Title: Let the Black Waves Roll
Author: Jmaria
Rating: FR-15
Disclaimer: I do not own: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the Dark-Hunters (The Avengers, Charmed, Doctor Who, Glee, Supernatural or Torchwood.)
Summary: This is what happens when a Watcher of average abilities is forced into tight quarters with a Bear who's faced numerous heartaches. Sanctuary will never be the same.
Words: 2,925
A/N: I couldn't resist putting my city in (Eastside girl, born and raised). All of the places mentioned are actual locations around the D. Also, this is set back around four years ago. It's not necessarily current happenings in the city.
I wanted to give a huge shout-out to all of my reviewers whose enthusiasm for this story have kept me motivated. I don't think it would have gotten here this fast if there wasn't so much love for this story.
This chapter brought to you by: Ghost by Ingrid Michaelson.

Let the Black Waves Roll
I'm Broken Down the Middle

Two weeks had passed since Kit had left New Orleans and Remi behind. It hurt, leaving him and what had become home to her. She's stayed a week with Mandy's grandfather Silas and had only just today finished setting up her new temporary home.

She looked down at the busy Woodward Avenue and watched the flickering lights of one of the three casinos from her downtown townhouse. The Detroit watcher, Angie Davison had gotten hurt during a nest sweep. She'd be convalescing for a few months, so Kit was taking over her two slayers.

She didn't mind the city. It was different. It wasn't home, but there were memories she had from being there before. She couldn't place them, but she remembered her dad showing her a big open market, eating a coney hot dog at a tiny little restraunt and having to go to the basement to pee, and - was there a zoo in the city? She didn't think there was, but she remembered walking above the animals with her dad. Carli, one of the slayers who was in her early thirties and had a tendency to mother-hen her, had laughed when Kit had asked her.

"Your dad took you to Eastern Market, Lafayette Coney Island, and the old Belle Isle zoo," she'd chuckled. "He probably lived in the city at one time."

It was a possibility. Her grandmother was now living in Ohio with Quinn, but her dad had been born in the Midwest before transplanting to California and meeting her mom. Her second day in the city, Carli had taken her to Rocky Peanut Company across from the market sheds and had tried to explain the difference between the two Coneys' on Lafayette. Apparently, it involved a family feud.

"Are you mopin' again, girl?" Carli called from the doorway.

"I'm not moping, I'm trying to figure out how I got here."

"By a plane," Carli stepped up in front of her, dressed to the nines and ready for a good night. "Now, getcha ass movin' so we can go hit up some clubs. You need to dance."

"Really? Aren't there vampires to hunt?"

"Rina called me and gave the deets on some jerk who played you wrong down in the Big Easy," Carli popped a hip to the side and gave Kit the once-over. "You need some fun, girl."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to hunt vampires while we do it," Kit had given in pretty easily.

Remi was close to wringing the neck of the damn girly-boy who had taken over Kit's slayers. Trejo barely stepped foot in Sanctuary without breaking out into a litany of Spanish curses lobbed at his head. Connor merely glared at him.

The place had gone to hell when Kit had left. Aimee had been pissed at him for the whole two weeks. Dev had given him the 'you-dumb-shit' look non-stop. It was irritating as hell.

But not as irritating as Kit asking Becca the damn question he'd never really wanted an answer to. Becca had started crying not long after Kit had left, and he'd been torn between following his Watcher or listening to Becca's bawling. He'd never remembered her as being so damn clingy or - well, sobbing. Q'd been pissed that his mate was bawling all over his identical brother, but Remi had proved long ago that he wasn't ever gonna make a move on Becca after the two of them had mated. Becca'd always carried a torch for Q, apparently. It had been a catch-22 for her: she'd cared for Remi, but had always secretly wanted to have Q for a mate.

Remi had retreated to his camp for a few days. It had been a kick in the teeth, but it had finally gotten his shit into perspective. And all that seemed to be on his mind these days was that short kiss he'd given Kit. It played on a fucking loop every time his eyes closed. He'd burnt five orders the first day back at Sanctuary. It was part of the reason he now tracked Lisa every night on her hunts. It was the reason he answered every Ohio area code call that popped up on his phone. Apparently, the cheerleader had heard about his love advice to Tina, and as punishment had given his number out to every kid in the glee club.

And then the picture texts started flowing in. Kit in candid shots, enjoying herself at a club or hefting two huge bags of gummy worms and Tootsie rolls, standing in front of a big metal fist, feeding whitetail deer through a fence. Wherever she was, she wasn't mourning him as far as he could see.

Remi let his fist punch out and knock the vampire on Lisa's tail to the ground. He yanked the stake out of his back belt loop and slammed into the bloodsucker's chest. If he didn't do something soon, he was going to lose what little he had left of his mind.

Weeks slipped into months, and winter was blowing through hard off the water as Kit sat with her heels in the sand of the beach on Belle Isle as the moon shone down on her. Carli and Shawnta were triangulating in on the small nest that had taken up residence in the burnt out shell of the old Aquarium. Kit had been late meeting up with them. She'd been picking up Angie when the slayers had texted her.

