By the Book
by Jahan
Rating: PG-13

Notes: It's going to take some time to get the 'Fuffy'.
Special Thanks: A round of applause goes out to Norwalker for helping me get this story together.

I know that you want to turn and run, if you do that you'd only be giving those tweed wearing English wankers, at the council more material to work with when they tease you. You wanted this assignment, Faith. A student 'accidentally' brushed his hand against Faith's stomach. He shared a laugh with his friend and their hands slapped together in a congratulatory smash.

"Righteous move, Mikey." Derek chuckled. "I would have given it a ten, but you didn't land the move."

Minus the groping pimply faced teenage boys. Faith looked at her wrist watch. It`s not even ten past seven, and I`m already getting groped.

"I'll have plenty of opportunities to land that particular move."

"I think she might be a teacher. She kind of dresses like one, an extremely hot one."

Mikey looked over his shoulder at Faith, she arched her eyebrow in response and crossed her arms over her chest. Back in Southie I use to twist guys arms behind their backs, if I even thought they might get all touchy feely with me. Mikey quickly turned away from Faith's penetrating dark brown eyes.

"Teacher's are not supposed to look like her. They're supposed to look like Mrs. Needleminer, she looks like she could have sat next to Jesus during the last supper."

"I'd never be late for class with a teacher like that. Shit, I'd stay after class and bang her erasers." They both began to laugh.

Clever. Faith straightened out glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. These things aren't fooling anyone into thinking you're older. Baby face. You have the council to thank for that nick name. I'm not going to let that happen here. Faith squared her shoulders and walked up the steps of the main building.

*****

Faith stood in front of the double doors of the Sunnydale High School library. She peeked through the small round glass window of the door. Faith could have sworn that her heart stopped for one brief moment. It's only Rupert Giles. It's only the bloke that you've studied and modeled yourself after. It's not a big deal. Who are you kidding? Of course it's a huge bloody deal. If you screw this up and get sent back to England, they will never let you live it down. You won't blow your first assignment and you'll prove that you're Watcher material.

Giles was completely focused on Buffy and hadn't noticed Faith's presence. Buffy recounted the events of sending Angel to Hell, while Willow rummaged through a box on the check out counter. Giles stopped his line of questioning and gave Willow a disapproving look, the red head didn't notice.

He seems so English. Of course he seems so English because he is English. He looks like the Council members and he is even wearing tweed. What did you except? I dunno maybe someone with stubble and shaggy hair, with a fuck you glint in his eyes aimed at the establishment. Russell Crowe, maybe? Faith looked down at her attire, she thought that the swearing and beer drinking Rupert Giles she imagined would appreciate her personal style. She wasn't so sure about the Rupert Giles inside of the library. He looks like he is ready to have high tea with the Queen of England. Faith's arrival prompted Giles to change the topic of conversation.

"I appreciate your help reorganizing the shelves." Giles said.

"We aim to please." Buffy replied.

Giles turned to Faith she was a few steps behind Buffy and Willow.

"May I help you?" Giles asked.

"Faith…"

"I'm pretty sure Giles here already has a religion." Buffy interjected.

"Faith LeHane," she walked past the two teens and didn't bother to acknowledge their presence, she held out her hand toward Giles.

"Miss LeHane," Giles eyes went wide momentairly in recognition of the name he shook Faith's hand. "The apprentice from the…"

"Perhaps we should continue this conversation in private." Faith suggested.

"We're all one big happy family here." Buffy said.

"Do you have an office we could talk in?" Faith asked.

"Yes, but first I'd like to introduce you to Buffy Summers…" Giles motioned toward the blonde.

Buffy Summers. No, it can't be the same Buffy Summers that sent Angelus to hell in a hand basket. The same Buffy Summers that defeated the master. Tinker Bell. This pint sized bird is Sunnydale's greatest defense against evil?

"Your office." Faith said.

