Chapter Ten
Faith dropped Kennedy off at school then drove off to find some coffee. She decided she'd go back around lunchtime to talk to Buffy.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Giles walked into the library in the morning, slightly tired from his late night of research but still alert enough to do his job. He walked over to the cage and noticed Oz, in human form, naked and asleep so he unlocked the door and opened it a bit then he headed deeper into the library to look for Kennedy. Giles hoped that a sleeping Oz and an undamaged cage meant it had been a quiet night and that Kennedy was alright. When Giles climbed the stairs and saw Buffy asleep in a chair surrounded by books and no Kennedy in sight, he got confused.
He walked over to where Buffy was sleeping and picked up one of the books to see what his young slayer had been reading. As he did, Buffy woke up and saw him there.
"Hey." Buffy said before she was truly awake.
"Hmmm...hello." Was Giles greeting as he read the title of the book in his hand.
"Oh boy." Buffy knew she'd have to explain but she tried to play it off first. "Kennedy and her curiosity."
"Exploring Demon Dimensions and The Mystery of Acathla."
"Yeah and she also listens to the same heavy metal that Faith does. Freaky deaky." Buffy stayed with her story as she walked away from Giles and his 'knowing' eyes.
"Buffy." That one word and Buffy knew Giles wasn't buying her story.
Buffy knew she had to ask the tough questions now, not just of Giles but also a few of herself. "What if...I told you that...I had a dream about Angel and um...it brought up some questions?" Dreams were a safe way to ask what she wanted to know without having to reveal that Angel was back yet.
Giles thought for a moment, "I'd say it was to be expected. Must've been some dream." Giles gestured to the pile of books as he tried to inject some humor into the moment. "I didn't think you knew what a card index was for."
Buffy paused for a moment to smile and think of how to phrase her words. "I dreamt that he came back."
"Of course...after Jenny was killed, I had dreams that she was still alive, that I saved her." Giles said, trying to sympathize with Buffy.
"This was vivid. Really vivid, three dimensional, Sensurround the hills are alive..." Buffy trailed off.
Giles looked at her, sometimes Buffy's dreams weren't just dreams, "do you think it was a prophecy?"
"No. I don't know. I--I guess it just--it made me wonder. Is there a chance even? Could it happen?"
"There's no record of anyone returning from a demon dimension once the...gate has been closed. I can't imagine how it could happen or why."
Buffy needed more, "Let's just pretend for a second that...Angel somehow found his way back to Sunnydale. What would he be like?"
"I really can't say." Giles began, trying to answer Buffy's questions as best he could, somehow knowing that Buffy needed these answers to help her heal and move on from Angel. "From what is known about that dimension, it would suggest a world of brutal torment. And time moves quite differently there so--"
"I remember." Buffy cut in, recalling her brief time in a demon dimension when she was in LA over the summer. "So he would've been down there for hundreds of years..."
"yes."
"...of torture." Buffy's guilt was rising again.
"It would take someone of extraordinary will and, character to survive that and retain any semblance of self. Most likely, he'd be a monster."
"A lost cause." Buffy didn't want to believe it but it had to be said.
"Maybe...maybe not. In my experience, there are two types of monster. The first can be redeemed or, more importantly, wants to be redeemed."
"And the second type?"
"The second is void of humanity--cannot respond to reason or love."
Buffy thought about that, she really hoped, if he was a monster, that Angel was the first type. Because otherwise, she would have no choice but to kill him to prevent him from hurting innocent people...her friends.
Before she could say anything though, Willow walked in looking far too cheerful as she said, "I thought Kennedy was on duty." Willow carried a box of donuts, hoping the younger girl liked donuts. Willow wanted to thank her for watching Oz the night before. But Kennedy wasn't around.
Buffy stood up and decided not to tease Willow about the donuts. Usually it was Xander who bought them. "Oh hey, change of plans."
Willow accepted it so she wouldn't have to explain or examine her interest in the younger girl. "Glazed or cake? It's fun to watch them make them. They use this spritzy thing and they drop the batter into this--"
Buffy cut her off before she could go into full babble mode. "Couldn't sleep huh?"
