Next Chapter
|
Chapter 3: Recognition
A/N: let’s pretend that the college let Buffy/Faith stay in the dorm room if she paid rent and till they got a new resident. She had been right when she expected a lecture from Willow when she dumped Riley, but it was nothing compared to what Joyce had to say about the matter. It was clear that Joyce thought Angel had something to do with it but she wouldn’t say his name. Like nobody else would. And it was getting on Faiths nerves, it was like everyone were walking on eggshells, if someone would mention his name, she would crumble and suddenly remember him. After reading Buffy's diary, she knew Buffy hadn’t forgotten him, that she had just let her friends pretend she was over him, to make them feel better. Giles didn’t take interest in her love life so leaving Riley didn’t have much affect on him. Xander was just happy that Buffy was back on the market and Anya couldn’t care less. Spike was acting weird when Faith was present but she didn’t much care. He was just clad that she hadn’t told anybody about him disappearing, only later he had thought about it and it was the first time he had ever run from a beautiful girl offering herself to him. But it seemed the offer had passed and he didn’t know should he be relieved or disappointed.
For a while Riley had been following Faith around, trying to get back together, acting like a jealous boyfriend but he got over it when he caught Faith with another man. Faith was just glad he had stopped and getting caught really didn't bother her all that much, wouldn't be the first time.
“Jeez, Will. You really shouldn’t do that”, she said sitting up. “Sorry”, she whispered and sat on her own bed. “What’s up?” Faith finally asked, she had learned to read Willow and she obviously had something in her mind. There was a long pause and Willow was clearly struggling with it. “I saw Riley in class”, Willow started watching closely Faiths reaction. “I kind of figured it would be inevitable since he’s the TA at your psych class”, Faith answered already knowing where this conversation was going. “He’s pretty upset. He still doesn’t know why you suddenly left him. You really should talk to him, maybe you two can work things out”, Willow tried desperately. Faith sighed deeply. “Will, it’s been nearly two months, get over it, I have”, she said and got up from the bed. “But Buffy”, Willow started little confused why she was acting like this, it wasn’t like Buffy. “I’m going out”, Faith said and left before Willow could protest. Willow looked at the closed door and frowned. Buffy was certainly acting weird, she needed to do something. She reached for the phone and dialed Xander’s number.
Giles stepped out of the shower and after drying, wrapped the towel around his waist. He heard a noise coming from the living room so he headed there. “Buffy”, he gasped in surprise when he saw Buffy lounging on the couch. “I didn’t know you were coming”, he said feeling uncomfortable under her gaze and thinking it was odd she hadn’t made a cheeky comment or ran away screaming ‘my eyes, my eyes!’. “Yeah, well, I got bored”, she answered looking him up and down. That made Giles feel even more uncomfortable. “Um... yes... Well it is a good thing you came, I was meaning to call you. Have you seen the morning paper?” he said and headed to his bedroom to get some clothes on. “No, I haven’t. Why?!” came the answered from the living room. Nervously he picked up a random shirt and pants, quickly putting them on. He returned down stairs. “There has been a demon attack last night”, Giles said and handed the news paper to Faith. “I believe it might be a Nagel demon. Nagel coming from the German word for...”, Giles said but stopped seeing Faith’s expression telling him to get to the point. “Anyway, the Nagel demons usually travel in groups”, he continued. “So, how do I kill them?” Faith interrupted him jumping up from the couch, she was finally getting some action. “Buffy, it is not that simple. We must do some research before jumping head first into”, he started but again was interrupted by Faith. “Fine, you look into the dusty books, I go grill Willy”, she said and was out the door before Giles could protest. Faith walked confidently into the dark bar leaving the door open to the customers dismay. “Hey, it’s the Slayer”, Willy bellowed in his usual manner. “Hey there Willy”, she said seeing the vampires and various demons fleeing the place. “You really shouldn’t drop by this often, it hurts the business”, Willy complained. Faith just smiled at him sweetly and said: “Tell me what I want to know and I won’t cut your clientele in half.” “Come on, Slayer. Give me a brake here”, Willy whined. “There’s some German demon in town, I want to know where it is and does it have any friends”, she said leaving no room for negotiation. “You mean, Nagel demon. He’s alone. Was here the other night, really not the best drinking buddy a guy could ask. Said he was looking for the Slayer. Don’t know where he is”, Willy whispered. “Are you sure you don’t know where that demon is?” Faith asked and leaned over the bar to get closer to Willy. Willy lifted his hands up in surrender and said quickly: “I’m sure.” “You better. Or you’ll soon be out of business”, Faith said and left. After she had disappeared into the sunlight, he let out a sigh of relief. The Slayer was getting scarier, she had never before threatened to put him out of business and also her eyes looked a little different. Something strange was going on.
