Protracted Protection
by Sydney Santiaego
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: All characters owned by Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemey.
Feedback: Please!
"Hurry the fuck up, girl. Late again. If I could fire you, I would."
Faith fixed her boss with a malevolent glare. "If I could knock your block off, I would," she retorted and walked through the door before he could get another word in. She detested her job because she knew that, if she were allowed, she could be a very successful young woman. Instead she was forced to work at this sleazy dive of a bar for a guy she hated and for tips only.
Faith removed her leather jacket and stuffed it into her locker. She leant against it and lit a cigarette, intent on wasting a few more minutes of her shift and annoying Edwin even further. Faith stiffened, ready for trouble as the staff room door opened.
None of her colleagues could stand the fact that Faith was so slack at work and yet didn't get into trouble as they did. Faith didn't like them either and had broken one girl's nose when she suggested that Faith was popular with the management because she wasn't shy with sexual favours. However, the person who came into the room was a rather quiet girl whom Faith sometimes took home if they were on a late together.
"Hey Anna," she said. "Good shift?"
"Is it ever?"
"When we're on lates..." drawled Faith, raising one eyebrow. She dropped her cigarette on the floor and paced over to Anna. "You got a late this week?"
Anna backed away slightly and into the door. Faith followed and pressed up against her. "Not at work, what if someone...mmmm." She stopped as Faith leant in and placed a lingering kiss on her lips. After a moment she mumbled "Gotta late today."
Faith grinned at her, kissed her again quickly and then sailed out of the room. The pleasurable feeling she got from kissing Anna faded the second she walked into the bar. Seedy guys watching seedy strippers in a seedy setting. Faith felt disgusted with herself on a daily basis, but she had no choice. The Witness Protection Scheme had seemed kind of magnanimous and heroic at the time, but the reality sucked. New name, new address, whole new identity and doing a little work for the police hadn't seemed like such a big deal when it was suggested, but what did she get in return? A tiny apartment, some very meagre benefits and never seeing her friends again. Okay, so she hadn't had that many friends, but at least they were familiar faces. And B...
"Yo, Candy!" An aggressive voice cut into her reverie. She shuddered as she always did when someone called her by her new name. Were the police guys having a laugh with that or what? Candy. Ugh. However, she switched on a smile and swung over to the group of guys. "Hey, guys. Always a pleasure to see you." It was a lie, Faith detested these guys even more than she detested her job and her boss put together. These were the guys she'd been put in the bar to ingratiate herself with. The police had told her that they liked a girl with a pretty face and a cheeky demeanour and Faith, after nine sordid months in this sinkhole, was pretty pally with them by now.
"Eddie, Jimmy, the usual? And how about you Billy?"
"You know what I want Candy," growled Jimmy. "A piece of your sweet ass."
Faith laughed along as she always did, but inwardly she was rolling her eyes. Every single fucking time, the same joke.
"Get us some beers, sweetie. And be quick."
Faith swore under her breath as she walked away. They were rude men and dull men but also very violent men. The number of times Jimmy had put his hand up Anna's skirt as she collected glasses... Faith wanted to kill him every time, but she wasn't allowed to act. And anyway, he'd just pull a gun and take them both out. She would have walked away from the whole sistuation if she could and taken Anna with her, but she was obliged to stay. The only way she kept herself going to work was the thought that these men would one day have to pay. They were suspected of people trafficking, smuggling humans, sometimes slaves. Faith was expected to gather any tiny bit of information she could that might lead to their arrest. The problem was, they were so careful.
"Here's your beer, guys!" trilled Faith. She had tried being discreet when approaching them, but they always shut up when she was near by. Faith felt like she was wasting her time, she'd never get anything on them. Would she have to work here forever?
At 4am, the bar shut. The strippers were all passed out in their dressing room and the customers had been booted out. Faith was cleaning up. She took particular care as she cleaned the area where Jimmy, Eddie and Billy had been sitting. She always did, she had to, looking for clues. She never found anything, but still couldn't allow herself to slack off, just in case. She was never rewarded. Until tonight.
Under the table she found a beer mat. She was about to toss it into the bin when she noticed writing on it. It was a little dark to make them out so she stuck it in her pocket and carried on working. By 4.30 she and Anna left the bar and climbed into Faith's battered Buick. Faith leant back in the seat and grinned at Anna. "Got plans for tomorrow, babe?" Anna shook her head. "I got some plans for you." Faith leant forward and kissed the quiet girl. "Oh, I gotta get you into my bed" Faith sighed and started up the car.
