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Heart's Desire	By : PencilNeck Category: -Buffy the Vampire Slayer > FemmeSlash - Female/Female > Buffy/Faith Views: 9582 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 29
- 30
- 31
Chapter 30:� The Promise

Buffy crouches behind a small hedge, stake in
hand.� Looks behind her, makes a
signal.� The shadows seem to shift,
ripple for a moment.� A hand touches her
arm, and suddenly she�s surrounded.�
Buffy smiles.� Her girls are perfectly
sneaky.

�Grab-and-go.��
Buffy whispers.� �Moira, you take point.��

The girl nods.�
Disappears into the darkness ahead.

Buffy signals for the team to fan out and wait for
Moira�s all clear.� Getting it, she
reaches position, back flat against the wall.�
The neighborhood is quiet, suburban.�
This house doesn�t look different to any house on the street.� It�s just a small two storey building.� Except for the nesting family of Lagash
demons.

Buffy carefully peeks in the window, turning just
enough that she can catch some movement in her peripheral vision.� She twists away.� Movement bad.�
She�d hoped to catch them sleeping.

She taps her earpiece twice.� Then twice again.� Plan B.�
Slips her stake back into its holster.�
Pulls the scythe from her back.�

She hears two clicks in her earpiece.� Then three.�
She nods.� Counts three seconds.

She spins and slams her foot against the door.� It flies into the wall opposite.� She steps in, hearing the crash of her team
entering the building.� Moira flies
through the window, somersaulting through the glass and landing in a
crouch.� The other girls ramming through
doors, windows, sealing off all the exits, squashing resistance as they go
through the house.

�Surprise!��
Buffy strokes the scythe.� Eyeing
up the two demons growling at her.

�What?�� She asks
a giant fist aimed at her head.� Counters
with the scythe.� No more impending fist.� �You were expecting the welcome wagon?�

The giant ugly grabs his wrist, screaming as the
blood pours out in waves of blue.� His
sibling comes rushing to defend him.�

Buffy leaps up, kicking out hard.� Her foot makes contact with a squishy
face.� It reels back, flailing.

Stomping up from the basement.� Family reunion.

�I need backup!� �Buffy doesn�t bother with the headset.� She just yells.� Aiming her blade toward the new
arrivals.�

Two girls come rushing in.� The basement door bursts open, and nine more
demons rushing out.

�You will not stop the ceremony!�� The largest of them roars.� �You will all die!�

�That�s the thanks we get for trying to clean up the
neighborhood?�� One girl grins as she
plants her axe in the big guy�s kneecap.

�Inez!�� Buffy
takes out the other knee.� �Excellent
punning!� You get an A.�

The giant demon falls hard onto the flower print
sofa.�

�Teacher�s pet.��
The other slayer mock glares at Inez, and takes the demon�s head cleanly
off.�

�Party pooper.��
Buffy sticks out her tongue.�
Swings out to catch another bad guy with the pointy end of the
scythe.� �I had a Neighborhood Watch joke
all lined up, Autumn!�

�Sorry, Boss Lady.��
Autumn rolls her eyes.� Then ducks
and rolls away from a mace.� Stabs up
with her sword, through the demon�s chins.�
He jerks and falls to the floor.�

�Main floor and upstairs, all clear!�� The rest of the team comes in.� �Need a hand?�

�Nope, we need the package.�� Buffy points to the basement.� �Go check it out.� We�ll keep these guys entertained.�

They disappear down the basement stairs, thudding
and slashing noises mean they�ve met the rest of the clan.� The seven remaining demons look worriedly at
the basement door, and at the girls standing in their way.�

�Alright.�
Pick your dates, ladies.�� Buffy
chooses Ugly�s� sister? �brother?� �And
the two hulking things closest to her.�
�And let�s dance.�

�How come you get three?� Autumn pouts, targeting
the two beasties that are trying to stomp her with their giant feet.

