Determined to talk to Buffy about the night before, Faith made sure to get to the library early the next morning. However, the large room was dark and empty.
Rocking on her heels, Faith waited impatiently for one of the Scoobies to show up.
Ten…fifteen…twenty minutes ticked by.
Finally, Faith couldn't take it anymore. To hell with asking Buffy anything. She'd find out what Buffy and Giles were hiding on her own. A casual flick of her wrist released her switchblade from its wrist sheath and snapped the blade open.
Keeping her ears alert for the sound of approaching footsteps, Faith crept to Giles' office. Her knife blade slipped into the lock. Metal ground against metal, and Faith applied a touch of force.
The dead bolt retracted with a click.
"Good to know I ain't lost my touch," Faith congratulated herself as she turned the handle and stepped into Giles' cramped office. She started with his desk, rifling through the mountain of paperwork littering the surface.
Unless Buffy had suddenly turned into a two-headed, scaled demon that ingested its own young, there was nothing useful there.
Faith moved on, scouring the bookshelves and filing cabinets.
Nothing.
Slamming the filing cabinet drawer closed in frustration, Faith almost missed her first clue. The drawer closed with a thump, the sound immediately followed by the clink of shifting metal.
Pausing in her move toward the door, Faith returned to the tall wooden cabinet and pulled open the bottom drawer a second time. This time, though, she dropped to her knees and peered closer at the files crammed into it.
"You sneaky bastard," Faith insulted an absent Giles. The drawer was longer than she'd thought. Behind the last manila file folder, someone (and Faith put the blame squarely on Giles) had inserted a false back. She pried it out.
Behind the drawer was the silver case she'd seen last night. The one with the colored rocks.
Grinning in triumph, she pulled it out and flicked open the latch. The inside of the case was lined with thick padding and smooth black velvet. Six polished crystals rested in recessed pockets. A syringe and a nearly-full vial were bound to the padding with elastic bands.
The dim sunlight filtering through the window blinds caught the green crystal, and the sparkle drew Faith's attention. She stared raptly into the shifting colors of the smooth crystal and her stomach roiled. Frowning at the feeling, Faith looked away for a second.
The room spun crazily and she swayed on her knees. She grabbed the side of the filing cabinet, and the dizziness and nausea faded.
"What the fuck was that?" Her voice wavered and cracked when she spoke. Turning back to the crystals, Faith reached for the largest, a blue hexagonal piece.
A boom echoed in the distance as the front doors to the school slammed closed.
Faith reacted instantly. Closing and locking the case, she hurriedly dropped it back into its hiding place and shoved the false back in front. It took three tries to seat the wooden piece correctly. Finally, sweating and cursing, she got the drawer closed and ducked out of the office. As she sprinted past the research table and up the short set of steps to the stacks, Faith heard Buffy and Giles arguing just outside the library doors.
"Something's wrong, Giles. I almost got staked last night – by a newbie vamp. He was so new, he still had dirt under his fingernails," Buffy said loudly.
Hesitating at the top of the steps, Faith glanced wildly around. Damn it. No matter what she did, Buffy was going to know she was here.
The library doors opened a crack – and then stopped.
"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, Buffy." Giles' voice was calm and unruffled.
Faith flinched and ducked instinctively at the loud smack of a hand hitting the wooden surface of the door exploded through the library.
"I'm not sure, Giles. In fact, I'm a long, long way from the Land of Sure." Buffy's growl of frustration made Faith smirk. "This can't happen now. I can't get sick; I can't have even a bad day. My dad's coming down to take me to the ice show."
The door inched further open and a slender leg encased in grey slacks stepped into the library. Out of options, Faith dove behind a shelf and flattened herself against the floor. Unable to see anything but the bottom row of books and the cheap carpet fibers, Faith waited tensely for Buffy to discover her.
No one came hunting her, though. The overhead lights popped and then hummed as they came to life. Footsteps tapped against the carpet. The lock on the book cage rattled, and the door creaked open. "We need to figure out what's wrong, Giles," Buffy announced firmly.
Metal clinked against metal as Faith cautiously raised her head and peered over the tops of the books. She watched Buffy exit the cage with a pair of daggers in her hands and stride to the middle of the room.
Giles' sighed. He leaned against the checkout desk looking impatient. "Buffy, we don't know that this is anything more serious than a cold. Perhaps you should simply take it easy for the next twenty-four hours."
Not answering, Buffy took aim at the target pinned to the railing separating the research area from the stacks. The knife wobbled immediately after release and smacked into the target with the flat of the blade.
The clink as it dropped to the floor seemed to echo in the room.
"See?" Buffy turned to Giles and waved her arms dramatically. "I'm way off my game. My game's left the country. It's enjoying fruity drinks in Cuernavaca."
Giles held up a hand, waving off Buffy's comment, and walked to his office.
Faith sucked in a deep breath and bit back a groan. She hadn't locked the door behind her.
Her error appeared to go unnoticed, however. Giles didn't reach for his keys; instead, he simply turned the knob and stepped into his office.
Closing her eyes in relief, Faith sagged back to the floor.
The relief faded when Buffy heaved her second knife at the target. Or…Faith assumed she'd meant to hit the bulls' eye. Instead of sinking into the target, though, the knife went wide.
An innocent reading lamp paid the price, and glass shards landed on the floor in time with Giles' bellow. "Buffy! Bloody hell. Stop throwing those things before you destroy anything else!"
Buffy's shoulders slumped and she plodded over to sit at the research table.
