The Summers Residence, a week later.
It had taken nearly a week for Faith to settle down at the apartment that Fred had been renting; the two of them not having nearly the amount of history that the dark haired Slayer had with the Scoobies, so it was easier for them to form a bond, or at least try to with Wesley's help. As for Faith and Buffy, It was true that Buffy and Faith would go for patrols together, and it was awkward for the both of them, however, over the week Buffy did notice that Faith was a bit more controlled with that flash of being a Slayer who enjoys her work a bit too much occasionally shining through. However, it was the seventh day of Faith being in Sunnydale that the dark-haired Slayer finally returned to where she had held both Joyce and Dawn hostage just before she switched bodies with Buffy; it was an uncomfortable feeling for Faith at the Summers house, especially she hadn't seen Xander and the others, except for Buffy, since she came to town.
She was spending the majority of the time trying to get used to the peppy Fred.
Back in the Summers house, the dark haired Slayer surprised everyone by telling Tara that she was sorry about not having met her in her own body.
"I was kinda in B's body back then, ya know?" asked Faith as Tara nodded her head while Willow scowled at Faith, as did Dawn. Her first meeting with Xander after her prison release went as well as could be expected; he was still slightly angry at Faith for assaulting him, to which she put her hands up and admitted that what she did was wrong.
"Although," said Faith as she smirked at Xander, "you have to kinda admit you enjoyed it, a little bit."
"Did not," said Xander.
"Yeah," said Willow furrowing her eyebrows, "he didn't."
"Yeah, he did," said Faith, "I felt it."
"You felt… oh," said Tara as she then looked at Xander, as did Willow and Buffy, and Dawn, "you…"
"Not. One. Word," said Xander as he raised an eyebrow at the women around him. It was then that Faith took a step forward and told the young man that she heard about Anya.
"Sorry," said Faith as Xander took in a deep breath, "heard you guys got the nutjob though."
"He's out of our hair," said Tara.
"And Tara," said Faith with a smirk as she turned to the blonde witch, "so when do I get to meet your brother?"
"Ummm…" said Tara as she looked around at the girls and Xander, before looking at Faith again, "he's coming by tomorrow."
"Oh, right," said Buffy, "your brother's wedding, I mean your other brother's wedding."
"Yeah," said Tara as she noticed Buffy's aura flash slightly, "he's coming by tomorrow morning to pick me and Willow up, and he's got some souvenirs he wants to give you guys."
"Sweet," said Dawn, "I wonder if he's going by himself."
"Umm.." said Faith as she looked at Buffy and looked at her unease, before looking at Tara again, "your brother wouldn't happen to have a date yet, would he?"
"I… I'm not sure," said Tara as she looked at the flash of jealousy from Buffy's aura, and the blonde witch noticed that Faith was glancing over at Buffy before looking back at her, 'she's testing Buffy.'
"Mind if I ask him out?" asked Faith.
"No," said Willow as she waved her arms as Tara and the others looked at her, with Buffy's eyes wide open and discretely shaking her head 'no'. Willow then attempted to back track by saying that, "I mean I think he's already seeing… I mean he's already dating someone where he's deployed and he's pretty happy with her. Right? Tara?"
"Yes," said Tara with her eyes wide open.
"You could've just said no," said Faith with an eyebrow raised at Tara before she headed for the kitchen, "I guess I'll have to call the guy with the whip."
"With the what now?" asked Dawn as she followed Faith to the kitchen, as did a suddenly curious Xander. The other people left in the living room now was Buffy, Tara, and Willow; and Buffy turned back to Tara and asked if Colonel Sheppard had asked anyone yet.
"He's coming back tomorrow to ask his plus one," said Tara shrugging her shoulders, "I think he's interested in someone."
"Yeah," said Willow nodding her head, "why? You interested in being his plus one? I mean… you haven't really talked about him much except to say that you got a few emails. So do you guys talk lovey dovey stuff and…"
"Will," said Tara and Buffy together as the redhead chuckled.
