The Journey Home

Author's Note: I know, I know...another story? I haven't forgotten about the others, and they'll be updated..just plz read and review this one!

Chapter One

She had done it at long last. The Hellmouth was destroyed, and Sunnydale was no more. She’d lost several of the girls, Anya, her mother’s grave, and Spike. The last seemed to twinge more then the rest of it. She’d said good bye to her mother, but Spike had given his life for her battle. She’d never treated Spike that good, but he’s still fought beside her for almost 3 years. All of them were starting fresh in a new country, but it was proving to be hard for Buffy. They’d relocated to Rome so they could be near what’s left of the council. Together, Buffy and Giles had bought a warehouse that they used to train the hundreds of girls they’d found. The older ones: Rona, Vi, Talia, Kennedy, and a few others were helping out with the younger ones. The new Watcher’s Council was headed up by Giles and Wesley and they were paying all of the heads: Giles, Wesley, Buffy, Xander, Faith, Willow, Dawn, and Andrew. The others didn’t get any actual money because they were staying at the warehouse. They were also provided food, and they couldn’t afford to pay everyone who came through their doors. Dawn had opted to have a tutor to finish school, so she wouldn’t have to start at a new school on top of relocating countries. Xander was keeping busy by building a huge dorm for the girls. The council was fully funding everything and he’d gotten several local construction workers, as well as some from Sunnydale. For the time being, the girls were sleeping on the floor of the warehouse, but the dorm would allow them to have actual rooms and bathrooms. Many of the locals thought the warehouse was new gym or something, and they had a hard time explaining that it wasn’t open to the public.

Even Andrew was making himself useful. He’d gotten them a computer system up and running, so they could keep track of the girls and their training. They were each on a two year training program and they would be released once they’d successfully completed it. They were split up by age, and some of the younger ones would be in training longer because of how young they were. Most of their parents visited on the weekends, but otherwise left them alone. Only a few had run away from home to be in the program. Buffy was in the process of contacting those parents and explaining what was going on with their children. Once they were released from the program, they could patrol on their own as long as they checked in with the council.

As for the council, Wesley was training a group of Watchers with Giles watching closely. So far, they had 25 recruits. Most of the applicants didn’t like the thought of standing by while a young girl killed or got killed. They were having to get volunteers now, because most of the Watchers were killed in the battle against the first evil. For the time being, each Watcher would be assigned a certain number of girls to look after until there were enough of them to go around. Even then, it would probably be 3 girls for every 1 watcher. Dawn was working on the compatibility program to match up the rooming situation. There were so many girls, they’d have to have 3 to a room. Each floor would have a huge communal bathroom with 15 showers and bathroom stalls. It was a gigantic project that they were taking on, but it had to be done.

As for Willow, she was teaching the girls meditation techniques. For those who were interested, she was teaching basic spells of protection and things of that sort. Kennedy seemed to be good for Willow, but Buffy still had her doubts about Kennedy. Buffy was out of sorts, and she didn’t like it. She’d considered calling Angel, but according to Wesley, he was head of Wolfram and Hart. She’d done some research on the place and she was shocked that he’d even work for a place like that. She was sitting in the living room of hers and Dawn’s apartment, when the phone rang. She muted the television to answer the phone, and was mildly surprised to hear who was on the line.

“ Is this Buffy Summers? Oh good, my name is Lorne, and I’m a pal of Angel’s and Wesley’s. We are having a slight problem here and we could use some Slayer, Wiccan assistance.” Buffy didn’t know what to say at first, so she remained silent and Lorne continued.

“ See, our friend Fred has been taken over by a demon named Illyria. We thought that you could keep her in toe while Willow worked her mojo. You may wanna bring Faith and a few others because this girl is feisty.” Buffy finally found her voice.

“ How come Angel and his evil corporation couldn’t help her?” She heard Lorne chuckle.

“ Well, he tried. She was caught in some kind of time warp and she staked him and...well let’s just say he’s a little gun shy now.” Buffy didn’t know why, but she believed every word he was saying.

“ Angel is okay, isn’t he?” When he said he was, she got his number and then went to the warehouse to find the others.

