The first strong rays broke through the curtain around seven a.m., long before any of the household was up and about. Spike rose and, without a backwards glance, slinked out of the room. It was just a one time thing, he told himself, just for the night. She’ll be alright on her own tonight. She’s just had a scare is all. For some reason, he was both relieved and...and what? Something like regret tugged at him. As he walked down the basement steps, he thought about it. He felt towards Kaeleigh a bit like what he felt towards Dawn, he supposed. Responsible, somehow. And yet, something about it seemed different than it did with Dawn. Shrugging it off, he climbed into his own bed for a real nap before the days routine began.
Kae slept on until around nine, when the place started bustling. Annabelle and Molly were in the kitchen fixing some breakfast. The smell of cooking bacon woke Kaeleigh. Her stomach cramped with ravenous hunger and she wondered when the last time she’d eaten had been. As she folded her blankets, Kennedy and Willow came down the stairs. “Morning.” Willow said breezily. Then she stopped and looked again. “Did you change your hair?” She asked, sounding puzzled. Kae nodded, and she smiled. “It looks good.” Kennedy complimented her. “Thanks.” She replied. Normally she would be chatting up a storm, but for some reason she felt reclusive and secretive.
She slipped into the kitchen behind them and sat down at the counter. Molly placed a plate in front of her loaded with pancakes and bacon. The plump girl grinned at her. “Would you like some tea?” she offered, but Kae shook her head. She elected instead to wolf down the food immediately. The girls all paused to look at her, and Willow commented “You eat like you haven’t eaten in a week!”. At that, Kaeleigh stopped and chewed thoughtfully. When she swallowed she said, slowly, “I don’t think I have.” If she did, she certainly didn’t remember it.
"Look, I don't know why I'm even bothering with school." A tall brunette burst through the door. “Buffy, common, impending apocalypse, isn’t that an excused absence?” She begged to the Slayer over her shoulder. “No Dawn. The hellmouth hasn’t opened up yet, so off to class you go. Xander get a move on, don’t you have a job or something now?” The Slayer teased, following the taller girl. “I’m the Slayers sister, shouldn’t I get some benefits?” She moaned. “Yes. Lots of near death experiences and chats with dead people.” Xander joked as he walked in. Kae was starting to realize just how many people were in this one house. Thankfully, the three grabbed a plate and continued out the door, planning to eat their saturday breakfast outside.
As if on cue, Giles popped his head in. “Girls, I have a schedule made up for you.” he informed them. Willow perked. “Oh, like, chores and stuff? Cause this place was getting kinda crazy, and you know what they say, idle hands are the tools of the devil, cept, you know, I don’t believe in the devil and all, although, after all the stuff we’ve seen here, maybe I should?” She smiled sheepishly. “I ramble.” Kennedy kissed the older woman’s cheek. “Yes, but we love you for it.” She said sweetly. “Yes, I suppose we do. But no, I meant, a training schedule, for the slayer-in-waiting. No use in sitting around when we could be preparing.” “Of course not.” The Slayer said, and Kae wondered at the hint of bitterness in her voice.
************
Later that day, Kae faced off against Kennedy. A bow staff was in each girls hands. Across the yard, Molly and Annabelle were attempting to spar, but mostly ended up hitting trees and flowerbeds rather than each other. They’d taken some time after things calmed down at breakfast to get to know each other a little bit. Kennedy was happy to finally have someone up to her own level to spar against. As they went to guard, Buffy came out and stood next to Giles on the porch. The Watcher had elected himself as supervisor, but Buffy was just checking things out. Her expression was sour as she looked at the youngest girls. Molly had just landed a killing blow- to the tulip plant.
“They wouldn’t last five minutes.” She said to Giles softly. “That’s what we’re training them for.” He replied back, much more optimistically than he really felt. “Kennedy is a good, strong leader.” He nodded at the pair of older girls. “If she can learn to take orders. That new one, Kaeleigh, I’m not sure about her. She seems to have been in a sort of shock when she came to us. Her eyes were....distant.” Giles paused. He’d been incredibly surprised at the clarity and depth of her green eyes this morning. It was a total change from the day before. “She seems to be doing better now though. I just wish we knew more about her.” He’d taken off his glasses and was rubbing them with a napkin. “Like how she got here. Or how she escaped the Bringers.” Buffy said, uneasy. She didn’t like unknowns like that, not in times like these.
Meanwhile Kae was distracted by paring Kennedy’s blows and didn’t notice the pair watching her. The fight had gotten heated, with both girls landing blows on the other. Molly and Annabelle had stopped their mock battle to watch. Kennedy moved with the speed of a snake, but Kaeleigh blocked and parried with the grace of a cat. They certainly were evenly matched. Finally though, Kaeleigh missed a step and, tripping slightly, failed to block Kennedy’s staff. As she hit the ground, she threw up her hands and shouted “Protectum!”.
Kennedy’s staff glanced off the air a foot above the fallen girl and buried itself in the soft dirt a few feet away. Shimmering around Kaeleigh was a soft blue light that fluctuated like water. “Retatum.” Kaeleigh said, softer this time, and the light flickered and disappeared. The group was silent for a moment. “What did you do?” Annabelle asked softly, awed. Buffy and Giles ran up and he pulled the slight girl to her feet. “A protection spell?” Kae replied, wincing. She was sure that counted as cheating.
Instead of chastising her though, the Slayer looked her up and down and asked “How long did it take you to master that?” Confused, Kae replied “Only a few days. Its a really simple spell. I know I shouldn’t have used it, I mean, Kennedy won fair and square-” Buffy waved her hand in the air, cutting the other girl off. She looked at Kaeleigh, then at the other girls. “It’s okay, your not in trouble. Actually, I want you to teach it to them.” Although her tone was commanding, yet friendly, the wheels were turning in Buffy Summer’s head. There was a lot more to Kaeleigh Monroe than they’d first thought, and she was going to find out exactly how much.
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