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Cassie looks like a deer caught in the headlights when she opens the door. Dawn takes her hand and leads her silently down the hall and into a bedroom.

Her mom appears. "Do I know you?"

"Um, hi, um. I'm Faith Summers... Dawn's... mother-in-law? Sister-in-law! Or something... anyway, Cassie forgot her sunglasses... We just came by to–"

"Oh... Faith! Yes, I know about you from Buffy." She eyes me warily.

"It, um... it was nice to meet Cassie."

We stare at one another silently. I'm still not real good at meeting people for something other than sex or violence.

I clear my throat. "I, uh... I made some cookies. Chocolate chip. You know, just to... say hi or whatever." I hand her the plate awkwardly.

"Thank you." Her stare is intense as she sizes me up. I can only imagine her delight at sending her daughter to visit a criminal's house. "Come sit down."

We sit in the kitchen. My Watcher never trained me in small talk, but I promised Dawn I'd give her some time. "You have a real nice house, Mrs... Ms..." I fall silent. What the hell is Cassie's last name? Norton? Or... "Newton?"

"Thank you. Just Deborah."

"Oh, um, OK."

She picks up a cookie. "You make them with bacon bits? You must follow Dawn's recipe."

"Uh... yeah." Bacon?

"I'm not stupid, Faith."

Oh, crap. Busted. She knows I didn't really make them.

"Um... I just thought..."

"I also know my daughter pretty well. For one thing, I'm pretty sure she didn't even take her sunglasses with her."

Sinking fast here! "Oh, I wonder whose sunglasses..."

"It's OK, Faith." She softens. "It was nice of you to bring Dawn by. I think she and Cassie have some important things to discuss."

"Well... yeah. Maybe so."

"Cassie likes you. And Dawn and Buffy say very nice things. I'm glad to meet you at last." I smile nervously and she smiles back. "So... you're Dawn's other mom."

"More like other sister."

She nods. "I didn't know what to expect, but... I don't think I mind Cassie visiting your house. I bet you didn't even do what you went to prison for."

"Well, actually... I did. I made some bad mistakes."

She nods again. "Well... who hasn't. There are other mistakes you didn't make." A faraway look comes into her eyes.

"Other mistakes....?"

She sighs, and I sense that she's letting out something that has been festering a long time. "Nobody knows this, Faith, but I had two offers of marriage once. I married Cassie's father just because I was pregnant and I thought it was the right thing to do. I said 'no' to a very wonderful woman. You said 'yes' to yours."

I pat her hand, embarrassed at her openness. Another lesbian. What do they put in the water in this town?

 

---

 

On the way home, Dawn is so happy she's nearly skipping. I know the kind of happiness–I feel it sometimes myself. Like when I wake up in the morning, or when I'm drifting off to sleep, or when I hear Buffy's footsteps in the hall, or... well, a lot of the time actually.

I'm glad I could be here for Dawn tonight. I want to do as much as I can every day, with my friends, my family... Just in case I'm not around much longer. I'm starting to realize that if the parole board really has it in for me, they're probably going to get me in the end. Even getting a job might not do much more than stall them. Note to self: be extra nice to your parole officer.

"Creature, if I'm your sister and not your mom... then I have some sisterly advice for you."

"Yeah?"

"Before Buffy sees you, tuck your sweater back in and wipe the lipstick off your neck."

She blushes and smiles sheepishly, wiping at her neck with a tissue. "Guess that explains why you didn't ask how it went with Cassie."

"If I had to guess... I'd say second base."

She hits my arm. "You are so awful!" But she denies nothing.

 

---

 

I don't feel much like talking at breakfast. Buffy's only going to work for a couple of hours and then she's vowed to find me a job. And there's a decision I need some time alone to make. So I've got a lot of thinking to do fast.

As soon as the house is empty, I call a few new numbers from my parole officer. Nobody's interested. No interviews. So I take out the phone number I've kept hidden in my pocket and look at it for a long, long time. I'd do just about anything not to have to call it. But if I want a job, I've got one.

Can they truly hide the real work they want me for, and make everything seem normal on the surface? Probably. I'll have to trust that they can handle the paperwork, forge the records... make it look to the parole board just like any other job. If anyone can do it, they can. I'll do what they tell me, when they tell me... and the rest of the time is mine. And all the while, on paper, I'll be working a regular forty-hour schedule. Not such a bad deal, maybe?

But it scares me. I don't know where it will lead and I don't want to do it. I want nothing to do with those people. Even meeting with them for half an hour made my flesh crawl. I wanted to run and never look back.

It's just a little too much like working for the Mayor again.

