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Chapter 9

Chloe sat on the porch, watching the sun come up. The ointment on her neck was helping the pain some, and the hot coffee was telling her it was time to rise and shine, ready to start the new day… of course, she hadn't actually slept, but the caffeine gave her that usual rush to try and fool her body.

"Gorgeous isn't it?" A voice broke her thoughts from behind her. Looking up she saw Buffy, sporting bandages of her own.

"Yeah. I never really thought of myself as much of a sunrise girl. The only thing that tells me it's time to get up and go is…" she held up the cup of coffee as an example.

Buffy nodded, leaning against the railing. "Yeah, but around here you get to appreciate the sunrise. It means that a lot of the danger is gone for now. Not all of it, but most of the nasties don't want to draw too much attention to themselves in the daylight."

Chloe nodded, watching the rays crest over the house down the street. "So, how long have you and Spike been together?"

Buffy emitted a choked sound, her mouth wide open. Chloe couldn't help but laugh at the look on her face. "We… I… what makes you… there's nothing…"

"There's definitely a vibe there. You act around him like I act around Clark. I was scared to death last night, I'd never seen Clark hurt that badly. And I know you felt the same way about Spike, I saw it in your eyes." Chloe looked up at the older woman, cocking an eyebrow as if daring her to deny it.

"Ok, so maybe there is something there, but it's not like it matters. We're all gonna die soon anyway." Buffy slapped a hand over her mouth, remembering she was talking to a newbie. "I mean, there's a chance… but I'm sure we'll pull through just fine." She plastered a huge fake smile on her face.

Chloe scoffed. "Please, don't try and patronize me. I'm not like some of these girls, this isn't the first time we've had to face off against someone that wanted us dead."

Buffy looked at her curiously, then sat down on the bench with her. "What do you mean?"

Chloe began to tell her all about Smallville, the Wall of Weird, meteor rocks, guys that can move stuff with their minds, invisible attackers (which Buffy interrupted with "Hey we had one of those too!"), a Jekyll and Hyde type ("That too!"), and assorted other freaks of the week. Buffy just sat back, absorbing it all. "Wow, you guys really aren't rookies."

Chloe sighed. "No, but we're not used to this kind of stuff. Last night… that's the first time I've seen Clark that intense, that violent. I don't think he's ever killed something before. Not like me, the girl who just shot a guy a few weeks ago."

Buffy could tell this was deep, the girl's voice cracking as she talked. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Chloe grew quiet. Buffy was about to change the subject, when… "There was this guy in our town, he thought all meteor freaks were evil. And since our town was hit by a second meteor shower, he thought a whole new generation would grow into freaks. So, he planned to use an old nuclear missile silo to blow Smallville off the face of the Earth. He told me his plan, so I asked Clark to help me stop him. Clark was human at this point, but he was still really strong, and…"

"When was Clark human? I thought he was an alien?"

Filling Buffy in with the cliff's notes, Chloe went on. "So, I called him, and Clark was going to grab him, tie him up, something like that… we didn't know he had a gun… and…" Chloe fought back the tears that wanted to fall, just remembering what happened to her friend. "He shot Clark. I watched him bleed on the road while Gabriel took me to the silo. He said we'd clean the world of the freaks. I got loose, and got the gun and I had to… I had to try to stop him form doing it. I shot him. Then I tried to stop the countdown, but it was too late, the missile launched."

Buffy sat quietly, knowing this was hard for the girl. "But it must have gone wrong. I know we'd have heard if a nuke went off in Middle America."

Wiping her nose, Chloe sniffled. "Clark stopped it."

"How?"

"He had died in the hospital and his father, his real father, brought him back. Clark jumped onto the missile and ripped out the arming trigger. It fell in a field, harmless as a paperweight."

"Clark died?"

Chloe only nodded.

"Well, that's something else he and I have in common."

Chloe looked at her confused. Buffy filled her in on the Master and then Glory, and being brought back by her friends.

"Yeah well, I don't plan on trying to break your record on that one." Both girls jumped at the voice, turning to see Clark, his trademark plaid shirt unbuttoned with bandages around his ribs and shoulder, standing in the doorway.

He walked over, sitting on the other side of Chloe. She punched him in the shoulder softly. "You better not mister, or I'll kick your butt." Clark smiled taking her hand in his and kissing her knuckles.

Buffy watched this with a smile, then thought about something Chloe had said. "Clark, Chloe mentioned that you guys never have to resort to… such thorough measures as you did last night."

Looking confused, Clark caught on. "Oh, you mean…?" He looked out towards the disheveled lawn where the fight had occurred last night. "No, we haven't really. Most of what we deal with is people we've known. They've just been changed, and most of them made bad decisions. We get them to people that can help them, or at least imprison them so they can't hurt anyone else."

Nodding slightly, Buffy went on. "It's not like that here. What we deal with isn't even remotely human. Well, maybe a small percentage of the time. These are demons with only one agenda. To kill. And we have to stop them. If that's a problem for you, maybe you shouldn't be here for the final battle." She said it bluntly, not trying to sugar coat the severity of the situation.

Rubbing his temple, Clark stared at the porch, putting his thoughts together. He looked up, staring the Slayer in the eyes. "Things are different here. You deal with ruthless enemies, like you said. But I've made it my duty to help people. If that guy could do what he did to me last night, I hate to imagine what he could do to normal people. When it comes down to it, I'll do what has to be done."

