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The Three of Us	By : crash Category: -Buffy the Vampire Slayer > FemmeSlash - Female/Female > Buffy/Faith Views: 37107 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- 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
- 39
- 40
- 41
Buffy smiled as she walked past the sun dappled lawns, leaves moving quietly in the early morning breeze. If she concentrated she could see small rainbows reflected in the dew on the grass. It was a perfect sunny day, except for the roiling black cloud next to her. Buffy kept sneaking glances at the brooding girl stomping along beside her. The two slayers hadn’t exchanged a word since they’d left the house. Faith seemed to be on auto-pilot as they made their way toward Sunnydale High, her gaze focused about twenty feet in front of her, hands jammed in the pockets of her jeans. Buffy watched as the girl’s head moved neither left nor right, up nor down. “Hey, Faith?” she tried. After a few more steps in silence, she sighed and tried again. “Faith?” she said a little louder. Again, no response was received. She looked down at the sidewalk, ‘I don’t know how to handle this, and why the hell is she acting like it’s my fault?’ She sighed again, “Faith,” Buffy reached over and gently touched the other girl’s arm, “She’s not wrong you know.”
“What?” Faith whirled around and stepped back from the blonde. Her body was rigid, anger and tension rolling off her. Buffy couldn’t even tell if she was breathing.
“I, uh,” she pointed over her shoulder with her thumb, toward the house. “This morning, umm, I heard…” Her hand dropped to her side, “My mom, what she said,” her hands twitched nervously in front of her.
“Spit it out.”
Buffy rolled her eyes, “I heard what my mom said to you this morning.” She glanced away from the angry girl. “I didn’t want to, but I heard it, and she’s right.”
“What’s that s’posed to mean?” Faith seemed to be getting madder.
Buffy looked up into the dark glasses, “It means you’re not second best. It means we care about you.” She stepped forward, reaching out with her left hand and resting it on Faith’s arm. “It means she wants us to look out for each other, and be there when we need somebody.” A small smile showed at the corner of her lips, “I love Willow to pieces, but she doesn’t understand what I’ve had to go through to get here. You do.” The smile widened, “I need you in my life.” She turned and started walking toward the school again.
Faith turned, “That’s great for you, but what’s in it for me?” She crossed her arms over her chest and stood there.
Buffy stopped and turned to face Faith, “Don’t know,” she shrugged, “What do you want out of it?” She could see Faith’s brow furrow in concentration. “You can tell me later, now get a move on, we’re going to be late.” She turned on her heel and started to walk again.
The doors to the library swung open, “Giles?” Buffy called. She made her way toward the large table in the middle of the room.
Giles appeared in the doorway to his office, a surprised look on his face, “Good morning, Buffy, to what do I…” He paused as the doors swung open again, revealing the storm cloud known as Faith. “Oh dear,” he sighed and his shoulders slumped. He carried his tea cup out to the table and stood at the end of it. Buffy had seated herself on his right and Faith had slumped into a chair on his left. “So is this a social visit, or business?” he asked.
Buffy looked at Faith, then back to her watcher, “Unfortunately, it’s business.” She pulled out the envelope Allen Finch had given them and dropped it on the table. Giles’ raised an eyebrow and waited. Buffy looked at Faith slouched in the chair across from her and rolled her eyes. “There’s some things we need to talk to you about, some of it’s personal, and we,” she emphasized the word ‘we’, while she stared at Faith. “Think it’s also about the next Big Bad.”
Faith shook her head, “Bads.”
Giles looked between the two slayers, “I don’t understand what…”
Faith sighed, “Plural, as in more than one. The next Big Bads.” She sat up and took her sunglasses off, propping them on her head. She put her elbows on the table and dropped her forehead onto her hands, “What B’s tryin’ to say is it looks like we’ve got two bad guys to deal with and they’re connected.”
“Ah,” he nodded, “And what do we know about these two beings?”
