Chapter 3

12 Years Later

Buffy Summers looked around the apartment as she turned on the light. "Home sweet home. Well, kind of."

Dawn Summers walked up behind her sister. "What, you don't like being back in America?"

Buffy turned. "It's not that—okay, it is that. We were in Europe for twelve years. It's kinda weird being back in the states."

"Tell me about it," Dawn grinned. "No English accents, no French men, no—"

"Stop it!" Buffy gave her younger sister a mock glare. "Don't tell me you don't miss Paris at night."

Dawn snorted. "Buffy, we've been here for like, thirty minutes. Give it a try. Besides, it's New York—much more foreign than California would be. Although, there is the Angel factor…"

Buffy gave her sister a push and said, "Let's get settled. Giles said to call him when we got here."

"I'll do it," Dawn offered. She pulled out her cell-phone and dialed the familiar number. "Hey Giles—yeah, we're fine. Willow, Xander, and the rest are getting settled in their apartments…yeah, I'll tell her. Bye."

She hung up.

"Tell who what?" Buffy asked, poking her head out of her room. Dawn shrugged. "Message for Short Stuff."

Buffy nodded and disappeared back into her room, muttering, "The mini-Xander."

Someone pounded on their door. Dawn said, "Speak of the devil—hi Megan."

The "mini-Xander" bounced in, saying, "Hi Aunt Dawn. Mum and Dad are on the way."

"What about Willow?" Dawn asked.

Megan rolled her eyes. "Aunt Willow's coming too. She just said she had to finish looking up some spells. Why the most powerful witch in the world needs to look up spells is beyond me, but anyway."

The nine year old plopped on the sofa that had come with the fully furnished apartment and looked at Dawn expectantly. Dawn looked back, eyebrow raised. "Something for you?"

"Aunt Dawn!" Megan groaned. "Food! Always food!"

Dawn rolled her eyes and dug through her bag, tossing the girl a bag of chips. "Don't spoil your dinner. By the way, Giles says behave."

"I always do," Megan protested and set to munching.

Xander and his wife, Becka, walked in, talking. Becka saw Megan and said, "Hey—what'd I tell you about sneaking food from Dawn?"

"Mum!" Megan protested. "It's just chips!"

"Hmm." Becka smiled at Dawn, who smiled back before giving Megan a look. "No fair playing me against your mom, especially since you know I can't resist the puppy face."

"She did puppy face?" Xander asked, mock scowling at his daughter. "That was a low blow. Effective, but low."

"I did not do puppy face," Megan grumbled as Willow walked in, an open book in her hands. "Aunt Willow, tell them I didn't do puppy face!"

"She didn't do—what?" Willow looked up, confused. Dawn giggled and Becka chuckled. Xander said, "Hey, Will—please don't tell me we're fighting a new evil."

Willow gave her best friend a dry look. "Unless you consider an influx of sugar ants a particularly evil type of evil, I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"Sugar ants?" Megan repeated. "What are those?"

"These little ants that like to eat sugar," Willow explained. "Hence the name. They like to come inside though, and that's not good."

Buffy came out of her room. "Oh, good. You guys are here. What are we doing about dinner?"

"Well Faith said she and Robin would be at Moran's. Want to join them?"

"Sure."

"Sounds good to me."

"Count me in."

************

"Again."

The teenaged girl nodded, blowing out a breath, and went through the attack again.

"Again."

Dr. Kessler watched silently as his young protégé was put through the exercise numerous times. She was poetry in motion, he mused as he watched. Smooth, graceful, and dangerous. It was like she was dancing as she fought. He enjoyed watching her.

The session came to an end and Rhian walked over to where her water bottle was. She was perspiring slightly and a little out of breath—that had been a harder work out than usual.

Kessler walked up. "How was it?"

Rhian glanced up then returned her attention to wiping her face. "Good. A little harder than usual, but it was good."

"Excellent," Kessler said. "Because you go out tonight."

Rhian looked up, startled, then nodded. "Yes sir."

Kessler glanced at the instructor then back at Rhian. "Be prepared by six."

"Yes sir."

Kessler walked out of the practice room and nearly ran into General Wallace. "General, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see your little project," General Wallace said, rolling his eyes. "As usual. Where is she?"

"Rhian," Kessler called.

Rhian came out of the practice room and halted, looking at the general. "General Wallace, sir."

"Rhian," Wallace greeted her. "How is it going?"

"Fine sir," Rhian said, glancing at Kessler.

"Good, good," Wallace said. "You've heard that you're going out tonight for your first field job, correct?"