�Cos I�m cuter than you.�� Buffy smirks.�

�I�m tired of getting your cast-offs.�� Inez laughs, faking a huff.� Tossing her hair.

Without another word, the slayers attack.� Sword, axe and scythe.� Buffy kills the first one instantly, chopping
off its head as it lunges for her.� She
kicks at the other, keeping it at bay for now.�
She throws the scythe up, pummels the third until it�s down.� Reaches out and catches the scythe on its way
down, letting it swing back in her hand to gut Number Two.� Bringing it back to strangle Three.�

�All done.��
Buffy singsongs.�

�Package is retrieved, Buffy.�� The team returns from the basement, holding
something wrapped in blankets.�

Buffy looks up.�
The living room is destroyed.� The
carpet and walls are stained blue, in large pools and spattered lines.� Nobody else seems to notice the wreckage, the
huge slimy bodies lying all over the floor.�
All the girls are crowded around the girl holding the package.

�Hey,� Buffy pushes through.� Wipes some blue blood from her face.� �Some space?�

Buffy takes the bundle into her arms.� Gently pushes the fabric away a bit.� Peers into a little face, with little hands
in cute little fists.� She brushes her
lips gently across the baby�s smooth, chubby cheeks.� Looks around at the faces of her team.� Exhilaration, pride, maybe a couple of sappy
smiles.� No trace of the uncertainty and
pain she�d been seeing. �She turns back
to the baby, who�s awake now and making those gurgly baby noises and grabbing at her blue-stained
finger.�

�Hey, little guy.��
Buffy whispers, taking a few steps away from the group.� �I hope you don�t remember anything that
happened here tonight like, ever.� But if
you do, remember this.� You may think
that we saved you, �cos technically yeah, we did, and
y�know, yay for us.��

�But you saved us too.�� Buffy hugs the infant close.� �Never forget that part, kay?�

Buffy turns back to her team, removing all traces of
mushy baby smile from her face.

�Alright kids.��
Buffy smiles, handing the child to Moira.� �Field trip is over.� Prep for extract.�

Her team starts hurriedly grabbing up their weapons
and equipment.

�Xander?��
Buffy calls on the headset.�
�Package acquired.� Request
Extraction.�

�Um�� Hi
Buffy!� Xander�s unh� just stepped out
for a sec.� He said it was urgent.� Although, that was a while ago.� So, not bathroom urgent�� Andrew�s voice comes through high and
squeaky.� �He left with Renee.�� There�s a weird hollow sucking sound.� �I�m covering his shift right now.��

�Andrew, can you please not do that in my ear!�� Buffy takes her earpiece out for a second,
wiggles her finger in there.� Puts it
back.

�But it�s so sweet and frosty!�� Andrew sighs.�
�I love slushies.�

�I�m sure you do.��
Buffy rolls her eyes.� �You need
to get a car here asap.� And send along a Wicca, if you can.� Our stealth mission turned out not so
stealthy.�

�Kay.�� Buffy
hears some muffled voices, and some feedback.�
Andrew�s covered the microphone with his hand.�

�Andrew!��
Buffy rips out the earpiece.�
Yells into her mic.� �How many times?�

�Sorry!��
Buffy can hear Andrew squeaking.�
She wants to crush his head.�
Instead she sighs, puts the little piece of plastic back in her
ear.� �An extraction team is on its way.�

�Good.� And if
they�re here in less than five minutes, I�ll let you personally hand the kid
over to his parents.�� Buffy is a good
leader.� She has an incentive program.

�They�ll be there in four.�� Andrew sounds giddy.� �I love the part where people are happy and
grateful.� It�s so� satisfying.� Like that time when we saved that village in
Iceland� or oooh!�
That time in Portugal, with the flowers and the parade��

�Right.� Just
like that.�� Buffy cuts him off.� �Buffy out.�

Buffy turns to her team.

�We ready?��
Buffy checks the area.�

�Yes, Ma�am.��
Her second in command nods.

