Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow

Previously:

Buffy and Faith left the hurricane struck motel room rather pleased with themselves. With any luck, the Council would take the hint and leave them alone, though Buffy had a feeling they would be hearing from the higher ups for their little demonstration. Hopefully it wouldn't be in the form of a machine gun attack again.

"I don't know about you, but I'm hungry," Faith declared suddenly. "Feel like ribs?"

Chapter Eleven:

The kitchen was eerily quiet as Faith and Joyce stood side by side washing dishes. Buffy and Joyce had just finished explaining to Dawn about The Key. After some fierce denial and screaming, Dawn had fled to the safety of her room in tears. Remembering Kara's warning that Dawn had ran off into the night and nearly gotten killed after finding out about what she was in her timeline, Buffy stood watch outside Dawn's door. Faith had encouraged Buffy to give Dawn some time, though strongly suggested that if she decided to talk to her, not to treat her like a child. Dawn was old enough to understand the world and all of the horrible things in it.

Joyce passed Faith a plate to dry. Looking at the older woman out of the corner of her eye, Faith wondered how to broach the subject of her inevitable brain tumor. Kara had assigned Faith the task of somehow getting Joyce to go to the hospital sooner than she would have originally. While Faith favored simply dragging the woman out to the car and taking her there herself, Kara thought subtlety might work a bit better.

Joyce looked exhausted, the tiny wrinkles around her eyes seeming to weigh down her face. Faith thought about telling her that, but then remembered Kara had also mentioned some about tactfulness. She and Kara had a very strange relationship; though Faith felt a keen maternal protectiveness of the girl, it was Kara who seemed to nurture and almost mother Faith. They were like two sides of a coin, both totally different in some respects, yet of the same mold. Faith had often thought about asking Kara how they knew each other in the future, but knew the girl wouldn't answer her.

"So Faith, how are you doing with all of this?" Joyce suddenly asked, breaking the silence that had held the room captive for so long. She had been present that afternoon in the Magic Box when Faith apologized to all of Buffy's friends and knew that it had been quite difficult for the dark haired slayer.

"Five by five," Faith responded almost automatically, drying the plate in her hand with methodic precision. Joyce raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"Of course, you're always five by five," she said, handing Faith another plate.

Faith paused for a second before taking it, mulling over Joyce's words. She had always shut down before she could reveal anything about herself to other people. It was dangerous to reveal any weaknesses, both as a slayer and as a person. For years, the idea that weakness was the greatest sin had been beaten into her. However, the last few months had given her a new perspective on life and she found herself wanting to give in every once in a while.

"Someone's gotta be," Faith whispered to herself, though Joyce faintly heard her. Snapping out of the daze she had fallen into, Faith turned and looked at Joyce. "So how're you?" She asked, finally finding her perfect segue way.

"Oh, you know, just a bit freaked out and a little tired," Joyce responded. "It's one thing to learn your daughter is a vampire slayer, but it's entirely another thing to learn your other daughter is a mystical key thousands of years old."

Faith smirked. "I can imagine," she said, then thoughtfully added, "Tired a lot?"

Joyce thought for a moment. "Yeah, I suppose it's the headaches I've been getting recently. There's so much work at the gallery. I guess I've been a little stressed out lately," she admitted.

"Maybe you should go get checked out," Faith suggested casually.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Joyce said dismissively. Faith smiled, tossing her dish towel on the counter as Joyce finished drying the last dish herself.

"You never know," Faith answered, giving Joyce something to think about as she left the kitchen.

Buffy slowly opened the door to Dawn's room. She had sat outside in the hallway for nearly a half hour, debating whether to talk to her sister or simply leave her alone with her thoughts. Finally, she decided to try talking to her again. "Hey Dawn," she said as she approached her sister's bed. Dawn was sitting with her knees pulled up around her chest and a stuffed bear clutched close to her heart. Buffy could see tear stains on her cheeks, though she had stopped crying and was, more or less, just staring into space.

Buffy crawled onto the bed next to her, emulating Dawn's position. Resting her head on her knees, Buffy looked over at the girl next to her. "It's weird, huh? Finding out that you're this whole other person than you thought you were," Buffy said, recalling the day she found out that she was a vampire slayer with this grand destiny to fight and destroy all of the evil in the world.

"But I'm not a person though. I'm a key. I'm a thing," Dawn said disdainfully, clutching the bear tighter.

"That's not true, Dawn. You've got a key inside of you, that much is true. It's in there somewhere. But that's not all you are," Buffy said gently. "Look at Angel, for instance. Angel has a demon locked inside of him, but that's not all he is. He's also a champion, a protector, a person. Just like you."

Buffy could see that she was getting through to Dawn little by little. The walls inside of her eyes were slowly breaking down. She knew Dawn would spend years trying to deal with the ramifications of who she was, but Buffy was confident that, for the moment, she would be okay. "Thanks Buffy," Dawn said looking over at her sister and shooting her a cautious smile. Buffy smiled back and slung her arm around Dawn's shoulder, pulling her in for a hug.

"Remember: I don't care what you are, you're always gonna be my sister," Buffy said as she pulled away. "I'll be downstairs with mom and Faith if you need anything, okay?"

As Buffy left the room, closing the door behind her, she breathed a sigh of relief. She had been dreading talking with Dawn about the Key and what it all meant. Now that it was over, she felt more confident that she and the others could handle whatever came their way next. Padding down the stairs, Buffy pushed open the kitchen door, surprised to see only her mother sitting at the kitchen table. Joyce had a crossword puzzle spread out in front of her and seemed in the throws of bitter concentration.

"Where's Faith?" Buffy asked, leaning over the table and peering down at her mother's answers.

"In the living room, watching TV," Joyce responded, smiling warmly at her oldest daughter. "You know, I was thinking. If we cleared the basement out a little, spruced it up, it would kinda nice down there," Joyce intimated. Buffy looked at her confused for a moment, before a wide smile covered her face.

"You want me to ask Faith to move in with us?"

Joyce shrugged, smiling. "I'm sure Kara and Callum take good care of her, but it's nice having her around. Besides, I can only imagine the junk they feed her."

Buffy nodded, knowing full well that neither Kara nor Callum possessed much in the way of culinary skills. "I'll ask her tonight. She can stay in my room until we get things fixed up," Buffy suggested and then eagerly bolted out of the kitchen to find Faith. Joyce chuckled to herself, glancing back down at her crossword puzzle. She had a sharp pain in her head and felt slightly dizzy. "Maybe I should see a doctor," she said to herself, writing a note to make an appointment the following day.