Faith shut the water off, and began to dry herself. She had taken a long, hot shower to get rid of the disgust she felt for herself. He had used her. He saw an opportunity, a weakness, and he used her. And she had vowed never to let a guy use her again.
Although, she supposed she had really allowed herself to be used. Nobody, not that new watcher, and certainly not Xander Harris, could make her do anything. She had let him use her, yeah. But only because she wanted to see if he really would.
Faith stepped into her bedroom, her towel wrapped around herself, and found her bed empty. Fuckin' asshole, she thought as she pulled some clothes from her dresser, slamming the drawers shut as she found her clothes. The door swung open behind her as she pulled a clean shirt on over her bra.
"Hey," Xander said, walking up behind her. He wrapped his arm around her midsection, and she shivered in disgust. Xander kissed the top of her head.
"What's up?" she asked, attempting, for some unknown reason, to keep the complete and utter loathing she felt for the man out of her voice.
"Giles called," he said. "Uh. A lot, apparently. We're needed back at Scooby Central. More specifically, you're needed back there, and it wouldn't be horrible if I tagged along, too. I think it's dealing with this Box of Gravity or whatever."
"Cool," she said. "Take your shower so we can go."
Xander nodded, and stepped toward the bathroom.
"Listen, Faith," he started.
"Talk later, Chief," she said. "Clean now."
Xander smiled at her, nodded, and stepped into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Faith just wanted to hit something, she was so pissed. Ten minutes later, Xander came out of the bathroom clean and fresh-smelling, and dressed in a respectably non-goofy outfit, and she didn't say a word.
There was a knock at the door.
"Hey," Oz said when Faith opened the door. Willow peeked out from behind him, grinning. She waved silently.
"What are you here for?" Faith asked.
"Rupert Giles Taxi Service," Oz said. "Not guaranteed to be clean or comfortable, but we'll get you where you're going."
Willow grinned. "So come on," she said, in a voice all too cheery for Faith's mood. "Get Xander and let's get going."
"Yeah, coming, coming," Xander said. He hopped into the kitchen from Faith's bedroom, still tying his second shoe. He slammed kidney first into the stove, causing him to drop his shoe as he grasped his side in pain. "I'm okay," he groaned. He picked up his shoe, slipped it on, tied it, and stood up with a grimace.
"That's gonna bruise," Oz noted.
"Oh yeah."
The group left Faith's apartment and loaded into Oz's van. Faith sat as far away from Xander as she could, but with all the music equipment, that was only about two feet away.
"Hey," Xander said, reaching out to her. He stroked her shoulder softly. "You okay?"
"Yeah," she said, leaning into his touch despite herself. "I'm fine."
Xander smiled at her, a warm smile that Faith still had trouble believing wasn't genuine. But damn if she wasn't pissed at the son of a bitch. They rode the rest of the way to the school in silence.
"Do we know which way they're going to be coming from? I mean, where the plane's landing?" Xander asked. He was leaning over the table, looking at a diagram of the airport.
"No," Giles said. "Willow was not able to hack into their systems. We just have a general layout of the airport. However, we were able to find out where charter flights typically come in."
"I still don't get why I'm here."
"Because, Cordelia," Giles said. "Loathe as I am to admit it, you have been helpful on any number of occasions, and with something as important as this, an opinion not normally voiced may be useful."
"Yeah," Xander said. "Plus if we're all being idiots – which we have to admit, is a possibility – you'll tell us outright instead of, you know, hiding it."
Xander looked over the area Giles was pointing to, and nodded. "I think you're going to want to set up here," Xander said, pointing to an area of the tarmac near a hangar.
"And what makes you qualified to make that decision?" Wesley asked, clucking his tongue.
"My ability to make witty comments at a moment's notice," Xander said. That guy was really annoying.
"Yes, well, perhaps tactical decisions are best left up to those of us who have finished high school, and had some manner of higher education, hmm?" Wesley said, lifting to the balls of his feet as he did so. "Perhaps somebody who has studied the martial arts for more than a fortnight, hmm?"
Xander looked at Wesley, smiled, but said nothing.
"Where's the 'witty comment at a moment's notice'?" Buffy asked, smiling.
"A few things you need to understand," Xander said, looking Wes directly in the eyes.
"Xander –" Willow started. But Xander kept talking.
