Chapter 30: Sunnydale

Mr. Giles had asked Kennedy if she would drive; what started out as a favor became the thing to do as they drove across the US. Day and night seemed meaningless. Mr. Giles wanted to stop for gas only; Kennedy was amused that he had no problem with her using her debit card to pay for it. If you needed something to eat or a comfort stop, you rushed inside and did whatever business it was that you had to do.

The two other girls were English and half the time their conversation seemed incomprehensible. And they were a little vague on how they had gotten to the US as well.

Driving was surprisingly relaxing. She'd never done long distance driving on the highway before, but quickly realized that it was more or less the same as driving a race, except at much slower speeds with drivers who didn't know how to drive.

She smiled slightly at the memory. Mr. Giles got nervous at any speed above forty-five miles an hour and when she was tooling along the freeway at the seventy-two miles an hour, which was as fast as his Range Rover would go, he grew agitated because she was going "too fast."

A month before she'd have laughed and mentioned her ticket to drive Formula One cars. A week ago she'd have at least mentioned it. Today ... she slowed down to five miles over the speed limit and left it at that.

The driving was an anodyne for the pain she felt inside her; pain that had been growing for weeks and months. Her responses were rote and automatic, requiring minimal thought. It suited her.

There was a minor flap when they stopped in Needles, California and Mr. Giles saw the gasoline prices. He was on his English high horse about "highway robbery" and price gouging. In a way it was familiar and comforting, and that was the problem. Familiar meant old memories bubbled to the surface. There were a lot of things she wished she could say to Mr. Glastonbury that she was never going to get to say.

She glanced at the Watcher. He'd been pleased how polite she was, calling him Mr. Giles and all. What would he say if he found out she could care less what he thought? But it pulled her out of her mental fugue and made her focus on the situation at hand.

What should she do? Should she once again go along supinely with the wishes of another Watcher? The two girls he had with him weren't what she'd expected. She'd heard stories of Slayers and these two girls weren't anything like the stories. She'd always envisioned Potentials as someone like herself: tough, self-confident, well-trained and honed.

Annabelle. Was that even a name of a person, even one from England? People named their cows Annabelle. Annabelle had learned a thing or two from her Watcher, but it seemed to be mainly theory and not to be afraid.

Mollie wasn't much of a name, either. Worse, Mollie was a total airhead, without much of a clue about anything. She was supposed to have had a Watcher, but she must have slept through every single class. The two had moods that ranged from mildly excited to deathly afraid.

Rupert Giles wasn't an airhead. He was fussy, prissy, a lot like her first impressions of Mr. Glastonbury. Except, once you got past simple impressions, it was clear that there was the same sort of adamantine steel underneath the over-polite facade.

To put it mildly, Kennedy had lost confidence in herself, in Watchers, lost confidence in the Slayer ... the whole lot of them. And it had happened so fast!

Then there was the fact that other two girls were, she was certain, fifteen or so. Neither of them suspected Kennedy was eighteen ... they thought of her as a peer. Well, she wasn't. Not in age, not in experience.

She chuckled to herself, remembering her last real conversation with Pipes. Yes, she was bossy. Yes, she manipulated and used others to achieve her goals. Pretty much, Kennedy thought, like a real Slayer would. So, how would the real Slayer react to a junior leaguer come to play in her sandbox?

Probably not well. And if that was a fair description of how the Slayer would deal with things, what her fellow Potentials would do defied imagination. Kennedy had a great deal of experience in getting everyone killed. It had happened at her New Year's party, it nearly happened when she met the king of the gypsies. And now, Mr. Glastonbury and Lady Kennedy were dead. Was there something sad about a person who grieved as much for a dead sword, as she did for any of the people who had been killed?

There was a shimmering in front of her, and Kennedy took a step back.

Rosalie grinned at her. "I don't think it's going to help to say, 'Not to worry, I'm not real.'"

"You look real," Kennedy told her.

"Well, I'm only here in your imagination. Everyone around you is going to think you're wacky, talking to yourself."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Kennedy said.

"I'll be short. Pipes found out what happened at your house. I don't know what to say, except I'm sorry. Mr. Glastonbury seemed like a nice man."

"He was my Watcher. It went with the territory. I'm proud of the fact that I kept it to just one person killed this time."

