Chapter ten – Go The Distance
Faith walked into the office building at 6:55am, she looked around looking lost until she found Carole and walked quickly in her direction.
"Good morning. See you came just on time today. Usually your a bit earlier."
"Yeah I am. I had some other things to sort out this morning."
"Nothing serious I hope."
"No, nothing of that kind. I was actually looking for you because I was wondering, wondering if.."
"What is it Faith?"
"I was wondering if you knew already that Tate & Stevens was like partners with the Mayor of Cherster."
"Oh yes, I knew that, why you ask?"
"Oh no reason. Just a um little survey I'm doing."
"Okay then, as long as it doesn't stop you from doing your paperwork. Dale is going to be in all day today to check on our work and progress so no time for mucking around or extra work."
"Thanks for the pre-warning."
Faith then walked off to her desk thinking about what Carole had said.
She starred at the small photo on her desk. It was the only picture of her own that she had left. She studied it with care and drifted off. It was a picture of herself when she was ten years old and then the phone rang and she was startled by it and went to answer it.
"I see your at work."
"Xander?"
"Yes it's me."
"I don't have the time to talk."
"Oh it's because you've got work to do."
"Yes. Now just call me back at home later."
"We need to talk now."
"No we
don't."
"I need to know what you know."
"Your being very vague, what are you talking about?"
"You know what I'm talking about. John Monley."
Faith sighed heavily.
"So you know what track were on?"
"Yes. I do."
"Tell me what you know about what he's up to?"
"He's not up to anything like that."
"How do you know?"
"Gut instinct."
"So your not working for him?"
"For the second time no I'm not working for him. Not in the sense your talking about. Seriously. Let this thing rest. Listen to me, listen to Robin. Your making too much of a fuss about this. I have to get back to work. If you ring me up again at work I will tell Robin."
"Oooh what sort of a threat is that?"
"Bye Xander."
"Well I see now, you've gone all soft because of your new life. Your trying to be good, but it won't last long nothing lasts long. Happiness never lasts long."
"Thanks for the pep talk, bye," said Faith hanging up the phone and she turned around to face Dale.
Willow got dressed after finally getting up out of bed that morning. She wore her favourite blue top and flower skirt. Kennedy still hadn't come home but Willow wasn't too worried. Kennedy had done this once before.
Buffy and Dawn were in the dinning room having their breakfast in their pajamas and Willow walked into the room.
"Hey Will, what's up? Kennedy still hasn't come home?"
"Yeah, but I'm not worry, she's done it before, not like it's the first time it's happened," said Willow and she then walked towards the kitchen.
"Is that what you keep telling yourself Will?"
"Yep,"replied Willow dryly as she kept walking towards he kitchen.
Willow went to the cupboard and pulled out a bowl and then bent over to the draw to grab a spoon and placed then on the kitchen bench. Willow found some cereal in the pantry and poured in into a bowl. The milk was sitting on the bench and Willow went to pick it up and pour some into her bowl of cereal when only a few drops came out. Willow sighed and then went to look inside the fridge for some more milk, there was none left.
Willow mumbled under her breath, "Can this day get any worse?"
A few minutes later the front door opened and inside stepped Kennedy drenched by the sudden rain. She hanged her soggy jacket up on the rack and walked into the dinning room thinking Willow would be there. Willow knew it must have been Kennedy who came in and stood still in her place.
Buffy and Dawn stopped eating.
"Um if your looking for Willow she should be in the kitchen," said Dawn.
Kennedy looked in that direction and then back at Dawn and started walking out of the room replying back to her and she walked away, "Thanks," in a soft, quiet voice like she never intended her to hear it.
Kennedy pondered off to the kitchen, Willow slipped out into the hallway before Kennedy would be able to see her and then crept out the back door. Willow didn't really want to deal with Kennedy right now and went to sit outside on the steps, at least for now no one would find her.
Kennedy found the kitchen empty and held the bowl with dry cereal in it in her hands. Her hands started to shake and she put the bowl down. She looked around for any sign of Willow, none whats so ever. She made her way upstairs after that and sat on the empty unmade bed. She took off her boots and put them in the cupboard and laid down and curled up. She felt empty inside. She wasn't sure if her gut instinct was telling the truth or not, it would take time for the truth to feel real.
Willow sat outside for a little while longer until someone tapped her on the shoulder. Willow didn't budge. Buffy sat down next to her and put her right arm around her to form a hug.
"You okay Willow? Did you speak to Kennedy yet?"
"Ah no. I haven't seen her. She came home about fifteen minutes ago and went looking for you in the kitchen. How could you miss her?"
"I left the kitchen before she entered it."
"Oh?"
"Are things between you two a little patchy?"
"I guess you could say that. It's weird. I don't know what to expect from her. She's different you know."
"From Tara."
