one last chance

Chapter 17

*in this chapter I was evil. You'll see. and hopefully like it* 

Later that night Buffy escaped up to her bedroom hoping to steal a few moments for herself alone. She opened her bedroom door dreaming of the hot bath she could sink herself into. Training started tomorrow and from there the semi-break from the constant work would be over. Buffy felt excited about the training, she was much more of a physical action taker than a researcher. As she walked into her bedroom she sang a song to herself.

"Early one morning

just as the sun was rising,

I heard a maid singing in the valley below,"

She stopped singing and shrieked when she saw a figure perched in her window. A brunette head turned to face her.

"Oh my goodness! Faith! You scared the crap out of me!" She said a bit breathlessly.

"Sorry B. Needed to escape for a bit." Fait replied.

"Yeah, I know what you mean, I came up here for that to." Buffy joined Faith by her bay window that faced out toward the school.

"Some of these girls are going to die." Faith started, "and there's not a damn thing we can do about it."

"It's not like last time. We can beat this. We have more people and we're better prepared and…" Buffy trailed off. Unwilling to voice what both of the women were thinking.

"And it might not matter in the end. We might still lose some of them." Faith finished for her.

"I know. We might lose ourselves to, or Willow or Robin or any of the others." Buffy filled in the final part of the thought.

"And you might lose Spike."

Buffy looked up at Faith in shock. As conflicted as she had been, going from feeling angry and betrayed to wanting what he offered her from one minute to the next, she had yet to act on any of these feelings.

"You look at him like I looked at Robin." Faith answered her unspoken question, "After all what song were you singing when you walked in here?" she finished with a not so subtle question.

"I used to envy you." Buffy confessed.

"Why?" Faith asked, "I envied you. I wanted what you had and have. Your family."

"I wanted your freedom. Lack of responsibility, your ability to do what you want. I always felt so hemmed in." Buffy answered honestly.

"I would have given anything for your ties. I would have taken all that in trade for people who loved me." Faith answered just as honestly.

"I guess you found it." Buffy said, referring to Robin. Faith told her about how he proposed and continued to do so.

"And I guess your ignoring it." Buffy knew Faith was talking about Spike again. Buffy ignored the implied implications of Faith's final statement as Faith rose and left the room. Buffy rose from her bed and walked into her bathroom and began to run a warm bath.

Anne quietly climbed out of the window in the room she shared with Dawn and from there she climbed to the rooftop. She already had thrown a blanket and pillow up there and spread those out so she could star gaze. She missed star gazing with her mother back at home.

The soft crunch of footsteps to her left caused her to roll to her feet and fall into the fighting position she practiced so much it now felt natural.

"It's ok, it's just me." Connor's figure emerged from the shadows.

Anne slowly relaxed her tense stance. "What are you doing out here?" she asked.

"I like high places, on Quor Toth the safest places where the high platoo's. I guess that's a habit that's hard to break. I go up on the roof of the hotel all the time back home. Sometimes I fall asleep up there. You?" He asked.