Fic: Omega Rising (13/16) (Buffy/Faith)
A/N: *Please do not distribute or post this story anywhere without my permission.* Thanks to cookiesarefood for her betaing skills.
Previously in Omega...
We’re back to square one. No Mohra demons. Miles into the sewer system with more of the dead sure to be coming our way. And it’s at this moment that everything starts to fade out for me. The last thing I’m aware of is Buffy holding on to me as I slip to the ground.
Chapter 13: Splinters
“Spike, left!” Buffy screams. And just like that, consciousness slams into me. I’m cradled in someone’s arms, the stagnant air in the tunnel ruffling my hair. My body bounces painfully. We’re moving fast. I try to speak and manage to whimper. Hot, sticky blood is oozing down my face and neck. My mouth tastes like pennies.
“It’s okay,” Angel’s voice is above me. He’s carrying me. I look up. His lips are moving, but I can’t hear him...
I’m on the floor of the tunnel, and I realize I must have passed out again. Buffy, Angel, and Spike stand in front of me, each equipped with a sword and furiously stabbing and beheading the undead closing in on us from all sides. I stumble to my feet, using the tunnel wall for help. “Where’s m’sword?” I slur.
One of the dead gets past Buffy, and its slick, decomposing hand paws at my arm. I yank back, and some of its skin slips off, dropping wetly to the concrete below. Undeterred, it reaches again, only to have its forearm chopped unceremoniously from its body. Buffy steps backward, moving her body to shield mine, and quickly stabs her sword into the zombie’s face.
She glances over her shoulder, eyeing me up and down. “Angel,” she calls, “take Faith, move, we’ll cover you.”
The vamp nods, steps back, and throws his arm around my waist.
“Spike, take point!” Buffy shouts.
Spike charges forward, and Angel drags me along after him. I feel like a rag doll. We’re unsteady now, trying to run on the uneven ground made up of fallen bodies. They squish under our feet, and I hear bones snapping as Spike’s boot stomps on a hand. A wave of nausea hits me. It’s either the head injury or the bloated bodies popping like sour grapes under my feet.
Spike’s given up on actually killing them now, he just shoves them aside, creating a clear path for us to follow.
“Faster!” Buffy’s yelling desperately.
I trip, almost falling before Angel scoops me up, cradling me once more. “I can do it,” I slur in protest…
Shit. I must have passed out again. I shake my head, trying to clear it. “Where’s Spike?” Buffy’s voice is a whisper. I’m sandwiched between her and Angel, the three of us crowded into a recessed maintenance doorway.
“I think,” Angel’s voice is anguished and barely audible, “they overwhelmed him.” He’s still holding me in his arms, and I wiggle to let him know I’m awake. “I saw him backing into the pipe on the right.”
They both look down at me.
“There’s an exit, a quarter mile up,” Angel says. “If we move now, we can make it.”
She nods. “Take Faith. I’ll be right behind you.”
“Buffy, no,” Angel says, realizing what she wants to do. “Let him go, we have to get out of here.”
Ignoring his protests, Buffy wraps her arms around his neck, hugging him over me. “Just go.” She releases Angel, looking down at me. Her hand brushes my cheek briefly, then she jumps from the doorway, running down the tunnel and disappearing into darkness.
“No!” I scream after her. Angel jumps to the ground and runs, still holding me. I struggle wildly. I’m like a feral creature, scratching at him to be released. He’s running in the opposite direction, toward the exit. He’s leaving her here! “Put me down!” I shriek. “Buffy!”
XXXXX
The next time I open my eyes, I’m lying on the couch in the Hyperion lobby. Simone’s perched next to me, trying to clean the muck from my chin. Angry, loud voices come from Angel’s office, and I try to sit up immediately. “Buffy!”
“Faith!” Kim chirps, her anxious face appearing in my line of vision, “You can’t get up!”
“Where’s Buffy?” I demand, ignoring the searing pain in my head when I look around.
“She’s fine!” Simone says, trying to push my shoulders back down.
I relax at that, although it still feels like someone’s driving a sledgehammer into my head. “Spike?” I ask.
