Author - Indygo (This has nothing to do with my other ongoing piece "Walking Shadows")
The story so far…
OK, so this idea has been kind of kicking around in my head a bit for a while now, but bits and pieces of Season 6 got in the way and screwed things up. So, for reference… Everything in Season 6 has happened. Somehow the Scoobies were able to resurrect Tara and have her live a long and happy life together with Willow the way it should always have been. I haven't covered the resurrection in this first part - perhaps I will later.
This story is set 15 years in the future. A lot has changed. A lot stays the same.
This isn't going to be a long piece, just some fun speculation on their futures. Let me know what you think of the idea.
I'm not sure how much sex, angst or violence there will be in future parts, but this chapter has none of the above.
Spoilers for everything up to and including Season 6. Nothing else to report.
THE WATCHER
The phone rang, echoing through the house. She wasn't sure how she knew, but before she even answered Willow could sense that something important had happened.
Picking up the phone, she spoke softly into the receiver. "Hello?"
"Professor Rosenberg?"
"Speaking."
"It's Willis. We're sending the Slayer to you. She's been called."
Willow froze. A shiver of anticipation crept up her spine. "Which one?"
"Well, as you know we've been watching three possible candidates. It seems the girl from Miami is our lucky girl."
"Lucky?" Willow repeated. She wasn't quite sure Buffy would agree with that description.
Willis hesitated, unsure of Willow's tone. After a while he pushed on. "Yes well, she's on her way in any case. She arrives in Sunnydale on Friday with her family. They've been prepared."
At least this girl had that much, Willow thought. She turned her thoughts to the grim reality of the calling of the new Slayer. "And Faith?"
"Dead. Three hours ago. She died in a prison riot trying to save some other women." He coughed lightly. "It was almost what I'd call heroic."
She was silent for a few moments, absorbing the news. It wasn't a shock to her that she found it difficult to feel anything. It wasn't even worth trying to pretend that Faith had ever meant anything to her on a personal level. Even the animosity she used to feel towards the rogue Slayer had faded over the years into nothingness. "Well, at least that's something." She offered.
"Well, in any case, its time. Are you ready?"
She grunted. "Would it really matter if I said no?"
"No." The voice at the end of the line chuckled softly. "But we still need to know that you're confident you can do this. Others are trained and willing…"
"No." Willow said firmly. "I'm ready. How could I not be? I've almost spent more time in my life around Slayers than not. Who better than me?"
"This one could still surprise you."
Willow smiled into the receiver. "If she's anything like the other three Slayers I've met, I'm counting on it."
"Excellent." A lilt in his voice betrayed his hesitation.
"What?" Willow asked, nervously.
"The news, of Faith's death… we haven't told anyone yet."
"Buffy doesn't know?"
"No."
Willow sighed, heavily. Behind her she heard the front door open and close, the steady rhythm of her lover's footsteps coming down the hall towards her. "Let me handle it. Faith and Buffy weren't close, but it will probably still be better coming from a friend."
She heard Willis's breath of relief. "I was hoping you'd say that. It's difficult, being the bearer of bad news."
"Apart from the fact that Buffy still isn't on speaking terms with anyone in the Council, except me."
"Well, yes, there's that." Willis replied, slightly more agitated.
She smiled to herself. The Watcher's council had probably changed more in the past fifteen years than in its entire thousand year history, but they were still a bunch of stuffed British shirts at heart. She still loved tweaking their noses from time to time. It kept them aware of who they were dealing with. "Don't worry about Buffy. She'll come around."
Willis laughed out loud. "With all due respect Professor, you've been saying that for ten years."
"Yeah well, she's a little stubborn about the whole 'giving her stupid orders' thing. I think she knows how changed the whole thing is now. I don't think she'd accept me being a part of it unless we were making some real changes."
"Changes? That's the understatement of the year, if I've ever heard one. I think Buffy has single-handedly managed to turn every Slayer tradition on its head. And the ones she hasn't, you have."
"Well, I do my best." She replied cheekily.
He laughed again. "Well, Buffy has certainly achieved one very noteworthy thing. She'll be the first Slayer in history to ever hand over the reins to another Slayer and still be breathing. This isn't the usual way that Slayers retire."
