Watching Your Back (Part 2)
Previously ...
It is the last week of the summer college holidays. Faith has returned to Sunnydale, apparently intent on reconciliation with Buffy and her friends. This came as something of a shock to the Sunnydale crew, who believed Faith to have died in prison. On top of this, they had recently come to suspect that Spike has some secret scheme in motion.
Buffy confronted Faith, torn between suspicion of the other Slayer and her reluctance to kill a young woman who resolutely refused to fight back. In the end, she simply found herself unable to slay Faith under those circumstances, and has grudgingly allowed her to remain in town. Subject to a few conditions, of course.
Chapter Four
Wesley Wyndham-Price slowly exhaled. He was leaning against the rough, slightly damp wall of an alleyway. He had been there over an hour, watching the run-down motel across the road. Ten minutes earlier, a blonde girl had gone into one of the rooms to speak to a brunette. Wesley was fervently hoping that both girls were going to survive the experience.
The brunette walked out onto the steps of the motel, looked in his direction, and beckoned with a broad sweep of her arm. Faith, one-time rogue Vampire Slayer, and now; Wesley believed; trying to make up for her mistakes.
He glanced each way as he moved out of the alley and across the street, but there were no cars in sight. Traffic died down pretty early in this part of Sunnydale. Despite their blindness to the evil which lurked throughout their town, the locals seemed fully cogniscent of the rather more mundane dangers of a bad neighbourhood.
As he reached the far curb, Wesley watched Faith worriedly. She appeared physically unhurt, though if he didn't know better he would have thought she had been crying. But the real question was what had happened between her and the blonde girl.
"Buffy?" he asked, drawing to a stop at the foot of the steps.
"Right here." the blonde girl, shorter and slighter than Faith, stepped out of the gloom of the motel room. Despite her smaller stature, she almost seemed larger to Wesley than the brunette beside her.
"Hello, Buffy." he nodded politely to her, his eyes still on Faith. She had definitely been crying. But then, it must have been very difficult for her to face Buffy after all that had happened between them.
"Wesley." the blonde slayer's tone was not quite unfriendly, but certainly not welcoming, "How's the arm?"
Both he and Faith started at the reference to the injury he had sustained six months before. The injury Faith had inflicted.
"It's better, thank you, Buffy." he answered evenly, remaining where he was at the bottom of the stairs. "Time heals all wounds."
"Maybe." Buffy did not sound convinced. "I've heard what Faith has to say, and I'm willing to give her a chance. If both you and Angel can put what happened behind you, then I should at least try to do the same. But if she puts even a toenail wrong, you'll be looking for a new charge."
"I understand." And he did. Buffy was taking a big risk that Faith's change of heart was legitimate. As had he and Angel. But our only the alternative was to let her die. "I'll head back to LA first thing tomorrow morning. Unless you'd prefer me to leave now -"
Buffy shook her head.
"Tomorrow is fine."
"I'll give Angel your regards." he wondered if Faith was going to say anything.
"Yeah." Buffy stuck her hands in the pockets of her jacket, "Cordelia, too."
"Certainly."
They stood for a moment, in an uncomfortable silence, until Buffy spoke again,
"Well ... I need to patrol. And I guess Faith intends to come with me. So we'll just grab her stuff and be gone."
Wesley blinked in surprise,
"You're not coming back here?"
"No." Buffy shook her head emphatically, "Faith's coming with me. It's part of the requirements of her staying."
Wesley glanced at Faith. She nodded imperceptibly. I hope you know what you're doing.
"Very well." he agreed, reluctantly, "Then I imagine this must be goodbye."
"Yeah." Buffy obviously wasn't in the mood for an extended parting.
Wesley slowly climbed the stairs, until he was standing beside Faith. He offered her his hand, and she shook it silently.
"Our best wishes are with you, Faith." he said, softly, "I know you won't let us down."
"Thanks, Wesley." for the first time since coming out of the room, Faith looked at him directly and he could see some of the old spirit in her dark eyes, "I won't forget what you've done for me."
He smiled. There are moments when I know exactly how Giles came to love Buffy the way he does. And my charge is a far thornier rose than his.
"Get your gear and let's go, Faith." Buffy's words were a command, but her tone was not as harsh as Wesley had feared it might have been. Perhaps this will work out. Perhaps.
In the time since her relationship with Riley Finn had begun, Buffy had become used to patrolling in tandem. She and Riley worked well together: her natural abilities complemented his training almost perfectly, and they very rarely found themselves in one another's way.
Once, it had been like that with Faith as well. But not now. They had been patrolling for nearly two hours, without even a single vampire being sighted. Which was hardly surprising, given the complete lack of co-ordination between them.
It wasn't that she didn't always know where Faith was. She kept the other girl in sight at all times: if she hadn't her nerves would have been completely frayed by now. But she no longer had a feel for what the dark-haired slayer was about to do. When they'd been patrolling together before, Faith had always been gung-ho and straight ahead. Completely incapable of sticking to a plan, it was true, but at least Buffy had known what to expect.
Now, however, the brunette obviously didn't know how she should act. One moment she would be exactly as she had been two years earlier: confident, even cocky, ready for a fight. The next, she would suddenly defer to Buffy, the two of them coming close to tripping over one another.
Any half-alert vampire would have heard us coming a mile off. There was no way they were going to come across any demons if they carried on like this.
"Is it usually this quiet?" Faith asked, stopping so suddenly that Buffy almost walked into her.
"Lately, yeah." Buffy said, "There were a few vamps last night, but I dusted them. It's always quiet after I put down some wannabe Demon King."
"And of course, any half-alert vampire would have heard us coming a mile off." Faith dumped her bag of belongings on the floor beside her. Buffy was still amazed by how small it looked.
"Uh ... yeah. My thoughts exactly." Really my thoughts exactly. Creepy.
"Sorry I'm so out of practice at this." Faith half-turned toward her, "I tell you I've come to watch your back and the first night I'm here I spend most of the time almost tripping you up."
Buffy raised her eyebrows. Geez, an apology from Faith. Time was, I'd have walked a long way to hear one of those. I just hope it was sincere.
"Don't sweat it." was all she said aloud, "I'm sure you'll get the rhythm back. Mean time, I figure we may as well call it a night. We're not getting anything accomplished out here."
"Okay." Faith crouched and picked up her bag once more, "Does that mean you're going to tell me where I'm spending the night, now?"
"Not quite." Buffy shook her head, "First, we have to stop by the Bronze."
