***************************************

"So then," Amanda said, "there was this musical demon that forced everyone in town to sing." She frowned, reaching for another handful of Fritos. "And then spontaneously combust. But I'm not too clear on that part."

From her perch on the porch steps, opposite Nikki and the rest of the Slayers-in-training, Vi picked up the tale. "That was the first time Buffy and Spike kissed. Dawn said so, and she would know, right? But Buffy was still all depressed and stuff."

"Because of the death," Nikki answered slowly.

"Right. 'Cause of the death. Anyways, so then Buffy and Spike start macking full-on, and you have to admit Spike is hella lickable –"

"Vi!" Rona tried to look disapproving. Vi rolled her eyes.

"But meantime Willow turns into this magic crackhead, right? And the whole Buffy/Spike drama is like, beyond dysfunctional, Willow goes postal and tries to destroy the world, Spike bails to B.F.E. and when he comes back he's acting all sketchy, right? And –"

Molly broke in excitedly. "Tell her about the so –"

"...So," Vi continued, "Spike's back but he's one Red Bull short of a six-pack. He walks around with brown hair and sings this shady song – but not like Slim Shady – obviously. Blah blah, more drama, now he and Buffy are so jonesing for each other - have you seen him with his shirt off? He's wicked cut. Oh, and 'The Twin Towers' came out. Frodo is all that."

She sighed wistfully, then grabbed the Kool-Aid from a similarly doe-eyed Potential. "So," she asked, slurping loudly. "You all caught up on the news now?"

I have no idea what you just said. Nikki looked from one shiny, questioning face to the next. Her glance settled on Chao-An, who was dejectedly flipping through an issue of Entertainment Weekly. She edged closer to the other girl. At least I'm not the only one who doesn't speak the language.

From the other end of the house, they heard the faint sound of a car door slamming. The girls leapt up, seemingly as one. "Buffy's back!"

This Slayer certainly seemed to inspire devoted following, Nikki observed.

"Oh, thank God," Rona said vehemently. "I'm starved."

Vi bounced off the porch and headed toward the street. "Do you think she bought those little mini-hot dogs? 'Cause I'm getting really sick of frozen pizza."

"Generic frozen pizza," Rona corrected her. "I think the world really will end if she buys us anything brand-name."

"She's feeding a dozen people every day," Amanda pointed out quietly. "I think she's doing a pretty good job." But the rest of the girls had disappeared around the corner; even Chao-An, who - judging by the rather alarming gleam in her eye - understood the universal vernacular for food.

Nikki debated whether or not to join them - the lure of a few private moments in the fresh air was enticing - but eventually the part of her that was her mother's daughter overruled. No way Alicia Lowell would permit her daughter to sit idly by while others hauled in groceries. Nikki inwardly cursed good breeding and followed the girls to the car.

The Slayer and another tiny redheaded woman – damn, did all these chicks have to make her feel like an Amazon? – were unloading bags into the waiting arms of a host of ravenous teenagers.

"Ice cream," Buffy was saying. "And Emily, please remember to put it in the freezer? Sometime today? Lisa – no hiding cheese in your sleeping bag any more. It's selfish. And...really disturbing." She didn't look up as she thrust an overstuffed paper bag into Nikki's waiting arms. "These are cold cuts, put them in the bottom drawer of –"

Buffy's gaze finally rested on the elegant mahogany-hued hands just above her own. She frowned, and a little crease appeared above her forehead before she lifted her eyes. Then she smiled.

And it was her smile that got Nikki. Because she could see the circles under Buffy's eyes; the strain that made her mouth tight and lines etch too early across her paper-thin flesh. She was worn, and to Nikki it was plain as day although she wasn't sure anyone else noticed. And yet here this girl was, this Slayer, beaming at her as

...through a glass darkly.

Bible readings at her grandmother's knee. Gone now, like everything else in her life. Nikki shook off the strange sense of kinship. Like she had anything in common with this spindly, tired creature and her horrific taste in lovers. But there was something…

“You look great,” Buffy was saying, and there was genuine pleasure in her voice. “I mean, you…”

“I took the turn a couple of days ago,” Nikki interjected smoothly. “Why don’t you give me the soda?”

“Actually, I think the cases are too heavy –"

But Nikki had already hefted them into her arms, balancing her cargo effortlessly. Buffy cocked her head, and Nikki realized her mistake.

“Your Watcher must have trained you well,” Buffy observed.

Nikki thought back to Gregory, gentle smiles and measured tones as he guided her through her routines. “The battle is around you, beyond you,” he’d instruct. “Inside, there must be peace.”

“I’ll remember that when I’m outnumbered ten to one and Robin’s about to come back from the petting zoo any minute,” she’d retorted, unaccountably irritable.

“He was wonderful,” Nikki said quietly.

Buffy slammed down the Jeep’s hatch and led Nikki back to the house. “Willow and I had to do a supply run. The girls tend to go through food pretty quickly. How long have you…?”

Been alive? Been lucid? Been drinking blood? “Been up and around?” Nikki asked. “Just today, actually. I wish I’d been able to help out more.”

Buffy shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. We’re…” she paused. “Kind of in a holding pattern, right now. The girls need more experience, and I need more information about the First’s weak spots.” She shot a glance to Nikki. “Did they fill you in on what’s been going on lately?”

They sure did. Congratulations on betraying your calling and fucking the guy who killed me. So much for sisters doin’ it for themselves. Bitch.

“Just the basics. I’m looking forward to tearing a certain evil creature to shreds.” She smiled.

Buffy sighed ruefully. “Nice to hear some enthusiasm. I mean, that’ll disappear soon enough what with all the gloomy predictions and Giles frowning at us and the girls being kind of uncoordinated and the fact that we all seem to be on the same menstrual cycle, but…still. Kind of refreshing.”

