Trust
by Rob Sorenson
Chapter Thirteen
“Come on,” Faith said, hopping out of her chair quickly. “I gotta feeling there’s about to be some shit.”
Angel had a forkful of rare filet mignon to his lips. “Huh? What kind of-”
She was gone before he could finish his sentence. He frowned, put the bite in his mouth, chewing quickly as he followed.
“Faith, what is going on? My steak is going to get-“
At that moment a loud noise came from upstairs. Angel looked up in surprise as Faith took the stairs three at a time.
**********************************
Dawn had never moved so fast in her life. The instant she registered the look in her sister’s eyes, Wesley was pitched unceremoniously to one side. He landed awkwardly on the floor, his “oof” the only audible noise for a long moment.
Then Buffy moved toward Wesley’s prone form, with a wild-eyed Xander and Spike close behind.
*****Los Angeles, CA Office of Wolfram and Hart*****
“Morgan.”
(Lilah, darlin’. Good news.)
“You showered?”
(Christ Jesus, woman, do you always have to be such-)
“Yes I do, Jimmy. It’s an image thing. I assume you have a reason for bothering me? There’s a vodka tonic at home calling my name.”
(It’s only three in the afternoon.)
“I work nights. Clock is ticking. Darlin’.”
She grinned slightly when his sigh of frustration could be heard.
(Fine. I just wanted to let you know the little problem is taken care of.)
“See, I knew Viagra would do the trick.”
There was a momentary silence. Lilah’s grin became a full-blown smile.
(I think you know what I’m talkin’ about.)
“I do. Our little potential leak is plugged.”
(That’s actually a pretty good way of puttin’ it.)
“I don’t want to know.”
(No, ya don’t.)
“Then we’re good. All right, if there is a God, this will be our last communication. I assume you’re using a secure phone for these calls?”
(I been doin’ this since you was in grade school, honey. Relax.)
“I’m always relaxed until I hear from you. Drusilla’s been in contact?”
(Yeah. Thanks for the warning. Bitch is fuckin’ nuts.)
“That’s why she’s a two-time employee of the month. We’re suckers for those kind of people. Where’d you point her this time?”
(San Diego. We haven’t hit that area yet, so she should be able to work clean for a coupla days.)
“Good. We’re spending enough money keeping the LAPD off our backs.”
(That was the last batch of them stones, though.)
“Then she’ll have to make sure they last, won’t she?”
(You out of ‘em?)
“If I had any more, they’d already be in your hands. Either way, we’ve got sufficient numbers to keep the playing field the way our clients want.”
(Playing field?)
“Jimmy, are these questions I’m hearing? ‘Cause I could’ve sworn we went over this.”
(Fine. Your show. I got it.)
“Oh, Jimmy. Just because this is completely out of your league-“
(Hey look, honey-)
“-doesn’t mean you have to get all pissy, and I’m not your honey. Are we done, or do you really want to annoy me even more than you already have?”
(There’s the matter of payment.)
“You’ll get everything you have coming once the client’s satisfaction has been confirmed.”
(How the fuck am I gonna know when that is? You don’t tell me shit.)
“If you’re still among the living in a few days, odds are the client is happy. That clear enough for you?”
Lilah disconnected before he could respond.
***************************************
Dawn leapt off the bed, putting herself between Buffy and Wesley.
“Buffy, wait! Just let me explain, ok?”
The Slayer’s fists were clenched; it took a monumental effort not to physically throw Dawn out of the way. Her voice was hoarse as she responded.
“Did he hurt you?”
Dawn’s jaw dropped. “What? Did he what? No! He would never-”
Her attention was diverted as both Spike and Xander were moving around the sisters, headed for Wesley. He tried feebly to scoot away, but the hard landing on his back had knocked the wind out of him. Making a snap decision based on the level of threat, Dawn moved to block Spike.
It was a fortunate choice as Faith came flying into the room, catching Xander from behind.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, babe. Take it easy.”
