DISCLAIMER: The Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel characters are the property of Mutant Enemy, Joss Whedon, and Fox Studios. The story contents are the creation and property of Djinn and are copyright (c) 2001 by Djinn. This story is Rated PG-13.
Gravity
Part 7 –
Restoration
by Djinn
"Come on, put your back into it. A Watcher scoffs at gravity." – Giles to Spike, Restless
It had been three days since
Giles had called the Watcher's council on her behalf, and Buffy was tired of
waiting to hear if they were going to help her regain her life. She paced the
basement nervously.
Spike didn't look up from the
book he was reading. "Would you sit down? You're giving me a
headache."
"I just don't understand
what the holdup is."
"Well, it's not like
they're going to tell me, now is it? Haven't even got my union card yet." He
closed the book. "Not that this isn't a pleasant surprise, you being down
here and all, but what do you want, Buffy?"
She'd thought he'd be happy
to see her. Her mind went back to the last time she'd been down in the
basement. She could feel her cheeks turning red. She'd tried to put the memory
of the kiss they'd shared to rest but she couldn't. She looked over at him. His
eyes showed only polite interest. He seemed to be doing fine not obsessing over
what had happened between them.
"It was too quiet
upstairs. With the others gone." She knew the excuse sounded weak. Why had
she come down to see him? She didn't even like him.
He put the book aside and
stood up. Moving past her, he started to lay down some mats. "This will
help you relax."
"You're going to be my
watcher?" she asked with amusement.
"Not bloody likely. Got
my hands full with your sister. Just thought you could use a sparring partner. But
if you don't want to..." He walked back to the chair and picked up the
book.
"No. I mean yes. I want
to. Sparring's good."
"Fine." He walked
back over.
"Won't the chip make
this hard for you?"
He shook his head. "It
won't bother me as long as I'm not trying to hurt you."
She thought back to the night
she'd returned to life. She'd tried to stake him. He'd struck at her and the
chip had retaliated, the pain had distracted him, nearly cost him his life in
fact.
"Buffy," he said as
he threw her. "Pay attention or I'm going back to my book."
"Right. Sorry." They
circled each other. She looked for an opening, saw one, and took it. He was on
the mat in seconds.
"That's better." He
smiled as he got up, his movements becoming more purposeful.
She lost herself in the
motion, in the intricate dance that was the slayer's fight for dominance. Spike
fought well, countering her moves with a skill she'd forgotten he had. He
feinted left but she caught him as he moved back and threw him hard. He turned
the fall into a roll, was up quickly. She realized she was smiling.
"This is good, isn't it." His answering grin was almost feral. "What
you're made for."
"Shut up and fight."
She kicked him hard and followed up with a move designed to trip him. He kept
his feet though, and caught her with a hard kick of his own. She dropped and
tried to roll, but he followed her down and landed on top of her. His hands
pinned hers.
"Give up?" he
asked.
"Not on your life,"
she said as she called on strength that her small body shouldn't have held and
kicked him over her. She was on him before he could rise. "You give
up?"
"Not bloody
likely," he tried the same move on her but she gripped him with her
thighs, riding him easily.
"You're not getting me
off you."
"God, why would I try? I've had fantasies like this."
"Did they include
this?" she asked as she stretched his arms over his head.
"Do you even have to
ask?" He wrenched his hands away with a violent jerk. She nearly crashed into
his face but her hands landed hard on either side of his head. He took
advantage of the moment, heaved his body up and sent her crashing to her back.
She expected him to follow
her but he just lay there. She looked over at him. "What's the matter? Did
I hurt you?"
He turned his head. "No.
You didn't hurt me." He gave her a strange smile. "Just trying to
tame the wolf inside."
"I thought the chip did
that?"
He rolled over, lay pressed
against her side. "There's more than one wolf inside me."
"Is that supposed to
scare me?" She didn't try to stop him as he moved closer.
"Hope not. Was going
more for exciting you." His hand tangled in her hair.
She studied his face. His
mouth was curved slightly in a small smile, his eyes were intent on her own. She
knew he was judging what she'd do. One move from her and he'd stop. One move
from her and he'd realize what a bad idea this was.
She didn't move. His mouth
crept nearer.
Just as his lips touched hers,
she heard footsteps on the stairs, then Giles' voice calling out, "Buffy? Are
you down there?"
"Crap!" She pushed
Spike away and was on her feet in an instant. He was only seconds behind her.
Giles walked in, followed by
a stranger. "Oh, here you are, Buffy. Training, I see?"
"Yes. Training. Working
out. Very strenuous. Nervous energy and all that." She knew she was
babbling so she turned a look of suspicion at the newcomer. "Judging from
the high tweed factor, I'd say you're from the Council?"
He nodded. "That's
right. Tristan Haversham. You can call me Mister Haversham." The watcher
turned to Spike. "And you must be the vampire who thinks he's one of
us."
"I'm Dawn's
watcher," Spike said with no visible sign of respect, which made Buffy
have to bite back a smile.
Haversham turned to survey
the basement. "And you live down here?"
"I've told you all this,
Tristan." Giles sounded annoyed.
Haversham walked back to the
stairs. "Miss Summers, if you don't mind, I have some questions for
you."
She rolled her eyes but
followed him upstairs. He sat down at the dining room table, gestured for her
to sit opposite him. Taking out a notebook, he began to fire questions at her. "Who
knows you're alive aside from the people in this house and Giles and
Faith?"
"Xander and Anya. And
Amy, but she's in LA right now."
"That's all?"
"Well, no. Angel knows. And
I suppose he's told Cordelia and Wesley, and that Fred woman. And I think
another guy works with them now. He might know."
He looked at her with irritation.
"Perhaps it would have been easier to ask for a list of the people who
don't know?"
"It's not that many
people."
He ignored her. "How
many times have you been outside since your return?"
"Twice."
He seemed displeased at her
answer. "At night?"
"One was. The other was
about 7:30 in the morning."
"That was foolish. To
the best of your knowledge, did anyone see you?"
"I don't think so. I
mean, it's possible, I guess. But I didn't talk to anyone, or see anyone I
knew. I mean other than the gang."
"Ah yes. The 'gang.' Quentin
Travers filled me in and gave me transcripts of the interviews he and his staff
recently conducted with you and your associates. The new slayer wasn't
interviewed."
"Her name is Dawn. And
no, she wasn't a part of this then."
Haversham looked her over
somberly. "Unlucky girl to be a part of it now. "
Buffy bristled. "She's
all right."
"For now. It's hard to
tell how a slayer will turn out. Take yourself, for instance. At that age you
seemed to be full of potential."
"Sorry to disappoint
you."
"Not me, Miss Summers. The
Council."
"Well, they were a bit
of a disappointment to me too."
"I'm sure." He
closed his book, then stood and walked over to the stairs to call down: "I'm
leaving, Rupert."
A few seconds later, Giles
came into the room. "You have what you need from Buffy then?"
"I do."
"So
you're going to help me?" Buffy asked.
"I'm under orders to
help you, Miss Summers. Whether I like it or not, that's what I'll do."
"Oh. Well, good." She
couldn't resist a dig. "Too bad you can't stand me. Or is it slayers in
general you don't like?"
"I'm sure I don't know
what you're talking about."
"Denial is a river in
Egypt," Giles said with a small smirk.
"I guess you know little
about that. Since you deny yourself virtually nothing where your other slayer
is concerned." Haversham's face was pinched. "Disgusting."
"Oh, like it doesn't
happen all the time between watchers and slayers." Buffy didn't like Giles
and Faith together but she was damned well not going to let the Tweed Brigade
give him crap over it.
Haversham's eyes were like ice as they turned to her.
"Not between Giles and
me." She said quickly. "But in the past. When the slayers didn't have
anyone but their watchers to confide in. You think that they weren't finding
some solace in each other?"
"If they were, the
watcher should have been relieved."
"Giles and Faith aren't
doing anything wrong."
"He's sleeping with an
impressionable young woman. That is wrong."
"You haven't met Faith
yet, have you?"
"No. That dubious honor
has eluded me." He glanced at Giles. "She was out when I met Giles at
his apartment."
Buffy laughed. "Well,
you'll quickly discover that there's nothing impressionable about her. She's
been making her own decisions for a while now."
"Yes. Decisions that
landed her in jail. So much for not impressionable." He walked to the door
then looked back at them. "I'll be back tomorrow at 5 pm sharp, Rupert. And
I want everyone here."
"Of course." Giles
glanced out the door to Haversham's rental car. "You
can find your way back?"
"It's not that big a
town, now is it?" Haversham nodded at Buffy. "Good day."
"Yeah. Bye." As
soon as Giles shut the door, she let out a big sigh. "What a jerk."
"He is arrogant. But
there's probably no better man for this."
"I hope so," Buffy whispered.
"I've got to get out of this house before I do something really
stupid."
"Something like what I
nearly caught you at in the basement just now?"
"I don't know what you
mean."
"It was awfully quiet
down there. For two people sparring, I mean." He gave her a significant
look. "Don't bother answering, I know you'll just lie."
She watched him walk away
into the kitchen. As she heard him on the phone she
felt guilty for what he'd almost seen. Or part of her did anyway. The other
part was just angry that the kiss had been interrupted. That part of her was a
problem. That part of her needed to be locked down. No more trips to the
basement during the day, she resolved. But somehow her inner voice didn't sound
very sure about that resolution.
