Willow looked around and saw a couple of shadows outside, moving around a little bit. She sighed. Even now, she could feel Xander pulling away from her, and she knew why, too. It wasn't because he, apparently, had a kid on the way. It was because he'd hurt her, and was trying to distance himself so he wouldn't anymore.
But the pulling away hurt, too. And now Willow knew how he felt after she sidelined him following their horribly-bad-but-extremely-nice-at-the-time kisses. And occasional groping.
The point was, she needed her Xander, and she was damn sure he needed his Willow, and she was determined not to let anything come between their mutual needing of each other. Or rather, the comforting presence and best-friendliness that came as a result of the mutual needing. It didn't matter. It had been only a few days, but she missed him anyway.
But she also knew he needed to get things sorted out, and the more he did that on his own, the better off she thought he'd be. But she could already tell he was starting to feel something for Faith. It was right there on his Xander-face, but she wasn't sure anybody else actually saw it. Not even him. And she wouldn't allow Xander to get hurt, not again, and certainly not by someone who was probably going to be the mother of his child in several months.
Willow put on her resolve face and opened the door.
"Xander," she said, firmly. "Go inside."
"What?"
"Go inside," Willow said. "I need to talk to Faith, and I don't want to leave Mrs. Summers alone with the deputy evil mayor."
"Will," Xander started. "There's nothing –"
"Xander," Willow said, stepping closer to him, so he could see her face. "Go inside."
Xander stared at her face for a moment, nodded, and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
"What's up, Red?" Faith asked.
"Three things," Willow said. "First, thank you for standing up for me this afternoon, about the patrolling. Buffy means well, but she gets overprotective sometimes."
"No prob," Faith said. "'Sides, I figured you could distract X enough that Buffy wouldn't get suspicious about nothing. And hey, thanks for keeping this thing on the DL, you know? That's real solid of ya."
"Second," Willow said, ignoring Faith's comments, "I'm glad that you're taking what's going on seriously, now. The whole pregnancy thing. A child is a big responsibility, and if you find out for sure you're having one, this helps put my mind at ease that you will take seriously issues dealing with the child. I'm prepared to help any way I can, but you need to be prepared for major lifestyle changes."
Faith nodded. She seemed, Willow thought, to understand that this discussion – lecture, really – was deadly serious.
"Third," she said, taking what she hoped was a single menacing step forward. Her voice lowered and her eyes reduced to mere slits "I grew up with exactly two friends. Jesse died the first day we met Buffy. He got turned, and Xander had to stake him. This leaves me with one childhood friend. If you hurt Xander, I will cause you more pain than you can imagine, and the only thing that will spare your life is that I would never deprive his child of its mother. Are we clear?"
Faith's eyes were as wide as saucers, and she nodded once, very slowly. Normally, Willow knew, Faith would dismiss any such threats, especially from a girl with no strength to speak of. Willow hoped that meant Faith was taking her seriously.
Willow turned to go back inside, but Faith grabbed her arm, and turned her around.
"What makes you think I could hurt Xander? What makes you think I have any power over him at all, other than this kid?"
Willow looked into Faith's eyes and saw a genuine curiosity.
"Because," she said. "It's not there yet, but he's starting to look at you like he looked at Buffy. Like he never looked at Cordelia. Like he never looked at me."
Faith looked even more confused. Willow smiled sadly, and went back inside. She felt her job was, for the moment, complete.
Faith was still standing alone on the porch when Giles' car pulled up, and he and Buffy got out.
"You left them in there alone?" Buffy asked, when she saw Faith outside. She seemed angry.
"Uh, yeah," Faith said. "Dude's harmless, B, I checked him out. No worries."
"But you just left him in there with my mother!" Buffy yelled.
"Yeah," Faith said, leaning back against the railing on the porch. "And Willow, and Xander. It's safe."
Buffy looked even angrier. "But what if he's evil!" she protested. "He could be in there right now –"
"That's enough, Buffy," Giles said. "You said that you felt nothing demonic about his presence, and I trust that, had Faith felt differently, she would not have left him alone. More than that, I am certain if she felt he was any threat, she would not have left him unattended. Not to mention that Xander and Willow have both shown themselves capable of handling many things."
Buffy frowned, and obviously didn't want to agree, so she just went inside instead.
"Bitch," Faith muttered.
"That's unfair of you," Giles said. "Buffy can be harsh sometimes, but she has had a rough night. And while it was unjust of her to unload on you, neither would it be fair for you to do the same. Buffy is not what you said, she is merely worried about her friends and her family. Add that on to a stressful evening, in which Angel was injured, a new watcher who seems to be… somewhat… er…"
"He's got a stick up his ass," Faith said.