Xander whirled on his wife, fire in his eyes. “She was…and he was…”
Faith flicked her eyes toward Wesley and Dawn. “Smooth move, guys.”
Dawn wasn’t paying attention, focusing on Spike. “Back off, Spike. I mean it.”
Angel spoke from the doorway. “What’s going on?”
The sound of Angel’s voice caused Spike to vamp out. “Gonna rip your little minion’s head off, that’s what’s bloody going on!!”
“Xander, just chill.”
“Chill? CHILL?! He was…and she was…”
“I know, honey. You said that already.”
Wesley finally found the breath to speak. “Buffy…if I could…”
Her eyes flashed. “Might want to shut up right about now.”
“Don’t tell him to shut up!”
“I’ll shut him up good and proper!”
“Spike-“
“Hands off, Broody. Kick your sodding ass too!”
“STOP IT!” Dawn screamed. “ENOUGH! I’m an adult and I can do what I please in my own room with my own boyfriend!”
There was quiet for a moment. Buffy took a deep breath. “Guys, I need to talk to Dawn alone.”
“Wait a minute,” Xander said, eyeing his wife suspiciously. “You’re taking this way too calmly.”
“Like Dawnie said. She’s a big girl, Xander.”
“No…no, that’s not what I meant.” His eyes widened. “You already knew about this,” he accused.
Faith’s eyes flicked toward Dawn again, then back to Xander. “Yeah.”
Dawn spoke quietly. “Xander, I wanted to be the one to tell you. I asked Faith not to say anything.”
He slowly turned his eyes toward her, unable to keep the hurt tone out of his voice. “So you can tell some people, but not me?”
“That’s goin’ ‘round, apparently,” Spike said, his face morphed back to its human form.
“That’s not fair. I WAS going to tell you…I trusted Faith not to react like I knew you guys would. The rest of you act as if I’m still a helpless child half the time. I needed a friend who would listen, not a bunch of pitbulls going ballistic.”
“Did no one hear me when I said I wanted to talk to my sister alone?” Buffy said dangerously.
Xander was shaking his head at Faith. “I can’t believe you.”
Faith reached for him, but her shook her off. She took a step back and folded her arms.
“Ok, you wanna fight, Xander? I’m good with that. In fact, I’m in the fuckin’ mood for one. But we’re doin’ it downstairs.”
She turned and walked out quickly. He moved to follow, but Dawn caught his arm.
“Xander, if you want to blame someone, it should be me. Don’t be mad at Faith, ok?”
He stared at Dawn for a moment, then turned his gaze toward Wesley, who had made his way off the floor. After another shake of the head, Xander walked out.
Buffy turned to Spike. “Spike…you heard me, right?”
His eyes were fixed on Wesley. Buffy went to her tiptoes and leaned over, effectively blocking the vampire’s view.
“Spike, please. We need a minute.”
His look softened when Buffy’s eyes penetrated into his. He nodded abruptly. “Right, then. Be right outside if you need me.”
“Ok. Angel…”
“Consider me gone.” Before backing out of the room with Spike, he gave a slight smile and a nod to Wes. Buffy’s eyes narrowed as she addressed Wesley.
“How many times to I have to say the word ‘alone’ until it registers with you?”
Dawn stepped toward him. “No. He stays.”
Wesley spoke quietly. “Dawn…”
She faced him. “My room. My rules.”
He nodded as Buffy tried to argue.
“Dawn…”
“NO. Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of him. He has everything to do with this.”
Buffy swallowed hard as the door closed behind her. “Fine. Let’s all have a nice little chat.”
*******************************************
“I seem to recall a little speech from you not too long ago about sharing. Do the words ‘pot calling the kettle black’ mean anything to you?”
Faith chose to ignore Xander’s acid comment for the moment, not breaking stride until they reached the back yard. Once safely out of earshot, she surprised him by speaking in a feather-soft voice.
