CHAPTER ELEVEN
Cryptic Messages

Faith strolls through the library doors the next morning, making Giles look up from behind his desk. He furrows his eyebrows at her. "Faith… shouldn't you be in Biology?"

Faith shrugs, "Probably." She leans against the counter on her elbows as Giles gives her a disapproving look.

"And is there any particular reason you're skipping it today?"

"Needed to talk to you," Faith tells him, turning around and placing her palms flat against the counter before hoisting herself up to sit on it. Giles narrows his eyes but doesn't tell her to get off of it, probably because he figures it's rather pointless.

"Regarding?" Giles asks as he puts away the book he was leafing through earlier, giving her his full attention.

Faith looks down and starts absentmindedly smoothing out her pants, feeling a little awkward though not sure as to why. She takes a breath, "Okay, this whole Slayer, Potential Slayer thing… is there like some kind of weird ass connection between the two?"

Giles looks confused. "What do you mean?"

Faith sighs, looking across the way instead of at him. "I mean like… Buffy, right? Whenever I'm around her I feel…" she starts moving her hands a little, trying to figure out the word but coming up blank.

"Feel…?" Giles prods.

Faith lets out another sigh, a little agitation at trying to have to explain it. "I dunno. It's like, whenever she's around, or looks at me or something I get… tingly."

"Tingly?" Giles asks evenly, though almost sounds like he's trying not to be amused.

"Yeah, like, my stomach does fuckin' back flips and my hairs stand on end. Is that normal?" Faith asks, looking at him finally.

Giles raises his eyebrows a little in surprise then hastily takes off his glasses and starts cleaning them; a sure sign he's uncomfortable. But Faith didn't know why the hell this conversation could be uncomfortable. "There are no known… connections between a Slayer and a Potential," he starts, looking embarrassed. Faith cocks an eyebrow at him. "What you seem to be experiencing sounds like nothing more than nerves or maybe a bit of indigestion."

"Indigestion? What the fuck?" Faith asks incredulously. "G, something weird is going on. Aren't you all for research about new and fucked up things?"

"Faith, language," Giles reminds her tiredly as he puts his glasses back on. "And this conversation isn't exactly in my jurisdiction. Perhaps you should ask your mother."

"My mum?" Faith asks, confused. What the hell does her mother have to do with anything? "Giles, this is Slayer shit. You're my Watcher."

"Faith, I find it hard to believe that you have never experienced… this, before," Giles tells her, rather embarrassed. Faith's still wicked confused. "You spare no detail when recounting your…" he chooses his words carefully, "active sexual prowess to your friends in this very library, which, let me assure you, I wish you would withhold from doing when I am around."

"My what? Dude, I don't wanna fuck B, are you serious?" Faith asks, her eyebrows shooting up into her hairline. He's got to be joking. "I don't get the happy in my pants when she's around, this is different!"

Why the hell does everyone think she wants to bang the bitch? For real. Like she doesn't know the difference between wanting to rip someone's clothes off and having weird other feelings that can't be explained.

Giles still looks embarrassed though and Faith is far past frustrated. "This is fuckin' stupid. You really think that I would stoop low enough that I would want some two-faced, stuck up, annoying little—"

"Faith!" Giles exclaims, anger now apparent in his voice. "I will tell you this once, and once only, do you understand me? I don't care what goes on in your personal life and what your issue is with Buffy, but I will not have you belittling her, especially not to her face. She has been through more hell that you can even imagine."

"Yeah, yeah, her Watcher died, I know," Faith says dismissively, trying not to think about it. She can't really handle thinking about it because then it makes her feel again. Makes all those weird feelings come up that makes her want to comfort Buffy and hold her and god damnit why isn't Giles taking her weird feelings seriously? For fucks sake. This isn't normal at all. She's been with a lot of people and has never had those kinds of feelings. Hell, she can barely stand Buffy, has never once fucked her, so shouldn't that raise some red flags?

"She witnessed him getting ripped apart by fifteen vampires, Faith. They killed him in front of her and made her watch," Giles tells her softly. Faith blinks, trying to process that. Trying like hell not to get a mental image of that but yet she does and it makes her feel sick. She thought Buffy was exaggerating with the… ripping, part.

"They killed him, left… left him in pieces in front of her, Faith," Giles tells her, his voice shaking a little. "Then they knocked her out and left her there. They spared her. My only guess as to why, is that she is the Chosen One that the Zan'Hurrak are after and they are… I don't bloody know, torturing her, maybe. I haven't got a clue, but I am sure that they were the ones who gave the vampires their instructions. Not many vampires would spare a Slayer and as good as the Slayer is, coming up against fifteen vampires… the survival rate is slim to none. You need to understand something, Faith."

