Give Me The Light
by Freakysplatterz
Rating: NC-17
Four weeks later......
She looked around the room with disdain, not particularly satisfied at her surroundings but pacified by the reason why she was here. She settled for it.
"What did you find out today?"
"Nothing as of yet. Our little pet is either very clever, or...someone is going through an awful lot of trouble to keep her hidden. She hasn't been spotted anywhere in Sunnydale or otherwise, but like you said before...she'll run there regardless. She's scared and she'll slip, and when she slips we'll have her." The red-head was intensely focused on the screen in front of her, fingers furiously typing away at the keyboard.
"Not to worry. I'm sure that Baranie will have some information from our contact."
Marin walked over to the hotel window and looked out. It was just beginning to get dark, the time she liked best. Her eyes closed and she sighed, breathing in as memories of smelling the fear roll of Faith bombarded her.
The door opened suddenly and Baranie entered, a thick manilla folder in her hands, and a smirk on her face. She closed the door and headed over to Marin.
"Is that what I think it is?"
"Reports from our contact in Sunnydale."
Baranie handed the folder to her Superior. Marin turned from the window to face her two companions. Opening the folder, she was greeted by a picture of her long lost Pet, frightened, dirty, and weak. She gazed upon it with bright eyes.
"Beautiful."
Pulling out another picture she grimaced. It was a picture of a black man and he was helping Faith, his arm around her shoulder. She noticed that the brunette looked very comfortable with him, there was even a slight smile on her face. Marin didn't like that. She gritted her teeth, and crushed it in her hand. Taking a deep breath, she scrolled down the information sheets.
"How cute, she's found a friend. Too bad, he'll have to die for it." She closed the folder shut and handed it back to Baranie.
"Our contact has no reports on the other Slayer. She hasn't been in contact with Faith. I'm not sure I believe that, but if for some reason that it is true, it's almost safe to say we will not have any oppostion from her. If this remains quiet, it'll be a simple retrieval."
Marin nodded. "Excellent."
She went back to her window and stared out mindlessly. Baranie understood the silent dismissal. Turning to leave she was halted again by her Superior.
"Make sure that our contact gets a handsome fee. His services more than warrant it."
Nodding, the brunette exited the room, once again leaving the room in relative silence with the exception of the tapping of computer keys.
Three weeks later
"Will you tell me....about what happened?"
Faith curled within herself at the question, hugging her knees to her chest, as she began rocking in place. She knew it was coming. It had been prickling at the back of her head for a long time now. She knew that the blonde would ask, it frankly surprised her that she hadn't asked earlier. Not that she thought she had the strength to tell anyway. The bed shook slightly with the weight of the blonde sitting down on it. Her green eyes looked at Faith with sorrow. She wanted to pull the other girl into her arms and protect her beyond anything, fight off all her demons, beat back all of her shadows. All Faith had to do was let her.
"I know..." she trailed off. No, she didn't know what it was like to be beaten, tortured, and raped repeated for nearly three months. She started again.
"It has to be beyond hard for you Faith. The nightmares are still bothering you...and I want to help you, but...you have to trust me. I won't be ashamed of you. What happened wasn't your fault. You have to understand that."
Faith started to cry silent tears. She just couldn't tell Buffy all of what happened to her. Sure, she said she wouldn't be ashamed of her, but she didn't know the full story.
Buffy reached out and touched the trembling girl. It seemed to break Faith fully. She looked up at Buffy, tears falling from her sad brown eyes. It broke the blonde's heart. She gathered Faith into her arms and hugged her, trying to pour every bit of love she had into comforting the girl. She could feel the hot tears through her t-shirt and it just made her hug the girl harder.
They fell backwards onto the bed, Buffy resting against the headboard with Faith's head on her chest and her arms wrapped around her like she was a life-raft. Eventually, Faith's tears did cease, but she made no move to let go of the blonde. She was content to let the security and warmth of the Slayer wash over her. Buffy was comfortable with the silence as well, her hands absently running through the long dark locks. She almost drifted off to sleep when Faith's quiet voice drew her back.
"I never...knew where I was. It was dark....and..cold. There was have been water near..because it was...swampy on the inside. Things would crawl on me...at night. Crawling in my hair...
"The first time...she hurt me...she..."
She had to pause and gather herself again. Prepare herself for the mental trip back to Hell she was going to take them on.
"They...took turns..sometimes. The small blonde...liked to whip me. Glenda..I think. Marin..was the leader..she always got off on...hooking me up to this machine. She would attach these...things all over me and then she'd... she'd....she'd turn it on..... It was like I was being....cooked on the inside. There was just....nothing but pain....pain....."
Buffy listened in silent horror as Faith recounted her time with the Watchers.
"The other two...held me down most of the time....and they'd throw this dank water on me when Marin asked them to. They held me down whenever Marin wanted to....rape me. I tried to fight them off. I tried..but she injected me with some...drug or something that made me weak."
She buried her face into Buffy's chest, too exhausted to even cry anymore. She just needed something to ground her, and Buffy was it. The blonde didn't dare wipe the tears from her eyes. She let them fall, let them fall slowly, only to drop soundlessly into the dark locks directly beneath her chin. Her hold was stronger now. She continued to hold her even after the brunette passed out on top of her. Just continued to hold her, softly stroking her hair, shedding tears of guilt that she wasn't there to help her... 'It won't happen again. I promise Faith.' Buffy continued to hold the brunette long after she too had succumbed to sleep.
