Disclaimer: So tired...not mineeeeeeee!

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Chapter 20

"Girls, if I could have your attention please," Marjorie, the leader of the squad of seniors that were accompanying the little Slayers addressed the group.

Buffy stood to the back of the room. This was the seniors show. They set up the patrol from start to finish and they were supposed to deal with the kids. Buffy and the other full Slayer, who hadn't arrived yet, were only there to evaluate everyone and to take over if an emergency happened.

Marjorie finally got everyone's attention and Buffy politely turned to listen as the other full Slayer walked through the door. The three young Slayers and the three senior Slayers stared, wide-eyed. Faith stood, smirking, in the doorway. Her eyes wandered over the occupants of the room causally until they landed on Buffy. With a full grin on her face the Head Slayer sauntered over to her and stuck out her hand.

"I'm Faith, nice to meet ya'."

"Anne," Buffy responded, taking the proffered hand in her own. "I've been looking forward to meeting you."

"Likewise," Faith nodded decisively, liking what she saw in Buffy's eyes, and then turned to Marjorie, "Hope you don't mind but I brought along a friend. She's gonna' meet us at the van."

"Alright," Marjorie visibly shook herself to get rid of the awe of being in the Head Slayer's presence and focused on her job.

In a few moments ass of them were headed out the door, Buffy and Faith bringing up the rear.

"So, how you liking it here?" Faith asked innocently.

"It's good. The students are well trained," she looked Faith in the eyes. "You've done a fine job with them."

"I try," Faith shrugged indifferently, but Buffy could tell she was pleased.

They walked out the back door of the main building, where the van was waiting for them in the drive. The bright fluorescent lights made the fifteen passenger van's gleam dully. They also spotlighted the curvy, slightly mousy looking woman who was leaning against it, waiting for them.

"Everybody, this is Lucky, my second," Faith waved a hand in the air casually as they all piled into the vehicle, "Lucky, this is everybody."

"Hey."

"What's up?"

"Hi."

The girls greeted her while taking their seats, Buffy just nodding as she passed. The other Slayer was staring at her, slightly wide-eyed. Then Faith was closing the door behind them and they were off.

Marjorie took some convoluted path through the deserted streets of Cleveland, it was 2 am and no one was out but cops, criminals, and Slayers. The criminals were unlucky if they met up with the van full of demon hunters and the van had government plates and was being driven strictly within the speed limit. Apparently Buffy's penchant for reckless driving was a personal issue, not a Slayer motivated one.

The group was heading for the warehouse district. Like every warehouse district in a major city this one was cramped, had a lot of hiding places, and was deserted at night. It was a perfect breeding ground for demons and vampires. The area was pretty regularly patrolled by the Academy, however, and so wasn't too dangerous. They only expected to encounter a few vamps tonight, maybe a low level demon or two. Exactly what the newbies needed to practice on.

Majorie parked the van in an "abandoned" warehouse, which was actually owned secretly by the Council. The girls all jumped out, looking excited but maintaining their silence like they'd been told. They lined up quickly at the back of the van and their weapons were issued to them out of the hidden compartment in the floor. It was standard for all Council vehicles.

The younger girls were all given stakes and a bottle of holy water and the seniors took a variety of swords, as well. Everyone was issued a cross at enrollment at the beginning of school, regardless of their religious preference. Students were taught a variety of weapons and usually began specializing in one type or another by their senior year. By the time they were full Slayers they usually had one or two favorites they always used.

Faith pulled the Scythe out, causing a few looks of awe and envy from the girls who'd never seen it before. It was still a legend among the Slayers and Buffy had felt the pulse of it's presence in the van all the way up, but she merely flicked out the stake she always kept up her sleeve, satisfied with that. It was Lucky's set of weapons that drew Buffy's attention. None of the three full Slayers were wearing any armor, though the students were dressed in partial protection, but Lucky pulled a long, padded gauntlet onto her left arm.

Over it she wrapped a long, skinny chain that had razor sharp blades tangled about it. Attached to the end was a wooden stake that had been cored down the middle and filled with lead, to weight it down. She let the stake dangle and then flipped it smoothly up into her hand a few times to check the balance. Around her waist she wrapped a sword belt that carried a rapier for her right hand.

"It's enchanted," Lucky told the other woman, catching her looking curiously at the chain, "Willow did it herself. It cuts everything but Slayers."

Buffy nodded, having solved the mystery of how Lucky used the dangerous thing. She hoped she'd get a chance to see her use it. The other Slayer was obviously ambidextrous to be able to wield both sword and chain at the same time and Buffy figured it would be an impressive display. With the extra full Slayer along, Marjorie made the decision to split the group into threes, one little Slayer, one senior Slayer, and one full Slayer to a group. They would meet back at the van close to dawn. The group all nodded good luck to each other and the spread out to hunt.

Buffy signaled Marjorie and then faded into the darkness, leaving her and their little Slayer, Samantha, to their work. She would watch from the sidelines and not interfere unless she absolutely had to. Buffy had initially found her position rather odd. She was so used to being the one up front that had to protect everyone, the front line gal, and, in a way, she still was. But so much had changed over the years. Five years ago she would have never stood back like this and just watched. But she had to teach them to do it on their own. That job, and many others, were her's now.

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Author's Note:

Sorry, sorry, sorry for the delay. This scene is actually part of a much larger one that has been a real # to write. I finally made the decision to release this scene so you guys could nibble on it till I get the rest finished. We've also gotten a bunch of new horses in and I've been having fun trying them all out. Not to many bruises this time, either. YAY!

I've been previously referring to the graduated Slayers as Senior Slayers but this chapter I needed to refer to the almost graduated ones as seniors, so I made it lower case and referred to the graduated ones as full Slayers this time. Just so there's no confusion (if you understood that you are a better person than me!).