This is dedicated to those of you who watched the show.
Buffy stayed over at Willow's that night; explaining to Joyce the reasons behind her daughter's shattered emotional state was just not in the cards yet. Buffy was inconsolable, weeping and sobbing in Enlightenment-era English and French; apparently there were strong undercurrents remaining from Halloween.
Alexander accompanied Phillip and Rupert back to the Library, a much more somber group than before. Xander himself felt neutral, but as he'd made the effort to get along with Angel, and had gotten over Buffy, he found he no longer hated the vampire.
"Selma?" he asked as the two older men went to the office, "I'd like you to search the Net for necromantic raisings, and if any mages out there seem to be able to carry it out."
"Are you serious, Captain? Even if I do find something?"
"Right now, it's just research, Selma, particularly as I'm afraid Buffy might seek such means if she hears of it."
"Do you think she might, Alexander?"
"No, but I want to head off such a prospect until we've investigated it first. If you actually locate such individuals or organizations, see if they have any obvious contacts or from the databases sent back, see if in the other world they existed as well."
A few minutes later, as Selma made use of the school's internet capability, Alexander joined Rupert and Phillip in discussing the Eyghon event and to some extent possessions and demonology in general. Phillip, it seemed, might need to find work as Eyghon had demolished his last place of employment. Giles had vouched for the man's general magical knowledge and that he'd graduated from the Watcher's academy. Alexander told the man to clear his paperwork and he'd become the manager/adult front man for the businesses.
A very small projection of Selma waved to get this attention an hour later, and so he picked up the credit card and excused himself to head back to the store. He let himself in and hung up his trademark jacket on a coat rack.
"Okay, Selma, what do we have?"
"Alexander, we seem to have three prospects, but the one in Europe and another is somehow involved with the American military; neither seemed to be exactly that for which you intended, so I did not attempt to breach their security systems further."
"The third?"
"Ah, in Los Angeles it turns out there is a quite unsavory law firm that is heavily involved with the demonic, criminal and, dare I say, Evil, aspects of this civilization. I was able to avoid their security—they seem to rely on detecting magic or organic aura residue from what I detected, and as I am neither, I walked around them and found that one of their VIP files involves a Necromancer named Hainsley. He himself seems to eschew an externally-linked network so sadly I was unable to pursue this further."
"Did the law firm have anything as to successful raisings?"
"Indeed, but it would have to be something of a challenge, or he'd simply refuse; otherwise vast sums in the eight figures would be necessary to overcome his distaste for interrupting what he considers enjoyable work."
"Hmm, how long will our investments take us to where it wouldn't interfere to any extent?"
"Hmm, at the current rate, next December would fill those strictures, Captain Alexander, though as early as February if I were to restart investments."
"No, let's not do that, he wasn't important to me, and a soul should be allowed to rest in the next life. In three months Buffy will be finally starting to put it all behind her, so let her have some closure. And Selma? I want a complete lock-out of this research from Willow, and you will not research it for her. What she can't access, she cannot be forced to divulge to Buffy."
"Are you going to tell Willow this?"
"In a day or so if she doesn't bring it up with me. Hopefully it'll all pass on its own."
"Very well, Captain."
Three days later, the complete renovation of the buildings began, Alexander undertaking as much of the project himself as he could manage. They'd held a small ceremony for Liam 'Angel' O'Rourke, though they'd changed his year of birth to 1970 to reflect the number of human years he'd lived. With the 'history tutor' dead, Joyce hadn't had as much of a problem with him, so Buffy at least didn't have to experience stress at home atop of the loss of her boyfriend.
Joyce had been happy and amazed at the entrepreneurial couple that were so serious and were still good friends of her daughter boded well in her opinion for Buffy's future.
Over the next week, as Buffy began to recover, rumors of Drusilla began to find their way back to the slayer and her friends; one was through a pay-for-confirmed information Alexander had arranged one day when he'd intercepted the proprietor of the Alibi Room on his back dock during daylight hours. They'd established a general fee scale and shook hands on it, Willy either making a phone call, or other contact, and Alexander arranging the funds to be deposited into an account under a false name set up for Willy just for this purpose, in Los Angeles.
Things were looking up; a few nests were spotted and the plan was to eliminate them on the weekend. Xander and Willow had started wearing 'sunglasses' even at night that allowed them to pick up on the vampire's lack of heat pretty quickly, and had sold to Giles two of his dozen pairs for five hundred each, charged to the Council
With training over, the Gang had arrived as the Bronze was opening, with the intent of Xander and Willow staking out the place after Buffy, Jenny and Giles left on patrol.
