FF Stranger in my house (8/10)

["Christeen Demons" <Shyfox30@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Joss...this story is mine.:-)

Heh, well, we're almost there...watch out this part gets bumpy.:-) Watch out 
for the jack in the box

Chapter Eight: Room of Memories

I couldn't see how the darkness in my dreams had a hold on me.
Tried to deny that the tracks in my memory stood right by my side.
Naked and blind I fell down to my knees and found where I belong.

Now I'm back home again.
I wanna feel what I've been missing.
I need to know I've got a friend.
I'm back home again.
I wanna touch the world around me.
I wanna make you understand.
That I'm back home again.

Never believed that the door to happy endings would close on me, no.
Deep in my mind were the whispers of wisdom I left behind.
Dancing alone I tried hard to believe that melody was mine.

Now I'm back home again.
I wanna feel what I've been missing.
I need to know I've got a friend.
I'm back home again.
I wanna touch the world around me.
I wanna make you understand.
That I'm back home again.
Jack Wagner

Faith watched as opportunity presented itself to her on a silver platter. 
The timing couldn't have been better if she had planned it herself. All of 
Buffy's family were inside that house, all except that moron Xander, and 
that would be taken care of easily enough. Fingering
the cool metal of the Police Special in her grip she admired it's dark 
casing. She had acquired it easily enough. Simple really. 'Want, take, 
have.' It was the motto she lived by.
The gun felt comfortable in her hand, like it was a part of her. It was as 
deadly as she was. Maybe even more so. After all, she had failed once...no 
twice to take out the 'all superpowerful Slayer.' This time, the Slayer 
wouldn't be so lucky, and neither would her family. She waited until she saw 
the last of them going up over the stairs, then slipped quietly into the 
house, closing the door behind her.
*****

Buffy had felt a chill the moment she'd turned on the light, revealing the 
'mystery' room to her view. She shivered as she wondered how a room painted 
so cheerfully could feel so cold, isolated...abandoned. Big pictures of 
baby Mickey and Minnie mouse grinned at her accusingly from their spots on 
the walls. Staring at their smiling faces, she could swear that their 
little, beady, black eyes were looking right through her, and finding her 
guilty for crimes she hadn't known she had commited. Out of the corner of 
her eye, she noticed a Tinky Winky doll peeking out at her from between the 
slats of a baby's crib. The
forlorness in it's cherub-like face caused her heart to seize painfully in 
her chest.
The room assaulted her from both sides with memories that were both 
confusing and overwhelming, dragging her to her knees as they washed over 
her. A kaleidescope of images danced through her head as she looked around 
at the items surrounding her, her eyes open wide and her breathing coming in 
soft pants as she tried to absorb all that she
was seeing. This was no office, she realized belatedly, it was a baby's 
Nursery. "Well, duh." Her inner voice cried, sarcastically. It was 
obvious that a lot of time and love had been put into the construction of 
this room...a lot of hours spent in making sure that everything was just 
right...no...perfect...as if they were preparing it to hold the most
important person in the universe.

Ghosts moving in the passage of time appeared before her very eyes. An 
image of Willow and herself, both dressed in baggy overalls and old 
t-shirts, spending the most of a lazy afternoon getting bright yellow paint 
over the four walls and each other, as friendly bickering had escalated into 
a full fledged paint fight. She remembered that her mother had scolded 
them, a gentle laugh twinkling her hazel eyes, before she had joined them in 
the messy fight. Luckily the floor had been covered with about three good 
inches of tarpaulin, but the rest of the room had looked like a tidal wave 
of paint had washed over it.
She clearly remembered looking around at the mess they had made, shrugging 
her shoulders, then after briskly rubbing her hands together, went to work 
on fixing their 'so called' paint job. Her mother and Willow had fallen into 
step behind her, the three of them
brandishing brushes as they prepared to finish the job together.

It had been obvious to her, even before now, that Willow was pregnant. Why 
her family hadn't thought to mention it to her she hadn't been able to 
figure it out. She had just
assumed that the baby belonged to Oz. She had assumed a lot of things. 
Now, her senses
overloading with input, she wasn't so sure.

Glancing around the room again, her eyes fell on a rocking chair sitting 
quietly by the
window. As she looked over the object, looking so quiet and still another 
memory
ghosted into view. She saw herself sneaking out of her bedroom, feeling 
excitement
streak through her as she had followed the redhead up the hall, sneaking up 
behind her as
she'd reached the door of the nursery and throwing a hand over her eyes 
before she could
go in. She'd felt the redhead tense, hearing a distictive gasp issue forth 
from her lips,
before a sense of familiarity had washed over her unsuspecting prey and 
she'd realized
who it was.

