At the end of a long day, whether it involved fighting Shego, dodging exploding golf balls, or foiling another attempt by Bonnie to prove she was the better cheerleader, there was nothing better Kim liked to do than to cuddle up with her Pandaroo and get a good nights sleep. Except that had become almost impossible in the last few months since that lair explosion.
Some nights she woke up before sunrise, shaking from barely remembered dreams involving almost Klingon-like creatures with yellow eyes and teeth that would make a movie vampire proud. The dreams weren't always the same. They seemed to come in three horror movie-like varieties. In some of them she was being chased by those creatures until she died from exhaustion; In others a friend or relative, or even Shego, was turned into one of them and then started chasing her; Or more commonly, some unknown girl was fighting them with little more than a sharp stick.
On other nights she found herself waking up and wandering around Middleton in the dark, long after everyone else had gone to bed. It wasn't sleepwalking or insomnia. After an hour or two of randomly wandering the empty streets and sidewalks she would find herself near home. Sneaking into the house and crawling into bed, she would sleep soundly for the rest of the night. She could have sworn she also saw Bonnie wandering around more than once, but not wanting to give her any more ammunition in their continuing battles she hadn't dared approached her about it. She could just imagine what Bonnie would say.
So far, only Wade knew about her strength issues. With Ron still smarting from their breakup she hadn't found an easy way to let him know about the changes that she was going through. If she thought he wouldn't take her keeping this from him personally, she would have just told him. And Wade still hadn't found a reasonable explanation for why whatever she'd been hit with at Drakken's lair hadn't worn off yet, or even proof that she was any different than before. But at least there'd been enough evidence of her new strength that he couldn't deny that something had happened to her.
On the other hand, he'd clearly thought she was losing it when she'd asked him about the creatures she was seeing in her dreams. He'd promised to research the descriptions she'd given him but he'd obviously not believed her. He'd even suggested she talk with her mother.
Tonight was no different, another night that she couldn't stay asleep. When she had a lot of homework to catch up on, thanks to some mission taking her around the world on a school night, the little sleep she was surviving on came in handy. But for once she would have liked to spend an entire night in bed.
Grabbing a jacket and her kimmunicator, Kim slipped out of the house. The sky was clear and the full moon bathed everything in an eerie silver light. Breathing deeply, Kim felt extra energized by the cool air. With no real destination in mind she started walking towards Middleton High.
Something about the football field called to her as she reached the school. Wandering out into the middle of the grassy field, she turned in a slow circle. There was something there, something that was setting off alarm bells in her head. Something that was making her feel slightly nauseous.
The slap of flesh against flesh echoed across the grass, followed by the sound of something harder hitting a soft object. This happened several more times before she was able to get a bearing on it and track it down.
Standing in the gate between the parking lot and football field, all Kim could see was the flat, dusty parking lot. There was nothing there, no signs of life or movement of any sort. Confused, she jogged towards the light in the center of the lot. Looking around, she could see signs of a scuffle in the dirt with a trail leading towards the road. They weren't so much footprints as smudges that came to an abrupt halt. Puzzled, Kim squatted down, noticing a small pile of fine, grey dust.
Checking her watch, she pulled out her kimmunicator, hoping that Wade was still up.
“Hey Kim. Still having problems sleeping?” he asked.
“Yup. I've found something odd.” Kim said.
“How odd?”
“Do we know anyone who uses a real disintegration ray?” Kim asked. “I thought I heard someone fighting but all that's left is this pile of dust.”
“Nooo… they're all too big to carry around.” Wade frowned. “And they don't leave dust behind. Point your kimmunicator at it.”
Pointing her kimmunicator at the pile of dust as he'd directed, she waited for him to analyze it.
“Any idea?” she asked.
“I'm going to need a real sample.” he told her. “I don't get anything.”
“Okay.” She pressed the side of the kimmunicator. A small vial popped out into her hand. Kim carefully scooped up as much of the dust as possible into it. Before slipping it into a pocket, she made sure the lid was on tightly. “I'll drop it off on the way to school,” Kim told him. “'night Wade. Thanks.”
