RETURN TO BEANTOWN
"Faith." There was no response. "Faith, the stewardess is coming. Do
you want peanuts or soda or something?"
The brunette nodded, staring straight ahead.
"I'll just put your tray table down...okay?"
More nodding.
Buffy slowly flipped the release, and eased the tray table flat. She
accepted the peanut bags and the two cups of Coke the stewardess handed
her, gave Faith hers, and started eating her peanuts. A few seconds later,
she noticed that her partner hadn't moved. There went her shot at the Mile
High Club.
"You can release the death grip you have on the armrests, now."
"Does it look like we're gettin' lower? I think we're gettin' lower."
Faith spoke at last, staring out the window now.
"We're fine, honey." Buffy put her hand on Faith's shoulder. "Let go,
will ya? Your knuckles are white. It might be a good idea to let blood
get back to your fingers."
"How much longer?"
"An hour. Trust me, it's all right."
Faith removed one finger at a time, and then slowly raised her hands.
She was waiting for the oxygen masks to drop down, but when they didn't,
she took a deep, calming breath, and reached for her peanuts. She was having
difficulty opening them.
"B, could you, uh...?"
"Sure."
Faith looked over across the aisle. Willow was asleep with her head
on Oz's shoulder. How could she be so calm? It wasn't fair. As the blonde
handed her back the newly opened bag of peanuts, the pilot came on the
intercom.
Apparently she hadn't been expecting that, because she jumped, and the legumes went flying.
***
The four of them exited the jet way, and stepped into Logan International
Airport. If Faith could have, she would've kissed the tile, thankful for
being back on land, but she had to settle for kissing Buffy instead. They
were one of the last people to get out, so when the crowd cleared, they
caught sight of Joyce and Sarah waiting for them.
"You made it." Joyce sounded very relieved.
"We did." Buffy smiled. "And Faith was cool as ice the entire time."
She winked at her girlfriend. "Hey Aunt Sarah."
Buffy hugged the woman who had the same hair color as her mother, around
the same length too, but it was up. She was also three years older than
Joyce was, yet she looked to be about twenty-five.
"It's been awhile, Power Girl. You've grown a whole inch in four years.
I can't believe it." Sarah smiled, joking.
"Aunt Sarah!" She looked down at her feet; suddenly having childhood
flashbacks of wearing a bed sheet as a cape, and attacking pillows with
Mr. Gordo as her sidekick. And also not so great ones about her cousin,
but she pushed them away, and concentrated on the short joke.
"Who are your friends?"
"Mental lapse. Willow, Oz, this is Aunt Sarah. Aunt Sarah, this is
Willow and Oz."
"Hi!" Willow waved.
"Hey." Oz greeted.
"Pleased to meet you, guys." Sarah looked at Faith then, with an even
bigger smile. "And I'm pretty darn sure that I know you from somewhere."
Buffy knew she didn't have to introduce them.
"You remember me?" The brunette asked, feeling her lips curve upwards.
"How could I forget a girl who used to explain to me the finer points of air guitar?"
"It's an art." Faith looked at Oz. "Takes less skill than actually playin', though."
"I don't know about that." He said. "It's a lot harder to master chords when you can't see the frets. Or hear how they sound. I respect your talent."
Sarah was highly amused by the brief exchange, and waited until she was sure it was over before continuing.
"Plus, you had a huge impact on my niece. I certainly can't forget that.
And it looks like you still do." The slayers were blushing. They knew what
she meant, but didn't know how to respond. "It's good to see you again,
Faith."
"Thanks, Sar...Aunt Sarah." Faith smiled.
"Buffy, don't you have something to say to your aunt?" Joyce questioned.
"She thanked me on the phone, Joy-Joy. Try to relax." She pretended
that she didn't see the look on her sister's face. "Well, what do you say
we get your luggage and go celebrate the ending of your high school horror
days?"
Oz, Willow, and Buffy exchanged glances. Sarah had no idea how well
she had described those three years. The blonde stared at her mother, and
then whispered to her friends as they made their way to baggage claim.
"Joy-Joy?"