##
Giles was relieved when he
heard the British accent at the end of the other line. He really wasn't in the
mood to deal with Cordelia. "Wesley, it's Giles."
"You don't sound very
happy."
"I've got a Council
representative here to help us get Buffy back into mainstream life. He's
clearly not pleased at his assignment. What do you know about Tristan
Haversham?"
"What do I know? Correct
me if I'm mistaken, but weren't you two good friends?"
"That was a long time
ago," Giles said with some bitterness. He and Tristan had been the golden
boys of the Council. Even with his youthful follies, Giles had been one of the
chosen, and Tristan had been right there with him. They'd been close once but
hadn't spoken since Giles had been fired. "You've got better connections,
Wesley. I thought you might know what he's been up to lately."
"He's been doing special
projects for the Council. Things of a rather sensitive nature. Oh and you do know he was supposed to be the Watcher for the
next slayer?"
"Ah. That explains a
great deal."
"Yes. Must grill him
quite a lot to have to help, especially with the special circumstances
surrounding Dawn's current watcher."
"Do you think Spike is
accepted in that role?"
"I wouldn't hold your
breath waiting for him to get an invitation to the Watcher's Retreat. And I'm
not sure if they'd help him if he called on them. But they seem to have given
up any ideas of trying to get rid of him."
"But they were thinking
about it?" Giles wasn't really all that surprised.
"I think so. But when it
became clear that he was doing quite well in the role, I think they decided to
leave well enough alone." Wesley chuckled. "No one really wants to
get involved with the current batch of slayers. There were a number of
disappointed people when Dawn was called. A new slayer, free of the rather
rebellious ties of the Sunnydale strain, would have been welcome."
"Welcome perhaps, but
not to be. I feel as if I'm overseeing a dynasty."
"Three slayers is rather
an embarrassment of riches." Wesley cleared his throat. "I was in the
vicinity when Angel was talking to Buffy. I heard about you and Faith."
Giles felt his hackles go up.
"And?"
"Well the phrase, 'Have
you lost all reason?' comes to mind."
"I don't expect you to
understand."
"Why? Perhaps because I
was the one that she tortured?"
"As Angelus tortured me.
But I managed to put that behind me."
"Angel wasn't himself when
he did that."
"Faith has changed. Although
if she wants to torture you again, I just might let her."
Wesley sighed. "We just
can't seem to stay civil to each other for very long, can we?"
"I'm sorry. That was
uncalled for."
"No. It's none of my
business. I'm sure you know what you're doing. Frankly your instincts about
Faith have always been better than mine. I was as much to blame for her turning
to evil as anyone."
"Probably more."
"Well I don't know if
I'd go that far."
"I'm sure you
wouldn't." Giles saw Buffy watching him. "I have to go, Wesley. Thank
you for the information."
"Of course." The
other man sounded as relieved as Giles did that the conversation was over.
"So?" Buffy asked
with concern. "What did the gutless wonder have to say?"
"You should be nicer to
him. He really does want to help."
"Well yeah, since the
council fired him. So what's the story on
Haversham?"
"He was slated to be
Dawn's watcher."
"That explains his
antagonism toward Spike. Not that it takes much to dislike him."
Giles looked at her
carefully. She appeared to mean what she said. Why then did he have the feeling
that something was going on between her and the vampire? Part of him was
appalled, even as another part pointed out that no one would have picked Faith
and him for couple of the year, and they were doing quite well. He tried to be
generous. Buffy should be with whomever made her happy. But Spike?
Buffy had started to pace. She
was ranting about Haversham's attitude.
"If you want your life
back, Buffy, you'll need to work with him."
"I know." She
sighed. "I just don't want to." She pulled her arms close around her
body. "I get nervous whenever the Council is in town. And this guy bothers
me almost as much as Quentin does."
"It'll be alright. Just
give him the chance to help you."
"I will. I'm just
worried. I've got a bad feeling about this."
Giles didn't want to tell her
he did too.
##
Dawn thought school would
never end. It was last period and the teacher had been droning on forever about
Reconstruction. Like she was ever going to need to know about the rebuilding of
the South. She turned her thoughts to the next patrol. Things had been dull for the last two nights. Maybe tonight they would see
more action.
It took her a moment to
realize that the bell had rung and her classmates were getting up. She looked
over at Lisa Mathis. Her friend looked suspicious. "What?" Dawn asked
way too defensively.
"I don't get you,
anymore." Lisa grabbed her book bag and hurried out of the classroom.
Dawn sighed, then realized
that she wasn't alone in the room. She turned to see Kevin Berman staring at
her.
"Still got a lot of
stuff going on, huh?"
"I guess." She
tried to be casual, to not act goofy like she always did every time he talked
to her. But he was just so cute.
"You're really out of
it. If you want to be a stoner that's cool, I guess." He turned away and
walked to the door.
"I'm not a stoner,"
she said, following him into the hall.
Lisa was standing there. She
looked at Kevin. "I told you she'd say that."
"What is this? You're
ganging up on me?" Dawn was angry.
"We care about you. Which
is a good thing because you don't seem to care about anything anymore."
"Yeah, well how about
you lose your mom and your sister? See how you like it." Dawn spun away
from both of them and walked away. She blinked back hot tears. Lisa had been
her closest friend. They'd told each other everything. And she'd thought that
Kevin was becoming more than just a classroom chum. But it was obvious they
looked down on her now. She already felt lonely. Being the slayer really sucked
sometimes.
Faith was waiting out front
for her. "Hey kid. What's got you so upset?"
"I don't have any friends."
Dawn realized how that sounded. "I mean at school."
"I know what you mean. Yeah,
that bites. But maybe a little kicking vampire ass will improve your mood? Ready
to clean out a nest?"
Dawn nodded.
Faith laughed. "You
know, not too long ago, I wouldn't have waited till you were done with school. Did
I ever tell you about the time I got Buffy to leave class in the middle of a
test?"
"No way."
"Way." Faith
launched into the story. By the time she finished they were coming up on an abandoned
warehouse. There were boards nailed over the windows. Faith grinned evilly as
she pulled the first one off. Dawn helped her clear off more. They moved down
to the next window and did the same.
"Lame-asses. Maybe next
time they'll nail the boards up on the inside." Faith smirked. "What?
Were they expecting a hurricane?"
Dawn laughed. "Are any
of these vampires very smart? I mean really?'
"Does seem like there
are two schools. The idiots we fight every night, and then those like Angel."
"And Spike."
Faith grinned. "I forget
he's even a vampire half the time."
"Don't let him hear you
say that." Dawn led Faith to the next window. "He hates it when
people act like he's all harmless."
"I don't mean that. I
just guess I trust him. Like when I turn my back on him, I don't have to worry
he's gonna try to cop a drink. Can't say I feel that
way about most vamps." Faith found a crowbar in the rubble below the
window. "Wicked useful." Using it, she made short work of the boards.
They moved around to the back. "Not like I worried around Angel, but he's
got that whole soul thing working for him."
"Spike has the
chip."
"Yeah. But it's
different. Angel doesn't want to do the whole vampire shtick. Spike probably
still does but chooses not to. You told me he could have gone off with Drusilla
if he'd wanted to."
"He stayed for Buffy. If
it weren't for her, he might have left."
"But now he stays for
you. Seems to me, Spike's always finding a reason to be good. That should tell
you something."
The windows were all
uncovered. They walked back. Faith pulled out some stakes, handed a couple to
Dawn. Pausing at the door, she looked at the younger slayer. "You
ready?"
Dawn took a deep breath and
dropped her book bag near the door. She could already feel the adrenaline
pumping. "Ready."
Faith kicked the big door
open. Light rushed in ahead of them. "Cock-a-doodle-doo," she taunted
as she stepped into the room.
Ten vampires stood in shadows
in the middle of the room. There was very little space in the warehouse not
flooded with sunlight.
"Gosh, guess we went and
ruined your nice place, huh?" Dawn laughed. She couldn't help it. She
loved this. She stepped deliberately close to one of the vampires and he
reached for her. She countered quickly, grabbing him and tossing him into the
sunlight. He scurried for the shadows, but not before his coat started to blaze
and nearly lit one of the other vampires on fire. The second vamp threw him
back into the sunshine. He fell on the ground, then was gone.
"So
who wants to be next?" Faith asked. She looked disappointed as the sullen
vampires just stared at her. "Looks like we have no volunteers,
squirt."
"This one'll do,"
Dawn pointed to a male in the front.
He snarled at her. His leg
came out to kick her and she grabbed it and pulled him into the sunshine. He
fought her but she kicked him toward the open door. He hit the full sunshine
and exploded into dust.
Faith strode into the group,
fighting with several of the vamps before tossing two more out the front door.
Dawn liked the odds better. She
stepped into the shade and immediately went after a female. The woman fought
well but she made the mistake of stepping too close to the border of the
shadows. Her hand began to sizzle and she screamed. Dawn staked her and turned
to find a huge male blocking her way.
His hands came up around her
neck. "That was my woman!" he roared.
"Join her then,"
Faith said as she staked him from the back then turned back to the three she was fighting.
