Thank you everyone who reviewed. You made my day. I was really trying to get this finished for tonight. It would have been nice to get the last of it posted on Halloween, seeing as this is a Halloween episode, but I've run out of time and awakeness. So here is the penultimate piece for you to enjoy while eating your trick or treating candy, and at some point over the weekend I'll post the ending. Thanks for reading.
The television in the living room was showing some old horror film now. A distraught woman was crying in black and white, mirroring Willow's actions and mood.
"Xander'll be alright," Oz promised, stroking his fingers through Willow's hair again. "He knows you're trying to help. You just gave him a lot to think about."
"You think?" Willow sniffed, wiping her hands under her eyes to catch the last of her tears. "I don't know. Everything's just such a mess since we moved here."
"How so?" Oz asked gently.
"Well, you know about Xander's perpetual black cloud." Willow took a second to catch her breath from the cryingwhile she thought about everything else that was wrong lately. "Buffy's completely obsessed with Faith, which, hello? Twilight Zone stuff right there. I haveno problem with Buffy grazing on my side of the fence for a while, 'cause lets face it, her taste in men wasn't doing the world any favours, but why did her predilection for mysterious bad boys – and by 'bad' I really mean 'kinda evil' – have to transfer so seamlessly over to women? Why couldn't she have fallen for a nice female Riley? And I know I should just be happy that she's happy, even if it is strange, and I am… mostly… I just can't help worrying that something's going to go wrong like usually happens when one of us falls in love, you know? And with Faith involved… wrong is gonna be a big, fat understatement. I'm talking Angelus-big, but with slayer strength, a history of psychosis, and without any of the handy vampiric drawbacks, like an inability to walk around in the day and the need for an invite to murder us all in our beds."
"You've put a lot of thought into it," Oz smiled.
"No, that was just off the top of my head." Willow said with a strained smile. "I could come up with a lot more reasons for why Buffy and Faith getting involved is a disaster brewing if I sat down and wrote a list, but I'm resisting that urge 'cause there's no point panicking myself over it."
She sniffed again and wished she had a tissue in her pocket, except she didn't even have pockets; there wasn't really enough material in her skimpy little pajamas to include a pocket. Oz had pumpkins on his boxer shorts which made her smile a little. She hadn't noticed before, had deliberately avoided noticing maybe. It was hard to miss the small, plump orange fruits now though with the way her head was resting against his shoulder.
She was about to ask him if he had worn them especially for the underwear party, but then realised that Xander hadn't exactly sent out invitations statinga dress code… and why was she admiring his underwear anyway?
She snapped her eyes away and shifted so she wasn't quite so snuggled into his chest. To cover her awkwardness she began to talk faster.
"Dawn and Andrew are both having intimate relations with Watcher kids, although I don't know how intimate Andrew's relations are exactly and I guess Craig isn't really a Watcher kid either… I don't really know what he is, but he has raw power, no discipline and a big old grudge against Buffy. Dawn's relations are way, way too intimate and Reece is… not near good enough for her. He's not good enough for anyone. And as much as I'd like to bury my head in the sand and say 'Hah, not my sister!' I can't, you know, 'cause it's Dawnie a… and she is like my sister. And then there's everyone else! Naomi, Alison, Robin…! Every day some new Slayer or Watcher or… or Ex-Scooby…" she made a pointy gesture at Oz as evidence. "…shows up! Don't get me wrong, in some ways its great. Only child here, I always used to fantasize about being part of a big family, but this craziness is startingto stretch that fantasy to its limit and Giles, who's supposed to be runningthe show by the way, is never here because he's always flitting off around the world finding Slayers and liasing with far-flung Watchers. Or he's in England asking retired Council members who used to look down their runny British noses at him for advice."
"Hey, Will," Oz spoke soothingly, tightening his arm around just for a moment in a comforting squeeze. "Relax. You're getting yourself worked up trying to help everyone else. Take a moment to concentrate on you for a change."
Oh boy, was he going to regret that. Willow didn't even haveto think before beginning.
"Well, where would you like me to start? I still can't get into the Swiss bank accounts and Giles' personal investments are only goingto last for so long with this many mouths to feed plus all the travelling. One of my best friends is dating someone who tried to kill us all – which I suppose isn't new – but my other best friend is wallowing in the depths of despair – and that is new, I'm not used to Xander being so miserable or the time and its horrible. And then there's me thinkingI was all super-control gal now, but then a couple of weeks ago I just start flingingmagic at my friends like its confetti! So now I'm back to square one with my rehabilitation, well, okay, maybe not square one, maybe square four or something, but now I have to double-think every spell I use again and if it feels too easy I have to not use it! But then I can't do spells that might be hard either in case they stir up too much power in me and I melt more speakers without thinking!" Her voice rose a few pitches as her distress grew. "And the one person who… who I thought I could count on, who told me she'd be there to… to help keep me grounded a… and remind me why we're living in the middle of a whole bunch of nowhere when we run out of milk and I want cereal and the big picture seems really, really tiny and far away and just to, ya know, be there, has suddenly gone off me with no warning – and I know she told me she used to play the field rather than, uh, stay in one place in the field, but we were getting on so great. I guess I thought she really liked me. Stupid, huh? Now she's probably only still with me because she's scared I'll… I'll melt her if she ends it!"
