Faith- Later same day
I walked into the kitchen to get away from Rona trying to yell at Chloe. Chloe can hear, but she can't speak. We've got the trio of Hear no evil, Speak no evil, See no evil. Oh, the past couple of hours have been grrrreat. Just ta add a little tiger in your life. Ken is sitting at a stool on the island while clueless. Alex sat beside her; starring at Red, who is standing in the middle of the island. That sounds so weird saying it. "I really want to go out and look for B," I plead as I start looking up at Giles, who's still reading. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I would really rather wait until Angel got here with his crew before anything gets done," Giles advised as he looked around at the mayhem. I know he needs my help here, but just sitting around is starting to drive me stir crazy.
"Red gave me this sorta locator beacon thing. Come on, G-man, don't you think it would be better if I went out during the day?" I'm trying play on the fact that I'm pregnant and he doesn't want me fighting in the first place. Xander and Andrew are here, and I'm sure they want to get away from those books. "I've called the local police stations and the hospital. There is no one there that fits Buffy's description. Angel won't…." Giles stops mid sentence and looks at me. He takes off his glasses and cleans them. When he puts them back on, he looks up and there a change in his demeanor. I guess the pouty, worried, 'I want to find B.' look worked.
"Faith, you're not going out without back up," he demanded as if I would argue. I stayed pouty strong. "Faith…, I don't think it's a good idea." Ken voiced her concerns without turning to me. She hasn't caught on just yet. I bet if she could see my facial expressions her reaction might be different. She might be somewhat of a help. "I'll go with her," Red yelled so Giles can hear her. I can hear her perfectly fine, perks of slayer hearing. Red was jumping to get his attention. See, I'm not the only one who wants out.
Giles leans down so he's almost face to face with her or at least at eye level. "And what exactly are you going to do?" Giles relented. I think he just told a joke. I watched as Red sends a little lightning bolt to his nose. "Ouch!" he yelped as he stood up really fast. Red turns so she's facing me. "I'll navigate," Red explained. "I can carry the fairy in my pocket, and I'll take one of the newbs," I negotiated, and Giles nods. "Fine," Giles consented. "Wait, Willow," Ken said as she held out her hand. I watched as Red walked over to it and held onto one of her fingers with both hands.
The both of them are silent for a few moments. Then Ken looks around for a second. "Faith, don't let her out of your sight," Ken ordered sternly, and I set my hand on the table next to hers. Red walks onto it and I pick her up. "No shocking me," I insisted as I let her slide into my pocket on the button down shirt I'm wearing. She's been in my pocket most of the day. I don't think she likes it too much because she kept shocking my chin. But I don't really have anywhere else to put her. It's not like I'm going to put her in a shoe box, I would just look weird carrying one around. It would also be as borderline inhumane as funny. At least this way she can duck.
"Take all the fun out it," Red griped and stood, so she could see over the fabric. Alex sits up and points to me. Then smiles when she sees Willow in my pocket. "Yeah, I know I got a fairy in my pocket," I muttered as I walked out of the kitchen. I look down at Red, who's a little pissed. Now I know what to say to piss her off when she's all big again and can't do magic on me that'll hurt. "After you have that baby, I'm going to shrink you down to size," Red claims, and I look down nodding. Maybe I won't use that word around her.
A few hours later-
I feel extremely anxious right now; worried too. We've been looking around for the past two hours, and I can't seem to get a handle on this beacon thing. "Red, amp up the beacon a little more. I can't pinpoint B," I request as I look down at my pocket. Red looks up at me worried, and then she turns so her back is facing the outside of the pocket. I watch as she puts hands against the shirt I'm wearing, and they start to glow a little. There's a warm feeling flowing through me and tingling at the base of my neck again. It gets stronger. I'm glad I'm sitting in the car because I would probably black out. It feels so good.
When she stops, I feel this super warm super tingly sensation all over, stronger at the base of my neck. "How is it? Do you feel her now? Can you tell where she is?" Red babbled while looking all excited. At this point, I kinda wished Red was the speak no evil girl instead of Chloe. "Yeah, I think she's close," I answered and look over to Tina; who's driving. "It's getting dark, Faith, we should head back," Tina warned as she kept her eyes on the road. I look out the window, she's right. As we pass a hospital, the tingles start to get a lot stronger. For a second, I found it hard to think as overwhelming feeling of B, possibly for B flooded my senses.
