Chapter 6: A Walk Down Memory Lane With Big A From LA
Faith groaned as her cell phone vibrated across the nightstand next to the bed she had crashed in the night before. Rolling over quickly, Faith grabbed it and flipped it open without looking at who was calling.
“Hello?” Faith’s sleep-laden voice growled into the phone.
“Morning Faith.”
Faith paused a moment, her eyebrows creasing in concentration, trying to place the voice, “Angel?”
“Yeah, it’s me. I just wanted to check if you made it to Cleveland yet and see how you were doing.”
Faith pushed the sheets down to her waist and shifted onto her back, titling her head into the pillow before responding, “I’m five by five. The Scoobies took my sudden re-appearance well, I think Red had prepared them for someone coming, she said she felt a slayer approaching.”
“And what about Buffy? How did she react?” Angel’s voice was tentative, his wording careful.
“She’s pretending everything’s cool, but I know a big fight’s brewing, not that I can stop it really,” Faith shrugged and switched the phone to her right ear.
Angel sighed, “Faith, you know you should talk to her before it explodes.”
“You think I don’t know that? You think I want a fight?” Faith cut him off, frustration washing over her.
“I don’t want to fight with you, it’s too hard, not that it was ever easy,” Buffy sighed, slumping down further into her chair.
“Fuck B, you think I wanna fight you either? But we cannot just ignore what’s going on here,” Faith threw her hands up and resumed her pacing in front of the older slayer.
“It was the heat of the moment,” Buffy explained, as if trying to make herself believe it.
Faith whipped around, and placed her hands on the armrests of Buffy’s chair, leaning in close, “Yeah? Maybe it was. How do you explain the second kiss?”
Buffy leaning forward a bit in anger, “Do you not remember slaying beforehand?”
“Do you not remember leaning you body fully against my back and breathing in my ear? Was that part of the slaying hornies too?” Faith tilted her head, her eyes flicking down to Buffy’s lips and back to her green eyes.
They stared at each in silence for a moment, both testing the other, to see who broke first, who gave up ground. Suddenly, Buffy leaned forward and captured Faith’s lower lip, pulling it into her mouth. Faith moaned audibly and allowed her mouth to open as she lifted a hand to Buffy’s head and pulled her closer, opening her mouth and feeling the blonde slayer’s velvety tongue with her own. At that point, Faith’s knees gave out and she collapsed on top of Buffy, causing the blonde to moan.
Faith snapped back to the present, hearing Angel saying her name sternly, “What? Sorry, I was…”
“Not paying attention?” The strain in his voice was evident- apparently he had been telling her something important.
“Sorry,” Faith murmured, rubbing her eyes with her free hand.
“I was reminding you of our conversation when you left her last time, and hoping you have learned from it,” Angel repeated, and again Faith felt the pull of her memory.
“Wolfram and Hart, this is Angel speaking,” Angel held the phone to his ear, flipping through a case file on his desk. As moments ticked by and no voice spoke into the phone, Angel put the file down and leaned back in his chair, “Faith? Is that you?” Call it a gut feeling, but the big softly had a knack for knowing when she called.
Faith leaned her head against the glass wall of the phone booth, shutting her eyes before lifting the mouthpiece to her lips, “Yeah, it’s me. I’m leaving, going away to figure myself out,”
“You didn’t have to tell me, you know, but thank you anyway. What did the others say?” Angel smiled, before becoming serious when Faith didn’t respond. He heard the dark slayer shift her weight over the line and decided to try a different tack, “Did you tell anyone else you were leaving?” Angel waited, only to hear no response, and sighed, “Faith, you should have at least told Buffy.”
Faith laughed, and the sound surprised Angel, “Yeah, tell her, because we can do that, talk to each to each about stuff, fuck.”
Angel was silent a moment before speaking, “Did something happen?” His vampire hearing picked up Faith muttering the word ‘something’ and prodded more, “Faith what happened between you two?”
“A lot more than she was willing to handle,” Faith replied cryptically.
“What do you…oh,” Angel coughed slightly, and shifted in his chair uncomfortably, “Did you two…”
“No! God no,” Faith sighed, “Damn I wish we had though. Too bad.”
“What makes you think that will never happen?” Angel was trying to tread carefully on the subject, and felt somehow calmer that it was Faith rather than Spike, but he had an inkling it had to do with-
“Because she’s straight.” Yeah, that was it.
“And you aren’t?”
“No, I am. I don’t do women,” Faith sighed, confused by her own feelings.
“Unless Buffy had some surgery that I didn’t know about…” Angel trailed off, somehow getting the bigger picture, “It has nothing to do with her being a woman, does it?”
Even with heightened hearing, Angel still had to strain to her the soft “no” that Faith whispered into the phone.
“Then why leave?”
Faith was quiet, trying to find the right words, “Because I need to know me before I even try to grasp the concept of ‘us.’”