She was so close now that Faith could smell her perfume and should have been able to feel the warm, teasing tingle of recognition through their Slayer bond.
Faith frowned.
There was no tingle. Not even a brush on their bond.
The two near stakings last night, Buffy's lack of skill with the daggers, and now the seeming loss of their bond… Faith added up all of the clues – and refused to trust her answer.
Fighting off a chill of fear, she forced herself to check her math. Whispering in a voice so soft only Slayer hearing would pick it up, she said, "Hey, B. Looks like you need some lessons in hitting the target. If you want, I'd be more'n happy to be your teacher." She deliberately pushed Buffy's buttons with the blatantly sexual overtones in her voice.
Buffy didn't hear her. She continued to sit at the table, fingers tracing a random design on the scarred surface.
Climbing to her knees, Faith stared at Buffy and confronted the truth. Buffy wasn't a Slayer anymore.
She stayed in that position even when Giles returned to the room with his case of crystals in hand. Faith watched numbly as he sat at the table next to Buffy and patted her hand.
"Why don't we see if some meditation will help bring your vacationing game, as you call it, home?" Giles opened the case and removed the blue crystal Faith had been examining earlier. Pulling the gem from its velvet-lined pocket, he put it on the table in front of Buffy
The sparkle of the crystal pulled at Faith's attention.
She ignored the insistent summons. All of Faith's attention was reserved for Buffy. She stared intently at the other girl.
"Let's move past what we practiced last night, shall we?" Giles asked. "I want you to look deeply into the grounding crystal, Buffy."
Buffy didn't have any problems looking at the blue stone. Following Giles' instructions, she sat forward in her chair and examined it.
Smiling in satisfaction, Giles continued. "Now, I want you to look for something, Buffy. There is a flaw near the very heart of the stone."
Leaning even closer to the crystal, Buffy murmured, "I see it."
"Excellent, my dear. You are doing far better than I had hoped with this exercise." Dividing her attention, Faith glanced at Giles. Hmmm. She wasn't the only one interested in Buffy's actions. Giles' eyes were locked onto Buffy.
After a few minutes, Faith noticed Buffy's head droop and her expression go slack.
"Buffy?" Giles had noticed, too. He snapped his fingers, trying to wake her from her trance. "My dear?"
There was no response from Buffy.
Faith moved, putting one foot on the floor. Her muscles tensed as she got ready. Something was very, very wrong.
Giles still didn't seem to understand there was a problem. Movements slow and easy, he lifted the case onto the table and withdrew two more items.
Eyes wide, Faith watched him sit the vial and syringe on the table.
No! No way! The internal denial tried to tear from her throat. Faith stayed in position as Giles removed the safety cap from the syringe and inserted the needle into the top of the vial.
Yellow liquid filled the glass barrel as Giles retracted the plunger. When the barrel was full, he turned back to Buffy, flicked a nail against the syringe, and squirted a narrow stream of the liquid into the air.
Faith heard the droplets hit the table top.
Giles took Buffy's arm, turning it so her knuckles rested on the table. "Buffy?" he called softly.
There was still no response from Buffy. Her half-opened eyes stared sightlessly past Giles.
Surging to her feet, Faith started to leave her hiding place.
She'd waited too long. Before she reached the end of the bookcase, Giles inserted the needle into Buffy's arm and depressed the plunger.
Unsure what to do now, Faith stopped. Her eyes burned and she gritted her teeth at what appeared to be Giles' betrayal of his Slayer. She had to be wrong. She had to. Giles wouldn't hurt Buffy.
Repeating that mantra, Faith watched Giles pull the needle from Buffy's arm and replace the safety cap. The syringe and vial slipped back into the case before he leaned forward and waved his hand in front of Buffy's face.
The action broke Buffy's trance.
She jerked upright and blinked dazedly. "Wow. What happened?" Raising her hand, Buffy rubbed her temple. "Did I zone out on you?"
Giles nodded but remained silent.
"I'm sorry, Giles. I know you said this meditation stuff was important." She gave him her best puppy dog face. "It must be the flu bug or whatever. I promise to do better. Really."
Cracking a smile, Giles picked up the crystal and placed it back into its spot in the case. "Perhaps it's best you take care of that now, Buffy. I think you should…"
The trill of the school bell interrupted him.
"Um…" Giles faltered for a minute.
"I'll go take a nap in class," Buffy announced as she climbed slowly to her feet. "It's history class; I'm sure I won't have any trouble getting to sleep." Groaning and still rubbing her temple, Buffy started for the door.
"Do be careful, Buffy." Giles stood, too. "If you should begin to feel worse, you know that I am here for you." He closed the case as Buffy pushed through the library door.
Still standing stiffly between the shelves, Faith's fists clenched. Giles was there for Buffy? Not anymore. Not once Faith found the other girl and told her what she'd seen him do.
Giles' next words, though, drove those thoughts out of Faith's mind. "Do be careful, my dear. The Council's tests are never easy or simple." Looking far less pleased than before, Giles picked up the case and followed Buffy from the library.
When the door thumped closed, Faith stepped out of her hiding place. "What the fuck is going on?" Her words barely disturbed the heavy silence in the room. She had too many questions about last night and this morning. She needed answers. Already planning her next move, Faith trotted to the doors and peered out.
Students hurried through the crowded hallway, but Faith didn't see either Giles or Buffy.
Perfect. She slipped seamlessly into the throng and began hunting for her first target.
