Xander ran into something and stared. "No," he muttered. "Guys, move," he ordered quietly. "Now please." The hunters stared and one's eyes went wide then he moved, pulling Cyril back. "Cyril, I need that minister. I think. Or a religious figure at least." He nodded, making that call. "Evacuate the other girls while you're at it."
Xander stepped forward, wincing at the cold wind the gathered spirits sent around him. "I am not the reason you passed but I will help you get peace if I can," he offered quietly and calmly. "Let me help you find peace?" They stared at him. "How can I help you find peace? Who are you hunting?"
They touched him and he saw, wincing as he hugged himself but nodded. "I will find him and help you get peace. Cyril, I could use a higher level detective in their internal affairs people if we can too," he called without looking back that way. Cyril called that in and got the other hunters and slayers out of the park.
"Are you buried nearby?" Xander asked them. "So we can have you interned properly?" They showed him where the graves were. He nodded, saying a prayer over them for a peaceful afterlife. Minister Hargress, the current one from the hunters, showed up with a car door slam and walked over then paused and moaned. Xander looked back. "I've seen one from a battlefield and one where there was some clan-on-clan violence. These unfairly dead seek justice and peace, Minister Hargress."
"I can see that, Harris. Did they show you why?"
"Yes. There's an asshole in a uniform." He stood up when a detective walked over with an officer. "Sir, are you higher up or internal affairs?"
"I'm not either, Watcher Harris, I'm Homicide though and if it was one of us I'm going to send him to hell with them beating him." Xander let him see the graves and he moaned. "Oh, shit." He looked at the spirits. "Is this all of you?"
They shook their heads and some of the mass of spirits split off to show him their graves. He went on a swearing rant when they showed him why. "If he did it he's going to follow you. If he just helped he'll go after a few decades in jail." He looked at Harris, who nodded at that, swallowing hard. "Your first one?"
"Saw two in Africa. One from a heritage level war and one from a battleground. This one's pretty small."
"Shit, kid."
"Well, spirits like me," he said dryly. A few of them were touching him. "How can I help them get peace?"
"We can work on that. You got time tonight?"
"I've got nothing to do for a few days until it's my turn to yell at the girls again. I can be up for days."
"Good. We may need to know things if they can tell you their names." Xander nodded at that, looking down. "Thank you." Xander shot him a tiny grin. He called that in and got staff to come undig the graves and gather the dead so they could make formal charges. Someone from the city showed up too and gave them a map of where they were asked to ignore. Someone had correlated that with the last head of the park's insistence that they leave certain areas alone. They found a few more. And ones not associated with that.
Xander stopped one. "That's a self sacrifice to close the damn hole," he said. "It's pinned to his chest. His clan buried him to guard it afterwards." The ME's staff nodded at that and left him there for now. Any other marked ones they asked for him to see if he could read them. There had been a lot of sacrificed people who died to keep the hellmouth closed before the slayers moved there. They could find a better burial ground for them nearby to honor their sacrifices.
***
Minister Hargress looked at Giles and a few of the top level hunters that night. "They walked into a massed ghoul basically. I have no idea what they're called but they're angry dead sharing energy for strength to solve what killed 'em. We have records of them being at most bigger battlefields where people were just dumped.
"Most of the ones in Europe got cleaned up over the years, including the ones from the torture camps. This one's got under twenty souls together." That got a nod from Giles, who was looking that up. They found those records and went over them. "The boy's a medium?"
"Yes, and he cannot put on shields," Giles warned. "He wears an external one and I believe he's got a few hidden protections against them. Why did they come up now?"
"That one, he just got promoted, it was in the paper," Cyril said. The minister grimaced at that. "Guess that'll be changing if they can prove it."
"Even if they can't, he can go away," Hargress told him. "Be damned if we want that to keep going. Also, they found the remains of some who self sacrificed, and a few who didn't, to keep the hole closed."
Giles frowend. "I had no idea they had to do that. Before Sunnydale's went down, this one wasn't that active we were told."
"Maybe that's why," Hargress said.
"We'll help them remove the bodies to a suitable burial center to honor them," Giles said firmly, looking at his people, who all nodded. "I fear we may have Xander being in something like psychic shock when this is done."
"That may depend on how close they get to him and if they leave cleanly," Hargress said.
"Things tend to stick to Xander. Like the hyena he got possessed by. I have no idea if he took any training from the holy men in Africa over that. I should have asked but it never came up."
Hargress nodded. "We can help him manage that once they're gone. Or at least on their way to being gone home." He looked at Cyril. "You can tell."
"I can and I could go help if you need me to. Drove me nuts for years until I managed a shield. And that was only after they tried to attack the camp I was in. Then Mikey kicked my ass when I felt guilty."
"All right. Though I would've kicked Marl's ass for letting you be that way."
"He was out."
"Still." He stared at him. Then at Samia, who came up to hug her husband. "Good." He looked at the slayers. "He'll want some quiet and meditation time probably. That means without you girls nagging him or needing him. Can you do that?"
"Some of them," Faith said. "Some...." She shrugged. "We'll try though."
"Good." He nodded. "The police have the bodies they're still finding. And that guy. They just have to prove it. I'll go bless them to move on peacefully as soon as they're all out and done with the ME's office."
"Let us know if we can help. We don't tend to deal with much of that sort of thing," Giles said.
"Of course. Your girls had better learn before they run into one in the field." He grimaced. "It's not real pleasant at times but sometimes you gotta help them move on." He walked off frowning to go back to where the kid was helping and trying not to pass out. "Xander, sit," he ordered. The kid sat without remark. He looked at the spirits. "Don't you dare stick or hurt him," he warned. "He's helping you and he's delicate because he's still living." They nodded and quit hanging on him so much.
The ME on site looked at him. "You're a minister?"
"Lutheran but yes. I'm also a hunter." He smiled. "I'm Minister Hargress out of Georgia." They shook hands. "I'm up to work with the slayers."
"One of the new hunters that showed up?" the ME guessed.
"I am."
"Is this from your people?"
"No. These can gather whenever there's unjustly dead. Or just a lot of dead. Most battlefields have ones that got dissipated. Sites of horrible incidences have them too often too. We clean up where we can and if they're too big, we do what we can."
