Reveal
by DawnBTVS
Chapter 12
[reviews]
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Mutant Enemy, Fox, Joss, etc.
Rating: PG-13 (think Buffy show for violence/subject matter/language)
Time Frame: Season 2 nearing "Halloween"
Pairings: G/J
A/N: I guess the song for this chapter would be, "This is the Day" by The Cranberries.
Buffy set the empty bowl back into the sink, taking care to grab a rag and quickly scrubbing away the remnants of the cheerios, before placing the bowl above the dishwasher. Buffy gently pressed the palms of her hands against the edge of the sink, uncertain if she should follow up on going up to sleep on the floor of Willow's bed. Sure, sleeping there was all hunky dory but that was before Buffy learned Willow knew a secret that even she didn't know until later... and never even confided completely in the blonde either. Buffy exhaled, spinning on her heel. Willow wasn't the person should she be mad with but Angel wasn't here and she was stinging over the fact that the two people who said they loved her had both kept it a secret. One barely mentioned it when breaking up with her, and the other made a quick remark of it over the phone. She reached out, catching the white hand towel with a red bird marring the otherwise sterile look of the item. Buffy began hopping up the steps before pausing midway up, slowing her pace to a careful trudge in case Willow was listening... and in case she was asleep too.
Buffy paused upon opening the door. Willow had her back facing the blonde but Buffy couldn't tell if the redhead was asleep or not. Guessing by the lengths of time between breaths, she was, but Buffy stayed quiet as she walked towards the makeshift bed on the floor at the foot of the bed. The laptop had been moved, now sitting on a chair by Willow's dresser. Buffy winced as she stared down at the towel laid out on the floor in front of the white lace pillow. The towel was a simple red, the blue comforter curled backwards, waiting to be draped over her figure. Buffy bit her lip and glanced at Willow, feeling the need to apologize and... do something else beside leaving the image in Will's head that she was angry at her. What that something else was, she had no idea. Instead, stubbornness won out, and Buffy scooted down onto her butt, shifting until she was beneath the comforter. She pulled it over herself, already content that she wasn't going to be getting a wink of sleep all night.
A soft squeak of hinges alerted Buffy to the fact Willow was shifting on the bed, although the breathing stayed in the same rhythm. Buffy closed her eyes, flashing them open when the wind howled for the fifth time since she had lowered herself to the makeshift bed Willow had graciously prepared for her. Buffy softly threw the comforter off herself and rose to her feet, careful to avoid that one squeaky piece of wood she knew was somewhere by the bed. Buffy ran a hand through her hair and turned, facing the door. She glanced at Willow and let loose a nervous breath, unsure if she was sure as to what the hell she was doing. Buffy walked over to the other side of the bed from Willow and just stared down at the redhead.
"There's room," Willow greeted her, rolling onto her back to stare up at Buffy with sharp green eyes. Buffy swallowed, a tiny bit creeped that Willow knew what was going on and had caught the blonde in the act.
"Uh..." Buffy returned unceremoniously. Willow tugged the cover back, eyeing Buffy with a mix of desire and wariness.
Willow flashed a closed lipped smile. "I won't bite," she whispered, and then frowned at the remark. Buffy shifted her eyes away and Willow closed her own, mentally berating herself for the unintended mistake. "We don't have to touch if you're scared to, you know."
"I'm not," Buffy answered, a bit too quickly. Willow's eyes told Buffy the redhead knew Buffy wasn't quite ready for that step. Willow shifted back on the bed a little, offering more space as Buffy remained standing on her side, not making a move to even just sit down.
"It can be slow," Willow quietly promised, her eyes never wavering from Buffy's upon making contact with them again. Buffy nodded her head, her hand taking the cover. Willow's dropped back onto the bed, quickly coming to rest on her stomach. Buffy eased herself down, her right half gently pushing the mattress down. The blonde pulled her left leg up, pulling the cover over herself before glancing over to make sure she hadn't just thrown it over Willow's head. Both girls stared up at the ceiling, letting loose breaths neither knew they were holding. "This is good," Willow whispered.
Buffy could feel the tension in her body. Her shoulders began to ache, the need to relax almost overwhelming any ability to communicate or think. The ache was moving to the middle of her back but Buffy tried her best to ignore it. "Uh huh," Buffy murmured, hissing as the tension began to transfer to the back of her legs. Buffy could feel Willow tensing beside her and gritted her teeth, closing her eyes, and mentally trying to relax. All it did was make the blonde tenser.
