Chapter 61 - The Departure (part one)
The Following Night. FPOV
Red got here about five seconds ago. She called about an hour ago sayin that she got most of this dream shit figured out. She wouldn’t give anything away over the phone, which is frustrating as hell. The only thing we could think of was that it was gonna be really bad news, but now she’s here, and she seems really…enthused, I guess is the right word. Whatever it is she has to tell us she’s excited about it, so it can’t be all bad news. Sky’s with her and looking a little anxious. The whole scene is pretty fuckin weird. Willow’s carrying this funky wooden box, with these weird symbols carved all over it. The thing reeks of power, and it’s making me a little nervous. I’m not the only one, the dogs are a little weary too. I’m sure if the kids were up they’d be able to feel it too, but they went to bed a couple hours ago.
“Before you start explain,” I say as we sit down at the kitchen table. “This shit doesn’t have to do with a prophecy, right?” Willow shakes her head no so I let out a little breath of relief. Prophecies are generally harder to deal with and take longer to stop, if they can be stopped. There are something you just can’t change. My leg is shakin a little bit ‘cause I’m pretty fuckin nervous. I want to hurry up and get this over with. I want to know what’s going on with my baby girl. She puts the box down on the table, and I look at it. The power feels almost magnetic. I want to open the box and see what’s inside. But I know better. You don’t mess around with weird, mystical boxes. I learned that from Pandora’s lesson. “So what the fuck is goin on?” Red looks like she’s gonna piss herself so she’s excited. So I wanna know why.
“Let me start by saying that Addison isn’t a Seer, or prophetic in any way. She doesn’t have the ability to see into the future, and I highly doubt she ever will.” Ok, so that’s good news, I guess. That means all of this shit is going to stop, and what she saw were really dreams. Right? “This is going to seem pointless.” She looks into my eyes when she says this. “But, please no interruptions.” I nod my head a little and she continues. “When I did the spell that called all of the slayers the essence of the slayer was split into thousands of little pieces. The other slayers in the world are real slayers, but it’s diluted, it isn’t pure.” And why do we need to know this shit? “The of you are pure because you were chosen by natural selection.” She pauses and I can tell she’s trying to find an easier way to explain it.
“Addison...is the true essence of the first slayer. It’s stronger in her then it is in anyone else in the world, even you two. Unless you two have another girl the essence will never be this strong again. Because of how powerful it is she’s connected to every slayer in the world. The dreams she’s been having really did happen. She saw them while they were happening, there’s nothing we could have done to stop the murders because we didn’t know.” Doesn’t stop me from feeling a little guilty, and even more pissed off. My baby girl saw real murders, and all of those girls were slayers? “Now she doesn’t see every death. The reason she’s been having these dreams is because of what happened right before the girls were killed.” Willow picks up her bag off the floor and pulls out a bunch of newspaper clippers. She hands them over and they’re articles about all of the bodies that have been found. According to this the crimes have been committed by a serial killer the media has dubbed ‘the C-Town strangler’.
“But you said you saw a man kill that girl, Will. No normal person can hurt a slayer unless she lets them, let alone kill her. Is he a god or something?” B asks and hands the clippings back to Willow. She doesn’t want to see the pictures. I got a good look at them, and now I feel sick to my stomach. All of the bodies had been found without their organs, and the girls had been strangled to death, other then that there seem to be no connections between the murders. Other then the fact that all of these girls were slayers. “Can you cut to the chase, Will. Not that I don’t how much effort you’ve obviously put into this, but I already have a headache.” Leave it up to Buffy to make me smile in the mist of all this grim bullshit.
“Alright, cut to the chase. The serial killer isn’t a god, he’s a warlock. He casts a spell to strip the girl of her slayer powers and then he kills her.” Oh. So what the fuck does that have to do with Addy? “Addison is seeing all of this because she’s connected to the essence of the slayer in every girl around the world. He’s taking away the slayer, and she’s seeing it because of the sheer mystical force of it. If the warlock wasn’t taking away their power, then Addison wouldn’t be seeing it, we wouldn’t even know that it’s one person doing this, we all would’ve thought they were dieing in the line of duty.” She has a point, but I still hate that Addy had to go through all of this shit. I look at the box again and I’m about to ask what it’s for, but then I decide not to. I think I’d rather wait until she’s ready to explain it. Knowing Red she’ll wanna cast some spell on my baby, and I’m gonna be really reluctant.
“So who’s committing the murders?” B asks the million dollar question. He’s committing crimes against slayers, which makes this our territory. So yes Red, who is this fuckin prick that I’m gonna hunt down and kill with my bare hands? I guess Willow picked up on my thoughts ‘cause she went a little pale and she’s giving me a funny look. She also doesn’t wanna say who it is, but she’s going to. She knows who it is, and I know she knows who it is. And she knows, that I know that she knows who it is. So she’s going to say, even if I have to force it outta her. She licks her lips and shifts in her chair. She looks a little scared now, but she’s controlling it. Sky gets all protective of her, and puts a hand on Red’s lower back, and gives me a little glare that means ‘back the fuck off’. I guess she hear my mind babble too.
“A warlock named Ryder. His father used to work for the Council. He was supposed to follow in his father’s footsteps, but then Caleb blew it up. What he destroyed was the Watcher’s Council, but they had people working for them, special operation, covert type people, and their headquarters aren’t anywhere near the Watcher’s Council HQ. His father was one of the men on the retrieval team that was sent to Sunnydale after you woke up from your coma.” Red looks at me, but I have no fuckin clue what she’s talking about. “He dealt with...what did Giles call it?...Oh, the ‘wet works’.” Oh, now I remember. Well, I remember being in Buffy’s body and glad that she was getting shipped off to England and not me. “I remember, Buffy, you telling me how one of the guys spit in your face, said that you had perverted the Watcher’s Council.” That really happened? That asshole would’ve spit in my face? Can’t say that I didn’t deserve it, but still.
“I guess his son thinks the same thing. I went back to my roots and hacked into his hard drive. He’s been talking back and forth through e-mails with some other people, other members of the special operations unit, for the last few years. They all moved on, and told him to do the same, but he said he couldn’t, that he had to continue his father’s work. He talked about trying to rebuild the Watcher’s Council to the way it used to be, and then he just disappeared. About three weeks later is when the first killing happened, over a year ago.” She pulls out a file out of her bag. It’s a personal file of one of the slayers that went to the slayer school. “Her name was Gina Cole. We thought it was some type of demon that killed her, because all the organs were gone, and her body was completely mutilated. Some species of demons will keep the organs for rituals and that sort of thing.” Gross.
