Summary: Faith didn't slip into a coma after the fight scene in Graduation Day Part 1. This is an AU season 4 as a consequence.
A/N: I strongly recommend a good understanding of season 4 to follow this: Superstar especially for this update.
Disclaimer:Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, 20th Century Fox, UPN and WB Television Networks own the television shows, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel". Dark Horse and IDW own the Comics. No copyright infringement is intended, no money is being earned by myself. The title of each chapter, and the story as a whole, come from Laura Marling songs/Album titles. I've been listening to her on repeat recently and I find her very fitting for Buffyverse.
I would love to hear your thoughts on my thoughts. Many thanks.
14. Failure
Buffy paced up and down the small landing a couple of times before she finally managed to knock on the door. She waited for a response before walking in. She watched as Faith finished putting up a poster onto the wall before she spoke.
"That his new one?" she asked pointing at it.
"Yeah, he signed it when you brought him round the other night." She flattened down one of the edges, making sure it was completely smooth, before standing back and admiring it with Buffy. "Can't believe you get to fight with him!"
"You could fight with him too you know."
"Yeah right," Faith rolled her eyes before throwing herself down on her bed, "like could ever fight with Jon!"
"He prefers Jonathan." Buffy told her quietly sitting besides her.
"You see, its stuff like that." Faith sat up and crossed her legs beneath her, "I'm always shooting my mouth off; it would just bug him." she shrugged, "Besides how could I fight with him? I doubt he'll of forgotten I used to bat for the other team." She jumped up and walked over to her desk, grabbed a magazine and showed Buffy one of its articles. Buffy didn't look at the piece though, she simply smiled at the girl who couldn't stay still. "He works with the government," said Faith, oblivious to Buffy staring at her, "what's to stop him handing me over to them – bet they'd love to put a chip in my head too!"
Buffy joined Faith on feet, "Look if the Initiative wanted you, they would have taken you by now-"
"Got any pep for this talk, B?" It took a beat for Faith to meet her eyes and a moment longer for a weak smile to briefly cross her face.
"I won't let them take you." Buffy closed the gap between the two of them and laid a hand on her shoulder. "You're not a kitten to be taken to the vet to be spayed."
"Billy's analogy really the one you're sticking with?" Faith asked her stepping back. She took back the magazine from Buffy and held it protectively across her chest. "Why don't you run along and find Beefstick, I've got things to do."
"What like not doing homework and not studying for finals?" Buffy frowned at her, flicking through the other magazines Faith had with Jonathan in.
"Look," Faith pointed at her, "if you're tired of playing second fiddle to Jonathan that's fine, but don't come over here and-" she threw her hand up into the air, she didn't know the end of her sentence. "Just go." she said eventually.
"It's all Faith's fault. She's like poison. No, worse, like acid that eats through everything. Or maybe a bomb. The point is, everything's going great with Riley and then she messes it all up." Buffy looked around, she'd been walking stride with stride with Jonathan down Main Street but now she found herself talking to herself. She turned round and looked at him simply staring at him. "What?" she asked him, subconsciously tucking a hair behind her ear and suddenly feeling very foolish.
"I didn't want to be stood next to you when the bomb went off." She frowned at him. She liked that he maintained eye contact with her all the while interacted with a fan who wanted her book signed. Buffy always felt as though she was about to take a test when she was with him. A test she hadn't studied for. "You and Riley are great together-"
He paused when Buffy started pointing at him, frowning slightly: "That's the same but-face Giles has." she said.
"But," Jonathan continued as he signed a copy of his autobiography for a fan, "demon fighting aside, he's too ordinary for you." Buffy rolled her eyes as the young girl mumbled her thanks to him before hurrying off. "Your first boyfriend, your first love," the hero powered on, "was a vampire – not just any vampire but the only vampire to have a soul – and now you're with some military boy from Iowa?"
"Where's the bomb though?" She asked him.
"I thought Faith was the bomb." Jonathan smiled at her as he lead her to a table in the Expresso Pump.
They sat in silence while a waitress brought them a couple of drinks before they'd even ordered. Just the way you like it, the girl had told him, on the house.
"I kissed her." Buffy told him quickly. Too quickly. "The other day, when we'd just swapped back I kissed her."
"Ka-boom!" he said slowly a smug smile growing on his face.
"We've not spoken since." Buffy thought for a moment before re-examining her sentence. "We've talked, just not about that." She took a sip from her drink. "What if she's still evil?"
"Was she ever evil before?" he asked her as another girl approached them with a book in hand. "So she worked for the Mayor," he shrugged, "so have all the police officers and garbage men in this town. Are they evil?" He put the cap back on his pen, snapped the book shut and passed it back to the young girl. She muttered her thanks while turning a shade of crimson Buffy hadn't seen in human form before.
It was only once the girl was a good distance away did Buffy lean in closer to the man and say: "She killed a man!"
"Now from the police records I read of that night, you were also there!"
"But I didn't kill him!"
"No, you just pushed him towards her." Jonathan reminded her as he drained his coffee cup.