"I get that. So they're merged?"
"For strength and stability they've merged into one giant ghoul basically, though they're not actually a ghoul but it's about as close as we can explain it." That got a nod and the ME made a note for himself. "We offer to help them find peace and justice if we can. If we can, we get a religious leader of their type in to help us. Sometimes that matters and sometimes it doesn't." That got another note made. "This time, I don't think we'll need too many blessings. They seem to want justice and found out Xander could speak for 'em."
"That's what we thought. Is he going to be okay?"
"It'll mind shock him a lot. We can help him through that too." Xander looked over. "There's meditations to help with that, kid."
"I'm doing what I learned from the shaman and holy men in Africa I trained with." He got up, going to stare at one body then at the group of spirits. That one faded in and out. "What's your name, sweetheart?" he asked gently. The ghost told him. "He said he liked to be called Brad but his mother called him Stanley."
"We can make that note," the ME agreed, making a note to put on that body. That was a young teen, if that old. He looked at the spirit and decided to start by age instead of time found since they were all found about the same time. Xander went back to noting names that he got told.
An ancient man walked over as he put on his scarf and robe. "Can I help, Gentlemen?" he asked.
Xander looked at him. "Rabbi, I'm not sure if any are yours."
"A prayer for the dead never hurts, Harris."
"I know, but we need to know their names first, Rabbi."
"Agreed. We can help with that. You're not the only one who can talk to and see them, kid. Sit down." Xander sat down and let him handle some of it for him. Minister Hargress nodded at him. He smiled back. "Minister."
"Rabbi." They shook hands. "I've seen some smaller ones on battlefields in the past."
"I've seen some bigger ones. Unfortunately." They went back to helping those ones find justice and peace. A prayer for the dead over the found bodies and noted let their spirits go back to peace. That one they had identified had just covered it up for his brother. The locals would be having a long talk with both of them later. The brother had kept notes so they had more things to find their families and notify them. The officer hadn't wanted to know.
Hargress took Xander back to the Council compound and settled him in for a long meditation to clear off the remains of the spirits touching him so firmly. He'd keep some memories but not as many with some help blocking them out.
***
Cyril and Samia had to go back home and let one of the more local training camps take over for them. Samia looked at her family, who were at the training camp she headed. Then at her husband then back at them. "Cleveland is just insane. Did John give you guys the notes?" They all nodded. "The girls are fashionable and cutesy." Elmira grinned at that.
"It's how they handle stress instead of sex and running around naked. They don't often have sex." She sighed, sitting down and cuddling her baby. "Were you a good boy?" He nodded. "Good. Thank you." She cuddled him. "The slayers are desperate for help. They didn't even remark on the grumpy asshole moments some of the hunters had about them."
Cyril handed over notes. "They found a serial killer's burial areas and ones that had been self sacrificing to keep the damn hole down," Cyril said. His uncle Marl, who ran the camp he had trained in, winced as he looked it over. "Harris is fully burnt to a crisp but can't let it go. Vampires took the one he knew since before he could talk. And he's a medium that has no shields outside a few mystical runes."
Marl winced again but nodded. "Can we help him fix that?"
"He can't create one. He's fully tainted by the hellmouth out in Sunnydale, and the one in Cleveland, and every one he runs into. Apparently they think he's snuggly," Samia quipped with a grin for John, who had been out there. He was sitting with his wife Sarzi in his lap and his face tucked into her neck as he moaned about that. "They can track where he is in town by watching how the hellmouth reacts and where it's leaning."
Elmira raised her hand. "That portal hole?" Samia nodded with a grin. "Can we undo that thing with his energy stores?"
"It's a rip into the universe," Cyril said. "We can't undo it at all, Mira." She winced but nodded once, letting Mike cuddle her. "Apparently it's a silent tradition that no kids be born near the things. Somehow it's never encouraged. His mom was so drunk she didn't realize she was in labor." Marl moaned but nodded once, going back to the information. He stiffened and stared at them. "Yeah, he and Hagress helped get the spirits calmed down and he'd seen two before. A rabbi showed up and helped too."
"Great." He looked at them. "Would the girls work with our methods of training?"
"They use a lot of the same things but the girls are encouraged to be *girls*. First and always, they're girls who have a nasty after-hours job according to Buffy."
"Is that her name or her use name?" John asked.
"Nickname. The slayers don't have use names." He grimaced. "As one tiny one said, they're all mythical somehow. Even if they don't go on patrol they're all mythical. Oh, and get this, the higher demon lords there are *very* amused by a few of them. Xander, Buffy, Faith, Dawn - Buffy's sister -, and about three other slayers plus the witch that made the wish and her girlfriend Kennedy.
"They *hate* them but they're all very amused by them. Especially since some of them have owed debts that they'll use during things. Xander's reported one where he had to call in to get some major help due to what was happening. That demon lord finally showed up during the battle, saw, then waved it away and huffed off again. But it stopped that invasion attempt. He still owes Xander at least another one."
"Xander has one because he warned the demon not to block him getting some stress relief and weapons earning time with a contact," Cyril said with a grin. "The demon did it anyway so Xander called it a debt for cockblocking him."
"Cockblocking is mean," Mikey said dryly. "Is he ...right? I mean, all right?"
"Mostly," Samia said with a grin. "He's a normal guy who jumped in because one little girl shouldn't save the world and they had taken his friend. Had no skills outside D&D." Mikey whined. "The non-bloodlined hunters all understood him pretty well. They all stepped in for the same reason but he didn't get trained. The watcher guy Giles didn't get permission to do that back then so he learned however."
"Off movies," Cyril said dryly. "And tv shows." Marl groaned again but nodded once. "He's not bad. He's had some nasty injuries though. Missing an eye. Getting arthritis in a shoulder and his hands. He'll have to retire to training sometime soon."
Marl nodded. "Can he train?"
"Yeah. The slayers get a download from the slayer essence. It gives them weapons and fight knowledge. So he helps them get in touch with her and learn from all the stuff shoved into them."
"Is that safe for them?" Mikey asked. He looked at the phone Elmira was holding that their other husband was listening from. "I know he'd be complaining."
"I'm throwing a private fit so I don't wake up the babies," Marcus said from the phone.
