Disclaimer: You know the drill. It's not mine. Maybe they'll give it to me? Nah. I don't own any of the characters unless I specify as O.C.
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Chapter 1: Where do we go from here?
Three weeks had passed since Sunnydale had collapsed. The surviving heroes and newly activated Slayers had traveled to Los Angeles to seek aid from their allies at Angel Investigations. Angel had explained to the Scoobies and their small army of girls about Jasmine. No one knew about Connor anymore, due to the deal with Wolfram and Hart. They just knew Cordelia had been cosmically abducted and her body hijacked. She was now in a coma at the law firm, under evil but meticulous medical care. It took the ensouled vampire an entire evening to convince Buffy and Giles that he wasn't evil. Willow confirmed that his soul was still there. The slayer and her watcher were wary that Angel had been seduced by evil and did not know how long they would be able to trust him. This offended Angel at first, but after a talk with Faith about redemption, he decided it was best to let them be wary. He was embarking upon a path that could lead him astray. He knew they would worry over him and he just hoped that Buffy would at least trust him to do the right thing when it really mattered. None of them knew about the memory spell he had cast to protect Connor, but he thought that maybe Buffy and Faith could sense that something was amiss. Angel offered Giles and Buffy, de facto leaders of their group, the resources he now wielded as CEO of Wolfram and Hart. The law firm was able to track down the financial holdings of the Council. Not only did the Council posess half a billion dollars, but they also had strong financial interest in a few major companies that would continue to generate revenue for years to come. Buffy had been greatly offended by the money at first, she had never received a cent from the Brits and they had so much. She kept flashing back to her flooded basement and the smell of french fries from the Doublemeat Palace. Once Giles and Wesley set up a small fortune in her name with visa card access, she was quickly placated. She had never before felt free from burden. At least now, there were other Slayers, and she had some financial freedom. She could travel. She could do good by Dawn. Dawn could do anything she wanted now, but Buffy knew she would become a Watcher. It was her sister's dream, after all. They had all known it during the fight with the First. Dawn might not have been born at all but she was meant to fight against evil. Her sister finally resigned herself to that fact. Dawn was 18 and she really couldn't stop her without ruining their relationship.
The two original slayers had bonded greatly since the fall of the Hellmouth. Old wounds were forgotten after the battle with the First. Spike's absence left them without him to relate to. Buffy had forgiven her friends for abandoning her but she still felt disconnected from them. Faith was the only person in the world who could really relate to her. They truly forgave each other and made a pact to always back each other up. Neither of them had any true family left, other than the Scoobies, and the two Slayers were happy to have a sister slayer to connect with and share the bruden.
They had a lot of help now but they still felt the burden of being the only two. They also had a lot of resentment built up over the lack of support from the old Council. Faith and Buffy immediatedly decided they would have to lay down ground rules for Giles before he restarted the Council. They looked for him in his room at the Hyperion and found him having tea with Willow and Fred. Xander was sitting by the window reading a book about England. That was their next step, anyway. He told the girls he wanted to to do it right and learn a lot before they went. He knew Buffy was bad with directions and driving and he'd probably end up having to drive on the other side of the road. He also couldn't bear to really talk directly to anyone snce he had lost Anya. He was cutting himself off. He knew the girls would get involved so he had come to see Giles, to pretend he wasn't cut off from them. He felt like Buffy probably had when she came back from the dead.
"Hey Gman, we need to talk." Faith said as they entered their Watcher's room without knocking. Both girls sat on the couch next to Giles on either side of him. Willow and Fred exchanged hellos with the slayers and Fred poured them some tea. Faith pulled out a flask to put some alcohol in her tea but Giles stopped her with a hand.
"My dear, I have something nice here, a gift from Wesley. Apparently last week was my birthday. I'd nearly forgotten." Giles poured her some expensive looking alcohol from a fancy glass bottle.
"Thanks Giles." she said and drank the alcohol. "Nice, G." she clinked her glass with his and sat it down.
"If you and Xander can stop calling me G-man, I'll share the whole damn bottle with you." Giles said. "Is there something you wanted to discuss with me?" He could tell the girls were on edge about something. Xander had come over and taken a shot from the bottle and then retreated to his window.
Fred started to stand up but Willow pulled her back. "Hey, if this is a slayer thing, I can leave. I don't want to intrude."
Willow cut her off, "Fred, there are no secrets from you. We'll probably be asking for your help at first. I mean, if you want to that is."
"Willow, I would love to. I could probably develop some really interesting things for the girls to use in the field. Maybe containers for magic, like bottles for your sunlight spell. I was actually reminded of the mao ping. If we contained sunlight in a mystical jar and then the slayer smashed the jar- it would make your sunlight spell even more effective. OK I'm rambling again. Sorry."
Buffy interrupted Fred's ramble, "You know that's a really good idea. Willow always saved my butt with that spell. Being able to carry it around and use it at the opportune moment could really give the newbies an edge. Like a safety net for tight spots. You wouldn't wanna waste it if you could slay away. Magic is really important and overdoing it can be...." she looked apologetically at Willow and changed vehicles. "Giles, we wanted to talk about the new rules. For the Council. We thing the basics should be decided by us. The people in this room. Fred too, since she's a woman who's fought against evil and would have a great opinion on the matter. You and Xand are okay and should have a voice because you know what it's like to fght this fight and have lost people. Lost too much. Anyways. Faith and I need to know that the girls will have a chance at a normal life. They need financial support of they're expected to slay. Balancing a full time job and slaying is not always an option and it could get them killed if they aren't focused on staying alive." She paused and let Faith go next.
Faith rolled her shoulders and said, "We need the girls to be trained. School too. They can't forget about finishing high school and maybe even going to college. I wish I had been able to do that. I don't want them to miss opportunities because of their destiny. They don't need to end up like me. Prison does not suit a slayer, and things could have been worse than even that. We need to make sure they know we have their backs. They need to know ther power doesn't mean their life is over. They need defending and training or they're all just sitting ducks. Vamps would hunt them down, smell them for who they are even if the girls themselves don't know what they are yet. The allure of their blood will draw evil things, Giles."
"Faith, you're absolutely right. As a side note Angel has had your records magically wiped. Your past. It never happened. I think he even gave you a high school diploma in case you wanted to go to community college." Faith looked stunned. She'd have to talk to Angel. Giles continued, "Ladies. All of your ideas are important. We will make sure the new slayers and generations to come have a support sytem. I don't think you girls would ever let them suffer anyways. At least we have all this dirty money from the council to spend on the new girls. Angel not only found the Council's money, but he found their secret library. Wolfram and Hart had actually had a benevolent partner, a collector of knowledge. This silent partner was a former branch of the Council that had diverted after the instrumentation of the Cruciamentum in the 1800s. They have a lot of knowledge but I thought them destroyed after the First's attack on the Council. Turns out they were actually in the next dimension over, waiting for the tides to turn in the battle against evil. They have reached out to you, Buffy. They want to hand their knowledge and library over to you. You specifically, as a reward."
TBC
