Disclaimers: Buffy the Vampire Slayer belongs to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy & Fox. Numb3rs belongs to Cheryl Heuton and Nick Falacci…I think. (NOT me!)
AN: And here is the third and final part of Siblings, again, sorry for the wait.

Many thanks toNeverTooOld for beta-reading this chapter and for the recent help in research. ^_^

Warnings: Spoilers for BUFFY S3E3 "Faith, Hope & Trick."

A Call Away

Part II in Mathematics & Magic

By Jess S

Chapter 3: Siblings – Part III

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High School Library, Sunnydale, California – Friday, September 20, 1996

"I still don't see why we didn't just hit 'em last night," Faith complained as she followed Buffy into the library. Both Slayers had barely slept the night before. After Buffy had gotten the vamp to tell them where Kakistos was living—a warehouse that was actually a little outside of Sunset Ridge—they'd called the Watcher on a nearby payphone and been ordered to 'turn in' for the night instead of 'pursuing their quarry.' Neither one had been happy with that, forcing themselves to head home for the night, but staring at the ceiling and glancing towards their bedroom doors and windows for a lot longer then they actually slept.

"Because the Council believes Kakistos summoned many more of his followers to Sunnydale then we originally anticipated," Giles told them as he came out of his office. "And because we don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past, Miss Lehane, but learn from them. Yes, two Slayers will undoubtedly fair better then one: but all the better to wait for the team the Council is sending to help."

"We are gonna hit them this afternoon, though, right?" Buffy demanded, "While the sun's still up, 'cause it should make them more dust-able?"

"Yes," the Watcher confirmed with a nod. "The team will be arriving in just under an hour and resting while you're in school. After school, we will go over their plan—"

"Their plan?" Buffy frowned, shaking her head. "Why 'their' plan? We're the Slayers here."

"Yes, but the Council's operatives have been handling situations like these for years, Buffy. Many of them have worked with Slayers before, so they're well aware of your abilities and will certainly make use of—"

"We're not tools, Giles," Buffy snapped, glaring at him. "And I don't like that it's only after a Watcher is killed that I even hear of the Council's 'special operatives.' Especially since they didn't send me any help when Merrick was killed in LA! What, were they hoping I'd get killed off?"

"N-No, Buffy, of course not," Giles shook his head, a concerned expression fixed on his face as he watched her. "The Council investigates the deaths of all Watchers, and Slayers. By the time the Watchers assigned to respond to Lothos arrived, you had already slain him."

"And I was locked up in that asylum?" Buffy snapped again, ignoring the surge of surprise she felt from Faith and the remorse she could sense from Giles.

"W-Well, yes." Giles nodded, his expression sad. "Yes, I'm afraid so. As I underdertand it, the Council immediately put pressure on the asylum to release you, of course, but upon further investigation discovered your mother's intentions to take you out and move to Sunnydale. Thus the investigators were withdrawn and I was sent ahead to meet you here." He reached out and caught her shoulder in a gentle grip, "The Council was truly aggrieved to learn of your situation, Buffy, but there wasn't much more they could have done at the time."

After a moment of silence, Buffy turned away from him, easily tugging her shoulder free as she murmured, "I was in there for four months, Giles. With all the Council's contacts, you seriously think they couldn't manage to get me out before that?"

"A-As I understood it, your doctors were reluctant to release you to your parents care during their divorce, believing that the tension between them had been the cause of your claims, which seemed highly outlandish to them. Had your home environment been stable, they would have released you sooner. The Council considered suing for your custody, but the legal department didn't think we'd win such a suit easily, and it was predicted that if we did so your doctors would only choose to hold you longer." Giles shook his head and sighed. "Though the Council would certainly have won, and could have gone a number of other routes to gain custody, all of the Council seers—and the Oracle—were against doing so."

"So they left her in a nut-house with doctors who didn't think she was nuts but held her anyway?" Faith cut in, her voice incredulous. When both looked at her, she shook her head. "Now I'm not all that interested in working with 'em either!"

Buffy gave Faith a soft smile of thanks before sighing and looking at her Watcher again. "What's different this time?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"What's different about this Master Vamp? If anything, I'd think they would've sent in the troops when you told them about Angel losing his soul, rather than this. I can handle this, but even I wasn't sure if I'd be able to kill Angel until I really had to."

Giles was silent for a moment before he replied, "The Council's seers are growing concerned with something in Sunnydale. They've yet to report precisely what it is, but as a result the Council is taking threats in Sunnydale a bit more seriously then before." When neither Slayer said anything in response to that, he asked, "Have either of you Seen anything? Sensed anything?"

Buffy watched Faith shake her head and then shook her own. "No prophecies?"

"No," the Watcher replied, sighing softly. "Not yet, at least."

All three turned towards the library doors as said doors swung open to admit Xander, Cordelia, Oz and Willow. All three of whom stopped abruptly as the doors swung shut behind.

"Whoa, tension," Xander noted, looking around. "Obviously we've missed something. What's the what?"

Buffy felt Giles and Faith looking at her, but ignored them as she swallowed enough of the resentment talking about the Council had unexpectedly inspired to force a shrug. "Cloven guy, goes by the name Kakistos," she told them, while dropping herself into a nearby chair, willing the tension in her body to leave. "Faith was tracking him before she came here." She kept her eyes on the Scoobies as Faith took the seat next to her, surprise and relief emanating off her at Buffy's fib.

"A new Big Bad?" Willow asked, looking from Giles to Faith and then back at Buffy. "S-School's gonna start soon, but we've got third period free." She nodded to Oz as she said this, "We could do research."

"Yeah, definitely," Oz nodded.

"Well, I can try to get doughnuts for study hall, but Snyder and his new flunkie always seem to pop up any time I try to leave school grounds during the school day." Xander complained, shaking his head at the injustice of it all. "Probably have to make do with the snack machines until after school." Then he frowned, "Who is the new flunkie, anyway? He follows Snyder everywhere!"

"He is not a, uh, 'flunkie'," Giles told them, moving towards his office and leaning through the doorway to grab a pad of notepaper from inside. "Mr. Walters is here as a representative of the Superintendent of California, and is investigating complaints made again Principal Snyder."

"Snyder's gonna get canned?" Xander demanded, eyes wide. Then he clapped his hand together, as though in prayer, though the expression on his face was a bit too gleeful, "Please, oh, please tell me Snyder's gonna get canned," he finished his wide, ecstatic eyes focused on the flustered librarian.

"Uh, well, it is possible, I suppose," Giles allowed, setting his notepad down on the table before taking his glasses off and handkerchief out.

"No, no, no," Xander shook his head forcefully, as he led the other Scoobies over to the table. "You're ruining the moment!" he turned to Willow and Cordelia, "Isn't he? He's ruining the moment!" Turning back to the Watcher, he insisted, "You're suppose to say 'yes, he is going to be canned!'"

"W-Well, as I said," Giles replied as he put his glassed back on, shaking his head, "it is—"

"These their plans?" Buffy interrupted, her eyes scanning over the notepad Giles had set down across from her. She reached for the pad, but her Watcher grabbed it before she could.

"No. Actually, I'm still working on the binding spell for Acathla," Giles told her, nodding down to the notepad even though there wasn't any way she could read it at the angle he was holding it. "If you recall, you were supposed to discuss this with me yesterday. Now," he looked down at the notepad. "Physical location, Acathla was facing south?"

"Mm-hmm," Buffy nodded, reaching into her own bag to grab a piece of paper, which she then drew said locations out on. "Acathla, Angel, me. Sword." She drew a line through Acathla and Angel before pushing the paper across the table at her Watcher.

"See that's what I thought," Giles shook his head, "but—"

"Giles look," Buffy rose, uncomfortably aware that every eye in the room except her own was focused on her as she shook her head. "I've got—"

"You should tell 'em, B," Faith interrupted, her voice quiet, but still audible to all.

Buffy flinched, backing up a step at her sister-Slayer's words before meeting her eyes. The younger girl's dark gaze was filled with concern and sympathy, and certainty.

"Tell us what?" Willow asked, breaking their staring contest hesitantly.

Buffy looked at the ground, waiting through several moments of tense silence before she finally took a deep breath. "A-Angel was cured."

"I-I'm sorry?" Giles asked, sounding completely bewildered.

Buffy looked up to find that her senses had been right, every eye in the room was on her, and every one of them—except Faith's—was displaying some kind of surprise. "W-When I killed him. Angel was cured."

"B-but the spell," Willow shook her head, "It—"

"It worked at the last minute, Wil." Buffy closed her eyes, memories of that horrible day washing over her, guilt and pain momentarily swallowing her for a long second.

Then the darkness those emotions created in her mind was suddenly broken by a ray of light, warmth, concern and love coming from the bond she shared with Charlie.

