Disclaimer – Don't own anything you might recognize. They all belong to their respective owners.
Imperium – Part Two
Despite the extra patrol, no one found anything of consequence that night – in the books or on the streets. And although the vampire population still seemed to be rising, no one came across any of the Tababton. Buffy and Faith tried beating up a couple of vamps for information, but none of them were talking. This worried Buffy slightly, as vampires weren't usually so hard to get information from. This bad guy they were coming up against must really be something.
And not only this, Willow's spell came up negative too.
"There's nothing new on the map," she reported to a disappointed Buffy. "But I'll try again tomorrow."
There was no further luck with the research side of things either. There was nothing to suggest as to why a powerful warlock would be headed to their town.
So after a disappointingly frustrating night of nothing, everyone headed back home to a disturbingly sleepless night of unrest, hoping that tomorrow would bring them some better results.
Buffy was awoken the next morning to the sound of her cellphone ringing from her bedside table. She looked over at her alarm clock as she reached over to pick it up. Five forty am. Geez, what was wrong with people?
"What?" she snapped grumpily into the phone.
"Buffy, it's me," an urgent voice replied.
Buffy shot up at the evident distress in Giles' voice. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
"I need you to meet me at the school immediately."
"Giles, what is it?"
"Just get here."
Not everybody had been called to this impromptu meeting, as Giles had explained that time was of the essence. Buffy and Faith were there, along with Andrew and the Winchesters – Buffy had been sure to wake them. If she had to be up, so did they! Giles was also there, and a weary looking Willow, with a concerned Kennedy comforting her. Nobody else was present.
Buffy looked between Giles and Willow. "Guys, what's happening? Is it something to do with this Hatoss guy? Do we know why he's here?"
"Yes, it's to do with Hatoss. And it's also to do with the pendant," Giles informed her solemnly. "Willow can tell you more than I can."
"My coven, back in England," Willow began. "said that they would try to learn anything more about the amulet. You know, after I talked to them? They thought that they might be able to learn more, being so similar and all. But honestly, I didn't think they'd be able to help us much, which is why I never said anything. It's surprising, actually, how little covens know of each others exploits. They're kind of individual. But they've been doing some spells – pretty intense stuff, really. And then last night they were researching old records, trying to find out if this other coven had ever been mentioned before, and they discovered a spell that has been forgotten for like, centuries. It's really old, as in, let's move into that pretty cave and bash each other over the head because I wanna mate with you old. And believe me when I say it was big scale stuff, huge scale stuff. But as you know we've all been pretty desperate in trying find out what we can about this pendant, and we've had no luck so I had to give it a try."
"What did it involve?" Buffy encouraged.
"I had to connect my mind to that of the head of the coven, along with two other powerful witches – one in Australia and one in Vietnam. We combined our spirits so that I was transported to another realm. A higher realm. I don't know where it was exactly but I think it was a good place. While there I could...not talk the dead, but I was aware enough so that they could guide me. Only the ones that chose to, of course." Willow faltered. "They showed me, Buffy. They showed me the truth."
A chill went up Buffy's spine at the sound of Willow's voice. "What did they show you?"
"Louisa Abbot...uh, Juliet Anderson, whatever her name was. She wasn't a guardian of the pendant. None of her people were."
"Then who were they?"
"Guardians of the slayer."
There was a long pause in the room, as both Buffy and Faith tried to wrap their heads around it. "What?" they finally blurted, simultaneously.
Kennedy didn't seem to be at all surprised by this news, and Buffy had to shrug off her minor annoyance that Willow had told her before she had told she and Faith. She understood that Kennedy and Willow were in love, and that was important, but Buffy and Faith were supposed to have some sort of authority, and it stung how Willow seemed to constantly undermine that. But she ignored it – once again. She was far more interested in this new piece of information.
"You mean like the woman I met back in Sunnydale who told me about the scythe?" Buffy continued. "Before I made preacher pie and the town went kablooey?"
Both Sam and Dean desperately wanted to question what in the hell Buffy was talking about, but they sensed that now really wasn't the time.
"No, I don't think so. From what you told me, the woman in Sunnydale and her people were ancient. As old as the slayers and watchers. Or, almost as old anyway. This coven was only around for about three or four hundred years – Juliet was the last. Perhaps the daughter or sister of a witch was called as the slayer and so they formed the coven to help her?"
"Makes sense," Buffy conceded, nodding her head. "Okay. So what do they have to do with the pendant?"