“I have a team of girls out tracking him right now. The magic’s professor cast a protection spell over them so no magic can be cast on them. When they catch Ryder, they’re going to take him back to the school and he’ll be locked up in a magic free room until we can figure out what to do with him. Once he’s caught he won’t be able to cast that spell anymore, and the nightmares will go away. And don’t worry, I’ll make it so he can never cast a spell again.” I really don’t like that look she’s getting in her eyes right now, so I’m not gonna say anything. I really want to go to Ohio and beat the shit outta that guy, but at the same time I just want to get back to normal. He’s caused so much shit in our lives. I look back to the box on the table. Willow has her hand on top of it, like she’s expecting me to reach over and take it from her or something. Yeah right, like I’d ever do that...while she’s looking in my direction.
“So, what’s with the magic box?” B asks in a very curious voice. What’s that saying about curiosity and a cat? Curiosity helped the cat live a longer life? No, it’s the exact opposite of that. She better be careful or her snooping might get her hurt. I’m only saying that because the box is kinda freaking me out, and I’d rather just have it gone then find out what it does. Willow looks down at it for a few seconds and she’s deep in thought. Then she looks over at Sky and the younger slayer gets a little nervous. She tenses up and cast a glance at the box, and then back to Willow. Hmm, I wonder what that’s all about? I guess we’re gonna find out.
“Well, I want to make one hundred percent sure that I’m right about this. Addison hasn’t had any dreams about any other slayers dieing, so I’m pretty sure I’m right. But I want to rule out any doubt. So I was going to take the slayer essence away from Sky, temporarily, and see if Addison dreams it.” So she wants to use Sky as a guinea pig, and she actually agreed to it? Fuck, Willow must be dynamite in the sack to get someone to agree to that shit. “Hey!” Both Red and Sky yell out at the same time. “And yes I am.” She smiles that little smile where the tip of her tongue sticks out between her teeth, and Sky gives me a little nod and wink. Buffy looks thoroughly confused but I think she’d rather stay in the dark on this one. “Anyway, if you two don’t mine we’d like to try it out.” All I do is nod. I really need a cigarette.
“If it’s the only way to know one hundred percent,” Buffy says and then goes quiet. She’s feeling uneasy about this too. It isn’t just the spell that bugging me or the powerful, magnetic feel from that damn box. It’s what Willow’s about to do. She’s about to take away what Sky really is. Or at least a huge chunk of her. It isn’t right, and I’d rather her not do it but if it’s the only way to find out for sure if this is why my baby keeps seeing horrible murders then I’ll let her do it. She picks up the box and we head into the living room. She and Sky sit down on the floor across from each other Indian style, and Sky looks wicked nervous. Willow is the definition of calm, and I guess seein her calm is helpin Sky relax, ‘cause she doesn’t look as nervous now. She reaches over and opens up the box. Why do I have a bad feeling about this?
BPOV
Everything that Willow said was a big shock, and I’m still not totally over it. I mean, my daughter is connected to every slayer in the world, that’s pretty huge. From what Willow said I’m guessing Addison can be trained or whatever to use the connection to feel the other slayers’ emotions and stuff like that. The reason why the murders are happening was another huge surprise. Someone is trying to restore the old Council, so he’s killing off innocent girls while they’re completely helpless? I feel all sorts of emotions right now that it’s all a little overwhelming. Guilt is a big one. I can’t help but think that if we were there in Ohio, if we hadn’t abandoned the girls after the school was first set up, then maybe these deaths wouldn’t have happened. Maybe a lot of other deaths wouldn’t have happened. I know that it’s not our fault, I know that us being there wouldn’t have made a difference but I can’t help but feel that way.
But I need to stay focused on what’s happening right now. Faith I sit down on the couch and watch the little exchange going on with the witches. Well, the witch and the witch-slayer hybrid. I can tell just by their facial expressions that they’re communicating telepathically. I’m sure if I concentrated hard enough I’d be able to intercept the conversation, but I think it would be best if I gave them their privacy. And by the look on Willow’s face I don’t think I want to know what they’re talking about. Probably something dirty. Anyway, when they’re done with the little exchange of silent words, Willow reaches over and slowly opens the box. The almost magnetic pull that the box has on me doubles and I hold onto Faith’s hand because it’s making me nervous, and I need to feel her to stay calm. She gently squeezes my hand so I know that not only is she here for me, but she’s feeling it too.
Willow starts to chant in a language I’ve never heard before. A lot of things happen at once that kind of freak me out, and put me even more on edge. The first thing to happen is the dogs are freaking out. Tucker is running in circles and barking, and snarling. The only time I’ve ever seen him act this way was in Ohio when Angel came to visit me. Then the lights start flickering which just adds to the whole creepy aspect of what’s happening. I feel Faith wrap her arm around my lower back, and her hand rests on my hip. Aww, she’s being protective. Even with all this weird, and stressful stuff happening I still think that’s adorable. Anyway, getting back to the point. Now the room is filling with tension. It’s coming mostly from me and Faith, but it’s almost palpable. The air feels thick, and I’m having a difficult time breathing.
But we both stay quiet and we keep watching. I can’t take my eyes off of Sky, and it’s not because I think she’s hot. She looks ill, like someone is draining the life out of her. She has sweat slowly dripping from her hairline, and she’s shaking. As the tension in the room grows Willow’s voice gets louder. The volume seems to have an effect on Sky, and her entire body is tensing up. Then a black cloud starts to snake its way out of her chest. It swirls around in small circles and makes its way over to the box sitting next to Willow. I don’t know how long it takes, but the more of the black smoke that comes out of Sky the weaker she looks. Until it’s finally over, and she collapses onto her back. She’s breathing hard, and sweating like she ran a marathon. Willow seems to come out of a trance and she’s instantly at Sky’s side.
So this is what that man has been doing to the girls. Casting a spell, making them weak and helpless, and then killing them in cold blood because he has an agenda? He honestly thinks that his way is better? That a slayer needs to be controlled by a group of people, then used mercilessly until she dies? I feel a little nauseous now but I bite it back. I watch as Willow gently caresses Sky’s cheek and helps her to her feet. They walk over to the loveseat and sit down. Sky still looks really weak, but she’s getting a little better. The color in her face is starting to come back. I know just by the way she’s touching me that Faith’s upset, and I mean really upset by this. I am too, but for some reason it’s effecting her more. Maybe it’s because what the Council wanted to do to her. They were willing to just kill her like an animal. Of course she didn’t know any of it until I told her because of the body switch.