The following morning Faith awoke first. She stretched and yawned, then rolled over to look at Anna. Damn, that girl had a fine body. And she was so gentle and generous. Faith often wondered why they didn't just make it official, become an item. It always came back to the fact that she was lying. Her whole identity was one great big lie and Faith couldn't bring herself to start a relationship based on a lie. Not these days. It made her sad thinking like this, because she was so stuck. Couldn't go forwards, couldn't go backwards. She was angry that she finally felt able to treat another person with respect and tenderness but now there was no one she could do that with. She was ready to that with Anna, but circumstances would allow it. And, more importantly, she knew she was ready to tell B the truth about her feelings. But she could never see her again.
A tear trailed its way down Faith's cheek. She dashed it away and got out of the bed. She pulled some clothes on, feeling bad about leaving Anna sleeping again. She never stayed because she hated pretending to be someone she wasn't and to always hold back.
As she bent to do up her boot laces she noticed the beer mat she had picked up last night was lying on the floor, fallen from her pocket. She picked it up and moved towards the window to see it better. It took Faith a minute to believe what she reading.
"No fuckin' way..." she breathed to herself as she read the very neat hand writing.
Harris....Giles....Summers (2)....redhead
That was too much of a coincidence to be anyone else.
Faith paced across her apartment for the millionth time. She stared at the beermat again even though the words written on it were burnt into her memory.
Harris...Giles...Summers(2)...redhead
Faith shook her head. This was ridiculous. She hadn't minded doing a little recon for the police after they'd saved her life by setting her up in the Federal Witness Protection Programme but how could it be possible that the gangsters she was keeping an eye on were sitting around in a bar writing the names of her friends on beermats? Faith was pretty damn sure it wasn't a coincidence. But what the hell did she do about it?
She knew that what she should do was tell the police. That would be the *right* thing to do. But it would actually be the wrong thing to do as the police wouldn't do anything about it. They'd told her that these gangsters were involved in people trafficking but they had nothing concrete on them and were prepared to wait until they had a good case before making any moves. A few names on a beermat wasn't going to spur them into action.
She also knew that these guys were dangerous and if they were looking for the Scoobs then they needed to be warned. But how could she warn them? One condition of her entry into the Witness Protection Programme was that she never saw any friends or family ever again. So the family bit didn't bother her, but the friends bit was hard. After Sunnydale had fallen into a pit and they'd made their way to Los Angeles to be near Angel, Faith had found herself feeling, well, almost settled. She and Buffy had just about sorted their differences and hung out a lot. B had a hard time getting over the loss of Spike and Faith had been there for her, listening, trying to make her laugh. Yeah, and falling for her big time. Then bam! Everything went to hell in a handcart and she'd never seen them since. They'd been told she was dead. Caught in the cross fire. She'd often tried to imagine what her funeral had been like. Did Buffy cry? Was she over it yet? A year and a half had passed since Faith had been relocated to Chicago. Surely B had moved on.
If she tried to contact them, that was it for her. The police wouldn't protect her any longer and the guys that she was being protected from would take her out as soon as they found her. The police had told her there was a price on her head. She kinda liked that from the security of Chicago, but the thought of going down to LA with that hanging over her scared the crap out of her. She thought about phoning, but who in the hell would believe her? They'd think it was a prank.
Faith sat down and sighed. What she really needed to do was find out why these gangsters knew her friends' names and what they were doing. She wouldn't find out shit at the bar, she knew that much. Jimmy, Eddie and Billy never talked shop when they came to see a strip show. She'd have to follow them home, or to their office or wherever they did business and see what she could discover. Faith snorted with laughter into the empty room. Who did she think she was, Colombo? Still, it was the only thing she could think of. And it was going to be very dangerous.
'If I'm gonna be risking my neck, I gotta get myself laid first,' she said to herself and picked up the phone to call Anna.
The following evening Faith was sat in her Buick in parking lot behind the bar. She'd been sitting their for four hours already. She'd seen Eddie and the guys arrive, but she knew she was in for a long wait. They never left early.
Faith thought about Anna to pass the time. What a girl. She'd been so quiet when she'd first started work at the bar. Faith took a liking to her instantly, drawn by her gentleness and offered her a ride home one night when they worked a late shift together. Anna had invited her in and they'd talked til it got light. As they stood at the window watching the dawn Faith had pulled Anna gently to her and kissed her. They'd seen each other regularly ever since. Faith sighed. If she had to go to LA she'd have to leave Anna here.
She was almost asleep when Eddie and the guys left the bar. Luckily they were shouting, drunk, or she wouldn't have noticed. They all climbed into a car. Faith started hers up and pulled out after them. She followed them at a discreet distance for about 40 minutes, right out to the suburbs where the car pulled into the driveway of what looked like a normal family home. Faith drove on a few hundred metres, then parked the car and made her way stealthily back.