"They weren't guarding the pendant. They were guarding the slayer from the pendant."
Buffy felt herself turn cold. "Why, what does it do?"
Willow sighed and fidgeted with Kennedy's fingers for a moment, before stilling and looking up at Buffy with large, round eyes. "Buffy, if someone with enough power gets a hold of the pendant and are like, really high up on the magic scale, they could use it to control you. And I mean seriously control. Like, your actions, thoughts, morals. They could make you think that being evil is the right thing to do. God, they could turn you into an assassin in a snap. And with you being the slayer and all that would make you virtually unstoppable."
"Wait, hold up a second. What? Control who? Me?"
"Yeah. I mean, they would have to be incredibly advanced. I wouldn't even being to know where to look for a spell like that. It's really dark stuff."
Buffy's hands were rapidly becoming clammy, and she nervously rubbed them on her jean clad knees. "I still don't get it. This pendant can be used to control me? Me me or slayer me?"
"Well...slayer you. But you are the slayer, so I guess you you as well."
Buffy rubbed her head, trying to assemble her jumbled thoughts and newly formed headache. She was confused, and scared. Though damn her if she'd admit it. "Giles, didn't you say that the stone in the pendant was a spirit quartz thingy? That it channels your inner self? So if it was channeling my inner self and that was somehow used to control me, then wouldn't it just be controlling girl Buffy, not slayer Buffy? Because it's not like I was always a slayer. Before I was the slayer, I was just a girl. I am the slayer but deep down I'm just me."
Giles shook his head, saddened by the fact that he had to take away the straws that she was grasping on to. "But it has always been inside you. Being the slayer is what you were born to do . The slayer is part of who you are, the girl the other. People who see you see the girl, but it is the slayer that is inside you."
She didn't like where this conversation was going, not at all. It was making her feel less...human. She glanced over at Faith and Kennedy to see if they were having the same reaction, but Faith was just watching Giles with fascination and all of Kennedy's concentrations were aimed at her ill looking girlfriend. She shook herself lightly. Now was not the time to be feeling sorry for herself. "If the slayer is inside us, the uh...slayers, wouldn't that mean that the pendant can control all of the slayers?"
"No, it's just you. Not even Faith."
"Why not?"
"Because not only are you a slayer, you're the slayer," Willow answered. "Apart from you and Faith, the other girls weren't chosen as the slayer, though the potential was always inside of them. If we hadn't altered the way things are, then they'd still just be normal girls. I mean, one of them one day might have been called. But it might not even have been this generation of slayers. You and Faith, both of you have lived longer than any other slayer recorded to date."
"But that still doesn't explain why it wouldn't affect Faith. Before we cast the spell, the slayer line would have passed on through her, not me. So technically, isn't she the real slayer?"
Willow shook her head. "You're still the oldest slayer. The slayer. Which is why, apart from this last one, you're usually the one who gets the dreams, and not Faith. If you died, I imagine the magic would pass on and the pendant would effect Faith, but for now it's just you."
Buffy sighed and buried her face in her hands. "Right. Fine. So what does all this mean?"
"It means you have to be extremely careful, Buffy," Giles insisted. "And it also means that we can now assume that this is why Hatoss has come to Cleveland. Only someone of his power could possibly execute a spell of this level."
"So what are you suggesting? That I just stay at home and hide under the bed and cower?"
Giles sent her a small, knowing smile. "Even if I begged you to stay hidden you wouldn't, would you?"
"Not a chance. I'm not sitting around so that Harry Potter can come fiddle with my mind."
"I thought so." He sighed. "Well, we have two objectives. Destroy the pendant, and take down Hatoss."
Dean frowned. "Can we destroy the pendant? If those witch broads had it for all those years how come they didn't do it?"
"Because they couldn't," Willow passed on quietly. "The pendant has been around for a longtime, because while there have been people working to help the slayer, there have always been working against her also. It would have been one of these people who created it. And the only thing that would be able to destroy a weapon forged to harm the slayer..."
"Would be a weapon forged for the slayer," Buffy finished, catching onto Willow's meaning.
"The scythe," Faith murmured, and Willow nodded in confirmation.
"But why does this warlocky guy want to control me?" Buffy asked.
"I think we can assume that it's for all the obvious reasons," Giles proclaimed. "Controlling you, he'd have the ability to bring out your pure slayer form, making you a deadly warrior. And we've already established that you'd have no thoughts of right or wrong, no conscience, nothing to hold you back. You'd be a greater use than all of the Tababton put together."
