Chapter Seventeen
It wasn’t as though they weren’t expecting a loud, obnoxious entrance from the up-until-recently absentee Slayer and platinum vampire, but the crashing at the front of the house made everyone jump nonetheless. The smell of burning leather wafted into the dining room but was extinguished within seconds, and the laughter pouring from the entry hall could only be identified as Buffy. They were talking loudly, chuckling over something, and completely ignored the foray of stares that were shot point-blank in their direction as they strolled into the dining room.
For everything, it was as though they hadn’t realized they had an audience.
“All I’m saying is…” The young woman was having a hard time keeping a straight face. “Just because they were staying there didn’t necessarily mean they wanted—”
“Oh, come off it. You’re the one who screamed.”
“That wasn’t on purpose!”
Spike snickered good-naturedly and poured her a glass of orange juice as though such had been customized into everyday routine. “Right. Buffy Summers, Slayer Extraordinaire screams ‘cause she sees a mousy in the corner. Sure thing, luv. ‘m buyin’ that.”
“It happened to be a very big rat, thank you.”
The Scoobies were staring at them in wonder; the Senior Staffers with a note of indifference, even though Donna was beaming in the most ridiculous ‘I told you so’ manner at Willow.
Xander looked as though he wished himself miles away. “We have just entered the Twilight Zone.”
Josh smirked. “So, I take it you two had a rough night.”
Sam whimpered a bit at that, and immediately earned a quickened apology.
That was all it took. Buffy and Spike turned their attention to the others and shrugged on a frighteningly similar beat. “Hey guys,” the former said, reaching for the pancakes. “What’s up?”
“How in God’s name are you eatin’ again?”
She scowled at the Cockney and defiantly served herself three flapjacks. “I’m hungry.”
“We ate not two hours ago!”
“At Denny’s. Perish the thought that I might be hungry for actual food after sampling their processed crap.”
He sulked a bit. “’S not like it was my firs’ choice either, sweets. It was the only bloody place open.”
“Yes, but unlike you, I can actually taste the food.”
“I can bloody well taste—”
“Ahem.” Giles shot them both a warning look before slowly removing his glasses. “Perhaps you two would kindly like to explain your whereabouts as to last night? In case you didn’t notice, it is morning and you have been conspicuously absent for nearly fifteen hours.”
Buffy’s eyes widened. “Oh! We have a book to show you.”
“Did you guys elope?” Willow asked bluntly.
“Oh God,” Xander moaned. “Forget the Twilight Zone. We have entered a world of such freakishness that it cannot be named.”
The Slayer froze. “Elope?”
“Well, we did run away to a small town ‘bout an hour an’ a half away from here,” Spike retorted with a smirk. “Don’ think there was a church included.”
“Oh God,” Xander moaned.
“Oh, quit,” Anya berated. “They didn’t have sex.”
The vampire frowned, almost defensively. “How do you bloody well know?”
“Because you both still stink of sexual tension. That would be gone now if you had gotten it over with.”
That was it. The table erupted. “ANYA!”
“At least someone else sees it,” Donna muttered.
“Hey, I see it,” Josh whined. “What did I say that first morning?”
Spike’s eyes widened and he pointed almost accusingly in Donna’s direction. “Hey! You an’ Curly are no bloody different.”
The two froze and stared at him.
“An’ what the sodding hell are you still doin’ here? Bloody car’s fixed, innit?”
Wesley frowned. “That is a fair point. I would have figured, with as important as your business is, that you would have gone by now.”
It was then that Toby cleared his throat, looking at Sam with pensiveness that was both protective older-brotherly and saturated in furthered annoyance that they were stuck here for another a day. “The car was stolen,” he said, poking at his scrambled eggs.
“It was what?” Spike shook his head with a laugh. “Well, that’s bloody priceless.”
Willow caught his gaze and motioned erratically to drop the subject.
“I believe you wanted me to look at a book?” Giles said slowly, as though he was holding onto his very last nerve. “And would you kindly explain where you were last night?”
“And if the word ‘elopement’ comes up again, I think I’m going to be sick,” Xander cautioned.
Anya shook her head and patted his hand in reassurance. “I told you, sweetie. They did not copulate last night.” She turned to Sam. “He, on the other hand—”
Josh and Toby jumped up at the same moment.
Buffy and Xander turned to the redhead. “Willow!”
“You little she-devil,” Harris murmured appraisingly.
