Chapter Nine
Faith didn't know what to think or do, so she just stayed put, in Buffy's arms. The blonde Slayer was still so weak from the poison the Mayor had given her that she had fallen asleep in the middle their conversation. At least Faith thought it was the middle of a conversation; with Buffy, she could never tell.
She smiled slightly to herself and then immediately regretted it. What right did she have to be happy when there was a little boy without a father because of her? A wife without a husband - and another husband without his . . . husband? Lover? What did Gays call their . . . partners?
'What would I call Buffy if she really does forgive me and wants to be with me? She's so much more to me right now than a lover and we haven't even . . . . '
Faith pushed up a little so that she could see Buffy's face and her beauty stunned her all over again. The blonde Slayer was still so very pale, however color seemed to be gradually coming back into her face. Faith thought she could almost feel the Slayer power healing the older girl now that both the poison and the infection were gone.
"Faith?" Willow asked through the tarp. "May I come in?"
The younger Slayer tried to rise to up only to be pulled back down into a hug as Buffy woke. The blonde was smiling, "please stay?" Buffy whispered.
And all Faith could do was settle back down against Buffy, with her head on the older girl's shoulder.
"Um, Willow, what are the rules for issuing an invite in a cave?" Buffy asked, winking at Faith.
"Oh sorry," Willow stammered. She pushed the tarp aside and carried in two metal plates piled with food. "I know Slayers have to eat – a lot – to keep going." The Witch shrugged shyly. This was the first time Willow was acting like herself, except she still wouldn't make eye contact.
Faith sat up as the smell from the food reached her; unless the military now had gourmet cooks what Willow brought into the cave wasn't an MRE. And she thought 'so much for my supernatural abilities to notice things. How this could be cooking and I didn't know it?'
The idea was lost as she leaned back to help Buffy sit up against the wall before she realized that the blonde was already sitting up and reaching out to Willow for her plate. So instead Faith grabbed her own plate. Faith couldn't help herself she was just so hungry, she started shoveling what appeared to be some kind of stew into her mouth.
After Willow had handed each girl a plate she went back out into the antechamber for just a moment before returning with two bottles of water.
"When you guys finish eating we need to talk and plan; plus Wolf-like has an interesting story to tell about the Hellmouth," she said sitting down on the dirt floor.
"Sure Will," Buffy said, "this is great." The blonde motioned at the plate with her spoon. Faith nodded echoing the sentiment; the food was good, great even.
"Yeah, Wolf-like did some hunting on his way to collect the herbs he needed for your leg," the Willow said, and the young girl turned away from the Slayers. Buffy put the half-eaten plate of food down on the ground and took a sip of water from the bottle. Faith heard the Willow's breath catch and she knew that Red was trying not to cry.
"Spill it Will," Buffy said as she reached out to Willow and touched her on the shoulder.
Faith watched the exchange and realized that she was no longer jealous of the friendship the two girls shared. They loved each other and trusted each other completely – Willow had earned Buffy's love – Faith just hoped one day she would be given the same chance. Faith realized that she and Willow would never be friends, but for the sake of Buffy they could put the past behind them and move forward.
'It must've been Hell on Buffy to be stuck in the middle of our little childish games. No wonder she shut down – Buffy couldn't handle us fighting all the time – she loved Willow and she wanted to be my friend. I just didn't believe her.'
As if Buffy was reading her mind the blonde glanced back and smiled at Faith and that one small smile was all the reassurance Faith needed to silence her doubts. Buffy might not love her, she might never love her the way Faith wanted, however she would get a chance. And a chance was all she could hope for at the moment.
Willow fiddled with the hem of the leather tunic she wore, as she seemed to pull into herself.
"Will?" Buffy gently shook the Witch's shoulder and when Willow looked up the sheer pain in her expressive green eyes took Faith's breath away. Something had happened to her, something horrible in just the last 24 hours. It had to be more than going back in time, Willow was a scoob, she was used to the weird.
Willow sighed, "I guess I can't avoid this any longer?" she asked, as she tried to do one of her trademark half-smiles that turned into a grimace. Then her face completely crumpled as tears started to pour from her eyes.
Buffy tried to move over to the Witch however Wolf-like walked into the little bedroom and Willow immediately scrubbed at her eyes. The redhead scooted away from the blonde to lean against the far wall.
For the first time Faith looked to see if Buffy was decent. She was relieved that the blonde slayer was dressed in sweatpants and a tee shirt. She was vaguely surprised when Buffy didn't jump up and try to stake the vampire.
