Chapter 7
-AU-
Buffy Summers was sure that her backside was now inextricably stuck to ground. Frozen to it, never to be moved again. She didn't even have the guts to try and shift actually, as she feared her butt might fall apart as tiny ice cubes.
She probably would have fretted about the probable loss of her already tiny curves some more, hadn't the figure in her peripheral vision shifted.
Almost immediately, her worries about cold lay forgotten.
Her hair, which thanks to the strong wind kept hitting her in the eye, was swiftly tucked behind her ear, as she peered at the brunette next to her.
Faith's back was against the large tree, with her knees tucked under her chin and her hands wrapped around them. Her gaze was firmly stuck to the small speck of dirt on her white sneakers. She seemed oblivious to the cold.
Once she had stopped crying, she had shut the blonde out and now, Buffy had no idea what to do.
The silence, even though it was slowly starting to drive her crazy, outweighed the chance of another fight. Something the blonde was sure would happen if she spoke. God knows, she never managed to say anything right when it came to the younger Slayer.
She grasped at the grass next to it, pulling some out. She let them fall through her fingers a second later, absent-mindedly watching as the wind carried them away.
Faith had always remained a mystery for her. Buffy might've tried to understand the other girl on several occasions, but she never quite succeeded. As a matter of fact, every time she had felt like she was getting somewhere – seeing the real Faith for once– something happened and she was back to square one.
It was a stupid ass backwards game. A game, she really didn't want to play anymore.
With a small thump, the brunette landed on her feet, rolling her shoulders. Not sparing a single glance at the blonde, she spoke,
"We should get back. Your small booby gang might be worried or somethin'."
Buffy allowed her eyes to close as she accepted the way this was going to go. Yet again, she would be back to square one with Faith.
"Hey, you okay?"
Or maybe not.
The slightly concerned look she was receiving, made her falter for a split-second before nodding. She was nothing short of dumbfounded, when the brunette gave her a friendly grin and offered a hand.
"You pro'ly have a special case of brain-freeze or something. It's wicked freezin' out here."
The blonde wrapped her hand around the brunette's, surprised when Faith tugged her up with ease – evidentially her butt wasn't frozen to the ground after all.
"Not that your brain freezing would affect you all that much, B."
"Hey, I resent that!"
"You're supposed to. By the way about, you know," Both of the girls casually averted their gazes to something else, feeling it's easier this way. "The thing earlier..."
"Another chapter in out "Stuff We Never Talk About" book, right?"
"Obviously that," The blonde sharply glanced up when a soft arm slid over her shoulder, brushing away a blade of grass in the progress. Faith was looking at her now. "And well, thanks."
Even though the words were barely above a whisper and said with a roll of eyes, Buffy heard them as well as the sincerity behind them. Her response, accompanied by a smile, was equally genuine.
"Anytime."
Faith hummed under her breath before shoving her hands deep into her pockets.
"So…"
The lame attempt at conversation was rewarded by a nudge from Buffy.
"Ready to go back?"
"Yeah," Faith replied, before she turned and trudged a couple of steps forward. Then she paused, glanced over her shoulder and turned around to look at the blonde who had not in fact followed her. She looked behind her and at the blonde once again. Then she sighed. "That was the wrong friggin' way, wasn't it?"
The smirk the blonde gave her was an answer by itself.
"I knew that," Faith sniped, as she brushed by the blonde and headed to the opposite direction from before.
"Sure you did," Buffy replied seriously, this time catching up with the other girl. She kicked a small rock on the pathway and then froze. Immediately her hand shot out to stop the other Slayer from taking another step.
She didn't even have to explain herself as barely a split-second later Faith's face clouded over with recognition.
"They're close."
Faith nodded wordlessly, her eyes already sweeping their surroundings. Soon enough something that passed for what she was looking was found. She approached the bench and placed a good kick at the back of it, satisfied when the wood splintered.
"Faith, no," Buffy exclaimed, as soon as she realized what the brunette was planning. "We should run! Look at us, we can't…"
"Yes we can. This is exactly what we're made for, remember, B?" Faith broke a rather big piece of wood into two, checking their sharpness before offering one to the dubious looking blonde. "Might as well do it.".
"This is so NOT a good idea…"
"Well," Faith threw the homemade stake towards her. She caught it on reflex. "It's really up to you, B. Can't force you to do anything, but ya know…" she started to casually stroll towards the playground nearby. "I could die if I go alone."
For a moment the blonde stared at Faith's back. Her teeny tiny back. Then, she quickly jogged after her.
"I hate you," she muttered, as the vibes kept getting stronger.
"C'mon. Don't ya want to kick some undead ass?"
"Not when they could STEP on me to defeat me."
"You're not that small and either way, too late to go back now."
The vampires were slowly approaching them, having previously hid in the bushes by the swing set. Their faces, when they had noticed two unguarded kids just strolling towards them, had been priceless.
Obviously, they thought they were in for an easy meal.