"Well… yes. Anyhow, Buffy has been taking that rather poorly. She should not have spoken to you as she did… but perhaps a little understanding on your part…"
"Yeah?" Faith asked. "What about how I'm handling things? What about stressful shit that's going on in my life?"
"I don't know," Giles said. "You've not said a word to me since you got the apartment." Faith opened her mouth to interrupt, but Giles continued talking. "I would be more than happy to help you with anything, Faith, to talk to you about whatever you wish, just to get to know you better. But I can't always be the one to seek you out, and these past few days I've been very busy. The road must go both ways."
Giles gave her a fatherly smile, and followed Buffy inside.
Faith stood alone on the porch. She looked inside and saw Giles and Buffy laughing, while Xander was waving his arms about. Even the deputy mayor seemed to be smiling – nervously, sure, but still. As she watched, the Scooby gang settled down to business, asking questions and playing off each other with a smoothness and comfort that spoke of great friendship.
She felt more than a little left out, and let out a big sigh.
"You can go in, you know," said a voice from behind her. Faith whirled, pulling her stake as she turned. Angel held his hands up to show he meant no harm. Faith relaxed and put the stake away, noting what looked like big hand prints on each side of his face, and a slight smell of scorched hair.
"Next time, I'm stakin' ya," she growled. She turned back to look through the window. "You always hang around her house?"
"I always make sure she gets home," Angel said.
Faith remained silent, watching the goings on inside the house.
"It's tempting," Angel said, standing outside the railing on the porch and leaning in over it. "Going in there. Joining in on the fun. Just a few simple steps, and maybe, just maybe, that world could be available. Open."
"So why don't you go?" Faith challenged.
"I've got too much to pay for," Angel said. "Joyce doesn't like me; Giles and Xander don't trust me. And I don't deserve it."
Faith nodded. She stood still as Angel leaned closer to her, felt the breath he needed only for speaking as he leaned in to her ear. "What are you paying for, Faith? What's stopping you? Who in there would not accept you?"
Faith felt him pull back, but did not react to his question. She stood, looking in the window, answering in her mind the question he had asked. She was surprised at the answer she found. Without a word, or a look backwards, Faith pushed away from the railing, opened the door, and stepped inside the house.
The entire group was scurrying about the library, even Cordelia. Hell, they even brought Wesley in. Deputy Mayor Alan Finch had told them a lot. What the mayor was doing; sacrificing people to turn himself into a demon and, oh yeah, becoming invincible. That little tidbit might have been nice to know before it happened.
Still, Xander thought, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Finch had quickly run back to the mayor, tail between his legs. The man was honestly afraid for his life, and his soul. He assured them he had come up with a good reason for not being with the mayor that night. He was going to try to feed them information, but he had to be extremely careful.
Or at least, that was what he said. And on the assumption he wasn't lying, they were now in all-out research mode. Find anything and everything about an Ascension. As Xander skimmed through the book in front of him – it was in English, thank God – his mind was elsewhere. Tomorrow he and Faith had an appointment with the doctor. They would take her blood, and a few days later, they'd know if they would soon be hearing the pitter-patter of little feet of a child that would no doubt have a traumatic life, surrounded by death and a couple of really messed up parents.
Xander sighed and got back to the task at hand. He skimmed the page and found plagues, omens, foretellings and even the odd prophecy, but no Ascensions. Why didn't these damn things have indexes? He worked his way through the rest of the book and found precisely nothing. When he stood up to get another one, Giles caught his eye and motioned subtly towards the office. Xander nodded and Giles went in ahead of him.
Xander looked around and saw that everyone was completely engrossed – or in Faith's case, asleep – in their books. He fiddled around with the books for a second, and then followed Giles into his office, shutting the door behind him.
"Here," Giles said when Xander had sat down. He pressed a wad of cash into Xander's hand.
"What's –"
"You said you needed some money, and that a few hundred would be enough. That's five."
Xander's eyes widened to almost ridiculous size. "Giles, I… thank you. I'll pay you back when I can – with interest."
"There's no need," Giles said. He pointed out his office window, to where Wesley was just that moment knocking over a pile of books, drawing scowls from both Buffy and Willow, and waking Faith up from an incongruously adorable state of vulnerability. Her face looked almost innocent for a moment before her shield kicked in, and the hard exterior was back. Wesley apologized profusely. "Just… consider it a gift from the Council. For services rendered."
Xander caught on. "Interestingly," he said, "any desire I had of paying this back just vanished."