"First and foremost? There is a huge difference between knowing martial arts and knowing tactics. As it happens, I spent a night as a grunt in the army, with all the knowledge that comes with. Training, tactics, you name it. It may not be as sharp as it once was, but I bet you can't remember what it's like to be in a live-fire exercise."
"Yes, well…"
"Second. You went to college. I'm not going to. That in no way makes you better than me."
"Well, I certainly didn't mean to imply – urk!"
"Last," Xander said, grabbing Wesley by his shirt collar and slamming him down on the table. Giles jumped back a step, and everyone in the room looked as surprised as Wesley. "Remember our talk. There's likely to be vamps out in high numbers. You want that on your head?"
"Xander," Giles said, softly. "Xander, let him up."
"Whatever," Xander said, releasing Wesley. Xander briefly bristled, then shook his head. "I need to get some air." He stormed out of the library, leaving the doors swinging violently in his wake.
An awkward silence filled the library. It was broken, of course, by Cordelia.
"Saw that coming."
Buffy and Willow had rushed out of the library after their friend, leaving Oz, Cordelia and the old guys in Faith's company, and the old guys were tending to Wesley's whining in Giles' office.
"You saw that coming how?" Faith asked, looking into Cordelia.
"Oh please," she said. "Xander was totally tense, and you could tell he didn't like Wes. Probably hasn't from the start."
"That is most definitely the case," Giles said, exiting his office. "In fact, on his first day here, Xander threatened Wesley. I took it as nothing more substantial than a friend attempting to… preemptively protect those he cared about. Now, though…"
"Yeah, but that?" Faith asked, nodding at the table where the airport plans were still lying. "That ain't like him."
"You're kidding, right?" Cordelia asked. "That's totally like him."
Everybody looked at her.
"He doesn't usually attack people who snark him," Oz said. "Or you'd have been laid out more than once."
"Not that," Cordelia said. "Look, right now, Xander's thinking, 'Here's a mission where my friends could get hurt. This guy who I don't know from Judas is interrupting me from keeping my girls safe, when I know what I'm doing.' He maybe reacted a little strong, sure, but his precious Buffy's was going into danger. Of course he's going to want to hurt people interfering."
"Buffy's not the only one going into danger," Oz said softly. Faith connected with his eyes, and looked away.
"Whatever," Cordelia said, with a dismissive wave of her hand. "He's just taking all that stupid nobility to a new level."
"Cordelia," Giles said, "there is very little that is stupid about that kind of nobility."
"You know what I mean," she said.
"Man," Faith said, shaking her head. "He's really got all of you fooled, doesn't he?"
Cordelia and Giles exchanged a look, and Oz narrowed his eyes.
"Fooled how?" Giles asked.
"You can't tell me you buy all this nobility, good guy bullshit," Faith said. "I mean, you known him how long, and you ain't seen through it?"
"I'm not quite sure what you mean," Giles said. "I can assure you, Xander is legitimately a good man."
"Whatever," Faith said, dismissing the whole group as idiots. "I'll be outside, find me if you can come up with a plan that won't get me killed." Faith pushed away from the table and headed out the back of the library.
"What's goin' on?" Oz asked. He found Buffy, Willow and Xander leaning against some lockers, talking.
Willow looked to Xander, and he nodded.
"Results in. Faith's pregnant," Willow said. Understanding blossomed in Oz's eyes. Or it would have, if he had allowed it to. "Xander was… well… tense."
Xander laughed. "I spent the whole ride over here wondering how in the hell I was going to raise a kid, pay for a kid, anything like that, and the first time somebody annoys me I turn into this monster."
"You're not a monster, Xander," Buffy said. "It's a lot to deal with. A lot of stress."
"How would you know?" Xander muttered. "Not like your boyfriend can get you pregnant."
Buffy glared as Xander closed his eyes and cursed.
"See," he said, "I didn't mean that. Sorry."
"It's okay," she said, patting him on the leg. "Getting Faith pregnant gives you a free pass for the day in my book. But just one day."
Xander laughed. "Thanks," he said. "Speaking of, I guess we should go back. We said we were going to tell everyone today, better ask Faith how she wants to do that."
"Uh," Oz said as Buffy, Willow and Xander stood. "That might be a little hard. She kinda… left."
"Left?" Willow asked.
"Left where, left?" Buffy asked.
"Out," Oz said. "And… she was pretty convinced that Xander was… well, we'll go with not nice and call it a gift."
