Simple Choices
by rebelrsr
Chapter 23
[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.
Xander interrupted before Tara could answer. "Wait, guys." He wiggled his eyebrows when everyone looked his way. "As sorry as I am to break the new Faith/Xander connection, there is no way we should get Adam here until we're set for the final showdown."
Stiffening, Faith felt a new wave of insecurity. "Why? I thought we needed to test our thing about the Slayer." Her voice was rough, tight, and she hoped the gang didn't notice how much she wanted them to back her up.
Xander turned so he was leaning against the arm of the couch, looking directly at Faith. "It was a good plan. When we still thought the answer was some magical fireworks." Running a hand through his hair, he smiled slightly. "Things change. From the conversation, I'm getting we don't think Adam knows you're here. Or that there is even a you to be here."
"So?" Faith didn't want to relax too soon. He might still say she was a poor substitute for the 'real' Slayer.
"If he doesn't know, why tell him?" Xander asked.
It still wasn't making sense; although, Faith didn't think he was bashing her for the earlier suggestion. "Sorry, Xan. I'm still not with you." She met his eyes and shrugged. "Guess our new Wonder Twin powers were a fluke."
He grinned goofily. "Nah. They're still here. Sometimes even Zan and Jayna took a while to catch on. Look. If Adam doesn't know there are two Slayers, and he's already beaten Buffy once, he thinks he's got us. All he has to do is sit back and wait for us to resurface."
"Good Lord." Faith rolled her eyes at Giles' excited comment. Didn't people from England have any other phrases? "He may not have to wait for long."
No one asked him to explain. They simply sat and waited. Faith's leg bounced from the new tension until she couldn't tale the silence any longer. "Spill, G-man. You think Adam is going to find us somehow? Through T, maybe?" She was already thinking about defenses. Maybe interrupting Buffy and Willow wasn't such a bad idea.
Just before she jumped up, Giles shook his head. "No, Faith. When Buffy came to my apartment after Professor Walsh tried to kill her, she mentioned the Initiative containment cells were overflowing with demons. If Adam has access to all of the Professor's files, he's going to know Buffy won't sit back and let him flood Sunnydale with them. All he has to do is open a few doors, release a few demons..."
"...and Buffy won't be in hiding any longer." Joyce's quiet voice filled in the blank. "I guess being the Slayer makes you predictable." She didn't sound happy with that thought.
Faith was out of ideas. She looked blindly around the room, hoping one of the others would step in, bail her out.
"We still need more information on Adam." Anya finally rejoined the conversation from her spot by Xander. "I mean, it's great that Buffy on steroids is better than just plain Buffy. All you have, though, is some lame idea and no real information on what makes Adam tick."
"An, honey, I think we all know that." Faith hid a smirk as Xander patted Anya's thigh.
Tara shifted on the floor, tucking her hair behind an ear. "We may know it. We aren't doing anything about it."
The words just added to Faith's sudden feeling of inadequacy. When she'd been a Junior Scooby last year, Buffy always made this part look easy. The gang did the research, offered options, and then they went off to kill the demon. Why wasn't it working the same way this time?
***
"You know, for two supposedly straight girls, we did OK with the girl lovins." Buffy nuzzled her head into the hollow of Willow's throat. Relaxed, sated, she refused to think of anything outside the room.
The body underneath her vibrated with laughter. "It's not like we didn't know all the parts, Buffy. Did you think we needed a manual? Maybe a diagram with little comments: rub here, lick there?"
Flushing slightly, Buffy nipped at Willow's neck. "Meanie." She nipped again, hearing the sudden inhalation of Willow's breathing. "I was trying to tell you I'd never...um..." Breaking off, she tried to force the words past her own embarrassment. "It was good, Will. You were good." Deep inside, Buffy felt the Slayer growl a sleepy agreement.
She didn't get the response she expected. In fact, Willow stiffened at her compliment.
"Will?" Contentment flickered. "Will?" Buffy sat up, eyes immediately searching for Willow's.
Long lashes hid the normally bright green eyes. Freckles stood out sharply against a fiery blush. Shy Willow had replaced her confident lover. Buffy could handle shy. Freaked, scared, or hurt Willow...Thankfully, none of those were in the room.
