Chapter 16: The Goddess
BUFFY’S OFFICE – 9:00 PM
EMMA’S POV
“Hey Buffy,” I’m standing in her doorway. I’ve been standing here for about a minute but she is completely engrossed in the papers on her desk.
She looks up at me and smiles, “Hey, whatcha up to Em?”
“I dunno, I didn’t want to bother you when you’re working but reading got kinda boring, Andrew threw me out of ‘his’ kitchen and I can’t find everybody else.” She waves me in and I sit down. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure, shoot.”
“Why do all the offices have couches? It seems rather out of the ordinary.”
Buffy laughs a little then puts her elbows on the desk holding her face in her hands, “Well, it all started back when we were in Sunnydale, we would be so wrapped up in the researching and planning we wouldn’t make it home, so we’d sleep at the library in Giles office. So it just seemed the thing to do when we fixed this place up to have couches everywhere, you know?”
“But you all live upstairs…” I’m confused.
She laughs, “Yes we do, and you have no idea how many times each of us has crashed in our office. It also makes it a lot less stuffy, you know?”
“Yeah, I guess. It does make it more comfortable when we’re all together in one person’s office.”
“You see?” Buffy smiles again. “Now tell me what’s really on your mind.”
I stutter, “I… what do you… oh...”
“Go on, you can ask me anything,” you know I think I believe her.
Swallowing hard I begin, “If Willow and Dawn find out I’m evil are you going to kill me?”
Buffy’s head pops up from its perch on her hands, “Oh my God, Emma, you are not evil.”
“But if they find out I am?”
She shakes her head at me, “We are not going to kill you honey, and you are not evil. Just last night Faith remembered something, come on I’ll show you”
We both stand and she takes me over to Dawn an Andrew’s office. She leads me right up to the white board that is now a permanent fixture in the middle of the room. Pointing to the latest addition she reads it to me “‘The girl who could someday bring a great light to a great darkness,’ does that sound like someone who’s evil?”
I narrow my eyes first at the phrase on the board then at her, “No, I guess not. But what is this ‘could’ business? Does that mean that maybe I won’t? Why won’t I if I don’t? And if I don’t does that mean something happens to me to not do it? Ok, that was a lot of questions.”
She has a sad smile now, “Questions I can’t answer, Emma. I know it’s hard but we are all going to have to wait to see what Will and Dawn find out. They are our best shot to get to the bottom of your little mystery, well, I guess it’s all of ours now.”
Tilting my head I furrow my brow, “What are you talking about?”
“Nothing, nothing,” she shakes her head then seeing my face, “Look, I really don’t have any answers, the best I can do is give you more questions, and you don’t want that do you?”
I hang my head, “I just want to know what’s going on.”
She comes to me and grasps my hands, “I know, and I just want to protect you, Emma. Please just give it a little more time.”
“How long?” I know I’m being obstinate, but I can’t help it.
“How about as soon as Faith and Kennedy get here?” Dawn says as she rushes in and immediately begins typing on her computer. “Where the hell are they anyway?”
Buffy answers as she watches Willow come in with an armload of books. “I saw them go out after Ken’s last class; I guess it was 4:00.”
I look back and forth from Buffy to Willow, “Do you think we should worry? It is after 9:00.”
Willow speaks first, “I’m sure they’re fine and may the Gods help the demon or vamp that gets in their way.” She looks over to Buffy, “We think we found it.”
MEANWHILE IN FRONT OF THE HOUSE
KENNEDY’S POV
“Hold up a sec.” Fuck I’m slurring. But Faith holds up, then looking around sits on the steps. She’s trying to light her cigarette but the flame and the butt aren’t really meeting. “Aim for the middle one,” I tell her in a very sage manner.
“Fuck me it worked!” She is very pleased with herself. “Think our girls are gonna be pissed that we’re kinda pissed?” She doubles over laughing.
I sit down next to her, suddenly; I really need to know, “Faith?”
“Yup?” She wipes her eyes.
“All that stuff you told me about, that you did back in the beginning, giving us all options we might not have had?” I stop and grab her cigarette, taking a huge drag. Ok, it’s been like since high school since I’ve had one. Whoa, major head rush, maybe not a good idea. “You did something with me and Will didn’t you?”