Willow sighed, "I've been at Mr. Donut since the TV did that snowy thing. How come you're the wakey girl?" Willow didn't notice Oz coming out of his cage as she said, "I mean, this time it's not your boyfriend who's the cold blooded-- jelly donut?" Willow changed her statement as she noticed Oz coming to stand next to her.
Oz looked from Willow to Buffy then looked around for Kennedy but only saw Giles."Everything all right? Where's Kennedy?"
"Yeah. I sent her home last night--er this morning. Oz, do you remember anything about last night?" Buffy asked.
"Not really, no. When the wolf takes over its like I'm gone or something. I will say I've never been so rested after a wolf night, at least not without help from the tranquilizer gun. Why? What happened last night?" Oz was concerned that maybe he'd hurt someone, like Kennedy.
"Nothing happened it's just...well when I came in to relieve Kennedy you were unnaturally calm. And you stayed calm all night."
"Huh. That explains why I'm not tired. Willow told me once I'm very active in wolf form."
"You are, which was why it was so weird to see you so calm in your wolf form." Buffy paused then turned to Willow, "what happened with the inspection of the body?"
Willow wanted to avoid this topic. "Anyone want a donut? They're yummy and delicious."
"Willow come on. Was it werewolf? Was it a vampire?" Angel? Buffy thought.
Willow looked slightly uncomfortable as she said, "It was inconclusive."
"How could it be inconclusive? What did it look like? Was he bit?" Buffy became impatient.
Giles pulled her back a bit, "let her finish Buffy."
"I'm sorry." Buffy calmed down.
Willow explained that the wounds looked like something had shred the victim to ribbons.
Buffy left the room to go to class and think.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It was lunchtime when Faith returned to the school and entered the library, looking for Buffy. She only found Willow. Pushing down her disappointment, Faith walked over to the red head who had captured her little sisters heart. Hey Red, where is everyone?
Willow looked up at Faith from the books she was reading. "Hey Faith, everyone's either at lunch or in class. Giles went to the mens' room."
Faith took in that information. "well since everyone is busy," Faith motioned to the books in front of Willow. "guess I'll head out. I'll stop by when school's over though. Later Red."
Faith left before Willow could nod in agreement and headed to the cafeteria. She knew Buffy had the early lunch, just like she knew Kennedy had the late lunch. Faith peeked in the glass window in the door to the cafeteria and immediately honed in on Buffy. Unfortunately, Buffy was sitting with her boyfriend Scott and two other people. Faith felt the jealousy bubble up when she saw Scott turn to face Buffy and put his hand on her knee. Faith wanted to rip his arm from its socket and beat him with it for touching the other slayer...especially when he got a smile from Buffy over something he said to her. But Faith felt better when Buffy quickly got up and walked to the door--the door Faith was standing next to, looking in.
Buffy walked out of the cafeteria, distracted. She felt guilty. Guilty over her non-feelings for Scott, guilty over what she'd done to Angel, and guilty for lying to Giles about Angel being back, it was almost too much for Buffy to handle all at once. She didn't notice Faith until the other girl spoke.
"Hey B, whats up?" Faith was concerned with Buffy's level of distraction. If it wasn't still daylight out, she'd really be worried.
Buffy glanced at Faith, coming out of her thoughts at the concern in her dark brown eyes, "hey Faith. What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you actually. Wanted to see how you were holding up after what happened last night." Faith explained, genuinely concerned about the other slayer. She knew what it was like to have guilt eating at you over something--especially when you felt it was your fault that someone suffered or died.
Buffy looked at Faith, suddenly grateful that she had someone who knew about Angel without the preconceived judgments. Faith hadn't been around when Angel had lost his soul and began terrorizing her friends. Faith wasn't blinded by Angel's bad deeds the way her friends were, the way even her watcher was. "I'm...dealing I guess. Willow couldn't tell what had killed Jeff. Which leaves the field of suspects wide open." Buffy deliberately spoke in general terms, knowing that in the school hallway, anyone could hear them.