Despite her best efforts and much screwing up of her face, a sob broke through Willow's defences and on the tail of the first came a whole squadron. She raised her hands to her face as tears soaked her only just dry again cheeks, muttering apologies for being a mess.
Oz hugged her tighter and let her sniffle into his chest.
Standing on the porch once more, Kennedy gave herself a little shake as if limbering up. She pulled on the hem of her shirt to make sure it was neat and ran her hands through her hair, pulling it forward over her shoulders only to push it immediately back again so that it hung down her back. She looked around the bare porch one last time, half-hoping to spot yet another distraction that would keep her from going in, but she didn't really need it, she knew it was time. She was ready.
Talking with Xander had helped a lot – Reece and Dawn had too, in their own ways, but neither of them had the insight or experience where Willow was concerned that Xander had. He even knew her better than Buffy did.
He hadn't promised her a Willow garden, admitting he wasn't sure where Willow was on this whole thing anymore, and warned her that she wasn't in the best of moods right now. But he'd also told her that Willow had come home eager for a date with Kennedy, that she spent almost as much time watching the clock as she had the TV and, as was apparently her wont, was turning her misery outwards, choosing to turn its focus on him instead of what was really bothering her.
His advice had been pretty simple really, the kind where you go 'Oh, why didn't I think of that!'.
Tell her the truth. Tell her you were jealous. Tell her why. The alternative? Making up a bunch of excuses for your behaviour? That's just gonna cause you more problems – maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon… If you really love her, let her see what's in your heart; and if I know Will at all, she'll probably respond by showing you what's in hers.
When she asked what to do if she didn't happen to be in Willow's heart, he hadn't had an answer, just a strange enigmatic look in his eye, which could have been more to do the fact he was shivering to death in the crisp October breeze than any real intuition.
"Hey a flower… I think." The small circular lamp set into the roof of the porch cast only a murky light in the dark recesses either side of the steps. Kennedy bent over double to peer at the leafy blob in the corner. "Well, it has a flower."
Deciding not to look this exotic bloom in its gift-horse mouth, Kennedy picked up the pot plant and straightened up again. Forcing a casual smile on her face, she finally pushed the front door open and entered.
The TV flickered silently in the candlelit living room and she didn't pause to give herself time to chicken out, repeating in her mind, 'I love her, she's worth this, she's worth everything, I can do this…for her, for us, for the sake of mankind! Okay, maybe not mankind… great, I'm babbling already and I haven't even opened my mouth yet.'
Kennedy's foot kicked something heavy but yielding as she walked deeper into the living room. It was a pair of men's jeans dropped carelessly to the side of the couch.
"Couldn't Xander at least…" she began softly, kicking them to the side as she looked up again.
The rest of the sentence choked her as she stared at the two figures on the couch in shock. Her lips shaped the word 'what?' but it never came out. She'd been right, dammit. She knew she'd been right, why had she let everyone else fill her head with false hope?
"Kennedy!" Willow sat forward the moment she registered Kennedy's presence in the room.
She sounded surprised – probably hadn't expected to get caught – but not real distressed – probably didn't care that she had been caught. Her cheeks glistened with moisture – perspiration? Saliva? Tears? Was he really so special just having him close was enough to make her cry? The thought was enough to bring tears to her own shocked eyes. This wasn't happening. Of course it was happening. What else had she expected to happen? Girls broke your heart given half a chance, she should know, she'd broken enough since puberty. She'd just never really expected it to happen to her.
"Kennedy?" Willow said with more urgency into the suffocating silence.
Oz remained lounged against the couch, one possessive hand still on the witch's shoulder.
"I'm a walking cliché," she muttered indistinctly.
"You're a what?" Willow frowned and smiled at the same time.
No, no she wasn't. She wouldn't be. This wasn't going to happen to her. She wasn't going out like that. If this ended tonight… if she couldn't win this… she was doing the damn ending!
"Get your hand off of her!" she snarled out, taking a controlled step closer to the couch, eyes glaring into his.
"Sorry?" Oz looked up at her innocently, his hand staying where it was.
"Get your filthy paw offa my girlfriend!" Kennedy ground out. "Or I will tear it off."
"Kennedy!" Willow jumped to her feet – at least solving the hand on her shoulder problem. "What's gotten into you?"
"I'm really more interested in what's gotteninto you."
She missed the gaping brought on by Willow's annoyed embarrassment because her eyes were still burning into Oz. He didn't smile smugly liked she'd imagined, he just held her gaze impassively, like he was some kind of noble champion and didn't feel the need to rub his victory in her face.
"Just what are you insinuating?" Willow demanded, crossing her arms angrily. "Storming in here, issuing threats to my friends, carrying a… my only Purple Spear plant?"
"What am I insinuating? You have to ask? Look at the two of you? All cosy on the couch with romantic candles and nakedness…"
"This is nothing! We were just talking," Willow insisted. "And I'm not naked!"
"Not yet," Kennedy agreed furiously. "I guess I got home just in time."
Willow snorted, "Yeah, just in time to overreact over nothing. You have impeccable timing every time as far as that's concerned."
"This is nothing?" Kennedy waved her hand between their two half naked bodies incredulously. "I'm not stupid, Willow. I can see what's going on…"
"You can't see anything but what you want to see," Willow countered. "And I'm getting sick of it."
Kennedy partly recoiled from that, lifting her head to the ceiling as she felt tears prick the backs of her eyes again.
"This is priceless. You're painting me as the bad girlfriend, when you're the one screwing around behind my back?"