"Believe me, whatever deities are hanging around right now have my undying love and devotion for that fact." She replied, a smile spreading across her face. She wondered how Buffy would react, knowing that she could hang up the stake for good now. A thought, fuelled by the many conversations they'd had on the subject, sprang to her mind. "Have you considered the possibility though that Buffy might not want to retire?"
"How could she not?" Willis asked, puzzled. "Why? Did she say something to you about it?"
"Oh, we've talked about it, thousands of times. I still have no idea how she'll feel about it though, now that the time is finally here."
She felt Tara's hand on her shoulder and looked up into curious eyes. She held up a hand for Tara to wait, trying to follow what Willis was still babbling about on the other end.
"…surprising seeing as she's getting on a bit. Well, I guess that will be up to Buffy. It has no bearing on the new Slayer in any case. All the arrangements have been made. We've set up a house for her family, arranged a job for her mother. The father disappeared quite early on I believe."
"She an only child?" Willow asked.
"Yes. But Slayers have a tendency to be. It would be interesting to know why that is. Something to do with genealogy perhaps?"
"Buffy wasn't… oh wait, hang on, I keep forgetting."
"Yes, I often make that mistake too. But, it has been best for Dawn for people to let themselves forget her origin."
"Hmmm… yes. Well, all right, I'll have everything ready for Friday. I'm looking forward to meeting her."
"As are we, Professor. As are we."
The two exchanged pleasantries before hanging up. Willow turned immediately to greet Tara, burying her face into her shoulder and wrapping her in a huge hug. "Hi. You're home early. How did it go?" She mumbled into Tara's hair, pulling her lover close.
"The meeting didn't take as long as I thought. It was basically him saying 'I don't like the last chapter' and me saying 'bite me'. Was that what I think it was?" Tara drew back from the embrace, concern etched on her face.
Willow frowned. "You need a new editor."
"That's not news. You going to answer my question?"
"I wanted to finish talking about you first." Willow took Tara's hand and led her into the lounge, pulling her down beside her on the large, overstuffed couch.
"I'm done and I think the news you obviously just got is more important. It's starting, isn't it?" Tara asked evenly.
Willow shifted a bit on the couch, looking uncomfortable. "Yes, and I'm worried that you seem a little under-whelmed by the whole thing. I thought you were OK with this?"
Tara reached out and threw her arms around Willow's shoulders. "I am OK with it. I'm just worried, that's all. It's going to be a huge change for us."
"How? Why? It's not like we're not already involved with a Slayer. We're, like, veterans."
"Yes, but Buffy is a take-charge kind of gal. Now it's not her calling the shots any more, it's you. Professor Rosenberg, writer of books, teacher of students, Watcher of the Slayer." She looked down at her hands, a gesture Willow recognised as easily as she did her own reflection.
"Tara" she said, softly. "This isn't going to change anything between you and me."
"Yes, it will. You remember what Giles and Buffy were like - she was almost like his daughter. This is like…like…you're having a child or something. Except already grown up and able to pass judgements on everything and anything. And then there's all the responsibility, the extra time, the danger…"
"No more danger than we've been in for years." Willow reasoned. "I've been hurt, Xander's been hurt, you died for God's sake!"
Tara shuddered. "I don't want to think about that. And you know what I mean."
"Tara, we knew all this. We talked about all of it when I decided to get the Council to train me. You said you liked the idea."
"I do! I still do." Tara clutched Willow's hands for emphasis. "Darling, you were born to do something like this, with your talent, it would be a waste if you didn't. I guess then it was just a 'sometime, maybe'. Now that it's real, it's here, it just seems so…so big."
"I know." Willow replied simply, leaning in to give Tara the gentlest of kisses. "But we'll deal with whatever comes along."
"We will?"
"Yep."
"Anything?"
Willow nodded with certainty. "Anything."
"How do you know?"
"Wiccan insight. It's a powerful thing you know." Willow winked, sending Tara into a burst of giggles. "I might not be the witch I once was, but that kind of thing never goes away."