She bit her lip, and tried to redirect a calm thought back at him, hoping it worked before she opened her eyes to a still silent, staring room and continued her explanation. "A-Angelus had already started—The portal was gonna open. I was about to take him out, and, um, something went through him. H-His eyes glowed. And," she shook he head. "He was Angel again. He-He didn't remember anything that he'd—"

"That Angelus," Faith interrupted softly.

Buffy nodded. "He didn't remember anything Angelus had done. He just held me." The memory of the relief she'd felt in that one moment, followed by despair as she realized what she had to do overwhelmed her for a moment, and she felt another wave of concern from her bond with Charlie. Before she could try to send anything back, she heard her cell phone start to vibrate in her bag. It was set so low that most of the others didn't notice, but Faith and Oz both frowned at it. She quickly focused on the calm feeling she normally felt at hearing from Charlie, silently apologizing for ignoring his call.

"Wh-Why did you?" Willow's question interrupted her thoughts, and Buffy looked over to her to see total confusion in her eyes.

"It-it was too late. I-I h-had to," Buffy waved her hand at the picture she'd drawn for Giles before looking up to meet his concerned gaze. "I-I don't know if that helps with your spell or not, Giles."

Giles started, then nodded quickly. "Yes. I believe it will."

"I—" Willow paused, wincing as the first school bell rang, before murmuring, "I-I'm sorry."

"It's OK. You were just trying to help." Buffy shook her head, "Besides, we've got so much building up between us," she waved to include the whole group, then shrugged. "Faith's right. It felt good to get that out." She gave her sister-Slayer a smile as she rose, swinging her back-pack up onto her shoulder. "I gotta get to class. I'll be back to talk about Kakistos later," she nodded to Faith and Giles before hurrying out of the library.

Once outside she moved towards her class, hurrying into her room to drop her backpack into a seat near the door before opening it up and pulling out her math book and notebook, which was still open to the homework she'd done the night before. She set both on the desk before reaching into her bag again, this time to pull out her cell phone. Then she ran back to the door, and almost right into her teacher.

"Miss Summers, what's the hurry? And aren't you going the wrong way?" her math teacher nodded to the nearby clock. "It's almost time for class to start."

"I'm sorry, Miss Glenn," Buffy apologized hurriedly, also glancing towards the clock. "I really need to make a phone call. It'll only take a minute."

The older woman looked at her for a moment, before nodding. "Do you have your homework?"

"Yeah," Buffy nodded, pointing towards her notebook. "It's in there."

"Did you have any problems?"

"No, well, yeah. I had some trouble with the last two problems."

"Alright, well we're gonna start off with the homework. You have till ten after, okay? And make sure der führer* doesn't see you!" (1)

"Thanks, Miss Glenn," Buffy nodded, hurrying out to the nearby courtyard and arriving just in time to answer Charlie's third call. "Hi Charlie."

"Annie, are you okay? I felt—you were—"

"Yeah," Buffy nodded, sighing. "Sorry about that. I-I was telling my friends about Angel. About how he died. A-and I kinda got caught up in the memories."

"A-Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I think so," she nodded, now smiling, then wincing a little as the second bell rung. "I've gotta be in my class in less then ten minutes though, so we can't talk long, okay?"

"Was that your first bell?"

"No, the second one. My teacher let me step out to call you. Thanks to you my math teacher actually likes me. I'd forgotten what it was like to be one of the ones they like. After I was Called I just didn't—" Buffy shook her head again. "Anyway, what have you been up to. How's Lily doing? How're the AH&W?"

"AH&W?"

"You know, The Angel's House and Watch."

"Oh, fine. Great, actually. You wouldn't believe how big the House is now. Lily told you about the gangs, right?"

"Yeah, I talked to her a few days ago. She's been sending me emails, too. Have you met Gunn, yet? She seemed to like him."

"Yeah, I, uh, I met him last night."

Buffy frowned, "What? Not as impressed?"

"No! No, he's impressive. Apparently he's one of the big vampire-hunters in the city. His gang has been patrolling most the poorer areas of LA, all of the gang-lands, for years now."

"Okay, so what happened when you met him?"

"What?"

"When you met him last night, something happened, right?" Buffy rolled her eyes, then frowned at the empty hallway. "How much time do I have anyway?"

"What—uh, seven minutes, I think. What makes you think something happened?"

"The way you mentioned meeting him and how defensive you're being right now. What happened?"

"Nothing—well, actually, it's something you'll probably be happy about." Charlie paused and Buffy was temped to jump in with another 'what' but she refrained as she heard familiar footsteps coming down the hallway, and grimaced before looking up at the courtyard roof, and jumping up to pull herself on top of it. "I, uh, I agreed to take Krav Maga classes."

Buffy blinked, then winced as she started to slip down the side of the roof, quickly locking her feet along the edge to stay in place before hissing—quietly—into the phone, "What?"

She could hear the frown in Charlie's voice as he replied, "Why are you whispering?"

"Because I'm hiding from Snyder. How much longer do I have?"

"It hasn't even been a minute since the last time you asked."

"Oh. How long did I have then?"

"Now, you have six minutes. You have till ten after, right?"

"Yeah." Buffy confirmed, even as she half of her attention was on Snyder—and Mr. Walter's—slowly departing footsteps. "Why are you taking Krav Maga?"

"You told me I needed to learn something for self defense."

"Well, yeah, but Krav Maga wasn't quite what I meant." Buffy told him with a wince. "You know that's one of the freer styles, right? I mean, no uniforms, or—"

"Gunn thinks it's the best one to learn for fighting, or in my case occasionally dodging vampires."

Buffy thought about that for a second—even as she breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the door at the far end of the hall slam shut behind Snyder—then nodded, "Well, yeah, I guess it is. The whole basis of Krav Maga is getting out of dangerous situations, which you're not supposed to get yourself into in the first place. How much time do I have?"

"A little more then four minutes. And it's not like I'm going to go looking for trouble, Annie. But I will be going out with the Watch occasionally. And it was your idea in the first place."

"Well, yeah." Buffy winced, before sighing again. "So Gunn's gonna be teaching that?"

"Yeah, he's going to give me private lessons for a while, in exchange for my tutoring his friends and family in math."

Buffy nodded, "Good. That's good. Hey, I should probably go before his toadiness comes back. I'll talk to you later, OK?"

"Oh, all right. Have fun at school."

"Ha ha," Buffy shook her head, but was smiling as she hung up and then hit another speed dial.

The phone rang once before a few moments later, Lily picked up. "Hello?"

"Hey Lily, it's Annie."

"Annie! Hi, how are you?"

"Good. Listen, I don't have a lot of time, I'm actually supposed to be in class. When is Charlie supposed to start his Krav Maga classes?"

"I-I think they agreed on some day next week. I can't remember when. Why?"

"Does Gunn know who I am?"

"No. Well, he doesn't know your real name. He knows we call you Annie. And he knows you're the Slayer. That's all I've really told him. I kinda had to explain how you got us out of—"

"Ken's Hell, yeah. That's fine. Do you have a phone number for him?"

"No. He doesn't have a phone. But he's supposed to come in to The House tomorrow, uh, evening. Around five, I think."

"Okay. I'll call back then." Buffy nodded, "Bye Lily."

"Bye Annie," the older teenager replied, and Buffy could hear a distinct note of amusement in her voice.

She frowned at the last thought, but shrugged as she let herself slide off the roof, landing easily on her feet before hurrying into her class. Just as set her hand on the doorknob she heard the door Snyder had gone through before start to open and quickly pushed the classroom door open, moving inside and shutting it as quietly as possible, though part of Snyder's call made it in.

"Sum—!"

Buffy hurried over to her desk and sat down, opening her textbook to the problems under her classmates amused eyes. Miss Glenn didn't look up from the book she was reading at her desk.

"We're working on number seventeen, Buffy," her neighbor, Jonathon, whispered to her. "Miss Glenn put some clues on the board."

"Thanks," Buffy whispered back, glancing over her homework to see if that was a problem she'd had trouble with. She blinked in surprised as she realized it wasn't. She and everyone else in the class looked up as the classroom door suddenly slammed open.

"Miss Summers, running in th—"

"Is there a problem, Principal Snyder?" Miss Glenn asked, rising from her desk with a frown, her eyes narrowed through her glasses at the shorter man.

"Miss Summers was—"

"Here before class started," Miss Glenn told him, before waving at the other students. "As were all her peers. I have a full class today. They're just reviewing their homework before we start. Would you like to join us?"

Snyder's frowned at her, "Why is Summers even in your class? She didn't pass Geometry!"

"Miss Summers did pass Geometry, with the placement test she took a few days ago. Which is why she's here, in Pre-Calculus now. And doing quite well, I might add. Will you and—Mr. Walters, is it?—be joining us?"

