Title: Out with the Old, In with the New
Series: Destiny Found, part 2
Affiliated Series: Destiny Lost
Authors: Sonya and Erin
E-mail: sonyajeb@swbell.net OR carynsilver@yahoo.com
Rating: PG
Category: AU, relationship oriented -- Sonya/F friendship; Aidan/B friendship; undertones of B/X and Sonya/O
*Disclaimers and Timeline Info in Part 1!!!!*
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Thwack!
"Oof."
Thud. Crunch.
"Urg."
Thunk.
"Good job. What's say we take a break?"
Buffy Summers relaxed from her training posture and pushed sweaty tendrils of blonde hair out of her face. She gave her new Watcher, Aidan O'Shea, a small smile. "I have to give you credit. You lasted a lot longer than Giles." Feeling a twinge of disloyalty to her former Watcher, now in England reorganizing the Council's training facilities, Buffy hastily added, "Not that Giles was bad or anything..."
Aidan nodded in understanding as he gulped in huge breaths of air. "I quite understand, Buffy. I'm sure Giles was an impeccable trainer. I'm just a bit more used to the physical side of things as I trained youngsters like Faith and Rio for over a year."
[And you're at least fifteen years younger] Buffy thought, but she didn't say that out loud. Aidan was self-conscious enough about being young for an Active Watcher. The two of them were still trying to find the right footing with each other, and Buffy didn't want to say anything that would make things uncomfortable.
The room was silent for a moment. Self-consciously, Buffy took down her falling ponytail and re-did it. She liked Aidan, and it felt good to have a Watcher who was all hers -- sharing Giles with ex-Slayer Sonya had always been a challenge and sometimes much less than pleasant -- but now Aidan had to fill the shoes of one of the most daring Watchers in Council History. Giles's exploits were numerous, and would probably never be duplicated or equaled in a hundred years. Add that to the fact that Aidan's age, 25, made him more like a big brother or an older cousin than a father-esque figure, and there was a whole lot of adjusting going on in Sunnydale.
"Why don't you do your stretches?" Aidan suggested. He began packing away the pads he wore when they trained. "I think we've had enough for one day."
Buffy nodded and lifted her left foot to the edge of the nearest stack of boxes. She stretched it as high as it would go, and then she leaned over until she could grab the toe of her sneaker with her right hand. It felt great. Buffy hadn't been the Slayer very long, only a few months -- she still felt unexpected twinges of pleasure at the things her body could do now. Memories of the days when she could barely walk no longer tormented her, except occasionally in her dreams.
Her reflective mood was broken by the sound of a bell tinkling in the other room. Aidan checked his watch. "I'd better go take care of that. It could be a customer."
"I thought Amy was working today." Buffy knew that her best friend valued her after school job in Aidan's new bookstore, and Amy Madison wasn't the type to let a customer wait unattended.
"She was," Aidan informed her as he made a brisk pace to the door that separated the back room that they used for training and storage from the main part of the shop, "but I told her she could have off early for her lessons with Jenny and Rio. She should have gone about ten minutes ago."
He left, and the swinging door closed behind him with only the smallest of swooshing noises. Buffy ducked behind the screen in the corner of the room and changed from her workout clothes into jeans and a T-shirt. A few minutes later, she stuffed the dirty clothes in her bag and walked out into the front of the shop.
After quitting his job at the British Museum to move to Sunnydale, Aidan had needed a means of income. Since he didn't have the credentials to take over Giles's job at the Sunnydale High School library, he'd scrounged up the capital and opened up a small new and used bookstore in downtown Sunnydale. He leaked word out to the wiccan community that he had a good selection of occult books, but the store sold everything from romance and mystery novels to cook books and dictionaries. Aidan owning a store -- simply called Booksellers -- worked out well spacewise and incomewise, but sometimes Buffy missed having her Watcher at her fingertips during the daily school grind. Luckily, her mother had agreed to get her a cellular phone.
As if thinking of Joyce Summers had summoned the woman in question, Buffy came through the swinging door to find her mother and Aidan standing by the cash register dais, chatting. Joyce's eyes took on a maternal pride when she noticed Buffy. "Hi, sweetie. I just dropped by to see if you were done for the day."
Buffy flashed a grin at her mother. "That's why you recommended Aidan to your landlord. You wanted me close by. Admit it, Mom!"
Joyce extended her hands in a gesture of surrender. "I love having you both next door, but, trust me, that recommendation came from business sense more than family needs. Bookworms are likely to be art nuts, so the gallery benefits from the extra traffic in the area. And this place sitting vacant wasn't of any use to anyone..."
"Yeah, sure," Buffy replied, but the comment held a ring of teasing laughter.
"So," Joyce said, reverting to her earlier topic, "do you need a ride home?"
Buffy nodded. "Sure."
"Good." Joyce picked her purse up off the counter, and she and Buffy headed for the door. Glancing back at Aidan, she called, "What time do you need us there tomorrow?"
Aidan glanced at the clock consideringly. "I think eight thirty should do it."
Buffy groaned, but Joyce's cheerful voice covered the noise. "We'll see you then."
"All right." Just before they got out the door, Aidan added, "Buffy, call me if you run into anything unusual on patrol this evening."
"Expecting some ancient prophecy you haven't told me about?" Buffy shot back, holding the door open for Joyce to walk through.
Aidan shook his head. "Nothing I know of."
"Good." Buffy winked at him before letting the door start to shut. "Maybe that means things will go well during the move."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I can't believe we have to get up this early on a Saturday."
Sonya glared across the box-filled room, the ugly look landing on the Faith-shaped lump under the blankets on the spare bed in the corner. "Believe me, it's worth it if we don't have to share a room anymore."
Faith pushed down the covers and sat up. "Roger that, but couldn't Aidan have let us sleep in until nine at least?"
A saccharine grin curved Sonya's lips. "Well, if *someone* had gotten home before three in the morning, *someone* wouldn't be so tired now, would she?"
Faith blushed and jumped out of bed, heading for the bathroom down the hall, avoiding the boxes that littered their floor with a feline grace that only a potential Slayer could have. "Where I was last night and when I got home is none of your damn business!" With that she stalked into the bathroom and slammed the door.
Sonya finished boxing up the contents of her desk and folded the flaps closed. The corners of her mouth trembled. She tried to hold it back, but a fit of giggles erupted. After a moment, she calmed herself down. It wouldn't do to tip her hand too soon. With Faith so defensive, Sonya knew where she must have spent most of the night: with Angel. Faith never talked about it -- neither did Angel for that matter -- but word traveled fast in their small circle. And Rio and Amy had both found out about the affair a few days after it started, while the rest of the Scooby Gang was in England for Spring Break. Sonya thought the idea of Faith and Angel was extremely weird, but, as far as she was concerned, they could do whatever they wanted with their off hours as long as they did their part to control the havoc of living on a Hellmouth. The fun came from Faith's obvious sensitivity on the subject. As she wrote "Sonya's desk stuff" on the box in black marker, she eagerly anticipated the digs she could get in later. After the torture of sharing a room with (and losing an as yet un-determined amount of clothing to) the commando, Sonya was determined to get her revenge where she could.
"Morning."
Sonya looked up from her last minute packing to see Rio standing in the doorway. He was already dressed -- in black jeans and a black T-shirt -- and his dark hair was combed back off of his slender, pale face. The recently reformed warlock had moved into the condo at the same time as Faith and Aidan as part of his restitution -- Faith and the other white hats in Sunnydale were overseeing his efforts to pay for the crimes he'd committed while bound to evil-commando Terrance under the power of a blood oath from generations before.
The amusement wasn't completely gone from her face as she answered, "Good morning, Rio."
"Why are you so chipper this morning?" he asked, looking at her with some surprise. As everyone in the house knew, morning wasn't Sonya's favorite time of day. And since it wasn't Faith's favorite time of day, either, that had led to some interesting conflicts in the weeks since Spring Break.
"This is the last morning I have to share a room with Faith," Sonya answered, keeping the Angel stuff to herself. That was something best used in private, between herself and Faith.
Rio nodded. "I see. Yes, the move will be good for us all." He had been sleeping on a couch in the library/study for the past few weeks. "And in the new house, I will get my own room, too."