“Right here, love.” I swivel my head as much as Simone allows, and see Spike laid out on the other couch. He’s got a huge bandage on the side of his head, covering his ear. His white blonde hair is stained like rust. Tara sits next to him, dabbing thick globs of antiseptic on the angry bites down his arm and exposed torso.
“Still alive?” I croak in disbelief.
“Must be that protection spell I did on you,” Tara smiles down at Spike.
“Must be,” he says agreeably.
“Well, damn, where’s my spell?” I ask. “Dude has more lives than a cat.”
Simone shushes me, pulling my face into forward position. She resumes cleaning the wound on my chin, ignoring my wincing and wiggling when the antiseptic stings me.
The voices from the office get louder, and then the door crashes open. Buffy comes storming out, her cut shirt revealing bandages to her stomach.
Angel’s hot on her heels. “Buffy,” he says angrily, “we’re not done talking about this.”
“Talking about what?” I ask, pushing Simone’s hands away and trying to sit up. Giving up, she grasps my forearms and helps haul me up.
“Cordelia had another vision,” Buffy answers. “Of a little boy. We’re supposed to save him.” I notice she has three deep scratches in her cheek.
Through the pounding in my skull, I hear Angel’s response. “And we will, as soon as we find the demons.”
“Cordy,” Buffy interjects sarcastically, “did your vision give you a timetable for when we’re supposed to save this kid? Will next week be okay?”
Cordelia shrugs helplessly, and Angel glares at Buffy. “We need to find the demons, Buffy. It could mean a cure.”
“And the little boy?”
Shaking his head sadly, Angel says, “We’ll go as soon as we can.”
Wesley strides from the office, carrying a bottle of aspirin. “I think Buffy’s right,” he offers, as he shakes five of the pills free for me.
“Thank you!” Buffy crows.
Kim presses a bottle of water into my hand, and I take the aspirin gratefully.
“Buffy is not right,” Angel growls, exasperated now. “We’re talking about the fate of the world versus one little boy.”
No one says anything for a long moment, and then Buffy tells him quietly, “I can’t do that, Angel. I can’t let some innocent kid die for the greater good. Can you?”
“Buffy,” he starts to say, looking at her with hurt clear in his face.
She cuts him off, “I’m going to find the boy. You can stay here.”
“You can’t go alone,” he argues.
“She won’t be,” I rasp, and all eyes turn to me. “I’m going with her.”
Buffy sits down next to me and crosses her arms, as if daring Angel to argue now.
He shoots me a betrayed glance. “This isn’t wise; we’re dividing our resources.” Off Buffy’s stony look, he storms back into his office and closes the door behind him.
Exhaling hard, Buffy turns to me. “You sure you’re up for this?”
I try to nod, but pain shoots through my head, so I settle for verbal agreement. “Yeah, totally.”
XXXXX
Simone orders me to bed for the night, and I’m not going to argue with her. I am definitely not in top form right now. Once she’s got me settled like she wants, she reaches in her bag and produces a penlight. Pulling my eyelid up, she flicks the light over my eyes. First one and then the other. I wince, trying to pull my face away from her hold.
“Have you always been this much of a baby?” Kim asks, sitting beside me on the bed.
Simone finally releases me, and I scowl at both of them. “I’m not a baby,” I growl. “Just don’t need all this fussing around. I got slayer healing; I’ll be fine.”
“I hope so,” Simone says, worriedly. “Anything could be going on in your brain after a hard hit like that. And without the proper equipment, I can’t check you out.”
“Don’t worry,” Buffy says, as she appears in the doorway to my room. “I don’t know anybody with a harder head than her. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
“Haha,” I mutter, “let’s all gang up on the concussed girl.”
Kim smiles. “You make it so easy. How can we resist?”
Simone still looks worried, but she pats my knee and stands up. “Well, just stay in bed tonight, okay? And I want to check you in the morning before you go.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She takes her leave, off no doubt to check on Spike’s healing.
Buffy drifts closer to the bed. “Kim, do you mind if I talk to Faith for a couple minutes?”
Kim glances at me, and I nod. “Sure,” she says. “Catch you guys later.”