Angel nodded, understanding, “Call me if you ever need anything.”
“Thanks big guy, you’re a great help,” Faith smirked and hung up.
“Ya know Angel,” Faith cut in, her memory jostling her into action, “I’m sorry, but I gotta go, there’s something I need to take care of.”
Angel, who it seemed to Faith was getting his panties in a twist over her spacing and cutting him off again, sighed, “All right, take care of yourself Faith.”
Faith smiled, “You know me…”
“Lifetime of practice?” Angel finished, “Yeah, I know. Doesn’t make me stop saying it though.”
“Fair enough. All right, later.”
“Goodbye Faith,” Faith waited to hear the dial tone after Angel hung up before closing her cell phone and placing it back on her nightstand. Sliding out of the sheets, Faith stood up and stretched her arms above her head.
Walking over to her duffle bag that she had tossed onto the floor beside the dresser, Faith heard the muffled sounds of people moving around the house. She found a black bra nada blue wife beater and pulled them on quickly before crouching down to search for a clean pair of jeans. A knock sounded at her door, distracting her from getting dressed fully and going in search of the oldest slayer in the mansion. She called out for whoever it was to come in, despite only wearing an undershirt and panties.
“Hey Faith, I…oh, sorry,” Kennedy blushed slightly and turned away, preparing to leave the room.
“Ken, it’s all right, just lemme pull on some jeans,” Faith called out, halting the brunette’s retreat. Yanking on her pants, Faith grabbed her pack of cigarettes and a lighter from her night table before cocking her head to the door, “C’mon, come out with me for a smoke and some catching up.”
Kennedy smiled and led the way down the flight of stairs from the second of three floors of the mansion and walked out the back door to the patio. Sitting down on the steps to the expansive yard, Kennedy looked up at Faith, who was currently squinting in the bright morning light, watching as she stuck a cigarette into her mouth and lit it. Taking a long drag on it, Faith exhaled as she sat down.
“So, how are things?” Faith asked, cocking her head to one side, trying for glibness in the seriousness of her disappearance.
Kennedy sighed, “Just great, and you? How were your four years off?”
Faith flinched at the anger in the question and distracted herself slightly by taking another drag. Watching the smoke float off, Faith stared out towards the barn almost two acres back, “It wasn’t time off. I’m surprised I’m actually still alive, after everything I’ve done,” Faith shook her head, and shivered, feeling Buffy’s presence become stronger- the blonde had woken up. She never was an early bird before.
“I’m not gonna quiz you on why you left and what you did, that’s Buffy’s turf. I’m not gonna inquire to anything you may have heard about the big ol’ apocalypse issues we have coming up, that’s Willow’s area. I’m not even gonna ask if you’re okay, because Xander and Dawn and Giles will do that ten times over. What I will ask is why you couldn’t even talk to me; you’re supposed best-friend, before leaving in the middle of the night.”
Isn’t that a “why did you leave” question? “I’m not good at the ‘friends’ thing, it’s new ground for me. I was, and still am, used to being on my own, taking care of myself. Not really used to the big group hug and the ‘talks’ you guys are so fond of. So, I guess leaving without talking to any of you, was because of my old lifestyle. I’m changing that now. I don’t want to be aloof and an outcast anymore, I want a place to call home, people to call friends, hell, even someone to call a lover,” Faith sighed, yes she had changed her tune, now she had to see if everyone would accept the new Faith.
Kennedy smiled slightly, “And what happened to ‘“get-some-get-gone” Faith’?”
“Robin did teach me something, I cannot live the life I want to have now, and retain any of the relationship views I had last time I was here,” Faith shrugged, “I think I would like to try a real relationship at least once, preferably without another loser.”
“Wow, four years changed you, huh?”
“Well, three years in prison was the start… and hopefully four years on my own helped a lot,” Faith put her cigarette out in the grass, wiping it back and forth before placing it beside her to throw out later, “So how are you and Willow?”
“Switching topics so soon?” Kennedy cast a playful look at Faith who merely quirked her eyebrow in response before continuing, “We’re good. We have our issues, I think age can be one of them, but we work things out. I feel like I’m getting to the point where she’s the only person I could see myself with for the rest of my life.”
“Wow,” Faith raised her eyebrows.
“Yeah, don’t tell her though. I don’t want to freak her out,” Kennedy looked over her shoulder towards the door, and then looked back at Faith.
“No worries. Seriously though, Willow is the settling down kind of girl, if you’ve made it four years, I doubt you won’t make it forty- well, aside from having death face you nightly, that is,” Faith smirked, gaining a punch to her arm from Kennedy, “So Ken, are we cool?”
Kennedy looked over at the older slayer, a smile playing at her lips, “Yeah, we’re five by five.”
Faith laughed, “Don’t ever say that again.”
“Why ever not?” Kennedy mocked shock as she stood up; her eyes watching Faith get up.
