Chapter 3: Debriefing
It was the delicious scent of coffee that woke Faith. Eyes still half closed, wearing only sweat pants and a t-shirt, muscles aching at each careful step she took, she treaded to the kitchen, following her nose. She grunted something that might have been a morning greeting, though morning was long past, and sat down on one of the stools, elbows on the table, chin in her palm.
For a little while, she watched Spike and Buffy move around the kitchen and prepare various foods, wondering how they could do all this while she herself had so much trouble just moving. Then she realized. She had asked for it. She had wanted to be nothing but a normal girl, and now she was. A look at the exposed skin of her arms confirmed her theory. All the shallow cuts, scratches, and bruises should have disappeared, healed during the night. But they were still there. What was gone was her accelerated healing.
All normal now… Some people might have felt it was stupid to give up what she had had as a Slayer, but for her it was truly a relief. No more responsibilities. No more temptations. No more constant reminders of where some of her choices had led her. Just a normal life to live the best she could.
Buffy placing a mug full of coffee in front of her pulled Faith out of her thoughts.
“Hey sleepyhead,” the blonde said with a grin. “Meeting at the Magic Box in two hours, so that leaves you some time to wake up completely.”
Faith drained half her mug, grateful for the warmth and the strength of the beverage, before she answered.
“I’m not coming. Whatever you have to talk about, it’s not my business anymore.”
Buffy arched an eyebrow at her above her own mug, but her boyfriend didn’t seem concerned by the declaration as he left the kitchen. Slayer and ex-Slayer gauged each other for a minute, and Buffy finally said:
“It’s not your business. OK. I get that. But you could come say goodbye to everyone.”
Faith finished her coffee in one long gulp, then shook her head.
“They’re your friends, Buff. Not mine. I sincerely doubt they will be upset if I just leave.”
She had come back to this cursed town for one reason only, which had been to help avert the apocalypse. And she had. On the same ground where the closest thing to a parent she had ever known had been killed. Her job was done, and she wouldn’t spend one more night on the Hellmouth.
“At least say goodbye to Angel,” Buffy insisted. “You can’t deny he is your friend.”
Getting to her feet, Faith walked around the counter and placed her empty cup in the sink.
“I was never good at goodbyes anyway,” she said as she was leaving the kitchen. “It’s better this way. I’m going to take a quick shower and I’ll be out of your hair.”
And with that, she walked away, grabbing her bag in the living room before going upstairs to the bathroom, cringing as she pulled on still painful limbs. Half an hour later, she had left.
*****
Sitting on the counter next to Spike, Buffy let her eyes roam over the assembled Scoobies. There were still some tired looks, and the conversations were rather subdued, but they were all safe and sound, thankfully. They had started the meeting a minute before, with the arrival of Giles and Andrea. The two Watchers had come in laughing quietly together, which had brought a puzzled frown to Buffy’s face. Giles hadn’t come back to Revello the night before, and he was wearing the same clothes as the previous day. She doubted he had been allowed to stay at the hospital all night and all day, so it left the possibility that he had slept at Andrea’s motel. Not her business, of course, but he was like her father and of course she couldn’t help feeling interested. They hadn’t waited for Angel to start the meeting, since they hadn’t been able to contact him and had no idea where he could be. A quick stop by the mansion earlier had proved fruitless.
“The official story is that there was a gas explosion,” Xander was saying. “And of course, no one questions how it could have destroyed the school so thoroughly, or why no one heard or saw the explosion.”
Despite herself, Buffy snorted, which earned her an amused look from her Sire.
“Typical Sunnydale,” she commented. “No one will question anything. Convenient”.
Xander nodded as he continued. “They didn’t say a word about any remains found. But when I drove by there were a bunch of military guys, and others in white coats going over the ruins. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the Initiative was back in town.”
Buffy felt Spike stiffen by her side as Xander mentioned the Initiative, and she inconspicuously slipped an arm around his waist, leaning slightly against him. He didn’t say a word, but relaxed a little in her embrace. Now that she knew the bloodlust, knew the need for violence, knew the tyranny of the demon, she understood better what the chip had meant to Spike. But at the same time, without it, he might never have started working with them, and all that had followed. A hard price to pay, certainly, but she had no doubt if she asked him he would say it had been worth it.
“If the Initiative is truly back”, Giles said with a quick glance at the counter and the two blondes perched there, “then we can be happy our residents vampires are back to their human selves. I wouldn’t…”
The rest of his words were lost on Buffy as her eyes moved once more on the Scoobies, before settling on Dawn. She had tried to tell her sister earlier about being a vamp again, but had quite frankly chickened out and decided to tell her at the same time as everyone else. And now, she didn’t know how to tell them at all. She knew they were going to freak out, she was just sure of it, but she didn’t know to what degree, and she only hoped it wouldn’t be too bad. They had gotten used to it rather quickly when she had first been turned, after all. They would just have to get used to it again. But Dawn… Dawn had been the happiest of them all, talking about her future nieces and nephews with enthusiasm and planning a very sunny wedding for Buffy and Spike. Buffy was truly afraid Dawn wouldn’t understand, and to tell the truth it might be hard to explain. Spike didn’t want anyone to know why he had given up on his humanity, and without that little bit of information, their return to vamphood just seemed to have no reason.
Shaking her head slightly, she tried to focus back on the conversation. Andrea and Giles were telling about their plans to go to London and apparently create chaos in the Council. That sounded fun.
“We’ll leave tomorrow afternoon”, Giles was finishing explaining. “The Council expects Andrea; they think she’s coming to tell them about the battle. They’re in for a nasty surprise.”
A small grin, very Ripper-like, appeared on his lips. Buffy would have given an awful lot to be there when these two confronted Travers.
“A new Slayer was called when Manon’s heart stopped,” he added thoughtfully after a second. “She had been training for a few years already; she’s in London right now. And talking about Slayers, where is Faith?”
Buffy explained laconically about Faith having left earlier, and as the brunette had predicted, there weren’t any protests at the lack of goodbyes. Maybe some things were hard to forget.
“Manon will be out of the hospital tomorrow,” Andrea said with a bright smile. “We’re thinking about leaving her here, if that’s OK with you.”
She looked at Buffy as she said so, and Buffy nodded her consent. She liked the kid and didn’t mind having her as a houseguest for a while.
“I’m not saying all of this isn’t very interesting,” Willow said with a stifled yawn, “but did we really have to meet to hear all of this today? I for one could have used some more rest.”
Buffy was about to answer, since it seemed that this time she couldn’t push back the moment again, when the door bell rang, and Cordelia strode in, followed by Angel. There was an instant of confusion, while the ex-cheerleader was on the receiving end of many curious questions, which gave Buffy some more time to stall and think about how to announce her piece of news. She felt Angel’s eyes on her, and returned his gaze, wondering whether he knew about her, since Spike had told her he knew about him already.
“Luv, we’ll have to tell then sooner or later,” Spike whispered just against her ear, and she shivered at the light touch.
She nodded, and clearing her voice, she asked for everybody’s attention. Once the eyes were all on her, she froze, unable to force the words out of her throat. Spike seemed to understand, and spoke for her.
“I suppose it’ll be a shock for you all,” he said with the ghost of a smirk in his voice, “but despite the common belief there are still vampires among you”.
There was a deep silence in the shop for a minute, until Buffy added, very quietly:
“We are vampires again.”