"Pipes went to Ferinc and Ferinc came to me. Pipes explained about the linkage to the deaths that you face; he wondered if there was anything I could do. I think I can, Kennedy. Say the word and you'll only die one more time. Your own."

Kennedy laughed so hard it hurt her stomach. "I don't think that came out like you thought."

"The word, Kennedy, is yes or no."

"Yes, once more is just fine with me."

"So mote it be! Good luck, Kennedy! If you need any help, don't call a gypsy! We're going into hiding until the dust settles."

"Not Ferinc."

"No, not Ferinc, or Lauren or Deb or Steffie. Not me or Marcie. The rest of the little worms will duck for cover, though."

Then she was gone, as if she'd never been.

Mr. Giles appeared next to her. "Are you okay to drive some more?"

"I'm fine," she told him. "The one thing I've noticed already about the desert? It dries tears almost as fast as you can cry them."

It was a few minutes after dawn, and Kennedy drove the rest of the way to Sunnydale without a break. They arrived a little after noon, and the drive gave her even more time to think. She'd definitely been on the right track earlier. The Slayer didn't need competition; she needed people who would put their shoulders to the wheel and push. So, that's what she would do. She wouldn't mention things like being a little stronger than most girls, a little quicker or able to heal quickly.

Nope, from now on, she was going to be just like the others. She would lend a hand, but she was going to be really, really careful about stepping on the Slayer's toes.

Mr. Giles directed her once they were off the freeway to the house. The others were getting their things, chattering away. She met the Watcher's eyes and nodded at the house. The front windows had been shattered and were now boarded up.

They started forward, and just before they got to the front door, it opened. The woman who stood there was in her early twenties, blonde, but not nearly as perky as she'd looked the first time Kennedy had seen her. Her eyes were old, very, very old.

Kennedy stood off to one side with the other two Potentials as Buffy and Mr. Giles talked, catching each other up on the events. Most of the time, though, Kennedy was looking at someone else.

She'd heard about the Slayer's friend who was a witch, a most powerful witch, who'd nearly scorched the planet bare of life. She wasn't at all like Kennedy had expected. She was clearly shy, diffident, uncomfortable with so many new people present that she didn't know. A red-head, on top of it! She was cute!

Of everyone present, Kennedy realized, she had the most in common with Willow the witch. They had looked on the destruction of all they'd held dear; destruction brought about by their personal actions. She should have left the house at a run as soon as she realized that the Bringers were coming for her.

Kennedy smiled to herself. And, of course, she'd been celibate for entirely too long. Maybe the two of them could get together and nature could conspire to take their minds off the past and the future?

Her attention returned to the Slayer and the current discussion. It had reached the point where the Slayer was talking about what they were going to do to fight the First, the baddie that was in charge of the Bringers, and who intended on wiping out everyone on the planet.

She listened to Mollie and Annabelle voice their fears. She herself, though, wasn't so sure the Slayer was as clueless as she sounded. Still ... this was important. "That's it? That's your plan? I saw what those Bringer guys did to my Watcher. They cut him to pieces!"

Buffy looked around at the others. "She's not wrong. We need more muscle. That's why we need Spike." Spike it turned out was not only a vampire, but Bloody Bill, one of the most famous vampires. That they needed his help boggled the mind. That the Slayer had it as her first priority made Kennedy seriously doubt the Slayer's sanity.

They were shuffled off to the kitchen to get something to eat. Kennedy was famished, but controlled herself. Sure enough, as soon as they started relaxing, the other Potentials started chattering about anything and everything except the matter at hand.

Kennedy, in turn was studying someone new. Dawn, the Slayer's magical sister. Nice breasts! Kennedy sighed and told her urges to calm down. She was eighteen now and Dawn was not. Yes, six months before she'd have definitely been interested in seeing if Dawn's horizons needed to be broadened. Now ... now it wasn't going to happen. Besides, not only was Willow more suitable, she was mysterious and clearly a force to be reckoned with.

In all of her previous relationships, there had always been the dominant member of the pair. The one who made things happen. Kennedy was quite sure that if something happened with Willow it was going to take some convincing ... but once it happened, it would be like with Annie. They'd have to take turns being on top.