Dawn went after the vamp
nearest her, staking him quickly before turning to help Faith. She could feel
the other slayer as she fought, their movements perfectly in tune. Faith kicked
one of the vampires back toward her, and Dawn staked him with a single smooth
motion. Faith dusted another. The last vampire went after Faith, all fighting
style abandoned as he tried only to get his hands on her. Dawn hit him from the
back as Faith stabbed him from the front. They both pulled back and he was gone
in a shimmer of dust.
"Hey!" a voice
sounded behind Faith. She spun, her stake already coming down to take out the
unexpected opponent.
"No!" Dawn screamed
as she saw who stood there.
With an almost superhuman
effort, Faith managed to pull the blow and the stake just grazed Lisa's shirt,
ripping it but leaving Dawn's friend unharmed. Faith stared down at the stake,
all color leaving her face for a moment. She seemed very far away.
The girl looked at Dawn, then
at Kevin who stood behind her. She turned and stared up at Faith. Lisa's mouth
was moving, but words weren't coming out.
Kevin did better. "What
the hell is going on?"
Dawn stuck her stake into the
back of her pants. "Nothing. What do you mean?"
"What is that
thing," Lisa pointed to the stake, then ran her finger over the long tear
down the front of her shirt.
"We saw it all." Kevin
looked around the room. "We were outside when you threw those first few
out. They like blew up or something when they were in the sunlight. And these
others." He tried to touch the stake, but Faith jerked it away. "That's
a stake isn't it? And those are vampires."
Dawn's laugh was brittle. "Vampires
are make believe." She looked at Faith.
The other slayer just
shrugged.
"This isn't make believe," Lisa said, still touching the rip. "Being
almost killed isn't make believe."
Dawn tried to distract her. "What
are you even doing here? Were you following me?"
"Yeah," Kevin said.
"We were worried about you."
"Oh, like you care."
"I do care. I thought
after your mom died that you and I were really talking, you know communicating.
But then you disappeared for a while and we heard your sister had died and
suddenly you were back in town, but you never called me."
"Or me," Lisa said,
not meeting her eyes. "We used to talk every day."
"And when school
started, you were different." He looked at her. "We saw you go off
with her." He pointed at Faith. "And we didn't know what to think. So we followed you."
"And here we are." Lisa
finally looked at her. "We've been best friends forever. Or have you
forgotten that?"
Dawn looked at the other
girl. She did feel as if they'd been close for a long time. But in her heart she knew that before the monks did their spell, Lisa
had probably had another best friend. Or maybe no one. Dawn considered that. Did
it matter how it happened? Lisa was the closest friend she had. And Kevin, well
he might be more someday. She decided to trust them. She pointed at the other
slayer, "This is Faith."
"Hey," Faith said.
"And she is sort of like
a big sister to me. Well except that..."
Faith cleared her throat,
then shook her head slightly when Dawn looked over.
She realized she'd been about
to talk about Buffy being alive. She had to leave that part out, at least until
they knew how they were going to explain all that. "Except that she isn't
related or anything."
"Yeah, okay. So were those vampires?" Kevin seemed determined to get
his original question answered.
Dawn nodded.
"Like suck your blood,
hissing at crosses vampires?"
"Pretty much,
yeah." Dawn looked over at Lisa.
"This is too
weird." Her friend sat down suddenly. She looked up at Dawn with awe. "You
were fighting them."
"Yeah. That's what we
do." Faith shrugged in an "It is what it is" way.
"We're slayers,"
Dawn said. "Vampire slayers."
"Vampire slayers,"
Kevin repeated. "How do you get that job? Did you like apply for it or
something?"
"Slayers are called. One
girl in all the world to fight the vampires and other evil."
"One girl?" Lisa
looked at both of them with a confused look as she stood back up.
"Well okay, thr—two right now." Faith sighed. "Look, we'd be
here all day if I told you the whole story. And you really don't want to be in
this neighborhood once the sun sets, believe me."
"We'll walk you
home," Dawn said.
Her friends were quiet at
first as they walked back to their neighborhood. Then Lisa whispered. "I
heard things, about your sister. That she was always in fights. But that she
was usually protecting people. She was a slayer too, wasn't she?"
Dawn nodded.
"But she died." Kevin
thought about that. "Fighting vampires?"
"Something worse." Dawn
didn't want to think about that night. "When she died, I was called."
"That doesn't seem fair,
somehow," Lisa said.
"Right?" Dawn
looked over. "I'm sorry about the way I've been acting. It's just so much
has happened and then this. It was all too much, I guess."
"So now that we know,
you won't be all weird around us, will you?" Lisa's face got stern. "I
mean I don't care if you are the slayer. You used to care about school and your
friends."
"I know. I'll try to be
better." Dawn stopped in front of Lisa's house. "Don't tell anyone, okay?
Either of you?"
Lisa gave her a quick hug. "Don't
worry, your secret's safe with me." She began to laugh. "I guess this
explains why you're suddenly so good in PE?"
"I guess it does."
Dawn smiled sheepishly.
Her friend just nodded, then
headed up the walk. Once she was safely inside, they started walking again.
Kevin looked over at her. "You
look different too. Older."
She smiled.
"And scarier."
Her smile faded.
"You were really getting
into that fight, Dawn. That's kind of creepy."
"Might as well enjoy
your work," Faith offered breezily—a little too breezily.
Dawn tried to explain,
"They aren't really alive. I mean, they had to die first before they
became a vampire. And they're monsters, you know?"
"Yeah. I guess. But you
two were really going for it. Like you got off on it or something."
"Maybe we do." Faith's
voice was defiant.
"Would that be so bad? Would
it really be better if we had to be dragged out every night kicking and
screaming?"
"You do this every
night?" He seemed disturbed at the thought.
Dawn nodded. "Till we
die."
"Dawn." Faith
looked at her in concern.
"Well, it's true. Nobody
ever says it, but it is."
"Till you die."
Kevin looked really concerned. "And then someone else gets called."
"That's right, Einstein."
Faith strode on ahead.
"What's her
problem?"
Dawn shrugged. "It's a
touchy subject. And she doesn't like that many people."
"What about you? Do you
like me?" Kevin looked at her seriously. "Because I thought we were
hitting it off and then you got all weird. Kirsty said you were on drugs."
"I thought we agreed not
to listen to her," she said with a frown.
"Yeah, we did, but that
was before you zoned out on me. I didn't know what to think."
"I like you, Kevin. I
like you a lot." She looked down, feeling suddenly very shy.
He reached over and took her
hand. "Well, I like you a lot too."
They walked the rest of the
way to his house in silence. He didn't let go of her hand till he had to.
Faith stepped close to her as
they watched him wave from the front door, then close it behind him. "Somebody's
got a boyfriend."
Dawn blushed. "What? Don't
you approve?"
"No, he seems nice. They
both do." She smiled at the younger girl. "Hell, Buffy's got a bloody
back-up group, why shouldn't you?"
"Bloody?" Dawn
laughed. "I think Giles is wearing off on you."
"It could happen." Faith
laughed. "Don't tell him I said that. He'll be way too pleased."
Dawn grinned. "Do you
love him, Faith?"
The other girl smiled. "Yeah."
"That's cool. Race you
back to the cemetery?"
"You're on," Faith
said and took off running.
"No fair." Dawn
laughed as she tried to catch her. She didn't really care though that Faith was
winning. All she could think of was Kevin and how she could still feel the
touch of his hand on hers.
##
Faith slept in late the next
morning. Giles was already up when she finally opened her eyes. She walked down
to find him drinking coffee and staring out the window. "What's
wrong?"
"Tristan."
"Oh. Can't you just
ignore him while he's here?"
Giles gave a soft laugh. "I
wish I could."
"You want me to kill
him?"
He turned to her in surprise
then relaxed when he saw the teasing smile. "Best not."
"Suit yourself." She
snuggled in under his arm. "Did he say something about us?" She could
feel him tense and knew she was right. "It doesn't matter what any of them
think. Isn't that what you've told me like a thousand times?"
His arm tightened around her.
She kissed his cheek. "I
love you. You love me. Bunch of old geezers in England don't get that, too
bad."
He looked down at her, a grin
of pure affection transforming his face.
"That's the look I like
to see." She pulled his mouth down to hers. "We have lots of time
before that meeting."
He laughed. "Yes, I
suppose we do. Did you have an idea for how to spend it?"
She leaned up and whispered some
ideas in his ear. He blushed but let her lead him back up to the loft.
Much later, he whispered into
her ear, "Don't fall asleep. We have to go soon."
She roused herself. "And
I want to look my trashy best." She chuckled and got out of bed. Reaching
into the closet she pulled out her black leather pants and a low-cut top. "What
do you think? Push-up bra too much?"
"Probably." He got
an evil smile. "Although if you want to wear it later..."
"You're a very bad
man," she replied as she headed downstairs for a shower. Minutes later,
she was drying her hair and putting on makeup. She resisted the urge to go all
out with the kohl.
When she joined Giles he looked at her in approval. "You're
beautiful."
"You have to say
that."
"No, I don't. I could
say you were sexy, which you are. Or pretty. Or attractive. But you are
beautiful."
She felt something crack
inside of her. It was as if he knew where all the walls were around her heart
and was systematically battering them down in his gentle way.
He pulled out a box. "This
was my grandmother's. I want you to have it."
