Disclaimer: I own nothing here…or there…no, nope, not there either!
I Am a Chosen One- the Kimberly Hart story by biggerstaffbunch
Chapter Three: "Ten Cent Tour of Sunnydale"
Sunnydale
"Giles," Buffy Summers was saying unhappily, "I'm not saying we couldn't use all the help we can get here, but I really think this whole-replacement Slayer thing is wholly unnecessary." The pert blonde sat slumped in her seat near the computers as she sighed glumly.
Rupert Giles sipped tea from a mug in his left hand and peered over his glasses at the book held in his right as he paced back and forth around the long tables populating the spacious Sunnydale High School library. The fortyish Brit turned and gave his teen charge a Look. "Wholly unnecessary, eh?" he asked mildly. Taking a sip of his tea, Giles put the book down and readjusted his glasses. "Buffy-"
"I mean, it's not as if Will and Xander and even Cordy aren't capable of helping with the patrolling." Buffy brightened. "We're big with the vamp-killing, Giles. A team. A unit." The Slayer emphasized the latter hopefully.
Giles sighed. "Yes, I'm well aware of your adequacy in dealing with vampires, but Buffy, the arrival of this new Slayer is in no way an affront to your character."
"Affront? Who affront? No affronting here, Giles." Buffy was indignant. "I'm not taking this personally, okay? It's just, after Kendra, I don't know if we can afford to worry about training and informing another Slayer." Buffy's eyes darkened as she thought of the demise of the last Slayer.
"Kendra was naturally talented, more than enough to hold her own." Giles reminded. He gave a sad smile. "I'm sure that the Slayer who comes after her will be well aware of the risk she is taking, enough so that she will learn easily." The man took his glasses off and cleaned them, squinting. "Besides, this Kimberly girl seems quite astute. She took the news of her duty quite well."
Buffy yawned and leaned back into her chair as Giles perched on the edge of her table. Swinging her feet up and propping them on the table, she rolled her eyes. "I still can't believe that you told her over the phone. Subtle like a jack-hammer, Giles. Can you imagine being told that you're gonna save the human race from vampires just 'cause you were called, with no warning whatsoever?" She shook her head in memory. "When Merrick told me, I was convinced he was of the wigs. It took a graveyard visit for me to change my mind."
Giles gave a smile. "Yes, and look at how far you've come. In any case, Kimberly seems enthusiastic and ready to slay. Willow should be bringing her here in less than an hour."
"Hmm. Where's she from again, Giles?"
Rupert rose and adjusted his suspenders. "I'm inclined to think…a town in California, south of here. Let me think…Angel, wait…yes, Angel Grove."
Buffy shot up, her legs falling off the table and her balance shot. Tilting to the left, the chair tipped over and the teen fell down with a thud. "What?!" she yelped, her head peeking out from under the table, blond hair messy and blue eyes unbelieving. "No way!"
"Quite way." Giles gave a wary look and loosened his tie. "What is so wrong with Angel Grove, may I ask?"
"The shopping." Buffy grinned off Giles' mortified gasp. "Just kidding." She smiled cheekily, happy that she could once again make jokes and pretend for a moment that her hurt was gone away. A lump formed in her throat. Angel…
"Buffy?" Giles was saying, tapping her shoulder. "Buffy?"
"Oh, yeah. Sorry. I, um, I spaced out. Didn't nosh the Wheaties this morning, my bad."
Giles gave a mollified look. "You really must get the proper nutrition. You're a growing Slayer. Eat your vegetables, Buffy. I insist." He smiled.
Buffy rolled her eyes again, cracking a small grin. "Talked to my mom lately, right? She's so mom-like it's scary. This morning she wouldn't even let me out of the house without a bagged lunch, which I'm positive has a note attached to it." Buffy scowled and reached behind her into her bookbag to pull out a crumpled brown bag. "See?" She pointed, exasperated, at the little blue post-it attached that said in curly letters, "Have a nice day, darling. No running off. Love, Mom."
"Giles," Buffy said patiently. "This is very troubling."
Giles gave a serious nod. "Indeed. It's trouble of paramount proportions."
The Slayer and Watcher shared a small, silent moment. It'd been Hell for Giles when Buffy had left, and now that she was back, he realized he had missed their bantering.
"By the by," he said suddenly, clearing his throat. "What was wrong with Angel Grove?"
