Dinner was a special treat after my first time out as leader; Mom made Grandma Riley's chicken! We all ate too much (even Xander, who's usually really good about eating sane portions— but he lets himself go on Grandma Riley's chicken, and nobody blames him), and Whitey called a toast to me!
"To Rose Erin Killian," he said, raising his glass. "Slayer. Warrior. Leader!"
Everybody drank, and I got all misty-eyed.
Buffy caught up with me later, pulled me outside, sat me down.
"You did it right today, Rose," Buffy said. "Everything, really— and I'm proud of you. Which is why I want to ask you to do something for me."
"I'm listening," I said.
"If ever something happens to me in the field, you take over," Buffy said. "You finish the job we were doing if you can, you get everyone out if you can't. But you take charge."
"But— well, if Giles is there—" I started.
"If Giles is there, you listen to what he says," Buffy said firmly. "But you call the shots. Giles is the best damned Watcher ever— but there has to be a Slayer in charge. If I'm down, that's you."
"I… okay," I said. I felt a weight come down on my shoulders, but I did like Daddy, Mom and Sifu Archer had taught me— and squared my shoulders to take the weight. "If that's how it is, that's how it is. I'll do it."
"Good," Buffy said. "Thanks, Rose. It's good to know I've got a solid second.
"And you know that if we ever split up, you're in charge of the second team, right?"
"I figured," I said. "Thanks for trusting me."
"Thanks for being trustworthy," she countered.
I hugged her, and we were still hugging when a familiar voice said, "Hey, guys— hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"Faith!" Buffy said, and hopped up, went to our roving Slayer, hugged her briefly. Faith let Buffy hug her, even hugged back a little, though she wasn't so big on physical demonstrations as the rest of us. "Been a while— you doing okay?"
"Five by five," Faith said. She grinned at me, shook my hand. "Just finished off a wandering troop of vamps, found out some stuff, thought I'd better bring it back— turns out you found out about it already. Seems they were under a magical compulsion to be headed for this place. Also seems our new prodigy, here, led the team that found the thing causing it, so Willow could take it apart.
"Good job, Rose— first time out of the gates and you bring home the blue ribbon."
"Thanks," I said. "But I can't take the credit— I had a good team."
"Good team ain't much without a good leader," Faith said. "Hey, the kitchen smells like heaven— any of that chicken I smelled left over? I'm starved."
We got Faith some leftover chicken, potatoes and green beans, and she talked about the things Giles had sent her after while she ate.
"So, yeah, I took out the ten vamps that were headed this way, then figured I'd come back and pick my room in the new place," Faith finished. "Thought I'd stick around a few, meet the newbies Friday. And see if Robin wants an extra set of hands when he goes to Cleveland. I may not have the time in that you did, B, but I've got some time in on a Hellmouth town."
"And of course, seeing Robin is secondary," Buffy said.
"Well, yeah, it's… pretty important, I cop," Faith said. "But you know, if Giles needs me to keep playing Road Warrior, that's how it'll be."
"Talk to him about it," Buffy said. "I know that he's sent Rona and Vi on a mission or two apiece, when it was out in the western part of the country. Maybe they like the idea of being wandering trouble-Slayers.
"None of us has to carry all the weight anymore, Faith."
"Yeah," Faith said, grinning. "I'll talk to Giles."
Faith finished eating, rinsed her dishes, and we went in, and in the living room, found most everyone sitting and staring at Vincent and Vivian, curled up together on the couch, both of them with their eyes closed, her head on his chest, a huge, wondering smile on her face— and a funny, rhythmic, cyclic rumbling sound in the air. It took me a few seconds to get it, but I was faster than Buffy or Faith.
"Holy crap," I said, amazed and a lot delighted. "Vincent's purring!"
Vincent opened one eye looked at me, said, "Shouldn't I be? I'm very happy."
