Chapter Nine

Past

"What does that mean?" Willow asked as Wesley finished reading from the book.

"It means she has to be drenched in her own blood for the Odan in her to be suppressed." Paige explained Wesley's ancient read.

"Well, I got that, but being drenched in her own blood, won't that kill her?" Willow asked the silent room.

"I think Willow asked a question, Mr. Wise." Buffy stressed Willow's point and glared at Wesley daring him to speak.

"The ancient did go through several possible candidates before the chosen one survived." Wesley said in a barely audible tone. Before he could even feel the breath of the last word leave his lips, Buffy lunged at him, just to be stopped by Faith.

"So you plan to sacrifice our baby for the experiment of creating a new slayer." Faith roared at the two watchers. Knowing that Wesley wasn't entirely to blame, Giles decided it was time he explained his own stand. "She is born of you and Faith. She has the slayer strength; there is a very good chance that she will survive the ceremony."

"You really think that we are willing to let you drain our baby out of her blood just so you can see if she survives it or not." Buffy once again baited the two English men to answer.

"She is already showing signs of Odan, if we don't take actions now, she'll possess enough evil in her that nobody can defeat her. Evil shall prevail. That is why ancient made sure they never crossed puberty." It was after he heard his own words that Wesley realized that he had just dug his own grave.

"How many?" Piper who had been silently observing with her sisters finally asked.

"How many what?" Giles asked the Charmed One.

"How many babies were killed by the ancient to find the One?" Phoebe clarified her sister's questions.

Silence once again engulfed the room as Wesley contemplated if or not to answer, but the room that was staring at him left him no choice. "Seven hundred and fifty five, but you have to understand in the beginning the watchers council had assumed that that number meant the number of days it would take her to kill the evil inside of her."

"Well, I don't give a shit about what you or the so called wise ones had thought or think will happen. You'd have to go through us to get your hands on our baby." Buffy said and took a step back to look at Faith who was still holding her hand.

One would have thought that Piper wouldn't have taken a moment to side to protect an innocent child regardless of what her destiny held, but seeing her girlfriend's hand in the hands of her ex did make her hesitate even though it was for a fraction of a second. Piper closed her eyes and told herself not to make their closeness for more than what it was, two parents uniting to save their daughter. Piper got up and took Faith's free hand followed by her sisters who took her free hand. "And us." Paige said seeing that they were forming a human chain. Angel, Dawn and Xander too got up from the couch and stood behind the slayers.

Giles realized that for the second time he was standing on the opposite side of Buffy, and he knew from experience that no matter what it seemed at the moment, that it was not where he wanted to be. He closed the book that was still on his hands, took off his glasses and walked on the other side of the room leaving Wesley all alone and Fred, Leo and Tara standing in the middle watching the allies separate.

Present

"Piper." Willow screamed as soon as the three women materialized in the manor.

"Phoebe." Tara screamed without waiting for an answer from the elder Charmed One.

"Why does the house seem so silent?" Fred asked when there was no answer.

Willow waited a couple more seconds and turned, "Ok, Fred check upstairs, I'll look here and…" Before she could finish Tara understood where she had to go and turned and walked towards the basement.

Past

"No, no no no." Kelly screamed on top of her voice when Buffy tried to pull her away from Faith. "I don't want to go with you."

Buffy and Faith's baby had grown at a normal pace for nine months of her life, then she suddenly started to accelerate. That is when they had held the meeting to discuss what were to be done, as only the power of Odan could be the reason for the acceleration.

One month had passed since every one had vowed not to let anyone harm the baby girl whom they had named Kelly and to count on their nurture to let her defeat the evil inside of her. But within that month the baby who had barely started to crawl had become as big as a 5 years old child. She also had developed many powers which Piper was successful to bind. Willow and Fred both had taken the responsibility for Kelly's education and it was Buffy's day to take her to them but Kelly always hated leaving Piper and Faith.