"A club, B? Not quite what I'd expected."
"Maybe not. But Willow and Tara will probably be there." For a moment, she almost thought Faith went a little pale at the mention of the witches' names. Must be imagining things.
"Red, huh?" No, not imagination. There really was tremor in Faith's voice. "Well I guess I gotta start somewhere. May as well be with the toughest."
The Bronze was dark and loud and filled with college students in their last week of freedom. Music pounded rhythmically as the two slayers moved through the hot press of bodies toward Willow and Tara's table.
"I can't believe you're so freaked about this." Buffy said, leaning close to Faith and half-yelling to be heard over the music, "You tell me calm as can be that I can kill you or put up with you, but Willow's got you scared? She's a pussy-cat!"
Faith shook her head. Jesus, I'd love to dive into this place. Lose myself in the beat.
"B, if you believe that, then you don't know your friends half as well as you think you do." she gestured toward the table where the two witches were watching the slayers' approach. Willow's face was flat and expressionless.
Buffy shook her head, her confusion evident, then took Faith by the arm and steered her through the last of the dancing club-goers.
"Buffy." Willow spoke to her friend directly, voice calm, clearly not including Faith in her greeting. "I guess we know now what you decided to do about Faith."
Ouch. Faith winced inwardly. This is going to be as tough as I thought.
"I'm giving her a chance." Buffy agreed, glancing sidelong at the redhead. The coolness of Willow's greeting had obviously taken her somewhat by surprise.
"Hey, Red." Faith kept her tone as mild as possible. She turned to the blonde girl beside Willow. "Hi. Tara wasn't it?" She put out her hand slowly. Might as well see how bad this will be.
Tara blushed, then began to extend her own hand. But Willow caught her wrist gently, holding it away from Faith's grip.
The dark-haired slayer kept her hand outstretched, eyes on Tara.
"Willow." the blonde girl said gently, and the redhead released her wrist.
They shook hands carefully, each aware of the watchful eyes of both Willow and Buffy.
"Sorry about what I said last time we met," Faith said, uncomfortably, "it was way out of line."
Tara blushed and shook her head. In contrast, Willow locked her gaze with Faith's, challenging her silently. The slayer's first instinct was to return the stare, but she felt a sudden tension from Buffy and instead lowered her gaze. Oh yeah. Mention last time we met. With me in B's bod. Very smooth, girl.
"So." Faith said, ashamed to hear her voice crack slightly, "B says you guys have some ideas for witching me? Will it hurt?"
"Some." Willow said, her tone giving no indication of whether she was serious or not.
Angel was right. Gotta head this one off early or my chance to make it right with B is over.
"You mind if I talk to you in private, Red?"
Willow stared at her for a moment, obviously surprised, then slowly shook her head. Faith turned to Buffy,
"We won't go far, I promise. Look after my bag?"
Buffy nodded mutely. Still surprised by Red's 'tude, I guess.
Faith slipped into a comparatively quiet corner of the Bronze. Willow followed, but kept a good space between them, her arms folded defensively over her chest.
"Okay. I'm listening. Say what you have to say." Willow's tone was clipped, almost sullen.
Faith took a deep breath,
"Look, Red ... Willow ... I'm not gonna lie to you. There's a lot of history between us, most of it me screwing up, and I can't take it back. We both know that. But I can do things right this time. At least, I hope I can. B's said she's gonna give me a chance. She put a bunch of conditions on it, sure, but basically, she's giving me a chance. Now I gotta ask you to do the same."
Willow said nothing. Faith swallowed and went on.
"B thought you'd be pretty open to this. I guess you never filled her in on that chat we had at the Mayor's office. Well I remember it. You stood your ground better than I would have done, in your place. And when you said I was out of second chances, I knew it was true. Maybe B doesn't see it yet, but I know that if you don't give me a chance, then my shot at sorting things out with her is over. She might moon over some guy or another, but when you get down to it there are only three people Buffy loves unconditionally. Giles, her mom, and you. If any of you three shut me out, Buffy will too. Giles and Mrs S. I think I can win over. But with you I don't know where to start."
She paused. Still Willow said nothing, but her posture was a little less rigid. I guess that's a good sign.
"So what I'm saying, Willow, is that you have the power here. If you say I should get a shot at this, then I'll get one. If you say no, then B will close me out. Maybe not straight away, but it'll happen. You and her are too tight for it to go any other way. So that's my pitch. I'm in your hands now."
Willow looked at her silently for a few more moments, then spoke: softly, but with conviction.
"You can have your chance to make things right. And you better hope to God that you don't screw up again, because if you do I won't wait for Buffy to give up on you. I'll take you apart myself and save her the pain. Last time, when you went psycho-slayer on us, she blamed herself as much as she did you. Hell, she still feels responsible for Allen's death. I won't let that happen again. You got me, Faith?"
The slayer nodded, slowly.
"I got ya, Red."
"The funny thing about apologising," said Squirrel, just before 'lights out' one night, "is that it can be very empowering."
Faith leaned over the edge of her bed and peered down at the woman on the lower bunk,
"Sure." she said wryly, "I'll just say 'Gee, sorry about the whole homicidal mania thing' and everyone'll be under the awesome power of my remorse."
Squirrel shook her head,
"Smoke?" It was the fourth time she'd offered that day.
"No thanks." And the fourth refusal.
The older woman shifted onto her side. She was dressed in faded prison clothes, and looked about forty years old, with her greying blonde hair and lightly seamed face. Her nicotine-stained fingers lightly gripped her latest cigarette. The smoke from them had been tickling Faith's nostrils for over an hour.
"That's not what I meant, little Miss." she paused to draw in a lungful of smoke. Faith wrinkled her nose.
"So what did you mean, O wise woman?"
"I've been here a long time." Squirrel gestured at the walls of the shabby grey prison cell. They were strewn with pictures torn out of magazines. Mostly baby-faced young actors. Squirrel has a real cradle-snatching thing going on. "And I can tell you that there are two types of people who come to prison."
"Guilty and innocent?"
"Guilty about it and not guilty about it." Squirrel blew smoke at her dark-haired cell-mate. "The ones who aren't guilty about it, well if they ever get out then pretty soon they're either dead or back in here."
"Uh huh." Faith nodded; a rather clumsy gesture due to the way she was hanging over the edge of the upper bunk. "And the 'guilty about it'?"
"Well," said Squirrel slowly, drawing things out now that she knew she had the younger woman's attention, "They come in two sorts, too. The ones who lay the blame on others, and the ones who know enough to own up to what they did."