She opened the box, hoping
that it wasn't something formal like a cameo, and was pleased to see a small
onyx figure on a heavy silver chain. "It's beautiful. What is it?"
"An Indian deity. Kali
or KaliMa. She was the protector of women. And
occasionally the destroyer of men. And demons. She is sometimes referred to as
the slayer."
"Cool." She held it
up, admiring the fearsome goddess. "This was your grandmother's?"
"Yes, well, grandmum was not your average woman." He took the
necklace and fastened it around her neck. "And neither are you."
She walked over to the hall
mirror. The four-armed goddess sat on Faith's skin as if she were made to be
there. The old onyx shone with a velvet gleam as the chain caught the light. It
was perfect. She hugged Giles. "I love it."
"I'm glad. I realized
that I've never given you anything."
"Giles, you've given me
more than you will ever know." She kissed him and felt him respond.
Then he gently pushed her
away. "As much as I would like to continue this, we must be going."
She nodded, grabbed her
jacket, and followed him out. The short ride over was quiet, their silence
comfortable and full. Faith pulled down the visor so that she could admire her
new necklace in the mirror. She saw Giles glance over at her once and she
smiled at him. He looked very pleased with himself. His pleasure faded as soon
as they parked the car at Buffy's. Tristan had also arrived and was just
getting out of his car.
"Ah, right on time,
Rupert." The watcher walked over and inspected her as she sat in the
convertible. "And you must be the elusive Faith."
"In the flesh."
"Yes." He sniffed. "Quite
a lot of it."
"You don't like my
outfit?"
"Faith..." Giles
tone was warning.
"It's alright, Giles. Your
girl, and my how that phrase conveys a multitude of meanings, can dress however
she pleases."
"Wicked generous of you."
Faith got out of the car and walked toward the house.
"Miss—"
She cut him off. "Just
Faith."
"Right. Faith. I'd like
to talk to you for a moment. Alone." He turned to Giles, who'd begun to
protest. "This has nothing to do with the relationship between you two. I
just want to talk to the slayer."
Giles finally walked inside.
Faith narrowed her eyes. "Just
one of three."
"Pardon me?"
"I'm not the slayer. I'm
a slayer. There's a difference."
"Quite.
That's what I wanted to speak to you about." He sighed heavily. "I
want to talk seriously about what's going on here. All this fuss to get back
Miss Summers' life. A worthy cause I'm sure, but quite a lot of effort for one
girl. One girl that might be more than a little affected by her experience in
the portal."
"Affected?"
"Faith, let me be
perfectly candid. I want you to do the same. Haven't you had some doubts about
her mental stability? Are we doing the right thing putting her back into the
line of fire?"
"You want me to say that
I think she's crazy?"
"I can't ask Dawn to go
against her sister. I know she wouldn't, even if she agreed that something was
wrong. But one signed statement from you and we could take Buffy back for
counseling...get her some help."
Faith laughed. "Like you
were going to get me some help?" She shook her head. "Buffy died
saving the world. That's me and you and everyone else on the frickin' council. Seems to me we kind of owe her." She
headed for the steps.
"Faith, if the girl
needs help, can you really afford to walk away?"
Without turning, she shot
back, "Buffy's fine. If you think I'll help you, you're an idiot." She
took a few more steps, then turned. "Oh and Tristan?"
He looked at her, irritation
written on his features.
"Don't call us
girls." She hurried up the stairs and into the house.
Buffy stood by the window. "What
did he want?"
"Don't trust him, B. He's
a scumbag."
Buffy's face tightened. "Thanks."
Faith nodded and hurried over
to Giles.
Haversham opened the door and
walked through. He ignored the glares from both slayers and started to speak
without preamble. "Are we all here?"
"Dawn's on her way
home," Willow replied.
"She should already be
here."
"Yeah, well she's not. So deal." Buffy's tone was hostile.
"Fine, we'll wait. I
need to make some calls." He pulled out a cell phone and walked into the
kitchen.
Xander scowled at the door
Haversham had disappeared into, then turned to Giles. "How come you're the
only normal person we've met from the Council?"
"It's probably why they
fired him," Anya said, not looking up from her magazine.
Spike walked into the room. "I
miss anything?"
"Just an irritated
watcher," Willow answered.
Dawn rushed in from outside. "Am
I late?"
"Fraid
so," Tara said.
"Damn." Dawn
grimaced at Buffy's glare. "Darn." She rolled her eyes as she joined
Willow on the floor.
Haversham walked back out. "Well,
I see we're all assembled. Finally."
Faith thought the watcher's
attitude was getting old fast. Looking at Buffy she could see her fellow slayer
agreed. Their eyes met in a rare moment of understanding.
"Very well then. I have
laid the groundwork for Miss Summers' return. There are two prongs to the plan.
The first will be taken care of by my operatives. We'll be switching the bodies
in the gravesite. You said, Rupert, that there was no autopsy, nor any question
of the body's identity?"
"We called the police
directly. Identified her at the scene. There was no autopsy at our
request."
"We'll still check the
police and coroner files. Make sure no dental records or photos of the corpse
exist."
Faith saw Buffy swallow and
look down.
"Could we not talk about
Buffy's body that way?" Dawn said.
"I don't see why not. It's
not your sister, as you well know."
"But it was my
sister."
"Let it go, Niblet," Spike murmured.
Haversham looked at the
vampire in surprise. Spike stared back, his expression
neutral.
"Won't they be able to
tell that you disturbed the grave?" Tara asked.
"We have quite a lot of
experience in this, Miss Maclay. No one will
question."
"Won't the person have
to look an awful lot like Buffy?" Willow glanced at her friend. "Do
you just have bodies on hand?"
Haversham nodded. "Actually we do. I can't really go into it but think of a
worldwide network of morgues and funeral homes willing to provide us with
whatever we need. This body will look enough like Miss Summers to be easily
mistaken for her by you. We'll come up with a convincing story for why she was
here in Sunnydale. No one will question it. Especially when the real Miss
Summers drives back into town."
"Huh?" Buffy looked
at him in suspicion.
"We need to provide you
with a story for the past few months."
"So
we're going to say that I just left town?"
"Yes, you were so distraught
over your mother's death, at the responsibility that entailed, that you
snapped, ran away."
"Nobody's going to
believe that."
Haversham smiled meanly. "Why
not? You ran away once before. Moreover, they believed you committed suicide
when you jumped off that tower."
Faith could tell that Buffy
had never considered that. But it was the easiest explanation. The other slayer
wasn't done arguing.
"This is ridiculous. I'd
never just leave Dawn, not when Glory—"
"The authorities don't
know about Glory," Haversham said. "All they know is that there were
two dead bodies under that tower and yours was an apparent suicide."
Buffy's voice was very quiet.
"Two bodies?"
'That's right. Glory's host
also died."
"Ben?" Her face was
horrified. "But that's impossible. He was alive when I left him."
Faith looked over at Giles. He
met her eyes firmly, then almost imperceptibly shook his head. She felt
confusion wash over her. Wasn't he going to say something?
Haversham shook his head. "Massive
injuries. Beaten to death by a heavy object. Police were mystified at the
connection. I doubt any of you were any help."
The Scoobies
sat silent in affirmation.
"So
I killed Ben."
Haversham corrected her. "No,
you killed Glory, his death was unfortunate but not unexpected. You're really
getting upset over nothing."
"A life isn't
nothing." Buffy turned away from him and looked at the others. "Ben
helped us, he saved your life, Giles. Shouldn't we care that I killed
him?"
Spike's voice was bitter. "Bugger
took that bitch Glory with him when he died. Think that justifies whatever
happened. She'd have come back for us eventually."
Anya seemed impatient with
them. "It was really Glory that killed him. She wouldn't give up, wouldn't
stop fighting you even when you were really hurting her. Maybe if she had, he
wouldn't have died."
"I beat him to
death." There was raw pain in Buffy's voice.
"So what?" Dawn
stood up and went to her sister. "He wasn't good. I don't care if he
helped us or not. He really wasn't good. He could have let me get away, but he
didn't. He took me back to her so that he could live."
Willow nodded. "And even
before that he knew Glory was after the key. He could have told you the truth
before she found out it was Dawn. But he didn't."
"You can't blame
yourself, Buffy," Spike said. "Glory took him down with her. And he'd
chosen to fight on her side. He wasn't an innocent bystander."
"I was so mad at her,
though. I kept hitting her. She was down and I didn't stop. I couldn't stop. Maybe
if I hadn't been so out of control?" She looked at Giles in appeal.
He finally spoke. "Maybe
what? He'd still be alive? Then so would Glory. And Spike's right. She'd be
after us even now. Making us all pay. It's a terrible thing, but ultimately for
the best."
Faith sat silently, watching
Buffy process her watcher's words. Faith again met Giles' eyes. His look was
wary. She nodded slightly, letting him know she wouldn't betray him, and he
seemed to relax.
"Can we move off this
point now?" Haversham looked at his watch. He turned to Buffy. "You
and I need to get to the airport. I have a plane waiting to fly you to New
Mexico. Then you'll be driving back here."
"New Mexico?"
"Lots of remote places
there that a person could stay for several months and never be seen. Easy to
set up a backstory. And we have a good network there to help us."
Buffy stood. "Should I
pack?"
"No. You left suddenly,
remember. We'll have clothes for you there."
