Faith's fury carried her nearly to the downtown area. Finally, though, she managed to regain some self-control and slow down. Buffy always did this to her. Always. Faith paused in front of a store window and glared at her reflection. She didn't belong here; Faith knew it. Buffy did, too. "Don't matter," she whispered to the glossy image of herself. "Only important thing is making sure B gets her power back." After that… Well, Faith would make that decision when the time came.

More focused, she resumed her trek to the school. Giles might not be as much fun to play with as Willy, but he would have the best information. As she jogged down the sidewalk, Faith planned. She couldn't really hurt Giles. Not until Buffy had had a chance to confront him about his actions. Faith had no trouble accepting that. Of course, that didn't mean she couldn't rough him up a little.

By the time she reached the high school, Faith knew exactly what she wanted to do. Slipping into the crowded hallway wasn't easy. Principal Snyder was on the prowl. Not wanting to get tossed out before she could find Giles, Faith searched out just the right group. "Hey," she said huskily when she spotted her prey. "Nice play last night."

"Thanks." The tall, muscled boy with the football on his jacket smiled down at her. Then the frown faltered. "Are you new? I don't recognize you, and I…"

Faith jumped in quickly. "Yeah. Just got here a coupla days ago." She moved in close and wrapped an arm around the boy's waist, ignoring the death glare she received from the blonde girl in the group. All of Faith's attention was on Snyder as he moved through the crowd. So far, so good. He hadn't spotted her. "So, ah…You wanna give me a tour of the school, Sport?"

The boy's eyes lit up and his chest puffed out. "Sure. Anyplace special you want to see first?" His eyes dropped to Faith's chest, lingering for several long seconds.

Resisting the urge to slam his head against a locker, Faith did her own puffing out. "Oh, I'll let you decide what you want to show me," she purred. She leaned even closer as Principal Snyder walked down the hall in their direction.

"I've got something I know you'll like." God, the kid was too stupid to see the contempt in Faith's eyes. His lips twisted as he leered at her. "Come on. My next class is lame. I'm sure Carla will take notes for me."

It was a tossup if Carla was going to take those notes, or stab her former boyfriend with the nail file clutched in her hands. "Josh, you can't do that!"

Josh gave Carla a withering glance and moved away with Faith in tow. "Sorry about that. Girls can get so possessive, you know?" His hand began flirting with the waistband of Faith's pants in back. "I was thinking…"

Faith was surprised he could make that statement with a straight face. "Really?" she encouraged, envisioning the moment Josh wasn't necessary and she could rip his arm off.

"Yeah. There's a really quiet place in the auditorium. Way up in back, where the lighting guy sits." His questing hand managed to slide beneath the hem of Faith's shirt and his fingers caressed her bare back. "We could start the tour there."

If Josh knew how close he was to dismemberment, he didn't show it when Faith looked into his eyes. Fighting the growl that wanted out, Faith demurred. "Nah. That ain't you, Sport. How about the gym?" She was leading him on, pushing for the location she wanted. "Or…" She flashed a bright smile. "How about the locker room? Bet you know someplace in there to show me."

It wasn't what Josh expected. "Huh?" He leaned back and frowned. "Why would you want to go there? It's…well, it's a locker room."

Tired of playing nice, Faith yanked away. "Hey, look, if you don't want to show me around, there's other guys who will." It was a true statement, but Faith didn't have time to make it happen. If Josh wouldn't do what she wanted, Faith would have to find the girls' locker room on her own.

Josh, though, was smart enough to realize his new 'squeeze' wasn't kidding. He quickly got over his confusion and reclaimed his hold on Faith. "Hey, my bad. If you've got a thing for locker rooms, who am I to argue?" He steered them down an adjoining hallway, expertly threading through the crowd.

The pace of the students around them picked up suddenly, a few even beginning to run. The sound of the bell echoed in the hall as locker doors slammed and tennis shoes pounded on the linoleum floor.

"Looks like you're late, Sport. Anybody gonna come looking for you?" Faith asked. They must be close to their destination. She could smell the faint odor of chlorine and mildew.

"No." Josh's hand travelled farther up Faith's back as he attempted to reassure her. "Mr. Haines is a friend of Coach. He'll think I'm lifting weights or studying the playbook."

Perfect. As Josh reached out with his free hand to open the locker room door, Faith took a quick look up and down the hall. It was empty. "Hey, Sport?" she said softly, muscles tensing in readiness.

"Yeah, babe?" He still didn't sense the danger.

Faith's left hand shot out, the fist making solid contact with Josh's temple. He slumped instantly, and Faith let him fall to the ground. "That's for thinking I'd really fuck a loser like you." Then she lashed out and kicked him in the ribs. "And that's for pawing me, Sport."