"Yes," Giles motioned toward the back of the library. "This way."

Giles showed Faith the way to his office.

"Rude much." Buffy said.

*****

Faith walked into the office followed by Giles. She shut the door after him, and when she turned, he was already seated behind his desk.

"Do you make a habit of discussing Watcher business in front of the Slayer's friends?"

"I did no such thing," Giles replied dumfounded and slightly amused. "I think you're being overly cautious…"

"Am I," Faith placed her hands on her hips. "You almost revealed that I was from the Watcher's Council."

"Willow is apart of this she knows all about Buffy…"

"The most important lesson that a watcher can instill in the Slayer is to keep their identity a secret. This ensures that the Slayer, as well as those closest to the Slayer, isn't put into any immediate danger. Page one. Paragraph one. The Watcher's Handbook."

"Someone has done their reading…"

"One of us has to."

"Since you're so well versed in The Watcher Handbook," Giles stood up and walked over to the bookcase to retrieve his well worn copy of the handbook. "Then you should be familiar with this passage. 'Certain extenuating circumstances may at times require modification of Watcher guidelines'." He smiled, pleased with himself that he remembered that passage after so many years. He also enjoyed the look of consternation on Faith's face. Teach the little twit to try - out quote me.

"I don't really think that applies to this particular slayer." Faith crossed her arms over her chest.

"How could you know that? If you knew Buffy you would realize that extenuating circumstances definitely applies to her. I think the term was probably even coined after her." Giles chuckled to himself, but the humor was lost on Faith. She thought Giles was laughing at her.

What a sodding old knob. "What are the extenuating circumstances?"

"Well…" Giles trailed off, he thought better of revealing anything to Faith at this point. He firmly believed that she would report back to the council. "I don't have the time to discuss these matters."

"Speaking as a fellow Watcher…"

"That's open to debate..."

"I think this is an issue that…I'm not a Watcher?"

"I didn't say that…"

"You did a fine job of alluding to that…"

"Before you arrived I was discussing a rather important matter with Buffy. I'd like to get back to that unless there is anything else you want to discuss?"

Faith's arms fell to her sides. Giles walked over to the door and held it open for her.

*****

Buffy and Willow stood by the check out counter, Willow rummaged through Giles' box of herbs. Buffy noticed that Giles and Faith both had tense looks on their faces.

"Giles, are we done here?"

"I have a few more questions that I need to ask you." Giles pulled a small notebook from the pocket of his jacket, Buffy had taken a seat at the oak table.

"Shoot…"

"The vortex was fully open within ten minutes…"

"It wasn't fully open, but it wasn't fully closed either."

"I need you to be specific as possible. What happened between you and Angel?"

"We fought and I sent Angel to hell you already know that Giles."

Faith observed the relationship between the Watcher and Slayer, it seemed slightly off balance to her but Faith remained in the background. Her ego still bruised from the talk she had with Giles.

"Thank you," Giles placed the notepad back into his coat pocket. "This should prove to be extremely helpful..."

"So, are we done here?"

"Yes…"

Faith couldn't help but scoff at the brief exchange. One sentence doesn't equal specific you would think he was the rookie.

"Anything you would like to add Faith?"

"You asked her to be specific, and she wasn't, yet that seems to be a suitable explanation for you…"

"She is still in the room." Buffy raised her hand.

"Thank you for your expert assessment." Giles replied.

"Just stating the obvious, for example having civilians involved…" Faith motioned toward Willow.

"Me…" Willow squeaked.

"Very bad idea, but you already knew that…"

"Hey, Charlie," Buffy stood in front of Faith. "The war is over."

"Is it…" Doesn't this slayer know her place?

"Buffy you should head to class. Wouldn't you agree Willow?"

"Of course," Willow quickly pocketed a small amount of sage. "We have that English exam."

"I don't think being late for that would help your cause with Snyder." Giles said.

