Of Those Chosen: The Twins - 10
Here is my revised (and a lot longer) Chapter Ten. I give props and shout-out to my homie ludditerobot, who helped me out a lot with this chapter and keeping it on-track and properly focused and all that. He rocks.
The first person to recognize where I got the title for this chapter from win an all-expense-paid* trip to the moon.
Previous chapters are painting their fingernails black and listening to Andrew Eldrich.
Chapter Ten
Slayers In a Coma (I Know, I Know, It's Serious)
Giles picked Buffy and Dawn up from the airport on June third. Their flight came into Hopkins Airport in Cleveland (from Rome via Newark International) at three in the afternoon, and the sisters rushed through the departure terminal to get to the front of the other passengers.
Giles smiled as they hurried toward him. the time off in Europe obviously agreed with the sisters. They both had dark tans; Buffy's hair was a brilliant sun-bleached blond, and Dawn's hair had lightened considerably from the mousy brown the Cleveland winter left it.
Their sense of mischief also grew in Europe, as Giles quickly learned.
"Oh, Rupert!" Buffy cried as she threw herself against him -- in a decidedly non-Buffy manner. "I've missed your manly ways!"
Dawn pressed herself up against his other side and said, "Rupert, take me home and spank your naughty girl!"
Giles gaped at them and stuttered in shock. "Buffy-- Dawn, I-- you want--"
A pair of nuns walked by, departing from the same plane as the Summers girls. Their disapproval was obvious, as they glared at him and spoke quickly in Italian.
The nuns passed, and Buffy and Dawn broke down into giggles. They let go of Giles and collapsed against each other.
Giles removed his glasses and administered a vigorous polishing. "I do believe that was in rather poor taste," he said. "And nuns!"
Buffy looked up at him with the charming, guileless smile they both knew he could never resist. "Come on, Giles -- I just like to mess with the clergy." She held out her arms and cocked her head to the side. "I missed you. Don't I get a hug?"
Giles hugged her and murmured into her hair, "I missed you, too, Buffy."
Buffy stepped back and Dawn stepped forward to hug him. "I missed you, too, Giles," she said.
:#:
"So, you totally didn't have to send Andrew to Italy to get that book," Buffy said. They all rode in his car back to the house. "We could've brought it for you, or just shipped it FedEx or whatever."
"No, see, I really did have to," Giles said. "Andrew hadn't been anywhere in almost two months, and he was beginning to drive me insane."
Dawn snickered. "Yeah, well, it was actually kind of good that you sent him. Angel and Spike showed up while he was there, looking for Buffy."
"You didn't want to see them, I take it?"
"Too weird," Buffy said. "I mean, I went to Europe to get away from all that, you know? I mean, they're immortal; you'd think they could understand patience. Plus, I met this cute guy while I was there; that was fun."
"Andrew actually did a really good job of getting rid of them," Dawn said. "If I didn't know he was totally incompetent as a bad guy, I might be worried about how well he lied to them."
Giles smiled. "So, what about this boy you met, Buffy? Might anything develop from that?"
"No, no, and more no," Buffy laughed. "I'm... I'm like a pie that's cooking, you know? I just, you know, got someone to stick a finger into that pie and see how it's coming along, taste it for me." She sighed happily. "He was good at that, you know. The tasting. He liked the taste."
"You know what's the worst thing about your subtle metaphors, Buffy?" Dawn said. "They completely lack subtlety. Just like your 'quiet' four-a.m. bathroom sex did."
Giles winced. "Congratulations. That bit of information just ensured that I will never again ask you about a boy."
:#:
Willow, Xander, and Robin were still at work when Buffy got to the house. Giles helped her and Dawn carry their suitcases up to their second-floor bedrooms (and then again, with the second set of suitcases).
She could hear the sounds of Slayers training down in her basement, although it was too faint for either Dawn or Giles to pick up. The sounds of home, she thought wryly. Although she hadn't expected anything of the sort, she was still mildly upset at the lack of Welcome Home banners or streamers or, well, something. Anything.
"I'm gonna go down and say hey to the girls," Buffy said.
"I'll come with you," Giles said.
Buffy looked at him, surprised. Now that they had more than one Slayer, the Watchers were no longer responsible for the physical training. They concentrated on other things, now -- finances, research, communications, and anything else they could to assist the Slayer in having as normal a life as possible while protecting the innocent and ignorant masses from the ravages of evil. Buffy knew Giles was beyond ecstatic that he no longer had to strap on pads and get pummeled by girls half his size.
Giles read her look correctly. "Well, I should check in on the training at least occasionally," he said with a grin.
Something was up; Buffy could tell. "Okay, then. Come on."
:#:
The training area looked exactly the same as before, Buffy noted. Six stairs down to a landing, then six more in the opposite direction down to the basement. Originally, it was set up as an apartment that could be rented out -- living room, kitchenette, bedroom, and full bathroom -- but after the decision to host the central training area in herhouse was made, Xander quickly set to work. The crack team of Slayer demolitions experts knocked out all the unneeded walls (Xander's plaintive cries of "That's structural!" always heeded), and they enjoyed it so much Buffy had considered adding a sledgehammer with a sharpened handle into the arsenal.