Her stint in Detroit was coming to a close. Kalamazoo was supposed to be her next destination, but she'd gotten a call from her grandmother yesterday. Quinn was having a few issues at school, and Eleanor, their grandmother wondered if Kit would come down for Thanksgiving. Kit normally hit the Cleveland ranch for the holiday because Buffy was seriously psychotic about Thanksgiving. Dawn had been all for her coming to Lima. Ever since Cassie had enrolled at William McKinley High, Dawn had been sticking close by to keep an eye on Cassie, Puck and Quinn.

Kit was brought out of her thoughts by Carli and Shawnta's conversation. She glanced over her shoulder to see the two slayers brushing the vampire dust off of them, their cheeks streaked with dirt.

"Ugh, they would be 'free Kwame' motherfuckers," Shawnta, a mocha-skinned Amazon sneered. "Triflin' brothers even in the undead. Don't they realize that bastard raped the city?"

"That's probably why they want him free. Undead don't care if the city goes bankrupt," Carli shook her head. "At least we got them outta the Aquarium. City's talking about reopening it in 2012. The Rock ain't been the same since it burned."

"You got the nest clear?"

"Yep, Watchie," Shawnta grinned at her, popping her hip to the side and striking a pose. "We the shit."

"Angie's home," Kit chuckled at them.

"And you're off to bigger and better things?" Carli plopped down into the sand and watched the boats crossing the river. Shawna 'ugh'ed and started texting on her phone.

"Nope. K-zoo," Kit shook her head.

"West side? I hear they got sand dunes," Carli frowned at her.

"If you say so. But I think I gotta go to Ohio for a while. If I can swing it."

"Ugh, why you wanna go there?" Shawnta called out.

"I have family there," Kit sighed.

Remi had broken four phones because of those damn little hormonal beasts. His nieces and nephews weren't even as bad as these damn kids from Ohio. He was just about to throw his phone against the wall again when it rang. Luckily for the phone, it was a number and ringtone he knew all too well. It was the same one Kit had programmed for her.

"Whaddya want, Summers?" Remi barked through the phone.

"Wow, someone forgot to give you honey today, Winnie," Dawn laughed through the phone.

"I'm busy," which was true, he had a sink full of dishes he had to get to. Not that he wanted to do them, really.

"Too busy to hear how Kit is doing?"

"Talk," Remi pinched the phone between his shoulder and his ear and listened.

"She's done exceptionally well in Detroit. But the watcher she's been covering for is healed now. And she still wants to be in Michigan."

"What the hell for?" Remi snarled.

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe to be as far away from you as possible? You were an utter ass to her." Dawn snapped at him. Seemed like women were doing that to him all the damn time these days. Except for Becca. She was nothing but smiles, as if all that shit had just rolled on down the river now that Q knew how she felt for him and that Remi'd been nothing more than a way to kill time. Which still stung like a bitch. But Bertie and Nico were a balm to any wounds he might have still. He loved his new niece and nephew. "Are you even listening to me, Remi?"

"Not particularly," Remi grunted, scrubbing at a pot.

"Kit's gonna be in Lima for Thanksgiving. Not that I should be telling you this. You were a complete -"

"Whoops," Remi said as he let the phone drop into the sudsy water. It sparked, and Remi stepped far back so the electrical current didn't zap him.

"That the fifth phone this month, Rem?" Cody asked as he came up with another bucketful of dishes.

"I thought Cherif was on busboy duty?" Remi frowned at his younger brother.

"Nope. He's handling a big party of college kids," Cody rolled his eyes. "You know him and coeds."

"Yeah, for the last few hundred years," Remi leaned back and grabbed a tong to pull the dead phone from the water.

"Who pissed you off now?" Cody nodded to the phone.

"Summers," Remi answered, tossing the phone in a garbage can.

"She got news on Kitten?" Cody perked up.

"Why you interested?"

"Because she was the only Watcher you didn't paralyze with fear. Ms. Ibanez reeks with fear every time you show up to help out the slayers. Tallulah and Meagan don't know if they should stake you or thank you. Reese is too scared to remember that she can kinda take you in a fight," Cody shook his head. "We need her and Rina back here, where they belong."

"She don't belong here," Remi turned the water back on high.

"Who you trying to convince, me or you?" Cody dumped the dishes into the sink, the hot water splashing back up on Remi. He swiped at his younger brother, but Cody was already out through the door.

"Me," Remi said quietly as the door swung back. "That's who."

Quinn was wearing jeans when she answered the door of Eleanor's house. A big smile was pasted on her face. Kit wanted to smack her. Instead, she let Quinn give her a hug.

She'd not been close to her grandmother growing up, except for a few Christmases she could barely remember. But since New Orleans, she'd been calling Kit nearly every week. It'd bumped up to twice a week as Thanksgiving approached. In the end, Kit, still crashing with the Detroit slayers in assigned-watcher-purgatory, had finally given in and had gone to Lima.

"How's school? And glee?" Kit cleared her throat as she stripped off the hat and scarf Carli had knitted for her. The slayer loved working high school craft shows and made some extra cash on her knitting.

