Author's Note: This fic is a crossover with the movie Daredevil, but it's set pretty heavily in the Buffy world. If you haven't seen the movie, the only thing you really need to know is that Bullseye is a leather-clad biker with inhumanly perfect aim and a bullseye literally etched into his forehead. (I haven't read the Daredevil comics, so my portrayal of Bullseye is based entirely on the movie.)
I wrote this fic a while ago in response to a request posted to the fic on demand Livejournal community. The request was for a fluffy Bullseye/Faith story that contains some seriously bad winter weather with a side of smut. Not sure if I quite managed full on fluff, but I did throw in some sweet moments between the two.
Warnings: This fic contains sexual situations. Also, there are some very mild spoilers for the Buffy Season 8 comics.
This is my first Faith-centric story, so I'd love to know what you think!
Faith walked into the smoky biker bar with a cocky smile on her face. She was wearing skin-tight red leather pants and underneath her leather jacket was a black mesh top that left little to the imagination. Her lips were painted blood red to match her pants, and her mouth curled into a seductive smile as nearly every man in the bar turned to look at her. This was one of the seedier parts of Cleveland, and she was just itching for trouble. Just because she was playing nice with Robin after their break-up didn't mean she wasn't torn up inside. A good fight or a good fuck was just what she needed to blow off some steam.
She wasn't two steps inside the place, when already she noticed a couple of men standing and moving towards her, like predators circling their prey. But she wasn't anybody's prey…she was one of the biggest hunters of them all.
Her eyes scanned the room, and she couldn't resist letting her eyes linger on the man near the dart board. He wore an ankle length black leather trench coat and he sported several piercings on his ears…all par for the course in this place. But what made him stand out was his skill with the darts. Giving her a saucy wink, he began to down his pint of beer, all the while casually tossing dart after dart over his shoulder. Not a single one missed the bulls-eye.
Faith made her way towards the man with the spectacular aim, allowing her hips to sway seductively as she weaved her way through the crowded bar. One man made the mistake of trying to cop a feel as she walked past, and she grabbed his hand and twisted his wrist until he let out a rather unmanly scream…all the while never breaking eye contact with the man near the dart-board. He raised his glass in salute to her, and by silent accord, every other man in the room backed away a little, sensing that Faith was far more trouble than she was worth. The man who had tried to feel her up even managed to mutter a half-hearted apology before scrambling away from her in fear.
When she reached the dart board, she leaned close to the mysterious stranger and whispered "nice shooting" into his ear.
Then she continued past him with a wink, allowing her shoulder to intentionally brush against him as she made her way to the bar without a single glance back.
"I'll take a pint of Guinness," she yelled at the bartender, laying a five dollar bill on the counter. Faith felt a pair of arms reach around her from behind, a hand sliding down her arm until it had reached her money and placed it back in her hand.
"Put the lady's drink on my tab, and bring a second pint o' Guinness for me as well," she heard a man say, his voice thick with an Irish brogue that sent tingles down her spine.
Faith turned around slowly, allowing the man's arms to continue caging her against the bar. "I don't take hand-outs from strangers," she said, her eyes filled with amused defiance. "But if you can beat me at darts, I'll let you have the privilege of buying me a drink."
"Ho, ho!" the man laughed. "Ain't you a little spitfire? What's your name, sweetheart?"
"I'm Faith," she said. "But don't be fooled…there isn't much that's sweet about me. How about you, tough guy? What do they call you?"
The man reached up and pulled off his black skull cap, revealing a shaved head and the scar the shape of a bulls-eye etched into his forehead. "They call me Bullseye, and I'll take your bet, pretty girl. Let's see if you can keep up, shall we?"
For the next hour, the two of them monopolized the dart board, neither one of them failing to miss the center of the bulls-eye by even a fraction of an inch despite the copious amounts of alcohol they were consuming. By this time, they had quite the crowd of spectators, and there was a pool going around betting on which one would be the first to miss.
