"Good book?"
The olive-skinned woman looked up lazily from the pages of her novel and her dark eyes focused on the feminine figure standing in front of her.
The stranger from the previous evening at the nightclub sat by herself in a small booth inside of a quaint coffee shop. The table at which she sat was empty save for herself, a book, and a large mug of dark, hot liquid. Lourdes sat dressed in a light purple knit sweater and tight jeans that hugged the slight bulge of her calves. The girl's smoky eye make-up looked more appropriate for a nightclub, but the carefully applied coloring perfectly accented her large almond-shaped eyes. Her dark, shiny shoulder-length hair hung loose around her face in soft waves.
"Hey there," she smiled, the grin pulling at the corners of her mouth and her large eyes crinkling slightly as she closed her book. "I wasn't sure if you'd actually show up, so I brought along my own entertainment in case you stood me up." The girl spoke with an affected, slow accent as though she had all the time in the world to have a conversation.
Faith didn't know why she felt compelled to meet with the girl when she had called Angel's offices a second time that morning. Partly, she was curious as to how the Latina woman had managed to trace her to the soul'd vampire. Plus, she needed to escape the confusing blonde back at the Hyperion for a little while. Becoming so close to the small slayer had managed to muddle her brain once again.
The brunette slayer, dressed in dark jeans and a tight t-shirt, slid into the small booth across from the other woman. "I don't normally do these kinda things," she stated honestly.
Lourdes raised an eyebrow. "Drink coffee?"
Faith laughed lightly. "No, you know what I mean. Meet up with strange girls," she paused, "when the sun's still out." She gave the dark-skinned woman a dimpled grin. "But your detective work impressed me. Never had a girl hunt down my digits before."
Lourdes averted her eyes briefly, glancing back down at her book resting on the tabletop. "You took off so quickly last night with your friend…"
"Uh, yeah," the brunette mumbled; now it was her turn to feel uncomfortable. "Had to get her home…she drank a little too much."
The other woman's mouth twisted into a wry grin and Faith felt herself strangely drawn to the shape of her thick lips. There was a contagious confidence that radiated from the Latina girl. The ease with which she spoke immediately put those around her in a calmer state.
"Those are pretty earrings," Faith observed casually, reaching out to finger the large circular jewelry hanging from the svelte girl's small earlobes.
Lourdes caught the Boston girl's hand in her own. "Thanks," she murmured, stroking her fingers along the young slayer's palm. "I got them when I was visiting family in Mexico."
Faith pulled her hand back abruptly, nervous by the familiar way that the Latina woman touched her. "Uh, Mexico?" she blurted, hoping the other woman wouldn't pick up on her unease. "Is that where you're from?"
The dark-haired, mysterious woman smiled deeply. "I do a good job hiding my accent, don't you think?"
The Boston girl nodded in agreement. "For real. Way better than I do. I get a couple drinks in me and it's like frickin' Good Will Hunting over here."
Lourdes raised a thin, manicured eyebrow and smiled knowingly. "How ya like them apples?"
Faith chuckled. "You got it."
"So you're visiting from Boston, then?" the Mexican girl asked before blowing on the large mug of coffee she cupped in both hands. Faith felt herself drawn to the pursed lips yet again.
The slayer hesitated in answering and shifted her eyes to the side. "Uh, no. Haven't been back there in a long while. I'm, uh, crashing at a friend's place in town right now."
"Staying long?" the other girl pressed, taking a short sip of the hot brew.
"Who's askin'?" the brunette responded as she leaned forward. Her voice came out a little harsher than she had intended.
Lourdes shook her head and laughed. "I'm sorry." She waved a hand in the air. "It sounds like I'm grilling you, doesn't it? You'll have to forgive me," she apologized. "I-I just get a little nervous on first dates."
The Boston girl choked on her tongue. "Date?" she sputtered. "Uh, yeah, I don't do those either."
Lourdes pursed her lips together. "So you weren't out on a date last night with your blonde friend?"
Faith leaned back and exhaled. "Date?" She winced at the word. "That's a complicated question. You see, Buffy and I –,"
"Buffy?" Lourdes interrupted, a small smile on her beautiful face. "She must be from Los Angeles with a name like that."
Faith smirked at the Latina woman. "That obvious, eh?" she mused.
The dark-haired woman waved goodbye and watched the young slayer disappear around a corner as she walked away from the small café. Waiting momentarily to assure the Boston girl had left, she rummaged in her purse for her cell phone. She flipped open the electronic device and dialed the familiar number. The phone rang twice before the line clicked, indicating someone was on the other line. Not waiting for a greeting, Lourdes spoke:
"I found your slayer. You were right – she's with the vampire. Send in your extraction team."
"Where have you been hiding all day?"
Faith shrugged out of her leather jacket and tossed it on the red plush cushion in the center of the Hyperion's lobby. "Does it matter?" she asked nonchalantly. "I figured you woulda been back to Sunnydale and your glamorous life by now."
