A Different Route: Uninvited
by Liv
Rating: R

Disclaimer: I own nothing. No money is being made. (I wish, but who in their right mind would pay me for this?)
Spoilers: Stuff from the eps. "Anne"and "Faith, Hope and Trick."
Author's Notes: This is my first Chapter of my Series "A Different Route." This is the sequel to Hide and Seek so it be a good idea to read the Prologue first. The beginning of the fic won't make sense if you don't so read it! This takes place after Buffy leaves Sunnyhell and about a few weeks before she returns.
Feedback: Please! It's a drug and you don't want to see how bad I get when I'm in withdrawal.

"I'm Faith."

Buffy froze. This girl knew about vampires and how to kill them. Oh yeah, and she knew her name. //That means, she must be-//

"-the new Slayer." the brunette continued.

They were still staring at each other. Green eyes locked with brown. She had such deep brown eyes that carried so much emotion she couldn't look away. Suddenly a thought crossed her mind.

"How did you find me?"

The new slayer named Faith was about to reply but Buffy continued to question her.

"Wait. Here's another question. What do you want from me?"

"First of all, I thought you lived in Sunnydale?" Faith asked cocking her head to one side and crossing her arms across her chest.

"Yeah well I moved. Now what do you want?!" Her voice was a lot harsher then she wanted but she had the right to. Who was she to come down and interrupt her new life? Maybe she was gonna bring her back. No, force her back.

"Whoa. Chill B. What's wrong with a Slayer trading tips with her other half?"

//B? Where did that come from?// "Did *they* send you? Because if they did then you might as well pack up and leave. I'm not going back, ever."

"Look *they* didn't send me. I don't even know who the hell you're talking about. All I do know is that your Buffy. Another Slayer. Like me." The girl paused and pointed to herself. "I don't even know who *they* are or what they did to you. I came out here on my own free will to get to know you. Are you okay with that, or are we gonna have to get physical?"

Buffy looked at Faith and realized the girl had no idea who she was talking about. She didn't deserve to get punished for what happened to her back in Sunnydale.

She sighed. "What do you want?"

"You hungry?"

She shook her head and was puzzled at the girl's question.

"I'm starving."

"Um there's a Burger joint by my motel?" Buffy replied even more confused then ever.

"Great. Your treat."

"But-"

"Lead the way princess."

*****

"....so anyway I waste the vamps, and the preacher comes up, and he's hugging me like there's no tomorrow, when all of a sudden, the cops pull up and they arrested us both."

The Slayers were at Frankie's Resturant and Faith was bragging to Buffy about her Slayer adventures that Buffy was beginning to get annoyed of. She didn't really need to know about the whole slaying in the nude situation or the fact that she wrassled alligators.

"That's great but-" Buffy started but was rudely interrupted by Faith.

"Pass me the ketchup."

Buffy grunted and slammed the ketchup bottle in front of her 'partner' causing several of the restaurant's customers to look at the pair with a disapproving look. Buffy blushed and mouthed a sorry at all the customers. She looked up at her partner in crime to see that she was laughing her head off.

"Faith." Buffy said as calmly as she could muster.

"Whup?" the slayer said in between bites of her burger. The girl had already eaten a slice of pizza and fries and still managed to have enough room for a double cheese burger and a strawberry milkshake.

"What are you doing here? I mean...what do you want from me?"

The girl before swallowed down her burger even though Buffy knew she had only chewed it once, and took a sip from her strawberry milkshake. When she finished with the shake she had a pink mustache. Buffy pointed to her mouth and Faith stared at her with a dumbfounded look until she finally realized what was up. She grabbed a napkin and wiped her mouth. She cleared her throat and finally answered.

"Well you see...my watcher went to this retreat right? And I was left all alone.... and I thought maybe, I should come down and check out the infamous Buff and compare some notes!"

"Infamous? As in famous?" Buffy asked with a little glint of pride in her eyes.

"Yes I mean famous. Jesus girl! All the watchers talk about you. Your like a legend!"

Buffy blushed forgeting about all her worries of the gang chasing her and instead gloated in the shower of compliments. She suddenly realized she had a goofy grin on her face and she shook her head and cleared her throat.

The not-so-new Slayer looked at her like she was crazy before attacking her greasy burger that was almost finished.

"So." Buffy said trying to get rid of the eerie silence between the two.

"So!" Faith replied finishing up on the rest of her burger.

"What now?" Buffy asked unsure about what the rest of the night might bring.