A few lights had been switched on. Faith sidled up the driveway and made her way down the side of the house, peering into windows. No one in the kitchen. She peered round the corner at the back of the house. Lights were on and the French windows were open. Faith crouched down and crawled as near to the windows as she dared.
"Some good stripping tonight," slurred a voice. "And that very pretty waitress. Wassername?"
"Anna," slurred another voice.
"That's it," said the first. "I'm gonna get me a piece of her."
Faith seethed in the darkness. These men were such a bunch of pricks.
"She ain't gonna want to go with you," said the second voice.
"I don't care what she wants. She'll do it whether she likes it or not."
They laughed. It was all Faith could do not to crash in there and tear them apart. She'd never let them harm Anna.
"Where's Billy?" asked the first voice.
"He's putting some papers in the safe."
Bingo. That was what she had to do. Get in the safe. The two guys barely knew what hit them. Faith leapt through the doors and knocked them both out with a swift kick in the head to each. She rarely slayed these days, but she kept her strength up. She left them slumped together on the sofa and crept out into the hall. In the next room she found Billy, kneeling in front of the safe.
As quietly as possible she walked into the room. If she could knock him out as she had the others she could grab whatever was in the safe and run.
Creak.
Damn floorboard. Billy turned round and, seeing who it was, leapt up fishing in his pocket for something. A gun. Faith flinched slightly. She hated guns. They had led her to this situation in the first place. When they got to LA Robin Wood had kind of dropped off the radar. No one saw him for weeks. Then, he'd turned up at Faith's apartment one night looking scared for his life. He'd made Faith switch out all the lights and wouldn't let her leave. After three days she finally got the story out of him.
Turns out Robin Wood wasn't such a good guy after all. He'd moved to Sunnydale in the first place to avoid some guys who were after him for some big gambling debts. Who the hell moved to Sunnydale? It seemed a safe place for him to go. Then after the battle with the First he'd just tagged along with the others and ended up right back where he'd started. He'd been in hiding the whole time but he was running out of safe houses. So he'd picked Faith's. He wouldn't call the police and he wouldn't leave. Eventually they tracked him down, broke into the house and shot him. Faith had escaped and gone straight to the police. She'd agreed to testify against the killers as Robin had told her enough about them to send them away for life. She didn't have a lot of choice. If she hadn't they'd have walked and she'd be dead. Instead they were behind bars and she was given a new identity.
"Damn," said Faith. "You could have left that thing in your pocket long enough for me to deliver my line."
Billy looked confused. Faith watched him closely. She had unbalanced him by speaking, though he was already unbalanced by the alcohol.
"Huh?" he said.
"You know, Billy. Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me?"
Billy smirked. "It's a gun. And I ain't pleased to see you. What the fuck are you doing here? How do you know where we live?"
"I could smell it a mile off Billy. Not exactly house-proud, are we?"
"Enough talk from you, bitch. Tell me why you're here or I'll shoot you."
"Okay," replied Faith. "I'm here to kick the shit out of you."
Billy laughed. "I'd like to see you try."
"Great." Faith moved swiftly towards Billy and grabbed the arm holding the gun. Before he could react she bent it behind his back, holding him in a half nelson.
"Drop the gun."
Billy pulled the trigger. The bullet went straight through the ceiling. Faith pushed his arm up until she heard it dislocate with an almighty crack. Billy howled. The gun fell from his hand.
"You're making too much noise, dammit." She picked up the gun and whacked him on the back of the head with it. He fell limply to the floor. Faith dropped him and looked in the safe. A couple of folders and a very large wad of cash. She grabbed both and ran from the house, taking the gun with her. She had to move quickly. As soon as those guys awoke she was in a lot of trouble. Faith leapt in her car and pulled away, trying to drive as sensibly as possible. She drove to her apartment first, grabbing her passport and a change of clothes and stuffing them into a bag. Next she drove to Anna's. Anna was going to have to leave town too. The gangsters knew she was friends with Faith and would get very, very nasty with her. She knocked on the door of Anna's apartment. Anna opened it sleepily.
"What are you doing here? It's late, isn't it?"
"Let me in baby. We gotta talk."
Anna stepped aside.
"Anna, this is going to sound crazy, but you have to leave Chicago right now."
"What? Why?"
"You know those three guys who come in the bar and touch you up? Well, I just really pissed them off and they're gonna be looking for me and when they don't find me they're gonna go after you."
"What did you do?"
"It doesn't matter. You gotta pack some shit and come to the airport with me."
"Where am I gonna go?"
"I don't know, baby. Anywhere. Another country. Just we gotta leave now."
"This *is* crazy. I don't have any money. Where are you going?"
"I've got money. I'm going to LA. You can't come with me, it's too dangerous."
