Buffy the Vampire Slayer, chapter 13

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Hope leaves and Faith has an enlightening conversation.

Chapter 13

 

Jesse leaned against the sturdy window with his nose a mere inch from the glass and gazed at Hope while she climbed the steps to board the plane.  Travelers brushed past him and announcements blared over the PA, but he only had eyes for her.  He wanted to run after her and stop her from leaving him.  Maybe he’d go with her instead.  Jesse wanted to do so many things, yet he just stood there watching her leave him behind.  Faith was the furthest thing from his mind in that moment.

 

“Don’t leave me,” Jesse whispered.  “What will I do without you?”

 

Almost as if Hope heard Jesse’s words, she turned to give him a reassuring grin and a small wave before she disappeared into the plane.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

 

Faith wandered around for what felt like a few hours before she found herself in one of the many churches that dotted the Sunnydale landscape.  She slid into one of the pews and lost track of more time staring at the stained glass windows.

 

Faith’s thoughts whirled around.  Every time she thought she had a grasp on the situation the ideas flitted away like butterflies.  The one thing she was sure of though was that she needed to get away from the Sunnydale Hellmouth.  Hope had the right fucking idea, she thought.  The Sunnydale Hellmouth is sucking the life out of me.

 

“There’s a nice one in Cleveland.”

 

“Huh?”  Faith glanced around until she spotted a nun perched on the edge of one of the nearby wooden pews.  “What did you say?”

 

“There’s a nice one in Cleveland,” the nun repeated her words.  “Oh, dearie me, I’m so sorry.  I didn’t mean to disturb you.  Sometimes I just blurt out.  Sorry.”  The nun flashed Faith a small smile of apology.

 

“Have you been to Cleveland?” Faith asked. 

 

“Once long ago in a different lifetime,” the nun answered.  "I’m Sister Edith.”  She held out one hand in greeting.

 

Faith slid over to take the nun’s hand.  She found that it was quite cool to the touch.  “I’m Faith.”

 

“What a coincidence.  I have faith,” Sister Edith joked.  “I noticed you were far away in thought when I came in.  Is there anything I can help you with?”

 

“Not really.”  Faith pulled her hand away from Sister Edith.  “It’s been a few difficult months for me.”  She turned her attention back to the windows.

 

“For myself also,” Sister Edith replied.  “I never expected to be here in the Lord’s House again after all of my sins.”

 

“What brings you to Sunnydale?” Faith asked.  “It’s not exactly a bustling metropolis.”

 

“I go where I am needed.”  Sister Edith smiled.  She rose to her feet.  “It was nice meeting you, Faith.”

 

“Yeah, nice meeting you too.”  Faith glanced at the older woman.  “Maybe I’ll see you around.”

 

“Maybe.  The Lord works in mysterious ways.”  Sister Edith turned to leave.  “There’s one in Cleveland, young one.  Not as powerful as the one here, but it’s there.  Ask your Watcher about it.  Tell William that I’m happy now, and that I approve of his choice.”

 

Before Faith could respond, Sister Edith hurried away through a nearby archway.  The Slayer jumped to her feet to follow, but when she got to the same archway, she found that the hallway beyond was empty.  It was as if the nun had disappeared into thin air.

 

“Where the hell did she go?” Faith wondered aloud.  She looked up and down the hallway.  She glanced back over her shoulder at the glass windows that had held her attention for so long.  It wasn’t like weird things didn’t happen on an hourly basis in Sunnydale.  A disappearing nun with a cryptic message scored pretty low on the scary meter.  “I guess I could check with Giles about other Hellmouths.  It’s not like I’m needed at this one.”

 

Faith strode out of the church with a purpose at last.  On the way to her Watcher’s apartment, she realized that there were very few demons out and about.  “That’s not normal,” she said softly.  “Buffy and her crew really do have Sunnydale in their control.”

 

Within minutes, Faith knocked on Giles’ door.  She wasn’t surprised when he answered the door with a book in his hand.

 

“Some big apocalypse I need to worry about?”  Faith pointed at the book.

 

“No, thank God.”  Giles put a bookmark between the pages before he closed the tome.  “Spike and Buffy asked that I research several artifacts to determine their existence.”

 

“What kind of artifacts are we talking about here?”  Faith was curious and a little bit hurt that Giles was helping the other Slayer. 

 

“A Slayer weapon and an invincibility gem for vampires,” Giles said.  “All I’ve really done is confirm what they already know.  Now, my dear, how can I help you?”

 

“Is there a Hellmouth in Cleveland?” Faith asked.

 

“Why, yes there is.”  Giles gave his Slayer a concerned look.  “Why do you ask?”

 

Faith explained the odd encounter in the church with the nun.  She finished the story with a puzzled question.  “Who the hell is William?  I don’t think I know any Willliams except Willy from the Alibi Room, but that doesn’t seem very likely.”

 

Giles’ eyebrows raised high on his face.  The only William he could think of was Spike.  He didn’t say anything to Faith, but he made a mental note to ask Spike about anyone in his past named Edith.

 

“I’m not needed here anymore, Giles.”  Faith shrugged to show how unconcerned she felt about the statement.  “It’s time to move on.  Hope’s gone as of tonight.  The Scoobs have all but fallen apart.  Jesse and I just don’t connect the way we did before.”