“This wasn’t about you and me.”
“Come on.”
“She asked me not to say anything…especially to you.”
He couldn’t keep the hurt from his eyes at that statement. “And you just agreed to that?”
Faith cast her eyes toward the second-floor window. “Judging by what I just saw up there, you proved her right.”
He shook his head. “That’s not fair. If you saw what I saw…”
“What did you see exactly?”
He gestured inarticulately with his hands. “She had….he was….”
“Jesus Christ, Xander! It’s ME! What were they doin’?”
He closed his eyes. “He was on top of her and she had her legs wrapped around him and I think I saw tongues and then she threw him off when Buffy kicked down the door.”
“Take a breath, babe.”
“Right. Ok.”
Faith gave him a crooked grin. “Feel better now?”
“No.”
“She’s an adult.”
He snorted. “She’s 19.”
“Yeah. Were you doin’ the nasty at 19? Hmmm…let me think…”
“That was different.”
“Why? ‘Cause you were a guy?”
“It has nothing to do with that! Christ, Willow and Buffy were…”
“Yeah, they were. So the difference is…”
Xander sighed. “I hate when you use logic. I know there was a real argument in here somewhere.”
Faith moved closer to him. “Then let me find it for you. Dawn is the sister of the Slayer. Big old target on her ass from the moment she got here. It was natural – Hell, necessary even – for you guys to shelter her from the outside world. Thing about that is, can’t last forever. Girl needs to spread her wings.”
Xander shook his head, beginning to slowly walk. His wife kept pace, grinning mischieviously.
“Ok, considering what you just saw, maybe ‘spread her wings’ was a bad choice of words.”
“Dammit, Faith…”
“Xand, she was never gonna be locked in that room up there forever, and you know it. What, you thought she’d never have sex in her life?”
He winced. “No.” He held his hands up defensively at her expression. “Ok, rephrasing. I knew…someday…things might change, but…”
“Got news, honey. Someday’s here.” She looked at the ground. “For a lot of us, looks like.”
Xander frowned. “What does that mean?”
“Nothin’.” She looked back up, poking a finger against his chest. “Look, here’s the deal…that kid thinks the world of you. Always has…even when you didn’t deserve it. How you feel matters to Dawnie. A ton. You act like an ass, it’s gonna hurt her. You wanna do that?”
It was Xander’s turn to gaze at his shoes. “You still should have told me.”
“We went over that already. If she asked you to keep a secret that had nothin’ to do with us, would you?”
He simply shrugged.
“That’s what I thought. Don’t even try to compare what I did to the stunt you pulled the last couple of months. What I did was about friendship. What you did was about…you.”
Again he raised his hands in defense. “Ok. Got it.”
They reached Dawn and Buffy’s old swing set. Faith sat down, making lazy circles in the dirt with her shoe. “I know seein’ little Dawnie like that wigged you out. It threw me too…but she oughta have a chance to be happy, don’t you think? I saw ‘em together for the first time a minute ago; I’ve never seen that look in her eyes before. Did you see it or were you too pissed at me to notice?”
Xander paused for a long moment. “Yeah. I saw it. Looked a lot like the way you look at me.”
Faith rolled her eyes. “Please. Get over yourself. I’ve never looked at you like that.”
“Have too. I got the wedding video to prove it.”
She jerked a thumb behind her. “Shut up and push me.”
Xander couldn’t keep a grin from his face. “Are you serious?”
“Wouldn’t have sat on this thing otherwise. Hurry up.”
He positioned himself behind her. Faith straightened her legs as Xander pulled back, then propelled her forward. She tossed him a disappointed glance as she swung back toward him.
“Is that all the harder you can push? I’m not swingin’ very high here.”
“Oh, I can push, baby. I can push you harder and higher than you’ve ever been pushed in your life,” Xander said as he gave her another shove.
“Uh huh. Heard THAT before.”
They said nothing for a minute.
“Faith?”
“Yeah?”