Buffy waited a moment to see if Faith would say anything. Giles looked between the two of them, waiting for one of them to speak. “Fine,” Buffy huffed. “This guy here,” she tapped the envelope, “Seems to think the Mayor is up to something.”
Giles reached out and gently picked up the envelope, examining both sides. “Who would this person be?” he asked quietly.
“He found us on patrol last night,” Buffy replied. “I think his name was Allen.”
“Finch.” Faith added. She looked up at Giles, “He said his name was Allen Finch, and he’s the Mayor’s Assistant. He keeps his schedule and stuff, says he wrote down the info we needed about the Mayor.”
“Why would we need to know anything about the Mayor?” Giles removed his glasses and pulled his hanky out. He started to polish them as he continued. “He’s a politician, not a demon.”
“Yeah, well,” Faith shrugged, “Apparently that’s up for debate.”
Giles replaced his glasses and looked at both slayers again. “Please continue.” He pulled a chair up to the table and sat.
“Go ahead, B.” Faith put her head back into her hands. Giles turned his head slightly toward Buffy and waited.
Buffy’s shoulders sagged and she glared at Faith. Shaking her head, she started to explain to Giles what they had been told the night before. Faith just stared at the table top throughout the story.
“So this, Finch, thinks the Mayor is a hundred years old?” Giles asked quietly. Buffy nodded in response. “Faith?” he turned to the other slayer. “What’s your take on all of this?”
Faith sighed and lifted her head off of her hands. She glanced at Buffy before fixing her gaze on the watcher. “I think it’s possible, cuz of the company he’s keepin’”
“What do you mean?”
Faith sighed, and looked at Buffy. The blond crossed her arms over her chest and stared back. Faith sat back in her chair and slouched down, pushing her legs under the table. Her eyes closed, and she took a deep breath. Slowly she exhaled, not moving. “He seems ta be involved with a vampire name o’ Kakistos.”
“How?” Giles queried.
Faith shrugged again, “Not really sure. Only know that I heard Mr. Trick last night, and he was talkin’ to the Mayor.”
Giles blinked, “Who the hell is Mr. Trick?”
“He’d be Kakistos’ advance guy. Shows up about two weeks early and gets things organized afore the big guy shows up.” She sighed and leaned forward on her elbows, “Near as I can figger, he’s doin’ the negotiatin’ and Kakistos will show up to seal the deal.”
“You seem to know a lot about this particular vampire. Is there a particular reason why?” Giles asked. He watched Faith for a moment. “It almost seems as if it’s personal.”
Buffy leaned forward and stretched out her left hand to Faith, “I know it’s difficult, Faith, but he needs to know.”
The dark slayer slowly covered the blond’s hand with her own, “It don’t make it any easier.”
“No,” Buffy turned her hand and squeezed Faith’s, “Just remember I’m here for you, and to help, ok?”
“Yeah,” she whispered. The corners of her lips tugged up in a brief smile at the blond. She turned to Giles, “My Watcher’s not on a retreat.” Giles’ eyebrows rose up. “She’s dead. Kakistos killed her in front of me, and he’s been chasin’ me ever since.”
“Bloody Hell!” he coughed and stared at her, “What are you talking about?”
Faith’s eyes darted away from the watcher, “I lied.” Giles mouth was hanging open. “I didn’t know how to tell you, so I lied.”
“But…”
Faith shrugged and waited.
“How? When?” Giles was flapping his arms around, confusion on his face. “What happened?”
Faith opened her eyes and looked at Buffy, “See? This is why I didn’t wanna say nothin’”
“You knew about this?” Giles head snapped around to stare at Buffy, “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Hey!” Buffy yelped, “I only found out yesterday! Don’t blame this on me! I had nothing to do with it!”
“Don’t blame her G-man,” Faith sat up. “I didn’t tell her either. At least until yesterday, sort of.”
Giles looked back and forth between the two slayers, “Well if you didn’t tell her how did she learn of this?”
Buffy crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Faith. The dark slayer dropped her eyes to the table. “We shared a dream.”
Giles’ eyes goggled right out of his head, “You what?”