The Witch’s face flamed and she looked anywhere but Sam, who was fidgeting uncomfortably.
Spike perked a brow and shook his head. “Uhhh…’less my sense of—ow!” He covered the transgression with a cough and shot the Slayer a nasty glare. “It wasn’ Red.”
“That’s enough,” Toby all but growled.
Sam exchanged another long glance with the redhead, who was close to turning maroon. “Ummm…” He pushed his chair away from the table and slowly rose to his feet. “If…if you’ll excuse me, I’ll just be…upstairs.”
“I offered to bring you breakfast,” Donna muttered pitifully.
“I know. It’s okay.”
The platinum vampire emitted a long whistle and shook his head. “No worries, Red,” he said. “Bloke’s a politician. Has trouble enough keepin’ his pants up.”
“Okay, that’s it,” Josh snapped before turning to Toby. “Bad cop, bad cop.”
“Guys, he doesn’t know,” Donna said softly. “Don’t get all—”
Buffy placed a hand on Spike’s shoulder. He turned to her the next second, features softening with shades of unspoken acknowledgment. It was a silent but effective trade; he pivoted to Seaborn almost immediately and nodded his apology before settling back in silence.
There was an uncomfortable few minutes as everyone resituated. The sort of silence that spoke volumes for everything they were unwilling to approach. A swarm of free-flowing hostility that remained muted.
When things had sufficiently calmed, the elder Watcher drew in a breath and tried once again. “The book?”
The text was forfeited immediately. Giles examined the cover, frowned, and set it aside with a tacit nod.
“Yeah, and speaking of that…again.” Xander nodded his accord. “You two were all with the mysterious not-being here. What’s up with that?” He turned to Donna quickly. “And no mention of elopement.”
Josh arched a brow. “Why do you care?”
“’S fair question, mate.”
“I don’t believe he was talking to you,” Toby snapped.
“Guys.” Sam held up both hands. “It’s fine. Really.”
It was one thing to say that—it was another thing to mean it. And while the Deputy Communications Director very palpably meant to mean it, the look in his eyes was far-placed from complacency. And yet, he nodded to Giles all the same. For what it was worth, he had made his peace with it.
“Spike and I were going to go patrolling last night,” Buffy began. “And—”
“Crazy kids and your crazy jargon,” Josh muttered.
“I believe the lady was talkin’, Curly,” Spike snapped, sending a mock-glare to Toby, who smiled his irritation in turn. “An’ this happens to be important.”
“Right. A bunch of kids looking for a person named Faith that appears to not exist for reasons that were never established and outside the preface of actually going to the police.” The Deputy Chief of Staff nodded as though extremely pleased with himself. “I’m sure that’s important.”
Sam swallowed hard and traded a glance with Willow. There was knowledge there. Fuzzy knowledge at best, but knowledge nonetheless. “Josh…”
“We were patrolling,” Buffy continued. “Or we were about to…and I thought I…” She licked her lips and shot a look in Spike’s direction, receiving nothing but a nod of encouragement in turn. “I thought I saw Faith…get into a car and drive off.”
The Scoobies were silent for a long minute.
“You thought you saw Faith…” Xander said slowly. “And you…what? Decided to follow her? Without knowing if it was really her? Without letting us know? You disappeared all night with a va—ow!” He flinched and flashed the Witch an apologetic glance. “With a very bad…guy?”
Josh cocked a brow. Anya crossed her arms and sank a little in her seat. “Smooth.”
“Well, I didn’t have a lot of time to amend.”
“Amend? Amend what?”
The Slayer took initiative at that while making a mental note that these discussions were likely not best had in front of people in which such evasive language was required. From the look on her Watcher’s face, he agreed and then some and was more than regretting bringing the subject up at all. “I thought I saw Faith, Xan. Didn’t have a lot of time for forethought. She would’ve gotten away. And I was positive.”
“So…”
“Only by the time we stopped I was no longer positive and we were in some town in Louisiana.”
“St. Francisville,” Spike provided.
Donna’s eyes lit up. “Hey! That place is mentioned in one of my books! It’s the one that has—”
Toby sent her a look. She quieted.
The vampire nodded with a small smile. “Knew you’d appreciate it, pet.”
“Did you guys get to go there?”