"It's not tainted, they're not tainted, but the original spell to create the girls was foul," Cyril said. "They have a written account that had been passed down orally. They picked a girl because girls were considered expendable and shoved some gifts they stole from demons into her, then made her go fight. She had no idea about any of that. Buffy meditated about all that and Xander helped Samia join in with that using some of the skills he learned from the holy men in Africa." He looked at his wife.
"She was amused that they suddenly got more hunters, tested us and said our marks were weird, but we were worthy. So some of us who're marked may someday wear both marks. She wasn't sure when I asked that. And when I asked how we could help her relations she said to be good hunters. Hunters saved slayers work. Buffy sighed but agreed it was a good thing. Even if she does want Xander to retire.
"They worked out that the slayer spirit is very pleased with the new hunters helping. She expected more of her girls to retire to be good wives. Or as she put it, bearing partners. Buffy pointed out they were mostly infertile due to the slayer gifts so she showed her how to unblock that. Mr. Giles was amazed but not fully amused. He hadn't thought about that being a magical curse on the line. But now it's ended."
"Buffy announced that and all the girls checked their birth control status," Cyril said dryly. "They were on them to prevent their monthly cycles. Hunting blood sucking things while you're bleeding isn't really wise and they agreed with that."
Marl nodded at that, walking off nodding. They heard the kitchen door slam and then him ranting outside. Mikey looked. "Wow, not even I caused that sort of fit," he said in awe. Elmira nudged him with an elbow. "He had a few about me when I was younger, Mi." He kissed her with a grin. "Would I get along with Xander?"
"Yup," Cyril said dryly. "You're both weird in the same ways. If you and I had a kid it'd be very Xanderish."
"That's a thought to make hell run," John said bitterly. He shook his head quickly. "Is he dating?"
"Nope. He has some weapons friends he goes to blow for weapons the girls might need." Samia grinned at him. "He'd love a new serious partner but his last one, Anya, she died."
"I heard, and saw a video of her complaining when someone asked him about his ex's," John said through a wince.
"She had been a vengeance demon for over a thousand years," Samia said with a smirk. "Over women scorned."
John shuddered, hugging his wife tightly to his chest. "That's so bad."
"Only dirtier people seem to like him," Samia quipped. "None of the hunters liked him that way but a few of the dirtier locals did."
Cyril patted her on the arm. "One of the marked girls that showed up thought he was cute so Hargress took her aside to make sure she was all right. He made her go back to her house and get therapy. Buffy joked but he laid it a bit low about all that if she was liking him that way. She may have her own battle burnout."
John looked up at them. "That one battle was bad enough."
"About middle of their major battles," she said. "Their worst was the invasion in LA and the battle in Sunnydale that shut it down."
"I heard," he admitted. "I asked. I was horrified and felt sick for days." He looked at his wife. "They went into the seal's part of the hellmouth out there to fight the First Evil. Seven of their girls had to bleed on the altar. Then they had to make it back out before the guy they had tortured to get the blood to open it started to bleed." She shuddered, curling up in his arms. "Exactly." He cuddled her. "I'm in awe that Xander survived all that. And the girls. But I seriously think he could use a long vacation. Far, far away from all women."
Samia grinned. "He told Buffy she was a reason he was gay."
He nodded. "I can see that with the way we saw her nagging him." He cuddled his wife, shifting her some on his lap with a sigh. "Are they letting some of the slayers join our camps?"
"As secondary level training," Samia said with a nod. Marl came back in. "The slayers can join a training camp as a secondary level of training."
"That's fine. I'm sure they'll enjoy that. It means our girls will be a bit more well rounded." He sat down, rubbing his forehead. "Can we set someone up with that Xander guy?"
"He'd love having someone who understood," Cyril said. "He's awful lonely a lot of the time. The girls drive them off or they're not really great people to have in the US though." He shrugged a bit. "He'd enjoy having a mate again."
"That's good." He nodded once. "I'll ask around to see if any of the cousins might like the guy." He looked at John.
"I asked a few who're like him. Timothy VanDykle thought that'd be too alike. He might need someone who understood and hunted but was steadier and could hold him from rushing into things that didn't need him, just needed someone. He also thought a lot of the other watchers needed to do more field work because they were book work for the most part. Xander's about the only field watcher who's not in a foreign house. He'd still be in Africa but they worked out they didn't want women protecting them."
Marl nodded. "I can see a lot of men hating that but oh well." He was rubbing his forehead. "Is it that nuts there?"
"No more so than any other training camp," Samia said with a grin for him. "Though they do let the girls pick their own clothes so they have a lot of clothing checks every morning and before the girls go on patrol for things like skirts being too short and things that should be underclothes being worn as clothes." Sarzi giggled. Elmira grinned. "Seriously. One girl wore a sports bra as her whole top to school. Well, she tried.
"Xander grabbed her and forced her back up the stairs then told her she had four minutes to put on a real shirt, real leggings under her miniskirt and shoes without heels. Then he walked off muttering to check the others and sent half of them to change fast before he made them walk the few miles to school. Then he got onto Buffy about her clothes until she complained they were *cute*."
Elmira hid her laughing in Mikey's shoulder, shaking her head. "Maybe more watchers?" Sarzi suggested. "We know some hunters who could do that and the training jobs."
"Do not even suggest it's us," John warned in a growl.
"No, dear. I'd miss the family and our daughter would miss her cousins." She turned to cuddle him so he calmed down. That helped him a lot.
Marl looked at his wife, who winked as she came in from a patrol. "They're back."
"I saw their car pull in. How weird was it?"
"About like here but they're happier, kept happier, girls who like to shop," Cyril said. "A lot."
Michelle blinked a few times. "They shop."
"They shop like we have sex," Samia told her with a grin. "They're taught to be cute to bait. But they do it all the time. Including to school."
Michelle nodded. "I'd have to stop that." She kissed Marl and went to get a drink. "Only two biters and one of their type of vampires, the staking kind."
"That's good to know," Samia agreed. She looked at Marl. "They're allowing hunters to come in to help train with them."
"I'll tell the cousins that." He looked at John, who was shaking his head. "You sure?"
"Yup. And don't send Marcus either. He'll growl at 'em like they're evil when they giggle and try to pet his hair. They did it to that guy in Georgia who came up with Hargress." He sighed. "They're giggling girls who act like cheerleaders."