After she leaves, B sits down on the bed, facing me. “How’s the head?” She asks.
“I’ll be fine by morning.”
Reaching out, she brings her hand to my face. She tilts my chin, inspecting the bandage Simone put on. “You sure?” She asks, as she withdraws her fingers. “You don’t have to come with me if you’re not up to it.”
Does she not want me to go? We worked together in Sunnydale, but maybe that was just out of desperation, and she’d rather be on her own. Suddenly, I feel very vulnerable about being flat on my back, so I shift around, pulling myself into a seated position. “Are you… I mean, am I getting that you don’t want me to go?”
“No,” she answers immediately, “that’s not it. I’d feel better if you were coming with me, I just don’t want you to push it if you’re not up for it.”
I’m relieved, so I smile. “You know me, B, I’m always pushing.”
“I know,” she agrees, and then drops her voice into what she thinks is a good impression of me, “Let’s jump in this manhole and see what’s down there, B. If you don’t come with me, I might die.”
“You are terrible at impressions,” I tell her. “Like, seriously beyond bad. Don’t quit your day job.”
“As if I could,” she says, no doubt thinking of the countless undead outside the hotel. “Seriously though, don’t push too hard. We’re a little short on brain surgeons right now.”
“I’m not gonna check out on you,” I promise. “Who else would you get to go out with you during the day? Cordelia?”
Buffy does something between a laugh and a shudder. “Think zombies are susceptible to aneurisms from constant annoying?”
“Probably just makes them more homicidal,” I point out.
She laughs. I love her laugh. It’s actually worth it to get knocked out in a sewer by a reanimated corpse just to have her sit by my bedside and laugh. I’m a sick person. “What about you?” I ask, “Are you sure you wanna go tomorrow?”
“Yeah, why not?”
“Nobody would blame you if you needed to take a little time after Sunnydale.” I don’t bring up her dead friends because we both know what I mean.
She looks away for a moment, clearly sad. “I’m dealing. Maybe doing a little repressing.” She looks back at me. “Right now I just gotta keep moving, you know?”
“Okay, if you’re sure.”
“I am,” she assures me. “Get some sleep. We’ll head out in the morning.”
“Sounds good.”
“You need anything?”
“Kiss for my booboo?” I wiggle my eyebrows. Now I’m really pushing it. I’ve been trying to show her that I’m not the same person I was back in Sunnydale, and she’s been way cooler about us being on the same team again than I expected. I’m trying to cheer her up with my antics, but it could easily backfire on me.
Buffy surprises me when she just rolls her eyes. “And we’re back to the flirting. Now I know you’re going to be fine.”
“So that’s a no then?” Since she’s blowing it off, I keep it going.
“You know,” she says thoughtfully, “one of these days, somebody’s going to call your bluff. What are you gonna do then?”
Umm, probably have a spontaneous orgasm? Is she joking? “Why don’t you call it and find out?” I ask, in my usual cocky tone. I don’t really expect her to do anything, but my heart beats a little faster all the same. Buffy’s never really played along with my games before.
B moves up the bed, and I swallow hard. She leans forward, closing the space between us. Her eyes are boring in to mine, and I can see her pupils are dilated. Is she really going to kiss me?
She licks her lips. “Where does it hurt?” She asks, her eyes twinkling mischievously.
Having lost all ability to speak now, I manage to lightly tap my finger against my healing lip.
Buffy nods, closing her eyes.
I close mine too, lips parting slightly while I wait for her to bridge the final gap between us. I can’t believe this is happening.
Buffy hesitates a hair’s breadth from my mouth. “Gotcha,” she whispers.
My eyes snap open to see her grinning widely. I can’t believe she just did that. I can’t believe I fell for it.
Without thinking about it, I lean forward and press my aching mouth against hers. Just for a moment, barely long enough to qualify as a kiss. “Gotcha back,” I say.
Buffy blinks at me for a moment, and I get really nervous about what she’s going to say. She licks her lips again, seeming a little flustered. I notice her cheeks are pink. In the few seconds of silence, I go off the deep end berating myself. Why did I do that? She was messing around, finally acting normal around me again, and I ruined it. She probably won’t want me to go with her tomorrow. She’s probably not even going to talk to me now. She thinks I’m an idiot. She’s still grieving, and she doesn’t need more stress from me.