"Well we could patrol. I gotta lot of energy to burn." Faith stood up and started for the door as Buffy placed a twenty on the table slowly following behind her. "Ain't it crazy how slaying makes you hungry and horny?" Faith said before she walked out the door.

Buffy stopped in the middle of her tracks when she heard the other Slayer's last comment, causing the poor girl to imprint her face on the glass door.

*****

"What now?" Buffy asked.

They were walking down a sidewalk somewhere in the city in no specific direction. It had been one dull patrol that night. There was no action. It was literally dead out there. The two slayers had hoped to find a couple of vamps to beat on but instead were disappointed with nothing. Both felt the need to pound something into a bloody pulp because of questions that arose in their minds. For Buffy, it was the constant thought about whether or not the new Slayer was here because *they* sent her. If they really did send her, would she go back? Could she face all that pain?

For Faith, it was whether or not she should tell Buffy the real reason she was there. She never could ask for help. It always made her feel weak and pathetic. She hated the feeling of having to be so dependant on others. She needed to feel like she could stand on her own two feet. Besides, if she told Buffy the real reason, then she might not want to help her. Then all that pain would come, and she would remember...

"I say we go clubbin!" Faith replied trying to get the heavy thoughts out of her head.

Buffy looked at Faith like she was nuts. "Are you kidding me? It's one in the morning!"

"So." Faith replied casually. "Slaying always gets me so wound up."

"But we didn't exactly slay tonight." Buffy said shly.

"That just makes it worse!" Faith smirked and saw the pretty little blonde blush. "Besides, it's not like you had anything else important to do?"

Suddenly the blonde stopped walking and she had the most horrified look on her face.

"OH GOD!"

"What?" Faith stopped and looked at the girl before her. The poor blonde looked like she was gonna drop dead of a heart attack. //Is it a Vamp?// She turned around to see if any demon was creeping behind her to attack but she saw nothing.

"OH GOD!" Buffy cried again.

"What?!" Faith screamed getting frustrated. //What the hell was going on?//

"Reed..." Buffy trailed softly. She sat down on the edge of the curb and began to hit herself in the forehead calling herself stupid over and over.

"Reed?" Faith asked joining her fellow slayer on the curb with a puzzled look on her face.

Buffy sighed and told the dark haired girl about who Reed was, how they met and became good friends and how she had a date with him earlier.

"But it wasn't a date." Faith replied only making Buffy even more upset.

"I know! But I thought maybe I could make it one until *you* showed up." Buffy accused.

"O, so it's *my* fault?"

"Ugh! Nevermind." She got up and started to wave for a taxi.

"Where you going?" Faith asked.

"Home."

"What about me?" Faith asked realizing she was in city with no place to sleep and zero cash.

"I dunno." The blonde replied trying her best to ignore the other girl. A taxi finally stopped in front of her and she got in.

"Rude much?" Faith scoffed. What the hell was she gonna do? She had no place to go. Suddenly an idea popped in her head. "Guess I'll have to make it on my own tonight! Yup. Just me and my lonely self." She started to walk in the other direction knowing perfectly well that her sister Slayer would succumb to the guilt-trip.

The blonde of the two cursed her conscience for feeling so guilty and she had the driver stop before they took off.

"Wait!"

Faith smiled. //It worked!//

*****

"Nice pad ya got here B!" Faith said entering Buffy's motel room.

"Ya know that bench outside looks mighty comfy out there, I bet it's got a great view of the sun early in the morning."

"Thanks but I think I'll manage in your little hole!"

Buffy gave her a 'Don't mess with me' look before she finally she shut the door. She looked at her guest and watched as the girl fiddled around with the tv. //What am I thinking? I barely know the girl!// She headed towards the bathroom to get changed into her pajamas.

"I really appreciate what your doin' for me B." Faith called out from outside the bathroom. //There it is again. B. She was gonna have to get used to that.//

"Well don't get too comfy." Buffy answered back. She slipped into her usual sleep-ware consisting of her white baby-tee and grey sweats. She pulled her hair out of her bun and let her hair fall out to the sides in curls. She finally left the bathroom to see Faith sprawled out on her bed watching some infomercial on vege juicers. The brunette looked up at her and gave her a wink.

"It's not everyday people allow me to bunk with them."

"I don't how we could both fit on the bed though." Buffy sighed pointing to the bed.

"Whoa!" Faith jumped off the bed hastily. "Who said I was bunking with you literally? I'll take the floor thank you very much." She grabbed a pillow and made herself comfortable in front of the tv.

