MORNING TENSIONS (OR - I THINK IT HAS TO BE EXACTLY LIKE
THIS)
"Spike." Buffy had brought him up to speed on his prodigy. The thing of it was,
he really didn't care. Spike was the least of everyone's problems. "I really don't have time
for this."
"Oh you don't? I was just out for a drink, saw you, figured I'd pay you a visit. We
hardly ever talk anymore. I wait and wait…nothing. So you'll make time." Angel stood
calmly, his hands cupped in front of him, as Spike walked around the mansion, looking at
the walls.
"How far do you think you'll get?"
"I'll get far enough. Might even take a slayer or two with me. But as long as we're
playing question and answer, Mr. Detective, how far do you think you'll get? You know,
seeing as you're still Buffy-whipped."
"You wanna go there, fine with me. Because we both know if Dru walked in right
now, you'd do anything she asked. Isn't that right?"
Spike shook his head, and forced a laugh. "Know what I remember about this
place?"
"What's that?"
"Taking a crowbar to the back of your bloody head!" Spike ran at him, his
vampire visage surfacing along the way.
Angel sidestepped a little, and caught Spike's arm. He flipped him onto his back.
"That's why you fail, Spike. Never brave enough to set out on your own. Always
gotta take orders from somebody."
Spike got back to his feet in one quick motion, and kicked his leg up, connecting
with Angel's face. His sire was somewhat taken by surprise. "They say it's never too late
to turn your un-life around. How do you know I'm not just building my strength up and
then leaving this sodding town?" He punched Angel successively in the face, and swept
his legs.
Angel shot up as fast as he had fallen, grabbed Spike by the shirt, and shoved him
against the fireplace. Two sets of gleaming yellow eyes stared at one another now, fangs
and all. He brought his knee up into Spike's gut, and let him slide down to the floor.
"I don't. And I don't care."
"That was always the problem. You were never there for me when I was growing
up."
"Let's make up for lost time then."
As Angel reached down to grab him, Spike moved out of the way, his
supernatural speed allowing him to be behind Angel before he knew it. Spike wrapped
his arm around Angel's throat.
"Sure thing, Daddy."
***
When they woke up, well there was no clock so they weren't really sure, but they
knew it was early. Faith was not only surprised that she was still lying next to Buffy, but
that she also didn't want to move. It was certainly one of the more unique experiences
she'd had, in more ways then one. She was trying to place what she was feeling. God, was
it happiness? The thing that stuck out the most was the most shocking.
It had *meant* something. It had meant…a lot.
When she felt Buffy's arm tighten around her, she found herself helping by
moving in closer to her. Her memories apparently hadn't scared Buffy off, and she was
glad for that. Seeing Buffy's was a shock. She wasn't going to mention what she saw,
because there was no need to. She understood, and she knew Buffy did too. The only
thing she wanted to know was why it happened.
"Morning." Buffy said in the middle of a yawn.
"Is it?"
"Who knows? Just seemed like the right thing to say." She was quiet for a few
seconds. "So…um…was I okay…last night?"
"Huh?"
"It was…my first…time with..." Buffy said slowly.
Faith was trying to find a word. "Coulda fooled me. It was amazing, B."
"Really?"
"Swear. How'd I rate on the Summers Intimacy Meter?"
"You really wanna know?" Buffy grinned and kissed Faith. "On a scale from
'You're done already?' to 'I can see stars'…well, I think I saw a couple different solar
systems."
"Way to boost a girl's ego."
"Only yours. But that was…"
"Something else. Those flashes…"
Buffy was quiet for a moment, thinking. "The bond…"
Faith sat up slightly, and Buffy moved back with her. "What bond?"
"I asked Giles awhile ago about some stuff. He said that slayers all have the
potential to form a bond. I think we did."
"So we're what? Connected?"
"I think so. In a way. I mean, how could we see what we saw if we weren't?"
Faith grabbed Buffy's hand under the sheets. "Cool."
Buffy smiled. "Yeah, it is."
"I just hope that memory thing doesn't happen every time. Was pretty intense."
She felt Buffy nod against her shoulder.
"We'll just have to see."
"Are you -?"
Buffy giggled. "No! I'm still recovering."
There was a knock at the door, then, and both girls took a deep breath. One of
them had to get up. Faith eventually got up slowly, wrapping a sheet around her. She
grinned at Buffy before walking to the door, and leaned down to give her a rather
passionate kiss.