Faith stood up. "How do
we know you'll bring her back?"
Dawn and Spike stared hard at
the watcher.
Haversham laughed. "She'll
be back. I give you my word. Rupert can attest that it's worth something."
Giles nodded.
Haversham turned to Willow. "A
glamour would be nice. I'd like to get her to the plane without anyone
recognizing her. And I'll need the counterspell."
Willow got up and touched
Buffy's shoulder, whispering some words. Suddenly Buffy looked like a little
old woman.
"Well done." Haversham
looked at Willow speculatively. "Such power in one so young is quite an
accomplishment. You'd be an excellent addition to the Council."
Willow's look was sour. "Thanks,
I'll pass." She went to join Tara as soon as she'd told him the words for
the counterspell.
"As you wish." Haversham
turned to Buffy. "Are you ready?"
Buffy nodded and turned to
the others. "See you."
Dawn rushed to her and hugged
her tightly. "Come home soon."
"I will." She
followed Haversham out.
As soon as the door closed,
the others began to talk at once. Xander's voice was the loudest. "So what do we do?"
All eyes turned to Giles and
he sighed. "We go on as if nothing has changed and we still believe Buffy
is dead. Her return must appear a surprise to us all." He nodded to Faith.
"We may as well go home. There's nothing more to do here now." He
didn't even stop to see if she was following, just walked out the door.
Faith looked at Dawn. "I'll
meet you here later for patrol?"
Dawn nodded. "I miss
Buffy already."
Faith gave her a quick hug. "She'll
be okay. And so will we. And soon this will all be
over and everything will be back to normal, or what passes for that in this
town." She hurried out to catch up with Giles.
He already had the car
started. The silence on the way back held none of the ease of the ride over. She
followed him into the apartment and watched as he poured himself a scotch.
She sat on a stool, saying
nothing as he paced. When he appeared to be winding down, she asked,
"Why?"
"Because I'm a
coward."
She frowned. "You're
anything but that."
He looked at her. "You
don't think what I did was wrong?"
She shrugged. "Not my
call."
"When you tried to frame
Buffy for Finch's death, that was wrong."
She nodded. "Circumstances
were different. Ben might have died anyway. Buffy stopped a god, Giles. What do
you think that did to the host's body?"
"Ben withstood other
things that we did to Glory."
Faith raised an eyebrow. "Do
you want me to side with you or not?"
He glared at her. "I
don't want you to do anything."
"And back there, at the
house, I didn't do anything. I didn't betray you. But you told me the truth,
Giles. And that makes me part of this."
"Well, forget the truth
then." He sat down heavily on the couch.
"How can I, now that
it's going to haunt you forever...or until you tell her?"
He turned to look at her. "Tell
her?"
She walked over to the couch
and stood in front of him. "Tell Buffy. When she gets back. Tell her the
truth. Let her decide if you tell the others or the Council. It's the only way
you're going to find peace."
Giles stared at her, then
pulled her to him. "When did you get to be so wise?" he murmured as
he laid his head against her body.
She stroked his hair. "I
just tried to think of what you would tell me."
He looked up at her and
smiled. "I love you."
She eased herself onto his
lap. "And I love you."
He played with the Kali
statue that dangled from her neck. "My goddess. My defender."
As she leaned in to kiss him,
she whispered, "Your protector. Forever and always. No matter what."
##
Buffy stared out the window,
ignoring Haversham. For his part he seemed to have little interest in talking
to her. She sighed. She needed to focus; this was the last step to getting her
life back.
They pulled into the airport.
Haversham followed a side road to a remote parking area. One plane sat on the
tarmac. The door opened as they drove up and Haversham stopped the car.
Buffy got out then realized
that Haversham hadn't moved. "Isn't this it?"
"Indeed
it is. But I'm needed here in Sunnydale."
She looked at the plane
uncertainly.
"Don't worry. An
associate of yours is waiting for you. He'll be with you the whole time. There's
just one thing to do before I go." Haversham spoke the counterspell
that Willow had given him.
Buffy didn't feel any
different but she could tell by the look of satisfaction on his face that the
glamour had come off. "An associate of mine?" She knew she was
frowning.
Footsteps sounded behind her.
She turned slowly and felt her heart start to beat faster. "Riley?"
"Yep." Riley nodded
to Haversham. "We're all ready on this
end."
"Good. I'll see you in a
few days."
Riley nodded and Haversham
drove away. He turned to Buffy. "Aren't you going to say something?"
"I thought you were in
Belize or something?"
He motioned her to go to the
plane and walked next to her. "I was. But then I got this call. They said
it was important. And for you. How could
I say no?"
Buffy tried to make sense of
the things she was feeling. She was glad to see him, but she was also very
angry. She followed him up the stairs and let him point her to a seat.
"Better strap in. We
need to get in the air ASAP."
She did as he said. He walked
to the cockpit and spoke to the pilot then closed the outside door. The plane
began to taxi and he took the seat opposite hers and put on his seatbelt. She
just stared at him.
"I was sorry to hear
about your mom."
She nodded.
"And then you. I didn't
know. I mean, for what it's worth."
"Yeah."
He looked uncomfortable. "So here's the scenario. I came into town. I'd just been
discharged. It was after the funeral, but before you took off to get away from
Glory. You were at the end of your rope. It was all too much for you. You
needed to get away. And I could take you far from Sunnydale. So
I drove us to New Mexico. We've been living in an old ranch house north of
Santa Fe. You didn't go out much, too stressful. I was with you most of the
time. So nobody really got to know us. Luckily for us
the watchers found a house that a couple had been living in, so the townspeople
have seen people there. And they were artists, didn't get out much. We'll be
able to pass for them easily." He frowned when she didn't ask any
questions. "You ever going to say anything?"
"You just left."
Now he was silent.
"I came after you, you
know. I tried to stop you."
He looked down. "I
didn't know."
"No. You were too busy
being Riley Finn, ultimatum guy."
"That's not fair."
She laughed bitterly. "Not
fair. All the crap I was going through and you issue a love me better or else
ultimatum and I'm not fair? Give me a break."
"I couldn't stay the way
things were."
"So instead of
addressing the problem you just ran away."
He sighed. "I don't want
to fight."
"No. You never want to
fight." She looked out the window. "You just want me to be
different."
"Is that so wrong? I
wanted to matter to you."
"You did matter. But my
mom was sick, and Dawn was the..." she trailed off, unsure if he knew
about the key. She found herself unwilling to tell him if he didn't. "Well
there were huge things going on with Dawn, and I was suddenly totally
responsible for her. I'm sorry I couldn't make you the center of my life,
Riley. I sort of had other things to deal with."
"You could have let me
help."
"When? In between your
visits to donate blood to the local neighborhood undead skank?"
He looked away angrily. "Seems
to me that should be old news by now."
"No, it's just one more
thing we never got to talk about. Everything that's wrong with me is apparently
open for discussion, but God forbid I bring up something you did." She
undid her seat belt.
"Buffy, it's not really
safe to move around yet."
She just glared at him as she
got up and walked to the bathroom. She closed the door and stared at herself in
the mirror. Her eyes were haunted. This was the last thing she'd needed. She
had a feeling Haversham had known that. "Bastard," she whispered.
She splashed water on her
face and took several deep breaths. To get her life back, to be Buffy Summers
again, she'd have to deal with this. And she could. She'd been through worse
than a few days with her ex. She sighed before opening the door.
Riley was reading a magazine.
She took her seat and fastened her seat belt. Leaning back, she closed her eyes
and pretended to sleep. She tried to take her mind back, to remember happier
times. But each memory seemed to hurt. She tried to think of something recent,
something free of her mom and Angel and death. She remembered sparring with
Spike in the basement. She could almost feel his lips on hers. With a start she
pushed the memory aside and forced herself to think of all the schoolwork she'd
have to catch up on when she enrolled again in school. She fell asleep trying
to choose a major.
Some time later, she woke as the plane touched down in
Albuquerque. Riley led her down the stairs. A pick-up was parked nearby. They
got in and he drove off. In the dark, it was hard to make out the scenery but
after a few hours they turned off the main road and Buffy could tell that the
area was becoming more and more desolate.
"Pretty lonely out here
in the winter," Riley said.
"I guess."
"We only have to spend enough
time here to be seen around town, so they know we're packing up."
"Right."
He sighed and quit talking.
They finally pulled onto a
dirt road, then Riley stopped the truck in front of a small single
story house. Buffy followed him inside, watched as he made them some
sandwiches and explained Haversham's plan for them in
detail. When they'd finished eating, he gave her a quick tour of the house. She
was relieved to see that there were two bedrooms. The closet in her room held
some clothes for her, mostly jeans and t-shirts.
"Not much reason to be a
fashion plate here."
"Are you making fun of
me?"
"No. But I know you like
clothes and these aren't your normal style. It's only for a few days, then you
can look cool again." He walked to the door. "If you need anything,
you know where I am."
"I do." She
undressed and lay down on the bed. Sleep was long in coming but when it did it
brought nightmares. She was back in the house the night that Dawn had called
her mother's body back from the dead. This time her sister didn't stop the
spell. The door opened and Joyce walked in. Only it wasn't Joyce. The corpse
wore Buffy's face. Dawn was screaming behind her.