Faith doesn't look at him though; she's staring at the wall, trying like hell not to feel.

"Faith?" Faith looks over at him, taking a breath. Giles continues, "That is the life of the Slayer. Buffy has not been in it that long and yet she has witnessed more death and suffering than any one person should ever have to live through. The Slayer is strong, but she is still human. Buffy can still feel all that pain and she is grieving like any person should. But soon the grieving will stop, the shock will fade, and the Slayer will take over. She will go hunt every single one of those vampires down and kill them; I have no doubt about that."

Faith doesn't doubt that either. She would. If anything ever happened to Giles… fuck, she doesn't want to think about that. It's too real now. Imminent death is too fucking real right now.

"But she is not ready yet," Giles continues, "She has not yet learned to deal with grief and keep focus at the same time and so I am trying to keep her stable so she doesn't follow her instincts to kill when she isn't ready. So that is why I need you to please try to be somewhat pleasant to her before you push her over the edge. It is like what I told you about your anger. It clouds your mind and affects your judgment when you react based solely upon how you feel. It is the same with grief and it can be dangerous. Do you understand?"

Faith nods slowly, not trusting her voice. Fuck. That was… a mind fuck and a half. Ripped apart? And she had to watch? How the hell isn't she halfway to crazy town by now? Something like that… ain't that the shit people are put in mental hospitals for? Witnessing horrific death? God, it makes her fucking sick to her stomach.

"Now," Giles says, trying to move on from that. "The bell should be ringing in just a moment. Could you please find Buffy, Willow, and Xander and bring them here?"

Faith furrows her eyebrows and looks at him. "Why? What's up?"

"I will tell you all when we are together. So please?" he indicates the door and Faith slides off the counter. "I'm sure you know that Willow and Xander are coming out of Biology, where you're supposed to be," he gives her a disapproving look. "And Buffy should be getting out of English right now."

"On it," Faith says, walking away and out the door just as the bell rings. She tries to clear her head of the conversation she and Giles just had. Disassociate. She's good at that. She watches students flood out of the classroom for lunch; Faith spots Willow and Xander first and waves them over.

"Faith," Willow says, surprised. "Where were you?"

"Talkin' to G. Listen, he wants us all to meet up in there. Lemme go grab B and I'll meet you," Faith says, still scanning the crowd for any sign of the blonde.

"Are we all going to die?" Xander asks, worry in his voice.

"What?" Faith asks, turning her attention to her friend. "Nah, I don't think so. He didn't act like he was on death row, anyway. Or, I guess more so than we already are." Her eyes spot Buffy at her locker and she gives him a pat on the shoulder as she walks away. "I'll be there in a sec."

Buffy seems absorbed in what she's doing and Faith smirks a bit as she leans against the lockers, behind her open locker door. When Buffy closes it and see's her standing there she almost jumped out of her skin, but only before her hand clasped around her throat and pushes her flat up against it. Then her eyes go wide as she sees who it is and she lets go.

"Christ, B! What the fuck is your issue?" Faith asks, pushing the blonde off of her before rubbing her throat and glaring at her. Yeah, she's gonna have to work on this whole being nice thing. Though it might help if Buffy wasn't trying to fuckin' strangle her. Shit.

Then again, maybe sneaking up on the Slayer wasn't the best plan in the world.

"Sorry. You— Reaction. Don't sneak up on me like that!" Buffy defends, taking a breath. "Sorry," she says again, sounding more apologetic this time.

"Whatever," Faith says, just trying to brush it off. "Giles called a meeting; wants us to meet him in the library right now."

"But lunch…" Buffy starts, a pout forming on her lips. Faith rolls her eyes and digs a Snickers bar out of her pocket and throws it at her. Buffy catches it easily but makes a face as she holds it. "It's all… squishy."

"You're welcome," Faith says flatly as she turns away, walking down the hall. Jeez, try to be fuckin' nice…

"Sorry," Buffy says, catching up to her. She walks beside her, looking over at the brunette who doesn't look back at her. "Thank you."

"Whatever."

"Is that the only word in your vocabulary?" Buffy asks with bit off a huff at being constantly dismissed with it.

Faith smirks and says, "Whatever," just to annoy her.

They both walk into the library and are greeted by Giles, Willow, and Xander. Faith strolls right up to the counter and hops on, taking a seat. "So what's up, G? Xan-Man here thinks we're all about to die or something."