And there was that pang of compassion again. Nikki forced it down. “It seems like you’ve got a lot of…help.”

Buffy kicked open the front door. Nikki noticed a series of older scuff marks along the bottom. “Sure seems that way, doesn’t it?”

Nikki silently unpacked the food, stopping occasionally to examine some particularly intriguing item. Pop Tarts? Bagel Bites in Peppy Pizza Flavor? (Try Me In The Microwave!) the box invited her. Charlene had just bought a microwave, the week before Spike...Nikki inhaled sharply. She could still hear Mrs. Conway's dire warnings of radiation sickness and empty wombs.

The girls swirled and chattered around her, an eddy of doomed youth that made her feel abruptly claustrophobic. And she could sense Buffy’s curious gaze on her, always. Nikki resumed unpacking.

The Slayers-in-training vanished after a perfunctory attempt at their domestic duties. The redheaded witch had slipped upstairs, her arm around a gimlet-eyed brunette Potential who nuzzled her ear. Nikki filed that away for future reference but made no comment. She and Buffy remained in the kitchen.

“Are you hungry?” Buffy asked. “Help yourself to the food. Everyone else does.” She bit her lip. “And wow, I’m so not as bitter as I sound.”

“Thank you. Maybe a little later.” Nikki didn’t turn, just methodically lined up pancake mixes and cereal along a rarely-used top shelf.

“I know it must be hard…to talk about,” Buffy went on kindly. “What happened. How you got here.”

Nikki froze.

“What do you remember? Your Watcher – is he…? And your family?”

Nikki gripped the edge of the countertop, tried to focus. “I have to find my Watcher. I have to. He’s the only one who knows where my - I just have to find him.”

“Giles might be able to help you. The Council is…gone, but he still has some connections.”

Nikki steadied herself, then sat down across from Buffy. She didn’t notice the fingertip-shaped indentations she’d left in the Formica until Buffy’s gaze landed on them, and her eyes swiveled once again to Nikki’s. Nikki folded her hands in her lap.

“Gone? It’s been disbanded?”

Buffy was silent for a moment, then sat down herself. “It’s been destroyed. There is no more Council.” She shrugged a little self-consciously. “There’s just…us.”

Nikki’s stomach gave a queer lurch. So they hadn’t been exaggerating, then. This really was big-time badness. And their anti-apocalypse army consisted of the people – and non-people – in this house? No wonder the Slayer hadn’t been sleeping.

“I can help train them,” Nikki found herself saying. “Give them some drills, work on their concentration, their technique.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth she cursed herself for a fool. The last thing she should be doing was nursing a bunch of hormonal hellions. Preparing them to be massacred, more like.

Buffy opened her mouth to speak but at that moment Spike stalked into the room. He had been heading for the refrigerator but stopped short upon noticing Nikki and Buffy seated at the table. They blinked up at him expectantly.

Nikki stretched to her full length, threw an arm over the side of her chair. “Buffy and I were just getting acquainted.”

Spike was stock-still, taking in the sight of past and present Slayers enjoying some girl talk. He recovered himself and opened the freezer door. “That so?”

Buffy glanced at Nikki, then nodded. “Nikki’s offered to help with the training. I know how much you love working with the Potentials –" a low grumble sounded from where Spike’s head was craned into the bowels of the freezer - “but I figured you could use a break.”

Spike emerged clutching…a container of frosted cinnamon muffins? Nikki frowned.

“That’s right altruistic of you,” Spike replied. “But I imagine you'll be wanting to take it easy for now. Recuperate. And all that.” It wasn't a suggestion.

Nikki bared her teeth in what she hoped passed for a smile. “Not at all. After all the kindness you’ve shown me -- why, it's the least I can do.” She stood. “And like I told Buffy…I’m definitely ready for action.”

His jaw clenched. "You're not at full strength. You go off on some idiot mission, you'll endanger those girls."

Nikki smirked at him, enjoying his discomfiture. "I think I'm the last person around here who's a threat to them. And I've got a couple of war stories that'll really...open their eyes."

Buffy pushed back her chair and stood up. "Well! I'm feeling the love in this room. All the concern for the Potentials? It's very...what's the word? Oh, yeah. Weird." She turned to Spike – if Willow had resolve-face, Buffy had I-will-fuck-your-shit-up face and no one was more susceptible to it than Spike. Of course for him it hardly incited retreat; rather, the effect was a rough combination of come and get me, big boy and if you're really good and do what I tell you, I'll let you kill something large and scaly tonight.

"Spike, if you're so worried about their welfare you can join Nikki and the girls in training. Nikki? Glad you're feeling better. But if you jeopardize the girls, or Spike, or – let's just say anyone who's living in this house because I can't remember them all – I will put you out of commission. For as long as I have to." She looked from one to the other. "Everybody clear?"

Nikki arched an inquiring eyebrow at Spike, who glared at her and addressed himself to Buffy. "Got it. Me and the foundling here will whip the kiddies into shape. Not a problem." But Nikki could see the strain in him, the tightening of muscles beneath his shirt.

She rose now as well. "I'll go get ready." She pushed in her chair and turned to leave. Brushing by Xander in the doorway, she flashed him a quick, bashful smile and swept past.

“Wow,” said Xander, as he took the seat Nikki had vacated. “She’s…something else, isn’t she?”

Spike began tearing into the cinnamon buns. “Master of understatement, you are.”

Part 8: New World Order

| HOME | WHAT'S NEW | ABOUT | FANFICTION | BLOG | LINKS | VERBIS | NOMINATIONS |