Getting Ahead of Myself
by sailor80
Six
[reviews]
It didn't take long for Faith to catch up to Buffy. "Yo, B, what's your damage? You didn't bring any weapons." She offered Buffy a stake, which the blonde took without looking. "You tore outta the house like you were late to meet your connection. What's going on?"
"We're having a baby," Buffy said in an incredulous tone.
"Yeah, you told us last week."
"It wasn't real last week. This week, I have to start fitting Lamaze into my schedule."
"No big, we'll deal."
"It's huge." Buffy stopped. Faith stopped a step later and turned back to look at her. "We aren't even married. My daughter's going to be a bastard."
Faith burst into laughter. "Get a grip, girl. One, you can't get married. Two, your kid can't be a bastard. See one. If you need some kinda ceremony or something, talk to Tara. She'll hook you up. Now, take a deep breath and pay attention so you don't get hurt. And if you can't pay attention, go home. If I have to carry you home again, Red's gonna tan my hide, and not in a good way, all right?"
Buffy inhaled deeply, then groaned. "We have so much to do."
"We'll get it done. Right now, we have to hunt vampires."
"Or they can hunt you," a voice said from behind them.
"Excuse me, private conversation," Buffy snapped without turning around.
"We can wait." The vampire answered. "But not for long."
Faith flashed four fingers at Buffy, who nodded and whirled around. The fight was on, and lasted less than two minutes. When it finished, Buffy said to Faith, "I don't like this. We should check at home."
"No one can get in there. Blondie and Red go around every week and do some mojo."
"Humor me," Buffy demanded.
"Fine. But I thought Red was supposed to be the moody one."
"Ha ha." Buffy broke into a jog.
In the brief distance between the cemetery and home, they encountered and defeated four more small bands of vampires. After the third one, Faith agreed with Buffy that something weird was going on.
The house looked fine from the outside. Inside, they found Joyce reading while Willow and Tara watched Animal Planet.
"You're back early," Willow commented.
"Anything weird going on?" Buffy asked.
"Other than you, no." Willow answered.
Tara looked at Faith. "Why?" Faith shrugged in reply.
"No strange noises or anything?" Buffy persisted.
"No, honey, everything's fine," Joyce said.
"We're going to look around anyway," Buffy said, and headed for the back door. She called Faith to the kitchen immediately. Buffy flipped on the exterior light when Faith reached the door. Half a dozen vampires were seated comfortably on the grass, watching them. One even waved, which made Faith see red. Buffy held her back and turned out the lights. She made sure the door was double locked, and both Slayers returned to the living room.
"Tara, did you do the protection spell on the house this week?" Buffy asked.
"Yes. Um, yesterday. Why?"
"Just checking." Buffy answered as she double-locked the front door. "Any windows open upstairs?"
"I don't know," Willow and Tara answered together.
"I'll check," Faith volunteered.
"Buffy, what's going on?" Willow asked.
"I don't know yet. Call Giles and Xander. Tell them to stay inside and lock all the doors and windows," Buffy called as she moved through the first floor making sure all windows were closed and locked and their curtains drawn.
They all turned toward the staircase when the attic stairs came down, but only Buffy yelled. "Faith?"
"Yo," came the muffled response, and within a minute, the attic stairs were closed. Faith came bounding down the stairs. "All clear upstairs," she reported.
"K," Buffy answered. "Let's gear up."
"Us, too?" Willow asked after covering the mouthpiece."
"Definitely not you," Buffy answered. "Did you get Giles?"
"No. And Xander's not answering, either." Willow hung up the phone. "And why not me?"
"Baby," Buffy answered tersely, and handed Faith a crossbow from the weapons chest.
"So I'm supposed to sit here and do nothing?" Willow demanded.
"Pretty much," Faith answered.
"I'm not talking to you," Willow snapped.
Buffy stood up and turned around to make eye contact with Willow. "Yes, you're supposed to stay indoors and away from the windows." She expected an argument, and was surprised that she didn't get one.
"Fine," Willow said coolly after a few seconds. As an afterthought, she added, "You didn't check the basement."
"On it," Faith said immediately.
"I-is there anything I can do t-to h-h-help?" Tara asked.
"Nope," Buffy answered.
"Buffy, will you at least tell us what all this is about?" Joyce asked.
"I'd love to, Mom, but I don't know. When I find out, I'll let you know," Buffy said tersely. She turned to Willow again. "Keep trying Giles and Xander, please."
Willow nodded in acknowledgment. Buffy kneeled and resumed rooting through the weapons chest.
Faith returned moments later. "I don't know about the basement, B."
"We d-d-didn't think to do those windows," Tara volunteered.
"Can you do them now?" Faith asked. "I'll come with you."
Tara got up from her seat. "I n-need a few things from upstairs."
While she was gone, Willow alternated between glaring at the Slayers and dialing the phone. Tara returned almost immediately, and she and Faith went to the basement.
"Cut it out, Will," Buffy demanded once they were gone.
