Fanfiction: A Tale of Slayers : Part 5-8
CHAPTER EIGHT
Not more than twenty minutes later, the two Slayerettes rushed into the library.
“Giles!” they called out as they hurried around the counter. Even though they made record time, they still looked presentable. Willow’s shoulder length red hair was neat and hers and Xander’s loose fitting clothes were as adequate as usual.
Angel stepped out of the office to meet them. He didn’t venture much farther from the doorway or he would risk getting caught in the sunlight coming from the high windows and skylight of the library. Giles had found a folded cardboard box to place on the sill of the window in the office, to keep the sunlight out.
“She’s inside,” he said, stepping aside to let them enter.
“How is she?” they both asked in unison.
Giles look up from his task. “Thank you, for coming. She should be fine. You’re just in time, Willow. I am about ready to start the sutures and I’d appreciate your help.”
Willow only stood there for a few seconds looking at her best friend laying, on the couch, looking so— helpless. She had never seen Buffy like this before. Well, there was that one time last year when she had been put in the hospital, after almost dying, she thought. But then she had still recovered fairly quickly and even managed to slay an invisible demon who had been terrorizing the children’s ward. But as serious as that time was, she looked three times worse here.
“Oh, Buffy,” she whispered.
“Willow,” Giles said, gently.
She snapped herself out of it and moved over to his side to lend him a hand.
“Oh, man,” Xander finally said. Then his anger flared. “Why didn’t you take her to the hospital? What’s she doing here?”
Giles didn’t react to the young man’s anger but said, “The hospital would not be able to do any more for her than we can. And, for our purposes, the library is a more secure location.”
“How so?” Xander demanded.
“It’s easier to guard. And we have a Slayer and a vampire as our first line of defense.”
“As long as the bad guys don’t stand in the sunlight, that is.” He shot a glare at the vampire in question, not succeeding in getting a reaction. Then Xander looked at Faith and noted she was resting her head on the desk top, her eyes closed. “And the Slayer.” Eyes still closed, Faith raised a hand and gave a tiny wave. Xander turned back to Giles. “This does not really instill confidence in me, you know.” He missed Faith’s wave turning into the bird behind his back. Angel was the only one who caught it and could not fight the grin that appeared on his face.
Just growing a little impatient, Giles looked at the young man. “Xander, I feel your concerns, but trust me. If I thought for one moment —one instant— that Buffy’s life was in jeopardy, I would be the first one demanding we get her to the hospital.”
But Xander was not done pleading his case yet. “But look at her! She’s never been this bad, before. Has she Willow?”
“Well…” His long time childhood friend seemed to share his concerns, if not as vocally as him. “You have to admit, Giles. I can’t remember a time when Buffy’s looked like this. Not even when Angel put her in the hospital.” She glanced at the vampire. “I mean, not that you meant to beat her up, but it was your demon… .”
“It’s okay,” he said, even though the shame was evident in his eyes. “I remember. But Buffy was already weak from the flu. It made her easier to hurt. And she wasn’t able to heal as fast.”
Before an uncomfortable silence could settle, Giles cleared his throat. “Yes. And Buffy was at full strength last night. How ever severe her injuries, I have every confidence that she will recover. But, she will need our help to do so.”
“What about Faith?” Willow asked, noticing her haggard appearance for the first time.
The Slayer in question finally opened her eyes and lifted her head. “Hey, I’m fine. Aside from needing a shower and breakfast in bed, I’m five-by-five.”
Giles was working on the first suture but spared her a glance. “But you said so yourself, Faith, that you had died.”
“Died?” Xander exclaimed.
“Died?” Willow echoed.
“I was being dramatic, Giles,” Faith said, trying to sound matter-of-factly. “We Slayer’s do tend to do that every once in a while. It’s all parcel of the whole gig. And I’m not really sure what happened back there.”
“But the next Slayer was called,” Giles said.
“Whoa! `Next Slayer?’” offered Xander.
“All I know is that this demon-sorcerer guy has the ability to stop someone’s heart.”
“And he just raised a hand to you? He didn’t chant a spell or say anything?”
Faith shrugged. “Nothing. He took me down without batting an eyelash. If he had any.” The image of the demon must have entered her thoughts for she almost shuddered. This was really starting to freak Xander out, if something could freak out Faith this way, and do this to Buffy.
“Did you get a good look at it?” Giles asked, concentrating on his other Slayer.
“Yeah. Too good. I’m trying not to remember.”
“Well, we can research the demon later.”
Willow and Xander were looking expectantly at the others in the room, waiting for the “Cliff Notes” update that usually followed such an exchange. But, when it seemed that one would have to be prompted, Xander finally raised his hand.
“Hey, I hate coming into the middle of the movie as much as the next person, and I know no one is eager to be assigned the recap, but me and Will or still in need of flashbacks here.”
Giles only glanced up quickly. “Yes. Sorry. I guess I’ll go first, then.”
“Yeah,” Faith agreed, once more resting her head on the desk but positioned to listen. “I missed this part myself.”
Giles gave a descriptive, if abridged version, of what happened through the night starting with the phone call he received from the Watcher’s Council. The activation of the new Slayer, Angel’s demon visitor, and discovering that the new Slayer was here in Sunnydale and a vampire. Throughout the retelling, Faith had supplied her parts in what she guessed were the appropriate places. Needless to say, Willow and Xander’s jaws dropped several times.
Ironically, they finished the story just as Giles snipped the end of the last suture in Buffy’s side. Willow silently praised the Watcher for his skills. The stitches were small and set neatly along the wound. She doubted there would even be a scar left, but then again, with Buffy’s healing ability there probably wouldn’t be a scar either way.
