Disclaimer: I blame Kennedy on Joss.

Author’s note: Some Dialogue taken from ‘Empty Places’ Thanks to BTL for the betating. Sorry it took so long to get an update of this one out!
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Chapter 46: Boinking

She might have changed but she still had low tolerance for the many annoyances she put up with day to day in Liz’s house.

Buffy cringed as she walked through the house. She could hear Anya’s little talk that was happening in the basement. Why the hell would she tell the potentials that she had sex with Xander? Buffy shook her head in disbelief and headed into the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Faith was sitting on the island eating chips, Kennedy was standing to the side, talking with her, as was Amanda, Dawn‘s friend. The conversation ceased as Buffy entered the kitchen though.

“Thing is... what's the point? Studying demon hot zones and pressure points doesn't do a hell of a lot of good when preacher man's out there, ready to finish the job he started,” prattled on Kennedy, finally regaining her tongue as Buffy stood there waiting for her to finish her sentence.

“No one's come up with any info on Caleb yet?” asked Faith turning around to look at Buffy for the info.

“No. Nothing is working...Not research, not Anya's contacts,” supplied Amanda when Buffy didn’t speak up.

“We're lousy with dead ends around here,” Kennedy said crossing her arms. “Everyone's feeling pretty pointless. We don't even have a place to start,” she complained.

“Maybe you should get up off your ass and do something productive then?” Buffy snapped at Kennedy. “Has it occurred to you that everyone who can do something is trying their best? You just seem content on complaining about it. Maybe it’s your turn to do something useful. Instead of boinking the witch. I don‘t exactly call that useful.”

Faith started to chuckle. “Boarding school has met her match,” noted Faith.

“Boarding school?” asked Buffy sceptically. Her eyes looked Kennedy up and down. She snorted and headed towards the dining room. “Is this the pathetic excuse for education that American boarding schools turn out? Embarrassing.”

Buffy headed into the dining room with a smile on her face, to be greeted by Liz, who had just come back from the hospital, with Dawn.

“Did you just say boinking?” asked Dawn of her grandmother.

“I did,” admitted Buffy now realising that everyone in the dining room had heard her attack on Kennedy, including the boinking part.

Liz put down a file on the table and looked up to see Faith, Kennedy, and Amanda walk in behind Buffy.

“Whatcha got?” asked Faith, moving around Buffy.

“Info that Giles and Willow were able to pull off the police database. We figured with Caleb's, you know, overt religiosity thing if we wanna learn more about him, let's find out where he's been,” explained Liz as Faith leafed through the folder.

“’Incidents of violence and vandalism connected to California religious institutions in the last 10 years.’ Looks like this gives us a place to start,” noted Faith.

“Yeah. I figure we start with California. We don't find anything there, we'll expand the search. But a guy like Caleb didn't just get in the game. He's been playing for a while, and I wanna know where. Whatever it takes.” Liz turned to Dawn. “You good to help?”

“Well, I was gonna do lots and lots of homework, but darn the luck, they went and cancelled school.” Liz handed Dawn the papers. “So looks like I got the time.”

“Good,” deadpanned Liz.

Buffy stepped back against the wall as Liz got everyone started on the research, or back down to the basement for Anya’s fun talk. There was no light in Liz’s eyes. It was as if she’d already given up. And that was sad. It was something that Buffy had never lost...or at least never admitted to herself that she had lost.

Buffy didn’t give up. Even after Angelus killed her family and left her paralysed, she didn’t give up. After the Watcher’s Council tried to kill her, she didn’t give up, she just moved on to something else. Even when Spike was faithful to Drusilla all those years...well it continued to prove her the point. Liz needed to have a good talking to. If that would help any.

By Anyanka, she hoped it helped. ‘Cause this granny was going to make sure her genes got passed on to the next generation, apocalypse or not. And she really wanted to beat Kennedy to a pulp.
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Buffy paced the length of the basement as Spike watched. She wanted to do something, anything to get Liz out of her funk. She wanted to make the world a better place for Dawn and Liz and she really wanted to squish Kennedy like a bug. It was a feeling that wasn’t going away.

