Chapter Eleven

“C’mon B, get the lead out.” She hates when I say that. I can tell ‘cause she just gave me ‘I hate you’ face. Heh. Never thought that would amuse me more than scare me. Buffy slings a bag over her shoulder and tosses me another. Jesus, it weighs a fuckin’ ton. “Holy crap…what’s in here?”

“Just the essentials. Crossbows, short swords, some crosses, three or four bricks, a block of gold, and the kitchen sink.” Ha ha. Very fuckin’ funny. I give her a look before heftin’ the bag. “Wuss. That’s the light one.” No it’s not. I know it an’ she knows it. That’s why Buffy’s grinnin’ at me the way she is right now. Tryin’ ta be cute.

“I’m so your bitch aren’t I?” Her grin gets wider at that. I sigh heavily. That’s…I don’t even know what that is. I just know that it’s not a bad thing. Not entirely.

“Only if you want to be.” Hrm. Well she’s got a point. But I’m never gonna openly say I wanna be anyone’s bitch. Instead I just roll my eyes an’ give her a nudge toward Xander an’ Willow. “Okay we’re ready.” Xander just looks at the bags an’ shakes his head. “What?” I bite my lip ta keep from laughin’ at her indignant little squawk.

“Nothing. Nothing at all Buff. So. Giles wants us to drop in to Vliegenbos Park. There’s no campers this time of year and it’s only about ten minutes from downtown.” Sounds like a good place ta land. “While you two check things out I’m going to meet up with the recon team at our command center. Hopefully they have more than just a general area to concentrate on.”

I nod at that ‘cause that would have been how I planned it out too. “So what about the magic part? Ya comin’ with us Red?” She gives me a slow shake of her head before tossin’ a me a soft white glowin’ orb. I catch it at the last minute an’ look at it. Huh.

“No can do Faith. I need to be here to lead the coven so we can break the enchantment on you.” I thought that’d all be dealt with when we killed ‘em. My brows come up at that. “That little baby will keep you and Buffy safe from any kind of magical interference while you’re fighting though. Kind of a mini Willow.” Heh. Mini Willow. Why do I keep seein’ a lil redheaded, pig tailed, bookworm in my mind? I give a nod and tuck the orb safely in ta my pocket.

“Cool. I got Red in my pocket.” I give it a pat an’ smirk at her blush. She’s so fuckin’ easy. Buffy chuckles softly an’ pokes me in the back ta get me movin’. “Alright alright, Tiny Wonder. Stop with the pokin’.”

“So not what you said last night.” Guh. Xander coughs an’ okay maybe I do go a lil red in the face. For about three seconds before I smirk.

“I don’t remember sayin’ much, what with my mouth full an’ all.” Heh. She goes a much deeper red than Willow could manage. Buffy glares a little at my smug look before eyein’ me up real good. My body temperature rises a few degrees just from that look alone an’ I grunt.

“Mm. We’ll see who’s got a mouthful of whom after the bet.” Holy crap. I’ve never wanted to lose a bet so badly before. Or ya know. Ever. I’m thinkin’ I might be in a lil bit of trouble here. “Cat got your tongue?”

Fuck no. I laugh at that and snake an’ arm around her waist to pull her roughly to me. Hey? Gotta hold on ta somethin’ right? “Big talk from such a small girl.” That makes her laugh and pull my head down for a deep kiss. Well. If I didn’t wanna fuck her before I sure as hell do now. Christ on a stick…where the fuck did she learn ta kiss like this? My hands grip her small waist and the bag drops from my shoulder with a heavy thud.

“Oh for heaven’s sake will you two stop that!” Fuck. We pull apart with matchin’ guilty looks. Giles is rubbin’ the hell out of those glasses. “It’s getting to be impossible to wander the castle without the two of you demonstrating your need to fondle and grope publicly. We have work to do. I trust you can behave yourselves appropriately.”

“Sorry Giles.” Yeah. Not me. Buffy can say sorry all she wants. I just rock on my heels with a shit eatin’ grin on. “Okay boys and girls. Lets get this show on the road before Giles has a coronary.”

“Yes lets.” I hafta smile at G. He’s takin’ it like a trooper. “You all have your duties?” I nod at him an’ take my spot next ta Xander an’ Buffy in the circle taped on the floor. Why is there tape on the floor? I barely have time to think about that before we’re sucked in to space. No. Really. That’s what it’s like.

We land on hard packed dirt an’ scrub grass. Well. Buffy and I land. Xander just kinda drops on his ass. I help haul him up to his feet with a chuckle. “You okay Xand?”

“Me? Yeah. I’m good. I’m great. I’m…gonna be sick.” Buffy winces as he rushes off to the nearest hedge to chuck in.

“So…we’ll meet up with you later?” All we get in response is more pukin’ sounds. Okay I’m outta here. “You think he’s going to be alright Faith?” We’re nearly far enough away that I don’t hear him anymore.

“Who Xander? I pity the person or thing that tries ta fuck with him.”

“Well he has gotten way better at fighting.” Um. I smirk at B. “Right. You think he’ll just vomit on whoever messes with him.” Yep. And believe me…it works. Even demons don’t wanna get puked on. It’s fuckin’ nasty. “Huh. I guess that’d work just as well.” Yep. I sling my arm around her shoulders as we walk.

“Where do you wanna start?”

