Chapter Fifty-Five
I'm not surprised when Faith comes down to the basement almost an hour later wearing only my robe and carrying a bag of chips and two Cokes. I take the offered Coke from her and she sits next to me on the cot. Faith looks around and turns to look at the wall behind us.
I know what she's looking for. She's looking for the shackles we used to chain her up before Willow, Tara and Selwyn did that spell on her. She offers me some chips and I shake my head no. She shrugs before digging in and shoving another handful in her mouth.
"Should I start or do you wanna?" Faith asks me and I turn to face her fully as she leans back against the wall. I shrug, not sure how to start or what to even talk about right now. I know we have a lot to discuss but finding a place to start? Difficult. "I'm sorry, you know that right?"
"You don't need to apologize."
"I do, Buffy. After that spell, I shouldn't have taken off when Angel released me. I shouldn't have run and hid like a fucking coward. I was just so scared, B."
"Scared of what?"
"Everything. Myself, mostly. Didn't trust that they got me back from whatever darkness Roman and the First put in me. Figured if I was away from you, you and everyone else would be safe just in case that spell didn't work. Buffy, the things I did, I remember all of it even though I don't want to. Those memories, they're not going away, not anytime soon."
"I know."
"Remember when I asked you for some time?"
"I do. Has it been enough time for you, Faith?" I ask tentatively.
"More than enough time, was just too scared to admit that last week when you were stitching me up," she replies with a half-hearted laugh. "I ain't used to being scared."
I don't think anyone is used to being scared, but I don't say a word, I just reach for her hand and intertwine our fingers. She smiles a little and I have to fight the urge to lean over and kiss her. Everything is different now and if we're going to do this right, we need to go slow and pretty much start all over again.
"I wanna make things right between us," she says after a minute. "How can I do that?"
"I don't know. We need to start over."
"Completely?" Faith asks with a frown. "Does that mean I can't kiss ya until I take you out on a date or something?"
"Technically."
"Damn."
Crap. This slow thing is going to kill me. I want nothing more than to kiss her right now, to touch her, hold her. I want everything, but I can't let us jump back into this that fast.
I let go of her hand and place my hands behind her head, pulling her in for a kiss. One kiss isn't going to hurt or change the fact that we're starting all over again. I moan at the feel of her soft lips against mine. It's been far too long. I feel her tongue slip over my lips and I part them willingly. I kiss her back with just as much fervour. I have to break away from the kiss first and I'm breathing heavily as she licks over her lips, smirking as she leans back against the wall.
"Guess that's what you meant when you said technically," Faith chuckles.
"We're still starting over, Faith."
"Hell of a way to start," she says with a wink. "Okay, in all seriousness here, what have I been missing out on around here?"
"Where do I even start," I groan and I move to sit next to her and lean back against the wall.
"Start with when Giles came back."
So I do. I tell her everything that's happened since she ran off. I try to keep it straight to the point since it's late and I really don't want to spend all night talking. I kind of want to kiss her some more before we get some much needed sleep. She asks about the girls staying here and I tell her what I know about them, that they're potential slayers and that they are here so we can protect them from the First's Harbingers that had been hunting them down and killing them off, one by one.
I tell her about Robin Wood, about what Andrew had done with that book she's gotten for him. She looks almost guilty when I tell her about that, but doesn't say anything. She doesn't even ask about Josh and I don't mention him. I even fill her in on what had happened after I left that house that night with Spike. By the time I'm finished catching her up, it's been over an hour and I'm tired.
I stay down there with her and the instant she lays down next to me, her arms are around me, holding me close to her. I smile as I feel myself drifting off to sleep. This was one of the many little things I've missed with her not being here with me, is how she'd just hold me close as we sleep.
I wake up to the sounds of footsteps and chatter upstairs. Faith is still holding me and she murmurs against my head as I stretch out a little bit. I turn in her arms until I'm facing her and she has a smile curled over her lips and her eyes are still closed. I give her a soft kiss and she moans, her arms tightening around me to hold me right where I am.
