Blindspot
by SwaySlayer
Rating: NC-17
Faith opened her eyes. Then she shut them again. The sight that greeted her was enough to make her never want to open her eyes again. Memories flooded into her head, and thoughts that she had buried deep inside herself began tapping at her sub-conscious. Soon enough, they entered her conscious mind and Faith grabbed her temples, trying to extract the pain that was emanating from her own mind. As the dull thuds in her head became more insistent, she was forced to open her eyes, if only to blink away the tears that were slowly forming. In doing so, Faith came face to face with the terror that had haunted her dreams for the longest time. It smiled at her. It began to whisper words into her ear, words that she knew to be false, yet she could not bring herself to reply. Instead, she heaved herself off the floor and searched frantically for a way out. Four white walls greeted her, none showing any signs of an escape route. Faith panicked. She knew she was trapped. She would have traded places with anyone in the world at that moment if only she did not have to look at who stood before her. She moved around the room, refusing to make eye contact with the incarnation of her nightmares, yet never taking her eyes off its feet. She had this indescribable urge to never let it out of her sight. She knew what it could do, because it was her.
Buffy’s mouth tasted like a combination of cotton wool and sponges. Her body felt the change in altitude, climate, possibly even universe, and adapted by causing the blonde Slayer to dry-heave for a while. She rolled over onto her stomach and took a quick inventory of her surroundings. She was in what appeared to be a surveillance room, similar to the ones they have at police stations, but a thick blind shaded the glass window in front of her. Buffy searched for a way to open it, but there was no visible means of removing it. For whatever reason, Buffy knew that she was supposed to be watching something, but her patience was wearing thin. She had noted the lack of a door earlier and she guessed that there weren’t any friendly cops waiting outside to ply her with coffee and doughnuts. So she waited.
Darla woke up sick. She had not felt sick in a very long time, say about 300 years, and she still had no taste for it. Her forehead was slick with perspiration, her lips were cracked and dry and her body felt numb and listless. She opened her mouth to scream as the frustration descended on her, but nothing more than a weak cry came out. Her head lolled to the side and her eyes widened in horror as she realised where she was. There was no mistaking the house that she was supposed to have died in, except that instead of the aged vampire who had sat by her side, there was now an elderly priest. His hand was over hers as he spoke words of worship and praise, squeezing it tightly as his praying became more fervent. Darla tried to wrench her hand away but her body refused to obey her mind’s will. A bolt of pain shot through her body and she arched off the bed, hissing loudly as her insides burned. The priest continued with his prayers and Darla prayed too. She prayed for someone to kill her. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as her body was once again ravaged by a burst of pain. This time, when her eyes fluttered open, Drusilla was standing at the foot of the bed.
Buffy felt like she had been waiting for all of eternity when the blinds in front of the window were raised. The room in front of her came into view and a sigh of relief washed through her body at the sight of Faith. This surprised her. Although it went without saying that at that specific moment in time she would be relieved to see Faith, there was something else behind it. Something more concrete than realising she still had a partner in this fight. The fight. This was becoming a constant source of irritation. The prophecy, for all its details, had mentioned nothing about being transported to some ethereal police station. In addition, it had said nothing about the Slayers not being able to kill their enemies. Which in Buffy’s opinion, sucked more than a porn star on her very first day at work. Woah, now there’s a phrase that shouldn’t be floating around in my head. Buffy giggled a little before turning her attention to Faith, and for the first time since she had laid eyes on her, she quickly noted that Faith was scared. No, not scared. Faith was terrified. Buffy could see it in the brunette’s eyes. She banged on the glass window that separated the two of them, hoping to catch Faith’s attention, having this sudden urge to tell her partner that everything was going to be fine. She tried this for a few seconds before using all of her strength in an attempt to shatter the glass.
It did not budge. My luck, it’s probably reinforced Slayer-proof kryptonite. Buffy’s earlier notation about a lack of a door was now pivotal in her current state of frustration and she paced the room frantically.
As she paced, so Faith scrambled along the floor, refusing to let the tears that she felt behind her eyes give in to gravity. She was facing her own worst enemy, and although all the shrinks had told her on numerous occasions that she was in fact her worst foe, there’s nothing quite like being faced with an incarnation of everything you hate about yourself. Faith finally drew her eyes up to look at the person standing in front of her. Clad in leather from head to toe, she balanced a cigarette at the end of her lips, which were coated in lipstick the colour of blood. Faith hated blood. Not only because it sustained the creatures that she was destined to kill, but also because so much of her life was bathed in it. As a kid, she was always covered in cuts and bruises, either from her own clumsiness or someone else’s anger. As time went on, Faith found that physical pain negated emotional pain, and nothing soothed her more than dragging a knife across her bare flesh. When she had turned herself in, she stopped doing it, and it was only when she had to get into the infirmary that she attempted it again, and that had scared her.
She focussed on the girl in front of her and noted the miscellaneous scars that covered her arms, abdomen and face. When she smiled, the keloid scars that decorated these areas, stretched and created a grotesque tapestry of damaged skin. Faith could no longer hold back, and she fell to the ground, her body heaving as she sobbed uncontrollably onto the floor. As each tear made contact with the white floor, it turned red and Faith’s eyes went wide with horror as the consecutive tear did the same. She threw her head back and screamed; a combination of fear and laughter running through her body. She collapsed. The floor felt hard against her cheek, and she was about to surrender to a state of unconsciousness, when she felt a hand on her head. Her hair was being stroked tenderly, while words of comfort were being whispered into her ear.
“It’s me Faith, I’m here. I’m here to protect you. No one can hurt you if I’m with you. You have to trust me to protect you. Do you trust me Faith? Remember, I’m on your side and that’s enough. Get some, get gone, then there’s no pain. Take my hand Faith, I’ll help you up, then we’ll go find the fun, cut loose a little.”
Faith’s eyes flew open and her mind began to work furiously. A myriad of thoughts attacked her and she knew that the time had come to make a decision. It was do or die. There were no more in-betweens, no more compromises to be made. She had to face her demons, but telling them where to get off was harder than it looked. Faith sat up and faced the image of herself, studying it intently before speaking.
“I don’t need you. You’re a psychopathic whore and my life is all the better for you leaving me the fuck alone.”
“Ouch. That hurt baby. But wait, you like that. Wanna throw me around a little? You know, just to get the juices flowing, work up an appetite.”
“No. I can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t? What happened to my little firecracker? You gone soft for a piece of blonde meat? What did I tell you! Love is nothing but pain behind a mask. It always shows its true face in the end. Plus, she hates you. What more do you need?”
Faith absorbed this for a few seconds. Her face was rife with confusion and anger, but it all eventually dissipated into what could only be described as an evil grin.
From inside the surveillance room, Buffy watched all of this playing out, trying to identify the source of Faith’s abject horror. Her eyes locked to where Faith was looking, but she could not see anything. Suddenly, the little voice inside her head that served her so well began filtering in morsels of conversations that she had had earlier. It’s a matter of having, for lack of a better word, a little faith… let’s just say that it gives one a little more understanding with regards to Faith…guilt and her pain for what she did runs so deep that she doesn’t think she’ll ever be able to cleanse herself of it… Angel and Kate’s words ran through her head at a rapid pace, and just as she was about to scream in frustration, it hit her. Buffy finally realised what the prophecy had been alluding to when it told of the battle between good and evil. This was an internal struggle, and each of the combatants would have to deal with their individual demons in order to win the fight, but by the looks of it, Faith was doing anything but winning. The girl was smiling, but in a way that caused Buffy to inhale sharply. She had seen that look before, but what scared her most was the dead look in Faith’s eyes that accompanied it. Buffy threw herself at the glass again, but only succeeded in knocking her head in such a way that she felt dizzy.
