THE END IS ONLY THE BEGINNING
Disclosure: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created.
CHAPTER 21-SHADOWED HOMECOMINGS
It was the shrill and annoying sound of a telephone that pulled her out of her slumber. She started to pick her head up but quickly slammed it back down as the pain in her temples became to much to bear. She couldn't remember having that much to drink but guessed that she had used the alcohol to allow her to build up enough courage to put her plan into action. A quick turn of her head and glance at the foot of the bed proved her most feverish wishes to be true. Sleeping, and snoring, peacefully at the foot of the bed Wesley lay in a similar position to Faith, on top of the covers and completely without a shred of clothing on. Through the pain of the hangover Faith spent what felt like an eternity, but in the end it only amounted to a few fleeting seconds, staring at her what…buddy, boyfriend…no she was now she realized finally staring at the first man that she had every truly loved in her entire life. That realization hit her not unlike a ton of bricks would, although the affect wasn't very negative as she felt calmer than she had in many days. She probably would have gone on watching him forever had the phone not chosen that most inopportune of moments to ring.
"Damn…," Faith grumbled softly enough so that her head didn't feel like it was about to explode as she haphazardly tried her best to grab the telephone.
"Whoever it is we're not at home…," Wesley joked through his closed eyelids as he slowly rose from the bed and stumbled out of the bathroom and towards the kitchen.
"Yeah…who the fuck is it," Faith growled with an unhappy and impatient frown on her face as she brought the receiver up to her ear with one hand and brushed the hair off of her face with the other.
"Nice to see that you haven't lost any of your tact," The honey edged voice said jokingly from the other end of the line before Faith rolled her eyes and let slip a small sliver of a smile.
"Very funny Lorne, please tell me that you're not calling to try to ask me if I'm happy with my current long distance carrier because…," Faith replied softly with a hint of a chuckle in it as she pushed herself up a bit to rest on her elbow.
"Nah…Amy in communications will do that right in the middle of dinner tonight…but that's not why I'm calling…Giles wanted to go over a few things with Wesley…boy will he be surprised when I tell him that you answered the phone…I wonder what you two lovebirds were doing all night…," Lorne added with a sing song tone to his voice as knew that he was pushing his limits a bit but felt safe since Faith couldn't reach out and strangle him over the phone.
"Whoa…wait a minute…you can't tell…heh…hey…heh…Wes what the…no, stop that…," Faith started to dart out her reply before her body went through a couple of quick spasms as ice cold droplets of water came into contact with her skin. Those were followed by Wesley placing one ice cube in the small of her back and using another one to trail a line down her body, starting off high up on the back of her neck and traveling down her spine before lightly tapping on her behind and then continuing on down to her heels.
"Huh…what'd you say Faith…I uh didn't catch that last part," Lorne asked into the phone as he had to quickly step into an office and shut the door lest Giles see the huge grin on his face. Lorne edged the phone away from his ear as a tidal wave of laughter erupted from the other end. "Guess I'll have to tell Giles that he and Wesley can talk over lunch instead of breakfast…," Lorne mumbled with a happy smirk on his face before he shut the phone off and slipped it into his pocket and hummed a happy tune as he opened the door and walked back out of the room.
* * * * * *
"Ms…I, I'm sorry," Buffy started to say with a completely petrified look of terror on her face before her muscles sprang back to life as she rushed forward and took Jenny into a tight hug, long pent up sobs finally being unleashed.
"Buffy…I…," Jenny stammered out with a confused and overwhelmed expression on her face as she slowly returned the hug, not sure of exactly what has transpiring.
"So what'd ya bring me Spike, it'd better not be some bloody…," Molly asked at first with an innocent smile on her face before she furrowed her brows, placed her hands on her hips, and glared at Spike.
"Don't get yer panties in a twist Nibblet…," Spike replied with an absent look in his eye as he spoke to Molly but kept his gaze fixed on Buffy and Jenny, hoping that he wouldn't have to intervene.
