Simple Choices
by rebelrsr
Chapter 22
[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: General spoilers for S5, starting with "The I in Team." Eh, who am I kidding? This is really AU now.
A/N: Thanks to Ivy for pre-reading and Zigpal for the beta. There would be no writing without you guys.
Buffy slid her thumbs under the waistband of her panties, and slowly began to push them down. Willow's body shook with minute tremors, hands gripping the sheets. "Buffy!" she begged. "Too slow."
A teasing smile greeted her words, and hazel eyes met hers. "You said you wanted a show, Willow. I don't want to disappoint you."
Willow swallowed audibly as Buffy finally finished undressing and straightened. The view was even better than she'd imagined. Despite the strip tease, Willow noticed Buffy's confidence wasn't total. The blonde shifted nervously from foot to foot, and her arms moved restlessly, almost — but not quite — covering her front. "Oh, baby, I'm so not disappointed. Come here." Willow held out a hand. "Please," she continued when Buffy hesitated.
Moving with small steps, Buffy finally made it to the bed. "Sorry, Wills," she mumbled. "I can't believe how freaked I suddenly am."
"And I'm not?" Willow asked with a grin. She poked Buffy in the arm. "I'm not exactly an expert on girl lovin,' you know." Relaxing slightly at Buffy's laugh, she said, "We've been best friends for years. Do you trust me...us, enough to figure this out? Do you want us to figure this out?"
Buffy looked up, meeting her eyes. "I trust you with my life, Will." A crooked smile flashed. "In fact, I trust you with my heart."
Tears blurred her vision, and Willow choked down a sob. This wasn't the time for tears. It also wasn't the time for jumping up and down and squealing with joy; though, that was the feeling sending energy through her body. No longer afraid, Willow leaned in and kissed Buffy.
Buffy stiffened in her arms; Willow didn't pull away, though. Brushing her lips repeatedly over the blonde's, she simply waited.
Finally, strong arms wrapped around her. Cheering internally, Willow pulled back a little. Buffy's eyes were dark and soft. "Everything OK in your head now?"
Buffy cupped Willow's face. Lids growing heavy, Willow shivered at the touch of Buffy's thumb on her lips. "Everything's fine, Willow. Just fine."
Catching the caressing thumb in her lips, Willow nibbled lightly before releasing it. "What are you waiting for, then? Did you suddenly decide to step away from the butch attitude you've been using lately?"
"Butch, huh?" Buffy frowned, eyes narrowing.
Willow scrambled to regroup. "Um, what I meant was...I mean, you aren't really butch butch. No flannel in your closet. Maybe soft butch? Kinda butch around the edges?" she babbled. The flood of words tapered off when she saw Buffy's grin. "Not nice. I was worried." Willow pouted, lower lip stuck out exaggeratedly.
"Can't have that, can we?" Buffy purred.
Willow shivered, heat and cold vying for supremacy at the sound. "What are you going to do to fix it, Slayer?" Her voice squeaked at the end.
The answer didn't involve words. Closing her eyes, Willow tilted her head, giving Buffy's lips better access to her throat. She combed her fingers through blonde hair as heat raced through her. Lips and tongue still traced over Willow's skin as Buffy lowered her to the mattress.
Buffy made quick work of removing Willow's bra, and her panties ended in a heap of ruined material on the floor. "Let me know if you need more fixing, Wills," Buffy murmured as her lips slipped lower.
Willow arched and gasped when Buffy took her right nipple into her mouth. Her fingers gripped Buffy's hair. A rough tongue scraped over a hard nub. "Buffy!" The word exploded from her mouth. "Dear Goddess."
***
Faith's eyes flew open at the sounds coming from Buffy's room. "Uh, T?" she moved quickly, grabbing the hand raised to knock. "You don't want to do that."
"Mr. Giles asked us to get everyone for the meeting." Tara looked confused, blue eyes peering at Faith uncertainly. "I-is som-something wrong?"
"Nah." Faith shoved her hands in her pockets, rocking on her heels. "Just, uh, Slayer hearing and all. B and Red are talking right now." Faith steered Tara down the hallway. "It sounded intense." She stifled a smirk. "Very intense."
She got a bewildered look in return. Tara seemed to crumple in on herself. Faith watched as she hunched her shoulders, hair slipping forward to obscure her face. Even after such a short time in her company, Faith guessed the hair hid a bright blush.
Reaching out hesitantly, Faith laid her hand on the other girl's arm. "Hey," she said softly, "it's no big. The girls have a lot to talk about. B's been kinda all over the place lately. I'm sure Red's getting the 'best friend' low down," Faith lied, surprised at her need to make Tara feel better.
Her actions were rewarded with a tiny smile and a pair of blue eyes peeking through the waterfall of hair. "Th-thanks, Faith. I'm sure you're ri-right."
Faith smiled in return — then remembered herself. The smile mutated into a smirk. "Whatever, T. Let's see what the gang has to say this morning." She spun on a heel, striding for the living room.
Only Buffy and Willow were missing. Faith grabbed one of the ever present "Scooby Meeting Doughnuts" and flopped onto the couch. Giles cleared his throat just as she took a huge bite. "Are Buffy and Willow on their way?"