"No, that's great," I said. "That's— Vincent, that's one more difference you've got, most people can't purr— but most everyone likes to hear purring. Or feel it. Or both."
"I certainly love it," Vivian said, not lifting her head or opening her eyes. "In fact, I'd say it's an even better side effect of the cat DNA than the claws."
"Cat DNA?" Faith said softly. "Okay, can one of you explain that? 'Cause this I've got to hear, but I don't wanna disturb the big guy or Viv."
"Come on," Buffy said. "We'll tell you. Rose? Grab your sword, would you? Faith's never seen you get all nifty-deadly that way."
I grabbed my sword, and we three went out to talk about Vincent, and so I could show off. Faith was impressed by Vincent's story, and by my forms. She, Buffy and I ended up talking until about nine, when I went off to bed, taking Elaine with me.
Not much happened over the next couple of days, except… well, Tuesday morning, Sunrise asked if Elaine and I would like to make love with her and Sh'rin that night. Of course we said yes!
Tuesday afternoon's teacher's meeting went well— Whitey and I had gotten together and worked out a training schedule for martial arts that let us teach a blended style to everyone, and start teaching each other. Giles liked that a lot, and so did Buffy.
Giles had also found a young woman to act as cook for and housemother to our eight new girls, a former Sunnydale native, and a Sunnydale High graduate from the same year as Buffy, Xander and Willow.
"Her name is Nancy O'Brien," Giles said. "She's your age, Buffy, and has recently finished a bachelor's degree in Education, with an eye towards English. She put herself through school working for a caterer, and has some impressive recommendations regarding her cooking skills.
"Add in that she's one of those who recognized and realized that the supernatural is quite real, and remembers you fondly as 'Class Protector,' Buffy, and I believe she'll fit quite well. She'll be here tomorrow afternoon."
"How did you find her, Giles?" Buffy asked.
"Actually, I cannot take the credit," Giles said. "Willow found her and approached her."
"I saw her name in an article about those people who'd left Sunnydale in time to avoid the disaster," Willow admitted. "She did her last semester of college in Sacramento, and some newspaper interviewed her. I saw it while looking around for survivors we might know, saw that she was a qualified teacher, remembered that Giles was looking for teachers, etc, emailed her… the rest was Giles."
We talked some more about curriculum, both Slayer and school types, then broke up and went our separate ways 'til dinner.
Between the death of Captain Asshole (AKA Jerry the Love-Potion-Rapist) and the Fourth of July, Xander and some of the others had helped me, Mom and Laurie get the few items of furniture that we actually cared about out of the old house— mom's dresser, Laurie's old chest that had been her mother's hope chest, Grandma Riley's rocking chair… and my four-post bed, which was, by then, set up in my room. Since I had the biggest bed of the four of us, Sunrise, Sh'rin, Elaine and I stayed in my room that night to make love, and eventually to sleep. (Very eventually— we just kept on going, like four extremely horny Energizer Bunnies.)
Sh'rin… long before we four stopped making love, I loved her as much as I did Sunrise. She was sweet, wild, eager-to-please, uninhibited, sexy— a perfect match for our Sunrise girl, matching or countering her in all the right ways. We made love in every possible combination we could think of, all the twos and threes, and all four of us together. Afterwards, we all talked a bit, and decided that this would definitely not be a one-time occurrence. Not every night, probably not every other night, even— but more than once a week, most likely.
"I hope that it is this way forever," Sh'rin said as we all shifted around to prepare for sleep. "That we four may be lovers always. Always be close by, that we do not miss each other.
"There are things that Dawn and I will seek that do not please you, for we both love men as well as women— but we will find a man who understands that he may not always be with us, or he will not deserve to be with us."
"Sounds like a plan," Elaine murmured from where she lay spooned up to Sh'rin's back. "A really good plan."
"I love the idea," Sunrise said from behind me. She was spooned up to my back, and Sh'rin and I were cuddling face-to-face— a nice, warm, cuddly arrangement. "Gets my vote."