"Buffy," Willow whimpered. Buffy sighed, risking a glance at the redhead. Willow was staring at the ceiling in determination, probably fearful that Buffy would be guilty or ashamed. Or admit that she wanted to go back to the bed on the floor.
Buffy closed her eyes again, lifting her right hand up, grabbing Willow's wrist, and pulling it down onto the bed beside her. Buffy carefully tread over the redhead's skin, pinkie leading the way. Buffy could feel the heat from the flesh, suddenly confused if it was her sweat making Buffy think Willow's skin was hot to the touch. Buffy linked her fingers through the gaps in Willow's, seeing the redhead exhale a hiss as she shuddered upon Buffy's opening of her eyes. Buffy could feel her arm relaxing, watching as the beads of sweat on Willow's forehead shifted slightly upon Willow's subtle shift to be closer to Buffy. The tension was releasing and Willow again exhaled. Willow's skin was prickling against hers, like an electric shock had run through the redhead's hand upon contact.
"Night," Willow breathed, closing her eyes. Willow brought up her right hand, swiping it across the widow's peak of her hair, catching the beads of sweat that had been pooling there.
Buffy turned her attention back to the ceiling, aware that the heat in their hands hadn't dissipated at all, and if anything, was growing stronger. "Night," Buffy whispered, feeling her own eyes drift closed despite Buffy's mental urgencies to stay open.
~~~BTVS~~~
"Technology can be a-a wonderful thing," Giles proclaimed, accepting the photograph from Buffy's extended hand. Buffy nodded her head, knowing Giles' eagerness was more to do with the fact that he had something to look up rather than the fact Buffy was still alive despite the close calls last night. Xander sidled up next to Giles, peeking at the picture.
"Tough fight?" Xander questioned, his eyes lifting to Buffy's cheek. Buffy lifted her hand, feeling a very faint scar. Crap.
Buffy shrugged her shoulders, dismayed that her quick Slayer healing wasn't quick enough. "No biggie. I'm alive and it isn't. In my scorecard, that's all that matters, right?"
"Y-yes. Your health maintains top priority when you come face to face with something, um, supernatural," Giles added, rifling through a book spread out on the table. His gaze would alternate between the text and the picture, a soft sigh escaping when he missed on a name. Willow was also busy looking through a different book, still looking somewhat pale, but well enough to at least move around on her own without wobbling like she was drunk.
"How ya feeling there, Will?" Xander asked, taking a seat next to the redhead.
Willow glanced at him before returning her focus to the book in front of her, but not before a brief peek at Buffy. The blonde was busy looking over the weapons in the book cage, well aware of the anxiety emanating from Willow and herself over last night's action. "Not one hundred but I think I'm hitting the corner of eighty percent." Willow lifted her head, spinning her book to Giles to get his opinion. A shake of the head dismissed the redhead's find and Willow spun the book back to herself. "I thought you knew every demon out there, Giles."
Giles looked up, surprised, and a little flustered at the insinuation. "While I appreciate your respect of my skills, suffice to say that even my knowledge is somewhat limited. The years of my work as a Watcher haven't prepared me for the amount of demons Buffy has run into. Aside from the Hellmouth, you yourself, Buffy may be somewhat of a target."
Buffy wrinkled an eyebrow. "I'm the Slayer! It's not like I'm holding up a poster with deformed monsters, yelling through a megaphone about the problems of non demon procreation."
"Be that as it may," Giles replied, wiping his glasses to Buffy's eye roll, "the longer you live, the more notoriety you will obtain. You'll be, um, wearing a bulls-eye so to speak."
"You can be the Joan of Arc of the Slayers, Buff," Xander chimed. Buffy sent a scowl at him.
"I'm not being a martyr for anybody," Buffy huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.
Willow lifted her eyes to Buffy. "Well, Joan did get burned at the stake for being a relapsed heretic." Willow lowered her eyes at Buffy's look.
"Since when have I ever had a controversial opinion?" Buffy asked, wincing at Giles' raised eyebrows. "Not all of my opinions have been controversial," Buffy protested weakly.
"Speaking of opinions, let's hear what you two have planned for the Halloween party."
"Xander, neither Buffy nor I have had time to pick out costumes," Willow remarked, giving him a pointed look.
