Impressionable Sorrows
by DawnBTVS
Part VII: Tests and Reviews
[reviews]
I wake up with a start, sitting on the couch at home, or well, the Summers home at least. I look around, groggy, and confused. I notice Tara watching me, a slight smile playing on her lips.
"H-hey. Joyce is f-fine, that is, the o-operation went fine. We took her home this m-morning. We, that is, Dawn and I, gave you some s-sleeping pills. They k-knocked you out," she adds, a sheepish grin now on her face. I'm a little dazed, but I manage to smile at her.
"Explains the headache," I joke, but I don't think it comes off that well as Tara rushes to my side. Great going Faith, make a cute girl anxious about your health. "I'm fine, really, just give me a couple minutes to get the dizziness out of my system," I reply, waving my hand to ward her off. She nods her head and backs up a couple feet. I stood up, woozy, the room finally coming back into focus from the sea. Of course, there were no life vests to toss, so the sea analogy was pretty poor in retrospect. Tara steps back concern still on her face. Just then, Buffy and Willow appear in the living room, all dressed. I look around, grabbing a pair of black jeans and tugging them on. It's then that I realize I was only wearing a bra and panties. Shit. Tara seems to be coming on to me. Hell, maybe she's just acting as a concerned friend. Not that it's a bad thing, I think. I'm not sure if I can do this deep relationship stuff just yet. I grab a black top, toss it on, pick up my black jacket, and turn. "Where to?" I ask, grinning.
~~~BTVS~~~
"Hello, Faith," says an unmistakable voice. I freeze in the door. Fuck me. I walk down slowly, keeping my eyes locked on Quentin Travers the whole time. He just smiles at me, more like smirks, the smug bastard.
"What are you doing here?" I growl. Buffy is tense as well. I'm scared that they've come to take me away. I can't blame B's need to sprint either. Quentin's fucked with her a lot in the past.
"We're here to test you. We have some information on Glory, but we want to make sure that you're both adequately responsible to handle such information," Quentin says. I glare at him, hard. His goons now step up, threatening to stop me.
"What if we don't?" asks Buffy, now her arms are crossed in front of her chest. Willow, Giles, Xander, Tara, and Anya are standing behind us.
"We'll send Rupert back to England and revoke his card. We'll close down the Magic Box. We'll send you two new Watchers, and keep the information to ourselves," Quentin says, smirking the whole time. I growl, clenching my fists.
"What first?" I snap. Quentin grins.
"Now, now, Faith. No need to be snippy. First, we want to interview you both, and your friends. We hear that you still take civilians out on patrol," Quentin says. I snort derisively.
"Civilians? If they're civilians, than you guys are infants," I retort. Quentin glares, as Buffy places a hand on my shoulder to calm me. I turn, and glare at her, but she shakes her head, and glances at Giles. I follow her gaze and sigh.
"Well, let's start now then. We'll take you two at a time. You can remain here, Buffy and Faith," Quentin says, as the other Watchers start separating the group. Xander and Anya stay together, as do Willow and Tara. I glare at Quentin as Buffy takes a seat next to me.
"I already know your names, so we can skip that. Tell me, what do you know about this Key?" Quentin asks. I shoot a glance at Buffy, unsure of how to answer.
"We know that Glory's looking for it. That's all we've figured out though," Buffy answers. I nod my head.
"Hey, I just got here a couple weeks ago, Quentin. I'm more out of the loop than they are," I say, off Quentin's glare at me. It's a lie of course. I think I've been here almost a month now, wow. How time flies huh? He jots down some stuff, but I can't see what he's writing.
"I understand that you've fought Glory twice now. What do you think she is?" asks Quentin, now eyeing Buffy hard. Buffy just stares right back, all icy and shit.
"You obviously know what she is. Why does it matter? You want to see how close I get? Fine...oh! She's clearly a hamster," Buffy sarcastically responds. I snicker, and cover my mouth to stifle my laugh. Quentin sighs and glares at both of us.
"I can understand your resistance. I will not tolerate your rudeness. Next time either of you comment like that; we're gone so I suggest you be respectful. Have you patrolled since you've returned?" Quentin asks. I nod my head. He keeps looking at me. I roll my eyes now.
"I killed a couple vamps," I say, not bothering to elaborate. I give him a look asking him what else he wants. He ignores it, jotting stuff down again.
"What have you been up to since you were released, Faith?" Quentin asks. I smirk.
"Helping Angel up in L.A. I came across B and Red, and joined them back home," I reply. He nods his head, unhappy at what I've been doing. I scowl. You dumb fucker. You clearly don't understand how hard this is for me. I'm busting my ass here, trying to fix my life, avenge my wrong doings, and you question my actions? I so must kill you someday.
