"So this is Roswell, New Mexico," Faith stated flatly as she handed the cab driver his fee and picked up her bags of belongings. She was excited to be somewhere other than Sunnydale or Los Angeles because she wanted a fresh start. She was going to turn her life around. That's what she told the judge at any rate. Her lawyer had gotten her off on a technicality, but the judge had suggested very strongly that she leave California. Of course, normally, she'd have told him to f off, but she thought about it, and the idea of starting a new life, where no one compared her to Buffy or knew about how she had accidentally killed the deputy mayor, was just too tempting. Plus, Roswell, New Mexico had sounded interesting. A town that believed in aliens would certainly not find vampire slaying to be out of the ordinary. She saw a sign that said UFO museum and laughed to herself. She looked across the street and smiled, "Crashdown Café. I bet they need waitresses, and with all that Buffy impersonation I did, I know how to serve."
She entered the Crashdown Café and almost walked right back out the door when she saw the antennas and alien outfits the waitresses were wearing. She reminded herself that she really needed the money, and this town would give her anonymity. She walked right up to one of the waitresses and did her best Buffy impression, "Excuse me, I would like to speak to the owner about job availabilities..." She checked the name tag, "Maria.."
Maria looked the girl up and down. Leather-interesting-she's got spunk, and she's got manners. Still, the girl was a stranger, and in Roswell, strangers were often undercover FBI agents or enemy aliens, "New in town?"
"Yeah, so like do you guys really believe in aliens?" Faith asked, trying to make small talk.
"Not as much as you believe in leather," Maria smiled sweetly. That was at least the twentieth time she'd heard that question in the past 15 minutes. It was like a requirement or something for tourists to ask if Roswellians really believed in aliens.
Faith smiled, "Spunk, like it. Now do I get to chat with the owner at some point or just trade insults with you all day?"
"Liz! This girl wants to talk to your dad," Maria hollered across the restaurant.
"Not now, Maria!" Liz was talking to Martha, another one of the waitresses at the Crashdown. Suddenly, Maria saw Martha throw her order book at Liz and storm out of the café.
"Liz!" Maria called again.
"What is it Maria? This is so not a good time," Liz walked quickly over to where Maria was standing with a new girl. She was mesmerized by the girl's gorgeous slick dark hair, brown eyes, and leather outfit, which perfectly accented the girl's chest area and round hips. Liz blushed when she realized she was checking the girl out. She'd never done something like that before; then again, she'd never seen a gorgeous girl clad in leather this close before. Desperate to get her mind off of the freakiness of checking out a girl, especially considering she was totally and completely in love with Max, her eyes wandered to the duffel bag the girl was carrying, "Going somewhere?"
Faith shook her head and licked her lips at the sight of Liz. She looked cute as a button in that waitress uniform, antennas and all, rather like Buffy, only with dark hair and actually attractive. $If she wasn't so da cute, I'd hate her guts. This job may actually have some benefits worth wearing one of those horrid uniforms.$ Faith replied full well intending the double entendre, "Coming. I was looking for a job, so if someone could point me in the direction of the owner sometime in the next century, we'd be five by five."
"Got any experience?" Liz asked seriously. Seeing as how Martha had just quit, the Crashdown was in need of another waitress, and her gut was telling her to trust this girl. Her intuition could smell a threat a mile away, and this girl seemed genuine.
"Some, just not directly in waitressing. I've got tons of experience in customer service and mollifying an angry crowd. I'm Faith," She went to shake Liz's hand, "I just moved here from Sunnydale, California, and believe me, the crowds there can get vicious," Faith smiled. "I also need a place to stay if you know anywhere."
"Why'd you move to Roswell of all places?" Liz asked incredulously. She'd lived in Roswell all her life. It was home. She couldn't imagine someone actually choosing to live there.
"It's got history. It's also small, which is something I need after living in California," Faith answered.
"You're hired," Liz insisted. "You'll be on a trial basis for two weeks, and you can stay in my family's spare bedroom until you find a place of your own. How does that sound?"
"Five by five," Faith grinned. This was working out perfectly, a little too well. Like the way her arrival in Sunnydale had worked out a little too well. Which could only mean the Powers wanted her in Roswell, New Mexico for some reason.
"Liz, kitchen, NOW!" Maria yanked her best friend toward the kitchen.
"Um, I'll be right back to help you get your uniform and stuff," Liz said, with an apologetic look, as she allowed herself to be dragged to the kitchen. "Maria, what's the problem?"