“So any luck?” Giles asked looking up from his book. “The usual. He’s here to kill me. What else is new?” she said and sat in front of the table. “Sure, every demon wants the feather in their cap, killing a slayer gives you respect for a long time”, came Spikes voice from the kitchen. “You should know. Not that we respect you”, sniped Xander and Spike just showed him the finger. “Why are we here? I would rather be home having sex with Xander”, Anya said and with that comment made Xander blush furiously. “Anya, what have I told you about talking about that while we have company?” he whispered to her. Anya just looked at him confused. “Why should I lie? I want sex and I find it very satisfying”, she answered and Xander’s face grew even more red. Faith couldn’t help but smirk at his discomfort when everyone else were trying to think something else than Xander’s sex life, even talking about it was more than they needed to know. Giles cleared his voice. “Well thank you, that was more than we needed to know. But could we focus on the matter at hand”, he said and went back to his reading. “Yes, we should”, Willow said with a small unsure voice. “No need for all this dusty reading. The demon is alone, wants to kill me, I want to kill it and I just need a way to kill it and to track it”, Faith said bored. “Decapitation would do the trick”, Giles offered. “Also fire but we don’t want you to use that one since your history with that method isn’t such a...” Giles continued but didn’t finish. “Okay, so off with the head. Now all I need to do is to find the thing”, Faith said itching to get some action. “Maybe Riley could help”, offered Willow and Faith almost groaned out loud, she’s got to be kidding. But the innocence in Willow’s eyes told her she wasn’t. “Or I could do it for 50 quid”, Spike said and sipped from his cup of blood. “Or you could do it and settle with the fact that I don’t kill you”, Faith gave her counteroffer and smiled sweetly.
“I thought you were supposed to be able to track that thing”, Faith said and Spike looked at her insulted. “It is here, don’t get your knickers in a twist.” Faith smiled at him carnally. “I’m not wearing any”, she said with a low husky voice which made Spike look at her in shock. He was about to say something when the demon appeared from behind a mausoleum. “So this is the great slayer I have been hearing about”, the demon said with a deep voice. “And your some idiot who thinks can take me”, answered Faith and took a cocky pose with her axe. Faith was measuring the demon with her gaze, the thing sure was ugly and that smell was just nasty. It was one big ugly bastard with big claws for hands. “This is the great slayer, in bed with a dirty vampire”, it said with disgust in its voice. “ “I’m not the one who smells like he hasn’t bathed in this century”, Spike said and attacked the demon but it swung its arm, knocking Spike unconscious. “I will dance on your bones, Slayer”, the demon sneered and approached her. “It’s a good thing you’ll be dead in few minutes because nobody wants to see you try to dance”, Faith said and attacked. The demon was strong but compared to her small frame, he was slow and sloppy. Faith got a few good punches at him but then it managed to grab her by the throat. She had dropped the axe to the ground and the demon was lifting her to the air. She was gasping for the air she wasn’t getting. In vain she tried to pry its claws out of her throat which was starting to bleed when the nails were digging into her skin. “Is this all you got”, the demon laughed right before Faith kicked it between the legs. The demons grasp loosened and Faith got free. “I guess you have something in common with human males”, she said right before she lifted the axe from the ground and swung it. The demon didn’t have time to react before its head was rolling on the grass. Spike opened his eyes only to find himself looking into the shocked eyes of the demon. “Giles should have warned me about those claws”, Faith said rubbing her neck. The wounds were closed but it still hurt like hell. She turned to look at Spike, who was looking hotter and hotter by the minute. All that fighting for your life had made her feel the heat all over. Spike saw the look in her eyes, they were full of raw lust and that made Spike feel uncomfortable, yet again. Before he knew it, Faith was straddling him and had pushed him into the ground. “You know, all that slaying got me really horny”, she said and nipped his ear. At the same time Spike felt panic and desire build inside him. But then she got a look into her eyes, for the first time he really looked at her and her eyes were different. The truth hit him like a ton of bricks, it wasn’t Buffy. He grabbed Faith by the arms and rolled them around. “I knew you’d want to be on top”, she said but soon threw him under her again. “But I like to be in control”, she said. “You’re not Buffy”, Spike spat and threw her off of him. Faith chuckled. “You know, you’re the first one to notice that. And it took what, two months”, she said and leaned into a gravestone. Spike looked at Faith dumbly, it had been two months and nobody had noticed anything. Sure she had been dressing more provocatively, acting more provocatively and doing things that Buffy would never have done, like come on to him like he was the last male on earth. “What are you?” he asked ready to fight what ever thing was inside Buffy. “It’s a who”, Faith said defensively. ”I’m Faith”, she added after a moment. ”The slayer that went bonkers?” Spike asked amazed but Faith didn’t appreciate being reminded of the dark period of her life. ”Yeah, that’s me”, she said with a voice that said that she didn’t want to continue that line of conversation. ”What have you done to her?” Spike asked offencively, he had heard the scoobies talk about Faith. ”Don’t worry, your prescious Buffy is alive as long as I know”, she said not really interested in this topic. “Where is she?” Spike asked looking at Faith, trying to find anything from outside that would show that it wasn’t Buffy but he came up with nothing. “I don’t know, she took off”, Faith answered. For a moment Spike just stood there thinking, then suddenly he turned around and started walking away. “Hey! Where you going!?” she yelled after him. “To find Buffy”, came the answer. “Well, if you find her, tell her I want my body back!” she yelled. Again Spike had fled the place and she was left unfulfilled. This couldn’t be happening. And on top of all that, she had to bury a dead demon and report to Giles. Her life sucked.
|