She rolled her eyes at him, chewing exaggeratedly. Faith barely resisted the urge to answer him with her mouth full. However, she could feel Joyce staring at her, probably waiting for her to do just that. Finally, she swallowed. "They seem to be in the middle of their own meeting." A grin broke out of her control. Meeting. That was a good word for it. "I'm sure they'll be out when they've finished...talking."
Ooops. Faith's eyes widened, her grin dying, as Joyce stood up. "I'll go hurry things up. If Buffy is planning on going after this Adam thing, she and Willow need to be here."
"No!" The disagreement might have been a hair too enthusiastic. Faith scowled at the confused looks she got from the gang. "Look, I just think B and Red need a chance to work out their issues, that's all. I'm here." No one appeared reassured by that statement. Muscles tightening at their lack of confidence, Faith ground out, "I'm the one that's got this all figured out. Not B. I ain't waiting while you go interrupt and drag them out here." She glared at Joyce. "It's now or never, Mrs. S. You're stuck with me as the Slayer for the moment."
Joyce hesitated, and Faith felt her stomach knot. "Look, I get you still don't trust me." She forced herself to look around the room, meeting the five pairs of eyes. "I ain't here to join the Dark Side or try to kill anyone. Can we just do this?" The words were angry; inside, though, Faith was braced for rejection.
"Alright, honey. Don't panic." Joyce shrugged. "Buffy has a habit of trying to avoid big and important conversations, that's all. I didn't want you to have to deal with all of our questions and then have to explain a second time when the girls showed up."
Shit. Faith leaned back on the couch, trying to regain her cool. "No big." Joyce's eyebrow rose as she returned to her chair. "Just wanted you to know I can handle this without B holding my hand." That was better. For safe measure, she smirked. "Nice to know you all trust me so much, too."
Sounding irritated at the delay, Giles interrupted. "Perhaps we should get started some time today?"
"Sure. I'll get us started." Xander leaned forward from his position at the other end of the couch. "Unless I miss my guess, Faith and I are on the same page."
Faith nodded. "Think so, too, X-Man. Freaky."
He grinned at her. "Very." Giles clearing his throat brought them back to business. "Um, yeah, moving right along." Xander's leg bounced in counterpoint to Faith's as he continued. "We think Adam sees the Slayer as the ultimate soldier. He — and maybe Professor Walsh — used that drug to push Buffy to the edge, wake up the Slayer."
"I still don't see the significance of that." Giles whipped his glasses off, chewing on the earpiece.
"That's where you have to look outside the box, G-man." Faith rubbed her hands together. "If he's willing to go to all that trouble, then maybe Adam thinks adding the Slayer to the new demons makes them better." She frowned when Giles still looked confused. "Hell, Giles, think about it. It's an improvement. Maybe Adam can't beat the Slayer. That's why he wants to add it to the next generation of monsters."
Tara raised a hand before saying quietly, "Didn't Bu-Buffy say he was too strong for her, though?"
Nodding, Faith pointed a finger at Tara. "That's just it, T," she said excitedly, "he beat Buffy. B ain't really been good at making friends with the Slayer. She's always too in control for that." She stood abruptly and paced in front of the couch. "Once that drug started working on her, though, she was way different. Violent, angry. The Slayer was out and ready to play. I don't think Adam stands a chance against that."
"That's-" Giles broke off, leaning back in his chair and peering at the ceiling.
Faith stopped pacing, watching him tensely. She knew she was right. It felt right. Still, Giles has to agree. Faith needed him to agree.
Finally, he leaned forward. Faith forgot to breathe. "I cannot imagine how Professor Walsh came up with that idea." Oh, God. Impossibly, Faith's muscles tensed even more. He wasn't going for it. "However, it does make a rather interesting theory," Giles continued.
"Yes!" It exploded from Faith's mouth before she could censor it. Grinning hugely, she pointed at Xander. "See, we aren't always the fuck ups." They shared an enthusiastic high five.
Giles, of course, wasn't amused by the display. "While that may be Adam's reasoning, we are no closer to finding a solution to the problem, Faith. Do you and Xander have any ideas about that?"
"Uh..." Eyes wide, Faith looked at Xander, "I thought that was someone else's job."
Tara came to her rescue. "We n-need to find out how he pl-planned to separate the Slayer from Buffy. Willow and I can maybe find a way to block the spell."
"That still leaves us the problem of how to beat Adam himself." Joyce leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "Faith, with both you and Buffy here, is it possible you'd be strong enough to fight him?"
Faith might have basked in the trust that question implied if she'd had a real answer. "No way to tell, Mrs. S. B might have a better idea; or we may have to test it out." She frowned, hands rubbing restlessly on her thighs. "T, you still up for letting Adam find you?"
The blonde head nodded. "Yes." Tara looked at all the Scoobies. "I'm ju-just wondering, though: does Adam know about Faith?"
"Well, I-" Giles sat back, idly twirling his glasses. "I would have thought so; however, Faith would have been an easy target for any experimentation in her coma." He glanced sharply at Tara. "Do you have something in mind?"
A/N: Thanks for waiting around for this one. I hope life has settled enough to let me get back into it.