DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything!! BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon and the Heroes characters to Tim Kring. I don't make any money out of this and neither does this site.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: No particular timeline for Heroes. I'm just guessing somewhere between season 1 and season 2. In chapter 11 I took a small piece of text from Revelations and altered it just a little so it would fit my plot. I'm messing a little with the time thingy... 'Chosen' happened around June 2006 and 'How to Stop an Exploding Man' was around May 2007.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Heroes And Slayers
By Raven Morbisk
Chapter 13
"Now there's a sight for sore eyes." A nurse bustled entering the hospital room. Buffy and Faith were already awake again, both thinking the same thing. Sleeping is only satisfying in the arms of their significant other. Faith was just about to hear Buffy out about the blonde's thoughts about Peter when the nurse had interrupted them.
"This is the first time I've seen your father in here. It was bound to happen, seeing as you girls have the habit of landing in here, which would give any parent a heart attack." The friendly nurse smiled and checked Giles' IV.
"Yeah well, the girls back home are gonna be happy when he gets back." Buffy mumbled, taking Giles' hand in hers.
"There are other girls, too?" The nurse raised her brows slightly. Faith grinned at what the nurse must have been thinking and winked at the blonde.
"Yeah, we're one big happy family, but I don't think dad's gon' be too happy when the girls all go back to their moms, y'know. He hates to see the younger ones go." Faith hid her grin, looking very serious. Buffy looked away from the nurse to Giles, who was awake because he was slightly grinning even though his eyes were closed, to hide her own grin.
"How many daughters does he have?" The nurse gripped her chart in anticipation of the brunette's answer.
"How many kids, B?" She asked Buffy who started thinking hard.
"About fifty-three girls and two boys." She answered "No wait, it's fifty-six girls with you, me and Wills here and, yeah two guys although he's still denying Andrew. Oh and maybe a daughter-in-law and grandson but that's not for sure just yet." Buffy winked at the brunette.
"Like his maybe-son-in-law that's the uncle of one of his girls?" Faith shot back with a grin.
"Those are a lot of children. How do you explain all your sisters? Do all of you get along?" The nurse was really intrigued about this large family. Faith and Buffy loved messing with this very gullible woman.
"Oh, you know what that's like. A bunch of teenagers with raging hormones. There's a lot of fights but in general we get along great. We even go out together." Buffy pointed out, not entirely lying.
"Yeah and then there's a little bitch that totally-"
"Faith." Giles chastised finally opening his eyes and smiling at the two young women that were joking with the poor nurse. "Watch your language." He slowly sat up, startling the two others from their sleep.
"What?" Xander asked looking around. He rubbed his eye sleepily and grinned at the older man "Hey, you're up."
"What time is it?" Willow asked hoarsely.
"About time your father goes home." The nurse said, smiling at the four young people. "He has to keep away from stress but other than that he'll be fine."
"So, dad," Xander grinned "that means that Andrew has to stay away from you and no late night reading for you."
"Maybe he'd better stay in his room." Buffy suggested with a small smile.
"I will not be confined in my room, I have things to do." Giles countered loudly but to no avail, his four "children" were already plotting against him.
"Oooh, we can buy him a puppy to keep him company." Willow grinned "Or maybe a cat, so his shoes won't get annihilated." She said in afterthought.
"Yeah and maybe we can get him hooked on videogames." Xander laughed.
"There will be no such thing as videogames in my room." Giles tried again. The nurse shook her head chuckling and left the room with Buffy to get the paper works in order. Once the nurse was out of earshot the joking stopped.
"I know they said no stress but I kinda need to tell ya somethin', Giles." Faith spoke up.
"I'm already in the hospital, Faith, help is just outside the door." He smiled, assuring Faith she could continue.
"Me and B had a dream." She stated.
"A Slayer dream?" Xander questioned.
"Not sure, wasn't anything like really prophetic or anythin'." Faith shrugged "Cordy showed up and told us that the bad guys can't unlock Abbadon 'cause it can only be unlocked by an angel, or in our case, a person who's pure and innocent."
"Do you know who this person is?" Giles prodded.
"Not yet, but she did say it's the same person that found me but not everyone under Red's spell thing, and it ain't Peter so I'm bettin' Superboy knows who." The brunette replied, leaning back in her chair.