“I realize I’m going to have to just deal when it comes to Dawn and guys, but…of all people, why-“
*******************************************
“WESLEY?!”
Angel’s eyes darted toward Dawn’s closed door. “Not so loud, Cord.”
“Not so loud?! Not so…come here.”
Cordelia grabbed Angel’s elbow, dragging him into the bathroom across the hall.
“You mean to tell me Wesley and Dawn have been going out all this time…and neither one of you had the decency to clue me in?”
The vampire swallowed nervously. “They wanted it to stay private-“
“This is amazing. One time in God-knows-how-many years, some truly interesting gossip comes out of this group…and I’m the last one to know. How could you keep this from me?!”
“Honey, I just said-“
“Don’t ‘honey’ me! All these months I could have made little insinuating comments when we were in the same room. Can you even begin to realize just how uncomfortable I could have made them feel if I’d only known?”
“Well, I think avoiding that kind of thing was the whole poi-“
“Angel, I LIVE for making people feel uncomfortable! This is just…such a terrible waste!”
“Can this wait? We need to get Spike away from that door before he tears off the hinges.”
“Oooh, really? That’d be worth watching.”
“Cordy…”
“Fine.” She walked back out the the hall, finding Spike seated on the floor with his back to the wall.
“Spike? Your wings are going to get cold.”
“Don’t care.”
“What about your onion? I know how much work that was. I’ll bet Andrew’s scarfing all of them down right now. Wanna go see?”
His eyes found Angel’s. “Make her stop, would you?”
“Cordy-“
“Oh, screw it.” She squatted down to Spike’s level with a smirk. “Here’s the deal. We’re trying to get you away from this door, in case you feel the overwhelming urge to run in there and tear Wesley’s head off. He’s part of our family, so Angel and I are officially against that happening.”
The blonde vampire fixed his eyes on the door. “Thought he was hurtin’ her. Before.”
Her face grew serious. “He would never even try to do that.”
“Still could, though.”
“Ummm…ok, maybe you really haven’t looked at Dawn lately, but I’d say she’s got a 50-50 shot at kicking his ass.”
His eyes slid toward her. “Didn’t say physically, did I?”
That caught Cordelia by surprise…but only for a moment.
“Oh. Well, duh. Welcome to the world of relationships. What are you, her guard-dog or something?”
Spike said nothing, merely staring at her. Angel spoke up.
“You can’t protect her from everything.”
“I can bloody well give it a go.”
Cordelia’s voice softened. “Spike…Dawn is an adult now. If she needs you to protect her, she’ll ask.”
“She won’t. She’s a Summers.”
“They don’t ask,” Angel added with understanding.
Cordy rolled her eyes. “Well, considering how many guys fall all over themselves for them, I’d guess they know they don’t have to. Honestly, what IS it with you people?”
Spike simply looked back toward the door. Cordy huffed with annoyance.
“What is your malfunction over this? Do you have some problem with Wesley I don’t know about?”
Spike waited for a beat.
“He’s too old.”
“That’s the best a 125 year-old guy in love with a 23 year-old can come up with?”
“It’s different. I don’t get older.”
“Buffy does.” Cordelia looked into Angel’s eyes. “I do.”
He smiled at her. “This is the part where I say it doesn’t matter to me, isn’t it?”
She stood up and gave him a quick kiss. “Right on cue.” Cordy looked at Spike. “I assume your answer is the same?”
He remained silent. She nodded. “As I thought. Plus, they’re only, like, 10 years apart anyway. That’s nothing…and you know it. There’s a saying about this: age ain’t nothing but a reason to get Botox.” Cordy cocked her head. “At least I think that’s how that goes…”
Spike glared at her. “Did you have a point?”
She glared back. “As a matter of fact, I do. If none of you can make a decent argument against this relationship – and it’s pretty clear there isn’t one to be found – then your issues are with yourselves. It’s not fair to make that her problem. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a wiener to eat.”
