"I'd ask if you wanted to stay here, but my place is not exactly suitable for houseguests at the moment." Indeed, there are more books and papers cluttering the apartment than usual. "I could also put you up in a motel somewhere. I don't think I can afford a particularly nice motel, but I owe you." She shifts a bit. "I am sorry about all the shouting. And...everything."

"I mean, I can take the couch and be fine, if that would put you less out than would getting me a motel for who knows how long. I'm not picky. Explaining to Charlie might be the better long-term plan but I don't blame the Slayer over there for not having a script to do it on short notice."

"If you're all right with sleeping on my couch, that would be preferable until and unless Bella feels comfortable broaching the subject with her father."

"Slayer seems to trust you. Stop calling her Bella, it's confusing. I can be Rune until I think of something better. Slayer, you got anything better than 'Slayer'?"

"Eh - Bolt? Arrow? Destiny. I'll be Destiny, pretend I'm a stripper."

"I should probably get adjusted to this world's version of the Pacific time zone and it being unwise to go out at night. Could use - dinner, I guess, at this hour, and a look through your library, and a pillow and a toothbrush and some of Destiny's spare clothes, I bet she's got some stuff too nice to Slay in."

"I'll go run you some errands."

"I'll see what I have in the way of food. Feel free to look through books while I'm cooking, and let me know if you have any questions or want to find something specific."

"Is there some known reason why you might've gotten me instead of something else from a vengeance demon?" wonders Rune.

"Magic doesn't like me. It might have been trying to replace me outright and only got halfway. Still not especially cruel as that sort of thing goes, but more inconvenient than just picking you up and putting you in Cara's apartment."

"Right, I'll take whatever you've got on vengeance demons and interdimensional travel."

"Thanks, will do."

"Speaking of money to put Rune up in a motel and whatnot, can you requisition some from the Watcher's Council? Expenses?"

"I'll try. How much of a secret should this be? It tends to be hard for me to wring money out of them, and I'd have more of a chance if they knew what it was for, but I'm not sure we'll want them attempting to interfere."

"What's the worst case if they do interfere? They decide Rune's a demon and have her assassinated or something?"

"Potentially. It's likelier that the consequences will be more...bureaucratic in nature. For example, if we don't manage to convince them she's benign, they could completely cut off my access to their libraries and other resources. They'll take significantly more convincing than me, too. They're still a bit suspicious of you because of the 'missing Slayer' thing."

"I did not decide to be missing. Do you have an alternate source on books if they decide to shoot themselves in the foot like that?"

"Witch shops often have demonology books but I don't know if the quality of witch shops is much like what I'm used to, here."

"I can still get books, I'll just have to limit myself to local collections. I'm not sure what quality you're used to, Rune, but the local magic shop has a better selection than most. I can make do if you think asking for money is worth the risk."

"Ugh, they're so badly run. Slayer-subsidy should be standard. Do you have to tell them Rune's a me or can you just tell them we've recruited me witchy support staff but ought to pay her?"

"You're right, going into too much detail will probably just complicate things. But I should warn you that in general, the Watchers' Council doesn't approve of Slayers having a non-Watcher support staff, especially if it includes witches. Some days, I think they wake up in the morning and think, 'Gosh, pitting one teenage girl against the forces of evil is a pretty inefficient system. How about we make it even worse for everyone involved?'" She rolls her eyes. "I'll try to appeal to the more reasonable members."

"Thank you. What exactly is the concern they have with the extra support?"

"Varies. The consensus seems to be that they don't want to put the Slayer's life in the hands of someone who they haven't personally vetted extensively, but I suspect it mostly stems from them being afraid of change."