After another round of joking with the nurse and more people telling Giles to stay away from stressful situations they were on their way back home. Much to Buffy's annoyance she had to sit in back instead of driving Faith's beloved car. When they arrived at the mansion Giles felt his heart swell at the sight of the plus fifty girls standing outside with a large banner across the entrance saying "Feel better soon, Giles.".
"Told ya the girls would be happy when you got back."
"It's hardly been a day." He managed to say, still a little in awe.
"We weren't just joking in the hospital, Giles. You're like a father to all of us." Willow smiled and squeezed his shoulder. Even though the school semester was still ongoing, for the younger Slayers, the adults had come to an agreement that their schooling would be canceled until the upcoming apocalypse was averted. There weren't any objections coming from the other Slayers when they had announced it. There was another reason as well, the lack of freelance teachers.
Giles was assisted to his room after each Slayer came over and gave him a hug; some of them even chastised him for scaring him like that. Buffy had disappeared from Faith's sight which made Faith grin a little, knowing that she was right about the blonde and Peter but that her sister Slayer was too scared to fess up. She shook her head chuckling before saying her goodbyes to Willow and Xander and headed up to her room where she guessed Niki was still sleeping after staying up last night to keep a watch on the girls.
"I'm going to get some sleep. Hospitals just aren't the same as my own bed." Xander grinned and hopped up the stairs, leaving Willow in the hallway with a bunch of Slayers.
"Yeah right." She mumbled and headed up the stairs as well, but not going to her room. She opted to do some meditation in her own recreation room when she heard music coming from one of the other recreation rooms on that floor, but that wasn't what interested her, it was the soft singing that accompanied it.
"So what is it that brings to mind all these little thoughts? It's something that brings up feelings that I could never ever have fought." Willow peered in the room seeing a blonde girl scribbling something on paper while singing along with the song.
'That's Claire.' Willow frowned confused 'When did she dye her hair?'
"Those eyes, oh my. The sweetest jaded green, matches any single sky." Willow noticed that Claire deliberately changed the lyrics because in the song the woman was singing about blue eyes. "And I fear, oh dear, that I just might be falling. Oh please, will you hold me near."
'Who's got green eyes around here?' She thought. For a second she considered leaving the girl but she had missed the sound of someone singing too much. She felt like the girl was singing it to her, but that was just silly because Claire didn't even know she was standing there.
"'Cause honey, babe, I hope and pray that every day I can see those eyes." Claire looked up from whatever she was writing and then grew wide-eyed.
"Willow, what are you doing here? Was I too loud?" The blonde started panicked and quickly turned off the music.
"No, no, you weren't too loud, in my opinion not loud enough because I had to almost come in the room to hear you clearly but then you would've seen me and obviously your reaction was to stop and that wasn't my intention because," she took a breath and blushed a little at the teenager's amused look "I was just listening to you sing. You've got a beautiful voice." Willow smiled and walked further in the room. "When did you go blonde?" She asked gesturing to the new look.
"Oh, I am a blonde, but I dyed my hair brown a few months ago." She explained, fingering her blonde curls nervously. "How-how long have you been listening?"
"Just the last couple of lines. Like when you changed the lyrics to make it green eyed?" Willow grinned slightly when Claire's cheeks turned a shade of pink.
"I, uh, I do that all the time. Whatever sounds better to me." The young blonde forced a casual smile. The redhead nodded, unconvinced and indicated to the piece of paper that Claire held in her hand.
"Can I ask you what that is?" She questioned.
"A song I've been writing for Peter." She shrugged casually "I don't think he knows just how much he's my hero."
"He's your uncle right?" The redhead inquired. She knew all of this, like she knew most things about the girls but she wanted them to trust her so she pretended she didn't know.
"Yeah, my biological father was Nathan Petrelli but I was adopted because he couldn't have a kid by another woman than his wife running around messing with his political career." She shrugged.
"I wish I was adopted." The redhead snorted in response.
"Why? Where your parents that bad?" The blonde questioned curiously.
"My parents never really paid any attention to me. After Sunnydale went all crater-y I called them and told them along with telling them I was in Cleveland they asked me 'now why would you want to live there? I thought you were going to stay in Sunnydale?'. Haven't heard from them after that." Willow told the young girl.
"That sucks." Claire said sullenly wrinkling her nose at the thought of the redhead's parents.