"Keep recovering. I got it."
Buffy, despite the goofy smile she had, rolled her eyes playfully. Her partner
certainly had cocky confidence in herself and her abilities. And Buffy could testify first-
hand that the confidence was well founded. She loved it.
She heard Faith open the door. "Who is it?"
Faith had paled. "Uh…hey, Mrs. S."
***
Giles came downstairs with a blanket and covered the two young wiccans who
were curled up together, asleep, against the side the left side of his couch. Wesley was
huddled over Willow's laptop, looking at the coding for the virus.
"I think they overworked themselves." Giles commented.
"Yes, but I believe it was worth it. She certainly has an talent for this kind of
thing." Wesley said.
"And may I ask…how do you understand any of that?" Giles asked, pulling up a
chair.
"Willow has almost completed it, I'm just trying to fill in the holes. It's actually
really quite simple," Wesley looked down at an open notebook beside the computer,
"when it's already prewritten, of course."
Giles smirked. "Of course."
"What time is it?"
Giles glanced at his clock. "Ah…6:15."
"Thankfully, working for Angel has permanently adjusted my internal clock."
"Speaking of, how's Cordelia?"
"Cordelia." Wesley smiled. "But…changed. She's matured."
"I'm trying to picture it…"
"Believe me, I'm proud to call her my colleague, and my friend."
"So she's back in LA right now?"
"No…um…she talked Angel into some vacation time while we were here. She
said she was going to one of the islands."
"He's a lax employer, then?"
"He's forceful when necessary."
***
Angel brought his arms forward, then slammed them back, elbowing Spike in the
chest. The blonde vampire staggered backwards, losing his grip. Angel grabbed him by
the back of his jacket, and tossed him across the room and into a wall. Spike fell, and
Angel was standing overtop of him within seconds. They were a couple feet away from
the entrance to the garden.
"Sun's coming up."
Spike glanced over and saw chains lying in a pile a few feet away from him.
"How about that? It is."
He brought his arm up and gave a pretty hard shot to Angel's groin. The older
vampire fell to his knees, and Spike quickly and swiftly grabbed the chains. He raised
them up, and swung them down, connecting with Angel's head. Again. And again.
His forehead was bleeding, and Spike kept at it. Finally, Angel caught the chain,
stood up with it in hand, and fighting against Spike, wrapped it around his neck,
squeezing as hard as he could.
Angel led them both out into the garden, and let Spike drop to the ground. He
kicked him in the ribs repeatedly, his demon side enjoying it immensely. He really hated
Spike.
"Come on, finish the job."
"If that's what you want."
A stake shot out from a mechanism on Angel's wrist, and grabbed it, preferring to
do it the old fashioned way. He lowered himself down, putting his knee on Spike's legs,
so he couldn't get up, and raised the stake.
***
Xander was awoken rather early, too early for his liking, but his Initiative pager,
which asked him to report to base immediately.
"Just remember why you're doing this," He reminded himself, "to help your
friends. To make up for your mistakes. Of which there were many."
He got to the complex around five minutes later and changed into uniform to find
only Graham awaiting him in the main room. The man looked a little ragged around the
eyes. And a little stressed out. Xander guessed he hadn't slept much.
"Where are the others?" Xander asked, looking around.
"I needed to just talk to you."
"About?"
"Well, I've made a mistake. This whole operation has made a mistake, and I don't
deny that."
"Adam and Riley."
Graham nodded. "But we've spent so much time looking for Adam, and now that
we have, we're not sure how to take him out. Riley too. That's the curse of the military I
guess. Shortsightedness."
"You're saying that the scientist guys haven't been working on it?"
"They don't want to destroy them, they just want to capture and fix them. I…I'm a
soldier. The only reason I'm in charge is because my two previous commanders are dead.
I ordered Riley's upgrade, because I didn't think he deserved to go out like that. But I
didn't know what I was asking for. I just want these 'things' gone."
Xander thought Graham was being a little too open, but he could hear the honesty
in his voice. "So what do you think I can do?"
"We've been keeping tabs on your friends, and we know they have or are close to,
creating a virus to kill our two escapees. I want you to get it from them. Storming the
cave would be useless without a way to disable them."
And there was the catch. "You want me to steal it from them?"
"We want the same thing they do."
"Then why not let them handle it?"
"Because the soldiers are military property, and we handle our own problems."
"How do I know you're gonna destroy them and not just -"
"I'm giving you an order, do you have a problem with that?"