Faith looked at Buffy then glanced around the hall, it was empty for the moment but she knew that would change soon enough. She had an idea, "B? You wanna get outta here? Maybe go get a cup of coffee at that Espresso Pump and talk in private?"
Buffy thought about that and realized she really needed to get away from the school and all the guilt contained within these walls. "Yeah, sounds good. Come on.
Buffy led the way out of the school then let Faith take the lead as they walked to her car. Faith, feeling almost giddy, held the passenger door open for Buffy and closed it behind her after she'd sat down. Then Faith walked around the front of the car to the driver's side. She noticed with a grin that Buffy had leaned over and opened the door for her. To Faith, the only time she'd done that for any guy was when she really liked him.
Buffy didn't know why she'd leaned over to open Faith's door but it had seemed like the thing to do. Faith got in the car and both girls buckled up and soon Faith was pulling out of the schools parking lot heading towards the coffee house she'd taken a liking to--the only one in town really.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Buffy and Faith sat in a booth at the Espresso Pump, sipping their lattes. Neither girl knew what to say so they just sat in silence.
Faith was curious as to what the return of Angel meant as far as Buffy was concerned. She knew the basics from what Willow and Xander had told her about Buffy's relationship with the vampire but she wondered how Buffy was going to react to his return.
Faith hoped that Angel's return didn't mean that Buffy would go back to him...she didn't think she could compete with a vampire without, well...staking him.
Buffy was thinking more about Faith than Angel. The blonde slayer carefully studied the other girl from under her lashes, thankful that Faith seemed to be too distracted by her own thoughts to notice Buffy's stare. Buffy's eyes traveled over Faith's face, her dark brown eyes, her cute nose, her red full lips...Buffy felt her face grow warm as a blush stole over her face from where her thoughts had ended up. Buffy thought back to the dreams she'd been having. Dreams that starred Faith and were decidedly not straight.
Buffy's dreams revolved around her and Faith...dating. Buffy wasn't a total blonde, she knew dreams didn't always mean anything but, from the time she'd been called as a slayer, she'd been told that her dreams could sometimes be...foretelling. She'd had slayer dreams before, upcoming events or problems would sometimes be featured in her dreams in a jumbled, convoluted way.
Buffy was fairly sure her dreams about Faith weren't these types of dreams. Buffy had never had a chance to really question her own sexuality. She'd been 15 when she'd met Merrick and found out about her calling. Before then she'd only dated one boy, Tyler. She'd been too busy with her slayer duties to maintain her relationship with him or any other guy for that matter. In Sunnydale, it seemed like she'd been captivated by Angel before anyone else even had a chance. Buffy never thought to question why she'd never been attracted to Xander (who would probably be a much better boyfriend choice than a 240 year-old vampire with a soul) or why she'd been so drawn to Willow even on her first day to the point of risking her chance to be popular just to spend time with and befriend the cute redhead.
Owen had never stood a chance, poor guy; he was Buffy's attempt to block out her feelings for Angel. But Buffy also had brief flashes of attraction towards Willow, Amy, even a tiny little thing once for Miss Calendar. She'd dismissed them all as nothing. But now, here, sitting with Faith, Buffy gave herself a minute to really examine her feelings for what they could be...the signs that maybe she wasn't as straight as she always thought she was.
Before she could get too deeply lost in her thoughts, Faith's cell phone rang. Faith fished her cell phone out of her pocket and glanced at the caller ID. "It's Giles, I gave him this number in case of emergencies, one sec." Faith hit the accept button and answered the call.
"Hey G man, what's up?...yeah I'm with her right now...yeah sure no problem we're on our way...ok see you soon." Faith hung up and looked at Buffy, "Alfred needs us at the bat cave."
Buffy smirked, "does that make me Batman or Robin?"
Faith grinned, looking sexy and a little devilish, "well since I got the call that makes you Robin. C'mon let's fly."