“I guess now we know,” Buffy mumbles. She doesn’t seem angry.
“Know what?”
“What happens when somebody calls your bluff.”
“Not everybody,” I tell her. “Just you.” Realizing too late how utterly pathetic this sounds, I try to play it off with a joke. “If Wesley tries that move on me, I’m gonna go full Nelson on him.”
She smirks. “Glad I dodged that bullet.”
“Yeah…”
I sit in supreme awkwardness, waiting for her to say something more. After a beat, she looks away and then stands up. “I’m gonna head to bed. See you in the morning?”
I nod, relieved she still wants me to go, and I haven’t ruined everything. “Sure. Goodnight, B.”
“Goodnight, Faith.”
XXXXX
Slayer healing is one of the best parts of the gig. When I wake up in the morning, my head feels right as rain, and the gash on my chin is completely healed. I’ve got no qualms about what I decided to do last night. Part of it’s Buffy, of course. I’m not going to let her go out there on her own. I’d never forgive myself if she didn’t come back. But there’s more to it than that. Angel may think these demons are more important than the kid, but I’ve got a different point of view. I used to think individual people didn’t matter. That’s what let me do the Mayor’s dirty work for him. But I went to prison so I could get my head on straight, and that’s what I did. I’m not gonna sacrifice somebody just because it’s convenient for me. Not anymore. This kid is important to the Powers, and I’m gonna save him if it’s the last thing I do. Given the state of LA, it may well be.
I zip my pack up and close my door behind me. Across the hall, Kim sits on her bed. I knock on the doorjamb. “Can I come in?”
“Sure,” she says, gesturing for me to enter.
“I’m getting ready to take off,” I tell her, sitting down beside her.
She gets right to the point. “I don’t want you to go.”
“Kim,” I sigh, “I have to.”
“Why?”
“You know why,” I tell her patiently. “B and me are gonna go get that kid.”
She sniffles a little.
“Hey,” I say, sliding my arm around her. “What’s this about?”
“You almost died last night,” she points out.
“That? That was nothing.” I rub her arm soothingly.
“It was not,” she insists, turning to face me fully. “Faith, don’t go.”
I get that she cares about me, and it means a lot because I don’t got a lot of people that do, but there’s no way I’m gonna reconsider. “Look,” I tell her, as reassuringly as possible, “I’m gonna be fine. I promise you. I’m coming back.”
“You can’t promise that,” she grumbles, visibly upset.
“Lemme show you something.” I stand up and put my leg on the bed next to her. Hiking up the leg of my pants, I show her the bite on my calf. “I’m practically indestructible, okay?”
She stares at my leg in amazement. “You’re immune?”
I nod, reclaiming my seat. “So you know I can make that promise.”
“Something could still happen,” she argues.
“But it’s not gonna,” I swear.
“But-”
“Kim,” I cut her off. “I’m sorry, but this is something I have to do.”
She swallows all her objections and forces a nod. “Alright.”
“C’mere,” I wrap her in my arms, holding her tightly. She holds back just as hard, her head on my shoulder. Her shoulders shake a little as she tries to hold herself together. “It’s gonna be fine.”
She nods into my neck, taking a deep breath to calm herself down.
We pull apart, and Kim wipes at her damp cheeks. “Come back,” she orders me fiercely.
“I will,” I promise, and I’m certain it’s one I can keep.
“Okay,” she stands up. “I’ll let you get going then.”
I stand up too. “What, no good luck this time?”
She laughs. “I thought you didn’t need luck?”
“Never hurts to have a little more.” I grin, holding my arms out toward her.
She walks to the door and opens it for me. “Good luck.”
“Thanks.” I pick up my pack, sliding it on as I step into the hallway.
“I’ll see you,” she says, lingering in the doorway.
“See you real soon,” I promise, laying my hand over hers. I give it a final squeeze and head down the hallway. I jog down the stairs, feeling pretty confident. Just a little search and rescue and I’ll be back.
XXXXX
So… what did you think? :)