Anna started putting some clothes in a bag, arguing with Faith the whole time. Faith eventually came clean and told her everything. Anna looked completely dazed as Faith dragged her out to the car. They drove quickly to the airport. In the car Faith asked Anna to count the money and divide it between the two of them.
"There's $20,000 here!" exclaimed Anna.
"Great," said Faith. "We're rich. Take half."
At the airport Anna bought a ticket for London. She had friends there. Faith bought hers for LA and they said goodbye.
"I know this is insane, Anna. I'm sorry to do this to you."
Anna smiled. "Don't be sorry. You've just changed my life."
Faith smiled too. "My God, you're gorgeous," said Faith and kissed Anna hard and long. When it was over Anna smiled and walked away. For a second Faith was tempted to go with her to London. But she knew what she had to do. She walked to the gate and boarded the plane, pulling the stolen folders out of her bag to read. She felt scared about her situation, but also excited. The thing that she most wanted but she thought would never happen was happening. She was going to see Buffy Summers again.
"She's gonna kick my ass," muttered Faith to herself and opened the first folder.
Faith stumbled out of the airport, dazed and exhausted. She'd hoped to catch some sleep on the aeroplane, but after she'd read the stolen files she'd been unable to relax.
They were print outs of emails sent between two people. At first it had been hard to decipher what was going on but when she'd finally worked it out it had been downright unbelievable. She'd already known that Eddie, Jimmy and Billy were suspected as people traffickers and that was bad enough, but knowing what they were trafficking the people for...it was shocking. Still, at least she now knew how Buffy and the Scoobs fell into the picture. There was no doubt in her mind now that she had to warn them and the Witness Protection Program could kiss her ass.
Finding B was more important, even more so than her own safety. Still, B wasn't in any immediate danger and if Faith was going to survive this trip she needed her wits about her. If the LA gang that had a price on her head found out she was in town a *lot* of quick thinking would be required and she wasn't feeling up to that right now. What she needed was sleep. Faith hailed a cab and asked the driver to take her to the nearest hotel. She had a lot of cash in her pocket so she could afford to go slightly upmarket. She figured she'd be safer too, as hopefully the place would have better security and discreet staff. And those were things that she needed in abundance.
The following morning Faith awoke early, feeling a damn site better than the day before, physically at least. She realised she had butterflies in her stomach. Nerves.
She was nervous about seeing B. She was also nervous that she might not find B. She supposed that the only place to start was the diner that B had been waitressing in before Faith had left. And frankly, she could do with some breakfast.
'What the holy mother of crap am I gonna say to her?' Faith muttered to herself as she approached the diner. '"Hey Buffy! Guess what, I'm not dead and some really dangerous men are going to try and kill you." Jesus.'
However, Faith's mind when completely blank as she turned a corner and the diner came in sight. She stopped and hesitated. Her heart started beating wildly and she felt like she might throw up. Or run away. After a moment she took a deep breath and forced herself to keep walking.
The sun reflecting off of the window made it impossible for Faith to see inside before she entered. She hesitated again, feeling almost hysterical at the thought of seeing Buffy again. A year and a half. No contact whatsoever. But never a day when the girl hadn't played on her mind. Never a day when she hadn't regretted having to cut that friendship off just as it was blossoming, just as they'd started to trust each other. Just as Faith had fallen in love. It had never happened to her before, and she had no idea if it was reciprocated, but she recognised what the feeling was. Leaving that had been the most difficult thing she'd ever done in her life.
The moment she'd realised had been mundane, ordinary. Waiting for Buffy outside a movie, catching a flick together as they often did. Buffy had walked round the corner and caught sight of Faith and smiled. Faith felt transported, moved by the joy she felt at seeing this girl smiling in the sunshine. A simple moment of light. At that moment Faith realised she'd been redeemed.
Faith took another deep breath and pushed the door open, her own pulse rushing in her ears. She looked about wildly. A couple of customers, a brunette waitress. No one else. Fuck. No B. Faith stared dumbly into space until the waitress approached her.
'Are you okay?'
'Huh?' Faith shook herself from her reverie. 'Oh..yeah, fine.'
The waitress looked concerned. 'You look kinda peaky. Take a seat. Can I get you a coffee?'
'Sure. Great.'
Faith slumped down in a booth. She realised she was shaking and felt on the verge of tears. She tried to get a grip on herself and calm down.
'Relax, girl,' she said to herself. 'You can't expect to find her instantly. And you gotta pull yourself together, cos wondering about like this isn't gonna help.'
The waitress returned with some coffee. Faith managed a shaky smile and ordered a large breakfast to straighten herself out. She smoked a cigarette and sipped her coffee and felt a little better. The waitress returned with her food.
