Chapter twenty four- It's all about the mission

Buffy was walking alone down the main street of Sunnydale, heading towards the Magic Box when a young girl called out to her.

"Hey! You! The one who saved my life!" yelled out Chloe.

Buffy turned around and was surprised to see her. Buffy noticed Portia and Juliette were with her. The three of them started to walk towards her. Buffy started to turn away and was about to keep walking towards the Magic Box when Juliette spoke.

"Please Buffy, come back.Don't run away again. I need to talk to you."

Buffy slowly turned around and she walked over to them.

"Umm okay, what do you want to talk about?" asked Buffy awkwardly.

"Well for starters why did you run away from me at school the other week?" asked Juliette.

"Well if I told you I would embarrass my self," replied Buffy.

"It's okay, we won't laugh will we girls?"

"Nope!" said Chloe.

"I won't either," replied Portia.

"Well I guess I can tell you then."

"Go ahead and tell us," said Juliette.

"Umm well you see on that night at the graveyard I sensed that, I thought that. No. I can't do this," said Buffy who was about to cry.

"Yes you can, go on,"said Juliette trying to encourage Buffy that she could do this.

"Umm well I thought you were working for the council,"said Buffy.

"Well I am and I think you already know that."

"Yeah I know that now, but I thought you were.. well when I sensed that you were the new Slayer, the Slayer, I thought the council had sent you here to spy on me," explained Buffy who was now very embarrassed and was turning red in the face.

"Why would the council want to spy on you?" asked Juliette.

"Long, looong story."

"I have time," answered Juliette.

"I mean e-x-t-r-a long story. I'm sorry I can't explain it to you but they have had people spy on me and Faith before, so when I thought you might have been spying on me I panicked," said Buffy who was turning even more red in the face by the minute.

"Faith? You know Faith?" asked Juliette sounding surprised to hear Buffy say that name.

"Umm yeah.. why?" asked Buffy who was curious as to why Juliette would be asking her this question.

"I used to know her, she went to my old school. I used to live in the same neighbourhood with her but I had to move here because of my father changing jobs and also because of the whole Slayer thing." Explained Juliette

"So Faith is a Slayer. Wow!" said Chloe who was shocked.

"Umm well not exactly, just a potential like me," replied Buffy.

"So you must know her from the Slayer camp, right?" asked Juliette.

"Yep. I'm surprised actually the council hasn't told you about me."

"Why would the council have to tell me about you. You're saying this all as though you would be a concern or danger to someone."

"That's probably how the council see me and Faith. I thought that when you became the Slayer and moved here they would have told you I was here too."

"What did you do that was so bad?" asked Portia who was dying to know.

"Like I said before.." Buffy started to explain but was interrupted.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah long, long story, blah, blah blah," said Portia.

"Portia! How dare you speak to Buffy like that!" yelled Juliette.

"Sorry Julez, it's just that she keeps telling us the same thing and we get no where. Its as though you don't want us to know," said Portia.

"If Buffy doesn't want tell us it's her choice, she shouldn't have to do something she doesn't want to do."

"I –I-well… me and Faith…. we just didn't do what we were supposed to.. we didn't obey the council and we got punished for what we do and we're not exactly in the good books with the council. We're the trouble makers but we don't mean to misbehave we're just trying to do what we think is right."

"You- you didn't have to tell us Buffy, I'm sorry for the way I acted before, I don't know what got into me," said Portia embarrassed about the way she had behaved before.

"So do you see Faith out of camp?"asked Chloe.

"Umm no, I don't know where she lives," said Buffy nervously. She was going red in the face again because she had already embarrassed herself enough times in front of these girls and now she didn't know where one of her friends lived.

"How come? I mean… why don't you know where she lives?" asked Portia.

"Well we've never had a real chance to talk like that at camp," said Buffy who was now not sure where this conversation was leading to.

"What do you mean exactly? I've heard camp goes for like a week around five to seven days.. is camp that hard? Are you busy 'all' the time that you don't even get time to talk?" asked Chloe scared of what camp could be like for her, Juliette interrupted the conversation to set things straight with Chloe.

"No camp isn't too hard, it's a little at first but you get used to it. It's fun in some parts but not in others. You do get time to talk so that now makes me wonder, how come you never get time to talk Buffy?" asked Juliette who was now curious to what 'really' has been going on at camp with Buffy and Faith.

"Well, me and Faith have just been, I dunno. The council just picks on us, a lot and it's like at sometimes the whole camp picks on us. We have trouble on deciding whom to trust and who not too and because of all the things that happen with the council we don't get any alone time because the council are always watching us. I mean literally every single minute of the damn day. It's scary and I dread going back to camp every year and I'm just going back for my third camp girls."

"I know it seemed like it Buffy that the council are watching us but that's just like a scary story they tell to first years, no one 'really' believes it. Don't worry. Just relax next time you go to camp and everything will be fine except if your telling the truth, the council maybe have something installed for you two," said Juliette whose voice sounded more serious this time.

"What do you mean they 'might' have something installed? What do you know? Tell me, if you know something you 'have' to tell me," said Buffy who was getting angry and was again getting red in the face. Buffy felt like she was about to explode. She thought she could trust these girls but Juliette sounded like she knew more about the situation than she pretended to know.

"I don't know. I don't know much, I just know if the council are like what you say they are then they will have something installed," replied Juliette, this time in her voice you could tell she wasn't so sure about what she said, she was lying and it showed when she spoke.

"Don't play games with me. I'm not a child you can play with. Tell me the truth. I don't want lies just thrown in my face to make me leave. I want real answers now," demanded Buffy wjose voice became stronger.