"Oh come on," said Willow as she put her arm around Buffy's shoulder, "if I can't make fun of my best friend, who can I make fun off."
"Ha ha ha," said Buffy as she glared at Willow, "I'm gonna be too busy anyway."
"Oh?" asked Tara curiously as she looked at Willow, and then at Buffy, "and you'll be busy doing what now?"
"Slaying, then helping make sure that Faith doesn't do anything stupid, and…."
"I heard that!" shouted Faith from the kitchen.
"Well, it's true," shouted Buffy before she turned back towards Willow and Tara who were now standing together, "anyway, I'll probably use that dress you guys made me get and go to the Bronze with Xander, Dawn, and…. Can't believe I'm gonna say this… and Faith."
"Yeah, B," shouted Faith from the kitchen, "you, me, the pipsqueak, and the Xan-man… meeting hot guys and chicks… I'm in."
"There will be no meeting hot guys," shouted Buffy as she looked towards the sitting room situated at the rear of the living room that led to the kitchen. It wasn't too long before they heard footsteps running from the kitchen to the sitting room as Faith appeared with a grin on her face.
"So you're into hot chicks now?" asked Faith as Buffy's mouth opened wide while Dawn and Xander, who were in the hallway that led to the sitting room, covered their mouths and chuckled at the expression on Buffy's face. It was then that Dawn put up her hand, stepped forward, and spoke.
"I'd rather have a hot guy," said Dawn.
"No," said Buffy before she shook her head and looked at Faith, telling her not to eavesdrop.
"Can't help it, B," said Faith shrugging her shoulders, "had to multi-task in prison. Had to keep hearing for anything that would take me out, and I mean had a few run-ins but I didn't kill them… anyway, hearing stuff helped me survive."
"The strength helped too," said Tara.
"And the counselling," said Faith shrugging her shoulders, before she headed back in the kitchen, with Buffy watching her leave. She then turned to Xander and Dawn with her hands on her hips, and just stared at the two of them with an eye-brow raised.
"Fine," said Dawna as she raised her hands up in frustration before turning around, "I'll look at hot girls, and not at hot guys… sheeesh."
"Not helping," said Buffy as Dawn walked away grumbling while Xander chuckled before telling Buffy and the others that he was doing well.
"But I'll be your wingman tomorrow," said Xander pointing at Buffy before he turned around and walked into the kitchen. Shaking her head, Buffy then looked at Willow and Tara how were chuckling away, and narrowed her eyes at them.
Buffy knew that something was up, but she couldn't figure out what it was.
It would be later that night that Buffy and the others would watch the coverage of the explosion in the news. It was billed as a gas explosion in a financial services firm, and that would be the explanation until Giles arrived the next day in the afternoon.
The Summers Home, 0730 hours.
Buffy walked down the stairs in blue jeans and a red shirt while she was wiping her eyes with the back of her hands. She smelt the coffee in the air when she got up in her sushi pyjamas and the change while she realized that it was a weekend. Shrugging her shoulders as she got out of bed, the blonde Slayer opened the door to her room and walked down the stairs without changing since she had every intention of wanting to go back to bed since she was off today for working at the Magic Box. Instead, Fred and Faith would be working there under Wesley while Buffy just relaxed with Dawn before they had to go to the Bronze later that night.
Once Buffy reached the foyer, she looked at the three suitcases, and realized that Willow and Tara were waiting on Colonel Sheppard.
"Willow? Tara?" asked Buffy as she looked inside the living room, and then she went to the dining room when Tara called out to her from the kitchen. Buffy say them waving at her when the doorbell rang, and the blonde then turned again into the foyer, and opened the door to Colonel Sheppard who was in civilian clothes waiting in the porch.
"Hey," said the Colonel who was carrying some bags, and a long box under his left arm, "can I come in?"