"They do get a piece of each slayer called before them and Buffy had died for a minute due to drowning so they got some of her too," Cyril said dryly. "She had been a popular cheerleader in an upper class LA school."
John looked at him. "That figures." He looked at Marl again. Who was shaking his head. "They're kept happy young women, which I appreciate. I just can't handle that level of happy and bouncy girls. Even the tiny ones in the house are bouncy."
"It's kinda cute. Their one day a week with a plastic sword, they'll let out a fake battle yell and then attack you like they're vicious," Samia said with a grin for her mate, who nodded and rubbed a bruise. "Whoever wins gets to pick out her cookies first that night."
"Twenty little girls below the age of eight," Cyril said dryly. "With a plastic sword, cute pigtails, and a bloodthirst worse than a biter's. I taught 'em how to chase prey." He grinned at John. "Then let them chase him."
John nodded. "Thankfully without the plastic swords but I nearly didn't get away. The only reason I did is one spotted Xander and went after him instead. Which made him sigh but evade them for over an hour. It made them learn how to hunt better according to the house mother guy."
"Andrew," Cyril said. "Used to want to be an evil overlord with his buddies."
John blinked at him. "Excuse me?" He nodded with a grin. "Oh. Charming." He put his face back in his wife's throat to rest his headache.
"Whole bunch of orphans thanks to the thing that brought down Sunnydale," Samia explained. "Social workers overlook them and all that to make sure they're healthy little girls." Marl just nodded at that but got up and went to find his wife to make the world make sense again. Samia grinned at her son, who grinned back. "We need a snack." He squealed, getting off her lap to go to the kitchen. She and Cyril followed.
John sighed. "I think I want to stay at the camp for a few weeks unless something horrible is going on. I miss our room."
"We can go home and lock ourselves in our room until our daughter needs things," Sarzi soothed, cuddling his head.
"We're going home," he called as he got up, carrying Sarzi to the car. He came back to get their daughter, who was pouty, but he wanted to go home and hide. If Elmira and Mikey followed that was reasonable. They probably wanted to hide from the girls too. Or get back to Marcus sooner.
***
Xander looked at the pouting teenage girls then at the hunters working on their training. "Yeah, you girls gotta learn how to do the hunting stuff," he said patiently. "These guys have years of experience you can learn from. You're all at the age to learn the basics of hunting so yeah, learn from the experienced guys."
The girls pouted. "But they're guys," one said.
Xander nodded. "Yay!" He grinned at them. "They're all experienced hunters," he said again. "And any pouting means I get to tell Andrew to ignore making dessert tonight." They huffed as a group but the guys got back to working with them. Xander got his few to start with too. His were the younger ones who were just starting the real training. They were still pouting but oh well. Being a slayer was a hard life and they had to train. Even if they didn't want to go on patrol. It could save their lives someday.
One of the girls huffed off and went to pout in the bathroom instead. Xander looked up then at the other girls. "Okay," he decided. "Ladies, let's have a talk. Matilda!" She came back. "Let's have a reality talk, ladies. Even if you don't go on patrol, because I know a few of you don't want to go on patrol, this stuff can still save your lives if you're attacked. Even if you're attacked by regular human guys."
He stared at them. They all slumped, pouting at that. "Yeah, we're training you in how to hunt but it's also self defense work. So you have to learn so we don't have to mourn you because some night some yahoo decided to hate that you have a mole on your shoulder. Or Goddess forbid, a boyfriend or spouse.
"You may never need to stake something but knowing how and knowing how to block those blows means you can do it if it's an idiot in school or a boyfriend or an idiot in the mall or whoever. So yeah, it's important. These guys gave been training since they were younger than you presently are and look at their ages." He waved a hand. "So learn from experience here. Please! I don't want to have to add your names to the obelisk garden."
One of the hunters nodded. "Some of our marked ones don't hunt either, ladies. They're not made to hunt, not mentally or physically."
"Which is why we let the girls decide that," Xander agreed with a nod. "They get to decide if they go on patrol or battle status or anything like that."
"Which we appreciate," that hunter agreed. "But girls still gotta be able to protect themselves from leeches who're pretending to be men and women."
"We're not allowed to date," one of the girls said.
Xander nodded. "Not until we know you can protect yourself if you're trapped with one in a car and know how to get away from one pressuring you in a party, a club, or even in the school. I *hated* the time I had to help get one of you to an ER for that *special* exam, ladies. I never want to have to help another of you do that again." They blinked and looked at each other. "Yeah, it's happened. By statistics at least a third of you will be attacked. We want you able to get out of that shit! And damage them if you have to."
They nodded, getting back to work. "Do we have to learn how to stake?"
"Yeah," Xander said dryly. "Some day you may need it to save your lives. And it does translate to knives if you're forced to do that. Ask Sandra later, in private." They nodded, going back to training with the older hunters. Xander got to work with his. They had to know, they all had to know. He hated it ruining their innocence but they had to know. Xander heard one girl crying in the hallway and went to check on her, tipping her face up. "Boyfriend trouble?" he guessed.
"Idiot girls." She sniffled, hugging him, getting a hug back. "I hate going to school."
"I know. There's a way to homeschool but you have to get permission from Giles and you have to actually do the same amount of work, if not more." He kissed her on the top of the head. "Idiot girls happen all your life. Most of them won't grow out of it. You've seen the older version in the malls." She nodded, just pouting for now. "We're running newbie training. Want to come help?"
"Yeah, I can help." She let him go, going in there. "Ladies, there's bitches in high school. You cannot stake them because they're supposedly human but sometimes you gotta workout to wear out the stress they gave you." She took Xander's newbies to work with.
Xander came back in. "Help Stephnie's group, Hannah." He pointed. She went to help her group. There were five of them with the one hunter so it was a good help. Xander looked at the girls. "Like those things in the mall that complain at you? They started that in school and never grew out of it. If you run into that level of bullying, you can talk to us about it or to Giles about switching schools or even home schooling if you need to." They nodded, getting back to the training.
"Have you had to beat a guy with this stuff?" one of the girls asked Hannah. "Xander said we might have to."
