Part 10 - Anya Remembers
"What if, if we do some sort of spell?" Willow ventured, looking round the table at the others. "I'm sure we could find something......"
They were all huddled round the table, books open and piled up in front of them. The blinds were shut against the sunlight and a couple of lamps shone dimly. Giles had volunteered to make the coffee; they could hear him moving round in the kitchen. Willow sighed and looked back at the book in her lap. Anya just stared into space, face pinched, frowning as she tried to remember something. Angel pushed back his chair, wincing as it grated loudly on the floor, and moved over to run his fingers over the books stacked in haphazard piles on a nearby cabinet.
Faith sat with them; eyes glittering and red rimmed with tiredness, surrounded by black circles, skin white. Her hair was wild and Buffy had fetched a brush and stood behind her, working on the snarls, gently untangling it. "You could pass for the bride of Dracula," she'd joked earlier. Faith had managed an expression that could just about pass for a smile. Exhaustion was clear in her features, the skin pulled taut against the high cheekbones.
Xander looked up, face tense, rapidly tapping the end of his pencil against an age-yellowed page. "I think magic has done enough already, Will," he said gently. "I wish there was some non-magicky way we could fight this but I don't see how. Magic seems to breed magic." He looked round, eyes settling briefly on Faith, and shrugged. "How else are we gonna stop this - whatever-it-is - without more magic?" None of them could quite bring themselves to acknowledge or say what it really was. It was OK to face demons, vamps, even people's evil vampire-boyfriends, whatever, but not - not someone's mother. Not even someone's super-evil, murdering, spell casting zombie-mother.
Willow sighed. "I don't know.........it'll have to be magic, somehow. There must be something in these books somewhere. We'll, we'll just have to keep looking, is all. Wesley, do you have any ideas?"
Wesley stared down at the pages in front of him. "Apart from the clues in the book I used to, ah, change Faith, no. Nothing........." He smiled reassuringly at Faith, who gave no indication of listening to them, instead staring into space, not seeing them but - something else. "But we'll keep looking. We'll find something. You'll see."
Buffy slowly stopped combing Faith's hair and took a deep breath, chest suddenly feeling tight. These were people who Faith had hurt, had used, and yet they were giving everything to help. A sure sign of how much she'd changed, what she'd become. She stepped to one side and laid the brush down on the table, gently squeezing Faith's shoulder. "I'm just going to - to help Giles," she said. Angel's eyes were dark as he stood by the cabinet and watched her walk quietly away through the archway.
"Buffy?" Giles turned at her light step, a bowl of sugar in one hand, regarding her worried expression.
"Giles, how are we - what happens to Faith? I mean, we can kill this thing, right? But - what happens to Faith?" she asked pensively, voice low so that the others wouldn't hear her hurried words. "Will she stay like she is? I like her, I don't want anything to happen to her. I don't want things - to be like they were before."
Giles set the sugar bowl down and automatically took his glasses off, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Well, Wesley's spell - is irreversible. And as you know, the text goes far enough to say that this might happen, so the sect that used it - on rare occasions - must have had a way to deal with it. Just a pity they didn't see fit to write down what it was......" he trailed off. "If we can kill this thing, then, well, Faith should be fine. And once this is done with, I don't intend to tell the Council anything. They'll know something already, of course, they know everything, but I don't - well, I don't intend to let Faith back under their justice, as they call it. There's no need." Buffy snorted at the mention of the Watcher's Council and after a brief smile, Giles carried on.
"I don't believe that the Council can be aware at the moment that this is connected to Faith, or they'd be here in force. Despite all their power, these things take time to filter through. And hopefully by that time, we'll have the situation under control - and things will be back to normal." He stopped again, sliding his glasses back on, eyeing the sugar bowl on the counter, almost as if it were at fault. "But I am determined that they will - not - take - Faith - back. Redemption won't be achieved by being locked up for the next ten or twenty years. She'll need to find her own way to do that. Once this, ah, this is dealt with."
They stared at each other for a moment and Giles turned to pick up a cup; when Anya's excited shriek of triumph broke the quiet, the sound as they rushed from the kitchen, and it shattered on the tiled floor, was lost.
