post season 7 and everything happened...
thanks for reading and I hope you like :)
Adjustment
Part I
Rating: R
* * denotes thought
AN: trust me - I am the ultimate FX fan and this will be an FX fic,
but I wanted to make sure I had a good base to work with, so hold in
there :) and I like Wood but I also like to mess with all of my characters a little bit, so I won't bash anyone, but it'll be fun - even if you don't like the character's I'm dealing with :)
Disclaimer: nothing is minee but the story.
After Series Finale – My continuation :)
Adjustment - Part I
The sun hit the car as if all of it's solar energy were being
focused on that one mere object, the one mid-sized vehicle holding
newly deemed, fairly ordinary people. With the world full of
awakening Slayers, the contents of this vehicle wasn't *so* out of
the ordinary any more, yet the sun still seemed to concentrate on
it. Xander shrugged off his thoughts that were stemming from both
boredom and delirium due to the past week. After the collapse of the
hell-mouth and the vast transformation of all of their lives, the
last week had been full of decisions and weird feelings. Xander
smiled to himself as he realized, not for the first time, but it had
been a while since he even had time to think of such things, the
Scoobies and all of his `family' were so different. If they were
ordinary people without this single thing in common they would've
never been associated with each other. There were underlying
similarities between all of them, but on the surface the only thing
that really connected any of them was the eternal battle against evil
and now with that battle not being the primary focus of their lives,
everyone was faced with the realization that they didn't need to
remain together. Everyone was faced with weird feelings of
separation, doubt, denial, and insecurity even though none of them
had really changed anything yet, they were simply considering their
options. Even though there were many people involved in the group
that didn't exactly `get along', not to name names, but what struck
Xander as really cool was that when actually faced with the option to
leave each other and not have to deal with one another, everyone
stuck together.
Giles called into Angel after things settled down after the
big battle to make sure everything was alright on their front and
really to find out what they were to do next. What had happened was
something that had never even been thought of before and he was
befuddled as to what to do, how to continue. Speaking with Angel he
heard there was some organized vampire activity in the town of
Warkensaw, a fairly busy city towards the North of the United
States. Giles had also received a call from the council, for the
first time since being separated from the organization, and was
notified of the new leader and also many of the new policies. It was
branching out and becoming much less of a formal organization, and
with that their funds were not needed to such a mass extent. With
that, and the new presidents eagerness to thank Giles and `his
Slayer's' as he referred to them as, he would be wiring Giles a
fairly unlimited amount of funds as an expression of the Council's
gratitude. Giles had already found himself somewhat giddy at the
idea of the Council placing the successes of Buffy and Faith on his
behalf but he was utterly dumbfounded when they notified him of the
financial aid they would be supplying him with. He was also notified
of his new title as Chief Advisor of the Watcher's Council of North
America. For the majority of the drive he had been surrounded by his
own thoughts and plans, but his aura assured everyone of his
happiness.
Once Giles had announced the good news to everyone he made it
clear to everyone that parting ways was completely an option and
would not be looked down upon by anyone. After some planning, the
majority of the group headed off together towards the north with the
exception of the majority of the Potential-now Slayer's who met with
their new watchers and scattered across the country. Kennedy decided
she wanted to stick with the gang if they would let her and she was
happily allowed to come along. The group squeezed into two vehicles
and hit the road close to a week after their victory against the
First. In one vehicle was Buffy, Giles, Willow, and Kennedy, and in
the other was Xander, Faith, Robin, Dawn, and Andrew. The passenger
capacity wasn't bad but with everyone's clothes and food supplies and
the endless miles of driving, the vehicles felt cramped none the
less.
Xander drove comfortably in the black Suburban he had been
given to drive and he enjoyed the time he had to think things over
without having to have it speculated by everyone else. He also
didn't mind watching Faith who was sitting in the passenger seat. If
nothing else her expressions always amazed him and he really liked
just watching her. She was sitting with her feet pressed up against
the windshield while sitting deeply in the seat headphones blasting
so that he could hear the songs right along with her if no one else
was talking, which had been a problem thus far. She was staring out
the window with her hair lying comfortably on her shoulders, loose
and curly, and her sunglasses aiding her in appearing to not be deep
in thought even though Xander could tell she was. She was in a
comfortable pair of baggy black sweat pants with pockets down the
side of the leg and a white tank top. She had been pretty quiet for
Faith since they all started planning what was going to happen to the
point that Xander thought she might skip out on everyone but she
pleasantly surprised him. When questioned by Giles whether she would
be accompanying them she answered with, `you think you're getting'
rid of me that easy, G-man?' and a tired smile. Even though she had
been quiet and stayed out of a lot of the planning she had been
really helpful in packing and getting everything organized so they
could actually get out of the border of Sunnydale within this
decade. Xander assumed that Faith was trying to make it clear to
Buffy that she wanted nothing to do with being in charge as Buffy had
occasionally misunderstood Faith's involvement as competing for her
position.
The look on her face now was one that made Xander wonder. He
couldn't really read it, which wasn't completely out of the ordinary
when it came to Faith, but he hadn't ever seen her like this – it
wasn't necessarily a bad thing, it was just kind of weird. Like now,
she was staring out of the window watching the passing scenery like
she wanted to both soak every drop of it in but at the same time she
was trying to forget just as much. He wondered whether Faith
questioning Buffy about what she was going to do now that she wasn't
the chosen *one*, was actually bothering Faith as well. He also
wondered for the first time since Faith had returned to them what had
been her experience in prison… Xander quickly turned that thought off
in his head feeling guilt and anxiety overwhelm his body within
seconds. He knew she had placed herself there, but he still felt
guilt for allowing someone he cared for so much to be in that kind of
situation.
In the other car, a smaller one loaded with less supplies
than the Suburban was more of a cute picture than the other. The
suburban had Faith and Xander in the front deep in serious thought
without any exchange, Faith refusing to really look at anyone as she
concentrated on the outside world, and the three in the back were
also thinking. Dawn was sleeping contently in the corner behind
Xander, Andrew sat in the middle seat with his Gameboy in hand but it
was slumped down in his lap and he wasn't even looking at it. Robin
sat behind Faith with thoughts facing through his head but his eyes
more often monitored Xander than the road or the passing scenery. In
Giles car, he drove and Buffy sat in the passenger seat. She was
looking through the paperwork describing the houses they were going
to be occupying in such a short amount of time. Willow sat behind
her in the back in a relaxed and meditative sort of daze with Kennedy
curled into her lap sleeping on her with her legs stretched across
the rest of the back seat. Occasional conversation actually
transpired in this car, but for some reason everyone just didn't feel
like they should be talking…
"So are you sure that will be okay timing-wise with
everything… I just want whatever is easiest," Buffy assured Giles in
a soft tone as to not wake the others in the car. Giles nodded
confidently answering,
"Buffy, that's absolutely fine. You have a much more free
rein now… your obligation is geared more towards just being part of a
family now rather than running an army. Vacations, time off… all of
these things are allowed."
"Ooo, and sleeping in and hitting the snooze button, those
are allowed too, right!?" she asked adding some humor and her usual
enthusiasm to the scene. Giles smiled genuinely, he had never felt
this way. Everything in life was the way he wanted it, the way he
had dreamed about, and life was actually going to be easier in both
aspects – finance and career. Slaying and fighting demons wasn't
going to leave his life but it was going to be much more relaxed then
before.