"Oh great, so he wants me to be his minion," Buffy said dryly. "Fun. So how does this spell work?"
Giles cringed. "Ah, we're not entirely sure."
That would make it harder. Never mind, she'd faced hard before. And she'd faced worse than some dumb warlock with a hard on for powerful slaves. "Right." Buffy got herself into action mode. "Will, do you have a location on this Hatoss guy yet?"
She shook her head. "No, sorry. I'll keep working on it though."
"Great. Okay, until then, we need to carry on as we are. Kennedy, get the senior slayers on patrol again. If this guy can only control me then you should be safe, but if you find him then call Faith and I first, don't go in alone. Do not, under any circumstances, let the younger girls go out. We don't know how powerful this guy is. Me, Faith, Dean and Sam will patrol as well. We'll head out during the daylight hours as well, see if we can't find where he might be likely to be holding up." She glanced over at Willow, who was still looking a little rough. "Willow, are you okay?"
Willow nodded reassuringly. "Just a little drained from all the spirit hopping last night. I'll be okay in a couple of hours."
"Are you sure you're okay to do the locator spell again? I don't want you over doing it if you're not feeling great."
"I'm fine honestly. I'll let Andrew take lead of the spell though. It isn't too hard and he was fine with it yesterday."
Andrew sat up proudly.
"All right then. I guess we should all head out."
Everyone nodded and stood up to head in their separate ways, but their progress was halted by the loud gasp that came from Willow. "Oh God!" she cried, dropping to her knees.
They all turned back to look at her in alarm, startled by her sudden outburst. Buffy and Kennedy each moved quickly to her side.
"Willow baby, what's wrong?" Kennedy asked, running a gentle hand through her girlfriend's hair.
"It's Maggie." Willow turned to look at Buffy, tears in her eyes. "She's dead."
The man and the dark haired girl watched as Hatoss surveyed his surroundings.
He wasn't a large man, and that surprised the girl. For someone who had so much power, she had expected him to be...bigger. Taller maybe, or broader. But he just looked like any other ordinary man in his fifties. He even had a mustache. White, to match his frosty colored hair. Ordinary, that was, until you looked into his eyes. She had already made that mistake once, and by God it wouldn't happen a second time. They were the coldest, hardest, emptiest black eyes she'd ever seen. But black eyes she could deal with. She dealt with it all the time. It was the bright red pupils of Hatoss' eyes that chilled her straight to the bone. Sent shivers running down her spine. Even now, over an hour later, a shudder went through her every time she thought of them.
"This will suffice," Hatoss announced, finally.
The man next to the girl frowned. "Really?" he asked, glancing around at the underground cave. "Are you sure you wouldn't like somewhere a little less...damp?"
Hatoss cast an amused glance at his Tababton, who were gathered together in a huddle against a far wall. "They can't abide the sunlight. This place is like home for them. They like being underground."
"Okydoky then! Now we've got accommodation sorted, hows-about my spell?"
"Do you have my ingredients?"
The man refrained from rolling his eyes in irritation. As if he wasn't paying him enough – ten human souls to be precise – he had the cheek to demand that he go out like some low trash, bottom of the rung demon and get all his damn ingredients too. This was why he hated warlocks, they just thought too damn high of themselves. But beggars can't be choosers, he told himself, and despite being a stuck up know it all this warlock really was the best in the biz. And so he held all of this in and instead answered, "Of course. The only thing missing is her blood. But I believe you can help me with that."
Hatoss nodded. "Yes indeed. And what of the pendant?"
The man grinned and pulled it out of his pocket. "Got it right here."
"Very well, everything is in order. Leave me now. I must prepare."
"How long will it take?"
"I shall prepare the other ingredients today, and tonight we shall use the pendant to steal a sample of her blood. Then I will be ready to work the spell. "
"I thought you had to do the magic mojo before the pendant could work against the slayer? How are you going to use it to get her blood?"
"To control her properly and completely, the pendant must be worked on, yes. But meanwhile, with the right incantation and a certain amount of power, we can use it to put her in a walking stupor. It shan't last long, but it will give us enough time to take her blood without her fighting back. But we will have to work quickly before she wakes from it."
"Right. Sounds like fun. So we get the slayer's blood and then what?"
"Add it to the potion, along with the pendant."
