Two miles out, Faith pulled into a cemetery and parked her bike just inside the fence, allowing it to be hidden from any car that drove by. Taking off her helmet, Faith took in a deep breath before checking that her stake was securely attached to the holster at the bottom of her leg. She knew that Buffy probably was in this cemetery, but it was quite big, so she figured that her parking at the gate didn't clue the blonde in to her arrival. 'Cept for that feeling I'm getting, saying she's relatively nearby. Hope it doesn't distract her.
Faith strode forward, her destination unclear, merely awaiting the sounds of fighting, or the sight of a particular blonde. Some time later, Faith knew she must have covered almost half the cemetery by this point, she heard the tell tale signs of vampires. The snarling was coming from a little ways off, more towards the edge of the cemetery, near the woods. As she rounded a mausoleum, Faith saw the original Chosen One battling alone against eight vampires, not a particular fair match. Buffy was fending off four with ease, but the others were using her split concentration to slowly make their way closer to her.
Within seconds, Buffy had one dusted, and Faith moved up behind two and dusted them from behind before the rest realized they now had more than just one girl to worry about. Faith watched as Buffy threw one into a headstone before punching another vamp in the face, causing him to stumble backwards. She then let out a flurry of punches before sweeping his legs out from underneath himself, and dusting him.
Faith took on two vamps at once, a male and a female. Slamming her elbow into the male's face, Faith did a roundhouse kick on the female, sending her sprawling over a headstone. The male landed a hard kick into her side, and Faith grunted as she felt the pain shoot through her. She faintly heard the sound of a vamp being dusted, before the male pulled her into a headlock. Faith could feel her lungs screaming already, and propelled herself back into a taller gravestone, causing the male vamp to release her. Swiveling quickly, Faith plunged the stake into his heart before turning towards the forgotten female vamp as he dusted.
Faith kept a watchful eye on Buffy as she stumbled backwards from the punch to her jaw, and tried not to wince at the kick to her gut before shifting to her right and allowing the vampire's momentum to sending him flying. Moving forward towards him, Buffy did a high kick to his chin which caused him to slam into the other remaining vamp, which Faith had solidly kicked in the chest, sending her back into Buffy's vamp. It wasn't done on purpose, but Faith timed the plunge to the female's heart to match Buffy's, and the vamps dusted simultaneously, allowing dark brown eyes to look at green ones for the first time in four years.
Faith watched Buffy straighten up slightly, looking less surprised than glad, "Faith,"
"B," Faith smirked at her sister slayer.
"Glad you could drop by," Buffy glanced around, breaking the gaze Faith had leveled on her.
"Yeah, you know, I just happened to see this blonde chick about to become dinner, and thought, hey, maybe I should help her out," Faith grinned as Buffy began walking back towards the front of the cemetery, and fell in step beside her.
"You kidding me? I was totally in control of the situation back there," Faith cast a sidelong glance at Buffy, and laughed at the grin on her face, belying her serious tone.
It can't be this easy, I know it can't be. Faith didn't want to get her hopes up, even if all the other Scoobies were okay with her being back, she knew Buffy must still be upset, hell she had good reason to be. The pair lapsed into silence for a few minutes before Buffy spoke, this time completely serious.
"Four years Faith." Here we go.
"I know."
"No explanation, no note, no word."
"I know."
"What the fuck happened?"
Faith stopped to look at Buffy full on, guess I gotta be honest with her sometime, and if I ever want to even entertain the thought of being friends, the sooner I'm straight with her, the better. Just gotta take the plunge.
Faith shifted nervously, trying to find the right words. As the silence stretched on, Buffy prodded Faith with one more guilt trip, "We were becoming good friends; I thought we'd finally gotten past everything-"
Faith cut her off, not wanting the older woman to go on, needing to explain, "B, listen. I didn't leave because of you, or our friendship," Or its' recent complexities, Faith added in her mind, "I left because I needed to know that I could still be a white hat without anyone watching me. I needed to find out whether I could slip and fall, and realize it without anyone pointing it out. So I went to Angel," Faith stopped upon seeing the look Buffy gave her, and returned it with one of her own, "He looked out for me B, he was the only one who believed in me. Plus he had his whole redemption thing going on, so he knew what I needed. I asked if I could pay a visit to the Powers. I wanted to help people on my terms, my way, knowing I could, even on my own, help people."