Faith pretended to think of an answer before looking down into Kennedy’s eyes, “Because it’s mine,” Faith smiled as Kennedy laughed, and looked towards the door, seeing Buffy watching them calmly, a cup of coffee in her hand.
“Gotcha, Faithisms are to not be used by anyone other than their creator,” Kennedy held her hands up in surrender, “You win.”
“Damn straight, now, let’s see a man about some breakfast,” Faith cocked her head towards the kitchen as they entered the mansion, nodding at Buffy on the way into the dining room, following the smell of Andrew’s cooking; her reason for cutting off Angel on the phone still forgotten in the back of her mind.
Chapter 7: Slayer Central
Faith chewed slowly on the omelet that Andrew had made for her.
“Damn, Andrew sure can cook. Does he do this often?”
“No. Maybe once or twice a week, but we rotate in making dinners and everyone usually has their own morning preferences, so breakfast is up to you usually. Lunch is the same, but all the young slayers are required to eat at least lunch and dinner,” Willow explained over her mug of tea.
Faith nodded, her gaze flicking up to the small number of young slayers gathered in the dining room, “This seems…”
“Empty compared to what it should be?” Vi quipped, a smirk on her lips, “Yeah, we had a huge influx of slayers the first two years, but now, with the world-wide set-up, any slayer that chooses to stay closer to their home in their own country, on their own continent, can do so. It had a lot to do with age and language barriers. They can still come here, and Buffy has personally met every known and listed slayer, so they know that they have a place to come to if they want to.”
“So is this the main Slayer HQ then?” Faith looked around the room at all the faces, stopping at Buffy to catch her eye.
“Yes. We have two more places in the US, but slayers are sent here after being told what they are,” Buffy answered, “There is a nondisclosure agreement every new slayer must sign, as well as additional contact and background papers to fill out that allow us to keep an eye on them for safety purposes. Especially if they decide that they don’t want to follow their calling and train.”
“Who wouldn’t want that?” Faith asked, remembering how glad she was when her first watcher told her she was different for a reason. Faith caught Xander glance quickly at Buffy before she focused back on the older slayer, who sighed heavily.
“Many, apparently. They want normal lives, and I can understand that because this calling asks a lot from you, you know that,” Faith nodded, “and when you’re young, or in your teens, you just want to be normal, so, we allow them that choice. It’s the least we can do after thrusting these abilities onto thousands of young girls and women all over the world.”
“What about their strengths and shit like that? Wouldn’t an abnormally strong woman in an office job raise a few eyebrows?”
Buffy looked to Willow to explain, “Yes it would, which is why I went to the Coven in Westbury, England, and brought Giles with me to find a controlled spell which will strip you of all your abilities. There are quite a few privacy and other sorts of forms we have the women sign in order to stay under the radar, like usual.”
Faith nodded, getting the bugger picture, “So, have you had any…problems?” She didn’t want to say like me in front of the younger girls, not sure what they knew about her, if anything.
Buffy swallowed, and a look of pain flashed across her features before nodding, but remained silent.
“Uhh, yeah. We’ve had some issues with about two dozen slayers. It’s hard- getting to them before anything bad can happen because they don’t understand what going on,” Rona piped up, “Plus, not everyone around them, such as their immediate family, take it well, and we’ve seen some daughters forced to choose between their calling and their family- a choice that for most was very hard to make. So we brought in a child psychologist and an adult one too. Giles knew ‘em and gave them a proposition to work for Buffy and him, which they quickly agreed to.”
“Why so fast? I mean, this isn’t a normal line of work as it is…” Faith trailed off, hoping someone would explain their monetary situation soon.
Willow squirmed in her seat, sensing Faith’s inquiring would soon need to be done behind closed doors and spoke up, “One had a sibling killed by vampires and the other’s daughter is a slayer. All right, we should probably move this discussion into my office,” Your office? You have a fucking office? Damn, woman. “First though, let’s get you introduced.
Faith smirked and stood with Willow, as everyone began to put their dishes either in the sink or the dishwasher. She waited for a cue to do something, and turned when Buffy touched her arm lightly and pointed to the sink, “Don’t worry about the dishes, we have a rotating schedule.”
Faith nodded, and after placing her plate and mug in the sink, turned to look for Willow.
“Is everyone here? Good, thanks Vi for getting the ones that were still in their rooms. It’s okay, you can go back to bed after this, I know it’s a Saturday, but I want to introduce you all to the only other Chosen One and the other original slayer, Faith,” Faith looked at all the faces, taking in the mixed reactions and smiled softly at the quiet chorus of ‘hellos’.
“Faith, let me introduce you to Gia, Kate, Jack, Cherie, Dana, Shane, Aggie, Lynn, Sammy, Jess, Britt and Tonya. I know you won’t get their names immediately, but I just want you to become aware of each other. Okay everyone, that’s it, go back to whatever lazy Saturday thing you were doing or planning on doing.”