Faith looked at him, “Pay attention Jeeves,” she growled, “We shared a dream. One dream, we were both in it, therefore we shared it.”
He blinked, then whipped his glasses off and furiously started to polish them again. His brows furrowed, and then shot up. The two girls waited for him to speak. They could see the thoughts and questions flying through his mind reflected in his eyes. “Is this…” he started. He tilted his head and looked at Buffy, “Is this why the two of you were…” he paused again. He rubbed his forehead for a moment, “Dear me.” He sighed and sat back, “I need to sit down.”
“Uh, G-man?” Faith reached over and patted his arm, “You are.”
“Oh,” he looked at the arms of the chair he was in, “Right.” He blew out a breath, “Right.” The girls waited for him again. “Is this why the two of you were less combative the other day?” His eyes darted between the two, “At least in the morning?”
Faith’s laugh caused the other two to jump. “Yeah, that’s part of it.”
“Do I need to know any other parts of it?” The two girls shrugged in unison. “Good God,” he muttered. “What the hell did I do to deserve this?”
“Well,” Buffy started, but quickly shut up when she saw the glare from Giles.
“It was rhetorical.” He looked at both of them. “Faith?” he was glaring at her now. “Tell me what happened to your watcher and how you ended up here.” Faith’s eyes dropped to the floor. “Tell me everything,” Giles stood from the table and retrieved his journal from the counter. “Start from when you met your watcher.”
Giles scribbled away in his in his journal while she talked. Faith didn’t look up while she related her story. “So how did you know he would come after you?” he asked.
“I cut him before I got away,” she looked up at him. “I managed to get loose from the two vamps holdin’ me. I grabbed a knife from one of them and swung. I got him in the face, his left eye. Then I ran.” There were tears tracking slowly along her cheeks. “I just fuckin’ ran.”
Buffy stood from her chair and walked around Giles. She pulled up another chair next to Faith, and sat. She slid her arm along Faith’s back and pulled her into a hug. “I know what you mean, what it’s like to lose someone.”
Faith pushed herself away from the blond, “You have no fuckin’ clue how it feels!” She yelled.
Buffy reached out for Faith and pulled her toward herself again, “My first Watcher killed himself to protect me, so yeah, I know how it feels.”
Faith jumped up and away from the blond. Her wide eyes swiveled between the watcher and the other slayer, “What the fuck are you talkin’ about?” She pointed at Giles, “He’s yer fuckin’ watcher!”
“Yes he is,” Buffy said quietly, “Just not my first.”
Giles put his pen down and sat back in his chair, he nodded at Faith, “That is true.”
“But?” Faith stood there stunned, “How?”
Buffy took Faith’s hand and pulled her toward the chair again. “Sit,” she spoke quietly. She looked into the dark pools staring back at her. “Merrick found me when I was called in L.A. I fought my calling because it was ruining my life.” She looked at Giles, “I’m better with it now.” A small smile graced his face. She turned back to Faith, “He started to train me and get me to accept my calling. We came up against a vampire named Lothos. Merrick and I were trapped and I was losing the fight. Merrick had a gun, and he shot him with it. It distracted him, and I could get away. Merrick turned the gun on himself, so Lothos couldn’t turn him and use him against me.”
Faith was staring at her, “Why didn’t you say somethin’?” She blinked, “Why’d ya just leave me hangin’ here?”
Buffy’s gaze dropped to the floor, “Nobody knows.” She looked up to Faith with determination in her eyes, “The Council knows, I know; and now you know. That’s it.”
Faith slumped back in the chair, “Red? Xand?” she whispered.
Buffy shook her head each time, “Neither does my Mom or Dawn.”
“Jesus B,” Faith was shaking her head. “How do ya deal with it?”
Buffy shrugged, “By not forgetting what he gave up for me, and by doing the best I can.”
Faith turned to Giles, “What’s your take on all a this?”
Faith could see the determination in his eyes, “You do what’s necessary.” He looked between both girls, “I would lay down my life for both of you.” He paused for a moment, “Not just because it’s a part of my job, but because I care for each of you.”