"Thank you for taking care me," Buffy told Wolf-like and the vampire nodded towards her. "You were right, the icky drink did make me feel better." Faith was momentary confused until she remembered that when she woke up Willow had told her Wolf-like had taken care of Buffy.
"I am here to serve the Sun-Souled," the vampire said, with a slight bow as he acknowledged both slayers with his eyes.
"What do you want to tell us?" Buffy asked him and motioned for him to sit down.
Faith was struck by the vampire's beauty as he glided closer into the alcove and sat with his legs crossed next to Willow. He cleared his throat and Faith got the feeling that this was a story he had told many times.
"Many, many, winters ago, when our ancestors walked the earth, there came a time of great suffering. People from the West wanted what belonged to the People of East. A great thunder filled the air and then fire blasted out of the sky killing the plants, the animals, and finally the people. During the time of despair The Great Spider came to us and offered a deal. The People knew the great mushrooms would soon bloom so we agreed to honor The Great Spider's wishes. Spider guided the People, my People, down into the earth." He paused; the words had seemed to flow from him and Faith could nearly see the images his words invoked. "For a time unknown, ice covered the land of all the Peoples and while the great mother earth healed her wounds, Spider protected us in her womb. We wanted for nothing for she provided us with all we needed." The Vampire said in awe.
'He actually believes this story. To him it's real, it really happened,' Faith thought as she put her empty plate down next to the pallet. She leaned back against the wall and relaxed. Wolf-like's deep, rich baritone washed over her.
"When the great mother healed and the ice retreated; Spider brought the People back into the light of Father Sun. Spider then told us that the evil creatures of the night had slept in their own wombs, only their wombs were made of fire." He paused, and Faith thought she had a pretty good idea of where this story was going. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the Old Ones that Giles spoke about saved themselves by dimension hopping through the Hellmouth.
"The Great Spider had sealed the Evil Ones' wombs behind them so that they could never again be able to walk upon the Great Mother in the light of the Father sun. However she knew that the spirit of man would one day open the fire wombs and free the Evil Ones. It was our nature to be curious." He stopped to take a sip of water. She felt Buffy squirm, and was surprised to see Buffy putting her empty plate aside.
"The Great Spider asked us, my People to watch and guard the openings until the giant webs returned." He looked both Faith and Buffy in the eyes before continuing. "When the giant webs return then the final purification will follow. This is the final age of the People; the purification has arrived and our service to The Great Spider was over. The webs are here . . . Our duty to The Great Spider ended and we were free to leave and live the final time in peace." Wolf-like finished sadly. "We were to start our journey on the next full-moon." And Faith saw a single blood red tear slide down his face.
The three girls sat in awe for a moment and then Buffy asked the question that was running through Faith's mind.
"But you didn't leave or not in time?" she asked softy.
"No, not in time," he answered and his grief was nearly overwhelming. Faith watched as the tears started flowing down Willow's face and she knew that they needed to change the subject before the Witch had a complete collapse.
"The Giant Web? As in World Wide Web?"
Willow shook her head, wiping the tears away. "I don't think so," she said with what Faith thought of as her 'thinking face.' "I think it's the electric power and phone lines. When Sunnydale has electrical power then that means the end of the world won't be far behind."
"Yes, Crowley is right, our service to The Great Spider was done," Wolf-like said quietly. "The town now has the webs that were foretold."
Faith sat in thought for a few moments, "if the webs have come and the end of the world is upon us, then why are we still here or um, were we still there? In Sunnydale I mean, in 1999?" She finished hoping that they could understand what she was trying to ask even if she wasn't sure of her question . . . . Faith stopped herself, now she was babbling worse than Willow, only thank god she was doing it in her mind.
"I don't know," Willow answered her question. "It could have something to do with how Wolf-like's people view time or it could be that we are from a different dimension?"
Faith watched the different emotions flow over the Wiccan's face as Willow struggled with the question. Willow pulled knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs as she deflated further as the ideas ran through the young girl's mind.
Faith thought, 'what happened to her? She would normally love to work out these kind of questions.'
With a frustrated sigh Willow shook her head. "I'm not sure that's even an important question," she said, looking at Faith.
"Why?" she, asked.
Willow shook her head as if to try clear her thoughts and then stated in that same dead monotone. "Because we need to find a way to just survive long enough to figure out a way to get home," Her lack of emotion was more frightening to Faith than fifty vamps.
Faith sat up on the edge of the pallet and thought about all the food and the supplies in the front chamber. Surely Willow noticed all the 'stuff,' it filled the cave, how could she not see it?
"What do you mean, Will?" Buffy asked, straightening her legs so she could sit against the hard rock of the wall behind her.