Her expression froze. She supposed she could ask Mr. Giles, but according to him, the Watchers Council had been completely wiped out. Kennedy crossed her fingers and prayed that Annie had gotten the boot. She wasn't brave enough, though, to ask Mr. Giles about what Annie's fate had been.

Later, Willow was talking about sleeping arrangements. She said that Annabelle could sleep on the living room couch, and Mollie could stay in Dawn's room.

Kennedy smiled. "Not if Dawn actually wants to sleep. Mollie will talk her ear off."

"Well, Annabelle..."

"Snores."

Willow looked exasperated. "Would you like to take care of the sleeping arrangements?"

Kennedy grinned at her. "Okay. But you better not hog the covers."

The expression on Willow's face was priceless. Simply priceless.

A little later, Kennedy braced the Slayer. "Are we going to get weapons?"

Annabelle spoke primly. "We'll get weapons when the Slayer feels we're ready."

Mollie piped up, "I feel ready."

Annabelle rounded on her. "You're frightened. You need to learn to control your fear!"

Kennedy wanted to grimace. That statement was the same as saying "I'm afraid, too!"

Kennedy spoke up, "I know what would help with that. Weapons."

Buffy smiled slightly. "Load them up!"

The Slayer went to a large wooden chest and opened it. The others gathered around, seeing what was there. None of them went for the crossbow, and Kennedy couldn't bear the thought of carrying another blade, not just yet. She reached for the crossbow, carefully checking it out.

Kennedy spent some time with the crossbow, making sure everything was in order. Mr. Glastonbury had, from the first, made it clear that weapons worked because you took care of them and if you didn't take care of them, they wouldn't.

As it was, she was still making sure everything was oiled and ready when the word was passed: Annabelle was missing. She'd left, Mollie told them.

The Slayer left them behind. Kennedy could understand that. Why hadn't Mollie spoken sooner? It passed imagination.

Later, Buffy was back. She looked, if you'd never heard about Slayer's healing powers, pretty bad. She was battered and bruised and clearly was in pain. When Mollie expressed doubts about the future, Buffy launched into a full rant about courage and duty. Kennedy just kept her mouth shut.

It had been the Slayer, not the rest of them who'd gone after Annabelle. Yes, she was bashed and battered, but it was clear she was unaffected by the injuries.

Sleep was, though, easy for Kennedy. Not that she indulged, not with Willow just a few feet away. "That doesn't look very comfortable," Kennedy told Willow, who had pulled some blankets and pillows down on the floor.

Willow explained how it really was quite comfy on the floor. Kennedy stifled her laughter. She didn't tease long, though, knowing it would be counter-productive.

That was a good thing. In the middle of the night another batch of Potentials arrived, and Buffy went after another who was due in, having taken the bus. There was quite a bit of concern when Buffy didn't come right back, but that turned out to be because Bringers had been there to greet Rona, yet another Potential slayer, this one who'd never had the benefit of a Watcher.

Kennedy contemplating telling the girl to count her blessings, but it was clear Rona was concerned about how little she knew about what was going on.

Finally they were once again bedded down for the night. Kennedy kept trying not to laugh. Willow was still forted up on the floor, while Kennedy was on the bed. Kennedy didn't have the heart to jerk Willow's chain about it, instead contenting herself with talking about herself, keeping things very general. Still, it was cute when she mentioned to Willow that her stepsister and parents had lived in another wing of the house.

"Your house had wings?" Willow seemed startled.

"Yes. The summer house in the Hamptons didn't have wings. Well, one wing."

Finally Willow said that she thought Kennedy should sleep. Kennedy grinned. "If I'd wanted to sleep, I'd be downstairs with all the other girls, catching z's."

Finally they slept. It wasn't until late that Kennedy woke up, restless and nervous. So much to think about! At least she owed Rosalie an eternal favor: when Annabelle had died she hadn't been in her mind. Maybe that was messing with the mystical order of things, but she didn't care. Dying wasn't pleasant; once would have been enough.

Willow was gone, so Kennedy got out of bed and went downstairs. One of the new girls, Eve, was holding forth. Kennedy wasn't sure what it was about what Eve was saying, but she was pretty sure Eve was trying to undercut the Slayer. That didn't seem to make much sense, but she'd had her nose rubbed into it too many times to want to stand up and call the girl on it.