As the dozen girls scattered, Faith followed the group out of the kitchen and past the staircase to a set of double doors she had noticed before. Upon Willow’s opening of them, Faith’s jaw dropped at the cross between modernity and antiquity that this room exuded with books and technology.
“We’ll be at the store getting groceries, ‘k?” Vi hooked her thumb at Rona and left upon gaining a nod from Buffy.
Faith leaned against one of the three bookcases and waited. As everyone settled into the seats around the room, Andrew quietly shut the doors and moved over to the chair behind Willow and pulled it up next to her at her desk and sat down. Faith quirked an eyebrow at this but decided she’d figure everything out in time.
“So, Faith,” Willow’s voice caught her attention, and she shifted her gaze to the redhead, “You want the long or short story of what’s happened in the last four years?”
Faith switched the leg she was leaning on and allowed her Bostonian drawl to scratch its way out, “How about the short one, I’m sure I’ll hear the long version later.”
“Fair enough,” Willow nodded, and leaned back in her chair, “Shortly after you left, we split up, both for personal reasons and also to find all the new slayers. Kennedy and I traveled down through South America, staying extensively in Brazil, Xander went over to Africa, Buffy and Dawn went to Rome, where Dawnie finished high school, and Andrew bounced between staying with Giles and visiting Buffy. I think we stayed apart for about two years, and then we began to seriously talk about starting a school. So, us six, along with probably about 90 young slayers, convened in England, meeting up with Giles and the new Watcher’s Council, and found out that the Watcher’s Council was both well endowed, and their assets were in serious liquidation. To sum up, Giles was now heading an establishment that was sitting on over 2.1 billion dollars,”
Willow stopped, smiling at Faith’s jaw dropping slightly, “Yeah, so, we decided to come back to Cleveland, seeing as it seemed that this Hellmouth here was beginning to generate some serious shit. Buffy, Xander and I went house shopping, and this place really fit the bill for size, land and seclusion. After getting furniture, and having Xander do some structural changes, we moved in and settled down. To skip forward, Dawn’s in Cleveland State U as a part-time student and a watcher-in-training, Andrew’s a Watcher, Xander’s the head of Cleveland Construction, I’m working below Giles on the Council as a Magicks consult, and Buffy is the head of the CSS,” Faith lifted an eyebrow, “Uh, The Cleveland School for Slayers, also known to the general public as The Counseling School for Strays.”
Faith nodded, then felt all eyes turn towards her, “Oh, you wanna hear about me now?” Willow nodded slightly, and Xander couldn’t help but cough to cover a grin, “Fought evil. Almost died. Became a champion. Nothing new really,” Faith shrugged, she didn’t want to explain everything to everyone all at once, it wasn’t here thing. The look on Willow’s face told her she wanted more, and a quiet challenge arose between the two for a moment before Willow sighed, her shoulders sagging, I win.
“Did you pick up on any demons or whatever talking about some trouble brewing?” Willow asked, shifting the topic to both glean some information about Faith’s missing years while aiding them in their newest problem.
Faith thought for a moment, “Well, when I was in Taipei, I heard some Gincii demons hooting it up about a dimension called the Shadow Lands, and how mankind would be fucked over pretty soon. That’s all.”
“Gincii demons? Aren’t they a passive breed?” Andrew piped up, cocking his head to one side.
“More like passive-aggressive. They didn’t like a slayer on their turf, which, I might add, I was just passing through, wouldn’t have bothered them anyway, I knew what they were. Sixteen stitches in the shoulder later, I netted a whole family tree of ‘em,” Faith shook her head at the outcome of that long night almost seven months ago.
“Well, the Shadow Lands is spot on, because that’s what the Coven in Devon called me about around four this morning,” Willow lifted her hand, gesturing towards Faith, glad for the input, and skipping over asking about the battle with the normally peaceful demons for the moment.
“What’s the what?” Buffy shifted in her seat, leaning forward.
“A breed of demon, they’re not sure yet, are planning to bring the Shadow Lands dimension into connection with our little Hellmouth. They’re probably waiting for some lunar cycle or a certain date, again, we don’t know yet, and the Coven was sketchy on the details of what the connection will do, but for now, things are just simmering. They did tell me that in a couple of months the demon activity is probably going to spike up, and these past few months of downtime are gonna become a lovely memory. That’s basically it.”
“So we’ve gone from knowing zilch, to knowing zilch plus names? Look, here comes square two,” Xander quipped, gaining a grin from Faith.
“Well, the Hellmouth in Sunnydale always had a hard-on for May boiling points; maybe Cleveland’s is the same. We could also start cross-checking any breed of demon that has a connection to this Shadow Lands dimension thing,” Faith looked around the room, trying to start the ball.
Willow and Andrew both nodded, “That’s what I was going to start with Andrew this afternoon,” Willow replied, looking pleased. Yeah, give me a fucking gold star. I’m not an idiot.