"Good," Giles said, "and if you have some money left over after whatever you need, well… I'm sure you can find some use for it."
Xander grinned. "I'm sure I can. And thanks again. I owe you one."
"I assure you, that's not necessary. And you're welcome."
Xander nodded and went back to research.
School on Monday was pretty much a blur. Xander was less able than normal to pay attention in his classes. Willow, however, came to his rescue as best she could, by taking notes so intricately detailed that he would, if he wished, be able to recreate the day's lectures from scratch. Xander didn't think he'd want to, but he would graciously accept the notes anyway.
Just before lunch time, though, some things got sufficiently odd as to draw his attention. People in the halls were talking about him. And that wasn't ego run amok, it was the fact that every so often, somebody would point at him, or shush themselves when he passed by. But it wasn't laugh-pointing, it was more 'what the hell is up with that?' pointing.
To be safe, Xander checked with Buffy and Willow. They confirmed he had no extra appendages, nor was his hair on fire. They were, however, receiving odd looks as well, and Buffy pointed out that Cordelia, who was at that moment walking across the cafeteria, was also getting odd looks.
As he was walking into his next class, Xander saw Cordelia corner some poor girl and demand… something or other. Her face grew angrier with everything the girl said, and Xander was really glad at the moment that it was not he on the receiving end of her verbal lashing.
After school, Xander sat in the library, checking his watch and the clock on the wall over and over, waiting the twenty-minutes he guessed he needed to wait, in order to show up at Faith's place in time to take her to the doctor's office.
"Xander," Buffy said, entering the library mere moments before Xander was about to leave. "I need to ask you something, and I need you to be completely honest with me."
"Uh. Okay. Sure," he said, checking his watch for the umpteenth time.
"You'd tell me if you got the entire girl's basketball team pregnant, right?"
Xander's eyes widened. "Uh. Well. Yeah, Buff. I think I would tell you that."
"Okay," she said. Buffy sat down at the table, twiddled her thumbs for a moment, then looked up at Xander. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"
Xander looked at her, very seriously. "Buffy," he said. "I have to admit… your hair looks really nice today."
Buffy smiled. "So you didn't get the basketball team pregnant?"
"No, I didn't. Where the hell did you hear that?"
"Around," Buffy said. "I guess that's why we were all getting weird looks. Somebody started that rumor, then people must have figured that since me and Will hang around with you all the time, and Cordy used to date you, that we got pregnant too."
"I guess that makes sense," Xander said. He checked his watch again. "Anyway, I have to go. I'll see ya later, Buff."
"Want company?" Buffy asked. "I don't think I'm doing anything at the moment."
"Er, well, it's kind of a private –"
"Buffy, good, you're here," Wesley said as he walked into the library. "It is time to begin your daily training regimen."
Buffy turned to Xander and rolled her eyes. "Sorry," Xander said. He walked out of the library, pausing as he passed Wesley to whisper "Remember… vampires," and headed off to meet Faith.
He didn't even make it to his locker before Cordelia, leading a group of jocks and her newly-reacquired Cordettes, ambushed him in the hall.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded.
"Uh," Xander said. "What?"
"I know what you've been telling people, you… you… idiot!"
"That was harsh," Xander said. "You really hurt me that time, Cor."
"I hurt you? That's rich! This from the guy who's been telling everyone I slept with him!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Xander asked. "I never said that."
"Oh, right. Then you didn't tell Richard Sutcliffe that we had sex, I suppose? He just made that one up all on his own?"
"Well, he must have!" Xander retorted. "I don't talk to the guy! The last time I saw him I was buying –" he stopped short.
"Buying what?" Cordelia demanded.
Xander took a deep breath. "None of your business," he said.
"Hey, if you bought something that's making him tell people these things, it damn sure is my business!"
"It is not your business!" Xander retorted. "Nothing that I do is your business, not anymore."
"Oh, and whose fault is that, exactly?"
"Cordelia… I said I was sorry about that, and I am. I'm sorry for what I did, I'm sorry that I hurt you. But I never said anything to anybody that could even remotely be taken as saying that we slept together."
"What about that pregnancy test you bought?" asked some random guy in the crowd.
Silence reigned.
"Where did you hear that?" Cordelia asked.
"Richard Sutcliffe," the guy said, stepping forward. Xander didn't recognize him. "He told me you were in the store the other day buying a home pregnancy test."
"Is that true?" Cordelia demanded.
Xander said nothing, and that was enough to convict him.
"And exactly what slut have you been shacking up with that you think you got her pregnant?" Cordelia asked, snobbily.