"Hey, it's a valid suspicion," Xander defends.

Faith just shrugs. Yeah, probably. Buffy makes her way over to Faith, leaning against the counter next to where she was sitting. Faith raises an eyebrow at her choice of placement in the room but doesn't say anything. Didn't they say they were gonna not like each other? Usually that would entail space. But she doesn't say anything because Giles is there and she said she'd get along with her, at least for now.

She does have some compassion, after all.

"Actually Xander, it seems to be quite the opposite," Giles says, walking over to them and placing a piece of parchment on the table in front of them. Both Faith and Buffy look at it curiously, then at each other, before stepping away from the counter and walking over to where it lay.

Faith leans on the table, looking down as she reads the message.

"All will be kept safe until a fortnight before the splitting, which will occur in three phases of the moon. Prepare her."

"Cryptic, much?" Buffy asks after she reads it herself.

"The Zan'Hurrak are manipulators of fate, which could mean that they could be the composers of prophecy. Many prophecies are worded as this is," Giles says, picking it up again; studying it.

"Where'd you find it?" Faith asks.

"My office. On my desk this morning," Giles says softly.

"Okay, who else isn't feeling so safe anymore?" Xander asks, raising his hand. Willow raises hers as well, followed shortly after by Buffy and Faith.

"Actually, I believe we are, at least from them for the time being," Giles tells them. "The Zan'Hurrak seems to be following some sort of timeline and if killing us doesn't fall precisely where it needs to be than there will not be any needless death. By this, I assume we are all safe until two weeks shy of three months from now."

"What happens then?" Faith asks, folding her arms across her chest.

Giles take a breath, looking at the page. "It speaks of a splitting. We should start researching that, though it's vague. I'll speak to the Council; see if they have a take on it. In the meantime, they seem to want me to prepare Buffy for… whatever it is that may happen."

"Prepare me how?" Buffy asks.

"I don't know. I will double your training schedule; try to get you as ready as possible. In the mean time, we will still keep up the protection spell; better safe than sorry. And Faith? You will be training with Buffy. I feel that it would be wise to train you just as much as her, in case…" he stops, realizing what he just implied.

"In case what?" Buffy asks indignantly. She folds her arms in front of her chest. "In case I die?"

Xander clears his throat awkwardly and Faith purses her lips together, raising her eyebrows and looking at Giles with a 'well you just shoved your foot in your mouth' look.

"We must be prepared," Giles says, stuttering a little. "That doesn't mean that I don't have complete faith in you, Buffy."

Faith makes a horrified face at the way those words came out and Xander snorts a little while Buffy blushes and Willow looks at them all like they need to get their head out of the gutter. They probably do. But hell, she wasn't the only one thinking about how the sounded!

Giles looks at them all disapprovingly. "You know what I meant. What you two do in your spare time…"

"We don't do anything!" Faith and Buffy exclaim at the same time, equally as loud. Then they look at each other and take a step back, as if warding off unwanted attention. Xander's still cracking up and Willow smacks his arm.

"Well, regardless," Giles says, trying to not look too flustered at the interaction. "Lunch is almost over; I suggest you all grab something before your next class." And then he turns and leaves, probably just wanting to get the hell away from all of them and their teenage minds.

Faith looks over at Buffy cautiously, almost at the exact same time Buffy does. Their eyes connect and then they both take another step back from each other for good measure. Yeah, see? And this is why Faith thought space would be good. They just need to hate each other and things will go back to normal.

Except that it's not working all that well. Faith can still feel her stomach doing somersaults inside of her each time Buffy catches her eye. Fuck, what is happening? Why can't Giles take this shit seriously?

"So, Faith," Xander says, getting out of his chair. "Are we still Bronzing tonight?"

Faith tears her eyes away from Buffy to look over at him. "Yeah, Friday night. Nothin' else to do in this town."

"Ohh Buffy, you should come!" Willow says excitedly, earning a glare from Faith. Well, great. Fuckin' fantastic. Because space works really well when they invite her along.

"Um…" Buffy says, shifting her eyes to look over at Faith's unwelcoming glare. "No thanks, I think I'm going to just stay in…"

"Come on, it'll be fun!" Willow says, coming over to Buffy and putting her hand on her arm before looking over to Faith. "Won't it be fun, Faith?"

"Yeah," Faith says flatly. "Fun." Xander gives her a look as he walks over to her and lightly bumps her arm, saying more with his eyes. Faith sighs, defeated. "You should come along." Damnit. What the hell.