Unlike Buffy, her erstwhile sister-in-arms, Faith had a naturally high tolerance to alcohol, and being called as a Slayer had only increased her ability to hold her drink. Even after an hour of steady drinking, she wasn't feeling off her game at all, but she could tell that the alcohol was starting to take a toll on Bullseye. Oh, he was still hitting his target with unerring aim, but his speech was slurred and he was a little wobbly on his feet. She couldn't blame him really…after all, he'd been drinking long before she even walked into the bar.
She could sense a slight bit of unease creeping into his demeanor. His eyes kept drifting to all of the people making bets, and he was rubbing his darts nervously. It was obvious that he was a regular here, and if she beat him, she would be shaming him in front of all of his friends. She knew with a cold certainty that she could outlast him, and the resulting bar fight when he lost would be glorious.
Faith itched to see the chaos that would ensue when she won the dart game, but when she looked up at Bullseye's face, his eyes filled with the bone-deep desire to win, she couldn't do it. Maybe she'd been hobnobbing with the good guys for too long, but she decided to do something sweet for once…if deliberately throwing a match could be called sweet.
She didn't go so far as to actually miss. No…that would have been way too obvious. She had to play it just right. So, when it was her turn, she aimed for the rim of the bulls-eye, intentionally striking it at the very edge of the metal circle. In a normal game, it would still have been a valid bulls-eye, but for the sake of this game, she might as well have missed the board entirely.
A roar went through the crowd, and Bullseye let out a triumphant crow of victory. He sent two darts flying towards the board. One hit directly in the center, and the second one pierced the first, splitting it in two.
"I think you owe me a drink," Faith said, taking her supposed defeat with a good-natured smile as people came over to clap her on the shoulder and exclaim about what an exciting match it had been.
"Aye, that I do," Bullseye said with a grin. "It's not every day I meet someone who can keep up with me."
"Night's still young," Faith said. "How 'bout we see if you can keep up with me, sugar?"
Faith downed a shot of Bailey's as Bullseye settled their tab, and then she dragged him out into the parking lot. She pulled his head down and gave him a fierce kiss, pressing a piece of paper with her address on it into one of his hands.
"Race you home," she said with a wink, turning and running towards her motorcycle. She knew that good little law-abiding girls didn't challenge leather-clad bikers to a race when they were both more than a little intoxicated, but she'd had her fill of pretending to be a goody two-shoes. She'd tried acting like a tamed beast, playing the part of the hero to perfection, and she still hadn't been able to keep her man. Robin had left her anyway. And just for tonight, she wanted to let loose…let out all that passion and rebellion she'd been keeping inside for months because she'd been terrified of scaring Robin off.
So with a shriek of defiance, Faith leapt onto her motorcycle and went roaring into the night, not even bothering to glance back to see if Bullseye was following her. It only took another minute for her to hear the answering roar of another motorcycle behind her, and she knew the chase was on. His bike was far nicer than anything she could afford, and it didn't take long for him to catch up with her.
He followed her for a while, zooming forward and then dropping back…literally driving circles around her. But Faith didn't care. With the wind in her hair and the thrum of the bike underneath her, she felt alive and filled with a wild joy that she'd been missing the entire time she'd dating Robin. When Bullseye jumped up to stand on the seat of his bike, his arms spread wide, Faith let out a joyous laugh and mimicked him, uncaring of the blaring horns of the other cars on the road as they swerved out of their way.
It wasn't until they heard the sirens of a police car that they had to give up on their little joy ride. The garbled voice of a man shouted at them through a bullhorn to pull over, as if there was a snowball's chance in hell of that actually happening. There was only one police car and two of them, so with one last grin at each other, Faith and Bullseye peeled off down a narrow alleyway in opposite directions. Out of the corner of her eye, Faith saw the police car turn to follow Bullseye, and she rushed off towards home, taking as many back roads and narrow passageways as she could just in case she was being tailed.
The police never did manage to catch up with her, and as she approached home, she wondered if her new friend had managed to get away. But her question was quickly answered when she saw him leaning against her door, a cocky grin on his face.
"Damn, you're good," Faith said in greeting.
"That's what they tell me," Bullseye said, dragging her in close for a kiss.
Faith pulled away before she could get totally swept up in the moment, causing a confused frown to flit across Bullseye's face.