"You know you have to come with me." Buffy tried to stress on her words but she was helpless when she saw her almost in tears face, "Help me out here guys." She looked at the two lovers who were still in bed. Piper got out of the bed fully dressed, which wasn't unusual as whenever it was Faith's turn to keep Kelly, Kelly always slept with them as Faith was too scared to let her sleep alone. She walked over to the little girl who was still holding on to Faith's hand and Faith who was enjoying the attachment. She slowly pulled her hand out and gave her hand to Buffy, "You have to go and learn and you know that. When you come back, mom and I will treat you to my cookies. How about that?" She asked the girl whose eyes melted her heart. "The one with chocolate chips in them?" Kelly asked in her adorable voice. "Yes." Piper promised.

Just after Kelly had left with Buffy, Piper walked over to the closet and took out her jeans and a t-shirt. She walked over to the bed took off her top and said, "You know we have to get rid of crib now."

"Yes, I know. I never thought she would grow so fast." Faith replied.

"Well, we'll find a counter for that soon. We are getting close, so don't worry." Piper told Faith who was concerned that with the rate Kelly was growing she would soon out grow them and they had no idea how to catch up with her.

Piper was half way putting on the clean t-shirt when Faith intercepted her action. Piper looked out of her half on t-shirt surprised. "What's on your mind slayer?" Piper asked teasingly. "Same thing as yours." Faith replied and pulled out the remainder of her t-shirt. "Zeee, even you don't think this t-shirt is wrong for these jeans?" Piper asked teasing the stronger woman. "Yeah, completely wrong, but for you." Faith said and pulled the smaller woman on top of her. "As a matter of fact I think clothing all together is very wrong for you right now." Faith grinned and made her way to undo her bra and place a hungry kiss so that Piper could not reply. Words certainly wasn't needed to communicate their minds from there on. Their hands and fingers and their bodies took over. Clothing was soon shed from their hot bodies burning with want and desire they felt within their hearts. Their skin were enflamed with each touch, lips and their wetness did their best to simmer the intensity, but the only release was the ultimate union that their body mind and soul had craved. When the slayer's tongue found its solace in the Charmed One's core, even the air stopped with her heart. As the legs tangled and the bodies wrapped themselves so close that one couldn't tell that it was two bodies, their soul desire lust united with a single explosive release so powerful that both the women despite their own individual strength felt as though they had both died and gone to heaven and come back into each others arms. Several minutes after they had found their strength and breath back they looked at each other and smiled, Piper knew that no matter what was happening around them, she could always count on love to keep them together. "I love you, Perfect." Faith said unaware of Piper's thought and snuggled with her naked lover.

Present

"They are not in the house." Fred said as the three women gathered in the living room.

"Where do you think they are? Where is Faith?" Willow asked the two women.

"They are not here." Tara answered.

"Can you feel if they are all right?" Willow asked her ex girlfriend.

"No, only Leo can do that, him being their white lighter." Tara answered.

Willow and Fred were looking at each other disappointed when the phone rang.

Past

"Hello!" Piper yelled into receiver while catching her breath. She had come back to the manor after sending Faith to work, just to find the house in a complete chaos. Her sisters were not really the ones whom she could call the cleanest people on earth. So, as soon as she had entered she had started to clean even though she was supposed to be at P3 almost three hours ago.

"Piper! Thank God, you are at home." Said the voice from the other end.

"You! I don't think I want to talk to you." Piper answered annoyed at the caller.

"Please Piper don't hang up. You have to talk to me. Please, I beg of you before its too late." The voice insisted from the other end.

"Ok, speak." Piper gave in because of her curiosity.

"Not over the phone, can I see you?" He asked.

"I am not sure. When?" Piper asked uncertain if she wanted to meet him.

"Now. I am right outside your home. I was scared to ring the bell, scared that you would not react well to my sight." Wesley informed.

Piper walked towards the door with the phone in her hand and opened the door before she answered, "Come on in and talk fast." She said as she hung up and let Wesley in.

"We have to perform the ceremony and we have to do it fast." Wesley dared to say as he entered.

"What are you high? Or did you forget that no one is going to perform the ceremony." Piper said amazed at Wesley's guts.

"But things have changed since then." Wesley answered.

"Like what?" Piper asked.

"Power of Odan is taking over Buffy and Faith too."

"I came here as soon as I could. What's the problem?" Faith asked Buffy as she entered the little apartment that the Scoobies were staying at while in San Francisco.

"You are late but we took care of it." Buffy said as she pointed to the two men confined by red glowing magical bind that Faith knew must have come from Willow.

