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Author's Chapter Notes:
A background chapter. I know, I hate them, too. You should let me know it doesn't suck, though, if you feel so inclined.
Willow:

Okay, so I've been sulking a bit; it's perfectly understandable, I would rather be anywhere but here right now. Rio is a beautiful city. Go Giles, for sending me here instead of someplace else. I loved England when I was there, but there's only so much rain I can take. It's not exactly like I was out touring the country, I was working really hard with the coven. Who's to say I would enjoy living in England as much as I like Brazil, anyway.

I’m loving life off a Hellmouth. I didn’t notice it when I was living with the coven in Bath, but it turns out the vamp/demon population really is very different in the rest of the world; for one there are noticeably fewer nasties, and a larger percentage of the demons are benign species. I have charts to prove it. There's a strong, steady base of magical power here, bred into generations of Brazilians.

I was tapped to base a Slayer school here because of all the magic, and the magical Slayers. Gretchen has this theory that, before Sunnydale, any potential with magical ability was disqualified from being called by the Powers. She's an older Watcher's Council member, who was doing research in Panama when the First demolished the HQ. I didn't realize it at first, but the magic drawn to Rio is primarily white, whereas Hellmouth magic is almost all of the dark type. Plus, you know, I spoke Spanish, which is closer to Portuguese than what anyone else spoke.

Kennedy and I moved to Rio De Janeiro with 8 Slayers about four months after we closed the Sunnydale Hellmouth. Now we have 28 girls and Gretchen Green, 30 Slayers if you count Gretchen and Kennedy. Turns out witchy Slayers are a bit different than the average sort, so we're trying to gather all of them in Rio. There were 1100 Slayers at last count, so we know we don't have all the Slayer-Witches identified yet, but we're lucky we've managed to convince so many Slayers to join the fight; we started out with the Scooby gang, minus, and a few post-potentials we barely knew; then we had to find any former Watchers and potentials who survived the First.

The work I do here is rewarding, but exhausting and stressful, and honestly I don't love it. I've never been so tired, even in Sunnydale when I was juggling a relationship and college and the odd looming apocalypse. Right now I'm also depressed, which doesn't really put the old spring in my step. Maybe I should make some brownies…

I've been working like a crazy person for almost a year, minus a break or two. My time off from work is taken up with planning magic lessons and trying to keep in touch with friends on four continents. Poor Xander; I tried to convince Giles not to separate us at first, but he thought Xander needed a fresh start. I miss him most of all, Xander, I mean.

Kennedy used to figure into the equation of how I spend my time, but not anymore. We broke up. Which is still hard to think, and even harder to say. I care about her a lot, she's sweet and funny and pretty, and lots of other stuff, too; like impulsive and reckless and unable to listen to reason.

She and I still work together, which is odd and uncomfortable, to say the least. She doesn't grasp the dangers of harnessing magicks, or understand why I'm very careful with the type of spells I practice and teach. The emphasis she places on weapons training and offensive fighting isn't something I can understand or approve of; it's almost like we're training two different types of Slayers with the same set of teachers. We've been fighting for months, but we do still care about one another, so it was hard.

I love Rio, but I hate it too. I love that I'm doing something to help all the girls whose lives I screwed up with that Slayer spell, and I'm really enjoying studying magic in more depth, and teaching others. I hate that my time is not my own, that I'm the one in charge, that I'm so far from my friends and what's left of my family. And I miss my girlfriend.

The Slayers who don't work spend most of their mornings training with Kennedy, which gives me a nice breather. I have breakfast with Gretchen and the other Slayers, then head back to my office to plan lessons and do other Kennedy-avoiding things. Gretchen and I work together on planning magic lessons, since Kennedy is pretty much barred from those conversations after she suggested teaching the girls how to resurrect people. Thank Goddess I don't have that spell anywhere she can find it; I swear she'd try to use it.

The roughest part of the day is classroom time. Gretchen, Kennedy and I divide the subjects and age groups; we have 19 Slayers between the ages of 11 and 18. For a great big chunk of the day she and I sit on opposite sides of the room and try to ignore one another without being angry in front of the girls. They don't need any more angst; their lives are crazy enough right now.

Slayer School, Brazil is in a remodeled warehouse in an industrial area of Rio De Janeiro. We picked this area because we're away from tourist traffic, and it's a high-density area for demonic activity, at least by non-Hellmouth standards.

Buffy interrupted Algebra when she called. I was excited, because we really don’t talk as much as we used to. Then I realized this was Buffy, who rarely calls me in the middle of the day. Well, the middle of the day in Brazil, which is…I don’t remember what time it is in Rome.

