The Faith Factor

Part 7

I kept my mouth shut, and watched the looks that B and her mom were giving each other. Every so often Joyce would get that look in her eyes when she was watching B, that "oh, my poor baby" kinda look. And then she'd glance at me, and she was all ice queen again.

"So," B echoed back. "I'd kinda like to talk this out, mom. Maybe get things resolved."

"What makes you think they can be resolved?" Joyce asked, her voice quiet.

I winced; damn, this wasn't going to be pretty.

It seemed to hurt B, too. "What is this about? Is this about Faith, or the fact that I'm dating a girl?"

"Both," Joyce shot back immediately. "I could probably get used to the lesbian thing--"

"I'm not a lesbian, mom--"

"--god knows I've had to get used to some pretty strange things in your life. But why her?" Okay, I'm still here, in the room. "Why someone who has done so much to hurt you, to hurt all of us?"

"First of all, dating a girl is nothing compared to some of the weirdness that has come in and out of my life since we moved here, since before we moved here," Buffy said, her voice calm. Yeah, her voice was calm, but I saw the way she was gripping the arms of that chair. Any minute she was going to turn them into toothpicks. "Second, I trust Faith. I trust her with my life."

Joyce glanced at me. "Do you trust her with all our lives?"

"Yes." B didn't even hesitate. I loved her for it.

"Well, that makes one of us," Joyce said.

"Two of us, actually." I couldn't help it, I just had to say something.

"Since I've been told the decision really isn't up to me," Joyce gave me a pointed look again, "I don't know what else there is to talk about."

She was pulling out the trump card, now. Motherly guilt. Bet she still thought she could get between us, if she showed B all that strict disapproval.

B was quiet for a long time, long enough for my heart to stop beating, I think. Finally, she looked up. "I'm sorry you feel that way, mom." She got up, letting go of the chair's arms, which had developed small cracks. B held out her hand to me, and I reached out and took it. I was no dummy.

Then we left.

It only took one look at B to answer that question.

"She'll come around," I said, with a hell of a lot more confidence than I felt. "She loves you. She won't stay mad at you for long." Me, on the other hand, she could stay mad at. But I didn't say that out loud.

She didn't look convinced. "My mom has a long memory. You don't know how long it took her to trust me again after I ran away."

Actually, I did. I was around during that time. Out loud, though, I said, "She's still your mom. She stuck with you through the Slayer thing, even though it had to be pretty wicked strange for her. She just needs time to deal."

B gave me a weird look. "How come you're defending her, after what she said about you?"

I didn't even look at her, I just kept walking. "Personally, I don't give a rat's ass about her. But she's important to you. That's all that counts."

I felt Buffy's hand on my arm, and I stopped and looked at her. She didn't say anything, she just pulled me in for a hug. Her skin was cold, way colder than the night air; that confrontation with her mom really cost her.

"I guess I need to put this behind me, and focus on tomorrow," she said, her voice muffled against my leather jacket. I nodded, my cheek rubbing against the top of her head. The smell surrounded me, some expensive conditioner she used that was like twenty bucks a bottle or some shit. It was my second favorite smell in the world.

"C'mon," I said, breaking the hug but leaving an arm wrapped around her waist. "Big day tomorrow. We'd better go home and get some sleep."

"Home," she whispered, so quiet I wasn't even sure if she said it, slayer hearing and all. Louder, she said, "That sounds like a good idea."

Now, I'm hiding under some really thorny bushes, flat against the cold, wet dirt. I looked out across the moonlit graveyard and saw B standing there out in the open by the graves, dressed like me with the brown-haired wig and everything.

It was showtime.

We'd been in our positions for about an hour already, since a little before sunset. I glanced up into the tree which hung above the bushes I was hiding in, and I could just barely see where I'd left my bow. Damn California trees, way too bare for me to be hiding up there in the branches; I'd have been spotted in a flat second. That's why I was down here, laying face first in the dirt and mud. Scratched, and cold, and grimy.

I was pissed.