The blonde Californian stuck out her bottom lip, ignoring the Boston girl's demeaning tone. "The bus schedule is all messed up," she complained. "I have to wait until tomorrow for the next bus to Sunnydale. So where were you?" she asked again.
"I was out," the Boston girl explained noncommitally. "Went for a walk."
Faith didn't know why she felt the need to lie to the other girl. She wanted Buffy to know that she wasn't going to be available forever – a girl of her caliber didn't stay under-pursued for long. Another part, however, admonished her for even going out with Lourdes when she could have been spending more quality time with the blonde Californian. But the larger part of her brain warned her not to push Buffy into something she wasn't ready for; something she wasn't ready to admit.
Alcohol made the lightweight slayer more open with her emotions, and Faith knew the golden-haired slayer certainly felt something for her. If nothing else, the previous night had made that quite apparent. But Faith didn't know if either of them would ever be ready to pursue whatever it was that they felt for each other.
Buffy hopped down off of the front desk countertop, her bare feet sounding hollow on the hardwood floors. "I wish I would have known," she frowned. "I would've liked to go out with you. I had to hang out with Angel all morning instead."
Faith grinned cheekily. "Aww, c'mon, B. Couldn't have been that bad." She plopped down on the soft red seat in the center of the spacious main floor and crossed her legs. "Or was it hard to resist playin' suck-face with your ex?" She winked playfully at the elder slayer. "I know how those old flames can be….rekindled…"
Buffy's frown deepened. "You're such a pig sometimes."
Faith chuckled, but then grabbed at her stomach when it rumbled loudly. "Speaking of pigs…does Angel have any food around here? Or just of the liquid variety?" The Boston girl was acutely aware that she had missed breakfast to have coffee with Lourdes.
"Oh, God. Not more alcohol," Buffy groaned, immediately grabbing at her head. "I can't believe you let me drink so much last night."
The Boston girl unleashed a torrent of laughter, holding her sides. "Damn, B," she wheezed between laughs. "Am I turning you into a lush already? I meant blood, Blondie."
Buffy blushed, realizing her mistake, but her eyes quickly lit up. "Oh!" she squealed. "I did find something in the freezer!" The small slayer quickly turned on her heels and sprinted down the stairs to the basement apartment, disappearing from view.
Faith was left with only a few moments with which to ponder her current situation. She knew she couldn't stay at Angel's for too long before the government realized where she was hiding, and going back to Sunnydale would put Buffy in too much danger, she reasoned. But regardless of where she called 'Home,' she knew that she needed to put an end to the Initiative – somehow. With or without the blonde slayer's help. It was too dangerous from either women to have the government interested in the genetic make-up of a Slayer.
The dark slayer's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Buffy stampeding noisily up the wooden staircase. She appeared triumphant on the first floor, hiding something behind her back. "I found ice cream!" she cheered victoriously, holding a pint of Moose Tracks above her head like a trophy.
Faith grinned at the blonde and rubbed her hands together. "Now you're talkin'. Ice cream for breakfast is always a good choice. Get over here," she insisted, patting the space next to her.
With the spoon in her mouth, Buffy skipped across the foyer and sat down next to the Boston girl, falling into the soft, padded cushioning.
"Got another spoon for me, B?" Faith asked, poking her slaying partner playfully in the ribs.
"Oopsie," Buffy mumbled guiltily around the silver spoon in her mouth. She gave her former nemesis a small half-smile.
Faith smirked. "How come you always act like an only child?"
"Well, I'm not," Buffy pouted playfully. "And speaking of which…it still doesn't make sense why you don't remember Dawn. The poor girl practically worshipped you, for some odd reason. I mean, until you went all evil and went on a killing spree."
Faith's eyes immediately clouded over, the ice cream and silly bantering quickly forgotten.
Recognizing her mistake, Buffy clamped onto Faith's t-shirted arm with her free hand. "God, I'm so sorry, Faith," she apologized, her eyes heavy with regret. "I'm such an idiot sometimes. I swear my brain and my mouth aren't connected." She hung her head, casting her eyes away from the brunette. "You probably think I'm never going to stop bringing that up, don't you?"
Faith remained sullen, not looking or acknowledging the girl sitting next to her.
Buffy waved her spoon in front of the Boston girl's brooding features, hoping to garner her attentions. "I'll let you use my spoon if you'll forgive me?" she chirped, raising her voice hopefully.
Faith snatched the spoon out of the elder slayer's hand and popped the utensil into her mouth. "Mine now!" she gloated. The dark haired girl grabbed the tub of ice cream and voraciously dug her spoon into the container. She shoveled a large mouthful of the creamy dessert into her open mouth.
"Hey!" Buffy protested. "What about my ice cream?"
Faith laughed around the food in her mouth and burrowed the spoon back into the ice cream. "Here ya go, B," she offered, pulling a large spoonful out of the pint-sized box.