Buffy and Faith left the coffee shop laughing to relieve the tension of the silent moments. Buffy knew that whatever they faced at the library with Giles wasn't going to be worth any laughs.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Buffy and Faith walked into the library and saw Willow sitting by herself. Buffy glanced at the clock on the wall and noticed that she'd missed her appointment with the school's shrink. She hoped that there would be time to make it up after she heard whatever Giles had to say.
Buffy sat down near Willow while Faith walked behind the tables, preferring to stalk around. She sent a silent text message to Kennedy telling her to get to the library as soon as she could.
Giles walked into the library, a grim expression on his face. "I have some rather disturbing news. Mr. Platt has been...murdered. From the way he looked in the brief glance I was able to get before the coroner took him away, it looks like the same creature that killed Jeff, killed Mr. Platt." Giles paused to collect his thoughts. "This creature is especially brutal. I believe the phrase coined by the coroner when describing Mr. Platt was 'pureed'." Giles voice lifted a little at his next words, "But he did confirm that Platt was killed shortly before 2pm."
Faith was the one who put it together first, "which means that he was killed during the day." This ruled out not only Oz but also Angel, though only Buffy and Faith knew that last bit.
Willows excited, "Yes!" drew everyone's attention. Willow then realized how that might've sounded, "Sorry. I got--- I've just been---It's horrible, horrible." Willow gave up trying to explain.
Buffy smiled, she knew what Willow had meant, "It's ok Willow, we're all glad Oz is off the hook."
Kennedy entered on that last line, "Off the hook for what?"
Faith, along with everyone else, turned to look at the new arrival. She seemed cheery but not overly so. Faith motioned her to stand next to her. Kennedy got within a foot of Faith before Faith explained what was going on. Kennedy, though a little disappointed that it wasn't Oz (as it would give her a valid reason for not liking him) was also glad that he wasn't the killer, she didn't want to think about Willow being intimate with a killer.
Giles got back to the matter at hand, "Shouldn't he be here by now? Sunset's at five-thirty." Giles checked his watch again.
Willow explained, "He had to go meet Debbie to give her his notes for Senior Bio. He'll be here."
Giles accepted this and said, "Ok. Our task now is to determine what sort of killer we are dealing with. Clearly, we're looking for a depraved, sadistic animal."
Only Kennedy noticed Oz walking in but she kept her mouth shut, not wanting to ruin whatever surprise Oz had up his sleeve. She knew that in his human form, Oz was harmless.
"Present." Oz said, hoping to lighten the heavy mood he'd walked into. Willow was up and out of her chair before even Kennedy had time to blink. She went to hug him as Oz said, "hey I may be a cold blooded jelly donut but my timing is impeccable."
Willow hurried to explain, "But you aren't. It's a kill-in-the-day monster. 100% for sure." Willow was really happy to the point of giddy at that bit of news. Oz took it in his usual stoic manner.
"I wish we had time to celebrate properly." Giles began, "However, we have two victims Jeff Orkin and now Platt. Maybe there's something they had in common."
Kennedy, and her smart mouth, just had to say, "missing internal organs." This earned her an elbow to the ribs by Faith who looked at her with a look that said 'be a little more sensitive'. Kennedy looked at the others with an apologetic smile.
Giles just said, "besides that."
Oz suddenly thought of a connection, though it seemed unlikely. "Debbie. Well, victim number one--Jeff. He was in jazz band with us. They used to horse around." Oz explained.
Faith and her gutter brain came up with, "they were screwing?"
Everyone, even Kennedy, turned to look at Faith with a disbelieving look on their faces. Faith just shrugged it off as Oz continued, "I don't think so, but he hid her music comp book once."
"And we know that Debbie knew Platt." Buffy said, "she was seeing him and way vocal about not having love for the guy."
Everyone just listened as Oz and Buffy laid out the case for Debbie being the connection, if not the killer. "Add this and stir; I just saw Debbie a minute ago sporting a nasty black eye."
Willow, ever the supportive best friend and girlfriend, decided to indulge their theory, "ok, so pretend Debbie wanted Platt dead. Maybe he fought back."
Giles was the one who had an answer for that one, having seen the body for a bit and spoken with the coroner. "No. Platt was dead in an instant. According to the coroner, he didn't even drop his cigarette."
