Chapter 25: Manon
Only a week had passed since Faith’s death when the new Slayer arrived in town. Giles was informed about it by a phone call from her Watcher, Andrea Travers. When she heard the name, Buffy looked ready to bang her head on the closest wall.
“Please, tell me she’s not related to him!”
Giles gave her a sympathetic smile. He knew how much she despised Quentin Travers and, honestly, he shared the feeling. His daughter though, was somewhat of a puzzle. As strict as her father but unafraid to question the Watchers’ traditions, devoted to the Head Watcher but known to frankly speak her mind, even in front of the whole Council, if she disagreed with him.
“Sorry, but she is. His daughter.”
He took a couple of seconds and started cleaning his already spotless glasses before continuing.
“It’s quite interesting that she is the new Slayer’s Watcher, though.”
“How so?” Spike asked as he rubbed Buffy’s back soothingly.
All three of them were in the kitchen, Giles having just hung up the phone. He had long ago gotten used to the bleached blonde vampire being around, he had finally accepted that even de-chipped he was harmless, but he would never get used to seeing him and Buffy being so close. But then, he never had, with any of her boyfriends.
“Well,” the Watcher explained, almost lecturing despite himself, “there have been some dissensions in the Council from what I’ve heard. It started when Faith turned rogue, and only got worse until Buffy was.turned.”
His eyes narrowed briefly as he said the last word, and he was very pointedly not looking at Spike.
“When Travers arranged for Gruenwald to operate on Spike,” he kept on, “there was almost a revolution in the highest spheres of the Council. He remained Head Watcher by sheer luck only. That he named his own daughter as Watcher of the newly chosen Slayer, at the risk of being accused of favoritism, can only mean there’s no one he can trust except for her.”
“How do you know all that, Watcher?” Spike asked, and from Buffy’s puzzled look she was wondering the same thing.
Giles’ grin changed slightly, taking a slight Ripper taint.
“Well, the same people who blame Quentin Travers for the way he handled Faith and Buffy are curious about why Buffy and I are still on such good terms. So, they ask questions, I answer when I feel like it, and in exchange I get tidbits about what’s going on inside the Council.”
He felt rather proud of himself about the last, knowing all too well how closed and secretive the Watchers were where their order was concerned. The fact that all he had been telling the Council was either useless information or outright lies made the deal even sweeter. The kettle whistled then, and Giles busied himself with making some tea as he finished telling them about the phone call.
“So. Miss Travers wanted to inform us that she and Manon are in town and.”
“Manon?” Buffy interrupted. “What kind of name is that?”
Spike burst out in laughter, and Giles would have done the same if not for Buffy’s dirty look.
“It’s a French name, luv,” the vampire explained, still chuckling. “And by the way, I’m still trying to figure out if ‘Buffy’ is a name at all!”
Giles had to stifle his laugh by taking a sip from his cup, and Buffy gave a playful punch to her Sire’s arm.
“Yeah, you can laugh. Spike. And you too, Rupert.”
Both men started protesting that were names were perfectly fine, but Buffy stopped them by raising her hands.
“Let’s get back to Manon, OK?”
Giles nodded, though he was still somewhat offended that she had made fun of his given name. A perfectly decent British name, it was. Even if he didn’t like it.
“As much as saying this irks me, Spike is right,” he said with a faint grin, to which Spike replied with a smirk. “She is French. And she has been warned against both of you, so you might want to stay away from her unless you want to risk a staking. Apparently, she will be patrolling, so perhaps you should take a little vacation, rest for the big event.”
Buffy rolled her eyes at him. Of course. He knew her too well to really think she would leave her town to a girl who had just been called and probably didn’t know the pointy end of a stake from the non-pointy one.
“Sunnydale is my turf, Giles. She’s here for the apocalypse, nothing else.”
Spike cleared his throat, and Buffy turned to him questioningly.
“Before this new apocalypse, maybe it would be a good idea to let the bint get some practice,” he suggested too reasonably. “A few weeks training won’t be any too much for whatever is coming our way.”
He threw a glance toward Giles as he talked, and the Watcher knew that he was still annoyed that he wasn’t able yet to tell them exactly what to expect.
“Of course, that doesn’t mean we have to stop patrolling,” Spike continued as he noticed Buffy’s frown. “If I remember right, stalking a Slayer can be real fun.”
To Giles’ surprise, Buffy laughed with Spike then. As well as punched him again. Indeed, it might be interesting to see how well this new Slayer could fight, and she never needed to know that they were watching her.