"Just like good ol' times."
"Nope. This is going to be even better."
The two Slayers could not have been happier to disappoint.
-REALITY-
"What are you two doing?"
Buffy and Faith froze in the doorway to the blonde's bedroom . Slowly and a little guiltily they both turned around to face Joyce. The older woman tapped her foot against the floor in a truly mother-like fashion as she waited for a response.
"Going to sleep?" Buffy shyly offered.
Joyce merely raised an eyebrow and the Slayer groaned loudly.
"Come on, Mom! Faith and I have been together for an entire year. My room is called 'our room' back in the world that I actually like."
"I told you," Joyce was unmoved. "The two of you have to respect my rules."
Buffy let out a dry laugh. Placing her head into the crook of Faith's neck, she softly murmured.
"I hate this place."
Faith's response was to slide a comforting hand around her, before asking.
"Mrs. S, what if we promise you we'll just sleep?"
"The answer is still no," Joyce replied, paying no heed to her only daughter groaning in protest. "Come with me and we'll make up the couch for you downstairs."
She shifted her weight, a little uncomfortable as she waited for an affirmative response that would tell her that her daughter and her... her... well her girlfriend understood what she was saying.
The display in front of her was not in fact making this easier for her. It was hard to understand why her daughter would just grumble at her while shifting even closer to the brunette, who merely a day ago had tried to kill them both.
The way the brunette tightened her hold just a little bit, when Buffy whispered something for only her to hear confused her. She didn't understand why Faith begun to laugh a second later and when she placed a short kiss on top of the blonde's head, her brows furrowed.
She didn't comprehend a lot of things, but what she did realize was that her daughter, who smiled up at the brunette before turning her head towards her, looked absolutely happy.
And that was the most confusing thing of all.
"A'right," she looked as the brunette gently extracted herself from the blonde, coming to stand by her. "I've actually missed having a dry pillow for once."
Confused, Joyce opened her mouth, but never got around to asking.
"I do not drool!"
"Keep lyin' to youself," the brunette spoke, smirking. She took a slow step backwards, towards the staircase. "See ya, B."
"I do not drool!" Buffy insisted, looking at her mom now. "Really, I don't!"
Joyce looked between the teenagers and shook her head.
"I believe you," she spoke. "Good night." She then turned and headed for the staircase with Faith, smiling at the familiar and soft 'Night, Mom' she heard as she did so. Side-by-side with Faith they descended the stairs.
"How often do you usually sleep over?"
The question, even though seemingly out of the blue, did not faze the brunette in the way Joyce had expected it to.
"Basically every time Bdoes." The brunette glanced at her. "I'm sorry if this is freakin' you out, Mrs. S, but it's the way it is. B and I are together. Have been for a while now. We live together in the dorms, we sleep in the same bed and almost every night we..."
"Faith, please."
"Go patrolling together," Faith cheekily ended and Joyce, even after the events that she recalled from the last night, smiled.
A part of her had always liked Faith.
Luckily for Faith that part – or Joyce in general for that matter – never found out where the Slayer ended up sleeping merely an hour after the couch had been made and Joyce had left for bed.
Old habits were just hard to break.
- AU-
"You just had to keep an eye on them, while we went to the library for more books!" Willow's loud exclamation could be heard even outside the front door, where the Mini Slayers now were.
Faith glanced at Buffy and smirked.
"Told ya they'd be worried." She remarked, standing on her tiptoes to open the front door. "Here we go again."
They made it to the living room doorway without seeing anyone, which wasn't quite surprising as everyone seemed to be in the room. The two of them stopped and just surveyed what was going on.
Willow and Anya seemed to be face-to-face, the redhead looking like she was about to cry. The ex-demon seemed bored.
"I did! I kept my eye on them their whole sprint down the street!" The blonde folded her hands over her chest. "But then, you know, the buildings got into the way of my eye."
"Oh my god," Willow groaned, falling backwards onto the couch. "What were we thinking when we left her with the kids?"
"Will, come on, don't be so hard on her," Xander tried to be the peacemaker, "We can fix it."
"How?" Willow exclaimed, sliding a hand over her hair. "They're about five. With the amount of vampires out there, they're like little two yummy popsicles in a big crowd of hungry children."
The redhead threw another dirty look.
"I can try a… a locator spell. But I'm afraid… I mean, what if…"
"Has there been any progress with locating the children?" Giles entered the room, a cup of tea in his hand. Since he did have a clear view across the room it wasn't that surprising that he saw the Slayers almost immediately. "Well that was quite quick. How did you find them?"
Xander, who had his back towards the tiny people, looked back at the older man in confusion.
"Find who?"
"The kids." Giles nodded towards the doorway, calmly sipping his drink. Heads turned immediately, the expression on the faces of Willow and Xander quite amusing.
Faith raised a hand and waggled her fingers in a cheeky greeting. However, her amusement quickly faded, when Willow released a squeal, jumped off the couch and headed towards the two Mini Slayers.