Both girls watched motionless as the melting ice cream slowly dislodged itself from the wavering spoon and landed on Buffy's hand that rested on her jean-covered thigh. The Californian looked with horror at the white speckled glob of vanilla ice cream and chocolate fudge as it rapidly melted against the heat of her skin.
Faith flicked her eyes up toward Buffy's face and gave her a mischievous grin before wordlessly swooping down to suck the ice cream off of the elder slayer's skin. Buffy's body tensed and she gasped quietly when she felt the young girl's textured tongue swab across the top of her hand. She bit her bottom lip and stifled a desperate whimper as the dangerously beautiful woman's mouth lingered on the ice cream-free flesh. Faith moved her mouth boldly across the pillowy soft skin.
Sitting up again, the Boston girl licked her lips, tasting the sugary sweet leftovers at the corners of her mouth. She closed her dark eyes slightly and she subtly moved forward, narrowing the space between herself and her sister Slayer.
Buffy's thick eyelashes fluttered as she felt herself caught up by the dark slayer's predatory look. "Faith," she whispered, the name and syllable nearly getting caught by the lump in her throat.
The front door to the massive hotel banged open. The wind caught the door, slamming it loudly against a wall in the entranceway. Both slayers immediately looked in the direction of the door to find an unexpected visitor standing in the threshold.
Buffy was the first of the two to find her voice. "Riley?"
The Boston girl immediately scrambled to her feet, immediately forgetting about the ice cream and Buffy's skin. The blonde slayer pulled herself together and hopped to her feet soon after.
"How did you find this place?" Buffy asked, speaking for herself as well as her sister Slayer. "How did you know we were here?"
Riley smirked. "The government has innumerable resources. You're not the only ones who can do research." He nodded his head backwards. "I've got the extraction team waiting just outside this hotel; they're covering all the exits. They learned their lesson last time not to leave their vehicles unattended around you girls."
"Why are you doing this, Riley?" Buffy demanded, her voice cold as she glared at her former boyfriend.
"I'm here for Faith," the Marine curtly answered his girlfriend. "I've come to take her back to the Initiative. She's too dangerous to just be walking around free."
Both women's bodies tensed at the soldier's bold words. "What makes you think I'm just going to let you take her from me?" the blonde girl retorted. She balled her hands into tight fists at her sides.
Faith glanced sideways at the Californian, shocked by her choice of words.
Riley shook his head. "You can't keep protecting a murderer, Buffy," he stated gruffly. "And I can't keep you out of this forever. Her crimes are going to catch up with her sooner or later, and I don't want to see you involved. I know you don't feel the same way, but I do love you."
"Murderer? Crimes?" the elder slayer cried in disbelief. "She's already made her amends for what happened. We've all moved past that…and besides," Buffy noted, glancing at her sister Slayer, "it was an accident."
Riley snorted and crossed his arms across his broad chest. "How do you accidentally feed two military scientists to a vampire?"
"What are you talking about?" Buffy's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion at the boy's words.
"Some hostile with a penchant for gambling with kittens was apparently bragging to his associates about how he'd helped the Slayer kill some of our men," Riley informed them. "Loyalty doesn't run too thick in the demon community, apparently, and we got word from one of our informants." The boy looked smug about the discovery.
"You fucker," Faith growled at the Marine between clenched teeth.
Buffy brought a hand up to her mouth in horror. She stared at Faith to gauge her reaction, but the Boston girl only glared at the Iowan soldier with venom in her eyes.
"Faith," Buffy whispered, her large green eyes trained on the girl with whom she had become so close over the past few weeks. "Tell me he's lying. Please," she implored.
Faith gnashed her back teeth together, causing the muscles and bones in her jaw to twitch and flex. "I can't."
The tears that quickly flooded her vision surprised Buffy. Her bottom lip quivered in anger and betrayal. "How could you?" she whispered. "How could you lie to me all this time and pretend like you'd done nothing wrong?" she demanded. "I thought you had changed, Faith!"
"I had!" the Boston teen protested, looking desperately at the California slayer. "I did…you have to believe me, Buffy," she begged. "But-but then those fuckers tortured me and put a chip in my head! They had to pay, B," Faith insisted vehemently. "They had to pay for what they did to me!"
"You can't go playing God, Faith – deciding who gets to die and who gets to live!" the blonde declared animatedly. She could feel the hot tears dripping down her cheeks and she wiped uselessly at her face.
"Well you and the Super Friends certainly weren't doing anything to stop the Intiative." Faith pointed accusingly at the Marine. "The government has no place messing with our world. This operation is bad news, B, and you know it. Demons are a Slayer's job – not Uncle Sam's."
"You're fucking the enemy, Buffy!" Faith's thick lips twisted into a cruel smile when she realized what she had just said. "Which, I suppose is nothing new for you," she rasped bitterly.
Buffy looked up, the tears no longer falling. She wiped at her nose with the back of her hand.
"I've heard enough, Faith." Her voice sounded flat and emotionless, and her eyes appeared hard. She looked over at the Iowan. "Go ahead and take her."
TBC