The Quickening
Previously:
Faith rolled her eyes. "Giles wants to bang Buffy's mom," she said, noticing Buffy's eyes bug out.
"Oh God," Xander said, shivering at the mental image that popped up in his mind. "Why did I ask?"
"This is horrible," Buffy said. "We have to stop them."
Chapter Nineteen:
"Open the door," Buffy said anxiously as Faith fiddled with her apartment key.
"Chill, B. I'm sure they haven't done the dirty deed yet," Faith replied.
"Oh, yeah? Why's that?" Buffy asked angrily at Faith's nonchalance.
"Because it hasn't been that long since I left and you're mom wasn't even there yet," Faith replied logically as she opened the door. Buffy bolted inside.
"Giles!" She practically yelled.
"Ah, Buffy," Giles said, crouching next to his record cabinet with a chocolate bar in his hand. "What're you doing here?"
"Where's my mom?" Buffy asked, ignoring his question.
"Right here, honey," Joyce said, coming out of the bathroom, a worried expression on her face. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, everything's fine," Buffy said dismissively. "What're you doing here?"
"We had an opportunity to talk more about our situation," Giles replied with a mouth full of chocolate.
"Our situation?" Buffy asked.
"Yes, you know, about the slaying. We thought you made a good point last night, Buffy," Joyce replied, sitting down on the couch. Faith watched the scene with a mildly amused expression on her face.
"I did?" Buffy asked in confusion. "Just to refresh my memory…what exactly was my point?"
"About us over scheduling you," Giles replied, sitting next to Joyce. Faith noticed that he made sure to leave some distance between them. "You may be correct in saying that we've been pulling you in two different directions, trying to make you devote yourself entirely to slaying and entirely to your home life at the same time."
"That was a good point, B," Faith said, sarcastically. "Guess that doesn't really apply to me though, huh? What with my lack of a home life and all." Buffy shot her a look.
"Really not that point," Buffy stressed. Faith shook her head in annoyance. Buffy was trying to shirk her duties again, which meant that even more responsibility would be placed on Faith's shoulders.
"What is the point then?" Faith asked a bit angrily.
"Girls," Joyce interrupted. "There's no need to quarrel about this. Let's just take a moment and relax."
Buffy and Faith both looked over at Joyce suspiciously. "Huh?" Buffy asked.
"Listen, why don't you and Faith run along," Giles said, standing. "We have some more to go over, scheduling and the like. We'll talk to you more about this once we've finished."
"That's a good idea," Joyce said, leaping to her feet and grabbed her purse from beside the couch. "Here, why don't you and Faith go out. Take the keys," Joyce said, pulling her car keys from her purse. "Mr. Giles can drive me home."
Buffy looked at her in astonishment, entirely forgetting about the reason they had come to Giles' apartment in the first place. "Seriously?" Buffy asked, reaching out and grabbing the keys before her mom could come to her senses.
"Of course, go out and have fun. We just have boring adult stuff to go over," Joyce replied, smiling.
"Cool," Buffy replied, grabbing Faith by the arm again, and pulling her toward the door. "Thanks."
"Drive carefully," Joyce called after them.
Faith closed the door behind them and looked over at Buffy. "You do realize that you're leaving them in there alone…together, right?"
"We've got the car keys, Faith," Buffy replied. "Do you have any idea how long I've waited for her to let me drive?"
"Not really," Faith replied, following Buffy as she started walking toward the parking lot.
"A very long time," Buffy responded. "We're gonna take full advantage of my mom's temporary loss of sanity."
"Sounds good to me," Faith replied, deciding that if Buffy didn't care about the possible ramifications of leaving Joyce and Giles alone together, she wouldn't either.
……………………….
Buffy insisted on stopping to pick up Xander and Willow before they headed to the Bronze. Faith moved into the backseat, conscientiously letting Willow sit next to her best friend in the front, while consciously realizing that by doing so, Xander would wind up sitting next to her. Besides, it was truly frightening sitting in the front with Buffy driving. At least in the back, she wouldn't be able to see what was coming. Buffy screeched to a halt in front of Xander's house. After a few seconds, he appeared and hopped into the back seat.
"Hey," he said, smiling over at Faith. Faith smiled back. Xander had barely closed his door before Buffy stomped down on the gas, propelling the car forward.
"I'd buckle up if I were you," Faith said.
"Yeah, why's that?" He asked, though he had a feeling he knew why.