"Buffy!" She jerked
away to find Riley beside her, holding her. "It's okay. It's just a
dream."
She tried to pull away.
"Let me help," he
whispered. "Please, Buffy." He stroked her hair.
She knew it was wrong. But
his arms were strong, and his body was big enough to shield her. She let him
hold her. And when he kissed her, she didn't stop him.
"Buffy, I love you. I've
never stopped loving you." His voice was so familiar and his touch so
warm.
She gave herself up to it and
began to return his kisses with a passion that surprised her. Falling back into
the rhythm they'd known, they were soon making love. She
closed her eyes and tried to lose herself in the sensations. His voice called
her back. She opened her eyes and saw his face contorted in pleasure above her,
and suddenly was consumed with emptiness. He slumped against her contentedly. She
lay as if stone.
Why had she done this?
"Buffy?" His voice
was full of tender concern. "Why are you crying?"
She wiped at tears she hadn't
realized were falling. "This is wrong."
He pulled her close. "How
can it be wrong? We love each other. We've found each other again. Now things
can be different."
She pushed him off her. "You
mean I can be different, don't you?"
"What's wrong with
you?"
"See, that's exactly
what I mean. Why is it always that something's wrong with me?"
"God, Buffy, could you
be any more self centered?" He pushed himself up
into a sitting position. "It's not always about you." He got up. "Maybe
if you were less quick to judge, things might have worked between us."
"Judge? Like you aren't
judging me? Why don't you just tell me what else you think is wrong with me. Then
maybe I can change all at once so that the great Riley Finn is finally
happy."
"Well happy's a good place to start. When was the last time you
were happy, Buffy?"
"You've got to be
kidding me. After all I've been through and you want to know when I was last
happy? I've tried to tell you, being a slayer isn't big on the joy front."
"Well maybe if you were
a little less focused on being the slayer, and a little more interested in
being Buffy, it might be different."
"I don't have the
choice, Riley. Don't you think I'd like to be a normal girl? Go out with
friends and do silly things?" Only
was he right? Because Giles had offered her a normal life and she'd refused it.
He shook his head. "No,
I don't think you would. I think you like wallowing in every little misery you
can make out of your life."
She pulled the sheet up
around her. "Get out."
He laughed bitterly. "With
pleasure." The door slammed behind him.
Hot, angry tears filled her
eyes. She rolled over and stared at the wall, all hope of sleep gone. Morning
took a long time to arrive.
The next day was mercifully
busy, she was too busy to dwell on what had happened. They packed up their
things and loaded them into the truck. Riley made several passes through town,
stopping at the small market and the hardware store to tell his story. Buffy
followed him in and pretended to be his girlfriend. She was glad when they
finally pulled out of town.
Riley didn't talk till they
hit the interstate. "I figure we can get to somewhere in Arizona before we
have to stop."
"Why not drive straight
through?"
"That's real funny,
Buffy, since you can't drive."
"I learned. Once mom got
sick I had to. Giles taught me. I have a
license."
Riley glanced over at her. "You
drive?"
"Yeah. So we can just take turns. I want to get home."
"Fine by me." He
said tightly.
The trip was long and boring.
Buffy found herself looking forward to the times she could drive just to break
up the monotony. The radio in the truck was broken so there wasn't even the
relief of music. Finally, early in the evening, they reached Sunnydale. Riley
parked in a lot on the outskirts of town and pulled out a cell phone. "It's
us, we're in town. Okay. Yeah I know where that is. No
problem." He pulled back out into traffic. "Haversham says that a cop
who knows you just headed out for dinner."
"Detective Stein,"
she guessed. Then she saw a sedan ahead of them. It was an unmarked police car.
She recognized the man behind the wheel. "That's him," she told
Riley.
As the cop pulled into a fast
food place, Riley eased the truck in behind him.
"I've had two run-ins
with him. Both times involved a murder. He'll remember me. This is
perfect." She was already out of the car.
"Hold up there,
killer," Riley said.
She had a moment of déjà vu. Why
did that sound so familiar? The feeling was replaced with thoughts of Ben lying
dead where she'd left him. "Don't call me that," she said.
"Sorry. I was just
teasing."
"Well don't." She
walked away.
He reached out and touched
her arm. "Buffy, I'm sorry. I just can't seem to say the right thing with
you."
She sighed. "Forget
it."
"I don't want to forget
it. I don't want to forget anything. Look, can't we try again? The other night,
I said some things I shouldn't have."
She shook her head although
her expression softened. "No, you just said what was in your heart. I wish
I could be what you want, but I never will be. I'm what you see, and I don't
think that you really like that very much."
"Of
course I do. I fell in love with you, didn't I?"
She gave him a bittersweet
smile. "The Buffy you loved, that loved you, she's gone, Riley. She died. Not
on that tower. She died when Mom got sick. And I buried her when Mom died. She's
never coming back. This is me, this is all I have to
offer."
"I know it's hard to
lose someone. But maybe it'll just take time to find your old self?"
She shook her head. "You
don't know what it's like. You couldn't possibly know what it's like. I'll
never go back to the way I was. That girl...she doesn't exist anymore."
He looked down. "Then
I'm sorry. Because I loved that girl." He walked into the restaurant.
She followed him in. Detective
Stein was just taking his order to a table and she managed to get right in his
way. They almost collided. "Oh, I'm sorry."
He stopped in his tracks. "You're
Buffy Summers."
She copped an attitude. "Last
I checked, yeah."
"That's
impossible."
Riley looked back from his
place in line, in perfect character he walked back to her. "Something
wrong, Buffy?"
Stein looked him over. "And
you'd be?"
"Riley Finn. I'm a
friend of Buffy's."
"This is
impossible."
"Is there some problem,
Mister..."
"Detective. Detective
Stein. And yeah there's a problem. The problem is that we buried this woman
several months ago."
Buffy frowned. "That's
not very funny. Not when my mother died." She turned away.
Riley leaned in to the
Detective. "We still don't talk much about it. She's really having a hard
time coping. That's why I took her away with me. So maybe you could hold off on
those kind of jokes?"
"This isn't a
joke."
Buffy turned back around, letting
her expression be full with confusion "But I'm not dead. I mean I know I
shouldn't have just bailed on Dawn and my friends this way, but I can't believe
they'd say I was dead."
Detective Stein picked up his
cell phone. "If you're not buried in that grave, then I need to find out
who is."
"I have a grave. Oh my God,
that's creepy." She shuddered. The gesture was only half faked. She turned
to Riley; let desperation sneak into her voice. "We've got to get home. They
think I'm dead."
They turned to go. The
detective called after them. "You'll be somewhere I can reach you?"
Buffy fought a smile. "Don't
worry, Detective. I'm not going anywhere."
As they left the restaurant,
Buffy heard Stein order the body in her grave exhumed. She sighed in relief as
they drove away. A few more days and she'd be free.
##
Spike sat in the living room,
listening to Dawn's laughter. She had friends over, a change he was happy to
see. She'd been alone far too much up to now. She needed to be around people
her own age.
They ran down the stairs and
into the kitchen. The girl Lisa said hello. He thought she had a bit of crush
on him. The boy seemed to only have eyes for Dawn. Spike felt a surge of
suspicion then smiled. The whole scenario was ludicrous: Spike the bad-ass
playing overprotective dad.
He thought of Buffy and
wondered how she was doing. Everything was ready for her return. The watcher
and his pals had changed the bodies in the grave. They'd covered their tracks
well, even changing a few official reports. It was all set to unravel
seamlessly.
Haversham hadn't been around
the house since. Spike suspected he was still in town, just lying low so as not
to muddy the waters when the cops started poking around. Spike thought he
should do the same. Officially he didn't exist and his presence would just
raise questions. Luckily he could hide out in the
basement. Maybe Buffy would come down and visit him. He smiled at the thought. Except
for that first visit, when she'd tried to stake him, he'd been enjoying her
little forays into his territory.
He heard a car pull up
outside. It was Buffy. Every cell in his body knew it. She walked through the
door and a big grin crossed his face only to die when Riley followed her in.
Buffy saw him first. "Spike."
Dawn came charging out of the
kitchen. Without missing a beat, she dropped her coke and stared at her sister.
"Buffy! But you're dead..."
Lisa and Kevin stopped behind
her, staring at Buffy with shock.
Seeing the others, Buffy
moved toward her slowly. "It's all right, Dawnie.
It's really me. I'm home."
Spike stood up. "How? We
thought..."
She shook her head. "I
didn't know. I was with Riley. In New Mexico. If I'd known you all thought I
was dead, I would have come back."
"You really weren't in
any shape to come back." Riley's voice was full of loving concern.
Spike felt all his hopes
plummet. Captain Cardboard had returned and from the look of it, had wormed his
way back into Buffy's life. And heart. Spike turned to Kevin and Lisa. "I
think you better go—give Dawn and Buffy some time together."
They grabbed their backpacks
and hurried out. Once the door closed. Dawn pulled away from Buffy and glared
at Riley. "Why is he here?"
"Nice to see you again
too, Dawn. You're all grown up now."
"I'm a slayer. We grow
up fast." She walked into the kitchen and came back with a handful of
paper towels. She began to mop up the spilled soda.
"What are you
doing here?" Riley was glaring at him.
He was surprised Buffy hadn't
told Riley the story. "I'm Dawn's watcher. I live here."