Buffy gaped. "You don't know? Giles, it's the home of the biggest hoax since Xander's "A" in Computer Sci.! It's," she said dramatically, "the home of the Power Rangers!"
"What in the blazes is that?"
"Yeah, that's what I said. Only not so British-ly." Buffy snorted and reached into her bagged lunch for the apple her mom had placed in there. Taking a bite, she mumbled, "Svhtey ah fwoopehewoes."
"Please, Buffy." Giles scoffed. "If you're going to be uncouth, do be uncouth and coherent."
Buffy scowled. "Fwhine." She said. "I mean," she swallowed, "They're superheroes."
Giles gave a dubious snort. "Superheroes? Like Superman and the like?"
"Up on your pop-culture references, Giles, I'm impressed." Buffy shot him a grin. "But yeah, a lot like superheroes. If you get satellite, KTLA feeds a lot of the vids they make of their big metal animals to the masses. Viewership is up, like, eighteen percent. People love it."
"Big metal animals?"
"Shiny ones," Buffy confirmed.
"Actually," a voice chimed from behind them, "They're called 'Zords. And the Power Rangers? Not a hoax. Used to be one. The pink one to be exact."
Buffy swiveled around only to fall off the chair again.
"I've been doing that a bit, today, hehe…Hey, I'm Buffy." she said sheepishly, laying face up on the floor. Looming above her was the new Slayer, flanked by Xander, Will, Cordy, and Oz. "You said you were a Power Ranger?"
"I'm Kimberly Hart." Kim reached down and entwined her hand with Buffy's, hefting her up easily. "The first Pink Ranger." Buffy was impressed. Kendra had always moved like everything was precision, planned, but Kim used an easy grace with her power. Buffy almost looked forward to sparring with her later.
Once on her feet, Buffy looked the girl up and down surreptitiously. Kimberly Hart was a slim, compact teen with collarbone-length reddish-brown hair and friendly dark brown eyes. Cheekbones to die for and a wide smile, paired with her pale pink sundress and short-short black shorts made Kim seem a little too…cutesy to be a Slayer. Buffy felt almost frumpy in her jeans and sweater.
"I didn't have time to change," Kim said by way of apology. "Sunnydale's a bit colder than Angel Grove; I'm more used to wearing teeny little outfits. When I'm not in spandex, that is." she added as an afterthought.
Buffy smirked as she noticed that Xander looked a little too excited by this, a fact that unfortunately for the X-man, Cordy noticed.
"It's the excess evil energy, that makes it colder." Buffy supplied easily, shaking the hand that still held hers. "Makes everything a lot less unpleasant."
Kim nodded and looked past Buffy. "Mr. Giles?" she asked timidly.
"Ms. Hart." Giles acknowledged.
"It's very nice to meet you."
"Quite. I feel the same way. I'm sorry; I know it's early and that you didn't have a change of clothes. I'll make sure to give you the key to my condo straight away."
Five pairs of eyes widened at Giles as the man reddened. "Oh, for God's sakes. She's eighteen and has no place to live. I've offered up my spare fold-out bed! That's all, and I'd thank you for no more speculations."
"And, ew." Kim wrinkled her nose and shuddered a bit. Off Giles' huffy look, she scrambled to rectify, "Not 'ew 'to you! I mean, I'm sure people find you attractive, but you're way too old for me, and this is so strange…"
She trailed off, and for the first time, the enormity of the situation hit Kim. She was all alone, without a friend in sight, here to take on a job of mammoth importance. And now she was sticking her foot in her mouth! Giles seemed to notice she was stricken, and rushed to mediate.
"I understood quite well, Kimberly. I know this must be very hard for you, and I actually thought that instead of classes today-you haven't enrolled yet, yes?" Kim shook her head. "Good, then instead of classes, would you like a little tour of Sunnydale? I'm sure that Willow wouldn't mind taking you out, as she doesn't have any classes today."
Willow and Giles must've discussed it before because she was in complete agreement. "We can take Oz's van," she offered brightly.
Oz shrugged. "I'll drive. What can they do, fail me again?"
Kim nodded her assent and took the keys Giles offered. "We'll start training today, right?" she asked.
Giles looked pleasantly surprised. "Yes, of course," he said. "Buffy usually loathes training."
Buffy gave Giles an evil look. "Thanks, Giles. Not like I don't feel bad enough that I have to miss the ten-cent tour of Sunnydale. Now you make fun?"
"You can't miss any more class," Giles admonished.
