Rupert Giles sighed to himself softly, pushing his glasses up.
The British librarian and Watcher knew where Faith was, roughly, but it
didn't help ease his concern much. Even places like the Bronze that were
arguably safe from the supernatural could still be trouble.
"Especially for someone like Faith," Giles muttered to himself
softly.
"You shouldn't be such a worry wart," the amused female voice
said softly.
Giles jerked up from where he sat behind his desk, whirling
around to see who had slipped into his sanctum. The older woman smiled
at him gently, her eyes dark and intense, and a vivid scar ran down her
cheek, disappearing beneath her loose shirt. A heavy black jacket kept
her warm, the hands casually tucked away into the pockets.
"Jenny," Giles sighed out softly in honest relief. He reached up
to adjust his glasses, "Please don't startle me like that, please."
Jenny Calendar tilted her head to the side, giving him a slight
smile. "You really need to relax, you know," she said.
"You know the state of this town," Giles shook his head firmly,
"it's not a place for relaxing." His eyes tended towards the scar, then
away.
Jenny walked over to where he stood by his desk and sat herself
on the side. She crossed her arms and looked up at him, "If you don't
embrace what happiness you can..."
"How can you say that?" Giles looked at her in surprise. "With
everything that happened to you I would think you'd be more cautious,"
he scolded.
"No," Jenny said, shaking her head firmly. Her eyes were shining
as she continued, "If anything, it taught me to seize each moment I
could."
Giles took off his glasses, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. "I
suppose you're right," he finally conceded, "but I think I've fought a
little to long to be so casual."
Jenny reached up, stroking her hand along an unshaven cheek as
she softly said, "It's not that hard, Rupert."
Giles blushed fiercely, looking away. Gruffly he asked, "I don't
suppose you've seen or heard from the Slayer Faith?"
Jenny sighed softly as she moved away from him a little. "Tara
tells me she was over at the Bronze," she said.
"Probably went out to do some slaying," Giles sighed to himself.
"I wish she wouldn't patrol on her own like this."
"She's the Slayer," Jenny pointed out to him gently, "for all we
know there's some ancient instinct working here."
Giles blinked in surprise, "You think so?"
The doors to the library swung open with a thump before Jenny
could answer that question and Faith strode in. Her clothes were ragged
but a wild smile was on her face as she carried a truly ugly decapitated
head inside on her shoulder.
"Hey G.," Faith grinned at him, cheerfully thumping the thing
down on the study table, "what is this thing, anyway?"
Giles peered at it, taking in the massive curved horns and beady
eyes. "A Shuggoth demon, I believe," he noted.
Faith noticed the woman and laughed, "Looks like you've got some
company. You want me to take my trophy and scram for awhile?"
Jenny smiled slightly, "We're just old friends."
"Too bad," Faith noted, "Giles could use a babe like you
loosening him up."
"Faith!" Giles growled.
Jenny chuckled softly, giving Giles a smile. "The young can be
wise too," she said, "be seeing you, Rupert." With that she walked to
the library doors and was gone.
"She's got it bad for you, G.," Faith said with a grin.
"Jenny Calendar is a professional associate," Giles said with a
great deal of wounded dignity, "there is nothing between us."
"Too bad," Faith repeated. She walked towards the doors, "I'm
gonna go home and clean up, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Ah yes, right," Giles said weakly. A few moments after Faith
was gone he registered that the demon head was still sitting on his
table. "What am I supposed to do with this?" he groaned.
The sun rose with the dawn, climbed across the cloudy sky, then
settled to rest behind the hills of Sunnydale. The room was still dark
as Buffy entered, carefully walking over to sit down on the side of the
bed.
"Good evening," Buffy reached over to shift the reddish brown
hair from Willow's face.
"Hello love," Willow smiled as she blinked sleepily. She sat up,
the blankets falling away from her nude body as she stretched.
Buffy gulped, taking in the view. "You look wonderful," she said
softly.
Willow reached out to stroke Buffy's cheek, "As do you." She
bent forward and kissed her gently, lingering a moment...
...before Buffy's stomach rumbled. "Sorry," Buffy blushed.
"I know how you feel," Willow chuckled as she slipped out from
the bed, looking around for her clothes with her excellent night vision,
"I haven't eaten yet, either."
Dressed, both women headed out to the kitchen to scavenge for
food for Buffy and to heat up a blood packet for Willow. Buffy munched
her sandwiches happily as Willow spooned her warmed blood, gazing at
each other quite adoringly.
Buffy took another bite, "So where are we supposed to meet Faith
and the others for this evening's slaying?"
"Over at the Bronze," Willow said, delicately taking a spoonful
of blood, "it's more or less neutral territory."
"I certainly don't trust having Giles here," Buffy noted with a
scowl, "he'd probably try to stake you in the sleep."
Willow looked thoughtful, "You know, I don't think so. Last
night when we were out he almost treated me like a human being."
"Let's hope we can teach an old dog new tricks," Buffy chuckled.
The two finished up their food then loaded up. Willow hid
several stakes beneath her long leather coat even as Buffy slipped then
into her own jacket pockets. Holy Water, a cross around Buffy's neck and
they were ready to go.
"Silver looks good on you," Willow reached out to gently touch
the cross nestled between Buffy's breasts, laying over her T-shirt, "I
should get you matching earrings or something."
"The cross doesn't bother you at all, does it?" Buffy shook her
head slightly. "Does it's power really depend on belief?"
"I'm not sure," Willow admitted. She tilted her head to the
side, "If I didn't have a soul, I wonder if the demon within me would be
hurt?"
Buffy took her hand, "I don't think I want to find out."
There was a amused conversation going on as they approached the
Bronze. "Next time you bring a trophy home," Giles was saying, "could
you please stick around to help dispose of it?"
"You're not going to let that go, are you?" Faith said with a
groan.
Tara chuckled softly, but didn't say anything.
"Here we go again," Buffy said, a slight smile tugging at her
lips.
Willow shook her head, "This is an interesting group."
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