********

“What time is it there?” I asked, settling into my desk chair with the phone between my shoulder and ear as I searched for the World Clock bookmark on my browser.

Buffy sighed. She sounded funny, and in a very not-happy kind of way. “It’s 3:15…Shoot, I'm gonna be late for my afternoon training session. Listen, Wills, I need a favor.” Another deep sigh, and I knew for sure that something weird was going on. “Have you heard anything about how the gang in LA is doing?”

Uh oh. Andrew stopped by to see me on his way back to England after he left LA. I have no idea when he stopped being afraid of me, but I kinda wish he hadn't. Andrew's a pest. He said he needed to tell SOMEONE, despite being sworn to secrecy, and of course telling Xander that Spike was alive while Anya was not would have meant badness all around. Then again, how could I be sure she was talking about Spike? Maybe she was referring to some horrible new thing. “Not recently.” Good Willow, very calm, not entirely a lie.

Buffy was silent for a minute. “Um, Willow, don’t freak, okay, but…Willow, Spike’s alive. Well, undead, anyway. He’s in LA working with Angel.”

I could tell she was waiting for me to freak out, or start ranting about how bad this was. Because that’s what I do, right? I disapprove of Buffy and Spike. Except that I don’t, really. I mean, she was so upset after he…Dusted, I guess, since he was already dead. She obviously had feelings for him, and if him being back will make her happy, I’ll try to support that. “I knew that. Andrew told me.”

“You KNEW! And you didn’t TELL me?”

“I couldn’t! Spike swore Andrew to secrecy, and he was afraid that if he didn’t tell someone he would slip up and tell you, so he told me. And then I was sworn to secrecy.” I sighed, shaking my head, suddenly wishing that I was teaching math instead of talking to my best friend. Oh, the weirdness of my life. “I’m sorry Buffy, I really wanted to tell you, but…I mean you and Giles were all big with the ‘avoid Angel’ stuff…”

Buffy interrupted my next ramble before I even worked up a good head of steam. “Hey, Willow, sorry I yelled. Listen, actually…Um, I knew before you did. I’ve known he was back for months.”

Huh? “How did you find out?”

“Giles has a contact keeping tabs on Wolfram and Hart. Spike was spotted, then it was easy to get information from people about him. A few weeks ago he was in Rome with Angel…”

“WHAT?” Yes, I yelled really loudly at that point. I mean, if it was Angelus, or soulless Spike, or... “Are you okay? What happened?”

Buffy chuckled. “They came to rescue me from Marco. Evidently there was an issue of a threesome with Darla and Dru about a century ago, and they were worried about me. Oh, and Spike brought Dawn and I roses.”

I fell back in my chair. Giles and I had reservations about Buffy and The Immortal (like there was only one; sheesh). I’d talked to Buffy about him a while back, but she’d ignored me and continued dating him. Now here Buffy was making jokes about his sexual encounters with evil vampires, and sounding way too happy about getting flowers from Spike, and… "Buffy, did you just call Drusilla Dru?"

“Did I?” Buffy sounded a little wigged herself by that. “Sorry, probably a bad habit I picked up from Will. Listen, I know we have tons to talk about, but I need you to listen.”

Was it just me, or did Buffy just call Spike ‘Will’? And any favor involving the souled vamps, so not happiness inducing. But, despite her totally squiggy taste in men, I could hear the worry in Buffy’s voice; and after all, she is my best friend. “What do you need me to do?”

Buffy spent the next twenty minutes giving me all the info on Angel’s son, his management of Wolfram & Hart, his strange hiring decisions, and finally his plan to infiltrate Evil, Inc. from within.

“So, basically, that’s their plan. They’re going to kill off all the members of this Order thingy, and hopefully really hurt the Senior Partners. It’s not really a bad plan, but I want to give then some more juice. You know, even the odds a little. Illyria is unpredictable, and Wesley has a serious death wish right now, which means they’re a little low on muscle and strategy. Plus, love Angel and Spike, but not so much on the planning.” Buffy stopped to take a deep breath for the first time in what seemed like forever. “I was kinda hoping you could go to LA and help out. I mean, you have Kennedy and Gretchen there to cover for you, and I can’t really leave my Slayers unprotected with only Alvand here to watch them. You know what a softie he is.”

I couldn’t help but smile, thinking of Alvand. He was a great guy, and he had an inexhaustible knowledge of Middle Eastern demonology and Iranian history, but he was definitely a soft touch when it came to teenage girls. No wonder the old Council never gave him a Slayer.

Buffy continued to ramble. “Even if I could get away, the Senior Partners know who I am; I’d probably blow the whole operation by showing up. Oh, and Will and I thought of a cover story for you.”