"And that's it?"
"No, that's not it!" Hatoss looked at the man through his infuriated red pupils. The girl backed away in fear, but the man didn't move an inch. It would take more than some hopped up warlock to scare him. "If that was it then you wouldn't have needed to summon me, you fool." The man's eyes flashed a dangerous shade of yellow at the insult, and Hatoss made an effort to calm himself down. It would do no good getting himself killed. "After the blood and the pendant – the two most important ingredients – have been added, the potion will have to be monitored, and more magic must be performed over it thrice daily. Morning, noon and night."
"And how long will that part take?"
Hatoss looked extremely smug. "For me, a week. For any other warlock not as advanced as I, it would take months, maybe even years."
The man grinned. "A week until the slayer is in my control!" He sighed happily. "Don'tcha just love when things all work out?"
"How do you know?" Buffy asked Willow, her heart clenching and her stomach tightening. How could Maggie be dead? How could she have failed so miserably to protect her?
"I've been keeping attuned to her," Willow explained, rubbing her face with her hands. "Or rather, keeping attuned with where her essence should be, so I'd know as soon as the protective shield was lifted or..."
"Or she died," Buffy finished quietly.
Willow nodded miserably. "It felt so horrible..."
Everyone around the table was silent for a full minute as they digested the news, none of them quite sure what to say. The silence was only broken when Buffy stood up quickly, ignoring the chair she had just knocked over, and stormed out of the room. It was a show of her strength as she managed to slam the previously unslammable doors against the library walls as she exited.
Those who knew Buffy dropped their eyes, but Dean and Sam looked after her in alarm.
"Is she okay?" Sam asked worriedly.
Giles sighed, pulling off his glasses to rub his tired eyes as he tried to think how best to explain. "Since she was fifteen, Buffy has had a duty to the world. A calling," he began. "as I'm sure you know. It's her job to protect those who cannot protect themselves. And when she isn't able to, it hits her hard and she blames herself, even when there is nothing she could have done to have stopped it. And these girls – these slayers – are here because she made them. She shared her essence with them and made them what they are, and she feels incredibly responsible for them. If she hadn't have done that then many of them would still be back in their own homes, with their families, leading normal lives. So when something happens to one of them..."
"I get it," Sam said quietly. "Should we...uh...should we follow her? Maybe she needs someone to talk to."
Giles shook his head. "Not just yet. Trust me, talking to her will be of little use right now. Let her cool down, work out her frustrations, and then we'll talk to her. We'll let her know that it isn't her fault and that she shouldn't blame herself."
As they discussed the issue and the repercussions of Maggie's death further, none of them noticed as Dean slipped past them and crept out towards the library doors.
After only knowing her a week, Dean already knew where Buffy would be. And so the first place he headed to after exiting the library was the school gym. He was surprised, however, to see a trickle of disgruntled students leaving said place in small dribs and drabs.
Spotting one girl he vaguely recognized from the couple of times he had watched Buffy's classes, he hurried to catch up with the short, red head. She gave a surprised start when he reached a hand out to tap her shoulder and he quickly whipped the offending limb away. She was only thirteen years old, but only the day before he had watched her pick up a watcher with one hand in the lunch room because he had taken the last of the jelly tubs, and Dean didn't particularly have a hankering to be her next victim.
"Uh...hi...Jane?"
"It's Ali," she corrected him, blowing a large pink bubble out of her gum.
"Ali. Of course it is. Uh...what's going on? Why's everybody leaving?"
She shrugged and threw her towel around her shoulders. "Who knows? Our class was in there 'cause Miss Rosenberg couldn't help us with our studies this morning 'cause she was busy having a grownup meeting or something and then Miss Summers just stormed in here like two minutes ago and dismissed us all to our rooms. She seemed mad. Is she mad? Miss Summers is wicked fierce when she gets mad. And everyone does what she says, you know, because she's so mad and she's all senior and awesome and stuff? I hope when I get older everyone does what I say when I get mad. Right now everyone just laughs at me and pats me on the head which is kinda stupid when I could totally beat them up in a second if I wanted to. But I wouldn't, 'cause Miss Summers says it's wrong to beat on people unless they're a bad guy. So I won't do it, 'cause I don't want her to get mad at me. I like Miss Summers. Do you like Miss Summers?"