"Mine, too," I said, even as I started drifting off to sleep. "Love you all, so it's… perfect."
We split up to my room and Sunrise's in the morning— the showers in the bathrooms were big enough for all four of us, but if we showered together, it'd just lead to more love-making— and I got a shock when Elaine and I came down to breakfast. She and I were the last ones down, and when we came in, Sunrise and Sh'rin stood up, came to us— and kissed us! Romantic, lover's kisses, I mean! Sunrise kissed me first while Sh'rin kissed Elaine, then they switched.
No one seemed to much react. Oh, Giles shook his head and said, "Young people today," under his breath— but he didn't sound at all really upset.
I looked at Mom (sitting down, Xander had the breakfast cooking duty that day), and she rolled her eyes a little, then gave me this little wave that said to me, "Go on, that wasn't upsetting, you have my permission."
We sat, and we ate— and nobody made a big deal of it.
After that… well, we kissed each other a lot, all four of us. It felt so good to be able to relax that way!
Faith joined in the martial arts classes that day, both my class and Whitey's, and things just… went well.
Nancy O'Brien arrived that afternoon, and immediately fit in. Pretty, with light brown hair and darker highlights, athletic, and smart. I liked her from the moment she asked if she could join the martial arts classes.
Friday morning, Faith seemed a little jittery. Not badly, but… eager. I figured that she and Robin Wood must be pretty close. When he and the girls got there at four in the afternoon, I got proved right. This slim, handsome black man, shaved bald, but with a neat goatee and mustache, got out from behind the wheel of one of the two vans that pulled in, and Faith stepped up, a little nervous-looking— right up until he hugged her, which she turned into kissing him.
Then there came a plethora of girls, and it got nuts until Giles called for order, and he and Robin (who I liked from the first ten seconds) made introductions.
Rona Thompson, Violet ("Call me Vi") Benson, Caridad Montoya, Shannon Mosley and Ling Chao-Ahn were all survivors of the Battle of the First, and ran the gamut from hard-bodied, muscular black girl (Rona) to lithe Asian (Chao-Ahn), to petite, delicate-looking redhead (Vi). But each one had done the job, faced off against the Turok-han under Sunnydale, so I bowed properly to them all. I even managed a proper greeting to Chao-ahn in Cantonese, which delighted her.
Then came the newbies, and I had been briefed (as an instructor) on each one, so I knew the problems that made them "special attention" students, both visible and non-visible.
Abelena Juarez, age eighteen, completely deaf due to a childhood accident, unlikely to heal even with the Slayer power. She was tall, a little too skinny, pretty in a plain-Jane kind of way— except for her eyes, which were freaking gorgeous— big, dark eyes, almost black, and very expressive. Giles had already gotten us all books on American Sign Language, and I managed to say hello without scandalizing anyone— she didn't laugh or look shocked at least.
Elise Morgan, age eighteen, stuck on crutches, probably forever, due to a car accident the night of her freshman homecoming dance. Her legs had limited mobility, but she couldn't stand for more than a couple of minutes without the crutches, couldn't walk at all without them. Pretty little blond, if pretty in that bland, news anchor sort of way.
Jenna Darius, age sixteen, came from series of abusive foster homes— after having been taken away from her father, who'd been forcing her to have sex with him since she was eight. She had issues with both temper and trust… and resisted every attempt at therapy. Short chestnut hair matched skin only a couple of shades lighter, and eyes the same color. She'd have been beautiful, if not for the perpetually sullen look.
Helena Parris, age fifteen, black hair, vaguely Asian features, a little pudgy (but losing it rapidly, by the look of her clothes and skin— the Slayer power amps your metabolism up, gets you in shape whether or not you feel you need it), and missing her left arm from halfway between elbow and wrist, thanks to a motorcycle accident while riding with her father— who had died.