"Yeah. Then she does things like this and I just feel like giving up."
"But you love her ..right?"
Willow stalled.
Buffy looked at her friend waiting for some answer, "Well?"
"I just don't know Buffy."
"Maybe you two just need to spend some quality time together. You have been quite busy with that research in your spare time for Giles and then you have classes during the week."
"But so does Kennedy. She has classes during the week, she can't complain."
"Maybe you should go talk to her."
"I don't feel like it. I just want to stay here."
"Well I can't force you of course. All I can give you is friendly advice and you either take it or not. I'll leave you here now, I'm gonna go see what Dawn has today."
"She has her maths exam."
"How do you know?"
"She came to me for help the other day."
"Oh," replied Buffy feeling a bit left out but she tried to ignore the feeling from within like it was nothing but it could be something.
Five minutes later Willow left the spot she had been sitting in on the back steps and climbed the long stairs to her room.
Willow knocked on the slightly ajar room and entered into the void filled with silence. The morning sunlight shone through the curtain blinds. The light hit Kennedy's face and Willow could see that her eyes were closed and she was curled up on the bed on top of part of the sheets. Willow walked into the room without making a noise and went over to sit in the chair when Kennedy's eye's shot open and Willow turned to face her.
"Oh, I didn't mean to wake you."
"You didn't," replied Kennedy sitting up on the bed.
"Where did you go?"
"Just out, doesn't matter where I was really, I'm back and that should be all that matters."
"We need to talk."
"We're talking now."
Kennedy changed positions and sat up and held her knees with her arms and lent her head on her knees and arms. She looked directly at Willow.
Willow sighed, "Why do you do that? Go out, leave the house and come back when your ready? I never know where you go and I'm scared and I'm worried and your phone is never turned on. How do I know if your still alive, that vampires haven't gotten you, that something else has happened, how do I contact you? I can't. I don't know these things. You don't know what it's like."
"I don't know why, all I know is that when I leave here in a moment like that and come back I feel better and better than ever."
"You can't keep doing this."
"Or what?"
"I don't know."
"It's not all my fault you know. Your never around lately when your supposed to be having free time."
Kennedy moved to the right side of the bed and swung her legs over the side and leaned forward towards her knees. Willow walked around the room.
"Not you two."
Kennedy was confused.
"Buffy mentioned something."
"I never thought I'd say something like this but maybe Buffy is right. Maybe she has the outsider's view and can see what really is going on," said Kennedy turning to look at Willow. Willow stood still.
"You seem to be knowing what's going on, what's really going on."
"I think we need to spend more time together."
"Time like this? This is time together."
"Fighting? No."
"You call this fighting?"
"Could be if it gets out of hand."
"This is just tension and disagreement."
"What about if we go to the movies or have a picnic lunch? Would you like that?"
Willow was silent for a moment.
"I guess we could try that."
Kennedy smiled.
"You just have to go the distance Willow, for us. Just try. Things will work out. Everything will be better. I just know it."
But truly Kennedy could not say that with complete truth and confidence, she was just hoping she was right. There was only one way she could know really if her gut instinct was wrong or right and the key to the truth was written in the pages of the book underneath her pillow on the bed. She would use the book as her tool to the truth in the next few days when she was ready to find out the truth at the moment she was still shaken up from today's events and the other days as well.
Giles sat in his apartment surround by books all over the living room open at various pages. Giles wanted to do as much research as he could before he left the country to go overseas. He questions, many questions to asks these Watchers that were left. Not only did he want to ask them the most obvious of questions but a few personal ones about a certain subject. He wanted to know if they knew anything about exchangement of memories from one person's mind to another's in the same time but different place. He thought if he received someone's memory then one of his must have been received by that same person or someone completely different. He hadn't mentioned it to Buffy or anyone else yet because he wanted to keep it close to him only but maybe another Watcher had experienced it or had heard something, read something. None of his book would tell him anything and the few Watcher diaries left didn't really say much about this. There was only one vague account that could possibly have nothing to do with the same thing.
"Okay Faith, I'm sorry for ringing you up early today at work but I just really need to know the truth about what is going on with you. You have been acting weirdly and know part of it could be because of your secret that you have job and what it is but I think it's more than that and to protect everyone else you need to tell me and everyone else what it is. This mayor business with Richard Wilkins was important to you in Sunnydale and the lines run deep in you from your times and memories of him and ones of you with him and his and your relationship and I can totally understand why you would want another job or relation to another Mayor. You just have to let us all help you before it consumes you again Faith. I'm honestly just worried about you and care about you as a friend. Me and Robin are pretty good mates now and I've never liked my mates getting hurt in any way or form and that goes for you too. Please call me back."
The answering machine then let out a beep to say that was the end of the amount of time to leave a message on Faith's mobile phone which was on the hallway table in her apartment.