Xander had just offered Giles his services at learning Mash-Ti, an amalgamated martial art in which he'd already begun to train Willow. Giles had raised an eyebrow, asked what the fee would be, and Alexander after consideration suggested the rather low fifty dollars an hour each, two hours a day, six days a week, as fair; it should get her as the Slayer to his own skill level in only five or six months. And both Giles and Phillip would also be expected to learn so they eventually could pass on their capability to others. Jenny would be free as she was now a part-time employee of Willow and Xander's, helping them understanding her magic with particular police, private detective and technology applications as emphasis.
"I say, Xander, what are the advantages over the standard martial arts as we know them now?" Giles asked as the girls went for drinks.
"Two hundred years of military and police focus on unarmed combat and mental discipline based on the martial arts of today, with the different levels of subduing, incapacitating and termination included. If Buffy finds herself in a mixed group, with the proper internalized training, I'm hoping her slayer instincts would let her know which level to use against different opponents. Anyone else would right off a human allied with vampires, but after downloading the Watchers Council mainframe last weekend and looking through some of the summations, I want to avoid Buffy having an accident that would force me to turnover the Watchers Council records to the world media and governments. A firefight casualty shouldn't lead to a fake trial and execution."
Giles, Phillip and Jenny stared at the young man in shocked disbelief, Buffy's Watcher responding first, "You whacked the Council computers?"
"No Giles, I had Willow hack the system," Xander laughed lightly, "I won't contemplate the possible meanings of the other word."
The Watcher blushed, but looked pointedly, so Alexander continued, "Anyway, we were curious as to how secure the systems were. And don't worry, afterwards, Willow downloaded and overwrote their system with an intelligent one, and even sent to a man named Travers the appropriate documentation."
Jenny wondered as she finally stopped laughing, "So…how much was on the mainframe?"
Willow walked up with beverages as Buffy brought a mix of appetizers, "Actually from what I could tell, about thirty percent of their catalogued materials, including spell books and the like. I also have a list of what isn't in the system in case we ever need to ask."
Jenny shook her head, "Now they probably won't add anything more, and knowing Rupert's employers, they'll probably erase the system and maybe in a few years start again. Anything else?"
"About two hundred and fifty files on potential slayers and the Council staff assigned to keep track or train them."
Giles looked seriously at the group, and without stuttering, "On that, I must insist we delete that information, or otherwise secure it so none shall gain access."
Xander nodded in agreement, "Already done, Giles, it is kept solely on Selma herself, not on regular media. Though next summer, Willow and I are seriously considering opening an Academy of sorts, aimed at whatever the main demographics are of potential slayers, grades 5-12, for those the Council hasn't accessed yet."
Buffy winced, "a girl's school…how…boring?"
Willow smiled, "we'd probably open it to boys as well, and since it would be on a scholarship basis, we'd pick the people we wanted. So far I'm voting for those most likely to become the next group of Darien Lamberts or the American versions of Giles."
Giles smiled slightly, as did Xander, both nodding to her in appreciation of her valuation of them in a positive light.
Buffy smiled, "Any chance of them all being good-looking?"
"That goes with the territory, and who knows? The career day stuff might show you should be a teacher at our school…"
"Career day? What's the point?" Buffy replied, rolling her eyes, "I'm the Slayer, and that means I don't get to go to college or have a career?"
"How about law enforcement, Buffy?" Giles suggested, causing Buffy to wince at the lack of glamour. Alexander weighed in favorably.
"Actually, if you could credential yourself extremely well, Buffy, the Slayer that might also be night-shift Captain or even Chief of Police in Sunnydale would be a powerful achievement for any hero, even the Watchers shouldn't complain too loudly. And besides, you'd make any uniform look good."
He smirked after the last statement, Buffy catching it and the hero, as Willow mock-glared at her currently-flirty boyfriend. Xander mock-backpedaled, "But only if you dyed your hair the same color as Willow's or it just wouldn't work."
No one caught the slight glazed look of consideration Willow gave Buffy at that statement, the currently-blonde asking, "Hero?"
"Yeah, Buff, you have to remember that while you've wanted a normal life, most people want the one you have right now…maybe a few more perks, but they want to be the one who saves the world, fights the demons."
"Do you really think that?"
"Yeah, though I admit I'm usually thinking about the business, sex, current investments, sex, the school we might start setting up next year, what certain unnamed females that could hurt me badly look like with few if any clothes, money, food, Buffy's a hero…"
The group smiled, and the ladies shook mock-fists at him in jest, but Buffy and Willow both seemed to be thinking about things, so Xander turned the conversation back to martial arts training.