She looks at me and narrows her eyes. I think I halfway sobered bother of us up with that one question. “Yeah.”
“We broke up didn’t we?” I’m staring at my shoes.
She turns me to face her, “How do you know that?”
Nodding I run my hands through my hair, “I had a dream once about us fighting and me moving away. But it was more real than a dream, like a memory, it seemed right. Not right that we fought, but like it really happened, you know?” I look up at her.
“You guys would have gotten back together on your own. I didn’t change the outcome, how things would have ended up happening...”
“Yeah, I get that,” I put my arm around her shoulders, “Look, don’t tell me anymore. I don’t want to know what could have happened to mess up my life with her. She’s my girl, we’re together and I love her with everything I got. That’s all that counts, right?”
Faith looks at me dead serious then shakes her head, “You are an incredible woman my friend.”
“I want to thank you Faith, for, well, whatever you did, thank you.” I pull her into a hug.
“Am I interrupting a Hallmark moment?”
Pulling away from Faith I run up the steps and engulf Willow in my arms, “Hi baby!” I don’t want to think about how much she heard.
She waves her hand over my mouth, “Jesus,” she turns inside and yells, “Buffy, they’re home,” she pauses a beat to laugh, “drunk as skunks on the front porch.”
I take a step back, “What? I’m not drunk as a skunk; just a little tipsy is all.”
Buffy comes to the door as Faith makes her way up the steps. “Hey B,” she says softly.
“I was starting to get worried about you,” The blonde whispers as she wraps her arms around her waist, leaning her head against her chest.
Faith kisses her forehead, “Mmmm, no need to worry; I’m really good at coming back.”
Buffy smiles at that, “Did you guys work it out?”
“Yeah, we talked a lot, didn’t we Ken?”
Grinning, I look up at the two of them and then it really hits me: exactly how perfect they are together. How happy they both are now, it’s like this is what both of them have been waiting for, for years, maybe forever. Maybe it just had to wait until now for it to work. Is this what Faith meant by everything turns out the way it’s supposed to?
“Ken?” Willow turns me to look at her, “You ok?”
“What? Oh yeah, fine, just spacing.” Then I call back to Faith, “Yeah we talked a lot, but then, I think we drank a lot too.”
“Good that you talked; not to sure about the sloppy drunk thing.” Buffy, laughing, pulls Faith inside, “Now come on it’s freezing out here and you two need to get it together, Will and Dawn think they’ve cracked the case.”
DAWN AND ANDREW’S OFFICE – 9:30 PM
WILLOW’S POV
Andrew comes in with two plates of leftovers from diner and puts them in front of Ken and Faith, “Eat up my little winos, you need something to help soak up that alcohol, we need you sober now.”
Emma is right behind him carrying two 1 liter bottles of water, “Buffy said this will help too.” She smiles at them as she places the bottles on the coffee table.
I shake my head at them, “Ok, while these two eat, I think we can safely move some of our findings around the board. She turns her back on us while she writes and erases. When she’s done, the white board now looks like this:
PtB Dark Goddess Coven
Darkness craves light Same Demon Emma Glamour
Answers found in Qs of past No Power
Meds
Under Radar
---------------------Parents--------------------------------
-------The girl who could some day bring a great light to a great darkness-----------
“Ok, are you all still with me?” She looks around as everyone nods. “Great, now this is all going to get very heady so please interrupt at any time if Dawn or I get carried away. Let me start with some background: Ereshkigal is one of the oldest Goddesses of Mesopotamia. She was a sky Goddess, the daughter of Anu, the Skyfather, and Nammu, the Primeval Mother and Waters of the Sea. According to certain legends she was kidnapped by the dragon Kur, after the separation of Heaven and Earth to the Underworld where she was made queen. Once there she was the only one to pass judgment and give laws to those that died and became part of her kingdom.”
“Her name means ‘Lady of the Great Place’, ‘Lady of the Great Earth’, or ‘Lady of the Great Below’. And as Queen of the Underworld, she is,” I look over to Faith, “not resembles but is the Crone aspect of the Goddess.” Faith seems properly shocked. “Because of this and the knowledge gleaned from her twin sister Enki, the lord of Magic, Crafts and the Watery Deep, she represents the Knowing Within or Wise Judgment. So armed, she manages the destiny of those beyond the grave. Questions?” all heads shake no. “Dawn, you ready?”
