Chapter 9: Who I Am & Murder Mystery
Faith stood outside Willow’s study, and knocked on the single open door. Hearing Willow call out for her to come in, Faith entered and shut the door behind her before dragging a chair from the wall, placing in front of Willow’s desk, and sitting down. Once Faith was settled, Willow began.
“So, it’s been a week, what do you think of the place?”
Faith smiled softly, “I like it here. I feel very…welcome. Which is something I’m not entirely used to, but I like it.”
“That’s good to hear. Do you mind if I ask how Buffy’s been treating you?” Willow rested her chin on her hand, getting comfortable.
“Nah,” Faith shrugged, “She’s been good. I actually gotta hand it to B for being so fucking civil. I mean, I was afraid that after my last exit…” Faith trailed off.
“You thought she’d hate you?” Faith nodded, “I think Buffy’s way too confused about how she feels about you to actually hate you right now.”
Faith blinked, surprised, “Is it that-”
“Obvious? Oh yeah,” Willow leaned back in her chair and laughed, “Man, you used to be such the enigma to us, and now, wow, I think Buffy can be pretty blind sometimes because she simply isn’t seeing what the rest of us see.”
“Us? You mean everyone is aware of…wait, what do you know?” Faith furrowed her brow in confusion.
Willow shrugged, “That there is so much sexual tension between the two of you that a Russian radio frequency would pick it up,” Willow smiled, “Are you ever going to actually talk to her about it?”
Faith titled her head to one side and arched her eyebrow, “This is B we’re talking about. If she isn’t ready to admit it, she’ll fight against it.”
“Yeah, but it has been four years, and obviously you both still feel something, maybe you should find a way to help her define what she’s feeling?”
“You’re the best friend, why don’t you? What makes you think that little ol’ ex-con Faith will get B to talk about her feelings?” Faith laughed when she finished, leaning back in her chair.
Willow was quiet a moment, thinking over her reply. Leaning forward and placing her elbows on the desk, Willow clasped her hands together and rested her chin on them before speaking, “But you can relate to her on a level that neither Xander nor I ever could.”
Faith was silent, not sure how to respond. A few minutes passed in silence before Faith decided to try a different topic, “Where’d Robin go?”
“Robin Wood?” Willow asked, and off Faith’s nod, continued, “He’s in Albany, New York. He’s the principal of a high school there, as well as in charge of a very large private hotel where slayers from the Northeast are brought before being sent here. I think he likes not being on a Hellmouth, but found it hard to be around us after you two split, and thought he had no other reason to stay after you left. The problem was, he didn’t want complete out, so Buffy arranged for him to care for the well-being of slayers before we can get to them.”
Faith nodded, “Sounds good.”
“Faith, do you mind if I ask you what you’ve done over the past four years? For curiosity?”
Faith shifted slightly, “Sure, I mean, it’s not like it needs to be a secret or anything,” Faith paused, “After I went to Angel and spoke with the Powers, I went up to Canada and shifted around there for a few months. Over the last four years I moved from Canada to the UK to most of the countries in Europe, skimmed a bit of the top of Africa, jumped up to Russia, then Mongolia, and moved over Japan, Laos, South Korea, and eventually jumped to Taipei before coming back.”
“Wow, worldly,” Willow’s eyebrows were raised in surprise, “So you were, fighting demons, and averting apocalypses…on your own?”
“Umm, not exactly. I had some contacts via Angel in most of the countries, particularly the ones where I ended up stopping the 3 apocalypses that were to take place, so I wasn’t usually alone. I always had someone to point me in the right direction, usually what I was there for was something akin to the smother effect. I would come in, kill off or fragment beyond repair demon or vampire clans to stop whatever particularly large uprising was happening or about to happen. I could never stay long enough to make things fully settled which really sucked, but the whole point of traveling was not to become attached and to learn to do what I could with whatever I had in relation to slaying. I needed to prove to myself that I was a good guy who didn’t need others to make sure she didn’t mess up. I needed to trust myself first before I could allow you guys to learn to trust me again.”
“But Faith,” Willow cut in once Faith had finished her sentence, “We already trusted you again, what was the point?”
Faith sighed heavily, “I wasn’t ready though, for everyone to move past the things I had done to them. It wasn’t okay for me.”