"Cool…uh what is it…," Molly asked with at first an elated and then confused look on her face as she opened up the box that Spike had lain on the coffee table.
"Ancient demon totem, basically it'll protect you from being vamped…as long as you're wearing it that is…and a little something that I saw in a store window and just thought that you'd like…don't tell Buffy but I didn't exactly…pay…for this…," Spike answered softly with an expectant smirk on his face as he explained to Molly what the item was before he picked up and then handed another package to Molly as she handed an overly excited Joyce to Spike. With fervor Molly tore open the package and her jaw nearly hit the floor as she pulled the item out of the box. Spike stepped back and tried to keep from laughing at the overjoyed look on Molly's face as she held up her own black duster in front of her. With a high pitched squeal Molly took her gifts and tore off to her room, nearly slamming the door behind her. "I think aunt Molly liked her gifts…," Spike snickered softly under his breath to Joyce as he hugged her tightly before turning his attention back to Jenny and Buffy, who stood now simply staring at the other, both desperately wanting something or someone to break the ice between them after the hug.
"I'm sorry…," Buffy said with a sad and embarrassed frown on her face as she crossed her arms and stared down at the tops of her shoes.
"You have nothing to be sorry for Buffy, I should have told you sooner about what I was doing sooner, maybe it would have changed things…," Jenny said with a determined and serious look on her face as she nervously began to wring her hands.
"Yes I do…I was horrible to you…I took all of my anger out on you, it's a miracle that I didn't kill you…and you never yelled at me…I was such a bitch…," Buffy pleaded with an angry at herself expression on her face before Spike walked around behind her and wrapped a supportive arm around her slightly shaking shoulders.
"No Buffy, you were reacting like any seventeen year old girl would have if that had happened to them, I should have been more forthcoming with you and Rupert from the beginning, if it makes you feel any better I never hated you…for any of it, personally I was more afraid that Rupert hated me…," Jenny replied sadly with a worried look on her face before she walked over to the couch and sat down, shoulders slumped in a defeated looking posture.
"He never hated you, he was just upset that you lied to him…to us all, but more importantly him for so long that…," Buffy stated with a nervous sigh and shrug of her shoulders as she reluctantly sat down on the couch beside Jenny. For his part Spike quickly took a seat beside Buffy and wrapped a welcoming arm around her waist.
"Do…do you think that he'll…hate me when we get back to the future, maybe it'll all be to much for him and he won't want to see me," Jenny stammered through her question with a slowly unraveling angle to her body posture before Spike broke in.
"Rupert will probably be tickled pink luv, he'll probably get so flustered that we'll hear a few of his trademark…oh dear's…don't worry about it, what you should be worried about is what's going to happen when you and Peaches first meet…that'll be one to see…," Spike interjected with a serious look on his face as the point that he threw in at the end left them all in silence, except for Joyce who scrambled out of Spike's lap and threw herself headlong at her mother.
* * * * * *
"Hey…stop doing that…," Faith squealed with a happy giggle as she tried to glare at Wesley but couldn't as he swept his head down and sucked up the remains of the melted ice cube. After Lorne's call Wesley and Faith had taken to making productive use of the ice cubes, and several other items like them, before the two had settled back on Wesley's bed with Faith propped up on her elbows staring down at Wesley as he propped an ice cube up in her bellybutton and smiled as she sucked her stomach in when the ice cube began to melt. When it had melted enough Wesley would slurp up the liquid and the ice cube at the same time. Then Faith would repeat the process but on Wesley instead. Being that the ice cubes were not simply made of water but first of whiskey and then vodka.
"Why…when this is so much fun," Wesley replied with a daring grin on his face before he cupped Faith's cheek with one hand and pulled her into a kiss that threatened to evolve into something much further but was stopped when the doorbell rang.
"Saved by the bell," Faith giggled with a somewhat reluctant smile on her face as she pulled away from Wesley and burrowed under the covers before adding with a very commanding tone to her voice, "Whoever it is I'm not here."