"I am not!"
"Why don't we calm down a little?" Oz stood up suddenly, one hand on Willow's shoulder the other out in a placating gesture to Kennedy.
"I warned you about that hand," Kennedy said, taking a threatening step closer.
Oz removed his hand slowly and held that one up too. "You're upset, so just take a moment to…"
"Oh, I'm gonna take a moment," Kennedy promised him. "That's all I need to kick your tramp ass. So you might wanna stop trying to be a mediator and start making your way to the door…"
"I'm not leaving Willow when you're like this," he interrupted softly.
"Why? Do you think this is your night? I get Willow mad and you swoop in with your 'I would never treat you like this' speech?"
"No." Willow was shaking her head. "He's not like that."
Oz held Kennedy's gaze steadily. "If I did give that speech, I wouldn't be lying. But then I wouldn't treat a dog the way you've been treating Willow recently."
"Don't think you know anything about me and Willow!" She warned him a low voice.
He gave a slight shrug and said mildly, "I know from the way you've been acting you're not good enough for her."
Willow turned to him in surprise, which doubled when he suddenly did an assisted backward somersault over the couch. "Kennedy!"
"He had it coming," she said without apology. "And when he gets up, he has more coming. I knew he was sniffing around for more than just 'friend's reunited', I was just really hoping you didn't feel the same."
"You make me sound like a tree!" Willow snapped, before muttering, "Not that my parents didn't manage that already. And who says…"
She was cut off by a growl from behind the couch and spun to face it. "Uh oh."
Kennedy silently echoed that sentiment as a monstrous shadow reared on the bookcase behind the couch. As the growling grew louder and clearer, a werewolf popped up, but the uneasiness only lasted for a second before she grinned in feral glee.
"This…" she pointed. "This is what you're cheating on me with?"
"I'm not cheating on you!"
"Not anymore," Kennedy agreed through gritted teeth as she crouched ready. "Come on, Fido; time for the slipper-ing of your life!"
With almost a roar, Oz pounced straight over the couch towards her.
"Oh yeah, you're so civilised now," she taunted him as she swung her body to the left and brought her right arm up to slam a punch into the side of his belly.
It wasn't as soft and vulnerable as she'd been hoping, but it did stop him from landing right on top of her. Still, she couldn't help herself from being dragged down with him as his weight hit her arm before she could retract it. She landed on her side and immediately kicked out her foot and… yep, that pissed him off!
"Kenny! Don't fight. Run!" Willow yelled at her as the werewolf pounced again and she met it head on, or actually foot on. "Oh Goddess! Oz, if you do have any control right now, please use it to not bite her!"
The snarling, cursing and yelling didn't go unnoticed for long and as Kennedy and Oz crashed down together on top of the coffee table – crushingit and everything on it completely thanks to Oz's wolfy bulk – Giles flew out of his bedroom door.
"What on earth… Oh my Lord! Is that Oz? Quick Willow, don't stand there, get the tranquilliser gun."
"Don't you dare!" Kennedy yelled out.
"Why ever not?" Giles asked, bewildered.
She didn't answer, too busy fighting for her life maybe, but he wasn't getting out of this that easy. She was dominating this mutt the old fashioned way, by whipping his ass until he submitted at her feet. Maybe then he'd accept she was the better person for Willow.
Xandercame running in from the kitchen. "What's all the… whoa! What the hell? Why's Oz goingWhite Fang on Kennedy's ass and, more importantly, why's no one stopping it?"
"We are," Giles said firmly and tried to make his way towards the front door to get the gun, only to have to jump back when the fighting pair nearly rolled into his legs.
"No!" Kennedy yelled again, and she felt like she was finally getting the upper hand but then Oz slipped to the side of her and his jaws were coming for her shoulder and she wasn't gonna be able to… shit!
And then Willow darted forward and kicked his nose as hard as she could, making him jerk his head back and yelp. Kennedy took the split-second advantage and slammed one hand under his chin, keeping his head back while she punched him in the throat with her other hand.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Willow hopped backwards holding her bare toes in pain.
Giles and Xanderwere both moving to get the gun now, but Vi suddenly appeared at the bend in the stairs.
"What's all the noise about? Goorzie's going… Kennedy!" Vi vaulted the banisters to land by the front door and grabbed the tranquilliser gun from the hat stand. "Where are the darts?" she yelled as she came running into the living room.
"There should be one in it," Giles said hopefully.
Vi raised the stock to her shoulder, trying to aim for a patch of werewolf that wasn't too close to a patch of Kennedy.
Goorzarhad come tumbling down the stairs after Vi, sensing Kennedy was home and would protect her from the mysterious menace she could feel in the house. Her orange eyes went big and round when she saw her Mommy being attacked by said menace and she started shrieking at the top of her lungs. By turns, being courageous enough to run in and slap her big hands down on Oz's back, and petrified enough to run into the shadows gibbering.
"Could someone get the lights?" Vi yelled.
Xander did so, but even the room being bright didn't stop Vi's first shot from going wide and thunking into the remains of the coffee table.
"Damn!" she shouted, annoyed with herself. "Where are the rest of the darts?"
"I'll get 'em." Xander ran back into the kitchen.
