Faith, Hope & Revelations

Chapter 14

Buffy kicked the door to the cypt open and walked into the dank darkness that had once belonged to Angel. It didn't feel like Angel had ever been there though.

"Spikey," she said, mocking, "You got a few minutes to talk?" She stepped through the room and headed into the back, where Angel had once had a bed.

And there was Spike. Naked, laying on his bed. He hopped up when she walked in and they both stared at each other for a second. Then he bent down, grabbed his jeans and held them in front of his waist. "Bloody Hell, Slayer, don't you know how to KNOCK?"

Buffy's face emptied of all color. She'd just seen Spike's... EWWWW. She gagged and then turned around. "Oh GAG ME." She turned around with her hand over her eyes. "I yelled your name! How was I supposed to know you'd be NAKED."

"This is my flat!" Spike said, hurriedly stepping into his jeans. "I can be naked here anytime I want! I bloody live here!" He shook his head. "What did you want anyway? You lookin' to shag me or somethin'?"

Buffy whipped back around and was glad to see that the vamp was dressed. "Oh GOD no, I'd sooner DIE than have sex with you! I just.. I wanted to kick your ass actually. But now that I've seen it.." She gagged again. "Nevermind. I'm leaving."

Spike shrugged on his leather coat really quick and shoved his feet into his boots. "Hey, wait up," he hurried after her and grabbed her arm before she was able to get out of the crypt. He didn't get visitors often, and it was actually kinda nice talking to someone during the day that wasn't undead and brainless.

"DON'T touch me," Buffy yelled, and yanked her arm away. She shook her head. "Man, you're pathetic. I could kill you right now and you'd just have to take it, and you want to chat?"

"You came in here! I didn't go lookin' for you, Slayer. I was just tryin' to nap."

"Do you always sleep naked!?"

"Usually," he shrugged. "Yeah."

"Well you're gross," Buffy said. "I don't even feel like beating you up anymore. I just want to go do what I came out here to do and head home. My mom is making lunch and.." She shook her head. "Why am I even talking to you?"

"Fuck if I know," Spike replied and dug into his pocket for his cigarettes. "What is it that you came out here to do anyway? You trackin' some big bad evil or some shit?" He stuck a slightly bent cigarette between lips and lit it quickly. "Because I'm up for fightin' somethin'."

"If you walked out there right now," Buffy reminded him, "You'd be dust in five seconds. You wanna go kill yourself? Because I really wouldn't argue."

"What is UP with you lately anyhow? You're even more annoying that usual, and that's sayin' a lot," Spike said, "because you're pretty fucking annoying. All cavalier and shit, comin' in here tryin' to beat me up because you've got bigger fish to fry and you're too scared or somethin' to deal with 'em." He looked at Buffy a second and then said, "Hey, I know. This is about that other slayer you asked me about last night. You ever find her? She dead? That why you're such a bitch?"

Buffy sighed. She was actually standing in Spike's crypt, having a conversation with him. And he was asking her how she was and ugg. Was she really that confused? "I did find her," she said. "And she's okay. No thanks to YOU." She groaned. "And I'm.. WHY AM I TALKING TO YOU?" She took a few more angry steps toward the door she'd just kicked open a minute ago, but then she turned around and said, "If you ever get that chip out of your head and go after her.. She'll kick your ass so hard you won't have one left. So. So there."

Spike's eyes widened. He blew a steady stream of smoke at Buffy. "Yeah? She a bad bitch or somethin'?"

"She's Faith," Buffy said. "Haven't you heard of her?" She figured that vampires had some little tree that they passed information along through.

"No." Spike shook his head. "Am I supposed to know her? What's the big deal? Girl got a reputation or somethin'?"

"Or something," Buffy replied, kinda of dismally. "She's just.. She has a dark past. She worked for the mayor."

"Oh!" Spike's eyes lit up. "Oh! I know who you're talkin' about!" He sucked on the cigarette and then puffed out the smoke as he spoke, "Dru mentioned her once. Busty brunette. Supposed to bring about the end of Sunnydale during your grad. Guess she failed, since you're standin' here chattin' with me about it."

The fact that Spike had just called Faith busty was pretty much the only thing Buffy could focus on. She tried to clear her head. "She's good now."

"Is she? Didn't think it worked like that. I'm sure she'll join the dark side again at some time or another. They all do, don't they?"

Buffy felt a huge part of her self-control snap. She walked up to Spike, and punched him hard in the jaw. Then she kicked him, sending his body slamming into the stone wall directly behind him. "Don't you stand there and tell me about good and bad," she hissed, "You don't know ANYTHING!" She stomped up to him and stood above him, where he was sitting in the floor looking up at her. He couldn't fight the slayer, so there really was no use in getting back up. "You are a VAMPIRE," she practically shouted, "That means you have no SOUL. You're slime. You're GARBAGE. You don't deserve to even be ALIVE." She was shaking she was so mad.

"Looks like I struck a nerve," the vampire said, and pulled his box of cigarettes out of his back pocket. It was crushed, and he frowned at it and then sighed. "You gonna hang around and beat me up or ya gonna run back to her and tell her you beat up a defenseless vamp in her honor?"

The slayer realized what Spike was getting at and she realized that he was right. She'd just flown off the handle over Faith... She'd just thrown Spike against a wall because he hit a nerve. He'd said that there was a chance Faith could go back to being bad.. And he was right. What kept her from it? What made Buffy believe she was going to change? The blonde slayer's cheeks were hot. Her stomach was churning and she felt like she was going to throw up. She'd sat around for eight months praying that Faith would wake up.. Have an epiphany and wanna be good. That she'd cling to Buffy and learn how to be a hero, instead of a villian. And.. Hadn't that all came true? So now what? Would she get that itch to try evil again? Would she feel the need to turn away from Buffy?

"You.. You know nothing about this," Buffy said again, this time her voice much softer, much less intimidating. He's basically zapped all the power out of her. "You're a.."

"A vampire," he finished for her. "Yes. That's right. I am." He stood up and dusted off his jeans. "And right now I don't fight the bad fight because I CAN'T. But don't think that I bloody don't wanna! If I could, I'd be tryin' to kill you right now! And that's because I'm a killer! And I always will be. Ain't nothin' to change that. So before you go makin' goo-goo eyes at your dark slayer, just remember. She's got the bad in her too, and if she ever gets the chip outta her head, she's gonna slip." He sniffed, and headed back into his room. "No way around it," he said, and flopped back down on his bed.

Buffy stood there in the dimness for a minute, her hands shaking. She clenched and unclenched her fists. Why had she let him get to her like he had? He was a monster. And Faith was just.. Faith was misguided. Buffy could fix her. Buffy could hold her hand and walk her down the right path.. Right? She could, couldn't she?