Buffy was smiling at Giles when Faith looked at her. She could see the love that a parent and child have between them. ‘Shit, it all makes sense,’ she thought to herself, ‘I hope somebody looks at me like that someday.’ She cleared her throat, “Uh, thanks, G.” her eyes darted around the library, “I, umm, I,” she shrugged, “I don’t really know what to say.”
“Yes, well,” Giles leaned forward and picked up his journal again, “Let’s not make a habit of it, shall we?”
“I’m hurt G,” Faith had a smile on her face. She did feel better, Buffy’s hand was on her shoulder, and she could tell that Giles was serious about what he’d said.
“I don’t mean to screw things up, but can we get back to what’s going on?” Buffy asked quietly, “I do have to get to class today.”
“Yes,” Giles settled himself in his chair. “It looks like we have three things to investigate,” he glanced at both girls, “The Mayor, this Kakistos, and The Box of Gavrock.” His wrist rolled over and he checked his watch. “It’s almost time for you to head for class Buffy. Faith, you can stay and help with the research.”
Faith groaned and rolled her eyes, “Yer punishin’ me cuz I lied about my watcher, ain’t ya?”
There was a glint in Giles’ eyes, “Faith, you know I would do no such thing.”
Buffy was smiling as she stood, “I’ll leave you two alone now.” She bent down and kissed Faith on the forehead. “We’ll get through this together, alright?”
Faith patted Buffy’s hand that was resting on her shoulder, “Yeah, and thanks.” She looked up into the sparkling green eyes, “For everything you ‘n yer mom have done for me.”
Buffy’s smile widened, “We’re a team Faith, The Chosen Two.”
“Buffy,” Giles coughed discretely, “you’ll return for training when your classes are done?”
“Yeah,” she nodded, “I’ll see you at lunch Faith, okay?” She smiled as Faith nodded her agreement. Picking up her bag and turning, she left the library.
Willow started to bend over the water fountain, when she felt a presence behind her. She looked over to see Cordelia standing there. “Oh,” Willow said, “I’ll just get out of your way.”
“No, go ahead,” Cordelia smiled. “I’ll wait ‘til you’re finished.”
Willow’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline, “But…” her eyebrows furrowed, her hands started to flap, “You never…”
Cordelia giggled, “Hurry up Willow, I don’t really need any water, I need to talk to you.”
“Oh…” Willow’s jaw was hanging down, her eyes staring at the girl. She blinked slowly, then her brain caught up. She quickly turned and sipped from the fountain. Turning to face Cordelia, she steeled herself for what was to come. “What?” She could see the Cordettes standing a ways down the hall and watching them.
“I’ve got a question about computer class and I thought you could help me,” Cordelia smiled again. “Is that okay?” Willow stared at her for a moment, unmoving. The dark haired girl sighed and turned so her back was to the Cordettes, “Remember that conversation we had the other day?” Willow nodded in response. “Good, this is part of it. I’m not going to be mean; I actually need your help.”
“Su-sure,” Willow stammered, “I-I can t-try?”
Cordelia smirked, “You can be so cute sometimes.” She turned again, “We can talk while we walk. You’ll be able to handle that?”
“Y-yeah?” Willow’s eyes darted around the hall. There were a large number of people milling about, and nobody seemed to be paying them any attention. “Yeah,” she said with a little more confidence, “I can.”
The two girls started to walk toward the Cordettes. “I can’t remember the difference between an ‘Internet’ and an ‘Intranet’, can you help me?”
Willow stopped for a second, “Yeah, I can?” She seemed surprised by that admission.
“And?” Cordy asked.
“Right!” Willow yelped and started to walk again. She looked at Cordy, “All the computers in the school are connected together. That’s a network, okay?” The brunette nodded. “All the computers in each school in Sunnydale are also connected in separate networks, but in different buildings. Got that?”
