"Hey Will," Xander entered the Magic Box Danger room, and pulled a chair out from the research table. "Got something for you, well someone actually."
"Huh?" Willow glanced up from her lap top. Warren had gotten all excited by the Sunnydale Ripper case, and had Willow doing some research. She was quite willing to do so, but Warrens posturing had made her decide to do it where he wasn't, so she had come down to the Magic Box. "There's nobody here but us."
"She's out in the main room, with Anya," Xander informed her, and smiled wanly as Buffy approached the table. "She, uh, was a Slayer. The Slayer after Buffy died the second time."
"Isn't she still a Slayer," asked Buffy. "I always thought this gig lasted till death do you part."
"That's the drill and that's the way it is, except when magick is used to short circuit the process."
"Again huh?"
"When you jumped off that tower, you died. The Slayer essence entered Amanda. Now when Willow, and us, used magick to bring you back the Slayerness, er almost all of it, left Amanda and returned to Buffy."
"Almost all of it?"
"Hey that didn't happen when Buffy died the first time and Kendra was called, or Faith."
"To answer Willow first, I used CPR to restore her life, not magick which, as I said, short circuited the whole thing. Hence we now have a potential Slayer with part of the Slayer essence, the part that announces what she is to all and sundry baddie types who want to build a rep by killing a Slayer, the part that makes her want to go out and slay, but not the part that lets her do anything about it. Buffy came back and bingo she lost Slayer strength, speed, skills, stamina, and had to watch watcher after watcher get tortured and killed. All because she's a target with no means of doing anything about it. So far she's been lucky, but sooner or later that lucks gonna run out, and she, and whoever she's with is gonna die a horrible death."
"So you brought her here so we can protect her?" Buffy looked annoyed. "Haven't we got enough on our plates."
"We do," agreed Xander, "And that's not likely to stop anytime soon. Plus the folks upstairs think she's gonna be real useful in the future so they have a stake in her continued livingness. Normally the Watchers would care for her, but and Watchers have been assigned, but none has survived. Whoever she goes to now is gonna have to be some kind of powerhouse. So the boys upstairs picked out the perfect candidate."
"Who," squeaked Willow, afraid she already the answer.
"Willow," Xander fished a picture and pushed it across the table. "Meet your long lost cousin."
"My wh-what?" Willow looked stunned. "Why me?"
"Well, you were primarily responsible for bringing Buffy back to life. Which is what caused her to not be the Slayer anymore."
"But that was a good thing. Look at all the people Buffy saved since she came back, who Amanda wouldn't because she was somewhere else. Besides, you helped."
"Which is why I'll be acting as her Watcher, even though they'd like you to take primary responsibility for her. As for bringing Buffy back, that wasn't our call to make, even if it was a good thing"
"She was in Hell," Willow snapped. "What kind of Powers are they if they sentence her to Hell after all she's done?"
"Hey not arguing. But it was Buffy who decided where she went after death, by the way she lived and the choices she made while she was alive. The PTB don't have any jurisdiction over that. Once you've made your choices and are dead, there's not much they can do about it."
"And its Buffy who's standing right here, not appreciating being talked about like she's not here."
"Sorry Buff," Xander grinned. "Didn't mean to do that. Just needed to point some things out to Will."
"Which you've done and it still sucks." Willow was upset. "I mean, when are they going to leave me alone. I mean you make a few mistakes, try to end the world and they're on your back forever."
"Hey, I'm just the messenger boy." Xander spread his arms. "You can just say no."
"And what happens to the girl?"
"I phone Social Service and let them find a home for her."
"But she's a target. Won't they still go after her and her family?"
Xander shrugged. "Like Buffy said, we got a lot on out plate. We can't protect everybody."
Willow glared at him. "Payback's a bitch," she snarled.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** **** *** **** ***
"Warren," snapped Willow, closing the door to her apartment, after making sure Amanda had gotten all of her stuff inside. "Get out here and make sure you have your skin on."
Amanda stared at her through big brown eyes, and went into a defensive position when Warren entered. She relaxed a bit when cousin Willow's hand toughed her shoulder. A bit but not much.
"This is Amanda Peters," Willow told him. "My cousin, who'll be staying with us. Xander'll be over later to help with her room. There's that big storage room by the office. We can take the wall out between that and the walk in closet."
"Amanda, this is Warren. He's dead and a ghost who'll be haunting my life for whatever's left of it. He's dead cause I killed him, he can tell you about it if you want to. You might see him without his skin, which he doesn't have because I took that away from him when I killed him. You'll just have to get used to it."