"Liz, the girl is a complete stranger, and you're inviting her to live with you until she gets on her feet? Where she might find out about the Czechoslovakians? What if she's a Czechoslovakian hunter? We know nothing about her. The only thing going for her right now is that she's not blonde, and did I really just say that out loud?" Maria burst out with her usual hyperness combined with anxiety. Liz was her absolute best friend in the entire world, and normally the logical scientist to boot, but sometimes, like now, Liz just made absolutely no sense to her.
"Maria, it's ok. We can trust her. She's not out to get the Czechoslovakians. She's just a new girl. That's all," Liz tried to calm her friend down, a nearly impossible feat whenever Maria got like this. One of these days, she should try Michael's method of 'get out of the warpath'.
"And how do you know that? Do you know why she came to Roswell? Do you know anything about her?" Maria demanded.
Liz whispered, "I have a feeling, ok? My gut told me when Topolsky was a threat and when she turned to our side, and about Courtney, and to tell you about the Czechoslovakians, and I'm telling you my gut says to trust her and it will be alright. Grandma Claudia told me to follow my heart, and that's what I intend to do."
"That was low. You know how much I adored Grandma Claudia. But, I do trust your gut over anyone else's in the world. You've always had amazing intuition. I guess it won't hurt to be nice to her," Maria concluded.
"I knew I could count on you," Liz smiled and hugged Maria before rushing back out to help the new girl, Faith, get adjusted.
Waiting for Liz to return, Faith surveyed her surroundings. "What have I gotten myself into..." she muttered to herself. "Sure doesn't look like another Hellmouth. Boring." She dismissed her earlier thought that the Powers had sent her here. After all, why send her when they could send Buffy, Miss Because It's Wrong. The Crashdown Café appeared to be your average tourist establishment, except she could tell the tourists from the inhabitants. The tourists were the ones wearing the silly alien T-shirts. Not worth wasting her time, but the people who lived there on the other hand, all looked incredibly boring, except for one blond girl who she noticed was dressed in a similar leather outfit, "Copycat." She stopped cursing the girl under her breath when she noticed that the blond girl, who could clearly get whatever guy she was looking for, was sitting with a guy with humongous ears. She burst out laughing and covered her mouth as Liz walked up to her.
"Sorry about that. C'mon, let's get you a uniform...what is so funny?" Liz smiled awkwardly.
"Oh, nothing. Just looking at the tourists and realizing why your friend freaked when I mentioned aliens. I must have sounded like a lunatic," Faith gave her part of the truth. After all, she didn't want to chance offending the one person who had given her a break in this world, and she didn't know if Liz knew this people.
"Really, it's ok. Everyone asks about the aliens when they first come to Roswell," Liz rolled her eyes. "We make great tips off of it."
Faith grinned, "I'll bet."
"Let's go get you in one of these horridly cheesy uniforms," Liz led her to the changing area and handed her a uniform. She was incredibly anxious for Faith to be wearing anything but that amazingly tight leather which made her think things she'd never dreamed would come out of her mind.
Liz's eyes grew wide when Faith started changing right in front of her without a care for modesty. Within milliseconds, the leather jacket was on the bench. Liz's face turned the color of strawberries as she stared mesmerized, watching Faith strip a v-neck, skin-tight, short sleeve, white shirt from her milk-colored body. Liz desperately tried to think of anything else, her mind finally landing on the thought of what Michael had used when he was trying to avoid Maria. She muttered, "Mud," and successfully turned around. $Max, why can't I think of Max? I love him. Yes, he's acting like a jerk right now, but that's my own doing. If I hadn't pretended to sleep with Kyle, Max would still trust me and wouldn't be staking me out to see if I was still looking for Alex's killer. I need to prove to him he can still trust me and checking out a girl is not the way to do that.$
"So do you know who the blond girl wearing all the leather and the guy sitting next to her with the big ears are? I know you said it was a small town, and they looked like they were from around here," Faith racked her brain thinking of small talk. Was Liz just checking her out? The girl was amazingly attractive, and after Willow's amazing luck with a girlfriend and Faith's own poor luck with men, Faith was willing to consider a relationship with a girl. Just one thing, Liz seemed a bit too innocent, too pure, too Buffy-like. She hired a girl dressed in leather without even asking for references–definitely way too trusting. Faith was interested in someone who reminded her of Buffy. Boy, would her old psychiatrist have fun with that one.
Liz smiled at the reference to Max's big ears. She'd always thought his ears were cute, "You mean Max and Isabel Evans? They're friends of mine, well, sort of. We aren't getting along right now."
"How come?" Faith asked as she buttoned her uniform and put her hair in a loose ponytail.
Liz gritted her teeth, "It's destined."