"Yes, Buffy…" Giles answered with a father-like
understanding. Buffy expression suddenly fell and Giles noticed it
right away. "We're all going to have to go through an adjustment
period." She glanced over at him, always amazed at how he could read
her emotions like a page in one of his books. A soft smile spread
across her face and it really spread throughout her because for the
first time since they left Sunnydale, she began to be excited about
her new life – her normal life – and she got to experience it without
having to leave the people that mattered most to her, her family.
---
Xander's cell phone which he nonchalantly had placed
somewhere on the seat when they had set out on the drive began
ringing. He fumbled for it causing the truck to swerve slightly left
and right as he overcorrected the swerves still searching for the
obnoxiously yelling phone. Finally Faith's hand met his causing him
to jump slightly, simply from surprise, not expecting her to even
move from her post, considering she hadn't really since they had left
two days before. She handed him the phone which he answered,
thanking her with a nod.
"Hey," he answered seeing it was Giles phone.
"Hey," Buffy answered. "There's a rest stop coming up in
about a mile and we're going to pull over."
"Alrighty, we'll pull in behind you…"
"Cool… how are you guys holding up?" she asked letting her
mothering side creep out slightly.
"Fine, why do you ask?" he questioned curiously.
"Well, I felt kind of bad, you didn't exactly get stuck with
the giddy crowd in your car."
"We're doing fine, everyone's just resting."
"Same here… I'll see you in a few minutes."
"Okay, bye."
"Bye."
With that Xander flipped his phone closed and placed it back
on the seat. Now knowing that Faith was very aware of what was going
on in the car despite her appearing to be in heavy concentration on
the windshield he questioned,
"So how did you hear that phone?"
"They could hear it in the other car it was so loud," she
answered almost shortly.
"Yeah, but you've got those headphones blasting…"
"Slayer hearing," she answered now definitely in a short,
curt tone.
"With all that great slayer hearing you'd think you'd turn
down the music then," Xander muttered to himself. But with the topic
of discussion, Faith's hearing enabled her to hear ever word and she
delivered a swift jab into Xander's shoulder causing it to tingle and
go slightly numb after a few moments. "Ouch!" he whined.
"You man, you," Faith mocked. Her mean-ness was fading and
now it was just reaching Faith's usual sardonic attitude.
"That hurt," he complained. "My fingers are tingling."
"I didn't hit you that hard," she defended playfully. It was
returned by Xander with a grin. Robin leaned up from the back seat
and hugged the back of Faith's seat.
"How are you doing?" he asked.
"Five by five," she answered turning her head to glance at
him. The tension between Xander and Robin was like electricity
through the air for the first time. Neither of them had been in a
room together with Faith at the same time, not to mention a car.
Neither wanted to seem like they noticed or instigated it because
they both knew it was something Faith would love to laugh at both of
them for but the tension was something that was practically able to
be touched.
"So what's the plan?" Robin finally interjected.
"We're gonna stop at the rest stop that's coming up any
minute now… Buffy said we could do a car swap if anyone wanted to,"
Xander added nonchalantly. Robin's jaw tightened slightly but he
quickly controlled it as he saw a grin begin to form on Faith's face
even though she had returned to staring out of the window. Even
though Faith had been staring at the scenery since they had left she
had been fully aware of everyone else in the car and all of the
glances that were being thrown at her by both Xander and Robin. She
could even see Robin in the back through the mirror if she glanced at
it just right. Before sliding back into his seat he gave Faith's
shoulder a short, reassuring type squeeze that he felt was necessary
before sinking away again. She gave no real reaction except a quick
glance at her shoulder as if making sure it was her shoulder he had
touched.
They pulled off the highway and into the rest stop parking
next to their other car. Everyone exited their vehicles and
congregated in front of the Suburban. They all formed a sort of
askew circle, Giles standing proudly looking at everyone who had come
along despite their having an option, Buffy standing beside him with
Dawn now at her side leaning her head innocently on her big sisters
shoulder, Andrew standing staring off into space quietly (the one who
would be expected to be excitedly looking around and babbling), Faith
leaning against the bumper of the truck with her arms folded, Robin
stationing himself next to her, Kennedy and Willow standing side by
side next to him and finally Xander closing off the circle.
"So I'll grab everyone a bite to eat – what does everyone
want?" Giles inquired.
"I'll come with you Giles, I know what everyone eats," Xander
said contently smiling and then walking away with Giles. Everyone
began to scatter finding the bathrooms and snack machines for snacks
between the future stop. Faith stayed where she was and lit up a
cigarette.
"I'm going to run to the bathroom, do you want anything?"
Robin asked before leaving her side. The two hadn't been together
but he wasn't going to let Faith forget their little promise. He
could tell she didn't want to jump into anything right away with all
that had happened, but he just wanted to make her feel comfortable
around him and maybe even begin trusting him. He could tell Faith
had major trust issues and before he could really get close to her,
he knew that was the first hurdle he was going to have to face. But
he had definitely not forgotten that a sense of competition had to be
maintained in order to keep Faith interested.
"From the boy's bathroom?" she asked with a smile. He smiled
in return and then she lifted the carton of cigarettes from her
pocket only containing one stray cigarette which shifted back and
forth in the otherwise empty container. She shook it allowing him to
hear it was almost empty and view the brand and with a smile he left
towards the bathroom and then the small market towards the side of
the parking lot. Finishing the first cigarette and starting on the
last Buffy walked back over to Faith with a folder held casually
under her arm.
"Hey," Buffy said sliding next to Faith on the bumper and
gently hitting her side as a friendly greeting. Faith was surprised
by the friendly gesture, not expecting Buffy to really make the first
attempt to being outwardly friendly and she returned it with a smile
and,
"Hey, B. What's the what?" she asked gesturing towards the
folder with her cigarette. She exhaled away from Buffy trying to be
polite and it didn't go un-noticed.
"Oh," Buffy said with a smile lifting the folder from under
her arm. "It's information on the two houses we're moving into.
It's got the outline and paperwork and stuff, and it has some
pictures of the furniture too." She opened it up and showed Faith a
few of the pictures.
"So what's with the two houses, I never really got the run
down on that…"
"Well, there's this one," Buffy said showing a picture of a
slightly more modern, classically designed house with wooden interior
and expensive antique looking furnishing, "it's more of a house-house
and it's where Giles is going to set up all of the Council stuff,
it's got a huge hall where he can put in a library, and it's got a
few bedrooms, we figured it could be more of the working, business
kind of house where Giles stays, and I want Dawn to stay there mostly
so she can concentrate on studying… the towns closer to that one with
the schools and everything. I'm going to live there as well, just so
I can be with Dawn more. The other house…" she held pictures up of a
castle like interior house with stone floors and stairs in most of
the lower levels and a more cozy upstairs living quarters, "and this
is more of the training house. It's going to have all of the workout
and training equipment, there's some extra space in there so they can
be made into entertainment rooms, and stuff like that… really
anything you guys want… I figured for the most part everyone could
stay there, but if anyone needed a break the other house is
definitely open to it." Buffy paused waiting anxiously for some
reaction from Faith. It killed her but she found herself still
trying to get approval from her, even after all that had happened
between them.