"Stop…Stop," I half yelled, startling the newb. Moments later, Tina pulled the car over and parked it on the side of the road. I get out without warning her and take a step onto the side walk. Tina looks up at me worried as I walked around to the front of the car. She rolled down the window and stuck her head out. "Stay here, I'll TEXT you," I ordered as I looked up at the tall building. Tina nods ok, and I waited for the traffic to slow down before I ran across the street to the other side.
Walking inside, I end up right in the lobby. It's huge. Not waiting, I walked right over to the front desk. Think, Faith, think. What would a worried friend say? "How may I help you, ma'am?" one of the women behind questions as she greets me with a smile. "Well, I'm looking for my friend. She may have been brought in here last night or this morning." I explain, and she rolled over to the computer. "What's her name?" she asked. "Buffy Summers," I reply, and the woman types it in. After a minute, she frowns a little and looks back up at me. "No, ma'am, I'm sorry. We don't have anyone here by that name. If she was missing identification, you can go down that hall to the ER. They might have put her up as a Jane Doe. It wouldn't hurt to check," she explained and pointed to the hallway behind me. I smile and respond with, "Thanks." Then I turned and walked down the hall.
As I walk into the ER, I don't see a front desk. Probably because all I see is a nursing station. I guess big hospitals like these only have nursing stations and not lobby desk everywhere. But there should be, I could use a nice, friendly face right about now. I almost forgot how chaotic ERs are. "Hello, ma'am…, you look lost. Um…Visiting hours are over," the security guard announces as he walks up to me. "No, I'm not…I've been looking for my friend all day, and she might have been brought in here as a Jane Doe," I told him and a look of understanding comes to his face. "Ok, come over here," he says, and we both walk to the nursing station, where a couple of nurses and standing there looking at charts. "Hey, BOB, got one for you," the security guard declared but doesn't leave my side. I guess he's going to end up putting me out on my ass anyways.
"What's up, Jerry?" Bob asks as he looks up at us. "I was looking for my friend. She might be a Jane Doe here," I guessed. "We get a couple of those a night, you're going to have to be specific." I thought for a second. "Ok, she about this tall. She has blonde hair, blue eyes, an athletic body, and…um…spunky," I described as I motion with my hands. "Yes, there were a couple of blondes that came in here with that description. But it isn't visiting hours. I can only let you look in on her for the moment, so you can identify her," he offered, and I nodded frantically. I know B is here, I can feel her. "Ok, Miss, this way," Bob instructed as he picked up a metal clip board and directed me to follow him.
"We have one in room 201, bed B and another in 205, bed C. Oh, and there's another in bed A in that room as well. We try to keep all the Jane and John Does together till we get them identified," he explained as he opened the first door. "And what is your name?" he asks as he turns slightly while standing in front of me. "Faith Lehane," I informed as he pulled back the curtain to the first bed. I look at the girl, who was barely awake, but it wasn't B. I nodded my head no, and we left the room to walk to the other where there are two of them.
"Ok, so there two more," he indicated as we walked down the hall, "Now are you a family member of this girl?" I nod my head no. Ok, so maybe I should have brought Dawn. "Well, identifying her you can do, but you can't stay in the room, and I can't tell you anything about her condition," he stated. Why did I say that? "Why? Other then her sister, I'm all she's got," I begged, trying to show urgency. "Dawn is only a kid," I commented. "Miss Lehane, you should have brought her with you then," he advised as we walked to another room. Think of an excuse because Dawn is at school. "She's looking elsewhere," I lied, and he nodded. I don't think he'll falter though. I really just need to find B.
I walk in to the constant sound of beeping as he opens the first curtain. I nod my head no. "This other girl isn't conscious," he remarked, but I know it's B because my beacon thingy is going through the roof. I can feel Red moving around in my pocket. I know she want to stand but that would be a very bad idea. As he pulls back the curtain, my hand automatically flies to my mouth and I gasp. B is lying there with a tube down her throat. There are cuts and bruises all over her face and down her arms. I'm pretty sure the rest of her looks just as bad. The monitor is beeping steadily, so at least I know she's stable. "We're thinking she was jumped last night. A man brought her in this morning." Bob confirms, and I nod my head slowly while trying not to cry. "Can I have minute please?" I choke out, but my voice is barely there. "Ok, but only a minute then. I'll need some information from you, Miss Lehane," he reminds me before he begins to leave. I look back to see the security guard still standing there. "Come get me in about five minutes," Jerry whispers to Bob as he leaves.