"Say no more. Me and destiny have this wonderful history," Faith grinned. She had always loved her destiny of hunting vampires, demons, and otherworldly creatures. She'd confronted her feelings about killing a human being, and she'd realized she didn't have to continue to be a horrible person because she'd done one terrible thing. Thus, she was able to go back to killing unnatural beings for the good of mankind with a clear conscience, not to mention raging hormones. "You can turn around now. I'm dressed."
Liz turned around slowly, praying her blush had dissipated. "Yup, cheesy," she commented on the uniform.
"It ain't leather," Faith shrugged.
Liz smiled, "Good point." She walked over to where the order books were kept and handed a blank one to Faith. "How bout you go to Max and Isabel's table first? They'll be pretty forgiving of a new waitress. Just remember, when customers say weird sounding words like Alien Blast or Galaxy Sub, those are on the menu. Here's a copy of the menu if you want to peruse it before you head over."
"Aren't we just full of SAT words today? Yeah, I'll look at it. How hard can it be?" Faith looked at the menu and memorized it almost instantly. Alien Blast and Galaxy Sub really were on the menu. This was getting stranger by the minute.
She put her pen behind her ear as she saw that's where Liz had hers and headed straight for the table with the guy with the big ears, Max Evans. To hide her nervousness, she decided to start off with a joke.Faith put her fingers in the air in a Vulcan salute, "I come in peace."
Max gave her an odd look and looked to Liz for guidance, "Um, ok?"
Smiling, although not understanding why he looked so uncomfortable, Faith continued, "So how are things on Planet Vulcan?"
Max shot daggers at Liz and got up without a word, grabbing Liz's arm and dragging her into the back where they were alone. "What did you tell her? It's not enough that you're talking about aliens murdering Alex to people at school; you have to tell perfect strangers about us? Is this some kind of revenge? This isn't like you, at least I don't think it is, but what do I know about you anymore after you slept with Kyle."
"Let go of me," Liz declared authoritatively. "No, I didn't tell her anything. I should have, but I didn't. And you know what, I probably won't have to. When you dragged me off like that, you incriminated yourself."
Liz's assertive attitude shocked Max back to reality. He should have known she wouldn't betray him. This was Liz, the girl he'd loved since third grade. He reminded himself: that was before he found out his destiny and before she slept with Kyle. A lot had changed since then, "Liz...I...I'm just trying to..."
"Trying to what, Max?" Liz was thoroughly disgusted with how she was being manhandled. "I asked you to let go of me."
He immediately released her hand, the shock emanating from his face. What had he done, what was he doing? This behavior wasn't him. Or it was, but it wasn't. He'd never yell at Liz. He'd never hurt her. Even when he found her with Kyle, he had just walked away. "Liz, I'm sorry."
She looked at him, not sure what to think. Max had never done anything like that before. All she knew was she needed to get back to her shift and out of his sight as quickly as possible, "Later. We'll talk later." She scooted past him out the door to the kitchen, passing through Michael flipping burgers...and was that Tess? Nah, she hadn't come with Max and Isabel. Her mind must be playing tricks on her, wanting her to blame Tess for the fact that she couldn't be with Max–at least she couldn't be with Max until Tess fulfilled whatever vital purpose in destroying their enemies.
As Liz burst through the kitchen without noticing her presence, Tess smiled slightly. Her mindwarp must have worked. When Max emerged looking like he'd been run over by a truck, she knew her other mindwarp must have worked as well.
Michael looked over at Tess, "What do you want?"
"Nothing. Just to say hi. I can go now if you want," Tess put on her best innocent face.
Michael looked at her blankly, focused more on the burgers, "Whatever."
Tess smiled and walked back out toward the table where Max had joined Isabel. She saw a new waitress getting their order and added her own order to the mix, "I'd like a burger and cherry coke, with extra tabasco." She then sat down next to Max, putting her arm around him, pretending he didn't flinch at her touch.
Faith took down the order, noticing that Max didn't appear to want this blond girl touching him and that Liz looked upset and had pulled Maria aside. This must be the "destiny" Liz had been talking about, but it didn't explain why she got a nauseous feeling as soon as the blond girl with the curls–the one that wasn't Isabel--had walked over to the table.
"Can I help you with something?" Tess looked at the new girl expectantly.
Faith looked at her, "No, but Bilbo over here might be able too. I'm Faith."
"I'm Tess, and this is Max and Isabel. You new here?" Tess pretended to be interested in the introductions.
"You could say that," Faith replied. "I'll just take this to the kitchen." She had a bad feeling about that girl. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling she'd be fighting this girl a lot in the near future. She rationalized, this girl, Tess, obviously made Liz miserable, and therefore it was Faith's responsibility to kick Catwoman's butt.