“All right, sounds good. I guess we’re done?” Buffy looked up at Willow for confirmation, before looking around the room as everyone stood, “Let me know if you want any help or if you find anything.”
Willow smiled at the blonde as she turned and left, both she and Faith getting the uncomfortable vibes the older slayer was giving off. Faith looked up at Xander as he made his way over to her.
“Hey Faith, want me to show you around?” Faith smiled at him, glad to feel welcomed in this new home, if that’s what she could call it. As everyone filed out, Faith motioned for Xander to lead the way.
Chapter 8 : Grand Tour
"So where would you like to start? The house or the backyard?” Xander stuffed his hand in his front pockets, a small grin on his face.
“How about the house? I mean, I’ll probably be spending more time in here anyway,” Faith shrugged.
“You say that now,” Xander’s grin widened, “Don’t ask. You’ll see what I mean. Come on; let’s start with the top floor.”
As they left Willow’s study and moved up the stairs, Faith thought about what he said, but shook it off, “Don’t you guys all live up there?”
“Yup.”
“Then why show me?”
“Grand tour my dear. Everyone sees the whole house at least once. How often everyone comes all the way up here depends on several things,” Xander explained.
“On what?” Faith turned to look at Xander as thy came to the top floor, it seems the same so, whoa…that is one fucking big room. Faith stared into the first room on her left, the door wide open, a TV playing quietly inside. “Fuck that’s huge.”
“Yeah, that’s Willow and Kennedy’s. They are the only other bedroom with a personal bathroom,” Xander smiled, “In fact; I installed and re-mastered all the bathrooms in this entire house.”
“Other? Who else has a private bathroom? Fuck,” Faith shook her head, peeking into the room just a little more, seeing a door to the right open slightly, the visible white floor tiles leading Faith to figure that was the bathroom.
“Uhh, Buffy, actually. She has the master bedroom,” Xander motioned for Faith to follow him down to the end before saying who had which room.
Once they had reached the end, Xander leaned against the wall next to the set of double doors that effectively ended the hall. Hooking a thumb over his shoulder, Xander spoke, “This is the master bedroom, Buffy’s room. It has a private bathroom as well as the only private deck. Now, this first door on your right is my room, c’mon in.”
Faith followed Xander into his room, her mouth opening slightly as the spaciousness of the room.
“This isn’t the master suite? Wow,” Faith continued looking around before her eyes landed on a pair of women’s panties and a bra folded on the top of Xander’s dresser, “Xander? Is there something I should know?”
Xander chuckled at Faith, “No, nothing bad, it’s my girlfriend’s.” Girlfriend? And here I thought he’d never get over Anya. “She’s a slayer; she’s with her family for the week for her sister’s birthday.”
“What’s her name? Or better yet, how’d you meet?”
“I don’t think you ever asked this many personal questions ever before,” Xander laughed, but continued before Faith could respond, “Her name is Sandra. We met at the Watcher’s Council in England. She had arrived not ten minutes after we had this one time and came barging in, demanding to speak to whoever was in charge,” Faith’s eyebrows rose slightly, “Giles stepped forward and asked her what was wrong, and she said that she had just watched her husband get killed by a group of vampires and asked why the hell the general public wasn’t being made aware of the existence of vampires and demons.”
Faith smirked; I could see that going over well with the police force. Carry both a pistol and a stake, garlic spray and pepper spray, oh that would get bulky. Not that the cops would look much bigger than they already do…
“And you know how Giles tries to be, all calm and very careful with his word choice. He tried to explain that if everyone knew, people would be terrified of the dark, and they shouldn’t be. They should just be cautious. Well, Sandra basically yelled ‘bollocks’ right into his face and turned to walk out, but I grabbed her sleeve to stop her because we need all the help we can get,” Faith smirked, “She spun and slammed me across the room into the wall. I blacked out, but when I came too, Buffy was sitting down at a table wit her, and was calmly talking to her.”
“So she was won over by B instead of Giles? Wow, points to her,” Faith smiled, “So you two hit it off?”
“As friends for a long time, like two years. She was trying to get over her husband, and I had lost Anya…It wasn’t easy for either of us,” Faith nodded and put her hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly, “But yeah, we eventually hit it off, and now, here we are, or I am, seeing as she isn’t here right now.”
“That’s great Xander, really, I’m glad you’ve found someone after everything,” Faith smiled softly.
Xander sighed, nodding his head, “So, shall we continue?”
Walking out into the hallway again, they walked back towards the stairs.
“This door on your left is Andrew’s, then on the right comes the main bathroom. With the huge communal bathrooms on the second floor and the half-bath on the first floor, privacy can be lacking, so anyone can use this bathroom. Unfortunately, any guys in this place are limited to the top and bottom floor bathrooms because the communal ones are for the slayers, but you don’t need to worry about that. Next on the left is Giles’ room when he’s around, and Dawn’s is across from that. She has the best closet, as she asked me to fix hers and make it a walk-in closet.”