It was at that moment that she caught a glimpse of someone else in the room with Faith, and she rubbed her eyes before bringing them to focus on the other person in the room. It was Faith and she was with….Faith? Instead of trying to make sense of the situation, which would have been futile, Buffy’s instinct kicked in and she knew she had to find a way to get to Faith. Using physical force was obviously not an option, and Buffy racked her brain, trying to figure out which inner demons she was supposed to deal with. Everything from her fear of spiders, to her nightmares about death banged around in her head, but none seemed to trigger a doorway to Faith. For the first time in a long time, panic began to rise in Buffy’s throat. She threw fist after fist at the reinforced glass but it resulted in nothing but a dull, hollow sound. Dropping to her knees, Buffy rested her head against the glass. Her mind was working so fast that her teeth were beginning to hurt. Focussing her attention on the throbbing for a minute, Buffy let her dizzy head regain some form of composure, and as it stands to reason, as soon as she stopped thinking about it, it dawned on her. Her greatest fear was not being able to save someone. Her nightmares were filled with visions of people screaming for help, while she stood helpless, unable to assist them. In addition, it was innate in Buffy to always do the right thing, to follow the rules, to keep within the boundaries. It wasn’t until now that she realised that these two concepts were incompatible. It would never be possible to save people by always doing the right thing. There were times when she would have to trust her own judgement, and take whatever rules and regulations she was faced with, and discard them.
Filled with a renewed sense of clarity and energy, Buffy pulled herself up and took in her surroundings for the umpteenth time, only this time, she actually saw it for what it was. This was her nightmare. Here she was, trapped in a room that prevented any escape, trying to get to someone so she could save them. But this was not anyone. This was Faith. Her fellow Slayer, her equal, and perhaps the person who needed saving the most. Scratch that. She doesn’t need me to save her, she needs me to tell her that I forgive her, that it’s not her fault. Plus, I need to break some rules. Wonder where I start? Buffy raised an eyebrow as an idea formed in her head. Putting all of her strength into her right leg, she threw out a kick while simultaneously letting loose a volley of profanity.
“Fuck you! You can’t keep me in here! You want to know why? Because I’m the Slayer goddamit! I can do whatever I please and no one’s going to stop me! Screw your rules and magic and prophecies! If I want to get through this fucking glass, I will!” Breathing heavily, Buffy realised that this is what Faith had been trying to show her all along. It wasn’t about breaking the rules for the hell of it, it was practice for those times when the rules did not apply, no matter how hard you tried to make them. Flipping a blonde strand out of her face, Buffy punctuated the next three kicks with Faith’s unforgettable Slayer motto.
“Want!” Kick. “Take!” Kick. “Have!”
The last kick brought with it the most satisfying sound of glass shattering, and Buffy stood back to admire the fist-sized hole she had made. A coarse laugh brought her back to reality, or wherever she was, and she bent down to the hole and called out to Faith. The Slayer appeared to be almost hypnotized by her alter-image, drinking in the words that spilled out of its mouth, and smiling dangerously as a form of reply. Seeing this, Buffy continued with her attempts to reach Faith, screaming to her until her voice took on a husky quality. Buffy was close to tears. She knew what she had to do, and she was doing it, but it was evident that this was not enough. Clearing her throat, she ignored the burning sensation it yielded and began to speak in a soothing and deliberate manner.
“Faith, I know you’re scared. I am too, but we have to beat this thing. You have to trust me to help you.” Buffy took a deep breath and persisted, switching to topics that she knew would evoke at least some form of a reaction from Faith. “You’re not a mistake Faith, and don’t think that you are just because you screwed up a few times. It’s human nature to fuck up, and that’s what you are. It’s true Faith and you know it as well as I do. We may be the Chosen Two, but in the history books, we’re humans with Slayer powers, and we’re not perfect.”
“That’s for goddamn sure.”
Buffy looked up to see Faith, or Faiths, leaning against the glass window, scrutinizing her. As one spoke, so the other started a split second later, and the result was that of a distorted echo, similar to feedback from a speaker. Needless to say, the desired effect was created, and Buffy felt her skin crawl in response to it as she replied.
“Nobody’s perfect Faith, in fact, some people are just better at hiding their mistakes than others.”
“Don’t give me that self-help motivational crap, B. I fucked up royally all by myself, and I did try to hide it, but you were the one who made me face it. Thanks a bunch Blondie. I’ll be sure to credit you with my rehabilitation at the next cell block meeting.”
“I said I wanted you to get better Faith, to find some peace, but I never said you had to turn yourself in.”
“Well, I don’t think it was me who mentioned the word ‘jail’. I was a little preoccupied with that whole nervous breakdown thing – fucking wuss that I am.”
“Do you honestly think I wanted you to go to jail? Why would I want you, my partner, my equal, the only person who can even begin to understand me, why on earth would I want you locked up in some shithole 2000 miles away?”
“Oh come on B, you don’t have to be a fucking rocket scientist to figure that one out. I hurt you. I made you a victim, and not in the way you tell everyone else. I made you helpless because you couldn’t save me. Well I’m sorry to burst your charity bubble, but you can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved.” The echo was becoming more faint, and Buffy couldn’t decide whether or not this was a good or a bad thing. She wasn’t willing to take any chances, so she tried a different tactic. Leaving their famous banter by the wayside, Buffy stripped away her protective layers of bravado and spoke.
“I know you don’t want to be saved Faith, especially not by me, so let me open your eyes to what I want. I want to feel safe in the knowledge that someone with the abilities that you possess is free to use them at her leisure, and I’m not talking about Slayer stuff here. I’m talking about your ability to live, to embrace the good things that bring a smile to your face, no matter how unhealthy or unacceptable they are. I’m talking about how you make others feel about themselves. Those times when your sole purpose on this earth is to make one person laugh, regardless of who they are or where they came from, but most of all, I need you to be able to love. I need you to trust Faith, to place your heart in someone else’s hands and believe in them to be gentle with it.”
“I don’t know how to do that B.” The echo was gone and slowly, the badly scarred image of the brunette Slayer was fading.
“Then we’ll start slow.” Buffy slipped her hand through the hole in the glass and reached out to Faith. In doing so, a stray piece of glass caught her hand, slicing her palm so that a sliver of red appeared. Seeing this, Faith reached out and drew a shard across her own palm before moving towards Buffy.
“It’s one thing to speak about trust. It’s another to show it.” Faith held out her palm and looked at Buffy expectantly. “Partners?” Buffy shook her head before grasping Faith’s hand in her own.
“Nope. Friends.”
As the words left her mouth and the blood of the two Slayers began to fuse, a white light filled the space around them. They were momentarily blinded, but regained enough vision to see that the source of the light was their conjoined hands. Buffy smiled at Faith, and the brunette returned it with a dazzling one of her own.
“Something tells me we’re about to go home.”
“Don’t start any of that Dorothy-click-my-heels-together-three-times shit.”
“Party pooper.”
“The munchkins freaked me out ok?”
“Now is not the time to start with the little people jokes Faith.”
“That was completely unintentional.” There was a small pause as the two studied the light emanating from them. “Is it just me, or does this garner a solid 7 on the weird-shitometer?”
“Pssh..This is beginner stuff. Nevertheless, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.”
“You just had to go there. Well in that case, beam me up Scotty!”
