Author: Charlie Timeline: Post BtVS S7 & AtS S5. Sequel to "Best Laid Plans" and "A Fair Exchange.
Summary: That which lies beneath.
Feedback is always appreciated.
Author Notes: Round and round, the ship goes. Where it lands, the Author doesn't know. Will it be (A)my, (B)uffy, (C)ordelia, (D)awn, (F)aith, (F)red, (H)armony, (K)ennedy or (W)illow that wins the Xandman? Vote now.
Buffy Summers considered herself fairly easy to get along with most of the time. Sure there was the Slayer stuff where she was required to step up and be the leader. It wasn't a role she relished truth be told. As soon as they had left the ruins of Sunnydale, she had relinquished much of her leadership role back to Giles, Willow and Wood. They were the ones better suited to the tasks of finding food, lodging, and starting to locate a place where all the 'baby' slayers could stay.
While they worked, she had closed herself from them and had a good, long cry. Some of it she shared with Dawn over losing the place where their mother was buried. Some of it, she shared with Willow as they mourned the loss of Tara. Buffy even spent a little time with Giles as he tried to come to grips with the fact that he couldn't visit Jenny Calendar anymore. Mostly she cried for herself and for the loss of Spike, a man she had fallen in love with but who didn't believe she loved him.
When Xander was discovered to be missing, she had dried her tears and set off on a frantic if futile search for him. He was untraceable by Willow's considerable magic skills. Unknown in occult circles, it was as if the earth had opened up and swallowed him whole much like it had everything else in her life. After learning that Andrew was the last person to speak to Xander, the mood at the motel had gotten particularly ugly. Giles had subjected Andrew to an increasingly violent and nasty talks that finally Dawn had to step in and save the poor boy from 'Ripper'.
Between the presumed deaths of the man in her heart and the one she knew longest, Buffy had been shaken to her core. Eventually she had taken the suggestion to accompany Faith and Wood on their trip to Europe. Robin had originally planned for just himself and Faith to get away, to show her the world as he had promised. Buffy's addition had made things uncomfortable for awhile until a shouting match in the streets of Paris had served as the breakthrough for the slayers. Following that rather public spectacle, a long and honest talk had ensured between Buffy and Faith. The subjects of Angel, Joyce, the other survivors of Sunnydale had all been discussed in a brutal and frank manner. They didn't agree on all of them but they at least understood where each stood.
It was at that time Buffy had encountered Travis for the first time. Faith and Robin, sensing what was going on, quietly arranged to depart and leave Buffy to deal with the man. They had kept in touch via phone calls, email and were the least surprised of anyone when Buffy had returned with them to Cleveland with her newest lover.
Still it had been a huge shock to return home and meet again with both Angel and Spike. The shock and pain in her heart she saw mirrored in their eyes. Especially when she discovered their involvement with other people. Buffy was aware they felt the same way about Travis.
Those were the same emotions she had seen in Xander before he slumped to the ground. The stake used to dust vampires now driven into his chest. Vaguely she was aware of her surroundings until Faith just grabbed her and shook her.
"Snap out of it Buffy!"
"Huh."
Faith shook her head as she turned her attention to the fallen man. She registered the sound of an ambulance as well as police sirens approaching. The Boston slayer knelt down, quietly she noted that he was still breathing, if shallowly. Hoping she knew what she was doing, she grabbed the stake and pulled out. She quickly turned and threw it as far as she could and in the dark of night she could barely see it arc through the night air and land in an upstairs window of the abandoned building.
The Library
Harmony burst into the library startling the other people in the room. Her chest heaving as her long dead body instinctively tried to draw air into her colds.
"Harmony?"
The blonde vampires blinked before she answered her old friend, "Hey Cordelia, Willow, Dawn..."
"What. Is. It." The tone in former seer's voice told her not to beat around the bush.
"There's been an accident."
Willow's head turned around and her gaze focused on Harmony.
"Buffy and Faith were trying to save someone and Xander got hurt."
Dawn's voice cracked slightly as she spoke, "What do you mean got hurt?"
"Buffy stabbed him. By accident." She added.
All the color drained out of the other girl's faces at that. There was a pause before chaos erupted.
"She did WHAT!"
"THAT BITCH!"
"Dawn!"
Harmony shifted her gaze reading the anger and surprise on each girl's face. Cordelia's jaw tightened dangerously and her eyebrow twitched briefly.