Faith took a breath and pulled a cigarette out of her jacket pocket and a lighter from her jeans. After lighting it and taking a long drag, Faith exhaled slowly before taking a seat on the top of a headstone. Damn this is hard, I wish I could explain this shit better; at least I have her full attention. Faith looked over at the silent blonde who was currently leaning against a tall grave marker. Faith was glad that Buffy wasn't prodding her with questions, she wasn't sure she could take them at that exact moment. The minutes crawled by as Faith slowly finished her cigarette, and put it out on the top of the headstone before flicking it away.
"Anyway, so I helped out where I could, did whatever I could. I mean, yeah, I was keeping tabs on you guys, though it wasn't easy to keep track of where you all were, but I was aware of a serious slayer link moving around the world. I would check in with Angel periodically, but I didn't really want to know what was happening with you guys. I knew he'd tell me if something bad happened, or some shit like that, so I didn't really worry. Then Angel contacted me about you guys maybe needing me here. Not long after, I find myself at the front door of a massive mansion with a not so little or young Dawn standing in front of me."
Faith allowed another stretch of silence to fall between them, and turned her gaze towards the woods, staring out blankly. Buffy's quiet comment tore her back to the present, and refocused her guilt yet again,
"I thought you were happy," the pain was evident in her voice and Faith knitted her eyebrows together in concern, "I mean, weren't things just beginning to click between us?"
Faith sighed again, closing her eyes momentarily, "Yeah B. Things were good, I was happy," Faith opened her eyes to stare at her counterpart, "But I hadn't been able to fully let go of the past yet, and it would've caught up with me, and all hell would've broken loose. I didn't want to risk our friendship, which, just to remind you, was built on past betrayals and attempted murders."
Buffy winced at the reminder of when they were younger, and the pain that they had caused each other, but let Faith continue.
"So I left," Faith ended the subject with a shrug, before continuing on in another direction, "Now I'm back, and what I really would like to know, is whether we're gonna be okay, because I'll leave if you don't want me here."
Buffy reply was soft, and caused Faith to strain to here it, "Don't leave. Not again."
Faith nodded mutely, her emotions vying for control at Buffy's response, not sure which way to take it, as a comrade, a slayer, a friend, or a… a what? We were never together. Sure, three kisses, two of which she initiated, but still. Nothing was ever written in stone. Let's not jump on that train of thought too quickly. Finding her voice, Faith smiled softly as she spoke, "Glad to hear it, because I really need to spar, gotta get my Buffy butt-whooping skills back up to par."
Buffy looked up quickly at Faith upon hearing the word "spar," knowing the history that came with it, and smirked, "I'll kick your ass."
"Yeah, let's just see you try girlfriend," Faith winked and then stood and began to walk again, Buffy moving next to her.
"Man, you are so going down," Buffy's eyes widened the moment the words left her mouth, and a blush crept up her neck, spreading across her face as she eyed Faith, gauging her reaction.
Faith turned to look at the shorter slayer full on, and gave her a seductive once over. Licking her lips, the dark slayer commented, "Mmmm, don't go putting ideas in my head B, something might happen." God I hope so.
Buffy smirked back at Faith, and arched her eyebrow, "That might just be my master plan."
Faith's eyes widened slightly, holy fuck, she's gonna get me horny without even being serious. As if on cue, Faith felt the beginnings of the hungry and hornies and cast a sidelong glance at Buffy once they resumed walking. Faith knew Buffy thought she had won, and as they approached the gate, Faith pulled her bike out of the shadows. Throwing a leg over it and sitting, Faith smirked at Buffy and, in a breathy tone, asked, "You hungry?"
Buffy's look was shocking. Faith had seen firsthand many times over that Buffy did indeed get hungry and horny, she just ignored it better, but the smoldering once over that Buffy gave her made Faith uncertain whether Buffy was taking her question seriously or if she was just playing along, like they always used to do.
"Starved," Buffy's response sent a shiver down Faith's spine. God damn, how does she do that? Faith blinked, slightly taken aback, and felt relief wash over her as Buffy began to laugh before she sat down behind the dark slayer on the Ducati. Oh this should be interesting, Faith thought sardonically while pulling her helmet on. As Buffy snaked her arms around her waist, a soft sigh lodged itself in her throat, shifting into a groan at the feel of the smaller slayer pressed up behind her, causing Buffy to smirk. So much for controlling your emotions.
"Little hot under the collar Faith?" Buffy remarked with a grin, her breath tickling Faith's neck.
If you only knew, B, "Naw, B, just clearing my throat," Faith knew Buffy wasn't fooled, and quickly started her bike to silence the blonde from any future comments. Just gotta get back –preferably in one piece- and take a very long, cold shower.
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Just an extra note, I purposely wrote and switched who spoke the end lines from "Faith, Hope & Trick" between Buffy and Faith. Thought it would be fitting.