I get up and check on Addison. The whole point of doing that was to see if my baby girl would dream about it. I slowly open her bedroom door and step inside. I sit down on the edge of her bed and just watch her. I know it seems a little creepy, but I feel like I need to just watch. She’s laying on her side facing me. Her hair is an awful mess and I’m going to have a hell of a time brushing it out in the morning. Her eyebrows are furrowed, and she has a little frown on her face. She whines a little in her sleep, and moves around. Now she’s laying on her back, one little hand is resting on her stomach, the other is on her forehead and it makes me smile because she does that whenever she wants to be really dramatic about something. I reach over and gently shake her shoulder so I can wake her up. It takes a few minutes, but then she slowly opens her eyes and looks at me.
“Hi baby,” I whisper and gently caress her forehead and stroke her hair. She feels a little warm, but she always does after she has one of those dreams. Before I thought it was just her body’s reactions to the nightmares, but now I think it’s because of the magic involved. She shifts around a little bit and gets a little more comfortable. She’s laying on her side again, still looking up at me and I feel bad for waking her up. “Did you have another dream?” She nods her head a little bit but she doesn’t say anything. She yawns very widely and rubs her eyes. I hope she’ll be able to go back to sleep after this. “Did you see the bad man?” She shakes her head no and I sigh a small breath of relief. “Did you see aunt Willow, and Sky?” She nods her head yes and yawns again. I lean forward and give her a kiss on the forehead. “Go back to sleep, angel girl.” I get up to leave, but stop at the door. When I turn around to tell her I love her, she’s already asleep again.
It’s going to be over soon. The nightmares, the bedwetting, the screaming, the waking up at two in the morning in complete terror, all of it. As soon as this monster is caught Addison won’t have to deal with any of this anymore. She can go back to dreaming of pony filled meadows, with rivers of chocolate, and purple bunnies hopping around without a care in the world. Or whatever it is four-year-old girls usually dream about. The benefits about all this ending isn’t just for Addison, me and Faith have some too. We won’t feel helpless that someone is hurting our baby girl and we can’t stop it. We won’t have to stress about waking up at two in the morning to a screaming, panicking kid, or have to wash off her dirty bed sheets everyday. We’ll finally be able to get some sleep, and relax, and not feel like we failed as parents. Parents are supposed to protect their children, and with this guy hurting her without us knowing how to stop it we felt like we weren’t doing our jobs.
“Red, I don’t have time to talk this out, just take me there,” I hear Faith say in a very irritated voice when I walk back into the living room. All three of them are standing up, Sky still looks weak but she’s trying to hide it and not doing a very good job. Faith is irritated as hell, and Willow looks a little annoyed. I ask what’s going on and Faith turns to look at me. Her dark eyes are burning with anger, and determination and just by looking into those chocolate browns I know exactly what’s going on. “I need to get to Ohio, but your friend won’t teleport me there.” Whenever Faith gets really irritated with someone she disassociates herself from them. Like whenever Addison argues with Faith and she doesn’t want to deal with it she’ll tell me ‘your daughter is being a pain in the ass’.
“Faith, you’re not listening to what I’m saying. It’s too dangerous, you’re not used to teleporting, or having that much magic in your body. As soon as we get there you could collapse, your heart could stop, or you could just die. It’s not a good idea.” She’s concerned for Faith, that’s why she’s arguing. She knows exactly why my stubborn wife wants to go to Cleveland, and she’s not ignoring that fact. “I know you want to be there. I know you want to catch this guy, but I have a team of the best slayers on it. They’re protected from the magics so they can hunt this guy without him turning the tables around on them. You should stay here, with your family, and help Addison move on from this.” Faith shakes her head a little bit, and I know she’s going to argue some more. She doesn’t just want to be there, she needs to be there. She needs to see the monster who’s killed who knows how many girl, and who hurt our baby. I know, because I feel the need too.
“Will you should take her.” My best friend looks at me with wide eyes. I guess she thought I was going to be on her side. “I know it’s dangerous, but if I can survive it, and Dawn can survive it, then so can Faith.” She nods her head a little bit and looks away from me. She doesn’t like to remember that horrible time in Sunnydale when Tara was shot, and she tried to kill all of us. But I know I’m right about this. Willow’s just coming up with excuses because she doesn’t think it’s a good idea for Faith to be near this guy. She might kill him, we’re all aware, but I can’t say that I wouldn’t do the same. He needs to be taken to the police after Willow does a binding spell. She can do one powerful enough to last two lifetimes, and her magic is strong enough that only she can undo the spell.
“Ok. But you’re only going to catch this guy. I’m going to do a biding spell, then we’re going to turn him in.” She sounds very stern, and I have to bite back a smile. She’s going to make a good mom one day. Faith nods her head a little bit, but I know she doesn’t mean it. She won’t kill him, but she’ll hurt him bad enough that he’ll probably beg for death. I ask Willow if she’s going to put the slayer back in Sky and she gets a little sheepish. “Not right now. That’s a little more painful then taking it out.” I nod my head a little bit, and look over at Sky. She doesn’t look weak anymore. She’s recovered from the spell, but she looks nervous, and I know exactly how she feels. When Giles gave me those drugs to suppress my slayer powers I felt weak, and helpless, and I was on edge because I couldn’t protect myself.
“Be careful, ok?” I tell Faith and she wraps her arms around me. I nuzzle her neck a little bit and she just holds me. I feel so safe in her arms, I always have. “Don’t do anything stupid. I want this guy to pay as much as you do, but don’t you dare do anything that’ll take you away from us.” I feel her nod her head and she knows I mean it. We pull away from the hug at the same time and she kisses me. I don’t know how long she’s going to be gone. They don’t know where he lives, and they don’t know when he’s going to try and kill another girl. She could be gone for a few hours, or a few days, maybe even a couple of weeks. I hope she’s back soon though because I’ll miss her too much. Now that this is finally going to be over I just want to spend time with my entire family.
“I love you,” I whisper and gently caress her face. She says it back and gives me another little kiss. Then she walks over to Willow and they hold hands. The air in the room gets thick again, and white light starts to spark in between them. Then with a little puff of smoke they’re both gone. I look over at Sky and she gives me a small smile, but I can tell she’s worried. We go into the kitchen and make some coffee. We sit down at the table and we’re both quiet. It isn’t awkward like I thought it was going to be. We’re both lost in our own thoughts, and I guess we’re too preoccupied to worry about an awkward silence. I just hope Faith is going to be ok. She can get reckless when she lets her emotions get the best of her. She’s very…passionate about almost everything she does, and I think this time she might be a little too passionate. God, please let her be ok.
Chapter 62: The Anticlimactic Capture (part two)
The Same Night. FPOV
“I love you too,” I tell her and give her another little kiss. She’s upset that I’m leaving, but she understands why I have to go. I need to bring this monster in. I need to know what he looks like. I need to look him in the eyes and see if there’s any humanity left inside of him. When the kiss ends I look into her eyes and silently promise her to bring this asshole down. I’m supposed to protect this family, and I haven’t been doing a very good job of it. I let go of her and walk over to Willow. She holds out her hands and I take them without question. I look into her eyes and I feel the air around us getting thicker. I can’t look away from her eyes, it’s like I have tunnel vision or I’m in a trance or something.