Buffy suddenly got an idea, "Now, what if boyfriend Pete is the one doling out the punishment?"
Giles knew the danger if that were true, "we should find them both immediately."
"Debbie was in the quad a minute ago."
"Right, we'll split up. Faith, you and I team up. Willow, stick with Buffy. Kennedy, can you stay here with Oz while he changes?"
Kennedy nodded, happy to help. As the others left, Oz went to lock himself in the cage.
"Oz, wait a sec." Kennedy said, wanting to ask the stoic boy something before he changed.
Oz turned to look at Kennedy, "yeah?"
Kennedy walked a little closer to Oz, "um...do you remember anything about last night? When I was here watching you I mean?"
Oz looked at the younger girl. "No. Kennedy, when the wolf takes over, the human in me kinda goes to sleep almost. I'm not in control, the wolf is. Did I hurt you last night?"
"No...no you didn't hurt me I was just wondering. I've never known anyone who was a werewolf and I wanted to know if any memory of the wolf time stays with the human." Kennedy covered herself with the lie and managed to make it sound convincing.
Oz just nodded and headed to the cage while Kennedy sat down at one of the tables. A part of her wanted to be out there with the others, tracking down Pete and Debbie but the realistic part of her knew she might just get in the way, and that she really just wanted to be close to Willow.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kennedy, seeing that Oz was safely locked away, walked up the stairs to the upper level to look for a book to read. She figured this might be a slow night.
Kennedy heard the door to the library open and she walked forward to see who had come in, secretly hoping it was Willow. When she saw a boy she didn't recognize walking menacingly toward the cage, Kennedy's first instinct was to warn the guy to back away but the look on Oz's face stopped her. It was calm, cold, and just a little bit scary. Kennedy stayed where she was, hidden by the bookcases, as the unknown boy began talking to Oz.
"Since when do you touch my girl?" The anger, the jealousy, the hate in the boys voice made Kennedy's blood run cold.
Oz, meanwhile, was trying to calm the boy down. "Hey Pete. This is kind of a bad time." Oz tried to warn Pete.
Kennedy heard the boy's name, so this was the Pete that everyone was looking for. She pulled out her cell phone and sent a quick text to Faith telling her Pete was in the library.
"Well I guess you didn't think about that when you put the moves on Debbie!" Pete wasn't in the frame of mind to listen to reason, or anything else at the moment.
Kennedy heard what Pete said, Oz had put the moves on another girl? She didn't want to believe that, didn't want to have to be the one who told Willow.
Oz glanced at the window, knowing he didn't have much time to calm Pete down and get him outta there before the wolf took over. "We talked, yeah, but it was move-free."
Pete just rattled the cage, eager to get his hands on Oz and kill him. Oz looked at the door, praying it held up against Pete's assault...for the other boy's sake. "About this cage? When that sun sets--" Oz tried to explain but was cut off by Pete.
"You won't be alive to see it." Pete rattled the cage once more before Kennedy saw him take a step back from the cage. What happened next had Kennedy wishing she had the tranquilizer gun with her.
Oz tried again, "I'm serious. Something's gonna happen that you probably won't believe." Oz, and Kennedy, watched as Pete transformed into a monster, complete with bulging veins and long talons for nails. "Or you might."
Kennedy watched, safely hidden by the bookcases, as the monster that was Pete ripped the door right off the cage and then threw Oz out of the cage onto the floor. Kennedy wanted to help Oz, but she knew if she tried, she'd get killed. Plus, she glanced at the window and noticed the sun was starting to set, soon Oz would be in wolf form and the match would be fairly even. Kennedy watched as Pete lifted Oz into the air and brought him down onto the long table, shattering it with the smaller boy's body.
Pete was using Oz as a rag doll, asking as he hit Oz, "Did you kiss that whore? Huh? Did she like it?"
Oz landed on the stairs and, forgetting that Kennedy was up there he didn't even glance that way. Pete came at him again and he kicked him away. Oz took that second to stand up and glance out the window at the setting sun. It was time.
