Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow
Note: This future stuff in confusing me. :-p Okay, my timeline may be a little, teensy, tiny bit screwy, but Callum is like late twenties, early thirties. Also, given that the show never went into any great detail regarding Faith's past, I'm going take it and run with it.
Previously:
"And Mr. Borland," Kara said, capturing his attention. "I want you out of England in fourteen days. I don't care if you don't have everything. Two weeks from now, you're on a plane to Sunnydale, got me?"
.....................
"Thanks, for tonight," Dawn finally said, recovering her senses. "No one's ever cared enough to do anything like this for me."
"You deserve only the best," Spike whispered, gently tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. "And I'll give you a thousand more tonights just to see you smile."
Chapter Thirty:
"Hey Fai," the voice of her mother sneered, stopping Faith in her tracks as she walked toward the Magic Box to meet Buffy for lunch. Faith closed her eyes, her hands involuntarily clenching into fists as she breathed in deeply, trying to calm her rapidly palpitating heart.
"You're not real," Faith whispered, more to herself than the First. "You're a demon."
"Actually, I'm a lot more than that," the First said snickering as it circled around Faith until it was looking her in the eyes.
"You're all the same to me," Faith said sardonically, unflinchingly meeting the eyes of the woman who caused her so much pain.
"How are things with lover girl? I imagine you're the butch one of the pair, huh?"
"Stay away from her," Faith growled, stepping closer, though she knew any attempts to injure the First would be futile; Kara said it was incorporeal.
"I don't take orders from you. Buffy may be your little bitch, but I'm not," the First snarled back, her mother's eyes lighting up with intense anger. Faith involuntarily took a step back, knowing that look all too well from her childhood. The First smiled, a smug look twisting the woman's face into a cruel mockery of beauty.
"What do you want?" Faith asked wearily.
"How much do you know about your little friend Kara?" The First asked, obviously relishing in the superiority of having knowledge Faith lacked.
"Enough," Faith responded, her anger rising quickly once again. Kara had become like a sister to her in the two or so years they had known each other. Faith trusted her implicitly and any suggestion to the contrary infuriated her.
"Really? Because I was under the impression that you don't exactly know who she is."
"You know, as fun as this is and all, I've got places to be," Faith said dismissively, stepping around the ghost and continuing in her path to the Magic Box. The First quickly caught up with her.
"I think you'll want to hear this," it said, stepping in front of Faith again. She knew she could walk right through it, but somehow walking through the ghost of her mother seemed entirely inappropriate.
"Yeah, why's that?"
"Kara concerns you intimately," the First said, capturing Faith's attention instantly. Faith had always been curious as to Kara's relationship with her in the future. But Kara had never been forthcoming in any way, shape, or form.
"What do you mean?" Faith asked sharply, her eyes squinting in suspicion. The First circled around behind Faith, leaning up to whisper in her ear.
"She's your daughter," it said, its whispering voice floating into Faith's ear. Faith's eyes opened wide.
"What?" She asked, spinning around to face the First.
"From the future. She's your daughter from the future. Your and Buffy's that is," the First said matter-of-factly.
"But that's not possible," Faith reasoned.
"Oh, it is. Xander so lovingly donated his sperm. I guess since he could never have Buffy, the thought that his seed might stain her was as good as he could get," it said mockingly. Faith ignored its comments, letting the revelations that she and Buffy were together in the future and had a child wash over her. A small smile crept onto her face. "Oh, I wouldn't get too happy about all this," the First said, a twinge of anger in its voice.
"Why's that?" Faith asked, her guard flying back up.
The First grinned and looked down at a watch strapped to its ghostly wrist. "Because your daughter's gonna die in about seven minutes."
A shield of red flew up in Faith's eyes. Stepping menacingly closer, with her fists curled up into tight balls at her side, Faith growled, "What are you gonna do?"
"She, Callum, and Giles are on a bus coming to the depot from the airport. It's just outside of town now. There's a bomb on it," the First explained as if to a four year old. "If you hurry, you might be able to stop it in time."
Faith instantly took off running, her legs pounding into the sidewalk, utilizing all of her slayer speed. "Well, now that she's gone," the First said, its features blurring over as the face changed from that of Faith's mother to Faith herself. "I think I'll come out and play." Smiling, the First stalked away from the Magic Box, where Buffy sat waiting impatiently for Faith, toward the Summers home.
...................................
Buffy was a little more than irritated as she walked home from the Magic Box that afternoon. Faith hadn't shown up for their lunch date, Giles still hadn't returned, and she had just found out that morning that Spike was dating her sister. All in all, it was bad day. As she approached her house, she noticed Faith sitting on the front step smoking a cigarette.
