Tara shivered as Buffy's breath whispered softly across her neck. "Th-thanks," she mumbled back, warmed by the soft promise. Of course, Tara had no intention of holding Buffy to her vow. It would be too easy to rely on Buffy's obvious strength and sense of duty. She swore (to herself, at least) to be a fully participating member of the gang. Unfortunately for Tara's inner grandstanding, she had to lean on Buffy as they dodged counters, carts, tables, and a myriad of overturned chairs in the kitchen and cafeteria.
As they moved into the large eating area, the gloom lightened again. Floor-to-ceiling windows let in a glimmer of starlight and someone, probably Willow, had located and lit a handful of votive cups. In the flickering light, Tara saw Professor Walsh and Colonel Englemann bound to a pair of chairs with several of the empty plastic grocery bags from the Jeep.
Neither captive looked happy or particularly comfortable.
"Nice, Faith." Buffy steered Tara to an adjacent table and pulled out a chair. "I bet Walmart never thought those bags would be used for anything but hauling food and stuff."
Sitting down, Tara smiled up at Buffy as Faith preened at the praise. "Thank you," she said again. To make sure she got her very real gratitude across, Tara squeezed Buffy's hand for a second before releasing it. "W-Willow and I can work with Mr. Giles wh-while you and Faith are gone. Maybe we can find…find something." She hated to be vague; however, Tara still wasn't sure what they could do against Ethan.
Her confidence level shot up when Buffy returned her smile. "I'm sure you and Will'll have it all figured out." She turned away and waved at Walsh. "Don't give the gang too much trouble, Professor. Giles isn't always the uptight British guy he seems. You wouldn't want to make him angry." Ignoring Giles' sputter and Willow's giggle, Buffy trotted toward the back of the cafeteria. "Let's hit the road, Faith. I'd like to get Will set up and hunting answers."
They melted into the darkness in seconds, the only clue to their whereabouts the faint swish of the doors as they left the room.
"Did you have a spell in mind, Tara?" Willow didn't wait more than a minute before claiming the seat next to Tara's. "How do we keep Ethan from finding us?"
That wasn't really their biggest problem. Tara stifled a sigh and gripped her hands together nervously. "I d-don't think we can k-keep him fr-from finding us, Willow. I th-think we should focus on wh-what to do when he does." Hoping that Giles could provide more experience – and a buffer to Willow's boundless enthusiasm – she looked at Giles. "Mr. Giles, can you t-tell us more about Ethan?"
Giles' grimace was amusing. His words were not. "I'm afraid my knowledge of Ethan Rayne is many years old. And, given his actions earlier today with Buffy, I am not at all certain I have anything relevant to offer."
"It's more than we have now, Giles." Willow scooted closer. "The thing with Buffy is so the tip of the magical iceberg. We found out he's working with Walsh on some kind of scientific experiment on demons and vampires."
"What?" Voice rising, Giles gripped the back of an empty chair. Then, visibly pulling himself together, he said, "Forgive me. We had already determined he had allies for this project. I simply did not expect he would be part of anything so… well, so fantastical. Ethan has tended toward plots based on mischief and disaster."
His quiet diatribe was interrupted by a hastily smothered snort, and they all spun to stare at Professor Walsh. She glared back, apparently not at all intimidated by her current circumstances.
For a long moment, no one spoke. "I don't think she agrees with you, Giles." Willow wrinkled her nose. "Not surprising, really. Buffy always said Walsh was an egomaniac. Well, she really called her a power-crazy bitch, but I think egomaniac is closer."
Walsh's face flushed bright red and Tara thought she might explode.
"You should see the information I printed out at the underground lab we found tonight," Willow continued. "It's like some freaky science fiction movie."
"Why don't you sh-show us what you have, Wil-low?" Tara hated to say anything. She understood magic, not science. Her focus was on Ethan. Still, it was possible Ethan and the research was connected somehow. "What were th-they building?"
Brandishing another plastic bag, Willow announced, "A hybrid. These are the blueprints and notes."
Giles reached across the table and took the bag. "What sort of hybrid, Willow? Demon and vampire? For what purpose?" He pulled all of the paper Willow had printed out and set it on the table.
"I didn't get a chance to look through all of it. The goon squad showed up," Willow complained.
"Th-then we need to see wh-what you missed." It sounded harsher than Tara intended, but Willow nodded in agreement. "Should we div-vide the material?" she asked; although, she wasn't sure she'd recognize anything important in the diagrams and pages upon pages of printed documents.
Sitting down, Giles made the decision for them. "I'll start here." He took the first inch of paper from the top and then shoved the remaining stack at Willow.
"Whoo hoo. Research." Grinning in apparent happiness, Willow grabbed her own pile. "I miss the smell of the books, though. And the research tables. These aren't the same, you know? No crinkly pages and spidery script to read."
With far less enthusiasm, Tara reached for the remaining printouts and bit back a sigh. Research. Only a couple of days ago, her biggest problem had been finding out Buffy was her roommate.