"Definitely!" Sonya exclaimed. "Having one's own room is vital for a teenager." She looked around her familiar walls, fighting a twinge of sadness. "I will kind of miss this place, though. Before you guys moved in, Giles and I were really cozy here."
"It's not like you won't see it again," Rio reminded her. "Giles is only subletting the place. I guess that means that he intends to come back someday."
"Maybe so." The soft chime of the doorbell interrupted Sonya's sudden downward moodswing. Eager to move on to something else, Sonya pushed past Rio and headed for the door. It was eight-thirty on the dot. Only one person could be that punctual...
When she opened the door, Sonya found out that she'd guessed it in one. It was Joyce, with a tired-looking Buffy in tow. Behind them, a beat-up van and a car pulled up to the curb. Oz and Doyle got out of the van and Amy emerged from the car. They all headed for the door as well.
"Come in!" Aidan called to the crowd of people in his entry hall. He motioned them into the kitchen. "I've got donuts and coffee."
"Least he could do," Buffy grumbled, but it was just the sleepiness talking. Amy smiled at her friend and the two of them went into the kitchen, followed by Joyce and Rio from upstairs.
Doyle followed as well, and stopped by Aidan to asked, "Is this everyone ye asked?"
Aidan gave his friend a knowing look. "Cordelia knew the time and place, but I guess she had to wash her hair or something."
"That's no... I didn't..." Doyle spluttered. Then he took a breath and said more calmly. "I was referrin' to Angel. Ye know, another strong back fer the heavy liftin'."
Aidan smirked, not believing that for one minute. "Well, he said he was available... after sunset."
Realizing his mistake, Doyle flushed. Then he just rolled his eyes at his old friend and went into the kitchen for the promised donuts.
At the door, Sonya waited until the ever-polite Oz got inside and then closed the door behind him.
"Hi," he said in a voice meant just for her.
Sonya darted a small smile in his direction. Ever since England, when he'd risked his life to try and save hers, things had been different between them. It was like they were standing on the cusp of something new. But Oz never made that final step. He never said anything to indicate if he felt more than platonically for her. She thought he did, but it was something she gathered from intuition and vibes, not words. Sometimes, the uncertainty of it all made Sonya want to grind her teeth in frustration. Even if she ground them to enamel powder, her healing factor would make sure they came back. Other times she thought maybe she should make the first move, but for all her bravado, her life as a foster child work-horse, a Slayer and then a cripple meant Sonya was inexperienced with boys. And after the disaster of her only foray into the dating world -- with Xander while they were, unbeknownst to either of them, affected by an evil spell -- had turned out less than spectacularly. In short, she didn't know how to make the first move.
Pushing all her confusing thoughts out of her head, Sonya replied, "Hi, Oz." They looked at each other for a moment, and Sonya felt her cheeks begin to heat up. This didn't happen with just friends, did it?
"C'mon, you two, quit with the warm fuzzies already. Talk about sickening!"
Sonya wished she could shoot laser beams from her eyes like that Cyclops guy in the X-Men comic books Oz liked to read. He'd shown her several of them one day last week when they had lunch together on the quad at school. The ruby beams of death would have fried Faith before the brunette could get all the way down the stairs. But Sonya didn't have death rays in her eyes, so she had to settle for a dark glare and a quick retort.
"Feeling more alert now, Faith? I guess a night of romping in the sack with a vampire will leave you drained in the morning."
Faith's mocking grin vanished and her cheeks paled. Sonya expected an even meaner comeback, but that didn't happen. Faith hurried down the rest of the stairs and vanished into the kitchen with the others. Sonya sighed and glanced at Oz. He looked right back at her. There wasn't any condemnation in his face, but she regretted what she'd said anyway.
"I guess I'm going to have to apologize for that one, huh?" Sonya said in a small voice.
Oz placed a warm, gentle hand on her arm. "Might help."
"It's just..." Sonya stepped away from him as her anger intensified. "Well... Faith is just always so mean to me. I thought... No, I didn't think. But shouldn't she be able to take it as well as she dishes it out?"
"Sometimes the people who dish it out the worst are the ones who are the most insecure," Oz said.
He tucked his hands into the pockets of his work pants. Sonya stared at the rip in the knee, wondering what caused it. Probably carrying stuff for the Dingoes, she decided. She sighed again, then glanced into the kitchen. They could hear the others laughing and talking. There was even the occasional shriek, probably from Doyle teasing Buffy or Amy.
She looked back at Oz. "We'd better go get some food before it's all gone." She turned and walked into the kitchen, knowing Oz would follow her. As she grabbed a donut and a cup of black coffee, Sonya studiously avoided even the tiniest glance in Faith's direction. [Later] she promised herself. [I'll deal with that later.]
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Aidan gave everyone with a car a map to the new house. It was a nice house in the residential part of town. It had plenty of room for four occupants, and even a nice backyard complete with a swimming pool.
Noting the address, Joyce commented, "This is a nice neighborhood, Aidan."
"Not the best," he replied.
She shook her head in agreement. "No, it's not on the rich side of town with the Chase family mansion, but it is a very nice neighborhood. How did you afford it?"
"Council funding," Aidan explained. "All my assets are tied up in Booksellers. There's no way I could have afforded this without them. Luckily, Ms. Post and her new group of advisors realize my predicament here with three dependents, so they were generous with the purse strings."
"Ah." Joyce took a last sip of her coffee and then threw away her Styrofoam cup. "Must be nice."
Aidan smiled at her, and then addressed the group at large. "Attention, everyone. I have hired movers to come for the furniture we are taking with us, so someone has to stay and direct them. They should be here within the hour. To save money, they will only be taking one load of the heaviest things, so supervising them will not take very long. The rest of us should start collecting boxes and all the small stuff and moving it over in the various cars."
Sonya waved her hand around and then called, "What about the new furniture -- the stuff that we bought last week. When is it getting there?" Sonya's bedroom furniture and a lot of the stuff from Giles's library (stuff important to helping the Slayer) were some of the largest things they were moving. However, she had enjoyed helping Aidan pick out new living room furniture and other such things. The new house would be very comfortable for all of them.
"A delivery van is supposed to meet us at the new house."
He paused for a minute to look at the faces of everyone in the kitchen. He felt honored that they had all come out to help him with such a mundane task. It actually made him feel a part of the group for what might have been the first time. After a moment, he continued speaking. "But before we go, I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you for all of your help. I don't think we could have done all this without you."
Not wanting to gush, Aidan stopped there, and let everyone get about their business. Then he walked over to Faith, who had been rather quiet that morning -- not her usual wise-cracking self.
"Is everything all right?"
She gave him the usual "it's none of your business" glare.
"OK," Aidan answered himself, "then I'll get right to the point. I thought that since you're not quite done packing, you could be the one to stay and direct the movers. If you don't want to, I will, but I thought I would bring it up." He waited, wondering if he should start cringing inwardly now or if he should wait until she replied. Usually, Faith was not one to take orders very well, even if they were polite orders. Only about training did she accept him without much question. He still felt weak when he remembered the argument they'd had about her giving high school another try. And the fact that she would have to take summer school this summer to catch up on what she had missed had not set well with her.
"Whatever." Faith shrugged and then walked out of the kitchen, presumably upstairs to finish her packing.
Aidan looked after her, shocked. She had agreed to something without World War Seven? She must be sick. But she seemed alive and well. Maybe she was just tired or something. Deciding to try talking to her about it again later if she wasn't back to her normal, loud-mouthed self, Aidan turned and began to co-ordinate the others into box hauling detail.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sonya rode with Oz in his van over to the new house. When she saw the now-familiar place, she directed him up into the driveway.
"This is nice," he commented as he turned off the motor. Behind them, Joyce, Aidan and Amy all pulled their vehicles as close as they could manage, and everyone began hopping out to start moving stuff.
"Yeah," Sonya agreed. She pointed to the corner window on the second floor. "That's my window."
"Good window." Oz got out of the van and walked around so he could open her door.
Sonya blushed. "Thanks."
"No problem."
Then Oz moved over to where Aidan, Doyle, Rio and Buffy -- the power movers as they'd jokingly been dubbed -- were waiting for him to open the back of the van. The heaviest and bulkiest things were waiting inside Shelia The Zebra-Striped Van.
Joyce, Sonya and Amy started moving in the boxes.