I take out my phone and send a mass text to whom I needed to. About where and how B is right now. I didn't want to find her like this. I want to know what's going on with her, what's wrong with her. "Where the hell were those girls last night?" I growl and look down to see Red standing while trying to get a good look at B. There are tubes and wires that are going everywhere. I really don't want to be here because it brings back not so fond memories. "We need to go call Dawn," Red reminded. I look back down at her and wipe my eyes. "Yeah, "I agreed as I walked closer to the bed. "You'll be ok, B. We'll be back," I assured her, which was more then what I got last time I was in the hospital. But things are different now. "Faith," Red mumbles, and I turn to see the security guard has already gone to get Bob, the nurse.
When I walk out the door, Bob is waiting for me with a clip board. "I know you're not the next of kin, but you can fill out the basics," he declares before handing it to me. My phone started vibrating, and I answered it.
"Faith…, how is she…is she OK?" Dawn pleaded frantically. I had to take a moment to breathe. "No…I don't know, they won't tell me anything because I'm not family," I admitted as I slowly look back at the clipboard. I walked over to the chair and sat down. Holding the phone with my shoulder, I started to fill out the patient questions. Like B's name and where she lives. "Is Angel there?" I question as I try to think of what I'm going to say if she asks how Buffy is. Wait, she already asked that. That brings temporary relief. "Yeah…Well, what happened?" Dawn asked, trying to hurry me up. "She's unconscious. Um, she looks pretty beat up. Slayer healing hasn't kicked in for nothing. I'm at Grace Hospital downtown." I informed and heard a chatter in the background, too many voices to tell who. "Ok, I'm going to have Xander bring me up there," Dawn replied with more panic in her voice. I shouldn't have told her she was unconscious. Damn it, I think she's crying.
"Dawn…Dawn, calm down. I need you to relax. B must not have taken any id out with her last night," I tipped her as I tried to keep the slayer lingo out of the conversation because people were looking at me. "Right, so I need her id," she confirmed, sounding like she was finally breathing. "Dawn, she'll be ok. B's a fighter," I remind her in the attempt to reassure her a little. "Right, I'll be there in a few." "Ok, don't bring anyone else other then Giles," I demanded because there was no use in having anyone else. The ER is crowded already. "Ok…, see you later." Dawn sighed and hung up the phone. I wish I could take B's place. I know what she's going though and even though I hate hospitals, I would rather it be me then B.
Buffy- Noon
So after calming down this morning, I went and sat in the living room. This is nice…really nice. I like being at my old house, in my own space with no little slayers around. I went looking for my chest, but it was gone. So nosey me, I found picture albums. Apparently I missed a lot. I'm still freaked. You would too if you woke up and you were married to the girl who's been your mortal enemy since high school. Well, not in this in life but still. Some of the pictures of us were really cute, I'll have to admit. The funny thing is I did go back to bed. I fell asleep too. When I woke up, I was still here. Some dream.
Tara is alive and well. I can't wait to see her later, I'm excited about that. Xander is here, too, but I'm not sure about his whereabouts. He's in quite a bit of pictures, but I don't know. I guess I'll just have to see later. Dawn isn't a complete klutz in this life. She's quite the social butterfly. She plays soccer and is a senior in college. I think there's a bit of a time difference here as well. My mom isn't in any recent pictures, and there isn't many of her when she was alive, which is strange. I want to know what she was like in this life. I saw a picture of her and Giles, and they look pretty friendly.
Anyways, it's about noon so I think Faith will be home around this time. I made sandwiches and snacks for the park. I got bored. I think I'm a stay at home wife. Maybe, I don't know. Hopefully, I'll know more later. This is all still weird and freaky. I'm back on the couch eating out of bag of cool ranch Doritos and dipping them in nacho cheese sauce while watching some soap opera on TV. So not me, but there really isn't anything else to do. Surprisingly without a few teenage slayers, a house can stay clean.