"She drives like a maniac," Faith replied. Swinging the wheel around, Buffy took a wide turn down another street. Xander, caught off balance by the sudden movement, found himself flying across the car, and crashing into Faith. "See what I mean," Faith said lowly, noticing that her lips were only inches away from Xander's. Xander gulped and nodded slowly as the tension between them mounted.
"No wonder she failed her driver's test," Xander quipped, though he was too distracted by the unconscious movement of Faith's tongue darting out and wetting her lips to notice if she laughed or not.
Faith smiled slightly. "Not too surprising," she replied, leaning forward slightly, waiting for Xander to close the gap between them. She knew that he was into her, she had overheard his conversation in the library with Willow where he had said as much. However, she wanted to make sure that he was ready to move on and wasn't still attached to Cordelia.
Xander leaned forward, his eyes half closed. Faith could feel his breath against her face as their lips barely brushed. "Hey guys!" She vaguely heard Willow say from the front seat. Faith reached up and pulled Xander closer, crushing their lips together. She could feel his tongue running along her bottom lip, seeking entrance. Opening her lips slightly, she stifled a moan as Xander's tongue clashed with hers.
"Guys?" Willow asked, turning slightly in her seat to look back. "Oh my God!" She practically yelled.
"What?" Buffy asked, looking in the rearview mirror.
"Faith and Xander are making out in the back seat," Willow replied. At the mention of their names, Faith and Xander broke their kiss and looked over, seeing Buffy and Willow both staring at them.
"Watch the road, B," Faith replied, aggravated at being interrupted. Xander smiled sheepishly at Willow, who huffed a little before turning back in her seat and crossing her arms across her chest angrily.
"What's with her?" Faith asked, noticing Willow's reaction.
"No clue," Xander replied, shrugging a little as reclaimed his seat. Faith immediately noticed his absence, but smiled when Xander discreetly snaked his arm around her shoulders. Leaning against him, Faith caught Willow staring at them again in the side mirror. Something was up with her and Faith was determined to find out what it was.
………………………….
Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Faith stood just inside the door of the Bronze, their mouths practically scraping the floor. The club was full of middle-aged people, dancing, yelling, and drinking. Willow looked up at Oz, who was onstage playing with the Dingoes. Oz simply shrugged, just as confused as they were. "What the hell is going on?" Faith asked, noticing the rest of the people in the club, who were their age, looking around in confusion mixed with mild amusement as well.
"Old people have taken over the Bronze," Xander stated in shock.
"And it looks like they're tearin' it up," Buffy replied, pointing over to the bar where a group of people were gathered around a balding man. The bartender was pouring mixture of vodka and orange juice directly down his throat. The crowd cheered when the man downed it all and stumbled away happily.
"Somethin' supernatural has to be going on here," Faith muttered. "First Giles, now this."
"Let's check it out," Buffy said as the group wandered further into the club.
"I don't know if I can ever come here again," Xander said in amazement as he looked around the club. "I think all of our teachers are here tonight."
"Uh, guys?" Faith said, stopping mid stride. "I think your principal is coming our way?"
The group immediately stopped, looking for a place to hide, when Principal Snyder walked up to them and slung his arm around Xander's neck. Xander looked like he might vomit. "Hey, guys," Snyder bellowed. "This place is fun city, huh?"
"Fun city?" Faith muttered. "Who the hell talks like that?"
"Principal Snyder?" Buffy asked, looking over at him with a mixture of concern and repulsion.
"Call my Snyder. Just my last name…you know, it's cooler that way," Snyder said, turning back toward the stage and yelling his approval. He raised his fists into the air and pumped them wildly. The Scoobies slowly backed away from him, unsure what to make of his frankness with them and his out of control behavior. "Man, I'm so stoked," Snyder said, before charging back into the crowd of people gathered before the stage.
"Seriously, what's happening?" Xander asked, bordering on an anxiety attack.
"Relax, I'm sure everything is fine," Faith said reassuringly. "I mean, what's the worst that could happen?"
"Oh, I think it's happening," Willow said, shielding her eyes as a portly, older man clambered onto the stage and removed his shirt.
"Ye Gods," Xander replied turning away.
"That's just wrong," Buffy replied as the man wrestled the microphone away from the Dingoes lead singer, Devon. Yelling something unintelligible, he leapt off the stage into the crowd, which simply parted and let him fall to the ground.
"I think he might need a doctor," Faith commented, watching with curiosity.
"I think he is the doctor," Willow replied. "In fact, he's my doctor."
"Well, you'll always have that image of him burned into your brain," Faith replied jokingly.
"We really have to figure out what's going on here," Buffy replied seriously.