They snuggled closer on the couch, Tara leaning her head against Willow's shoulder. "What is it about you that makes me feel 19 years old again? I mean, we've both grown so much older and we've done so many things and been together for so long, but sometimes I feel like I've only just fallen in love with you. I don't understand it."
Willow looked thoughtful. "I don't know either, but I don't think it's something we want to think too much about. It just is, you know?"
"I know."
----
"So" Buffy began, stirring her mocha absently with a long silver spoon. "Faith's dead."
Willow gave her a sympathetic smile. "I figured it would be better coming from me, rather than from the Watcher's Council."
Buffy simply nodded, not looking up. She kept stirring.
Willow touched her arm lightly. "I thought you might take it badly. How are you feeling?"
She shrugged. "You know, more numb than anything else."
Willow nodded. "That's pretty much the way I felt. Not happy, or sad, just numb."
"I feel bad about it being so long since I visited her." Buffy said quietly.
"No Buffy, I won't sit here and listen to you feel guilty about anything to do with Faith." Willow admonished firmly. "You did everything you could do with her. Angel did everything he could. Everything else was up to Faith, and she kept blowing it over and over again."
"I don't think Angel has been back to visit either lately."
Willow spooned some of the melted ice-cream into her mouth from the puddle in the dish in front of her. She licked the edges of the spoon. "I've been wondering…"
"What?" Buffy looked up.
"What do you think about how Faith died? Would Faith have let herself be killed? I mean, if she'd had enough of being in there?"
Buffy let out a long sigh. "It's possible. Unlikely."
"So maybe there was something else to it?" Willow suggested.
"Will, what are you getting at?"
Willow frowned, leaning forward. "This whole prison riot thing. It sounds contrived. Too neat and tidy, brown paper package tied up with string."
"Like all my favourite things." Buffy retorted.
"Ha ha. I'm serious."
Buffy considered it. "Hand-to-hand combat. Maybe small makeshift weapons. Small space. Lots of angry people, anything could happen."
"That's just my point. In those conditions, who do you think is more likely to come out alive? Your average inmate, or a trained Slayer?"
"What if one of those 'average inmates' got in a lucky stab with something sharp and deadly?" Buffy reasoned. "Or, taking a more honourable line, maybe she preferred to be killed than having to kill someone else?"
"All of these are possibilities," Willow agreed. "I'm just saying it seems weird. I'm sure she didn't have that much longer left on her sentence. She could have been out soon." She screwed her face, trying to fetch some long buried piece of information from the recesses of her mind. "I can't remember how long the Council told me she had left."
"Assuming she would have gotten parole. They might have kept her there until her hair turned grey. It takes a while to get 'psychopath' erased from your criminal record." Buffy sipped at her mocha. "Will, you think too much. She's gone. Let's just let it go."
"That's me, I'm the thinking gal." She quipped. "But I think I'm also turning into 'Watcher Gal', you know, like everything seems to have some dark and sinister purpose behind it."
"Now there's demons in Faith's prison cell?" Buffy replied sceptically, lifting an eyebrow. "Maybe a vampire or two?"
"Don't look at me like that. I just mean, we haven't seen the body yet, we don't know how she really died."
"That's a touch on the morbid side. We didn't visit her while she was alive, and now you want to see her to make sure she's dead?"
Willow's gaze narrowed. "Well, I sure as hell don't trust an autopsy report to tell me the real reason why. When have those things ever told us anything?"
"Willow, don't you think you'd be better off worrying about the new Slayer you're about to get, rather than think so much about an old one?"
"Maybe," she replied, "But maybe I can do both. That's my job now, worrying about Slayers in general."
Buffy smiled, wistfully. "Including me?"
"I never needed to be a Watcher to do that."
"I still can't get over you and the whole Watcher thing, Will."
"Why? If I remember rightly it was you who suggested it in the first place."
"That was high school. That's like me saying 'I want to be a fireman when I grow up'! I never expected it to really happen." She laughed.
Willow's face grew serious. "That's almost exactly what Tara said. That she'd thought about it, talked about, but never really supposed that it would ever happen."
"Willow, I was kidding! You're going to make a great Watcher. Giles would be proud."
"I know. And he is. I spoke to him last night. Xander too."
"Well, there you go then!" Buffy aimed a tickling hand at Willow's ribs.
