The Quickening

Previously:

"So what's up, Giles?" Buffy asked. "You look a little flustered."

Giles sighed and sat a book down on the table. "How about the end of the world?"

Chapter Forty-Two:

Faith was the first to break the silence that had fallen over the group. "Was that a joke, G-man? 'Cuz if so, you really need to work on your sense of humor."

"I'm afraid it wasn't," Giles stated.

"So what's the deal?" Buffy asked. She had faced a number of apocalyptic events in her lifetime – probably more than one person should have to face. Despite that, it never got any easier to imagine that the world could be overrun by demons because she was not strong enough to stop them. However, with Faith in Sunnydale, Buffy felt more confident. Ever since Faith had rescued her and her mother from Kralik, Buffy found herself much more at ease with the younger girl. Faith had finally won Buffy's trust and even a little bit of her admiration.

"The Sisterhood of Jhe," Giles said, reading the name out of his book. "They're composed of the demons we fought earlier in the week. I'm sure you remember them."

"Tricky little bastards they were," Xander replied. Giles shot him a look, ignoring his statement, and continuing with his explanation.

"The Sisterhood is a cult devoted to bringing out the end of the world. Though we defeated a great number of them, I believe many more will be arriving," Giles said, sitting down at the table with the group of teenagers. Giles stopped for a moment, looking at the faces of the people gathered around him. He knew many adults that would have fainted with fear at the possibility of the end of the world. Everyday, he placed an enormous amount of responsibility on the Scoobies' shoulders, expecting them to come through and stop terrible things from happening. Each time, they succeeded admirably. Giles was proud of them. He had stopped viewing them as high school students a long time ago and more as allies in the quest to stop the forces of darkness.

"How do they plan to do all this?" Cordelia asked.

Giles slid his glasses off and laid them on the table, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. His actions did nothing to reassure the group seated before him. "They intend to open the Hellmouth," Giles replied, much to the dismay of everyone there.

"As in the Hellmouth that's sitting about twenty feet over that way?" Willow asked nervously, pointing in the general direction of the stacks.

"Precisely," Giles responded.

"Anyone not feel like sitting here anymore?" Xander asked, raising his hand. The others all raised their hands nervously.

"How about a change of location, then?" Giles asked. They gathered their stuff, quickly exiting the library, and moving out onto the quad. The sun was shining down, lighting up the grass in a brilliant display of green. Just seconds ago, they had been talking about the end of the world in the dusty library, but now that they were outside in the sunshine, they all felt a little bit better.

"So when is all this supposed to happen?" Faith asked as they settled down on the grass. She sat in front of Xander, as he leaned against a tree. Leaning back against his chest, she smiled when he wrapped his arms around her. She could see Cordelia snickering off to the side and quickly punched her in the arm.

"Ow," Cordy complained, rubbing her arm.

"I didn't even hit you that hard," Faith replied.

"You're still a slayer though," Cordy pointed out.

"And what, you're just a weak, pathetic, normal human being?" Faith asked jokingly. Cordelia shot her a glare.

"No, I'm an athletic, strong, empowered woman. But it still hurt," she added, muttering to herself. Faith smiled and she could hear Xander quietly chuckling behind her.

"Let's try to focus, if we could," Giles admonished them lightly. Though he was eager to continue with their discussion, he also knew that the others needed to be able to take a few moments to laugh with each other. It helped to keep them from going crazy with the stress of their lives.

"Sure," Cordelia replied. "Back on track."

"Regarding your question," Giles said, looking over at Faith, "unfortunately, I don't know when it's supposed to happen."

"Very helpful," Xander commented.

"I know that it will happen soon," Giles continued, ignoring the boy again, "but I haven't been able to pin down an exact date."

"So the Hellmouth is going to open, then what?" Oz asked, finally contributing to the conversation.

"Do you remember when you faced the Master?" Giles asked, looking over at Buffy. Buffy nodded, looking down at the ground.

"When I'm not having nightmares about showing up to class without knowing about some crazy, hard test with pencils that always seem to disappoint, I'm having nightmares about him," Buffy replied quietly. Willow reached over and pulled her friend into a hug.

"We'll figure it out, Buffy," Willow whispered into her ear. Buffy smiled and nodded gratefully. Pulling away, she muttered a quick 'thanks' before they turned their attention back to Giles.

"Essentially, the demons that occupy the Hellmouth will emerge into the library," Giles explained.

"You mean the tentacle looking things?" Xander asked.

"Yes," Giles answered, deciding that any technical explanation would simply confuse them.

"So, we have class," Buffy said, suddenly realizing that the quad had emptied of students. "But as soon as school is done, we're hitting research mode."

"Agreed," Giles said as the others gathered their things, preparing for class. Faith and Xander walked behind the others, as Faith did not actually have class, and Xander was never too eager to attend his.

"So, I figured out what can make me cool," Xander said.

"I thought we went over this," Faith groaned.

"We did," Xander replied. "But it just came to me."

"What just came to you?" Faith asked, deciding just to indulge Xander.

"My Uncle Rory," Xander said. "He has this awesome car."

"So?" Faith asked.

"So, it can be my thing," Xander responded. Faith stopped walking and looked over at him, amused.

"Your thing?" She asked, smiling as Xander continued rambling.

"Yeah, you know, my thing," he reiterated.

"Is that some kind of penis metaphor?" Faith asked, continuing walking. Xander blushed a deep red before trailing after her.

"No, it's not," Xander replied futilely. "It's my thing to be cool."

"Oh, I get it," Faith replied, smiling over at him. "So how are you getting your Uncle's car?"

"He's a drunk. Got one too many DUIs and can't drive for a while," Xander answered.

"Sounds like a winner," Faith commented.

"I know, doesn't he?" Xander said jokingly.

"That's cool though," Faith said, "sounds like most of my family."

"You know, we never really talk about your family," Xander said, broaching the subject that he knew Faith purposefully avoided. Faith looked down at the ground, but kept walking.

"I know," she said quietly. "It's just a lot to tell."

"And you're afraid, right?" Xander said, taking her hand in his own. Relief washed over his body when she did not pull away from him.

"Yeah," Faith replied. "I know, it's stupid. I'm a vampire slayer. I face worse things every day. But I can't face my past."

"It's not stupid, it's human," Xander responded.

"I just…," Faith trailed off. "I'm just afraid of what you'll think of me if I tell you."

Xander looked over at her, surprised. "Faith," he said, squeezing her hand, "I could never think less of you for anything."

"You know, Xan, after all of this end of the world stuff? We should have that first date, that we've never technically been on. And maybe I'll give you a glimpse of what Boston was like for me," Faith replied. Xander smiled and looked over at her.

"I'd like that a lot."