Then I feel like an electrical jolt just hit me in the chest, but I can’t move, and it doesn’t go away. It’s like a steady current passing from Red’s body to mine. The power keeps building, and building and I know something’s gotta give. There’s no way we can keeps this up without one of us getting killed or at least hurt. I can see the tiny drops of sweat sliding their way between Willow’s eyes. The firm look of concentration keeps me calm and I don’t panic, or try to pull away from her. In the background I hear something pop, and now I feel like I’m spinning. Very slowly, but still spinning and my stomach feels like it just dropped to my feet. The current flowing between us tightens around my chest like a rope and I can’t breathe. I have a feeling that Willow is doing this on purpose, making this experience as horrible as possible so I’ll never want to do it again.
The spinning suddenly stops, and my feet unexpectantly touch something solid and I fall down. I hear gasps and the sounds of chairs scraping across a wooden floor. People are crowding around me but I want some room to breathe. I can Willow telling them to back off, that I’ll be fine when I get some air, but her voice sounds muffled. Maybe ‘cause it sounds like my heart decided to relocate to my ears. God, that fuckin sucked. I’d rather take a plane back and feel jetlagged then go through that shit again. I slowly flutter my eyes open, and when my head stops feeling like it’s going to explode I keep ‘em open. From this angel I’d say I’m laying on the floor of Giles’ office, and from the smell of tea and scotch and I know I’m right. I start to sit up and that’s when the nausea comes back.
“Oh my God, are you alright? You have us totally freaking out over here,” an unfamiliar voice assaults my ears, and the pain causes me to wince hella fuckin loud. I get to my feet and then collapse in the big leather chair that Giles sits in. I guess he left or something ‘cause he’s not in the room anymore. Who is in the room are four girls that I’ve never seen before. They look like they’re freshmen, maybe sophomores, and probably not used to people just showing up like that. Well, they live on a hellmouth they should learn to expect the unexpected. The one problem with that little saying that no one has been able to explain to me is: if something is unexpected, then how can you expect it?
“I’ll be alright. Just gimme a few minutes a little pepto and I’ll be as good as new.” I look at the four slayers sitting on the other side of the desk and they all look a little freaked out. But they’ll be fine, the shock is already starting to wear off. “So, why are you four in Giles’ office at…” I look over at the clock and sigh a little bit. “Three in the morning?” What time was it when we left the house? How long did it take us to get here? Oh, wait. Three hour time difference between Lincoln and here. Forgot all about that. Before they can answer Giles comes runnin into the room with a bottle of Pepto-Bismol. He hands it to Red, and she takes a big swig of it before putting the cap back on and tossing it to me. While I down the entire fuckin bottle I watch Giles give me a disapproving look, and I highly doubt it’s for taking more then the recommended dose.
“You girls can go back to your rooms, but this is not going to be forgotten,” he says and motions for me to get up. I roll my eyes, toss the empty bottle in the trash and stand next to Willow. He sits down in his chair all dramatic like, and takes a sip of his tea. The four girls get up and leave the room, and look relieved. So they were in trouble, huh? Wonder what they did to get them in trouble at three in the morning? They were still in their pajamas for Christ sake. Oh well, not my problem. “You should go back to Lincoln, we’re handling the situation. There’s no need for you to get involved.” No need for me to get involved. When did Giles start smoking crack? I think we need to send him to rehab immediately, or at least hold an intervention.
“Were you even gonna tell us?” I ask and sit down in one of the empty chairs. “Girls are being slaughtered by some serial killing freak, and you didn’t think me and B would want to help out?” He takes another sip of his tea, then sets the cup down on the little saucer thingy. He takes off his glasses and starts cleaning them while he talks. Normally I think all of his little habits are kinda funny, and nice to see because it means that not everything in our lives has totally changed, but sometimes Giles annoys the hell outta me. Right now is one of those times.
“If the situation escalated and we couldn’t bring Ryder in on our own then I would have asked you for assistance. You and Buffy have made it perfectly clear that you want very little to do with the school and the goings on, on this hellmouth.” Oh fuck that. He is so not blaming this on us. He left us out of something important that we would want to know about. He knows that all he has to do is ask for help and we’ll drop whatever we’re doing and get on the first plane to Cleveland. We may not want to move here or ‘take an active roll’ like he wants us to, but there’s no fuckin way he’s gonna make me feel any guiltier about this shit.
“That’s bullshit!” I yell and slam my fist down on his desk. It cracks a little and his eyes narrow. Good, I’m glad his pissed. I hope this thing was an expensive as hell antique that can’t be found anywhere else in the world. “You know we care about the girls, that’s why Buffy came running when you needed her four years ago. Remember that? She left me, and our newborn daughter because your system was starting to fail. She came and cleaned up your mess because one girl was able to fuck it all up. Every time you’ve needed help we’ve been there, so don’t you dare act like this time would’ve been any different.” I suddenly feel very exhausted. I lean back against the cool leather of the chair and take in a deep breath.
“I didn’t mean to imply that you and Buffy don’t care about the girls. All I’m saying is that this situation is under control, and I didn’t want to bother you with something we have a handle on. We have four of the best out there now in the areas where Ryder has struck the most, and only the slayers trained enough to handle someone as dangerous as him will be leaving the grounds for any reason.” He stops talking and just looks into my eyes. We’re staring each other down, and I know I’m gonna win. Giles is used to doing stuff like this, but I’m not just some hardheaded teenager who thinks it isn’t fair she can’t go out on a Saturday night. I’m Faith, I always win the stare downs. He finally caves and I give myself an imaginary pat on the back.
“But if you feel like you can contribute instead of being at home helping your wife with your three children.” Jeez, go for the throat why don’t you? “Then I don’t see why you can’t lend a helping hand.” He opens up a drawer on his desk and pulls out a file. He opens it up and lays it out in front of me. I look down and see a picture of a girl that’s paper clipped to the folder. The paper it’s partially covering is some personal information on her. Ya know, name, age, hair color, eye color, height, names of her parents, her emergency contact information, stuff like that. Why did he give me this? “Her name is Hannah Moon. She’s a freshman, and arrived just before Christmas. She comes from a more troubled home then some of the other girls. She’s distant, a little…cold with her peers and teachers-”
“And you want me to talk to her because I’m from a broken home and maybe I can get her to open up?” I ask and he sighs at my attitude, but nods his head. “I can do that if you think it’ll help. But I want in on Ryder first.” He looks like he’s going to argue so I cut him off before he gets a word out. “He’s been stealing the girls’ slayer powers and brutally murdering them, and my daughter saw it every single time. Fuck yes this is personal, and I am going to help whether you want me to or not.” I close the folder and take it with me when I leave the room. I hope things around here haven’t changed since the last time I was here, or I might not be able to find what I’m looking for.