Cordy’s brow furrowed, “Umm, so that means all the schools are on separate networks. Each school is independent of the other ones?”
“Right,” Willow nodded. “Technically you can’t interface with a computer in a different school unless…” She paused and waited for Cordy to catch on.
Cordelia bit her bottom lip, “They can’t do that unless they’re connected?”
Willow’s head bobbed up and down. “So the school division has a network that connects all the schools, but keeps them hidden from different systems outside the division. That’s called an?”
Cordelia stopped and huffed, Willow flinched, “Sorry,” the brunette said.
“Old habits,” Willow immediately blushed, “Oh I didn’t mean that...”
Cordy put her hand on Willow’s arm, “Yes you did and its okay, I deserved it.” She smiled at the redhead, “But getting back on topic, the school division network would be an Intranet, right?” Willow grinned and nodded. “So, that means,” Cordy continued, “That all the networks outside of the division make up the Internet, right?”
Willow grinned and nodded at the girl, “Yup, that’s the difference.”
The two girls stopped next to the gaggle of Cordettes. Cordelia smiled warmly at the redhead, “Thank you.” She leaned forward and wrapped the witch up in a quick hug. She giggled at the stunned girl, “I’ll see you later Willow, and thanks again.”
“Huh?” Willow answered, standing there.
“Cordelia!” Harmony hissed, “What the hell are you doing?” She glared at Willow, her eyes raking the length of the redhead, “Especially with that loser?”
Willow shook her head, “Oh!” Frantically she looked around for an escape route.
“Hey!” Cordelia barked, “She helped me with a problem I had, and I thanked her.” She put her hands on her hips and glared at the blond, “It’s called being polite, you should look it up.”
“But she’s a loser geek!” Harmony protested.
Cordelia shook her head, “It doesn’t matter who the person is. The fact that she helped me means I say ‘Thank You’ for the help.” She turned away from the group, “Sorry about that Willow, I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah,” Willow blinked, “Yeah,” She turned quickly and scurried away.
Cordelia had a gentle smile on her face as she watched Willow disappear into the crowd. She turned back to Harmony, “Didn’t you wear that last week?”
Harmony blushed and ran her hands over her outfit, trying to smooth it out. “No!” she yelped, “I didn’t!”
“Ha,” Cordelia snarked, “You are so busted.” She turned on her heel and headed to class.
“Hey,” Faith called across the table.
Giles looked up from the book his nose was buried in, “Yes?”
“I been checkin’ through back issues of the local rag,” Faith ran her fingers through her hair. “The stuff they got online only goes back to 1935. So I pulled up all the images I could find o’ the Mayor.”
Giles stood and stretched before moving to stand behind Faith. “What did you find?” he was peering at the monitor.
“I put ‘em in a slide show.” She clicked on the most recent photo of the Mayor, then leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Is this infernal machine broken?” Giles asked, “Nothing is happening.”
Faith laughed, “Hang on tweed boy,” She smiled as the picture changed. “Each one shows for 15 sec’s so you can compare ‘em.”
“Ah,” he nodded watching it change again. The two of them watched in silence until the slideshow ended. “So,” Giles stood and started to clean his glasses. “What’s your opinion?”
Faith shrugged, then looked over to the Watcher, “I think it’s a possibility.”
“M-hmm,” Giles nodded. “What do you base that on?”
Faith’s eyebrow quirked up, and a smirk broke out on her face, “The First one was Mayor ‘til about 1940. The second one took over after that. He was in charge ‘til 1980, then Wilkins the 3^rd has been Mayor since then.”
“Yes, that’s all well and fine, but it really doesn’t prove anything.” Giles stood there with his glasses in on hand and the other tucked into his pants pocket. Faith watched his glasses sway back and forth in his hand. “There is a strong resemblance in all of the photos, but they are not of the best quality and some are from a distance. That in itself makes it hard to tell if they’re even related, let alone the same man.”
Faith shook her head, “I see what you’re doin’ G-man.” She tilted her head and grinned at him, “You found out I got a big brain. Now yer tryin’ to see if I can use it. Be careful that don’t bite you in the ass.”