"Now I've heard
everything." He looked at Buffy. "And you're okay with this?"
She nodded. "Things are
different here now. Faith's back too."
"Faith? You haven't
caught her yet?"
"No, I mean she's a
slayer again. She lives with Giles."
"That's trusting of
him." When Buffy made a face, Riley said, "Oh. Living with
him. Wow. Is he going through midlife crisis? Or just insane?"
"You don't know anything
about it. So shut up." Dawn's voice was vicious.
"I'm not really sure
what I did to you to make you so mad at me, Dawn, but maybe you should ease up
a bit."
"Why?" She turned
to her sister. "Is he going to be staying here?"
Buffy nodded. "For a
while anyway. It's part of the story."
Spike decided he'd had
enough. "Come on, Dawn. Time to train. I'm sure Riley needs to settle
in." He glared at him.
Dawn followed him downstairs.
"I can't believe she brought him back." She threw herself on Spike's
bed. "He's such a jerk."
"You used to like him,
didn't you?"
"I was a kid then."
She turned over and began to pull at the threads in the blanket. "He's
just so annoying."
He lit a cigarette. "Gotta agree with you there. Didn't make my day to see him
standing there."
"Do you think that
they're really together?"
He sat down next to her. "I
don't know."
"Why can't she like
you?" Dawn sounded very young.
"Some things just aren't
meant to be, Niblet." He looked up and wondered
what Buffy and Riley were doing then decided he didn't want to know. "Get
up, we can at least do something productive.
An hour later, Dawn stopped
her exercises and looked up. "It's dark."
He'd felt the sun disappear
but it surprised him that she could sense it as well. "How do you
know?"
She shrugged. "I just
know."
He ruffled her hair. "You're
a special one. What say we get the hell out of here and patrol?"
She nodded. "We should
warn Faith and Giles."
"Good idea." He
grabbed his equipment and followed her upstairs. She grabbed her bag from the
hall closet.
"Hope you're not leaving
on my account?" Riley stood in the dining room watching them.
"Patrol." Dawn
turned away.
"Can't believe Buffy
lets you hang around with him."
"Dawn makes her own
decisions. As for Buffy, well she didn't have much say in this, her being dead
and all."
"Let's go, Spike." Dawn
opened the door and walked out.
"Better go," Riley
gave him a cold smile.
Spike turned to follow his
slayer out.
"I'll be watching you,
Spike."
He turned around and stared
at Riley. Not for the first time, Spike wished he didn't have a chip in his
head. This boy was begging for a thrashing. "Watch this." He flipped
Riley off.
He was still muttering when
he joined Dawn on the sidewalk. "Posturing ape."
Dawn didn't try to cheer him
up. When they got to Giles' house, Faith took one look at their faces and
asked, "What the hell's happened?"
"Buffy's back." Spike
nodded at Giles.
The other watcher looked up. "So
soon? Well at least it's started now."
"She came back with
Riley."
"What?" Giles
looked at Faith.
"Buffy and Riley? As in
together?" Faith grabbed her stuff. "I'll never figure B out." She
walked over and kissed Giles goodbye. Out in the courtyard she shook her head. "Why
would she want him back? That guy is trouble."
"You know him rather
well, don't you?" Spike remembered how she'd played them all when she'd
switched bodies with Buffy. "What—has he got some hidden kink we don't
know about? Other than enjoying being fed on?" He smiled at the thought
that Riley might be lacking in other ways.
"He likes that? Ewww." She shook her head. "It's not that. I just
don't trust that whole all-American boy gig. Nobody can be that squeaky
clean."
"His being here changes
everything," Dawn said as they moved off for the cemetery.
Spike had to agree with her. Riley's
presence was unexpected. And unwelcome. And would undoubtedly mean that Buffy
wouldn't be paying him any further visits. He felt his anger rise. He looked at
the two slayers. They looked upset as well. He hoped it was a good night for
slaying. They all looked like they could use a few good kills.
##
Giles was on the phone in the
Summers' kitchen listening as Haversham filled him in. Buffy sat at the counter
watching him.
"It went surprisingly
smoothly. In this case it was fortunate that Buffy was so well known by the
police. They accepted that it was she who returned, which was half the battle. They
discovered the new body and will no doubt investigate that for a while." The
watcher was quiet for a moment. "They won't find anything of course."
"This corpse didn't come
from one of our contacts, did it?"
Haversham took a deep breath.
"No. She was a slayer in training. A vampire snapped her neck."
Giles didn't follow up what
he suspected. To be mistaken for Buffy, this would-be slayer would have to look
Buffy's age. Which meant that she had probably died in the Cruciamentum.
He shuddered when he remembered Buffy's experience with that abomination. From
what Wesley had told him she was one of the only girls to ever make it through
the ritual. He suspected that if Joyce hadn't been involved, Buffy wouldn't
have found the inner strength to beat Kralik. And if
Giles hadn't defied orders and been there, another vampire would have killed
both women.
The Cruciamentum
was something he and Buffy never talked about but he'd done a great deal of
research on it. He believed that the ritual wasn't actually meant to eliminate
the active slayer since so few of them ever reached eighteen, rather it was
designed to get rid of the slayers-in-training that would never be called and
had reached an awkward age. It was an easy way to make sure that they never
spoke of the training they received or the Council they served. Giles had long
ago come to the conclusion that the Council of Watchers was at least as
monstrous as the creatures it existed to bring down.
"So Buffy is free to
live her life again?" he asked with a smile at her.
"Yes. I don't think the
police will be back again. But if they are, I'm sure she can handle it."
Giles knew she could. She'd
already had several interviews with Detective Stein. He didn't seem suspicious
of her story, especially with Riley backing it up. The young man reeked of
credibility. "She'll be glad to hear it. I know that she's eager to return
to patrolling."
"Yes, I'm sure she is. As
I'm eager to return to England." There was a pause. "Don't think we
won't be watching her, Rupert. Or you."
Giles wondered when his
friend had become such a cold bastard. "Of course, Tristan."
As he hung up, Buffy wandered
out to the living room. He stood in the doorway and watched her. For someone who'd
just had her life handed back to her, she didn't appear very happy.
Riley was sitting on the
couch. He had the paper in his hand. He looked up and asked her, "What's a
six-letter word for murderer?
"Slayer," she
answered numbly.
He laughed. "Good
one."
"Yeah. She headed for
the stairs and heard him say, "Killer."
"I told you not to call
me that." She spun angrily.
"I wasn't. It's a six-letter
word for murderer." He looked at her. "What's wrong with you? Did
something go wrong?"
"No. It's all
good."
"Then shouldn't you be
happy?"
She didn't answer him, just
continued upstairs.
Giles knew what was haunting
Buffy. It was the same thing haunting him. He followed her up the stairs to the
bedroom. "Buffy, can I talk to you?"
She was standing in front of
her closet. She didn't turn around. "I really should be happy. I'm alive
again. I can go out. Riley's here if I want him. But I keep thinking
about..."
"Ben," he finished
for her.
"Yeah."
He stepped closer to her. "So
do I."
"I've never killed a
human before, Giles." Her voice was a whisper.
"No. And I hope you
never do."
She turned around slowly.
"I killed Ben. After you
left him to go up for Dawn. I suffocated him."
She stared at him.
He walked to the window and looked
out on the daylight. Such a beautiful world, even when it was all crashing down
around him.
Her voice was harsh. "You
stood there and let me take the blame. You didn't say a word."
"I know."
"You think maybe Faith
is rubbing off on you, Giles?"
He turned to face her and
shook his head. "Actually, I believe that she was rather disappointed that
I didn't say anything."
"So
she knows. And she didn't say anything either?"
"She's extraordinarily loyal
to me."
"That scares me." Buffy's
glare was furious. "How many other people know?"
"You two are the only
ones."
She went and sat on the bed. He
came and sat down next to her. "I can't even begin to tell you why I did
it."
"Because if the Council
thought I killed him, you knew I wouldn't get in trouble. But if they found out
you did it, there'd be an inquiry."
"That's probably quite a
lot of it."
She looked down. "You
killed him to protect us, to protect me, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"That doesn't make it
right," she whispered.
"It doesn't make it
wrong either."
She didn't argue. They both
sat in silence for several moments. Finally, in a small voice, she said,
"I'm not sure I know what's right and what's wrong anymore. Everything's
different since I got back. I wasn't gone that long. How could it all have
changed this way? How could you all have changed so much?"
"Your death left a huge
vacuum. It had to be filled and it fell to us to do so. We had to change,
perhaps in ways you wish that we hadn't, to make it all whole again."
"And now you have to
make room for me again."
"Yes."
She turned to him. "And
you did it by setting me up."
"I'll do whatever you
want, Buffy. If you want me to tell the Council that I killed Ben, I will. If
you want me to tell the others, I'll do that too."
She stared at him, then
finally shook his head. "I need you here. If they take you away,
everything will fall apart. Let the Council believe I did it."
"What about the
others?"
"I'll have to think
about that."
"Buffy, I'm so sorry I
let you think you'd killed him."
"I know you are. But if
you could do it over, would you do it differently?"
He knew what his answer was
but he didn't want to say it, so he said nothing. She looked away from him. He
longed to hug her but wasn't sure which of them he thought that would comfort. He
settled for standing and saying, "I'll let myself out."
