TITLE: Secrets and... 3/?
AUTHOR: Claudine
EMAIL: claudine423@yahoo.com
PAIRING: W/G
RATING: PG
FEEDBACK: Yes, please...I am a junkie.
NOTES: AU - This story takes place in the future, when the majority of the gang has reached the age of 30. Buffy died at the end of "The Gift" but she was never brought back to life. The explanation of what happened between that year and the time of this fic will unravel in the story. It starts off a little slow, but I promise all the characters will be introduced.
DISCLAIMER: Permission to use these characters relating to BtVS & AtS has not been given. Joss, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB & Mutant Enemy own TM and copyrighted them. This is purely for fun, and no copyright infringement is intended. Oh how I wish Giles was mine, though. Sigh...
“…and when Buffy died things around here got worse. The portal closed…and Glory was dead, yeah, but…” Xander was tooling around the kitchen, filling Faith in on all the details of the past decade while he tried to prepare dinner for everyone. Times were tough. Food was scarce. There were no grocery stores left in Sunnydale so they had to trek a hundred miles for basic supplies. And once Sunnydale was fading away in your rear-view mirror it’s pretty damned difficult to turn the car around and go back. Unless you’re a Scooby, that is.
“So, B died to save little sis in there?” The Slayer flopped down in a chair and propped her feet up on the kitchen table.
“Not just for me,” Dawn said from the doorway. “For you, Xander, Giles, everyone. She died saving the world.” Dawn had grown up, but Faith still saw that little-girl behind her fa?ade. Always mocked, always being teased, always left out because she was the youngest. Watching her sister die had forced her to grow up real fast. But a part of her would always be that lost little girl wandering around the world wondering what she was made of and when the next psycho would come along and try to use her to open some other unmarked door. The key? The key to what…
“Right,” Faith said, trying not to ruffle anybody else’s feathers. “So what happened after that? That was right about the time Angel stopped visiting so I’m kind of in the dark. I heard things inside, but I never got the full story.” She helped herself to a bottle of water that was sitting on the table. "You know how it is."
The others just stared at her. They couldn't get upset with her. They knew she had no idea. "Faith..." Dawn paused, hoping Xander would take the lead.
"Yeah?" She wasn't smoking, drinking, torturing anything or acting sleazy...so what could possibly be their problem?
"I don't know if you noticed but things are kinda rough out there. Supplies are hard to come by," Xander said, eyeing her drink. Sure, they had running water, but drinking water was a different story. If an all-out war broke out, and it got right down to it, the bottled water was the only thing they could be sure wasn’t tainted.
Faith realized mid-swig that they were talking about the water. She lowered her eyes, pulled the water away from her mouth, wiped the rim of the bottle with the hem of her shirt and put the cap back on. "Sorry...wasn't thinking." She should have been...she'd just spent ten years in jail on rations. "Guess the freedom kinda went to my head."
"It's ok," Dawn said, "We just...we all have to..."
"I get it, no problem." Faith was a little embarrassed and wanted to change the subject as fast as she could. "Ok, so..." She handed the conversation back to Xander, "Glory-bitch is dead, Buffy runs up the tower and does a swan dive off to save us all, the portal closes, end of story...so when did downtown Sunnydale start looking like Chechnya?"
"Well, we lost two people that day - Buffy and Tara." Dawn sat down across from Faith.
"Who's Tara?" The Slayer truly forgot.
"She was Willow's..." Xander paused.
"Oh, right." Faith said. "Wow, poor Red...a best friend and her all around gal-pal."
"Yeah, it was rough for a while. She was really...out of it." Xander was shaking his head in denial, as if he wouldn't have believed the memories if they weren't his own.
"What do you mean?" Faith looked to Dawn.
"She was...depressed, I guess. We tried to get on with our lives, we tried to keep the streets safe, but it was too much for us," Dawn said. "We were killing ourselves - me, Xander, Anya, Giles...but Willow wouldn't help...she just stayed in bed...she gave up."
"It got worse. When word got out that the hellmouth was without a Slayer for its gatekeeper all kinds of evil started flocking this way. They drove all the businesses out, except for the liquor mart and the dirty book store." When the girls shot him a look he interjected, "Not that that's really relevant but...anyway...it got too much for everybody...people left and evil moved in full time." He was silent for a moment before he admitted, "Anya even left." Xander filled a bowl with whatever it was he was cooking and put it in front of Faith. It was almost an apology for even mentioning the water before. It was silly, really, when he though about it. After all - Faith was the Slayer...she needed fuel...she should be the first person to eat or drink whenever she needed to. He handed her a fork and a glass and then he poured the water from the bottle into it as he continued. "Finally Angel and Wes came back from L.A. to help."
