Hey, guys! Thanks for being so patient, it's very appreciated. So, Chapter 11 is here! So is Chapter 12, but I reread it and hated it intensely, so I'm going to rewrite most of it. Should be up in a day at the most, so keep checking back. Struggling with how to develop the plot a little, please be gentle with the lame poem. Reviews are also appreciated!
Chapter 11: Regret
When a sleepy-eyed Ken stumbles in at dawn, I'm more than happy to hand the watch over to her so me and B can get some sleep. And yes, I do mean sleep. Haha.
Somehow, I feel more complete, as if part of me was missing before. It used to be Buffy and Faith, the Chosen Two, ready and willing to fight evil, baddies, and all that shit. Slayer connection, yes. Wicked hot, hell yes. But holding hands and giggling? No fuckin way. Maybe that's why I like it. Cuz now I know what I've been missing all this time. An entire part of me, an entire part of my fuckin soul wasn't even there. And it was somehow packed into a certain smiling, blonde Slayer.
Its fucking scary, man.
As I'm layin here watching her sleep from across the couch, I'm more terrified than I've ever been Slaying. Yeah, we had a fucking hot moment last night, but "relationships" oughta be more than just sex, right? I mean, she and Blondie got it on for an entire fuckin year, and still B never loved the vamp. Good thing too, cuz I was seriously about to stake the guy more than once.
I'm not the type for relationships. Hell, the closest one I've ever had was with the Mayor, and look how that one turned out. Back in those days, I had nothing to lose but my own life, and I loved it. It was easy to just care about yourself; I thought I was saving myself a lot of trouble in the future. You take care of yourself, you don't get hurt. Simple as that. But B-
Shit, she'd burst out laughin if she heard me like this. She'd tease the hell outta me, call me a pussy, and hold it over my head for days, weeks. And new Faith would let her, when I would've punched anybody else's lights out for doin' the same thing. Yep, I'm well and truly whipped. But hey, people do crazy things when they're in love.
There, I said it. Happy now?
I shift slightly, staring up at the ceiling as my eyes start to close. The buzz and the adrenaline's starting to wear off after bein awake all night, I guess. I let a smile spread over my face before I give in to the exhaustion. The world may end (again) in the next couple months, but I wouldn't be anywhere else in the universe.
I'm awakened by the smell of chloroform. It's a hospital smell, a scent that I've smelled way too many times. Pulling a face, I roll off the couch and land with a thump on the carpet, groaning as the vacuum cleaner sounds upstairs. Maybe if I don't open my eyes, I can ignore the morning. Suddenly, I feel soft hands on my shoulders and silk hair brushes across my face, making me smile even with my eyes closed.
"Didn't know you would be so forward, B." I shuffle a little, innocently snuggling up to her so the top of my head brushes along her collarbone. I can feel her presence all around me, and just sensing how close she is to me makes my head spin in crazy circles. If the Slayer buzz gets any higher, then I'm seriously going to start vibrating right here and now.
She gasps and pulls away, and I know she's blushing. Opening my eyes and sitting up so my mouth is millimeters away from her ear, I breathe out slowly, making the fine hairs curled around her ears rustle. I feel B shiver and move slightly against me. My own breathing's getting pretty fucking heavy, and I'm just about to suggest we take off to some place we can do this properly when suddenly, she jumps off of me. Sure enough, faint footsteps are coming towards us.
Damn it, why the hell do all the Scoobies have such a fucking bad sense of timing?
"Buffy, can you take over for me?" Angel steps in, his hair in a spiky mess and with the usual creased brow. He looks tense and a vein is pulsing in his temple. Oh, yeah, dude's a vamp. Being around wounded Slayers with bloody bandages probably isn't a smart idea at….almost lunchtime.
I jump up and grab the first aid kit from the coffee table, slapping him a hello on the back.
"Blood's in the fridge next door at the facility. Help yourself." B says, following after me, leaving A to bolt out the front door. I survey the wounded in the living room. G-man has a sandwich in one hand and a wet rag in the other, bathing the forehead of the girl who's mumbling in her sleep. I hand the case to him in exchange for another sandwich.
"How's it goin?" I mumble, careful not to wake anybody up.
"Quite well, actually. The two at the hospital are out of the woods, fortunately, though they won't be fighting for a while. Of the ones here, they'll all be alright." He straightens up and gulps down the rest of the sandwich with a swig of water. When he turns back to us, there's a look on his face that I know way too well. I sigh and turn around, dragging B along with me.
"Time for a meeting."
After everyone's settled into the library, I slide myself onto the couch next to Ken, afraid to breathe in case it shatters the delicate silence. G-man stands up, taking off his glasses and crossing his arms over his chest.