Xander smirked, running a tongue over his teeth. "Too much snuggling?" he teased. His smirk vanished and his eyes widened at the glares he received from both girls. "What?"
"Snuggling?" Giles asked, switching his focus from Buffy to Willow and back to Buffy in a look of concern and confusion. Willow ducked her head as Buffy turned back to the weapons cage.
"It's a private matter, Giles," Buffy snapped, her tone letting Xander know it was also private from him as well.
Giles exhaled, pushing the picture and his book gently towards the center of the table. Willow lifted her eyes up. She tensed at what Giles was going to say. "This isn't affecting your patrolling is it?"
"I'm not gonna get her killed," Willow commented, a look of hurt on her face despite the soft hint of anger in her voice.
Buffy spun. "We can handle this. No, it isn't affecting my patrols, and you bring that up again..." Buffy trailed, the warning clear enough to everybody in the room.
"All I'm saying is that putting Willow at risk-" Giles started.
"Hey!" Willow said, indignant that he seemed to be forgetting she was also in the library.
"Could be reason to throw your skills off. If she is in harm's way because a demon has learned of... you two, your emotions will cloud your judgment," Giles warned.
"I go by emotion, Giles. That's how I've survived this long. Maybe in the past, the Slayers decided to play it safe and go by the rulebook. You should know by now I don't do well with rules. And I put you all at risk every day just by being the Slayer. Damnit, I put this whole town at risk."
Xander fidgeted, feeling the tension rising. "Buffy's a big girl, Giles. She went through this with Angel and I'm sure she knows what's at stake every time she patrols. Uh, no pun intended with the stake thing."
Giles spared the boy a glance, then sighed. "You're my Slayer, Buffy. As Watcher, it's my duty to be overly conscious of your actions and the possible consequences they may enact." Giles pulled the picture back, his fingers once again rifling over pages. "At the academy, we learned early on that to form close bonds with our charges was an ineffectual method because Slayers rarely lived long lives. I'm sure you'll be an exception."
Buffy's spark of anger faded slightly at Giles' honesty. Willow wore a closed lipped smile, staring at the Watcher whom was growing a tinge of red at embarrassment. "Count on it," Buffy commented, before wincing at the sound of the school bell ringing. "And count on attendance of gym class. Come on, Will."
Willow pushed her book to Xander, the boy accepting it with a reluctant frown of disapproval. Willow smiled, skirting the table, and giving a startled Giles a brief hug before walking to catch up with Buffy.
~~~BTVS~~~
Cordelia rolled her eyes, staring down at the sheet connected to the clipboard in front of her. She grabbed the pen and scribbled her name on the form, staring at Principal Snyder. "I'm distinctly voicing my displeasure at having to sign up before the dance, just to confirm that we'll be there."
Principal Snyder ignored her, peering over her shoulder as Buffy, Willow, and Xander came into view. He grabbed the clipboard, maneuvering around Cordelia who let out a huff of displeasure at the action. "Ms. Summers, Rosenberg, and Harris. I'm sure you three will be attending the Halloween dance with some plot to foul the event up. For precaution, I'm requesting your signatures now as confirmation. We wouldn't want crashers sullying the authority." He extended the clipboard to Buffy first with a smile at the narrowed eyes of hatred she shot at him.
"That Spring dance was not our fault," Buffy hissed as she jotted her name down. "The library wasn't either. We were just... renovating," Buffy added, glancing at Willow and Xander. Willow was trying to look anywhere but at the blonde or Snyder while Xander looked like he had to go on a date with Mrs. French again.
"Sooner, Summers. I'm going to catch you and come that day, your delinquency will be shuttled to another school."
Willow and Xander quickly signed their names, neither bothering to return a look at Snyder's smug grin. Buffy folded her arms over her chest. "You make it so tempting," Buffy returned. Snyder's eyes flashed before stepping past the blonde to continue down the hall. Buffy growled in her throat. "Stupid rat."
"He-he has no authority anyway. The school board could, uh, overrule him in a heartbeat. So long as what you do isn't that bad," Willow amended, lowering her eyes at Buffy's look.
Xander smiled good-naturedly. "Look at it this way, Buff. You get to show Snyder up at the dance."
"Model citizens. Yeah, great way to show him up," Buffy grumbled, continuing down the hallway.
Willow and Xander shared a look before following the blonde. "Bronze?" Willow asked.
"Bronze," Xander confirmed as the two caught up with the blonde.
TBC