"Let me guess. The first bunch end up dead or back here, but the second bunch become productive members of society?"
"Nothing so trite." Squirrel pinched off the remnants of her cigarette and flicked it into a small bowl, which was already half-full of such debris. Faith knew that first thing the next morning the older woman would search through the bowl for any unburned tobacco she could salvage.
"So what happens to them, then?"
"The ones who blame others end up going down the same path again, but second time round it's all wound up another notch. They don't normally come back here because they're so pissed at everyone that the only way to stop 'em is to kill 'em. Often enough, that's what they want. Depending how things play out, they sometimes take a lot of other folk with 'em."
Despite herself, Faith felt her skin crawl. Yeah, they could torture some English guy to make sure his boss is angry enough to kill them, for instance
"And the others?"
"The ones who know enough to apologise for what they did?" Squirrel hooked her hands behind her head, "To be honest, they normally end up back here as well. Once a Con, always a Con." she glanced at Faith, "but sometimes -"
"Yeah?" Faith was surprised at how husky her voice was.
"Sometimes they have pretty special people out there waiting for them. Sometimes that's enough." Squirrel blinked slowly, "you got anyone like that, little Miss?"
Faith had just opened her mouth to reply when Squirrel suddenly shot bolt upright, a hacking cough whipping through her.
"Jesus, Squirrel! You okay?" Faith pulled at her bedclothes, trying to swing out of her bunk, but the blankets seemed to be tangled around her feet.
Squirrel drew in air with a wet, whooping gasp. Her back spasmed, and she turned to face Faith, her eyes turning red as blood cell after blood cell burst behind them.
"Shit!" Faith thrashed more urgently at her sheets, but still could not get free.
Squirrel's cheeks collapsed inward, the skin of her face turning grey and mottled. Her tongue, thick and blackened, lolled obscenely from her mouth.
Truly panicked, Faith pulled angrily at the bedclothes. They came away easily in her hands, and with a yelp of surprise she toppled off the edge of the bunk and
felt
herself
falling
Faith's eyes snapped open. Slowly, she drew in a lungful of air, then sat up.
She was locked in an old crypt somewhere in one of Sunnydale's many cemeteries. She didn't want to ask why, but this particular tomb had a set of metal bars cordoning off one end. A ready-made slayer-cage.
This had been the main reason for stopping at the Bronze to see Willow, Buffy had explained. Apparently this was the place they used to cage Willow's Werewolf-Ex whenever full moon came around. B said she didn't feel right just sticking me here without Red's OK. Faith wondered idly what Buffy planned to do if Willow had objected to the plan. But that wasn't what it was really about, I guess. She wanted Red's OK for letting me stick around.
Squirrel. Faith sighed. She'd hoped that thinking about her latest accommodation would distract her from the dream she'd just had. No dice, it seems.
She'd been in prison nearly two weeks before she'd learned what most people found out in a day: in prison, you have to have someone to watch your back. She'd thought her slayer abilities would be enough to keep her safe: had cracked a few heads to prove how tough she was. But if enough people jump you while you're distracted, slayer powers don't mean jack. You saved my ass that day, Squirrel. Wish I coulda done the same for you.
She shivered and pulled her jacket tighter around her. Even in summer, the gloomy chamber was pretty cold at night. A glance through the small leaded-glass window told her that it was getting fractionally lighter outside. Must be near dawn. Firing squad'll be here soon. Wonder if I'll get a last meal?
Her stomach growled appreciatively at the last thought, but she ignored it, thinking about the coming day. The way news travels in this town, the whole crowd knows what went down with B. I guess I should be glad I got a chance to talk to Red last night. Things are likely to get pretty heated today.
That had been the last thing Buffy mentioned to her before locking her in. A 'Scooby Meeting' she called it. I'll take Bugs and Daffy over that stupid dog any day.
Still, it meant one, clean face-off with the whole Sunnydale crew. In some ways that might be easier. Empowering though it might be, she still found apologising pretty hard to do. This way, she could just go in once, say her bit, and make peace with all of them.
Yeah, like that'll happen.
Chapter Five
Riley Finn had just shrugged into a t-shirt and was scooping up his keys when someone knocked on his door. He frowned briefly, not sure if the knock was his imagination or not. It had sounded tentative, almost like the person had experienced second thoughts and tried, just too late, to stop.
The knock came again, the time with more certainty, and he moved over to answer it, swinging the door open about half-way.
"Hey." he said, his face breaking into a broad smile.
"Hey yourself." Buffy Summers answered, almost bashfully, "Can I come in?"
"Actually," he said, showing her his keys, "I was just about to head out and get some much-needed exercise. I've been getting a bit soft since the Initiative has left town. Why don't you come along?"
To his surprise, Buffy shook her head,
"This kinda can't wait."
Idiot. He scolded himself. Buffy's worried about something.
"Come in." he stepped aside and held the door open for her. She stepped past without her usual kiss of greeting. He could see the tension in the way she held herself and moved.
Riley closed the door and tossed his keys back onto the table. His on-campus apartment wasn't large, but Buffy was standing about as far away from him as possible without leaving the same room.
"What's this about, Buffy?" he asked, becoming worried. We haven't seen much of one another in the last few weeks, and now she does come over, she seems even more distant. A sick sensation twisted in his gut. Is she with someone else?
"It's Faith." she said suddenly.
"Huh?" he said, only semi-coherent. No. She couldn't mean that. Get a grip on yourself.
"She's come back to Sunnydale." Buffy continued. He felt relief wash over him. Now this was a situation he understood. And which explained Buffy's nervousness.
"Okay." he said, thinking about what he would need, "give me a few minutes to get my gear together, then we'll head out to look for her. No point waiting for her to come to us again."
"What?" Buffy shook her head and he broke off, surprised. "No. I already know where she is -"
"Oh." Riley paused for a moment, "Then I guess you should call Giles. See if he has any ideas for facing a slayer. And Willow and Tara: they may have some ideas for slowing her down, making our job easi-"
"Riley." Buffy interjected softly, lifting one hand in a quieting gesture. "Please, just listen to me."
He stopped, his concern growing. She looks really upset. Has Faith done something already?
"Is anyone hurt?" he asked urgently, unable to help himself.
"Hurt?" Buffy looked surprised. "Oh, no. No, nothing like that. Look, this is going to sound a little strange, so you may want to sit down." she paused whilst he slowly did as she suggested, "Faith says she's come back to help me."
