Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognise. Please don't sue. I have enough financial problems as it is. I promise I'll play nice… maybe. For other details see part one.
"The Consequences of Prevailing"
Chapter 2: Negotiating.
The next morning found the surviving Scoobies, Faith, Wood, Kennedy and, for some reason, Andrew gathering in the motel room the girls (Dawn, Buffy, Willow and Faith) had shared the night before. Giles was the last to arrive, returning with eight coffees for the weary survivors and a Coke for Dawn who, Buffy had declared, was not allowed coffee this early in the morning, and fresh from a very expensive, very long, transatlantic call to Robson.
Sitting down on one of the two rickety chairs this room provided he handed out the drinks and surveyed his rabble band. Looking at them you wouldn't think that they had seen the things they'd seen, lost the things they'd lost, fought the battles they'd fought. Only Xander's eye patch and the few bruises and scraps and scars the others sported detracted from the image of them as a normal group of young adults. Willow and Kennedy were sitting, propped up again the headboard of one bed, talking to Faith who was perched, rather uncomfortably it appeared, on Robin's lap. Robin was sitting on the other rickety chair, which was propped up against the wall by the window. Buffy was sitting on the edge of the other bed, alternately watching the conversation between the two couples or the conversation going on behind her between Dawn, Andrew and Xander but joining neither. Based on hand gestures and the few words he managed to catch, it appeared that Andrew and Xander were, once again, attempting to persuade Dawn of the validity and sheer brilliance of one of their god awful sci-fi shows- probably that Babylon Nine thingy or, even worse, Star Trek! Every few minutes Xander would look over at Buffy, try to catch her eye, and, if he managed, smile and invite her into the conversation. It wasn't working and each time the melancholy and worry he was trying so desperately to hide would flood back into his countenance. Dawn, the ever observant child she was, would invariably notice when this occurred and distract him, pulling him back into the conversation. He let them chat, and relax, and get their caffeine fix before calling the meeting to order.
"So what has the Council to say this time?" Buffy asked once all conversation had stopped and all eyes diverted to Giles.
"Well, firstly, Robson was most pleased to hear of our success and also, uh, of both your and Faith's survival. One of the Traver's girls, uh, Evelyn I believe, was a Potential and her father took her into hiding when the First began its campaign. They were, understandably, ah, concerned upon her Calling," Giles paused, letting this information penetrate. "He, uh, congratulates you Willow on, eh, your success with the spell although we are… unsure… how far the influence has spread."
"So a Potential as far away as England was called… does that mean we are looking at all the Potentials worldwide having been activated?" Robin inquired.
"Worldwide? Were we expecting worldwide?" Xander babble-asked.
Nodding slightly Willow answered, "It was a possibility. We kinda didn't have time to research the full ramifications."
"Well, yes, it does appear to be global- although it should be noted that that has not yet been confirmed," Giles replied to Robin's question. "What the Council will do now is, um, unclear. Identification is, of course, a priority."
"Identification?" Kennedy.
"Well as you know, not all Potentials are identified. Buffy herself was not made known to us until her Calling and Faith was found only a couple of years before her own- which was, coincidentally, around the same time," Giles replied. He paused then added, "Some Potentials, like yourself, are found in early childhood while others are, uh, never identified. If it hadn't been for this recent crisis it is most likely that Rona would be, and would have remained, unknown us. It was likely the same with, uh, Shannon. In those cases it was, in fact, the, ah, Bringers who alerted us to their presence. Conceivably, there are still many girls out there that have never been identified, either by ourselves or by the First."
"And they will all be Slayers now?" Kennedy confirmed.
"As far as we know."
"Fascinating as that all is, could we get back to the whole "What next?" part?" Buffy interrupted caustically.
"Indeed."
"So what need to be worked out?" Andrew asked brightly.
"Uh… where we're going maybe? Or even if we're all going together? How we're getting there since we, pretty much, have no money or possessions. Oh and what we're going to do there and what we're going to do about the girls?" Buffy replied impatiently in a tone of voice usually reserved for small children and idiots.