"Mmm, just stay a minute will ya?" Faith whispers against my lips. "It feels like a dream right now. Is it a dream, Buffy?"
"It's not," I whisper back and she smiles again. "But we have to get up."
"Bummer."
"Faith?" I ask as I move back a little from her once she loosens her hold on me. "We need to go and get all your stuff and bring it home."
"Yeah. Was thinking of sleeping a little more before I did that."
"How can you sleep with all that noise?"
"It's like white noise to me," she chuckles and she finally opens her eyes. "I missed this."
"Me too."
"B?" Faith says, holding me when I try to move. "Ya think we can do this? This whole starting over thing with all that's going on right now?"
"I want to try. I want this to work. I love you, Faith. Our lives are never gonna be easy and that makes our relationship hard at times. We've been through a lot together already and I don't want to just give up because of what we just went through. I know you don't either."
Faith pulls me in for a deep kiss that I instantly lose myself in. I wish we could stay down here all day, shut out the rest of the world and just be alone together. It's not possible unfortunately and I know I have to get upstairs before someone comes down here looking for me. I let myself enjoy the deep, passionate kiss for a few more minutes before I push Faith away from me.
"Go back to sleep. I need to be upstairs. I have to tell Giles that you're home and find out if he's learned anything more from that book that Andrew used."
"Sure," Faith nods and sighs as she lets me go. "Ya think we can get away with going out on a date? Tonight maybe?"
"We'll see. There are other things that are a bit more important right now and before you say it," I say and I place a finger over her lips before she can cut me off. "I am all for starting over and trying to make this work, but you know as well as I do that this situation with Roman and the First have got to be dealt with first."
"Yeah, I know. Just sucks, is all."
I laugh and give her a quick kiss before I head upstairs. There are at least a dozen girls in the kitchen, all scrambling to get some cereal or toast before it disappears. I make my way past them and into the living room, groaning at the mess these girls have made. A few of them catch my look and start to straight up the sleeping bags and piles of clothes that seem to be everywhere. I shake my head and walk into the dining room where Giles, Willow and Tara are sitting at the table, a mess of papers and books laid out in front of them.
"Good morning, Buffy," Willow says and she motions to the foam cup that's sitting on the table. "Xander stopped by and brought us coffee and donut-y goodness!"
I smile and grab the cup and take a sip. Chocolate mocha with an espresso shot. Definitely haven't had one of these in a long time. I take a seat and look over the papers that are on the table. All translations of what is in the book that Josh had brought here for us.
"Any luck with the book?" I ask and Giles nods his head a little. "Well?"
"We'll need to ensure the Seal hasn't been opened by closing it, first and foremost. We do not know if anything has come out of there and if Andrew was successful in opening it," Giles replies. "You'll need to track this boy down. He who opens it shall have to be the one who closes it," he says as he reads from the translation in front of him.
"We already tried looking for him," Willow reminds him gently. "We had no luck, remember?"
"We need to try again," he states firmly and Willow opens up her laptop, rolling her eyes when Giles looks over to me. "Buffy, I heard that Faith is home."
"She is."
"That's good," he says with a soft smile. "And how is she?"
"She's fine, Giles. Not a hundred percent fine, but at least she's home, right?"
He nods and reaches for a donut out of the box. "While I am happy that Faith has returned home, I hope you two won't lose focus on the problem we must deal with at the moment."
"We won't."
"Faith has interacted with Andrew and his cousin before. Perhaps you can speak with her about tracking Andrew down for us?"
"I will when she wakes up."
"And Buffy?" Giles sighs. "Do realize that your relationship with Faith is not your top priority at the moment."
I grit my teeth and nod my head, feeling too angry to say a word right now. I know what my priorities and responsibilities are and he is out of line if he thinks I don't know that. Willow and Tara busy themselves with looking on the computer for any more information on Andrew Wells that they can find. We've already gone through everything already, every lead a dead end.