Willow leaned back again in her chair, “Okay, I understand, sorry,” Faith waved her hand, dismissing the apology, “I guess all I can say is that I’m glad you’re here, because we could really use all the fully experienced slayers that we can get, and I think, whether you know it or not, your presence, while skewing Buffy’s world, soothes her more than she’d like to admit. You’re her original sister slayer, and I don’t think anyone, not even the new generation of slayers, can help her in the ways of slaying and coping the way you can, remember that,” Willow finished, winking slightly at Faith, who took this as her cue to leave, and stood and left.
After Faith left Willow’s study, she moved down the hall, and decided to see what the younger slayers were up to, and headed downstairs. As she pushed open the doors, Faith’s eyes widened, seeing the slayers spread out throughout the room, a small group taking turns to spar, two lifting weights with Vi’s help, a few doing short sprints, and the youngest being helped by Kennedy at the punching bag. Faith scanned the crowd and saw Rona keeping a close eye on the sparring circle, correcting errors and giving praise for a good move, but for the most part, remaining a spectator. Grinning to herself, Faith leaned against the wall, taking them all in.
It was about ten minutes before Kennedy spotted Faith leaning on the wall and gestured for her to come over. The younger slayers had all taken a break to rest and get something to drink, and Kennedy had them sit down before eyeing Faith.
“Faith, would you like to tell the girls about yourself? We’ve been getting questions nonstop and I think they’re too afraid to ask you yourself. They’re done with their workout for the day anyway, so if you would like…” Kennedy trailed off, gesturing to the sitting crowd.
Faith arched an eyebrow at Kennedy for a moment before taking a deep breath and moving in front of the group. Faith was silent a moment, gauging how to open, and upon seeing the curiosity in all the young slayers’ eyes, nodded to herself and began. The hard truth is always worse, but easier to understand than lying, I hope.
“I didn’t come from a good home. My dad was put in prison when I was young, and my mother was a drunk. When I was 16 I ran from my home and moved around a bit on my own. I won’t scare you with the details, but after being put into an asylum, my first watcher found me and began training me. I was called shortly thereafter, and began slaying…” Faith trailed off, thinking about her watcher being murdered, “And then a big named vamp decided to screw my life up again. He tortured and killed my watcher, and I killed most of his followers, but not him. I thought I had, but I hadn’t.
“And that’s when I began running. I ran across the country, and as I did, I learned that he was still alive and out for my blood. So I ran to this little town called Sunnydale in California where my watcher had told me another slayer lived. Buffy,” Faith stopped again, allowing the memories to wash over her as her past began to take a darker turn, “The vampire caught up with me though, and I finally did kill him. After that, I kinda settled into working with Buffy, but I guess I never felt truly welcomed,” Faith paused and swallowed, “One night I made a mistake, I accidentally killed a man while out slaying with Buffy, and I know now that it can happen, but that doesn’t make it okay. I freaked, and made another mistake, I went to the bad guys for acceptance when I felt like I had none with Buffy and the Scooby Gang. Things happened, fights went down, more people were killed…” Faith shifted, closing her eyes for a moment, “And then I hit rock bottom. Angel helped me find myself, and in the end I turned myself in to the police.
“I was in there for 3 years before Angel’s coworkers broke me out and eventually fixed my prison record. I returned to Sunnydale, helped avert the big apocalypse, and eventually split again to go off on my own,” Faith saw how captivated the group was, and held back a smile as she finished, “I left for about four years, traveling the world, finding myself, helping people, and then I got word to come here, so here I am.”
The room was quiet before Vi piped up, “Quite the nutshell.”
Faith smiled, and saw the group visibly relax at the comment, “Any questions?” Faith asked, raising her eyebrows and remaining as relaxed as possible so as to not scare off any of the girls.
One of the youngest girls raised her hand. The girl had short, dirty-blonde hair that stopped at her neck, and Faith struggled to remember her name, Lynn? Faith nodded towards her, “What’s your name?”
“Lynn,” Score, two points for the old slayer, “I was wondering what happened between you and Buffy?” Damn, the complicated questions.
Faith looked to Kennedy for help, but she merely shrugged her shoulders, “We didn’t…mesh. Our views were very different in the realm of living and slaying. I think it was more of my fault that we didn’t work things out from the start, but I think I needed to grow up before I could easily work with her. We’re practically complete opposites, so we banged heads often,” Faith was quiet for a moment, “Anyone else?”
No hands went up, seemingly satisfied, but Faith had the feeling she would be sought out when there wasn’t a crowd. Taking a deep breath, Faith smiled gently and turned toward Kennedy, Vi and Rona, “All right, I’m out. I’ll see you guys later.”
