CHAPTER TWENTY

 

With the arrival of the two new potentials, it was soon obvious that some sort of housing was going to be necessary. Buffy ruled out her mother’s house, even though Dawn pointed out that there was a vacant bedroom and Joyce had already said she would help in whatever way she could.

 

“No. Mom has a business to run and I can’t make her responsible for taking care of total strangers. If these girls are going to keep arriving, I’ve got to have a place to put them. A Slayer House, just like we’ve been setting up in our time in the cities where we have enough trained slayers to do that.”

 

“Yeah, well, good luck with that. Not that Sunnydale doesn’t have plenty of vacant houses, but they aren’t in very nice neighborhoods, most of them.”

 

“No, they aren’t… and you know that exactly… how?”

 

Dawn rolled her eyes. “I’m not a kid, Buffy. And I’m not stupid either.”

 

“No. No, you aren’t. Well anyway, like you said, Sunnydale has plenty of vacant houses, so we’ll find one that isn’t in a lousy neighborhood and turn it into a dorm of some sort.”

 

XXX

 

Spike and Winston seemed quite pleased with their evening out, although Spike admitted they hadn’t yet identified a suitable place for the potentials to live. When Buffy asked about any Bringers they might have found, she rolled her eyes at their identical smirks. 

 

“So, do those expressions mean you found them but they aren’t going to be a problem?”

 

“Think you could safely say that, love,” Spike said, sharing a snicker with Winston.

 

“I don’t think I want to know.”

 

“Excellent thought,” Winston said. “We also checked the hellmouth…”

 

“And….?”

 

“That’s where the Bringers were,” Spike said. “The seal is in place, but it looked like they were tryin’ to rig up a way to suspend some poor sod—that will not be me this time—over it.”

 

“Well crap!” Buffy said. “I guess we’re going to have to check it every day now.” She glared at them as if it was their fault.

 

“True enough,” Spike said, smiling at her in spite of the glare. “But Winnie did some warding around it to try to keep people out, so that might help. At least it will if they try to use a human as the sacrificial lamb.”  He stopped smiling and added, “You might want to talk to Wood about it. Make sure he knows to stay away and to keep kids out of the basement.”

 

“That’s a good idea,” Buffy agreed. “Since we haven’t seen much of him since he tried to get Max to throw us out, he probably doesn’t know anything about the potentials and other stuff.”

 

“I’m not sure exactly how much ‘other stuff’ you should be sharing with him just yet,” Winston said. “We still don’t know much about how strongly he feels about Spike’s continued existence, and if he’s listening to the First every day….”

 

“He could be being lured to the Dark Side,” Buffy sighed in agreement.  “Okay. I’ll be very careful what I tell him, but I want him to know we’re watching the hellmouth, and why.”

 

“That should go well,” Spike muttered. When she glared at him, he added, “Not sayin’ don’t do it, love. Just that he might not take it as well as you hope he will.”

 

XXX

 

Spike’s words proved to be prophetic as Robin’s reaction to Buffy’s gentle suggestion that people stay out of the school basement as much as possible was met with an irritated frown.

 

“Are you telling me what I can and can’t do in my own school?” he demanded. “And what do you mean Spike and Winston were there?”

 

“I’m reminding you that your school is located directly over the hellmouth. A place where bad things tend to happen.” Buffy’s tone was sharper than she’d intended, but Robin’s apparent unwillingness to cooperate with them was making her angry. “I understand how you feel about Spike, but like I told you, he’s an important part of my team and he’ll go wherever he needs to, to get information for me.”

 

“I’ve learned some interesting things about you… and your pet vampire,” Robin said. “Very interesting things.”

 

“Really? And who would have shared those interesting things?”

 

“Well, aside from your former principal—” He held up a hand when she started to interrupt him. “Okay, not him, because I concede that you are probably right about what that actually is, but I also had a visit from your former vampire boyfriend.”

 

Buffy gasped. “Angel? He was here again? I’m going to kill him!”

 

“He said you’d be angry about it, but he felt I needed to know more about Spike….”