"Wicked cool, B." Faith replied as everyone began to return
to the cars, including Giles and Xander with their bags of
provisions. Buffy gave a slight smile at getting at least some
reaction from Faith but she felt much better as Faith reach over and
tugged the folder out from under her arm and placed it under her
own. "I'm gonna look `em over in the car." Faith could tell she was
stressed about the whole move thing but Faith was used to it – pack
up and go, doesn't matter where, just go: that's what she was used to
and it didn't really bother her… or so she convinced herself. This
time especially, she had people she knew and cared about coming with
her – this had to be one of the easiest of them all; but why did it
actually feel so hard? Both of them were torn from their thought by
Xander,
"Gather around guys, I have to give out coffee since all of
you take it different."
----
They all collected their breakfast from Xander and Giles and
camped out either sitting on the sidewalk or leaning against the hood
of the cars.
"I don't think giving them caffeine before locking them back
in a car is a great idea," Faith said mildly protesting to Xander's
distribution of coffee to Dawn and Kennedy. Dawn grinned slightly
and her polar counterpart frowned viciously cocking her hip to the
side with her hands firmly placed. Buffy couldn't hold in her giggle
at the girls reaction to Faith's clear imitation of herself that they
had obviously missed reference to due to them being so used to
hearing it from her. Faith grinned more internally then anything
else then looked up at Buffy with a serious look and continued, "and
you especially, B, you definitely shouldn't have any…" Now a grin
crossed everyone's faces, especially Kennedy's. Faith laughed
slightly then returned to her own cup of coffee sipping at it
contently.
They left the rest stop once everyone was done eating and
both cars were full of enough snacks to get them to Chile – that is
if the car wasn't filled with the eaters it was. They would be lucky
if these snacks lasted them till their next stop. Everyone returned
to their same vehicles, something that didn't go completely unnoted
by Robin. Everyone seemed to have a new energy about them and the
atmosphere, although not completely reversed had changed.
---(about twelve hours later)---
The two cars continued driving towards their destinations –
Giles in front and Xander following safely behind. They were both in
the right lane of the two lane highway that was fairly empty at this
hour (about eleven at night) except for a few stray cars scattered
few and far between. Faith was sitting in the front seat without her
headphones and propped up against the door with her legs criss-
crossed on the seat facing Xander. He let out a loud yawn as he
acknowledged a car approaching fast on their left still about a mile
behind them. He decreased his speed to the limit incase it was a
police officer.
"I could drive," Faith offered seeing the grogginess in his
face – especially his eyes. She always liked looking at peoples
eyes – the window to the soul – she always thought. She really liked
his eyes because there was never anything cruel there; he wasn't
necessarily not angry, or mean, or strong, but there was never
anything cruel. She hated what Caleb had done to him – it took away
part of him that she really loved.
"It's okay…"
"You look really tired."
"I am really tired," he said grinning at her, "but I'll be
okay."
"You don't have to be okay… I can drive for you," she
argued.
"I've been present with you steering the curves before,
Faith, but I don't think everyone present could handle it…" he said
playfully glancing quickly towards the back seat. She couldn't help
but laugh especially at the snooty face he had followed his statement
with.
"You're wicked proud of yourself, aren't you?"
"I think I have a right to be," he answered playfully. She
appeared to be considering it and then answered,
"Alright, yeah, you can be proud of yourself…" He looked at
her contemplatively for a moment then he just grinned in her
direction. "That guy's going wicked fast," Faith noted at the
quickly approaching car in the left lane.
"Yeah, I know," Xander answered keeping his alert up. As the
car pulled up next to them Faith glanced nosily into the passenger
compartment. It was a couple, looked to be about twenty years old,
and both of them were smoking.
"Bet they're going to have fun tonight," Faith said in a mock-
jealous tone. Xander smiled and the car gained speed and began to
pass them. Quickly and out of no where a small herd of deer appeared
off the left side of the highway. They began to run across the
highway and Faith saw it just a split second before anyone
else. "Stop!" she yelled to Xander but obviously she had seen the
deer before the couple in the left lane who were forced to swerve
into the right lane to avoid hitting the deer. They hadn't even
completely passed the Suburban yet so Xander had to slam on the
brakes keep from hitting them immediately but then he had to swerve
right to avoid their car which continued to swerve towards them due
to the running herd.
"Fuck!" Xander yelled as he pulled the car right hard causing
them to drive off of the highway at seventy miles an hour. Dawn and
Andrew both screamed from the back seat, at about the same pitch,
too – and Robin immediately jumped forward and grabbed Faith trying
to hold her safely. She had already been thrown into the dashboard
which hit her arm that she held up to protect her face. Xander's
head was thrown forward and it slammed painfully into the steering
wheel but he regained himself and tried to get the vehicle under
control. He dodged trees and the big ditch on their right and
quickly got the car halted.
"Is everyone alright?" Robin asked quickly removing his
seatbelt and checking the status of everyone in the car. He looked
into the front and saw that both of them looked shaken up but they
weren't severely hurt from what he could see at a quick glance. His
question was answered by Faith with a painful sigh as she sat back up
on the seat. Xander nodded slightly and Robin returned his attention
to the backseat where Andrew was still in a panic and Dawn was now in
silent hysterics. Both had been asleep before the accident and were
woken by the heart shattering tightness of Xander's voice as he
swerved away from the car.
"I fucking hate deer!" Faith said as she moved her right arm
wearily to see if it were broken, which she didn't think it was but
it was definitely going to be a nice bruise. She quickly stroked her
cheek which she knew would have a matching bruise on it, but it was
better then what would have happened if she hadn't cushioned it with
her arm. She then looked over at Xander who was still sitting
silently in his seat but she could see the blood dripping from his
face now. She moved over to him in the car and kneeled beside him
raising her hands up to his face.
"I'm fine," he stated as she moved to touch his face which he
quickly jerked away from. It had been a while since she had touched
him in that way and with all of the emotions running in his head
right now and the building anger caused him to take it out on her.
"No you're not," she corrected moving towards his face
again. He jerked away from her touch again this time putting his
hand up between them also. She was taken aback by how much it hurt
her that he didn't want her to touch him. She couldn't understand
why she cared so much, but him jerking away from her touch flashed
pictures from her memory into her head that she wished she never had
to see again. She knew she shouldn't expect him to trust her, or
even like her, but it hit a nerve deep inside of her to know he would
be that blatant about it, especially after what had just happened.
She bit the side of her cheek to keep the words that pushed in her
throat from escaping and she moved back on the seat to add some space
between them. "You're face is bleeding," she stated dryly once she
was sure she could control her tone and not outwardly reveal how much
he had just hurt her.
"Thanks," he responded sardonically.
"Whatever," she huffed angrily opening the passenger door and
getting out slamming it loudly behind her. Xander stayed sitting in
the same spot not moving an inch in reaction with her exit. Robin
allowed a moments leeway knowing Xander had the first right to go
after Faith, and he honestly had expected him to but when he didn't
he gave Xander a quick glance of disapproval then exited the car
himself after Faith. Xander didn't turn towards the back but with
Robin's leave he inquired to the other two people in the car whether
they were alright.
-Giles' Car-
"Look at the deer," Kennedy said casually seeing them beside
the highway.
"Ooo, I love deer," Buffy said happily propping herself up
and turning towards the back of the car so she could see the herd of
them. Willow smiled to her lover and gave her a squeeze. "Shit!"
