Chapter 14: The Slayer Question

A/N: I know I was supposed to get back to the new Council, but Musie really, really wanted to write this instead. I'm hoping you don't mind too much. What really happened with Dana. And how it affects the rest of the girls. It's shorter than average, but meaty, I hope.

Warning: I don't know; maybe language and innuendo somewhere along the way.

Challenges: #1599 by Claddagh, #4372 by ChaosCarlos, and inspired by #2324 by raynee.

Thanks to my betas: AshDawnSoulmates, ktweaver, Chrislover, zigpal and AerynSpeedleCaine.

Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. Highlander characters belong to Davis-Panzer Productions. M*A*S*H characters belong to H. Richard Hornberger, Larry Gelbart and 20th Century Fox Television. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

Phoenix's bedroom

A couple months ago…

Thinking about what Dawn told her, Phoenix considered her options with Dana, the mentally unstable Slayer who cut off Spike's hands. Spike was alive again, so to speak. That was another issue altogether. But right now, her girls had to be her primary focus.

To that end, she called the PTBs' messenger, "Whistler, I need some guidance down here!"

"What's up, Queenie?" Whistler quipped. He smirked at her glare, then corrected himself, "Phoenix?"

"There's a Slayer who's a danger to herself and others right now." She started pacing the room a little to burn off the nervous energy she felt at being responsible for girls like Dana. "I know you said that I could take away powers permanently, but is there a way for me to just take them temporarily? If she manages to get better, I don't want that option closed to her for good. It's not as if it was her fault she was tortured and broken mentally."

Whistler could feel the anxiety rolling off the Slayer Queen. She had a pretty heady responsibility for someone so young. "It's all up to you. As long as a girl was born a Potential, she'll remain one until you activate her or the death of the previous Slayer does. Going the other way, you can remove the powers, but put the girl back on the Potential list, or you can remove her completely from the line. The only thing you can't do is create a Potential; that's handled by the Fates," he clarified. There had been talk of giving her that responsibility as well, but Whistler warned them that she wouldn't pick anyone; she'd continue on herself rather than force that life on another girl.

"Okay, good to know," Phoenix replied, breathing a sigh of relief at his answer. "Thanks for the help," she said with a smile and a wave goodbye.

"What? No threats of violence?" Whistler asked, almost sounding like he was going to pout if she didn't.

Phoenix raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. Whatever floats his boat. "Umm…how 'bout this? If you hide anything important from me about my job, I'll…pluck out your eyes and rip off your balls for a game of marbles. How's that?" she inquired chirpily. Quite honestly, she thought it was better than the ribcage threat.

Whistler cleared his throat and fought the urge to shield his privates. "Vivid…and terrifying. Thanks."

"What a nut!" Phoenix muttered after he left, giggling slightly.

Present day…

When she woke up from her shared dream with Faith, Phoenix quickly jotted down the names of the problem minis. Then a thought occurred to her, and she felt like smacking herself that she hadn't considered this before. First she needed some more PTB guidance, though. That meant calling their messenger again. She may have hated him as a regular Slayer, but she kind of liked him now…seeing as how he was actually being helpful and everything.

Remembering that he perversely liked it when she threatened him, Phoenix decided to get that part out of the way first. "Hey, Whis! Get your ass down here before I track you down and peel your skin to use as…umm, paper?" she yelled, knowing that Methos would understand her odd behavior if he was even home to hear her – which she wasn't sure of.

Whistler was grinning when he popped in. "Not bad, but make sure you sound like you mean it. What can I do for your Royalness today?" he asked with a mock bow, causing her to roll her eyes. Apparently, he planned to beat that dead horse for centuries or something.

Phoenix nodded, "Got another power question for you. Can I…?"

When she finished asking, Whistler grinned rather proudly. "Wondered when you'd come up with that. Some of the others doubted you ever would, but I knew you'd eventually ask. Granted, I thought it would take until you had to handle the Slayer Council, but-"

She interrupted him, "I assume that you guys have seen the problems with Kennedy and her group?"

"Ahh, so baby sis and sister-Slayer have asked for your help already, huh?" Whistler guessed. Despite what she may think, he didn't know everything about the situation.

"Yup, and I had an idea on how to be sure I was only taking the power from the right girls." Phoenix was working out the exact plan still, but had enough that she thought she could share with him. "I'm gonna run it by the guys tomorrow, but I wouldn't mind your input too."

"We've certainly come a long way from our first meeting, Slayer," he remarked semi-fondly. Yeah, that first time was gut-wrenching, but he loved her fire – even back then. "Let's hear it, then." Once she told him, he nodded in admiration, "That's very clever. Let them decide their own fate with their own words."

Still unused to the supposed power she had over the Slayer-line, Phoenix asked hesitantly, "And the Powers won't mind?"

"They trust your judgment, and I think this is a good example of why they're right to," he said with a brotherly pat on the shoulder.

The resulting smile made it worthwhile to the messenger. "Alright, thanks. I'll try to come up with some good threats in case I need to call you again," she promised.

Whistler couldn't stop the chuckle that bubbled up. "Looking forward to it."

Dreamscape…

Starting the next night, Phoenix began appearing in all the Slayers' dreams. The first ones she visited were the names that Faith gave her. She pulled the same routine with them that she did with Faith, but this time disguised her voice to sound like the First Slayer. "If there could only be one Slayer again," she began, "…which girl should be The Slayer?"

Kennedy, and a few others like her, replied, "I'm the strongest and deserve it the most. It should go to me," they demanded.

In her mind, Phoenix sighed and crossed them off the list of Potentials. Those girls would lose their powers and be removed from the line for good.

One or two of the problem girls answered, "Whoever will do the best job protecting the world."

For them, the Queen of Slayers asked a follow-up question, "If you could go back to being a regular girl – with no chance of being the Slayer again – would you like to?"

If the answer was 'yes', their name was added to the removal list.

If the answer was 'no, they wanted to be the Slayer if they deserved it', she put them on a list of girls to keep as active Slayers.

If the answer was 'no, but they wanted to eventually be the Slayer if they deserved it', she put them on the list to lose their powers, but remain Potentials.

Before they left the dreamscape, Phoenix told them that they wouldn't remember this dream until the time was right. She needed to be prepared when she faced her former allies again.

Every night, she'd visit more Slayers, until all of them – not just the troublemakers – had determined their own destinies.

A/N: I don't know if she'll have to call Whistler again, but if you have any good ideas, let me know, 'k? I'll give you credit if I use them – unless you ask me not to. Not sure why you wouldn't want the credit, but whatever.

A/N2: Next…Now we should get back to the Council – Buffy's Council, that is.