As Goorzar ran in for another swipe with her long arms, Oz snapped at her before she could get out of range. The baby demon ran away squealing with a bald patch on her ass. Seeingthe black, matted hair caught in the werewolf's teeth, Kennedy gave a cry of rage and grabbed one his front legs in both hands, wrenchinghim around with it. There was a crack as a bone broke and Oz's sharp yelp was followed by Kennedy's scream as his back claws lashed out and raked down her left leg, shredding her jeans, and by the feel of it, the skin beneath as well. Still they didn't stop fighting.
"Enough!" Willow yelled. "You're gonna kill each other!"
No they weren't; 'cause Kennedy planned on breaking his other three legs before that could happen.
"I said ENOUGH!"
Kennedy suddenly found herself flying through the air, straight over the leather reading chair in the corner, and smacking into the wall of Giles' office. She slid down it, knocking over – and becoming tangled up with – reading lamp as she hit the carpet. Through dazed eyes she vaguely recognised the werewolf being thrown just as easily in the opposite direction to hit the wall between the window and the front door.
Xander came back into the room and threw a dart to Vi, who inserted it swiftly, turned and shot Oz in the chest before he could get up again. He growled at her softly for a few seconds and then with a whimper he slumped over, asleep.
The room was silent as everyone took a moment to catch their breath, except for Goorzar's soft gibbering as she ran over to Kennedy, scared out of her wits, and climbed onto her for a comfort cuddle.
"Easy, baby," Kennedy said softly, wincing slightly as the baby demon aggravated her millions of cuts and bruises.
With a hand on her rump, she kept Goorzar away from her bleedingleft leg as she gave her the cuddle she was after, burying her face in the thick black fur as she waited for her heartbeat to slow down.
"What in God's name happened out here?" Giles finally exploded at Willow.
"Hey! Don't blame me. I'm as angry as you are." She turned to Kennedy in the corner. "What the hell was that all about?"
"You know exactly what it was about," Kennedy shot back as she finished checking the bald patch on Goorzar's butt to make sure the skin hadn't been broken. "I came in here to tell you I love you and find you making out on the couch with him!"
"Uh, the werewolf?" Vi asked as she came over to help Kennedy, who was struggling to stand up.
"For the last time, we were not making out. I was upset because I'd had an argument with Xander and Oz was just being a good friend and comforting me!"
Kennedy looked to Xander for confirmation.
He held his hands up. "Don't look at me, I mean yeah, we argued, but I was outside with you while this…comforting… was going on."
You don't believe me either?" Willow turned angrily to her best friend.
"I never said that." He shrugged.
"He's after you, Willow!" Kennedy said frustrated. "Any idiot can see that!"
"No, any idiot might think that, but I'm not an idiot and I know he's not!"
"Are you calling me an idiot?" Kennedy thrust a protesting Goorzarat Vi, who had to struggle to keep hold of the wriggling baby, and limped forward.
"You just got into a jealous brawl with a werewolf. Yes; I think you're an idiot! He could have infected you, he nearly did! Or, you know, killed you completely. Didn't you even think of that?"
"What I thought was that the bastard was trying to take you away from me, and I wasn't giving you up without a fight!"
Willow threw her hands up in frustration. "He's not trying to…"
"Yeah, Will, he is," Xander suddenly interjected.
She turned to him. "What?"
"I don't know if he's actively trying or anything, but I think it's safe to say that if an opportunity arose he'd want to take it. I'm not saying he would," he gave Kennedy a quick look before turning back to Willow, "but yeah, he'd want to."
"But why?" she whispered.
She turned to look at Oz, who without the pull of the full moon had already reverted back to his human self now he was unconscious. Giles was just coveringhim with a blanket and examininghis broken arm. With an uncertain glance in Kennedy's direction, she turned and walked away, slamming straight armed through the kitchen door and disappearing.
"What am I supposed to make of that?" Kennedy asked, gesturing after her.
"I don't know, but would you either take Goorzie back or, uh, go away, because she won't settle with me while she can see you," Vi said, as the demon made another attempt at leaping from her to Kennedy.
"Go after her," Xander shrugged, already picking up chunks of coffee table fire wood. "Here what she has to say."
Kennedy leaned down to Goorzar and gave her a kiss between her wide-set orange eyes. "Back soon, girl," she promised and made sure Vi had a good grip on her before limping into the kitchen.
Willow was leaning over the sink, blowing chunks by the sounds of it.
"You okay?" Kennedy asked her from just inside the door way.
"Beer and magic don't mix," Willow muttered, spitting once more before rinsing her mouth with water from the tap.
"Maybe you shouldn't have thrown me into a wall then?"
Willow nodded and said sarcastically. "Good idea, next time I'll just watch you get torn apart before my very eyes."
"That wasn't gonna happen," she scoffed.
Willow spun around to face her. "That was exactly what was going to happen. He's a werewolf, Kennedy! He has more strength than you, bigger teeth than you, long sharp claws, and no problem ripping you into bite size pieces with them!"
Kennedy looked down at her leg. The blood was drying now, so hopefully that meant the bleeding had stopped. It still hurt a lot though and she wasn't looking forward to peeling her jeans off.
"Okay, it was a stupid thing to do," she admitted softly, meeting Willow's eyes as she looked up. "But I'd still do it again. I'd fight something with twice as many teeth and claws… for you."
Willow rolled her eyes, not moved by her words. "You didn't have to fight for me! You could have just talked to me, but no… you had to go and be all Possessive Slayer on me. Fists first, think later. Did you think it would impress me? Is that it?"