"Oh," Andrew's tone was flat as he looked at the bedclothes, disheartened. Dawn, seeing his discomfort, patted his back and smiled reassuringly at him when he looked up at her. Xander leaned over and ruffled his hair. Andrew squealed and tried to bat Xander's hand away. Buffy simply rolled her eyes.
After a few moments of near silence it was Faith who piped up, "The question of where to go, surely we go to Cleveland? Keep the nasties from doing all those fun Hellmouthy things. Help the Slayers that are there- there's bound to be at least one right? With Sunnydale closed for business, Cleveland's gotta get busier, right G?"
"Almost certainly. That's where I would suggest we go and Robson volunteered that option also," Giles agreed. Faith smiled, bouncing slightly, surprised and pleased to find that her conclusion was agreed with by the G-man himself.
"What about the other Slayers that have been called? Surely someone should be out looking for them?" Robin interjected.
"Indeed. But it is, uh, unlikely that we as a group, could do much good trailing around the country in an unorganised fashion looking for girls with mystical powers," Giles replied.
"Anyway it'd be pretty uncomfortable travelling round the country in a commandeered school bus," Willow commented.
"Those seats were bad enough when we were kids. Be hell on Giles' old bones," Xander smiled at Willow.
"Yeah and having to stop at motels every few days just to get a shower," Willow conjectured.
"And a half decent sleep."
"Living off Doublemeats and MacDonalds and diners."
"Only enough clothing to carry."
"And…"
"Enough!" Buffy yelled. "We need to get serious!" She turned to Giles, eyes flashing. "Why should we do anything? Why not leave the Council to deal with it? We can get ourselves lives. Stop almost getting killed on a regular basis. Stop loosing people!" she ranted and all conversation, in fact even movement, halted as they looked at the impassioned, bitter Slayer.
"Because we have a duty B," came Faith's quiet and unusually serious reply.
"Yeah, why don't you tell me about duty Faith? I mean you've been doing your duty so spectacularly well! I'm practically in awe. Killing bystanders, signing up with the bad guys, trying to kill half the people in this room, languishing in prison for years- spectacular. Meanwhile I've been out here risking MY neck. Why shouldn't I get a break?" Buffy spat back, enraged.
"So, what, retirement? Nice little office job. Dependable husband. 2.4 kids, a dog, and a white picket fence? You'd go mad B. You're a Slayer. Fighting and danger and demons… all part of who we are," Faith told her straight up.
"I'd like to at least have the choice," Buffy pouted.
"And what about me? Think I should go back to jail. Let 'em slap a few more years to my sentence for busting out to help Angel?"
"Sounds like a plan. There was a reason you were in jail Faith- you killed a man," Buffy told her with clarity and conviction.
"You feel the same way 'bout Red here? Way I hear it she killed someone a helluva lot more recent than I did- no offence Red," Faith looked briefly at Willow, worry at stirring up memories. Willow's eyes were clouded slightly but she looked mostly ok as she shook her head.
"That was different!" Buffy exclaimed.
"Why? Cos she's your friend? Cos it was revenge? Cos she destroyed the body?" Faith paused and looked Buffy in the eye. Buffy just looked back at her, one eyebrow flicked slightly, in a superior, "I don't need to explain anything to you" manner. Faith shrugged. "No matter. Point is: with you in your normal little life and me rotting away in jail just who is it you plan on having defeat the bad guys? Ya wanna leave the "fate of the world" and all that crap to a bunch of kids still wet behind the ears? Fine, stop with the patrols and the risking your neck, but stick around at least. Help train the girls, keep them from getting dead. You've mostly survived for seven years of this shit B, you gotta have something useful to say," and with that Faith finished her rant and leaned back to lean against Robin.
Buffy looked away for a moment, her eyes unfocused, as she reluctantly considered Faith's words, before snapping back to reality and replying, "I'll think about it," in a not entirely dismissive tone.
The room fell silent once more before Giles cleared his throat and tried to put the discussion back on track, "So our options on "where" seem to be Cleveland or travelling. What do the rest of you think of those possibilities?"
"I say nay on the travelling," Willow told him.