"What?" Riley got to his feet again in a hurry, his chair tumbling backwards as he did so. She made me hurt you, Buffy. I'll never forgive her for that. He remembered how difficult it had been for them to talk about Faith. She's brought so much misery to Buffy's life.
"Riley, please!" Buffy looked so upset that for a moment he thought she would stamp her foot.
"Sorry." he rubbed the back of his head. "Go on." I can't believe this. After everything Faith did to hurt us, we're supposed to believe she's here to help?
Buffy sighed and looked down, obviously collecting her thoughts.
"Look," she said at last, "I'm not sure that I believe her, but every time I think I've talked myself into giving up on her, something stops me. And there's something about her this time ... she's just so convincing."
"So you're going to trust her." he kept his tone flat and factual. "After what she did to us."
Buffy's face crumbled, tears coming to her eyes. It felt like someone had kicked him in the chest. Damn, she made me hurt you again.
"I'm sorry, Riley." she half-turned away from him, leaned wearily on his table, "I keep trying to hate her. I really do. I keep telling myself that nothing can make up for what she's done. But then I remember all the other times we've trusted people who once seemed like an enemy, or a threat. Oz, Angel, Spike, Anya. Even you, Riley."
"Trusting Spike was a mistake." Riley reminded her. "I think this will be, too. Wait a minute. Me?"
"You did secretly belong to an evil government project." Buffy said. "I know you didn't realise what the Initiative was like at first. And I know that when you did realise, you chose to help us. But we had no guarantee that you would. You could have betrayed us at any time. Willow, Xander, Giles ... me. We all just had to have a little faith in you."
He swallowed,
"And now you want me to have a little faith in ... Faith?" The difference between me and her is, I never knowingly betrayed you. Faith did, again and again.
"Yeah, I guess I do. We're having a meeting this morning at Giles' and I'd like you to be there. I'm going to pick up Faith straight after I leave here, so you only have about twenty minutes to decide what you're doing."
Riley sighed. I'd hoped that, with the Initiative out of the way, things would be a little less confused. I should have known that something, someone actually, would mess that up. Well, whatever she's up to, I'm going to make sure she doesn't get a chance to do it.
"Okay." he said finally, sounding more decisive than he felt. "I'll listen to what Faith has to say. But I'm coming with you to get her. And I'm taking my gear. Just in case. Deal?"
Buffy nodded, a small smile at last appearing on her face,
"Deal."
Riley turned to go to the bedroom, then turned back. Oz, Angel, Spike -
"Anya?"
Spike stood at the mouth of his lair, watching the sunrise.
He smirked, his lips clamped firmly around a cigarette. Put that way, it sounded positively suicidal. But it was early enough that the sun's rays were still splashing harmlessly against the wall several feet above his head. Be at least ten minutes before the blasted thing is high enough to be a danger.
His smirk faded as he considered his next course of action. Things had been going very well for him since Adam learned why it didn't pay to tackle the slayer head-on. But four of his newbies had become careless and had been dusted for their troubles. Could have tipped the slayer off. He could hope that it hadn't, but he couldn't rely on it. He might be a ponce, but Rupert's pretty sharp. The little redhead, too.
He tossed the cigarette on the floor and ground it out beneath his boot. Slowly lit another, glancing as he did at the sunlight on the wall above him. Eight minutes.
Spike knew that most vampires despised humans. Considered them cattle, fit only to be fed upon. Which was true enough. But he despised most vampires even more. They were worse than cattle. They're sheep. Willing enough to follow a strong leader, but put him down and they run and hide. He had used that to his advantage after the slayer gave Adam his final lesson in the way the world worked. The cyborg had become something of a spiritual figure to many of the vampires in Sunnydale, and his death had cowed them even more than had that of the Master, or the Mayor.
Easy pickings. Spike smirked again, remembering how simple it had been to take control of the situation. A few stakings, of course, but mainly just threats. When you've survived as many scrapes with the slayer as I have, it does wonders for the reputation. More than killing two of them in the past, for some reason.
Vampire numbers had been substantially depleted after the slayer and Adam had finished their little dispute. He'd been building them up slowly, carefully, ever since. The plan had been to keep what he was doing secret from the slayer, so he could surprise her with his strength when the time came for a confrontation. And until those four idiots tangled with her two nights ago, I'm pretty sure she didn't have a clue what was going on.
A frown slowly replaced the smirk. He had people watching the slayer, of course. At night, anyway. Daytime surveillance was not really an option when you only had vampires to work with. The reports he'd received during the night indicated that she'd had someone with her on her latest patrol. Not the soldier-boy, either. A change in her routine, so soon after those idiots got themselves killed. Has to be connected.
He cursed and glanced up. Five minutes, maybe less. He needed to know that the slayer was up to. And since she and her groupies insist on plotting in the daytime, that means I need some new help. The problem, of course, was getting that help. The demons in Sunnydale didn't care for him much, and anyway they were as depleted as the vampires would have been if he hadn't taken a hand. With the chip in his head deactivated, he was back up to full strength, so he could always beat someone into keeping an eye on the slayer, but he needed a more co-operative agent than that.
It's decided then. Road-trip. I have to hire a little help if I want to complete my slayer hat-trick. He glanced up for the last time as he threw the now spent cigarette aside. Two minutes. Nice to see a little pressure still clears the mind.
Spike retreated into his lair, closing and locking the door firmly as he did so.
"Harm!" he yelled, "Pack your things. We're taking a trip!". He pointed suddenly at one of the vampires lounging within the lair. "You! Make yourself useful and check that the car is ready to go. I want to be out of here in an hour."
The vampire took off at a run, well aware of what happened to those who Spike felt were slow to do as he ordered. Spike smiled. Fear. Only thing that'll keep the bastards honest.
He turned just in time to catch Harmony Kendall as she leapt into his arms. Her legs locked around his waist as she kissed him firmly on the mouth.
"Where're we going, lover?" she asked, grinding her hips against his. He grinned savagely and kissed her back. She'd been one of the first to come over to him, when he started this. Said she forgave him for trying to kill her. Dense cow. I'd stake her in an instant for another chance with Dru. Still, she had her uses.
"Right now?" he said, "We're going to bed. After that, I thought we'd do a little shopping in LA."
Faith looked up as the door of the crypt creaked open.
"Hey, B." she said, then felt her face fall as she saw who was behind the blonde slayer.
"Faith." Buffy's tone was reserved. "I believe you've met Riley."