I walk down the halls until I pass the faculty housing area. I open the big wooden door that doesn’t have anything written on it, and I walk through. The door closes behind me with a loud slam and I walk down the dark hallway. It usually isn’t this dark at night, but some of the light bulbs need to be replaced. I walk down to the very end of the hallway and open the door on the right. The light hits my eyes and blinds me for a couple of seconds. Why do they keep these room so fucking bright? Anyway, I walk into the ‘crisis room’ where five other people are sitting at a table, going over what to do with Ryder when they bring him in. The people are all teachers, and have specialties in areas that are going to be needed when Ryder is caught.
“Didn’t expect Mr. Giles to pull out the big guns this early. Has something happened that we don’t know about?” Carolyn Bates, the head psychologist, asks and everyone instantly looks worried. I absently nod my head no, and walk further into the room. I look down on the stuff at the table. They’re maps of specific districts here in Cleveland, and there’s little red dots probably from a marker, and I can only assume that those dots represent where the bodies were found. I set the file down on the edge of the large wooden table and take a seat. I didn’t fully think this out and I’m not too sure what I want to do yet.
“No, nothing’s happened that I know of. Giles did a pretty good job of leaving me out of the loop.” I pull one of the maps closer to me and read the names of the streets. This is place is mostly industrial. Lots of warehouses and some of them are probably abandoned. “Is this were Holly was found?” I ask and look down at the little red dot. I don’t know who, but one of them says yes and they go quiet again. “Where are the girls now?” I look up at the faces looking back at me with lots of concern and they look a little reluctant to tell me. “Giles knows I’m here and he knows I’m helping out. See.” I hold up the file. “He gave this to me before I came here. So, what’s your plan?”
“The plan is to catch this monster before he kills again,” Chris Tinsdale, the head of the magical department, says and he has lots of anger in his voice. Not towards me or anything, but because this has been going on for almost a year and nobody knew it was a single person killing the girls and not demons. They couldn’t have known. The bodies were left in places where demons hunt a lot, and the organs were taken which suggests they were being taken for rituals. And the killings happened all over the city, not just one place, so that didn’t give off any signals that it was one thing doing the killing. Is that fact helping with my guilt? Fuck no. Because if I had done something sooner about Addy’s nightmares then we would have figured out what was going on a lot sooner, and maybe most of the girls would still be alive.
“We have four of the slayers who fought in ‘The Great Battle’ out looking for him. Willow put up a barrier around them so Ryder can’t perform the spell on them. They’re in these areas here.” He gets out of his chair and stands in front of a big white dry erase board and there’s a large map of Cleveland taped to it, there’s little red dots scattered all over the place, along with little blue ones. Four of the areas are circled with a black marker. “These are the areas where he’s killed the most. We’ve looked over all the information we have on him, and all of the murders he’s committed and there’s nothing that suggests a pattern. He could be anywhere, and if he isn’t caught tonight then tomorrow we’re going to send slayers to all of the areas he’s killed, and hopefully he won’t catch onto what we’re doing.”
I stare at the circle in the far right. That’s where most of the dots are. It’s a wooded area and probably where he buried most of the bodies. Why did he bury them? I don’t know, I guess I’ll have to ask when I bring him in. I look around on the other walls of the room and there are weapons everywhere. Whenever a team of slayers is put together to go on a mission they meet here or in one of the other ‘crisis rooms’ and then they head out. This section of the school has more weapons then anywhere else, and there’s enough to make up a small army. I stand up and walk by the two walls and look at every single weapon. There’s everything you can think of. Swords, crossbows, axes, hatches, stakes, javelins, knives, tranquilizer guns, and some things I don’t even know what they are, but they look pretty deadly.
“Are the girls out on foot?” I ask and grab a pair of the magically strengthened handcuffs and put ‘em in my back pocket. Part of one wall is nothing but different types of restraints that Willow made stronger. There’s ropes, chains, handcuffs, shackles, all different kinds, but I think handcuffs will work just fine. One of ‘em says yes and I smile a little bit. I already know what four girls they brought in. Kennedy, Rona, Vi and Amanda. Those are the four who are on call whenever there’s something big like this goin down. I haven’t seen Cordelia so Kennedy came here alone at the last minute. “Call ‘em, tell ‘em to come back. I’m bringing in Ryder and I don’t want anyone’s help out there, they’ll just get in my way. I’m not taking no for an answer so you might as well do it and get it over with.” I grab one of the more impressive knives off the wall and put it in it’s sheath and clip that to my belt.
I don’t wait for them to answer me or pick up the phone, I just leave. I walk out of the building and out to the garage. I walk in through the side door and flick on the light. Not all of the cars are kept in here. This is the ‘guest parking garage’. So the only things in here is two SUVs, a minivan, and Kennedy black Suzuki motorcycle. Cordelia refuses to ride on it because she thinks they’re too dangers, but Cordelia didn’t come with Kennedy so she brought this to get here faster. I smile a devilish little smile and take the keys off the hook. Normally no one is allowed out here expect for the owners of the cars, but I’m don’t really feel like following the rules right now. I push the little button that opens up the large door and walk over to the bike.
I the helmet off the handle bar and slip it on. It’s a perfect fit. I clip the little strap and slip onto the bike. I almost forgot what it’s like to sit on one of these it’s been so long since I’ve had one. I put in the key and start it up. The bike comes alive, and purrs between my legs and I remember exactly why I started riding in the first place. These things are better then any vibrator you can buy, almost better then sex itself. I turn on the headlight, kick up the kickstand, and gun it. I peel out, and I can smell the smoke behind me before the bike gains traction it needs, and it takes off. I am so getting one of these for my birthday, I don’t care what Buffy says, I miss having a bike to play with.
I go at a reasonable thirty mph until I get off the facility grounds, and then go the speed limit of the streets. No need getting pulled over when I’m carrying around a wicked huge knife and some handcuffs. ‘No officer I wasn’t about to go tie someone to a radiator in a motel room and cut them to shreds’. Yeah, ‘cause I’m sure he’ll believe me. I’m not going to do that, but I’m sure that’s what the cop will be thinking. I memorized the way to the woods back at the school so I know exactly where I’m going. As soon as I turn off the main road and onto the empty back roads I speed up until I’m going about eighty. I know it’s dangerous or whatever but I know what I’m doing. The roads aren’t wet, and I’m not emotionally impaired, so this time it’s safe.