Hannah looked at her, then sighed and nodded. "Three different times. Honestly, two I was breaking rules and got in over my head."
"It's not your fault they tried you that way," Xander ordered.
"I know. But still, I realize I was breaking rules and got into danger. I went to a party," she told the girls. "I shouldn't have. My friends warned me the guy I was with wasn't a decent being you could call human. They were right. I wasn't alone with them but they were trying to drug me at that party." Xander winced, looking down.
"And I realized it so I called them on it and had to kick some ass to get myself and my friends out of there. One of them's mom got us to the ER to make sure we'd be okay. Which we were, but if I hadn't been able to get us out of there, we might not have been. And it can happen anywhere. Even if you're not breaking rules.
"I had one of the bitches that I was stress crying about earlier try to drug me with acid on some paper she put into my soup. Fortunately a friend noticed her tossing it into my soup and got the teacher in the lunch room to come get it because I was talking." Xander stared at her. "Oh, the principal was *livid*," she assured him with a grin.
"He handled her. And she's back now." She looked at the girls. "Xander's right. Even though I knew I was breaking the rules, they didn't have the right to try to drug me. Even if I had consented to drink, which I kinda did, they didn't have the right to drug us. That's consent stuff and it's really important.
"Even if you're naked, they don't have the right to touch you. Looking you can't stop if you're naked, but touching, no." The girls nodded at that. "If they try shit, you stop that! Immediately! And if you need that painful trip to the ER," she said bitterly. "Then you ask and we go with you. Us, Xander, Faith. Buffy might not be able to handle it, but Faith was a street kid. Kennedy I doubt could."
"Me, Sara, Faith, the senior girls who're sensible," Xander agreed quietly. "We'll take you if you need us to and hold your hand all you need us to. Then we'll go kick their asses until we're arrested for assault." He looked at her. "You could have called me. Ladies, even if you're higher than fuck, I'd rather come pick you up and drive you home than have you trapped somewhere or driving drunk or anything.
"I'll yell the next morning, I promise you I will if you're that drunk or high of your own free will, but I will help you get out of things if you need me to. If I'm here, you call my ass. I'll show up to help. I brought SWAT to one of the parties I helped break up thanks to Stella trying to get hold of a friend who was being drugged against her will. Her mom thanked me, Stella said her friend changed schools, but be damned if I won't go rabid parent if I need to." He hugged one girl that looked ready to cry. "That's why you learn self defense."
"Yeah, I get that," she said, looking at Hannah then at him. "Is that really common?"
"No, but it happens enough that it's not newsworthy," he admitted. "Which sucks. It happens to guys too and no one listens but yeah, if you need us, we'll show up. Even Buffy, though I'm pretty sure she'll complain if you're just needing a ride home for being drunk. Though she went to a few frat parties and drank pretty much her first semester." He grinned at the girl he was hugging.
"So we're going to teach you to defend yourself against guys or vampires. And how to handle vampires in case it's their problem instead of some idiot boy." The girls nodded, getting back to training. Buffy leaned in. "Having a bit of a talk about idiot boys who do bad things," he noted. "Hannah's having problems with bullies."
Hannah looked over. "I kept myself from beating them this time," she admitted. "I was stress crying."
"We can talk about it, Hannah. Do you need to switch schools? And girls, if you're drunk and/or high and you need a ride home, I'll nag the next day. I remember doing that in college and I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't." She got Hannah to go sit and talk with her.
Xander nodded. "She can tell you about sorcerers who drug beers too," he offered. The girls groaned but got back to training. The hunters gave him an odd look for that but went back to training. "That reminds me, Faith needs her license renewed." He texted her then got back to his own training group.
The hunters could ask Buffy about that later.
***
Xander walked up to one of the senior watchers and punched him, knocking him down. "Even if they're breaking rules, that does not justify them being attacked. If you think that does, then you need to get away from the girls for their own safety." He walked over him. "Ladies, if you're attacked for any reason that's not a vampire, remember most of us aren't judgmental and we'll help you if you need us to. Be damned if most of us ignore the laws of consent." He glared at one watcher, who shook his head quickly. "You sure?"
"I did talk to him once the girls were gone," he offered. "I'd never believe they deserved it for any reason, Harris."
"Good. I'm *real* firm about that. And ladies, some of us will drive you home if you need us to. Even if you're drunk, high, whatever. Or to the ER if you need us to." He smirked at one girl. "I'll even show up with police if I have to break up something." That girl shuddered but nodded. Xander had done that to a party she had went to. For almost no reason but it had gotten them out of there. He whistled as he walked off, going to get coffee.
Giles cleared his throat. "Yes, I feel the same way, ladies. And I will also drive you home and not nag until the next day when we have a talk about what had happened to need the ride home. As many of the older of us have done, I did go to college and college parties and did drink quite a bit with them. Unlike me, you won't need to hide from the demon you accidentally summoned while drunk. So do call." They nodded, getting back to eating.
Buffy nodded. "Most of us senior girls would say the same thing. Or take you to the ER if you need it. We'll nag the next day. The same as Xander will. But if you need a ride, call us!"
Faith nodded. "I need to redo my license but yeah, even without it I'd bring you girls home. Be damned if I'm going to let you suffer that way." A few smiled at her for that. "You tiny ones remember that for when you're old enough to be out on your own too." The tiny committee of future slayers all grinned at her for remembering them. She looked at Buffy. "Did you ever tell them about your cave slayer thing in college?"
"No," she said dryly. "That was not my doing, Faith. That was a sorcerer who hated drunk college kids."
"Uh-huh." She grinned at the girls. "So she was at a college bar with some frat brothers. The guy who ran the pub had a brother or someone who was a sorcerer who made something to put into tap beer. The more you drank, the further back you went. Buffy went all the way back to 'fire pretty' I'm told." Buffy sighed but nodded, stuffing her mouth.
Giles looked at them. "She had many problems her first semester at college. We hope none of you do have the same level of problems. Or the ones I had at Oxford." He smiled a bit. "I completely missed one class every week due to being free finally. Nearly flunked out of school until someone had a long talk with me about my responsibilities. Which was after I accidentally summoned that demon while drunk," he sighed. He ate a bite, but shook his head as he chewed.