Giles smiled at her, “You know I would do no such thing.”
“Right,” Faith shook her head. “Okay, I told ya I went back in the archives to about 1935, right?” He nodded. “Okay, Wilkins I, left the Mayors office after about 30 years. So he was like 70 when he quit. In all the years since, there was never an article about his funeral.”
Giles nodded again, “Still nothing substantial.”
“Yeah,” Faith nodded. “The thing is,” she turned to face him. “Even if he retired to Florida, he’s the father of the next Mayor and gramps to the current one. If he died there’d a been somethin’ in the paper.” She smiled at the watcher, “They’re all politicians that served the community for years. They’d be milkin’ that for all it’s worth.”
Giles shrugged, “Circumstantial at best. What else do you have?”
Faith clicked on another icon, “This.”
“What would that be?” Giles moved back to the monitor. Faith had arranged a series of photos around the screen. Giles perused each of them, “What are you trying to show me?”
“These are pictures of Mayor Wilkins’ on Election night,” she looked up at him. “All three of ‘em. What’s missin’?”
Giles shrugged, “I’m not sure what you’re getting at, Faith.”
She turned slightly in the chair, “All three o’ these guys ran all their campaigns on ‘Family’,” she brought her fingers up into air quotes. “And none of these pictures has any of his ‘Family’,” she used the quotes again, “In them anywhere.”
“Hmm,”
“Yeah, hmm,” Faith smirked. “If I was a Politico runnin’ on family and shit, they’d be front and centre when I won. Particularly if I’m groomin’ my son to take over.”
“You do bring up a valid point Faith,” he smiled and patted her on her shoulder. “You also presented your case very well.”
“Fuckin-A, G-man,” she stood and faced him. She gently poked him in his chest, “I’m on to your little game.”
“Yes,” he smiled at her, “The next step in this little game is to figure out what he’s up to, and how Kakistos and The Box of Gavrock fit in.”
Faith rubbed her chin, “I’m thinkin’ that Kakistos has the box, so that ties him to the Mayor. All we gotta do is figger out what the box does, and that’ll tell us what he needs it for.”
Giles started to pace across the middle of the library. He turned after a few steps and faced Faith again, “So you think that Kakistos is only a minor player in this.”
Faith nodded, “Yeah, he ain’t got enough stones to try for somethin’ big, like world domination. He will do somethin’ to ingratiate himself to someone who is. That means he helps the Mayor and gets his reward after the Mayor does whatever.”
“Which brings us back to the question, what is the Mayor’s plan?” Giles started to pace again.
“It’s somethin’ that’s gonna cause him to rise.” Faith was looking at the watcher. “When we did those vamps, before we found Finch, one of ‘em was spoutin’ off. Kept yammerin’ about ‘When He Rises’. They were out with Finch, so I’m assumin’ he was talkin’ about the Mayor.”
“You’re suggesting we look for some sort of Rising, or Ascension then?” Giles asked her.
“Yeah,” Faith stood up and stretched again. “Somethin’ involvin’ a transformation.”
“What makes you say that?” He was watching her closely.
She looked him in the eye and shrugged, “I ain’t a hunnerd per cent, but I gotta feelin’ that’s what the box is for.”
“Pssst,” Buffy hissed at Xander, “Pssst!” she did it a little louder. He turned and looked at her. “Where’s Willow?”
He furrowed his brow and shrugged. “I saw her here earlier, she had to go to her locker,” he whispered back across the aisle. He looked up at the clock before turning back to the blond. “She’s got a minute or two yet, she’ll be here.”
Buffy looked up as the door to the class opened and a flustered looking Willow practically ran to her desk. She collapsed into it and stared wide-eyed at the chalkboard. Buffy and Xander both stared at her. “Glad you could make it Ms. Rosenberg,” the teacher intoned, “Shall we turn to Chapter 12?”