Then Buffy's mouth opened in a silent scream and Faith watched stunned as the nightmare began again. Buffy clutched her wounded leg with both hands as her face lost all color.
"Buffy!" Faith cried her name. "No! No, no, this can't being happening, not again!" Faith jumped up, and grabbed the vampire pulling him off the ground. "Help her! Please Oh god please help her!"
Faith stared in open-mouthed horror as Buffy started the same terrible coughing and wheezing. "Oh God!" Faith's vision blurred as tears filled her eyes and overflowed. She squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears with her hands to block out the sounds of Buffy getting sick, of dying...
She caused this, spell or no spell, this was her fault, how could she have been so very stupid?
"Sun-souled, Faith, I need your help, stop it, and help me!" Strong arms pulled her hands away from her ears. "I need your help, now!"
"You are her mate, I need you to..." She opened her eyes only they were so blurry from the tears she could barely make out the face of the vampire. It didn't matter, nothing mattered because Buffy was having trouble breathing, the sickness would start...
"No! You don't understand I caused this to happen!" she screamed. When he released her, she watched as he knelt next to Buffy turning her over onto her side like Faith had done the night before.
Faith waited, not breathing, for the sickness, for the coughing to change over into gagging, for the life to drain out of Buffy, for her to start losing all of her fire... But, as the seconds passed, Faith began to hope that this time would be different. Wolf-like seemed to know what he was doing; he was calm and staring up at Faith.
"Please, sit here and talk to your mate," he asked, looking up at with those damn eyes that seemed to see right thought her.
"Crowley, go get the fire stick and the medicine leaf," he ordered, and when Willow just sat there, as pale and trembling as Faith felt, he shouted at her. "Now Crowley!" Faith saw Willow push to her shaky feet and leave the alcove.
Faith would be damned to Hell if she was going to let Willow help Buffy while she just stood and watched.
"Come and comfort your mate, if we can..."
Faith froze at his words, understanding them for the first time she denied them, denied their meaning. At the same time she wished that they were true. She cursed herself for falling into the trap of wanting something, wanting love while doing nothing to earn it. Frozen on place, stuck even as Buffy was dying in front of her, her hands clenched into fists as the need to hit something, anything, nearly overwhelmed her fragile control.
"I need you to hold your mate," Wolf-like said softy.
"She's not..." Faith had to clear her throat her mouth was so dry.
"Stop!" the Vampire screamed as his calm facade fractured and she took a step back. His shout shocking her.
"Just stop," he repeated, taking an unneeded breath. "Stop this foolish and selfish guilt and get down here and help her!" he demanded.
Faith felt as if she had been punched, she had again put her feelings over Buffy. Later, she promised, later she would make sure the Shaman knew how evil she was, later when Buffy could tell him, instead of her. The young Southie knelt by Buffy's side, gently taking her out of his arms. Trying not to jolt her as Faith sat back and pulled her into her lap.
"Talk to her," he commanded.
"Hey B, you getting sick again?" was all she could think of saying as the fever started and Buffy's brow beaded with sweat. Faith could feel the Blonde shaking under her hands. She tried to hold Buffy still as the blonde's muscles tightened and went into spasm.
Willow dashed into the alcove with what looked like a dish full of leaves? One of the metal plates had been shaped into a bowl and in the bowl were leaves that looked a lot like marijuana?
"What the fuck are you doing?" Faith asked, incredulous, " using dope?" She couldn't believe it, she couldn't fucking believe it!
"Faith!" She looked up into Willow's tear-filled, bloodshot eyes, "I love her too, remember, just trust me." The Wiccan pleaded, as she lit the concoction in the bowl by dropping a small lighted stick into it. Willow held the bowl next to Buffy's face. "C'mon Buffy, just like before breathe it in, c'mon, you can do it." Willow coaxed.
And Faith felt the blonde struggling to take just one hitching breath as the smoke spiraled upward. Faith gently moved Buffy's face closer to the bowl. "Do it baby, you can do it, breathe with me, " Faith encouraged her. The Dark Slayer held Buffy's hair out of her face.
The tiny slayer was finally able to take one shuttering breath, then another deeper one as the taut muscles began to relax. Faith hugged Buffy even closer when it was clear that the "weed" was working. By the time the leaves burned out Buffy was lying limp and quiet in Faith's arms.
Willow dropped the bowl and sat back heavily against the wall, her eyes now glazed and dilated and Faith wondered why she wasn't stoned, too.
Wolf-Like entered the alcove with a cup of something foul smelling and handed it to Faith.
"Have her drink it all," Wolf-like glanced at Willow curled up already asleep. "Crowley could not get her to drink it all and I think this episode is the result."
