Faith stood alone in the center of the room, her opponent visible only to herself. Standing with most of her weight on her right leg with her left leg out before her, Faith reached with her left hand as if grabbing a shirt collar in her fist. Shifting her weight to her left leg, she twisted her torso forward, adding leverage to the slam as her right hand threw down her imaginary opponent.
"No." While the Sensei didn't shout, her words told Faith she'd gotten it wrong again. "You aren't supposed to be fighting. I want you to feel the chi, to let it move you. Don't force it. Try again."
With a sigh, Faith shifted to the starting position, standing straight up, knees not quite locked, her arms by her side. Training with Petra had never been so tough. Her Watcher had trained her to fight, not to get all touchy feely with some sort of mystical energy field.
Hearing a noise from the hallway, Faith turned to see Brigit's mother standing at the open door, her hands together in a prayer position as she bowed toward the room. "Dottie," the Sensei exclaimed, wearing a huge grin, the first smile Faith had seen her give. "It's so good to see you," she added, crossing the room and gathering the woman in a hug.
Dottie returned the hug, giving Faith the first clue to the Sensei's name by calling her Cam.
"You brought dinner?" Cam asked.
"Food?" Faith asked, suddenly famished.
"Upstairs," Dottie replied, backing into the hallway to let Faith through.
Faith bolted up the stairs and had downed half a plateful of chicken, burgers, beans, and potato salad by the time she heard Cam's voice call out from Aidan's study. "I know you haven't eaten since breakfast. Come on, break it up and get some food before Faith eats it all." Looking over at the huge cooler, Faith didn't think that'd be an issue.
"I am feeling rather fatigued," she heard Wes say.
When Aidan, Wes, and Cam joined her in the kitchen, Faith asked, "Where's Dottie?."
"She couldn't say," Cam replied. "Here, this is for you," she added, tossing something over to Faith.
It was a black, plastic square, small enough to fit in her hand, on a necklace chain. "What is it?" Faith asked.
"For training," Cam said as she scooped beans onto a plate. "After we've eaten."
"But we've been training for hours," Faith complained.
"Hours?" Wes asked. "I thought you were with Brigit. Wait, training?" He looked back and forth between Faith and Cam.
"I've called Cam in to train Faith," Aidan said.
"What?" Wesley's hands clenched into fists. "I am Faith's Watch..." He glanced over at Cam. "I am responsible for Faith. You do not go over my head and call in some random," pausing he waved his hands about before adding, "person to train her."
Great, it's like they are at war, and I'm the battlefield, Faith thought. Watching Wes sputter about some more, she changed her mind. Wes thinks he owns me, that I'm his personal property or some such shit. Watching Aidan calmly respond to Wes' rants, explaining that Cam was a much better fighter than either of them, which Wes obviously didn't believe if the sweeping glance he gave the older woman was any indication, Faith realized that she didn't what Aidan wanted from her. He must have had some reason to take on a Slayer and her annoying idiot of a Watcher.
Wesley turned toward Cam. "Look, I apologize if this took you out of your way, but Faith isn't an ordinary girl. She needs specialized training, training that I've been, um, trained to give her."
Deciding to butt in before Wes made even more of a fool of himself, Faith called out, "She knows."
"Faith," he yelled, "I'm trying to... Knows what?"
"My sister was a Slayer," Cam said. "Aidan has explained to me what your training would have been." Nodding toward Faith, she added, "I understand her abilities better than you do."
Wesley's glance darted between the three of them, Aidan, Cam, and Faith before he suddenly seemed to deflate. Somebody's finally figured out he isn't in charge, Faith thought. Good.
Turning on Cam, Wes accused, "Faith did have very specific plans for the day. You thought you could disrupt them just like that?"
"No," Cam replied. "I was downstairs training when she showed up. Naturally I wasn't going to let the opportunity to assess her skills slip away."
As Wes glared at Faith, she remembered why she'd left the picnic. Kakistos, shit. "Hey," she told Wes, "I don't do that lovey dovey family stuff." She couldn't believe that she'd forgotten about the demons she'd seen, but maybe that meant it had been a one time thing, nothing to worry about; maybe all she'd needed was a good workout to get rid of the kinks.