Giles and a woman who evidently had once been a demon went off on an errand, to visit a dimension that had some seer in it that the woman, Anya, thought could help.

A little later, Willow appeared, telling the Slayer that the seers in England had located another Potential, who'd made it to Sunnydale, and was staying in a motel. Buffy and friend Xander went to seek the latest Potential out, while the rest of the Potentials went downstairs. Instead of working out, there was more talk-talk. Kennedy was getting upset at all of the talk, and at Eve who seemed to be the ringleader.

Kennedy had grave doubts on how well the other Potentials could handle themselves, if it came to a fight. For the first time she realized what a herculean task it must be, usually, for a Watcher. Mr. Glastonbury had had it easy, she thought!

Her musings had meant she'd tuned Eve out. Abruptly, Buffy was in the door to the basement. "Get away from them!" she commanded.

Kennedy wasn't sure at first who the Slayer was talking to, but Eve turned and smiled. "Oops!"

Eve was, it turned out, really the First in disguise. She could take Eve's place, because the real Eve was dead back in the motel. The other girls were shocked and horrified, and the First's warning them that, come night, they'd all be dead, didn't help.

Then there was a flash and Eve/the First was gone.

Buffy turned to Willow and asked if she could do a barrier spell. Kennedy's heart went out to the witch; she could see how much the other was afraid. Still, Willow said she'd do it. The other Potentials had their doubts, but Kennedy stood up for Willow, as stoutly as she'd ever stood up for anyone.

Still, the conversation started to degenerate into fear and recriminations. Kennedy turned to Buffy. The Slayer was adamant. "We'll fight!"

Vi, one of the English girls, and red-headed, answered. "With what?"

Kennedy snarled, "With whatever it takes, right?" Kennedy was talking to Buffy for the last. But the chorus of Potentials, all afraid, rose and rose, drowning out the Slayer. Kennedy tried to inject some sense, and was mildly miffed that the Slayer wasn't doing anything to help. It was then that Kennedy noticed that Buffy, Willow and Xander were gone.

All Kennedy could do was swallow, and vow to do her best.

Later, as darkness fell, Dawn was peeking out the window at the Bringers gathering around the house. Buffy went to the weapons chest again and pulled out a short sword, handing it to Rona.

Rona looked at the weapon with concern and fear on her face. "Like this will do any good! What's the point?"

Kennedy lost her temper. She gestured at the tip of the sword. "That's the point. You stick it in bad guys. Any more questions?"

Kennedy grabbed up the crossbow and checked it again. The Slayer gestured. "Do you know how to use that?"

Kennedy clicked the trigger and looked the Slayer in the eye. "Since I was eight." Buffy gave Kennedy a bag of quarrels. It was deja vu, all over again! It was the same sort of bag that Mr. Glastonbury had once asked her to carry at Faire.

She vowed that she would stop being all weepy like the other girls. A little while later, she came across Willow in the hall. Willow was floating a glowing ball, above her hand.

She tried to keep her voice light. "Wow! You really can float stuff!" The light went out and the ball dropped to Willow's palm. Willow explained how the First had interfered the last time she'd tried a spell.

Dawn called from the living room, "There's something happening outside."

They all rushed to her side. It was ugly, no doubt about it. The Uber-vampire was all gray skin, fangs and claws. It looked at the house and Buffy urged Willow to get the barrier up.

The thing broke down the front door before the barrier was working. Kennedy was shocked at how much pain it looked like Willow was suffering. She could even feel a tithe of the magical energies swirling around them.

"Run! Go out the back!" Buffy told them, when it was clear that Willow wasn't going to be able to hold it.

Kennedy vowed she'd be the first out the door; she'd fought Bringers, she knew how to kill them. But, as fast as she was, Xander beat her. He hardly slowed, slamming an axe into the first one. Kennedy saw the next Bringer start to swing at Xander and she shot it through the forehead. Then it was a melee fight, with the Potentials holding their own until Buffy came out, then it was no contest.