“Angel did say something `big’ was happening,” she finally said.
“And is anybody else thinking he should win the award for `Best Understatement of the Year?’” Xander quipped. This got a severe look from Angel and a chuckle from Faith. Although the teenager wasn’t as adamant about his dislike of the vampire as he used to be, he still couldn’t resist taking verbal jabs at him. But then, he realized, he was like that with all of his friends. Xander would have shook his head, had he been alone, for having the words “friend” and “Angel” in the same thought. And it occurred to him that Faith was the person in the room who liked the vampire the least, probably on general Slayer principals alone; but that was something he never would have thought possible just a couple of months ago.
“And we must start devising our strategy against attack from all fronts,” Giles said.
Willow was applying a thin bandage over the stitches. “The bad guys do have an impressive offense: the Order of Taraka; this demon-sorcerer that stopped Faith’s heart, with a platoon of vampires; which includes a vampiric Slayer. Our own defensive line-up consists of one vampire and two Slayers; granted a formidable fighting team, but with one Slayer in a near coma and the other having her heart stopped at least twice in one night, I’m suddenly thinking `sudden death.’”
She looked up to find everyone in the office staring at her. Heat suddenly rushed into her cheeks. “What?”
“Come clean, Will,” Xander said. “You’re a closet ESPN viewer.”
Willow opened her mouth but couldn’t think of anything to say. Giles removed his glasses and wiped them with a handkerchief. He winced, noticing the pain in his bruised hand for the first time in hours. “Very intriguing. Faith how are you feeling? Are you sure you’re all right?”
The younger Slayer was suddenly the focus of attention, which she really didn’t want to be, but the concern she saw in the Watcher’s eyes did fill her with a certain warmth. Her previous Watcher had fussed over her as well, but she never had the emotional display this Watcher showed so readily. Although it probably wasn’t as evident to the people in this room, who saw him as a stuffy Brit most of the time, but Giles seemed to go against the mold for Watchers, based on her own experiences with her first Watcher as well as her short time with Gwendolyn Post; who did turn out to be evil in the end.
“Yeah. I’m fine. Just tired.”
It seemed that Giles wanted to say more, but Faith was grateful when he put his glasses back on and didn’t push. “Then you best get cleaned up and put on some dry clothes. No need to push your luck.”
“Sounds like a plan.” She stood up. “But I don’t have anything else to wear.”
Xander’s head snapped up, but he quickly looked away when she glanced at him, suddenly growing an interest in a book he pulled off a shelf.
“Buffy keeps some clothes stashed here,” Willow said, getting up and opening the closet cabinet. “You are a little taller than she is but then Buffy usually doesn’t have clothes as tight as yours.” She quickly added, “Not that that’s a bad thing, or to imply that Buffy isn’t as—”
“Slutty?” Faith offered.
“No! No, I wasn’t thinking that at all! I—”
Faith smiled at her. “Just joking Willow.”
“Oh.” She laughed nervously. “Either way, I’m going to stop talking for a little while.”
“Uh, Faith,” Giles spoke up. “If you can help Willow take Buffy with you to the girls’ locker room you can get her cleaned up as well.”
“Are you sure we should move her?” Angel asked.
“Right now, she needs to get as much rest as possible. We should make her as comfortable as we can. And besides, they can check to see if there are any further injuries we, uh, may have missed.”
“Sure. No problem.” Faith moved over to the blonde Slayer. “C’mon, private Buffy, time to hit the showers.” She started to ease her off the sofa.
Buffy stirred and her eyes opened slightly. “Shower?”
“Yeah, Willow and I are going to make sure you don’t drop the soap.”
“I know how to take a shower by myself,” she said, dazedly. “I’ve been taking showers since I turned twenty-one.”
Xander frowned. “Man, Buffy really can’t handle her drugs, can she?”
Willow looked at him. “You don’t know, Xander. Maybe Buffy’s the kind of girl who takes the time to enjoy a nice long bath— Oh, supplied naughty image. Sorry, I forgot. Not supposed to be talking right now.”
“Uh, Willow,” Giles said.
She nodded and grabbed more of Buffy’s clothes. Faith had Buffy on her feet now, but it looked like she wasn’t going to be doing any walking. Angel stepped forward.
“I can take her.”
Faith shot him a look. “You wish. Don’t worry `long-tooth,’ I’m just as macho as you are.” With that she lifted the drowsy slayer into her arms but exaggerated a grunt. “Man, B! You really need to lay off the stakes.”
With everyone standing now, the office had suddenly become a little crowded. Angel and Xander walked out first so the girls could leave and they headed out of the library. As they passed Angel Buffy looked up.
“Angel!” She reached out and grabbed the lapel of his coat, causing Faith to stop.
He wrapped his hand around hers. “You’re going to be okay, Buffy. I promise.”
“Oh, I know, Angel,” she said, dazedly. “You always say that. You’re my guardian Angel! Just… only a vampire.”
Faith said, “Yeah, well, where we’re going, boys —even boys over a two-hundred years old— are not allowed.”
“Maybe someone should be there to stand guard,” he suggested. This got him a look from Faith and Willow. “I mean outside the door.” Faith and Willow continued to give him the look. “Outside the locker room door.”
Xander chuckled lightly and rescued him by putting a hand on Angel’s shoulder and pulling him away. He removed his hand as they watched the girls disappear through the double doors.
“You’re probably thinking the same thing I am?” Xander asked.
“How vulnerable they’re going to be in the shower?” he said, seriously.
Xander nodded. “So you are thinking the same thing I am.” Angel shot him a look. “Don’t worry, Faith has had plenty of experience fighting monsters in the nude.”