“The Myrtles?” Buffy sighed. “That’s where we stayed. We got there and Spike just had to take the tour…”
“Figured why not make a wasted trip at leas’ somewhat eventful,” he explained defensively with a shrug. Then he grinned and cast his impromptu traveling companion a coy look. “Turned out to be that an’ then some.”
“What?”
“We got trapped,” the Slayer blurted ineloquently. “We were going back for a picture and they didn’t notice, so we got trapped…inside the haunted house for the night. And we didn’t want to…you know…mess it up, so we decided to stay.”
“That’s where we found the book.”
“I found the book.”
“Luv, you—”
“You guys stole a book from an old house?” Josh’s eyes were wide. “You just…took it?”
Giles sighed. “Why do I even bother?”
Buffy shrugged. “Well, you’re the one who had to know right now what happened, and—”
“Please just…get on with it.”
Spike tossed a defiant look to the Senior Staffers, provided Toby with a two-fingered salute, and tossed caution to the wind. “I was tellin’ the Slayer that we were there for a reason. She was absolutely hell-bent that Faith was in the car ahead of us. When she wasn’, I reckoned we were s’posed to follow the sodding car anyway an’ figure out what was so bloody important in St. Francisville. We took the tour, got trapped, fell asleep, an’ a few hours ago, Buffy had one of her wonky dreams, we found the book, we came back. End of discussion.”
There was a long, uncomfortable pause.
“Well,” Wesley said with some authority. “We now know the difference between saying too little and saying too much.”
“What the hell?” Josh demanded.
“This is the reason you don’ talk ‘round people who aren’t us,” the vampire growled. “Bloody Watchers. You’d think after ten minutes of pure ambiguity, that’d be a lesson learned.”
Buffy bit her lip, not daring herself to look up. It was one thing to edge into a situation; it was another to dive in headfirst without testing the waters. “Before we left, Spike yelled, ‘The blood! The blood!’” she said. “And the people upstairs started screaming.”
“So did you.”
“I saw a mouse.”
“Haven’t you been a—” Xander once again stopped and bit his tongue. “Been around enough mice to not be afraid of them anymore?”
“That’s what I’m sayin’, Stay Puft.”
“It doesn’t matter how many mice I’m around.”
Josh blinked numbly and leaned back. “I’m going to pretend that I wasn’t here for this conversation.”
“That would be for the best,” Wesley agreed.
Willow expelled a sigh. “I’m sorry. We’re just…it’s complicated.”
“We understand complication. We work for the President of the United States.” Toby leveled his gaze at the platinum vampire. “What we heard now wasn’t complication. It was insanity.”
Donna shook her head and leapt in before her boss could comment and make things worse. “Maybe, since we’re going to be here longer anyway, we could help you find Faith.”
“Donna…”
“Maybe the less-snobbish of us could help you find Faith. What does she look like?”
“You’re fired,” Josh complained.
“Okay. I’ll help you find her and one of you will make me an heiress.”
Xander rose to his feet. “Well, she’s a psycho-killer. Yay tall…” He indicated height in accordance with his own. “Answers to…well, Faith. Dark hair. Criminally insane.”
“Her personal motto is ‘want, take, have,’” Buffy added.
“An’ she doesn’ limit that to jus’ objects,” Spike muttered. “With her, you become the object.”
There was a pitiful mewl from the other end of the table. Sam looked like he was about to be sick.
“Sam?”
Toby stood; Josh leaned forward. Donna was at his side in less than two seconds.
“Oh no,” Willow murmured, her face falling as her eyes widened with realization. She had yet to know all the facts, but piecing two and two together was something she had always been exceptionally good at. “Oh my God.”
“I…” Sam cleared his throat after composing himself. “I…know where she is. Or where she was…as of last night. She’s not there now. But she was…last night.”
“Oh my God,” Donna gasped. “Oh my…”
“Is there a reason you haven’t included the cops in this?” Josh demanded, gaze falling on Giles. “I mean, if she’s this psychotic, why wouldn’t you call the cops?”
“We’re with an independent organization from Britain,” Wesley said before the elder Watcher could step in. “Faith is our business and we know how to handle her in ways the American authorities do not. If the police were looking for her, she would know, and we would never be able to locate her. Buffy, Willow, Xander, and Anya know her personally, which is why they are here with us.” He tossed a glance to Giles, who nodded in agreement.
“You’re with the British government?” Donna asked, eyes wide.