“Damn. I bet Buffy wishes she had one,” Faith laughed.
“Well, they share clothes once in a while, but Buffy is happier about her own bathroom. Anyway, you saw Willow and Kennedy’s so that brings us to a close with the top floor. Down to the second.”
Faith followed Xander down to the second floor, and stopped when he stopped in front of the communal bathroom entrance next to her room.
“Okay, this floor is easy, no walking. Each end of the hall has a communal bathroom and showers. There are six bedrooms that have two slayers residing in each, and you have the only extra bedroom, which is a single, used mostly for any guests or extra slayers. Next floor?”
Faith nodded and moved back to the stairs, this time in the front. When the came down to the main floor, Xander led then to the left over to where Willow’s study was, and started walking down the hall.
“Now, Andrew has his study right next to Willow’s and even has an adjoining door to hers for easy access when they are researching. You’ve seen the kitchen, the dining room and the living room, so all that is left is the half-bath at the far end here, and the little joy of ours, the stairs to the cellar in the dining room.” Xander smiled, as if he had a secret that Faith would like to know.
As Faith followed Xander back into the dining room, she noticed a door in the corner she hadn’t seen before, “Joy, what little joy?”
“Oh, you’ll like it down here. C’mon,” Xander walked down to the bottom of the stairs where they emptied out to either side of the cellar and walked to the left, “Okay, through these doors is what we have nicknamed the Trauma Ward. It’s basically where anyone who is injured out slaying or training can come here to get fixed up.”
“Cool,” Faith peaked through the door, staring at the amount of medical supplies, “How did you…”
“We have a few slayers that are also doctors; they helped us out in the supplying department. So, down here is Willow’s magicks stuff; it’s basically where all her supplies for anything are kept under lock and key. Then we have my workshop,” Xander pushed open the door he pointed to as he slowly circled the basement with Faith, “You break anything, tell me. I’ll take care of it.”
Faith nodded, impressed with the expanse of tools. As she watched Xander continue to the last door, she wondered what the smile on his face was about.
“And here, is the best part of the whole place,” Xander shoved open the double doors, Faith right behind him, her mouth dropping open. Holy shit. This place is huge.
Xander smiled at Faith’s reaction to the sight before her, “Welcome to the Pit.”
“You call this a pit? I call it a fucking shrine to all training rooms around the world. Damn.”
Xander chuckled, “No, we call it the Pit because it has a sunken sparring area over there, but yeah, it is a training room.”
“I think you’d be wrong that I would rather be outside than inside. This place is wicked.”
“Oh, we have the same thing in the barn out back,” Xander shrugged, watching Faith’s head swivel to look at him.
“Another one? Why would you need two?”
“Shits and giggles?” Xander shrugged, then became serious at the expression on Faith’s face, “No, it’s for the serious sparring, when Buffy has the slayers do their hard-core training that might be just a bit too loud for the neighbors. It’s a just-in-case room. Buffy doesn’t want to draw any unwanted attention to the real goings-on here. The young slayers already have to cover up what this place is really for when they are at school; we don’t want to put any other pressure on them. Come on; let’s go outside, there are still a few more things to see.”
Faith stood next to Xander looking out towards the barn from the edge of the grass by the woods to the side of the house. They were at the entrance of a trail, that much was evident, but a trail to where?
“Okay, we own ten acres of land here. Seven of which are woods, and we’re leaving it like that. Starting here is a trail that winds through the woods. Part of it is an obstacle course, part is just a trail. This entire yard is surrounded by woods for privacy and about six different protection spells that warn us of any supernatural attacks. The trail is almost two miles long, and it is used for training. Kennedy named it the Gauntlet just to scare the younger slayers,” As Xander spoke, they walked along the edge of the woods, just skirting the edge, before finally coming upon a large barn set at the back of the cleared land. Xander opened one of the heavy wooden doors and allowed Faith to go in first before following her in and flicking a switch to the right on the wall, “Here is the second training room. Off to your right is a small medical area for any relatively minor injuries sustained while in here. Same set up, but no lifting equipment and more weapons. Also, in the back, through those far doors is a meditation room. Buffy and Willow are both known to frequent it. And that seems to be the end of our little tour.”
Faith nodded and followed Xander out as they walked back towards the house. Upon entering, Fait excused herself to use the training room for a little while. Once she was down there, Faith fell into her Tai Chi exercises that Angel had taught her via sending books to her in prison about it. As she moved, Faith allowed her brain to settle and relaxed. Before arriving back in the states, Faith had been in Laos and before that, Taipei. However, in Laos, she had run into someone, literally, who had said something to her that she never forgot, “Slow down and keep your eyes focused or you will make it through this street as you will make it through life.” Now, at that exact moment, Faith was running after a demon gang and what the women had said didn’t sink in, but later, when she was showering off the nights’ battles, she remembered.
