Finding Her Way Home
by rebelrsr
Chapter 30
[reviews]
Disclaimer: All things Buffy belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and lots of people in expensive suits. I'm not making any money here, just trying to create a happier Buffyverse for my favorite characters.
Spoilers, etc.: Pretty much everything after the Gift.
A/N: Character thoughts are enclosed by **. Flashbacks are enclosed by //. Thanks to Ivy for the preread and Zigpal for the beta and encouragement! I couldn't do it without you.
Archiving: By permission only.
A/N2: I'm mixing parts of S6 and S7 with very little regard to canon. For purposes of the fic, Dawn is over the age of consent *wink*.
Buffy smiled, mischief warming her eyes. "Well, I could tickle you some more." Her fingers darted out, brushing Willow's sides. The witch shrieked. Light flared throughout the room, and Buffy suddenly found herself held to the bed by unseen hands. "Or," she said in a shaky voice, "I could just lay here and hope you don't have revenge on your mind."
"There will be no tickling," Willow declared in a firm voice. She perched lightly on Buffy's stomach. "None."
Nodding, Buffy agreed wholeheartedly. "Got it. No tickling the witch." She grinned. Willow was just too cute. She wasn't quite wearing Resolve Face; it was a near miss, though.
"I knew you'd see it my way." Bending down, Willow brushed Buffy's lips with her own.
When Willow pulled away, Buffy tried to follow and keep contact. She was still fused to the bed. "Will," she whined, "what's with not letting me up?" Buffy eyed Willow's smirk, nerves and desire twisting her stomach. "You wouldn't?"
Willow's smirk grew.
"No way. I don't believe it!" Buffy was confident. Willow was not going to keep her magically tied to the bed. Her wife couldn't even say the word sex without blushing. Kink of any kind was beyond her.
Expecting a verbal response, Buffy flinched when a warm tongue traced a path from her chin to the top of her right breast. Eyes wide, she finally realized Willow wasn't going to back down. The tongue was back. It reversed the earlier path on the left side. Teeth nipped at her throat.
"Want to make a bet on what happens next?" Willow whispered teasingly.
***
Faith felt Dawn's breath puff against her face. The other girl's lips trembled slightly. Pressure built inside. Dimly, Faith realized she was about to kiss Dawn. She hesitated. Her body screamed its frustration. What was the problem?
"Faith?" the question was a mere whisper of sound.
Faith leaned in again. Her lips brushed Dawn's lightly, once, twice. Her hands reached out, pulling Dawn closer. Everywhere they touched, Faith burned. She struggled to breathe. Her heart thundered in her chest, and adrenaline surged "Dawn-" she growled.
As soon as she said the name, her actions registered somewhere other than her body.
Faith's eyes shot wide and she staggered several steps away. "Fuck. Oh, fuck." She held her hands out. Faith noticed they were shaking. Now, though, it was fueled by fear, rather than desire.
"Faith?" Dawn followed her, reaching out. "What's wrong?" Dawn's confusion and hurt pulled at Faith.
"Damn it, D! I kissed you." Faith felt dizzy, lightheaded. She shook her head, trying to clear out the lingering fuzziness.
She saw Dawn frown, and the younger blinked dazedly. "I...Yeah. You did. Is...is there something wrong with that?"
Heat snaked through Faith. She could feel goosebumps erupt all over her body. Wrong? Faith's mind and body disagreed. Closing her eyes, Faith took several deep breaths. Her body was going to get her killed.
"Faith?" Dawn had moved closer. Faith stiffened and opened her eyes. Pale, blue eyes dark and huge, Dawn stood only inches away. "Please. Please, tell me what I did wrong."
"You didn't," Faith said urgently. "I did. I kissed you." *I just kissed Buffy's little sister*. The phrase kept repeating in her mind: *Buffy's little sister, Buffy's little sister.* "Do you have any idea what B would do to me if she found out?" She had to get Dawn to understand.
Dawn obviously didn't understand. "You kissed me, and all you can think about is Buffy?" She flung her arms out dramatically, voice rising.
"No!" Faith hurried to explain. "I wasn't thinking of Buffy when I kissed you. After the kiss, that's when the B thing came up." Faith swallowed hard. She wanted to pull Dawn back into her arms, but visions of knives and fireballs danced in her head.
Faith thought actual steam might come out of Dawn's ears. "Kissing me was so boring you thought of my sister right afterward?" She stamped her foot. "Go to hell, Faith!" Before Faith could respond, Dawn sprinted for the house, slamming the door to the kitchen behind her.
