CHAPTER 6
Buffy raised her eyebrows at the older of her two female cousins. Dawn also did so at first, then noticed Pauline turning very pale and placing her hands over her mouth. "Aunt Polly, you okay?" she asked.
"Buffy, how could you?" Pauline whispered, tears in her voice.
"We had to, Aunt Polly," Buffy replied gently. "The world would have ended yesterday if we hadn't. The same evil that the Bringers were trying to release when they tried to bleed you over the seal... That's what we stopped, except probably thousands of times over."
"But you hate having been called. Hate having this burden on you. Most important, you hate not having been given any choice in the matter! And you didn't give Cyndi or Colette a choice either!"
"They do have a choice, Aunt Polly," Buffy said. "The Potentials who were with us had a choice. They were all going to be given the power because we couldn't pick and choose who to give the power to and who not to. But we gave the Potentials who were with us the choice of leaving Sunnydale or going with us to the Hellmouth. All of them were free to go, but they all went with us because they knew it might have meant the end of the world. And now it's over."
Pauline breathed a little easier, appearing to be somewhat mollified.
"We just want the ones who weren't identified as Potentials beforehand to know what the hell it was that hit them yesterday," Dawn added. "Willow and this coven in England that Giles works with are using locator spells to find the others. Then Buffy and I and the other Slayers and the rest of our gang are going out and let them know."
"And then what?" Pauline asked.
"Then if they want to go about their merry way, we let them," Buffy said. "And if they do want to become active Slayers, we set them up with our training program... which we're not sure exactly what that will be yet."
"It used to be that each Slayer or Potential was assigned an individual Watcher to train and mentor her," Carl explained further. "There were always more Watchers than Potentials, until the Bringers started killing them off." He looked right at Pauline. "Those were the same bastards who kidnapped you and tried to bleed you over the seal, Honey. And did the same to me back in '71."
"Yes, Daddy. I know."
"So only girls are Slayers?" Eric asked.
"'Fraid so, Eric," Buffy said. "That's the way those old Shadow Men set it up, God knows how many thousands of years ago."
"Then can I be a Watcher? It's gotta be a lot like what Grandpa did, right? And you said there's a shortage-"
"Eric, no!" Pauline said, horrified. "You're not going to be a Watcher and Cyndi and Colette are not going to be Slayers!"
Carl, Buffy and Dawn had trouble hiding their disappointment.
"Actually, Aunt Polly," Buffy said, "they're already Slayers. It's just a matter of how active they're going to be."
"So, Mom," Cyndi asked, "you don't want us to get into this training program?"
No, Cyndi!" Pauline shook her head and her eyes began to water. "Buffy, Dawn, you know I loved your mom, and I love you two almost as if you were my own. And Daddy, I can't express how happy I've been to have you back in my life after all those years thinking you were dead. But I'm just now coming to terms with who you really are, and what that means about who we really are as a family. And fighting vampires and demons and monsters is not the life I want for my children! I'm sorry!"
"That's okay, Aunt Polly," Buffy said. "Like I said, this is about choices and freedom."
They returned to their hotel suite, and as Carl inserted the key card and opened the door, the door across the hall to Giles, Xander and Andrew's suite opened and Giles stepped out.
"Oh, good. You're back."
"Well, we've just had our first rejections." Buffy told him.
"Looks like our cousins won't be coming into the family business," Dawn added.
"Well, that's... regrettable but understandable," Giles nodded. "Wait a minute! Did you just say cousins?"
"Yep," Buffy nodded. "Turns out Cyndi, our older cousin, has the powers too."
"Obviously genetic," Giles nodded as they all stepped into the Kolchaks' suite. "It's a shame, but of course it all boils down to an issue of choice in the end."
"That's what we told Aunt Polly," Dawn said.
"Well, I'm glad you're back," Giles said. "I've rented a car and I've been on the phone."
"You rented a car?" Buffy asked. "I thought you didn't have your license."
"I never renewed my California license. Turns out the rental agency accepted my UK license, just as if I'd just stepped off the plane. At any rate, I've talked to Faith. Julianna and Rona have been discharged and are now at the hotel with her, Wood and Tracie are in stable condition, but we've got a serious problem with Chao Ahn."
"What?" Buffy asked.
