Into the Abyss
by Rainne
Part Ten
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"Two more?"
I couldn't believe my ears when I heard Maisri's report on the outcome of her locator spell.
She nodded. "Aye. Twa more Chosen."
"Besides the one in Ireland?" I had to clarify.
She nodded. "Aye. There's one in New South Wales, Australia, and one in-"
She didn't get a chance to finish - the ringing of the phone interrupted her. I knew no one would be calling at this hour if it wasn't an emergency - it was three in the morning - so I grabbed the receiver. "Walsh."
"Which one of them's dead?"
"Huh?" I blinked, then recognized the voice, even though it was thick with tears. "Janna?"
"Which one of them's dead, Dakota? Is it Faith or Buffy? It's Buffy, isn't it? They finally got her."
"Janna? What the hell are you talking about? Are you on drugs?"
"I got Called, Dakota!" she shouted impatiently. "I got Called! I've been trying to get you for days! I've called you, I've called Xander's, I've called Buffy's, I've called the Magic Box, nobody's been anywhere! Now tell me which one it is!"
I blinked again and looked over at Maisri. "Was the other one in south Georgia?" I asked. At her nod, I sighed and rubbed my temples. "Neither one of them's dead, Janna. Calm down and I'll tell you all about it."
---
"We're gonna need more Partner recruits," Faith commented that afternoon over tea in the small parlor. "We were already two short, and now we're gonna have to make permanent assignments for five newly-active Slayers, three of whom we didn't even know about."
"Five new girls," Dakota mused. "How exciting. I love it when we get new girls."
"Yeah, but you hate orientating 'em," Faith teased.
Dakota put her tongue out at Faith before biting into a blueberry scone. "I gotta tell you," she commented around the scone, "I'm thinking we don't have too much of an emergency. The only one of the girls that I'd feel comfortable letting out of the Academy yet would be Janna, and only because she spent so long training with the Council. And even so, I think we ought to have her here for a couple of months to get used to her Partner and get used to the way we do things."
"Good point," Buffy's voice agreed from the doorway. She entered, her hand held by a nervous-looking Willow and both of them followed by Giles and Xander. "And if you don't mind me making a suggestion, I think Dawn would make a good Partner for Janna. They already know each other, they got along well for the little time they were together in Sunnydale, and they know each other's story."
"I was thinking the same thing, B," Faith replied. "Great minds, and all that."
"Indeed," Giles responded. "So there are two girls who need collecting to come and train? The one in Ireland and the one in Australia?"
Dakota nodded, looking at an index card on the table next to her. "I've even got their names. The one in Ireland is a Kennedy, first name Siobhan, of Galway, aged thirteen. Her mother's a witch with whom Maisri happens to be acquainted, so Maisri is going to go collect her. The other is a Callie Westford, aged sixteen, U.S. national living in Canberra, New South Wales." She took a breath. "Now, the thing about little Miss Westford is this: she's an orphan. Both her parents, who were filthy rich by the way, died in a car accident last fall. As far as I can tell, the kid lives in a condo in downtown Canberra, happy as a little clam, with a live-in housekeeper supposedly functioning as a guardian."
"Oh, this should be fun." Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Yeah," Dakota agreed. "And I have no desire to take her by force. We don't operate that way here."
"Exactly," Faith chimed in. "She comes willingly, or we throw her to the vampires and then she comes willingly."
"I don't think that will be necessary," Giles commented. When they all turned to look at him, he pointed toward the doorway.
There stood a young woman in baggy blue jeans, an oversized University of Alabama football jersey, and skateboarding shoes. Her hair was cut short and dyed a shocking blue, and her right eyebrow was pierced. She had a backpack slung over one shoulder and several smaller bags lay at her feet. "I reckon y'all wasn't expecting me so soon," she drawled, her accent decidedly southern-U.S. "I'm Callie Westford. I hear y'all got something going on y'all need my help."
"You heard right," Dakota replied, a grin crossing her face. "Come on in, Callie, and have a seat."
Willow, silent, suddenly thought of something. "Quentin," she blurted before she thought. All eyes turned to her. Buffy encouraged her to speak, and she continued shakily. "I... um... was thinking about that prophecy," she began, her voice quavering.
Faith sighed. "Willow." The little witch started and looked guiltily at Faith, who continued, "Nobody's gonna jump on you, okay? You made a mistake; it's over. Could ya relax?"
Willow swallowed a couple times, nodded and continued in a slightly firmer voice. "I was thinking about that prophecy," she repeated. "The Chosen One initiating the destruction of the Watchers and all. And I realized it's been fulfilled like twice."
Giles looked interested. "How do you mean?"
"Well, think about it," she replied. "She'll turn and face the sun, conquer death and live forever... we have not one but two daywalking vampires; and the get of the witch... well, you can look at that two ways. In one way is Faith. She said her grandmother was a witch. But the other way is my... my... what I did. The new order, and all that."
"She's right," Dakota commented. "Go figure." Then she laughed. "It's like I always say - prophecy always comes true, just not necessarily in the way you'd expect."
Buffy nodded. "And for once," she deadpanned, "it was somebody besides me that had to die!"
"Oh, man," Xander commented. "That was bad. Somebody put her out of my misery, would you?"
The conversation turned light after this exchange as the adults took turns explaining to Callie just exactly what was going on. By the time they were done, the girl was shaking her head. "Ho-lee shit," she commented. "I been looking for something interesting to do. Looks like I done found it."
A pounding of feet in the corridor stopped conversation as four girls raced into the room. Buffy recognized them as the two new Slayers, Kerry and Maria, and their current Partner trainees, Jessica Nelson and Tiffany Moore. They were all out of breath. Kerry got her wind back first. "Miss Dakota, Miss Faith," she panted. "Miss Maisri... did a seeking... she said that Buffy has to go... now... get back to California... Hellmouth..."
Buffy didn't wait to hear any more. She took off running for the stairs with Willow and Xander in hot pursuit, racing to get their things packed so that they could be on the first plane out of Heathrow. Giles shook his head. "I'll be back once the crisis is over," he informed Faith and Dakota, "so I shan't need to pack my things. I've more at home."
Faith turned to Kerry. "When you can walk, will you go get the car so you can drive them back?"
Kerry nodded, turning and moving out of the room. Tiffany, still panting, followed her. Maria looked up. "Any assignment for us, Miss Faith?"
"Yeah. If you don't mind, will you take Callie here up to the Potentials' dorm and get her a room?"
"You bet," Maria replied. She and Jessica began collecting Callie's bags and the young Slayer followed them out of the room.
Dakota had to laugh when Callie's question drifted back through the open door to her: "Is it always this nuts around here?"
"Nuts?" she heard Jessica reply, a laugh in her voice. "Girl, this ain't nothing. You shoulda been here three days ago. Now that was nuts."
THE END