"Are you sure?" Buffy asks, obviously still not sensing the welcoming since it isn't really there to begin with.

"Yeah. Whatever," Faith says with a shrug, trying to sound indifferent.

"See?" Willow presses.

Buffy shrugs a little, but still looks a bit apprehensive. "Okay… I guess. It could be fun." Willow beams at her, looping her arm through Buffy's before starting to walk out with her. Faith narrows her eyes.

"It'll be cool, w-we can all hang out without all the evil doom around us and…" Willow's voice fades into nothing as they walk out of the library doors. Faith huffs and leans against the counter, arms crossed over her chest as she shoots a glare at Xander.

"Stealing my friends," she says again, flatly.

"Come on, Faith. It's one night," Xander tells her, putting his arm around her shoulder. "After what Buffy went through, maybe we should—"

"Alright, alright, I get it," Faith says, pushing his arm off of her as she starts to walk away. He follows her. "I wish people would stop fuckin' telling me what she went though like I don't fuckin' get it," Faith snaps as she pushes open the doors to the library, practically stomping down the hall.

"Faith, we're not trying to—" Xander starts, but he's interrupted by Faith rounding on him.

"Look, I get that I'm a bitch, okay? I get that I should be nicer to the girl who had to witness her Watcher get torn to fuckin' shreds, alright? But you just don't get it, Xander. None of you do!"

"Then why don't you explain it?" Xander asks, keeping his voice calm. Not judging, not attacking, just curious. It's probably the only thing that saves him from her from tearing him a new asshole.

"It could have been Giles!" Faith yells before punching one of the lockers hard. Her hand stings but she doesn't care, she just keeps yelling. "It could be Giles, Xand! I mean for fuck's sake, I get it, okay? I look at the bitch and see what might happen again. And yet all I wanna do is bloody fix it and make her stop crying because, I don't know, we have some weird fuckin' connection that Giles won't even acknowledge exists!"

"Whoa, slow down," Xander says softly, coming over to Faith cautiously. "Hey," he says, putting his hand on her arm. "Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't know what you were… Wait," he says, realization dawning on him. "Did you just say bloody? You've been hanging around Giles too much." He gives her a small smirk and she tries to give him one back but can't bring herself too.

It wasn't Giles. It was her fuckin' father coming out in her. God damnit. She tries to suppress that as much as she can. It sounds wicked retarded when his stupid British words slip out around her Boston accent. Fuckin' prick. He's dead to her and yet is always haunting her. She hates that he's a part of her.

"Just forget it," Faith grumbles, brushing him off of her. But Xander holds his grip and pulls her back to him while she sneers.

"Don't go all defensive-girl on me," Xander says seriously. "We're all freaked out, Faith. You're not the only one."

"I know that," Faith growls. She's really not looking to have a heart-to-heart here, but she doesn't want to be a complete cunt and throw insults at Xander until he lets her go without a fight. She knows that's the only reason he'll ever let her go too. He cares too damn much.

"Besides, I am in firm belief that we are not going to die," Xander says, to which Faith looks at him skeptically.

"Weren't you convinced we were like a half an hour ago?"

"That was then, this is now," Xander replies, like that was a valid justification. It makes Faith smirk a little, amused. He smiles, "See? Cheer up. Nobody's going to die; at least not until three months, apparently."

"That's comforting," Faith says dryly, staring at the classroom door across from her; looking at her reflection. She looked tired. She was tired.

She sighs, moving away from him a little, trying to go get some lunch before it's over and she starves. But he stops her. "Hey… what you said about Buffy… what were you talking about? A connection?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," Faith says, starting to walk away but knowing he was going to follow anyway. "Giles just… he says it's nothin', like I'm makin' this shit up in my head or something. I dunno. Whatever." Okay, as for not talking about it goes, that was pretty much a failure. She needs to learn to keep her mouth shut. The damn thing just opens automatically sometimes.

"What happened? Do you get some sort of creepy voodoo vibe off of her or something? Is she secretly evil?"

"No! I dunno, okay? I just… feel her. Feel for her. Something. Like I'm drawn to her like some sort of fuckin' puppet. It's really stupid, okay? I think it's the whole Slayer thing but Giles won't pay attention to it," Faith tells him, her annoyance at Giles showing in her words. He thought she wanted to fuck her. Jesus Christ. "Look, I don't want to talk about it, okay? Can we just go grab some food? I'm fuckin' starved."

"Okay," Xander says, letting it go. He knows better than to push too hard or too far. "But I gotta warn you… it's 'meatloaf surprise' day."

Faith groans. Great.

TBC…