The Quickening

Previously:

"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."

Chapter Thirty-Four:

"Wait, this is Jenny Calendar? The Jenny Calendar? Giles's old girlfriend?" Faith asked, looking curiously back and forth between Buffy and Jenny.

"No, this isn't Jenny Calendar," Buffy replied coldly. "This is the First Evil."

"Well, the First Evil in Jenny Calendar's body," Faith replied. "So that's what she looks like. You know, Giles doesn't have any pictures around or anything. I never knew what she looked like."

"I guess it's just too painful for him," Jenny chimed in. "I mean, after all, Angel did murder me and leave my body in his bed for him to find."

"I'm sorry, were we talking to you?" Buffy asked, looking over at the First Evil.

"No, but to be honest, I am getting a little bored," the First replied.

"I'm sorry," Faith replied, turning back to the First. "But why should we give a shit about that?"

"I think I know why," Buffy replied. "It's evil right? And it's going to do evil things. Not like we haven't heard that story before."

"So, what sets you apart? What makes you any different?" Faith asked, stepping forward.

"What are you gonna do?" The First Evil taunted. "You can't hurt me. I'm incorporeal. Must be difficult – being a slayer and being unable to do anything to stop me. Must make you feel so helpless."

"You won't get Angel," Buffy shot back.

"Besides, we may not be able to kill you, but we can kill all of your boys," Faith replied smugly.

"Such confidence. I imagine that I'm supposed to be absolutely terrified," the First replied. "But I can tell you – you're wrong. Angel will be dead by sunrise. There's nothing that you can do about that," the First chuckled and then vanished from sight.

"Dead by sunrise?" Faith muttered to herself.

"What does that mean?" Buffy asked, visibly disturbed.

"He's gonna try to kill himself," Faith said suddenly.

"What?" Buffy asked, looking over at her anxiously.

"The First can't kill him. It's incorporeal. It's boys haven't tried to lay hands on Angel and the apparitions can't do shit either. The only person who can kill Angel at this point is Angel," Faith replied logically. Buffy looked at her for a second longer before dashing forward into the cave, looking for the exit that the Bringers had run for when they realized that they could not defeat the slayers.

"Buffy!" Faith yelled after her, knowing that she would not be able to catch up with the older slayer even if she tried. Buffy was running with a fierce determination to find Angel and stop him from ending his life. "What am I supposed to do now?" Faith muttered to herself, glancing around the cave. Sighing and shaking her head, she started jogging after Buffy, hoping at least to find a way out of the cave.

………………..

"Well, this is in no way awkward," Xander said, folding his hands in his lap and looking over at Giles. "Did you really have to sleep with Buffy's mom? I mean, out of all of the people in Sunnydale – all of the, I'm sure, rather attractive, single, middle aged women in this town – you just had to sleep with Buffy's mom. Buffy – being your slayer, who you have to have contact with every single day. Buffy's mom!" Xander said emphatically.

"I was under the influence of magically enhanced band candy!" Giles retorted with equal passion.

"That's no excuse!" Xander replied.

"Yes, it actually is. Besides, she's an attractive woman. Give me a break. I had reverted back to the way I used to be when I was younger," Giles said.

"So you're just gonna pull the 'I'm a guy and I can't help it' card, huh?" Xander responded. Giles glared over at him.

"Like you've never pulled that card?" Giles replied knowingly.

"This isn't about me," Xander retorted.

"What are you boys talking about?" Joyce asked, walking back into the living room.

"Nothing," Xander and Giles replied in unison. An awkward silence followed as Joyce sat across from them in an easy chair. Giles cleared his throat and looked down at the ground. Xander looked back and forth between them. Joyce was looking anywhere but at Giles.

"Okay, let's get one thing straight. I know what happened with you guys. And yeah, I'll admit, it's kinda weird. But hey, you both were hopped up on band candy. You're both adults," Xander said, looking at them both. "So get over it already. You're gonna have to see a lot of each other. Move on."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Joyce replied, a little flustered.

"He knows what happened," Giles said. "I told him."

"You what?" Joyce answered, nearly jumping to her feet.

"Well, he picked up on some awkward…."

"Vibes," Xander finished for Giles. "I picked up on some awkward vibes when we came in earlier. But listen, it's cool. Giles is Buffy's Watcher, he's gonna be around. So you had sex. People have sex. It doesn't have to be the end of the world."

"You know, Xander, sometimes you actually make sense," Giles replied, looking over at the teenage boy.

Joyce sighed. "I suppose you're right," she said. "After all, we weren't exactly ourselves."

"Exactly," Giles replied. "So let's just move on. It happened. But that's that."

"Yeah," Joyce agreed. "Thanks, Xander," she said, looking over at him and smiling. "Do either of you want any Christmas cookies?"

They were about to respond when someone started knocking on the door. All three of them looked over at it. Joyce moved over to the door and opened it, revealing Faith. "Hey," she replied, walking into the house.

"Where's Buffy?" Giles asked as he and Xander joined Joyce.

"She went after Angel," Faith responded. "Apparently he's going to try to kill himself. I tried to follow her, but I had no idea where she was going."

"He's gonna try to kill himself?" Xander asked in surprise.

"That's what the First said. It said that Angel would be dead by sunrise," Faith answered.

"And there's no one who could kill him but him," Giles replied.

"That's what I said," Faith said. "Guess we're starting to think alike, huh G-man?" Giles smiled as she moved passed him, into the kitchen where Joyce was preparing a tray of Christmas cookies.

"Hey, you guys, check this out," Xander called from the front foyer.

"What's up?" Joyce asked as she and Faith walked back out to where the guys were standing.

"It's snowing out," Giles commented.

"It actually snows in Sunnydale?" Faith asked, walking outside. Tiny flakes were falling from the sky, covering the ground in a blanket of white. Faith smiled. She had always loved snow. The winters had been cold in Boston and, without heat in her old apartment, those winters were sometimes unbearable. But snow always made everything seem better. It covered all of the grime and ugliness with a blanket of pure white. Xander moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"Do you think Buffy got to Angel in time?" Joyce asked absently.

"I have no idea," Giles replied.

Xander leaned down and kissed the top of Faith's head. "Merry Christmas," he whispered. Faith smiled and leaned back into his embrace.

"You too."