Oz, breathing heavy from the assault, said, "Time's up. Rules change."
Kennedy was close enough to see the look on Oz's face...it was predatory, hungry, wolf-like. Kennedy shivered, she knew that the wolf was right there, just under the skin. She waited to watch as it came out.
For the first time ever, Oz didn't fight the change, in fact, he welcomed it. He embraced it and so it happened much faster than normal. Oz knew the wolf was right there, just under his skin waiting to be let out. He gleefully let it out, his last conscious human thought before the wolf took over, was that Pete had killed innocent humans and threatened his own life, which meant he'd forfeited his right to any mercy his wolf form might show.
Kennedy watched as the wolf attacked Pete, torn between helping the human inside of Pete and allowing the wolf to dole out justice. She also didn't want to get in between two monsters hell bent on killing something. Luckily, just after the wolf bit into Pete, causing him to wail, the library doors burst open and Giles ran in followed by Faith, Buffy, Willow and a blond girl that Kennedy didn't recognize but that she guessed must be Debbie.
Kennedy watched in relief as Buffy grabbed the tranquilizer gun to subdue the monsters then had to fight not to laugh when Giles was shot instead. He fell over and the wolf escaped the library. Buffy tossed the gun to Faith telling her to get the wolf as she went to deal with Pete. Kennedy watched as Faith ran out after the wolf with Willow on her heels. She knew that in the excitement, no one remembered that she was there. It was ok, she didn't want to distract anyone. Plus, she liked being a spectator, watching the action without having to engage...it was like her own personal reality show.
Although the action got a little too close when Pete and Buffy's fight brought them up the stairs but Pete soon jumped the railing and ran out of the library after knocking down a bookcase on Buffy. Buffy wasn't hurt but she did finally notice Kennedy standing there. "Kennedy, can you make sure Giles is ok while I go get Pete?"
Kennedy just nodded then watched as Buffy launched herself over the railing and ran after Pete. Kennedy only left her safe spot after the library was empty and she went over to where Giles had fallen. She used her considerable strength to lift him into his office and, with some grunting, managed to get him onto the small couch he had there. She laid him out and sat in a nearby chair, waiting for the effects of the tranquilizer to wear off and wondering how the others were doing.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Faith and Willow managed to track down the wolf and after a brief fumble with the gun, they got him tranquilized and Faith handed the gun to Willow as she used her slayer strength to haul the wolf back to the library and his cage.
Faith walked into the library and deposited Oz into his cage before putting the door back in place. Hopefully, the wolf would be out the rest of the night and wouldn't challenge the now flimsy door. Faith walked towards Giles office and saw Kennedy sitting with him. Willow was sitting at the remaining table just watching the cage.
"Hey Kenn, are you ok?"
Kennedy turned to her sister, "yeah I'm alright. I stayed out of the way of the dueling beasties. How's the wolf--I mean how's Oz doing?"
"He's down for the count. Tranquilizer gun came in handy." Faith paused a second then, "Um...Willow's out there by herself if you wanna keep her company."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm gonna see if I can find Buffy and Pete and help her with him."
"Ok."
Kennedy walked out of Giles office, knowing he'd be out all night just like the wolf would be. She walked over to Willow and sat down across from her. "Hey."
Willow looked at the younger girl, she smiled as she felt the now familiar stirrings of something she dared not call attraction. "Hey. Are you ok? They didn't hurt you, did they?"
Kennedy smiled softly, pleased beyond measure that, in all the craziness of the night and with her boyfriend under sedation, Willow was concerned about her safety. "I'm ok, like I told Faith I mostly stayed out of the way of the bea--I mean the boys. They never saw me. How about you?"
"Well, I'll be ok. Just, I sometimes forget that in wolf form Oz is very dangerous. Usually he stays in his cage and just acts tough. It's easy to block these three days a month out of my head and just think of him as Oz. Sweet, gentle, soft spoken Oz."
Kennedy nodded, made sense to her.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Faith caught up with Buffy just as Buffy looked up and noticed the blood on the window over the lockers.
"Hey B, where's Pete?"