"No worries, big fella," Faith said, placing her finger over his mouth before he could open it and say something stupid to ruin her mood. "I just wanna stow the bikes in case the cops come circling 'round here. Once we get inside, I don't want any interruptions," she said with a saucy smile.
Faith and Bullseye dragged their bikes out back, and Faith threw a tarp over them to hide them from prying piggy eyes. She frowned slightly as she glanced up at the night sky, where fat flakes of snow were starting to float through the air. It was nearly summer, so she couldn't help but wonder if the freak cold snap was Hellmouth-related. But for the next few hours, she didn't care. Her body was practically throbbing with need, and all she wanted tonight was a good fuck. Robin and his gaggle of new Slayers could take care of the freaky weather.
Faith turned to Bullseye, her eyes burning with need, and without a word, she dragged him into her half of the shitty little duplex she called home. Clothes went flying as they pounced on each other. Both of them were so keyed up that nothing but hard and fast would do. Faith winced a little as he tore her mesh shirt in half rather than pull it over her head—she had just bought that shirt, dammit—but then his mouth was covering her nipple, and all she could do was arch her back and moan.
When he had finished showering her breasts with kisses, they both broke apart long enough to wriggle out of their remaining clothes. Then Faith practically leapt at Bullseye, wrapping her strong legs firmly around his waist. Bullseye didn't even bother trying to make it up the stairs to her bedroom. He plunged inside of her in one harsh thrust, and he took her hard against the wall of her living room. Faith's nails dragged down his back and her teeth dug into his shoulders as he rammed into her over and over again, giving her exactly what she needed. Finally, she tilted her head back and screamed her release, and a few thrusts later, Bullseye was groaning into her neck and joining her.
For a few seconds, they both clung to each other, their breaths coming in pants, until finally Faith began to disengage, lowering her feet to the ground. But when her knees started to buckle, Bullseye scooped her up bridal style and carried her up to her room.
Their second go 'round was far more tender than Faith had expected. Bullseye laid her down gently on her bed, and while he waited for his body to catch up to his libido, he lavished her with kisses. He started with her mouth, and slowly worked his way down, leaving a wet trail from her throat all the way down to her navel. His mouth traveled lower, his tongue darting out to tease the juncture between her legs, but he stayed there only long enough to get her worked up again. When he finally grew hard a second time, Faith was practically growling at him to finish what he'd started.
Bullseye sank into her slowly this time, his eyes staying locked with her. He was oddly tender, as if he was trying to embed the memory of her into his senses. Even when she urged him to go faster, he maintained a torturously slow pace, and Faith felt tears sting the corners of her eyes at how gentle he was being. Fast and hard she was used to, but slow and tender just made her think of all the things she wanted but never seemed good enough to have.
When her tears threatened to spill out of her eyes, Faith decided to go on the aggressive, flipping Bullseye onto his back and riding him hard, letting her need wash away all of her conflicting emotions. He allowed her to take control, enjoying the view of her towering above him as she pushed them both over the edge.
Faith ended the night curled against Bullseyes chest, lulled to sleep by the feel of his hands gently running through her hair and stroking her back. She allowed herself the luxury of giving in to his soft caresses, too tired to fight him anymore.
When she awoke, his side of the bed was empty, and she let out a weary sigh. She knew the tenderness had been a fluke…too good to last. In the end, they always left her. But at least it had been a fun ride.
Her body was still sticky from the previous night's romp, so she stumbled her way to the shower. However, when she emerged, she could swear that she smelled the scent of cooking food wafting up from below. She threw on a bathrobe and cautiously crept down the stairs. She was greeted with the sight of Bullseye mucking around her kitchen, frying up some eggs.
He was actually cooking her breakfast. No one had ever done that before…not even Robin.
"Top of the morning to ya," he said with a smile. "Nothing like a good fry-up after a hard night's work."
"Coffee first," Faith said, trying to hide her surprised stupor under the guise of sleepiness.
Bullseye handed her a cup of steaming coffee, and she sat down at her small kitchen table. "I have to admit," Faith said cautiously, "I didn't picture you as the domestic type. I had you pegged as the 'love 'em and leave 'em" sort."