"George Walters," the Assistant Superintendent stepped around Snyder to shake the math teacher's hand, "I'm with—"

"The Superintendent's office, I know. As does every member of the faculty and probably every student in the school by lunch now. I'm Jennifer Glenn. Will you and Principal Snyder be joining us?"

"No, I don't think that's necessary, Miss Glenn. Mr. Snyder was just giving me another tour of the school. We'll be leaving now."

Snyder glared at the younger man as he was pulled out of the classroom, "Summers was—"

"Miss Summers was in class before the bell rang, as Miss Glenn just told you. I suggest you look a little harder for—" the door closed, cutting off whatever he was about to say, and the entire class burst into laughter.

"Alright, settle down everyone." Miss Glenn smiled at them, before stepping up to the board to erase the clues she'd written out before. "Miss Summers, what's the answer to question number one?"

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Downtown Los Angeles, California – Friday, September 20, 1996

Charlie shook his head slightly as he looked around the vaguely familiar but rarely visited area, directing a question at the other passenger of the taxi. "Where are we going again?"

"That's the third time you've asked that, Charlie," Lily rolled her eyes. "We're almost there."

"Why are we going there?"

"To meet with a few of the LA Council members. We're supposed to be figuring out what the relationship between The AH&W and the covens is going to be. How it's going to develop from here. You said you wanted to get those that were willing to help involved more, right?"

Charlie sighed, but nodded. "Well, yeah. But that didn't mean I wanted to meet with all of them."

Lily laughed, shaking her head. "We're not meeting all of them, Charlie! We're not even meeting all of the Council members or Coven Leaders, just a few. You know there's about six-thousand magic-users in LA, right?"

Charlie nodded again, "I read the report. Los Angeles has the highest population of magic-users in the world, primarily because of the nearby, active Hellmouth, which many have chosen to protect or draw power from, and many more were drawn to subconsciously." Then he sighed again, adding, "But we were doing everything else by phone and email, why are we meeting now? I don't mind, but the timing seems odd."

"All of the casting contracts we had with some of the covens are finished," Lily shrugged. "We don't really need anything right now, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't build better relations with them, right?"

"Well, yeah, b—"

"And they want to meet you."

Charlie blinked, "Me?" he frowned, shaking his head. "Why?"

"Well, you know everyone at The House and The Watch talks about you already, but a few of them had heard of you before that." Lily told him with a smile, "Apparently there are a number of math-geeks in a few of the covens, so you shouldn't feel too out of your element."

"Really?" Charlie thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. "I've always disliked the idea of magic-tricks—of illusions set to try to fool the mind—but I guess knowing magic's real now, I should take a closer look at that, shouldn't I? I should be able to analyze—" he frowned as he looked around for a pen and paper, finally reaching for his backpack, only to be stopped as Lily grabbed his hands.

"You can analyze later, we're here." The blonde told him, rolling her eyes as she released one of his hands to pay the driver, then dragged him out of the taxi after her, barely giving him enough time to grab his backpack with the free hand.

"Lily, Lily, I can walk on my own, you know," Charlie protested, shaking his head as she finally released him several steps away from the cab.

"Yes, but we can't stop for you to analyze anything, we're already late."

Charlie rolled his eyes and shook his head as he swung the straps for his backpack on. "Fine, it'll wait." He finally looked around and his eyebrows went up he read the sign on the building in front of them. "A magic shop? Isn't that," he shook his head again, "I don't, a little tacky?"

Lily shrugged, "What better place for a real witch to hide then in plain sight?"

"Indeed," both looked up to see one of the witches they'd met with on several occasions already to discuss Angel's House and Watch. "In fact, almost all of the magic stores in the city are owned by actual magic-users. Though many more don't list themselves as magic shops."

"Hi Constance," Charlie nodded, returning the redhead's smile easily. Despite his difficulties comprehending and fully accepting 'magic' as it was, he'd liked all of the actual witches he'd met so far, and Constance was probably his favorite.

"Good morning, Charlie. Lily," the redheaded witch returned, smiling at both in turn before waving them inside after her, even as she switched the sign on the door from 'open' to 'closed.' "Please, come in. We've been expecting you."

"Yeah, sorry we're late," Lily apologized as they entered the shop, both turning to watch the older woman close and lock the door before following her through the fairly large store. "Didn't expect traffic to be—"

"Oh yes, it's awful now, isn't it?" Constance cut off, before waving her apologies aside. "But no matter, we haven't been waiting long. Right back here," she opened a door with a sign that said 'employees only' on it and stepped aside to let them pass.

Inside Charlie was more then a little surprised to find a rather large—and nice—break room. Probably about a quarter the size of the front of the store, the floors were wooden with several nice rugs laid out, and a comfortable sitting area set up in front of a roaring fireplace.

Seven women and one man rose to greet them as they stepped in. The only one Charlie recognized was Deborah, who like Constance had also been very helpful at The House and The Watch over the last few weeks.

"Good morning, Charlie, Lily," Deborah greeted them, smiling as she waved to each of her companions. "Now you know Constance and I. May I introduce my brother, Richard Lincroft and Mathilda Roth, also here representing Aquelarre del Plata?" One of the women smiled in greeting and the only man nodded. "We also have Agatha Ward and Andrea Trowbridge here from Lamia del Lumen," the oldest woman and a blonde in her forties nodded this time. "Alena Morrison is representing Magia Velves and Andrea Dolin is from Custodia Lux. Finally, from Ora Soror we have Erika Bilmal and Natalie Wharton."

"Pleased to meet you," Charlie murmured hesitantly, Lily echoing him. As hesitant as he still was to fully accept 'magic,' he could feel something was different about these people. The slight empathetic-ability he'd gained from his bond with Annie was registering only curiosity and confidence. Total, complete confidence. And a large part of him was quite certain that these ten people could well and truly take anything and everything the world might throw at them. It was the kind of faith he'd come to have in Annie and she in him, but neither one of them could claim the same faith in themselves. Not like the group in front of him could.

"As are we to meet you, Dr. Eppes," Andrea Trowbridge—the forty-something blonde from the Lamia del Lumen Coven—smiled at him. "We were disappointed when you were unable to come when we met with the young Slayer a few weeks ago."

Charlie nodded, wincing slightly as he remembered how unhappy Annie had been with him when he was unable to attend, but there really hadn't been much he could do. True, he hadn't been all that interested in meeting the magic-users, but he hadn't deliberately chosen to send Annie to meet the group by herself. He hadn't even known until several days after that that Lily hadn't been available to go either. "Yes, sorry—"

Trowbridge cut him off, shaking her head gently. "No need to apologize, Dr. Eppes. Work must always come before play, we understand."

"Yes," the oldest member of the group—the white-haired Agatha Ward—agreed. "We all understand that. Still, it was good of you to come now. Now why don't we all sit down? All this standing around might be just fine for you young people, but I'm too old for that." Everyone chuckled a little as they obediently followed her example and claimed seats in front of the fire. "Come sit by me, dear," she directed at Charlie, "I'd like to take a look at your side of the blood bond with Miss Summers."

After a moment's hesitation, Charlie nervously obeyed, nodding in thanks as one of the younger witches—all of whom were at least ten years his senior—vacated the seat next to the eldest witch for him to take. Once there, he shifted nervously as pale blue eyes stared at him for several long moments before the old woman nodded to herself.

"Yes, yes. An excellent bond." The old woman shook her head, smiling slightly. "I've only seen a few others like it. I wonder if that is more the will of Sineya coming into effect or if it is entirely a result of you and Miss Summers?" (2)

"Surely Sineya's will must have had some effect on the bonding process, Madam Ward," Richard Lincroft interjected, his tone thoughtful.

The old lady smiled, shaking her head slightly. "Of course Sineya's will would have affected the bonding process, Richard. But the essence of the bond completing itself so indicates a great degree of compatibility between Dr. Eppes and Miss Summers. On some level: spiritual, subconscious, call it whatever you will, but on some level they are so compatible that the bond was able to form completely, with almost no effort on their part."

"Sineya?" Charlie asked, before anyone else could speak as Madam Ward finished.

"The First Slayer," the witch from the Ora Soror coven, Natalie Wharton replied. "Millions of years ago a group of shamans implanted a young girl with the essence of a demon, giving her tremendous combative abilities, stamina, agility, strength and predatory instincts. That girl was Sineya. Ever since she was killed, her powers have passed from one girl to another, until they finally reached Miss Summers."

Charlie shook his head in confusion, "The Watchers—"

"Are actually a very new organization. Relatively speaking, of course. They're older then all of the modern countries, but the Slayer had existed on its own for millions of years before the descendents of the Shadow Men—the shamans who made Her—truly took up that role. For the most part, the Watchers have always been content to watch from the shadows as the Chosen One does the work for them."