Dawn starts opening the books on her desk and lays them out in case anyone wants to have a look, “Yeah, ok, so here’s what we found. The demon is probably her vizier, like a scout, but more than that, like a lieutenant kinda. Now once a mercenary demon accepts a job, he will not stop until it’s finished. So after a few calls to Ms. Hartness, we confirmed they found out about the demon and that’s why they started drugging you Emma. Yes, they were scared of your power, but they were more afraid the Goddess’s vizier would find you, so as we thought; the drugs effectively cloaked you without using magic, so no ‘fingerprint’ to trace like the Goddess did with Willow.”
Buffy speaks up first, “So the demon is Earth-bound and won’t rest until he brings Emma to Ereshkigal, well isn’t that just great. Why does she need a vizier anyway? She possessed Emma’s grandmother and then vamp at Willy’s the other night.”
The younger Summers nods her head, “That stumped Willow and me for while too. What we came up with leads up back to Wicca. The other night when the Goddess made contact with Faith it was exactly one phase of the moon, from Samhain, which means “end of summer” it’s the third and final harvest, the dark winter half of the year commences on this Shabbat.”
“November 1st – the Feast of the Dead – of course,” Faith shakes her head, “But why a moon phase afterwards?”
“We think she came here on the 1st,” Andrew explains. “I reviewed the security tapes and there was a vamp seen floating towards Emma’s window. Now, we all know vamps don’t float, but more bizarre? Once the laser tried to scan it, it burst into dust. Now I know it wasn’t set to kill so we think it was the Goddess possessing the vamp, then disintegrating it when she was caught.”
Emma paled, “She was watching me sleep through my window?”
“Kinda creepy,” Kennedy adds.
Dawn nods, “Let’s stay focused - now we do know that Samhain is one of two ‘spirit-nights’ where the magic interval becomes real, the laws of time and space can be temporarily suspended and the ‘Thin Veil’ between the worlds is lifted.”
Willow cuts in, “You see according to cosmic regulations, the Gods of Heaven cannot descend to the Underworld, nor can chthonic deities ascend to the heavens. So twice a year, all can safely meet in between, here.”
“Yeah, so we think the vamp thing is the key,” Andrew continues. “We think she realized on Samhain that she can posses a vamp at will, not just that night, because it’s a dead thing in the world of the living. So she can control one at anytime because she ‘manages the destiny of those beyond the grave.’ The theory is she realized this then contacted Faith to find out about Emma.”
Kennedy gulps down some water then looks at me, “Let me get something straight here, you’re saying the Goddess, the Coven and the PtB have been working all this time to ensure Emma does what exactly?”
“Well...” I start but Faith cuts me off.
“The way I see it, the Goddess wants two things: to be sure of Emma’s safety and to contact her, possibly join her in some way. I mean why else try to kidnap her, right? The Coven, trying to stop the Goddess, hid and drugged Emma hoping to find out and counteract her plans.” Faith stops and sighs, “And knowing the PtB, they’ve involved us probably since the day I started working for them to ensure we protect Emma and keep both the Coven and the Goddess honest.”
Ken laughs, “After what you told me tonight, they probably have had this planned since you and Buffy were called.”
Buffy gets up and grabs Faith’s water then sits on the arm of the chair next to her. “So what does everyone want with Emma?”
I look into my oldest friend’s eyes and tell her what Dawn, Andrew and I believe to be the answer: “We’re not 100% certain, but we think it’s to reveal the greatest mystery of all.”
Buffy knits her brow, “The mystery of life?”
“No B,” Faith answers before I can, “the mystery of death.”
I nod slowly, “Exactly.”
“Does that mean I’m going to die? Is she gonna kill me?” Emma inches closer to Faith and Buffy.
“No honey,” I try to reassure her as Faith puts an arm around her, “We think it’s more an imparting of knowledge thing. You know ‘a great light to a great darkness’ sort of like an enlightenment. We think there’s a way to travel freely between the worlds and the Goddess needs you in order to do it.”