Buffy jumped a bit but looked at Faith then pointed to the window, "See the blood? I think he went out this window."
"Then what are we waiting for let's go get him." Faith began climbing the lockers with Buffy right behind her.
"Is Oz all taken care of, Faith?" Buffy asked as she emerged from the window to stand on the roof of one of the extensions on the school, this one over the maintenance departments tool shed.
"He's snoozing in his cage, Kenn and Red are watching over him. C'mon, B, time's a wasting." Faith said as she walked to the edge of the roof and looked down. It wasn't very high, as slayers they could handle the drop so she jumped off and landed in a crouch position before she looked up at Buffy. "You coming B?"
Buffy jumped off too, then looked around before she noticed the light in the tool shed was moving. "This way." Buffy led the way to the door and soon both slayers were inside the shed, looking around for any sign of Pete.
Buffy noticed Debbie's body first. "Oh god." She whispered as she approached the body. Faith hung back, trying to keep aware of the room so that Pete couldn't catch them off guard. She heard a creaking near the back of the room and was distracted by it.
Buffy was checking Debbie for a pulse in a vain attempt to see if she could be saved but she knew it was too late for the girl. In Faith's distraction and Buffy's preoccupation with Debbie, Pete got the upper hand and grabbed Buffy by the shoulders and threw her across the room.
Pete got a few hits in before Faith launched at him. But he threw her off of him and went to attack Buffy.
Suddenly, the door opened and there stood Angel, shirtless but luckily wearing pants, with his vampire face on and only one thought in his brain: protect Buffy.
Angel grabbed Pete and wrapped the chains which still dangled from his wrists around Pete's neck. A brief struggle ensued before the sickening sound of a neck snapping was heard in the room. Angel dropped Pete and the monster which had a hold of Pete went away and he was just a normal guy--dead.
Angel turned to face Buffy but he paused when he smelled Faith. He turned to look at Faith and took a few steps away from her and towards Buffy. He seemed to know that Faith wasn't a threat to Buffy but was still wary of her. Angel turned again to look at Buffy.
Buffy watched in silent awe as Angel stood there, scared of Faith but willing to risk it to face Buffy. Angel's vampire face melted back into his head and the human side took over, looking lost and scared. Angel came closer, standing within touching distance of Buffy. Buffy made a small quick gesture to Faith, while not looking away from Angel, to keep the other slayer where she was, knowing--hoping--that Angel wouldn't hurt her.
Buffy watched as Angel's face changed from lost to disbelief and the tears came to her eyes as she watched him struggle to speak. Finally, one word came out, "Buffy?" As if he couldn't believe she was really there, that he had found his way back to her.
Angel fell to his knees and hugged her, burying his face in her stomach and holding on, as if for dear life, as he sobbed. She didn't know how to react, all the guilt over sending Angel to hell, his return, the torture he must've endured, came crashing down around her as she felt him hold her tighter.
The tears ran down her face as he repeated her name. She glanced at Faith, noticing that despite everything, Faith had tears in her eyes too. Buffy tried to convey to the other slayer that she was at a loss as to how to proceed.
Faith watched as Angel fell to his knees and held on to Buffy. While a part of her was jealous that he was allowed to do that, she also realized that he wasn't a threat to her. Angel, having suffered what must've been unbearable torture, was finally realizing he was back on earth and that Buffy was really there.
Faith, against her own will, felt the tears well up in her eyes. She knew why they were there...this moment in time, with Angel and Buffy, could very well be the moment where she lost whatever tiny, minuscule chance she might've had to win the blond slayer's heart. Right there, seeing the look on Buffy's face and the tears in her eyes, Faith knew she'd never have a chance with Buffy now. Angel was back, and from the looks of it he had his soul with him, and that was what Buffy's heart had wanted all along. At least according to what s"he'd heard from Willow and Xander.
Faith finally spoke up, "B, the sun's gonna be up in a few hours and we gotta get him back to his mansion before your friends see him."
Buffy looked at Faith. She was right. Buffy looked down at Angel and tried to get him to look at her. Angel let his face be tilted upward to look at Buffy. He smiled, "you're really here."