"I didn't mean .....ugh...nevermind." Buffy groaned and slipped into the covers. What had she gotten herself into?

*****

In the outskirts of the city of Los Angeles was a sound of a baby crying. Actually it was several babies crying. It was none stop.

The cries could be heard from an unknown warehouse. You can almost hear it from a thousand miles away. Okay, so maybe two miles away.

The warehouse contained slightly over a dozen babies. All of them obviously kidnapped and pronounced missing. That is only to those that weren't in charge of the baby-stealing operation.

Looking after the babies strangely were vampires. Several of them. Each, nourishing the babies. Well, more like making sure that they were all kept at least alive. That is until, their dark plan has took place. Suddenly, the leaders of the operation appeared at the door.

*****

"...what a deal! Not only will you get this Juicman 500 for a price of $179 but if you call within the next 5 minutes, you'll get our recipe book that contains vital healing juices..."

Faith smirked at the middle-aged woman advertising her product on the television set. //Hmph. My slayer powers would make those 'healing' juices look like Kool-Aid.//

"Can you believe this chick?" Faith asked her new partner in Slaying.

No reply. She looked up from the floor to see the blonde sleeping soundly in her bed. //Wow. She's asleep already? It's only-// She paused before she could continue her train of thought and looked at the digital clock on top of Buffy's drawer. //2 am...//

She sighed. It was pretty late and she should probably sleep but she couldn't. Too many thoughts. Too many heavy thoughts in fact. Thoughts that she hadn't thought about because of the many distractions. There were so many questions with not enough answers but they all boiled down to one super big one. Why?

She was thinking about her watcher. Why did she have to die? She was the only one who cared about her, and looked after her. She was like a mother.

//Mom.// She was a good woman not like the usual stereo-typical psychopathic trailer trash that most people thought of. Nope. So what if they lived in a trailer in the roughest parts of Boston? It didn't mean shit. Her mom was a great person and was one tough cookie too....if you ignore all that booze she drank! She never let anyone push her down or tell her she couldn't do it. She was great woman, but she wasn't exactly a great mom. No she didn't abuse her, in fact she took care of her, when she was sober enough that is. She was a hardworking woman who always made sure Faith would never starve. But that was about it in their relationship. Her mom took care of her and ignored her most of the time. She was always trying to deny her existence. She didn't love her. She could feel it. Faith wasn't exactly her mom's dream of a future. She had Faith when she was only 16. Faith was just a mistake. A slit in the condom. Not her baby. Her mom was just taking care of the mess she made. That's all. It was that feeling that made her feel worse then if her mom abused her. It was a slow emotional pain. //A psychological bruise.// She thought.

When Faith turned 15 that's when it all came crashing down. Her mom couldn't take it anymore. Life was just too much that death seemed to have a certain glow to it. Like peace.

She killed herself.

Faith dropped out of school and was sent from one foster home to another. They were all the same too. They didn't want her. They just needed that extra gov't check to load up on booze. She didn't care though. She was too busy fighting off the horny step-brothers...She didn't bother finishing the rest of that thought because she knew it would cause her more pain.

Finally the pain went away. She was sent to another foster home. It was her Watcher. Kate. She was a stern woman, but she was good too. She became her mother. No, a mother she never had. It took Faith a while to like the woman, and it took a while for Kate to like her back, but they both did eventually. They were close. But not too close. She was her watcher and she couldn't show or feel affection toward her Slayer. But it was there. Faith sensed it every time Kate told her to watch her back during patrols. It was there when Kate told her not to stay up too long and sleep instead of party. It was there when Kate would bandage up her wounds from a long fight, and tell her how irresponsible she was for going for the kill too quickly, and how she must use her powers responsibly. Kate never showed affection, and yet it was always there. Someone actually cared about her. Then *it* happened and once again she was alone. Always alone. She failed Kate. She let Him do it. It was her fault. If she just...

Faith looked around the room studying it's features in an attempt to hold back the tears that were beginning to form in her eyes. She wasn't lying when she told Buffy it was a nice. It wasn't exactly a stay at the Plaza, but it was clean with all the basic needs. A single tear dripped down her cheek and she cursed herself. //Gotta be strong. You've got help now. Right?// She sniffed and looked at Buffy with a sign of hope in her eyes. She didn't know who this girl was, but she did know that she was a Slayer. Like her. She would understand right? She would help.

Faith sighed and rested her head on the back of her hands lying down on her belly. What will tomorrow bring? The answer would have to wait.

...continued in Girls Night Out...