"Oh no," Buffy murmured, her eyes widening.
"Not again," Faith groaned, before doing the brave thing and pulling Buffy in front of her. "TAKE HER!"
"HEY!" The small blonde protested. However, as Willow approached, she forgot about the brunette and instead pulled her tiny very effectual fists in front of her. She loved Willow as a sister, but if she was going to try and slobber all over her again, she was so totally getting a tiny fist lodged into her face.
Luckily for Willow and her face's shape, fate chose to intervene. It happened in the shape of her phone ringing. Pulling the large mobile phone out of her pocket, she turned her back towards the little Slayers for the time being.
"Hey, baby."
Faith, previously covering the blonde, now leant over her shoulder to speak.
"Remind me to send a big thank you stake to the wolf-boy."
Buffy tilted her head to look at the face hovering above her shoulder.
"Oz left after graduation last year. Willow's single, or at least I thought so, but…" Whatever she was about to say next was interrupted by a loud sneeze. The blonde sniffled.
"Guess the kids caught a cold."
The Mini Slayers were both a little taken aback, when the realized just how much closer Xander, Anya and Giles had suddenly gotten to them.
"I read from a magazine, that in case of a cold, people need to drink hot milk," Anya stated, nodding seriously, while managing to look oddly pleased at the same time. Whether she was pleased with the fact that the kids were okay or was she just happy that her newly gained knowledge about humans was of use, nobody will ever know.
However, at the mention of warm milk, both of the girls scrunched up their faces. It was an automatic response on both of their parts, but the Scoobs seemed to get the message.
Anya's brow furrowed.
"Well, then they should drink hot tea! And if they don't want that either, we can do it my way - hot, boiled human liver and..."
"Whoa," Willow's voice cut in as she approached them. "I'm sure we can just give them some tea. Giles is always drinking tea. He has a lot of it, right?"
"Yes, he does, but his tea tastes like something a demon has eaten and then pooped out," Anya replied in a matter-of-factly tone, paying no heed to the distressed look Giles threw her. "The liver is way more effective as well."
Willow and Xander exchanged a look.
"Hey," the boy spoke, "Maybe we can just wait until Buffster and Faith get here and then we'll them to give the kids tea at their place. Their tea is good, Anh."
"Yes!" The witch quickly agreed. "That's a good plan. But..." She glanced at the clock. "Shouldn't those two be here already?"
Giles stopped throwing polite British daggers at Anya with his eyes and looked at the clock. A moment later, he frowned.
"As a matter of fact, they should've been here an hour ago."
The three of them exchanged worried glances, but before any plan could've been thought of, the door to Giles house flew open. A leatherclad man walked in, his blonde hair slicked back as always.
As he noticed the Scoobs, he released a ragged breath, before speaking.
"Bloody hell, you bunch are a pain to find," he stated, plopping into the armchair closest to the door. "I was..." He didn't remain in the armchair for long. He shot up and pointed his finger at the pair of kids he had just noticed. "YOU!"
"Um, B?" Little Faith on the ground glanced at her companion, as the man nearby kept staring, his eyes looking as if they were about to pop out. "Why is there a Billy Idol wannabe looking us really creepily?"
"That's Spike... and I honestly have no idea why he's doing that," Buffy whispered, as Spike suddenly walked towards them, crouched down and stared at them creepily for some more.
"Spike?" Xander asked after Spike had remained quiet for a while, just staring. "I know we're not that close, but I have some friends. They're really nice people and they can give you a really nice white room and a nice warm jacket..."
The blonde vampire threw Xander a scathing look, coming out of his stupor.
"Ha-ha, Boy Wonder, really bloody hilarious. So what are they?"
"Excuse me?" Giles asked.
"What are they?" Spike inquired, tilting his head as he looked at the kids again. "They look like human kids..."
"Well, whatta coincidence. They're human kids that look like human kids," Xander spoke sarcastically, although there was a small tint of hesitation in his voice. He too hadn't been certain they were human, especially after the bathroom incident - but hey, the Slayers hadn't gotten anything, right? So all was well in the little Xan-La-La-Land.
Spike rolled his eyes.
"If those two are human, I am the bloody queen of Canada. There are no human children capable of taking down vampires, are there?"
"Ah," Buffy murmured, scratching the back of her neck. "At least now we know why he was staring at us."
"That's preposterous," Giles spoke up, shaking his head. "Grown men are easily overpowered by vampires. These little girls would not have a chance."
"Which is why they're not normal girls!"
The vampire waited for a response. Then he realized he wasn't going to get one and shrugged, fishing out his packet of cigarettes. It wouldn't be the first time the gang would hide things from him. He lit up his smoke and turned towards Giles.
"Your Slayers disappeared, by the way."
XxXxXxXxXx
A/N – I have nothing new to say. Except that you all should know that Billy Idol stole this look from Spike. That's all.
Thanks – Yours truly, who has invisible, tasteless and odorless cookies for her reviewers!