“All part of the service, Kim.” Wade told her with a wink.
“You rock, Wade.” Kim said, grinning back at him before turning the kimmunicator off. Sighing, she headed home, wondering what she was going to do about Ron. She didn't know what she would do without either of her guys.
Giles looked up in annoyance from the crumbling manuscript he was attempting to translate at the sound of his phone. His life had become so busy since he'd become head of the reformed Council of Watchers that he treasured the few hours a week that he could spend revisiting one of his passions. Researching the history of slayers, looking for proof of their existence in non-Council documents, was something he could only do when he was in the London office.
That and his singing were among the few things that kept him sane. When the pressure and guilt of sending his adopted family, Buffy, Faith, Willow, Dawn, and Xander, and the younger slayers and watchers they guided out into harms way got to be too much, Giles retreated to his office with an old manuscript and his phone muted. Something he'd obviously forgotten to do that morning.
Reaching over he put his office phone on mute, ignoring the flashing lights. If it were a real apocalypse or emergency the other phone next to it would have been howling at him or Buffy or any of the others would have called his cell phone.
“Hey Boss!” His assistant yelled from the door.
“Yes?” He'd given up trying to get Toni to either call him by his name or use something more professional.
She'd been the only survivor of a vampire attack on a Cleveland mob boss but how she'd gone from being a gangster's secretary to becoming his personal assistant continued to baffle him. He didn't see the humor in it that Buffy and Dawn did, but then he was still unsure how exactly she'd ended up working for the Council.
When Andrew had decided to work in the Cleveland office on a permanent basis he'd needed someone to keep track of his appointments but she wasn't anything like the kind of person he'd had in mind. She didn't appear to have any of the tact and social graces he expected from the Council Head's Secretary, let alone an assistant. But slayers and watchers didn't intimidate her and she was the epitome of efficiency, so he'd resigned himself to her quirks and odd humour.
“There's a Doctor Director on line 2 in the holodeck for you.” she said, stepping completely into his office.
“It's not a holodeck.” he corrected. He knew he shouldn't have let Andrew give her a tour of the office when she'd first started.
“I know Boss. It's a 3D phone video conference room thingy.” Toni said, winking at him, in an almost perfect imitation of a certain shopaholic slayer. “She said it was extremely important.”
“Thank you.” Giles said, quickly putting away the manuscript. “I'll be right there.”
“Why am I here again?” Buffy asked, looking around the Middleton Bueno Nacho in distaste. Ever since her days at the Sunnydale Doublemeat Palace she'd stayed as far away from fast food as possible, especially the international franchises. If she was going to eat something cheap she preferred to see it being cooked. And after a long trip she could use something more filling than nachos.
“Didn't you read any of the things Giles sent you?” Dawn asked, shaking her head before taking a bite out of something the menu called a naco. Buffy was sure it was a certified health hazard, if only because it looked like something Dawn would think up on her own.
“I've been in Australia for the last two weeks. When would I have time to read something that is probably sitting on my desk in Cleveland?” Buffy grumbled. She liked to think she lived a simple life, for a slayer anyway. It was early pre-apocalypse season. Giles or Willow would send her plane tickets. She flew to wherever it was, killed a few demons and moved on.
If she got lucky she stopped any apocalypse plans said demons had in progress so the new Council only had one big one to deal with when apocalypse season really hit. And afterward she could take a break from the traveling and spend the summer in Cleveland with her sister, running the slayer mini-camps for the newbies who weren't going to work for the Council but who needed to learn how to deal with their new abilities.
“You're here.” Dawn said, pointing out the obvious.
“Willow sent me tickets and hotel reservations. Said it was important that I meet you here.” Buffy said. “She didn't explain why.”
Dawn leaned over and spoke in a hushed voice. “Giles got a call from Global Justice last week.”