Buffy screamed suddenly as she saw the swerving of the headlights of
a car from the left lane into the right cutting Xander off and
causing him to swerve off of the highway at a very high
speed. "Giles stop!" Buffy yelled. Kennedy and Willow had spun
around to see what she was yelling about and saw the Suburban driving
off the highway and down a hill into the woods.
"They're off the road!" Kennedy yelled.
"Oh my," Giles said anxiously as he pulled into the shoulder
as quickly as he could.
---
"Faith?" Robin called as he looked around for her as he
exited the truck. He looked past the truck which was slightly
illuminated by the shining red brake lights so he saw he leaning
against a tree only a few feet away. "You okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine, alright!" she snapped. "Would you stop fucking
asking me that?" Robin stop for a momentary organization of self
since with her few sharp words he felt like she had scattered him
across this entire forest. Not exactly sure how to proceed he
hesitantly walked closer to her till he way standing a foot away. He
had never dealt with Faith when she was being outwardly angry – she
had always been inward thus far.
She had brooded and separated herself, but now he had to deal with
her exploding in his face. He rallied himself internally that he was
used to dealing with rash teenagers in school, *you're a god damn
principal, Wood!* a lot of them tried to do the bad ass thing, but
here he was faced with the queen of bad asses and he was running from
the challenge. *Come on Wood! What kind of a fucking man are you –
you like this girl you've gotta show her you'll take the challenge!
God, grow a pair, man…* He stood a little stronger in front of her
now feeling his momentarily lost confidence begin to fill his veins
once again.
She was leaning against a big tree with one foot propped up against
it and her arms crossed across her chest. She was biting at the
inside of her mouth, a habit that was both out of anger and anxiety
that she had picked up at a young age, and she was staring out
towards the highway they had been driving on only a few minutes
earlier. He finally stepped up closer to her causing her to move her
eyes onto him now. She could feel him standing there – he was a
strong guy with a lot of power and nerve, something that she really
liked, and hearing his breath because of his close proximity caused
her to remember the night they had spent together. She felt a quick
tingle run through her body for a brief second as it was reminded of
the way it felt when she had his hands running all over her body.
She felt his hand touch her cheek gently, but it still hurt from the
impact and she slightly receded from the touch, but not as Xander had
with hers. He gingerly stroked her cheek with his thumb warming her
slightly chilled face from the night time temperature.
She raised her gaze from his chest now into his eyes searching for
some kind of explanation or clue as to what was going on between
them. This whole follow up thing was not something she was learned
in, and she wasn't sure she liked it. Once her eyes met his, without
further hesitation, he stepped closer again so his body was up
against hers on the tree and he kissed her. It was a kiss very
similar to their first, one of slight submission and dominance on
both their parts, filled with both lust and caring. She breathed him
into her wanting to feel some form of comfort for the pain that had
welled itself inside of her chest. His tongue caressed hers softly
but confidently remembering all of the time he had spent kissing her
that night. Faith was impressed and laughed to herself thinking of
him taking notes on a piece of paper as he kissed her not wanting to
forget anything.
His lips left hers and without stepping back he looked into her face
trying to read her emotions. He silently cursed her in his head for
making it so damn hard to read, but he did his best. He held her
securely as much for her as himself – he was scared to lose her. He
hadn't known her for long but he already knew she was someone he
didn't want to have to live without. It didn't have to be a sexual
relationship between them, but he knew he wanted to at least have a
friendship – but being with Faith was not something he would turn
down in any way, shape, or form. She was an amazing person and she
had no ceased to amaze him yet and he was a person who almost prided
himself in not being easily impressed. After all, his female figure
that he looked up to as a child was his mother, also a slayer… strong
woman was something he admired and being up to those standards
narrowed the fields quite a bit for him.
"Xander!?" Willow yelled in a gasping voice as she and the
others ran down the hill towards the truck.
"Faith!?" Buffy called anxiously. "Are you guys okay?" They
reached the car and Xander got out assuring them that everyone was at
least okay. "Where's Faith and Robin?" she asked and Xander walked
with her towards where he thought Faith had gone when she left the
car and where he would have followed. As they walked past the truck
only a few feet Buffy caught sight of the two of them, "Oh…" she said
seeing Robin pressed up against Faith who was leaning on a tree
looking at each other. "Oh…" she repeated unsure of what to say.
She glanced up at Xander to see whether he was giggling yet, like she
expected him to be but she was VERY surprised by what she saw. He
stood there practically glaring at the two of them with the words
jealous practically stamped across his forehead. "You jealous?" she
asked with more of a statement then a question.
"No," he answered bitterly.
Faith had heard the gang approach so with a small grin at
Robin that if he blinked he would have missed it, she pushed against
him slightly signaling him to back up but making him want to stay
worse than before. She could feel him through his jeans making both
of them want to just be in a motel somewhere, but they weren't. She
smiled again, more seductively than before teasing him ruthlessly
knowing he was going to have to sit in the car for hours with this
hard on.
"Come on," she said casually as she got up from leaning on
the tree and began walking back over to the car. "Hey, B, you missed
quite the rollercoaster ride," she said lightheartedly approaching
Buffy and Xander.
"Are you guys okay?" Buffy asked.
"Five by five, B. Xander just thought the whole driving in a
straight line thing was getting boring so he decided to just mix it
up, you know make things a little more interesting for all of us."
Faith said managing to sound innocent to the untrained ear, but there
was a caustic undertone to it that at being mentioned Xander realized
he couldn't just stand there so he quickly turned away from them and
walked back to the passenger door of the vehicle.
"So you're sure you're okay?" Buffy asked for the last time.
"You know me," Faith answered trying to make it look as
though she didn't notice Xander leave. "So what's the what?" Faith
asked pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.
"I think Giles said we're about twenty miles from a town so
we're going to stop there for the night. I think everyone could use
a little rest and… a little time alone," Buffy added hearing Xander
close the car door. "Do you think we can just drive this thing out
of here?" Buffy asked looking at the truck and then at the slight
incline back up to the highway.
"With me driving you can," Faith answered walking up to the driver's
side and hoping in. She looked over at Xander who was sitting
stiffly in the seat. "Ewww, dude you got blood on the wheel," Faith
joked. Seeing his expression didn't change in the least she decided
she wasn't at fault, which she knew in the beginning, but now she
knew she wasn't going to bother trying to fix what he fucked and it
was his problem now. She had lived with three woman who hated her
guts in the big house and it didn't bother her one bit. She started
the engine up, scouted her path out back up onto the highway, and
hauled that truck out of there not afraid to make that engine sweat.
Once it was back onto the road everyone congregated around.
"I don't mind driving," Faith said getting comfortable in the drivers
seat. Xander had already exited the truck and added,
"I'll ride with Giles." Wood, Kennedy, and Buffy all got into the
truck with Faith and the rest of them got into the car with Giles.
"So where's this town?" Faith asked Giles.
"It's just off the next exit," he answered.
"Okay, I'll wait for you around the exit," she added and with a small
nod she drove off leaving them in the dust. She wasn't a bad or
reckless driver, Buffy decided sitting in the passenger seat, she
just liked to drive fast.
"So what's up with Xander?" Kennedy asked. All eyes were
inadvertently on Faith and she answered,
"I think," she began the words getting caught slightly in her
throat, "he's just a little shook up."
(to be continued – please leave feedback, I'm dying to know what you
think and it'll only make the next part come sooner and better.