As Faith waved to the younger slayers sitting on the floor, Vi cleared her throat, “Guys you can go up now,” The crowd stood and quickly moved past the older women, quietly murmuring to themselves, “Faith? Can I talk with you?”
Faith shrugged as she watched Rona and Kennedy follow the other slayers out and turned to look at Vi, “Sure. Now?” Off of Vi’s nod, “Okay. Shoot.”
“It’s mostly filler shit. Just-so-you-know kind of information. The second mansion that Buffy and Giles bought is about two miles away, Rona and I live there, as well as any of the extra slayers, and the psychologists work from there. Buffy makes trips to visit the slayers when there are some there, but it’s empty right now.”
“So you and Rona are good friends I take it?” Faith smiled.
“Yes, pretty much best friends. We’re both in college as part-time students,” Vi smiled softly.
“No boyfriends?” Faith grinned, causing Vi’s smile to widen.
“No, not right now, too much is going on. Actually, aside from Xander, no one has really dated since you left so no missed drama.” Vi laughed.
Faith felt as if Vi’s comment had a subtle undertone relating to Buffy, and decided to call her on it, “Why tell me about Buffy, Vi? Do you know as well?”
Vi’s smile vanished and she turned red, “We all know, except for the younger slayers. Even without Buffy talking, the rumor mill spread and everyone figured it out,” Vi shifted nervously.
“Okay, so you are just trying to let me know that she didn’t date any guys because…”
“Not just men, she didn’t date any men or women. We figured it had to do with you; you must’ve thrown her for a hell of a loop for her to remain dateless for four years and not become bitchy.”
Faith laughed, “Yeah I guess,” A comfortable silence came between them for a few minutes before Faith jerked her thumb towards the door, “C’mon, let’s get outta here if you’re done.”
Vi nodded and they exited the training room.
As Faith moved the kettle off of the burner, and the room became quiet again, she heard the front door shut softly. She couldn’t sense Buffy, or any type of demon, and was left confused. Shrugging, Faith moved through the kitchen and began to make a pot of tea that a few of the inhabitants of the mansion would readily want. The creak of a footstep outside the kitchen caused Faith to look up from the island where she placed the pot of tea, and found her eyes on a beautiful brunette.
“Who are you?” The woman asked, a British accent curving around her words.
You must be Sandra. “I’m Faith,” Faith answered, remaining calm after seeing the other woman tense up.
“Is it tea time yet?” Andrew poked his head in through the side door, and after seeing the pot ready, moved into the room. As he went to the cupboard to get a mug, he noticed the other woman at the doorway, “Oh, Sandra, welcome back! Xander’s still at work, but hey, we’ve got tea!”
Sandra smiled, “So much for an introduction I guess,” Faith smiled back upon seeing Sandra relax, “I’m Sandra, in case you didn’t get it,” Sandra added with a wink.
Faith nodded, “Nice to meet you,” Faith turned towards Andrew who was pouring himself a mug of tea, and shook her head before going to the fridge and getting the milk out. Andrew went back to the cupboard and grabbed four more mugs and placed them on the island before grabbing the sugar, “Want a mug?” Faith asked, placing the milk on the island.
“That would be splendid,” Sandra sighed and came into the kitchen fully.
Quietly, the three made their cups of tea, and just as they moved out to the dining room, Willow entered the kitchen, “Oh tea! Thank God, I was going insane in there. Oh, hey Sandra, nice to see you back.”
“Likewise Willow. What was so horrid?” Sandra smiled as she took a seat at the dining table.
“Oh, long-distance phone calls to Giles, research, and filing,” Willow shrugged, sighing as she finished making her tea and walked over to the table, sitting beside Andrew.
“Filing, sounds intense,” Faith commented, gaining a laugh from Sandra and a glare from Willow, coughing, Faith continued, “I mean…there is no way to salvage that. Screw it.”
Willow’s look softened and she sighed, “It’s hectic. It would be wonderful if every culture and text called the same dimensions the same names and such, but…”
“Oh that would be far too easy, luv,” Sandra cut in, putting a hand on Willow’s arm, “Demons and the such live for making our lives complicated, especially when it comes to research.”
“Yeah, the fighting and apocalypses are just added bonuses,” Faith continued, enjoying seeing that Xander could definitely pick the right personality for someone to become a Scooby.
As the group shared grins and laughter, the front door opened and slammed. Willow and Andrew turned around, while Faith and Sandra looked up, their eyes watching the entrance to the dining room. Moments passed before Xander appeared.