"Buffy, I'm home," Faith calls out from the foyer, but I don't move. "In here," I yell back. As she walks in, she's taking off her jacket. When she sees me, she stops and puts her hands on her hips. One arm is out of the jacket, and she looks a little frustrated. What did I do? "I thought I told you no more junk food?" she barked, and I look down at the bag of chips. Busted I guess. "Buffy, if you want this baby to be healthy and keep your figure. You're really going to have to start eating better," Faith vented as she walked over to me and took the bag. I sit and pout for minute. I really, really want to yell at her, but I think that might be a bad idea. I didn't know she was a health nut. The chips were there in the pantry for the eating.
"I know, I just…I forgot," I claimed. I plan on using that a lot today, just for anyone who's wondering. Faith sighs. "Ok…I don't want to have to clean out the fridge again," Faith asserted firmly as she set the bag down and finished taking her jacket off. At least she isn't cleaning out the pantry. Looks like I'm just as good as hiding stuff in the place.
Ok, so, what do married couples do? Oh, right. "How was work?" I ask, and she turns to me while smiling. I can see the faltering of her being upset. I must have this Faith wrapped around my finger or something. I think I could get used to this. I get up, walk in her direction, and end up leaning on the wall.
"Oh, nothing exciting really. Caleb is really in for the long haul. We might have found another witness against him," she answers as she reaches into the fridge for something. Then she stands upright. "I see you've been busy," she replies before walking over to me. "I got bored,' I confessed. Faith stops in front of me and wraps her arms around the upper half of my body sideways. I melt into her. I like this, I really like this. Can we just stay like this and not have to move ever?
Faith leans in, gives me a peck on the lips, and then let go. "Ok, I guess I have extra time then. I'm going to go change," she reveals before kissing me again, and I don't let her go when she tries to pull away. She smiles, and there those dimples that I love. She leans in again and our lips entwine in a searing kiss that send chills down my back. Roses, her lips are softer then a bed of roses. She doesn't kiss like she did this morning, but I'm not exactly holding back myself. My heart races, and if I could rip the rest of her clothes off right here and now, I would.
Faith pulls back, and I open my eyes to see her looking at me again the same way she did before she left for work. "Man your hormones are all over the place today," she implied and chuckled. "And that's a bad thing?" I tease. "Well, not at this moment," Faith decides and smirks with the dimples in full view. I drop my hands as I realize I don't really liking the idea of me being pregnant. "I'll call Willow, ok?" she announces before kissing on the lips yet again She takes off for upstairs, leaving me standing between the kitchen and the living room and wanting more of Faith's beautiful body then I could probably handle right now. The thought of seeing her naked almost makes my mouth water.
I like this life. Slowly, I walked to and up the stairs. Maybe I will at least get to see her in just underwear. I walked to my room to see Faith running around looking for something. "Did you wash clothes or something?" Faith questioned as she put on a pair of jeans, then moved to a drawer. I shrugged because I have no idea if I did or didn't. "I can't find my…Ahh, there you are." Faith pulled out a t-shirt, and I'm in shock. It's PINK? Wow! Ok, I really, really need a reality check. I shake my head and smile. "What…, you don't like it?" Faith examined herself in the mirror, looking up and down at what she was wearing as she held her hands out. "No, it's fine. We're just going to the park," I respond as I try to save face. Faith smiles pleasantly and nods. Then she takes the band off her wrist and puts her hair up into a pony tail.
I sat down on the bed. Faith walks into the closet and back out with a skirt and tosses it to me. "I promise we'll go shopping for clothes this weekend if the court lets out early Friday. I hope the jury isn't partial," Faith notified me, and I just nodded; sliding off the boxers and into the skirt. She kisses me on the cheek and walks over to the dresser to pick up her phone.
Faith stands there, starring at me as I change, while waiting for someone to pick up walks out of the room. I pulled up the skirt as I stood and followed her out of the room. I found her standing halfway down the stairs for some reason. "Willow, yeah, hey. I'm off…No, Buffy already made food. Are you ready? Yeah, she's fine. I think she was just a little tired this morning. How's Tara? ... Right, we'll deal…Yeah, I know. Well, I don't know, but still…ok, bring the plans. I really want to get a start on that extra space. Ok…See you in a few," Faith said, turned around, and motioning for me to follow. So I do.