"Buffy? Honey you need to drink this," Faith said, as she helped Buffy turn over in her arms. She cradled the blonde against her chest as she held the cup to Buffy's lips.
"Don't want, makes sleepy," Buffy said as she weakly pushed at Faith's arm. Buffy's eyes were so dilated that they appeared nearly black the light of the cave. Faith felt the raging fever through Buffy's sweatshirt. The dark slayer looked back at the Shaman in doubt wondering if giving Buffy more of the Vampire's concoctions was wise considering how sick she was, sure the Weed or marijuana seemed to relax the Slayer, but Faith had no clue what was in the drink.
Wolf-like reached for the cup and she handed it to him.
"Hold her still," he instructed, "she must drink it."
Faith used her free hand to brush the wet hair away from Buffy's eyes.
"Why?" she asked, "the coughing has stopped and she's nearly asleep now?"
Wolf-like let out an exhausted sigh, "too many questions and not enough time." He looked over at Willow and shook his head. "She asked the same things," he told Faith.
"It will help her fever and help with the pain when I check her leg," he answered. "I am of service to you and your ..."
"Don't say it," Faith interrupted, then shook her head. 'I just can't go there, not now, maybe not ever.' Then to Wolf-like she asked, "what do you want me to do?"
"Hold her still," he ordered.
Faith nodded, wishing she had the drink and the marijuana last night. 'I didn't know it was good for something other than getting stoned.' The blonde yawned and wrapped her arms around Faith's waist, Buffy's head resting against her breast.
"I can hear your heart," Buffy said, her words soft and slurred. "I'm cold..." she drifted and Faith was worried that Buffy was sinking back into the delirium.
"B, you gotta to drink it," Faith insisted.
"I-I, It makes me sleep, what if a bad ...comes," the blonde was having trouble forming words but at least she was still coherent. Then what she'd said caught up to Faith. Buffy was worried that something would attack her while she slept. Faith waited for the rage. Waited for the hurt that Buffy didn't trust her to keep her safe.
She waited.
It didn't come; of course Buffy would be worried! Of course the girl would want to stay awake to help with her own defense, it was natural! Faith wouldn't want to be drugged either, under any circumstances much less being in a cave a hundred years in the past. The brunette hugged Buffy closer to her. She felt the blonde's labored breaths under her hands and made the decision.
This wasn't going to be pretty, Faith knew it, but it had to be done. She pushed back so that she was sitting, braced, against the wall of the cave. Then she lifted Buffy so that she was facing Wolf-like with her back against Faith's chest. Buffy must've felt something was going on because before Wolf-Like knelt in front of her, she was fighting. Faith was able to easily grab the blonde's arms and hold her still as Wolf-Like forced her drink the vile smelling liquid.
"Hold her, talk to her, while I go get the things for her leg," Wolf-like instructed, as he got up with the empty cup and left the chamber.
Faith felt the blonde relax and her breathing start to even out into a slow, steady rhythm. She lifted Buffy out of her lap and gently laid her next to her on the bed.
"Wolfie said talk me," Buffy softly mumbled, her eyes closed. "Don't wanna to sleep anymore," her words slurred.
"I-I don't know what to say, I feel I just betrayed you, again," Faith told her. The brunette brushed a blonde strand from Buffy's face and the girl leaned into Faith's touch.
"Didn't, leg hurt like Hell, earlier, didn't drink for Willow, she di'nit," her eyes stayed closed as her voice became softer until it was a whisper. "Talk to me," Buffy said, reaching up to take Faith's hand.
"I don't know what to say, you are so important..." Faith stopped, she just couldn't admit it, she just wasn't able to tell Buffy how she felt. The blonde's grip on her hand relaxed and Faith kissed her gently on the cheek.
"She's asleep," Wolf-like said from the entrance to the alcove. " I don't need your help to check her leg."
Faith nodded, she really didn't want to help, she didn't want to see the wound again. Last night was enough for her to know it was painful.
"I thought she was getting better?" she asked, releasing Buffy's hand and standing up to one side so Wolf-like could have space to work.
"She is much better now than this morning," he told her, easing down the sweatpants. Faith turned away and took a step toward the entrance.
"Normally we heal pretty fast, a day at the most, but she's only a little better..." Faith was having a hard time figuring out what she wanted to ask or maybe she was just afraid of the answer.
She heard Wolf-like sigh. "The poison..." he paused and she felt his frustration with finding the words he wanted to use. The Demon helped him understand and speak English quite well, but there were things lost in the translation. Faith's lack of ability in finding the right question to ask wasn't a help.
