Chapter Summary: Faith arrives in Sunnydale to learn that things have changed between Buffy and Spike, but is there still room for her in Buffy's heart.
Author's Note: As an avid Buffy/Faith fan I had been anticipating their reunion for two seasons and was kinda let down by the way they forgave each other in "Dirty Girls," so I wrote how I thought it should have been. (Hence, the title)
Disclaimers: Itall belongs to the master, Joss Whedon
The Way It Should Have Been
Ch. 1 – Home Is Where the Heart Is
Buffy watched Faith and Spike fight each other for a few moments. She was excited when she heard that Willow was bringing Faith back with her. Even though things had gone wrong between them, she had forgiven Faith a long time ago. She just never got the chance to tell her. As she continued to watch, it surprised her a little that she still enjoyed watching Faith fight. She wanted to reach out and touch her, to hug her, but didn't quite trust herself. She didn't trust Faith either so she did the next best thing, she punched her.
"Sorry Faith, I didn't realize that was you." Buffy said trying to hold in a smile, so it came off as a smirk.
Faith enjoyed feeling Buffy's touch and laughed slightly at the fact that it was by a punch. "It's okay B, lucky you still punch like used to."
They continued to sort things out until a female vampire attacked Faith. Once again Buffy just stood there smiling as she watched Faith fight. And just like the first time Buffy watched her fight, Faith was in need of her stake. "May I?" Faith asked as she reached down for the stake in Buffy's thigh holster. Buffy rolled her eyes and smiled slightly as she felt Faith's hand pat around her leg a few times before grabbing the stake, knowing damn well that the brunette just wanted to cop a feel.
--
After a round of introductions and dodging glares from Dawn and Giles, Faith was in desperate need of a cigarette. She sat at the bottom of the basement stairs and sighed heavily as she heard the loud thud of twenty teenage girls running through the house. There were too many potentials and they were making it impossible for her to get five minutes alone with Buffy. They needed to talk. Faith wanted to apologize.
"Can I bum one of those?" Spike asked from his position on his bed.
Faith smirked and stood, lit her cigarette, then walked over to Spike and handed it to him.
"Why aren't you upstairs with the girls?" He asked taking a drag.
Faith took out another one and lit it as she sat on the table. "I've been in an all girl environment for three years. Kinda had my fill."
"Oh I doubt that." Spike said with a smirk as he took another drag.
"What's that suppose to mean?" Faith said blowing out smoke.
"I'm a vampire, pet. I can smell sexual tension a mile away." He said smirking again.
Faith took another hit and eyed Spike. She blew it out and continued to contemplate whether he could really tell she had feelings for Buffy or was just starting trouble. Even through her stone cold expression, Spike noticed the inner turmoil in Faith's eyes. He laughed slightly as he lifted his foot to put the cigarette out on the soul of his boot.
"Don't worry slayer. You're secret is safe with me, especially from the other one." He said nodding his head up.
Faith looked back toward the stairs then got up to go sit next to Spike on the bed. "Yeah, well it's pointless anyways. Buffy's got a stick too far up her ass to go for the dangerous, rebel type."
"Oh you have been away." Spike said smiling.
"Don't tell me you and B?" Faith said quite surprised.
"Not as of late." Spike said frustrated.
"Ha, good." Faith said with a smirk and a wink.
--
Buffy was fuming as they walked. She wasn't sure what irritated her more, seeing Spike laughing and enjoying Faith's company, or Faith enjoying his. Questions were still burning in her mind about why Faith was here. They had so much unresolved.
"Why did you come back?" Buffy blurted out as she stopped walking and effectively broke the silence.
"Willow said you needed me. I didn't give it a lot of thought." Faith said, a little defensive. She then took a deep breath. "Am I getting that you want me to be not here?"
"No, it's not what I meant. I'm glad you're here." She began to walk again. "I missed you." Buffy added so quietly that if it wasn't for her super slayer hearing Faith wouldn't have heard it.
"You did?" Faith asked surprised.
"Yeah." Buffy said hesitantly.
"But?" Faith asked nudging Buffy with her shoulder.
"Well, things were really good between us before we killed the deputy mayor and then we fought and I put you in a coma." Both girls looked away and let out a desperate sigh. The old wounds were being opened up again and after all these years it still hurt both of them. "Once you woke up, we got into that huge fight over the body swap and the last time I saw you, you had turned yourself in. We never got a chance to talk." Buffy said looking down.
"I've been in the same place for three years B. If talking needed to be done, you knew where to come for it." Faith said shoving her hands in her jacket pockets.
"Maybe, I just didn't know how to say I was sorry." Buffy said sadly still looking down.
