Office hours [all day]

[sith_happened]

Anakin had thought he'd hit "post entry" three hours ago was in his office today, rereading "What to Expect When You're Expecting."

He remembered the last few weeks of Rory's pregnancy being, well, more filled with kidnappings the last time.

Weirdly, that wasn't in the book!

The door was open.

Comments

[brat_inslayage]

"Oh, god, don't remind me I'm all old now." Kennedy hesitated for a moment, then nodded once and dropped into the chair.

"My Watcher-- she's sort of my mentor, she taught me all the tricks of the Slayer trade in case I got tagged for the job-- got killed," she began, because decent story setups were for other people. "By these creepy eyeless monks working for the First Evil-- they were actually looking for me, but I was running late to meet her and by the time I got there... let's just say it was really bad. Tried to get back here to round up the cavalry, you know how Fandom always does?"

Rhetorical question, of course.

"And I couldn't get back; my portal just blinked out. I found out later it had something to do with all the people whose worlds disappeared, but that's how I ended up running for Sunnydale just in time for apocalypse season."

[sith_happened]

Anakin held up a finger. "Quick question: apocalypse season isn't actually a season, right?"

He'd been in Fandom long enough to wonder.

[brat_inslayage]

"Actually?" Kennedy held both hands up and shrugged. "In my world it basically is. Apparently, something tries to end the world just before summer vacation every year. Seems to be a thing."

[sith_happened]

"Huh," Anakin said. "Like the invasion cycle here."

[brat_inslayage]

"Kind of, yeah," Kennedy agreed. "Just a lot less with the everything being pretty much okay afterward. I kept hoping that maybe I'd wake up and everything would go back to normal like Mondays after some of the weird weekends here, and that didn't happen. Even though I really wished it would."

[sith_happened]

"I'll bet," Anakin said sympathetically. "How bad did it get?"

[brat_inslayage]

"Turns out, when you're dealing with an incorporeal manifestation of evil that can make itself look like any dead person it wants to, just to mess with your head?" Kennedy grimaced. "Plus the whole can't-be-touched thing, and the super-strong Neander-vampires, and it was Buffy and her friends and a bunch of scared girls who were there because the Bringers were hunting them down to end the Slayer line? Pretty damn bad, and not just because of the bad guys."

[sith_happened]

"Bad guys plus scared girls," Anakin said. "You must have been climbing the walls."

[brat_inslayage]

"Well, Buffy wouldn't exactly let us help, most of the time," Kennedy said with just a touch of the old resentment. "I kept trying to, but it was all 'you guys just sit here and wait where it's safe.' Let's just say it wasn't the friendliest debate."

[sith_happened]

"I've known a few Buffys," Anakin said dryly. "That sounds like most of them."

[brat_inslayage]

"This is me totally not surprised you have," Kennedy replied without missing a beat. "I get why now, though. Leading people into something you know they might not come back out of is the opposite of fun."

[sith_happened]

"It really is," Anakin agreed, looking slightly haunted, "and I'm sorry you know that."

[brat_inslayage]

"Buffy was gone and Faith was out cold. Someone had to do it," she answered, looking down at her hands. "And I'm not sorry I did. I mean, as a job description goes, 'Slayer' is pretty obviously not hugs and puppies."

Willow was a bad influence on her word choice.

"It's just a little rough."

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded. "How many did you lose?"

[brat_inslayage]

"Five that day. Another twelve in the final battle, not that I was in charge of that one." Kennedy's mouth twitched into something that wasn't quite a sardonic smile. "Still wish I could take back yelling at Chloe, though. The First used that to convince her it was all a hopeless cause."

Okay, the First had said nothing of the sort, just implied it. The implication had stuck.

[sith_happened]

"Those regrets will stick with you," Anakin said softly. "My last words to Luke and Leia's mother were ones I wish I could take back."

[brat_inslayage]

Kennedy nodded silently, then offered, "That not really being a possible thing, the best we can do is make up for it, right?"

[sith_happened]

He smiled a little wryly. "Why do you think I teach Ethics?"

[brat_inslayage]

...huh.

"Damn. Guess I didn't come up with an original idea after all," Kennedy said with a faint laugh.

[sith_happened]

"It didn't have to be original," Anakin said, smiling. "Welcome back."

[brat_inslayage]

"Good to be back," Kennedy said, and there was no sarcasm there. "I kinda owe this place a hell of a lot for basically saving my ass back in Sunnydale. Glad I get to pay up on that. It was kinda dicey for a while."

[sith_happened]

"You should tell Zoe that some time," Anakin replied. "I know she worries if we've prepared you all."

[brat_inslayage]

Kennedy grinned. "Think I will, yeah. Since I can now speak from experience when I say that trying to prep a bunch of scared teenagers for something big and scary is actually really tough."

Aw, look at that. She unwittingly referenced her own canon's metaphorical premise.

[sith_happened]

Anakin grinned. "It's amazing how stupid they get in the time you're gone, huh?"

[brat_inslayage]

"I meant back there," Kennedy amended quickly, "but that applies now, too... and can I just say thank god none of my friends are actually taking my class? Because wow, too weird."