Jesus. Dean cracked his knuckles nervously, wondering if all kids were this hyped up. How the hell did she speak for so long without taking a single breath? "Uh...yeah, sure kid. Miss Summers is real nice. Thanks...for that. You should get back to doing what Miss Summers told you to do."
"Okay," she chirped, before turning and skipping after the last of the leaving girls.
Dean moved over to the gym doors and peered through the glass panel. He could just about see her, on the opposite end of the room. She had stripped herself of her jacket and was busy furiously pummeling a punching bag. Cautiously, Dean pushed open the door and slipped inside. He watched her in silence for a moment, not at all sure about what to say to make her feel better, and not at all sure as to why he cared so much anyway.
"Go away, Dean," she said calmly – too calmly – after he had not spoken for a whole minute, too absorbed in his thoughts and watching her move as he was.
Starting in surprise, Dean ignored her and instead took a step further towards the center of the room. "How'd you know it was me?"
She still didn't turn around to look at him, but continued viciously beating on the punching bag with a single minded fury. "'Cause you're the only one dumb enough to come in here when I told everyone else to leave."
Dean, conceding her point, nodded his head and began walking slowly towards her, shedding his own jacket and over shirt as he did so and throwing them haphazardly onto the floor. "I wanted to see if you were okay." It was more of a question that a statement.
"I'm fine," she lied. "Leave me alone."
"Why don't you turn around and look me in the eyes when you tell me you're fine?"
Buffy ground her teeth together and punched the punching bag so hard that it went flying off its hook and rolling to the floor. Breathing heavily, she turned to face Dean. "Leave. me. alone."
The fierce look in her eyes might have frightened a smarter man. But, Dean conceded, he had never been all that smart. "I know you're blaming yourself for this girls death but it's not your fault. She chose to take a darker path, Buffy. There was nothing you could have done."
"Shut up," she bit out.
Dean saw her clench and unclench her fists. Giles was right, there was no way she was gonna talk right now. She was too much like him. Too hot headed. And the only thing that made him feel better when he was like this was..."Fine, you don't wanna talk?" He brought his fists up and beckoned her closer. "Lay it on me."
"What?"
"Come on." He lowered his voice. "You're spoiling for a fight, I know it. So fight me."
"Don't be an idiot, Dean."
"Why not? You're angry, right? Take it out on me."
"No!"
"Why not? Better me than someone else. I can take it."
She didn't answer, so he dropped his fists and stepped closer to her until he was very much invading her personal space, knowing that this was a sure fired way to get her revved up. Angrily, she shoved him backwards, but he only shrugged it off and stepped closer again. Enraged, Buffy shoved him back once again and went to throw a punch, of which he successfully blocked with his arm. She moved to punch him again, but he only blocked her with his other arm.
"Come on, sweetheart," he encouraged. "You're holding back on me. Let it out."
His words finally seemed to be enough to snap whatever control that Buffy had been clinging onto, and soon the two fighters were a blur of motion. Dean, while not as fast or strong as Buffy, matched her every kick and punch.
But long minutes passed and he was soon past trying for offense, and was concentrating purely on defending himself. Before long he was short of breath from trying to keep up with her.
And then suddenly a stricken look appeared on her face, and she just stopped and dropped her arms. The two stood, in silence except for the sound of their heavy breathing, for one long minute before Buffy thumped him lightly on the chest with both of her fists and turned away from him to bury her face in her hands.
Dean, refusing to let her turn away from him, grasped her shoulder and spun her around to face him once more. He pulled her hands away from her face so that he could look into her tear filled eyes. She let out one small hiccup of a sob before the real tears began pouring out. Dean, grateful that she was finally letting it out, pulled her hard against his chest and wrapped one arm around her waist and buried the other in her hair. And without saying a word, he let her cry.
"Sometimes I hate what I did," Buffy admitted quietly.
She and Dean were sat side by side against one of the gym walls, facing the doorway so that they would be able to see anyone enter. They were no longer touching, but they were sat close enough so that they could still feel the warmth of the other.
"By making the other girls into slayers?" he asked, knowing – as often seemed to be the case they more they got to know one another – what exactly was on her mind.
She nodded. "It's just...if they were anything like I was when I was just an unaware potential, they had hopes and dreams and a whole other life, and I took all that away. I took away their innocence. Brought them into a world with darkness, and monsters and demons and a life where the end of the world is a possible weekly reality."