They hadn’t really planed to go looking for the new Slayer right away, but as they were patrolling their first cemetery of the night Spike’s instincts warned him. This would be the fifth Slayer he had come in contact with, when most vampires never got to see more than one, and he could recognize the vibes easily.
“She’s here,” he said quietly, and instantly his Childe stopped and looked at him questioningly.
“Manon?” Buffy asked, hesitating a little on the pronunciation of the foreign name.
He nodded, and they started walking again, even more silently than before, toward the unmistakable sounds of fighting that came from a little deeper in the cemetery. Spike was briefly grateful that, again, Steven had declined to accompany them, preferring to go out with Dawn instead. If they had been inseparable before, they now seemed joined at the hip. Spike’s mouth twisted at the thought, until he forced himself to focus his attention on the now visible Slayer.
They stopped behind a couple of trees, far enough away that the girl wouldn’t be able to see them in the dark, though they could both see her easily. She wasn’t very tall, maybe a couple of inches taller than Buffy. Slim, she wore faded blue jeans and a green t-shirt. She had short hair, which seemed slightly reddish in the darkness. She was only fighting one vamp, but he was taller and bigger than her, and she seemed to be having a little trouble dusting him. Spike was itching to go and finish the kill, and one look at Buffy was enough to tell him she wanted the same thing. She gave in before him, and strode purposefully to the help of her fellow Chosen One. A kick, a spin, a flash of a stake, and the vampire was dust. But when she turned to the girl, a careful smile on her face, she faced a cross being held toward her by another woman. Buffy jumped back. Spike quickly joined her then, and stood by her side facing the other Slayer and her Watcher. This wasn’t good, they were in plain sight and any vamp or demon passing by could have noticed the Slayer’s reaction to a cross. Bloody stupid woman.
Manon was watching both of them suspiciously, her hand tightly gripping a stake. Next to her, her Watcher was still brandishing the cross, scowling fiercely. She was dressed exactly like the girl, in jeans and a t-shirt, and looked to be somewhere in her thirties. Apparently, wearing tweed wasn’t a requirement for being a Watcher.
“You will have no contact with the Slayer, demons,” she said coldly. “You will help us with the apocalypse, according to the Prophecy, but until then you will stay away from us.”
He could see the incredulous glance Buffy threw the Watcher, and was surprised to hear her laugh.
“I think you’ve got it backwards, Miss Travers. Maybe you need to talk to your daddy again. You are here to help us, not the other way around. And you will help no one if the girl gets killed on her first night in town.”
“C’est pas vrai!” said girl protested, blushing slightly. “Je me.I was doing good, I was going to kill it.”
“Buffy a raison, gamine, tu allais te faire tuer.”
Spike’s little intervention earned him a baffled look from Buffy, a suspicious and angry stare from the Watcher, and a surprised and stubborn one from the girl. Before the young Slayer could retort to his comment, her Watcher was tugging at her arm.
“Don’t talk to him, Manon, he is dangerous. Très dangereux. Let’s go.”
The girl nodded, and started retreating, as did her Watcher, neither turning their backs to them. Before they were out of sight, the older of the pair called out to the vampires.
“Leave my Slayer alone or you will be dust.”
With that, they were gone. Buffy turned to him, arms crossed, pouting.
“What did you tell her? I know you said something about me. What did you say?”
He chuckled at her jealous tone, and passed a hand through his hair as he shook his head.
“I told her you were right, Slayer,” he replied truthfully. “Told her she was going to get herself killed.”
For an instant, the jealousy became suspicion, and then she dropped the matter.
“Well, she’s just been a Slayer for a week,” she said, defending the kid. “It takes time. I remember my first week I almost got killed a dozen times. I could tell Merrick was afraid I’d never make it.”
She had mentioned her first Watcher once before, so Spike knew why her gaze suddenly clouded. Wrapping his arms around her shoulders, he pulled her close and pressed his lips to her hair.
“We’ll keep an eye on her, luv. She’ll be fine. OK?”
Buffy nodded, and soon they resumed their patrol. They didn’t see the French and British girls again, and figured they had given up for the night. Spike could see that his Slayer was worried, and so was he, though maybe not for the same reason. Knowing her, she was most likely concerned that the girl would get herself killed before even having a chance to learn how to fight effectively. What worried him was that they had an apocalypse coming, and that the girl was supposed to help them out. She had to learn, and fast, or she would be more of a hindrance than a help. For both her sake and the world’s, they had to do something. Soon.