She made no move to stop him.
##
Buffy sat on her bed. Her
mind was reeling from what Giles had told her. She wanted to run after him, to
say, "Lie to me, tell me you didn't do it or that if you could take it
back you would." But she didn't move. She heard the door close downstairs,
heard his car start.
She'd known for a long time
that Giles wasn't always what he appeared to be. There was a dark side to him
that twisted around the fierce love she knew he had for her and the others. She
recognized his darkness because it called to something similar inside of her. It
was what had brought them together, what kept them together. She loved him like
a father and knew he loved her in equal measure as a daughter. They would both
do anything to protect each other. But that didn't make what he'd done hurt any
less.
"I saw Giles leave. I
think I should go too. Since everything worked out for you." Riley stood
at her bedroom door.
"Everything." Buffy
tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice. She stood and walked over to
him. "Things haven't been that good between us. But I know that I owe you
a big thank-you."
He shrugged. "How could
I not help?"
She nodded. "You know
I'd do the same for you."
His gaze was intense. "Then
do it. Help me get my life back. The part that had you in it."
"We've been over this,
Riley. It just won't work."
"It could. If you wanted
it to."
"Then I guess I don't
want that. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I had to try."
He grinned but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
"I know." She
didn't even try to smile. "So what now?"
He shrugged. "I guess I
go back to my unit. You don't need me in Sunnydale. Three slayers and a vampire
watcher pretty much have the place sewn up tight."
She heard the sarcasm when he
referred to Spike. "I know you don't believe it, but Spike is making a
difference."
"It's the chip, Buffy. Just
the chip. Take it out and he'd be like all the rest."
"Maybe. But the chip's
there to stay. So he's not like all the rest. He's a
good watcher for Dawn."
Riley's voice was bitter. "Is
she the only slayer he'll be watching?"
She sighed. "I'm not
going to get into this with you. And it's a stupid question. I don't love
Spike."
"Anyone can see he has
it bad for you. An animal in love with his killer. Funny in an ironic,
disgusting way."
"I don't want to argue
now, Riley. Let's just put that all behind us, okay?"
He stared at her with a strange
intensity, then finally smiled. "Sure. Come here." He held her
tightly. "I wish..."
"I know." She
kissed his cheek then walked him downstairs and to the door. "Good bye,
Riley. Thank you."
"Any time, Buffy."
She shut the door slowly and
closed her eyes. She couldn't cry for herself, but for the younger Buffy—the
Buffy that hadn't lost her mother—she could. "I wish I could be that girl
for you, Riley," she whispered as she cried.
The tears didn't last long. She
splashed water on her face and wandered around the house. It was so quiet. Everyone
was at school. Riley was gone. She was alone in the house.
Well, not quite alone.
Without consciously planning
to go down the stairs, Buffy stood at the door to the basement. Spike lay
sprawled on his bed, smoking and staring up at the ceiling. She just watched
him for a few minutes, then she asked quietly, "You busy?"
Spike looked up and seemed
surprised to see her. "No. Come on in." He sat up and stubbed out his
cigarette. "What? No ex-commando shadowing your every move?"
"No." She walked
over to the bed; thought about sitting down then decided she was too restless. She
began to pace.
"This call business or
social, Summers?"
She didn't answer.
"Buffy?" He sounded
concerned.
She didn't know why she'd
come down to the basement. She wasn't sure what she wanted from him. All she
knew was that everything had changed and nothing made sense anymore.
"It's not Dawn, is
it?" He sounded slightly panicked.
She took pity on him. "No.
She's fine. Everyone's fine."
"Except for you from the
look of it."
She stopped and turned to
meet his eyes. "What would you change about me?" she asked way too abruptly.
"Sorry?"
"You know, about my
personality, my character, what would you change?"
He smiled. "I'm pretty
partial to you the way you are, Summers."
She began to pace again. "Oh,
come on, Spike. You wouldn't change anything? Not one little thing."
"Okay. Yeah. I can think
of one thing."
She stopped in front of him. "What
is it? What would you change?"
He swallowed hard. She could
barely hear him when he replied, "I'd make you want me the way I do
you."
She just stared at him.
He looked down.
"That's it? That's
all?"
He lit another cigarette. "It's
a pretty big thing from where I'm sitting."
She sat down next to him. "You
wouldn't want me to be less self-centered? Or more carefree? Maybe I should be
less judgmental? Or less focused?"
"You are the way you
are." He shook his head. "I suppose they'd be nice changes, but then
it wouldn't be you." He chuckled.
"What?"
He smiled. "The Buffy
robot. I always knew she wasn't you. No matter how much fun she was."
"Do I want to hear
this?" She scowled at him.
"Not what you're thinking.
I mean I knew she wasn't the real thing because she smiled too much. For no
reason, she'd be beaming and chirpy."
She shrugged. "April was
the same way. I guess Warren liked his girls perky."
"Perky. Insipid. It's a
fine line."
"So
you don't like it when I smile?"
"No, I do." He met
her gaze. "One of my fantasies is that I make you smile. That little
half-smile you get when you don't want to but you can't help it."
She could feel one of those
smiles coming on and had to bite her lip to stop it. "You don't think I'm
too serious?"
"Let's see, you're not
even twenty-one and you've already died twice, lost your mum, and been forced
to take on a sister that didn't exist before last year. You have to kill or be
killed on a nightly basis. Your last boyfriend abandoned you. And oh yeah, the
man you really love, you can never have. Too serious? I'd say you had
cause."
She felt her mouth turning up
in a half-smile.
"Well, I just got my
fantasy." He grinned at her, then looked down.
She sat down next to him. Neither
of them said a word. In the silence, she could feel herself relaxing for the
first time in days.
He put out his cigarette. "I
know you'll never love me."
She didn't answer for a few
moments. Then she said, "Amy could. Dawn told me she seems to like
you."
He shrugged. "Probably a
nice girl and all. But she's not you."
"So...what?
You just wait until I change my mind?"
"That'd be a long wait, wouldn't
it?" He swung his legs past her and stretched back out on the bed. Closing
his eyes, he said bitterly, "Go back to Riley, Buffy. As long as you
pretend to love him, he'll be happy."
She watched him. He lay very
still. "But I don't love him."
"Well everyone knows
that. Hell, he even knows that. But as long as you play nice, he'll suck it
up."
"He doesn't like who I
am."
He sighed. "Then he's a
fool."
She reached out; her hand
hovered over his cheek. She could tell he knew it was there. His body seemed to
become even more still. "Maybe I'm the fool?" she said softly.
"How's that?"
She let her fingers drop
slowly, felt his cool skin under her touch. He flinched in surprise. "For
wanting this. Maybe I'm the fool for wanting you."
He seemed to tremble. "Don't
mock, Buffy. It's cruel."
She turned and knelt on the
bed next to him. She didn't know why, but she needed to touch him.
He looked up. "I mean
it, Summers. Don't."
She kept her expression
neutral. "What are you going to do, Spike?" She bent down and let her
hair run over his face. She heard him gasp. "How will you stop me?" She
ran her fingers through his hair. It was soft. She leaned in, then felt him
flip her over.
His eyes were hard as he held
her down. "Damn you. You think this is funny? Maybe you want to tell me
I'm beneath you again?"
She recognized the pain in
his voice and felt it burn a path inside her. She smiled gently, her regret
clear. "I'd say I'm the one who's beneath you at the moment."
His expression lightened. He
started to climb off her and frowned when she stopped him. "Buffy, don't. It's
not funny anymore. It's not a game."
She pulled him down. "No.
It's not a game," she said as she lifted her lips to meet his.
He fought her for a second,
every muscle straining to get away.
It was suddenly very
important that he didn't escape. She whispered, "Spike, don't fight
this."
His resistance ended. "Damn
you'."
"Damn us both," she
said as solemnly as she could. "Feel me." She placed his hand on her
forehead. "I'm burning up. Burn with me." And she kissed him.
"Oh God," he said
and then moaned. He gave up any semblance of control. His lips were relentless,
his hands everywhere as he pulled off her clothing and helped her remove his. He
demanded that she prove herself, that she show him
this wasn't a game and he wasn't just sport.
So she did.
It was several hours later
that they thought to lock the door.
##
Tara looked up to see Buffy
and Spike come into the kitchen. "Hey."
"Oh hey." Buffy
looked guilty. And very flushed.
"Tara," Spike was
better at acting normal. "Willow."
Willow looked up from the
paper. "I didn't know you were here, Buffy?"
"Yeah. I'm here."
"I didn't see
Riley." Willow looked puzzled.
"I don't think Riley
will be hanging around here anymore."
Tara didn't think Buffy
looked too upset about it. And Spike was grinning. Tara was getting definite
impressions that their relationship had changed. Drastically. She tried to hide
a smile.
The phone rang and Willow got
up. "Hello?" The color drained out of her face.
Tara rushed to her. "What's
wrong?"
Willow was listening to the
person on the phone. "No, she hasn't called here. Okay. Yeah. We can be
there, if you want. Well, it might help. All right. Call us back when you hear
from Angel."
She hung up the phone and looked
at the others with a panicked expression. "That was Cordelia. Anne just
called from the shelter. Amy's disappeared."
FIN
Continue on to Part 8 - Payback