Dean fidgeted with the silver ring on his finger, knowing that familiar guilty feeling all too well. He would never forget the devastated look in Sam's eyes the night that he had confirmed the existence of demons to his little brother. He knew the kid would have found out eventually, but he wished he could have given him a few more years of ignorance at least. "But didn't that Giles guy say a lot of these girls would have been training with watchers anyway, cause they were potentials or whatever?"
Buffy sighed. "Yeah, I know. But not all of them. And still, being a potential is a whole lot different than being a slayer."
"But it can't be too bad. They've got all these new powers now, right?"
"And all these new responsibilities."
"But it's not like it was for you when you were called. There's more of them to take the pressure."
"I know. And really, deep down I know we did the right thing. The world's a safer place and all. It's just...sometimes it seems like there's so many sacrifices. Too much death."
"You're thinking about Maggie?"
"If I'd just have tried harder I could have saved her."
"Buffy, she was evil. She had a choice, and she chose the bad guys."
"We don't know that. And even so, she didn't deserve to die."
"No she didn't. But you said it yourself, someone was cloaking her. There was nothing you could have done."
Buffy sighed and leaned her head back against the wall. "Why are you being so nice to me?"
He shrugged helplessly. "I don't know."
"It's a little weird."
"Yeah it is." Once again, silence took over the room before, "Why do we fight so much again?"
"Because you tried to flirt with me even though you're totally dating one of my closest friends," Buffy replied without hesitation.
"Oh yeah." And quickly he added. "And we are not dating!"
Buffy raised an eyebrow at him. "Sure."
"We're not! I've only known her a couple of weeks. We're just having a bit of fun."
Buffy laughed. "You sound just like Faith."
He grinned proudly. "I got a smile outta you."
She shook her head in amusement and leaned over to nudge him playfully with her knees.
He nudged her back, before clearing his throat and pulling a pained expression. "So what about you and Sam?" he inquired awkwardly.
"What about me and Sam?"
"Are you two just having fun or are you dating?"
Buffy burst into laughter. He was such a jackass, she just couldn't help it.
"What?" he asked, frowning when she continued to giggle instead of answering him. "What?"
"Nothing." Calming herself down, she stood up and grabbed his hands to pull him up. "Come on, we've got a demon to kill." Before she left the room, she turned back to face him, her cheeks taking on a slight pink tinge. "Thank you," she said shyly. "For, um..." She gestured between the two of them. "You know. Thank you." And with that, she turned and sped out of the room.
"Hey!" Dean called after her. "You never answered my question!"
Their daytime search was as fruitless as the previous patrols had been. None of them could find where it was that Hatoss might be residing. They still didn't know if he had even arrived in town yet.
Late in the afternoon, Buffy and Faith returned to the school, and along with Giles and Rana, they informed Maggie's former classmates of her death. They spared no details, having decided right at the beginning that wrapping the girls in cotton wool would do them no good in the long term. They were warriors now, and they deserved honesty.
And then it was back out on the search again.
"Man, this is useless!" Faith exclaimed, after the darkness had settled and there was still no sign. She had been edgy all day, snapping and cursing whenever somebody came too close. Buffy wasn't sure what her problem was, but had assumed it had to do with the stress of Maggie and Hatoss and the whole situation. They were all feeling it.
"Faith, it's only just gone seven," she consoled her as she looked at her watch. "It's still way early."
"Maybe we'd have better luck if the four of us split up," Faith suggested, gesturing towards Sam and Dean, who were walking a couple of paces behind them.
"This guy seems pretty powerful. Do you really think we should be going out there on our own?"
"Then we'll go in pairs."
"That sound like a good idea," Dean, who had been eavesdropping, agreed. "Sam and Faith can check out the-"
"No!" Faith interrupted him abruptly. "Dean, you and Sam go together. I'll go with Buffy."
Dean frowned. "But-"
"I said no, dammit! Buffy is the one this guy is after so it'd be better if she was with another slayer!"
Dean held his hands up in surrender. "Okay, whatever. Don't get testy. Me and Sam will take the car and hit some cemeteries further out."
"Fine. Me and Buffy will stay in town, see if we can beat the crap out of anything for information."
Buffy and Sam glanced at each other and shrugged as arrangements were made without their consent.
After they had said goodbye to the boys, Buffy and Faith walked together in silence for a good twenty minutes.
"You do know that I can take care of myself, right?" Buffy said eventually, her tone playful.
"I know." Faith shrugged.
"So what was this about? Why were you so adamant about being the one to come with me?"