Charlie was surprised at the bitter note in the white-haired witch's voice, matched by the uncomfortable expressions all around the room, but a part of him agreed with them. He'd already asked Annie a number of times exactly what the 'Watchers Council' did. If there was a whole organization supposedly supporting her, why was there only one Watcher in Sunnydale? And why was that Watcher only expected to do research and record the Slayers deeds? Why didn't they fight as well?

"But that's a discussion for another time, dear," Madam Ward murmured, shaking her head slightly and somehow seeming to banish the heavy air of discontent that had arisen from the topic. "We have more then enough to discuss without getting into all of that. Madam Westwood and Miss Lincroft both said you have some questions for us?" she murmured nodding towards Constance and Deborah.

Charlie blinked, surprised to find that she was right. He did have questions. Dozens that he'd carried around since he first learned of demons and vampires. And many more that had arisen as he learned more about the 'supernatural' world. Questions that Annie and Gunn and other demon hunters hadn't been able to answer. But perhaps these people could.

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An Old Warehouse, Sunnydale, California – Friday, September 20, 1996

Buffy stared, her eyes wide in horror for a moment to long as it gave Kakistos the chance to whack her into the nearby wall.

"I guess you need a bigger stake, slayer!" the older master-vamp laughed, shaking his head as he advanced on both of the momentarily down Slayers.

Buffy felt the part of her that was becoming more and more the Slayer each day snarl in response as she leapt to her feet and started exchanging blows with the ancient vampire again. Ducking and kicking, pushing and pulling, she managed to fight her way out of the corner he'd forced them into, all the while looking around for anything she could use to slay him. None of the watcher-soldiers—she wasn't sure what they were actually supposed to be called, they weren't Watchers like Giles was, but they were part of the same organization—were paying any real attention to her and Faith, or Kakistos. Their focus was on dusting his minions all around the warehouse, what little attention they spared the main fight was only to avoid it.

After kicking Kakistos back further, she spared a glance behind her, looking for Faith and was surprised—but very relieved—when she saw the younger Slayer had risen and picked up a gigantic piece of wood that had probably been one of the warehouse's supports before the fight had started.

Buffy ducked instinctively and pushed the older vamp towards Faith as he passed her, extending one foot slightly to make him stumble just as Faith started running towards him with the six-foot-stake.

Kakistos saw the younger Slayer coming, but didn't have time to dodge or block the killing blow that came with her as she drove the enormous stake through his chest.

Buffy couldn't help the smile that lit her face as they watched the ancient vampire's form disintegrate, crumbling to dust in the time it took to blink an eye. She glanced around before relaxing as she saw that her senses were right, if any minions remained they were long gone. She shook her head as she made her way over to Faith, smiling as she raised her arm slightly, one eyebrow also rising as she asked, "You hungry?"

Faith blinked at her for a long moment, seeming to pull herself out of a daze. Maybe a mild case of shock, Buffy knew she'd certainly been shocked for a long time after she'd managed to slay Lothos, and the Master, and Angel. But the brunette shook it off as she dropped her improvised-'larger-stake' and locked elbows with Buffy, replying a little bit hesitantly, "Starved."

Buffy nodded, her smile widening slightly as she turned them towards the exit. "Come on. My mom was making cookies when we left."

"Miss Summers! Miss Lehane!"

Both paused and looked back at the leader of the watchers-with-combat-training, neither pleased with the interruption.

"You must report to Mr. Giles with us, for debriefing, of course."

Now both of Buffy's eyebrows shot up as she shook her head. "Oh no. No, no, no. Giles will get his report in the morning. Not before. Faith and I will be headed home to the cookies my mom was baking before we left. We'll see you tomorrow. Maybe." Then she pulled an unresisting Faith out with her before the Watcher could object further.

As nice as it had been to learn that the Watchers actually did have some people trained to fight and weren't completely dependent on The Slayer to 'fight the forces of darkness,' the last several hours they'd spent with this team of specially-trained Watchers hadn't reassured her all that much on that front. Sure, they'd done their job—for the most part—and kept the minions busy so she and Faith were free to Slay the Master, but she was pretty sure a few had escaped in the process. As the Watchers had had the vampires outnumbered at least two-to-one, that was just kind of pathetic. Especially since all they'd really needed to do to stop that—with the sun still up—was watch the entrance to the sewers a little more closely then they had. The vamps may have had another sewer entrance that the Council's blue-prints hadn't accounted for, but that didn't excuse the half-a-dozen vamps that had gotten away. Even though the Watchers didn't have the Slayer's senses screaming at them to go after the fleeing vamps even as she was dodging and trading blows with Kakistos.

And their leader had reminded her too much of Snyder for her to be remotely comfortable near him. After she'd made it clear that she wasn't going to follow his orders he'd become a bit more bearable, if only because he hadn't said anything to her. Or Faith after the younger Slayer told him she was sticking with Buffy. Whether the man had then paid attention to the plans she and Faith had then made, she didn't know. Buffy had tried to mix most of the Watchers plans in with her own as she'd been looking at the blue-print of the warehouse they'd somehow made available, so it was entirely possible he'd ignored everything she said and they'd just been lucky that neither of their plans had crashed with unfortunate side-effects. Of course, it was also possible the other team members, the ones that were actually involved in the fighting had listened to her just as much as they'd listened to their supposed leader: who, she'd noticed, had only entered the warehouse after Kakistos was a pile of dust on the floor.

Buffy shook her head as she tried to push those negative thoughts aside as she turned her attention to Faith. "So, you like chocolate chip cookies?"

Faith snorted, shaking her head. "Are there actually people that don't?"

"Yup," Buffy nodded, "strange, deprived and tasteless people like my Great-Uncle Fred. He hates chocolate in all forms."

"Well I love chocolate," Faith assured her, shaking her head with a laugh. "In all forms. Especially the gooey-little chips in homemade cookies. And I hope your mom made a lot, 'cause I really am starving."

Buffy laughed, rolling her eyes. "Didn't you see the kitchen when we left a few hours ago?" At Faith's confused look, she shook her head. "No? I think when we told her the Council was actually giving us back-up to help with Kakistos she decided to bake a batch for everyone on the team!" Her smile widened as Faith laughed softly, enjoying her amusement. She remained quiet for several long moments then, before finally asking. "So how're you feeling now? You seemed pretty scared back there."

Faith tensed a little, almost missing a step before she forced herself to take a deep breath and reply calmly. "Five by five, B," then she looked away for a moment, before shaking her head and meeting Buffy's eyes. "S-Sorry. It was just," she shook her head again, her eyes becoming distant. "Seeing him again..."

Buffy watched her a long moment, but finished for her when the brunette didn't continue, "Brought back memories?" She nodded after Faith nodded in reply. "Yeah, I can relate." She licked her lips before continuing, her mind drifting back for a moment to her own early days as the Slayer. "After Lothos killed Merrick, my first Watcher, I-I guess I just kind of lost it. I eventually managed to Slay him, but then my parents threw me in an asylum while they got a divorce and when we moved out here, my mom and I," she shook her head again, shrugging slightly. "I thought it was a chance to start over. To not be The Slayer anymore." She looked down for a moment, then frowned as the growing fear and worry she could feel coming from Faith broke through her own memories. "In a way I was right, I guess."

"What way?" Faith asked quietly.

"It was a chance to start over. New home, new town, new school, new friends." Buffy smiled, sighing softly. "But I'll always be The Slayer. I tried to ignore it a few times. When Merrick first told me. When I came to Sunnydale. When I went to LA this summer." After a moment of silence, she shook her head again. "But I couldn't forget. Couldn't ignore it. A part of me is The Slayer now, you know? I sense a vamp and—"

"Ya gotta stake it," Faith cut in softly, nodding her agreement.

"Yeah, I could ignore it for a little while, but as soon as I actually knew for sure that someone was in trouble," Buffy sighed. "I have to help them."

Again, Faith nodded. "I know. I let the fear take over after K-Kakistos killed Diane. But there was always this voice in the back of my head that wanted to turn around and fight. Slay. Avenge." Then she shrugged, "But even six years of training as a potential and a few months as the—A Slayer wasn't enough to beat back the part of me that spent the first eight years of my life runnin' and hidin' from scary things."

"Faith," Buffy shook her head, raising an eyebrow again when the brunette's eyes met hers. "What's the first rule of Slaying, again?"

The younger Slayer nodded, smiling slightly at the gentle reprimand. "Don't die."

Buffy nodded, before smiling slightly as she turned to a slightly more pleasant topic. "That was nice work back there, by the way. With the shaft. Where'd you get it, anyway?"

Faith laughed, "The old bastard threw me through it. Made his own stake."

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Eppes' House, Pasadena, California – Friday, September 20, 1996

Charlie sighed as he glanced at the clock for the fifth time in the last half-hour before looking at his cell phone, which he'd placed in its charger on the opposite side of the room from his desk after he'd left a second voicemail on Annie's phone. A part of him really didn't like knowing that Annie could be in danger right now—as she was going after Kakistos—but a much larger part, as he'd told her, hated the idea of not knowing. Still, knowing that didn't make waiting for her call any easier. Technically, he knew that she planned to call before going to bed, which for her generally wasn't any time before midnight. Still, as he'd already called her cell three times since sundown and left two voicemails, he was hoping she'd call back sooner if she got the chance.