Xander and Buffy kept shooting glances at Willow during the entire class; she just kept her head down and ignored the two of them. They had whispered and waved at the redhead, trying to get her to answer them. Her eyes never left her textbook; her only movement was to turn the page. As the bell went to signify the end of class, Xander stood from his desk and stood in front of the witch.
Buffy stepped up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder, “Are you okay?” she queried.
“Yeah,” Xander interjected, “You look scared.”
Willow’s head darted back and forth checking out the almost empty classroom. She sucked in a breath, “Shehuggedme!” rushed out.
“Wha…? Xander started, he was blinking in confusion.
“Shehuggedme!!” Willow whispered even faster.
“Okay,” Buffy said, “Who did what to me? I mean you?”
Willow closed her eyes and took a couple of breaths; she looked over her shoulder at the slayer. “She,” she paused, “Hugged” another breath, “Me.”
“That’s great Will,” Xander was grinning, “She hugged you.” The two girls stared at him. “What?” he shrugged, “I’m always up for some girl on girl hugs.”
Buffy’s arm shot out from behind Willow and her hand connected with the side of his head. “That is so not the point.” She looked back to Willow, “Who hugged you?”
Willow bit her bottom lip and started to shake, she closed her eyes, “Cordelia.”
“What?” the other two yelled. They both started to check her for marks.
“No,” she slapped their hands away. She rolled her eyes, “I was getting a drink from the fountain and she came up and said she had a question and I was surprised, but she was nice and I answered it, the question that is, and we walked toward the Cordettes while I answered it, and when I finished speaking she said thanks and then she hugged me.”
Xander dropped into a chair, Buffy stood open mouthed staring at her friend, “Are you sure you’re not bleeding?” she asked.
Willow shook her head, “And that’s not all, when we got to the Cordettes, Harmony made a comment and she defended me, said it was called being polite when someone helped you and that Harmony should look it up, then she said she’d see me later and accused Harmony of wearing the same outfit last week and it was so weird a-and I didn’t know what to do so I was hyperventilating in the bathroom till class started.”
“Do you think she’s been possessed?” Xander asked.
“No,” Buffy said, “She looks okay.”
Xander shook his head vehemently, “No, no, not Wills, Cordelia. Do you think Cordelia’s been possessed? It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
Buffy smacked him again. “No, she’s not possessed. She talked to Willow the other day and said she was going to start being nicer to her. She actually said she wanted to be Willow’s friend.”
“Whoa,” Xander leapt to his feet and started to back away, “Whatever it is I think she’s gotten to both of you now.” He had his hands up in front of himself and was trying to get to the door.
“Xander,” Willow spoke quietly, “She did say that. I just didn’t expect it to be true, or to happen so fast.”
“Hey!” he exclaimed, “As President of the ‘I Hate Cordelia Club’, are you even allowed to say that?”
Willow smiled, “You think you’re surprised?” She started to walk toward her friend, “C’mon, we’ve got to get to class.” She turned and smiled at Buffy, “Thanks, both of you.”
“Wait,” Xander blocked the door. “Wait just a goddamned minute,” he shook his head. “What the hell is going on? Neither one of you ever liked her. She’s been mean and vindictive to us for years and now its all ‘She’s nice and huggable’?” His eyes widened, “Well yeah, she is huggable, God who wouldn’t want to hug that?” He shook his head, “I’m thinking out loud again aren’t I?” The two girls just nodded. He sighed, “Just explain what’s going on so I know.”
“You remember the other day when I missed school in the morning?” Willow and Xander both nodded. “Faith and I had coffee with Cordelia,” she nervously looked between her two friends. “And that’s part of it I think. Cordelia’s turning over a new leaf and she’ll probably be spending more time with us.”
Willow nodded shakily, Xander held up his hand, “You’re saying our arch enemy is going to be spending more time with us?”
“Well, yeah,” Buffy bit her bottom lip, “Her and Faith actually.”
Xander’s shoulders sagged, “Oh God, I’m gonna die!” He turned, opened the door and shuffled out into the hallway.
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The Three of Us