“Recon report shows some activity around the Nicolaas church. We can start there.” Okay that’s not so bad. We can hop a cab I think. Better’n walkin’. “I’m thinking we check out the church then find some food. I’m starting to get hungry which means you’re probably starving.” What? I got a bottomless pit for a stomach? I give B a mild glare that she laughs at. Yep. I’m so her bitch.

I knew I should have layered up. I shiver as another stiff breeze cuts through my clothes and bites at my skin. I’m glad that we didn’t walk all the way to the church but it doesn’t stop me from wishing we were inside somewhere warm right now. “Well that was a bust, now I’m not just hungry, I’m cold too.” And we have zip to go on for the moment.

“Seems kinda impossible for there to be no trace of any magic all of a sudden. Don’cha think?” Yeah. I think. I think I’m really tired of this whole thing. I want it over with already so I can get back to enjoying my time with Faith. Where ever that happens to take us. I was serious when I told her I’d go anywhere she wanted to go. “I don’t know about you but I’m not about ta go hoofin’ all over this damn city.”

Yeah. I’m pretty much with her on that. “What do you have in mind?”

I watch Faith take her cell phone out and dial. “Hey. Red. Listen we’re not pickin’ up jack out here.” I wait for a few seconds with a smile on my face. I love watching her take charge like this. “This doohickey ya gave us. How’s it work exactly?” You know…I’ve had my fair share of bad guys gone good but no one ever gets me going like she does. I think it’s the combination of badass and smarts. “Yeah? Anyway to make that work for us?”

And when she smiles, like she is now…well…pretty much I get tingly in my pants. God, she’s beautiful. I wait for her to hang up before leaning against her back for warmth. And because I just want to. “So what’s the word, Bird?”

“The word is fuck, B. How many times I gotta tell ya that?” Ha ha. Everything is about the fuck word. I roll my eyes at that and snort. “She said she needs ten minutes to make some mojo happen.” I nod against her shoulder and smile when her hands come up to find me and pull me towards her chest where it is infinitely warmer. Ahhhhh. Feels good. “You cold?”

Not with her warm breath against my face and her arms wrapped around me. “Was.” Now I’m just fine. Or I would be if Faith didn’t just pull away fromme to take off her jacket. “You’re going to get cold you know.”

She gives me a sardonic look before tucking me in to a cocoon of warmth and Faith. I’m so tempted to mention the way she’s treating me but I don’t want to make her gun shy. So I stand around patiently while she ties her scarf around my neck and pulls up the collar of her jacket around my neck. We’re so close that I can see the soft skin of her neck flush with color as her body starts compensating for the lack of coat.

I’d do anything for her. I’d give anything for her. My hands rest lightly on Faith’s chest and I look up at her. It’s never been like this before. We never gave it the chance to be this way before. And I’m never going to let things go back to that place. Never. Which is why I rock up on my toes and plant a soft kiss on her lips. It’s not long and definitely not the kind of kiss we were sharing before we got here. But there’s a heat in it regardless. “Got you here. I’m never gonna be cold again.” Faith tweaks my nose playfully and digs around in the inner pocket of her jacket.

Willow’s orb pulses faintly in her hand and she gives a nod. “Is it time?”

“One way ta find out girlfriend.” She opens her fingers and lets the orb lift a few inches.

“Now what?”

“Now we follow the leader.” Sounds good to me. I lace my fingers in hers and follow the bouncing light just ahead of us. I don’t know how we’d have gotten away with that in broad daylight but I guess it doesn’t really matter. Still. I’m keeping my eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. In fact I’m so intent on what I’m doing that I don’t even notice the lights changing around us. Until now of course.

“Um…Faith?” She grunts. “Is it me or are the lights around here, I don’t know, decidedly red?”

“Yep.”

“We’re in the red light district aren’t we?” As if I need to ask. We just passed a window where a woman in lingerie was doing things to herself that shouldn’t be done in a window facing the street.

“Yep.” I knew it.

“This was all part of your plan to bring me to the sex district wasn’t it?” This time she laughs. It’s a nice sound and I like hearing it.

“Yeah B, I had the bastards move shop just ta get ya all horned up. Psh.” Oh I can see that offends her just a little.

“Don’t tell me I just bruised your ego.” Faith cuts her eyes to me but she doesn’t turn her head. I think I got under her skin just a little.

“Trust me Buffy. I don’t needa parade half naked women around ya just ta get ya wet.” Oh she doesn’t? I slow my walk as the orb stutters and weaves like it’s confused.

“Oh really now. And what exactly do you need to get me wet?” Why on God’s green earth did I just ask her that question? Faith turns to me with the most serious expression I’ve ever seen on anyone’s face.

“Leather and eyeliner. C’mon I think it’s got somethin’.”

I’m going to kick her ass. Right after I kick the ass of every one of those bastards that are messing with her. And then I’m going to fuck her. Repeatedly. And then…

“Now’s not the time ta be thinkin’ about fuckin’. It’s kinda distractin’.”

“I wasn’t!” Faith turns to give me a look that clearly says she doesn’t believe that for one second. “Okay a little. What? You’ve been thinking about sex with me for years. I can’t think about sex with you for five minutes?” She just laughs and I just follow her along like a puppy. Jesus.

“I take it back. You can think about me an’ sex anytime you want baby.” Damn skippy.

“Good. ‘Cause I’m thinking about it right now. Now move. I want to get this over and get home already.”

“You an’ me both.”