Feeling better, Faith grabbed the collar of Josh's jacket and dragged him into the locker room - the girls' locker room - before stashing him behind a wall of lockers. "Now…Should be no problem gettin' what I need in here." Her voice sounded small in the large, concrete-walled and -floored room. "Just gotta find the right locker." She gripped the first padlock and pulled. It resisted for only a second before Slayer strength won out. "Bingo."

Inside the cluttered locker was a mountain of beauty products and other items. Faith pocketed a cigarette lighter with a smirk and then dug further through the mess. By the time she finished, she'd added a large locker mirror, two packages of stockings, and a can of hairspray.

On the way back out, she borrowed Josh's jacket. "Sorry, Sport. I need to fit in, ya' know?" Faith told him as she put the jacket on and loaded her booty into the pockets. Poking her head out of the door showed there were only a couple of other students getting books out of their lockers. Trying to look nonchalant, Faith walked out of the locker room and headed for the library.

No one even glanced in her direction.

Her heart rate sped up as Faith approached the familiar double doors. Rubbing her damp palms on her pant legs, Faith reminded herself this was necessary. Giles had information she needed to keep Buffy safe. Still not completely comfortable with her decision, Faith shoved the doors open and strode inside.

"I'll be with you in a moment," Giles mumbled, barely glancing up from the book he was reading.

He didn't recognize her in borrowed letter jacket. Faith smirked and took advantage of the situation. Three bounding strides put her at the check-out desk, which she hurtled it with ease. Before Giles could do more than squawk a protest, she had her right arm around his throat. Pressing her face close to his, she whispered huskily, "Sorry about that gig in LA, Tweed. Somethin' came up here."

"Faith…" Giles choked out. "Good Lord; let me go!" It might have been more effective if his voice hadn't been a mere thread of sound interspersed with gasps for air.

"Not gonna happen, G." Dragging him off the stool, Faith used her free hand to raise the pass-through. She dumped him into a chair at the research table (the same one he'd sat in as he'd injected Buffy) and quickly used the stolen stockings to tie him down. "Don't go anywhere." With a wink, Faith left Giles and placed the 'Out to lunch' sign on the library door before locking them inside. "I'd really hate it if we got interrupted."

Her actions had enraged Giles. "That is it! I have tried to work with you, Faith. I have tried to protect you as I do Buffy. I have even defended your questionable decisions to the Council…"

He might have gone on if Faith hadn't backhanded him. "Protect B? Is that what you do?" Stopping the flood of angry words, Faith glared at Giles. She had to stay in control. She had to think. "Ain't my decisions that need questionin', Tweed. That'd be you." While Giles gaped at her with blood trickling from his split lip, Faith took off Josh's jacket and unloaded the pockets. She slowly spread her tools out on the table next to Giles, giving herself time to think while ensuring he could see each item. "Tell ya' what. Right now, I'm going to ask the questions, and you're gonna give the answers. You talked to B today?" Faith asked conversationally.

Giles remained stonily silent.

"I'll let that one slide." With a slow smile, Faith picked up the mirror – and then slammed it onto the table. With a tinkling sound, it broke into four smaller pieces. Faith took the largest and held it up. The lights of the library reflected off the surface as she hitched a hip up on the table. "Let me lay it out for you, Tweed."

"Please do." Giles tried for dry and disapproving. He would have made it if Faith hadn't been able to see the way his pulse pounded against his throat or the way his eyes followed the hypnotic flicker of light on the mirror.

"Thanks," she said. "I'll do that." Running one finger down the edge of the mirror, Faith savored the slight sting that prefaced the single bead of blood that ran over the glass. "I don't trust you. Never have, even before that Post bitch fucked me over. You said go to LA…I figured you were up to something. Good thing for B I got your number, G." Locking eyes with Giles, Faith stuck her finger in her mouth and sucked at the blood.

Giles' throat moved in a convulsive swallow, and Faith saw sweat beading on his forehead. "I am not up to something, as you so quaintly put it." His voice had lost even the pretense of disapproval. It was tight with tension…and the first hint of fear.

It was what Faith wanted. She needed Giles to feel fear. Unfortunately, she hadn't counted on her own. As Faith watched him glare defiantly at her, she remembered meeting Giles for the first time. Remembered his shocked and somewhat embarrassed reaction to her come on – and then his warm welcome.

The light on the mirror flickered more dramatically as Faith's hand trembled.

"Faith, my dear…" Giles' voice wove past and present together. "Whatever you think, I consider myself your Watcher as much as Buffy's."

At Buffy's name, the thrall broke. Faith jumped off the table and faced Giles. "See, that's the problem, Tweed. You're a Watcher. You do whatever the Council tells you." In less than a heartbeat, the sharp edge of the mirror was against Giles' throat. "And from what I saw this mornin', that means sucking out B's Slayer powers." Her hand was rock steady now. Giles wasn't the nice, fatherly figure she'd first thought. He was just like Gwendolyn Post, and he'd betrayed Buffy's trust. She was going to make sure he regretted that.