The living room was the biggest area, and they brought in several large, padded blue mats to make it the sparring area. The kitchenette's cabinets and appliances were junked, and Xander hung three heavy bags from the ceiling (not structural beams, he said, because he would rather re-hang the bags once a week than have part of the first floor collapse). The only walls left up were the bedroom walls, which closed off the weapons training area; Xander installed a weak latch, easily broken down in the case of emergency (even by a non-Slayer), that showed "occupied" when someone engaged it. He said he got the idea from portalets.
Faith stood a few feet from the foot of the stairs, keeping a close eye on Chao-Ahn and Helen, who sparred together under the older Slayer's gaze. She could hear other Slayers banging away on the heavy bags, and the door to the weapons training room was closed and latched. Buffy felt a brief flash of irritation at the lack of welcome-home festivities.
Faith noticed her first. Buffy had no idea if she made some sort of noise or if Faith merely sensed her, but she had only been there a few seconds before Faith turned around.
"B, you're back!" she said, a wide smile on her face. Her smile slipped after a moment, though. "Your trip okay?"
Buffy smiled at Faith and gave her a big hug. Sometimes, like just now when her smile slipped, Buffy felt like Faith held back with her and didn't feel comfortable because of her past. "Trip was great," she said. "I'm already ready to go back."
Faith looked sad for a moment, almost, but then it was gone, drowned in her customary brash volume. "Yo, everybody, B's back!" she shouted.
Helen and Chao-Ahn rushed over, glad to see her. Janet and Rona trotted over from the heavy bag area, fists taped up and shirts soaked with sweat. A few seconds later, the door to the weapons training room opened and Kennedy stuck her head through the opening. She pushed the door open all the way when she saw Buffy, and Vi and Kim followed her out; all three had the long, curved samurai swords (katanas?) Kennedy favored in their hands.
Helen and Chao-Ahn hugged her at the same time. "I missed you!" Helen said softly into her ear.
"I missed you, too," Buffy whispered back.
"Um, Faith?" Giles said. "Kennedy? Aren't we missing two certain someones?"
Buffy quickly surveyed the room. No one missing that she could see. "What?"
"We have two new Slayers!" Helen said quickly. Everyone glared at her -- even Chao-Ahn -- and she blushed. "Sorry!"
Buffy turned to Giles. "New Slayers? You never said anything!"
He took off his glasses and polished them. "Yes, well, it was to be a surprise." The glasses went back on and he looked at Faith again. "Where might our two charming girls be?"
Faith grinned. "Well, they were both a bit nervous about meeting the original, here," -- she indicated Buffy with a nod of her head -- "and decided it would be better to let her get situated back home before they were introduced."
Kennedy scoffed. "Oh, no, only Audrey was nervous, don't you know?"
"Wow." Buffy raised her eyebrows, impressed. "That was off even my pretty capable sarcasm charts."
"Yes, well," Giles said slowly, "Katharine can be a bit, um... stand-offish at times."
"I like her," Helen said quietly. Buffy barely heard her.
"Lite Beer's fine, B," Faith said. "She's just trying hard to be cool, you know?"
"Uh-huh." Buffy shrugged. She'd ask Helen about it later, when they had time alone. The youngest Slayer was quiet and shy, but usually got a good handle on people, and Buffy trusted her judgment.
"Would you like to go meet them?" Giles asked.
:#:
Perhaps the most annoying thing about Audrey's coma, Katharine thought, was her sudden affinity for video games. Before the accident, she sucked. Badly. She almost never played, but when she did she inevitably shot herself or fell in the lava or drove the car directly into the wall (or the wrong direction completely). Now, though, she was good at video games. Better than good, even.
And it couldn't be Slayer coordination, because Katharine had that, too. And she was getting her ass kicked.
"It's nice to have an afternoon off from training, at least," she said after Audrey beat her again.
Audrey shrugged. "I like to train," she said. "It's hard, but fun."
"Yeah, well, you haven't seen a vampire attack yet." Katharine shuddered. "It's nasty. I tell you, half of me just wants to learn what I need to live and get out of here."
Audrey gaped at her, which surprised Katharine not at all. She could tell Audrey dug the whole Slayer idea: girls protecting the world from evil, clearly demarcated lines of black and white, always knowing that what you did was for the good of humanity. Katharine was skeptical that things were that way -- she wasn't even sure she believed in good and evil, really -- and she wondered how long it would be before Audrey's bubble of moral absolutism was popped. If she would be the one to do it.
The front door opened before Audrey said anything.
"Katharine? Audrey?" Giles called out. He walked through the foyer and into the living room. "Oh. You're on that... device."
Katharine doubted anyone could get as much scorn into the word "device" as could Rupert Giles.
A petite blonde followed him into the room. She had deeply-tanned skin and had the tired-but-perky look of someone who just got home from a cross-Atlantic flight. She was easily the smallest of the Slayers -- even Helen and Chao-Ahn were bigger, and girls like Kim and Janet towered over her -- but Katharine knew that, if the stories about her were true, she'd already died twice and foiled who knew how many different attempts to end the world.