“Stop pacing luv,” asked Spike calmly. “You’re driving me up the wall.”

She stopped suddenly and turned towards her mate.

“You don’t get it. She’s given up. Where does she get that from? She’s gonna die and she’s gonna let it happen,” she ranted.

“Are you more concerned about Liz dying or about her death mucking up your plans for the bloody Immortal?” he asked calmly.

Buffy turned towards him with a start and stepped closer to him, forcing herself to not slap him across the face just as the instinct to raise her arm came over her.

“That was mean,” she countered lamely. “And so not true.”

She geared up for an argument. He knew her so well that often it wasn’t a good idea to start arguing with him, but this time...this time he wasn’t right. Unfortunately they were, at that moment summoned to the upper floor by the watcher.

With a glare at her mate, Buffy turned and headed up, leaving Spike on the cot wondering what he did wrong. Okay, he knew, but he didn’t think he deserved death glare for it.

“What's up... Rupert?” Spike asked as he and Buffy entered the room that held the watcher, Dawn, and Andrew.

“Spike, I have a mission for you, and Buffy,” noted Giles not looking up from the file he held in his hand.

“Oh, really? 'Cause, you know, sometimes our missions end up with you not bothering to care whether or not I come back from them. I'm not fond of those,” noted Spike bitterly, referring to the time Robin had led him to the garage of crosses.

“This is bona fide... with real ramifications. Take a look at this,” offered the watcher handing Spike the folder and the magnifying glass.

“Looks like our boy's been here. You want me to go check it out?” asked Spike handing the file to Buffy for her confirmation.

Buffy didn’t get the connection, but she believed her man. If Spike said the Watcher was right, then Rupert Giles was right.

“I need someone who can take care of themselves in case Caleb has... left some souvenirs,” explained Giles.

With a nod of his head Spike turned to go out the door, half expecting Buffy to follow after him, half expecting her to protest the fact that she hadn’t been consulted.

“Are we gonna get to the food-stealing issue soon?” whined Andrew.

“Take Andrew,” Giles called out after Spike.

Buffy gawked at the suggestion while the two men involved barked their incredulity.

“Well, you are always saying you wanna get out of the house more,” Dawn said, turning to Andrew.

“Yeah, but...” started the nerd.

“There may be demons... lurking about. You never know. He's a demon expert. He can help,” explained Giles at Buffy‘s annoyed look.

“Oh, please,” exclaimed an exasperated Spike.

“Well, he can bring his pan flute thing along. Excellent. Off you go,” noted Giles, pushing Andrew towards Spike.

Buffy and Spike locked eyes for a moment and each of them recognized that Buffy wouldn’t be going on this little mission after all. She couldn’t stand the boy.

“Have fun!” Buffy said half seriously to the two retreating men.

“Not going?” asked Dawn.

“No, let them do their macho thing, without the little woman tagging along for once,” noted Buffy with a smile, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall.

She faded into the background as Dawn and Faith decided that it was time to relax with the girls at the Bronze. On her own, Buffy didn’t see the harm in it. They all did need to get some tension out of their systems. But she knew instinctively that Liz would have a problem with it. As the whole kit and kaboodle started to get ready for the impromptu bar night, Buffy couldn’t decide if this was her place to butt in or not. Faith was a slayer too and aside from the fact that Faith probably had no real clue as to what Buffy was before she turned vengeance demon, there was no way that Faith would defer to her.

Dawn on the other hand...

Buffy walked up to Dawn’s room and knocked on the door, startling the four or five potentials that were hastily applying makeup with the help of Dawn’s mirror. Dawn came out of her closet arms filled with bar appropriate clothes. The teen’s face fell as she glimpsed Buffy though and she threw the clothes down on the bed and stomped to the vengeance demon in the doorway.

“You are going to tell me you don’t want me to go, aren’t you?” she pouted.

Buffy put a hand on Dawn’s arm and sighed. “Pretty much. I don’t think it’s safe for you out there. I’ve seen towns and cities that are on the brink of revolution, anarchy, and chaos. Sunnydale isn’t a nice place anymore. Spike would want you safe, as would Liz, and as do I.”