'Uh, listen...' Faith squinted at the name on the girl's badge, 'Jenny...um, does a girl called Buffy Summers work here?'
The girl smiled. 'You know Buffy? She used to, but she left a few months ago.'
Faith's heart started pounding again. 'Do you know where she went?'
Faith held her breath. In the movies this is where they always said no.
'Oh, sure! She's working at Memorial High about ten blocks down.'
'She's a teacher?' asked Faith, skeptically.
Jenny laughed. 'No. A guidance councillor. I saw her a couple of weeks ago down that way.'
'H-how is she?' stammered Faith. This whole situation felt unreal.
'Pretty good. Happier, I think.'
'She was unhappy?'
'Oh yeah,' said Jenny sagely. 'A friend of hers died a while back. She was real cut up for a long time. How do you know her, anyway?'
'Oh, I'm an old friend. Haven't seen her for a while.'
Jenny left to serve another customer and Faith ate her food. She was pleased to here that Buffy had been upset at her death, though obviously she didn't want her to be sad. The situation was insane. How do you turn up alive and kicking on someone's doorstep when they think you've been dead, grieved and moved on. It didn't bear thinking about, but she had to do it. Faith finished up and left Jenny a large tip, then took to the pavement. She kept her head down as she walked the ten blocks to Memorial High, but no one took any notice of her. The school was a generic Californian high school. It was lesson time, so there were few people about. Faith checked her watch. 10.15 am. Presuming B worked all day, she had a long wait ahead. She sat down on a bench just outside the school. She had waited a year and a half. She could wait a bit longer.
Faith shifted uncomfortably. Her ass was numb for about the tenth time. She was bored, but also incredibly tense and it wasn't a good combination.
Break times came and went and the school grounds were flooded with kids, but no sign of B. Maybe she was away. Who knew? All Faith could do was wait.
Finally the bell rang at 3.30 and the kids streamed out of school. Faith scrutinised every face, but none of them were B. She waited on. A few teachers straggled out, then no one for about half an hour. She was about to give up and go and get properly drunk when the main door opened again. She nearly fainted.
It was B. Buffy. Elizabeth Anne Summers in all her glory. She looked the same. Shiney golden hair, confident step. She radiated strength. Faith felt like she was having a heart attack. She trembled, she sweated, she clenched her fists. The physical reaction was enormous.
She managed to lever herself to her feet and took off after Buffy, trying to breathe, trying to keep it together. Buffy walked a couple of blocks and turned left, into a residential street. Faith followed at a discreet distance. Buffy turned up a path, took a key from her bag and let herself in to her home. Faith gazed stupidly at the house for a few minutes and then realised she was being slightly inconspicuous.
She retreated to a diner on the corner of Buffy's street and ordered a beer and a shot of whisky to steady her nerves. She could see Buffy's house from here. She wasn't letting that girl out of her sight. All she had to do now was work up the nerve to go and talk to her.
A couple of hours passed. It gradually grew dark and lights turned on in B's house. Who was in there? Willow and Xander? Giles? Surely Dawn had to be.
She idly watched a good-looking young man turn into the street. He strolled up to Buffy's house and then up the path. Faith sat bolt upright.
Who the hell was this? He knocked on the door. Buffy opened it. They kissed. The door shut.
Faith was outraged. Who the *fuck* was that? She realised she was clenching her fists and tried to calm down. A boyfriend. Of course B would have a boyfriend. She always had done. Again, Faith was struck by how damn difficult meeting Buffy again was going to be. She was going to be shocked and then angry. Would she believe what Faith needed to tell her. She'd believed Faith was dead and now Faith was about to prove otherwise. Surely, the biggest shock you could ever give someone. Faith sat soberly for a minute until another wave of jealousy surged through her. Sure, the shock might give B a seizure, but at least it would get rid of the chunk of hunk for the night. She almost grinned.
She left some money on the table and walked out of the diner. She checked her reflection in the diner. The uniform of jeans, tank and leather jacket looked as it always did- fantastic. She squared her shoulders and stalked across the road, stopping in front of Buffy's house. She'd never felt so scared in her life.
Faith walked up the path and pressed the door bell.
A minute passed.
Just as she was about to ring again, the door opened. It was Buffy, flushed and smiling, holding a glass of wine in her hand.
'Hey, B.'
Buffy's face was a mask of incomprehension. The wine glass smashed on the floor.
Buffy stumbled backwards, her hand covering her mouth, her eyes wide with confusion. Faith took the opportunity to step into the house and close the door. There was clearly going to be a massive scene and she didn’t want it to happen on the doorstep.
"B...," was all Faith managed to say before Buffy launched herself at Faith and floored her with an almighty punch to the face. Faith landed heavily on the floor, cursing herself for not being more on the ball. Obviously the first thing Buffy would do on seeing her was punch her. Some things never change, she thought, and then she was knocked unconcious.