Buffy and Giles walked across the living room to them. Katharine stood up; the couch was still between them, and a long, thin table approximately the same height as the couch back which rested directly behind it. Audrey, Katharine noticed, still gaped at her, and didn't seem to have noticed Buffy or Giles.
"Hey, guess you'r--" Katharine started.
"Get back!" Audrey screamed. She shoved Katharine to the side and vaulted over the couch and table. She grabbed a wooden cross from the table and thrust it in Buffy's face with one hand while the second hand went to push Giles away.
Buffy slid to her left, toward Giles, as Audrey lunged forward. She caught Audrey's right hand at the wrist before it got to Giles, twisted, stepped under the arm, and tripped Audrey as she moved forward to take the pressure off her shoulder. Audrey crashed face-first onto the ground, and Buffy put her left foot down at Audrey's shoulder joint as she applied more pressure to the captive arm.
Katharine barely moved forward before Buffy turned to her. "Move, and I break her arm," she said.
"Don't worry of me!" Audrey hissed. "Kill her!"
"Audrey, this is Buffy," Giles said. "She's not a danger." He looked up at Buffy. "Buffy, let her up, it's all right."
Buffy gave Giles a skeptical look and shook her head.
"That-- Buffy?" Audrey said. "You're not Buffy, you're dead. I... I saw you die."
Buffy looked over at Giles again, who nodded insistently. "I'm not dead," Buffy said. She let go of Audrey's arm and stepped back warily. Audrey rubbed her shoulder and stood. She eyed Buffy, ready to pounce, but stayed back.
"Are you sure it wasn't a dream, when you saw Buffy die?" Giles asked gently.
Audrey's stare changed, considering to confused. "I don't know," she said softly. "It's... hard to remember."
Audrey's stance changed, too, from aggressive to passive, and Buffy relaxed. "Look, don't worry about it," she said. "No harm, no foul. Or something."
Audrey's demeanor shifted again, this time to concern. "But you could die!" she insisted. "It could be one of those see-the-future dreams."
Katharine could tell Audrey's sudden shifts startled Buffy. "Maybe," Buffy said slowly. She shrugged. "Depends. Did you get a drowning in a pretty white dress death, or perhaps a graceful-yet-tragic swan dive from a tower death? 'Cause, honestly, only about thirty-three percent chance Buffy-death-vision is in the future."
The front door opened again, and Faith called out, "Yo, B, you here?"
Audrey's eyes widened, and she looked over at Katharine. "Oh, God... I'm sorry!"
Faith walked into the living room right as Audrey turned and ran off. She slammed into Faith, almost knocked her over, before she ran out the door.
"What was that?" Faith asked.
Buffy threw her hands out wide and shrugged. "Got me."
"I'm not certain," Giles said, "but I believe it's possible that as a result of injury sustained before the Slayer healing factor was invoked in her body, combined with the severe brain trauma she compacted, she could experience the Slayer dreams both more intensely and more vividly than intended, rendering her consciousness unable to separate them from reality."
"Oh, yeah, exactly what I was thinking," Faith said. "Thanks, G."
"You know what was the best thing about Italy?" Buffy said. "When people said something I didn't understand, it was because it was in another language."
"He said the coma she was in before she was a Slayer messed up her Slayer dreams," Katharine said, "and now she can't tell if some things were a dream or not."
Faith and Buffy turned to stare at her. Giles coughed and polished his glasses. "Yes, thank you, Katharine. I do believe that was the most condescending way possible to put that."
Katharine blushed, but she refused to apologize or back down in front of Faith -- or Buffy, for that matter. Originals be damned. "Yeah, hi, I'm Katharine, the bitchy one. Nice to meet you." She shrugged. "You met my sister, Audrey, the crazy one."
Faith snorted -- still feminine, somehow -- and turned to the front door again. "I'm gonna go talk to her."
"You sure?" Buffy asked.
Faith nodded, but didn't look at her. "Yeah. Maybe it's like how I was, coming out of my coma. It's weird." She glanced back at Buffy, but turned away quickly. "I'll talk to you later."
:#:
Faith found Audrey in the side yard, behind the bushes, squatted down with her back against the brick exterior with her head between her knees and rocking back and forth.
"So is this the meeting spot?" Faith asked.
Audrey didn't look up at all. "Go away."
She sounded miserable. "No can do," Faith said. She kept her voice light and friendly, as much as she could. "Sorry, but it's about time we called the first meeting of the Wicked-Hot Formerly-Comatose Slayer's Club to order."
Now Audrey looked up. "The what?"
Faith sat down beside her. She felt the dirt stick to her sweaty shorts, but ignored it. She smiled, as reassuringly as she knew how, and said, "Eight months, I was out. I was seventeen. Had my eighteenth birthday when I was in a coma."
Audrey blinked. "Me, too. Eight months, I mean. I woke up in July, almost a year ago, so I only had my seventeen birthday."
"See? You're a member. Now, I'm the original, so don't go jackin' my style too much, but I don't got a choice but to put you in the club."
