The Quickening

Previously:

"This seems like a good place," he said aloud. "Nice, heavy door. No way Oz could get out of here." Looking around one last time, he was about to turn to head back to the library when he saw a blinking, red light out of the corner of his eye. "What the hell is that?" He asked himself as he moved further into the room. The light came into view and suddenly Xander realized what he was looking at.

"Oh shit," he said fearfully, "it's a bomb."

Chapter Forty-Six:

The library doors suddenly burst off their hinges, flying out into the hallway of Sunnydale High. Immediately following them, Buffy flew through the air, slamming into the wall opposite of the library. Sliding down to the floor, she blinked the cobwebs from her eyes and struggled to rise to her feet.

"That thing can't leave the library, Faith!" Buffy yelled, bracing herself with one hand on the wall, while waiting for her legs to stop wobbling.

"All over it, B!" Faith yelled back. Once Buffy had regained her sense of composure, she picked her sword up off the floor, gripped it tightly in her hand, and charged into the library. The piercing screams of the monster invading the library resounded down the hallways of the high school.

"Is this how things are supposed to be going?" Cordy asked, pausing after cutting off one of the tentacles of the monster to wipe the sweat from her forehead.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure," Faith said, pausing as well. "I don't think we're winning."

"Neither do I," Cordy said wearily. "But I don't think it's winning either."

"Guys? What're you doing?" Buffy asked, stopping next to them.

"Taking a breather," Faith replied, resting her hands on the end of her sword.

"There's still a monster to kill," Buffy pointed out.

"It'll be there when we're done," Cordy responded matter-of-factly.

"You guys are going to be the end of the world," Buffy said, shaking her head. Then, lifting her sword, she ran forward, back into the battle.

"A little help here!" Willow yelled over the noise of Buffy's sword striking the flesh of the creature and its wail of pain. She and Giles were still trying to complete the spell that they had begun before the creature emerged from the ground.

"That's our cue," Faith replied, lifting her sword again.

"Damn," Cordy responded. "And you do this on a daily basis."

"It's the job," Faith said.

"Go for the heart," Buffy yelled, capturing their attention. "It's the weakest there."

"Isn't everything," Faith muttered.

………………….

"Bomb in the basement," Xander muttered to himself. "There's a bomb in the basement. Everyone else but me is upstairs fighting to prevent the world from ending. I'm the only person who can fix this," Xander said. "I'm the last person in the world who should have to handle this. I know nothing about bombs. I know nothing about electronics. I know nothing about anything."

Kneeling down beside the bomb, Xander ran his hand through his hair and sighed. Several different color wires were connected to the bomb. Xander knew from some of the late night movies he had watched, after waking up in the middle of the night with nightmares of the beatings his father had given him, that he had to pull one of those wires to make the bomb stop ticking. The characters in the movies had always made it looked so easy. They seemed to know exactly what wire to pull. However, as Xander stared down at the bomb, he had no idea what wire to pull.

Closing his eyes, he let his hand hover over the wires. "Okay, maybe I just know what wire to pull," he said. "Some how, magically, I'll psychically know that I should pull the green wire, or something."

"Okay, it's counting down. It's reached ten. I'm so screwed. What the hell wire do I pull?" He yelled in frustration. There were four wires. One of the wires was green, one was blue, one was red, and one was white.

"Green…blue….red….and white," Xander said, sitting down on the floor in front of the bomb and resting his hand in his hands.

"It's gotta be this one," he muttered to himself, moving his hand over one of the wires.

……………………

"Get into position!" Giles yelled. Instantly, Buffy somersaulted over the creature, landing above it on the stairs that led to the stacks. Angel, Cordelia, and Faith stepped in front of the library doors to stop the creature from exiting, should it decide that was the best course of action. Willow moved over to Giles, prepared to recite the rest of the binding spell in synch with him, or take it over should he falter.

"All things…the vessel….of truth," Giles recited in Latin. "Now!" He yelled up to Buffy. Buffy, hearing his call, lifted her sword high over her head. Mustering her strength, she brought the sword down, striking the creature in every place she could. Angel, Faith, and Cordelia slowly moved forward, hacking as they went, and attempting to reach the creature's center.