"That wasn't in the report was it?"
"No." he admitted, "that was my own investigation. I didn't pass on my findings to SPD though because, even with me on the streets, slayers behind bars wouldn't have done anyone any good."
Buffy studied the remains of her drink. She wondered if she was smarter, like Jonathan, if she'd be better at her job. She wondered if she were smarter, like Jonathan, if Faith would even be in the precarious position she constantly found herself in.
"I would talk to her." He told her, placing a reassuring hand on hers, "I would talk to Riley first though."
Faith had spent hours picking out her outfit. Buffy had called inviting her to the Bronze. They were all going, she'd said, she should come out too. Besides, she'd added, Jonathan had promised to do a set.
She shut off one of his old albums from her CD player, she liked playing Jonathan's CDs they were the only ones she could pump out full blast without Giles complaining about. She knew he listened to them too. He would never admit to it though. She bid him good night and ignored his pleas not to come home drunk. As the door swung shut behind her she could swear he was yelling about Cave Faith.
She gave a last once over of her outfit in a car's wing mirror before paying the cover to get into the club. She was annoyed that it was so much, but admitted that Jonathan was worth every cent of her ten dollars.
She smiled when she found Buffy waiting for her at the door.
"Where's GI Joe?" she asked her.
"I, uh, dumped him." Buffy said, not meeting her gaze. "We agreed to still be friends and he said he'll help us out until the Adam situation is no longer a situation. Oh-" she lightly smacked her head when she realised what she'd meant to tell Giles earlier "Jonathan has worked out his power source: its uranium!"
"He's working for an eastern European country?" Faith frowned at her. "Is this some hangover from the Cold War?"
"No," Buffy smiled back, "not Ukrainian. Uranium!" Faith looked away feeling incredibly stupid, she could be thankful that it was only Buffy who'd witnessed it. If Jonathan had heard she would never be allowed to fight with the gang again. "Come on lets dance." She took Faith's hand in her own. "Try not to get me arrested this time."
Faith didn't know what had happened to make Buffy so confident, but she liked it. Hopefully Jonathan would stay in town a while this time. Whenever he left and Buffy had to take the lead in slaying again, she changed. It was like the weight of the world was on her shoulders and she couldn't breath. Faith liked it when Jonathan was around, he enabled Buffy to relax and fall into the shadows a bit. He allowed her time to just worry about being Buffy rather than worrying about everything else as well.
One day she hoped to be able to help out again, that way whenever Jonathan was away it wouldn't all fall to Buffy. She knew she'd let Jonathan down, and she hated herself for it, but maybe if he allowed her to help out it would allow Buffy more time to…
They were dancing together now that was all that mattered. They'd kissed again, Riley had been dumped, Jonathan had finished singing that slow stuff and had moved on to some of his faster number, his cooler stuff, and she and Buffy were dancing again. Finally they were dancing again. They were the Chosen Two.
Her thoughts, and more importantly the end of Jonathan's set, were interrupted when a battered and beaten girl came running into the middle of the dance floor. Buffy tried to tend to her but she only wanted to speak with Jonathan. Faith watched as he approached the girl, he even knew her name, Faith just watched. One day she might be like him. She might be a hero too.
Buffy found her back watching Passions, what surprised her was that Xander was sat on the sofa with her. She walked round the couch and turned off the television before facing the pair of them.
"If you're about to tell us about a world with no shrimp again…" Faith's arms were crossed tight across her chest. She looked just like the little girl she'd found in that motel room after Gwendolyn Post had died.
"Xander can you give us a minute please." Buffy asked the boy.
He got up and headed to the door, but just before he opened it he turned to her and said "I'll always remember the way he made me feel about me. Valued and respected. Sort of tingly. And now I'm just... empty." He sighed pulling open the door.
"Poor Xander, I guess he hurt you most of all." Buffy nodded before pointing out of the house. She sat down next to Faith and tried to make eye contact. "How you doing?"
"Five by five."
Buffy raised her eyebrows, "I'm sorry, but you know I had to do it."
"Yeah, especially after that thing beat up Red's girlfriend and all but-" Faith stopped when she spotted Buffy's face. "Oh, you didn't know?"
"No." Buffy frowned, trying to quickly cover her look of shock. "Oh," she said suddenly, "spells!" Faith simply nodded. "Oh." Buffy simply repeated.
"Speaking of…"
"Lesbians?"
"Spells." Faith sighed with a roll of her eye. "Is our relationship ever going to progress without magic?"
"You want a relationship?" Buffy found herself suddenly taking a step back, bumping into the television set.
"I don't know what I want." Faith told her standing and walking away. "You definitely don't."
Buffy watched as she walked up the stairs. Faith always seemed to be walking away.
I really enjoyed writing this update. Having Jonathan around gave me so much freedom with the characters and its all in cannon (just look how weak, feeble and unsure of herself 'Betty' became).
Hope you didn't mind waiting for the update, the girlfriend and I went on holiday. There were pedilows, we're pedillowers now. Thanks for reading and I read and am grateful for every single review. Many thanks, Circus.