"Will catch up with you later." Willow guided her friend out the double doors.

"It would be greatly appreciated if you didn't undermine my authority."

"I wouldn't dare dream of it, but this is a conversation that you should be having with your Slayer."

*****

"I don't like her…" Buffy said.

"What's to like…"

"She ignored me Will…"

"She played down my importance…"

"Watcher's don't look like her."

"You think something is stinky in the state of Denmark?"

"What?" Buffy gave Willow a weird look. "Am I supposed to understand that? I left my Giles to English translation book at home."

"You think she's a phony." Willow explained. "It's from Shakespeare. Hamlet."

"Oh," Buffy replied. "Is that going to be on the test?"

*****

Giles rummaged through the box on the check out counter, and noted the missing sage. "Willow," Giles muttered to himself. "She took the sage."

"Did you need it?"

"Yes, to perform the binding spell, that would keep the demon Acathla in a dimensional vortex."

"A difficult spell to perform, especially if you don't have the proper ingredients."

"A point that I can actually agree with you on."

"Have you started work on the litany?"

"You're familiar with binding spells?"

"Yes, it's one of the many subjects I was trained in at the Watcher's Council."

"Binding spells take more than knowledge experience is also needed to perform them properly."

"Is that your polite English way of saying that you don't need my help?"

"I have a handle on this particular matter…"

"Of course you do…"

"I've done a great deal of research on this binding spell, and I have a good grasp of the Aramaic language, that needs to be used to recite the litany…"

"Just a good grasp…"

"Are you familiar with the language? They were phasing it out when I was a student at the Watcher's Council."

"They've reintroduced it within the last several years."

"You think because you took a course that you should recite the litany…"

"I know I should…"

"Why is that?"

"It's obvious that this binding spell is extremely important to you, and if you want to be positive it works, the obvious choice is for me to recite the litany. It makes sense, that the person who has actively studied the language for the last several years do it."

"It makes sense for the person with more years of experience, than your age to recite the litany."

*****

What did you except? Faith titled her head back against the wall of the elevator and closed her eyes, a six pack of Samuel Adams tucked underneath her arm. I didn't except for him to act like a bloody wanker. The elevator jerked to a stop and Faith walked down the hall. I didn't except for him to undermine every suggestion I made.

Faith opened the door to her apartment and waded through the boxes that cluttered the floor. "I studied Aramaic for three sodding years!" Faith started to kick boxes out of her way. "I studied a dead language for three years." Faith started to laugh bitterly and angrily. "It makes sense for the person with more years of experience, than your age recite the litany." Faith mimicked Giles' words from earlier. "Knob." Faith plopped down onto her couch and ripped open the six pack. "Shit!" Faith tried to twist the cap off. "I need a bloody bottle opener."

Faith sighed as she stood up with the bottle in one hand and the case of ripped beer underneath her arm. She kicked off her shoes and walked into the kitchen. "Where is the bloody bottle opener?" Faith looked through several boxes of kitchen ware and came up with nothing. "Sod it," Faith popped the lid of the beer bottle off on the kitchen counter and took a swig of her beer. "You try and help the old fart and he turns you down flat, to think you thought he was so bloody brilliant." Faith hopped onto the kitchen counter and took another swig of her beer. "If you're so brilliant Giles, then why do you have her friends involved?" Faith chugged the rest of her beer. "That`s not very smart." Faith hopped off of the counter and walked into her bedroom.

"I busted my arse for this assignment and all I get is shit on by my hero." Faith unbuttoned her blouse and tossed it onto the bed. "All I wanted was some respect, not to have my expertise. I'm not going to let this be this be England all over again." Faith took off her glasses and tossed them onto her bed. "Everyone seconding guess every little thing that I do." Faith took off her slacks and kicked them to the floor. She walked into her bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror.

