The Quickening

Notes: I will be getting a new computer sometime this week, so there may be delays in my updates when I'm switching things over.

Previously:

Xander's eyes went wide with shock when the moonlight fell on the figure's face.

"Angel," he whispered.

Chapter Twenty-Three:

Faith sat at the kitchen table, watching Giles and Gwendolyn bickering over some book in the living room. She knew her new Watcher was starting to grate on Giles's nerves, but she didn't want to step in. Her relationship with Gwendolyn was still very new and she didn't want to overstep her bounds. At the same time, she could tell that Giles could only handle so much of the uptight British woman's criticisms. As much as Faith wanted to be the great warrior Gwendolyn seemed to think she could be, Faith wasn't so sure that she and Gwendolyn were a perfect match. While Faith was far more laid back about things, Gwendolyn was incredibly uptight. She reminded Faith of the overachiever girls at her old high school, who wanted to be in the top echelon of everything. Faith knew she wasn't that type of person and it felt like Gwendolyn was trying to turn her into someone she most definitely was not.

Yet, she wanted to be able to prove to Buffy that she could be just as good of a slayer, if not better. She knew she would have to take things up a notch if she wanted to get any recognition for her talents from her sister slayer. "Ms. Post…," Faith could hear Giles begin to say, in a voice that ached of annoyance. Suddenly, Giles was interrupted by a fierce and hurried banging on the door. Faith looked up.

"I'll get it," she said, moving over to the door. Gwendolyn and Giles focused their attention on the books in front of them again as Faith opened the door. Xander practically bolted inside the apartment. "Hey, X, what's the rush?" Faith asked, stepping aside to keep from being knocked over.

"We've got a big problem," Xander said, panting. He had run all the way to Giles's apartment from Mansion Row.

"What's wrong, Xander?" Giles asked, turning to look at the boy.

"It's Buffy," Xander said breathlessly. Giles quickly stood and motioned for both Xander and Faith to follow him.

"Would you like some assistance?" Gwendolyn asked smugly. Giles smiled as politely as he could and shook his head. Then he led Faith and Xander into Faith's bedroom. Shutting the door behind them, he turned to Xander.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I saw Angel tonight," Xander replied. Giles looked up at Xander sharply.

"Buffy's old boy toy?" Faith asked, still out of the loop on the entire Angel story.

"Yeah, Buffy's ex boyfriend who turned all evil on us and tried to kill everyone," Xander said bitterly. "Although, from what I saw tonight, I wouldn't really call him Buffy's ex."

"What exactly did you see?" Giles inquired.

"Buffy and Angel kissing," Xander responded.

"That's totally gross," Faith muttered. Giles and Xander looked over at her. "What? It is. It's like kissing a corpse, and the last time I checked, bumping nasties with dead people was kinda illegal."

"She's been hiding him from us," Giles said, sitting down at Faith's desk chair.

"Which means that she knows it's wrong, but she doesn't care," Xander replied, dropping down onto Faith's bed. Faith sat beside him.

"Stupid question, probably, but what exactly did Angel do that's so terrible?" Faith asked. "Nobody's ever really filled me in."

"Angel, or Angelus as his demon prefers to be called," Giles said, "terrorized Buffy and her friends for several months. He would show up at Buffy's house and harass her mother. He killed Willow's goldfish. Not to mention the many threats he made on our lives."

"He arranged this attack on us at the library that left me with a broken arm, Willow in a coma, and the slayer before you dead," Xander added.

"And he killed someone I cared for very deeply," Giles finished, looking down at his hands, which were folded in his lap.

"He's a bad guy," Xander said. "Buffy may be able to forgive him for everything he's done, but I sure as hell can't."

"Apparently, he has his soul back now," Giles said, looking up again. "Otherwise, Buffy wouldn't be with him. However, I do find her blatant disregard for the injuries Angel has caused to be rather appalling."

"So what should we do?" Faith asked.

"Kill him," Xander replied. Giles smiled dryly.

"I'm afraid it's not as simple as that," he said. "If we did kill him, I fear we would completely alienate Buffy. Though her actions in allowing Angel back into her life are questionable, she has very strong emotions towards him. She's probably not thinking clearly. I fear she would retaliate if we tried something that she didn't approve of."

"Great, so we can't hurt Buffy's precious feelings, what are we supposed to do then?" Xander asked in frustration.

"I believe our best course of action at this point is simply to talk with her. Try to reason with her. Perhaps, even understand why she's seeing him, why she's hiding him. She may have some reason that we have yet to think of," Giles replied.

"Or she may be hiding him because she knows exactly what we're thinking," Faith said. "That he's a vampire, a dangerous vampire. I don't know about you, but my old Watcher was pretty clear about where vampires stood in relation to a slayer. There's no loving relationship there. Slayers kill vampires, end of story."

"That's my girl," Xander said, shooting Faith a small smile. Faith smiled back, looking away when Giles noticed their exchange. He knew something was going on with Faith and Xander, but he hadn't been able to identify exactly what. Now, however, as he watched the two teens, he could easily see their attraction to each other. More than that, he could see in Xander's eyes how much he cared for the girl sitting next to him. Faith, on the other hand, was far more difficult to read.

"None the less," Giles said, recapturing their attention, "I still think our best option at this point is simply to talk to Buffy about Angel. Tomorrow morning, we'll stage an intervention of sorts."

"Sounds like a plan," Xander replied.

"Good," Giles said, standing. "I suppose I should go check on Gwendolyn," he said rather forlornly. "Stay as long as you like," he said to Xander before exiting the room.

"Thanks for backing me up," Xander said, looking over at Faith. Faith nodded.

