"…Riley?"
Hearing his name, Riley – it was indeed him- bent a little more toward the window in order to have a clearer view of the driver. He stared at Faith for a second and she could see confusion on his face. He watched her again, looking like he searched his memory to try to find a clue about who she was.
"Excuse-me, miss, do we know each…"
His sentence stopped in the middle and his eyes widened as recognition hit him.
"Oh my God." He said simply, his eyes glued to her. "Faith." Then after a second of silence: "And I thought that day couldn't get worse"
As soon as the words were finished, Riley's face hardened and he gestured to the young McMahon behind him never stopping to watch Faith.
"Hey! Hey!" The Slayer exclaimed. "No problem! Not a psychotic murderer anymore! I've gone straight!"
Riley stopped his gesture to his soldier and stared at Faith again, as to test the truth in her words. Faith appreciated the wavering and decided to try to convince him.
"Look!" She said, gesturing behind her. "Look who's with me!"
Riley came closer and carefully let some distance between the Slayer and himself.
His gaze traveled beyond Faith and fell on Tara Faith was pointing to.
"You know each other, right?" Faith asked the blonde, wondering suddenly if they actually did.
"Tara?" Riley asked, clearly surprised to see her there.
Faith almost let a relief sigh escape and couldn't help a gesture of surprise when she saw Tara offering a shy smile to Riley.
"Hey, Riley…"
But Riley's reaction wasn't the one Faith expected. His expression went immediately from questioning to suspicious and he frowned severely.
"What is she doing with you?"
His tone was hard, almost threatening. In other circumstances, Faith would probably had answered in the same tone. But without really knowing why, she raised her hands in front of her in a defensive gesture.
"Buffy asked me to watch over her" she said.
That piece of news didn't help her either.
"Buffy asked you to watch over her?" He repeated in a dubious tone.
And he added a gesture to his soldiers to that question.
Faith clearly saw that the situation was about to get out of control and desperatlely searched for a way out.
"Get out of the car Faith" Riley ordered. "And put your hands where I can see them"
Faith rolled her eyes and showed her hands in front of her.
"Riley, I told you I've gone straight. You can call B. Or Giles. I've got his number if you want"
"Riley, it's okay"
Faith turned abruptly her head to Tara who had just talked and Riley did the same.
"She's okay" Tara repeated. "Well, I guess" she added with a trademark pout.
Riley looked several times between Tara and Faith before his gaze settled on Tara.
"You sure Tara? You're here willingly?"
Tara nodded and Faith rolled her eyes again.
"Like I would keep her with me if I had a choice" the Slayer grumbled and relaxed in her seat as Riley gestured to his guys that everything was okay.
A military jeep with four people on board was going at average speed on a dusty road making his way through the trees. Faith sat in the back in balance on the door and looked at the forest passing by her eyes. Beside her, Tara sat quietly on the back seat and looked at the forest as well. Sat in the front, a young soldier drove under Riley's attentive glance.
The jeep did a new bend and emerged to a big clearing lined by a large shed. The car came to a stop in front of the building and Faith jumped nimbly at the jeep's bottom. The Slayer looked up to the edifice in front of her.
It was a big two floor shed which had probably been used to store wood in the past. Some windows at the ground floor and first floor were broken. A big sheet metal door allowed the access in. It was opened and Faith could see some bustle.
"Our HQ these days" Riley said, appearing beside her.
He cast her a brief glance then turned to Tara to be sure she was following them. The blonde witch stopped by them and crossed her arms over her chest as she took a look at her surroundings. She didn't stop long: Riley resumed his walk almost immediately and gestured to the girls to follow. Which they did.
"So, that's your HQ?" Faith asked after a silence. "You hoped get rid off those demons from here?"
Her tone was clearly unbelieving and Riley turned to her, half-amused, half-annoyed.
"Well, it's our HQ as I said. But our goal is to surround them to trap them in that forest. We settled roadblock all around and we almost get them"
"I guess army has some good" Faith commented.