"No reason." But Faith was sounding far too off handed for Buffy to believe her. She sighed. If Faith was going to be bad tempered, it was gonna be a very long night.
Faith heard Buffy sigh and made an effort to chill out. So she was in a crappy mood, but it was Dean's fault really, not Buffy's. She had no right to be being all bitchy with her. "So you and Sam, huh?" she asked, making an effort to sound cheerful.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "No, not me and Sam."
"Just a quickie then?"
"No! Me and Sam are friends. Just friends. As in, friends that don't get extra groiny with each other. I don't know what you guys heard last night but we were not having sex."
"Yeah right! If you guys aren't getting 'groiny' with each other then what was that whole thing about before you went on your date last night? And this morning while we're getting down to it?"
"We were just messing with you and Dean. It was a joke. A big joke which has backfired on us completely."
"Oh." Faith looked disappointed. "That's a weird joke."
"We did it because of all the noise you and Dean keep making."
"What noise?"
"You know..."
"No I don't."
Buffy huffed, unable to believe she was having to spell it out to Faith of all people. "When you and Dean are having sex. And making noise. Lots of noise."
Faith's eyes widened and she burst into amused and unembarrassed laughter. "That so? Didn't realize we were causing such a problem."
"Not a problem exactly. It's more just...awkward. For me and Sam and Andrew. Especially Sam, because it's his brother."
Faith smirked and patted Buffy on the back. "No worries, I'll make sure to keep it down from now on. Damn, Iknew Sam wouldn't be that forward. Shame though. I'd put money on him being a good lay."
"God Faith! One track mind much?"
Faith shrugged.
"So," Buffy continued. "Is that why you wanted to pair off? So you could talk about what hasn't been going on with me and Sam?"
"I didn't...there was no reason," Faith lied. In all truths, she just couldn't get her mind off of the way Dean had sneaked off to find Buffy this morning. She hadn't even noticed him gone at first, and when she had gone to look for him she had watched through the door as he and Buffy had sat together in the gym – a little too close together. It might not have bothered her so much if the guy didn't yammer on about Buffy so much, and the way he was constantly jumping to spend time with her was kinda sick. She didn't have feelings for Dean, she was completely sure of that – none that went beyond friendship and thinking he was hot, anyway. And she loved Buffy like a sister. She was probably closer to her than she'd ever been to anyone ever. But she was getting a little fed up of the whole situation. If she was gonna sleep with a guy, then he should want her, and only her. He shouldn't be fawning over other girls.
Thankfully – because if pressed hard enough she might have blurted out the whole sorry situation – she was saved from any further questions by the sound of Buffy's cellphone ringing in her pocket.
"Hello?" Buffy said as she answered.
"Buffy, hi." Willow replied, her tone tired.
"What's up? You sound stressed."
"We've got the location for this Hatoss guy."
"What? Willow, that's great! Now we can stop running around like headless chickens and actually kick some magical butt."
"Yeah, I guess. Andrew and I have been doing the locator spell once every hour. And then once every half an hour. And then we just did it and there was a bright new light on the map. It's a big one."
"Where is it?"
"Buffy, don't you get it? The light just suddenly appeared there and it hasn't moved. It seems to me like he's been concealing his location up until now. This screams trapsville."
Silently, Buffy agreed. But she couldn't just sit at home waiting for this thing to come get her. Especially not now she knew where he was. "I know, but just tell me where he's located. We'll figure it out from there."
Willow sighed. "The light is coming from Kimbrough forest."
"Thanks Will. Do me a favor? Call up the other slayers and send them home."
"Why?"
"If this is a trap, I don't want any of the others in danger. We've already lost one girl, I'm not about to lose anymore."
"Be careful, Buffy."
"Thank you. Now get rested. We're probably gonna need you soon."
"What was all that about?" Faith asked Buffy curiously as she snapped her phone shut.
"That was Willow," Buffy explained. "We have a location. We need to call the guys and tell them to meet us at Kimbrough forest."
"Kimbrough forest? That's on the outskirts of town, right?"
"Right."
"We can make it in less than ten minutes if we run."
"Better get running then. I want this over with."
Faith grinned, and made to call Dean's phone, but there was no answer. She tried Sam's but it went straight to answering machine. Once again, she tried Dean's and when there was no answer for a second time, she left him a message. When she was done, she and Buffy grinned at each other in anticipation, before they turned and began to run.