Audrey blushed and looked away. "You really think so?"
"Yeah, of course. Eight-month coma, you're in the club."
"No, I mean... wicked hot."
Faith stared at her for a moment. "Are you hitting on me?"
"No! No!" Audrey shook her head franticly.
"Hey, it's cool. I don't mind. Kinda flattering, if you were."
"Oh. Sorry. But no." Audrey shrugged and looked at the ground between her feet. "It's just... I've been awake almost eleven months, and all of that's rehab, trying to get what I don't remember back -- which is much -- and I was shy in school, I think, not like Katharine, who always knows what to say. I think. I don’t know, I mean, I just thought Buffy was a dead girl a minute ago. But..." She shrugged again.
"It's confusing," Faith said. "Trust me, I get it. I woke up, things were crazy, and after three years of sitting around with nothing to do but think, I'm still sorting it out."
"Things aren't as crazy as I am."
"Aw, now that's just crap. Look, it's a lot to take in for the girls who aren't coming into this with a chunk of their life missing. If you don't understand something, just ask. Ask one of the girls, ask one of the Watchers -- hell, ask me."
Audrey took a deep breath and finally looked up at her. "Okay. I will. Thanks."
Faith nodded and changed the subject. "So you want to be hot, huh?" Audrey blushed and shrugged. "You are eighteen, right?"
:#:
That night, Faith and Xander patrolled together.
The group split into pairs when they did cemetery patrols, in order to cover more ground in less time. Xander bought four flare guns, to use in case one pair got into a bad situation and needed immediate backup, but so far no one had needed them yet. The vampire population in Cleveland was either poorly organized or extremely well-organized, because they never found more than a couple together.
That night, Faith took Xander with her to be able to talk to him about Buffy, although she didn't say that to Janet or Rona. Xander saw right through her, though. "You chickened out," he said.
"No! Things came up. With the twins." Xander looked at her sideways and raised an eyebrow. "Okay, yeah, I chickened out. I used Aud's freak-out as an excuse."
Faith missed Xander's slight flinch.
"So you get on okay with her, huh?" Xander said.
"Audrey? Yeah, seemed to earlier."
"Interesting, considering that her sister still seems to hate you as much as she did that first night."
Faith laughed. "Yeah, Lite Beer's not too fond of me, huh?" She shrugged. "Maybe that's just part of being a Slayer, you know? I mean, there's only supposed to be one, and maybe when there's not, well, maybe they don't get along 'cause they're supposed to be alone. I mean, that's what my big problem with B was back in the day, you know?"
Xander pursed his lips and looked down; Faith recognized the look as his contemplative expression. "So you think we messed something up when we made all these Slayers?"
"What?"
"Well, you said Slayers are supposed to be alone, they don't get along when they're not," he said. "Now we have tons -- eleven here with us, who knows how many out in the world -- you think maybe that's gonna go bad?"
Faith thought about it while she walked. "I don't know," she said. "Maybe not. Maybe it's just me, you know, I didn't like B and Lite Beer don't like me. I'm just talking, Harris -- listen at your own peril."
Xander laughed. "I'll keep that in mind." They walked in silence for a bit longer. "You gotta tell her tomorrow, Faith, or I will."
Faith nodded. "Five-by-five, Watcher-man."
A dirt-covered vampire stepped out from behind a tree in front of them. "What's this, a lover's stroll late at night? Too bad it'll be your last," he snarled.
Faith and Xander rolled their eyes in tandem. Newbie vamps always wanted to sound diabolical.
"Rock, paper, scissors?" Faith asked.
The vampire tilted his head, confused. "Pardon?" The Slayer and her Watcher ignored him.
"Sure," Xander said, and they threw down to see who got to deliver the comeback quip before they dusted the vampire.
:#:
Faith pulled Buffy aside before the morning workout, asked to talk to her up in her room. Faith closed the door behind her, and they sat down -- Buffy on the bed, Faith on the chair in front of Buffy's vanity.
"What's up?" Buffy asked. Faith could tell she was nervous.
Faith took a deep breath, unsure of how to start. "Do you know who Connor Reilly is?" she asked.
Buffy shook her head. "Should I?"
Faith shrugged. "I haven't told anyone else, not really. Xander was there when I found out, I wouldn't have told him, I would've told you first even if I had to hold it in for a year, B, you gotta believe me."
"Faith, what did you do?"
Faith shook her head. "No, nothing. Nothing. But Xander, he hasn't told anyone, either. We both thought you should know first."
"Know what?"
"Angel and Spike died."
Buffy sat still, perfectly still. "No, I just -- they were just in Italy a few weeks ago, I just brushed them off in Italy a few weeks ago. They can't be dead."
"I'm sorry, Buffy."
"But..."
Faith stood. "I know. I'll go get Dawn."
Faith opened the door, and Buffy said, "Thank... I, I'm trying to be gracious and nice, Faith. You waited to tell me, and... but you knew first, they're gone and I -- and you --"
Faith nodded. "I know, Buffy. It's five-by-five. I'll get Dawn."