"The hospital has a neurologist on staff who's from Hong Kong and speaks Cantonese, so naturally, they assigned him to her. And when she regained consciousness this morning, she started telling him about going into the mouth of Hell and fighting an army of ancient vampires."
"Oh, God!" Buffy blanched.
"So she's been transferred to the psychiatric ward for further evaluation," Giles added. The others all grimaced.
"What... what can we do about it?" Dawn asked.
"It won't have been the first time in history that the Council has had to deal with something like this," Giles said.
"But that was the old Council," Buffy said. "They're all dead. We're the new Council."
"Not to worry," Giles replied. "The old Council itself may be gone, but we had a support network of various professional associations to assist us with various professional needs. I've spoken to Robson about the problem, and he's working it from his end. He seems pretty sure he can track down a psychiatrist on the Council's retainer. That psychiatrist can in turn refer us to a psychiatrist here in America who can work with us and get Chao Ahn released into our care. Or if necessary, that psychiatrist can travel here from Britain and do the same."
"But Chao Ahn doesn't need a shrink!" Buffy protested.
"She does now!" Carl said. "That's the reality at this point."
"If only as a mere legality," Giles added.
"So how long will it take Robson to find this shrink?" Buffy asked.
"It may take a while," Giles replied. "No telling for sure how long. He's got some incomplete records to work with to identify the contacts."
"Oh, God!" Buffy shuddered. "Poor Chao Ahn, what she's in for. Been there, done that, did not want the T-shirt!"
"Can't think of anything more we can do at this end," Giles shook his head. "Anyway, I was planning on going back to Ventura now and picking up Julianna and Rona. And there's something else I have to do there. Buffy and Dawn, I'd like you to come with me for this."
"What is it?" Dawn asked.
"CHP, FEMA and the Red Cross have established a Sunnydale Relocation Support Center at the National Guard Armory in Ventura. They've set up a database for former Sunnydale residents: new addresses and phone numbers."
"So of course we have to register," Buffy said.
"You can phone that information in. That's not why I need you two." Giles glanced downward for a second. "I've obtained the address of the motel in Ventura where Amanda's parents are staying. Rather than my phoning them to tell them what happened, I'd like to ask you two to come with me and speak to them in person."
They'd agreed to it without argument, but also with no great enthusiasm. It was an obligation, pure and simple.
Amanda Corrigan's parents and fourteen year old brother had been among the first families to leave Sunnydale after the first real rumblings of evil, and as they were one of the more established and well-to-do families from the town, they'd been able to find one of the more upscale beach-front motels just outside the Ventura city limits toward LA before the main exodus flooded the lodgings in the Ventura area. To minimize the family's agony, Giles had waited until they were five minutes out before calling their motel room to tell them they were on their way.
Hazel Corrigan was an older version of her daughter, tall and skinny but with glasses and shorter shoulder-length hair. Her husband Denny was also tall but not so skinny with more middle-age spread, and although not as bookish as either his wife or daughter he still looked the part of a gray-haired bank branch manager which is what Amanda had told the other girls he did. Brother Kevin was blonde and athletic, unlike his sister had been. All three answered the door with grim faces when Giles knocked.
"Mr. Giles, Buffy, Dawn," Mrs. Corrigan's voice trembled as she fought to keep her composure. "Please come in."
"Mr. and Mrs. Corrigan," Buffy whispered as the three of them entered, "Kevin..."
"We know Amanda's dead, Buffy," Mr. Corrigan said stoically and resignedly. "She's had the number here since we got here nine days ago. When she didn't call yesterday, we knew she didn't make it out."
"I'm so sorry!" Buffy said as she and Dawn took the three family members in an embrace. All attempts at stoicism broke down as the five of them burst into tears. Even Giles was losing his fight to keep his eyes dry.
"We just want to know how it happened," Mrs. Corrigan cried.
"I was with her," Buffy sniffled. "It happened quickly. I don't think she suffered."
"Tell us what happened, Buffy," Mr. Corrigan said. "Mrs. Corrigan's family and mine have both been living in Sunnydale for generations, since before Wilkins first became Mayor. I guess we knew as much about the Hellmouth as anybody. So don't spare us any details. We'd heard about Slayers and heard you might be one when your family first moved there. That's why we let Amanda join you. We thought she'd be safer."
"And I failed her!" Buffy sobbed.