"I'll admit, I've had me fair share o' conquests," he said with a grin. "But it's not every day that I come across a lass who is nearly as good as myself."
"Nearly," Faith said with an arched eyebrow. "You let me have a rematch, and we'll just see who is better."
"Perhaps someday…" Bullseye said, a wistful look flitting across his face. The look only lasted for a split second before his grin was back in full force. "But I'd not be wanting to venture out to any bars today. It's a right mess out there."
He pulled aside the curtain to her kitchen window, and for a second, all Faith could see was a blinding whiteness. But as her eyes adjusted, she realized that she was looking out at a veritable winter wonderland…despite the fact that it was early June. There had to be over two feet of snow on the ground.
"Damn…" she cursed under her breath, her body instinctively rising to a fighting stance. "This can't be good."
"I've no doubt you know your way around a fight, but you can't trade punches with a storm cloud," Bullseye said, placing his hands on her shoulders and gently pushing her back down into her chair. "What's say you take it easy for today and let the sun do its work on the snow drifts."
Faith allowed herself to be coaxed back into her chair, and once Bullseye closed her blinds, she was even able to relax and enjoy breakfast.
It was obvious that neither of them could go anywhere that day. It would be suicide to try to ride a motorcycle in all that snow, and Faith didn't have it in her to kick him out after he'd been so nice to her. But she'd never actually spent an entire day in her apartment with anyone. She was the restless sort, and being in closed quarters with anyone for too long put her on edge.
But Bullseye had a natural way of putting her at ease. He took one look at her Playstation and suggested a game of Super Smash Brothers. They finally called it quits after a 5-5 draw and settled down for a Die Hard movie marathon (no sappy chick flicks for Faith). Faith had never felt so completely comfortable around another person. They laughed and joked like they'd been best buds for years. She was just about to pop in Live Free or Die Hard when a loud crash of thunder shook her entire apartment. The next second, all the lights went out.
Faith ran to the window and threw it open. A gust of warm, humid air blew in, causing her curtains to billow wildly. Since the last time she had looked outside, nearly all the snow had melted and the temperature had risen a good 40 degrees. A few angry raindrops were already causing the sidewalk outside to be covered in wet spots, but in under a minute the storm increased into a torrential downpour. The sky turned into a veritable fireworks show as lighting and thunder crackled through the air.
"I guess Mother Nature has decided to right herself," Bullseye said as he wrapped his arms around Faith from behind.
Faith's body thrummed with excitement. Thunderstorms had always made her blood boil. She turned around and gave Bullseye a fierce kiss, nipping at his lips with her teeth. "Wanna ride the storm?" she asked with a wink.
Before he could comment, she had raced out her back door into the small lawn behind her apartment. Within seconds the simple, white dress she had thrown on earlier was clinging to her like a second skin, letting anyone who cared to look see that she had not bothered to put on a bra or panties when she had dressed that morning. Bullseye took a second to admire how her nipples pressed against the fabric and the way he could just barely make out the dark tuft of hair between her legs underneath the dress. He smiled as he watched her lift her hands to the storm, laughing and spinning in a circle.
Given that he had no change of clothes, he chose to leave all of his garments inside. He peeled off his clothing in a rush, entering the downpour nude, like some Greek god. With the way the rain was coming down, he highly doubted anyone would be able to see, even if they did bother looking in his direction.
When he reached Faith, he tangled his hands in her hair, pulling her head back so that he could drink the rainwater from her neck. She gave an approving moan, taking a few moments to enjoy his attention to her neck before she returned the favor. She began sucking on his shoulder and slowly worked her way down his chest, lapping up the rainwater as she went.
When she was finally on her knees, she gave an approving glance to his erection before leaning back and sprawling on the grass, her arms spread open to embrace the storm. Bullseye crept over her and hiked up her skirt, not bother to try to peel the wet garment from her skin.
Faith had her eyes closed against the onslaught of the rain. She felt the cool trickle of water between the heated flesh of her legs as Bullseye spread her open. When he finally pushed inside of her, she imagined that he was the storm come to life, a raging torrent between her legs. She kept her eyes closed the entire time, but her mouth stayed open, letting out primal screams as she let the energy of the storm carry her away.