“What'd Betty want this time?” Buffy asked. “She knows we don't lend out slayers.” Global Justice had come calling weeks after Sunnydale collapsed, looking to recruit a few of the new slayers. It had taken Giles quite a bit of string pulling and reminders of old favors due before Betty had backed off. But that didn't stop her from asking on a regular basis. Willow claimed she had a thing for Giles and that it wasn't really about the slayers but Buffy was still suspicious.
“No.” Dawn agreed. “Have you ever read the agreement between GJ and the Council?” she asked curiously.
“No.” Buffy knew better than to ask Dawn the same question. “What does it have to do with this meeting?”
“If GJ asks, we're supposed to train any of their special affiliate teams in how to deal with vampires and minor demons.”
“How is that any different from what we do now?” Buffy asked, confused. One week out of her summer was reserved for special training for any needy government agents and Faith did the same thing during the winter.
“These are teams that don't officially work for GJ. They're mostly part time volunteers.” Dawn said. “GJ helps them out but they prefer their independence.”
“Some kind of Global Justice neighborhood watch?” Buffy asked. “Doing it because they want to help?”
“Sort of. They're pretty much like Willow and Xander when they started helping you.” Dawn said. “They can't not try to help.”
“And you found all this out how?” Buffy asked, smirking.
“Giles wouldn't agree to it unless Global Justice sent us profiles of the teams first.” Dawn blushed. “I might have borrowed them. It's fascinating reading.”
“For you maybe.” Buffy shook her head, watching her sister finish off her first naco.
“They don't fight the same kinds of things we do but some of them are supposed to be very good at what they do.” Dawn said. “I think we should help train them no matter what.”
“At least teach them enough so they know when to call us.” Buffy said, agreeing with her.
“Yup.” Dawn said, “Do you want that?” She pointed at Buffy's nachos.
“No. I'll eat something later.” Buffy pushed her tray across the table.
“Thanks.” Dawn said, mumbling around a mouthful of food.
“Okay. So who are we meeting? And whose idea was it to meet here?” Buffy asked, looking around. This certainly wasn't where she would have picked to meet someone herself.
“Team Possible. This is their unofficial headquarters.” Dawn said. “Today is just the initial meet and greet.”
“Who are they and why did Giles need me for that?” Buffy asked, glaring at her sister. “You could have brought along any of the newbies and Andrew for show-n-tell.”
“Team Possible specializes in stopping mad scientists. They called GJ asking for info on vampires and Betty called Giles and asked for you specifically.” Dawn said.
“Why me? Why not Faith?” Buffy asked. From the grin Dawn was giving her, she wasn't sure she was going to like her answer.
“Their team leader is a cheerleader. Betty wants someone her precious darling can relate to.”
“Precious darling?” Buffy stared at her sister in horror, images of some of the beauty pageant bound spoiled brats she'd run into during her own brief career as a cheerleader running through her head.
“Oh yeah. Willow hacked GJ's records.” Dawn smirked. “Betty has big plans for her. She isn't supposed to know it but they've been grooming her for a role at GJ when she finishes college. Willow says it looks like they try to steer her towards a certain kind of villain.”
“That sounds a bit manipulative.” Buffy muttered. “I wonder if she knows that?”
“If she doesn't the guy who runs her website might. Willow thinks she caught him trying to hack into the Council last fall and she says there were traces of him in the Global Justice computers.”
“Okay.” Buffy thought for a minute. “So we have a cheerleader who fights mad scientists, she's got a website and some hacker to run it. And she needs to know about vampires for some reason.” Reaching over, Buffy grabbed a handful of chips. “What else can you tell me about Team Possible before they get here?”
“Well… there's their leader, Kim Possible. She's the cheerleader. She also has some kind of martial arts training. But she didn't burn down her high school gym.”
“So the name isn't just something cute they thought up.” Buffy said, ignoring the shot across her bow.
“Nope.” Dawn said. “She has a sidekick, Ron Stoppable, who might be her boyfriend or was at some point. GJ's records aren't too clear on it. Willow says they seemed a bit confused about his role. And then there's her research guy slash hacker, a certified super genius.”
“Reformed mad scientist?” Buffy asked curiously.