"Power Girl?" Willow wondered, smirking.
"Not even I knew about that." Faith said.
"I was ten. It was a phase. It didn't last."
"It stopped when you were twelve." Sarah said, overhearing.
Willow and Faith were snickering, covering their mouths.
"Gee, thanks so much, Aunt Sarah. Are you gonna embarrass me the entire
time we're here? Cause if you are, let me know so I can prepare." Buffy
said sarcastically.
"Of course not. Only when you leave an opportunity open for me to take
advantage of." The woman grinned like a Cheshire cat.
"I like her." Oz commented.
***
They entered Sarah's Victorian-style home in Boston's South End, an
hour and a half later, with five boxes of pizza. Faith was, um...kind of
hungry. Off to the left of the foyer was a living room with a big screen
TV, Surround Sound stereo system, and a couch. Off to the right was a sitting
room with a couple chairs and a grand piano.
"When did you move here?" Buffy asked, awed.
"About two years ago. To be closer to my company."
"Your company?"
"We make custom computer entertainment and VR programs. People tell
us what they want, and we do it. We're not real big yet, but we're getting
there. Customers pay a nice chunk of change, which is why I'm able to afford
this place."
"You know computers? And Virtual Reality? And programming?" Willow
was excited.
"I'm an MIT grad, Willow."
"MIT!" The redhead squealed.
"And it helps when you know people in the industry. Always good to have
the inside track. Some of the VR technology that's being developed is incredible."
Willow's eyes were glazed over. "I'll show you my setup after we eat. Whole
room full of the latest stuff, but my electric and telephone bills are
through the roof." Sarah smiled.
"She won't see the light of day the entire vacation." Buffy shook her
head.
"Could see it virtually." Faith pointed out.
They took a shortcut through the living room to get into the large
kitchen/dining area. Complete with the necessary appliances, and some unnecessary
ones. Like a milkshake maker. But Faith's eyes were immediately drawn to
the wet bar. Anyone who lived this good had to have decent alcohol. Not
like she was planning on getting drunk or anything, but it was nice to
know she had the option.
The six of them sat down at the circular glass table, and ate in relative
silence. It was hard to talk when their mouths were full. Willow ate hers
the quickest, and looked at her host with hopeful eyes. Sarah took the
hint, and led the younger female to her technology haven.
"Aren't you going too, Oz?" Joyce asked.
He shook his head. "She's in her zone now. Nothing else gets through.
Once it passes, I'll be recognized." Oz rose. "Think I'll explore upstairs
till then."
When he left the room, Joyce turned to the remaining girls.
"The basement is a bedroom. Sarah had it redone."
"You're telling us...why?" Her daughter wondered.
"Cause it's ours, Power Girl. Dense as a fog, you know that?" Faith
quipped. She got up, pulled Buffy out of her chair, and flung the blonde
over her shoulder. "Let's check it out."
"Faith, put me down!"
"Which way's the basement?"
"Go out the opposite side of the kitchen that we came in, go down a
small hallway, turn right, and door." Joyce answered.
"Mom, make her put me down!" Buffy yelled, kicking her legs.
"Hey, you wanna fall?" The brunette asked. "We're gonna be goin' down
steps, and it wouldn't be the brightest idea to struggle, B. Damn, how
much pizza did you have?"
"When I get back down on the ground again, you're gonna be in *so*
much trouble!"
"Yeah, yeah."
Joyce sat at the table alone after watching them go, and saw that there was still food left. Helping herself to the wet bar, she got out a bottle of wine, and prepared to enjoy herself. She was on vacation, damn it, and she decided to take her sister's advice and relax. After all, she wasn't the one paying for all this.
***
"I love being in trouble." Faith grinned as Buffy eased her to a sitting
position on the Queen sized bed, and began to kiss her.
"I'm tough but fair."
Buffy pulled Faith's jacket off, and maneuvered her way onto the mattress.
***
Oz found his way up to the private deck, and sat on one of the lounge
chairs. He was looking at the cloudless sky, and his eyes were drawn to
the half-moon. It was a good thing they were only here for two weeks, because
any longer, and he could be getting hairy without a place to lock himself
up.