“We have a problem, Will. Do you know where Buffy- Sandra! I thought you were coming back tomorrow?” Xander moved forward and hugged Sandra as she stood from her chair, “Oh it’s so good to see you,” Xander smiled, and lightly kissed her on the lips before turning back to Willow.
“What’s going on Xander?” Willow asked.
“I heard from some of my workers today that there have been a large number of murders going on down by Lucky’s Pub. It’s been recent, and it’s been nasty. Something non-human, possibly a gang of demons or vampires. They follow a pattern, and it seems to be culminating into something big.”
“Okay,” Willow stood, shifting into work mode, “Andrew, call Buffy’s cell, tell her to get here as soon as she can, then go find Kennedy, Vi and Rona and call them into my study, Xander and Faith come with me. Sandra, you can either come with us, or put your stuff into Xander’s room and come down.”
Sandra nodded quickly and followed Andrew out of the room. Faith stood and followed Willow and Xander into her study. Once they were there and sitting, Willow pulled a large white board into the room from Andrew’s study and turned to Xander, “Now I need you to tell me everything.”
Andrew entered just as Xander opened his mouth, and Willow shifted her gaze up.
“She’s at the supermarket. She’ll be here in twenty minutes,” Willow nodded and turned to look down at Xander while Andrew took a seat.
“I don’t know all the facts, maybe the paper will tell you more, but the guys at work said roughly a dozen or more women have been found mutilated and drained of blood around Lucky’s. Not bitten like a vampire though, but it doesn’t rule it out,” Willow nodded in agreement, “Their bodies were all set up in different positions, but it looked religious or purposefully done, not just randomly thrown about. I think it’s been happening over the last two weeks, but nothing’s really been making a big deal until this week. That’s basically all I know.”
“Okay, Andrew, check the paper, the morgue, find out what you can. I’ll call around to local contacts; try to pinpoint what breed of demon or gang of vampire it could be. Xander, take Sandra and check out around Lucky’s. Ask around; see what you can learn. Faith, I want you to wait until Buffy gets here, because you, Vi, Kennedy and Rona are taking the slayers out tonight for patrol. Quadrant three only.”
As the group scattered, Faith stood and moved towards Willow’s desk, “Quadrant three? What the fuck is that?”
Willow looked up, “Oh, sorry, I forgot you didn’t know. Quadrant three is the northwest corner of our main sweep. It’s near Lucky’s pub, but not quite city, it’s a suburban area with cemeteries and parks.”
Faith nodded, “Okay, got it,” Faith turned to leave.
“Oh and Faith?” Willow looked up, as Faith turned around to look at her, “it’ll be a lot like back in Sunnydale, training the younger girls in real situations, keep an eye on them and pull them out if it gets dangerous.”
“All right, no worries,” Faith nodded and left, this could be entertaining, too bad Spike isn’t here; he’d get a kick outta this.
Chapter 10: Lucky's Pub
Faith leaned forward on the sofa, her elbows on her knees, one leg bouncing up and down to relieve tension. I hate waiting. Who woulda thought anyone would be impatient for the night to come on, considering how dangerous it is out there? Waiting wasn’t something she did regularly, but, as with making plans, patience forced its way into her life. Sighing, Faith stopped her incessant leg jitters, and leaned back into the sofa, her eyes catching Rona’s as the younger woman looked up suddenly. Faith turned to follow her line of sight, and saw Buffy standing in the middle of the doorway of the living room.
“Why don’t you guys go get prepared? We can leave in about 15 minutes,” Buffy smiled softly at the group and exited.
As the other woman stood and moved towards the basement door, Faith followed Buffy out of the room towards the stairwell to the second floor.
“Hey, B,” Faith called out as the blonde reached the stairs. Seeing her stop and turn to face her, Faith continued, “You want separate vehicles?”
“You can if you want; I was going to take the SUV out so we could fit. Plus it has a good med pack inside,” Buffy replied.
“Ah, sounds good, then. I just didn’t know if…” Faith trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.
“If I wanted you to be in the same car as the rest of us? Why wouldn’t I want that?” Buffy finished for her, shaking her head in confusion.
“I-” shit, “I dunno. Never mind, B. I’ll make sure the wannabes are all ready,” Faith smirked, needing to get away before she embarrassed herself too much.
“They aren’t wannabes anymore, Faith. They’re the real thing, just like us,” Buffy gently corrected, looking slightly deflated at Faith’s attempt to get away.
“No, not like us,” Faith shook her head, and began to back up, “We were Chosen. There’s a difference.”