“That’s just unforgivable.” Before Faith could respond, the white light increased in intensity and the two Slayers found themselves feeling slightly drowsy. The next time they laid eyes on each other, they were back in the DJ box, lying side by side, their hands still firmly clasped together.
Pulling herself into a sitting position, Faith made a statement that, while being her classic short and to-the-point style, summed up what both Slayers were feeling.
“Woah.”
“That’s an understatement.” Buffy heaved herself up and mimicked Faith’s position, sending a quick look to where her small hand was locked firmly in Faith’s. Espying this, Faith hurriedly removed her hand from Buffy’s and stood up.
“Well, that was fun. Just a quick question, B - ok, actually two questions. How the hell did you know what to do back there and where the hell are the double D’s?”
“Firstly, make quiet with the hell, because with our luck, we’ll probably be whisked off to there any minute. Secondly, I have no idea where our tag team vamps are and as for the last part…” Buffy trailed off as her brow crinkled in thought. “I can’t answer that one. I just, I don’t know how to explain it, but I just knew what to do. Something inside me exploded and I followed my instincts, which is just as well, otherwise you’d be Evil Faith and we’d probably be dead.”
“Man, your stories are getting really cynical. I like it. Reminds me of me in the good old days.” Buffy laughed and was rewarded with a slight twinge of pain in her right side, as well as a complaint from her right leg. Faith looked at her quizzically before stopping her pacing and folding her arms over her chest. “Well B, for all your unexplainable knowledge, I’m guessing that there’s something that you missed out on.”
“And what’s that?"
“That our Slayer powers were completely ineffectual in that freaky police station.” Buffy’s jaw dropped.
“But that means….” Faith nodded and crouched down next to Buffy.
“Yup. You kicked that glass in by yourself, sans superhuman skills, just you. Makes ya feel all gooey inside, doesn’t it?”
“Maybe gooey isn’t the right word. I’m thinking more along the lines of nauseous and acute discomfort.” True to her word, Buffy’s healthy complexion was adopting a rather green pallor, and without another word, Faith picked up the blonde and carried her out the door.
“This is just too weird.”
“Why’s that?” Buffy held on tighter to Faith’s neck.
“Because I have this fantasy that begins exactly like this, only we don’t look like casualties of war and we’re wearing a whole lotta less clothing.”
“Faith!” The brunette just smiled and fastened her grip.
Outside the warehouse, Angel and Kate were leaning against the car, both anxious for very different reasons. Kate’s mind had begun to wander, her thoughts mainly concerning Cordelia’s safety, and Angel, besides keeping an eye on the horizon, was considering the possibility that Buffy and Faith were gone. Just as doubt settled in the pit of his stomach, Angel heard the unmistakable sound of female laughter, and not for the first time over the last two days, his face shone with a brilliant smile. He watched as Buffy made her way over to him, ensconced in Faith’s arms and showing signs of a well-fought battle. Faith gently dropped Buffy to her feet and stood, gazing at the darkness of the early morning sky. Buffy followed suit and the two Slayers remained in a blissful silence, each watching the sky, each thinking vastly different thoughts. Interrupting their thoughts, Angel cleared his throat and motioned towards the horizon, prompting the three females to hastily enter the car. Kate once again assumed the passenger seat, but this time she did not receive a sharp look from Buffy. Instead, the blonde Slayer slid into the backseat and rested her head against the soft leather. Faith slipped in beside her and slouched so low that her head was barely visible. Angel started the car and both Slayers exhaled deeply before closing their eyes.
While the journey to the warehouse may have been a matter of minutes, the ride back to the hotel seemed an eternity – not that either Slayer was aware of this. Once they were back on the main roads, Angel began throwing out questions to the Slayers, quizzing them on what had happened. Receiving no response, he spoke again, only to be shushed by Kate. Gesturing with her eyes, she drew Angel’s attention to the backseat where the two girls had drifted into a peaceful slumber. Angel turned his attention back to the road as Buffy curled up next to Faith, tucking her head into Faith’s shoulder. The brunette mumbled incoherently and shifted her body to accommodate the smaller frame, draping her arm lazily over the blonde as the car sped through the city.
Faith awoke with a start, lashing out at the air as her brain refused to register her unfamiliar surroundings. Her breathing was labored and an ancient fan circulated the musty air in the room. Had she opened the window, she would have been privy to a beautiful day in LA, but her fears took over and the only thought she held on to was that she was trapped. She would have stayed in this frame of mind had it not been for the hand that reached out and touched her shoulder. Buffy sat up, rubbed the sleep from her eyes and gave Faith a bleary smile.
“Morning.” Buffy yawned and stretched her arms high above her head. On hearing a loud click, she smiled again and flopped back onto the bed. Faith was still in the stage between sleep and wake and some befuddled part of her mind insisted that this was all a dream. Was it possible that she had woken up next to Buffy? Was she still locked in her cell, delirious and hallucinating? These questions took swift leave from her mind as she felt that same small hand on her back. It remained there for a few seconds, immobile, yet decidedly there, and this gave Faith more comfort than she had ever experienced. It took Faith yet another second to realise that both she and Buffy were still in their clothes from the previous night, causing the brunette equal amounts or relief and disappointment. For obvious reasons, she would not have minded waking up sans clothes next to the blonde, but on the same note, she would have wanted it to have been something she was ready for, as well as remembering it. It was thus that Faith dragged herself out of bed, whipped the covers off Buffy and, in no uncertain terms, asked Buffy what she wanted for breakfast. Buffy’s mouth resembled a large “O” as she absorbed this tidbit of information, only closing her mouth when Faith broke out into a huge grin.
“Had ya going for a minute there didn’t I? Come one B, the only thing I can cook is microwave popcorn, and I even manage to screw that up on occasion.”
“Well if we’re competing for the award for Most Undomesticated Slayer, then you have a fierce competitor in yours truly. Although, I can make toast. Does that count?”
“Hell yeah! Get cooking woman!”
“Not exactly an advocator of the feminist movement are we?”
“No cause is above that of food B.” The blonde paused for a moment.
“Point taken. Although you eat my cooking at your own peril.”
“Sarcasm B, learn it, live it, love it. I’ll race you to Mickey D’s.”
Buffy watched as the brunette exited the room and listened as she found a nearby bathroom in which to freshen up. Buffy was increasingly happy about Faith’s newfound frame of mind and she did not want to be the one to bring up Faith’s return to prison. Unfortunately, her conscience made its presence known, and she knew that she had to be the one to tell Faith. The silver lining that decorated this unwanted cloud of doom, was that Buffy felt like she had broken through Faith’s carefully constructed walls, hopefully enough to convince the Rogue Slayer to recant her confession. In doing so, Faith’s case would be transferred to the Appeals Court and she would be given a chance at freedom. Even at the least, she would be granted parole, but all that concerned Buffy was that Faith was free. Too long, she suspected, Faith had been in prison, and not the one that humans constructed. This one existed in Faith’s mind and was linked to her lack of self-worth, self-esteem and her undeniable belief that she was nothing more than a common criminal. Well I’ll be damned if she tries to lock herself away again. Buffy peeled herself out of the comfort of the bed and made her way downstairs.
Angel heard her footfalls on the stairs and as she reached the bottom, a cup of steaming coffee awaited her.