"Whoa." Faith said as she came to a halt and dragged Buffy by shoulder to a stop as well. She then lifted Buffy's chin with her hand to make the blonde look at her. "Why would you need to say you're sorry?"
"For turning my back on you. For letting you go through it all alone. For not letting you know that I still cared about you and was willing to be there for you." Buffy said as she let her face fall again.
Faith sighed as she understood what Buffy meant. "Ah B, you know it wouldn't have done any good then." Faith said dropping her hand. "I had to learn how to ask for help by hitting rock bottom and I needed to get to that place all on my own." She grabbed Buffy's hand which caused the older slayer to look up at her. "But I'm here now, willing to help you and asking you for forgiveness."
"Took you long enough." Buffy said with a smile as she leaned in and allowed Faith to gather her in her arms.
"What can I say, I'm slow." Faith said with a small smirk as she lightly kissed the top of Buffy's head. The blonde smiled at the contact and lifted her head to look Faith in the eye. All of the old feelings that they had for each came rushing to the surface. They slowly started to lean in to kiss one another when they heard the rustling sound of The Bringers heading toward the vineyard.
Buffy snapped out of her trance and she her head. "We should head back and tell the others." She said as she began to walk away.
"Yeah." Faith said shoving her hands into her jacket pockets. "Damn It." She whispered as she kicked a small stone before turning and heading after Buffy.
--
Buffy listened to Xander tell the potentials that they needed to trust her. She felt the tears well up in her eyes, and of course, Faith was prepared to ruin the sampy moment. "Damn B, I never knew you were that cool." Faith said smiling widely.
"Well, you always were kinda slow." Buffy said, playing off of their earlier conversation. She leaned into Faith slightly and had to hold back the urge to kiss the younger slayer.
"I'm getting that now." Faith said winking with a smile as she got the joke. They gave each other's hand a light squeeze before walking into the living room to tell everyone that they saw the bringer go to the vineyard.
--
The fight at the Vineyard hit Buffy the hardest. She couldn't believe that she had gotten so many of the girls hurt. Even worse, because of her rash and foolish decision, Xander could no longer see out of his left eye. She dragged herself into her bedroom and shut the door. She began to cry and curled herself into a ball as she laid down on the bed with her back to the door.
She was having such a breakdown that she didn't hear Faith creep in. It wasn't until she felt Faith sit down on the bed that Buffy even realized that someone was in her room. She instinctively went to back hand her intruder as she sat up, only to have Faith catch her by the forearm. Their eyes met and Faith began to gently rub Buffy's forearm as she lowered it back down. Buffy began to cry even harder and without saying a word. Faith gathered the older slayer into her arms and laid them both down.
Faith then put one arm under Buffy's head and wrapped the other one around her tiny waist. "It's ok, B. Let it out." Faith whispered as she kissed the back of Buffy's head. "I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."
--
Buffy cried a little while longer and once Faith thought she was asleep, she extract herself from around the blonde and stood.
"Where you going?" Buffy asked quietly as she rolled onto her back to look at Faith.
Faith was caught off guard. "Hey." She said with a small smile. "I thought you had fallen asleep so I was going to let you get some rest."
"No, I've been awake." Buffy said as she turned her gaze away from Faith and looked out the window.
"Ok." Faith gently, feeling a little confused and defeated. "Well, I'm going to get some food. You hungry?" She asked.
Buffy just shook her head no without looking at her which made Faith frown a little.
"Ok, well get some rest." Faith said as she gently kissed the top of Buffy's head.
Buffy watched the brunette turn to leave. "Faith?" She said gently.
"Yeah, B?" Faith asked smiling slightly, glad to see that Buffy was looking at her.
"Promise you'll be here in the morning." Buffy pleaded.
Faith looked at her a little surprised. "Buffy, of course I'll be here in the morning. I'm not running away from this fight. Like I said, I'm here for you."
"No, that's not what I meant." Buffy said as she looked away from Faith again and rolled onto her side.
This time Faith walked around to the other end of the bed and squatted down so she could look into Buffy's eyes. She gently moved some of the blonde hair out of her face as she tried to read the older girl's eyes. After a few seconds of staring at each other, Faith knew what Buffy was asking. She couldn't believe it and it took her another second to find her voice. "Yeah B, I promise. I'll be here."
--
Buffy woke to the sun shinning in her face and the feeling of great warmth around her. She opened her eyes slowly as she realized that her wish had come true. Faith had kept her promise to her. It was morning and she was lying wrapped up in younger girl's arms. Buffy turned slowly so she could face Faith. Not that she needed to, she remembered that Faith slept like the dead and that it would take much more movement for the her to wake up.