"Glad to hear it." The girls both jumped again at the sound of an unknown guest. Looking at the door, they saw Spike standing out of the way of the sun's rays, most of his wounds already healing up. Buffy jumped up, slapping him in the shoulder.

"What is it with you guys and being all sneaky!"

Clark and Chloe had to laugh at that one, settling back into the porch swing, watching the sun rise even further in the morning sky, listening to the rest of Buffy's tirade against the vampire. "I swear, I am so tired of having to beat your tail, if I could I'd give Chloe my powers just so she could do it for me and I could sit back and watch…" she got quiet suddenly, her eyes opened wide. "THAT'S IT!" She ran inside the house shouting, then ran back to the door. "Spike you are a genius! I could… could…" She grabbed his shirt collar, pulling him into a searing kiss, and then ran back inside in search of Willow and Giles.

Spike stood at the door, speechless. His hand went to his mouth, eyes wide open. He looked over at the teenagers on the swing. "That wasn't just my… I didn't dream… that happened, right?"

They both nodded, trying not to laugh at the perplexed demon.

Spike opened his mouth once more, stood quietly, then walked inside the house. "I need a damn smoke."

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Everyone had gathered in the living room where Buffy had just laid out her plan for the battle to them. Most of the girls were chattering, trying to figure out if they were serious about this.

"Do you actually think this has a chance in hell of working?" Kennedy asked, giving Buffy a look like she was insane.

"Yes Kennedy, I think this has a great chance of working. And technically, it's just the mouth of Hell, get it right."

Kennedy's eyes narrowed and she looked at Willow for some support… but Willow was just looking at Buffy confidently.

Buffy stepped up to the marker board, pulling the poster out of the way to show the battle plan. "Here's how it will happen. We won't work the mojo until we are ready to go to war. We don't want the First picking up on anything before we are ready to take the fight to it. Spike, Clark, Faith, the potentials and I will go down into the Hellmouth. Giles, Angel, Andrew, Dawn, Xander, and Wood will position themselves upstairs in case any of the Uber-vamps get past us. Willow, you'll be in the office, right above the Hellmouth."

Everyone nodded, understanding their positions. Buffy turned to Chloe. "We're gonna need someone making sure Willow is safe up in the office, you up to it?"

Chloe beamed at her. "I'll do my best."

Kennedy stared on in amazement. "What? I'm with Willow, I should be the one watching out for her!"

Buffy turned to Willow. "Chloe has the most experience out of all these girls in the field. She's been there and she's still alive. I trust her and her experience the most to protect you. But it's your call Wills."

Willow looked over to Kennedy, meeting her eyes. "Buffy's right. Chloe has the most actual experience, and I'm going to be out of commission for a little bit with all of this."

Kennedy stormed out of the room, slamming the back door so hard they all heard glass hit the floor. Xander stood up, grabbing his tool kit from behind the couch. "And that's a job for Carpenter Boy!" he joked. Striking a superhero pose, he walked into the kitchen.

Getting everyone's attention again, Buffy stepped to the center. "Alright everyone, we're doing this tomorrow. Spend today relaxing, having fun, doing whatever. But tomorrow…" she crossed her arms, "for lack of a better term, we're going to Hell."

The Potentials dispersed, some going outside to train, or horse around, others staying in to chat or play video games. Buffy looked at everyone left in the living room, Spike, Clark, Chloe, Giles, Willow, Faith, and Xander, having just returned. "Buff, that window is gone, and I've already raided my job sites for everything we can use. I'll board it up and fix it later.

Buffy sighed. "I swear, is anyone keeping a tab of what that girl owes? She's broken more stuff than anybody else here."

Willow sighed. "I'm sorry Buffy. She's… she's not anything like we all thought. I should have seen that before."

Rubbing her friend's shoulder, Buffy smiled. "It's not your fault Will, we've all been having other things on our mind."

Chloe sat next to her. "Willow, if you don't trust that I'm the best person to be there for you, I'll understand."

"No, Buffy's right. You are the most battle tested. I trust you." Willow patted her hand.

Chloe smiled back at her. "Thanks."

Everyone settled back and started sharing stories about past adventures and enemies, with Buffy slowly gravitating from standing by the mantle to sitting next to Spike on the couch. Clark nudged Chloe, nodding at the couple. Chloe just smiled, then leaned up and kissed her boy quickly. They were interrupted by gagging noises from Xander and Dawn, both grabbing their throats.

"Very funny you guys, you're both just jealous because you don't have anyone to cuddle with!" Chloe said, snuggling up next to Clark's side.

Xander and Dawn looked at each other, then both touched their chins thoughtfully.

Spike and Buffy stood up at the same time. "Not a chance!" "No Bloody Way!" Looking at each other, they both sat back down quietly. Everyone else in the room broke out in laughter.

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Outside, Kennedy was walking down the street, kicking anything she could see that wasn't nailed down. Finally, she pulled out a cell phone, hitting the first speed dial number. "Hey… yeah, she announced the plan… is your offer still good... Count me in." Shutting the phone with a quick snap, Kennedy smiled a dark smile.

End Chapter 9