And now I have to call them back.

I pick up the phone and throw it across the room. But the truth is, I'll do anything to stay free and be with Buffy for as long as I can. So I pick it up again and dial. Maybe there won't even be an answer.

But of course there is.

OK. I can do this. No sweat. Five by five.

 

---

 

My head's spinning when I get home. My first few hours on the job were very... unpleasant. It's starting to sink in... what I've just done... what I've gotten myself into. There's no backing out now: the paperwork's already on the way to my parole officer, complete with a fake job description. I've even got a check in my pocket already. An advance for future services. Services nobody is better suited to provide than a Slayer.

In a way, the hardest part's over. Now all I'll have to do is jump when they call, and wash the blood out of my clothes at the end of the day.

Thank goodness I got back before Buffy–I'll have to tell her what I've done, but I'm not ready yet. I need time to think, to calm down. I roam the house, looking for a project to distract me from an uncertain future. And from visions of the police showing up in the middle of the night, banging on the door to my house–my home, my sanctuary. I shudder in dread.

OK, stop it, Faith! You're free now. You've met the major terms of your parole. You've got a life, for now, with Buffy and Dawn. Think about that. Don't think about police. Don't think about bars and guards and handcuffs. Think about the most wonderful woman in the whole world, and how much she loves you.

Plan to be with her for a long, long time, and hope that it happens.

 

---

 

I hear Buffy coming in and kicking off her shoes. "Up here, B!"

She looks in our room... then Dawn's... and finally Willow and Tara's old room. Her eyes narrow. "What did you do with the bed?"

"I found a better place for it. You'll see. I felt like doing some rearranging."

"Rearranging the guest bedroom so guests have to sleep on the floor?"

"Not a bedroom any more, B! Study room. Could use another table, probably."

"A study room?"

"Yeah. For you and me when we're in college part time. Remember?"

"Well that's a ways off, but... I guess Dawn can study here anyway."

"Exactly. We'll all use it! And Dawn'll be in college in a year, too. I've got enough saved to help with that."

Buffy shakes her head, smiling. "No need for that. Mom left her something, and she can get loans."

"If I want to help my little sister go to college, that's between her and me, and you can just butt out, B!"

"Fair enough!"

"And we can leave our Scooby mess in here too. No more eating meals around piles of old books and crap."

She nods and shrugs. "Why not? It's your house, baby! And hey, we can use the room for job hunting, too. See?" She holds up a printed list, proudly. "I found all kinds of places that could use my wife's numerous skills. So let's get calling. I'm going to have a working wife by the end of the day or die trying!"

Her exaggerated enthusiasm makes me laugh. "OK, B, let's see what ya got."

Most of the places are ones I already called, but I call a few anyway, just to be nice. No luck, of course. Between Dawn and my parole officer, I pretty much already knew about every job prospect in town.

Buffy's frustrated, even desperate. "There has to be something, Faith, there has to be! You don't have much time!"

I can't leave her hanging. "It's cool, B. You're a big help. But I do have a little something lined up."

"You got an interview?"

"Of sorts. Yesterday."

"And...?"

"And it's... a long story. I'm not really sure what all the job's gonna turn out to be. But it looks like I'm going with it. How about you give me until tomorrow to think things out, and then I'll tell you everything."

She looks at me suspiciously, but then she grins. "But it's a job... a really, for sure job?"

"Not the job I'd choose, but yeah. It'll do for my parole."

She squeals and surprises me by picking me up and spinning me around. "Faith! You're staying! You're staying!" She laughs, and that starts me laughing, and we can't stop. We end up in a pile on the floor, making out and laughing at the same time.

You know, this job doesn't seem like such a bad thing after all!

I spit her hair out of my mouth and roll off of her. "Come on, B, you gotta see what I did with the basement!"

 

---

 

Buffy looks around. "You cleaned up down here! And... you brought down every weapon in the house. Where did you find this? I lost this years ago!" She takes a curved scimitar off the hook where I hung it.

"It was in the vegetable crisper. Don't ask me."

"What is this, like a place to make a stand when we're under attack?"

Hmmm... "I never thought of that, B... that could be fun! But it's our own practice area, right here in the house! No more mooching off the Magic Box! Why didn't you think of this years ago?" I open up some cabinets to show her. "I've started organizing the knives."

"That one's from the kitchen!"

"Yeah, but check it out... perfect balance!" I toss the knife up, catch it, and put it away. "And targets..." I point to the far wall. "And we can hang the dummy here... and the punching bag over here...and we'll get the mats from Giles... and I think we'll need to put up a cage around the washer and dryer."

