With a surprised grunt, Faith stumbled back a step. Her hands automatically cradled Willow's hips as she fought for balance. "What the fuck, Red?" Her mind immediately sought an explanation for the near-stranglehold Willow had on her neck. "Somebody die?" One of the girls? Giles?
Faith's hands tightened at the same time as her stomach.
"B?" No way. Faith peered at Willow intently. "Did somethin' happen to B?" As she waited tensely for an answer, Faith thought she heard giggles from the junior Slayers nearby.
She knew Willow giggled. She could clearly see Willow's wide smile, too. "No, Faith!" One hand unwrapped from behind Faith's neck and gently tapped her on the back of the head. "No one got hurt – or killed."
Faith struggled to understand that. "Uh…OK," she mumbled in confusion.
"Thank you." Willow's smile changed, becoming less bright and more…
Wanting to shake her head, Faith stared at Willow's lips. When had Willow gotten so sexy? Mesmerized by the inviting curve and the light sheen of moisture on Willow's mouth, she automatically leaned in closer. "Thanks for what?" she asked absently.
Willow's head seemed to rise in anticipation; their lips were only inches apart now. "The flowers. They were beautiful."
Just like Willow, Faith thought. Beautiful. She could almost feel Willow's breath now. Then the meaning of Willow's comment finally reached her brain. The flowers! Faith's head snapped back to a safer distance. "Right." What the hell was she doing? She'd nearly kissed Willow! "You know… Kinda wanted to do a little thankin' of my own." It was hard to breathe, and Faith was hot and cold at the same time. She had to get control. Now. Before she did something stupid.
Some of the color in Willow's cheeks faded, making her freckles stand out in contrast. "Faith, why did you send me flowers?" Her voice sounded strangely choked, almost strangled.
"For the paperwork and shit." Faith wasn't going into more details with Chelsea only a few steps away. "Owe you way more than that, but I don't think I'm ever gonna be able to pay you back." How much was her life, her freedom, worth?
"Oh. That." Willow went even paler then all of the color returned at once in a brilliant wave of red. "I thought…Well, flowers…Wow. My mistake." Her hands dropped from Faith's neck and she stepped away so fast she staggered.
All the heat disappeared from around Faith. The air was suddenly frigid. Glancing around, Faith realized the drop in temperature might not have anything to do with a sudden loss of heat in the building. No. Most of the cold seemed to be emanating from the group of girls clustering protectively around Willow. She frowned, unsure of the shift in mood. What had she done?
"Detective, since Faith didn't finish the introductions," Nicole said, her voice cutting into Faith's confused perusal of the group, "let me take care of that." She pointed to Willow. "This is Willow, she's our researcher and expert in all things arcane."
Willow held out a hand to Chelsea. "Welcome aboard, Detective. I wish the ride was going to be a little less bumpy," she said, the previous tightness in her voice more pronounced. "We'll try to make sure you're buckled in safely, though."
The situation was becoming more and more like the old Scooby meetings with every minute. Faith hated the sudden out of synch sensation almost as much as she hated the impression that Nicole had stepped in to save her…from something. Old habits kicked in automatically. Faith's hands found sanctuary in her pockets and she threw her shoulders back. As she had the previous day, Faith hovered on the edge. She could see the point of no return looming under the toe of her shoe. One step. One smirk. One innuendo-laden comment, and all of her hard work would be lost.
Faith's right hand popped free of its denim resting place and rubbed at the goose bumps pimpling her skin.
She wasn't crossing that line. Repeating that vow over and over in her head, Faith watched without interference as Nicole introduced the team of Juniors in the conference room. Finally, when the fear of backsliding faded, Faith resumed her place in the conversation. "We got more Slayers gettin' ready upstairs, Chief. Three teams. The Tweed Crew's sending more, too. Should be here tonight." She looked at Willow for confirmation, stepping farther away from that invisible line in the carpet at Willow's small smile and nod.
"Giles and I did some more research while you were gone. Although the texts are pretty vague on dates and locations, I'm pretty sure Detective Lake has to be at the tribe's ancestral home to cast her vote. I diverted the new girls in that direction; they are spreading out along the way there."
Faith didn't like Chelsea's frown. Hadn't they dealt with her disbelief at the apartment? She was so focused on finding another way to convince her of the reality of the threat that she almost missed Chelsea's question. "What are they watching for? What kind of threat? Just the vampires that Nicole and Faith mentioned?"
There was an uncomfortable silence. The Juniors all appeared to be interested in the carpet or the walls. And Willow… Faith bit back a chuckle. From the bright flush and the way she bit her lip, it was clear she and Giles hadn't pinpointed the army referenced in the prophecy.