"Well, after last night's events I don't think I need an introduction. Do we have any ideas? Any at all?"
Dawn, perched on a stool, holds up a sheet of computer paper.
"Well, it's definitely not the First. Maybe we're making too big of a deal out of this. It could just be some demons who got a little cocky and decided to take a swing at the newbie Slayers. Buffy and Faith took care of them already, right?" She asks.
"I dunno, Dawn. They seemed pretty organized to me. And that one that I brought back looked different from the rest of 'em. Like, robes and stuff. And that weird scar thing on the mouth? Not normal." I'm almost surprised to hear the words come outta my mouth, but I'm not complainin.
Who says I'm all brawn and no brain?
"Willow's in the other room inspecting the body, but you're right; its probably something bigger. So now we're left with a dozen Slayers out of commission, a gibberish language that I can't make head or tail out of, and one very pissed off Key." Dawn throws her hands up in the air and rubs a hand over her eyes, lip curled in an angry pout. B opens her mouth, then closes it. Who can blame her for being ticked off? The worst part is the not knowing. Sure, even if it was the First, we'd think, we'd fight, we'd deal. But with this, I don't know what the hell to expect.
"Um, Giles?"Red pokes her head out from the doorway.
"You might want to see this."
"You have got to be fucking shitting me." I'm staring openmouthed at the parchment in front of me, unable to believe what I'm fucking seeing.
B takes it with a little less profanity.
"Okay, wow. Way too much info, Will, I-" She's starting to hyperventilate, so I give her a good hard thump on the back. Shit, forgot about Slayer strength. She stumbles against the table and shoots me a dirty look, but at least now she's breathing.
"Facts. Okay, I need facts. Where'd you get this?"
"It was in the pocket of the demon that Faith brought back. The special one, with the funny robes and the X across the mouth. The original was bloody and icky, so I did a spell to find out what was on there before it got bloody and icky and that's when I saw this." Red babbles, obviously freaked. Hell, who isn't freaked? Don't panic, Faith. Don't you dare panic.
Too late.
"B, that's you. And that's me. How the hell did they draw a picture of us? I mean, most of them don't know what the hell a pencil is, let alone draw with the right end of the fucking thing!" This is bad. This is really, really bad. Shit, my hands are even shaking.
"Actually, it's not pencil." G-man says, examining it carefully. He's strangely calm, and I want to grab him and shake him until he gets as spooked as the rest of us. The drawings are crude and messy, but it's pretty damn clear. Two girls, that's for sure. One of em's holding the Scythe. The other is holding…my stomach clenches at the sight. It's blurry and the smudge marks don't help any, but looking at it, it's obvious. The knife, the one that B almost killed me with, the one that used to haunt every sleeping moment that I had. Looking at it, I feel the usual hot wave of nausea swell up in me.
"What the hell is it, then?"
"Blood."
Oh, that's a hell of a lot better. If looks could kill, he'd be a smokin' pile of ash by now.
"Okay, everyone stay calm. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this." B says, switching back into Slayer mode. Always cool and composed, efficient and deadly. What I guess I'm supposed to be right now.
"So, someone lived from Sunnydale." Dawn's quiet mumble echoes in the silent room.
"Looks like it." I say. "And whoever lived is controlling these guys."
After the initial shock wears off, I'm suddenly relaxed, like the calm right after (or before, fuck it) a storm. At least we have something to go on now. Lifting the delicate sheet between two of my fingers, I notice something faint written along the bottom.
"Hey, Red." She stops chewing on a fingernail and raises an eyebrow at me.
"What are these?" I show her the markings. Her brow furrows, and I swear I can hear her mind start up again, like the girl's a computer or somethin.
"I didn't notice those before..." she trails off as one hand feels around for her laptop, the other reaching for the parchment. Before I can blink again, she's typing away furiously, muttering underneath her breath. B gives me a rewarding smile, and I manage a grin. B can always get a smile outta me, even when we're in the middle of an acopalypse.
We're all milling around the library, waiting for something, anything to come up. Then Red walks back into the room, and the look on her face doesn't exactly make me relax.
"It's a prophecy."
Damn. I want to scream. I want to cry, punch a hole in the wall, scream again, then cuss someone out until I'm blue in the face. Instead, I settle for a growl and punching the table. The Powers-that-Be are in for something when I get up there.
"Red, tell me you're lying."
"No can do, Faith. That's what it is. And it's not exactly a good one either…." She shivers, handing everyone a copy of it. I bite back the remarks I really want to make and look at the sheet.
