Third in the series.
Author: Raven's Bard
E-mail: ravensbard78@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Nothing in the Buffyverse belongs to me. Joss owns it all.
Rating: TV MA (nothing you wouldn't see on the show)
Spoilers: Prophecy Girl
Distribution: Just tell me where it's going.
Summary: Faith is prophesized to die. Can Xander stop it? Placed in the New Start Universe.
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I sit at our table in the Bronze watching as Faith dances with yet another guy. It doesn't really bother me as much as it used to, especially after hearing her opinion of the dolts she sees. But it doesn't help much that she'd rather have a meaningless relationship with someone she'll never really care about than one with someone who wants to show her how special she truly is.
Then again, the one guy she was slightly interested in was Angel and look how that turned out. He's a vampire. One with a soul, but still. Dead's dead. Faith pretty much dropped any interest in him after that. Can't say I was unhappy about that. But she still didn't show even the slightest interest in me, especially after that whole hyena thing. I'm pretty sure she was a bit miffed at me for the 'mating' idea I had at the time, but to hold it against me this entire time?
I might not have been so bummed about the whole thing if there was someone else that I could date. With the slaying and all that, my choices were pretty limited. There was Faith (not interested), Amy (staying away from anything supernatural at the moment including me), and Buffy.
Buffy happens to be another problem. It seems she thinks I'm affected by some sort of plague that I didn't know about. Ever since that night she met Darla, she's avoided me. And that's not the only thing that bugs me about her. I can't for the life of me figure out what is up with that presence I feel within her. Both me and Giles have looked through the books on what it might be: possession, she's a demon of some sort, a curse of some kind. All we've found are possiblilities. He's suggested bringing the others in on this, but I've asked him not to since as far as we have been able to determine she isn't evil. We've used spells, spying, and even my senses.
That's another little side note that I've noticed. After reading up on animal possession, I found that in some cases certain attributes of the animal remain even after the spirit is removed. For some, enhanced senses. In others, their strength and speed are increased a little. Or the person gains physical traits like the animal, like claws and fangs.
Me, I got the enhanced senses. Including the nice little trait that most animals seem to possess: the ability to detect unnatural presences or people. It's a handy little feature that helps me find vamps.
I also noticed Angel was a vamp the next time I saw him. Since no one else believed me, I tossed him a cross. That ended any debate real quick. He filled us in on the curse and Willow suggested we keep him on the team. No sense in dropping a source of information was her reasoning. I'm still reserving the right to stake him if he turns on us though.
Sometime while my mind was wandering the song had ended and Willow and Oz had sat down at the table.
Willow spoke up. "How come you never try to get out there?" she asked pointing to the dance floor.
"You do remember what I look like when I get out there, right?" I replied with a look.
"Well, yeah, but you don't even try during the slow ones."
"That would mean I had someone worth dancing with and who actually wanted to dance with me."
Willow looked over at me sadly. "You can't hold out for her forever, you know."
"It won't be forever. I fully intend to give up before the sun burns out."
Oz chimes in. "There are other girls. What about Amy?"
"Yeah, what about her?"
"She is avoiding the supernatural for the moment which includes me evidently," I said back rolling my eyes.
"No one else has caught your interest at all?" Willow asked.
"Nope, I can only handle one obsession at a time," I smiled my trademark grin.
Wills looked back at the dance floor, and Faith, before asking. "You gonna ask her to the dance?"
I sighed. "I'll try. She may just avoid the subject like she usually does when I try to ask her about anything personal nowadays. You don't know anything about that, do you, Will?"
She looked startled for a moment. "Umm, no. Sorry."
We sat listening to the music for a while longer in silence. Finally, I decided I'd had enough 'fun' for the night. "I think I'll just head home. Maybe check in with Giles on the coupla vamps we staked earlier. Later, guys," I stood and waved to the chorus of "byes" before I headed out the door.
***
It had been getting too uncomfortable in there with Willow giving me those side glances to see if I was really 'alright'. I head out to the nearest graveyard. Nothing like going out to hunt the undead to work off some frustrations. Giles would kill me if he knew I was doing this alone.
We had already done the 'good-morning' stakings earlier. These are the ones were we sit and wait for a vamp to rise from it's coffin. Most of the time they have been fairly routine. It was usually me, Oz, and Willow who did these while Giles and Faith hunted the others. Giles, Faith, and I had devised this system so we could have a fairly even breakup of strength and skill. I had even started teaching Oz some of my tricks to even the odds with vampires.
Oz and I had even started designing some better weapons to use: an air powered wrist mounted stake gun, blessed brass knuckles with crosses engraved on them, and a combination stake gun and water gun (not quite finished with it yet). Giles is stubborn though, suggesting that the tried-and-true methods are best but he'll come around eventually.
Sometimes it was just me and Faith who went out while the others researched. Those nights I truly enjoy because I get to see her in her element. She even opens up a bit more than she usually has of late. Too bad I haven't had a chance lately.
My thoughts drift back to the world around me when I catch the scent of a vamp nearby. I keep strolling like I haven't noticed anything while I try to get a bearing on him. Behind and to the left about six feet and closing. I raise my left arm to fake looking at my watch while my right grabs a stake from my jacket.
Quickly, I spun on my left foot low to the ground for a leg sweep. Fangly was caught by surprise and sent crashing down on his back, but he wasn't about to stay there. He rolled away when I went for his heart with my stake. Backpedaling as he stood, he held his hands up in surrender. "Whoa, Xander."
Finally, I caught sight of his face. "Hey Deadboy. What's the big idea trying to sneak up on me?"
Angel ignored my question. "Giles needs to talk to you."
"What for? And can't it wait till tomorrow?"
"Now," he glared at me.
"Fine," I sighed, "Let's go grab the others. They're back at the Bronze."
"Giles said only you."
Might have something to do with Buffy then, I thought. "Alright. You coming?"
As we trotted into the night I couldn't help but wonder what was so important that Giles had to talk to me tonight.
***