"Yeah, well, I got a new family in exchange." Willow grinned. "Are you going to tell who your secret crush is?" The witch tried now that Claire was a little in thought.
"What? No." The blonde grinned and stuck her tongue at the redhead.
"That's mature." Willow grinned, then after a few seconds she did the same eliciting a giggle from the teen.
It was a little past dinner time and Giles was, much to his discontent, still in his room. The moment he tried to leave his quarters there were at least three girls ordering him back in. He was now waiting for someone to collect him for dinner when someone knocked on the door and entered the room with a platter filled with food.
"I can't even go down for dinner?" He sighed annoyed.
"Nope, you're to stay here 'til further notice." Buffy smiled sweetly and set the platter on a small table.
"I feel like a child who is being punished for sneaking out in the middle of the night." Giles sighed and sat down on the single chair, grabbing a book. He noticed the blonde eying him slightly and raised his head to meet her eyes "What is it, Buffy?"
"I was just wondering." She hesitated a little but continued after getting an affirmative nod from Giles "What triggered the heart attack? You're a healthy guy and not too old or anything."
"Buffy, I am fifty-three years old and in this type of life it was compelled to happen sooner or later." He smiled warmly "Why do you ask?"
"Just wanted to know you wouldn't get a heart attack after I tell you this." She took a deep breath and sat on the bed facing the older man. She felt like she was about to tell her mother. "Giles, me and Peter started a relationship." She said calmly, waiting to gauge the older man's reaction before continuing.
"I don't see any problem, Buffy, he is a nice young man and you're an attractive young woman, no one ever expected you to stay alone after Sunnydale." He deliberately left out the mention of Spike.
"We've only started dating for like a week, but a few weeks ago I, uh, sorta got caught up in my after slayage effects and well, you can guess the rest." She blushed when Giles' eyes widened for a second and he began stammering before controlling himself.
"Again, I don't see-"
"I think I'm pregnant." Buffy blurted out.
Chapter 14
"YOU'RE WHAT? DO YOU WANT ME TO HAVE ANOTHER HEART ATTACK?"
Outside the room several Slayers winced at the harshness of Giles' voice. Most of them figured it was Kennedy or Faith who was getting their heads bitten off by their Watcher. The shout woke Niki from her sleep causing Faith to stride up to Giles' room but she was stopped by Peter.
"I wouldn't go in there if I were you." He said, not backing down from Faith's glare "Buffy's in there talking to Giles about us."
"Us as in, you and B?" The Slayer asked. The young man nodded in response. "Fine." The brunette turned and went back to her room.
In the meanwhile, in Giles' room.
"Giles, calm down, I'm not sure and I'd rather not have everyone find out." Buffy said, standing up and cautiously walking over to the older man.
"Where is he?" Giles growled as he stood up and began making his way over to the door but Buffy stopped him.
"Giles, no, he doesn't know. Nobody knows, just you and me." The blonde put her hands up to keep him away from the door.
"How could you be so…" He turned around, waving his hands in frustration.
"Stupid? Blonde? Just plain ol' Buffy?" The blonde tried to lighten his mood.
"Irresponsible." Giles turned around with a heavy sigh. "What were you thinking, Buffy?" The blonde was overwhelmed by guilt. She stood there looking at the man she saw as her mentor, her friend, her father.
"I wasn't thinking, the Slayer just took over and by the time I realized what was happening I couldn't stop." Buffy replied "And, you know," she sighed with her eyes lightly cast downward "birth control? Not like I've got a lot of experience with that seeing as the guys I slept with weren't exactly able to reproduce. Thank god for that." She mumbled the last part.
"What about Riley? He was human." Giles asked. Buffy congratulated herself for getting Giles off the Peter subject, even for a few moments.
"With all those drugs they slipped him? I don't think he's ever gonna have kids." The blonde snorted. Silence crept in the room; neither of them could look at the other. Buffy fidgeted nervously on her shirt while Giles was leaning against his wall, obviously thinking hard.
"Buffy, if you are indeed," he swallowed hard "expectant, then you cannot fight with us." He said softly.
"Like hell I won't! You need me, pregnant or not, I am fighting." Buffy's voice raised a notch. She started glaring at the older man for wanting to keep her from fighting along with her friends.
"No, you will not! If I am going to be a grandfather I will not have my daughter risk losing her child!" His eyes grew hard as he stared at the blonde. Neither of them knew that just outside the door Peter was nailed to the floor.