"Yeah ... sorta." Faith answered slowly. Geez, B, this is hitting below the belt. In all kinds of ways.
Riley folded his arms, but said nothing. He was wearing a sports jacket, khaki pants and steel-capped boots. Bit warm for the jacket, stud. Carrying a little something extra underneath, huh?
They were all silent for a moment. Faith felt angry and hurt that the blonde girl had brought Riley with her. It was bad enough that Buffy didn't trust her enough to come alone. That she could accept, even understand. But to bring Rebound Guy was a bit harsh.
Faith rose slowly from where she had been sitting on the crypt floor. Buffy glanced between her and Riley, her expression making it obvious that she was beginning to think this had been a mistake. Bit late, B. Riley continued to look at her impassively, as if waiting for something.
Probably an apology, she realised. Well, screw him. I've settled things with B. He can damn well wait to get his 'sorry' with the rest of them.
Aloud, she said only,
"You're gonna have to find a better place to keep me than this, B."
Buffy started, as if surprised by the comment. Riley frowned,
"Looks pretty suitable to me." he snapped. "And you're hardly in a position to make demands."
Faith shrugged, sure it would irritate Riley further,
"Hey, it's five by five with me. I've stayed in worse. But I figured if B wants a little more peace of mind she'll need to find something a little more secure."
"Faith," Buffy broke in, "that ... cage ... held a werewolf. That makes it strong enough to hold you, too."
Faith cracked her knuckles.
"Thing is, B." she said slowly, "Werewolves are strong, but not too smart. I'm guessing Ozzy boy bounced around in here, throwing himself against the bars every now and then. Not much of a plan for escape, there. Now me ..." she looked around the crypt for effect, "I can see four ways out of here after just one night as a guest."
"Really?" Buffy folded her arms in unconscious imitation of Riley. "Care to share, F?"
Faith bit off a sarcastic retort. Better chill, girl.
"B." she said quietly, walking up to the bars, "I'm not doing this to hurt you or make you feel like you screwed up. I'm doing it because I need to show you that you can trust me."
Buffy swallowed, then nodded.
"Okay, Faith." she answered at last, her tone now more controlled. "Tell me what you see."
"One. Padlock." Faith pointed at the item in question, "I'm guessing you picked it for strength and durability. Which is all you need for a werewolf. But I recognise the model. The locking mechanism is pretty simple. If I stuck at it, I could probably pick it. Two, I could smash the window. Who the hell puts a window in a crypt anyway? Only in Sunnydale, right?"
"It looks a little small." Buffy observed, staring at the leaded glass.
"Maybe." Faith shrugged, "But I'm a pretty flexible girl. And once I'd smashed it, I could probably prise out some of the brickwork. Might take a few hours, but I'd have all night."
"And three?" asked Buffy dully, remembering how she had needed to keep telling herself that Faith was safely locked away in order to sleep the night before.
"That bar there." Faith tapped it, "it's a bit loose. If I worked on it, I could probably push it out eventually." she paused, then continued. "Fourth, the ceiling. I'm pretty sure I could punch a hole through it. Chances are good that there is a space between it and the roof. I crawl up into that, then go through the roof."
"Spells." Buffy said, "We could get Willow and Tara to magic the whole cell so that you couldn't get out."
"Might work." Faith conceded, "but maybe not. And it would take enough magical energy that they wouldn't be much good for anything else, right?"
Remembering Willow's comments outside Giles' the day before, Buffy nodded reluctantly.
Riley spoke suddenly,
"Well, I'm convinced."
"Riley?" Buffy turned to him, her expression confused.
"I've listened to Faith's little lecture." he said, "And I'm convinced. Convinced we don't have the resources to hold her safely. Look, Buffy, the government still has that sorcerer you captured. Maybe we could find out who to contact, get them to take her -"
"No." Buffy's refusal came an instant before Faith could voice her own. "Not a chance. Even if I didn't find the idea repulsive, it would be too risky. What the Initiative did with demons was bad enough. I don't want to think what they could do with a slayer."
"Then the people Giles knows. The Watchers. They said they had some way of re-educating her, right -"
"No." Faith's voice shook with the venom she put into it, "There is no goddamn way they are getting me. I'd rather you kill me now, soldier-boy."
"I'd be happy to." Riley gritted back.
"Enough." Buffy's voice was sharp. "Riley, the Watchers are no better than the Initiative."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" he sounded weary suddenly, resigned. "Since Faith has so ably demonstrated our inability to hold her securely?"
"Well ..." Buffy said slowly, "obviously we were going about this all wrong. We can't leave Faith unattended the way we did Oz. Not unless we can learn to trust her. And whilst I'd like to trust you, Faith, I can't. Not yet."
"We're cool, B." Faith said softly, though Buffy's admission was painful to her.
"We use guards, then." Riley said. "Take it in turns."
Buffy shook her head.
"Faith is a slayer, Riley." she reminded him quietly, "the only one who could handle her is me. And it wouldn't be fair to ask the others to put themselves in so much danger."
"Then what do we do?"
"There's only one thing we can do." Buffy answered, her tone suddenly confident, "Faith has to move in with me."
"What?" Faith's and Riley's voices rose together.
"It's the only thing that makes sense." Buffy explained, "This way I'll always know where Faith is at night. It'll make taking her on patrol easier, too."
"Buffy," Riley objected, "you can't be serious. Think of the risk to your mother. And to Tara and Willow -"
"Not Mom's place." Buffy broke in. "Mine. I had to move back to the campus tomorrow anyway. And with Willow and Tara set to share a place, I'm due a new roomie."
"B." it was Faith's turn to object. I can't believe what I'm hearing. "That room is for students."
"No problem." Buffy said dismissively, "Willow can set you up in the student records and assign you to my room."
"Buffy, that's crazy." Riley argued. "You want us to leave you alone in a room with her? Asleep?"
The blonde shrugged,
"If she wanted to come after me, Riley, there would be much easier ways to do it." she turned to Faith and grinned a little bashfully, "The fact is, that if you're going to stay here, we're going to have to trust you at some point. I guess maybe I can find a way to do that after all."
The brunette felt her mouth working, but knew that nothing intelligible was coming out. She closed it with an act of will, then took a deep breath.
"Jesus, B." she quipped, desperate to cover the emotional tumult she felt inside. "Keep talking like that and you'll have me buying you roses."
Buffy laughed softly, but Faith's eyes were on Riley. He evidently didn't see the funny side. Gonna be trouble from that one, girl.