Faith turned on her heel quickly and left, feeling Buffy watch her as she moved through the kitchen and dining room before she disappeared down the stairwell to the basement. When she entered the training room, Faith saw the four other women shuffling around, checking out weapons. As she made her way up to them, they watched her, as if wanting to see what she would choose before picking their own weapons. Faith smirked, catching Kennedy’s sheepish grin as she pulled a stake out of the trunk beside the wall adorned with all types of weaponry, and lifted a short knife from it’s place upon the wall. Seeing the quizzical looks the others gave her, she shrugged and answered,
“Just in case,” and turned and left.
Buffy was yanking one sleeve of her jean jacket on when Faith entered the side hallway next to the exit into the garage. Smiling softly at the older slayer, Faith moved behind her and grabbed the jacket, aiding her in pulling the other sleeve on.
“Thanks,” Buffy whispered, quietly acknowledging Faith’s kind act, watching as she reached for her own jean jacket and pulled it on both arms in a smooth action before fixing her hair and straightening the lapels.
“No problem, B,” Faith nodded appreciatively, before opening the door to her right and exiting, Buffy right behind her.
Faith watched Vi step into the back of the silver SUV, shutting the door after she sat down, cutting off Faith’s view of Sandra rolling her eyes at something Kennedy said. Upon opening the passenger door, she heard the four women laughing at whatever Kennedy had said. Pulling her seatbelt across herself, Faith glanced over to the driver’s side door as Buffy pulled it open and climbed into the driver’s seat.
“So B, who’d you bribe to get a driver’s license?” Faith joked, earning grins from the other four slayers, but a glare from the eldest one.
“Funny,” Buffy shook her head, starting the vehicle.
“Occasionally,” Faith shrugged, smirking as she looked out her rearview mirror.
“Just occasionally? What are you the rest of the time?” Rona piped up from behind Buffy.
Faith turned to look back at her, a serious look on her face, “Sarcastic.”
“There’s a difference?” Vi asked, cocking her head to one side, earning laughter from the entire group, “What? What’d I say?”
“Oh God, someone make her stop,” Sandra said from the back between laughing.
“She’s always asking such serious questions about the…umm, how do I put this delicately…the stupidest things,” Rona explained to Faith.
“Aren’t you like, an A student in college?” Faith asked, turning to look at Vi.
“Yeah…” Vi trailed off, still slightly confused.
Faith nodded, shaking her head as she turned back around to face the road, glancing at Buffy, who was grinning and shaking her own head as she came to a stoplight. The rest of the ride was relatively silent, with Faith glancing over at Buffy occasionally, slightly shocked at the great improvement in her driving abilities since she had last driven with her.
“B, you sure you don’t want me to drive?” Faith asked, one hand gripping the armrest to the point of bending it slightly, the other pressed against the dashboard to stay in place while Buffy took a right turn at about 40 miles per hour, the tires squealing as she just barely made it around the curve.
“I’m fine,” Buffy replied stoically. Faith snorted at the response, gaining a glare from the blonde.
It had been only a few hours ago that they had kissed for the third time, and Faith’s mind was racing. Her body was humming from being in such close proximity to the lithe blonde, but fear of surviving the car ride to the outskirts of the city far outweighed any sexual undercurrent she was feeling. Minutes passed in silence, awkwardly, Faith would like to add. Awkward wasn’t a thing she and Buffy had to worry about, they were too in tune with one another to be awkward around each other. However, it seemed that the most recent…event that made up the ever expanding, wacky definition of the Chosen Two was just enough to catapult Buffy into freaking. Wait, no, ‘freaking’ doesn’t cover it enough. B is having an all out wiggins, Faith thought, glancing fearfully at Buffy.
In all honesty, after allowing her body to crumble atop Buffy’s in the chair, not much more had happened- a bit more of the lip-locking action, and then Buffy had shoved her off. Faith got the feeling that Buffy was way too aware of what was happening, but had no idea how to wrap her head around it- and that’s what scared the blonde the most. Faith may not have totally understood what was happening either, but sometimes, as much as she hated it, talking overruled acting, and she needed to talk.
Perfect time for us to switch the role of talker versus secretive and quiet, Faith thought as she gripped the doorframe when they came to a screeching halt outside a cemetery.
“Yeah B, I bet none of the vamps heard us coming,” Faith quipped, earning another glare from Buffy. Fuck, this sucks.
Faith sighed and exited the vehicle, catching up to the smaller slayer, who had already entered the cemetery.