I start to slow down when the trees get so thick it looks like there isn’t enough room to just walk into the woods. I pull over to the side of the road and get off the bike. I wheel it into the thick trees and turn it off. I put the key in my front pocket, and the helmet back on the handle bar. Hopefully, for my sake, it’ll be here when I get back. I start walking, I don’t know exactly where I’m going, but I got a gut instinct that I’m going the right way. I walk for what feels like forever, but I look down at my watch and push the little button to turn on the light and it’s only been ten minutes. I walk for another fifteen and I find what I’m looking for. It’s the real life version of what Addy and Red saw the first time Willow went into her dreams. There’s crime scene tape on the ground and a hole where the body was buried.
I stop when I see it. I don’t really know why I’m here, but I know this is the right place. I slipped that particular newspaper clipping into my pocket and the picture was taken from exactly where I’m standing, or really close to it. I put the article back and take a couple of steps forward. I feel like I’m…intruding as strange as that sounds. Like I shouldn’t be here, in the same place where a slayer was murdered, butchered, buried, and dug up. Even in death she didn’t have any peace, at least not at first. According to the article she left behind a fiancé and a three-year-old. The wedding was next month. Some people think I’m stupid because I never graduated high school, but I’m a really fast reader, always have been. And when I became a slayer my eyesight got way better and it just made it easier to memorize things.
“Interesting, isn’t it?” a voice asks, breaking the silence I was in. He’s been there the entire time. I knew he was there, and I’m sure he knows that I knew he was there. That’s probably why he didn’t attack. I look but he’s standing too far back in the dark for me to make out more then a silhouette. He has a slight British accent, and a nice voice. If we weren’t out in the middle of the woods, standing next to the spot where he murdered a young, defenseless woman I’d probably say it was soothing. “People have such a fascination with death. They think it’s immoral, such an atrocity, yet they’ll watch a two hour special on the crimes committed by the most infamous serial killers in America.” He walks closer and I don’t even blink. If he tries to use the spell I’ll kill him, and he can’t hurt me until he uses the spell so I’m safe for now.
“In a couple years when they have a special on you and they interview your neighbors what do you think they’ll say?” I ask and raise and eyebrow. “Will they tell the reporter how shocked they are because you seemed like such a sweet boy, and you were so normal?” He gets close enough for me to see him and I have to admit he’s even more handsome in person. He probably gets a lot of women. It’s a shame that someone that hot is a deranged lunatic. I’m sure if he wasn’t he’d be married to a gorgeous blonde and be making beautiful babies who’ll grow up to be models or movie stars or something.
“Maybe,” he says with a nice smiling. “One will probably complain how I was always borrowing his tools and never giving them back.” He leans up against a tree and lights a cigarette. The smoke swirls around in the air until it disappears. “So, you’re the slayer the father hated so much?” he asks as if we’re talking about the weather. It’s kind of creep how casual we’re being about all of this. I nod my head and I can feel his eyes on my body. He stops at my breasts and I subtly push them out a little more. He notices though, and chuckles a little before taking another drag. “Lucky for you.” I’m a little confused by that, I’ll admit.
“Why’s that?” I ask and lean against the nearest tree. I cross my arms over my chest and shake out my hair a little. I really want to just get this over with, but he wants to play, so I’ll go along with it for a few more minutes, or at least until he finishes his cigarette. Color me crazy but I feel like letting him do that. If this capture goes wrong I might end up killing him out of self defense, or on accident. If the man might die in a few minutes he should at least finish his cigarette.
“Because I don’t have to kill you,” he says and takes another drag. “You were naturally selected by the universe to become a slayer. You’re not one of the fakes.” He takes the last drag, drops the butt to the ground and stomps it out with the toe of his shoe. “Well, Faith, it was nice talking to you. Tell your friend Kennedy I said ‘see you soon’.” My blood starts to boil but I don’t charge at him. Over the years I’ve learned that it’s stupid to attack out of anger. So I wait until I’m calm and he turns around to walk away. I run at him and when I’m about ten feet away he turns around and holds out his hand and says some word in some language I don’t understand and a lighting bolt lookin thing flies at me. I jump outta the way but it hits the tip of my boot and I can smell the leather burn. Mother fucker, these boots are new.
“You honestly didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?” he chuckles again and smiles at me from where he’s standing. I feel a rock right next to my hand. I pick it up and quicker then the blink of an eye I throw it at him. The dumb ass doesn’t see it coming and it hits him right on the head and he drops to the ground. Well, that was very anticlimactic. Here I was thinking we were gonna have some huge battle and tear up half the forest and all it takes is a rock to bring this fucker down. I walk over to him very slowly. I’m standing on my toes, figuratively speaking, and ready to jump back if he makes any sudden movements. I kick him a couple of times, and pretty fuckin hard, just to make sure that he really is unconscious. I roll him over onto his stomach and handcuff him. I search him for weapons but I don’t find any. I guess tonight he didn’t plan on killing. I do find a cell phone and I use it to call Kennedy.
“Hello?” she sounds pretty fuckin skeptical. I am calling from the cell phone of a deranged serial murderer so I guess she should sound like that.
“Hey Ken, it’s Faith,” I tell her and scratch the back of my neck. “I’m in the wood off Baker Road where Megan O’Connor was found. I caught the prick that did it.” I pull out his pack of smokes and light one up. I pull the sweet nicotine into my lungs and almost moan at the feeling. I’ve need one of these for a long time now.
“But Willow said she brought you here by magic, how the hell did you get all the way out to Baker Road?” she sounds so fuckin confused, and wicked irritated because she already knows the answer, she just wants me to confirm it. I exhale and flick at the butt with my thumb and the ashes on the tip fall to the forest floor.
“One reason why I called you, I wanted to thank you for letting me borrow your bike. She rides like a dream.” I can almost hear the gasket in her mind explode. I smile and then take another drag while she has a fuckin hissy fit worthy of a three-year-old.
“I know she rides like a fuckin dream because I had her custom built! I spent an entire year’s salary on that bike, and I swear to God if she has any scratches or dents, or any marks at all I’m going to gut you starting at your scar!” Ouch, that was a little harsh. I laugh a little bit and all it does it make her even more pissed off. I’ve always loved making her mad. It’s so easy and surprisingly fun.
“Sorry toots, but you’ll have to get in line.” I laugh at the irritated sigh she lets out. I take another drag, drop the cigarette to the ground and stomp it out. It seems like such a shame to waste half a cigarette but I have more important things to worry about right now. “Look, the guy’s unconscious but he’ll probably be wakin up soon. I’ll be standing on the side of the road, so will you just come pick me up. I’ll drive the car back to the school so you can drive your bike.” She agrees with that plan and we say bye before hanging up. I put the phone back in Ryder’s pocket and I pick him up and toss him over my shoulder. “Well, shit head, lets get you back to the facility so we can figure out what to do with you.”