“Hey, wait a minute, I read some of those translations; are we forgetting she killed her sister and hung her on a hook, who exactly said this Goddess is a benevolent being?” That’s my baby, just cut to the chase, don’t hold back really, especially with Emma sitting right here.
Dawn glares at Kennedy then flashes her eyes to Emma and back again, “No Ken, we’re not forgetting that, but you have to remember, some lore is written to impart power upon the Gods so people will respect and fear them, not all that is written is true.”
I try a different approach, “No one knows better than Dawn and I how dangerous it is to deal with a Goddess, well maybe Buffy.” Ken bows her head, properly chastened. “Hey, I know you’re just looking out for everybody and making sure we take everything into consideration, but we’ve been incredibly thorough.”
She nods then looks up at me, “I just don’t trust any of them. Although I do think Faith is right about the PtB: it makes complete sense that they brought us in to be the equalizer between the Coven and the Goddess.”
“I think it’s time we find out for sure,” Faith rises. “I’m going to the PtB tomorrow. They might have more information and more importantly they might have a way for us to contact the Goddess. There is no way we’re waiting for Beltane to address her on our terms.”
Buffy looks at her quizzically, “Wait, what’s Beltane?”
Shocked that Faith knew the holidays, I answer “It’s the other ‘spirit night’, it’s traditionally April 30th.”
“That’s my birthday.” Emma says softy.
Faith puts her head in her hands then laughs, “Of course it is.” She looks up at Buffy then me, “Mine too.”
“Can this get any fucking weirder?” Kennedy leans back and shakes her head.
Buffy puts a hand on Faith’s arm, “Whoa, babe. We are all going to think about everything we learned tonight and come up with a plan as to how to best handle this. No flying off the handle, no one gets hurt. At least that’s what we aim for.” She hangs her head and I know she’s thinking about that kid, Vanessa. There’s a look that’s going back and forth between her and Faith and I’m really kinda thinking something more is going on here.
“Look B, I’m not saying I’m going to do anything drastic, just going to talk to them and find out if we can safely contact the Goddess, ok?”
Buffy narrows her eyes, knowing Faith doesn’t always follow the plan, “Ok, but I’m going with you.”
BUFFY’S ROOM 1:30 AM
FAITH’S POV
My hands move up her sides then into her hair. She’s lying over me panting into my neck trying to catch her breath. It’s been hours, but I just can’t get enough. I roll us so she’s on her back then I descend on her again. My tongue traces her mouth as I slide my leg between hers, we both gasp for air.
I swing my hair to the side as I kiss her cheek, ear, then slowly make my way down her neck. My leg shifts, her body rises into mine, I lift her shoulders and nibble on her collar bone before slowly coming back to her lips. Our hearts are once more pounding indistinguishably, wanting, needing.
“Faith...” she shutters then breaks away.
Mourning the loss of her lips, I try to capture them again.
“God, baby, I can’t...” she stills my head in her hands. Staring into my eyes as her breathing begins to slow, “You’ve made my entire body into one raw nerve, I can’t take anymore.”
I search her eyes and know she’s right. Sighing heavily I roll us back and drag her on top of me. “I can’t get enough of you tonight.” My hands trail up and down her back as I press her tightly against me.
She lays her head down on my chest as she hugs me, “I’ve noticed,” I can feel her smile then she lifts her head up, “you ok?”
“I’m here with you so I’m more than ok,” I pull her head back to my chest, holding her as close as I dare. “Now get some sleep, we have a big day tomorrow.” And I have no idea how long this is going to last.
Chapter 17: B and the PtB
BUFFY’S ROOM – 5:30am
BUFFY’S POV
My eyes snap open when I hear Faith call out my name. Turning to her I find she’s face down, hugging the pillow and having a nightmare from the sounds of her labored breathing.
“I’m right here baby.” I lean in closer as I rub her back. At first it has no effect, she still seems agitated, then she exhales deeply and snuggles up next to me.
Her voice is laced with sleep, “Buffy?” Wow, she knows my whole name when she’s sleeping; I think to myself and smile. The smile fades however when she utters the next line, “Is it really you and not another trick?”
