"My Way - Chapter Thirty"
Author: Sydnie
Email: sydniep@hotmail.com
It had been six hours since Faith had kidnapped Meghan and they had no idea where she was. They were all at Buffy and Angel's working on a game plan.
Wesley hung the phone up. "I have spoken to the Council at length about the situation and it is their decision that you should be concentrating on the mayor's ascension."
Buffy sat on the couch in the family room rocking with her head in her hands. "Fuck them!"
"Pardon me?" Wesley asked.
She stood and faced Wesley. "I said fuck the Council and fuck you for agreeing with them. Wesley, my baby is missing! She was taken by people that could care less that she's sick and you have the GALL to tell me to put the mayor first?!"
"Buffy, y-you have the Council's orders." Wesley reaffirmed.
"Orders? I don't think I'll be taking anymore orders. Tell the Council that they can close up shop until the next Slayer comes along."
"You can't turn your back on the Council."
Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. "They're in England. They can't tell which way my back is turned. Now, get the fuck out of my house!"
Angel sat in Meghan's room on the floor in the dark. That's how Buffy found him.
"I just quit the Council." She sat next to him. "They wanted me to forget about finding Meghan and concentrate on stopping the mayor." She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Angel, he's got our baby."
"We'll find her Buffy."
Buffy looked at his face. "Damn it, Angel!"
"What?"
Buffy stood up and began pacing. "You're brooding. You're sitting in our daughter's room and you're brooding!"
He jumped to his feet. "Well what the hell do you want me to do, Buff? I wanted to go look for her, but no, your little Scooby gang is down stairs researching!"
"Willow and Oz are trying to to find out where the mayor's got Faith living!"
"You know what, babe? I've got contacts too. I could have already found her by now."
"I know that! But Giles wants to..."
"Who cares what Giles wants? She's OUR daughter! Are you THAT immature that you need HIS permission before you do what you KNOW you should?!"
"Go to Hell, Angel!"
"I've been there ... remember!"
"Fuck you!" She ran from the room.
The group downstairs heard the fight going on in Meghan's room.
"Should we intervene?" Willow asked.
Giles was about to say something, but Joyce spoke first.
"They have to get through this anyway they can. Right now, they're taking it out on each other."
The computer beeped. "I've got her. BUFFY!" Willow yelled.
Buffy and Angel almost knocked each other down running down the stairs. Buffy took the address from Willow and grabbed Angel's hand. "Let's go get our daughter."
Even though the building was heavily guarded, the vamps were no match for the super-couple. Buffy and Angel could sense Meghan when they entered the building and nothing was going to stop them from getting her back.
"What's the plan?" Angel asked.
"We go in, you get Megg out of there and I beat the shit out of Faith."
He kissed her. "Let's do it."
Faith was lying on her bed wearing headphones, so she could drown out the crying baby, and reading a magazine.
When Buffy and Angel slipped into the bedroom, they saw their daughter lying in a cardboard box in the corner of the room like a puppy. That pissed Buffy off even more.
Angel immediately picked the baby up and mouthed the word 'hospital' to his wife. She nodded and watched him quietly get her out of the apartment.
Buffy picked a book up off of the floor and threw it at Faith.
"Shit!" Faith pulled the headphones off and turned around.
"Did you honestly think I wouldn't find you?"
"Not this fast." Faith glanced to where Meghan had been. "Guess you found your kid, huh? Damn"
Rage course through Buffy's body. "I ought to kill you, bitch!"
Faith jumped up to her feet on the bed. "I'd like to see you try." She flipped off of the bed and kicked at Buffy.
That was the only thing Buffy needed and she was all over Faith.
The brunette landed a few of her punches and kicks, but she was no match for the pissed off mother.
Faith grabbed a knife that hung on the wall and lunged at Buffy. The blond kicked the knife out of her hand and leapt for it as it hit the floor. Faith went for it as well. The weapon was pointing upwards when Faith fell on top of Buffy, stabbing her in the heart.
Faith was dead.
Buffy ran into the ER where she was met by Giles? "Where's Megg?"
"I'll take you to her."
Giles led her to a small, private room with no windows. Angel sat in a rocking chair and cradled the little girl in his arms.
When he saw Buffy, he stood, careful not to get baby's I.V. tangled, and handed her to his wife.
Buffy's bottom lip quivered and tears began to flow. "Hi, my baby. That mean lady didn't hurt you, did she?"
Dr. Evans entered the room. "The only bruise on her is from where the needle was pulled from her hand. Other than that, there's not a mark on her."
Buffy kept placing kisses on her baby's head. "Do you know what's wrong with her?"
The doctor nodded. "She has a tricky little virus that was hard to detect, but has just about run its course and she has an ear infection. That's what was causing her temp to spike."
"When can we take her home?"
"I'm going to keep an eye on her for a few more hours and then she can go home. ... I can't apologize enough for the hospital's lack of security."
"It's not your fault, Dr. Evans." Angel told her.
Joyce stood. "Why don't we leave Buffy and Angel alone with their baby for a while."
"That's an excellent idea, Joyce." Giles agreed.
Everyone said their goodbyes and left the room.
"Buffy, I..." Angel started.
"I shouldn't have yelled at you like I did Angel. I just ... I have no excuses. It was wrong and I'm so sorry." She sat in the rocking chair.
"Yeah, well, I said my share of hurtful things myself." He knelt beside her. "You know how much I love you."
She caressed his face as she nodded. "I love you too. ... I can't believe how angry I got so quickly."
"We weren't angry at each other, Buffy. We just needed to take our frustrations out on someone." He kissed her temple.
"At least we won't have to deal with Faith anymore." She told him.
He was about to ask her what happened, but were interrupted by the doctor.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I just thought you'd like me to look at your injuries."
Buffy looked at Angel. "Do I look that bad?"
He smiled and shook his head. "I didn't even notice."
Buffy couldn't believe what had happened in the last 24 hours. Her daughter had been sick, kidnapped, she'd argued with Angel, found Faith, saved Meghan, and killed Faith.
She looked at her sleeping baby. Meghan was completely unaware of what had happened to her. She was tucked into her crib and safe. That's all Buffy cared about.
Buffy felt Angel's strong hands on her shoulders.
"You should really get some sleep."
She shrugged. "I'm afraid that if I close my eyes, she'll be gone."
He wrapped his arms around her. "She won't be. This house is a fortress. There are so many protection spells on Megg, us and the house that I doubt we'll be able to get out of here."
Buffy sighed. "I hope we can. Graduation's in two days and we still don't know how to stop the mayor."
"Giles is working on it. He'll figure it out."
Across town, Richard Wilkins III was sitting in his office. One of his followers entered without knocking.
"Have you no manners. That's what's wrong with the undead these days, no respect."
"My deep apologies sir, but I have some bad news. It's Faith. The Slayer found her. She's dead."
The mayor became enraged. "Where were the guards that were posted around her?!"
"All were killed, sir."
Wilkins seethed. "I will enjoy eating that girl."
The End