Getting Ahead of Myself
by sailor80
Fourteen
[reviews]
Liz put the tape measure away and said, "She'll be here soon."
"Not soon enough," Willow muttered. Her back ached all the time and she ran to the bathroom at least twice an hour.
"You have my numbers, right?" Liz asked.
"By the phone," Buffy answered.
"Good. You've got the breathing techniques down, so let's talk about delivery."
"Take out?" Buffy asked.
Willow snickered while Liz looked at Buffy with an arched eyebrow. "The baby," she said after a moment.
"Oh."
"You really should go to the hospital, or at least a birthing center," Liz continued.
"Not gonna happen," Buffy said firmly.
"All right, then you need to know some things in case I can't get here," Liz began.
"You aren't going to show us that movie they showed in health class, are you?" Willow asked.
"No." Liz removed a notebook from her bag and handed it to Willow.
Willow flipped through the pages. Buffy looked over her shoulder. The delivery photos made her shiver. "I've killed things that aren't that gross," Buffy mumbled.
Willow snickered again, and handed the notebook back to Liz, who refused it. "Keep it. Study it. Better to be prepared." Liz stood up. "I'll see you Thursday."
Buffy got up and saw her to the door. As usual, she waited until Liz was pulling out of the driveway to go back inside.
Willow was studying the notebook intently. Buffy dropped onto the couch beside her. "So what's the what?"
"We still have a bunch of stuff to do."
"What? The nursery's all ready. Xander brought the crib over last week."
"We need to get stuff together so we're ready if Liz can't make it on time."
"Like what?"
"Delivery kit. Alcohol, scissors, string, towels," Willow ticked off. "And you need to check this out. You might have to catch her."
"Will, that's insane. Liz lives nearby. She'll be here."
"Think of it like a fight, Buffy. We need to do our research so you know how to kill the demon."
"All right," Buffy said after a few moments. "I'll look at it tomorrow."
"Ok," Willow answered. She turned and kissed Buffy's cheek. "Go patrol."
"It's my night off. Wanna get ice cream?"
"Absolutely." Willow closed the notebook and set it aside. She got to her feet and headed to the bathroom, leaving Buffy to get her wallet and keys.
After ice cream, they went to the mall and wandered around. They oohed and aahed over tiny clothes, and bought a few things. When Buffy noticed Willow slowing down, she steered them toward the exit. Buffy stiffened as they neared their vehicle.
"What?" Willow asked quietly.
"Vampires," Buffy answered, without slowing.
"Stupid bloodsuckers," Willow grumbled. "How many?"
"Two. Stay back."
When they were within one car of their own, one of the vampires stepped from the shadows into the orange glow of the sodium vapor light. Buffy stopped, and Willow took half a step to stand behind her.
"Move or die," Buffy said.
The vampire raised its hands. "I have a message."
"I don't care."
"You will," the other vampire said. A moment later, it burst into dust, revealing a grinning Faith. She flicked her wrist, burying a stake into the first vampire's back, and it, too, went poof.
"They so need some better material," Faith said, and went to retrieve her stake.
"Want a ride?" Buffy asked.
"Nah, I still have a few more stops to make. And they didn't have any messages," Faith added, looking at Willow. "They wanted our help."
"For what?"
"To stop whoever or whatever is making those big groups and sending them after us."
"Vampire turf wars. Gotta love 'em," Buffy quipped, and helped Willow into the passenger seat. She turned to say something else to Faith, but she was gone.
"Hope she tells Giles," Willow said while Buffy buckled her seatbelt. She had given up arguing with Buffy over it. Instead, she cupped the Slayer's breast with her hand, and suspected that was why Buffy continued to insist on strapping her in.
"She will," Buffy said calmly, and closed the passenger door. She walked in front of the vehicle to the driver's side and climbed in.
The drive home was uneventful. They showed their purchases to Joyce and Tara, then spent the rest of the evening on the sofa, watching Animal Planet while Buffy massaged Willow's feet.
In the meantime, Faith swept two more cemeteries on the way to Giles' condo. He let her in without comment, and waited for her at the table while she drank two glasses of water from the tap.
Faith slid into a chair across from Giles. "There's some weird shit going on," she began.
Giles nodded.
"First off, you know we got all these vampires coming outta the woodwork. Tonight, I got stopped twice by vamps asking for help. Two more were waitin' on B and Red at the mall. The first one said they wanted us to protect them from somethin', they wouldn't say what, exactly, just that it was what's gatherin' all those vamps we kill every week."
"What did they say?"
"Not much. They were too scared, and I staked 'em."
"Next time, bring it here. Perhaps I can get some information."
Faith nodded. She paused a moment, then got up and went back to the kitchen for more water. When she came back, she fidgeted for half a minute before telling him, "I had this weird dream."
"About what?"
"Blondie."
"Would you please be more specific?"
Faith shook her head to remove the vision of the dream. "Something hurt her. Bad. And it was like I knew what did, but I couldn't see it."
Giles waited a few seconds to see whether Faith would say more. When she didn't, he said, "If you have any others, please let me know. I'll see what I can find out. Do you need anything else?"
"Nah, just wanted to let you know about the vamps," Faith said, but didn't get up.
Giles waited nearly two minutes before asking, "Faith?"
"Yo."
"Are you certain there's nothing else?"
"You won't tell nobody."
"Not if you don't want me to."
"Red's really pissed at me," Faith said finally. "And B's pissed 'cause Red's pissed."
"Why is Willow upset?"
Faith looked at the table. "Remember when I was workin' for the mayor and you guys got the box of Gavrok?"
"And you had Willow."
"Uh huh. Anybody else woulda just took off. But not Red. She had to read those books first, so I found her in the mayor's office. I offered to let her go, and she just laughed. She said if I was gonna kill her, I had to look at her." Faith sighed. "She made me nuts. Still does." Faith hung her head lower. "I wanted her. And I wanted to hurt her 'cause I knew it would hurt B more than anything. So I did."
Giles carefully kept his face neutral. He had always suspected that something had occurred between them. Buffy had been so relieved to see Willow after the trade that she had overlooked the tremors and small bruises. He wondered whether Willow had ever told anyone what Faith was about to tell him, and waited patiently for her to continue.
"I'm not proud of what I did," Faith went on softly. "I don't even know why except I was so mad, and she kept pushing me. I slapped her, and she wouldn't shut up." Her voice fell, and Faith squeezed her eyes shut. "I jacked her up on the wall and kissed her. She was tryin' to fight, and oh, shit." She stopped again, and tried to get her ragged breathing back into order. "I put my knife to her throat to make her be still and, and, I raped her," Faith whispered hoarsely, and dropped her head into her hands.
Giles didn't move. He let Faith be for a few moments, and when she seemed to be calmer, he said her name. When she looked at him, he saw her tears, and felt guilty again for not paying more attention when she arrived. He resolved that he wouldn't fail her again. "I am so sorry," he said sincerely. "I don't know what we can do to repair the damage, but we will find a way."
"I tried. Red blew me off."
"It's going to take time," he answered gently.
"That's what Tara said." Faith lowered her eyes to the table again.
After a long silence, Giles said, "If you need anything, Faith, come to me. I'm your Watcher, too."
Faith nodded. Her eyes remained focused on the table while she pulled herself together. After a few more minutes, she got to her feet. "I got a few more places to check."
"Be careful."
Faith nodded before she left.