Faith very gradually came to. Her head was pounding and her neck was stiff. Her entire body was enveloped in a faint tingling. She tried to stretch out but couldn’t. Only one of her eyes would open, but she immediately shut it again as the light was blinding. She tried to move again and realised she was tied to a chair. Tied to a chair? Man, she knew Buffy would freak out but she didn’t think she would go this far. Faith pricked up her ears as the doorbell rang.
"Mr Giles, hi." It was a male voice she didn’t recognise. The chunk of hunk she supposed.
"Hello Lance," came back Giles’ familiar voice. It warmed Faith to hear it. "Where’s Buffy? She sounded rather distessed when she called."
"Uh...yeah. She’s kind of freaked out."
"What about?"
"I don’t know, man. Some chick turned up at the door, Buffy lets her in and then beats the crap out of her. And then she tied her to a chair. It’s weirding me out."
"Where’s the girl?"
"She’s in the living room."
"And Buffy?"
"She’s in the living room too."
Faith immediately opened her eye and cast it about. This explained the tingling. Slayer Senses kicking in. Weird. She hadn’t felt that in a long time. She couldn’t see B but her heart started pounding anyway. The handle turned on the door and Giles stepped in. His face registered shock when he caught sight of Faith.
"Faith..." he breathed.
And then Buffy spoke: "No."
Faith almost laughed. A year and a half had passed but Buffy still had that authoritarian tone going on that Faith would have found irritating if she didn’t find it cute.
"What do you mean, ‘no’," said Giles.
"It’s not Faith." Buffy’s tone was hard.
"She looks a lot like Faith to me," replied Giles. "Even covered in all that blood. Why don’t we untie her?"
"No."
Giles sat down. Faith wished he’d hurry the fuck up and get her loose, her arms were killing her, but she didn’t risk saying anything at this stage as Buffy might just freak out again. Some welcome this was.
"Why not, Buffy? Anything could be going on with her. Anything could have happened. She could be in terrible distress."
"What, like I am?" countered Buffy, sounding almost hysterical. "This has happened to me too many times Giles. Someone comes back from the dead and they come back wrong, like Mom almost did, like *I* did for God’s sake, or they’re evil, or they’re the First. That could be the First, Giles."
"Well, she’s clearly corporeal, Buffy. You’ve proved that by beating the living daylights out of her. She can’t be the First."
"Why not? How do we know the First hasn’t found a way to become corporeal? How do we know some demon hasn’t stolen her body? How do we know she’s not a robot? I’ve had enough of this, Giles, you know that. Enough of not knowing who or what anyone or anything is, trusting people who turn out to be a vampire or a demon or a zombie. I’m not going through it again."
"Buffy," Giles began gently. "Why don’t you speak to her? Ask her? Rather than just knocking her out. You’re jumping to conclusions very quickly."
Buffy’s voice became louder. "I can’t afford not to, Giles. The amount of times someone close to me has almost come back and then slipped away...I can’t face it again."
Faith’s heart raced faster. Someone close to her?
"But what if it is Faith?" pressed Giles. "Surely it’s fantastic to have her back.?"
"If that is Faith then she deserves the beating I gave her. And a lot more. How could she do this to me?"
Faith rolled her eye. Vintage Buffy, she thought. Still, Faith wished she could see her. She was so near and yet so far. And then she was even nearer as she brushed past Faith and left the room, her clean scent trailing behind her and overwhelming Faith’s senses. "Mmmm," she murmered, involuntarily.
"Buffy...!" Giles called after her. The front door slammed. He sighed.
"What’s going on Mr Giles?" Faith heard Lance drawl. "What’s all this crazy shit about?"
"Oh, bugger off, Lance," said Giles impatiently. There was a brief wounded silence and then the door shut. Faith heard Giles moving towards her and opened her eyes. "Faith?" said Giles.
"Hey..." croaked Faith. Giles smiled and knelt beside her, raising his eyebrows sympathetically.
"You’re not the First, are you?"
"No, but I kinda wish I was right now, the way Buffy’s been treating me."
Giles chuckled a little. He began to untie her arms. "You must excuse Buffy. She was finally feeling on top of things. This must be a terrible shock. She was terribly upset when you, uh...died."
"Hey, me too." Giles helped Faith over to the sofa and sat her down. He left the room for a second and returned with a First Aid to kit and began to clean her up.
"You're going to have a nasty black eye."
"Hurts like hell," replied Faith. "Haven't been hit by a slayer for a long while."
"How has this happened, Faith? Have you returned from the dead like Buffy did?"