She continued to stare at the brunette for a few minutes and couldn't believe how great it felt to be in Faith's strong, protective embrace. After everything that had happened in the last four years, the only place she wanted to be was right here in her arms. Something was different in the air between them since Faith had come back to Sunnydale and things had defiantly changed after last night. It was the first time that Buffy knew without a doubt that Faith felt the same way.
Buffy wasn't sure when she started to gently run her finger across Faith's cheek. She noticed how even Faith's features seemed to have changed over the last three years. She no longer looked like a cold, dark, angry teenager. Faith had grown fully into womanhood, from the calmer expression in her eyes to her fuller figure and Buffy decided that she preferred this new look much more. She had gone from that slutty sexy look as a teenager to a flat-out just beautiful woman.
Feeling Faith stir, Buffy suddenly stopped moving her hand and probably looked like a deer caught in headlights. Finally, Faith yawned and opened her eyes. She saw the look on Buffy's face and laughed slightly. "Something wrong, B?" Faith asked and she stretched slightly.
"You tell me." Buffy asked gently, making sure Faith hadn't noticed that she had been molested in her sleep.
Faith looked at Buffy with a raised eyebrow. "This was the promise I was suppose to keep, right?" Faith asked looking at her arm wrapped around Buffy.
Buffy just closed her eyes and shook her head yes.
"Do want me to move?" Faith whispered.
Buffy shook her head no, her eyes still closed tight.
"Then why does it feel like you are ready to leap out of your own skin?" Faith asked gently. "The muscles in your back are wicked tense." She added as she began to rub Buffy's back, while still holding her in her arms.
Buffy moan lightly. "That feels good. Thank you."
"You're welcome." Faith said with a smile.
"And thank you for last night." Buffy said finally opening her eyes.
"For what?" Faith asked, not sure which part of the night she was being thanked for.
Buffy didn't respond. She just smiled and gently brushed her lips against Faith's. It took Faith a second to realize what was happening and by the time she did, Buffy's lips were gone. She blinked and looked at Buffy wondering if that had really happened or if she had imagined it. She noticed a slight blush on Buffy's face.
"Faith, please say something." Buffy said as the blush grew.
"Why did you just do that?" Faith asked a little surprised.
"It felt like the right thing to do." Buffy said sadly as she began to pull out of Faith's arms. She had read Faith's response all wrong so Faith tightened her grip around Buffy which caused her to groan in frustration.
"Faith, just let me go." Buffy begged sounding annoyed.
"No." Faith said firmly.
"Why not?" Buffy asked.
"Because." Faith said firmly as she rubbed Buffy's cheek then gently pulled Buffy's head toward her to give a scorching kiss. Faith then pulled away. "That's why." She said slightly out of breath. "Still want me to let you go?"
"Depends." Buffy said trying to stop her head from spinning.
"On?" Faith asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Why did you do it?" Buffy asked.
Faith shrugged slightly. "Like you said, it felt like the right thing to do."
Buffy hit her lightly on the chest, "Faith, be serious."
"I am." Faith said grabbing onto the hand that had just hit her. "I've wanted to do that for a long time and last night was the first time I realized that maybe you felt the same way."
She looked at Buffy for confirmation as she nodded that she understood. "Anyways, with all the shit that is going down around us, I don't want to waste anymore time. Last night was the best night of my life, B. Holding you in my arms, I have never felt so strong, in here." Faith said tapping on her heart. "I finally felt like a champion."
Buffy just smiled and leaned in to kiss Faith again. She then pulled away but kept her forehead pressed up against the brunette's. "You wanna know a secret? I have never felt as protected as I did last night in your arms."
"Really?" Faith said pulling back slightly to look Buffy in the eye.
"Yes really. With Angel, there was always a hint of danger of sleeping with a vampire, even a souled one. And with Riley, well, even on his best day I could throw him across a room one handed. But you," Buffy smiled as she placed her hand on Faith's cheek. "You are a slayer, a protector of the people. And I know you didn't believe Angel when he said that as a slayer you are a champion, but I'm glad you believe it now. If anything, you are at least my champion."
"And what about Spike?" Faith asked, trying not to sound judgmental.
"Oh." Buffy said in shame. "Faith, I…"
"You don't owe me an explanation B. Just tell me it's over."
"It is. And it has been for a long time."
Faith smiled as leaned to kiss Buffy again. Just as their lips met, they heard the commotion of all of the potentials getting up and starting their day. They sighed heavily and rolled their eyes as they dragged themselves out of bed.
TBC……..