Cordelia moved away. Spike spoke to Angel without moving his head.
“She’s a right pisser, ain’t she?”
“That she is.”
“Always liked that about her.”
“I’ve learned to love it. You want to come down?”
“No.”
“Spike-“
“Want to be here when Buffy comes out.”
Angel said nothing for a long moment. Finally he nodded and turned to follow Cordelia down the stairs.
***************************************
“Buffy, sit down. You’re making me nervous.”
“You should be nervous.”
Dawn stood. “Fine. I’m not talking if you’re going to be like this.”
Buffy moved to meet her.
“You’re talking NOW, Dawn.”
“You don’t tell me what to do any more!”
Buffy pointed toward the ceiling. “In case you’ve forgotten, this is my roof. While you live under it, you answer to me!”
“Since when was it just YOUR roof?”
“Since I paid off the damn mortgage all by myself!”
“Ok, fine. You want to rule the roost, that’s cool. I’ll just find another roof to live under!”
Buffy laughed harshly. “Yeah, right. Like there are all kinds of rooves to choose from.”
“I’ll find a place. And it’s roofs.”
“Is not.”
“Is SO!”
Wesley spoke feebly, still seated on the floor. “Please…”
“Shut up, Wesley,” Buffy snapped.
“Don’t you talk to him like that!”
“Dawn, perhaps you and your sister should really-“
“Wes, be quiet.” Dawn snapped.
“Sorry.”
“So just where do you plan to go?”
Dawn raised her chin slightly.
“I’ll find a place of my own. I have a paying job.”
“Yes, and we all know how well you manage THAT money, don’t we? I heard they’re going to rename the mall in your honor.”
“Oh, that’s a real knee-slapper. Tell you what: first thing I’ll do is have them super-size the parking spaces so you might actually have a chance to stay between the lines.”
“Dawn, that is quite enough.” Wesley spoke quietly, but firmly.
“Wesley, stay out of-“
He stood abruptly. “I am not going to sit here like a scolded child. Nor will I witness such behavior from either of you any longer. We are adults. We will sit down and treat each other as such. If not, I will simply leave.”
“Works for me.” Buffy mumbled. He nodded quickly and began to walk out, but Dawn grabbed his arm.
“Wes, don’t go. Buffy…”
The Slayer spoke grudgingly. “Fine. Sit.”
Wesley complied, sitting at the foot of the bed. Dawn joined him while Buffy slumped into the desk chair. After a long moment, she spoke wearily.
“How long has this been going on?”
Dawn raised her eyebrow. “You mean the kissing or the grinding?”
Wesley frowned. “Dawn, please.”
“She’s being judgy, Wes. Her arms are folded.”
Buffy spread her hands. “Ok, you win. Can we make with the civilized conversation, please?”
Wes shrugged slightly. “Honestly, I couldn’t pinpoint a particular moment when things between us changed.” He looked to Dawn. “Can you?”
She met his eyes and smiled. “The first time I caught you checking me out was at Disney World.”
“Disney World?” Buffy interjected. “That was a year ago!”
“Well, we didn’t start dating on the spot or anything, Buffy. Jeez. I’m just starting at the beginning here.”
“I must object to your choice of words. ‘Checking you out’ makes me sound a bit tawdry.”
Dawn kept smiling. “Ok, I can re-word it: I saw you staring at my butt while I looked out the window.”
Wesley winced. “Objection withdrawn.”
Buffy looked from one to the other. “So you two have been attracted to each other all this time?”
Dawn blushed slightly. “Well…at first I was just sort of floored. Usually men don’t notice me when you or Faith or Cordy are around.”
“Come on, Dawn. That’s not true.”
“YOU come on, Buffy. When all four of us are in the room, I’m the last one anyone looks at…until Wesley came along.”
Wes frowned. “Actually, that particular night you were the only woman in the room.” He flinched slightly at Dawn’s glare. “Of course, that is quite irrelevant.”
