Veronica had lain awake, almost unmoving, since the light from Buffy’s bedroom window had all but slapped her across the face. The older girl had insisted that she take her bed for the night – but take it alone. While both were in agreement that separate was wise, at least for that night, it was a decision that seemed far easier for Buffy to make.
Despite the fact that she had been exhausted and the pills the clinic had given her made her loopy, Veronica was shocked she managed to fall asleep at all… even if to only wake up two hours later by the sun. She couldn’t get up. Well, she could, she rationalized, but she just couldn’t make herself do it. Last night had been, well… It had been last night. It was so much in so little time she couldn’t boil it down to a single adjective. Whatever it was, it was big.
And as long as she stayed in this bed, and Buffy didn’t come through her bedroom door to wake her – they could say in this suspended place. Where the night before could still have room for interpretation, no one had to make excuses or explanations or think about the ‘where do we go from here’ conversation that they both must know was inevitable. Veronica had asked for change – but she was not so naive as to believe she could completely control what it changed into.
But then she heard the door to the apartment open down the hall.
Scuttling out from under the sheets, she opened the door a sliver just as Faith dropped a large, leather valise next to the front door. Faith had a smirk on her face as she pulled off her coat and threw it on one of the hooks meant to hold keys. As she walked forward, past the boundaries of the mouth of the hall and out of Veronica’s line of sight, the young blonde sucked in a breath and held it.
“B,” she could hear Faith muttering gently. “B, wake up.” Veronica heard the blonde stirring on the couch and winced, and could already feel something slipping away like sand through her fingers. “What happened? You fall asleep watching the SciFi channel again?” Faith joked.
Buffy sighed and cleared her throat. “Faith,” Buffy began, her voice tired – Veronica could already hear the tone preparing to calm Faith.
“Will went straight to her class,” Faith cut her off, “She found out Kennedy has a new girl, and so now she’s on one of her keeping-busy-so-she-doesn’t-have-to-think-about-it kicks.”
“Oh god, poor Willow,” Buffy muttered.
“Poor us, you mean. But tell me about it,” Faith chuckled, “and the girl’s human, younger than Kenny too… Willow’s having a multi-level crisis at this point.”
“Listen, Faith, there’s something –”
“Mission went well, or at least nothing worse than scrapes and broken fingers so no worries. G-Man said the ones with screws loose are getting good at finger-painting and knife-throwing – rubber knives, mind you; most of them are a little ‘off’, you know?” Faith rambled as she moved into the kitchen-nook and flipped on the coffee maker.
Scrapes and broken fingers? What the hell? ‘Mission’?
“Faith!” Buffy whispered loudly, trying to cut her off, “Veronica’s here.” She could see Faith glancing around and Veronica narrowed the crack in the doorway.
“Jeez, B, What’d you do? Knock her out and drag her back here? Last I heard she didn’t wanna even speak to you, much less –” She saw Faith’s jaw drop slowly and her eyes widen – it was a kin to actually hearing the gears turn in a person’s mind. “Holy shit, B! You didn’t – I mean you couldn’t – there’s – what the hell were you – Whoa!” she all but shouted at the end, clapping her hands together in front of her mouth.
Buffy was frantically shushing her. “Of course I didn’t, are you insane! But Shut Up! She’s still asleep!” She whispered urgently.
“Where?” Faith asked, her face conspiratorially excited. Buffy blushed, shoving a hand into the back pocket of her jeans. Giving a slight head tilt, Faith’s eyes snapped right to Veronica’s hiding place.
“No. Way!” she shouted. “Shit B - What did you have to do to get her here?” Veronica and Faith both saw the pink drain out of Buffy’s face until she appeared white. Veronica knew the other blonde was debating telling Faith about what she actually did at night.
“She got bit. I took her to the hospital last night.” Or maybe not, Veronica realized, as Faith nodded sadly. Veronica had assumed that Willow must have known – but Faith too? Did all these people know about Buffy’s vigilante status? “She was... investigating. Trying to figure out,” Buffy waved her hand and Faith brushed it off, as thought what had happened the night before was old hat to them. Veronica pressed her ear closer to the door. “She got blind trapped in an ally. She tried to tase the thing.” The two older women shared a single chuckle, but it was mirthless. “I had to pull the guy off her but… it still broke skin. I kind of forgot she wasn’t -”
“A card-carrying club member?” Faith asked. Buffy Just gave a lop-sided grin, leaning back against the kitchen counter as she nodded.
