Aftermath and College
by Bwriter
Chapter fifteen
[reviews]
Chapter fifteen
Everyone had their eyes clued to Buffy, which is why they missed Jonny pulling out his gun and aiming.
Willow jumped when she saw Buffy crumble to the ground, Faith, who was the fastest, reached the fallen Slayer first and saw tow darts embedded in her neck.
"What the fuck?"
Mike and Tom both rounded on Jonny, who raised his head defiantly.
"It needed to be done."
Tom punched him once, watching with delight as blood spurted from his nose.
"She was fine, she would have been fine. She was worse than this the other night. You jumped the gun. Literally. If you do something like that again, we'll be posting you back to England in a coffin."
Tom back away, but Faith grabbed Jonny before he could move.
"What did you do to her?" For the first time since meeting her, Jonny was aware that he was dealing with a Slayer.
"It was just a dart. She'll be fine by tomorrow night."
"Dart?" Everyone turned to see Willow kneeling by the unconscious Buffy.
Tom shuffled his feet before meeting her eyes.
"Stun dart, it releases a toxin into her blood, it shouldn't knock her out, just restrain her enough to get her to safety. Jonny upped the dose, which is why she's sleeping now."
Willow nodded her head and turned her attention back to Buffy. Raising her hand, she rested it against the Slayer's cheek.
Looking up, Willow meet Jonny's eyes.
"I really don't like you." The look in her eyes unnerved the English man, though he didn't show it.
Jonny watched as Mike picked up Buffy, only to have her taken off him by Faith.
He really hadn't wanted to do what he did, but Buffy was to far gone, in his opinion, to drag herself back.
"Where to? Giles?"
Tom shook his head no.
"She'll be fine, just needs to rest. Take her home, we'll be there anyway. Just in case."
Joyce had arranged for them all to stay in the house. Tom had the guest room, while Jonny and Mike were sharing the basement.
Willow walked with Faith, one hand holding onto one of Buffy's, her thumb drawing small circles n the patch of skin it rested on.
"She was amazing tonight."
Willow turned to gaze at Faith.
"Yeah she really was."
"If I was to go, do you think I could fight like that?" Faith sounded curious.
"Sure, I mean, why wouldn't you? Your both Slayer's."
Faith looked at the girl she held in her arms.
"Yeah, but B was always THE Slayer, you know."
Willow stopped them and gave Faith her full attention.
"Faith, your every bit the Slayer Buffy is, well was since this new version came back from England."
Faith resumed walking and looked at Willow from the corner of her eye.
"You don't sound too happy about that."
Willow avoided her and glanced behind them to where the guys were.
"I'm glad she's home."
Faith waited for more, but none came,
"But?"
Willow looked up and the night sky before looking at the sleeping Buffy.
"I just wish she was the old Buffy." My Buffy she added silently.
Faith stopped walking this time and turned her body to face Willow, holding Buffy between them like a shield.
"She is the same Willow. You have just refused to see it."
Whether she was answering the spoken or unspoken words from Willow, she answered both in one go.
She carried on walking, leaving Willow standing there, hearing the mewl of protest from Buffy at the loss of contact with Willow.
---------------------------------------------------------
A month had passed and Faith was leaving for England in a few days. Tuesday to be exact. The council had wanted her to go sooner, but she kept putting it off, not wanting to leave her friends.
"B, I don't know how you pulled this off."
Buffy turned quizzical eyes on her sister Slayer.
"Huh?"
Faith rolled her eyes and punched the vamp she was currently fighting.
"When you left? How did you handle it? I'm stressing over leaving you guys, and I'm not even fucking any of you."
"Faith. It was a little more than fucking. And it was easy. It came down to the choice between being the best Slayer I could be and keeping the people I love safe, or staying and getting myself and the others killed. Which would you pick?"
Faith dusted her vamp and watched as Buffy toyed with hers. She rarely took the time to play with the vamps anymore, but tonight, she was.
"I've been thinking-"
"Always a bad thing Faith."
"-we should all do something before I go. Maybe this Saturday."
Buffy finally staked her bloodied and broken punch bag and turned to fully face Faith.
"Sure, sounds good. What did you have in mind?"
Faith shrugged. She knew exactly what was going to happen.
"Bronze then back to mine for a party?"
So it was agreed, and that was how Faith found herself standing in the kitchen getting drinks for everyone.
"Okay, Will here is your coke, Xander, Tom and Buffy, your beers, Anya your wine and my JDs."
They were all sitting in various seats about the living room of Willow's parents house. Faith hadn't moved into the dorms, she couldn't afford it, and she was glad now as she was transferring to an English school for however long it was going to take to become 'super Slayer'. It had taken Buffy two years, god knew how long it would take her.
"So, what do you guys want to do?" Faith asked as she looked at her friends.
Xander was vetoed for his strip poker idea, even though Faith was interested. She had something else in mind.
"Okay then, how about a game of truth or dare?"
Tom groaned and flopped back. He had said yes to going to the party, now he wished he had stayed with Mike and Jonny at the bar.
"Faith, that is a kissing game. Those never go well."
She stuck her tongue out at him and motioned with her eyes towards Buffy, then Willow.
"So then how about truth or consequences? No dares in that game, but forfeits if you can't answer the question." what she didn't tell them, was that a forfeit was a dare in essence.
So it was decided. Faith found two dice and each rolled them. Xander got the highest score, so he got to ask a question first. He looked damn right evil and Faith noticed.
"Oh, I forgot to mention, once a question is asked, no matter who its asked too, everyone has to take a turn answering it."
Everyone smirked when Xander groaned and watched as he thought of a new question before his eyes lit up.