 

“All you need to know about Spike—and Angel—is that I’m married to one of them, and still pissed off at the other one for trying to claim me when I was unconscious. Nothing Angel tells you about Spike is going to be anything but jealous vampire crap. I dated Angel when I was very young. It didn’t go well. He left. He’s a jerk. End of story.”

 

“So you’d like me to think.”

 

Buffy’s eyes narrowed. “Exactly when was Angel here sharing all this ‘valuable’ information?” she asked, doing some mental arithmetic.

 

“He’s actually visited several times,” Robin said. “I guess you weren’t on the list of people he came here to see.”

 

“Good thinking on his part,” Buffy growled, but remembering what she wanted to know. “So, when was the first time?”

 

Robin frowned. “It was actually a few weeks ago. I don’t remember the exact date. It’s not important… We’ve spoken a few times since then.”

 

“It could be important,” Buffy said. “If the first time he showed up here happened to be while we were in LA taking care of one of the First’s evil minions.”  She waited for Robin to consider what she was saying, smiling when uncertainty flickered across his face.

 

“Why?”

 

“Because I saw Angel while we were there. He and Spike fought the Bringers together while I tackled Caleb. If it was the same day, then you weren’t talking to Angel.”

 

“But he—” She could see when he remembered that vampires were just as dead as his mother and Snyder. He shook himself. “You’re just guessing.”

 

“I am. Based on experience. But I can look into it. I can ask Wesley where Angel was every day for the past several weeks and see how many of the times he was with people in LA he was also popping up here to say hi to you. That’s a lot of traveling for somebody who needs to stay out of the sun.”

 

Robin sat down abruptly and rubbed his forehead. “But you did have another vampire boyfriend. It’s something you do.”

 

“It is—was. Angel was sent here by the Powers to help me. We weren’t supposed to…to fall in love. And Spike and I… we have history I don’t think I trust you enough to tell you about. If I had to, I could ask Wes about any sudden trips Angel may have taken, but I’m not going to bother because I’m confident that’s not who you’ve been talking to.” 

 

She turned to leave, saying, “Think about it, please. The First is playing on your need to avenge yourself on Spike to remove him from where he needs to be. With me. Helping me to save the world. Something he’s already done or helped with several times already, including back when he was still evil. I’m not asking you to like him, just to let yourself believe that he is not the stone-cold killer he was twenty years ago.”

 

She walked out of the office without looking back, leaving a bewildered, but still angry man pondering her words.  He waved his hand dismissively when Snyder appeared in front of him to repeat that Buffy was a troublemaker and a liar. “Get lost,” Robin said. “You, at least, I am sure about.”

 

“That hurts my feelings,” Snyder/First said as he disappeared.

 

XXX

 

 

By the time they held the next full-fledged Scooby meeting, they’d acquired one more potential slayer and the search for somewhere to put the girls had become more urgent. There were now two living with Lisa and Abby, and the latest arrival was temporarily living at Amanda’s.  They all looked at Buffy expectantly as she announced they were going to have a visitor later in the evening.

 

Giles frowned and glanced around the table. “Who is that, Buffy?  And do you know where Winston is?”

 

“Winston is bringing the surprise guest,” she said.

 

“Is it Max? Not that he isn’t welcome here, but I thought he’d planned to sit this one out?”

 

“It isn’t Max, although the guest will be here because of Max… sort of. I think she’d do it anyway, but the fact that she and Max are old friends has a lot to do with it.”  Buffy turned her gaze on Giles. “And you’d better be damn nice to her, or I’m going make you take all these girls home with you.”

 

Given that Lisa was already there with her girls and was clearly as confused as everyone else, Giles quickly dismissed her as a source of information. He frowned at Buffy. “When am I ever not nice to someone?”

 

Willow’s eyes got wide and she gasped, “Is it—” before Buffy shook her head, saying “Surprise, Willow. Look it up.”

 

Willow rolled her eyes, but acquiesced and never finished her question, although she had a whispered conversation with Dawn, who had become an unofficial Scooby just by right of birth.  When the door opened and Sara Johnson walked in, smiling her thanks at Winston for holding the door for her, Willow smirked in satisfaction. “I knew it! I knew you were going to be the surprise guest.”

 

“Very perceptive of you, Willow,” Sara said with a small smile. “I’m so glad you’re here, and Dawn also. I’ve been wanting to get to know you both better.”