"I'll try to remember that luv…," Wesley replied through a tired sigh as he slowly pulled himself out of bed and pulled on his wrinkled pair of jeans from the night before and headed out of the bedroom. "I swear she's going to be the death of me yet…," Wesley grumbled softly under his breath with a half cocked grin on his face before he turned the doorknob and pulled.
"Good you're up, we have work to do…," Cordelia stated with a very proud smile on her face as she lightly patted Wesley's cheek before letting herself into the apartment, followed closely behind by Dawn and Andrew, both of whom had to take considerable effort to keep from staring at Wesley in his current sans shirt state.
"Good morning Cordy…nice to see you two…please strut your way into the apartment without permission…," Wesley grumbled sarcastically with an annoyed and nervous frown on his face as he scratched his chin and shut the door behind him.
"Hey…I waltzed in here pal…and since when did I need permission…by the way Wes, you might not want to let Dawn and Andrew get a glimpse of this," Cordy exclaimed with her usual carefree smile on her face before she crouched down and picked something up. When she turned around she finished her message to Wesley as she nearly laughed at Wesley's eyes as they grew wide when looking straight ahead at what Cordelia was holding up in between her index finger and thumb.
"Erm yes well…Dawn, Andrew, Cordelia…what brings the three of you here," Wesley joked with an overly nervous smile on his face as his hand shot out, took a hold of the offending piece of lingerie and quickly jammed it into his pocket as both Dawn and Andrew whirled around.
"What was that…," Andrew asked with a confused look on his face as he cocked an eyebrow and stared at Wesley's pocket, almost sensing that he had missed something important.
"I'll tell you when you're a little older Andrew…but Cordelia you still didn't answer my question, I'm aware that Giles wants to go over a few points with me but…," Wesley replied with a daring grin on his face, one that was completely lost on by both Dawn and Andrew, but Cordelia could only grit her teeth to keep herself from diving into a giggle fit.
"Lilah got on his and Robin's case earlier about you and Faith and he's all hot and bothered about it…yuck…not liking that visual…anyway there's something that I needed to talk to you about first…in private if you don't mind…," Cordelia replied with a joking smile on her face at first before her demeanor grew more serious and she took Wesley by the arm before the two entered the bedroom and Cordelia shut the door behind her. "You can come out now Faith, I know you're under there, I can see your foot," Cordelia added softly with a wink at Wesley as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned back up against the door.
"Fine…hey Queen C…what brings you here this morning…other than bringing up several interesting possibilities for ways to spend the day…to bad Dawn and the geek are here…," Faith grumbled with an angry frown on her face at first before she crawled out from under the covers just enough to wink at Wesley and lick her lips suggestively at Cordelia. Silence fell on the trio for a bit before Cordelia completely grasped the quote and her eyes grew wide before she shook her head and walked towards the bathroom.
"Yeah…no…wait, scratch that…I'm here because I need to talk to the two of you about Angel, we need to make sure that he doesn't go overboard in his attempts to get Buffy back, I don't think that I have to remind either of you…well maybe the delinquent over there in the bed…who's needing to get some clothes on before one of the two impressionable youths out there gets curious…about how far Angel will go to get someone back that he loves," Cordelia said softly at first with traces of a sly smile on her face, one that was hidden from Wesley and Faith as the former cheerleader kept her gaze locked onto the bathroom window, before she turned around and cocked an eyebrow at Faith as the dark slayer stretched a little to far across the bed to pick up one of the half empty bottles of whiskey from the morning's earlier activities.
"Sorry…," Faith said through a half drunken giggle as she crawled back underneath the covers with the bottle.
"Sure you are…God this is going to take awhile," Cordelia moaned softly with a clearly annoyed frown on her face as she rolled her eyes and didn't look at Wesley, who was obviously beginning to feel the effects of all of the alcohol that he had consumed off of and with Faith earlier in the day.