Tracy Bronson, age fourteen, tall, flame-haired and sexy as hell, had a severe case of epilepsy, and was subject to petit mal seizures almost daily. On the plus side, she'd been having them less and less often since getting Slayer-ized— but for now, she needed help and care from people who could match her strength.
Felicia Schwartz, age fourteen. Very pudgy, though like Helena, you could see that she was losing the excess weight fast. Light brown hair, pale skin, angry-frightened blue eyes. She had suffered serious emotional abuse at the hands of parents who belittled her with every breath and action. Her father had beaten her often for misbehavior both real and imagined— and on the day she'd been Slayer-ized, she'd put first her father, then her mother in the hospital, beating them severely— but not doing either one permanent injury. Still, the "youth facility" where she'd been held for a time afterwards had been even worse. She'd had to fight daily, and been physically, mentally and emotionally abused by the guards for it. She had temper and self-image issues.
Delia Smith, age twelve, dark blond hair, naturally tanned, angelically calm (and beautiful) face… autistic? Maybe. Or perhaps traumatized, no one knew. She'd been in a mental health facility in Nevada for the last year, after being found wandering in a park in Lake Tahoe, starved, dehydrated, barely alive. She'd had on a name bracelet with the name "Delia" on it, but nothing else that offered any hint as to who she was. In her year in the mental institution, she'd never spoken, though she did seem to understand when spoken to, and would usually comply with requests.
Last and youngest, Chelsea Yoder, age eleven, tiny, too slim by far, black hair and skin as pale as mine, brown eyes— and a perpetual smile on her face, the smile of someone who's been given the greatest gift ever. No wonder, there. Chelsea had had myasthenia gravis, a severely debilitating neuromuscular disease, since she was about two, had never learned to walk properly, she had such a severe case, had never been able to play with other kids, nothing— and now? She walked with a walker, sure— but she'd progressed that far in seven or so weeks, and she was expected to be able to lose the walker soon. She needed extra help because she had so little physical anything— strength, coordination, endurance— but Robin said she leaned into everything like it was the greatest treat ever to be asked to work her body and to be able to respond. I imagine that's how it really was for her.
I found myself thinking that this could be a very interesting time— or a very frustrating one.
We showed the girls around, let most of them pick their own rooms in the dorm-house, though Nancy did ask that Elise and Chelsea take the rooms closest to the entrance, to which neither objected, and she put Delia in the room closest to her own. The veteran Slayers, who'd be moving on with Robin on Monday, chose temporary rooms after the others had chosen their permanent ones.
The girls took their stuff, went in to unpack, and Nancy, Mom and Xander all started cooking, Mom and Nancy in their own kitchens, Xander on the grill, so we could all picnic together outside that night.
(Whitey and Xander had together built eight picnic tables from scratch in a single day— handy to have around, those guys!)
Dinner… it went better than it should have. All of the girls were well behaved, even Jenna, the sullen, abused girl. She was quiet, but not hostile.
I ended up sitting with Elaine on one side of me and Chelsea Yoder on the other. Vi, the redheaded veteran, sat across from me with Abelena beside her. Vi "spoke hands" fluently, thanks to a grade and middle school chum who'd been deaf, and that made things a lot easier for us all. I helped Chelsea out some— she didn't need a lot of help, but was still working on mastering the knife and fork, so I cut her steak up for her. I liked her a lot from the word go, just because she was so happy! She didn't just bubble, she fizzed, took every little movement she made as a gift, and didn't try to hide that at all.
Vi… wow. She was cool as hell. She'd opted to take Faith's place as Roving Trouble-Slayer, and she was honestly excited about traveling the country and killing monsters. She never talked down to any of us "newbies," either, like Chantelle later told us Caridad Montoya did. In fact, she said that she'd heard good things about us all, from Robin's description of our Fourth of July battle, passed on from Giles.
All in all, a great night. Good food, good company— and I honestly felt like I could help some of these girls.
I went to bed happy, made love with Elaine, and fell asleep happier.