Willow squirmed out of the way, giggling like a schoolgirl. "Besides, you should've known better than to say stuff like that. I meant what I said just before graduation. All I've ever wanted to do since I met you was fight evil."
"I remember that. 'It's a good fight Buffy, and I want in'. I think that was how it went."
Willow nodded. "Exactly. That hasn't changed. That's why I've spent the last however many years turning the Watcher's Council into something we could work with."
Buffy smirked. "Much appreciated effort. You have no idea how much easier my life has been since you kicked Watcher Council butt."
"Actually, I think they only listen to me because they're afraid of you."
"Whatever." Buffy waved her away, but the implied compliment made her smile.
"And there's something weird going on with this Faith thing, I just know it. I cut down on my class load so I could be a Watcher full time. The Professor thing is pretty much just a cover now. So I've got time to dig where others might not get around to digging." Willow insisted.
Buffy shook her head. "Why dig up old memories?"
"Just call it a hunch."
"I've heard of Forensic Medicine, but Forensic Watching?" Buffy joked.
"I'm going to need your help, if I'm going to get to the bottom of this." Willow looked at her with beseeching eyes.
"You know what? I was wondering when that was coming. I still think it's a waste of time."
"Well, if it really does turn out to be all human and nothing icky about it, then I'll let it go. But if there's something demon-y involved…"
"You'll need the Slayer." Buffy finished.
Willow nodded. "At the very least, I'll need the experienced Slayer. I don't think the rookie will be up to it for a while."
"Hey, I faced a bad-ass vampire in my first week on the job!"
"Yeah, but you were like Super-Slayer. Faster than a speeding bullet."
"That whole leaping of tall buildings is still giving me problems though." Buffy retorted.
Willow shrugged. "Nobody's perfect." Seconds later she was giggling again on the receiving end of another Buffy-inflicted tickle attack. "Stop it, this is not a respectable way for a Watcher to act! I'm not a kid any more!" She laughed.
Buffy sat back in her seat, her repentant face undermined by the mirth gleaming in her eyes. "Uh oh. I'd almost forgotten what it was like to have a boring old-fart Watcher around."
Willow poked her tongue out. "Hey, I'm not that old! And I won't wear tweed. That's where I draw the line."
"Gosh Will, you really have made some changes in that Council." Buffy said, emptying the last of her coffee.
Willow puffed up her chest proudly. "Just dragged them kicking and screaming into the 21st Century. We even have laser guns now."
Buffy shook her head in mock awe. "Nothing beats good old Mr Pointy. I hope you're still going to teach her the basics."
"You know what Slayer? You're no fun."
----
"Is that her?" Willow asked, pointing to a lithe, dark haired girl emerging from the small airplane.
Willis referred to a polaroid he had clipped to the top of his notepad. "Certainly looks like her."
"She reminds me a little of Faith." She said absently, not really thinking about the implications of her statement.
"Professor!" Willis looked shocked.
She looked at him, nonplussed. "I didn't mean it that way, stop panicking. It's just the dark hair, the form of her."
"Faith is not a subject we take lightly, you know that." Willis muttered.
"I know, I'm sorry. Don't get all worked up." She hesitated. "Why don't you let me go meet her by myself? We may as well get off on a good note, just me and her."
"Well, if you think that's best…?" he replied, disapprovingly.
Willow ignored his unspoken objection. "Great. See you in a minute." She bounced excitedly away, feeling not a day over sixteen, and certainly nowhere near her thirty-eight years. The walk down to the terminal was a matter of minutes, and she stood, restless, waiting for the few passengers on the small flight to disembark.
The girl made her way through the ticket gate and looked around, expectantly. Willow frowned. The girl looked terrified. At the last minute the Council had voted, against her objections she noted mentally, to send the Slayer on ahead of her family. Once again, seeing the poor girl standing near the terminal, she regretted not pushing her objection more vehemently. Some kind of support for the girl wouldn't have gone astray.
Then again, she noted to herself, that's apparently what I'm for.
"Maia?" Willow asked, taking a few tentative steps towards the Slayer.
The girl's face lit up. "Oh thank God. I wasn't sure if anyone was coming to meet me."