I wrap my arms around her and pull her close to me, “Yes, it’s really me, no trick. Now get some rest.”
“Nahh, I know it’s not really you, but I don’t care,” she kisses my neck; “it doesn’t hurt when I’m with you”. She burrows deeper into me, holding on almost desperately, “If I make it out of here I’ll come to you, I promise I will.” Even talking in her sleep her voice has such heaviness, such unadulterated sorrow.
My heart is breaking as tears are now streaming down my face, “Oh baby,” I kiss her forehead, “I love you so much.”
“Don’t be sad, you’re my safe place,” she mumbles into my throat. “They can’t hurt me when I’m here with you. The PtB taught me that years ago.”
Ok, I know this is wrong but I can’t stop myself, “How long have you been here Faith?”
She shifts so her head is on my shoulder and wraps her arm around me. “Seems like forever… a long time... 20 or so years. I haven’t been able to keep track so good. I forget a lot of things here, but I remember you always ask that.”
Shocked at her answer, now I have to continue this crazy conversation, “I do?”
“Every time it’s the same,” she nods into my chest, “I call your name, you hold me, I tell you I’ll come for you, you cry, I tell you it’s going to be ok, you ask me how long, we talk some more, then we sleep and when I wake you’re gone and I’m still in hell.”
Holding her close to me I whisper, “I’m not going anywhere this time.”
I feel her smile into my shoulder, “You always say that too. It makes me happy.” She wraps me in her powerful arms, I feel the length of her body against mine and our nerves seem to pulse together. She exhales deeply, “You feel so damn good, it oughtta be illegal,” she breathes into my ear, “God when I get out…”
“I’ll be right here.” I stroke her hair.
“You keep me alive you know,” she brushes her lips against mine, “I love you more than anything, Buffy, more than I can ever possibly say or show you. I just hope I get the chance to tell you for real one day.”
As she settles back into her slumber I hold her tighter against me while my tears continue to flow. “You just did.”
What did those fucking monsters to do you? I guess I should have realized there was psychological as well as physical torture earlier. Oh, damn it, I don’t care what she says; the PtB never should have allowed her to make that kind of a sacrifice.
FAITH’S POV
The dream is over and I know I will soon feel the pain so I prepare my senses for the next onslaught. The pain doesn’t come and all I hear is crying so I open my eyes. Where the… oh I’m at B’s, wow a dream in a dream. Well a dream in a nightmare really. But why is she crying?
“B, you ok?”
“Oh baby, it’s ok, go back to sleep.”
“No, what’s wrong?” Turning I lean on my elbows and look at her.
“Y-you were having a nightmare, so I tried to soothe you, is all.”
Not convinced I ask, “Then why are you crying?”
She reaches out and touches my face, “B-because you were talking to me in your sleep,” she leans to me and kisses my mouth, “because you were there, and you were so sad.”
My God there is no way this is happening. Sitting all the way up I pull her with me. “Did you talk back?”
“Yes, of course.” She’s wiping her tears her eyes boring into mine. “You said I always say the same thing.”
Shaking my head, a small laugh escapes my lips, “You do, did, whatever it doesn’t matter. What matters is that it was real, it really happened.”
“What are you talking about?” Even in the murky light of the coming dawn I can see her knitted brow.
“My dream, it was always so vivid, and now I know why: the PtB knew my memories of you were getting me through the day so they sent me a flash of a possible future to take away the pain at night.”
She tilts her head at me, “You’re saying the PtB replayed what just happened here when you were sleep talking to you every night while you where there, before it ever happened?” She shakes her head as if clearing the cobwebs.
“Yeah, I know it’s confusing. But that’s how they work.”
She lays back down bringing me with her. “They know everything about us don’t they?”
“Of course, they’re the Powers that Be. They know every possible outcome of every possible reality, what they don’t know is which path to which reality we will choose.”
Pulling me closer to her she softly asks, “Did you know we would be together?”
“No,” I reach up and trail my hand down her face, “I didn’t ask them to show me any of my possible paths. I never really thought I would live long enough to actually have a path, you know?”