 

A thoughtful look graced Giles’ face.  “Well, I’ll need a few weeks to sell the Magic Box and find someone willing to take over my flat here.”

 

Faith felt her jaw drop.  “You’d be going with me?”  She that Giles cared for her, but she hadn’t expected him to drop everything to go with her.

 

“Yes,” Giles answered simply.

 

“Oh, Giles!”  Faith let out a war hoop of delight.  This was her first real show of emotion since her return from the dead.  “I thought for sure you’d want to stay here with Buffy like Oz and Tara will.”

 

“Buffy has Wesley <I>and</I> Lydia.  She doesn’t need me.  You do.  Just give me a few days to get prepared.”  Giles looked around the small apartment that had been his home for the last five years.  He’d miss the old place, but Faith came first.

 

“This is so awesome, Giles.”

 

“I know you said you and Jesse weren’t connecting the way you used to, but what does he think of the move?” Giles asked.

 

Faith’s face lost the happy glow she’d just sported.  “I don’t know about Jesse.  All I know is that I need to get away from Sunnydale.  If he comes with me, that’ll be great.  If he doesn’t, I just don’t know.”

 

“I’ll make the arrangements while you speak to your friends,” Giles suggested.

 

“Okay.”  Faith nodded.  “I can do that.  I’ll go talk to Jesse.  He should be back from taking Hope to the airport.”

 

“How are you coping with her leaving like she did?”  Giles looked at Faith with concern.

 

“I’ll miss her of course,” Faith assured Giles, even though she wasn’t too sure if she really would miss Hope or not.  She wanted to feel normal, but all she really felt was apathetic.  “It’s time for Hope to get out of Sunnydale too.  If she’s not with me, nobody will know who she is.  Besides, she has a lot of opportunities I’ll never get.”

 

“You’re as smart as your sister, Faith.  You need to give yourself a little more credit.”  Giles put his arm around Faith’s shoulders.  “Cleveland is nothing like Sunnydale.  You’ll be free to pursue other interests there besides slaying.  You could even go to college.”

 

Faith snorted.  “School and me were never friends, Giles.  You know that.”

 

“Never say never, my dear.”  Giles herded Faith to the door.  “Go home.  Talk to Jesse, and get some rest.  You deserve it.”

 

“Okay, I know when I’m not welcome.”  Faith rolled her eyes.  She called back over her shoulder, “Hey, Anya, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

 

Faith strolled away, whistling an aimless tune under her breath.

 

“My name is Anyanka,” the vengeance demon spluttered while she walked down the stairs of the apartment. 

 

“That’s just Faith,” Giles replied.  He closed the door and turned to face the disheveled female.  “She gives everyone nicknames.”

 

“So, we’re moving to Cleveland, huh?”  Anyanka wrinkled her nose.  “That town is much bigger than Sunnydale.  Although the Hellmouth is much smaller.”  She tapped her chin with on finger.  “A few years ago a very prestigious, exclusive boy’s school was built on top of it though.”

 

“A boy’s school?”  Giles’ eyes widened.  “I thought there was an abandoned insane asylum on top of it.”

 

“There was, but it burned down.  Some idiot demon tried to open the Hellmouth, but it wasn’t powerful enough for his purposes.”  Anyanka shrugged before she slinked her way over to Giles.  “Now, Rupert.  You can deal with all that in the morning.”  She lifted the book from his hands and set it on a nearby table.

 

“Of course, luv,” Giles agreed.

 

Anyanka grabbed the collar of Giles’ shirt and dragged him towards the stairs.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

 

“We’ll be hitting the city limits in a few.”  Lawson reached over to shake Wesley’s shoulder.  “How are we going to find the fucker?”

 

Wesley opened one eye.  It was rare to hear Sam Lawson swear, but the dark-haired vampire did have a lot of issues with his Sire.  “Go to Lorne’s.  If anyone knows where Angel is, he does.  I swear that demon has a finger on the pulse of the supernatural world.”  He closed his eye again to return to his fantasy of long, leisurely kisses with Fred.

 

“All right, chief.  You’re the boss.”  Lawson pointed the car in the direction of Lorne’s demon nightclub.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

 

Buffy curled up next to Spike’s side, laying her head on his chest.  “I think we’re finally home, baby.  Sunnydale is where we belong.”

 

“You really like it here, doncha?”  Spike pulled Buffy closer and rubbed his thumb across the small of her back.  He sighed when she threw her upper leg across his legs.

 

“Yeah, I really do.”  Fearful of what he might say, Buffy closed her eyes and asked, “Is that okay with you, Spike?  Would you prefer to keep travelling?”

 

“I don’t mind settlin’ down for a bit,” Spike replied.  “Dot’s found herself a nice dogboy.  The witchlet will be good for Lawson even if they don’t fall into a romance.”

 

“Oh thank God.”  Buffy let out a breath of relief.  “I thought I would have to seduce you into it.”

 

“You can still seduce me, pet.”  Spike rolled over onto Buffy’s body.  ‘Not sure I’ll put up much of a fight though.”

 

Buffy’s answering giggle was music to Spike’s ears.  When she was happy, he was happy.