That sentence had changed how she viewed both slaying and living. She no longer thought of slaying in terms of “I win, you lose” but rather to focus on the battle and not the outcome. That sentence also made her think of her life. Sure redemption was her lifestyle of choice, but that lifestyle, at that moment, changed her completely, instead of just in helping people. She no longer looked for the one night stand. She hadn’t for a long time, but she didn’t think about it until that moment, and it wasn’t until that moment that she understood why. Buffy. The moment she had taken the blonde in fully-after staking that pesky vampire of course- that woman had changed her world. Not in the sexual way one might think, no, it was more of an “I’m no longer alone” kind of way. Sexual came later.
Much, much later. Try about five years, one prison sentence, and apparently five official averted apocalypses. Now, with only a flight of stairs and a shit load of wood separating them, Faith didn’t know how long she could keep herself closed off. Emotions were a tricky thing she had learned, and Buffy didn’t seem to keen on talking about their true problems from four years ago. She would focus on their “friendship” or Faith’s nocturnal departure, but not on the possible reasons for her leaving, especially if it could lead back to Buffy herself. Faith knew it wasn’t because Buffy couldn’t accept the blame that she drove Faith away, because she knew she could, she could see it in her eyes. No, it was because Buffy still hadn’t comes to terms with what they had done, as if the very idea of it was too hard for her to wrap her head around. As if.
It was along this train of thought that Faith remembered suddenly what she had wanted to talk to Buffy about earlier this morning before Kennedy had wanted to talk with her. Finishing up her exercises, sweat lightly coating her skin, Faith suddenly could feel Buffy’s presence much more strongly than before. Fuck I was thinking too much to notice. Oh hell, a bomb could’ve gone off and I wouldn’t have noticed. Faith turned, her breathing normalizing and saw Buffy leaning against the wall next to the entrance to the training room, her arms crossed under her chest, watching Faith silently. Faith walked towards her, the forgotten question on her mind.
“Hey B, enjoying the show?” The cocky grin was in place, shielding all honest emotions.
Buffy grinned and shook her head, sighing; “Only you would say that, Faith, only you.”
Faith decided to let her off for the moment and got straight to the point, “Hey, I have a question for you,”
Faith waited, and upon seeing Buffy nod for her to continue, she took a breath and plunged forward, “Can I stay here? Like, could this be my home? I mean, I know I’ve left you guys, and I don’t have a great track record with you, but I don’t need to go see the world anymore. I’m all set, and I want to, I mean I would like to be able to settle. I’ve never really had that, mostly because I don’t count my mother, when she was alive, as family, and I would like one, and I think this place could provide that, even without blood relations. So, do you think you have room for one ex-con slayer?” Faith smiled shakily, knowing how far out on a limb she was, but hoped for the best.
Buffy swallowed, various emotions shifting across her features, “Faith,” Buffy stopped, surprised at the dark slayer’s admission, “We’ve…I’ve always kept a spare room for you. Just in case you ever came back. If you want it, it’s yours.”
“That’s not what I asked, B. I asked you, if it would be all right if I lived here. Not because I wanted to, but because you want me to,” Faith knew she was pushing, but she needed Buffy to say it, even if it wasn’t exactly the way she wanted it.
Buffy sighed, before meeting Faith’s gaze, “I would like you to stay with us Faith, because we need you.” We – nice touch.
Faith cocked her head to one side, a smirk twisting half her mouth up and moved into Buffy’s personal space. Just close enough to feel the small slayer’s hot breath on her damp collarbone when she opened her mouth to breathe.
“We, B? Or you?” The question was asked in a deep, husky voice, and Buffy swallowed audibly before opening her mouth to breathe again, her gaze dipping to Faith’s lips before flicking back up to her brown eyes. Gotcha.
“I don’t… know what you mean,” Buffy stammered, her chest rising and falling a bit quicker. Anticipating something Blondie?
“Mmm,” Faith ticked her gaze down to Buffy’s lips, and while looking at them, spoke, “I think you do,” Faith’s eyes flicked to Buffy’s, “And when you admit that to yourself, come find me,” Faith smirked again and pulled away, moving past Buffy to the doors and leaving the smaller slayer alone in the training room.
After Faith showered, she wandered downstairs, not quite sure what she was looking for. Upon hearing familiar voices coming from Andrew’s office, Faith peeked in, seeing Andrew and Dawn in the middle of a conversation- apparently about her.
“Do you think they’ll get along?” Dawn asked from her position on the couch.
Andrew shrugged and leaned back further in the chair opposite Dawn, “I don’t know. You know their history far better and more personally than I do. From what I’ve been told, they never had the greatest track record…” Andrew trailed off.
Dawn shook her head, “No, not until the last few months before she left. They were getting along great. There was definitely something else going on though.”
“URST,” Andrew stated.