"How come Jenny isn't helping?" Joyce asked Amy as they started working.
"She had an unbreakable commitment," Amy explained.
"Must've been important," Joyce commented.
Amy shrugged. "I guess. She wouldn't tell me what it was."
"You know what I think?" Sonya teased. "I think she just didn't want to help us lug boxes around. She's obviously not as committed as you two gorgeous women." Joyce and Amy laughed and they all got to work on the boxes in Amy's car.
Amy pulled a box out of the backseat, chanted a couple of words in Latin. The box obediently floated up between her hands. She'd mastered levitation when she lived in Europe, and to her delight, it still worked just as well on non-vampire objects.
"I think that's cheating!" Buffy told her friend. Buffy and Rio were working together to carry in a bulky arm chair.
Amy just smiled. "I say, if you've got it, flaunt it."
"Just so long as no one who shouldn't see notices," Aidan warned, but his light tone showed that he thought Amy was already doing a good job of that.
Her smile didn't waver. "That's why I'm only doing one box at a time. I figured levitating three or four boxes into the house would be too obvious."
"You have to teach me that spell," Rio said as he struggled with the chair. "The levitation spells I know are too flashy to use in public."
"Sure," Amy agreed.
"You mean you could just levitate everything in?" Buffy asked as she tried to find a comfortable way to carry the arm chair. "Forget this power mover stuff! I think Amy and Rio should do it all!"
At the front door, Aidan shouldered his box of dishes and unlocked the door for everyone, stopping the good-natured teasing.
They all walked in and looked around. The house looked even bigger without furniture. Amy glanced down at the label on her box. "Sonya's Room." She looked at the girl in question. "Which one is your room?"
"C'mon," Sonya said. "I'll show you." They went up the stairs at a quick clip.
"Um, Aidan?" Buffy said as Rio grunted. "Where did you want this chair?"
"Sorry!" Aidan exclaimed. "Just put it in the den." He pointed to a door on the other side of the hall. "It's through there."
Joyce frowned at the label on her box. "Um... this says Miscellaneous. Is that bedroom Miscellaneous? Kitchen Miscellaneous? Bathroom?"
Aidan balanced his box and moved to the side so Doyle and Oz could get in with a long, skinny bookshelf. Then he squinted at the box in question. "You know... I have no idea."
Joyce laughed, remembering the confusion of moving very well. "I'll just put it in the living room, and you can sort it all out later."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Faith sat in a much emptier condo waiting for the movers. She would definitely be glad to get out of this place. Faith didn't like close quarters. She liked freedom. And she hoped that her new bedroom -- across the house from Sonya -- would make it even better. The thought of Sonya made her frown.
"Stupid slut," Faith grumbled. "Where does she get off criticizing me when all she does is make goo-goo eyes at Oz?"
Sitting there fuming wasn't getting her anywhere. Faith stood up and began to pace. "Movers, movers, where are the movers?"
Then she spied a box with a familiar name printed on it. "Sonya's Desk Stuff." A tiny grin curved her lips. "Well... as long as no one is here..."
A second later and Faith was elbow deep in Sonya's stuff. She pulled out a silver picture frame and saw a picture of Sonya in a wheelchair next to Xander. Only Xander was smiling.
"Sappy. Before my time." Faith dropped the frame carelessly into the box. "Hmmm... What else?"
She found a napkin with the words "Sal's Diner" printed on it, but she didn't know why Sonya had that so she put it back in the box. Faith discovered a cassette tape that turned out to be a recording of some of Oz's music. [Interesting] she thought, [but not unexpected. And the Dingoes suckanyway.]
The box also held countless pens, pencils, writing tablets and all the other boring desk things. She found a journal that looked promising, but it was blank inside.
"She doesn't seem the type to keep a journal anyway." Faith rolled her eyes, wondering who could be so boring and anal that they would have to keep a diary for kicks.
Just when she was about to give up, Faith found a small, porcelain container. It was white and blue and it had a blue flower with tiny green leaves painted on the top. It definitely did not seem like something Sonya would have in her possession. Sonya wasn't the girlie-girl type like Amy and Buffy.
Faith sat back on her heels and opened the tiny box. The lid had a gold border and two tiny hinges. It opened with a small click. A light, powdery scent assailed her nostrils and she grimaced. [More with the girlie-girl stuff! I didn't know Sonya had a side like this.]
The box fit in the palm of her hand. There was only room inside to hold a few small things. Four things, actually. A pair of gold earrings in the shape of roses, a matching ring with a thicker band and a locket with a rose engraved on it.
Faith dismissed the ring and the earrings quickly. Too old fashioned for her. But the locket was something else. She held it up by the chain and admired it in the light.
"Not bad," she muttered. "It would look really great with something strapless..." She held it up to herself and saw that the locket would rest right in the crevice between her breasts. "And it would draw attention to just the right areas. I think I'm going to have to... 'borrow' this for a while."
Faith remembered the last time she'd "borrowed" something from Sonya -- a black T-shirt. They'd had quite a fight about it. But Faith was never one to give up what she wanted because she was afraid of a fight. And the harsh words Sonya had thrown at Faith earlier meant that Sonya owed Faith something, in Faith's opinion anyway.
She was just about to open the locket and see if anything was inside when a sharp rapping at the door interrupted her. She jumped up, shut the flaps of the box and shoved the necklace in her pocket before the door swung open to reveal someone she never expected to see.
"You're not a mover," Faith accused.
Cordelia Chase made her way into the condo and peered around. Then she pouted. "What? The movers aren't here yet?"
Faith raised an eyebrow. "You left your la-la land clique just to trot over here and watch some beefcake movers?"
"Well," Cordelia confided with a grin, "Percy West got a summer job at the Movers 'R Us, and let me just say that he looks *good* in a sweaty tank top!" Her excitement trailed off as Faith continue to stare at her in disbelief. "Well, fine! Excuse me if I can appreciate a guy in uniform!" Another knock at the door punctuated her words, and -- with a patented Chase hair swing -- Cordelia put on her best smile, pulled open the door and said, "Hello?" Her face fell. "Oh. It's you."
"Princess!" Doyle cried as he and Oz walked into the house. "Came to give Aidan and the kids some interior decoratin' tips?"
"Yeah," Cordelia replied, turning away from him. "That's it." She walked over to the couch, pushed a box onto the floor with a loud thump and sat down in a huff.
Doyle winked at Oz. "She loves me, man."
Oz nodded. "I can totally see that."
"What *are* you guys doing here?" Faith asked in her most "I'm bored, kill me now" tone.
"Aidan sent us back fer another load o' boxes," Doyle explained. He grabbed the "Sonya's Desk Stuff" box and headed for the van outside. Faith gave a sigh of relief to have the box gone. It made her feel safer somehow, though why she needed to feel safe because of a dumb locket, she really didn't know.
Oz took another box and did the same. When he got to the door he looked back and said, "The movers are here."
Cordelia jumped up and did a quick makeup check in the hall mirror that was now leaning against the wall. Then she hurried out the door to say hello to Percy. Faith followed along behind, preparing to direct incompetent men how *not* to break the furniture.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Several long hours later, the movers were gone, the new furniture had been delivered and everything that was moving had been transferred to the new house. Joyce had conscripted Amy and Rio to help her make a light salad to go with the pizzas Aidan had ordered. Sonya and Oz were in her room unpacking boxes. Faith was pacing about the house like a caged panther. Aidan was in his new study unpacking books and organizing his desk. Doyle, Cordelia and Buffy sat in the living room, just relaxing.
Buffy sighed. Even with her Slayer strength her muscles were sore from all the heavy lifting. [If Xander were here, he would give me a backrub] she thought longingly. But that made her realize, yet again, that her boyfriend was thousands of miles and an ocean away from her, and he would be for a really long time. She sighed and tried to push that thought away for now.
"You really shouldn't do that, Buffy," Cordelia said.
"What?" Buffy asked, startled out of her reverie.
"That frowning thing," Cordelia explained helpfully. "It makes that wrinkle between your eyes really stand out."
Buffy's gaze narrowed on Cordelia. "What are you still doing here anyway? Percy left hours ago."
"I told ye!" Doyle jumped in. "She's here ta practice her interior decoratin' so she can get a job wit' Martha Stuart Livin'."