I finish up my mocha and gather up some of the girls that have been here the longest and we head out to the backyard to begin training. Kennedy, of course, complains about how it's too early in the morning to train, but I ignore her as I always do as I lead the girls through their warm-ups.
I keep my focus on the girls, watching them and instructing them when their moves are sloppy. After an hour, I give them a break and I pull Kennedy aside. She rolls her eyes and I cross my arms over her chest, really tired of her attitude.
"I need you to take over for a little while," I say to her quietly. "I have some things I need to do and these girls need to continue their training."
"Finally," Kennedy scoffs. "How long do you want me to keep going with them?"
"For another hour," I reply. "And Kennedy? Watch the attitude. You're on thin ice and I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself here."
"Fine, Buffy. These girls are in good hands with me. I know the training inside and out."
"I know you do which is why I asked you to take over for me."
Kennedy smiles and turns to the group who are all sitting on the lawn. "Alright, maggots, on your feet!"
I stifle a laugh and head back inside. Even as annoying as Kennedy is, she has a lot more potential than most of the girls that are here. She has leadership qualities and if she just loses the attitude, she could go that much further with the skills she is learning here.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Willow asks me when I walk into the kitchen. She's standing by the sink looking out into the backyard as Kennedy leads the girls. "She's a bit of a hot-head."
"She can handle it. I need to get Faith up. We're going to pick up her things and I want to get this done sooner rather than later."
"Buffy?"
"Yeah, Will?"
"Is everything going to be okay with you two?"
"We're working on it," I reply with a smile and she smiles right back. "We're starting over, starting fresh and oh my god is it ever hard."
"I bet!" Willow chuckles. "But I think it's good you two are going to work this out. She makes you happy, Buffy, and there's nothing more than any of us want to see is a happy Buffy. Especially in times like this."
"Thanks, Will."
I head downstairs to get Faith, but the basement is empty. I sigh and head upstairs to my bedroom and I find her going through the closet, still wearing my robe. I close the door behind me quietly and she turns to look at me with a smile on her face.
"Was looking for something to wear, but you know, none of this is my style."
"Right," I laugh and I walk over to the dresser and pull out a pair of sweatpants that are a little bit too big on me. "Here."
"Got a shirt I can borrow?"
I rummage through the same drawer and pull out a black tank. "Thinking this is a little bit more of your style."
"Got that right."
I feel rooted to the spot, unable to avert my eyes away from her as she slips off the robe, revealing her beautiful, sexy naked body. Faith laughs when she catches me checking her out, but she surprisingly doesn't say anything. She pulls on the pants and pulls the tank over her head and smooths her hands down her sides.
"So," I say, clearing my throat as she sits on the edge of my bed. "Remember how I told you that Andrew tried to open the Hellmouth Seal?"
"Could kick his ass for being a stupid little shit," Faith says angrily. "Yeah, I remember. What are we gonna do about it?"
"We need to find him," I reply and she nods her head. "Do you have any idea where we can find him? Any of the leads we've found on him have been dead ends."
"Of course they are. Kid might be a tool but he's not an idiot. He pissed off a bunch of demons and he's been on the run, hiding. Thought that book I got for him would have something in it to ward them off. Kid is a bit freaked about the First too."
"But you know where we can find him?"
"Know of a couple of places we can check. Got a bone to pick with him anyway. Wanna go hunt him down after we grab my stuff?"
Of course I do. I smile at her and she smiles right back, but it quickly fades. Whatever she's thinking about, she's not happy. I'll worry about that later, but right now we have things we need to get done and an Andrew Wells to find.
Two days later we're in the living room standing in front of Andrew who is currently tied up to a chair and being completely uncooperative. Faith easily found him the other day and he put up a bit of a fight, trying to outrun her. I could only stand by and watch as she easily chased him down and knocked him out. At least by the time we dragged him back to the house, Giles had taken all of the potentials with him to the desert for a retreat for the weekend. This meant less questions from the girls while we got some answers out of Andrew.