“Nope. He's just barely a teenager. He's her Q.” Dawn said. “Fancy gadgets and everything. He's already working on several PhD's.”
The sound of her kimmunicator was loud in the empty locker room. Making sure she was alone, Kim pulled it out and flipped it on without her usual flair. Wade wouldn't be happy if she accidentally broke another kimmunicator. It was her third that week. Super strength was deadly on Wade's current kimmunicator design, though he'd promised her a tougher one soon.
“Hey Wade! What's the sitch?” Kim asked, giving him that look, the one she used to indicate that he really should haven't called her right then. The one she'd begun perfecting the first time he'd called her in the girls locker room.
“Kim. Don't worry, you're all alone.” Wade said.
“And if I was still getting dressed?” Kim snapped.
“I checked first.” He grinned at her like a slightly naughty cherub.
“Wade!!” Kim trusted him with her life and he knew things about her that not even her own mother did, but he was still a teenage boy, a geek even, a cheerleader's natural enemy. Kim sighed. “What do you have for me?”
“You wanted vampire experts.” Wade said. “They're waiting at Bueno Nacho to meet you.”
Kim nodded. He'd initially been skeptical when she'd described the creatures she'd been seeing in her dreams ever since she'd been caught in that lair explosion with Shego several months ago. But when she'd run into a real one in Paris a month later he'd come through like he always did.
“Where'd you find them?” She asked, picking up her gym bag.
“Global Justice.” From his smirk she knew that he'd outwitted someone at GJ to get the information.
“They have people who hunt vampires?”
“Not exactly.” Wade smiled back at her from the kimmunicator, obviously pleased with himself.
“Well?” Making her way out of the school on autopilot, Kim headed towards Bueno Nacho.
“GJ has an agreement with an old monster hunting society. They've promised to train anyone who works for GJ in how to deal with vampires.” He said.
“How many favors did you have to call up to get them here?” Kim asked curiously. “We don't exactly work for Global Justice.”
“None.” Wade puffed out his chest.
“Huh?” Kim stopped and looked down at his image.
“You know Doctor Director wants you working for her when you finish college.” Wade reminded her.
“She wants all of us.” She corrected. “You didn't tell her we know about that did you?” Kim asked cautiously. Wade had stumbled onto Global Justice's plans for Team Possible the year before and had been able to use that knowledge to their benefit more than once when bargaining with GJ.
“Not a chance.” Wade said. “She wants a closer relationship with these monster hunters, the Council of Watchers.”
“How'd you find that out?” Kim asked. “And who exactly do they watch?”
“I read Doctor Director's reports to her boss. She's really good at twisting words around. Almost as good as your brothers.” He winked at her. “The watching part doesn't make much sense.” He admitted. “They go back a long way but they haven't had computers for very long.”
“So…?” Kim perched herself on a fire hydrant. If there was something on a computer, nothing could stop Wade from getting to it eventually.
“They've got a really good firewall. I'm still working on it.” He shrugged.
“Okay.” Kim frowned for a minute. “So, who am I meeting?”
“They sent two people.”
The scene on the kimmunicator switched from Wade to the inside of Bueno Nacho. Two women, a blonde and brunette, were discussing something.
“The blonde is Buffy Summers and the brunette is her younger sister Dawn.” Wade said.
“Anything I need to know about them?” Kim asked.
“Buffy travels a lot, almost as much as you. Dawn goes to college in Cleveland. She's in a prep course for Oxford.” Wade said.
“Anything else?”
“Global Justice has records on them and a bunch of other people from this Council but they're protected by the same software as the Council computers.” The scene switched back to Wade shaking his head. “I'm still digging.”
“Let me know what you find.” Kim said. “Is Ron going to be there?” Yori had picked him up the night before for some special ninja training thing.
“No, he won't be back until late tonight. If you can leave the kimmunicator on I'll record the meeting for him.”
“Okay.” She slid off the fire hydrant and, putting the kimmunicator back in her pocket, resumed walking.