“I like this whole new “service with a smile” concept. Especially the smile part.” Angel showed his pearly whites again and Buffy could not help but be amazed at the change in Angel. Sure, he still had the whole broody thing going for him, but the way he was acting lately….Buffy smiled to herself as she knew Angel would be pleased with the thought that had just zipped through her mind. Take away those two protruding incisors and Angel was as good as human. Storing this piece of analysis for a later stage, Buffy sipped at her coffee and took a seat on the couch. As if on cue, Kate entered the establishment, bringing with her a large quantity of sunlight that nestled the lobby floor before disappearing behind the large wooden door. The dark glasses covering her face hid the emotional trauma she was, no doubt, feeling, but the dimly lit lobby forced her to remove them. Buffy’s insides did a three-sixty and instinctively she approached the blonde detective.
“I’m guessing that you woke up with that not-so-fresh feeling this morning?”
“Ten points to the Midget Slayer.”
“Hey! That was low.” Buffy put on her best goofy expression as her pun died in infancy, but it resulted in a weak smile from Kate. She took a seat in one of the over-sized armchairs and cut right to the chase.
“Where’s Faith?”
“Upstairs. She’s getting rid of morning breath, sleep-filled eyes and a whole lot of make-up. I’m thinking of investing in a chisel to do mine, although to be honest, I’m really not in the mood to scrub half my face off. I never knew Faith was so hygienic, I mean would you have thought that she would be? It’s kind of like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman with the dental floss, except for the whole hooker thing, you know and then she’s, with the strawberries and wow, I’m now quoting from arbitrary teen films with second generation B-grade actors…..” Buffy trailed off as Angel mouthed the word “babbling” to her from across the room, and she knew that she had finally adopted Willow’s method of panic. Panic? Why on earth am I panicked? What have I got be nervous about? Faith and I kicked the prophecy’s ass and the double D’s are nowhere in sight. I definitely need some sugar.
“Buffy, I know you’re not going to like what I have to say, but everyone here knew this was inevitable, even Faith.” Buffy sighed and let her head drop to her chest. She stared at the floor for a few minutes before draining the remainder of her coffee and moving towards the stairs.
“I’ll tell her.”
“Buffy…” Kate stood up and locked eyes with the dejected Slayer. “You did well.” Buffy shook her head slowly from side to side as she replied “No Kate. We did well.” The petite blonde sighed to herself as she was once again hit with what Faith had said to her that night in Angel’s mansion. You know I came to Sunnydale, I’m a Slayer, I do my job kickin’ ass better than anyone and what do I hear about everywhere I go? Buffy. So I slay, I behave, I do the good little girl routine and who does everyone thank? Buffy. And it all appeared to be accurate. The previous night and Kate’s comment were testimony to that. Faith had been there, fighting hard, if not harder than Buffy to battle her inner demons, and the parade was still dedicated to one person: Buffy. The blonde in question trudged up the stairs and found an available bathroom. She busied herself with her morning ritual before entering the bedroom that she and Faith had occupied. The brunette was nowhere in sight. Buffy’s heart lurched in her chest and for a second she was convinced that Faith had bolted. Running to the open window, Buffy stuck her head out and peered down the bustling LA street. A door slammed behind her and were it not for her keen sense of balance, she would have fallen out of the window. She gripped the windowsill tightly and whirled around to find Faith leaning against the door, freshly scrubbed and wearing a shit-eating grin. Buffy’s body relaxed and she pulled herself back into the room. Her stance was nonchalant, as she made her way over to the rumpled sheets that adorned the double bed, and began shaking them out. She bent down and began to smooth the wrinkled under-sheet. A slight breeze blew in through the open window and caressed the nape of Buffy’s neck. Coinciding with this, Faith had joined Buffy on the opposite side of the bed, and her hand brushed against Buffy’s softly as she matched her partner’s movements. An involuntary shiver ran down the length of Buffy’s spine and a sudden sense of déjà vu swept over her. Equally, on the opposing side of the bed, Faith’s head was awash with images and sounds that did not quite fit into dream or reality. The two Slayers remained frozen in their positions, both aware of the others’ presence yet neither making any move to acknowledge the other. The silence finally affected them when they could hear the air around them moving through the room, and they snapped out of their daze, continuing with making the bed.
When all the necessary sheets, duvets and pillows were in place, the two Slayers stepped back to survey their work. While Buffy’s side of the bed was an adequate attempt at cleanliness, Faith’s sharp, hospital corners left no doubt as to whom was the neat freak. Studying this intently, Buffy giggled, an image of Faith suddenly appearing in her head: Faith crouching by the side of the bed with a tape measure, shaking her head sadly as she bitched about being a millimetre off. Seeing Buffy’s obvious amusement, Faith pushed her to share the joke, and Buffy did so, adding some goofy facial expressions to her explanation. Faith smiled, but it was a far sight short of her usual wide grin. Buffy realised that she had inadvertently entered sensitive territory, and she tentatively broached Faith, stating that her idea of foot-and-mouth disease was removing said foot from her big mouth. This garnered a genuine smile from Faith and she sat down on the bed before speaking.
“It’s cool B, it’s just that the only way I would ever have been taught to make hospital corners was if I was in some kind of an institution, ya know? I always knew it would be a toss up between a nuthouse and jail. Guess I was right. Just wasn’t looney enough for a high quality padded cell.”
“I thought we were past this self-depreciating phase?” Buffy took a seat next to Faith.
“You might be, but I’m still firmly stuck in it.” There was a pause. Then both girls began speaking at the same. Buffy waved herself off and Faith apologised.
“Sorry, go ahead.”
“You first.”
“Why? I think we were both headed in the same direction. You were going to tell me it’s time for me to go back, and I was gonna tell you that it’s time for me to go back.”
“You really want to go back?”
“’Want’ has nothing to do with it. It’s more a case of not wanting Queen C to beat me to a bloody pulp for leaving her there so long.”
“Like that would ever happen.”
“Stranger things have occurred.” Buffy nodded in agreement and looked around the room, suddenly uneasy about making eye contact with the girl on her left. Faith felt the subtle change in the blonde’s body language and stood up.
“I’ll get Kate.” Faith strode towards the door and reached out to turn the handle, when Buffy bolted in her direction and managed to get herself in-between Faith and said door.
“Uh, B, I know we haven’t hung out in a while, but standing in front of a door is not conducive to getting it open.”
“Just give me a sec ok? I’ve been leaning towards Willow’s babble mode for a long time and it’s not pretty. I just want to say this properly.”
Faith’s face was unreadable, so the blonde merely continued. In actual fact, the only thing Faith was aware of was the incredibly close proximity of their bodies, and a sudden rush of pheromones had prevented her from replying. “Ever since we busted you out of jail, my head has been in a whirlwind of mixed emotions about you. We’ve covered the pain, the hurt, the betrayal, basically everything that I hated you for, but there are other aspects that we never talk about. The things that make your sleep so unbearable…….”
“How did you…….?”
“I slept next to you Faith, and it’s kind of hard not to notice. I know you don’t want to be saved, and I’m the last person who has the right to do that, but would I be out of line if I asked you to talk to me?” This hit Faith square in the gut, and she did not know whether it was relief or surprise that delivered the blow. Nevertheless, she smiled sadly and shrugged.
“I guess.”
“Not the enthusiasm I was hoping for, but I’m down with that.”
“B, you are quite possibly the whitest-white girl on the planet, leave the street slang to me.”
“I dig.” Faith threw her head back and released a mighty chuckle, instigating a full-on case of the giggles in Buffy. After a good minute or so, Buffy wiped her eyes and placed her hand on Faith’s shoulder.
“You ready?”
“Like a stripper with a well-oiled pole.” Buffy crinkled her nose.