"And when they came back Giles took Willow to England. There was a coven just outside of London that offered to take her in and work with her. He thought it might help to get her away from Sunnydale. She was our best defense but she wasn't using her magic...she just didn’t care about anything." Xander pulled up a chair and sat between Dawn and Faith at the table.
"We don't really know what happened in England," Dawn said. "All we know is that five months later they came back, Willow was stronger than ever, ready to kick evil’s ass and Giles was in love."
"As was Willow," Giles interjected from the doorway. "Not that I'm bragging." He smiled at his brood.
"Never took you for robbing the cradle, boss," Faith said.
"Hardly." Giles smirked and moved farther into the room.
Dawn moved instinctually, offering Giles her seat. She wanted to get away. She needed to see Willow. Alone. And with Giles safely occupied by their newest houseguest she figured there was no time like the present. "I'm gonna turn in." She shot Xander a clandestine look, one that begged him to keep the Watcher busy for a while. "I have some of Buffy's old things, coats and jeans, I'll put them in your room, Faith."
"Thanks," was all Faith said. It was sincere enough.
Dawn turned and left the room. As soon as she was gone Giles turned to Xander and asked, "Would mind giving us a few minutes alone. I've some things to discuss with Faith."
Xander was stunned. He hadn't expected Giles to ask something like that. If he was going to leave the room, how was he supposed to keep an eye on Giles? Stalk him from the shadows in the hallway? "Uh, yeah...sure." He composed himself enough to get that much out while his mind was racing. He finished clearing the last of the dishes from the sink and then dried his hands and left the room.
"So when did Xander turn into Aunt Jemima?" Faith smirked at the Watcher.
"We all do our part around here...some of us are stuck with tasks we might not enjoy, but it's one of the necessary evils of this comic-book-super-hero lifestyle we're forced to live." Giles stood up and walked over to one of the cabinets. He stretched on tiptoe to reach behind a set of glasses and when his hand reappeared it was holding a half empty bottle of scotch. "I, for example, am relegated to being the den mother which forces me to, among other tedious things, hide provisions when I see fit."
"When you see fit or when you wanna unbutton your Oxford and chill with your old pal Johnny Walker?" She downed the glass of water that had been in front of her and held her glass up for a refill from Giles' stash.
Xander listened to this much from the other side of the kitchen door. He finally decided to leave the two of them, assuming they'd be catching up for a while and his secret meeting with Willow and Dawn would be safe.
"Lurking?"
The voice startled Xander. "Angel? What...no...no...I was just...leaving." Me and Shaft, super cool. He nonchalantly strolled down the hallway away from Angel and headed up the steps.
He found Willow's door slightly open, with two shadows painting the wall across from it. He knocked softly as he entered. When he found Dawn and Willow huddled together he closed the door behind him and joined them. "I think it's safe to say Faith and "G" as she affectionately calls him, will be occupied for a while." He sat beside Dawn on the bed, both of them facing Willow. "So...any luck?"
"You want the good news first?" Dawn asked.
"Oh, no..." Xander knew things weren't going to be easy. After all, the forces of good and evil were waging an epic battle all around them, surely a snafu or two would arise in the quest for supplies of such a serious nature. "Ok, what the hell...gimme the good news first...change things up a bit."
"Good news is...there are two known remaining copies of Grismay's journal, spells and incantations fully intact." Willow prattled on. "One was owned by Quentin Travers. He died three years ago but his granddaughter inherited his entire collection. She and her coven went underground over a year ago and no one has heard from then since. It's rumored that they're somewhere in Scotland, preparing for the final battle. If it's true, then I'm sure she's got the journal with her."
"Wow, that's the good news? You suck at this game." Xander met Dawn's eyes. "Ok, so there's a second copy...I'm guessing the bad news goes with it."
Dawn held up a printout from the internet and read it aloud. "London Bridges Antiques and Auction House, just two short hours from Sunnydale. Specializing in rare books and magical artifacts. Beginning this week: Grismay's estate - lots showing online." She stopped reading and allowed Xander to interject.
"Aaaaaand the problem?" He coaxed.
Even though she'd read it a hundred times she still looked at the page as if she needed to see the words to actually speak them. "Ethan Rayne, proprietor."