Cordelia shrieked in protest. "I would never work for her!" She reached over and slugged Doyle in the arm. He was on the other side of the long couch from her, but she made the effort to connect. Buffy heard the slap from where she sat across the room.
"Now, that," Doyle said in a high and mighty tone, "was a declaration o' war!" With no more warning, he grabbed a throw pillow and began pummeling Cordelia with it, despite her shrieks to steer clear of the hair.
Buffy stared at them incredulously. [Don't tell me they're... flirting] she thought with a sinking feeling. [Oh, man! This is so unfair!] Unable to stand it any more, she got up and wandered out of the living room. She walked through the first door she came to and found herself in Aidan's study. She thought she was alone for a moment, but then Aidan poked his head up from behind the desk.
"Oh. Hello."
"Hey," Buffy replied. She didn't know what else to say, so she offered, "Need some help?"
Aidan shook his head. "I've got it. But thank you."
Buffy nodded and stood there for a minute. She started to walk out, but paused in the doorway. A peal of laughter could be heard from the living room.
"Why don't you go out there?" Aidan suggested. "It sounds like they're having fun."
"I've had enough fun for one day," Buffy muttered, examining her fingernails.
Aidan stood up and walked closer to the Slayer. "You're missing Xander, aren't you?"
She looked up at him, surprised. "How did you know?"
He smiled. "It's written all over your face. Come here." He took her arm and led her over to his new, leather sofa, and they sat down. The deep brown covering felt smooth beneath her legs and the smell of new leather assailed her nostrils. She sighed.
"Buffy," Aidan said, "I know this separation is hard. I went through something quite similar to this myself."
"You did?"
"Yes." He nodded. "When I went away to train to be a Watcher I left a girl behind in Ireland. She was my childhood sweetheart."
"What was her name?"
"Belinda." A wistful look crossed his face. "We promised to wait for each other. She gave me a lock of her hair, and I slept with it under my pillow."
Buffy gave him a funny look. "Your camera was broken?"
Aidan shrugged. "We were young and in love. Rather like you and Xander."
A soft smile crossed Buffy's lips at the mention of her boyfriend. "So, what happened with you and Belinda?"
A pained look crossed Aidan's face. "Um... never mind. Did I ever tell you the story of how my grandmother met my grandfather?"
Buffy's eyes narrowed. "Spill. What happened with Belinda?"
He hesitated for a minute and swallowed nervously. When it was obvious that Buffy would not be dissuaded, he finally said, "She got tired of waiting for me and married another man. He owned a shoe store."
"Oh, that was comforting," Buffy said sarcastically, but there was a grin trying to escape the corners of her mouth. "Remind me get back to you the next time I get depressed about my relationship and you can tell me that at least Xander isn't dead like your kindergarten girlfriend." She cocked her head to the side and then asked, "Your kindergarten girlfriend isn't really dead, is she?"
Aidan shook his head. "I was rather a loner in grammar school." He sighed and ran his fingers through his brown hair. "I'm sorry, Buffy. I shouldn't have told you that story. I don't know what I was thinking."
"It's OK." Buffy touched his arm. "It was sweet of you to try."
Aidan nodded. Then he said, "If you still want to help me unpack those books, you can." He pulled a list out of his pocket. "I was going to organize them in alphabetical order by author with a secondary ranking by copyright date."
"Um... no," Buffy said, standing up quickly and heading for the door. "But you have fun with that." Then she walked out of the room, and Aidan watched her go with a self-satisfied look on his face. It felt like they'd finally made a first step toward a real relationship. This thing might work out after all.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What's this?"
Sonya looked up from the clothes she was hanging in the closet to see Oz holding a small, porcelain jewelry box. She smiled a little bit. "It was my mother's." She dropped a burgundy-colored sweater to the floor and moved to stand beside him. He handed her the box and she gazed at it with a tender expression.
"I thought your mom..."
"Died?" Sonya nodded. "She did. I never even met her. But this is the one thing I have left."
"What's inside?" Oz asked.
Sonya carefully opened the box and held it out so he could see inside. "Her favorite jewelry. It's a matched set."
"Oh yeah," Oz said, nodding. "Earrings and a ring. Very cool... if you're into roses. I like roses... well, I like girls wearing roses..."
Sonya didn't even notice his unusual bout of wordiness because she was staring into the box with a horror-stricken expression. "There was a locket in here!" Tears started to well up in the corners of her eyes. "It had my mother's picture in it. It was the only picture I had of her!"
Oz looked around at the stacks of boxes. "Maybe... maybe it's in here somewhere."
Sonya just sat on the edge of the bed, motionless, staring at the box.
"What's going on?"
Oz looked over to see Faith in the doorway, her hands on her hips.
"I could hear you all the way in my room."
"Get out, Faith!" Sonya growled. "I do not have the energy to deal with you right now."
Faith saw the box in Sonya's hand and her cheeks paled. Quickly, she pulled herself back together and strolled casually into the room. "What's in there?" she asked, gesturing toward the box.
Sonya just glared at her. It was Oz who answered. "A locket with her only picture of her mother in it. It's missing."
Faith was silent for a minute, and then she said, "Your mother is dead, too?"
Sonya looked up at Faith. The two girls just stared at each other for a long moment. Then Sonya answered, "Yeah."
The commando started to pace back and forth in the bedroom. Oz gave her a puzzled look, then he shrugged off his confusion and turned to Sonya. "We can look for it. I'll help you."
"Maybe..." Sonya whispered.
Faith seized the idea with a surprising amount of zest. "Yeah! I'll help, too." Then she opened the nearest box and started pawing through it's contents.
The ex-Slayer watched, confused. Finally, she asked, "Why are *you* helping *me*? Didn't you get the memo? We hate each other."
Faith shrugged, avoiding Sonya's gaze. "What else do I have to do? I already unpacked the two whole boxes I have. And besides..." She gestured at the box, which was full of clothes. "Maybe I'll find something in here that would look good on me."
"Whatever," Sonya said, grabbing another box. "I just want to find my locket."
The three teens sat there, rummaging through boxes haphazardly and throwing anything that got in their way into the middle of the floor. Something nagged at Sonya. Something besides the missing locket. She let out a loud sigh. Oz glanced up at her, but she couldn't meet his gaze. Finally she blurted, "Faith, I'm sorry for what I said about you and Angel this morning. It's none of my business, and I should keep my nose out of it."
"You're apologizing to me?" Faith asked with a smirk. "But I thought we hated each other."
"Oh, we do," Sonya replied quickly. "I just thought I'd throw that out there." Then she concentrated on her box again, but she could feel Oz's approval radiating from him.
Faith waited for her opening. It took a while, but eventually there was a minute when both Oz and Sonya were facing the other way. In a lightning quick move, Faith pulled the gold necklace out of her pocket and shoved it into the box. Then she let out a cry of triumph. "I found it!"
"You did?" Sonya jumped up and grabbed the locket out of Faith's grasp. Faith and Oz stood up too.
"Is that it?" Oz asked.
Sonya practically danced over to him and gave him a big hug. "Yes!" Then she turned to Faith.
"No way!" Faith exclaimed. "If you hug me, I'm taking the this thing to a pawn shop."
Just then the three teenagers hear Joyce's voice from downstairs. "Dinner's here! Come and get it!"
Sonya fastened the locket around her neck, not wanting to let it out of her sight for a while. Then she headed for the stairs. "C'mon, guys. If we don't get there quick Doyle, Aidan and Rio will eat all the pizza."
Faith moved to follow (knowing the truth of Sonya's words after all the times Doyle had come over to the condo for dinner) but stopped when Oz touched her arm. She looked down at him -- he was at least half a head shorter than she was -- and froze. She could tell, just by the look in his eyes as he stared at her, that Oz knew the truth.
[He must've seen me take the stupid thing out of my pocket!] she thought, suddenly afraid that Oz would ruin the peace she and Sonya had just forged. [Well, whatever!] Faith told herself. [Who gives a crap if Sonya hates me? That's nothing new.]
"What?" Faith finally asked him belligerently.
Oz gave her a quick smile. "Thanks." Then he turned and followed Sonya downstairs.
Faith stood there for a second, completely taken aback by that little exchange. Then she, too, went downstairs to find some pizza.