For once Kennedy didn't have a quick answer. "I…"
"Because what it did was terrify me. I get scared every time you go out on patrol in case you don't come back, but I get its your duty and your passion for it i…is one of the things I love the most about you, so I can deal… but what you pulled in there wasn't duty, it was stupidity. And if that kind of crap is what I can expect on a regular basis if we stay together… I can't deal."
Angrily Kennedy stormed, well limp-stormed, to the refrigerator and yanked it open. "Well if you can't deal with me fighting to keep my girlfriend, then maybe you should be with Oz, because at least you can count on him to run away instead when its gets tough to be with you."
"That's not fair," Willow snapped.
Kennedy pulled out an ice pack from the freezer compartment and a beer from the shelf below. "I don't have to be fair to him."
"I wasn't talking about him. I was talking about me, us. You think I've been tough to live with these past few weeks? Try being in my place. You've been Miss Moody-two-shoes since the lust spell. You've been cold and distant one minute, a…and fake sweetener and artificial light the next. You don't want to work with me, or eat with me, or sleep with me. You go out every evening and never come back before midnight..."
"I've been doing that since we've been living here," Kennedy pointed out, twisting the cap off of her bottle before reaching awkwardly around to hold the ice pack to the base of her neck.
"Yeah, but you're not patrolling now. You're just going out, enjoying yourself. And I lay in our bed on my own every night wondering if tomorrow will be the day you give me my marching orders."
"Is that what you want? For me to tell you we're through? So you can run off and be with someone else guilt-free?" Kennedy took an angry swig of her beer to cover the quiver of her lip.
"Right now Ken, I wouldn't feel a whole lot of guilt over breaking up with you," Willow retorted. "Not when you're being a bigger brat than you ever gave yourself credit for."
Kennedy's jaw worked in small circles and she had to take another sip of her beer before she could speak. "Well, why don't you then?"
"Because that's not what I want!" Willow shouted. "I don't want to break up with you, I never have, but I don't see a lot of point in us staying together if this is what we're gonna be like all the time."
"Who says it's gonna be like this all the time?" Kennedy asked defiantly.
"Okay, so tell me what's going to change? Are you going to stop being so jealous? Because I can't handle another episode like tonight. I've lost one woman I love to a senseless act of violence, I'm not gonna hang around if it's likely to happen again."
"You want me to stop being jealous, tell Oz to go to hell," Kennedy said simply. "Problem solved."
"I can't do that, and I won't do that," Willow said just as simply.
"Why not?"
"For one, he's working with the Council now, and we need him. I can't just put an end to that. For two, he's still my friend."
"He wants you Willow! You can't expect me to be okay with that."
"Even if he does, which is still unconfirmed by the way, what makes you think I want him back?"
"You mean other than the fact that he sees more of you these days than I do," Kennedy asked sarcastically.
"That's work! And thank you for the trust, by the way. Nice to know our relationship is built on such a solid foundation."
"I would trust you with anyone else. It's just him. Some random man or woman comes on to you in the course of the day, I know we're stronger than that, but you and Oz have history, you loved him, a part of you still does, and… I don't know if we're stronger than that!"
"Well, I'd like to think we are, but I'm not just going to cut Oz out of my life because you tell me to, so I guess you'll have to decide pretty quickly if we are or not!"
"Is that an ultimatum?"
"No, you're the one issuing ultimatums. I'm just trying to figure out if we have a future or not."
"And what have you 'figured out' so far?" Kennedy sneered.
"That unless you grow up pretty damn fast, we don't!"
"Well then, just… fuck it!" Kennedy yelled, throwing her empty bottle so hard that it shattered in the empty sink.
Riding alone in the back of the truck, Buffy easily heard the raised voices coming from the kitchen as Reece pulled around to the side of the house.
"Uh oh." Jumping out, she walked around to the back, listening to the yelling, until she could see Willow and Kennedy through the window. "Not good."
It was late and Reece didn't bother putting the truck in the garage tonight. He locked it up and threw Faith the keys.
"I'm going to bed."
"Me too," Rona said, and they both walked towards their respective dormitories.
Alone in the garden, Buffy glanced at Faith before she focused back on the window again.
"What do you think's goin' on?" Faith asked, spinning the key ring around her finger.
"Not sure, but it sounds pretty heated. Not sure I want to intrude," Buffy admitted.
"We could always not," Faith suggested. "We could grab some blankets from the basement. Sleep in the back of the truck, under the stars. It'd be… romantic or something."
"Yeah, because you and romance are really something I want together right now," Buffy muttered to herself.
"What was that, B?"
"Nothing."
"Didn't sound like nothing."
Buffy turned to her, ready to let loose with her pent up irritation, when there was the sound of smashing glass in the kitchen. She dashed for the back door, wrenched it open and ran inside, almost colliding with Kennedy who was coming fast the other way.
"Whoa," Buffy put her hands out to stop her, her eyes darting around the room to suss out the situation.
Willow was standing shocked and ready to start crying, but didn't look physically hurt.
Kennedy's face was pale, tightly controlled, and the heavy breaths she was taking hitched in her throat. "Let me past!"
"Hang on a minute," Buffy said, not letting go of her. She glanced down, seeing the tattered jeans and lots of blood. "What happened? Are you okay?"
Kennedy tried to tear herself away and keep going, but Buffy wouldn't let her. Kennedy's face started to crumple, and Buffy softened her voice.
