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Right on Time
By Babydykecate
Origin of Punctual
Middle English, having a sharp point, from Medieval Latin punctualis of a point, from Latin punctus pricking, point, from pungere to prick.
First Known Use: 1675
Faith had never exactly been known for her punctuality. She was frequently late for class, training, and pretty much everything else, when she bothered to show up at all. Knowing this, Buffy hadn't even bothered to wait for the time that she was meant to meet Faith to start patrolling. The graveyard is quiet and empty, and after 15 minutes of very boring rather cold walking, Buffy is ready to ditch for a warm bed and blame it on Faith.
The rustle of leaves makes her turn sharply to the noise, and she's not expecting the orchestrated ambush of the two vampires as a baseball bat smashes into her head. For a moment there is only black, and she forces her eyes open, only to find her limp body pinned between two very happy vampires. At this moment she's really wishing she had a nice dose of irresponsibility and was cozy in bed.
Buffy forces her body back into action, ignoring the shooting pain and blurred vision. She manages to free her hands, getting in a few good punches, but taking a few as well. When one punch sends her to the ground she finds the stake she dropped when she lost consciousness.
As she's gaining ground on the vampire she's pretty sure was the distraction element of the attack, she notices the other vampire, Mr. Baseball Bat, has moved back to watch. She worries that Mr. Baseball Bat is hoping Mr. Distraction will wear her out and rough her up enough that she's a weaker foe for him, but that's a worry that is going to have to wait until she's down to one vampire and some dust.
Mr. Distraction proves to be fairly stupid, and with one last jab of her stake he's finally just a dust pile. Mr. Baseball Bat has retrieved said bat, and despite some decent offense on Buffy's part, he manages to catch her in the ribs. The wind knocked out of her lungs, and her head spinning, Buffy finds herself looking at some very pointy teeth and wondering which one of the doubled visions she should dodge.
A moment later Buffy finds herself looking at a double vision of Faith, a haze of dust between them.
"You ok, B?" Faith asks, her hand held out to Buffy.
"Great," Buffy says sarcastically, trying to stand, and soon finding that it's like swimming in cement.
Faith catches her, leading her over to the bench.
"Looks like you might have a concussion," Faith appraises.
Buffy nods and groans.
"Baseball bat. Don't ask," Buffy adds after a moment.
"Wasn't gonna," Faith replies. Buffy smiles a bit.
"Come on, we gotta get you out of here," Faith says, helping Buffy slide her arm around Faith's neck.
Buffy just groans in agreement.
For a bit they walk in silence.
"Buffy, why didn't you wait?" Faith finally asks, a touch of hurt barely audible in her voice.
"You aren't usually on time," Buffy replies.
"Still, B. You shouldn't have, I mean- I'm sorry, okay?" Faith fumbles the words.
"Hey, you were right on time when I needed you," Buffy replies softly.
"Yeah," Faith sighs.
"I mean it, Faith. You kind of saved my life just then, not that I like admitting that kind of thing," Buffy says sincerely.
Faith grins briefly.
"Thank you," Buffy adds, leaning closer to Faith.
The End