Driving down the streets of old…Well, Sunnydale was all kinds of a weird familiar. Everything looks the same. Except for one thing, there's no magic shop. Well, I'm not going to worry about it. I'll just ask Faith what Giles does for a living. "Do you see their car?" Faith asks as she grips my hand a little tighter; taking me out of my daze. I look up, not even knowing what their car looks like. "There she is," Faith declares and looks at me smiling. She uses the hand on the wheel to point ahead of us. Willow is standing behind her Honda with a tote bag full of something.
Faith parks, and we both get out. Looking outward, there's a large field with scattered trees, hills, and a tree line in the distance; a small oasis in the middle of the desert.
I looked over to see Tara stand up. However, I don't see her stomach because the windows are tinted. Yep, it's Tara. I wonder how different they are. "Buffy, how many soap operas did you watch today? Anything juicy?" Willow questions, and I purse my brow. "Like two," I answer, hoping that she wasn't planning on continuing with this topic. Willow's teasing isn't what is used to be. "Willow, let's not get into teasing right now," Tara politely ordered, Willow looks back at Tara but smiles and runs around the car to her. As they walk out in front, Tara comes into full view. She gives me a funny look; which is understandable because I look surprised. "Yeah, I know. I'm as big as a house," Tara expresses with an eye roll thrown in for a dramatic effect, and we start walking into the park.
Faith puts her arm over my shoulder, and I wrap mine around her lower waist as we follow Willow and Tara out into the large field. There's a playground with quite a few people nearby. Now that I think about it, I don't really recognize this place. "So, Buffy, how do you like it?" Willow asks she looks up for my approval. "It's really nice here," I answer and look around a little more. "I know. They still have to finish the main picnic area and the little skate park on the other side. But I'm sure it won't take long. Our boy is going to be well into sports, like Auntie Dawn," Willow announces all excited, and I smiled a little. I'm guessing Willow made up the plans for this place or something like that to help Faith.
We stopped walking when we came to a single table. Willow takes some kind of electronic pad out, and I set out the basket. I sat in front of Tara. Faith kisses me on the forehead before sitting in front of Willow. I don't know how much longer I can take of her being so sweet. I could really get used to this.
I look up and watch Faith and Willow who are just on the other side if the basket looking over a blueprint. "So how is willow's project going?" I asked, thinking maybe I could get something out of her about what Willow does. "Oh, she's just got a couple of new contracts for buildings in LA. I really hope she doesn't have to travel a lot with my date being so close," Tara revealed. "So she's really becoming a bit of a big shot?" I question as we look over at Willow and Faith; who are not hearing a word of what we're saying. "Yeah, she is. That's my Willow," Tara admits with the love and pride I could remember seeing so many years ago.
"Buffy, have you hit the weird munchies yet?" Tara whispers as she leans onto the table a little. I nod my head no, "Well, I ate cool ranch Doritos with nacho dip," I confessed before shrugging. "Ehh, that's not too bad. Make me a peanut butter and banana sandwich, and I'm happy. Just be glad you don't live with Willow. I swear I've lost weight since I've been 'Honey'" "Honey, hand me a water bottle," Willow interrupts, and Tara looks into their bag and grabs a bottle of water, handing it to her. Tara waits for a second as Willow goes back to what she was talking about.
"I feel ya. Faith got mad when she saw me with the chips. I didn't even know I was cheating," I chuckle and smiled. Faith looks in my direction. "Are you two talking about us?" Willow declared and gave Faith this look, who then looked over at us. "Yeah, we're gossiping about our health nut wives," Tara claimed. Faith looks at me, grins, and playfully wraps her arms around me. She starts kissing and nibbling my neck. "Someone said you think I don't pay enough attention to you. They also said you said our spark was gone. Is our spark gone, huh?" Faith taunts as she takes control of me. I can't move out of her arms. Thhis shouldn't be as hard as it is. I try my hardest to get out, but I can't really. She rears back. Why do I feel so normal right now? I shouldn't be out of breath.