“If I may say: EW!” Faith laughed again, this time a deep-seated chuckle.
“What can I say, I turn a mean phrase. Now let’s get me out of here before I change my mind.” Buffy opened the door and she felt Faith behind her. She contemplated shutting the door and keeping Faith beside her for peace of mind, but a nudge from the person behind her forced her forward and down the stairs. Angel and Kate were waiting in the lobby. Angel stepped forward to say goodbye to Faith but she simply walked past him, ducking her head and mumbling under her breath “I don’t do good-byes.”
Crouched in the backseat of Kate’s car, Faith detected the prison before they drove up to it. There was something about its scent that indicated loss, hopelessness and a big dollop of life-long misery, and Faith was convinced that she was deserving in each of those categories. Although she would gladly turn her world upside-down for her sister Slayer, she could not grant herself redemption. That was just too easy. Angel was still paying for his crimes, 250 years later, but Faith’s mistakes weighed just as heavy on her young soul. She heard the sound of metal against gravel, as the iron-gate swung open and allowed them into the parking lot. Kate found the furthest parking bay – one that was shielded from view by a large dumpster – and shut off the engine. The gentle rumbling of the engine that Faith had been focussed on during the journey jolted her out of her daze and a wave of nausea swept over her. Swallowing hard, she lifted her head and climbed out the door that Kate held open for her. Buffy sat silently in the passenger seat, and Faith could not help but wonder if the blonde was glad to be rid of her once and for all. This thought made an abrupt exit from Faith’s mind as Buffy wrenched the door open, almost pulling it right off its hinges. She strode round to the driver’s side and stood directly in front of Faith, hands on her hips and a grim expression on her face.
“Can you give us a minute?” Buffy’s eyes drifted towards Kate.
“Sure.” Kate strolled over to the dumpster and leaned against the wall, preferring to be well out of earshot. Faith balanced herself on her toes and shifted from foot to foot – a nervous habit that she had possessed for as long as she could remember – transferring her gaze to the ground on which she stood.
“You didn’t have to come ya know.” Buffy nodded.
“I know, but I wanted to.” For the umpteenth time in a short space of time, Buffy rested her hand on Faith’s shoulder, and the brunette ceased her movement. “I meant what I said Faith. I want you to talk to me.”
“Maybe now isn’t the best time.”
“And why’s that?”
“Well for obvious temporal reasons, but beyond that, I’m really not ready to get all weepy on ya. I’m about to go back to a place where I’m stronger than anyone else, but I can’t do anything if someone so much as looks at me the wrong way. I spend each night staring at the cracks in the ceiling, trying to figure out how it came to be that a Chosen One got such a crappy choice.”
“You made that decision Faith, because I sure as hell didn’t see it in a prophecy.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” A dark fire shone in Faith’s eyes and Buffy’s hackles raised.
“I mean that you’re always bitching about what shitty luck you’ve had, and even when you make the right decision, you’re still unable to find peace of mind.”
“Oh spare me the Tony Robbins lecture. You think I don’t look for it? That little pill that will float into my system and into my brain, telling me that everything is coming up roses? You think I don’t search for it in every twinge of guilt that I have because I took two human lives? You told me that night that you felt dirty, well let me tell you something B, you were right. I did feel dirty. I feel dirty every goddamn day of my life and no amount of soap will ever get me clean.” Faith paused and pushed a stray lock of hair out of her flushed face. “Will that suffice for this evening’s sharing?” Faith propelled herself off the car and brushed past Buffy, intently striding towards Kate. Buffy smacked herself in the forehead so loudly that Faith stopped and turned around.
“What was that?” Buffy rubbed the spot on her forehead where she’d inflicted the blow and grinned absurdly.
“That, my fellow Slayer, was my wake-up call.” Faith feigned disinterest but her eyes remained locked on Buffy. “You see, this always happens. We fight, we slay, we make friends, but as soon as you…..we get too close, then the cycle repeats itself. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather the only fighting we do, be kicking some serious undead ass. You said that you’d speak to me, and I’m going to hold you to that, but as far as time goes, there’s no sense rushing into anything.” Faith snorted.
“Um, hello? Earth to Blondie? Have we not taken into consideration the whole concept of “LA here” and "Sunnydale", not so much here?”
“We have.” Faith’s stern face dissipated into confusion, changing quickly to a fleeting smile and just as quickly, into outright anger.
“Fucking hell! How many times do we have to cover this! I am not, I repeat, not a goddamn charity case! Just go back to Sunnydale. I want to be left alone.”
“No.”
“Why!” Faith’s resolve was beginning to crumble and her shoulders sagged as the fight seeped out of her.
“Because that’s a cop out Faith. Not from me, but from you. I’m not going back because I know that will be easier for you, for me to pack my stuff and head back to Sunnyhell while you rot in the City of Angels, bitching about your incapacitation. So I’m staying. I’m here to make sure you’re not a charity case and that you don’t get what you want.”
“And what’s that?”
“To be left alone.”
Faith smiled weakly while simultaneously moving backwards towards Kate, letting Buffy’s words hang over her like a threatening thunderstorm. The worst thing she could do was let her mind absorb what Buffy had just said, based purely on the fact that acceptance inevitably led to some form of understanding, and Faith was not ready for that yet. Anything that involved utilising emotions was, and had been, taboo for a very long time. Faith continued back peddling until she could catch the scent of Kate’s perfume, whereto she stopped and motioned the detective to lead the way. Her feet crunched against the gravel underfoot and it slowly began a rhythm in her head, taking her back to a few hours ago when she and Buffy had been on a crowded dance floor, surrounded by thousands of people. The image of the two of them on the dance floor sparked a recollection of the first time they had gone dancing, something that Faith held close to her as an intensely happy moment. She could count her happy moments on one hand, a large majority of which involved Buffy. Bronzing, slaying, Christmas, all of which were imprinted on her mind. Faith shook off the memories as the guard tower came into view, and she was just about to bury her head in Kate’s shoulder when a pair of arms enveloped her around the waist and a head was pressed tightly into her back. This time, she did not flinch at the contact, putting all of her attention towards the warm body that was pressed against hers. When Buffy loosened her grip, Faith swiveled around and quirked an eyebrow at the blonde.
“Frisky ain’t ya?”
“I’ve been meaning to do that for a while, but I knew I’d have to catch you off-guard.”
“Point taken, although if I’d had a stake, you might have been picking splinters outta your hair.” The two Slayers smiled at each other until an awkward silence fell upon them. Kate put an arm around Faith’s shoulders and the two began their final walk to the prison entrance.
“Hey Faith?” Buffy spoke under her breath, inaudible to everyone else but her counterpart. “You know how you’re always saying my entertainment knowledge is appalling? Well, I just thought of something that you might like. Greta Garbo once said: ‘I never said I wanted to be alone, I said I wanted to be left alone, and therein lies the difference’. I’ll be seeing you Faith.” Watching the two figures disappear into the building, Buffy felt at a loss for emotions, and had her mind not been otherwise occupied, she might have caught the tail end of what the wind carried.
“You already have B, much more than you’ll ever know.”
