Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow

Note: I apologize if the Kara/Kennedy pairing was a bit foreseeable, but I thought it might be interesting to try to explore that dynamic. Yes, some of you might disagree with me on that one, but I'm claiming creative license. :-p Also, I probably won't be updating tomorrow as I'll be spending most of the day at the Renfest. Enjoy.

Previously:

Suddenly Kennedy's eyes were filled with a glowing amber light. It flashed brilliantly before disappearing. "What the hell," Kennedy muttered, blinking several times. She felt different, stronger.

Kara smiled widely. "You're a slayer now."

Chapter Forty-Eight:

Kara sat under a tree in Buffy's backyard, watching the now newbie slayers train with Buffy and Faith. Though they had all of the powers of the slayer, most of them didn't know how to use their new gifts. They still needed to learn how to use their bodies, how to move and how to react to the strikes of their opponents. Faith and Buffy were attempting to teach the girls these things, though it was slow going. In typical watcher fashion, Giles and Jack were seated on the back steps by the kitchen door, watching and taking notes.

The spell had gone smoothly and Willow and Tara were upstairs resting. Dawn and Spike spent most of their time with them, bringing them food and helping them to research more about the First. Despite the energy draining intensity of the spell, Willow and Tara were recuperating quickly. Already, they could perform simple magical spells and incantations. Within a few more days, they would have gathered all of their strength back. Kara felt uneasy with the witches under full capacity. On the Hellmouth, one was never sure when a spell would be needed to vanquish some force of darkness.

"Shouldn't you be out there with them? Training for the big battle and all that?" A strangely familiar voice said from behind her. Turning, Kara saw the First approaching her. Rage swelled up in her heart, coating her throat in an acidic taste when she saw the skin the First had chosen to walk in. Callum smiled and casually sat down next to her, looking straight in her eyes. "What? I thought you'd be happy to see me," the First said in a laughing voice.

Kara blinked the red out of her eyes and turned away. "You should leave," Kara spat, her voice stained with malice.

"Oh, but what fun would that be? I just love that look on your face," Callum said, reaching out and touching the side of her face. Kara jerked away.

"What? The intense hatred?" She said, glaring over at the First.

"Of course. Don't you understand? I'm the First bloody evil. I live on fear and hatred and malice. All of those things are in your heart. You're the fuel that lights my fire, baby," it said, its eyes flashing in the sunlight.

"You're not gonna get anything from me. You should just leave," Kara said, turning away in disgust.

"I didn't come here to get information from you, Kara. I just wanted to be with you. After all, you do love me don't you?" The First said mockingly.

"I loved him," Kara ground out. "But you disgust me." Rising to her feet, Kara walked away from the tree. Jack and Giles saw her approaching and looking just over her right shoulder, saw the First hanging behind.

"Get in the house," Jack said sternly, opening the door for her. Then, he and Giles moved forward, ready to confront the scourge of Sunnydale. Faith and Buffy stopped what they were doing when they saw what was going down.

"Leave," Giles said, walking up to the First and stopped just inches from its incorporeal face.

"It must just eat you alive inside that you can't reach out and show me just how much you hate me, huh?" The First said, smiling smugly.

"You have no right to wear his face," Jack said calmly, eyeing the group of slayers advancing toward them.

"Oh, I have every right in the world my good man, to wear the face of your son. He is dead after all," the First said, knowingly slipping up a bit.

"Wait, what?" Jack said, realizing what the monster in front of him had just said.

"Oh bollocks," Giles muttered, grimacing. No one had told Jack about his parental affiliation with Callum after the lanky Englishman's death. They didn't see the point in hurting the man any more than Callum's death already did.

"They didn't tell you that convenient little fact? Yes, Callum was your son. Fine lad he was too. Don't you think?" The First replied as Jack paled.

"Leave him alone," Kennedy said from her place next to Faith. She had come to see Jack as a father figure in her life and didn't want him to suffer needlessly.

"Or what? You'll attack me with your new slayer strength. You can't touch me," the First growled. "So what did it take to get in Kara's pants, hmm? She's a hot little thing isn't she? Callum knew all about that. What makes you think you'll ever be more than second best? What she had to settle for?"

"Okay, that's enough!" Buffy yelled, effectively silencing everyone. "First off, when did you and Kara hook up?" Buffy asked, turning to Kennedy. "And secondly, get the hell out of my backyard. I don't care if you're incorporeal or not, I will kick your ass."

The First smiled, then nodded in acquiescence. "It's been a pleasure," it said before instantly vanishing.

"That thing is really annoying," Faith muttered under her breath.

"Jack? Are you alright?" Giles asked, turning to the younger watcher. Jack nodded.

"I just need some time," he said, turning and walking away from the others, into the nearly empty house. Closing the kitchen door behind him, he closed his eyes briefly and sighed.

"It told you, huh?" Kara said, appearing in the doorway. She folded her arms across her chest and studied the watcher's face. He looked older now, ever since he had taken on the responsibility of leading the new Council. Kara could see some gray dotting his hairline. She smiled absently.

"I take it you knew?" Jack asked, moving forward and sitting on one of the kitchen chairs. Kara joined him.

"I knew. He told me shortly before we went to visit you in England. He was so nervous," Kara said, smiling at the memory.

"I understand why you didn't tell me," Jack said slowly. "I imagine it was hard for him."

"Yeah, it was. He wanted to tell you, but you have a life here. One that didn't involve him. He didn't want to mess anything up," Kara said.

"I'm glad I got to know him," Jack replied, smiling softly. "And I'm glad he got to know you. He loved you very much."

"I know," Kara said, looking down at her hands. In a way, she felt like she was betraying Callum for moving on with Kennedy. Perhaps she should have waited longer, given herself more time to grieve. Yet, she felt like she was doing the right thing. Jack seemed to sense her inner turmoil.

"He would want you to move on, you know," he said with a knowing smile. "Kennedy's a lovely girl. A bit brat-ish at times," he said fondly. "But she's got a good heart."

"Yeah, she does. She's awfully fond of you, you know," Kara said, looking up at Jack. "I don't know much about her childhood or anything, what kind of parents she had. But she seems to think of you as a sort of father figure."

Jack smiled. "We're all a family here now. That's the way I want the Council to be run. Before all of this, the Council, it was so stark and cold. It became detached from the very people it relied on. Detached from the slayer. In order for an organism to survive, it has to be strong at its core – at its heart."

"We can achieve that here," Kara said, rising to her feet. "I'll give you some time."

Once Kara had left, Jack stood and wandered over to the kitchen window. He could see Faith and Buffy training his slayers, the heart and soul of what the Council stood for. He was proud of all of them and knew that when the time came, they would defeat the First. He just hoped that time wasn't rapidly approaching. There was a lot more work to be done before the final battle and they had only grazed the tip of the iceberg.