"No. No sir."
"I'm authorizing any means necessary. Arm yourself."
"Yes sir."
Xander walked off feeling very worried. As he went out of view, the lead scientist
came out of a side room and walked up to Graham.
"You pulled that off nicely. I doubt you would have gotten his cooperation if you
had told him we didn't plan to destroy them. Despite the threat to his life if he refused."
"I've learned that sometimes, to get the job done, lying is a necessary evil."
Graham walked away, and paying no attention to the consequences of what he was going
to bring on himself, let a small smile creep onto his face. "Even when risking what you've
built your life around."
***
"Mom?" Buffy called a bit too loudly from her spot in the bed.
The two, silent females in the next room heard frantic fumbling and noises for
about two minutes, until eventually, Buffy emerged from the bedroom, fully dressed.
Though it was obvious it had been a rushed job.
"You know I think I'll just…" Faith trailed off. This was not making a good
impression on the still stoic Joyce.
"Get dressed?" Buffy offered quickly.
"Right. Gotta look decent. It's always my first priority. Uh…usually." Faith was
grasping at really thin straws, and she knew it. Shutting her mouth before she made
things worse, she slowly backed up into the bedroom.
"So…mom," Buffy began, clapping her hands together, "do you wanna sit
down?" Joyce shook her head. "Okay, no sitting. Say, what time is it?"
"Past six." Joyce finally spoke.
"In the morning? You're here kinda early."
"I've been thinking about it all night. I figured the earlier we talked the better. I
was obviously wrong."
"Don't suppose it was going to be a good talk."
"It was looking that way."
"Looking?" Buffy took a breath. "I know…I mean what really bad timing, huh?
Wow… uh…but we could still…talk."
"I don't think that's a very good idea right now."
"But I'm all for talking. Faith too. Right?"
"Totally." Faith called out.
"So how do you wanna handle this, mom? Cause one of us is avoiding. We could
get it all out right now. Like a Band-Aid. Once and we'd be done."
"I…I have to go." Joyce said, and then walked out.
"Guess that's not an option." Buffy said rubbing her hands over her face.
Faith emerged from the bedroom. "So what's the deal?"
"Who knows?" Buffy responded, frustration evident in her voice.
***
Spike reached out his arm, feeling along the ground for anything to keep him
undead for another day. He was coming up empty, and wished he were somewhere else.
He went toe to toe with his sire, but that wasn't good enough. It needed to either be a
mutual draw, or he had to win.
He felt like he was dislocating his shoulder, but he eventually felt something.
Something sharp. Not caring what it was, he grabbed it with his fingers, and swiped
Angel's face. A second later, all he knew was that the weight was off, and he was able to
move again. He saw that he had a shard of glass. Looking over at his fallen enemy, he
grinned and through it to the ground.
Angel hissed; the side of his face was cut. He watched Spike take off as his face
shifted back to human form. He got up slowly, and walked back into the mansion before
he started getting really bad sunburn.
After a few minutes of trying to stick it out, his body registered the pain, even
though the cuts would probably be gone within the next half-hour. It was a good thing he
had brought his personal first aid kit in from the car, though he just needed to clean the
blood away. Now, if he could find it…
Then he heard footsteps even the mansion. It wasn't Spike, because he could smell
the warm blood. He looked around, and his eyes finally settled on Joyce.
"It is you." Joyce stated.
"I'm here to help Buffy and Faith fight," He caught the faraway look on her face,
"but I'll be gone as soon as it's safe."
"I didn't mean…oh I don't know what I mean anymore."
"What are you doing out this way?"
"I was driving. And thinking. I ended up here and saw Spike running. I figured
the only reason he would be here is because of you, and it looks like you two were
fighting." Joyce said in a disparaging tone.
For a second, Angel almost felt guilty about fighting for his life. "It's goes back a
long time with us. You didn't happen to see a first aid kit around here, did you?"
Joyce looked. "Yes. It's sitting on this trunk against the wall."
"Would you mind -?"
"Not at all." She went to grab it.
"Can I ask what's bothering you?"
"Well…Buffy always said you were a good listener." She handed him the kit, and
he nodded gratefully. "Do you know about -?"
"Faith?"
"You're good at that. So," Joyce cleared her throat, "I'm trying to decide what's
more dangerous for her. Dating a vampire, no offense," Angel simply waited, "or…"
"Dating Faith? Or dating a girl?"
"Should it make a difference?"