In Sunnydale, his werewolf side was simply a nuisance. Something he
had gotten used to and had learned to deal with. But he didn't plan on
staying in that town for the rest of his life. He wanted to maybe cut a
record deal and play professionally, but at the moment, he couldn't do
any of that. It would be hard to find a way to protect people from the
wolf. Especially if he got really lucky and started going on tour.
Well, there was no use in worrying anymore about it. Standing, he decided
to see what Willow was up to.
***
Willow was in the middle of a forest clearing, sitting on a large rock.
She could hear birds chirping, see flowers of every single color, and if
she let her imagination take over completely, she could smell the pine-scent
of the trees. A small, wolf cub was approaching her, and she smiled at
it.
Things started to flicker then, and the world disappeared. Taking off
the helmet, she handed it back to Sarah.
"Wow."
"I'm glad you think so. That one's still got a glitch or two in it.
Can't figure out why." She unzipped the back of the black, body suit that
Willow had been wearing, and the girl stepped out of it. "I think it might
be the computer's processing speed. The cub is the most complex model in
the program."
The hacker stepped off the VR platform and over to the computer screen
that controlled it.
"But your processor's a thousand megahertz. Super-computer, right?"
"Not super enough I guess." Sarah smiled. "Maybe you could help me
figure it out."
"Really?"
There were three other computers in the room, all the same. More RAM
and megahertz than Willow could ever afford. And they were hooked up to
ISDN lines. She was jealous. Sarah had CD burners, ZIP drives, voice activation...so
much technology. She could live here.
"Absolutely. Buffy told me you're a computing genius."
The redhead blushed. "I'm okay..."
"That was one of the more serene worlds we're working on. Unfortunately,
people want violence rather than beauty."
"That's sad." Willow frowned. "But, I mean that was...wow. I could
see my hands."
"Body suits aren't cheap, which is why they're not really used in gaming places. Publicly, anyway. It's like motion capture, only along with your movements, it has tiny cameras that tell the computer what you look like. So when you looked at your hands out here, you saw your hands in there. There is a slight delay, though."
Once she started talking about her work, her nerdish side clashed with her cool side, and she couldn't stop talking. Oz came into the room, however, and she was able to shut up.
"Radiation central." He commented.
"Oh, it's so great, Oz." His girlfriend was clearly in heaven.
Sarah noticed him stroke her hair. Hiding a smile, she went to make
her exit.
"Feel free to try things out." She said to Willow as she walked away.
***
"Helping yourself to a drink, Little Sis?" Sarah asked sitting next
to Joyce.
"Yes, as a matter of fact." She took a sip. "This house is beautiful,
but it's too big for you."
"We've been over this. I'm fine. I own my own business, I make a decent
living...perfectly fine." She took her sister's glass. "Let me have some
of that."
Sarah downed what was left of the drink, and Joyce refilled it.
"You may be fine, but are you happy?" The younger woman asked. "What
happened to Lauren?"
"She took a teaching job at some university in Hawaii. Marine Biology."
"And you didn't go with her? Must be gorgeous there."
"I'm a city girl, Joyce. You know that. I'd feel isolated from the
world on an island."
"Looks like you're doing a fine job isolating yourself right here."
"I don't really feel up to another lecture." Sarah sighed; undoing
the clasp in her hair and letting it hang down. "I'm social, I have parties
here all the time. That's what I'm known for."
"Okay, I'll drop the subject."
"Thank you." The tapping of her nails on the glass was the only thing
either of them heard for a few minutes. "Talked to them lately?"
"Dad's back in the hospital. Chest pains again. Mom's being stubborn
with the doctors. As usual."
"Runs in the family." Sarah smirked. "Wonder if I'll ever get to speak
to them again."
"I've told them everything you're doing. It wouldn't hurt much to call."
"No, it'll hurt a lot." Sarah glanced around the kitchen so her sister
wouldn't see the sadness in her eyes. "Where'd those two go?"