BPOV
So I got a call at seven o’ clock this morning from Faith telling me that she caught the bad guy. Ryder is now being held at the facility until Willow can get all of the magic out of his body and then they’re going to turn him over to the United States government and Ryder is going to be held in the same prison where Ethan Rayne is being kept. The downside to all of this is Faith won’t be back for a few days. She didn’t say when, all she said was ‘just a couple of days.’ I guess Giles want her to try and help some kid who isn’t doing so well at the school. I’m glad she’s trying to help, but at the same time I just want her home, you know?
I’m over at Dawn’s house right now helping her out with the boys. They’ve all finally gotten over whatever bug they had and Dawn has a bunch of housework to do. Come on, who wants to do chores when they’re sick and taking care of two sick babies? Nobody, that’s who. But I’m more then happy to do it. I have Emma watching Joseph so I can give my little nephews my full attention. I know that sounds kind of mean, but the twins aren’t exactly crawling yet, and I’m afraid that if I look away from a second then Joseph would crawl over to them and accidentally hurt one. He does love spending time with Emma. She can focus completely on him because she doesn’t have to be doing other things at the same time. Anyway, my nephews are just so damn cute. And their personalities are already very different.
Nick is probably the most affectionate seven-month-old I’ve ever seen. All he wants is to be in your arms and snuggled up against your shoulder. He’s tried cupping my breasts a couple of times, but he’s a baby and a boy that’s just something they do. He loves to play peek-a-boo and watch the jack in the box pop up over and over and over again. He can crawl a little bit but his belly doesn’t fully leave the ground. Physically he’s the bigger of the two, but only by like two pounds. He’s a little taller by about an inch, which I think is a little weird. I thought the first born out of twins is supposed to be the bigger one? Oh well, I guess it doesn’t matter. They’re both healthy and that’s all you can really hope for.
Now Alex he’s a little more laid back then Nick is. He isn’t as in your face. He likes to just sit back and watch what’s going on. He’ll let you give him affection, but when it gets to be too much he’ll whine until you put him down. His favorite toy is the blocks. He tries so hard to get them stacked just right, but he’s only seven months old so he can’t coordinate his arms that well to get them perfect. I think it’s a little sad that he’s so quiet. Ok, so I don’t think that’s sad, what’s sad is he’s so quiet and Nick is so attention hungry that it’s kind of easy to forget that Alex is there. But I make sure to pay attention to both of them equally. Physically he’s a little more developed then Nick is. He can crawl better and sit up for longer periods of time, and he can already pull himself to his feet in the crib.
All of this baby watching is making me think back to when Matthew was a little baby. Faith has really surprised me over the years, especially those first couple. I know this sounds horrible, but I kind of thought Faith might run out on us. That motherhood might be a little too overwhelming for her and she’d leave. It took Faith a while to be able to face a problem head on and not just run away, and I was really worried that she was going to revert back to her old self. But I think that was just from the pregnancy hormones. Deep down I knew she’d never leave me. It’s just amazing how happy she makes me. No one thought we were gonna last. Everyone kept telling me that she was going to break my heart, but after we were together for an entire year, and we moved into together they backed off a lot.
“Now, Nick, it’s not nice to pull your brother’s hair,” I tell him and grab onto his wrist. I guess Alex has a toy that Nick wants to play with and he isn’t willing to give it up. He tries to pull his hair again. “No.” My tone is firm but not too harsh. I pull him away from the situation and give him a different toy instead. He gets distracted with it and forgets all about whatever toy Alex is playing with. They are just so damn cute. Especially their little poofy Afros. It’s getting a little harder to tell them apart, but I can because I’m around them so much. But for strangers these boys look exactly the same. I never really thought about it before but it really must suck to be an identical twin.
“Hey, Buffy, can you come help me with this?” I hear Dawn yell from upstairs. This house is frickin huge. I can of regret not moving into it and giving her my house. It’s two story, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, the kitchen has everything a person could ever want when it comes to cook where, and her pool and way bigger then ours.
“Coming!” I call back. I look down at the boys and they’re still playing like nothing just happened. “Ok, I’ll be right back, you two don’t move ok?” I get up and set over the baby gate and head towards the stairs. When Dawn saw that we had gated off the living room so we could study without having to keep too close of an eye on Joseph she thought it was a great idea and gated off a little section of her living room. Hers is more like the playpen from the Rugrats though. It isn’t the entire living room, just a small space. Anyway, I go upstairs and stop at the landing. I have no idea where she is. “Marco!” I can almost feel her irritation grow.
“I’m in my bedroom!” Well she’s not any fun. I go into her bedroom and instantly see the problem. She was vacuuming and can’t move the settle could of the way. I only know it’s called a settle because when I called it a little couch she got really pissed off at me and lectured me on the difference between a settle and a couch. I take a good look at my sister and I really don’t like what I see. She has dark circles under her eyes, she’s lost way too much weight, and the overall vibe she gives off on an everyday basis is depression. It’s been seven months and she still hasn’t gotten over Kyle. He’s never tried to get a hold of her or anything. She ended up throwing out all of the stuff he didn’t take with him when he packed his bags. I know she still has all of his pictures, but she doesn’t keep them out. They’re in her closet I think.
“So, you need help moving the little couch?” I ask and walk further into the room. The weight loss was mostly from her being sick. She couldn’t keep anything down but water. She’s gained back a pound or two but she’s far from healthy. The other day Faith even came over and cooked her a big meal. Nothing too harsh, mostly some soups and soft breads, and things that wouldn’t be hard on her stomach. Dawn wolfed most of it down and the boys had the rest. Faith made them their own soups, but when they finished with those they were whining for more. I pick up the little couch and hold it while she vacuums the floor and when she’s done I put it back exactly where it was ‘cause I know she’ll freak out. She’s very strict about her furniture.
“You should take a break. You’ve been working for like two hours now. Come on, I’ll make some coffee or something.” She nods her head and we both go downstairs. She sits in the living room with the boys and I bring her a nice hot mug of coffee. I sit down next to her on the couch and we watch the boys play while we wait for our coffee to cool down enough to drink it without getting third degree burns. “So, Dawnie, how have you been? I mean really. No saying that you’re fine because I know you’re not.” She sighs and shifts around a little bit so she’s facing me a little more. She doesn’t look at me though, she looks down in her mug.