To say that security at the prison was lax would be an understatement, and Kate and Faith did not garner so much as a second glance. Kate was impelled to point out this infraction, but considering she was trying to sneak a prisoner back in, she let it slide. Even so, Faith kept her gaze locked firmly on the ground in front of her, blinking as the white of the infirmary corridor reflected into her eyes. The smell that always accompanied hospitals – disinfectant, stale food and cold air – attacked Faith’s nostrils and she resisted the urge to gag. When they reached the room that ‘Faith’ was in, Kate took in a quick sweep of the vicinity and ushered the young Slayer inside. The door closed behind them, quietly enough not to disturb the person sleeping in the bed, and Kate approached the figure tentatively. Cordelia was fast asleep and wearing a look of contentment that Faith prayed for every night. Kate bent down and laid the softest of kisses on her lover’s lips, murmuring softly to rouse Cordelia. The brunette mumbled and her eyes fluttered open, bringing with them a large, uninhibited smile. Faith watched the two of them with disguised envy, eventually turning away to examine the array of instruments that were laid out on the table.
“We won.” Cordelia’s confidence in her statement brought about a raised eyebrow on Kate’s part. The brunette had yet to register that Faith was in the room.
“We did, but how…..” At that moment, Cordelia sat up and a flash of dark hair drew her attention to the lanky girl on the far side of the room.
“I saw it. I saw them fighting. Faith and Buffy, Darla and Drusilla. It was a painful vision, and I think my screaming prompted them to give me a shot of something. Whatever it was, it just numbed my body, because my mind latched onto that vision for a good, long time.”
“We don’t know much of what happened. Buffy and Faith are still a little shaky on the details and Darla and Drusilla disappeared.” Cordelia smiled and shook her head.
“They didn’t disappear. They lost, which means that they are either enjoying the sunny shores of Hell, or else they’ve been reincarnated as something nice, like slugs or millipedes.” Kate laughed as Cordelia continued with her explanation.
“The battle that was mentioned in the prophecy? It was, as it said, good against evil, but it was the struggle between those forces inside each individual. Buffy and Faith fought the evil inside themselves and defeated their demons. As for the other two, Darla’s an evil bitch so you can guess which route she took, but Drusilla was a different story altogether. When she was human, she had the sight, and that was ultimately her downfall. Somewhere, in the depths of her cold visage, Drusilla had a kernel of good, and when confronted with it, she broke down and prayed. Asking for forgiveness when you’re the minion of evil doesn’t bode well with this particular prophecy. And that, as they say, is all folks. Now can we get me the hell out of here?”
“You don’t have to ask twice.” Kate helped Cordelia out of the bed and the brunette took a few shaky steps, holding onto Kate as she shook off the wooziness. After pattering around the room to find her feet, Cordelia finally acknowledged Faith and asked her for her clothes. She was most surprised when the Slayer failed to jump at the opportunity for an innuendo and merely shrugged off her clothes and passed them to Cordelia. As she exchanged her overalls for the clothes, she could not help but notice a definite alteration in Faith. It was not so much her body language or her silence, but the look in her eyes. The anger and fierceness that had been there a matter of hours ago seemed to have ebbed, leaving something more controlled and, dare she say, content? Cordelia filed away this piece of information and made a mental note to mention it to Kate at a later stage.
“Ready to go?”
“Hell yes. This isn’t exactly the Hilton.” Cordelia slid her arm though Kate’s and moved towards the door, but not before taking one last look at where Faith was now ensconced in the bed. The brunette Slayer was mix of emotions, all that were, surprisingly, evident on her face. A sense of calm, intermingled with a severe look of loss, masked her strong features, and Cordelia felt a pang of guilt as her and Kate left the room.
“What happened to her Kay?”
“It’s a long story Cordy, and I’ve got a sneaky suspicion that you know more about it than I do.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because it started the day Faith arrived in Sunnydale.” Cordelia crinkled her brow as confusion set in, prompting Kate to wrap an arm around her and squeeze her tightly. “I’ll tell you all about it when we get home.” Cordelia nodded.
“First things first though, I need pizza, and lots of it. Hospital food is decidedly crappy and I need to get the taste of pudding out of my mouth.”
“Your wish is my command.”
“So I take it I’m on top tonight?” Kate chuckled as her and Cordelia reached the car. Buffy was seated in the backseat, staring straight ahead, her face void of any expression. Cordelia waved to Buffy as she climbed into the passenger seat, but refrained from making any light conversation. She was well aware that Buffy was not in the mood. The drive back to the hotel was one of unmitigated silence. For Buffy, her head was in a total spin, preventing her from using the function of speech, while Kate and Cordelia merely enjoyed their current proximity. When they pulled up to the hotel, Buffy ran inside, gathered whatever belongings she had left there, and before Cordelia and Kate had even entered, she was already running out. She gave a small smile as she dashed past the couple, hailed a taxi, and was halfway to her motel before Kate and Cordelia could react. Kate shrugged and went inside, leaving Cordelia on the pavement, muttering something about ‘a Slayer thing’.
The last thing on Buffy’s mind was her etiquette, and she paced the worn-out carpet of her motel room with great ferocity. Her life had seemed so simple all of two days ago. Now, she was stuck in the Bates Motel for an undetermined period of time, in a city that made her skin crawl, having just defied yet another doomsday prophecy, and for what? She did not see anyone breaking down her door to thank her. Not so much as a nod in her direction.
Is it too much to ask for someone to say ‘Nice job Buffy. Thanks for saving the world again. Here, have a cookie’? Buffy sighed and decided that she would never understand humans. This train of thought led her to Faith, someone whom she doubted she would ever get to talk to her, much less understand. Then why am I still here? Buffy felt a migraine of mammoth proportions slowly making its way to her temples, and she squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to thwart its journey. She only succeeded in creating large white spots in front of her eyes, but this triggered something in the recesses of her mind. She recalled waking up in her bed with a feeling of impending doom, surrounded by a bright white light. The wheels of her mind began to dig deeper into her sub-conscious, until it merged with her present state of mind. She had seen that light a few hours ago as it emanated from her and Faith’s intertwined hands. The realization hit her with the force of an elephant being flung out of a cannon. She was here because of Faith, and not only because she said she would be, but because there were higher powers that demanded her to be. Suddenly fired up, Buffy laid down on the floor and performed 500 sit-ups, each one guiding her to a final decision. She had to see Faith. Visiting hours were over, and it was more than likely that Faith would be back in her cell, so she would have to wait until tomorrow. This did not sit well with the determined blonde, and as night settled in, she got dressed and made her way to Faith.
Cordelia and Kate were wrapped up in bed, savouring each other, a large pizza and a giant tub of ice cream. The smile on Cordelia’s face as she inhaled the last slice of pizza left Kate in a state of hysterics, until Cordelia shot her a death stare, focusing on Kate’s legs.
“What?”
“I was just thinking that maybe I wouldn’t be so judgmental if my thighs were looking a little bit on the chunky side.” Kate’s mouth was a wide ‘O’.
“You little bitch! My thighs are not chunky!”
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I like my women with a little meat on them.”
“The only meat you’re going to be getting is a knuckle-sandwich if you continue teasing me in this fashion.” Cordelia giggled and reached for the tub of ice cream, quizzing Kate about the events of the past night and day during intervals of spoonfuls.
“So what were they like?”
“Who?”
“Beavis and Butthead. For chrissakes Kate! Buffy and Faith! Did they rip each other to shreds? Did they hurl witty banter at each other? Did they engage in some sweaty Slayer activites?”
“All that and more.”
Cordelia dropped the spoon into the empty carton and reached for Kate. “Does Buffy know yet?” Kate smiled and shook her head.
“I tried to mention it to her when we were at the hotel, but she’ll figure it out eventually. In a strange way, I think she knows, and even more so, I think she feels the same.” Cordelia nearly choked on the very air that surrounded her.
“You’re kidding me right?”
“Nope. I’m absolutely serious, and completely positive.” Cordelia grinned and trailed her fingers along the seams of Kate’s pants.