�Good.�� And
that�s the word that resonates in Buffy�s head.�
How she feels.� What she
does.� Who she is.

Good.

********************

Dawn sits in her office.� Her laptop lies open and glowing.� Her desk an organized clutter of parchment
and papers and books.� She stares up at
the ceiling.� She�s given up even the
pretense of work.� Her eyes won�t focus
on the pages.� The words don�t make
sense.� Nothing makes any sense
anymore.�

Her eyes wander to the wall of photographs.� Buffy, Xander and Willow smiling out at her from the lawn of
Sunnydale High.� Willow and Tara
at the Magic Box.� A younger version of
herself, sitting between Xander and Anya on the couch, watching some movie she
can�t remember now.� And her mom, smiling
tentatively at the camera, at Giles as he tries to capture some random happy
moment in their lives.

She cherishes these pictures.� These memories of who they used to be.� And the reminder of who gave them back to
her.�

She allows herself to stare at the image of
Tara.� Her throat closes.� Her eyes go blurry with tears.� For Tara,
for Emma.� For everything and everyone.�

Dawn stands up.�
She needs some air.

********************

�Figured you�d be round to see me sometime, Doc.�� Faith smirks from her bed.�

�You�ve been cleared by the� Meds.� I thought I�d stop by and introduce myself,
but I see you have already heard about me.��
Still working on the lingo, Dr Amani sits down.� �I�m here to make sure that you are alright.�

�Nobody�s alright.��
Faith rolls her eyes.� Her voice
slips into street-mode almost automatically.�
It�s an authority thing.� �What
went down?� Ain�t
nobody gonna be alright for a long time.�

�I read the reports.�� Adia looks
curiously at Faith.�

�So you think you got a handle on it?�� Faith scoffs.�
�What we went through?�

�Not at all.��
Adia replies honestly.� �Do you?�

�Don�t ask me.�
I just woke up.�� Faith
grins.� �I haven�t even started the
brooding and whining part of the process.�

�Is that what the others are doing?�� Adia sits
back.� �Whining?�

�Nah.� I
didn�t mean it like that.�� Faith
retracts her statement.� �It�s just hey,
I�m alive, y�know?�
Didn�t think I would be.� And
yeah, it was bad.� The whole thing was a
big old mess of bad.� Saw things, things
I never��

Faith�s eyes focus somewhere not in the room.� She remembers the doctor�s presence and snaps
out of it.� Smiles wide and forced.��

�But I�m not gonna sit and
cry about things I coulda done different.� What I shoulda done
better.�� Faith almost convinces
herself.�

�From what I�ve read, you all did exceptionally
well.�� Adia is
blunt.� �The enemy�s sheer numbers
alone.� It�s a miracle any of you
survived.�

�A miracle, huh?��
Faith snorts.� A harsh sarcastic
noise.

�Poor choice of words?�� Adia knows what
she�s doing.

Faith takes a breath.�

�I should be dead.��
Faith looks away.� �But someone�
something� whatever, pulled me outta
that pit.�

�And that bothers you.�� Adia isn�t
asking.� She�s prompting.

�I don�t get it.��
Faith throws her pillow in frustration.�
�All the girls� every single one of them, did something brave and
amazing and dangerous.� Every one of them
nicer and smarter, better than me.� So
why me?� Why do they get to be dead meat, and I get to keep on living?� What the hell did I do that makes me so
damned special?�

�I don�t know.��
Adia stands up.� Walks to where the pillow landed.� Picks it up, walks over and hands it back to
Faith.� �That is something we can never
understand.� Why some live and some die.�

�So, what?� I
just gotta deal with it?�� Faith takes the pillow.� Tucks it back under her head. ��The strain of the conversation and the pain
of her body shows in her face.

Adia stands up.� Walks to the door.

