Chapter Eight – The Ten Cent Tour
"Good morning sleepy head," Buffy said as Olivia came out of her room.
"What time did you get in last night?" Olivia asked
"About 3:30," Buffy answered
"Buffy, its 7:30 in the morning," Olivia noted. "Your already up showered and dressed. Dawn said you didn't need that much sleep, but this is ridiculous."
Buffy smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Give me two solid hours a night and a couple of power naps in the afternoon and I'm good to go all day," she said. "Dawn's out at the library checking in with London. She's got a couple of projects she needs to keep track of. Alex will be tied up in meetings most of the morning. So you're stuck with me as tour guide."
"Don't you have things to do?" Olivia asked.
"Andre and Mags are teaching the newbies how to ID different types of demons this morning," Buffy said. "Shannon will cover the afternoon PT and sparing sessions. I also cleared my schedule of big stuff this week. Get dressed, I'll take you down to the cafeteria to grab something to eat and then give you the ten cent tour."
About a half hour later Buffy was leading Olivia through the first floor. They entered the cafeteria. It looked like a typical high school cafeteria. Along the far wall was a buffet table with fruit, pastries, coffee and other assorted items. A few people were already there getting breakfast and talking. Olivia took note that most of them were young women. Probably all Slayers.
Olivia grabbed a plate and got some fruit, a muffin and a cup of coffee. Buffy grabbed a couple of bananas, a danish and a glass of juice. The two sat down at an open table.
Olivia debated asking Buffy about what she and Dawn had talked about the night before. She remembered the look on Dawn's face when she asked her not to talk with Buffy. She also reminded herself that she wasn't here on a case. She was here on vacation. So she put aside her curiosity for the moment and traded small talk with Buffy.
After breakfast Buffy started Olivia on the tour. The two took the stairs to the second floor.
"The third floor is living space," Buffy said. "Xander converted eight of the classrooms into two bedroom apartments complete with their own bathrooms. The other rooms have been converted into dorms for four to six people. A couple are just lounge areas. He also expanded the bathrooms to include showers. It's very good set up for when a lot of girls come in for training."
"Does anybody live on campus?" Olivia asked.
"I do," Buffy said. "I've spent at least six months a year on the road for last four years. I just haven't had time to find a place of my own."
"That's got to be tough," Olivia said.
"I get by," Buffy waved off the comment. "It's good to have stuff to do."
The two arrived on the second floor. Olivia saw Xander at the far end of the hall talking with Giles and a redheaded young woman. Buffy steered her towards the them.
Olivia got close enough to hear the conversation.
"The four classrooms on this end of the floor will be combined," Xander was saying. "We'll take out the walls between the rooms and then add a wall. So the hallway will end here," he motioned with his hands across the floor. "That area gets changed to a workout room. We'll need to renovate the classroom over there into a shower area with lockers."
"That's fine Xander," the redhead said. "But what about my stuff."
"The rest of the floor goes to the magic school," Xander said. "The old science classrooms are at the other end of the building. It won't a problem to re-arrange the layout a bit to fit your needs. We'll need to add direct access to the basement storage area, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem."
"Great," the redhead said. "Goddess this is going to be so cool when it's done."
"You said it Willow," Xander said. "It's been three and half years. This is the last big project to do and the this place will finally be almost all the way ready for the next renovation."
Willow rolled her eyes. She turned her attention to the approaching duo. "Hey Buffy," she said. "I assume you're Olivia."
"Yes I am," Olivia replied shaking Willow's hand. "I take it you're Willow. I think that means I've met all the Scoobies."
"Not quite," Xander said. "Faith won't be back until this afternoon."
"A pleasure to see you this morning Olivia," Giles said.
"Thank you Giles. So, magic school," Olivia said.
"We don't have that many trained practitioners," Willow said. "And we train most of them in England. Its better for them to learn away from the bad vides of a Hellmouth. But once their defenses and basic skills are in place we want to be able to train them with active Slayers. That way they know each others strength and weaknesses."
"Willow," Buffy said. "You planning on coming with us to for the final fitting of the bridesmaid dresses this afternoon?"
"I don't know if it's appropriate for the best man to go on such an excursion," Willow said.
Olivia stopped short. "You're the best man," she said.
"Yep," Willow said.
"Best friend," Xander said. "Ever since I discovered her love of yellow crayons."