Faith closed the door, and heard Buffy's tears start. She ran downstairs to get Dawn.
-:-
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* All expenses paid by you, unfortunately.
The first person to recognize where I got the title for this chapter from win an all-expense-paid* trip to the moon.
Previous chapters are painting their fingernails black and listening to Andrew Eldrich.
Chapter Ten
Slayers In a Coma (I Know, I Know, It's Serious)
Giles picked Buffy and Dawn up from the airport on June third. Their flight came into Hopkins Airport in Cleveland (from Rome via Newark International) at three in the afternoon, and the sisters rushed through the departure terminal to get to the front of the other passengers.
Giles smiled as they hurried toward him. the time off in Europe obviously agreed with the sisters. They both had dark tans; Buffy's hair was a brilliant sun-bleached blond, and Dawn's hair had lightened considerably from the mousy brown the Cleveland winter left it.
Their sense of mischief also grew in Europe, as Giles quickly learned.
"Oh, Rupert!" Buffy cried as she threw herself against him -- in a decidedly non-Buffy manner. "I've missed your manly ways!"
Dawn pressed herself up against his other side and said, "Rupert, take me home and spank your naughty girl!"
Giles gaped at them and stuttered in shock. "Buffy-- Dawn, I-- you want--"
A pair of nuns walked by, departing from the same plane as the Summers girls. Their disapproval was obvious, as they glared at him and spoke quickly in Italian.
The nuns passed, and Buffy and Dawn broke down into giggles. They let go of Giles and collapsed against each other.
Giles removed his glasses and administered a vigorous polishing. "I do believe that was in rather poor taste," he said. "And nuns!"
Buffy looked up at him with the charming, guileless smile they both knew he could never resist. "Come on, Giles -- I just like to mess with the clergy." She held out her arms and cocked her head to the side. "I missed you. Don't I get a hug?"
Giles hugged her and murmured into her hair, "I missed you, too, Buffy."
Buffy stepped back and Dawn stepped forward to hug him. "I missed you, too, Giles," she said.
:#:
"So, you totally didn't have to send Andrew to Italy to get that book," Buffy said. They all rode in his car back to the house. "We could've brought it for you, or just shipped it FedEx or whatever."
"No, see, I really did have to," Giles said. "Andrew hadn't been anywhere in almost two months, and he was beginning to drive me insane."
Dawn snickered. "Yeah, well, it was actually kind of good that you sent him. Angel and Spike showed up while he was there, looking for Buffy."
"You didn't want to see them, I take it?"
"Too weird," Buffy said. "I mean, I went to Europe to get away from all that, you know? I mean, they're immortal; you'd think they could understand patience. Plus, I met this cute guy while I was there; that was fun."
"Andrew actually did a really good job of getting rid of them," Dawn said. "If I didn't know he was totally incompetent as a bad guy, I might be worried about how well he lied to them."
Giles smiled. "So, what about this boy you met, Buffy? Might anything develop from that?"
"No, no, and more no," Buffy laughed. "I'm... I'm like a pie that's cooking, you know? I just, you know, got someone to stick a finger into that pie and see how it's coming along, taste it for me." She sighed happily. "He was good at that, you know. The tasting. He liked the taste."
"You know what's the worst thing about your subtle metaphors, Buffy?" Dawn said. "They completely lack subtlety. Just like your 'quiet' four-a.m. bathroom sex did."
Giles winced. "Congratulations. That bit of information just ensured that I will never again ask you about a boy."
:#:
Willow, Xander, and Robin were still at work when Buffy got to the house. Giles helped her and Dawn carry their suitcases up to their second-floor bedrooms (and then again, with the second set of suitcases).
She could hear the sounds of Slayers training down in her basement, although it was too faint for either Dawn or Giles to pick up. The sounds of home, she thought wryly. Although she hadn't expected anything of the sort, she was still mildly upset at the lack of Welcome Home banners or streamers or, well, something. Anything.
"I'm gonna go down and say hey to the girls," Buffy said.
"I'll come with you," Giles said.
Buffy looked at him, surprised. Now that they had more than one Slayer, the Watchers were no longer responsible for the physical training. They concentrated on other things, now -- finances, research, communications, and anything else they could to assist the Slayer in having as normal a life as possible while protecting the innocent and ignorant masses from the ravages of evil. Buffy knew Giles was beyond ecstatic that he no longer had to strap on pads and get pummeled by girls half his size.
Giles read her look correctly. "Well, I should check in on the training at least occasionally," he said with a grin.
Something was up; Buffy could tell. "Okay, then. Come on."
:#:
The training area looked exactly the same as before, Buffy noted. Six stairs down to a landing, then six more in the opposite direction down to the basement. Originally, it was set up as an apartment that could be rented out -- living room, kitchenette, bedroom, and full bathroom -- but after the decision to host the central training area in herhouse was made, Xander quickly set to work. The crack team of Slayer demolitions experts knocked out all the unneeded walls (Xander's plaintive cries of "That's structural!" always heeded), and they enjoyed it so much Buffy had considered adding a sledgehammer with a sharpened handle into the arsenal.