“I knew I wasn’t the only one who saw it.” Kate looked at Cordelia with a measure of surprise. “What? You don’t have to be a genius to see the subtext between those two. Faith confirmed it for me when she walked into the infirmary today. A sense of aching was the only ingredient in her eyes, and she never gave a shit about anyone before, which is why it was so apparent.” Kate took Cordelia’s hands and kissed them lightly. “You know what Buffy’s problem is?”
“Besides saving the world on a daily basis?”
“Faith. She’s her blindspot. She’s the one person who Buffy can’t figure out. And do you want to know why she can’t understand her?”
“I think you’re going to tell me even if I say no.”
“Because you can’t understand someone who is half a person. Faith and Buffy complete each other. It’s evident in everything they do, and how they do it, and I just hope that whatever powers watch over us, decide to cut them some slack and let them be together.”
“No higher power can do that Cordy. Only they can.”
Buffy scaled the barb-wire fence that surrounded the prison, using her jacket to protect herself from the metal spikes, and landed without a sound on the other side. Her Slayer senses picked up each sound and movement, and she managed to sneak past the guards without any effort. The strange thing was, that if they had stopped her, she would have had no qualms about beating the living shit out of them. She was focused on one thing, and one thing only: Faith. Buffy had tried to deny it a thousand times, but there was just something about Faith that got under her skin. Maybe it was the way she lived life so voraciously, without a concern for what tomorrow could offer, or maybe it was how she wasn’t afraid to be a Slayer, to use the powers that had been bestowed upon her and enjoy the feelings of power that accompanied them. Faith had always looked at Buffy as the solemn epitome of duty and responsibility, and she had tried to emulate her to the best of her abilities. When this failed, she turned her nose up at anything remotely dutiful and went about doing the complete opposite. Buffy saw this as mere rebellion, but for Faith, it was all about garnering the blonde’s attention.
Which she did, receiving a knife in the gut as a reply. Buffy grimaced at the image of the scar on Faith’s abdomen, one that even Slayer recuperative powers could not heal, and set her sights on the reception area of the prison.
A lone prison officer stood guard, swinging on a chair and watching a re-run of some show from the 50’s. The canned laughter covered Buffy’s footfalls as she sneaked past the guard and into the prison wing. There, she was met with a problem. Gates, and lots of them. Buffy considered twisting the bars open, but the noise would surely alert the guard to her presence. Plan B. Buffy made her way back to the reception area and tried to locate a set of keys. She spied a large set on a wall behind the guard, dangling from a hook and beckoning her to reach out and grab them. For maybe the first time in her life, Buffy was grateful to Xander’s pestering that she learn unrelated Slayer skills, especially when said skills were that of ventriloquism. The blonde threw her voice in the direction of the officer’s lounge and grabbed the keys while the guard went to investigate. Smiling to herself, Buffy unlocked the thick metal gates and continued to the wing. She had never been to the prison before, yet something guided her, something very powerful, something that resulted in her standing outside cell number 21 that housed prisoner 800828. Buffy’s eyes adjusted to the dark interior of the cell and she spotted a figure lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, one hand under her head and a glowing cigarette in her other. Buffy’s heart was beating in her throat as Faith picked up the presence outside of her cell. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, pushed herself off and swayed towards the thick bars that caged her in. A stream of smoke preceded her and as she stepped forward in order for Buffy to lay eyes on her, she appeared as a siren rising out of the sea, enveloped in a thick white foam. Faith’s husky voice followed soon after.
“I’d ask what you were doing here, but I knew you were coming.” Faith laced her hands through the bars and brought the cigarette to her lips again. Buffy did not remove her eyes from Faith. She watched every gesture that the brunette made, trying to ascertain why she was so calm. Faith smirked and dropped the cigarette at Buffy’s feet. The so blonde stepped on it without so much as looking at it, her eyes still firmly locked in a stare with Faith’s. “So are you gonna stare at me all night or are we gonna talk about it?”
“Talk about what?”
“Don’t play dumb B, it doesn’t become you. What did you sneak in here to give me fashion tips?”
“I gave up on that a long time ago.”
“And here I thought you got a kick outta my ‘fuck me’ outfits.”
“Don’t flatter yourself F, it’s not becoming.” Faith snorted and lifted herself up so that she was face to face with Buffy.
“I thought we were past this bullshit B?” Faith’s tone hit Buffy like one of her specialty leg sweeps. It was one of genuine fatigue, with a mixture of pleading, and Buffy’s body relaxed from its defensive composure.
“We are Faith.”
“Then let’s talk. You came here because you needed to see me, right?” Buffy nodded. “But it wasn’t just a whim. It was that gut feeling, the one that tells you when you’re in danger or when someone you love is in trouble. It’s when you feel your stomach twist into a thousand knots and you have to do something about it before you explode.”
“Something like that. Only ten times as worse.”
Faith leaned her head against the bars, and Buffy caught her scent, causing her to move closer to the brunette. In doing so, Faith inhaled the fragrance that was distinctively Buffy and a moment of silence passed between them. When it was over, Buffy spoke, in a voice tinged with hesitation.
“I feel it Faith. I felt it a few days ago when I woke up in my bed in Sunnydale, screaming and sweating in my sleep because I didn’t know where I was. All I could identify was that I felt scared and secure at the same time, because my hand…”
“…was clasped in another while a bright light emanated from them? I dreamed it too B, but I didn’t want to mention it because my version of events ended so fucking badly.”
“Why’s that?” Faith flipped open the box of cigarettes and lit another one.
“Because you killed me B. You didn’t stick a knife in my gut like last time. You left me, and that was enough to make me wanna die.” Faith’s eyes watered slightly and she rubbed at them irritably.
“Faith, you’re alive. That’s all you have to concentrate on for now. Well, that and the fact that we have this connection which neither one of us understands.”
“It’s a Slayer thing B. No explanations needed.” It was Buffy’s turn to smile now. Faith looked at her quizzically, and in a matter of seconds, the door to Faith’s cell swung open. Buffy dangled the set of keys in front of her and walked into the cell.
“You and I both know there’s more to it than that. I feel you Faith. I feel everything that you do, and I know you feel it with me too. When we were at the warehouse, I could feel the rhythm of your body inside me and I just wanted to reach out and touch you. You want to know why?” Faith gulped and nodded.
“Because you’re mine Faith. You belong to me, just like I belong to you. This connection we have isn’t just a fluke spiritual thing, it’s someone’s way of telling us that we’re meant to be together. To fight, to argue, to slay, to compete and…” Buffy moved into Faith’s personal space and laid her hand on the shaking brunette’s hip. “…to touch.” Faith felt faint for the first time in a very long time and she sub-consciously held onto Buffy for support. The blonde smiled and motioned Faith to the bed. “Everyone else saw it except me. Angel, Kate, Cordelia, they all tried to give me a push in the right direction, but I needed it to come from me.”
“And did it? Did it come from you, or is this just an attempt to explore undiscovered territory?”
“I know you Faith. I know everything about you, and not the stuff that you tell everyone, but the things that you hide. I know you emotionally, spiritually and intellectually, and if you’d let me, I want to know you physically. No wait. I want to know you intimately.” Faith sat back and smoked for a while, taking long, thoughtful drags on the cigarette before flinging it onto the floor and crushing it with her boot. She rested her elbows on her knees and spoke to the floor.
“So you know everything about me?”
“Almost.”
“Then you know that I love you?”
“Yes.”