Series: Destiny Found, part 2
Affiliated Series: Destiny Lost
Authors: Sonya and Erin
E-mail: sonyajeb@swbell.net OR carynsilver@yahoo.com
Rating: PG
Category: AU, relationship oriented -- Sonya/F friendship; Aidan/B friendship; undertones of B/X and Sonya/O
*Disclaimers and Timeline Info in Part 1!!!!*
----------------
Thwack!
"Oof."
Thud. Crunch.
"Urg."
Thunk.
"Good job. What's say we take a break?"
Buffy Summers relaxed from her training posture and pushed sweaty tendrils of blonde hair out of her face. She gave her new Watcher, Aidan O'Shea, a small smile. "I have to give you credit. You lasted a lot longer than Giles." Feeling a twinge of disloyalty to her former Watcher, now in England reorganizing the Council's training facilities, Buffy hastily added, "Not that Giles was bad or anything..."
Aidan nodded in understanding as he gulped in huge breaths of air. "I quite understand, Buffy. I'm sure Giles was an impeccable trainer. I'm just a bit more used to the physical side of things as I trained youngsters like Faith and Rio for over a year."
[And you're at least fifteen years younger] Buffy thought, but she didn't say that out loud. Aidan was self-conscious enough about being young for an Active Watcher. The two of them were still trying to find the right footing with each other, and Buffy didn't want to say anything that would make things uncomfortable.
The room was silent for a moment. Self-consciously, Buffy took down her falling ponytail and re-did it. She liked Aidan, and it felt good to have a Watcher who was all hers -- sharing Giles with ex-Slayer Sonya had always been a challenge and sometimes much less than pleasant -- but now Aidan had to fill the shoes of one of the most daring Watchers in Council History. Giles's exploits were numerous, and would probably never be duplicated or equaled in a hundred years. Add that to the fact that Aidan's age, 25, made him more like a big brother or an older cousin than a father-esque figure, and there was a whole lot of adjusting going on in Sunnydale.
"Why don't you do your stretches?" Aidan suggested. He began packing away the pads he wore when they trained. "I think we've had enough for one day."
Buffy nodded and lifted her left foot to the edge of the nearest stack of boxes. She stretched it as high as it would go, and then she leaned over until she could grab the toe of her sneaker with her right hand. It felt great. Buffy hadn't been the Slayer very long, only a few months -- she still felt unexpected twinges of pleasure at the things her body could do now. Memories of the days when she could barely walk no longer tormented her, except occasionally in her dreams.
Her reflective mood was broken by the sound of a bell tinkling in the other room. Aidan checked his watch. "I'd better go take care of that. It could be a customer."
"I thought Amy was working today." Buffy knew that her best friend valued her after school job in Aidan's new bookstore, and Amy Madison wasn't the type to let a customer wait unattended.
"She was," Aidan informed her as he made a brisk pace to the door that separated the back room that they used for training and storage from the main part of the shop, "but I told her she could have off early for her lessons with Jenny and Rio. She should have gone about ten minutes ago."
He left, and the swinging door closed behind him with only the smallest of swooshing noises. Buffy ducked behind the screen in the corner of the room and changed from her workout clothes into jeans and a T-shirt. A few minutes later, she stuffed the dirty clothes in her bag and walked out into the front of the shop.
After quitting his job at the British Museum to move to Sunnydale, Aidan had needed a means of income. Since he didn't have the credentials to take over Giles's job at the Sunnydale High School library, he'd scrounged up the capital and opened up a small new and used bookstore in downtown Sunnydale. He leaked word out to the wiccan community that he had a good selection of occult books, but the store sold everything from romance and mystery novels to cook books and dictionaries. Aidan owning a store -- simply called Booksellers -- worked out well spacewise and incomewise, but sometimes Buffy missed having her Watcher at her fingertips during the daily school grind. Luckily, her mother had agreed to get her a cellular phone.
As if thinking of Joyce Summers had summoned the woman in question, Buffy came through the swinging door to find her mother and Aidan standing by the cash register dais, chatting. Joyce's eyes took on a maternal pride when she noticed Buffy. "Hi, sweetie. I just dropped by to see if you were done for the day."
Buffy flashed a grin at her mother. "That's why you recommended Aidan to your landlord. You wanted me close by. Admit it, Mom!"
Joyce extended her hands in a gesture of surrender. "I love having you both next door, but, trust me, that recommendation came from business sense more than family needs. Bookworms are likely to be art nuts, so the gallery benefits from the extra traffic in the area. And this place sitting vacant wasn't of any use to anyone..."
"Yeah, sure," Buffy replied, but the comment held a ring of teasing laughter.
"So," Joyce said, reverting to her earlier topic, "do you need a ride home?"
Buffy nodded. "Sure."
"Good." Joyce picked her purse up off the counter, and she and Buffy headed for the door. Glancing back at Aidan, she called, "What time do you need us there tomorrow?"
Aidan glanced at the clock consideringly. "I think eight thirty should do it."
Buffy groaned, but Joyce's cheerful voice covered the noise. "We'll see you then."
"All right." Just before they got out the door, Aidan added, "Buffy, call me if you run into anything unusual on patrol this evening."
"Expecting some ancient prophecy you haven't told me about?" Buffy shot back, holding the door open for Joyce to walk through.
Aidan shook his head. "Nothing I know of."
"Good." Buffy winked at him before letting the door start to shut. "Maybe that means things will go well during the move."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I can't believe we have to get up this early on a Saturday."
Sonya glared across the box-filled room, the ugly look landing on the Faith-shaped lump under the blankets on the spare bed in the corner. "Believe me, it's worth it if we don't have to share a room anymore."
Faith pushed down the covers and sat up. "Roger that, but couldn't Aidan have let us sleep in until nine at least?"
A saccharine grin curved Sonya's lips. "Well, if *someone* had gotten home before three in the morning, *someone* wouldn't be so tired now, would she?"
Faith blushed and jumped out of bed, heading for the bathroom down the hall, avoiding the boxes that littered their floor with a feline grace that only a potential Slayer could have. "Where I was last night and when I got home is none of your damn business!" With that she stalked into the bathroom and slammed the door.
Sonya finished boxing up the contents of her desk and folded the flaps closed. The corners of her mouth trembled. She tried to hold it back, but a fit of giggles erupted. After a moment, she calmed herself down. It wouldn't do to tip her hand too soon. With Faith so defensive, Sonya knew where she must have spent most of the night: with Angel. Faith never talked about it -- neither did Angel for that matter -- but word traveled fast in their small circle. And Rio and Amy had both found out about the affair a few days after it started, while the rest of the Scooby Gang was in England for Spring Break. Sonya thought the idea of Faith and Angel was extremely weird, but, as far as she was concerned, they could do whatever they wanted with their off hours as long as they did their part to control the havoc of living on a Hellmouth. The fun came from Faith's obvious sensitivity on the subject. As she wrote "Sonya's desk stuff" on the box in black marker, she eagerly anticipated the digs she could get in later. After the torture of sharing a room with (and losing an as yet un-determined amount of clothing to) the commando, Sonya was determined to get her revenge where she could.
"Morning."
Sonya looked up from her last minute packing to see Rio standing in the doorway. He was already dressed -- in black jeans and a black T-shirt -- and his dark hair was combed back off of his slender, pale face. The recently reformed warlock had moved into the condo at the same time as Faith and Aidan as part of his restitution -- Faith and the other white hats in Sunnydale were overseeing his efforts to pay for the crimes he'd committed while bound to evil-commando Terrance under the power of a blood oath from generations before.
The amusement wasn't completely gone from her face as she answered, "Good morning, Rio."
"Why are you so chipper this morning?" he asked, looking at her with some surprise. As everyone in the house knew, morning wasn't Sonya's favorite time of day. And since it wasn't Faith's favorite time of day, either, that had led to some interesting conflicts in the weeks since Spring Break.
"This is the last morning I have to share a room with Faith," Sonya answered, keeping the Angel stuff to herself. That was something best used in private, between herself and Faith.
Rio nodded. "I see. Yes, the move will be good for us all." He had been sleeping on a couch in the library/study for the past few weeks. "And in the new house, I will get my own room, too."