"Actually, we thought about it, but negotiating the Sunnydale bus network isn't something we would inflict on anyone - even if she is the Slayer. It's too cruel." Willow threw the word in casually, watching for a reaction. The look of panic that crossed the girl's features at the mention of 'Slayer' was palpable.
She evaluated her new Slayer carefully, checking by habit all the things she'd been taught by the council - height (half a head taller than herself, she noted enviously), weight, apparent muscle definition (excellent - was this girl an athlete before she was called?).
She stopped, mentally admonishing herself. Maia had been in her company all of sixty seconds and already she was sizing up her potential ability to fight vampires! Was that how long it took for a girl to be downgraded from "person" to merely "Slayer"? No wonder Buffy had gotten frustrated with Giles in the beginning.
She held out her hand. "I'm Willow. Rosenberg. Your new Watcher."
"You make it sound as if I've had an old one." The girl commented. Willow noted there was no sarcasm in her voice.
"Believe me, even though I've never been what you are, a Slayer I mean, I remember being where you are. Only I was being attacked by a vampire and running for my life when I found out they existed."
The girl's eyes popped open all the way, revealing huge brown eyes previously hidden under long, thick lashes.
"You haven't even seen one yet, have you?" Willow asked, gently.
Maia shook her head. "Only in books."
Willow chuckled. "Oh, the real ones are a lot uglier. And faster."
Maia's eyes seemed to be permanently stuck on huge. "This is supposed to make me feel better right? Cause I'm thinking I'd rather go get my teeth pulled. All of them. At once. With a pair of nasty looking pliers."
"You're that scared." Willow added, more a comment than a question.
Maia puffed up her chest a little. "I prefer apprehensive. I think it makes me sound more cautious than downright petrified."
The older woman couldn't help laughing. "You know what? I think you're going to do just fine."
In a few moments they caught up with Willis, who was standing stiffly, staring out the airport lounge window.
"Did someone iron his shirt a little too much this morning?" Maia whispered as they approached.
Willow suppressed a giggle. "He's Watcher Council to the core. They're all bark, believe me. And if they try to bite, flexing a bit of Slayer muscle usually helps make them back off a bit. As Buffy reminded them years ago, their jobs only exist because of the Slayer."
"I'll guess I'll learn that." Maia replied, staring Willis up and down.
"Willis, this is Maia."
While the two shook hands, Willow's gaze was caught by a familiar, blonde-haired figure standing off in the distance. A smile played at the corners of her mouth. "Will you two excuse me for a moment? I'll be right back." She winked at Maia before stepping past them, walking briskly up the corridor.
As she reached her friend she held out her arms for a hug. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."
The two embraced for a few moments. "I couldn't resist, seeing the latest model and all. Though I feel a bit like a Honda meeting a Ferrari. Will you look at her? She's got muscles I can't even remember having any more."
"Yeah sure," Willow teased. "Even I could take you now."
"With or without magic?" Buffy shot back.
Willow cringed. "Come on. I'm sure she's dying to meet you."
"Piece of advice, Will. Don't use the word dying on a Slayer's first day. There's gotta be some bad cosmic energy in that somehow."
"I'll try to remember that. Don't forget, I'm new at this!"
Buffy just grinned and walked ahead, holding her arms outstretched to take Maia's hands in her own. "Maia? Hi, I'm Buffy. Welcome to the Hellmouth."
Willow slapped Buffy's shoulder. "Now see, that "H" thing was the word I was going to make sure not to use until later!"
"Hellmouth?" Maia asked, perplexed.
Shrugging, Buffy stared up into the new Slayer's face. "So, you're my replacement. The next in a long line of Slayers."
The girl managed to shake off her confusion enough to stammer out an answer. "A…apparently so."
Buffy turned to Willow, steadfastly ignoring the Council member standing in their midst. "I wish I'd known even that much when I was called."
Willis was standing to one side, a look of annoyance gradually beginning to form on his officious face. "Yes well, you were a shock to the Watcher's Council."
"I'll bet." Maia quipped, earning herself a stern glare from Willis.
Buffy gave her a huge grin and gave her and enthusiastic slap on the back. "Oh I like her, she's going to be just fine."