Sadly Dawn nodded. Buffy could tell that the teen wasn’t happy with this but she struggled to not let it show on her face.

“What can we do instead?” asked Dawn, a hopeful smile gracing her face. “New York?”

“I was actually thinking Arashamahar, and see where that takes us?” suggested Buffy. “You can snag stuff from my closet...”

Dawn’s face lit up. Buffy might have been old, but she had the largest collection of clothes Dawn had ever seen.

“We can’t stay long though, Xander’s coming home tonight,” stated Dawn.

Buffy tugged on Dawn’s hand and led her through a portal, leaving a burn mark on the upstairs hallway rug.
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Buffy sat on her bed, in Arashamahar and watched as Dawn rifled through her clothes.

“I’m worried about Liz,” Buffy said finally after a long pause.

“What’s to worry about?” asked Dawn distractedly. “This is apocalyptic stuff. She always wins in the end. There was that time when she died though...” Dawn trailed off holding a tartan mini in her hand.

“Was she this despondent the last time?” asked Buffy.

“No, but the last time, she told me she was stuck in a whole in the ground. Xander saved the world last time.”

Buffy nodded as if she understood. She really didn’t though.

“I don’t think that this time Xander’s going to cut it,” noted Buffy. “Even I’m worried about the world this time. I think Liz has given up.”

“No!” exclaimed Dawn, ignoring the lure of the clothes and sitting down beside Buffy. “She wouldn’t give up. That’s not her.”

“No?” asked Buffy. “Have you seen the look in her eyes? It’s frightening.”

“I’m sure it’s not true,” protested Dawn again.

“The next time you see your sister, look into her eyes and then tell me you feel hope for this end of the world scenario.”
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They arrived back at the house well in time for Xander’s arrival and the welcome home party that the potentials were throwing him. The air in the house was tense though, as if something had happened while they had been away. Buffy looked from one angry face to another, feeling the cry for vengeance that the potentials exhibited. Giles was oblivious, and Faith was nowhere to be seen.

“When Xander comes back, there’s gonna be a meeting,” Kennedy stated to Dawn and glared at Buffy as she walked by.

Dawn seemed eager for the meeting and sat down next to Amanda and started asking what had happened since they had gone.

Nothing good had happened, from what Buffy could gather.

The door opened and Xander, Liz, and Willow entered the house, followed by Faith and the principal. The sign the potentials had made fluttered against the cool night breeze that entered the house through the open door.

“Oh, God,” exclaimed the carpenter as he looked around.

“We didn't have time to do more. You have to pretend there's a big party here,” noted Kennedy.

Dawn jumped up from her seat and hugged her friend, earning a smile from Xander.

“That's fine. Parties in this house, I usually end up having to... rebuild something,” he joked.

“Welcome home, Xander,” started Liz, seriously. “I wanted you to be here for this. I think you'll be interested in what I found out.”

Buffy settled in for a ‘Liz speech’ and leaned against the wall.

“W...what did you find out?” asked Willow only slightly stammering.

“I...it's about the cellar,” Liz continued. “Look, I know that night wasn't fun for any of us... but I figured out some things about that place, and I realize now what we have to do. We're going back in.”

Buffy smelt the burning odour of a portal opening just before Anya appeared at the doorway, with popcorn. “I thought I was missing a meeting,” she piped up happily as she moved over towards Willow on the couch.

The interruption didn’t faze Liz much and soon she was back into the flow of things.

“Look, I know what you're thinking, but I had a visit at the school today from Caleb.”

“Liz, why didn't you..” interrupted Dawn with a concerned tone to her voice.

“I'm fine. I mean, it wasn't fun, but I'm fine. I'm better than fine. I... I figured something out. He kept making all this noise about the school,” explained Liz.

“Is it that seal again?” questioned Robin.

“Do we need to try shutting it again?” asked Willow.

Buffy was starting to get angry with all the interruptions, she wanted to know what Liz was going on about already.

“No, that's just it,” continued Liz. “We've spent all this time worrying about the seal and the Hellmouth. Why isn't Caleb guarding them? Why doesn't he have someone there protecting it? Why is he camped out at the vineyard? The bad guys always go where the power is. So if the seal was so important to Caleb and the First, they would be there right now. They're protecting the vineyard or something at the vineyard. I say it's their power, and I say it's time we go in and take it away from them.”