Riley was about to open his mouth to answer something but he didn't get time as the Slayer resumed:
"What kind of demons are we dealing with?"
"Werewolves" Riley immediately replied.
"Werewolves?" Faith repeated in a dubious tone. "It's not full moon!"
"Well, the transformation is not really caused by the moon. The girl here can testify it" He added for Tara as he turned to her.
The witch slightly jumped when she saw her comrades' attention coming onto her but she eventually nodded seriously.
"Some of them can control their transformations and switch from wolf to man at will." Riley resumed. "And of course, most of the time, it's not for the best. That particular group lives as a pack and enjoys let its wild side take control. We're hunting them for weeks. They left a true carnage behind them"
Faith winced.
"I guess so. According to the newspaper, it wasn't pretty."
"It's wasn't actually" Riley confirmed.
The small crossed the door then and Riley seemed to look for someone or something. His search stopped when he caught sight of a figure walking resolutely toward them. Some seconds later, Graham Miller stood in front of them.
"Riley!" He exclaimed. "What beautiful thing do you bring us ?" He added, sending a smile as he stared at both girls.
Riley vaguely gestured between the newcomer and both young women.
"Girls, this is Graham Miller, my second in command." Riley announced and turned to them. "Graham, this is Tara. She's from Sunnydale. Maybe, you already met…"
Graham stared at Tara for some seconds then shook his head.
"I don't think so" He simply said.
Riley didn't ranger over the matter and turned to the dark-haired Slayer.
"And this is Faith, the other Slayer"
"Oh, Faith!"
To Graham's tone, Faith knew at once that he had already heard about her. And not in pleasant terms of course. She couldn't help but pout but Riley probably noticed cause he immediately spoke up for her.
"She changed since then" He added for Graham.
"I thought she was a psychotic murderer" Graham replied as he stared at the Slayer.
Faith was about to reply but Riley preempted her again.
"Mind you, I just spent half an hour with her in a jeep and no murderous intent" He said with a smile.
Graham still stared at her for a second before nodding his head.
"Well, I guess she's here to help then?" He asked to both Riley and Faith.
"She's a Slayer" Riley justified. "She's around and she can help"
"And demons are my thing" Faith growled.
Graham smiled frankly to that.
"Is that a Slayer thing to be that possessive when it comes to demons?"
Faith didn't smile to the comment and Graham skipped the matter.
"Got some bags? Maybe I can carry something?" He asked, staring at the girls in search of some king of burden.
"It's okay" Faith answered and gripped firmly the bag at her shoulder as Graham was already stretching his hand to her.
He stepped back immediately under Riley's amused glance.
"So, now that you've been introduced, we're gonna climb to the second floor and have a snack. And I'll show you a map, places where we've got roadblocks and where the werewolves have been seen"
Faith nodded and started to walk beside Riley, gesturing to Tara to follow.
"Fine" she said. "I wouldn't say no to a good meal"
"Slayer's appetite?" Riley asked with a small laugh.
"B is nothing compared to me" Faith joked.
"I want to see that" Riley said.
Then he turned to his left where Graham walked.
"Any news from Sam?"
"Still at the north roadblock. Should be there a little later. Nothing special in sight from what I heard"
"Good"
Then he started to climb a narrow iron stair standing in the middle of the building; everyone followed. The second floor was rather deserted compared to the first and the big room was incredibly messy. Packs and sleeping bags were scattered along the far end wall while many tables were arranged across the room, all of them covered with random documents or weapons.
A young soldier came to meet them and greeted Riley with obvious respect.
"Commander"
"Stillwell, please cook something for my guests and myself" Riley ordered after a brief salute to the young man.
He nodded and headed quickly to a corner of the room under Faith's attentive stare as Riley leaded them in the opposite direction. He stopped beside a table covered with a big map. Several pins were jabbed in different places and some others had been circled with a pencil. A big cross had also been drawn.
Riley leant against the table then turned to Graham.
"Graham, you give them a rundown?"
Graham nodded and turned to Faith before putting his forefinger on the cross.