They hadn't been given an exact time to meet Team Possible but Buffy could feel her patience wearing thin. She was about to go for a walk to burn off some excess energy when she felt it. It wasn't as strong as the feeling she got from Faith or any of the slayers called in Sunnydale but it was unmistakable. There was a slayer somewhere nearby.
“I don't remember a slayer being stationed in Middleton.” Buffy said to Dawn.
“A slayer?” Dawn looked around. “Where? Willow didn't say anything.”
“Coming this way.” Buffy pulled out her phone and pushed Willow's number. The door opened as she waited for Willow to pick up. “That's her.” Buffy whispered to Dawn.
“Buffy…” Looking towards the door, Dawn stared for a moment. “That's Kim Possible.”
“Willow? Stupid voice mail.” Buffy shook her head as she waited to leave Willow a message. “Willow, we need to talk about the new slayer in Middleton. Give me a call.” Closing her phone she stuffed it back into a pocket.
“We can't recruit her.” Dawn said, the warning clear in her voice. “She's too well known.”
“Wouldn't dream of it.” Buffy agreed. “And, if she doesn't know it already, say nothing about her being a slayer.”
“No?” Dawn looked at Buffy, clearly surprised.
“I need to talk with Willow and Giles. I don't want her working for Global Justice.” Buffy said. “Don't say anything about it.”
“Why?” Dawn looked at her sister, eyebrow raised.
“Later.” Buffy said, standing up and waving Kim over to their table.
Walking into Bueno Nacho, Kim was hit by a strangely familiar feeling in the pit of her stomach. It wasn't a new feeling, but it was totally unlike the one she'd gotten the few times she'd run into Shego after the lair episode; or the disturbing feeling she now got from Rufus. Or even the nauseous feeling she'd gotten from that creature Wade had later confirmed was a vampire.
Looking around, she saw Wade's contacts looking in her direction from the other side. Before she could start heading in their direction, the blonde one stood up and waved her over.
“Hey.” She stopped at their table and held out her hand. “Kim Possible.”
“Buffy Summers.” The blonde said, confirming her identity. “That's Dawn. Have a seat.”
“Aren't there more of you?” Dawn asked as Kim slid into the seat next to her.
“More of me?” Kim asked, laughing. “I hope not. That whole clone thing was supposed to be a one time deal.”
“Team Possible?” Buffy asked her, giving her an odd look.
“Oh.” Kim nodded. “Ron is out of town until tomorrow and Wade is where he always is.”
“When did you find out about this meeting?” Dawn asked. “We were told you would all be here.
“After practice today.” Kim said. Pulling out her kimmunicator, she put it into conferencing mode and called Wade. “Wade?”
“Yes Kim?”
“When did you find out about this?” She waved at the two women who were watching her actions curiously.
“Global Justice posted the request on your website this afternoon.” He said, the curiosity plainly visible on his face.
“Figures.” Buffy muttered in a whisper that Kim barely caught. “Is it okay to talk here or did you want to meet somewhere more comfortable?” she asked in a louder voice.
“Here's fine.” Kim said. “Wade? Can you put up a privacy shield? Please and thank you.”
“You got it.” He said, the sound of his fingers dancing across a keyboard in the background. “How's that? I added some improvements. It'll even keep out Global Justice's laser snoopers now.”
Kim could detect a faint haze surrounding them but the high pitched whine that had been bugging her for the last few months when they used the privacy shield was finally gone.
“Spankin'” She said, smiling at him. “You got rid of the noise.”
“You're the only person who could hear it.” He reminded her.
“Don't forget to record this for Ron.” Kim added, more for the other's benefit. She was pretty sure that Wade recorded everything sent over her kimmunicator anyway.
“That could come in handy.” Dawn said, nodding happily.
“So, what did you want to know first?” Buffy said. “You're cleared for everything we tell Global Justice.” Dawn choked on her drink in apparent surprise.
“I've been having these strange dreams for a few months.” Kim said. “Horror movie stuff. Some people thought it was just just exhaustion and that I needed to take a vacation.” She rolled her eyes in exasperation.
“Sorry, Kim.” Wade said. “But you have let things get out of hand before.”