The Hellmouth groaned, closing in on itself as the binding spell took effect. The creature wailed, sensing its doom. Slithering back down into the Hellmouth, the last of its tentacles disappeared into the cracks in the library floor. Then they too slipped closed, leaving only a thin line running from the center of the library to the library doors. "Is it over?" Cordy asked, as the rumbling and shaking stopped. The ground stilled and a quiet fell over the library. Faith looked around, suspicious, but relieved. Her ears were ringing from the sounds the creature had made.

"I think so," Giles said. Faith knelt down, placing the palm of her hand on the floor. She could feel the earth slightly trembling, but it was simply the aftershock of the strain of the Hellmouth breaking open.

"It's over," Faith whispered.

"Good," Buffy said, tossing her sword onto the ground and sitting down on the stairs that led to the stacks. "I wonder where Xander got to," she said, suddenly noticing that he had never returned.

………………….

Grabbing the green wire, he closed his eyes, muttered a quick prayer, and yanked. The wire ripped loose from the bomb and the timer stopped, with only one second remaining. Opening his eyes, Xander looked down at the bomb and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "For once in my life, I actually guessed right," he said to himself. "It's a miracle. Why couldn't I have done that on my SATs?"

Rising to his feet, he wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans. Suddenly, he noticed that the earth had stopped shaking. He could no longer hear the sounds of battle above him. Racing out of the boiler room, he felt his heart pounding in his chest. The battle was over. He hoped that all of his friends were still alive and well. Mostly, however, he was worried about Faith. She gave her all in every battle she fought. Typically, she did not stop to think about the ramifications of her actions. He knew one day that would cost her everything. Running down the hallway, he stopped in front of the library doors and took a deep breath. Then he pushed them open and walked inside.

The others were gathered around the center of the library. He could tell that they were banged up, but they were all still alive. "Hey," he said. "Everything go as planned?"

"Absolutely," Giles replied. "Except for the part where the Hellmouth actually opened. That wasn't particularly part of the plan."

"But it's closed now though," Cordy said. "And I for one am glad."

"Me too," Buffy said.

"Where have you been?" Willow asked, obviously concerned. Faith shot her a glance, which Willow either ignored or did not notice.

"In the boiler room," Xander replied.

"What were you doing there?" Faith asked, looking back at him.

"Just looking for a place for Oz, like you guys told me to," Xander replied shrugging. Though he would have liked to tell them all about his victory over the bomb, he kept his mouth shut. Smiling, he walked over to Faith and slung his arm around her shoulders. "Let's get out of here?" He asked, whispering in her ear. Faith nodded.

"See you guys tomorrow," she said, handing her sword to Cordelia and winking. Xander and Faith walked out of the library, hand in hand. "We going to your place?"

"Yeah," Xander said. The others had enough to worry about without having to deal with bombs. For once, he wanted to be the unsung hero, whose good deeds went without reward, but who knew, deep inside, that he had done more for the world than anyone would ever know. He knew, in his heart, that all the praise in the world would not have felt as good as the feeling of pride he carried, knowing that he had saved his friends. He did not need to save the world. He was content merely saving the people that he loved.

They reached Xander's apartment after a short walk. "You're probably tired, huh? All that fighting," Xander said as he and Faith wandered into his bedroom. Faith looked up at him, a strange glint in her eyes. Then she smiled and stepped forward, resting her hands on his shoulders.

"Not really that tired," she replied, leaning forward and running her tongue along his bottom lip. She pulled back when he tried to kiss her, teasing him.

"Oh yeah?" He asked, smiling at her games.

"Yeah," she replied. Her face suddenly grew serious as she gazed up at him. He could see trepidation in her eyes. "Xander," she said, her voice low.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I want you to make love to me," she whispered. Xander smiled and brushed a strand of her hair out of her eyes. Nodding, he closed his bedroom door and led her over to his bed. His heart was pounding in his chest and as he looked at Faith, he realized that he had never seen anyone more beautiful than she.

"Faith," he said, touching the side of her face, "I love you."

Faith looked up at him, fear paralyzing her for a moment, before she heatedly pressed her lips against his. When she pulled away, she buried her face against his neck. He could feel her lips move and heard her whisper the words he longed to hear, "I love you too."