Chapter 4 – Making Arrangements
A week passed by and Buffy began to make preparations for leaving. She went to the training facility about every other day to work with the girls. She also visited the medical center once more to see Dana and talk to the doctor.
“Has there been any change?” Buffy asked, glancing at the doctor and then peering into Dana’s room. She looked back at the doctor with a glint of sadness in her eyes. She felt for Dana, empathized with her.
“No, Miss Summers,” he replied solemnly.
“Is there likely to be?” Buffy asked, doing her best to quell her fears, preparing herself for the likelihood that there was little or no chance of recovery for Dana.
“There is a small chance she could recover, but,” he paused a moment in which Buffy’s muscles clenched nervously. He continued by saying, “I don’t think it’s likely.” He patted her shoulder kindly. “I’m sorry Miss Summers.”
“So am I. So am I,” Buffy said quietly.
Buffy shook off her emotions and talked to the doctor for a few more minutes before getting ready to leave.
“I’ll be going out of town for a while. I want you to call me if anything changes with Dana or if something comes up with one of the other girls.”
“Of course Miss Summers,” he assured her.
“Here’s my cell phone number. Call anytime, if something comes up,” she said seriously as she tore a piece of paper with her number on it. Buffy smiled at the friendly doctor. He was a good man and he had helped the girls in Rome a lot.
They said goodbye and Buffy headed back to the apartment. As she walked back to her place of residence, for now, she thought about Dana. Buffy could understand some of what the young slayer was going through. She could still feel what it was like when Glory had taken Dawn, just like it was yesterday. Catatonia had been a comfort at the time, an easy escape. Over the years she had learned to deal with life though, but she found herself wishing she could help Dana in some way. She wished there was something more that could be done for the girl.
When she was back at the apartment she showered and changed. Then she found Andrew standing up from his books at the table in the living room. She walked up behind him and slapped his shoulder playfully. “We need to talk.”
Her voice was serious and a serious slayer was something Andrew feared. Buffy knew this and used it to her advantage. She took him over to the couch and they stood by it for a moment. “Andrew, I’m gonna ask you for a favor.” Buffy pushed him lightly so that he was now sitting on the couch.
“O-okay,” he stuttered.
Buffy bit back her desire to laugh at him. That would do no good now. “You’re gonna call Giles for me.”
Andrew nodded, but mid nod he got a puzzled look on his face and said, “I’ll do it Buffy, but…”
“But why?” Buffy asked, a little menacingly. “Is that what you want to know?”
Andrew nodded meekly.
Buffy smiled, “Because, I’m leaving for LA soon and you’re gonna need another slayer in town.”
Andrew still felt confused and his expression showed his confusion clearly.
Now, Buffy was just irritated. “God, Andrew.” She sat down beside him. “I want you to ask Giles for another slayer, one with some experience.” She sighed and spoke nicely to him now. “The ones here in Rome now…they’re young and fresh. They still need to be taught, trained.” She looked at her hands and spoke. “Ask for Faith or Kennedy or maybe Rona or Vi. They’re all good and can help with the teaching.”
She stood up from the couch, her back to him. She took a few steps and stopped, turned her face a little and added, “Don’t tell Giles why I’m leaving. I’ll be in London soon to explain it to him myself. I need to see him before I go to LA anyway.” Her voice was soft, as if she was pleading with him. As she walked away back toward her room she heard him say,
“Sure Buffy.”
Buffy liked Andrew. He was frequently annoying, but he had matured a lot since they fought the First. He pulled his own weight now and that was something Buffy appreciated. She felt better knowing that Andrew would be around to help the girls, but she would never tell Andrew that for fear it would go to his head.
There were still a few loose ends to tie up in Rome, and of course the dreaded trip to London, before Buffy would be going to LA. She was a little anxious to leave, but she wanted everything to be OK while she was gone too. The safety of the girls was still Buffy’s number one priority. It was her job to teach them what they needed to know to be good slayers. Whiles she was gone she wanted to know that they would be in good hands. She was curious who would be coming to Rome to take her place with the girls here. It had been a few months since she’d heard from Faith, and the last Buffy had heard of the other surviving slayers from Sunnydale was that they were in London with Giles. She was pretty sure that they had gone off to protect other highly demon populated cities by now though.
Buffy sat down on her bed and thought about what Rome really meant to her. In the beginning it was a fresh start, a place where she could just be Buffy. That didn’t last for long though. Demons came looking for her, wanting to fight and kill the famous Buffy Summers. None had succeeded, of course, but they keep coming for a while. Then young slayers started showing up and then Andrew came to town. So much for just being Buffy. Deep down, though, she knew she wouldn’t be able to get away from being the slayer, ever. As more slayers showed up, fewer demons came around to fight her. There was still the occasional demon that came looking for Buffy or any slayer at all. Buffy came to realize that Rome was just another chapter in her life as the slayer.
Out in the living room Andrew picked up the phone and called Giles. He listened to one ring, then two, then the sound of someone picking up.
“Rupert Giles’ office,” sounded the young female voice.
“Yes. This is Andrew Wells, in Rome. I need to speak with Mr. Giles.”