Faith explained to Giles what had happened- Robin, Chicago, the Witness Protection Program, the guys from the club. He listened patiently.
"Well, that makes sense," he said. "But what’s happened that’s brought you back? You’ve placed your life in terrible danger and ours too. Why?"
"Your lives are already in danger," said Faith. "That’s why I came. To warn you. And to help you fight."
"Fight what?"
Faith explained to Giles what she had discovered in the files. He paled as he heard. Faith noticed. "Pretty bad, huh?" she finished.
"An understatement, Faith."
"Right," she agreed. "So we need to get Buffy and the rest of the guys on board and ready to move on this thing as soon as possible. We need to stop B freaking out pretty quickly, Giles, because we really need her slaying skills for this job."
Giles looked away.
"Don’t you think, Giles?" hedged Faith.
"Well, yes I do," said Giles.
"So what’s the problem?"
"Buffy won’t do it, Faith. She doesn’t anymore. She’s retired."
Faith snorted. "Retired? She can’t retire. She’s the Slayer."
"Buffy doesn’t see it that way, Faith. You know as well as I do that there is no ‘Chosen One’ anymore, there are slayers all over the world. Buffy decided she didn’t want to do it anymore."
"What? Are you kidding me? When I first met her she was all, I’m the Chosen One, step off, bitch. And now she’s given up?"
"She doesn’t see it as giving up. She sees it as...moving on."
"But slaying is what she’s built to do. Just because there are more slayers it doesn’t mean that she suddenly isn’t one."
Giles shrugged.
"Okay, well, what about the rest of the guys? Xander, Willow, Dawn?"
"It’s only really Willow who’s involved with this sort of thing these days. Dawn’s finishing school and Xander’s in construction."
"Do they still hang out?"
"A little. Xander and Willow share an apartment and Dawn is round there often enough..."
"But not Buffy?"
"Not so much. She has a new group of friends now."
"But you still see her?"
Giles smiled. "Oh yes. But we don’t talk about slaying or anything like that."
Faith shook her head. "I can’t believe she just turned her back on it all. But what about Willow? Is she still working her magical mojo?"
"Yes. She works with me now. She’s well on her way to becoming a fully fledged Watcher. We need to speak to her first and foremost."
"Okay. I guess it would be best if I wasn’t here when B gets back."
"I think so." Giles helped Faith to her feet. "I’ll give Willow a quick call and let her know what’s going on and then I’ll drive you over."
Willow and Xander lived in a modest apartment a few streets over from Buffy’s. Faith felt more than a little frustrated that her visit had started out so badly. She felt drained. She’d pumped so much adrenalin during the day and taken quite a beating and was bitterly dissapointed that Buffy hadn’t received her a little more warmly. Willow made up for this a little by welcoming Faith into her home and making her some tea. Faith relaxed on Willow’s comfortable sofa whilst Giles filled her in on the details.
"Wow, Faith. You’ve sacrificed a lot by coming down here," said Willow.
"Tell me about it," replied Faith, thinking of Anna. Maybe she had made a mistake in coming to California. Maybe she should have just sent them the files and gone to England with Anna. Surely London wasn’t so big that she wouldn’t be able to find Anna eventually...
"...Faith! Willow’s asking you a question."
Faith jerked herself from her stupor. "Woah, sorry, Willow. Just zoned out for a second there."
"I said, would you like to stay with us?" said Willow. "Sounds like maybe you could use a little protection."
Faith snorted, and a little of her old attitude returned. "I can protect myself, thanks very much. I’ve been doing alright without you guys."
Willow smiled, a little amused at the outburst. "I know, Faith. It’s just...well, I guess I’d feel better too, having you around, if these guys are going to be looking for you."
Faith relaxed. "Okay," she said. "That’d be cool."
Giles rose from his seat. "I think I’ll go and find Buffy. Perhaps she’ll have calmed down a little by now. I’ll ring later and tell you what’s going on." He walked over to Faith and put his hand on her shoulder. "I have no doubt that Buffy will be very pleased that you’re here once she’s got over the shock." Faith smiled slightly.
"Thanks, Giles," she replied. He left the room, exchanging a look with Willow that Faith couldn’t read. Willow turned back to Faith and smiled. "So," said Faith. "What’s been going on round here since I left? Giles said Buffy doesn’t hang out with you guys so much."
"A lot’s changed," said Willow. "Since you, uh...left. It hit Buffy really hard, Faith."
"Huh," said Faith. "I kinda figured she could do without me, you know? I thought she’d maybe have been sad for a little bit, but gotten over it soon enough."