“Then you’ll understand that I can’t be with you. Not here. Not now. Not like this.”
“That’s your pride talking Faith. Why don’t you let your heart take over instead. Or better yet, why not let this guide you.”
Buffy took Faith’s hand in her own and kissed the brunette’s fingers slowly and deliberately, eliciting a small sigh from her. Gently, she took Faith’s index finger in her mouth and sucked on it lightly. Faith’s mind was in overdrive. Every neuron that she possessed was telling her to stop, that none of this was real, that this was not right or even possible. Then she felt Buffy’s hand on her thigh and all of that went right of the window. Faith placed her hand over Buffy’s and squeezed softly, focusing on the blonde as she teased Faith’s finger with her tongue. The growing wetness between Faith’s legs was becoming unbearable. She had not been with someone since that bar girl, just before Buffy came to LA and she turned herself in, and her dormant hormones were arising at an alarming rate. Sensing Faith’s need, Buffy released her finger and moved in to capture Faith’s lips in a kiss. Faith gasped at the intimate contact, but quickly went about exploring the deep recesses of Buffy’s mouth. Buffy responded and kissed Faith aggressively, grazing the brunette’s bottom lip with her teeth and sighing as Faith sucked on her tongue. Faith’s restraint left her, and there was no way in hell that any man, demon, beast or organism could have stopped her from doing what she did next.
Her hands found their way to Buffy’s shirt and she tore off the buttons with a single flick of her hand. The round white objects clattered to the floor and were soon joined by the torn shirt as well as a white lace bra. Buffy was on her back, her breasts being ravaged by Faith’s hot and skillful tongue, which seemed to be everywhere at the same time. Buffy grabbed a handful of Faith’s hair and gripped it between her fingers as Faith grazed Buffy’s right nipple with her teeth, before taking it into her mouth and sucking on it gently. Faith’s hand came up and caressed the soft skin of Buffy left breast, tracing small semi-circles on the beauteous curve. Buffy’s taut abdomen began gathering a small sheen of perspiration and Faith licked at it teasingly. Strands of blonde hair clung to Buffy’s face and neck and Faith brushed them away tenderly. Buffy sighed and her chest dropped as the breath left her. She reached out to Faith and hurriedly ridded the brunette of her discoloured white tank top, casting her gaze upon the smooth alabaster quality of Faith’s breasts. She touched her tentatively, exploring every curve of skin while Faith moaned softly with undisguised pleasure. Buffy gently brought Faith down to her, where she clutched the brunette to her chest and rolled over. Faith, now on her back, looked up at Buffy with unconcealed lust as the blonde ran her hands over Faith’s chest.
While Faith was more than happy to have Buffy lavishing attention on her chest, she could feel the heat emanating from the crotch of Buffy’s pants, and every part of her being called out for her to touch the blonde. Being Faith, she did, placing the palm of her hand over Buffy’s center and rubbing in small circles. Buffy hissed loudly and placed her hands flat on the roof of the bunk bed, grinding her hips into Faith’s hand. Wasting no further time, Faith unfastened the buttons of Buffy’s pants and slipped a finger into the blonde’s moist folds, stroking Buffy’s outer walls so slowly that the blonde had to bite her lip to stop from screaming. The smell of sex began to envelop the room and Buffy and Faith became lost in the sensation of touch. Buffy’s walls tightened as Faith slid another finger inside her, stroking her harder now with an increased pace. Faith watched Buffy as her body responded to the pleasure Faith was supplying, but was surprised when Buffy lifted herself off her and sat back on her haunches. Her look of primal instinct and her disheveled hair had Faith salivating so much that she slipped her finger into her own pants to relieve some of the pressure that was building there. Buffy watched in awe as Faith thrust into herself, only shaking herself out of the daze she was in when Faith’s body began to buck. Buffy placed a hand on Faith’s stomach and shook her head lightly. “We do everything together.”
With that, Buffy discarded her pants and underwear and Faith bathed in the sight of Buffy’s naked form. The blonde tore off Faith’s offending garment and on finding no underwear to speak of, laid herself beside the brunette and kissed her gently. Faith was breathless with emotion, and feared she might pass out when Buffy’s fingers began combing the dark patch of hair that covered Faith’s soaked cavity. The brunette’s only response was to pick up where she left off, thrusting her fingers inside Buffy while the blonde mimicked her movements seconds later. The Slayers forced their eyes open, concentrating solely on each others movements and breathing, neither looking away for fear of breaking the spell that their bodies and minds were creating. Faith devoured Buffy’s mouth with her own, attempting to join them in every way possible, and the blonde responded with equal measures of intensity. Their lips met aggressively and teeth and tongue collided, but neither Slayer paid much attention. They existed only for each other, and as waves of pleasure began to wash over them, Buffy breathed out the words Faith had mentioned almost in passing earlier. As the last syllable left Buffy’s mouth, the Slayers’ bodies contracted and a release of synchronized electricity swept over them, causing a momentary blackout in the Los Angeles vicinity. Just before the power went out, Cordelia looked over at Kate and said: “Now that’s a Slayer thing.”
Buffy and Faith collapsed in each others’ arms, rejoicing in the proximity of their bodies and relishing the remnants of energy that flitted around the room. Faith fumbled around for her cigarettes and lit one with shaky hands.
Buffy giggled at Faith’s lighter difficulty, and surprised the brunette once again by taking the cigarette and dragging on it. Receiving a quizzical look from the brunette, Buffy merely shrugged.
“I’ve never seen the attraction until now.” Faith grinned lopsidedly and retrieved the cigarette.
“It’s bad for you.”
“So? Everyone told me you were bad for me. Did that stop me from indulging?”
“Point taken.” Faith passed the cigarette back to Buffy. They lay there in silence, passing the glowing stick between them and lazily running their hands over each other. When the last piece ember had burned out, Faith tossed it to the floor and propped herself up on her side. “Hey B?”
“Yeah?”
“You ever see ‘When Harry Met Sally’?”
“Faith, if this is some stupid reference to the diner scene…” Faith chuckled.
“It’s not. So you’ve seen it?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Then you know the premise of the film? Men and women can’t be friends because sex always gets in the way.”
“I think I remember it. What’s your point?” Although Buffy had picked up on Faith’s tendency to allude to movies as way of explaining her feelings, she preferred the brunette to clarify them, as opposed to her interpreting the wrong message.
“When Harry and Sally scr……sleep together for the first time, there’s this wicked awkward moment afterwards. They just lie there, staring at the ceiling and trying to figure out what the fuck just happened. I just don’t want that to be us. I may be selfish B, but I want it all. I want your friendship, I want your love, I want your body, your mind, I want everything about you to be mine.”
“Then it’s yours.” Faith smiled fleetingly and her faced dropped unexpectedly. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want you to leave.”
“I’m not going to.”
“Yes you are. You have to go back to Sunnyhell. You’re the Slayer B, that’s what you do.”
“I also vowed to protect those who I love, and that’s one responsibility that I never shirk. I’m not going back Faith, and the only time I’ll ever consider going back is when you’re coming back with me.” Faith’s eyes welled up with tears and she hugged the blonde to her chest.
“So what you’re telling me is that…”
“I’ll wait for you.” Faith laughed and wiped the tears from her eyes.
“That would be so corny if it wasn’t coming from you.” Buffy kissed Faith’s eyelids and placed her ear over Faith’s heart, listening to the rhythm as it pounded in sync with hers.
“What are you thinking right now?” Faith planted a kiss on the top of Buffy’s head.
“This has to be a movie.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because real life is never this good.”