Willow spun away and headed for the office.
"Huh?" Willow glanced up from her lap top. Warren had gotten all excited by the Sunnydale Ripper case, and had Willow doing some research. She was quite willing to do so, but Warrens posturing had made her decide to do it where he wasn't, so she had come down to the Magic Box. "There's nobody here but us."
"She's out in the main room, with Anya," Xander informed her, and smiled wanly as Buffy approached the table. "She, uh, was a Slayer. The Slayer after Buffy died the second time."
"Isn't she still a Slayer," asked Buffy. "I always thought this gig lasted till death do you part."
"That's the drill and that's the way it is, except when magick is used to short circuit the process."
"Again huh?"
"When you jumped off that tower, you died. The Slayer essence entered Amanda. Now when Willow, and us, used magick to bring you back the Slayerness, er almost all of it, left Amanda and returned to Buffy."
"Almost all of it?"
"Hey that didn't happen when Buffy died the first time and Kendra was called, or Faith."
"To answer Willow first, I used CPR to restore her life, not magick which, as I said, short circuited the whole thing. Hence we now have a potential Slayer with part of the Slayer essence, the part that announces what she is to all and sundry baddie types who want to build a rep by killing a Slayer, the part that makes her want to go out and slay, but not the part that lets her do anything about it. Buffy came back and bingo she lost Slayer strength, speed, skills, stamina, and had to watch watcher after watcher get tortured and killed. All because she's a target with no means of doing anything about it. So far she's been lucky, but sooner or later that lucks gonna run out, and she, and whoever she's with is gonna die a horrible death."
"So you brought her here so we can protect her?" Buffy looked annoyed. "Haven't we got enough on our plates."
"We do," agreed Xander, "And that's not likely to stop anytime soon. Plus the folks upstairs think she's gonna be real useful in the future so they have a stake in her continued livingness. Normally the Watchers would care for her, but and Watchers have been assigned, but none has survived. Whoever she goes to now is gonna have to be some kind of powerhouse. So the boys upstairs picked out the perfect candidate."
"Who," squeaked Willow, afraid she already the answer.
"Willow," Xander fished a picture and pushed it across the table. "Meet your long lost cousin."
"My wh-what?" Willow looked stunned. "Why me?"
"Well, you were primarily responsible for bringing Buffy back to life. Which is what caused her to not be the Slayer anymore."
"But that was a good thing. Look at all the people Buffy saved since she came back, who Amanda wouldn't because she was somewhere else. Besides, you helped."
"Which is why I'll be acting as her Watcher, even though they'd like you to take primary responsibility for her. As for bringing Buffy back, that wasn't our call to make, even if it was a good thing"
"She was in Hell," Willow snapped. "What kind of Powers are they if they sentence her to Hell after all she's done?"
"Hey not arguing. But it was Buffy who decided where she went after death, by the way she lived and the choices she made while she was alive. The PTB don't have any jurisdiction over that. Once you've made your choices and are dead, there's not much they can do about it."
"And its Buffy who's standing right here, not appreciating being talked about like she's not here."
"Sorry Buff," Xander grinned. "Didn't mean to do that. Just needed to point some things out to Will."
"Which you've done and it still sucks." Willow was upset. "I mean, when are they going to leave me alone. I mean you make a few mistakes, try to end the world and they're on your back forever."
"Hey, I'm just the messenger boy." Xander spread his arms. "You can just say no."
"And what happens to the girl?"
"I phone Social Service and let them find a home for her."
"But she's a target. Won't they still go after her and her family?"
Xander shrugged. "Like Buffy said, we got a lot on out plate. We can't protect everybody."
Willow glared at him. "Payback's a bitch," she snarled.
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** **** *** **** ***
"Warren," snapped Willow, closing the door to her apartment, after making sure Amanda had gotten all of her stuff inside. "Get out here and make sure you have your skin on."
Amanda stared at her through big brown eyes, and went into a defensive position when Warren entered. She relaxed a bit when cousin Willow's hand toughed her shoulder. A bit but not much.
"This is Amanda Peters," Willow told him. "My cousin, who'll be staying with us. Xander'll be over later to help with her room. There's that big storage room by the office. We can take the wall out between that and the walk in closet."
"Amanda, this is Warren. He's dead and a ghost who'll be haunting my life for whatever's left of it. He's dead cause I killed him, he can tell you about it if you want to. You might see him without his skin, which he doesn't have because I took that away from him when I killed him. You'll just have to get used to it."
Willow spun away and headed for the office.