"The basement." Joyce regretted saying that as soon as she saw the
glint. "Leave them be."
"I'll give them warning first." Joyce glared. "What? I want to live
vicariously through my niece, it's my house, I'm older, and you can't tell
me what to do."
"You still have no idea what maturity is, do you?"
"I don't even know how to spell it."
***
Currently, the slayers were lying in bed, barefoot, wearing robes they
found in the bathroom. It was a big basement. They were happy to see a
television, and even more thrilled to find a PlayStation in the cabinet
the TV sat on top of. The two of them were in the middle of a hockey game.
It was very competitive; fingers were mashing buttons relentlessly. Some
people smoked after sex, but they played video games.
"What are you? Blind?" Buffy screamed at the digital referee. "That
was tripping! Penalty!"
"He can't hear you, B." Faith chuckled.
"I could yell at you instead."
The brunette backed off. "No thank you."
"Okay then." Because she wasn't paying attention, Faith was able to
deke past the defenseman and score. "Damn you."
"Nobody likes a cusser."
"When did you get such a dirty mouth?" Sarah asked, coming down the
steps. Buffy remembered that her and Faith's legs were somewhat entwined,
and moved to separate them. "You look comfortable. Don't move on my account."
"Huh?" The blonde asked.
"This is what it looks like, right? Footsies?"
"I *don't* play footsies." Faith insisted.
"Look, Aunt Sarah, I can explain..." Buffy said quickly, not really
having a plan.
"Sweetie, it's all right. We're both on the same team."
"Actually, we kinda drafted each other." Faith said. "Rookies."
"Work both sides of the plate, huh? Well, nobody's perfect."
The younger girl laughed out loud. Buffy held up her hand.
"You're..." She pointed to her aunt, then looked at her girlfriend.
"And how come it seems like you knew?"
"Didn't you know?" Faith wondered.
"So you did know."
"Yeah, I knew."
"Why would I know? How'd you know?"
"Your mom knew, so I figured -"
"Mom knows? She knew? And I didn't know?"
"Why wouldn't she know?"
"I don't know."
"Did you want to know?"
"It would have been nice to know, yes."
"Well now you do. Know."
"I know that I know now. Thanks."
"I just making sure that you knew that you knew."
"It's nice that you knew to think to check to see that I knew, but
I know."
"What were we talkin' about again?" The brunette had forgotten. "I
know I knew two seconds -"
"You're both very confusing." Sarah commented.
"We know." The girls echoed.
Buffy took a breath. "All your life?"
"Never been traded."
"Just don't hit on her. That's all I ask."
"Is that really what you think of your aunt? A dirty, old woman?" Sarah
asked with a laugh.
"I don't see one wrinkle, and I don't put anything past you."
"You should thank me. One, for giving you the basement, and two, I knew,"
They all winced, "I *saw* you two four years ago, and I could tell where
you were headed. I could've put money on it."
"Listen to that. She's takin' the credit." Faith said.
"If I hadn't let you sleep over, Faith, you wouldn't have been able
to have those practice sessions." The slayers reddened. "Didn't think I
knew about that, did you? And look at you now. Like you've been together
for years. It's so sweet."
"We even have the same job."
"Really? What do you do?"
"Slay -" Buffy nudged her side. "Slay-ves to...the clown. Slaves to
the clown. We work at McDonalds."
"So tell me everything. How did you finally -?"
"Well," Buffy began, "I was looking for a vampi -" Faith nudged her
that time. "Van tires. Mom needed new tires for her van, so I was looking
for some. Tires."
"I thought she had a Jeep Cherokee."
"That's right. That's absolutely right. See, I didn't realize at the
time that I had gone looking for the wrong kind of tires..."
This was going to take awhile.
***
The night seemed to go on forever, but finally, everyone had gone to
sleep. The following afternoon, everyone had gotten up except the two basement
dwellers. Joyce had decided, based on motherly routine, to go wake them
up. Sarah trailed behind her sister.
"They can sleep, Joyce. I'll be happy to show you, Willow, and Oz around
the city."
"They were just so excited about being tour guides, that's all."