“Type A, huh.” Dawn said.
“It's a family thing.” Wade said, happily agreeing. “Her father's a rocket scientist and her mother's one of the best brain surgeons in the world. If it wasn't for Ron and Monique she would have burned out ages ago.”
“Wade!” Kim protested.
“You know it's true.” Wade said. “It's too bad the boyfriend thing with Ron didn't work out.”
“Buffy's the same way.” Dawn leaned towards the kimmunicator and spoke in a fake whisper. “Serious burnout city if it wasn't for her best friends.”
“Anyway…” Kim interrupted while she still had some dignity left. “Ron and I were on a mission in Paris when I saw it. Just like in my dreams. It was trying to suck the blood from one of DNAmy's creatures so I tried to stop it.”
“Sucking blood? Sounds like a vampire.” Buffy said. “Did you get any pictures?”
“Yes, I scanned it with the kimmunicator.” Kim said.
“The light wasn't too good,” Wade said, “but it matched Kim's descriptions from her dreams.” A gray, grainy picture replaced Wade on the kimmunicator. They watched the vampire drop the creature and head towards them.
“Definitely a vampire. How'd you get away?” Buffy asked.
“I stabbed it with a broom handle.” Kim said, shivering at the memory of the creature's yellow eyes and deformed face. “I think I got lucky.”
“Very lucky.” Dawn said. “They are a lot faster than most humans.”
“Did you just want information or did you want Buffy to show you how to be more than lucky when fighting one?” Dawn asked.
“I would like to know what is going on.” Kim said. “And how to fight them if I run into them again. All Wade could come up with were you guys.” She could feel Buffy looking at her at more than a surface level but it wasn't uncomfortable, more like the feeling she would get from her mother after returning from a long mission.
Buffy turned from her and looked at Wade. “If you ask nicely, or maybe offer her instructions on how you made your privacy shield, Willow might let you have access to our online library. Unless you really want to keep trying to hack into it?”
“I do like a challenge.” Wade said with a smirk. “But it saves time not having to dig for something.”
“You can work out the details later with Willow.” Buffy said with a nod. “Go ahead Dawn.”
“It's really simple.” Dawn said. “Demons are real. Magic is real. Vampires are demons who kill people and take over their bodies. The Council of Watchers, us, was formed to stop demons from taking over the world. There's a lot more to it but that is the basic idea.”
Kim just nodded. After watching Ron struggle with the mystical powers given to him during his encounters with Monkey Fist, she couldn't deny the existence of the mystical, even if most of her other foes were scientists.
“You don't seem surprised.” Dawn said.
“We've run into a few odd things.” Kim told them, not elaborating. They didn't need to know about Ron's brush with mystic forces.
“What exactly are you watching?” Wade asked.
“Me.” Buffy said.
“Huh?” Kim looked back and forth between Buffy and her sister.
“That isn't literally true anymore.” Dawn told them. “Thousands of years ago, the demons were winning so these sorcerers called the Shadowmen decided to make things more even.”
“They sacrificed a young girl, turned her into a demon hunter.” Buffy said.
“We don't know what their motives were; why they picked that specific girl.” Dawn continued, giving her sister a glance. “But they did something to her; something that gave her the strength and certain abilities to survive fighting these demons. They called her a ‘slayer’. And when she died, that power went to another girl. And to the next, over thousands of years, one girl after another.”
“Until it landed on me.” Buffy said, grimacing. “And like all mystical destinies, the recipient doesn't have much choice.”
Kim was sure Ron would agree, even though he wasn't there.
“Until Buffy got it.” Dawn continued, ignoring her sister's interruption. “The Council of Watchers was set up centuries ago to take care of these girls. To make sure they had enough to eat, a place to stay, and weapons and knowledge to fight the demons with. They weren't strong enough to fight demons themselves so… they mostly watched.”
“Most slayers were nice little soldiers. They followed orders. They didn't think for themselves. They died young.” Buffy said. Kim could hear just barely suppressed anger in her voice as she talked. “You've worked with Global Justice. I'm sure you've run into that type.”