Thanks for reading!)
thanks for reading and I hope you like :)
Adjustment
Part I
Rating: R
* * denotes thought
AN: trust me - I am the ultimate FX fan and this will be an FX fic,
but I wanted to make sure I had a good base to work with, so hold in
there :) and I like Wood but I also like to mess with all of my characters a little bit, so I won't bash anyone, but it'll be fun - even if you don't like the character's I'm dealing with :)
Disclaimer: nothing is minee but the story.
After Series Finale – My continuation :)
Adjustment - Part I
The sun hit the car as if all of it's solar energy were being
focused on that one mere object, the one mid-sized vehicle holding
newly deemed, fairly ordinary people. With the world full of
awakening Slayers, the contents of this vehicle wasn't *so* out of
the ordinary any more, yet the sun still seemed to concentrate on
it. Xander shrugged off his thoughts that were stemming from both
boredom and delirium due to the past week. After the collapse of the
hell-mouth and the vast transformation of all of their lives, the
last week had been full of decisions and weird feelings. Xander
smiled to himself as he realized, not for the first time, but it had
been a while since he even had time to think of such things, the
Scoobies and all of his `family' were so different. If they were
ordinary people without this single thing in common they would've
never been associated with each other. There were underlying
similarities between all of them, but on the surface the only thing
that really connected any of them was the eternal battle against evil
and now with that battle not being the primary focus of their lives,
everyone was faced with the realization that they didn't need to
remain together. Everyone was faced with weird feelings of
separation, doubt, denial, and insecurity even though none of them
had really changed anything yet, they were simply considering their
options. Even though there were many people involved in the group
that didn't exactly `get along', not to name names, but what struck
Xander as really cool was that when actually faced with the option to
leave each other and not have to deal with one another, everyone
stuck together.
Giles called into Angel after things settled down after the
big battle to make sure everything was alright on their front and
really to find out what they were to do next. What had happened was
something that had never even been thought of before and he was
befuddled as to what to do, how to continue. Speaking with Angel he
heard there was some organized vampire activity in the town of
Warkensaw, a fairly busy city towards the North of the United
States. Giles had also received a call from the council, for the
first time since being separated from the organization, and was
notified of the new leader and also many of the new policies. It was
branching out and becoming much less of a formal organization, and
with that their funds were not needed to such a mass extent. With
that, and the new presidents eagerness to thank Giles and `his
Slayer's' as he referred to them as, he would be wiring Giles a
fairly unlimited amount of funds as an expression of the Council's
gratitude. Giles had already found himself somewhat giddy at the
idea of the Council placing the successes of Buffy and Faith on his
behalf but he was utterly dumbfounded when they notified him of the
financial aid they would be supplying him with. He was also notified
of his new title as Chief Advisor of the Watcher's Council of North
America. For the majority of the drive he had been surrounded by his
own thoughts and plans, but his aura assured everyone of his
happiness.
Once Giles had announced the good news to everyone he made it
clear to everyone that parting ways was completely an option and
would not be looked down upon by anyone. After some planning, the
majority of the group headed off together towards the north with the
exception of the majority of the Potential-now Slayer's who met with
their new watchers and scattered across the country. Kennedy decided
she wanted to stick with the gang if they would let her and she was
happily allowed to come along. The group squeezed into two vehicles
and hit the road close to a week after their victory against the
First. In one vehicle was Buffy, Giles, Willow, and Kennedy, and in
the other was Xander, Faith, Robin, Dawn, and Andrew. The passenger
capacity wasn't bad but with everyone's clothes and food supplies and
the endless miles of driving, the vehicles felt cramped none the
less.
Xander drove comfortably in the black Suburban he had been
given to drive and he enjoyed the time he had to think things over
without having to have it speculated by everyone else. He also
didn't mind watching Faith who was sitting in the passenger seat. If
nothing else her expressions always amazed him and he really liked
just watching her. She was sitting with her feet pressed up against
the windshield while sitting deeply in the seat headphones blasting
so that he could hear the songs right along with her if no one else
was talking, which had been a problem thus far. She was staring out
the window with her hair lying comfortably on her shoulders, loose
and curly, and her sunglasses aiding her in appearing to not be deep
in thought even though Xander could tell she was. She was in a
comfortable pair of baggy black sweat pants with pockets down the
side of the leg and a white tank top. She had been pretty quiet for
Faith since they all started planning what was going to happen to the
point that Xander thought she might skip out on everyone but she
pleasantly surprised him. When questioned by Giles whether she would
be accompanying them she answered with, `you think you're getting'
rid of me that easy, G-man?' and a tired smile. Even though she had
been quiet and stayed out of a lot of the planning she had been
really helpful in packing and getting everything organized so they
could actually get out of the border of Sunnydale within this
decade. Xander assumed that Faith was trying to make it clear to
Buffy that she wanted nothing to do with being in charge as Buffy had
occasionally misunderstood Faith's involvement as competing for her
position.
The look on her face now was one that made Xander wonder. He
couldn't really read it, which wasn't completely out of the ordinary
when it came to Faith, but he hadn't ever seen her like this – it
wasn't necessarily a bad thing, it was just kind of weird. Like now,
she was staring out of the window watching the passing scenery like
she wanted to both soak every drop of it in but at the same time she
was trying to forget just as much. He wondered whether Faith
questioning Buffy about what she was going to do now that she wasn't
the chosen *one*, was actually bothering Faith as well. He also
wondered for the first time since Faith had returned to them what had
been her experience in prison… Xander quickly turned that thought off
in his head feeling guilt and anxiety overwhelm his body within
seconds. He knew she had placed herself there, but he still felt
guilt for allowing someone he cared for so much to be in that kind of
situation.
In the other car, a smaller one loaded with less supplies
than the Suburban was more of a cute picture than the other. The
suburban had Faith and Xander in the front deep in serious thought
without any exchange, Faith refusing to really look at anyone as she
concentrated on the outside world, and the three in the back were
also thinking. Dawn was sleeping contently in the corner behind
Xander, Andrew sat in the middle seat with his Gameboy in hand but it
was slumped down in his lap and he wasn't even looking at it. Robin
sat behind Faith with thoughts facing through his head but his eyes
more often monitored Xander than the road or the passing scenery. In
Giles car, he drove and Buffy sat in the passenger seat. She was
looking through the paperwork describing the houses they were going
to be occupying in such a short amount of time. Willow sat behind
her in the back in a relaxed and meditative sort of daze with Kennedy
curled into her lap sleeping on her with her legs stretched across
the rest of the back seat. Occasional conversation actually
transpired in this car, but for some reason everyone just didn't feel
like they should be talking…
"So are you sure that will be okay timing-wise with
everything… I just want whatever is easiest," Buffy assured Giles in
a soft tone as to not wake the others in the car. Giles nodded
confidently answering,
"Buffy, that's absolutely fine. You have a much more free
rein now… your obligation is geared more towards just being part of a
family now rather than running an army. Vacations, time off… all of
these things are allowed."
"Ooo, and sleeping in and hitting the snooze button, those
are allowed too, right!?" she asked adding some humor and her usual
enthusiasm to the scene. Giles smiled genuinely, he had never felt
this way. Everything in life was the way he wanted it, the way he
had dreamed about, and life was actually going to be easier in both
aspects – finance and career. Slaying and fighting demons wasn't
going to leave his life but it was going to be much more relaxed then
before.