Okay, the whole go to LA and help save the world thing, I was perfectly willing to do. I was happy Spike called Buffy for help, and that she’d called me; but Buffy had slipped into calling Spike William or Will for the entire conversation. I found that, more than anything she’d said so far, even the part where Angel and Darla procreated, that was weirding me out. “Buffy, I thought I was Will.”

Silence. Then, Buffy giggled. “I’m sorry, Willow. Wills. Would it help if I called you Red so we don’t get confused?” The giggling was turning into full-fledged chuckling. “I’m a dope, I shouldn’t be laughing, but it’s just so stupid. I mean, Spike and I had this big, wild affair thing going on; and yeah we were all screwed up at the time, with the avoidy and deny-y, but it’s odd that you’ve never heard me call him by his first name. I mean, you did remember that his name is William, right?”

Oookay. “Did you? Call him William? I mean, I guess I never thought you guys were all that close, even with the hot-monkey-love and all.” And I really didn’t want the mental picture that sentence gave me. I can appreciate that Spike is attractive, and I know Buffy is hot, even if she’s a little…Flat for my taste, but thinking about my friends having sex is just wrong. “I guess, I just thought that it was…And you really never seemed to like him or care about what he said, so…I’m confused, I guess, by you using his human name, and talking about him the way you have been.”

Buffy sighs again. “Wills, I’d really love to get into this with you, but we don’t have a lot of time; things in LA are going very quickly. Are you going to help or not?”

“Well, of course I’m going to help, duh…”

Before I could ask any more of the ten million questions I had about Buffy and Spike, I was interrupted yet again. “Great! You’re totally awesome, Wills! Now listen, the cover story is majorly important. There are four Slayers in LA who Faith couldn’t convince to talk to her. You’re going to meet up with them, and try to get them at least talking to the Council again. Hopefully, you can convince them to help out with the Wolfram & Hart thing. Oh, gosh, I’m sorry I’ve kept you on the phone so long; I know you were in the middle of classroom time. I’m going to fax you some stuff on the LA Slayers, then I’m gonna call Will…Spike and have him get your ticket.”

“Buffy, I can teleport to LA.” Dead silence, yet again. I know Buffy and Xander still worry about the magic thing, and Dawn and I haven’t been close the last couple of years because of it, but being here has helped me a lot, and I’m much more in touch with the earth’s forces than I’ve ever been. “Buffy, don’t sweat it, I can have Gretchen help me, it’ll be perfectly safe. So no worries about the ticket, or time wasted on a plane or anything. Just tell me how to get in touch with Spike.”

Buffy thinks a little more, and I want to remind her about trust and faith in humanity and stuff, but I just take a deep breath and wait on her decision. “Okay, Willow, that sounds like a plan. I’ll fax over your hotel reservation with the other stuff. Oh, and let me give you Spike’s cell phone number.”

I can’t help but laugh at that. We could barely get him to use the landline in Sunnydale. “Cell phone? When did Spike become Mr. Technology?”

Buffy joins my laughing. “Yeah, it’s weird, huh? He said that Fred was helping him with the computers and all the other technology stuff; well, before...” We both fall silent at the mention of Fred. I didn’t know her very well, and I’m pretty sure Buffy never met her, but being devoured from the inside by an ancient demon is no way to die. “Poor Fred.” Buffy sighs. “I wish I’d had the chance to meet her. I mean, William said Ilyria looks just like her, except for being kinda blue, but that her personality just isn’t there anymore. I spoke to her once, and she seemed really sweet; and she was friendly to Spike, which makes me like her, too. I wish I’d gotten the chance to talk to her again after Spike materialized at Wolfram & Hart. I would have liked to thank her for taking care of him.”

Wow. I mean; I’d had a clue even before today that their relationship was closer than I knew about. But Buffy wanted to thank another woman for being friendly to him…Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever had a relationship where I wouldn’t have been jealous that another woman was with my lover when I couldn’t be. I know we’re supposed to be wrapping this up, but I can’t help poking at that a bit. “You’re not jealous?”

“No.” Buffy sounds confused. “Why would I be jealous? I mean, even if Fred were still Fred, Spike’s mine. He didn’t pursue me for all these years just to fall for the next pretty thing that comes along. Look at how long he stayed with Dru, and that wasn’t the healthiest relationship in the world, even between un-souled vampire couples. Not that our relationship has been really healthy, but we’re working on it.”