"We're here" he said and Faith rolled her eyes with a knowing look.
Graham moved quickly his finger to each pin in the map.
"Here are our roadblocks. The circled areas around each pin are the areas watched by each block"
Then he pointed to smaller centered circles.
"Here are the places were the werewolves have been seen. As you can see, we're circling the whole area"
Faith shrugged.
"Sure they're still in there?" Faith asked, turning to Riley.
He nodded.
"Rather sure. We've followed them for a while and we carefully prepared our presence here to force them to go where we wanted."
"In a forest where they can easily hide?" Faith asked in a dubious tone.
"Well, it didn't work out exactly as we planned" Riley admitted. "But we're circling them, which was our goal. We just have to drive them out from cover now"
"Yeah" Faith growled.
"Unless they find us first" Graham commented. "Those guys love to fight"
"What's the plan?" Faith asked. "Big patrol in sight, right?"
Riley smiled with amusement to Faith's almost enthusiastic voice.
"We're gonna wait for the out teams' reports. We'll see then." Riley said. "Right now, let's have a snack"
And of course, Faith didn't complain about that particular plan.
The meal hastily cooked by Stilwell was quickly swallowed in a corner of the room but immensely enjoyed by Faith who devoured more than she had in weeks under Graham's and Riley's dumbstruck glance.
"Not that bad for military rations" Faith said as she leant back in her seat and stretched her arms above her head.
Riley smiled and crossed his arms over his chest while Graham stared at her curiously.
"If I've ever been told that a girl could eat that much, I would never have believed it" He commented and flashed a smile to the Slayer.
"Macho!" She exclaimed, getting up and sending him a trademark charming smile. "I'm a Slayer" she explained.
"I know" Graham said with a knowing smile. "I already heard about you"
Faith pouted to that.
"Not just good I guess" She growled.
Graham stared at her from head to toes before answering.
"Not just bad"
Faith shrugged nonchalantly.
"Would be surprising" She said.
"I'd happy to make my own advice" Graham replied as he got up and smiled to her in his turn.
"Really?" Faith answered seductively.
"Really" Graham confirmed in the same tone.
Riley and Tara got up too and Riley looked at his watch.
"Well, as you two seemed to get along so well" He announced. "you've got some time to go for a walk or something if you want. But as soon as Sam and the others get back, we've got briefing"
Then Riley held his arm to Tara who took it and he turned to Graham and Faith, waiting for them to confirm.
Graham smiled to Faith and nodded for Riley.
"Okay. I'm taking you somewhere, Slayer?"
Faith's gaze traveled several times from Graham, smiling to her, to Riley who was already leaving with Tara.
"Faith?" Graham asked and bent slightly his head on his side in a questioning gesture.
Again, Faith looked at him then at Riley under Graham's questioning look.
Finally, after what looked like some kind of internal struggle, she offered an apologic smile to the young man.
"Sorry, I don't think so" She said as she opened her arms in front of her. "I…I'm gonna stay with Riley and Tara"
She had almost stammered and Graham was sure she wasn't used to.
"Too bad. Not a problem" He answered with good grace.
He just shrugged then and turned round the table to meet up with Riley who had stopped as he heard Faith. He gently tapped his shoulder and whispered to him with an amused smile:
"I guess you're more her type"
And he got away, leaving a puzzled Riley with the two girls.
The night was now completely dark outside and the group was still waiting for Sam and her team to return. They were late because of a wrong track followed.
Most of the soldiers were downstairs and the floor was quiet. Tara laid on a sleeping bags and blankets pile and slept rather peacefully, save for some discreet shudders and growls.
Beside her, Faith and Riley sat against the wall on the ground and were talking quietly, each of them holding a little bottle of water in their hands.
"I never thought I would see again" Riley said.
"I didn't either" Faith admitted.
"It all seemed that far" Riley resumed, almost more for himself than for Faith. "I almost forgot about you"
Faith pouted and Riley –who was watching her out of the corner of his eye- noticed.
"I said almost. And well, it's not like we had REALLY met"
"I remember very well though" Faith commented and turned to him.