“What the fuck is that? You know I don’t speak geek as well as you,” Dawn quirked an eyebrow, a smile appearing suddenly.
“You ever hear of fan fiction?” Dawn nodded, “It’s a shorthand term meaning ‘unresolved sexual tension’. They totally had that.”
“Fuck,” Dawn shook her head.
Faith decided it was her cue to enter, “No, we never did that Dawnie.”
Both Dawn and Andrew jumped at Faith’s sudden appearance, and Faith walked into the room fully, shutting the door behind her as she went.
“How long-” Dawn began.
“Long enough,” Faith cut her off, her eyes traveling between the two.
Andrew shifted nervously and suddenly jerked up, pulling a cell phone out of his pants pocket. His face softened upon looking at the phone, and looked to the two women, “I’m sorry, it’s Dan, could you guys give me some privacy?”
Dawn smiled and stood, motioning Faith to follow her out. Dawn brought Faith up to the third floor and into her room where she shut her door and motioned Faith, who was currently staring at the entertainment system, to take a seat in the desk chair. Faith sat down, watching Dawn pull off her shoes and sit on her bed.
“So, who’s Dan?” Faith asked, her mind momentarily sidetracked by the reason they were now up here.
Dawn smiled, “Andrew’s boyfriend. They met at a club. Oddly enough, one of Dan’s sisters is a slayer, so it wasn’t hard for him to grasp our lifestyle.”
“Boyfriend?” Faith was stuck on that though, the last time she saw him he was straight, “When did he come out?”
Dawn thought for a moment, “Almost three years ago. We went clubbing one night, and Kennedy dragged us to a gay club. After the shock wore off, we had a ton of fun, Andrew more than the rest of us.”
Faith smiled, then thought back to the grand meeting they had earlier, “How come he sat next to Willow earlier? I would think that you would if anyone.”
“Oh, yeah. Usually when we do large brainstorming it’s the three of us, but Andrew is a full Watcher, so he and Willow work together a lot on research,” Dawn shifted when she finished, getting more comfortable, “I thought you were more of an observer? I never took you for making inquiries.”
Faith smiled at that and shook her head, “Sometimes I like to know what the sitch is without guessing. Plus, how would I know about Dan if I didn’t ask?” Dawn nodded in agreement, “So what about you?”
“Me?” Dawn straightened up, “Well, I’m a sophomore at Cleveland State, majoring in Classics. I’m also a watcher in training, and my boyfriend works with Giles on the Watcher’s Council.”
“Boyfriend eh? Nice. So who is the lucky boy?” Faith grinned.
“His name is Peter, he’s 23. We met at the funeral that was held for the original men and women on the Watcher’s Council before Caleb blew them all up four years ago. His father was one of the watcher’s killed,” Dawn trailed off, her eyes drifting away from Faith.
“I’m sorry,” Faith swallowed, then decided to try a different tack, “Is there anything you would like to ask me?”
“I thought you were all avoidy of personal questions? I mean, you totally brushed off Willow today, which equals- in this place at least- you won’t talk to anyone,” Dawn knitted her brows together in confusion.
“Not in front of everyone I don’t. I talk in one-on-ones, that way; people can’t gang up on me. It’s just a precaution that I’ve lived for too long to stop using now,” Faith explained.
“Gotcha. Okay, I guess the most important question I have is if you’re planning on staying now. As in not peacing in the middle of the night,” Dawn looked Faith straight in the eye.
That is your most important question? Huh, and here I thought you’d be yet another person, desiring to know what made me leave. Faith nodded, “Yeah, I’m staying,” Faith paused, “I’m surprised that was your first question.”
“I know why you left,” Dawn stated with a shrug, as if reading Faith’s thoughts.
“But, just downstairs, it seemed as if Andrew knew more than you,” Faith cocked her head to one side.
“Oh, I just wanted to see how good his powers of observation could be,” Dawn shrugged, “No, I knew. Buffy never told me, not specifically at least, but she alluded to something physical going on between you two that didn’t involve fighting. I think she was more afraid of the fact that it was you than the fact that it was woman, and that is why she’s all sketchy right now.”
“And here I thought only Willow noticed that besides me,” Faith laughed surprised at Dawn’s revelation.
“You think you have to a slayer or a witch to notice Buffy’s attitude today? I was talking with both Xander and Andrew about it. We all pick up on shit like that, no ones thinks we do though. Normal people have the ability to read others as well.” Dawn shook her head.
“Sorry Dawn. Anything else you wanna know?” Faith switched topics.
“Mmm, no not right now. Maybe later when I can think of something,” Dawn smiled and stood.
Faith stood as well, “Ai’ight, thanks Dawn, you’ve turned out to be pretty good. You’re lucky,” Faith sighed and moved past the younger brunette.
“I’d like to thank Buffy for that,” Dawn called out as Faith reached the door.
Faith turned her head to look back at Dawn, “So would I.”