*RING**RING*

The mathematician half-jumped, half-fell out of his desk chair, stumbling as the wheels that generally made the piece of furniture so convenient slid away from his intended destination and nearly took him with them. A moment later his phone was in his hand and he fumbled to hit the green button that would allow him to answer the call. "H-Hello?"

"Hey Buddy, how are you?"

Charlie blinked, unable to keep the disappointment he felt at it not being Annie from rising up, though it was slightly suppressed by the joy he always felt at hearing from his brother. "D-Don? Uh, hi." Of course, now he had to wonder exactly what their mother had said to his older brother to get Don to call him twice in one week.

"Hi. Mom told me you got the job at Cal-Sci. Congratulations."

"Oh, uh, thanks." Charlie replied, smiling slightly at the thought that this was all it took to get his brother to call. After all, Charlie had set his one of his life-goals on a professorship at Cal-Sci when he and Don were still in high school. It was nice to think his big brother actually remembered that. As he turned back towards his desk, Charlie's eyes went across the nearby clock again and he flinched. "Uh, Don. I'm sorry but d-do you think I could call you back?" Disappointment at the idea of cutting his most recent contact with his brother short sent a burst of inspiration through his brilliant brain. "Or I could call you on the house phone! Yeah. Could I? I-I'm kinda expecting an important call on my cell."

"This late?" Don asked, his voice a little skeptical before Charlie could almost hear him shake his head. "Never mind. Yeah, sure. You remember my new number?"

"Don, have I ever forgotten a phone number? Or any number, for that matter?" the mathematician asked, unable to suppress the smirk that crossed his face as he said this, amused by his brother's slip.

Don laughed, "No, not as far as I know. Though I plan on correcting that as soon as you turn twenty-one. Even you shouldn't be able to do math after a night of drinking."

Charlie's face twisted a little as a frown at the thought of not being able to do math battled a smile at the idea his brother had planned on doing something with him in the future. More then a year-and-a-half away, and therefore something he probably hadn't made any serious plans for and was therefore likely to forget, but it was the thought that mattered. "Ha ha," he shook his head, a smile winning out. "So I'll call you back in a few minutes?"

"Sure, Chuck. Bye."

"Don't call m—" Charlie stopped as the 'click' of his brother hanging up was immediately followed by a dial tone, rolling his eyes as he shook his head and hurried out of his room, headed for the phone in the living room downstairs. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he blinked as he saw his mother cutting across the front yard, apparently having come that way from the garage. A frown cut across his face as he hurried to the front door, the innate fear he felt at seeing his mother outside after dark so near where he'd been attacked by vampires cutting through the part of his brain that knew The Watch hadn't seen vampires in Pasadena—that Annie hadn't seen vampires in his area of Pasadena—since the night Charlie, himself, was attacked.

His mother started slightly as he opened the door for her while she was coming up the steps, before a smile lit up her face. "Thank you, sweetheart." She nodded as she moved inside and let him close the door behind her, before nodding to the cell phone clenched in his hand. "Expecting a call?"

Charlie blinked down at his hand, before sighing and forcing the tense muscles to relax as he nodded, looking back up to meet his mother's smiling face. "Yeah. Annie's supposed to call soon. A-Actually," he nodded towards the nearby house phone, situated for convenience next to the couch. "I was gonna call Don back—he just called me—on the house phone. 'Cause I want to keep my phone, uh, free."

Margaret Eppes laughed, smiling brightly. "My, aren't we popular tonight?" she shook her head as she opened a drawer of the table nearest the piano, setting the notebook she'd been carrying inside before closing it and moving back to him, gently pulling his head down slightly to place a kiss on his forehead. "Well, I'm gonna head to bed. Tell your brother, and Annie, I said 'hello,' all right?"

"Sure, Mom," Charlie nodded, smiling as he watched her move up the stairs before hurrying over to the couch, forcing himself to set his cell phone down on the nearby table before picking up the house phone and dialing his brother's number.

The phone rang only once before his brother picked up, "Eppes."

Charlie chuckled at the official-sounding greeting. "Also Eppes," he offered, shaking his head as his brother laughed.

"Hey, Charlie. Sorry, habit." Don laughed, before asking. "So you're expecting a call? Everything all right?"

"Oh, y-yeah," Charlie blinked, shaking his head as he forced the worry he was still feeling for Annie out of his voice. Worry that had increased, for some reason, a little over an hour before sundown. Maybe because he knew that was when they were supposed to be striking? "S-Sorry. A friend of mine's supposed to call tonight. I, uh," he shrugged slightly, wincing as he noticed his voice sounded a lot more worried then he'd originally intended. "I just didn't want to miss her call."

"You sure everything's all right, Buddy?" Don asked, and Charlie winced again at the worry he heard in his brother's voice, proving that he hadn't been successful in keeping his worries out of his own.

"Y-Yeah, Don," Charlie shook his head, telling himself that the strike had to be over by now, and if anything had actually happened to Annie surely their empathetic bond would have told him. "Everything's fine. I-I'm, uh, I'm kinda wondering why you're calling me twice in one week, but—"

"Something wrong with a guy calling his little brother?"

"No," Charlie shook his head again, before sighing. "But usually you're, uh, too busy, I guess. Which is okay," he hurried to reassure the federal agent before the older man could say anything. "I-I know your job's important—"

"But family's important too, bro," Don cut in, a distinct note of something—sadness, regret, maybe both—in his voice. "I'm sorry I haven't called more."

The mathematician shook his head again, before firmly insisting. "Don't be. You were busy. And so was I, most of the times you called Mom and Dad."

Silence stretched over the line for several seconds before Don sighed, "Yeah, I guess."

Suppressing a sigh of his own, Charlie tried to change the topic. "So, uh, how have you been?"

"Good. Fugitive Recovery's a lot more interesting then the desk in Detroit," Don told him, echoing similar sentiments he'd expressed in their last phone call.

Charlie laughed, "Yeah, you said that before."

"Did I?" Don laughed, before continuing in distinctly teasing tone, "So, 'her', huh?"

Charlie blinked, before groaning as he realized what his brother was hinting at, shaking his head as a blush rose to his face. "She's just a friend!"

"Uh huh, sure. This 'friend' got a name?"

Charlie rolled his eyes, "Yes, I already told you about her. Annie's supposed to call me tonight, tell me how school's going and, uh, stuff."

He could almost hear Don frown thoughtfully, though the note of teasing never left his voice. "This is the 'Annie' that lived with you guys this summer? That Mom and Dad were trying to set you up with?"

Charlie rolled his eyes again, "They weren't really—"

"Hey, you said it yourself, Buddy. Not me." Don cut in, and now Charlie was sure he could hear a suppressed laugh behind his brother's words.

Charlie frowned, before blinking as he remembered he had, in fact, implied that. "Oh, I did, didn't I? Well..."

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Summers' House, Sunnydale, California – Friday, September 20, 1996

Buffy smiled, shaking her head slightly as closed her bedroom door behind her, hearing Faith's close a little further down the hall. Slipping out of the light sweater she'd been wearing she tossed it towards her laundry hamper, knowing it would land inside without looking, just as the articles of clothing that followed would. She hadn't missed since she'd become The Slayer. After sliding her PJ's on, she stopped at her desk to take her cell phone out of its charger and turn it on before hurrying to the bathroom to brush her teeth. The pot roast her mom had had waiting for them had been perfect, the chocolate chip cookies were great. and the chick flicks she'd rented for the night were hilarious. And thanks to Slaying Buffy and Faith didn't have to worry about the calories—in fact thay had to worry much more about not eating enough—but she wasn't willing to trust her teeth to Slayer healing, or her breath, so all of the chocolatey goodness had to go.

She returned a few minutes later, teeth freshly brushed, flossed and rinsed, and was surprised to see the view screen of her cell phone blinking at her, which meant she had a voicemail from when it was off. Opening it, she raised an eyebrow as the view screen told her she'd missed three calls from Charlie and had two voicemails.

With a sigh she realized he must have been worried about her and Faith going up against Kakistos this afternoon. She'd known it would probably happen when she told him, but had decided she didn't want him to be caught by surprise if the worst happened. It hadn't been likely, with all the back-up the Council had sent, and Faith, but it was still possible. And still far more likely then it was on the regular patrols when she dusted a few fledglings a night.

*RING* *RING*

"Annie? Are you okay?" was the genius's demanding greeting, blurted out in a single breath, making the Slayer smile and shake her head.

"Hi, Charlie. I'm fine. How are you?"