 

“Oh, me too!” Willow said. “I mean, wanting to get to know you.”

 

With Giles and everyone else except Winston and Spike waiting expectantly, Buffy introduced Sara. “This is Sara Johnson. She is responsible for my wonderful wedding dress.” She waited as Lisa and Abby murmured their admiration, then continued, “She is also a Guardian. That’s a very special job, and not one the Watcher’s Council knows about, so I just met her this year.”

 

“What does she guard?” Mel asked, frowning at the perfectly made up and dressed woman, who seemed completely at ease with both the scrutiny and the question.

 

“Guardians watch over slayers,” Sara said with no change in her pleasant expression. “I’m probably the only one left now, but at one time we were more numerous and we watched over not just the current slayer, but many potentials also.”

 

“How could we not know that?” It was Lisa who asked the question this time, her tone somewhat disbelieving. “Why didn’t my watcher tell me?”

 

“The Council of Watchers,” Sara paused to gaze at Giles who was staring at her with narrowed eyes, “is not aware that we exist and have existed for generations.” She met his suspicious gaze with her own quiet confidence. “While I’ve no doubt it seemed like a good idea at the time, it is possible that such secrecy may not have been in the best interest of these very wonderful girls with whom we are both charged with caretaking.”

 

“Indeed,” Giles muttered.

 

“Giles…” Buffy warned, but Sara just gave one of her serene smiles, saying, “I’m actually quite eager to talk to someone of your experience, not just with the Council, but as someone who has had an active slayer for so many years. Perhaps we can make arrangement to meet for tea… or a drink… one evening.”

 

Spike exchanged looks with Winston when Giles relaxed and seemed to preen under Sara’s gaze.

 

“Now you know what it looks like,” he whispered, causing Winston to snort.

 

“I’ll never be able to work magic the way a beautiful woman can,” he whispered back. “I wish I could.”

 

Spike gave an appreciative chuckle as they watched Giles immediately agree that it would be an wonderful idea. Everyone except Anya was smiling in relief as the tension in the room broke.

 

“Please,” Giles said as he stood up. “Forgive our manners. Let’s find you a seat and then I’ll introduce everyone… or Buffy will,” he corrected himself as remembered who had been responsible for bringing Sara in.

 

Xander stumbled to his feet, insisting that she take his chair next to Willow. He went to sit on a stool next to Anya, who was standing rigidly behind the counter. Her expression made Buffy very glad Anya was no longer a vengeance demon, and she exchanged a worried look with Spike, who promptly nudged Winston. With a sigh, Winston nodded and went to stand with Xander and Anya, speaking quietly to them until Anya had visibly relaxed.

 

Buffy looked around the small meeting area and shook her head. “I think we’re going to have to find a bigger place to meet,” she said, smiling at the younger girls to assure them she wasn’t complaining. “So, as you already know, this is Sara and she is a Guardian. I’m just going to go around the room and point, and you can raise your hand or something, ‘k?” 

 

She began with Lisa, explaining that she’d been a potential and that Abby was one also. Then she introduced the other four girls, including Rosita who was the latest arrival. When each of the girls had greeted Sara with expressions ranging from curiosity to suspicion, Buffy gestured to Xander and Anya.

 

“And that’s Xander. He and Willow are my oldest friends in Sunnydale, and they’ve helped me a lot. And that’s Anya, she’s—” Buffy decided not to mention Anya’s former profession, settling for saying they’d know her since high school also.

 

Sara smiled at the last two to be introduced, rendering Xander speechless and Anya without an excuse not to be polite. She gritted out a ‘nice to meet you’ and then walked over to stand behind Giles and rest her hands on his shoulders. It was the only pubic physical contact anyone had seen yet, and all eyes went to Xander, but he was very busy staring at the floor, whether on purpose to avoid seeing her, or because he didn’t want to keep staring at Sara, Buffy wasn’t sure.

 

By the time Buffy was ready to let Sara talk about why she was there, Anya had relaxed a little and was sitting on one of the stools in front of the counter.