Yeah," said Buffy as she stepped to one side before looking back over her shoulder to tell Willow and Tara that the Colonel was here to pick them up. It was then that Tara, Dawn, Xander, and Willow rushed from the kitchen with Willow carrying two cups of coffee, one of which she handed over to the blonde Slayer who thanked her before taking a sip and stepping back.
'Hey Tara," said the Colonel as he put the stuff down, and Dawn went to check what was in the bags while the Colonel hugged his sister.
"Hey," whispered Tara into his ear, "glad you're safe."
"Xander," said the Colonel as he shook the young man's hand before he hugged Willow.
The Colonel then received a hug from Dawn before Buffy shook her head and pulled back her sister, while the Slayer herself just nodded at the Air Force officer.
"So," said the Colonel as he looked at Tara, "just talked to dad, he said that the plane's ready to take us to the Hamptons."
"A plane?" asked Buffy, Xander, and Dawn together.
"We insisted that we take connecting flights from here," said Tara, "but dad and Dave insisted on sending the plane over so… yeah."
"Sweet," said Dawn before she looked at the Colonel, "so, John… your date meeting you there?"
"I… ummn…" said the Colonel as he suddenly reached for a bag and took out some items, some pottery that the Athosians had made, for Dawn, Willow and Tara who were smiling at the intricate workmanship of the items in their hand. The Colonel then handed Xander a bag that was sealed with tape; it was something that the young man looked at with confusion on his face before he looked back up at the Colonel who asked him to open it. Xander weighed the bag in his arms, and was amazed at how light it was before he unsealed it, and then looked inside… before looking at the Colonel again with his eyes wide open.
"What is it?" asked Willow.
"Armour," said Xander as he took out a chest piece, one for his back, arms, and legs, "this is… so light. What's it made off?"
"A material we found at the place I'm at," lied the Colonel. While he was telling the young man that they had sent back the materials to DARPA to build light armour for soldiers since it was light, and extremely strong on their own; even capable of stopping a nine-milimeter round. He continued to say that DARPA needed to get it tested, and that his boss had recommended that Xander be the test subject on how it works as an everyday piece of armour. The truth was that the armour was one that the newest member of the Atlantis expedition, a man named Ronon, had acquired after telling him about Xander and that he was helping Buffy fight evil without any formal training. The large man told the Colonel that he knew where he could get some Satedan armour, the armour used by his people before being wiped out by the Wraith. With some modifications, the SGC and Homeworld had seen it fit to let Xander have the armour as a piece of protection as thanks for helping protect the world from supernatural threats. Once the Colonel had finished with the cover story, everyone was looking at him in surprise, with the only smirk coming from Tara who knew that everything the Colonel told Xander was a lie… except for the part where he said that the armour would protect him.
"It's been tested in battle simulations," said the Colonel, "this will be its first field test in a non-combat role. If it works as well as we think it will, you'll see police, firemen… name it.. they'll be wearing this armour."
"Sweet," said Xander as he looked at the pieces and was smiling at how flexible it was. He then narrowed his eyebrows and asked the Colonel how he knew his size.
"Just a guess," said the Colonel, "just try it on, and if it doesn't fit well… then we could tailor it some more, I'll give you a number to call, but I think it's gonna fit."
"Thanks," said Xander.
"Try it on, Xand," said Willow as the Colonel nodded his head before Xander ran up the stairs.
"Buffy," said the Colonel as he handed the Slayer the long wooden case, "this is for you, we've made friends with one of the tribes in the place we're in… I mean they're native to the place so they've been helping us a lot, and well…. One of them's a good friend of mine. And she, well… she made that specifically for you."
"What?" asked Buffy as she opened the case, and looked at the single handled weapon. Buffy looked at the weapon with her mouth open, and then back up at the Colonel while Tara, Dawn, and Willow stood behind the Slayer to look at the weapon that looked like a single bladed axe, however the blade looked extremely sharp, and was curved elegantly.
"It looks dangerous," said Dawn as Buffy closed the lid and then looked at the Colonel.
