He took her farther into London than he had last time. They walked what felt like forever until he stopped in front of massive iron gates that stretched up to points ten feet over her head. She tried the handle, frowning as the gate wiggled but didn't open. It was locked. Cemeteries weren't somewhere she was dying to get into, and she turned to ask him why he brought her here only to find he was gone.
"Ripper?"
She spotted him on the other side of the gate, moving into the cemetery. She hadn't even heard him climb, let alone land.
"Damn."
She climbed up two steps on the gate, hopping to the stone wall before vaulting over to land neatly, and quietly, on the ground. He smirked. She rolled her eyes and huffed.
It was hard to think that this was the same man she'd flirted with when they met. One sided as it was, he'd never officially said no to her advances and she'd never really pushed them. If she'd had any idea this was what lay beneath the tweed she might have tried harder to break through his very staunchly proper exterior. She could only imagine what he could offer if he tapped into the confidence of his youth with the knowledge and experience of every one of his current years. It was enough to make her shiver, a gesture not entirely unnoticed by her companion.
"Cold?"
His tone suggested he didn't think so.
"No, I'm fine. Let's go."
This was clearly an old place. The tombstones that she glanced at were a hundred years old or more, some of them bent at odd angles like some scene in a horror movie. If there was evil in London, it had to be here. She kept her senses open, walking alongside him through the rows of stones. There was an elephant in the proverbial room and though it wasn't any of her business she couldn't help but ask.
"You know he's in love with you, right?"
Not that Faith had any idea what that felt like. She'd never been in love with anyone in her entire life. She glanced at him and saw him frown, pausing in his footsteps.
"Are you in love with him, too?"
"No." He shook his head, but didn't deny it as hard as she thought he might. "It's…complicated."
That was a layer she hadn't expected. Bisexual Giles, go figure.
"How complicated?"
The way he acted probably very complicated.
"He's my best mate. We've…we've known each other a long time."
"Look, you don't have to- "
"It's nothing serious."
"I don't think he got that memo."
"I know. That's probably my fault. It's not all the time but things have happened between us and it became more than I ever expected. I didn't want him to get the wrong idea about me, about what's been happening. He's been touchy since I pulled away from him. That's why he came after you tonight, I wouldn't wonder."
"He's afraid I'll take his place?"
"He doesn't understand why you're here. I can't exactly tell him the truth. It's not usual that I have girls…"
"Giving repeat performances?"
"Something like that."
He gave her a devilish grin, charming and dangerous at once.
"I feel you on that. I'm not exactly known as a repeat performance kind of a girl myself. No strings takes the complicated out of caring."
"I, ah, feel you."
She laughed, finding that she didn't mind the conversation as much as she would with the grown up version of him. She doubted her Giles would ever be so open about his past, which was strange, considering. Honesty was not something that he owed her, but maybe it was nice to have someone to talk to about it that wasn't going to stick around. She wasn't involved, after all.
"What's it like being a Slayer?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean. What's it like to have all that power inside you?"
"Well, you're not exactly shy with the magic."
"That's not the same."
"I've told you before."
"No you didn't, not really."
"It's hard to explain unless you feel it. Everything goes quiet and it feels like you can do anything. That rush goes through you and there's nothing else that exists in the world but you and the fight and that moment when you go in for the kill, when you know you've done your job, it's worth living for."
It was certainly not as easy as she described and the rush was almost like a drug, taking over each and every time. She needed the kill for completion. She needed the struggle and the pain. It was what she was built for but no one could understand that but another Slayer, only Buffy was too conflicted to make peace with it. At least, that's what she always thought.
"It's complicated."
"No, I think I understand what you mean."
"You do?"
"Maybe not exactly but I know what it's like to feel something inside of you that you need to feed. It gets to be an addiction, just to reach that high."
She nodded a little.
It seemed like this place was pretty quiet. Occasionally, she found, with old yards like this the ground was consecrated and vampires didn't tend to show up much. Besides, this city wasn't a Hellmouth and wasn't going to have the same level of activity as Sunnydale. It was good, she guessed, but it left her itching for that fight he never let her have with Ethan. Faith moved to take a seat on a standing sarcophagus, leaning back to look at the moon while still sitting up.
"You're a good Watcher," she commented, seemingly out of the blue. "At least, you are to Buffy."
"But not to you?"
"I don't think you know what to do with me."
"I know what to do with you, Faith."
"You do?"
She leaned up and found him right in front of her, though she hadn't heard him move. He caught her cheek with one hand, sliding the other around her waist. His eyes sparkled in the moonlight and she didn't pull away despite how close he was. He was between her legs, pressed close but not too close to her body. Her breath caught as he searched her eyes, feeling her heart thump wildly in her chest. Faith closed her eyes and leaned forward a little bit, offering him the kiss it looked like he was angling for.
She opened her eyes again when she felt him moving away from her, turning his back and leaving her unkissed.
"We should go back to the flat. It's getting late."
She gave him a confused, pained look that he didn't look back to notice.
"Ripper?"
He paused to look back, shaking his head and moving forward again leaving her behind if she didn't follow quickly. She tried not to react but her cheeks burned with an embarrassed blush that she tilted her face down to hide. They crossed town in silence. She kept waiting for him to explain but he never did and she didn't ask. When they went to bed he left her alone in the room, putting a new blanket on the mattress for her and excusing himself for the rest of the night.
"I'm taking you home tomorrow. There might be some books in the library that can help me find a way to get you home. The sooner the better, right?"
"Look, if something happened tonight that-"
"Goodnight, Faith."
He closed the door and left her alone in his room wondering just what the fuck happened. She lay awake in the darkness for a long time thinking about it before finally falling into a shallow, fitful sleep.