I had just felt some mud ooze into the waistband of my black jeans -- good call avoiding the leather pants tonight -- and I was starting to get seriously icked out when I spotted a tall figure stride out of the shadows, heading right for Buffy.

Adam.

He looked as bad-ass as ever, walking up until he stood about 10 feet away from B. He cocked his head to the side, and his voice carried easily to where I was laying.

"You are not Faith." He didn't sound at all surprised.

B stripped off the brown wig and sneered at him. "Figure that out on your own, huh? Good boy."

"It was an obvious ruse," Adam replied in that same dull, monotone voice of his. "You tried to use my interest in Faith to bring me here alone, so you could fight me. I had hoped that you would be smarter. More of a challenge."

"What makes you think I won't be?" Buffy asked, still putting on the arrogant act. At least, I think it was an act.

"Because you will not live through the night," he said. And right when he said this, the ground started to erupt all around her. Dirt and grass went flyin' into the air, as these huge, goddamn holes appeared everywhere. I was so freakin' surprised I couldn't move, and I could see that B was pretty surprised too.

Vampires. Goddamn vampires were bursting out of every grave in the area; must've been about thirty of 'em. They surrounded B almost instantly, and I could see Adam standing there, totally calm and shit, just waiting for her to die.

A pretty wicked smart little trap, I'll give him that.

Too bad for him we had our own wicked smart little trap, too.

"Now, guys!" B yelled, and she shoulder-rolled behind a gravestone, coming up with a fierce double-headed axe that she had stashed there out of sight. It only took a couple of seconds after B gave the signal before the troops put phase one into action.

Holy water balloons. Ohhhh yeah.

I saw Giles, Red, Xander, Tara, and even Anya jump up from the various bushes and shit they were hiding behind. They chucked those goddamn water balloons for everything they were worth, plastering vamp after vamp with holy water. I could feel a wicked grin break out on my face when I saw at least a dozen vamps smoking and sizzling like bacon.

Man, the looks on their faces -- not to mention Adam's face -- were fucking priceless.

Didn't take long for the vamps to dive for cover, and they totally forgot about B. They were too busy going after Giles and the rest. I heard Xander yell something, and the last water balloons were chucked, and the holy water-filled super soakers came out. I could feel my hands clenching into fists; I was just itching to get into the action, but I knew if I moved at the wrong time, the plan was blown. Still, this lying-in-wait thing was really just not my speed.

Meanwhile, B was circling Adam carefully, trying to get him into position while the gang cleaned up on the vamps. The vamps were trying to close, trying to get near enough to take some of 'em out, but those damn super soakers have a pretty wicked range. Red and Tara clasped hands, and I could hear 'em chanting something just seconds before a beam of what looked like sunlight streaked out of their palms, setting any vamps it touched on fire. Giles picked up a crossbow and was busy dusting any vamps that the holy water and sunlight didn't burn to death. I would've helped, but I had my own shit to do.

B was having a hell of a time getting Adam into position; he didn't look too happy that we were polishing off his army, and he was taking swipes at B any chance he got. He had his skewer thing out, and B was dodging like crazy. He lunged at her, and B threw herself to the side. It caught her jacket and tore it; if she'd been a half-second later, it would have torn her. I almost leapt out of the bushes right then and there, headed for his throat. I didn't, though. Adam's last lunge had taken him further into the clearing, and now he had his back to me. There was only one thing I could do that would make a difference, and it was time for me to be doing it. It was time for me to make like a sniper.

I scrambled back out from under the bushes and stood up, my heart hammering hard inside my chest. I was ready to climb the tree and get to my bow, but something stopped me. Someone, actually.

Riley "Beefstick" Finn.

He stood a few feet away, dressed in those commando fatigues that he and all of his repressed homosexual buddies loved so much. But what stopped me wasn't really Beefstick, it was the blaster rifle he was holding, pointed right at me.

Damn, I was really starting to hate people who point guns at me.

