The Quickening

Notes: Thanks for all of the reviews.

Previously:

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Faith said. "By the way, Giles wanted me to invite you over for Christmas tonight. I don't know what you normally do, but he wants to have some kind of special dinner or something."

"Sounds good," Xander replied. "Count me in."

Chapter Thirty-Three:

"I haven't really celebrated Christmas in a long time," Xander said as he and Faith approached the door of Giles's apartment.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Christmas around my old place usually just involved my mom getting drunk and yelling at me," Faith replied.

"Nothing really to celebrate there," Xander said. "My dad did the same thing. He'd yell at my mom, maybe hit her around a little. I remember some years the tree getting knocked over. I can still hear the sound of Christmas balls breaking."

"Well, I hope this year is better," Faith responded.

"It should be," Xander said. "Giles left the library hours ago."

"Yeah, I wonder what he's been up to," Faith replied as she dug her keys out of her pocket. Sliding the key into the lock, she pushed the door open. The smell of dinner cooking greeted Faith and Xander as they walked into the apartment. "Holy shit," Faith muttered, looking around the room in awe.

"He's been busy," Xander said, impressed.

Nearly every inch of the apartment was decorated. Colored lights adorned the inside of the windows and a tree was set up in the corner. Presents were spread around the base of the tree and it was covered with Christmas balls. A mechanical Santa had been placed on the coffee table and garland hung from practically every surface. "This is incredible," Faith said. "Giles, you here?" She called.

Giles appeared from the kitchen and smiled a bit nervously. "Ah, you're here. Excellent. I was wondering when you'd arrive," he said, visibly resisting the urge to clean his glasses.

"This place looks great, G," Xander said, looking around the apartment.

"Yeah, this is incredible," Faith agreed.

"I'm glad you like it," Giles said, smiling in relief. "Dinner should be ready in a few minutes." Giles disappeared back into the kitchen and Xander moved over to the couch, sitting down.

"Hey, I'll be right back, okay?" Faith said, quickly walking into the kitchen.

"Need anything?" Giles asked, noticing her enter.

"Nah, I just wanted to say thank you," Faith replied, nervously fiddling with her hands. "No one's ever done anything like this for me."

"It was my pleasure," Giles replied sincerely. "I haven't had anyone to celebrate Christmas with for some time. This was just as much for you as for me."

Faith smiled. "You know, I'm glad I came here. For a long time, I thought Sunnydale was a bad idea. But this place is home now and it's pretty much because of you." Stepping forward, Faith quickly planted a kiss on Giles's cheek and stepped back, looking down at the ground, rather embarrassed. "So, I'll just be out there with Xander."

Giles nodded, a smile plastered on his face. "Merry Christmas, Faith."

Faith, Giles, and Xander had just finished eating dinner when the telephone rang. When Giles answered it, his face immediately fell into Watcher mode. "I understand, we'll be right over," he said before quickly hanging up the phone.

"Who was that?" Faith asked.

"Buffy," Giles replied. "Apparently Angel came over to her house tonight. He seemed rather disoriented. Buffy is worried that whatever is happening to him is progressing. She wants Xander and I to look after her mother while you and she try to find Angel."

"Sounds like a plan," Faith said as she and Xander got to their feet.

………………….

They arrived at Buffy's house to find her pacing on the front stairs. "That bad, huh?" Xander said as they walked up to her.

"We have to do something right now," Buffy replied anxiously.

"Calm down," Giles answered. "You and Faith have to find him before we can decide on any course of action."

"Well, start thinking," Buffy said. "We're losing him, Giles. He's slipping. It was like he couldn't tell if I was even there. He wasn't talking to me half the time, he was talking to something I couldn't even see. We have to find the Bringers."

"I hate to be the one to ask this," Faith said, "but what are we supposed to do if he becomes…a danger?"

"If he were to become a danger," Giles replied, "you'll have to treat Angel like you would any other vampire."