There’s a club, Veronica wondered?
“You know B,” Faith began hesitantly, so hesitantly both Buffy’s and Veronica’s eyes were boring into her expectantly. “She isn’t Satsu.” Buffy huffed and shoved off the counter. Turning around she grabbed mugs from the cabinet and set them down, gripping the counter-top hard.
“I know she isn’t. Thank god she isn’t.” Buffy’s back was stiff as she said this but Veronica wished she could see her face. Who the hell was this Satsu? “How is…?”
“Asked about you.” Faith muttered, arms crossed, leaning back close to Buffy. “Wanted to know how you were… If you were, you know, happy.”
“And your answer?” there was a calculated flatness to the older blonde’s tone Veronica couldn’t remember hearing before. Faith shrugged, shaking her head. “Really, Faith… What did you say?”
“I said ‘ask her yourself’. But something tells me that the margins get more reading than the text, the files you send back.” Buffy let out a sad chuckle, hearing this. As the pieces slid into place Veronica realized, whoever this ‘Satsu’ guy was, there had been something between him and Buffy. “There’s a lot of guilt there, B. Satsu thinks you came out here because –”
“No,” Buffy cut Faith off, “That’s not why, Satsu knows that –”
“You’ve been gone for months, B. A lot of people are wondering why you haven’t come back yet. Maybe it’s time you sent back something besides the standard W2 forms…?” The coffee maker’s light turned off and Buffy carefully poured three cups. Shaking her head slowly, staring down at the two remaining mugs, Buffy carefully considered her answer. Faith just drank hers, eyebrows raised as she waited.
“I’ll have to go back eventually. But not yet, I don’t want to.” Buffy’s voice got really quiet. “I’m kinda happy here. If the question comes up again?” she offered, taking a mug in each hand, making her way towards her own bedroom until Faith put a hand on her shoulder.
“If it’s because of her B,”
“Faith, for the last time! It’s not –”
“Veronica, Buffy. You gotta think about her, B. You keep making exceptions for her – and not the ones you should be making. She’s not like you and me, Buffy. She’s -”
“It’s kinda hard to forget, Faith, so stop trying to reminding me.” She shrugged the hand off her shoulder, leaving Faith in the kitchen. “It’s kind of why she’s made it this far.” Veronica climbed back under the covers quickly but draped a leg over the side. When Buffy came through the door, she smiled at finding Veronica awake.
“You smell the coffee?” Buffy asked. Veronica nodded, smiling, though she knew it was a bit shaky. Glancing at the clock on her bedside table Buffy handed Veronica her mug. “You can probably catch Mac on her way back to her dorm,” she sipped her coffee, “Sorry I let you sleep so late – I kinda passed out myself.” The younger girl shook it off, her mind still racing with all she’d overheard. “You okay?” Buffy asked quietly, concerned. She reached for the bandage at Veronica’s collarbone, but her hand got caught on the way. Veronica held it briefly before asking.
“Are we?”
Buffy smiled, lacing their fingers together. “I think we could be,” she answered playfully, shrugging, “Guess we’ll find out.” She dropped the girl’s hand, standing up. “I’m gonna go take a sprinting-fast shower while you get dressed. We should get back to Hearst in time for you to find Mac and for me to not get fired. Plan?”
“Plan.” Veronica confirmed. Buffy paused at the door before turning around.
“Her Mars,” The older girl began, her face anxious, “Do you think you could not tell anyone about all this? I mean, besides Mac obviously, ‘cause you gotta tell someone and… please?” Buffy asked, seriously. “I know you and your Dad… and if it comes up on a case and you can find a way to phrase it without sounding crazy then – by all means.” she stopped her ramble. “Anyways. I just… I don’t want the rest of Neptune to think I’m an even bigger freak than is readily obvious.”
Veronica couldn’t help but smile at this. “Okay.”
“Promise?” Buffy already looked relieved.
“Yeah, I promise.”
Buffy turned and left. The smile remained.
(To Be Continued…)