"No!" Mrs. Corrigan said calmly. "I'm sure you did your best." She glanced over to Dawn. "Both of you did your best against an impossible situation. After she joined you, she kept telling us how remarkably well you all were doing with what little you had. The last time she talked to us before the phone system went dead in Sunnydale, she let us know how hopeless the situation was, but how everyone was going to keep trying to hold back what was in the Hellmouth. You all tried."
Dawn was particularly affected by that last sentence, as she remembered that she had had almost the exact same conversation with Buffy after Buffy had blamed herself for the death of Cassie Newton, another classmate and friend of Dawn's.
"And you succeeded," Mrs. Corrigan continued. "Please. Sit down and tell us what happened."
They all sat, and then Buffy, Dawn and Giles recounted the events in Sunnydale since the last time the Corrigans had spoken to Amanda, culminating in the plan to activate all the Potentials and preemptively attack the Turok-hans in the Hellmouth. Buffy spoke of how bravely and aggressively Amanda had fought until struck down by the same Turok-han sword that had wounded Buffy.
"That's our Amanda," Mrs. Corrigan managed a laugh through her tears. "Never could pass up a good fight. Come to think of it, Buffy, that's how you happened to know her before you discovered she was a Potential Slayer."
"Yeah," Buffy nodded and smiled back.
"That's how we'll always remember her," Dawn added, also managing to smile.
"She died fighting Evil," Buffy said, then felt a need to repeat: "It happened quickly. I'm sure she didn't suffer."
"Well, that was a lot of fun," Buffy sighed heavily as Giles drove the rental car down the highway and on to the hotel where Faith and the other Slayers were staying. "Let's not do it again real soon!"
"Are we going to have to do this for all the girls who died while they were with us?" Dawn asked, weeping openly in the back seat.
"Only if you wish to, Dawn," Giles tried to reassure her. "I only asked you to come along this time because the Corrigans were from Sunnydale themselves, and Amanda was your friend and classmate."
"But you want me along for all the others," Buffy said warily.
"Actually," Giles replied, "once again we're breaking new ground. In past practice before you were called, Buffy, most Slayers had severed their ties with their families, and the Council never bothered to send any notification or offer any condolences to their next of kin upon their deaths. Once in a while, individual Watchers might have, but never the Council as an organization."
"But you're changing all that, of course," Buffy nodded.
"To the maximum extent practical," Giles said. "Actually, it may be difficult to contact most of the families of the girls we lost. Dawn, you and Willow did manage to collect information on most of the girls' families, and EMail most of that information to Robson. Who now has the only copy of that database."
"I'll buy a couple of new laptops for Willow and myself," Dawn said, still weeping but now less demoralized and more motivated. "Get us back on the net as soon as we can, get that info back from Mr. Robson."
"No rush, Dawn," Giles replied. "I spoke to him again this morning. There may not be that many families to contact. Many of the families were killed by the Bringers when they went after the Potentials, and as you already know, many of those girls who had Watchers had voluntarily severed contact with their own families. Those families of the dead on whom we have contact information are scattered all over the world, so there's no practical way for us to go and visit them all in the immediate future."
"But it would suck just to leave any of them hanging," Dawn said. The fact that the Old Council had done just that for its entire recorded history had snapped her out of her grief. "Maybe I can't do this every day, but someone should talk to the families!"
"And we will, eventually," Giles reassured her. "Maybe not the three of us personally in each case. What I'm thinking about is how we can coordinate this visit with our going out and making contact with the new Slayers."
"Sounds fair," Buffy nodded. "And Dawnie, it's okay that you feel like you can't do this all the time. I'd be more worried about you if you became so calloused that you didn't feel that way."
They'd picked up Rona and Julianna and moved them into the Harwood Terrace that evening, and then Buffy was able to persuade a reluctant Dawn that it was time they called their father, who asked them to join him for dinner the next evening.
FEEDBACK/REVIEWS ARE INVITED. PLEASE KEEP 'EM COMING!
Sorry it took so long to update! It's not that my creative juices had stopped flowing, but I've learned over the years that I don't get writer's block as often if I just follow my muses and don't limit myself to writing in linear chronological order; following those muses, I've spent most of the past month since the last chapter update actually writing most of what will be the last book of this series (probably Book 4 or 5, depending on how I decide to break up the books in between this book and that one). Actually, this was originally part of a much longer chapter which is almost complete and which I decided to split in two, so Chapter 7 will be posted in a few days. I guarantee it!