"Yes, Buffy…" Giles answered with a father-like
understanding. Buffy expression suddenly fell and Giles noticed it
right away. "We're all going to have to go through an adjustment
period." She glanced over at him, always amazed at how he could read
her emotions like a page in one of his books. A soft smile spread
across her face and it really spread throughout her because for the
first time since they left Sunnydale, she began to be excited about
her new life – her normal life – and she got to experience it without
having to leave the people that mattered most to her, her family.
---
Xander's cell phone which he nonchalantly had placed
somewhere on the seat when they had set out on the drive began
ringing. He fumbled for it causing the truck to swerve slightly left
and right as he overcorrected the swerves still searching for the
obnoxiously yelling phone. Finally Faith's hand met his causing him
to jump slightly, simply from surprise, not expecting her to even
move from her post, considering she hadn't really since they had left
two days before. She handed him the phone which he answered,
thanking her with a nod.
"Hey," he answered seeing it was Giles phone.
"Hey," Buffy answered. "There's a rest stop coming up in
about a mile and we're going to pull over."
"Alrighty, we'll pull in behind you…"
"Cool… how are you guys holding up?" she asked letting her
mothering side creep out slightly.
"Fine, why do you ask?" he questioned curiously.
"Well, I felt kind of bad, you didn't exactly get stuck with
the giddy crowd in your car."
"We're doing fine, everyone's just resting."
"Same here… I'll see you in a few minutes."
"Okay, bye."
"Bye."
With that Xander flipped his phone closed and placed it back
on the seat. Now knowing that Faith was very aware of what was going
on in the car despite her appearing to be in heavy concentration on
the windshield he questioned,
"So how did you hear that phone?"
"They could hear it in the other car it was so loud," she
answered almost shortly.
"Yeah, but you've got those headphones blasting…"
"Slayer hearing," she answered now definitely in a short,
curt tone.
"With all that great slayer hearing you'd think you'd turn
down the music then," Xander muttered to himself. But with the topic
of discussion, Faith's hearing enabled her to hear ever word and she
delivered a swift jab into Xander's shoulder causing it to tingle and
go slightly numb after a few moments. "Ouch!" he whined.
"You man, you," Faith mocked. Her mean-ness was fading and
now it was just reaching Faith's usual sardonic attitude.
"That hurt," he complained. "My fingers are tingling."
"I didn't hit you that hard," she defended playfully. It was
returned by Xander with a grin. Robin leaned up from the back seat
and hugged the back of Faith's seat.
"How are you doing?" he asked.
"Five by five," she answered turning her head to glance at
him. The tension between Xander and Robin was like electricity
through the air for the first time. Neither of them had been in a
room together with Faith at the same time, not to mention a car.
Neither wanted to seem like they noticed or instigated it because
they both knew it was something Faith would love to laugh at both of
them for but the tension was something that was practically able to
be touched.
"So what's the plan?" Robin finally interjected.
"We're gonna stop at the rest stop that's coming up any
minute now… Buffy said we could do a car swap if anyone wanted to,"
Xander added nonchalantly. Robin's jaw tightened slightly but he
quickly controlled it as he saw a grin begin to form on Faith's face
even though she had returned to staring out of the window. Even
though Faith had been staring at the scenery since they had left she
had been fully aware of everyone else in the car and all of the
glances that were being thrown at her by both Xander and Robin. She
could even see Robin in the back through the mirror if she glanced at
it just right. Before sliding back into his seat he gave Faith's
shoulder a short, reassuring type squeeze that he felt was necessary
before sinking away again. She gave no real reaction except a quick
glance at her shoulder as if making sure it was her shoulder he had
touched.
They pulled off the highway and into the rest stop parking
next to their other car. Everyone exited their vehicles and
congregated in front of the Suburban. They all formed a sort of
askew circle, Giles standing proudly looking at everyone who had come
along despite their having an option, Buffy standing beside him with
Dawn now at her side leaning her head innocently on her big sisters
shoulder, Andrew standing staring off into space quietly (the one who
would be expected to be excitedly looking around and babbling), Faith
leaning against the bumper of the truck with her arms folded, Robin
stationing himself next to her, Kennedy and Willow standing side by
side next to him and finally Xander closing off the circle.
"So I'll grab everyone a bite to eat – what does everyone
want?" Giles inquired.
"I'll come with you Giles, I know what everyone eats," Xander
said contently smiling and then walking away with Giles. Everyone
began to scatter finding the bathrooms and snack machines for snacks
between the future stop. Faith stayed where she was and lit up a
cigarette.
"I'm going to run to the bathroom, do you want anything?"
Robin asked before leaving her side. The two hadn't been together
but he wasn't going to let Faith forget their little promise. He
could tell she didn't want to jump into anything right away with all
that had happened, but he just wanted to make her feel comfortable
around him and maybe even begin trusting him. He could tell Faith
had major trust issues and before he could really get close to her,
he knew that was the first hurdle he was going to have to face. But
he had definitely not forgotten that a sense of competition had to be
maintained in order to keep Faith interested.
"From the boy's bathroom?" she asked with a smile. He smiled
in return and then she lifted the carton of cigarettes from her
pocket only containing one stray cigarette which shifted back and
forth in the otherwise empty container. She shook it allowing him to
hear it was almost empty and view the brand and with a smile he left
towards the bathroom and then the small market towards the side of
the parking lot. Finishing the first cigarette and starting on the
last Buffy walked back over to Faith with a folder held casually
under her arm.
"Hey," Buffy said sliding next to Faith on the bumper and
gently hitting her side as a friendly greeting. Faith was surprised
by the friendly gesture, not expecting Buffy to really make the first
attempt to being outwardly friendly and she returned it with a smile
and,
"Hey, B. What's the what?" she asked gesturing towards the
folder with her cigarette. She exhaled away from Buffy trying to be
polite and it didn't go un-noticed.
"Oh," Buffy said with a smile lifting the folder from under
her arm. "It's information on the two houses we're moving into.
It's got the outline and paperwork and stuff, and it has some
pictures of the furniture too." She opened it up and showed Faith a
few of the pictures.
"So what's with the two houses, I never really got the run
down on that…"
"Well, there's this one," Buffy said showing a picture of a
slightly more modern, classically designed house with wooden interior
and expensive antique looking furnishing, "it's more of a house-house
and it's where Giles is going to set up all of the Council stuff,
it's got a huge hall where he can put in a library, and it's got a
few bedrooms, we figured it could be more of the working, business
kind of house where Giles stays, and I want Dawn to stay there mostly
so she can concentrate on studying… the towns closer to that one with
the schools and everything. I'm going to live there as well, just so
I can be with Dawn more. The other house…" she held pictures up of a
castle like interior house with stone floors and stairs in most of
the lower levels and a more cozy upstairs living quarters, "and this
is more of the training house. It's going to have all of the workout
and training equipment, there's some extra space in there so they can
be made into entertainment rooms, and stuff like that… really
anything you guys want… I figured for the most part everyone could
stay there, but if anyone needed a break the other house is
definitely open to it." Buffy paused waiting anxiously for some
reaction from Faith. It killed her but she found herself still
trying to get approval from her, even after all that had happened
between them.