Buffy and Willow turned to Xander. "What'd you do?" they asked in unison. Oz thought that was pretty funny.
Xander shook his head. "With that girl?" he said. "I have no idea."
Xander steeled his nerve and walked into the library.
"Are you all right?" Giles asked. Xander nodded.
"Is he all right?" Wesley asked, incredulous. "I'm the one who was attacked."
"Yes, but I've already seen to you," Giles said.
"Plus, we don't care that much," Buffy said.
Xander stepped over to Wesley, who backed up a step from him. "I'm not going to hit you," he said. "I was out of line. A lot of that was… personal aggravation, and you're an easy target. Sorry."
"Whatever," Cordelia said. "Can we get this over with?"
"Where did Faith go?" Xander asked. Giles pointed towards the stacks and the rear exit from the library.
"Why do you care?" Cordelia asked.
Xander paused and looked at Cordelia. She looked at him, then Willow, Buffy, Oz and Giles, who were all conveniently looking other places.
"Oh, come on!" Cordelia said. "You weren't just kidding about that Slayer fixation."
"Sorry, Cor," he said. "I would have told you… I mean, you deserve to find out in a way other than this, but she wanted to not say anything… to anyone."
"So you guys are, what, dating?" Cordelia asked as the rest of the group sat down.
"I don't know."
"Well she doesn't seem to like you that much right now. What'd you do?"
"Cordelia, I honestly have no clue. And can we play twenty questions later? I should really go talk to her."
"Fine," Cordelia said.
Xander thanked her and went in search of Faith. He found her sitting just outside the back entrance to the library. Xander sat down next to her, silently. She slid away from him. Xander sighed and leaned his head back on the concrete wall.
"Wanna tell me what I did?" he asked. "I thought we were getting along pretty well."
"Like you care."
Xander's eyes narrowed. "Faith, of course I care," he said, reaching for her arm. As soon as his skin touched hers, she recoiled like she'd been burnt.
"Don't fucking touch me," Faith spat, glaring at him. Xander held his hands up, palms out.
"Okay," he said, pulling away from her. They sat in silence for a minute. "Listen. I really like you, Faith. You're an incredible woman. I don't know what I did to piss you off, but I'd like to make it better, somehow. If I can. We're a little stuck together, here, and I can't say that makes me sad. Different circumstances might be nice, but there's not a lot we can do about that.
"I want things to be good between us, Faith. Because I like you, and because we're having a kid together. But I can't make it right on my own, because at this point, I'm completely in the dark."
Xander sat, waiting for her to say something. Anything. But nothing came. Xander shook his head. "I'm going to tell everyone tomorrow," he said. "If you wanna be here for that, great. But we can't do this alone, so I'm telling them with or without you."
Xander stood up and opened the door. "But the rest of it? I can't do that without you."
"I've got it ready," Willow said. She wasn't as nervous this time as she was the last time. "Just tell me when."
"Excellent," Giles said. He was crouched beside her, a comforting presence. Giles tended to calm her nervousness.
"Yeah, see?" Xander said, pointing towards a set of lights. "I think that's it."
"And where's our troop of merry undead?" Buffy asked.
"I bet they don't show until the… or here comes a limo," Xander said.
"I think it would be prudent to wait until both airplane and limousine have come to a stop," Wesley whispered.
"Faith, you ready?" Buffy asked.
"Five by five," Faith said. What the heck did that mean, anyway? Five what by five what? She kept saying that, and nobody ever –
"The limousine has stopped," Giles said, as the plane rumbled to a halt. The moveable stairs pulled up to the plane, and the door opened. "Now, Faith, Buffy, go. Willow, the spell!"
Willow lit a small candle and began chanting in Latin, and a fog began to roll in on the airport. She watched as Buffy and Faith streaked towards the opening doors of the plane and the limo.
"Oh dear lord," Giles said. "Wesley, stay here with Willow. Xander –"
But Xander was already on his feet and running. Willow had no idea what was going on, but as the fog rolled in, she thought she saw a large number of shadows moving towards the fight.
"Wesley," Willow said, "what's –"
"Concentrate, Ms. Rosenberg," Wesley said, softly. His voice, miraculously, was actually soothing. "You must maintain the spell."
Willow doubled her concentration, and the fog got thicker. Willow smiled.