"Yeah I am. We gotta get you back home Angel."
Angel nodded, understanding. He carefully stood up and took a step back, not wanting to crowd Buffy yet. He glanced over at Faith, her scent marking where she stood, half in the shadows. "Who're you?"
Buffy smiled, "that's Faith, another slayer. We gotta go Angel."
Angel nodded and let Buffy lead him outside to Faith's car. Faith, knowing it was necessary, let Angel get into the backseat as she and Buffy got into the front seat and they took off toward the mansion.
The Next Day
Kennedy was walking with Cordelia, Xander, Oz, Willow and Buffy as they discussed what had happened the night before. They were mostly filling Cordy and Xander in on what had happened. Kennedy walked quietly, not really having much to contribute since most of the action had happened away from her, save for the initial fight between Pete and Oz.
"It's all over school, what happened with Debbie and Pete." Willow said as they walked, "except for the Pete-was-a-monster part."
"Yeah. A freshman told me that Pete had eight iced cafe mochas and just lost it." Oz said.
The story was quickly turning into the beginnings of an urban legend. Typical Sunnydale denial, Kennedy wondered why people didn't just see what was there.
Buffy chimed in, "It's better than the estrogen theory. I heard he took all of his mother's birth-control pills."
Cordy, in her out of the loop way said, "He didn't? Pete was a monster? Where have I been? For that matter, where were you Kennedy?"
Kennedy turned to look at her best friend and smiled, "I suspect you were probably at home watching TV or something. I was in the library when Pete attacked Oz. But I hid very well so they didn't get me."
Cordy smiled, she'd get the whole story from Kennedy's point of view later, right now she wanted to know the official Buffy version. "So what's the true story? What happened?"
Willow explained, "Well, we got a hold of Pete's lab books and stuff, and Mr. Science was doing a Jekyll/Hyde deal. He was afraid Debbie was gonna leave him, so he mixed this potion to become super mas macho."
"The only thing was, after a while, he didn't need the potion to turn into a bad guy. Did it just fine on his own." Buffy added, a tinge of sadness over the wasted lives in her voice.
"So it was like a real killing. He wasn't under the influence of anything?" Cordy asked, a little confused. She'd expected, this being Sunnydale, for Pete to be under a spell or a hex or something.
"Just himself." Buffy said. Buffy spotted Scott sitting alone and she excused herself from the gang, wanting to be the good girlfriend and comfort Scott who'd just lost two friends. The gang let her leave.
Cordy, after a Buffy was gone said, "great, now I'm gonna be stuck with serious thoughts all day."
Kennedy, in an attempt to lighten Cordy's mind, pulled out the latest issue of Cosmo that she'd snuck into her backpack this morning and handed it to Cordy. "Here, the perfect antidote to serious thoughts."
Cordy grinned, the serious thoughts banished for the moment as she looked at the magazine then at her best friend, "Thanks Kennedy, just what I needed." Cordy threw a pointed glare at Xander, who stood there silent the whole time, before she grabbed Kennedy's arm and they walked away.
Xander threw an indulgent look at Cordy before grinning at Willow and Oz, then he followed his girlfriend and her friend, wondering how to make up for his apparent slip up.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Faith snuck onto the school grounds, just wanting to see Buffy. She'd accepted that she was attracted to Buffy, that she was crushing on the blonde slayer. Faith managed to not only find Buffy but to also find a spot where she could observe unnoticed.
Faith saw Buffy leave her friends to go sit with Scott. She saw them talking but couldn't hear what they were saying. She felt the hot hiss of jealousy spread through her veins as she saw them together.
Scott, Angel...how many obstacles did she have to overcome in order to have a chance with Buffy? Would she even have a chance even if they were both out of the picture?
Faith slinked away into the shadows before heading to her car. She had seen enough and now she just wanted the oblivion that came with sleep. She had promised Kennedy no more alcohol and she'd never been into drugs so sleep was her drug of choice. Faith made it back to their apartment and after locking all the doors, she collapsed on her bed and let the sandman claim her.
TBC...