"Faith," he hissed at me. Don't ask me how, it's not like 'Faith' has any s'es or anything. He managed, though. "Looks like the odds are a little more even now, doesn't it?"

"Look," I said. "I do not have time for this. You want to throw down, we can do it whenever you want. But for now, get the fuck outta here." I took a step toward the tree, and he raised his rifle.

"You think I'm letting you go? Forget it. I'm taking you down. Now."

"Shit! Would you listen to me?" I said, getting really kinda nervous now. "B is out there facing down Adam. Now if I don't do what I gotta do, she's in a world of hurt. Do you get that?"

Nothing. He still just kept looking at me like I was slime, his Clark Kent jaw set like it was wired shut. Hell, I knew he hated me, but this was really not the time or the place. I could hear a couple of blows being exchanged out there, where B and Adam were. We were running out of time; she couldn't dodge forever, and nothing she could possibly do was going to put the hurt on him.

I heard a faint crackling sound coming from Corn-fed's headset. After a second, he said, "This is Alpha 4, this sector is clear. Repeat, this sector is clear. No sign of hostiles." What the hell?

He just sneered at me, and said, "Guess I should take you out first. And then I can go out there, and Buffy and I can take down Adam. Like a team. Like we were supposed to be, before you came along."

Yeah, like Beefstick would last even a second against Adam. Stubborn fucking son of a bitch, why couldn't he just leave us the hell alone?

Just then I heard B's voice, strained, almost frightened. "Faith! Come on..."

"Screw this," I said, and jumped up to grab the lowest branch on the tree. Of course, right after I did, Beefstick lit me up.

All that goddamn electricity hit me, and it felt like every nerve in my body was on fire, all at once. I totally lost my grip on the tree branch, and dimly felt my body hit the ground. Soldier-boy was really gonna pay for that.

He tried to blast me again, but I rolled and got to my feet. Sorta. I mean, my knees weren't holding me up too well, and my legs felt all tingly like they were asleep. I just hoped it wore off quick, because I knew he wasn't gonna give me a breather.

"Okay, fun's over," I snarled, and half jumped, half lunged at the asshole, doubling him over with a quick punch to the solar plexus. I grabbed the rifle out of his hand and hit him upside the head with it, feeling his cheekbone crunch beautifully.

"Not so tough without your toy now, are ya!" I yelled, and kicked at his face. He dodged, my kick just glancing off his arm. He turned and swung at me with some black, baton-looking thing that he pulled out of nowhere. I ducked, but I still felt it smack into the side of my head. I blinked, and felt blood -- my blood, goddammit! -- trickling down my face.

He struck at me again, and I grabbed his arm, stopping it dead in mid-swing. I bent his arm back, wrenching away his baton. I punched it into his stomach, doubling him over, and brought it down across the back of his shoulders. He dropped to the ground like a pole-axed ox.

"Stay down!" I snarled, and ran to the tree, jumping up to catch a branch. B was counting on me to be up there, and there was no way I was gonna let her down.

I pulled myself up about halfway when I felt a couple of big hands wrap themselves around my boot, pulling me out of the tree. I scrambled to hold on to the tree branch, but the goddamn mud was everywhere now, keeping me from getting a good grip. I hit the ground hard, and felt Beefstick's hands wrap around my throat.

His weight pressed down on me hard, but I'd fought off bigger than him. I smacked him hard, right in the broken cheek, and he rolled off me, making nice little retching sounds. I yelled something -- hell, I don't even know what it was -- and picked him up by his commando vest, throwing him as hard as I could. He flew for a good ten, fifteen feet before he touched ground, and that was only because a tree trunk got in the way. He smacked right into it, and I heard a crunching sound which was probably a rib or two.

I took a step toward him, and he scrambled back, groaning from the pain. He threw me a look that would have killed me on the spot, if that were possible; blood ran down his face, and I could see one of his eyes swelling shut pretty nicely.

"Bitch," he mumbled, and stumbled into a run. I so wished I could go after him, but I had taken way too long on him already, and the thought of B out there alone with Adam scared the hell out of me.