"What if, if we do some sort of spell?" Willow ventured, looking round the table at the others. "I'm sure we could find something......"
They were all huddled round the table, books open and piled up in front of them. The blinds were shut against the sunlight and a couple of lamps shone dimly. Giles had volunteered to make the coffee; they could hear him moving round in the kitchen. Willow sighed and looked back at the book in her lap. Anya just stared into space, face pinched, frowning as she tried to remember something. Angel pushed back his chair, wincing as it grated loudly on the floor, and moved over to run his fingers over the books stacked in haphazard piles on a nearby cabinet.
Faith sat with them; eyes glittering and red rimmed with tiredness, surrounded by black circles, skin white. Her hair was wild and Buffy had fetched a brush and stood behind her, working on the snarls, gently untangling it. "You could pass for the bride of Dracula," she'd joked earlier. Faith had managed an expression that could just about pass for a smile. Exhaustion was clear in her features, the skin pulled taut against the high cheekbones.
Xander looked up, face tense, rapidly tapping the end of his pencil against an age-yellowed page. "I think magic has done enough already, Will," he said gently. "I wish there was some non-magicky way we could fight this but I don't see how. Magic seems to breed magic." He looked round, eyes settling briefly on Faith, and shrugged. "How else are we gonna stop this - whatever-it-is - without more magic?" None of them could quite bring themselves to acknowledge or say what it really was. It was OK to face demons, vamps, even people's evil vampire-boyfriends, whatever, but not - not someone's mother. Not even someone's super-evil, murdering, spell casting zombie-mother.
Willow sighed. "I don't know.........it'll have to be magic, somehow. There must be something in these books somewhere. We'll, we'll just have to keep looking, is all. Wesley, do you have any ideas?"
Wesley stared down at the pages in front of him. "Apart from the clues in the book I used to, ah, change Faith, no. Nothing........." He smiled reassuringly at Faith, who gave no indication of listening to them, instead staring into space, not seeing them but - something else. "But we'll keep looking. We'll find something. You'll see."
Buffy slowly stopped combing Faith's hair and took a deep breath, chest suddenly feeling tight. These were people who Faith had hurt, had used, and yet they were giving everything to help. A sure sign of how much she'd changed, what she'd become. She stepped to one side and laid the brush down on the table, gently squeezing Faith's shoulder. "I'm just going to - to help Giles," she said. Angel's eyes were dark as he stood by the cabinet and watched her walk quietly away through the archway.
"Buffy?" Giles turned at her light step, a bowl of sugar in one hand, regarding her worried expression.
"Giles, how are we - what happens to Faith? I mean, we can kill this thing, right? But - what happens to Faith?" she asked pensively, voice low so that the others wouldn't hear her hurried words. "Will she stay like she is? I like her, I don't want anything to happen to her. I don't want things - to be like they were before."
Giles set the sugar bowl down and automatically took his glasses off, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Well, Wesley's spell - is irreversible. And as you know, the text goes far enough to say that this might happen, so the sect that used it - on rare occasions - must have had a way to deal with it. Just a pity they didn't see fit to write down what it was......" he trailed off. "If we can kill this thing, then, well, Faith should be fine. And once this is done with, I don't intend to tell the Council anything. They'll know something already, of course, they know everything, but I don't - well, I don't intend to let Faith back under their justice, as they call it. There's no need." Buffy snorted at the mention of the Watcher's Council and after a brief smile, Giles carried on.
"I don't believe that the Council can be aware at the moment that this is connected to Faith, or they'd be here in force. Despite all their power, these things take time to filter through. And hopefully by that time, we'll have the situation under control - and things will be back to normal." He stopped again, sliding his glasses back on, eyeing the sugar bowl on the counter, almost as if it were at fault. "But I am determined that they will - not - take - Faith - back. Redemption won't be achieved by being locked up for the next ten or twenty years. She'll need to find her own way to do that. Once this, ah, this is dealt with."
They stared at each other for a moment and Giles turned to pick up a cup; when Anya's excited shriek of triumph broke the quiet, the sound as they rushed from the kitchen, and it shattered on the tiled floor, was lost.