"Good idea. Can't believe they still work after all the demons I've thrown at them!"

"And no more worrying about the furniture upstairs, B. Kinda cramps my style when my favorite lamp is between you and the wall I want to knock you into. Now, when we want to fight, we've got a place to do it!" I spin around. "So... what do you think?"

Her smile says it all. "Faith, it's wicked cool."

I move in close for a gentle kiss. "I want our home to be a place of violence, Buffy."

"Me too, sweetie. You can look forward to many a humiliating defeat here." Another kiss. "So... explain the bed thing. Extra privacy from Dawn after patrol?"

Willow and Tara's bed is made up in the corner. Only a Slayer can move a bed two floors down on a whim. "Yep. We'll have to have Xander add a lock. You know how the sex goes downhill after marriage?"

"So they say."

"Well, I don't think that goes for Slayers, B." Fighting the forces of evil makes us so hungry and horny, I just don't see the lust fading. Hiding that from Dawn has been a real pain, with her sleeping next door.

Come to think of it, a little fridge would be nice down here, too... maybe a microwave...

Buffy straightens the pillows. "I kinda wondered if we'd still be... you know, all over each other... without the two months' frustration, waiting for the next CV."

"I think we've answered that one, B! A few hours hunting vampires has pretty much the same effect."

"Sure does. I guess down here can be our fancy new CV trailer!"

"You read my mind, B." The thought of prison makes me sick... but somehow the thought of the crappy CV trailer makes me happy. "Plus, I figure it's good to have a bed handy where we spar, anyway. What if I'm kicking your ass, say, and I get the urge to throw you on your back and get you off with just my teeth?"

She sits on the bed. "Now, Faith, that's not even possible."

"Buffy, why would you go and challenge my talents as a wife like that?"

"Why do you think, baby?" She lies back with a gleam in her eye.

Yeah, we're gonna have some real good times down here!

 

---

 

"Faith! Tell us! What's your new job?"

Buffy's as curious as anyone, but she saves me. "She'll tell us tomorrow, Dawn."

I don't want to think about the job when I'm not doing it. I'd rather think about the life it's letting me have.

Dawn hugs me. "I don't care, as long as you're staying."

"I'm staying, Creature."

Willow and Tara take their turns hugging me too. "It's not nice to keep secrets from friends, you know," says Red. "But congratulations anyway."

I raise an eyebrow. "Secrets? You think we don't all know you two are hiding something?"

"What?" says Willow, matching Tara's unconvincing innocent expression.

Dawn digs through the bookshelf and holds up a videotape. "Let's celebrate. Can we watch it yet?"

Our wedding tape. "I promised Xander we'd wait for him, Creature."

"So, we don't tell him, and then we watch it again later!"

"Let's watch it!" Tara begs.

"Yeah," says Buffy, gazing at me lovingly. "I think it's time."

 

---

 

"That was the most beautiful thing ever," sniffles Dawn, snuggled between B and me on the couch. Willow and Tara are in each others' arms at our feet. We went through two boxes of tissues in an hour and a half!

"Sure was, Creature." I'd forgotten just how breathtaking Tara's magic petals were in the air.

Wait a minute...

I lean forward and tap Tara on the shoulder. "OK, out with it!"

The witches turn. "Out with what?"

"I know exactly what you two are up to! I think it's time you shared!"

They look at each other, surprised. "You... know?" Willow stares at me, trying to tell if I'm bluffing.

"You two weren't going to get married until I was free. Well, I'm free now. You guys are totally planning your wedding and not telling anyone!"

Willow and Tara look at each other, and then back at me. Relieved?

"Yeah..." says Willow, "that's it. The wedding. We are so busted!"

Dawn squeals. "So tell us! When is it? What's it going to be like?"

Tara looks at Willow, who shrugs. "Well, it's going to be in the spring. On the equinox. It's going to be outside, in the park."

"This is so exciting!" Buffy clambers off the couch to hug her friends. "What if it rains?"

"It's not going to rain," says Tara.

"It might," I say.

Willow squeezes Tara. "Give my baby a couple of days to prepare, and she can stop a little rain!"

"Nice trick!" I'm impressed. "So what's the plan? Do I get to be a bridesmaid? Are there bridesmaids at a Wiccan wedding?"

"We'll each have one attendant," says Red. She takes Buffy's hands. "How 'bout it?"

Buffy hugs Willow, tears in her eyes. "Oh, Willow!"

"What about you, Tara?" I cross my fingers. Pick me, pick me, pick me!

"Well, I have so many friends... but my very best friend, all these years, is the one I want by my side." She looks at the Creature. "Dawnie?"

