A/N: A short chapter... gotta hate those plot bunnies.

Thanks to my lovely beta's AthenaHahn and BlackNBlue2.

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Buffy just shrugged her shoulders, her eyes never leaving Xander’s terror-stricken face. Then she stuck out her tongue at Xander and, turning her back on him, walked over to the armchair she had been sitting in and sat down as regally as any monarch.

After a cursory glance at Xander, Giles walked over and sat down on the couch close to Buffy. “Is what Anya said true? Are you the source of the Slayer’s power?” he asked quietly.

Spike sat himself back down on the arm of the chair, listening with great interest.

Again Buffy just shrugged as she replied, “So I was informed a while back. Something about atoning for the destruction I caused.” She glanced down at her hands and smiled sheepishly. “The Horsemen weren’t my brightest idea, in retrospect.”

Spike chuckled softly. “If even half the things written about them are true, I’d say it was on par with the poof thinking he can sing… and he can’t sing.”

Giles grimaced in remembrance. “No he can not sing. In fact his so-called singing is akin to scraping nails down a blackboard… only ten times worse.” He looked at Buffy with nothing but curiosity in his eyes. “What sort of powers or abilities do the Slayers gain from you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Fast healing, for starters. As a new Slayer… they heal at twice the rate of a normal human. As they get older, their healing gets faster. They also have the ability to sense vampires and other supernatural creatures.” Buffy chuckled softly. “Some of them don’t exactly work on developing that skill though. Oh, and increased flexibility, agility and muscular control. In other words, all the things that makes them an effective warrior.”

“So you can sense demons and vampires?” Spike asked. “Can you tell the difference or is it just a general ‘Big Bad’ alert?”

“For slayers it’s just a general alert… but I can not only tell the difference between a demon and vampire, I can generally tell the difference between different demon species. Also, I can sense all kinds of supernatural energies. Like the power emanating from the redhead over there.” Buffy answered and nodding in the direction of the cluster of ‘Scoobies’.

Giles and Spike both glanced over at the others in the room, noticing with some amusement as Xander winced and cringed every time Joyce dabbed a little antibiotic cream on his neck where Buffy had pricked him with her sword.

Buffy suddenly snapped her head around, eyes unfocused as she seemingly stared at the front door. “That damned idiot can’t seem to take a hint can he? And he’s brought backup.”

“Who has, Luv?” Spike asked as he, too, glanced at the door.
Buffy rose to her feet, sliding her sword from its sheath as she did so. “Get away from the door and windows, children. This could get ugly.” She stalked over to the door, and stopped, facing it.

Spike walked up beside her and asked again, “Who has?” Spike extended his senses and growled low in his chest. “Never mind, I know who. Don’t know who or what he has with him, but I don’t think this is gonna be solved peaceably.”

“No, I don’t think it will either. Because I know who is with him. It's part of the reason I’m here.” Buffy murmured.


A/N: I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, the next one will be longer, I promise! I also apologize for the lack of updates recently, gotta love working double shifts

*hugs to everyone*