The oldest watcher looked down at him. "I remember having that talk with you, Rupert." He smiled at the girls. "We understand the urge to get into trouble now that you're not under such strict watch as the old system had. We would prefer you not run as wild as all that. We do not want to admit anyone to rehabilitation for any reason or a maternity ward." The girls nodded at that, talking with each other about that stuff.
The visiting hunters smiled at how protective and parental they were towards the younger girls. It was good to see. Even if some of the older slayers were sighing in displeasure at that announcement.
Then one girl turned and slapped the one next to her for daring to mutter shit about that. "Really?" she demanded. "And yet I had to bring one of us to an ER for being drugged by her date last month." The slapped girl shrank down. "Yeah, most of us would help the girls who need it. If *you* don't, I'd hate to be in your future house. Be damned if I'd ever let one of us suffer through something that bad." She looked at Buffy, who was smirking at her. "No comment. She asked me not to."
Buffy waved her fork. "Was she all right?"
"Yeah, just a bit drugged. The PD made a report."
"Good. I won't ask her to out herself. I doubt she'd be the only one, just by statistics, but I'm glad you did that. Thank you for helping her, Sid."
"It's the right thing to do. I wouldn't even let a woman I hate go through that stuff." She went back to eating. The girl she had slapped was shrinking down in her seat.
Kennedy looked at the girls. "I'm going back to London's house to run it, ladies. I won't put up with drunken behavior in the house or from my girls but if you get into trouble, like the others I'll complain the next morning. My girls will take you to an ER if you need it and we will be nagging the next day if it was your idea but most of us in foreign houses would come to help you ladies too. We're sisters in this duty and we support each other." They nodded, smiling at her. "Though Willow does not drive and will nag sooner. So call me, not her?" That got a few smiles and nods.
Buffy looked at her. "Ya think? Sometimes she turns into her mother with the nagging. Though she didn't nag me about drinking." She shrugged.
"I told her to quit nagging the girls the last time I caught her doing so," Giles said dryly. "It was counterproductive."
Hannah looked up. "Giles, they let that bitch back into the school."
He stared at her. "Are you wanting to switch, Hannah?"
"I don't know yet. Maybe. It'll be my second change though."
He shrugged. "There's sixteen schools you girls can go to. You've only been to three. And that one girl should not be allowed back. Talk to me later, dear." She nodded. Buffy smiled at him about that.
Xander came jogging back. "Um, turn the protections please, Giles. We've got idiot yahoos storming this way blasting music from their hoopdies." He went to get something from the armory and went to handle it. The police sure wouldn't and they all knew that. The guys saw him and a few drove away faster than normal. The rest... well, Xander was hated by the local police department for being a bit militant. They'd get to complain again tonight. The visiting hunters came out to help him. "Guys, I've got it. I'm well known for this."
"Not just your duty now, Harris," Minister Hargress said as he came out with a shotgun. "No wonder you called them idiot yahoos." He nodded and shot a tire, making that car try to speed off. The police were finally showing up, twenty minutes after the first car had shown up - from six blocks away. The yahoos fled from them and the guys relaxed but the officers tried to menace them too.
Minister Hagress stared at one. "Be damned if God would like that, young man. I'm a Minister, I do speak for Him." The officer backed off quickly and nearly ran away too. Xander snuck inside. The hunters went after him once they could. Hargress came in last looking smug. "I should talk to some of the local ministers." The other hunters smiled at that bit of meanness.
Though now they understood why the witch had made a wish to get the girls more backup. They might decide not to hate her for that after all.
***
Xander met with a principal a few days later. "Sorry, it's my turn," he said happily. He hugged Hannah, who moaned at that. "Broken, sprained, bruised, or otherwise?"
"Sore," she said with a wince. "I have no idea what they did."
"Well, we're going to the ER then, huh?" She whined. "Oh well. Just in case. Is that child who drugged her arrested?" he asked.
The principal slowly shook his head. "Why would we?"
"For drugging another student. Again?" He pulled out his phone then put it back and went to the doorway then out of the office. "There you are! Come talk with us, Officer!" He smiled. The officer winced but followed. "Where is that child that needs arrested?"
"In the nurse's office with an ice pack. Your girl smacked the hell out of her, sir."
"Oh, hi, I'm Xander Harris. Head training watcher." He smiled. "And I'm glad since this is the second time she's been drugged here. Aren't you glad she defended herself?"
"I did not know about that." He looked at the principal.
"Her buddy, the blonde thang, tossed acid, like the tripping kind, into my soup one day," Hannah said. She shifted and moaned. "She had to help since that one was talking to me. So premeditated."
The officer nodded. "I was not aware of that, miss."
"I'm Slayer Hannah." She waved a hand then winced at that movement. "Xander, I...." She threw up.
"We're going to the ER," he said. He looked at the officer. "Do you want to come along to take a report about what she got exposed to?"
"Yes I do and I want her in an ambulance for formality's sake, sir. You seem a bit mad."
"I was the guy training the girls at home in Africa, Officer." He smiled. "I've seen worse but not often from American teenage girls. Where did she get the drugs?" He looked at the Principal while the officer called an ambulance and Xander hugged Hannah to help her throw up.
"I have no idea. Can we not get this noticed?"
"Hell. No," Xander said bluntly. "You're lucky I haven't called a hell god down here to deal with that little bitch. I've seen some pretty bad things from terrorists who hated that they're girls, but *really*. You're allowing this to happen. Again? Why wasn't she arrested for the blotter acid?"
"I don't know."
Xander looked at the officer. "I'm going to find out," he offered. A paramedic walked in. "We had this young slayer, Hannah, drugged by something that's making her throw up."
"She's super sensitive to any touch or movement," Xander said. "It's making her dizzy and therefore nauseous. Her pulse is a bit thready and fast but not too far out of normal from what I can feel in her throat. She can't swallow." He looked. "She's just recently eaten."
"Okay. Are you a paramedic, sir?"
"I'm Watcher Xander Harris."
"Oh, you're him. Okay. We were told you were one of the first responder trained watchers. Miss?" Hannah sniffled but Xander helped her up and she wobbled hard. "Let's get you on a gurney, dear. So you don't fall and break something. Officer?"
"I want a report. The same girls apparently tried to drug her with blotter a few months ago. I have no idea what this is."