A summer beyond the closing of hell
The battle that will transcend time itself
Two mirror copies, of earth and the sun
Will fight for the fate of the hate and the love
The breathless ones wait for their share of the kill
The angels will wait for the smoke and the mill
The Slayer, the Demon, will meet in between
The rivers of red will flow into the sea
Who is to say, now, which ones will survive
And who will suffer the painful demise?
"Pleasant." Xan-man says, his voice bitter as he fiddles with his eyepatch.
"Wait, this is in English." B says, confused.
"Glad you noticed, B." I chuckle grimly, clenching my teeth a little too hard.
"Apparently they made a pretty good translation of it." Red shrugs.
"So what the heck does it mean?" Cordy says, resting her chin on the edge of the table. We all look at G. He jumps a little, then clears his throat.
"Yes, well, the two lines are rather self-explanatory; there will be a battle one year after we closed the Hellmouth. As for the two mirror copies, I have no idea."
Angel cuts in, his brooding voice only adding to the depression.
"I guess vampires are the breathless ones, then. And angels mean that someone's going to die." I could really just punch him in the face right now.
"Smoke? A mill? What's up with that?" Ken asks.
"Well, we think it means a crematorium. Like, smoke and a mill, to grind up the bones. We traced the language back to Norway and it seems like that's how they had funerals. They'd put the body in a boat, light it on fire, and set it out to sea." Red says, glancing at G-man.
"Okay, got that down. Now, onto the good part; who wrote it and how do we kill them?" Impatient, I slam the paper down on the table. I know that I'm acting recklessly, but I don't care; show me the bastard and I'm going to kill him. Or her, doesn't matter.
The silence tells me all I need to know.
I slump back into my seat. "So, you don't know who wrote it, what wrote it, or how we can kill the fucking thing."
"''Fraid not. But we've still got a lot of books to go through and the Council's database should have something on the topic." Red says, giving me an "I'm sorry" look before ducking behind another book.
It's going to be very long day.
I'm lying on the roof, watching the distant lights of the city flicker on and off. It's almost comforting. Sunnydale was never close enough so see the city lights. Deep down, I'm still a city girl, I guess. My jaw clenches slightly as my thoughts flit to Boston, but I push them outta my mind and concentrate on the stars, counting them until my vision blurs and they all start to run together.
I prop myself up on one elbow and stare at the moon, this huge yellow crescent that seems closer to the earth than usual. My eyes start to close and I doze for a little bit, the night air nipping at my nose.
Me and B didn't go on patrol today. Hell, it was hard enough trying to take care of all the wounded and research too. Way too much information to absorb. Damn, I feel like I could sleep a week.
Something cracks behind me and I whirl around, slipping the hidden stake from my pocket and rising into a crouch, ready to fight.
"Whoa, calm down, Faith. It's just me." B steps out into the moonlight, a sheepish smile on her face.
I force myself to relax, dropping my hand so it hangs limp by my side. Damn, a close call.
"Ya know, B, you came pretty near to getting a stake in your gut there." I smirk, trying to laugh it off.
"Nah, I would've stopped you, then kicked your ass." She says matter-of-factly, tucking her legs under her as she sits.
"Really."
"Yes, really." I contemplate my options, then decide to let it go. Anyway, the grin she gives me? Definitely compensation. Somehow, I've ended up with my arm around her, breathing in the sweet scent of her hair as she rests her head on my shoulder.
"Nice night tonight."
"Yeah." And it is.
I listen to her light breathing, perfectly content. When I'm helping her train the other Slayers or when we're researching, she's serious and efficient to the point of being cold. Here, with me, it's like all her walls fall away and she can be herself, laughing and joking and showing me the girly side of her. How the hell did I get so lucky? Only one thing is keeping me from letting go and enjoying this completely.
"B?"
"Hmm?"
"About last night…"
Instantly, her body freezes up. We've kinda been avoiding the topic today, cuz when I bring it up there's always something more urgent around the corner.
"What about it?" Her voice is so quiet, but it silences the chaos in my head instantly. Before I can overthink what I need to say, the words are tumbling outta my mouth like a fucking waterfall.
"Look, B, I know you said you wanted to take this slow. And I respect that. But we went really far last night and hell, if you regret it or something I'm sorry cuz I wasn't thinkin' straight."
I stop and wait. She doesn't say anything, so I go on.
"But I don't regret it. At all. If I got the chance to go back I'd do it again in a second. And you can kick my ass tomorrow morning, but I just wanted you to know." B doesn't move. I get up off the roof and slip back inside, tiptoeing across the floor to B's room. Grabbing the pillow and blanket I stashed there, I open the door and start to make myself comfortable on the hallway carpet.
Suddenly, a hand grabs me by the elbow and pulls me back into the room, shutting the door behind me.