"Fuck." Faith jammed her hands in her pockets, and hunched forward. What the hell just happened? The kiss...A smirk twisted Faith's lips. The kiss had been unbelievable. Who would have thought Buffy's sister had such talent? Running her hands through her hair, Faith rolled her neck to get rid of the stiffness. No matter how amazing kissing Dawn had been, it was over. It wouldn't — it couldn't happen again. Faith had no intention of facing off with Buffy for any reason.
She had a job to do. Focusing on that, instead of a pair of blue eyes and soft lips, Faith stalked into the house. The Scoobies were waiting. They had a fight to plan.
The living room was crowded. The Scoobies and Willow's family ranged around the room. "We need to speed up the time table, boys and girls," she announced without fanfare. "In case you missed the excitement, the First seems to be on the move. His crew managed to get into the house this morning."
"What do you w-want us to do?" Tara asked. She sat next to one of Willow's clones.
Faith frowned, uncomfortable with even a Willow look-alike in position to critique her leadership skills. "T, you and Jennifer need to get the beacon spell up and running. I don't know if the rest of you noticed, but the guys with the knives were in the Potentials' rooms."
No one said anything. Faith saw a lot of uncomfortable looks pass around the room. Stifling a sigh, she waited. Finally, Xander spoke up. "We'll stop working on the bunk house, then. You want everyone here?"
"Yeah." Faith smiled at Xander, relieved someone else understood. "We need to find a way to cram as many people into the main house as possible. It makes keepin' everybody safe easier."
"You can use the basement, if you want," Jennifer offered quietly. "Not the Altar Room. We'll need that for spells. The rest is big enough for a dozen people, if you bunk them."
Faith considered that, hands rubbing nervously over her thighs. What should she do? She scanned the room. Maybe someone else would take the decision out of her hands, or say something to help her decide. Muscles tightening from the tension, Faith caught Dawn's eyes. *She still looks pissed.* The thought floated through her mind. She couldn't look away.
The warmth around her heart was back. Smiling, Faith relaxed. It would be OK. "Can you do that, Xan? Give us a room to store the kiddies when they show up?"
"They don't call me Carpenter Guy for nothing," he quipped. Grinning, he spread his arms expansively. "What else would you like? Five piece bath? A walk in closet for all your leather pants?"
"We get out of this alive, you're on." Faith turned to Kirstan. "Those guys got all the way to the house. That's bad. Any ideas on how to keep 'em out?"
Kirstan frowned, arms crossed over her chest. "Not really. Jennifer set up the warding on the ranch when we first moved here. We've never had any trouble."
"Hate to break it to, Old Timer, but you're way past trouble." Winking at Kirstan's glare, Faith picked up a dry erase marker from the table behind her. "Xan, I know we've got you doing the remodel, but you got any advice from your soldier days?"
"Set up a perimeter." All the laughter was gone. Xander's voice was clipped, flat. "You need sentries around the house, at least. The gates, too, if you can manage."
Faith's confidence faded slightly. They didn't have the manpower for that. "Fuck." Hopping up, she sat on the table and stared at the gang. "Alright, listen up." Stomach twisting with nerves, Faith made her decision. "Until we get more girls here, things are going to be tight. Kirstan," she glanced at the retired Slayer, "get the new kids trained. We don't got time for technique and style. Just make sure they know which end of a stake to use. T, once you and Jennifer do the beacon spell, start looking for some way to ward the house. I want more than one layer of protection, starting at the gate and working back."
She could feel the tension in the room rising as the meeting continued. The Scoobies, more experienced and used to the pace, were hitting their stride. Willow's family, though, looked stunned and scared. "One more thing before we all run off." Faith blinked when the room went instantly silent. "Um..." The weight of command was back. Taking a deep breath, Faith ignored the panic causing her heart to pound, and continued. "Giles, I'm hoping you've got the lowdown on what other tricks the First has. Them guys this morning took us by surprise, but they weren't all that hard to bring down."
Giles nodded. Faith noticed he sat in an armchair, well away from the rest of the crew. "This morning's attackers are known as Harbingers of Death. As you no doubt noticed, they are human." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Without the Council's records, I can only report from memory. The 'Bringers are bound to the First through a bond of some sort. That bond allows them to communicate with others of their kind telepathically."
"So the ones this morning were a test." Kirstan moved closer, leaning against the arm of a chair. "We can assume the First now knows the layout of the upstairs and the identities of at least a few of us."
"Won't do him much good," Faith commented, jumping down from the table. She paced restlessly. "Any other minions we need to worry about?"
Giles shook his head. "Nothing I recall."
"What about the Turok Han?" Anya smiled brightly at everyone when they looked her way. "I mean, the First would have to locate the Seal and do a little chanting and sacrificing...You can't just do any old ritual, either. There's this whole-"
"An!" Xander interrupted. He looked at Faith, grimacing. "Sorry. She gets lost in the past sometimes. Honey, what's a Turok Han, and why would the First want it?"