Buffy relaxed again, lips twitching into a mischievous smile. With slow, deliberate movements, she spread herself over the blushing redhead. "Hmmm. I'm still not getting an answer. Guess that means maybe I did something wrong." She planted light, teasing kisses over a pale shoulder. "If I try again, maybe I'll get it right this time."
Unfortunately, the expected interruption finally happened. A shrill beeping cut through the room.
"Ignore it," she ordered Willow. Tuning out the irritating sound, she went back to work on Willow's warm skin. It didn't take long, though, for her to realize the mood was broken.
"Aren't you going to get that?" Willow asked, moved restlessly. Glancing up, Buffy noticed the redhead peering across the room toward the continued beeping.
With a not so muffled curse, Buffy rolled out of bed and stalked across the room, searching through the pile of discarded clothes.
"What's going on?" Buffy heard the worry in Willow's voice.
Grabbing the pager out of her pants pocket, Buffy held it up. "Initiative pager. I didn't expect to hear from them again with the Professor dead." Frowning, the euphoria of her time with Willow faded. Satiation was replaced with a growing tension. This couldn't be good. She brought the small box down and peered at the backlit display.
Rustling sounded from the bed and then a warm body pressed into Buffy's back. Looking away from the pager, Buffy met Willow's eyes. "Huh. Graham says he's got some info for us. Wants a meeting."
A tiny chin rested on her shoulder. "Looks like it's time to go back to work." Willow's voice was quiet in the large room.
Buffy's head dropped forward. "Yeah," she mumbled. "Looks like." Body and mind protesting, she wiggled out of Willow's embrace. Starting to dress, she tried to refocus on her job, her Calling. That was hard at the best of times. Now, Buffy struggled with the desire to toss the pager back onto the floor and take Willow back to bed.
"Hey." Buffy's head snapped up at the single word. "It's not the end of the world, Buff." Soft lips lifted in a wide grin. "Not yet, anyway. After you beat Adam, maybe we can sneak back here and hide out for a while. You know, have a private celebration."
Some of Buffy's happiness returned. Enough that she was able to return the grin, wink at Willow. "Excellent plan, Will. Except...we live together. You could just magically lock the dorm room door. All the comforts of home, interruption free."
"Good point," Willow acknowledged. She, too, grabbed her clothes. Once they were both presentable, Buffy ushered Willow from the room, hand resting lightly on the small of Willow's back.
It was a short journey down the hall to the living room. Buffy frowned. The gang was there; though, no one appeared to be researching, and the room was filled with uncomfortable silence.
"Maybe I'm missing something," Buffy said to the quiet group. "Aren't research parties places of turning pages and muffled yawns?"
Willow moved away, heading for a spot on the floor. Buffy stuffed the hand that had been touching Willow into a pocket to avoid reaching out for her girlfriend. Work first. Coming out announcements later.
"Ah," Giles finally responded to her comments, "we seem to be at an impasse."
"Yeah, and we're kinda out of ideas, too," Faith mumbled. "Sorry, B. Hoped we'd have some answers waiting for you after you and Red finished your talk."
Watching Faith closely, Buffy noticed the look of defeat. Faith's shoulders slumped, her head bowed. Needing time to figure out why Faith looked like they'd already lost, Buffy addressed the last part of Faith's statement. "What talk?"
Faith's body language changed so fast Buffy blinked. "You know, the one you just had with Willow." Wide brown eyes tried to send a message. "Tara and I stopped to get you for the meeting, and I could hear you talking inside."
Oh shit. Buffy was sure her blush went from head to toe. "Ah, that talk." Swallowing hard, she carefully avoided looking at Willow — or her mother. "Thanks for letting us take care of that. We really needed to...talk." Buffy rocked on her heels and desperately changed the subject. "So, what was with the long faces when we came in?"
Xander summed it up. "Adam on the loose, no way to beat him."
"Well," Buffy said, feeling on firmer footing with the work-related issue, "I may be able to get us some answers." She tapped the pager once again hooked to her belt. "Graham wants a meeting."