Chapter Six
Arriving last at Giles' apartment to find everybody waiting for them probably should have felt more like an inquisition, but Faith felt strangely confident. This isn't the real test. She realised that now. It's just a ceremony that has to be observed. The prodigal slayer returns. The real test is tomorrow, and the days after. It's sticking to what I've begun, rather than fouling it up the way I usually do.
They were arrayed around Giles' living room when Buffy led her inside. The room hadn't changed much from when she'd watched them meet there seven months before. Giles was standing near the middle of the room, unconsciously dividing it into two halves. On his left Xander and an attractive young woman she didn't know were sharing the couch. Riley was heading for a chair on that side too. The hostile half. On Giles' right, Willow sat at a desk, working on the computer. Tara stood behind her, one hand on the redhead's shoulder. For a moment, she thought the blonde girl gave her a small smile of encouragement. The ... less hostile half, I guess.
Buffy, to her surprise and gratitude, remained standing beside her.
"Well," said Giles, "I think it is pretty evident to everybody why we're here -"
"Yeah, there's a psycho-slayer in town." Xander said with mock joviality. "How are ya, Faith? Kill anyone today?"
"Nope. You volunteering?" the words were out of her mouth before she could think about them. She flushed. That's a pretty fast foul-up, even for you.
Xander spread his hands and looked pointedly around the room before settling back into the couch.
"My work here is done." he announced.
"Listen, you little pipsqueak -" she jabbed a finger at him, her carefully preserved self-control fraying at last. She broke off, hauling in her emotions. Damn, he always did get under my skin.
"Faith." Buffy gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
She shrugged the hand off, half-turning on the other slayer. Just haul off one nice shot to her face and they'll be all over you. Then it's goodnight, Faith. The thought was tempting. For the briefest of moments, she felt her first clenching. Then she swore softly and turned back to Xander.
"Listen, Harris." she snapped, "I didn't come here to bond with you, or to make friends with you, or to ask you to trust me. Frankly, I don't care about any of that. I didn't even come here to apologise to you. Or you." she stabbed a finger at Riley, "Or you. Whoever you are." the girl next to Xander scowled, but said nothing. "I am here to help Buffy. I'm not interested in your Scooby club, or whatever it is you call it, and I sure ain't interested in you."
It felt good to unload. She knew playing it meek was smarter, but she could only take so much.
"Hey!" the girl beside Xander stood up, "that's my boyfriend you're talking to!"
Faith smirked,
"Your boyfriend? Listen sister, I had him first and let me tell you, you're welcome to it."
Both Xander and his girlfriend went pale simultaneously. Faith grinned,
"Didn't tell you that, did he?"
The girl deflated, bursting into tears and running into one of the other rooms. Xander stood, hands clenching and unclenching. The he pointed at Faith,
"You see?" he said, his voice unsteady, "You see what I mean about her? It's been two minutes and already she's screwing us again!"
"Why Xander," Faith purred, "Time was when another screwing from me was all you wanted."
Riley stood and walked to the front door of the apartment.
"I've seen enough." he said quietly, to Buffy. "Call me when you've come to your senses about this."
"Riley -" Buffy reached out to stop him, but he stepped out of the door and closed it behind him.
Faith felt ice form in her chest. That's it. I blew it already. Gotta be a goddamn record.
She turned back toward the room. Just in time to see Xander throw the punch.
His fist caught her on the left side of her mouth, splitting her lower lip and knocking her backward into a bookcase. She straightened slowly from the blow, wiping at the trickle of blood coming from her lip.
"Pretty good shot, Harris." she said. Better than I expected. Much better.
He glared at her without saying anything, then stalked off to find his girlfriend.
Slowly, Faith turned to face Buffy. The blonde slayer looked stricken.
"Sorry, B." she muttered through her swelling lip. "I really thought I was gonna do better this time around. Guess I'm still the same screw-up I always was. You wanna do me now, or wait for them to cool down and come back, so they can watch?"
Buffy looked at her with unfocussed eyes.
"He ... he hit you." she said suddenly, "And he ... he left." she gestured at the door through which Riley had gone.
"Yeah, B." Faith looked down, "Everything got screwed up. Just like always. No surprise that I was involved, right?"
Buffy shook her head. For a moment Faith thought it was in answer to her comment and the ice in her chest squeezed tighter. Then Buffy spoke,
"I will not let this happen again." the words were almost snarled. She looked up at Faith, "I can't let this happen again." Tears began to roll down her cheeks.
"Geez ... B." Faith was at a loss. Tentatively, she reached out to the other slayer.
Buffy slid into her arms, and Faith held her gently, stroking the smaller girl's hair as she cried.
Giles made tea.
To some people, he supposed, this mundane action in the midst of so much emotion would have seemed laughable. But he knew that the routine of making a pot of Prince of Wales would help calm his own nerves, and that both slayers would benefit from the soothing effect of the drink.
The girls accepted the offered cups wordlessly. It had been almost five minutes since Buffy stopped crying. Both had tear-stained faces, making it clear that Faith has been as overwrought as Buffy.
Xander and Anya were still lurking somewhere else within the apartment. Willow had gone to look for them at one point, but had come back red-faced and muttering that 'they need a few more minutes'. Giles was doing his best not to think about what that could mean.
"Well," he said, sitting between the two slayers and taking a sip of his own tea. "I'm sure it doesn't seem that way at the moment, but things could have gone worse."
"How exactly?" Faith growled softly, not lifting her gaze from the cup in her hands.
"You could have hit Xander back." Willow suggested. She and Tara were sitting on the couch, hands clasped, watching Faith and Buffy with wide, slightly frightened eyes.
"Yes." agreed Giles slowly, "that could have made things worse. As an example."
Faith grunted, unconvinced.
Buffy frowned,
"Don't bullshit us, Giles." the librarian blinked in surprise, "That couldn't have gone worse if we tried. Faith and Xander had a screaming match. Riley walked out on me. Xander hit Faith. And all I did was burst into tears like some sort of five year old."
"Both of us, B." Faith reminded her, "Both big, bad slayers bawling like a pair of babies. Guess I bring out the pathetic in us both." she sipped her tea absently.
Despite herself, Buffy couldn't help but smile at the incongruous image presented by the leather-clad, tea-drinking slayer.
"I hardly think your reactions are so surprising." Giles said mildly, "the last two days have put you both under a great deal of strain, and this was obviously too much, too soon."