She found the majority of them in the main room of the warehouse, and the other were scattered around, but in hearing distance. Giles stood when he saw her and gave her a warm smile. She returned the smile and grabbed the megaphone they had to use so everyone could hear them. Giles gave her a funny look and spoke.

“ Hello Buffy, I though that you’d gone home for the day.” She sighed and addressed the whole room with the megaphone.

“ I did, but I just received a very interesting phone call. Some friend of ours from L.A. are in trouble and have asked for assistance.” This seemed to get everyone’s attention, even Faith’s.

“ It seems that Angel’s friend, Fred had been taken over by a demon and they need our help.” Before she could say anything more, Wesley spoke up.

“ This happened several months ago, why are they doing something now?” Buffy gave him an irritated look.

“ I don’t know, Wes. Anyway, we’ll leave tomorrow. I’m going to take Faith, Willow, Rona, Vi, Talia, and Giles with me. Everyone else will stay here and continue to train. We shouldn’t be gone too long.” Kennedy spoke up then, and she wasn’t happy.

“ If Willow is going, I’m going, Buffy.” Buffy had anticipated this argument with Kennedy.

“ No you’re not. I need you to stay and fill Faith’s spot in the training.” Kennedy was already shaking her head before Buffy could finish.

“ Vi could do that, what’s your real reason for saying that I’m staying here?” Buffy sighed and walked closer to her. She also, put the megaphone down.

“ You’re not going because you’re too chop/stab happy. You act before you think and in this life, you can’t do that. So, you’re staying here.” Kennedy scoffed and was about to say something else when Wesley spoke up again.

“ Kennedy, you’re staying here, so stop acting like a child. However Buffy, I’m going, and they’ll be no discussions about it.” Buffy balked at his tone, and walked over to him. She spoke low enough so everyone couldn’t hear what she was saying to him.

“ I’ll say it again. Wesley, you’re staying here. I know the deal between you and Fred. You’ll get in our way even if you don’t mean to, especially if something goes wrong. So, you’ll stay here and keep the operation running. I will call you with regular updates and the results. Wesley, I can already see the defiance in your eyes. I know what’s it like to lose someone you love so much that the thought of not being with them hurts like hell. Just remember that I can render you unconscious.” He gave Buffy a very hard look, then stalked away. She turned to Giles then.

“ We need to get flights for all of us, and I have to talk to Dawn.” Giles nodded and set off to make the reservations. Buffy walked over to where Dawn was sitting, and sat down next to her.

“ Your angry that I didn’t say you could come, aren’t you?” Dawn opened her mouth a few times before answering.

“ I’d like to say no, but I am upset. I’d like to see Angel and meet his new group.” Buffy smiled gently at her.

“ I promise we’ll go to L.A. for a visit soon. I just don’t want you or Xander anywhere near this demon.” She nodded, and Buffy went to find Faith. When she did find her, she approached her with caution.

“ Is it okay I included in that, or would you prefer to stay here?” Faith grinned.

“ Nah, it’s cool. It’ll be pretty weird beating up on Fred. I know it won’t be her, but still. You’d like her, she’s like a different sized Willow clone normally.” Buffy smiled.

“ I don’t really fancy seeing Angel. After our last encounter, I’m not sure what to expect.” Faith nodded.

“ I can understand that.” They were disturbed by yelling in the front room, and they saw Rona and Kennedy yelling. Rona was trying to reason with Kennedy, but that was never an easy thing to do.

“ I know you’re pissed, but you know she’s right. You’re constantly going in head first, then asking questions later.” Kennedy got really upset at hearing this.

“ What are you even talking about? Your head’s just big because she picked you over me. Buffy knows I’m a better fighter then her and Faith, that’s why she won’t let me go...she’s jealous.” Before Buffy could say anything, Faith spoke up.

“ Oh, you think you can take on B? I used to be just like you, you know. She kicked my ass good, and that was when she was still relatively new to the whole thing. She can still kick my ass, and I know I can kick yours. If you ever want to want to test that theory of yours, you just let us know.” With that she turned to Buffy with a grin.

“ When do we leave?”