"Who are these jokers?" Faith asked the room which consisted of Buffy, Willow and Fred.

"They are according to Tara, Athena Brothers, very powerful warlocks who are descendents of the Goddess Athena. They not only possess extreme knowledge of witchcraft and magic but also have powers of Goddess Athena." Fred answered.

"Wicked." Faith exclaimed at the two men. "So what happened they turned bad or something that they are right now our prisoners?" Faith asked.

"Nope, they think they are good. They came to kill our daughter." Buffy said with gritted teeth.

"Well, guys its cool that you think I can actually restrain the powers of a goddess but they are very strong and I won't be able to hold them longer. I suggest you find a way to get rid of them." Willow said just as she collapsed in Fred's arms.

"No, problem Willow I know just what to do with them." Buffy said as she picked up one of the guy and motioned Faith to do the same.

"Yeah, we'll take them to the sisters and make sure their powers are immune to our daughter." Faith said as they walked out of the door.

Buffy shoved both of them in her jeep and started driving without saying a word. It was only when Faith realized that they were not going to the manor when she spoke, "B, where are we headed?"

"We are going to take care of them once and for all." Buffy replied and stopped the car in a deserted corner.

"What do you mean?" Faith had barely managed to ask when Buffy pulled one of the guys out and snapped his head, killing him.

"B! What are you doing? These are the good guys." Faith stopped Buffy from doing the same to the other brother. "We don't have to kill them, Piper can take care of it."

"For how long. I am fed up of temporary fixes. I am not going to let any more goody two shoes coming to attack our daughter." Buffy said as she tried to get away from Faith's arms.

"B! please listen to me. This is not you." Faith begged. During that time the second Athena brother was able to free himself of Willow's magical bind and disappeared before Buffy could get her hands on him.

"Damn it Faith now he'll be back again." Buffy pushed Faith with all her strength frustrated at her.

"And we will be there to protect her." Faith replied as she got up from her fall.

"For how long. You know what we should do, we should unbind her powers so that she can protect herself." Buffy suggested.

"How can you even suggest that?" Faith asked amazed at Buffy's remark.

"How can they even suggest that?" Piper asked amazed at Wesley's remark.

"Oh! They will, I am telling you, and very soon too… Odan is taking over Kelly, and that is influencing both the mothers. Buffy more so than Faith but before long Faith will be as affected too." Wesley replied.

"But they will never tell me to unbind Kelly's powers. After all they are Odan's powers, if I unbind her powers, nothing we do will stop her from turning evil. And they both know that." Piper reconfirmed her belief.

"Yes, but they are themselves giving in because of their love for their daughter. I know for a fact that Buffy has already started to kill Kelly's attackers even if they are of good magic." Wesley told the Charmed One.

"Buffy would never do that." Piper said even though Wesley had just said otherwise.

"Yes, it would be more likely for Faith to do something like that. But this time, Faith has been showing more control, may be because she was just a surrogate mother and the influence hasn't reached her or because of you in her life. But regardless its only matter of time when she'll give in too." Wesley warned.

"You have had your say and I don't believe you. So, you can leave now." Piper said as she pushed the watcher out her door. She didn't want to believe a word he had said.

"Piper listen to me. Just do me a favor. Please." Wesley begged and put his hands on the door before she slammed them. "Please tell me you'll consider to do the ceremony if ever Faith comes to you to unbind her powers." He screamed and the door slammed shut.

Present

"Who was it? What happened?" Willow asked Tara as soon as she hung up.

"It was Christine from P3. She said the sisters are unconscious." Tara informed the awaiting women.

"Let's go then." Willow said hurriedly.

"Wait don't you think we should get some reinforcement, just in case Faith is still there." Fred was expressed her concern remembering the fall she took when Faith had pushed her.

"What reinforcement? Angel would never fight against Faith, especially now that Buffy is dead." Willow explained.

"And Giles and Wesley are best only at pushing their respective glasses up their noses." Tara finished for her ex girlfriend.

"As far as Xander is concerned I don't know if he can sway Faith with stories and Dawny is missing. So, it's just us. Are you in?" Willow asked the science wiz.

"Yes." Fred replied after a little hesitation.