"I guess I'm getting enough attention now," I told them, trying to regain my breath. "Can you let me go now?" I whined. Faith just sort of looks at me, then let's me go. Willow and Tara are still laughing. "That's so not funny, Will!" I mutter and she looks at me funny. "Making up new nicknames now, Buffy?" Faith exclaimed. "No, I always... I guess I'm still a little tired." I had to correct myself. "You should have seen her this morning, Will. I got yelled at for calling her Buffy. Last time I checked, that was her name," Faith said with a smirk before she looked at me slyly. I shot Willow a glare, so she wouldn't say anything, and she didn't.
Everyone is looking at me funny. "I'm so making sure you sleep though the night tonight. So I'm going to call in sick tomorrow. I'm sure Steven won't mind," Faith suggested as she reached up and cupped my cheek, looking at me as if I was going insane. Well, I'm glad that she thinks that's it from lack of sleep. Because I don't want to know how she would react if I told her how things should really be.
We all sit and eat. Willow and Faith go back to the plans. Tara resumes to warn me about what I'm in for. I'm not excited about it at all. "Well, Faith, I'm going to send Frank over Saturday since he'll be in town," Willow announced as she stood. "Right, I'll be there," Faith states as Willow wraps everything up, throws the bag over her shoulder, and helps Tara stand. I walk around the table and hug both of them. Tara holds onto me for a minute, it is really nice to see her. "We'll see you two at the game." Willow reminds us. Faith comes behind me and hugs the two of them. We stand there as they walk away.
I watch as Faith packs up our little, lunch basket and throws away the rest of what we don't need. "How are you feeling?" Faith asks as she stands upright. "Ok, I guess," I lie. I'm still a little freaked out and feeling out of place. Faith looks up and grins but she looks concerned too. "I'm fine, Faith, really I am." I say in what I hope is a believable tone as she walks over and wraps her arms around me again. "If you keep this up, I'm going to go all psycho hormonal on you when I'm Tara's size!" I joked, and she looks at me a little wide eyed; tensed tighter then ever. "I'm just kidding," I giggle as I feel her breathe and relax. Yep, she's whipped. Somebody has baby mama nerves.
"Ok, well, let's take a walk. You still haven't seen the rest of the park," she suggested, which is true because I haven't. "Yeah, sure," I agree. She smiles and nods as the throws the bag over her shoulder and reaches back for my hand. I look at it for a second and then take it before she has a chance to look back. After that, we walk into the field.
We walk until we get to a few scattered trees. I stop at the tree and look onto the trail. This is nice, it really is, but for some reason, I am kind of tired and I only just walked across the field. This isn't normal, or it wouldn't be for normal slayer Buffy. This Buffy is a housewife who probably just cleans and cooks dinners for Faith before she gets home from work. This is what I'm thinking after watching those soap operas all day.
I sit down at the tree and look up at Faith. She takes an extra step and sits down behind me. I lean back and snuggle with her. It's starting to feel like I had done that for years. It's starting to feel like its familiar.
"You're really cuddly today. Did you drink something? Are you high?" Faith accused, but her tone was playful. So I know she was joking, I think. "What? Am I not normally like this?" I ask calmly. She stops breathing for a second. "No…, but I think it's just another mood swing. You'll be different in a couple of days again," Faith stated as she wrapped her arms around me; hugging me a little tighter to her. "Right…Hormones, they do that." I conceded as I laid my head back onto her chest and listened to her breathing. It's calm and relaxing. I could lay here for a while.
"How did we make this work, Faith? How are we…?" I mumbled but wasn't sure how to finish the question. "Us, Buffy?' Faith sort of described in trying to clarify. "It wasn't as easy as a walk through the park, I'll give you that," she commented, and I tried to look up at her. I guessed she didn't like my reaction because she pursed her eyebrows. "Two years, it takes work. If it wasn't for our little stint in high school, I probably wouldn't have come looking for you after my accident. I was determined…I didn't think it would work either, but I had to try. Almost dying kind of does that to a person," she explained. "Was I dating anyone?" I asked as I stared at her, watching her facial expression. She didn't say anything. She just sort of looked at me. "Have you ever killed someone?" I asked, mainly because my Faith has. "WHAT?" she said half laughing. "No…God, woman…," she almost snarls for a moment and sighs, "Came awfully close though. Spike just got lucky," she scoffed, and I nuzzled into her a little more as she relaxes. Hmm, Interesting.