"Good. I think Sam's got a crush on Mercedes," Quinn smiled. "And Finn's been asking me out again."

"Ugh, not the Hudson kid?" Kit scrunched up her nose. Rina'd been extremely vocal about her dislike of her cousin's first boyfriend.

"I haven't said yes."

Kit could see that it was killing Quinn to be single. She couldn't ever remember being that desperate for a boy back in her day. But apparently it was a huge deal now. Then again, everyone thought she, Dawn and Carlos were part of a sick and twisted threesome.

"Quinn, dear, could you stir the gravy?" Eleanor called from the kitchen.

"Coming, Gram," Quinn was off to the kitchen before Kit could even get her coat off.

Eleanor Dandridge looked as elegant as ever as she came into the living room to hug Kit. It felt stiff and awkward. But then, that was their relationship. The last time they'd seen each other, Eleanor had been sobbing hysterically over her son's body and Kit had been unwilling to share her grieving with another person who barely had known the man her father had become.

"Kathryn," Eleanor pulled back to give her a good look over. "You look just like your mother."

"She says I take after Dad," Kit cleared her throat. "And it's Kit."

"Yes, I can see why she would say that, Kit," Eleanor smiled brightly. "How is your mother?"

"She's good. She's in Belfast on business," Kit smiled half-heartedly. Not that it would have mattered, she and her mother hadn't gotten together but for Christmas in the last ten years. There had been a hole at the table, and they'd both felt his loss more on the holidays.

"I would have liked to see her."

"Yeah, I don't think she'd have liked to see you," Kit let slip before she could even stop herself.

"I acted abominably at your father's funeral, I realize that now," Eleanor's smile cracked, and there was real grief in her eyes. "Your father was a wonderful man. He was enough to make a mother proud. He raised a strong young woman. I wish I could say the same of your uncle."

"Let's not talk about this right now. Isn't there food that needs making?" Kit cleared her throat.

"Yes. There's plenty of time for talking later."

Remi stood outside of Sanctuary. They'd closed up and the kids were running around out back, screaming in a game of tag gone wild. Literally. Cubs and kids chased each other around. He stood outside, not looking in but looking up at the stars. He barely noticed the girl coming up to him.

"You bastard bear," Rina shook her head full of curls at him.

"Slayer, what you doing back here?" Remi's shoulders straightened. She had a jacket on that smelled like Kit.

"Home for Thanksgiving. Mama and Papa wanted to do somethin' special. First year I woulda missed it. I really wanted to be in Lima, though," Rina stuffed her hands in her pocket and held out a picture for him.

"Nice place." It was a three story Victorian with a wraparound porch. It reminded him of one of the houses he'd lived in as a cub.

"It's Kit's grandmama's place. See, there's Quinny and Ms. Eleanor on the porch?" Rina pointed out to him. "Kit's there for the holiday. And I sure to miss my Watcher."

Before Remi could respond to that, Rina had slipped back into the shadows, whistling some tune he wasn't familiar with. Instead he stared at the picture and made a quick decision.

Dawn had called her after dinner. Quinn and Eleanor told her to answer the phone, and had started chattering away as they did dishes. Kit went outside and punched the redial.

"What's up, D?" Kit asked, shivering in the cold.

"I know you don't want to hear this, but we need you back in New Orleans."

"Not happening, Dawn," Kit's teeth chattered.

"Look, no one else can deal with Remi Peltier. He's driving Della Ibanez into panic attacks."

"Why is Remi driving her into panic attacks? I fired him," Kit slipped a little on the slick walkway.

"Remi refused to quit as liaison. Kept saying you'd be back because of Rina," Dawn sighed.

"Rina's been cycled out. Aimee knows this. Why didn't she tell Remi?"

"She did. He just refuses to listen."

"Look, you can call him and tell him I'm not coming back. I lost three slayers there, Dawn. I can't go back."

"If you were responsible for any of that, you'd still only have lost one slayer. Letty and -"

"I know they don't count because they were technically Crawford's, but I wasn't there in time to save them," Kit kicked at a clump of leaves.

"Can you talk to him then and tell him that you're not coming back?" Dawn sounded exhausted.

"I can't - not after what went down between us," Kit shook her head. Her heart was still only healing from the shit he'd thrown at her and what she'd done in turn to him. "I can't go back to how it was. He didn't respect me as a watcher. I don't know that he can honestly respect any watcher."

"Just think on it. Because if it doesn't get handled, Xander's threatening to send me down there. And if I refuse, he's gonna cycle you back down there."

"Why me?"

"Because you're the only Watcher who's not scared of Remi Peltier."

Kit stared at the phone for a long time, until her cheeks throbbed in the cold and her fingers shook against the plastic case. She turned back to the porch and froze. Standing there, with his fists jammed into his black jeans' pockets and in an old grey thermal was Remi. Her heart stuttered as he loped down the steps and slipped on the forming ice. Her mouth hung open as his warm hand skirted down her cheek to wrap behind her neck and pull her forward in a searing kiss.