'I'm gonna be a dad?'
Claire was in one of the training rooms, sparring against Kennedy. There were about a dozen girls surrounding them, wanting to see which of the two was stronger. So far they were still equals. The other Slayers were holding bets as to who would win but that didn't matter to the two sparring Slayers. They were trying to show off their moves to impress their certain someone. Kennedy knew Willow would be entering the training room any minute; the redhead would go around the mansion and ask who's going home and who's staying.
"Slayers." Willow muttered under her breath with a roll of her eyes as she entered the room. Claire glanced at the redhead and smirked.
"It would be pretty embarrassing if you would take a dive with Willow standing there, wouldn't it?" She winked at the brunette and evaded Kennedy's kick, only to grab her leg and twisted it. It didn't have the effect she wanted because Kennedy was already expecting it, coming at the blonde with a kick to the head with her other leg.
"You know, being the leader of my group I would've thought you were smarter than that." Kennedy said, still in fighting stance when Claire spit some blood on the ground and wiped her mouth, getting in fighting position as well.
"It's not just about the power, Kennedy." She feigned a right punch, knowing Kennedy would block it and threw a jab in the brunette stomach, hard enough to make her double over. She kicked the legs from under the older Slayer's legs and placed her foot on Kennedy's neck. "That's why I'm the leader of your group now; I'm able to swallow my pride. You just want to be the hero and get all the attention."
"Bitch." Kennedy grunted and grabbed the blonde's foot. Claire grinned and in a split second she was on top of Kennedy, with her knees on the brunette's arms. "Get off."
"What? I thought you'd be used to having a girl sit on you?" She looked up and saw straight in the amused green eyes she loved seeing each and every day. Kennedy wouldn't stop struggling under her so she looked down with a raised eyebrow "We done now?" Seeing the older Slayer nod she jumped off and straightened her clothes. She stuck her hand out to Kennedy who reluctantly took it and pulled herself up.
"Are you girls done playing now?" Willow asked, trying to hide her amusement from seeing Kennedy get beat by a younger Slayer.
"Yeah, we're done. What do you want?" Kennedy asked a little, a lot, frustrated that a younger Slayer beat her.
"I wanted to know if any of the girls here are going home for Thanksgiving." A few hands went in the air and Willow counted a total of five girls, including Kennedy. She frowned for a second, not remembering Kennedy going home for Thanksgiving the year before.
"You're going home? That means I won't get to kick your ass again." Claire mockingly pouted her bottom lip and made it quiver, looking at the brunette with puppy eyes.
"Shut up." Kennedy glared then chuckled slightly at the blonde's mock hurt expression "And yeah, I'm going home. There's no reason for me to stay here for the holidays." She said, looking pointedly at the redhead. The witch in question shook her head with a sigh and left the training room, feeling Kennedy's eyes burning in her back.
"Geez, Kenny, there are other girls out there." Claire felt actual sympathy for the older Slayer.
"Yeah, but none like Will." Kennedy replied "Anyway, I'm leaving the day after tomorrow. I'm gonna go pack, see you guys later." She waved her goodbye and left the room.
Peter was wandering through the garden, constantly repeating one phrase in his head. You need me, pregnant or not, I am fighting. Pregnant. Or not.
'Me, have a baby?' His thoughts were interrupted by a slender brunette suddenly walking beside him.
"You scared of being a dad?" Faith asked. She knew Buffy was pregnant, it was the last thought she could hear coming from the blonde before she started avoiding Faith.
"I should've known something was wrong, she kept shutting me out of her mind." He replied "And today, she's been avoiding me all day."
"Yeah, well, it's scary for her too, y'know. A slayer's lifespan isn't exactly long and now she's got somethin' in the oven. Talk 'bout cookies bein' done." She said the last part under her breath, remembering the conversation she had with Buffy to cheer the younger Slayer up after Robin.
"She still wants to fight, you know." He said looking at Faith "Pregnant or not, she wants to help."
"Well, I guess that means that she can stay with Niki then. 'Cause I sure as hell don't want no pregnant Slayer fightin' with us." She grinned and patted the young man's back supportive.
"Giles is pretty mad at me." He stated, gazing at the mansion.
"What'd you expect? You knocked up his favourite." Faith laughed in a friendly way "But he'll get over it, eventually. You just hope he keeps the Ripper in or you're sweet powers won't help you."