Long after their lust had been slaked, they both lay there on the grass with their hands entwined, letting the rain pound down on them. It wasn't until the rain began to ease up, changing from a torrential downpour to a gentle sprinkle, that they decided to go inside before anyone noticed the naked people laying on the ground.
Faith stumbled inside in a satiated daze. She finally allowed Bullseye to peel her out of her wet dress before they toweled off and crawled into bed. Her blankets felt warm and dry against her chilled skin, and for the second night in a row, she drifted off to sleep snuggled up against Bullseye's chest.
She awoke the next morning to the jarring sound of her cell phone ringing. Once again, her bed was empty, and she had a moment to idly wonder if Bullseye was cooking her breakfast again before she picked up her phone. A glance at her caller ID showed that it was Robin. She had the strong urge to let the call go to voice mail, but since their break up, he only called her when it was truly important. With a sigh, she flipped open her phone to accept the call.
"It's early…this had better be damn important, Robin," she grumbled into the receiver.
"I thought you might be curious about the strange weather we had yesterday," Robin said without preamble.
"The lake effect can be a bitch," Faith said.
"So can ice demons," Robin replied.
"Great…another demon is causing havoc in Cleveland. Just another day living over a Hellmouth," Faith muttered.
"Actually, this demon was doing a fair impersonation of a law abiding citizen. He was posing as the mayor of the city. We're not sure how long ago he killed the actual mayor, but early last night, somebody took him out. He was found with an ice pick through the center of his forehead. The snowstorm was caused by the energy released by his death."
"So what…somebody else took out the baddy. What do you need me for?" Faith asked grumpily, her patience running thin.
"Apparently, the guy who took out the mayor is a well-known assassin. A real psycho. Someone caught a glimpse of him leaving the mayor's house last night. There is a police sketch of him on the front page of the paper. He's hard to miss…literally has a bull's eye on the center of his forehead. I thought I'd give you a head's up though. If this guy is taking out supernatural targets, you might be on his list. When it comes to Slayers, you're the cream of the crop…so just watch your back, ok?" Robin said, his voice carrying an obvious tinge of affection and concern.
Faith's breath caught in her throat as a coil of dread settled in the pit of her stomach. There was no way there was more than one guy walking around town with uncanny aim and a bull's eye engraved into his forehead. But she had come to him. She'd walked into that bar all on her own. It was a total coincidence. She couldn't really be next on his list, could she?
"You ok Faith?" Robin asked after her prolonged silence.
"Five by five," she replied, her voice flat and lifeless as she shut her phone with a forceful snap.
Faith set aside her cell phone and hurriedly threw on some clothing. She took the precaution of grabbing one of her large knives before creeping down the stairs, adrenaline chasing away any tiredness she might have been feeling. She had desperately hoped to find Bullseye in her kitchen like yesterday, his face grinning as he sat her down with a cup of coffee and a plate of eggs. But he was nowhere to be found. She was alone in her apartment.
On her kitchen table, she could see today's issue of the paper spread open to the story about him. After Robin's call, it wasn't even a shock. But what did send a cold tendril of fear down her spine were the pictures of her spread out all over the table. There were black and white head shots of her as well as photos of her in action, fighting vampires and various other things that go bump in the night. There was also a sheet with a detailed bio of her, outlining her various strengths and weaknesses as well as any know associates. It was downright creepy how much information someone had been able to gather on her.
And amidst it all, standing out like a sore thumb, was a single red rose.
With a trembling hand, Faith lifted the rose to her face, taking a moment to savor its heady aroma before reading the letter Bullseye had left for her:
Hello, darlin',
One look at the morning's paper, and you'll find out a good deal more about me than I was prepared to share on the first date. I am an assassin, and a bloody good one at that. I make no qualms about it. Don't worry your pretty little head about me going to jail. With the amount of money I made off of that last hit, it will be easy enough for me to buy an iron clad alibi.
When you strolled into that bar where we met, I thought Christmas had come early. I wasn't even done celebrating the last hit when in walked my next mark. With the way you were eyeing me up like a piece of candy, I thought I'd have a quick shag and then slit your lily white throat before you knew what had hit you. I had a hard time believing that a tough-as-nails fighter could be wrapped up in such a pretty little package.