"Yeah, I know. Um, I'd better get to class now by the way." She turned to Kim. "It was a nice meet and run," she said apologetically. "I'll catch up with you when I-we, um, train. Bye!" With that, Buffy swung her backpack and lunch over her shoulder and hit the door jogging lightly.
"My," Kim said lightly, "is it always that cold here in Sunnydale?"
Willow rushed to defend Buffy. "She just feels weird with you around. She just met you, once she knows you, you'll be friends." Willow's eyes saddened. "It's been a hard summer for her."
Flashbacks of losing the Pan-Globals, coming back to visit Angel Grove.
Divatox capturing her and Jason. She and he escaping the sub, almost drowning.
Being sacrificed to Maligore.
Leaving Tommy.
"Yeah," Kim said slowly, "I know how that is."
"Let's hit the road, people," Oz said as the bell rang and Xander and Cordy filed out after saying goodbye. "Time to see all the ghoulies."
Kim skipped after Oz and Willow. "Should I bring a stake? A cross? An axe?" she asked hopefully.
Willow flashed her a smile as they exited the library and walked down the hall leading to the double-doors exiting the school. "It's daytime; Sunnydale's usually pretty good at only coughing up the monsters after dark."
Kim's eyes widened. "Wait, no ghoulies in the morning? Wow. Where I came from, we expected attacks every second."
Oz cocked his head. "You never did tell us about that," he said conversationally, swinging the exit door open and guiding the girls out towards the parking lot.
"Long story," Kim sighed. "It all started when I was fifteen…"
* * *
It was about 5:30 that evening in the library as Buffy paced impatiently. "Giles, where is she? I've been here for-"
"Ten minutes, Buffy." Giles had a teasing tone in his voice. "Woe be it to the person who keeps Madame Summers waiting. Though I seem to remember many occasions in which you were late, also."
Buffy stuck out her tongue. "Whatever," she said jokingly, "I'm so ready to Slay though, Giles. Are you sure that it's okay to be training right now instead of getting ready for patrol?"
Giles looked up from the book he was skimming. "Of course. There's ample time before nightfall to get ready for patrolling." His gaze softened. "You don't want to do this, do you?"
Buffy sighed and stopped pacing. "I'm still getting used to another Slayer, so close to my turf, y'know? Kendra was like, a half a world away. Kim is just-there."
The door slammed open and an enthusiastic chatter met Buffy's ears.
"Forty-four churches?! That's so amazing, Willow! Angel Grove had, like, three. And man, talk about a lot of history!" Kim bounded in the library, looking refreshed and excited, clutching three brochures and a small banner that read, "SZ-Where the Animals Live!"
Buffy arched an eyebrow. "You took her to the zoo?" she asked incredulously.
Willow smiled sheepishly. "Hey, she wanted to go everywhere."
Kim gave a laugh. "And I do mean everywhere! Gosh, we visited the magic shop, the museum, the docks, the two parks…" she trailed off, counting on her fingers. "Then we took I-17 West down to the beach for lunch. Afterwards, we decided to stop off at the mall so I could pick up a few clothes, and then we stopped by the college, went past the mini-golf, stopped off at the café for a latte. Ooh, and we drove past the hospital, police station, cemeteries, and the funeral home, just 'cause you never know in this town."
Buffy opened her mouth and then shut it. "Words fail me," she said simply. "You seriously went through the whole town of Sunnydale. God, did you drive up and down the streets, too?"
Kim's smile faded a little, but she said defensively, "Yes. I dropped off my things at your apartment, Giles. Don't worry, though-I'll make hotel arrangements very soon." A light went on in her eyes. "Incidentally, there's this neat mansion on the outskirts of town. It's really cool and Gothic. Who lives there?"
Willow and Oz traded looks and Giles made to say something but stuttered. Buffy just went blank.
The battle raging, Angel fighting with her, the swords clashing, Acathla opening…
"Buffy?"
"Shhh. Close your eyes."
"I love you."
"No one." Buffy said softly. "No one lives there, not anymore."
Kim, sensing she'd opened a can of worms, nodded. "okay," she said uncertainly.
They stood in silence for a moment before Buffy said briskly, "Well, now that you've gotten acquainted with Sunnydale, maybe it's time you get to know the other Slayer. Me."
Kim nodded, giving a small smile. Slaying she was new at, but sparring?
This she could do.
Next chapter: "Fist to Fist and Heart to Heart" as Buffy and Kim spar and alternately spill their guts. But not literally.
