Title: A Fair Exchange.
Author: Charlie
Timeline: Post BtVS S7 & AtS S5. Sequel to "Best Laid Plans."
Summary: Xander begins revamping the slayer school but finds his biggest challeges lie within.
Feedback is always appreciated.
Author Notes: Round and round, the ship goes. Where it lands, the
Author doesn't know. Will it be (A)my, (B)uffy, (C)ordelia, (D)awn, (F)aith, (F)red, (H)armony, (K)ennedy or (W)illow that wins the Xandman?
Flashback
"Is he going to be all right?"
"I don't know, Maria." Gwendolyn Post spoke in a reassuring tone, trying to calm the young girl. "He was very confident going into the trial. And he's survived this long as Hunter."
Maria slowly nodded in acceptance.
"But you really don't know if he's going to wake up?" The older British woman turned and addressed the young black teenager. "No I do not. Cole has proven to be a strong and resilient fighter but this is his first test as Hunter that he must face on his own. If he is strong enough in mind and spirit then he will be fine. Otherwise..."
"He won't wake up."
"Jake..."
"Hey, it's okay M. Cole's a real strong dude, he can do this. I mean he survived your cooking and all, I'm sure he can whip this."
The young Hispanic girl glared at him for a second then smiled faintly at his remarks before returning her attention the prone body of their friend. Silently they watched, from time to time his body would twitch and they would take a deep breath hoping he would wake up and it would be over.
Gwendolyn Post quietly fingered the knife she carried on her belt, mentally going over instructions she knew by heart. 'In their eighteenth year, the Dreaming shall test the Hunter. If he is sound of mind and spirit, he will emerge with the maturity and wisdom that is part of his birthright. Should he fail to awake it is the task of the Keeper to ensure the next Hunter will arise'.
The British watched her charge with care, praying that he would awaken and dreading her duty should he not.
End Flashback
Art Strubble was uncomfortable.
He wasn't uncomfortable with his job; he had been doing it for two years. Before then he had served in the merchant marine for five years. These days he mostly just made 'deliveries' to people and places across the globe. Granted the 'people' weren't always normal or even human he thought, and the cargo was never normal, sometimes it wasn't even dead. Those things didn't bother him anymore; a healthy paycheck helped to soothe away his concerns.
No the reason he was uncomfortable was because of the man he was looking at. He had dealt with a number of customers personally. Some of them were hard cases; some of them were just weird. This guy though was different for some reason, and that unknown reason was why Art's skin was crawling.
"I take it there were no problems en route?" The man, a Mr. Thomas inquired.
"Nope."
"Good. I was wondering if you would be so good as to move this crate into the room down the hall. I have specially prepared it for this crate's contents."
"I ain't no moving man."
"Then go and get one of the other men from outside to assist you."
Art frowned but moved to the door, he called out to the nearest man, "Hey Gene. Come here and help me with something." Not bothering to pay attention to the other man's response, he turned around and walked back into the room. The other man joined him and the two of them struggled to lift the crate and move it down the hall into the room. Behind them Mr. Thomas quietly went to the door and locked it. As he walked down the hall, he pulled on a pair of gloves and followed them into the room. The door clicked shut behind him and there was another clicking sound as it locked. Then silence for a few minutes.
Then the screams began.
-Crestview-
"Excuse me, Miss?"
Harmony looked up from her typing, surprised. "Yes?"
"Hello I am Mrs. Hollings. I am one of the new teachers for this school. I was wondering if you could direct me to the school principal's office, I was told that I needed to meet with him when I arrived here."
"Sure wait ONE second." She picked up the phone dialed the connection, "Hello Mr. Wood? Yes one of the new teachers is here and she says she had a meeting arranged with you. Oh okay." The female vampire hung up the phone.
"He'll be right out Mrs. Hollings."
"Thank you."
Robin Wood came out of his office, a little concerned about meeting with these 'new teachers'. What he saw took his breath away. A stunningly attractive black woman in what looked like her late twenties or early thirties was seated in the office. Wood took in a deep breath as he took in the sight of her. Mocha colored skin dressed in conservative if alluring blue business suit. Trying to appear professional, he walked over and introduced himself.
"Hello Mrs. Hollings, I am Principal Wood." He held out his hand, which she took and in turn sent his pulse skyrocketing.
"I am pleased to meet you, Principal Wood."
"Please call me Robin."