"Dawn, get your coat. We're going to the hospital. Which one is he at?"
"Sacred Heart."
"Wait. I'm coming too."
"... Okay Willow. Harmony tell Angel where we went."
Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital
Faith stared at the vending machine mentally contemplating her situation. On one hand she was really thirsty and could do with a drink. On the other, she hadn't eaten since leaving the school and her stomach was grumbling. Too bad, she only had enough money for one. With a sigh, Faith dropped in the coins and punched in a number. She then collected her Snickers bar, opened it and started eating. The ambulance ride had been unsettlingly and silent. Buffy had been on the verge of tears staring at Xander's body.
She leaned back against the wall as she ran through things again.
Head into town with Buffy to blow off some steam. Check.
Have a good time in a club. Check.
Save a girl from some vamps. Check.
Stake said vamps. Check.
Almost kill Xander.
That last one almost deserved a 'check' as well. She had come within a hair's breath of actually doing that. It wasn't like he could have stopped her, slayer strength and all. Faith shivered involuntarily at the memory of that night. If it wasn't for Angel showing up and saving her then...
Best not to think like that. She wasn't that person anymore, prison and working with B and Angel had changed her. Not to mention hanging around Giles and Willow, who she learned, had fallen off the wagon as well. Then there was her relationship with Robin.
The son of Nikki Woods had been stubborn, thoughtful, and tough when needed as well as understanding and accepting of her. He didn't pry into her background, instead he focused on the present with her. Faith had initially tried to push him away but he had stubbornly refused to leave. So slowly, steadily their relationship moved from sex on the eve of the apocalypse that was becoming more.
"Miss?"
She looked up and saw the nurse on duty standing nearby.
"Yeah, what?"
"Miss..."
"Faith, my name is Faith."
"Faith, the young man is out of surgery now. He will be in a recovery room and kept under observation."
"Cool."
"May I ask, where the other young lady who was with you is?"
"Buffy? I have no idea."
At that moment, Faith's slayer hearing heard vomiting coming from inside the lady's restroom. Mentally dismissing the woman, she entered the bathroom to find the elder slayer puking into a toilet. Or at least attempting to, whatever food Buffy had in her stomach had long since been regurgitated and she was only dry heaving now.
The blonde slayer paid no mind to her as she continued trying to puke into the bowl. The only thing she was able to add now was her saliva mixed in slightly with mucus from her running noses. It slowly dawned on Faith, that Buffy had been crying given the redness around her eyes and the tremors running through her body.
"Hey B, you all right?"
Buffy's answer was to heave one more time before slumping backwards away from the bowl on her butt. She brought her hands up to her face, as more tears started to fall.
"B... Buffy, are you all right?"
There was silence except for some quiet weeping from Summers. Faith tried to discern something from the other slayer but was unable to do so. At length, Buffy stopped crying and let her hands fall to her lap. Faith opened her mouth to repeat her question when she spoke in a quiet voice.
"No. I'm not all right."
"He's gonna be all right B. Nurse says he's out of the body shop and is recovering nicely."
"I killed him Faith."
"B. Didn't you hear me? He's not dead."
"He might as well be. I STABBED right in the chest. It was only dumb luck I missed his heart and only nicked the horta or whatever that big one is called."
"But he's not dead."
Buffy was quiet for a little bit. "I didn't know it was him. I should have looked before I staked."
"Buffy, it's not all your fault. X shouldn't have run into a fight like that without saying anything, you know. He should have said something so we could have kept an eye on him. Or let the other dude take over."
"I was careless Faith. Again. I almost did..."
"You almost killed a man like I did."
There was an uncomfortable silence as both slayers thought about that. Faith broke it first, "Buffy. This isn't you. It's not your fault. You know that. G told me that he told you, accidents happen."
Buffy's voice was quiet and soft when she spoke next, "But Why?"
The Boston slayer didn't have an answer for that, even if she knew which question Buffy was asking. She put it out of her, resolving to speak to Angel about it later. Instead she offered her friend a hand to stand up with.
"Come on B. we gotta get cleaned up before the gang gets here. Wouldn't want them seeing you like this."
Buffy didn't answer her as she went to a sink and mechanically began cleaning herself. As such she was unable to see the concerned look on Faith's face as the younger slayer pondered the night's events.