�No, Faith.�� Adia smiles at her, genuine and caring.� �You get to live with it.�

********************

Dawn looks out over the village.� It�s windy up here and she forgot her
jacket.� Why Faith likes sitting here so
much, she can�t figure out.� It�s quiet,
and maybe the village does look pretty, but it�s pitch
black and freezing.

Still, Dawn�s not going anywhere.� She�s alone, finally.� Maybe that�s what Faith�s always climbing up
here for.� Not lately of course, but
before�

Dawn stops that thought.� Can�t go there.

She pulls the sleeves of her sweater over her
hands.� Lays
down to look at the stars.� She always
liked stars.� Tara used to show her the
silly constellations she�d made up.� Dawn
would laugh, and everything was perfect.�
She can still sort of remember them.�
She raises her hand to trace around�

�This isn�t the bathroom.��

Dawn turns sharply.�
Scowls at Andrew who�s looking around the rooftop, obviously hoping for
some mystical port-a-potty.

�Bathroom�s down one flight, third door on the
left.�� Dawn sits up.� The moment is ruined.� �It�s easy to get lost.�

�Not as easy as you might think.�� Andrew shuffles forward a bit.� Takes a moment to sip on his slushie.� �I don�t
seem to be able to do it.� Not the way
everyone wants, anyway.�

�You feeling
third-wheel-y?�� Dawn nods.� �I get that.�

They stay silent for a while.� A while being a few seconds, which for Andrew
is an extraordinary feat.

�Want some of my slushie?�� Andrew offers the gallon cup.

�What flavour?�� Dawn is curious.� She takes it.

�Cherry, mixed with cola and just a hint of root
beer.�� Andrew says it proudly.� It�s his own special
blend.

�I do that too, except I always add a little blob of
the green stuff.�� Dawn takes a big
gulp.� �Adds a kick.�

�I�ll try that next time.�� Andrew sits down.�

They sit in silence, passing the enormous cup of
cold sugar back and forth.

�I saw Willow sneaking into the infirmary.�� Andrew says it to the air.� �Is there going to be a broken-hearted slayer
in the house?�

�Nothing that juicy.�
Willow�s been on a mundo guilt trip.� Healing instead of sleeping.�� Dawn answers, still staring out at the
night.� �It�s less now, but she�s gonna wear herself out.�
Make everything worse.� But nobody
listens to me, not since the haircut.�

�I like it.�
New hair for the new you.�� Andrew
inspects Dawn�s head.� �Y�know, I could
trim it up a bit, give it some style��

�It�s like, two inches long.�� Dawn gives him a raised brow.� So much like her sister�s.� �What can you do to make this look less �psycho-bald-chick�?�

�Actually, there�s more to work with than you
think.�� Andrew gets excited.� Finally, something he can do.� �We could do something blunt, asymmetrical�
Very chic.�� Andrew plays with Dawn�s
hair.� �No�� No, I think you�re more of a classic
beauty.� We�ll go with that.� Audrey Hepburn, Roman Holiday.� That movie made me cry, don�t tell anyone, kay?� Except for Gregory
Peck.� I thought he was a little stiff.�

�You think?��
Dawn looks up at Andrew with a tiny smile.� The first smile she�s given anyone since
before the battle.� But he called her a
beauty.

�I know.�� He
smiles back.� Gregory Peck totally ruined
that movie.

Dawn twists the straw around.� Tries to get some liquid, but she only gets
that slurping sound.

�All gone.��
Dawn hands Andrew the empty cup.�
�Sorry.�

�That�s okay.��
Andrew shifts uncomfortably.� �I
still have to pee.�

Andrew stands up.�
Watches Dawn try to get off the ground.�
Offers his hand.

�I can do it.�
I don�t need help.�� Dawn pushes
herself up.

�Actually it�s for me.�� Andrew looks a bit green.� �Heights make me dizzy.�

�Everything makes you something.�� Dawn smirks at him, almost affectionately.� But she takes his hand.

�Let�s go find you that bathroom.��
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Heart's Desire