"Oh all right, my name is Janet. I must you're not what I expected." The way she finished that sentence almost caused Robin's right to tick noticeably.
"And you're not what I was expecting either." Robin mentally kicked himself for saying that. There was an awkward pause before he continued, "We were just beginning a meeting regarding the future of this school. Would you care to join us?"
"Why thank you Robin, I would love to."
He tried to will his heart to slow down as he led her to the conference room where the meeting was taking place. Graciously he held the door to the room open and invited her to enter first. Inside the room were Alex, Cordelia, Dawn, Amy, Andrew, and Kennedy.
"Everyone this is Mrs. Hollings, one of the new teachers, Alexander told us about." Cordelia noticed the slight change in Wood's demeanor around the woman and wondered what that was about. The new teacher made her across the room and introduced herself to Alex.
"Hell Mr. Harris, I am pleased to meet you. As I said to 'Robin', you're not exactly what I was expecting. The former carpenter accepted her hand and shook it gently, "Thank you Mrs. Hollings. I am happy that you are here and I look forward to working beside you for many years to come."
She smiled back at the younger man and took a seat at the table. "Now before we can continue this meeting," Alex began, "I must ask Mrs. Hollings if she's aware of the nature of this school and it's mission."
"Well, I was told that this school is for 'special young ladies'. If that is what you're asking."
"Do you know what you mean by saying 'special young ladies, Mrs. Hollings?"
The teacher seemed uncertain, as she looked around, "Former gang members?"
That brought a light chuckle from the group, "Not exactly Janet."
Wood leaned over and pressed a button on the intercom, "Harmony could you come in here for a minute."
There was silence in the conference room until the blonde entered the room. "Yes?"
"Harmony would you go stand by Mrs. Hollings?"
She did as he asked. "Mrs. Hollings, could you check Harmony's pulse?"
The black woman looked confused as she grasped the other woman's wrist in her hand. She concentrated trying to count the beats but felt nothing but blonde woman's cold skin. Mrs. Hollings released Harmony's wrist and looked confused. "You didn't feel anything did you Mrs. Hollings?"
"No. I didn't."
Wood nodded and then looked at his secretary, "Harm show Janet, your other face."
"Other face?"
Janet's confusion increased as the beautiful face of the young woman changed, taking on a more frightening appearance complete with yellow animal like eyes. Mrs. Holling's almost fainted as she moved back away from the woman in fear.
"That's enough Harm."
"Okay." She reverted back to her normal human appearance.
"What? What? What?" The teacher was stuttering and Alex gently touched her arm. Calmly and quietly he explained about Vampires, Demons, the Hellmouth and the Slayer.
As he spoke, Mrs. Hollings's fear and confusion faded and a look of understanding spread across her face. "So you're saying that Vampires are real?" Alex nodded. "And that to stop them there was a chosen one, a teenage girl that was given the power to fight and kill them. But now because a spell, there are hundreds of Slayers across the world. And that this school was founded to teach them?"
"Yes. Kennedy here," Alex gestured, "is a full slayer."
The teacher looked back and forth between Kennedy and Harmony. Wood saw her confusion and spoke to her; "Harmony is an exception Janet. She's trying to redeem herself and only drinks animal blood." The female vampire nodded eagerly.
"Are there anymore exceptions?"
"Yes, at this school there are two vampires with their souls, Angel and Spike."
"So they have their souls but Harmony doesn't?"
"It's not that I don't want my soul back it's that I don't how to go about getting it back." Harmony supplied.
"That's something we can look into a later date Harmony." Wood told her which brought a smile to her face.
"In the meantime, Mrs. Hollings, we'd like your input and help as we try create and form a stable curriculum that will benefit the young slayers the most."
Janet frowned for a second, "I thought you said this school was founded to teach them, shouldn't there already be courses of study in place for that?"
Alex answered her, "The original intent of this school was to teach these girls how to slay and survive. We want to create a curriculum that gives them a normal education and teaches them how to live not just survive."
"What you're asking for will take a lot of hard work not to mention dedication, effort, time and money."
"Money is not a problem as for the others, that's why I asked for people like yourself. I wanted the best people for this project and you came highly recommended."
The teacher thought for a few minutes before speaking, "When I was graduating from Northwestern, I always thought I'd be shaping the hearts and minds of the future of the world. I just didn't realize it would be like this." She finished with a smile; "I accept your challenge Alexander Harris."
