Buffy walked cautiously along the thin tightrope, her thoughts flying a mile a minute, like they had been doing since last night.
She felt a little ridiculous and a little sketchy that she had lost her virginity outside, and near Gwen's unconscious body at that.
At the thought of Gwen, a wave of guilt soaked Buffy's consciousness. It had taken some thought on how to proceed with Gwen. You weren't supposed to move an injured person and Gwen's electric flow made it impossible to call a hospital; they wouldn't know what to do with her.
And where had her cross necklace gone? She couldn't find it anywhere.
Not that sex with Spike had been bad. It had been pretty good, but the aftermath was a bit awkward. They talked about how they should move Gwen and what they should tell the rest of the circus, trying not to look one another in the eye all the while. Eventually, they got Giles and a pair of thick rubber gloves and took Gwen to her cot in the girls' sleeping area.
Tara and Fred, the resident nurses, shooed the men out and proceeded to clean and bandage Gwen's head (while wearing gloves, of course). Buffy didn't even look at Spike as he and Giles left, and she hadn't said a word to him since.
What time is it? Afternoon sometime. Oh God, it's the afternoon of the day after I lost my virginity. And Gwen may not wake up.
A blast of fire from below startled Buffy out of her thoughts and off the tightrope. Her quick reflexes had her swinging off the rope by her hands, so she didn't fall onto the large safety net below her.
Glancing down at the centre ring, Buffy searched for the source of the fire and found it to be Cordelia, who was practising her act. Buffy watched her twirl some fiery-ended batons like a cheerleader for Lucifer's team.
She swung her legs up and gripped the tightrope with them, and then swung herself into an upright, uncomfortable sitting position on the rope.
Deciding that simply dropping would be less of an effort than hauling herself up and walking back to the platform, Buffy hopped off the rope and let herself fall.
"Can we talk?"
"Vocal cord wise, yes. With each other? No."
"We need to talk."
"About what?" Buffy winced; she really didn't want to talk about what they did last night.
"About what happens if Sunnydale comes back for a second cup of tea."
Buffy stopped when she heard the word Sunnydale. Ah hah, Spike thought. You do know what I'm talking about.
Buffy took a moment to irrationally feel a little offended that he didn't want to talk about what they did. Shaking herself out of it, she asked:
"What did you tell Giles last night?"
"The truth."
Buffy jolted.
"You what?"
"It seemed the simplest course. He says he won't tell anyone and he deserves to understand why his circus is under attack."
"And if word gets out?"
"It already has; they've found us. Our best course of action would be to leave."
"Our? There is no 'our'. And besides, if we--if you left, they might just come after the circus anyway. And we--I wouldn't be here to protect them. Not happening."
"Fine."
Richard sat down on the couch in his study, looking a little less chipper than usual.
Glory stalked into the room a minute later and seeing his dejected state, rolled her eyes.
"Cheer up, monkey. We'll find Faith. All we need is a better tactic to get Buffy to talk."
She sat down next to him on the small couch and stretched languidly, letting her legs glide up his and her stilettos coming to a rest in his lap.
"I know you're right, sugar. I just worry so much about her."
Glory tossed her head back in exasperation.
"Why'd you put her in the orphanage then?"
Richard looked sharply at her and then sighed.
"I wanted her to have all the options in the world and more. I wanted no one to take advantage of her, ever."
"So, what prize did she win?"
"She'll be stronger and quicker than most growing girls her age. I had all the girls in her dorm room put under the same tests so Buffy's equal to my Faith."
Glory pouted and slipped her foot coyly into his jacket.
"As strong as me?"
At this, Richard smirked.
"No one's as strong as you, pumpkin."
Glory smiled and pulled her foot back before changing her position on the couch. She slid over to her husband and slithered onto his lap. Her short red dress rode up her thighs and she put her arms around his shoulders.
"Want some good news?"
"I love good news."
"I know. Caleb's little minions planted surveillance around the circus. We're going to get the full tour tomorrow."