Tired green eyes blinked up at the gang. "Hey," Willow said breathily, "you guys weren't planning on killing the Mayor without me, were you?"
Faith's chest ached. It had to be Buffy's emotions. The tears, too. Rubbing a hand over her watering eyes, she stepped back. This was Scooby time, and she didn't want to intrude.
A hand gripped her arm. "Going somewhere?" Buffy asked knowingly.
"Ah, not really. Just…um, just going to have a seat and wait for all the hugs and shit to get over." Faith tried to step away, and the hand tightened. "B, come on. This is a Scooby moment. I'd just be in the way." Pointing toward Willow and Oz, she said more firmly, "Go be with Red. I'll sit right here until you're done."
Nodding, Buffy turned away, and Faith sighed in relief. She wasn't ready to face Willow and the evidence of the Mayor's attack. Faith dropped into a chair, head back and eyes closed.
"I changed my mind." Buffy's voice interrupted Faith's rest.
"B-" Faith started to say.
Buffy wasn't backing down. "Nope. No visiting without you. Besides, Will needs to know you're the one who saved her."
About to protest, Faith got lost in determined hazel eyes and groaned. "Whatever, B," she griped, standing with an exaggerated sigh. Rubbing sweaty palms on her pant legs, she reluctantly followed Buffy to Willow's nest of blankets and pillows.
For a second, Faith thought they'd been wrong. Willow wasn't better. She looked bad -pale and tired. Blood still seeped from the pressure bandage wrapped around the shoulder peeking above one of the blankets. Then the familiar quirky smile popped out. "I thought maybe you got lost. I mean, here I am, all back from the almost-dead and you're all the way over there."
Buffy immediately knelt at Willow's side. "Sorry, Wills. I had to drag Faith away from her oh so important brooding." Faith rolled her eyes, hunching her shoulders at the accurate description of her actions. "I'm here now, ready and willing to nurse you back to health," Buffy continued fervently.
Letting the two friends complete their bonding rituals, Faith turned to Giles. "Guess Fang found the right bottle?"
"Indeed." Giles beamed, eyes misty behind his glasses. "An extraordinary anti-toxin. Did you know the poison actually eats away the victim's soul? I'm afraid without your help, Willow would have been a zombie by tonight."
Faith shivered. "Nice. Glad I could help." She glanced back at Buffy. The big reunion was ending – mostly because Willow was almost asleep. "Red's gonna be OK now, right?"
"As far as we can tell, yes," Giles answered. "The anti-toxin apparently repairs any damage from the poison."
"She still looks all white and crap, though." Faith didn't want to call Giles a liar, but she wasn't sure he hadn't put a spin on the information.
He smiled at her comment. "I daresay she won't be one hundred percent for a while. The poison has been cleared from her system. However, she was also shot. That wound was not repaired." Giles' brow furrowed as his eyes returned to the bloody bandage with a concern he couldn't conceal.
Buffy gently linked her fingers with Willow's hand. "Nice to see you back, Wills."
"Yeah." Willow's smile faded a little. "I was a little worried for a while. I should have known you'd take care of me, though."
Staring at Willow's pale, strained face, Buffy searched for the right words. "Wish I could take credit." Her eyes dropped, tracing the line of freckles on Willow's injured shoulder. "I was pretty useless this time. You and death made for Freaked Buffy."
Their linked hands shook slightly as Willow tried to get Buffy's attention. "I'd be the same way if it was you, Buffy. Good thing for us both we have a support crew. Who was it? Xander?" They shared a smile at that then Willow sobered. "I'm glad Angel got over his mad to help out. The poison…it made me feel really scary, Buff."
Buffy nodded at that. "Giles said something about the poison eating your soul. That would make for very scary feelings." Glancing over her shoulder, Buffy saw Faith talking with Giles. "Angel did help out. Um…it was really Faith's idea, though, to go to the Mayor's office."
An ominous silence followed her comment.
"Wills? Please give her a chance," Buffy pleaded, finally looking into Willow's green eyes. She winced at the disbelief and hurt mirrored there. "She's changed. I promise." Buffy hesitated to tell Willow about the expanded link, about what she'd seen in Faith's mind. She'd do it if she had to, though. Her best friend and her girlfriend had to get along.
"Buffy, she's dangerous. Maybe…maybe she's been helping us out lately, but, please – one dance at the Prom is so not the same as actually fighting the Mayor." Willow's soft rant slowed as she took a wheezing breath. "What if she's really working for the Mayor, Buffy? Huh? Did you ever consider that?"
Despite their long-time friendship, Buffy grew impatient. "Willow! How can you say that?"