I don’t understand how it happened, or when, but it’s suddenly clear to me in a way that it hadn’t been until now. Buffy loves Spike. Even after they haven’t seen each other in almost a year, after she thought he was dead and started dating someone else; despite his waiting so long to get in touch with her, and having had a close female friend. And the casual mention of his ex; obviously they’ve talked about this stuff. I’m impressed with Spike, and I hope he can keep impressing me once I see him and Buffy together. “You know, whenever I think my life has reached a new pinnacle of weirdness, there you are to top me with super-duper weirdness. Listen, I’m gonna go pack. I’ll be waiting for your fax.”

“Alright. Thanks again for doing this Willow, you’re totally my hero.” Buffy sounds giddy, which makes me smile. “Be safe, and call me if you need anything. Don’t forget to call Spike as soon as you get to the hotel.”

“Got it, Buff. Talk to you later.”

********

Two hours later, after yet another screaming match with Kennedy, quickly tossing my luggage together, and confirming the proper spell with Gretchen, I walk through the revolving doors at the Hilton in Downtown LA without anyone noticing I’d appeared out of nowhere. I’m directed up to my room only to discover that I have a behemoth suite with a bed almost as big as my room back home, and a great view except for the smog. I grab the info Buffy sent and Spike’s number out of my bag, and dump all of it on the coffee table before I head for the bedroom and unpack the rest of my stuff.

Deciding that I’m in a ‘no time like the present’ kinda mood, I head back for the living room/office area of my suite, and call Spike. Which I still think is all kinds of weird, but hey.

“Hello?” Wow, I didn’t expect him to pick up so fast. “Ellooo?” Now he sounds annoyed.

“Spike, hi.” I have no idea what to say. Dawn and Tara always knew what to say to Spike, they were both really friendly towards him, or at least Tara warmed up to him after a while. Everyone else had much more contact with him than me, I mean, other than those couple of times he needed my help, or when he tried to kill me to test the chip. I’ve rarely been alone with Spike, especially in those last few months after he was ensouled, and even though I’ve always felt kinda sympathetic towards him, it’ll be weird to work closely with him.

“Red!” Spike’s response is quiet, but he sounds almost happy to hear from me. “Glad you got in alright. Buffy was worried about that ruddy spell you were gonna do.”

“I told her not to worry, sheesh; I teach magic now, I think I know what I’m doing!” Well, when in doubt, just act naturally, I guess.

Spike chuckles, actually laughs without it being all evil taunting laughter. So weird. “Yeah, she’s a worrier. And she doesn’t listen.” He sounds so…Fond. What a day, I may never recover my perspective if things continue to be so strange. “Listen, Red, I have to meet up with Peaches and the crew for a bloody planning session. What say I take you to dinner later? Maybe you can get your Slayer girls together by tonight.”

Nope, no perspective in sight. “Sure, sounds good. You know where I’m staying, right?”

“Yah. I’ll call when I’m on my way, got the main number right here, just need your room number.”

I give him the number, and Spike promises to call a ‘bit before sunset’ to see if I’ve found the Slayers yet. Once we’re off the phone, and I adjust a bit to the bizzarro world I’m now living in, I start going over the info Buffy sent.

One of the interesting things we’ve learned in taking over the Council of Watchers is that many of the most promising potentials who weren’t called over the years became Watchers. In fact, almost every woman working for the Council had been a former potential.

The spell I cast to turn the potentials into real Slayers worked retroactively as well, even though we didn’t know that at the time, and almost all of the surviving female Watchers were now also Slayers. Most of the ones we located, like Gretchen, were eager to talk to Buffy and Faith about their powers, and to help set up schools and take on a few girls or women and help them out with training or lessons or whatever.

A few Watchers, and a few of the other older Slayers we’d located, had asked me to strip them of their powers, which I actually managed to do, to my surprise. I'm still kind of amazed I did the Slayer spell in the first place. And in the second place, too.

Once we knew it was an option, Giles and I took it upon ourselves to strip the power from a few women who refused their calling, but were willing to use the extra strength to their benefit. Very few women turned their backs on being Chosen and kept their new Slayer abilities. Once we've contacted them, it's usually either yes or no; although there are hundreds we haven't contacted yet, and already Giles is worried about the Council being divided in its methods, since we've changed so many things.

Evidently, what I'm dealing with in LA are two female Watchers, and two younger Slayers. One of the Watchers quit the Council before the First destroyed it, to come to Medical School at UCLA; the other Watcher was in New York with her potentials, then fled west while the First was after them. Why you would flee something by going towards it, I have no idea. Maybe they thought they'd blend.

I had no idea how to get in touch with the other three, but how hard could it be to find a medical student? So I decided to begin my Slayer hunt with Meredith Cunningham.





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