"G-Good, uh, good. I'm good. Are you okay?" Charlie repeated his question, anxiety apparently overriding his short-term memory.

"I'm fine, Charlie, really," Buffy laughed, smiling slightly though she still felt a bit guilty, since she was the cause of his distress. "You keep this up and I won't be able to call you ahead of time, I'll be too worried about making you worry too much."

"Worry too—Annie, you could have died!"

"Yeah. We're all mortal, Charlie. We all die evenutally." Buffy sighed, shaking her head. "Only difference is I'm probably gonna go out fighting some day sooner then anyone would hope."

"Annie—"

"But hey, a few more months and I will have made it to my third year as The Slayer. That's something, right?"

Charlie was quiet for several moment, before his quiet reply came over the line. "Yeah. Yeah it is."

After several moments of silence, Buffy sighed again. "Charlie, it's not like I can just give this up. I've tried, remember? Twice. It doesn't work. More innocent people get hurt or die. I become depressed and/or stir-crazy. And even if I was somehow able to stop Slaying entirely, it would follow me. Faith was the newbie, and Kakistos followed her half-way across the country. Lothos came after me when I was first Called. And each Big Bad I slay, each day I survive, kinda makes me more of a trophy to any demon or vamp that thinks they can take me. They'd come after me."

"I know, but I can't help worrying. You're—" Charlie sighed as he continued. "You're my best friend, Annie."

Buffy's smile was a touch sad, "I'm really not the best person to befriend Charlie. My friends tend to get hurt."

"Well that's life, isn't it?" Charlie pointed out softly. "Like you said, we're all mortal, all vulnerable. I could be hit by a car tomorrow, or HXXl, my brother's an FBI Agent, hasn't been one that long but some of the criminals he goes after could, potentially retaliate against his family. That's probably more likely then one of your enemies coming after me, isn't it? Since I live over a hundred-miles away from you?"

"I guess," Buffy shook her head, thinking for a moment before forcing her thoughts away from the frightening prospect of Charlie being hurt to a less painful subject. "So when are you gonna start your Krav Maga classes with Gunn?" She asked, feeling a bit better about the idea since she'd talked to Gunn that afternoon, when he'd fortunately been at The House before Buffy had to leave to slay Kakistos.

"Uh, some time next week, I think. Maybe the week after that. Gunn was going to take a few refresher courses at the Y', to make sure he knows the basics well enough to teach them. Though he says what he'll be teaching me and the other members of The Watch won't be quite the same thing."

Buffy blinked, "How so?"

"Well, normal Krav Maga is specifically designed to get you out of dangerous situations—normal dangerous situations. Uh, the kind my brother might deal with, not—"

"The kind Gunn and I deal with," Buffy nodded. "Makes sense." Then she frowned and laughed slightly, "Maybe Faith and I should try taking some normal martial arts classes. All of the training we have, or at least everything Giles and Merrick have taught me was for fighting vamps and demons."

"Uh, w-wouldn't your strength be a problem? And your speed? And, well—"

"All of our super-powers?" The Slayer shrugged. "Maybe. I'd have to ask Giles. I'm really not sure how our powers actually work. I mean, I'm always stronger then a normal girl my size, but when I'm fighting—I swear I get stronger. Faster. I mean, I can kick a vamp through a stone wall if the fight's long enough and if I'm mad enough, but I don't normally rip doors off walls. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah. It does." Charlie was quiet for another long moment before he continued, his voice thoughtful. "Maybe it has something to do with adrenaline."

Buffy frowned again, "Is that a natural thing? My powers are mystical."

"But it stands to reason that they'd be affected by your body's natural chemistry. Adrenaline is the fight or flight hormone. It's your body's short-term reaction to extreme stress, like anger or, most often, fear. When you feel threatened your adrenal glands release it, causing an adrenaline rush: extra energy. Maybe the, uh, magic that makes you stronger in fights just increases that, or works off it."

"Um, I, uh, guess?"

Charlie was silent for a long moment before he asked, "Annie, you did pass the test for your Biology and Chemistry classes, right? That's why you're in Physics now?"

Buffy grimaced. "This is biology and chemistry?"

"Yes, this is biochemistry. How did you pass the test if—"

"Um, I passed Biology last year with Willow's help, and for I just had to take a test for Chemistry last week. A-And Mr. McGowan was actually really nice about the test. He had me study a few chapters in the book, and then I took the test. It was short, too. Just a lot of multiple questions and a few short answers. And an essay."

"And you didn't cover any of this, for Chemistry or in your Biology classes?"

"Uh, well I didn't really go to most of the Biology classes. Giles had me do a lot of leg work on demons around that time of day. I turned in all the homework though, and did OK on most of the tests cause they were multiple choice. And I think Mr. Brown actually remembered when I saved him from a vamp earlier in the year, so he—"

Charlie cut in with a sigh, "It's nice of him to remember that, but what did you cover for Chemistry?"

"Um, a lot of laws and elements for the multiple choice, mostly. Some stuff about chemical reactions, explosives, fire an—"

"Explosives?"

"Uh, yeah. You know, what chemicals will blow up if you combine them? Fire hazards, and stuff like that?"

"Yes, I get the idea. I'm just not sure why your high school chemistry teacher would want you to study that. The laws you studied were the Chemical Laws, right? The Conservation of Mass, Conservation of Energy, Boyle's Law, Charles's Law, Hess's Law?"

"Uh, yeah. Those were some of them, I think."

"So you know nothing about the chemistry of the human body?" This time the soon-to-be-college-professor continued without waiting for her response, "I suppose that was covered in the Biology classes you skipped, then. You really should study some of that, though."

"Why?"

"Well, you should at least be familiar with the terms when you start college—"

"College? Why would I go to college?" Buffy frowned, shaking her head. "I can't leave the Hellmouth unguarded, Charlie. And it's not like I really have the time for a normal job. I'll probably do something. Or maybe the Council will start paying me—They should pay me for slaying, shouldn't they?"

"Yes." Charlie answered immediately, perhaps sensing how strongly she felt about it, or maybe agreeing with her just as strongly. It was hard to tell over the phone. "Actually, I'm surprised the government—all governments—aren't more involved with, um, all of this."

Buffy frowned, "What'd you mean? The cops? The ones in Sunnydale are idiots."

"You've said that, but no, I mean on a national or maybe international level. The FBI, the NSA, maybe the military?"

Buffy frowned, shaking her head slightly. "Well, guns are almost useless against vamps, and some demons even more so, but I guess that someone else—other then private demon hunters has to be handling some of the problems around the world, right? I mean, I patrol Sunnydale, supposedly the only active Hellmouth regularly, but there are still thousands of vamps all around the world. And demons."

"Yeah. You might want to ask your Watcher about that."

"Why?" Buffy frowned again, still not seeing how others fighting vampires and demons outside of Sunnydale should matter to her at all.

"You can never have too much information, Annie. Knowledge is power, and that is largely what your war against the supernatural is all about."

"'My war against the supernatural'?" Buffy chuckled, "I don't think many would call it that."

"Why not? Yes, your organization isn't quite as orderly as one would normally associate with modern warfare, but you, the Watchers, and all of the demon-hunters—like Gunn—in the world, even most of the magic-users, you're all protecting our world. Protecting the livelihoods and well-being of all humanity. And you're regularly punishing the 'wrong-doers,' aren't you? You're not arresting them, because they don't adhere to the rules of our society, they're a different society trying to destroy ours. E-Even though some of the vampires—like, um, Spike, wasn't it?—might side with you when the world's at stake, for the most part we're just food to them, right?"

"Yeah," Buffy sighed, shaking her head. "But I guess I try not to think about it. I mean, war makes it sound like such a big thing. More then the occasional, possible apocalypse. And if this is a war, it's not one that's gonna end."

"W-Well, maybe not. And Dr. Stoessinger's rationale for war doesn't really apply, not when the enemy really does embrace being evil."

"Stoe—what?"

"Dr. John G. Stoessinger, the author of Why Nations Go to War—you might read it in college. You should. If you made yourself really pay attention and think about it, you'd probably like it." (3)

Buffy rolled her eyes, "Sure, Charlie, I'll get right on that."

"You really should try reading occasionally, Annie. Outside of school. It's good for you, and you might learn some things about yourself and, well, the world in general."

"And I might occasionally have some idea of what you're talking about when you talk smart?"

"When I—oh, ha ha. Very funny. Really, Annie. You might enjoy it. I've been thinking since I first found out about, um, all of this. And I have a lot to think about. For instance, many psychologists have argued that human beings are inherently violent, and that violence is suppressed in normal society, the Id is suppressed by the ego and superego."

"Uh huh?"