“It’s been hard. Really hard. And I miss him so much. I know that I need to move on but we were together for years. We were going to get married, and start a family. You don’t just get over that. I know it’s been seven months but it doesn’t seem like it. Time has just flown by so fast.” I know what she means. I take a sip of my coffee and she does the same. “It’s getting better though. I can finally make it an entire day without thinking about him. So that’s good, right?” She looks up at me with a desperate look in her eyes. I smile a little bit just to reassure her, and gently rub her on the arm.
“That’s great, sweetheart. I know you don’t want to forget him entirely, he was the love of your life, but it’ll make things easier when you stop thinking about him all the time.” I gently run my fingers through her long hair and she sighs a little bit. I know she’s probably going to get irritated by my next question but I have to ask it. I’m Buffy, I can’t just ignore a question when I have one in my head. “Have you decided whether or not you’re going to tell Michael about the boys?” She looks away from me again and I try not to sigh. “I don’t mean to be harsh, but I know you were putting it off in case Kyle came back, but sweetie, Kyle isn’t coming back. And it isn’t fair that Michael has these two beautiful baby boys and doesn’t even know about them.” She nods her head a little bit and takes another sip from her mug.
“I know. That’s why I’m going to call him soon. I’ll have to look around on the Internet or something to get a phone number, and I might need Willow to do the hacker thing if I can’t find it, but I want to tell him. He’s missed out on so much.” She looks over at her boys as they fight over a toy. I can’t help but roll my eyes. “I don’t want him to miss their first birthday. It’s going to be coming up soon.” Five months may seen like a long time, but it flies, trust me when I say it does. And I’m really glad she’s finally decided to tell him. He has a right to know, and I know she doesn’t want or need his money, but there are other ways he can help out. Every child needs a male role model in their life, and if Michael is still the same great guy that Dawn claims he is then he sounds like the perfect one. Too many kids are growing up without their dads, and it’s really sad.
“Hey Buffy?” she asks in kind of a shy tone. She wants to ask a question but she isn’t sure what my reaction is going to be. I take a sip of coffee and let out a little ‘hmmm?’ and she shifts around again. “Do you ever wonder where dad is? Like if he’s still living in Spain, or if he’s alive at all?” See what I mean? I’m very surprised that Dawn didn’t become a serial dater in high school because of the lack of a father figure. Then again, she had Xander to look up to, and Spike to look out for her, so I guess that made up for it a little. I know I need to be honest with her on this one though, even though it hurts to think about it.
“All the time.” We go quiet and just focus on the boys for a while. We’re both too lost in our own thoughts now to carry on a conversation. I do wonder about my dad a lot. One of the big things that I always think about is what would life be like now if he and my mother never got divorced? But I know how it would have turned out. The vampires would be herding up the people like cattle and putting them on a conveyor belt. If my parents never split up then we never would have moved to Sunnydale and the Master would have taken over. So part of me is a little glad that they split. Not only because I was able to stop the Master, but because when we moved the constant fighting between my mom and my dad stopped. But at the same time I just want to curl up in my daddy’s arms and have him tell me that he loves me even if it is a lie.
“Wanna help me feed the boys?” Dawn asks and puts her mug on the coffee table. I nod my head and we get and each grab a baby and go into the kitchen. We lighten our moods so they won’t pick up on them and get upset. Besides, it’s really hard to be depressed when you have one of those cute faces smiling at you. I put Alex in his highchair and Dawn does the same and then goes over to the pantry. She gets two jars of the Gerber baby foot and two spoons and hands me the ones I’ll be using today. Lets see, today Alex will be enjoying the taste of bananas. Good, nothing green. I hate the green baby food. It makes me gag whenever I feed it any baby, even mine. Especially mine because I have to clean it up afterwards.
Faith thinks it’s just so hilarious that I’m like that. The color doesn’t bother her at all. God I miss her so much. I want her to hurry up with whatever it is she’s doing and come home. I want her to hold me when we fall asleep, I want her to tell me that she loves me and she thinks I’m the most beautiful woman in the world. I just want her home. I like to think of myself as independent and I am. I can do things on my own, I’m not helpless or anything. If a job needs to be done then I can do it. But I miss my wife, and I never thought I’d ever miss her this much for just being gone for twenty-four hours. What has that woman done to me?
“Thinking about Faith again?” Dawn asks with a little smile on her face and some mischief in her tone. “Whenever you think about her you always sigh one of those ‘she’s just so dreamy’ type of sighs. You’re worst then a school girl with a crush.” I can’t believe she just said that. Alright, she started this, so I might as well finish it. I scoop up some more of the light colored food and carefully put it in Alex’s mouth. He closes his mouth around it and I pull it out and he lets out a long ‘mmmmmmm’. He is just the cutest little thing.
“Oh you mean like how you used to be with Xander?” I ask and she goes quiet. She’s pretending to ignore me. “I remember when I was trying to convince Mom to let me go patrol and you kept yelling that you didn’t need a babysitter-”
“Which I so didn’t.”
“-and when I said that Xander could watch you, you agreed to it. And what was with that dress?” I give Alex the last of what’s in the jar and give him the spoon to play with. Nick is a much slower eater then Alex is, which is a little weird considering Nick is the bigger of the two.
“I was trying to get him to notice me. I figured if I showed off my legs he’d finally see me as something more then just a kid.” I can go some many places with that sentence but she’s my little sister so I think I’ll just go with the safest one.
“You were fourteen, he was twenty. There’s no way he was going to notice you as anything more then a kid. You could have marched around the house naked and he would have just covered his eyes and told you to put some clothes on.” At least I hope so. Ok, Buffy, lets not go there because you’re just going to get yourself worked up and then be mad at Xander for something he didn’t even do.
“I don’t know, there were a couple of times I caught him looking.” She gets an evil little smile on her face and I feel my neck start to burn. Xander scammed on my baby sister when she was only fourteen? “I mean, it was when he dropped something on the ground and his eyes were down there anyway, and I subtly moved just to get his attention, but yeah, he looked.” Oh, that’s completely different. “Besides, he was just the junior high crush. I knew I wanted to be with him, but it was innocent. Trust me when I say you don’t even want to know all the things I thought about when I started crushing on Spike.” My eyes go wide and I’m in a little bit of shock.
“Ok, lets not go there.” And now it’s time to get her back. “Besides, whatever you thought of we probably did it, and so much kinkier.” Now it’s her turn to choke on nothing and get all embarrassed. But it’s true, me and Spike were pretty freaky when it came to the sex. But I don’t wanna think about that at all. It’s so far back in the past that it doesn’t even matter anymore. I’ve been with Faith forever now, and I’m very happy with our sex life. I don’t need the weird kinky stuff with her because it’s more then empty, meaningless sex. Ok, now I really can’t wait for her to get home. She is so going to love her welcome home present, that is a guarantee.