"All RIGHT!" Dawn shouted as she jumped out of her seat with her fist straight up in the air as Andrew clapped. Everyone else just looked at them. Blushing she sat back down and the others turned to look at Andrew who slowly stopped clapping. Then Cordelia started giggling, it became laughter and spread to the others, even Wood had to laugh.
This went on for several minutes as they laughed themselves out of breath. Kennedy waived her hand about, trying to get everyone's attention while she regained her breath.
"Yes Kennedy?" Alex spoke while trying to take some deep breaths.
"Well I do have one suggestion that might help make things better. I know it's a big deal or anything but."
"But what?" Wood inquired.
She looked at the others; "Can we ditch the uniforms? I mean, they're really ugly and are severely out of date."
There was a pause while the others looked at her and then Cordelia and Harmony looked at each other then at Dawn and Amy. There was an unspoken conversation between the four girls and then they along with Kennedy, looked at Wood and Alex. The two men shifted uncomfortably under their gaze for a minute before Robin spoke, "I'm sure we can come to an agreement about replacing or renovating the dress code."
Alex quickly followed him, "Yeah in the meantime, who wants Pizza? My treat?"
The girls smiled at their discomfort.
-Elsewhere-
Buffy Summers walked into the faculty apartments in a huff. Wincing slightly from the injuries inflicted on her left arm. She was still angry at what had happened to her, in front of the young slayers no less. Cole had taken her and Faith down with ease. Then he had effortlessly torn her shoulder and broken her wrist as though they were twigs. That she had attacked him first didn't justify what he had done to her in her opinion. He had tried to maim her in front of her students and worse yet, he had done it with all the effort of someone using a can opener.
Then there was Xander and his words. The lie he had told her that sent Angel to hell. She hated him for that. For making that decision for her, what made it his right to decide that? 'Worried that she might die or just plain old jealousy. God he's still such a child sometimes. I wish he would just stop trying so hard. Why can't he accept being with me, with us.' She blinked trying to clear her mind and get her attention back on what she was going do.
However, all that changed as she saw someone else waiting for her in the lobby. Seeing him drove all reason and coherent thought from her. Buffy's eyes opened wide and she gawked for lack of a better term as he walked over to her.
"Hello Buffy." Hank Summers greeted his daughter.
Author: Charlie
Timeline: Post BtVS S7 & AtS S5. Sequel to "Best Laid Plans."
Summary: Xander begins revamping the slayer school but finds his biggest challeges lie within.
Feedback is always appreciated.
Author Notes: Round and round, the ship goes. Where it lands, the
Author doesn't know. Will it be (A)my, (B)uffy, (C)ordelia, (D)awn, (F)aith, (F)red, (H)armony, (K)ennedy or (W)illow that wins the Xandman?
Flashback
"Is he going to be all right?"
"I don't know, Maria." Gwendolyn Post spoke in a reassuring tone, trying to calm the young girl. "He was very confident going into the trial. And he's survived this long as Hunter."
Maria slowly nodded in acceptance.
"But you really don't know if he's going to wake up?" The older British woman turned and addressed the young black teenager. "No I do not. Cole has proven to be a strong and resilient fighter but this is his first test as Hunter that he must face on his own. If he is strong enough in mind and spirit then he will be fine. Otherwise..."
"He won't wake up."
"Jake..."
"Hey, it's okay M. Cole's a real strong dude, he can do this. I mean he survived your cooking and all, I'm sure he can whip this."
The young Hispanic girl glared at him for a second then smiled faintly at his remarks before returning her attention the prone body of their friend. Silently they watched, from time to time his body would twitch and they would take a deep breath hoping he would wake up and it would be over.
Gwendolyn Post quietly fingered the knife she carried on her belt, mentally going over instructions she knew by heart. 'In their eighteenth year, the Dreaming shall test the Hunter. If he is sound of mind and spirit, he will emerge with the maturity and wisdom that is part of his birthright. Should he fail to awake it is the task of the Keeper to ensure the next Hunter will arise'.
The British watched her charge with care, praying that he would awaken and dreading her duty should he not.
End Flashback
Art Strubble was uncomfortable.
He wasn't uncomfortable with his job; he had been doing it for two years. Before then he had served in the merchant marine for five years. These days he mostly just made 'deliveries' to people and places across the globe. Granted the 'people' weren't always normal or even human he thought, and the cargo was never normal, sometimes it wasn't even dead. Those things didn't bother him anymore; a healthy paycheck helped to soothe away his concerns.