"Me either and I've unfortunately met a few street drugs in my training days." Xander picked her up when she passed out. "Let's get her a bed?" The paramedic got the gurney in there and Xander put her on it, walking out with her. "Can you have her backpack sent with one of our other girls?" he asked the officer. "They can probably pop each other's lockers."
"Yeah, not a problem. Let me get my backup here." He called that in and that officer showed up after talking to one of the other slayers in class. This was going to get nasty. Xander wasn't the polite guy the other watchers were. He was a young American asshole guy. He'd become a Karen if he had to.
***
Xander looked up as the officer came in that night. "They in jail?"
"Yes. That's dangerous. Is she okay?"
"Do not know," Xander admitted then sighed. "No clue yet. The docs aren't sure."
The officer nodded. "Can I get her records for the DA?" Xander signed the order where his name was supposed to be. "Mr. Giles isn't here yet?"
"He's overseeing dinner and he'll be here in about an hour or you can go there. Buffy's having a fit from what I got told."
"Thank you, Mr. Harris." He went to find Mr. Giles to sign it as well since he was the head watcher. The DA was more than happy to have that paperwork.
Xander leaned on the bed rail, staring at her. "Okay, Hannah. Time to wake up and complain a lot," he said quietly. "You gotta wake up, baby girl."
***
Rupert Giles stared at the parent across the courtroom the next day. The girls' parents were complaining it was just some bullying. "Your Honor, our girl is presently comatose from whatever concoction they came up with. However they created it. We're not sure our girl will survive that. Their spoiled little brats did this the *second* time they drugged that same young woman. The first time they used blotter acid and were caught. Not charged but caught. Isn't it time for the law to actually work?"
The judge winced. "I was not aware of that."
"That's funny since she was suspended for a mere month. She was back a week when this happened. All of us are livid and it's really more healthy for their children to be somewhere protective as I can't keep some of my girls from stomping them if they run into them. All my girls are quite peeved to the point of us doing daily temper meditations instead of training right now."
The judge nodded. "Teenage girls can have tempers, Mr. Giles. I've got one of those myself and I couldn't stop her." He looked at the parents. "This was the second offense?" He looked at the DA.
The DA looked in the file. "There was a report made but nothing was done, Your Honor. Even though they caught the girls having thrown the blotter into Slayer Hannah's soup in the lunch room. The principal refused to let us press charges." He handed over that file. "Frankly, I wanted to do it then."
"How did they get the blotter?" the judge asked the parents, who were complaining about their kids being charged. Still. "People, how did your children get drugs?" he demanded. They didn't know or wouldn't say. "Fine. They're remanded to custody of juvenile services unless the DA wants to charge them as adults."
"Oh, yes I do," he said, handing over that paperwork. "That's also to amend the charges to attempted murder one with the premeditation they showed." The parents started to shout.
"You only care because she's a slayer!" one shouted, throwing something at him.
The DA looked at her. "Usually I wouldn't charge anyone attacking a slayer. They've complained about that a lot because of the attacks on the house. And you're going to be arrested for assault, ma'am. Bailiff?" He came to arrest her. She struggled but oh well. He looked at the judge. "I also have here a request to be kept informed of her medical status." He handed it to Giles, who nodded. "If something big happens I'd like to know. Or if it takes one of the demonic healers?"
"Of course. It would be pertinent." He adjusted his glasses. "We just hope she survives right now." He walked off. This was getting on his nerves and he did not have the luxury of losing his temper like Xander did. He had to remain in control before his magic came out to curse those young idiots.
The judge looked at the DA, signing the orders. "We'll have a hearing in three days on the change to adult status. I suggest they get a decent lawyer by them," he told the parents. They huffed off. He looked at the DA once the girls were back in custody and going back to a cell. "Will she be all right?"
"No one's sure, Your Honor. They're not. The doctors have no ideas. The healers have no ideas yet." The judge winced but nodded. "We should have acted the first time. They're right. We've been faulty." He left to talk to his staff. Mr. Giles could sue the city for not acting on the charges the first time and not protecting his girls. This was going to be nasty if he did. And no one could blame him for it.
***
Xander came back four days later, looking at the gathered girls. "She's still alive. Coded once but came back without assistance before I could get up. She's going to wake up next week they think. Her brain's slowly coming back. They're not sure about long term healing. The doctors are very mad though."
The girls sighed but nodded. "I know you all got the feeling that she died for a second. But she's fine. She revived herself. Or the slayer spirit did it for her." He hugged one girl who was sniffling. "She'll hopefully be okay. I'll go back later, after I shower and get clean clothes. The nurses ordered."
He let her go, heading up to shower and swear in there like he couldn't in the hospital. Or in his car because people would see it and he had to pretend to be calm sometimes. Giles patted him on the arm. "Next week they said to wake her up."
"That's good news." He stared at him. "It's hard, Xander."
"Yeah, but this isn't right." He went up to his suite.
"I'll sit with her tonight," he called after him.
"Okay. Thanks."
Giles got what he'd need to sit vigil beside her. The nurses gave him an odd look so he produced his ID. "I'm the Head Watcher, ladies." They nodded, not bothering him for that. Hannah looked so small. He settled beside her, looking at the monitors he couldn't understand. It all had squiggly lines so he assumed it was a good thing. Flat lines were the bad ones.
"Hannah, dear, I'm here to sit with you to give Xander a break," he said quietly, patting her on the arm. "You wake up whenever you're ready. The girls are all hoping that it'll be soon but you do what you need to do." He opened his book and started to read, keeping one hand on her arm so she knew he was there.
***
Willow showed up at the hospital. "The coven wants to a do a healing spell."
Xander shook his head. "No. Not until they finish detoxing her. She's still testing positive for weird things in her blood. The healers I asked said not to yet." He stared at her. Then at the senior witch behind Willow. "She's still testing positive for the main chemical."
"That's reasonable I suppose. You did ask a healer?"
"Of course." He blinked a few times. "That first night while she was still in the ER and they were doing blood tests to see what the hell it was."
"What is it?"
"Something they made up with one's mom, who's a chemist at the college." The witch winced but nodded. "She's in jail now too. Especially since she threw something at the DA in the courtroom." He looked at Hannah then at a nurse at the desk. "The witches want to do a healing spell. How much longer before she's detoxed?"