"Okay, okay I'll tell you what I know. When I moved here at first I thought it was all a coincidence that my father got a job here and that I was moving to a Hellmouth when I had just became a Slayer but it was more than that. They told me that I was sent on a mission. They told me minor details about you. At first I was totally against it and the council just forced me somehow, I dunno how. I think they used magic on me and they made me make my first move, the note from Marcy," explained Juliette who was now afraid that the council might find out she had turned against their mission forever.

"So you were lying straight from the beginning! Do you really think I can trust you now? I knew from the start, I told you that I sensed something. I sensed you were a spy. I told me friends I thought you were evil, that you worked for the council and you were against me and they thought I was crazy because you were so nice. Well I was right," said Buffy who was now heating up and ready to cut loose into a fight if one was to start.

"I don't know if I could forgive someone, someone like me and trust that person again but I promise, I really do promise you can trust me. I'm not completing my mission, I quit forever!" yelled Juliette from the top of her lungs, but did she really mean it?

Everyone around them stared but they didn't care. Juliette fell onto her knees and began to cry.

"Get up! You don't get sympathy, respect, and forgiveness 'until' you tell me the missing pieces of the puzzle. What were the 'minor' details they told you about me?" asked Buffy who wasn't so angry sounding anymore but more serious and you could tell by her voice she was just trying to get straight to the point with Juliette.

"I understand how you must feel.."

"Umm I don't think you do actually, I only 'I' know how I feel, but continue anyways.."

"Well they told me they had two potential Slayers who needed to be sorted out with once for all and they thought if the two Slayers could deal with the problem it would be the best way because then the potentials wouldn't know they were dealing with the problem, they would think the council were but you see it's now all clear to me. The council are really in control anyway."

"Okay it's making more sense now.. sorry about my burst of anger, I just, I just have too much on my plate at the moment to deal with.. I'm sorry Juliette," said Buffy who felt really bad about what she had said before.

Juliette smiled and said, "It's alright."

"Hang on a minute.. two Slayers.. you said two Slayers right or am I mistaken?" asked Buffy who was puzzled by this two Slayer thing.

"No-nooo… no, no I said two 'potential' Slayers," said Juliette trying to reassure Buffy and her sisters at the same time.

"No sis, you said two Slay---," Portia interrupted Chloe.

"Shhh!"

"No I heard right, you said two Slayers.. where is the other?" asked Buffy who started to get mad again and the other girls could see in it in her blue glittering eyes.

"She's in Boston, watching the other one," replied Juliette quickly and sharply.

"Watching?" asked Buffy.

"Fa—a—ith," replied Juliette shyly.

"So Faith lives in Boston ay.. well, well, well."

"She'll be alright you know, Faith. She can stand up for herself, she can handle anything. I know her," said Juliette trying to reassure Buffy that everything will be all right with Faith.

"I'm not particularly worried about if Faith can handle this girl and her 'mission'. I think what is being over used here is mission… this is not a mission. It's more of a .. demand.. to the council, not a mission. And since when do you 'know' Faith ? So far, I think I know more about her than you do."

"No it's a mission Buffy! The mission is what matters," said Chloe out of nowhere.

"Oh no, no, don't tell me you're in it too," said Buffy who was about to give up with these girls and walk away from them forever.

"No I'm not! It's just doing what umm Juliette told me," Chloe confessed.

"Chloe!" Yelled Portia as though she had done said something wrong.

"So lets get back to the main issue here people. Whoa there are 'two' Slayers so to be the chosen 'one' and all is not exactly the truth ay.. hmm. So how do this two Slayer thing come about?" asked Buffy who was very curious as to what answer she would get.

"You see that's the thing, the council never told us. We just found out when we first meet and were told to go in opposite directions and never meet again, to just complete our missions and to guard the Hellmouth."

"But.. isn't there only one? How could you never meet again if there's only one Hellmouth? asked Buffy who was confused enough already.

"Well that's the thing, there's another one in Cleveland and the other Slayer can look after that one and have her mission at the same time."

"So how exactly are you two.. supposed to finish, 'complete' your 'missions'?" asked Buffy.

"I've never exactly really found out. All we are supposed to do is make sure you don't interfere with the council, well do our best at the least."

"Arr right. So.. do you know if there's always been two or  is there more you just haven't told me about sweetie?" asked Buffy just waiting for the suspenseful answer.

"There hasn't 'always' been two according to the council but they never told us when there was all of a sudden two and they never told us why they never tell everyone there is two instead of just one. We weren't supposed to ask questions at the time, as potentials and Slayers we aren't supposed to ask questions like this to the council Buffy, it's not right. The council know what's right. I may not be completing my mission but I'm not turning against the council like you are. I don't want my sister's turning out like you," said Juliette harshly.

"It's sounds like to me the council have you obeying them just fine, your like a little puppy dog to them. If you were clever enough you would have found out a way to find the answers they haven't told you. I wouldn't want to be working for someone who didn't tell the truth, who didn't tell me the whole deal. I can see the council just lie to you to shut you up. Your in for a rude shock. The council will turn on you just like they do to all of us, you just wait and see."

Buffy couldn't take any more of this and just turned around slowly saying a sneaky goodbye to Chloe and walked off towards her original destination of the day, the Magic Box. Buffy knew somewhere in her heart that Chloe was not like her other sister's. She wanted to escape them, but had to pretend she was like them for the time being, that she had to pretend she was someone else. Buffy could tell by the way she talked, acted, and by just standing there the whole time she was different to them. It stood out for Buffy and she wanted to save her but was not sure exactly how she would but over time she would come up with her own mission.

Juliette nor Portia or Chloe called out to Buffy to come back and talk to them, but Chloe did sneak her own goodbye wave to Buffy without her sister's knowing. She walked off down the other end of the street with her sister's just as though she was one of them.