Dawn is speechless for a moment. "Me? Oh, I love you guys!"

Much hugging and crying. I can't remember feeling happier! And maybe just a little left out, too. But it's cool. Xander will feel the same way. Can't fit everyone into the ceremony or there's no one to watch!

"Now I have to warn you guys," says Willow, "it might be a little weird. Mostly Wiccan. But a little bit Jewish. My parents really want a rabbi, and they found one who will do it."

Dawn's skeptical. "You're gonna have a Wiccan wedding... led by a rabbi?"

Tara laughs. "No. He'll say a prayer or two at the beginning. But he won't be the one to marry us, not if we can get who we want."

"A witch?" speculates Dawn. "I bet it's one of those big time witches Giles knows in England!"

Willow smiles and looks at me. "Only if we can't get who we really want."

I gasp. "Me?! But... I'm not Wiccan!"

"You brought us back together, Faith. This wedding is happening because of you."

"And who wouldn't want to be married by a Vampire Slayer?" Tara squeezes my hand. "Will you do it?"

I think I'm crying. "Of course I'll do it! Just... give me note cards 'cause I'll forget my lines!"

I join the others on the floor and hug my two magical friends... almost forgetting not to use Slayer strength! We fall into babbling excitedly about the details. Why did they wait to tell us?

As we eventually settle down, Buffy puts her hand on her sister's shoulder. "I think someone else has an announcement to make."

Dawn smiles. I know she's been dying to tell Willow and Tara.

Tara looks at the Key curiously. "What is it, Dawnie?"

Dawn takes a deep breath and blurts out the news. "Cassie is my girlfriend!!"

The witches gape at her.

"OK, let me back up... I'm gay, Cassie's gay, and she's my girlfriend!"

The witches look from me to Buffy. We nod in agreement.

Willow doesn't get it. "But... sweetie... I thought Cassie likes boys."

"Me too. And she thought I did. We were hiding from each other. But not anymore. We're going to the prom together and everything!"

"That's wonderful," says Tara. "I'm so happy for you two!"

"She's really sweet, Dawn," says Willow. "And a little creepy sometimes. Just like you. You're the perfect couple!"

"I know," says Dawn, dreamily.

Willow slowly turns to me. "Which reminds me... shouldn't you be bald? I hear Cassie had a vision."

Dawn looks at me in surprise, too. She'd forgotten that little premonition.

I sigh. "Here we go! You want to take this one, B?"

"All right. I'm going to say this once, as clearly as I can, and then we can put it behind us, OK? Faith did shave off all her hair. I can personally verify this. Cassie's predictions do always come true."

"But..." Willow gestures toward me.

Buffy continues. "But... it was not her head that got shaved. Now you know. Mystery solved. Subject closed."

Dawn puts her hand over her mouth. "Oh, great. I'm the one who's going to have to tell Cassie!" She starts to giggle.

Tara blushes and begins to giggle too. That sets Willow off, and pretty soon we're all crying yet again... from laughing this time!

"You know... what I thought?" I struggle to get the sentence out while laughing. "When she said... I was going to be shaved? I thought..." I lose it for a minute before I find my voice again. "I thought... I was going back... to prison...!"

Everyone goes silent... but it is pretty funny! We're laughing all over again.

"You guys..." laughs Dawn, "you're such pervs!... Cassie had another vision of you, Faith... when we left her place... she saw you with..." Dawn can't stop laughing! "She saw you.. with... handcuffs!"

That's it. Everyone totally loses it. Buffy is gasping for breath she's laughing so hard.

Only I'm not laughing anymore. For me there's nothing sexy about handcuffs. Not after prison. I would never use them that way. The very sight of them would make me panic.

I feel hollow inside. A wave of fear washes over me.

 

---

 

The witches are gone. Dawn's off to her room to call Cassie. They're going out tonight for the first time as a couple. I'm going to the movies with them on Friday, too.

Buffy looks a little sad. Or is it just my mood, after the handcuffs thing?

"You and Dawn get along great. I'm glad you do so much together."

"Yeah. It's awesome being able to work on the garden together finally!"

"And shopping, and movies..."

Buffy is a little sad. Left out? "Oh, B... we'll all go to the movies together sometimes. It's just, you're kind of the mom... that's why Dawn didn't ask you to come along with Cassie."

"I get that. It's OK."

"And I promised Dawn that shopping trip like forever ago."

"True."

"Hey, I know what will cheer you up!"

"Patrol?" But for some reason she doesn't sound happy about that.

