Title: Someone Has to Teach Them-Chapter 2
Author: PNS*
"You think'd we'd have left the cramped quarters behind and here we are again." Xander rapped on the bathroom door to let the person inside know there were other people in existance.
"You know it was all we could afford, Xander." Buffy called from the kitchen. The small house on the outskirts of Cleveland had seemed nice when they first saw it, but loading in all of the people was a different matter.
But on the other hand, the day before when they had arrived in Sunnydale Rona had taken Buffy aside and expressed an interest in returning to her parents. She had explained that now she was a Slayer, and a fairly well trained one, the new ones had to be trained. Within an hour other Slayers had expressed the same interest. Buffy acknowledged them thoughtfully. Not all Slayers lived in Cleveland. It couldn't hurt to begin a worldwide council of Slayers. Because that was the way it should be. Slayers guiding Slayers. Not houghty-toughty British men.
Of course there were a few additions to the Scooby gang that they couldn't shake. It seemed like Faith wasn't eager on returning to jail, and Wood had taken a shining to her. They assumed Kennedy's place in their family, and that of Andrew. He had reminded them how helpless and alone he was so they kept him in pity. Everyone else was returning to where they had come from.
At the moment it was quiet. Kennedy had led the other younger Slayers out for a patrol, (they could no longer be called potentials,) and everyone else was scattered throughout the house. Buffy was in the kitchen with Faith scrubbing the dishes from dinner. Out of the corner of her ey Buffy caught sight of Giles and Wood. They exchanged glances with Faith who dropped her dishrag onto the counter and sidled out of the room. Buffy turned around. She had been waiting for this moment since they had arrived.
"Can we talk with you Buffy?" asked Giles.
"Are you here to apologize?" Buffy responded cooly.
"In our own poor handling way." Wood smiled weakly.
"Apology accepted." Buffy turned back to the sink.
"Do you want to talk about it Buffy?" Buffy could picture Giles pushing his glasses up his nose and wood's hands clapsed behind his back. She knew these men so well.
"No. That's okay. You should go back to your locator spell. Willow might need help." They were locating the potentials in Cleveland before they got their powers so they could help ease the girls into the world of slaying. Buffy smiled at the thought. They would never have to be alone in saving the world. She didn't need to share with them because she had shared with Willow the first night in the house. **********************************************************************
They had gone out onto the small porch in the warm spring air and Buffy had relayed all the events. It felt good to expel the images. The had been haunting her on the long ride across country. Being Willow, she had gone right to the heart of the matter.
"Did you love him?"
"I did." Buffy had sighed. Playing the scene over and over in her mind she had tried thinking of ways she could have conveyed it so he wouldn't have thrown the words back in her face.
"Maybe he knew. But you know Spike, -or knew him. He always had to get the last word in."
"Maybe."
"He knew you did the best you could in loving him."
"I think so." That brought a faint smile to Buffy's lips. If they had nothing else they had that night in each other's arms. To lie together, without kissing, without sex, without words, that had been more powerful than she could convey and she hoped he knew that, wherever he was.
"We'll keep going on Buffy, like we always have." Those were the superficial words Buffy had been dreading. Of course they would go on, but not like always. Anya was gone. Spike was gone. Xander had lost his eye. And hello, Sunnydale was gone. Buffy couldn't imagine losing her whole past like Willow and Xander did. It brought an emptiness to oneself. How do you build bridges to the future without having a foundation of the past?
Willow stood up and stretched, bobbing her red head. "Get some sleep Buffy."
"You too." Buffy stared out into the darkness. The porch light flicked off as Willow entered. She sat alone bathed in moonlight. A shadow approached the porch.
"Buffy?" Spike cocked his head. "Something wrong? Anything I can do?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Buffy turned away from the memory. The shadow sat down next to her and a hand made of air descended upon her shoulder.
"Every night I save you," Buffy murmured to the darkness of this foreign place.
Author: PNS*
"You think'd we'd have left the cramped quarters behind and here we are again." Xander rapped on the bathroom door to let the person inside know there were other people in existance.
"You know it was all we could afford, Xander." Buffy called from the kitchen. The small house on the outskirts of Cleveland had seemed nice when they first saw it, but loading in all of the people was a different matter.
But on the other hand, the day before when they had arrived in Sunnydale Rona had taken Buffy aside and expressed an interest in returning to her parents. She had explained that now she was a Slayer, and a fairly well trained one, the new ones had to be trained. Within an hour other Slayers had expressed the same interest. Buffy acknowledged them thoughtfully. Not all Slayers lived in Cleveland. It couldn't hurt to begin a worldwide council of Slayers. Because that was the way it should be. Slayers guiding Slayers. Not houghty-toughty British men.
Of course there were a few additions to the Scooby gang that they couldn't shake. It seemed like Faith wasn't eager on returning to jail, and Wood had taken a shining to her. They assumed Kennedy's place in their family, and that of Andrew. He had reminded them how helpless and alone he was so they kept him in pity. Everyone else was returning to where they had come from.
At the moment it was quiet. Kennedy had led the other younger Slayers out for a patrol, (they could no longer be called potentials,) and everyone else was scattered throughout the house. Buffy was in the kitchen with Faith scrubbing the dishes from dinner. Out of the corner of her ey Buffy caught sight of Giles and Wood. They exchanged glances with Faith who dropped her dishrag onto the counter and sidled out of the room. Buffy turned around. She had been waiting for this moment since they had arrived.
"Can we talk with you Buffy?" asked Giles.
"Are you here to apologize?" Buffy responded cooly.
"In our own poor handling way." Wood smiled weakly.
"Apology accepted." Buffy turned back to the sink.
"Do you want to talk about it Buffy?" Buffy could picture Giles pushing his glasses up his nose and wood's hands clapsed behind his back. She knew these men so well.
"No. That's okay. You should go back to your locator spell. Willow might need help." They were locating the potentials in Cleveland before they got their powers so they could help ease the girls into the world of slaying. Buffy smiled at the thought. They would never have to be alone in saving the world. She didn't need to share with them because she had shared with Willow the first night in the house. **********************************************************************
They had gone out onto the small porch in the warm spring air and Buffy had relayed all the events. It felt good to expel the images. The had been haunting her on the long ride across country. Being Willow, she had gone right to the heart of the matter.
"Did you love him?"
"I did." Buffy had sighed. Playing the scene over and over in her mind she had tried thinking of ways she could have conveyed it so he wouldn't have thrown the words back in her face.
"Maybe he knew. But you know Spike, -or knew him. He always had to get the last word in."
"Maybe."
"He knew you did the best you could in loving him."
"I think so." That brought a faint smile to Buffy's lips. If they had nothing else they had that night in each other's arms. To lie together, without kissing, without sex, without words, that had been more powerful than she could convey and she hoped he knew that, wherever he was.
"We'll keep going on Buffy, like we always have." Those were the superficial words Buffy had been dreading. Of course they would go on, but not like always. Anya was gone. Spike was gone. Xander had lost his eye. And hello, Sunnydale was gone. Buffy couldn't imagine losing her whole past like Willow and Xander did. It brought an emptiness to oneself. How do you build bridges to the future without having a foundation of the past?
Willow stood up and stretched, bobbing her red head. "Get some sleep Buffy."
"You too." Buffy stared out into the darkness. The porch light flicked off as Willow entered. She sat alone bathed in moonlight. A shadow approached the porch.
"Buffy?" Spike cocked his head. "Something wrong? Anything I can do?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Buffy turned away from the memory. The shadow sat down next to her and a hand made of air descended upon her shoulder.
"Every night I save you," Buffy murmured to the darkness of this foreign place.