"Giles, it's just like them!" Anne hissed into the cell phone. "They're spying on me, and following me, and they say they shouldn't trust me!"
Giles was silent for a moment. "Do you think they have the phones tapped?"
Shit.
"This is my cell phone, not the house one, so maybe not," Anne reasoned. "But I bet my emails are. And home phone. And, oh Goddess, probably my whole house is wired."
"Well, I wouldn't worry about it -- "
"Worry about it?" Anne yelped. "A bunch of old guys could be watching me change whenever they want!
Giles laughed, but Anne groaned. "Don't tell me we're going to have to resort to our secret language."
"Gzowa comei lieng?"
Anne snorted. "And the funny keeps coming."
"I believe that's my line, Anne."
She talked a few more minutes with Giles before sending her love to both him and her friends.
With all her emotions building up, she failed to concentrate on her surroundings and missed the shadow lurking after her. She did manage to hear a voice calling her.
"Ms. Summers! Anne!"
Turning around, she saw Andrew running up to her, trying to maneuver his way through the London traffic. She smiled wryly, and waited for him to catch up.
"I'm glad I caught you in time," he said, catching his breath.
"What's up?"
Andrew hesitated. "Sorry about what happened back there at the meeting. Didn't plan it that way at all."
"Yeah, well, I'm one for screwing up plans. You should have seen my seventeenth surprise birthday party."
The two of them laughed.
"So, to make up for it, would you like to check out the training room?"
Andrew told her about the gym they had and the Council's training facilities and asked her if she wanted to swing by.
"My head says no, but the Slayer's blood in me can't resist a good fight." Anne smiled and after a moment's decision, she accepted.
Training "room" was an understatement.
"It's like a school!" Anne exclaimed, wide-eyed while she took everything in.
Andrew chuckled. "We try."
She scanned the area. Colored golden and slate grey, the institution was beautiful. There were a number of machines to use, and computer interactions to try. Anne felt like a child in a toy-store -- only in this case, she dimly realized, it was like a Slayer ready to fulfill any vampire's death wish.
"Freakin' a!" she yelled, carefully observing everything around her.
Anne looked back to Andrew, who looked at her curiously. "…'freaking a'?"
She smiled. "My friend, Faith, the other Slayer watching out for me, uses it all the time." She frown and thought of a way to try and explain it. "It's…um…just an…expression, I guess. When you can't believe something."
Andrew laughed. "I'll keep it in mind, love."
It was Anne's turn to look at him strangely. "We only met a few days ago, Andrew -- "
He grinned before explaining it was just a term of endearment for another person.
The two laughed more about the differences between Brit and Yank ("But I'm not even a baseball fan!") slang as Andrew showed Anne the way to the gym.
"The gym is where a lot of Slayers near and far come to train," Andrew said, entering a code into the system doors.
Anne frowned. "Wouldn't this make for the perfect vampire attack?"
Andrew laughed. "Blimey! Are you kidding me? We're the Watcher's Council, Anne." The two stepped through the sliding doors and walked down the hallway. "Attacking the Council Headquarters is like suicide. Of course, there are many threats, but we always take necessary precautions."
She nodded in response. "Makes sense."
The final door to the gym opened. Anne was awestruck.
"Wow."
"Yup."
"WOW. It's like…like a stadium!"
Anne looked up and down, scanning the area. It was beautifully sculpted, and there were various training areas and people (Slayers and Watchers, she assumed) around her.
"Do any of you stuffy old Watchers train in here?" Anne teased as she looked back to Andrew.
He laughed in response. "I take slight offense to that," he answered, "but I don't. A few fighters do, though."
Anne was curious. "Like who?"
"Like me."
A new voice was heard behind her -- new, but familiar. She turned around and saw Angel, shirtless and all, walking towards her.
"Anne," Angel greeted.
Anne smiled faintly. "Hi."
Andrew smirked as he looked between the pair. Turning his attention to Angel, he said, "I think she likes it here."
"I'm glad," Angel said with a slight smile.
"You know, Anne," Andrew stated, "we never really got to see you in action."
Anne turned from Angel to Andrew and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Didn't you get the tape?"
"I mean live action."
Andrew glanced at Angel before continuing. "Think you could take him on?"
Anne opened her mouth to answer, only to be interrupted by another person.
"I've got my money on blondie, here," Spike said, joining the group with Wesley.
Angel groaned. Anne smirked. "What," she said, "don't think you'd last?"
"I've been around for 200 or so years, Anne," Angel answered before teasing her. "You wouldn't last a minute."
Anne's eyes perked up. "Oh, really?"
"Really."
"That's a challenge, then? Because, if memory serves me correctly, the last time we met it was me standing and you on your back."
Spike and Andrew laughed. Wesley spoke up. "Are you sure this is a good idea? If Travers happens to find out --"
"They are qualified Watchers," Andrew answered.
"Not yet," Spike said, looking at Anne.
Anne only rolled her eyes. "I'll be ready in five. Don't rush to get your bets ready, I'm sure history will repeat itself. As usual."
The group laughed again. Angel only shook his head with a small smile.
"She's got wits," Spike observed.
Angel watched Anne leave the 'gym' before answering. "I noticed."