"Yes sir," Rhian said, straightening slightly. "I was informed."

"Excellent, excellent. Think of this as a trial run," he said, his gaze flicking between Rhian and Kessler. "I'll see you both tonight."

Rhian watched him go then looked at Kessler, worry in her eyes. "Trial run?"

"Don't worry about it," Kessler said. "You just do like you've been doing in your practices."

Rhian nodded, murmuring, "Yes sir," and headed to her room to get ready.

When six o'clock rolled by, Rhian opened the door at Kessler's knock, dressed in the black military uniform she had with her blond hair pulled back into a ponytail and sporting two wooden stakes, two daggers, and a crossbow.

"Ready?" Kessler asked.

"Yes sir," Rhian nodded, closing her door and following him out.

They got into a black van and were driven to a place about an hour away. When they got out, Rhian looked around with interest, stretching.

"Rhian."

She turned to look at Kessler, at attention, and waited for instructions. Kessler pointed into the nearby stand of trees. "Just past the trees is a cemetery. In the cemetery is a nest of vampires. You are to take them out."

"Yes sir," Rhian said softly and, with a smooth turn, had melted into the trees.

Kessler got back into the car and they took off.

Rhian slipped silently through the trees, her green-blue eyes alert, her ears straining to catch any sound of a predator. She reached the other edge of the grove and halted, crouched in the shadows, her sharp eyes moving slowly over the cemetery for movement. There—near the crypt to the right. Movement—several movements—predatory, cocky—dead things.

The vampires did not know what hit them. One minute they were munching on a human, the next a black and gold whirlwind had descended into their midst, a stake in one hand and a dagger in the other. The stake hit one vampire in the heart, just as the dagger severed another's head. The other three vampires did not even have time to react before another of their number was dust.

One snarled and leapt in to fight her and got a roundhouse to the face for his troubles. The other was staked in the back as he tried to flee, then she turned to face the last one.

He roared and lunged for her. She didn't move, holding her stake still, and he impaled himself. She rolled her eyes, muttering, "Dumb vampires."

"Good show!"

The voice startled her and she spun, her stake raised. When she saw the general walking up, Kessler right behind him, she lowered her hand and stood at attention. "Sirs."

"That was an excellent job," Kessler told her with a brief smile.

"Excellent?" Wallace snorted. "That was brilliant. You were right Kessler—she is pure warrior."

Rhian brightened slightly at the praise as Kessler said smugly, "Of course she is. All right Rhian, stand down and get in the car."

Rhian obeyed, climbing into her seat as Wallace and Kessler walked up a little more slowly, discussing.

**************

"Lookie what we have here," Buffy said under her breath, staring around the huge gym. "Mini-me central."

Faith laughed. "Come on B, you've got to be used to this by now."

"Well, yeah," Buffy admitted, still staring at the American Slayers who had come to the Slayer Training School. "But always before it was with Giles. He got to be patient and I got to teach them how to kick the undead asses of vampires. Now I have to be patient too."

Faith grinned. "You've got me, remember? You get to be patient and I get to teach them how to kick the undead asses of vampires."

"Thanks ever so much," Buffy muttered, but she smiled at the dark haired Slayer. Ever since the battle with the First, she and Faith had gone back to getting along pretty well. Prison had done Faith a lot of good, teaching her how to control her temper and not get too into the whole "kicking of the ass" part of slaying. They still bickered and threw verbal barbs and jabs at each other, but that seemed to just be their relationship. Without the verbal sparring, it would be no fun.

Robin Wood walked up wearing loose training clothes and gave Faith a kiss. Buffy smiled, rolling her eyes. Robin had also been an extremely good influence on the other Slayer. She had learned to trust, how to love. They had been together for the last twelve years and, aside from the occasional semi-weekly bickering match, they were really cute together as far as Buffy was concerned. What she was not concerned with was what went on behind closed doors—or open ones, of which you had to be careful with. Twelve years and another three in prison had not made Faith a shy girl.

"Okay!"

And there was Xander, best buddy to her and Willow, husband to Becka, a completely normal person aside from the fact that her sister was a Slayer, father to The Brat (at least as far as Buffy was concerned even though she loved the girl dearly) and confidante of the younger Slayers.

He now stood in the front of the huge room, waiting for the girls to stop talking. When they didn't, he put a whistle to his lips and blew hard. The screech made the younger Slayers yell, Buffy and Faith flinch, and Robin say, "Well that got their attention."