"Cut what out?" Willow asked sweetly.
Buffy went to Willow. She took the phone from her and hung it up. "You know what," she said in a low tone. "Faith and I fought four small bands of vampires between Mount Hope and here. There's another group in the back yard. We don't know why, and I don't want anything to happen to you."
"You don't have to be all Slayerish about it," Willow complained softly.
"I do," Buffy said gently. She kissed Willow quickly. "Don't let anything happen to Mom, ok?"
"Ok."
Buffy stalked to the basement door and called down the stairs, "How's it going?"
"Almost done," Faith answered, and after a minute and a half, they came upstairs.
Tara headed out of the kitchen, and Buffy caught Faith's arm. "Well?" she demanded.
"All six windows and the storm door are blessed and warded," Faith replied. "What's the game plan?"
"As far as I can tell, there's only that group in the back yard. If they can't get in the house, we don't have to worry about Mom and them."
"If the vampires are working alone," Faith answered. "They could be waiting for us to leave so they can send some other demon in here."
"Crap."
"Let's go upstairs and use the crossbows on them and see what happens," Faith suggested.
"You go," Buffy instructed. "I'll stay down here in case they're a decoy."
Faith nodded and Buffy went to the kitchen door to watch what would happen.
Tara was sitting on the bed when Faith entered their room. She winked at Tara before she turned out the light. "Target practice," she said softly, and opened one of the windows a few inches. She knelt, drew a deep breath, and started picking off the vampires in the back yard.
Less than five minutes after the last one turned to dust, another group appeared. Before she started on them, Faith told Tara to ask Buffy if she had any ideas, and to bring more bolts when she returned.
Tara returned with Buffy's answer, two handsful of bolts and a bottle of holy water. "Buffy said j-just keep at it." Tara calmly uncorked the holy water and began dipping the bolts into it.
Over the next several hours, Faith picked off nearly six dozen vampires. Every time one pack was annihilated, another came to take its place. Downstairs, Willow continued to dial both Xander and Giles until she received answers from both and relayed Buffy's message. That task completed, she sat on the sofa and pouted.
Joyce went to bed at 11, as she customarily did. Willow went into the kitchen. She stayed away from both the window over the sink and Buffy at the back door. "What's going on? Tara keeps coming down for ammunition."
"Faith's got great aim," Buffy answered quietly. "They just keep coming. I don't have a clue where they're from or why they're out there. That's a lot of soldiers to sacrifice to keep us here," Buffy thought out loud.
"How many?" Willow asked.
"Sixty so far, I think."
"I didn't think there were that many active vampires in Sunnydale," Willow commented.
"We usually have about 30. When the Hellmouth is active or someone's having a turf war, we get more. But we know when that's happening. There're signs and stuff. This is just odd," Buffy said.
"Can I go to bed, or do you want me to stay here?"
Buffy turned away from the door. "I'd like it if you stayed."
"All right," Willow answered, and slipped into a chair.
They didn't talk. Willow watched Buffy, and Buffy watched outside. After two hours, Buffy said, "What the heck?" and Willow got up and looked over her shoulder.
All of the used crossbow bolts were rising from the ground. Willow smiled, and said to Buffy, "It's probably Tara, but I'll check."
"Thanks," Buffy said, and continued to watch the yard.
Willow didn't knock before entering Tara and Faith's room. If Tara was causing the bolts to return, she didn't need her concentration broken. She was certain it was Tara's doing when she saw the bolts coming through the open window and piling themselves neatly on the floor.
Willow waited until the bolts stopped coming to clear her throat to announce herself. Faith removed her hands from Tara's shoulders and they both stepped back from the window. "Good job," Willow said. "How'd you?" she started.
"Faith helped," Tara volunteered.
"Nope, it was all Blondie," Faith contradicted. She picked up the open bottle of holy water from the dresser and poured it over the stack of bolts. Then she took up her place at the window again.
"You all right?" Willow asked Tara.
"Yeah," Tara smiled. "It's not a big deal."
"Yeah, it is," Faith said. "I was out of ammo, and they keep coming. Tell B they're coming over the fences."
"Ok," Willow said. "You need anything else?"
"Nope, we're five by five," Faith said, and Tara nodded in agreement.
Willow nodded and returned to the kitchen. "Faith said to tell you they're coming over the fences."
"Somebody has to be orchestrating this," Buffy said. "I wonder where from?"
"The roof would be my guess," Willow said. "That's about the only place you can see all the yards from."
"Hmmm. Wonder if I can sneak out?" Buffy thought aloud.
"Why?" Willow asked. "This can't keep up. I mean, Faith's all ready killed how many? Whoever's doing this is probably waiting for one or both of you to do just that. If you stay in, all that happens is that all their work to create this many vampires is
wasted."
"Yeah, but what else is going on while we're holed up at home?" Buffy asked.
"Guess you'll find out in the morning," Willow said firmly, and Buffy let the matter rest.