Willow stepped in, pushing her diplomacy instincts to the fore. "Come on, let's go. We'll have plenty of time to talk once we get to my place." Willow urged, attempting to steer the group off towards baggage collection. "Tara's waiting for us, I think she was promising to cook something."
"See now Will, I can never tell if Tara is a good cook or not since she made that crack about using magic to hide the taste of the food if it ever came out bad." Buffy joked.
Maia turned quickly. "Magic?"
"She's a witch." Willow responded, without thinking, watching in fascination as bewilderment threatened to overwhelm the poor girl.
"Yeah, but so's she." Buffy added, pointing at Willow.
"Forcibly retired. It's a long story." Willow threw Buffy a hard look. Maia's face grew suddenly pale. Willow checked her temperature, worried "Are you all right?"
The girl nodded. "You know how you feel when you eat too much crap food and you feel like your stomach is about to explode and you have nasty indigestion? Well, I feel like that, only it's my head."
"I know, information overload." Willow rubbed Maia's shoulder sympathetically. "It'll be like that for a while, then you just get used to the fact that there are always a million things you don't understand."
"Yeah, you don't need to get everything. That's what a Watcher is for." Buffy supplied, helpfully, earning herself a glare from Willow. "You know how to speak Sumerian yet, Will?"
"I'm working on it." Willow replied, indignant. "The vowel sounds are tricky."
Willis was at the end of his rope. "Could we please save this discussion for the appropriate time and place? I hardly think an airport…"
Buffy turned on him brusquely. "Who asked the Council to be here?"
With infinite patience, Willis turned to face the Slayer. "It's part of the procedure…"
"I don't remember that part of the procedure." Buffy stated, hands on hips.
Willis reddened. "Well, things have changed since you were called…"
Willow stopped the man as he started digging in his satchel for a copy of the regulations. "Look, both of you, this isn't necessary." She looked pointedly at their young Slayer and then back at the two offending parties. "I agree with Willis. There are some conversations that have a time and a place."
Willis looked like he was about to say something, but stopped at a look from Buffy. Willow let out an exasperated sigh. "Willis, why don't you head back to the Council and let them all know that the Slayer has arrived safely. I'm sure they're anxious to hear all about her. I'll take her straight home, she'll be fine."
"But…"
Willow interjected before Buffy could step in again. "She's in the company of her Watcher and another Slayer. I'm sure that's enough of a presence to satisfy Council regulations."
He backed down at the look of authority on her face. "Yes, I…ummm…yes, I see your point. Good idea." He threw Buffy a last withering glare. "Maia, I'll be seeing you tomorrow when you begin your training."
"Whatever you say. You're the boss." The young girl replied. Buffy stifled another chortle. They all watched silently as Willis stalked angrily down the corridor ahead of them, heading towards the main exit.
Buffy did a little dance, to the amusement of the young Slayer. "That's definitely the best part of a visit from the Watcher's Council. The bit when they leave."
"I take it you don't like the Watcher Council?" Maia asked, innocently.
Buffy snorted. "Oh, big understatement. It's a personal prejudice though. A grudge you might even say. Whatever you like to call it. I've had a problem with them since they tried to kill my boyfriend."
Willow scowled. "Refused to help save your boyfriend Buffy. There's a bit of a difference. And he was a vampire. It was a law that had been there for thousands of years. Besides, he got better."
Maia turned white again. "Your boyfriend is a vampire?"
"Was." Buffy corrected.
"Was your boyfriend, or was a vampire?"
"The former."
"That's it." Willow shoved Buffy aside and grabbed Maia by the arm, practically dragging her towards baggage claim. "We're going home. And on the way there we're not talking about anything except famous Sunnydale landmarks and how good the weather is this year."
In the car on the way to Willow and Tara's house Buffy talked non-stop about which vampires and demons she'd killed in all the famous Sunnydale landmarks, and what the weather was like while she'd done it.
Indygo
Edited by: xita
at: 11/3/02 10:13:31 pm
I like the new slayer and really like Tara's anxiety over Willow as a watcher and this new relationship that is going to form between watcher and slayer. Looking forward to more 