"Thank you," Xander said into the silence. "Let's try to pay attention to what's going on around us ladies. We really don't want you getting eaten by a vampire because you didn't learn how to pay attention now do we?"

"If they make a sound like that before they attack, we should be fine," a girl from Florida joked. The rest of them snickered. Xander sighed, raising his eyes to the ceiling—or the heavens, depending on what day it was. "Lord help me," he muttered. He looked at the girls. "Generally vampires aren't nice enough to give you that sort of warning before attacking you. However, there are plenty who are nice enough to say something beforehand, so you may be in pretty good shape."

"Look Mr—"

"Xander," Xander said, looking at the girl. She seemed around fourteen or so. Perfect age for being a brat.

"Mr. Xander. I mean, you've got an eye-patch. How are you supposed to teach us how to fight?"

Faith grabbed Buffy's arm as the blond haired Slayer growled, "Oh no she did not just say that about Xander."

"Chill B," the dark haired Slayer said calmly. "She's just a kid. She'll figure it out soon enough."

Buffy glared daggers at the girl, who had not seen her in the back of the room, but reluctantly relaxed. "Fine, but one of these days she steps up to spar and I'll be waiting."

"And more power to ya," Faith said, frowning. "I've seen her—she does need to be taken down a peg or to. Just not today."

Buffy looked at her. "Wanna help me with the 'we help mankind, there is no killing of people just because they piss you off' speech?"

"Sure I'll be convincing enough?" Faith teased. "Sure."

They walked up, their strides matching, and joined Xander at the front. There were whispers from those who had been there longer about who they were. Faith muttered to Buffy, "Check it out Buff, we're famous."

"Took you this long to figure it out?" Buffy muttered back as they stopped next to Xander, who said, "Obviously some of you already know who these two are, but for those of you who just arrived, this is Buffy and this is Faith. They'll be your instructors. They've also been Slayers a whole lot longer than any of you have."

"Yeah, Buffy here even remembers what it was like when there was only one Slayer," Faith joked.

Buffy glared at her. "Sure, make me feel old why don't you."

"Hey, if I'm able to make you feel old…" Faith let the sentence hang as Buffy's glare intensified.

"I can still wipe the floor with your face you know," Buffy snapped.

"Really," Faith said lazily. "I doubt it."

Xander took a prudent step back as Buffy took a swing at Faith. The dark haired Slayer took the punch and retaliated, throwing a punch at Buffy then a kick, at which point it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began.

The Slayers in training watched in awe as their teachers continued to fight. It was like it was choreographed or something, each blow being returned by an equally fast and equally dangerous one, and yet neither of them seemed to be losing. That is, until Buffy went down in a move Giles had recently taught her and swept Faith's feet out from under her. Faith hit the floor on her back and found herself face to fist with Buffy. "All right, all right, I yield. Don't break my jaw."

Buffy rose and offered her hand, which Faith took, and they bowed.

The Slayers clapped and cheered. Someone demanded, "That was planned?"

"The first hit was," Faith said easily. "The rest of it we made up as we went along. The winner—that's never planned."

"And yet one would think it was, as I always win," Buffy grinned.

Faith cast her a sideways glance. "I dunno—there was that time after I woke up—I definitely won that fight, seeing as you were me and I was you."

Buffy leveled a look at her. "Faith. I'm in a good mood. Do you really want to see me go from good mood to bad mood in .5?"

"That long huh?" Faith chuckled. "Okay, okay, I'll shut up. It's your guys-es turns to fight anyway."

***********

Rhian came out of her room and halted, staring at what looked like an argument between Wallace and Kessler at the end of the hall. She hesitated, unwilling to attract attention but wanting to hear what was being said. They solved that problem for her when Kessler raised his voice, snapping, "This is my project!"

"Was," Wallace said coldly. "Your part in it is finished. You have raised the girl and sufficiently trained her that she has proven that she can be useful, you have succeeded in creating what you set out to create, but we will take it from here."

Kessler, incensed, turned away from Wallace and saw Rhian, standing by her door, confused and a little worried. He let out a vicious curse and turned back to Wallace, hissing, "I created a warrior, not a trained hunter."

Wallace lifted an eyebrow and said just as softly as Kessler, "I don't really see a difference."

He raised his voice. "Rhian."

Rhian walked over, a little wary, and stood at attention. "Sir?"

Wallace glanced at the girl. "Get your things together. You leave tonight."

Rhian, stunned, opened her mouth to ask why then closed it and nodded. "Yes sir."

A/N: See? Longer. ^_^