Chapter Two: Life After Sunnydale

"So, you have visions and all?" Dawn asked me as I drove down the road.

"Yeah. That's how I discovered Buffy died," I replied. "I, um, also saw you."

"Oh…" she said, looking away from the road. "You saw that whole scene?"

"Yeah…" After several minutes of silence, I asked her, "So, how old are you, anyway?"

"I'm fifteen now. I'll be a sophomore next year."

"Cool. What kind of music d'you listen to?"

"I love pop, but rock and rap is better. Anything I can shake my ass to," she told me with a smile on her face.

"You know any good radio stations around here?"

"Oh, yeah! 95.8!" she said and started to flip through the stations. The radio started to play the latest Britney Spears song, and, laughing the whole way through, we sang with her as loud as we could.

At the end, we were still laughing when my cell phone rang. It was Buffy.

"God, think you can sing any louder?!" she cried.

"Uh, yeah, do you want us to try?" I replied with a smile.

"We have the windows down and can hear you, but I think we could still hear you two if we had them up! What I'm trying to say is, either pull up the window or stop singing! We have a bunch of injured girls on this bus and…" I pulled the phone away from my ear, looking at Dawn.

"Does she always give long speeches like this?" I asked.

"Pretty much," Dawn said, nodding. "You get used to it after awhile."

"…. two singing, oh, I'm sorry, screeching your lungs out!!!!"

"Well, I'm sorry we were just trying to have some fun. God, you're not alone anymore, Buffy! Actually, you haven't been alone for quite a while now, but you still pretend you're the only one chosen! There's Faith and me, and now millions of girls can kick vamp-ass like you can! You don't have to be so uptight anymore! You can go anywhere! But yet, you're still being so stupid and failing to realize you don't have to be the leader anymore. Buffy, you can unclench now. You couldn't before, but now you can. You can, and sooner or later, you will. And you will feel so much better after you do," I told her.

"Next town is fifteen miles away. We'll stop there for lunch," Buffy said quietly. "Bye."

"Don't you think you were a little hard on her?" Dawn asked me.

"I only told her what she needed to hear. That was good for her. Believe me."

Dawn nodded, and we started to sing again.

Ten minutes later, we pulled up to a parking lot that had a McDonalds, Doublemeat Palace, and a Taco Bell within a mile of each other. Buffy told them they could go eat wherever they wanted to as long as they paid for it themselves. I jumped on the bus and took orders for the injured. It was so sad, seeing all those girls who had been in battle scarred, maybe even for life, on the outside as well as the inside. But there was nothing I could do to stop those inside scars. After Dawn and I had served the girls, we ran over to McDonalds to eat something for ourselves. I had seen what had happened when Buffy worked at the Doublemeat Palace and Dawn hated that place, so we decided to go to McDonalds.

I wasn't very hungry, (I had stopped by an Arby's before reaching Sunnydale for breakfast) so I got a Big Mac, but Dawn got three Big Macs, an order of fries, a parfait, and a McChicken. I didn't say anything because she had just gotten out of fighting, but it did seem like a little too much. But I kept my mouth shut and let her eat. While eating, Dawn chatted about her life and how lucky she was to be Buffy's sister, although she would never tell Buffy that. I kinda respected her when she admitted that. She really is a brilliant teen who never got to live her life to full potential because of her mom dying, and Buffy dying, and just dealing with the demon world. But yet, she still loves her sister. Dawn told me she did some stupid things (I didn't tell her I had seen them myself) and that she never wanted to piss her sister off again. Dawn and I really did some true bonding on the trip back home. I guess it was just because she never really had a true friend that knew her, knew what she was truly going through, and I did. I think she was a little happy to finally have someone she could tell everything to.

After she ate, we decided to run down to the nearest store and buy some stuff to take care of the injured. We bought normal stuff, alcohol, bandages, Neosporin, medicine; we bought everything we could think of. (And that was cheap) Buffy really appreciated it, and we spent the next thirty minutes helping to use it. I took that time to notice the others. Robin Wood was pretty quiet; I think he had a lot on his mind. Faith was too busy taking care of him, so I figured there was something between them. Rona was… interesting. She was nice and collected, but she spoke her mind when she felt the time was right. She helped us take care of Vi and Amanda. Amanda came out lucky; all she had was a bad cut on her stomach. When I asked her what happened, she told me, "Oh, that? I was fighting an Ubervamp and it kinda brushed me with its' sword, but I'm okay." I made sure that was bandaged up before moving on.

While on the bus, the newly turned slayers were questioning me.

"So, you're really the Slayer?" Rona asked. "The one that came after Buffy?"

"When she died the second time, of course," Amanda said.

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "Buffy died and I was called."

"So… you were a Slayer before us," Rona said.

"Yeah."

"So… if Buffy did die, none of us would have been called?" she asked.

"No, guess not."

"Huh. Well, ain't you special." Rona then walked to the back of the bus. I just looked confused.

"Kennedy told us on the way here," Amanda explained. "Rona didn't seem very happy about it. I kinda think she thought she could be the next slayer if Buffy died."

"It doesn't matter about the order, guys!" I cried. "We're all Slayers now, and that's what matters! If we join together, we can stop every evil being in the world! Demons, vampires, evil witches couldn't stop us! But we have to join together, and you all cannot be against me just 'cause I was called before you! So what, if I was Chosen?! You can't hate me because of it! 'Cause then the Ones who made up the stupid rule about one Slayer will have won. Buffy and Faith hated each other for a long time, and where did it get them? One was in jail and the other one died, and they just made up! We have to get along, and I'm willing to try. Are you?"