Riley had an evident sniffle.
"Hum. Me too. I think I'll never forget that night"
Faith couldn't help a grin.
"I know I'm good," she said with amusement.
The next expression that appeared on Riley's face made her regret it. He turned to her in his turn and answered seriously:
"But not for the reasons you think. The real Buffy was a lot better"
A look mixed with disgust, chock and disbelief plastered on Faith's face.
"What?" She asked with disdain. "Buffy better than me at screwing? That's just impossible."
Riley couldn't help but smile to the Slayer's obvious chock and to her offended tone.
"I'd say you still have a lot to learn about men Faith" he commented with amusement.
"Like I've never heard that one before" Faith grumbled and looked away.
There was a silence, each of them looking like they were returning some few years before, when bodies were switching thanks to a magical device.
"So, what are you doing here all alone?" Riley eventually asked. "Mission for the council?"
Faith shrugged and shook her head.
"Not really. I'm not working for the council anymore" She honestly answered.
Riley frowned to that.
"I thought you've gone straight." He said in a dubious tone. "Fighting the good fight?"
Faith shrugged again.
"I do." She whispered. "At least I try"
Riley stared at her for a few seconds with curiosity.
"You don't sound really sure" he commented after sipping some water.
"Yeah" was all he got as an answer.
He opened his mouth to say something, hesitated and finally said nothing. Faith – who was looking straight in front of her – didn't notice and had a small laugh before resuming to Riley's surprise:
"Well, let's say I try to see where I am, what I wanna do and how" she tried to explain.
Riley looked at her again and nodded his understanding.
"Yeah, you don't really know where you stand"
Faith vaguely nodded.
"Yeah" she confirmed.
Riley looked away and pointed with his chin to Tara who was sleeping beside them.
"And her?" He asked. "What happened to her? She seemed so different than before. Well, she was shy and all but… Something's changed"
He turned again to Faith who leant even more against the wall behind before shrugging with a bored look.
"I guess death can do that to a girl"
"What?" Riley asked and frowned.
"She died" Faith bluntly said.
Riley turned again to Tara, then to Faith.
"She looked quite alive to me. And she doesn't look like a vampire."
"She's not one" Faith explained. "Well, not that I know" She winced.
Then, in front of Riley's confused look, she specified:
"She died then has been resurrected"
Riley turned again to Tara and asked, slightly stammering:
"Just like Buffy?"
"Kinda"
Riley's gaze came back to Tara where it remained for some seconds before he asked:
"Is there something with the Scooby gang that prevent them from staying dead?"
Faith shrugged again.
"Their own refusal of death maybe?" She offered.
"Willow?" Riley asked as he tried to recover from his surprise.
This time, Faith couldn't help a snort.
"Buffy" She answered.
"Buffy?" Riley asked in a disbelieving and dubious tone, his eyebrows slightly frowned.
"She asked a warlock to do it for her" Faith explained. "She wanted the best for Willow."
"So what the hell is she doing with YOU?" Riley asked impatiently.
Faith slightly turned to him before answering:
"Maybe Buffy should have asked Willow if THIS was the best for her before doing it"
"Oh my God..." Riley whispered as he turned to Tara again.
Then he turned back to Faith:
"Why Buffy did not take her with her?"
"Tara did not want I guess. So Buffy asked me to take her with me, to play some kind of bodyguard. Time for her to sort things in her head. Some weeks she said."
"And It was?"
"A month ago now." Faith concluded. "Four weeks on the roads together and she still hardly speaks... Not that she was a talker before..."
Riley watched Faith's face closely for a moment before asserting more than asking:
"You don't look like really happy about that"
Faith couldn't help but snort.
"the girl can't take care of herself" she grumbled in a bitter tone. "Do I look like a baby-sitter?"
She looked at Riley straight in the eye, as she was waiting for an answer. He couldn't quite totally hide his amusement but became serious again when he asked:
"Why did you take her with you then? You could just have said no"
Faith looked down to her joined hands on her bottle of water in front of her.