"Ken, are you okay? Do you need to sit…? Whoa!" The compassion in her voice broke the last of Kennedy's control and Buffy had to take a step back with the force with which Kennedy was suddenly in her arms, hugging her so tight she could barely breathe.
She teetered back on her Wonder Woman boots and her hands gestured at Kennedy's back as she looked over her shoulder, her expression enquiring 'What the hell?'
The breaking bottle had brought Giles and Xander rushing into the kitchen too, and they hovered on the periphery, obviously not sure what to do or say any more than she did.
Are you okay? She asked Willow, silently mouthing the words as Kennedy sobbed quietly into her neck.
"I'm fine," Willow said aloud, but she didn't really look it.
"Kenny?" Buffy asked with more urgency. "What's going on? What happened? Is Dawn okay?"
"She's… fine, we got… back… okay."
"Then what?" Buffy asked, glancing at the others in turn.
Xander gave a little shrug. "Kennedy and Oz had what you could call a small disagreement."
"What, when he was wolfed?" she chuckled. No one else so much as cracked a smile. "Oh."
Giles shook his head, looked helplessly at Willow for a moment and then turned back to the livingroom. "I must try and set Oz's arm for him; we can't risk taking him to the emergency room until he wakes up. Xander, would you assist me?"
"Sure," Xander nodded as he followed him back into the other room.
"Will?" Buffy asked, gesturing one-handed at Kennedy's back again.
Willow swallowed a few times, trying to speak, tears glistening in her eyes and then she was shaking her head, backing away. "I can't… I'm sorry, I can't…" And then she was shooting into her Magic room and Buffy heard the key turn in the lock the second the door was closed.
Kennedy gave a louder sob and suddenly Buffy could feel tears splashing onto her neck and running down to her shoulder at an alarming rate. Buffy sighed as silently as possible and tightened her arms around her.
"Tears, temper tantrums, smashing bottles. Close my eyes, I could be back in Boston with my Mother." Faith chuckled darkly as she walked to the fridge and got out a beer. "'Course," she added, looking around. "You'd have to add a few patches of damp and some 'roaches, but otherwise, pretty close."
"Not like you to open up about your past," Buffy observed.
"Don't usually think about it." Faith sat at the kitchen table and kicked back her chair onto two legs. "Been on my mind tonight, I guess."
"Well maybe that's what happens when you let an evil creature delve into your sub-conscious."
"When did I do that?"
Buffy rolled her eyes and didn't answer. It was almost laughable, or it would be if Faith's inattention and carelessness hadn't hurt so much. And if Kennedy wasn't squeezing the air out of her lungs so thoroughly even a light chuckle was possibly impossible.
The kitchen fell silent apart from Kennedy's choked sobs. Obviously embarrassed, she buried her head further in Buffy's neck, trying to stifle them. She felt a little guilty, feeling like she should be comforting Willow rather than her girlfriend, but Kennedy had clamped onto her first and what was she supposed to do, just toss the girl to one side? She ran her hand up and down Kennedy's back, kissing the side of her head, trying to calm her down the way she used to calm Dawn down when she was this upset.
She saw Faith lean even further back on her chair, sneering as she raised her bottle to her lips.
Oh, come on, she mouthed irritably. Like she had a right to any kind of jealous reaction after tonight. Especially to something as innocent as this. She deliberately looked away from Faith to make her point.
"So are you about done there, Ken?" Faith suddenly asked. "Only me and Buffy are kind of on a date right here and I didn't plan on ending it watching you two snuggle, ya know?"
Buffy looked at her again, sending eye-daggers her way, but kept her voice mild as she said, "Impatient much?"
But Kennedy began to pull away anyway, so if nothing else Buffy's ribs were sending a thank you Faith's way.
"Yeah, sorry, I didn't… sorry." She stepped back, scrubbing her hands over her eyes.
"Its okay, Ken, Faith's just joking."
"Was I?"
"No, it's okay. Don't want to be responsible for breaking up another couple tonight."
Suddenly realising this might be more than just a lovers tiff between her best friend and the young Slayer; Buffy reached out and put her hand on Kennedy's shoulder.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, anyway, I should probably get some blankets so I can make up a bed in the dorm before it gets any later." She started to turn away.
"No, don't do that." Buffy pulled her back around again. "You can bunk in with Dawn tonight if you need to. She won't mind. Come on." She started to lead her towards the back stairs.
"What about…?" She looked over at Faith.
"Yeah, what about?" Faith repeated.
"We're home, so technically the date's over anyway." Buffy managed a smile. "Besides, you understand, right Faith?"
"Sure, whatever you say, B," Faith said reasonably, before adding under her breath. "As always."
Buffy bit her tongue as she went up the back stairs after Kennedy.
Dawn was lying on his bed when Reece entered the dormitory. "Hello."
"Hi!" Dawn bounced eagerly into a sitting position. "I thought you were never coming home."
"Well, no," Reece was torn between mildly irritated and happy to see her. "That's perhaps because you left the party hours before I did."
"Oh, yeah, sorry about that." She looked sheepish for a second. "But that wasn't really my fault. You disappeared and then everything went crazy. Where were you anyway?"
She sounded mildly suspicious and his irritation grew. "Off having passionate sex with Kennedy obviously."
She chuckled softly and looked away embarrassed, which he hadn't expected. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that too. I know you weren't… you know, with Kennedy. It's just that…" she hesitated before finishing her sentence. "… I know you could have anyone you wanted, and I guess I can't help wondering why you want me."
