Getting Ahead of Myself
by sailor80
Thirty-five
[reviews]
Giles was obviously in a good mood when he arrived at the Summers' home the next evening. He had a folder full of papers in one hand and flowers in the other. The flowers, he gave to Joyce, who sat in her chair, looking a little worn out.
Faith set the dining room table while Tara worked in the kitchen. They finished everything but the waiting before joining Buffy, Willow, and Dawn in the back yard. Buffy was chasing Dawn, and Faith scooped Dawn up and swung her around before setting her back down.
"Tag, you're it," Dawn yelled and sped off.
"No fair," Faith called and chased after her. She passed Buffy and reached out and tagged her shoulder. "You're it."
Buffy spun around. She looked at Faith and Dawn, and decided to go after her daughter, whose quickness and agility always surprised her. Tara sat beside Willow on the bench.
"They make me tired just watching," Willow said.
Tara didn't answer. They watched the three of them play. Xander joined in when he arrived, but Anya sat on Willow's other side. Tara went back into the house a few minutes later to check on dinner, then stuck her head out the door. "Come in and get washed up," she called.
A few minutes later, everyone but Faith trooped through the kitchen. Faith stopped and washed her hands and began to help Tara with the last minute preparations. When they began to take food to the table a few minutes later, everyone was seated and waiting.
Dinner was loud and boisterous, with multiple conversations going on at the same time. The only one who didn't participate was Joyce, who picked at her food and excused herself early to lay down.
Buffy went up to check on her while the others cleared the table and cleaned up. "Mom, you all right?"
"Headache," Joyce said.
"When do you see the doctor again?"
"Next month. Go downstairs and find out what Rupert brought with him. I'm fine, I promise."
"All right," Buffy answered, and closed the door when she left.
Downstairs, the Scooby meeting was waiting for her. When Buffy took her seat beside Willow, Giles passed around a pile of papers. Buffy didn't look at it, but Willow immediately did, and burst into laughter.
"What?" Buffy asked.
"I'll let Giles tell you," Willow answered. She looked across the table to Tara, who grinned back.
"As Willow and Tara have figured out, this is a copy of the prophecies the Council gave to the Knights of Byzantium, and they are utter rubbish."
"They faked 'em out?" Faith asked.
"Yes, Faith. It is an impressive bluff, and I hope it keeps the knights busy for quite a while."
"What's the catch, Giles?"
"There is no catch, Buffy. The Council exists to support the Slayers. Apparently, they've decided to return to that mission."
"Still don't trust 'em," Buffy grumbled.
"That is understandable, but what I am hearing from the younger Council members is that the old guard is being pushed out, and with them, the old ways."
"I'll believe it when I see it. Like when Faith turns 18."
"We'll have to wait and see. That's all I have. Anyone else?"
Willow piped up. "I've been checking the admission records for the psych ward at Sunnydale Memorial. All summer, they've been having double the number of admissions. There's all the regular stuff, you know, people they say are schizo because they come in babbling about vampires, and then there's three or four people a week coming in making no sense at all. No injuries, but no memories, talking nonsense. The doctors don't know what to make of it, and neither do I."
"Is there any pattern to it?" Buffy asked.
"None that I can see except the symptoms. They live in different parts of town, come in at different times of day from different locations."
"Keep an eye on it, please, Willow," Giles asked. "Anything else? Then we're finished here."
Faith convinced Joyce to take an extra long weekend for Labor Day, and all of them went to the beach for a cookout. Buffy, Faith, and Xander played touch football at the water's edge while Tara and Willow kept an eye on Dawn, whose phenomenal growth continued unabated. Giles read while Joyce and Anya enjoyed the warm, relaxing combination of sun and sand.
When Dawn wanted to go into the water, the Slayers were there to escort her. Xander left them to it and tried unsuccessfully to start a fire under a makeshift grill. "It's comforting to know that I lack the culinary finesse of a caveman," he grumbled.