 

”Here’s the thing, girls,” Buffy began. “We don’t know how many more of you there might be on their way here. We hope, not very many, but obviously the Bringers are still trying to kill potentials, and even though Caleb is out of the picture, being a potential slayer is still not a safe thing to be right now. We need some place where you can all stay and still be safe. Abby’s mom has been really great about it, and Amanda’s parents haven’t quite figured out yet that they have a new dependent not just a guest, but we can’t keep stashing girls any where we can. Not and keep you safe. That’s where Sara comes in….”

 

Sara smiled and took over. “Many, many years ago, there were a lot more guardians, some actively working with slayers or potentials, some just in training. And they needed a place to live, just as you do. It happens that I live in one of those places. It’s quite big, has lots of rooms and… bathrooms,” she added, making the girls giggle. “And I’m just rattling around in it all by myself.”  She gazed around the small group of potentials. “Do any of you see where I’m going with this?”

 

Roxanne raised her hand cautiously. “We’re all going to come live with you?”

 

“If you’d like. I know Abby and Amanda have their own homes that are well protected from danger, but if you others would like to have your own rooms and closets, you are more than welcome to live with me.”

 

“We can’t go?” Abby and Amanda looked distressed. Lisa bit her lip, but waited to hear what Sara said. Their eyes met and held briefly, then Lisa nodded.

 

“You are all welcome there,” Sara said. “I just thought you might prefer to stay with your parents if possible. Especially you, Abigail, as your mother is also your watcher.” She smiled. “You have time to think about it. I’m not going anywhere, and neither is the house. You can think about it. Perhaps your mother might drop in from time to time to offer some training and wisdom?”

 

“Of course,” Lisa said quickly. “Whatever I can do… although I do have a job….”

 

“As do I,” Sara said. “Being a Guardian isn’t a paying position. Although Watcher is,” she said brightly, smiling at Giles. “Surely the Council would be will to pay Lisa to join you in Watching these girls?”

 

Giles coughed, then said, “You would think so, but I wouldn’t count on it.”

 

“What are we gonna do in there?” Mel asked. “Abby and Amanda go to school with Dawn, but I don’t, and neither does Rocky. And we don’t even know about Rosita yet.”

 

“I’m sure we can find something for you to do. Perhaps we can find a tutor so that you girls don’t fall behind in your studies.” Sara smiled sweetly, but there was a hint of steel behind it, making Mel blink and realize she was not going to be on her own or setting her own hours.

 

“Will it be safe, like Abby and Amanda’s houses are?”

 

“I assure you, it is a very safe place to live. I would never put anyone as valuable as a potential slayer in danger. Both the house and the rather large property are very well protected from just about anything. The man who put the wards up is very skilled. In fact, he was the teacher of the man who did the wards for everyone here.”

 

All eyes turned to Winston, and Giles was the first to speak. “Max did the wards on a house for Guardians?”

 

Before Winston could respond, although he looked as surprised as everyone else, Sara answered for him.

 

“In a manner of speaking,” she said. “It was, of course, well protected already and had been for a very long time. However, my old friend Max was gracious enough to take a look at it for me some time ago and reinforce what was already in place. I believe he may have added some embellishments also.”

 

“I don’t doubt but he did,” Winston said with a chuckle. “He loves his embellishments.”

 

They exchanged smiles over their mutual friend’s magical skills, then Winston settled back in his chair.

 

Giles spoke up, visibly trying not appear annoyed at having been relegated to the position of onlooker.

 

“So, it’s settled then? The girls who wish to will live with you in a well-protected dwelling, and Lisa and I, and Buffy, will continue their training there.”

 

He managed a smile at Sara. “I’m looking forward to learning more about Guardians and their history, as well as how we can incorporate that with what we learn as watchers.”

 

While the girls chattered among themselves about who was going to live where, and how to move their things from where they were to Sara’s, she and Giles made arrangements to meet the following afternoon at the Guardian’s  house for tea and conversation.  Sara then turned to Willow and set a up a time to meet with her during the day when she had no classes. She also asked Dawn to find a time to speak with her about her future.

 

“My future? Me? I’m just Buffy’s little sister. I mean, yeah, I’m a key, I guess, but—”

 

“When you can,” Sara said. “No rush. You still have school and your life as a teenager, but I would like to talk with you at some point.”