she quickly relaxed when she saw it was Buffy and Spike. "Rule number one Vi; be aware of your surroundings."

"Where are they? I'm going to kill them!" Vi started ranting. "They couldn't hold off for one more night? I mean I'm supposed to have those guys chasing me, not be running away from them!"

"Don't worry they are so going to be punished," Buffy agreed. "Unfortunately, they think that they are ready to go fight on their own."

"Stupid little -"

"It's better if you help now and curse them out later when they can actually hear you." Spike pointed out.

"Alright. I'm cool lets go save their asses so after, I can kick them." Vi said in an overly cheery voice.

At that, the three hunters started off at run, headed for the park. It wasn't very far and the further they got from the clubs, the easier it was to maneuver through the streets. Spike didn't mention that he could still smell the demon that had followed the potentials down to the water, but its presence was starting to unnerve him.

They had just reached the out skirts of the park when they heard a high-pitched scream in the distance. It was followed by a roar, which could only have come from a demon. Buffy burst in the speed of the direction of the sounds, and when the potentials came into view, Buffy's heart leapt in her chest and proceeded to plummet to her stomach

Leah's arm was bleeding steadily, 5 girls were hiding and the rest were only making defensive maneuvers against the demon. The demon was 8 feet tall, well muscled and had long nails that looked lethal. It was the one that Willy had said had come through the portal; brown scaly skin, red eyes and the wardrobe was a total travesty.

Buffy got within hitting distance and yelled at the beast, "Hey!" After getting its attention, Buffy didn't go on to make small talk or puns with the demon as they battled, instead she swung the scythe at its legs hoping to knock it off balance.

However, it jumped over the scythe with ease and fluid motion, and tried to swipe at Buffy with its claws. Spike however, intercepted the blow with his axe making a deep gouge in the demon's arm, sending it snarling, baring its pointed shark like teeth. Spike took that opportunity to distract the demon further. "My grandma, what big teeth you have." Spike swung the axe at the demon's face, connecting, knocking it back a few feet.

This gave Buffy the opportunity to shout some orders at Vi, "Get them to a safe distance! Make them watch!"

Vi did as she was told and pulled the girls back. They were among the trees with easy escape routes, and checked them all over. Besides Leah's arm, which Vi wrapped in her coat to try and stop the bleeding, there were only scratches and what would surely be bruises in a few hours. Vi snapped at the potentials to pay attention to the fight in front of them.

The demon was strong but Spike and Buffy were holding it off, keeping it on its toes. Vi watched extra carefully, in case she needed to give her teacher or the vampire a warning. Quick hits were exchanged, none of them incapacitating on either side.

Then out of nowhere Angel came running out of the trees and leapt at the demon sword raised. The sword was perfectly aimed and would have been a kill shot if the demon had not deflected it, causing Angel to roll to the ground. Angel snarled and vamped out ready to take the beast on again.

Lilith watched, scared about what was going to happen to the three warriors. The demon was stronger and bigger than anything she had ever seen or read about. But there was Buffy fighting like it was just any other demon. The Slayer used some attacks that Lilith had never even thought of; decoys attacks and double-teaming the demon with the help of Spike or Angel seemed to be working the best, because one on one the beast out powered the heroes separately.

And then it happened. Buffy watched as Spike came up behind the demon and hurdled on to its back, wrapping his arms around the scaly head. The demon snarled again and tried to remove Spike but the vampire held on tight. "Now would be a good time Slayer, to finish him off!"

Buffy jolted and realized what Spike had done. The demon wasn't able to see with Spike's arms wrapped around its face like that, leaving its vitals wide open. With a quick look at Angel they both plunged their weapons into the demon. Angel's sword had hit slightly below its target because of the thrashing demon. But Buffy had sunk the wooded stake end of her scythe into the demon where the heart would be, assuming it had one.

The beast moaned and cried out as it fell to its knees, allowing Spike to remove himself from its back and kick it to the ground. When it's chest stopped moving Spike turned it over to get a better look at it.

"Think you could remember that face to draw it later for Giles?" Spike asked the Slayer.

"Yeah that won't be a problem…" Buffy said turning to look at the trees where her students were hiding in the shadows. Slowly they stepped out into the opening, being pushed by Vi the whole way. "You are to return to the warehouse. And wait in the first aid room."

The girls looked at the ground nodded and started walking back to the house. Vi walked up to Buffy and spoke loudly enough for the potentials to hear, "I'm heading back with them, to make sure they don't try anything else stupid."

Some of them flinched at her words but Buffy just smiled at Vi and nodded in agreement. "Alright, get them home safe. And prepare them for a speech."

"I thought it was imparted wisdom?"

"Get moving smart ass," Buffy laughed at her friend. "We are going to get rid of the body."

When Vi had caught up, Buffy turned around to face Angel and Spike trying to lift the shoulders of the demon, and drag it to the water. It was weird watching them work together. Suddenly, the body seemed to melt away. The color faded leaving a clear gel like substance that wasn't solid and immediately did what gravity demanded it do. It fell to the ground.

Unfortunately, Spike and Angel had both taken a demon arm onto their shoulders to help carry it to the water. This resulted in the two vampires cursing loudly as they were covered in the slime from the neck down.

"Bloody hell! I'm going to kill those girls."

…

Buffy stared over the potentials. Lilith, Leah, Bree, Diana, Carrie, Hannah, Lizzie, Jordan, Gina, Katie, Simone, Anita and Sam all sat on the bench single file looking at the ground. Bruises were appearing on their skin and dried blood was on their clothes and in their hair. They looked like 13 terrified 16-year old girls.

"What you girls did was stupid, irrational and dangerous. Not only for you but you put Vi, Spike, Angel, and myself at risk by going out there tonight," Buffy began. "What you don't seem to understand is that I am in charge. You may have the slayer power but you don't know who to use it. Which makes you just as weak as someone without it, and more of a liability in the field."

"I don't have faith in your abilities. I don't think you're strong enough to go out on your own. But I do have faith in your potential. You all, with proper training, will grow into great slayers," Buffy admitted to the girls. "I know you wanted to prove yourselves. But a Slayer doesn't prove them self that way. You do it by protecting the people on your side, putting the world first, and understanding your limitations. That's why I'm training you, to help you find them."

The room was silent but the expressions on the girl's faces spoke volumes. And Buffy smiled at them knowing that she had gotten through or at least scared the crap out of them. "I want you all to go take showers then go to bed. And don't ever do this again!"

The girls quickly left the room with a murmured apology to Buffy and headed upstairs.

Giles watched from the corner of the room a smile plastered on his face. His slayer was all grown up. "Well done Buffy."

Buffy jumped because she hadn't noticed her watcher had entered the room. "Thanks. They needed that I guess."

"The best slayers are never made without a little discipline."

Alright guys please remember to review! What did you think of having a chapter kind of from the potentials POV? I probably wont do it again but feedback is good :) I also put this chapter in to kinda stay true to the TV series( you know like how they'd have the big bad that Buffy defeats at the end but there are still the everyday kind of baddies that have to be taken down) PLease review and i hope to get you another Chapter before Christmas :)