For the first time since she kicked down the door, Buffy
smiled slightly. God, look at
her. How did I not see this before?
Dawn spoke quietly. “Anyway, when things got really bad there…at Disney, I mean…I started to think about stuff.” She looked at Wesley, eyes softening. “We’ve actually never talked about this before.”
He took her hand. “It’s all right. Go on.”
She sighed. “After all the fighting…I’m lying there in a pool of my own blood, thinking seriously about cutting my leg off, it hurt so damned much. For a minute there, I thought we were all going to die. Then I saw this sweet, sad old man give up what little time he had left for the woman he loved…then I watched her kill herself because she couldn’t deal. It made me so sad.” Dawn hesitated a moment. “When in thought about it later on, after we got out of the wind and rain, I started to get pissed off. There was no reason for any of that to happen. He loved her, she loved him…but circumstances kept them apart. Other forces got between them, and Hans let it happen because he bought into all those stupid rules. I decided I wasn’t going to do that. From then on I was going to just let things sort of flow, you know?”
She gave Wesley a grin as she continued.
“When I started school I had trouble with a research paper in Freshman English. What was the book again?”
Wesley smiled at the memory. “A House For Mr. Biswas.”
“Right. It was written by this guy from Trinidad, and I read the story and all, but I didn’t know what the big meaning was, you know? So I went to the smartest person I knew in LA.”
Wes raised an eyebrow. “You asked Fred?”
Dawn smacked his arm. “Stop it. He helped so much, and was really generous with his time.”
“I’ll bet,” Buffy said drily.
“Buffy, we didn’t touch each other for like, four months. He helped with my studying and I helped him with translations.”
“Your sister is remarkable, Buffy,” Wesley interrupted. “I’ve never seen anyone with such a natural gift with ancient texts.”
Dawn blushed. “Well, I’m not Willow or anything.”
“No, you’re not. You’re considerably better.”
Her eyes shone. “Thank you, baby.”
“I’m simply stating a fact.”
Buffy rolled her eyes. “Ok, I’m getting cavities here. Can we move on?”
Wesley took up the narrative. “Later that year, she did extraordinarily well on her mid-terms…so much so that Xander and Willow gave her the afternoon off as a reward. She wanted to go surfing. We’d had dinner together once or twice, but generally at a fast food restaurant near the campus. Therefore this was our first ‘outing’, as it were. After that occasion we…well…”
“We knew we had a chemistry thing going,” Dawn finished. “This didn’t happen overnight, Buffy. It took some time for me to get past some stuff…but either way, that was the day I decided I wanted more than a study-buddy.”
Wesley looked down. “I had strong feelings as well, but frankly I had reservations. Most probably similar to the ones all of you are feeling now. Our age difference, for example.”
Buffy nodded her agreement, but before she could speak Dawn leaned toward her sister, raising a forefinger.
“Ok, I thought about that too…but in the end, I just don’t care. I am in love with Wesley. There is nothing –“ she gazed at Wes meaningfully – “and no one in this world that will be allowed to get in the way of that.”
There was a protracted silence; Buffy kept looking from Dawn to Wesley. Finally she shook her head and shrugged. “I guess I don’t know how to respond. It’s so sudden. Just…thrown, I guess.”
Wes grinned. “That is certainly understandable. I was in a similar state for quite a long time.” His smile faded. “I also understand that you might have certain reservations about me beyond my age. The history between us on a personal level. My performance as your Watcher-”
“Wesley, stop,” Buffy interrupted, holding up a hand.. “We all learned a few things since then. As I recall, you broke away from the Council completely. Giles never managed to do that.”
He gave a slight, rueful smile. “If one could refer to a sacking as ‘breaking away’ from my fellow Watchers, I suppose I could be persuaded to accept that.”
“They fired you because you stayed to fight with us. Even back then I knew that meant something. Remember what I said to you at the time?”
“It’s a start.”