"Not too much," Wesley said, his voice indicating surprise at how thick the fog had gotten.
Willow eased up on her concentrating a little, and the fog thinned.
"Excellent," Wesley said. "Now. Duck."
Willow pressed herself as close to the ground as she could, protecting the flame from her candle as best she could. A large demonic body flew over her head and slammed into the hangar behind them.
"Go!" Buffy yelled. Willow looked up and saw two figures running in their direction, and one more figure limping quite badly. Willow gathered up her candle and walked delicately to Oz's van, which they had borrowed for the purposes of the mission. Oz and Cordelia should even now be preparing the spell to destroy the Box of Gavrok.
Willow climbed into the passenger seat next to Wesley as Buffy, loaded down with a body, jumped into the van, followed quickly by Xander, who yelped in pain as his already injured left leg caught on the door. Faith, carrying the box, was the last inside.
"Go!" yelled the darker Slayer. Wesley tore out of the airport as fast as the van would take them. Faith slammed the door shut just as they past the gate. After they had taken a few turns, Willow finally blew the candle out and lifted the fog. There was nobody behind them. She whipped around.
"What happened to Giles?" she asked.
"Knocked out," Xander said, laughing. Buffy and Faith joined in as well.
"Knocked out?" Willow asked worried. "What's funny about knocked out? He – he could be seriously injured, or have a concussion. Oh! Or what if whatever hit him had some kind of goo, and now he's all infected and is going to become a demon?"
"Will," Xander said, "he ran into the stairs."
"What?" Willow asked.
"You know," Buffy said, "those moveable stairs they use when people get off of airplanes. When we were getting out of there, he ran into it head first. He'll be fine."
"Oh," Willow said, relieved that Giles wouldn't turn into a demon. "Well, good."
"Did you manage to retrieve the box?" Wesley asked.
"Right here," Faith said, patting the box that was in front of her. "Now we just gotta destroy this thing."
"Thanks for the shove in the back, by the way," Xander said, as he tended to his bleeding leg with Oz's first aid kit.
"No prob," Faith said. "Way you were limpin' along, you'd be vamp bait by now."
Xander nodded, silently. A tension was immediately palpable between the two of them. Buffy rolled her eyes and cleared her throat with a pointed look at her sister Slayer. Faith sighed heavily.
"And thanks for knockin' that demon offa my ass," Faith said.
"Glad I could help," Xander said.
"Well, don't be so reckless next time," Buffy said. "That thing almost took your leg off."
"Aww, come on," Xander said, waving off her concern. "He didn't even get to the bone."
"Yeah, well," Buffy said, "you're having Wesley look at it when we get back. You're no good to me if your leg falls off."
"What, you don't think I can still kill demons with only one leg?" Xander asked. "I can outfit my wheelchair with a rifled stake gun, and I'll get ordained, so I can be a mobile holy water factory. They'll call me Father Wheeley McRollerson."
Buffy, Willow, and even Wesley laughed.
"But Xander, you can't," Willow protested, light-heartedly. "The school isn't handicap friendly, a-and just think. Who would get things off of high shelves for us if you couldn't stand?"
Xander sighed as if he were the most put-upon man since Job. "Fine," he said. "I guess I'll keep the leg. But only because you people are short."
Willow and Buffy shared a grin, and Xander lolled his head back against the side of the van.
"Whew," he said.
"Hey," said Faith, picking her hand up off the van's floor. "This is –"
Xander slumped over, his head thudding down on an amp.
"Xander?" Buffy said, shaking her friend. Willow flicked on the inside light and the three girls looked at the carpeted floor inside Oz's van. It was soaked in blood. Xander looked deathly pale.
"Hospital!" Buffy shouted. "Right now!"
"What?" Wesley asked.
"He's losing too much blood!" Willow yelled as Buffy ripped the arm off her shirt to tie around Xander's leg. "Go!" she said, slapping Wesley on the arm. "As fast as you can!"
Wesley wheeled the van around and slammed the pedal to the floor. Two minutes later they were at the hospital emergency room. Buffy and Willow pulled Xander out of the van, both getting his blood all over their clothes.
Faith moved to follow them, but Willow stopped her.
"We got this," she said. "You and Wes need to get back to the school and do the spell. We'll call with news."
Willow slammed the door in Faith's face and ran into the hospital after her best friend.
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End Chapter 13