No the reason he was uncomfortable was because of the man he was looking at. He had dealt with a number of customers personally. Some of them were hard cases; some of them were just weird. This guy though was different for some reason, and that unknown reason was why Art's skin was crawling.
"I take it there were no problems en route?" The man, a Mr. Thomas inquired.
"Nope."
"Good. I was wondering if you would be so good as to move this crate into the room down the hall. I have specially prepared it for this crate's contents."
"I ain't no moving man."
"Then go and get one of the other men from outside to assist you."
Art frowned but moved to the door, he called out to the nearest man, "Hey Gene. Come here and help me with something." Not bothering to pay attention to the other man's response, he turned around and walked back into the room. The other man joined him and the two of them struggled to lift the crate and move it down the hall into the room. Behind them Mr. Thomas quietly went to the door and locked it. As he walked down the hall, he pulled on a pair of gloves and followed them into the room. The door clicked shut behind him and there was another clicking sound as it locked. Then silence for a few minutes.
Then the screams began.
-Crestview-
"Excuse me, Miss?"
Harmony looked up from her typing, surprised. "Yes?"
"Hello I am Mrs. Hollings. I am one of the new teachers for this school. I was wondering if you could direct me to the school principal's office, I was told that I needed to meet with him when I arrived here."
"Sure wait ONE second." She picked up the phone dialed the connection, "Hello Mr. Wood? Yes one of the new teachers is here and she says she had a meeting arranged with you. Oh okay." The female vampire hung up the phone.
"He'll be right out Mrs. Hollings."
"Thank you."
Robin Wood came out of his office, a little concerned about meeting with these 'new teachers'. What he saw took his breath away. A stunningly attractive black woman in what looked like her late twenties or early thirties was seated in the office. Wood took in a deep breath as he took in the sight of her. Mocha colored skin dressed in conservative if alluring blue business suit. Trying to appear professional, he walked over and introduced himself.
"Hello Mrs. Hollings, I am Principal Wood." He held out his hand, which she took and in turn sent his pulse skyrocketing.
"I am pleased to meet you, Principal Wood."
"Please call me Robin."
"Oh all right, my name is Janet. I must you're not what I expected." The way she finished that sentence almost caused Robin's right to tick noticeably.
"And you're not what I was expecting either." Robin mentally kicked himself for saying that. There was an awkward pause before he continued, "We were just beginning a meeting regarding the future of this school. Would you care to join us?"
"Why thank you Robin, I would love to."
He tried to will his heart to slow down as he led her to the conference room where the meeting was taking place. Graciously he held the door to the room open and invited her to enter first. Inside the room were Alex, Cordelia, Dawn, Amy, Andrew, and Kennedy.
"Everyone this is Mrs. Hollings, one of the new teachers, Alexander told us about." Cordelia noticed the slight change in Wood's demeanor around the woman and wondered what that was about. The new teacher made her across the room and introduced herself to Alex.
"Hell Mr. Harris, I am pleased to meet you. As I said to 'Robin', you're not exactly what I was expecting. The former carpenter accepted her hand and shook it gently, "Thank you Mrs. Hollings. I am happy that you are here and I look forward to working beside you for many years to come."
She smiled back at the younger man and took a seat at the table. "Now before we can continue this meeting," Alex began, "I must ask Mrs. Hollings if she's aware of the nature of this school and it's mission."
"Well, I was told that this school is for 'special young ladies'. If that is what you're asking."
"Do you know what you mean by saying 'special young ladies, Mrs. Hollings?"
The teacher seemed uncertain, as she looked around, "Former gang members?"
That brought a light chuckle from the group, "Not exactly Janet."
Wood leaned over and pressed a button on the intercom, "Harmony could you come in here for a minute."
There was silence in the conference room until the blonde entered the room. "Yes?"
"Harmony would you go stand by Mrs. Hollings?"
She did as he asked. "Mrs. Hollings, could you check Harmony's pulse?"
The black woman looked confused as she grasped the other woman's wrist in her hand. She concentrated trying to count the beats but felt nothing but blonde woman's cold skin. Mrs. Hollings released Harmony's wrist and looked confused. "You didn't feel anything did you Mrs. Hollings?"
"No. I didn't."
Wood nodded and then looked at his secretary, "Harm show Janet, your other face."
"Other face?"