But after that first round of darts, I knew you were something special. No one holds their own with me at darts—I mean, no one. I knew you were supposed to be skilled, but it's one thing to read about it on paper, and another thing entirely to see it in the flesh. A girl like you should go down fighting. It would be a travesty to kill you in your sleep. Fancy that, cold blooded killer like me getting all soft-hearted after a single date. But I know quality when I see it, and a girl like you comes along once in a lifetime.
Needless to say, I won't be accepting the hit on you. I hate to skip out like this, but the thing is, the guy I work for don't take kindly to his employees backing out of deals. I need to take him out before he realizes that I've decided to end our partnership…permanently. With any luck, I can get to him before he tries to send anybody else after you.
Just in case, keep your head down until you hear from me. Last I checked, Slayers weren't bullet proof, and a fair few hit men favor sniper rifles.
I'll be seeing you, pretty girl.
The letter was signed with a picture of a bull's eye. But in the center was a heart rather than a circle. Faith knew that logically, it was insane to even think about trusting him. He'd been hired to kill her, after all. But as she held the rose he'd left for her and stared down at that pathetically cute little heart, she felt her insides melt. He was everything she was looking for in a man. A bad boy who could hold his own in a fight and had a soft side just for her. In the end, the decision was easy to make.
She spent the next week getting her affairs in order. She told Robin that he'd been right…someone was out to get her, and that she might have to cut town. She made arrangements to donate her badass wardrobe and weapon collection to his merry band of noobs. She'd hate to see all of her pretty toys get snatched up by her money-grubbing sleaze of a landlord. She only kept one bag of her most prized and portable possessions waiting by the door.
It only took Bullseye one week to come back for her. His face sported a few cuts and bruises, but other than that, he didn't look much worse for the wear.
"So, is the big bad wolf gonna come blow down my door?" Faith asked with a smirk.
"Oh, I was able to take care of all those who was interested in your pretty little head," Bullseye said with a self-satisfied grin. "But in the process, I stirred up a whole hornet's nest o' trouble for me-self. I've got to get out o' this shitehole of a town, and good riddance to it, I say. I've had a fair few people shoot at me in my day, but this is the only place I've lived where a fellow was as likely to try to take a bite out of my neck as pull a gun on me. I nearly shit me-self when the guy who hired me to work over this town sprouted a set of fangs."
"So, how'd you take him down?" Faith asked, her curiosity piqued.
"I've found, after years o' careful analyzation, that there ain't much in this world that can withstand a good ol' fashioned beheading," Bullseye replied with a feral grin.
"A man after my own heart," Faith replied with a grin of her own.
"So…what happens now?" Faith continued, a hint of nervousness in her voice. "The bad guy is vanquished. Isn't this the part where the hero rides off into the sunset, never to return?"
"Well, like I said, it would behoove me to make myself scarce. Last thing I need is some Dracula wannabes banging down my door because I took out their boss. But, it wouldn't be a proper adventure tale if the hero didn't get the girl in the end. So, what do ya say? Feel like takin' a ride?"
A huge grin spread across Faith's face. "I thought you'd never ask."
Faith grabbed her bag and walked out of her apartment, not even bothering to lock the door behind her. Once outside, she went to her motorcycle and pulled it up next to Bullseye's. "Where to, big fella?"
"I've always had an on-again, off-again love affair with New York City," Bullseye replied, his eyes glinting with excitement.
"The sun sets in the west…you're totally gonna ruin your hero image if you ride off away from the sunset," Faith laughed.
"Guess I'm not a conventional hero," Bullseye said with a smirk.
"Good…because I'm not about to play damsel in distress," Faith said as she slung her leg over her bike.
"A partner in crime is so much more fun anyway," Bullseye replied. "The Big Apple won't know what hit it."
Faith gunned the engine of her motorcycle. "I'll race you there," she said with a grin,
Bullseye's whoop of joy was the only answer she needed. She peeled out of her driveway and raced towards I-80 without a moment's hesitation. Cleveland could kiss her lily white ass.
Everything she really needed was coming with her.