"It's one of the tribe's weapons," said the Colonel; however, the truth was that the weapon was one of many that was found on Atlantis. There were numerous bladed weapons, as well as staffs and even fighting sticks that Teyla was an expert with…. But the Colonel told the Slayer a cover story about the weapon in the case was one that was being used by the tribe they had met.
"Thanks," said Buffy as she looked at the closed box again. It was then that Xander ran down the stairs saying that the armour fit him like a glove.
"Neat," said the young man as Buffy showed him the weapon that the Colonel had gotten for her. He then looked up at the older man who was nervously looking around before Xander smirked and said, "cool."
"Yeah," said Buffy as she looked down at the box, "it's really nice and…"
"Listen," said the Colonel as Tara grabbed Willow and yelped, which led to Willow yelping as she jumped up and down excitedly.
"You guys okay?" asked Buffy while Xander and Dawn looked back at the two witches; Tara was rubbing her hands and Willow was holding to Tara's left arm tightly while grinning.
"Yeah," said the Colonel as he grimaced, "I was actually think about how to ask this… but over the email didn't sound too good and well… I got my leave today and…"
"What?" asked Buffy as she looked at the Colonel.
"Oooh," said Xander as he pointed at Colonel Sheppard.
"What?" asked Dawn as she looked at Xander, and then at Willow and Tara, and only then did she come to a realization and raised her hands in frustration, "oh, come on."
"What?" asked a clueless Buffy as she looked around, and then at the Colonel.
"You wanna be my plus-one?" asked the Colonel as she looked at a wide-eyed Buffy.
"Me?" asked the Slayer, "I… I… I have Slaying and…"
"You've got Faith," said Willow.
"Dawn doesn't have a sitter," said Buffy as she looked at the Colonel while shaking her head.
"I can look after her," said Xander as he raised his hand while Dawn insisted she didn't need a sitter, "and besides, there's Faith and Fred here… Wesley too, and Lorne. We'll get some pizza's and a movie. We'll have a fun time while Faith and Wesley patrol."
"I haven't packed," said Buffy softly as she continued to look the Colonel.
"We packed for you," said Willow excited as she pointed at the third suitcase. That was when Buffy looked away from the Colonel, and then at the third suitcase, and then back at Tara and Willow, "your dress is in there and everything."
"Oh," said Tara as Xander and Willow chuckled at the look on Buffy's face, "we packed while you were asleep… used a cloaking spell… me and Tara… it was so easy since you're a deep sleeper."
"I…" said the Slayer before she looked at the Colonel again, "my hair."
"We've got an appointment there," said Tara, "which is why we're leaving now. The wedding's at three."
"You planned this?" asked Buffy as she looked at the Colonel who shrugged his shoulders, "what if I said no?"
"Well," sighed Dawn as she rubbed her forehead in frustration, "since you technically didn't say no; meaning you just said yes.. and…."
"Dawn," said Buffy while she looked at the Colonel, "not helping."
"Then I'd probably have to take someone that Willow and Tara aren't comfortable with since they don't know her well," said the Colonel, "it's not a date… just two friends going to a wedding. As guests, I mean."
"So," said Buffy as she crossed her arms over her chest, "not a date?"
"No," said the Colonel, "what do you say?"
"Come on, Buff," said Willow as she put her hands on Buffy's shoulders, "we packed everything you like… even have that special stuff you got for…"
"Will," said Buffy as she looked at her friend with her eyes wide open, "it's not a date."
The Scoobies, except for Dawn, were all grinning as Buffy turned back to look at the Colonel who looked at the Slayer with a questioning look on his face.
"All right," said Buffy nodding her head, "I'll go… but I am not catching the bouquet."
The Colonel just smiled as Buffy sighed and then helped Tara and Willow with their suitcases, the blonde witch patting the Colonel's should as she walked past, and Willow grinning at him.
"I'll see the both of you tomorrow," said Colonel Sheppard nodding his head as Dawn waved at the man. The older man nodded at the girl, and the young man before he left the house, and then headed into the awaiting SUV.
TBC.