Oz interrupted before Buffy could continue. "I think Will's tired. Could we talk about the thing at Graduation and then let her get some rest?" It was the longest comment Buffy had ever heard him make.
"Right," she said tightly. "Graduation." Buffy turned to the rest of the group. "It's strategy time, guys. Will's not feeling so hot and we need to pick her brain before she passes out."
Everyone moved closer, taking seats on the floor or in chairs pulled right up to the edge of Willow's spot in front of the check out desk.
Needing some space, Buffy stood and grabbed a chair, placing it at Willow's feet. She relaxed marginally when Faith sat on the floor, leaning into her legs. "Unless someone else has a plan, I say we go with mine." She raked the group with her eyes, waiting for more arguments.
A hand waved in the air in front of her. "You wanna go over it again? I don't think I got the memo," Faith said.
Buffy almost refused. She'd gotten enough grief the first time. "Sure. I can go over it again." Mentally daring Wesley to say anything, she launched into her explanation. "Basically, we don't have a way to build a volcano in Sunnydale. That means we get to fight Snakeman and all his vampire buddies at Graduation. My plan is to give every member of the graduating class water guns filled with holy water, have Xander borrow a few hand grenades and rocket launchers, and kill as many as we can." It sounded far less effective out loud. Buffy braced for the questions.
The first one didn't come where she expected. "You're gonna give the kiddies guns? Are you crazy, B?" Faith spun around to stare at her.
Xander started to laugh – then turned that into a cough when Buffy glared at him. "I am not crazy." Grimacing, Buffy looked between Faith and Wesley. "I am weirded out, though. Did you and Wes get together when I wasn't looking? 'Cause he said the same thing, just not with those words."
Faith frowned at that, eyes darting to a very smug Wesley. "Not saying Wes is right, B, just…there has to be another way."
"I'm all out of ideas." Buffy tried not to snap. No one else was offering solutions, just criticism.
"Buffy, we don't really need a volcano, you know." Willow winced as she sat up a little. "We just need a fire hot enough to act like one."
Wesley cleared his throat, and Buffy closed her eyes in near pain. God, if he said something stupid right now…
He surprised her. "I've done some research since we discovered what the Professor was working on. The lava in Hawaiian volcanoes averages two thousand degrees Fahrenheit. Perhaps there is a way to create a fire with equal heat?" he asked, peering around the gathered group.
"I might be able to get another rocket launcher, like Buffy wanted," Xander said. Flicking his hair out of his eyes, he grinned a little. "We can start the fire with a bang. Will, can you do something magic-y to make it really hot?"
Giles answered for Willow. "Unfortunately, the Judge was, as Anya informed us, a hybrid demon. Once the Mayor ascends, not even a rocket would be enough. And magic would be too much for Willow in her current state of health." Giles grimaced at the group moan his words received. "I'm afraid we'll need to find another way to do as Wesley suggested."
Buffy listened to the Scoobies plan, mind growing numb. Her idea had been a long shot, sure; was it really so much worse than making lava? The more Willow babbled on about spells and relative temperatures, the more convinced Buffy became that this was the one battle they couldn't win.
"Why can't we take out the Mayor now?" Faith asked, and Buffy forced herself to sit up. This was old information to the gang, and she didn't want anyone stomping on Faith's question.
"If you'd been here, you'd know the answer to that." Right on cue, Willow jumped in, verbal guns blazing.
Before Buffy could object, Joyce cleared her throat. Everyone looked at her. "I've been wondering that myself," she said with a pensive smile. "Why get the students involved at all?"
Looking red over her pallor, Willow mumbled, "It's part of the preparation for the Ascension. The Mayor is invulnerable now. We can't kill him until after he becomes a demon."
Joyce rubbed her forehead. "Oh." Leaning back in her chair, she fell silent, looking worried.
"Wait a minute. You think the Mayor's still human?" Faith sprang to her feet, striding over to stand next to Willow.
Buffy stood also, energized by the excitement she could feel from Faith.
Arms waving in emphasis, Faith went on, "He might have been all human a couple of days ago. Now…My Slayer senses were fucking off the charts earlier. Fang'll back me up."
Like puppets pulled by strings, the Scoobies looked at the silent vampire. "She's right. I could feel him, too," Angel agreed.
"We can't beat him with weapons. I stabbed him right through the heart with a knife, and he laughed." Faith frowned, derailed by the memory.
"How does this help?" Willow hadn't turned the corner on trusting Faith. There was a snap of impatience in her voice.
It woke Faith from her daydream, though. "Because I think I know how to kill him."