“Right. And it was. Since then you’ve been as important to Angel as Giles was to us. He’s told me that more than once. Whatever doubt I have about this…relationship, it has nothing to do with how I think of you as a person.”
Wesley’s eyes fell; he nervously picked at the bedspread. “Thank you,” he muttered thickly. When he looked back up, Dawn’s eyes were shining. He squeezed her hand.
Buffy regarded them for a moment, then rose, looking outside. Dawn joined her.
“What kind of doubt?”
“Hmm?”
“You said you had a doubt. Is it about me?”
Buffy shook her head with a smile.
“Ok. Then…”
“Look.”
Dawn followed Buffy’s gaze out the window. She matched her sister’s smile when she saw Xander pushing Faith on their swing.
“You used to push me way higher than that.”
“I know. We oughta show ‘em how it’s done.”
Neither spoke for a minute. Buffy finally nodded toward Xander. “He’s my doubt.”
“Huh?”
“He never had to be a part of all this. I tried more than once to make him stop.”
“I remember.”
“But he didn’t. He wouldn’t leave us behind. I guess some small part of me still wishes he would have. Instead, he’s literally married to it now. And just this morning I found out he’ll be in pain for the rest of his life as a reward.”
Her eyes misted over. “Maybe I want you to be the one to find a life outside of all this.”
Dawn shook her head slowly. “That can’t happen. Not totally. Whoever I’m with will be a part of what we do. You know better than to think that can be avoided.”
Buffy cleared her throat. “So…this isn’t a matter of…”
“Convenience?” Dawn finished. “Because he’s a part of us already?”
She nodded, sending Wesley an apologetic glance. “I don’t mean to-“
Dawn shook her head.
“No, that’s fair. I was wondering if you were going to ask. The answer is no. One had nothing to do with the other. I fell in love with Wesley despite the fact that he fights demons for a living.”
Again they shared silence. This time Dawn broke it.
“I’m sorry everyone had to find out like this. It’s totally my fault. I got kinda…umm…”
Buffy couldn’t keep the grin off her face. “I got it. We can talk about that stuff later.”
“Yes, please refrain for now,” Wesley agreed hurriedly.
The Slayer faced them both. “This is going to take some getting used to.”
“Of course.”
“Ok, then. I guess we better not keep Spike waiting any longer.”
Wesley stood nervously. “He’s…waiting?”
“Yup. Right outside.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do. Don’t worry; he’s not going to hurt you. Just go easy…to Spike, Xander and Willow, Dawn is as much family as I am. I can’t tell them how to feel about this.”
Dawn took Wesley’s arm. “We knew it would be a little freaksome for everybody.”
“My advice?” Buffy said. “Talk to them like you did me. They need to hear it too.”
Wesley hesitated a bit as they approached the door. Dawn poked him in the ribs. “Stop worrying so much. Everyone’s had a chance to get past the initial shock thing.” She stopped, frowning. “Well, everyone except for-“
***********************************************
“Willow, I can feel your doubts.”
She only responded with a slight shrug. Tara frowned slightly.
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes…of course I do.”
“It’s the right thing, honey. Not just for you or those you love, but the world too.”
They were walking together on the sidewalk. Well, I’m walking at least, Willow
thought. She’s sort of floating.
“I want to be able to help, that’s all. It feels like such a waste to give it all up.”
“It’s too much. No single person is supposed to wield this kind of ability. The balance must be restored.”
Willow stopped. “Balance? What do you mean?”
“Willow, there is a balance to all things in the Uni-“
“Yes, I know. That’s Wicca 101. Well, assuming someone could major in it, at least. That’s not what I meant. How does permanently draining me restore order?”
Tara looked slightly annoyed. “Honey, we’ve been over this.”
“Have we? There are covens all over the world who have power that rivals mine. What is it about me in particular?”
“You very nearly destroyed the world.”
“Like you said, we’ve been over this. I’m not the first, though. Other wiccas have tried that.”