She rolls us over so she is lying over me, “Your path is with me.” She kisses me deeply then lowers her eyes to mine.
I try awfully hard not to get lost in those hazel eyes until I finally say this to her while conscious, “I love you more than anything, Buffy.”
As her mouth covers mine, my senses reel and I understand how you can be lost and found simultaneously.
BASEMENT REC ROOM – 9:30 AM
EMMA’S POV
“Ok Em, that was good, let’s do it again.” Kennedy says encouragingly.
Willow laughs, “Yeah, pretty soon we’ll be ready for a tournament!”
We’re playing American Cricket Darts and having a very good time. Kennedy is throwing them the “correct way” and Willow and I are tossing them telepathically. Kennedy says it’s good training for staking vamps and Will says it’s good training for honing my Wicca skills so it’s the whole two birds, one stone thing. The funny thing is I’m kicking their asses! Ha!
I feel Faith coming down the stairs as I hit my third 19. “Well good morning.” I say with a slight leer.
She narrows her eyes at me, “Has someone not been “turning off” their empathetic powers?”
Laughing I counter, “No, I have, it just was a wild guess.”
Kennedy looks at both of us rolling her eyes, “Are you kidding me? Talk about a world of too much information.”
Trying to change the subject Faith asks, “Darts?”
“Yeah,” Ken says then explains the double training benefits.
Faith nods, “Let’s see if we can up the training a notch.” She stands in front of the dart board and looks at me. “Ok, give me one.”
Utterly shocked I state, “I am not going to throw darts at you.”
“Of course you are.” Willow speaks up quickly, “Sometimes it’s not a vamp you will have to face but a demon or a black arts witch. A stake can kill more than just vampires, and who’s to say you can’t do it with a sword? Now go on.”
Kennedy sits down in the overstuffed easy chair as Willow climbs on the arm, “Yeah, let’s see what you got, kid.”
I can’t believe what they are asking me to do. What if she doesn’t block it? What if I hurt her? What if…
“Emma! None of that’s going to happen don’t worry.” Faith says encouragingly then smiles, “Come on, you want to be a Slayer? You’re gonna have to learn how to fight.”
I look at the darts lying on the table then lift them with my mind. Then one by one I send them to Faith. She blocks some with her hands, the others she kicks away.
“Well done,” Faith nods, “now, again but with speed. Aim for my heart.” She taps her chest.
“I’m really not comfortable with this.”
Ken laughs, “Just wait until Faith makes you switch places with her!”
My eyes get huge, “What???”
Faith shakes her head at Kennedy as Willow gives her a light smack on top of her head.
“Hey!” she protests the look and the smack, “Like you’re not going to, right?”
“First things first,” Faith looks at me, “again, with speed, aim for the heart, try not to telegraph when you are going to throw.”
“But...”
“Just do it Emma.” Her gaze is penetrating then I hear her in my head, “You can do this, you will be a Slayer like none other. This will be only one more tool at your disposal. Now come on.”
I return her stare and try my best to void my face and body of all movement and emotion. Suddenly a dart flies towards her heart, dead on. She bats it away at the last second.
“Very good,” she nods at me, “again.”
We continue until I am throwing so fast Faith needs to stop the darts telepathically. It’s then that Buffy comes down to join us. “Holy shit!”
“Hey Buff,” Ken waves, “Come over and watch the latest in hybrid Slayer/Witch/Demon training.”
She looks around at all over us, her eyes finally rests on Faith’s, “Wow, impressive, can you do any faster Emma?”
“Faster? But what if she can’t stop it?” I’m getting rather distressed.
“Don’t worry Em; a dart won’t kill me,” Faith winks, “besides you can’t get it past me.”
I narrow my eyes at the challenge then survey the pack of dart hanging in the air. Raising one eyebrow, I tilt my head them then Faith. In an instant all the darts are speeding towards her heart at full force. I watch as she grins then closes her eyes. The darts freeze right in front of her chest. A couple have penetrated her shirt, but not her skin.
“Outstanding!” She reaches up and takes the bunch of darts in her hand. Walking over to me she puts an arm around my shoulders, “You’ve just graduated to reversing positions my dear. Think you can handle it?”