"Definitely!" Sonya exclaimed. "Having one's own room is vital for a teenager." She looked around her familiar walls, fighting a twinge of sadness. "I will kind of miss this place, though. Before you guys moved in, Giles and I were really cozy here."
"It's not like you won't see it again," Rio reminded her. "Giles is only subletting the place. I guess that means that he intends to come back someday."
"Maybe so." The soft chime of the doorbell interrupted Sonya's sudden downward moodswing. Eager to move on to something else, Sonya pushed past Rio and headed for the door. It was eight-thirty on the dot. Only one person could be that punctual...
When she opened the door, Sonya found out that she'd guessed it in one. It was Joyce, with a tired-looking Buffy in tow. Behind them, a beat-up van and a car pulled up to the curb. Oz and Doyle got out of the van and Amy emerged from the car. They all headed for the door as well.
"Come in!" Aidan called to the crowd of people in his entry hall. He motioned them into the kitchen. "I've got donuts and coffee."
"Least he could do," Buffy grumbled, but it was just the sleepiness talking. Amy smiled at her friend and the two of them went into the kitchen, followed by Joyce and Rio from upstairs.
Doyle followed as well, and stopped by Aidan to asked, "Is this everyone ye asked?"
Aidan gave his friend a knowing look. "Cordelia knew the time and place, but I guess she had to wash her hair or something."
"That's no... I didn't..." Doyle spluttered. Then he took a breath and said more calmly. "I was referrin' to Angel. Ye know, another strong back fer the heavy liftin'."
Aidan smirked, not believing that for one minute. "Well, he said he was available... after sunset."
Realizing his mistake, Doyle flushed. Then he just rolled his eyes at his old friend and went into the kitchen for the promised donuts.
At the door, Sonya waited until the ever-polite Oz got inside and then closed the door behind him.
"Hi," he said in a voice meant just for her.
Sonya darted a small smile in his direction. Ever since England, when he'd risked his life to try and save hers, things had been different between them. It was like they were standing on the cusp of something new. But Oz never made that final step. He never said anything to indicate if he felt more than platonically for her. She thought he did, but it was something she gathered from intuition and vibes, not words. Sometimes, the uncertainty of it all made Sonya want to grind her teeth in frustration. Even if she ground them to enamel powder, her healing factor would make sure they came back. Other times she thought maybe she should make the first move, but for all her bravado, her life as a foster child work-horse, a Slayer and then a cripple meant Sonya was inexperienced with boys. And after the disaster of her only foray into the dating world -- with Xander while they were, unbeknownst to either of them, affected by an evil spell -- had turned out less than spectacularly. In short, she didn't know how to make the first move.
Pushing all her confusing thoughts out of her head, Sonya replied, "Hi, Oz." They looked at each other for a moment, and Sonya felt her cheeks begin to heat up. This didn't happen with just friends, did it?
"C'mon, you two, quit with the warm fuzzies already. Talk about sickening!"
Sonya wished she could shoot laser beams from her eyes like that Cyclops guy in the X-Men comic books Oz liked to read. He'd shown her several of them one day last week when they had lunch together on the quad at school. The ruby beams of death would have fried Faith before the brunette could get all the way down the stairs. But Sonya didn't have death rays in her eyes, so she had to settle for a dark glare and a quick retort.
"Feeling more alert now, Faith? I guess a night of romping in the sack with a vampire will leave you drained in the morning."
Faith's mocking grin vanished and her cheeks paled. Sonya expected an even meaner comeback, but that didn't happen. Faith hurried down the rest of the stairs and vanished into the kitchen with the others. Sonya sighed and glanced at Oz. He looked right back at her. There wasn't any condemnation in his face, but she regretted what she'd said anyway.
"I guess I'm going to have to apologize for that one, huh?" Sonya said in a small voice.
Oz placed a warm, gentle hand on her arm. "Might help."
"It's just..." Sonya stepped away from him as her anger intensified. "Well... Faith is just always so mean to me. I thought... No, I didn't think. But shouldn't she be able to take it as well as she dishes it out?"
"Sometimes the people who dish it out the worst are the ones who are the most insecure," Oz said.
He tucked his hands into the pockets of his work pants. Sonya stared at the rip in the knee, wondering what caused it. Probably carrying stuff for the Dingoes, she decided. She sighed again, then glanced into the kitchen. They could hear the others laughing and talking. There was even the occasional shriek, probably from Doyle teasing Buffy or Amy.
She looked back at Oz. "We'd better go get some food before it's all gone." She turned and walked into the kitchen, knowing Oz would follow her. As she grabbed a donut and a cup of black coffee, Sonya studiously avoided even the tiniest glance in Faith's direction. [Later] she promised herself. [I'll deal with that later.]
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Aidan gave everyone with a car a map to the new house. It was a nice house in the residential part of town. It had plenty of room for four occupants, and even a nice backyard complete with a swimming pool.
Noting the address, Joyce commented, "This is a nice neighborhood, Aidan."
"Not the best," he replied.
She shook her head in agreement. "No, it's not on the rich side of town with the Chase family mansion, but it is a very nice neighborhood. How did you afford it?"
"Council funding," Aidan explained. "All my assets are tied up in Booksellers. There's no way I could have afforded this without them. Luckily, Ms. Post and her new group of advisors realize my predicament here with three dependents, so they were generous with the purse strings."
"Ah." Joyce took a last sip of her coffee and then threw away her Styrofoam cup. "Must be nice."
Aidan smiled at her, and then addressed the group at large. "Attention, everyone. I have hired movers to come for the furniture we are taking with us, so someone has to stay and direct them. They should be here within the hour. To save money, they will only be taking one load of the heaviest things, so supervising them will not take very long. The rest of us should start collecting boxes and all the small stuff and moving it over in the various cars."
Sonya waved her hand around and then called, "What about the new furniture -- the stuff that we bought last week. When is it getting there?" Sonya's bedroom furniture and a lot of the stuff from Giles's library (stuff important to helping the Slayer) were some of the largest things they were moving. However, she had enjoyed helping Aidan pick out new living room furniture and other such things. The new house would be very comfortable for all of them.
"A delivery van is supposed to meet us at the new house."
He paused for a minute to look at the faces of everyone in the kitchen. He felt honored that they had all come out to help him with such a mundane task. It actually made him feel a part of the group for what might have been the first time. After a moment, he continued speaking. "But before we go, I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you for all of your help. I don't think we could have done all this without you."
Not wanting to gush, Aidan stopped there, and let everyone get about their business. Then he walked over to Faith, who had been rather quiet that morning -- not her usual wise-cracking self.
"Is everything all right?"
She gave him the usual "it's none of your business" glare.
"OK," Aidan answered himself, "then I'll get right to the point. I thought that since you're not quite done packing, you could be the one to stay and direct the movers. If you don't want to, I will, but I thought I would bring it up." He waited, wondering if he should start cringing inwardly now or if he should wait until she replied. Usually, Faith was not one to take orders very well, even if they were polite orders. Only about training did she accept him without much question. He still felt weak when he remembered the argument they'd had about her giving high school another try. And the fact that she would have to take summer school this summer to catch up on what she had missed had not set well with her.
"Whatever." Faith shrugged and then walked out of the kitchen, presumably upstairs to finish her packing.
Aidan looked after her, shocked. She had agreed to something without World War Seven? She must be sick. But she seemed alive and well. Maybe she was just tired or something. Deciding to try talking to her about it again later if she wasn't back to her normal, loud-mouthed self, Aidan turned and began to co-ordinate the others into box hauling detail.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sonya rode with Oz in his van over to the new house. When she saw the now-familiar place, she directed him up into the driveway.
"This is nice," he commented as he turned off the motor. Behind them, Joyce, Aidan and Amy all pulled their vehicles as close as they could manage, and everyone began hopping out to start moving stuff.
"Yeah," Sonya agreed. She pointed to the corner window on the second floor. "That's my window."
"Good window." Oz got out of the van and walked around so he could open her door.
Sonya blushed. "Thanks."
"No problem."
Then Oz moved over to where Aidan, Doyle, Rio and Buffy -- the power movers as they'd jokingly been dubbed -- were waiting for him to open the back of the van. The heaviest and bulkiest things were waiting inside Shelia The Zebra-Striped Van.
Joyce, Sonya and Amy started moving in the boxes.