"She was devastated," replied Willow. "At your funeral she was beside herself and... she was just inconsolable for weeks. She really felt close to you during your time in LA. And I think that felt really special to her because she thought...well, we all thought, that you guys could never be anything more than rivals. I think she felt that you showed her things about herself that she never knew because with you she wasn’t always the stronger one. She felt that you were equal to her and you could understand her. She let down her guard a little with you, I think, before you died...left...whatever, and she couldn’t bear it that you were gone."
"Then why isn’t she pleased to see me?"
Willow thought for a moment. "I guess you’ve just brought all those feelings flooding back. When Buffy decided she was over you, it was like she decided she was over her entire life previous to your death. She gave up slaying, she got herself a whole new group of friends, she barely sees me or Xander, Dawn’s forbidden to speak about anything magickal or demon related..."
"Damn," said Faith softly. "That must be wicked hard for you guys. And her. I feel bad, man...but I couldn’t have done anything to..."
"I know Faith," interrupted Willow. "It’s okay. It isn’t your fault. I guess what happened with you was just kind of the terrible icing on the really difficult cake of Buffy’s last few years, if you’ll excuse the metaphor, and she just kind of...shut down."
Faith was silent for a moment. "So...these new friends of hers. What are they like?"
Willow was also silent for a moment before she replied. "They’re...nice. I guess."
Faith raised her eyebrows. "Nice, you guess? That’s not the most winning compliment I’ve ever heard."
"Well...they’re kind of...straight, if you know what I mean. Straight down the middle of the road...normal."
"They sound wicked dull."
"Wait till you meet them."
"Hang on," said Faith. "Is one of them a real beefcake type...?"
Willow was quiet for a moment. "Yeah. I guess that would be Lance."
"That’s it. Lance. Jeez... He’s a friend of Buffy’s? He seems like an ass. And kind of dim. What’s B doing hanging out with him?" Faith paused for a moment, thinking. "Oh God. They’re not going out are they?"
"Actually, yes."
Faith face betrayed the pain she felt at hearing this. Willow could read it, even though Faith tried desperately hard to cover it up. In turn Faith saw that Willow knew that this information had hurt her. Faith waited a moment for Willow to say something, but Willow kept her mouth shut. To cover her embarrasment Faith got up from the sofa and wandered across the room. The room was simple. This seemed new for Willow. Maybe it was Xander's influence. Faith remembered the apartment Willow had been in when they first arrived in LA. Though none of them had left Sunnydale with any belongings other than the clothes they were wearing, Willow had somehow managed to accumulate stuff almost instantly. True, she had been sharing with Kennedy...
Fath turned round. "Where’s Kennedy?" she asked bluntly. Willow looked down for a moment.
"We split up," she said. "It seemed that when there wasn’t some big evil to face, some excitement to keep us going we didn’t have all that much in common. It just kind of...unravelled. And I still wasn't really over Tara. She went and joined the Cleveland lot."
"Cleveland lot?"
"Band of Slayers living on the Cleveland hellmouth and having the time of their lives by all accounts. Giles gets up there now and again to try and keep some rein on them, but they're pretty wild- all living together in a ramshackle old mansion, sleeping all day, slaying all night."
"Damn. Why didn't that happen when I was younger?"
"You could go and join them if you wanted."
"Sounds like a blast but...well, I guess I grew up."
Faith came upon a table with a beautiful picture of Tara in a simple wooden frame. She picked it up and studied it. "She looks radiant."
Willow smiled. "She always was."
Faith came and sat back on the sofa bringing the picture with her. "I wish I could have known Tara. From everything I’ve heard about her she seems so...good.I treated her badly the one time we met. I regret that."
"Don’t regret it, Faith. Tara would have forgiven you in a second. She always just knew when people were feeling bad or having a hard time. She always understood."
"Do you miss her?"
"Every second. It’s the hardest thing. I talked about it with Buffy after you went. She said she got it then. She understood where the anger came from for me to go crazy. She didn’t go crazy though. She went kinda...sensible. Just a different extreme I guess."
"She felt that angry?"
"Look, Faith. I’m going to spell it out for you. Buffy felt when you died as I did when Tara died. Like she’d lost a lover."
Faith went hot all over. Her ears roared. She swallowed her embarrassment and her desire to bat away these words with a few sarcastic remarks. She cleared her throat. "A lover?"
"That was the direction she felt you guys were going. And that's where she wanted to go. She told me after your funeral- it's weird saying that- that she had been...falling in love with you."
Faith was silent for a moment, trying to take this in. Eventually she asked "Is that why she freaked so badly when I turned up?"
Willow nodded. "She’d just laid you to rest."
Faith was quiet again. Tears pricked at her eyes. She turned to Willow. "So surely...we talk and...she ditches beefcake...and it's happy ever after?"
"It’s quite that simple, Faith," said Willow.
"Why not?"
"They’re getting married."
...to be continued...