Chapter 2
"Faith makes things possible... Not easy."
Patrolling on her own was easier. That way, she didn't have to worry about Will or Xan or even Giles getting hurt. She knew that for the most part they could handle themselves. Against one vamp, maybe even two if they worked together. But if they got overwhelmed by two big guys, maybe even one super strong demon, they were toast. And Buffy couldn't focus on staking fiends through the heart, when she was constantly worried that those same fiends were about to rip apart her best friends.
The slayer stepped around the gravestones and waited for a vamp to finish clawing himself out of his own grave. Watching something like that always gave her the wiggins. At first she felt sorry for the guy as he struggled. He shambled out of the hole, pushed aside the fresh dirt and looked up at her, maybe confused for a fraction of a second. But then, once he was on his feet, the same feral hunger took over him that it had all the rest of them. And he snarled at her, his forehead all bumpy, his teeth all sharp and pointy, and he said, "Slayer."
And then instantly, all pity was gone. "Couldn't you have just STAYED dead?" Buffy quipped, and readied her steak. It really was kind of rude that some vamp out there had gone through the trouble of siring the guy, but didn't even care enough to keep him from getting buried. Waking up in a coffin HAD to be a buzz-kill.
"I've been waiting to kill you my entire life!" the vampire said, and lunged at her.
Buffy dodged him nimbly. "For your entire life?" she replied. "So for all of five seconds?"
He growled. Vampire growls were supposed to invoke fear in the heart of humans. But Buffy wasn't a human. Not really. And the growl didn't even make her bat an eyelash anymore. "Tonight I rose," the vamp said, and pushed up the sleeves of the suit he'd been buried in, which was stained with dirt and grass. Obviously he had meant something to SOMEONE. At SOMETIME. "And tonight you DIE." He lunged again, sticking his arms out like some cartoon zombie.
But the slayer had other plans. She spun, and shot out one arm, the point of her stake making perfect contact with the part of the vamp's chest just above his heart. "Actually," she said, as he stared at her completely shocked, "Tonight YOU die. Again." And with the that, the vamp dusted, and all that was left to remember the guy was the disturbed grave and the headstone that Buffy stepped over to continue her patrol.
She wasn't alone for long, though, and before she was ready, arms slid around her from behind and her body tensed.
"Thought you weren't gonna come," a sultry voice said directly into her ear.
Buffy took a jagged breath. She wanted to relax, but she couldn't. Her heart was beating hard in her chest. "I would have been here sooner, but there was this guy and..."
Faith cut her off, spun her around, kissed her passionately. She pushed her hands up to the blonde slayer's shoulders and pulled her jacket down her arms, exposing her upper arms. She broke their kiss, and placed her lips there, making a path down each arm, and then back up. "No worries, B," the brunnete said, and pulled Buffy against her in a tight hug. "Job comes first."
Buffy snuggled against her counterpart's chest and closed her eyes for a minute. "I told Will that I was coming out here to kick your ass," she told her, "Isn't that terrible? I just didn't want her to come along. I really wanted to kiss you."
"Yeah?" Faith traced Buffy's spine with her finger tips. "Why were you going to kick my ass? Not been kissin' you enough..or?"
"No," Buffy smiled. "That's not it. It's just because you've been pulling away from the group."
"I have to, B" Faith said, her voice much more sensitive than and of the other Scoobies knew her for, "I can't handle bein' around you and not bein' all over you." She lifted Buffy's face again and placed a light kiss on her lips. They didn't make out. They had boundaries. Faith knew Buffy's past. She knew about Angel. When she showed up, Buffy was still heart broken over him. She walked around without purpose, swinging out and hitting whatever stepped in front of her fist. But the second Faith started takin' her out, giving her the attention she needed, Buffy perked up. The attraction was instant, but acting on it had taken awhile. They'd only just admitted it a few nights ago, the same time they'd kissed. But damn.. It was amazing.