"Plenty of time for that."
Both women made their way to the basement anyway, and halfway down,
they both stopped and looked at the sight before them. Sheet up to the
base of their shoulders, the girls were lying on their sides. Faith was
hugging Buffy's body against hers, arm around the blonde's waist. Buffy
fit perfectly in the position, and her hand was grasping Faith's free one.
They were still deeply asleep.
It was so pure. There was so much love there, and even though they
weren't the overly mushy types, it was plain enough to see in one simple
embrace what a thousand lovey-dovey words couldn't come close to expressing.
If everyone in the world were able to see this, sexual preference wouldn't
be an issue even again.
"Damn. I really should have bet money on it." Sarah whispered, pretty
sure tears were starting to form. "Look at them. You can't tell me you
want to disturb that."
"How could I?" Joyce had seen them asleep many times, but she never
really looked at them. It left her with a lump in the back of her throat.
"Why don't we just have a picnic in the Commons, and leave them a note?
They know their way." Her sister nodded, and they turned away to walk quietly
back upstairs. "Did they really see each other again at Pep Boys because
Faith worked in the tire department? Does Pep Boys even have a tire department?"
Joyce thought a minute, using all her self-control to not burst out
in laughter.
"That's the way they tell it, Sarah. That's the way they tell it."
***
Buffy and Faith made their way upstairs at around one o'clock to find
the house empty. Showered, dressed and ready to start the day (even though
it was more than half over, the day didn't begin until they were awake
as far as Faith was concerned); it appeared as though everyone had started
without them. Or something less pleasant had happened, which they refused
to consider.
The brunette headed straight for the fridge, and the blonde went straight
for the phone, repeating the numbers "911" in her mind. Inside the fridge,
there was a note addressed to Faith, and attached to the phone was a note
addressed to Buffy. They met each other at the kitchen table.
"She knows us too well." Faith said.
"Freaky."
"Picnic in the Commons, right?"
Buffy confirmed what her note said with a nod. "Let's motor."
"Probably ate all the food." Faith grumbled.
"Nah. They all know about your bottomless pit. They'll save." Her partner lightly punched her arm as they left the house. "Where do you think they're sitting?"
"I'm gonna take a wild guess, considering it's pretty damn hot, and say under a..."
"Tree." Buffy smiled, finishing the sentence.
After four years, they were going back to their tree. The spot they had claimed as their own. The memories of younger days were coming back in a rush, and they walked a little bit faster.
***
(Faith never thought of herself as a "Tag" type of girl, but then
again, she had never had anyone to play it with before. Buffy was "It"
at the moment, and was chasing her all through the large park. It struck
her as somewhat odd that a girl going into high school would still play
such a silly game. Especially with her. She didn't have time to think much
about it though, because she was currently the prey.
When she reached an old, large oak tree, she wasted no time in scaling
its branches all the way to the top. She sat there with a grin as she viewed
an out of breath Buffy halted at the base of the tree, looking around in
confusion. The blonde girl was so much fun to be around, and fun to tease
too.
"Up here!" Faith called finally.
Buffy looked up. "What are you? A monkey? Get down here so I can
tag you."
"You really think that's gonna work?" Faith laughed. She had recently
discovered how good laughing felt. "You come up here."
Buffy crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't climb."
"Don't climb? What do you mean you don't climb?"
"I mean, I *don't* climb. I don't like heights."
"Afraid, huh?"
"I am not." Buffy stated adamantly.
"Oh yeah, you're wicked scared." Faith knew if she goaded her just
a little bit more, Buffy would come up. "Come on, Bee."
"Huh?"
"Your shirt. It's got a big bee on it."
Buffy looked at it. There was a cartoon-like depiction of a smiling
bee on the front of it, sitting happily on a flower. She hadn't really
noticed when she picked out the shirt to wear earlier. Where her mom got
the idea that she liked these kinds of clothes was beyond her.
"So it does."
"Well don't you know that bees fly? They go up high and stuff. Their
hives are in trees."
"There's no hive in this one. I don't have any reason to come up."