"You know, she's right, guys," Kennedy said. "She may have been called before us, but we're all Slayers. And that's the only thing that matters now. So, Rona, put the jealousy behind you and get on the Slayer train, 'cause now we all can kick evil's ass so hard, it'll wish it was never born."

"We do have all the luck in our hands now," Vi said, nodding. She then started coughing.

"Hey, now, Vi, don't talk," Amanda said as she ran over to her. "You can talk when you're better. Or, at least, better than you are now."

"I guess you guys are right," Rona quietly stated. "I'm sorry, Tori."

"You know what?" Kennedy asked.

"What?" we all inquired.

"That speech you just gave, Tor, just sounded exactly like one Buffy would give. Guess you were Chosen directly from Buffy after all," she laughed. Then she added, "It was a little more inspirational than Buffy's, though. Guess you're gonna give Buffy a run for power."

"I don't think any of us need a leader anymore," I told them. "I just think we can all lead together."

"Well, we'll see how that works later, but for now, we really need to get a move on," Faith said, cutting in as she and Buffy got on.

"Dawn, are you riding with Tori or us?" Buffy asked.

"I think I'll hang out some more with Tori," Dawn said, smiling at me. "Unless you need me?"

"No, not anymore, thanks to all the bandages you two got," Buffy replied. "Thanks for that."

"No problem," I said. "Just glad to help."

Dawn and I then got back into my car and talked. We talked about everything, but soon we ran out of things to say, so we started to make a list of really hot guys.

"Ooh! Shia Lebouf!" I cried out suddenly.

"Shia Lebouf?" Dawn asked, laughing. "That guy who played Louis on Even Stevens?"

"What?" I said, glancing over at her for a second. "He's cute!"

She giggled and said, "We can't make a list without Justin Timberlake."

"True," I replied, nodding. "But then, we'd have to name every guy that's in a boy band."

"Well, then…." She said, pausing to think. "Spike."

"Oh, yeah, from what I saw in my visions, Spike was a total hottie," I replied.

"He looked much better in real life, believe me!" she cried.

"I could believe that…." We thought about Spike and took a minute to mourn his tragic death. After that, I said quietly, "Connor."

"You mean Angel's son? I haven't seen him, but I've heard a lot…"

We looked at each other.

"Were you just saying something?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I…. I was, but… I don't remember what. Do you?" she replied.

"No…"

(You see, just at this time, the spell on Connor was kicked in on us. It hit LA quickly, but it took a while to get to us, for some strange reason. I guess because we were talking about him, and I really didn't want to stop thinking about Connor)

"Huh…" she shrugged. "Who was the last one we named?"

"Spike," I said, and we started to name more.

Two days later, we were in Arizona. The girls who were injured were healing well, and none had died. We were only stopping for gas and a huge lunch because Buffy decided the next time we stopped we were wasting too much money. So she got a bunch of Pop Tart boxes and granola bars for breakfast and bunches of chips, vegetables, fruit, and sodas (They were all on special) to have for dinner. Things were pretty much quiet in my Escort. Dawn and I had run out of things to say and name, so we just listened to music and occasionally sang to the music.

It took another ten days to get back to Virginia. And damn, was it great to get home. Buffy seemed happy with the house and the girls and I went back to school. But Buffy didn't want to stay. She wanted to travel abroad in Europe, see the sights while looking for Slayers. And who were we to say no? She was leaving two capable Slayers behind: Faith and me. She wanted us to train the new Slayers as she went to Europe. Dawn was sad to see her go, and first wanted to leave with her, but decided to wait until Buffy was settled down in one city before moving in with her. I, personally, was thrilled that Dawn had decided this. I would be lonely without Dawn; Dawn and I were now inseparable. I drove Buffy and Dawn to the airport after the Good-bye party we threw for her. Buffy's departure was sad, but Dawn got through it. I guess Buffy's blood that is running through Dawn's veins make Dawn as strong as Buffy. Dawn had a lot of potential, though she never knew it. She would make a great Watcher, and I think deep down that's what Dawn wanted to do. Slowly but surely, within the first month at home, other slayers began to leave. Xander left with Andrew to begin the new Watcher's Council, and Willow and Kennedy left for South America to find other slayers. Principal Wood, who was now addressed as Robin, stayed with Faith here, as did Dawn, Amanda, Rona, and Giles.

Things got into a groove after a while. But they were interrupted when Amanda and Rona finished high school two years earlier than they were supposed to and moved to Africa to train slayers there. Faith was now appointed as my Watcher, since Giles could not be mine because he was my father. But Giles traveled back and forth, from London and Halesberg, so things were a little strange there.

One day, Dawn and I were in the cafeteria at lunch, sitting with my best friend Tymeria. I never got to spend much time with her anymore; as Faith made me do some weird things that she called "training." Dad didn't approve of them, but had no say. She was complaining about that fact when she said, "Well, I shouldn't be complaining, it's not like I'm home half the night."

"You've been sneaking out?!" I cried. "Ty, I've told you before, it's not safe to wonder around at night!"

"I can take care of myself, you know," she replied. "I'm stronger than you think."

Dawn looked at her. Willow had taught Dawn how to tell if someone was a slayer before she and Kennedy had left for Brazil. In fact, Willow had taught Dawn a lot of magick. Dawn wanted to be a witch, but before Willow would teach her anything, she made her promise she'd never use it too much. Dawn replied that she had watched what had happened to Willow and that she'd never let that happen to her.

"You're a slayer," Dawn said.