"What's wrong with patrol, B? We always have a great time! And then... afterwards..." I stand behind her chair and slide my hands down her sides.

"Sometimes..." she begins, quietly.

"Sometimes what?" I can tell she's upset. And I will not have my wife depressed. I pull out a chair beside her and take her hand. "What is it?"

"I don't know... I guess it's hard to know what our life will be like together..."

"So far it's pretty awesome, if you ask me."

She smiles. "It really is. Only... sometimes..." She takes a shaky breath. "Sometimes I think, maybe... maybe all we have is slaying and sex... I mean, you do lots of other stuff... but not with me..."

"Oh, Buffy!" I take her other hand. I'm not mad. I can see why she feels that way. I haven't been out of prison long, but even so... slaying and sex is just about all we've done.

"I mean..." her eyes water. "I mean... we're married... and we've never even been on a real date!"

"Buffy, please listen to me." I hold her gaze. "Slaying with you is so much fun, and means so much to me... I couldn't even begin to say it. It's not just another activity. It's who we are." She nods sadly. "And the sex... I don't have to tell you how good that is. It's incredible."

"Yep."

"But Buffy... all of that means nothing to me–nothing–compared to being your wife and making a life with you. I love you, Buffy, in every way... forever... and I want to share everything with you. Not just Slayer stuff. Not just in bed."

She looks down, but she's smiling a little. "I guess I should know that."

"You should, B. But it wouldn't hurt if your wife showed it a little better."

"It's OK... you've been busy... it's been a weird time."

"Not too busy for my Buffy. Never too busy for you." I brush her hair out of her face and kiss her, tenderly. "So... are you free this evening?"

"Free for what?"

"Our first date, of course."

That gets a big smile. And another kiss. "First dates make me nervous. Just to warn you."

"Me too. We'll just have to get through it!"

"So what should we do? Dinner? A movie?"

"A picnic."

"A picnic? Sounds great!"

"Good, because it's all set."

"It is?"

"It is. I've been planning it for days, B. Besides... I've got a free cooler! Can't let it go to waste!"

"Wow, that's so sweet!" A tear runs down Buffy's cheek.

"The food's all made in the fridge. So get some shoes on. I told you it's not just about the slaying and the sex!"

"I love you, Faith. I'm so lucky!"

"Yeah you are... I made a cake and it actually worked!" I've planned this carefully. I want to show Buffy just how much I love her. With my clothes on, for once.

Dawn comes downstairs to find us hugging. She smiles.

"All set for your first date, Creature?"

"All set. We're going out for Chinese. How about you guys?" Dawn's in on my picnic plans.

Buffy gets up to find her shoes. "We're good too. Big night for the Summers sisters!"

There's a knock at the door. A very loud knock. I feel a sudden panic that I can't explain.

Dawn answers the door, and my biggest nightmare becomes reality.

Three cops step inside. A woman with a clipboard and two men. Their car's flashers flicker around the living room through the open door.

Oh, god. No! No no no no no. The sight of them in my house, my place of safety and comfort, is almost worse than the Krakor demon. I want to attack them, throw them out on the lawn, and bolt the door. And at the same time I want to flee. I fight down a numbing panic that threatens to consume me.

Deep breath. They may remind me of prison, but they're just people, doing their jobs. Maybe they're not here for me at all. Maybe they're looking for a lost cat. Maybe they're selling raffle tickets to keep the kids off drugs. Maybe they're at the wrong address. Maybe...

But when the biggest cop takes out handcuffs and a club, I'm pretty sure they're not selling raffle tickets. "Faith Summers?"

I swallow and step forward, dazed, my knees weak. "In the flesh."

"We've got a body on Crown Street," says the cop with the clipboard. "Strangled. No eyes left. Symbol carved into the chest. Know anything about that?"

Why? Why so soon? Why tonight?

So much for my new job helping me to be with Buffy. I try to think of something to say that would just get rid of them, even for a little while. But I can't do that. I've made my bed and now it's time to lie in it.

But I so wish that time wasn't now. I swallow to find my voice. "I'm your gal."

"You'd better come with us."

I sigh to myself. "Looks that way."

I turn to Buffy. She and Dawn are wide-eyed, white as sheets.

"Sorry, B. Looks like that picnic will have to wait."

 

~ Continued with "CV-24" ~

 

If you're enjoying this story, try I Have Never Been to Boston. Dawn sets out to say goodbye to someone she loves–but who she knows never even existed!

I always appreciate feedback in my Guestbook, or by email. Reader responses will determine whether I publish more stories, and will help improve them! Thanks for reading! (If you'd like to be notified when I post new stories, let me know.)

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