"That'll be all for now. We'll move to the back room where we can begin the physical activities," Quentin says. I grin. Good, physicality. I can totally handle that. We get up and follow Quentin into the back room. Quentin grabs me by the shoulders. I start to glare. He pulls me into the middle of the room, onto the blue mats. He pulls a blindfold over my eyes. "You are to protect the dummy. Phillip will be attacking it. I will be calling out what you are to do. Are we clear?" he asks.
"Clear as crystal," I reply, thinking this will be really easy. Fatal last words...or thoughts as Quentin suddenly begins speaking a foreign language. I frown, and then suddenly get worried.
"Huh? U-uh, whoa, guys," I mutter, now frantic.
"Bow, Faith," Giles says. I bow, to whom I think is Phillip, but I can't see a fucking thing. I feel Phillip inching to my left, as Quentin shouts out another word. "Erm, palm strike," Giles says, as I palm strike...and connect with nothing. Now I'm getting pissed off.
"Thanks, Giles," I snap.
"Sorry," he mutters in response. Suddenly, Phillip catches me in the face with a hard right as Quentin shouts out another word. I let out a loud growl.
"I'm doing it my way," I snarl. I stand still, following Phillip. He swings an object at me, and I duck it. He swings it overhead, and I block it with both wrists. I kick him hard in the stomach, sending him stumbling backwards into the horse vault. I feel the weapon in my hand. Axe, nice. I throw it at Phillip, and hear a scream. I instantly lift my blindfold, worried that I just killed Phillip.
"Oh..." I mutter, in disgust. Phillip is rising, clutching his rib. The axe is stuck in the wall now, still twanging. Buffy smirks at me, and I smirk back.
"I'd just do what Faith did..." Buffy says, in a calm tone. Quentin nods his head.
"Well, I don't think we need to do anymore physical exercises. I do, however, want to convene tonight at seven PM sharp. We will examine your strategies for fighting Glory, and what makes your brains tick," says Quentin. I wince, and see Buffy closing her eyes. She clearly doesn't like the mental stuff either. The Watchers now sidle out of the room.
~~~BTVS~~~
Red, Tara, Xander, and Anya were all seated on the second floor of books. I had stayed in the Magic Box the whole day. I mostly chilled, and worked out a bit in the back room. I was seated in front of Quentin. Giles was busy pacing. I look around, wondering where the hell B is. Just then, the door is shoved open, and Buffy comes walking in with a sword.
"Nice piece, B," I say, grinning. It looks pretty fucking heavy duty too. Giles has to let me wield it sometime. Buffy just places the sword on the table and glares at Quentin.
"No review. No interrogation. No questions you know we can't answer. No hoops, no jumps, and no interruptions," Buffy says, and she's pissed off. I just watch her and keep my mouth closed. "I had a lot of people lining up to tell me how unimportant I am lately. I've finally figured out why. Power. I have it. They don't and it bothers them. Glory...came to my home today," Buffy says. I panic.
"B-," I start, but she just holds up a hand to quiet me.
"Just to chat. She threatened me. Told me how she could kill me in a matter of seconds. She didn't though. She came into my home, and we talked. She needs something from me. I have power over her. You're Watchers. Faith and I are your road to executing the information you have. Without us, you just have a nice stack of sheets. So, here's how it's going to work. You're going to tell us everything you know. After doing so, you're all going to leave. You'll contact us if, and when; you have any additional information on Glory. The Magic Box will remain open. Giles will stay here as our official Watcher. He will be paid, retroactively from the month he was fired, at full salary. We will continue with the help of my friends-" Buffy says, and gets interrupted. I flinch. Whoever interrupted, really shouldn't have. I also caught Buffy saying her friends. That stings, but what am I gonna do about it?
"Your civilians have no powers," the voice says. Buffy grabs the sword, and flings it. I hear a startled gasp from behind me and snicker.
"I'm fairly sure I said no interruptions. You're talking about two powerful witches, a Watcher, a thousand year old ex-demon, and a boy who has clocked more field time than all of you combined. They all accomplished this, without the aid of controlled fields as well. Do we understand each other, Quentin?" Buffy asks, in a syrupy sweet voice. I cover my mouth with my hand, stifling my laughter. This is just fabulous to watch. The Council are getting their asses handed to them.
"Your terms are acceptable," Quentin says, softly. He looks shocked. I want to hug Buffy right now, but manage to contain my enthusiasm. I hear the gang cheering and applauding though. I can feel the grin splitting my face. Man, it feels good.
"So, what type of demon is Glory?" I ask, tired of staying silent. All eyes focus on Quentin.
"Well, Glory isn't a demon. She's a Goddess," Quentin says. I see Buffy's eyes widen. I can hear the gasps coming from the gang. I think I heard Giles faint. A Goddess huh? This should make for an exciting year.