"I don't know. It just makes me wonder where the supernatural comes into the picture. I mean, if we're supposed to fight back instinctively: why do so many of the survivors of supernatural attacks forget about it? Why do they suppress it? Is the fight for survival against a very real threat just subconsciously perceived as wrong or—"

"Is there something else at play?" Buffy finished, nodding in understanding with a sigh. "It could be the Balance that Whistler told me about. Giles' mentioned it a few times, too. Maybe that's it?"

"Maybe."

Buffy could almost see the deep frown that was settling across her genius-friend's face.

"Could you..."

"Could I what, Charlie?" Buffy asked after he trailed off, though she wasn't entirely sure she wanted him to finish.

"Could you get me some data on this 'Balance'? The Watchers Council must have records of some kind. And I can ask the covens here in LA for more."

"Uh, sure. I guess," Buffy replied, frowning as her gut violently rejected the thought while her mind told her that giving Charlie information to work with could only be a good thing. Even if he didn't find anything, at least it would distract him from worrying about her. Hopefully. She shook her head to clear it before admitting, "You just want stuff about 'The Balance' or—"

"No. Well, that too. But what I really want is statistics. How many Slayers have been Called in the last hundred years? How long did each of those Slayers survive? When and where were they Called? How many vampires and demons did they slay? How often did they slay? Where did they slay? Did the Council send them there, or why were they there? And how many people have been turned into vampires in the last hundred years? How many were killed by vampires? How many were killed by demons? Um, do vampires and demons fight and/or kill each other? If so, why, and how often? And—"

"So basically everything I can possibly get from the Watchers on Slayers, vampires and demons?" Buffy interrupted, unable to keep a deep frown from settling on her face at the thought. "Charlie, I don't think that's possible. I mean: one, I'm not sure the Council would just give me that kind of info. Two, even if they do—if they're anything like Giles they're total technophobes, and everything is in notebooks scattered around the world. Yeah, they probably have a lot of stuff stored in merry old England, but—"

"Just get me what you can, Annie. Please." He continued quickly, before she could reply. "Even something like how the Watchers might search for demons and vampires. Maybe some things I could look for in news archives, or—"

"Oh, that's easy. For vamp attacks, at least. Exa—Exsan—sang—bleeding to death. People bleeding to death, barbeque forks, um, increases in missing persons and crimes. Gangs on PCP. Giles is always looking through the Sunnydale papers for that."

"PCP? You mean phencyclidine?"

"Um, if you say so."

"It's a drug that's supposed to block out pain and can cause extreme shifts in behavior, hallucinations, euphoria, and it can lead to suicidal, homicidal and generally destructive urges, I believe. It can still be used for some medical purposes under extremely limited circumstances, but I don't why that would matter to the Watchers."

Buffy sighed again, "For some reason that's what people usually blame vampire attacks on, especially if no one is really hurt, just scared. They yell 'gang members on PCP.'"

"Well, that doesn't make sense to me, but I'll look for it anyone. They're the experts. I'm just the lowly mathematician."

Buffy blinked at the sudden shift in mood. "'Lowly'? I'd never call you 'lowly,' Charlie."

"Tell Don that," the mathematician snorted, making Buffy blink again.

"Your brother, Don, you mean?"

"Yeah."

"What'd he do?"

Charlie sighed, "Nothing, it—"

"Charlie, you wouldn't be upset over nothing. Just tell me."

After a long moment of silence the older teenager finally relented. "It's really not that important. I just offered to help him with a case he's working on in Fugitive Recovery and he," Charlie sighed. "He said it had nothing to do with numbers. Said if there was something about money, or patterns he might ask for my help. He might ask. But chasing a fugitive has nothing to do with numbers."

Buffy winced, well aware of how Charlie would react the suggestion that his math couldn't describe and/or help with everything. "W—"

"I could help him! I really could. It's not like I'm trying to do his job for him, I'd just help by cutting back on the work he has to do. I—"

"Like you did for me." Buffy cut in gently, nodding.

Again, Charlie sighed. "Yeah. Like that. I helped, didn't I? I wasn't trying to get in your way, I just—"

"You were helpful, Charlie. Way beyond what the Watchers Council ever has been." Buffy cut in again, her voice gentle.

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Eppes' House, Pasadena, California – Friday, September 20, 1996

Charlie nodded after a moment of silence, a small smile crossing his face at the sincerity he heard—and was pretty sure he felt—from Annie. "Well, I'm always glad to help."

"I know. So you want me to—Actually, why don't you send me a list of questions, stuff I can try to get from Giles in the next few weeks, and I'll work from that, okay?"

Again, Charlie nodded his smile growing. "Sure. That'd work. Um, and if you really want to take classes of some kind in martial arts, you could probably take something like Yoga or Pilates first, those kind of patterns might be good. And I could ask the covens for help. Maybe they have more meditations you could work on to get better control of your powers, or I don't know, something like that?"

"Yeah. That's be great, Charlie. Thanks." Annie was quiet for another long moment before she asked. "So, how's big brother doing, any way? Other then hunting convicts?"

"U-Uh, he's good, I think." Now Charlie frowned, "Actually we mostly talked about me when he called. I asked him a few things but he kept redirecting me. I know he told Mom he wasn't seeing anyone, but he said he's gone on a few good dates recently. But he's been working a lot, too. You wouldn't think fugitive hunting would be that busy—I mean we don't really hear about a lot of prison breaks in the news, right? But I guess he goes after people who break their parole and stuff like that, too. It's definitely a full-time job."

"But he likes it."

"Yeah. I-I think so. Not like he liked baseball in high school and college, but he's making a difference now. I think that's what he likes."

"I can relate to that," Annie murmured, and Charlie could almost see a small smile crossing her face. "It's the people I save that make being the Slayer okay. Most of the time, any way."

Charlie closed his eyes for a second, firmly pushing the ill feelings he still got from the very idea of Annie putting herself in danger away before he cleared his throat and replied, hoping he sounded more upbeat then he felt on the subject. "Yeah, I get that." He smirked slightly as a memory chose that moment to jump to the forefront of his mind. "Though you didn't react all that well to the thanks from the people we helped escape from Ken's Hell, not too long ago."

"Well, yeah, Charlie. I'm used to would-be victims saying thanks before they run off and forget about what happened to them. Suddenly being thanked and treated like a hero by that many people—how many was it, again?"

"Five-hundred-twenty three." Charlie rattled off the numbers with the kind of ease most would only associated with remembering their own name. "Two-hundred-and-three of which soon after relocated to a neighboring dimension with Lorne's help and thirty-seven of which have since left LA. But almost three-hundred of them stayed here in LA to help with the Watch and the House, and more of the older victims have come to us and the covens for help since then."

"Yeah, well sorry if I was little overwhelmed when more then five-hundred people decided to thank me. And all of them were still treating me like some kind of superhero the last time we stopped by the House, just before I came back to Sunnydale. It's a little unnerving."

Charlie smiled, nodding. "Yeah. I can't say I reacted well to the math-community's response to The Eppes Convergence when I published that paper two years ago. Most of the peers that I don't know well still treat me like I'm—I don't know, a rock star, or something like that."

"You're a celebrity in the math-world." He could hear clear amusement in Annie's voice. "Makes sense. From what Dr. Fleinhardt was saying the two times I met him, you usually don't just think outside the box when it comes to advanced mathematics, for you: there is no box."

"There's a box," Charlie laughed, shaking his head. "Maybe mine is just a bit bigger then most peoples, but it's there."

Annie also laughed again, "Oh, and how much bigger might your box be?"

"Oh I don't know. A year ago, I might have said anything in the universe was at least to some extent in the grasp of applied mathematics. But now I know about demons, magic and alternate dimensions, so I'm gonna have to rethink that sentiment. I'll let you know."

"You do that," Annie agreed, not quite laughing but certainly speaking through a smile. After a moment of silence she added, "Speaking of Dr. Fleinhardt, did he decide move to LA or not? He was thinking about teaching at CalSci, right? Giving up Princeton 'cause it's cold there?"

Charlie blinked, "Well, I believe he had many reasons other then a dislike of the winter weather, but yes. He's teaching at CalSci now. He started a few weeks ago, before you left, actually. I thought I told you."

"Maybe you did. You know how I can be. Kinda depends on when you tried to tell me."

"I believe you were actually trying to figure out some of your algebra work at the time," Charlie smiled, shaking his head before sighing again. "Anyway, I already started taking lessons with some of the coven leaders, and I'll be meeting with them the day after tomorrow, so I'll let you know what they say after that, okay?"

"Sure. And you'll email me all your research-stuff soon?"

"Yeah, I'll get right on that," Charlie smiled, shaking his head as he continued. "What about you? Any plans for the weekend?"

"Wil' wanted to go to the film festival with me and Faith tomorrow, so I'm kinda looking forward to that."

"Only 'kinda'?"

"Well, I kinda have this sneaking suspicion that Wil's still trying to set me up with a guy from school."