"Yeah, I mean, they're all acting like…," Willow trailed off. Buffy quickly picked up on her train of thought.
"They're acting like us," she said, the light going off in her mind.
"I don't act like this," Willow replied.
"Yeah, but you're sheltered," Faith joked. The Dingoes finished their set and Oz quickly left the stage, navigating the crowd until he was standing with the group.
"It must be some kind of spell," Buffy concluded.
"What's going on?" Oz asked, waiting to be filled in.
"All the adults are acting like teenagers," Xander explained.
"Come on, let's get out of here," Buffy said, starting toward the door. "This has Hellmouth written all over it."
"Hey, wait up!" Snyder called when he noticed the group leaving. "You aren't trying to ditch me are you?" He asked when they got to the car.
"I don't think there's room for him," Faith said, counting more people than the jeep could hold.
"I can't believe I'm going to say this, but just squeeze him in," Buffy replied. "It's safer for him here with us than wandering around out there alone," Buffy said, motioning vaguely into the night.
Faith nodded her agreement and climbed inside Joyce's jeep. The rest of the group followed suit and before long, they were all crammed into the vehicle. "Principal Snyder," Xander said, nodding over to Snyder. They were stuffed so tightly in the jeep that his leg was pressed against Snyder's.
"Xander," Snyder replied, happy at being included.
"I think I'm gonna die," Xander groaned. Faith tried to repress a chuckle, but failed, and Xander glared over at her.
"We need to find Giles," Willow said confidently. "He'll know what to do."
"I think Giles is a part of the new revolution," Faith replied.
"What?" Willow asked.
"He's reconnecting to his inner teen," Faith elaborated.
"Oh," Willow replied, deflated.
"We should find him anyway," Buffy said with determination. "From what I've gathered, Giles used to be a bad-magic-hates-the-world-ticking-time-bomb kinda guy."
"Really?" Faith asked, intrigued.
"Yeah, he used to have this nickname – Ripper," Willow explained. Faith smiled a little. Giles hadn't started out as the uptight Englishman that he had become. Based on what Buffy said, Faith imagined that he was much like her as a youth – angry, forgotten, and more than willing to rage against the world. Buffy stepped on the gas, eager to find Giles and her mother, who she imagined was still with her Watcher. The jeep sped into an intersection just as another car was approaching.
"Oh my God," Willow suddenly cried. "Look out!" The other car sped through its red light and slammed into the side of the jeep. Both cars span out of control, settling to a stop on opposite sides of the road.
Faith opened the door and practically fell out of the car. "I'm never riding with her again," she muttered to herself. The rest of the gang piled out of the car. The driver of the other car yelled something at them and took off down the street, laughing. "You want me to drag him back here?" Faith asked. Buffy shook her head as she walked around the car, inspecting the damage.
"You guys okay?" Buffy asked. Everyone nodded.
"Your mom's gonna kill you," Snyder said laughingly. Buffy glared at him. Snyder shrugged and pulled a candy bar out of his pocket.
"Nice wreck," a middle-aged man said, walking up to them. Walking around Snyder, he reached out and quickly snatched the candy bar, running off with it.
"Hey!" Snyder shouted, running after him.
"You know what I just noticed," Faith said looking around.
"What's that?" Buffy asked.
"All these people are out. Prime feeding time. And from what I can gather, no one's really paying attention to much of anything. So where are all the vamps?" Faith said.
"Something's happening somewhere else," Oz surmised.
"Something big, I'd say," Buffy concluded.
"That guy just took my candy bar," Snyder said sadly, rejoining the group.
"It's the candy," Buffy suddenly said. "It must be cursed."
"Everyone has it," Xander said. "The only people that bought any were adults."
"What's going on?" Buffy asked, grabbing Snyder by the shirt collar and slamming him against the jeep.
"Hey, let him go," Faith said, trying to intervene. "What makes you think he even knows anything?"
"She's right. I don't know anything," Snyder panted.
"Who's behind it?" Buffy practically growled. Faith stepped back, seeing that she was getting nowhere with the older slayer.
"It came through the school board," Snyder replied nervously.
"Do you know where we get can more candy?" Buffy asked. Snyder brightened.
"Yeah, I'll show you," he said eagerly.
"Okay. Will, Oz, Xander…go to the library and do some research," Buffy commanded.
"On what? Candy curses?" Xander said sarcastically.
"Disturbing second childhoods," Willow stated. "Come on," she said, pulling Oz and Xander away.
"What're we doing, B?" Faith asked.
"We're gonna find out what's going on."