"I guess I wanted to do something she could find good." She answered thoughtfully. "More than a one-shot deal. For her to possibly forgive me one day"
Riley remained silent, staring at the young woman in front of him and looking like he was thinking about what she had just said.
"Do you think that's possible?" He finally asked. "After all you did ? All you tried to take from her?"
A glimmer of hurt quickly passed in Faith's gaze, maybe too quickly for Riley to notice but Faith couldn't be sure.
"It was easier for me to take something to her than for her to take something from me" She hissed between her teeth.
There was a new silence, heavy this time as Riley didn't know what to say and Faith was lost in her own thoughts.
"I had nothing she could have wanted" Faith clarified. "Because I had nothing"
Again the silence remained the only answer for long seconds. Faith stared in front of her and Riley was looking at her with an undecipherable look on hi face.
"And now?"
Faith briefly laughed bitterly when she heard the question and nothing in her behavior could tell that she intended to answer.
So, Riley turned to her in surprise when he heard her say:
"I still have nothing"
Riley stared at Faith for long seconds, surprise then hesitance appearing in his face. After what seemed to last an eternity, Riley finally seemed to agree on what to say and offered his trademark warm smile to Faith who still wasn't looking at him.
"It's not entirely true" he whispered.
Faith didn't wait for an answer on his part and turned sharply to him, laying questioning eyes on him. He nodded the obviousness and resumed gently:
"You've got a mission" he explained. "You've even got two. You'll always have your Slayer mission. And you've got that mission yourself chose: protecting Tara until she's ready to get back to hers"
Faith silently stared at him, slightly surprised and touched by his words and the gentleness he had said them.
"You're cool" She finally said and Riley couldn't help but smile.
"It's not what I hear most of the time" he answered.
Faith smiled back.
"They don't know what they're talking about." Faith replied in a light tone and finished her water off.
"Because you know?" Riley giggled.
"Yeah" Faith answered seriously, looking at him straight in the eye for a second. "I know"
She then looked away as Riley went on looking at her, intrigued by her seriousness and sudden agitation.
The sound of footsteps heading toward them broken the moment and made them slightly jump. Riley looked away from Faith and turned around to face Graham and Sam.
A smile appeared immediately on his face as he caught glimpse of her and he jumped to his feet. Faith soon followed to stand up.
"Sam!" Riley exclaimed with obvious pleasure. "Is everything okay? "
They came closer to each other but didn't kiss nor show any sign of intimacy. Riley simply stared at her from head to toes as to be sure she wasn't hurt.
"Everything's fine" Sam said with a smile as she noticed what her husband was doing.
Her gaze then passed above Riley's shoulder to land onto Faith who was standing behind him. Her eyes quickly went along the Slayer's curves without any discomfort, stopped on her too evident cleavage to be military then on her crumpled face.
"Who is she?" She asked as she gestured to her with her chin, but with a warm smile.
"Oh" Riley said and slid on his side to let Faith face Sam. "Faith, this is Sam, my wife. Sam, this is Faith, the second Slayer"
"Oh" Sam just said in a casual tone in whom it would have been difficult to perceive an emotion. "Faith"
But Faith –who had slightly jumped to the "wife" mention- nevertheless probably perceived something because she immediately raised her hands in front of her in a surrender gesture.
"Hey, hey" She exclaimed. "No problem here, not hitting on your man"
Sam's smile grew wider with amusement to the Slayer's behavior and she stretched her hand to her in a friendly gesture.
"I'm not worried" She simply answered. "You're not his type"
Faith considered the strechted hand and winced before seizing it and squeezing it a little too stronger than she should have by simple way of courtesy. Sam didn't flinch and turned to Riley.
"Sorry to be late, but we followed a wrong lead on the other side of the forest" she sighed. "I thought we were going to find their lair and instead we only found two of them"
"And?"
"Mitchell's lightly hurt" Sam told. "But nothing bad" She added quickly when she saw Riley frowning. "We killed one of the werewolves but the other ran away" she finished.