"Kill him?" Buffy cried. "That…and I'm only going to repeat this once…is a last resort. We're bringing him back here."

"Whatever you say, B," Faith said, giving in.

"Good, let's go," Buffy said, practically charging down her porch stairs and disappearing into the night. Faith rolled her eyes, flashed a quick smile back at Xander and Giles, and followed her.

"Joyce," Giles said, greeting Buffy's mom as she opened the door. He looked down at his shoes and cleared his throat. Xander looked over at him.

"Mr. Giles," Joyce replied, nearly mirroring his actions and moving away from the door. "Won't you both come in? I just have to get something from the kitchen."

"What's up with you two?" Xander asked as he and Giles entered the house. Xander closed the door behind him and they both went into the living room, sitting down on the sofa.

"Do you remember the events that followed the sale of the band candy?" Giles asked.

"Yeah, you guys all turned into teenagers," Xander replied, unable to forget the weirdness of that night.

"Yes, well. While I was acting as my former self, Joyce and I may have…copulated," Giles answered.

Xander looked over at Giles incredulously. "You had sex with Buffy's mom?" He whispered harshly.

"Yes…I did," Giles admitted. "But don't let her know that you know."

"Right…my lips are sealed," Xander replied as Joyce walked into the living room.

"Tea anyone?"

…………………….

"Where the hell could he be?" Buffy sighed in frustration. She and Faith had been wandering all over town looking for Angel, only to have their efforts amount to nothing.

"Maybe we're going about this the wrong way," Faith replied.

"What do you mean?" Buffy asked.

"We're just wandering around," Faith said.

"Okay, so what do you remember from those books Giles showed us about the First?" Buffy asked.

Faith sighed and looked down at the ground. "Something about the Bringers being Harbingers of death…nothing growing above or below…," Faith replied.

"Hold that thought," Buffy said suddenly, remembering her Christmas tree shopping experience with her mother. The tree lot had a section of dead trees. The manager had said that nothing would grow there. "I have an idea. And how did you remember that?"

"Guess I'm not as dumb as you thought," Faith answered.

"Right," Buffy replied and took off running.

"Where are we going?" Faith yelled after Buffy as her counterpart tore through the streets of Sunnydale.

"The Christmas tree lot," Buffy replied.

"Why?" Faith asked, as they slowed their pace. The Christmas tree lot loomed ahead of them.

"There's a ring of dead trees in the lot," Buffy answered. "The Bringers must be underground."

"Under the lot," Faith replied. "I get it."

"Here," Buffy said as they discovered the ring of dead trees. "We need something to dig with."

Faith looked around and grabbed an ax. "This'll do," she said, swinging it over her head and bringing it down into the ground. The ground cracked and Buffy stomped down on the dirt with the heel of her shoe. Instantly, the ground gave way and Buffy and Faith fell through, landing a cave nearly ten feet below. Faith looked up at the hole they had fallen through and shook her head. "Little warning would have been nice there, B," she said.

"Shut up," Buffy replied.

"That's nice," Faith answered.

Buffy glared over at her. "I didn't mean it like that. I can hear something."

"Oh," Faith said, pulling herself to her feet and following Buffy as she walked further into the cave.

"Look what I've found," Buffy said, stopping suddenly. A large room opened up in the cave and in the middle, a group of Bringers were sitting around a table.

"Just what we were looking for," Faith commented. "A bunch of blind guys in dorky robes."

The Bringers rose to their feet and rushed at the two slayers. Buffy and Faith fought them off, pushing the Bringers further back into the cave. Once they realized that they were not going to be able to fight off the slayers, they fled, running back through the tunnels in the caves. Buffy and Faith overturned the table, destroying the artifacts that had been lying on it. "That should do it, huh?" Faith asked, looking over at Buffy.

"Not quite," a voice rang out from behind them. "But still, I'm impressed."

Buffy and Faith spun around. Faith looked over at Buffy, who had fallen silent. "Who is she?" Faith asked.

"Jenny Calendar."