"The Ripper is bad, right?" Seeing his friend nod he sighed nervously "How do I lessen the possibility of him coming out?"
"Be there for Buffy, don't break her heart." She replied with a small smile. She liked Peter, he was different.
"Yeah, I can do that." He then looked thoughtful for a moment and looked at the brunette with a slightly confused expression "You didn't come here to be all considerate about Buffy's pregnancy, did you?"
"No, I actually wanted to know how ya found me." She shrugged.
"I told you, a tracking system." He replied, looking at the ground.
"I don't believe it, 'cause apparently whoever found me is the only one to unlock Abbadon, so I'm guessin' it's a person." She smirked at his surprised expression then frowned when his eyes started showing fear.
"Does that mean the demons are going after her?" Peter stopped walking and looked panicked.
"Once they find out it's gotta be a person who's pure an innocent, then yeah. So I'm advisin' you to go get whoever that is and bring her here." The moment she finished the sentence Peter had took off in the sky. "Damn, I wish I had that power." She murmured, staring up at the sky where Peter had disappeared.
Peter landed on the roof of a building in the centre of New York. He quickly made his way down several flights of stairs until he came to a halt at one apartment. The door was forced open. He entered the room carefully, scanning his surroundings. When he heard a soft groan he rushed to it, finding Mohinder on his back with several bleeding gashes.
"Mohinder, are you okay? Where's Molly?" He asked, checking over his wounds. He used the enhanced strength he had absorbed from Niki and gently lifted the man up and placed him on the bed.
"She's not here, she's at school." He groaned in pain. Peter sighed relieved. "Peter, the things that did this, they weren't human."
"I know, that's why I need to get to Molly, they're after her." He replied. He saw the phone standing by the bed and quickly dialled the mansion.
"Faith! Good, look you need to pick someone up; he got attacked by those followers. I'm going to get Molly, she's the girl they're after." He nodded a few times and then put the phone down.
"Mohinder, whatever you do, don't get spooked when a redhead pops up in here, she's a good witch and she's gonna take you somewhere safe." The words barely left his mouth when two figures appeared in front of the bed, Willow and Faith.
"Whoa, what a rush." The brunette chuckled then turned serious seeing Mohinder staring at her and the redhead. "Let's go Superboy, take me to the girl."
"Right." He nodded and turned to Mohinder "She's good, just do anything she tells you to." With that he grabbed Faith by the arm and jumped out of the window a spilt second before going invisible. A few minutes later they reappeared in an alley around the corner of Molly's school.
"This is an elementary school!" Faith exclaimed, following the young man in the school.
"Molly's seven years old." He simply said, receiving a simple 'oh' from the brunette. He walked straight to the secretariat. A young woman smiled at them and asked what she could help them with.
"I'm here for Molly Walker." He said somewhat rushed. With the help of Matt Parkman they had been able to convince the school that Molly was under the witness protection program and that only three people were allowed to see her in school and pick her up. Those people were Matt Parkman, Mohinder Suresh and Peter Petrelli.
"Okay, what's your name? We have a strict rule on people who want to see Molly." She said with a small smile.
"Peter Petrelli." He answered. The woman nodded and walked around her desk, going in one of the hallways. After a minute or two she came back with Molly. She noticed Peter and let go of the woman's hand, running towards Peter with a big smile. The young man picked her up and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Faith smiled adoringly at the pair, noting that the woman had gone back behind her desk.
"Look Molly, we need to go." He said, looking at the young girl. She nodded, knowing that when they came to pick her up early that someone was after her. Faith and Peter nodded their goodbye at the woman and left the school building. When they were out of sight he told Faith to hold him tight, with Molly in between them. They turned invisible again and took off in the air, flying back to Cleveland.
"That was wicked cool, man." Faith exclaimed when they landed in front of the mansion. Peter grinned letting go of Faith but kept Molly in his arms. They entered the large mansion.
"This is going to be your home for a little while, Molly. You'll be safe here." He set her down, watching in amusement as she took in the large hall.
"What about Mohinder?" She asked then turned her head quickly when she heard her name. "Kennedy!" She yelled and ran in the arms of the Slayer.
Chapter 15
Faith and Peter stood shocked. Peter because he didn't know what was going on and Faith more because the sight of Kennedy on her knees in tears as she hugged the little girl.