"Hey," Buffy said, walking up to her. "Why didn't you show today?"
"What, I'm supposed to be at your every beck and call?" Faith sneered, standing up and flicking her cigarette away. When Buffy moved closer to her, she ducked down the stairs, wandering out onto the front lawn, just out of reach.
"No," Buffy said slowly, not quite sure what to make of her girlfriend's behavior. "We had a date."
"Dates are for normal people, B. We're not normal people."
"Okay, what's up? You're acting really weird. You okay?" Buffy asked, stepping forward again, only to have Faith step back.
"Just because I fuck you doesn't mean we have to have a share care circle every time I'm not acting just like you want me to," Faith spat, an intense anger flaring up in her eyes. Buffy stopped dead in her tracks, barely recognizing the woman standing in front of her. There was so much rage pouring off her. Buffy sucked in a breath, realizing that Faith was acting entirely like her old self.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Buffy said, a bit more harshly than she intended, but Faith's words cut deep.
Faith sneered, her beautiful face turning up into a wicked, evil smile. "What? I'm sorry, did I hurt your precious feelings? God forbid. The world might end if Buffy has a bad day. You're such a spoiled bitch, you know that?" Faith spat, relishing as Buffy flinched and backed away, tears springing to her eyes. "You know, as fun as this has been B," pausing she licking her lips, her eyes roaming over Buffy's body, "and it's been real fun...I'm kinda getting' bored. So whatever the fuck this is we've got going here, it's done," Faith said, laughing bitterly. Turning, she walked away, leaving Buffy standing bewildered and heartbroken on the front lawn.
..............................................
Faith's entire life seemed to flash before her eyes as she ran. Her hair was flying back wildly behind her and the wind was whipping into her face, causing tears to spring up in her stormy eyes. She had never felt more of a purpose in her life than in that moment. Her daughter was on a ticking time bomb and if she didn't get there in time, Kara's death would be her fault. Her legs ached and she could barely breathe by the time she broke through the weeds and stumbled out onto the road. She could see a bus barreling down the highway toward her.
She could feel Kara instantly. As the bus loomed closer, it began honking for her to get out of the road. Instead, she walked forward, trying to calm her ragged nerves. The squeal of the bus's breaks and smell of burning rubber filled the air. Just before it would have hit her, the bus stopped dead. The doors swung open and the driver yelled out from inside, "What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Faith stepped into the bus, looking down the aisle, directly at Kara. "There's a bomb. You have to get off," she said, her steady voice betraying the swell of emotions pouring through her. The crowd instantly leapt to its feet, people rushing to escape. Kara, Callum, Giles, and Faith poured off the bus, nearly the last people off. Just as they were walking away, it exploded in a brilliant flash of fire. Flaming scraps rained down on the people gathered not too far away, smoke and screaming metal filtering out everything else.
Turning back to look at the smoldering wreckage, Kara took a shaky breath. She definitely hadn't seen that coming. The First was becoming too proactive for her taste. "Why didn't you tell me who you were?" Faith asked, her voice absent any incrimination or anger. Kara turned to look at her in surprise.
"How did you?"-
"The First. It told me about you, then it told me about the bomb. I guess its plan was to reveal who you were, give me a chance to save you, only to have it ripped away," Faith explained, turning to look at the girl standing next to her. Both of their eyes were shiny with tears, rippling with emotion.
"Guess I'm lucky you're faster than it thought," Kara said, laughing to hide her halting voice. Faith smiled, then quickly pulled her into a tight hug, squeezing her warmly for all of the years they had been apart.
"I love you," Faith whispered, burying her head into Kara's shoulder. Kara couldn't help the joyous sob that tore through her at Faith's words.
"I love you too, mom," she said, her voice thick with emotion. Giles and Callum stood a respectful distance away, watching the display with a swell emotion as well. Giles took off his glasses, discreetly wiping the tears from his eyes. Callum shifted on his feet, looking down and the ground and coughing nervously to hide the overwhelming joy he felt for both of them. When Faith finally pulled away, she look over at the two men.
"You guys okay?" She asked, wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands, Kara doing the same.
"Quite well," Giles responded for both of them, smiling warmly at Faith.
"Good. Let's get you home then, huh?"
......................................
"Well, I must admit, this has been quite a long day," Giles said as he, Kara, Callum, and Faith stepped through the front door of the Summers house. Though they saw Joyce's car out front, the place was practically dark, and no one came to greet them. "And I believe my favorite shirt was blown up."