"Buffy." Willow had sighed, admonishing her softly. "You nearly scared me 
half to
death. You know, if this is a game, I want you to know that your mother is 
right down the
hall." She'd said, still sounding out of breath, as she continued to 
reprimand her.
"Relax." Buffy hadn't been able to hide the grin in her voice as she had 
chuckled softly.
"I just want to show you something."

"Oh, a surprise? What is it?" Willow was genuinely curious, she just loved 
surprises,
well, most kinds anyway, but she still wanted the use of her eyes.

"Uh uh...No peeking." Buffy had teased in a sing song voice, as the redhead 
tried to take
her hand away.

"Buffy, I want to see. Where are we going, anyway?" Willow protested, 
wondering why
they were still standing still, her hand on the doorknob.

"Right here." Buffy answered, grinning from ear to ear.

"The nursery? Buffy, I've seen the Nursery. Why the 'blindfold'?" The 
redhead had
sounded definitely perplexed, even her forehead was crinkling, as she tried 
to imagine
what Buffy was up to. Buffy had felt the movement of the eyebrows under her 
hand.
"You'll see, just keep them closed okay?" She'd chuckled again, excitedly, 
as she had
guided the redhead into the room. "Okay..." Buffy said, quietly, as she'd 
turned on the
light inside the nursery. "Now you can see." Removing the hand from 
Willow's eyes, she
had watched with great satisfaction as green eyes had lit up with delight.

"Oh Buffy." Willow had gasped, eyes open wide as she'd seen the wooden 
rocking chair
sitting by the window, looking rather lonely, as if it was waiting just for 
her to sit in it and
rock. The redhead had walked over to it slowly, mesmerized by the sight, and 
had
reached out to touch the finely grained, remarkably crafted and designed 
peice of
furniture. She relished the smooth feel of the finely polished amber oak 
wood.
"Do you like it?" Buffy had asked, her voice soft and low, almost as if she 
were afraid
that her gift would fall way short.

"Oh Buffy." Willow had murmured, still captured by the view of this gift of 
love. "I love
it." She'd whispered softly, then had turned to look the blonde square in 
the eyes.
"Buffy...you remembered."

"How could I forget?" The words echoed loudly in her head, repeating 
themselves
mockingly, over and over again, as she drowned in the memory. She had 
forgotten, and as
tears streaked unnoticed down her face, her arms folded over the seat of the 
rocking chair,
her head buried in between, her heart raged for her lost memories.

*****

Willow watched her wife sob for a few unbearable moments before she moved to 
place a
gentle hand on her shoulder, hoping to console her somehow, only to have 
red-rimmed
eyes rise to meet hers. Confusion mingling with a dawning realization swam 
within the
hazel blue depths, and Willow found herself hoping for that realization to 
spread. She
wondered how much Buffy had remembered, if seeing the nursery had broken 
through
some of the blocks that were guarding the lost memories. Though seeing pain 
in her wife's
eyes caused her to wince with an ache of her own, she couldn't help but hope 
that the
nursery had done what she herself hadn't been able to, and brought her wife 
back to her.
"Will?" Buffy blinked up at the redhead, wondering for a second if this was 
yet another
vision, another memory breaking it's way through the wall in her brain.

"I'm here." Willow reassured her gently, her voice rich with tears. Buffy 
reassured herself
that the redhead in front of her was indeed real, before taking a moment to 
notice that her
mom and Mr. Giles had also followed her into the room. They must have 
followed her
from downstairs, she realized in an abstract fashion, before she noticed 
someone else
making their presence known.

Buffy opened her mouth to speak, but the intruder spoke before she could, 
bringing an
aching tension to all who heard it. "Oh good. The gang's all hear." 
Willow's blood turned
to ice in an instant as she turned wide eyes toward the apparition standing 
cockily in the
doorway, her eyes focusing on the weapon held steadily in a hard, sure hand. 
"Well, this
makes it so much easier, don'tcha think, B? Now, that I don't have to hunt 
you all down
like dogs." The smile of a predator flashed over her face, and Willow had 
no doubt that
this person, contrary to her words, would have enjoyed every minute of that.

"Faith." It was the only word Willow could manage to choke out.

"In the flesh."


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