"You won't let them do this to you, here you can make a name for yourself. You're not going to eat their shit. You're not going to let them make you muck-up your chance to make a name for yourself." She lowered her head and closed her eyes, and gripped the sides of the bathroom sink. "All I want is a chance," Faith could feel the tears of anger fill her eyes. "Suck it up," Faith looked into the mirror. "You're not weak." Faith wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "You're not going to give him or them, the satisfaction of seeing you like this, are you?" Faith took a deep breath and a harder look took over her face. "No."

Faith walked back into the kitchen clad only in her underwear and bra, she looked through the fridge but her search turned up nothing that would quell her largely growing appetite. Her nerves hadn`t allowed her to eat anything all day and now she was ready to pig out. "I hate it when I'm like this and there's nothing to eat." Faith slammed the refrigerator door.

*****

"Hi. Welcome to Double Meat Palace, may I help you?"

"I need two number three Medley Meals and large size them with two strawberry milkshakes."

"Will that be all?"

"Throw in a cherry pie."

"I love the cheery pie here."

Faith turned her head and saw an elderly lady behind her, and she smiled politely.

"That's great..."

"Will that be for here or to go?"

"To go." No need for anyone to see me drown my sorrows in fast food.

"I always come here for the cherry pie and coffee."

Faith turned her head and smiled politely again.

"Your total comes out to $17.85."

Faith handed the cashier money she pocketed the returned change and moved out of the way.

*****

Patrol had been a bust for Buffy and her friends. They decided to grab a bite to eat the Double Meat Palace. The fast food joint wasn't that far from Restfield Cemetery a fact that had always bothered Buffy, but it wasn't enough to stop the teen from eating at that particular burger joint.

"Don't you love that smell?" Xander took a deep breath.

"What smell?" Willow asked.

"The smell of beef cooking on a grill." Xander licked his lips and walked ahead of the girls to the front counter.

"Your unhealthy obsession with beef worries me Xander." Buffy said.

"Is it unhealthy?" Xander asked.

"Great…" Buffy muttered, when she saw Faith standing by the front counter waiting for her order.

"I've got two number three Medley Meals large sized with two strawberry shakes and a cherry pie."

Faith walked over to the food runner and grabbed the bags.

"Enjoy your meals and please come again."

"Thanks."

Buffy looked at the large to go bag Faith held and the drink carrier in her other hand.

"Gorge much…" Buffy smirked. She can't ignore me now. I'm standing right in front of her.

"Gorge much…" Faith chuckled. "Are you always this bloody annoying?"

Buffy was expecting cold indifference and instead she received blunt directness, this wasn't the same woman she had met earlier in the day.

"I'm not the one who just breezed into town like some person that breezes into town and takes over…"

"A conqueror…"

"Yeah…" Buffy crossed her arms over her chest.

"That's not why I came to here."

"Could have fooled me…"

"Let's grab a table…" Willow grabbed Xander's arm and dragged him away.

"Hey lay off with the grabby hands. We didn't even order."

"Shouldn't you be out," Faith lowered her voice. "Slaying."

"Tonight was a bust, not much vamp action."

Faith shook her head. "You brought them along with you. Tell me you didn't take them patrolling."

"Okay…I didn't take them patrolling…"

"Do you have any idea of the danger you put those two in?"

"It's been slow the last couple of weeks. I didn't think it would hurt to bring them along, besides you're not my Watcher."

"You're right I'm not and I'm glad I'm not."

Xander sat down at a booth with Willow "Remind me, why are we not supposed to like her?"

"That makes two of us." Buffy retorted.

"I have to get out of here and away from you. Word of advice. You're the Slayer act like it."

"You can't do this…" Buffy said.

"Do what?" Faith lifted up her to go bag. "Grab a bite to eat?"

"You Can't come in here and act all Giles like because we already have a Giles that does a fine job of being all Giles like…"

"That's brilliant…"

"You've been here for not even a day and you think you know everything."

"I am good slayer…"

"Then prove it."

...to be continued...