Riley nodded thoughtfully, then gestured to the others to follow him as he was about to step forward. But Sam seized his arm and pointed to Tara's sleeping form.
"And her?" She simply asked.
Riley turned around to see what she was talking about.
"It's Tara" He explained. "You know, Willow's girl…well, Willow's ex-girlfriend, I think I told you about her…"
Sam frowned and trying to collect her memories. Then she shook her head with a slight wince telling that the blonde didn't recall her anything.
Riley shrugged and then lead the small group to the table Graham and himself had already shown to Faith sooner. He bent over the map and grabbed a pencil laying on it.
"Well, where exactly did this happen?" He asked Sam under Faith's and Graham's questioning looks.
Sam put her finger on a point on the map, near the north border and began to slightly moved it down.
"We had…"
But she never got the chance to finish her sentence. A thundering noise cut her short and the four of them threw themselves instinctively to the ground as the windows around them shattered in million pieces.
"What's this?" Riley shouted to be heard, as the hellish noise of guns making fire crackled outside.
"We're under attack" Graham yelled in his turn.
He wanted to stand up but Riley kept him firmly to the ground with his arm as bullets burst forth above their heads.
Faith frantically looked around her and her eyes widened in horror when she saw a finally awaked Tara, sitting on the sleeping bags and looking with anguish around her.
"Tara!" She yelled as loud as she could to be heard by the blonde. "Stay down!"
She added gestures to her cries but Tara didn't seem to notice her and Faith's eyes widened even more when the witch got up and went to the window to look outside.
"Shit!" Faith growled.
Without thinking, Faith jumped to her feet and threw herself forward in Tara's direction.
"Faith!" Riley snapped when he saw her standing.
In a few feline steps, Faith was beside Tara. She violently pulled her backward to get her away from the window and laid her on the ground. Tara's head hit the ground hard.
The firing stopped at that precise moment and silence fell back as abruptly as it had ceased. Faith wasn't up yet that Riley, Graham and Sam had already crossed the distance between them.
"Are you okay?" Riley and Graham asked at the same time.
Faith didn't answer and stood and Tara did the same. The Slayer's eyes landed on the witch and a hard expression appeared on her dusty face.
"Are you crazy?" She suddenly yelled with a vibrant rage. "Is that your thing to stand in front of windows when guns are firing outside? Was a real mess last time!"
The words had left Faith's mouth even before she realized she was telling them. If she hadn't been so blinded by her anger, she probably would have noticed the change on Tara's face. She would probably have seen a violent emotion appear on her companion's usually so inexpressive features. But Faith was too angry to notice. Too angry to expect the resounding slap Tara gave her under the three soldiers' dumbstruck glance.
Faith remained stunned and her hand came to the cheek Tara had just hit as to test the reality of what had just happened. Her gaze crossed the blonde's one and she saw there more hatred and rage she thought the witch was able of.
Seeing her that still, her anger from the previous moment could have been thought forgotten. But it wasn't. And Tara's gesture just made it disappear for a brief second before feeding it with a renewed energy.
When Faith came back from her surprise, she suddenly violently grabbed Tara's shoulders and started to shake the witch roughly. The blonde didn't even try to defend herself and her body sharply undulated under the brunette's violent jerks.
It took a few seconds to the viewers to realize what was happening. When he saw Tara mistreated this way, Riley woke from the torpor the scene he had just watched had plunged him. He came to Faith and grabbed her arms to try to pull her backward and to make her let go off Tara.
"Faith, let go off her, you're going to hurt her" He ordered as he tried vainly to loose Faith's iron grip on the blonde's shoulders.
The sound of his voice was more efficient than his physical efforts and Faith suddenly pushed Tara away and the blonde stumbled into Sam's arms. The witch tried to stand back on her shaking legs as she still looked at Faith with the same anger.
Faith seemed to struggle to take back her control and got free from Riley who tried to keep her in place.
Finally, she presented the blonde witch with a scornful look and hissed between her teeth in an angry tone:
"Never do that again"