Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and Charmed belongs to Spelling Entertainment.
Author's Note: Written for Day 11 of the 2020 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N: Fact-checking on a deadline doesn't work very well, especially when I have to separate the information from the comics.
They ended up being rerouted to New York City for a demonic emergency before they even reached the airport in Spain, which postponed their meeting with the Halliwell's for another week. Willow changed the tickets while Giles spoke to Buffy on the phone.
Six weeks after she had seen them last, Buffy was finally back on the front steps of 1329 Prescott Street. Phoebe greeted them at the door and showed them into the parlor, where her other two sisters were waiting along with another woman who appeared to be between Buffy and Phoebe's ages. Buffy's senses told her the stranger was a witch.
Leaving the Hellmouth had made her senses stronger, or maybe it was the Slayer Essense the Shadow Men had forced into her, she didn't know. Whatever the reason, she was finally able to sense demons and magic like both Merrick and Giles had told her she should be able to do. It had taken some time to get used to it and to be able to 'manage' the additional input from everyone around her.
A basic greeting and Prue jumped into it. "This is Paige Matthews, she's our, I mean Piper, Phoebe, and I's, half-sister on mom's side."
Buffy was stunned for a few seconds before she smiled. "Hello, Paige. I'm Buffy Summers and this is my little sister, Dawn. We're their," and she pointed at the three Halliwell's, "half-sisters on their father's side."
"Yes, hi everyone!" Dawn chimed in when Paige kind of just stared at them and half-mumbled a greeting. She didn't seem to have been forewarned at all. "I was expecting to meet three new sisters today, not three sisters and my new sisters' new sister, but hi!" She smiled brightly at everyone.
It broke the ice and soon they were talking. Prue, Piper, and Phoebe introduced themselves, and not long after they were all seated at the dinner table in the dining room. Like last time, the food was made by Piper and it was delicious. Having a sister who was a cook was great, especially if she kept feeding her since Buffy and the kitchen was still un-mixy things.
Leo and the much-talked-about Cole were both absent from the meal. That reminded her, "What did the Elders tell Leo about me and Slayers?"
"Not much. They didn't know about you, and I guess they didn't know about Dawn either. Leo got the impression they didn't care about dad so they didn't keep an eye on him at all."
"The PTB never cares about anyone who isn't of importance to them and what they want to achieve," Dawn added only a little bitterly.
"PTB? Paige asked curiously.
"The Powers That Be. In your case it's the Elders, in ours, it's literal Powers from around the time of the creation of the Earth dimension, or something like that." Buffy might be a little off, but it was the gist of it. "They're always more concerned about the big picture than whoever they have to sacrifice to get what they want."
The Charmed Ones agreed, even if they did admit that the Elders did give them useful information at times.
"What about Slayers," Dawn interrupted. "Did the Elders say anything about them or Potentials, or what we did in Sunnydale?"
All three of the Halliwell's got a little uncomfortable, but Prue spoke up. "Leo seemed to think they don't like or approve of Slayers at all. He said they all but called you demons on a leash."
"Demons on a leash?!" Buffy exclaimed, insulted. "I'm not a demon, leashed, or not. And neither is Faith or any of the others."
Beside her, Dawn added in a low voice, "Faith could've used a leash sometimes." Buffy gave her a brief glare but no one else seemed to have heard her.
"Easy, tiger. It isn't our opinion, and their opinion isn't popular around here so don't go biting our heads off."
Buffy gave Piper an apologetic look, "Sorry." It wasn't their fault. "Go on."
"Aside from that they just said the same thing you did, just with fewer details. A teenage girl is Chosen to fight vampires and demons, she lives a short, brutal life, and when she dies another girl is Chosen to take her place. A mortal, usually without powers, is her Watcher and helps her with research and training."
Buffy nodded, it summed it up without any of the gory details. "And Sunnydale?
The three of them looked at each other, seemingly having a non-verbal discussion the rest of them were not privy to. "They refused to answer any questions about Sunnydale." Prue eventually said.
"When Leo returned, he said they refused to explain or even make a comment about it. They did warn him not to ever go there, and to stay away from all Slayers."
"Including you." Phoebe elaborated. "That's why he isn't here. He orbed out when the doorbell rang."
"That doesn't make any sense. Did they tell you to stay away from me as well?"
"No, but judging from Leo's expression they probably recommended it."
"Great, some old bossy people in the sky don't like me and I haven't even met them." Buffy sulked a little, but it wasn't like it was news that they Higher Ups didn't approve of her or her methods.
"Wait," Paige interjected. "If Whitelighters are not supposed to have contact with Slayers, then why didn't anyone tell me?"
"You're a witch, not a Whitelighter, so how does that pertain to you?" Dawn asked confused.
"But I am a Whitelighter or a Witchlighter or whatever. My biological mother was a witch, but my biological father was a Whitelighter, so I'm half-and-half."
That got the attention of the Summers' sisters. "You have powers from both?"
"Yes, I can do the usual magic witches do, but I can also orb. There are some hybrid powers as well."
From there it moved on to who had which powers, what they could do with them, and what they couldn't. It turned into a lively conversation that lasted through the clean-up. Afterward, the moved into the conservatory to continue their visit.
"Paige moved in two weeks ago, would you two like to live here as well?" The invitation came from Prue, but both Piper and Phoebe looked expectantly at them, clearly hoping for a positive reply. Buffy and Dawn just looked at each other.
"It's up to you, you have one more year of high school. Do you want to do it here, in Cleveland, or England?"
Dawn looked contemplative, "Uh... Can I have a few days to think about it? And do some research?"
The Halliwell's smiled at her, "Of course, take your time. Just remember that we get randomly appearing demons here, and they keep breaking stuff." Then Prue looked over to Buffy, "We'll need some rent if you choose to stay here, the repair can get a little expensive at times and there's only so much Leo can do about it."
If only she had thought that far ahead when she allowed Willow and Tara to move into her home in Sunnydale, it would've been extremely helpful with the economic part of it.
"Wait," Dawn sat up straight. "How would that work with Leo not being allowed around Buffy? Should he just orb into Piper's bedroom at night and fix the house while Buffy's out?"
No one had a good answer to that, but they would need to find one. Because right at that moment the options were ridiculous.