“He’s in a meeting at the moment. You can leave a message for him. What is the call regarding?” she asked.
“Tell him it’s about Buffy Summers.” Andrew knew that would get his attention, fast.
“Yes, sir, I’ll have him on the line for you in just a moment,” the woman said, sounding slightly hurried. “Please hold.”
Andrew smiled. He was put on hold and silently cheered himself for his brilliancy. Giles would come to the phone if he thought there was news from, or even about, Buffy.
“Andrew,” sounded Giles’ voice. “What is it?”
“Hello Giles.” Andrew was cheerful at the prospect of talking to the great watcher.
Giles didn’t want any of Andrew’s nonsense though. “Out with it, Andrew. Tell me what’s going on with Buffy. I don’t have time for nonsense.”
Andrew sighed in defeat. He couldn’t argue with Giles. So, it was straight to business, as usual. “She leaving town for a while. She’s not sure how long she’ll be gone, so I’ll be needing a temporary substitute to help with training the girls. Oh, and Buffy will be coming to London shortly to speak to you about the details of her trip. We’ll keep decoys in place as usual, but I still need another slayer to help with training.” He wanted to put everything on the table, so Giles would have less to argue with, for now.
“Ah…” Giles sighed and cleaned his glasses with a handkerchief. “I see.” He knew Buffy well enough to know she put Andrew up to asking for another slayer with experience to help out in Rome. He also knew she wouldn’t be coming to London to explain herself if it wasn’t important, very important. “Very well, very well. Let’s see who’s available.” He clicked a few keys on his computer and brought up the information he was looking for. “Faith would be too conspicuous; the demons would know Buffy was gone.” Another click and then, “Vi is in Paris. Kennedy is still in South America with Willow and Rona is in the states. I imagine those are girls Buffy would approve of having in Rome.” Giles smiled lightly.
Andrew gulped and said, “Yeah, those sound like good choices.”
“Yes, well now…Vi is the closest to you and Rome. She doesn’t have a lot going on in Paris either, so I’ll send her your way.”
“Thanks Giles. I’ll let Buffy know. I’m sure you’ll be seeing her soon.”
“Yes, I’m sure I will. Is there anything else, Andrew?”
“No, that’s all.”
“Alright. Goodbye, Andrew.”
“Goodbye, Giles.”
Click went Giles’ receiver.
Click went Andrew’s receiver. Andrew sighed and looked back at Buffy’s door. He decided he would tell Buffy about Vi later. As of right now he didn’t even know when she would be coming.
Buffy scurried about her room, hours later trying to pack a bag for London. ‘I’ve got to go see Giles,’ she told herself. ‘I’ve just got to talk this out with him.’ She wasn’t being organized in her packing, rather she was being quite unorganized tossing articles of clothing into a duffle bag from across the room. She stood at her dresser and looked for things she might need while in London’s muggy climate for a few days. Then she walked over to her closet and found a few more pieces of clothing to toss into her bag. Crouching down to look in the bottom of her closet she grabbed two pairs of shoes, one comfortable pair of tennis shoes and one pair of less comfortable heels.
Just as she tossed the last thing in her bag and began zipping it up there was a knock at her bedroom door. “Who is it?” she asked, nonchalantly.
“It’s Dawn.”
“And Andrew.”
“Oh and oh,” she said quietly to herself. Then louder she announced to the two outside her door, “You can come in.”
They practically threw the door open and fell through it, both trying to go through the doorway at once. “Easy there, kids,” Buffy said, smirking a little. “In a rush to tell me something?” she asked, glancing at them both before finishing with her bag. “Oh, did you talk to Giles, Andrew?”
Dawn and Andrew looked a little sheepish at the first question, but Andrew managed to regain his speech, and a little confidence, at the second question. “Yeah.” He nodded.
Buffy gave him a ‘And?’ look and Andrew went on, “And…” he said the word with emphasis, “Vi will be coming from Paris to help out.” He didn’t go on to tell her that Giles pretty much knew Buffy was up to something.
“That’s good.” Buffy looked at Andrew for a second. ‘Is he hiding something?’ she asked herself. “Did he say anything else, Andrew?” Buffy asked sternly.
“Not really…” he trailed off for a second. He caught a glare from Buffy and went on to say, “Well…he did say…he seemed to know that you put me up to asking him for another slayer.” Andrew averted her gaze now and waited for her response, expecting anger or something of the sort.
“Oh,” was all Buffy could say. “Well, he knows me too well for me to keep anything from him. That’s why I’m leaving for London. Tonight.”
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Author's Chapter Notes:
Pretty much a filler chapter. I wanted to put in some more time before Buffy went to LA. Next is another, somewhat short, chapter on London which coincides with Angel & Spike coming to Rome (The Girl in Question episode of Angel). I know the timeline may be a little wonky from the time that passed on the show, but afterall this is my fic, right? OK, so I'll stop rambling. Hope you all enjoy this chapter. Please review! I love hearing what you think of the story. Thanks to those that have already been reviewing the story. Muah!
~Duchess
~Duchess