"I thought you were dead." Kennedy whispered "When I heard the news about James and Shelly, I just." She let the girl go just enough to see the small girl crying too "Oh Molly, I'm never gonna let you go."
"I couldn't find you. I used my power to find you but I couldn't, I thought the boogeyman got to you, too." Molly sobbed in the Slayer's arms.
"He didn't, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere." They hugged for a few more seconds when they heard a soft cough, indicating that they weren't alone. Kennedy wiped away her own tears before wiping Molly's and kissing her forehead. She stood back up, but didn't let go of Molly's hand.
"You two know each other?" Peter stated the obvious, pointing between Molly and Kennedy.
"Yeah, I'm her godmother. Her father was my half-sister's boyfriend when they were younger. When they broke up we were still friends, best friends even." Kennedy smiled at the small girl who smiled widely back. "When Molly was born, I was about thirteen but James didn't look at my age, he just knew I would love Molly no matter what."
"But, you know about her power?" Peter inquired.
"Yeah, when she was, I think four or maybe five she would play hide and seek with me, and she would always find me so I joked about her having some special power and she told me that that was how she could find me." Kennedy explained.
"And 'cause you were under Red's spell she couldn't when she needed ya the most." Faith said thoughtful. "Red, how's the patient?" She asked Willow coming down the stairs.
"He'll be fine; he just needs to rest now." She said with a small smile then looked back and forth between Kennedy and the little girl "Don't tell me this is who they're after?" Faith and Peter nodded in response. "Dear Goddess." She breathed and knelt down in front of the girl.
"Hi, I'm Willow." She stuck out her hand and Molly shook it "Mohinder will be fine, he got a little hurt trying to protect you but he'll be okay in a few days."
"Mohinder?" Kennedy asked confused.
"He adopted me after the boogeyman was defeated." Molly replied. "Is Matt going to get hurt, too?" She directed her question at her two saviors.
"No, I don't think so, Molly." Peter smiled "But we'll call him to tell him you're with us." Molly's smile was all the answer Peter needed.
"Hey Ken, why don't ya take Molly to the new game room, Micah's probably there and then we gotta talk." Faith said. Kennedy wanted to protest but Molly's excited squeal distracted her.
"Micah's here, too?" She asked, practically bouncing. Kennedy chuckled and nodded, leading the girl up the stairs.
"I'm going to talk to Buffy." Peter said and left without waiting for an answer.
"Okay, talk." Kennedy said annoyed, flopping in one of the chairs in the library.
"Don't start; I don't wanna be here just as much as you." Faith recoiled irritated. Kennedy rolled her eyes and mumbled an apology. She knew Claire was in the room, but didn't look at her.
"Since B is… occupied I'm gon' try somethin'. I don't think you'll like it but tough, you'll just have to deal." Faith said, waiting for both girls to nod before proceeding "I want you two to be co-leaders. That means" she said a little louder when both girls started protesting "that whatever decisions ya make will be discussed with each other. Before actin', try to find a compromise."
"Like you and Buffy did?" Kennedy retorted angrily.
"That was different, that was THE battle. When this battle with Abbadon comes, all the Slayers are gon' have to listen to me." Faith snapped. Both younger Slayers were thinking the same thing after that statement.
'What about Buffy?'
Peter knocked softly on Buffy's door. A few moments later Buffy opened the door, smiling as she stepped aside to let her lover in. Behind closed doors was so much easier for both of them. Peter relaxed but not enough to reassure Buffy. The blonde started panicking inwardly thinking that he found out and was about to tell her that they should stop seeing each other.
"So… you think it would take long before Kennedy tries to kill Claire for taking over her group?" Buffy tried making small talk.
"Buffy, I know you're pregnant." Peter said, not wanting to delay this turmoil inside his head. He had to know what her plans were.
"Oh." Buffy replied. "Are you, you know, angry?"
"I don't know what I am." He said throwing his hands up "There are like a millions things running through my head. I'm scared, most of all. Scared that when it does come to a big fight that you might lose our baby. Or I might lose both of you."
"Peter, don't tell me-" she started then grew wide-eyed "You, you're not like breaking up with me? Or telling me I should, you know, get rid of it? Because I do want this baby."
"What?" Peter stared at her shocked "No, I don't. And it's not just because Faith scared me about the Ripper, I want to make this work." He took the blonde's hands in his and placed a kiss on them. Buffy grinned and kissed him hard.