Janet's confusion increased as the beautiful face of the young woman changed, taking on a more frightening appearance complete with yellow animal like eyes. Mrs. Holling's almost fainted as she moved back away from the woman in fear.
"That's enough Harm."
"Okay." She reverted back to her normal human appearance.
"What? What? What?" The teacher was stuttering and Alex gently touched her arm. Calmly and quietly he explained about Vampires, Demons, the Hellmouth and the Slayer.
As he spoke, Mrs. Hollings's fear and confusion faded and a look of understanding spread across her face. "So you're saying that Vampires are real?" Alex nodded. "And that to stop them there was a chosen one, a teenage girl that was given the power to fight and kill them. But now because a spell, there are hundreds of Slayers across the world. And that this school was founded to teach them?"
"Yes. Kennedy here," Alex gestured, "is a full slayer."
The teacher looked back and forth between Kennedy and Harmony. Wood saw her confusion and spoke to her; "Harmony is an exception Janet. She's trying to redeem herself and only drinks animal blood." The female vampire nodded eagerly.
"Are there anymore exceptions?"
"Yes, at this school there are two vampires with their souls, Angel and Spike."
"So they have their souls but Harmony doesn't?"
"It's not that I don't want my soul back it's that I don't how to go about getting it back." Harmony supplied.
"That's something we can look into a later date Harmony." Wood told her which brought a smile to her face.
"In the meantime, Mrs. Hollings, we'd like your input and help as we try create and form a stable curriculum that will benefit the young slayers the most."
Janet frowned for a second, "I thought you said this school was founded to teach them, shouldn't there already be courses of study in place for that?"
Alex answered her, "The original intent of this school was to teach these girls how to slay and survive. We want to create a curriculum that gives them a normal education and teaches them how to live not just survive."
"What you're asking for will take a lot of hard work not to mention dedication, effort, time and money."
"Money is not a problem as for the others, that's why I asked for people like yourself. I wanted the best people for this project and you came highly recommended."
The teacher thought for a few minutes before speaking, "When I was graduating from Northwestern, I always thought I'd be shaping the hearts and minds of the future of the world. I just didn't realize it would be like this." She finished with a smile; "I accept your challenge Alexander Harris."
"All RIGHT!" Dawn shouted as she jumped out of her seat with her fist straight up in the air as Andrew clapped. Everyone else just looked at them. Blushing she sat back down and the others turned to look at Andrew who slowly stopped clapping. Then Cordelia started giggling, it became laughter and spread to the others, even Wood had to laugh.
This went on for several minutes as they laughed themselves out of breath. Kennedy waived her hand about, trying to get everyone's attention while she regained her breath.
"Yes Kennedy?" Alex spoke while trying to take some deep breaths.
"Well I do have one suggestion that might help make things better. I know it's a big deal or anything but."
"But what?" Wood inquired.
She looked at the others; "Can we ditch the uniforms? I mean, they're really ugly and are severely out of date."
There was a pause while the others looked at her and then Cordelia and Harmony looked at each other then at Dawn and Amy. There was an unspoken conversation between the four girls and then they along with Kennedy, looked at Wood and Alex. The two men shifted uncomfortably under their gaze for a minute before Robin spoke, "I'm sure we can come to an agreement about replacing or renovating the dress code."
Alex quickly followed him, "Yeah in the meantime, who wants Pizza? My treat?"
The girls smiled at their discomfort.
-Elsewhere-
Buffy Summers walked into the faculty apartments in a huff. Wincing slightly from the injuries inflicted on her left arm. She was still angry at what had happened to her, in front of the young slayers no less. Cole had taken her and Faith down with ease. Then he had effortlessly torn her shoulder and broken her wrist as though they were twigs. That she had attacked him first didn't justify what he had done to her in her opinion. He had tried to maim her in front of her students and worse yet, he had done it with all the effort of someone using a can opener.
Then there was Xander and his words. The lie he had told her that sent Angel to hell. She hated him for that. For making that decision for her, what made it his right to decide that? 'Worried that she might die or just plain old jealousy. God he's still such a child sometimes. I wish he would just stop trying so hard. Why can't he accept being with me, with us.' She blinked trying to clear her mind and get her attention back on what she was going do.
However, all that changed as she saw someone else waiting for her in the lobby. Seeing him drove all reason and coherent thought from her. Buffy's eyes opened wide and she gawked for lack of a better term as he walked over to her.
"Hello Buffy." Hank Summers greeted his daughter.