The living room was the biggest area, and they brought in several large, padded blue mats to make it the sparring area. The kitchenette's cabinets and appliances were junked, and Xander hung three heavy bags from the ceiling (not structural beams, he said, because he would rather re-hang the bags once a week than have part of the first floor collapse). The only walls left up were the bedroom walls, which closed off the weapons training area; Xander installed a weak latch, easily broken down in the case of emergency (even by a non-Slayer), that showed "occupied" when someone engaged it. He said he got the idea from portalets.
Faith stood a few feet from the foot of the stairs, keeping a close eye on Chao-Ahn and Helen, who sparred together under the older Slayer's gaze. She could hear other Slayers banging away on the heavy bags, and the door to the weapons training room was closed and latched. Buffy felt a brief flash of irritation at the lack of welcome-home festivities.
Faith noticed her first. Buffy had no idea if she made some sort of noise or if Faith merely sensed her, but she had only been there a few seconds before Faith turned around.
"B, you're back!" she said, a wide smile on her face. Her smile slipped after a moment, though. "Your trip okay?"
Buffy smiled at Faith and gave her a big hug. Sometimes, like just now when her smile slipped, Buffy felt like Faith held back with her and didn't feel comfortable because of her past. "Trip was great," she said. "I'm already ready to go back."
Faith looked sad for a moment, almost, but then it was gone, drowned in her customary brash volume. "Yo, everybody, B's back!" she shouted.
Helen and Chao-Ahn rushed over, glad to see her. Janet and Rona trotted over from the heavy bag area, fists taped up and shirts soaked with sweat. A few seconds later, the door to the weapons training room opened and Kennedy stuck her head through the opening. She pushed the door open all the way when she saw Buffy, and Vi and Kim followed her out; all three had the long, curved samurai swords (katanas?) Kennedy favored in their hands.
Helen and Chao-Ahn hugged her at the same time. "I missed you!" Helen said softly into her ear.
"I missed you, too," Buffy whispered back.
"Um, Faith?" Giles said. "Kennedy? Aren't we missing two certain someones?"
Buffy quickly surveyed the room. No one missing that she could see. "What?"
"We have two new Slayers!" Helen said quickly. Everyone glared at her -- even Chao-Ahn -- and she blushed. "Sorry!"
Buffy turned to Giles. "New Slayers? You never said anything!"
He took off his glasses and polished them. "Yes, well, it was to be a surprise." The glasses went back on and he looked at Faith again. "Where might our two charming girls be?"
Faith grinned. "Well, they were both a bit nervous about meeting the original, here," -- she indicated Buffy with a nod of her head -- "and decided it would be better to let her get situated back home before they were introduced."
Kennedy scoffed. "Oh, no, only Audrey was nervous, don't you know?"
"Wow." Buffy raised her eyebrows, impressed. "That was off even my pretty capable sarcasm charts."
"Yes, well," Giles said slowly, "Katharine can be a bit, um... stand-offish at times."
"I like her," Helen said quietly. Buffy barely heard her.
"Lite Beer's fine, B," Faith said. "She's just trying hard to be cool, you know?"
"Uh-huh." Buffy shrugged. She'd ask Helen about it later, when they had time alone. The youngest Slayer was quiet and shy, but usually got a good handle on people, and Buffy trusted her judgment.
"Would you like to go meet them?" Giles asked.
:#:
Perhaps the most annoying thing about Audrey's coma, Katharine thought, was her sudden affinity for video games. Before the accident, she sucked. Badly. She almost never played, but when she did she inevitably shot herself or fell in the lava or drove the car directly into the wall (or the wrong direction completely). Now, though, she was good at video games. Better than good, even.
And it couldn't be Slayer coordination, because Katharine had that, too. And she was getting her ass kicked.
"It's nice to have an afternoon off from training, at least," she said after Audrey beat her again.
Audrey shrugged. "I like to train," she said. "It's hard, but fun."
"Yeah, well, you haven't seen a vampire attack yet." Katharine shuddered. "It's nasty. I tell you, half of me just wants to learn what I need to live and get out of here."
Audrey gaped at her, which surprised Katharine not at all. She could tell Audrey dug the whole Slayer idea: girls protecting the world from evil, clearly demarcated lines of black and white, always knowing that what you did was for the good of humanity. Katharine was skeptical that things were that way -- she wasn't even sure she believed in good and evil, really -- and she wondered how long it would be before Audrey's bubble of moral absolutism was popped. If she would be the one to do it.
The front door opened before Audrey said anything.
"Katharine? Audrey?" Giles called out. He walked through the foyer and into the living room. "Oh. You're on that... device."
Katharine doubted anyone could get as much scorn into the word "device" as could Rupert Giles.
A petite blonde followed him into the room. She had deeply-tanned skin and had the tired-but-perky look of someone who just got home from a cross-Atlantic flight. She was easily the smallest of the Slayers -- even Helen and Chao-Ahn were bigger, and girls like Kim and Janet towered over her -- but Katharine knew that, if the stories about her were true, she'd already died twice and foiled who knew how many different attempts to end the world.