He stared at her for several moments, waiting for her to look at him, but she didn't. Eventually he said genuinely, "Because you're beautiful."
"No I'm not," she said bashfully, ducking her head further.
"Fine, don't believe me." He walked towards his little locker and started to unbutton his sweat-damp shirt.
As he drew nearer she looked up at him coyly, and he had to admit it was nice that it wasn't an act. Much more appealing than the obviously experienced cheerleader he'd chatted up earlier.
"Do you really think so?"
"Of course I do. Anyone who doesn't is either blind or stupid," he said matter-of-factly. He took off his shirt, missingthe appreciative look in Dawn's eyes as he looked in his little mirror with a grimace. "I, on the other hand, look and smell like a wet dog."
"No you don't." Dawn chuckled. "You couldn't if you tried."
"Oh really," Reece finally smiled at her. "Come closer and take a big whiff, then tell me otherwise."
She grinned. "I don't have to; I can smell you from here."
"Oh, wonderful." He tried to frown, but smiled instead. "So how come you are in here anyway?"
"I wanted to say goodnight. Plus we didn't seem to get to spend so much time together at the party as I'd hoped."
"No, it wasn't the most successful date, was it?" He agreed as he walked around to the other side of Craig's bed to where the boy's small rucksack was. "What with you so anxious about Kennedy and then Rona going missing."
"Rona!" Dawn blurted like she'd only just remembered her.
Reece felt annoyed on his Slayer's behalf. Dawn was supposed to be her friend after all.
"I found her. Eventually. She was in the walls." He said shortly as he pulled one of Craig's clean t-shirts out of his bag.
Dawn frowned. "What was she doing in the walls?"
Reece picked up the bottle of water on Craig's locker and poured a little of it onto the t-shirt. "Chasing a… well a really short Irish bloke."
Dawn digested that and then sat forward in amazement. "A Leprechaun?"
Reece looked pained for a moment, but then said firmly. "Leprechauns don't exist."
"Like Pixies don't exist?" She asked dubiously.
"I…" Reece hesitated. "I'll have to consult some books before I can give you a definitive answer."
Dawn smiled knowingly.
He picked Craig's shower gel up from his locker and liberally squirted it onto the t-shirt as he looked curiously at Dawn. "What?"
"You are such a Watcher," she smiled at him.
He stopped in the act of scrubbing the t-shirt under his arms to smile at her. "You truly think so?"
She shook her head, still smiling. "Well, if I didn't before, the way you used 'truly' in that sentence just confirmed it."
He grinned. "Thank you."
He balled Craig's t-shirt up and chucked it into the dirty laundry corner of the dorm, and then used some more of the water to rinse the suds from under his arms. The rest of the bottle he poured over his head and used his hands to rub it over his face and through his hair.
"So, you found her and she's home safe too?" Dawn checked, standing up and walking around the beds to him.
"Yes, but it was pretty hairy." Reece picked up Craig's loose blanket – it wasn't precisionly tucked in like Reece's was – and dried his face. "So what happened to you… and the rest of the party for that matter?"
"Oh, that was pretty hairy too." Dawn grinned as she put her arms around Reece's neck. "Half the party got chased away by this weird werewolf…"
"Werewolf?" Reece indulged her closeness for a moment, before gently removing her arms so he could step away. "But it's not a full moon."
"I know, and that wasn't the only weird thing about him." Dawn looked a little put out, but she gave him some space as she said, off-hand, "And I nearly got killed by a Vampire."
"What?" He'd been about to walk back to his own bed, but he stopped and put his hand on Dawn's shoulder in concern. "Rona thought there was one there. Are you alright? Did he bite you?"
"He tried." She lifted up her hair on one side and he could see two long but shallow scratch marks on her neck. "I also almost got killed by a bat and a great big panther too," she added a little reproachfully.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there," he said sincerely, not liking the thought of Dawn getting even almost killed. Not that he liked the thought of anyone getting almost killed.
"Well, you here now, so I guess I can forgive you," Dawn grinned.
"That's gracious of you." He grinned back at her for a second, before stepping away again and unbuttoning his jeans. "So, were you waiting in here for me?"
"No," she teased, following him back around to his own bed. "I've been waiting all this time to watch Craig undress, but he's not back yet, so..."
"He's probably been off snogging Wellsy in the woods ever since it got interesting." Reece chuckled as he pushed his jeans off, folded them and threw them onto Peter's old bed. "When it comes to scary – the boy's all flight, no fight."
"Well, if he's snogging in the woods," Dawn began, giving his body a very obvious look. "That means we have the room all to ourselves."
"For a while, I guess," he agreed, smiling. "But your sister's home."
"But she doesn't know I'm in here. This time of night she'll assume I'm safely tucked up in bed. And besides, her and Faith will be doing it like animals five seconds from making it through the front door," she added, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "So?"
She leaned up to kiss him, her fingertips lightly tickling up his arms to his shoulders as he leaned down to meet her lips. He knew he was taking a risk, but Dawn trying to seduce him was so adorable, it wouldn't hurt to give her a little of what she wanted.
After a few minutes of kissing, he pulled away from her though. It was too cold to stand around in his boxers for long.
"I can't believe the night I've had. I've been in the field a few times now, with the group and one on one with Rona, but nothing intense like tonight has happened." As he spoke, he retrieved some sweat pants from his bag at the end of the bed.
