"What'll you do if she starts killing demons in public and then shouting her full name and address?"

"I imagine I'll start by answering a series of annoying questions," he says dryly.

Bella blinks at him owlishly. "Yeah, but I mean - being the Slayer, openly, seems like a crap deal. Are you going to tell your boss about her? Will she ever have a minute's peace again? Is she liable to spend half her life on a series of airplanes from hotspot to demonic hotspot and the other half in mortal combat? 'Cause if that's the deal and I find her before you do I might help her skip town."

"I would have to tell my boss, yes," he says. "And then I would become her Watcher. It's very likely we would stay in Sunnydale, since it's one of the biggest demonic hotspots around. Slayers aren't sent across significant distances on missions very often, and the last two times it happened, it was to thwart an impending apocalypse in this very town."

"What's your boss like? And was he... bossing... when they hunted that one Slayer down till she met her undoubtedly grisly end?"

"I don't actually have a single boss," he says. "There's a reason it's called the Council. That Slayer was hundreds of years ago, so no, none of the current members were alive to see it happen."

He watches her notetaking a moment longer, then retreats behind the counter.

Notetaking-notetaking. "How does being good at punching things tend to help with apocalypses? I admit to being confused about how one might punch an apocalypse."

"One punches whoever is trying to cause the apocalypse," Giles says dryly. "There are other subtleties, too, I'm sure."

He leaves her to it again.

"See you then," he agrees.

Home. Sunset. Jar of blood.

"What troubles you tonight, dear Juliet?"

"Asked Mr. Giles a lot of questions about the Slayer. I think he knows it's me but doesn't have enough concrete evidence to realize that he knows. And he comes down on the Council side regarding the treatment of a particular Slayer who ran. They chased that poor girl until she died and she never wanted any of it but of course she was the strongest defense against evil because she was good at punching things! This entire system is so idiotic. If I beat up some demons in front of some other demons at that bar you mentioned and they tell all their friends, this is supposed to quell demonic activity. Worldwide, apparently."

"He's not far wrong about that last. Demonic activity has been on the rise ever since rumours of the missing Slayer started going around. You're a very powerful bogeyman to some crowds."

"Maybe I should get a Mexican wrestler mask so they can say I exist but not how to find me. I dunno. Am I good enough to survive a demonic bar brawl?" she asks, hauling her messenger bag to her shoulder and starting towards the relevant graveyard.

"If I lent a hand? Without a doubt," he says. "And it would be good material for learning to fight against multiple opponents."

"Then the rumors about the Slayer will say that she has a friend with her," Bella points out. "And I told you I think Giles knows it's me, even though I didn't tell him. If he decides to confront me about it - or, I don't know, he throws something heavy at my head and my choices are duck or catch it or get brained - how will I explain that?"

"Refuse to," he suggests.

"I suppose the option exists. It would be easy to find you starting from me, though, a Mexican wrestler mask will throw off demons but Mr. Giles is faculty and he has access to my home address. All he'd have to do would be watch you show up at dusk, or, if you stopped walking me there, follow me to the crypt. Do you have a plan for that?"

"Don't give him your laser pointer," Sherlock suggests flippantly.

"I had no plans to. I don't think a scenario that winds up with you having to beat up any number of Watchers in self-defense is something I should aim at. Mr. Giles isn't exactly Charlie, but I'd be disappointed in an outcome that got him badly hurt. Although I'm not going to tell you to let him shoot at you without reprisal either, because, again, not Charlie."