Buffy and Giles walked across the living room to them. Katharine stood up; the couch was still between them, and a long, thin table approximately the same height as the couch back which rested directly behind it. Audrey, Katharine noticed, still gaped at her, and didn't seem to have noticed Buffy or Giles.
"Hey, guess you'r--" Katharine started.
"Get back!" Audrey screamed. She shoved Katharine to the side and vaulted over the couch and table. She grabbed a wooden cross from the table and thrust it in Buffy's face with one hand while the second hand went to push Giles away.
Buffy slid to her left, toward Giles, as Audrey lunged forward. She caught Audrey's right hand at the wrist before it got to Giles, twisted, stepped under the arm, and tripped Audrey as she moved forward to take the pressure off her shoulder. Audrey crashed face-first onto the ground, and Buffy put her left foot down at Audrey's shoulder joint as she applied more pressure to the captive arm.
Katharine barely moved forward before Buffy turned to her. "Move, and I break her arm," she said.
"Don't worry of me!" Audrey hissed. "Kill her!"
"Audrey, this is Buffy," Giles said. "She's not a danger." He looked up at Buffy. "Buffy, let her up, it's all right."
Buffy gave Giles a skeptical look and shook her head.
"That-- Buffy?" Audrey said. "You're not Buffy, you're dead. I... I saw you die."
Buffy looked over at Giles again, who nodded insistently. "I'm not dead," Buffy said. She let go of Audrey's arm and stepped back warily. Audrey rubbed her shoulder and stood. She eyed Buffy, ready to pounce, but stayed back.
"Are you sure it wasn't a dream, when you saw Buffy die?" Giles asked gently.
Audrey's stare changed, considering to confused. "I don't know," she said softly. "It's... hard to remember."
Audrey's stance changed, too, from aggressive to passive, and Buffy relaxed. "Look, don't worry about it," she said. "No harm, no foul. Or something."
Audrey's demeanor shifted again, this time to concern. "But you could die!" she insisted. "It could be one of those see-the-future dreams."
Katharine could tell Audrey's sudden shifts startled Buffy. "Maybe," Buffy said slowly. She shrugged. "Depends. Did you get a drowning in a pretty white dress death, or perhaps a graceful-yet-tragic swan dive from a tower death? 'Cause, honestly, only about thirty-three percent chance Buffy-death-vision is in the future."
The front door opened again, and Faith called out, "Yo, B, you here?"
Audrey's eyes widened, and she looked over at Katharine. "Oh, God... I'm sorry!"
Faith walked into the living room right as Audrey turned and ran off. She slammed into Faith, almost knocked her over, before she ran out the door.
"What was that?" Faith asked.
Buffy threw her hands out wide and shrugged. "Got me."
"I'm not certain," Giles said, "but I believe it's possible that as a result of injury sustained before the Slayer healing factor was invoked in her body, combined with the severe brain trauma she compacted, she could experience the Slayer dreams both more intensely and more vividly than intended, rendering her consciousness unable to separate them from reality."
"Oh, yeah, exactly what I was thinking," Faith said. "Thanks, G."
"You know what was the best thing about Italy?" Buffy said. "When people said something I didn't understand, it was because it was in another language."
"He said the coma she was in before she was a Slayer messed up her Slayer dreams," Katharine said, "and now she can't tell if some things were a dream or not."
Faith and Buffy turned to stare at her. Giles coughed and polished his glasses. "Yes, thank you, Katharine. I do believe that was the most condescending way possible to put that."
Katharine blushed, but she refused to apologize or back down in front of Faith -- or Buffy, for that matter. Originals be damned. "Yeah, hi, I'm Katharine, the bitchy one. Nice to meet you." She shrugged. "You met my sister, Audrey, the crazy one."
Faith snorted -- still feminine, somehow -- and turned to the front door again. "I'm gonna go talk to her."
"You sure?" Buffy asked.
Faith nodded, but didn't look at her. "Yeah. Maybe it's like how I was, coming out of my coma. It's weird." She glanced back at Buffy, but turned away quickly. "I'll talk to you later."
:#:
Faith found Audrey in the side yard, behind the bushes, squatted down with her back against the brick exterior with her head between her knees and rocking back and forth.
"So is this the meeting spot?" Faith asked.
Audrey didn't look up at all. "Go away."
She sounded miserable. "No can do," Faith said. She kept her voice light and friendly, as much as she could. "Sorry, but it's about time we called the first meeting of the Wicked-Hot Formerly-Comatose Slayer's Club to order."
Now Audrey looked up. "The what?"
Faith sat down beside her. She felt the dirt stick to her sweaty shorts, but ignored it. She smiled, as reassuringly as she knew how, and said, "Eight months, I was out. I was seventeen. Had my eighteenth birthday when I was in a coma."
Audrey blinked. "Me, too. Eight months, I mean. I woke up in July, almost a year ago, so I only had my seventeen birthday."
"See? You're a member. Now, I'm the original, so don't go jackin' my style too much, but I don't got a choice but to put you in the club."
Audrey blushed and looked away. "You really think so?"