Willow pointed and said, "Ignis incende."
The wood began burning, and Xander fell backward onto his butt in the sand.
"Willow, check you out! Witch-fu," Xander grinned while getting up.
Tara looked at Willow and reminded her, "Consequences."
"It's no big," Willow said, ignoring Tara for the moment. "You just have to balance the elements so when you affect one, you don't wind up causing..."
The sky suddenly rumbled and darkened. Fat raindrops fell, and they hurried to gather their things and head to the cars while Willow protested, "I didn't do it! I didn't do it!"
The storm lasted for hours. Long after sunset, a delivery truck pulled up in front of a large house. Two men got out, complaining to each other about the rain. The larger one pulled a large, rectangular box from the truck, but couldn't hold it. It crashed to the ground, and dirt spilled from the cracked corner.
"Look at this. Man's haulin' around dirt," he said, pointing to the pile.
"Don't worry about it. We'll turn it on its side," the other answered.
Before either could do anything, a pale hand crashed through the box, and sharp nails slit one's throat, then the other's.
Buffy and Faith sat on the porch swing after dinner. It allowed them to talk without an audience. "So you're really leaving tomorrow?"
"Yeah, Giles has everything set up. I have a place to stay and an appointment to meet the Watcher and everything. Be back next week."
"How's Tara taking it?"
Faith shrugged. "It ain't forever, just until she's done school, and that's only if we get that Beast thing off your back." Faith playfully wagged a finger at Buffy. "So no slackin' off, B. I don't want a big workout when I come home to see my girl. Not in the cemetery, anyway."
Buffy elbowed Faith in the ribs. "Look who's callin' who a slacker."
"Pot an' kettle, B."
Buffy smiled, then sighed. "Dawn's gonna miss you so bad."
"I'll miss her, too. You need me, call. I'll be here on the next flight."
"Goes both ways."
"Yeah, well, last I checked, Cleveland doesn't have the Beast or a Key or any of the bonus fun you have here in Sunny-D."
"Thanks for reminding me." Buffy sighed.
"Don't sweat it. You'll beat it. You always do."
The rain slowed, but the Slayers didn't move. They looked into the dark, each thinking her own thoughts, until Willow stuck her head out the door. "Dawn's going to bed," she told them.
Both of them went into the house and trooped upstairs, seconds behind Willow. She was bent over, kissing Dawn good night, when the Slayers arrived. Buffy took a moment to admire the view before replacing Willow at her daughter's bedside.
"Night, Mom. Love you," Dawn told Buffy before yawning.
"Love you, too." Buffy kissed Dawn before joining Willow near the door.
Faith bent over the bed. "Be good, Munchkin. I'll see you soon."
"I wish you weren't leaving, Aunt Faith."
"Me, too. But I'll call and it's not for long, ok?"
Dawn nodded. She sat up and wrapped her arms around Faith, who returned the hug. She kissed the top of Dawn's head and let her go. "Go to sleep, now, all right?"
Dawn nodded and lay down. Her eyes followed Faith to the door.
Faith went downstairs while Buffy and Willow went to their room. Buffy changed into patrol clothes, and they went downstairs. Willow joined Anya and Xander on the couch while Buffy rummaged in the weapons chest.
She found what she wanted, and stood up while she stashed extra stakes. "You guys wanna come with?"
Xander and Anya looked at each other, then at Willow, and finally at Buffy. "Yeah, what the heck," Xander said. "Guess we need to get back into practice."
"I'm not going," Anya said. "There's a torture special on the History Channel and I don't want to miss it."
"All right," Buffy said. "Call Faith if there's any problems."
"Oh, yeah, that's gonna work," Anya said sarcastically. "She and Tara are going to be busy giving each other orgasms all night."
Xander did his best not to smirk, but Willow saw him and smacked his shoulder. "I told you about that," she said.
"Can't help it. Guy thing."
Buffy left before the conversation could get worse. Willow and Xander hurried to get stakes and holy water and followed her.