Buffy followed Faith out of the cafeteria. It wasn't like she remembered. The gleaming hallways were covered in a fine layer of dust littered with broken pieces of concrete, linoleum, and metal. Lockers still lines the walls; however, many of those listed drunkenly and doors hung open at odd angles.
"Where we headed, B?" Faith's question jarred Buffy out of her examination of the hall.
"The science wing." Moving faster, Buffy passed Faith and took the lead. "Mom's probably right about it being the best place to work. It's all the way at the back, and I doubt even the big bomb did more than crack a few windows." She forced a smile and a wink. Being back was harder than she'd thought. It took effort not to stop and stare into classrooms – or head for the heart of all her high school memories. The library would have to wait.
They walked in silence all the way through the economics hallway. Then Faith caught up with Buffy. "What's up with you and T?"
Excellent. This was exactly what Buffy did not want to talk about right now. "What do you mean?" she asked, stalling for time. For answers. The tactic didn't work. Faith merely raised an eyebrow and grinned, dimples peeking out. Buffy's face heated but she remained stubbornly silent.
"Come on, B. First you tell Willow that T hates you 'cause you were a bitch in LA." Faith's voice echoed oddly in the unnaturally quiet hallways. "I ain't even gonna mention a little naked tag at your mom's place."
No. Faith wasn't going to mention Buffy's turn as the Cave Slayer. Nope. Buffy glowered at Faith and stomped along beside her.
"Now you're all holding hands and 'Don't worry. I won't let anything hurt you'," Faith continued.
Slayer hearing sucked. "Shut up!" Buffy snapped before she could control the words. "Just shut up!" Faith made everything sound sordid and dirty. It wasn't like that. They hadn't been holding hands; they'd been…reassuring each other.
Faith raised her hands in a surrender Buffy knew was false. "You got something you wanna tell me? Come right on out and say it." Her husky chuckle was the final straw.
Diving across the short space between them, Buffy gripped Faith by the shirt collar and slammed her into the wall. "I said shut up!" Her breath came in harsh pants. "Tara is a friend, I hope. A friend. For some reason I can't begin to understand, she's willing to accept my apology and give me a second chance. If I ever hear you hint, even a little, that there's more to it than that, I'll do more than kick your ass."
Dust motes danced in the dim light around them. Buffy felt her muscles tremble with strain as she glared at Faith. Faith glared back. "Whatever," she finally mumbled.
"What did you say?" Buffy wasn't letting Faith off so easily. "I didn't hear you."
"I said OK." Faith raised her arms over her head and jammed her elbows down on Buffy's wrists, breaking Buffy's hold. "Fucking head case." Back stiff, she strode away without another word.
The disgruntled silence lasted for the rest of their journey. Buffy spent the time with her senses on alert while her eyes took in what was left of Sunnydale High School. Her mother had been right. Her path of destruction on graduation day hadn't been total. Or even widespread. As she followed Faith outside into the rear quad, the signs of the fight faded. Nothing remained of the rows of chairs, the podium, or the maroon banner.
Those memories lived in Buffy.
"Am I late? To the fight?" Willow grinned manically as she ducked into the row next to Buffy and straightened her mortar board. Before the tassel swung from the correct side, though, another voice rose above the crowd.
"Well, what a day this is. A special day," Mayor Wilkins announced. Buffy glanced at him and her throat closed on a gasp. His smile was evil.
Buffy's steps slowed. Stomach churning, she took a deep breath. The Mayor was dead. That battle was over. A new evil lurked outside the dubious shelter of this campus. "Let's pick up the pace," she announced and suited action to words. Jogging through the breezeway, Buffy wrenched open the door to the Science Building. It didn't budge.
"Easy there, General B. You really think the construction guys're gonna leave the door wide open? I'm guessing they've got all kinds of stuff inside they don't want stolen." Faith brushed Buffy aside and shoved more gently at the door. "Dead bolt. Easy to break if we don't care about leaving a trail. Anybody'll spot the break in, though."
"What are the other options?" Buffy asked. This was Faith's area of expertise.
Shoving both hands into her pockets, Faith searched for something. "Only other plan is to pick it. A credit card always works on TV." Her hands re-emerged – empty. "Got your wallet on ya'?" Faith didn't wait for a response, perhaps sensing how close Buffy was to exploding. "Hang here a sec. Maybe I can get in one of the windows. Locks on those are cake to pop."
Buffy concentrated on unclenching her jaws after Faith sprinted away. She counted to ten four times before she was back in control – with only a lingering ache along her molars. Spinning to face the quad, she peered into the darkness. There was no sign of Faith. Buffy could feel her; Faith hadn't left. Absently rubbing her arms against the growing chill, she ignored the first sluggish pull of exhaustion. Sleep took a distant second to saving the world.
A dull click interrupted Buffy's stifled yawn. "We're in, B. And we hit the motherlode. Two rooms with phones, computers, even a TV. Let's grab the gang and finish this shit. Me and Red were supposed to have a night on the town before you hit the bottle. We get done fast enough, might be able to hit the Bronze for some slow dancin'," Faith said with a suggestive leer.