Charlie suppressed a frown at that, a part of him not liking the idea in general while the more logical part recognized that while it would undoubtedly be a good thing for Annie to move on, it wasn't very considerate of her friends to push it. Especially since none of them had said a word about the Angel-Angelus fiasco since her return. Or anything about her time in LA. "And you don't like him?" he asked, not entirely sure how to continue this kind of conversation, but hoping that was an okay question.

"No, well—he's nice and sweet and normal—"

Charlie's frown deepened as he realized where this thought was going, "And completely innocent of the supernatural world?"

Annie was quiet for a long moment before she replied, "Almost painfully so. I mean, I start dating a guy like that: someone with no experience in fighting of any kind, monsters—you know anything. Isn't my dating him kind of like painting a target on his head for vamps?"

"I suppose," Charlie reluctantly agreed, seeing the logic of her argument but not liking the probably outcome. "But that doesn't mean you shouldn't date, Annie."

"I guess." Annie agreed, and then was quiet for another long moment before she continued. "I tried to date a normal guy in Sunnydale, you know. Before I started dating Angel."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. His name was Owen. And I think he was kinda an adren-a-what's it called?"

"Adrenaline?"

"Yeah, I think he was kinda addicted to that. Giles got nabbed by a bunch of vamps while I was on my first date with Owen, so I had to go rescue him. Owen followed me and was knocked out that time. The next day he wanted to make it a regular thing, said that 'almost being killed made him feel more alive.'" Annie sighed, "I knew that if I let him follow me around all the time, he was gonna eventually get himself killed. It's why I usually don't let even Willow, Xander, Oz and Cordelia help out with patrolling." (4)

"So you broke it off?"

"Yeah. And he was killed by a vamp like two weeks later. He'd been breaking into morgues, and he found one where a new vamp was rising. Didn't seem to get that the only reason he wasn't killed the first time was—"

"Because you were there."

"Yeah." Annie sighed again.

"That still doesn't mean you shouldn't date, Annie."

Again, the Slayer was quiet for several long seconds before she quietly replied, "Maybe. But I really think it means I shouldn't date someone that knows nothing about the supernatural, don't you?"

Charlie shook his head, "I-I guess."

"'Course, now I just have to try and find a guy that knows about the supernatural and isn't a maniac."

Charlie chuckled in response to her amused tone, "Do you want me to start sending members of The Watch down?"

"No. I don't really want to date someone who worships the ground I walk on, Charlie."

"There not that bad!"

"Some of them are. And they're the ones that'd probably come running if you brought this up. No," Buffy sighed again. "I'll figure something out."

"Okay, well, keep me posted." Charlie requested, before adding. "I'll send you the research questions I need help with some time tomorrow, okay? And I'll let you know what the covens say."

"Great."

"Are you going to the film festival early, or—?"

"No, I've gotta do something in the morning. So Wil and Faith agreed to go in the afternoon."

"Oh, well, have fun okay? And stay safe."

"I will, Charlie. You too."

"Oh, by the way, my Mom and Dad say 'hi.'"

"Tell them I say 'hi,' back."

"Okay."

"'Night, Charlie."

"Goodnight, Annie," Charlie smiled, before hanging up and glancing at the clock, blinking in surprise. Eleven o'clock was really very early for Annie to turn in for the night. Then he shook his head, figuring that if the Council had some kind of special vampire-hunting team in town that night, both Slayers figured they were okay taking the night off after staking Kakistos. They both certainly deserved the break. Though a part of him he couldn't really define didn't think the Watchers would agree.

With a sigh he set his phone down on his desk and started getting ready for bed himself, knowing one or both of his parents would have something to say about it if they caught him up after midnight with no reason. Despite the fact that he was nineteen years old. Maybe he really should look into an apartment near the campus, moving out might make his parents a little less coddling, and it wasn't like he couldn't come home regularly anyway. Charlie shook his head at the twinge of horror he felt at the very thought, knowing it really wasn't normal, but not wanting to think about it too much. He blinked as he realized he'd been standing at his desk for an extra several minutes and made himself actually start getting ready for bed.

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Angel's Mansion, Sunnydale, California – Saturday, September 21, 1996

Buffy was surprised by how strange the mansion seemed. How much friendlier it looked in the early morning light especially without Acathla or Angelus there. Although she'd visited Angel a few times during the day, she'd normally seen him at night. And this wasn't even his place then. This was the place Angelus chose, which she now only thought of as Angel's because she knew he'd been Angel during his very last moments here. Before she'd killed him.

She shook her head, sighing as she made her way to the center of the entry hall, where she remembered Acathla had been standing a few months before—the last place she'd seen Angel standing.

In the back of her mind she wondered where Acathla was now. If Giles had already cast his spell to permanently seal Acathla away and somehow gotten rid of the petrified-demon. But at the moment she really didn't care. She wasn't here for Acathla, she was here for Angel.

She looked down at her left hand for a moment, unclenching her fist to stare at the beautiful ring Angel had given her months before. After several long seconds, she closed her eyes tightly and her fist clenched around the Claddagh* ring again, before she forced her eyes and fist open again, slowly kneeling. After taking and releasing a deep breath, she set the ring on the ground and stared at again for several long moments before forcing herself to rise and back away several steps. (5)

Then Buffy took a deep breath before choking out a barely audible, "Goodbye," she turned and walked out of the mansion. A single tear slid down her face as she locked the front door and closed it behind her.

End of Chapter 3: Siblings – Part III.

AN: Well, I finally reached the end of this part of

A Call Away! Yay! ^_^

Seriously, this part just did not want to end. I was planning on Siblings being two-parts, about twenty-five pages each. It ended up being roughly seventy-seven pages. Which probably means my outline for this story might need a little bit of tweaking, but I guess we'll see.

Anyway, I'm still looking for any help that can be offered on channeling Charlie—specifically the math he might use. What I'm mostly doing at this point is watching old episodes of NUMB3RS and then trying to figure out how the math Charlie uses in them might fit into the BUFFY series: any help on that front would also be nice. I can't guarantee I'll use everything that's suggested, but my muses always appreciate help. And on the other side of the coin, any help with the actual math would be great too. I'm pretty good with metaphors, so if I understand the math even a little I should be able to run with it, but as I said in the previous chapter, I haven't really taken any math since high school. Seriously, the two classes I needed to take for my major I turned in all the homework, but barely paid any attention to the professors during class. I was in the back of the classroom, playing games on my laptop or answering emails—along with about a quarter of the class. I got a B on the midterm I didn't study for and an A on the final, which I only studied for because my roommate needed a study-buddy. And again, this was all because the math and science classes I took at my high school were a LOT harder. I think I came out of those classes with headaches at least twice a week and my peers and I really weren't kidding when we said we had at least six hours of homework a night. That's why almost everyone took the option of dropping gym in tenth grade so that we could have two study halls every day. But that's kind of off topic, isn't it? Anyway, any help anyone can offer on either front would really be appreciated.

Comments and constructive criticism are still wonderful, wonderful things that are highly welcome, so please REVIEW!!!

And in case you didn't notice this note in the last chapter: If you do notice something I need to work on and mention it, please tell me if you're okay with me contacting you for help or not, as I might want to follow up on it.

Now for comments from within the chapter:

(1) I think most would get Miss Glenn's joke, but if you didn't: "der Fuhrer" is a reference to Snyder, essentially comparing him to Adolf Hitler. The whole point of which was basically that since Buffy's doing better in school, her teachers are nicer to her and it becomes more obvious that they don't like Snyder much either. Cause, really, who would?

(2) I doubt anyone actually needs to be told who Sineya is, but if you've forgotten, she was the First Slayer. For more information, go here: (.com/wiki/Sineya).

(3) Why Nations Go to War by John G. Stoessinger is a real book, wherein "the author points out that both sides will claim that morality justified their fight. He also states that the rationale for beginning a war depends on an overly optimistic assessment of the outcome of hostilities (casualties and costs), and on misperceptions of the enemy's intentions." Charlie's comment on this is basically that while Buffy's fight against the supernatural really should be considered a war—which I believe it is in the last season, but no mention of it is really made before that—it is not war as Dr. Stoessinger describes it because what Buffy is fighting really is Evil, and embraces that fact. Now, the 'forces of darkness' may believe what they're doing is right by their morality—for the sake of being evil, or something like that—but for the most part they do recognize themselves as evil. Not good. I hope that makes sense, and if you want more information, try Wikipedia. I thought most of this up after reading the article: (.org/wiki/War#Tradeoff_analysis_theories).

(4) References to S1E5 'Never Kill a Boy on the First Date.'

(5) For information on Claddagh rings, I recommend either watching the episode where Angel gave it to Buffy again (S2E13 'Surprise'), or going to Wikipedia: (.org/wiki/Claddagh_ring).

And that's all for now. Hope it was worth the wait.

Bye! ^_^

Jess S

NEXT: Chapter 4: Within & Without.