In a few minutes they were all running down the street, Willow included. Buffy turned back to hold up the Uber-vamp, while Xander led the rest of them towards safety. Kennedy hadn't had much use for Xander up to that minute, but she hastily reevaluated everything she'd thought before. When the rubber hit the road, he was there, standing shoulder to shoulder with Buffy and Willow.

Soon, they were clambering down construction scaffolding into a pit. They'd no more than got to the bottom, when the Uber-vamp showed up. Evidently, Buffy hadn't held him up very much at all.

Then Buffy was there, a pillar of strength. It was an epic battle that raged in front of the Potentials. At one point, Buffy grabbed the crossbow from Kennedy and shot the Uber-vampire with it. It didn't seem to slow it down.

Kennedy was getting nervous, but Willow kept counseling caution. She wasn't sure where Willow got that from, but then, the Slayer was being squeezed by the ultimate vampire, and she slammed her palm forward, breaking off the crossbow bolt in the vampires shoulder. She slammed the broken piece into the vampire's eye, and it threw her quite a distance. Buffy bounced up and started kicking some serious vampire butt.

At the end, she strangled it with a piece of barbed wire. It vanished in a haze of dust.

A bloody and battered Buffy turned and faced the Potentials and gave them another pep talk. "Here endeth the lesson!" she concluded. She gave Xander and Willow a high sign, and they started back to the house. Kennedy wanted to cry, wishing she could be as brave as the Slayer, but Buffy wasn't around -- she'd gone to rescue Bloody Bill, the vampire, from the First's clutches. Alone.

The next day Buffy behaved if nothing special had happened. She told the others that late in the evening she'd show them how she patrolled for vampires. Kennedy smiled faintly as she heard the description of trolling through the graveyard, getting a new vampire to attack at once. Mr. Glastonbury had never said anything about a tactic like that, but it made sense! Slayers were at their weakest in the first few days after they were Chosen. Vampires would be as well.

The first two chosen to patrol were Rona and Vi. Rona was from America, Vi one of the auburn-haired girls from England. The rest of the Potentials stayed back as the two girls prowled through the graveyard at midnight.

Kennedy saw the hint of movement, something the two victims didn't see until it was too late. Spike grabbed Rona and threw her a few feet, then grabbed Vi and would have had a snack if it hadn't been just practice. Buffy had a little session explaining to them what they'd done wrong. Then it was Kennedy and Chloe's turn. Both of them spotted the movement. Chloe ducked and ran, while Kennedy backpedaled, watching Spike intently. Neither of them said anything; it was Buffy who broke the moment.

"There you have it. If you're not surprised, you can move back to regroup, or watch your enemy carefully, to see what it's doing."

Later, they were back at Buffy's house, training some more in the basement. As the sun started to come up, Willow told Buffy that the seers had found yet another Potential in Sunnydale, this one who lived there and had for some time.

Still, Buffy had to get to her job, so Willow promised she'd work some magic later to find the Potential.

Kennedy wasn't sure how Buffy divided up the duty for her friends. When she'd gone to the motel and found the dead Eve, she'd taken Xander. That evening she told the Potentials that they were going patrolling, while Willow would conjure up a spell to find the Potential, and once they knew where she was, they'd go get her. Xander, Dawn and Anya would be backing up Willow.

Kennedy was amused. The first thing Buffy did was take them to a demon bar where she lectured them on how to extract information from sources. Kennedy was looking around, fascinated. This wasn't Mr. Waterman, there were all kinds of demons present, along with some people who looked quite human.

"Blend in, get used to this sort of place," Buffy told them.

Rona laughed. "We're a bunch of fifteen-year-olds in a demon bar. Just how much blending are we going to do?" Kennedy smiled at that. It was true, except for the age thing. So, none of them had yet twigged to the fact she wasn't a true peer.

Later, they went out into the night again, this time meeting up with Spike. They went back to the graveyard again, but this time to a marble mausoleum. It was a real mess, and from the description, a nest of vampires had been living there. Then Vi found what looked at first glance to be a body, but turned out to be a vampire.

Buffy thumped it a few times, talking about how important various things were. Then she turned and spilled a handful of stakes on the ground. "It's up to you, now," and left out the door, locking it behind her.

Kennedy hung back, letting Rona, Vi and Mollie fight it. They did pretty good, too. Mollie was the one who finally dusted it.