"Bees sting their prey, right? I'm your prey. So come on and sting
me, Bee." She still wasn't budging. "Wuss."
Buffy climbed the tree without another thought. Hand over hand,
up higher and higher. Nobody called her a wuss. When she reached Faith,
she slapped her on the shoulder.
"You're it."
Faith rubbed her slapped spot. "That stung."
They just kind of looked at one another for awhile. Not making the other uncomfortable, just...looking. In these moments, the whole world got blocked out. It was intense, but once the spell was broken, the feeling they couldn't quite place was pushed aside.
Something occurred to the brunette then, blinking and ending the trance.
"Bee, Buffy. That's the first letter of your name. B."
"When did you get so bright?" Buffy asked sarcastically.
Faith scrambled back down, out of the tree, the game forgotten for
now. Buffy followed her, although more cautiously. On the ground, the brunette
pulled out a Swiss Army knife that she always carried with her, and pulled
out the blade. She started carving the bark. Buffy switched her gaze from
observing the other girl, to the pond and bench off to the side of the
tree. It hit her that this was the place they had first met.
When she looked back, Faith was done.
'B FLEW HERE 2DAY' Was carved there now. Buffy took the knife and
added to it. ' + FAITH GAVE HER (shape of two wings) - 7 '95'
In the back of their minds they wondered why it was so easy for
them to carve into the tree, something that surely would have taken a great
amount of effort by someone else, but they really didn't dwell on it. Faith
put the knife back in her pants pocket, and returned the earlier slap she
had gotten.
"You're it, B."
The blonde smiled at the nickname, and took off after her retreating
friend.)
***
Oz, Willow, Joyce and Sarah were sitting on a blanket, eating, when
Buffy and Faith ran past them.
"What are they...?" Joyce trailed off, as Oz and Willow had already
gone to follow them.
Sarah grabbed the blanket and the basket, and went after her sister,
who was going after the kids. She caught up with Joyce, and they found
the rest of them standing underneath an old oak tree. Buffy and Faith were
bent down running their fingers over the bark. Willow crouched beside them.
"Something evil?" The redhead asked the slayers quietly.
"What?" Buffy asked. "Oh. Cause of the running? No. Nothing bad. This
is our tree, Will."
"Your tree?"
Faith pointed to the trunk. There was something written there.
'B FLEW HERE 2DAY + FAITH GAVE HER (shape of two wings) - 7 '95' It
said.
The brunette scaled the tree.
"You." Faith pointed to Buffy. "Climb up here."
"I don't climb." The blonde responded.
"Don't climb? What do you mean you don't climb?"
"I mean, I don't climb." She thought it over, and a huge grin spread
across her face. "But...in this case, I'll make an exception."
She joined the brunette up in the branches, and Faith covered her shoulder.
"I don't wanna get stung."
"You're not my prey anymore. You're my honey. And bees love honey,
don't they?"
"So I've heard."
Joyce called up from below. "What are you two doing?"
"Flying, mom. Just flying."
"Well how about landing? That is, if you're hungry."
They didn't even climb back down. They jumped, both of them landing
squarely on their feet. It almost gave the two women heart attacks. Backing
up against the trunk,
Faith accepted Buffy into her arms as the blonde leaned against her.
Joyce handed them each a sandwich, and they began to eat.
"Hey, Aunt Sarah, you got a knife?" Faith asked suddenly.
"Actually, I do. On my key-chain." She said. "Why?"
"Just need to borrow it a sec."
Sarah handed it over, and Buffy shifted so Faith could turn around.
She watched her girlfriend write, and smiled broadly when she was finished.
The words, 'OUR 2ND FLIGHT - 6 '99' were there, etched in the middle
of a heart. Faith turned back around quickly, covering it so no one else
would see, and they went on eating their lunch.
--
"I wanna set the record straight. I thought the cop was a prostitute."
(Homer J. Simpson)
"You think you know? What's to come? What you are? You haven't even
begun."
(Tara to Buffy, BTVS)
"Since when is there a cowboy in 'Death of a Salesman' anyway?" (Willow,
BTVS)