"How come Jenny isn't helping?" Joyce asked Amy as they started working.
"She had an unbreakable commitment," Amy explained.
"Must've been important," Joyce commented.
Amy shrugged. "I guess. She wouldn't tell me what it was."
"You know what I think?" Sonya teased. "I think she just didn't want to help us lug boxes around. She's obviously not as committed as you two gorgeous women." Joyce and Amy laughed and they all got to work on the boxes in Amy's car.
Amy pulled a box out of the backseat, chanted a couple of words in Latin. The box obediently floated up between her hands. She'd mastered levitation when she lived in Europe, and to her delight, it still worked just as well on non-vampire objects.
"I think that's cheating!" Buffy told her friend. Buffy and Rio were working together to carry in a bulky arm chair.
Amy just smiled. "I say, if you've got it, flaunt it."
"Just so long as no one who shouldn't see notices," Aidan warned, but his light tone showed that he thought Amy was already doing a good job of that.
Her smile didn't waver. "That's why I'm only doing one box at a time. I figured levitating three or four boxes into the house would be too obvious."
"You have to teach me that spell," Rio said as he struggled with the chair. "The levitation spells I know are too flashy to use in public."
"Sure," Amy agreed.
"You mean you could just levitate everything in?" Buffy asked as she tried to find a comfortable way to carry the arm chair. "Forget this power mover stuff! I think Amy and Rio should do it all!"
At the front door, Aidan shouldered his box of dishes and unlocked the door for everyone, stopping the good-natured teasing.
They all walked in and looked around. The house looked even bigger without furniture. Amy glanced down at the label on her box. "Sonya's Room." She looked at the girl in question. "Which one is your room?"
"C'mon," Sonya said. "I'll show you." They went up the stairs at a quick clip.
"Um, Aidan?" Buffy said as Rio grunted. "Where did you want this chair?"
"Sorry!" Aidan exclaimed. "Just put it in the den." He pointed to a door on the other side of the hall. "It's through there."
Joyce frowned at the label on her box. "Um... this says Miscellaneous. Is that bedroom Miscellaneous? Kitchen Miscellaneous? Bathroom?"
Aidan balanced his box and moved to the side so Doyle and Oz could get in with a long, skinny bookshelf. Then he squinted at the box in question. "You know... I have no idea."
Joyce laughed, remembering the confusion of moving very well. "I'll just put it in the living room, and you can sort it all out later."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Faith sat in a much emptier condo waiting for the movers. She would definitely be glad to get out of this place. Faith didn't like close quarters. She liked freedom. And she hoped that her new bedroom -- across the house from Sonya -- would make it even better. The thought of Sonya made her frown.
"Stupid slut," Faith grumbled. "Where does she get off criticizing me when all she does is make goo-goo eyes at Oz?"
Sitting there fuming wasn't getting her anywhere. Faith stood up and began to pace. "Movers, movers, where are the movers?"
Then she spied a box with a familiar name printed on it. "Sonya's Desk Stuff." A tiny grin curved her lips. "Well... as long as no one is here..."
A second later and Faith was elbow deep in Sonya's stuff. She pulled out a silver picture frame and saw a picture of Sonya in a wheelchair next to Xander. Only Xander was smiling.
"Sappy. Before my time." Faith dropped the frame carelessly into the box. "Hmmm... What else?"
She found a napkin with the words "Sal's Diner" printed on it, but she didn't know why Sonya had that so she put it back in the box. Faith discovered a cassette tape that turned out to be a recording of some of Oz's music. [Interesting] she thought, [but not unexpected. And the Dingoes suckanyway.]
The box also held countless pens, pencils, writing tablets and all the other boring desk things. She found a journal that looked promising, but it was blank inside.
"She doesn't seem the type to keep a journal anyway." Faith rolled her eyes, wondering who could be so boring and anal that they would have to keep a diary for kicks.
Just when she was about to give up, Faith found a small, porcelain container. It was white and blue and it had a blue flower with tiny green leaves painted on the top. It definitely did not seem like something Sonya would have in her possession. Sonya wasn't the girlie-girl type like Amy and Buffy.
Faith sat back on her heels and opened the tiny box. The lid had a gold border and two tiny hinges. It opened with a small click. A light, powdery scent assailed her nostrils and she grimaced. [More with the girlie-girl stuff! I didn't know Sonya had a side like this.]
The box fit in the palm of her hand. There was only room inside to hold a few small things. Four things, actually. A pair of gold earrings in the shape of roses, a matching ring with a thicker band and a locket with a rose engraved on it.
Faith dismissed the ring and the earrings quickly. Too old fashioned for her. But the locket was something else. She held it up by the chain and admired it in the light.
"Not bad," she muttered. "It would look really great with something strapless..." She held it up to herself and saw that the locket would rest right in the crevice between her breasts. "And it would draw attention to just the right areas. I think I'm going to have to... 'borrow' this for a while."
Faith remembered the last time she'd "borrowed" something from Sonya -- a black T-shirt. They'd had quite a fight about it. But Faith was never one to give up what she wanted because she was afraid of a fight. And the harsh words Sonya had thrown at Faith earlier meant that Sonya owed Faith something, in Faith's opinion anyway.
She was just about to open the locket and see if anything was inside when a sharp rapping at the door interrupted her. She jumped up, shut the flaps of the box and shoved the necklace in her pocket before the door swung open to reveal someone she never expected to see.
"You're not a mover," Faith accused.
Cordelia Chase made her way into the condo and peered around. Then she pouted. "What? The movers aren't here yet?"
Faith raised an eyebrow. "You left your la-la land clique just to trot over here and watch some beefcake movers?"
"Well," Cordelia confided with a grin, "Percy West got a summer job at the Movers 'R Us, and let me just say that he looks *good* in a sweaty tank top!" Her excitement trailed off as Faith continue to stare at her in disbelief. "Well, fine! Excuse me if I can appreciate a guy in uniform!" Another knock at the door punctuated her words, and -- with a patented Chase hair swing -- Cordelia put on her best smile, pulled open the door and said, "Hello?" Her face fell. "Oh. It's you."
"Princess!" Doyle cried as he and Oz walked into the house. "Came to give Aidan and the kids some interior decoratin' tips?"
"Yeah," Cordelia replied, turning away from him. "That's it." She walked over to the couch, pushed a box onto the floor with a loud thump and sat down in a huff.
Doyle winked at Oz. "She loves me, man."
Oz nodded. "I can totally see that."
"What *are* you guys doing here?" Faith asked in her most "I'm bored, kill me now" tone.
"Aidan sent us back fer another load o' boxes," Doyle explained. He grabbed the "Sonya's Desk Stuff" box and headed for the van outside. Faith gave a sigh of relief to have the box gone. It made her feel safer somehow, though why she needed to feel safe because of a dumb locket, she really didn't know.
Oz took another box and did the same. When he got to the door he looked back and said, "The movers are here."
Cordelia jumped up and did a quick makeup check in the hall mirror that was now leaning against the wall. Then she hurried out the door to say hello to Percy. Faith followed along behind, preparing to direct incompetent men how *not* to break the furniture.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Several long hours later, the movers were gone, the new furniture had been delivered and everything that was moving had been transferred to the new house. Joyce had conscripted Amy and Rio to help her make a light salad to go with the pizzas Aidan had ordered. Sonya and Oz were in her room unpacking boxes. Faith was pacing about the house like a caged panther. Aidan was in his new study unpacking books and organizing his desk. Doyle, Cordelia and Buffy sat in the living room, just relaxing.
Buffy sighed. Even with her Slayer strength her muscles were sore from all the heavy lifting. [If Xander were here, he would give me a backrub] she thought longingly. But that made her realize, yet again, that her boyfriend was thousands of miles and an ocean away from her, and he would be for a really long time. She sighed and tried to push that thought away for now.
"You really shouldn't do that, Buffy," Cordelia said.
"What?" Buffy asked, startled out of her reverie.
"That frowning thing," Cordelia explained helpfully. "It makes that wrinkle between your eyes really stand out."
Buffy's gaze narrowed on Cordelia. "What are you still doing here anyway? Percy left hours ago."
"I told ye!" Doyle jumped in. "She's here ta practice her interior decoratin' so she can get a job wit' Martha Stuart Livin'."