"Wicked cool, B." Faith replied as everyone began to return
to the cars, including Giles and Xander with their bags of
provisions. Buffy gave a slight smile at getting at least some
reaction from Faith but she felt much better as Faith reach over and
tugged the folder out from under her arm and placed it under her
own. "I'm gonna look `em over in the car." Faith could tell she was
stressed about the whole move thing but Faith was used to it – pack
up and go, doesn't matter where, just go: that's what she was used to
and it didn't really bother her… or so she convinced herself. This
time especially, she had people she knew and cared about coming with
her – this had to be one of the easiest of them all; but why did it
actually feel so hard? Both of them were torn from their thought by
Xander,
"Gather around guys, I have to give out coffee since all of
you take it different."
----
They all collected their breakfast from Xander and Giles and
camped out either sitting on the sidewalk or leaning against the hood
of the cars.
"I don't think giving them caffeine before locking them back
in a car is a great idea," Faith said mildly protesting to Xander's
distribution of coffee to Dawn and Kennedy. Dawn grinned slightly
and her polar counterpart frowned viciously cocking her hip to the
side with her hands firmly placed. Buffy couldn't hold in her giggle
at the girls reaction to Faith's clear imitation of herself that they
had obviously missed reference to due to them being so used to
hearing it from her. Faith grinned more internally then anything
else then looked up at Buffy with a serious look and continued, "and
you especially, B, you definitely shouldn't have any…" Now a grin
crossed everyone's faces, especially Kennedy's. Faith laughed
slightly then returned to her own cup of coffee sipping at it
contently.
They left the rest stop once everyone was done eating and
both cars were full of enough snacks to get them to Chile – that is
if the car wasn't filled with the eaters it was. They would be lucky
if these snacks lasted them till their next stop. Everyone returned
to their same vehicles, something that didn't go completely unnoted
by Robin. Everyone seemed to have a new energy about them and the
atmosphere, although not completely reversed had changed.
---(about twelve hours later)---
The two cars continued driving towards their destinations –
Giles in front and Xander following safely behind. They were both in
the right lane of the two lane highway that was fairly empty at this
hour (about eleven at night) except for a few stray cars scattered
few and far between. Faith was sitting in the front seat without her
headphones and propped up against the door with her legs criss-
crossed on the seat facing Xander. He let out a loud yawn as he
acknowledged a car approaching fast on their left still about a mile
behind them. He decreased his speed to the limit incase it was a
police officer.
"I could drive," Faith offered seeing the grogginess in his
face – especially his eyes. She always liked looking at peoples
eyes – the window to the soul – she always thought. She really liked
his eyes because there was never anything cruel there; he wasn't
necessarily not angry, or mean, or strong, but there was never
anything cruel. She hated what Caleb had done to him – it took away
part of him that she really loved.
"It's okay…"
"You look really tired."
"I am really tired," he said grinning at her, "but I'll be
okay."
"You don't have to be okay… I can drive for you," she
argued.
"I've been present with you steering the curves before,
Faith, but I don't think everyone present could handle it…" he said
playfully glancing quickly towards the back seat. She couldn't help
but laugh especially at the snooty face he had followed his statement
with.
"You're wicked proud of yourself, aren't you?"
"I think I have a right to be," he answered playfully. She
appeared to be considering it and then answered,
"Alright, yeah, you can be proud of yourself…" He looked at
her contemplatively for a moment then he just grinned in her
direction. "That guy's going wicked fast," Faith noted at the
quickly approaching car in the left lane.
"Yeah, I know," Xander answered keeping his alert up. As the
car pulled up next to them Faith glanced nosily into the passenger
compartment. It was a couple, looked to be about twenty years old,
and both of them were smoking.
"Bet they're going to have fun tonight," Faith said in a mock-
jealous tone. Xander smiled and the car gained speed and began to
pass them. Quickly and out of no where a small herd of deer appeared
off the left side of the highway. They began to run across the
highway and Faith saw it just a split second before anyone
else. "Stop!" she yelled to Xander but obviously she had seen the
deer before the couple in the left lane who were forced to swerve
into the right lane to avoid hitting the deer. They hadn't even
completely passed the Suburban yet so Xander had to slam on the
brakes keep from hitting them immediately but then he had to swerve
right to avoid their car which continued to swerve towards them due
to the running herd.
"Fuck!" Xander yelled as he pulled the car right hard causing
them to drive off of the highway at seventy miles an hour. Dawn and
Andrew both screamed from the back seat, at about the same pitch,
too – and Robin immediately jumped forward and grabbed Faith trying
to hold her safely. She had already been thrown into the dashboard
which hit her arm that she held up to protect her face. Xander's
head was thrown forward and it slammed painfully into the steering
wheel but he regained himself and tried to get the vehicle under
control. He dodged trees and the big ditch on their right and
quickly got the car halted.
"Is everyone alright?" Robin asked quickly removing his
seatbelt and checking the status of everyone in the car. He looked
into the front and saw that both of them looked shaken up but they
weren't severely hurt from what he could see at a quick glance. His
question was answered by Faith with a painful sigh as she sat back up
on the seat. Xander nodded slightly and Robin returned his attention
to the backseat where Andrew was still in a panic and Dawn was now in
silent hysterics. Both had been asleep before the accident and were
woken by the heart shattering tightness of Xander's voice as he
swerved away from the car.
"I fucking hate deer!" Faith said as she moved her right arm
wearily to see if it were broken, which she didn't think it was but
it was definitely going to be a nice bruise. She quickly stroked her
cheek which she knew would have a matching bruise on it, but it was
better then what would have happened if she hadn't cushioned it with
her arm. She then looked over at Xander who was still sitting
silently in his seat but she could see the blood dripping from his
face now. She moved over to him in the car and kneeled beside him
raising her hands up to his face.
"I'm fine," he stated as she moved to touch his face which he
quickly jerked away from. It had been a while since she had touched
him in that way and with all of the emotions running in his head
right now and the building anger caused him to take it out on her.
"No you're not," she corrected moving towards his face
again. He jerked away from her touch again this time putting his
hand up between them also. She was taken aback by how much it hurt
her that he didn't want her to touch him. She couldn't understand
why she cared so much, but him jerking away from her touch flashed
pictures from her memory into her head that she wished she never had
to see again. She knew she shouldn't expect him to trust her, or
even like her, but it hit a nerve deep inside of her to know he would
be that blatant about it, especially after what had just happened.
She bit the side of her cheek to keep the words that pushed in her
throat from escaping and she moved back on the seat to add some space
between them. "You're face is bleeding," she stated dryly once she
was sure she could control her tone and not outwardly reveal how much
he had just hurt her.
"Thanks," he responded sardonically.
"Whatever," she huffed angrily opening the passenger door and
getting out slamming it loudly behind her. Xander stayed sitting in
the same spot not moving an inch in reaction with her exit. Robin
allowed a moments leeway knowing Xander had the first right to go
after Faith, and he honestly had expected him to but when he didn't
he gave Xander a quick glance of disapproval then exited the car
himself after Faith. Xander didn't turn towards the back but with
Robin's leave he inquired to the other two people in the car whether
they were alright.
-Giles' Car-
"Look at the deer," Kennedy said casually seeing them beside
the highway.
"Ooo, I love deer," Buffy said happily propping herself up
and turning towards the back of the car so she could see the herd of
them. Willow smiled to her lover and gave her a squeeze. "Shit!"