I dropped the blaster, and scrambled up the tree lightning fast, grabbing my bow. I had a really sweet view of the clearing where B and Adam were fighting, and I could see that she was definitely getting the worst of it.

She was trying to hold him at bay by swinging the axe, but it was just way too slow. Every so often he'd close and land a punch on her and she'd go flying, hitting dirt and stone with bone-crushing force. Every time she got up, she got up a little slower, too. She had avoided his skewer-thingy for the most part; she had blood running down her arm from what looked like a pretty wicked puncture, but at least it was only her arm. For the moment, anyway.

Okay, time to even those odds.

I grabbed one of the special arrows that Xander made for me, and pushed the button on the timer to activate the ten-second delay.

I nocked the arrow, drew, and held it there, fully knowing that I'd be dead if I held it just a little too long. I had to wait, I had to get the best shot possible, because I was only getting one chance with this. And if I fucked it up, B was dead. And there was no way in hell I was gonna let that happen.

Buffy swung the axe at him, and Adam grabbed it, ripping the axe out of Buffy's hands and throwing it to the side. It threw her off-balance, and Adam pulled his left arm back to use his skewer. Never gonna be a better time.

I let the arrow fly, and it buried itself deep into his lower back. A lot lower than I was aiming for, but the modified arrow flew like shit. Adam stopped his thrust, like he was surprised that someone had shot him. He turned to look at me, all puzzled and shit; B saw the arrow sticking out of his back and she took that moment to dive over some headstones.

The arrow in Adam's back exploded, mainly due to the half pound of plastique Xander had packed into the aluminum shaft. The shockwave damn near knocked me out of the tree, and I almost fell out again a second later when one of Adam's arms crashed through the branches next to me. Luckily, Adam wasn't attached to it.

I poked my head out, looking out over the remains of Adam and several nearby headstones which had been pounded flat. Dropping down to the ground, I walked out into the clearing pretty damn carefully. My ears were still ringing a little bit from the explosion.

Adam was laying face-up on the ground, and all that was left was half his torso, one arm, and his head. His legs were laying a few feet away, and several feet away, respectively.

B poked her head up from behind the gravestone where she took cover, and she walked over to pick up her axe. Adam tried to reach for her when she walked up, but it was a pretty fuckin' weak attempt. B just looked at him grimly, and clutched up on that axe of hers. She swung and brought the axe down right on his arm, taking it off the body with one clean slice. Her next shot was for his neck.

I walked up behind her and put my hands on her shoulders, kinda letting her know it was me before I wrapped my arms around her and held her against me. Doesn't pay to startle a Slayer, I know that as well as anyone. I felt her relax, and she dropped the axe.

"'Bout time you showed up," she said with a little smile, leaning back into me. "I was starting to get a little worried about you." She was shaking a little, and I tightened my grip, holding her close.

"Yeah, well, there was a distraction. I'll tell ya about it later." I kinda nuzzled her neck and inhaled deeply. She smelled like sweat, and a little bit of dirt, but mostly she smelled like Buffy. Definitely my favorite smell in the world.

We were alive.

G-man and the crew walked up right then; Red and Tara were kinda leaning on each other, and Xander was limping, one arm thrown across Anya's shoulders for balance. Bet he tried to go hand-to-hand at some point and almost got his butt kicked.

"Well, it would appear that the danger has been neutralized," G-man said in that wicked obvious way of his.

"For now, but he's still got his power source," B replied. "Unless someone knows how to dispose of uranium?" She looked around, but no one seemed like they knew, and they were too tired for smart-ass remarks. "Ok, then, we've just got to take the pieces that are left, and scatter them."

I walked over and grabbed one certain piece by the hair, lifting it up. Pretty gruesome looking, actually; he still had this wide-eyed, puzzled look on his face. Betcha didn't think it would turn out this way, did ya, you cyber-demon asshole. "So we all take a part and meet back at G-man's?" I asked. I already knew exactly what I was going to do with this one.