Later, Buffy and the rest were back, another Potential in tow. She had not only dusted a vampire, but fought Bringers as well. Amanda was the girl's name and Dawn had kept the Bringers off the girl's back until Buffy and the others arrived, and then, together, they'd put down the Bringers.

Kennedy couldn't help it. Earlier, Mollie had grabbed the crossbow from the weapons chest and Kennedy had made do with a long dagger. Now, she was mildly jealous of the Slayer and her friends who had gotten to fight the real enemy: the Bringers. If they'd been locked in a room with a Bringer or two, she wouldn't have hung back! She'd have run up her score!

She glanced at the new girl. She looked ... plain. A long face, long straight hair, taller than most of the others, a sort of awkwardness about her movements. Still, Kennedy heard her plan of trying to lure the vampire she'd found to where the school's marching band was practicing, to make up for years of slights to the swing choir that Amanda participated in. Kennedy grinned. She'd done something like that once, bringing the kidnappers to the vampires. It was a good idea!

A few days later there were still more Potentials. Buffy and Giles had quite a few hushed conversations, and then it was announced that the Potentials would go out into the desert with Giles to a place in the desert where they could commune with the First Slayer or whatever. Kennedy didn't really relish the thought, and when the big day dawned, the first thing she noticed was that the Slayer, the big bad Slayer, had the crud.

Kennedy smiled at that. She could never remember a day where she'd really felt sick from something like the cold or the flu. She'd been beat up a few times, knifed once and those had hurt, but she'd never been sick. Willow came downstairs and started talking to Buffy and Kennedy watched her for a few seconds. Why not, she thought? What would it hurt?

She went over to Willow and touched her shoulder. "I got the crud. I'm going back to bed." She lowered her voice, and while she didn't think she sounded very convincing, both Buffy and Willow were solicitous. Later, Kennedy said she wasn't up to the retreat with the others and everyone nodded sagely. Kennedy could feel the Slayer's eyes on her, but Buffy didn't say anything.

Later, it was evening and Kennedy watched the others leave through a curtain. With that, she took a shower, got dressed and was thinking about heading downstairs when Willow showed up with a cup of tea. It was a sweet thing for her to do, and Kennedy didn't have the heart to lie directly to her. Still, it took Willow only about a second to figure out that Kennedy wasn't sick.

It took some doing, but she convinced Willow that she had a mission to undertake, and the two of them snuck out. The Bronze hadn't been on the "demon bar" tour, but Kennedy had heard enough about it. She asked Willow what she wanted and brought it, along with her own "virgin Bloody Mary." It was clear from the conversation that Willow didn't realize that Kennedy was drinking a glass of tomato juice without any alcohol. Willow was having a daiquiri and after that the conversation stayed general for quite a while.

At one point Kennedy asked Willow how long she'd known she was gay. It was kind of sad, really. Just for the one person. The one that Andrew's friend Warren had killed. Having had loved ones killed in front of her, she didn't feel any need to explore Willow's feelings about that!

Finally it was getting late and Kennedy didn't want to risk running into Bringers, so they returned to the house. Buffy, Xander and Anya were in the living room talking, and didn't say anything to the two girls who came in. Kennedy and Willow went upstairs to the bedroom. It was a tender and sweet moment, getting Willow to relax enough to let Kennedy kiss her.

Kennedy was quite sure nature would take its course if Willow would just relax a little. It was a nice kiss, and Kennedy could feel Willow slowly relaxing, adjusting -- and enjoying the kiss.

There was no discernable instant when Kennedy sensed something was wrong. The muscle tone under her fingers changed, the passion went away. Kennedy opened her eyes and jumped back. Willow was gone, replaced by a guy!

The guy made some joke about not being attractive, and moved towards Kennedy again. Kennedy hastily backed up. She'd just remembered Steffie and her glamours just as the guy noticed himself in the mirror.

Then he was trying to reassure Kennedy that it was really Willow. After a very short discussion, they went downstairs.

Even after all the earlier discussion, Kennedy hadn't realized just which guy Willow had morphed into -- but the shocked reactions on everyone else's part made it clear. Warren, the man who'd killed Willow's lover, Tara, and who Willow had, in retribution, more or less turned inside out.