* * * * * *
"No…that can't be…how did you ever get Spike to wear that…," Jenny asked with a stunned smile on her face as she and Molly sat on the couch with one of the latter's photo albums spread across their laps and several more sitting nearby on the floor in neat and orderly piles. It had been some time since Spike had brought Jenny back from Sunnydale and it hadn't taken the former computer teacher and the new slayer long to bond. At first Buffy had been fearful of that fact, fearing that she'd be left out of the loop. But over time the three, two slayers and the former teacher, would often be sitting around the kitchen table sipping hot chocolate and swapping stories long into the night when Spike would stumble in and growl at them that any decent woman with a good head on her shoulders would have been in bed hours ago, especially one with a young child. Buffy's reply's would always be generally the same, pacify him with enough assurances until he'd stumble into the shower and then off to bed. After that the three would continue to talk until Jenny had to cross the hall back to her apartment and turn in for the night so that she could get up early enough to get to work on time. To her credit Jenny had found a job working in the back of small Wiccan shop in the neighborhood. She would keep the inventory in order and everything in stock. In return she got to keep out of sight of most of the customers and keep the chances of her being recognized by anyone to a minimum.
"You should have seen it, Buffy n' I gave him our best puppy dog eyes and he caved like a bloody baby in like three seconds flat," Molly replied with a short laugh of her own as she recalled the fond memory. In the almost three years that she, Spike, and Buffy had been stuck in the past Molly had blossomed. No longer did she look anything like the meek and almost timid fifteen year old that had shown up with Kennedy, Annabelle, and Giles at Buffy's front door what seemed like years ago but in truth was years yet to come. Buffy had replaced worrying about Dawn going on dates with boys with Molly going on dates with boys. Like Dawn Molly was now easily taller than Buffy, a fact that the younger slayer never hesitated to bring up with a well intentioned grin on her face, before Spike would give her a look that told her in no uncertain terms to drop it. In teasing Spike had joked that if he wasn't so much in love with Buffy and firm in the knowledge that if he ever even thought about Molly in a romantic way that there'd be a stake with his name on it, human or not, that Molly had grown into quite the beautiful young woman that turned many a head in town.
"I wish I could have seen that…," Jenny said with a warm smile on her face before she picked up the newest scrapbook and began to slowly look through it. Her gaze was met with pictures of the holidays that the small group had spent together, of a Christmas trip to the mountains and snowball fights that only stopped when it got cold enough that Buffy had to take Joyce in and put the little angel to bed. Another picture was of a Thanksgiving that had finally gone the way that Buffy had always wanted, except for the noticeable absence of her closest friends and family. Even though they knew that they could never step foot back in Sunnydale of their current time again Jenny and Spike had used their contacts and friends to keep up to date the goings on in Sunnydale, just to make sure that nothing out of the ordinary happened that they didn't remember happening. Luckily nothing had happened and as the time neared for their return trip to the present they had stopped getting the good word about their former home.
"It was great…Buffy always teases Spike that when we get back she's going to blow that picture up and frame it," Molly joked with a somewhat tired smile on her face before a weary and odd acting Buffy slipped back into the apartment, shutting the door behind her.
"Oh Buffy you're home great I…Buffy…what is it, what's wrong," Jenny started to say with a slightly bored sigh before she saw Buffy's reddened eyes and the tissue in her hands.
"Wrong…nah…nothing's wrong, I'm okay…fit as a fiddle…," Buffy replied weakly with a scared look on her face before she sniffled and wiped her nose with the tissue.
"Buffy…please…," Molly pleaded with a gentle but stern frown on her face as she set the scrapbook aside and stood up.
"I just got the news…I'm pregnant…," Buffy replied softly with an overwhelmed and nervous look on her face before she slumped down into one of the chairs in the kitchen, not caring that her purse spilled open at the act.
END OF CHAPTER 21
ADDED BIT-NOXON WILL APPEAR NEXT CHAPTER, AND FOR MOST OF THIS CHAPTER FAITH IS A BIT DRUNK SO…