Kara smirked. "Yeah, me too," she said mockingly plaintive.
"Where is everyone?" Callum asked, running a hand through his hair, still picking pieces of flaming bus out of it.
"I don't know," Faith said, closing the door behind them.
"Buffy? Dawn? Joyce?" Giles called, hearing a muffled reply through the kitchen door. "In here," he said, leading the group as he walked into the kitchen.
The three Summers women sat at the kitchen table. Dawn and Joyce seemed to be rallying around Buffy, who sat in the middle. Her eyes were puffy and red and it looked as if someone had just shot her puppy. "What's wrong?" Giles asked, immediately upon entering the room. The others filed in after him. When Buffy caught sight of Faith, her face became twisted in anger.
"Get out!" She yelled, nearly knocking her chair over as she leapt to her feet. Joyce and Dawn jumped up, each laying a hold on Buffy's arm in case she tried to pick a fight. Faith watched Buffy in a mix of confusion and pain.
"What the hell did I do?" She yelled back, immediately taking the defensive.
"After all that shit you said to me this afternoon? How dare you come back here," Buffy growled, her eyes narrowing.
"This afternoon?" Faith asked in confusion. "I didn't see you this afternoon, B. I was coming to meet you when I ran into the First," Faith explained.
"Yes, she saved us from being blown up in a bus," Giles said, smiling rather proudly over at the dark haired slayer. "Bloody good piece of work too."
"Wait, what?" Dawn asked, watching the four of them. "Buffy...," she said, turning to her sister. "Could it be possible that the First contacted you this afternoon?"
"No, Faith isn't dead," Buffy spat. "The First can only assume the likeness of dead people. It was her."
"Well, actually..." Faith said, trailing off as everyone in the room turned to look at her. "I did kinda die one time."
"What?" The all yelled in unison. Faith rolled her eyes.
"When I was seven, one of my stepfathers beat the shit out of me. My lung collapsed and I flat lined in the hospital for like two and half minutes. Technically, I was dead," Faith said, the memory casting a dark shadow across her face.
The anger melted from Buffy's face as the realization dawned on her that she had been played. "Oh damn," she said, sitting back down with a thump. "God, I'm so mentally challenged," she berated herself, banging her head on the tabletop.
Faith rushed over to her, kneeling beside her. "Hey, no you're not. Honest mistake, right?" She said, lifting Buffy's chin with her hand, so the blonde slayer was looking her in the eyes. "What did I...it...whatever say to you anyway? I mean, you were mightily pissed," Faith said, worry staining her eyes.
Buffy shook her head. "You don't wanna know," she said miserably. Grabbing Faith, she pulled her into a bear hug, clinging to her tightly. Faith squeezed her back, though the primary focus of her energies was trying to breathe through Buffy's rib crushing embrace.
"You know, Buffy, Faith does need to breathe," Joyce cut in, seeing the slightly panicked look on Faith's face and knowing the girl would never ask Buffy to let go.
"Oh, right," Buffy said quickly, letting go, but grabbing onto Faith's hand. Faith pulled up a chair next to her and sat down, knowing that Buffy wasn't going to let go of her hand anytime soon.
"We cool?" Faith asked, tucking a strand of Buffy's hair behind her ear. Buffy turned and gazed deeply into her eyes, smiling.
"Cooler than cool," she said, leaning in and kissing Faith gently, since there was a rather large amount of people in the room. "I love you," she whispered against Faith's lips as she ended the kiss.
"I love you too, B," Faith whispered back, just low enough for them to hear.
Kara cleared her throat. "Um, if you guys don't mind, I think Buffy, Faith, and I need to talk...alone," she said.
"Yes," Giles quickly cut in. "Why don't we all go out to the living room and we'll fill you in on what happened in England."
The rest of the group filtered out, leaving the trio alone in the kitchen, silence hanging over them. Finally, Kara sat down at the table across from Faith and Buffy. "What I'm about to tell you, Faith found out this afternoon," Kara said, looking at Buffy. "I never told you who I was, because if I told you too soon, it might have altered the way your relationship was supposed to progress," Kara explained.
Folding her hands on the table, she took a deep breath. "You and Faith, you're a forever kinda deal, you know? And in the future, you wanted to have kids, but given that, you're both female, that wasn't real possible. So you asked Xander to donate his sperm to help you out. Buffy, you were the one who actually got pregnant, but that doesn't really matter. The three of you raised me, and for all of my life, I knew both of you as mom," Kara said, her voice shaking slightly with nerves. "So I guess what I'm trying to say...is that I'm your daughter."