"Yeah, well I've screwed the whole deal now, haven't I?" Faith peered into her cup, swirling the last of the tea experimentally. "This isn't bad. Better than the crap you get in prison." she suddenly realised they were all looking at her, "What? I like tea. Can't a girl have hidden depths?"
Willow did her best to look positive,
"Well we can't say for certain that the whole deal is scr- uh, messed up." she said hopefully, "I mean, Tara and I will stick by you Buffy. And you, Faith. And Giles is gonna be major support guy too, right Giles?"
"Yes, of course." Giles murmured, "Pleased to help in whatever way I can."
"Know any spells to help Xander let go of his anger?" Faith asked sourly.
"No need." Xander's voice was clear, if a little tentative. They looked up to see that he and Anya were standing just inside the room. Xander looked rather dishevelled, with a dark bruise forming on his cheek. He held a small white tube in his hand.
"Here." he offered the tube to Faith, hesitantly. "It's antiseptic cream from Giles' first aid kit. For your lip."
"Thanks." Faith took the tube without actually looking Xander in the face.
"I'm ... uh ... sorry about what I said earlier." Xander wiped his hands on his shirt, nervously. "Anya and I had an ... um, talk."
"I expressed myself forcefully." Anya supplied helpfully.
"I'd noticed." Buffy replied dryly.
"Yeah." Xander shifted nervously, obviously uncomfortable with the subject. "Anyway, Anya said I'd been a bit out of line and that I should apologise, and I guess she's right. I didn't really give Faith a chance today."
"Wait a minute," Faith said to Anya, puzzled, "You told him he was out of line after I told you we'd slept with one another? How does that work?"
"Men are pigs." Anya answered. Faith, seeing that this was sufficient explanation for everybody else, let the matter rest.
"So." said Buffy slowly, setting aside her largely untouched tea. "You two are okay with the idea of Faith staying in Sunnydale?"
"I wouldn't say we're okay with it." Xander admitted honestly, "but we figure that if you think she can be trusted, then we should back your judgement. I guess you must have a better insight into Faith than the rest of us, what with the, uh, bodyswap earlier this year." he flushed as he realised what he was saying, "Not, of course, that I would bring up such a painful subject so you must just all be hearing things."
"Perhaps you have said enough for now, Xander." Giles suggested.
Xander nodded mutely.
"So the gang's all back together." Willow glanced around happily.
"Except Riley." Buffy said.
"Oh." Willow looked crestfallen.
"He'll come round, B." Faith assured her, "Just give him time. No-one can ever say no to you forever. Not even a head case like me."
Buffy sighed,
"I hope so." she smiled wanly. "But it's hard, you know? Every time I think he and I have finally got things worked out, something happens to upset it ... and that sounds like I'm blaming you, which I'm not. So I'll shut up now." she nodded firmly.
Faith looked around at the group and smiled disbelievingly,
"Somehow, I think this whole screwed-up situation just worked itself out. I really don't know how, but I'm not going to argue about it. Thanks for believing in me. I won't let you down."
Giles cleared his throat,
"Well, actually, this situation is not quite resolved just yet. There is still the matter of, uh, Mrs Summers to consider."
"Oh god." Buffy looked horrified, "Mom."
Faith buried her head in her hands and massaged her temples. Last night she had told Willow she thought she could deal Buffy's mother. Now, after the near disaster with Xander and Riley,
"I doubt my nerves could take it." she and Buffy said in unison, then looked at one another in surprise.
"Holy psychic slayer links, Batman!" Xander laughed, "That was pretty eerie!"
"You're telling me." Faith grimaced.
"So what do we do about your Mom?" Willow said worriedly, "I mean, we have to tell her about Faith being back in the group, right?" she paused as both Buffy and Faith turned to regard her with calculating eyes. Slowly, the redhead swallowed, "We do have to tell her, right?"
"Right" agreed Buffy.
"Absolutely." Faith nodded.
"Just."
"Not."
"Quite."
"Yet."
They looked at one another and grinned.
Giles removed his glasses and pinched his nose,
"Would the two of you mind not doing that?" he said plaintively, "It's bad enough that I shall have two slayers to take care of, let alone to have them doing some kind of vaudeville double act."
"Sorry, Giles." the two slayers chorused, as if on queue, then broke into laughter.
Giles smiled, letting it look a little strained. It's much better to let them laugh off the earlier incident than to have them dwell on it.
"So what's the plan?" Willow asked, "I mean, does Faith stay in Oz's cage every night? Because that seems pretty icky."
"Buffy has some fool idea about me staying with her." Faith said. "Is there any more tea?"
"Pot's on the counter." Giles answered absently.
"Buffy?" Willow looked confused, "How are you going to keep your Mom from finding out about Faith if she's staying at your place?"
"I meant my place on campus, Will." Buffy explained, "Since my last roomie bailed on me, I need a new one. Think you're up to adding Faith to the campus directory?"
Willow grinned,
"Does she know you snore?"
Buffy gave her a dirty look.
"Okay, okay. I'll take a look." Willow moved over to the computer and set down to work. "The student records shouldn't be much of a problem, really. UC Sunnydale's hardly the police department, after all."
Faith came back into the room, a cup of tea in one hand.
"I can't believe you're sending me to college, B." she shook her head.
"It's for your own good, Faith." Buffy grinned, "Your dad and I want you to have a good job when you're older. Something secure, with prospects of promotion and a good dental plan."
"I'm in!" Willow called, "Lousy second rate security. Anyone could be hacking into our records."
"Well in this case, Will." Buffy reminded her, "Anyone is us."
Willow brought up a data entry screen,
"So you're using Faith Clements, right?" she said.
Faith nodded.
"Any middle initial?"
"S."
"For?" Willow glanced up.
"Samuel."
"But that's a boy - oh, I get it."
"Will?" Xander looked blank, "Wanna share?"
"Samuel Clements. He said 'rumours of my death are exaggerated'."
"I thought that was the guy that wrote Huckleberry Hound?"
"Huckleberry Finn, Xander."
"That too." Xander glanced at Anya and grabbed her hand, "Anyway, I have to go. The workaday week awaits."
A chorus of farewells saw the pair out of the door. As it closed behind them, Xander's voice drifted back to the group at the computer,
"I can't believe you took her side. She ravished me."
Giles rinsed out the teapot with warm water as Willow worked on, constructing a college persona for Faith. Classes were chosen, timetables prepared, fees marked as paid. Within an hour, UC Sunnydale had its newest student, and Buffy Summers had a new room-mate.