"I'm still fighting." She said sternly pulling away. Peter rose an eyebrow and wrapped his arms around her.
"Like hell you will." He kissed her before she could protest.
Faith entered the game room and saw Micah showing off to Molly. Kennedy was sitting not to far from the two kids with a small smile on her face. She glanced at Faith for a second but then proceeded watching the two children.
"I need to tell ya somethin' 'bout Molly." Faith said softly, taking a seat next to Kennedy. The younger brunette nodded in response, letting Faith know she was all ears.
"The bad guys are after her, they need her for unlockin' Abbadon." She made sure her voice was low so neither Micah nor Molly could hear her.
"Why Molly?" Kennedy turned her head at the older Slayer with a worried expression.
"Because she's pure and innocent, accordin' to Cordy, like an angel." Faith answered, not missing the flash of pride in the younger Slayer's eyes at the mention of 'like an angel'.
"I'll protect her." Kennedy stated.
"We'll all protect her, Ken." Faith said with some anger growing in her voice.
"Yeah, but you'll protect her to keep her out of the hands of the bad guys. I'll protect her because once this is all over; she's going home with me."
"You're leaving after the battle then?" Faith stated more than questioned.
"Yeah, I can't stay here. Seeing Willow… it hurts just too much knowing I can't have her anymore." Kennedy sighed. "If she doesn't want me anymore, I'm not gonna hold her back from falling in love with someone else by staying here and pining over her."
"Stayin' or goin', you'll still be pinin' over her and it don't matter if you're here or not, she will fall in love again if that's what her heart wants. You're bein' an ass if you can't get over it."
"Faith," Kennedy started with a sigh.
"I know it hurts, Ken, but you'll get over it eventually. Don't go runnin' just 'cause a girl broke your heart." She nodded to the two kids "Ya think Molly would like it if ya ripped her away from her friend?"
"No, I guess not." She sighed.
"Besides, I could use an older Slayer with all these hormonal chicks runnin' around when B leaves." Kennedy was surprised to see Faith winking at her before getting up. "Don't leave 'cause of Red." The older Slayer said and left the room.
Claire stomped off to one of the training rooms. She was definitely not happy about sharing her group with Kennedy. She didn't bother taping her hands as she began punching the punching bag furiously.
"If you go at it at that rate, you might end up hurting yourself instead of the person you're imagining." Claire snickered at the voice behind her. She turned and saw Niki, or was it Jessica, leaning against the door jamb.
"Faith made me and Kennedy co-leaders." Claire snorted. "Co-leaders, what the hell?"
"Maybe you should make it work. Faith can have good ideas, you know." The blonde said walking over to Claire.
"You're just saying that because she's your girlfriend." The young Slayer took a guess at who she was talking to.
"Correction, my sister's girlfriend." Jessica grinned and grabbed the punching bag from behind, motioning for Claire to hit it again. "Faith thinks that you two could complete each other in battle. You're the caring one, always putting your girls' safety first and Kennedy goes for the win."
"Me and Kennedy hardly complete each other, we don't even like each other." The young Slayer was getting more relaxed but still threw some hard punches at the bag.
"Buffy and Faith didn't at first either." Jessica replied, remembering some of the stories Faith had told Niki and her about the early stages of their friendship, or the lack of. "Look at them now, they're like sisters."
"We all are sisters, sister Slayers, but that doesn't mean we like each other." Claire countered.
"Kennedy can be very ambitious, but when it comes right down to it, I don't think she'll want any of her girls getting hurt." Jessica smirked when she came to a silent realisation. "Or is it because Kennedy-"
"Don't." Claire interrupted as she stopped throwing punches, panting slightly.
"It is, isn't it?" Jessica's smirk grew wider when the teenager in front of her started glaring. "You should tell her."
"Yeah right." Claire snorted with a roll of her eyes. "Hey Willow, I know you're like twenty-three and I'm just sixteen but how about we get together, it could be fun." She said, sarcasm clear in her voice.
"I think you should tell her, who knows what'll happen?" Jessica suggested.
"She'll babble nervously and then say I'm too young and that we can still be friends. Then she'll avoid me at all costs." She replied sullen.
"There's a big chance of her saying that, but there's also a chance of you convincing her." The older woman said and left the room, leaving Claire to think about it.