"The poison attacked her, essence, it was killing her... soul," Faith spun around, the floor went out from under her, and she lurched to the side, dizzy. She crashed into the hard rock wall of the cave and was just barely able to support herself.
"I can't help you, I have to finish this, then we can talk," Wolf-like told her, as she slid down the rock to sit with her knees pulled up to her chest. Blind from the tears suddenly pouring from her eyes. She was worse than Willow always crying...
But how could she not cry?
"You must hear the rest, you must know the damage you have caused, so you know what it will take... to payback?" His words weren't making sense to her; she nearly killed the very thing she loved more than her life. There was no redemption.
"You people are so selfish," the scorn in his voice jolted her. "You hurt her, now instead of helping fix your mistake, you sit there feeling sorry for yourself, just like Crowley! You have no respect; none of you have any respect. No wonder the world is about end."
She shook her head trying to clear it, it was too much, it was just too much. She couldn't think... What would Katie want her to do? What would her Watcher tell her to do?
"Live, survive, fight," she heard the words as if Katie were standing in front of her speaking them. Katie was right, Buffy was alive, Willow was alive, Wolf-like... OK but he wasn't her fault.
Faith wiped her eyes on her pants leg and looked over at Wolf-like. He was rewrapping Buffy's leg.
"Tell me, everything," she nearly choked on the words. "No pretty stories about a magical Spider or the earth being our mother, or how to stop the world from ending, just tell me what I need to know to survive the next few hours."
'Just live for the next hour, just get through it, I just have to get through the next hour!'
"I don't think the Two-Hearts who did this knew the full power of the poison, it attacked her essence and her... Body. Even if you had gone for the antidote, as she said you tried to do, the part of her you most love would have died. You saved her by using the cleansing fire."
Faith had to swallow the bile as it rose in her throat, she shook her head. 'Great, just great, the only right thing I've done lately was burn the Hell out Buffy's leg.'
"When I saw you last night,"
She him interrupted him "you were here? When?"
"As the wolf, I knew that you wouldn't let me help you and people needed to be gathered before the storm killed them." He shrugged, then pulled the blanket up to Buffy's shoulders and stood.
The grief radiated off him and Faith knew he needed a few moments to get his composure back. He turned to Willow and put a blanket over her. He walked over to Faith and offered his hand to help her stand. She grasped it and he easily pulled her up, then held her for the few seconds it took to gain her balance.
"We need to plan," he whispered and went into the front cave.
"So is Buffy's soul?" She didn't want to ask but she had to know.
"Strong, beautiful, amazing, will heal over time," he answered with a smile. "All her energy is being put into healing it instead of the wound, so it will be many days, maybe many moons before she regains her full power."
"OK, so she will recover," Faith accepted it, now she could plan. "So we hang out here until Red figures out a way to get home."
"No, we must leave this place as soon as the sun falls behind the mountains..."
"What?" Faith shouted, "that's nuts! We have food, water, protection from the rain, everything's here!"
"The evil man from the town will come looking for the source of the magic. I am shocked that he hasn't tracked it here already!" Wolf-like shouted back. "The only reason he's not is because he wants to bring his full force of vile creatures with him."
Faith, once again, felt all hope draining out of her. Of course the Mayor would come, even a hundred years removed he was still strong. He said he had built Sunnydale from the ground up, a demon paradise. There was no way to know how many vampires and other minor demons he had working for him in this time. Then Faith thought of something else.
"Vampires have a better sense of smell than dogs! No matter how far we run he'll be able to find us!" Her voice rose again in panic.
"And we are on foot while they have horses," Wolf-like offered.
"Really not helping," Faith snapped back and then realized that it was something Buffy would say or one of the scoobs.
'Live, survive, fight," Katie's' words popped into her head, it was almost like the Watcher was there with her. 'The next hour, get through the next hour, that's all you have to do.' the annoying voice cajoled.
"Ok, we leave, soon, we run," she agreed. She looked around at all the gear, she knew she could carry the tents, a lot of the food, maybe even the grill, that would leave...
"We only take what Crowley can carry and run with," Wolf-Like said, interrupting her thoughts.
"What? No way, I can carry..." at his look she stopped speaking.
"You and I will have to take turns carrying the Sun-Souled, she cannot walk," he was right. Not only would they have to leave the protection of the cave, they would have to leave nearly everything behind.
"Just to be clear, so there are no more surprises, we have to leave at dark, walking through the mountains, with no food, no water, no tents or sleeping bags, carrying Buffy, and trying to stay ahead of a Vampire army on horseback who can track us anywhere we go?"
"Yes," Willow said from the behind her.
"We're screwed."