The sun was high and bright before they opened their eyes again. Faith was the first to wake up. Even if she was on her way to getting fully recovered, she still preferred not to sleep too long. The times of sleeping away the day, were long over for her. Her brown eyes opened a bit, taking in her surroundings. She frowned a little, not recognizing right away, but then she felt the warmth of a body against her own. She smiled when she remembered. She was with Buffy, sharing a bed with her, lying beside her. They were together, albeit as friends rather than lovers. It didn't matter to Faith, she was just happy to be with Buffy. She snuggled closer to the blonde, breathing in her scent, wrapping her arms tightly around her body. Her eyes closed in contentment, and before she knew it she had fallen alseep again.
Buffy awoke with the feeling of someone on top of her. She shifted slightly and the murmur clued her in. Faith was lying across her chest, her head buried somewhere between her neck and her chest, her arms were nearly suffocating her, but she wouldn't move them for anything. She sighed, not realizing how loudly until she found sleepy brown eyes staring up at her.
"Good Morning."
"Morning B."
Buffy lifted a hand and swept raven curls from Faith's face, letting her see the full beauty. She didn't move her hand, shifting it to the left to caress Faith's cheek softly. Faith stared at her, leaning into the caress slightly. They hadn't even realized that they were moving slowly towards each other, until their breath was hot on the other's face. Blue and brown shifted from eyes to lips and back again. It was a moment, and Buffy took it. She wet her lips slightly and then leaned in those last few inches, her lips gently pressing to Faith's. Their eyes closed of their own accord.
It was nice and sweet. Just lips against lips. It broke just as sweetly. They stared at each other, Buffy still gently stroking Faith's cheek.
Note: Not a hard guess to figure out the weasel now.
Giles stumbled into the kitchen for his morning cup of tea. He was still exhausted from last night. All his energy was going into keeping tabs on Marin and her accomplices. Calls from England and conversations with Maxwell, were a bit of help but not what he needed to be that all important one step ahead of her.
He was reaching for his kettle when there came a knock at the door. Squinting slightly, he wondered who it could be. Buffy and Faith were safely tucked away upstairs, and if it were the others, they knew to call first. Easing the top drawer open he slipped a knife in his hand. He might have been a Watcher, but years of watching over Buffy had taught him never to be too cautious.
He moved through the house, pulling his robe tightly around him. The knock came again. He lifted the cover on the peephole and looked through it. Upon seeing who it was he cursed silently. Just what he needed, possibly more trouble. He prayed that the girls would stay upstairs until he was gone. He opened the door slowly, keeping his emotions from showing.
"Wesley."
"Rupert."
It was cute the way that she wouldn't look her in the eyes, instead just peeking at her every so often. She had never seen the other girl as anything but loud and forward. Getting to see this somewhat shy part of her made her feel special. She was possibly the only one to get to see Faith like this. Like now, she was pulling on a long sleeved shirt, but still her dark eyes would peek at her from time to time.
"Faith?"
Dark eyes instantly snapped up and locked onto her. Looking at her with barely hidden emotion. Sighing, Buffy crossed over to the room and sat down beside the brunette.
"About what happened... The kiss.."
Faith looked down. She knew what was coming. The kiss had meant the world to her, it had felt like she had went to heaven, light had begun to shine in her dark world again. All in just the touch of Buffy's lips on hers, but now that the day had come... She held her head low, waiting for Buffy to tell her that it meant nothing. It was just for comfort. She was just trying to comfort her.
Buffy tilted Faith's chin upwards so that they were looking into each other's eyes again. Leaning forward, the blonde gently placed a kiss on the brunette's lips. Pulling back, she couldn't mistake the look of utter happiness in those shifting brown eyes.
"It meant something to me Faith. Honestly it did. I've always had feelings for you Faith...I just.. I didn't know how to handle them..and...I pushed you away. When you turned yourself in, it gave me time. Not once did I ever stop thinking about you. Never, and..." Buffy closed her eyes tightly and looked down. "I just feel so guilty..about what happened. If only I hadn't pushed you away. If I had just talked to you about what I was feeling. This whole thing could have been avoided. You would have never been hurt, by her...or me. God...I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."
She wasn't aware of the tears that fell from her eyes, she was only aware of strong arms wrapping around her and holding her tight. Faith rocked Buffy in her arms, being put in the unfamiliar position of comforter instead of comfortee.
"It wasn't all your fault B. Things just happened the way they did. We've both made our mistakes. Some more hurtful than others, but... what matters is that we're here now and we're willing to work and get over em'. You are willin aren't you B?"
Buffy lifted her head, green eyes misty with tears.
"Yeah. I'm willin'. I'll do anything if it means that we can have a chance Faith. Anything." She fell back into Faith's arms, hugging her tightly. A smile spread on her face, it echoed above on Faith's.
"Might I ask what you are doing here unannounced?"
Giles poured himself and Wesley a cup of tea before carrying the two steaming cups over to the couch. He handed one to the young ex-Watcher and sat down at the opposite side of the table. There was something not right here, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. The young man that sat before him was changed somehow. He appeared darker in appearance, his eyes harder, almost cold.
"There is a situation of which I think you will be greatly interested. It greatly concerns an old enemy."
Giles took a sip of his tea, looking over the rim of his cup and nodding slightly at Wesley to continue.
"The matter is....Faith."
...to be continued...