[Disclaimer: Me no own, you no sue]
Author's Note:
Don't know what prompted me to write this. Is my first song-fic. I like it, oddly enough.
It's set after the whole thing with the torture and the badness and Faith getting sent to prison, but by this time Faith's out of prison. I don't know, good behaviour or something? Anyhoo, it doesn't mention any episodes in particular (I think). Am using Lorne, because while I've only seen one episode with him in it, I've read tons and do know what he looks like etc...so, anyway, let's get this show on the road. Is definitely a shippy fic, but I won't actually say precisely what ship it is until near the end. You should probably guess pretty easily, I'm not trying that hard to keep it a secret.
The song, I just thought it seemed apt. If I've missed a verse (I think I may have), it's because I'm writing it down from memory and am too lazy to look the lyrics up. Put it down to Faith skipping bits or something.
Have A Little Faith
by Adele Elisabeth
Faith stood on the stage in Caritas, clutching the microphone and hoping like hell she didn't sound like an idiot. She hadn't sang in ages, but she'd once been complimented on her voice. She clung to the faint hope that whatever talent she'd had, it was still there. She had no wish to humiliate herself.
"I hate the world today,
You're so good to me,
I know but I can't change,
Tried to tell you, but you
Look at me like maybe
I'm an angel underneath,
Innocent and sweet"
Her? Innocent? There was no way he thought she was innocent, Faith knew that for a fact. It wasn't as though she'd leapt into his arms and they'd been all love at first sight. At least, she reflected, he'd gotten that stake out his ass and started acting like a human. He hadn't trusted her at first, and rightly so, but she'd tried really hard to earn it -- why? She didn't know. She just knew she wanted for him to trust her. Then they ended up in bed, and he'd surprised her then too...okay, okay, concentrate on the song, concentrate on the song...
"Yesterday I cried,
Must have been relieved
To see a softer side,
I can understand how
You'd be so confused,
I don't envy you,
I'm a little bit of everything,
All rolled into one"
Mr I-Clash-With-My-Clothes seemed pretty all right to her, but now she was up on stage, his watching was starting to unnerve her. Not to mention the fact he was a demon. It was a slayer thing, y'know? See a demon, kill it. See a vampire, stake it. Angel was different, though. Faith figured this demon dude must be different to. Her first impression was that he was gayer than a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide [a/n: yes, straight from 'Good Omens', although in that case they were talking about an angel, rather than a demon. Aziraphale was such a nice angel].
"I'm a bitch, I'm a lover,
I'm a child, I'm a mother,
I'm a sinner, I'm a saint,
I do not feel ashamed,
I'm your hell, I'm your dream,
I'm nothing in between
You know you wouldn't want it any other way"
Hell was right, after what she'd done to him...she still felt so guilty, and knew he had every right to hate her. And instead he loved her, and he cooked her breakfast in the morning and made her coffee just how she liked it and gave her that adorable look when she'd got a coffee-cup mark on one of his precious books, the one that was supposed to be stern and 'don't do that again' type thing, but always ended up making her laugh. Nobody made her laugh like he did, and he didn't even try. That was the best thing about him, she supposed. He didn't try. He was just him, as well as he could be. He'd been underestimated and ridiculed in the past, but no more.
"Just when you think,
You got me, figured out,
The season's already changing,
I think it's cool
You do what you do,
And don't try and change me"
He'd been better than she'd ever expected him to be. He never tried to analyze her, work out what made her tick, or any of that bullshit. He just...accepted her for who and what she was. But she was scared. She didn't want to hurt him again, didn't want to get him hurt...would she be doing everyone a favor if she just left? Just packed only what she needed and vanished into the night. He'd get over it, and move on, and he'd be the better for it.
Right?
"I'm a bitch, I'm a lover,
I'm a child, I'm a mother,
I'm a sinner, I'm a saint,
I do not feel ashamed
I'm your hell, I'm your dream,
I'm nothing in between
You know you wouldn't want it any other way"
Shit, shit, shit, was that him in the doorway? It was like he had radar for her, sometimes, the way he could find her so easily if he just put his mind to it. It wasn't fair. They'd been together for about six months now, but it felt like longer, and she'd begun to be able to read him, read his looks and his little quirks. Right now, he looked more mystified than anything else, though most people wouldn't have been able to tell.
"I'm a bitch, I'm a tease,
I'm a goddess, on my knees,
When you hurt, when you suffer,
I'm your angel undercover,
I was numb, I'm revived,
Can't say I'm not alive,
You know I wouldn't want it any other way..."
As the song ended, she hurried off the stage, and reached Lorne, not looking in the direction of her...lover? Partner? Boyfriend? Whatever.
"You are one mixed up little thing, y'know that?" Lorne told her, smiling gently. "But you two have got a good thing going on, and if you throw it all away now, you may never get it back, and on top of that, you'll ruin the both of you in the process. Y'wanna know why?"
Faith didn't really need to be told, because deep down, she did know, but it was helpful to hear. She nodded.
"Because you love each other. And you need each other. Believe it or not, sweet-cheeks, he needs you just as much as you need him."
"I'll bet." She scoffed. "After what I did?"
"He's pretty vulnerable inside, too. You break his heart now, you may as well break the rest of him. Besides, you'd be breaking your own heart."
"I love him." She said it as though it were the first time she really and truly admitted it.
"Awww, kodak moment." The green-skinned demon pulled the dark-haired slayer into a bear-hug, before holding her at arms-length. "Have little faith, Faith. Now go on, go get 'em tiger."
Relationship counselling from a demon from another dimension. Life couldn't get any weirder.
She groaned inwardly. It was one of those cliche phrases, like 'It can't get any worse than this'. The instant you said it, it did.
Faith saw him again before he saw her, as he had his back to him. She wondered idly if she could convince him to wear leather one day -- hey, that was a nice ass he had there. She could test it for quarter-bouncing-ability.
Shelving these thoughts even as she sniggered, she came up behind him and turned him around, moving into his surprised arms.
"Went and got my aura read." She stated the obvious.
"Is that so?" Amusement was clear in his expression, though about what she wasn't entirely sure. She'd ask later. She vaguely registered the fact that he'd been talking to Cordelia -- christ, C saw her singing debut? -- but dismissed it as an unimportant fact for the mean time.
"Yup."
"What'd you find out?"
"That you and me...us..." 'Us'. Sounded pretty good. "That we've got a good thing, and we should--" Okay, that she should, but anyway, "--have a little faith."
"Don't mind if I do," he grinned, before kissing her, nice and lingeringly.
"Three words, Get A Room," Faith heard Cordelia's mock-disgusted voice.
"I love you, Wesley." She said, when they finally decided that oxygen was required.
"I love you too, Faith." Wesley slipped an arm around her waist, turning to face Cordelia once more.
The dark-haired seer and mother of two just grinned at them.
***
Author's Note:
Blatantly fluffy, and I admit it. But it was nice to write, and I've never really written any Faith/Wesley stuff. So far, it doesn't fit into my other stories, but [mysterious smile] it could sometime soon.
I'd love to hear what you all think of it. I've seen some really good Faith/Wesley fanfiction, and I thought I'd try my hand at it, since it seems such a good pairing.
Faith: Could have been worse.
Adele: Where the hell'd you come from?
Faith: Hey, C and Angel and the rest get to tag along in Author's Notes. It's my turn.
Wesley: What she said.
Adele: [can see no good coming of this] Roll credits!
Faith&Wesley: [can be seen shouting at the cowering author as the scene fades to black]