"Faith. What age did you loose your virginity at?"
Faith shrugged at him. "Thirteen."
"What?" Buffy looked over in shock. When she was thirteen, she had been getting into makeup sure, but having sex, no way.
"I don't have to explain, he just asked for age." Faith looked smug and waited for the others to answer.
"Fifteen." Tom gave his first when it looked like no-one else was going to.
"Seventeen." This came from Xander.
"Fourteen." Anya got some raised eyebrows. "What? I grew up as a human over 1100 years ago. Things were done differently back then."
"Seventeen." Willow and Buffy said theirs at the same time, which worked out considering they lost theirs at the same time too.
It was Faith's turn to ask the question and she looked at each person before her eyes lit on Anya.
"What's your biggest fear?"
Anya looked at Xander before looking back at Faith.
"It used to be bunnies, now its that something bad will happen to Xander."
The man in question wrapped his arms around his lover and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"Snakes." Again, Tom answered first.
"The world ending." Xander pulled Anya tighter to him and she smiled up at him before snuggling in.
Willow watched with a heavy heart and her eyes sought Buffy's only to find she was looking at her fingers as if they contained the knowledge of the lost world.
"B, your up."
Buffy looked up at each of her friends before her eyes landed on Willow's.
"My biggest fear? I'm a Slayer, I have loads."
Faith saw the way Buffy's eyes skirted over to Willow before moving away again.
"Spill."
Buffy's eyes flashed at her, but she nodded her head resigned.
"That I could end up hurting someone I loved."
Willow flinched and Buffy saw. She had ended up hurting someone she loved, but emotionally instead of physically.
"Will? Your turn."
Willow shifted in her seat and avoided everyone's eyes.
"Frogs." She was lying, and Buffy knew it. But she also knew that she was the only one who knew it.
They had been playing for an hour when Faith pulled out the big guns.
"Buffy. Describe the first time you fell in love."
If Buffy's eyes had been knives, Faith would be dead. She really didn't want to think about any of this. It was bringing back feelings that had never left her to begin with, and it was tearing her heart apart to not have Willow.
Willow's eyes widened. Buffy had already told her this, it was the first time they had a sleepover at the Slayer's house.
//Buffy turned over in bed, opening her eyes to see a pillow or red hair. Lifting a hand, she brushed some of it back to see Willow's face.
Looking at her sleeping, listening as she mumbled, Buffy felt something for her best friend. Something that she knew was going to change their relationship, for better or worse she didn't know.//
She didn't want that memory shared with everyone. That was between her and Buffy.
Buffy looked up to the ceiling then down to Faith, who for some reason looked smug. Does she want me in pain? Is that it? Buffy shook the thoughts from her head, knowing that Faith would never hurt her like that, or so she hoped anyway.
"No."
Willow wanted to smile in relied, instead she let out a sigh which Buffy heard and her eyes flickered over to Willow's before landing on Faith's.
Faith's eyes narrowed. "Why not?"
Buffy shrugged her shoulders. "Because, its private. What's my consequence?"
Faith's eyes narrowed as she thought of something that would rile up both Buffy and Willow, hopefully getting the latter to realise that not being with Buffy was stupid.
"Kiss Anya for a full minute, and I mean a full kiss, tongues, teeth and lips."
Buffy's jaw dropped and her head swivelled around to see how Anya was taking this.
Anya smiled and beckoned her over. She wasn't stupid, she knew what Faith was up to.
"But... Xander, a little help here." Buffy begged him with her eyes, but he was a male, and offering her no help.
Willow lowered her own eyes so she wouldn't have to watch as Buffy got up and covered the distance between herself and Anya. She wouldn't have to watch as the lips she longed to taste again kissed the lips of her best friends girlfriend. She wouldn't have to watched as the girl she loved above everything else, kissed someone else in front of her as her heart slowly broke.
That's when it hit Willow. It must have been that way for Buffy when she was with Kim. And she was damned if she was going to have to go through that when Buffy eventually found someone else to love.
Standing up, she interrupted Buffy's slow walk over to Anya, and dragged her by the arm out into the kitchen and away from prying eyes.
Buffy followed, wondering what was going on when she found herself pinned to the refrigerator and being kissed by Willow as if there was no tomorrow.
Pulling her head back, she attempted to speak, only to be dragged back into the kiss by the redhead.
Tongues twirled, teeth nipped and mouths caressed.
Buffy's arms wrapped around Willow and pulled her in closer before she broke the kiss again, this time not letting Willow distract her.
"Oh God... as much as I want this, do you? Why now?"
Willow moved her mouth to Buffy's neck, knowing what a sensitive spot it was for the Slayer. She was rewarded with a low moan of approval.
"Even just thinking about you kissing Anya made me sick."
Buffy pulled back and stepped away from Willow, who suddenly wondered if she had done the right thing. She knew Buffy loved her, but did Buffy want her?
"So, that just now, was because you were jealous?" If that was the only reason Willow suddenly wanted her, Buffy knew she wouldn't be able to hold back the tears, even if she got a happy feeling knowing that Willow was jealous.
Willow's eyes widened and she pulled Buffy back to her, forgetting her own worry in favour for the Slayer's.
"No, it made me realise what I would be missing, what you must have gone through to see me kissing Kim. It made me realise, that when it boils right down to it, nothing else matters other than that I want you, and that I love you."
The last word was barely out of her mouth when Buffy pulled her closer and kissed her, pouring all her love into it.
Neither saw the brunette Slayer poking her head around the kitchen door, nor did they see the rest of the gang follow suit, or the smiles on their faces.
They both knew that this didn't make things right between them, but it was a good start.
Tbc...