Buffy screamed suddenly as she saw the swerving of the headlights of
a car from the left lane into the right cutting Xander off and
causing him to swerve off of the highway at a very high
speed. "Giles stop!" Buffy yelled. Kennedy and Willow had spun
around to see what she was yelling about and saw the Suburban driving
off the highway and down a hill into the woods.
"They're off the road!" Kennedy yelled.
"Oh my," Giles said anxiously as he pulled into the shoulder
as quickly as he could.
---
"Faith?" Robin called as he looked around for her as he
exited the truck. He looked past the truck which was slightly
illuminated by the shining red brake lights so he saw he leaning
against a tree only a few feet away. "You okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine, alright!" she snapped. "Would you stop fucking
asking me that?" Robin stop for a momentary organization of self
since with her few sharp words he felt like she had scattered him
across this entire forest. Not exactly sure how to proceed he
hesitantly walked closer to her till he way standing a foot away. He
had never dealt with Faith when she was being outwardly angry – she
had always been inward thus far.
She had brooded and separated herself, but now he had to deal with
her exploding in his face. He rallied himself internally that he was
used to dealing with rash teenagers in school, *you're a god damn
principal, Wood!* a lot of them tried to do the bad ass thing, but
here he was faced with the queen of bad asses and he was running from
the challenge. *Come on Wood! What kind of a fucking man are you –
you like this girl you've gotta show her you'll take the challenge!
God, grow a pair, man…* He stood a little stronger in front of her
now feeling his momentarily lost confidence begin to fill his veins
once again.
She was leaning against a big tree with one foot propped up against
it and her arms crossed across her chest. She was biting at the
inside of her mouth, a habit that was both out of anger and anxiety
that she had picked up at a young age, and she was staring out
towards the highway they had been driving on only a few minutes
earlier. He finally stepped up closer to her causing her to move her
eyes onto him now. She could feel him standing there – he was a
strong guy with a lot of power and nerve, something that she really
liked, and hearing his breath because of his close proximity caused
her to remember the night they had spent together. She felt a quick
tingle run through her body for a brief second as it was reminded of
the way it felt when she had his hands running all over her body.
She felt his hand touch her cheek gently, but it still hurt from the
impact and she slightly receded from the touch, but not as Xander had
with hers. He gingerly stroked her cheek with his thumb warming her
slightly chilled face from the night time temperature.
She raised her gaze from his chest now into his eyes searching for
some kind of explanation or clue as to what was going on between
them. This whole follow up thing was not something she was learned
in, and she wasn't sure she liked it. Once her eyes met his, without
further hesitation, he stepped closer again so his body was up
against hers on the tree and he kissed her. It was a kiss very
similar to their first, one of slight submission and dominance on
both their parts, filled with both lust and caring. She breathed him
into her wanting to feel some form of comfort for the pain that had
welled itself inside of her chest. His tongue caressed hers softly
but confidently remembering all of the time he had spent kissing her
that night. Faith was impressed and laughed to herself thinking of
him taking notes on a piece of paper as he kissed her not wanting to
forget anything.
His lips left hers and without stepping back he looked into her face
trying to read her emotions. He silently cursed her in his head for
making it so damn hard to read, but he did his best. He held her
securely as much for her as himself – he was scared to lose her. He
hadn't known her for long but he already knew she was someone he
didn't want to have to live without. It didn't have to be a sexual
relationship between them, but he knew he wanted to at least have a
friendship – but being with Faith was not something he would turn
down in any way, shape, or form. She was an amazing person and she
had no ceased to amaze him yet and he was a person who almost prided
himself in not being easily impressed. After all, his female figure
that he looked up to as a child was his mother, also a slayer… strong
woman was something he admired and being up to those standards
narrowed the fields quite a bit for him.
"Xander!?" Willow yelled in a gasping voice as she and the
others ran down the hill towards the truck.
"Faith!?" Buffy called anxiously. "Are you guys okay?" They
reached the car and Xander got out assuring them that everyone was at
least okay. "Where's Faith and Robin?" she asked and Xander walked
with her towards where he thought Faith had gone when she left the
car and where he would have followed. As they walked past the truck
only a few feet Buffy caught sight of the two of them, "Oh…" she said
seeing Robin pressed up against Faith who was leaning on a tree
looking at each other. "Oh…" she repeated unsure of what to say.
She glanced up at Xander to see whether he was giggling yet, like she
expected him to be but she was VERY surprised by what she saw. He
stood there practically glaring at the two of them with the words
jealous practically stamped across his forehead. "You jealous?" she
asked with more of a statement then a question.
"No," he answered bitterly.
Faith had heard the gang approach so with a small grin at
Robin that if he blinked he would have missed it, she pushed against
him slightly signaling him to back up but making him want to stay
worse than before. She could feel him through his jeans making both
of them want to just be in a motel somewhere, but they weren't. She
smiled again, more seductively than before teasing him ruthlessly
knowing he was going to have to sit in the car for hours with this
hard on.
"Come on," she said casually as she got up from leaning on
the tree and began walking back over to the car. "Hey, B, you missed
quite the rollercoaster ride," she said lightheartedly approaching
Buffy and Xander.
"Are you guys okay?" Buffy asked.
"Five by five, B. Xander just thought the whole driving in a
straight line thing was getting boring so he decided to just mix it
up, you know make things a little more interesting for all of us."
Faith said managing to sound innocent to the untrained ear, but there
was a caustic undertone to it that at being mentioned Xander realized
he couldn't just stand there so he quickly turned away from them and
walked back to the passenger door of the vehicle.
"So you're sure you're okay?" Buffy asked for the last time.
"You know me," Faith answered trying to make it look as
though she didn't notice Xander leave. "So what's the what?" Faith
asked pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.
"I think Giles said we're about twenty miles from a town so
we're going to stop there for the night. I think everyone could use
a little rest and… a little time alone," Buffy added hearing Xander
close the car door. "Do you think we can just drive this thing out
of here?" Buffy asked looking at the truck and then at the slight
incline back up to the highway.
"With me driving you can," Faith answered walking up to the driver's
side and hoping in. She looked over at Xander who was sitting
stiffly in the seat. "Ewww, dude you got blood on the wheel," Faith
joked. Seeing his expression didn't change in the least she decided
she wasn't at fault, which she knew in the beginning, but now she
knew she wasn't going to bother trying to fix what he fucked and it
was his problem now. She had lived with three woman who hated her
guts in the big house and it didn't bother her one bit. She started
the engine up, scouted her path out back up onto the highway, and
hauled that truck out of there not afraid to make that engine sweat.
Once it was back onto the road everyone congregated around.
"I don't mind driving," Faith said getting comfortable in the drivers
seat. Xander had already exited the truck and added,
"I'll ride with Giles." Wood, Kennedy, and Buffy all got into the
truck with Faith and the rest of them got into the car with Giles.
"So where's this town?" Faith asked Giles.
"It's just off the next exit," he answered.
"Okay, I'll wait for you around the exit," she added and with a small
nod she drove off leaving them in the dust. She wasn't a bad or
reckless driver, Buffy decided sitting in the passenger seat, she
just liked to drive fast.
"So what's up with Xander?" Kennedy asked. All eyes were
inadvertently on Faith and she answered,
"I think," she began the words getting caught slightly in her
throat, "he's just a little shook up."
(to be continued – please leave feedback, I'm dying to know what you
think and it'll only make the next part come sooner and better.
Thanks for reading!)