Buffy could see the disbelief in the faces of the assembled listeners. They didn’t like this suggestion at all.

“Or, in the alternative, how 'bout...we don't? I mean, it's a neat theory, Z, but I'm not going back in that place, not without proof, and neither should you and neither should they,” declared Faith.

“I'm not saying it's gonna be easy,” continued Liz, only to be interrupted again.

“I think Faith had the floor,” the principal spouted.

“Maybe it ends okay the way you wanna play it, but maybe it doesn't. And right now, I don't think I want you playin' the odds,” Faith continued.

“Did you come here to fight?” asked Liz clearly getting angry at the way this conversation was going.

“Listen, we're fighters, all of us, but you gotta give me something to fight, something real, not...” trailed off Faith looking for a metaphor, which Giles provided.

His softly uttered mention of windmills drew Buffy’s blood to boil. It went completely over the heads of most of the people in the cramped living room though.

“There is something there,” reiterated Liz.

“Maybe. But we can't be sure of that. This is a hell of a lot to ask,” interjected Giles.

“Too much,” agreed Robin.

Buffy‘s heart sank. They were against her, the whole lot of them. Ungrateful for her life. Still, valiantly, Liz continued. “I - I don't understand this. For seven years, I've kept us safe by doing this...exactly this, making the hard decisions. And now, what... suddenly you're all acting like you can't trust me?”

“Didn't you say to me today you can't trust us? Maybe there's something there that should be addressed,” Giles commented.

Buffy’s eyes flashed. In her opinion, watchers couldn’t be trusted...ever.

“Is that why you sent Spike away, to ambush me?” asked Liz in a little girl voice, trying to summon more courage in the face of her friend’s lack of confidence.

“Oh, come on,” protested Giles.

“You know what? I am sick of your deal with this Spike guy. This isn't about him. This is about you. You're being reckless,” piped up a potential.

“What?” asked Liz in disbelief.

“You are! I don't even know you, and I can tell! You are so obsessed with beating Caleb, you are willing to jump into any plan without thinking,” continued the potential.

“That's not what I'm doing,” declared Liz.

“Well, that's how it feels to us,” said Kennedy stepping towards Liz. “People are dying.”

Buffy watched with hope as Willow stood up from her spot and walked towards her best friend and her girlfriend.

“Kennedy...” Willow warned her lover.

Kennedy turned around and snapped back at Willow with venom. “Why are you always standing up for her?”

“I'm not,” stated Willow rather sadly.

“You’re not?” asked Buffy incredulously. “Her best friend and you aren’t standing up for her? I guess Kennedy has rubbed off on you after all. I had such hopes.” Buffy stepped into the middle of the room, letting all eyes focus on her. “You are all sheep. Liz is the Slayer. She’s saved the world more times than any other slayer, ever. And that includes me. You’ve all latched on to her coat tails, along for the ride. You know what? If you aren’t happy with her leadership then there is the door. Take your own chances out there, against the bringers, the crazy preacher, and the First. You obviously think you can do better. Who knows, maybe the powerful witch here can protect you long enough to think you can beat the First without Liz’s help and leadership.”

Buffy looked around at the pathetic peons that inhabited the house. “This house stinks of betrayal, cries for vengeance, and BO. I guess that’s always the way it ends for Slayers, betrayed eventually by the people she trusts most. I was lucky enough to have my family killed before I needed them to back me up. Liz hasn’t lost that at least.”

Willow and Xander at least had the decency to look ashamed.

“Where would you be if Liz wasn’t the slayer? What would you be? Would you even be alive?”

“Ooh! I know that one!” Anya offered. “Willow and Xander would be vampires. Faith, Giles, and Robin would be dead, and Molly would be the slayer.” All eyes turned to Anya as she happily munched away on her popcorn. “What?”

“Molly would be alive though,” piped up a random potential.

Eyes locked on Anya again.

“I don’t get to see the future, just alternate dimensions. It’s part of the Mistress of Arashamahar gig.”
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tbc...