"Yeah, of course. Eight-month coma, you're in the club."
"No, I mean... wicked hot."
Faith stared at her for a moment. "Are you hitting on me?"
"No! No!" Audrey shook her head franticly.
"Hey, it's cool. I don't mind. Kinda flattering, if you were."
"Oh. Sorry. But no." Audrey shrugged and looked at the ground between her feet. "It's just... I've been awake almost eleven months, and all of that's rehab, trying to get what I don't remember back -- which is much -- and I was shy in school, I think, not like Katharine, who always knows what to say. I think. I don’t know, I mean, I just thought Buffy was a dead girl a minute ago. But..." She shrugged again.
"It's confusing," Faith said. "Trust me, I get it. I woke up, things were crazy, and after three years of sitting around with nothing to do but think, I'm still sorting it out."
"Things aren't as crazy as I am."
"Aw, now that's just crap. Look, it's a lot to take in for the girls who aren't coming into this with a chunk of their life missing. If you don't understand something, just ask. Ask one of the girls, ask one of the Watchers -- hell, ask me."
Audrey took a deep breath and finally looked up at her. "Okay. I will. Thanks."
Faith nodded and changed the subject. "So you want to be hot, huh?" Audrey blushed and shrugged. "You are eighteen, right?"
:#:
That night, Faith and Xander patrolled together.
The group split into pairs when they did cemetery patrols, in order to cover more ground in less time. Xander bought four flare guns, to use in case one pair got into a bad situation and needed immediate backup, but so far no one had needed them yet. The vampire population in Cleveland was either poorly organized or extremely well-organized, because they never found more than a couple together.
That night, Faith took Xander with her to be able to talk to him about Buffy, although she didn't say that to Janet or Rona. Xander saw right through her, though. "You chickened out," he said.
"No! Things came up. With the twins." Xander looked at her sideways and raised an eyebrow. "Okay, yeah, I chickened out. I used Aud's freak-out as an excuse."
Faith missed Xander's slight flinch.
"So you get on okay with her, huh?" Xander said.
"Audrey? Yeah, seemed to earlier."
"Interesting, considering that her sister still seems to hate you as much as she did that first night."
Faith laughed. "Yeah, Lite Beer's not too fond of me, huh?" She shrugged. "Maybe that's just part of being a Slayer, you know? I mean, there's only supposed to be one, and maybe when there's not, well, maybe they don't get along 'cause they're supposed to be alone. I mean, that's what my big problem with B was back in the day, you know?"
Xander pursed his lips and looked down; Faith recognized the look as his contemplative expression. "So you think we messed something up when we made all these Slayers?"
"What?"
"Well, you said Slayers are supposed to be alone, they don't get along when they're not," he said. "Now we have tons -- eleven here with us, who knows how many out in the world -- you think maybe that's gonna go bad?"
Faith thought about it while she walked. "I don't know," she said. "Maybe not. Maybe it's just me, you know, I didn't like B and Lite Beer don't like me. I'm just talking, Harris -- listen at your own peril."
Xander laughed. "I'll keep that in mind." They walked in silence for a bit longer. "You gotta tell her tomorrow, Faith, or I will."
Faith nodded. "Five-by-five, Watcher-man."
A dirt-covered vampire stepped out from behind a tree in front of them. "What's this, a lover's stroll late at night? Too bad it'll be your last," he snarled.
Faith and Xander rolled their eyes in tandem. Newbie vamps always wanted to sound diabolical.
"Rock, paper, scissors?" Faith asked.
The vampire tilted his head, confused. "Pardon?" The Slayer and her Watcher ignored him.
"Sure," Xander said, and they threw down to see who got to deliver the comeback quip before they dusted the vampire.
:#:
Faith pulled Buffy aside before the morning workout, asked to talk to her up in her room. Faith closed the door behind her, and they sat down -- Buffy on the bed, Faith on the chair in front of Buffy's vanity.
"What's up?" Buffy asked. Faith could tell she was nervous.
Faith took a deep breath, unsure of how to start. "Do you know who Connor Reilly is?" she asked.
Buffy shook her head. "Should I?"
Faith shrugged. "I haven't told anyone else, not really. Xander was there when I found out, I wouldn't have told him, I would've told you first even if I had to hold it in for a year, B, you gotta believe me."
"Faith, what did you do?"
Faith shook her head. "No, nothing. Nothing. But Xander, he hasn't told anyone, either. We both thought you should know first."
"Know what?"
"Angel and Spike died."
Buffy sat still, perfectly still. "No, I just -- they were just in Italy a few weeks ago, I just brushed them off in Italy a few weeks ago. They can't be dead."
"I'm sorry, Buffy."
"But..."
Faith stood. "I know. I'll go get Dawn."
Faith opened the door, and Buffy said, "Thank... I, I'm trying to be gracious and nice, Faith. You waited to tell me, and... but you knew first, they're gone and I -- and you --"
Faith nodded. "I know, Buffy. It's five-by-five. I'll get Dawn."
Faith closed the door, and heard Buffy's tears start. She ran downstairs to get Dawn.
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