“Ahhh…”
Faith looks at me then sends, “There is nothing you can’t do once you set your mind to it.”
I’m not so sure but I trudging walk over to the dart board, “If you say so.”
Now flanked by Buffy on one side and Willow on the other, Ken speaks up, “If it’s not too much to ask, can we keep the conversation in spoken words so all of us can know what’s going on?”
Faith chuckles, “Sorry guys, just a couple of words of encouragement. You ready Em?”
Weakly I reply, “Yes.”
She tosses the first one slowly and it kinda freaks me out as I watch it get nearer. But then I backhand it away.
“Good!” Buffy cheers.
“You can go a little faster, but not too fast.” I caution Faith. Another one comes to me faster, but I dispatch that one as well. I think I’m getting the hang of this. “Ok, another.” When I’ve done enough to be comfortable, I start to knock them down telepathically. This is kinda fun.
“Excellent.” Buffy stands. “I think that’s enough for now. Great job, Emma, I see your work with these three has really done wonders.” She turns to the others, “What do you think guys? Is she ready for a patrol? Well, with me and Faith of course, there is still that demon out there.”
Kennedy nods, “Totally if you two are with her. Although the other girls might get jealous, so you may have to do it on the down low. They are already a little weird with the adoption thing”
“Yeah, you’re right. Ok, tonight then, how about we drive over to Knoll wood Cemetery in Cleveland Heights and do a sweep?” Buffy looks from Faith to me.
“You sure I’m ready?” I’m just a little scared, not a lot, well not really.
Faith nods, “We won’t let anything happen to you, I promise.”
INTERSTATE 271 SOUTH – 11:30 AM
FAITH’S POV
Glancing over at B she looks deep in thought. “It’s exit 19.”
“Ok.” She nods.
“You alright?”
She nods again, “Yeah, just thinking about them.”
“The PtB?” I ask.
“Yeah, it’s kinda weird after all this time. I can’t believe I’m finally going to meet them.” She looks over to me.
“Turn left here. Yeah, I know exactly how you feel. The first time I met them in LA was way intimidating, like meeting a rock star. Ok, make a right here then go to the end of the block. It’s the last abandoned building on your left.” I can’t help but chuckle. We are in one sorry ass neighborhood.
She takes a deep breath and turns off the engine. “Well, let’s do this. And hope the car is still here when we leave.”
We walk in and they are ‘sitting’ on the beat up couch in the corner, if you don’t have a body can you really sit? They look up at us and speak, “Welcome Faith, you’ve come to talk about Ereshkigal no doubt.” Their gaze turns to B, “And you’ve brought the Slayer with you, how nice to meet you after all these years. But first Faith, tell us, is she worth almost dying for?”
“Absolutely,” I say without hesitation, grabbing B’s hand.
They nod and motion for us to sit. “The Goddess touched your soul we see.”
“Yes, she was in the body of a vamp.”
“She will continue to seek you out until she is reunited with her blood. The demon will take her and many will die.”
“Or?” I ask as I feel B’s hand crush mine.
“Or, the Slayer will kill the demon then with the joined power unused for years will contact the Goddess to learn her motives and desires.”
“Or?” I ask again always liking to have a least three options.
“There are only two paths to follow in this instance. We state them as clearly as we can. But I see your Slayer has questions for us.”
All of us turn to B who’s blushing madly. “I – I…”
“Faith, can you leave us for a moment? We need to speak with the Slayer and someone is trying to steal your vehicle.”
“What? Oh shit, of course, thanks.” I give B’s hand a quick squeeze then head for the door. I turn before I go, “And thank you for the glimpse into this future, it helped get me through.”
“As it was meant to, you made a great sacrifice, you in turn received great gifts. Now attend to your automobile. We won’t keep your Slayer long.”
BUFFY’S POV
Wow, they are freaky looking, just like Faith said, totally translucent, ghost-like.
“You know we can not influence decisions, we can only tell what can happen in all instances. The Goddess will be reunited with her blood regardless of which path is taken.”
I swallow, “Yes I understand.” Holy shit, I’m talking to the PtB, “You aren’t going to give me any more information about how to contact the Goddess are you?”
They laugh at me, “We have given more than enough information.”