“All right, you guys know the drill,” Buffy nodded at the slayers, “Pair off, Sandra and Kennedy, take the immediate area surrounding Lucky’s Pub; Vi and Rona, do a one block radius outside of that, including the park. We’ll take the second block radius,” Buffy looked to Faith, gaining a nod of confirmation, “Do a standard sweep, check for signs of blood, fighting, debris that’s been moved or would have been left behind. Call me if you find anything, and call the closest pair for back up if you need it. Everyone all set?” The group nodded, “Good. Meet back here in an hour if you don’t find anything.”
Faith watched as the two separate pairs turned and left, disappearing into the darkness, before turning and following Buffy in the opposite direction.
“Wow, I remember when we had to baby sit them to go patrolling,” Faith shook her head in amazement as she fell into step beside Buffy.
“Yeah, sometimes I can’t help remembering how different their experience was from ours,” Buffy replied, her eyes looking ahead, scanning the area.
“Nice to know they don’t need the Chosen Two to watch out for them,” Faith shrugged.
“You left after they were already slayers, Faith, you know they didn’t need us watching them,” Buffy glanced at Faith, confused.
“They weren’t nearly trained enough to follow orders, scan, sweep, slay, and communicate the way they are now. They didn’t have a good grip on their abilities just yet, you taught them that after I left.”
“Yeah, I figured with the only officially active Watcher off in England trying to straighten out our finances and technically our futures, I decided to fill in for his role and try to train them the way I had been trained. I didn’t want them to follow blindly, I already knew they wouldn’t just take an order without commenting on how ‘General Buffy’ I’m acting, and I was glad. I never fully followed orders, silently or otherwise, why should they?” Buffy shrugged, “So, yeah, they took about a year to train them to be skilled the way we are, and that includes learning the difference between challenging authority rationally, and attacking authority out of fear.”
“Nice. So what is the ranking? I mean, you’re obviously in charge…” Faith trailed off, glancing over at Buffy.
“There is no official rank, Faith,” Buffy sighed, “Those who had the most experience, such as Giles, Willow, Xander, Myself and Dawn, took the high leadership roles. We treat all the slayers equally, and the ones trained for field combat are equal to me aside from giving orders. All slayers sit in on plans for anything big, and we welcome challenges to our ideas, some plans have changed completely from something Willow and I came up with to something that the younger ones came up with. Vi and the other second gen.s have come up with game plans often.”
Faith listened silently, glad to see the changes in Buffy’s leadership role, it was far more flexible and less authoritarian than back in Sunnydale. She still made the plan, but it wasn’t always the agreed upon one. As they lapsed into silence, Faith heard a twig snap somewhere off to her left. Stopping suddenly, Faith sensed that they definitely weren’t alone. Sparing a glance at Buffy, Faith saw her already moving to the right of the sound, silently flanking the area where it came from. Faith copied her to the left of the sound, and heard a soft growl. Vamps. Don’t you guys know when to run and hide?
Just as Faith saw a looming figure move towards her, she heard Buffy kick another vampire. How many we got here? Faith thought, dodging the obviously new vampire’s punch. Grabbing his arm, Faith pulled him past her, sending him flying off. She registered the sound of his body hitting a tree and landing on the ground as she caught a glimpse of what was apparently the third of three vampires trying to sneak up on Buffy while she fought off the other vampire. Landing a kick to the back of his knee, Faith watched him snarl as he crumpled to the ground and swung her other leg around to slam into his face, sending him sprawling. Just as she pulled her stake out to finish him off, the first vampire landed a kick to her side, causing Faith to grunt as she stumbled into Buffy, who had just staked her vamp.
Buffy held onto Faith’s arm tightly, keeping her upright long enough for her to regain her balance. Faith shook off the tingles that Buffy’s touch elicited from her, and moved toward the vampire that had kicked her and landed a punch to his jaw before grabbing his hair and swinging him around and throwing him into another tree. The moment he hit the ground, Faith slammed the heel of her boot into his sternum, before lifting her stake and driving the weapon home into the vampire’s chest. Faith swung around as the vampire turned to dust, and saw Buffy throw the final vampire onto a broken tree limb, dusting him without using her stake.
“Nice aim, B,” Faith nodded appreciatively.
Buffy smiled, “Thanks,” she said, before moving her hand to her jacket pocket when her phone went off, “Ken? Did you find something?”
Faith listened in silence as Buffy finished the quick conversation and put her phone away, “Time to motorvate?”
Buffy nodded, “Yup, Kennedy and Sandra found something. The others are already on their way over, let’s go.”
Faith glanced around once more before following Buffy back the way they came.