The only thing we've gotten out of him was nothing but whining about being tired and hungry. We've all taken turns trying to get him to talk with no luck. Even though he knows a lot about demons, a few spells and has complete knowledge of the book his cousin gave to us a few days ago, he's pretty much useless and not much of a threat.
"Andrew, you feel like talking today?" Faith asks as she stands in front of him. He shakes his head no and looks the other way. Faith steps forward and grabs his chin and forces him to look at her. "Come on, Andy. I thought we were friends?"
"Why are you keeping me here?" Andrew whines. "Am I a prisoner?"
"You're here because you aren't answering a damn thing!"
"Faith," I say gently and I pull her back away from him. "This isn't working."
"You killed your friend!" She yells at him and I see Andrew tense up and the tears build up in his eyes. "Why won't you just admit it?"
"Fine! I killed him! I killed Jonathan. Is that what you wanted to hear? You guys aren't cops too, are you?"
"Why did you kill him?" Faith asks and I cross my arms over my chest as Andrew shuts right up again. "Come on, Andy. What aren't you telling us? Are you afraid of something?"
"Roman," he mutters and she steps forward. "I'm afraid of Roman and the demons that travel with him, okay!"
Faith and I exchange a look and Willow steps forward, motioning for Faith to step away. Andrew whimpers as she gets closer and stops just a few inches from him.
"Are you lying to us, Andrew? Because I am a very powerful witch and I'm not the only one with power in the room," she says firmly. "When was the last time you saw Roman?"
"The night I killed Jonathan," he replies with a quivering voice. "He was there with something that called itself the First Evil. They were going to kill me if I didn't kill him!"
"Why would Roman get this guy to kill Jonathan?" I ask Faith in a soft whisper. "Roman could've just killed him himself."
"What did you kill him with? Did you stab him?" Willow asks and Andrew whimpers, shaking his head yes. "What did you stab him with?"
"A knife."
"Where is this knife?"
"I don't know!"
Willow groans as she turns to look back at us. "I don't think this is going anywhere guys," she frowns. "He's not telling us anything we don't already know."
"I got it in Mexico," he mutters. "Jonathan and I went there to find it. Roman threatened us that if we didn't, he'd kill us."
"Did he say why?"
"No!"
"You're lying!" Willow yells at him and she slaps him, hard.
"Willow, honey, stop," Tara says gently as she pulls her away from Andrew. "He's scared. This isn't helping."
"Can I please go now?" Andrew asks. "I didn't do anything to any of you!"
I lead the way into the dining room and I face the others. "We're not getting anywhere with him. He's useless," I say quietly. "He's scared and useless."
"So, what are we gonna do with him?" Willow asks. "We can't just hold him here."
"Sure we can. He might be a pussy, but he's killed someone and not to mention that he's been following orders from Roman and the First," Faith cuts in. "He's better off here with us behind held against his will than out on the streets or in jail where Roman and the First can get to him."
I rub my temples and sit down at the table. I know we need to do something, but we need to find out more of what Andrew knows about Roman and the First before we can do anything. We also need to find the knife he used to kill Jonathan. Giles told us before he left that the knife is important according to that ancient book. But so far in two days we've gotten next to nowhere with Andrew and I'm getting completely fed up.
I'm ready to be done with this, with all of this. With the First apparently dormant and Roman still in hiding, we're getting nowhere and these potential slayers keep showing up, at least one every couple of days and I've had enough. Something has to be done before the First can make a move and we need to figure something out before it does.
We've hit a lot of dead ends lately, but I have this feeling that there is something that Andrew knows that we don't and he's not telling us because he's been told not to. I look over at Faith and she's standing by the window and from the look on her face, she's deep in her own thoughts right now, likely thinking of how to get Andrew to talk to us, to tell us all that he knows.
I jump out of the chair when there are a few hard, quick knocks on the front door. I move quickly and open the door, surprised to see Robin Wood standing there with a deep gash on his forehead.
This can't be good.