Cordelia shrieked in protest. "I would never work for her!" She reached over and slugged Doyle in the arm. He was on the other side of the long couch from her, but she made the effort to connect. Buffy heard the slap from where she sat across the room.
"Now, that," Doyle said in a high and mighty tone, "was a declaration o' war!" With no more warning, he grabbed a throw pillow and began pummeling Cordelia with it, despite her shrieks to steer clear of the hair.
Buffy stared at them incredulously. [Don't tell me they're... flirting] she thought with a sinking feeling. [Oh, man! This is so unfair!] Unable to stand it any more, she got up and wandered out of the living room. She walked through the first door she came to and found herself in Aidan's study. She thought she was alone for a moment, but then Aidan poked his head up from behind the desk.
"Oh. Hello."
"Hey," Buffy replied. She didn't know what else to say, so she offered, "Need some help?"
Aidan shook his head. "I've got it. But thank you."
Buffy nodded and stood there for a minute. She started to walk out, but paused in the doorway. A peal of laughter could be heard from the living room.
"Why don't you go out there?" Aidan suggested. "It sounds like they're having fun."
"I've had enough fun for one day," Buffy muttered, examining her fingernails.
Aidan stood up and walked closer to the Slayer. "You're missing Xander, aren't you?"
She looked up at him, surprised. "How did you know?"
He smiled. "It's written all over your face. Come here." He took her arm and led her over to his new, leather sofa, and they sat down. The deep brown covering felt smooth beneath her legs and the smell of new leather assailed her nostrils. She sighed.
"Buffy," Aidan said, "I know this separation is hard. I went through something quite similar to this myself."
"You did?"
"Yes." He nodded. "When I went away to train to be a Watcher I left a girl behind in Ireland. She was my childhood sweetheart."
"What was her name?"
"Belinda." A wistful look crossed his face. "We promised to wait for each other. She gave me a lock of her hair, and I slept with it under my pillow."
Buffy gave him a funny look. "Your camera was broken?"
Aidan shrugged. "We were young and in love. Rather like you and Xander."
A soft smile crossed Buffy's lips at the mention of her boyfriend. "So, what happened with you and Belinda?"
A pained look crossed Aidan's face. "Um... never mind. Did I ever tell you the story of how my grandmother met my grandfather?"
Buffy's eyes narrowed. "Spill. What happened with Belinda?"
He hesitated for a minute and swallowed nervously. When it was obvious that Buffy would not be dissuaded, he finally said, "She got tired of waiting for me and married another man. He owned a shoe store."
"Oh, that was comforting," Buffy said sarcastically, but there was a grin trying to escape the corners of her mouth. "Remind me get back to you the next time I get depressed about my relationship and you can tell me that at least Xander isn't dead like your kindergarten girlfriend." She cocked her head to the side and then asked, "Your kindergarten girlfriend isn't really dead, is she?"
Aidan shook his head. "I was rather a loner in grammar school." He sighed and ran his fingers through his brown hair. "I'm sorry, Buffy. I shouldn't have told you that story. I don't know what I was thinking."
"It's OK." Buffy touched his arm. "It was sweet of you to try."
Aidan nodded. Then he said, "If you still want to help me unpack those books, you can." He pulled a list out of his pocket. "I was going to organize them in alphabetical order by author with a secondary ranking by copyright date."
"Um... no," Buffy said, standing up quickly and heading for the door. "But you have fun with that." Then she walked out of the room, and Aidan watched her go with a self-satisfied look on his face. It felt like they'd finally made a first step toward a real relationship. This thing might work out after all.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What's this?"
Sonya looked up from the clothes she was hanging in the closet to see Oz holding a small, porcelain jewelry box. She smiled a little bit. "It was my mother's." She dropped a burgundy-colored sweater to the floor and moved to stand beside him. He handed her the box and she gazed at it with a tender expression.
"I thought your mom..."
"Died?" Sonya nodded. "She did. I never even met her. But this is the one thing I have left."
"What's inside?" Oz asked.
Sonya carefully opened the box and held it out so he could see inside. "Her favorite jewelry. It's a matched set."
"Oh yeah," Oz said, nodding. "Earrings and a ring. Very cool... if you're into roses. I like roses... well, I like girls wearing roses..."
Sonya didn't even notice his unusual bout of wordiness because she was staring into the box with a horror-stricken expression. "There was a locket in here!" Tears started to well up in the corners of her eyes. "It had my mother's picture in it. It was the only picture I had of her!"
Oz looked around at the stacks of boxes. "Maybe... maybe it's in here somewhere."
Sonya just sat on the edge of the bed, motionless, staring at the box.
"What's going on?"
Oz looked over to see Faith in the doorway, her hands on her hips.
"I could hear you all the way in my room."
"Get out, Faith!" Sonya growled. "I do not have the energy to deal with you right now."
Faith saw the box in Sonya's hand and her cheeks paled. Quickly, she pulled herself back together and strolled casually into the room. "What's in there?" she asked, gesturing toward the box.
Sonya just glared at her. It was Oz who answered. "A locket with her only picture of her mother in it. It's missing."
Faith was silent for a minute, and then she said, "Your mother is dead, too?"
Sonya looked up at Faith. The two girls just stared at each other for a long moment. Then Sonya answered, "Yeah."
The commando started to pace back and forth in the bedroom. Oz gave her a puzzled look, then he shrugged off his confusion and turned to Sonya. "We can look for it. I'll help you."
"Maybe..." Sonya whispered.
Faith seized the idea with a surprising amount of zest. "Yeah! I'll help, too." Then she opened the nearest box and started pawing through it's contents.
The ex-Slayer watched, confused. Finally, she asked, "Why are *you* helping *me*? Didn't you get the memo? We hate each other."
Faith shrugged, avoiding Sonya's gaze. "What else do I have to do? I already unpacked the two whole boxes I have. And besides..." She gestured at the box, which was full of clothes. "Maybe I'll find something in here that would look good on me."
"Whatever," Sonya said, grabbing another box. "I just want to find my locket."
The three teens sat there, rummaging through boxes haphazardly and throwing anything that got in their way into the middle of the floor. Something nagged at Sonya. Something besides the missing locket. She let out a loud sigh. Oz glanced up at her, but she couldn't meet his gaze. Finally she blurted, "Faith, I'm sorry for what I said about you and Angel this morning. It's none of my business, and I should keep my nose out of it."
"You're apologizing to me?" Faith asked with a smirk. "But I thought we hated each other."
"Oh, we do," Sonya replied quickly. "I just thought I'd throw that out there." Then she concentrated on her box again, but she could feel Oz's approval radiating from him.
Faith waited for her opening. It took a while, but eventually there was a minute when both Oz and Sonya were facing the other way. In a lightning quick move, Faith pulled the gold necklace out of her pocket and shoved it into the box. Then she let out a cry of triumph. "I found it!"
"You did?" Sonya jumped up and grabbed the locket out of Faith's grasp. Faith and Oz stood up too.
"Is that it?" Oz asked.
Sonya practically danced over to him and gave him a big hug. "Yes!" Then she turned to Faith.
"No way!" Faith exclaimed. "If you hug me, I'm taking the this thing to a pawn shop."
Just then the three teenagers hear Joyce's voice from downstairs. "Dinner's here! Come and get it!"
Sonya fastened the locket around her neck, not wanting to let it out of her sight for a while. Then she headed for the stairs. "C'mon, guys. If we don't get there quick Doyle, Aidan and Rio will eat all the pizza."
Faith moved to follow (knowing the truth of Sonya's words after all the times Doyle had come over to the condo for dinner) but stopped when Oz touched her arm. She looked down at him -- he was at least half a head shorter than she was -- and froze. She could tell, just by the look in his eyes as he stared at her, that Oz knew the truth.
[He must've seen me take the stupid thing out of my pocket!] she thought, suddenly afraid that Oz would ruin the peace she and Sonya had just forged. [Well, whatever!] Faith told herself. [Who gives a crap if Sonya hates me? That's nothing new.]
"What?" Faith finally asked him belligerently.
Oz gave her a quick smile. "Thanks." Then he turned and followed Sonya downstairs.
Faith stood there for a second, completely taken aback by that little exchange. Then she, too, went downstairs to find some pizza.