“Not entirely—”
“This is crazy,” Toby muttered. “Your friend is out there causing all sorts of trouble, and you’re running to small towns that no one has ever heard of while she victimizes innocent people?”
Buffy scowled. “I thought she was in the—”
“Well, you were obviously wrong, weren’t you?”
Giles stood slowly. “Look…we need all the help we can acquire in obtaining Faith peacefully before anyone else gets hurt. She is extremely dangerous, and would not flinch at killing one or all of us.”
Sam whimpered again. Donna patted his back encouragingly.
“I still say you’re psychos for not calling the cops,” Josh muttered.
“We are not above it, but the authorities could not hold her long. They do not know what she is capable of. We do. And forgive me if I do not exactly fancy her in a position where she gets even more agitated while surrounded with firearms.” The elder Watcher shook his head. “We know what we’re doing.”
“You think the police—”
“She’s strong,” Sam commented, voice deadpan and gaze fixated on his plate. “You don’t know how strong she is. You wouldn’t know it from…but she is.”
“If she’s so strong, how do the seven of you even begin to pose a threat?”
Giles released a long breath. “Because we’ve dealt with her before.”
“Doesn’t really inspire confidence,” Toby remarked. “The girl’s still out there—”
“Because we handed her over to the authorities. We will not make the same mistake twice.” There was a long beat; the elder Watcher sighed again and nodded to himself. “In the meantime, I suggest everyone be on high alert. I will be moving my studies to a different location as to actually obtain some privacy without the more notable distractions.”
Buffy frowned. “Giles?”
“We haven’t gotten a bloody thing accomplished,” he said, turning to her in mid-stride and readily-acknowledged anticipation. “I have decided to relocate to the Eola Hotel, which is not far from here.” His gaze leveled with hers. “This is important.”
“I…I know.”
“Then you know why I must go. And if this…” He held up the book, “turns out to be anything, I’ll need to focus, which is something none of us have done since we arrived.”
There was another pause and the obligatory passing of guilt-laced concession. When he received no objection, the Watcher released a long breath, nodded; calmly exited through the kitchen and back to the townhouse.
“We weren’t supposed to understand the part about the book, were we?” Josh whispered to Donna, who shrugged and took a bite of her cold biscuit.
“I wasn’t aware that we were supposed to understand any of it,” Toby muttered.
“Well, mate,” the vampire retorted, taking a bite of pancake off Buffy’s plate. “That would be your fault, wouldn’t it? Quite frankly, I don’ know where you blokes get the stones to say that we gotta answer to you t’all.”
Xander cleared his throat. “Well…umm…they do work for—”
“I don’ care ‘f they worked for the King of Bloody England,” Spike snarled. “Have you got any ripe idea how many sodding ‘leaders’ I’ve seen in my time?”
“Oh, and your time would be what?” Toby demanded. “Twenty, thirty years? We have a country to run.”
“Little higher, you righteous git.”
Sam cleared his throat, eyes still downcast but everyone stopped to hear his input. He was closer to this than any could have imagined. “I think we should try to put our differences aside for the time being. While we’re here, especially. Josh…you should call Leo and let him know approximately what has happened since we spoke to him last. Tell him we’re stranded and see if he has a way to get us home…and at the same time, we should try to get as much work as we can done right now. But I agree with Mr. Giles.” He looked up slowly. “This person is dangerous. I…she’s dangerous. And unbalanced. She crashed through the side window of a car and smashed in the hood without blinking. We have a civic—”
“Sam—”
“—duty. We have a civic duty. This is just what you do.” He glanced down and released a long sigh. “It’s what you do.”
The dining room settled with fragile tranquility. Quiet nothing that always coincided with something.
“I wanted to go to Longwood today,” Willow said, her eyes glued to her plate. She attracted the attention of everyone in the room, but did not acknowledge it, or even glance up. “It’s supposed to be the largest octagonal house in America.”
“I’ll go with you,” Buffy offered.
“So will I,” Donna said.
“Shouldn’t we be looking for Faith?” Josh asked. Then paused. “I can’t believe I just said that.”
“Longwood and that territory is the only place in town that none of us have hit yet.” Willow released a long sigh. “I just…I need to get my mind off things for a while.”
“We’ll go with you,” Donna reiterated.
The redhead nodded but didn’t say anything else. There was too much to say right now to entrust with words. Thus the room was consumed with silence once more. Cold and overshadowing.
And this time, no one attempted to break it.
TBC