"Ditto," Xander agreed, "Cleveland doesn't sound so bad though. Course I know nothing bout Cleveland so it could suck."
"Well say we decide on Cleveland," Dawn offered tentatively. "What would we do there, you know, besides fighting the bads?"
"What about a training facility?" Robin suggested.
"Like a school? Be all "school for gifted youngsters"? Giles can be Professor X!" Andrew asked, eyes flashing with excitement, almost bouncing.
"We don't have the skills, qualifications or resources for a school," Giles dismissed the idea outright, destroying Andrew's dream.
"A home base sounds like a good idea though. Somewhere where we can keep track of Slayers and they can get hold of us if they need us. Split the resources of the Council- does the Council still have resources?-"
"We're still working on it, but we have some."
"So the First, or whoever decides to destroy it again, well, can't. Or at least will have a harder time of it," Xander remarked, reminding Giles that this boy really was starting to resemble an adult.
"Also, the First was killing Watchers too and anyway the Council was never designed for Slayers on this scale. Surely it, at least, should be finding the non dead watchers and training new ones?" Willow continued Xander's line of thought. "We could help with the finding."
"Yes indeed. There is much work to be done by the Council and in terms of helping the cause we, it, may be best served by our assistance in this matter," Giles replies, smiling faintly.
"Why should we work for or with the Council? They've never been interested in helping us," Buffy asked childishly.
"I think you will find that those…. elements… within the council are mostly, em, dead. Most of the Watchers that survived were either the ones in the field or those not most popular within the Council. Generally they have quite a different take on Slayer-Watcher relations. The current traditionalists were always far more interested in governing from afar, from the safety of Headquarters. Robson, Crowley (if we can entice him back), Geoffrey, Michael and myself are, pretty much, the only senior members of the Council left. I think you will find that we are quite a different breed than Quentin and his ilk," Giles informed her, quite passionately. Reluctantly he added, "For your information, no matter where we go or what each of us decides, I will continue to be a member of the Council and I fully intend to assist however I can with the rebuilding."
"If you've already decided why are we even bothering to have this discussion?" Buffy asked frigidly.
"Because I, for one, consider the people in this room my, eh, family. I would prefer to keep the group whole, even if we do not decide to live in the same locale," Giles told her before looking into her eyes, his voice taking a soft, paternal quality to it, and adding, "You are important to me."
Buffy couldn't help but smile, eyes tearing slightly, as she told him, "I don't wanna loose you either." He smiled back at her. Loosing the edge of her grief, her smile firmly on her face, she sat up straighter and looked round the group. "So Cleveland then? The gang smiled and nodded, all agreeing with the move. " We can look for Slayers as we travel up, maybe we can go via Chicago- Chicago's on the way right?- and Dawn and I can visit our Aunt Arlene. Once we get there we set up a base of operations. Willow can do locator spells. Andrew," Andrew beamed at being included in the Slayer's planning, "and Willow can set up some computer thing to keep track. Dawnie and Xander can work out what else we need. Giles, you and Robin can look for Watchers and sort out all the paperwork. And Faith, Kennedy and me can train the Slayers in Cleveland, or do the patrols ourselves, or whatever!" she declared.
"Sounds workable," Robin agreed.
"Yep." Faith.
"Indeed." Giles.
"We'll need books," Dawn commented.
"Indubitably." Xander mimicked.
"You can help set up a library, no doubt we'll need one, with lots of musty old books. I know you loved Giles' books," Buffy beamed at Dawn.
"Yey!" Dawn clapped.
"Giles," Willow said, strangely sober amongst the exuberance, "do we actually have the money for all that?"
"We might. Robson is having some funds diverted into my account to cover our accommodation for the immediate future. He did express hope that we would consider assisting the Council and has promised us additional funds for whatever we came up with. I will contact him again tomorrow with regards to our plans. If he and the others think it a plausible and, uh, sensible idea- of which I have no doubt- he will arrange funding," Giles informed her. She smiled.
"So when do we leave?"
"Once the girls are all well enough to travel back to their homes and we have organised ourselves," Giles decreed.
"Yey! We have a plan!" Willow beamed.