"Hey!" Xander said. "You don't even know… don't… I… it wasn't…"
"Me," Willow shouted, trying to shove her way through the crowd to Xander's side. The startled crowd parted for her.
"Willow," Xander said. "Don't. It's not –"
"Only we haven't been sleeping together," Willow continued defiantly. "I was too afraid to get it myself, and I asked Xander to, and he did it, so if you want to berate him for something, berate him for being a good friend. And for helping me deal with important, life changing events. I might be nervous about that, but I stopped being afraid of you a long time ago, Cordelia Chase."
"Oh, yeah, right!" Cordelia said. "You're just trying to protect him, just like you two always do. If you needed a pregnancy test, just who have you been sleeping with?"
"With her boyfriend," said a voice from the back of the crowd. Everyone turned to look, and Oz walked up and wrapped his arm around Willow's waist. He turned to face Cordelia, who looked like she was about to tear into him as well. Oz raised an eyebrow. "You think I'm protecting him?"
With those words, Cordelia deflated. "Fine," she said. "Just so long as everyone knows that I never did it with you, Harris."
"I'm sure nobody thinks you would ever lower yourself that much, Cor," Xander said.
Cordelia glared at him, and looked like she wanted to start tearing into him again, but the crowd was already beginning to disperse, and thus, her reason for the public admonition. Cordelia pursed her lips, but nodded sharply and walked away, leaving, for all intents and purposes, Xander, Willow and Oz standing in the hall in an extremely awkward silence.
"Okay," Xander said. "Oz, I owe you an explanation."
"It's cool," Oz said.
"No," said Xander. "You just put yourself on the line for me, and you deserve to know why." Oz opened his mouth to interrupt again, but Xander continued speaking. "Even if you really only did it for Willow, that's enough for me. You've earned the right to the truth."
Oz nodded. Xander told him. Oz blinked.
Then he shrugged, and wished Xander good luck. Xander looked at his watch and cursed. He was going to be late. Faith was going to kill him.
Oz raised an eyebrow. "Need a ride?"
"Don't be nervous," Xander said. They had just checked in at the doctor's office. When the nurse had asked for his insurance information, Xander had flashed the money Giles gave him and told the man why he was there. The nurse looked at the cash, checked a quick pricing chart, and pointed Xander and Faith to the waiting room. He had been leering at Faith the whole time.
"How the fuck can I not be nervous?" Faith hissed. A few other women in the room looked up at her sharply, and Faith, who knew how to deal with men of any age, but was not quite sure how to deal with older women, tried to hide behind her hair.
"Don't pay attention to them, young lady," said a very pregnant woman sitting across from the pair. She had a distinct southern accent. "Those hags are just jealous that you haven't lost your figure, and that you've got such a fine lookin' young man here with you. I bet half of 'em would give up their chosen suitor for such a virile young specimen. Hell, I would, except it'd break poor Leon's heart all to pieces, and I could never do that to my Leon."
Xander blushed a little, but couldn't help smiling.
"How far along are you?" Xander asked.
"Oh, I reckon I'm about seven and a half months," she said. "I'm a pro at this. Leon's at home now, with the other kids." The woman reached into her bag, pulled out a wallet and started flipping through it. She pulled out a picture and handed it to Xander.
"These are my babies," she said. "On the left is Joanne, she's the oldest, she's 4. Next is Jamie, he's two, and next to him is my Leon. I'm Irma, by the way."
"I'm Xander," Xander said. "And this is Faith." He looked her way. Faith was staring at the Irma's stomach. "Hey, you okay?"
Faith turned her head slowly to him, her eyes still wide. "Am I gonna look… like that?"
Irma smiled. "Honey, you're young. And you look lucky, so you'll probably get your figure back. I did, after my first. Not that my figure was much to look at in the first place, but Leon liked it well enough."
Xander smiled, and handed the picture back to Irma. "You have a beautiful family. Does your latest have a name, yet?"
"Not yet," Irma said. "We're lookin' to keep up with the J names – it's our favorite letter. Anyway, we haven't looked to see if I'm carrying a boy or a girl, yet, so we can't pick. We want to be surprised."
Faith looked up. "How about Jesse?" she suggested. Xander looked at her in surprise.
"Hmm," Irma said. "You know, that name's not half bad. We could use it for either a boy or a girl… Sugar, you just might be on to something."
"Harris?" called the nurse. Xander and Faith looked up and saw the young man waving a clipboard, beckoning them forward. They looked at each other. Xander saw fear in Faith's eyes, and hoped, for her sake, that she didn't see the same in his.
He wasn't sure, though, because he was scared shitless.
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End Chapter 8