"That's kind of the problem, Chief," Faith said quietly, coming to Willow's rescue. She met Chelsea's stare calmly. "All them old books talk in riddles. So far, all we know is a big ass group of undead – could be vamps, could be zombies – is out to kill you." Giving Chelsea a grin, Faith offered her opinion. "Don't really matter. They ain't going to get close to you, Chief."
***
Chelsea felt her lips twitching in response. Faith seemed very sure of their chances. Still… She couldn't quite get past the grainy image of Night of the Living Dead that was suddenly running in her head. "Zombies?"
One of the kids in the group surrounding them laughed. "Yeah." She held her arms stiffly out in front of her body. "Grr… Argh…"
More laughter sounded.
Thinking longingly of her once normal life, Chelsea rubbed a hand over her eyes. "What do we do now?" She understood the need to find a safe haven; however, Chelsea wasn't used to standing on the sidelines. Not even Faith's new scowl was going to deter her from taking an active part in her own defense. "Are we staying here or heading for St. Reginald?"
"Here, for now." Willow gestured toward a projector and screen at the far side of the room. "I've got another conference call in a few minutes. The first of the new Slayers should be in position, and I'm coordinating with her Watcher." As if sensing Chelsea's lack of understanding, Willow clarified. "Teacher, trainer." She flashed a quirky grin. "Basically the brains behind the brawn."
There were a few friendly grumbles from the crowd. "Did you just call us stupid, Red?" Faith crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at Willow. "You might wanna think that over, 'cause you and the Chief are the only non-Slayers in the room."
"I only call it like I see it, Faith." Willow stuck her tongue out at Faith, and Chelsea barely restrained a chuckle. Those two needed to get a room and get it over with. Of course, she thought with a smirk, maybe Willow's description of Slayers wasn't that far off. From what she'd seen earlier, Chelsea was convinced Faith didn't have a clue that Willow was on the prowl.
Chelsea didn't let herself get distracted by her mirth. "Nicole said earlier that I'm not the only target. Are you putting people on Anshu, too?" Family might be a new concept in Chelsea's life, but that didn't mean she was unclear on how it was supposed to work. If she had a personal guard, he needed one as well.
Her question caught Willow off-guard. Eyes widening, Willow stared at Chelsea. "Uh…"
"Sounds like a 'no' to me," Faith interpreted. "Don't blame Red, though. We ain't real used to the protection gig."
"Get used to it." Now that the idea had occurred, Chelsea wasn't backing away from it. "If the tales were true, none of this works without me and Anshu. You've got your own personal army here. Send some of them out to bring him in."
A head shake answered her directive. "No can do, Chief." Faith at least had the grace to appear sorry about that. "It ain't that we don't want to…" Grimacing, she admitted softly, "We don't know where he is. The only reason we got a clue who he is is that Nic saw him try to grab you at your place the other night."
Damn it. Chelsea ground her teeth in frustration. For all of their purported mission to protect her and to make sure the prophecy (whatever it was) didn't happen, Faith and her crew knew very little. "I'll make some calls." Being a cop had some advantages; they were good at finding people. Usually.
"You can't," Willow protested immediately.
Letting a little of her anger leak out, Chelsea glowered at the younger woman. "Why not? You don't seem to be having any luck finding him. If I put in a call to the House, the Sarge can quit surfing the Internet and do something useful."
Willow turned bright red and wiggled in place. "That wasn't what I meant, Detective," she said softly. "It's a bad idea to get too many people involved in…in something like this. We can't tell them about what we do. About the supernatural." She held out a hand in entreaty. "And, as you said, cops are good at finding people – and information. That might expose us."
Chelsea wasn't entirely sure that was a bad thing, but she let that part of Willow's argument slide for the moment. Instead, she focused on the most important point. "Then, if I can't call in the squad, you need to start looking for Anshu a little harder." She met Willow's eyes. "Because if he isn't in the hotel by tonight, I'm picking up the phone."
One of the girls in the group surrounding them cleared her throat. "If you want, me and some of the other Juniors can stake out the detective's apartment. This Anshu might try to contact her again."
It wasn't clear to whom she'd addressed her statement; however, Faith was the one who answered. "Give Red some time to do her magic on the computer, Chan. It's a hell of ra lot safer than putting you and the kids on Lake's place. Look what happened the last time we tried that."
Everyone glanced at Nicole – who immediately stared at the carpet.
"Besides, Lake called in her partner on that car Nic spotted. Gonna be a lot of cops cruising by, I bet." Faith pointed at Chanise. "I ain't saying you won't end up hiding in a doorway so pick your crew and be ready to roll."
Chanise grabbed the girl next to her and trotted for the door.
"Speaking of that car…" Willow moved through the crowd of girls to the table with the projector and the computer. "I think we overreacted, ladies," she called out. "The car was registered to the NYPD. The 27th Precinct, actually. When I did a little digging, I found out that it had been checked out by two detectives: Ed Green and Cyrus Lupo. Do you know them, Detective?"