“Then I need to ask you a different question.”
“Ask and we will let you know if we can answer.”
I take a deep breath then exhale, “When we were in LA years ago, did Angel send Fred to my room knowing what was happening with me and Faith?”
“Yes,” they answer.
Shit I knew it! “And, and if he didn’t, what would have happened?”
They look at each other, then the woman sits. The man comes to me and speaks with only his voice, “You and Faith would have been together very much as you are now. She, however, would have always carried her darkness and regrets. It would have been Faith that was killed by the M’fashnik demon. He later would have killed you, the Coven, and later in his frenzy, Emma. In the Goddess’s grief, the world would have become a dark place. Your Witch and the Key would be responsible for the return back to the light, but many would have died before it was completed.”
Putting my head in my hands I can’t believe what he’s telling me but it feels right.
“We showed Angel the possible paths when he came back from Sunnydale while you we fighting The First.” The woman begins to explain as she too comes nearer to me. “He was our Champion and he knew he was meant to die shortly. When we showed him the possible paths he guided Faith to us.”
“We cherished him you know.” He looked at me, “We released him from his service and gave him human form but he asked to be returned to the beast he was when he learned you would die defending him.”
I couldn’t believe what they were telling me, “You made Angel human?”
She nodded, “For one day, you two lived a human life.”
“But that never happened, I would have re – mem – bered… you took back the day, didn’t you?”
“Yes, it was the only way.” They replied.
Standing up, I pace around the room this is a little much to handle. “Why do people sacrifice themselves for me? It just doesn’t make any sense.”
They answer together, “You are the Slayer, yes, there are many now, but you are the True Slayer and you will teach the little ones to fight the evil that threatens to override goodness. It is your vision that will make this possible after your passing. You are the Equalizer.” They smile, “It is time for you to go now.”
“Ok,” I nod knowing I’ve taken way too much of their time, “Thank you for speaking with me. And thank you for taking care of Faith,” I look down then back up at them, “she means everything to me.”
“We know your heart is true and honorable. Our Champion is safe with you. Now go Slayer, important events will take place this evening.”
As I walk down the front steps I see Faith sitting on the hood of the car smoking. I walk over and wedge myself between her legs, bury my head into her chest and snake my arms around her neck.
“Hey,” she pulls me into her, “you ok?”
I nod then kiss her softly, “Yeah, let’s get back.”
She tilts her head and narrows her eyes at me, “You want me to drive?”
“Yeah,” I give her my keys.
We get on the road and make our way home. Home, Jesus how many of us wouldn’t be alive right now if it wasn’t for her? I shake my head and can’t help but think how much I love her, not for saving my life, but for making me cherish my life.
KNOLLWOOD CEMETERY – CLEVELAND HEIGHTS 10:30 PM
FAITH’S POV
Man, I totally get the parent thing. Emma makes me so proud. When she dusted her first vamp her eyes lit up then she ran to me and B and gave us both hugs. I never had someone to look up to me like that. All I know is I’m seriously getting a kick out of it.
“Hey,” B walks over to me, “she’s something isn’t she?”
“Yeah, three vamps on the first night out-the-box. I’m so proud.”
She laughs, “You look like you’re gonna bust some buttons there missy.” She grabs my hand as Emma creeps up on yet another vamp. “I think we need to put this place on the permanent patrol list.”
There’s a change in the wind and B and look at each other then both call out to Emma, “Let’s go.”
Emma dusts the vamp then happily comes our way, “What wrong?” her faces falls as soon as she sees us.
“We need to go now,” I grab her arm and start walking to the car.
Buffy is looking all around us and I start a jog with Em in tow. “I see him, I’ll be back.”
“Be careful Buffy.” I call out.
She turns and smiles at my use of her full name. I’ve slid back into calling her ‘B’ all the time and she’s been teasing me about it. “I will.”
“Shouldn’t we help her?” Emma ask me, “I mean it’s the demon right?”
“Yes, it’s the demon but she can handle herself, we’d just distract her. It’s something only she is meant to do.”
“What do you mean?”
A male voice cuts through the night as Emma is ripped away from me, “Ah little girl, it’s been a long time. Do you want to meet your REAL family?”