“Yes, and all who previously failed are dead…with one exception. No one is supposed to be able to survive that transformation. The fact that you have the potential to do such a thing - and live through the experience - is the very thing that throws the universe out of balance.” Tara spread her hands, face pleading. “Don’t you understand? I’m trying to save your life here. You can’t be allowed to function with this much power within you.”
“Can’t be allowed? By whom?”
“I begged them to let me help you. Please, Willow. What is it going to take to get you to believe me?”
“Well, for one thing, you can tell me who you really are.”
Tara blinked. “Wha-“
“Tara and I had our first kiss in her dorm room. Hard to bury anything there. Plus, UC Sunnydale is the opposite direction of where we’ve been walking.”
“I…I must have forgotten. Wil-“
Willow held out her hand. “VINCIRE!”
*****************************************
“This is sad. My grandma could do better than this.”
“Faith, if you swing any higher you’ll be upside down.”
“So? I’ll land on my feet. Anyway, you keep grabbin’ my butt instead of actually pushing. Come on, pick it up some.”
Xander grinned while giving her another shove. “Hard to miss a butt that big.”
“WHAT WAS THAT?!”
Xander was off and running before she could come back down. Faith skidded to a stop and gave chase.
“You better run!”
*******************************************
Spike had stood up before they opened the door. His eyes darkened as he saw Dawn clasping Wesley’s hand. She let go and walked over to him with a slight smile.
“We’ll talk later, ok? I want some onion.”
He hesitated a moment, then nodded. “You’d better. Lot of work, that was.”
Buffy moved around her sister, taking Spike’s arm. “Let’s go eat, Mr. Nosy.”
“I wasn’t listening.”
“Sure you weren’t.”
They headed for the stairs. Spike spoke quietly.
“What exactly is wrong with Xander?”
Buffy sighed. “Later.”
“Is there no one who’ll talk to me now?”
“Nope. I’m hungry, and I don’t talk with my mouth full.”
“Since when?”
***********************************************
Xander was laughing as he ran around the corner.
“Come back here and get your whuppin’, Harris!”
He got the front door open, but she caught him before he could close it behind her.
“You think you’re funny, is that it?”
He tried playfully to pull away from her. “Hey, you insulted me first!”
“Yeah, but I was tellin’ the truth. Take back that crack about my ass and I might not have to kick yours.”
Suddenly a bright flash of light staggered them both. Xander managed to catch himself against the desk in the living room. Faith let go of him and assumed a fighting stance. Once both managed to adjust their eyes, they quickly widened. Faith was the first to find her voice.
“B, get down here!”
She heard footsteps moving quickly down the stairs behind her, but was unable to remove her eyes from what had appeared.
****************************************************
Buffy didn’t hesitate when Faith yelled; she knew that tone. Hurtling down the steps with the others at her heels, she got her first glimpse at what had caused Faith to sound so alarmed…and stopped in her tracks. Unprepared, Spike slammed into her, creating a domino effect that forced Buffy to her knees on the stairs…but her eyes never left the living room even as she fell.
Floating roughly 12 inches off the floor was Tara, her body magically immobilized. Dawn whispered hoarsely.
“Tara?”
“DON’T call her that!!”
Everyone jumped when Willow came into view, eyes cold. She walked toward the center of the room, looking up slightly at “Tara.”
“Do you like this? Giles showed it to me a couple of years ago. Sort of like being stuck in a magical donut, isn’t it? Well, except it sorta hurts.”
“W…Willow…”
“Shut up.”
Xander swallowed hard. “Wills, what’s going on?”
The redhead turned to her oldest friend. “Someone decided to try and screw with…” she broke off, her voice rising in surprise. “…Riley?”
“Huh?”
Willow merely pointed. Everyone turned to see Riley Finn standing in the open doorway, squinting slightly as he spoke.
“There’s never a good time to stop by here, is there?”
- End Chapter Thirteen -