"You know my stance on vampires," Faith replied.

"There's no good vampire except a dusted one?" Xander joked.

"Exactly," Faith responded.

"So, I was thinking…," Xander said, looking down at his hands nervously, "that after all this stuff with Angel dies down, maybe you'd like to go out sometime?"

Faith looked over at him and smiled. "Like on a date?" She asked. She had never really been on a date with a guy before. She had met up with lots of guys in different places, but that was just for sex.

"Yeah," Xander replied.

"I'd like that," Faith responded softly. She had always felt like she was somehow missing out on something by not being in a relationship with anyone. On the one hand, she enjoyed the freedom that casual sex granted her. She didn't have to become emotionally attached to anyone, only to be disappointed when things didn't work out. However, she also liked the idea of being able to rely on someone – on having someone be there for whatever life threw at her. She had always depended on herself, but looking back on her life, she knew that things would have been much easier if she had opened herself up to someone, had let someone help her.

"Good," Xander said, smiling happily. "I should probably go." Both he and Faith stood, but as he turned to go, Faith reached out and grabbed his arm. Pulling him back to her, Faith leaned up on her tiptoes and gently brushed her lips against his.

"See you tomorrow," she whispered, her lips hovering a fraction of an inch from his. Xander smiled a little as she pulled away and nodded, unable to find his voice. Faith watched as he walked out of her room in a daze and smiled to herself.

……………………

Xander roughly shoved open the library doors. The intervention with Buffy had just ended. Buffy didn't seem to care at all that she was harboring a dangerous, killer demon. Inadvertently, she had even revealed that Angel was in possession of the Glove – an ancient artifact that was known to give its wearer unlimited power. He knew he shouldn't have been so hard on Buffy, yet her selfishness astounded him at times. He didn't understand how she could so easily forgive and forget the things that Angel did to the people that she loved. Xander didn't believe he was the type of person who held a grudge, but there were just some things that could not be forgiven.

"Hey," Faith said, nearly running into Xander as she turned a corner in the hallway. "You looked pissed."

"Things didn't go well with Buffy," Xander replied.

"Where are you going?" Faith asked, noticing that Xander was walking toward one of the exits. "Don't you have classes?" It was late in the afternoon and the school day had almost ended. However, Faith was nearly positive that Xander had one class left.

"Angel has the Glove," Xander replied. "Apparently he's protecting it."

"But you don't buy that for a second," Faith concluded.

"Not at all. It needs to be somewhere safe, not with him," Xander replied.

"So naturally you thought you'd pop in and pick up the damn thing?" Faith asked, annoyed at Xander's complete disregard for his personal well-being. Xander meant well, but he was not strong enough to ward off an attack if a demon saw him transporting the Glove back to the library. Xander smiled and shook his head.

"No, naturally I thought I'd go find you and then pick up the damn thing," he replied. Faith looked down at her feet and laughed out of embarrassment at her hurried presumption. "I know I tend to rush into things," Xander said, "but I'm not stupid enough to rush into Angel's place by myself. That guy freaks me out."

"So we're going then?" Faith asked, turning back to the exit. Xander smiled and began to walk with her.

"Yeah, we're going."

………………………….

Gwendolyn Post walked into the Sunnydale library. Immediately, she noticed that the very reason for her coming there wasn't present. She and Faith were supposed to meet for training. However, either Faith was late, as usual, or she had decided not to show up. Gwendolyn sighed out of frustration. She was glad that she wasn't really the girl's Watcher. She had told Faith over and over how she believed that the dark haired slayer could be one of the greatest warriors the world had ever known, but all of her words had been lies. She could barely believe that Faith was still alive. She lacked any kind of talent. Her raw passion was the only thing that gave her the advantage in a fight, certainly not any skill.

"Ah, Ms. Post," Giles said, popping out of his office. "You're here for Faith, I presume?"

"Yes, where is she?" Gwendolyn asked, making sure that her voice was calm and even. She didn't want to betray her true feelings. But in fact, she hated Sunnydale and everyone in it. Giles was an incompetent fool. His slayer, Buffy, was even more incompetent at her job than Faith was, which said a great deal. Giles had abandoned all of the traditional means of training a slayer and it clearly showed in the way Buffy fought.

"She's not here yet," Giles replied. "She was still sleeping when I left this morning. I didn't have the heart to wake her." Faith had looked so peaceful sleeping that Giles couldn't bear the thought of denying her that time to be at rest. There was such anguish written in Faith's eyes. The pain of her past and the pain of a future yet to come lingered in the windows to her soul. That pain made her look much older than she really was. It was almost as if some great tragedy lie behind her eyes. But when she was asleep, the pain faded away, and she looked incredibly young.

"I'm trying to teach her discipline, Mr. Giles. If you're going to subvert all of my efforts, I'll have to insist that she comes to live with me," Gwendolyn stated.

"That won't be necessary," Giles shot back. "By the way, we've located the Glove. It's being kept safe in a mansion on Crawford Street until we can destroy it."

"Destroy it?" Gwendolyn asked.

"Yes, I didn't believe that it could be done either," Giles replied, mistaking her question for surprise that such a task could actually be done. "We must transform fire into the Living Flame to immolate the Glove."

"Well, I must say, Mr. Giles, I'm impressed. Good show," Gwendolyn said, allowing Giles a moment of pride. However, the fool had just handed her the location of the Glove on a silver platter.

"Thank you," Giles said. "That's very kind of you. Tea?" He asked.

"Of course," Gwendolyn said. As Giles turned his back, she lifted a wooden, tribal statue from one of the library tables and hit him on the back of the head with it. Giles immediately went down, knocked unconscious. "Good show indeed."