"It was pretty intense for all of us I think," she said, coming closer to him again.
"Yes." He nodded. "And to be fair your night sounds more dangerous than what mine turned out to be, but then you are used to all of this, aren't you? I find that pretty amazing actually. That you've been doing this for a couple of years already, and you're younger than me, and you have no formal training."
"Amazing, huh?" She grinned and took his sweat pants out of his hands before he could start to pull them on.
"Dawn."
"What?" she asked innocently, chucking the pants onto another bed out of immediate reach. "It's not that cold. I'm not cold."
"That's because you're fully clothed," he pointed out, smiling.
"I don't have to be."
When he didn't answer, she kissed him again and he let himself be pulled down to lay on the bed.
"Warmer yet?" she asked a few minutes later.
"Yes thanks." He grinned at her and rolled comfortably on to his back, one arm still loosely around her waist. "I think I finally get what Rupert's been saying too."
"Huh? Oh, you mean Giles? Huh?"
Reece chuckled. "All the wisdom he's been imparting over the last couple of weeks, about how a Watcher and a Slayer can be a well-oiled machine, but only if you both work at it. The Academy doesn't teach that. As far as they're concerned a Watcher watches and a Slayer slays and the two don't really mix."
"What do you mean?" Dawn asked, although she seemed more interested in kissing the side of his neck than his answer.
"Well, a Watcher's job is to research for current and future threats and to provide his Slayer with the information he gathers. The Slayer's job is to go out and neutralise those threats using that information. So, aside from training, which is undertaken to a greater or lesser extent depending on the individual, the Watcher and Slayer do not really interact at all apart from perhaps a debriefing session once a day to exchange details of the night before's patrol and details that will be needed for the next night's patrol…"
"That's horse shit!"
He looked down at Dawn, who had stopped kissing his neck and was now looking back at him, clearly annoyed, it was quite sexy really. "Excuse me?"
"Giles and Buffy never had a relationship like that! He was her friend. In fact he was… is like family. They used to spend time together all the time, and he didn't just sit in his office Watching, he used to go out on patrol with her and when Buffy was grounded he used to do it for her."
"Yes." Reece smiled. "And he got sacked for it, didn't he? For being too involved in her life. Rupert's techniques were used in lessons all the time as an example of what not to do."
"Well… that's horseshit too!" Dawn sat up angrily.
He sat up with her. "I never thought so. There are many good reasons for retaining a distance between Watcher and Slayer, the fact that any night you may have to send your Slayer out to her death not being the least of them, but now I think I get it." His excitement at his epiphany showed in his voice.
"What do you mean, you get it?" Dawn asked uncertainly.
"The bond! The bond that we all hear about day in and day out, but that never rings true, because how can you forge something so strong if you're never allowed more than minimal interaction with the girl you are assigned to. I'm starting to think there was a reason for only a few of the Watchers diaries being on the syllabus. They probably banned all the ones that made the Slayer in question sound like a human being, God only knows why." He fell silent, thinking about it.
"Reece?"
He smiled at her, taking her hand and entwining their fingers. "Giles has been pushing for Rona and I to spend as much time together as possible, not just on patrol, but training together, organising private study sessions together. It all seemed pointless to begin with, and we don't exactly get on, but… now I think maybe I understand."
"So you're not the cold, heartless bastard you sounded like just a minute ago then?" Dawn asked, only half teasing.
He gave her a big smile and laid back down, drawing her with him. "I hope not. I would like to be a better Watcher than I think I've been educated to be."
"Good." Dawn smiled as she settled against him. "Because Watchers and Slayers should go together like peanut butter and jelly."
"Well, that sounds like a disgusting mix, but I agree with your point." He laughed and then kissed her.
She was grinning again when they pulled apart. "Good, so does that mean I can take my shirt off now?"
"Here, let me." Grinning himself, he swiftly unbuttoned it before sliding his hands around her waist beneath the material, pulling her closer for another kiss.
This one lasted longer and Dawn was almost moaning with pleasure when they finally had to give each other some air.
"This is more like it," she whispered as she shucked her shirt and kissed down his chest at the same time.
"Indeed," he agreed as he enjoyed what she was doing, his hands sliding up to stroke the back of her neck. There was silence in the dorm for a minute or two, apart from the sound of Dawn's lips trailing slowly down his stomach and his increased breathing. "Rona was incredible though, she'd been chasing the thing for ages even before I caught up with her, and then, when we were running around in the pitch dark, if it wasn't for her I'd have cracked my head open half a dozen times. Truth be told, I must have been slowing her down, but she never left me. Well, except when she jumped into the dumb waiter, but then she was following the Lepr… Irish bloke, so she knew I was safe…"
Dawn lifted her head to stare at him.
"That does take some courage, leaping head first into the unknown like… what's wrong?"
Dawn slumped onto his chest, groaning. "Nothing. Why don't you tell me about your adventure tonight?"
He tilted her face up, and smiling, gave he peck on the lips. "I'm sorry, I'm just excited."
"So am I," she said frustrated, and then blushed. "I mean…"
He kissed her explanation away.
Slowly she pulled away, stroking his face. "Tell me about what happened?"
"Are you sure?" he asked softly. "It can wait…"
It was her turn to kiss his words away and then she settled her head next to his on the pillow. "Really. I want to hear it."
He smiled. "Okay…"