"Watch it buster," Willow said. "You're not allowed to tell that story to just anybody."
Giles pulled off his glasses and began cleaning them with what to Olivia looked like a very well practiced motion.
"I wouldn't dream of it," Xander smiled back. "I take it Buffy's giving you the ten cent tour Olivia."
"Yes she is," Olivia replied.
"Enjoy," Xander said. "I've put a lot of sweat into this place over the last couple of years. It will be good to get an outsider's perspective."
"You did all the renovations?" Olivia asked.
"I got my contractor's license about a year after moving here," Xander said. "Which means I get to run my own crew when we do renovations. Saves a lot of hassles."
"Speaking of hassles," Buffy said. "How many walls are you going to be tearing apart this time?"
"It won't be as bad as the third floor renovations," Xander said. "The only major plumbing job is going to be the showers. Most of the other construction will be confined just to this floor. Besides I planned ahead and roughed in the plumbing for this floor when we did the third floor. That should minimize the dust getting into your hair."
"Just as long as you remember the important things," Buffy said.
"Yes because dusty hair is the most dangerous thing we deal with on a daily basis," Giles said.
"Don't be so glib Giles," Xander said. "You haven't had to deal with a dozen Slayers all having a bad hair day at the same time. Trust me, it gets dangerous. Buffy in particular is touchy to be around."
"Come on Olivia," Buffy said. "Let's get going before Xander says something that will make Alex mad at me."
"Why would Alex get mad at you for something Xander said?" Olivia asked
"Grooms with black eyes don't look that good at a wedding," Buffy answered. "I'll show you where Alex works."
Buffy led Olivia back down stairs to the first floor.
They walked past the administration offices. "My office is in there," Buffy said. "I got the old principles office. Which is strangely ironic in so many ways."
"Can I see it?" Olivia asked.
"Oh no," Buffy replied. "I've learned. Every time I go into that office people expect me to do paperwork and other officy sorts of things. I try to avoid it when ever possible."
Olivia looked up and saw Clem coming out of one the classrooms. "Hey there Buffy," he said. "Hi Olivia. Sorry I startled you yesterday."
"Its ok," Olivia said.
"I have to go grab something from the library," Clem said. "See you around." He walked off towards the stairs.
"He's heading for the basement," Olivia said.
"There are connecting tunnels between all the buildings," Buffy said. "Clem doesn't like to go out much in daylight. Despite having a Hellmouth, Cleveland isn't as open about its demon community as Sunnydale was."
Olivia had to shake her head at that comment. Buffy opened the door Clem had just come out of and Alex walked inside.
It looked like three classrooms had been joined into one room. To her right Olivia saw several rows of bookshelves with what looked like law books on them. To her left was an open office area. She could see Alex sitting at a small conference table talking with four other people.
"….so?" a man said.
"That means we can link one or more of the victims to the property," Alex explained. "That should be sufficient grounds for the sheriffs department to get a warrant. Call Tessa and let her know."
Alex turned at the sound of the opening door and smiled when she saw Olivia. "Ok, let's take a break," she said. "We still need to finalize the work schedule for while I'm gone."
The four nodded in her direction and went back their desks.
"Olivia," Alex said. "How are you doing?"
"Fine," Olivia replied. "Buffy's been giving me the tour. I take it this is your office."
"In all its glory," Alex answered. "Let me give you the quick intros."
"That's Katherine," Alex motioned to a middle-aged woman who acknowledged the two with a nod. "Over there is Peter," a young man with auburn hair waved back. "That's Richard," Alex motioned to the blonde who had spoken first.
Alex then motioned to an older gentleman with white hair. Olivia noted that he spoke with a British accent. "And finally we have William."
"Detective Benson," William acknowledged. "Ms Summers, a pleasure to see you this morning."
"Thanks Will," Buffy said. "William use to be a Watcher before we brought him over here from England to help Alex."
"Yes working with Ms Winters has been most rewarding," William said. "Quite a departure from the work Quentin used to have me perform."
"And what would that have been?" Olivia asked.
"A little of this and a little of that," William replied with a smile. "I find it fascinating to try and approach the supernatural from the perspective of human law. Yes, a significant departure from my previous duties."
Olivia got the feeling there was a story behind those old eyes. Likely quite a few stories. But she was already building up a backlog of questions, so she let this one go.