"Absolutely." Angel said, taking a rag and cleaning the blood off his face. "Faith
is not the same person she was. She was able to stop herself before it got any worse. I
only wish I could have done that."
"She stopped because…"
"Because she found love, and was able to finally realize it."
"With my daughter."
"Is that so hard to believe? The fact that she told you means she wants you to still
be involved in her life. You're luckier then most."
"Am I? Because it seems like just when I'm about to come to terms with one
thing, something else comes up."
"That's her life on a daily basis. She understands it's complicated for you, but for
her, this is nothing compared to some of the other things she has to deal with. A lot of
people connect for a lot of different reasons, Joyce."
"Like the two of you." He nodded. "You seem very accepting."
"I'm two-hundred and forty six. I've been denied happiness for most of those
years. But just because I'm not allowed to have it doesn't mean I don't want anybody else
to. We would've never been truly happy. And Buffy and Faith deserve to have that
chance. It may last, it may not, but it's not my place to stand in the way."
"Do you think they will?"
"As long as they want it, and there are no curses involved." Angel said in a rather
deadpan manner.
"Thank you, Angel. I think I'll try...and talk to them again." Joyce said, beginning
to leave.
"Your welcome. Would you tell her that Adam is in a cave deep in Breaker's
Woods? It's important. She'll know what it means."
"Of course."
***
Tara and Willow awoke almost simultaneously, to find themselves in a "couch
and blanket" position. Not an uncomfortable one, but they knew they hadn't been like this
the night before.
"Hmm…Giles'…couch…blanket…" Willow trailed off as she saw Wesley and
Giles moving about the house. Tara arched her neck too. "And Giles and Wesley…able
to see us…how…"
They both threw the blanket off, and sat up nervously and quickly. They had
nothing to hide, sure, but it was still a really…intimate position. Wesley saw them awake,
and walked over.
"Good morning, girls."
"Wesley...hey…hi…morning…" They stuttered.
"I believe Giles is making eggs. Would you be interested?"
"Do you like eggs, Tara?" Willow asked.
"Yeah…love eggs…good…"
"Hey! Me too! We're egg lovers. Gotta love eggs. Yum."
"So that's a yes, then?" Wesley asked.
"You betcha."
Wesley started to go tell Giles, and then stopped. "Oh…I…completed the code
you left out last night, though I'm not positive it's all correct…"
"Oh great! We'll check it."
As the girls got up to walk over to the laptop, they didn't notice Xander peaking in
the window. It took them about two minutes to scan Wesley's work, well it took Willow
that long, and it all appeared to be correct. Pulling a floppy disk out of her case, she
inserted it into her drive, and saved the virus to it.
"It's all done. Nice goin', Wesley." Willow congratulated him.
He blushed in the kitchen.
"So now what?" Tara asked.
"Well…we can't exactly test this, so the next move is to get it into Adam and hope
it works. If it does, it'll weaken his structure, first the hardware, which should send,
mixed signals to his brain, and he won't be so unkillable anymore. Plus he won't be very
coordinated. Same for Riley. Hopefully."
"Cool." Tara gave her a quick kiss.
Xander moved away from the window.
***
"Feel like going out?" Buffy asked. Faith shrugged. "Me either. Shadow
puppets?"
"I don't think there's enough light."
"Oh. Yeah."
Buffy and Faith had been staring at the walls for about an hour, so they were
pretty excited when there was a knock at the door. What had happened with Joyce had
been bothering them a lot, and they couldn't really find the energy to do much of
anything. They both went to the door, and Buffy opened it. Buffy smiled when she saw
who it was, and Faith smiled too. Although a bit more nervously.
"Mom. Hi."
"Can we try this again?"
"Sure…come in."
When Joyce entered, Faith shut the door, and they went back to the couch.
***
Spike entered the cave, a smile on his face. Adam stood looking at Riley, who had
his eyes closed.
"I think I'm ready, I got one up on my maker, and I gotta tell ya, I'm feeling really
good about myself. Think it's time to launch an offensive. Take care of the slayers once
and for all…"
Riley's eyes snapped open, and a disk ejected from his built in drive.
"He's finished." Adam spoke.
"Wonderful." Spike commented dryly.
"You are free, brother."
Riley blinked, trying to get his bearings. He looked at his hands, as his memories
came back. The emotions were kicking in at full blast. A drawback to being an updated
version that just had its memory unlocked.
"Oh God…Buffy…"