"Probably another three days," the head nurse said as she came in. "It's went down significantly but it's still at about ten percent of her blood." The witch winced at that. "We're still not sure about long term consequences." She looked at Xander, who nodded it was fine to tell her. "We hope she'll wake up and slowly regain normal function like any coma patient but we're not sure yet. Her brain waves don't look too far off right now. We're just waiting on her to wake up."
"Buffy's meditating with Sineya tonight," Xander said. "To see if the First Slayer can reach her."
Willow nodded. "That could help lead her back." She frowned, testing the girl. Xander let out a tiny growl so she quit. "Just testing to make sure there's no magic around her."
"No, I would've stopped that." He looked at the senior witch. "We think she'll wake up sometime this week."
"We'll do what we can to help her heal, Xander." She patted him on the shoulder. "Those other hunters?"
"Have been a great godsend filling in for me and training the girls this last week. They've run training patrols and everything. We had one other girl they had to rescue from club hunting." He sighed. "Rophies again but he spotted her being spacey so brought her home."
"That's good of them." She smiled at Willow then at him. "Hopefully they'll continue to integrate well."
"They're fine and they handle their own things too," he said. "We're coworkers, not one group. They have their own training camps for their marked ones. We have ours for ours. We just cross-train and work together."
"They have marked ones?"
"Yeah, huge marks on their arms. Those ones can use mithrill."
She raised an eyebrow. "That's mythical."
"Yes but some of theirs need it." He grinned. "It works okay right now and Sineya appreciated them when Buffy and Huntress Samia talked to her together."
"That's wonderful then." She patted him again then Hannah's foot. Hannah moved it away from her hand. "Hm."
"She's reacting to the magic," Willow noted. She lit up a light on her hand and put it near her ankle, making her move it. "I think it's made her sensitive."
"You can ask Healer Dyers. He's the one who saw her," Xander offered. "But he did say no healing spells until she's detoxed."
"We can do that," Willow agreed, walking off calling him. He showed up to test her and talk to the witch about the healing spell they wanted to do. Xander let him have her without him being too closeby so he didn't get read too. The healer smiled at him about that. "I know you'd get him for being in contact."
"He's got so much hellmouth energy right now he's nearly whiting out my vision without the spell," the healer admitted.
Xander concentrated and it went down. "Sorry. Didn't do my daily meditations today."
"That's fine," the healer agreed. He tested her and took the nurse and witch to talk about what he found.
Xander sat back down, patting Hannah again. "I'm still here." He kept ignoring Willow.
***
Xander came back that night. "She's awake," he announced as he walked in. "And groggy like you'd expect. They're taking tomorrow to do some scans for extra damage." The witches smiled at him. "The healer agreed that if a healing spell could work, it'd be best done in about five days, when she's fully detoxed."
"We heard, Harris," one said, handing him some water. "You look parched."
"I am." He sipped then stared at it then at her. "What's that?"
"It's water."
"ANDREW!" he bellowed. He came running. "What's this?" He let him have the water to sniff.
He sniffed then tasted a tiny bit before spitting it into a plant. "Gross chemicals that're probably not helpful." He looked at the bottle. "Let me test it and the rest of that case." He took it to do that. "I don't have groceries delivered," he muttered. "How did they do that?"
"Wasn't there a report from the store having some drugged?" Xander called.
"Yeah. I forgot about that." He tested and it was that. He looked up that report and two of their cases came from that.
Xander grinned at the witch. "Thanks."
"It happens I suppose."
"Yeah, someone at the factory drugged half a batch of water." He waved a hand. "Thankfully I'm immune to most things." He walked off, going to report to Giles. It was probably happy news. They all hoped.
***
Xander was in a club destressing. Not hunting. It was a gay club and even the gay vampires didn't hunt here. There had been a beating incident where the vampires had lost very badly and had to crawl home. A bit literally. So they didn't come to this club. He needed this destressing and the hunter that found him joined him on the floor. "We don't need to hunt here," he said as quietly as he could.
"Good." The hunter grinned. "I could use the stress relief."
"Me too, dude." They danced and Xander finally got to relax. Even if someone tried to snatch him. He stared at the minion. "No." The minion backed off slowly. "Thanks though. It's been a shitty two weeks. I don't need this tonight." The minion fled. "Thank you!" He got back into the music with a sigh. The other hunter smiled. "Minion."
"Biter minion?"
"No."
"Oh. That sort. We heard you drew dangerous people."
Xander nodded. "Definitely." He grinned. Someone put a hand around his waist so he looked back. "No. I need the destressing. Thanks."
"But, Xander, it's a nice month."
Xander turned to dance with him. "I've spent the last two weeks with a slayer in the hospital in a coma." The guy winced. "Not tonight, Brad."
"Fine. Are you sure? I won't be in town for long."
Xander sighed, staring at him. "Brad, I need to destress. I need to lose myself in the music and not go beat a few teenage girls in a jail cell to death for daring to drug one of my girls." The guy winced and nodded, backing off a step. "Thank you for offering but tonight...." He nodded a bit. "I need to lose it."
"I get that. I remember when one of your girls got taken out. Next time I'm in town then?" He left once Xander had nodded.
Xander sighed, turning back around. "Friend from Africa," he said.
"Awww," the hunter said dryly. "He any good?"
Xander shrugged but mouthed the answer so no one could hear. "At least he knew I needed to eat and sleep so that put him ahead of most of them?"
"That sucks."
"Sometimes. He wasn't *bad* but he's good enough." He glanced around. Two minions were listening. He glanced at them, getting a grin back. That guy understood not letting the minions know. It'd be good to destress with the guy who understood why he was stressed. And the hunter was pretty good at it too as it turned out.
The minions reported that but the contact understood why you went with someone who understood the stress. And who was strong enough to hold you down to make you enjoy it the way that hunter could.
Could these new hunters work with his slayers? Yeah, it looked like they might just fit in, and maybe even make the girls a bit less spoiled or alone in their duty. Though, the girls would probably refuse to be so sexually playful as the hunters were. So a bit of this, a bit of that....but they still hated Willow for that wish. They'd just have to see what came of it.
The End? Not sure yet.
Not Quite The Same