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 hold up is," she complained.
"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 had 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 had tried to put the memory of the kiss they had shared to rest but
she couldn't. She looked over at
Spike. 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 had returned to life. She had tried
to stake him. He had 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
became 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 had forgotten he had. He
feinted left but she caught him as he moved back, 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 taunted as 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, I've had fantasies
like this," he smirked.
"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?" she teased.
He rolled over. His body was pressed against her side. "There's more than one wolf inside
me."
"Is that supposed to
scare me?" She watched his face
come closer to her own.
"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 would 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, was on her feet in an
instant. The vampire 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 Mr. 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 agreed carefully.
The new watcher 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,"
she corrected, "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, called down them.
"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 skeptically.
"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 commented archly.
"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."
Buffy defended her
watcher. "Oh, like it doesn't
happen all the time between watchers and slayers."
Haversham's eyes were like
ice as they turned to her.
"Not between Giles and
me." She clarified 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." Buffy
couldn't believe she was defending the other slayer.
"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 your
watcher at his apartment."
Buffy smiled meanly. "Well, you'll quickly discover that
there is 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, 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 is 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 had 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 dangerous. It needed to be locked
up. 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 had 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?"
Giles smiled cynically. "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 would 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,"
Giles agreed.
"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."
She laughed meanly. "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.
He interrupted her, "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
that 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's eyes were suspicious. "What?" Dawn asked 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, she thought to herself.
"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 hotly, 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 had 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,
dropped her book bag at 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 suggested 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 one 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," Dawn retorted.
"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
jumped in. "We used to talk every
day."
"And when school
started, you were all 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 met Dawn's gaze with
steely resolve. "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
evenly.
"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, ok. 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 replied
"We're slayers,"
Dawn offered. "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 ok, thr..two right
now." Faith started to explain,
then thought better of it. "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 observed.
"Tell me about
it." 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, ok? Either of you?"
Lisa gave her a quick hug. "Don't worry, your secret is 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.
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. 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 too 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 sternly.
"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." Dawn looked over at the other slayer. "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,
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. 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, whispered 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 handsome.
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, 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, 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 had 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
friggin' 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 offered.
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 suggested.
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? They believed you committed suicide."
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 countered.
"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 continued. "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 is not
nothing." Buffy turned away from
him, 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 spoke. "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, 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 agreed. "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's eyes again met Giles. His
look was wary. She nodded slightly. She would not betray him. He seemed to relax.
"Can we move off this point now?" Haversham looked at his watch.