Riley sat in a chair in his apartment, looking up at the ceiling. I can't believe I walked out on Buffy. But no, that wasn't what had happened. He'd walked out on Faith, and her claimed reform.
At the moment, that's just about the same thing. He rolled his head to one side, looking out of the window. He couldn't understand why Buffy seemed to need to believe in Faith. Why she felt she had to help the other slayer.
But perhaps it's simply that. As a slayer, Faith has a connection with her that I can't match. He frowned at the thought. Buffy was closer to him than anyone else in the world. He had given up everything for her. Sacrificed his career and his friends.
Not that I want that from her. He had to remind himself of that. He knew things were different for her than for him. Buffy couldn't stop being the slayer, no matter how much she wished she could. And there are times I am sure she does. And her friends hadn't ever been responsible for creating an all-but-immortal cyborg demon. Though they are responsible for Faith.
It was an ugly thought, and he would have preferred that it hadn't occurred to him, but now that it had, he was forced to admit it seemed valid. Faith was dangerous, that was definite. He'd seen Buffy in action: he had to assume Faith was similarly powerful. And unlike Buffy, she's shown herself quite willing to work for the other side.
When the Initiative had tried to persuade him that Buffy could not be trusted, he had known in his heart that she could. But he couldn't say the same of Faith. She deliberately set out to hurt us. How can Buffy forgive that?
He sighed. However crazy it seemed for Buffy to put her trust in Faith's apparent reform, that was exactly what she was doing. If the reform was a sham, then she was in a great deal of danger.
Walking out of there was a mistake. He realised that now. He needed to be there, to keep an eye on Faith. The others wouldn't be doing it. Giles and Willow seemed to share Buffy's willingness to accept Faith's return. Xander was obviously suspicious, but he didn't have the equipment or the training to help Buffy if Faith turned on them. In the morning, he would go and make his apologies. To Buffy, at least.
I need to be there. Someone has to watch her back.
"Are you sure you want to move back a day earlier, Buffy?" Joyce sounded concerned, "It seems awfully sudden."
"Oh, you know me, Mom." Buffy laughed, "Everything changed at the last minute. Willow and Tara are moving into their place today, too. We thought it might be better to get out of your hair all at once."
"Well, okay." Joyce frowned, "But try to visit a bit more often this year, honey. By the way, this doesn't have anything to do with Faith, does it?"
Buffy paused in what she was doing. Guilty look. Lose it quickly. She smiled and waved a hand nervously,
"What do you mean, Mom?"
"Well, it's just that, coming so soon after what you told me about Faith being in town, I wondered if this was something to do with trying to protect me. You know, by going to the campus to draw her attention there."
"Oh. Wow." Buffy shook her head, "You got me, Mom. Nothing gets past you, I guess. Yeah, we figured this would make Faith concentrate on the campus." And that's not even a lie. Not really, anyway.
"Well you watch out for yourself." Joyce kissed her on the cheek, "and your friends."
"Will do, Mom." Buffy hugged her mother briefly, then ran quickly out of the house, a full bag of belongings bouncing on one shoulder.
It had taken most of the day to move all of their stuff. Thankfully, with three girls moving out all at once, it had proved possible to slip a few extra bits of linen and other supplies into the luggage for Faith. Which is just as well, since she brought almost nothing with her.
They drive across to the campus without incident. Faith was already in the room she and Buffy would share, unpacking the previous load of luggage. There had been a brief moment of indecision earlier in the day about what they could do with Faith whilst the rest of them went to get things from the Summers' house, but in the end Buffy had just shrugged. It wasn't like we had a secure way to lock her up anyway, so why not show a little trust?
Faith's idea of unpacking, she discovered on arrival, was somewhat haphazard. It was dark before they had the room in some semblance of order, and there were still two unopened cardboard boxes to be gone through the next day.
"At last." Buffy flopped down on her bed, "I'm beat."
"We should patrol." Faith reminded her, standing next to the other bed.
"Nup." Buffy buried her head in her pillow, "Taking the day off for personal time. Gotta get to know my new roomie."
Faith grinned at her,
"This is crazy, B." she shook her head, "How long do you think I can pretend to be a college student?"
"Oh, about as long as I can." Buffy said airily, "And no-one's found me out yet. Just try not to wear out too many of these college boys with your extra-curricular activities."
"College boys are all so immature." Faith joked, sitting cross-legged on her bed. "So give me the heads up, B. Is there anything going on in this town? Because last night seemed dead and you don't seem real worried about patrolling."
Buffy yawned,
"We think Spike may be up to something." she said tiredly, "But we have to work out where he's hiding before we can do anything about it."
"Spike. But he's just a vampire, right? No problem, then. We can stake and dust, and still be back in time to hit the clubs."
Buffy sat up,
"Spike's no normal vampire, Faith." she warned, "Not only has he got away from me a half a dozen times, but he's killed two slayers already."
Faith was silent for a moment, then she reached out and grabbed Buffy's hand,
"Don't sweat it, B. Because he's never had to face two slayers at once, before. And there is no way he can be ready for that."
Buffy squeezed Faith's hand,
"Thanks." she yawned again, "but I need to turn in. Goodnight, Faith." she released the other girl's hand, rolled over, and closed her eyes.
Faith remained sitting, watching Buffy for several minutes. Then she reached over, snapped off the bedside light, and the room was filled with darkness.
"Here." Spike tossed a wallet into Harmony's lap. "Found this on that snack we had earlier. Go buy yourself something nice whilst I get my business dealt with."
Harmony rifled through the wallet with practised ease, sliding out all the cash and credit cards before tossing the rest into the back seat.
"How long are you going to be, Spike?"
"Probably an hour or two, babe." he answered her, "I'll meet you back at the motel, okay? And no adventures, now. Angel and his cronies are in this town, and I don't want to get their attention if I can help it."
"Sure." she replied, not really listening, "Hey, drop me off here. There's a killer dress store on this street, and they stay open late."
Spike slid the car in against the curb and gave her just enough time to get out before speeding off.
"Asshole." she muttered, watching him take the next corner much faster than was safe. Then, with a shrug of dismissal, she headed into the shop. It was everything she remembered it to be, and so much more. The 'so much more' applying in particular to price tags. Obviously should have grabbed a richer snack.
"Harmony?" a voice behind her said in surprise, "Is that you?"
She turned and smiled slowly,
"Cordelia." she purred, "How nice to see you."