“Yes.” Kim grimaced. “Global Justice keeps trying to figure out what makes us so successful compared to their agents but they never seem to get it. It's our flexibility and the way we work together. I usually get the credit but it's the four of us, myself, Ron, Wade, and Rufus together who make Team Possible a success.”
“You get the credit because you deserve it. It was your idea in the first place.” Wade said. “And there's that whole cute, sexy cheerleader thing.”
“Wade!” Kim blushed.
“Rufus?” Dawn asked. “There wasn't any mention of a Rufus in the information Global Justice sent us.”
“Rufus is hard to explain.” Kim told her. “You'll meet him when you meet Ron. He's an integral part of the team.”
“When I became the slayer, they didn't quite know what to do with a teenage LA cheerleader.” Buffy continued. “I was more about the shopping than the destiny.”
“So you're the only one?” Kim asked curiously.
“Not anymore.” Dawn said. “There was a loop-hole in the creation of slayers. They didn't have to stay dead.”
“I don't recommend dying.” Buffy added.
Glaring at her sister for interrupting again, Dawn continued. “The exact numbers are a secret but a couple years ago we had an emergency, of the end of the world sort, and the only way to stop it was to make every girl who could become a slayer, into one.”
“Well, that isn't quite true.” Buffy corrected. “There are limits on the number of slayers existing at one time. The Powers That Be only allow so many to be running around at once. Too many would apparently be too much of a good thing. They claim it's all about their precious balance.”
“The Powers That Be?” Kim wondered out loud.
“The mystical beings who keep an eye on things.” Buffy said. “Not really sure who they are but they are hard to argue with since you can't talk with them directly. They think dreams and cryptic prophecies are the best way to let us know what is going to happen.”
Kim looked at Dawn, hoping for a better explanation.
“We try to stay away from religion.” Dawn said. “Our library is full of long explanations trying to reconcile different beliefs with the things the Council has observed over the centuries.” She shrugged. “Things get complicated really quickly when you run into creatures who call themselves gods or who have powers you can't explain. We believe there are powerful beings of some sort who promote what we see as ‘Good’ and that there are others who are ‘Evil’. There's a third group that tries to manipulate things to keep a balance between the other two. The balance guys are the ones we tend to refer to as the Powers That Be. They see slayers are one of their tools to keep evil from taking over.”
“So, what about God?” Wade asked.
“Vampires aren't going to be stopped by a debate on the existence of God.” Buffy said. “I'm more into mystical pest control and use whatever tools I can find.”
“Okay, so you and a bunch of girls fight vampires and other demons?” Kim asked, steering the discussion back to the reason they were there. Philosophy and Bueno Nacho were a combination that gave her a headache.
“Yes, that would be me, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
“And her demon killing minions.” Dawn added with a smirk.
“And you can teach us how to fight them also?” Kim asked hopefully.
“For self defense purposes, yes. There are more things than vampires out there and they are very dangerous. We don't expect or want you to start hunting them yourselves.” Dawn said. “If you have a real vampire problem or you run across something while on one of your regular missions call us and we'll take care of it.”
“Can it wait until tomorrow after Ron gets back?” Kim asked.
“Not a problem, we were going to be in town for several days anyway.” Buffy said.
“I can reserve the gym for you after practice tomorrow.” Wade told them.
“Okay.” Buffy agreed, getting up from the table. “We'll see you then.” Kim also stood up to allow Dawn out. After shaking hands they headed towards the door. Watching through the window she could see them get into a small, nondescript car and drive off.
“So… what do you think?” She asked Wade, picking up the kimmunicator. “Do you think these slayers really exist?”
“I don't know. We've seen weirder things.” Wade replied thoughtfully. “That certainly gives me a direction for further research. Let's see what happens tomorrow with this vampire killing training. A demonstration would be useful.”
“Okay. Thanks Wade, I'll talk with you tomorrow.” Shutting off her kimmunicator, Kim slipped it into a pocket and left Bueno Nacho, heading for home.